Subject: Trivia

Dunno if Delhi’s pollution will be controlled. But Delhi’s GDP is definitely set to go up as the Government will only allow even-and-odd numbered cars on alternate days. The multiplier effect will now explode, thereby creating jobs, employment, growth, and more number of cars for the Aam Admi, and a seriously good chance of getting re-elected for the Aam Admi Party. Ms. Sheila Dixit is ruing how she missed this bus, errrr, this passenger car.

Just look at the numbers. There are 260 lakh passenger cars registered in Delhi as of March 2015. In 2014-15, Delhiites added 1.8 lakh cars to their already enviable and unviable kitty. At least 15000 of these must have been bought by those on whom P. Chidambaram wistfully dreamt of levying the super rich tax. At least 3000 of these will now make a beeline to the nearest Audi/ BMW/ Mercedes-Benz showroom, trying to buy a car which hosts that super number so that one can manage to reach the workplace even at odd times. Another 2000 may settle for an odd City or even a Jetta. Car makers are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect.

Those not having the budgets or the parking spaces to buy a new car need not despair. A new range of services are being offered by roadside repair shops, which will now sell instant plate-change offerings. Due to heavy demand, the price of getting another number plate done has increased from Rs.1000 to Rs.5000. The casts and moulds industry is experiencing heavy demand to fabricate such insta-change car accessories.

Patanjali is thinking of seriously getting into the segment. The idea is that the one should be able to change the Patanjali number-plate in the 2 minutes in which the Patanjali noodles get cooked. Later, wash the hands with Patanjali soap and you are as good as new.

The demand for new cars and accessories will thus act as the ultimate growth driver, pushing Delhi’s growth rate to an unbelievable 20%. And that’s not all. For every new car manufactured, 7 more people get employed. All those poor crooks who used to surreptitiously paint cars and number plates after robberies will now get to legitimize their skilful profiles. Such a surge in employment was not seen in Delhi even during the good old days of the Commonwealth Games.

In all the merriment that ensued in the corridors after such cheerful thoughts, there came a more sobering, practical problem. How in the world will the Delhi Police, who stand steadfast in their duty at the traffic signal, read the number plates of those cars that zip through happily at 95 kmph? Visibility tests startlingly revealed that one can only read the numbers if the car passes at a more sedate pace of 25 kmph. Hence, in addition to the earlier even and odd guideline, the Delhi Government is now in the process of issuing a speed limit guideline as well. The number of cars will be halved and the time taken to office will be doubled.

Schools are thrilled to bits with the new pedagogy with which to make Maths more interesting. They have appealed to the Delhi Government to also have days when only composite or prime numbers will be allowed. One school has raised an RTI against the RTO demanding an explanation as to why number plates cannot be issued in all rational numbers on the number line and why only positive integers have been allowed so far. A case for fractions is also being fought. A divisive number game on irrational traffic integration. It’s the limit!

You must have had practised writing enough, must be trying to locate your centre and might be a little nervous as well. It is ok! After all you are about to get into the battleground of probably the toughest examination in the country. Do not let the nervousness overwhelm you. 

Thy who lost sweat practicing, shall lose no blood!

You must have read a plethora of tips about how to writing answers, I thought of sharing few from our side. Here are quick 19 on answer writing for IAS Mains:

1. Write in simple, grammatically correct English. No literary prose is needed.

2. Try to give the context of the answer if you can in your opening remarks. End it with a something concrete and do not leave it hanging in air with an abrupt end which mostly happens due to paucity of time.

3. Write in points or paragraphs as you feel comfortable. There is just no restriction or stated rule for or against any of these ways of answering.

4. The thoughts should flow across the answer seamlessly with no hopping from one idea to another but in a systematic manner.

5. Try that you don’t leave any question unattempted as it forecloses any chance of getting any mark even if the examiner was in a jubilant mood. But that does not mean you should write just about anything. Just think of one-two relevant point and write it.

6. Come over this ‘Should ‘black’ or ‘blue’ pen be used?’. Use whichever of them you are carrying.

7. Avoid cuttings and over-writing (that college tactic to write an alphabet such that it can be interpreted as a ‘b’ or ‘d’  shall not work in UPSC). College examiners could be approached to make them interpret the word as we wanted them to interpret. No such liberty is available in UPSC.

8. In case you want to underline certain sentences, do it there and then. If you leave it for the fag end, it shall entail reading the answer all over again and you really might not be able to finish reading them all.

9. Do not write in the margins as is also instructed by the UPSC. And these fellows do take their instructions seriously. In any case if you had something really good to write you would have written it in the main portion. Anything written in margins shall only be superfluous in most cases.

10. Avoid using red ink for writing or underlining.

11.  When you use diagrams/maps, give them a title, give them a number like fig1. or fig2. and give their reference at the relevant point in your answer.

12. Do not actually sit down to count words. Those who have been practicing answer writing shall have a fair idea of how many of their sentences/paragraphs make up 150-200 words. (Another benefit of answer writing). And this is how even the examiners will guess the number of words in your answer if they must. They shall never actually count them. (And of course you must also remember that content matters more than the length)

13. Some of us have this tendency that as we write on un-ruled sheets, our sentences tend to get tilted in a particular direction. It is annoying for the examiner to tilt his/her head at odd angles to read what you might have written. So avoid it.

14. Ensure your hand-writing is legible. If it is illegible, who can stop the examiner from just marking it with a zero or one or two and move on. No one is going to question him/her. So why give him/her this chance?

15. UPSC instructs that unwritten pages should be crossed. Please do it with a small diagonal line across the page. Avoid a big cross cutting across the length and breadth of the page which might also leave a mark on the back page.

16. When you are done with an answer, draw a small horizontal line telling the examiner it is over.

17. Keep the booklet neat. You must have noticed that sometimes, when we write, our palm rests on the sheet. Ensure it is free of any ink marks (or is sweaty) which may leave smudges on the answer sheet.

18. Keep the water bottle that you may carry on the ground near your seat. I have heard cases where the bottle was kept on the table itself loosely capped in a hurry and an inadvertent push by an invigilator or a fellow candidate had the candidate’s hard work floating in water.

19. Carry enough number of pens/pencils and other stationery. And do carry a stencil of the geometrical figures.

And finally, 

Wish you lots of writing and lots of answers that you have already prepared!

Want to read more?

• IAS Mains answer writing – Explained via a model answer
• IAS Mains 2015 GS Paper Analysis: The Ringside View
• IAS Mains Writing Essentials – Reading and answering a question as it should be!
• IAS Mains Writing Essentials – Reading and answering a question | Part 2

Here is a set of 21 probable questions forward by Mitra’s IAS – Leading coaching academy for Philosophy and Ethics.

For those appearing for IAS Mains 2015, give this a last minute look. For those preparing at leisure, see if these concepts strike as common sense to you.

Attempt the following

1. Today , building trust in government is a worldwide concern.
2. Develop your own set of core values. Would these provide you with guidance or be a straightjacket on decisions you have to make ? Why ?

3. What is the difference between responsibility and obligation ? Give example where you have experienced the tension between the two ?

4. What is difference between obedience and loyalty ? Are both always virtues ?

5. The “many hands” problem in public offices often makes it difficult to pin point responsibility.

6. Draw on your experience or otherwise of how organizational culture shapes individual behavior.

7. People often argue that it is wrong to use immoral means to serve moral ends. Describe a situation that you experienced or imagine in which immoral means are used to achieve a moral purpose.

8. Free rider issues often confront public managers. Discuss two examples of free rider problems.

9. Why does corruption captures the headlines when it is often the same old story with different actors?

10. Why is leadership so important to developing and maintaining an ethical organizational culture ?

11. “History of mankind is actually history of values.” Critically examine with suitable illustrations.

12. Define by giving suitable examples
I. Ethical competency
II. Ethical illiteracy
III. Work is worship
IV. Inculcation of values
V. Dignity
VI. Intellectual Integrity

13.Knowledge without character is a deadly sin.

14. Is it ethical for a public employee to market the job knowledge and skills he has acquired while on a public payroll?

15. It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it .

16. When employees own the culture of their workplace – when they feel responsible for “how things work around here” – they won’t permit wrongdoing.

17. As we practice resolving ethical dilemmas we find ethics to be less than a goal than a pathway , less a destination than a trip , less an inoculation than a process.

18. How emotional competency and attitude helps in taking ethical decision?

19. Narrate one incident in your life when you had displayed leadership quality but you were sufferer and at the same time severely condemned . Also enumerate lessons learnt.

20. Suggest certain measures to encourage ethical behavior at your workplace. What could be challenges and how you would tackle them?

21. Is there any difference between practical solution and ethical solution ? Substantiate with suitable examples .

Prelims has a fair number of questions from Geography and fair number of them are actually based upon the map reading by the candidates. Geography Mains Paper II has 10 map based entries carrying a weight of twenty marks (as in the last paper).

So let us see how we can attempt Map Based Questions in IAS Prelims and Mains.

For Geography Optional:

The weightage carried by map based question has been reduced from 60 to 20 as in the last year’s paper. Twenty is good enough score to be ignored and even more for the claim that getting these entries right enthrals the examiner and weighs heavily in getting good score in Paper II and a poor attempt in the map entries has opposite effect on the examiner and consequently your score in the paper (though the claim still remains to be verified by any UPSC examiner or UPSC itself). So let us see what the trend is and how we can make the best out of it.

#1. In the last two years, the entries asked have been the ones that are not unheard of (who can forget the yesteryear’s Akrimota, Pirotan, Meghnagar,Van Tivu which had candidates literally in tears in that year). Luckily now, the entries can be easily located in the Atlas and a geography candidate would have definitely prepared about 8 out of them. So, do prepare all the prominent entries in the Atlas well in advance.

#2. Many of the entries are picked from the places that repeatedly appear in current affairs but for some unknown reason are still ignored by the candidates. Make a note of all such recurring places, locate them and prepare the write-up. While locating such entries scanning its neighbourhood shall not be a bad idea either and is recommended.

#3. Do have a outline map of India and practice and make small write-ups behind it itself. Helps in quick revision and breaks the monotony of referring to the Atlas.

#4. If you are not sure of an entry take a calculated risk and at least mark it in the right state if you must. Nellore marked in Tamil Nadu can sometimes infuriate sensitive examiners. That is to say don’t take wild risks.

#5. Don’t ignore the question to be attempted in the last 15 minutes which appears to be the general tendency among the candidates. In the last minutes you shall be too tensed to might just mark them wrong and then waste time in erasing and cutting. Treat the question on par with other question.

#6. If you do not know most of the entries (something I do not foresee going by the latest trend but for an examiner fired with strong wanderlust who decides to ask unheard of entries. In that case God Bless Us!)

For Prelims:

#1. What has been mentioned about the entries in the current affairs remains true here as well, in fact even more so in Prelims. So do locate them in the Atlas.

#2. Whenever you are bored with reading heavy stuff, try map reading. Many claim it is rejuvenating and that is not without truth.

#3. The questions asked in Prelims like arranging cities or rivers or hills or the likes in a particular order are designed in a way that the entries asked are at enough distance physically that the candidates can use elimination method or even their cursory reading of Atlas to zero in on the right answer.

#4.  If you have no idea about an entry, do not attempt it. More often than not it shall be a trap question. In 2009, a deceptively innocuous question on the country of location of Barail Range was asked and I still admire the examiner who had enough candidates waylaid into marking alternatives other than India.

#5. When you are dealing with map based questions and have enough time at disposal (which might be a rarity) and want to take a calculated risk then try to picture each entry separately in the Atlas and use elimination method.

#6. Do cover all the prominent entries from every continent. It is an easy attempt.

#7. When you locate a current entry in the Atlas, also notice the neighbourhood, for the neighbourhood is more enticing for few. For example, the examiner may not ask about the country the Sinai Peninsula is part of but the water bodies between which it is located.

#8. It might sound cliché now but is the most important instruction and that is, ‘Please do what you have just read in the above points!’

Happy Mapping!    

Note – CD is experimenting with user generated content that can help initiate a discussion at large. Should you wish to write on our platform, read the footnote in the bottom.

So… India is now intolerant?

For millennia, India has faced several invasions from outside, many of them even massacred thousands. But, people of India adjusted to them and accepted them.Now, don’t go so back in history, just see after independence. Remember Sikh Massacre after Indira Gandhi assassination(1984)? Gujarat riots(2002), Muzzafarpur riots(2013), few days back here in Phulwari Sarif, Patna(2015), curfew was imposed.

Well, if you don’t know, let me tell you…As per the Indian constitution, public order and police are state subjects as enumerated in the state list of 7th schedule. That means state has the responsibility for maintaining public order. However, state has responsibility,but for this non sense killing/rioting a government cannot be held responsible. It is the people, illiterate people, whose religiosity is more than required. It is these people who are ready to kill anyone on the name of saving GOD. Also, in my opinion, hatred towards a ‘particular’ community is a result of terrorism. This intolerance in India can be attributed to these terrorist acts and terrorism. They contribute and make people more intolerant towards others.Intolerance is growing all over the world, not just in India as you may see 13 out of 50 states of USA are now not ready to accept even one refugee from Syria and Iraq after Paris attacks. Even earlier Germany and Hungary closed their border for refugees. Anti-muslim protest can be seen in Paris and other part of the world.

As fas as India is concerned, I cannot see any civil war going out here. People are living in peace. However, as already stated some people initiate communal riot and these illiterates will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean we should blame someone else for the act of these rascals.Now, as Amir Khan said his wife asked her that she want to leave India. I want to say one thing. Under article 21 of the Indian constitution, every Indian has a right to leave country. And this is a fundamental right, who are we to stop anyone?India is tolerant, however, this situation is somewhat created to destabilize the government and the country and to show to the world that India is intolerant and not invest here and to hamper its economic growth.Also, communal riot is not new in india.

It’s happening for more than a century. There was days when Hindu and Muslims lived in peace and communal riot was unknown in India as Hindu and muslim both fought soldier to soldier in 1857 mutiny. This communal problem is a result of historic process and british policy of divide and rule. As you may already know British gave active support to Muslim communalism and little support to Hindu communalism as no one can please both communalism at same time. This communalism resulted in partition of this country in 1947. This policy of divide and rule is well adopted by some Indians who use this for their own benefit.

Even doctored video and images are circulated to fan communal violence. All thanks to social media! Also, some communal news channels are always ready to propagate their agenda. Don’t fall prey to these communal people and stay away from any violence. Now, you decide yourself, India is tolerant or not.

PS: If you wish to write a short note on recent happenings, kick a discussion – write back at civilsdaily[at]gmail.com and we will push your post on our platform. Your posts would go unmoderated and we hope that they kick in a good discussion for the community at large.

It’s back! In a richer, more generous, more fiery, more flashy avatar. With more goodies for everyone. No, not James Bond. Pay Commission 007. And it has left the Indian Administrative Services shaken as well as stirred.

Decadal corrections have come in, and how! “What took you so long, 007?” Even as the average salaries of central government employees go up by 23 per cent, this Desi 007 has created a storm by bringing the tricky question of pay parity between IAS and other services to the fore. IAS officers enjoy higher pay than their counterparts in other services by way of earning additional increments at 3 per cent of their basic pay.

The weeks prior to the release of the recommendations of Pay Commission 007 saw hectic activity and a flurry of letters from IAS officers to Secretary, department of personnel and training. It’s very difficult to understand what most IAS officers write in their letters. For the most part it does seem to be in English, but for mere mortals (read non-IAS) to understand what the brightest and the best are saying is to expect a child to fathom The Wasteland by TS Eliot.

Had we had the honour of hosting Sir Humphrey, the Permanent Secretary to Hon’ble Jim Hacker (of Yes, Minister! fame) in the IAS, he would have recorded his “profound opposition to the newly instituted practice which imposes severe and intolerable restrictions upon the ingress and egress of senior members of the hierarchy and which will, in all probability, should the current deplorable innovation be perpetuated, precipitate a constriction of the channels of communication, and culminate in a condition of organisational atrophy and administrative paralysis, which will render effectively impossible the coherent and co-ordinated discharge of the function of government within India”. Whew! That is Sarkari 007 to cut the Sanskaari Bond to size. To put it in English, “We are simply the best and hence deserve more”. It’s simply the “writing on the wall”, Bond would have claimed.

Bond heads to Mexico City with a lead from M and has his brush with Spectre, the organisation driven by IT intelligence systems, and exists simply everywhere. The Indian Pay Commission 007 is also headed by our own M, Justice AK Mathur, and now is up against the Indian Administrative Spectre, the organisation driven by Bureaucracy intelligence (?) systems and exists simply everywhere, or as an afterthought, at least in the highest levels of government.

Fathom this. Of the total 91 Secretary posts in the current system, there are 73 IAS officers and a sprinkling of other services just to keep the situation under control and maintain an atmosphere of bonhomie with the police, forests, scientists, etc. However, at the Joint Secretary level, they don’t even pretend to be interested in “What will the other Services think” . Joint Secretaries are IAS officers. Period. Having secured the joints, the IAS cadre then “adds on” muscle power. Additional Secretaries obviously have to be IAS officers; what with all these Secretaries and Joint Secretaries and Additional Secretaries, you have quite an adhesive Bond of the Indian AdministrativeSpectre.If Bond’s Spectre is autocratic, the Indian Spectre is bureaucratic. If Spectre works with sinister one-liners, the IAS works with meaningless realms of paper in different coloured ink filed meticulously since 1947. Pay Commission 007 is up against a formidable force. In the Indian version of Spectre, M has raised the Q. The real Q is, is there an A?

Hi friends,

Most of my students have had this question “How to read the Hindu ? What notes to make ?”
Yes,’ The Hindu ‘ is the preferred newspaper for IAS aspirants, because most of the questions are triggered from there .

Before you learn how to read the newspaper, here are some points I shall suggest

#1. Always have the syllabus infront of you .

#2. Have the past question papers with you and keep referring to them,to understand how questions are asked .

#3. Understand the issue rather than just reading word by word. After identifying the issue ,take down notes topic wise and not date wise.

#4. Use the following websites, if you need more points .

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/mainpage.aspx

• http://yojana.gov.in/
• http://www.prsindia.org/
• http://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/
• Websites of various ministries
• Wikipedia.

#5. Do not spend more than 1 hour on the newspaper.Few students end up spending 3-4 hours merely on the newspaper. It does not help.

Let’s take a look at the newspapers and relevant articles for the exam.

1. Any judgement/ruling /remark by Supreme Court/High Court is important. While you note down the judgement ,also understand its relevance in your syllabus.Relate it to Geography /History /Economics/Polity.

2. Identify social issues /challenges facing the society as such .Understand its pros and cons and also note down the recent incidents .You can quote them to substantiate your point .Example -caste riots ,moral policing ,restriction on freedom of speech,etc.

• Objectives of the policy
• Under which ministry /department / it operates.
• Any special feature of the policy.
• Who are the members (If its an organisation .eg.Inter State council)
• Any constitutional provisions related to it .

• you will have to understand the issue relating to the policy/scheme and make notes on pros and cons.

5.

Here, the issue is on the powers of AFSPA. A judgement has triggered this debate.

Hope you find the article helpful in reading the newspaper .
Happy reading .

Here’s a sneak-peek of what’s to be expected next on The First Firangis series.

The Anglo-Mysore wars

And here’s how you can help

Tell us what intrigued you about these 4 wars? Tell us if you wish to know about anything in particular – any trivia, any weird fact, a tact or diplomatic maneuver which made you curious to know more. Enlighten us & help us in a way to shape the next comic.

We are preparing a loooooong post and your contribution will help us shape the way we cover these 4 wars.

The bureaucrat returns with an emphatic answer as to why should you JOIN civil services.

There are several benefits in the civil services, which you can’t get in any other profession. It is upto you to focus your attention to the positive side of the civil services or at the negative side. There are still numerous reasons to join civil services in India despite all the liberalization and globalization. Let me narrate a few of those.

1:  Prestige

Imagine that you are passing on a road of a city like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or any major city of India and you see several vehicles passing by. There are expensive vehicles like Mercedes, BMW, or Jaguar and there is a Government vehicle of average type with red/blue light on its top with the name plate of the office/officer. Which vehicle people look at?

I am sure that most people look at the vehicle with red light. The traffic constables become alert on duty and may give a crisp salute to the officer sitting in the vehicle. A government vehicle is a sign of authority, which immediately attracts the attention of people. Similarly, a government officer immediately gets attention in big galaxies of important people.

Contrary to popular perception in urban India and media, the civil servants are highly respected by the people of India. It is because they serve people like no one else. Further, their selection process has always been transparent and fair. UPSC had always been above board for selection of candidates for top services.  A PM/CM can make anyone a Cabinet Minister, Supreme Court Collegium can make anyone a High Court or Supreme Court Judge; and anyone can be made the CEO/CMD of a company but nobody can make you an IAS, IPS or IRS officer except your own merit. Hence, people of India never doubt the ability of a civil servant. When you become part of any function of an organization, its prestige goes up and you become the central point of the function and get all the attention.

2: Power

A civil servant is the epitome of state power. You are not a government servant but the government itself. The laws may be passed by the Parliament, but are executed only through civil servants. We as IRS officers sign so many documents on behalf of President of India. Please remember that you exercise the power of the Government in India pertaining to your department. You have the authority to decide cases worth hundreds of crores and conduct search, seizure of arrest of the people who are breaking the law of the land. No wonder, the law breakers don’t want to mess with you and the law abiders look at you for taking on the law breakers. You have the original powers to implement the rule of law in this country. Only when you fail, others come into picture.

3. Job Security and Political Interference

If you are in a private sector job, you can be removed with one day notice. You are always at the mercy of the company and its top bosses. The service conditions of civil servants are determined by the Parliament and can’t be changed to his disadvantage. Their service is protected by Article 311 of the Indian Constitution according to which, he can’t be dismissed from service without an enquiry where he would be given opportunity to defend himself. He also has the option to approach the Courts, in case he has been treated unfairly. The promotion of a civil servant is not in the hands of politician, which is either time bound manner or based on seniority. The promotion committees are headed by UPSC Member/Chairman and hence you can expect utmost objectivity in promotion.  You don’t have to fear anyone, if you are on the right side of the law.

Fortunately the central services like IRS are fully insulated from political interference. I have never got any call from any politician in my 25 years of my career and there has been no political interference directly or indirectly ever. The reason can be attributed to the ‘Transfer Policy’ in our department. The postings upto the rank of Additional Commissioner are made by the Chief Commissioner (Within his Zone/State) or by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (All over India) manned by all IRS officials. Even for Commissioner and Chief Commissioner, it is the Placement Committee (PC) headed by The Chairman CBEC or CBDT proposes the names for the approval of FM. If a name is not proposed by PC, no order can be made.

Similarly for posting in sensitive intelligence/investigation originations like DRI and DGCEI, the names have to be proposed by the Director General for being considered for posting. Thus the CBEC/CBDT has a sort of veto power over transfer and postings of IRS officers. If you find it unbelievable, please read the policy yourself by visiting the link Page on cbec.gov.in

Unfortunately the situation is not same in States and the IAS/IPS/IFoS officers are posted usually by CM directly. I was told by one of my IPS colleagues that in his State, an SP can’t even transfer a constable without the approval of the Minister In-charge of the district. I hope that good sense will prevail and some day they will adopt the best practices of Government of India.

4: Decent Salaries and Excellent Perks

The salaries of the government officers have become very decent in recent years. When I joined IRS in 1991, my salary was around Rs 3500 pm only. Today in 2015 my salary is around Rs 1,50,000 pm viz. 43 times time more in less than 25 years . In addition, you also get free house, car, phone, medical, Leave Travel Concession, Children Education Allowance and pension. Most of the allowances are tax free.  You require at least Rs 50 lakhs of CTC to enjoy the same lifestyle in corporate.  Sometime, the rental value of your government accommodation itself may be much more than the CTC of several big corporate CEOs. Who can afford to stay in Lutyens Delhi bungalows on rent?

5: Work Life Balance

While it is common to hear the ply of the civil servants that they don’t have a good personal life, it is not absolutely true. Every government department has different types of postings. Some posts (like DM, SP) require long hours of work while several posts are such where you have to find work. The salaries in both the cases are exactly the same.

Hence, if you give priority to personal life, you can always request the government to give you such assignments, where you can have more free time for yourself and the family. I have, on several occasion, requested the government for such peaceful assignments as I wanted to devote some time to teach my children and I was always given such light assignements. You also get 2/3 years of fully paid study leave, using which I did my PhD on E-Governance from IIITM Gwalior while in service. You can choose to study abroad in top university of the world and the government may finance most of the expenses.

A female government officer gets additional 2 years of fully paid Child Care Leave to take care of their children, in addition to the maternity leave. Each government officer is also entitled to upto 5 years of Extra Ordinary Leave (Unpaid) for taking care of personals needs in addition to the 20 days of Half Pay Leave and 30 days of Earned leave every year besides 5 day a week work-schedule and numerous gazetted holidays. You have lots of flexibility to choose the postings according to your needs and temperament.

6: Job Satisfaction

You must remember that civil services is not an ordinary job where you work for an organization or for a person. You work for the country and its people. The revenue collected by an IRS officer is used for the benefit of the poorest and needy and for development of infrastructure and nation.

As a police officer, you control crime in the country and hence create an atmosphere for security, growth and prosperity.

As an IAS officer, you make and implement the developmental schemes for the growth of the nation. Your job is in the nature of social service. Many billionaires like Bill Gates, Azim Premji spend billions from their own pocket to get the satisfaction of doing the social work. You have the opportunity to do so while in service and you are even paid for it decently.

7: Freedom to Work

It may not be believable, but it is a fact that you have tremendous freedom to do your work as a government officer.  Each post in a government (SP, DM or Commissioner) is created and empowered by Parliament. Hence as far as you are on that chair, you have the full freedom to decide the things according to your judgment and discretion.

For example, as a revenue officer, if I get information of tax evasion and I am empowered by law to conduct search, seizure or arrest; no one can give me any direction to act or not to act. No senior officer or Minister can change the decisions taken by the appropriate legal authority without following the procedures provided by the law. For example if the order of Commissioner is wrong, you have to approach the Tribunal, High Court or Supreme Court to reverse the order. These agencies have tremendous freedom and they decide the legality of the action independently without any intervention from the government.

Even though media mostly highlights the conflicts between politicians and civil servants, in reality they work with each other without much problem. It is because the goal of civil servants and politician is one and the same. Politicians need good IAS and IPS officers who can help the state grow and become free from crime. When there is a problem, often both sides are responsible. You don’t even hear any conflict in states like MP, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and even in Bihar (in Nitish Kumar regime). Most of the states have no conflict at all between officers and politicians. Good politicians and good bureaucrats always work together harmoniously and help each other. The problem between them is more personal than professional, though it is always highlighted as professional problem and politicians are blamed for the mess.

8: Diversity of Jobs

The civil services provide tremendous diversity of jobs. If you are in IAS, you can virtually head any organization in India. As secretary, you can head different ministries of the government and also different public sector undertaking, educational and research institutions.

As an IRS (C&CE) officer you work in Customs, Excise, Service Tax, Narcotics, Training, Systems etc. You even work as advocate, when you are posted in Tribunals. You also work in intelligence agencies like DRI, DGCEI, CEIB, IB or RAW. All officers may get posting in Ministries and State/Central Government and work in the policy formation.

You can get posted to international organizations like WCO, UN, WHO, World Bank IMF etc.  You can take lien and become a professor or join an NGO or even start an NGO in public interest. You can write books, make films and do several other activities with the permission of government.

9: Widest Networking

The networks of civil servants are the widest in the country. As an IRS officer, my collogues are posted all over the country. We also have officers posted in several part of the world. I can call anyone and request them for any help or protocol. When you join a service, you join a family. You are like the new born baby, who is looked after by every elder of the family. You have to just request and your wishes may be fulfilled. As you grow older in service, your role is reversed and you take care of the young officers like your children.

There is also a brotherhood between all officers. I just have to pick up the phone and request my colleagues in IAS, IPS or others, and they will usually extend all types of help. Through your friends, you can approach anyone in the country, in case you need their help. The businessman, actors, leaders are all interested in networking with you, because you are always in positive to help others. It is you who have to restrict your network due to time constraints and due to its effect on performing your job professionally and impartially. Even when you retire, the network is not broken since your juniors remain in the service till almost the end of your life.

10: Post Retirement Jobs

A civil servant get the experience of the government as no one else can. It is often said in movies that an IAS (or IPS, IRS) officer can always choose to become a Minister but a Minister can’t become a civil servant. There is a great demand of such experience in the corporate, who have to deal several government departments, but they have no experience of dealing them. The retiree officers usually get very good job officers by corporate, if they choose to work later. Many of my colleagues, who have left IRS after 10-15 years of service to join corporate are getting salaries in Crores. You can even start your own consultancy firm and earn good money.  Since you learn how to run the government, you can also choose to join politics and become an effective Minister or even Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal, Ajit Jogi) or Prime Minister (Morarji Desai). You can also become Governor, CIC, CVC, CEC or UPSC/CAT/Tax Tribunal Member/Chairman after retirement.

Conclusion

It may be a good idea to join civil services like IAS,IPS, IFS,IRS or like, if you appreciate the value of the good things that government services have to offer. However, there is no free lunch in this world. Hence there is a price to be paid for getting the good things.

Remember the old Hindi Song “Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahi milta, Kabhi zamin to kabhi asman nahi milta” (No body gets a perfect world, sometime you don’t get the earth and sometime you don’t get the sky).

If you are willing to pay the price, civil services is still one of the best options to join in India.

This article was written by Awdhesh Singh, an IRS officer with the GOI. Ref: Quora

Most people join IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS or other civil services in India without knowing the full facts. You already know why you should join civil services. Yet most of you may not be aware of the negative sides of the civil services, which you will realize soon after you join. It is only fair that you should have the complete picture before you take a decision about your career.

Let me explain now why you should not join Civil Services in India.

1: No Recognition for Excellence

All civil servants get their promotions based on their seniority. Your destiny is fixed by your UPSC rank and what you do in next 30-38 years is hardly of any consequence as far as your career is concerned. Initially, when brilliant students join civil services, they work very hard to deliver results and change the system. However, soon they realize that there are several colleagues, who don’t work even half and get all the (legal) benefits as them. They also realize that the more you work, the more chances of you committing a mistake and more chances of punishment. Hence gradually they too become slow and practical.  I quote following lines which are quite popular among civil servants.

Bane Raho Pagla, Kam Karega Agla

Raho Hamesha Cool, Salary Paoge Full

Mat Lo Tension, Nahi to Family payegi Pension

(English translation)

(Pretend to be fool, your successor shall do the work

Always Remain Cool, You get full salary

Don’t take tension, Else your family will get pension)

2: Corruption

It is a fact that many people are attracted towards civil services due to the tales of corruption. They know some officers or they have heard about some officers who have made millions. They join the civil services to make lot of money illegally thinking that it is easy to do so. When they join these services, they discover that no money is available for the post. They have to do some illegal activity or allow the illegal things to go on to make money. When you do any illegal act, there is always a risk of getting caught even after you have demitted the office. Your reputation is 100% spoiled even if you are not caught. Even when you have somehow made a lot of illegal money, you don’t know how you use that money for you. You can’t build any asset or buy new cars and live the life of luxury, because you may face vigilance action or face CBI or Income Tax raid at your house, which can spoil your career forever. You may even end up in jail. Every year, dozens of top civil servants are arrested and put behind the bar. Hence, you can’t sleep properly once you have accumulated lots of ill-gotten money. You may also suffer many illnesses due to the mental tensions. Once you start doing illegal activities, you can never go back to your honest life because you will always be blackmailed by your superiors and juniors who know where you committed the illegal acts. Corruption is one way traffic, with no U-turn.

3: Frequent Transfers

People join civil services to occupy the prominent positions like DM, SP or Commissioners. They get all their recognition, perks and privileges (legal as well as illegal) only on these posts. However, they don’t know how long they can continue in these postings. I was posted on election duty in Paudi (Garhwal) in 2007. Among the other election observers was a lady IAS officer, whose husband was also an IAS officer of the same batch. Presently both husband and wife were in central deputation in Delhi. She told me that in last 14-15 years, she and her husband were never posted in the same station. They used to meet only when a meeting is called by the Commissioner or CM. Only when they came to Central Deputation, they are staying together. In Paudi I found that the DM and Commissioner were staying alone in their big-bungalows and their families were in Dehradun. Even SP and SDM were staying alone since their spouses were in IAS/IPS and they were posted in different stations. You must be ready to live alone, if you choose All India Services.

4: Frustration of Joining Central Services

I have already explained the problems of IAS and IPS. So you may be thinking that why not join IFS, IRS or other Central Services where you don’t have these problems of transfer/posting. You are right. Central services provide you best family lives but they don’t satisfy most people. Most people write civil services again and again to join IAS. I know a few people who got into IAS after 4-6 years of working in their other jobs as IPS, IRS etc. It is because, the type of recognition an IAS or IPS gets at such young age is unparallel in other services. They get the big bungalows, red-light cars and uniformed guards which are not available to other services. But once you join IAS, IPS, you face different types of problems.

5: Political Interference

Who does not know about political interference in India, particularly in IAS and IPS? Most of these officers have to have political godfathers. The politicians use them to get their work done and the officers use them to get their postings and also protect them in case of any problems.  Often you have to do illegal things to keep the bosses and politicians happy and thus you get trapped forever in their clutches. You can neither leave them nor live with them. There may not be much political interference in Central Services, but then they are also not helped by politicians when they need them.

6: Promotion or Demotion

While in other jobs, you gain importance as you get more and more experience. Unfortunately, it is just opposite in IAS, IPS. You are the most important person when you are SP or DM. Even the CM is directly in touch with you. This happens within just 3-5 years of your joining the cadre after training. However, as you get promoted to DIG, IG or Commissioner/Secretary, your importance declines. There are several dozen IG, ADG and even DG sitting in the state capital, and no one knows them. The IAS officers also become just a glorified babu when they become secretaries after promotion. Most people don’t even know that such posts exist in their cadre. The situation is different in Central Services where your importance rises with every promotion. But then central service officer don’t ever have that level of social adulation.

7: Poor Salaries

While the starting salaries of a civil servant are decent (around Rs 50,000), his growth of salary is just @ 3% per annum (plus the Dearness Allowance). The salary of the Chief Secretary is hardly Rs 1,80,000 pm (or Rs 1,35,000 after tax). The ratio of the peak salary to staring salary of an IAS officer is just four times. However, the story is quite different in corporate. For example, the Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka has been given an annual salary of USD5.08 million (over Rs. 30 crore) and USD2 million in stock options. Since the entry level salary of Infosys is around 3 lakhs per annum, the top man is paid more than 1000 times more salary than the entry level employee. In most of the corporate, the ratio is more than 100 times.

 No honest civil servant can ever afford to buy a decent house in a good locality in any Metropolitan city. The low salaries were earlier compensated by the liberal pension given by the Government which used to be revised after every pay commission. However, once the pension benefit is stopped, you don’t have  a back-up support after your retirement.

8: Long and Hard Preparation

While most people think that they can get into their choice service in their first attempt, the reality is quite different. The average age of IAS and other service is around 27-28 years. This means that an average entrant of a CSE spend around 6-7 years after his graduation to get into civil services. Still only 1 in 500 is able to get into Civil Services and 1 in 5000 gets into IAS (proper). Even most people, who are in IAS, fail to get the cadre of choice and 25% end up in cadres which they hate to go.

9: Poor Family Life

While the family life of central service officers like IRS may be normal, the life of IAS and IPS are quite challenging in the initial years when you are heading a district. Most of the districts in India are quite backwards with hardly a decent school for your children. You are working 12 hours a day and hardly have any time for family. You also make so many enemies, if you an honest officer and you family is always fearing about your safety and of their own.

10: Diminishing Social Relevance

In the pre-liberalized era, government officers were looked as the Mai-Baap for a common citizen of India. Their salaries were comparable with private sectors but their perks were far superior. They were playing leading roles in social development. Today, most of the space is filled with private sectors. Our Honorable PM Shri Narendra Modi once said, “I believe government has no business to do business. The focus should be on Minimum Government but Maximum Governance.”  Today a company like Infosys or TCS provides around 40000-50000 jobs each year while UPSC and PSC put together don’t appoint as many people.  The personal wealth of Mukesh Ambani is $20.8 billion (Rs 137280 Crores) which is more than the total tax collection of several states in a year. The value of top 10 companies in India is more than the total revenue of the Government of India and all State Governments put together. The Tata group alone has market capitalization of Rs 7,00,000 crores. It is also a fact that most Indians don’t like civil servants, who are perceived to be inefficient and corrupt. They are seen as hindrance to the growth of India rather than an instrument of growth.

PS: The purpose of this article is not to discourage to join Civil Services but to have the full picture of the civil services by highlighting the negative side of civil services which are hardly known to most of the entrants.

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This article was written by Awdhesh Singh, an IRS officer with the GOI. Ref: Quora

The word Bharath Darshan, becomes a motivating force for IAS aspirants. What happens during Bharath Darshan? Please read my experience.

It was first week of December 2004. Foundation Course got over at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie. Other than IAS, all other officer trainees (IFS,IPS,IRS,IRTS,IAAS etc) left to their respective training academies after Foundation Course at Mussoorie.

Phase 1 training for IAS got started. Our Course Coordinator came to the class and announced that we should leave LBSNAA within 2 days as ‘snow fall’ will start soon in Mussoorie and we should not be seen in Mussoorie for next 3 months. Hearing that, all of us were happy because the much awaited ‘Bharat Dharshan’ was about to start.

Our Course Coordinator announced that our batch of 90 IAS officer trainees was divided into 9 groups with 10 members in each group. Each Group will start in Mussoorie and end in Mussoorie after 3 months but had different travel routes. She also announced that each Group will have one member as a Group Leader who will coordinate the entire travel.

After the announcement we rushed to the notice boards to know about our travel plan. To my surprise(also everyone’s surprise), against my name the word ‘Group Leader’ was mentioned. I was surprised because I did not actively participate in any activity(cultural, sports, clubs etc etc  etc) during Foundation Course. I was internally happy, thinking that even without participating, maybe I had displayed some leadership qualities. When I was rejoicing internally but trying to put my face as if I was worried with this new burden of Group Leader, one of my batch mate (and close friend) looked at my face. Maybe he was a mind reader. He told, “Don’t think too much of yourself. In LBSNAA, Mussoorie, training is different. One who didn’t exhibit any leadership quality during Foundation Course, are made Group Leaders so that atleast in next three months during Bharat Dharshan, they start knowing the problems of being a leader and learn some techniques on how to manage a situation”. I was irritated hearing his blunt comment. I looked at the notice board again to see other Groups’ Group Leaders. None of the names I knew. Maybe all  were silent and non participants during Foundation Course like me. Realized that the blunt remark of my friend cum batch mate was a fact.

My Group’s first part of Bharat Dharshan was ‘Army Attachment’ in Kashmir. My Group consisted of 6 Male IAS officers and 4 Lady IAS Officers. All 10 of us landed in Srinagar Airport in a chilly cold 2nd week of December. An Army Officer who was made the liaison officer received us in Srinagar Airport and took us to an Army Camp. We had our night stay there and next day early morning we started our journey towards Kashmir Border. As we were moving in our Army Jeeps, we were mesmerized seeing the natural beauty of Kashmir. No words to describe. I realised why the girl Kashmir decided to remain single on 15th August 1947, when both India and Pakistan proposed to marry her. Maybe she was arrogant due to her extraordinary beauty.

After 6 hours of journey by road, we reached our destination. It was a Border Post and from there within few meters we could see few Pakistani Border posts. We stayed in bunkers for next 7 days. We interacted a lot with our Jawans. I had heard of snake bite, dog bite but first time in my life, I heard the word ‘snow bite’. Some of our Jawans lose their fingers because of snow bite. We  realized that to make our life comfortable, our jawans are sacrificing their lives. I saw an Army Jawan having Cricket Bat and Ball in the bunker. Asked him whether they play cricket in that snow laden mountain. He replied, “Sir, I got it from Srinagar when I went on official duty yesterday. Next week my leave which I get once in every 6 months is due. My son was asking cricket bat since long. So eagerly waiting for next week”. I could see his love for his son from his face. I could see the pain of separation from his son for past 6 months from his face. Till that point of time in my life, I always thought, Army people are like robots without feelings.

His reply made me to realise every Jawan in the border has a loving son or daughter waiting for him back home in some far away village. But some of them don’t return but ‘returned’ if they are caught in the shelling from the other side of the border. Realised that they are the people who really serve our mother land.

We landed in Delhi in the last week of December after our Army Attachment. Our next assignment was ‘NGO Attachment’. We were attached to a NGO called ‘MKSS, in Rajasthan. I called one Ms.Aruna who was the head of that NGO over phone and told her that we were proceeding on road from Delhi and may reach around 10 pm. She told our stay arrangements have already been made, and we can meet her next morning for breakfast. We reached MKSS around 10 pm. One person received us and we were taken to a hut.  He told that we can sleep there. There were only some wooden benches in the hut . We were taken aback. How can IAS officers sleep in wooden benches that too in a hut. We started grumbling.

Some of my group members commented that I was a useless Group Leader who didn’t communicate properly with MKSS. I told that MKSS person that we are IAS officers on training, thinking that he had mistaken us for some other group. But he replied that he already knew it and MKSS has only huts. There was no choice for us. We slept. Breeze was better. It was cool without Air Conditioners. We slept like logs after that hectic road journey. Realized huts are better than palatial bungalows.

Next day morning we were taken to a nearby hut for breakfast. The head of MKSS Ms.Aruna Roy welcomed us. She was sitting on the floor and we all of us were made to sit on the floor for breakfast. This time we were not grumbling because we got used to it and atleast breakfast was there because we were very very hungry. We introduced ourselves.

Once she started introducing about her, we became dumbstruck. She told that she was also an IAS officer and she resigned from IAS after few years of service and started MKSS.

She told that her batch mate was the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan at that point of time. She started telling about the suffering MKSS members underwent for fighting for ‘Right to Information'(RTI) in Rajasthan. First time we realised that India is built by so many good souls from different walks of life and we IAS think too much of ourselves.

After MKSS attachment we spent our next one week in visiting different places of Rajasthan. We were proud seeing the magnificient forts built by our Kings across Rajasthan. We also visited Chokidhani which was a small model village which depicted the life in Rajasthan. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Rajasthan.

Our next attachment was ‘Cooperative Society’ attachment with Amul.We took a train and got down in a station called ‘Anand’ in Gujarat. We reached Amul Guest House, refreshed ourselves and visited the factory. We were given presentation on ‘Milk revolution’ in India. We were told how Dr.Verghese Kurien started this concept of cooperative movement in dairy. After our lunch we were taken to the Conference Room for our meeting with ‘The Father of Milk Revolution’ Dr.Verghese Kurien. He gave a brilliant speech. He gave us the conceptual clarity on Cooperative Movement.

He narrated us on how he quit his lucrative job in Tata Steel and started experimenting cooperative movement for milk in Gujarat. He briefed us on the initial challenges he faced. We realised that he was a Great Great Human Being. But one thing we were told even before we left for Bharat Dharshan in Mussoorie was, Dr.Kurien doesn’t like IAS officers. So we were asked to be polite and talk as less as possible. However when Dr.Kurien’s speech was over and I was about to give  ‘Vote of Thanks’, one of my batch mate dropped the bomb shell. He asked, “Sir, we heard that you don’t like IAS officers. Why”.

Dr.Kurien’s face changed. There was a dead silence in the conference room for next few seconds. Then he replied, “What you heard is true. I don’t like IAS because you people are the final decision makers in our system but you people are ‘Jack of all but Master of none’. You people are posted in Agriculture one day, Defence next day, Science and Technology the third day and Education on fourth day in your career. Then how can you become an expert. I am not the most intelligent person on earth. But I became an expert in milk cooperatives because I am living with cows and milk for past 50 years”.

Once he completed this sentence, immediately I got up and started my ‘Vote of Thanks’ to avoid further discussion on that topic. We realized that what he said was 100% true. If Dr.Kurien would have joined civil service instead of spending years of his life with cows, milk today would have been a scarcity in India.

Our next 2 months were full of realizations. We visited Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Lakshadweep, Coimbatore, Chennai, Odisha and finally Delhi. Each place has several memories attached to it but if I start narrating maybe it will end up in several pages. In Odisha, we lived in a tribal village for a week without electricity. In Delhi, we met Mr.Sreedharan, the father of Metro Rail in India. Our Bharat Dharshan got culminated at Rashtrapathi Bhavan where we had a long discussion with the then President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. At the end of Bharat Dharshan, each one of us were different from what we were before our departure from Mussoorie. We could meet eminent souls who built our nation. We could realize the ‘Unity in Diversity’ of our nation. We could realize how beautiful India is and how great Indians are.  We could also realize how much sacrifice our Jawans are making at our borders for ensuring our safety and happiness within the borders.

During Bharat Darshan, we in the Group used to spend our travel time and leisure time in playing cards. Every evening(8 pm) after our day’s work got completed, our card games started. I remember even in the Dornier flight from Cochin to Lakshadweep, we were playing cards, up in the sky.We became experts in different card games. We used to even cheat in card games. Once caught, we used to fight like kids and not talk for next 2 days. Again we used to start our card games. At the end of Bharat Darshan, despite so many fights, we were the closest friends after reaching LBSNAA, Mussoorie. That bonding still continues. The reason may be because of the famous saying, ‘Known Devil is better than an Unknown Angel’.

Many IAS aspirants will always want to know how their dream job IAS would be. Let me narrate a real incident which will you give an idea, how a night of an IAS Officer could be.

A small error (later realised a big blunder)  on my part made me to face a cliffhanger night. The following incident which is one tensed night which I underwent when I was a SDO in Jhargram Subdivision in West Bengal.

Jhargram is a very old Subdivision in West Bengal. It borders with Jharkhand and is a very beautiful subdivision.Jhargram Subdivision is blessed with 2 rivers,one is called Kangsavathi river which flows in the northern part of subdivision and the second river called Subarnarekha river which flows in the southern part of Jhargram Subdivision. I was working as the Sub Divisional Officer of Jhargram Subdivision, West Midnapore District, in West Bengal.Jhargram Subdivision has 8 blocks (Block is an administrative unit.Many blocks together form a subdivision and many subdivisions together form a district). It was first week of July 2007. It was raining heavily for 3 consecutive days.Only 2 blocks of Jhargram Sub division(Nayagram Block and Binpur 1 Block) were flood prone. I was busy in sending relief material to these 2 affected blocks.Even though the remaining 6 blocks were partially affected,only these 2 blocks were historically and geographically flood prone and were drawing attention all these years.

It was around 9pm and I got a phone call from BDO( Block development Officer) of Sankrail Block.He told me that water level in Sankrail was increasing. Sankrail Block is located in the eastern most part of Jhargram Subdivision and even though River Subarnarekha flows through it, its drainage system is proper and historically no severe flood was reported from this Block.The BDO of Sankrail was an efficient officer but one problem i found with him on several occasions was , he always over reacted even for a small problem. So when he told that water level was raising, I started laughing and told him not to overreact and told that I was busy in sending food material to Nayagram and Binpur 1 Blocks. Boss is always right and so he had to keep the phone. Around 10 pm, District Magistrate called and reviewed the flood situation. Mr.B.P.Bharat was the District Magistrate & District Collector(DM) at that time and he was a friend, philosopher and guide to me.He used to protect me, whenever I, as a young officer fought with ruling party.He always used to tell that I was like his son and really took care of me.After reviewing the flood situation of 2 worst affected blocks,he told that he recieved a call from Sankrail BDO. I laughed and told him,”Sir, Sankrail BDO is like a child and over reacts for everything.Historically no flood is reported from Sankrail”. In bureaucracy precedents decide and I was a bureaucrat. Mr.Bharat laughed with me and he kept the phone.Then around 12 midnight, after planning for next day’s relief operations, I went to bed.

I was in deep sleep and I heard heavy knocking of door. I got up and saw the time was 2 30AM. I could hear the voice of my Bungalow peon. I opened the door and asked him what happened. He told that BDO Sankrail was on phone line.

Generally no one has the guts to disturb his officer at midnight unless the issue is really important. So I went to my Bungalow Office(Bungalow Office is attached to residence but has all communication facilities like phone, Computer, Fax etc and the officer can meet public during holidays). When I lifted the phone I could hear that BDO Sankrail was breathing heavily. He was stammering. He was almost crying. He told that around 10 villages had been marooned(Villages had become island- fully surrounded by flood water) and within next few hours those villages would be submerged totally.

First time, I realized that situation was grave and very dangerous. I asked him whether country boats (boats used for fishing by local population) can rescue the marooned villagers. He told that country boats could not go beyond a point because the current was heavy. BDO also told that the youth who went for rescuing in country boats could not go near the villages but could hear villagers crying for help that many were in trees because water level was increasing. So it sent a chill in my backbone. If people were in trees then any person with common sense would understand that within next 3 hours, these people would be submerged if water level increases. I asked him about water level. He told that still it was raising. I asked him not to worry and kept the phone even though I was thoroughly shaken inside.

Immediately after keeping the phone I dialed District Magistrate’s Bungalow Office. I could hear the beep sound which indicated that BSNL phone was dead due to maintenance in Midnapore town (as I did not have BSNL connection, my phone was alive). I then dialed his mobile but unfortunately his mobile was also BSNL connection. I redialled several times hoping suddenly it may ring. It didn’t ring.

I was sitting and smoking continuously without knowing what to do next. I saw my Bungalow Office clock showing 3AM. I thought to wait till 6 am and pass the message to DM through special messenger but again what DM could do. He could requisition army but army cantonment was located in Fort William in Kolkata and it would take at least 5 hours for the Army to reach Sankrail. So even if I sent a special messenger, he could reach DM’s Bungalow in Midnapore not before 4 30 am and so army can not reach before 10 am to Sankrail even if all paper formalities to requisition army were completed in 30 minutes time.

If rescue was not completed by 8 am, many would die. Therefore option of sending a special messenger to DM was ruled out.I was cursing myself for not taking BDO’s warning seriously.

I was smoking continuously and was totally helpless. Suddenly it struck me. An IAS probationer who was undergoing training in my Subdivision told me the previous day that she went to purchase some items at subsidised rate in Kalaikunda Airforce Canteen. Kalikunda is an airforce station located in a place called kalaikunda which was in my neighboring Sadr subdivision. But as per protocol, only DM could requisition Army. Another thing which worried me was, even if i broke the protocol whether Airforce would listen to SDO , as later they may have to face serious problems because defence rules are very stringent.

Another worry was, who would respond at 3AM. I thought for a minute and decided to take a chance. I took the telephone directory and found Kalaikunda Air force station’s number. I dialed and no one lifted.Again I tried. This time after several rings, a person asked who I was. I explained the grave situation. He told that it was 3 AM and he was just a telephone attendant and asked to call at 8AM. I again explained. Finally he transferred the call to next level in hierarchy. I explained to the next person. He was polite and transferred to some Wing Commander.

It was a surprise to me when I heard the voice of Wing Commander. I could make out from his voice that I awoke him when he was at deep sleep but he asked me politely what he could do for me. I told him the situation. He told that he will call me back after discussing with his seniors and got my telephone number. I thought Air Force door was closed because according to their rules they can be asked for help only by DM. So I thought he tried to avoid by telling that he wanted to discuss with seniors, which is a common practice in civil service to buy time without hurting the other party. So again I was back to square one without knowing what to do next. I started smoking another cigarette.

My telephone rang in another 5 minutes and wing commander told that “Station Commandant” of Kalaikunda Airforce Base would call me and kept the phone. Station Commandant is a very very senior person in defence hierarchy and was the senior most officer of airbase and I was very very junior in civil hierarchy. So I was surprised because hierarchy was inbuilt in my system. Another 2 minutes my telephone rang and I heard the friendly voice of Station Commandant. He asked me why I disturbed his sleep at 3 AM in a laughing tone. I explained him the situation. He told me not to worry.

From his voice, first time I felt in that night that people would be rescued. In a friendly but firm voice he told that he would start the rescue operation with motor boats immediately and with helicopters from 6 AM onwards. When I thanked him he said,” Young man, who are you to thank me. It’s my duty for my country”. It happened at 3 15 AM when in normal days I would have been in deep sleep and if any person would have asked for help at 3 AM, I would have kicked the telephone if not the person away. After few minutes of explaining the details of rescue operation he kept the phone. Around 4 15 AM, again my phone rang and Sankrail BDO was on the line. He told that IAF personnel had reached the spot with trucks loaded with speed boats.Around 6 AM I could see an helicopter flying.

I saluted the helicopter and Indian Air Force and it was a salute from my heart.

P.S. As usual my DM protected me for breaking the protocol.

Here are the 5 questions for IAS Mains 2015 challenge for the week. We have given a bit of initiation into why we chose these questions so that you have some idea before you attempt them all!

We have come across several instances of global floral and faunal pattern undergoing re-distribution. Combining it with the buzzword that is Climate Change makes a worthy combination to be there in the test!

#1. Anthropogenic factors have emerged as the largest contributor to the climate change which has accelerated the melting of the ice sheets across the globe. Discuss the ecological and environmental consequences of the disappearance of the major ice sheets from the face of the earth.

They have asked impact of globalization on elderly and with globalization and its impact on Indian society forming a topic from where challenging questions can be framed, this question might just serve that purpose. And remember whenever the examiner frames such questions he/she knows that candidates might just focus on the negatives, something which is common. Don’t fall for the trap! As they say, every coin has two sides!

#2. Debates on globalization have largely leaned towards its economic impact on countries side-lining its socio-cultural impact. Discuss how globalization has affected the socio-cultural milieu in India.

The trend shows that the questions from Modern India have been hitherto easy and common like INA or economic impact of British so here is another one in the same line.

#3. What caused a split among the ranks of Indian national Congress in the year 1907?

Classic questions from geography (using the names we have heard umpteen times) which everyone seems to know only to overshoot the world limit! But they say brevity pays!

#4. Discuss the modern theory(ies) of the origin of Indian monsoon.

#5(a). Explain the origin of ‘Deccan Traps.’
#5(b). Explain the formation of Atacama Desert.

While attempting Prelims 2015, many of you might have had this feeling of deja vu because there were some questions that were picked up word by word or were inspired by questions from previous examinations. Why no tropical cyclones in a particular region, national park with varied climate, Babur, Buddha, floating park.. all had been there in previous tests. So, I had requested them to provide me copy of previous years tests conducted by them and today I am picking up question from them. Enjoy the ride to the past, The Glorious Past!

#1. In which one of the following regions are the hurricanes apparently absent?

(a) Coast of Texas

(b) Gulf of Mexico

(c) South-eastern coast of USA

(d) South-eastern coast of Pacific

#2. Consider the following statements:

1. The continental shelves of Lakshadweep originated due to coral reefs.

2. The continental shelves of western coast are due to faulting and submergence.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

#3. The Dogger Bank, the main fishing area of Europe lies in

(a) Baltic Sea

(b) English Channel

(c) North Sea

(d) Norwegian Sea

#4. Consider the following statements:

1. Nokrek Biosphere Reserve contains tropical wet evergreen forest type of vegetation.

2. The River Pindar flows through Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

#5. Which one of the following pairs of cities have the largest annual average rainfall difference as compared to the other three pairs?

(a) Jabalpur and Nagpur

(b) Mumbai and Pune

(c) Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar

(d) Guwahati and Shillong

#6. Which one of the following is not required for the formation of photochemical smog?

(a) Oxygen

(b) Oxide of Nitrogen

(c) Carbon monoxide

(d) Sunlight

#7. On the banks of which river is the city of Kathmandu located?

(a) Arun

(b) Saptakosi

(c) Bagmati

(d) Sunkosi

Answer Key:

#1. (d)

#2. (c)

#3. (c)

#4. (c)

#5. (b)

#6. (c)

#7. (c)

For the last 8 months or so, we have been continuously providing daily current affairs in form of Newscards over our awesomely clutter free android app.

And every now and then a good product needs to reinvent itself and think of how to best serve its audience, AND THAT IS YOU!

YES, YOU! You right now sitting across the computer or a tiny miny mobile device, trying to make sense of the sudden onslaught of CAPSLOCK AND SENTENCES MAKING NO PRACTICAL sense. Kidding! Okay. Digression ends.

What is awesome?

Current affairs from the best sources in ONE SINGLE APP.

What is awesomer still?

The ability to revise static portion of GS syllabus while reading the current affairs. In the same APP!

This is what we were experimenting in the past few days. We believe that it is always good for an aspirant (new and old) to keep in touch with the basics. 

• You know about a scheme on congestion tax being thought by the delhi government – Good. You get to revisit the basic of congestion tax – Great!
• Government launches a scheme for financial turnaround of Power Distribution Companies – Good. You get to revisit the reasons why these companies are usually so stressed? – Great!
• Scientist develop a 3D printing method to produce embryonic stem cells? Good. But what is this 3D printing stuff? What else can I get to know in 2-3 points? That’s what we call going back 2 basics!

Let us know what you guys think? It is heartening to see that you guys are pitching in with relevant points and helping each other out with sincere questions/ answers.

A community is only as strong as its members and you guys make us wanna innovate more and more and more on content!

Keep the spirit going and yes, do do do RATE THE APP!

Picking up an important question from our last pop quiz on Ethics – GS Paper4. Since no one attempted this question, I would like you to give it another chance.

I wish to bring forth an interesting set of dilemma and theory on the Paper 4 via this question. Do give it a shot.

#2. You are first lieutenant in a military organisation. You report to captain who in turn reports to Major. You share positive working relation with both.

In your office there arises vacancy of a supervisor. In this regard both of your officers encourage you to appoint a particular person from other department. However you are not impressed with that person and found that person unsuitable for the post. In-spite of this you decided to trust your seniors and appoint him.

After one month it is clear to you that your judgement was correct that this person is not competitive enough. Although given time he can improve and develop his skills.

However very soon situation has become very complicated New supervisor has developed misunderstanding with the Captain and now the Major and the Captain are sending conflicting signals. Captain suggests that you immediately transfer supervisor during his probation period while Major urged you to write an early highly positive evaluation for him even before prescribed three months.

Q1. Examine the major issues involved.

Q2. Trace your course of action.

While we renew our pitch to join  NSG, the crash in Sinai exposes the vulnerabilities that we have to live with! Here is set 6 for you to brush up on current affairs with a little bit of geography thrown in.

#1. Despite substantial thorium reserves, Indian Nuclear Programme is largely uranium-centric because

(a) thorium cannot sustain a chain reaction on its own unlike uranium

(b) India wants to preserve its thorium reserves for future exigencies

(c) energy efficiency in thorium based reactors is much less compared to uranium based reactors

(d) thorium based reactors are known to be more prone to meltdown compared to uranium based reactors

#2. Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation. Which of the following is/are among the member countries of NSG?

1. Ireland

2. Mongolia

3. Japan

4. Norway

Select the correct alternative using the codes given below.

(a) 2, 3 and 4 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 1, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

#3. In case of India, the monetary policy of the country is decided by the

(a) the chief of the central bank in consultation with a committee headed by a government representative

(b) the Central government in consultation with the central bank

(c) the chief of the central bank advised by a technical committee

(d) the Central government in consultation with State Finance Ministries

#4. Consider the following statements:

1. The first Indi-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) was held in Addis Ababa.

2. The theme of the recently concluded IAFS was ‘Partnering the Resourceful Africa’.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

#5. Sinai Peninsula, recently in news, is a region in

(a) Southern Africa

(b) North-Western Africa

(c) Central Africa

(d) North-Eastern Africa

#6. Wassenaar Arrangement is a term generally used in connection with

(a) bilateral trade agreements between regional groupings

(b) control of use of chemical agents in war-torn regions

(c) arresting the trade in parts of endangered wildlife

(d) export control for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies

#7. Which of the following pairs is/are not correctly matched?

1. Garhjat Hills : Western India

2. Mikir Hills : North-Eastern India

3.  Mahadeo Hills : Central India

4. Satmala Hills : Eastern India

Select the correct alternative using the codes given below.

(a) 2 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 1 and 4 only

(d) 3 and 4 only

Answer Key:

#1. (a)

#2. (c)

#3. (c)

#4. (d)

#5. (d)

#6. (d)

#7. (c)

With special focus on GS3, here are the questions to solve for today. Model answers will be made available tomorrow.

#1. Write a note on Green India Mission with special emphasis on its goals and current status.

The National Mission for Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It aims at protecting; restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.

Try to consolidate your answer and keep it to the point. Do not start explaining the concept and waste words on that.

#2. (a) What is ‘DigiLocker’? Discuss its utility.
#2. (b) What is ‘Could Computing’? Identify its benefits.

Factual question. Should be an easy answer. Try putting in some government of india centric points on how this can be extended to enhance participation, reach etc.

#3. ‘Cyberspace has emerged as the biggest challenge to the national security’. Comment.

Start your answer with an India centric viewpoint. Use a popular case (example) to establish your theory.

#4. Discuss the environmental impact of constructing dams in Himalayan region and suggest the mitigating strategies.

#5. Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of the disasters/ As an administrator what steps shall you initiate to mitigate impact of flooding in the coastal and island territories of the country.