Red Cross - Think before you use that symbol

The emblem of the International Red Cross is “The Red Cross on White Background.” This originated in the 1864 Geneva Convention. It is also known as the Geneva Cross. This is inscribed on humanitarian and medical vehicles and buildings to protect them from military attack on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, we are using the Red Cross emblem wherever we like. Our paramedical personnel and even chemists use it. It is a gross violation and punishable as per the existing laws of the nation. Most of us are not even aware of this.

The common symbol to denote medical services is the caduceus, a figure that comprises a short staff rod with two serpents curled around it, sometimes surmounted by wings. It is the staff of Aesculapius, the ancient mythological god of medicine. Let us use this symbol and stop using the Red Cross symbol.

R. Anandakumar, the Collector of Erode, who put his child in a government school

This month when schools across Tamil Nadu reopened after summer vacation, a school in Erode created a bit of stir. Enrolled in the school, it turned out, was a six-year-old girl called Gopika, whose father happens to be the district collector, R. Anandakumar. The Tamil-medium Panchayat Union primary school has no other child of a government official and, reportedly, even teachers prefer to send their children elsewhere — as it is their legitimate right to do, to enrol their children where they think their life chances are better served. Anandakumar’s decision to send his daughter to the panchayat school is, instead, a reminder of the need for the privileged and well-connected to be invested in state schools and to narrow the gap, both perceived and very real, with private schools.

A seemingly stray development after Gopika’s enrolment is revealing. When news spread that the collector’s child was a student there, officials of the panchayat visited the school to recce the facilities. Education is central to the promise of equality of opportunity, a crucial part of the essential contract of our Constitution. This contract has been dishonoured in many ways. In ways that curriculums have been framed, for instance, so that state schools have been denied a beneficially multilingual mix, in the name of protecting local languages. Yet when in such a policy framework when children of those who make and implement the policy are sent to private schools, mostly English-medium, it raises questions about sensitivity to aspirations. And as the Erode case shows, how facilities are checked when a child of a somebody enlists in state-run schools, the message is also reinforced that when the elites opt out of common schools, the responsibility to maintain them too is often abdicated.

UPSC to divulge Civil Services selection under RTI

The Supreme Court has asked the UPSC to reveal details of civil services selection process for those who seek it under the Right to Information.

UPSC had been resisting demands for divulging the selection process, including scaling system and cut-off marks, despite orders by the Central Information Commission and Delhi high court. The legal battle between UPSC and civil services aspirants finally came to an end in November 2010 when a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha asked UPSC to withdraw its petition and provide information to students.

Students have been fighting for transparency in civil services examination since 2006, when results for UPSC preliminary examinations were declared. Several students, who had not qualified, filed RTI applications with UPSC seeking information on raw marks and cut-off marks in subjects, the scaling procedure and model answers for different questions in subjects.

The main contention of the students was that the level of difficulty of papers in 23 optional subjects did not match. The students also felt that UPSC did not have a fair scaling procedure to match the performance of examinees who had opted for different subjects.

However, UPSC argued that revealing model answers or cut-off marks would benefit private coaching institutes, which would field dummy candidates and crack the system. When aspirants approached CIC, the commission directed UPSC on November 13, 2006, to divulge all information. But UPSC challenged this order in the Delhi high court.

Later it moved the Supreme Court through a special leave petition. The matter came up for final judgment on November 18, 2010. The bench observed that UPSC examination system would change from 2011 and it should not have any reservations about divulging its old selection process. UPSC would now have to divulge details to the students in a month.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said: "The Supreme Court observed that a new examination system would be in place in 2011 so UPSC's plea that its system would be compromised does not stand. UPSC was asked to withdraw the petition. Now it would have to divulge details to the civil services aspirants."

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Previous Year's Question Paper - Civil Services (Main) Exam, 2010

Civil Services (Main) Exam, 2010
Essay
General Studies	Paper I
	Paper II
English Language (Compulsory)
Indian Languages (Compulsory)
Assamese	Bengali
Bodo	Dogri
Gujarati	Hindi
Kannada	Kashmiri
Konkani	Maithili
Malayalam	Manipuri
Marathi	Nepali
Oriya	Punjabi
Sanskrit	Santali
Sindhi (Arabic)	Sindhi (Devnagiri)
Tamil	Telugu
Urdu
Optional Subjects for Main Examination
Agriculture Paper I	Agriculture Paper II
Animal Husbandary & Veterinary Science Paper I	Animal Husbandary & Veterinary Science Paper II
Anthropology Paper I	Anthropology Paper II
Botony Paper I	Botony Paper II
Chemistry Paper I	Chemistry Paper II
Civil Engineering Paper I	Civil Engineering Paper II
Commerce & Accountancy Paper I	Commerce & Accountancy Paper II
Economics Paper I	Economics Paper II
Electrical Engineering Paper I	Electrical Engineering Paper II
Geography Paper I	Geography Paper II
Geology Paper I	Geology Paper II
History Paper I	History Paper II
Law Paper I	Law Paper II
Management Paper I	Management Paper II
Mathematics Paper I	Mathematics Paper II
Mechanical Engineering Paper I	Mechanical Engineering Paper II
Medical Science Paper I	Medical Science Paper II
Philosphy Paper I	Philosphy Paper II
Physics Paper I	Physics Paper II
Political Science & Internation Relations Paper I	Political Science & Internation Relations Paper II
Psychology Paper I	Psychology Paper II
Public Administration Paper I	Public Administration Paper II
Sociology Paper I	Sociology Paper II
Statistics Paper I	Statistics Paper II
Zoology Paper I	Zoology Paper II
Literature Subjects for Main Examination
Arabic Paper I	Arabic Paper II
Assamese Paper I	Assamese Paper II
Bengali Paper I	Bengali Paper II
Bodo Paper I	Bodo Paper II
Dogri Paper I	Dogri Paper II
English Paper I	English Paper II
French Paper I	French Paper II
German Paper I	German Paper II
Gujarati Paper I	Gujarati Paper II
Hindi Paper I	Hindi Paper II
Kannada Paper I	Kannada Paper II
Manipuri Paper I	Manipuri Paper II
Maithili Paper I	Maithili Paper II
Malayalam Paper I	Malayalam Paper II
Marathi Paper I	Marathi Paper II
Oriya Paper I	Oriya Paper II
Pali Paper I	Pali Paper II
Persian Paper I	Persian Paper II
Punjabi Paper I	Punjabi Paper II
Sanskrit Paper I	Sanskrit Paper II
Santali Paper I	Santali Paper II
Sindhi (Arabic) Paper I	Sindhi (Arabic) Paper II
Sindhi (Devanagiri) Paper I	Sindhi (Devanagiri) Paper II
Tamil Paper I	Tamil Paper II
Telugu Paper I	Telugu Paper II
Urdu Paper I	Urdu Paper II

Now, UPSC hopefuls can give interview in mother tongue

In a relief to thousands of civil service aspirants, candidates for the Union Public Service Commission main examination can now give their personality test interview in a language different from the one they choose for the written paper. English will no longer be the mandatory medium for the interview, even if the examination is written in that language.

In a nation where joining the civil services is still considered a big deal, more than 4.8 lakh students appeared for the preliminary UPSC examination this year. The results are expected around August after which the main examination is likely to be held at the year end, in which the candidates' list is expected to be whittled down to approximately 13,000. The list of vacancies would be a fraction at about 1,000 going by the 2010 figures where only the most deserving will get selected. But starting next year, the personality test interviews will be much easier and a relaxed affair. They can even give the test in their mother tongue, if it figures in one of the languages in the eighth schedule.

UPSC under secretary M Mukhopadhyay on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court of the far-reaching recommendations made by an expert committee and accepted by the commission. Accordingly, candidates who opt for an Indian language (other than Hindi) for the written part of the exam will be allowed to choose the same language or English or Hindi as the medium for the interview. Similarly, the UPSC affidavit submitted by its counsel, Rui Rodrigues, also said that from now on, "candidates opting to write the civil services (main) paper in English may be given the option to be interviewed either in English or Hindi or any other Indian language opted by them for the compulsory Indian language paper in the written part".

However, those candidates who are exempt from the compulsory Indian language paper will have to appear for the interview in English or Hindi only. The decision is a step in ruling out injustice and towards creating a level playing field for scores of candidates across India since English is not a native language and regional languages are the primary medium of instruction in scores of schools.

The expert committee headed by professor B B Bhattacharya, ex-vice chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehry University, was set up after Chittranjan Kumar, a 2008 candidate, had filed a public interest litigaton last year questioning what he said was an "existing draconian" rule that required a person writing the UPSC exam in English to also take the interview in the same language.

On Thursday, after taking the commission's affidavit on record and approving its action, the HC bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice G S Godbole disposed of the PIL. The department of personal training of the Indian government has been informed of the changes and soon the detailed application form for the civil services (main) examination will be appropriately modified to ease things for candidates who come from a cross-section of India's varied socio-economic sector determined to crack the civil services code.

The PIL had questioned the fairness of continuing with English as the language for the interview when what was being tested was his or her personality not language skills.

Tips and Books for Civil Services Prelims GS (General Studies)

Following are some of the tips and books which you can follow on your convenience for different sections:



History

The areas to be covered are the history from ancient to modern period. The basic understanding can be obtained from below 10th NCERT books. The focus should be on modern Indian history, which is covered in the mains. The basic knowledge in Ancient India and Medieval India is sufficient.

The NCERT books (Class XI and XII) are good enough for the purpose.
You can refer following books
• Ancient India , NCERT Class XI
• Medieval India , NCERT Class XI
• Modern India , NCERT Class XII
• Modern India, Spectrum publications



Polity

The Constitution and various related aspects should be done well. Some articles and facts should be memorised. It is better to prepare this area well since it will be helpful in mains and interview.
The Indian Polity by Lakshmikanth and NCERT books are sufficient. Also refer, DD Basu.



Geography

For Indian Geography

• Physical Geography of India, NCERT Class XI
• Land and People, NCERT Class XI

For World Geography

• General Studies Manual by TMH or Spectrum Publications.

For Both Indian and World Geography, follow Prelims issues by Civil Services Chronicle Magazine or Competition Wizard Magazine.


Economy

The basic concepts are being asked along with current affairs based questions. The basic clarity can be obtained from the standard books. The current affairs can be studied from Economic Survey and the newspapers.
Suggested Reading:
• Economic Survey
• Dutt & Sundaram or Mishra & Puri or IC Dhingra


Sciences

Some times the questions are asked very difficult that even science students find it difficult to answer. But the preparation should be in such a way that all the basic questions can be done correctly. The questions are also asked in applications orientation.
Suggested Reading:
• Science and Technology, NCERT Class IX & X
• What, Why & How books by CSIR.


Current affairs

This has become a very important component. The notes should be focused on the factual aspects that come in the news. Many questions are asked from this area, so prepare thoroughly. The efforts will be useful for all stages of the exam. It should become a part of your daily routine.

Suggested Reading:
• The Hindu News paper
• Frontline Magazine
• Yojana Magazine
• Competition Wizard or Spectrum Issue on Current Affairs – This is just to make sure that you have covered all the current affairs issues in News Paper.