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Vaibhav Nimbalkar , IPS

By
Syskool
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11



Q. Did you start early, since when you were motivated to be an IAS officer?

Ans: I was motivated during the vacations after 10+2 & thus, chose to go for BSc instead of Engg in spite of good marks.
I studied Mathematics keeping in mind as my 1st opt. but later on dropped it. Therefore, I actually started preparing only after my grad. i.e. in June 2007.


Q. Is there any significant event that motivated you to join civil services?

Ans: I participated in Tsunami Relief & Rehabilitation Camp in 2004-05 with an NGO in Pune named ‘Chanakya Mandal’ run by an Ex-IAS officer. Earlier, I got motivated seeing him around but the camp taught me a lot about ground realities w.r.t. governance in India. I realized how the Volunteer Spirit would do miracles if assisted by the powers of an IAS.

Q. Please tell us about your family background?

Ans: We are a four-member family. My father is an Admin.Officer in New India Assurance Co.Ltd. My mother is the house-minister & My younger sister is a film-actress. It’s all because of the unconditional familial support I’m here.

Q. For how many years you have been preparing for this examination?

Ans: I started preparing exactly after my grad. i.e. from June 2007.

Q. How did you choose you optional?

Ans: W.r.t. 5 criteria-
1. Interest/Liking in the subject,
2. Grasp & scoring ability,
3. Syllabus,
4. Good coaching &/or material available, and
5. Previous years’ question papers.

I took 5 months to decide my 1st optional. (I decided to go for Socio as 1st opt. in Sept.2007!)

Q. Being through in the first attempt, what was your recipe for success?

Ans: I believe in originality & honesty i.e. originality of thoughts in answers & honesty in my studies. Besides, I never got myself bogged down by newer material flowing in the market. I remained faithful to the standard sources only & applied my own mind & logic while writing the answers. Moreover, adapting yourself to the changing patterns/trends of UPSC is a must!

Q. What was your strategy for prelims?

Ans: Prelims is a ‘screening test’ & not scoring test. I got myself assured of 90+ correct ans in optional & 70+ correct in GS. Revision is the key for GS. I did at least 5 revisions each of opt & GS. Previous years’ quetions gave me correct direction. Besides, I practiced solving some papers for inculcating the pre-decided strategy (e.g. how many questions to attempt; which section to tackle first/last in the exam, etc.)

Q. What was your strategy for Mains?

Ans: ‘Thought process’ helped me a lot! I used to think of point-form ans in my mind (in lean time) which I used to write down again while practicing ans. Here too, I consciously adopted the ‘originality’ in my answers. e.g. I did not write a single sentence ‘as it is’ from my class-notes, instead I wrote the answer. only after applying my mind on it, in the MAINS. Besides, a regular study of 10-12 hours (Reading+Contemplation+Writing) is mandatory!

Q. What is your view on Coaching Institutes? Did you join any or referred to their notes? Please tell us about the role of coaching institutes in your success.

Ans: Coaching institutes play the role of a compass. Some good ones can play a crucial role if a person is stuck with basic difficulties in the subject. In my case, I had no background of any of my optionals, hence I preferred joining good coaching for both considering the paucity of time too. But beware of many fake ones running around/mushrooming!
I’d joined- Sociology- Upendra Gaur (UIAS-Delhi); Marathi Litt- Pravin Chavan (Pune); GS- Jnana Prabodhini (Pune).

Q. How did you prepare for Interview? Is there any contribution of the Internet especially this community in it?

Ans: I referred to standard sources like newspaper (Indian Express), Magazines (South Asia politics, Eco-Pol Weekly, The Economist, et al.) I practised communication & presentation skills (being an instructor in Basic Courses in Jeevanvidya Mission helped me a lot!); gave at least 4-5 mock interviews. I used internet especially the Wikipedia a lot! Our interview preparation community helped me think of newer aspects of a single issue.

Q. What was your backup plan in case you failed?

Ans: None. I’m a die-hard optimist! I don’t like to divide my energy with different career plans. Maybe a sound financial background supported my determination. BUT I’d suggest civil services aspirants to have at least one backup plan at least after the second (failed) attempt!

Q. Did you appear for any State PSCs as well? If, yes, of which states? Please tell us about your experience with the State PSCs. Is this option a good backup in case you fail in CSE?

Ans: State PSCs are far below an aim! I always aimed high & that helped me strive relentlessly. Besides, honest preparation of UPSC itself increased my potential & stamina too! I still reckon that this is all subjective w.r.t. everyone’s individual capacities & likings.

Q. What is your opinion about necessity of going to Delhi for CSE preparation?

Ans: Going to Delhi has certainly become a fad! I too went to Delhi but I had a crystal clear plan & vision in my mind. I went there for Sociology & did only that! Nothing else. Besides, Delhi has its own benefits & disadvantages too! One should actually sit down & ponder upon what he/she really needs from Delhi & what Delhi actually offers to you. Research the concerned institute(s) well, ask the seniors, meet the concerned teachers before joining it. But, if you can do better on your own & have a good start with the subject, then no need to join any coaching.

Q. Tell us about the books you referred for 1) GS, 2) Sociology and 3) Marathi Literature.

Ans: For GS-
History – Spectrum (Modern India),
Polity – Wizard, NCERT-Indian Consti. at work,
Economy – Eco. survey, 11th std. NCERT, Chronicle mag. for current Eco. affairs,
Geography – NCERTs (8th-12th std.), Atlas,
Sci.- NCERTs (having a sci background, i need not do much herein),
Mental Ability- Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Agrawal,
Statistics – My own B.Sc. books,
Current Events – Newspaper (Indian Express), Chronicle mag.

For Sociology –
TB Bottomore (first 80 pages),
Ritzer &/or Coser (Thinkers),
Haralambos,
Mandelbaum (optional),
Social Movements in India – MSA Rao,
Bipan Chandra or Sumeet Sarkar,
SC Dubey- Social change,
Yogendra Singh- Modernisation of Indian Tradition, Social change, Social change & stratification,
MN Shriniwas- Caste-Its 20th centuary avatar,
Nadeem Husnain- Tribal India,
Madan & Muzumdar- Intro. to Social Anthropology,
Population Studies- Bhende & Kanitkar
Horton & Hunt- Sociology (for basic understanding & chapter on ‘Common sense & Sociology’),
Robert Stern- Changing India,
BA IGNOU Notes (Prelims only),
MA IGNOU Notes (Mains only),
Oxford + Scott Sociology Dictionaries,
Any authentic guide for ready reference (Unique Public or MP Singh-Jawahar Public)

Newspaper – Social issues (facts & other data).

For Marathi Litt. –
Class notes of Pravin Chavan sir,
Pradakshina 1 & 2,
Prescribed texts for paper 2,
Weekly published Book Reviews in newspapers
& some ‘other’ countless books for extra inputs!

Q. Tell us about the magazines and newspapers you read and how much time did you devote to it daily.

Ans: Newspapers- Indian Express; Hindu(1st page & International issues only).
Magazines- Chronicle, Wizard (Select Articles- for Essay prep.n only), The Economist, South Asia Politics, et al.
I devoted an hour & half daily for both combined together.

Q. How did you manage time during preparation? Can you give a glimpse of your daily and monthly schedule? For how many hours did you study?

Ans: I’m a creative kind of a person. I never followed a pre-set schedule! Still, i made sure that I study for at least 8-10 hours a day on an average. I even went for some good art movies & dramas every alternate week as I love them.

Q. Tell us about your hobbies and how were you able to integrate them to your preparation.

Ans: I’m a follower of Jeevanvidya Philosophy. I do take part in its various social welfare activities, spreading the knowledge of Jeevanvidya across villages, towns & cities. This has tremendously helped me mentally, physically & spiritually too! A tenet of Jeevanvidya says ‘Love work honestly, bless all sincerely & you’ll be blessed by God according to Laws of Nature’. I’m following this philosophy & getting good benefits out of it. In a nutshell, it has become the oxygen of my life!

Q. Sum up your tryst with UPSC in a couple of lines.

Ans: I’m grateful to UPSC for helping me find my own unknown potentials throughout this preparation & thereby helping me know myself better! With all the loopholes prevalent in the system, it’s still a service worth putting your life for!

Q. Give a small motivational message to the community especially the newcomers.

Ans: ‘Love your work honestly, Bless all sincerely & you’ll be blessed by God according to laws of nature.’ Always remember that ‘You are the Architect of your destiny!’ A universal prayer has helped me keep myself positively charged always, it’ll help you too! All the very best!

Koya Sree Harsha IAS Rank 6 – A Must Read Strategy

By
Syskool
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0
koya sree harsha ias

Koya Sree Harsha secured 6th rank in IAS Exam in his first attempt. He completed his Production and Industrial Engineering from NIT Jamshedpur in 2012. Before preparing for the exam Koya Sree Sarsha worked for four years in Hyderabad. After quitting his job in 2016 he went to Delhi for preparation and secured Rank 6 in CSE 2017.

Selection of Optional

Koya Sree Harsha opted Anthropology and scored 330 marks out of 500 which played a major role in improving rank.

Before choosing Anthropology, he skimmed through various subjects viz. History, Geography, Political Science and Telugu literature. At last, he shortlisted Anthropology and Sociology; and based on marking trend and repetition of questions he opted Anthropology.

  • Go for your interest
  • Read the syllabus
  • See availability of the study material in the market
  • Check for the guidance or mentor and Test series availability
  • Go through the previous years’ trends of the marking scheme
  • Talk to seniors who cleared this exam in previous years with the opted subject

Time Management

Koya Sree Harsha suggests to start preparation as early as possible ideally in June and give 4 Months to reading and notes making of Optional subject so aspirant can revise it in short time.

Reading Current Affairs

  • Koya Sree Harsha read Indian Express and The Hindu. According to Harsha, “The Hindu was more of left ideology so to balance the arguments the opted Indian Express”.
  • Make notes of issues (not complete fact)
  • Keep revising current affairs from current affairs digests and keep it on your fingertip, current affairs are important

Practice Tests

  • Start giving test series in February, test practice is key
  • After attempting practice tests, analyse your wrong attempts, guess attempts and also correct responses. Give time to the analysis of the answer.
  • Identify your strength and weaknesses, and practice more.
  • Attempt different test series from different institutes, don’t depend on only one test series.
  • Koya Sree Harsha attempted total around 80 tests, and he spends 3-4 hours in analysing answers.
  • Give 40-42 tests in a span of two months, it will give you insight. Knowing your weakness and working on it is only the aim of practice paper.

GS Mains Preparation by Koya Sree Harsha

Koya Sree Harsha scored 962 in GS Mains, he scored 3rd Highest among all candidates appeared that year.

Marks Scored by koya sree harsha in GS papers of mains exam:

  • GS I – 120
  • GS II – 122
  • GS III – 146
  • GS IV – 102

Try to finish your answer in 8-10 minutes. Don’t write too much information, write direct answers within the word limit. Don’t try to fill all the pages end to end.

Answers must be well-structures having an introduction, and a decent conclusion with an optimistic approach. Practice introduction and conclusion writing.

for GS-I’s Indian History part Koya Sree Harsha suggests Spectrum’s Modern India. He suggests writing about the political, social situation and contemporary situation while answering history questions.

He referred to Vajiram’s notes, and Selective reading of Nitin Singhania for Art and Culture part.

For GS-II’s Polity and Governance part, Koya Sree Harsha read The Hindu, Indian Express, Vision’s CA notes, Laxmikanth, and Vajiram’s notes. While writing answers of GS-II, he started with writing a simple definition of keywords, also included constitution articles, supreme court’ judgement, report of commission/committee etc if possible based on the scope of the question. And most importantly try to link answer to current events.

He referred to NCERT and GC Leong are enough for Geography. Kept India and world map on the table. Try to draw map while answering Geography questions.

Write the answer in the context of current affairs, try to connect the issue to possible current affairs issue whenever possible.

Don’t leave any question unattempted. Answers should be pro-poor and pro-government.

Naga IAS officer builds 100-km road in Manipur without govt help!

By
Syskool
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1

Naga IAS officer builds 100-km road in Manipur without govt help!

Villagers of Manipur’s Tousem sub-division in Tamenglong district are a busy lot these days. At least 150 of them on a daily basis are clearing away a thicket with their machetes and daos. Some are lugging away heavy branches of recently felled trees; and others are operating bulldozers and earthmovers to give themselves the “best Christmas gift ever”.

Theirs is one of the remotest corners in the country, where the India shining story has not yet reached; but the villagers are part of modern India’s most ambitious road project embarked upon by one man, a young Naga IAS officer, without any funding from the government.

A 2005 graduate from St Stephen’s College in Delhi, Armstrong Pame is the sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, his home district, and the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe. He has, of his own volition, begun the construction of a 100-km road that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam. Incidentally, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 101 crore in 1982 for the construction of this road, but for some unknown reason the project never took off. “Last December, then Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Manipur and asked what happened to the road.

The state government declared that it would be ‘done soon’, but nothing moved on the ground. Then in June-July this year, there was an outbreak of tropical diseases like typhoid and malaria. It takes two days for anyone in the village to make it to the nearest hospital on foot in the absence of a motorable road. Hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers, but very few made it to the town alive.

Also, town doctors were unwilling to come to the village because of its inaccessible terrain,” Pame told TOI over phone from Tamenglong.

Perplexed and frustrated with the situation, the officer decided to reach out to doctors in his friend circle. A woman friend agreed, and Pame promised to sponsor her stay. “She treated over 500 patients and conducted quite a few minor surgeries. Many lives were saved in this way; but I realized how perilously poised the situation was in the absence of a road. That was the catalyst,” Pame said.

To construct an all-weather, motorable road in an area untouched by the progress made by Independent India in the last six decades was an uphill task. And with no help coming from the government, Pame turned to his family and well-wishers.

“Armstrong and I grew up in a village in Tousem amid a lot of hardships. Our father was a schoolteacher and had a limited income. We used to walk down to the district headquarters—about 60km away—and carry 25 kilos of rice back home. It used to take us four days to go and come back and the rations used to last for two weeks. When we came to Delhi for higher studies, we would survive on biscuits for days without enough money to buy food. The remoteness of our village ruined its economy; and we knew that unless there was a road, there would be no development. So, when Armstrong proposed to undertake the venture, we all threw our lot with him,” said Jeremiah Pame, an assistant professor at the Delhi University and elder brother of Armstrong.

“My wife and I donated our one month’s salary, Armstrong paid five months’ of his, and our mother paid our dad’s one month’s pension of Rs 5,000. Our youngest brother, Lungtuabui, recently started working. He donated his entire first month’s pay for the project,” he added.

The family together pooled Rs 4 lakh to start the project. They hired a bulldozer and bought two earthmovers. “But it was not enough; we needed more. So, we turned to Facebook. We created a page, seeking donations, and the response has been overwhelming. In the last three days, we have received Rs 1.2 lakh from friends all over the globe, with contributions varying from Rs 50 to $1000. And they are willing to contribute more,” the young bureaucrat said. “The villagers, too, have contributed as per their capabilities: some are providing food and accommodation for the workers; some are supplying fuel for the earthmovers. They have also provided manpower for the project. We did not have to engage a contractor with so many people volunteering to shoulder that responsibility,” he added.

Donation centres have been set up in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Shillong and Dimapur and NRIs from Canada, USA and the UK have been sending their contributions for the project christened as Tamenglong-Haflong Road. A monolith will be erected once the road is completed and names of all donors will be inscribed. –

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Meet Sanjukta Parashar, Rare Daring IPS Officer from Assam

By
Syskool
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18
Sanjukta Parashar IPS

Sanjukta Parashar is the first and only Assamese lady IPS officer to be posted in Assam. She secured 85th position (All India ranking) in the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission, she responded to the call of the uniform and opted to join the Police Service, when most other women chose to join IAS. Sanjukta joined IPS as a 2006 batch IPS officer.

When asked about the issue of gender and the limited success of people from the North-East in clearing the UPSC Examinations, Sanjukta Parashar displayed her resolute and simple philosophy.

“Gender is in the mind. There is never any constraint anywhere. So long as the mind and body are in sync and you know where your heart is, the concept of gender does not exist. We are all officers who are required to do a job. If the job is tough, then just train yourself to get tougher,” disclosed Sanjukta Parashar while she urged the students from North-East to keep working hard and compete with the mainstream, as the competition they faced was intense.

Must Read: Dr.Ruveda Salam IPS – First Women from Kashmir to Qualify UPSC Exam

Family Background

Sanjukta Parashar was born in Assam itself. Sanjukta Parashar is the first lady IPS officer from Assam who got Assam-Meghalaya cadre. Her mother Meena Devi has worked with the Assam Health Services and father Dulal Chandra Barua has worked as an engineer in the Irrigation Department posted in Dibrugarh. Her parents then moved to Lakhimpur where she spent two years of her early childhood before shifting to Guwahati.

In 2008, Sanjukta Parashar married to an IAS officer of 2006 batch, Puru Gupta, who is also posted in Assam cadre, though he originally belongs to Delhi. At present, he is posted as Deputy Commissioner in Tinsukia district of Assam, about 350 km away from Sonitpur where Sanjukta Parashar is posted. Sanjukta Parashar manages to meet her husband once in every two months.They have a 4 to 5 years old son. Sanjukta’s mother helps her take care of her son.In 2008, Parashar married Puru Gupta, an IAS officer.

Also Read: Meet Merin Joseph, IPS – A young cop from Kerala

Educational Background

Sanjukta Parashar completed her Class X from Holy Child School, Guwahati and finished her Class XII from Army School, Narangi. Sanjukta is not merely a tough and fearless cop. She is also a scholar. She did graduation in Political Science Honors from Indraprastha College for Women in New Delhi. Then, Sanjukta Parashar completed her Master’s programme in International Relations in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She did not stop there.

Realizing that US was the most important nation in the world as far as the world economy and world politics went, Sanjukta Parashar took US-ASEAN relations as the topic for her MPhil. She then moved to Indonesia and earned an M.Phil degree. Thereafter, Sanjukta Parashar completed even her Ph.D in US foreign policy. That’s why her name is Dr. (Mrs.) Sanjukta Parasar, IPS.

Sanjukta Parashar took keen interest in sports and also enrolled herself for swimming classes. As a student, she took part in the sports competitions organized in the school with great enthusiasm. She also participated in the one-act plays and march pasts. Sanjukta Parashar is indeed an icon for the young Assamese girls whom she motivates in taking up a challenging profession like the Police services.

While working for a group called the Observer Research Foundation in 2004, Sanjukta Parashar began preparing for the UPSC examinations. She would study for not more than five hours but would revise the last lesson learnt. Securing 85th position was a pleasant surprise to her.

Don’t Miss: Read Success Story of IPS Sarah Rizvi

Facts You Should Know About Dr. Sanjukta Parashar

Sanjukta Parashar

  • Sanjukta Parashar had secured a high 85th All-India rank in the Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC for selecting candidates for IAS, IFS (Indian Foreign Service), IPS and other central services. She could have got IAS, which is generally the first choice of most candidates, specially for women candidates.
  • But, Sanjukta Parashar opted for IPS. Reason she told “The IPS is a service that can provide instant help and aid to victims at times of distress. As such there is no parallel. And I am proud to have chosen this field.” This tells us about the tough character of this woman IPS officer. She takes pride in her uniform. Parashar calls herself a humble being and wants only the criminals to fear her.
  • Born a day after Gandhi Jayanti in 1979, Sanjukta Parashar is willing to remove “ahinsha” for the sake of her duty, and does not hesitate to use firearms if it is required for the lawful performance of her official duties.
  • Sanjukta Parashar, an IPS officer of the 2006 batch, was first posted as the Assistant Commandant of Makum in 2008. However, within hours, she was dispatched to Udalguri – to control ethnic clashes between Bodo and illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

Must Read: Mohammad Sana Akhtar, CSE 2014 (IPS)

  • Sanjukta Parashar regularly leads CRPF jawans in dangerous reserve forests of the terror-infested region, and has been very successful in full-blown bullet-for-bullet crackdowns. She is best known for leading her battalion head-on armed with a loaded AK-47. Sanjukta has become one of the most feared police officers among Bodo-militants.
  • Sanjukta Parashar undertook a project to improve working conditions of Traffic policemen in the Upper Assam town and adopted a scheme “token reward and punishment” mode to ensure that bikers, especially youths, do not violate the traffic rule of wearing helmets. Sanjukta Parashar said she hoped that the move would ensure that two-wheeler riders take to protective gear. They gave out 300 toffees in a day and will continue to do so as long as everyone who can afford to wear a helmet.
  • Sanjukta Parashar is an inspiration for a generation of women in India in general and Assam in particular. Sanjukta Parashar is a rare daring IPS officer who is destined to be one of the most famous women police officers after Kiran Bedi, the legendary first woman IPS officer in India.
  • In a country like India, where gender discrimination is writ large, Sanjukta Parashar is an inspiration not only for women but also for men. Selecting police as a profession in a state that has serious problems of insurgency and communal violence, and then making it a grand success is not something that can be achieved unless you have strong determination, no fear of sacrificing your life, willingness to work hard for long hours, do outdoor field duties at nights. And, above all, putting fear of death in the minds of those dreaded militants whose chosen path is nothing but destruction and death!

Don’t Miss: Career Path of an IPS Officer

Important Portals & their Founders

By
Syskool
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0

 
  1.  Google— Larry Page & Sergey Brin
  2.  Facebook— Mark Zuckerberg
  3.  Yahoo— David Filo & Jerry Yang
  4.  Twitter— Jack Dorsey & Dick Costolo
  5.  Internet— Tim Berners Lee
  6.  Linkedin— Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue& Konstantin Guericke
  7.  Email— Shiva Ayyadurai
  8. Gtalk— Richard Wah kan
  9. Whatsapp— Brian Acton and Jan Koum
  10. Hotmail— Sabeer Bhatia
  11.  Orkut— Buyukkokten
  12.  Wikipedia— Jimmy Wales
  13.  Youtube— Steve Chen, Chad Hurley & JawedKarim
  14.  Rediffmail— Ajit Balakrishnan
  15. Nimbuzz— Martin Smink & Evert Jaap Lugt
  16. Myspace— Chris Dewolfe & Tom Anderson
  17. Ibibo— Ashish Kashyap
  18.  OLX— Alec Oxenford & Fabrice Grinda
  19.  Skype— Niklas Zennstrom, Janus Friis & Reid Hoffman
  20.  Opera— Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner & Geir lvarsoy
  21. Mozilla Firefox— Dave Hyatt & Blake Ross
  22.  Blogger— Evan Willams
  23. Instagram-Kevin Systrom
  24. Hike-Kavin Bharti Mittal
  25. Paytm-Vijay Shekhar Sharma
  26. Oyo rooms-Ritesh Aggarwal
  27. BigBasket- Abhinay Choudhari
  28. Ola-Bhavish Aggarwal
  29. FlipKart-Sachin Bansal
  30. Snapdeal-Kunal Bahul
  31. zoom-Eric Yuan
  32. Uber- Garrett Camp, Travis Kalanick
  33. Pinterest-Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra
  34.  Paypal-Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek, and Ken Howery

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