Home Blog Page 247

UPSC topper TANU PRIYA

1
Just imagine the moment when your childhood dreams are fulfilled with rigour and passion! It feels great. This is exactly what Tanu Priya is feeling since May 3 when Union Public Service Examination (UPSC) Civil Services 2012 results were declared.
 
 
The Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) girl from Government Dental College of Rohtak (Haryana) who cracked the Civil Services examination at first attempt shined Jharkhand’s name by being the 18th rank holder of this prestigious exam in India and state’s proud name to grab a position among the top 50.
Being a civil servant was her childhood dream. Presently, Tanu resides at Gumla where her father is posted as LIC manager and mother is a home maker.
She appeared for the UPSC prelims and mains while undergoing her BDS internship. She had to finish her internship project, manage clinical works and sideways boost herself that she ought to study for her dreams. “When you keep this desire in your heart, you always manage time no matter how many difficulties are there,” said Tanu.
Since her under graduation days, Tanu never felt the preparation phase difficult. Rather, the more she got involved to moot for her dreams, the more interesting it became. While sharing her ‘Dream Preparation Phase’ to The Pioneer, Tanu said, “Indian Administrative Service examination was a process of development for me.” Without any coaching institute’s support, she passed the exam by referring to books and spending 5 to 10 hours daily for her studies.
Adding further she said, “As a hostellor in Rohtak I used to Below Poverty Level people who are helpless and need government’s support besides medical facilities. I always wanted to do something socially beneficial for them. This made me more focussed towards my preparation.”
Despite hailing from a science background, she selected political science and sociology as optional subjects in the UPSC (Main) exam as a taste of trying ‘something different or new,’ irrespective of knowing that taking botany or zoology would be easier.
‘Humanities is easy compared to Science is a misconception,’ said Tanu.
When asked about the challenges she forecasts as a civil servant, she told, “Challenges are many and it depends on which field I am working. Indian diplomacy out of Pakistan and China is one important issue. Then there are issues like caste and women discrimination. As a civil servant my focus is to find a solution and not spotlight the problem.”
Tanu feels administration is not about domination. It is about cooperation and coordination. “As a civil servant if I am assigned as a boss, my subordinates have to follow me and if the case is vice-versa I will definitely obey my boss’s instructions,” Tanu said.
As hobby, Tanu loves creative writing. Some of her creative writing works include autobiography of a skull, being the vice chancellor- a student’s perspective, the virtue of forgiveness and some short stories in Hindi.
Tanu Priya, who was in the 18th position on the merit list that was published in 2013, said honets effort ought to bring the fruits of success.

Priya, who has opted for Indian Foreign Service after being inspired by former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, was faced with a volley of questions from students.

Many students of classes IX and X, came up with queries about UPSC syllabus, method of preparation and skills required to crack the interview. Priya, also a doctor, spelt out her academic background and her preparation for the UPSC. She encouraged students exhorting them to be a good person first. and added that IAS, IFS IPS etc are a job and a part of our life only.

Approach: Sociology

  • I think you will see here that I have not read many books on sociology but the thing is I did not have the time. Socio also I had started after prelims. Only the Ram Ahuja book I had read before prelims. However my focus was that I should not leave any topic in the syllabus unread. It did not matter from where I had read it. Rest strategy was similar as mentioned above.
  • If you are going for sociology I would advise you to develop a sociological viewpoint.
  • Socio is a very interesting subject but it requires your power of observation and analysis much more than your reading of books. See for example. There was a question about French revolution this year, now who doesn’t know that, even a history student could write that.
  • The difference lies in the way a socio student would analyze the social fabric of that time, the prevailing social conditions, the actual role of this revolution in the rise and development of sociology, the way this revolution was perceived by thinkers and the interconnecting links between revolution, thinkers and society.
  • It’s not important that I can’t remember what was the exact date of which event, who killed whom as long as I understand the significance of that particular event and can explain it well.

Optional Subject in Mains 2013?

Q. Instead of two, now UPSC will have only one optional subject. So if you were to give Mains 2013, which optional would you keep and why?
  • Sociology, because it’s a very dynamic subject. There is always something new to discover about the world we live in.
  • Basically same except I would expand my booklist. There were so many books to read that I skipped due to the shortage of time. In fact after mains I bought this Haralambos and Holborn and read it, it’s a wonderful book.

Compulsory papers

Q. Your booklist/strategy for compulsory Regional language paper.
Nothing except I bought a Hindi newspaper on the day of exam and read it.
Q. Your booklist/strategy for compulsory English language paper.
Nothing special.

Essay

Q. How did you prepare yourself for the essay?
I did not prepare specially for essay but I wrote 2 essays that I posted on indianofficer.com. There various helpful members including Mrunal reviewed it and gave their suggestions. I understood my mistakes and avoided them in the final paper.
Q. Which Essay did you write in Mains-2012?
Working woman one.
Q.Provide some keypoints/highlights of your Essay.
I wrote on 4th in the following way
  1. intro with Marx and women’s position in the present world
  2. evolution of female sex thru various periods of history in about a page
  3. divided essay into two parts
  4. first part dealt with how has govt and society evolved to accommodate women’s interests as working and homemaker
  5. I divided it into subheadings of social change, legal change, economic change, specific schemes for women as Gayathri Krishnan (2011 topper) had suggested me that I could do
  6. concluded this section with a connecting para for second part with some examples
  7. brought out the other side by analysing the kind of problems that remain with a stress on class specific conditions.
  8. concluded the essay with a hopeful note combining both perspectives and the possible ways the present situation could evolve into.
  9. kept my sentences short and used less connectors as Mrunal had suggested.
hope i can get a respectful score. thanks to Mrunal and Gayathri for helping me improve. total 19 pages about 1900 to 2000 words.

एलआईसी एजेंट की इस बेटी ने कर दिया ऐसा काम कि सब हो गये हैरान!

पटना। दुनिया भर में खूब पढ़ी जाने वाली ‘द अलकेमस्टि’ में पावलो कोएल्हो लिखते हैं कि अगर आपके इरादे ठीक हैं और आप कुछ करना चाहते हैं तो पूरा कायनात आपके साथ होता है। यूपीएससी की परीक्षा में 18 वां रैंक लाने वाली तनु प्रिया जब इस चर्चित उपन्यास को पढ़ रही थी कि यह बात मन के किसी कोने में जज्ब हो गयी। जिंदगी चलने का नाम है तो तनु की जिंदगी भी चलती रही। 2004 में पटना के आरपीएस से दसवीं और उसके बाद दो साल बाद सीबीएसई की परीक्षा में चुने जाने के बाद डेंटल में एडमिशन लिया। रोहतक में नामांकन हुआ। मूल रूप से समस्तीपुर के कल्याणपुर की रहने वाली तनु के पैरेंट अब पटना से सटे दानापुर में रहते हैं।

पढ़ाई के बाद तनु अखबार वगैरह ही देख पाती थीं। चौथे साल में उन्हें लगा कि मुझे तो सिविल सर्विस की तैयारी करनी है। यहां आकर वह सीरियस हुईं। हर दिन तीन-चार घंटे का वक्त निकाला। खुद से तैयारी शुरू की। वह कहती हैं: आपको तय करना होता है कि क्या नहीं पढऩा है। एक साथ बहुत चीजें पढ़ेंगे तो आपका फोकस एरिया प्रभावित हो सकता है।

इसी बीच रोहतक में इंटर्नशीप करना पड़ा। सिविल सर्विस की तैयारी और इंटर्नशीप दोनों काम एक साथ करना पड़ा। पढ़ाई में क्रमबद्धता बनी रही। क्या किसी गाइड की जरूरत महसूस नहीं हुई? तनु ने कहा: नेट पर एक साइट के बारे में पता चला। वहां गयी। कोई मृणाल पटेल हैं जो तैयारी करने वालों को गाइड करते हैं। हमने भी उनसे संपर्क किया। उनका सहयोग मिला। लेकिन इसके पहले पिता का हमारी तैयारी में बड़ी भूमिका रही।

Smita Sabharwal is an IAS Officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

2

Smita Sabharwal

Smita Sabharwal is an IAS Officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.
She is the current District Collector of Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. She became a collector for the first time in her career when she was posted to Karimnagar in April 2011.
Smita Sabharwal has worked with former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.

Professional Career

Smita Sabharwal is an IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre of 2001 batch.

Notable Achievements

The following are some of the notable achievements of Smitha Sabharwal.
  • Restoration of ‘Praja Vani’ online grievance cell
  • Gave priority to Health and Education in Karimnagar
  • Introduced Fund Your City programme as Municipal Commissioner of Warangal.
Timeline
Position
Period
Trainee Collector, Adilabad
2001
Assistant Collector, Chittoor
July 14, 2003 till November 27, 2004
Project Director, Rural Dev Department
November 28, 2004 – December 31, 2004
Project Director, Rural Dev Department, Kadapa
January 1, 2005 – May 15, 2006
Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Warangal
May 16, 2006 – May 29, 2007
Deputy Commissioner, Commercial Taxes Department, Visakhapatnam
May 29, 2007 – October 22, 2009
Joint Collector, Kurnool
October 22, 2009 – April 9, 2010
Joint Collector, Hyderabad
April 9, 2010
District Collector & District Magistrate, Karimnagar
April 16, 2011 till date

Personal Biography

Smita Sabharwal was born on June 19, 1977.

Her father served in the defense department. Though, she never wanted to enter civil services till graduation, her father’s encouragement inspired her to join civil services.

Her mother tongue is Bengali and she speaks English as well.

Smita represented Karnataka in the Under-16 Badminton category and participated in athletic championship.

Dosa, Idli and Sambar are some of her favorite foods. She learnt Hindustani music.

Education
Smita Sabharwal did her graduation at St. Francis College in Hyderabad. She was an active NSS volunteer.

She has a degree in Business Law Accountancy Marketing, which she passed in first division.

Timeline
Smita Sabharwal requested the government to supply power for more than six hours to power looms as the weavers are facing difficulties due to power cuts. She attended the video conference chaired by Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew with district collectors to review the power scenario in the state on September 3, 2012.

Collector Smita Sabharwal greeted Muslims on the occasion of Bakdrid (Eid-Ul-Azha) on 27 October 2012.

Success Story of Dhanbad boy Karan Satyarthi IAS, AIR-9, 2016

24
Karan Satyarthi

Karan Satyarthi, a 25-year-old boy from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district has secured the All India Rank 9th in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2015. Karan Satyarthi wants to work towards eliminating gender and caste discrimination in the country. “It is a grave issue and I strongly believe that India can progress only with eradication of gender and caste discrimination,” he said.

Delhi girl Tina Dabi has cracked the 2015 Civil Services Examination and has topped in the list of UPSC toppers. Tina has achieved this success in her first attempt and has graduated in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. Tina Dabi also chose Political Science as her optional subject.

Must Read: Ansar Shaikh – Autodriver’s son who Cracked UPSC 2015

Marks Obtained by Karn Satyarthi

 Total Marks  Marks Obtained
Total (Written)  1750 776
 Interview 275  206
 Total  2025 982 (48.49%)

Family Background

Karan Satyarthi originally comes from Gaya in Bihar, but Karan’s family has lived in Dhanbad since 2001. His father Praful Sharma works as an associate professor in the Civil Engineering Department of BIT Sindri. His mother is a home maker and sister is a doctor who have completed her medical studies in Manipal. He attributed his success to his parents, grandparents and sister. Karna had the option of Jharkhand and Bihar. But the ear is the desire to work in Bihar.

Read Also: Meet Tina Dabi IAS Topper 2015 – 2016

Educational Background

Karan Satyarthi completed his schooling from De Nobili School, Digwadih in Dhanbad. He got graduated in Mining Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He completed his engineering degree in 2014 and got a job offer from EXL Services but he declined and chose Civil Services as his decision of denying the job which definitely paid him well and his effort rewarded him with 9th rank in the UPSC merit list.

After graduating from IIT Kharagpur, Karan Satyarthi started preparation for Civil Services Examination. Karan wishes to work towards gender equality and aims to reduce the caste discrimination in the country. He feels that this is the main issues the country is facing currently and he would want to work for the betterment of the country.

“I first wanted to gain practical experience of working in the Administrative Sector and then decide on the future course of action,” Karan Satyarthi said.

Also Read: Meet Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan IAS, AIR – 2, 2015

Optional Paper

In spite of being a student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Karan Satyarthi chose Political Science as his optional subject.

Attempts by Karan Satyarthi

Karan Satyarthi cleared the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) Exam and achieved his goal in second attempt and said he did not take any coaching and was studying at home on his own. In the first attempt he reached upto the interview, but did not succeed further. After that Karan Satyarthi again started to prepare with more confidence and determination.

“After failure, picking yourself up and motivating yourself is the most challenging part in Civil Services Exam. Unless you have family support, you will not be successful,” said Karan Satyarthi.

Advice for Young Aspirants:

Karan Satyarthi advised other UPSC aspirants to not rely on coaching material. He said that the mantra of success was focus while his studies. “The aspirants should read lots of books and not rely on coaching centres. I did not move out of Dhanbad and studied at home,” said Karan Satyarthi.

Don’t Miss: Read Success Story of Artika Shukla IAS, AIR-4, 2015

Gaurav Agrawal – UPSC Civil Services 2013 Topper

2

Gaurav Agrawal – UPSC Civil Services 2013 Topper

Jaipur’s Gaurav Agrawal has got the first rank in the exam with Economics as his optional subject. He holds Bachelor of Technology (Computer Science) degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. This was his second attempt.

Delhi-based Munish Sharma and Rachit Raj have got second and third positions respectively.
Munish has a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) degree from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University. He got through the exam in second attempt.

Rachit has cracked the examination in his first attempt. Bharti Dixit is the topper among female candidates. She has secured fifth rank. She has done Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. This was her first attempt.

Hard work is the only way. The results will come automatically says Gaurav Agrawal(Civil Service Exam Topper 2013-14)
Gaurav Agrawal initially reacted with disbelief when he was informed Thursday that he has topped the prestigious civil services examination this year.
“Initially I could not believe. Then I started receiving calls from my friends, father, mother and wife congratulating me,” the 29-year-old from Jaipur said.
Gaurav, who passed the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exam in the second attempt, is currently undergoing training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy here.
“IAS is my first choice. It is a field job. You can meet people, understand their problems and then try to solve them,” said Gaurav, whose father Suresh Chandra Gupta is a manager in Jaipur Dairy and mother Suman Gupta is a housewife.
His father and wife Preeti, a physician, are reaching Hyderabad Friday to join him in the celebrations. He is the only son of his parents while his elder sister lives in the United States.
Coming from an upper middle class family, Gaurav always excelled in studies. Last year he got 244th rank and chose Indian Police Service (IPS).
He holds a Bachelor of Technology (Computer Science) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Kanpur and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Lucknow. He was a gold medallist in IIM.
Gaurav worked as an investment banker in Citi Group in Hong Kong for four years but returned to India to prepare for the IAS.
A strong believer in hard work, he chose history and economics as optional subjects last year though he had no background of history. This year his optional was economics.
“I had interest in studies from the beginning. I always loved reading and writing,” Gaurav said. He, however, admitted that he had slipped after making it to IIT. “I had failed and my degree had to be extended. This was a lesson for me. I then started focusing on studies,” he said.
Gaurav has a message for youngsters: “One should identify one’s weaknesses and overcome them because there is a general tendency to negate the shortcomings. We should continuously think of improving.”
He also wants students not to become arrogant on small achievements. “We should strive for our ultimate goal. Hard work is the only way. The results will come automatically,” he said.

Meet City Girl Zainab Sayeed IRS from Kolkata

10
zainab sayeed IAS

Zainab Sayeed, the first Muslim woman from West Bengal cracked the Civil Services Examination by achieving All India Rank 107 and has also topped the UPSC interview by scoring highest marks.

Marks Obtained

 Total Marks  Marks Obtained
Total (Written)  1750 731
 Interview 275  220
 Total  2025  951 (46.96%)

Topper of UPSC Interview

Interview is the last stage of the Civil Services Examination. Zainab Sayeed scored more than even the score of the first rank holder Ira Singhal. Ira scored 167 marks in the interview whereas Out of 275 marks, Zainab scored 220 in the interview that is 58 marks more than the top ranked Ira scored. She has made a record as the highest scorer in the interview round and ranked 107 in the examination.

Zainab Sayeed said that she hoped if she was allotted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), it would be good for her if not then she would like to join the Indian Revenue and Customs Service.

Must Read: Prakash Rajpurohit IAS UPSC Topper, AIR – 2 in 2009

Family Background

Zainab Sayeed comes from Chitpur in North Kolkata and belongs to an elite Bohra Muslim family. Her father Taiyab Sayyed is a hardware businessman based in Kolkata; her mother Farida Sayyed is a homemaker and assists her husband’s business. Zainab is second daughter of her parents. Eldest sister Tasneem Sayyed is running her own consulting firm. Youngest daughter Fatima Sayeed is pursuing BDS from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi. Zainab Sayeed got married to Hussain Izzy, a hardware businessman.

Zainab Sayeed parents were very supportive and encouraged her to go for UPSC. During preparation of the Civil Services Exam her husband played an important role in motivating her and he used to set the time table for her to study which was of great help for Zainab. She says she is lucky to have parents and husband who always encourage her to go ahead.

Educational Background

Zainab Sayeed got graduated in English from St Xavier’s College. Again she went to Delhi and enrolled at the AJK Mass Communication and Research Centre at the Jamia Millia Islamia and completed her Masters in Convergent Journalism in 2011. While pursuing Masters in Jamia, she simultaneously signed up at the Jamia’s coaching centre for the UPSC exam preparation.

When she returned back to Kolkata she got a job in the English daily ‘The Telegraph’. She worked in the editorial department of The Telegraph, Kolkata till her final UPSC results were out.

Read Also: Umme Fardina Adil – First Muslim Woman Civil Servant from Assam

Attempts by Zainab Sayeed

Zainab Sayeed of West Bengal has qualified UPSC Exam in her third attempt. She took the Civil Services Exam in 2012 and 2013, but could not clear the Prelims.

Preparation Strategy

Zainab Sayeed set a target, studied hard and displaying strong determination achieved her goal. She devoted six to seven hours a day seriously for preparations and her punctuality paid off in the end.

Dress Preference

Zainab Sayeed belongs to the Bohra community and wears the traditional ‘Rida’ since she was 13 years old. She wears “Rida, a headscarf, or Hijab every Bohra girl and woman wear”, and appeared for the UPSC personal interview in the same traditional attire.

The interviewers asked why she wore the attire which is a religious marker. She was neither ashamed nor apologetic. She said “Rida or Hijab is part and parcel of her persona. Besides there is a saying that one should wear clothes one feels comfortable in, she cited the instance of a Prime Minister who wore a turban which is also a religious symbolism”.

Don’t Miss: Aboli Naravane IAS Tops in Maharashtra