Latest news with #CivilServicesExaminations
Hindustan Times
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Influenced by movie, Kerala schools to remove backbenchers through a new seating arrangement
Kollam, At Ramavilasom Vocational Higher Secondary School in Valakom in this South Kerala district, a proud tribute to former student G P Nandana greets visitors at the gate, celebrating her remarkable feat of securing the 2nd rank in Kerala and 47th nationally in the Civil Services Examinations. Influenced by movie, Kerala schools to remove backbenchers through a new seating arrangement But the school's acclaim doesn't end there, as it has also become a model for innovation in education, thanks to a unique classroom setup that eliminates the idea of backbenchers entirely. By rearranging seating to ensure every primary student gets equal attention, RVHSS has drawn admiration and imitation. Influenced by the recently released Malayalam movie, 'Sthanarthi Sreekuttan', the school has brought in an innovative seating arrangement where single row seats are aligned with the four walls of the classroom, so everyone sits in front benches. Eight schools in Kerala have already adopted this seating arrangement, and even a school in Punjab has adopted it. "I got a message that a school in Punjab has also adopted it after the principal saw the movie on the OTT platform. He also screened the movie for the students. I am happy that it got national attention," Vinesh Viswanathan, director of the movie 'Sthanarthi Sreekuttan', told PTI. He said the movie had just one scene showing this arrangement, as an idea implemented by a 7th standard student in the film. "It was his experience of being insulted sitting on the backbench that gave him such an idea. I never thought it would get such attention. It is not an idea created by us, but we did have such a seating arrangement earlier in classrooms, as part of District Primary Education Programme and we had lost it somewhere in between," Vinesh said. In fact, it was the farsightedness of Minister K B Ganesh Kumar, whose family runs RMVHSS, that paved the way to introducing this system in this school. Ganesh Kumar had watched the preview of 'Sthanarthi Sreekuttan', a year before its release and discussed the possibility of introducing it in primary classes in RMVHSS with the teachers. "Ganesh Kumar discussed this with us and his wife, who manages the school. We also agreed to start it in one class. The results we got were very positive and we introduced them to all lower primary classes," Sunil P Sekhar, Headmaster of RMVHSS, told PTI. He said this system enabled teachers to give equal attention to all students in the classroom and helped them monitor the students better. Moreover, it eliminated the concept of backbenchers and put all students at the forefront. He said many more schools have now shown interest in adopting this model. "Lower primary classes are where students learn a lot of new things and they naturally get rid of the concept or taboo of sitting on the backbenches. It also helps students to have a more direct interaction with the teachers," he added. Meera, a Lower Primary teacher, with more than 29 years of experience said she found this model more rewarding and productive compared to the conventional seating arrangements in school classrooms. "I am able to attend to each of the students in the classroom, and give better care to each of them. The students are also happy as they see the faces of all students in the classroom and also pay close attention to the teacher," Meera said. The teachers say that such systems are already practiced in countries like Finland and Norway with a better student-teacher ratio in schools. "I got some negative comments from the X platform, where some senior students have posted that they have 80 students in the classroom and how this system can be introduced in such a situation. "It is actually against our existing law to have so many students in a class, and the authorities are now taking action against that school," Vinesh Viswanath said. He said even Anand Mahindra has tweeted, saying it is a welcome move, though he personally likes the concept of backbenchers. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NDTV
06-07-2025
- General
- NDTV
5 Types Of Questions Asked In A UPSC Interview
UPSC Interview: The Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) conducts the Civil Services Examinations (CSE) to recruit candidates for various civil service and government posts in India, including Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS). The recruitment process consists of three stages. It begins with the Preliminary Examination, which serves as a screening test for the Mains. Those who qualify the Mains advance to the final stage-the Interview-which assesses the candidate's overall personality. The UPSC interview is considered challenging by many students because of it's broad range of topics and the difficult questions asked in personality assessment, which focuses on the candidate's demeanor, communication skills, decision-making abilities, and ethical stance. Nonetheless, thorough preparation, showing confidence and positively cultivating your thoughts can help you perform well. Here are five types of questions asked in an UPSC CSE Interview: 1. Factual Questions The first types of questions asked in a UPSC interview are Factual Questions, that seek answers based on verifiable information. Questions like "What is the GDP of India?", "What is the Unemployment Rate" are asked. 2. Opinion Based Questions After the Factual questions, comes the Opinion Based questions. These questions ask about your opinion on a certain topic which is in trending controversy, such as "What is your Opinion About This Policy of Government". 3. Situational Questions These questions are asked, putting you in a hypothetical situation and what would be your response if you were in that situation. An example would be " If you are a District Magistrate (DM) or a Police officer, what would you do if a fire breaks out ?". 4. Personal Questions After the Situational Questions, comes the Personal questions which unearth about your personality. Questions like "What is your vision for life", "Where do you see yourself in the next 10-15 years ?" are asked. 5. Presence of Mind Questions The final category of questions in an UPSC interview are "Presence of Mind" questions. These are designed to assess whether you can remain calm during the interview, think logically, and demonstrate common sense in unexpected or challenging situations. They reveal how well a candidate can adapt and make sound decisions under pressure. These questions can be both simple and tricky. For example, in an interview clip shared online last year, a candidate was asked to state his roll number and then sum it up, an exercise meant to gauge his presence of mind in the moment.
Time of India
22-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
EWS quota bloc trails OBCs in UPSC mains, but turns tables in interviews
Representative Image NEW DELHI: The upper castes availing the economic backwardness quota have trailed the backward classes in the Mains examinations of the Civil Services competition for the last two years. But the dynamic of competitiveness between the two reserved categories is complex, as the forwards have prevailed in the ultimate test by virtue of greater score in the 'interview' part of the competition. In the recent results for CS-2024, the cut-off for the Economically Weaker Sections category in the Civil Services (Main) exams was 696 marks as compared to 702 for the OBCs. But in the Final results after the interview, the EWS had a cut-off merit of 917 marks as against 910 for the OBCs. Under the EWS category, the non-SC/ST/OBC get 10% reservation on the basis of the poverty criteria. The cut-off marks are the minimum qualifying score for a social bloc availing the reservations, and they vary across the categories of SC, ST, OBC, and EWS. In the Mains part of the CS-2023, the OBCs scored a cut-off of 712 as compared to 706 for the EWS. But in the Final, the OBCs trailed with a cut-off of 919 to the EWS which had 923 as the minimum marks. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The Mains-Interview contrast is seen as surprising. Shashank Ratnoo, a lawyer who specialises in reservation laws and issues, said, "There is no starkly noticeable reason for OBCs to have more marks in the Mains than EWS, yet lose out in the final cut off on account of EWS scoring better interview marks. It possibly shows that the EWS group has no or lesser social disadvantages that hurt competitiveness." Interestingly, the contrast in the merit for OBCs and EWS in the Civil Services Examinations has been a see-saw. In the wake of the fresh EWS quotas introduced in 2019, the OBCs dominated the Mains and the Final both in 2019 and 2020. While it was surprising that EWS, which has groups with lower social handicaps, trailed behind the OBCs, it was viewed as result of the fact that a new quota regime had just come into effect and the facts about its procedures and criteria had not percolated down to the wider eligible umbrella. Later, the EWS overhauled the gap with OBCs and came to score higher in the examinations. According to Ratnoo, what is surprising is that EWS has notched a quicker rise in merit than possibly any social sub-group has done after coming under the reservation system. "It is interesting that the Centre (DoPT) recently ordered an inquiry into the income certificates of some EWS candidates who were selected in the civil services after the Final exams. Such closer scrutiny may help understand the issue better. "
Mint
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Who is Shakti Dubey? How did she clear UPSC Civil Service examination after 5 attempts?
Out of 9.92 lakh people who applied for Civil Services Examinations, Shakti Dubey from Uttar Pradesh came out shining by securing the first rank in all-India exam. She cracked it after five unsuccessful attempts. The UPSC stated that about 28% of all recommended candidates were women, adding that in the top five candidates, three were women, at the ranks of 1, 2, and 4, and 11 candidates were women out of top 25 rank-holders. Shakti Dubey hails from Naini, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. She had graduated from the University of Allahabad and the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) prior to beginning her preparation for the civil services examination around 2018. She secured first rank in CSE 2024. Her subject included Biochemistry at the undergraduate level. She passed the CSE with the optional subject of Political Science and International Relations. She initially thought to become a doctor. 'I was a PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) student in school, but based on my rank, I was allotted a seat in dental. I wasn't interested in that path, so I chose to pursue a BSc instead,' Indian Express quoted Dubey as saying. 'I couldn't even clear the prelims in my first three tries. In the fourth attempt, I made it to the interview stage but fell short. And last year, I missed the cut-off by just 12 marks. That was the lowest point in my life—I genuinely thought about quitting,' she added. 'I'm going to sleep peacefully tonight. For years, jo neend puri nahi hui, aaj usko pura karungi (Today, I'll make up for the years of lost sleep)," Dubey mentioned. "Shakti studied till Class 12 at the SMC Ghoorpur, just nearby, and later topped the exam from the University of Allahabad," her father, Devendra Dubey, a sub-inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police said. "After graduation, she pursued from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where she also topped. Though we initially sent her to Delhi for coaching, the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to return home and she continued her preparations on her own," he added. UPSC CSE Interview took place between January 7 to April 17, 2025. After Dubey, the list of five toppers consisted of Harshita Goyal, Dongre Archit Parag , Shah Margi Chirag, and Akash Garg. First Published: 24 Apr 2025, 08:43 AM IST
The Hindu
23-04-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Foundation lies in the books, go back to the basics: UPSC rank 8 holder Raj Krishna Jha
After four attempts, this year, Raj Krishna Jha had a definitive feeling that he would clear the UPSC examination. His intuition was strong because he was scoring well in mock tests. He, however, didn't expect to secure rank 8. 'Nowhere was I confident that I would be getting this far', he said while talking to The Hindu. Last year, which was his fourth attempt, Mr. Jha had missed the cut-off by two marks. As is obvious, he felt demotivated when he didn't get the results he had hoped. 'But I had a picture in my head saying I have to clear this exam. That's what mattered in the end', he said. Background Hailing from Athari, a small village in Sitamarhi district in northern Bihar, Mr. Jha said his will to pursue civil services came due to an understanding of rural issues. 'Coming from that background, one has a sense to contribute to the society or the village as much as one can', he said. Mr. Jha's education is shaped by many geographies. Till Class 10, he studied in Nepal. His Class 12 was completed under the Bihar School Examination Board. He later did his in Mechanical Engineering at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) in Prayagraj formerly known as Allahabad. With a full-time job Mr. Jha is currently working as an Assistant Manager at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in Kolhapur. While one would consider it an obstacle in full-time preparation for UPSC, Mr. Jha had a different outlook. His role involved handling business, ensuring supply of essential commodities, it was challenging. There are hits and misses in these projects. Striving to achieve them, required Mr, Jha to understand clear targets, create structured plans, and meet deadlines. 'This experience helped me learn how to develop an achievable plan', he said. Mr. Jha used to study for three to four hours after work every day and utilised weekends as much as possible. 'Whatever free time I got, I tried to make the most of it', he said. Back to basics approach Mr. Jha chose Geography as his optional subject as he found it interesting. Though he had a keen interest in the subject, having the right strategy is what changed the game for him. The last two years, Mr. Jha focused a lot on additional material, online resources, pdfs, and more. This year though he went back to the basics. He studied word to word from the textbooks. Advising upcoming aspirants he says, 'The foundation lies in the books, go back to the basics'. The Union Public Service Commission on Tuesday declared the Final Results for the 2024 Civil Services Examinations, recommending a total of 1,009 candidates for appointment to the IAS, IFS, IPS, and Central Services across the country.
