Interview Call CSE-2012

Hello Friends,

Many congratulations to those among us who have cleared the Mains and received an interview call. I count myself among these lucky folks this time.

And commiserations to those of us who were unable to go to the next stage of the exam. But keep your spirits high and soldier on.

I have the interview this coming week, so am trying to make the best of my time. I wish you all, all the best once again. I hope the blog is helping you in some way for the interview prep as well. And will reply to some of your queries about new pattern soon.

Till then adios amigos :)

Spurthi

Counter-magnets

Counter-magnet towns are identified as those that can be developed as alternative centres of growth and attract migrants to them rather than Delhi. Promoting growth of counter magnet towns are the principal components of the strategy to reduce both migration and population explosion in the Delhi metropolitan area.

These towns are located in six states- Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, in addition to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, which are already part of the national capital region.

The criterion for selecting counter magnet towns are that they should not be within approximately. 250 km. from Delhi, should have their own established roots and potential of growth and should not be centres of either religious, strategic or environmental importance.

These are:-

Initial list

• Gwalior ^[7]
• Hisar ^[7]
• Kota ^[7]
• Patiala ^[7]
• Aligarh ^[7]

Later additions

• Ambala ^[7]
• Dehradun ^[7]
• Kanpur ^[7]
• Moradabad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capital_Region_(India)#Counter_Magnets

[edit]

Integrity Pacts

Integrity Pacts are in the news because of the Rs.3600 crore VVIP Chopper deal.  As allegations of bribery have arisen, the GoI has warned of takin strict legal action invoking the integrity pact that provides for cancellation of the contract if bribes are paid and recovery of the money paid. 3

Integrity Pacts are a tool for preventing corruption in public contracting. They are essentially an agreement between the government agency offering a contract and the companies bidding for it that they will abstain from bribery, collusion and other corrupt practices for the extent of the contract.  To ensure accountability, Integrity Pacts also include a monitoring system typically led by civil society groups.

Integrity Pacts have been around since the 1990s, and have been applied in more than 15 countries.1

Purpose
It is intended to accomplish two primary objectives:
1.    To enable companies to abstain from bribing by providing assurances to them that (i) their competitors will also refrain from bribing, and (ii) the government procurement, privatisation or licensing agencies will undertake to prevent corruption, including extortion, by their officials and to follow transparent procedures.

2.    To enable governments to reduce the high cost and the distortionary impact of corruption on public procurement, privatisation or licensing. 2

Customs Law

Meaning
Customs duty is a duty or tax, which is levied by Central Govt. on import of goods into, and export of goods from, India. It is collected from the importer or exporter of goods, but its incidence is actually borne by the consumer of the goods and not by the importer or the exporter who pay it.

Congress Sessions and notable activities

Reproduced from:http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/pakistan-affairs/62454-pak-study-notes.html

Please feel free to add info and I shall try and update the list.- Spurthi

Year     Venue       President           Remark


1885   Mumbai     W.C.Bannerjee      72delegates
1886   Kolkata      Dadabhai Naroji    436delegates
1887   Chennai     Badruddin Tyabji   First Muslim President
1888   Allahabad   George Yule         First English President
1889   Mumbai      Sir William Wedderbum 1889 delegates
1892   Allahabad   W.C. Bannjerjee
1895   Poona        Surendranath Bannerji
1905   Lahore       G.K. Gokhale
1906   Kolkata      Dadabhai Naroji
1907   Surat        Rashbehari Ghosh     Congress split and session broke up
1908   Chennai     Rashbehari Ghosh  A constitution for the Congress
1915   Mumbai     Sir S.P. Sinha
1916   Lucknow    A.C.Majumdar       Congress Merger and Pact with MuslimLeague
1917   Kolkata       Mrs.Annie Besant   First Woman president
1920   Nagpur       C. Vijaya Raghavachariyar Change the constitution the Congress
1922   Gaya         C.R. Das                Formation of Swaraj Party
1924   Begaon      Mahatma Gandhi     First time he became Indian President
1925   Cawnpore  Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
1927   Chennai     M.A. Ansari          Independence Resolution Passed for the first time on the instance of J.L. Nehru
1928   Kolkata      Motilal Nehru        First All India Youth Gongress
1929   Lahore       Jawaharlal Nehru    Poona Swaraj Resolution
1931   Karachi      Vallabhbhai Patel    Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Policy
1934   Mumbai      Rajendra Prasad     Formation of Congress Socialist party
1936   Lucknow    Jawaharlal Nehru
1937   Faizpur      Jawaharlal Nehru First session to be held in a village
1938   Haripura     Subhash Chandra Bose
1939   Tripuri        Subhash Chandra Bose    Resignation of S.C. Bose (Rajendra Prasad took over) and formation of power Block
1946   Meerut       Jawahar Lal Nehru
1947                    J.B. Kriplani 

Facts about Congress' Foundation in 1885

• The significance of A.O. Hume’s involvement was to remove official hostility.
• The first Session at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Mumbai.
• The first president was Womesh Chandra Bannerjee of Bengal.
• It was attended by 100 men of whom 72 were non-officials and were recongnised as members.
• The founder members were PherozshahMehta, Badruddin Tayabji, W.C. Banerjee, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Dadabhai Naroji etc.
• Initially it was named Indian National Union.
• The name Indian National Congress was on the suggestion of Dadabhai Nauroji.
• Earlier Poona was selected for the venue, but it had to be shifted to Mumbai because of the outbreak of Cholera in Poona.
• The Governor-General of India at the time of its foundation was Lord Dufferin.
• Among the classes, the educated middle class had the largest share in the beginning.
• The legal profession was most heavily represented among the professions.
• The Brahmins among the castes were comparatively large in number.
• Among the provinces, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai took the leading part.
• Landed classes and the masses were absent.
• Foundation of “British Committee of the Congress” in 1889 by Dada Bhai Nauroji, A.O. Hume and William Wedderburn to influence British Public opinion at London.
• Dada Bhai started the journal ‘India’ in 1890.i

Source: http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/pakistan-affairs/62454-pak-study-notes.html

Viceroys and Governor-Generals of British India, 1757-1947

Hello All,

Please find below short notes on the activities and achievements of various governors and viceroys of India. I have reproduced this content from, prepare to be surprised- a Study Forum of civil service aspirants of Pakistan: 

http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/pakistan-affairs/62454-pak-study-notes.html. 

Were you surprised? I certainly was, when I first came across this site many months ago. And believe it, some of the content they were studying was from our IGNOU notes. So the circle comes full. And am including all of us in it too by sharing this content. :)

I cannot vouch for the total factual correctness of the content below, but I believe most of it would be correct. Thanks to UmarBajwa for posting this information on the original site.

Happy studying :)

Spurthi

Robert Clive (1757-67) (1766-67)
Governor of Bengal from 1757-60 and again from 1765-67.
Started dual Government in Bengal in 1765.
He forbade the servants of the company from indulging in private trade and made payment of internal duties obligatory.
Established Society of Trade in 1765 with monopoly of trade in salt, betelnuit and tobacco However this was abolished in 1767.
Bengal white Mutiny-by white brigades at Allahabad and Monghyr, they were arrested and tried.

Warren Hasting (1772-85)
First Governor General after serving as the Governor of Bengal (1772).
Introduced quinquennial settlement of land revenue in 1772 farming out lands to the highest bidder, later on he reversed to annual settlement (1777) on the basis of open auction to the highest bidder.
Made the appointment of collectors and other revenue officials.
Codified Hindu and Muslim laws.
Trial of Nand Kumar and his judicial murder in 1775.
6. Fondation of Asiastic Society of Bengal with the help of Sir William Jones in 1784.
Associated with the Chait Singh (Raj of Banaras) affair (1778).
Associated with Bengams of Oudh affair (1782).
After his return of England in 1785, impeachment proceedings were initiated against him in the house of Lords but after a long trial of 7 years he was eventually acquitted.
Dual Govt. was abolished in 1772 by him.
In 1776 Manu’s Law was Translated into English as Code of Gentoo Laws.
In 1991 William Jones and Colebrok prepared digest of Hindu Laws.
Fatawa-i-Alamgiri was also tranlated.

Tamralipta National Government, 1942-44

The ‘Quit India’ Movement of 1942 was a watershed in India’s struggle for freedom. A unique feature of the ‘Movement’ was formation of a series of independent local Governments in some parts of the country, like Satara in Maharashtra, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh and Tamluk in West Bengal. 

Among these, the ‘Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar’ (National Government) of Tamluk was really innovative since it set up Police Stations, Military Departments, Courts and even a system for revenue collection. They also had an active women's wings- Bidyut Bahini. Those who played important roles in the uprising in Tamluk included Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee and Matangini Hazra, among others. The Sarkar continued to function till August 1944, when taking note of the changed circumstances, Mahatma Gandhi advised to wind up its activities.5

President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled statues of three freedom fighters who led the Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar:

Ajoy Mukherjee, 

Satish Chandra Samanta and 

Sushil Kumar Dhara.

Interview Tips by other Toppers

Heylo All,

Found some posts offering advice on interview preparation. So generally  letting you know. And as Bijay Ketan Upadhyay (IAS) writes "Fortune favours the prepared mind". So prepare well :)

1. http://bijayketanupadhyayaias.blogspot.in/2010/03/interview-preparation-for-ias-keep.html
2. http://bijayketanupadhyayaias.blogspot.in/2010/05/interview-preparation-part-ii.html
3. http://piedhornbill.blogspot.in/2009/01/seasons-greetings-and-gear-up-for.html
4. http://shubhra-saxena.blogspot.in/2009/06/my-interview.html
5. http://garima-mittal-ias.blogspot.in/2010/08/interview.html
6. http://prabhjotsinghgujral.blogspot.in/2010/07/few-words-on-interview.html
7. http://ghanshyamthori.blogspot.in/2009_04_01_archive.html
8. http://intellection-rajiv.blogspot.in/2010/04/it-was-purushottam-agrawal.html
9. http://intellection-rajiv.blogspot.in/2010/04/it-was-purushottam-agrawal.html
10. http://kashishmittal.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/my-upsc-interview/
11. http://ghanshyamthori.blogspot.in/2010/03/deja-vunot-desirable-anymore.html

For my own interview experience-read this: http://hyd-n-spook.blogspot.in/2012/03/interview-tips.html

Also, if any of you find other relevant posts regarding interview prep, do let us know through the comments. section.

Thanks
Spurthi

Heylo & Online Sociology Course

Dear Friends,

I expect you all must have had a good break after the exams and most of you may have begun prep again. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do this. And I have been inactive on the blog front too. For those of you who have been checking the blog for new posts (esp Ramesh who wrote in)- am sorry for the lack of response. But I seek your indulgence for a little more time. I will be active from January onwards for certain.

Meanwhile, I have come across an online course on "Introduction to Sociology". This is not tailored to our syllabus but it seems as if it will help us understand how to apply sociology better- and given the increasing emphasis on application-based questioning, I think it will be useful. Do check it out. The website has other interesting courses too.
(https://www.coursera.org/course/soc101)

Else all well. Take care. Ciao.

Spurthi