Day: January 31, 2020

UPSC NDA 2020: Preparation hacks to score more; check paper pattern.

Source – indianexpress.com

UPSC NDA 2020: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct NDA 2020 on April 19, when young defence force aspirants across the country will battle it out in the two-paper exam to qualify for the SSB. This will take candidates to the next step of joining the National Defence Academy’s Army, Navy and Air Force wings for 145th Course, and 107th Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC). Registrations for the exam ended on January 28.  Next, the NDA admit card for the UPSC NDA and NA (I) 2020 will be released in online mode, three weeks prior to the exam.

Understanding the exam pattern and knowing the NDA syllabus will open doors to success in this exam. For selection, candidates will be judged out of 1800 marks, where 900 marks are assigned to the written test and 900 marks to SSB.

Written exam of NDA consists of two papers. Paper 1 is of Mathematics, with 120 questions of 300 marks, and Paper 2 the General Ability Test (GAT), which contains 150 questions of 600 marks. The duration of each paper is two-and-a-half hours. It is recommended to go through previous years’ NDA question papers to get a good idea of the type of questions that are asked.

Multiple choice questions are asked in the written test and candidates can choose the mode of answering either in Hindi or English. There is a provision of negative marking in NDA; for every wrong answer, one-third of the marks allotted to that question are deducted. No marks are deducted for the questions left unanswered.

Thus, GAT questions fetch 4 marks for correct answers, and 4/3 is deducted for incorrect answers. And in Math paper, candidates get 2.5 for correct answers, and 2.5/ 3 is deducted for incorrect answers. This marking scheme will be useful to calculate marks after the exam, while going through the NDA answer key.

GAT comprises of English and General Knowledge that includes physics, chemistry, history, geography, current events. Candidates who are able to clear the written exam, on the basis of NDA result of the written exam, will be called for SSB.

Now, let’s have a look at some of the important preparation tips for NDA 2020. It is important that candidates start preparing for the exam as soon as possible, without waiting for the exam date to come any closer.

Whatever sources candidates are referring to, or whatever mode they are opting, everything should revolve around the topics given in the syllabus, which should remain the central point for NDA 2020 preparation.

Maths needs practice and good understanding of the basics. It is recommended that the preparation of Mathematics as well as English and science portions of GAT should be done through NCERT books of class VI to class XII. Candidates should also focus on learning tips and tricks to answer questions in Mathematics, asked in objective form.

To prepare for English, candidates should read newspapers and magazines daily, and also focus on achieving clarity in basic grammar rules. While reading, if they are unable to understand the meaning of certain words, then they should create a separate list of these. Once they are done with the reading, they should try to understand the meaning as well as the usage of these words.

Candidates should be able to identify their command over a particular topic and the number of questions asked from it. Accordingly, they should move forward with their preparation. It is not necessary to learn and practice each and every topic.

WBPSC Interview Schedule 2020 for Deputy Director Posts Released @pscwbapplication.in

Source – jagranjosh.com

WBPSC Interview Schedule 2020 Download: West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) has released the Interview Schedule on its official website for the Deputy Director Posts. All such candidates who have to appear for the Deputy Director Posts, can download their admit card from the official website of WBPSC – pscwbonline.gov.in.

According to the short notification released by the West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC), the Interview for the Deputy Director Post will be held on 13/14/17 February 2020.  

West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) had earlier invited applications for the Deputy Director posts in Animal Resources Development and Deputy Director, Animal Resources Development Department & Parishad Officer in West Bengal Higher Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Service under the Animal Resources Development Department, Govt. of W.B. against advt. no. 9(2)/2019. 

Candidates should note that they can download their Interview Admit Card from 6th February, 2020 by visiting on the official website of West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC).

 WBPSC Interview Schedule 2020 Download Process
Visit the official website i.e. pscwbonline.gov.in
Go to the Latest Advertisements/Announcement section available on the home page. 
Click on the link “SCHEDULE OF INTERVIEW FOR RECRUITMENT TO THE POST OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ANIMAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ANIMAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT & PARISHAD OFFICER IN WEST BENGAL HIGHER ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & VETERINARY SERVICE UNDER THE ANIMAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, GOVT. OF W.B., VIDE COMMISSION’S ADVT. NO. 9(2)/2019 ” given on the Home Page.
A New Window will open where you will get the PDF of the desired Interview Schedule. 
You can take print of the Interview Schedule for future reference.

Candidates are advised to check the official website of West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) for latest updates regarding the recruitment process for the Deputy Director Posts.  For further latest update regarding the various Government jobs Notification/Exam Dates/Schedule /Admit Card/Result etc, you can also check the www.jagranjosh.com.

Bihar election: Congress pushes for early alliance, shortlists seats with better winning chances.

Source – newindianexpress.com

NEW DELHI:  Realising that delay in alliance formation in Bihar dented the Mahagathbandhan’s chances during the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is pushing for alliance in the state to be in place by May for the assembly elections scheduled later this year. In fact, the party has already shortlisted seats with better winnability chances.

Of the 243 assembly seats, the party has prepared a list of those falling in three categories — A, B and C — with wining probabilities keeping in mind caste equation. The Congress is in a bad shape in Bihar with no district or block level committees in many regions of the state.     

“We want an early alliance to be in place for Bihar elections and we are doing our homework for the same. During Lok Sabha polls, the announcement of alliances was pushed till the last minute and it didn’t travel well to the party workers on the ground. As a result,  there was a lack of coordination between party workers,” AICC Bihar in-charge Shakti Sinh Gohil told this newspaper. 

The party feels that in 2015, seat-sharing formula between JD (U)-RJD-Congress alliance was in place much in advance as it was taken care of by Nitish Kumar and that helped the alliance’s coming to power before Kumar parted ways. 

The alliance talks between RJD, Congress, Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikasheel Insaan Party lingered on during Lok Sabha polls. It was finally announced nearly a week before the first phase of polling in the state. 

Gohil says that instructions have been given to state president to constitute district and block committees on priority basis and first round of assessment is already over.    

With the RJD announcing that it will contest at least 150 of 243 seats and projecting Tejashwi Yadav as CM’s face, Congress leaders are in a fix as Bihar unit has told the party high command that they cannot win under him. 

“It would be difficult for the party to win even 5 seats if Tejashwi is declared CM candidate of the mahagathbandhan and party should not agree to contest under him,” said a senior Bihar Congress leader.

Citizenship Act: Kanhaiya Kumar detained with several others in Bihar ahead of protest rally.

Source – scroll.in

Communist Party of India leader Kanhaiya Kumar and several others were detained on Thursday in Bettiah city in West Champaran district of Bihar, reported Republic. The Bihar Police swung into action just before Kumar was scheduled to begin a “Jan-Gana-Man yatra” against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens.

Speaking to reporters as the police took him away, Kumar said although the administration wants all Indians to show documentary proof of being citizens, the police would not show him the papers for his detention orders, reported News18. The protestors had gathered outside the Bhitiharwa Gandhi Ashram.

Kumar said the police had earlier granted permission for the protest march, but revoked it on Wednesday night. The month-long march was to start from Champaran on Thursday to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

The former JNU student has held several protest rallies against the amended citizenship law. The former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president had lashed out at the Centre over the arrests of prominent activists who organised protests. He had called the government a “coward and liar”.

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act are continuing across the country, more than a month after it was passed in Parliament. The amendments, notified on January 10, provide citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. Twenty-six people died in last month’s protests against the law – all in the BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Assam.

The government’s critics and some protestors fear that the amended law and the National Register of Citizens will be misused to target Muslims since the Citizenship Act now has religion as a criterion. There are now fears that a nation-wide National Register of Citizens will be imposed. The Assam NRC had left out around 6% of the state’s population. Work has also begun on the National Population Register, which is the first step to creating an all-Indian NRC identifying undocumented migrants residing in India.

Jharkhand Forest Officials Apply ‘Archimedes’ Principle’ to Rescue Elephant from Well.

Source – news18.com

Forest Department officials in Jharkhand are being hailed for tactfully rescuing a stranded elephant by applying ‘Archimedes Principle’ on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in the Amliya toli village of Gumla distric, where an elephant had fallen into a well and locals had to rope in forest department officials to run the rescue operation.

According to reports, the rescue operation started at 7 am and lasted for three hours where the team applied the scientific principle.

Applying Archimedes’ ‘upward buoyant force’ theory, the team first filled the well with water by using a motorised pump. Eventually the elephant floated up and the ramp was raised for it to climb out.

The video was shared by an IFS person Ramesh Pandey, who said, “Heartwarming pictures of how intelligently the team @dfogumla and villagers using Archimedes’s physical law of buoyancy save an elephant calf who had fell in a well. They pumped water into well to float the elephant to surface. Great work. “

The viral tweet went on to receive a lot of love and praise from netizens, who commended the rescue team’s efforts of applying science.

Jharkhand govt trying to cover up killings of tribals for opposing Pathalgarhi movement: BJP

Source – outlookindia.com

The BJP on Thursday accused the JMM-led government in Jharkhand of trying to cover up the killings of seven villagers in West Singhbhum district for allegedly opposing ”Pathalgarhi”, a self-rule movement.

Supporters of the movement had allegedly kidnapped seven villagers of Burugulikera in Guddi block on January 21 and killed them for opposing their stir. The mutilated bodies were recovered from a forest around 4 kilometres from the village the next day.

Following the incident, BJP president JP Nadda formed a party delegation to visit the West Singhbhum district. The delegation comprised Jaswant Singh Bhabhor (MP from Gujarat), Samir Oraon (MP from Jharkhand), Bharati Pawar (parliamentarian from Maharashtra), Gomti Saai (Chhattisgarh Lok Sabha member), Joan Barla (LS member from West Bengal) and former Jharkhand minister and MLA Nilkanth Singh Munda.

The delegation on Wednesday met Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah and submitted the report on the incident.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Oraon said the JMM-led Jharkhand government, of which the Congress is a part, “is trying to cover up the incident.”

“The state government got into action two days after the incident and is now trying to cover up the incident to safeguard the perpetrators of this heinous crime in which innocent tribals were killed,” he said.

Oraon said the incident took place after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced that all cases against ”Pathalgarhi” activists will be taken back.

The Pathalgarhi movement is a name given to a tribal protest for autonomy to Gramsabha (village council). Its proponents want no laws of the land be applicable to the tribal people in the area and refuse to accept government”s rights over forests and rivers.

Its supporters carve their diktat on rocks in their areas of influence. The name ”Pathalgarhi” is derived from the practice of carving the edicts of the leaders of the movement on large stones called ”pathal” in local language, while garhi means carving.

The killings that took place days after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal coalition government assumed power in the state on December 29, triggered widespread outrage and CM Soren ordered an investigation by a special investigation team (SIT).

Sixteen people have been arrested in connection with the killings, according to police.

Jharkhand portfolio allocation: CM Hemant Soren keeps Home, Congress gets Health, Finance.

Source – indiatoday.in

Amonth after swearing-in as the Jharkhand chief minister, Hemant Soren on Wednesday allotted portfolio to his council of ministers. Speculations were rife that mounting pressure from Congress for key departments did not allow Hemant Soren to expand his cabinet and allot departments to his ministers.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had attacked Hemant Soren, alleging the chief minister was acting as a “puppet CM”. In a month, Hemant Soren had to travel to Delhi five times. RJD supporters are a disgruntled lot after being allocated just one department of labour and employment.

Their workers alleged that the party was given a peanut and Congress walked away with major departments like health, finance, commercial tax, agriculture, REO and rural department that always constitute the largest part of the annual budget.

Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey said it was not the opportune time to discuss who got the lion share and who were left high and dry. “Rather all the allies in mahagathbandhan should envisage how they would deliver and fulfill the promise made to the common people during elections,” the Congress spokesperson said.

“The government is ours. All the ministers should work with a strong belief and commitment towards people,” he said.