Hello Friends

Here we are, once again, at the gates of an event called Civil Services Mains (CSM)!

This event repeats itself every year and in spirit, resembles the churning process that gives achievers and bureaucrats to the country. This ‘samudra Manthan’ will give toppers this year too. But who will that be? Can it be you? Think about it. Or think about the person who will secure AIR 1 this year. Does he/ she know that already? In all probability, no.

No one knows what the future holds. Isn’t it? But we know that the selected few who would move to the next stage are among those 15000 who would appear for Mains this year. You have to be one of those selected few. For that, you have dedicated your day and night. You have worked hard in the last 6 months, lost your sleep, stayed away from your family, stopped communicating with best friends and what not. Is it all a misery then? No, it is not. All the sacrifices and hardships suffered by you will make you buoyant enough to come out in the churning that UPSC does every year to select the best candidates. The knowledge and analytical skills that you have built up won’t let you settle down. You would rather float and eventually rise up to meet success.

But for that to happen, you need self-belief. Even the best batsman has to score a century in the match and not during net practice. The three hours that you get to convey your thoughts and understanding on various issues, events and ideas must witness your best. All your efforts and dedication must reflect in your answers. You can’t afford to give your 99.99%. Within a difference of one mark, UPSC can take in or throw out candidates from the merit list. Such is the level of competition and you are well aware of that. Keep one thing in mind- do better than your best, always one notch above your ability. Sometimes walking that extra mile can take you to the destination even if it has remained elusive during the entire journey.

While you give your best, the following tips might help you in scoring better. Please take a note of the following points and try to follow them during the exam and we are sure that you would find them useful:

• Remove this feeling from your mind that you have to attempt all the questions to qualify. It is not possible that you would be knowing the answers to all the questions. There would always be 2-3 questions that you won't be having any idea of or only have a vague understanding of the issue. There is no point banging your head on those questions. UPSC won’t even give you a single mark for random and vague answers. It is UPSC, not your university!

• In the first reading of the questions that you won’t be answering. Suppose you have already realised during the first reading that you can’t answer 2 questions. That reduces the number of questions to 18 for you. It means you have 10 minutes for each question. That extra minute per question should be used to make your answers better, compact and structured having no loose ends. Two dot balls can always be compensated by two boundaries! Isn’t it?

• Think before you write. Out of the 9-10 minutes, at least 60-90 seconds should be invested in gathering your thoughts, making points and creating the structure of the answer in your mind. This will allow you to save time while you actually write the answer. It will also make your answers better ad more structured. Many times we stop midway in an answer due to lack of thoughts and organisation. This won’t happen to you if you adopt this simple strategy.

• Write in paragraphs and points. It means your first and last paras should always be written in paragraph format whereas the body can be written in points. This gives your answer a definite structure. We take a sample question and answer to make you understand the structure. Please note that the template is an indicative one just to make you understand better.

Question:

India’s intelligence activity would have to keep pace with globalization and India’s growing relevance in the global order. Comment.

Introduction: To give an idea about the issue, its backdrop and the content that will follow in the next paragraph.

RAW and IB are two premier external and internal intelligence agencies of India. With changing world order and globalization, they have to keep pace with changing times and they need reforms to keep India at par with other global powers.

Body: Must contain all the relevant points pertaining to the question.

1. Legal status: Intelligence agencies should be given proper legal status at par with other countries.
2. Specialist talent: Threat is no more restricted to physical presence; proper expertise should be in place for changing the level of threats.

• Training: Proper training should be given on the basis of field operations and different spheres of intelligence gathering.

1. Technology: With changing the form of security threats, agencies should be provided with the latest technology.
2. Co-ordination: Proper co-ordination between various intelligence agencies and security agencies to stop threats.
3. Foreign assets: More than internal, external threat is very high so foreign intelligence assets should be strengthened.

• Collaborations: Intelligence agencies can collaborate with friendly countries sharing the same level of threats and use each other’s expertise and improve to tackle the threats. Ex: India and Israel.

Conclusion: To provide a end remark/ summary/ way ahead/ solution to the issue.

India is aiming to become a superpower and overtake China. But recent attacks have shown the fault lines in India’s intelligence capabilities and also the need of major reforms. Intelligence is the foundation of the security apparatus of our country. If intelligence is robust, any threat can be prevented and India’s growth and resurgence can be assured.

This strategy will ensure that you write a compact yet a comprehensive answer to all the questions. This will also give a better impression as there won’t be any possibility of your answers ending abruptly.

• Never try to fool the examiner. Be honest and write only what you are sure of. Random and vague points will irritate the examiner and you will end up losing marks in your other answers too.

• Always write the first few questions in good handwriting and impressively. For example, the first three questions in Paper I will be from Art and Culture. Your impression for the rest of the paper will be determined by the way you have presented the answers in the first three questions. So, always try to create a good impression in the first three answers itself.

We have done our bit to help you in this process and we wish you all the best for your exams. And finally, as we always say, everyone is feeling the same pressure. You don’t have to outperform anyone. You just have to give your best and success will follow. Keep your head high and give your best.

All the best

IASbaba