@ChampakI was really shocked to see that question, attempted it in the end because of its sensitivesness, just wrote secularism definition. Not expecting anything from this question. Could've been framed in a better manner. Also it puts secularism in negative light. Vivek katju is on the money in his article.
@Champakwhat I feel is that if we hit the question along with substantiating it with data, arguments etc along with good introduction and conclusion that deserves 55% marks, average answer without data and arguments will get 30-40% marks and namesake answers will just give 10-20% marks. 0 will be awarded in rare case.
@vvvikas0078212Don't get me wrong bhai, but in the name of secularism was asked and ethical and environmental aspects are quite different, it was definitely a tricky question. Even those who've written about sabrimala have deviated as it was famous for gender empowerment and women rights. Triple talaq and namaz ban on roads could've been written but with utmost care since this topic was quite sensitive and any mistake can make a bad impression.
@vvvikas0078212that's good then.
But when we say that secularism in general and Indian secularism in particular poses a threat to our cultural practices, it certainly is a negative statement. In Western secularism context it could certainly have been asked like threat to Islamic culture.. Burqa or sikh culture.. Turban or even festivals, but Indian secularism is a pure concept and widest of all. Even in paper 2 has made it clear that France can learn a lot from Indian secularism.
@vvvikas0078212hopefully that will work.
@vvvikas0078212bhai 100 marks of geography was asked, predominantly human geography. This much weightage wasn't given to geography in 2017 or 2018 as far as I remember. Plus history questions both modern and world history ones were easy as compared to 2018 or 2017.
@dr-ahmednaaz8567I said 10-20% marks for namesake answers, and iam quoting the words of arun kumar saxena, former joint secretary in upsc who worked in the cse section.
@LonewolfI cannot comment bhai but anything controversial in this answer may not work in our favour in this question I guess. Rest I personally feel that you could've avoided writing about vande Mataram as it's ones personal choice whether to sing it or not and one community can't force it on another.
@dr-ahmednaaz8567Namesakeness varies from 10% to 20% in an answer. 0 marks are not given in any answer because some relevance is there even in namesake answers, even 0.5 marks in a 10 marker becomes 1 mark when rounded off in total.
@Shubzpaper left blank.
But in optional we really can get 0 in an answer as optional questions are specific and are checked by subject experts.
Before prelims result,@DKTclaimed that he got 165 in essay in 2018 mains, I asked him to show his marksheet as I knew that vikram Grewal got the highest marks in essay in 2018..161 marks and he surely is not even close to vikram Grewal. He couldn't post his marksheet, busted and humiliated in front of everyone. He is just a newbie who wrote his first mains, didn't have the speed and thus got insecure about his performance.
In prelims too, he kept on lying about his expected prelims marks, I wonder if at all he had cleared the prelims itself or not. Being overconfident and less accommodative of his criticism shows his lack of maturity. Saying that he may get 860 after leaving around 250 marks can still be digested but saying that he will get 185 marks in his first interview is laughable as firstly no one can predict interview marks and secondly getting 185 is really a tough task in interview.
He may start using abusive language now which would definitely reflect his officer like qualities.
@TeddyWestsideYes bro, I don't know why people lie here.
@K_9exactly bhai, he never stops showing up.
@RagsIf you have written answers more or less on the line of what himanshu sir has discussed, then they can be considered above average and then you can surely expect 140+ even after messing up those five 10 markers.
Eg- types of soils like chernozem, seirozem related to capillary action and hence basic soils then linking with fertility similarly podsols, letosols related to leaching and hence acidic soils then linking with fertility, also map. Using ecosystem principles in Web of life question like integrated whole, disruption etc. Hearth concept and relocation diffusion along with world map in linguistic hotspots. Tracing back regions to Arabs and classical geographers in introduction of natural regions also using formal and functional regions in differences. HDI question mention of pqli in its evolution, social well being, ihdi, gii, mpi etc in criticism. Post fordism in de industrialisation question with map. Isotims and isodapanes diagram also using israd, losch and spatial margins theory in weber criticism. Demographic transition diagram in ageing population question. Mentioning geography of peace book in rimland theory of spykman along with year 1945, scholars from which he got inspired like George simmels Alfred Mahan and a map of rimland with all relevant developments.
That's what himanshu sir had discussed as part of value addition in answers apart from the obvious core concepts which need to be mentioned as per the demand of the questions. All these will certainly make the answers above average and hence 70% marks in that question.
@Ragsthis topic should better be discussed in geography optional thread.
@HartshorneIn some answers I used the exact concepts and missed out in others. But I think that these should be mentioned to make our answers above average. Just like you I also dedicatedly gave guidance tests.
What about you? Did you use all these concepts?
@Hartshornesecond mains, got 127+141 in 2017 after leaving 30 marks blank and one 10 marker namesake answer in paper 1 and 20 marks blank in paper 2. So scaling helped I guess.
What about you? First attempt?
@Hartshorneyes definitely, even more if all the questions are attempted.
Can shelfords range of tolerance diagram be used in amensalism question?
@HartshorneIn such answers only examples and some innovative concepts along with diagrams can help us. God knows from where they pick up such questions that too doing grave injustice to the fellow hindi medium candidates.
@132_SIDBut I strongly feel that writing consequences of general eruptions in that answer will make negligible impact on our answer as the moment we explain phreatic eruption in our answer initially, examiner would know whether we know it or not, after it he can easily figure out that the consequences which we've written are related to phreatic eruption or not.
Some bogus coaching classes are misguiding by saying that normal eruption related consequences can be written but one thing is clear that the examiner is certainly not a fool sitting there.
@132_SIDIam sure the hindi medium copies are checked according to the hindi medium questions so as to ensure complete justice.
@132_SIDmeans? Hindi mein bhi toh hota hai paper.
@132_SIDtrue but examiner checking hindi medium copies would not read English medium questions.
@132_SIDgs2 was equally tough to decipher in English medium too... lol. Office language is English that's why original paper and other office works are also carried out in English. If translation in hindi goes wrong then only the hindi medium candidates will be affected but if English translation goes wrong then candidates across the country gets affected. Greatest happiness of greatest number I guess.
@vvvikas0078212aim upsc ki list mein aane ka hai, chahe reserve list hi ho.
@John_Titorprogressive aims.. One step at a time
@ranahere999Welcome to GENERAL category bro
@vvvikas0078212That's why she got rajasthan as there were no sc vacancies in her home state haryana
@vvvikas0078212avoided deontological approach as its technical term of ethics. The evaluator may or may not be aware of it.
Best for an individual is not necessarily best for society
Started with Gandhiji’s "there are sufficient resources on this earth to fulfil everyone's need but not everyone's greed" quote
Then how individual's values are formed, from within as well as from society. Internal values are long lasting and if good then positive impact on individuals as well as on society. Outside values are short term and as individual is the building block of society, these are generally shared ones.
In first part took stand that best for an individual is also best for society, 4 subheadings
- Historical- Ashoka's dhamma, akbar's din I Ilahi and Gandhiji’s sarva dharma sambhava.
- Economic- Individuals pursuit for excellence is good for him as well as for the organisation and society, hardworking attitude, punctuality etc.
- Social- How interrelationships help building social capital and mutual benefits. Good for individuals and society as whole.
- Health- healthy lifestyle and exercise good for individual's own health as well as longevity of society.
In second part aligned with the theme of essay, 4 subheadings
- Historical- Alexander and Hitler, wars and massive devastation where individual's over ambitious nature created fear and hatred in society.
- Social- decay of society due to rising individualism, Old age homes, nuclear families lead to fragmentation of society.
- Economic- linked individualism to consumerism leading to rising economic inequalities, gave india's rank 147/157 in global inequality index, creating rift between various sections of society.
- Environmental- linked individualism and consumerism to rising environmental degradation, climate change, plastic use, ecological footprint being 1.4 times more than what the earth can generate to sustain us.
Concluded with the need to promote the attitude of "we instead of me", sdg especially sdg10 to reduce inequalities and most importantly align individual's goal with that of society leading to shared responsibilities.
@John_Titorbro, can you share what all have you written in this, this was attempted by very few candidates.
I started with vasudeva kutambakam thinking which originated from South Asia in general and India in particular. It reflects the respect for pluralism in the region so much so that it considers not only south Asia but the whole world as one big family. Then mentioned that South Asia holds a significant place in world's society, economy as well as geography.
Charted out the history of South asia
- IVC- not much pluralism present and thus society was formed around state, that's why use of bricks, Wells in houses etc are found even today.
- Maurya, gupta, Ceylon, Persian empire began pluralism in the region as they were fragmented and represented various ethnic identities.
- Linked sultanate with Persian empire and inflow of Islamic culture in the region. Plural character of society reflects in monuments like qutub minar, Islamic architecture like arch and dome.
- Mughals began dominating role of state in region by integrating it which reach its zenith under aurangzeb.
- How British state itself was responsible to break the society and hindu Muslim unity under divide and rule policy.
- Post independence examples of punjab region where culture and identities are similar across the border of both states like punjabi language, cuisine etc. Same for Bangladesh and west Bengal, language cuisine etc.
- Racial diversity of the region, dravida race in South, aryan in north and mongoloid in North East part of the region.
- Threat to plural cultures and identities by influence of globalisation and xenophobia due to migration.
Concluded with balance between centripetal forces (state) and centrifugal forces (plural cultures and identities) for peace and harmony in society. Unity in diversity. Constitutional principles. Supremacy of south Asia in cultural sphere in line with vasudeva kutambakam.
@vvvikas0078212but all the examples of how best for an individual isn't best for society like Hitler, individualism, consumerism etc reflect greedy nature only. If a person isn't greedy and do a thing which is best for him then it becomes best for society too like ashoka, akbar and gandhi ji. Otherwise a person tends to become greedy and hence damage society.
@vvvikas0078212covering multiple dimensions and citing examples is important whether Hitler or napoleon.
@John_TitorSeems good.
@Valar_morghulisdid you get below average marks in essay and gs 1?
@Valar_morghulisI personally think that 300+ marks in optional is the solution to all our problems. Even with mishap in gs.
- D
- K
- T
@Yes_I_am_in
@Charlie_Charliegs topper this year.
@Scorpion888Sometimes I get chills thinking that people even wrote good answers for CAT, harmonious construction & federal supremacy, article 368,CAG,service sector, Indian society unique in sustaining its culture, integrated farming system and institutional measures to ensure integrity type of questions.
@pra7009055arre khul ke baat Karo bhai yaha, apna hi forum hai.
@vvvikas0078212exactly, the competition is so fierce that both quality and quantity have to be there. And in quality there should be everything like IBC structure, diagrams, examples, committee recommendations, articles, schemes. Cut throat competition.
@pra7009055anthro guys have discussed their optional in detail here, so no need to worry bro.
@K_9Delhi knowledge track
@sat_009Yes AG, no need to worry bro, there wasn't any question related to CAG this time
@vvvikas0078212he must be DKT
@Chanakyabut average score in gs that year was 400, that too with average in ethics being 80-85
So in gs 1,2,3 average comes out to be 105.
This guy must've not left much from gs 4 as almost everyone manages to just complete it due to nature of answers being not so specific.
So even if he'd have completed gs 1,2,3 then in left out 5 questions with 3 marks in each, he could've just got average marks which aren't sufficient for selection. So iam sure his 15 attempted questions were not so awesome.
@sat_009nicely summed up. But interview is post match presentation, where we as captain discuss our journey and important areas with the anchor.
@sat_009I mean the question answer format.
@Ravsleaving aside really difficult questions like gandhara art question, the society questions like Indian society unique in sustaining its culture and losing local identity to global identity seemingly look moderate, but they are a curse in disguise due to the low potential of writing specific content in them, being very subjective and hence less marks.
@Ravsyou can achieve 300 only if you've written the rest of the answers really well leading to 70% marks per answer. And for bakar answers 20% marks at max. So 70% of 400 + 20% of 100 = 300
@RavsI've left that one
@John_TitorBhai will change to public administration in 3rd attempt, you just wait.
I initially thought he is DKT, but he is replying politely and has never used the famous DKT quote "aap chaudhary mat bano" a single time. So he is just another guy who is insecure about his performance in mains and thus want to show off how much he has prepared as if we mere mortals gave mains after 3 month sabbatical.
Crazy people in a crazy world!!
@bevancomthanks, best of luck to you too!!
@zombielandthey don't give less marks arbitrarily just to butcher an optional. They deliberately set tough question paper whenever an optional becomes too popular, so that parity between optionals can be maintained. 2013 and 2015 geography and 2014 pub ad papers are a testimony to this.
@zombielandno particular optional has been butchered since 2016 as far as I know. So only our performance decides whether we are going to get butchered or not.
@bevancomyou really are out of this world man
@bevancommains ke baad hum sab velle hi hai, 1503 pages ke notes thodi bnane hai.
@vvvikas0078212and raand bhai clearly said don't do that either in the end. Bevancom's watch has ended.
@bevancomand you revised them 6 times right...
@zombielandzombieland : double tap toh dekh hi li hogi..
@bevancomdetective is going through each and every post of yours...
@Malcolmas long as it is legible you can top the exam.
@pysh12950you really are a firm believer...
@bevancombut ye golden marksheet hai kaha..
@John_Titorek aisi marksheet jisme 135/145 in essay
90's in gs and 250 in anthropology.
@bevancomif you're Aditya sharma, then why did you hide your name?
@bevancomso you said you got 145 in 2017 essay, while you actually got 134. Itna socio mat revise kar bhai ki essay ke marks hi bhool jaaye.
@bevancomit's only the marks obtained in the past that will act as a benchmark for us to identify the weak areas and improve them accordingly.
@bevancomI've posted my marksheet way back in June bro, in that sense I've got nothing to hide. However DKT hasn't posted his marksheet with 165 marks 2018 essay.
Now please stop this credibility game.
Left 10 mark each totally blank in all 4 gs papers. Around 30 mark bullshit in gs 1,2,3 and in gs 4 haven't studied anything.
In optional left 50 marks totally blank and 30 marks bullshit.
Stop boasting about your performance now as everyone here is a champ of his own world.
@K_9I like their humble and down to earth nature. They never hide anything or lie about their performance.
@RealMangoeveryone is anxious now, it's natural. Problem comes when our anxiety starts affecting others.
@sat_009Butchered in 2017 plus no preparation ruined my chances of giving interview at least.
@vvvikas0078212bro, I wrote 5000 litre per person per year for healthy lifestyle as per WHO and 1700 litre per person per year as water stress and india's level of 1550 litre per person per year.
So mistake is litre instead of cubic meters.
What could be the repercussions?
@K_9vacancies increase every year, interview list is made according to these increased vacancies and after interview no vacancies are increased. Final list is prepared according to the increased vacancies and not the notification vacancies.
Some candidates are kept in reserve list so final list has less candidates than the final vacancies. Then reserve list comes in which only half of the total reserve list candidates are selected.
@vvvikas0078212figures exact hai, but unit galat.. Let's see kitne katenge.
@sat_009bhai, this much I've also written, intro mein water stress definition, then this data. Then cwmi groundwater depletion report. Then supply side deficit, then demand side. Then map of deficit regions. Finally conclusion with drought resistant seeds,precision farming, water harvesting etc. Concerned with data unit.
@vvvikas0078212, I was also confused but I wrote it on the left side of question paper, so confirmed after exam got over. Couldn't link it with core geography though, much of a gs type answer.
@deceptrixbut without world map having water mass and ocean currents along with specific examples of water mass like North Atlantic deep waters, Antarctic deep water, Mediterranean water mass etc, the answer may seem artificial. Especially the water mass part which is very specific and not a famous gs topic.
@deceptrixif you've drawn maps, then it's good.
Coming to relevance, specific examples are needed to explain their impact on marine life and coastal environment of the region.
In addition to this, water masses initiate thermohaline circulation beneath water surface and have little relation with air masses which are formed on land also.
Still you'll get average marks at least in this answer.
@deceptrixIf you think this answeykey is credible, then fine for you. But water mass is studied in detail in oceanography topic of geography optional. The simple logic why air mass and water mass aren't much related is that most of the water masses form in Bottom or deep waters as uniform water properties are found there unlike the changing surface conditions.
All the very best
@SUMANSAURABH201296904yes right, cold ocean currents are popularly related to upwelling. Difference was asked, so in tabular form answer Mediterranean water mass downwelling could be written against it.
@ranyo_asokayes, but since this cold water is dense and sink towards bottom thus polar areas have deep or bottom watermass. And this is the reason why maritime polar air mass doesn't have correlation with these bottom and deep watermasses.
Very specific and tough question though as it's a part of core geography optional.
@vvvikas0078212bhai how can water mass be subject to different interpretation? Oceanography topic has all related impacts of watermass on coastal environment and marine life like thermohaline circulation, downwelling, salinity, less biodiversity due to temperature extremes etc.
@Shubzbut vikas also has geography optional, so I think despite of knowing he couldn't decipher what exactly examiner wanted to ask, because just like airmass concept in climatology, watermass in oceanography is core topic.
@deceptrixI've never said that watermasses are formed only in deep waters. I've said most of them are formed in deep waters, plus the North Atlantic deep waters and Antarctic bottom waters can never explain maritime polar airmass formation above them.
Core geography knowledge is necessary now a days, don't know why but upsc has been asking such questions more so from 2017 with location of petroleum refineries, ocean salinity variations like vertical and horizontal. Similarly in 2019 like this watermass and Food processing industries which couldn't be explained without raw material, market, transportation, labour etc.
I understand its your first attempt, and that's why its quite normal to deviate from what has been asked either due to comparatively less knowledge or less practice. Still I wish you get average marks at least in this answer as you've drawn diagrams and wrote well for ocean currents.
Also this research paper net digging is a big fail, be it post prelims or post mains. Upsc works on logic and standard texts.
@deceptrixwish you the same.
And one more thing, one answer will never decide anything, maybe if the examiner overlooks, then you can get 50%+ marks in this answer also. What I really meant was to answer watermass impact and not deliberately link it with airmass just to show our innovation as airmass wasn't asked.
Even if we considered correlation between them, then airmass can never explain marine life impact which is specific to watermass.
Also you don't have to increase knowledge in this area of geography as it'd be a waste of time since your optional is different. Certain topics are specific where optional knowledge helps. Gain in one and loss in another so things are balanced.
Chill out till results, just 7 more days to go, don't overthink, you've got the potential, if not in this attempt, then in next maybe. There shouldn't be any hurry.
@RealMangoI am not even trying to concentrate
@Jharsugudabut toppers like Gaurav Agrawal come from an altogether different league.
@abhiI would advise you to go through his forumias toppers talk video on YouTube, that'd give you a glimpse of his personality.
@abhibhai, he failed in IIT, completed B. Tech in 5 years. Then selected in IIM. Placed in one of the best MNC in Singapore. Left job, selected as IPS in very first attempt, became IAS in second. Now posted in one of the most backward area (manohar thana) in jhalawar district of rajasthan. Humble person, ready to help people, gave anecdote from his service life what makes him so satisfied in it, you should listen to it.
@dancingminionI don't follow him, also not active on social media. But he's gem of a person.
@ChanakyaJust checked, agriculture has been made PMF way back in 2002. So work on conclusion. Average marks.
@vvvikas0078212confirmed hai bhai, notification wali tentative vacancies hoti hai, last year bhi increase hui thi, Old forum pe final 812 vacancies ki pic daali thi kisi ne along with category wise people selected for mains. Still there are 15 less general seats this time.
@ManchesterUnitedbrother, its not some naval academy exam. Its national defence academy and naval academy examination, most celebrated exam for defence services aspirants, just like CSE is for civil services aspirants.
@CaesarIam tired of this thing bro, so not speculating anything related to result this time. Fate is already sealed. May the almighty be with us all...
@STrocking performance in essay, wanna share your essay approach like anecdote, quote, subheadings etc?
@dancingminionlmfao
@atuljiessay and ethics have luck factor and optional has hardwork factor. If all 3 come together then selection is almost ensured given a decent personality and GS knowledge.
@TETRACYCLINEFate toh optional paper 2 ka last answer likhte hi seal ho gya tha.
@atuljibecause it was the last answer that we wrote. End of our efforts.
@DKTSon of an army officer and still being a Hindi medium student. Come up with another lie to cover up this one.
Karma is a bitch, always remember that, especially when results are around.
P. S My father is a JCO in indian air force and my brother is an officer in the Indian army, so I pretty much know that army officers would never let their kids study in hindi medium.
@kochikaamelies become more irritating when results are near.
Results must come this week, otherwise selected candidates would be royally screwed.
@majormiketangoCAT like any other court had winter vacations from 23rd to 31st December. Our result work was completed on 18th December. Upsc is trying its level best to declare results as soon as possible, it's just the final verdict thing which is taking time. Don't know how much more we have to suffer, but it's the government and not upsc which is at fault now.
@BulbulSenBhai, stay strong. Just keep one thing in mind that you're not alone, all of us are going through a tough phase.
@Andromedabecause fuhrer said it. Believe it or not, he's the most credible insider till date. When results are prepared, he puts a dot and when they're going to get released from IT section of upsc he wish all the best to everyone. That fake pdf scenario began after fuhrer gave information about the result, jobless attention seekers have nothing else to do.
@DKTArre genius brother, he's saying that he completed 5 days newspapers in a single day, not that he read 5 newspapers from different publications.
It's funny to see first attempters giving strategy gyaan to veterans.
@The_Powerpuff_girlYou didn't get the point. All that was meant for DKT giving gyaan to you. That's what he do, no previous mains experience, still has loads of strategies to share.
@DKTbut you said you got 168 marks in 2018 mains essay so I thought you gave mains 2018 as well.
@tmblnd1325194but how? If upsc wins then things would go as usual. If upsc loses then these 8 ews would also be included in the list if they've cleared mains. At most it can affect general cutoff if they've qualified by general standards or ews cutoff. Other categories would remain unaffected i guess.
@DKTno problem, all the best for result
@Ms-dhoniStill, cutoff for all other categories would not be affected.
@Ms-dhonithat's what I've said earlier, either UR or EWS. It seems next week hi ayega result.
@K_9@AzadHindFauzhas clarified that according to a supreme Court ruling, one can't sleep over one's rights and expect others to fight for the same to get justice. So no issues in this regard. Since they didn't file case at that time, they are not in a position to demand justice now.
https://m.timesofindia.com/india/No-relief-if-you-sleep-over-your-rights-SC/articleshow/482075.cms
@DKTbhai teri gut feeling toh mains mein 870 marks ki hai despite leaving 250 marks blank. So obviously sahi toh hogi hi.
@bevancomhe's a liar, I never trusted him since that 168 marks in 2018 essay wala comment. So chill bro, this shows his real personality.
