Author: Root

Hey aspirants,

This post is aimed to help you in forming your strategy for Agriculture optional for Civil Services and Forest Services Exam, considering its various aspects.

#1. Who should opt for Agriculture?

Anyone who has academic background in Agriculture, Life Sciences, Botany, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Zoology, Dairy and other related fields.

Any aspirant with no prior knowledge of Biology should not opt it. She may score good in Paper I which is like general studies but Paper II becomes the eliminating factor if it is not covered exhaustively.

#2. Why should one not opt for ‘Botany’ instead?

If you have Botany as your graduation or master’s subject then surely you should go with botany, but just in case if you don’t have interest in remembering all families characteristic features among others, then Agriculture is best optional for you.

Secondly, Paper II of Botany and Agriculture is quite similar if you see the syllabus but if you analyse last year question papers, if you will see that questions in Agriculture are easy in comparison to ‘Botany Paper II’.

#3. Can I change my optional from Botany to Agriculture?

Yes, surely you can switch if you are struggling with Botany. In fact, you will be having an edge against Agriculture fresher aspirant as your Paper II of Agriculture is already completed (almost) if you have covered Botany syllabus exhaustively.

#4. Is it scoring?

Of course it is. If you have similar background as mentioned above, you must go for it.

There is a myth that Agriculture is more scoring than Botany. Please don’t keep this in mind while preparing. Both are science subjects so if you know your concepts you can score equally in both.

Both subjects has equal percentage of topics that aspirant has to mug up (literally). Think of families (Cryptogams, Phanerogams) in Botany, and Horticulture and Pathology (Diseases and Measures) in Agriculture.

Agriculture got popular among Botany/ life sciences students after CSE 2013 in which Botany Paper was bit difficult and Agriculture was very easy. But in CSE 2015, both of these optionals were on equal footing. So, please do not hold opinions of one optional being easier than other, any optional demands right strategy and interest to excel.

#5. How much time it takes to prepare?

4-5 months, if you study Agriculture 12-15 hours per week. This should be enough. Also, it depends on how much can you recall your graduation concepts.

Plant Breeding is the most conceptual, time taking and scoring part of the syllabus, while horticulture and pathology needs your notes making and revising skill to retain the topic.

Recommended books for Agriculture:

1. Plant Breeding Principles and Methods- B.D. Singh
2. Fundamentals of Genetics- B.D. Singh
3. Plant Physiology- V.K. Jain
4. Introductory Soil Science- D.K. Das
5. Economics of Farm Production and Management- Raju and Rao
6. Principles of Agronomy-T.Y. Reddy and G.H.S. Reddi
7. Plant pathology- P.D. Sharma
8. Introduction to Horticulture- N Kumar

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Let us know if you find any problem in getting these books. Submit your comments below.

These books covers whole syllabus. Also, one need not to study each and every chapter, instead cover topics syllabus wise. Syllabus is designed in a chronological way which will help in building concepts if you go according to it.

No need to look out for other books. ICAR Handbook is not recommended at all instead cover relevant chapters of Economic Survey and Year Book related to Agriculture, it will help for both optional and GS.

Few topics like Food Production and Consumption trends, Extension Schemes, Protein Energy Malnutrition can be googled. Ecology part can be covered from any standard book which you study for GS.

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Also, Quora helps in answering various general and specific questions related to the subject. Many senior scientists and academicians of Agriculture are there. You can follow Agriculture India topic there.

Problems in Agriculture Sector in India

Farmers and Climate Change

Few websites helps in keeping abreast with current happenings and govt. initiatives.

Dept. of Agriculture website

Agriculturetoday

Hope this may helps!

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Published with inputs from Vimal

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Hello,

After our last post (The no-nonsense guide to motivation), we received 120+ emails from students/ aspirants (and some parents) baring their heart open over the struggles of coming to terms with failure and dejection. We respect your privacy (and won’t bare out names) but we couldn’t help but notice that the common themes around those letters were concerns regarding leaving a job, impending research work, lack of confidence, struggles with uncertainties.

Most of all, everyone wrote about their struggle. Struggle – a word which we inevitably equate with failure.

While most of the gurus and teachers focus on how to things correctly, so that you don’t screw up, we would like to take a moment and explore this phenomena of struggle and how you can best attempt to come out of it (after you have screwed up).

Honeymoon Period = Start of your preparation

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This is the point where you start questioning yourself:

• Where did I go wrong?
• Why didn’t my results come out as I had thought they would?
• Am I even good enough to continue?

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The Struggle is when you wonder why you started the preparation in the first place

• The Struggle is when your parents ask you why you don’t quit and you don’t know the answer
• The Struggle is when everyone starts doubting your abilities and you start to think that may be right
• The Struggle is when self doubt becomes self hatred
• The Struggle is when people start sympathising with you and no one would come out in open and confront you
• The Struggle is when you want the pain to stop but it won’t
• The Struggle is when you think of taking a timeout for some fresh air but everything just stifles you
• The Struggle is when you are surrounded by people who did not qualify and you are all alone. No company is comfort. The Struggle has no mercy
• You are in the land of broken promises and crushed dreams

“The Struggle is not failure, but it causes failure. Especially if you are weak. Always if you are weak.”

But the struggle is where greatness comes from

“When you are in the Struggle, nothing is easy and nothing feels right. You have dropped into the abyss and you may never get out.” – The Hard Thing About Hard Things

This looong post is for everyone who could not make it to the list. Most importantly for those among you who really, really, really believed that they had a rock solid chance this year but UPSC still treated them like a spurned lover.

This was originally intended to be a major motivational blockbuster blog. Trust us, we had even googled some of the oft quoted-recycled gyaan to get your attention and prep you up on a steroid enriched diet for the next year but, but, but… when has artificial motivation ever sustained? Never.

The aim of this write up is to help you take a step back from all this commotion of success and failure and create a room to think. Let go of all the overwhelming niceties & consolations which your friends and families may shower at you (because they care and fear for your sanity). Although, we would advise you try and be nice to them and not air any of the “quotes written in blue” as a retort but let it pass over. This is not the time to resign to fate. Not just yet.

The way of the samurai

 

In his classic treatise on the philosophy behind the Samurai code of “Bushido,” entitled Hagakure, and often billed as “The Book of the Samurai,” retired Samurai-turned-monk Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote that “the way of the samurai is found in death.”

He admonished young warriors to calmly accept that death would occur on the battlefield, regardless of the efforts of the individual. Despite this, the samurai trained in earnest for battlefield effectiveness from youth onward. It didn’t matter that you calmly accepted that you were going to die, you still trained hard to be as lethal as humanly possible.

 

If you have been sincere with your mains’ attempt, chances are that you would have directly or indirectly been a part of one such group.

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If you happen to identify with the guy on the middle or the left, there are high chances that you already know that you were not playing your “A game” at the mains this year. Your setback is understandable but you will soon be able to analyse your attempts and improve on your scores next year. Unless…. unless of course the scenario is this – 

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You are the guy on the right, who had done most of the things under his/ her control to optimise for high scores – demolished the GS papers comprehensively, quoted philosophers par excellence in the ethics paper and made sure that the optional papers rival the doctoral thesis of the examiner BUT STILL GOT DITCHED BY UPSC.

And if this were not enough, your two buddies who up until now were not even sure of a respectable exit, qualify for the interview! That’s a classic case of what a famous american slang refers to as –

SNAFU = Situation normal all fucked up

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If you are at this stage (or have been at it at some point or the other in life), you would agree that no amount of palliatives, niceties, wishes can really help you come out of the zone. You feel betrayed by some weird version of justice which you do not understand.

You probably would have left a decent job and decided to pursue UPSC (among other choices of MBA, startups) OR made a promise to your parents and those around that you will sit out sincerely for an year for this prestigious exam OR other more equally compelling sacrifices and it’s understandable that you might feel angry for you did not sign up for this.

Let yourself be. Release your emotions. Don’t put on an artificial smile (but be aware that it is a slippery slope and you need to pull yourself right back up).

Try and be with people who can empathise with you and not sympathise.

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Preparing for UPSC is like running a marathon. And as with all good runners, with time and patience, you tend to understand yourself better. No other exam in the world expects you to open up your faculties to such gigantic amount of information and force you to process them at a speed which can put a reasonably outdated Intel processor to shame (that is still a lot to compare with you know!)

By now, you would have developed a fair bit of liking to some subjects, appreciation for some finer aspects of life, possibly a bent of mind for public policy making, well nurtured interest in social sector landscape or a penchant for long distance hiking (or something equally exciting).

Go to that island in your thoughts now. Remove yourself from the commotion. The shit has hit the fan here and you need to change a room till someone cleans it up!

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You are not alone in this dilemma

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This is the time that you need to be a master of your senses rather than a slave of emotional waves. Answer the big question for yourself. Keep mum but think hard.

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Civilsdaily is not an online coaching portal. We are sure that you are aware of that fact. We are dedicated to the cause of providing news with context and making content approachable to everyone BUT we do believe that many among you have the potential to dent the social fabric of our country in your own unique ways. Go ahead, identify the your angst and your driver and take the plunge.

If you feel like talking to us, drop a mail at hello@civilsdaily.com

If you think this long post was worth your time, do share it with your friends who may benefit reading from it.

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Want to read more?

• What is Struggle? and what does it mean to an IAS aspirant, especially YOU
• 5 Amazingly Badass Bureaucrats You Would Be Proud To Know
• 5 Amazingly Badass Bureaucrats You Would Be Proud To Know – Part 2
• IAS Officer’s Talisman [FREE Download]
• CD’s Guide to IAS Prep: From Aspirant to IAS Officer

Hello,

If you have a friend, relative, college sweetheart senior who can fit the bill, please share this page.

If you think you are the one, take some time to go through this. We are looking for full time/ part time positions. We are looking for some really crafty, smart and creative people. You do not need to have oodles of work-ex but just be passionate about making great design meet great content!

The form below will have 3 exercises for you to do – 2 facebook creatives + 1 infograph to make. So brace up for some work coz we are really, really serious about who we pick in our team! You will get to work closely with the core team and needless to say, will be paid handsomely.

Can’t see the form? Mail us at hello@civilsdaily.com or refresh your browser’s cache.

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Thanks for the amazing response. We got over 100 applications and we have shortlisted a few. We will be contacting you guys over phone. The application is closed for now. If you still wish to connect with us, feel free to drop a mail 🙂

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Hello,

We are looking for part time translators (English to Hindi) to join the content team for its upcoming Hindi version.

• Role: Candidates are required to translate English news cards into Hindi
• Experience: No prior experience is required
• What do we need? Candidates with a good command over both the languages

You need to do a simple exercise. Translate these two english news cards into hindi. You need to read the text in english and then recreate the same magic in hindi. Do not use google auto translate. Please use google input tools instead – https://www.google.com/inputtools/try/

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You can fill up this application form or provide us with your personal details (along with text translation) over email at hello@civilsdaily.com

Google application form - Click here

Translate the following and send over – 

NITI Aayog: 2nd regional consultation

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PS: This is a paid position. We are looking to extend our offerings in hindi and we are looking for 2 awesome translators to work with us on that.

R. Sankaran was a senior IAS officer, widely known as ‘an ideal people’s IAS officer’ for the proactive role he played in formulating pro-poor policies. He was a bachelor who devoted his life for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

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A personification of simple living, honesty and integrity, unassuming but strong, modest yet firm and affable, the diminutive civil servant was a role model who showed what an IAS officer could do for the marginalised sections of society.

Simplicity at its peak

This is a little long story but I bet you’ll be thrilled to read it…

An Indian Airlines flight arrived at the Agartala Airport one late afternoon. It was a full flight. All the passengers scrambled down to pick up their baggage and leave for home. Among them was a short-statured, frail, middle-aged person wearing an ordinary bush shirt and slightly crumpled trousers. The only remarkable feature was his thick crop of well-parted shining black hair. He saw some flamboyant busybodies briskly moving up and down in search of somebody. The gentleman quietly passed by them totally unnoticed. He went to the baggage-claim belt, collected a small suitcase, unobtrusively went out of the building and walked towards the cycle-rickshaw stand. As he was coming out, he noticed some activity around a couple of red-lighted cars and a posse of police constables, smartly uniformed, eagerly waiting for somebody. At the rickshaw-stand he started enquiring in his broken, heavily-accented Hindi about the Circuit House. A rickshaw-puller came forward and agreed to take him after telling him the fare. The rickshaw-puller took the suitcase from him and helped him to get onto the seat.

A policeman was idly watching the proceedings. He heard the word “Circuit House” a couple of times. He knew that a new Chief Secretary was due to arrive and he was posted at the rickshaw-stand to control the movement of rickshaws till the new Chief Secretary’s convoy passed. He had a suspicion. He ran back to the building and informed his officer-in-charge that perhaps the new Chief Secretary had boarded a rickshaw to go the Circuit House.

All hell broke loose thereafter. Everyone started running towards the rickshaw-stand and the constable pointed to a smiling gentleman quietly sitting on a rickshaw awaiting the departure of the official cavalcade of red-light cars. The Deputy Secretary, Protocol, very apologetically enquired whether the gentleman was S.R. Sankaran. He politely nodded. Then started furious activity in search of his “missing” luggage. The gentleman calmly told the officials present that he had no “missing” luggage. The small suitcase at the footboard was his only piece of luggage. He was requested to get off the rickshaw and get into the official car waiting at the VIP gate. He quickly pulled out his money bag, took out the money he had agreed to pay to the rickshaw-puller and offered him the money before he got down.

All the officials protested. He looked at them and said it was a contract between the rickshaw-puller and him. Because of him the rickshaw-puller had missed other passengers. Hence he had to be compensated for the lost fare. He paid him his fare.

Now the rickshaw-puller returned him half the fare telling him that as he did not take him to the Circuit House he could not accept the contracted fare and that he would get passengers from amongst the persons who had come to see- off the Calcutta-bound passengers.

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Bonded labour

In his first tenure as Secretary, he took up the issue of bonded labour seriously. Though the abolition of bonded labour and rehabilitation of bonded labourers was part of the first 20-Point programme of Indira Gandhi, and though the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, (first as ordinance) was in place, some of those in the political leadership were averse to taking it seriously. This was because they were either directly masters of bonded labourers or were beholden to the masters of bonded labourers for political support. This brought him into direct clash with successive Chief Ministers, but he bravely and righteously stood his ground.

Nationalisation of coal industry

Before his first tenure in Social Welfare, Sankaran was, in the early 1970s, Special Assistant to Mohan Kumaramangalam, Union Minister for Steel and Mines. The idealist constantly reminded the ideologue about the promise and need to nationalise the coal industry, and it was because of the Kumaramangalam-Sankaran duo that this significant measure went through with the support of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Dalit issue

In his second tenure as Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, in addition to revisiting the issue of bonded labour – of pressing urgency for him and the victims, most of whom were Dalits – he took up the issue of atrocities against Dalits, which had assumed a menacing form.

An important instance of this was his active intervention in the rehabilitation of the victims of the Karamchedu atrocities of 1985 in a new colony named Vijayanagar near Chirala in Andhra Pradesh. This was before the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was passed.

These measures again brought him into conflict with the Chief Ministers, which left him without any post for several months until he came to the Centre as Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, in January 1990.

Facing the opposition

Sankaran had to face obstacles and hostility continuously from some powerful persons in politics and the administration though all the work undertaken by him was not only in accordance with the Constitution but mandated by the Constitution upon the state. The oft-mentioned “civil society”, with a few exceptions, was largely indifferent and in some instances hostile to his valuable endeavours.

Spent his pension on education of dalit students

After retirement in 1992, he shifted to a modest apartment in busy Punjagutta area and continued to fight for the rights of the poor, sharing his pension with SC/ ST students.

Lifetime mission

It became his lifetime mission to demystify the left-wing ideology and try and bring about a meeting point. His initiative, Committee of the Concerned Citizens strove hard through mediatory efforts to find sustainable solution to social turmoil.

Book on Sankaran

A book titled ‘Marginalisation, Development and Resistance: Essays in Tribute to SR Sankaran’ Volume-1 was released by CH Hanumantha Rao, former member, Planning and Finance Commission.

He passed away on 7th October 2010.

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Published with inputs from Swapnil | Image - Frontline

Hello,

Since the beginning of time or so, everyone wanted a sitemap to civilsdaily, right? We finally let go our procrastination spiral and did a video to make you comfortable with the web offering.

Please bear with minor digressions. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGu0Glgpcsw

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