To those readers with Public Administration/ Management as their optional subject in UPSC/RAS/PPSC/KAS etc. here is a good opportunity: CSIR Administrative Officer Gr-I
- Scheme of exam
- CSIR CASE Paper I
- Paper II: CCS+HR+Management+PubAD
- Unwanted Tips
- Appendix: Free CSIR/CASE Study Material (Download Links)
- Previous papers and Cut offs
Scheme of exam
- Any graduate can apply Click me for Age limit-Syllabus
- Last date of application: 15 January 2013: Click ME to apply
- Negative marking=Yes (Minus 0.25 marks per wrong question)
- Descriptive paper or Essay =No.
Notification says, CSIR *may* fix separate minimum cut-off marks for each paper. Anyways let’s check the topicwise booklist, strategy
CSIR CASE Paper I
Reasoning (20 Qs)
|
Maths (20 Qs)
|
You may also consult NCERT Class 7 to 10 Mathematics textbooks for clearing basic concepts. They can be downloaded for free, using http://www.ncert.nic.in/
Constitution of India (20 Qs)
Medium | Book |
English | Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth |
Hindi | Bharat Ki Rajyavyavastha by M.Laxmikanth |
Two reasons why you should religiously mugup M.Laxmikanth:
How to efficiently read this book, has been explained here in a separate article: CLICK ME |
After you’ve done reading Laxmikanth, solve all the MCQ questions given at the end of that book.
General Awareness (40 Qs)
Subtopic | Source |
General Science | NCERT Science Textbook Class 7 to 10 |
Scientific Research |
|
Geography |
|
Economics |
|
General Polity | Lolz again mentioned. Anyways same Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth |
Current Events | Newspaper. (Hindu or Indian Express).Monthly Current Affairs from Competitionmaster.com (Start from Jan 2012) |
Please note:
- The CSIR notification doesn’t explicitly mention “History”. However just to be safe, also prepare History from NCERT Textbook because indirectly it is General Awareness.
- Download links for NCERT and NIOS material given @bottom of this article.
- Newspaper= The Hindu OR IndianExpress (use any one). Don’t waste time in Dainik Bhaskar, Times of India etc. How to use newspaper for current affairs preparation =explained in separate article click me.
- Newspaper = long term investment (for profile and opinion based questions in interview in all exams be it Bank or MBA.) So don’t think that newspaper reading is meant for IAS exam only.
Paper I: Part B English (50Qs)
Subtopic | Source |
Comprehension | Practice. Download old papers of IBPS, UGC etc. |
Active, passive direct indirect etc |
|
Preposition, fill in the blanks | |
Synonym, antonyms | |
Sentence correction | |
Punctuation, idioms, phrases |
Also follow the discussions on Pagalguy forum’s verbal section: http://www.pagalguy.com/forums/verbal-ability/
Paper II: CCS+Mgmt+HR + PubAD+CCS
This paper has 150 marks, 150 Qs, 150 minutes.
Overview:
topic | No. of Qs | Source |
Central Civil Service (CCS) Rules, Manuals etc. | 60 |
|
Human Resource Management (HR) related | 40 |
|
Management (MBA) related | 25 |
|
Public Administration | 25 |
|
Total | 150 |
Now let’s check the topicwise approach
Topic #1: Central Civil Service (CCS)
This topic is related with actual / real-life working of an officer in Central Civil Services.I’ve compiled the topicwise PDF files (links @bottom).
Fundamental Rules (FRs) and Supplementary Rules (SRs)
- These topics are related with “personnel matters” e.g. leave, promotion, disciplinary action etc matter applicable to officers in Central Service.
- You’ve to do selective reading of only those topics/information that can be asked from Multi-Choice Question format. For example: The leave travel concession (LTC) is admissible to the Central Govt. employees while on study leave.
- But No need to mugup minute details, dates, names, numbers.
General Financial Rules
- Given in CCS ZIP file @bottom.
- This deals with budget and Expenditure related matters in ministries and departments.
- From that PDF file, prepare Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8.
- Again no need to go in minute details. Most of the content given in that PDF file is not ‘exam-worhty’.
- Just prepare stuff that can be asked in MCQ format. for example what items go in Capital account, what items go in Revenue account and so on.
- Also prepare Budget formulation topic from IGNOU Public Administration material (given @bottom).
Manual of Office Procedure (15 Qs)
- Given in CCS ZIP file @bottom.
- This topic deals with how to actually work in a Government office=how to draft letters, what to do with “daks”, record-keeping, filing, inspection etc.
- Same principle: Just get brief overview of Exam-worthy information. No need to do Ph.D For example
Important |
|
Useless |
|
Donot take this lightly, because CSIR notification explicitly mentions that 15 questions will come from this topic. This concludes how to approach CCS.
Topic #2: HRM (40qs)
This topic is to be prepared from selective study of IGNOU BA and MA Public Administration booklet codes EPA-01, MPA 013, 014 etc. I’ve compiled the IGNOU PDF files those selective topics. Download link given @bottom (HRM_CSIR.zip file). Only 2 topics missing
- Collaboration, Team Working & Networking;
- Facilities & Infrastructure Management
How to approach HRM for CISR?
- HRM topic might feel daunting and boring. Because they talk about lot of abstract stuff.
- BUT the concepts and principles related to motivation, communication, leadership, recruitment and promotion = very easy to frame MCQs from them.
- So prepare them thoroughly from the given PDF files. (without getting bogged down by the abstract and philosophical stuff).
- When you search HRM on egyankosh.ac.in, it throws up truckload of results. They’ve special courses of PG diploma in HRM etc. But those booklets go in way too much detail.
- On the other hand MA Public Administration (MPA-014) has covered HRM in very condensed form, therefore I’ve compiled the PDFs mostly from MPA-014 (and not the PGDHRM course).
- But if you’ve time (and mood) you may download PGDHRM booklets manually from egyankosh.ac.in
Management/ IT related (25 Qs)
The best way to approach = via selective reading of IGNOU’s MBA booklets. Goto this link: School of Management Studies (http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/9
Search and download the respective PDF files according to the syllabus.
Management/ IT topiclist from official CSIR notification:
ERP Application & Operations’ Management,Business Process Reengineering, Functional architecture of ERP, What are the ERP packages being used now? Compiling functional requirements, UML Diagrams, ERP Solution architecture, Enterprise application implementation projects: Rationale for ERP, Process Flow Diagrams, Decision making, Analytics, Record keeping, Integrating Business Rules, Electronic Workflows, Management reporting, Business intelligence, Performance Metrics, GUI, Web services, Collaboration & networking, Integration interoperability configuration management, Cloud Computing, Software Reuse, management of risks, software Security, Recovery and failsafe management, Knowledge management, User Engagement, Change Management, Life cycle approaches, Software Audit, Reliability, manageability, availability, TQM, Business application areas of an organization including accounting and finance, HR, logistics & supply chain, client & stakeholder relationship management
^Some of these topics may not to explicitly mentioned in IGNOU coursebooklet titles so even if you search, you won’t find it. (because egyankosh seach engine is not optimized to scan PDF content.) So better consult some friends from MBA and Computer (BCA/MCA) course then search and/or borrow their books for selective study.
Public Administration including R.T.I Act (25 Qs)
Essential booklist
- Selective topics from IGNOU (free download link given @bottom.)
- + Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth
How to approach?
There is lot of overlapping and synergy between Constitution of India topic from paper I (20 Qs) and Public Administration topic from Paper II (25Qs). Besides, nature of this topic= very easy to grasp the concepts and tick answers accurately (if you revise often).
Topic | Preparation source |
Executive, Parliament, Judiciary – structure, functions, work processes | Relevant topics from Laxmikanth’s Polity book. |
Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, Central Secretariat | IGNOU zip file given @bottom |
Ministries and Departments, Machinery of Planning | |
Planning Commission and the National Development Council | Chapter 44, 45 Laxmikanth’s Polity Book.IGNOU zip file given @bottom |
Union-State Administrative, legislative and financial relations | Chapter 13 Laxmikanth’s Polity Book. |
Role of the Finance Commission, | Chapter 37 Laxmikanth’s Polity Book. |
Governor, Chief Minister, Council of Ministers, | Chapter 24, 25 and 26 Laxmikanth’s Polity Book. |
Chief Secretary, State Secretariat, Directorates | IGNOU zip file given @bottom |
Parliament control of public expenditure, | Chapter 22 Laxmikanth’s Polity book |
Role of Finance Ministry | IGNOU zip file given @bottom |
Panchayati Raj, Urban Local Government, | Chapter 30 and 31 Laxmikanth’s Polity book |
Values in Public Service, | Lolz. Ethics, participation etc. either use egyankosh or just skip the damn topic. |
Ministries and Departments, | Laxmikanth’s PubAd Book |
Corporations, Companies, Boards | IGNOU @bottom + this articlehttps://mrunal.org/2012/04/economy-different-types-of-companies.html |
Executive, Legislature and Judicial control over administration | Scattered around in IGNOU + Laxmikanth. |
Citizen’s Charters, Right to Information, Social Audit, |
|
Delegated legislation |
|
Administrative Tribunals |
|
Side Note
Those CSIR aspirants, who’re simultaneously preparing for UPSC /State PSC (RAS, Punjab etc) with Public Administration optional subject:
- Prepare chapter 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 from M.Laxmikanth’s book on Public Administration AND solve the mock MCQ questions given at the end of those chapters.
Some unwanted advice, warnings etc.
- When we talk of IAS, CAT, IBPS= these exams are held at regular interval, hence there is lot of information, experience-sharing and material from reputed book publisher (Tata Macgrawhill, Pearson, Arihant, S.Chand etc).
- But Exams like RBI, APFC, CSIR = Diwali time for some moneyminded people. They just assemble topics from here and there, come out with some “Readymade guidebook/Material” for Rs.2000, 5000 or 6000/– (depending on how rare the exam is and how desperate the public is.) don’t waste your precious money on such things. Always prefer authentic sources and standard reference books. If you believe there is some single magical guidebook to crack CSIR exam then you’re living in a fairyworld.
- Better prepare your own notes from CCS. (we are talking about 60 marks here: That means 40% of Paper II is made up of CCS topic.)
- for NCERT and M.Laxmikanth: no need to maintain notes as such, just revise them often.
- You may use Mrunal’s Autonotemaker to quickly prepare notes out of PDF Files (provided that you’ve Microsoft XP Operating System).
- HR, MBA topics don’t stay in long term memory= frequent revision necessary.
- Current affairs preparation beyond a level= diminishing rate of returns.
- And most importantly, don’t push your luck by ticking doubtful questions, just to cross some imaginary cutoffs, else you’ll lose in negative marking.
Appendix: Free CSIR/CASE Study Material (Download Links)
General Awareness: NCERTs/NIOS
All of them available under Mrunal.org/download
Download Links: CCS, HRM, PubAD (english Medium)
Name of the Topic | Server (use any one) | Zip FileSize | |
Server#1: Google Drive | Server #2: Dropbox | ||
|
CLICK ME | Click ME | ~3MB |
|
CLICK ME | ~40MB | |
|
CLICK ME | ~30MB |
Technical details
- These are zip files and they contain PDF files inside them
- If you’re having trouble downloading zip files, then use a free software called 7-zip (click me)
- If you cannot open PDF files, use a free software called FOXIT PDF reader (click me)
- If Dropbox download links don’t work, that means your office/hostel’s firewall is blocking it. Use www.hidemyass.com and copypaste download links in it.
Previous papers and Cut offs
(although I’m filing R.T.I to get previous papers and cutoffs but) there are three reasons why they won’t be of much help:
- In 2009’s recruitment round, they did not have negative marking system.
- In 2009’s recruitment round, they did not have HR and MBA topics, only Public Administration and in that too, the Public Administration syllabus was very broad -almost identical to the erstwhile Civil Service (preliminary) Public Administration paper.
- In 2009, They had descriptive paper on letter writing and comprehension.
RESULTS WERE FIXED…..HOW LET ME TELL U….. WE PPL CONTACT THE CSIR DEPT NUMBER BY PHONE FOR MANY TIMES……..BUT THEY THEMSELVES DONT KNOW ABOUT THE RESULTS …THEY KEEP ON BLUFFING US THAT RESULTS WILL BE BY NEXT WEEK….. BUT SOME PEOPLE WORKING IN CSIR PARTICULARLY TECHNICAL AT VARIOUS PLACES WERE UPDATING INFORMATION….AND ON RESULT DECLARATION DAY THEY WERE NOT ONLY SURE ABOUT THE DATE BUT ALSO ABOUT THEIR RESULT…. IAM NOT BLAMING ALL BUT FEW OF THEM GOT THEIR DEAL FOR SURE…AS UP TO MY KNOWLEDGE MANY PEOPLE HAD GIVEN THEIR BEST AND EXPECT THEIR NAMES TO BE IN THE LIST BUT UNFORTUNATELY….THEY DONT FIND THEIR NAMES….IN THE LIST…. I THINK PPL THOSE GOT THEIR NAMES IN THE LIST ARE
1) GETTING DEAL FIXED
2) PPL WORKING IN A REPUTATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
3)PPL THOSE WHO ARE HAVING A COMPUTER CERTIFICATE FROM A REPUTATED INSTITUTE BESIDES WORKING EXPERIENCE
AS EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT MENTIONED THAT COMPUTER CERIFICATE IS COMPULSARY…. SO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT OPTED FOR THIS OPTION OBVIOUSLY THEIR NAME WILL NOT BE IN THE LIST…..
IF IAM WRONG THEN PLEASE CORRECT ME WITH UR DETAILS….
THOSE WHO WANT TO FILE RTI PLEASE GO AHEAD,,,, BESIDES THINK ABOUT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TOO…SOME PPL OVER HERE ARE GETTING AFRAID WHETHER THEY WILL STUCK SOME WHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF RECRUITMENT…. RTI FILE KARNE SE INKO DARR KYON HAIN JISKO JO KARNA CHAHIYE WO KARO…DUSRON KO DEVIATE MAT KARO….” RTI FILE KARNE SE AAP LOG PARESHAAN KYON HO ? AAP LOGON SE THODI INFORMATION MAANG RAHEN HAIN”….
relax man
nahee hua to nahee hua itna kyon bigad raha hao tu… relax and chill kar
its so difficult to accept failure
true dear
angoor khatte hote hainnnnn GRAPES ARE SOUR WHEN U CANT REACH THEM
.hey anonymous,jus dnt worry..life s not bot tis xam only..bahut bade bade xams mein bhi fail ho jate h log but with der hard work n determination dey cum out flyin colors,ye to fir bhi CSIr ka assistant wala xam tha..n jo log yahan kaam kar rhe h unhone bhi to bola h na ki itni kam salary h iski,so go fr sum othr xams..ho sakta h ki thodi bahut settin chali ho but its not tat ki thos who r workin wd CSIR are useless..unhone bhi to mehnat ki hogi..so anonymous n hopeful bhai dnt fight..jo nai kar paye dusre xamx mei lago n all the best fr othrs fr the interview..
Drishti ji i said only “few not all ” plz chk again…i had admitted my self 2 result..but ppl like me want 2 know our faults… Vr it had gone wrong. Kyon ki have 2 search there itself where its lost… Let me get clear 2 u… V ppl want 2 work 4 a right but not for a fight…hope u understand dis…
mr hopeful lagta hai aap csir mein hi kaam kartein hain……your comments are making my thoughts firm that kuch to gadbad hai….n………aap apna kimti samay yahan pe kyon bekar kar rahe ho…..plz dont insist others what to do…..i once again remind u iam not asking from u ……ok……coollllllllll …….
you are right @Mr Anonymous, their comments prove that there was something rotten in the whole process. Let us dont let them go with their ease. Hum log atleast unhe pareshaan to kar sakte hai RTI se. And I am sure un logo ke pass perfect jawaab hoga hi nahi dene ke liye. To isliye use your right to information. By the way i am going to go an extra mile by writing a complaint to Anti-corruption bureau and CVC.
what if we dont receive call letter for interview becoz of address change .. anyone …
they will inform evryone by sms and email before 15 days.. so dont worry ..
zinda laash !!!
hadd naam hai ..zabarjast
Guys,
Can we have a discussion on interview questions? What all can be asked?
They can ask anything like why you want to join this service,whether job profile suited for you or not, place from where you belongs to,about yourself, they might put some real time situations and may ask questions regarding that to test your caliber to respond… like such questions as I think and what about you friends :)
Hello friends !
Those who have qualified the CSIR prelims please share your email id so that we could interact about the interview.
Thanks friends :)
abhisheksikta@gmailcom
verma.sanjeet@gmail.com
DEAR MRUNAL SIR,
HOW IS THAT THE CUT OFF FOR OBC AND GENERAL CATEGORY SAME? (52%)?? ARE OBC CANDIDATES NOT ALLOWED COMPETE OR TAKE SEAT UNDER GENERAL CAT? IF THEY ARE ALLOWED THEN THE CUT OF OBC SHOULD BE LESS THAN GEN CAT.. IS IT NOT?
my email is sskumar992@gmail.com
diggiraja.king@gmail.com
Thanks all for providing your email id. Tell me your experience if you have or what sorts of probable questions they can ask about ?
if u want to start a discussion i suggest make a new group for the same on facebook and invite ppl there…it will b more cohesive and timely…thnx
@Prajwal !
Thanks for your suggestion dear..AS far as the CSIR interview is concerned they are not going to ask too many questions I hope they will ask very basic questions related to the job.I hope if we will start a brief discussion over here it will be more fruitful for us because on Facebook it may avert the topic to somewhere else so precisely we can discuss the same over here.
Thanks dear:)
ratio of candidates qualified for interview is 4.5…(seats 48 Gen…called 216)…..tatz really gonna be very competitive….also do you have any idea how postings r done….in notification it was mentioned tat it will b done zone wise…so how would we get any idea how many of these qualified candidates belong to which region…they also asked for ‘lab’ during filling of form…is it necessary one would b posted in same lab if selected?….
yes postings will be zone wise, i think first they’ll ask for our preferences then they’ll see how many candidates opted for a particular lab then there merit will be seen and according to that allotment will be made and the leftover candidates will be allotted to their second choice of lab, so posting will be based on merit cum choice…
patnaik_sudhir@yahoo.com
veereshtr@gmail.com
dheerumt@gmail.com
muralidharchavan89@gmail.com
my email id is ….shubham.bdh@gmail.com
how many of you are prep. for civil services too, suppose a situation arises in interview where they question our loyalty towards the org. since we’ll be leaving them in case of our selection in civil services. so how u guys going to deal with such situation/question?
tell them clearly
As the persons in front of us in interview panel are experts of their fields including one Psychologist, there in no need to deal with such situation by saying this and that. The very simple solution is to clearly say them that till we would be serving in there organisation, we will give our hundred percent. However, as growth is very common tendency of we human being, i will definately switch for that better option.
Pls share your comments also.
hii!!if sum1 has given the case intvw earlier please share your experience.what will be probably asked.wat are ther expectations..can the lab opted during application be changed now..
singh_ajit@aol.in
has anyone got any idea as to when exactly the interviews may start ..
if so please share …
any tips for Resume?
what do you need the resume for?
I thought we need to carry CV or something for the interview. So that they can ask questions based on that information
i don’t think they r gonna ask for it….no public sector job interview goes that way…if they wud require something of tat sort probably they wud provide a format of the same which we wud have to submit to them before interview…dun worry for the resume as of now….
What is the actual job profile. Based on this, we can prepare for interview. Can anybody clarify please?
clerical job .. grade C band ..
when is going to start interview? anyone has got interview date please share …
interview details mailed to candidates ..following link has details …
interviews delayed …
http://rdpp.csir.res.in/csir_acsir/CSIR-CASE2013.aspx
i have interview on 31 august.anyone from bangalore having interview on this date? my mail id..muralidharchavan89@gmail.com
what type of questions will be there in interview..anybody have any idea please share…candidates who have interview on 19,20,23first 3-4 days please share the experience..
Hello,
I have selected to intvw of csir case. my qualification is BE,MBA, PGDIBO, UGC NET, also research scholar of IISc.. Got to know some picture about job profile of case. Please advice me that how far it is good to opt for this job if I get selected. Also CS aspirant.
My intvw is scheduled on 30th August. I’m from Bangalore.
Thanks a lot for ur valuable information.
ita a clerical job , non officer profile.
non technical .. grade c
Is it a clerical job? then why people with good academic profiles are interested here? How is it diff from other clerical jobs?
I am also searching for the answer to above question.
Looking at the guy’s qualification ^^ I have a feeling,the only people left out in the list of aspirants for this job are the nobel lauretes.
haha .. good one …
Haha…Nahi yaar kuch mere jaise bekar engineer bhi hai is list me
haha .. too good .. me too
Is anyone from Bangalore having interview on 24th August…?
@ sunil M : I took the test from Bangalore,but I am from Kerala.