Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)

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What is GATE ?

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an All-India Examination conducted by the five IITs and IISC, Bangalore, on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India. The objectives of GATE is to identify meritorious and motivated candidates for admission to Postgraduate Programs Engineering at the National level. Every year one IIT or IISc is selected as the Organizing Institute. For GATE 2000, IIT, Kharagpur was the organizing Institute.

Why should we take GATE ?

To pursue M.Tech program in a leading institute of the country. The benefits of M.Tech are:

1. More and better companies are coming for Campus Placement in leading Institutes
2. Higher salaries are being offered for M.Tech as compared to B.E.
3. M.Tech degree leads to specialization and furthering of interest in a certain area which may lead to Ph.D
4. M.Tech degree is a must for those wishing to apply for Faculty/Research positions in educational Institutes/R&D centers.
5. Scholarship is paid during M.Tech, so no headache to parents for financial requirements.
6. The M.Tech program is a 3 semester (18 months) program; so get more time to work out career opportunities.
7. MOST IMPORTANTLY to get to be a part of any Nationally reputed Educational Institute and enjoy learning and research.

Important Dates :

1. Availability of GATE forms: October, 1st week
2. Last Date for filling up forms: November, 1st week
3. Exam Date: 2nd Sunday of February
4. Results: March 31st

General Information and Results are also published on the Web.

Examination Details :

1. The examination is a single paper of 3 hours duration and generally consists of Section A (Objective Type) which is of 75 marks and Section B (Problem Type) which is of 75 marks. Total: 150 marks.
2. You have to opt for your subject and study as per the syllabus mentioned in the GATE brochure (available in the Library).
3. The subjects of our interest are Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering., Electrical Engineering and Instrumentation Engineering. Other subjects are also available such as Mathematics, Physics, etc (consult the GATE brochure).
4. Although you are expected to appear in the subject of your discipline, we encourage students to appear in any subject of his choice. Generally a large number of students appear for the Computer Science subject in order to do a M.Tech in Computer Science.
5. Old question papers are available in the shops (for assistance contact Faculty Basant Dash).
6. Results of qualified candidates in GATE will give All India Rank and indicate percentile score. For example, a percentile score of 99 means you are in the top 1% category of the candidates who appeared for GATE.
7. Candidates who get less than 70 percentile get no score card.
8. GATE scores are valid for 2 years. You may reappear the GATE exam if you are not satisfied with the earlier score and the new score (if better than the old one) will be used for admission purposes.
9. Berhampur is GATE examination center, so also is Bhubaneswar, Rourkela.

After the Exam, what next ?

1. After publication of GATE results, students must apply to individual Institutes to get their application forms.
2. Institutes advertise M.Tech admissions in leading newspapers from 1st April till end July. However some Institutes do not advertise and therefore students have to get the forms themselves.
3. In the application forms, you have to mention your GATE score alongwith other details.
4. The concerned Institute may conduct written test and/or interview for the purpose of admission.
5. General thumb rules: If your Gate score in Computer Science is 96 percentile or more then you can try for IITs, if between 85 - 96 percentile, then apply for top RECs, JADAVPUR, SHIBPUR, ROORKEE, etc. If less than 85, you have to look for appropriate institutes; YES we want you to get 85 and above only!!

Scholarship :

During the pursuit of M.Tech, you are paid a scholarship of Rs. 5000.00 per month by the Government of India. This amount is enough for living expenses including purchase of books, etc. The scholarship is paid for the entire 18 months M.Tech period.

GATE Coaching :

For those interested in GATE coaching, the following organizations offer correspondence courses:

1. Brilliant Tutorials
2. Elite Academy
3. Master's Academy

Fees is generally in the range of Rs. 3000 - Rs 5000 for the entire course.

NIST Center of Excellence is  now providing GATE coaching. 
For details visit our website: www.nistgate.com

SPECIAL :

We encourage 3rd year students to also appear GATE alongwith Final Year students since:

1. GATE score is valid for 2 years.
2. The syllabus as required by GATE is generally over by 5th semester.
3. Anyway, it will be a good try ! If it is a bad score you can always try again.

Steps for taking admission into the Master of Science Program in the United States of America

1. Apply for Passport and get the Passport as this is required for appearing for the GRE and TOEFL examinations.
2. Prepare for GRE ( Graduate Record Exam ). The GRE consists of 3 sections – Verbal Skills, Analytical Skills and Quantitative Skills. The total marks for GRE is 2400, i.e., 800 marks for each section. A score above 2000 is considered good. The GRE is an on-line test which is offered in major cities of India. For students of NIST, Calcutta or Hyderabad will be suitable. The best time to take GRE is in the months of October, November and December for admission in Fall semester in US universities. US universities normally admit international students in Fall and Spring semesters.
3. Prepare for TOEFL ( Test of English as a Foreign Language ). TOEFL has a listening Comprehension Test of 1 hour duration. Other objective questions included in TOEFL are on grammar, syntax, antonyms and synonyms.
4. Apply to different US Universities for Applications. Almost all Universities have on-line applications and publish on-line information on fees and procedures.
5. After receiving the applications, fill the applications and send to the respective Universities along with the TOEFL and GRE scores. Without these scores the Universities will not consider your application for admission. Application filling involves the following
   1. Recommendation – recommendations can be obtained from faculty, job supervisors, etc.
   2. Statement of Purpose - a one page description of your academic achievements and goals in life.
   3. All transcripts of previous years.

Application should reach the Universities before March. All admission decisions including assistantships for Fall semester take place in March-April.

6. If the application is complete confirmation of admission will be received within a month. If assistantship is given that also will be intimated. If application forms are sent to known professors it helps for assistantships. Assistantship are of two types:
   1. Research and
   2. Teaching
7. A student who gets an assistantship gets a complete fee waiver (No academic fees has to be deposited) . In addition he gets a monthly stipend of $650 to $ 800 which is more than enough to run his monthly expenses. House Rent $200, Food $100 and other expenses.
8. For more information on GRE/TOEFL contact the US embassies or USEFI located in New Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Chennai.
9. For further assistance, contact Dr. Ravi P Reddy.

The MBA Option

The "business school" option is a serious proposition for most engineering graduates. In order to facilitate this option, the following information is being provided:

• List of management colleges in India
• How to go about the preparation?

A partial list of Institutes offering MBA degrees:

1. Indian Institute of Mgmt., Ahmedabad.
2. Indian Institute of Mgmt., Bangalore.
3. Indian Institute of Mgmt., Calcutta.
4. Indian Institute of Mgmt., Lucknow.
5. Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur.
6. Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi.
7. Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai.
8. MDI, Gurgaon.
9. IMT, Ghaziabad.
10. IIM, Calicut.
11. IIM, Indore.
12. XIM, Bhubaneshwar.
13. S P Jain, Mumbai.
14. NMIMS, Mumbai.
15. Bharti Darshan Institute of Mgmt., Tiruchirapally.
16. Symbiosis Institute of Mgmt., Pune.
17. T A Pai Mgmt. Institute, Manipal.
18. Symbiosis HRD College (SCMHRD), Pune.
19. SYDENHAM, Mumbai.
20. University Business School, Punjab.
21. K J Somaya Institute of Mgmt., Mumbai.
22. R E C Trichi.
23. NIRMA Institute of Mgmt., Ahmedabad.
24. Goa Institute of Mgmt., Goa.
25. IMDR, Pune.
26. SIMS (Defence), Pune.
27. ITM, Mumbai.
28. Kirloskar Institute of Mgmt., Bangalore.
29. Amity Business School, New Delhi.
30. FORE School of Mgmt., New Delhi.
31. Master of Finance Control, New Delhi.
32. IISWBM, Calcutta.
33. Anna University, Madras.
34. Pune Business School, Pune.
35. Cochin Business School, Cochin.
36. Madras University Campus School, Madras.

Colleges offering Management-oriented specialized courses:

1. Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad.
2. Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai.
3. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.
4. Institute of Rural Management, Anand (Guj).
5. Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, Delhi & Kh’gpur) (only for engineers).
6. NITIE, Mumbai (only for engineers).

How to go about the preparation?

• When to prepare for the test?
  
  The best time to start preparing for the tests is in your vacation at the end of the last-but-one year of your studies. Though a period of 4 to 5 months is enough to master the quantitative areas in these tests, many students find mastering verbal areas such as reading and vocabulary, rather slow going. Since the verbal areas make for slow learning, you would do well to start these as early
  
  
• Structure of the tests:
  
  The tests of prominent Indian institutes, are unpredictable in their structure and composition. Broadly, what is intended to be assessed is aptitude- Quantitative, Verbal, Logical and Analytical. Increasingly, many institutes are testing the students’ awareness of current affairs and general knowledge. One cannot, however be certain about the weightage given to each area. The tests change often unrecognisably, from year to year.

While preparing for the Quantitative section, one could give weightage to the various topics in the following order:

1. Number Theory
2. Percentage, Profit-Loss.
3. Geometry and Mensuration
4. Time, Distance and Work
5. Quadratic Equations and Progressions
6. Averages and Mixtures
7. Simple and Compound Interest
8. Indices, Surds and Logarithms
9. Venn Diagrams
10. Cubes
11. Permutation-Combination
12. Probability
13. Inequalities and Special Equations
14. Strategy to succeed

Perhaps the most important requirements for success in these tests is getting to know the right technique for attacking them. Here are a few useful tips to be help you succeed:

• Follow the instructions carefully: When there are several sections in the tests, each of them would have different instructions, the misreading of which is bound to result in disaster. If you are not careful enough to read the instructions carefully, you are likely to goof up, for they may be very different from the ones that you are used to.
• Intelligent selection of questions: The best way to attempt the maximum number of questions correctly is to serially answer all those questions which you can get right in the first shot. This way you would not have any regrets of having left the simple questions unanswered. But, the important thing to note is that, this process has to be completed in around half the available time alloted for that particular section. After this, you may further proceed to solve the remaining questions. Do not waste time on questions which seem too difficult, vague or confusing. You should remember that, anyway you are going to score the same marks for a question, be it easy or difficult.
• Should one guess? Wild guessing can be risky, but cultivating the habit of guessing intelligently is the only alternative to total surrender. The art of intelligent guessing which you have to master consists first of eliminating the obviously wrong alternatives and of narrowing down your choice, so that you increase your chances of hitting the right answer. If you already have spent too much time working on a particular question, then you should not leave it unanswered, rather go for a wise guess.
• Be determined and have a positive attitude

Unless you cultivate the drive and zeal, you won’t make it. The tests will demand the best in you, so sharpen your abilities to the keenest point and attain the maximum speed you can work at. A luke-warm attitude just won’t do. Be determined. Your determination coupled with the right attitude will help you make a sensible action plan, follow it scrupulously and come out with flying colors at the end.

Study Material:

You should not go hunting for too much material or you will simply end up deciding which is the best! Rather, pick up one good resource on a particular topic, complete it thoroughly and only then lay your hands on the next one.

The following resources are recommended:

• Correspondence Coaching
• Institute of Management Studies (IMS), Mumbai.
• Brilliant Tutorials, Chennai.
• TIME, Hyderabad.
• Other Resources:

Vocabulary:

• Master Word-List from Baron’s Guide to GRE
• 30 Days to a powerful vocab: Norman Lewis
• 6 weeks to a powerful vocab: Wilfred Funk
• All about words: Nurnburg and Rosenblum

Quantitative:

• Quantitative Aptitude fully solved: R. S. Aggarwal
• ICSE Mathematics: O. P. Sinhal

Analytical:

• Analytical Section from Baron’s Guide to GRE
• Analytical Section from Arco’s Guide to GRE

Current Affairs and G.K:

• Manorama Year Book
• Competition Master
• Competition Success Review
• Newspapers, preferably TOI, The Hindu.

Business Affairs:

• Business World (weekly magazine)
• Business India
• The Economic Times

INDIAN ENGINEERING SERVICES

Engineering Services Examination is a combined competitive examination held by the Union Public Service Commission at 39 centers in the month of June of every year. The notification for this examination is published in English dailies and Employment News in the month of January.

Recruitment on the results of thisexamination is made to the services/posts under the following categories: -

• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering

The total number of vacancies to be filled up in 2002 is approximately 360.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
(Group A Services/Posts)

1. Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers.
2. Indian Railway Stores Service (Electrical Engineering Posts)
3. Central Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Service (Electrical Engineering Posts)
4. Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering Branch) (Electrical Engineering Posts)
5. Indian Naval Armament Service (Electrical Engineering Posts)
6. Central Power Engineering Service (Electrical Engineering Posts)
7. Military Engineering Service (IDSE) (Electrical and Mechanical Cadre) (Electrical Engineering Posts)
8. Assistant Executive Engineer Group ‘A’ (Electrical Engineering Posts) in the Corps of E.M.E., Ministry of Defence

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
(Group A Services/Posts)

1. Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers
2. Indian Railway Stores Service (Telecommunication/Electronics Engineering Posts)
3. Engineer in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing/monitoring Organisation; Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications)
4. Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering Branch) (Electronics Engineering Posts)
5. Indian Naval Armament Service (Electronics Engineering Posts)
6. Central Power Engineering Service (Telecommunication Engineering Posts)
7. Survey of India Service Group ‘A’ (Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Posts)
8. Assistant Executive Engineer Group ‘A’ (Electronics Engineering Posts) in the Corps of E.M.E., Ministry of Defence

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

1. Nationality: Indian citizen, subject of Nepal and Bhutan, Tibetan refugee, Indian origin who have migrated from selected countries with the intention of permanently settling in India.
2. Age Limits: On the 1st August the age must be more than 21 years and less than 30 years. The upper age relaxation for SC, ST, Government servants is 5 years, for OBC is 3 years and for orthopedically handicapped, blind, deaf-mute is 10 years.
3. Minimum Educational Qualification: A degree in Engineering, Final year students can apply who are awaiting their result but their admission will be provisional.
4. Physical Standards: The candidate must be physically fit as per the guidelines of UPSC.
5. Fees: Rs. 100/- (may be revised) through a single central recruitment fee stamp for general candidates. There is no fee for SC, ST and physically handicapped candidates.

PLAN OF EXAMINATION :: The Examination consists of two parts.

Part I – Written Examination 1000 marks

SUBJECTS		Duration	Marks
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING	ELECTRONICS AND TELE- COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
Section I Objective Papers
General Ability Test(Part A: General English) (Part B: General Studies)	General Ability Test (Part A: General English) (Part B: General Studies)	2 Hrs	200
Electrical Engineering Paper I	Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Paper I	2 Hrs	200
Electrical Engineering Paper II	Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Paper II	2 Hrs	200
Section II Conventional Papers
Electrical Engineering Paper I	Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Paper I	3 Hrs	200
Electrical Engineering Paper II	Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Paper II	3 Hrs	200

Both the sections cover the entire syllabus of the relevant Engineering disciplines. The maximum marks for the written examination is 1000 marks.

Part II – Personality Test

This test carrying a maximum of 200 marks of such of the candidates who qualify on the basis of the written examination, In this test special attention will be paid to assessing the candidates capacity for leadership, initiative and intellectual curiosity, tact and other social qualities, mental and physical energy, powers of practical application and integrity of character.

SYLLABUS

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
PAPER I	PAPER II
Materials and Components	Analog Electronic Circuits
Electrical Materials	Power Systems
Electrical Circuits	Analog and Digital Electronics and Circuits
Measurements and Instrumentation	Microprocessors
Control Systems	Communication Systems
	Power Electronics

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
PAPER I	PAPER II
EM Theory	Electrical Machines and Power Transformers
Physical Electronics, Electron Devices and Ics	Digital Electronic Circuits
Signal and Systems	Control Systems
Network Theory	Communication Systems
Electromagnetic Theory	Microwave Engineering
Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation	Computer Engineering

UPSC Application forms are available in only all district head post offices which can be purchased against cash payment of Rs. 20/- (Rupees Twenty Only).

NEARER TO NIST

Examination Center: Cuttack, Sambalpur,Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata Post Office : Bhubaneswar GPO, Angul, Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Baripada, Berhampur, Bhadrak, Bhawanipatna, Cuttack GPO, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jeypore(Koraput), Jharsuguda, Kundrapara, Keonjhargarh, Koraput, Nayagarh, Parlakhemundi, Phulbani, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sundargarh

Indian Civil Services (ICS)

What is ICS:

Civil Services constitute all non-military departments of the government machinery, which run State Administration. The Central and the State Civil Servants ensure that the constitutional guarantees and entitlements are brought within the reach of every citizen. In the present era of market economy Civil Services has lost some of its sparkle, nonetheless it still ranks high as a career option among young students. The power and social status along with job security that a civil servant enjoys is unimaginable anywhere else. Besides the lure for power and perks the service provides enough scope for a dynamic person with zeal and desire to bring qualitative changes in the functioning of the government and even opportunities which could ameliorate the lives of millions of Indians.

The Indian Civil Services are organized into two main sections.
These are:
All India Services and Central Services.

Officers of the All India Services, on appointment by the Government of India, are placed at the disposal of the different State Governments. These services include:

• The Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
• The Indian Police Service (IPS)
• The Indian Forest Service (IFtS)

Officers of the Central Services, on the other hand, wherever they might be posted, serve the Government of India only. Central Services are of two types-Groups A & B.

Group A Central Services comprise various different services/ posts. These include:

• The Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
• The Indian Railway Service
• Indian Postal Service
• Accounts and Auditing Services (including The Indian Audit and Accounts Service, The Indian Civil Accounts Service, The Indian Defence Accounts Service, The Indian Revenue Service.)
• Indian Customs and Central Excise
• The Indian Ordinance Factories Service
• The Indian Defence Estates Service
• The Indian Information Service
• The Central Trade Services

The Central Industrial Security Force

Group B Services for which recruitment is made through civil services are the following:

• Central Secretariat Service, (Section Officer Grade)
• Railway Board Secretariat Service (Section Officer Grade)
• Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service Group B (Assistant Civilian Staff Officer Grade)
• Customs Appraisers’ Service Group B.
• The Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service Group B.
• The Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service Group B.
• Pondicherry Civil Service Group B.

Eligibility:

Candidates applying for the Civil Services must be Indian nationals (between 21 and 28 years old) as on August 1, and for the Forest Service, as on July 1 of the year of the examination. In order to appear for the combined services examination, the candidate must have at least a Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised university. In order to apply for the Forest Service, a candidate must have a Bachelor's degree in any of the science subjects.

Selection:

Selection for the combined civil services takes place in three stages :

• preliminary examination
• main examination, and
• personality test.

The preliminary examination is a written test comprising of two papers. It is conducted every year in the month of June. The first paper (general studies) carries a maximum score of 150 points on 150 questions, with a time limit of two hours. It covers six topics - Indian History, Constitution of India , Geography , Economics, Science, and Current Affairs. The second paper is an 'optional' that is on a subject of the candidate's choice. This paper carries 300 points on 120 questions and is two hours long. Both papers are set in the objective type format.
Around 10,000 candidates are selected after the preliminary exams, which are taken by approximately 1,50,000 students every year.

The main examination is also a written test, which is held around November / December every year. It comprises two language papers (one in English and the other in an optional Indian language). Marks gained in these papers are not computed in the total score, but passing in both is compulsory for qualification. There are also two general studies papers (300 marks each), and four papers on two optional subjects (300 marks each).
Approximately 2,000 candidates are selected at the end of this stage, for the final personality test.

The personality test / interview, conducted in April / May every year, forms the final eliminatory stage. Conducted in the form of an oral interview, it enables an expert panel to judge first hand, the candidate's personality, ability and aptitude for the work. The personality test carries 250 points in a total of 2,050 points.

There is also a medical test, which is conducted before the allotment of services. It is an especially rigid test for those aspiring to join the IPS.

Roughly 800-900 candidates make it through the final selection each year, out of which the top ranking 100 candidates (approximately) are appointed to the IAS.

Selection to the Indian Forest Service , on the other hand, is on the basis of a written test held in the month of August every year. The test comprises of two compulsory papers (General English and General Knowledge) and additional papers in any two subjects chosen from the following options: agriculture / botany / chemistry / physics / geology / zoology / mathematics / agricultural engineering / chemical engineering / civil engineering / mechanical engineering , except the combinations of agriculture and agricultural engineering , chemistry and chemical engineering.

Training
Once appointed, all probationary officers of the All India and Central Services undergo a compulsory foundation training course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

Duration :
Training begins in the last week of August with a foundation training course of 4 months duration for probationers of all civil services. The foundation course is followed up by specific job-oriented training, conducted separately by each service in different parts of the country. This training is partly institutional and partly hands-on. For most cadres, the training is of 12 months duration.