Another motivational story for young defence aspirants and people of this country. Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi one of the three women fighter pilots of India has created history yet again by flying a MiG-21 Bison alone on 19 Feb 2018.
Scripting history, Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi has become the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo, an IAF official said. “Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo when she flew a MiG-21 Bison,” the official said. She undertook the sortie from IAF’s Jamnagar base on Monday.
Three women pilots — Ms. Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh — had undergone strenuous training programme to fly fighter jets. They were commissioned as Flying Officers in July 2016, less than a year after the government decided to open the fighter stream for women. The next batch of three women trainees have been chosen too.
Candidates who are going to face the Online AFCAT exam can read the list of important synonyms and antonyms for their exams. In AFCAT, you will face 08 synonyms and antonyms under English verbal ability section of AFCAT. You have a good chance of scoring 8 x 3 = 24 marks in this section with proper preparation. Below you can find a pdf list of important synonyms and antonyms for AFCAT.
Try to put the word in a sentence or a phrase and guess its meaning
When you have a word try to guess all its synonyms and from the answers see the exact word which has the same meaning, in the case of antonym the opposite meaning
Read all the options, most of us think of the time and come up with the answer which has a close match to the word. But there is an actual word with the same meaning hidden there.
First, know the part of the speech the word is used in… For example, the word run can be used as a verb but it could also be used as a noun like ‘home run’ so make sure you know the part of speech before answering.
Some words are eye catchy, you immediately think it’s going to be the antonym/synonym, but most of the guesses are not gonna be right so going through the options once again unless you’re sure of the answer.
Synonyms and Antonyms For AFCAT
Abandon (n.) careless disregard for consequences
Synonym: wanton
Antonym: uphold
Accede (v.) Comply, Grant, Allow, to give consent, approval, or adherence; agree;
Synonym: Consent
Antonym: Reject
Bohemian (n.) to be a non-conformist.
Synonym: unconventional
Antonym: usual
Braggadocio (n.) somebody who boasts in a swaggering self-aggrandizing way,
Synonym: Braggart
Antonym: Meekness
Digress (v.) to move away from the central topic or line of argument in speaking or writing, usually temporarily
Synonym: Deviate
Antonym: continue
Elude (v.): to avoid; escape.
Synonym: flee, circumvent.
Antonym: entice.
Fallible (adj.) liable to make mistakes, liable to be wrong or misleading
Synonym: Unsound
Antonym: Perfect
Pervasive (adj.) spreading widely or present throughout something
Synonym: Insidious
Antonym: Contained
Quake (v.) to shake or tremble from cold, weakness, fear, anger, or the like
Synonym: fluctuate
Antonym: be still
Relinquish (v.) give up something with reluctance; yield.
Synonym: Abandon
Antonym: Assume
Sublime (adj.) of elevated nature.
Synonym: exalted
Antonym: mean, average.
Virtuoso (n.) somebody who shows exceptional technique or ability in something; somebody who is knowledgeable and cultivated in appreciating the fine arts
Synonym: Exceptionally skilled
If you have cleared the CDS 2 2017 written exam for OTA and waiting for your SSB interview, there is a good news for you. As many candidates who have cleared the written exam of CDS 2 2017 will be facing the SSB interview soon for SSC (NT) 108and SSCW (NT) 22 in March 2018. We have received many emails and questions on social media regarding CDS 2 2017 OTA SSB interview dates. As we all know, OTA SSB happens after IMA, so it takes some time.
Finally, the wait is over, Indian army official website has confirmed that they will upload the list of candidates for OTA CDS 2 2017 SSB interview in the second week of March (The dates selection for Men and Women CDS 2 2017 SSB OTA is active now). Selected candidates can check their SSB interview center for SSC 108 NT (men) and SSC 22 NT (women) SSB interview on join Indian army portal in March 2018
Candidates of SSC NT- 108 and SSCW (NT) – 22 who have qualified in CDSE (II) 2017 written exam conducted by UPSC are requested to register on www.joinindianarmy.nic.in . For details see pdf document attached.
CDS 2 2017 OTA SSB Women Interview Allotment Centre
Candidates Can Check their SSB Interview venue by visiting join indian army, login to your account and select the SSB interview date. You can also check the following details as shown below.
CDS 2 2017 OTA SSB Men Dates Are Live Now
Log in to join Indian Army website
Select your SSB interview date for CDS 2 2017 SSB Interview.
CDS 2 2017 OTA SSB Interview Date
Centre allotment list
SSB Allahabad
SSB Bangalore
SSB Bhopal
SSB Kapurthala
SSB Interview Procedure
You can check your allotted CDS 2 2017 OTA SSB interview centre now.
Next you are required to login to the portal and select an SSB Date.
Make sure you check the reservations before selecting a date for SSB interview.
You can start your SSB preparations now instead of waiting for the SSB dates.
SSB Interview Preparation Material [ 100% Recommended]
These pictures are enough to motivate the young aspirants who want to join the Indian armed forces. A cadet from the national defence academy seen carrying his injured buddy on his shoulder for 2.5 Kms to finish the race. It’s one of the basic pillars of what the Indian Army calls the Warrior Ethos: “I will never leave a fallen comrade behind.” After these pictures were circulated on our social media, it has got appreciation from many young aspirants, it has also sparked the josh inside the young blood.
We can say that test of reasoning is one of the scoring parts of AFCAT question paper. If you are someone who is going to attempt the AFCAT exam for the first time, you must know how many questions will be asked from each section. Below we have mentioned the question wise breakup of the AFCAT paper and also given few practice questions from the test of reasoning for the upcoming AFCAT exam.
There are four sections in the AFCAT question paper:
English Verbal Ability: 25 Questions
General Knowledge: 25 Questions
Numerical Ability: 18 Questions
Test of Reasoning: 32 Questions
So now you know, the test of reasoning section has around 32 questions, which means if you can give 100% correct answers in the test of reasoning section, you can score 32 x 3 = 95 marks. 95 marks just from a single section, isn’t it great? not to forget, solving this section will take a lesser amount of time when compared to Numerical ability.
How to score more marks in AFCAT reasoning section?
Only practice can help. Solve as many as questions before the exam.
Understand the logic behind the figures to solve figure related questions.
Do not leave this section for last, you might make errors in simple questions.
Psychological or psychometric testing is based on the principles of projective testing. The psychological testing consists of WAT, TAT, SRT, SD. These tests are important because the psychologist extracts the map representation of the candidate’s character/attitude and qualities.
Word Association Test (WAT) is a test of imagination. And it’s absolutely imperative to test the personality of the candidate through his/her association of ideas about men and matters. The psychologist assesses the personality of the candidates by showing them words of different kinds. The same words arouse different ideas, feelings, and emotions in different people. Therefore, one word becomes a peephole into different personalities.
And so, it is not recommended to cram up the reactions noted down in books. But you can always seek guidance from people, professional mentors, etc. You can practice WAT by yourself at home using timers.
Moving forward to WAT, there are two kinds of words that are projected in SSBs, namely- Positive words and Negative words. Some candidates find it difficult to tackle the negative words because we tend to react positively to a negative word but somehow in the stipulated time of 15 secs and the extreme pressure exerted; we generally do not perform the way we want to.
So, in this article, we shall describe you three ways to form a positive idea from a negative word shown in the slides.
Now, when you find the word Hate flashed on the projector, the first image that comes to your mind is a feeling of dislike or revenge. The word Defeat draws the sketch of failure in our thoughts. This is natural but you need to do a little practice to transform those images into a positive frame.
Denial method: Along with the negative word denial expression is used to deny the existence of the negative word. For this type, words like does not, no, never are used in the sentence.
Syntax: TPSN (third person singular noun) + Denial words (is not, does not, has not, never) + OW (Original word) + Other words.
Examples: Hate: Never pays in a relationship. : Good friends never hate each other. : Good understanding never creates hatred. 2. Use of antonyms: Instead of the original word, its antonym can be used in the sentence.
Examples: Hate: Loving people brings them closer to us.
3. Remedial method: A remedial or curative word is used as a starting word showing its remedial effect for the negative word. Words like removes, overcome, cures, eliminates, etc can be used.
Examples: Hate: Love cures hatred. Sorrow: Joy overcomes sorrow.
Some examples of negative words:
Sad: Happiness overcomes sadness.
Harm: A teacher never harms his own students.
Failure: Success overcomes failure.
Vices: Virtues remove vices.
Shy: Frankness eliminates shyness.
Reject: A brave never rejects challenges of life.
Suicide: Courage removes the feeling of suicide.
Bomb: High alert overcomes bomb explosion.
Fear- Winners bravely face their fear.
Dismiss: A good leader never dismisses a good idea.
Snake: Snake poison is useful for medical purposes.
Knife: Knife is a useful instrument for a surgeon.
Cruel: Kindness overcomes cruelty.
Blame: An officer never blames the innocent.
Fight: She doesn’t fight with her siblings.
Some more words for practice:
Weak
Selfish
Hijack
Difficult
Blood
Darkness
Loneliness
Lies
Tiredness
Crime
Kill
Enemy
Murder
Death
Divorce
Dowry
Mistakes
Fatigue
Danger
Aggression
War
For better practice on WAT download, the ebooks linked below. These ebooks comprise of various WAT original examples you will face in SSB Interview. You will find the sample response which will help you to learn the correct way to think and write your own responses.
My name is Kartik Menon and I feel immense joy and privilege in sharing my success story. Joining the Defence Forces has always been my ambition for the longest time. I am from a defence background and have always been surrounded by army officers. I had joined the military school in 9th class and worked for it and was immensely proud when I cleared the NDA written exam for the first time during my 12th class. I had my first SSB in NSB Coimbatore. However, I could not clear the SSB and the consecutive written exams. I kept faith and pushed on during college and aimed at UES entry and CDSE entry in college. During all this time my mind did not waver over my career option and knew it was where I wanted to be. During my final year I had cleared CDS exam and AFCAT exam.
In my second interview I was overconfident and did not consider the possibility of getting screened out and that was exactly what happened! That followed were months of introspection and swore to make it this time. I made a regime and woke early go for a run and exercise and thoroughly updated my general knowledge every day. This time my SSB was in Allahabad in the 11 SSB board. I was again able to get screened in, however, I felt intimidated by the entire batch comprised of repeaters! After hearing the testimonies of 8 times and 10 times repeaters I had lost my cool and again failed to perform. On the trip back home my mind went blank and the only thing that was on my mind was to clear my next one that was to happen in a month’s time. By this time I had a clear idea what I was doing wrong and I started practicing for my psychology test available online.
I contacted Dr. Cdr. NK Natarajan watched his video lectures from Amazon and availed the psych assessment and the mock interview and received proper guidance and was made to be aware of my shortcomings. And when I went for the SSB this time my mind was still in that blank stage and i wasn’t nervous anymore and only focused on performing on the test alone. This time my SSB was again in 2AFSB Mysore and reported there on 18 Dec.
18 Dec 2017
On the first day, screening test was done and results came at 2 PM. The PPDT picture was that of a blurry public place and I made a simple 40 sec narration story and moderately participated in the following discussion. The results came positive and I was assigned chest no.43 and among 164 who reported 64 were screened in. Soon after we were routed in and I slept for 3 hours and soon after we had our Psych Test for which I was fully refreshed and gave sufficient responses in all the tests.
19 Dec 2017
This day we had our first GT and I went with an alert mind keeping in mind my mistakes and mentally preparing myself for the discussions. My aim was to take as much part in the discussions as possible without coming out too aggressive. In the group planning it was chaos. But I took that chaos as an opportunity to lead the group and I did that by raising my voice, gave a section and reasoning of the plan and let others discuss further and in the end I gave the common solution which the group agreed upon. Hence, I took active part in the group and for the PGT and HGT my experiences in the previous SSB had helped me stay ahead of the group and at the same time keep listening to my group and incorporating their ideas where I can. I felt I performed better than I expected and felt this might be it. My lecturette went especially well and I spoke on odd even formula in Delhi.
20 Dec 2017
This was my 2nd GT and we had our Individual Obstacles, Command Task and FGT. I felt it all went well thanks to all the running I did before the SSB.I got the most different obstacle and It took me a while and I kept a cool head and was able to identify the solution after which I thanked the group for their help. The FGT went without a hitch and thus ended my GT.I felt very satisfied with my performance as I felt I was able to work well with the group.
21st Dec 2017
This day was the most nervous day for me before the interview. My interview was at 10.30 AM and knew this day could make or break my career. But I was strangely calm and knew for some reason all I had to do was not mess it up. I reached the waiting room at 10.00 AM and was called in at 10.15 as the person before me was already done early. I focused on my appearance in front of the mirror, made a last minute adjustment to my formals and headed in. My interview went very smooth and all of his questions were focused on my personal life and I was straight forward and honest with all my answers. I mentioned some of my funny life incidents in response to his questions and I had fun sharing. At the end of the interview the interviewer said with a smile, ”Looks like the interview has gone on for an hour, I got everything that I wanted. You may take your file and go now.”
Conference Day
Before the conference I had no fear. Knowing that I had been able to do my very best and was sure I’ll get through. I went into the conference room and he asked me a bunch of questions regarding my engineering background and finally they asked me what my priority career was and I had only one answer. ”Armed Forces”. My Chest No.”43” was finally called I was surprised but at the same time couldn’t comprehend the implications apart from the fact that I have achieved my goal!!
Like any other defence aspirant who follows this page, would always want his/her success story to be reflected on this page. And I’m no exception!! I’ve been following SSBCrack for a year and I believe it has been one of the best ways to keep yourself updated about defense! How To Prepare for SSB Interview:
I went for the SSB at Varanasi, in June after clearing my AFCAT exam in 2017. By God’s grace, I was able to get recommended in the very first attempt! After I got recommended, I went through the medicals as well and was medically fit. I had to wait for the merits which were supposed to be out by December!
Meanwhile, I had cleared my CDS exam and I got OTA, and the SSB Interview came in November!
After my AFCAT SSB, I had a gap for the merits so I joined as an assistant professor at lovely professional University, taught students verbal ability! During the tenure of my job, I conducted a certain workshop for the defense aspirants too so that they wouldn’t face the same problems as I did. By God’s grace after the workshop my two students got recommended, one of them went for the navy and his merit was AIR-2 SHUBHRANT PATHAK. For me, it was the biggest achievement seeing my student achieving his goal at a very young age.
Right after my workshop I had one more SSB of the CDS that came in November in Kapurthala
My experience at Kapurthala :
We were 50 who reported on 25 November’17, after all the documentation we were given the accommodation and the chest numbers
PPDT:
Next day after the fall in we were sent for the screening. The picture that I had perceived, it had two males discussing something and I wrote a true story of mine , like how I used to sit with my sister ( who is also an assistant professor in the same university where I taught), and discuss about the problems faced by the students during the placement times and what could be done in order to overcome this, hence my plans were natural and practical!
And then we had the discussion part, to my surprise, none in my group wrote about a discussion and everybody wrote about pollution, stubble farming etc, but then that’s where a candidate has to be flexible! I followed the group’s story and gave few ideas from my end from my story and hence after the discussion part out of 50, 21 candidates were screened in!
observe the background and the foreground carefully
look for yourself in the picture
look for a reasonable, logical “need” that what led to the story
the leader should be the one who would be an acting leader, that he must do the action part, should not be the one who would just give orders to the subordinates but rather participate in the process
2 lines about the past, details about the central character
8-9 lines are the action part, telling about the actions, specifications, details etc about the story.
very important a normal ending . it should not be an overly ambitious ending!
I followed a similar technique for my AFCAT SSB at Varanasi.
the action part should include those activities that we can do at our age, for example becoming an IAS of the area and constructing a hospital would just be too futuristic and ambitious!
PIQ
In evening we were asked to fill PIQ. Testing for stage 2 starts with filling up of PIQ. Be careful while filling PIQ. You will be asked questions about each and every single word that you write in your PIQ. Be prepared to answer every possible question around every single word written in your PIQ.
Me 🙂
PSYCH DAY :
the next day was supposed to be a hectic one! we started off with TAT, followed by WAT then SRT and last the self-description!
The TAT technique is similar in terms of writing part like of the PPDT, follow the same objective, same techniques in it
The WAT part is the one in which we tend to lose our focus and we miss out words at times but the only tip in this that keep calm and write. Avoid missing out any word and for the SRT also don’t write too long, I could only do 51 SRT, but better than my previous attempt in which I could just do 42!
GTO
Your first and last aim should be the progress of your group. If Group wins, you win. The group loses, so do you. Don’t get personal during any task at any point of time. It’s the group that matters, not the individual. and people do this mistake, they try to overshadow the others and that’s the worst thing or quality thta youy can expect from an officer!
Group discussion and group planning exercise:
The same technique in this as well , no matter how good you are, no matter how fluent you are , but if you dont let the others participate , trust me you will never be selected! its a discussion and not a debate so let evryone participate, dont speeak too much, put your point once , come back, wait for a while, let othrs speak. again put a point , come back and do d same again. i spoke only thrice in the entire discussion (both times @varanasi and @kapurthala)
PGT, HGT
Listen to GTO briefing very carefully. While briefing, he also indicates the solution.at times he gives certain clues as well so dont miss that part!
3rd and 4th PGT are relatively tough. Try to give ideas in 3rd and 4th PGT. Keep calm.
SNAKE RACE, IO
Avoid injuries. do enjoy it!
COMMAND TASK
I ruined my command task but then I believe its all good if you are natural and you take time to think over the task, the problem keenly. But the command task at varanasi was much better , the gto made it more difficult by taking certain helping materials from me and making it difficult but then i was able to come up with ideas that were workable
Don’t be nervous. Solution is always there. Think calmly. Take your time. GTO will create time pressure. Ignore him whenever he says like you are left with 1 minute or 30 sec etc.
FGT
Give your ideas otherwise support the group.TO my knowledge the GTo has analysed you fullu but might give you a chance here ! grab the oppurtunity
INTERVIEW
I was the last to be interviewed. My interview was on the GTO day 2. His first question
IO: have a seat rahul, so coming from the grounds, how were the activities.?
ME (smiling): thank you sir , yes by gods grace they went well
IO: tired?
Me (smiling): not really , 🙂
IO: okay so this is your second attempt, how was the first one ?
Me: it was good sir , i got recommended!
Interview went for an hour (approx.). He asked about my strengths I replied “optimistic”, “always ready with helping hand” “compassion ate”(he asked the justifications as well and i justified by giving examples, teling about my students who got recommended). He asked the reason for why army over airforce ? . He asked,”what about this time?how are you better this time?” I said,” ive been teaching in the university, and i conducted a workshop for 150 odd students and i believe i am 150 times stronger this time! ”
The series of questions ranged from mechanical to reasoning, aptitude, gk, personal life etc . He tried to put me under stress and wanted to check that how efficient i am under stress, how fast i can think on my toes!
Your PIQ plays an important role in interview. You must be able to justify your answers. Support your answers with real life examples. For ex. If you say that you are calm. Support this by telling him an incident where your calmness helped you. So, be ready with real life incidents.
The day befor the conference I got the news that the merits of the airforce is out and to my surprise I couldn’t make it in d merits!! As I had resigned from the job of assistant professor as well , so I had to lead to the conference hall the next day with alot of stress , which I believe was eustress that helped me to go through!
CONFERENCE:
IO (smiling): How was your performance?
me: it was good, sir
I.O: rate yourself out of 10 , in all the three
me: psych :7/10, interview:8/10, g.t:6/10
i.o: why so less in ground task?
me: sir i ruined the command task
i.o: do u have only command task in your grounds?
me: no sir , i believe i could have done much better and there is always a scope for improvement
then he asked about certain more things and asked about the experience and also asked me what would you take back from here for your students ?
me: I would take the experience and would tell mine
We all gathered in the auditorium, the T.O came and told about his life experience, and also told that you see people who get recommended once, usually fail the next time they appear for the SSB, can anyone tell me why? the person sitting next to me said sir “because of the overconfidence!” now why I thought it’s not my day because of all the 21 candidates sitting there, was the only one who was previously recommended!
The T.O called out chest no. 12, and yes it was mine 🙂 I was the only one to be recommended from all the wonderful, intellectual, SSB veterans 😛
By god’s grace, got two recommendations back to back one from airforce and one from the army and I believe if I common person, who doesn’t have any defense background can do it then anyone can do it as well! and I would like to give all the credit of my recommendation to my real sister (, my mentor, my idol ), SSBCrack for all the information and to all my students for the love and support and of course to all the critics who have made me a better person, that I am today 🙂
India has a coast line of about 7500 km and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million sq kms. In addition, we are endowed with abundant oceanic wealth comprising a large number of island territories and vast sea bed area, over 97 % of our national trade is carried by sea routes! We must protect our natural wealth and keep our trade routes open in order to progress and per. It is therefore, imperative that Indian Navy is always in a high state of preparedness.
Be it any festive or celebration, Indian Navy has always been there for us to protect India’s largest border from Gujrat to West Bengal. Let us look back on what the Indian Navy has done for us this year and be ever thankful to our men in whites:
Naval Exercises
Ex Taiyaar-17:
Conducted in Jan 17, the exercise is an annual feature which allows the Naval Commands to fully prepare and exercise transition from a state of peace to one of hostilities and address any shortcomings that may be encountered. Various facets that were exercised included Op logistics, action stripping, Mine & War watching organisation, deployments by Fast Intercepter Crafts (FICs), acceleration of Refit etc.
TROPEX-17:
A Theatre Level Operational Exercise – TROPEX 17, was conducted on the Western Seaboard in Jan-Feb 17. Extensive participation of Army, Air force and the Coast Guard, including Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and Para Special Force (SF) was the highlight of this year’s exercise.
TROPEX 2017
Joint Amphibious Workup:
Joint amphibious workup by Indian Navy and Indian Army was conducted from 19 – 31 Mar 17 off Karwar. Indian Naval ships Jalashwa and Gharial along with over 1000 personnel of 91 Infantry Brigade of Army participated in the exercise.
Exercise PARIKSHAN:
Western Naval Command conducted operational level Table Top Tri-Service wargame titled ‘Exercise PARIKSHAN’ from 07-09 Aug 17. Representatives from Naval Headquarters, and operational commands of the Army and Air Force in the region also participated in the wargame.
Ex Parikshan 2017
DANX – 17:
The Joint Services Exercise ‘Defence of Andaman and Nicobar Exercise’ (DANX-17) was conducted in Andaman & Nicobar Command from 20-25 Nov 17. IN/ICG Ships, IN/IAF/ICG aircraft and Army troops from ANC and other Commands of IN, IA & IAF participated in the exercise. The successful conduct of the exercise proved unparalleled synergy achieved at ANC between the three services.
DANX 2017
International Exercises:
Exercise MALABAR 2017:
The 21st edition of Ex Malabar was conducted off the port of the East Coast of India from 09-17 Jul 17. IN, US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self – Defence Force (JMSDF) participated in the exercise. The primary objective of the exercise was to enhance maritime cooperation and interoperability amongst the participating navies. A total of 16 ships, 02 submarines, 95 aircraft, Marine Commandos (MARCOs) and Special Forces (SFs) participated in the exercise.
India-Japan-US Malabar 2017
VARUNA 17:
The Western Fleet ships participated in bilateral exercise VARUNA 17 with French Navy in Apr 17 off Toulon, France. INS Trishul, Mumbai and Aditya along with integral helicopters, participated in the Exercise.
Ex Varuna 2017
KONKAN 17:
INS Tarkash participated in bilateral Exercise Konkan 17 with Royal Navy in May 17 off UK. Ship visited Plymouth and London during the exercise and also participated in HMS Tricomalee Bi-centenary year celebrations and cultural events at London as part of ‘India-UK Year of Culture’.
Exercise SIMBEX:
Ex – SIMBEX, the annual bilateral exercise with Republic of Singapore Navy was conducted at Singapore from 12 – 21 May 17. IN ships Shivalik, Sahyadri, Kamorta and Jyoti participated in the exercise. The ships also participated in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition during the period.
Ex Simbex 2017
Exercise Indra 2017:
Indo-Russia Joint Tri-Services Exercise INDRA-17 was conducted off Vladivostok, Russian Federation from 19-29 Oct 17. This was the first ever Tri-Services bilateral military exercise between the two countries. The Naval Operations of exercise were conducted off Vladivostok in the Sea of Japan (Peter the Great Bay). The amphibious operations were conducted at Cape Klerk, about 30 nm SW of Vladivostok.
Ex Indra 2017
AUSINDEX 2017:
The second edition of biennial Australia-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (AUSINDEX) was conducted at/ off Fremantle, Australia. The exercise was conducted from 13-19 Jun 17. The Harbour Phase of AUSINDEX-17 was conducted at Fremantle (HMAS Stirling) from 13-16 Jun 17. The Sea Phase was conducted off West coast of Australia in the Western Australia Exercise Areas (WAXA) from 17-19 Jun 17.
SLINEX 17:
The Eastern Naval Command hosted Sri Lanka-India Naval Exercise, SLINEX 17, from 07-14 Sep 17. Srilanka Naval Ships Sayura and Sagara and IN Ships Gharial and Kora participated in the exercise. Harbour phase included various training interactions. The Sea phase was conducted from 11-14 Sep 17.
Anti-Piracy Operations
SagarKavach:
Coastal security exercises ‘SagarKavach’ were conducted throughout the year.
Sagar Kavach 2017
Op Avloka:
Indian Naval ships are being deployed for Op Avloka (off Gujarat and Maharashtra coast) for coastal surveillance during the monsoons since 2010, to undertake coastal surveillance.
Op Avardhan:
Indian Naval aircraft are deployed for Op Avardhan to maintain continuous aerial coastal surveillance of the West coast of India including L&M Islands. Similar sorties are also undertaken in the East coast and the A&N Islands to augment coastal surveillance along with Indian Naval ships.
Anti-Piracy Patrol:
As part of its wider role of providing security to shipping in the Indian Ocean Region, the Indian Navy continues to deploy one ship for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden. A total of 65 IN warships have been deployed till Dec 17, which have safely escorted more than 3788 (including 405 Indian flagged) ships with over 24,858 mariners embarked. Till date the IN has thwarted 44 piracy attempts and apprehended 120 pirates. The IN remains committed to ensuring Good Order at sea in the Indian maritime zones, and towards ensuring freedom of navigation in the high seas including off Somalia. IN’s presence in this region is being maintained to ensure safety and security of Indian trade.
Hijacking of Al – Kausar:
An Indian dhow, AlKausar was hijacked on 01 Apr 17. IN ship Sharda, deployed for anti – piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since 06 Apr 17, was diverted off Hobyo, Somalia to monitor the situation and render necessary assistance to the dhow. On release after negotiations, Al Kausar was safely escorted by Sharda to Kismayo, Somalia. During the passage to Kismayo, the dhow was approached by two skiffs; however, Sharda prevented any further incident.
Piracy Attack on Bulk Carrier OS35:
In another incident of piracy attack, a Bulk Carrier, OS 35 (with 19 Filipino crew onboard) reported piracy attack on 08 Apr 17. IN ships Mumbai, Tarkash, Trishul and Aditya operating in the area were diverted to provide assistance. PLA (N) ship was also in the area. IN undertook continuous aerial surveillance to sanitise the upper decks of the merchant ship and one Prahar was made stand-by. Under the aerial surveillance of the IN helo and on receiving ‘all clear signal’ from the IN that no pirates were visible on the upper decks, PLA(N) personnel boarded the ship. It was ascertained that pirates had abandoned/ fled the ship.
Suspicious Skiffs:
On 16 May 17, based on an alarm raised by Merchant Vessel Lord Mountbatten, Sharda apprehended two mother boats along with 7-8 skiffs. Ship undertook boarding and search operations, during which arms and ammunition were confiscated and thereafter boats were released in absence of any other piracy triggers.
MV JagAmar:
Whilst escorting Indian flagged vessel MV JagAmar (with 26 Indian crew onboard) in the Gulf of Aden on 06 Oct 17, INS Trishul detected a pirate boat carrying out manoeuvres in the vicinity of the merchant vessel. Trishul closed the boat for investigation and launched her helicopter (with sniper embarked) towards the boat immediately. Under the surveillance of the helicopter, ship’s boat with Prahar (Marine Commandos) boarded the pirate boat. All the piracy triggers including the AK 56 with rounds were confiscated by the ship’s boarding team to prevent any piratical action by the boat crew. All Indian crew onboard MV Jag Amar was safe and the merchant vessel safely proceeded to her next port of call.
SSB is regarded as one of the toughest interviews in India. And rightly so, because of the strict policies adopted towards the testing and the set OLQs. The interview itself if of 5 days. That speak volumes about what kind of people the armed forces want to lead their men into war. How To Prepare for SSB Interview:
These men are selected on the basis of 15 defined OLQs that SSBs look in a candidate:
Effective Intelligence, Reasoning Ability, Organizing ability, Power of Expression, Social Adaptability, Co-operation, Sense of Responsibility, Initiative, Self Confidence, Quickness of Decision, Ability to influence, Liveliness, Determination, Courage and Stamina.
These 15 OLQs are categorized on the basis of 4 factors –
Factor 1 – Intellectual
Factor 2 – Social Adjustment
Factor 3 – Social Effectiveness
Factor 4 – Dynamism
Factor 1 – Intellectual:
In this factor, your brainpower and the capability of your use is tested. There are 4 OLQs under this factor:
Effective Intelligence
Reasoning Ability
Organizing ability
Power of Expression
Factor 2 – Social Adjustment
In this factor, your adjustment socially is tested – how good can you mingle in people with you. There are 3 OLQs which define this factor:
Social Adaptability
Co-operation
Sense of Responsibility
Factor 3 – Social Effectiveness
This factor purely assess how effective you are among a group of people. This is very important factor as officers in the Indian armed forces need to keep the morale of their men high. There are 5 OLQs which define this factor:
Initiative
Self Confidence
Quickness of Decision
Ability to influence
Liveliness
Factor 4 – Dynamism
Finally this factor defines the energy and spirit you carry within you. There are 3 OLQs that define this factor:
Determination
Courage
Stamina
Manasa-Vacha-Karmana of OLQs
Whole testing procedure revolves around the analysis of the candidates’ psychology and his/her capabilities – what he/she speaks, thinks and do. This is often correlated to each other as Manasa Vacha Karmana – the three elements where the whole psychology of a candidate revolves around. The Sanskrit word manasa refers to the mind, vacha refers to speech, and karmana refers to actions.
Manasa is a candidates’ thoughts – his perception of situation and the way he thinks, whether positive or negative.
Vacha is the candidates’ words – what he speaks, whether his words have power to influence people around him, whether his words match his thoughts and whether he is fluent/confident in speaking those words.
Karmana is the candidates’ actions – whether it is linked to what he says, whether he can execute what he says and whether his actions matches his thoughts and words.
It is these elements of psychology based on which whole 15 Officer Like Qualities are developed. Let’s see how these OLQs relate to these elements:
Effective Intelligence – Manasa and Vacha
Reasoning Ability – Manasa and Vacha
Organizing ability – Manasa and Karmana
Power of Expression – Manasa and Vacha
Social Adaptability – Manasa
Co-operation – Manasa and Karmana
Sense of Responsibility – Manasa and Karmana
Initiative – Manasa and Karmana
Self Confidence – Manasa, Vacha and Karmana
Quickness of Decision – Manasa and Vacha
Ability to influence – Vacha
Liveliness – Manasa, Vacha and Karmana
Determination – Manasa, Vacha and Karmana
Courage – Manasa and Karmana
Stamina – Karmana
Don’t be surprised now if I say you that the whole SSB testing procedure is classified based on these three elements. Shocked? Let’s See:
These tests are pure psychology tests and analyses your thinking ability. The TAT, WAT, SRT and SD – all these tests solely assess your divergent thinking capabilities – your manasa.
Interview:
Interview is a conversation between you and the interviewer. It is what you say here, that defines who you are. No one can peek into your mind to assess your thinking unless you say it yourself. Therefore, interview assess your vacha.
GTO:
Needless to say now, the ground tasks that you perform assess you on your actions – Karmana. What you say in GD, what you plan in GPE, what you do in PGT, HGT, CT, IO, FPGT and Lecturette defines whether your actions are capable of fulfilling your words and thoughts.
Many candidates make this mistake thinking that since all the assessors are testing you in isolation, you can write one response in Psych tests, say something other in Interview and do something totally different in GTO. That is the reason there is a board conference;
Conference:
Since now all the three assessors have assessed you individually, they now compare your results with each other. If what you think matches with what you say and do, the Psychologist gives you a thumbs up. If what you say matches with your thinking and actions, the interviewer gives you a thumbs up. Similarly, if what you speak matches with what you think and say, the GTO gives you a thumbs up. It is only when all three have given their thumbs up, you are called inside the conference room and president confirms whether to give you a thumbs up or no.
Before the board conference, the assessors are not even allowed to discuss about a candidate as per protocols. So, your result have already been evaluated even before you enter the conference room and that is the same reason the assessors take some time before calling in the next person.
Conclusion: Now that you have the secret of understanding OLQs better and what actually are the basis of these OLQs, you can prepare accordingly and develop them for you.
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