The Service Selection Board (SSB) tests the overall personality of an individual. Thus, one should be prepared to face questions that pertain to their respective area of studies. Since there are many entries in the technical field for both men and women such as UES and TGC, it is imperative to be brushed up on your technical knowledge. The Interviewing Officer expects an engineering student to know well about his/her area of expertise. The following are a collection of questions from each branch that have been asked in SSB and some that are basic questions that each candidate must study and go for SSB. Do not mug up the answers! Learn the concepts so that any questions in and around the subject can also be answered by you.
The reply of Uri terror attack was a befitting one from the brave men of Indian Army. There are brave men, then there comes the bravest of brave. When 4 Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists attacked the Army’s 12th Brigade in Uri sector on September 18, as many as 19 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Sixteen of those soldiers belonged to 6 Bihar, while three belonged to 10 Dogra. The following surgical strike was conducted by the Para units in which the troops included the crack Ghatak platoons of the very same 6 Bihar and 10 Dogra battalions in a flanking role for the attack on enemy territory. One of the objectives of Ghatak platoon of these units was to accompany the Special Forces and ensure a sense of revenge is achieved by these units.
Ghatak are specialized elite infantry platoons within Indian Army units. Their primary role and purpose is to be heavily armed spearheads or shock troopers in case of an operation or a conflict.
They are composed of the most physically fit and motivated soldiers in an infantry battalion. With their main role as the shock troopers within the battalion they are trained to flank around their enemy and attack them from the rear without needing any support from the rest of the battalion.
We can say they’re first unit to attack in any war.
Role of Ghatak Platoon
They can undertake direct raids on enemy artillery positions, air fields, supply dumps and headquarters and can also direct artillery and air attacks while behind the enemy lines.
They are also trained in heliborne assault , mountain warfare , rock climbing , demolitions, close quarter battles , and also in administrative and logistical roles.
Composition of Ghatak Platoon
A Ghatak Platoon is usually 20-men strong, consisting of a commanding Captain, 2 non-commissioned officers and some special teams like marksman and spotter pairs, light machine gunners, medic and radio operator. The remaining soldiers act as assault troopers.
To train them for their purpose they undergo training at Commando Training Course in Belgaum, Karnataka where the soldiers are evaluated through speed marches in battle gear ranging from 20 to 60 km, carrying their rifles and 20 kg of weight in their rucksacks.
They are armed with INSAS Assault Rifles , AKM Assault Rifles , Pika General Purpose Machine Gun , M4 Carbine , B&T MP9 Submachine Gun , TAR-21 Assault Rifles , Carl Gustav Recoil-Less Rifle , SVD Dragunov Sniper Rifle , MP5 Submachine Gun and INSAS Light Machine Guns. Depending on the mission, they may carry other items like ropes, climbing gear, grenades, rocket launchers, laser target designators and night vision equipment.
Special Forces vs Ghatak Platoons
One thing to note is that they are not a special operations force nor a Special Forces unit like Para SF of the army.
Unlike the Paras, Ghataks do not have to go through the rigorous probation plus they may not be tasked with specific SF tasks like sabotage, foreign internal defense, Counter Terrorism/CQB, LRRP(long range reconnaissance patrols).
Further, Ghataks lacks extra qualifications that is needed by SF like HALO/HAHO, Combat divers(both essential for infiltration), demolitions, signal courses which are conducted only for SF at the SFTS(Special Forces Training School).
Famous Ghatak Commandos:
Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav of 18 Grenadiers (Param Vir Chakra)
The 11 member ‘Himalayan Heights Motorcycle Expedition’ which was flagged off from Karu (Leh) on 07 April 2019 traversed the challenging terrain of Eastern Ladakh, across the Chang La pass and has reached the mighty ‘Karakoram Pass’ situated at an altitude of 18,176 feet on the Karakoram Ranges on 16 April 2019. The joint Motorcycle Expedition which comprises six Indian Army personnel from the Army Service Corps, four from Royal Enfield and one from Himalayan Motorsports Association is being undertaken in the year when the Fire & Fury Corps is celebrating 20th Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, which marks the victory of the Indian Armed Forces over Pakistan in 1999. This unprecedented feat over hazardous and unforgiving terrain with temperatures as low as -40C coupled with freezing winds, is a remarkable tribute to the immortal courage and bravery of the Indian Army. In a rare gesture of encouragement for the expedition members, Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding, Fire and Fury Corps reached the Karakoram Pass to meet and motivate the riders.
Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen YK Joshi lauded the efforts of the team especially the two Women Officers from the Army Service Corps and the woman member of the Royal Enfield team who proved equal in strength, skill and spirit to the other members.
The Ladakh region was witness to the unparalleled valour, indomitable courage and immortal tales of sacrifice during the Kargil War in 1999. The Himalayan Heights Expedition undertaken by the Army Service Corps, Royal Enfield and Himalayan Motorsports Association demands similar attributes and is a salute to ‘Remember, Rejoice & Renew’ the spirit of fortitude, bravery and adventure of the Indian Army.
On the basis of the results of the COMBINED DEFENCE SERVICES EXAMINATION (I), 2019 held by the Union Public Service Commission on 3rd February, 2019,7953 candidates with the following Roll Numbers (with names) have qualified for being interviewed by the Service Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence, for admission to (i) Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 148th Course commencing in January, 2020 (ii) Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, Course commencing in January, 2020 (iii) Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course (207 F(P)) commencing in January, 2020 (iv) Officers Training Academy, Chennai 111th SSC Course (NT)(for Men) commencing in April, 2020 and (v) Officers Training Academy, Chennai, 25th SSC Women (Non-Technical) Course commencing in April, 2020.
The candidature of all the candidates, whose Roll Numbers (with names) are shown in the lists below, is provisional. In accordance with the conditions of the admission to the examination, they are required to submit the original certificates in support of age (Date of Birth), educational qualifications, NCC (C) (Army Wing/Senior Division Air Wing/Naval Wing) etc. claimed by them along with attested copies thereof, to Army Headquarters, A.G.’s Branch/Rtg./CDSE Entry Section for males and SSC Women Entry Section for women candidates, West Block-III, Ground Floor, Wing 1, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066 in case of IMA/SSC as their first choice and to IHQ of MoD (Navy), DMPR (OI &R Section), Room No. 204, ‘C’-Wing, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi110011 in case of Navy as their first choice, and to PO 3 (A) Air Headquarters, ‘J’ Block, Room No. 17, Opp. Vayu Bhawan, Motilal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110011 in case of Air Force as their first choice. The original Certificates are to be submitted within two weeks of completion of the SSB Interview and not later than 13th November 2019 for AFA and not later than 01st January 2020 for IMA and not later than 01st January 2020 for admission to NA (1st April 2020 in case of SSC only). The candidates must not send the original Certificates to the Union Public Service Commission.
All the candidates who have successfully qualified in the written exam are required to register themselves online on the Indian Army Recruiting website joinindianarmy.nic.in within two weeks of announcement of written result. The successful candidates would then be allotted Selection Centres and dates, of SSB interview which shall be communicated on the registered email ID. Any candidate who has already registered earlier on the site will not be required to do so. In case of any query/Login problem, e-mail be forwarded to [email protected].
In case, there is any change of address, the candidates are advised to promptly intimate directly to the Army Headquarters/Naval Headquarters/Air Headquarters as the case may be. The Union Public Service Commission have a Facilitation Counter near Examination Hall Building in its Campus. Candidates may obtain any information/clarification regarding this examination on working days between 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM, in person or over telephone No.011- 23385271, 011-23381125 and 011-23098543 from this Facilitation Counter. Candidates can also obtain information regarding their result by accessing UPSC website http://www.upsc.gov.in. The marks-sheet of candidates who have not qualified, will be put on the Commission’s website within 15 days from the date of publication of the final result of OTA (after conducting SSB Interview) and will remain available on the website for a period of 30 days.
Update on 17 April 2019: AFCAT 01/2019 Supplementary Exam for the candidates who could not appear at examination centres in Jammu on 16 & 17 Feb 19 (where the exam was cancelled due to curfew) is scheduled on 29th & 30th April 2019. Admit cards are being e-mailed to the concerned candidates. Due to the imposition of Curfew in Jammu city and the associated difficulties faced by candidates, the Online AFCAT scheduled on 17 Feb 2019 at examination centres located in Jammu city has been called off. The Revised date for all the candidates called for examination on 17 Feb 2019 at centres located in Jammu city (Exam centre code 222, 223, 224 & 225) and for those candidates who could not appear on 16 Feb 2019 at their centres is updated. AFCAT 01/2019 Supplementary Exam for the candidates who could not appear at examination centres in Jammu on 16 & 17 Feb 19 (where the exam was cancelled due to curfew) is scheduled on 29th & 30th April 2019. Admit cards are being e-mailed to the concerned candidates.
AFSB and venue selection for candidates who have qualified afcat 01/2019 is now opened. Candidates may login to their account and choose afsb date and venue. The link will be available till 12 mar 2019 23:59 hrs. Those who do not exercise their option will be alloted the same by system afterwards. Call letter is under revision and will be made available soon.
Internet is full of questions that are usually asked in the SSB interview and the follow-up answers are also on many websites. If you are going to prepare for the SSB interview then you would have to understand that the assessors at the SSB never judge you based on a fixed parameter that applies to all of the candidates. Each candidate that comes to the SSB has a different basic profile and background that varies in many aspects such as education, finance, family, type of city and opportunities. They are assessed on these parameters, their reaction and decisions in the past as well as in current life and on their own performance solely. SSB isn’t a typical examination in which you have to compete with other candidates and rather in this exam, you have to touch the bar that is expected from your profile. The interview technique as called “VAACHA” is among the core technique to assess a candidate and usually, an interview lasts between 45-60 minutes. Since, the interview technique focuses entirely on your current life, past decisions and achievements, future plans and of course, you are looked for the necessary OLQs. This way it becomes very important that you prepare for the interview in a streamlined way so that you can stick to your original plan. Any deviation in the form of questions, for which you aren’t prepared for, will make you nervous or will ask for unwarranted and divided attention.
I guess we don’t want that to happen and that’s why we will discuss some points that will elaborate you about the appropriate ways in which you can take your SSB interview preparation. These points are the usual points that most of the candidates failed to keep in track and their interview preparation usually go haywire as they prepare in a zigzag manner. Any preparation for an exam requires a detailed strategy and for that, you need to work upon that in a systematic manner. The detailed and elaborated interview technique in the SSB is unlike any other interview where you are tested for your skills but here you are tested for your personality.
Make a timeline of your life events:
We all are aware that the interview is all about our events and decisions in our life that has taken place and our future decisions that we will take based on our past experiences. Now, to gather complete information about yourself, you are required to note down all the major events of your life and concerned decisions affecting your future choices in a place. Starting from your class 10th result followed by the stream selection, class 12th result, results in competitive examinations, type of college allotted, branch or stream selection, placement or no placement, job profile, further competitive exams if any etc., should be kept at one place as umpteen number of questions will come out of your single decision made by you in the past. Sit at one place and think about these events and you will find that there will be a reason behind each one of them that will answer the questions of the interviewer such as what, why, when, how and where.
Make a list of your achievements in concerning fields:
Since you have noted down all of your life decisions and events at one place, this should be followed by assessing all of your achievements in the fields of academics, sports, CCA activities, positions of responsibilities that you have held in the past. Your current achievements in the recent past in your job or in competition examination life such as handling a big project or clearing a good examination for an esteemed post in any department should also be highlighted. The logic behind writing down these achievements is to boost your confidence as well as showcasing your credibility in front of the interviewer. Since the armed forces hold an “old school” and “traditional” thought process that’s why areas such as academics and sports are held in high regard. Your performance in these areas is evidence that you have been a good and sincere student and you can be trusted upon based on your previous consistent performances. They also need to see that if you can handle multiple things at once and that’s where your CCA activities involvements come into the picture as that ensure that this candidate doesn’t buckle under pressure and can handle many things simultaneously. Similarly, your performance at your workplace and competitive examinations tell about your seriousness regarding your future and current decisions and how well you are aware of the basics of your profile.
Raise questions from your decisions and satisfy yourself:
As stated in the earlier point, you should be able to raise questions from every major life event and achievements of yours as it will help you in realizing the true reasons that you can tell the interviewer. What, why, how, when and where are the basic five questions that arise out of everything that you will mention in front of the interviewer. For example, if you will tell him that you have chosen the science stream after your class 10th then the follow up question will be about the reasons for your decision, the results you got from your decision, future implications if thought any and their sustainability along with other minor evaluations that will be drawn from that single decision of yours. Remember, the interviewer, however friendly he may seem, is there to unveil the mask that you are trying to put on and that’s why it is suggested to not put any. The answers pertaining to every decision of yours must satisfy you in the first place because if you can’t convince yourself about the reasons for your decisions then how can you convince a man whom you have just met.
Introspect and improvise:
Now, that you have arranged all the relevant questions in a place, try to seek their answers in a systematic manner. You won’t get right answers in the first time as you know yourself just as the next person knows you because in a daily routine we don’t emphasize on knowing ourselves in the manner SSB want us to. You will have to put a lot of time and efforts to write down the answers to the questions with the help of your friends, teachers, colleagues and family. The collective responses by these people can help you in determining your qualities that you are unknown about as well as your weaknesses that you don’t want to admit. With the time, you will start getting the answers in the right manner as your mind will adapt to the responses and it will carve out the necessary information suitable for the interviewer to know about you. This sort of improvisation will help you in the long run and it comes based on your previous attempts or with the gradual understanding of your nature and behaviour.
Don’t mask the weaknesses rather work on them:
It is evident that we all have weaknesses and strengths while many of us are aware of them, some of us aren’t aware of these. When I was going to give my first SSB, I sat down to explore myself and it was very shocking for me to not even know the basic questions about my personality i.e., my strengths and weaknesses. With time and growing attempts, I came to know about them in the context of SSB and life but it will help you if you work upon them in advance. Usually, when we first note down our strengths and weaknesses then they are superficial and sounds vague but when we explore more, we tend to realize the hidden meanings and patterns behind them. After sorting out these points, you should focus on them in an individual manner. People, often, hide their weaknesses and think that it will leave a negative impact on the interviewer but they don’t realize that every human have weaknesses and the crucial thing is that whether you are trying to turn them into your strengths or not. You don’t have to mask your weaknesses and should rather work upon them as the interviewer wants to know what you are doing to eliminate your weaknesses.
These points hold a deeper meaning when seen in the context of the SSB interview technique as most of us focus only on the questions and not on the motives and underlying meaning behind these questions. All the questions that are asked from us are pertaining to our life and that way the interviewer can know a lot about our qualities. Some points are remaining that will help you in covering up other elements of the interview preparation and will be posted in the next article of the same topic.
Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) today successfully test fired indigenously designed & developed Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile “Nirbhay” from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur Odisha. It is the sixth development flight trial with objective to prove the repeatability of boost phase, cruise phase using way point navigation at very low altitudes. The missile took off vertically turning horizontally into desired direction, booster separated, wing deployed, engine started, cruised all the intended waypoints. The missile demonstrated its sea-skimming capability to cruise at very low altitudes. The entire flight was fully tracked by a chain of Electro Optical Tracking Systems, Radars and Ground Telemetry Systems deployed all along the sea coast. All the mission objectives were met.
Since NDA 1 2019 is just on the verge, let’s head out to see how can you get a good score in the English section of the General Ability part. You must be aware of the division of the marks and questions in the General Ability part. General Ability consists of two parts, A and B where A belongs to the English section. English sections comprise of 50 questions out of the total 150 and forms marks up to 200 which are very crucial to get a place in the merit list. Scoring marks in the English section don’t require that much of efforts or expertise if you have been a fair student in your school time but that doesn’t mean that it is to be taken lightly. Many a candidate has failed to get the desired marks just because they were overconfident and didn’t prepare for the English section. Let’s look into the official notification of the UPSC NDA and try to understand what exactly is required from a candidate. “The question paper of English is designed to test the candidate’s understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. The syllabus covers various aspects like Grammar and usage, vocabulary, comprehension and cohesion in extended text to test the candidate’s proficiency in English.”
In this article, we will focus on ways and methods to score good marks in the English section and how to improve the accuracy in your answers. Though preparing for English isn’t a week’s job but still, you can cover much if you are hell-bent on scoring good marks.
Analyse the previous year question papers:
Nothing is better than analysing the previous year question papers as they give you a proper insight into how the mind and ways of those who designed the paper works. It will specify the areas in which you are required to put your focus and in those areas where you will have to pull out extra work. The general trends of the questions that come in the exam do not change much over the years as like in other sections of the paper. Question from various domains such as antonyms, synonyms, spotting errors etc., do alter in the numbers but usually, their representation is fixed as per as their presence in the exam is concerned.
You won’t be getting marks just by analysing the previous year question papers. You will have to solve as much mock question papers as you can as it is highly recommended to improve your accuracy. Doing mocks before the examination, reduced the pressures that you are creating for yourself and also enhances your question handling skills. Mocks are designed in a way so as to provide you with a real time exam scenario where you can attempt the questions and make as many mistakes as they will make you learn. You can collect all the previous year question papers as they are the best mock papers out there.
Categorise the sections and find your strength:
Various sections such as antonyms, synonyms, spotting errors, idioms and phrases, fill in the blanks, ordering of sentences and comprehensions forms the question paper. Since they are categorised in the question paper, therefore you won’t have to do any kind of work for that but you will have to determine which sections you can handle well. For example, a candidate is very well in doing synonyms and antonyms but spotting errors give him nerves then he should focus more on the former but also determine the root cause for his low performance in the later. Spotting errors come under the grammar part of English while Synonyms and antonyms come under the language part of the English. Find your strengths and weaknesses, and perform likewise by analysing both and reducing your nervousness.
Read a lot:
Remember, comprehension in the English section is the easiest one if compared to the other sections as you just have to find the answers from the given passage. If you have been an avid or just a normal reader, this is the section where you can score good marks. Start reading a lot in order to get familiar with the comprehensions. This will not only solve the language grasping issues but will also improve your vocabulary which can ultimately be used to handle antonyms and synonyms questions, along with the fill ups type.
Get familiarize with the basics of grammar:
It is very pertinent that you should get familiar with the basics of English Grammar rules as the questions that form the major part of the English section have relevance with grammar. There are many books to practice and you should devote sufficient time to particular topics as it will develop the familiarity while increasing the basic understanding of the topics.
Take risks but keep negative marking in mind too:
I often suggest people take risks while marking the answers as it increases the chances of getting a number of questions correct but it is for those who can successfully apply elimination of the options. If you are more than 60% sure about an option then you should go for it and if the chances are minuscule for the same then please don’t as it can have an impact over your overall score.
Increase your vocabulary daily:
You should take up a different number of words daily and use them to form meaningful sentences. It will not only help you in understanding the proper context of the words but will also make you familiarize with the synonyms, antonyms and other use of those words. Increasing the vocabulary count can be done by reading a book and marking the words which are unknown to you.
You should keep these things in mind while ongoing preparations as they will make sure that you will not deviate from the right methods of preparation. Different candidates have a different level of proficiency in English and that’s due to their educational background. You can also catch up to their level if you will practice hard enough as it’s the only key to score good marks in different sections of the NDA examination.
An army Major who was injured critically late Saturday night after he slipped into a deep gorge in upper reaches of Kumkadi forests in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district succumbed to injuries. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar confirmed to GNS that the officer of Major rank succumbed in army’s 92 base hospital Badamibagh Srinagar today late in the afternoon. The Army Major Vikash Singh (30) of 57 RR was injured critically after he slipped into the gorge during a patrol in Kumkadi area of Haihama adjacent to Machil sector along the Line of Control (LoC) late last night. The officer was initially shifted to military hospital Drugmulla from where he was later referred to 92 base hospital Badamibagh Srinagar where he later succumbed.
Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC the Chief of the Naval Staff, inaugurated the maiden ‘state-of-the-art’ Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) at the Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group), today. This centre would provide major boost to the Indigenous warship design capabilities of Indian Navy, providing impetus to self-reliance and greater fillip to warship construction under “Make in India” initiative of the Indian government. During his address at inauguration ceremony, Admiral Lanba complimented the Directorate for their untiring efforts, foresight and initiatives to conceptualise design and execute the project. This project will facilitate collaborative design reviews for continuous interaction between the designers and the end users to improve design and ergonomics onboard warships.
Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group) had a humble beginning in 1960s and since then has made major contributions towards indigenous warship design capabilities of the Indian Navy improving self-reliance for warship design and construction. The multi-disciplinary team has successfully developed 19 warship designs on which more than 90 platforms have been constructed to date.
