Archive for 06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012

GAIL

What is GAIL?
Incorporated on 16th August 1984, GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd.) is the largest gas processing-cum-distribution-cum-marketing company in India, integrating all aspects of the natural gas value chain. Its Market Share is more than 70% in both Transmission as well as Marketing.
Manned by over 3,700 employees, it has 11,000 km of Natural Gas high pressure trunk pipeline, 1,922 km of LPG Transmission pipeline, 7 LPG Gas Processing Units & 27 oil and gas Exploration blocks and 1 Coal Bed Methane Blocks, besides other infrastructures like 13,000 km of OFC network offering highly dependable bandwith for telecom service providers.
In 2010, GAIL was ranked as No.1 company among gas utilities in Asia in the Platts Global Ranking and in 2004, it was rated as one of the Best Employers in India by Hewitt Associates.
for more information visit GAIL website by Click Here.


GAIL Executive Trainee Eligibility:
Age eligibility: Max. 28 years as on 30.09.2011.Relaxations exist as per Govt. rule.

Academic Qualification Eligibility for GAIL Executive Trainee:
Minimum 65% aggregate (60% for SC/ST candidates) marks in Batchelor degree of Engineering (B.E. / B.Tech. / B.Sc. Engg.) from following engineering disciplines:
i) ET (Mechanical): Mechanical / Production / Production & Industrial / Manufacturing / Mechanical & Automobile.
ii) ET (Electrical): Electrical / Electrical & Electronics.
iii) ET (Instrumentation): Instrumentation / Instrumentation & Control / Electronics & Instrumentation / Electrical & Instrumentation / Electronics / Electrical & Electronics.
iv) ET (Chemical): Chemical / Petrochemical / Chemical Technology / Petrochemical Technology.
v) ET (Civil): Civil Engineering
vi) ET (Telemetry): Electronics / Electronics & Communication / Electronics & Telecommunication / Telecommunication / Electrical & Electronics / Electrical & Telecommunication.

Qualifications for ET (Human Resources):
Bachelor Degree with minimum 60% Marks and Two years MBA / MSW with specialization in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations / Human Resources Management with minimum 65 % Marks OR Bachelor Degree with minimum 60% Marks and Two years Master Degree / Two years PG Diploma in Personnel Management / Personnel Management & Industrial Relations with minimum 65 % Marks. Preference will be given to additional qualification of LL.B. (Prof.).
Relaxations for SC/ST/PH is 5% for above %ages.

GAIL Executive Trainees Selection Procedure :
The selection process consists of a Written test, followed by GD/Interview for those selected in the Written test. Written Test Centers: The written test will be held in 14 cities as mentioned in the On-line Application System. Candidates are required to give two choices for Test Centers in the online application form. The choices given by the candidates in respect of the Test Centre for written test shall only be considered as their preferred choice.

GAIL ET Exam Pattern:
GAIL in its notification has given following pattern of written exam for Executive Trainees:
Paper-1: Subject Knowledge Test - 100 questions.
Paper-2: General Aptitude Test - 50 questions.

While Subject Knowledge Test would be specific to your own branch/discipline, General Aptitude Test would be common to all. These 150 Objective type questions are to be answered within two hours duration.

There is negative marking - 1/4th mark will be deducted for each wrong answer. As you can see, you have to give special emphasis on the Subject Test, as it has twice the marks of Aptitude Test. Following the GAIL ET written exam, the short listed candidates would be called for GD/Interview.

by Rakesh Sahu. 5 Comments

CAT Topic Analysis

Section Based Distribution of Previous Years' CAT Questions: 


Section CAT 2003 CAT 2004 CAT 2005 CAT 2006 CAT 2007 CAT 2008
Quantitative Ability
50
35
30
25
25
25
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
50
38
30
25
25
25
Verbal Ability
50
50
30
25
25
40
Total Questions
150
123
90
75
75
90

Topic Based Distribution of Previous Years' CAT Questions:
    Section
    CAT 2003
    CAT 2004
    CAT 2005
    CAT 2006
    CAT 2007
    CAT 2008
    Arithmetic
    17
    11
    12
    12
    8
    12
    Algebra
    8
    5
    3
    5
    4
    5
    Geometry
    14
    10
    8
    6
    3
    5
    Word Problems
    1
    8
    4
    2
    9
    1
    Miscellaneous
    7
    0
    3
    0
    1
    2
    Data Interpretation
    34
    32
    30
    25
    21
    27
    Logical Reasoning
    16
    6
    0
    10
    4
    5
    Reading Comprehension
    25
    21
    12
    15
    12
    20
    Verbal Logic
    12
    9
    7
    10
    7
    4
    Vocabulary
    13
    13
    7
    0
    3
    11
    Grammar (Sentence Correction)
    0
    6
    4
    0
    3
    5


by Rakesh Sahu. 3 Comments

IIM Seat

As the Common Admission Test (CAT) window draws to a close, the number of seats available in different categories at the top ten b-schools . The data excludes Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore as it has not yet finalised the total number of seats available for the 2012-14 batch.
Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Seats: The top five IIMs have a total of 2,016 seats between them for the next academic year. Last year it was 1,979, so that is an increase of 37 seats (1.8%).
Reserved Seats: Of the 2,016 seats, 998 seats are reserved (49.5%). The percentage of reserved seats remains the same as last year – for NC/OBCs it is 27% (544 seats), for SC it is 15% (302 seats) and for ST it is 7.5% (151 seats).
General Category: That leaves 1,018 seats open for general category candidates.
Faculty of Management Studies (FMS): The total number of seats at FMS is 200. From the next academic year, FMS will accept CAT scores.

Reserved Seats: The reserved seats are 99 in number. Out of which 54 seats are for NC/OBC category, 30 seats are for the SC category and 15 seats are reserved for the ST category.

General Category: That leaves 101 seats for general category students.
SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR): Like the present academic year, SP Jain will accept CAT, XAT and GMAT scores with 180 seats on offer in the next academic year.  It has no reserved seats.
General Category seats for CAT takers: To determine the number of seats available for CAT takers for admission to the top nine b-schools, the numbers at IIMs (1,018), FMS (101) and SPJIMR (117) need to be added up. Past trends show that approximately 65% of candidates have got admission in SPJIMR through CAT. That adds up to a total seat number of 1,236.
Reserved Category seats for CAT takers: For admission to the top nine b-schools, the number of seats for the reserved category is 1097.
Seats for XAT takers: Only two of the top ten b-schools accept the Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT). Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) has 240 seats on offer for the next academic session and SPJIMR’s takes approximately 30% of its intake through XAT, which is 54 seats. So a total of 294 seats are approximately available through XAT.
Seats for GMAT takers: Again only two of the top ten b-schools accept GMAT scores. The Indian School of Business (ISB) is offering 770 seats in its next academic year. SPJIMR takes approximately 5% of its intake through GMAT, which is about 9 seats. So a total of 779 seats are approximately available by taking the GMAT.
Number of Seats for 2012 batch
Institutes Seats

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

385

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta


PGDM=402
PGDCM=60
Total=462

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore Not yet decided on total number
Last year’s seats=382

Indian School of Business (ISB)
Hyderabad campus=560
Mohali Campus=210
Total=770

Xaviers Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur

BM = 120
HR = 120

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

419

Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi

200
SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR)
180

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode

300

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

450

by Rakesh Sahu. 2 Comments

CAT Tips for Preparation


WINNERS DON’T DO DIFFERENT THINGS, THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY
To do justice to this topic, it was not possible to keep it too short . How to prepare is mainly divided in following subtopics
Fundamentals of Preparation - This is common to all competitive exam preparations
Exam Specific Preparation - Important Areas for CAT
Books - A brief on text and reference books for CAT. You can also use TestBag
study material

In short - first believe in yourself - you can do it  and build will power, learn to manage time, study specific to competition - then self assess each topic wise- identify gap - fill gap - move on - on completing syllabus move to mock tests and finally no match to practice
Fundamentals for Preparation

Construction of knowledge in your mind is the key because only you have to reproduce this knowledge in exam. Teaching (Instructions) from school / coaching class / digital media are methods of giving knowledge to you but far more important is how much have you gained (construction of knowledge in your mind) and for that only your efforts will matter.  Memorising is short lived. Learning is lasting as you have put in efforts to understand each topic. In objective exams there is no shortcut to learning

CAT mainly tests your concepts with speed and accuracy

In most competitive exams, your knowledge is important but how much you know more than others is more important. As CAT has a limited curriculum, do not leave anything

This year CAT is computer based. You may be required to practice on computers beforehand. However the nature of preparation is same

You can divide your CAT study in two phases

Phase 1 is setting your fundamentals right. Master each topic chapter wise. Self assessor would be of great help

Divide you curriculum into short objectives. Each objective should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. The overall period of all short term objectives should not extend beyond 10th October

1. Start QA, DI & DS and VA simultaneously
2. Master topics step by step

Phase II -  Start practicing to improve your speed and accuracy. Test simulator will come handy

Methodology

Study yourself from any good book
90 minutes maths
30 minutes Reasoning and Logic
45 minutes Data Sufficiency and Data interpretation
30 minutes English Proficiency and Usage
45 minutes Reading Comprehension

There after take ten to fifteen minutes self test  on each topic of the subject studied by you to assess level of understanding achieved in the topic studied. These tests draw questions from a large and specific knowledge pool based on your selection criteria.  Kindly ensure that there is sufficient challenge in your self test. Your number of questions be more than 10 for the topic, level of questions should be at least L2 (except in Elementary maths where it should be L1) and time should be bare enough to solve questions.

Analyse results. For questions done incorrectly refer to books to understand where you have gone. try to complete this exercise alone. Alternatively take help of your mentor. The mentors can be your school teacher or teacher in coaching class. To economise time prefer  coaching if necessary only in subjects where you are weak.

Thereafter retake test with new set of questions. Once confident, move to next topic. This is active learning as you have yourself put in efforts to understand topics. You will start enjoying your studies and these concepts will be long lasting in you mind

Remember - Move step by step to ensure that you cover all topics and avoid confusion


Start arithmetic with number system - understand concepts from any good book. Initially take a 10 minute tests with 10 questions on number system in TestBag at question level L1 with question type Any. (Number system questions in CAT can be straight objective multiple choice or common data type where more than one questions are linked to a common data or comprehension)  Analyse what is not known to you and what mistakes are you doing. Go back to books, peers in group study or take help of teacher. Take tests again and till you achieve requisite confidence

Repeat this for other areas in arithmetic - ratio proportions, simplification, averages, logarithms, ages, boats and streams, time and work, time and distance, calendars clocks . Thereafter work on Mensuration , followed by geometry. And now cover the most important - Algebra (mainly Theory of Equations,Inequalities, Logarithms and Permutations andCombination). At the end work on Probability

Start English with Vocabulary, then move to English Proficiency  ( working on sentence improvement, rearrangement of words in sentence, sentence in paragraphs, paragraph formation, paragraph completion etc) and then move to English Usage (common errors, spotting errors, in appropriate usage)

Start Reading comprehension with history paragraphs, move to science and technology paragraphs, sociology and philosophy

Start data interpretation with less complex tables, bar charts, pie diagrams, line graphs and then move to complex graphs, charts, mixed diagrams

Start Reasoning with data arrangements, data comparison, move to analytical reasoning and case lets

Remember - Move from simple topics to complex and excel step by step.

Each test is build on previous patterns or by subject matter experts and clearly indicating topics included, number of questions, level of questions and type of questions. Each test simulates exam like environment with time and marking pattern of CAT

Mock tests and old papers have fixed question. But test patterns every time generate new online tests where computer based on specific  parameters randomly generates questions from CAT knowledge pool. This pool keeps getting enriched regularly

Again the new set of questions replaces old questions in mock tests after regular time intervals

Test Simulator will help you to build Speed and Accuracy and indicate
  • your shortcomings so that you can  initiate steps for improvement
  • your mistakes so that you can avoid them
  • topics you have not covered or covered inadequately

Test Bag is very comprehensive for CAT preparation and is available at a reasonable cost.

Books : Study from any good book. Preferably use only one/two books as your base/test books . Other books be only used for reference. This saves lot of time. Few books are mentioned below

Topic Name of the Book
Writer/Publisher
Maths NCERT Maths from 8th to 10th NCERT
Maths Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Nishit Sinha/Pearson
Maths Quantitative Aptitude for MBA Entrance Examinations Abhijit Guha
Maths Quantitative Aptitude for MBA Entrance Examinations R.S. Aggarwal
Maths How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Arun Sharma/TATA McGRAW HILL
Maths Puzzles and some other number books Shakuntla Devi
Maths Higher Algebra Hall and Knight
Maths and DI Crack The Cat Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation Vivek Gupta and Sandeep Amar
Data Interpretation Any good book in Statistics

Data Interpretation How To Prepare For The Data Interpretation And Logical Reasoning For The CAT 3rd Edition Arun Sharma/TATA McGRAW HILL
Data Interpretation Course in Mental Ability and Quantitative Aptitude Edgar Thorpe
Data Interpretation Fundamental of Reasoning  A Logic Book Robert M. Johnson 
English High School English Grammar and Composition Wren and Martin
English Word Power Made Easy Norman Lewis
English Business English and Communication Clark Grade C
English All about Words Rosenblum and Nurenberg
English How to Prepare for the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT Arun Sharma & Meenakshi 
More Info. About CAT >>
Common Admission Test(CAT)
CAT Syllabus
CAT Exam Analysis and Cut Off
CAT Topic Analysis
IIM Seat

by Rakesh Sahu. 2 Comments

CAT Exam Analysis and Cut Off


CAT  Exam Analysis  
1. The duration of the test is 2 hours and 30 minutes including initial 15 minute tutorial. No breaks will be given during the test. The test consists of questions that evaluate a candidate’s quantitative, verbal, and logical & data interpretive abilities. The paper had 60 Qs, 20 QA, 20 DI/LR and 20 VA 
2. Each Question has 4 options for marking and only one answer is correct for each question.3.  Each question carries 3 marks each, so maximum marks for paper is 180.
4. Although there was no mention but there should be negative marking . As such  1 mark should be deducted for each incorrect answer
5. The coverage of questions in three sections were similar to previous CAT papers although the difficulty may have been a notch lower
The exact questions are not known but some indications of CAT 2010 are as under
The paper was of 2 hours 15 minutes duration with 20 questions each from Verbal Ability, LR and DI and Quantitative Aptitude section.  

In Verbal Ability Section, common pattern of questions is

Topic Number of Qs 
Completion of paragraph/sentence  2
Paragraph Jumbles  4
Grammar (Sentence Correction)  2
Correct Usage of words given  2
Vocabulary Based Questions
Fill in the blanks (2 blanks)  1
Reading Comprehension
RC 1  3
RC 2  3
RC 3  3

In LR and DI, common pattern of questions is

Topic Number of Qs 
Logical and Critical Reasoning reasoning questions 14
Calculation based questions 6

Broadly following areas are covered in DI questions
1.Table
2. Pie-chart
3. Bar chart
4. Stacked Bar
5. Line Graphs
6. Mixed Diagrams
7. 3D Charts
8.  Maxima & Minima

Broadly following areas are covered in  Reasoning Questions
1.    Set of conditions
2.    Logical Arguments and conclusions / deductions
3.    Puzzles
4.    Venn Diagrams


In Quant  Section , common pattern of questions is

Topic Number of Qs 
Algebra  and Number System  8
Geometry and Mensuration 3
Probability 1
Arithmetic  and others 8


 Broadly following areas are covered in arithmetic, algebra , geometry and others
Arithmetic
1. Number Systems and Number Theory
2. Percentages - Details
3. Profit and Loss - Details
4. Simple and Compound Interest
5. Speed, Time and Distance
6. Pipes and Cisterns
7. Races
8. Averages
9. Ratio and Proportions
10. Mixtures and Alligations

Algebra
1. Linear and Quadratic Equation
2. Logarithm
3. Progressions - AP, GP, HP
4. Binomial Theorem
5. Inequalities
6. Permutation & Combination
7. Probability
8. Function
9. Set Theory

Geometry
1.Geometry
2. Co ordinate Geometry
Trigonometry
Mensuration

CAT 2010 Cut Offs :
Cut Offs are compiled on basis of  likely cut-offs for various business schools for admissions to their MBA/PGDBM programmes.  There is no rule in compiling same. It is based on data sourced from B Schools, from candidates getting calls. Kindly call respective B schools for specific information. The said information is only indicative

Correct Questions Marks @ 3 marks for correct question Percentage Expected Percentile  Expect Call fr
37 111 62 100 All IIMs
36 108 60 99.5 At least 3 IIMS
35 105 58 99 At least 1 IIM
34 102 57 98 At least 1 IIM
33 99 55 97 MDI Gurgaon 
32 96 53 96 MDI Gurgaon ,IMT G
31 93 52 95 NITIE, IMT G,IMI. MDI HR
30 90 50 94  SP Jain, Nirma, FORE 
29 87 48 93 IMI New Delhi, TA PAI Manipal
28 84 47 92 UBS Chandigarh,
27 81 45 91 KJS, ISWBM 
26 78 43 90 NIRMA
25 75 42 89 LBS, IMDR, NIBM, BIM-Trichy 
24 72 40 85 NIA, BIM-Tech, SDM-IMD, EDI 
23 69 38 80 Geat Lakes, Chennai
22 66 37 75 IIFM, NIT-Trichy 
21 63 35 70 Welingkar, IMFR Chennai
20 60 33 65 Amity Noida

 CAT 2008 Exam Analysis
 The paper was slightly more difficult than last year. In addition there was more stress on verbal ability with increase of 15 questions in that section
There were 90 questions of 4 Marks each.Negative marking -1 for each question
                    Section I -    Data Interpretaion ,Data Sufficiency and Reasoning 25 Q
                    Section II -  Quantitative Aptitude  25 questions
                    Section III -  Verbal Ability and   Reading Comprehension  40  Q


CAT 2008 Cut offs


Overall cut off for CAT 2008 for IIMs for General category between 120+ to 140+

Section wise cut off

Quantitative Aptitude :  32 - 35

Data Interpretaion:  32-35
Verbal ability :   46 - 49


CAT 2008  Selection Criteria Institute wise
  
Category Section I (QA) Section II RA Section III VA Overall
Percentile Marks Percentile Marks Percentile Marks Percentile Marks
Maximum Marks 100 100 100 96 100 160 100 356
IIM Ahemdabad General 94 35 94 35 94.5 47 98 121
OBC 80 21 80 25 80 28 88 79
IIM Calcutta General 96 38 96 38 96 51 99 133
OBC 85 25 85 28 85 32 94 98
IIM Bangalore General 90 32 85 32 85 26 90 82
OBC 80 25 75 26 60 12 80 65
ST 50 13 50 12 50 9 70 52
SC 50 13 50 12 50 9 70 52
IIM Indore General 80 25 80 28 80 21 99 132
OBC 75 23 75 26 75 19 95 98
ST 65 19 65 19 65 14 72 55
SC 65 19 65 19 65 14 83 71

More Info. About CAT >>
 Common Admission Test(CAT)
CAT Syllabus
CAT Topic Analysis
CAT Tips for Preparation
IIM Seat

by Rakesh Sahu. No Comments