Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: Ira Singhal topped the prestigious civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers, with four of the top five positions going to women, according to results announced by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday.
A total of 1,236 candidates cleared the test and were recommended for appointment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and various Central services.
The first four positions went to Ira Singhal, Renu Raj, Nidhi Gupta and Vandana Rao, with Suharsha Bhagat the sole male in the top five.
The preliminary examination was conducted on August 24 last year at 2,137 venues across the country. About 9.45 lakh candidates applied for it and about 4.51 lakh appeared for the examination.
Of these, 16,933 qualified for the main examination held in December last year and 16,286 appeared for it. The result of the main examination was declared on March 13 and 3,308 candidates qualified for the personality test held from April 27 to June 30.