Rehana, first from Poonch to clear Civil Services exam

Jammu: Rehana Bashir, who hails from a remote area in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, has become the first woman from the district to crack the coveted civil service exams.

An MBBS graduate from Salwah village of Mendhar area in Poonch, she finished at 187th rank in the overall merit list of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Her brother, Amir Bashir, is already in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Six other candidates, all belonging to the Jammu division of the state, have also made it to the select list of 2018 civil service exams. No candidate from the Valley or the Ladakh region of the state has made it to the list this year.

Kanishak Kataria, a B.Tech from IIT Bombay, topped 2018 civil service exams while Srushti Jayant Deshmukh is the topper among women candidates securing the 5th rank. The UPSC said a total of 759 candidates, 577 male and 182 female, have been recommended for appointment.

As many as 10,468 candidates had qualified for the main examination which was held in September-October, 2018 and 1,994 candidates had qualified for the interview, out of whom 759 were selected.