Ira Singhal is no ordinary woman. The 31-year-old recently topped India's prestigious and tough civil services examination - one that many fail to pass even after many attempts.

Although that would be enough to make headlines in India, that is not the only reason Ms Singhal is being hailed as an inspiration in local media.

She is also disabled as she suffers from scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine.

But she says, she has never felt "different" or been treated differently because of her physical appearance.

Ms Singhal has in fact, had what many Indians would consider a "dream" career path.

She has an engineering degree as well as an MBA, and gave up a high-flying corporate career with Pepsi Co to sit the civil services examination because of what she described to the BBC as a "crazy desire to serve my country".

Ironically, however, it was in trying to achieve this ambition that Ms Singhal's disability ended up coming into play.

India is notoriously disabled-unfriendly, in terms of infrastructure, attitudes and policy.

The country enacted the Persons with Disability (PWD) Act after adopting a proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region in 1992. The act provides for 1% reservation in all government jobs for people with disability, but a hiring policy which makes distinctions between certain types of disability has meant that Ms Singhal has been denied postings despite qualifying in the civil services examination four years in a row.

Ms Singhal's disability meant that she was not eligible for postings in any other service but the Indian Administrative Service. She says that she was excluded from all postings in other services, including clerical and secretarial posts.

Postings in the Indian administrative service are only reserved for the best performing candidates.

In short, she had to come first in the exam in order to get a posting that she qualified for under the government policy of hiring disabled people.

That's a lot of work for someone who describes herself as "lazy" and laughs about the fact that her parents who "work all the time" forced her into working despite her best efforts not to.

But Ms Singhal is nonchalant about everything she has achieved. She says she "feels like a fraud" when people come up to her and tell her what an inspiration she is.

But she does have strong ideas of what she wants to do next. Women and children are top of her agenda, and she is a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Beti bachao beti padhao (campaign to save and educate the girl child). She also wants to actively work towards changing the lot of disabled people in the country.

"I like problem solving," she tells the BBC. "I think I've generally been good in a crisis to date, and I'm quick on my feet. I'm looking forward to being a part of the government and a part of the system that tries to be more inclusive."

A massive medical school admissions examination scandal in Madhya Pradesh and a Supreme Court ruling that ordered 600,000 students to re-appear for a pre-medical exam have brought large-scale cheating into the public spotlight.

Cheating during exams is not new in India and despite being illegal has flourished in most parts of the country for so long that it has almost become endemic.

The increasingly inventive methods of cheating have evolved over the years to take advantage of modern technology and even social media.

This has prompted the examinations board to issue a strict set of guidelines, including a dress code for the students re-appearing for the pre-medical exam.

Here are five ingenious ways in which Indians cheat during examinations:

James Bond style with gadgets
It was discovered that many who were caught cheating during the recently-cancelled examination had come wearing micro-Bluetooth devices and mobile SIM cards that had been stitched to their shirts.

Over the past few years, a number of candidates have also been caught using micro earphones, stitched button-hole cameras and micro earplugs.

The devices are used to transmit questions outside the examination hall to professionals who then relay back the answers.

Pens that can scan question papers and transmit the images outside using micro-Bluetooth devices are also becoming must-have gadgets for ambitious exam-takers.

And they are easily available online. One website, in fact, advertises the products as "Spy exam cheating devices particularly made for clearing tough exams".

The increasing pace of technological development and easy availability of such devices has meant that authorities are struggling to keep up with - and crack down - on the latest methods of cheating.

Strength of numbers
Mass copying is probably the most rampant form of cheating in India.

Only recently, shocking images of mass copying emerged from the northern state of Bihar.

Hundreds of students are caught cheating in groups across the country every year, but a proper law to deal with this phenomenon is yet to be enacted.

The problem is believed to be the worst in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Many students smuggle in textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security - and parents and friends have been photographed scaling the walls of test centres to pass on answers during secondary school examinations.

Going pro with official 'solvers'
It is not uncommon in India to find newspaper headlines saying "3 solvers for bank exam arrested".

In a country where limited government jobs cannot accommodate the hundreds and thousands of students who graduate every year, clearing competitive examinations becomes extremely crucial.

This has driven a lot of aspiring students into the arms of professionals who have either coached students, or cleared the examination themselves.

These services are, however, both expensive and elaborate.

The process begins at the point of submitting the application.

The solver generally applies along with the candidate and ensures that they are not seated very far apart.

The answer sheets are secretly exchanged before the end of the exam.

Another method used by professional solvers is to forge identity cards and appear in place of their clients.

Old-fashioned bribery
The practice of bribing examiners and members of evaluation panels has gained more traction in recent years thanks to the increasing number of candidates and the rise of greater purchasing power.

In a scam involving the Madhya Pradesh professional examination, at least eight senior officials were arrested last year on charges of accepting bribes.

A BBC investigation in Uttar Pradesh state noted that bribery in universities was such an accepted practice that "there's even a whole subset of the youth population who are brokers between desperate students and avaricious administrators".

Social networking
Mobile phone cameras and social networks are among the latest tools used by examination takers to cheat.

How it works is pretty simple - someone breaks into the examination centre lockers, takes pictures of the question paper and circulates it on social media.

In fact, an examination in Uttar Pradesh involving more than 450,000 examinees was cancelled after a leaked question paper went viral on the WhatsApp messenger service.

Similar leaks have been reported from the prestigious Delhi University as well as in some south Indian colleges.

Instances of email hacking to get university entrance question papers have also prompted authorities to invest more on data protection

By Nitin Srivastava - BBC Hindi, Delhi

A woman was set on fire for resisting a rape attempt in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Friday.

The incident took place late Thursday night in Pipri village of Bhognipur in Kanpur rural.

A local goon named Deepak barged into a labourer's hut and tried to force himself on his wife who raised an alarm while her children sought help from the neighbours. 

Deepak then threw a burning lamp on her in an attempt to burn her alive and fled.

The woman's sari caught fire and she was admitted with serious burn injuries to Hallet Hospital in Kanpur, where her condition continues to be critical. 

Her husband is a daily wager and was out for work when the incident took place. 

Police have registered an FIR against the accused and are trying to arrest him, an official told--  IANS. 

SRINAGAR – Incessant rains in Kashmir on Wednesday resulted in sudden rise in water levels in river Jhelum to the point that government declared flood in South Kashmir late evening and later sounded flood alarm in Central Kashmir.

The water level at 3 am on Thursday was recorded at 25.30 feet at Sangam (Anantnag), 2.3 feet above the danger level, 17.10 feel at Ram Munshibagh (Srinagar), 1.1 feet above the flood alert level and 9.33 feet in Asham (Bandipora), 3.7 feet below flood alert level.

Heavy rainfall was recorded in Kashmir, especially southern region, on Wednesday. The rainfall upto 12:30 am on Thursday was recorded at 112 mm in Anantnag, 58 mm in Pulwama, 50 mm in Shopian, 63 mm in Srinagar and 37 mm in Baramulla, according to the data issued by Indian Meteorological Department. Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Detriment, Mir Jaffar, last night said, “The habitation residing along the river embankment / Nallah and low lying areas of south and central Kashmir are advised to remain Vigilant.” However, the water levels in river Jhelum have marginally increased since then.

According to the forecast by local weather department, heavy rain / thundershowers would occur at isolated places in the state during next 12 hours. Director Meteorological Office, Sonum Lotus said that there will be a remarkable decrease in the precipitation from Thursday afternoon and after that a sunny day will be witnessed in Kashmir valley. He maintained that the rainfall would no longer be there after Thursday afternoon and consequently the weather will improve.