Studyplan Upsc

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[Strategy] UPSC Civil Service Exam (Part 1 of 5): Exam
Trends and Changes
1. Prologue
2. Act I: Mindset of the Enemy
3. Prelims GS
4. Prelims Optional
5. Mains: 90s Era
6. General studies (mains) of 90s Era
7. Optional papers: 90s era
8. Literature optionals: 90era
9. The Back-breaking
TM
era (2010 onwards)
10. Backbreaking
TM
era: Prelims
11. Backbreaking
TM
era: Mains (General Studies)
12. Adaptation
Prologue
There are lot of tips scattered in various articles, but for a new person it is sometimes hard
to follow what is going on here.
So this is my attempt to combine and consolidate everything onto five part series on
prelims cum mains cum interview approach for General Studies for UPSC Civil Service
Exam.
If youre following this site for many months, you will find repetition of ideas and tips in this
article, so apologies in advance for any boredom caused.
War on Terrorism UPSC, consists of three battles
1. Prelims (CSAT) Multi choice questions (MCQs)
2. Mains Descriptive-essay type questions
3. interview
This strategy is divided into five articles, click on the appropriate links:
Topics discussed Article link
1. In Act I, We shall try to understand the mindset of our Blood Enemy
(UPSC)
Discussed in
this article
itself.
2. In Act II: The weapons required to defeat him. (Booklist, art of Note
making, How to use Yojana,Kurukshetra etc)
Click ME
3. In Act III : We shall see how to effectively use those weapons and wage
the war(Topicwise strategy for General Studies Prelims, Mains)
Click ME
4. In Act IV: How to conquer your own brain, before conquering UPSC
(cleansing the doubts of coaching classes, working professionals, Hindi
Medium etc)
Click ME
5. In Act V: We shall see how to retreat from the war, if victory is not
achieved. (Career Backup plans)
Click ME
6. 6th PArt (updated on March 2013): This is latest update in the strategy,
with respect to, new modification introduced in UPSC 2013.
Click ME
Act I: Mindset of the Enemy
We can classify Bollywood movies into eras- tragedy ridden 50, musical 70s and so on.
Similarly UPSC question papers too have gone through evolution.
To keep it simple, I would classify this into two phases
90s era
Back breaking
TM
era
Timeline Everything upto 2009 2010, 2011, 2012continued
Prelims Main
areas
1. History
2. Geography
3. Current Affairs
1. Environment
2. Science
3. History/Polity
Weapons
Older NCERTs
Std.Ref Books
Competitive Magazines
New NCERT
Std.Ref Books
Newspapers
Mains Main
areas
History
Geography
Polity
Diplomacy
Diplomacy
Yearbook
Environment
Sci-Tech
Weapons
1. Standard Reference
books
2. Coaching class notes
Mostly Newspapers, your own
notes.
So how was the 90s era?
Most people did not have internet or computer. Internet was prohibitively expensive. Even
cybercafs were hard to find. There was hardly any information on internet, about how to
prepare for this exam.
And whether information/booklist was available was mostly jingoistic and impractical in
nature. (will be discussed in Act II List of Not recommended Books)
Those who could afford to goto Delhi for coaching, had distinct advantage over others.
Because they knew what to prepare, from where to prepare and what to skip. (Nowadays
situation has drastically changed).
in those days, Prelims had two papers
1. General Studies (150 marks)
2. Optional Subject (300 marks)
There existed a proportional representation system rule. Crudely speaking it means
Suppose 2 lakh students appeared in prelims and 20,000 had History optional. (10%)
And UPSC wanted only pass 10,000 students for next stage mains exam. In that case,
UPSC would need to reserve 1000 seats for candidates with history optional. (10%)
Prelims GS
By and large the structure for prelims was like following
1. There would be about 20 questions on History. You had to Mugup old NCERT + any
coaching notes regarding location of Harappa sites and other boring trivial things.
2. There would be 30-40 questions on Geography (including places in news): so you had to
prepare old NCERTs + competitive magazines + TheHindu accordingly.
3. About 40 questions on science: NCERT + GS manual.
4. Prelims GS questions used to be current affairs heavy : Almost 40 questions on
persons/places in news, books-authors, sports, awards, science-tech etc. so competitive
magazines (chronicle wizard etc) and coaching class material on current affairs
compilation were precious.
5. Remaining was filled up with polity, aptitude etc questions to make a paper with total 150
questions.
Prelims Optional
Lets consider the case of Public Administration. The topicwise breakup was pretty much identical
every year. Basically you had to mugup following books religiously and you would clear the
prelims (even without coaching or great command over GS).
1. M.Laxmikanths book on Public Administration
2. Prasad and Prasad
3. Mohit Bhattacharya
4. Sharma n Sadana (or Avasthi or Fadia)
But in those years, if you lived in a small town, there was no internet and nobody to tell you those
books were important. So you had to join a coaching class in Delhi, just to figure out the damn
booklist (or worst- fail in first attempt and learn from mistakes).
Overall, The nature of prelims questions was such that youd need to mugup lot of data on
solar planets, PSLV missions, metal-alloys, location of Harappan sites, winners of lawn
tennis, Shanti-Swaroop Bhatnagar awardees and other boring things like that.
Same for your optional subjects. (for Public Administration you had to mugup quotes-who
said what, books and authors, timelines etc.
Because of the proportional representation rule, in the preliminary exam you were only
competing with the people from your optional subject group.
And thus Senior player had distinct advantage over first timers. Because optionals were
worth 300 mark, and he had rock solid command over facts because of revision.
The victory rule was straight arithmetic:
If Someone revised above cited Public Administration books for 15-20 times (Im not
kidding) then he was riding a Tata Sumo @90 kmph.
If a newguy had barely read them 5 times, so he was riding a desi Atlas bicycle (used by
postmen,).
Now imagine what would happen if these two clashed?
Same was the situation in General studies paper.
And as I told earlier, there was no internet or awareness outside Delhi. So most of the small-
town, self-preparation-no coaching and no relative in civil service type candidates would fail in
their first attempt, because
1. they did not have idea on what to prepare, what to skip.
2. They could not memorize as much as a senior player did, because of timelimit.
So theyd fail in first attempt, learn from their mistakes, and clear prelims in second attempt (i.e.
when they too become senior players). But then they might fail in mains exam for the same
reason (lack of right direction), so theyd again rectify mistakes in third attempt and with God and
goodluck willing, theyd get selected. Ofcourse there were exceptional cases, but by and large,
this was the situation and hence there exists a perception in the society that
1. You cannot clear IAS exam on first trial.
2. You cannot clear IAS exam without going to Delhi for Coaching.
But that was the 90s. Things have changed now. Many toppers have defied above rules. Cleared
the UPSC on first attempt: Shah Faisal, Karthik Iyer, Neeraj Singh, Mohd.Safi to name a few.
Anyways let us continue discussion on 90s era- moving to the Mains
Mains: 90s Era
General studies (mains) of 90s Era
Questions often rephrased and repeated, so if a coaching class sir dictated the answers for
previous papers / or provided notes, then all you had to do was religiously mug it up and
reproduce the same in your answer sheets.
History
1. 3 books of Spectrum: Modern History, Freedom fighters and Culture
2. Bipin Chandra
In those years, UPSC would ask 2 markers on freedom fighters (total 10-12 marks) every
year. So you had to mupup 150+freedom fighters from Spectrums book + coaching material if
any. Again, senior player had distinct advantage because he would have gone through the same
data atleast 5 times. He can easily recall freedom fighters compared to a new guy.
Indian Geography
Again questions were repeated and rephrased for example
explain monsoon mechanism in India and why xyz part receives less monsoon etc.
So a coaching class sir would just need to consolidate good stuff given in Spectrum
book/Majid Hussain /Dr.Khullars book and provide question answers for old papers. Thatd
be his coaching class readymade material and you did not even need a book, just
mugup those class notes, and youd get full marks.
Polity
1. Sometimes directly lifted statements on DD Basu, other times merely rephrasing old
question.
2. Again same as above, coaching notes would save the time and effort.
International affairs, Economy
1. You had to just mugup V******s material and whatever was dictated in the class.
2. Statistics was also pretty easy and conventional.
3. There were clichd questions on computers every year like write a note on RAM or email.
4. Same for science-tech.
5. And whatever Misc. current affairs was left, you could rely on Wizards special book on
mains current affairs + Hindu.
Optional papers: 90s era
Ive already talked about that in the Public Administration strategy article. Anyways the success
formula was
Re-mugup the same books you used for prelims.
Get some fodder material from Yojana Kurukshetra. (or Readymade notes of H********
S**** etc.) and use it elaborate or spice up the answers with so called case studies.
Questions were static, direct from the SRBs, repeated, rephrased. coaching sir would
dictate the answers, Class notes would save the day.
Similar things for History, geography, psychology etc.
Literature optionals: 90s era
In the GS and Public Administration, UPSC atleast showed the decency to rephrase the
question while repeating it next year.
but for literature was so totally clichd, even Saas Bahu serials look genuine.
If you just studied the last 10 years paper, you could set your own guess-paper for the
fourth year and upscs actual paper would 90% similar to your guess paper!
For Pali or Maithali litt. All you had to do was join a coaching class or get some Arts
professor to dictate you the answers of last 10 years papers. Thats all, mug it up and
youd get more that 300/600 marks (+ scaling system favored litt.optionals)
In short, first timer/no-coaching type player had almost 0% chance of getting decent marks in
mains.
And among the senior players, if Senior Player A and Senior player B. Both had revised notes for
20 times. Who would be successful?
Well, questions like I said rephrased repeated every year. Mains Questions are of two types:
analytical or direct.
1. For analytical questions (Critically analyse Indias policy towards Afghanistan), you had
ready-made notes dictated by coaching class sir, you just needed to recall and write the
points. And Suppose Mr.A solely relied on that note while Mr.B upgraded his note further
with fodder material from library book or retired professor or newspapers, then Mr.B would
get more marks. Therefore quality of notes =important.
2. For direct questions (like powers of the Pres of India or explain the budget making process)
.in that case whoever could write more points (Mr.A or B) would get more marks.
Therefore memorization skill=important.
The Back-breaking
TM
era (2010 onwards)
So far we saw that in 90s era, A small town candidate without coaching or tips from
seniors/toppers/IAS relatives, could rarely succeed.
And By small town I mean every place except Delhi. (Same way for IIT entrance exam,
everyplace except Kota, Rajsthan, is a small town.)
Anyways, suddenly UPSC wakes up and realizes the problems faced by first timers and
small towners.
So UPSC starts taking certain reformative measures in the exam process to prevent
coaching classes and senior players for gaining much advantage.
This is phenomenon is referred as Backbreaking
TM
move of UPSC.
The exams conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012 are examples of that move. Now lets try to
understand what was changed during this era?
Backbreaking
TM
era: Prelims
1. UPSC removed Optional subjects were from preliminary exam (2011 and onwards) it
introduced a new thing called Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT). It had two papers
GS+Aptitude. Both papers have same marks. So there goes the advantages associated
with proportional representation, 300 marks of optional subject MCQ paper.
2. Even in Aptitude, from 2012 It reduced questions from conventional Maths: to prevent
Engineers/IIT/MBA types from gaining advantage.
3. UPSC introduced new topics in the syllabus such as environment and biodiversity, rights
issue.
4. In GS prelims, it stopped asking trivial current affairs stuff (person/places in news, awards
etc.) for example Im copy pasting certain questions from 90s era
Which of the following organization won the CSIR award for S&T innovation for rural
Development, 2006?
1. CLRI
2. NDDB
3. IARI
4. NDRI
Which city has been the venue of Asian Games for maximum number of times from 1951 to
2006?
1. Delhi
2. Tokyo
3. Bangkok
4. Beijing
Match the following
1. Bhanu Bharti
2. Mike Pandey
3. Mohd.Zahur Khyyam
4. Vinda Karandikar
1. Music composer
2. Poet
3. Theatre director
4. Wildlife film maker
To solve such questions you had to constantly follow current affairs magazines (or the
readymade current affairs notes of coaching class). But Nowadays such questions dont appear
much in prelims exam.
5. UPSC changed the nature of questions from History and Science. For example here are
few from 1999s paper
Q1. Match Following
1. 1775
2. 1780
3. 1824
4. 1838
1. 1
st
Anglo-Burmese war
2. 1
st
Anglo-Afghan war
3. 1
st
Anglo-Maratha war
4. 2
nd
Anglo-Mysore
Q2. Volcanic eruptions donot occur in
1. Baltic Sea
2. Black Sea
3. Caspian Sea
4. Caribbean Sea
Thankfully UPSC stopped asking such questions nowadays. So you dont have to mugup a lot of
data like in the 90s.
For Prelims, Nowadays most of the questions are 4 Statement True or False (4TF) type. So
youre given one term/phenomenon and 2 or 3 or 4 statements. Your task is to identify the correct
statements. Ofcourse it does require memorization, but they more aimed at checking your basic
understanding of a topic rather than your mugup skills (like in above questions from the 90s) for
example here are some questions from 2012s paper
Q1. Mahatma Gandhi undertook fast unto death in 1932, mainly because :
1. Round table conference failed to satisfy Indian political aspirations
2. Congress and muslims league had differences of opinion
3. Ramsay macdonald announced the communal award
4. None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context.
Q2. Consider these factors
1. Rotation of the earth
2. Air pressure of wind
3. Density of ocean water
4. Revolution of the earth
Which of the above factors influence the ocean currents?
1. 1 & 2 only
2. 1, 2 & 3
3. 1 & 4
4. 2, 3 & 4
To get more idea on this, read following analysis of 2012s CSAT (preliminary) paper CLICK ME
Backbreaking
TM
era: Mains (General Studies)
For mains exan, UPSC stopped asking conventional direct stuff from History, Geography
Instead emphasis was given to public health, environment, sci-tech, yearbook and current affairs
from newspapers.
To get more idea on this, read following analysis of 2012s General Studies (Mains) paper click
ME
Adaptation
And while writing all ^this, I donot mean even an ounce of disrespect to any senior player or
his success. No one becomes senior player by his conscious choice, everyone wants to clear
UPSC in first attempt- But things dont turn out that way for many, So, he is a victim of
circumstances created by the (supervillain) UPSC. And life and society is very cruel to him, as
youll see in Act IV and V.
Initially UPSC had the upper hand in this war. When UPSC significantly changed the question
style in 2010s preliminary paper, most senior players were shocked and caught unguarded. But
UPSC cant trick them everytime. Theyre fighting for their life and career. In 2011, 2012 they
changed their preparation strategy accordingly and adapted to this uncertain environment. So
question papers are not as shocker for them as UPSC expects.
Similarly coaching classes have been trying to adapt. UPSC keeps an eye on all the study
material released by prominent coaching classes of delhi, to make sure no questions are asked
from such material. So coaching classes too have came up with new ideas, for example
1. Nowadays good stuff/ ultra-important topics are not given in their printed study material
but mostly dictated during the lecture. (Because printed material usually get pirated by
Xerox centres of Delhi hahaha)
2. They intentionally released their current affairs material very late (just 15-20 days before
the exam) to prevent UPSC from changing the papers.
This is like a game of chess, you have to constantly keep moving your pawns and adapt to the
moves made by the enemy, same way UPSC too keeps coming up with new ideas and new back
breaking
TM
moves every year.
In the end, competition is tough and exam is not friendly to anyside, anymore, whether
youre a coaching/no-coaching/first timer/senior playeryou too should adapt and study
hard else youll get massacred like an innocent bystander in the action movies.
This concludes Act I (Part 1 of 5). Here are the links to the Remaining articles of UPSC strategy:
Remaining Parts of the UPSC Strategy
(Part 2 of 5): Notes, Newspapers and Books
(Part 3 of 5): General Studies for CSAT prelims and Mains
(Part 4 of 5): Time Management, Coaching etc.
(Part 5 of 5): Career Backup Plans: How to prepare for State PSC etc
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[Strategy] UPSC Civil Service Exam (Part 2 of 5) :
Notes, Newspapers and Books
From the previous Act I, I hope youve understood the mindset our Blood Enemy (UPSC). Now it
is time to gather and sharpen weapons required to defeat him.
1. Act II: Weapons of Mass Destruction
2. Weapon#5: Your Own notes
3. Types of Notes
1. #1: Notes on Margin
2. #2: Handwritten Notes
3. #3: Computer Notes and Mindmaps
4. #4: Readymade Notes
4. A) Notes of Toppers
5. B) Readymade Coaching class notes and Material
6. Weapon #4: Internet
7. Over-reliance on internet= Bad
8. Weapons #3: Magazines
9. A) Yojana and Kurukshetra
10. How to subscribe to Yojana and Kurukshetra?
11. B) CST, PD, Chronicle, Wizard
12. Marketing Propagandas
13. Which competitive magazine to use?
14. Timeframe for current affairs?
15. Do I need to follow more than one Competitive Magazine?
16. Frontline, EPW, The Economist, Outlook etc
17. Weapon #2: The Newspapers
18. Weapon #1: Standard reference books
1. What is this Older NCERTs?
2. Newer/Younger NCERTs
3. List of *NOT* recommended booklist
4. General Studies (GS) Manual
19. Weapons of UPSC
20. Negative marking
21. Appendix: Download Links
Act II: Weapons of Mass Destruction
You need five set of weapons
1. Standard Reference books (SRB)
2. Newspaper (The Hindu/Indianexpress only)
3. Magazines
4. Internet
5. Your own notes (assembled using the parts of above four weapons)
These weapons provide fire two types of ammunition
1. Facts: features of Government scheme, powers of President, reasons for the spread of
disease, some physics concept responsible for mechanism of xyz instrument.
2. Fodder: if UPSC examiner was a buffalo, how would you please him? Ofcourse by
throwing some grass fodder at him. Fodder is required mostly @Mains, Essay and
interview. Pros and cons of a Government scheme / policy, reasons suggestions-analysis
of xyz socio-economic-environmental problem= these are some examples of fodder.
Postal study material and readymade coaching notes = Desi country made weapons (katta and
Tamanchaa), most of the time they misfire or dont fire when you pull the trigger.
So you should not over-rely on such Desi-weapons.
Now lets see how to effectively utilize these weapons. In reverse order
Weapon#5: Your Own notes
Q. Why notes making = important?
Well the same reason why practicing math sums is important for CAT exam= To succeed.
1. Syllabus of UPSC exam is extremely large. Even if youre done with the core/static theory
portion, the new current affairs keep piling every day.
2. Today, if you understand a topic from xyz book, magazine, newspaper or website but
cannot recall it in the exam hall after five months, then whole exercise is useless.
3. If youre not processing and consolidating information in compact notes form, then on the
night before exam youll have so many heaps of books, newspapers and magazines that
could fill up a small loading rickshaw! Youll be under extreme stress and frustration on
what to read and what to skip?
Types of Notes
#1: Notes on Margin
Basically you highlight important lines in a book and then write some important
summery/keywords/phrases on the margins of every book page.
Works well for NCERTs, GS Manuals, M.Laxmikanth, Bipin Chandra and so on.
doesnt work well, if youre supposed to prepare a topic after consolidating information
from multiple sources. (Indo-US relations for example)
Doesnt work well, if it is a secondary reference book. (i.e. some xyz book from library,
wasnt written for IAS exam but got some good facts/fodder in one or two chapters). In that
case, ideal way was to write a separate handwritten summery note.
#2: Handwritten Notes
Made from Newspapers, standard reference books, magazines, websites.
How to make notes out of newspapers, is already explained in a separate article CLICK ME
1. When you make notes, please be conscious that youre not doing it with a 90s mindset:
i.e. too much dates, names and numbers.
2. If you can remember something as such then no need to incorporate such data in your
note. For example India got independence on 15
th
August 1947=dont write.
3. You dont have to copy the sentences verbatim. Because that is identical to making a
photocopy! Just write keywords and phrases, avoid writing full sentences. Write full
sentence, only if it some extremely important quote / fodder statement.
4. Notes need not be grammatically correct or pure chaste politically correct diplomatic
language. You can mix up Hindi with English, proverbs, slangs, profanity, filmy dialogues
even to the point of obscenity . whatever makes it easy to revise and recall the
information. Keep in mind youre not making notes to impress someone, youre making
notes for quick revision.
#3: Computer Notes and Mindmaps
If youre reading papercopy of a book, newspaper or magazine, it is easy to make handwritten
notes simultaneously.
But if youre reading something on internet or PDF file, it may not be convenient.
Example softwares:
To organize notes/data To create mindmaps
1. Evernote
2. Microsoft Onenote 2007/2010/2013
3. Traditional Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel.
1. Freemind
2. Mindjet Mindmanager
There is no one size fits for all. In certain topics, Mindmapping would be useful,
but in some topics a simple Excel datasheet would work just fine (for example list of
persons in news or Science tech 2 markers.)
I had created an Auto-notemaker computer script, basically it helps you copy phrases from
pdf files and websites. CLICK ME (works perfect on WinXP, not so well on Win7)
In the mains exam, question papers are quite lengthy. Handwriting speed matters.
Therefore donot maintain only computer notes. Also make handwritten notes as and where
required. Thatd indirectly help you improve writing speed.
#4: Readymade Notes
A) Notes of Toppers
You can find notes of previous years toppers (Om Kasera, Neeraj Singh, Kshitij Tyagi) in the
download section of www.Mrunal.org/download
Such notes give you inspiration and indirect hints on the Art of notes making.
You will find some good facts and fodder in such notes.
However, Notes of toppers should not be your first line of defense or primary weapons because,
1. if he could memorize xyz thing without notes, he wouldnt have incorporated such data in
his notes.
2. In many places hed have written sentences, that would make limited sense to you (but
theyd help him connect point x with y)after all he wrote the notes for his easy revision
and not yours.
3. He may have skipped some topics or chapters because he did not find them exam-worthy.
B) Readymade Coaching class notes and Material
It can be of two types
1. Static = dealing with theoretical part of GS or optionals (History, Geography, literature etc.)
2. Current affairs
As we saw in Act I, the Static notes of coaching classes, lost their significance under UPSCs
Backbreaking
TM
Move.
Regarding the current affairs notes= nowadays the famous classes intentionally delay the
release of current affairs books/notes- to prevent UPSC spies from changing the question paper.
So, in the coming years, youll find such material flooding in streets, just 15-20 days before the
exam.
Consider this situation
1. Suppose Ajay Devgan exercised for 2 hours per day for 90 days continuously and
transformed into a muscle man for his movie Singham.
2. Therefore if you exercise 12 hours a day for 15 days, youll get the same muscular body. Is
it possible?
Why not? 902=180 and 1215 is also 180!
Even If you take steroids, this is not possible. Same goes with the short cuts and quick fix
solutions.
It doesnt require an Einstein to release readymade current affair notes. Just hire a
retired player of UPSC, ask him to follow Hindu for year, copy paste data, produce a
booklet and charge anything between Rs.3000 to Rs.10000 depending on your coaching
classs name and reputation in the masses.
If a sincere player is doing his own notes since many months, he may quickly scan through
such notes to fillup any missing data to upgrade his own personal notes.
But then again, sincere players would usually find their own notes more adequate and well
organized than such garbage that floods the street 15 days before the exam.
But if a candidate had not been preparing current affairs on his own, then hed end up
spending last 15 days just reading, digesting and processing the data, There will be no
time left to revise any other topics.
Therefore,
1. Maintain your current affairs notes, Dont look for shortcuts.
2. If you get some good coaching note, use it to upgrade your own notes.
3. If you donot have coaching notes- dont feel guilty or inferior. There are plenty of toppers
who made it without using such material.
Now lets move to inspect the next weapon.
Weapon #4: Internet
Internet is required for Follow up Action on particular topic of current affairs.
For example there is some climate change summit going on. Newspaper only mentions the
highlight but not enough content to write 120 words answer then youd need to use google.
Similarly, to find out the timeline/background of a topic, youll need to google.
Youll need to visit official sites of various ministry
Youll need to keep an eye on pib.nic.in
Youll need to download IGNOU pdfs from egyankosh.ac.in as per your requirements.
Youll need it to access TheHindu.
And so on
But as usual, you should digest, process and make note out of it. Otherwise merely saving 10
articles per day in your harddisk = wont help you.
Over-reliance on internet= Bad
You use internet for accessing Hindu/other newspapers and gather current affairs = well
and good.
But dont just keep random surfing internet for your preparation (especially prelims).
Because likelihood of getting question from some random internet article of Wikipedia or
newspaper in UPSC = very less. Why? Because UPSC has to keep in mind the
candidates from small towns and villages, who may not have 24/7 internet access. So
many questions come from static theory part- NCERTs, other Standard reference books,
to give them level playing field- particularly @the preliminary level.
Initially youll feel enthusiastic about doing google-research, but after 15-20 days, youll
lose the tempo and start feeling nervous thinking I can never complete the syllabus
Ofcourse you can search internet for further explanation of a topic. But UPSC exam is not
made up of one particular topic alone. It is a mixture of everything. So dont overdo
anything. for example digging Sci-Tech, folk dances etc. day and night.
Weapons #3: Magazines
A) Yojana and Kurukshetra
They are released by the Government.
Yojana deals with socio-economic issues, poverty, water sanitation, women empowerment etc.
Kurukshetra deals mainly with rural Development.
Both are important for UPSC, because they provide fodder material.
Every article in those two magazines, follows more or less the same structure that is
1. Initially itll describe an issue or problem, give you some data.
2. Itll list the Government scheme / project and their salient features
3. Thant itll give you data and charts on State wise money allotment and achievements.
4. Sometimes itll give reasons why targets are not achieved.
5. Ultimately, some over-glorified success story of xyz NGO or Self Help group.
For us, point number 1,2 and 4 are important.
If Yojana magazine issue has 75 pages, you can summarize the fodder material in less than 5
page note, just containing keywords and phrases. So do it, highly recommended, will help you
particularly for descriptive question (mains and essay).
It is said that Kurukshetra is important for candidates with Public Administration optional only. My
opinion is Kurukshetra is important for everyone irrespective of optional subject given the
current trend of UPSC asking yearbook, socio-economic Development type questions.
How to subscribe to Yojana and Kurukshetra?
Although you can download the free PDF files from their official website, here is the link
http://yojana.gov.in/CMS/Default.aspx
but I would suggest subscribe for paper-copy.
Reason: Each magazine cost Rs.100 subscription per year = not very expensive.
+ Reading on computer screen for long time= not good for eyes.
Goto post office, buy following things
1. Buy two IPO (indian postal orders) worth Rs.100 each
2. One envelop worth Rs.5 (it already has postal stamp.)
On Each IPO, write Director, Publication Division, Ministry of Info. & Broadcasting, New Delhi
Now prepare two paper chits/letters: One for Yojana and One for Kurukshetra.
1. Your Name and Address:
2. Subscription: Yojana/Kurukshetra for 1 year
3. Language of magazine: English/Hindi/Gujarati/ whatever language.
4. IPO number:
Now staple each letter with each IPO.
Slip it into that Envelop.
On the Envelop, write following address and mail it.
Business Manager,
Publication Division, East Block, Level-VII,
RK Puram, New Delhi-110066
B) CST, PD, Chronicle, Wizard
CST = Civil Service Times
PD= Pratiyogita Darpan
These magazines provide you information on current affairs, truckload of coaching class
advertisements on every second page and useless clichd topper interviews.
In the 90s era, magazines were important because preliminary exam used to be current affairs
heavy (sports, awards, places and persons in news etc). Nowadays not so much.
Besides, the level of current affairs questions in the mains examination, requires that you follow
the newspapers rather these magazines. However magazines still have some utilities because
1. Helps you fill up the gap in your notes. e.g. if some topic was not covered in newspaper, or
in case you missed noticing some important development.
2. Saves you the trouble of following sports related News everyday.
But keep in mind the magazine publishers cover the news-item is still from the 90s mindset. They
throw just way too much names,dates and numbers at you. So itd be better if you just noted
down keywords in separate diary (especially for science-tech part) e.g. We are not interested in
knowing the exact height and weigh of satellite, we only need to know its function or use.
Each magazine has following structure
1. National affairs
2. International affairs
3. Science-tech
4. Economy
5. Persons and Places in news
6. Some filler articles for the sake of filling pages, because they couldnot find more
coaching class ad sponsers..
7. Usually doctored and ghost written topper interviews
For you section 1 to 4 are important. Rest depending on your time and mood. Dont pay much
attention on what topper is saying (or recommending) in the magazine interviews, because
mostly theyre doctored and ghostwritten interviews. Read following blogs by IAS officers and
youll understand what Im saying:
1. Supreet Singh Gulati (IAS, AIR-2/CSE-2007, Punjab Cadre): click ME
2. Gokul GR (IAS, AIR-19/CSE-2010, Kerala Cadre): Click ME
Marketing Propaganda
From January to May= Diwali time for competitive magazines.
They come up with issues with attractive covers for example
1. Complete geography in 15 days
2. Entire coverage of Biodiversity
3. 1000 questions on current affairs!
The new player would ditch his books and start mugging up data given in such magazines.
Nothing really comes in the exam and he suffers. So dont make that mistake. Your Primary
weapons = Standard Reference Books+newspapers+your own notes.
All these readymade things are secondary. These are only the supplements, not the substitutes.
Which competitive magazine to use?
Use any one of following.
Civil
Service
Times
(CST):
Recommended, if you sole aim is UPSC exam alone.
Wizard, Chronicle= well I feel they lost the shine. Their target audience is
only UPSC aspirants and in that genre, Civil Service Times is doing better
job- coverage of International relations and Science-tech is good.
It doesnt mean, Wizard and Chronicle are bad. Use whatever tools you
can find / afford.
Pratiyogita
Darpan
Recommended, if youre simultaneously preparing for UPSC as well as
Bank PO, SSC, State PSC type of jobs.
Because PD also provides you with material and question papers of those
exams.
Pratiyogita Darpan can be read online for free, using their official website.
Click ME
If money is the problem, then no need to buy, visit local Government library.
Timeframe for current affairs?
Question: From which month to which month, should I cover current affairs?
If youre appearing in the year 2013, you should prepare current affairs from minimum Jan 2012.
(it doesnt mean UPSC wont ask you some topic that happened in 2011 or from 2007, because
UPSC is the baddest thug youll find in this part of South Asia.)
Anyways, the ideal and plausible current affairs time frame = start from one year i.e. Jan 2012.
Finish upto that part, then worry about 2011.
If youve started preparation from Nov 2012, then I hope from November onwards youd
religiously follow newspapers and maintain notes (if you dont want to dig up your grave) but
what about the stuff that already happened? i.e. what to do for the current affairs from Jan 2012
to Nov 2012?
Go through the competitive magazine issues of those month
Ya but Where to find the old magazines?
A. local library
B. For Pratiyogita Darpan their official website.
Same advice for Yojana, Kurukshetra.
Okay now assuming that you have covered up to January 2012. But about few years back?
For Jan 2011 to Dec 2011 = www.competitionmaster.com
For 2001 to Dec 2010 = http://www.hindu.com/revents/events.htm
Yes it 2001 and no I did not make typing mistake. Just give a cursory reading to (National and
International) section of that Hindu diary of events.
Reason: there have been some landmark events for example Bt-Brinjal, Iraq and Afghanistan
war, 9/11, 26/11, sub-prime crisis, Indo US nuclear deal, Tsunami, Right to education Act, women
reservation bill, Law Commission, Justice Sacchar Committee, controversy regarding office of
profit... And so on.
Many such topics would continue haunting you indirectly and implicitly in the mains, essay and
interview. So better have some idea about them.
Do I need to follow more than one Competitive Magazine?
Any One magazine is sufficient. More than one magazine = overlapping and overkill.
Ofcourse there would be some xyz science-tech term which was given in PD but not in
CST, then What to do? Well in war, there is always some casualty. If you start worrying so
much, you cannot prepare. One competitive magazine (combined with one newspaper)
should do the trick.
If after youre done with core syllabus, notes making and everythingyou may visit local
library to upgrade your notes. But now is not the right time. All those things are
secondary.
Frontline, EPW, The Economist, Outlook etc
They provide fodder material for essay, interview. These are all secondary reference. Frontline
can also be downloaded for free (goto Mrunal.org/download)
Who should refer secondary reference?
1. Player with decent command over core GS, Yearbook, Polity, current affairs and hes
already done with the syllabus and notes on opt. subject (if optional subjects are kept in
UPSC exam)
2. Someone who has appeared in mains and right now waiting for the interview call. He
should visit local library, go through as many issues as he can- to build up his knowledge
for interviews.
In short, these secondary things are made for Level 3 player. Who is this level 3 player? click
ME for the answer
But If youre yet to become master of level2, then there is no point in indulge in these
things at the moment. First finish your core syllabus, revise it multiple times and get good
grip over the conventional General Studies.
Often the Ideal strategy is not the plausible strategy. Use your head, know your
strengths, limits, time available to you and proceed accordingly.
Besides in UPSC lot of questions come from standard reference books and newspapers
so they should be your primary weapons.
So far we discussed weapon #5- notes, Weapon #4- internet, Weapon #3- magazines. Now time
to examine
Weapon #2: The Newspapers
1. Why newspapers are important,
2. How to read them effectively without wasting 3-4 hours a day?
3. How to make notes out of newspapers?
all that already explained in a previous article: click ME
How to read The Hindu online, using Google Reader/Feedly, already explained= Click ME
Weapon #1: Standard reference books
What is NCERTs?
In India we have various school boards
1. CBSE
2. ICSE
3. State Education boards
NCERT= the textbooks used by CBSE students.
Theyre are available in both Hindi and English
They can be downloaded for free, download links are given at the bottom of this article.
But if you can afford, then go ahead and buy them from market. (To save the eye stress of
reading so much on computer screen)
NCERTs are important because many questions in the preliminary exam, are directly or
indirectly asked from them History, geography, science, economics. ICSE text-books are
also good for preparation (particularly for Geography segment), but theyre expensive and
not readily available in market. So just go for NCERTs.
If youre appearing for State PSC exams, then use NCERTs and also Use State Education
Board textbooks (History, Geography, Social Science) to get the GS/GK specific to that
xyz State.
What is this Older NCERTs?
1. They are old black-and-white editions, contain truckload of facts, names, dates and
numbers on history, science and geography were important during 90s eraquestion on
this alloy and that chemical, world geography, ancient history etc. But now The nature of
questions has changed. (Only History, Geography would help upto some extend in the
new pattern of Mains).
2. however, a few questions do come from such GK information, particularly in History. But
there is no need to worry- Ive uploaded Tamilnadu state education book- theyre almost
the same as old NCERTs history books. (Free download at bottom).
Newer/Younger NCERTs
The colourful new editions, theyre not bloated with names, dates, numbers and other
boring stuff.
They are designed with main objective of explaining the underlying concept/principle of
topic without boring the hell out of a reader.
So, they are quite good for preparing under the Backbreaking
TM
regime of UPSC.
some topics were better covered in the older NCERTs for example World geography and
History- particularly the Colonization and economic angles to it.
For that reason- some coaching sirs and senior players advice older NCERT.
Personally i feel, one is not going to suffer from any competitive disadvantage in prelims, if
he has not read the older NCERT books. because the question style has changed. +
whatever facts were present in older NCERTs and absent in New NCERT= theyre usually
covered in GS Manual.
Besides, UPSC too understands that older NCERTs are rarely available outside Delhi and
some guy from small town or village cannot easily access them. (recall Backbreaking
TM
principle)
So if you can get your hands on older NCERT, read them, else there is no need to lose
your sleep or burn your blood over this issue.
In either case, if youre going to read NCERT just one or two times very lightly for namesake
formality, then it wont help you. Revise often, and take NCERTs seriously.
List of *NOT* recommended booklist
Taking inspiration from Mrinalini Sarabhai (again), I give you a list of *Not recommended books*,
Not recommended book Why?
1. Physical Geography
by Goh Che Leong
90s are over. Nature of question changed. NCERT+GS Manual
=sufficient for physical geography.
2. Anatomy &
Physiology for
Nurses Courses,
Evelyn Pearce
NCERT+GS Manual = more than sufficient to cover human
body/biology.For First Aid, there is better PDF on IGNOU. (click
ME)
3. Know your body:
Readers Digest
4. General Principles of
World Geography:
Charles Farro
Lolz. Hardly any question on World geography, in last three
years. NCERT+GS Manual will do the trick.
5. Monsoon Asia:
Charles Farro
No need for Ph.D
Monsoon question is so clichd, 90s and repeated, unlikely to
reappear even in mains under the Backbreaking
TM
era.
6. A Brief History of
Nearly Everything:
Bill Bryson
Good read for time pass, if youve free time.Problem is- there is
no free time.
7. Fundamentals of
Statistics by SC
Gupta
This is used for M.Sc courses.NCERT + Spectrums Book on
Statistics =good enogh.
Besides Spectrum also contains solved Stat sums from GS
papers from 1979 upto 2011.
8. Mishra Puri
These are meant for Economics (Optional subject) paper
II.NCERT+NIOS+Ramesh Singh (TMH)= less boring, less
pages, more exam oriented.
9. Dutt Sundaram
10. Uma Kapila
11. DD Basu
Laxmikanth is better organized and exam oriented.
12. MV Paylee
13. Subhash Kashyap
Yes youd find some fact/fodder from all ^such books, but time is a luxury you cannot afford, at
best these all could come under Secondary, you may refer to them if and when youve the time,
but now is not the right time- first get a decent grip over core GS, yearbook and current affairs.
In case you wonder, if these books are not useful, then why would someone recommend them
over internet?
Ans.
1. They may have had their (limited) utility in 90s era. So the old sites recommended them
and theyre still on top of google search engine.
2. Such huge list assures that a new player feels frustrated during self-study and decides to
join coaching.
General Studies (GS) Manual
When it comes to Science, Geography or History: your first choice of Weapon= NCERTs.
But at times some important concepts and principles are not covered fully in NCERTs.
GS Manual bridges that gap + provides you truckload of mock questions to practice at
home.
You can download the blank answersheets by clicking me, and use it to practice those
mock questions.
Yes you must practice mock question, because they train you against negative marking.
(just like a Circus lion is trained by whipping). Negative marking is a huge factor for
success and failure @CSAT prelims.
General Studies Manuals also contain lot of useless stuff for example chemical equations
of respiration/ATP cycles and truckload of breeds and species of cows and buffalos and
names of States where theyre found. Therefore, Not everything given in GS manual, is
important from exam point of view (+it wont go in memory anyways). Youll see tips on
how to effectively utilize GS Manual, in Act III.
There are many publications involved in General Studies Manual. Tatamacgrawhill,
Unique, Spectrum, Pearson to name a few.
If you already have one, then no need to purchase new GS Manual. But If you are yet to
purchase a GS Manual, then I would suggest go for Tata Machgrawhill General Studies
Manual, particularly for its good coverage of Geography and Science segment and
truckload of Mock Questions.
You can also buy a second hand/used GS Manual, there is no harm in it.
Other standard reference books will be discussed in appropriate sections of next Act III.
So, These are your weapons, but what about weapons of your enemy?
Weapons of UPSC
It got 3 weapons
1. Backbreaking
TM
: already discussed.
2. R.T.I stonewalling (i.e. not divulging information via R.T.I or doing It only after the whole
exam is over=1 year late) Hopefully CIC will resolve it.
3. Negative Marking (in prelims/CSAT)
Negative marking
Plays huge factor in preliminary stage.
The answer choices are designed in such way that applying common sense or smart
guessing or smart elimination= many a times you end up ticking wrong answer.
Youve to train your mind not to fall in that trap.
Thats why practice all questions from GS Manual using blank answersheets and then
check answers =your mind will be trained like a circus lion not to touch doubtful
questions.
Every year nature and difficulty of questions are different so donot force yourself into
ticking more answers merely to cross an imaginary cutoff based on previous RTIs.
For example youve ticked 60 questions accurately and there are 10 questions where you
feel 50:50 between two answer choices. But someone or something has brainwashed
you into believing that one must tick 70 questions to clear prelims. So your mind starts
playing tricks, makes you think that your smart guesses are correct and you get seduced
into ticking those 10 questions. This usually leads into #Epicfail. Dont push your luck in
prelims.
Cutoffs are not decided by the eminent sirs of Delhi, cutoffs are not decided by internet
forums, cutoffs are decided by UPSC. So once prelims or mains are over, dont raise your
blood-pressure by what theyre predicting. Besides, your fate was already sealed the
moment you submitted answersheet to the hall supervisor. Burning blood over cutoffs is
not going to change your result.
Q. Should I join some (Expensive) mock test series of coaching class?
If you can afford go ahead join, if you cant (or dont want to), then no need to lose sleep or burn
your blood over this issue. Following toppers cleared UPSC Civil Service exam without joining
such mock tests. (list is not exhaustive.)
All India Rank (2011)
Harshika Singh 8
Om Kasera 17
There are dozen other toppers who didnot join any mock test series, read their interviews on
following page
mrunal.org/category/motivation
Appendix: Download Links
1. Foxit PDF reader (necessary prerequisite for using Mrunals autonotemaker) click me to
download
2. Almost all of these PDF files provides direct copying of text. => That means you can use
Mrunals autonotemaker to quickly make notes and mindmaps out of it, just use mouse
cursor to highlight a particular line /phrase and my software will copy its text in a separate
file. for more instructions click me
NCERT and NIOS (Essential/Core)
TN State edu Books (for History) https://files.secureserver.net/0fnzZYT7SDNuC9
NIOS (for Culture) https://files.secureserver.net/0fdAWETp4sONW5
NCERT files: topicwise: https://files.secureserver.net/0fHCh0CLd6Az63
Youll find the material organized in various folders. Click on individual folder and download zip
files. Here is the description about the contents of individual folder:
Folder Comment
History
Contains NCERT history chapters from class 7 to 12, in three zip files:
ancient, medieval and Modern
+NIOS Culture material
Science
Contains class 7 to 10 NCERT Science in three zips: physics,
chemistry, biology.
+NIOS Science material. (although there will be lot of overlapping)
Class 11, 12 Science books given in the peripheral section below.
EnB
Contains selective chapters from class 6 to 12 from science and
geography textbooks that are relevant for Environment and
biodiversity.
+NIOS material for environment and biodiversity EnB.
Economy
Contains NCERT class 11 + NCERT 12 Macro economics
+NIOS economy material.
Class 12 Micro-economics not included because not worth the time for
CDS. although download link in the peripheral section below.
Geography
Contains NCERT class 6 to 12 in five zip folders: physical, India,
World, Agro and glossary.
+NIOS material on geography (although lot of overlapping)
NCERT and NIOS (Peripheral)
read these if depending on your time and mood.
NIOS Single folder contains many courses from NIOS: sociology, political
science etc. download as per your time, mood and requirement.
Download
NCERTs
Biology 12 Biology Download
Chemistry 12 Chemistry 1 Download
Economics 12 Introductory Microeconomics Download
Economics 10 Understanding Economic Development Class X Social
Science
Download
Economics 9 Economics for Class 9 Download
Physics 12 Physics 1 Download
Political
Science
12 Contemporary World Politics Political Science Class 12 Download
Political
Science
12 Political Science 2 for Class 12 Download
Political
Science
11 Political Theory Political Science Class 11 Download
Political
Science
11 Indian Constitution at Work Political Science Class 11 Download
Political
Science
7 Social and Political Life Part 2 Class 7 Download
Political
Science
8 Social and Political Life Class 8 Download
Social sci. 10 Democratic Politics Part 2 for Class X Social Science Download
Sociology 12 Sociology Indian Society Download
Sociology 12 Sociology Social Change and Development in India for Download
Sociology 11 Introducing Sociology Class 11 Download
Sociology 11 Understanding Society Sociology Class 11 Download
World history 9 India and Contemporary World 1 for Class 9 Download
World history 10 India and the Contemporary World 2 Class X Social
Science
Download
Remaining Part of the UPSC Strategy
1. (Part 1 of 5): Exam Trends and Changes
2. (Part 2 of 5): Notes, Newspapers and Books
3. (Part 3 of 5): General Studies for CSAT prelims and Mains
4. (Part 4 of 5): Time Management, Coaching etc.
5. (Part 5 of 5): Career Backup Plans: How to prepare for State PSC etc
exam
mrunal.org http://mrunal.org/2012/11/strategy-upsc-civil-ias-ips-ifs-service-exam-booklist-part3.html
[Strategy] UPSC Civil Service Exam (Part 3 of 5):
General Studies for CSAT prelims and Mains
update: this article was written in Dec 2012. But in March 2013, UPSC introduced some new
reforms, While majority of the strategy remains one and same as given in this article. But a few
modifications (especially for mains exam) are added. Ive written a separate article on it click me
1. Act III: Waging the War
2. Loading Doze and Maintenance Doze
3. Statistics
4. Economy
1. Economy : Prelims/ MCQs
2. Economy : Mains
3. International relations
5. Polity
6. History (GS/CSAT)
7. Geography
1. How to Approach Geography for CSAT-Prelims?
2. World geography
3. Indian geography
4. Geography for GS-Mains
8. Environment and biodiversity
9. Yearbook: prelims and mains
1. What is India Yearbook (2013)?
2. Why is India Yearbook important?
3. How to read India yearbook efficiently?
10. Science-Tech
1. Science for Prelims
2. How to efficiently use THM GS Manual for Science segment?
3. Physics Chapter on Science
4. Biology
5. Science-Tech for prelims and Mains
11. Public health and first aid
12. First Aid
13. Good governance, law and order
14. Preparation Timetable
15. Interview
16. What should you do next?
17. Your City-District-State
18. Stress Interview
Act III: Waging the War
Loading Doze and Maintenance Doze
You fall sick and doctor gives you medicine.
The initial doze is high : 2 tablets a day. (this is loading doze)
Take tablets, they kill some bactaria and get eliminated through urine. = symptoms are
decreased.
But if you stop taking drug, then ultimately bacteria population will rise again.
So doctor doesnt completely stop the medicine but reduces the doze, e.g. just 1 tablet a
day. (this is maintenance doze)
Ya but how is ^this relevant for UPSC exam?
If youre already finished with the loading doze phase (e.g. core syllabus) then all you need is
maintenance doze (revision). It leads to many positive effects
1. Now your vision expands. You can clearly see connections between topics and how
theyre important for exam or not.
2. Now you can allot more time for upgrading your notes with current affairs.
3. Now you can digup Government sites and internet for follow up action on various topics.
4. Now you can practice mock MCQs (prelims) or answer writing (mains)
Besides, finishing the core syllabus is also important for another reason:= career backup plan.
In case you fail in the IAS exam and If youre not a CA, Doctor or IITian, what will you do?
Well, the backup plans would usually involve Bank PO, State PSC, SSC type jobs or doing
PG/MBA.
Such exams are conducted throughout the year. Whatever you prepare general studies,
will directly or indirectly help you in those exams.
But Here is the problem: most of them require some specific side preparation as well for
example Bank, SSC, CAT would require Aptitude. Similarly for State PSC, youd have to
learn the history and geography of Punjab, Maharashtra etc.
So, If your core syllabus of UPSC is not complete, then you will always be under stress on
how to manage time between preparation of these exam and it will be like choosing
between devil and the deep sea.
Therefore, sooner you finish loading doze, better itll be for you. First of all complete the
core/basic syllabus of following topics
Topic Why?
1. Economy
Otherwise, you will not be able to fully digest the newspaper columns.
2. International
relations
3. Polity
4. Statistics
You will have to spend less time before the mains on this topic. So that
many days or weeks could be utilized for preparing other topics of general
studies/opt subjects (if opt.subjects are kept)
Statistics
UPDATE (March-08-2013): statistics no longer relevent as UPSC removed it from 2013.
Economy
update Feb 2014: How to approach Economy, has been explained in a separate article- click me
following is old information
The core syllabus of economy consists of the following things
Theoretical economy
Basic Concepts and terminologies, GDP,GNP,PPP,IIP, inflation etc.
Indian economy (static portion)
LPG reforms.
Budget making process.
RBI monetary policy: Repo, Reverse Repo, CRR, SLR etc.
Source: Static portion of the economy

1. NCERT Class 10, 11, 12 (links @bottom of this article)
2. NOS Study material for Economy (links @bottom of this article)
3. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh (Tata Macgrawill Publication)
You have to move to the next level = current affairs related to Indian and world economy.
1. DTC, GST,WTO, IMF, World bank etc.
2. Various for committees formed by government and their recommendations: Kelkar,
shunglu, Parekh etc.
3. Economic Survey and Budget 2013.
4. Eurozone crisis, American recession, dollar-rupee exchange etc.
Source: Current affairs on economy
1. Newspaper (The Hindu / Indianexpress / Economic Times)
2. Anyone competitive magazine.
3. Investopedia, Wikipedia, internet
4. Mrunal.org/economy
What is Economic Survey? And why is it important?
It is a report published on the official website of Finance Ministry (before General budget is
announced).
This report contains information on the present situation of Indian economy, various
schemes of Government and future approach required for the next year.
It has lot of boring and unimportant data tables but also contains good fodder material and
exam-worthy information.
If youre subscribed to any competitive Magazine, you would usually find the highlights of
economic survey in the subsequent issues of the magazine. Yet I would recommend you to
go through the original economic survey report because magazines or newspapers only
tend to cover the dramatic items.
Whatever important details you find, make a note out of it.
Economy : Prelims/ MCQs
1. You are given a term and 4 explanations for that term. You have to identify the correct
definition
2. You are given a problem (inflation or low IIP or currency depreciation) and 2-4 possible
solutions, you have identify the correct solution to fix the problem. (This can also be
framed as assertion reasoning type question)
3. You are given name of a committee and 2-4 recommendations. You to tick the correct
recommendations.
4. Match the following: you are given name of some organizations on one side and functions
performed by organizations on the other side. You have to match them
5. Your given name of an organization SEBI/NABARD/CCI/RBI etc and four statements
associated with them you have to find correct statements.
6. You are given name of some government scheme or policy or act related to economy and
four statements associated with them. You have to find the correct statements
7. The trivial GK based questions e.g. names of businessmen/company, repo rate in
particular month, establishment of particular organization etc. BUT theyre are generally not
appearing under back breaking
TM
move
In short, whenever you are preparing anything related to economy, think on those lines and try to
frame the questions by yourself. Also solve the mock questions given in your GS Manual.
Economy : Mains
In the 90s era, you could expect direct questions example
1. Difference between the functions of IMF and World Bank =10 marks
2. Explain the functions performed by RBI = 12 marks
3. Explain the budget making process=20 marks.
Such direct questions are very unlikely to appear in future mains. At most they may ask such
things on two markers or five marker question.
The 12, 15, 20 marker economy-questions seems to be reserved for critically examine/
Analysis this and that type of questions.
You have to keep gathering fodder material from newspaper columns. For example
Critically examine the issues involved in implementation of goods and services tax or
Direct Tax code.
These topics will again gain momentum before and after the budget-2013.
Keep an eye on the newspaper columns, TV reports during that time and maintain notes.
Same advice for each and every topic. For example SEBI- e-IPO issue was in news few
weeks back.
So if you prepare the notes when the issue is still hot= best.
Sometimes issues are very complicated and require you to do research on Internet. If you
cant do It immediately, then note down the title of topic in your To-Do list/diary.
Otherwise after two three weeks youll forget it and get busy with some new important
topic.
Then same question would appear in Mains/ Prelims and you will curse yourself damn I
should have done that topic, when I had the time.
You may also visit www.egyankosh.ac.in and download the relevant PDF files from Economics
section for selective study and fodder material.
International relations
Prelims: not part of syllabus. (ofcourse one or two random questions can come on world
geography, Summits, Current Affairs)
But for mains, international relations/ diplomacy =extremely important.
In Mains examination, The General Studies Paper II rests on four pillars
1. International relations
2. Economy
3. science tech
4. statistics
If any one pillar is weak, your building will collapse.
How to approach International Relations =Already explained in a separate article. Click ME
You also keep an eye on websites ministry of external affairs and ministry of overseas affairs.
Notes making = extremely important for international relations because usually you will not find
direct answers in any single chapter or article. Youve to keep following news for months.
For example
1. In Xyz Month, suppose there is big protest / PIL regarding POSCO. Newspapers will cover
it and you get say 3 fodder points. Note it down
2. After a few months, either S.Korea President comes to India or Mohan makes a trip there
(Mohan usually makes foreign trips when there a new scandal at home, because then he
is saved from answering the media or lets the high command cover up the problem
hehehe.)
3. Anyways back to the topicso when leaders make trip to each others nation, they release
a joint press statement. Youll usually find 5 fodder points in it. Note down.
4. After some months, China and S.Korea start fighting over some sea/land/island. Again
newspaper columns start covering it and you get 3 more points.
Total youve 3+5+3=11 points.
When they ask you about India-S.Korea relations, you can use those points to write a decent
answer.
Polity
Just one book: Laxmikanth
The question is how to effectively use Laxmikanth? For that, dont study the book in linear
fashion (chapter 1,2,3,4) Instead I suggest you move in following direction
1. First you read the chapter on President, Vice President and immediately move to the
chapter on governor. Then read on Emergency provisions.
2. Read chapter on PM and cabinet, then move to CM and state council of Ministers.
3. Chpater on Parliamentary system and then directly to parliament, but after budget topic is
done pause this chapter and move to on CAG. Then come back and resume the chapter
on parliament.
4. Once parliament is finished, move to State legislative assembly.
5. Same way Supreme Court and then High court, tribunals.
6. Attorney Gen =>Advocate General
7. UPSC =>State PSC
8. Finance Commission =>Planning Commission=>Nat.Development council
9. Now Centre State and Interstate relations.
10. Election Commission=> chapter on election, Anti-defection
11. All the National Commissions on Women, SC, ST,OBC, CVC, Lokpal and so on.
Once ^this is done. Move to
1. Citizenship, Fundamental rights, DPSP, duties.
2. Amendment of Constitution=> preamble
3. Jammu Kashmir => Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
4. UT, Panchayati Raj, municipalities
After ^this is done. Read whatever chapters are remaining.
Note: the short explanations given in appendix of every chapter= should be read.
Q. Should I make notes out of Laxmikanth?
M.Laxmikanth has the skill of writing book in a note-format.
So whether it is his book on polity or on Public Administration, there is no need to maintain
a special note out of his books.
Just highlight/underline important lines. Note down keywords on the margin. And keep
revising it as many times as you can.
When youve done enough revision, solve mock questions given at the end of his book
(around 300). Then solve another 400 Mock Qs given in the GS manual. So total 700
questions practiced. Then UPSC MCQs on polity will not give you much trouble.
Anyways ^this is only the static polity.
What about the current affairs on Polity?
Womens reservation bill = explicitly polity topic.
But at times polity related current affairs and possible questions are subtly hidden in the
current affairs.
So be vigilant. For example, Nuke power plant issue would superficially appear as
environment/yearbook but can be well asked from Centre-State relations point of view.
Supreme courts order on Ganga/Yamuna clearing would appear as environment topic
but can be asked under Centre-States responsibilities in water Management also.
Same goes for 2G scam, mining scams and so on. (Judicial Activism, Seperation of power,
CAG Activism and so on)
Sources for current affairs
1. Newspaper
2. Prsindia.org
3. Mrunal.org/polity
So far we have seen how to approach International affairs, Economy and Polity. You should
finish their core syllabus first, in order to fully digest the newspaper items.
Now moving to the other topics of syllabus.
History (GS/CSAT)
update Feb 2014: for History/culture portion, use the Tamilnadu (TN) State education board
books. Theyre better than NCERTs. (Free download @bottom).
following is old information
For prelims (CSAT General Studies Paper I), History is subdivided into three segments
Ancient Harappa, Vedic Age, Buddha, Mahavir, Gupta,Maurya Kingdoms etc.
Medieval Delhi Sultanate, Vijaynagar, Mughals etc.
Modern British Raj. 1857 Mutiny onwards. Freedom struggle.
In the 90s, questions used to be based on
1. Timelines: wars, kings,
2. Locations: of Harappa Sites where xyz type of pottery was found, or Asokas pillars
3. Match the following
4. Maps: theyd give you a blank map, you had to locate xyz state or kingdom.
In last three years, questions are mostly based on religion, culture, art and
features/cause/reason type.
Although UPSC hasnot asked map based question lately but if youve time, it doesnt hurt
preparing the maps (because UPSC is the baddest thug in this part of South East Asia.) youll
find the Ancient/Medieval maps in NCERTs and in GS Manual.
Essential Booklist for History (GS/CSAT)
1. NCERT class 7 to 10 Social Science
2. NCERT class 11, 12 on History
3. NOS Studymaterial on Indian Culture and Heritage.
âll of these free, download links @bottom of this article
4. Selective Study of History portion in Tata Macgrawill General Studies Manual (to fill up
vacuum of whatever details are missing in the NCERTs). But again skip very tiny details
such as Middle Palaeolithic tools were found at Nevasa, Maharashtra by HD Sankalia .
Because it wont go in long term memory. Your time and energy can be better utilized in
other topics.
Once this is done, solve all the Mock MCQs given in the General Studies Manual.
In The NCERT Class 9 and 10, youll also find information on World History (WW1, WW2, French
Revolution, Russian Revolution etc) While theyre not specifically mentioned in the syllabus, you
should read it because indirectly important for Essay and interview.
History (Mains/GS)
In the 90s, the General Studies paper used to have following structure, in History section
1. 3-5 descriptive question (60 marks)
2. Freedom fighter 2 markers (10 marks)
3. Culture related 2 markers (10 marks)
Ofcourse there would be fluctuation each year, but this was the usual makeup.
Success formula in 90s era= basically mugup Spectrums three books + Bipin Chandra.
That doesnt hold true anymore, as we saw in GS Mains-2012 Analysis ( click ME if you
didnt)
Nowadays weightage given to History in GS mains paper = declined and emphasis has
been shifted to Culture.
So how to proceed in this new era?
1. Indias Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra
2. Selective Study of IGNOU BA/MA History (only related to freedom Struggle) Click ME
3. Selective Study of IGNOU Tourism Course (for culture) CLICK ME
4. NOS material on Indian culture CLICK ME
5. Spectrum Book on Indian Culture
Optional reference
Because of the backbreaking
TM
move of UPSC, following books have lost their former glory. So
Im putting them under Secondary. If youve time, read else dont bother. There are many other
areas where you can utilize your energy.
1. Spectrum Book on Brief History of Modern India
2. Spectrum Book on Freedom Fighters
However, for State PSC exams, whore still in the 90s mood, these books would come handy. In
that case, mug them up :)
Geography
Geography
classified into three parts
1. Physical geography
2. World geography
3. Indian Geography
the first two topics come in prelims syllabus. but they are not included in the main syllabus.
for Mains syllabus of General Studies, youve to prepare Indian Geography only.
How to Approach Geography for CSAT-Prelims?
First of all complete
1. NCERT class 7 to 10 social science
2. NCERT class 11, 12: Geography (except that practical book on mapping and survey
methods)
3. NOS Studymaterial on Geography (if the time and eyes permit you!)
Free download links for above PDF files, have been given in previous Act II. Click ME
When this is done, move to general studies manual to fill up the missing gaps if any.
Now lets check how to effectively utilise Tata McGraw-Hill General studies manual for
Geography portion.
1. branches of geography= important
2. origin of Earth= important
3. ignore the geological history of Earth
4. ignore the facts about earth (weight, volumne and stuff like that)
5. understand the concepts related to longitudes, latitudes, meridians, inclination of Earths
axis and its effect, standard time, cycles of the moon, atmosphere, Aurora -magnetism,
insulation and heat budget, templated,
6. mecanism of winds, monsoon
7. ignore table of Beufort Scale
8. ignore types of clouds
9. understand the difference between dew, frost, fog, smog, mist and haze.
10. types of climate, water table = important, also from environment and biodiversity Angle
11. Understand the mechanism of cold and warm currents = because they are also related
with climate change
12. From lakes, only important and famous ones : Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, Superior,
Victoria, Baikal, Aral Sea, Wulur, Vostock
13. Same for rivers
14. Marine resources= important for environment topic also
15. Classification of rocks: prepare a small note on features and example of each type
16. Theories of Plate tectonics, continental drift etc - just get overview
17. Volcanos, Earthquakes important but no need to get in minute stuff. Just supplement
NCERT
18. Weathering, Erosion, landforms = important from environment topic angle.
19. ignore table on major water falls, except famous ones : Angel, Victoria, Niagara,
20. Soil is important but from agriculture point of view only.
21. ignore the table containing classification of soil
22. ignore US Taxonomy classification
World geography
1. Go through entire human geography but ignore trivial details like Lapps= people of
Eurasian trunda. (But famous tribes are important e.g.Bushman=Kalahari Desert.)
2. Migration, resource classification, farming system, types of cultivation, agricultural
typology= extremely important
3. Chief agro products (tea, wheat etc) : the land/climate conditions required = important.
4. Forest products= important from environment and biodiversity angle.
5. Mineral producers= only the major ones (coal, iron ore, gold, nuclear, oil etc). Otherwies
Mercury producers = Spain and Italy= ignore.
6. industrial products= just get an overview
7. important boundary lines= as the name suggests, it is important
8. important cities= not that important for UPSC , but may help you in GK based questions in
SSC/Bank.
9. old name and new name for various countries and cities= indirectly important for the
interviews.
Indian geography
In last two years, very few questions are coming from world geography. but at the same time, it is
not a good idea to completely ignore world geography especially when you have time. because
a something really straightforward asked Tropical Savannah climate, then you should not miss
the opportunity.
In the 90s, they would give you some map based questions. ( location of rivers,
mountains, nations etc). but they have not asked map-based questions in last two years.
but it does not hurt much preparing the Atlas because it indirectly helps you understand the
international-relations and diplomacy topics in better manner.
More emphasis should be given on the Indian geography because it is common for both
prelims and mains.
While Indian geography is important for prelims, the nature of question has changed.
earlier it used to be mapped based or location-based Indian geography but nowadays it is mostly
related with agriculture, environment angles.
1. first start with NCERTs and them move to TMH GS Manual.
2. keep an Atlas Ready while reading everyline, otherwise things will not go long-term
memory.
3. for the lakes, rivers, waterfalls, irrigation projects, wildlife parks and sanctuaries etc. only
prepare the famous ones and those related with odd animals such as Wild Ass. and
prepare the trivial ones only if they are from your home state (for profile based interview
questions and for State PSC)
4. Indias industrial towns/tourist places: famous ones + those from your home state and
surrounding neighbour states. No need to go in trivial. These things are for indirectly
understanding the issues of socio-economic Development and for profile based interview
questions. Otherwise direct MCQs are very unlikely.
5. seasons, soil types, wildlife= important.
6. ignore places connected by national highways. 90s era is over.
7. sex ratio, literacy rate :top 3, bottom 3, and your home state.
8. Tribal groups = important from culture angle.
9. India maps on political, physical, wildlife and biosphere, seaports, soil-vegetation, =
important for indirect MCQs.
Once this is done. (Physical, World and Indian Geography.) Again restart process and then solve
MCQs from GS Manual.
Geography for GS-Mains
The way things have started taking shape, the conventional and clichd questions are unlikely to
appear anymore (for example monsoon mechanism.)
But still prepare Indian Geography from Economic, sustainable Development, Disaster and
Environment angles.
Books:
1. NCERTs, NOS, GS Manual.
2. India Yearbook (Wastelands, Drough Management etc) and follow up on respective
Government websites.
3. 2
nd
ARC report on Disaster Management. http://arc.gov.in/
4. Traditional books on Indian Geography are not likely to help directly like they used to in
90s (for example Spectrum/ Majid Hussain/ Khullar) But still you may go through any one
of them, if youve the time.
That concluded talk on Geography. Moving to next topic of syllabus.
Environment and biodiversity
When we talk of history or polity, there are already decent standard books available
because those topics have been in syllabus since the beginning of UPSC exams.
But this Biodiversity is newly introduced syllabus topic since CSAT 2011. Most of the
ready-made books (and magazines special issues) on this topic provide you too much
data, above what is necessary.
For example in case of biodiversity, theyd give you a huge list of endangered species and
their Latin names and how many animals are left.
The establishment year of every wildlife park and their surface area with accuracy upto two
decimal points like 48.25 kms!
Environment biodiversity is not about becoming master of trivial GK, UPSC MCQs are not
same like Kaun Bangegaa Crorepati.
Like every other topic in UPSC (except History and Statistics), we can classify EnB under two
heads
Static Current Based
basic theoretical and static stuff such as biomes,
bios, in-situ, ex-situ modes of wildlife
conservation, keystone species, umbrella
species, project tiger, elephant, biosphere
reserves and things like that.
Issues involving various protocols or world
conventions. IPCC reports, Kyoto
etc.Supreme court orders on xyz issue:
Clearing of Yamuna, Ban on Mining, Tiger
tourism etc.
Booklist/Preparation sources for Environment and Biodiversity
Static (theory) Current based
1. NCERT Social
science (7-10):
because
Geography,
Forest etc given in
it.
2. NCERT
Geography Class
11, 12
3. NOS Study
material on
Biodiversity. Free
download link
@bottom
4. India Yearbook,
chapter on
Environment
5. Website of Ministry of Environment and Forest
6. Yojana, Kurukshetra magazine issues involving those
particular themes
7. The Hindu: Energy and Environment segment
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/
8. Climate Change section of IndianExpress:
http://www.indianexpress.com/section/climate-change/912/
9. Economic Times section on Environment
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/planetsos/2647163.cms
10. http://mrunal.org/enb
11. Magazine (just to make sure we did not miss anything!)
12. Google: incase follow up action is necessary for a particular
topic.
^Prelims questions: mostly theory based= multiple revision must. (+ a few on current
affairs)
^Mains questions: mostly current based. You must maintain notes.
The source list may look intimidating but it is not!
Because environment news doesnt happen everyday (unlike Economy), so every week
there will be no more than 2-3 news items.
Moving to the next topic
Yearbook: prelims and mains
[Yearbook] is the collective term used to describe following
1. Organization of various ministry and offices and their functions
2. Various schemes and projects of Government
3. Issues of socio-economic Development, five year plans
In a way, Yearbook is a mixture of Economy + Polity.
What is India Yearbook (2013)?
A book released by Publication division under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
In common parlance we refer this as Yearbook but otherwise technically name of the
book is India 2011, India 2012, and India 2013 and so on (according to year of
publication).
Earlier, government used to provide free PDF file of this book. But they started doing it
since 2012.
This book also helps in rights issue, environment, public health topics.
My advice: if you dont have this book then wait and watch, buy the new edition 2013,
when it comes in the market.
If you already have a India 2012, no need to buy new, just update any new Government
schemes using Government websites/newspaper/magazines.
If you have a very old edition (something like India 2007) then dump it and buy the latest
edition, because many schemes are consolidated / their salient features have been
changed.
Why is India Yearbook important?
Many publication houses, provide their own version of yearbooks for example Chronicle,
wizard.
They have the same content of India yearbook, but in bulleted form, some details are
omitted, some side current affairs GK is added.
While superficially, they may feel more easier to read and prepare but my advice go
directly to the original source because many times 4TF type MCQs are directly lifted from
the statements and paragraphs given in India yearbook (i.e. India 2013)
From Yearbook topic, usually following type questions appear in the exam
Prelims (CSAT) Mains
1. The give you two for four statements
related to a particular scheme or
Government organization (e.g. Haj
Committee). You have to find out the
correct/incorrect statements
2. Name of some schemes are given,
youve to match them with their
objectives.
Basically Two types of questions can appear
1. you are given name of a government
scheme or project and you have to
write its salient features (12-15 marks)
2. you are given some socio-economic
problem and you have to analyze it, list
the steps taken by government, or
suggest about the future steps that
should be taken.
Therefore You should have strong command over the salient features of every scheme,
otherwise you will get confused in the MCQs. Besides the same salient features will also help you
in descriptive answers during the mains exam. So prepare the topic on that line without wasting
energy in useless stuff.
Example.
1. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme provides for setting up of residential upper
primary schools for girls of SC, ST, OBC and Muslim communities. = important.
2. In 11th five year plan, government of India allotted 8,000 crores under Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya Scheme= NOT IMPortant.
How to read India yearbook efficiently?
Already explained in previous article. Click ME
But this is only the static (theory/basic) part. What about the current affairs?
Because India yearbook 2013 is printed in Dec 2012, but many new events will take place
between December 2012 to May 2013 (Prelims) and November 2013 (mains). How to
prepare them?
Sources for Yearbook Current affairs:
1. The Hindu
2. Press releases from pib.nic.in (subscribe to them via Google reader)
3. Economic Survey (will be uploaded on Finance Ministrys website)
4. Yojana and Kurukshetra
5. Mrunal.org/yearbook
6. Competitive Magazine (just to make sure we did not miss anything.)
Prepare a keywords note and revise it often else, youll mixup with salient features of various
schemes and projects.
Moving to the next topic
Science-Tech
Science can be classified into following parts
Theory (Static) Current Affairs
1. Physics
2. Chemistry
3. biology-subtopics:
4. plant and animals
5. humans
It is known as science-tech.
Science for Prelims
The static (theory based) science has declined in importance. In the 90s you could expect 10-10-
10 questions on physics, chemistry, biology each (theory based).
Nowadays barely 8-10 question and that too mixture of both theory + current affairs.
But it doesnt mean you should skip the static (theory based) science because
1. competition is damn high
2. UPSC =unpredictable.
Therefore certain minimum level preparation is necessary for every topic. Beside there is lot of
time still left before the exam.
Start with NCERT Science textbooks class 7 to 10.
Even if youre already an M.Sc, engineer or Doctor, still you should read these textbooks.
because even if you have good command over your field, still you would have forgotten
many important basic concepts from the school. So always start with NCERTs.
And please dont read NCERTS lightly or just for namesake formality because UPSC will
usually give you four statements and all of them would sound equally plausible. You should
be thoroughly clear on principles/concepts.
Once you have finished reading these textbooks, it is time for selective study of GS
manual.
How to efficiently use GS Manual for Science segment?
Physics Chapter on Science
1. difference between scaler and vector quantity=important
2. Newtons laws and their practical application=important
3. the working principles behind artificial satellites, geostationary satellites etc. =important,
but no need to mugup equations.
4. The concept of densities important but you dont need to mugup absolute density value of
various substances. Same goes for surface tension, viscosity etc.
5. Concepts and principles behind heat, electronic thermometer, refrigeration, radiation,
solar cooker, thermos flask, carengine radiator, air-conditioners, pressure cookers, DTH
TV, nightvision goggles, radar, oven, CAT Scan etc.
6. Optics: convex and concave glasses: differences applications, refractions,
7. Principle behind rainbow, LCD, camera microscope, LASER, compact disc etc. but no
need to get bored with those complex diagrams.
8. Sound: echo, resonsnace, doplar effect, sonic boom, dolby etc. : again you need to have
idea on basics. No need for going into minute details.
9. Same for Magnetism and electricity, Nuclear physics.
10. In short, you should be aware of the concepts and principles but You dont need to mugup
equations of Velocity, acceleration, pendulum, sound etc.
Biology
1. Branches of biology important
2. difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells is important
3. Parts of typical cell, and their functions= important
4. Basics of cell division mitosis and meiosis =important but no need to do Ph.D from GS
Manual.
5. Classification of living organism= you should have overall idea but no need to go in minute
details like the difference between Deuteromycetes and Basiondiomycetes.
6. Tissue system : same as above
7. Nutrition and digestion system important but no need to go in details like 8 hours of work =
972 calories.
8. respiration and photosynthesis: no need for Ph.D or chemical reaction
9. Heart, kidney: just functions, no need to go diagram
10. ignore diagram of conduction of nerve impulse
11. Basic functions of Endocrine glands and diseases asscociated with them = important. But
Cacitonin raises blood calcium level =not important.
12. skeletal system: simply ignore. THM has given Ph.D on this.
13. reproduction : concepts important. diagrams are not important.
14. artificial methods of vegatative reproduction =extremely important.
15. Plant hormor diagram= ignore
16. sex determination in humans, birds and bees= important
17. Table and Diagram on ABO blood group, Rh factor = very important.
18. List of genetic disease = important but no need to mugup all, only big dieases like Sickle
cell, Thalassemia.
19. Basics of Gene Expression, m-RNA, t-RNA important else other topics stem cell, cancer,
genetic engineering, cloning etc will be hard to understand.
20. Tables for Disease, types, mode of transmission and symptoms= important (including for
mains). But no need to mugup Latin names of those bactaria etc.
21. Table on Vitamin function and disease = important
22. monoclonal antibodies=important for mains also.
23. Basics of antigen-antibody=important because vaccination works on that principle
^This is the basic biology. Now in the TMH GS Manual, theyve given environment related stuff=
important. Well discuss what to do with that, in separate topic environment and Biodiversity: for
the moment skip it move on to the topic of drug abuse and alcoholism. No need to mugup tables
but you should have idea the origin of various narcotic drugs .
e.g. LSD from fungi,
Marijuana from hemp,
Morphine, heroine = opium derivaties.
Cocaine from coca leaves.
+Basic idea on alcoholism e.g.
Hooch / Zehrili Sharaab is basically methanol and it causes blindness.
Alcohol is not stimulant but depressant.
Alcohol causes cirrhosis of liver
Animal Husbandry
Now comes the topic of Animal husbandary. Very brief overview,
no need to mugup Latin names,
Ignore animal disease table.
Artificial insemination important
Agriculture
Youd already have covered this topic through NCERTs, so use GS manual only to fill up
any missing details such as ideal soil type, harvesting season, states
because usually 4TF MCQs are prepared from that.
No need to mugup every hybrid variety or latin name
Type of plants = important
Masticatory, medicinal plants and bio insecticides: only use/function.
Chemistry
From TMH GS manual.
1. Symbols of elements= ignore.
2. Chemical equations =ignore. because youve already ignored the symbols hahaha
3. Use of chemical compound = important but their chemical formula is not important
4. Ignore Thomsons atomic model
5. Ignore Rutherfords Atomic model
6. Ignore theories of chemical bonding
7. Ignore periodic table
8. Ignore molality, mole fraction and their equations
9. Concept of solubility =important
10. Oxidation reduction mechanism and examples = important
11. Carbon, its compounds and allotropes, carbon cycle=important
12. Ignore Acid-base, hydrocarbon. Whatever you prepared in NCERT is sufficient. THM is
going into Ph.D mode
13. Table on natural occurrence of selected metals=important for big elements only.
E.g.Dolomite =Magnesium and Magnetite= iron.
14. Location of mineral wealth= important. You should idea on overall which mineral is found in
which state.
15. Basics of metal extraction, petroleum, steel, rusting, cement, glass =important
16. Colloids= only basic definition and table of types of colloidal system, emulsion and gels
=important
17. Ignore Micelles topic.
18. Biotech Nanotech and their applications =important both for prelims and mains
19. Polysaccharides = use and sources =important. But chem formula=ignore, same for
proteins and glycosides
20. Ignore the equations govering gases, liquids and solutions.
21. Understand the three laws of thermodynamics
22. Ignore themodynamic potentials.
23. The readymade Question answers given on important concents and topics= important to
understand principle.
Once youre done (physics, chemistry and biology) from GS Manual.
Restart the whole process one more time (once again read NCERTs and once again read GS
Manual) and then solve the Mock MCQs given at the end of each chapter.
This finishes the theory portion of Science. Now coming to the current affairs portion =Sci-
Tech.
Science-Tech for prelims and Mains
Sources
1. The Hindu (particularly Thursday edition)
2. Mrunal.org/snt Ive uploaded some ready revision notes from The Hindus article. That
should give you the hints on how to approach a science related news articles from exam
point of view, what to skip and what to note down.
3. Magazine (any one CST or PD): just to make sure we did not miss anything from Hindu /
current affairs.
4. Internet, incase you need to do follow up question for a particular topic e.g. Human
Genome project because such things can also come under 10 marks in Mains. But dont
do Ph.D on it. Like I said in previous Act- Application of Nanotechnology. This is meant for
12-15 marks, theyre not going to ask a 30 marks or 200 marks essay on it. So keep the
size of notes accordingly.
5. And dont too much sci-tech. If you start digging google, there is so much Science-tech
going on around the world throughout the year. But Beyond a level, this has diminishing
rate of returns.
For the Science-Tech, Frequent revision is essential. Otherwise, itd remain in your notes but you
wont be able to recall it in the exam hall.
Public health and first aid
This topic is gaining quite some importance since last two mains (2011 and 2012)
it is a mixture of Yearbook+Sci-Tech
For prelims, this topic is not directly mentioned in the CSAT (Preliminary) syllabus yet 4TF
MCQ questions based on diseases can come under the General Science.
For Mains, the syllabus explicitly mentions Public Health.
Preparation sources/booklist for Public Health
1. Basics of nutrition, disease, vaccination = NCERTs, GS Manual
2. Government schemes and projects related to public health= India Yearbook Chapter on
health and family welfare + and Government websites for new updates
3. Newspaper
4. Press release of pib.nic.in
5. Mrunal.org/snt
First Aid
Since last two years they have been asking role-playing question on First Aid treatment in
the mains examination.
Now that Doesnt necessarily mean that they will definitely ask a question on first aid, in
the next exam but you should be prepared. Go through the following PDF file (taken from
IGNOU): Click ME.
Good governance, law and order
These are given in General Studies Mains syllabus
1. Law enforcement, internal security and related issues such as the preservation of
communal harmony.
2. Issues relating to good governance and accountability to the citizens including the
maintenance of human rights, and of pro-bity in public life
Best source:
1. 2
nd
ARC reports. http://arc.gov.in/
2. Yojana issues related to the themes
3. Besides itll also help you in essay and interview.
4. + any current affairs (Lokpal, Citizen carter, Whistleblower, SC judgements etc) but youd
be preparing that already under [Polity]
You can also dig egyankosh.ac.in for good governance and law and order, but if Public
Administration is not your optional then then itll give you diminishing rate of returns.
I think ^this should be sufficient for General Studies.
Yes there are some small time topics left. For example prelims syllabus has
1. Public Policy,
2. Rights issue,
3. Panchayati Raj
But given the way UPSC conducted last two prelims, whatever you prepare under yearbook,
polity (static + current), will help you in these questions. There is no need to prepare them
separately using a book/coaching material. At most go for Governance in India by M.Laxmikanth,
if youve time- otherwise no need. You can also use the Sociology and Political Science
textbooks of NCERT (Class 11,12).
Preparation Timetable
These are no rock-solid time frames. Just suggestions
Nov-
December
Finish core syllabus of Economy, Polity and International relations. (to digest
newspapers better)Prepare topics that are present in mains but absent in
prelims viz
1. Statistics
2. First Aid
3. Good governance, Accountability and Law n order (2
nd
ARC)
Go through the Yojana, Kurukshetra from Jan 2012 (incase you missed them)
Finish Bipin Chandra right here if you can.
Jan/Feb
onwardsMarch
1. Yearbook
2. History + Culture
3. Geography
4. Environment + Biodiversity
5. Science and Science TechEconomy (current affairs)
+ lots of revision+ MCQ practice+ daily newspaper
+Aptitude paper.
April-May
1. Readymade garbage will start flooding the streets (from Delhi). Ignore
it.
2. Have faith in your books and notes revise them as much as you can.
3. Reduce/stop digging internet for more current affairs!
4. Read newspaper till last day but If editorials are taking too much time,
just cut and file them but finish them once the prelims are over.
June-July-
August Assuming that from 20
th
May to 1
st
June youd be in vacation/relief
mood.
Dont raise your blood pressure with cutoffs debate on orkut, better
watch some movies or just go rob a bank.
Once your mind is clear, fresh and relaxed (and pockets are full-if you
robbed a bank), Make a list of national and international events/topics
that are important from mains point of view.
Review your notes, upgrade them in the light of above events via
internet/ frontline whatever necessary.
Aug/Sept/Oct Prelims result is announced.A) If you fail= Dont become Devdas. Review
your mistakes and fix them in next attempt. But daily newspaper reading =
essential till you retire from this field. Use your energy as per this article Click
ME.B) If youve passed, thank the almighty God and proceed ahead.After
UPSCs #epic Backbreaking
TM
Moves shown in Mains-2012, there are hardly
any Standard Reference books left to revise for mains, but still do it!Otherwise
Daily reading of newspaper- notes making. (+follow up action, google digging
for whatever new events are taking place)
Yojana, Kurukshetra/ any Committee reports etc- notes making.
Most important: Take care of health. Dont eat street-food.
Nov Give mains.
Dec Vacation,Again dont raise blood pressure in cut-offs debates, either watch
some movies or rob a few more banks. (but do read newspapers daily and
make notes out of it.)
Jan-Feb-
March
Fill up form for next prelims.
Continue the maintenance doze for next prelims.
Prepare for interview (profile based questions (location, graduation..),
national and international events, including background, historic details,
pros, cons etc.) More explained later
March-April Result of Mains + interviews starts.
1. If you pass, thank the almighty God once again. (and return the money
you had robbed from those banks)
2. If you fail, dont become Devdas just prepare for next prelims.
3. If you fail and it was your last attempt still dont become Devdas, dont
regret anything, dont feel guilty about anything, dont let anyone else
make you feel guilty about anything. Execute backup plans and move
on in your life and career- money, power and status will come, with
time.
Interview
The interview preparation approach remains one and same for all Government and private sector
jobs.
But the type and depth of questions differ.
Interviews usually start with You and end with World,
You Questions from your profile
1. Your graduation
2. Your hobbies
3. Extra-curricular activities (if any)
4. From Your work experience (if any)
5. Your city and State: Socio-economic-political-cultural-geography
6. Role playing questions (your Collector/Senior Executive and xyz problem
happens what will you do?)
7. Why do you want to join IAS/MBA/Bank?
World Everything else that doesnt involve you.National and international issues, your
understanding and opinion on them.
Throughout the Year, you should maintain a note related to current affairs of your city,
state, graduation and hobbies (wherever applicable). Because you cant gather such
information in a month- even with all google searching.
And youre already preparing current affairs part of GS.
When mains examination is over, You may also consult books from library Kalam, Nilekani,
Guha etc gain more understanding of socio-economic-developmental issues related with
India. (and or truckload of IGNOU material on their website).
What should you do next?
Your semester/year end marksheets contain the list of subjects you studied in college.
When he browses through your file, suddenly asks What is this subject xyz?
You should have the answer ready.
Just the basics, you dont have to prepare minute details as if it is a GATE or PMT exam.
In every interview (IAS and career backups-State PSC, Bank, MBA etc), youll have to prepare
questions on graduation. But It is very tiresome to go through the same thick books over and over
again every time for interviews. So, Ideally make a very short note on the basics. Save you the
trouble forever.
Then second portion is current affairs related to your graduation
Doctor,
pharma
Public health, AIDS,Cancer research etc. (already discussed under GS
preparation)
Engineer IT: outsourcing, hacking, privacy and social networking, online shopping, IT act,
amendments etc.EC :2G, 3G etc.
Commerce Company act and amendments, DTC, GST etc.
Arts (litt.) Booker prize, any other famous books, litt and freedom of speech, controversies
of Tasleema Nasrin / Salman Rushdie etc.
^list is not exhaustive. You cant come up with this in one day or one week. So keep following
newspaper and dig google.
Your City-District-State
After mains examination is over, dig up more about Your graduation, city and State: Socio-
economic-political-cultural-geography.
Look beyond the obvious. E.g. Youre from Ahmedabad so you already know Sabarmati
river flows through your city. And interviewer also knows that you know about this obvious
fact. So instead, hell ask you Where does Sabarmati originate from? or why is it dry
during some months? And where does it meet the sea, is It gulf of Cambay or is it gulf of
Kutch?
Usually youre not aware of places of cultural/historic/tourist importance in your own city
while people elsewhere are. So dig all information. Ofcourse this also doesnt mean digging
up extremely trivial GK.
The name of MP, MLA of your Constituency, JNNURM projects in your city, BRTS and so
on..
Same for the district.
Then your State: for example Maharashtra you should be well versed in Leopard menace,
nuclear powerplant, Vidarbha issues etc.
Every State has its issues (both good and bad) and it is not necessary theyll be in current
affairs : for example Cyclone of Orissa, happened long time ago but if youre from that
state you must have idea on it. Again doesnt mean you do Ph.D on it from some library
book.
Following can happen during interview
1. You give good answer- He asks followup questions to probe you further. Then he leaves
the topic and next board member asks you on a different topic.
2. You give no answer e.g. Sorry sir Im not well versed in that topic . Or you give wrong
answer. He either corrects you or usually leaves topics, or ask a new question from same
subject.
3. You give bad answer- he throws a counter question /argument ( that usually doesnt have
an answer) the more you debate, it increases the chances of getting low marks and the
interview turning into a Stress-interview.
Some examples of bad answers
1. Wrong Choice of words that hints arrogance/lack of humility. For example saying I dont
agree with that instead of saying I beg to differ.
2. I donot know xyz topic because it was not in my graduation syllabus or because I was
preparing for UPSC during college so I dont know about that xyz topic.
3. I want to do IAS because there is no opportunity in my graduation field or because I dont
like that field or because there is no career growth in my private sector job.
4. For me IAS is not an end but a means for further personal growth in life or some other
mumbo-jumbo. (Repeated 5 thousand times in topper interviews. So even if your intention
is genuine, for them it is too phony and clichd answer.)
5. I know xyz thing, because it is given in Hindu/Laxmikanth/******s notes. (never cite
references unless specifically asked to.)
6. Book should not be judged by its cover, therefore Im not wearing a tie.or any answer
which you think is smart but he thinks is, oversmart.
7. Lopsided diagnosis and solution of a problem/issue. (Public policymaking should be left in
the hands of bureaucrats onlyWe must stop all trade relations with Pakistan until they
shut down terror campsPanchayati Raj serves no real purpose, instead recruit more
Government staff to look into Development issues at Tehsil or village level.)
Stress Interview
If he asks 90% of the questions from one subject only (for example International relations),
Then from his side it is a normal interview, but from your side it may feel like a stress
interview.
But stress interview, in its original form, means he intentionally counters your every answer
or argument or asks uncomfortable questions.
This is done, not to humiliate you but to test how you perform under stress. (Or because
you annoyed him and he wants to get even with you.)
By and large, UPSC interviews are not stress interviews but theyre not completely absent
either (many cases on orkut.)
An interview may turn into Stress interview because of following reasons
1. Youre plain unlucky.
2. Youre underprepared and your Body language shows it.
3. Giving Bad answer(s) or bad choice of words.
At home, in your head-run imaginary interviews. Ask your self questions, give yourself
answers and from those answers, pickup keywords and ask follow up questions.
When youve run enough imaginary interviews in your head, youll realize that certain
keywords or answers lead to followup questions from uncomfortable zone or
underprepared areas where you end up giving bad answers. So consciously avoid them
and rephrase or upgrade answers accordingly.
This concludes Act III. In next Act IV, Well see the doubts related to should I join coaching or
not?, will UPSC remove optionals or not?, how to manage time and mood? etc.
Appendix1: Download Links
1. Foxit PDF reader (necessary prerequisite for using Mrunals autonotemaker) click me to
download
2. Almost all of these PDF files provides direct copying of text. => That means you can use
Mrunals autonotemaker to quickly make notes and mindmaps out of it, just use mouse
cursor to highlight a particular line /phrase and my software will copy its text in a separate
file. for more instructions click me
NCERT and NIOS (Essential/Core)
TN State edu Books (for History) https://files.secureserver.net/0fnzZYT7SDNuC9
NIOS (for Culture) https://files.secureserver.net/0fdAWETp4sONW5
NCERT files: topicwise: https://files.secureserver.net/0fHCh0CLd6Az63
Youll find the material organized in various folders. Click on individual folder and download zip
files. Here is the description about the contents of individual folder:
Folder Comment
History
Contains NCERT history chapters from class 7 to 12, in three zip files:
ancient, medieval and Modern
+NIOS Culture material
Science
Contains class 7 to 10 NCERT Science in three zips: physics,
chemistry, biology.
+NIOS Science material. (although there will be lot of overlapping)
Class 11, 12 Science books given in the peripheral section below.
EnB
Contains selective chapters from class 6 to 12 from science and
geography textbooks that are relevant for Environment and biodiversity.
+NIOS material for environment and biodiversity EnB.
Economy
Contains NCERT class 11 + NCERT 12 Macro economics
+NIOS economy material.
Class 12 Micro-economics not included because not worth the time for
CDS. although download link in the peripheral section below.
Geography
Contains NCERT class 6 to 12 in five zip folders: physical, India,
World, Agro and glossary.
+NIOS material on geography (although lot of overlapping)
NCERT and NIOS (Peripheral)
read these if depending on your time and mood.
NIOS Single folder contains many courses from NIOS: sociology, political
science etc. download as per your time, mood and requirement.
Download
NCERTs
Biology 12 Biology Download
Economics 12 Introductory Microeconomics Download
Economics 10 Understanding Economic Development Class X Social
Science
Download
Economics 9 Economics for Class 9 Download
Political
Science
12 Contemporary World Politics Political Science Class 12 Download
Political
Science
12 Political Science 2 for Class 12 Download
Political
Science
11 Political Theory Political Science Class 11 Download
Political
Science
11 Indian Constitution at Work Political Science Class 11 Download
Political
Science
7 Social and Political Life Part 2 Class 7 Download
Political
Science
8 Social and Political Life Class 8 Download
Social sci. 10 Democratic Politics Part 2 for Class X Social Science Download
Sociology 12 Sociology Indian Society Download
Sociology 12 Sociology Social Change and Development in India for Download
Sociology 11 Introducing Sociology Class 11 Download
Sociology 11 Understanding Society Sociology Class 11 Download
World history 9 India and Contemporary World 1 for Class 9 Download
World history 10 India and the Contemporary World 2 Class X Social
Science
Download
Blank Answersheets
For practicing mock questions @homeclick ME
exam
mrunal.org http://mrunal.org/2012/11/strategy-upsc-civil-service-exam-ias-ips-ifs-part4-time-management-coaching-optionals.html
[Strategy] UPSC Civil Service Exam (Part 4 of 5): Time
Management, Coaching, optional subjects
1. Act IV: Conquering your own brain
2. Doubt: Should I join coaching class or not?
3. Option one: You study back home without Coaching
4. Option two : You go to Delhi to attend coaching.
5. If You join a class
6. #1 dont take mock tests lightly
7. #2 Classmates are not your enemies
8. #3 clarify your doubts
9. #4 follow up action immediately
10. #5 Never remain absent
11. If you dont join a class
12. #1: dont feel guilty
13. #2: Self control
14. #3: Company
15. Doubt: Optional subjects will be removed or not?
16. Doubt Hindi Medium aspirant
17. Doubt Non-Hindi, Non-English Medium aspirant
18. Doubt: Inferiority complex
19. Future Candidates Still in College
20. Doubt: Taking a job / PG
21. Doubt: Working Professionals: Leave the job or not?
22. #A: you leave the job
23. #B: you cant leave the job
24. #1: Rent a room close to office
25. #2: Burn the midnight lamp
26. #3 Use pendrive
27. #4 Use mobile
28. Time Management
29. Mood swings
30. Technical doubts
Act IV: Conquering your own brain
You already know the mindset of your enemy: Act I
you already know the weapons required to defeat him: Act II
you already know how to effectively utilize the weapons: Act III
but before you defeat him, you must conquer your own brain, cleanse it from all the doubts and
weaknesses. Else you cannot concentrate in studies. The first and foremost doubt, faced by
every new player:
Doubt: Should I join coaching class or not?
Answer is: If youve the time, money and mood, join them, else dont feel guilty or inferior about
it.
Im copy pasting the Cost comparision by Mr.Gokul G R (IAS, AIR 19, CSE-2010)
Option one: You study back home without Coaching
1. General Studies
1. Books : Rs. 3000 4000
2. Newspapers : Rs. 250 monthly ( Total : 6000 for 2 years; you will anyway subscribe,
whether you are preparing or not)
3. Periodicals : around 1500
4. Internet Net connection : 250 per month ( Total : 6000; you will anyway subscribe, whether
you are preparing or not)
5. Total Cost : Around 17000 ( over 2 years )
6. Total Extra cost : Rs. 6000 maximum (minus newspaper and net )
2. Optionals:
1. Books: 4-5 books for humanities optionals ( Mostly Indian Authors). Total cost : Not more
than Rs. 3000.
2. 7-8 books for science optionals. Total cost: Not more than Rs. 5000 ( If you are not
downloading pirated copies).
3. Total Extra cost : Rs. 14000 ( Highly liberal estimate and spend over 2 years). Use library,
old books and you can bring that down to a few thousand rupess.
Option two : You go to Delhi to attend coaching.
1. Coaching fees :
G.S : Rs, 50,000
Optionals : Rs. 30,000 each
Total : Rs. 1,10,000 (spot payment)
2. Periodicals, newspapers, net for personal use : Rs. 13,000 over 2 years.
3. High rent and cost of living : Around 10k every month.
Total extra Cost : Around 3 Lakhs ( Conservative estimate; multiply with no.of failed attempts,
extra fee for extra coaching etc).
And even after paying such huge, exorbitant costs, the quality of teaching ( as i get to know from
fellow aspirants) may not always be up to the mark.
End of copy paste.
If You join a class
Types of coaching class sirs
Type of teacher Your action
1. He is awesome at teaching. Doesnt talk anything except teaching.
From Day 1 to last day, his teaching quality remains the same.
Keep noting down
whatever he says-
atleast in
summery form.
Even if it given in
the books, note
down because
that will help you
in quick revision.
2. Initially he teaches some topics over which he has good command
(monsoon, fundamental rights etc) so students feel he is good. But
once the fees are depositedHe comes late. During the lecture,
He wastes too much time citing how awesome he is, how he knows
everything about UPSC and all other personal side talk. (which is
usually a sign that he doesnt have rock solid command over the
subject, hence trying to brainwash you.) And when time is over but
topic is incomplete, hed say read it in my printed material/books.
Curse yourself
that you joined his
class.Make friends
with some serious
players in his
class and do
group
study/discussion.
3. Some retired Professor. He teaches stuff in way too much detail
like it is a college lecture. Too much details and Ph.D from
academic point of view.
Just note down
any important
fact/fodder
material, else
Curse yourself
that you joined his
class.
In case you wonder why Type#2 teacher behaves in such bad way, Wont it hurt his long term
business prospects?
1. No it wont. Hed simply setup shop in a new city or change his brand name. Besides,
people usually dont drag him to consumer court, so he never changes his ways.
2. And hes good at marketing tricks, so hed keep getting new sacrificial lambs every year.
And never join a coaching class only because the ad says XYZ topper was from their class, such
ads are usually false or half-truths!
There are some State Government run coaching classes in various parts of India
For example
Gujarat has SPIPA, Ahmedabad
Maharahstra has SIAC,Mumbai
Tamil Nadu and UP too have it, I cant remember the name.
Apart from that, many Caste based coaching classes.
While the teaching quality may not be very good in such classes, but fees are cheap,
library and atmosphere, peer-group is good.
So if youre not a working professional, and not going to Delhi mainly for financial reasons,
then just go ahead get admission in such classes. (PS sometimes theyve entrance exam,
but theyre usually similar to UPSC Prelims)
Anyways, once youve joined a class anywhere, what to do?
#1 dont take mock tests lightly
If there was a school-test, youd be worried because your parents or teachers would scold you
for low marks. But in coaching class, there is no such pressure.
So, many people take the mock tests very lightly. For e.g. there is mock test of ancient History
topic, but youre preparing polity as per your own time table. So you appear in the mock test only
for namesake, =you get low marks but you try to placate yourself and make excuse to yourself
koi nai, I had not prepared so I did not get the marks this approach is wrong. Prepare seriously
for every test.
#2 Classmates are not your enemies
In the mock tests, If someone is getting more marks than you. He is not your enemy. Try to
learn what are you lacking that he has? And make amendments in your preparation
accordingly.
Make friends with people whore as serious or more serious than you in studies. Keep in
touch with them even when classes are over.
#3 clarify your doubts
During class, many people have doubt in a topic, but they dont ask the teacher thinking I
would look silly, or other people will also know the answer and theyre my enemies!.
Usually teachers immediately leave after the class, because theyve classes elsewhere (or
because they dont want to be bogged down by all querries after class hehehe).
So, whenever youve doubt, immediately ask it.
#4 follow up action immediately
If your sir taught xyz topic today. Then go home, immediately read the relevant printed
material / books/ internet at home. Prepare or upgrade notes if required.
In this way, youll get better command over the topic.
If you postpone this work for 15-20 days, then youre digging your own grave.
#5 Never remain absent
Some distant relative/friends marriage is no excuse to remain absent in the class. In fact
ignore all such marriage ceremonies whether youve coaching or not. Your main aim to
clear UPSC exam, everything can and must wait.
Even if the sirs teaching quality is bogus, still attend the class, youll come home learning
two three more things (or revising them during his class)
If you dont join a class
That is- youre doing self preparation.
#1: dont feel guilty
First of all, throw away any doubt, guilt or inferiority complex that you have e.g.Im not
going to Delhi so my success chances are less.
Dont think in that manner. please avoid company of people whore thinking in that manner.
Because negative vibes are infectious. It creates demotivation and affects your studies.
And once youve decided, then dont doubt your decision or caliber.
Success is very much possible, without coaching. And Following people cracked the exam
without coaching (list is not exhaustive):
All India Rank (2011) Year
Harshika Singh 8 2011
Om Kasera 17 2011
Gokul G.R. 19 2010
Mohd.Safi 55 2009
#2: Self control
If you goto gym, you see other people are doing more exercise, and got better body than
yours. It automatically motivates you to do exercise further.
But if youre at home, it is easy to lose track, and become complacent about preparation
e.g. koi nai, thik hai, there are still many months left before the exam, Ill manage
Sorry you cant manage. Weeks and months will pass like this and just 30 days before the
exam, youll realize that you havent really prepared much throughout the year. Then you
start looking for shortcuts i.e. readymade current affairs material etc. = #epicfail.
Dont let your mood dictate your studies. Spend majority of your day with books,
magazines and newspapers only. (if youre not a working professional).
#3: Company
Make a few friends from the field, either in real life or on internet. Peer pressure helps in
keeping the tempo and motivation for studies.
More time Management tips are given separately in the later part of this article.
I hope the coaching doubt is clear. Now to the second doubt that is bothering every aspirant:
Doubt: Optional subjects will be removed or not?
Answer.
1. Will UPSC remove Optional subject from mains?=Yes.
2. When exactly will UPSC remove the optional subject from mains? Is it 2013 or 2014? =I
dont know yet.
Few months back I had filled an R.T.I to UPSC regarding this question,
they replied weve appointed Committee headed by Prof. Nigvenkar, to look into the matter. We
cannot tell when optional will be removed
(click me to see the whole R.T.I reply)
At the moment, The aspirant community is divided into two viewpoints: both based on the
timetable published on official site: http://upsc.gov.in/exams/exams.htm#PageTop
Viewpoint: Change Viewpoint: Status Quo
Optionals will be removed in 2013 because Optionals will not be removed in
2013 because,
Fact: Usually UPSC gave notification in Dec/January.
This time notification is going to come in
February.Fact: usually UPSC started Mains exam in
October, this time it has been shifted to November.All
this suggest that UPSC is planning to remove optionals
and change syllabus.
Agreed but, The same page of
UPSC mentions that UPSC Mains
starts from 08.11.2013 (FRIDAY)
and duration 21 DAYS. So how can
exam duration be 21 days if there are
no optionals?
Last month I filed another R.T.I to seek the status update of this Prof. Nigvenkar
Committee.
Im yet to receive a reply from UPSC. Although Im not really sure UPSC will give clear cut
answers, given its history of taking sadistic pleasure by keeping things in limbo, else
UPSC can issue a Press-statement right now to clear the air on this matter and save
aspirants the agony and stress theyre going through.
Anyways for the moment- finish the syllabus of topics that are present in GS mains but
absent in prelims i.e. first aid, statistics etc. and do the Yojana, Kurukshetra issues from
Jan 2012 onwards. There is enough food in your platter, try to finish most of it.
And once this optional subject controversy is settled (most probably in February 2013
notification), there will be some new conspiracy theory -most probably regarding separation of
IPS exam. So overall how to deal with rumor bombs? Click ME.
So this doubt of optional subjects =remains unsettled (for now). Moving on to next doubt
Doubt Hindi Medium aspirant
Booklist and strategy remains the same. Only titles change.
English Hindi
NCERTs Available in Hindi, both in market as well as official site:
http://www.ncert.nic.in/
NOS (National open
school)
Some are available in Hindi, some are
not.http://www.nios.ac.in/online-course-material.aspx
General Studies Manual Samanya Adhyayan
India Yearbook (India
2013)
Bharat 2013
Indian Polity by
M.Laxmikanth
Bharat Ki Rajya Vyavashta by M.Laxmikanth
Indian Economy by
Ramesh Singh
Bharat ki Artha-vyavastha by Ramesh Singh
Yojana Kurukshetra,
PD,CST
Available in Hindi
Spectrum publication
books (History, Culture,
Statistics)
Available in Hindi
Bipin Chandra He has books in Hindi,but Not really sure of about exact title.
2
nd
ARC
Available in Hindi on their official website
The Hindu No alternative. Must be read in English
IGNOU BA/MA PDF
files
Available in Hindi. www.Egyankosh.ac.inSome file are not
uploaded. Have to purchase Hindi booklets from university.
Instructions given here: click ME
Doubt Non-Hindi, Non-English Medium aspirant
Starting with Gujarati aspirants.
1. For prelims, consult the same books English / Hindi, because youve to only tick the MCQ
answer.
2. Gujarati books for IAS exam= useless and waste of time. (Amuk loko ujjad van maa
erando pradhan thayi ne behelaa chhe.) But for mains, to write descriptive answers In
Gujarati.you need the Gujarati Vocabulary for Geography, Polity etc. buy any ône of
them or any GPSC material.
3. If you think you can rely Gujarati books meant for GPSC and succeed in UPSC = mistake.
Because there are always some senior players who keep reading English newspapers,
magazines, reference books and convert them into their own handwritten notes in Gujarati
so their answer quality will be better than yours. Therefore Always prefer to maintain your
own notes from standard reference books of Hindi/English.
4. If UPSC keeps optionals use the Hindi/English standard reference books and then
consult Baba Saheb Amedkar Univ.s material for Gujarati BA/MA exam (where applicable)
or books from University Granth Nirmaan Board to get the vocabulary and formal answer
writing.
5. The Hindu/Indianexpress =must. You may read Gujarati newspaper columns, only for
getting Gujarati vocabulary for Essay. But your essay quality, content and depth should be
higher than them.
Now Marathi,Tamil,Punjabi,Telugu etc. similar advice as above.
1. For prelims use either English /Hindi books as such.
2. For mains, you need to write descriptive answers, so you need the formal vocabulary for
your language. So to get that vocabulary, buy any book or State PSC material written in
your language. Using that vocabulary, maintain your notes from standard reference books
/ English newspapers.
3. For more suggestions, consult some senior players in your area/ via internet.
So this Hindi/Gujarati/Marathi/Tamil language and material doubt is partially settled. Now moving
to next problem.
Doubt: Inferiority complex
Some people have this feeling of insecurity, throughout preparation
1. Im not from a reputed college.
2. Ive very low score in graduation, I failed in some semester.
3. I dont have work-experience or extra-curricular certificates.
4. Im not from English mediumAnd so on.
^dont worry. Many People with such profile have cleared the civil service exam.
When an examiner checks your mains answersheet he doesnt know about all those
things.
Even in interview, they dont really dwell into those topics (unlike IIM interviews hehehe),
and even if they notice it, your interview score doesnt depend on a single variable or
single question.
So stop all those negative thoughts. And avoid company of any other person who is
spreading such negative vibes.
Besides you cant go back in History using a time-machine to fix all those things in your
life. So just keep moving forward.
Having said this, Im must also precaution the
Future Candidates Still in College
Please donot ignore your college studies. You must strive to get atleast first class (60%) in
college exam.
Why?
Because usually your backup plans will require it. For example
1. A General category candidate cannot apply for CAT, if he has less than 50%.
2. In certain specialized State PSC jobs*, Bank recruitments, they explicitly mention it that
youll need minimum xyz score in your graduation or post graduation.
3. Whenever you go for private company job interview, they look into your graduation score
especially if youve zero or low work experiance.
*In State PSC there are two type of recruitment one is general large scale recruitment e.g.
Deputy collector, DySP, Range Forest officer, Sales Tax inspector etc. in such exams,
college marks dont matter much.
And other type is specialized small scale recruitment e.g. only one or two vacancies in
Food and drug Department. Then they want to reduce number of applicants to save
time. So they device high graduation marks e.g. only minimum 60% in Graduation or 55%
in PG can apply Same goes for certain Banks. So dont ignore college studies.
In some colleges and universities, you can get first class with almost zero preparation. But it
doesnt mean you should completely ignore studies.
Again why?
Because during interview @UPSC, State PSC, or any private companybasically at any
interview, they usually ask a few questions on your graduation.
And you cant make an excuse that sorry I dont know the answer because I was
preparing for UPSC/CAT during college!
That answer will ruin rest of your interview because then board will start asking
uncomfortable questions and turn it into a stress interview.
I hope this doubt is settled. Moving on to next doubt
Doubt: Taking a job / PG
Q. I just graduated from college. Should I take job, or pickup Post-Graduation course or directly
start preparing for UPSC?
Ans. Depends on your financial situation and family support.
Job part:
If Civil Service is your ultimate goal, you just want a job for pocketmoney and preparation,
then look for a job that has minimum workload and travel time = then you can allot max
energy for preparation.
For example Computer Lab assistant, receptionist, temporary lecturer etc.
Ofcourse there are no big salaries or quick promotions in such jobs but then you cant eat
Laddu with both the hands.
PG part:
Pros: atleast your backup is secured i.e. if you fail in IAS, you can go back private company at a
decent job (compared to having single bachelor degree)
Cons:
1. Doing PG from some half**** bogus college hardly has any market value. Youre way
better off in bank clerks job than the amount of salary one gets through such overhyped
PG courses. (more explained in backup plan, in Act V)
2. To get admission in reputed college, one has to give some sort of entrance exam.
3. In reputed college, You may not be left with sufficient time left for UPSC preparation due
to assignments and semester exams. But still there is more time and energy than available
to working professionals in some fields.
In the end depends on your taste for career backup. Consider all factors and then decide.
Doubt: Working Professionals: Leave the job or not?
Question: Im a working professional, find it hard to allot time for studies. Should I leave job or
not?
Answer:
1. There are toppers who cleared civil service exam without leaving job (Om Kasera,
Mohd.Safi to cite a few)
2. On the hand there toppers who left the job for preparation because it had become
impossible to manage studies with job.
So door swings both ways. Whether you should leave the job or not, depends on many factors
1. Your age
2. Marital status, support of the spouse. (if they superficially support but then they and their
relatives indirectly keep nagging you all the time =problem.)
3. Family support and family responsibilities (e.g. father is retired or not, sisters wedding
etc.)
4. Financial situation, outstanding loans and EMIs (do you have enough bank balance from
your job to survive for next one or two years)
5. Work load, travelling (if it is very low, then no point in leaving job.)
6. Opportunity cost of leaving the job- in terms of promotion and seniority in the private
sector (particularly for 27-35 age group candidates.)
#A: you leave the job
Then proceed according to the suggestions given for coaching/no-coaching case.
#B: you cant leave the job
Five rules for working professionals, already given CLICK ME.
Here are some more
#1: Rent a room close to office
Travel-fatigue is the main cause of under-preparation. If youve to commute for 3-4 hours a day
to and from home to office, then it becomes very difficult to wake up till late night. So ideally try to
rent a room very close to office (but usually rooms near office, have higher rent- life is always
cruel to UPSC aspirant.)
#2: Burn the midnight lamp
Irrespective of travel fatigue, try to wake up till 12pm to 1AM. Ya all the fancy medical talk and
arguments of long term negative impacts on health. But 6 hours sleep Is sufficient.
1. Lot of teenagers and college kids in metro cities, they usually wake up until midnight doing
nothing but facebook, internet surfing and yahoo chat.
2. On the other hand those Corporate barons, IIM grads etc. who mint lakhs of rupees per
month. Yes once in while they can indulge in luxuries and fun but otherwise they too work
until late night. They may not have travel fatigue but mental stress is even higher.
So on both ends of the spectrum, if people can wake up until late night- why cant you?
You dont want to leave job, you dont wake up till midnight, .well once again cant eat
laddu with both the hands. Success requires sacrifice.
Plus late night preparation would be necessary during loading doze period. Not much
during maintenance doze. So consider this as a temporary problem.
#3 Use pendrive
Prepare some notes/mindmaps on homePC or laptop.
Transfer them to pendrive/mobile phone so that you can revise it in office PC or on your
mobile phone (if it has windows or android system with all those funky softwares) tablet
during free time. Or upload It on google docs for sync between office vs home PC.
#4 Use mobile
If youve a mobile with Windows system, you can install following softwares
1. Caligrapher (it lets you convert handwriting into textif phone comes with stylus). There
are other programs as well.
2. Evernote or Phatnotes (for arranging notes and data, maintaining diary)
3. Freemind (mobile version)
4. Or export mindmaps made in home/office PC into .jpeg or .png files, transfer it into your
mobile/tablet and review them when free.
5. Record notes in your own voice, listen to them when free (instead of listing to music)
These are just examples, there are many good softwares, just google (or try Softpedia.coms
mobile section)
And There will be similar apps for android phone/apple/blackberry/tablets.
In the end use whatever technology or gadget you can afford or use, to help you in
preparation.
Now moving to the doubt/issue that affects everyone irrespective of his language medium,
job and coaching situation.
Time Management
1. Donot try to quantify your study in terms of hours. dont consciously look at watch oh yes,
Ive been studying for 1 hour 34 minutes, so let me watch TV now to get fresh. This is not
a board exam.
2. Some people start drinking tea/coffee or cigarette after every 2 hours. They think it helps
them concentrate in studies. (a habit usually picked up during hostel days). Real men
dont need external stimulants. Drinking tea only takes 5 minute, but theyd spend next 30-
40 minutes chatting with their buddies at tea stall or doing nothing on mobile phone. This is
not how your prepare for IAS exam.
3. Grow up. Stop sending chain emails and chain SMS around.
4. Avoid pseudo-IAS aspirants. Theyre looking at the finger rather than moon type. They
spend more time in chit-chat, UPSC rumors, politics etc. Can be found on internet, and in
coaching classes and library.
5. Avoid Chipkoo people in life and on phone. All they care is timepass.
6. Always Remain offline in gtalk/facebook messanger/yahoo messenger.
7. Einstein said time is relative. You can easily waste 20 minutes surfing TV-channels even if
there is no good program on TV. Previously there was orkut, now weve facebook. You can
easily waste 45 minutes to two hours, doing nothing but clicking your mouse. There is no
need to comment on every photo you get tagged in, there is no need to give birthday
wishes. There is no need to add more friends to your profile.
8. Fix your email checking time. E.g. only @2PM or 7PM. There is no need to reply to every
mail. Use the Gmail filters to get rid of bogus people who send Chain email, jokes etc.
Mood swings
1. There are somedays when youre in absolute good mood and read for 7-8-12-15
hours. There are somedays when youve no mood and you dont even touch the
newspaper.
2. Perseverance is necessary for success in any competitive exams. Donot let your ^mood to
dictate your studies. (Although it is easier said than done.)
3. The mindset haa thik hai, ho jaayegaa, abhi bahot der hai (ok, Itll be done, there is still
lot of time left). With this attitude, youll digup your own grave.
4. Peace of mind is most important. You fight, debate or argue with someone, then even after
the argument is over, you still keep thinking about it, I should have said this or that. Saale
ko thik kar doongaa (Ill teach him a lesson). No my friend, your primary target is UPSC,
put your time and energy in studies. Everything else is secondary- dont waste your time
or energy in them. So, Avoid arguments, debates, fights both online and offline.
5. Therefore Avoid people that ruin your mood: both online and offline (except your boss or
client!).
6. Avoid Dukhi Aatmaa (cry-babies). Theyre just too worried about everything. My friend
from Delhi said, UPSC is going to remove optionals and introduce paper on policy
sciencewhat will be do!? Xyz sir said UPSC will reduce age limit! They spread their
negative vibes on you.
7. Girlfriend usually leaves after 2
nd
failed attempt in UPSC (cant blame, you cant and
shouldnt expect her or her parents to wait for you that long.) Then it creates more
heartburning, depression= not good for studies. Therefore UPSC and love affairs are
usually not compatible. Pick only one at a time.
8. Similarly avoid temptation or persuasion from parents to get married. Dont get married
until youre selected in UPSC or youve fully executed your career backup plan.
Life of a UPSC aspirant is very cruel. Outsiders cannot understand it and they ruin mood with
their questions and unwanted advices. For example
A He is a UPSC Aspirant. Minding his own damn business, busy eating daal-chawal
@wedding reception.
B Kya kar rahe ho? (what are you doing?)
A Preparing for UPSC.
B Still preparing for that exam? You said the same thing last year!
A (In his head) because UPSC is three stage process, takes one year to complete.(on face)
some diplomatic answer.
B Acchaa, my uncles son got selected. Why dont you take tips from him?
A
(In his head) If UPSC is hellbent in scaling system and Backbreaking
TM
, there is nothing
anybody can do.(on face) sure Ill contact him.
B Leaves
A Resumes Minding his own damn business, busy eating daal-chawal.
C Makes entry. Repeats the question :Kya kar rahe ho? (what are you doing?)
A Same answer.
C (He has no interest in knowing what youre doing. He asked you question only to start
conversation and show off how his son is better.)Acchaa.. My Son **** has done MBA from
****. Salary Package is * lakhs and he has ** number of people under his command. So,
you Leave this IAS, Bi-AS, join that college!
A (in His head) Why the hell do I care how much he earns or how much staff he got! My
definition of success is different. (on face) That is really good.
C Leaves
A Resumes Minding his own damn business.
D D is an old-college batchmate. Same question cycle.
D Do you know that our batchmate Mr.X has left company Y and joined company Z and now
his salary package is 6 lakhs. He also bought a Honda city (car) and getting married next
month.
A (in His head) Ya but he was a complete *Gangaajal adjective* so even if he earns 60
crores, buys a Ferrari and marries Katrina Kaif, he is not going to earn my respect or even
jealousy. (on face) very good yaar.
D Do you remember that girl **** from our college, she and ***** got married/ she started
affair with *****, recently I spotted her at *****.
A (in His head) because of my UPSC (mis)adventures, Ive grown up: mentally and
emotionally. I dont care about those things like I used to, during the college years hahaha.
(on face) some diplomatic answer.
D Ok then best of luck.
EFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTsame things.
Throughout your journey, these conversations are going to repeat in one form or another.
Very few people actually understand the pain and struggle involved, rest of them are just phony
lip service and mood killers. Therefore:
1. Have tough skin of a salesman. Dont let their talks affect you. When you come back
home, your head should be clear else you cannot concentrate in studies and will ponder
more and more about the past. Sometimes you might even start thinking of quitting UPSC
game to join their world- dont.
2. Dont announce to everyone that youre preparing for UPSC. Keep it to yourself, and very
few close friends.
3. Avoid social gatherings unless absolutely necessary.
4. Never compare yourself with your batchmates, colleagues, kids of relatives
and neighbors.
Now some other technical doubts
Technical doubts
Question Answer
Age and attempt limit http://mrunal.org/upsc/faq-age-trialsCentral Service employees
dont get age relaxation.But CRPF,BSF etc now comes under
Ex-servicemen category hence get age relaxation.
Physical requirements /
Medical checkup disability
related queries
http://mrunal.org/2012/07/med-gazette-upsc.html
OBC Creamy layer http://mrunal.org/2012/05/q-creamy-layer-obc-gets-4-attempts-
only.html
Postal Graduation
/Distance Education
Degree and its validity for
UPSC exam
http://mrunal.org/2010/12/update-my-distant-education-degree-
is.html
exam
mrunal.org http://mrunal.org/2012/11/strategy-upsc-civil-service-exam-ias-ips-ifs-part5-backups.html
[Strategy] UPSC Civil Service Exam (Part 5 of 5)
Career Backup Plans: How to prepare for State PSC
etc
1. Act V: Retreat Plan
2. Allied UPSC exam (IES,IFS,Geologist, SCRA, CDS,CPF etc.)
3. State PSC: Pujnab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh etc.
4. How to Prepare for State PSC?
5. Bank/PSU/SSC type jobs
6. Professor type jobs (UGC NET/SLET/JRF etc.)
7. Doing PG
8. Q1. Should I do PG or not?
9. Specialized Professional degrees
10. MBA
11. Epilogue
Act V: Retreat Plan
You must prepare with a positive attitude that Ill study hard and Ill get selected
But at the same time, you should also be prepared for the worst case scenario.
The reasons are following
1. Pass or fail, UPSC takes away one year of life. Then youd think since Ive invested so
much time, energy and money, let me given another attempt. For a serious player, this
cycle keeps repeating until he gets selected or he is out of the game because of
age/attempt limit.
2. If you reach mains/interview stage, youll earn respect of the fellow players but outside this
UPSC game, it means nothing. Nobody will give you job (or hand of his daughter) just
because you had cleared prelims or mains.
In short there are no consolation prizes for participating in UPSC. For More elaboration CLICK
ME
Career Backup plans usually involve following sectors
1. Allied UPSC exams (IES,IFS,Geologist, SCRA, CDS,CPF etc.)
2. State Government/ State PSC exams
3. Bank /PSU/LIC/ONGC/SSC type jobs
4. Professor type jobs (UGC NET/JRF)
5. Doing PG/MBA/moving abroad
6. Returning to private company job
7. Starting your Business
If your backup plan is #1 to #3, then (free) subscribe to this blog sarkarinaukriblog.com/ :it will
give you free email notification on any upcoming job exams, so you dont have to manually check
every site.
And it is all easier said than done. You might feel ya Ill become bank PO or State PSC,
whats the big deal? Such pappu exams are no match for my caliber !
The big deal is, no exam is a pappu exam as long as there are two people competing for
one vacancy. And there are always existing serious players from those fields dedicated for
a particular exam 24/7. The competition is intense everywhere. So dont take any
competitive exam for granted.
At the same time, you shouldnt be so extremely occupied with backup plans that you cant
allot enough time for UPSC preparation,
The purpose of writing this article is
1. Because Prevention is better than cure.
2. There are good opportunities outside UPSC also. So failure in UPSC =not the end of life
or career.
Allied UPSC exam (IES,IFS,Geologist, SCRA, CDS,CPF etc.)
First step: check age, educational eligibility in advance.
http://www.upsc.gov.in/
E.g. To apply for Indian Economist/Statistical/Geologist/Forest service, one would need to have
specialized degrees in certain science/commerce/engineering fields.
Then check old papers: http://www.upsc.gov.in/questionpaper/index.htm#PageTop
GK/GS would remain more or less the same. (for CPF, GS MCQ paper is almost identical to IAS
prelims)
For whatever is different consult a serving officer or Government college Professor of that field
and seek the booklist-strategy. e.g. Indian Forest Service, theyve separate set of optional
subjects, and youre unlikely to find any tips on google search.
State PSC: Pujnab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh etc.
Important notes about these exams
1. According to Government rules, 1/3
rd
of All India services vacancies are to be filled by
State Service promotes.
That means, if Maharashtra state cadre has 300 posts for IAS, Then 200 posts will be manned
up by Direct IAS officers recruited through UPSC Civil Service exam and 100 will be manned by
giving promotion to Deputy Collectors (Maha.Administrative Service) who were recruited
via Maharashtra State PSC. These are referred as Nominated/Promotee IAS.Similarly
DySP (State PSC) => DSP (IPS)
Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) (State Forest Service)=> Conservator of Forest (IFS)
Ofcourse some states may have different nomenclatures and posts, but overall principle is this^.
So being in State service is also good. But at the same time nomination depends on many
variables, including your service record, Cadre strength, your own seniority in State Service
Batch etc.
2. State PSC recruitment are usually not held at regular interval. E.g. If Punjab PSC is held in
2013, there is no guarantee theyll hold it again in 2014 or 2015. (because it depends on
Vacancies and retirements.) So whenever there is notification, go ahead and apply. Dont
wait for your UPSC age/attempt to reach at the end level before executing backup
plan.
3. State PSC results often get tangled in court stay-orders because of irregularity/corruption
allegations etc. So even if State PSC is your backup, also think of a tertiary backup, else
you might cross the age limit for other exams.
How to Prepare for State PSC?
The exam structure would remain more or less the same as UPSC. (prelims, mains,
interview) The difference is in depth and breadth of questions.
First buy class 7 to 12 History, Social Science, Geography textbooks of particular State
Education Board.
Also buy guides and digests for Class 10 and 12.
Thatll help you gather the GK/GS specific to that state.
Also buy some (bogus) readymade book/ coaching material meant for giving you
information of particular state, its history, geography, culture etc.
Second task is to get the old papers to check out the trend.
1. If available on internet, download them
2. If old papersets are available in market then go ahead buy it.
3. if not available then file R.T.I and ask them to provide it in CD/DVD format. (because
papercopy cost will be high)
in papersets youve to see following
1. Topicwise breakup (usually, though not always, State PSC are mostly History-Geograpy-
Trivial Current GK type MCQs)
2. Question style. Is it like 90s stuff -dates, names and numbers or do they test your
understanding and intelligence.
Then prepare accordingly. Booklist remains more or less the same as you had for UPSC
exam but what differs is how you look at the topics.
For the mains, State PSC usually have direct static type of questions. So just mugup
everything and practice answer-writing for static questions asked in previous State
PSC/UPSC exams.
For History etc. (optionals) consult the Government university papers of State.
Also use newspaper for current affairs related to the State. (but I assume youd already be
doing it part of your profile based interview questions for UPSC.)
Bank/PSU/SSC type jobs
They usually have two phases: MCQs and interview
MCQ test usually has four segments
1. GK
2. Maths
3. Reasoning
4. English
While GK will not give you much trouble, Aptitude part (Maths,Reasoning) will require heavy
efforts and Data interpretation requires quick-calculation.
RS Agarwals book on Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning
(+Sarvesh Kumar) should save the day.
Professor type jobs (UGC NET/SLET/JRF etc.)
These ones require Post Graduation (or 4 year BE/MBBS type course). So first get the
idea on age/educational requirements.
Then youve to face MCQ questions on GS,comprehension, particular (optional) subject.
If you dont have a Post graduation degree, what to do? Simple enroll to any IGNOU
program and get distant education degree (MA/MBA/MCA/MSW whatever suits you.)
But enroll as early as possible. Why? It takes two years to complete PG course from
IGNOU (even if youve Public Administration/socio optional, and you have the brains to
clear IGNOUs two years exam in one daystill youll need to wait for two years to get the
final degree).
They also have launched some on-demand exam thing. But the webportal wasnt
properly working, the last time I tried. You might want to look into that part too.
Doing PG
Post graduation degrees are of following types
1. One that has not much value in market (IGNOU except for Professor type jobs)
2. Specialized Professional Degrees (Government vs Self financed college)
3. MBA
Q1. Should I do PG or not?
In India weve a problem of academic inflation. Every tom, dick and harry has got a PG
degree, so if you dont have a stupid paper certificate in your file, then it creates problem
while looking for private co. jobs.
In certain places, weightage is given to PG degree (CAT/IIM, UGC, specialized
recruitment for certain jobs via UPSC and State PSC eg. Food Commissioner or Social
welfare officer)
Same goes for matrimonial ads hahaha.
My advice: there is no harm in going for first type of degree (IGNOU)
Reasons are following
1. Fee is cheap (around 8000.)
2. Their degree is legit for various Government jobs
3. You can get first class without any effort. Atmost 15 days of preparation is sufficient
(because they repeat questions from last five years papers) and they give booklets. Thus
you can enroll for the program even while preparing for UPSC, Bank, CAT or State PSC or
anything else.
4. You dont need to attend college.
Ofcourse such degrees dont have much value in market but then, at this investment (Rs.8k and
15 days) we cant complaint! Good to add one more certificate in the file (because of the
academic inflation).
Infact this is highly recommended for CAT aspirants whore not getting interview call for IIMs,
because their profile score is low.
Coming to the second type of degrees
Specialized Professional degrees
Can be of two types:
1. M.E., M.S., M.Tech etc. from a reputed college recognized by UGC/AICTE.
2. Degree has vocational value but not recognized for Government jobs. (e.g. doing M.Sc
Clinical research from self-financed college that doesnt have AICTE approval. )
Even if you cross age/attempt limit of UPSC or State PSC, there are always some
specialized recruitment conducted for certain Government jobs later on, where youll be eligible.
But then theyd ask for work experience and PG. So ideally one should go to a course
recognized by UGC/AICTE because then it is automatically recognized for Government jobs.
When it comes to second category (professional degree, not recognized by UGC/AICTE)
be extremely careful in course selection.
Many mushroom courses and institutes have popped up recently. For one or two years
there is good demand (because new MNCs would have come and very few people had
the degree in particular field), but then self financed institutes popup in every nook and
corner=over saturation of labor force = you cant get decent placement. (e.g. M.Pharm and
Airhostess in Gujarat.)
Such courses drain away two years of your life, 2-8 lakhs out of your pocket +hardly
upward career/salary movement +calculate the house-rent, electricity bill, LPG
connection, child-education in big city..
Ofcourse glass is both half full and half empty. There will be some people with high caliber
who rise on the top, in particular field, even when there is over-saturation of labour force.
But do your own research on future career prospects, before investing time and money in
such courses, dont blindly follow crowds and advertisements.
MBA
How to prepare for CAT, explained here Click ME, same should also help for other exam SNAP,
CMAT, MAT etc. with slight modifications.
Problem: Although the courageous shall prevail, but journey is not easy. All your past follies start
haunting you. Even if you get decent score in CAT, still your low score in 10-12-Graduation-PG,
No extra curricular, low work xp, Everything Is given weightage before calling you for interview
and giving final admission. (IIM Calcutta exception). And MBA is no panacea for every problem.
It depends
If the institute is highly reputed, then all well and good.
But If youre already 28-30 years old (after UPSC adventures), there is not much point in
getting admission in some half*** MBA college and wasting 2 more years + 10 lakh
rupees. (donot go by average placement packages. they dont tell your the correct
picture.)
And yes glass is both half full and half empty.
Epilogue
1. Notesmaking + Revision = time tested formula for success in UPSC exam.
2. With hard work (and good luck), Success = possible irrespective of coaching/no-
coaching/job/no-job/first-attempt/last-attempt/English/Non-english
3. BUT Never put all eggs in one basket.
This conclude the Five part series of War on UPSC. Here are the links to all articles, in case
you missed any:
exam
mrunal.org http://mrunal.org/2013/03/approach-upsc-2013-general-studies-prelims-mains.html
[Approach] UPSC 2013 General Studies: Prelims +
Mains for Civil Service IAS IPS Exam
This articles needs to be tweaked further in the light of actual papers of Mains-2013.
However should give the basic idea to new players.
1. Prologue
2. What is not changed?
3. Prelims approach
4. What about the current affairs?
5. Mains Exam: Change of format
6. GS1: Culture History Geography
7. GS2: Polity, Yearbook, IR
8. GS3: Economy, Environment, S&T, Agro, Disaster and Security
9. GS4: Ethics
10. Personal Opinion?
Prologue
Ok, so few days back UPSC released the much awaited notification for 2013 So you
already know, what is changed. It is a stale news. This article is just an overview article for
future approach.
Ill upload a full fledged strategy / approach / studyplan for General studies (Mains),
combined with all list of topics to be prepared, resources, downloads etc. Yes i know
preliminary is over, but it takes time for me to wade through all the books and pdfs myself.
You dont want me to misguide you in haste, do you? hahaha. Besides Ive other exams to
look into IES, CDS, RAS et al.
What is not changed?
1. Age- attempt limit is not changed.
2. Age is still counted on 1
st
August of the given year. (rumor market said UPSC was
planning to count age on 1
st
Jan.)
3. Vacancies are almost the same (2012: 1037 vacancies, 2013: approx. 1000)
4. Mains to Interview quota is same (twice the number of vacancies. It was same in 2011 and
2012)
5. Prelims syllabus is not changed even one bit. (so the approach / strategy for prelims
remains one and same.)
Prelims approach
Approach to general studies for prelims, already given long time ago. Here is just a checklist, ask
yourself:
1. Ive finished reading NCERT, NIOS, Yearbook, Laxmikanth etc. (+static topics from GS
Manual) multiple times. Ive rock solid command over them (or Ill be revising them often
until I get rock solid command).
2. Ive tried/ will try myself with the MCQs given in GS Manual.
3. For aptitude, Im doing maximum practice at night (so I dont fall asleep by simply reading
some book).
Thats Well and good, youre on right track. Now the question that bothers a lot of candidates:
What about the current affairs?
Current affairs itself is quite big. But for prelims, youve to concentrate only on the current affairs
associated with specific sectors:
High priority
current affairs
1. Environment n biodiversity
2. Science tech
3. Polity
4. Economy.
5. Yearbook stuff (Government schemes/ org. etc)
Low priority
current affairs
1. International relations.
2. Misc.GK (Sports, awards, persons in news, books, authors etc): Lists
already given for 2012 and 13 click me
If youve been maintaining notes out of Hindu/Indianexpress past one year, thats totally
awesome. Just keep doing it.
But those of you, who joined the game late and or did not diligently read
newspapers/maintained notes. What to do now? Here is a firefighting tip. Do any one of
the following
Option A:
Get a book called Wizards Current Affairs 2013. (they publish it every year. Please note,
other publication houses also release similar books. Use whatever is easily available to
you.)
It doesnt guarantee UPSC is directly going to asks questions from it. But such book gives
an overview of what happened past one year (in topicwise fashion: bilateral, sci-tech etc.)
The book itself is quite thick but you dont have to prepare everything, just concentrate on
the high priority areas. Then you dig internet, standard reference books etc. for topics that
are directly indirectly related to it and are basic in nature. For example, there is news
about Libya, then you check Libyas location in the map, its capital, its bordering nations
and so on. There is some news about Eastern Dedicated freight corridor, then you dig out
from which states does this corridor pass through? ..Prelims is not about Ph.D. Prelims
is mostly about tricky questions from very basic concepts / facts.
Option B:
hit the public library. Pick past 1 years current affairs magazines (CST, Chronicle, PD,
Wizard..whatever is available).
Go through the first 20-25 pages :the important national international affairs are given
here.
And Remaining pages of magazines is usually filler material (toppers interviews and
recycled articles on polity), you can read them if youve time and mood.
But from those first 20-25 pages, note down the exam worthy current affairs, come back
home dig net +/- standard reference books as and where required.
^Please note, these option A / B are just firefighting tools. Theyd work fine for SSC, SBI type
exams. But Current affairs for UPSC is a different game altogether. Thats the reason Ive always
advised people to read daily newspapers and maintain notes out of it. As a UPSC aspirant,
Current affairs must be part of your daily routine. If you dont do it on dailybasis, thats when
youve to turn to such (not so reliable) ^firefighting tools.
And dont put too much of your time in current affairs, because lot of questions come from static
part (theory) too.
Another concern is regarding Cutoffs possibly getting high because IFoS and IAS have
common preliminary exam. My point is: Just read revise and practice. Leave rest in the hands of
God. Dont enter the exam hall with the cut off mindset or negative marking will dig your grave.
Thats for prelims. Now lets move to Mains.
Mains Exam: Change of format
Before (upto 2012) After (2013)
Paper Marks Paper Marks
Compulsory
language
papers
Regional language
paper.
Marks not counted in
merit.
300 Same as Earlier 300
English Paper. But
marks
not counted
in final merit list.
300 same as earlier 300
Essay Yes 200 Yes 250
General
Studies
2 papers 600 4 papers (new topics
included)
1000
First optional 2 papers 600 2 papers 500
Second
optional
2 papers 600 Removed 0
Interview Yes 300 Yes but marks reduced 275
total 2900
Merit from
2300.
2900
Merit from
2025
What is removed from general studies?
1. Statistics and data interpretation topic removed from General Studies (Mains).
2. Public Health, Health education and ethical concerns regarding health-care, medical
research and pharmaceuticals topic removed. (It is no longer Explicitly mentioned under
syllabus, although doesnt prevent UPSC from asking this under GS3!)
GS1: Culture History Geography
#1: History and Culture
1. Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art
Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to
modern times.
Same as usual. NIOS, IGNOU
tourism studies, Spectrum book
on Culture.
2. Modern Indian history from about the middle of the
eighteenth century until the present- significant
events, personalities, issues
3. The Freedom Struggle its various stages and
important contributors /contributions from different
parts of the country.
Same as usual. Bipin Chandra
+/- Spectrum +/- GS Manual.
#2: History of World
1. events from 18th century such as industrial
revolution, world wars, redrawing of national
boundaries,
2. colonization, decolonization,
3. political philosophies like communism, capitalism,
socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the
society.
1. NCERT.
2. http://Mrunal.org/history
3. Any one book: Norman
Lowe, Jain and Mathur or
Arjun Singh.
#3: Socio stuff
1. Post-independence consolidation and
reorganization within the country.
1. For Post independence India, use
Bipin Chandra: India Since
Independence. (Ramchandra
Guhas book not giving good
cost:benefit ratio.)
2. Starting point is IGNOU MPS 003
India democracy and Development.
3. Then there is Decent material
scattered in IGNOU Sociology,
political science and Public
Administration (BA, MA).
2. Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity
of India.
3. Role of women and womens organization,
population and associated issues, poverty
and developmental issues, urbanization,
their problems and their remedies.
4. Effects of globalization on Indian society
5. Social empowerment, communalism,
regionalism & secularism.
#4: Geography
General
Studies
Before change 2013
Preliminary
exam
Geography = Physical + World +
India
Same
Mains Geography = only Indian
Geography.
Now Geography = Physical + World +
India.
Now, Lets check the syllabus of geography (general studies)
Physical Geography
Topics Comment
1. Salient features of worlds physical
geography.
Starting point is NCERTS / GS Manual.
2. Important Geophysical phenomena
such as earthquakes, Tsunami,
Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
3. geographical features and their
location.
4. changes in critical geographical
features (including water-bodies and
ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and
the effects of such changes.
Starting point is NCERTS + GS Manual +
NIOS biodiversity + selective reading of
IGNOU Disaster Management.+Indian
Geography by Khullar.
India and World Geography
Distribution of key natural resources across the world
(including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent
1. Starting point NCERTs
2. then
Mrunal.org/Geography
factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and
tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including
India)
GS2: Polity, Yearbook, IR
#1: Polity + rights issue
Basic Constitution
1. Indian Constitution-
historical underpinnings,
evolution, features,
amendments, significant
provisions basic
structure.
2. Functions and
responsibilities of the
Union and the States,
3. Comparison of the
Indian constitutional
scheme with that of
other countries
4. Parliament and State
Legislatures structure,
functioning, conduct of
business, powers &
privileges and issues
arising out of these.
5. Structure, organization
and functioning of the
Executive and the
Judiciary
6. Appointment to various
Constitutional posts,
powers, functions and
responsibilities of
various Constitutional
Bodies.
7. Statutory, regulatory and
various quasi-judicial
bodies
Starting point is: yes you guessed it right, the great
M.Laxmikanth. Then DD Basu if youve time and
mood.
+net digging and newspapers for new stuff e.g. right to
education.
Also Mrunal.org/polity
Advanced topics
1. issues and challenges
pertaining to the federal
structure,
2. Devolution of powers +
finances up to local
levels and challenges
therein.
3. Separation of powers
between various organs
dispute redressal
mechanisms and
institutions.
4. Pressure groups and
formal/informal
associations and their
role in the Polity.
5. Representation of
Peoples Act: Salient
features
Starting point is (again) IGNOU MPS 003. Then again lot of
good stuff scattered around in IGNOU Public Administration,
Political science and sociology.Also newspapers, columns,
net digging from current affairs point of view (e.g. Pressure
groups > Lokpal)
Rights issue
1. Vulnerable sections:
protections, Betterment:
mechanisms, laws,
institutions and Bodies.
2. Vulnerable Sections:
Welfare schemes.
Starting point again our good old Laxmikanth.
For welfare schemes, INDIA Yearbook, list of topics
given here click me
+ newspaper + official websites of respective
ministries.
Yearbook, Welfare schemes
1. Ministries and
Departments of
the
Government;
2. Government
policies for
development in
various
sections.
3. Social Sector
development:
Health,
Education,
Human
Resources.
4. Poverty and
hunger: Issues
relating to
Basic functions and overview of policies given in India yearbook. After
that, Newpapers, Yojana Kurukshetra, official sites of respective
ministries.12
th
Five Yearplan PDFs click me. (they contain truckload of
fodder points).
Public Administration related
1. Governance: Important aspects of
2. Development processes and the development
industry
3. the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and
associations, donors, charities, institutional and
other stakeholders
4. transparency & accountability and institutional and
other measures.
5. e-governance- applications, models, successes,
limitations, and potential;
6. Citizens charters
7. Role of civil services in a democracy.
Respective chapters from
IGNOU BA, MA Public
Administration.
2
nd
ARC reports click me
(selective reading).
IR / Diplomacy
1. India and its neighborhood- relations.
2. Bilateral, regional and global groupings
and agreements involving India and/or
affecting Indias interests
3. Effect of policies and politics of
developed and developing countries on
Indias interests,
4. Indian diaspora.
5. Important International institutions,
agencies and fora- their structure,
mandate.
Approach remains same as earlier.
Starting point is selected topics on
international relations from IGNOU BA
(Political Science) click me
Dispora strategy given separately
click me
Then IGNOU MA (Political Science)
MPS 002 click me
+ newspapers, magz, net digging And
Mrunal.org/diplomacy
GS3: Economy, Environment, S&T, Agro, Disaster and Security
For a paper worth 250 marks, UPSC has packed way too many topics here!
#1: Economy
1. Indian Economy and
issues relating to
planning, mobilization
of resources, growth,
development and
employment.
2. Inclusive growth and
issues arising from it.
3. Government
Budgeting.
12
th
FYP plan PDF files.Basic of budgeting is explained in
Laxmikanth, Ramesh Singh etc. But hardly any direct-static
questions come in mains. So this is mostly yearbook, IGNOU
(Economics) newspaper and current affairs.+
Mrunal.org/economy
4. Effects of liberalization
on the economy.
Basic given in NCERT Class 11 economics. More can be
found in Ramesh Singh, Netdigging.
5. changes in industrial
policy and their effects
on industrial growth.
6. Infrastructure: Energy,
Ports, Roads, Airports,
Railways etc.
7. Investment models
Basic given in India Yearbook.Then IGNOU (Economics BA,
MA) selective reading, Newspaper columns, 12
th
FYP pdfs for
more fodder points.
#2: SnT + Environment
1. Science and Technology- developments and their
applications and effects in everyday life
2. Achievements of Indians in science & technology;
3. Indigenization of technology and developing new
technology.
4. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics,
nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to
intellectual property rights.
1. Starting point is
India Yearbook.
2. Then The Hindus
Sci-tech portion,
net digging and
3. www.Mrunal.org/snt
4. +/- Spectrums
book on Science
Tech.
5. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation,
environmental impact assessment
1. NIOS, IGNOU
material on
Environment-
Biodiversity.
2. India Yearbook
3. Official site of
MoEF
4. Newspaper
columns, Yojana,
Kurukshetra.
#2: Agro
Now this is a new topic introduced in 2013.
1. Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the
country,
2. Irrigation: different types of irrigation and irrigation
systems storage,
NCERT geography, GS
Manual+ Indian Geography
Khullar etc.
3. e-technology in the aid of farmers
4. Farm subsidies: Issues related to direct and indirect
farm subsidies
5. minimum support prices;
6. Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning,
limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and
food security;
7. Technology missions;
8. Land reforms in India.
Starting point is INDIA
Yearbook, List of topics
given here: click me
Official website of
Agriculture ministry.
9. transport and marketing of agricultural produce and
issues and related constraints;
10. Animal rearing: economics of
11. Food processing and related industries in India-
scope and significance, location, upstream and
downstream requirements, supply chain managemen
Yojana-Kurukshetra old
archives + new
issues.click me
food processing already
covered in my article
series. visit
mrunal.org/economy
Disaster
1. Disaster and disaster management. Selective reading IGNOU MPA 018
Security
1. Various Security forces and
agencies and their mandate
This is given in India Yearbook. Click me for the topicwise list
2. basics of cyber security Also given in India yearbook. More stuff can be found the
previous writing competition held at Mrunal.org/Write2Win
For the remaining topics:
1. Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
2. Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
3. Challenges to internal security through communication networks,
4. role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges,
5. money-laundering and its prevention
6. border areas: Security challenges and their management
7. linkages of organized crime with terrorism
For above topics, Lot of revision friendly content available in the previous writing competition
held at Mrunal.org/Write2Win
+newspaper and net digging.
GS4: Ethics
Lot of vague topics added. Anyways, first lets check the topics for which exact material is
available
Probity in Governance:
1. Concept of public service;
2. Philosophical basis of
governance and probity;
3. Information sharing and
transparency in
government,
4. Right to Information,
5. Codes of Ethics,
6. Codes of Conduct,
7. Citizens Charters,
8. Work culture,
9. Quality of service delivery,
Utilization of public funds,
10. Challenges of corruption.
Ethics in Public Administration
1. Status and problems;
2. ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and
private institutions;
3. laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources
of ethical guidance;
4. accountability and ethical governance;
strengthening of ethical and moral values in
governance;
For âbove topics, youll find content scattered in around in
1. IGNOU MPA 011 and 013
2. 2
nd
ARC reports.
Remaining topics
1. Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in
human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships. Human
Values lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and
administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values
2. Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour;
moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
3. Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, impartiality and non-
partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion
towards the weaker-sections.
4. Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and
governance.
5. Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
6. corporate governance.
7. ethical issues in international relations and funding.
8. +Case studies
Personal Opinion?
Father Wallace, a renowned Gujarati author and Maths Professor in St.Xaviers College,
Ahmedabad. Once a TV reporter asked him, Lot of students in class 10 hate mathematics. So,
What is your advice to them? I was watching TV and hoped that hed give some awesome set of
formulas that will completely demystify mathematics even for the weakest student. But all he said
was:
Mitro maare Etlu j kehvaa nu ke tamne gume ke naa gume, bhanvu toh padshe j!
(Friends all Ive to say is, whether you like it or not, youll have to study.)
Same applies to the pattern change, you can welcome it, you can condemn it, but as long youre
in this competition business, youve to play by UPSCs rules. Anyways for the sake of timepass
reading, here are my opinions.
Positive
Most of the General studies syllabus (mains) can be covered using IGNOU, Yearbook,
Yojana Kurukshetra, newspapers etc. So atleast the reform is not heavy on your pocket
(in terms of having to buy lot of new books / material).
Thanks to IGNOUs material, self-study is easily possible. (available on egyankosh.ac.in)
Negative
Reading so many PDFs on computer screen =painful on eyes.
Overlapping topics
Each mains paper has 3 hours duration so UPSC can take maximum two papers per day.
Now, suppose today is GS1+2, then tomorrow will be GS3+4.
Here comes to issue: youve to prepare similar topics again and again for two days
because of their overlapping nature. for example:
1. Social empowerment in GS1, and next day Inclusive growth for GS3.
2. R.T.I, citizen-charter etc. as [Polity] topics for GS2 and next day for Ethics under GS4.
3. Role of civil services in a democracy (under GS2) and next day almost similar thing for
Ethics under GS4.
So it feels as if the topic-list is compiled in haste, and that Agro topic in GS3 (+including supply
chain Management!) sticks out like a sore thumb.
One Optional still kept
Instead of two, now youve to pick only one optional. Makes it difficult for senior player to
decide: which subject to keep and which one to drop. (especially when UPSC is yet to
deliver marksheets for Mains 2012).
UPSC should have removed both optionals. That way, people have to spend less money
on books / coaching + more time sparred to pursue any career backplan/ other exams.
Faster results
It still takes 1 year to finish the exam. Very painful especially for those who fail in mains
and have to reappear in next prelims within 2-3 months.
UPSC Should have converted prelims into a computer based MCQ test like IBPS/LIC to
hasten the result delivery.
On an unrelated note:
If we look at the larger picture, everyone has to give so many exams simultaneously
(UPSC, State PSC, IBPS, SSC, LIC, CDS, CAPF.) These should be combined into only
2-3 exams for combined recruitment into all these jobs.

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