Route Map For IAS Pre. 2011

Route Map For IAS Pre. 2011

As the Civil Services exam, not mearly test your knowledge but it also tests your ability to deliver within a limited time frame. In this regard you need to have a proper planning, proper strategy and a clear road map, where you can monitor your own progress, and if necessary you can change your strategy. In this background I am suggesting few things which I hope will help you in your planning. Here, I am only presenting the General Studies Paper-I by keeping in mind that you are going to prepare the CSAT paper in according to your own convenience.

Before making actual planning you must be aware of what to read, and from where to read in first stage, In second stage you must be aware of how to read, And in third stage you need to have a personal road map where you can implement the above 2 stages. This road map should be individual specific, because needs and awareness are different for different people.

Now let me discuss the first stage that is what to read and from where to read. For traditional area I am suggesting these following books which according to me are more then sufficient to qualify P.T.

Books are:

History:

• Ancient - Ram Sharan Sharma, (old) NCERT
• Medieval- Satish Chandra, (old) NCERT
• Modern India- Bipin Chandra, (old) NCERT
• Art & Culture chapter of India Year Book

Science:

• NCERT- VI to X (New)
• What, Why & How by CSIR.
• Defence Current Affairs & Defence chapter of India Year Book
• S&T Current Affairs & S&T Chapter of India Year Book.

Geography:

• XI, XII NCERT (New)
• Read current affair with Atlas, locate each & everything which are in news.
• Thoroughly use your Atlas

And following chapters of India year Book:

1. Land & The people.

2. Agriculture.

3. Energy.

4. Environment.

5. Water Resources.

6. States & Union Territories

Polity:

• XI, XII NCERT (New).
• Polity chapter of India Year Book.
• General Information chapter of India Year Book.
• Justice & Law chapter of India Year Book.
• Indian Polity , by Laxmikant
• Current Affairs of Polity

Economics:

• Clear your basic concepts of Economics with any book.
• Current Affair of Economics
• Economic Survey -summery of each chapter which is given in the last page. And see the boxes given in every chapter.

And following chapters of India Year Book:

1. Agriculture.

2. Basic Economic Data.

3. Commerce.

4. Communication.

5. Education.

6. Finance.

7. Corporate Affairs.

8. Food & Civil Supplier.

9. Health & Family Welfare.

10. Housing.

11. Industry.

12. Labour.

13. Mass Communication.

14. Planning.

15. Rural development.

16. Transport.

17. Welfare.

18. Youth Affair & Sports.

Environment:

• Environment chapter of India Year Book.
• Geography books of NCERT (new).
• Current Affair.
• Internet

Current Affairs

This is the most important section of this paper. After analyzing the recent question paper it is necessary for every aspirant that he/she should give more attention to those traditional area which are in news. For Example:

(a) India’s Fast Breeder Reactor has achieved certain milestone or

(b) The launch of cryogenic technology had failed recently; in this respect you must be aware with the traditional portion of these areas, these includes:

What is Cryogenic technology?

When India started to develop this technology?

How many countries poses this technology? etc.

In the same manner:

What is India’s Nuclear programme?

When India started the programme?

How many stages are there in India’s Nuclear Programme?

In which Generation the Fast Breeder Reactor comes?

What are its major use /Advantages? etc.

In Short you should change your traditional way of preparation and mould it with the present trend. The present trend is that you need to prepare your traditional area through current affair. That is whatever is in news you must have the awareness of its traditional background & its concept, Now the next question comes in your mind is that, how one can achieve this?

In this background I would suggest you to follow these steps,

1. You need to have a sound knowledge of current affair and the traditional portion of your G.S. paper.
2. Read traditional area, historical background and constitutional provision (if necessary) to each topic which is in news.

For example In polity section what ever is in news try to connect that with the constitutional provision, and its political history. Suppose government has recently amended the constitution and provided 50% reservation for women in panchayat, so in this case you should read the constitutional provision of panchayat, its political history in India, that is from ancient India to till date. In this way you can prepare your traditional area with the current affairs. To achieve this you do not have to do any research because the above mention books are written in such a manner that you can find the historical background with its concept, in one place, you have to just update that with your current affair.

At the same time, with in the Current Affair section there are some special areas where you should have a good command because questions are asked directly from those areas.

They are:-

• Various Bills and Acts and their important provisions.
• Important Reports and their contents.
• Various governments plans programmes.
• Initiatives taken by the government in various fields.

I hope now you are familiar with what to read and from where to read. Then the next question comes how to read.

How to read?

In this regard I would suggest that what ever you read you must solve the multiple choice questions.
Make your own point wise notes (if necessary) revise your notes again and again.
If possible make your own multiple choice questions with the help of previous year question papers.

• Clear your concepts from NCERT.
• Think and analyze those concepts again and again.
• Revise again and again, and no need to mug up the factual information, try to remember only important facts and figures so that you can utilize those, in your mains exam as well.
• From, May solve the question papers in strictly exam like condition. That is with in the 2 hour time frame at morning and evening season.

The route map:

Now let me discuss about the road map, according to me the road map should be individual specific. A general road map will not provide any fruitful results because candidates awareness and needs are different from person to person, But there are some specific guide lines which one need to follow while making his/her road map. Those points I have already discussed in my what to read & how to read section. Here I would only suggest that according to your convenience make your own road map, at this you are now aware of what to read & How to read, the only thing you have to make is that when you are going to study. Here I want to clarify one thing that to qualify the P.T. you must have to revise the whole thing more than twice, So keep this in your mind before making your own route map.

APPSC GROUP-II PREPARATION STRATAGY

Comprehension for CSAT

Comprehension is the classic entry in CSAT syllabus as it is not to test your language skill, but to test your moral and ethical aptitude, understanding of government programmes and policies, social problems, ability to comprehend boring reports etc. However, language will play a bigger role in deciphering the hidden message of the text. Language is a very complex blend of nature and nurture, as psychologists would have it. We have been brought up with a language usually our mother tongue and then we come across other languages, dialects and versions of language as we grow in age, stature and maturity. A word can have innumerable connotations with respect to tone, context and reference, which impinge on comprehension and understanding infinitely.

Comprehension is an element of your exposure to different types of usage the kind of books you read or whether reading even features in your scheme of things on a regular day. As an IAS aspirant you are expected to read, assimilate reason, draw inferences and apply your learning to different situations. As administrator you will have to read reports, infer, strategies and plan. As the time you spend on these documents impacts the efficiency and productivity of your division, you must find a way to work speedily and clear the tasks as per requirements and not be the bottleneck where work comes to a standstill.

You wonder how you can enhance your competence and reduce time spent, whether on deciphering reports, documents etc. the way to improve your reading comprehension is evidently making a habit of reading at least a few pages if editorials a day, in daily newspapers such as the Hindu, the Economist or any other daily. Sift through them every day and watch your efficiency with paperwork improve exponentially.

How to prepare for Current Affairs from Newspapers

In the present trend of UPSC G/S prelim Geography (current based) Current Affairs Polity People / Award etc Above things roughly cover 70 Marks worth questions out of 150M G/S prelim paper. Most of the questions from them are based on current affairs, So Never miss reading the newspaper on any day. Now the issue comes – how to read newspaper to prepare current affair – this is important cause most student either glance over the newspaper in 3 minutes and some waste 3 hours reading each and every detail. How to read any newspaper (for General Studies) What is not important in newspaper / Current Affairs? Follwing things are extremely important to read in newspaper
Polity	New laws / bills coming in (like Women reservation bill and the current editorials, and everything related to it)
Administration	Administrative reforms, E-gov etc Government schemes (NPS, NREGA- and editorials related to it-good things, bad things) Education related- Deemed univ etc
International	Internationally important issue ( Af-Pak Policy, Global Meltdown, G-20 ) etc OPEC,ASEAN,SAARC etc- if they're meeting then note down where they met and what points did they discuss? Indian Army Exercise with China/US etc (like in Mizoram for Jungle Warfare etc) – remember the name of the 'exercise' Name of Operations (Op.Sahayta for Nargis, Op. Black Tornado for 26/11 etc)
Sci-Tech	(new space mission, vaccines, swine flu, climate, Computers) Hybrid Seeds, Solar Energy ,
Economy	(big players and the companies owned by them, PSU's activity –its heads, Govt.'s policies, budget etc) - read the economy part very carefully cause in mains –you'll get 100M economy section in G.S.
People	Awards (not IIFA/Filmfare though- but Noble etc, and what contribution those people did ?) Books (generally on Sunday issue, they'll put review of some new books – so note down the author) International election – (i.e. Ahmedinejad won Iran election – that's imp but Mussavi was his main rival – that's also imp. Note down such imp people's name coming in news)
Sports	(tennis most imp, apart from that any Indian achievement in non-cricket sport)
Geography	Anything happening in above mentioned topics- you look @ your mapbook and see where that place is.

• For more on what's imp in current affairs- refer the old question papers of UPSC

If you read the newspaper on this line
(AND MAKE A NOTE OUT OF IT- keep a diary, cut and file the imp articles / maps / charts from newspaper.)

Why Read Editorials?

Because the regular news won't talk of what happened in History or what are the good / bad points of a particular topic. But the editorials will give you the 'big picture.' Along with the suggestions for reforms so it also helps in writing mains + Essay. + interview too.

Many of the articles/editorials will be completely criticizing anything and everything of Administration. So be careful about what to read and what to skip – because your answers have to be constructive criticism and positive "there is still hope for reform" and "Democracy is the best way to run country " etc.
Cause if criticizing everything about Administration was going to make you an IAS officer then every reporter of Aaj Tak, NDTV and Zee News would be a District Collector. You've to be constructive, creative, visionary and positive in your answers, opinions and criticisms –only then you'll get more marks. I'm saying this here because when you are reading anything in newspaper- that's not just one shot to prelims but also helps you in mains, essay, interview as well.

Current Affairs is a year long continuous process.

This process doesn't take more than 1 hour per day. And its worth it, cause current affairs is not something that you can develop reading some book for 15 days before exam
on April 2010- lot 'current affair special' books will come in market from Wizard, Chronicle, Pratiyogita Darpan and many more but if you've been following the newspaper through out the year & making your own diary- then you won't need to read them AND if you've not maintained a diary then you won't be able to remember much from these books – and will end up wasting 15 days reading it.)

WHAT IF You DON'T read newspapers?

Then this will be your situation
On April 2010- you'll be blank in Current affair and will start reading any of those 'current affairs special book' as mentioned above – but since you've never read newspaper, you won't be able to cover the book very fast- and it's a thick book, and you won't be able to remember everything you read, you won't even have time to revise it, so in the end you'll be ignoring either your G/S's rest topics or your Opt. Subject or the current affairs itself, and ultimately losing heavy marks in Prelims.

Newspapers Help in Essay Writing.

In the mains you've to write a compulsory Essay paper which is worth 200 M and they're counted in the merit list.
There are many books / guides for essay writing in the market as well, but if you write from it, you'll end up writing a street quality , cheap, strerotype school essay and getting very few marks.
Your essay has to be unique, precise, showing your vast knowledge and understanding of the subject which can't be done reading 2 page essay in some cheap guide book.
If you analyse last 10 years papers of Essay

Then you'll notice that they generally ask essay from following themes ONLY

Women empowerment

Social issues

Environment

Rural vs Urban, Modern vs Traditional culture/values

Administrative / Law & Order / Judicial activity or reform

Sci-tech and its role in human/ rural Development

Philosophy (religion, truth, honesty etc)

Education

So whenever you see some editorial related to it in the newspaper – DO READ IT,And note down the imp topics from it/ cut and file it
That'll help you have sufficient knowledge , viewpoints and ideas to write a 200 Marks worth essay.
And its not a one day process- you follow it through out the year.
If you prepare your current affairs topics this way then you should have not much trouble clearing the UPSC civil service IAS IPS Exam.

How to handle Indian Economy for Group-I Mains / Civils

Of all the components of Civil Services Mains General Studies syllabus, Indian Economy is the scariest and the most interesting. It is scary because there are too many interconnecting topics, and interesting; because it impinges on our everyday life. Adding to the challenge is the fact that apart from Macro Economics and Micro Economics there is UPSC Economics for which there is no clear guidance - in terms of material or the empirical and analytical content or the perspective. The next few paragraphs will try to sort out such problems and difficulties. Let's first see what is available. We have a clear cut syllabus as to what economics consists of and number of textbooks in economics written by Dutt & Sundaram, Mishra & Puri, Uma Kapila, I.C. Dhingra and also NCERT books to name a few. We need to start from the structure of underdeveloped economies and progress through Socio- economic Planning including the current 11th five year plan; go through agriculture, traditional macro economic topics like taxation, fiscal policy, banking, international trade, welfare economics etc. We should have compulsory reading of the Economic Survey though in parts. Understanding these topics is not always difficult. For example National Income and various methods to measure it, poverty, and unemployment and so on, leave us with a sense of familiarity even though such familiarity is very superficial and hardly more serious than gossip. These are serious concepts and the treatment required is in-depth and much thorough. Conceptual clarity and fundamentals carry the highest premium in Economics. A strong note of dynamism should drive aspirants' intellectual pursuit. What is presently unfolding in the Indian Economy is of utmost importance. If the right material is procured and sincere effort is made the concepts are within reach. Generally in the Mains, about 100 marks in Paper - II are from Indian Economy, Global Economics and Economic Theory. However, Mains 2009 GS Papers showed some changes. Now both paper I as well as Paper II have questions related to Indian or Global economy. For example in 2009 in Paper I question on Integrated Energy Policy, impact of global meltdown reflected in the Economic Survey 2008-09, and National Family Health Survey have economic touch. Similarly in Paper II questions like role of foreign investments in India’s economic growth, India’s financial liberalization policy in the context of global financial crisis, India’s stand on WTO Doha Round of negotiations and Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture are pure economy. In the same way in 2008 in Paper - II there was a question on WTO - "Discuss India's stand on agricultural issues in WTO's Ministerial Conferences since Doha Round (250 words)". Similarly in the year 2007, "What is Dumping? Evaluate the remedial measures taken by the Government of India, vis-à-vis, WTO provisions regarding dumping (250 words)". In the year 2006 there was a question about Globalization - "Examine the effects of globalization on poverty removal in India (150 words)". Economics questions extend the conventional into the current developments. For clear understanding, have a look at the following question about `planning is superior to markets in capital formation'. It takes a conventional textbook topic like capital formation and contextualizes it in the current debate of State Vs Market. Similarly the developmental Economics concerning poverty, unemployment etc. is seemingly conventional but the most recent perspectives are necessary to analyze this phenomenon. A thorough reading of the 11th five year plan document, Economic Survey and the annual reports of Union Ministry of Finance, among others for a clear perspective and clarity on the relevant themes is recommended. There are 15 questions in Economics section where candidates' capacity for precision and brevity is tested as each question carries two marks and relates to a host of current and text book themes ranging from what is NIFTY to Lorenz Curve to Green GDP to Minimum Alternative Tax to Indicative Planning to Twin Deficits etc. The range is vast and there lies the challenge. The aspirants are advised to take down notes from all important sources – The Hindu, Economic Times and the various text books and websites. We recommend that only authentic sources be depended upon.

Group - I Mains / Civils Science & Technology Preparation

In the Past few years' Science and Technology has emerged as most important and crucial section of General Studies in Civil Services Main examination. It is wrongly perceived that it has certain degree of technical aspects and concepts that are difficult for large count of students particularly for those who are from non-science background. After analyzing the syllabus and trend of questions, many implicit aspects come to the light. The main aim of UPSC is to test candidates' awareness of the development in the field of Science and technology. It is not expected that one should present answers like an expert of Science or like a scientist. UPSC just seeks a general view on the concerned matter. In 2009 Mains Science & Technology questions constituted about 100 marks of Paper II. There were 3 questions of 15 marks, 4 questions of 10 marks and 5 questions of 3 marks.

However, Analysis of past year's questions revealed that candidates should give special emphasis on the following areas:

Biotechnology: This is the most important heading under Science and Technology. One can find questions from this section every year. Questions are conceptual and carrying current developments/issues to be analyzed by the student. For example: nanotechnology, bioinformatics, use of biotechnology in health and medical science, use of biotech in agriculture and industry etc.

Space Technology: In this area, questions are generally related to recent developments. This questioning pattern shows that it includes two major parts, one is India's space programme and related development and the other is important topics like different Organisations, recent advancements, INSAT Series, IRS Series, Launch Vehicle Technology (ASLV, PSLV, GSLV), Indian in space market etc.

Defence Technology: Indian Missile Programme: IGMDP, Different Missiles - Akash, Trishul, Agni, Nag, Prithvi, New missile programme etc.

Information Technology and Electronics: Computers: Artificial Intelligence, Fiber optics, Data networks, Liquid crystal display, Video conferencing, Internet, IPTV, WiMax etc.

Health: National plans and policies, AIDS, Swine Flu, Medical research, Family welfare etc.

Right Time to Prepare for Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2011

If you have not cleared the Preliminary Exam 2010, don’t buck down by the results. It happens in competitive exams like IAS. It is a part and parcel of the exam process. In a scenario of cut throat competition, someone has to loose. This time you were little bit unlucky.

But before putting all blame on your luck or your friends or teachers, you need a serious retrospection of your past performances. So now time to analyze yourself. Analyze that while preparing for the last PT exam, you have studied the right books, right materials; you have done smart hard work; you have gone through previous year UPSC questions; you have practised a lot of questions before the exam etc. If you are really honest to yourself, you will definitely find some wrong in you only. So mark those areas where you have failed in your last attempt and promise to yourself that you will never repeat those mistakes. After all, failure is the pillar of success, if you learn from your past failures.

It is time for reconsolidation. Consolidate yourself and make a full-proof strategy for coming PT in 2011. As all of you have heard that most probably UPSC will introduce Aptitude Test from next year, you need slight changes in your preparation this time. First focus on Mains as it covers around 70-80% of your PT requirements. From now onwards you should concentrate on your second option for Mains exam along with General Studies. Devoted two month (September and October) for your second optional for Mains and General Studies Paper I for Mains. Next two months (November and December) should be devoted to first optional for Mains and General Studies Paper II for mains. This is just a broad outline; you may change it according to your needs and suitability.

However, make sure that while preparing for Mains, you prepare your own notes which will help you in timely revision of your syllabus in the last munities. Also ensure that you are doing timely revision of what you have studied, otherwise that will be of no use.

UPSC notification for PT normally comes in December. By that time you have already completed the Mains syllabus. So after notification you should focus on PT.