How to begin with UPSC preparations : Books /Magazines/ Websites

Whenever you begin preparation firstly go through the syllabus and go through past year papers of UPSC which could be obtained through a book named 'Wizard Strategist' so that you will get an idea of what actually UPSC expects from you and could get a trend of the exams

Next thing you need to do UPSC studies is NCERTs ...

Prefereence should given to buy OLD NCERTS which are according to old syllabus as they are more relevant to UPSC studies.

Here is the list of must do NCERTs

History – Must Read NCERT Books

• —6th – Our Pasts 1
• —7th – Our Pasts II
• —8th – Our Pasts III – Part 1, Part 2
• —9th – India & the Contemporary World 1
• —10th – India & the Contemporary World II
• —11th – Themes in World History (Focus on –Industrial Revolution)
• —12th – Themes in Indian History I, Themes in Indian History II, Themes in Indian History III

Geography – Must Read NCERT Books

• —6th – The Earth : Our Habitat
• —7th – Our Environment
• —8th – Resources & Development
• —9th – Contemporary India 1
• —10th – Contemporary India 1I
• —11th – Fundamentals of Physical Geography, —11th – India – Physical Environment
• —12th – Fundamentals of Human Geography, —12th – India – People & Economy

Economics – Must Read NCERT Books

• —9th – Economics
• —10th – Understanding Economic Development
• —11th – Indian Economic Development
• —12th – Introductory Microeconomics
• —12th – Introductory Macroeconomics, —Class XII – Supplementary reading material in Economics – Introductory Macroeconomics

Political Science – Must Read NCERT Books

• —9th – Democratic Politics I
• —10th – Democratic Politics II
• —11th – Indian Constitution at Work
• —11th – Political Theory
• —12th – Contemporary World Politics (–8th – Environment & Natural Resources)
• —12th – Politics in India Since Independence

Sociology – Must Read NCERT Books

• —12th – Social Change & Development in India

Culture/Fine Arts – Must Read NCERT Books

• —11th – An Introduction to Indian Art

Science – Must Read NCERT Books

For science, aspirants are advised to go through at-least these selected chapters from the mentioned standards.

• —6th – ◦9: The Living Organisms & their Surroundings
• —7th – ◦7: Weather, Climate & Adaptations of Animals, ◦9: Soil
• —8th – ◦1: Crop Production & Management, ◦5: Coal & Petroleum, ◦7: Conservation of Plants & Animals, ◦12:  Friction, ◦18: Pollution of Air & Water
• —9th – ◦14: Natural Resources
• —10th – ◦14: Sources of Energy, ◦15: Our Environment, ◦16: Management of Natural Resources
• —12th (Biology) – ◦Unit X: Ecology (13 – Organisms & Population, 14 – Ecosystem, 15 – Biodiversity & Conservation, 16 – Environmental Issues)

After NCERT is done you can dig deep into the OCEAN

• History - 

for history you can do Modern Spectrum RAJIV AHIR for prelims ...apart from that one can also prefer GROVER

for MAINS ...u need extensive reading ...sky is the limit ...still you can go for BIPAN CHANDRA Part 1 and Part 2 ....India before Gandhi and India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha could be done.

World history can be done through Unacademy videos and Vision handouts.

• Geography

for prelims Geography ...one can do GC Leong ISC certified Physical geography ...and a good ATLAS of Penguin publications should be referred ....for Mains NCERT will be suffice.

• Economics

for Economics prelim i recommend SRIRAM IAS notes along with Ramesh Singh of Tata Mcgraw Hill publications

for Eco Mains ..having hold on newspaper is very important ...i would recommending following Economic Times or Business Standard or Mint (selective reading)

• Political Science

for Polity ...Laxmikant is the Bible ...need to done byheart ...20 readings minimum for Prelims

for Mains i would recommend visiting prsindia.org for continuos tracking of all kinds of legislations proposed,drafted and passed in Parliament along with reports of various Committee reports .....

along with this reading newspaper editorials relating to Consitution, Judicial court judgements, etc need to be studied

• Sociology

for GS MAINS following books are recommended

• Indian Society – Ram Ahuja
• Social Problems in India – Ram Ahuja

• Fine Arts

for culture i would recommend referring to CCRT website, NIOS culture notes are good and current culture events should also tracked selectively. Also NITIN SINGHANIA notes on culture are handy.

• Science

for Mains , emphasis must be given on current science events lke achievements of ISRO , inventions by BARC,DRDO and various Indian institutes...apart from this 'major' international inventions and discoveries must also be tracked

• ETHICS

for ethics one may begin with LEXICON , emphasis has to be given on thinkers foreign and Indian thinkers .....their teachings must be reflected in the answers and case studies to earn more marks !

Other options

1. SK Mishra Sir notes

2. Unacademy/Mrunal videos

3. IAS Dr. ShriKrishna Panchal notes

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Apart from all this u'll must surf a lot on Internet ...go for editorials of multiple newspaper..should follow magazines like 

Yojana

Kurukshetra

DowntoEarth

Science Reporter

Swarajya Magazine

Wizard magazine for PIB stuff

 etc.

.....should also follow VISION notes , insightsonindia , mrunal.org, gktoday , etc. and offcourse my blog :)  

ETHICS STRATEGY - AIR 55 - GS IV score - 115

First of all as far as ETHICS paper is concerned I would like to say that whenever you are writing the paper first write down the case studies and then move towards the theory part.

1. Case studies have more weightage. In the initial phase your mind is fresh ….you could write down things more effectively.

2. You can afford to lose a 10 mark theory question but, if you leave a case of 25 marks that affects you badly !

The books to study for ETHICS.

As such I beleive in ethics it more about what you think and write rather than any book spoon feeding you.

But, however there are many terms, concepts, ideas which requires reading which coud be done from books like (any one or two will do)

1. LEXICON by Chronicle.

2. Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude (Being Efficient and Being Good) by MK Mohanty Sir

3. SK Mishra Sir notes

4. One can also refer to youtube videos by Mrunal or Unacademy on Ethics section.

Apart of these, also notes of IAS Shrikrishna Panchal Sir could also be done !

Herez the link to it 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=333580893644660&id=283214022014681

Coming to writing down answers in Case Study questions !

1. Firstly, mention the stakeholders involved in the case study.

2. Next, mention the ethical issues/ dilemmas involved in that particular case study 

It can be like 

• Private ethics vs. Professional Ethics.
• Public Interest vs. Individual interest.
• Animal Rights vs. Man interest.

It can be anything depending on the case study

3. Next you need to tackle all the questions asked in the case study. Or in some case studies they ask for various ways to tackle certain issue.

Things involved in this !

• Mention even the dumbest of the dumbest approach also to tackle a certain issue. In that section itself in the 'Demerit' section you mention why that particular approach in wrong.

• Whenever we are taking a particular stand, it is but obviously that all candidates will take that particular stand since it is most logical. But, where does the difference lies ? It is how you present that particular stand. 

• Yes, your taking a particular stand but, mention that why you are taking that stand. Here comes in your skill where you use various ethics terms studied in theory. You need to bring in the theories and thinkers in your answers. Like you say ' I take this stand since Socrates said that Means are more important than Ends' ...or Mahatma Gandhi said so and so ...Vivekanand said so and so......Like that. This is where you will score more than others.

• Whenever, there is a issue where your higher authority or a Minister is pressurising you take a certain decision which might not be within the rule book or contours of constitution ...First of all in the answer you write that you will try to convince him/her that this is not right and consequences of it. Even after that if he/she is forcing you, then you will ask them to 'give in writing' whatever thing needs to be executed.

Things which you can do.

1. Underlining wherever relevant things. In 'case studies' underline the various ethics terms and thinkers/philosophers you used to justify your point.  

2. Remember that this paper is basically to test your EQ i.e. Ethical Quotient/ Emotional Quotient and not Intelligence Quotient . So keep in mind this aspect while writing answers.

3.Wherever possible you can draw a diagram by applying logic. Like last year there was  question on Gandhiji's  seven sins 

1.  Wealth without work.

2.  Pleasure without conscience.

3.  Knowledge without character.

4.  Commerce without morality.

5.  Science without humanity.

6.  Religion without sacrifice.

7.  Politics without principle.

So this thing could be shown by drawing a circle .Some thing like below

I believe the game in ETHICS lies in how you PRESENT things. Again I would reiterate that different toppers have different strategy. Refer them. Make your own Unique one ! Best of Luck !