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 !

How to write effective ESSAY in UPSC Mains ? - AIR- 55 (CSE-2016) Strategy - Essay Score

My UPSC Mains Essay Marks - 157

I think there is NO one fix strategy for writing an ESSAY . It all about IMAGINATIVE POWER ...writing RELEVANT STUFF according to the TOPIC.

In my last Mains of CSE 2015 I had received 110 in ESSAY ...and this year 157 ...Some things which I implemented this time. 

• Thinking properly over the TOPICs to choose among those given.

• Once the topic are selected ...thinking for 1 hour over the content in both the essays to write and writing down points on rough space given. The next two hours used for writing those.

• I used to SIMULTANEOUSLY think on both the TOPIC selected ...because at one point you might go blank over one topic so in the MEAN time you could think over the other TOPIC and come back again.

• While selecting topic care must be taken that both topics be selected such that your content does not overlap...because if that happens then you are committing a disaster.

• Thinking properly creating a chain of ideas, relevant examples, etc. is essentially ...since last year, the one essay I wrote, I missed the FOCUS in the middle way and moved away from the topic which made me suffer.

The START !!

This is the most critical part of ESSAY, hence the start must be awesome. It must be such that it makes the Examiner to swim into your ESSAY, s/he must feel to read more and more about the essay!

Here is where your creativity is important, you need to create a SCENARIO relevant to the TOPIC! Like I wrote this essay!

1. If development is not engendered, it is endangered

So it is clear that this essay was on WOMEN! 

So I created a scenario where I portrayed a 3G call advertisement which you must have seen on TV at some point of time !

It goes like " There was a commercial on TV, where we had a woman who was a BOSS and her husband was a subordinate working under her ! It happens so that she gives her husband work to do and He has to stay back even after office hours working late night. His wife, i.e. his BOSS goes home after office is over and she cooks food and while cooking she makes him a 3G call asking like 'I am making food and kab aa rahe ho ghar? ' Leave aside the 3G part of the story but, here what we see is a INDIAN women in a dual role as a successful woman who is a LEADER at her workplace, at the same time she is one who is fulfilling her role as HOUSE MANAGER " 

and this is how I began my essay creating a scenario and argued that 'but these (the above) are just a few examples in INDIA but, in real BHARAT still the women has not come out of those four walls ! 'and then the rest part of the essay !

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3. Near jobless growth in India: An anomaly or an outcome of economic reforms

This was my second essay, this was ESSAY which was basically asked as that year 2016 we had completed 25 years of LPG. So I had actually prepared something related to this essay as I had that intuition of it coming.

So even here,, I started with a scenario ... 

So I went down 25 years down the line into the Parliament where our than Hon'ble Finance Minister ManMohan Singh started his speech with a quote of Victor Hugo which say's 'Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come ! ' and that his how he advocated for LPG reforms in the budget speech.

I took this start of the quote and argued in the entire essay regarding the positives and negatives which India suffered due to LPG and critically analysing that had the ' TIME' really come. 

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So basically what I want to say is that create a scenario,,,it can be anything ,.,,.. it can be a newshour debate,,,it can be two friends talking ..it can be a event ...it can normal day to day life scene you are putting forward.

Like in 2015 I wrote an essay on 

2. Quick but steady wins the race

Here I started like , It has been days of winter and I along with my friends have started playing Badminton and I'm learning the game and I have understood that the game is all about of QUICKNESS but coupled with that an element of steadiness is also required !  Quickness is required since you need to defeat the opponent by landing the shuttlecock in such a way that it falls in the opposite court in no man’s land. But here is 'STEADINESS' too is required since if the shuttlecock in that quickness and speed goes out of the court you will lose the point.

and this is how I started it telling that this is just the game ..but the same principle applies to every other thing happening around us be it history , life , etc.

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So the 'start' is all about IMAGINATION power , creativity . Just keep a watch on how editorials are written , how anchors present some event. You will get 'n' no. of ideas to start your essay . It can start it with some Shayari , or Poem or anything else ..only thing is it must be relevant to the TOPIC ! But, it must not be a plain start which bores down the already bored examiner !

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The BODY !

This is the place where you actually have the content. So there are can be different ways of dealing with it. It depends on the topic.

One approach can be like you deal with topic from angles like in the WOMEN essay I wrote I dealt with aspects like SOCIAL , ECONOMIC , POLITICAL , RURAL, URBAN , SECURITY ,etc. aspects of women and argued in each area the strengths and weaknesses and how EMPOWERMENT can be done and various solutions !

Other approach can be like ...giving two sides of the story like the essay related to JOBLESS GROWTH ... I had argued first he positives of LPG ...like telecom revolution, transportation, TV industry , services sector boost and many other things. At the same time, the other side of the story, as LPG reforms have been largely JOBLESS , farmers still suicide and many other aspects 

There can also be other approaches as suggested from other toppers !

Do not write the essay in Points …if you want to say three things ..you could say like “ One, ……. Two,…… Three,….”

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The END ! 

Yet another critical part of the essay. I personally believe that end must have SOLUTIONS ....it must end on a OPTIMISTIC note. It must reflect that you are the one who have ideas and a way forward and hence a candidate who must be recommended !

Like for the JOBLESS Growth essay, I said that MAKE IN INDIA , DIGITAL INDIA , SKILL INDIA all these are good initiatives , but they have some shortcomings one , two , three ,..... and they can be rectified by one, two , three ( solutions). The only thing it must be implemented in letter and spirit ! We have a strong leadership where there are no coalition compulsions and so on. Hence I ended on optimistic note that 'Yes, the time has come as said by Victor Hugo only if above suggestions are implemented !'

Or in the WOMEN essay I had put forward idea of handicapped INDIA walking on a single leg very much like what happens in the game of langdi (hopscoth). I correlated this with India hopping on SINGLE leg that is of the MEN but if we have to move far ahead we will have to use the other leg that is of WOMEN to walk on path towards the superpower tag or be called for ever a THIRD world country and for that DEVELOPMENT will have to be engendered or else it will endangered !

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How to bring in VALUE ADDITION in the essay ?

This is the important part of the essay, this is where you can get an EDGE over others !

One, 'quotes' . Great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi , Dr, APJ Abdul Kalam , Swami Vivekanand etc are an INSITUTION in themselves. They have said many things on almost every aspect of life. Making a dairy of quotes of say some 50 quotes can help in a great way. The quotes need to be used smartly in our different parts of the essay.

like in JOBLESS Growth essay I had a point where I accepted that entire world is facing recession and INDIA too is no exception but we will act SMARTLY. How smartly , just like the EAGLE which Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had said about in the quote

'All Birds find shelter during a rain.But Eagle avoids rain by flying above the Clouds' 

All other countries are the BIRDS but India will have to be that EAGLE to move forward !

Two, 'facts' are very essentially when we are making some point in the ESSAY. Like in Women essay I quoted Mckinsley report on Gender Power Parity, ‘Achieving gender equality in India would have a larger economic impact there than in any other region in the world—$700 billion of added GDP in 2025—but comprehensive change is needed.’

But, for this we need not take extra efforts...since as  I had said in previous post on writing effective answers , you need to have handy facts on various aspects, that can be effectively used !

Three, 'case studies' having success models, like in WOMEN essay I had quoted the idea of SHE group of IPS Mahesh Bhagwat Sir for providing security to women and hence empowering them. So likewise you will be required for maintaining a dairy of UNIQUE facts and successful models which will also help in you in essay as well as answers in GS MAINS.

Four, I had prepared a set of atleast 10 Sanskrit shloks and shayaris which I could use in the essay at some point of time. This is not a big deal to do if we want good marks in essay !

Like in women essay I had used the Sanskrit shlok 'yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devata ' which means that 'Where WOMEN are respected, GODS make their HOME' . 

So shloks like --

VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM: The whole world is one family 

Om Saha Naav-Avatu |
Saha Nau Bhunaktu |

could be prepared and can be effectively used. 

Five, keep a track of speeches of PM , President , Vice President , RBI Governor , etc. you will get many beautiful ideas and sentences from their speeches. Mnemonics used by our Prime Minister are also nice like I used ......Hon'ble PM at Madison Square said that India is blessed with three D's Democracy, Demand and Demographic Dividend !

Six, draw diagrams or flowchart wherever relevant ...like I showed the transition of Indian economy pre LPG , LPG , post LPG through a flowchart ! In case of the essay of Water disputes, River cauvery course can be shown through a rough map showing the dispute

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PREDICTING THE ESSAY !

Many times Essay topics have relevance with the current happenings around us ! Like this year 

• Jobless Growth - 25 years of LPG was very easy to predict as many articles had surfaced in newspaper during that time.
• Digital economy: A leveller or a source of economic inequality was also predictable ...
• Water disputes between states in federal India was also predictable since the Cauvery issue.

Bottomline, is that even if you predict some 10 topics and prepare them well you can create MIRACLES in essay paper which is deciding factor of whether you are IN or OUT. That content will also help in GS Mains.

Every topic asked in Essay has some relevance to current happenings and hence that must come and reflected in your essay !

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So this are some points which I implemented which took me from 110 in CSE 2015 to 157 in CSE 2016.  I would again like to tell that different people have different strategies while dealing with Essay. You need to create your ONE ,,,,bring in INNOVATION ,,,, create an interest for examiner to read your ESSAY and let him enjoy it and at the END of the ESSAY s/he must say ' Wah, kya likha hai !! '  :)