Wednesday, May 23, 2012

GS



1. History of Modern India and Indian
Culture : I had read Bipin Chandra and Spectrum – Repetitive reading of Spectrum’s book is enough for this topic in my opinion. Beyond that, the law of diminishing returns comes into play and reduces your RoI (return on investment)

2. Geography of India : NCERTs
I read TMH manual and NCERTs of standard XI and XII for this portion. I had scanned through Goh cheng leong before prelims for conceptual clarity, but considering the paucity of time after pre, it isn’t prudent to delve into it now

3. Constitution of India and Indian Polity:
DD Basu is a fantastic source for this portion. I made notes of polity from this book before pre and kept updating and revising these notes. This book does require some patience but once you get a hang of what the author is saying, you’ll gain immense conceptual clarity. Other than this, I did a single reading from TMH manual. Also, latest amendments and bills are to be kept in view. Abridged version of IYB and internet catered to this requirement. I always kept a copy of the constitution handy while reading this topic. If done well, this takes care of a major portion of PA-2 as well.

4. Current National Issues and Topics of
Social Relevance : - I’ve mentioned the sources in a previous post. The newspaper is the key. I’ve also stated my strategy for making notes from the newspaper in a previous post.

PAPER - II
1. India and the World :
I’ve dealt with this in detail in an earlier post (note making strategy). The sources are – newspapers for the dynamic part, books by reetika Sharma, vn khanna etc. for the static part
2. India’s Economic Interaction with the
World :
Again, newspaper for the dynamic part
Internet for the static part (WTO, WIPO, IMF, etc.)
3. Developments in the Field of Science
& Technology, IT and space :
News papers, chronicle (relevant sections), Internet (search under broad categories – developments in robotics, space tech, biotech, nanotech, etc. – wiki has dedicated pages for them and they are useful)
4. International Affairs and Institutions :
Wikipedia  - first download a list of international orgs of which india is a member – then create a collection of wikipages for orgs you feel are important or are in news….revise this repository before exam
5. Statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams
:The book by spectrum is enough – read the theory part as well

Other than this, I forgot to mention a source that I feel would be useful. Vajiram’s yellow books which are released just before mains are quite useful. There were three booklets and I read them once – cover to cover. 

18 comments:

  1. Thank you sir. Its very useful.

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  2. sir, can u please give a prototype on this blog of the answers u had written during mains ( public administration ).....it wud give us a fair idea of scoring healthy marks n what to write where ?

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  3. greetings good sir and thank you very much for posting good informative stuff regarding your preparation on this blog.

    i would be obliged if you could tell me how you managed to procure your copy of pub ad. super 50 by shubhra saxena since i cannot seem to find the book anywhere.

    regards.

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  4. Hi Kshitij,

    Please let me know the title of the book by fadia and sadana,as i find many books by the these two authors on flipkart.

    Please share the titles of other books too if possible.

    Thanks in advance,

    Regards,
    Sahana.

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  5. @anu - I shall try to post the thought process but not the answers since I've been out of touch with the subject since mains

    @suraj - super 50 is available here in Delhi at many bookstores. I bought it from Jawahar Book Depot.

    @Sahana - There are 2 books by Fadia, one for each paper of pub ad - book names are "Public Administration" and "Indian Administration" if I remember correctly. The one by Sadana is also named "Public Administration"

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  6. KSHITIJ SIR CONGRTS....FPR UR SUCCES.....

    I AM ALSO WORKING IN A PSU....SIR I WANT TO KNW ON WAT GROUNDS THY APPROVED UR LEAVES??

    MEDICAL/LEAVE WITHOUT PAY...??

    WATS UR MAIL ID......??

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  7. sir pls reply...

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  8. I had applied for extraordinary leave (leave without pay)...plus I also used my earned leaves

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  9. sir what are the important chapters in india year book and economic survey....they both are quite exhaustive

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  10. thanks for detailed information of syllabus and subjects...thats a gr8 help...please guide me for prelims preparations for paper 1 and 2...

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  11. Kshitij , FOr Extraordinary leave , do we need to show some reason? or reason cited on personal grounds would suffice?

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    Replies
    1. the reason I gave was that i need to prepare for CSE :)

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  12. Dear Sir
    Please guide what all to be covered in DD Basu.

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  13. Hi,

    could you please tell us the name of some faculty whose notes would be fruitful for the UPSC Exam, particularly for GS Section.
    I know Notes are available at Delhi so please tell us.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. Hello sir,

    I am currently a third year B. Tech mechanical student and am immensely confused with my optional subject. I had zeroed upon PA but then recently the correction of PA has been strict and low scoring. Choosing Mech Eng as optional has both pros and cons, I wud be able to simultaneously prepare for GATE and IES. I would be very kind of you if you provide some guidance.

    Regards
    Tushar

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  16. Hi,
    Thanks for this great post. I love reading ias blog and sharing them. and i would like suggest top institute for ias coaching institute in dehradun, uttarakhand that's Bureaucrats IAS Academy, Dehradun
    Bureaucrats IAS Academy, Dehradun is best Civil services, UPSC and IAS coaching center for top level preparation.

    ReplyDelete