Strategy to read newspaper for civil service ias exams

Knowledge of happenings around us is a must for IAS exams. This knowledge needed for ias exams are often categorised into – national, international, science and technology etc.

A large number of aspirants spend hours (about 4 to 5) reading newspaper and making notes from it. This news reading consumes the early hours when mind is fresh and inquisitive. After this exercise he/she is left with very little time to cover any topic. This much time (4 to 5 hrs) is often taken since the aspirant is confused what to read?

Firstly, start with the most important pages. It is better to start with the national or international news page. Some aspirants read the local news and start thinking about it. These may never be asked. In case you want to deliver maximum in minimum time, then focus on topics that are needed.

Secondly, All editorials/articles are not needed. In newspaper there will be some writers who write on same topic again and again. You will see the same stuff packed in different packages in all articles written by them. Do scan the article before going into it. The authors often revolve their writing around the same topic. The newspapers have to fill their spaces, that doesn't mean you have to fill your time reading same stuff again and again. Take this paragraph for instance. Reading the first two lines and the next two would convey the same meaning!!. Hope you got it :-)

Thirdly, Have a balanced view. After reading certain popular papers many may get the idea than US is all evil and ‘China’ is so sweet or vice versa. The newspaper or the news is not the last word. The writer and the newspaper would have its own ideologies, strategies to keep its readers. You must not get carried away with these ideas. ‘The hindu’ is one of the most favoured newspapers by ias aspirants especially in south india. Be careful especially when it comes to international affairs. The newspaper may speak of an ideal world and all blah blah. Think about the practicality and also view other sources in case you doubt the authenticity.

Be attentive when a new discovery is made, a new government scheme comes, important personalities die, latest developments in the S&T etc.

Combine newspapers with magazine you are comfortable with. Web is a great source of news especially when you are in a remote area where neither hindu or times of India reaches on time.

FAQs on Science Subjects for Civil Services Examination

Whether to take up a Science optional or not ?

Well the choice is on the individual to decide...but one thing is clear that a science optional is much more demanding than an arts or humanity optional....So the most important factor regarding choosing a science optional should be the shear interest (not the highest score) because every year some body or other will get very high marks in almost all the optional... In science optional even though very people appear but still the competition is very tough because in Physics, Chemistry, Maths or Engineering subjects one has to compete with people from IITs....One should be very clear regarding the requirement of a science optional vis-a vis an arts optional.....Also it takes at least two years of hard work to prepare a science optional so one should keep this in mind also....

Please go through what Mr. Supreet Singh Gulati , IAS Rank-2, 2008 had said (on choosing the Science optional)...click on the link to open

http://piedhornbill.blogspot.com/2009/06/choosing-science-optionals.html

Whether to take up both Science subjects or not?

This is a difficult question to answer because one should take up both the science subject or one science and one engineering subject only when he is confident enough of handling both of them...to prepare two science subjects becomes a really difficult task, given the vastness of the subjects....that is why it takes lot to time for people with both the science subjects to clear the Civil Services Examination....One-two exceptions will always be there who might have got into IAS in first or second attempt with both the science subjects....but they are really intelligent people (generally IIT JEE top -100 rankers) so One should realize his/her capacity and decide accordingly....

But one thing is clear that if you are taking both the science subjects then you must have lot of perseverance as it generally takes 3-4 attempts to clear the Civil services Examination...Science subjects should not be taken as a stop-gap measure...

Whether I should take a coaching for Science optional or not?

It is not important that u take coaching or not..what is most important is that whether u have command over the subject or not....If u can master the whole syllabus by your own then there is no need for any coaching.....Coaching is just to facilitate the process and to inculcate a discipline.....

Whether coaching is necessary to clear Civil Service Examination ?

Not at all...even people who prepare by their own also clear the examination...

Which is the best coaching for Physics and Chemistry?

It is very difficult to talk about best when there is hardly any coaching institute for Science subjects...I had joined DIAS at Jia Sarai (near IIT Delhi) for Physics (in 2005) and Chemistry (in 2006) ..here is the link for DIAS http://www.diasindia.com/

The benefit that i got here was that almost all the sincere students of science subjects come here for coaching or test series @ DIAS...so it keeps you on tows regarding the preparation....I do not know any other coaching even worth mentioning, forget about joining them...so please be careful before joining any coaching, attend at least 15 days of classes before paying them any money....because there are lot of fraud coaching institutes which hardly teach any thing....just do not go by ADs... inquire properly before joining them...

Whether i need to go through all the books mentioned in your blog? What are the basic books for the Physics and Chemistry?

Well the choice is yours, that whether you want to go through or not...but the fact that in UPSC, a science optionals can not be prepared from 3-4 books...syllabus is so scattered &vast that one requires at least 3-4 books for each of the topic...had there been 1-2 books even i would have read and passed the examination rather than taking so much pain of going through all the books mentioned in my blog....

There more number of books you will cover, better and comprehensive preparation your preparation will be (well it depends on the time available also!!).... There is always a room for improvement in the quality of answers that comes from reading more no of books, rather than going through one book many times... The strategy of preparing an arts optional is much different than a science optional....another factor is that there is hardly any good coaching institute available for science and engineering optional so one has to take more pain and prepare the whole syllabus by its own....

Another factor is that in a competitive exam like UPSC if one thinks that he has got command over the syllabus by reading 1-2 book on every topic, then you will always find some other candidate who might have read more no of books than you & will have a more comprehensive idea over the subject....

Another factor is that to prepare 70 % of syllabus takes 50-55 % of time whereas to prepare grey area of 30 % it takes 45- 50% of our time....

Another factor is that is science optional, you can not write answers on ur intuition as the questions are more of derivations, problem solving or theory of a phenomenon......if you do not know any question then you can not write even a single word on that....so this demands more comprehensive preparation to attempt the whole paper....

What is the scaling formula in Science optional ?

Please do not waste your time on discussing this as this is of no use because no body knows the UPSC's scaling formula....one should rather focus on preparing the subject well than thinking on there issues...because i could never guess how scaling is being done...

In Civil Services Examination, 2006 i had only 200 marks correct in Physics paper-1 and i got 179 marks, then in 2007 exam, i had more than 240 correct then i got only 165 marks...and in 2009 examination i had 220 marks correct and i got 174 marks...so can any body correlate...

From where One can get previous years' solved papers of Physics and Chemistry for Civil Services Mains Examination?

Previous years' solved papers are not provided by any coaching institute in Delhi...Only Brilliant Tutorials send previous years' solved papers so one may join their correspondence...here is the link :http://www.brilliant-tutorials.com/distance-education/ias/iascoursedetails.html

Some of the solved papers f physics and chemistry may be available at Bharat Book Depot at Ber Sarai , near IIT Delhi...

Regarding the unsolved papers of Science subjects, one can get it from UPSC website ( for year 2008, 2009 and 2010) but not for earlier years...here is the link for papers

http://upsc.gov.in/questionpaper/index.htm#PageTop

Otherwise one may get unsolved papers of any subject at Jawahar Book Depot at Ber Sarai, near IIT Delhi...

You will not find the papers on internet so please do not waste your time on internet...

Whether My hand written notes of Physics and Chemistry are sufficient or not?

It is not for me to decide about what is sufficient for you...you people are better judge for yourselves...what is sufficient or not ,depends on ur level of preparation, ur strategy and ur comfort level on the subject matter...as far as i am concerned, i used to read from these notes only,and after that i never used to get read the books....if u ask me these notes are too much, from the current level of UPSC...If you master them then i think you may get very high marks....

Regarding Chemistry paper-2, i would like to say that i used to refer a lot of books apart from the notes....

From where will i get the notes of Mr. R.K.Singh's notes of Chemistry that i have mentioned in my blog?

Well i do not have idea about it because that person no longer teaches any where...but you may find his notes in Jia Sarai, near IIT Delhi...I have incorporated almost all the things that were there in his notes so one can download my notes and utilize them.....

Where can i get the performance of science subjects in last few years?

refer to an earlier post in my blog with title " Performance of science subjects"

http://abhijeetagrawal.blogspot.com/2011/05/performance-of-science-subjects_06.html

For other optional subjects one may refer to the annual reports of UPSC to know about their performance....here is the link:

http://upsc.gov.in/general/rti/slno1.htm#PageTop

Where will i get mark sheet of candidates who appeared with science subjects?

well this is not available for current year i.e. 2010 Civil Services Examination but you may get mark sheets of previous years (2007, 2008 exam) in some of the social networking sites or in internet...

Approach towards Civils Exam.

Before the syllabus of UPSC becomes alien to me & the jargons of psychology & geography start to baffle, I decided to pen down my preparation strategy. Hope future aspirants find it useful. Overall I feel that many unsuccessful aspirants are more competent than the selected ones but the strategy & approach makes the difference. I had my own share of pitfalls but I tried to tweak my strategy in every successive attempt & finally secured AIR-25 in my 3^rd attempt in 2009 (Had secured AIR-277 earlier in 2008 attempt & did not clear mains (score was 930) in first attempt taken in 2006). I did not take any coaching for Prelims or Mains examination. Not that I was opposed to it but I was working with Kotak Life Insurance from 2006 to 2009 & resigned from it only after getting IRS (IT) in 2008 attempt. But I joined test series & mock interviews at various places. As I didn’t join any classroom coaching, I got Xeroxed the following material

• Vajiram’s Class Notes for General Studies (All Subjects).
• Mukul Pathak’s Notes for Psychology
• Direction’s (Neetu Singh) material & Alok Ranjan’s Material for Geography.

Someone once said “If I am given twenty hours to chop down a tree, I’ll spend first eighteen hours sharpening the axe”. Personally I feel that to a large extent this is very much true for civil services examination. Not clearing civils is not a failure of memory or intellectual competence but probably the efforts don’t get channelized in the right direction (This is purely a personal opinion).

General Studies for Prelims (The Do’s)

• Focus should be on current affairs as it is the area which gives you the highest return per minute spent.
• Try making your own notes especially for information that can be categorized (E.g. Awards, Committees, PM/President, Persons in news etc can easily be tabulated). Those who have cleared prelims in their previous attempts can avoid this & rely directly on source material (mentioned below).
• Source Material which I referred for GS prelims was News & Events Magazine, Civil Services Chronicle Magazine (Used to make personal notes from these two sources & it does nottake more than 2 weeks to cover them all, provided you give 8-10 hrs daily). Also I used to go through magazines brought out by Vajiram & Ravi (but only after brushing up my personal notes; in fact once it was done there was only 10-20 % extra to be found in Vajiram magazines. Moreover the organization of information in Vajiram magazines leaves a lot to be desired).
• History for Prelims: Focus should be on modern India as it is in trend (though sometimes medieval India & ancient Indiaare also asked). Spectrum’s publishers “A brief history of Modern India” is a good source. I referred it both for prelims as well as mains exam (& spectrum was the only source I referred for covering history for Mains examination apart from two markers).
• Geography for Prelims: I didn’t focus on it as geography was my first optional. But NCERT XI & XII textbooks are a good source. Focus should be on Geography of India. Also refer a good atlas – Oxford, TTK, Orient Black swan. I largely relied on Oxford.
• Polity for Prelims: Used to skim through Vajiram Class notes on Polity. The same source was used for Mains examination.
• Economy for Prelims: No special preparation. Just went through Vajiram Class notes. Mostly questions in prelims related to economy are current affairs oriented & covered under current affairs.
• Science for Prelims: This section troubles many. Focus should be on Biology & especially selected areas like Genetics, Blood groups, Hormones, Vitamins etc. Just go through previous year question papers (esp. the one categorized by subject) & figure out trends. Good source for it is Lucent’s General Knowledge (cheap & good book for ready reference).

General Studies for Prelims (The Don’ts)

• Don’t study from too many sources. I’ve seen a lot of aspirants getting in love with all sorts of books. They will study NCERT books from 6^th to 12^th standard, Bipin Chandra, Mishra & Puri for economics, Savindra Singh for geography (that too for GS!!!!), DD Basu & Subhash Kashyap for Polity…..n the list is endless. There is no problem in reading all this provided one is able to remember which usually not the case is. I’ve seen many aspirants taking up extensive studies (good enough to do PhD on that subject), but when prelims is one month away, they panic & get bogged down by the information that is to be remembered. I just referred NCERT of XI & XII (More specifically for Modern India in History & Geography of Indiaonly). Please study less but study effective.
• Many aspirants cover India Year Book from cover to cover. I never did it. Infact I never read it for Prelims but selectively referred it for Mains exam only. Selective for me meant I finished it in one day, skimming some possible two markers.
• Economic Survey should also be skimmed. Don’t get into minor details. Just get a feel. That too for Mains exam. I never referred Eco Survey for Prelims.

General Studies for Mains Examination

• I would recommend aspirants to join atleast one test series. Joining test series in optionals is not that important but in case of General Studies it is pretty useful (again a personal opinion). The contribution of test series in improving performance is less because of improvement in knowledge & more because of better time management. Many & yes many (including myself in my first attempt) are not able to complete GS paper because they mismanage time. Joining test series will help one time his/her performance & also help one to write the answers around the word limit range.
• I took test series at Shriram’s IAS in 2008 attempt & at Expert Brains (Ajit Sinha) in 2009 attempt. Both are good. The model answers of Shriram are better as they are crisp. The downside of Shriram’s test series was that it covers usually only one subject at a time & full length mocks in the end, so one might loose touch with the subject. Ajit Sinha on the other hand, covers multiple subjects (history, polity, social issues etc) in a single mock. But I liked the model answers of Shriram’s IAS more. Take your call but would recommend you join one. It’s almost a must for those writing Mains examination for the first time.
• Focus on Two markers because usually you know or don’t know them. Write 3-4 points in two markers (offcourse if you know it). You can separate the information bits by semicolons to pack information.
• Write answers pointwise. One can provide more information by writing the answers pointwise with an introduction & conclusion of 1-2 lines. Not all answers can be attempted pointwise though (For e.g. in 2009 attempt G.S. paper I, the questions from history were based on quotations & one has to answer them paragraph wise).
• Reading Newspaper regularly has become a must with the changing trend (In 2009 attempt I could answer questions like “Whereabouts” clause of WADA, Extra Vehicular Activity, Plural Society etc just because I remembered information from Newspaper). Hindu Newspaper is your best bet followed by Times of India. I read both.
• Try to give multi-dimensional perspective.
• History for Mains Exam: Spectrum Publisher’s “A brief history of modern India”. Referred Bipin Chandra for 2-3 topics (the rise of the left wing, Indian capitalists & the national movement, long term strategy of the national movement…chapters which I couldn’t find in Spectrum). Even if you don’t read Bipin Chandra it will do. Spectrum is a good source.
• Polity for Mains Exam: Vajiram’s Class notes
• Geography for Mains Exam: It was my optional so I didn’t focus. NCERT of XI, XII should suffice. Don’t know whether Vajiram’s Class notes are good in this area or not. Please check yourself.
• National & Social Issues: Vajiram’s Class Notes
• Science & Technology: Vajiram’s Class Notes. Focus on “Emerging Technologies” like Graphene etc. Also make sure you cover areas which got Nobel Prize (E.g. Spintronics & question on Green Fluorescent Proteins in the last two years were asked as Nobel was awarded in that field). Track technology in News (E.g. Hubble Telescope was asked as 5^thmission went for it in 2009).
• Economy for Mains Exam: Vajiram’s Class Notes. Try tracking some major indices like Global competitive Index etc as sometime direct question is asked.
• Current & International Issues: Current Affairs Classroom notes of Vajiram (conducted in September every year).
• Statistics: Spectrum’s Book on Statistics. If you have Vajiram’s Yellow book on Statistics (That will also do). But practice a lot as time management is very important.

Some More Pointers for General Studies in Mains Examination:

• Don’t Bluff. If you don’t have any clue to any two markers or long question, just leave it. If you answer it, you are just satisfying yourself. The examiner will most probably give you a zero & it also spoils impression. Moreover you might not have time for later questions which you could have answered properly.
• In Paper II especially don’t bluff at all. Last year I left two 10 markers completely & saved time for Stats. I actually saved 45 minutes for stats & managed to attempt for 31 out of 35 marks. Moreover if you complete stats & still have time, you can always revisit the question you left in the first go.
• In statistics, attempt the numerical question first & the graphical questions later as it saves time (Provided you are equally comfortable with both).
• Events that have completed silver, golden, platinum jubilee are important (E.g. Television completed fifty years & was asked in 2009 attempt. In 2010 mains possible questions could be on RBI as it celebrates Platinum Jubilee etc & many more). While studying for prelims mark out such topics for studying later during mains.
• Yojana Magazine is a must. Last year I could answer the question on “Integrated Energy Policy” as it was as it is mentioned in Yojana.
• Refer Important National & International Award winners (E.g. Deep Joshi & Satya Vrat Shastri were asked in 2009 attempt).
• I covered two markers from many different sources. Willpost my personally typed two markers soon.

Law And Public Adminstration Strategy.

Siddharth Malik (AIR-71) has shared the tips & approach mentioned below. Since Public Administration is a popular optional & a lot of queries were related to it, I requested Siddharth to share a small write up on this issue. He has shared his broad strategy in the paragraphs below.

For GS prelims it is important to do an extensive study of the entire course especially current affairs part and with changing trend focus should also be on general knowledge. Newspaper reading is a must if possible even two newspapers I read hindu and the Indian express, reading a current affairs magazine For traditional topics like history geography etc. focus on class 9 to 12 level N.C.E.R.T.’s. For the optional my advice will be to read one good book several times rather reading several books one time. Manage time by making amonthly schedule that helps in keeping track of time andsyllabus. Write mock exams which improve writing skills.The best time to start preparing is at the graduation level. Minimum of one year before the prelims one should seriously start preparing for the exam.

The toughest part of the CSM is the mains for it you need to do an extensive as well as intensive study. It is very important to finish the paper in time especially the general studies so practice it. Do a study of the syllabus and the previous year’s papers this helps in preparing a strategy. Try to cover as much syllabus as possible.

LIST OF BOOKS

List of Magazines, News papers, Books etc. for 'General Studies’ preparation.

Prelims. Vajiram Notes.

Magzines. P.D., CHRONICLE

Newspapers THE HINDU, THE INDIAN EXPRESS

Books Ncert class 9 to 12 for history geography science economics

Mains…… Vajiram Notes.

Magzines. P.D. CHRONICLE FRONTLINE YOJANA KURUKSHETRA

Newspapers THE HINDU THE INDIAN EXPRESS

Books spectrum for GMA and history, economics Mishra and Purie,

For LAW rahul’s ias is the best coaching institute. To prepare for law especially constitution focus on all the areas as people generally tend to focus only on areas like fundamental rights and also read the complete cases of certain recent judgements for example Ashok kumar thakur case . For international law you can afford to touch only 60 to 70% of the syllabus read the important treaties and case laws. For merchantile law and I.P.C. focus on the section its ingredients and case laws. For torts focus should be on case law and the ingredients of a tort for specific torts. For current legal development search internet and read newspaper for important articles.

OPTIONAL 1 LAW

CONTRACT AVTAR SINGH

CONSTITUTION M.P. JAIN

INTERNATIONAL LAW KAPOOR AND ALSO SHAW

INDIAN PENAL CODE K.D. GAUR AND ALO PILLAI

TORTS RATANLAL AND DHIRAJLAL AND AVTAR SINGH

OPTIONAL II: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

For public administration take notes of both Sunil Gupta’s Inspiration and NIAs because syllabus is such that it will be difficult to locate the topics especially current from the books. Do write mock tests as you need to have very good writing skills if you want to score well in pub ad and try to innovate the answer in accordance with the question.

Paper 1 IGNOU Study Materials

Public administration - Mohit Bhattacharya

Nigro and Nigro

Public Administration Theory and concepts - Rumki Basu

Administrative thinkers - Prasad & Prasad

Managing organizational behavior - Paul Hersey & Kenneth Blanchard

Public Administration and Public Affairs - Nicholas Henry.

Paper 2 Journal of IIPA , IGNOU Study Materials

Avasthi & Maheswari

Indian Constitution - D.D. Basu

Laxmikant

Indian Administration - Ramesh K. Arora & Rajni Goyal.

Indian Administration S.R. Maheswari.

Avasti & Avasti

For essay: It is important to have a strong GS to score well in essay. I used to cut editorial columns from the newspapers and underlined the important parts that helped in GS also. I wrote on “Are we a soft state?” The reason for choosing the topic was that I thought that it was a mix of opinion and factual data.

For Interview: Read the current affairs thoroughly. Prepare question on biodata. Give mock interviews. I got Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi board. My interview lasted for about half an hour. The question were regarding WTO agriculture issues, TRIPS, Geographical Indicators, Global Warming Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen, Euro IV Norms, child abuse, adultery, corporate social responsibility, Is this world a post America World ?

One suggestion would be keeping in mind the changing trend of UPSC is to formulate your own opinions and should not go just by wrought memory. The secret of success is to always believe in yourself and work hard with dedication and sincerity, proper planning, time management and being motivated throughout the journey one day you will definitely reach you goal. It very important to consider this exam as a journey and one should try to enjoy every moment and one should not give up till the goal is reached.

All thanks to Siddharth Malik for sharing this through this blog. Comments/Queries invited.

Strategy for Political Science

Why I chose it??

The only reason was i loved reading constitution and International Relations while preparing for my GS. And I think it was good enough reason to choose pol sc. as one of the optional. Though I was unaware of the Political thinkers hurdle I had to face once I started with this optional. The other minor reasons which ultimately proved right were-

1. Helped in GS II (scored a decent 70 without much preparation)

2. Helped in my Essay in First attempt (creation of small states)

3. Helped in my Interview (questions on constitution and IR are very commom)

                

                              Still I got 212 in my optional which despite decent is not a satisfactory score which showed my lack of preparation. so i have tried to include the preparation strategy of two of my friends and fellow rank holders in CSE 2013.. Dr. Aditya Prakash (AIR 79) who secured 208 marks and Nimit Goyal(AIR 164) who secured 225 plus. also i have talked to Shubhra Ranjan mam who has given her valuable tips which i will try to include here.

Time Needed.??

I think a minimum of 3 months are required to finish one reading but that wouldn't be sufficient as you need to revise 2-3 times more to grasp the crux of pol sc specially thinkers part. so it will take time but comparing the magnitude of upsc syllabus it is covering (GS II, ESSAY, INTERVIEW) the time spent is worthy enough.

How To Start

I will suggest one should start from the parts which are interesting. 

Study of Constitution can be your starting point as it also covers your GS. Even if you want to drop this subject at later stage there is no loss if you have started with constitution plus it will make your interest in the subject.

1. Indian Constitution At Work is the NCERT book I started with. Actually this book dragged my interest into Pol. Sc.

2. You may also start with other books like political theory etc.

Books Topicwise??

Paper I

Western Political Thought

1. Subrata Mukherjee or Susheela Ramaswamy or Brian Nelson (as per SHUBHRA mam's advice)

 I read shubhra mam notes for this. My friends too read those notes.

the books which are mentioned can be used for reference if u have time (say you are appearing next year)

Political Theory

OP Gauba And Rajeev Bhargava (SR Advice)

Me and my Friends read Notes And OP Gauba only

Indian Political Thought

VR Mehta (SR= Reference)

We read Notes. This portion is useful for Ethics Paper also.

Indian National Movement

One And Only Bipin Chandra

I also added some material from CHRONICLE issues.

Indian Constitution And Politics

DD Basu by me along with SR notes and also Rao's old notes of my friend.

Nimit and Aditya recommends BL Fadia too.

This is such an Important part as it covers most of GSII.. you can also read and do some value addition from various magazines like ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY.

DD Basu or Laxmikanth??

I found DD basu better. But you can follow any book which keeps you interested.

PAPER II

Comparative Politics

IGNOU notes are sufficient for comprehensive study.

Theory of International Politics and World Politics

Global politics by ANDREW HEYWOOD (as suggested by SR mam)

I mainly relied on internet to cover this part along with the notes.

World Focus was another magazine i used to read in between.

Mrunal.org is a good site to follow.

IR and Foreign Policy

1.Chronicle Magazine

2. Mrunal.org Diplomacy section

3. IDSA and MEA sites (less oftenly)

4. The Hindu

5. World Focus

IR is very dynamic plus it includes a large portion og GSII. you have to keep yourself updated with the sources mentioned above and others which you can find

My preparation was based on SR mam's notes and Rao's notes plus

1. NCERT

2. CHRONICLE magazine

3. Mrunal.org

4. DD basu

the books which are mentioned otherwise are suggested by my friends and mam. I will request you to please take these boks as reference books to add variety and quality in your answers but try to follow only one  book for each topic.

How to learn Articles, amendments and schedules??

schedules are easy to learn. just revise them a few times.

you don't have to memorise all the articles and amendments which we tend to do in the beginning. Just read them once and on subsequent readings you can judge yourself that some of them are repeating themselves in every other chapter and those are the ones which you need to remember. I made a separate List of Important amendments and articles and pasted them on my wall. which helped me in remembring them for longer periods.

How to attempt question paper??

1. I tried to follow the same approach as I used in attempting GS papers that is

a. writing a small intro

b. content in short paras according to word limit assigned. larger the word limit larger the paras

c. balanced conclusion

d. underlining important points even making boxes or encircling few imortant words

2. I always tried to attempt more (max 3) ques from section 2 which was bit dynamic in nature. since section 1 was theoretical, the views of examiner could vary. try to write a balanced answer in section 2.

Final Advice

Choosing political science as an optional or for that matter any subject as an optional is just like learning to swim. you may do a lot of analysis and research on them but you cant learn how to swim unless you enter the water. so take it calmly at the start. give your subject enough time and if u work hard enough the subject will give you enough marks..

Book list for Public Administration.

1. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION By LAXMIKANTH 5TH EDITION.(3-4 READINGS AND REMEMBER WORD BY WORD)

2. NEW HORIZONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION By MOHIT BHATTACHARYA(FOR CONCEPTUAL CLARITY)

3. ADMINISTRATIVE THINKERS By PRASAD AND PRASAD

4. INDIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION By GOYAL & ARORA (INDEPTH STUDY AND REMEMBER WELL)

5. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA By D D BASU

6. THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA By P M BAKSHI(BE THOROUGH WITH THE ARTICLES AND THEIR PROVISIONS).

7. FACT FILE (VOL 1 & 2) PUBLISHED By SYNERGY COACHING INSTITUTE + RECENTLY ADDED FACTS IN LAXMIKANTH 5TH EDITION i.e.ADDED SECTION IN THE END.

8. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS By NICHOLAS HENRY ( CH 2,3,4,5,8 & 10)(Optional)

9. ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR By STEPHEN ROBBINS 13TH EDITION ( CH ON MOTIVATION(2 CH),LEADERSHIP(2 CH),DECISION MAKING,COMMUNICATION,ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE)(Optional)

10. MANAGEMENT By KOONTZ,WEIHRICH ( SAME CH AS ABOVE)(Optional)

11. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PUB AD FROM THE HINDU,ECONOMIC SURVEY ( FINANCE AND SOCIAL SECTOR CH),INDIA YEAR BOOK (FINANCE,SOCIAL WELFARE CH).

12. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION By AVASTHY & MAHESHWARI(SELECTED CHAPTERS & Optional FOR UNDERSTANDING CONCEPTS)

13. Model Test Papers By VAJIRAM & RAVI,SYNERGY,BRAIN TREE(Practise them as many as you can after reading the above mentioned text books).

14. PRACTISE LAST 10 YEARS UPSC QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Score 140 or more in essay.

Hi, I have got 140 in Essay in 2006 Mains & also 140 in 2008 Mains. Many candidates are confused about How to PREPARE ESSAY … So writing this piece …

Essay preparation for Civil Services Exam can be of two types:- 

1. LONG-TERM PREPARATION 
2. SHORT-TERM PREPARATION

I will first write about long-term preparation. It can be done by those aspirants who have 1 yr or 2 yr or 3 years in their hands i.e. before Mains exam …

1. LONG-TERM PREPARATION 
(The Path Less Trodden):-

• These things should be done when you are doing your GRADUATION these days or u have enough time say 10 months at least to go for Extra-Curricular reading :-

• For long-term preparation be regular with any two national newspapers. I would recommend THE HINDU & THE TIMES OF INDIA. The Hindu gives you simple & effective writing style while TOI gives u stylish English & increases your vocabulary. Both are needed to write a good Essay. 

• Read 2-3 hours everyday. Specially focus on the Editorials & other Analytical & Critical articles. Say in Hindu focus on Magazine, Book Review, Literary Review, Business Review, Open Page, 2 page OP-ED Page etc & in The Times of India focus on its Editorial Page. Whenever you encounter a DIFFICULT PHRASE, EDIOM, PART OF SPEECH etc just see the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary or Chambers Dictionary & in a Diary note down that word, its meaning, its usage in sentence etc. This MUST be done within 1-2 minutes. Don’t keep it pending. 

• Or else one word is lost from your vocabulary. By doing this your VOCABULARY will increase & you will know HOW TO USE THAT WORD IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT. This is a gradual & continuous process and it will take 12-18 months to make your vocabulary very strong & have command over the language & expressive power.

• In addition to newspapers read as many articles from GOOD MAGAZINES as possible. The following magazines can be referred to.
a. FRONTLINE ( Must )
b. THE ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ( Must )
c. MAINSTREAM (Optional)
d. WORLD FOCUS (Optional)
e. THE ECONOMIST (Optional)
f. TIME or LIFE ( If you have access to a good library)

• I am not saying that you should try to finish all these magazines in one month. But try to read as many HIGH QUALITY ARTICLES as possible. This will increase the RANGE & VARIETY of your thinking & will make you knowledgeable about the happenings around the world & different streams of thought. (For Example: - What is “Stream of Consciousness”? What is “Theatre of Absurd”? What is “Objective Correlative” in T S Eliot’s poems? What is The Revival Movement? Etc) 

• Jot down POWERFUL & EFFECTIVE sentences that you come across in a Diary. Any Quotations or Important Sentences said by Intellectuals like Amartya Sen, Manmohan Singh, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Bertrand Russell, Arundhati Roy etc should be noted down.

• Revise your Diary in free time many times so that you can remember these quotations, important words, sentences etc & use them at relevant places in your Essay in Mains Exam.

• Apart from these things read a lot of NOVELS, POEMS, PLAYS, SHORT STORIES etc

• I am giving a list of some of the books that I read. You can pick up some of them …

1. R K NARAYAN’S NOVELS (SWAMI & FRIENDS,THE ENGLISH TEACHER,THE GUIDE,THE DARK ROOM,THE BACHELOR OF ARTS,WAITING FOR MAHATMA,THE PAINTER OF SIGNS etc)
2. WAITING FOR GODOT ----- by SAMUEL BECKETT
3. T S ELIOT ----- SELECTED POEMS
4. THE GOLDEN TREASURY
5. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ( MACBETH,KING LEAR,TEMPEST … ETC)
6. ENGLISH AUGUST ------ by UPAMANYU CHATTERJEE
7. GEORGE ORWELL ----- THE ANIMAL FARM,1984
8. BERTRAND RUSSELL ----- SCEPTICAL ESSAYS, PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS, HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
9. THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA --- JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
10. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS ---- ARUNDHATI ROY
11. MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN ---- SALMAN RUSHDIE
12. PLAYS OF HAROLD PINTER or at least know about his works.
13. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE ---- by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
14. NOVELS OF CHARLES DICKENS like GREAT EXPECTATIONS, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, HARD TIMES etc
15. Search TOP 100 NOVELS OF ALL TIME in Google & read some 5-10 novels of any author “WHOM YOU LIKE” …