BEYOND THE BASICS
We reach this stage when we have read all our basic books, made notes from them and have perfected our newspaper reading and internet using skills. Now we address our syllabus directly.
Coaching Material
There are handwritten classnotes of various coaching institutes available in the photocopy shops of rajinder nagar and mukherjee nagar. Notes from vajiram, insight, sriram (printed material) are good for various parts of GS. We should read them and in fact for Vajiram and Sriram, I found them to be better than the actual classes.
ARC and Puncchi Commission Reports
For many topics in 2nd and 3rd paper, 2nd Administrative Reforms Commissions reports are very good click report along with the Puncchi Commission reports ccsr report. Each volume should be read and notes prepared from them as mentioned earlier. In 2013 mains, at least 5-6 questions were asked directly from ARC and Puncchi Commission reports.
Bills, Rules, Drafts and Government Actions
– Every bill, policy, committee, rules, drafts, governmental action etc. has to be tracked.
– PRS India is a good source for bills.
– Others have to be tracked on internet. PIB website is a very good source for all governmental actions and may be subscribed to in the RSS reader.
Specific Readings For Various Parts of Syllabus
PAPER-II – General Studies- I
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.
Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
I had history optional, so ancient and medieval culture were easy. Modern was very difficult and I found material by Insight, Nitin Singhania and 2 pdfs titled ‘Compilation of Indian culture’ and’Compendium on Indian Culture’ very useful. Click here and here to download the pdfs. I tried to memorize all folk songs/dances/drama etc. state-wise i.e. state first and then the dance.
Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
Shekhar Bandopadhyay’s “From Plassey to Partition” is by far the best book. Also read Bipin Chandra’s book to get a different perspective. Read both because writing a balanced perspective is very imp.
Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
There is a book by Bipin Chandra “India since Independence”. Very thick book, but we need to read only 3-4 chapters.
History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
Read Insight world history optional class notes first. for colonization, there was one chapter in old class 9 or 10 history ncert book.
Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Effects of globalization on Indian society Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
All above is very general. answer writing style matters. everybody knows everything.
Salient features of world’s physical geography.
Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)
Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including waterbodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
NCERT class 11 n 12 books + insight academy + vajiram notes + follow main themes like recent IPCC report, IPSO report, IMD website for cyclone mechanism. In 2013 mains, the cyclone naming question was directly from IMD website. Click here to download cyclone pdf of imd.
PAPER-III
General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these. Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity. Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act. Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
For all the polity, read DD Basu or Laximakanth thoroughly. Read 2nd ARC relevant reports and Puncchi Commission Reports. These reports directly cover most of the topics.
Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Vajiram came out with an online pdf on various schemes (Click here to download), its printed copy would be available on photocopy shops in Rajinder Nagar. Handwritten classnotes by the same institutions were also helpful. Newspapers, pib etc. will come in handy here. CAG reports have very good analysis on various schemes as well which can be found on internet.
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Role of civil services in a democracy.
These topics are well covered in 2nd ARC reports.
India and its neighborhood- relations.
Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
IR has to be newspapers n internet based.
PAPER-IV
General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.
Economy section has to come from budget, economic survey, 12th 5 yr plan, newsppr n intnt. Coaching hand written material may also help in some topics.
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Government Budgeting.
govt budgeting has to come from 2nd ARC report.
Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers agriculture – there was “State of Indian Agriculture” report tabled in parliament in March 2012.
Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Land reforms in India.
Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Investment models.
All the above issues are well covered in newspapers, internet and editorials etc. Just keep an eye for anything relevant. + I had economics optional, so never really prepared above specifically for GS.
Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
S&T: Mostly adhoc preparation. coaching classes material is relied upon in the final month to boost confidence but it doesn’t really help in the exam.
Disaster and disaster management.
Disaster: 2nd ARC report and CAG report on disaster preparedness
Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
2nd ARC report: 5th schedule, PESA, FRA, 6th schedule topics are important here.
Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention
Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
Security: coaching material and newspapers etc.
PAPER-V
General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude
Basic material has to be 2nd ARC report #4 and also Vajiram and Insight handwritten notes. For moral thinkers, attitude, emotional intelligence topics, refer to Sriram printed notes.
Strategy By Gaurav Agraval IAS Topper
EDU HELP 101 