Dear all,
The GS Preparation has many sections incorporated:
HISTORY- More attention to be given to Modern India, after Plassey and Buxar. Indian National Movement is very important. Spectrum Modern India is what I suggest freshers and Non-History-Optional-Students. Medieval India- learn the dynasty members (tughlaq, khalji,slave, lodi,etc.) learn in detail about razia sultana. Cover in depth Jainism and Buddhism for Ancient India. Remember Indus civilization locations in the map and whether they lie in India or Pakistan. Vedic age and Post-vedic age are exact opposites in many aspects like women freedom, caste system, etc. hence use logic to attend such questions.
WIZARD History Special for GS Issue is a concise ready reckoner. Do not miss that out.
GEOGRAPHY- Spend time with Atlas to get an idea about the location of countries in news (current affairs, presidential elections, terror attacks, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sports championships, prominent citizens recently passed away, ethnic/social/inflationary crisis countries). Try to have an idea about the countries nearby, its approximate location, islands, strait, bay, gulfs, seas and oceans nearby. Concentrate on territorial dispute areas- sir creek, kuril islands, aksai chin, etc.
NCERT books are for Indian geography and geomorphology. Have no doubts about regions of plateaus and plains, deserts and forests in India. Keenly note areas of dense forests, heavy rainfall, high population and pop.density, urbanisation areas, climatic zones and areas in biodiversity threat. National parks, their locations, famous species in it all these are favorite areas for question-paper-setters.
ALWAYS HAVE THE IDEA OF ASSOCIATING CURRENT AFFAIRS TO HISTORY,GEOG,POLITY & ECONOMY.
CHECK IF ANYTHING PROMINENT HAD HAPPENED 5,10,20,25,40,50,75,80,90,100, ETC. YEARS AGO. FOR EXAMPLE 2010 COMPLETES 60 YEARS OF INDIAN REPUBLIC. 2011 CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF BIRTH OF BANGLADESH., AND SO ON
POLITY - I fully referred Indian Polity in Laxmikanth's Indian Polity and solved MCQs from Pratiyogita Darpan's Special Edition on Indian Polity. The latter had a complete coverage of all areas from which questions could be asked. Be thorough with the step-by-step manner in which power transfer was done to Indians from British hands- decentralisation, constituent assembly formation, the various GoI acts before that. Relate Historical events in UK that lead to 1947 independence of India.
Prepare notes on each part of the constitution, keep them handy. Be thorough about the various sub-clauses of fundamental rights, functions of president, governor, Lok and Rajya Sabha; Be clear in the various types of bills, funds, and budgetary terms. Give importance to lok ayuktas and ombudsmen type of establishments, panchayati raj, election commission.
ECONOMY - Refer my other blog on economy. However, keep in mind that current facts like 625384826.23 rupees was allocated to so-and-so scheme is unnecessary. Have comparative ideas about which sector got more importance than which other sector & whether it is different from last year's outlay. Share market related terms, RBI and World bank related issues are important. Questions from Finance commission, NDC and planning commissions are inevitable.
GMA - Refer my other blog on GMA and statistics. Do not neglect this section. This fetches you sure-on-the-spot-marks.
ALL THE BEST
Knowledge knows no limits, it cannot be destroyed and it is not a thing which can be stolen (save IPRs). The only case of generosity where both the giver and receiver are profiting. Join me and share knowledge ! Happy blogging !
Jun 13, 2010
Jun 11, 2010
Eating the Elephant
The part which freshers to civil service preparation find difficult is CURRENT AFFAIRS (C/A). Like myself, these freshers did not watch news till then with an orientation needed for CS Exams. The GS papers of Prelims, Mains and most of the Interview have a lot to deal with C/A.
For first attempters, managing C/A can be like eating an elephant. Yes, we cannot avoid this huge mammal and have to eat our way through it. Wise old saying keeps telling us -
"EAT AN ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME"
This is precisely the technique you need to follow in handling C/A. First, do a SWOT analysis and identify the areas where you are strong and relatively weaker. Strengthen further your strongholds. Eliminate all doubts regarding the weaker ones. A balance between both is what you need.
Select each section of C/A - Regional, National, International, Sports, Cinema, Books/authors, Awards/prizes, Institutions, Agreements/pacts, Ethnic/religious/social/economic crises, etc. & study them individually. (One piece at a time)
Yet, remember the whole thing constituted the single elephant of Current Affairs. So be open-minded enough to correlate facts and opinions amongst the sections.
Like how Rome wasn't built in a single day, Success too doesn't come all of a sudden. It is the fruit of a long-endured onerous journey.
A bee recognises its success in finding honey with a characteristic "8-shaped" dance. Only that bee knows how long it travelled to reach a magnificient flower.
A spider succeeds every time a prey falls into its web. Only that spider knows how many times it slipped and slid while building that artistic web.
A rock wins when it becomes a statue. Who else other than the rock knows how many hits it received from a chisel?
Even mud succeeds the minute it turns into a brick. Only it knows how much heat it endured.
These bees, spiders, rocks and mud do not think of their success when at duty. They are rewarded for their hardwork. They do not always celebrate success, but definitely do not mourn during failure. This is what separated them from humans.
Think to win!!
For first attempters, managing C/A can be like eating an elephant. Yes, we cannot avoid this huge mammal and have to eat our way through it. Wise old saying keeps telling us -
"EAT AN ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME"
This is precisely the technique you need to follow in handling C/A. First, do a SWOT analysis and identify the areas where you are strong and relatively weaker. Strengthen further your strongholds. Eliminate all doubts regarding the weaker ones. A balance between both is what you need.
Select each section of C/A - Regional, National, International, Sports, Cinema, Books/authors, Awards/prizes, Institutions, Agreements/pacts, Ethnic/religious/social/economic crises, etc. & study them individually. (One piece at a time)
Yet, remember the whole thing constituted the single elephant of Current Affairs. So be open-minded enough to correlate facts and opinions amongst the sections.
Like how Rome wasn't built in a single day, Success too doesn't come all of a sudden. It is the fruit of a long-endured onerous journey.
A bee recognises its success in finding honey with a characteristic "8-shaped" dance. Only that bee knows how long it travelled to reach a magnificient flower.
A spider succeeds every time a prey falls into its web. Only that spider knows how many times it slipped and slid while building that artistic web.
A rock wins when it becomes a statue. Who else other than the rock knows how many hits it received from a chisel?
Even mud succeeds the minute it turns into a brick. Only it knows how much heat it endured.
These bees, spiders, rocks and mud do not think of their success when at duty. They are rewarded for their hardwork. They do not always celebrate success, but definitely do not mourn during failure. This is what separated them from humans.
Think to win!!
Jun 5, 2010
My Final Marks
I like to share my final civil service marks with you.
Total - 1244 out of 2300
GS = 322 [151+171]
Tamil Literature = 292 [156+136]
Botany = 284 [133+151]
Essay = 130
Interview = 216
Rank - 36
Total - 1244 out of 2300
GS = 322 [151+171]
Tamil Literature = 292 [156+136]
Botany = 284 [133+151]
Essay = 130
Interview = 216
Rank - 36
Jun 3, 2010
Economics for Civil Services
Usually people from arts and science background find this part difficult. But it is not so if we understand the concepts and have strong basics. If you find facts (Budget allocations, percentages, years) too hard to memorize, don't do that. Only less than 5% of questions from economics are factual.
Sources of material-
-Economics part in TataMcGrawHill GS manual
-Pratiyogita Darpan Indian Economy
-NCERT Indian Economic development Class-XI
Areas to concentrate-
(The list is not exhaustive)
*Five year plans-history, targets, success, outlays, motto of plan
*Latest Budget- salient features, income tax slabs, new tax levies, estimates
*LPG- our economy till 1991 and the shift thereafter
*Brettonwoods institutions- IBRD, IMF, IDA, etc.
*UNO- its associated organisations like UNICEF, ILO, UNESCAP, UNESCO.. and their chiefs.
*Poverty, Unemployment, Overpopulation, Migration, Urbanisation, Low agricultural productivity- reasons, problems, solutions
*Agriculture- net sown area, major crops, latest production capacity, schemes for the welfare of farmers, unorganised sector, crop insurance, Green revolution
*Industry- cotton mills, iron and steel,automobiles, software, SEZ, government's industrial policy
*Banks- RBI & its functions, CRR, SLR, Repo, reverse Repo, Inflation, Great economic depression, Recent financial crisis, nationalisation of banks, NBFCs, Seed banks, RRBs, Monetary policy, NABARD
*Rural Development- Bharat Nirman, NREGA, SGSRY, SGSY, indira awas yojana, NRHM, TRYSEM, food for work, antyodaya anna yojana, PDS, SSA, PM's gram sadak yojana etc.
*Tax reforms
*energy sector, non-conventional electricity
*balance of trade, BoP
*tourism, telecommunications
*WTO- patents, subsidies, developed vs. developing
*trade blocs, G-7, G-15, G-20, G-77, Free trade agreements, Preferential trade agreements, CECA, CEPA of India
*Population statistics- Latest is 2001. Aspirants for IAS 2012 and later, please wait for the 2011 census operations' result.
*National Income- calculation methods
Sources of material-
-Economics part in TataMcGrawHill GS manual
-Pratiyogita Darpan Indian Economy
-NCERT Indian Economic development Class-XI
Areas to concentrate-
(The list is not exhaustive)
*Five year plans-history, targets, success, outlays, motto of plan
*Latest Budget- salient features, income tax slabs, new tax levies, estimates
*LPG- our economy till 1991 and the shift thereafter
*Brettonwoods institutions- IBRD, IMF, IDA, etc.
*UNO- its associated organisations like UNICEF, ILO, UNESCAP, UNESCO.. and their chiefs.
*Poverty, Unemployment, Overpopulation, Migration, Urbanisation, Low agricultural productivity- reasons, problems, solutions
*Agriculture- net sown area, major crops, latest production capacity, schemes for the welfare of farmers, unorganised sector, crop insurance, Green revolution
*Industry- cotton mills, iron and steel,automobiles, software, SEZ, government's industrial policy
*Banks- RBI & its functions, CRR, SLR, Repo, reverse Repo, Inflation, Great economic depression, Recent financial crisis, nationalisation of banks, NBFCs, Seed banks, RRBs, Monetary policy, NABARD
*Rural Development- Bharat Nirman, NREGA, SGSRY, SGSY, indira awas yojana, NRHM, TRYSEM, food for work, antyodaya anna yojana, PDS, SSA, PM's gram sadak yojana etc.
*Tax reforms
*energy sector, non-conventional electricity
*balance of trade, BoP
*tourism, telecommunications
*WTO- patents, subsidies, developed vs. developing
*trade blocs, G-7, G-15, G-20, G-77, Free trade agreements, Preferential trade agreements, CECA, CEPA of India
*Population statistics- Latest is 2001. Aspirants for IAS 2012 and later, please wait for the 2011 census operations' result.
*National Income- calculation methods
More on statistics
Please carry with you relevant stationery- sharp pencils, ruler, eraser, compass, protractor, simple calculator (not digital with storage)
The main kinds of questions asked:
-Based on frequency distribution, graphs, pie charts
-Mean, median, mode
-Averaging speeds of vehicles
-Profit & loss
-Based on set theory
-Simple interest, compound interest
-Time and work
-Age of persons
-Drawing a table to represent data given
-Ratio & proportions
-Comment on statements - (True or false type)
-Probability
#Do not miss out on 'Drawing a table to represent data given'- type of questions, because they do not have any formulae, but only simple addition and subtraction; and since you are allowed a Calculator, it cannot be simpler.
#Concentrate also on frequency distribution sums. They usually carry more marks since they are graph-based. The universal law in graph problems is 'Writing SCALE' which we either forget or don't know to write. Write it in the top right corner of graph sheet.
Sample:
X-AXIS: 1 cm = 1 unit
Y-AXIS: 1 cm = 10 units
#If there is a need to show different regions in graph through different colors/shading methods, definitely give a legend/key indicating what each color/shade/stroke represents; preferably in the right side of the graph. Do not crowd your graph with numbers, units, etc. Give it as neatly as possible.
#Don't complicate your graph by making each centimetre represent 3, 4, 6, 8 units, etc. Always prefer units in 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, etc.
#Make sure you do not spend so much time on problems you have absolutely no clue. Even a shabby presentation may come in the way of getting full marks. Do not overwrite. Make it a neat table/graph as far as possible. Use the last sheet of your answer booklet to make rough calculations and make sure you strike them out.
The main kinds of questions asked:
-Based on frequency distribution, graphs, pie charts
-Mean, median, mode
-Averaging speeds of vehicles
-Profit & loss
-Based on set theory
-Simple interest, compound interest
-Time and work
-Age of persons
-Drawing a table to represent data given
-Ratio & proportions
-Comment on statements - (True or false type)
-Probability
#Do not miss out on 'Drawing a table to represent data given'- type of questions, because they do not have any formulae, but only simple addition and subtraction; and since you are allowed a Calculator, it cannot be simpler.
#Concentrate also on frequency distribution sums. They usually carry more marks since they are graph-based. The universal law in graph problems is 'Writing SCALE' which we either forget or don't know to write. Write it in the top right corner of graph sheet.
Sample:
X-AXIS: 1 cm = 1 unit
Y-AXIS: 1 cm = 10 units
#If there is a need to show different regions in graph through different colors/shading methods, definitely give a legend/key indicating what each color/shade/stroke represents; preferably in the right side of the graph. Do not crowd your graph with numbers, units, etc. Give it as neatly as possible.
#Don't complicate your graph by making each centimetre represent 3, 4, 6, 8 units, etc. Always prefer units in 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, etc.
#Make sure you do not spend so much time on problems you have absolutely no clue. Even a shabby presentation may come in the way of getting full marks. Do not overwrite. Make it a neat table/graph as far as possible. Use the last sheet of your answer booklet to make rough calculations and make sure you strike them out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)