1.The choice of optional should be done with due care and caution. While knowledge in the subject is of crucial importance, interest in the subject is also an important consideration. The reason being that the interest in the subject should be enough to last a few years of preparation.
2.The aptitude and proficiency of a particular candidate in a given subject plays an important role in arriving at a decision to select an optional subject.
3.Since some subjects are more scoring than others, candidates opt for such subjects. But one thing should be kept in mind is one’s aptitude and interest towards subject.
4.Don’t choose an entirely new subject in which you will have to work very hard.
5.If the subject selected for preliminary is opted for, in the Mains examination also, it will be very useful and solves a lot of labour and time. The preparations done for the Preliminaries would assist the candidates in getting a good grasp over the subject; otherwise the effort put in would go waste after the Prelims.
6.Books for Preliminary examination are available in plenty in common for popular subjects, but in case of specialized optional like Agriculture, Engineering, Mathematics etc one has to look carefully for good books which cover all parts of the syllabus.
7.One should select standard, prescribed books for the preparation.
8.A detailed study of good textbooks and whole syllabus only give good input and a decent chance to answer maximum questions to score high. It is better to consult various books on different aspects, as it is very rare that one single book covers the entire syllabus in its totality.
9.After reading/understanding the basic concepts, it is desirable to have sufficient or a good question bank on the subject concerned may assist the students a great deal.
10.Questions asked in the Preliminary examination for previous 10 years are available in the market. As a first step, one should sort out the questions of the optional, according to the syllabus topics. This will give an insight into the nature of questions, important areas, and twists in the questions etc. Once the basic strategy is formed, it will be easier to study the subjects according to the nature of questions asked in UPSC.
11.The optional subject should be studied extensively (Optional: General Studies= 75:25).
12.A four-month exclusive preparation for Preliminary examination is a must.
13.For the optional subject, the whole syllabus should be thoroughly studied and should be revised and mastered. (Remember no topic in optional should be left as optional) :One question carries 2.5 marks.
14.One should aim at scoring 95-110/120 (optional subject), 95-105/150 (General Studies). (Score varies per subject & per category).
15.Optional subjects carry more marks (total of 300) as compared to General Studies (150). The area/syllabus of the optional subject is also limited. Though there is a prescribed syllabus, there is no limit. It is vast.
16.As the question paper is objective in nature, it would not be advisable to confine the studies only to the multiple choice objective type questions. Practice with question banks available in the market.
17.One should read the entire syllabus by covering each and every aspect. This provides a candidate with loads of self-confidence and knowledge to answer the questions correctly.
18.This practice would perfect the art of answering the questions correctly and rapidly. This will also help the candidates to properly understand the questions asked in various forms.
19.A candidate doing well in the optional paper is expected to fare well in the examination.
20.Practice of correctly marking the answer sheets by using minimum possible time will go a long way in helping you succeed. It helps to assess one’s progress in that particular subject.
21.As the questions in the Preliminary examination are objective in nature, intelligent guesswork may be used to answer questions when you don’t know the precise answer. While solving the paper you may take three rounds. In the first round solve the easy questions. In the second round may be taken up statement and reason. The third round can have the tough questions where the intelligent guesswork may be applied. If you don’t even know some questions, you should answer the same code to all. Mark “A” or “B” or “C” or “D” to all blank where you don’t have any clue at all.
22.Importance of General Studies also cannot be undermined.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
General Tips
1. Be very particular about the subject you choose for prelims, as you will be appearing for an objective type of paper. History, maths, geography may prove to be very scoring. Choose subjects which have availability of books, reading material and guidance. In recent years engineering subjects like civil and electrical can be chosen, giving BEs and IITians an edge (yes! even here they are giving the BAs and BScs a tough fight!)
2. G.K. will definitely pay in your prelims. Reading newspapers, watching TV news and of course quiz shows like KBC is a must.
3. If you have been lucky enough to reach the interview stage book knowledge may not be the only thing you need. Your mental alertness will count as they ask you questions like “How many steps did you walk up to reach here?” or “ What is the colour of the wall behind you ?” - So be prepared.
4. Enhance your personality because it will definitely be one of the criteria for selection. For IPS physical wellbeing is of great importance, you should be medically fit.
5. Improve your communication skills. IFS aspirants must be proficient in at least one foreign language. So go ahead, have your say in this political mess of our country and try to make it a better place.
IAS Papers : Five Tips On Studying For Exams
Five tips on how to study for tests so you can improve your performance on them:
1. Take frequent short breaks.
It’s been shown that your memory will remember more at the beginning and at the end of your study sessions than it will in the middle of those sections. Therefore, it makes sense to keep your study periods to a short time frame, say 20-30 minutes at most, take a 5-minute break, then come back and study another 20-30 minutes. This way, your mind will be sharper and you’ll be more focused on what you’re studying.
2. Space out your studying so that your long-term memory retains it.
Another reason to not wait until the night before the exam to study is because the information will stay in your long-term memory. If you wait until the night before the exam, the information will only be in your short-term memory, where it is more likely to be forgotten.
3. Don’t try to memorize everything; make sure you understand the material well.
Understanding the material is key to doing well on college exams because often these exams will ask you to demonstrate your understanding of that material by applying it to a situation. Your study material may have presented a sample case for you to help you prepare, but if you didn’t understand the process of how you came to the right answer, chances are, you won’t be able to demonstrate the ability to answer the question on the exam, which will likely lead you to doing poorly on the exam.
4. Listen to relaxing music to ease the boredom of studying.
Listening to relaxing music like classical or jazz can help to relieve some of the boredom of studying. Sitting for extended periods of time, even with short breaks, can cause the mind to dull a bit over time; playing relaxing music can help to revitalize yourself to refocus on the material and study it better.
5. Don’t study later than the time you usually go to sleep.
It is suggested that you don’t stay up past the time you usually go to sleep, as you may be tempted to fall asleep, being that your body is used to going to sleep at a certain time. That is why studying in the afternoon or early evening would be better. If you are a morning person, wake up at your usual time or even a bit earlier and study then, rather than staying up past your bedtime to study.
This is another reason why you shouldn’t wait until the night before the exam to do all of your studying, as you will likely need a few hours to study in order to cover all the material if you haven’t been studying it throughout the course.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN CSE
With the number of vacancies dwindling each year and the competition getting tougher, with the number of aspirants increasing each year, one must consider all the pros and cons before jumping into the fray. One should preferably have an alternative job, which gives one the confidence and makes a wholehearted effort possible.
Selection of Subject:
The first and foremost thing to decide while aspiring for Civil Services is the judicious choice of subjects for the Preliminary and the Mains examinations. The selection of subjects should be done most carefully, if it goes wrong, everything will go wrong.
Normally students have the advantage of selecting one of the optionals, which they are familiar with, or have at least studied till graduate level. If you are not comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as an optional.
Example: One who studied Medicine in his/her graduation may have to refer many books for one topic. On such occasions it is better to take a subject of one's interest.
The aspirants should opt for a subject of their interest - technical subjects like engineering, medicine, veterinary sciences. Students from science background may find it difficult to understanding economics and vice-versa. Agriculture or Veterinary Sciences will be opted by the students who have studied it at their college level. Hence, the competition is among the people who have opted for the same subject. One should top in his/her subject to succeed in the examination.
One should analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers. The comfort levels with the subject opted for and the past trends should be analysed. While going through the questions of previous years, one can judge himself/herself about the knowledge base and comfort level with the subject. After a detailed analysis one should decide the subject for the first optional. One can get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. To avoid confusion at advanced stages of the examination, one should have some consultation with experienced/senior colleagues. They can guide you better than any coaching class.
Preparation:
Preparation for General studies can be done hand in hand, along with the preparation for optional papers. Good mix of study hours for General Studies and the Optionals makes studies enjoyable and it becomes easy to sustain the momentum for longer hours, without boredom setting in and without losing interest and enthusiasm. The most important aspect for the preparation for GS (Prelims) is to identify the loopholes and plug them urgently. But remember one thing; never sacrifice the time of optional for General Studies. Because each question in optional carries 2.5 marks and in total it carries 300 marks. More importantly, input-output ratio in optional is much better than that in General Studies.
Always go in for a planned and systematic study. Work out your own study schedules in a manner suited to your style and stick to it.
One should read a leading daily regularly and also a magazine that will give an insight into the writing skills and observe how facts are presented clearly and succinctly. Also watch news & current affairs programmes on a good TV channel. The latest trend has been a shift towards the current issues; hence a thorough awareness of recent happenings is mandatory. In-depth knowledge of such events is most important, as the questions will test the knowledge of details of any given event/happening.
First one should cover the entire syllabus and then one month preceding the Mains, practice with the help of question papers of previous years. Sometimes students may end up studying topics, which are connected to the syllabus, but are practically irrelevant from your preparation point of view. For this, one should always keep a copy of the syllabus handy and keep referring to it time and again to reassess the direction of the preparation. One should also keep question papers of the previous years. Compare them and see what types of questions are repeated every year.
Try to attempt question papers of previous years and General studies papers. This will expose your weaknesses and give you an idea about the extent of your preparation, your knowledge base, your speed and accuracy.
General preparation can be broadly classified as long-term or short-term depending on the available time for preparation. Preparation for Mains examination should begin soon after the Prelims are over, without waiting for the result, as it involves wastage of time.
The generally accepted strategy for CSE is that one must have studied the entire syllabus for the Mains before the Prelims or at least before the result is out. After the Prelims results are announced, all three subjects - two optionals and General Studies should be divided equally in three quarters to revise the subjects. If the subject is not revised, it is as good as not read because preparation is a continuous process. One might have covered the syllabus long back, but memory detoriates with time
One should read/study daily 10-12 hours per day. Some people say that used to read 18-20 hours. However, don't go by the claims of other persons who say that have studied for more than 18 hours a day. It is humanly impossible. Each person knows one's own capacity, so one should prepare the timetable accordingly and follow the same for the whole period of preparation. The execution of the timetable is of crucial importance.
One should be dedicated and have faith in one's own capabilities and in the Almighty. Do not get depressed if you are unable to achieve the targets. Remember, it is your preparation; you are the one who will appear in the examination. You know yourself better than anyone else. Quality of hours put in is more important than quantity of hours. Your time and energies should be used in an efficient and effective manner.
During the entire period of the examination, take a light diet. One should maintain good health during the preparation and also maintain a hobby, which relaxes you during your preparation. Take adequate amount of sleep, as both - body and mind require it. It is always better to study when the body and mind are fresh. This helps in easy grasping of things as well as in retaining them.
To save time during revision, aspirants may mark/highlight important points during their first or second reading. The aim of the first reading is to reduce the study material to half by eliminating unnecessary points. The second reading is to make it more concise, so that you can revise the entire syllabus within two days before the examination.
Information from any source of relevance to your goal should be welcomed, as long as it is from a standard source. Discuss with your friends, talk to them and listen to their views. This will expand your knowledge base and also expose you to different views. (But while discussing be careful and don't waste time on unnecessary details). You should have a guided discussion. It is important to peak at the time of the examination. So, channelise your preparations in such a manner that you don't burn yourself out before the examination commences.
Those who still have two-three years of time left for becoming eligible to appear for Civil Services must begin the preparation for the examination in the right earnest - right now.
Once you decide that you wish to be a civil servant, as your career has to follow certain steps to be abreast with the latest trends and be ready in the first attempt itself.
If you are schooling:
1.Read your school textbooks thoroughly. This is the building block of your general knowledge base.
2.Read one national newspaper regularly.
3.Watch one TV news regularly.
4.Follow discussions/debates on one TV channel regularly.
5.Read one national news magazine.
6.If possible, read one competitive examination magazine also.
7.Discuss news items with family members and friends that will confidence and different points of view.
8.Be alert to learn new things.
9.Keep an open mind to learn what is happening around you.
At college stage:
1.If you decide to make civil services a career at college stage, try to follow these things:
2.Learn your subject thoroughly.
3.Read NCERT books very carefully as they are little encyclopedias and also comprehend them carefully.
4.Study India yearbook published by Publication Division, Ministry of I&B. This will give you the base and a bird's eye view about India.
5.Read one national newspaper and a magazine thoroughly.
6.Watch TV news (one prime time bulletin which covers major national and international news every day). TV channels give an overall news/views scenario on their prime time slots.
7.Listening to morning news bulletins/analysis of All India Radio is a must. They provide invaluable background information and a balanced opinion on major issues. Evening news bulletins of AIR give an overview of the prominent news stories of the day.
8.Follow one competitive examination magazine regularly. That will give you the latest trends about civil services and other competitive examinations and also give you important information in capsule form.
9.Discussions on current affairs on standard TV channel should be followed by a student to learn "how the arguments take place and how arguments are built up".
10.Discuss things/news items with your friends and family members that will give confidence of taking a stand against any issue.
11.Once you enter 3rd year of your preparation, you can go through the question papers of the previous years of CSE. Students in the first year also can go through these papers, but it would be difficult for a person to understand all the questions because he/she might have not studied the entire syllabi.
12.Normally four questions from the syllabus are asked which are of PG level if the subject is from the Arts or Science stream. So one should go through the syllabus first, then decide about taking the questions for the test.
13.In the first step itself, if you take the question paper and if you don't know most of the questions, it will deject you. There is nothing to get dejected at this stage.
14.If you complete your one optional at the college level itself, it will be easy for you to crack the Civil Services in the first attempt itself. If you clear the exam before the age of 23 that will make you eligible to become Secretary to Government of India/ Chief Secretary of a State - and even go up to the rank of Cabinet Secretary.
2. G.K. will definitely pay in your prelims. Reading newspapers, watching TV news and of course quiz shows like KBC is a must.
3. If you have been lucky enough to reach the interview stage book knowledge may not be the only thing you need. Your mental alertness will count as they ask you questions like “How many steps did you walk up to reach here?” or “ What is the colour of the wall behind you ?” - So be prepared.
4. Enhance your personality because it will definitely be one of the criteria for selection. For IPS physical wellbeing is of great importance, you should be medically fit.
5. Improve your communication skills. IFS aspirants must be proficient in at least one foreign language. So go ahead, have your say in this political mess of our country and try to make it a better place.
IAS Papers : Five Tips On Studying For Exams
Five tips on how to study for tests so you can improve your performance on them:
1. Take frequent short breaks.
It’s been shown that your memory will remember more at the beginning and at the end of your study sessions than it will in the middle of those sections. Therefore, it makes sense to keep your study periods to a short time frame, say 20-30 minutes at most, take a 5-minute break, then come back and study another 20-30 minutes. This way, your mind will be sharper and you’ll be more focused on what you’re studying.
2. Space out your studying so that your long-term memory retains it.
Another reason to not wait until the night before the exam to study is because the information will stay in your long-term memory. If you wait until the night before the exam, the information will only be in your short-term memory, where it is more likely to be forgotten.
3. Don’t try to memorize everything; make sure you understand the material well.
Understanding the material is key to doing well on college exams because often these exams will ask you to demonstrate your understanding of that material by applying it to a situation. Your study material may have presented a sample case for you to help you prepare, but if you didn’t understand the process of how you came to the right answer, chances are, you won’t be able to demonstrate the ability to answer the question on the exam, which will likely lead you to doing poorly on the exam.
4. Listen to relaxing music to ease the boredom of studying.
Listening to relaxing music like classical or jazz can help to relieve some of the boredom of studying. Sitting for extended periods of time, even with short breaks, can cause the mind to dull a bit over time; playing relaxing music can help to revitalize yourself to refocus on the material and study it better.
5. Don’t study later than the time you usually go to sleep.
It is suggested that you don’t stay up past the time you usually go to sleep, as you may be tempted to fall asleep, being that your body is used to going to sleep at a certain time. That is why studying in the afternoon or early evening would be better. If you are a morning person, wake up at your usual time or even a bit earlier and study then, rather than staying up past your bedtime to study.
This is another reason why you shouldn’t wait until the night before the exam to do all of your studying, as you will likely need a few hours to study in order to cover all the material if you haven’t been studying it throughout the course.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN CSE
With the number of vacancies dwindling each year and the competition getting tougher, with the number of aspirants increasing each year, one must consider all the pros and cons before jumping into the fray. One should preferably have an alternative job, which gives one the confidence and makes a wholehearted effort possible.
Selection of Subject:
The first and foremost thing to decide while aspiring for Civil Services is the judicious choice of subjects for the Preliminary and the Mains examinations. The selection of subjects should be done most carefully, if it goes wrong, everything will go wrong.
Normally students have the advantage of selecting one of the optionals, which they are familiar with, or have at least studied till graduate level. If you are not comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as an optional.
Example: One who studied Medicine in his/her graduation may have to refer many books for one topic. On such occasions it is better to take a subject of one's interest.
The aspirants should opt for a subject of their interest - technical subjects like engineering, medicine, veterinary sciences. Students from science background may find it difficult to understanding economics and vice-versa. Agriculture or Veterinary Sciences will be opted by the students who have studied it at their college level. Hence, the competition is among the people who have opted for the same subject. One should top in his/her subject to succeed in the examination.
One should analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers. The comfort levels with the subject opted for and the past trends should be analysed. While going through the questions of previous years, one can judge himself/herself about the knowledge base and comfort level with the subject. After a detailed analysis one should decide the subject for the first optional. One can get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. To avoid confusion at advanced stages of the examination, one should have some consultation with experienced/senior colleagues. They can guide you better than any coaching class.
Preparation:
Preparation for General studies can be done hand in hand, along with the preparation for optional papers. Good mix of study hours for General Studies and the Optionals makes studies enjoyable and it becomes easy to sustain the momentum for longer hours, without boredom setting in and without losing interest and enthusiasm. The most important aspect for the preparation for GS (Prelims) is to identify the loopholes and plug them urgently. But remember one thing; never sacrifice the time of optional for General Studies. Because each question in optional carries 2.5 marks and in total it carries 300 marks. More importantly, input-output ratio in optional is much better than that in General Studies.
Always go in for a planned and systematic study. Work out your own study schedules in a manner suited to your style and stick to it.
One should read a leading daily regularly and also a magazine that will give an insight into the writing skills and observe how facts are presented clearly and succinctly. Also watch news & current affairs programmes on a good TV channel. The latest trend has been a shift towards the current issues; hence a thorough awareness of recent happenings is mandatory. In-depth knowledge of such events is most important, as the questions will test the knowledge of details of any given event/happening.
First one should cover the entire syllabus and then one month preceding the Mains, practice with the help of question papers of previous years. Sometimes students may end up studying topics, which are connected to the syllabus, but are practically irrelevant from your preparation point of view. For this, one should always keep a copy of the syllabus handy and keep referring to it time and again to reassess the direction of the preparation. One should also keep question papers of the previous years. Compare them and see what types of questions are repeated every year.
Try to attempt question papers of previous years and General studies papers. This will expose your weaknesses and give you an idea about the extent of your preparation, your knowledge base, your speed and accuracy.
General preparation can be broadly classified as long-term or short-term depending on the available time for preparation. Preparation for Mains examination should begin soon after the Prelims are over, without waiting for the result, as it involves wastage of time.
The generally accepted strategy for CSE is that one must have studied the entire syllabus for the Mains before the Prelims or at least before the result is out. After the Prelims results are announced, all three subjects - two optionals and General Studies should be divided equally in three quarters to revise the subjects. If the subject is not revised, it is as good as not read because preparation is a continuous process. One might have covered the syllabus long back, but memory detoriates with time
One should read/study daily 10-12 hours per day. Some people say that used to read 18-20 hours. However, don't go by the claims of other persons who say that have studied for more than 18 hours a day. It is humanly impossible. Each person knows one's own capacity, so one should prepare the timetable accordingly and follow the same for the whole period of preparation. The execution of the timetable is of crucial importance.
One should be dedicated and have faith in one's own capabilities and in the Almighty. Do not get depressed if you are unable to achieve the targets. Remember, it is your preparation; you are the one who will appear in the examination. You know yourself better than anyone else. Quality of hours put in is more important than quantity of hours. Your time and energies should be used in an efficient and effective manner.
During the entire period of the examination, take a light diet. One should maintain good health during the preparation and also maintain a hobby, which relaxes you during your preparation. Take adequate amount of sleep, as both - body and mind require it. It is always better to study when the body and mind are fresh. This helps in easy grasping of things as well as in retaining them.
To save time during revision, aspirants may mark/highlight important points during their first or second reading. The aim of the first reading is to reduce the study material to half by eliminating unnecessary points. The second reading is to make it more concise, so that you can revise the entire syllabus within two days before the examination.
Information from any source of relevance to your goal should be welcomed, as long as it is from a standard source. Discuss with your friends, talk to them and listen to their views. This will expand your knowledge base and also expose you to different views. (But while discussing be careful and don't waste time on unnecessary details). You should have a guided discussion. It is important to peak at the time of the examination. So, channelise your preparations in such a manner that you don't burn yourself out before the examination commences.
Those who still have two-three years of time left for becoming eligible to appear for Civil Services must begin the preparation for the examination in the right earnest - right now.
Once you decide that you wish to be a civil servant, as your career has to follow certain steps to be abreast with the latest trends and be ready in the first attempt itself.
If you are schooling:
1.Read your school textbooks thoroughly. This is the building block of your general knowledge base.
2.Read one national newspaper regularly.
3.Watch one TV news regularly.
4.Follow discussions/debates on one TV channel regularly.
5.Read one national news magazine.
6.If possible, read one competitive examination magazine also.
7.Discuss news items with family members and friends that will confidence and different points of view.
8.Be alert to learn new things.
9.Keep an open mind to learn what is happening around you.
At college stage:
1.If you decide to make civil services a career at college stage, try to follow these things:
2.Learn your subject thoroughly.
3.Read NCERT books very carefully as they are little encyclopedias and also comprehend them carefully.
4.Study India yearbook published by Publication Division, Ministry of I&B. This will give you the base and a bird's eye view about India.
5.Read one national newspaper and a magazine thoroughly.
6.Watch TV news (one prime time bulletin which covers major national and international news every day). TV channels give an overall news/views scenario on their prime time slots.
7.Listening to morning news bulletins/analysis of All India Radio is a must. They provide invaluable background information and a balanced opinion on major issues. Evening news bulletins of AIR give an overview of the prominent news stories of the day.
8.Follow one competitive examination magazine regularly. That will give you the latest trends about civil services and other competitive examinations and also give you important information in capsule form.
9.Discussions on current affairs on standard TV channel should be followed by a student to learn "how the arguments take place and how arguments are built up".
10.Discuss things/news items with your friends and family members that will give confidence of taking a stand against any issue.
11.Once you enter 3rd year of your preparation, you can go through the question papers of the previous years of CSE. Students in the first year also can go through these papers, but it would be difficult for a person to understand all the questions because he/she might have not studied the entire syllabi.
12.Normally four questions from the syllabus are asked which are of PG level if the subject is from the Arts or Science stream. So one should go through the syllabus first, then decide about taking the questions for the test.
13.In the first step itself, if you take the question paper and if you don't know most of the questions, it will deject you. There is nothing to get dejected at this stage.
14.If you complete your one optional at the college level itself, it will be easy for you to crack the Civil Services in the first attempt itself. If you clear the exam before the age of 23 that will make you eligible to become Secretary to Government of India/ Chief Secretary of a State - and even go up to the rank of Cabinet Secretary.
IAS Books
Mostly Suggested books for History Exam
1. What is History E.H. Carr
2. Historian’s Craft Marc Block
3. The Past and the present Lawrence Stone
Ancient India:
1. Ancient India (NCERT) Prof. R.S. Sharma
2. The Wonder That was India A.L. Basham
3. Ancient India - An Introductory Outline D.N. Jha
4. History of India, Vol. I Romila Thapar
5. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India R.S. Sharma (only Conclusion)
6. Material culture & Social Formation in Ancient India R.S. Sharma
7. Indian Feudalism R.S. Sharma
8. Ashoka & Decline of the Maurya Romila Thapar
9. A History of South India K.A. Nilkantha Sastri
10. Ancient India and Indian Archaeology Archaeological Survey of India
Medieval India:
1. Medieval India (NCERT) Satish Chandra
2. Medieval India (Macmillan) Satish Chandra
3.The Wonder That was India (Vol.2) S.A.A. Rizvi
4.The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707 Irfan Habib
5.The Mughal Empire J.F. Richards
6.Urban Dynamics H.C. Verma
7.The Marathas Gordon
Modern India:
1.Modern India (NCERT) Bipan Chandra
2.Modern India (Macmillan) Sumit Sarkar
3.Anatomy of the Raj (PPH) Suhash Chakravarty
4.The Raj Syndrome (Penguins) Suhash Chakravarty
5.VAID’s Fundamentals of History Series
a.Administrative History Pravin Kumar
b.Constitutional History Pravin Kumar
c.Social History Pravin Kumar
d.Freedom Struggle Pravin Kumar
6.Peasant Movements in India D.N. Dhanagare
7.India’s Struggle for Independence Bipan Chandra and others
8.Gandhi B.R. Nanda
9.Gandhi Judith Brown
10. Freedom Struggle (NbT) Bipan Chandra & others
World History:
1.The story of Civilization, Vol. 2 (NCERT) Arjun Dev
2.Contemporary World History (NCERT) Arjun Dev & others
3.The Mainstream of Civilization Strayer, Gatzke & Harbison
4.Western Civilizations Burns & others
5.Industry & Empire E.J. Hobsbawm
6.Age of Revolution E.J. Hobsbawm
7.Age of Capital E.J. Hobsbawm
8.Age of Empires E.J. Hobsbawm
9.Social basis of Democracy & Dictatorship B.J. Moore
10.Europe Since Napoleon David Thompson
11.Europe Since 1815 W.C. Craig
12.Europe Since 1870 James Joll.
Suggested books for Geography Exam
Books for Geography Preliminary Exam :
1. 6th to 12th NCERT Books for Geography.
2. Certificate of Physical Geography - Goh Cheng Leong.
3. Physical Geography -Savindra Singh
4.Physical Geography - Made simple series - Rupa Publications
5. Economic & Commercial Geography - Made Simple Series - Rupa Publications.
6. Human and Economic Geography - Leong & Norgan
7. Human Geography - Majid Hussain.
8. Geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain.
9. Field Work - 11 th NCERT.
10. Cartography - R.L. Singh
11. Geography of India - Gopal Singh
12. Economic & Commercial Geography of India - C.B. Memoria
13. Orient longman - Atlas.
14. TTK - Atlas
15. Dictionary of Geography - Penguin
16. Spectrum guide for Geography.
17. Siddhartha - Preliminary Question Bank.
18. Geography Guide - Narmadeshwar Prasad.
Books for Geography Main Exam : For Paper - I
* Physical geography - Savinder Singh
* The Earth’s dynamic surface - K. Sidhartha
* Physical geography - Strahler & Strahler
* Climatology - D.S. Lal
* Physical geography made simple - Rupa
* Oceanography - Sharma & Vital
* Biogeography - Savinder Singh
* Evolution of geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain and Adhikari
* Economic geography - K. Sidhartha
* Economic and social geography made simple - Rupa
* Urban geography - K. Sidhartha
* Human geography - Majid Hussain
* Geography of population - R.C. Chandra
* Regional Planning in India - hand & Puri
* Political geography - Dixit
For Paper - II
* Physical environment - NCERT
* NCERT Class XII
* India: Physical aspects - K Sidhartha
* Geography of India - Mamoria
* Agricultural geography - Majid Hussain
* Agricultural problems in India - Sadhu and Singh
* Economic & Commercial geography of India - Mamoria
* India’s urbanisation and urban systems - R. Ramachandran
* Regional planning in India - Chand and Puri
* Political geography - Dixit
* India: political aspects - K. Sidhartha
Other Books :PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
* NCERT Vol -1
* Physical Geography - Bunnett
* Certificate physical and human geography - Goh, Cheng Leong
* Physical Geography made simple
HUMAN AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
* Human and Economic Geography - NCERT
* Economic Geography, Economic and Social Geography made simple
* Penguim masters studies on geography
* The Cultural Landscape - Rubeistein
INDIAN GEOGRAPHY
* Indian geography - Rammorthy Gopalakrishnan
* Physical geography of India - S.M. Mathur
* General geography - NCERT
* Mineral of India
NBT (Wadia)
* Resources and regional development - NCERT
* Catography - R.L. Singh
* World regional geography - Fellnan
* Work book - K. Siddhartha and S. Mukherjee
* Question Bank - Surendra Singh, 1000
* Geography quiz - Muthiah
1. What is History E.H. Carr
2. Historian’s Craft Marc Block
3. The Past and the present Lawrence Stone
Ancient India:
1. Ancient India (NCERT) Prof. R.S. Sharma
2. The Wonder That was India A.L. Basham
3. Ancient India - An Introductory Outline D.N. Jha
4. History of India, Vol. I Romila Thapar
5. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India R.S. Sharma (only Conclusion)
6. Material culture & Social Formation in Ancient India R.S. Sharma
7. Indian Feudalism R.S. Sharma
8. Ashoka & Decline of the Maurya Romila Thapar
9. A History of South India K.A. Nilkantha Sastri
10. Ancient India and Indian Archaeology Archaeological Survey of India
Medieval India:
1. Medieval India (NCERT) Satish Chandra
2. Medieval India (Macmillan) Satish Chandra
3.The Wonder That was India (Vol.2) S.A.A. Rizvi
4.The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707 Irfan Habib
5.The Mughal Empire J.F. Richards
6.Urban Dynamics H.C. Verma
7.The Marathas Gordon
Modern India:
1.Modern India (NCERT) Bipan Chandra
2.Modern India (Macmillan) Sumit Sarkar
3.Anatomy of the Raj (PPH) Suhash Chakravarty
4.The Raj Syndrome (Penguins) Suhash Chakravarty
5.VAID’s Fundamentals of History Series
a.Administrative History Pravin Kumar
b.Constitutional History Pravin Kumar
c.Social History Pravin Kumar
d.Freedom Struggle Pravin Kumar
6.Peasant Movements in India D.N. Dhanagare
7.India’s Struggle for Independence Bipan Chandra and others
8.Gandhi B.R. Nanda
9.Gandhi Judith Brown
10. Freedom Struggle (NbT) Bipan Chandra & others
World History:
1.The story of Civilization, Vol. 2 (NCERT) Arjun Dev
2.Contemporary World History (NCERT) Arjun Dev & others
3.The Mainstream of Civilization Strayer, Gatzke & Harbison
4.Western Civilizations Burns & others
5.Industry & Empire E.J. Hobsbawm
6.Age of Revolution E.J. Hobsbawm
7.Age of Capital E.J. Hobsbawm
8.Age of Empires E.J. Hobsbawm
9.Social basis of Democracy & Dictatorship B.J. Moore
10.Europe Since Napoleon David Thompson
11.Europe Since 1815 W.C. Craig
12.Europe Since 1870 James Joll.
Suggested books for Geography Exam
Books for Geography Preliminary Exam :
1. 6th to 12th NCERT Books for Geography.
2. Certificate of Physical Geography - Goh Cheng Leong.
3. Physical Geography -Savindra Singh
4.Physical Geography - Made simple series - Rupa Publications
5. Economic & Commercial Geography - Made Simple Series - Rupa Publications.
6. Human and Economic Geography - Leong & Norgan
7. Human Geography - Majid Hussain.
8. Geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain.
9. Field Work - 11 th NCERT.
10. Cartography - R.L. Singh
11. Geography of India - Gopal Singh
12. Economic & Commercial Geography of India - C.B. Memoria
13. Orient longman - Atlas.
14. TTK - Atlas
15. Dictionary of Geography - Penguin
16. Spectrum guide for Geography.
17. Siddhartha - Preliminary Question Bank.
18. Geography Guide - Narmadeshwar Prasad.
Books for Geography Main Exam : For Paper - I
* Physical geography - Savinder Singh
* The Earth’s dynamic surface - K. Sidhartha
* Physical geography - Strahler & Strahler
* Climatology - D.S. Lal
* Physical geography made simple - Rupa
* Oceanography - Sharma & Vital
* Biogeography - Savinder Singh
* Evolution of geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain and Adhikari
* Economic geography - K. Sidhartha
* Economic and social geography made simple - Rupa
* Urban geography - K. Sidhartha
* Human geography - Majid Hussain
* Geography of population - R.C. Chandra
* Regional Planning in India - hand & Puri
* Political geography - Dixit
For Paper - II
* Physical environment - NCERT
* NCERT Class XII
* India: Physical aspects - K Sidhartha
* Geography of India - Mamoria
* Agricultural geography - Majid Hussain
* Agricultural problems in India - Sadhu and Singh
* Economic & Commercial geography of India - Mamoria
* India’s urbanisation and urban systems - R. Ramachandran
* Regional planning in India - Chand and Puri
* Political geography - Dixit
* India: political aspects - K. Sidhartha
Other Books :PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
* NCERT Vol -1
* Physical Geography - Bunnett
* Certificate physical and human geography - Goh, Cheng Leong
* Physical Geography made simple
HUMAN AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
* Human and Economic Geography - NCERT
* Economic Geography, Economic and Social Geography made simple
* Penguim masters studies on geography
* The Cultural Landscape - Rubeistein
INDIAN GEOGRAPHY
* Indian geography - Rammorthy Gopalakrishnan
* Physical geography of India - S.M. Mathur
* General geography - NCERT
* Mineral of India
NBT (Wadia)
* Resources and regional development - NCERT
* Catography - R.L. Singh
* World regional geography - Fellnan
* Work book - K. Siddhartha and S. Mukherjee
* Question Bank - Surendra Singh, 1000
* Geography quiz - Muthiah
IAS Interview Questions
Q.How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
A.Concrete floors are very hard to crack! (UPSC Topper)
Q.If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall,how long would it take four men to build it?
A. No time at all it is already built. (UPSC 23 Rank Opted for IFS)
Q.If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
A. Very large hands.(Good one) (UPSC 11 Rank Opted for IPS)
Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
A. It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand. (UPSC Rank 14 Opted for IES)
Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?
A. No Probs , He sleeps at night. (UPSC IAS Rank 98)
Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that. (UPSC IAS Rank 2)
Q. What looks like half apple ?
A : The other half. (UPSC - IAS Topper )
Q. What can you never eat for breakfast ?
A : Dinner.
Q. What happened when wheel was invented ?
A : It caused a revolution.
Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?
A : Liquid (UPSC 33Rank )
Preliminary Syllabus
General Studies
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
Indian History
Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
Indian History
Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Main Exam Syllabus
General Studies Paper - I
General Studies Paper - II
Compulsory English
Essay
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Chinese
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Indian Language
Arabic
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
English
French
German
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Oriya
Pali
Persian
Punjabi
Russian
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
General Studies Paper - II
Compulsory English
Essay
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Chinese
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology
Indian Language
Arabic
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
English
French
German
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Oriya
Pali
Persian
Punjabi
Russian
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Main Exam - Maithili Syllabus
Paper - I
History of Maithili Language and its Literature
(Answer to be written in Maithili)
(Answer to be written in Maithili)
Part A
1. Place of Maithili in Indo-European language family.
2. Origin and development of Maithili language. (Sanskrit, Prakrit, Avhatt, Maithili)
3. Periodic division of Maithili Language. (Beginning, Middle era, Modern era)
4. Maithili and its different dialects.
5. Relationship between Maithili and other Eastern languages (Bengali, Asamese, Oriya )
6. Origin and development of Tirhuta Script.
7. Pronouns and Verbs in Maithili Language.
Part B
History of Maithili Literature
1. Background of Maithili Literature (Religious, economic, social, cultural).
2. Periodic division of Maithili literature.
3. Pre-Vidyapati Literature.
4. Vidyapati and his tradition.
5. Medieval Maithili Drama (Kirtaniya Natak, Ankia Nat, Maithili dramas written in Nepal .
6. Maithili Folk Literature (Folk Tales, Folk Drama, Folk Stories, Folk Songs).
7. Development of different literary forms in modern era
(a) Prabandh-kavya
(b) Muktak-kavya
(c) Novel
(d) Short Story
(e) Drama
(f) Essay
(g) Criticism
(h) Memoirs
(i) Translation
8. Development of Maithili Magazines and Journals
Paper – II
Answers must be written in Maithili
The paper will require first-hand reading of the prescribed texts and will test the critical ability of the candidates.
Part-A
1. Vidyapati Geet-Shati - Publisher : Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (Lyrics – 1 to 50)
2. Govind Das Bhajanavali – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna (Lyrics – 1 to 25)
3. Krishnajanm – Manbodh
4. Mithilabhasha Ramayana – Chanda Jha (only Sunder-Kand)
5. Rameshwar Charit Mithila Ramayan – Lal Das (only Bal-kand)
6. Keechak-Vadh - Tantra Nath Jha.
7. Datta-Vati – Surendra Jha ‘Suman' {only 1st and 2 nd Cantos}.
8. Chitra-Yatri
9. Samakaleen Maithili Kavita – Publisher : Sahitaya Akademi, New Delhi .
Part-B
10. Varna Ratnakar - Jyotirishwar (only 2 nd Kallol)
11. Khattar Kakak Tarang – Hari Mohan Jha
12. Lorik–Vijaya-Manipadma
13. Prithvi Putra – Lalit
14. Bhaphait Chahak Jinagi – Sudhanshu ‘Shekhar' Choudhary
15. Kriti Rajkamlak – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna (First Ten Stories only)
16. Katha–Sangrah – Publisher : Maithili Acadamy, Patna
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