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Only if you have time. Most of my friends who cleared the exam did not read them as the
topics covered by ARC can also be covered from elsewhere e.g online articles, coaching
institute notes etc.
Moreover, UPSC exam is more of a common sense exam where if you have covered your
basic books and newspaper well then you can easily answer most of the questions.
Now if you have made up your mind to go through them then the reports in order of
their importance is as follows. Rest other reports are not necessary and can safely be
skipped.
For instance:
Since the reports are quite bulky therefore a better strategy would be to just go through
the reports quickly without getting into intricacies and find out such lines and important
recommendations which are general and can be easily remembered.
1. First before writing anything, go back to the end of your notebook and start
scribbling in random order. Just write whatever comes to your mind without
bothering about whether it will fit or not. Just let your mind go wild !
2. Now after doing the above step try to organize your points in some logical step.It's
always better to quote current figures, data to add weight add to your arguments.
3. Try to make your essay interesting to read by adding short stories, incidents which
you think will catch the eyes of the examiner.
4. For example, whenever there is a topic about technology I always quote the
following 2 points:
o Einstein used to say: "If you know what you are doing, then it's not research !"
o When Michael Faraday discovered electricity, the King asked him: "What's the use
of this technology?". Faraday replied: "What's the use of new born baby".
Essay writing is all about being creative. Even if you lack content you can write brilliant
essays.
Let's take the example of Citizen Centric Administration : 12th ARC Report
Now the first question you should ask before reading any topic is : Where I can use the
gyaan ?
1. Just go through the report first very quickly just to get familiar with the topic. There
is no need to read everyline. Also, don't try to make notes at this time.
2. Now take the Chapter - 2. This chapter deals with Good Governance. For note
making if you should consider these: What is good governance?
To add further, answer writing and intereview is about making your answers stand
apart from other students. From my personal experience I found that you get absolutely
amazing marks (more than your expectation) if you are creative in your approach.
For instance, while reading this report I had committed the following to my memory:
The above interesting info can be used to add zing to your answers. So whenever you are
reading something try to gather such interesting info. The benefit is that you will
remember them for long.
Another approach of reading such reports is to read the gists published by coaching
institutes. One should resort to such methods only when hard pressed for time.
The problem faced by you is faced by almost all the aspirants. With the proliferation of
websites and study materials we have an information overload.
The time between Prelim and Mains is the golden time for writing practice and even if
you have not done much practice before a serious effort in these 3 months can be a game
changer.
Lets divide mains papers into 3 parts and dicuss them separately.
Essay
1. Go through last 20 years paper and try to identify the key areas on which topics are
usually based e.g education, youth, development, science & tech are very common.
Try to do some background work on these topics.
2. Now try to write one essay per week on such topics. You are the best judge of yoir
essays and after writing an essay if you feel satisfied then believe me you will score
well.
3. Join a test series and write as many essays as you can. This will be of immense help
in the exam hall where you wont face any problem in time management.
4. If you have a study group then all of you can write essays and cross check and
provide feedbacks.
5. You can also look at the answer sheets of toppers uploaded on Vision IAS website to
make yourself confident that Essay writing is not a rocket science and if you stick to
the basics and organize your ideas well then you stand to get very good marks.
Optional
1. Try to solve all previous years question papers in a time bound manner.
2. Join test series and get your answers evaluated. In opional like Pub Ad even if you
think that you have written well the marks awarded might be horrible, this is
because you wrote what you knew and not what question demanded. So a good test
series will help rectify such mistakes.
General Studies
1. Please do not neglect Ethics paper as I have seen students becoming casual and
thinking that since it is an easiest portion therefore they can get away with writing
anything. Such strategies can land you with poor marks ( below 90) very easily. One
can score very well in Ethics (110+) provided the structure of your case studies is
correct. For this please try attempting as many case studies as possible.
2. Join atleast 1 test series to get feedback on your answers. Also the marks awarded in
test series are random and you should not get disheartened by this. A few days back
I saw a student evaluating answer copies in Delhi Metro !
3. Apart from test series you should try to write answers from insightsonindia website.
The more you sweat during practice the less you will bleed in the battlefield.
Ask yourself these questions before you start answer writing practise .
If i were the examiner
If I were you ,
1) I would look into the past question papers.
2) Start practise answer writing to the past question papers first.
3)Get feedback ,practise tests on a regular basis .Especially after the prelims is over.
Sources:
1) PIB Startup Page
2) Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT)
3) PRS | Home
4) Mrunal - Competitive exams Preparation (For Economy you can watch the videos
posted by him, it will clear all your basics)
5) Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
6) IASbaba (As the name suggests One stop Destination)
7) Economic and Political Weekly
8) insightsonindia.comINSIGHTS: UPSC IAS Exam Preparation Guide
9) Unacademy - The Free Education Revolution!
Raz Kr
How to go for UPSC preparation. ( coaching or no coaching , Delhi or no Delhi etc nautanki )
Well Yes buddy Do join coaching as it will give u proper direction... as well good grip over your
subjects... otherwise subconsciously u will think that u r missing a lot by not joining a coaching..
(Make sure your dad is an ATM )
'BUT' IF YOU HAVE SERIOUS 'TIME' OR MAY BE MONEY PROBLEM then must do this as
most of the real serious candidates do. ( Since joining coaching some time becomes wastage of
time and ur attempt too if you blindly follow them)
1. Read basic but selective ncert , news paper daily TH+IE (Selective News only) + side
information about them from internet . Instead of Reading India Year Book , Watch RSTV
Discussion and make v short notes. Read News Paper 'ONLY' when you are too tired after
studying for optional or GS BUT same day itself must finish it.
2. Daily Attempt IASBABA HOT Q ( 2 at most rest you read from others' answer and compare ur
knowledge ) + INSIGHTS TOO ( chk their website its free ) + solve Past UPSC Test papers for
both prelims and mains .
3. Each weekend one mains oriented test (optional or GS ur choice)
4. In 2-3 days one prelims test paper on ur own ( u can get them at delhi shop in 10-20 rs each
test paper ) But Ignore stupid Question.. But Dig deeper in each Good Question for knowledge
enhancement.
5. Biggest mistake an aspirant commits is that one want to study everything before taking any
test paper.. its not gonna work.. try to write whatever u kno in best possible way.. that will give u
push that what is ur actual weakness. (.If you dont know something even if know nothing feel
blessed and find out the answer)
6. For Optional .. u can join coaching but u can avoid also since Non Humanities Subject are
strictly syllabus based and self study is sufficient until you are v weak in ur optional unlike
humanities subject which are excessively linked with current.. and mostly are opting for first time
.
7. Keep All the Imp news article together for once in a week revision.
8. Revise 4-5 times your syllabus before actual Mains exam and everything u hv studied for GS .
9. For prelims learn the art of taking risk and with minimum knowledge correcting the tough Q .( it
comes with practice , Get as many good coaching test papers as you can from any Delhi shop in
coaching area , if not in Delhi then search in some telegram group or in some forum u may find
there imp. test papers or you can pool money with ur frnds or if nothing works then you can email
me on razkr3.14@gmail.com
10. Attempt around 85+ Q in prelims and in mains Just don't write garbage if u don't know the
answer but write whatever little u kno but it sud be relevant and sensible.
11. For Essay Write daily one page on any random topic you can think of ( you , Summer , family
, Politics , Terrorism , Happiness , Crime , Fitness, Cricket , education , love, life , mob
management any damn topic ) That will give you orientation towards writing.. Direct 10 page
essay is going to b a big flop..
12. Decide your Pen now based on ur comfort level while writing in terms of clarity and speed
and don't change it until you clear upsc . Try Pilot V 0.5 or V 0.7
PS : This is the best i can think of for Those who consistently asking me for direction ( i don't
consider myself to give Gyan to some one but if u asked this is what i have )
Final Gyan : Never start from wrong end of the Perfection .
Ex: Buying multi color highlighter , making second hand clean notes , Lets watch movie now and
from tomorrow onwards huha Study , reading 8-10 days news paper altogether to save time ,
Reading one subject for many days.. and blah blah..
3.7k Views
UPSC CSE is a totally different ball game. Update, adopt and adapt is the mantra.
1. You have entered a completely new world. So, FREE YOUR MIND. Dont compare
UPSC with any of the previous exams that you have taken up in the past.
2. Hard work helps you succeed in UPSC = myth.
You may study for 10 hrs but may gain nothing.
Lot of websites suggest lot of books. They do so because they can make money when
you buy using their links. So you cannot trust every website. They will drain your
financial resources. So you should trust only few reputed websites likeMrunal -
Competitive exams Preparation.
Lot of websites offer Paid services. So they try to lure you to buy their services using
a really convincing propaganda. So you must be wise and careful while picking one.
Dont buy books in bulk. Because you wont be touching most of them due to various
reasons.
1. You need to know about some important resources.
Topper interviews: Mrunal - Competitive [Genuine interviews]
They help you understand The sources required, mistakes made, strategy and some
wisdom.
Caution!
Most of the interviews on other websites are mostly fake. They are a part of
propaganda machine. Trust only Mrunal - Competitive exams
Preparationinterviews.
GS1
Polity - M Laxmikanth
2nd ARC report for Misc topics
GS3
http://Mrunal.org
Answer writing
Starting with tough subjects [Varies from person to person] will kill your
time and confidence.
1. Dos
One can not cover UPSC syllabus fully. You need to maximize your chances by
completing important topics form each subjects first. [Previous Question Papers tell
you what is important]
You read one subject fully and gain 100 marks in it. You get 10 each in other
9 subjects which you didnt focuson. Your score = 100 + 9*10 = 190.
You read all important topics from each subject and score 30 each in 5 and
40 each in other 5 subjects. Your score = 30*5 + 40*5 = 150 + 200 = 350.
In prelims, 70% questions come from static portion [Economy, Culture, History
etc]. To clear prelims give priority to Static Portion. Dont depend too much on
current affairs. CA is important for mains though.
Read The Hindu Opinion Section Regularly. It improves your Vocabulary and
writing skills.
Dont spend more than 2 hrs/day on Current affairs. Why? Because Googling can
end up taking you to no mans land. [See below point]
Dont google a lot. [Let us say you came across a term Tsunami in news paper. You
dont know what it is. So you start to browse internet to know about Tsunami.
Tsunami takes you to Earthquake to Convergent Boundary to Plate tectonics to
Crust. But if you study static portion, the order will be Crust - Plate tectonics -.-
Tsunami. So, googling leads to Z to A approach which is inefficient = takes hell lot of
time and energy. So finish static portion first so the your approach will be A to Z
which is very efficient.]
Cover Polity and Economy Static Portion First. Why? Because CA is full of news
related to Polity and Economy. If you don't cover them first, you will end up with Z
to A approach.
1. Donts
Syllabus is bible dont ingnore it.
Dont read books from cover to cover. Read important topics first.
Dont read multiple books for single topic. Instead read one book and revise it 23
times. You should only scan other book to see if you have missed any topics (in one
day or less)
there could be some more
Answer Writing (Ananya Mittal
Rank 85)
August 20, 2015 Uncategorized
Today we will talk about how to practice answer writing for GS.
Again I would like to caution you that this was completely my style,
according to my conditions and availability of time. Other
candidates have prepared it differently also resulting in good score.
So, analyse and adopt strategies which suit you.
First Many aspirants, from the very first day, start asking
teachers for questions. Have patience, let your preparation reach
upto a level where you feel confident with some topics, then start
with answer writing practice. (I started GS coaching in July 2013
and I started answer writing practice in February 2014, when the
GS classes were about to get over).
Second Start giving time to writing practice daily for around 30-
60 minutes.
Introduction
Dont write the body straight away. I prefer to begin the answer with
definition of the core idea mentioned in the question. Please refrain
from using flowery language and avoid redundant words and
sentences.
For example
Conclusion
End with your own view. I prefer writing a balanced view after
analyzing all the angles, with a futuristic view. Dont conclude with
false assumptions and impractical suggestions. Simply write what
you consider right and appropriate.
Sixth For answer writing take your tests seriously. Again, joining
a test series for Mains is entirely up to you. Many candidates clear
this exam without writing even a single mock test. But if you doubt
yourself then I would suggest you to join one. Take the tests in exam
conditions no institute keeps a check on if you are returning the
test paper within the time limit or not. Its your duty to practice time
management. When you get back your corrected answer sheets,
analyse the comments made by examiner. Observe where you lack
and eliminate those mistakes for your next test. It doesnt matter
which test series you join. Take any and sincerely utilise it.
I used to make a chart after entering into the exam hall example
Ninth
We all know the ethical and moral stand, but what makes your
answer distinct is the treatment. While watching a singing reality
shows sometimes we think this singer is not able to catch
the sur (note), so for each subject you must catch its sur. It must
look like an answer for the ethics subject. Use the ethical principles
like honesty, sympathy, compassion and constitutional principles
like rule of law, right to equality etc to give that charm to your
answer.
After prelims I joined Vision IAS test series for general studies and
tried to apply my learning during the tests. I gave importance to the
comments I got from the examiner and constantly tried to refine my
answer writing skills.
For case studies (ethics) I consulted Lexicon book and devised the
above mentioned structure after reading 8-9 examples.
Goodluck!
By Balaji D K , AIR 36
Dear Friends,
General Remarks
Thus, the prime source for these papers is THE HINDU. If you keep
track of THE HINDUs editorials and lead articles for about 8-10
months, that would provide you the required content to answer
most of the questions.
Second, the notes you make about a particular issue should not be
fragmented. It should be brought at one place. To elaborate,
suppose you come across an article on pros of LAND ACQUISITION
BILL today and you make notes about it on, say, Page 1. Next week,
another article on the cons of LAND ACQUISITION BILL is
published. Thus, by the time second article is published, say, 10
pages notes is ready pertaining to other articles. Please dont make
the notes of second article on LAND ACQUISITION BILL on page
11. Please use a stick-note and paste the summarythe of new article
on Page 1. Alternately, you can write the notes of second article in d
free spaces available (if any) on Page 1; or add a fresh page between
Pg 1 and Pg 2 and name it as Pg 1A.
Fourth Your notes should have a few important key words being
put in a box (for highlighting purpose). To illustrate, in the notes on
LAND ACQUISITION BILL, words like SIA, Consent Clause, Multi-
crop land, etc should be highlighted. In your revisions (if possible),
rather than simply glancing over the notes, first see the key words
and try to recollect what it may mean. Then, see the notes and
glance through.
SPECIFIC REMARKS
GS 2
The major sources for GS 2 other than THE HINDU articles include
Regards,
Paper 2
After going through several previous year question papers and analysing them I
came to the conclusion that the following aspects in History are very very
important
Socio-economic conditions
Women
Socio-economic conditions during the various periods of history are more
important than the rulers/leaders of those periods. For example, in 2013 there was a
question on The Great Economic Depression. Its an economic crisis whose
implications were felt in the social spheres as well. So whether it is ancient India,
medieval India, modern India, post independence or world history, never neglect
the socio-economic conditions of the people. For example, what led to the 1991
Balance of Payments crisis and the reforms which India adopted to address the
crisis is a very important question and a potential CSE Mains question.
You might be wondering why I did mention ancient India and medieval India
before as they both are not included in the Mains syllabus. But studying the socio-
economic conditions in the ancient and medieval India is a must and should. The
questions would be linked to culture part. For example, the 2013 CSE question
Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history
of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions
of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment. It may be impossible to go
through all the literary sources contents to answer questions like these. Instead this
question can be read as Mention the socio-economic conditions in the Sangam
age giving suitable examples from Sangam literature. In other words the answer
for this question would be jotting down all the socio-economic conditions of the
people in the Sangam age and try to see if you can provide some examples from
Sangam literature. For example,