ARC reports are actually very good and contain pearls of wisdom which if implemented

well can improve the governance significantly.

Now is it necessary to read them for UPSC ?

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.

Which ARC to study?

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.

1. Citizen Centric Administration (Report 12)

2. Ethics in Governance (Report 4)
3. Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution (Report 7)
4. Local Governance (Report 6): It's quite bulky. So better to read it from the Puncchi
Commission Report.
The best part about ARC is the excellent quotation and case studies that it provides.

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.

What kind of news should I read on IDSA website for

IAS?
IDSA is one of the best site to cover International Relations (GS - 2) and Security Issues
(GS - 3).

IDSA generally publishes 4 types of articles.

1. Core defence related: Examples include Publishing Official Military

Histories , INS Kochi and the Big-Warship Debate etc. These topics can be safely
avoided as we have not seen questions asked from such topics in the past.
2. World Issues: Here the articles tend to be a country specific and are generally
suitable for interview than mains. For example, Nepal's New Constitution: An
Analysis from the Madheshi Perspective, New Nepal, Old Politics,Contextualizing
Madhesi Frustration in the Wake of Nepals New Constitution. These 4 articles
discuss the current constitutional crisis in Nepal.
3. India & World: These articles are for paper 2 of GS and cover India's relations
with countries in an excellent manner. For instance, Reaffirming Indias Ties with
Palestine covers the changing dynamics of India - Palestine and India - Israel
relations pretty well.
4. Security Related: Articles include GSAT-6: Indias Second Military Satellite
Launched, The Naga Peace Accord: Why Now?. It should be noted that many of
security related topics are static in nature e.g problem of terrorism, naxalism etc. To
cover these topics well one should look at the old published articles. For example,
there is an excellent PDF on coastal security published in 2013.
In fact if one covers the article well then one can end up becoming a walking
encyclopedia on these two topics !
 What are some techniques to form a framework for an
essay in UPSC?
There are many ways to approach an Essay. Here I would like to share my approach.

Here is an essay that I wrote for Vision IAS: Mangalyaan vs Poverty.pdf

The topic was : Mangalyaan vs Poverty: Where Should India Focus?

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.

The best way to get above type of fundas is :

1. GoodReads website. It has tons of quotations !

2. Read good literature. Non fiction, biographies etc.
3. Keep an eye on newspapers. For instance, in 2014 farmers were handed Rs. 2
Cheque as a compensation for crop damage :( The above example can be quoted
whenever writing / discussing about bureaucracy and its obsession with rules.

How can one effectively read jargon filled bulky reports

quickly and understand its core for upsc preparations?
First most of the reports e.g Punchhi Commission, ARC, Five Year Plans, Economic
Surveys are not jargon filled but they are certainly bulky !

Let's take the example of Citizen Centric Administration : 12th ARC Report

Here is the content list:

Now the first question you should ask before reading any topic is : Where I can use the
gyaan ?

So in this case the contents can be used in :

General Studies Paper 2

Ethics Paper
Interview
The way to cover the report in the least possible but effective way would be to:

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?

Know about Transparency International Index:

Perception of Governance in India:

 Barriers To Good Governance in India, What can be done to Improve the situation.
3. There can certainly be more points on which notes can be made. But even if you
have covered the above points and made info-graphic notes then that is more than
enough.

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.

Let's see what we can do to come out of this situation.

1. Whenever we encounter a news there is an urge to start reading whatever material

we get on the internet. But we soon realize that we end up wasting the whole day
while gaining nothing. For example, if we consider an article: Time for G4 leaders to
assert themselves. Now when you read this then just note down key words and
points e.g G4, UNSC reforms, why it's required, what are the hurdles etc. Now wait
for few days and soon you will find editorials either in The Hindu, News analysis on
AIR, RSTV.
2. After few days / weeks if you think that you lack enough content for the UNSC
reform, G4 then only you should go online. Moreover, keep a day of the week
reserved for such activities. Preferably it can be done on Sundays.
3. Please remember that this exam is a Generalist exam and it's perfectly alright if you
know just 5 positives and 5 negative points for a topic. At max a topic can be asked
for 10 marks and therefore if you start reading everything for every topic then soon
you will find exhausted. The trick is to stick to standard sources and rely on it.
4. Moreover, the exam is also a relative exam. Which means that you have to be just
better than other candidates. From my experience of giving mains I found that
majority of the students hardly read even newspaper daily, forget about revising,
going deeper into a topic.
5. For other subjects please don't start parallel threads where you end up browsing
through multiple books at same time. For instance, first try to complete NCERT
Geography thoroughly and then only go for Khullar, G.C.Leong.
6. Further, please revise and remember what you study else you would have a
mountains of notes giving you sleepless night and after few months you would want
to hit the reset button again !
7. There is no dearth of online forums, preparation sites offering gist, pdf, notes etc. If
you start following all of them then you will land yourself in trouble. Cut down on all
these sites except INSIGHTS: UPSC IAS Exam Preparation Guide (for writing
practice) and Mrunal - Competitive exams Preparation (for economics + gyaan). I
mean no disrespect to other sites but we only have 24 hours in a day.
 How does one practice writing answers for the UPSC
Mains?

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.

We generally tend to underestimate the importance of answer writing. We have our

brain to blame for that as writing requires our brain to get out of comfort and cozy
reading zone where it is hardly put to severe test. Thus cultivating a new habit requires
lot of self discipline. I have seen students not completing test series (I too did not !) and
writing their first essay in the exam hall itself !

Always remember that:

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

1) How will i differentiate good copies from average copies ?

2)How much time will i spend on each paper ?
3) Will i take efforts to read a handwriting which is not very legible ?
4) Wont it be too boring if i read the same content whole day in all papers ?How can your
presentation make the job easier for 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.

HERE ARE 7 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ANSWER WRITING -

Tip 1. Answer the question completely. Read the question twice to understand ,what all
is asked.

Foreign direct investment in the defence sector is now said to be

liberalized. What influence this is expected to have on Indian defence and
economy in the short and long run?
(GS Paper 3,2014)
In this question ,you have to answer two parts -
a)Impact of FDI in defence .
b)Impact on economy .
Also ,in both the parts ,you should write about "short run" and "long run" perspective.
Tip 2. Understand what is exactly asked .Do not write whatever you know in the topic
without understanding what is asked.
While we flaunt Indias demographic dividend, we ignore the dropping
rates of employability. What are we missing while doing so? Where will
the jobs that India desperately needs come from? Explain.
(GS Paper 3,2014)
The moment you see "demographic dividend",do not start writing about it . Read the
question again. The question is refering to the unemployability of the demographic
dividend. Thereby refering to skill development of the demographic dividend. Now
connect the two and write your answer.
Also ,dont miss the second part of the question on "where will the jobs come from".

Tip3.Use key words and phrases

Though the federal principle is dominant in our Constitution and that
principle is one of its basic features, but it is equally true that federalism
under the Indian Constitution leans in favour of a strong Centre, a feature
that militates against the concept of strong federalism. Discuss.
(GS Paper 2,2014)
Use key words related to the question like cooperative federalism,bargaining
federalism,etc.This will add weight to your answer.

Tip 4. Manage your time for each answer properly.

Every paper of GS requires you to answer 20/25 questions. Hence , do not spend too
much time on one particular answer because you know it too well /you are not able to
generate points .And dont spend time too much time to write introduction /conclusion
in the GS papers.

Tip 5.Present the answer well .

Keep this in mind .An examiner has to evaluate a lot of sheets along with yours,on a
single day . How will you make the examiner feel your answer is better ? How will you
make it easy for him to give you marks ?

Its possible when you write legibly,make use of charts/diagrams/subheadings/maps .

Donot write at a stretch.Break into paragraphs/ subheadings /bullet points .Follow

according to the needs of the question.

Tip 6. Use relevant facts/data to substantiate your answer.

Instances of Presidents delay in commuting death sentences has come
under public debate as denial of justice. Should there be a time limit
specified for the President to accept/reject such petitions? Analyse.
(GS Paper 2,2014)
To substantiate your argument in the above answer, you should quote instances of
Supreme Court ruling ,Bhullar case ,Constitutional provisions on death penalty,etc .This
will give more validity to the answer.
Tip7. Practise Answer writing.
Practise .Practise .Practise .Thats the only way !
Take up mock tests and monitor your performance .

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..

What are the things a beginner for IAS

preparations should know?

Manjunath Tamminedi, http://www.pmfias.com/ is my blog where I post study material

essential

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.

1. Smart, consistent, hard work helps you succeed = reality.

You may study for 2 hrs and gain at least a little.

1. Smart work = Go through Syllabus + Go through Previous Question papers + Check

some posts by Mrunal - Competitive exams Preparation on how to approach UPSC
CSE + Plan according to your strengths and weaknesses [The same shoe doesnt fit
all]
2. Syllabus: Go through the syllabus point by point. [Syllabus is the bible][It is
available everywhere on the internet.]
3. Previous papers: Once you have gone through the syllabus, go through the previous
years question papers - both mains and prelims. At the initial stage some questions
appear like a French picture, some appear silly and others in between.
4. Syllabus and Papers appear relevant and easy. But you are confused with which
books to buy, which topics to study and how much to study, how much time you
need to spend on each subject, what should be the strategy etc..[You have just
started to take baby steps, so dont worry]
5. http://Mrunal.org is must at this stage. This website gives you an idea on how to
make notes and some more wisdom.
At this stage you should know some facts.

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

Culture: NEXTGEN IAS

Modern History: Fantastic Funds Youtube Channel.
World History: http://Mrunal.org notes.
Geography: PMF IAS - Notes for UPSC IAS CSE
GS2

Polity - M Laxmikanth
2nd ARC report for Misc topics
GS3

Economy: http://Mrunal.org + His videos

Environment: PMF IAS - Notes for UPSC IAS CSE
Misc topics: http://Mrunal.org and some scattered sources.
GS4

http://Mrunal.org
Answer writing

UPSC IAS Current Events [Insights]

Test Series for Prelims

Insights or Iasbaba or any

1. Nature of subjects
Culture: Requires less time if you read from NEXTGEN IAS
 Modern Indian History: Requires less time if you read from Spectrum History.
Modern World History: Not useful for Prelims. So study it after completing other
important subjects.
Geography: Extensive syllabus. Naturally requires more time. Creates base for
Environment, Major Crops (GS3). Has high value. Read it from www.pmfias.com
Polity: M Laxmikanth = Easy and requires less time.
Economy: Start with http://Mrunal.org Complete his videos. You will know for
yourselves what to read next.
Environment: High Weightage for Prelims, Good value in mains. High Priority
topic. Read it after completing geography for better understanding. Read formPMF
IAS - Notes for UPSC IAS CSE
Ethics: Easy and requires less time. 1st read http://Mrunal.org Ethics notes. Then
read a book.
Pick Easy Subjects first based on your comfort levels. [Varies from person to
person]

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.

I rate answer writing as the most important part of the Mains

examination. Dont think that since we have been writing subjective
exams from our childhood days, it will not be difficult to manage
during examination.

Remember and practice the following points:

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.

Third Pick random questions from websites (I

preferred www.insightsonindia.com) and try to tackle the questions.
(I am using the word tackle because during examination you will
experience questions which were not a part of your preparation. So,
you cannot answer them, you can only tackle them to the best of
your capabilities)

Fourth My belief is that it is difficult for a teacher to check 100

copies and read 25 answers per copy every day. So, try to write the
answer from a teachers perspective. He/she would want to see
answers written neatly, with headings, important points underlined
and all parts of a question addressed specifically. No examiner will
try to find whether the aspirant has written a certain point in the
answer. You must make important points visible for the examiner.

Fifth Your answers must be well structured.

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

Infrastructure is the capital asset of a nation. They help in providing

employment and income to the population. Infrastructure is a must
for any nations economic growth. They can be classified into soft
and hard infrastructure. (This is good but)

Infrastructure is the capital asset of a nation which helps in its

economic growth by providing employment to the population and
helps in provision of various amenities such as waste management,
transport and communication, tourism, education, health and
sports which can be further classified into soft and hard
infrastructure. (Here I have tried to squeeze in whatever I have
studied in the chapter Infrastructure into one sentence with the
help of connectors which, by, and etc) It reduces redundant
sentence/words and keeps the reader engaged.
Body

It is the most important part of any answer. While reading a

question derive the number of parts that it contains, i.e., what all
has the examiner asked from you.

After writing the Introduction straightaway address the first part of

the question in form of a heading and write the relevant points
below it (in form of a paragraph or in form of bullets thats your
personal choice idea is to keep the answer neat, visible and to
write fast). I prefer bullets and numbers for all the subjects except
for ethics and social issues.

Similarly, address all the parts of the question separately.

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.

Seventh- Time Management while writing answers

I tried to write all the answers with an average of 7 minutes per
answer. Now the method I am going to tell you is very mechanical.
(I used to face a lot of problem in completing all 25 questions and I
knew that somehow I have to attempt all. So, during mock tests I
devised this method).

I used to make a chart after entering into the exam hall example

1st 9:00 to 9:07

2nd 9:07 to 9:14

Till 25th 11:51 to 11:58

After completing each question I used to strike off the question

number in the chart. This chart gave me an idea if I am running late
or not. By what time I should complete, lets say, the 10th question.
A sense of loss of time makes you nervous at crucial moments. So, if
you have this chart, you remain a bit relaxed and assured of the
remaining time.

Eighth Always underline important points. Just the phrase or

the word but not the complete sentence.

Ninth

For ethics I preffered writing in paragraphs, but for case studies I

followed a different structure. The structure goes as follows

First heading Issue/Dilemma/ Problem

Second Heading Stakeholders Involved

Third Heading Options available

Fourth Heading Evaluation of those options which consists the

effect of each option available on each of the stakeholder.
Fifth Heading Conclusion or the most suitable step which can be
adopted.

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.

Answer writing is not as difficult as it sounds. It looks difficult only

because we know that we are not devoting time for it. Practice it for
a month continuously. You will definitely feel the change.

How I used to Practice?

I started answer writing practice in February 2014 when my GS

classes were about to get over. Everyday I only used to practice
writing the bullet points and frame a definition in my mind for
introduction paragraph for 9-10 questions posted
bywww.insigtsonindia.com, but I never wrote complete answers at
home. They post these questions daily from the days newspapers.
My strategy was to frame at least 7-8 points for each question. If I
used to fall short of points, I tried to consult my friends and
teachers for some more points. I did this for two months religiously
and left it when prelims were approaching. It was a 45-60 minutes
daily exercise.

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.

I will deal with answer writing for Geography optional in a separate

post.

Goodluck!

(Ananya Mittal Rank-85 CSE, 2014)

GS 2 and 3 Strategy
August 9, 2015 General Studies

By Balaji D K , AIR 36

Dear Friends,

Many of you have requested me to pen down strategy for General

Studies (Mains). I dont intend to give any strategy for GS-1, since it
is more of studying from standard books and writing answers. Then,
Im left with the task of drafting strategy for GS-2 and GS-3.

General Remarks

GS 2 & 3 are more, nay, all about CURRENT AFFAIRS (CA).

However, the ability to connect CA to conventional subject matter is
also needed, at least to some extent.

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.

Now, comes the most pertinent question of most aspirants. Is it

mandatory to read THE HINDU daily and make self-notes? The
ideal answer to this question is a resounding YES. However, this
may not be practicable for most aspirants because they are first-
timers and have to invest more time in mastering fundamentals and
standard books; Or they find the English written in THE HINDU
too complex; or they may not have the required skill to pick exactly
what is required for exam from those articles and because of so
many such reasons. If you fall in any of these categories, dont feel
bad. It is just human to be so.

Such aspirants may have to follow a slightly distinct strategy. Here

insightsonindia.com can be of great help. You can do like this.
For 3-4 days, randomly go through the answers written for SECURE
questions on insightsonindia.com and find out the aspirant who
writes quality answers regularly. Everyday you can just go through
answers written by that aspirant. Here, I must acknowledge that I
regularly followed the answers written by MSI (Mohammad
Sameer, CSE 2014, AIR 564). Make notes from that. Ardous task is
greatly simplified and precious time is saved. A word of caution
This approach should be followed only if you are not able to read
THE HINDU regularly.

Despite giving this short-cut, I emphasize that the best

approach is to read articles on THE HINDU and writing
answers regularly on insightsonindia.com.

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.

This approach to notes-making is very important, since you would

get points on multi-dimensional perspectives about an issue at one
place. This helps you in constructing a multi-dimensional and
comprehensive answer in the exam hall. Bear in mind, multi-
dimensional answers always fetch you above-average marks.
Third let your notes not be a repetition of sentences from the
source. Please make them in your own words. Try to make notes
with fewer words. Concise notes need not mean incompleteness.
Your notes should be consice and complete at the same time. If your
notes is verbose, you cant remember it. Whats the point in making
notes of something that cannot be remembered and used in exam
answers. Sheer waste of time and energy!!!

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.

Fifth Answer Writing I did not attach much importance to the

words, comment, Examine, Critically Analyse and so on
(Justify is an exception). I just went ahead to frame a standard-type
answer. This was my approach. You can try this at your own risk.
The exam-WRITING is literally a race against time. Hence, I was
not confident that I had the ability to frame different type of
answers to suit literal meanings of such words. So, I decided to just
ignore such words. You may be smarter than me and you may have
the wisdom to answer differently, in the short-span of time. If that
is the case, you can go ahead.

My standard approach was to start the answer with the meaning of

the issue as crisply as possible. To illustrate, for a question of
Judicial Activism, I used to start answer as Judicial Activism
implies judiciary activating legislature and executive to discharge
their duties in letter and spirit. Another illustarion, for a question
on global warming, the answer could start as Global Warming
implies rise in the average global temperature. Women
Empowerment means making women as powerful as men in all
spheres of life. Please observe that I used to derive the meanings
from the issue nomenclatures themselves. Judicial Activisim ..
activating..; Women Empowerment as POWERFUL as..
Thus, this was the obvious introduction to any question.

After introduction, I addressed the requirement of the question.

Here, I made a habit to make it multi-dimensional. To illustrate,
suppose an answer on causes of FARMERS SUICIDE. Majority of
the candidates mention only about unscrupulous money-lending,
lack of access to insititutional credit, lacunae in agricultural
insurance delivery and so on. However, please observe that only
economic cause is mentioned in this answer. Even though more
causes are mentioned, all the causes mentioned are economic
causes. Thus, such answers are uni-dimensional. In my answers, I
consciously avoided this. I used to bundle all such economic causes
into a single point. Other points could be social stigma attached to
being a defaulter(=social cause), lack of moral support and
psychological strength (=psychological cause), absence of political
and bureaucratic will and absence of farmers representatives at the
policy-formulation level (=political cause) and so on. Thus, what I
intend to stress is that dont just restrict yourself to more visible and
obvious points, think a little deeper to find out some oft-forgotten
points. For every answer, think in one dimension, you get one
point. Think in another dimension, you get one more point. Third
dimension gives you third point. Thus, your answers get formed
easily. You need not have to worry at all.

Next crucial thing in answer-writing is SUBSTANTIATION.

Whatever point you write, try to justify it with some piece of
statistics, research finding or an illustration. This, according to me,
is very very important. Because, it projects that you are a well-
informed person. At the same time, you would be treated as a
person who would not simply gossip, but talk everything with facts.
 (SUBSTANTIATION may not be possible for every point in every
answer. Nonetheless, try to do it as much as possible).

Now, I know what is lingering your mind how to remember so

much figures. It is tough to remember numbers. I have a self-
discovered solution for this.

Remember statistics only in PERCENTAGE (Thus, you have to

remember only 100 different numbers, at max)
Dont remember the decimals involved in PERCENTAGE. Just
round them off.
Try to link those percentages with your life. To illustrate,
contribution of agriculture sector to GDP is 13%. My moms
birthday is on October 13. So, I just link them and it is easier to
remember. You can try linking those numbers with birthdays,
vehicle numbers, distance between places you often travel, your
academic marks/percentage and so on.
If you find this is also difficult, please round off percentages to the
nearest multiple of 5. Then you have to remember only 20 different
numbers. Here, while quoting such numbers in answers, use such
qualifying words as APPROXIMATELY, SOMEWHERE AROUND,
CLOSE TO and so on.

As far as possible, mention the sources of those points of

SUBSTANTIATION. It gives credibility to your mention of the
same. Now, you should be thinking remembering numbers and
research findings itself is a herculeanh task; then how to remember
sources also. Solution reduce the sources and stick to very few
sources like ECONOMIC SURVEY, NSSO surveys, prsindia.org and
a few others. Then it is not very difficult to remember the limited
sources.

While going through the Economic Survey, make a separate notes of

statistics.
Finally, prepare a manual of numbers and glance them everyday.
Dont make it bulky. A few such statistics that should always be
remembered are GDP growth rate for current year and projected
rate for next year; contribution of various sectors to GDP and
employment dependence on those three sectors; fiscal deficit,
revenue deficit, current account deficit; GER at primary and higher
education (for all, boys, girls, SC, ST); ASER survey findings strictly
one or two) to throw light on quality of the education; budget
allocation to EDUCATION as a percentage of GDP); IMR, MMR,
(for India and Bangladesh plus MDG targets for the same), number
of doctors per 1000 population; budget allocation to HEALTH as a
percentage of GDP; percentage of MPs with criminal background,
percentage of female MPs, (information available in the website of
Association for Democratic Reforms); performance of Parliament,
I.e., Lok Saha and Rajya Sabha, as reflected in average hours of
sitting, average number of bills passed per session, number of bills
gullotined, number of bills passed within 5 mins (information
available on.prsindia.org). These statistics should be on your tongue
tip always.

Be smart in using these numbers to suit the demand of question.

To illustrate, if you have to praise the development of HEALTH
sector, write that India has made a impressive reduction in MMR
from 212 to 178 per 100000. If you have to mildly criticize, then
you can write, even though India has been successful in reducing
MMR from 212 to 178 per lakh, the performance is lower in relation
to other developing countries. Same numbers are used with
different tones, to suit the demands of your argument.

Finally the conclusion part of your answers. As everyone says,

conclusion has to end on an optimistic note. However, your
optimism should also reflect that you are not blind to the challenges
and obstacles associated with that optimism. So, your conclusion
can be structured as below:
 If in the answer you have mentioned pros, in conclusion, you quote
cons as well (just quote, dont explain). Later, say that since pros
outnumber cons, we should gear up to nullify cons and realize
pros.
If in the answer you have mentioned both pros and cons, in the
conclusion you can quote (=not explain) the ways to overcome
negatives. And say that these steps have to be strictly implemented
to ensure realization of advantages and so on.
If in the answer you have mentioned only cons, in conclusion
mention that there are ways to overcome these cons and it is
absolutely possible to overcome them.
In conclusion, always mention that the issue or resolution of the
issue would lead to promotion of public interest, realization of
spirit of constitution, safeguarding the unity and integrity of
nation, achievement of equitable development of society/national
and so on.

SPECIFIC REMARKS

GS 2

The major sources for GS 2 other than THE HINDU articles include

Bill summaries, Articles, committee reports on prsindia.org

Articles and Ask a Question feature on idsa.in (for International
Relations)
Debates on BIG PICTURE program of Rajya Sabha TV (Summaries
of these are available on insightsonindia.com)
INDIA AND THE WORLD program (for International Relations
summary available on insightsonindia.com)

Try to use the following in your answers to improve their quality.

Articles of the constitution You need not have to remember every

article from 1 to 395. Just remember important articles pertaining
 to Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.
Knowing this much is adequate to use in most answers. To
illustrate, while answering a question on BAN ON COW
SLAUGHTER, mentioning the DPSP that directs government to ban
that along with the article would enhance quality of your answer.
(This is just an example. This, in no way, reflects my stand on Cow
Slaughter. In the current scenario, I found this example to be more
pertinent. So I have used it).
Use the words mentioned in our preamble SOVEREIGNTY,
SOCIALIST, DEMOCRACY, REPUBLIC, EQUALITY, JUSTICE,
LIBERTY, FRATERNITY, UNITY INTEGRITY and INTEGRITY
profusely in your answers. While using these concepts, write like
this this is in accordance with the ideal of democracy as
enshrined in the preamble of our constitution. The words just
mentioned above have been so much overused by everyone that if
you just mention those words, it may not be taken as a part of
constitution. So, it is advisable to establish an explicit link between
such words and PREAMBLE.
SC and HC judgments and cases Quote those judgments and cases
in your answers. For example, cases like Naz Foundation case,
Bachan Singh case and others have to be mentioned wherever
needed. Dont just remember that Transgender is ruled to be third
sex by Supreme Court in a recent judgment. Please also try to
remember which judgment it is.
Committees Know about the important committees constituted by
the government. No need to mug up all recommendations. Just
remember the essence of recommendations. For example, Jeevan
Reddy Committee recommended for the revocation of AFSPA.
Shanta Kumar Committee recommended for reduction in the
coverage of population under National Food Security Act and so on
(This is important for GS 3 as well). You can use this for
SUBSTANTIATION puroposes. The summary of recommendations
of major Committees is available on prsindia.org
 GS 3

Besides, articles on THE HINDU, following sources can be useful:

Indian Economic Survey

Selective study of 12the Five year Plan Document
Yojana (Read Yojana issues selectively. Rather than reading the
whole magazine, it is advisable to thoroughly read the first article
that is comprehensive most of the times).
Budget Highlights one should be smart enough in using this. This
can be used to infuse optimism into your answers. Quoting the
budgetary allocations and expressing that such allocation would
lead to a positive outcome can bring optimism to your answers. To
illustrate, while writing on sustainable development, I vagualy
remember writing that in this budget, Rs. 100 crore allocated
towards NATIONAL MISSION ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
is likely to promote sustainable development.
Articles in idsa.in throw adequate light on north-east insurgency
and occasionally on naxalism as well.

Im not an authority on Science and Technology. So, I dont want to

write anything on that.

[PS I cannot guarantee mind blowing marks by following this

strategy. However, this strategy may help you not score below-
average score. One more important thing is that there is no success
in mains without writing practice. Write as many mock tests as
possible. That can indeed guarantee you a fantastic score. Merely
following the strategy outlined above or any other strategy without
adequate writing practice would indeed give you below-average
marks.

I have secured 93 in GS 2 and just 75 in GS 3 by following this

strategy].
 I wish all of you a heartfelt ALL THE BEST

Regards,

Balaji DK, IAS

(CSE 2014, AIR 36)

Sociology (Scored 257 L)

Paper 1

1. C N Shankar Rao Intro to socio

2. Crack IAS notes ppr 1
3. Haralambos very important book according to me (understood
Mead thanks to this book!)
4. IGNOU BA Notes selectively. (Did all units on thinkers
thoroughly)
5. Ritzer for Thinkers
6. Upendra Notes for thinkers and introduction only
7. Collins Dictionary for Sociology for concept clarity

Paper 2

1. C N Shankar Rao Indian socio

2. Crack IAS notes ppr 2
3. IGNOU BA Notes selectively
4. Nagla for Indian Thinkers
5. Upendra Notes for movements only
6. Nadeem Hasnain Tribal India selectively
7. Ram Ahuja very few topics
8. Year Book for programmes/schemes
9. Spectrum History for national movement
10. Online resources for few topics
11. Newspaper articles/editorials on social issues

How to approach History?

GS Paper I is one of my favourite papers and I think Im fairly strong in it. In this
post, I will not focus on what to read in history but on a bigger and a more
prominent question of how to study for History the approach.

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,

Chastity is valued a lot Ex: Kannaki is the goddess of chastity in

Silappadikaram.
Jainism was prevalent Ex: Sivagasindamani by Tiruthokadevar, a Jain
The next part is women. In the socio-economic conditions, the position of women
is very important. Some great scholar once said, the position of women in the
society is a barometer to measure its greatness. This is also extremely important
from History point of view. Some example questions are

Contributions of women to ancient and medieval literature keep a list of

women scholars
Women participation in various movements of modern India
Women participation in revolutionary terrorism
Women during post independence
Women participation in communism, French revolution, American revolution
(world history) etc.
Coming to culture, I think I have decoded why he is asking the questions the way
he does. I think the focus is shifting towards asking questions in reverse
direction. He is not going to ask about Vrindavan architecture or Manipuri dance,
but instead ask about Flute playing Krishna, whose significance can be found
across various architectures (Ex: Vrindavan temples, Chennakesava temple
@Somanathapura of Hoysalas, dances like Manipuri etc.). I have extended this
same idea during my preparation and constructed the following rule:
Whenever, a term (can be a feature too) is repeating at several places, learn
about that term in its entirety.
For example, when Im reading about the architecture of Pallavas Ive read about
the Pancharathas which are in the chariot form. Then when Im reading about
Vijayanagaras architecture, Ive read about the Vittala Swamy temple, which is in
the chariot form. Then there is also the Airavateshwara temple of the Cholas which
is in the chariot form. So I identified and prepared an answer for the Chariot
temples of India. I have written an article on this earlier here. My similar exercises
gave rise to these topics Raavan lifting Kailash, Use of white marble
architecture, Sun temples of India etc.
I feel that this exercise is extremely important, because it really helped me in the
final exam. There is so little time in the exam, that one must do as much thinking
as possible back at home and come to the exam with pre-semi-cooked answers, so
that one can write answers without much thinking. For example, the question on
Takshasila University, its alumni and why Nalanda went on to become the biggest
university I had thought about this before itself. As a result it took me not more
than 4 mins for me to write this answer in the exam.

Some such topics that I had self-prepared on:

Raavan lifting Kailash

White Marble Architecture
Chariot temples of India
Ancient educational institutions in India (besides Nalanda and Takshasila)
Brick Monasteries of Eastern India
Importance of Arthanareshwara in Indian culture
Importance of Yakshas and Yakshinis
Importance of Dasavatara
Importance of Tribhanga posture
Krishna on Kaliya
Anantashayana temple
 Radha Krishna/Raas leela
The rulers who performed Ashvamedha Yaga
Martial art dance forms of India
Dances which are based on imitation of animals
Harvest festivals of India
Sanskrit dramas
Biographies of ancient and medieval India
Kavyas
Diplomacy in Ancient India
Architecture of Stepped tanks there are many types like Solangis,
Vijayanagara etc.
Why Buddhism died while Jainism didnt?
Rock cut architecture in India.
Influence of Indian culture to other Asian countries during ancient period
Spread of Buddhism, Shaivism etc.
The above mentioned list is not exhaustive and I strongly recommend the aspirants
to explore many more on their own and prepare for them. It is also important that
the student herself does this exercise because that in itself is a strong learning
experience. It was because of this exercise, that I was able to remember these
things better.