Now that President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the Ordinance on National Food Security Bill, it’s worth while to discuss this important legislation since it is of high relevance for IAS Mains. If you look at the syllabus of General Studies II paper, it deals with legislative aspects of Indian polity and welfare schemes for vulnerable sections. The NFS Bill deals with just this so you may get a question concerning the Food Security Bill.

Highlights of the National Food Security Ordinance

• 67% of the population will be entitled to 5 kg of food grains at highly subsidised prices
• 5 kg each of Rice at Rs 3/kg, Wheat at Rs 2/kg and Coarse Cereals at Rs 1/kg would be provided to the eligible individuals
• Beneficiaries of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) will continue to get 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month
• The Bill will cost Rs 125,000 Crores annually and require 62 million tonnes of foodgrains to feed the target beneficiaries
• The list of beneficiaries would be prepared by the State governments
• Other major highlights of the the Food Security Ordinance are Rs 6,000 as maternity benefit and home ration or hot cooked food for children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years.
• The eldest woman will be Head of the household for issue of ration card. If not available, the eldest male member will then be the head of the household for these purposes.

Pros and Cons of the Food Security Bill

While the objective is laudable since, according to a 2010 World Bank Report, 32.7% or 400 million people in India survive on less than $1.25 per day. Also, the report states that 47% of children in India suffer from malnutrition and India is home to the World’s highest population of underweight children in the World, even more than Sub-Saharan Africa. In this scenario it makes sense than to introduce a law that guarantees certain amount of food grain at highly discounted prices that the needy can afford.

But the issue that arises relates to faulty implementation by the government machinery that is tasked with implementing this Ordinance. The PDS system has massive leakages where recycling of foodgrains from state agency depots is rampant. In stead of reaching the poor, foodgrains either do not reach the fair price shops at all or are sold by the shop owners to private traders for hefty profits.

Another issue is of foodgrain production. At the current rate of population growth, to meet the demand would be very difficult. This could also result in fiscal imbalance where MSP of Rice and Wheat is increased every year but selling price is very low resulting in increased food subsidy burden for the government. Also since the target population has increased it will in turn necessitate increased administrative machinery in terms of manpower, warehouses, logistics etc which will add to the economic cost of foodgrains.

But the real value of this historic bill will be judged by its results. How many and how quickly can it help elevate the poor from a state of perpetual food insecurity to food security is what will determine its effectiveness. Also, due to lack of any better alternative at the moment the Food Security Law seems the best bet we have to reduce the massive levels of poverty in India.

The post Food Security Bill and its Relevance for Mains appeared first on IAS Kracker.

UPSC notified the result of Civil Services Prelims examination 2013 held in May 2013. Approximately 15,000 candidates qualified the exam and are eligible for appearing for the Mains to be held from 1st December 2013. The following infographic explains the result in detail.

Click to enlarge

As you might know, there are 1000 vacancies in the civil services exam 2013. Also, this year cut-off must have gone higher than the previous years since both the papers were relatively easy. Speaking of cut-off, the notice states that answer keys, cut-off and marks of Prelims will be notified after declaration of final result in 2014. No RTI will be entertained in this regard. So no point in filing RTI by unsuccessful candidates.

Meanwhile, the IAS Kracker Membership Program is open. Find out the benefits of becoming a member and register for membership since the price will be increased shortly.

Register as a member and get access to 3 courses - Test Series course with more than 5000 questions, Current Affairs course and GK course. Plus a free eBook. Also you get excellent support.

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The post New Schedule for Civil Services Exam from 2014 – What Strategy Should You Adopt Now? appeared first on IAS Kracker.

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As an IAS aspirant we always want the best books for IAS exam since we only have a limited time at hand to go through these books. IAS Kracker has listed the best books for IAS exam since a long time but now I have added a new feature: the best books at the lowest prices. Since there are so many options to buy online, we are always on the look out for the best deal we can get but this search can also be time consuming and tiring. For this reason I have listed the most highly recommended books for IAS on this page.

The best part about this is that all books are listed in easy-to-view table format. The table itself is sortable and searchable. It shows the lowest prices of books on the two most popular online stores – Flipkart.com and Amazon.in. The prices are updated once daily and the latest lowest price is reflected in the table so you can just click on the Get It Here link to be taken to the website to order those books. No more wasting time hopping from one site to another. See the book, check out the lowest price and get it. That’s it.

You can also view this table below and get cracking with your IAS preparation. If you would like specific books to be included in this table, just ask for it in the comments below.

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The post Your Search for the Recommended IAS Books Just Got Easier! appeared first on IAS Kracker.

I was chatting with a friend some days back and he expressed his desire to appear for the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam. I said the CDS exam is a great stepping stone to a fulfilling career in the defence services. He agreed but quickly added that he wasn’t so much interested in the CDS as in the IAS exam. Puzzled, I asked then why is he talking of the CDS exam? He replied ex-servicemen get 5 years relaxation for civil services exam. Wait a minute, I said. “You want to appear for the IAS but will attempt the CDS first, only to get 5 years more for the IAS?”

“That’s right”, he replied. “And what’s you age at present?” I asked. “23″, pat came the answer.

23! You have all the time to prepare for the IAS exam and you want to appear for CDS, then serve for at least 5 years in the defence services and leave it to appear for the IAS? Hello, why not just appear for the IAS directly? The CDS exam may have its attractions but that’s not the point here. The issue is you are interested in the IAS, then why are you thinking about the round-about manner of appearing for other exams first? Also this person comes from an affluent business background so finances are not an issue.

Unfortunately, this is the state of mind of many IAS aspirants who aren’t clear about their goals or the dreams they wish to pursue and end up wasting the most productive years of their life appearing for competitive exams half heartedly.

Earlier we discussed about the motivations for becoming an IAS officer but this post goes into the question of bringing clarity to your decision or resolve to become an IAS.

After all, the IAS or civil services exam is not just another entrance exam for which you can prepare for in two to three months. It takes a minimum of 1 year of intense preparation and in most cases, more than two years, to crack the exam. The period of your life that you invest in preparing for the IAS is your most productive and your future career depends on the decisions you take and effort you make during your twenties. For this reason, you should be first of all clear in your mind that you want to crack the civil services exam before you invest two to three years of your precious time preparing and appearing for the exam.

If your attitude is ‘chalta hai’ type where you think ‘if I prepare for the IAS, surely then I can crack the lower exams like Bank PO’. Hello, what is it that you want to become? An IAS or a PO? If it is the former, concentrate on this one exam without thinking of the another and if its the latter, then forget the first.

You see, no two exams are the same although they may appear similar. If you feel your best chance of cracking the IAS is over, then by all means go for an alternative like Bank PO exam but if you are just starting preparing for the IAS then concentrate solely on this exam and not other exams side by side. You will end up compromising your goals even before starting the race.

Dr T Prabhu Shankar, 7th ranker in 2012 civil services exam, puts its very nicely when he says:

The IAS exam is not like a course and everything depends on interest, determination and preparation. So, doing right things in a right way at the right time holds the key to success.

I’ve highlighted the three important words – interest, determination, motivation. And he puts interest before determination and starting your preparation. What are you interested in really? Ask yourself this question today.

If the answer is IAS, start preparing for it thinking about no other exam. If you are confused, it would be better to solve this confusion first before investing years of your life into the IAS exam. And frankly if you have just completed your graduation or post-graduation and if there is no pressing issue of getting a job first, then why not devote full time to your IAS exam preparation? If you make it, well and good. If not, you can always appear for other competitive exams later on. Either way you will make it good in life. But don’t fall in the middle gorge of confusion and anxiety. This will only delay your ultimate success in life.

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The post Do You Want to be an IAS Officer or Some Other? Clear Your Confusion First appeared first on IAS Kracker.

2013 Mains is going to be a year of surprises, thanks to UPSC. First there was the pattern change, then the changed dates for 2014 prelims and now an altogether unexpected announcement that in this year’s mains exam candidates have to write the answers in the question booklet itself in the space provided for answers.

Point no. 28 of the Detailed Application Form instructions clearly states that:

Candidates should note that instead of separate
Question Paper and answer book, a consolidated
Question Paper-cum-Answer book, having space below
each part/sub part of a question shall be provided to
them for writing the answers. Candidates shall be
required to attempt answer to the part/sub-part of a
question strictly within the pre-defined space. Any
attempt outside the pre-defined space shall not be
evaluated.”

So instead of a separate question paper and answer booklet, as was the practice previously, candidates will now have to answer in a consolidated question paper-cum-answer book that has space below each part/sub part of  every question.

Implications of these changes to IAS 2013 Mains Exam

• IAS aspirants will no longer know the exact questions of the mains exam and they will need to rely on feedback provided by those who have written the main exam as well other outlets like forum and social media.
• Coaching institutes will not be able to set ‘model’ question papers since everything will become more unpredictable.
• UPSC is moving towards the CAT pattern. Be it negative marking in prelims or single question-answer booklet in mains, these are the features of CAT exam that has implemented in the IAS exam.
• Candidates have to answer strictly within the space provided below each question. Any attempt outside will not be evaluated. This implies you will now need to be judicious with your words and cannot stretch any answer beyond the specified limit. This also means UPSC is helping you manage your time in a better manner by specifying the length of answers required.

But candidates should not really worry about the dreaded topic of Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude. Since it is important to understand the core or essence of questions in this topic and not knowing the exact question verbatim does not matter that much. For this reason candidates who have appeared for the mains exam will be able to pass on the questions on ethics, integrity and aptitude with relative ease to other aspirants.

Your thoughts on these changes?

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The post From Mains 2013 You Cannot Take the Question Papers With You appeared first on IAS Kracker.

NCERT textbooks are a very good source and introduction to topics in IAS prelims. Little wonder then, many coaching classes and aspirants recommend NCERT textbooks to fresh aspirants who are just starting their preparation. But the question I receive quite often is should you refer All NCERT textbooks and for All subjects? The answer to both is No. You have to read some NCERT text books for some subjects. For some NCERT text books are not required. So you should read which NCERT text books for which topics, let’s find out.

Note: This post focusses only on NCERT text books. For complete list of recommended books for prelims, refer this post.

Indian Polity NCERT Textbooks:

No NCERT text book is required as Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap is very good source for polity. Easy to read and understand. But if you still prefer going through NCERTs first, read NCERT textbooks on political science for classes XI and XII.

Indian History NCERT Textbooks:

For Indian History, please obtain the following old syllabus NCERT history text books, published in 1990, if you can get them somehow. They are currently out of print but are highly recommended.

Ancient India (class XI) authored by RS Sharma. This covers the ancient Indian history syllabus completely.

Medieval India (class IX)  for covering medieval India syllabus authored by Satish Chandra.

Modern India (class X) text book of old syllabus authored by Bipin Chandra.

Also combine Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence to cover the modern Indian history syllabus completely.

Geography NCERT Textbooks:

Four NCERT text books for classes XI and XII. Read them all.

Class XI: Fundamentals of Physical Geography and India Physical Environment

Class XII: Fundamentals of Human Geography and India – People and Economy.

Indian Economy NCERT Textbooks:

Class XI: Indian Economic Development

Class XII: Introductory Microeconomics and Introductory Macroeconomics

 Science NCERT Textbooks

Again I recommend TMH GS Manual as its Science section is quite extensive and covers the syllabus adequately. But if you still prefer NCERTs, read textbooks for classes IX and X.

Note: You can download all NCERT text books HERE.

If you any questions regarding NCERT textbooks, use the comment form below.

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The post Which NCERT Textbooks to Refer for IAS Exam appeared first on IAS Kracker.

There’s good news for religious minorities. Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt of India is offering financial aid to candidates from minority communities who clear the civil services Prelims examination (as well as other selected exams) so as to increase representation of minorities in central and state civil services. Read on to know the complete details.

Eligibility:

Only candidates belonging to notified Minority Communities who clear the Prelim examinations conducted by UPSC; SPSC or SSC etc. and fulfill all other eligibility criteria and conditions will be considered for financial support under the scheme. Eligibility criteria and conditions of the Scheme will be as follows:

1. The candidate should belong to one of the Minority Communities notified under Section 2 (C ) of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and should have passed the Prelims Examination conducted by UPSC; SPSC or SSC etc.
2. Total family income of the candidates from all sources should not exceed Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum*.
3. The financial support can be availed by a candidate only once. The candidate will not be eligible to benefit from any other similar Scheme of the Central or State Governments /UT Administrations. In case the candidate decides to opt for other Schemes; he/she will have to forgo the claim from this Ministry and refund the amount if already availed with 10% interest. He / she needs to give an affidavit to the effect, that he /she is not availing such benefit from any other source.

Note*: Income from all sources which has been projected as Rs. 4.5 lakh in para 3 (ii) above is subject to change with change in creamy layer exemption/ceiling over the 12th plan period and beyond.

Number of Beneficiaries:

Every year up to a maximum of 800 candidates will be given financial support under the scheme throughout the country on fulfilling the eligibility criteria till the budgetary allocation is exhausted.

The physical distribution of benefits to different notified minority communities will be as follows:
Muslims: 584; Christians: 96 ; Sikhs:80; Buddhists:32 ; and Parsis: 8.

The rate of financial assistance will be maximum Rs. Fifty thousand(Rs. 50,000/- for Gazetted Post; and Rs 25,000/- for Non- Gazetted Post) only as support to the minority candidates who have cleared the Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commissions; Staff Selection Commissions or State Public Service Commissions etc for Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ Civil Services.

Terms and Conditions:

• The candidate should submit the proof of passing of preliminary examination conducted by Union Public Services Commission, State Public Services Commission, Staff Selection Commission etc. or equal examination for Group ‘A’ and ‘B’( Gazetted and Non Gazetted ) Civil Services. This consists of Roll Number slip, Identity Card and Result.

• The candidate should submit the proof of income of the family from the all sources. The annual Income Certificate should be issued by a Competent Authority as may deem fit by State Government/UT Administration.The candidate should submit Affidavit / Certificate for community proof to be issued by the Competent Authority.

Download the complete instructions here.

As I see, this is a great opportunity for poor candidates belonging to the minority communities especially from rural background who cannot afford expensive coaching from coaching institutes.

Speaking of affordable mentorship, I have compiled a very affordable and targeted program for Prelims that you should take advantage of whether you are just starting out or are an experienced veteran.

Register as a member and get access to 3 courses - Test Series course with more than 5000 questions, Current Affairs course and GK course. Plus a free eBook. Also you get excellent support.

The post Opportunity for Minorities: Get Financial Aid if You Clear Prelims appeared first on IAS Kracker.

The IAS 2014 Exam or Civil Services Exam will be notified on 17th May 2014. The Preliminary exam will he conducted on 24th August 2014. The duration for the Prelims exam is one day. The civil services Mains exam will be conducted from 14th December 2014 and its duration will be 5 days.

Eligibility for 2014 IAS Exam

Following is the eligibility for IAS exam 2014. In case of any clarification you can post your queries in the comments below.

IAS 2014 Prelims Pattern and Syllabus

The prelims will consist of two papers common to all.

General Studies Paper I

Maximum marks : 200
Number of Questions : 100
Total Time : 120 minutes (02 hours)

SYLLABUS

1. Current events of national and international importance
2. History of India and Indian national movement
3. Indian and World Geography – physical, social, economic geography of India and the world
4. Indian Polity and governance – Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, public policy, Rights issues, etc.
5. Economic and social development – sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives etc.
6. General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate change – that do not require subject specialization
7. General Science

General Studies Paper II

Maximum marks : 200
Number of Questions : 80
Total Time : 120 minutes (02 hours)

SYLLABUS

1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision making and problem solving
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. – Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
7. English language comprehension skills (Class X level)

Books for 2013 IAS Prelims

After the change in Prelims pattern and syllabus the focus is entirely on General Studies. These books for Prelims are highly recommended if you want to crack the Prelims in the very first attempt.

 Tips on Filling the 2013 IAS Preliminary Form Online

• Candidates have to apply online at upsconline.com.
• Apply for the exam early as examination centre allocation is on first come first served basis and except for some centres, there is a limit to the maximum number of candidates allotted against each centre. So if you want your preferred centre, close to your location, apply as quickly as possible.
• Fill in the correct details. Be very sure of your name and date of birth as entered in the Matriculation/SSC certificate. Date of birth once accepted by UPSC cannot be altered.
• Make sure your photo and signature scan are clearly visible as these will be printed on the hall ticket to be issued by UPSC later.
• You must enter a valid email as the registration details from Part I will be mailed to this email.
• Don’t worry about optional selection at this stage as you don’t have to choose any optional in the Prelims application form. That will come later when applying for the Main exam.

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The post IAS 2014: Notification, Eligibility, Syllabus and More appeared first on IAS Kracker.

You might be seeing a floating banner to your left that reads “IAS Kracker Membership – Your Gateway to Success”. Well this is just what the membership program  accomplishes. Now we have improved the membership program even further based on our members feedback by including four FREE eBooks to download in the members area.

These eBooks are:

1. Economy: Basics and Advanced
2. Environment Awareness
3. Science Awareness
4. Social Awareness

They contain very useful information on four important topics for Prelims: Economy, Environment and Ecology, Science, and Society. Basic to advanced issues have been compiled from various sources and presented to you in easy to understand manner. Only information that is relevant from the Prelims perspective is included here. Important statistics are also included to help tackle questions easily in paper 1 of Prelims.

But You Need to Hurry

Because we will be increasing the price of the membership program very soon….as early as 2nd October. So you have just 2 days to register as a member before the price goes up. We truly believe we are providing exceptional value to your Prelims preparation in the form of eBooks, test series, current affairs, general awareness bits, email assignments and much more for a very small price. Act today and secure your future.

Register as a member and get access to 3 courses - Test Series course with more than 5000 questions, Current Affairs course and GK course. Plus a free eBook. Also you get excellent support.

The post Our Membership Program Just Got Better! appeared first on IAS Kracker.

Many readers have requested in comments and via email to post a study plan for IAS exam 2014 and so here it is. A guide to help you prepare for Prelims 2014 in the right manner without getting overwhelmed with the syllabus or getting lost midway.

First Know the Syllabus

Before starting out with your 2014 Prelims preparation or with any exam, you should know the syllabus thoroughly. So go through the Prelims syllabus and keep a printout with you while preparing. Also glance through the eligibility criteria and pattern of the Prelims while you are on that post.

Take One Subject from Each Paper

The best way to approach Prelims preparation is to prepare both papers simultaneously. This way you do not neglect any paper and follow a balanced preparation plan. You can start with any subject of your choice. Let’s say History (paper 1) with Decision Making (paper 2). Next, you should keep aside a certain time daily for reading one good newspaper and magazine. Usually, newspaper reading should not take more than an hour.

The next question is whether you should devote equal amount of time for topics from both papers? The answer is no. You can devote more time to paper 1 or paper 2 on a given day depending on your current preparation level and also what you feel on that day. For instance, sometimes I felt like studying paper a certain 1 topic longer so I just went with my mood, while on some days I paid more attention to tackling mental ability in paper 2.

All said and done, it is true that paper 1 syllabus requires wider coverage, so you will anyhow need to devote more time to it. Let’s now move on to preparing individual subjects for IAS Prelims 2014.

Preparing Paper 1 Subjects for IAS 2014

Paper 1 subjects are distinct from one another. You cannot combine History with Geography or Polity. All have to be studied separately. On the other hand, paper 2 topics have a lot in common and can be clubbed together like Comprehension with English-language comprehension, Logical Reasoning with Mental Ability and Basic Numeracy. This implies that paper 1 topics need extra time and and effort to prepare and also individual strategy; so let’s dive straight into it.

Current Events and General Awareness

The topics to be covered include important national and international events, economy, health, legislation, sports, awards and honour, new and important schemes, etc. All this is covered in my Current Affairs and General Awareness course of the Membership Program. One or two good newspaper and magazines apart from some good internet sources should help you with your current affairs preparation. You will need to cover the last two year’s current events, although you need to be thorough with this year’s current events and should go through previous years current bits in passing.

History of India and Indian National Movement

Indian History consists of three parts – Ancient, Medieval and Modern history. Usually Modern is far more important than ancient and medieval history so cover this first. I have already listed the sub-topics in each part in this infographic and the sequence in which the History topics should be covered.

Suggested Books: NCERTs for Ancient, Medieval and Modern History. Additionally, India’s Struggle for Independence for Modern History.

Indian and World Geography

Geography is not only quite scoring but it’s fun to study as well; especially maps. You will need to go through the Atlas on a regular basis, preferably on a daily basis, but the effort is well worth the effort you put in as you can expect anywhere between 5-10 map based questions in 2014 Prelims. Apart from the Atlas you will need to cover physical, economic and human Geography pretty well.

Suggested Books: NCERTs, Goh Cheng Leong for Physical Geography and Oxford Student Atlas for Maps.

Economy and Social Development

The trick to preparing economy is to understand its sub-components which are basics, current economic issues and economic statistics. Basics include concepts like inflation, various deficits, planning, industrial policy, monetary policy and fiscal policy, definition of economic terms and so on. Current economic issues are the ones that are in news frequently like rupee devaluation, financial inclusion, various committees set up by the central government, oil price volatility, current account deficit, etc. Apart from this you need many facts and figures on your fingertips such as GDP growth, exports and imports, inflation, etc.

Social Development includes poverty eradication schemes and financial inclusion schemes social indicators like maternal and child mortality, sex ratio and so on. You should know the salient features of the social schemes that you study.

Suggested Books: Indian Economy and Economic Survey

Environment, Ecology and Bio-diversity

Environment and ecology is a burning issue of our times and this is aptly reflected in the Prelims questions over the past few years. 2014 will be no exception to this trend. Check out this infographic on ecology and environment syllabus and how to cover it. But there are some topics that get asked more than others; these include global warming, climate change, endangered animal species etc. Also include national parks, sanctuaries, threatened marine habitats, corals as part of the ecology syllabus.

Indian Polity

Polity is one of my favourite subjects as it deals with our rights and duties as citizens. In polity there are conventional topics to cover like fundamental rights, DPSPs, legislature, executive, judiciary, emergency, local self governance etc and also current issues to focus on like disqualification of MPs and MLAs on being convicted for serious offences, changes to Representation of People’s Act, judicial activism, NOTA option on voting machine and so on. Prepare polity well since you can pick some easy marks here. Refer this post on how to prepare polity for IAS prelims.

Suggested Books: PM Bakshi for bare acts and Subhash Kashyap for polity fundamentals

General Science

General Science is an important composition of most of the government exams including civil services. Science syllabus consists of two parts – conventional topics and application based topics. For conventional questions you need to focus on diseases, both human and animal, vitamins, vaccines and disease prevention and its symptoms, treatments of important ailments etc. You also need to cover application based topics like electricity, nuclear science, pressure, etc where questions on real-life phenomenon are asked in the prelims.

Suggested Books: NCERTs and TMH GS Manual

Paper 2 Approach for IAS Prelims 2014

As stated above, paper 2 topics can be combined for the sake of preparation. So I will list out a strategy for you to get more done for less time and effort.

Comprehension and English Language Comprehension

Although these are 2 separate topics in the syllabus but you should approach them as one since both are quite related. Comprehension passages are easy to score off and I have explained how to tackle passages in detail. You can expect at least 5 passages in prelims 2014 and at least 2 English-language passages that are not available in Hindi in the question paper. The first type focus more on understanding the subject matter, while the English passages focus on your understanding of English language terms.

A good book like High School English Grammar should suffice for English passages if you have any difficulty tackling these. Otherwise no special preparation is required for passages. Only go through this post to score as many easy marks as you can from comprehension passages.

Suggested Book: TMH CSAT Manual

Decision Making

Usually 7 questions are asked on decision making every year and the best part about decision making questions is that they carry no negative penalty so they should ideally be attempted first since they require a calm mind to understand the questions and choose the most appropriate answer. The reason I say ‘most appropriate’ is that there can be more than one correct answer, and that usually is the case, but you have to select the alternative that is most likely to be correct. You can refer this post on tackling decision making questions. Also we have many questions on decision making in our online tests that are part of the membership program.

Remember, you do not lose marks even if you get decision making questions wrong so you should always attempt them.

Suggested Book: TMH CSAT Manual

Logical Reasoning, General Mental Ability and Basic Numeracy

I have combined these 3 topics in one since they are so similar. UPSC has purposely kept the difficulty level of these questions low so that even non-science background candidates can solve them. Also since more than 50% questions are asked from these 3 topics you cannot neglect them like you could earlier. So it is better to prepare these topics almost daily. The best way to prepare mental ability (combining the three in one term) is to practice as many questions as you can.

In the exam hall you will need presence of mind and speed to solve mental ability questions. You cannot give 5-10 minutes for one question so you need to segregate topics like family tree, speed, time and distance, probability, data interpretation, logical reasoning, area and volume etc. and prepare and practice questions from each sub-topic separately. Full list of CSAT sub-topics is available here. Attempt as many practice questions before the exam as you can.

Suggested Book: TMH CSAT Manual

I hope you found this short strategy guide for IAS 2014 Prelims useful and can add your ideas in the comments below so we get a lively discussion going. Also you can check out the membership program with eBooks, question bank, current affairs and general awareness updates to get your preparation to a flying start for IAS 2014.

Register as a member and get access to 3 courses - Test Series course with more than 5000 questions, Current Affairs course and GK course. Plus a free eBook. Also you get excellent support.

The post IAS 2014 Study Plan: How to Prepare for IAS Exam 2014 appeared first on IAS Kracker.

This post explains what to prepare for Prelims paper 2 popularly called as CSAT using a simple but effective infographic. The entire paper 2 syllabus is listed in the image below and the subtopic within each topic is also listed so you can prepare for paper 2 in a focused manner. You can refer this post to know how to prepare for Prelims in general, be it paper 1 or paper 2.

click to enlarge

Suggested Book for Paper 2: CSAT Manual. Read Review.

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History is one of the most popular optional subjects in IAS exam partly because we all have studied History in our school and/or college days. Also it is fun and interesting to read with all the historic tales, battles, and cultures to study. This post lists the recommended books for History optional of Mains exam. The books are categorized as per the syllabus: Ancient, Medieval, Modern History, and World History.

Books for Ancient History (Paper 1):

• Wonder that was India – A.L. Basham
• An Advanced History of India – R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychaudhuri, – Kalikinkar Datta
• India’s Ancient Past – R.S Sharma

Books for Medieval History (Paper 1):

• Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India – Volume I, II, III- J.L. Mehta
• Medieval India – Volume I & II – Satish Chandra
• Wonder that was India – Rizvi

Books for Modern History (Paper 2):

• Modern Indian History – Grover & Grover
• India’s Struggle for Independence - Bipin Chandra (Read Review)
• Modern India – Sumit Sarkar
• India After Gandhi: Ramachandra Guha

Books for World History (Paper 2):

• The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2 (NCERT) Arjun Dev
• Contemporary World History (NCERT) Arjun Dev & others
• Age of Revolution – Eric Hobsbawm
• Europe Since 1870 – James Joll
• History of Modern World : From AD 1500 to AD 2011

In addition to these books you may want to refer Hemant Jha’s notes and also some selective IGNOU notes for preparing History. These books are as per the revised History syllabus for IAS mains and will be useful in your preparation of History optional. Further, read this post to know about History books for IAS prelims.

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After I listed the NCERT books required for Prelims preparation, I have received many emails and comments from readers asking is it possible to obtain the old syllabus NCERT books from somewhere; anywhere. Well firstly, you don’t require old syllabus NCERTs for ALL subjects. As I have mentioned in the post, you should get old History NCERTs for classes VIII, IX and X, if possible. It’s not mandatory.

For other subjects the new syllabus NCERTs are just fine and recommended. So is it possible to obtain the old syllabus History NCERT books or of other subjects?

Sources for Old Syllabus NCERT Books:

Remember, this list is not exhaustive. Rather I have only listed online and offline sources that I am aware of. If you know more or any shop selling old syllabus NCERTs in you city/town please list the address along with phone number (if available) of the shop in the comments below so others can benefit from your knowledge.

• Try searching classified sites like Olx.in and Quikr.com with terms like ‘old syllabus NCERT books’ + ‘city name’. Chances are someone might be selling his or her old books that they no longer require. And it might just be your lucky day:)
• This site lists NCERT book distributors in Delhi and other cities along with their contact details. You can contact the shop owner/distributor directly and enquire about old syllabus NCERTs in their inventory. Asklaila.com is also a good source for locating NCERT shops in you city like Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and others.
• Jawahar Book Centre at Ber Sarai in Delhi is a reputed book seller/distributor and ships books to all locations within the country. Chances are they might be keeping photocopied versions of old NCERTs as these are in demand among students enrolled in Delhi’s coaching institutes. Just call them up and ask for the old NCERTs and whether they will ship to your location or not. I have ordered books from them in the past and they sent it to my location at that time (Bombay) without any issue.
• Just use your favourite search engine and type in “NCERT book shop” + “your city” or nearest city to get results about distributors and book shops in your area. You can then contact the sellers regarding your query.

Do You Know of Any Old Syllabus NCERT Dealers in You Town?

If you do or if you have come across any using the tips mentioned above, please list their contact details in the comments below so others can get these books as well. Even photocopied versions are welcome since these NCERT books were published during 1989-90 so new copies will most probably be not available.

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So you want to become an IPS (Indian Police Service) Officer? IPS which is an All India Service is counted among the top three civil services in India. The other two being IAS and IFS (Indian Foreign Service). IPS has its own charm and status; you can serve the needy, stand for the helpless and voiceless, do good for the society at large. It also provides you high social standing and prestige. you can take on many challenges of different kinds like fighting organized crime, terrorism, traffic problems, women safety and so forth. No wonder many aspirants make IPS their first choice in the civil services examination.

This post lists the eligibility required for IPS.

IPS Exam Eligibility

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A long standing demand of readers has been to add some credible books for environment and ecology; given the importance of this topic in prelims and the new mains GS syllabus you cannot ignore environment and ecology topic.

But first go through the environment and ecology syllabus for prelims so you know how to divide the three topics- environment, ecology and bio-diversity. Next you need to adopt an integrated approach for prelims and mains. Environment, ecology and biodiversity is covered in GS III paper of Mains. So instead of preparing separately for Prelims and then again starting from scratch for Mains it will be better and time saving strategy to cover this topic keeping in view the Mains syllabus as well.

Recommended Books for Environment and Ecology

There are two books suggested here. The first is

TMH GS Manual

The TMH GS Manual covers environment, ecology and bio-diversity quite thoroughly. It focusses exclusively on the prelims syllabus. I should point out that hardly anything new is added in the Mains syllabus for this topic. The difference then is of your preparation method. In prelims, you will need to cover each sub-topic widely but not in-depth. You will need to focus on facts and figures like number of national parks, tiger reserves, important treaties, new findings of committees and so on.

The TMH GS Manual is perfect for this. It is quite contemporary with all the important issues like global warming, threat to ecology, climate change, the Kyoto and other protocols and conventions covered in-depth. In short you have everything you need for prelims in this book.

The second recommended book is

Environment and Ecology by Majid Hussain

As you might know, Majid Hussain is highly celebrated author of civil services books, particularly Geography, and a much sought after coach as well for Geography optional. Here he has authored a much need book on Environment and Ecology from the GS Mains point of view. The good part about this book is it covers a good portion of the GS I syllabus as well relating to geography since environment and ecology is, after all, a part of physical geography.

Environment and Ecology book starts off from the basic concepts explaining the various environment types, the different nutrient cycles and explaining the concept of ecology in detail. After this it breaks down this topic into number of smaller topics listed below:

• Plant and Animal Kingdoms
• Major Biomes
• Biodiversity
• Biodiversity and Legislation
• Environmental Degradation and Management
• Climate Change
• Natural Hazards and Disaster Management

The topic on biodiversity and legislation covers the various summits, conventions and protocols like Earth summit, Montreal protocol, Bali summit, Kyoto protocol, Rotterdam convention etc which is very useful for prelims preparation as well.

Other topics listed above are also highly relevant for Prelims. So the question arises should you refer just this book for both Prelims and Mains? As I have said in this post on Books for Prelims, a good reference manual like the TMH manual is indispensable for Prelims and you should always have a reference manual for ready reference especially when information from standard books is incomplete or not available.

Besides it’s not possible to go through a complete book when you want to revise quickly before the prelims. So it’s suggested that even if you refer the book by Majid Hussain exclusively for Prelims as well as Mains topics, just glance through the TMH GS Manual quickly to go through Prelims topics that Hussain might have missed out and also when you need to revise quickly just before the prelims. Whereas for Mains, Environment and Ecology by Hussain is just the book you need.

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After I published the books for Environment and Ecology, some readers asked should they buy the latest version of the books or will previous versions suffice? I think many IAS aspirants who have been preparing for over a year must have this question in mind: should they make do with the older version or grab the latest version that comes in the market. My answer is it depends. Some books are like old is gold where you can continue reading them for years while some require that you always have the latest version. While some should be replaced only when significant changes have been made in the new versions. So which books should be replaced with the latest versions and which ones you can continue reading, let’s find out.

Note: All the recommended books for Prelims are listed here.

Current Affairs Books Require Frequent Replacement

Yes, this is true. Since current affairs books contain information on events that have occurred in the recent past, these should be replaced with the latest versions whenever possible. Books that fall in this category include Manorama Year Book, India Year Book and Magazines like Pratyogita Darpan. Other books like the Economic Survey should also be the latest edition since it contains the economic data of the previous and current financial year and you should always keep have knowledge of the current economic indicators.

Reference Manuals Can Be Replaced After 2 or 3 Years

Reference manuals like the TMH GS Manual and TMH CSAT Manual contain information that is not updated every year, at least not majorly. Although it contains current events section as well, not many aspirants refer it for current events so you should not replace your copy with the latest one only for current affairs. But these manuals do get updated after some years so if you have bought the 2011 or 2012 edition, you can consider getting the 2014 edition.

Also you should get the latest edition if the syllabus changes and a new edition of the manual is released based on the changed syllabus. Otherwise stick to it for a few years.

Other books that should be replaced after some time include PM Bakshi’s Indian Constitution since it contains the latest constitutional amendments that you need to keep track of.

Some Books are Timeless

Standard textbooks for various subjects like Pub Ad, Sociology, History etc are not updated very frequently and as such can be read for the entire duration of your civil services preparation and can then even be handed down to your siblings and friends. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra readily comes to mind. Even the Atlas does not need to be frequently replaced since geographical information remains static for a long time. Goh Cheng Leong wrote Certificate Course in Physical Geography during the 1980′s and it is still a timeless classic for Prelims as well as Geography optional subject.

Similarly, NCERT text books for certain subjects can be continued with for years to come. In fact, there is greater demand for old edition History NCERT books compared to the latest edition!

In short, books that deal with current events and data related topics should be replaced with the latest editions while others can be read again and again till some new drastic syllabus changes occur or the author introduces entirely new information in the latest edition of the book.

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I receive many emails and comments from IAS aspirants who are in school or college asking how they should start their preparation for IAS exam keeping in view the subjects to select later on. This post helps all those who are currently studying but plan to appear for the IAS later on.

First and foremost understand the civil services or IAS exam. It’s pattern, eligibility criteria, prelims syllabus before thinking about the mains exam. Think about your school or college exam; how many unit tests or semesters are there in the academic year or your course? What are the qualifying marks required for various papers? What is their syllabus and so on. You should approach the civil services exam in a similar manner. Develop curiosity about it and understand what UPSC expects from you as an aspiring civil servant.

Going by the latest trends and changes in the pattern, UPSC expects high integrity, sound judgement, and good knowledge of current issues from IAS aspirants. What it does not want are rote learners who rely solely on optional papers to qualify the prelims or mains. That’s why optional papers have been removed completely from the Prelims and restricted to just one subject consisting of two papers in the mains. While the weightage of general studies papers has been increased significantly. Now there are two GS papers common to all in Prelims and four compulsory GS papers in the Mains.

Since GS commands such huge importance in Prelims (100%) and Mains (70%), it is obvious that you should start with GS topics when in school or college. This will give you a good launch pad when you start your actual IAS preparation since you will have knowledge of many topics beforehand and you will find them quite familiar.

What to Read First

Before diving into the required books for IAS, I suggest you start reading a good newspaper like The Hindu or Indian Express (skip ToI) combined with a good magazine like Pratyogita Darpan. You can refer this post on how to read the newspaper for IAS. This will help you develop interest in current issues happening around you.

Next, you need to expand your general awareness or build up your GK base. I highly recommend the Manorama Year Book for this purpose. It’s language is really simple to understand, the data and facts are highly reliable and most importantly it’s trusted by UPSC paper setters since many questions are routinely asked in the Prelims from this book.

The Next Step

Once you develop the habit of reading these books, magazines and newspapers you are ready to move to the next level. It is important to realize that we are still focussed on the Prelims since this is the first stage you need to clear before you can appear for the Mains exam.

You should then focus on these books for Prelims to really begin your IAS preparation in the right earnest. But since you have to also focus on your school or college studies, don’t burden yourself by getting all the books listed on the page. Chances are you won’t have enough time to go through all the books.

Rather get books that you can go through in your spare time like the Oxford Student Atlas (which will also help you with your Geography studies). If you want to go even deeper, get the GS manual for paper 1 and paper 2 by TMH since this is a nice and reliable compilation of all the subjects and topics for prelims. Besides it is a good source of general awareness issues; not to mention they are really fun to read. At least I found them so.

What About Subject Selection?

As I mentioned above, optional papers come only in the mains; not in prelims. If you are still in school, don’t bother about optional subject at this stage. Just focus on the tips I gave above. If you are in under-graduate or post-graduate college, first check if your subject(s) is offered in the civil services mains exam or not. If it is offered, ask yourself do you want to choose the same subject as the optional subject in mains? If the answer is yes, go through its syllabus and so you can stress on the part that overlaps with the UPSC syllabus. This way you can save significant time during your actual preparation.

If the answer is no, ask yourself do you have the spare time to prepare the subject you will select for mains exam along with your college studies. If you have the time, start preparing. If not, it doesn’t matter. Just wait till you devote full time to your IAS preparation then you can worry about subject slection and preparation.

The point of this discussion was to make you realize that IAS exam and its preparation is a layered process which requires constant effort and patience to complete. You have made the right choice by selecting the civil services as your career option early on during your school or college itself. Now you need to channelize your enthusiasm and make the best use of your time by following the strategy listed in this post. This way you will get a head start over others when you appear for your first attempt.

I can help you make the best use of your knowledge and time through online tests, current affairs updates and general awareness bits focussed on the Prelims exam through my Membership Program. Check it out.

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Now that Prelims is due in 2014 and the clock has started ticking, the natural question in the minds of aspirants is how can they quickly prepare current events and general awareness since general awareness and current affairs forms the crux of paper 1 of Prelims exam.

Topic List for Current Affairs and General Awareness:

The best way to quickly go through current events and build up your GK base is to first list the topics to focus on instead of trying to read everything you come across. Doing so will waste your time and effort when you should be making best use of them. Some of the topics to be covered are listed below.

• Persons in news: This includes person appointed to important posts and recent deaths of well-known persons.
• Awards and Honours: Important awards like Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, Magasaysay prize etc and honours like Bharat Ratna.
• Sports: Cover not just cricket but also other sports like Badminton, Hockey, Wrestling, Shooting, Chess etc. Who is doing well and bringing laurels to the country. For instance, women shuttlers apart from Saina Nehwal are doing really well in Badminton. Who defeated Vishwanathan Anand to become the world chess champion and so on.
• Arts and Music: The famous artists in various disciplines like sarod, tabla, dances, sitar, famous vocalists etc.
• Defence: Recent deals like acquisition of aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, induction of Tejas, development and testing of various missiles, defence exercises involving India and other countries, defence pacts and issues like China’s Air Defence Identification Zone over the East China Sea etc.
• Nuclear Issues: These include nuclear energy issues relating to Iran, our own nuclear reactors and issues facing them like in Kudankulam. Location of nuclear plants, heavy water plants, uranium reserves in India and other countries.
• Polity Issues: Various developments related to Indian polity including legislature, administration and judgements of higher courts. Some of these include NOTA option on voting machines, Lokpal Bill, section 377 of IPC, barring convicted candidates from contesting elections etc. Also you should be aware of the important provisions of landmark legislations like Food Security Bill, Lokpal Bill, PFRDA Bill, Companies Bill, Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill etc.
• Economy: Not only should you know the important economic indicators like growth rate, inflation rate, forex reserves, IIP, repo rates but also the latest developments and policies affecting the Indian economy.
• Environment and Ecology: This is a very important topic for not just Prelims but also Mains exam. You should be aware of the important conservation efforts like protected species and their habitats, UNESCO sites in India, threatened and exotic wildlife species in India, important national parks and sanctuaries and their location, current issues like global warming, climate change and so on.
• Summits and Conferences: Important summits and conferences held in India and other places like the WTO conference at Bali, BRICS summit, Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka etc.
• Science and Technology: Important developments particularly in the field of medicine like development of anti-Malaria vaccine, stem-cell research, space technology and mission to Mars, China’s landing on Moon etc.
• Facts of India and World: This includes important road and rail systems in India, mountain ranges, important rivers and their tributaries, soil types and their spread etc. Refer the Oxford Student Atlas for this. Other facts include various firsts like first president, prime minister, election commissioner, army chief and so on. Questions involving logical sequence could also be asked from this topic. The Manorama Year Book is a good reference book for this topic.

These are the important topics you should stress on to cover current affairs and GK quickly for Prelims 2014. Apart from the books mentioned above you should read the newspaper regularly along with a good current affairs magazine like Civil Services Chronicle.

Even Quicker Way of Covering Current Affairs and General Awareness

If you do not have adequate time of going through multiple sources to cover current affairs and general awareness topics you can enrol for the Membership Program and get regular updates focussed on the above topics in a convenient PDF format to read online or download to your computer.

What’s more, I have also prepared tests on current affairs and general awareness topics along UPSC prelims pattern to help you retain what you read. Find out more about the membership program.

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