GENERAL-STUDIES

UPSC GS: HOW TO PREPARE

DECEMBER 28, 2013 ABC 325 COMMENTS

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT FROM WHERE AND HOW TO

BEGIN
The base development phase has to be strong. This phase includes
studying the basic books and developing the right techniques for
things such as books reading, newspaper / magazine reading, using
the internet, reports reading etc. UPSC questions will not be from
this level, but if we dont get this right, we wont get the subsequent
phases right. The idea is our base should be so strong that when
we study the higher things, we should be able to understand them
straightaway. If our base is not strong, then we would have to keep
revisiting it and will waste a lot of time. A good base means we
should not feel the need of ever revisiting the basic books again.
Basic Books
In this phase we should cover all the basic books. These include:
Bipin Chandra for Indian freedom.
DD Basu for Indian constitution.
Class 11th and 12th old ncert textbooks: 3 in Geography (1
physical, 1 India, 1 economic), 3 in History (Ancient and medieval
for the culture, philosophy part only, and the modern one for
modern history)
Class 9th and 10th Science old ncerts (specially the biology part)
We must prepare notes in our own language when we read these
books and not merely underline for reasons mentioned later.
Once we do this strongly, we will also realize we wont need to
prepare much for prelims as well!
Notes Making
Underlining vs Note Making
Some people prefer underlining to note making. However, note
making is preferable for at least 3 strong reasons:

1. In UPSC Mains exams, its the stuff we have internalized which

helps. We may have studied something in some context but in exam
we may apply it in some other context. This kind of cross
referencing is very helpful and can make our answers very
powerful. While making notes, we convert the language of the book
into our own language and this process helps a lot in internalizing
stuff.
2. It saves time! This may sound contrary to common sense because
underlining is definitely faster than painstakingly writing stuff in our
own language. True, preparing notes takes lot longer than
underlining books. But because they are in our own language,
revising them takes lot lesser time than revising underlined stuff. In
fact, with well prepared notes, it may be possible to revise your
entire syllabus some 5-10 times and each successive revision will be
faster!
3. Notes are customizable. We can frame our own questions which
we think may be asked in UPSC and prepare our notes accordingly.
But we cant do the same for underlined stuff.
Notes on Paper vs Notes on Computer
Try to make notes on computer if your typing speed is even half
decent.
Making notes on computer has one very very big advantage over
making notes on paper. It is editable and can be formatted
easily. We can delete, format, append, insert, do anything with notes
on computer and yet make it one clean nice story. For instance,
many stories in current affairs develop over weeks and months. eg.
the question on Maldives. No newspaper story will have a complete
picture of it. But the question will only ask the complete story. So in
our notes, we will have to edit bit by bit over time so that by the
exam time we have the entire story in one place. The choice is yours
read n number of newspaper cuttings or physical paper notes,
each containing partial information or read one coherent, complete
story in one place only on computer. This will help us in quick
revisions as well.

 Online note making will also help us in revising our entire syllabus
5-10 times, so that all the stuff is so well placed in our mind that
when we are solving 25 questions in 3 hours in the exam, we dont
take a long time to recollect and arrange stuff.
We should also get into the habit of making notes for anything and
everything we read. This may include the basic books, the advanced
books, newspapers, magazines, reports etc.
These notes must be organized issue-wise (eg. say Coal energy)
irrespective of the sources we may read from. Thus whether we read
from a book, newspaper, internet or wherever, all our notes on coal
energy should be in one place only. To give an example of what I am
talking, uploading here my note on Energy. Click here to see the
note on energy. This will provide a picture of how to organize the
notes (forgive me for some instances of lack of formatting in the
note as they were added when I had grown lazy).
Newspaper and Magazine Reading
News vs Issues
People in the beginning tend to focus on news and make notes
accordingly. UPSC never asks news it asks issues. For example,
MDR-TB is an issue, we need to focus on that and not any individual
news item. While reading any news on MDR-TB, we need to connect
it to the key points of the issue. An issue specific reading thus tries
to:
1. identify key points with the issue in hand. For eg. in MDR-TB, the
key challenges are the challenges it poses to the public health, why
is it different from normal B, why is it more difficult to handle, what
are the institutional factors which are leading to its spread, what
needs to be done to tackle it, what steps is the government taking.
2. Then when we read any news, we need to connect it to the key
points so identified and not bother about facts and figures. For eg. a
news item on MDR-TB may talk about some places, some drugs,
some persons we need to only worry about our key points and
skip all the rest.

Other aspects of newspaper/magazine reading

1. Politics, sports, masala news etc. can be skipped straightaway.
2. Keep an eye on any committee, any law, any rules, any policy,
any supreme court orders etc. These are our bread and butter in
upsc preparation.
3. Hindu has become very very important since last 2 years. Read
one more newspaper at least. Since Hindu is left leaning, so may
suggest a pro-reform newspaper say Indian Express.
4. UPSC is a left leaning exam. So one may read EPW magazine, but
beware of the excessively left leaning rattling. Similarly yojana is a
helpful magazine as well.
5. We should never go in too many details or detailed news/articles
can be straightaway skipped. GS is a generalist exam and reading
has to be kept generalist too. For eg. no need to spend hours in
reading and understanding about what Higgs Boson is. Even if we
get a common mans understanding on Higgs Boson, its good
enough. No need to do a PhD on an issue no use in writing things
the examiner doesnt know about.
Our goal should be to finish one newspaper in max half an hour.
Using Internet And RSS Reader
Using the internet is of vital importance for proper UPSC
preparation. The reason is simple:
Very often the newspaper/magazine/book/report we are reading
will only contain partial information on the issue (say just the
committee or bill name and only 1-2 points). But for our exam we
need full information. Only place today to find complete information
is internet.
Even reading 2 newspapers will never be sufficient. We should
scan everything so that there are no surprises in the exam. This
can be done only on internet.

How to use the internet

1. As mentioned earlier, the moment we find something useful and
yet incomplete in the newspapers/books, we should look up for it on
internet.
2. Since newspapers and magazines cant cover everything, we
should use a RSS reader (say feedly on Google Chrome) and
subscribe to the editorials / sections of all major newspapers. It is
free and easy. Any new item will show up with title and one line on
your feedly. We can decide to either read it or skip it. We will find
that we would normally skip ~95% of the items. But remaining 5%
are needed.
3. For certain topics like WTO & India, one may create Google alerts.
This way one will get an email everytime something is published on
the net containing keywords such as WTO and India. Other
meaningful alerts may be created.
Report Reading
During our preparation we will need to read multiple committee
reports.
Sometimes newspapers talk about certain reports and publish a
few of their recommendations. There is always a temptation to just
make our notes based on that newspaper article. But this is not the
right approach because the newspaper article has not been
written for the upsc exam and the reporter may not have covered all
points relevant to us in our preparation for the exam. So the correct
approach is to always look up for the original report on the internet
and read it.
How to read bulky reports
But many reports are bulky. If we read them in detail, it would take
an inordinate amount of time.
A common temptation is to read merely the recommendations
part. But again this is faulty because the recommendations dont
contain the context, discussion which is as important for our exam

purpose as the recommendation itself. We need the context and

discussion because only rarely does UPSC ask enumerate the
recommendations Mostly it asks discuss the recommendations.
So we must read the entire report. But to save on time, we need
not read each part in same detail and concentration. We should put
in only that much effort to read the bulky text of the report so as to
get an overall gist / idea of what is being talked about in that part.
This will quicken up our reading substantially.
We can then highlight the relevant important parts of the report
text in our first reading. (If Adobe doesnt allow you to highlight a
pdf, download Nitroreader) Then in the 2nd reading, we can read
only the highlighted parts and add it to our notes in our own words.
The second reading and note making part would be substantially
faster.
We must also search on the internet for any discussions on the
report (because UPSC asks discuss kind of questions).
BEYOND THE BASICS
We reach this stage when we have read all our basic books, made
notes from them and have perfected our newspaper reading and
internet using skills. Now we address our syllabus directly.
Coaching Material
There are handwritten classnotes of various coaching institutes
available in the photocopy shops of rajinder nagar and mukherjee
nagar. Notes from vajiram, insight, sriram (printed material) are
good for various parts of GS. We should read them and in fact for
Vajiram and Sriram, I found them to be better than the actual
classes.
ARC and Puncchi Commission Reports
For many topics in 2nd and 3rd paper, 2nd Administrative Reforms
Commissions reports are very good (http://arc.gov.in) along with the
Puncchi Commission reports
(http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/ccsr_report.html). Each volume should

be read and notes prepared from them as mentioned earlier. In 2013

mains, at least 5-6 questions were asked directly from ARC and
Puncchi Commission reports.
Bills, Rules, Drafts and Government Actions
Every bill, policy, committee, rules, drafts, governmental action
etc. has to be tracked.
PRS (http://prsindia.org) is a good source for bills.
Others have to be tracked on internet. PIB website
(http://pib.nic.in) is a very good source for all governmental actions
and may be subscribed to in the RSS reader.
Specific Readings For Various Parts of Syllabus
PAPER-II General Studies- I

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of

the World and Society.
Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art
Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to
modern times.
I had history optional, so ancient and medieval culture were easy.
Modern was very difficult and I found material by Insight, Nitin
Singhania and 2 pdfs titled Compilation of Indian culture
andCompendium on Indian Culture very useful. Click
here and hereto download the pdfs. I tried to memorize all folk
songs/dances/drama etc. state-wise i.e. state first and then the
dance.

Modern Indian history from about the middle of the

eighteenth century until the present- significant events,
personalities, issues
The Freedom Struggle its various stages and
important contributors /contributions from different
parts of the country.
Shekhar Bandopadhyays From Plassey to Partition is by far the
best book. Also read Bipin Chandras book to get a different
perspective. Read both because writing a balanced perspective is
very imp.

Post-independence consolidation and reorganization

within the country.

There is a book by Bipin Chandra India since Independence. Very

thick book, but we need to read only 3-4 chapters.

History of the world will include events from 18th

century such as industrial revolution, world wars,
redrawal of national boundaries, colonization,
decolonization, political philosophies like communism,
capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the
society.
Read Insight world history optional class notes first. for colonization,
there was one chapter in old class 9 or 10 history ncert book.

Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.

Role of women and womens organization, population
and associated issues, poverty and developmental
issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Effects of globalization on Indian society
Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism &
secularism.
All above is very general. answer writing style matters. everybody
knows everything.

Salient features of worlds physical geography.

Distribution of key natural resources across the world
(including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent);
factors responsible for the location of primary,
secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts
of the world (including India)
Important Geophysical phenomena such as
earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
geographical features and their location- changes in
critical geographical features (including waterbodies
and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of
such changes.
NCERT class 11 n 12 books + insight academy + vajiram notes +
follow main themes like recent IPCC report, IPSO report, IMD website
for cyclone mechanism. In 2013 mains, the cyclone naming question
was directly from IMD website. Click here to download cyclone pdf of
imd.

PAPER-III
General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity,
Social Justice and International relations.
Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution,
features, amendments, significant provisions and basic
structure.
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the
States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal
structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local
levels and challenges therein.
Separation of powers between various organs dispute
redressal mechanisms and institutions.
Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with
that of other countries
Parliament and State Legislatures structure,
functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges
and issues arising out of these.
Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive
and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the
Government; pressure groups and formal/informal
associations and their role in the Polity.
Salient features of the Representation of Peoples Act.
Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers,
functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional
Bodies.
Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
Government policies and interventions for development
in various sectors and issues arising out of their design
and implementation.
Development processes and the development industrythe role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and
associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders.
For all the polity, read DD Basu or Laximakanth thoroughly. Read
2nd ARC relevant reports and Puncchi Commission Reports. These
reports directly cover most of the topics.

Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the

population by the Centre and States and the
performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws,
institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection

and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Issues relating to development and management of
Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education,
Human Resources.
Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Vajiram came out with an online pdf on various schemes (Click
hereto download), its printed copy would be available on photocopy
shops in Rajinder Nagar. Handwritten classnotes by the same
institutions were also helpful. Newspapers, pib etc. will come in
handy here. CAG reports have very good analysis on various
schemes as well which can be found on internet.

Important aspects of governance, transparency and

accountability, e-governance- applications, models,
successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and
other measures.
Role of civil services in a democracy.
These topics are well covered in 2nd ARC reports.

India and its neighborhood- relations.

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting Indias interests
Effect of policies and politics of developed and
developing countries on Indias interests, Indian
diaspora.
Important International institutions, agencies and foratheir structure, mandate.
IR has to be newspapers n internet based.

PAPER-IV
General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development,
Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster
Management.
Economy section has to come from budget, economic
survey, 12th 5 yr plan, newsppr n intnt. Coaching hand
written material may also help in some topics.
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning,
mobilization of resources, growth, development and
employment.

Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Government Budgeting.
govt budgeting has to come from 2nd ARC report.
Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the
country, different types of irrigation and irrigation
systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; etechnology in the aid of farmers
agriculture there was State of Indian Agriculture
report tabled in parliament in March 2012.
Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and
minimum support prices; Public Distribution Systemobjectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of
buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions;
economics of animal-rearing.
Food processing and related industries in India- scope
and significance, location, upstream and downstream
requirements, supply chain management.
Land reforms in India.
Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in
industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways
etc.
Investment models.
All the above issues are well covered in newspapers, internet and
editorials etc. Just keep an eye for anything relevant. + I had
economics optional, so never really prepared above specifically for
GS.

Science and Technology- developments and their

applications and effects in everyday life
Achievements of Indians in science & technology;
indigenization of technology and developing new
technology.
Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers,
robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues
relating to intellectual property rights.
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation,
environmental impact assessment

S&T: Mostly adhoc preparation. coaching classes material is relied

upon in the final month to boost confidence but it doesnt really help
in the exam.

Disaster and disaster management.

Disaster: 2nd ARC report and CAG report on disaster preparedness

Linkages between development and spread of

extremism.
2nd ARC report: 5th schedule, PESA, FRA, 6th schedule topics are
imp. here

Role of external state and non-state actors in creating

challenges to internal security.
Challenges to internal security through communication
networks, role of media and social networking sites in
internal security challenges, basics of cyber security;
money-laundering and its prevention
Security challenges and their management in border
areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism
Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
Security: coaching material and newspapers etc.

PAPER-V
General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude
Basic material has to be 2nd ARC report #4 and also Vajiram and
Insight handwritten notes. For moral thinkers, attitude, emotional
intelligence topics, refer to Sriram printed notes.

STRATEGY FOR GS MAINS

Standard
Note: Apart from the below mentioned sources, four things are to
be religiously followed for the GS mains exam. They are as follows:
1. India Year Book
2. Twelfth Five Year Plan document
3. Websites of important ministeries (those related to the syllabus)
4. The Hindu for general news and Economic Times for the economy
section. Apart from your reading of newspapers, please verify that
you have not missed out any important issue by monthly referring
tohttp://www.mrunal.org or the monthly current affair notes of any
coaching institute like Vision IAS/ Vajiram.
Rest sources are mentioned below:
GS Paper 1
1.
2.
3.

Culture- a. Old NCERTs of Ancient and Medieval India

A wonder that was India by AL Basham
Notes of culture on the website of Central for Cultural
Resources and Training.
4.
Notes on Indian Culture of National Institute of Open Schooling
( Because the sources are diverse, you will have to make notes of
them)
2.
3.
4.

Indian Modern History- a. Old NCERT for modern history

Vajiram Notes/ Bipin Chandra
Indian History after Independence- India after Independence
by Bipin Chandra
5.
World Histroy- Old NCERTs
6.
Environment- Erach Bharuch, India Book, Economic Survey,
State of the forest report

7.

Geography- New NCERTs of 11th and 12th, GC Leong, Majid

Hussain/ Spectrum, India Book
8.
Sociology- New NCERTs of 11th and 12th.
GS Paper 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

DD Basu/ Laxminkant
Vajiram notes on constitutions of different countries
All ARC reports
Report on guide to Citizen Charter
Annual Report of MEA
Newpapers
GS Paper 3

1.

Economics- New NCERTs of 11th and 12th; Economic Survey;

India book; newspaper
2.
Science and Tech- Vajiram notes; MST annual report;
newspaper
3.
Security- MHA annual report; ARC report on public order
4.
Land Reforms- part of geography; Mrunal notes on food
processing industries
GS Paper 4
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Ethics in Pub Ad by Patrick Sheeran

Report on Values in Administration by DOPT
ARC report on Ethics in Governance
Ethics, Values and Aptitude by Subbarao
Vajiram notes on Attitude and Emotional Intelligence
Read about views of foreign and Indian philosophers from the
book by Subbaro.
7.
Join any test series for answer writing and case studies
practice.