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Heres a compiled list of must-read books suggested by many

Professors and Toppers for success. All books are genuine.


(Click each for info)
Books for prelims:
History Of Modern India Bipan Chandra. (History)
Indias Struggle For Independence Bipan Chandra. (History)
Indias Ancient Past R.S. Sharma. (History)
History Of Medieval India Satish Chandra. (History)
The Wonder That Was India A.L. Bhasham. (Culture)
Indian Art and Culture Nitin Singhania. (Culture)
Geography of India Majid Husain. (Geography)
Oxford School Atlas Oxford. (Geography)
Certificate Physical and Human Geography Goh Cheng Leong.
(Geography)
Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations M. Laxmikanth. (Polity)
Indian Economy Ramesh Singh. (Economy)
Economic Survey. (Economy)
Science and Technology in India Ashok SIngh. (Science and
Technology)
Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure Rajagopalan.
(Environment)
Environment for Civil Services Prelims and Mains Khuller.
(Environment)
India Year Book (Current Affairs)
Manorama Yearbook. (Current Affairs)
CSAT Paper 2 Manual by TMH or CSAT-II Arihant (CSAT Paper 2)
Analytical Reasoning M. K. Pandey (CSAT Paper 2: Analytical
Reasoning)
Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning R. S.Aggarwal (CSAT Paper 2:
Reasoning)
IAS Prelims 22 Years General Studies Topic-Wise Solved Papers
Disha.
IAS (Pre.) Solved Papers General Studies wih CSAT Papers Arihant
Express.

General Studies Paper I :


General Studies Paper-I - MHE
General Studies Manual Paper-1 2017 by Manohar Pandey
General Studies Paper I (2017) for Civil Services Preliminary
Examination - Edgar Thorpe and Showick Thorpe

General Studies Paper II :


General Studies Paper 2 (2017) Book by TMH
General Studies Paper-2 (2016) for Civil Services Preliminary
Examination by N D Arora, Access Publishing
CSAT - Solved Papers (General Studies Paper II) for Civil Services
Preliminary Examination
General Studies Paper II For Civil Services Preliminary Examination
by Edgar Thorpe and Showick Thorpe
Cracking CSAT Paper - 2 by Arihant

Books for Mains :


Contemporay Essays by Ramesh Singh OR 151 ESSAYS For UPSC
Mains (Essay Paper)
India After Gandhi Ramchandra Guha (History GS1)
Norman Lowe OR History of Modern World Jain and Mathur (World
History GS1)
Social Problems In India Ram Ahuja. (Indian Society GS1)
IAS Mains General Studies Paper 2 (Arihant Experts GS2)
Governance in India. (Governance GS2)
Pax Indica Shashi Tharoor. (Foreign Policy GS2)
India and the World by Surendra Kumar. (Foreign Policy GS2)
IAS Mains General Studies GS3. (Arihant Experts GS3)
Indias National Security: A Reader. (Internal Security GS3)
Challenges to Internal Security of India. (Internal Security GS3)
Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude. ( Ethics GS4)
IAS Mains General Studies Ethics. ( Arihant Experts GS4)
IAS Mains Civil Services Mains Solved Papers

11 Answers

Prateek Jain, www.wordscratch.in


Written Jun 4, 2015
Economy can seem to be a nightmare. But treat it as just another subject.
Its logical so u need not mug most of it except schemes and policies. The
key to the mystry is syllabus given by UPSC and previous year papers
which will act as lamp in you journey.

STEPS:
1. Start with Ramesh Singh book by TMH publication. If you are in
Delhi, buy Shriram's (Coaching in Delhi) Book on Economy. I would
recommend latter as it is updated and more suitable for the exams.
2. Watch video lectures on economy @mrunal.org for better
understanding of concepts.
3. After following above two steps you will have background in basics
and will be able to understand economic news and understand
consequences of movement of inflation and rates. Till that level use
above two sources on SOS basis to understand it. Keep updated
yourself with current news from HINDU as basic questions asked in
exam can be related to it.
4. Now you are equipped to comprehend ECONOMIC SURVEY. Its a
specialist document so it require good understanding of subject.
Better to start after completing above steps. Focus on boxes in
every chapter, new schemes and social & physical infrastructure. @
mrunal.org you can find special areas to focus on. Be selected as it
can be painful book.
5. Now you will be able found topics and attempt questions. For extra
help go through websites of mrunal, insight, vision ias to understand
topics and way to answer.
6. If you come across any topic but you don't material. Simple google
it. You will get articles from all relevent sources and you answer is
ready
7. For selected topics refee, RBI annual report, yearbook, FINMIN
website, Min of Trade & commerce website, india.gov.in.

I think that will be more than enough. But practice answer writing.

Good Luck
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Kesto, discover more unique insights on Quora.

Anoob Razak, undercover Aspirant :)


Written Sep 25, 2014
User has already written a good answer-Niharika Banerjee's answer to
How should I start preparing for the economy subject of the IAS-UPSC?.

However, I guess I will just give you my opinion as well.


As almost everyone suggests, I will suggest you to go through the
NCERT Textbooks first.
(I will be talking about new NCERT Textbooks only)
Reasons
1. They are easily available. Those Textbooks can be downloaded
National Council Of Educational Research And Training website
2. They start from the basics and are easy to understand.
3. They dont contain a lot of complex stuff.
Problem
1. A lot of values and statistics have changed since those textbooks ere
published in 2006.
(for eg. You may find a statement like this- only 24 out 100 people are
engaged in non-farm work in India. Well, such statistics would have
changed and you should rather update that information as you learn more
and more)

Now, the first NCERT Textbooks that talk about Economics are the ones in
9th and 10th standards
Class IX ECONOMICS

Class X- UNDERSTANDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT


The problem with these textbooks (of 9th and 10th) is that they dont
contain much stuff, but nevertheless it wouldn't take you more than a
few hours to go through them. Or just read the headings and those
key words given in bold letters. Or you can even skip a chapter
altogether and just read the summary at the end of each chapter.

Class XI- INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT


This book is about how the Indian Economy was during the time of
independence and how it has changed over the years and also provides
insights into various simple concepts, including Poverty, Five Year Plans,
Rural development and so on.
I would suggest you to give it a shot.

Class XII- INTRODUCTORY MACROECONOMICS


This is one of the simplest books you will ever find about the basics of
Macroeconomics. Definitely go for it.
(Skip the calculations part if you feel like, all those Sigma blah blah. :D
The important thing is to understand the concept).
And at the end of each chapter, there is a SUMMARY section and KEY
CONCEPTS section. You can test yourself with those.

Class XII- INTRODUCTORY MICROECONOMICS.

Microeconomics
If you want, you may try it. Or just skip the chapter, and read the
SUMMARY and KEY CONCEPTS at the end of each chapter.

That is all about NCERT Textbooks.


By now, you will be well equipped to understand the some simple
documents on economics.

Next task is to go through the previous years question papers


(prelims) and see what they ask and try to answer the questions
of economics. The question papers and answer keys of last 3-4 years are
available in UPSC Website.
Also check out the mains question papers and try to understand what
to read and what to skip/avoid from the documents or materials or
articles that you come across.
Take a loot at the syllabus (Economics part only) for General Studies
Paper III from the Civil Service Exam notification

Coming back, here are the additional stuff that will help you.
Try these YOJANA Magazines. Yojana Archives
2013 March edition of Yojana is good enough.
There are a few good articles in this Yojana- How is the Union Budget
formulated?, Budget: Concepts and Terminologies, What is FRBM Act?,
What is GST?, among others.
(There is a mention of Government Budgeting in the syllabus.)
Similarly, 2014 April edition of Yojana is also really good.
So is the 2014 August edition of Yojana.

Mrunal.org.
A lot of topics related to the Economics part of the exam has been
covered by Mrunal. Banking, Budget, Committees, Government Schemes,
Contemporary Issues, blah blah. Explore the Economy Archive: Economy
Theory & Current Affairs articles and see for yourself.

Indian Economy - Ramesh Singh, 6th Edition.


This is an easy to understand complete (almost) package of Indian
Economy.
An Economics graduate suggested this as one of the best, to understand
and learn the subject from the exam point of view. There is also a junk in
the book. It would be better to keep the book for reference, once you go
through the topics that you find good.
You may buy it online if you wish.

Did I miss The Hindu? You shouldnt. :)

Economic Survey & India Yearbook.


You can download Economic Survey 2013-14 from here or get a hard
copy from the market.
Remember one thing while you read the economic survey the actual
numbers, values and statistics are not much important. Ballpark figures of
important data, and trends through the years, and reasons and concepts
are things you should focus on.
(Besides, if you are planning to write the exam in 2015, wait for the next
Economy Survey to come out. And meanwhile read only the first two and
last two of the present Economic Survey)

Internet!! YouTube , Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website,


Planning Commission Website, Quora, Arthapedia, etc etc
etc.

Search the specific topics you want to know more about.


For instance, if you want to know more about Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC) or Priority Sector Lending or Foreign Investment in India,
you may read it from RBI website-FAQ section. The advantage is that
these are authentic sources and are regularly updated.

As for Quora, you may follow topics like The Economy of India.

Finally, the best way to learn is to share your knowledge and


teach others what you already know.

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