Category: How to Prepare

Civil Service UPSC as a Career

by IAS Score

Civil Service (UPSC) as a Career

George Lucas said that dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you imagine it. Dreams keep you alive, make you different from the crowd; they invigorate energy, warmth and freshness and consciousness in you that keep you restless unless and until you don’t finish the post you aimed at.

The primary reason most aspirants choose Civil Services as a career option is:

· Job security, perks, and retirement benefits.

· Power, Prestige and Authority to frame policies that govern daily life or businesses.

· Reputation and ability to reach out to the corridors of power to move matters.

· A chance to develop and usher the country on a path of progress and bring about a systemic change for the betterment of future generations.

· Unbridled access to knowledge and future education by way of Government policies.

Challenges

· The path to becoming a civil services officer is strewn with immense hard work and sheer dedication.

· Salaries may not be as high as compared to other professions.

· Inter-job transfers may be difficult and sometimes inevitable, so it is like a double-edged sword.

Civil services as a career haveremained the beatings of hearts of thousands of youngmen and women across the country for a multitude of reasons. For some it is a passion to make it to the elite service to touch million lives and to some it offers job diversity and prestige. For some, it is a pompous show of power; and for the others, it is an instrument to bring in equity and equality by acting as champions for the underprivileged groups. The Indian Civil Services have remained one of the premier services which provide prestige, job security, higher salary package, opportunity of foreign tour, job satisfaction, etc., that attract talent as well motivation for the aspiring civil servants.

Civil servants, in away, decide the fate of the nation as the implementation of all developmental and other government policy rest with them.

The technical and advisory aids provided by civil servants in the policy-making are indispensable components in the making of policies.
The decisions of civil servants have deep ramifications as there is a diversity of work associated with civil services, like maintenance of law and order, developmental work, disaster management, representing India on international forum, administration, upliftment and empowerment of marginalised sections of society, etc.
Who would not like to get such a dream job that involves dynamism, challenges, teachings and building the nation through and through?
Johnny Carson well said, “Not education. Not being born with hidden talents. But desire is the one secret of every man’s career”.
No doubt desires and dreams are personal and innate but a proper shape to them requires coaching and guidance. GS SCORE apart from conventional and digital coaching has been helping students in designing their dreams as well as achieving them.

Career Prospects

The are many career prospects in civil services. A candidate who clears UPSC or the state level civil services examination and has completed his/her training is commissioned as an officer. In the Central Services, the first posting is usually as a Diplomatic attaché/ Under-secretary/ Probationary IPS officer, depending on the branch chosen. In the state civil services, it is referred to as Deputy Collector/Deputy Superintendent of Police/ Taxes Commissioner, etc.

Different Branches	Names of posts	Responsibilities
Indian Foreign Service	Diplomat Foreign Secretary High Commissioner	The framing of foreign policies Maintaining and regulating the Indian embassies in various countries of the world
Indian Administrative Service	District Magistrate (collector) Principal Secretary Chief Secretary	responsible for the smooth functioning of administrative departments framing of policies and acting as advisors to the ministers executing appointed duties as the officers in charge of smaller administrative units
Indian Police Service	Border Security Force Department of Home Guards Central Bureau of Investigation	Maintain law and order in our country

Proper planningis required to convert dreams into reality as goals without dreams are mere wishes.

Through hard work and determination, it is possible to achieve your goal. Experienced guidance and knowledge is available for all students at GS Score for converting all your dreams and potentialities into realities.

How to scan the NEWSPAPER for Civil Services Exam?

by IAS Score

A day for IAS aspirant usually starts by reading newspaper and scanning the important news. Few jot down important points in the register; few underline the points and paste cuttings in the register; and so on.

However, have you ever noticed that when exam approaches most of the aspirants fail to even revise that notes, not able to co-relate them and end up reading the ready-made materials which become hard to grasp in the last minute.

Why is this so? What’s the fault in the methodology? Is there any one best method for preparing current affairs from the newspaper?

As all human beings are different from the other, definitely their learning and grasping power will be different and hence there cannot be any one best method.

Hence hereby, sharing one of the methodologies for scanning Newspaper:

1. One should be aware about the UPSC syllabus as it will help in scanning and analysing the important news.

2. Firstly, just go through the headlines in the morning to remain up-to-date and further read it for the civil services preparation in the evening. It is because till evening more content related to the important topics will be available under different heads.

3. Try to cover one newspaper only, not more than that. As most of the news will be similar. For editorials refer different newspapers as it will help in developing the thinking line.
I will suggest reading Indian Express and Mint newspapers.
In Indian Express the editorials and coverage of International News is much better. Whereas in Mint, the language is lucid, technical jargons are less and quality of content is good.

4. While reading newspaper note down the underline issue rather than the headline.

For example: there was news last month “Election Commission seeks funds for Paper Trail Units”. The news simply states about the funds and how much they want and in brief about Paper Trail Units. If an aspirant is reading this, then in general he will note down the news in 3-4 lines. But for the civil services preparation this news can be utilised as
a) Election commission and its role in free and fair election
b) About Paper Trial Units and its working?
c) Will it be able to make EVM more tamper-proof?
d) Importance of fair and free election for maintaining democracy and so on.

5. When an aspirant try to list down different dimensions associated with the particular news the analytical skill improves and he can design material with interdisciplinary approach. At first it looks a tedious task but if you note down important topics of one day, it will not be more than 2 or 3.

6. Note down important points under each head. Make different registers for different subjects/GS papers so that before the Mains examination of particular subject, it can be revised easily. This will also be helpful in connecting different editorials at one place as each editorial display different dimension.
Be an active reader rather than passive reader.

7. There are number of news that get stretch to days, so while preparing notes leave 2-3 pages, so that if new dimension come up in news it can be added and co-related easily. If it remains scattered in your notebook, revision cannot be done effectively.

8. Avoid reading the politics news unless it is related to governance as:
a) Concept of freebies politics
b) Issue related to the Separation of Power
c) Logjam between Executive and Judiciary … overall the recognition of underline issue is must.

9. If one come across some particular incident as in article “The groundwater beneath their feet” http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-groundwater-beneath-their-feet/article17321183.ece, it is particularly related to the incident in Tamil Nadu but the issue can be “Impact of industrial pollution on water bodies”. The example can be quoted in Mains answer. So the case studies should be noted down.

10. For the prelims, the terms in news should be noted down carefully because questions are generally related to the terminologies. Apart from it the reports, committees, commissions and schemes etc. should also be noted down.

As stated earlier, everyone has different learning pattern so adopt this methodology for at least 10 days. If it works, try to incorporate it with flexibility according to your timings, number of newspaper, etc.

To conclude, the syllabus of Civil Services Examination is very vast and it is humanly not possible to cover all and be master in all. The important thing is that one should be able to differentiate between – “What to read and not to read”.

MAYURI KHANNA

Negate the Negative Marking

by IAS Score

Before prelims examination many Do’s and Don’ts are usually told to the aspirants related to choice of topics, number of attempts and avoidance of negative marking. Yet during the examination atmosphere, to increase the number of attempts student move for guesswork. This brings them in the vicious cycle of Negative marking. More guessing, more chances of negative marking.

This occurs due to the following reasons:

a) The Multiple Choice questions examination allows wide coverage of curriculum and due to this the length and breadth of the topics increases tremendously. Thus it becomes difficult for the students to have knowledge about everything.

b) Further due to notification of CSAT as qualifying, the entire load for passing the examination moves to General Studies. To beat the competition, it is important to attempt atleast 70 questions in Paper 1. Thus to increase the chances of passing the examination, student get tempted towards guessing the options to mark the answers.

Before moving towards the negative analysis of Negative Marking, firstly let us understand…why the concept of negative marking came up in Civil Services?

In a multiple choice test, if there is no negative marking then if an answer is correct then also it is not sure that the candidate actually knows the answer or the outcome is due to a random guess. This blurs the different between the serious and non-serious candidates…That is why negative marks concept have come up to check the entry of non-serious candidates. It discourages random guesses, and therefore the scores are more reliable.

This would give an advantage to the candidate who has a thorough knowledge of the subject and would eliminate candidates, who have merely superficial knowledge and want to score by mere guess work.

In the civil services examination, the cutoff marks are increasing year by year. The toughness of paper is increasing due to change in pattern of questions, so a slight mistake can place the student out of the race.

The total numbers of questions are 100 and to be on safe side a student should attempt atleast 60-65 questions. The proposition of guesswork lies on the number of questions attempted as well as whether it is wild guess or educated guess.

For example if a student is sure in 55 questions and want to move for guesswork, then atmost he should move for 5-7 questions as the risk will be less. Totally wild guesses should be avoided.

As in the previous year examination the number of current affairs questions were high. In such type of questions the guesswork should not be done (as either you will know the answer or not, there cannot be educated guess), whereas in the conceptual questions if the basic foundation is strong, a student can go for redundant scheme and can reduce the options to two. This will be called the educated guess.

Apart from that sometimes even the questions are easy but options become quite tricky, in hurry student fails to differentiate between the minute terms mentioned in the statements to make them redundant.

The cut-off of 2016 prelims has been disclosed by the UPSC, it is 116 whereas last year it was 107.34. As cut-off marks are increasing yearly, student should go for negating the negative marking. However, the cut-off usually depends on the nature of questions (ratio of general/current and conceptual questions)

To negate the negative marking, the student may follow the following points:

a) The attraction towards guesswork should be completely avoided. Mind makeup should be there that one should go for maximum 4-5 guesses only as the risk of decrement in marks due to negative marking will be less.

b) Student should not loose hold of their nerves in the examination hall due to ‘mounting pressure’ syndrome which is quite natural. He/she should read the question carefully, read the guidelines such as “choose correct or incorrect statement” properly. In hurry many a times student fail to differentiate between them.

c) It is also observed that despite knowing the right answers, wrong bubbles are blackened and it is presumed to have marked the right answer. This is due to ignorance and stress. Avoid that.

d) Many students mark the answer with pencil and then in the last minute blacken the bubbles. In this hurry many a time student fails to mark all the answers or mark it incorrectly. So in the questions in which student is sure, he should blacken that at first instance only to avoid the last minute race.

e) The student should attempt all the questions in which he is sure at one go and then flip the questions second time to move for that questions in which there are confusion between the two options.

f) Do not follow elimination process for choosing an answer it may be ruinous. If you are not sure for your answer, leave them unanswered as there is no penalty for unanswered questions. Student should move for calculative risk only.

A sensible planning can bring a vast improvement in the marks, and student can greatly improve one’s marks by not falling into the traps we have discussed earlier in the article.

Last minute revision strategy for Prelims 2017

by IAS Score

Prelims examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

Prelims 2017 is approaching within a month and fine tuning of the preparation to clear the exam is must.

Though the UPSC has mentioned the prelims syllabus but the topics mentioned are in one word due to which clarity is very less and the range of topics covered in the examination is infinite. However, the correct preparation strategy can help the aspirant.

If we analyse the past few year papers the division of questions subject-wise is as follows:

S. No.	Subject	2014	2015	2016
1	History and culture	20	17	15
2	Geography	14	16	7
3	Polity	14	13	7
4	Economy	10	13	18
5	Environment	18	11	18
6	Science and technology	16	8	8
7	Current affairs	8	22	27

By analysing the division of subjects, the current affairs portion has increased tremendously. However, the UPSC pattern cannot be predicted thus balance should be maintained while preparing the conceptual as well as the current affairs.

If we further analyse the division of subjects, there are few topics which generally get more weightage in paper.

Hereby listing few topics which cannot be ignored while preparing for Prelims:

ANCIENT HISTORY

Indus Valley Civilisation
Vedic Literature and Culture
Jainism and Buddhism

( for this refer NCERT and NIOS).

MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Focus should be on the Administrative and social work done by different rulers
Bhakti and Sufi Movement

( for this refer Tamil Nadu NCERT of class XI^th)

MODERN HISTORY

Social Movements (objective and personality associated with it)
All the important events (in form of story so that you can connect the events accordingly)

INDIAN CULTURE

Architecture terminologies
Classical Dance salient features
Miniature Paintings (forms and features)

(Refer NCERT Class XIth Fine Arts Book)

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Erosional and depostional Landforms (in geomorphology) (Refer NIOS)
Climatic and vegetation division of the world (Refer class 7^th NCERT for few divisions)
Ocean currents (significance and presence Ocean-wise) (refer class XIth NCERT)

INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Physical features
Drainage system
Monsoon
Soil and vegetation division
Agriculture (crops basic characteristics)
Latest Agriculture schemes
Minerals locations

(Refer NCERT and NIOS for the above stated topics)

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Data related to Census 2011 and terms associated
Types of human settlements

(Refer http://iasscore.in/upsc-prelims/human-settlement-population-terms-census-2011)

POLITY

Provisions related to Fundamental Rights and DPSPs
Provisions related to the Executive and Legislature
Other provisions which are frequent in news as
NJAC and collegiums
Official language provisions
AFSPA and emergency provisions
Election Commission
About 14^th Finance Commission
About 7^th Pay commission
About Law Commission (basic provisions)
Judiciary terms as – Arbitration, PIL, Gram Nyalayas, Para-Legal Volunteers, Lok Adalat)
Niti Aayog, etc

WELFARE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Initiatives by the Ministries in last one year (Refer http://pib.nic.in/newsite/docpage.aspx?docid=553). This will help in revising all the important schemes and governance steps initiated by the government.

ENVIRONMENT

Biodiversity – species, red book data, types of interactions, etc. (Refer NIOS)
National Parks and their locations
Pollution (types and new rules)
Climate change (all the terms associated with it and steps initiated by India)

(Refer http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/Environment%20AR%20English%202016-2017.pdf)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

In biology focus on Diseases and Nutrition
Recent updates in Defence, Information Technology, Space and Biotechnology (mostly the questions are from these areas)

ECONOMY

Basic economic definitions (clarity should be there in terms so that as aspirant can choose the correct option properly. (refer http://iasscore.in/free-downloads/study-material-for-revision-notes-economic-terminologies)
National Income (refer class XIIth NCERT)
Terms in the Union Budget and Economic Survey
Latest schemes
Banking Terms in detail (bad banks concept, shadow banking, payment banks, small banks, etc)

Hope this will help in preparing for Prelims 2017.

MAYURI KHANNA

PT 2016: The Right Time is Now !

by Manoj K. Jha

This year’s preliminary examination will be a different game altogether. A tough examination has became tougher as one has to attempt only the GS. In this light there are two pertinent questions which demand immediate answer:

1. What should be the right strategy to minimize the risk and maximize the possibility of qualifying the first stage?

2. How to manage time as one can’t leave PT preparation for the last minute and also can’t put all efforts for PT at the cost of GS Mains, optional and gradual improvement of writing ability?

In light of the above questions one needs to understand that demand for PT is much different from GS Mains.

PT is more about range of information. But the point of issue is that there is no specific syllabus and demarcation line. This requires widespread knowledge both conceptually and factually. The whole process of content procurement for this stage has to be gradual even if one candidate is preparing from last 1,2 or 3 years. Along with it there is a misconception that in G.S aspirant has to just mug up the facts but unfortunately this mugging up can hardly help in clearing the exam. We have analyzed the new pattern and realized that preparation should be in much deep and micro level. Developing micro topic listing helps a lot in demarcating the possible boundary. We are also trying to do the same in our PT test series.

You can download micro level topics listing of GS for PT at: http://iasscore.in/iasscore-online-test.php

GS for PT is tough; most of the students are worried about it, as there is no fixed length and breath. However, at the same time they also show trait of careless attitude by carrying loose mode of preparation. Aspirants generally go through N.C.E.R.T. books and some crash materials. N.C.E.R.T. books are certainly important, but only to begin with to have conceptual clarity. You cannot depend solely on these books. In the changing scenario one needs to walk extra miles. Figure out the areas and keep attempting question to know the level of preparation.

Another tough question for this year’s Prelim is – what is likely to be the cut-off? This theme always has been a subject of high speculation and gossip. This year too aspirants are worried for the same. A frequent question, I face is – what would be safe marks in the PT 2016? Well, if we look at the previous years’ scoring pattern, one can easily notice that larger count of student scored approximately 110 in GS (2013, & 2014). However CSAT was a deciding factor then. But under the new pattern GS has become the only factor. Cut off for 2015 is yet to come. Even if we know the figure, it is going to be only a psychological rubbing to our imagination for the future cutoff.

So my suggestion is simple just kick start your preparation of prelims along with mains and gradually bring PT on the main track three months before the ‘D’ day.

Step-up the game with super 30 topics

by Manoj K. Jha

GS for PT is tough; most of the students are worried about it, as there is no fixed length and breath. However, at the same time they also show traits of careless attitude by carrying loose mode of preparation. Aspirants generally go through N.C.E.R.T. books and some crash materials. N.C.E.R.T. books are certainly important, but only to begin with. You cannot depend solely on these books. Even we use to categorize the PT questions for the sake of our convenience with a purpose of decoding the trend. But loose and general categorization does not help always.

As the stakes have gone high, every single mark matters in Civil Services Exam. Earlier ever if, one scored even 45-50% in written examination, he/she could be confident to get a place in final selection. However, this year’s preliminary examination will be a different game altogether. A tough examination became tougher, as one has to attempt only the GS. CSAT is now qualifying in nature.

A tough question for this year’s Prelim is – what is likely to be the cut-off? This topic always has been a subject of high speculation and gossip. This year too aspirants are worried for the same. A frequent question, I face is – what would be safe marks in the PT ? Well, if we look at the previous years’ scoring pattern, one can easily notice that larger count of student scored approximately 110 in GS. However CSAT was a deciding factor then. But under the new pattern GS has become the only factor.

For example: Analyze the question of last year’s Prelims and try to encircle total number of questions asked from Geography. In the first glimpse you may find that approximately 20 question were asked. But a careful scrutiny will give you another picture. 4 questions are from physical geography and related areas and rest questions are of very general nature and this does not demand to go through very popular bulky books. On the basis of such observation you may find that there are 30-35 areas where UPSC focuses most of the time, however, weights of the subject related question may vary year to year. To make your preparation more focused for this year’s PT, I am trying to figure out important areas where UPSC focuses all the time. You can also verify it by going through last few years questions.

The lists of areas are as follows:

1. Biodiversity and conservation strategy
2. Environmental problems (special focus on climate change, pollution, etc)
3. Environment and global initiative issues
4. Biotechnology
5. Nutrition, Health and diseases
6. Agriculture
7. Water resource and management
8. Infrastructure
9. Energy
10. Forest
11. Welfare schemes and programmes
12. Inclusion issues and initiatives
13. Recent development in the field of Space, Defence and IT
14. Culture
15. Buddhism and Jainism
16. Issues related to governance
17. Statutory and regulatory bodies
18. Parliament – functions, responsibilities and issues
19. Preamble, Fundamental Rights, DPSP and Fundamental Duties
20. Amendments
21. Constitutional Bodies
22. Indian Constitution: significant provisions and basic structure
23. Local governance
24. Demography
25. Industry and Trade
26. Monetary and Fiscal Policy
27. National income concept
28. Banking
29. India Year Book

• Land and the people
• National Symbols
• Agriculture
• Culture and Tourism
• Basic education Data
• Defence
• Education
• Environment
• Food and Civil Supplies
• Rural and Urban development
• Scientific and technological developments
• A leap forward – New Initiatives of the Government

30. Economic Survey

• State of the Economy: An overview
• Prices, Agriculture and Food Management
• Climate Change and Sustainable Development
• Social Infrastructure, Employment, and Human Development
• ‘Wiping every tear from every eye’: the JAM Number Trinity Solution
• What to Make in India? Manufacturing or Services?
• A National Market for Agricultural Commodities- Some Issues and the Way Forward
• From Carbon Subsidy to Carbon Tax: India’s Green Actions
• The Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) – Implications for Fiscal Federalism in India?

Click Here to Download Demography Notes

PRELIMS 2014 PAPER ANALYSIS: GENERAL STUDIES

The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the various Services and Posts. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.

Here, we are analyzing the trend of Paper 1 i.e. General Studies to provide a broad overview about the topics covered in the paper to the aspirants.

The broad subject-wise question distribution is as follows:

S. No.	Subject	Number of question asked
1	History and culture	20
2	Geography	14
3	Polity	14
4	Economy	10
5	Environment	18
6	Science and technology	16
7	Current affairs	8

Now, the topic-wise question distribution is as follows:

History and culture

• Modern history 6
• Culture 15
• Ancient history 1
• Medieval history 1

Geography

• Physical geography 3
• Indian physiology 1
• Agriculture 3
• Economic and social geography 3
• Map 5

Environment

• Basic concepts 4
• Environmental issues 3
• Environmental governance 4
• Environmental conservation 7

Science and technology

• General science 10
• Technology 7

Basic Economy

• Banking – 4
• Finance – 1
• Fiscal – 3
• International trade and data – 2

Basic Polity

• Based on Articles of Constitution – 2
• Organs of Government – 7
• Organizations – 2

How to read India Year Book?

by Manoj K. Jha

India Year Book is published by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It provides a detailed knowledge about India and various sectors of the economy. But it is too bulky, detailed and complicated. which makes it difficult for an aspirant to read and grasp all the points.

India Year Book is published by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It provides a detailed knowledge about India and various sectors of the economy. But it is too bulky, detailed and complicated…which makes it difficult for an aspirant to read and grasp all the points.

Firstly we will discuss the questions that are linked to India Year Book in Prelims paper 2014, then will discuss the strategy “how to effectively utilize the India Year Book” to clear IAS Prelims.

1. Consider the following rivers:

1. Barak
2. Lohit
3. Subansiri

Which of the above flows / flow through Arunachal Pradesh?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

(Chapter Land the People: The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it is known as Tsangpo and runs a long distance till it crosses over into India in Arunachal Pradesh under the name of Dihang. Near Passighat, the Debang and Lohit join the river Brahmaputra and the combined river runs all along the Assam in a narrow valley. It crosses into Bangladesh downstream of Dhubri. The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are the Subansiri, Jia Bhareli, Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas….)

2. Chaitra 1 of the national calendar based on the Saka Era corresponds to which one of the following dates of the Gregorian calendar in a normal year of 365 days?

(a) 22 March (or 21st March)
(b) 15th May (or 16th May)
(c) 31st March (or 30th March)
(d) 21st April (or 20th April

(Chapter National Symbols: Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year.)

3. The national motto of India, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the Emblem of India is taken from

(a) Katha Upanishad
(b) Chandogya Upanishad
(c) Aitareya Upanishad
(d) Mundaka Upanishad
(Chapter National Symbols: The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’, are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.)

4. In the Constitution of India, promotion of international peace and security is included in the

(a) Preamble to the Constitution
(b) Directive Principles of State Policy
(c) Fundamental Duties
(d) Ninth Schedule

(Chapter The Polity: Some of the other important DPSP relate to provision of opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner…., promotion of international peace and security, just and honourable relations between nations, respect for international law, treaty obligations and settlement of international disputes by arbitration.)

5. Which of the following is / are the function/functions of the Cabinet Secretariat?

1. Preparation of agenda for Cabinet Meetings
2. Secretarial assistance to Cabinet Committees
3. Allocation of financial resources to the Ministries

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

(Chapter The Polity: The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing and ad hoc Committees of Secretaries.)

The above questions and explanations from India Year Book shows that for clearing Prelims reading few chapters are must.

Hereby, we are listing the important chapters and what to read in that…

Chapter 1: Land and the People: This chapter covers the physiography of India alongwith Demographic terminologies and Census 2011 data. Read this chapter thoroughly as it will help in grasping facts related to Indian physiography. Questions on demography and Census are common in UPSC so read the terminologies thoroughly.

Chapter 2: National symbols: This chapter covers the National symbols of India as National flag, National anthem, national fruit, flower, calendar, etc. It is a very important chapter as questions are directly asked on national symbols. Last year also there were two questions on National symbols.

Chapter 3: The Polity: This chapter covers the executive part of the government alongwith rights and basic features of the Constitution. This chapter is helpful for revision of Polity for Prelims. The topics and covered in short and to the point.

Chapter 4: Agriculture: This chapter covers the programmes and policies related to agriculture in India, different agricultural sectors and recent initiatives. Read only the introduction part and then move to new programmes and policies launched by GOI. Rest will be covered in Economics so no need to read the whole chapter.

Chapter 5: Art and Culture: This chapter covers the Intangible and Tangible Cultural heritage of India, along with Tourism. Read about Cultural Institutions mentioned in India Year Book but stick to those institutions which are covered in newspaper in past six months. Read the Medical tourism topic also.

Chapter 6: Basic Economic Data: This chapter covers the statistical institutions in India. Make notes about organizations and reports published by them. This question can come in the form of match the following.

Chapter 7: Commerce: It can be ignored as it is helpful for Mains.

Chapter 8: Communication: This chapter covers the three communication forms i.e. Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology. Read the telecommunication part to know about the technological terms related to telecom industry, no need to read about the tariff policies and other detailed policies related to telecom sector. Also read the cyber security topic in detail.

Chapter 9: Defence: This chapter covers the security scenario of India, defence undertakings, training for defence services, etc. This chapter is very important as UPSC asks direct questions related to it. Focus more on new missiles/testing of missiles.

Chapter 10: Education: This chapter covers the policies related to elementary, secondary and higher education. In this chapter focus on salient features of the schemes related to education. Don’t read detailed explanations of each scheme. Also read the topics related to copyright.

Chapter 11: Energy: This chapter covers the conventional and non conventional energy sector in India. Read the energy sources present in India mainly related to geographic position alongwith initiatives in renewable energy sector. Rest of the chapter is important for Mains.

Chapter 12: Environment: This chapter is very important as UPSC has started asking more detailed questions in environment. Make a list of institutions related to environment and their status whether statutory, quasi judicial, etc in nature. Read the following topics: biodiversity, hazardous waste, wetland, E-waste in detail.

Chapter 13: Finance: In this Chapter the economic terms associated with Banking, Budget, Insurance, taxes. This will be helpful in tackling the economy questions in Prelims. Along with that the new steps initiated by Government in different sectors will be helpful in Mains also.

Chapter 14: Corporate Affairs: In this chapter read about Companies Act, definition of Limited Liability Partnership Act, SFIO, CCI, CAT, etc as the questions can be asked on the functions the different bodies.

Chapter 15: Food and Civil Supplies: It is a very important chapter as in covers food security issues and welfare schemes related to it. The questions on schemes are quiet common in UPSC. Whereas, due to the recent controversy of food safety, the Quality assurance topic is very important.

Chapter 16: Health and Family welfare: This chapter is also very important as it covers schemes related to Health. Further the government is emphasizing more on AYUSH so read that topic thoroughly.

Chapter 17: Housing: The programmes and policies related to Housing and the rating criteria of houses must be read.

Chapter 18: India and the World: It can be ignored as it is helpful for Mains. Current issues related to it should be covered from newspapers.

Chapter 19: Industry: Read the recent steps initiated by the GOI for simplifying the business environment and FDI policy. Further read about CPSEs and terminologies related to it.

Chapter 20: Law and Justice: The basics of judiciary have already been read in Polity part so read the new initiaitives and alternative form of justice mechanism as questions on Lok Adalat, Gram Nyalayas are very common. Along with this read the enforcement agencies mandate for maintaining law and order. Further in the election section voting rights to the citizens of India living abroad is must.

Chapter 21: Labour and Employment: This chapter is very important as government has initiated labour reforms. Read the mandates of each Acts related to labour laws social security schemes provided to them. Skill development initiatives proposed by GOI in budget should be thoroughly read.

Chapter 22: Mass communication: It can be ignored just read the chronology of the different institutions as questions can be asked on that.

Chapter 23: Planning: Read the important features of the XII Five Year Plan. Further read the Niti Aayog, composition, functions, etc from newspapers.

Chapter 24: Rural and Urban Development: This Chapter covers the Major programmes for rural and urban development as MGNREGA, NRLM, Land Reforms, Local government programmes, and planned urbanization elements. Read the vision and mission of programmes and policies in detail.

Chapter 25: Science and Technological Development: Read the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of the government; Nuclear; Space programme of India. Concentrate more on the latest technologies related to it.

Chapter 26: Transport: Read this chapter in sync with geography.

Chapter 27: Water resources: This chapter covers the information about National Water Policy, Groundwater resource, flood management and institutions related to it. Read the Nanami Gange Programme, inter-state river issues (tribunal for issue between different states).

Chapter 28: Welfare: This chapter covers the welfare schemes for the SC/ST/OBC/Minorities/Women/Children. Read the schemes related to each in brief with special focus on Minorities, Women and Children.

Chapter 29: Youth Affairs and Sports: Read the National Youth Policy along with new initiatives of the government for promotion of sports.

Chapter 30: State and Union Territories: The whole chapter can be ignored except North East states and Telengana.

Chapter 31: Diary of national events: It can be ignored.

Chapter 32: A Leap Forward – Initiatives of the Government: This chapter covers the new programmes and policies launched by the new government. This chapter is very important as it covers the current schemes as Swachch bharat Mission, Jan Dhan Yojana, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, etc.

Click Here to Download India Year Book – Agriculture

How IAS examination questions are framed?

by Manoj K. Jha

Can u guess how IAS examination questions are framed? What are the sources they opt for framing the questions?

Can u guess how IAS examination questions are framed? What are the sources they opt for framing the questions? No surprise, we will provide u the exact source along with book and pages number. We will start with the details of Reading Comprehension of last three year IAS prelims exam. Have a look….

COMPREHENSION PASSAGES: TITLES & SOURCES

A. SOCIAL

1. The Concept of a “Creative Society” [CSAT-2011]
[Book: “Readings in Indian Government and Politics: Class, Caste, Gender (Volume of Essays)” edited by Manoranjan Mohanty; Publisher: SAGE; ‘Chapter-15: Conclusion—Social Movements in a Creative Society’ by Manoranjan Mohanty (The Creative Society: Page-390)]

B. POLITICAL

2. Deepening of Democracy in India: [CSAT-2012]
Transfer of Power from Upper Caste Elites to the Marginalised Subaltern Groups [CSAT-2012]
[Book: “Indian Politics and Society Since Independence: Events, Processes and Ideology” by Bidyut Chakrabarty; Publisher: Routledge; Conclusion: “Growing Democratization” (Pages-171-172)]

3. Democracy and Development—Do they Go Together? [CSAT-2012]
[Book: “The Idea of Justice” by Amartya Sen; Publisher: Penguin; Chapter: ‘Democracy and Development’]

4. Democracy Not Exclusive Western Concept, But Development of Institutional Structure [CSAT-2013] of Democracy—A Western Achievement
[Book: “The Idea of Justice” by Amartya Sen; Publisher: Penguin; Part Four: “Public Reasoning and Democracy”; Chapter-15: ‘Democracy as Public Reason’]

C. ECONOMIC

5. Indian Economy—A Great Paradox [CSAT-SAMPLE]
[Book: “Contemporary India: Economy, Society, Politics”; Publisher: PEARSON; Part-I, Chapter-2: The Evolution of Development Strategy Since Independence by Ambuja Kumar Tripathy]

6. An Enabling State for Inclusive Growth—The Need of the Hour [CSAT-2011]
[The Economic Survey of India 2009-10, Chapter-2: Micro-foundations of Inclusive Growth, Paragraph 2.5]

7. The Potential of Farm Collectivities in Transition Economies [CSAT-2012]
[Working Paper No. 305 (2010) by Bina Agarwal: “Rethinking Agricultural Production Collectivities”, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University; Chapter-7: In Conclusion (Page-31)]

8. Competition Law to Facilitate a Level-Playing Field Among Foreign and Domestic Firms [CSAT-2012]
[Article in The Economic Times dated 04 Nov 2009: “Competition Law and Inclusive Growth” by Madhav Mehra]

9. Indian Financial Markets Integrated With International Financial Markets [CSAT-2013]
[The Economic Survey of India 2011-12, Chapter-5: Financial Intermediation and Markets (Introduction)]

10. Corporate Governance [CSAT-2013]
[Article in The Economic Times dated 18 January 2009: “Corporate Governance” by Lisa Mary Thomson]

D. SCIENTIFIC/ECOLOGY/ENVIRONMENT

11. Effects of Modifications to Earth’s Ecosystem, [CSAT-2011]
Necessitated by a Rapidly Expanding Human Population
[Textbook: “Life-The Science of Biology” (8th Edition) co-published by Sinauer Associates Inc. and WH Freeman; Chapter-56: “Ecosystems and the Global Ecology”—56.4 ‘What Services do Ecosystems Provide’ (Page-1221)]

12. The Influence of Keystone Species on Species Richness in an Ecosystem [CSAT-2011]
[Textbook: “Life-The Science of Biology” (8th Edition) co-published by Sinauer Associates Inc. and WH Freeman; Chapter-55: “Communities and Ecosystems”— (Pages-1062-63) ‘Individual Species May Influence Community Processes’]

13. Introduction of Exotic Species in New Geographic Areas and Its Impact on Biodiversity [CSAT-2012]
[Textbook: “Essentials of Ecology” by Colin R Townsend, Michael Begon, John L Harper; Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; Article 14.2.2 Habitat Disruption (Page-462)]

14. Use of Chemical Pesticides in Agriculture—Is it Sustainable? [CSAT-2012]
[Website: www.trinitygreenconsultancy.com; Category: “Species Richness”; Article: ‘Evolution of Resistance to Pesticides” (posted 01 Nov 2012)]

15. Climate-Smart Development Strategies of Adaptation and Mitigation – The Need of the Hour [CSAT-2012]
[The World Bank Report: “World Development Report—Development and Climate Change” (2010); Chapter-1 (Pages-44-45)—‘Growth: Changing Carbon Footprints and Vulnerabilities’]

16. Habitat Fragmentation—The Most Serious Threat to Biodiversity Conservation [CSAT-2013]
[Article in Deccan Herald dated 17 August 2008: “Mining has spelt ecological disaster” by Praveen Bhargav]

17. Excessive & Indiscriminate Use of Chemical Fertilizers in Agriculture— [CSAT-2013]
A Serious Threat to Aquatic Ecosystems
[Textbook: “Essentials of Ecology” by Colin R Townsend, Michael Begon, John L Harper; Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; Chapter 13: Habitat Degradation; Article 13.2.2 Intensive Cropping (Pages-429 & 430)]

E. EDUCATION

18. Will the Right to Education Remain on Paper or Become a Reality, [CSAT-2011]
Particularly so for Girls?
[Article in The Hindu dated 02 April 2010: “India’s Children Have a Precarious Right” by Krishna Kumar.]

F. ETHICS & PHILOSOPHY

19. A Moral Act is an Act of Will [CSAT-2011]
[Book: “Ethical Religion” by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; Chapter-3: “What is Moral Action”]

20. India’s Spiritual Greatness—Myth or Reality? [CSAT-2011]
[Book: “Essays on Ancient India” by Raj Kumar; Publisher: Discovery Publishing House]

21. Ever Increasing Man’s Materialistic Needs Leads to Endless Miseries; [CSAT-2013]Only Solution to Change Man’s Character—Make Him Pure, Educated and Spiritually Strong
[Book: “The Indispensable Vivekananda: An Anthology for Our Times” by Swami Vivekananda;

Editor: Amiya P Sen; Publisher: Permanent Black; Chapter III. b. “Karma Yoga: Service Before Self” (Page-203)]

Current Affairs: the real game changer for PT 15

by Manoj K. Jha

To succeed in UPSC Exam, a thorough knowledge of current affairs is required. In the examination, sometimes the questions are directly related to Current Affairs or sometimes indirectly related to the current events or news. Sometimes even the traditional part of the General Studies questions are those questions, which were in news during even, last ten to twelve months. If we analyze Prelims questions, at least 20 to 25% questions are directly related to Current Affairs. The percentage is likely to increase further in future.

Prelims Preparatory series Part -2

UPSC is often notoriously termed as Unpredictable Public Service Commission, because of its ability to retain surprises regarding the questions year-after-year. Since I have been vilified in past for predicting the upcoming changes and forewarning candidates regarding them and have already invited criticism, I now ask you a question:

What is there to unfold now? Nothing new is there now, except the change in nature of questions and focus areas.

There is a clue to this question – Will ‘Current Affairs’ be the real game changer for PT 2015?

I will also soon come up with a post related to the format of the questions, till then you may find this useful…

Current Affairs for IAS is an area which is by far the most important aspect of the GS paper and also perhaps the most difficult area to master. Important, because good number of questions, whether they are in the prelims or the mains, draw their inspiration from what is happening in the contemporary context, and difficult, because of its vastness and difficulty in identifying what is important and what is not.

Most students have been found to be complaining that they have not been able to recall and reproduce, whatever they have studied in the current affairs, and in the sense that the factual part that is useful in the prelims cannot be recalled as far as nature of choices is concerned and the analytical part which is useful in the mains, cannot be related and incorporated in the descriptive answers.

However, the factual versus conceptual demand for GS is now an outdated story. Concepts are paramount. People have been suggesting several strategies to prepare for current affairs, but very few people have really decoded the challenge. Those who have managed to do so, are now busy calling the shots in bureaucracy. On the same line, this year’s prelims will begin a new chapter for candidates, as a historical first after the latest change.

So how to start now….

Firstly, the preparation of the current affairs is not a separate activity carried out in isolation with other topics; rather the concepts in all other areas together contribute both to the understanding and in augmenting the relevance of whatever we study in current affairs apart from its retention factor.

Secondly the study of current affairs has to be essentially based on those issues, which are of contemporary importance. Here preparation of prelims will be different from the mains one.

Third, but most crucial is the listing of topics and ability to comprehends facts that could be possible there in the given choices. This is by far the most important aspect of studying current affairs. This alone shall ensure that whatever is studied is not only methodically arranged in the mind, but is also logically reproduced in the exam.

By adopting this approach a student can even create his personal notes extensively, replete with references for current happenings on all the major issues of the time. However, this approach is best carried out only when a student is thorough with all the concepts across the various disciplines and is in a position to identify the areas where these concepts apply and contribute to enrich the overall understanding.

Is comprehension a reason to worry about???

by IAS Score

Of the late Reading Comprehension has become a big headache for the students appearing in the Civil Services Preliminary Examination.

Of the late Reading Comprehension has become a big headache for the students appearing in the Civil Services Preliminary Examination. Majority people who couldn’t make it for the mains either left huge marks unattempted only because they couldn’t manage the time while trying to solve the questions of Reading Comprehension or they couldn’t grasp the basic essence of the passages and marked the answers wrong. It is true that given the weightage UPSC gives to the Reading Comprehensions (nearly 40% to 45% of Paper II) it is absurd that one can leave them while attempting Prelim Paper II (CSAT), along with this the other sections of the paper can also not be ignored. We have already discussed about the various sources of Comprehensions given by UPSC in the previous three years of examinations but to solve them what you need is a resounding strategy. Here we tried to solve this problem for you:-

1) Broaden your database (knowledge)

What section of the newspaper do you turn to while reading a newspaper? Is it the sports section, the editorials, the celebrity column or some other section? I go with the sports section first. Why? Because I like to read news and reports about the sports events.

Similarly, the section that you like to read the most is the one you are most comfortable with.

Do you ever get bored reading that section or do you ever have difficulty understanding what’s written in that section? The answer, of course, is no (or else you would not read it).

Reading essays on topics which you understand and know about is very easy as compared to reading on alien topics. Hence, it is very important to develop a broad background of knowledge in various fields. Remember that essays from any field can come in Reading Comprehension questions.

You can improve your knowledge base by reading books, newspapers, magazines, articles and periodicals regularly. Start taking interest in what is happening around the world. This would not only help you develop your reading skills but also help you with your General Studies (especially what we call ‘current affairs’) and Personal Interview stage.

2) Learn to understand the structure of Paragraphs

Most often, the paragraphs used in Reading Comprehension passages are taken from articles or periodicals written by good writers. These writers generally have a well defined structure of constructing a paragraph. Their paragraphs will mostly have a proper beginning, middle part and an end section. Knowing the functions of the respective parts can help you understand what the passage is trying to convey. For example, the first sentence will most probably be constructed in such a way that it gives the reader the main idea of what is to come in the passage.

3) Choose your Passages Carefully

Accuracy holds the key in Reading Comprehension as well as Verbal Ability as a whole. So, try and finish the easy passages first instead of wasting time on tough passages.

How do I know if a passage is easy?

Keep two things in mind:

a) Is the topic of the passage something you are familiar with?

b) Are the question direct or twisted?

Solve passages having direct questions first. It will be better if the passage is on a subject which you know about.

4) Focus on Comprehension, instead of speed

While reading speed is a key factor in saving time, it is not the most important criteria. One can read a passage very fast without really understanding what it is about. Hence, you need to make sure that you pay more attention to reading the passage instead of Reading Speed.

You should be able to comprehend the passage fast. This will help you a lot in solving the questions. On the other hand, if you just read fast and do not comprehend properly, you may have to revert to the passage again and again.

5) Keep noting the main points of the passage

As long as possible, try to note down the main points of the passage while you are reading it.

Noting down the main points would help you in case you forget something. This will prevent the unpleasant experience of searching for ‘that point I read somewhere’.

Follow these and I am sure you will come out with comparative ease….

Preparing Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency for CSAT

by IAS Score

Data Interpretation is one of the easy sections of one day competitive Examinations. It is an extension of Mathematical skill and accuracy

By Dipak Mishra
Data Interpretation is one of the easy sections of one day competitive Examinations. It is an extension of Mathematical skill and accuracy. In the CSAT scenario, it has become important because more often than not, the civil services officers have voluminous data in different forms, from which they are required to churn out information and help the concerned authorities in formulating policy decisions.
Data Interpretation tests your speed, decision making capability and analysing data. It consists of a good number of graphs, charts and tables from which you will have to analyse data. The key to cracking this area is to quickly identify the key pieces of data that you will require to work on the questions asked. It is not unknown for question-setters to try and bewilder students with a large amount of data, most of it unnecessary. As a rule, the more the data presented, the easier the questions that follow, so don’t lose heart if you see a table with 10 columns occupying one whole page. On the other hand, several seemingly innocuous questions may stump you.
Different Data Forms
The different data forms that usually confront the students are
Table Graphs
Tables are often used in reports, magazines and newspaper to present a set of numerical facts. They enable the reader to make comparisons and to draw quick conclusions. It is one of the easiest and
most accurate ways of presenting data. They require much closer reading than graphs of other forms and hence are difficult and time consuming to interpret.
One of the main purposes of tables is to make complicated information easier to understand. The advantage of presenting data in a table is that one can see the information at a glance.

Pie Charts
They derive their name from its shape, like that of a pie divided into various portions. They always represent data in the form of a percentage of the total, with the total percentage being 100. In such a chart, the length of the arc (and therefore the angle each sector subtends at the centre) is proportional to the quantity it represents. Such charts are often used in the corporate world and in newspapers. Since a circle comprises 360 degrees, each percent of a pie-chart is equal to 360 divided by 100, or 3.6 degrees. This fact will be important for the calculations you are expected to perform.

Bar Graphs
Bar graphs represent data in the form of columns or bars. Bar graphs can be horizontal or vertical. The length of the bar is proportional to the data value represented by it.

Line Graphs
Line graph represents data in the form of straight lines that connect various data values. Both line graphs and bar graphs are used to convey same things and hence can be used inter-changeably. For example, a line graph can be generated by joining the tip of the bar graph.

Caselets
In caselets, the mathematical data is represented in the form of a paragraph. Hence extracting data and establishing relationships between different data values becomes difficult. However caselets are very popular with the examiners.

Combined Data Sets
Data is represented in two or more different types of data sets. It could be combination of a table and a graph or two or more similar graphs. You may have to correlate the data in different data sets to solve these questions. Thus interpreting data takes time. These type of sets are very commonly asked. However based on experience, we feel that that if such a set comes in CSAT, then it would not be heavy on data and be an easy set to interpret with the focus on correlation of data.

Some tips to score well in Data Interpretation:
Careful Reading and Analyzing

The first and the most important step in solving any Data Interpretation question is to read the question carefully. Many a times, the data given below the graph turns out to be more important than most of the numbers in the graphs.

The next step should be to analyze the given graph/data carefully. Do not try to see the questions first and find out the answers accordingly. You will waste your time if you follow that method. Try to understand the graph. Instead do the reverse.What is the graph all about? Which years does it cover? Is the data in absolute terms or in percentage terms? What do the two axis signify?, etc. Look at the statistics for each graph, chart, table or pie diagram. Look carefully at the labels. Make sure you understand the central theme of the data.
Worry less about data given
Understand the question, which might contain lots of data that is unrelated and not required for answering the questions. When you look at the question you may get discouraged by the lengthy tables or by the amount of information below the graphs. But, if you were to understand what the data is about and then look at the question, you may find that you only have to use part of the data. Don’t get disheartened by the amount of data and the only thing important is whether you can correlate the data between the graphs properly.

Skip Calculative Questions
Some questions require lots of calculation in order to be solved. These questions are known as the speedbreakers. Such questions are best left alone, at least in the first round. Once you have solved all the easy questions then go to the difficult ones. If you try such questions in the first round, you will lose your precious time on them and may not be able to attempt some simple questions that may follow. Also there are many unnecessary calculations that we do, which might cost us a precious few seconds per question. Sometimes, there are many steps that can be skipped but we still do it as we are trained to solve in a step by step method. Learn to skip those steps.

Attention to the minor details
This is related to the first step which we discussed. Sometimes, the questions will use a different unit for the question and another unit for the data. For example, the data given may be about sales volume in Millions. However, the question may ask about sales volume in lakhs. Also you should have an idea about sales volume and sales value.If you do not pay close attention to the unit, you may chose the wrong answer.
Sometimes there are questions which will ask us to find out some data for which information may not be available. Always be alert enough to see whether the data given is enough to answer the question or not and do not go forward with answering the questions based on assumptions. We will look into this in our next part of discussion.

Approximate properly
CSAT is not about finding the exact answer always. Most of the times, the options given are far enough from each other to give you enough room for approximation. So, for example, if you are asked to divide 642678/161335, you can easily approximate that the answer will be somewhere around 4 by looking at the first 2 numbers only. 64/16 is 4. So, instead of dividing it and finding the accurate answer, try to find an appproximate answer. This will give you the correct answer more often than not. If however, the options are close, you will still be able to eliminate 1 or 2 options easily.

Lets attempt one set and try to apply those steps

The pie chart shows the distribution of Rs 6 lakhs spent by a construction contractor on different items.

1. The amount spent on cement is

a.    Rs.2,00,000
b.    Rs.1,60,000
c.    Rs.1,20,000
d.    Rs.1,00,000

Total is Rs. 6,00,000 (=360 degrees of the circle).Cement is 72 Degrees.
Apply the ratio principle. Hence 72/360= M/6 lakhs where M is the amount spent on cement. HenceM=(72*6)/360=1.2 lakhs.

2. The amount spent on labour exceeds the amount spent on steel by

A.    5% of the total cost
B.    66.66% of the total cost
C.    12% of the total cost
D.    15% of the total cost

There is no need to find absolute values. Just observe the degrees. The difference between Labour and Steel is 90-54 or 36 degrees. And total cost is (6 lakh=) 360 degrees.

So the percentage= 36/360 x 100 =10% of the total cost. But if the options would have omitted the word “of the total cost”, then the answer would have been (90-54)/54 × 100= 66.66%.The base would have been the cost of steel, in that case.Notice the wrong option B to create confusion in the mind.

3. The amount spent on cement and steel is what percent of the cost on supervision?

A.    70%
B.    42.94%
C.    50%
D.    233.33%

Again no need to find absolute values. Just observe the degrees. The total degrees is 126 on cement and steel while it is 54 for supervision. It is asking, “what percent of the total cost on supervision?”

So cost of supervision is the “base”%.. Hence the required value=(126/54) x 100 =233.33%.

If we reverse the base(take the base as cement and steel) , it becomes 42.94%. If we take the total cost as the base the value becomes 126/180 x 100=70%.If we take the total cost of three items vis-à-vis the total cost as the base, then the value becomes 180/360 x 100=50%.These are the 4 options given in the question as observed here.

DATA SUFFICIENCY

Data sufficiency tests your skill on the amount data you require to take a decision. Quite a number of times, you may have to arrive at a decision on the amount of data available, which might be more /less than you actually require. If you ask your block officer under you as to “ How many families have 2 or more girls in this area” and he/she starts reeling off figures of the population of the block according to last census, infant mortality rate, families having children, population growth etc..that will not serve your purpose. The focus should be only on girl child and not children. A family can have girls and boys, but the question asks” How many families have 2 or more girls in this area”. That family can have boys, but whether it has 2 or more girls should be the aim that you should focus on.

Format of Data sufficiency question

The format of the question would be something like this.
1. Is integer x positive?

1. x > 9
2. x2 > 81
Mark

(A) if one statement alone but not on other statement alone is sufficient to answer the question
(B) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked
(C) Both statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked; but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient
(D) Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.

Data Sufficiency questions hinge on whether a statement is sufficient to answer a question. A statement is sufficient when it guarantees exactly one answer to that question. For example, in the question:

Is integer x positive?

The statement “x > 9” would be sufficient, as any number greater than 9 is also greater than 0 and therefore positive.

The statement “x2 > 81”, however, would not be sufficient, as there are two potential values of x: 9 (which gives the answer “yes, x is positive”) and -9 (which gives the answer “no, x is not positive”). The correct option is A.

Your job, then, is to determine when a statement is sufficient to provide exactly one answer to the overarching question.

Some tips to score well in Data Sufficiency:

Don’t solve the question.

Data Sufficiency questions simply ask whether you COULD solve the question given the information in the statements. Don’t waste valuable time actually solving unless you are uncertain of sufficiency! Data sufficiency questions are not supposed to involve long and drawn-out calculations. If you find yourself calulating, there is probably something you’re not seeing. Remember that variables can equal a variety of values: negatives, positives, integers, fractions, zero. Don’t simplify when you don’t know what a variable can equal, and don’t assume variables are positive integers!

For “yes/no” questions, focus on whether you are getting a firm yes or no.

There is no “correct” answer. Our task is merely to determine when we have enough information. It is possible for one statement to answer the question “yes” and the other to answer the question “no” and have BOTH statements be independently sufficient.

Focus on this question

2. Is x=4?

1.X3= -64
2.X2=9
Mark

Here from the 1st statement we get X=-4 which answers the question that X IS NOT 4.

The 2nd statement shows that X is either 3 or -3 and hence not 4.Hence X IS NOT 4.The correct option is B. Note that NO is also an answer to a question.

Note down the variables needed for answering the question BEFORE looking at the statements.

Try to write down your own prediction first. It helps you to eliminate the statements more quickly if you have something to compare their information to, and forces you to spend more time thinking critically. Don’t rush this step!

Remove biasness in mind.

Once you determine the type of question and have analyzed the information given, analyze the first two statements independently of each other. If you have used Statement 1 to answer the question, try to “forget” statement 1 when you move on to statement 2. Don’t underestimate how challenging this can be – try not to mentally “carry over” any info from one statement to the next.

Use the process of elimination to narrow down the choices methodically.

If Statement 1 is sufficient, eliminate C and D. The only two options are A and B. Conversely if 1 is NOT sufficient, eliminate B. Simply by appropriately analyzing the first statement, you can eliminate two answer choices! If statement 1 is challenging for you, you can start by analyzing statement 2. If statement 2 is insufficient, then choices B can immediately be eliminated. It doesn’t matter which statement you analyze first, as long as you start by looking at them individually. Also in some , the question itself gives some of the information which you require. It might be possible that same information is rephrased and again given in one of the statements. You should reach this conclusion that “THE STATEMENT IS REDUNDANT”, and do not use that statement to answer the question.

Preparing for General Mental ability and Basic Numeracy for CSAT

by IAS Score

Quantitative section takes about 10-12 % of the CSAT paper. The number of questions varied from 3 to 7 to 11 till last year.

BY DIPAK MISHRA

Quantitative section takes about 10-12 % of the CSAT paper. The number of questions varied from 3 to 7 to 11 till last year. The questions were relatively of lesser difficulty level, hence it is easy to crack this part of the paper. However a few core skills need to be developed. These include a combination of accuracy and speed, the ability to perform simple calculations under pressure and the ability to use reasoning while solving mathematics questions.

Considering the nature and scope of these skills, practice should become imperative for any student. The basic understanding and grasp of concepts is vital and should never be looked over. Along with these, one need to develop a certain set of advanced skills and learn a few short cuts so as to minimize the time you spend on each question.

Given below are some of the tips to master this section along with some examples below to reinforce those tips.

► Learn to master the basics: Majority of questions are asked from the Arithmetic section with the odd questions asked from the Modern Maths section ( viz. Permutation/Combination, Probability and Set Theory). Hence focus should be to master the basics of these sections. Develop strong fundamentals for each of the above mentioned categories. Remember weakness in one area can have a negative effect on multiple sections because most of the time the question requires understanding of concepts of two different areas. In addition to this, one should always know the amount of weightage one should give to each sub areas of quantitative ability while preparing. For example, recent trends show that numbers, time speed distance, permutations and combinations are some topics that are frequently tested in the examination. Questions from topics like Mensuration, time and work and probability vary from year to year. However questions from topics like sets, clocks, pipes and cisterns, are hardly been seen in recent years. This is not to discount the importance of these topics but one should always pay emphasis to topics which are in vogue.

► Focus on application: The formulae plays an important part in attacking a question, but more often than not,the questions that are asked is a combination of formulae, hence the focus should be on application of formulae. Also exceptions to the formulae should also be kept in mind while solving the questions. An example below shows this

1. The LCM of 2 numbers is 272, while their HCF is 8.If one of the numbers is 16, what is the other number?

The formulae is Product of 2 numbers = their LCM × HCF. Applying this we get the other number to be 136.So a straight-forward question.

2. The LCM of 2 numbers is 200, while their HCF is 2.If one of the numbers is 16, what is the other number?

Applying the same formulae, we get the other number to be 16.But the HCF of 25 and 16 is 1, but the question says the HCF to be 2. Hence this question is a wrong question. No such set of numbers exist.

3. The LCM of 2 numbers is 14, while their HCF is 5.If one of the numbers is 35, what is the other number?

This question is again a wrong question, since HCF is always a factor of LCM and here 5 is not a factor of 14.

► Judgmental ability: Always judge the question before attempting the section and try to find out the easy ones on the basis of your skills, ability and strengths. Some problems which may be easy for others may be hard for you and vice versa. Also have a basic idea as to what the question is actually trying to ask. The question might contain information and combination of options, which will make it a little confusing to mark the correct option. An example below shows this

The rate of inflation per year is 1000%. What will be the cost of an article 2yrs from now, which costs 10 units now? A) 1000 b) 1100 c)1210 d) 100

The inflation is 1000%, which means the price rises by 10 times and hence becomes 11times. Hence the price will be 10×11×11=1210. To confuse you, the question gives options which are 10 times and 100 times of 10.

► Practice and Practice: The way you practice will gives you an edge over others. Given below are some practice tips while going through a quantitative aptitude text book.

1.While going through a particular topic in a text book, Clear the basics part first by going through the fundamentals of that topic..Fundamentals include the formulae and application of that as well.

2. Practice the examples first. Go through the first 2-3 examples by going through the solutions understanding each step thoroughly. Read carefully and try to understand what it is really being asked in each question.

3. Try doing the next 2-3 examples yourself. If you are not successful, look at the solution .Try to analyse as to why you are making the mistake. Either you are making a calculation error or there is a problem with the funda itself. If you are making a silly calculation mistake, promise yourself to be extra careful. If there is problem in understanding of the fundamentals itself, then go through topic once again to clear the chinks .

4. Try doing 2-3 very difficult problems on that topic. Give youself a particular time in which to solve them. Scale it up to 10-12 difficulty level problems and then see your accuracy as well as speed on that topic. Practice as much as possible on that topic.

5. After you have done sufficient number of topics in a particular subarea (Arithmetic, P&C, 3D Mensuration etc), try doing a test on that. To avoid being taken by surprise, it is important to do a number of tests on different patterns, within the given time frame. Analysis of each test is a must so to know the scope of improvement in that particular area. The analysis must have these parameters

a. Which questions to select?

b. How much time to invest in a particular question?

c. Where am I making a mistake? Follow step 3 as given above, accordingly.

At each step, needless to say time plays a big role in the preparation, so be focused on time. Maintain a time discipline, but don’t be rigid right at the beginning of your preparation.

► Test taking strategies: As you know that in spite of a good theory background and n-number of mock tests, the examinee still fails to devise a proper strategy of attempting a test, mainly because of the fear of the unknown. It is like a cricket captain deciding to field in a final match after winning the toss because past records suggest that(may be a dew factor), but absence of a strategy if the ground conditions change on that day, will ensure that his previous efforts comes to nothing.

As already stated previously, CSAT tests 3 skills

1. Time management 2. Decision making 3. Pressure handling capability.

Having known that you are going devote 25 mins to this section of 8 questions (let’s assume), devise a process in which to make the best use of that 25 mins. By the time you get to sit in CSAT, you will have this knowledge about the general feel of the section (Mocks play a big role in this endeavor). If most of the questions you scan are confusing to solve, try to identify the easy questions (sitters), which you can attempt straightway. If you go through any paper of past years, you will find that at least 1/3rd of questions can be attempted if one has a reasonable knowledge of the fundas. There might be some questions which seem pretty straight forward when you started but soon you understand that there are twists to it. The percentages of those questions are very less. Leave the questions which are taking more than 2-3 mins to solve.

While solving the question, put down all the given information in a neat and structured manner as possible, after which you will be in a position to decide whether you can proceed further or whether you should leave that question and move on. Also, try to check for alternative approaches like elimination/substitution of choices, which often save a lot of time and pay rich dividends. These can be mastered thorough practice.

Given below are 3 problems which will give us an insight about how to choose a question.

1. The probability of Suresh solving a problem is 2/5 , Ramesh solving it is 1/3 and Aakash solving it is . If all three try to solve the problem, calculate the probability of problem being solved.

A] 31/35 B] 29/35 C] 8/105 D] 1

2. There are eight dice each having 6 faces, which are numbered with the first six odd natural numbers. These dice are thrown simultaneously; find the number of ways in which the sum of the numbers on the faces of the dice equals 43.

A] ¹⁰C₆ B] 5040 C] 10⁶ D] None of these

3. In how many ways can 30 identical balls be divided into 3 groups?

A] 146 B] 75 C] 76 D] 91

1. This problem says that the problem has to be solved by at least 1 person. So we will not multiply the probabilities. There is one option, which has exactly this option pertaining to

2.This question looks like there can be number of cases but you have to know that the sum of 6 odd numbers cannot be odd. So there is no such case which has the sum to be 43. So this is basically a number system question being rephrased into a P&C Question. The correct option is D.HENCE THIS IS AN EASY QUESTION.

3. This problem at the outset looks to be an easy question, but go within there can be a number of cases which are enumerated below.

The number of balls in all the groups can be same in only one case: (10, 10, 10). The number of balls in exactly two groups can be same in these cases: (1, 1, 28), (2, 2, 26), …, (14, 14, 2). These are 14 cases. The number of balls in the three groups can be different in these cases:

First group has 1 ball: (1, 2, 27), (1, 3, 26), …,.(1, 14, 15) (These are 13 cases)

First group has 2 balls: (2, 3, 25), (2, 4, 24), …, (2, 13, 15) (These are 11 cases) (we cannot take (2, 14, 14) which has been counted earlier)

First group has 3 balls: (3, 4, 23), (3, 5, 22), …, (3, 13, 14) (These are 10 cases)

First group has 4 balls: (4, 5, 21), (4, 6, 20), …, (4, 12, 14) (These are 8 cases)

And so on.

So, total number of cases = 1 + 14 + (13 + 11 + 10 + 8 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 1) = 76.

THIS LOOKS TO BE A STRAIGHT-FORWARD QUESTION BUT TURNS OUT TO BE A DIFFICULT QUESTION.

Hope I cleared some of the doubts regarding the GMA section for CSAT.

Practice books which will help you in getting a grasp of topics are:

1. Quicker Maths By M. Tyra

2. Quantitative Aptitude by Abhijit Guha

CSAT is qualifying now ! What Next ?

by Manoj K. Jha

Atlast, the government has cleared the air on the controversy of CSAT exam… it has approved the decision for making the General Studies Paper-II(CSAT) in the Civil Services(Preliminary) Examination a qualifying paper with a minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%…. further the English Language comprehension skill portion will continue to remain excluded.

Atlast, the government has cleared the air on the controversy of CSAT…it has approved the decision for making the General Studies Paper-II(CSAT) in the Civil Services(Preliminary) Examination a qualifying paper with a minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%…. further the English Language comprehension skill portion will continue to remain excluded.

Thus, as the weightage of General Studies Paper-II (CSAT) has decreased, the weightage of General Studies Paper-I has increased tremendously. Now this paper will decide whether aspirants are able to come one step closer to goal of becoming a Civil Servant or not.

And as we know, the pattern of questions of General Studies has changed from the past few years; it required a multi-dimensional strategy to cover the topics mentioned in the syllabus. But after changes an aspirant can’t leave any topic of the syllabus because there will be no CSAT for covering up it. He has to be thorough in basic concepts along with current issues to manage the cutthroat competition.

CSAT is qualifying now. What next? How to tackle GS now? GS for prelims have always been a nightmare both for the freshers as well as experienced campaigners. This is primarily because of the vastness of the syllabus wherein almost everything under the sun is covered under it and is fit to be studied and known. Add to it the objective nature of the examination, which makes it important to go through even the minutest details of everything in the syllabus and to be able to recollect and reproduce it accurately in the examination.

This view, though very popular but do not however provide the best picture of the actual nature of the exam. GS for prelims is not actually a synonym of arbitrariness and randomness. A thorough analysis of the paper shall reveal that it is much simple and somewhat predictable. Further recent changes incorporated by the UPSC on the prelims exam has not only made the GS paper much simpler but has drastically reduced the overall effort which was required for clearing the exam provided the candidate follows the right approach and puts in sufficient effort.

However on the other side if a candidate is lackadaisical in putting the necessary effort and fails to appreciate the direction in which the changes are pointing to the task has become even more herculean.

However to elaborate the point further we need to first examine as to what have been the nature of the changes which have become a part of the GS paper during the last three years. Though some people may differ from this view but that is mainly because barring a few of them, most of these changes have been very slowly manifesting themselves and contributing to the evolution of the exam.

More and more questions now are framed around concepts rather than events or fixtures and a candidate is expected to work more on the following lines which is by and large a four step process.

Firstly, it is expected to master all the important concepts in a holistic manner across all the disciplines be it history, polity, economy, geography, science and tech etc.

Secondly, it needs to understand the theories/principles/fundamental around which the concepts are woven to offer explanations.

Thirdly, it needs to incorporate interdisciplinary concepts to explore more theories and explanations and thus further enriching understanding.

Finally, it needs to apply these theories and concepts to real situations and discover their validity or falsity for a given set of values.

This four-step process though sounds very stupendous but is in-fact foundation to all types of learning. Further following this four step process not only ensures that a candidate clears his GS paper in the prelims but also is very much on track as far as preparations for mains are concerned.

In consonance with this four-step process, there are several noticeable trends, which are visible in the prelims GS paper. Foremost, we find that unlike in the past, the nature of questions asked in the GS paper are more multifaceted that is within the same question, the UPSC tends to identify whether the candidate has a grasp over a concept and whether he is also in a position to apply that concept and give out answers to questions involving theoretical linkages with other concepts. So much so that even some questions from history envisage a candidate to use his knowledge of the social, economic and cultural variables of the time, to answer the questions rather than information like the genealogy of the kings and important dates, that is to indicate a definitive shift from the fact based pattern of asking questions.

Furthermore the increased emphasis on concepts and understanding can be seen in some questions like that on Karl Marx and dialectical materialism (CSAT 2011), which otherwise is a core concept of sociology and political science, and not considered a part of GS, but is of ultimate importance to the understanding of various political and economic concepts.

An extension of the same idea in the disciplines of polity and economics is in the form of asking questions in which the application of the concepts and the theoretical perspectives to real practical situations is required thereby testing for the candidates’ grasp in scenarios where such application of theoretical paradigms is not absolute. In other words not only it is important to know the ‘what’ but also the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ aspects in a critical perspective, taking the entire preparation to the advanced level, closer to that of the mains exam.

This also means that studying NCERT is necessary but not sufficient as the candidate has to cultivate the skill of understanding concepts beyond the conventional perspective, which is something he cannot acquire simply by gazing over NCERT which is more knowledge intensive rather than application intensive.

In that sense only candidates who have managed to take their preparation to the next level run a chance of clearing the Prelims. All this however has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the smart candidate who knows his lessons well as very much of the questions can now be answered merely by applying common sense and also one becomes more comfortable in hitting at the right answers to those questions which offer more than one correct answer or present very close alternatives or involve application of some level of value based subjectivity in coming to the right answers.

Now the question is as to how to maximize the probability of answering the most number of questions in the paper. Foremost is adhering to the wide extensive approach to which there is no substitute. A candidate must be thorough with the various important concepts across all disciplines in conjugation with popular theoretical paradigms.

Once a wide extensive coverage is achieved, it should be followed by a selective intensive approach in which the keyword is ‘current affairs’. Now the word current affairs itself is so broad that some candidates find the application of the selective intensive approach almost impossible. But an avid observer will notice that there is definite definition of ‘relevant’ current affairs and irrelevant current affairs, which we can very well deduce from the previous year question papers.

Having said all this it is equally important to mention in the end, that a candidate must always try to remain original and honest during the course of preparation. All we can offer are just vital clues to make your approach focused and streamlined but the best approach for you is the one you think is the best for you.

I had already written about this change on 22 Jan for Jagranjosh.

http://www.jagranjosh.com/articles/csat-2015-will-upsc-give-another-pleasant-shock-1421921328-1

Prelims Preparatory series Part -1

Sound your ‘Basics’

by Manoj K. Jha

Due to the unpredictability of the exam wherein you cannot afford to make selective study purely based on previous years question papers.

Continue reading “Sound your ‘Basics’”

IAS PT 2014- SPECIAL SERIES-1, GS for Prelims: Changing trends

by Manoj K. Jha

GS for prelims have always been a nightmare both for the freshers as well as experienced campaigners. This is primarily because of the vastness of the syllabus wherein almost everything under the sun is covered under it and is fit to be studied and known.

Continue reading “IAS PT 2014- SPECIAL SERIES-1, GS for Prelims: Changing trends”