Strategy for GS (Advanced- Unit Wise) by Ms.

Rukmani Riar
In Uncategorized on June 2, 2012 at 14:03
Vote of Thanks
First, I must thank Ms. Rukmani Riar (Rank-2) for being very kind to spare some
time and share her strategy for GS preparation. She will try and reply to any qu
eries you post. She has scored exceedingly well in GS (311 marks) and so I feel
she will be able to guide the candidates much better. I thank her on behalf of a
ll the candidates once again.
How to prepare for GS
General Studies is the most crucial paper of CSE. With the news taking rounds th
atUPSC is planning to do away with the optionals the importance of GS has increa
sed manifold.
Newspaper the best friend!
First and foremost reading a newspaper (I read Hindu) is the starting point. Now
the question is how to read the paper. Initially one must spend 45 minutes to
one hour on the paper. With time the duration can come down to half an hour. Th
e national news, international news and the economy sections of the paper must n
ot be ignored. One can choose to make notes from the paper daily and keep the ed
itorials which can help immensely to answer essay, bilateral and international s
ections with ease and efficiency. As science and technology section of UPSC is
very unpredictable therefore newspaper will be most handy means to answer this s
ection. One more point to be kept in mind is that not to stop reading the paper
at any time of the preparation, as this helps the aspirants to write up-to-date
answers which will give them that extra edge needed to clear the exam with emin
ence. The notes made from the newspaper must be revised at least 2-3 times befo
re the prelims and editorials be read once before the mains. You can separate th
e editorials subject wise (if they are on topics in optional syllabus) which wil
l make the revision more organised.
Monthly Magazines
After the newspaper, reading of two magazines is a must. I recommend you to pick
fromPritiyogitaDarpan (PD), Competition wizard and Civil services times. The sp
ecial editions of these magazines are very helpful in attempting the CSE. For ex
ample the economy edition of PD, Geography and history special of wizard are ver
y comprehensive and detailed.Yojna and Kurukshetra should be selected edition wi
se, if the topic is very contemporary or useful for the optionals, as the entire
magazine is on one topic so magazines like these need not be read in entirety a
nd only two articles can be selected to prepare oneself adequately on the topic
of that edition. Some of the yojna issues last year on rural development, urban
migration, Agriculture helped me immensely for my optionals and GS.
When magazines are read it s advisable to mark on the outset the points for P.T an
d the sections for Mains (you can use different pens or just write PT, Mains on
the side) this will help in quicker revision at a later stage and help you to sa
ve very crucial time.
Indian Polity
For Indian Polity I read D.D Basu along with bare act from P.M Bakshi. Each topi
c must be read along with the articles which makes the preparation more through.
Indian Polity Wizard book (ALS Publication) is available in the market it can
be consulted along with the books mentioned. Any news with regard to Indian poli
ty (elections, political and democratic institutions) must be read on the intern

et to have more factual information for prelims and in depth analysis for the ma
ins. (e.g from the last month news following questions need a clear understandin
g: should we move towards a presidential form of government?, what are the adva
ntages of having parliamentary form of democracy, when was lokpal bill first int
roduced what is its composition as proposed by government at present? Details of
Electoral College for Indian President s elections).
Indian History
For history I recommend NCERT books (6th to 12th) for ancient, medieval and Mord
en sections. The modern history is most important from the point of view of CSE
hence it requires additional effort. You can refer to wizard book on Modern Hi
story or General Studies manual (Tata McGraw) for the same. Apart from this solv
ing previous year question papers and expected questions must be practiced to gi
ve oneself a fair idea about the level of preparation. For Indian culture any
book can be picked up which covers Indian festivals, art and literature forms, A
rchitecture, poetry, literature and drama history of India.
Geography
In Indian geography section, physiology, drainage, population, location of all s
cientific institutions, mineral distribution, industries, environment, ecology a
nd wildlife, energy need special emphasis. Energy chapter in India year book can
be consulted to update the information if time permits. Industry must be studie
d from both geography and economy point of view. Ecology and wildlife is very cr
ucial and hence must be updated regularly from the newspapers. Small maps in the
atlas on soil types, scientific institutions, mineral deposits etc can be looke
d at to memorise easily.
For general geography and world geography the same wizard book on geography will
be more than sufficient. Special editions on these topics are published in Comp
etition Wizard magazine which can be helpful for quick revision (only for prelim
s). Any place which is in news should be looked up on the map to understand its
exact location and surrounding areas.
Indian Economy
Indian economy needs special emphasis. I recommend reading a basic book for clea
ring the concepts (for those of non-economic background), it could be 12th level
economics book. These concepts need to be regularly updated from the economic s
ections of newspapers and magazines. The fundamentals need to be clear and for
that one should make a list of all basic terms of economics that one comes acro
ss on daily basis and discuss with teachers or friends e.g what is the differenc
e between FDI and FII or between fiscal deficit and revenue deficit. I also wou
ld recommend the CSE aspirants to read the following chapters in economic survey
Social Security
Agriculture
Sciences
For the prelims the order of preference must be biology > physics> chemistry. Ge
neral Studies manual (tatamcgraw) serves the purpose or one can refer to 10thand
12th standard books of these subjects (ncert).
Statistics
One must focus on statistics as they are sure shot marks in the mains. Statistic
s must not be ignored as they can make a difference of 50 marks to the final tot
al.

Bilateral and International relations

The reason I have put this under a separate head is because for the mains bilate
ral and international relations form veryimportant part of GS paper 2, in which
candidates tend to have a low score. It is important to keep all updates on this
topic from the newspapers and monthly magazines. Towards the mains a special wi
zard book (mains special) comes out which I referred to update this section. Civ
il services times (magazine) constantly updates the development on this front wh
ich proved very useful. Also, this section must be prepared with a equal focus
on factual information and its analytical part. (e.g. How are regional organisat
ions impacting the geopolitical canvas of South Asia?)
Science and technology
Science and technology section is very vast and unpredictable. I would not advic
e non science students to spend too much time on this section. Whatever can be c
overed from newspapers should be done. Defence, environment, nuclear and space s
cience are some important sections which need special emphasis.
Is there a difference between mains and prelims preparation?
Many have their own views on this question, but if you were to ask me, there isn t
much of a difference as one needs factual and analytical information for mains
as well as the prelims. Based on my experience one should start GS preparation f
rom the mains point of view at the onset (about 8 months prior to prelims). The
detailed and exhaustive preparation for mains helps CSE candidates to become ade
quately prepared to tackle all kinds of questions in prelims. 2-3 months prior t
o the prelims ones focus for GS preparation should only be prelims, which includ
es fast repeated revisions, solving previous year questions or some test series
available in the market, going back to the notes from the newspapers, re-reading
the marked sections for PT in monthly magazines and practicing mathematics for
CSAT .
The last word!
Revision is the key to score well in GS. I made a consistent effort to revise co
nventional GS at least 4 times before the mains, and also go back to newspaper n
otes and magazines (marked portions).
When it comes to attempting the GS mains two things are important one, stick to
the word limit and second attempt 250 plus in both the papers.
Goodluck!