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INSIGHTS ONLINE PRELIMS TEST

UPSC IAS RANK SERIES – 2017

– 4 ARTIKA
SHUKLA:
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Interview SUBSCRIPTION

BY INSIGHTS ∙ PUBLISHED MAY 30, 2016

∙ UPDATED MAY 30, 2016


It is a proud moment for
Insights and Insightians.
Artika Shukla, who has
secured All India Rank – 4
in her first attempt, in her
own words, followed
RECENT POSTS
Insights with ‘operatic
regularity‘ since  Insights Weekly Essay Challenges 2016 –

December 2014 to till the Week 49:“ If development is not engendered,

it is endangered”
day she reached her goal.
December 4, 2016
This gives hope to both us
and our followers. Yes, we  Insights Secure SYNOPSIS: 02 December
know hundreds of followers 2016
of Insights have secured December 3, 2016

ranks this year, but it is
 Insights Daily Current Affairs, 03
very special when a
December 2016
successful December 3, 2016
follower genuinely
acknowledges the fact that  Insights into Editorial: Making of a

Insights was useful in legislative court

December 3, 2016
his/her preparation.  This is
one of the reasons why we  UPSC Civil Services Mains 2016: ESSAY
work hard every day. A Question Paper
small acknowledgement December 3, 2016
from you inspires us to do
 The Hindu News Analysis (VIDEO): 03
more. We congratulate
December 2016
Artika on her grand success December 3, 2016
 on behalf of our team and
all Insightians. 
 
Artika Shukla
Rank – 4, CSE –
2015
Hello everyone!
I am Artika, a doctor my
profession. I first thought of
appearing in the civil services in
November 2014. I resigned from
the course I was pursuing (MD
paeds) a week later. And began
serious preparation from dec,2014.
At that time I was as clueless as a
newborn. All I knew was that the
only thing I could now try my hand
at was civil services 2015 and that I
had to give it all I got.
I did not join any classroom
coaching. I did join vision ias
mains test series. And followed
Insights with operatic regularity
throughout the year. This was my
first attempt. And my optional was
medical science.
I am here to share my strategy
with you . I hope you go through
this with a little trust in me,pick
 [Insights Secure – 2016] UPSC Mains
Questions on Current Affairs: 03 December
2016
December 3, 2016
 7) Define conflict of interest. Does India
need separate law to check, prevent and
punish public officials involved in conflict of
interest cases? Critically examine.
December 3, 2016
 6) In India some of the factors are forcing
farmers to abandon India’s first genetically
modified (GM) crop, Bt cotton. What are
these factors? Discuss impact on farmers and
GM companies.
December 3, 2016
 5) “The recent judgement by the Supreme
Court making singing of national anthem
compulsory before screening of movies
across cinema halls shows contempt for
Fundamental Rights and gives primacy to
Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles
over Fundamental Rights.” Critically
comment.
December 3, 2016
CATEGORIES
Categories
Select Category
ARCHIVES
Archives
Select Month
 May 2016
and choose whatever suits you the M T W T F S S
best. And if this benefits even one   1
of you,I would consider myself 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
fortunate.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Prelims:
23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Essential book list : 30 31  

1. Spectrum modern india « Apr   Jun »

2. Class 11 and 12 geo ncert

UPDATES
3. Economics class 11th and 12th
ncert UPSC Civil Services Mains 2016:
4. Economic survey ESSAY Question Paper
5. key features of budget 3 DEC, 2016

6. Laxmikant
Ethics and Essay: Strategy, Notes by
7. Daily newspaper reading – I Chandramohan Garg IAS
used to read The hindu. 18 OCT, 2016

8. Art and culture- multiple

resources – CCRT, Class
11th NCERT on art, any
reputed coaching material,
themes in Indian history etc
9. Shankar Ias book for
environment
I might miss some books
completely. Do cross check with
the booklist given on Insights or
any other place.
OFFLINE PRELIMS TIMETABLE –
for Working and Non-Working
Candidates
11 AUG, 2016
Insights MAINS TEST SERIES-2016
– Online and Offline: Details
10 AUG, 2016
ANSWER KEY: UPSC Civil Services
Preliminary Exam 2016 General
Studies Paper – 1
9 AUG, 2016

No need to read special science

and tech booklets or attend mock
MOTIVATIONAL POSTS
classes for current affairs. The
above book list is sufficient if MOTIVATION: How to Conquer
coupled with daily newspaper Mains?
1 DEC, 2016
reading + Solving Insights test
series paper.(EXTREMELY MOTIVATION: The Checklist
USEFUL) 30 NOV, 2016

  MOTIVATION: You for Yourself

23 NOV, 2016
What I Did:
MOTIVATION: The Big Question
14 NOV, 2016

Bought all the prelims test series

papers of Insights and Vision
about a month before the
exam. Spent days and nights
on end solving them. In my
experience,this was more
RECENT CURRENT EVENTS POSTS
Insights Daily Current Affairs, 03
December 2016
3 DEC, 2016

beneficial than any book or
Insights Daily Current Affairs, 02
notes I might have read earlier.
December 2016
2 DEC, 2016
A number of questions were
repeated directly from
Insights Daily Current Affairs, 01
insights test series! December 2016
1 DEC, 2016
Here I want to state that The
questions in the tests are tough. Insights Daily Current Affairs, 30
They are meant to take you a notch November 2016
higher than the rest,I believe. 30 NOV, 2016

therefore,don’t be disheartened if
Insights Daily Current Affairs, 29
you can’t score a lot on them. I
November 2016
could never score a 100 on any of 29 NOV, 2016
them!  But continue solving them
with utmost sincerity and
diligence. And the final exam RECENT SECURE – 2016 POSTS

paper will seem like a piece of

Insights Secure SYNOPSIS: 02
cake.
December 2016
3 DEC, 2016
Mains:
[Insights Secure – 2016] UPSC Mains
Essay: Questions on Current Affairs: 03
December 2016
3 DEC, 2016
I didn’t write a single essay before
the exam. I would suggest you not
to follow in my footsteps. Write a
few essays before the exam. If
nothing,you’ll atleast be more
confident in the examination hall.
Some important points regarding
essays:
1. Learn a few quotes by important
political personalities a day before
the exam.. like Mahatma
Gandhi,Lincoln.Nelson
Mandela,Martin Luther King..even
Fredrick Neitschze or Max Weber
– on common topics like
education, democracy, social
empowerment.
Use them to start or end the essay.
I did this and I think it might have
increased my score.
2. Make headings.
3.Have a central theme in the
essay and keep reiterating it every
few paragraphs or so.
4. Cover as many dimensions as
you can.
5. Try having an optimistic
conclusion.
We all know there is no ideal essay
on a topic. I would suggest Try
bringing something of your own
into the essay. Your own
perspective will make it unique.
And fetch you marks !!
Insights Secure SYNOPSIS: 01
December 2016
2 DEC, 2016
SECURE COMPILATIONS:
November 1 – 15, 2016
2 DEC, 2016
CURRENT EVENTS QUIZ
QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current
Affairs Quiz, 26 November 2016
QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current
Affairs Quiz, 30 November 2016
QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current
Affairs Quiz, 29 November 2016
QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current
Affairs Quiz, 27 & 28 November 2016
MINDMAPS
Insights MINDMAPS: “Refugees in
India” and “Act East Policy”
Insights MINDMAPS: “National
eHealth Authority (NeHA)” and
“Throwaway Society”.
Insights MINDMAPS: “All India
Judicial Service (AIJS)” and
“Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016”.
Insights MINDMAPS: “Contract
Labour in India” and “Sugar Industry
in India”
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 1
Essential book list :
Bipan Chandra India Since
Independence (selected chapters)
Bipan Chandra India’S Struggle for
Independence
Class 11 and 12 NCERT geography
+ GC Leong
Art and culture- multiple
resources – CCRT, class
11th NCERT on art,any reputed
coaching material, Themes in
indian history etc
Society and other miscellaneous
topics can be dealt with by reading
the newspaper daily and
thoroughly. No special preparation
is needed.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
This is where INSIGHTS
SECURE really saved my neck!
I could not have even attempted all
the questions in the final exam
had I not followed the secure
initiative so thoroughly.
My advice to you is – try going
through all the secure
questions daily. Try answering
them. If not possible, at least read
the article and jot down the main
points included in it in a notebook.
INSIGHTS DAILY DEBATES
Insights Daily Debates Day – 301:
Demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs
1000 notes will Not Curb Black
Money in the Long-term
Insights Daily Debates Day – 300:
Hillary Clinton should become the
next American President
RAJYASABHA TV NEWS DEBATES
Lok Sabha TV- Insight: International
Day of Rural Women
1 DEC, 2016
Lok Sabha TV- Insight: One Nation
One Election
30 NOV, 2016
TOPPER’S STRATEGIES
Ethics and Essay: Strategy, Notes by
Chandramohan Garg IAS
PHILOSOPHY OPTIONAL NOTES:
Ambarish Vemuri, Rank 150, CSE –
2015
SOCIOLOGY STRATEGY: Chandra
Mohan Garg, Rank 25 CSE – 2015
UPSC IAS Prelims Strategy &
Motivation : Gazal Bharadwaj, Rank
– 40 CSE – 2015
MOTIVATION: Bandana Pokhriyal,
Rank – 83, Cleared UPSC Civil
Services Without Quitting Job While
If even this is not possible, at least
go through the compilations which
come out in the end.
This is an exercise whose
importance I cannot
emphasize enough. Reading
10 articles everyday on topics
of relevance helps you gain
perspective, increase your
knowledge as well as teaches
how to write answers
comprehensively.
If there’s one thing in this entire
write up that you wish to follow,
let it be this. Trust me, you will
not realize how much it helps
you until the day of your
result.
Other resources for paper 2:
Laxmikant
PRS
PIB
Various sites of the ministry
Vision current affair notes
What I did:
At the end of October, I made a
notebook for paper 2. And I used
to write one topic on one page –
really concise and to the point. For
ex- the juvenile justice bill. Make
arrows and write about what it
Working as Excise Inspector for Past
4.5 Years
Topper’s Notes: Nitin Sangwan, Rank
– 28, UPSC Civil Services Exam 2015
Strategy for PHILOSOPHY Optional:
Ambarish V L Vemuri, Rank – 150
CSE – 2015
MOTIVATION: Strategy for UPSC
Mains and Tips for Answer Writing –
Kumar Ashirwad, Rank 35 CSE –
2015
UPSC IAS CIvil Services PRELIMS
STRATEGY: Kumar Ashirwad, Rank
35, Prelims GS-1 Marks 140 (2015)
MOTIVATION: Myths and Mistakes
to Avoid, by Kumar Ashirwad, Rank
– 35, Insights Offline Student
RECENT ESSAY CHALLENGES
Insights Weekly Essay Challenges
2016 – Week 49:“ If development is
not engendered, it is endangered”
Insights Weekly Essay Challenges
2016 – Week 48:“ Social media is
better at breaking things than at
making things”
Insights Weekly Essay Challenges
2016 – Week 47:“ Deglobalization is
good for the world”
Insights Weekly Essay Challenges
2016 – Week 46:“Democracy is the
was, what it is now, main points
about the bill, the pros, the cons,
what prompted an amendment
and the Way forward. Insights
initiative called MINDMAPS
helped me in this a lot!!
This is how you should tackle a
topic – inside out. So that once
you’re done with it, you are able to
answer almost anything related to
it.
Make such a notebook at the end
of the Oct/Nov and fill it up with
40-50 topics that were relevant the
entire year and revise it in the
week before the exam.
Will do wonders!!
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
Similar strategy as above.
Follow Insights Secure!!
2 new additions : Economic Survey
: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
key features of budget.
ARC for disaster.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 4
worst form of government, except for
all the others.”
Insights Weekly Essay Challenges
2016 – Week 45: It is not inequality
which is the real misfortune, it is
dependence
MUST READ BOOKS
1) Introduction to the Constitution of India
20 Edition
2) India Since Independence - Bipan
Chandra
3) India's Struggle For Independence –
Bipan Chandra
4) Indian Economy : For Civil Services
Examinations 6th Edition (2014) - Ramesh
Singh
5) Indian Polity for Civil Services
Examinations 4th Edition - Laxmikanth
6)Geography of India- Majid Hussain - 5th
Edition
7) Ethics In Governance
8)India After Gandhi: The History Of The
World's Largest Democracy
9) Mastering Modern World History -5th
Edition, Norman Lowe
10) Select Constitutions: 16th Edition - S
Chand
11) Challenge And Strategy : Rethinking
India's Foreign Policy - Rajiv Sikri
12) India's Foreign Policy - Muchkund Dubey
 13) History of the World from the Late

I would specifically say that this
paper requires no preparation. It is
a test of your analytical and
decision making abilities as well as
Nineteenth to the Early Twenty First Century
- Arjun Dev 
14) Social Problems in India 2 Edition - Ram
Ahuja

common sense. The best you can
do is get 2 or 3 papers of a decent
test series. Read and understand
how to approach case studies and
give one or two tests of ethics so as
to understand the kind of
questions asked.
15) Politics and Ethics of the Indian
Constitution 
16) Public Institutions in India: Performance
and Design - PRATAP BHANU MEHTA
17) Certificate Physical and Human
Geography - Goh Cheng Leong
18)  India’s National Security – A Reader

Try not going for the extremes in 19) Indian Social System - Ram Ahuja

the answers that demand a stand.

Express yourself well and try to

finish the paper on time.

That’s all!

Personality Test :

The interview guidance write up

on Insights was extremely useful
to me. It gave me a direction at a
point where I was clueless. I also
gave 2 mocks each at Vaji and
Samkalp.

The only useful piece of advice I

can give you about PT is that more
than the content of your answers,
your conviction and your
confidence matters.
Try building them up.

General tips :

1. Do not spend more than 2
months exclusively in the
preparation of prelims. It is a
qualifying exam. Instead use the
time to increase your grip over
your optional/GS mains.

2. Choose an optional you’re

comfortable with. Something you
enjoy reading and writing about.
Optional marks can make or
break your result. IT is the
most crucial part of the
preparation.

3. Answer writing practice has two

parts to it :

One is the ability to finish a paper

within 30 mins, to improve your
speed and  to have a good
handwriting.

The other is to build your content

from diverse sources, collect and
present the information in an
organized manner.

Both are required. Keep practicing

until you’re good at both.

4. In the final exam, always write

an introduction.. the content if
possible in points followed by an
optimistic conclusion. Train
yourself to write answers in this
manner quickly.

5.  Personality Test is the most
whimsical part of the entire
process. Try not to depend on
it at all. The Mains Exam is
what gets you in the final list.
Give it your best shot!!

Motivation:

This is an exam not only of

knowledge but also of
strength,patience and focus. Work
hard. Be ambitious and do not be
afraid to start. Start where you are.
Start with fear, with doubt, with
pain. Start with voice shaking and
hands trembling. Start where you
are, with what you have. You can.
 You should. And if you’re brave
enough to start, you will succeed
one day.

Best wishes,
Artika Shukla
Rank 4 (CSE 2015)

My Marks
 

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