GS 1 - Booklist, Strategy, Time required etc.

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Contents

Booklist (Separate Post)
GS 1 Syllabus
Understanding syllabus: Breakup of Each Topic
Time required for each topic
Weightage and Questions form 2013 and 2014 Mains: (next article)

Disclaimer:

I am not a topper
I am just an aspirant like you all, but, with some experience.
Read this post at your own risk.
Enough research has been done through reading interviews of many toppers.

GS 1 Booklist (Given in separate post with review of each book)

Competition is tooooooo much yar….

Accept it: All of you who have failed have failed because of your own mistakes.
Difference in marks between 1^st rank and 1000^th rank in CSE 2014 is nearly 300-350 marks.
So you have a 350 mark window. Hence, competition is a wrong word.

But why do people fail (including me)

Lack of commitment (90% fail because of this. 4 lakh people apply. But not more than 10,000 prepare seriously)
Not having proper guidance
Not giving importance to syllabus
Not having a plan
Not executing the plan properly
Reading books from cover to cover
Obviously!! Time constraints (only few face this problem)
Not considering the advises of elders (senior players) [I failed in my first attempt because of all the above reasons. So, caution..]

GS 1-Syllabus

General Studies-I 250 Marks (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)

Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Effects of globalization on Indian society
Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
Salient features of world's physical geography.
Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)
Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Structural Break Up

Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of

Art Forms

Literature and

Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century (1750) until the present (2015 included)-

significant events,

personalities,

issues

The Freedom Struggle

its various stages and

important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.

Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
History of the world will include events from 18th century (1701 onwards) such as

industrial revolution,

world wars,

redrawal of national boundaries,

colonization,

decolonization,

political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.

Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Role of women and women's organization,
Population and associated issues,
Poverty and developmental issues,
Urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Effects of globalization on Indian society (You should focus only on effects on Indian Society and not everything about globalization)
Social empowerment,

communalism, regionalism & secularism.

I have written a detailed post on Geography. Click here

Time Required

Let us consider a situation..
You have started you preparation today (18-09-2015).
Prelims 2016 will be on 07/08/2016.
Mains 2016 will be conducted from 03/12/2016 – 08/12/2016.

Official Calender of Events Notification

• So, roughly you have 10-11 months from Prelims and 15-16 months for Mains.

Total there are 3 stages in the CSE examination process

1. Prelims
2. Mains
3. Interview

Deviating a little Preparation for all these stages is complementary. For example, if you study for Mains, the same knowledge can be applied for Prelims and Interview. The only difference is the different approach you need to follow for each stage while reading the same content. Let us take an example from The Hindu Supreme Court’s Social Justice Bench GS 2: Structure, organization and functioning of The Judiciary. SC opined that the welfare cess funds meant for the benefit of construction workers or daily wage earners were diverted into advertisements. The opinion was expressed by Supreme Court’s Social Justice Bench. Diversion of funds is common, so it is not important. But the term ‘Social Justice Bench’ is important. Social Justice Bench The Constitution of India in its Preamble has assured the people a three dimensional justice including social justice (other two being ‘political and economic’). Under the domain of 'social justice', several cases highlighting social issues are included. To mention summarily, about the release of surplus food grains lying in stocks for the use of people living in the drought affected areas; to frame a fresh scheme for public distribution of food grains; to take steps to prevent untimely death of the women and children for want of nutritious food; providing hygienic mid-day meal besides issues relating to children; to provide night shelter to destitute and homeless; to provide medical facilities to all the citizen irrespective of their economic conditions; to provide hygienic drinking water; to provide safety and secured living conditions for the fair gender who are forced into prostitution, etc., these are some of the areas where the constitutional mechanism has to play a proactive role in order to meet the goals of the Constitution. (Preamble mentions the goals) In Supreme Court several cases relating to the domain of 'social justice' are pending for several years. In this perspective, CJI in 2014, ordered constitution of a Special Bench titled as "Social Justice Bench". Model Question on above topic for prelims Which of the following statements is true? Social Justice Bench of the Supreme Court is an example of judicial activism. Social Justice Bench of the Supreme Court is an example of judicial overreach. PIL is an example of judicial overreach. None. Model Question for Mains Judicial activism infringes into Legislature’s right to make laws. Comment with examples. Interview What do you know about the recently constituted Social Justice Bench? Is supreme court being elitist by ignoring the poor economic condition of the country while passing judgements? Judicial Activism, Judical Overreach etc. are the basic concepts behind all the above questions. But look how the approach is different. Basic concepts are given in standard books (So, for prelims standard books are enough). Current affairs provide fodder (points) for answers in mains and interview (So, newspapers, magazines help in mains and interview prep). Without the prior knowledge of the basic concepts, you may not be able to understand the above questions. But, the examples can help you understand how a concept can be looked upon in different dimensions.

Now let us come back to TIME REQUIRED

• 1 essay + 4 GS + 2 optional = total 7 papers (But essay preparation is complementary with GS and Optional prep) So, = 6 papers
• We have 15-16 months in hand. Remove ‘2’ months for prelims revision, and ‘2’ months for Mains revision.
• So, we have total 11-12 months for GS+Optional Preparation.
• Roughly ‘3-4’ months are required for Optional Prep (More time is required for optionals like Geography). So, time left for ‘4’ GS papers = 8-9 months.
• GS 4 is simply a test for you writing skills. (At max 1 month for GS 4; this is really too much, can not exceed this limit)
• GS 3 is complicated with lot of topics and will take, lets say 2-3 months.
• So,  time left for GS1 + GS2 = 3-4 months
• GS2 requires 2 months or more
• So Time left for GS 1 = 2-2.5 months max (Different for different people.)
• And if you don’t prepare a proper paln and execute it, revision months for prelims and mains will be compromised. But REVISION is the key to success. So, can’t ignore revision.
• Is it possible to complete GS 1 in two months?

Lets Check topic wise.

1. Note 1: It is impossible to complete the syllabus of all topics, no matter how may hours, months and years you put.
2. Note 2: No topper has ever completed reading full syllabus.
3. Note 3: The successful ones are successful because they were smart in their preparation strategy and not because of 500GB ROM and 4 GB RAM or IIT IIM background.

Topic	Comments	Time required (You should be very choosy)(Read Important Ones First)
Indian culture	No direct sources available. Even if available, they are bulky and time to benefit ratio is really bad. Smart thing to do is to prepare from ready made notes. Notes available online which are posted by toppers (Singania) (Mrunal.org) and Youtube Videos by Sriteja	Not more than 15 days (to 1 month) based on your interest. (To complete important topics only) (Should Read selectively) If you want to know everything, time required is infinity
Modern Indian history (Freedom Struggle Included)	Direct sources available. Spectrum Modern History (300-350 pages. Guide format) OR Bipin Chandra (Bulky, story like alternative. 500 pages or more)	Not more than 15 days (No matter how many time you study, you will still keep forgetting. So, one reading now and rest in revision time)
Post Independence	Direct source available Bipin Chandra (Only few chapter are required) OR Ramachandra Guha (Same as above)	Not more than 5 days. (Should Read selectively)
World History	Direct source available Old NCERT (Mrunal.org) AND Norman Lowee	Not more than 10 days. (Should Read selectively)
Geography	I have written a separate article	1 month (Read my notes)
		Total = 15+15+5+10+30 = 2.5 months.
Rest topics	General in nature. Can be studied from internet, Newspaper and, NCERT’s will help to clear basics.	Daily current affairs time

Is it possible to complete important topics of GS 1 in 2.5 months.

• Yes, but only if you do smart study.

So what is smart study?

1. Point 1: Understanding the syllabus.
2. Point 2: Understanding the nature of questions.
3. Point 3: First completing easy topics (Varies from person to person)
4. Point 4: Sticking to the time plan.
5. Point 5: Starting from ‘NOW’ (No tomorrows)

Booklist for GS 1: Click here

How to Study Current Affairs 

                                                            Part 1

                                                            Part 2

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