Mains : Booklist and Some Tips

General Tips and Suggestions for General Studies (GS)

1. Cover entire syllabus in GS for Mains. This is important as questions are being asked from topics which may not be in current affairs.

2. For every sub-Topic, see to it that you have atleast 5 generic points in hand and 2 examples. This will help to face ‘bouncer’ questions and will enable you to get atleast average scores.

3. Try to incorporate Diagrams, simple schematic representation (and flow charts if possible).

4. Answer writing practice is most important to score high in GS. 

a) Remember, you aim should always be to complete a 10 mark Question in 7 Min and 15marker in 10 Min. That means, you should aim to move to the next page after every 3.5 min.

b) When you get the question paper, decide before hand itself where you will draw diagrams and mark it on question paper.

c) Answer all sub-questions separately. Also incorporate sub-headings. Writing in points format increases readability for the evaluator.

       

General Studies - Paper 1 

Book list

Topic	Material
Culture	GK Today + Class 11 NCERT - ’An Introduction to Indian Art’
Indian history	Spectrum + Old NCERT- ‘Modern India’ by Bipin Chandra . For this attempt, I also made notes out of Bipin Chandra’s ‘India’s Struggle for Independence’(But it didn’t help as I could not revise it)
world history	Old NCERT- ‘History of the World ’ by Arjun Dev +  Vajiram Class Notes + YouTube Videos
post-independence India	NCERT Class 12 -’Politics in India Since Independence’ + ABP Channel’s series- ‘Pradhan Mantri’ + VisionIAS Static material
Indian society	NCERT Class 12 - ‘Indian Society’ + Anthropology Optional + VisionIAS’ Mains 365 ‘Social Issues’
role of women, poverty etc.	Vision Static Material + VisionIAS’ Mains 365 ‘Social Issues’
globalization on Indian society	Vision Static Material + VisionIAS’ Mains 365 ‘Social Issues’
communalism, regionalism, secularism	NCERT Class 12 - ‘Indian Society’ + The Hindu
world physical geography	NCERT Geography - Class 11 and 12 Text book + G C Leong - ‘Certificate Physical and Human Geography’
resource distribution	VisionIAS Static material
factors for industrial location	Mrunal notes
earthquake tsunami etc	NCERT Geography - Class 11 and 12 + Current Affairs
impact on flora-fauna	Current Affairs

Some Tips and Suggestions for GS-1

1. Give more Importance to Analysis while preparation than on dates etc.

2. Have some static material for generic topics such as ‘Globalisation, regionalism’. It should also have some facts, interesting examples/case studies which you can use freely.

3. For World history, please refer Youtube Videos

General Studies - Paper 2 

Book list

Topic	Material
Indian Constitution, devolution, dispute redressal etc.	Laxmikanth’s ‘Polity’ + M.Puri’s Notes + Mains 365 ‘Polity’
Comparing Constitution with world	Didn’t specifically prepare for this topic. Would refer Wikipedia to get info about election system in USA, France which were in news
Parliament, state Legislatures	Laxmikanth‘Polity’ + M.Puri’s Notes + Mains 365-‘Polity’
Executive-judiciary	Laxmikanth‘Polity’ + M.Puri’s Notes + Mains 365-‘Polity’
Ministries departments	Mains 365-‘Polity’
Pressure group, informal associations.	The Hindu + Sriram Material
Representation of people’s act	Representation of People’s Act 1950, 1951 + Mains 365 - ‘Polity’
Various bodies: Constitutional, statutory.	Mains 365 - ‘Polity’
NGO, SHG etc	The Hindu + Sriram Notes + Mains 365 ‘Polity’
Welfare schemes, bodies	The Hindu + Mains 365 ‘Polity’ + PDFs by coaching institutes about various schemes
Social sector, health, education, HRD	The Hindu + Mains 365 ‘Polity’ + Mains 365 ‘Social Issues’
Governance, transparency, accountability	The Hindu + M Puri’s notes + Mains 365 - ‘Polity’
e-governance	The Hindu + VisionIAS Static Material + Mains 365 ‘Polity’
role of civil service	Vajiram Written notes
India & neighbors	The Hindu + Mains 365 ‘International Relations’
Bilateral/global grouping	The Hindu + Mains 365 ‘International Relations’
Effect of foreign country policies on Indian interest	The Hindu + Mains 365 ‘International Relations’
Diaspora	Wikipedia + Mains 365 ‘International Relations’
International bodies- structure mandate	No specific notes. Refer Wikipedia for Organizations in News

Some Tips and Suggestions for GS-2

1. In Polity Questions, try to incorporate Article numbers, Important Judicial cases, Committee Recommendations etc

2. Keep SDGs numbers , Sections of ICCPR, ICESCR, UDHR etc handy to mention them in your answers.

3. Try to note down interesting examples/case studies which come in newspapers so that you can mention them in your answers.

4. For static topics like autonomous institutions ,NGO etc, you need to have atleast 5 points at your fingertips.

5. Please read summary of some chapters of 2nd ARC(like chapters on e-governance, Right to Information etc)

6. For International Relations, Newspaper reading is very important. Draw maps there.

General Studies - Paper 3

Book list

Topic	Material
Indian economy, resource mobilization	NCERT Class 10 and 12 + Economic survey + Mains 365 -’Economy’+ The Hindu
Inclusive growth	Sriram’s Economy + Mains 365 -’Economy’
Budgeting	Laxmikanth ‘ Polity‘ + The Hindu + Mains 365 -’Economy’+ Union Budget Highlights
Major crops, irrigation	NCERT - Indian Geography + ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’
Agro produce – storage, marketing	Mains 365-’Economy’+ Sriram’s Economy + ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’
e-technology for farmers	Mains 365-’Economy’+ ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’ + The Hindu
Farm subsidies, MSP	Mains 365-’Economy’+ ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’
PDS, buffer, food security	Mains 365-’Economy’+ ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’ + Sriram’s Economy
Technology mission	ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’ + VisionIAS Material
Animal rearing economics	Mains 365-’Economy’+ Sriram’s Economy + ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’
Food processing	Mains 365-’Economy’+ ShankarIAS’ ‘Agriculture’
Land reforms	Mains 365-’Economy’ + Vajiram’s Notes
Liberalization	NCERT
Infra	Mains 365-’Economy’
Investment models	Mains 365-’Economy’ +  Internet
Science-tech day to day life	Mains 365-’Science and Technology’ + Wikipedia search+ The Hindu
Indian achievements in sci-tech	Mains 365-’Science and Technology’  + Wikipedia search + The Hindu
Awareness in IT, space, biotech, nano, IPR	Mains 365-’Science and Technology’  + Wikipedia search + The Hindu
Environmental impact assessment	ShankaIAS’ ‘Environment’ + Mains 365- ‘Environment+ Insights website
Disaster Management	NDMA Website + NCERT geography+ The Hindu + Mains 365- ‘Environment’
Non state actors, internal security	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Internal security – role of media, social networking site	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Cyber security	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Money laundering	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics)+ Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Border  Management	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Organized crime, terrorism	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu
Security agencies- structure mandate	Vajiram Yellow book (for basics) + Mains 365 - ‘Security’+ The Hindu

Some Tips and Suggestions for GS-3

1. Quoting sources/facts in this paper is very important.

2. Try to bring in creativity by mentioning names of Reports/welfare economists to substantial your answers.

3.  For Disaster Management, guess probable questions based on the disasters in news.

4. Read standard definitions of Money Laundering/Organised Crime etc given by various organizations.

5. I also went through NITI Aayog's 3 years' Action Agenda and Agriculture report of  NITI Aayog.

General Studies - Paper 4

Book list

1. ‘Lexicon’ by Chronicle Publication. 

2. 2nd ARC -4th Report - ‘Ethics in Governance’.

3. Youtube videos of distinguished people like Dalai Lama etc. ,youtube Channels like ‘School of Life’ may be watched. Though the topics in these videos may not correlate with any specific topic of the syllabus, it will help in critical thinking.

Some Tips and Suggestions for GS-4

The following are the ingredients of a good ethics answers:

1. Simple language

2. Logical Arguments and subsequent substantiation using quotations/anecdotes

3. Quotations - Preferably of Indian Thinkers/Philosophers.

4. Counter Arguments and points that ‘counter’ these counter arguments.

5. Lots of examples.

Some observations:

1.  In GS-4, if you are asked to take a stand, TAKE A STAND. You may mention the nuances of the cases but broadly, you need to mention clearly your plan of action.

2. In Section A, a quotation may be mentioned along with thinker and you may be asked to comment on it.

a) In the Introduction, write a note about the thinkers and mention his/her contribution to the society.

b) Use contemporary examples to prove your point.

3. The format of Case study-based questions have changed. UPSC is asking ‘Your plan of action’ instead of ‘what are the options available and mention their merits and demerits’ for Case studies. So you need to plan you answers before hand

a) It is advisable to mention all the Stake holders involved.

b) Also mention the Ethical principles involved.

c) Here again, substantiation is the key to score.

4. Feel free to mention Indian Thinkers/Philosophical Traditions and religious books. You may freely quote about Karma Yoga, Gita, Quran, Bible etc. to substantiate your arguments.

Let me try to explain these tips with examples.

In CSE-2018 Mains , there was a question(Q-12) on Edward Snowden’s action with regard to Surveillance Program. I supported Snowden’s action by following arguments:

1. Quoted St.Augustine who said ,’Unjust law is no law at all’. Also used Gandhiji’s example where he broke the Unjust salt law in Civil Disobedience movement.

2. Substantiation involved many arguments containing role of citizens, Right to privacy, Right to Information etc.

3. Provided the Counter argument about National security, need for security establishment to carry out surveillance. Countered this argument by the need for  transparency . Also, mentioned about Accountablity of the security establishment, rule based governance etc.

Similarly, in CSE-2018, there was a statement from Tirukkural(Q-6c). I began the answer by talking about Tiruvallavar(Author of Tirukkural) and also the mentioned some features of Tirukkurals. Then , I started the mains body of the answers.

Now ,a sample case study.

Let us consider a case study where Mr.X is a DC and his subordinate Mr.Y is taking bribe from Mr.Z .If you were Mr.X , what will you do?

Here the stakeholders will be Mr.X and his corrupt subordinate (Mr.Y), the person who is forced to pay bribe (Mr.Z) . Along with this, stakeholders will be the Government and also the Society at large. You need to mention a plan of action taking into account , Mr.X as a citizen of the country, as a part of Society, as a parent,as a representative of the Govt and as a DC. Such substantiation will cover all the major aspects of the answers and will enable you to get decent scores.  Next, mention the various ethical issues involved ,which will then be followed by your plan of action .

All The Best .