1 3 I Ii Key Exam Part B; Key Sept. 2004: Fill & Download for Free

Complete list of material referred to by me -Economic and Social IssuesSriram IAS notes / Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh for economics basics (I did not refer to either of these because of being well versed with this topic)Original FM’s Budget speech doc, Budget Highlights doc, Budget at a Glance doc and Key to Budget doc from the govt’s Budget websiteOriginal Economic Survey (both volumes) from the govt’s Budget websiteFor govt schemes, IAS Parliament / VIsion IAS modules for latest schemes and Vajiram doc on old schemesOfficial executive summaries of Census 2011 and SECC 2011Same current affairs magazine that I referred to for Phase 1FinanceDetailed study of RBI website, especially all FAQs (once you start going through the FAQs, it becomes easy to know which ones are important from exam point of view).Note: Even the old FAQs should ideally be studied since this section is being studied to know about RBI’s functioning and not merely for current affairsStudy of other relevant organisations’ websites like SEBI, NABARD, SIDBI etc (not in much detail)Selective study of first NCFM module for finance basics. Only topics mentioned in the syllabus need to be studied. Plus, I kept referring to Investopedia and Google in general whenever I came across a new Finance related termFor numericalsCorporate Finance by Ross Westerfield 6th Edition - Chapters 3, 4 and 5Relevant RBI FAQs page for some topicsFinance and Mgt by Prasanna Chandra 7th edition - Chapter 3XII Accountancy Part II NCERT Chapter 5Compilation of formulae offered by Oliveboard for freeFor the topics ‘Alternate Source of Finance’ and ‘Private and Social Cost-Benefit’, I studied a pdf by Edutap that was available on the net for freeManagementSelective reading of Organizational Behavior by S P Robbins and T A Judge based on topics mentioned in the syllabusJust 1 or 2 IGNOU pdf for the topics HRD and MoraleGoogle search for many small topics from the syllabus. For English descriptive, again a google search for fodder points and rules for writing Essay and PrecisNote: ALL the books referred to by me are available for free on the internet and most of them have also been uploaded on the blog along with my own summarized notes of the same

Complete, you say? *cracks knuckles* There’s no tl;dr version of this.Selecting the optionalSince optional constitutes 500/2025 towards the merit list, it is important to outperform in it to get into a service of your choice. Hence I spent considerable time in picking up my optional paper. I had a passing interest in Geography (as I am good with maps) and a strong interest in International Relations. I briefly considered Management optional because it mirrored my graduation syllabus.I eventually decided to go with Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) for these 3 reasons:significant overlap with GS papers – polity, international relations, ethics, et alavailability of reading material and notessubject had helped many people secure top 100 ranks in recent yearsIf there’s one stop, single source reading material for PSIR, it is Shubhra Ranjan madam’s notes. By reading the strategy of past toppers with this optional, I decided to not bother with any other reading material. I found some of her notes online in August 2017 and spent a couple of months reading through them (Paper I and Paper II Part A) by devoting 2-3 hours a day. I had also ordered Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor (read once, never picked up again) and Does the Elephant Dance by David Malone (used to prepare notes after prelims but was written in 2010 hence a bit outdated) around the same time to get a sense of Paper II Part B.However, instead of focusing on reading the material of optional along with prelim prep, I decided to go all in for prelims somewhere in early November 2017 (full 7 months before prelims). I had concluded that there’s no mains or optional to study for if I don’t clear prelims. At that point I was also worried that I won’t be able to complete my GS syllabus by February end. I wanted at least 3 months before prelims for full revisions and decided to sarcifice my optional study time. Again, this was a calculated risk as preparing PSIR from ground up after prelims and scoring even 300+ was not unheard of.ResourcesAfter I realised that I will clear prelims in all probability, I ordered the original notes that Shubhra Ranjan madam’s website delivers. (I was later told I could have gotten them at 1/5 price! But I have pirated enough PC games in this lifetime to know when one should pay the developer). I didn’t join her classroom coaching as:(a) I didn’t think I had time and energy to commute to classes (despite living in NCR)(b) The notes are self-explanatory and I could understand basic concepts(c) For everything else there’s internet – plato.standford.edu is great if you can handle the complexity, but only for understanding any thinker’s original ideas. Crash Course Philosophy is informative and fun. Articles from ORF, Indian Express, Foreign Policy cover aspects of dynamic sections of Paper II.(d) I have been a backbencher and usually sleep in classrooms :)I finally ended up preparing the syllabus with the following resources, I also googled whatever I didn’t understand easily:Paper I Part A (Political theory and Indian politics) – Shubhra madam’s notes onlyPaper I Part B (Indian politics) – Shubhra madam’s notes only. Revised relevant chapters of Laxmikant + Spectrum’s Modern India + GS-2 current affairs againPaper II Part A (Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics) – Shubhra madam’s notes only + own notes (Comparative and IP pdf)Paper II Part B (India and the World) – selective Shubhra madam’s notes + Does the Elephant Dance by David Malone + own notes (from Foreign Policy, ORF website (absolutely the best for India’s foreign relations and quoting renowned scholars), the Economist, Indian Express are my favorites). I ended up with extensive notes of my own for this entire part. The entire pdf is here (India and the World pdf)Some topics are not directly in notes (such as UN peacekeeping, nuclear question), I either read madam’s notes or googled it.Reading and revisingI decided that for maximum retention and greater recall value in exam hall, I would need at least 5 revisions. Since this optional would require me to think less on my feet (unlike GS), and more on what I read and remember, I decided to make short notes based on madam’s notes. I did it for entire book notes except Paper II Part B. This is how my readings went after prelims:Mid June to July end 2018 – first reading and scribbling of the notes (image below). This was done in detail and by devoting 4-5 hours to the optional every day. My primary concern was understanding concepts and not trying to retain information.August 2018 – one reading every fortnight; I would read the book notes along with the sticky notes. I actively tried to retain ideas and thinkers/scholars.September 2018 – one reading every ten days; I would read the book notes along with the sticky notes but much faster than I did in August. I challenged myself by randomly trying to remember information/idea/thinker from the sticky notes. I must have finished with these 5 readings a week before the first mains paper, the Essay.Week between GS and optional – I read only from the sticky notes, trying to remember key words for every subtopic. I had color coded the sticky notes by topics, hence over course of 5 readings and final revision, I could locate any topic in my mind (by thinking where it was on the wall – poor man’s mind palace maybe?)These became my dreaded good night notes (as I would revise optional before sleeping) but hey at least they were colourful and bright.Answer writingI had no time for answer writing for the optional as I was spending my other half of the day revising GS and writing GS+Essay mocks. However, I had taken some time out to study answers of past toppers of PSIR; madam’s notes has a dedicated book of sample answer writing. I got the general sense of how to go about writing an answer in the optional:For concept/idea based questions:1. Who theorised it and inspirations behind it if any2. Core points explaining the idea, include diagram/flowchart (rare, only if it helps)3. Arugments for and against the idea, citing scholars4. Relevance in present times / critical analysisFor current affairs based questions:1. A generic opening surrounding the event/news, quotes from scholars if I could remember one2. Core points explaining the situation3. Explain for and against arguments, citing scholars4. Critical analysis / pragmatic opinion or solution, citing scholars if neededThis is the general template I decided to follow, unless the question asked for a one-sided argument. This gave me a sense of structure to follow and I walked into exam hall with zero answer writing practice for optional but some confidence.Quoting scholars and thinkers:For paper I and half of Paper II, I didn’t try finding or reading scholars outside of what were provided in madam’s notes. I tried to remember only a couple of them for every topic (and over multiple revisions) and was in a position to recall them in the exam hall, since I didn’t try to remember 5-7 for every point of view.For Paper II Part B, I googled books involving – India’s, its foreign policy, or bilateral relations – to quote in answers. I found their reviews and added them my notes. I could, then, quote an array of books without actually having ever read them. Building my notes from ORF also meant I could quote Harsh V Pant and Manoj Joshi liberally on any India specific current affairs question.For example, Avinash Paliwal’s My Enemy’s Enemy and Anatol Lieven’s Pakistan: A Hard Country were used to back my arguments in a question about India-Afghanistan-Pakistan. I quoted Schaffer and Schaffer’s India at the Global High Table on a question about India’s foreign policy. Milan Vaishnav’s When Crime Pays found its place in my answer on political personalities. I could quotes views of a few thinkers such as Stephen Walt and Robert Kagan without explicitly adding them to my notes (reading Foreign Policy off my Facebook feed since college). I also defaulted to David Malone’s Does the Elephant Dance as I had based my notes on India and its relations with important countries on this book. And if there was no one else to quote, there was Raja Mandala :)Attaching pdf of my last minute notes I had made for thinkers and scholars, and hot topics from optional perspective (some of this I merged with full fledged notes, pdfs linked earlier, while revising).Exam hallIn the exam hall, the divine principles are:Finish the whole paper (I almost succeeded, but in the second paper I messed up my time management, ended up leaving a ten marker and couldn’t conclude another ten marker). Pick the questions you are going to write the moment you get the paper, it helps you think about what you have to write beforehand.Optional paper requires you to come across as an expert of the field with considerable depth of knowledge. Try to retain names of scholars and thinkers as much as possible. I could cite 2-4 scholars in every answer I wrote, using the techniques mentioned above.Interlink your answers with other concepts in political science/international relations. This can only come by understanding concepts inside out and making a conscious effort to include them in your answers. For example, in Trump-Kim question I talked about how structural realism is the reason behind current geopolitical tensions between the USA-DPRK. In an answer analysing USA-China rivalry, I specifically talked about complex interdependence.Paragraphs over bullet points, you need to come across as an expert. Write as if you are writing an editorial, except your deadline arrives every 7 to 12 minutes.I received 283/500 marks in optional (Paper I - 144, Paper II - 139). It’s not that great considering there are many who got 300+, but I don’t think I should complain :)Only in hindsight, I can call this a “strategy”. Nonetheless, it worked for me. Hope reading this helps you figure out a winning strategy for yourself.

I have cleared prelims thrice so I think I am in the position to answer this question.First of all, I would say that you should attain a threshold level of knowledge which comes only by reading standard texts and authentic current affairs. So work hard to gain knowledge first. I have mentioned some important sources to study so as to clear prelims in my first answer related to prelims. However I want to discuss other aspects which are not written in any book and appears only by analysis of past year papers.The methods which I am going to discuss will just let you give your maximum output in exam hall. There are 7 methods.*All the examples are from 2019 prelims paper1.ELIMINATION : I will be explaining the method of ELIMINATION keeping 2019 prelims paper as the source of questions.There are 3 types of elimination questions:I. Eliminating just one statement enables you to eliminate 3 options and you are left with one option which is correct.1.In this, 3rd statement is incorrect. It is widely known that India imports coal and there is a target to make the imports zero. So option b, c, and d gets eliminated and you are left with only a option, which is correct. So, just by knowing one statement and without knowing the other two you are able to solve a prelims question!!! By the method of ELIMINATION. Other examples are :2.In statement 2 , Irrawaddy dolphin is not found in chambal river, it appears too obvious. They both are geographically apart. So eliminating 2 you are left with just one option- c, which is correct one.3.If you know/ remember about statement 3 that there are 75 pvtg, so you can easily eliminate a,b and d and left with option c which is correct answer.II. Eliminating more than one statement enables you to eliminate 3 options and you are left with one option which is correct.4.Zemu and Manas are unrelated , could be eliminated, so option c and d gets eliminated. You are left with option a and b. Then you can choose either a or b depending upon the correctness of statement 2 or statement 3.5.If you know that Syria doesn't touch Red Sea, then you can easily eliminate option c and d. You are left with option a and b. Which could be solved depending upon your knowledge of other statement in the question.III. Eliminating one statement enables you to eliminate 2 options and you are left with other 2 options.There is 50 - 50 chance. Take the risk only when you are not able to attempt well overall.So you can see that you can easily solve the questions of prelims by following method of ELIMINATION even if you know just 1 or 2 statement in the question to be correct or incorrect. There were 15 or more such questions in 2019. Every year there remains approx these many questions which could be solved by ELIMINATION method.2. DEFINITION/ EXPLANATION REVERSED1.In statement 1 and 2 the definition of VR and AR is reversed. Upsc does this too. Be aware about this when you solve mcqs. So option a and c gets eliminated. You are left with b and d . The knowledge of whether the other two statement is correct or incorrect helps you arrive at correct answer. Option b is correct answer.2.Here the role of UNTOC AND UNCAC are reversed by UPSC so both statements are wrong.3.The role of jagirdars and zamindars are reversed in both the statement making both the statement wrong.There are 1–3 questions of this type every year in prelims, so you have to focus here. The moment you realize that the definition is reversed you can easily mark both the statement wrong which will help you in arriving the right answer.3. Extreme statements are not always wrong.We have heard numerous times that extreme statements are wrong. But they are not always wrong in prelims. So pay attention.Example:The first statement Asiatic lion found in India ONLY is correct. The use of word “ONLY” makes it extreme, still it is correct.Another exampleStatement 2 is extreme due to use of word “ALL" still this statement is correct.4. USE COMMON SENSE1.If you read carefully statement 2, then first part and second part of the statement seems contradictory. If one part is correct other part will be wrong. So you can mark whole statement wrong safely.2.In statement 1, knowing the exact date of child birth is difficult so 3 months before seems illogical. So you can mark it wrong safely.5. Generally, all the statements of questions related to application of some technology are correct.D is the correct option in this question.However you have to read every statement, one or few statement might be wrong too. In this question statement number 3 is wrong. So not all the statements are correct.6. Official answer key of UPSC should be seen. Some questions might get repeated.It happened in 2015, 2016, 2017 prelims, one or two questions were repeated from immediate previous year. However it is not happening since last couple of years.7. Mark all the answers in question paper first then bubble.Sometime it happens while solving that you are not be able to recall properly or recalled it wrongly or gets confused. There is also possibility that you find your answer in some of the statements in later questions.I will discuss about other aspects too, to make you feel confident in Prelims 2020. Stay Tuned!!This is my third answer in the series to simplify UPSC CSE Prelims so as to make you feel confident when you sit in the exam hall on May 31, 2020.You can read other answers related to prelims by scrolling my profile.ALL THE BEST!