Clear Prelims 2017 in 1st Attempt – 6 Must Read Books

As we are reaching to the Prelims 2017 – and as students pack their bags for their preparations – it’s time to look back to the best books – the most important ones – that helped thousands of IAS aspirants for their Prelims examination paper 1(GS) & Paper 2 (CSAT).

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Coming to the Paper 1(GS), it’s of 200 marks, and most importantly, its performance is not counted for the merit rank in prelims. But that doesn’t mean you push it to the corner and forget about it. You are very well required to qualify this paper and score at least 33%, AT LEAST. Due to its qualifying nature, most of the students often neglect it. DON’T.    

Devote a couple of hours every day for your speed and accuracy, and most importantly, do not forget to read NCERT books to develop a stronger base of knowledge. Besides, practice solving previous years’ papers and keep reading Newspaper every day, read the important articles and make important notes to keep yourself abreast of current affairs, which is most important part of the preparation process for Civil Services exam.

Here you have a list of strongly recommended books, the 6 most important ones.

• Logical Reasoning, Analytical Ability and General Mental Ability for Civil Services Preliminary Examination
• Reading Comprehension for Civil Services Preliminary Examination (Second Edition)
• CSAT Decision Making and Problem Solving and Interpersonal Skills for Paper – 2
• Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency
• Basic Numeracy for CSAT General Studies Paper II

We wish all the aspirants good luck for their prelims 2017 preparation.

UPSC Pre-special Batch for ‘SUPER 50’

Chanakya IAS Academy with its commitment to offer world-class education and guidance to Civil Services aspirants is going to start a UPSC Pre-Special Batch for “Super 50” at Jaipur branch for the aspirants eying at Civil Services 2017. The batch will start on 5th January 2017 with a free demo session. The idea is to commence a batch for 50 students who will get quality coaching by seasoned experts at Chanakya IAS Academy. The Pre-special batch is remarkably different from the existing Prelims courses and will provide students topic wise briefing of the syllabus followed with extensive discussions on the current UPSC examination pattern.

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The Academy will also provide Test Series based on the current trend of UPSC along with an analysis of each question by the experts to help students examine their weaknesses & strengths, and work upon them to ensure success in Civil Services Prelims 2017 exam.

A team of dynamic individuals and experienced experts having a complete understanding of the application aspect of UPSC will thoroughly cover the entire syllabus with an emphasis on facts, concepts and current affairs which are extremely important in Civil Services Prelims examination. The faculty members at the Academy are extremely supportive and possess effective teaching skills with powerful delivery in both English and Hindi mediums.

The Academy will also organize special classes for students by Success Guru AK Mishra and the successful candidates of Chanakya IAS Academy to help students ward off their doubts and to keep students motivated throughout their preparation journey.

For more information, call Chanakya IAS Academy @ 8882120000

What do you understand by Disaster Management?

Ques. What do you understand by disaster management? In the light of the recent cyclone vardah, critically examine the disaster management methods in the country.

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Ans. According to the UN, ‘Disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impact, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.’

There are three phases of disaster management:

1. Before the disaster: It is the period of preparedness before the actual disaster has taken place. It involves early warning signals, how to prepare for the disaster, effective infrastructure, etc.

2. During the disaster: This phase is the most crucial one, which involves saving the lives of the affected people. Evacuation, rescue, provision of basic needs like food, water, shelter, etc. are the activities involved in this phase. It also requires capacity building for taking care of these activities during the disaster.

3. Post-disaster: It involves rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected individuals. It also involves rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure.

Some of the methods to deal with disaster management are discussed below:

• Proper planning for risk reduction.
• Adopting new and innovative technologies for risk reduction.
• Installing of early warning systems.
• Early evacuation and rescue.
• Capacity building by deploying the locals as they have good knowledge about the local terrain.
• Coordinating the roles of community and voluntary organizations, local bodies and governmental agencies.
• Awareness generation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Planned recovery.
• Rehabilitation with more sustainable livelihoods.
• Special social programmes for mitigating the impact of disasters.
• Use of indigenous coping mechanisms.
• Mobilization of necessary emergency services in the disaster prone areas.

In India, the community is especially the first responder in any disaster. Apart from that, there is integrated administrative machinery for disaster management at the national, state, district and sub-district level. The National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) 2005, is the legal framework for monitoring the implementation of disaster management plans in the country. The two main institutions to deal with disaster management are the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).

With the proper implementation of plans and use of effective and innovative technologies, the effects of disasters can be curbed to a large extent.

Qualities you must possess before you start preparing for UPSC examination

Civil Services Examination is one of the most competitive and prestigious examinations in the country. Since it is a competitive examination, it means that you have to beat a lot of candidates in order to secure a rank. Therefore the real challenge is that you have to take yourself to such a standard that the demands of this examination can be fulfilled.

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Whether the examination is tough or easy has got no answer. But the only answer to this question is that it is possible to qualify this examination by applying the correct logics and tactics. Chanakya IAS Academy provides a complete solution to the students preparing for this examination. The Academy imparts comprehensive training-cum-guidance program, which covers all the stages of this examination.

Let us discuss some of the important qualities that a candidate must have in order to clear this examination.

• Patience: the first and foremost quality that one should have is patience. More than knowledge or self-confidence, or any other quality, patience matters the most. No one knows when he or she will qualify the exam or when is his or her right time. So one needs to keep patience. It is not an exam that can be qualified in a hurry. It will only be qualified the day you become eligible for it completely.
• Self-confidence: Since the preparation time is very long, you have to keep yourself motivated. Every student has to face the same conditions. Therefore it is very important that you keep your self-confidence intact and keep studying.
• Hard work: well, hard work is essential. Know one thing that, if you are searching for some shortcut in this examination, the search is futile. It is so because there is no shortcut in this examination. It demands excellence. Therefore, you have to be excellent in order to get through this examination.
• Smart work: planning and discipline are very important during the preparation. Since there is so much to study, therefore proper planning and proper revision are extremely important. Go ahead, shed all laziness and start once again with full-fledged confidence and discipline.

Time should not be a factor in this examination. Many students complain that it is such a long process and it takes so many years. But it does not matter because, once you qualify the examination, the time that you have spent will pay you back. Remember that hard work always pays. And there is no shortcut to it. You have to give your 100% in this examination. It might take time, but it is better to give your full efforts in the first attempt itself

Paper Analysis for Essay paper (Civil Services Mains 2016)

1. Gender issues have always been an important component of essay paper. UPSC has maintained the same trend of asking question on this issue. Lot of media discourse these days are linking development with women empowerment, hence question on this theme was expected. Theme gave sociology (optional paper) an advantage. Beyond other languages, aspirants with Hindi language are at an advantage in such questions, as more elaborated explanation is given in Hindi beyond jargonized “English” statements.
2. Unlike previous questions, candidates trying to comprehend question only in “Hindi” are at disadvantage, because basically this is an English quotation and hence interpretation of quotation in Hindi is difficult. Last year aspirants were forced to write a compulsory essay on philosophy, but this year only this theme is solely philosophy based, so aspirants speculating too much about the nature of essays are at clear disadvantage.
3. Earlier such direct general studies type essays were asked a lot. So UPSC has reintroduced an old trend. People not revising Laxmikanth for Mains (General Studies paper 2) would have heavily suffered.
4. UPSC has every year asked essay on “linking sociology with economics”. The topic was heavily expected as current government has focused on innovation as an important component of its strategy in every government scheme related with socio-economic spheres.
5. The essay was expected last year as well. UPSC in the essay, as well as other papers of Mains (Even prelims), is asking questions from current affairs themes which have originated beyond last 12 months. Candidates who chose public administration as optional subject (Partly political science as well) need to remember that overdose of optional knowledge at times is also counterproductive in essays.
6. Every year science and technology theme is coming up. The Internet this time has secured lot of media eyeballs. UPSC is looking for the candidates who have an understanding of modern education, hence science and technology become an important component every year in essay paper. UPSC always asks about futuristic repercussions of simple debatable themes like internet. 
7. Non employment growth is a major theme in Indian economics for the last decade. The theme was highly predicted as 25 years of LPG reforms have finished. Again a theme where pure economics is linked to social sector (i.e., jobs)
8. Most expected question for this year. People having knowledge of current affairs would have easily attempted this question. When the whole nation is debating on a theme it becomes important for UPSC to check whether an aspirant has required inquisitiveness about burning current affairs themes.

Overall Analysis

1. Every year UPSC is giving questions to check the core ethical values of civil servants (Example question number 2).
2. Our country is moving towards ‘pro-growth’ economy, hence maximum emphasis will always be on current affairs based economics. The Same trend will be seen in years to come (Example question number 4, 7 and 8).
3. Basically, UPSC needs candidates having views on burning socio-economic themes.
4. Distribution of topics across optional was good, though a clear and expected favor towards Sociology and Economics was present (for right reasons as well, as an administrator has the foremost duty of socio-economic welfare).
5. 2 Essays format in 1000-1200 words is here to stay, where all four topics for current affairs would be from current affairs.

Last minute tips for Civil Services Mains Examination

Mains exam is just a day away; numerous questions must be flaring up in aspirants’ mind related to the formulation of best possible strategy to successfully get through UPSC Mains Examination.
Here are some guidelines which will help the aspirants to perform better in the examination:

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Keep your mind peaceful
First of all, make sure you have a good sleep day before the examination. Eliminate all the fears that are disturbing your mind and try to keep your mind as much peaceful and positive as you can.

Revision
Make sure you revise all the important topics, facts & figures, concepts and current affairs during your last minute preparation. Devote all time in revision and do not try to touch any new topic at last minute. In case you find some area that has not been prepared well, don’t panic. Stick to whatever you have studied till now and revise that well.

Practice writing
Try to write a few questions to check your speed and clarity. Practice makes a man perfect, and you really need that perfection at the examination hall. Many times, while writing, we recall numerous important points we have studied earlier, so it will make your revision even deeper and better. Moreover, writing answers to the previous question papers will also boost your confidence level and enhance your thinking capacity.

Find some time to ease out
Apart from having good sleep, try to keep yourself relaxed. Try to meditate for a while. You can either re-memorize the important topic while meditating, or can silently meditate; whatever your mind feels comfortable in. Breathe deeply, let go of all the negative or fearful thoughts and allow your mind to be calm, peaceful and relaxed.

Talk to a friend who is also going to appear for Civil Services Mains Examination
Talk to a friend, and discuss the points. Sometimes, your mind catches up something important which gets stored in your subconscious mind. Your friend might tell something very important during the conversation which may click to you while writing in the examination.

Go through the economic survey 2015-16
Run through or revise the Economic survey 2015-16. It will help you get good fix on ideas and concepts related to rate of unemployment, GDP growth rate and basic stats from agriculture etc. This knowledge will help you in GS paper 3.

Lastly, do not panic, be confident and use your own strategy to write the examination. Well formulated strategy and optimum time management are the two basics to achieve your dream goal. It is very important to formulate your own strategy based on your strengths and weaknesses while appearing for Civil Services Mains examination.

Planned Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

The 10 mistakes made by every UPSC CSE aspirant and the redressal mechanism to avoid them are as enlisted below by AK Mishra, Managing Director, Chanakya IAS Academy

1. NOT STICKING TO THE SYLLABUS: One of the biggest myths every CSE aspirant carries with him at some point of time is that the syllabus of CSE is unlimited and anything can be asked under the sky. To some extent this is true but taking your eyes completely off the syllabus can prove to be fatal in long run and can cost you your resources, time, money and energy. Most of the aspirants start off without going through the syllabus prescribed by the UPSC and within no time finds themselves in no man's land.

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The Syllabus is the roadmap of preparation. It should be the Bible of any aspirant’s course of preparation for this highly coveted exam. Therefore, it needs to be followed and referred at every step of preparation.

2. NOT REFERRING PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS: If syllabus is the roadmap, referring previous years question papers are like indicators for the right turn at the right time during the journey of the CSE preparation which most of the students realize at a very later phase of the time.

Every step of preparation (unit/section/chapter) should be followed by instant reference of the questions asked in the recent years (both prelims and mains) pertaining to the respective article. This helps the aspirant to mould his/her preparation in accordance to the latest trends of the questions put up by the board.

3. COLLECTING BOOKS: Mukherjee Nagar & Old Rajinder Nagar are often termed as the 'Mecca and Medina' of UPSC preparation in India and the local markets of these UPSC hubs are flooded with various books of numerous authors and publications. However only handpicked books are genuinely relevant for effective preparation of the examination but due to incomplete knowledge of the UPSC CSE preparations most of the students end up pilling books after books in their room turning it into a junkyard instead of an ideal place of learning.

An aspirant should consult seniors who have cleared the examination (preferable), experienced mentors and genuine/reliable sources and then go for buying of resources and study material so that instead of becoming a 'waste' it turns into a proper 'invest'ment.

4. UNDER-ESTIMATING NCERT's: This is the most microscopic and grave mistake which is committed by almost huge majority of the competing crowd. Ignoring NCERT and directly jumping on a heavy weight book can be the 'beginning of the end' of your UPSC CSE preparation.

For example, if an aspirant directly starts up with D.D. Basu for Indian Polity and Constitution of India, he is bound to end up in a soup. Instead, it has to be steadily initiated with basic reference from 8-12 standard NCERT social science textbooks, a subject which is popularly termed as 'Civics'.

5.  LACK OF WRITING PRACTICE: The preliminary stage of the examination is not considered as selection criteria for enlisting the final merit list for service selection and cadre allocation. The Mains stage is the 'main' part of the whole selection process which does not only requires mere writing answers but the aspirant has to equip himself with a fluent flow of knowledge, facts, and wisdom in a very precise and skillful manner. Lack of writing skill, which aspirants find it to be the most difficult part to overcome, if not rectified within correct time, is a sure guarantee of failure.

To avoid this, writing practice on daily basis rigorously and religiously is a must. However, for real-time results, aspirants must stick to exam oriented writing instead of blogging which will definitely increase the typing skills instead of writing skills. 

6. ILLICIT MANNER OF CHOOSING OPTIONAL: Availability of the Books and study material in the market, ongoing marking and scoring trends of the subject, length and extend of the syllabus and last but not the least, overlapping with the general studies paper. These are the views and opinions which generally run around an aspirant’s mind while choosing an optional which at the end may cause utterly disastrous results.

'Interest' and 'inclination' towards the subject should be the core entities of thought process while choosing the optional. Have a look at the syllabus, go through the previous year’s question papers and most importantly if you can invest hours after hours with the subject without looking at the ticking clock, your inner conscious itself will give you the answer of UPSC CSE preparation's most important answer of 'choosing an optional'.

7. NOT UNDERSTANDING THE CRUX OF NEWSPAPER: Trying to go through multiple newspapers with an overview instead of creatively surfing anyone (Preferable: The Hindu/Indian Express). Collecting and relying on magazines for current affairs (Except The Yojana) as magazines can be a supplement to the newspaper but not a substitute for it. And not understanding 'how to read' and 'what to read' in a newspaper reap low yields in the long run.

Every newspaper has three components if viewed from examination point of view.

Events: This gives you facts. For example, Booker Prize of the year   

Issues: This provides you with views and reviews and helps to develop your individual understanding and opinion over various subjects conventional & contemporary. For example, Syrian War Crisis & Refugee Rehabilitation (IR), Naxalism and Insurgency in the North-East (Internal Security).

Gossips: Page 3.

In addition to this, the newspaper article can be categorized under various segments of news viz. International, India & the world, National, States, Business, Science & Technology, Defense, Space, Sports, persons in the news, prizes and awards and much more which will also enable an aspirant to frame well structured Essays (Paper I). Therefore, effective utilization of newspaper can provide soul to the whole body of an aspirant's UPSC CSE preparation subject to careful and persistent efforts.

8. NOT ANALYZING S.W.A.T.: In long run, students not only fail to maintain the tempo and enthusiasm but also often find themselves in the middle of unbalanced wrong directional preparation because they don't undergo the analysis of their strength and weakness as the nature and the requirement of the examinations demands high dynamism and adaptability from the candidates as every subject has to be approached in their own unique ways (For example, History & Geography).

Therefore, it becomes indispensable for an aspirant to consistently keep cross checking the progress and depressions, the grip over strong areas and loose fist over the weaker sections of the syllabus via. Regular mock tests and classroom test series from time to time.

9. TIME MISMANAGEMENT: Any ambition without a time frame is nothing more than a fantasy. Since aspirants invest years end to end for this prestigious examination time management and completing the targets within the stipulated time frame is one of the most essential necessities for clearing this examination which most of the students fail to cope up with due course of time. Time Management can act as a horse or a hurdle; it all depends on the rider (The Aspirant).

To cleverly clear up with this parameter, every aspirant should have a very sound difference between a task or a target which is 'URGENT' and 'IMPORTANT'. The day an aspirant realized the crystal clear difference between the two, it will eventually result in comfortable prioritizing of short-term tasks and targets to gain long term fruits and benefits.

10: AVOIDING CONSISTENT REVISION: The Secret of getting ahead is getting started. But the essence of relieving information on the examination day is to make a habit of retaining the information first. In simple words, students read, read and read but very often don't revise what they read which may result in poor information retention and to the point delivery of the facts and figures on the day of examination.

Revision is the key. There has to be a very well maintained cohesion between what you read and 'revise' what have you read till date. Video Lectures, Subject Audios and Group Discussions (Group Study) can prove to be a boon for an aspirant of UPSC CSE.

Therefore, by carefully following the above-discussed guidelines any aspirant irrespective of their academic background can realize their dream of making it the most Elite Services of the Country.