IAS guidance

8/20/2019 IAS guidance

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By Lazylord

© IAS Kracker 2011. All Rights Reserv

Get Set Go IAS

Prepare for IAS the RIGHT


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Get Set Go IAS iaskracker.com

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While there are many IAS exam related sites and blogs out there this e-

book provides you tips to get an edge in your civil services preparation

over your competition. This e-book is not about the civil services

syllabus or examination plan but goes much beyond this. For thesyllabus and details of the IAS examination you can refer the UPSC

website itself. So I have covered these only in passing. Which begs the

question, what can you get from this e-book?

You will

Begin your preparation without any false starts and thus save

valuable time and effort Know exactly which books to refer for IAS

Select the right optionals within a short time

Save time and money by reading the right books and notes

Decide whether you require coaching and if you do then which

one

Learn how to read newspapers for current affairs and GK

Gain inspiration from success stories of previous IAS toppers

http://upsc.gov.in/http://upsc.gov.in/http://upsc.gov.in/http://upsc.gov.in/


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How to read this e-Book?

While the chapters are arranged logically and in sequence, articles that

are relevant from this e-Book’s point of view but which have been

published on IAS Kracker or some other site are not included here toavoid repetition.

Instead I have included them as links or under the tag of ‘Additional

Reading’ at the bottom of each page. I suggest you go through these

articles included under Additional Reading and even the other links as

they are there to provide you additional insight into your IAS

preparation. No doubt you will benefit tremendously if you read this

way.

Also at the end of this e-Book some bonus links are provided to free

study material, You Tube videos of past IAS toppers, interviews and the

like. Be sure to check them out!

Note: This eBook contains affiliate links to sites where you can purchase

IAS books online.

http://iaskracker.com/http://iaskracker.com/http://iaskracker.com/http://iaskracker.com/


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Contents

How to read this e-Book? ........................................................................ 2

What is the IAS? ...................................................................................... 5

The Civil Services Exam ........................................................................... 7

No Need to Fear CSAT ............................................................................. 9

Common Myths about the IAS Exam .................................................... 10

Is there an Ideal Time to Start with IAS Preparation? ........................... 14

Do You Need Coaching? ........................................................................ 17

Books to Refer for Prelims/CSAT ........................................................... 19

Books for CSAT Paper 2 .................................................................. 20

GS Syllabus and Question Papers: Your Best Guide for Prelims

Preparation ........................................................................................... 22

Getting started with Prelims Preparation: Routinize your day .............. 26

How to Read the Newspaper ................................................................ 32

Can I Prepare for Prelims in Just 4 Months? ......................................... 37

Prelims Quick Revision Tips ................................................................... 39

GK ...................................................................................................... 39

Geography ......................................................................................... 39

History ............................................................................................... 39

Science .............................................................................................. 39

Economy ............................................................................................ 39

How to score easy marks in IAS Prelims ................................................ 40

What score is enough to clear the Prelims? .......................................... 41

How to Select the Right Optionals for IAS ............................................. 42


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If They Could You Can Too – IAS Success Stories ................................... 50

Bonus Stuff! .......................................................................................... 53


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The roles that any IAS officer has to play are both multi-dimensional

and challenging. Consider this: As an IAS you are responsible for the

smooth functioning of an entire district, you have to respond to any

crisis situation that may arise unexpectedly; you have to ensureharmonious public order, have to liase with different stake holders,

have to deal with drought and other adverse agricultural situations, and

arrange for VIP visits and many more functions. How many people get

to enact so many roles at the same time? Only those who choose to

and have the mettle to realize their goal of cracking the civil services

test.

But the functions mentioned above are not the only one that you will

execute as an IAS officer. Rather these responsibilities will be entrusted

to you at the early stage of your career. As you progress in the civil

services ladder you will take on more specialized roles that are much

wider in scope. For instance, as the Secretary of a department in the

Union government you will oversee that department in all the states

from coordination and policy framework point of view.

Finally did you know that the head of the bureaucracy in India is also

one of the senior most and distinguished IAS officer? Yes, the Cabinet

Secretary is the highest post that you as an IAS can aspire for and for

the fortunate few, even experience it. Isn't this interesting?

Additional Reading:

Learn all about the IAS

http://hubpages.com/hub/Indian-Administrative-Service-IAShttp://hubpages.com/hub/Indian-Administrative-Service-IAShttp://hubpages.com/hub/Indian-Administrative-Service-IAS


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The Civil Services Exam

Now that you are clear about the duties of an IAS officer let's start

knowing how you can become one. The Indian Administrative Service

(IAS) is part of the Civil Services which also comprises of other high

profile services like the Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign

Service (IFS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Indian Railways Traffic

Service (IRTS), Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS), and many

more. The entrance test to these esteemed services is conducted by

the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), headquartered at

Shahjahan Road, New Delhi.

The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC once every

year and the entire exam cycle is approximately of one year duration.

Within this one year a civil services aspirant has to qualify three stages

of the examination to emerge successful: Preliminary, Mains, and

Interview.

To appear for the Civil Services Preliminary (CSP) exam (nowadays

called the CSAT, unofficially) you have to fill and send the CSP form to

UPSC within the stipulated date. The notification for the CSP exam

usually comes in the second fortnight of December and the

examination is conducted about five months later in May.

On qualifying the preliminary examination you need to appear for the

Mains examination held usually in the last week of October in the same

year and the duration of this exam is about 20-25 days. The results of

the Mains exam are declared in March and the personality test or

interviews begin in the same month itself and last for 35-40 days. The

final result which is based on your score in the Mains and the Interview


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test (the Preliminary test is only of qualifying nature and the marks

scored are not taken into consideration in the later stages) is declared

one or two weeks before the next Preliminary exam in May.

Additional Reading:

What is the IAS Exam?

http://hubpages.com/hub/IAS-Examhttp://hubpages.com/hub/IAS-Exam


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No Need to Fear CSAT

As you know optionals are out from 2011 Prelims/CSAT and GS has

been extended to paper 2 as well. But many IAS aspirants fear CSAT like

death incarnate! Why is it so? Some of the reasons are:

1. IAS aspirants have usually paid less attention to General Studies

paper of pre and relied heavily on optional paper to see them through

2. GS paper 2 has completely new topics like decision making, logical

reasoning, and comprehension

3. Confusion about the safe score to qualify CSAT

4. Heavy focus on mental ability in CSAT paper 2

But are these fears well founded? No. If you follow the steps detailed in

this e-Book to master the Prelims, CSAT will be fun to crack and not a

nightmare as at present. I will show how paper 2 can be turned into a

strength to score heavily instead of a being a bane.

Additional Reading:

The New CSAT Syllabus

How will the new Prelims/CSAT syllabus impact you?

http://iaskracker.com/new-ias-prelims-syllabus-for-2011-csat/http://iaskracker.com/new-ias-prelims-syllabus-for-2011-csat/http://hubpages.com/hub/Changed-IAS-Syllabus-from-2011-Prelims-or-CSAThttp://hubpages.com/hub/Changed-IAS-Syllabus-from-2011-Prelims-or-CSAThttp://hubpages.com/hub/Changed-IAS-Syllabus-from-2011-Prelims-or-CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/new-ias-prelims-syllabus-for-2011-csat/


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Common Myths about the IAS Exam

There are some myths associated with the Civil Services exam that need

to be exposed, tackled, and demolished before proceeding further as

these myths can become mental blocks for beginners and may even

cause a loss in self-confidence.

To clear the IAS you need to start preparing right from high school

Good they didn’t tell you to start preparing from kinder garden! While

the saying is true that “well begun is half done”, there is little truth in

the saying that only early beginners can clear the IAS exam. And how

early is another question. Even if you can start preparing right after

your graduation or post-graduation that is early enough. And even if

you can’t for some reasons, there are many success stories of those

who managed to crack the civil services in spite of starting after

crossing 28 Yrs. What matters is the will and commitment, rest all

things will fall into place. Just try. Did you know Mona Pruthi (2006 IAS

topper), Karthik Adapa (2008 IAS topper), and Shubhra Saxena (2009

topper) were all 30 yrs of age when they finally managed to crack the

IAS?

Only those who have been toppers throughout become IAS

Pooh. XYZ obtained the golden score of 40 percent in his graduation

and managed to appear for the civil services only because UPSC

requires a simple graduate in any discipline. Guess what he is today? A

2004 batch IPS officer. And he isn’t the only one, there are many out

there who have been quite average students in their school and college

life yet they have scaled the IAS peak. You can too.


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UPSC is biased against Literature or xyz subjects

Really? In reality all subjects are treated on an even keel by UPSC.

Although it’s true that some subjects find more favour in Mains for

some years before being replaced by some other optional, this is a cycle

that is ongoing and all subjects are covered over a period of time. In

fact, Literature Subjects like Pali, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, have become

quite popular and have been fetching good marks recently. Mona

Pruthi, 2006 topper took English Literature as one of her optionals so

why can’t you?

One should only select “scoring” subject s for Mains

Frankly speaking what’s scoring and what’s not is quite relative to the

person selecting an optional. People manage to score well with obscure

subjects like Veterinary Science or Urdu Literature. What matters is

your level of interest in a particular subject, some background in the

subject, and your grasp of the optional. A simple test to know whether

the subject is right for you or not is to ask yourself these questions:

a) Do you often fall asleep while reading xyz subject’s books?

b) Does it seem like too much hard work to study that subject?

c) Do you consciously or unconsciously try to avoid studying that

optional and instead do some other reading or work?

d) In spite of reading the same thing multiple times are you still

unable to comprehend it?

If this is the pattern you observe then that optional may not be right for

you even if it is generally considered “scoring”. Obviously the above

indicators should occur frequently for you to leave the optional for

some other. Once or twice or even occasionally is quite normal.


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Coaching is a must for any subject

No it’s not a compulsion and many people I personally know have never

taken any coaching and still managed to clear the civil services.

Remember, coaching is only a tool to keep you on course but you

yourself will have to sail through the waters. Yes, coaching can ease

your hard work somewhat by providing study materials and simplifying

concepts but in the end it’s what you make of the coaching you

received that matters. Just because you enroll in the most popular

coaching institute for a particular subject does not mean you have

become an IAS. You will need to strive on your own for that.

If I don’t clear in the first two attempts it will be too late

Did you know most people clear the civil services exam in their third or

fourth attempt? Most of the IAS toppers give their final attempt when

they manage to come out trumps. Mona Pruthi, Karthik Adapa, Shubhra

Saxena the list goes on. Civil services exam is like old wine. The number

of times you attempt it the better you get. So don’t worry about

attempts rather learn from your previous ones to do still better. Better

means better preparation, better answer writing, better perspective

and not just more hard work.

You need to study 18 hours every day to clear the IAS

Are you a machine? Can anyone realistically study that much every day

with full concentration and still be able to comprehend what he or shehas studied? I don’t think so. What matters is not the quantity but the

quality of your preparation. Even if you somehow manage to study “18

hours” for two or three days your output will fall to three to four hours

on subsequent days. So instead of such inconsistent ouput you should


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go for uniform study every day. Once your mind and body can take no

more, stop. Refresh yourself and continue the battle the next day. I for

one studied 10-12 hours daily and managed to clear the Prelims in 10

months’ time. Even you can.


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Is there an Ideal Time to Start with IAS Preparation?

This is a common question and a good start for our IAS journey. When

should you start your preparation? After high school, junior college,

graduation, post-graduation or after gaining some work experience?

Although there isn’t a single start time for all, the earlier you start the

smoother your path will become when you give your first civil services

attempt. In fact if you start preparing early you will be more confident

to attempt the IAS exam after a year of serious preparation. Otherwise

you might unnecessarily procrastinate for some years before finallytaking the plunge.

Obviously you don't have to select your optionals after high school. Not

yet. Just start reading some general knowledge magazines like Frontline

or Civil Services Chronicle or Pratiyogita Darpan and a good newspaper

like The Hindu or Indian Express. If you are sure that you want to

become a civil servant before beginning your graduation then you can

opt for a subject that excites you and which you plan to take up for the

IAS exam.

If you can select both optionals right at the graduation stage it will be

an added bonus but selecting even one optional will do. If you plan to

pursue your masters before attempting the IAS exam then be sure you

select a subject that you can opt for in the civil services. This way you

will have only one subject to study from scratch for the IAS.

But even if you graduated and/or did masters in some totally unrelated

subject to the optionals you’ve selected or plan to take up in the IAS

exam then fret not as you are in good company.


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Many IAS toppers did the same but still managed to master two

completely new subjects in a short period. This is the beauty of the IAS

exam. Even I selected Sociology and Public Administration (Pub Ad)

while graduating in Electronics and Telecom.


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Assuming that you are completely new to IAS preparation, how do you

start out, which magazines and books to read, for how many hours?

These and others are the common questions asked by IAS freshers who

are taken back by the complexity of this multi-layered but fascinatingexam.

The generally accepted civil services preparation calendar runs from

June to May. That is, freshers and veterans start their preparation from

the first week of June. But let's focus on the IAS freshers exclusively for

the time being. If for example you’re planning to attempt the 2012

Prelims, I suggest you start preparation from January 2011 itself instead

of waiting till June of 2011. This will enable you to cover the CSAT/Pre

syllabus comprehensively as well as allow sufficient time to cover one

mains optional before December end.

Keep the following reference books and newspapers in hand while

preparing for the IAS prelims:

Civil Services Syllabus covering the Pre and Mains syllabus entirely

Subscribe to a good English newspaper like The Hindu or a good

regional language newspaper

The past 10 years Prelims section-wise question paper set from

Arihant's or New Vishal

These three materials should become your best companions for the

complete duration of your civils preparation.


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Do You Need Coaching?

This is the most common question asked by IAS aspirants and quite

important one too. Let me say this again. It depends. Depends on your

knowledge of the subject, confidence, study material, and time

available. Let’s take it one by one.

Knowledge of the subject: If GS is completely new to you then you

need some guidance to get started. But General Studies is quite vast

and obviously you will know at least something, at least some

knowledge of the current events. But something or the bare minimumis not enough to get going so you may opt for coaching if you feel you

need to get on pace quickly.

Availability of study materials: Sometimes it so happens that we don’t

possess the required books and notes for Prelims preparation. For

instance mental ability has been expanded in Paper 2 and many new

topics like Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, and Data

Interpretation have been added. Now if you don’t have the required

material for it like the Crack CSAT book by Disha or Cracking CSAT by

Arihant then you won’t know how to tackle the paper 2 related

questions. Or it could so happen that even books or notes on mental

ability are insufficient as you have a non-science background. In that

case some assistance to tackle the math-based questions may be

required.

Time: As they say time is the deciding factor in almost all aspects of IAS

preparation or any examination for that matter. If you have only little

time left before the Prelims, say 3 or 4 months, and you haven’t


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covered enough portion of the syllabus then you may need to enroll for

a crash course to cover the scoring parts in quick time.

Finally, let’s talk about confidence. This is a crucial factor in the IAS

exam. So many people, in spite of possessing good knowledge of GS,

keep postponing their first attempt year after year just because they

lack confidence in their ability, preparation or both, while others

genuinely feel less confident about the Prelims owing to lack of

preparation. If you’re in the latter bracket you could consider coaching

to boost your preparation but if you’re in the former then stop

procrastinating and attempt the Prelims. It’s not that scary.

Additional Reading:

Which Coaching Class to Join?


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Books to Refer for Prelims/CSAT

Obviously you will need books to read for Prelims. This is the most

definitive list of CSAT/Prelims books you need to refer. Nothing more,

nothing less.

Past 10 year’s Solved Papers and the IAS syllabus are a must.

Refer to the chapter on preparing for Prelims using these two

guide books to understand their relevance.

Current Affairs:

Manorama Year Book, not just for current affairs but a very good

source for general knowledge as well

The Hindu newspaper and/or The Indian Express

A good magazine like Civil Services Chronicle or Pratiyogita

Darpan or Wizard in that order of preference

Indian Polity:

Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap

Bare constitution (containing just the Articles and Amendments)

by P.M Bakshi

Indian History:

NCERT Books. Class VIII to X

India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra Spectrum's Brief History of Modern India (useful if you are short

of time)

Geography:

http://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapers-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapers-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapers-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Manorama-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Manorama-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/BipinChandra-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/BipinChandra-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Spectrum-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Spectrum-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Spectrum-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Spectrum-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/BipinChandra-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/PmBakshi-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Manorama-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapers-gsgias


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NCERT Books. Class XI and XII

Oxford Student Atlas for Map based questions

Certificate Course in Physical Geography by Goh Cheng Leong

Indian Economy:

Economic Survey that comes just before the annual budget. (Also

very useful for Mains)

Spectrum's Indian Economy or Vajiram Notes for fundamentals

General Science:

NCERT text books. Class IX and X

General Studies Manual:

A good manual for paper 1 of CSAT/Prelims. I recommend the

highly popular GS Manual by Tata McGraw Hill (TMH). Another

good choice is the CSAT Manual by Pearson covering both the

papers.

Books for CSAT Paper 2

Fortunately IAS Prelims paper 2 requires far less books compared to

Paper 1. Here I list all the popular books for CSAT Paper 2. Remember,

you don’t need to refer all of them and different people will like

different books so I have listed more than one book.

Crack CSAT 2011

Crack CSAT by Disha is quite a useful book for IAS paper 2 as I have

mentioned in this post. Not as popular as Unique Publication’s book for

CSAT but equally effective, nonetheless.

http://iaskracker.com/recommends/OxfordStudentAtlas-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/OxfordStudentAtlas-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/GohChengLeong-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/GohChengLeong-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/EconomicSurvey-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/EconomicSurvey-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/TMH_GS_Manual-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/TMH_GS_Manual-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/TMH_GS_Manual-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/Pearson/CSATManual-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/Pearson/CSATManual-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/Pearson/CSATManual-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/CrackCSAThttp://iaskracker.com/CrackCSAThttp://iaskracker.com/new-book-for-csat-paper-2-available/http://iaskracker.com/new-book-for-csat-paper-2-available/http://iaskracker.com/new-book-for-csat-paper-2-available/http://iaskracker.com/new-book-for-csat-paper-2-available/http://iaskracker.com/CrackCSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Pearson/CSATManual-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/TMH_GS_Manual-gsgiashttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/EconomicSurvey-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/GohChengLeong-gsghttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/OxfordStudentAtlas-gsg


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CSAT Paper 2 by Unique

By far the most popular book for CSAT, Unique Publication has come

out with a comprehensive book for Paper 2 covering all the topics in

the 2nd paper. Something about Unique Publications. Although it’s not

as popular as TMH but its books are trusted by many IAS aspirants for

the comprehensive and correct approach to any subject. And CSAT

Paper 2 is no exception to this.

Cracking CSAT by Arihant Publications

This is another good book for Paper 2 by Arihant Publications. Although

it has been released quite late in the market I feel it is no less useful

than the books listed above. The plus points of this guide for CSAT

paper 2 are:

It claims to be the only book to cover the CSAT Paper 2 completely

There are many sample questions for understanding and many

practice questions

Difficult concepts are explained quite well to a beginner with non-

Science background

Decision making, interpersonal skills, comprehension are alsocovered

Although there are minor grammatical errors in some sections I feel,

overall, Cracking CSAT by Arihant will add value to your CSAT

preparation.

Apart from these books keep your eyes open to news happenings

around you as UPSC asks not just the latest current affairs events buteven those two to three years back.

Recommended Reading:

Detailed Review of All Books for CSAT

http://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/books-for-csathttp://iaskracker.com/books-for-csathttp://iaskracker.com/books-for-csathttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/Arihant/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAThttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/Unique/CSAT


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GS Syllabus and Question Papers: Your Best Guide for Prelims

Preparation

Image source: Wikipedia

Prelims preparation requires smart hard work as you must be aware by

now. One of the first steps in your CSAT preparation is to develop a

daily routine. Once you start your Prelims preparation, keep the past

five year’s General studies question papers and GS syllabus with you

whenever you are preparing for the Prelims.

After selecting a topic to study from the GS Syllabus, go through the

past five year’s questions from that topic before you read the topic.

Once you do this, then read or more correctly, study that topic. Now

you will encounter answers to the questions you just went through and

pronto, you know that this part is important and requires extra

attention. But wait, there’s more.

http://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/http://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/http://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/http://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/http://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapershttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapershttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapershttp://iaskracker.com/recommends/SolvedPapershttp://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/http://iaskracker.com/getting-started-with-prelims-preparation-routinize-your-day/


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Whenever you finish a section, again refer to the past year’s questions

to see how many can you answer correctly. If you found some

questions that weren’t covered in your first reading go through the

material again or even refer additional sources so that all questions arecovered.

Let me give you an example.

Suppose you’re studying the Fundamental Rights part of Indian Polity

(BTW get Subhash Kashyap’s Our Constitution and P.M Bakshi’s

book for all the Articles as I mentioned in my post on IAS Books) for GS

Paper 1, first go through the past five year’s questions on FundamentalRights from a good section-wise handbook like Disha or Arihant (they

have the most authentic answers); then go through the Fundamental

Rights part.

After you’ve gone through the relevant articles, you should test

yourself against the previous five year’s papers on Indian Polity and see

how you performed. If you could answer all the questions correctly,

you’ve covered Fundamental Rights part quite thoroughly.

But if you couldn’t, no need to fret. Just see which questions you had

some idea about but weren’t sure about the answer and which ones

were completely new to you and had not encountered while reading

the articles on Fundamental Rights. Now go back to your source and

read again covering the points that you may have skipped earlier. If the

material doesn’t cover it, refer additional books or notes so that you’re

comfortable in answering all the past five year’s questions on

Fundamental Rights.

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Benefits of this Approach

Continuous Tracking: These two reference books, the GS Syllabus

and Question Papers, can lessen your workload considerably in the long

run and enables you to track your Prelims preparation very effectively.

Suppose you were preparing Physical Geography from the Oxford

Student Atlas (Again the best one for reasons mentioned in Books for

CSAT), you can track how well you have covered the map-based

questions just after you started going through the Atlas instead of

leaving it till the end of February or March which might be just too late

for course correction.

Test Yourself : Suppose you don’t have time left to enroll for Prelims or

CSAT test series, because you have been solving the previous year’s

section-wise questions all year through you won’t feel uncertain about

your preparation level. Instead you will feel confident about attempting

the IAS Prelims even without the help of any test series. So you save

some money for other important stuff related to the civil services, right

Anil?

Save Precious Time: Let’s consider a scenario. You’re covering Modern

India from Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence and adopt

a ‘read all strategy’. What is this strategy? Well, simply reading a book

from the first page to last without bothering to find out the more

important topics or chapters from the lesser ones. Also not testing

yourself mid-way is included within this. Suppose you take 20 days tocover the book and then after some months you decide to solve some

questions related to Modern History but you realize that many of the

questions are completely new, the matter for which you never

encountered while reading the History material. You panic. It not only

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spoils your strategy but dents your confidence as well. On the other

hand, adopting the above approach admittedly requires more effort

but is far more useful for your Prelims preparation in the long run.

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Getting started with Prelims Preparation: Routinize your day

Yes I hate routine as much as you do but sometimes a little routine and

regimen can do wonders to your Prelims preparation. As you must be

aware the Prelims is a 10-12 months affair and long-term affairs need

some amount of loyalty as well. Right? Well then let’s learn how we can

schedule our day for maximal benefit in some simple steps.

Step 1: Determine the average time you study daily

To do this simple observe the time you studied in a week and divide

that by 7. If you devote 5 or 6 days a week to IAS prep then divide by 5

or 6 as the case may be. You should have an exact or approximatefigure like 10 hours or 10-12 hours every day.

Step 2: Determine the number of subjects to study daily

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I know there are only two papers in the Pre but within each of them

there are so many to cover like History, Geography, and Mental Ability

etc. Now I am sure you can’t study all of them in one day even if you

devote only a small amount of time to each. Some people try this but Idon’t think it’s a wise idea to go for ‘study all’ approach. Rather you

should take up two or three subjects at most on a daily basis, finish it

completely or at least a major portion of it and then switch to different

ones. This is essential as finishing a subject in full will give you

confidence in your preparation, will enable you to tackle all the

questions in a particular section completely, and help you to keep track

of your progress more effectively. Remember, reading newspapers orwatching news programmes is not included within this.

Step 3: Divide time between the different subjects

Till last year when you had study one optional subject, I used to devote

about 70-85% time to the optional and rest to some section of GS.

Obviously I read newspapers on a daily basis and didn’t count it within

this time split. But now that both papers are GS based you might pick

up one subject each from Paper 1 and 2 or go with both subjects from

the same paper or one from P1 or P2 and two from P2 or P1

respectively. After you’ve done this, divide the total time that you

determined in Step 1 between the subjects you will be studying daily.

How to do this?

While there is no one best method of doing this a simple way is to

devote more time to that subject or section that you find a) more

difficult b) carries more weightage in terms of number of questions

asked c) has many topics to cover, that is, is pretty vast d) quite new as

you’ve just started with it.


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subject as quickly as possible and effective scheduling is a good

way to do this.

Build up stamina to devote long hours of study: If you thought

only running and other physical activities required stamina, thinkagain. Mental work is also included within the ambit of stamina.

In fact if you’re mentally not up to the task of devoting 8-12 hours

daily to your preparation, then other things are of no use. When

you devote a consistent time and effort to a particular subject

then you not only gain mastery in it but also develop immunity to

boredom resulting from studying a topic for long hours.

Prepare yourself for Mains more effectively: In the mains as you

have to cover each optional thoroughly you’ll need to devote long

hours and even days on end to just one subject. This will require

prior practice as you could easily lose focus and indulge in time

wasting tactics if you are bored of a particular topic or subject.

But by devoting long hours to a single subject during your Prelims

preparation itself, you’re indirectly preparing for the Mains as

well. And the benefit of this approach will be quite visible during

the Mains.

Cover the scoring sections early: The Prelims is such that some

sections like Indian Polity are easy to score off. And the right way

to crack Prelims easily is to cover most or some subjects entirely

than covering something of everything. When you consistently

devote X number of hours to a topic over a period of time, you

secure Y number of marks from it beforehand and this is

invaluable.


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I am also aware that some people like to divide time in terms of days

and not hours. For instance, you might study History for two days and

Geography for one day. Even this approach is fine as long as you’re

sticking to your schedule to reap the benefits discussed above.


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How to Read the Newspaper

Many IAS aspirants stumble in this enjoyable activity of reading the

newspaper. The best way to read the newspaper is to enjoy it just like

you would enjoy reading a novel or magazine.

Reading a newspaper for civil services preparation should never be a

chore; a mundane task that has to be done just because everyone is

doing it. If you read the newspaper with this outlook let me tell you will

forget more than you grasp and waste valuable time to an activity that

shouldn’t take more than one hour every day.

For reference purpose I will consider The Hindu, the most

recommended newspaper for English medium aspirants.

The Hindu or any newspaper for that matter can help you achieve four

things:

Update your current affairs knowledge

Build up your GK

Prepare for map-based questions

Prepare for Prelims and Mains simultaneously

For current affairs

Keep track of all major national and international events by reading the

front page, national pages, editorial page, international events page,

and sports page.

You can skip the local news section as this is irrelevant from the IAS

exam viewpoint.


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To keep track of the current events maintain a daily notebook divided

either month wise and/or section-wise. Regularly list the important

events in one or two sentences in this book. For instance, following the

Tsunami in Japan there was damage to the Fukushima nuclear reactor.So make a note of not just the Tsunami, earthquake magnitude but

even the reactor and its location for Map-based questions.

Similarly when it comes to the sports sections try to follow all the major

national and international events, major achievements of Indians in

various sports and not just cricket, our national past time.

It’s important to remember that in sports questions UPSC asks not justwon but won against whom as well. For example it’s not uncommon to

find questions about the finalists or runner’s up in major Tennis events.

Keep this in mind.

A trend noticed in the past few years is that questions on events that

occurred in the last 15-18 months are also being asked. Previously it

was enough to focus on the last 6 months happenings but not any

longer. Now you should also know the major happenings of past 18

months to score well in the current affairs questions. UPSC is one step

ahead of coaching institutes; learn to be in step.

For GK

Take a look at this article from Hindu. It’s important not just from

current events viewpoint but from GK perspective as well. For GK youshould maintain a separate notebook or diary.


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This article is about the nuclear scare in Japan following a massive

earthquake and resultant tsunami. It’s important not just from current

affairs view point but GK as well. The red line indicates that Chernobyl

nuclear disaster was the worst followed by Fukushima.

The blue line indicates the current interest in Wikileaks whereas Indo-

US nuclear deal is important both from current affairs as well as GK

perspective.


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Now take a look at this sports report. The highlighted parts are

important from current affairs as well as GK perspective.

Now you know to build up your knowledge base newspapers are as

important as Year Book’s and Encyclopedia’s.

Tackle map-based questions

Did you know that not all map-based questions are randomly asked?

Some are related to places in news. For instance some question on

Libya’s location or Japan’s island where Fukushima is located could be

asked. Whenever you prepare geography from Oxford atlas make sure

you prepare with this perspective in mind.

Prepare for mains as well


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Just because you’re preparing for Prelims doesn’t mean you can’t

prepare for mains at the same time. In fact doing precisely this will

prove quite beneficial during mains. This is where editorials come

handy. Editorials, especially those of The Hindu seem quiteoverwhelming to grasp at first. This is understandable as editorial

articles are about events that have become popular now or in the past.

So if you don’t know about such events or the debate surrounding

them you will find editorials quite difficult to understand.

Let me tell the simplest way to understand an editorial is to just read it

without bothering about familiarity with the article theme. Once you’ve

developed the knack of reading editorials you’ll start to follow and

understand that is written in them.


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Can I Prepare for Prelims in Just 4 Months?

Let’s see just 4 months remaining for Prelims…Yes you can! But as with

all good things in life there are some conditions attached. Let’s see

what these are:

You’ve covered a major part of either Paper 1 or 2

As from 2011 Prelims both papers carry equal marks and we know that

to clear the IAS Prelims, average score of both papers are considered

you will need to score well in at least one of the two papers. Suppose

you are well prepared to score at least 130 marks in Paper 1 then even

50-60 marks in Paper 2 can see you through.

You have impressive general awareness, knowledge of current events,

good English language and mental ability skills

This much can also see you past the Prelims qualifying mark as general

knowledge + current affairs questions can fetch between 50-60 marks

and English language, passage + mental ability questions can fetch

another 100-130 marks. Obviously if you get just 50 in Prelims paper 1and 60 in Paper 2 from these sections then you still require another 40-

50 marks from other sections.

You’ve appeared for MBA entrance tests and are comfortable with

paper 2 syllabus

One look at the new syllabus for Prelims and you’ll realize the similarity

between Paper 2 syllabus and syllabus for Common Entrance Tests(CET) for MBA courses. If you’ve already prepared for mental ability,

logical reasoning, decision analysis, English language skills for MBA then

paper 2 should be your strength. I will suggest that with just four

months remaining you should focus on current affairs, polity, maps, and

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general awareness in paper 1 as these take less time and can be

prepared in 4 months’ time.

You’ve cleared the IAS Prelims before

This is again an important factor to know if you can prepare for the IAS

Prelims in just 4 months’ time. Why I say this is that having cleared the

Prelims earlier you know exactly how to prepare for Paper 1 in the

shortest period. Also you are relatively more confident than someone

giving his or her first attempt. You can then focus on the new areas in

paper 2.

If you think you fit into any one or more than one criteria listed above,

then surely preparing for the Prelims in just 4 or 3 months’ time will not

be an issue for you. Get going!


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Prelims Quick Revision Tips

Here’s a quick revision checklist for Prelims that will be very useful to

you.

Current Affairs: The last 18 months current affairs. Do a quick scan of

India Year Book’s latest events section at the end. New Vishal’s Current

Affairs is recommended. It’s short and to the point.

GK: Manorama Year Book’s GK section at the end, especially,

Presidents, Speakers, PMs, etc. Also brush up the award winners.

Geography: Concentrate on the maps. India, neighbouring countries.Focus on places that were in news recently. Brush up earthquake and

volcano facts too.

History: Focus on modern India. All Congress sessions and Presidents,

RTCs, different movements etc.

Science: Application based. More focus on common sense than

mugging up conventional stuff. Have a keen eye and observe theappliances, happenings around. Do you know what’s a 5-star rating AC,

how is swine flu caused, difference between DC and AC motor?

Economy: Look up the tables in Economic Survey, particularly,

Agriculture production, principal crops, exports, imports, chief trading

partners, telecom density, GDP, agri growth of the last few years,

electricity generation. Also brush up inflation basics.

All important infrastructure pro jects in North East and India’s help in

Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar. The Hindu’s annual supplement that

comes in January every year is useful for current affairs recap.


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How to score easy marks in IAS Prelims

To secure some easy marks in the CSAT exam you need to first identify

the scoring areas. This is even more important considering the fact that

the optional paper is no longer around to fetch you easy marks.

Maps (10-15 questions)

Polity (10-15 questions)

Current events (15-20 questions)

GK (15-30 questions)

English comprehension (8-12 questions)

Passage (5-10 questions) Statistical analysis (5-10 questions)

Simply by focusing on these sections you can secure around 80-90

marks. Cracking the prelims is so much easier then!

For polity refer a good book with the bare articles and amendments. I

recommend the crisp and to the point Constitution of India by P.M

Bakshi.


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How to Select the Right Optionals for IAS

Strictly speaking, selection of optionals is out of the purview of this e-

Book but since many IAS aspirants prepare for the Mains along with the

Prelims, I thought I should include something valuable to help you to

select the right optionals for Mains.

But what does the Right Optional for IAS mean?

I am sure it means differently to different people but what does it mean

to you:

A scoring optional?

The most popular optional?

Easy to understand or which you find interesting?

Subject with easy availability of study materials like books and

notes?

Optional for which one ‘best’ coaching is available?

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This gives you some idea about the ‘popular optionals for IAS’. But why

are these optionals so popular while the rest aren’t so popular? Here

are some reasons:

Subjects like Pub Ad and Geog have definite syllabus and Pub Ad

has quite limited syllabus especially for P2 so you can cover it

within 5 months or so.

You require limited coaching for Pub Ad as most of the syllabus

involves self-study.

The History optional for IAS is quite popular simply because there

are so many History post graduates and even graduates with

history as a subject. Also we all studied History as part of our

school curriculum and most of us found it interesting and some,

even scoring.

Geography is a semi-scientific subjects and a favourite among

Engineers and Doctors for its laws, principles, and map-based

questions. No wonder so many IAS aspirants opt for it.

Sociology is easy to understand and very interesting as the topicscovered concern the very society we are a part of.

Psychology has pulled, I feel, simply because it is a combination of

all the above attributes and also due to the fact that it is probably

the only optional where only one name prevails for coaching:

Mukul Pathak of Vajiram.

With this we come to another related question, are all popular

optionals scoring or to put it another way are the not-so-

popular optionals for IAS not scoring as well?


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Let me put it bluntly. Popularity has actually got nothing to do with the

scoring potential of an optional. If you want proof, read on. Shah Faesal

topped the 2010 IAS exam with Urdu Litt. as one of the optionals,

second being Pub Ad. Mona Pruthi, the 2006 IAS topper chose EnglishLitt. and Sociology. Mutyala Raju, the 2007 topper took Electrical

Engineering and Mathematics. Karthik Adapa aced the 2008 IAS exam

with Zoology and Psychology.

What’s common to all these IAS toppers? Except one, all opted for one

non-popular optional. And let me also mention that if you read their

interviews they chose the optionals based on their interest and

background and not because they were scoring or popular.

The fact that they have scored well in both the optionals (that’s why

they topped) and not just the popular ones proves that all subjects are

equally scoring.

So choosing an optional based only on the scoring criteria is incorrect.

So how about the coaching criteria?

Before deciding to select an optional on the basis of the coaching

available first determine whether you require coaching in the first

place? You must’ve realized this can only be determined after you’ve

selected an optional, not before it. So I feel selecting an optional simply

on the basis of the coaching available is like saying ” I can never clear

the Civil Services exam without coaching”. And once you becomecompletely dependent on coaching then good luck to you as I have

already written in my Mains 2010 GS analysis how unpredictable the

IAS exam is becoming not just for you but the most well-known

coaching classes as well.

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Of course, it does help if there is good coaching available for the IAS

optionals you’ve already selected.

Choosing an optional with some previous background

Many people who’ve graduated or done Masters in some subject opt

for it in the CSE. This is really helpful as you’re already familiar with the

subject and will need to study just one subject from scratch. This is

where graduation in humanities really helps as the most popular IAS

optionals listed above are included within the “Arts” subjects. So if

you’re pursuing graduation or masters in any of the Arts subjects and

plan to take it up in the IAS mains, make sure you pursue it seriouslyand focus more on the syllabus common to your degree as well as the

IAS Mains.

This point again proves that previous base and interest are more

important factors in selecting the right optional for IAS than merely

popularity or scoring potential. People who have opted for the most

obscure subjects like Literature, Veterinary Science, and Mathematics

have scored heavily in the Mains simply because they were so much in

love with their optionals.

I had the good fortune of having a chat with the 2008 IAS topper

Karthik Adapa when we had enrolled for mock interview at Vajiram. He

was already in the IPS that time and I asked him about the reason for

choosing Psychology and he said he simply loved Psychology, that’s

why. Nothing about the score or popularity.

Some thumb rules for selecting the right optional for IAS


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Simply go through the above thumb rules again and try reading

something from the basic books of the optional you plan to take up. If

you feel you can cope up with the subject then go for it otherwise try

another one.

Which optional should I opt along with xyz?

Unfortunately UPSC disallows us from selecting similar subjects. Some

of the subject combinations that you cannot take up are:

Pub Ad and Pol Sc

Geography and Geology

Pub Ad and Management

Two Literature subjects

Sociology and Anthropology

If you’ve already selected one of the two optionals for IAS, good. I am

sure there will be one more subject that will appeal to you. Go for that

one. Don’t worry about the complimentary aspect. The optionals need

not be complimentary for you to crack this exam.

Suggest some optionals that will be useful from GS Mains point of view

Again this is for reference purpose only. Actually every optional in some

way or the other contributes towards the GS or Essay preparation.

Pol Sc. covers polity and India and the world part

Pub Ad covers polity and governance part

History covers the history part

Mathematics covers Statistics. Ditto for Statistics optional

Geography covers GS geography, climate change, environment

and other related sections


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Law also covers polity

Economics covers the Economy part of GS mains

Socio covers questions on social issues as well as one Essay option

Some popular combinations of IAS optionals

This is just for your knowledge. Nowhere am I suggesting you take up

the same otherwise what I said above would be idiotic.

Sociology and Psychology

History and geography

Socio and Pub Ad

Socio/History/Psycho/Geog and Pali Litt.

Pub Ad and Psycho

Pub Ad and Geography

Pub Ad and History

To summarize, any optional that you find interesting, stimulating, fun to

learn is right for you. Don’t worry about popularity or scoring potential.

Both are just an indicator. Every optional is equally scoring providedyou have mastered the syllabus and the answer writing aspect. I hope

this section helped selecting the right optionals for IAS a much easier

task.


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If They Could You Can Too – IAS Success Stories

If you thought your conditions were adverse, that you didn’t have

enough time, there were additional responsibilities, or lack of resources

that are an impediment in your IAS success, think again. I present here

different success stories of people just like you and me who despite all

odds managed to fulfill their cherished dream of becoming an IAS. Get

inspired!

Hearing impaired, so what?

People like Maniram Sharma are used to disillusionments in life. After

all how could a deaf candidate whose parents were farm labourers in a

remote village in Alwar, Rajasthan dream of becoming an IAS? But he

did precisely this and fought for 15 long years to make his dream come

true.

Since appearing for the civil services examination in 1995 and again in

2005, 2006, and 2009, he faced many nature gifted and man-madehurdles. Since he was completely hearing impaired, he was told

couldn’t be allotted the IAS but only the Posts and Telegraph Service.

However, not to be outdone by adversity Maniram underwent a

cochlear implant costing Rs 7.5 lacs and gained enough hearing to

appear for the oral interview and scored the highest in the hearing-

impaired category.

His persistence finally bore fruit when he was allotted the IAS in 2009

after a 15-year battle for justice.


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From waiter to IAS – Never say never again

Till 2000, K Jayaganesh didn’t know what the civil services were. After

all, coming from a small village in Tamil Nadu where no one had studied

past 10th standard, becoming an Engineer was in itself a big

achievement.

But the IAS bug did bite Jayaganesh slowly and surely. In spite of failing

to make it past the interview stage in his previous 6 attempts,

Jayaganesh was determined to give his best in his final 7th

attempt.

This despite the fact that he couldn’t afford any coaching nor even

receive the right guidance from any mentor. He also didn’t let his

previous disappointments in the Prelims stage itself affect his morale.

To realize his cherished dream he worked odd jobs as a waiter and

billing clerk in Chennai just to stay focused on his goal of making it to

the list of successful candidates.

And in the summer of 2008 the IAS light did shine upon him when he

secured the 156th

rank to make it to the IAS in the backward community

category. To his success then.

From rolling bidis to the IAS, what a journey!

Coming from the under-developed Wanjari community in Gondia

district of Maharashtra, Dhananjay Wanjari helped the only bread-

winner of his family, his mother, roll bidis to supplement the meager

family income.

But he was ambitious. And determined. So determined that he stood

first in his class and went on to become a lecturer in a Mumbai college.

But his ambitions didn’t stop there.


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He pursued his IAS dream and managed to achieve it at the young age

of 22 years to become the youngest IAS aspirant to clear the civil

services exam in .

Women power, they’re here to stay!

There was a time when women civil servants were rare to find. Not any

longer. According to The Hindu out of the total 4572 IAS officers all over

India (as on January 1, 2009), 604 are women (Just 13.72 per cent). Of

course this number is still on the lower side, however, this is no mean

achievement given the fact that they have to generally strive harder,

fight more battles, and need to prove their worth more than their malecounterparts.

In 2009 all the top three ranks in the civil services exam were secured

by women. Shubhra Saxena was the IAS topper followed by Sharandeep

Kaur Brar from Punjab and Kiran Kaushal came third. What’s more,

Kiran was the topper among Hindi medium candidates. This proves

language is not an obstacle in the IAS exam.


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Bonus Stuff!

That you’ve read this far implies you’re really passionate about cracking

the IAS. Just for this you deserve some bonus. And as they say, save the

best for the last. Here you’ll find links to free notes, videos of interviewsof past toppers, and other material that will add value to your Prelims

preparation.

All NCERT Books from Class I to XII

Free Study Material

Another Site for Free IAS Materials

Video: Success in First Attempt

Video: Inspirational Speech by Shah Faezal, 2010 Topper

IPS Exam Eligibility

IAS Exams Interview Questions and Tips

Fun Quizzes for IAS Exam

Remember to follow IAS Kracker on Twitter and Facebook for regular

tips on IAS preparation. See you at the top!

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