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(Getting Started) How To Study Maps for UPSC IAS Exams

(Getting Started) How To Study Maps for UPSC IAS Exams

Maps are an important part of your preparation for prelims as well as mains examination. Depending on your choice of optional, it may prove to be important there as well. Many aspirants feel burdened and distressed by the need to study maps. However, with the right strategy and understanding, it is not at all a difficult task.

  1. Start With The Neighbours

India is a large country with various physical and political boundaries within it. However, owing to our long coastline, we share borders with just a few countries. To not overwhelm yourself, start studying maps by studying the neighbors we have in each direction. Follow it up with the oceans on each side and the islands/land masses we have on those oceans.

  1. Latitudes and Longitudes

Check out which important lines pass through India and which of its states. Also, check out which lie in the tropics and subtropics. Questions are often framed from this area.

  1. States

Now look inwards. Check out all states and their neighbors. Know all the important cities of each state. Mark any city or town that has been in news recently. Know the industries each state holds. Also, note any international boundary a state may share with another country.

Download Maps PDF for UPSC Exams

  1. Rivers

Note down the important rivers in the country and which states they pass through. Know the main rivers and their tributaries. Also, have a basic understanding of water-sharing between states/with neighboring countries. Note down important dams and power generation bodies on rivers.

  1. Lakes

Lakes are important spots of biodiversity and integral to the environment section of your UPSC syllabus. Note famous lakes across the country and their features. 

  1. Mountains

India is bordered by the Himalayas in the North and has many more hills across the country. These are important from a security and environmental point of view. Know the highest peaks of every range, the flora, and fauna unique to them, tribes that might inhabit these ranges. Also, know the glaciers which are a source for perennial rivers.

  1. Natural Resources

India is rich in vegetation covers as well as minerals. Know the sites for different minerals and other excavations in the country and the ones off-shore. Note the different types of vegetation covers and the weather in those areas that give them their uniqueness.

  1. National Parks and Biospheres

These have become some favorite topics for UPSC to ask. Know all National parks in the country as well areas deemed protected under different environmental acts. Especially note those that have been in the news.

  1. World

Although UPSC focuses mainly on India, it is important to know the unique regions across the world such as deserts, biosphere hubs, unique rivers, etc.

  1. Places In News

And finally, keep an eye out for places that are mentioned in news articles, whether in India or around the world, as UPSC tends to frame questions from these sections. 

All these should cover your map preparation completely without anything left behind.

UPSC, IAS, Civil Services Exams - Printed Study Material

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Printed Study Material for UPSC IAS Exams

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(Getting Started) Strategy To Improve UPSC Mains Score by Chirag Jain (AIR-160)

(Getting Started) Strategy To Improve UPSC Mains Score by Chirag Jain (AIR-160)

Chirag Jain is one of the toppers of the prestigious UPSC Civil Services Examination of 2019. He is a  native of Bharatpur, Rajasthan, and a Mechanical Engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. 2019 was his 3rd attempt. To date, he has cleared all his upsc prelims attempts, and his mains two out of three times. He has also worked in Tata Motors, Pune before finally achieving his long set dream of becoming a Civil Servant. Currently, he is training as an Indian Police Service officer with the UP cadre.

Strategy For UPSC MAINS GS-I 

  • Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society

GS-I is very academic. Starting with culture, Chirag made study notes from Nitin Singhania. Notes for culture are not just factual like it is for prelims. Notes for Art and Culture in mains need to have examples and detailed stylistic discussions. For History, however, both prelims and mains require a similar level of in-depth note making. Chirag’s optional was Geography, so he didn’t have to study it separately for mains.

Strategy For UPSC MAINS GS-II and GS-III

  • Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations

  • Technology, Economic Development, Bio‐diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

Unlike the static nature of GS-I, GS-II and GS-III are not only very dynamic but also more vague and vast. So instead of diving in head-on, Chirag made notes as per the topics mentioned in the UPSC syllabus. The major focus was on current affairs as UPSC tends to push recent news items for this part of the syllabus. Other than that, questions are directly asked from topics mentioned in the syllabus. He referred to Vision IAS value-added study material. Mains-365 by Vision IAS helped in internal security and environment aspects.

Strategy For UPSC MAINS GS-IV

Chirag suggests going through topper’s answer scripts for Ethics. Pick up examples, diagrams, flowcharts, structure, presentation, etc. from them and use them in your answers. Chirag used the Lexicon to make topic-wise notes for the whole syllabus in just about 50 pages. He highly recommends it.

Ethics Notes Structure

Make an excel sheet. Make columns 

  • – 1st column should have the term, 
  • 2nd column will have the definition, 
  • 3rd column an international example, 
  • 4th column a national example, 
  • 5th column related personality, 
  • 6th and final column a quote.

Answer Writing

Chirag highly recommends joining a test series. The challenge in UPSC mains is completing a well-written paper within 3 hours. For this, you should have the structure and content so well grasped that you need not think about it in the exam hall. Joining a test series allows you to do just that. Revision is another important aspect of ensuring you can recall all relevant points during the exam.

Top Tip : UPSC-PNR

This is Chirag’s most important tip for IAS Aspirants. Start with researching all you can about the exam. Follow it up by going through UPSC Mains previous years’ questions to understand the pattern. Then look at the syllabus and memorize it to the best you can. Go through toppers’ copies to pick up writing tips. Take mock tests religiously. Make short and crisp notes, and finally revise as many times as you can.

Essay

Chirag missed out on his first and second attempts largely due to poor scores in the Essay paper. On analyzing, he realized he used to miss out due to a lack of depth and variety of dimensions in his essays. On this attempt he added more arguments and examples, leading to in-depth analysis which pushed his scores higher. Using anecdotes or real-life examples in introductions and conclusions also helps make interesting answers. Ensure your conclusion is optimistic and has a connection to your introduction.

Message To Aspirants

UPSC is unpredictable so it is a matter of patience and hard work. Keep your sources limited, revise as many times as you can, and keep practicing. 

Surely you will make it to the final list. 

Best of luck.

UPSC, IAS, Civil Services Exams - Printed Study Material

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

Printed Study Material for UPSC IAS Exams

Online Coaching for IAS PRELIMS Exam

(Getting Started) Strategy For UPSC Current Affairs Preparation by IAS Topper Priyank Kishore (AIR-61)

(Getting Started) Strategy For UPSC Current Affairs Preparation by IAS Topper Priyank Kishore (AIR-61)

Priyank Kishore has had the rare pleasure of making it to the final list of UPSC Civil Services Examination results, two years in a row. In his first attempt in 2018, he secured a rank of 274. He was undergoing training in Shimla as an IAAS officer when he received the good news of having cracked UPSC a second time with rank 61 in 2019. Priyank is a graduate from Ramdas College under Delhi University and holds a Postgraduate Degree in Economics.

Importance Of Current Affairs In UPSC

Over the past few years, current affairs have been given a lot of importance in UPSC, even more so in the prelims stage. However, UPSC maintains its trend of being unpredictable which means it is difficult to crack this portion of the paper by just reading monthly compilations. It is important to give it a little more time and effort.

How To Prepare Current Affairs For UPSC

Daily Newspapers

The most important step is to start reading the newspaper daily. However, you need to read it and not research each article in the news. You need not spend 2 or 3 hours each day just for news. Instead, try and read through it within 45 minutes to an hour. Do not debate which newspaper is better, or try to read more than one. Stick to either The Hindu or The Indian Express.

Current Affairs Compilations

In addition to reading the newspaper every day, Priyank also read the daily compilations. It acted as a mode of revision for him as well as a tool to make short digital notes. Moreover, although he did not rely on monthly magazines, he did use them as revision tools. Monthly magazines usually are compiled with a backlog of 10-15 days. Reading daily helped him avoid that.

UPSC Mains Specific Preparation

Although not a fan of compilations in general, Priyank did read the Mains365 compilation by Vision IAS between his prelims and mains. He also watched the show “The Big Picture” by RSTV for the 7 to 8 months before mains. He made very short notes from the show and tried to incorporate as much of the information he found relevant in his mains answers.

FAQs

Can we substitute newspaper-reading with compilations?

If you are in the initial phases of your preparation, newspaper reading is not only a source of current affairs but also a tool to improve your reading and comprehension skills, grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. So you mustn't remove it completely from your preparation.

How should we revise current affairs?

In his first attempt, Priyank had subscribed to test series which had revision tests scheduled regularly that helped him revise his current affairs. Thereon he got into the habit of revising his current affairs using the notes he made every 3 weeks. He highly recommends this method. Every 3 months, he would set aside a day to revise just the current affairs of the past few months. Revising the current affairs 3 to 4 times throughout the year is important.

Priyank wishes all aspirants the very best!

UPSC, IAS, Civil Services Exams - Printed Study Material

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

Printed Study Material for UPSC IAS Exams

Online Coaching for IAS PRELIMS Exam

(Getting Started) Last Few Months Preparation Strategy For UPSC Pre Exams

(Getting Started) Last Few Months Preparation Strategy For UPSC Pre Exams

Image result for upsc prelims beginners

With just a few months left for the UPSC Civil Services Prelims examination, aspirants are clamoring for last-minute preparation and prelims specific study plans. Many have been working on this exam for years, some for months, and there are still some who just started and hope to still get across the preliminary barrier. For all of you, here is a comprehensive plan to help you improve your chances of cracking prelims.

FEB-MARCH

Beginners

This is going to be hard. You are trying to cram in 12 to 24 months of preparation into 5 months. So brace yourself to work very hard and relentlessly. Start with NCERT Books for History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Society and Arts and Culture. Aim to complete the class 11 and 12 NCERTs. You do not have the time to delve deeper. Use the internet to look up concepts you are having difficulty grasping. There are roughly 20 books you need to finish up in a month.

NCERT Books Study Notes (Class-6 to 12, Old & New) for IAS, UPSC Exams

This has to be followed by completing the main sources for History and Polity. So do not do a deep dive at this point. Keep an hour aside to catch up on Current Affairs alongside this. Also, try to complete the current affairs for October 2020 to January 2021 in this window.

Experienced IAS Aspirants

It is revision time for those who have already been preparing for a while and now need to start with their prelims-centric revision. Start with revisiting the NCERTs or notes you may have made from them and with the aid of previous years’ questions, make separate notes for facts that are relevant precisely for your prelims preparation.

Now is also the right time to pay attention to the government schemes declared over the past year, alongside the budget and economic survey implications. Towards the end of March is also the right time to start taking upsc prelims based mock tests. Ensure you take at least 6 tests this month.

Image result for upsc books

Long List of Books To Cover

April-May

Beginners

Now that you have completed almost half the upsc syllabus, it is time to move on to completing the rest. Pick up Geography, Environment, Economics and the other elements still left. Go through the budget and economic survey presented. 

Finish up the current affairs for June to September of Last Year.

May is the ideal time to start taking mock tests as well. Do not get discouraged by your scores. Instead, use the mock questions to improve your knowledge. Pay attention to the last 10 years of prelims questions as well. Continue reading daily current affairs. Make sure you take at least 6 tests in May.

Serious Aspirants

Now is the time when your preparation becomes completely mock test centric. In these two months, you should complete at least 20 to 25 mock tests. Taking a test is not enough. Analyze your performance and look up answers you got wrong or questions you could not attempt. Make notes from these questions.

By May, yearly current affairs compilations should be out for your current affairs and you should start seriously completing them. There isn’t much to add to your knowledge anymore. Just keep taking tests, improving your elimination skills, and thus bettering your probable prelims scores.

June

Beginners

You have roughly 25 days before the examination. Utilize it to the fullest by taking at least 10 mock tests in exam settings. Try to solve another 15-20 test papers or at least going through the questions and solutions. Solve around 2 to 3 CSAT papers to ensure you qualify. Read up annual current affairs compilations and keep revising all the notes you have made. 

Make sure you relax your mind a day before the exam.

Experienced IAS Aspirants

You are done with your tests. You are done with accumulating new information or adding on. For the weeks preceding the exam you will simply revise your notes and brush up on any topic you feel less confident about. 

Try to relax before the exam date to better your performance.

Image result for upsc prelims beginners

Give it your best shot. 

With hard work and perseverance, you too can fulfill your IAS dream.

BEST OF LUCK.

UPSC, IAS, Civil Services Exams - Printed Study Material

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

Printed Study Material for UPSC IAS Exams

Online Coaching for IAS PRELIMS Exam

(Download) 2022 यूपीएससी आईएएस (प्री) सामान्य अध्ययन परीक्षा (पेपर-1) UPSC IAS HINDI PAPER General Studies Paper-1

IAS EXAM

(Download) 2022 यूपीएससी आईएएस (प्री) सामान्य अध्ययन परीक्षा (पेपर-1)
UPSC IAS HINDI PAPER General Studies Paper-1

परीक्षा का नाम: UPSC PRE 2022 आईएएस (प्री)

विषय(Subject) : सामान्य अध्ययन (पेपर -1) General Studies (GS) Paper -1

साल (Year) : 2022

UPSC PRE परीक्षा - G.S. Papers (HINDI Medium PDF)

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