Sunday 16 June 2013

Book List for General Studies

Please post your doubts and suggestions in the comments section. 

History:
  •  Spectrum Modern History
  •  India’s struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra – some chapters
  •  Modern History by Sumit Sarkar
  •  Old NCERT Class XIIth history – Modern India
  •  Brief notes from Advanced history by Chhabra

Culture
  • Brief Notes from the internet on various painting styles, architecture, Literature , dances etc
  • Some sites covered include India.gov.in; India year book chapter on culture
  • Cultural institutions and their role in promoting and preserving culture
  • Spectrum’s book on culture can also be used

Geography
  • NCERT books on Physical Geography, Human geography and Indian physical geography of classes XI and XIIth
  • Physical geography by Goh Cheong Leong for Prelims ( can be left)
  • Indian Geography by Khullar – Make brief notes on topics not covered in NCERTs
  • Geography through Maps  by K Siddhartha

Polity
  • NCERT Class XI and XII books on Indian Constitution and Democracy at Work
  • Constitution of India by  P M Baxi as reference
  • Indian Constitution by  DD Basu ( Some people prefer Laxmikanth)
  • Indian Parliament by Subhash Kashyap
  • Notes from websites of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha
  • India year book chapter on Polity

Foreign Policy & Economic Interaction with the world
  • Websites of IDSA, World Politics Review, South Asia analysis
  • Some selected articles from World Focus
  • Brief notes on Indian foreign policy from any book on Foreign Policy
  • MEA website for brief notes on Indian relations with other countries
  • Speeches by Foreign Secy, Minister for External Affairs and other ex-ambassadors on MEA website and Public diplomacy blog
  • For current happenings use any notes available in Rajinder Nagar before mains exam of Vajiram, Chokkalingam etc
  • Wikipedia current happenings and Ongoing events on pages on months from January- October of the year of Mains exam
  • Commerce ministry website for economic interaction of India including trade agreements etc
  • WTO from RBI document on India’s stand at WTO

Science and Technology
  • Books by NBT on Robotics and Nanotechnology
  • Notes on various terms of Biotechnology from wikipedia; the terms can be seen from
  • List of emerging technologies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emerging_technologies
  • All scientific terms from wisegeek in areas of general interest to any common person and specifically Biotech, Gadgets, Nanotech etc
  • New happenings in Science from Hindu, Indian Express, Zeenews and some other technology blogs
  • Notes of coaching institutes before mains specifically Sriram and vajiram
  • ISRO website
  • For Defence , brief notes from http://www.livefistdefence.com/
Other National Events and General Knowledge
  • PIB releases brief notes: pib.nic.in
  • All government websites of various ministries and topics covered on main page; Ministries dealing with Agriculture, Women & Child development, Disabilities etc need to be focused on
  • India year book – some important chapters and brief notes can be made
  • Economic Survey – some chapters like Overview, International Trade and Human development are extremely important. Others can be brushed through
  • Coverage of Indian express done as an addendum to Hindu notes available in the market (  coaching notes available in Rajinder Nagar before mains)



It is not that everything was done word to word and books read cover to cover; Only important things from these sources was identified and underlined or brief notes made for quick revision.
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18 comments:

  1. SHISHIR SAURABH16 June 2013 at 09:00

    Respected Mam

    i am new to this competition. please clarify me in history which part is of more credit ancient, medieval or modern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divya17 June 2013 at 03:14

      As mentioned in the syllabus, Modern history is important from all facets..
      "• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
      • The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country."

      Ancient and Medieval history needs to be studied only from the perspective of Indian culture i.e salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture ..



      Delete
    2. SHISHIR SAURABH17 June 2013 at 04:14

      Thank you Mam for your valuable suggestion.

      Delete
    3. sree17 June 2013 at 06:35

      mam ,,,could u plz suggest us any books for world history ,the newly added aspect ,,thanking u.

      Delete
    4. Divya18 June 2013 at 12:52

      Would do that as soon as i find one...

      Delete
  2. Ashutosh Singh16 June 2013 at 11:10

    Thank you Divya Mam for your valuable efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown17 June 2013 at 04:47

    Hello Miss Divya,

    Thanks a lot for this initiative.
    As per Vision-IAS portal, you enrolled for their Mains test series. Please help me regarding the same :
    1. Which subject did you wrote the test series for?
    2. What are your reviews for the same?
    3. Do you suggest their test series for new GS syllabus?

    Many thanks and kind regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divya18 June 2013 at 06:48

      1. I have never done any test series. I took the correspondence GS notes of Vision IAS..

      2. Considering Ans 1, I have no reviews for the same..

      3. I am not an advocate of any test series unless your writing speed is very slow or you have ample time at hand..If you are sufficiently prepared, it is a good idea to take a test series. On the other hand, I do recommend seeing questions of all test series available in the market before mains..

      Delete
  4. cYCo19 June 2013 at 06:07

    mam how was t correspondence course of vision ias...how do u rate tht study material..did it help in ur mains...

    n which do u feel is t best if i go for correspondance

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous30 June 2013 at 09:15

    Hi Mam,

    I am presently doing job in TCS. Being a software firm it consumes a lot of time from my schedule everyday (around 9 to 10 hrs easily). Its not possible for me to leave the job due to some reasons. Could you please guide me on whether I should go for selective study or read every chapter in depth. Also is it important to join any coaching? I was planning to join weekend classes but then weekend would also not be available for self study. And pls let me know how much time do I need to put on each day targeting UPSC-2014.

    Thanks & Regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divya1 July 2013 at 12:17

      Hi Snigdha

      Keep up the effort and never lose hope..Do selective study and rely on a number of notes as they are precise...Do 1 book per subject and notes of 1 coaching institute as base..That should not be too difficult to manage...Moreover, you can try reading newspapers and visit other relevant websites during office hours if possible...Joining a coaching is not required at all.. Keep pouring any other doubts you have..

      Cheers and Best of luck

      Delete
    2. anil meeena21 July 2013 at 03:09

      mam,
      I am Doing job in L&T and Posted out side INDIA, 1st of all let me say thanks to you from bottom of my heart for your precious time in spite of having family and work. i have some what problem as Snigdha have, i jsut like to as you if you could list out topics of importants books which could help me
      Thanks & Regards
      Anil

      Delete
  6. SHISHIR SAURABH2 July 2013 at 04:35

    Hi mam,

    My educational background is B.tech(Computer Sc) & MBA (Finance & Marketing). i have some confusion regarding optional subjects for mains. For the State service i hv decided to take Pub Ad and Labour and Social Welfare (LSW) ( As i belong to jharkhand in JPSC & BPSC LSW is available). for UPSC LSW is not available , can u suggest me what other subject should i opt.

    Thanks & Regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divya14 July 2013 at 09:34

      you need to take only 1 subject for UPSC and hence you can take Pub Ad if you have already prepared that for state service.

      Delete
  7. balvant11 July 2013 at 02:45

    Hello Ma'am,

    I have two doubts,
    1)The listing of General studies which you have mentioned above, would it suffice for papers in General Studies keeping in mind the revised syllabus of 2013.If not can you please provide a comprehensive list based on the new syllabus.

    2)Although the Indian language paper is of qualifying in nature and of matriculation level.Please shed some light on books and reference material. I am interested in taking Hindi as my language.

    Thanks & Regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divya14 July 2013 at 09:36

      1. I am sure some more books etc need to be added with the increased syllabus.

      2. For Hindi, there is a book called "Samanaya Hindi" which you can buy..It has solved old papers too which would be useful for the Indian language paper.

      Delete
  8. Saurabh Sinha30 July 2013 at 04:33

    Hello mam,

    Thanks for the Resource list for GS Mains. I am planning to appear in UPSC 2014 prelims taking Economics as an optional subject. I do not have Graduation/post graduation degree in economics (as I am BE, Computer Science). But I have interest in this subject, So I am choosing economics optional. kindly suggest How should I approach for Economics and GS papers before Pre 2014.What could be the study hours (per day) should I put in to cover the maximum possible syllabus in time.

    Thanks & Regards
    Saurabh

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown17 March 2014 at 07:05

    Hi Divya Mam,
    I am a Btech (ECE) graduate. i am starting preparing for UPSC 2015, i am working in L&T i have just started my preparation for UPSC. As of now i am reading PathFinder by Divya S Iyer(IAS Officer). It have a good list of boolks and strategies for preparing for G.S. I just want to know except books Hindu & some magazines which Insitute's study material i should take. As of now i am thinking of taking Pub Ad as my optional cause i feel it gives a insight of civil services. I have heard that Vajiram and Ravi & Sriram IAS are some good institutes. shall i take study material from them. Please give you view about Brilliant's study material. Expecting your valuable suggestions.

    Thanks & Regards
    Abhinav

    ReplyDelete

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