E-Book for IAS Exam Preparation tips

1. By IASKracker.com © I © IAS Kracker 2017. All Rights Reserved. 1

2. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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 the syllabus 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 optional subject 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  2

3. Get Set Go IAS 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 to avoid 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. Note: This eBook contains affiliate links to sites where you can purchase IAS books online. iaskracker.com 3

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5. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS What is the IAS? IAS or the Indian Administrative Service is arguably one of the most prestigious services in India and is part of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), which is often called the 'Steel Frame' of the country. The term 'steel frame' was first coined by Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, independent India's first Home Minister and father of the ICS as it stands today. But the IAS is not entirely a post-independence creation. Far from it. It is the forerunner to the Indian Civil Service (ICS) that was created by the British to govern this vast and diverse country. The British realized that unless some sort of uniformity in administration, laws, and rules was introduced it would be impossible to govern a country of this size and diversity. Thus the ICS was born in the late seventeenth century although the nomenclature came about only in the eighteenth century. But to understand the importance of the IAS we need to first take a look at the roles of an IAS officer or what an IAS officer does. 5

6. Get Set Go IAS 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 ensure harmonious 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 iaskracker.com 6

7. Get Set Go IAS 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 month of March and the examination is conducted about five months later in August. On qualifying the preliminary examination you need to appear for the Mains examination held usually in the last week of November or first half of December in the same year and the duration of this exam is about 8- iaskracker.com 7

8. 10 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 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: Ten Quick Facts about the IAS Exam 8

9. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS IAS Prelims Pattern, Syllabus and Eligibility Pattern of Examination: The Preliminary stage consists of two papers- General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II. General Studies Paper I consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each which is to be answered in 2 hours. The syllabus for Paper I can be found here. General Studies Paper II consists of 80 questions of 2.5 marks each which is to be answered in 2 hours. The syllabus for General Studies Paper II can be found here. For each question for which a wrong answer is given by the candidate, one-third of the marks assigned to that question are deducted as penalty. If a candidate gives more than one answer it is treated as wrong answer. If a question is left blank, there is no penalty for that question. The question papers are set both in English and Hindi. There is sectional cut off for both the papers. While marks of Paper I or General Studies paper are counted for purpose of preparing the merit, Paper II or CSAT paper marks are not counted and the candidate has merely to obtain the minimum qualifying marks in Paper II, which is at present 33% or 66 marks out of 200. 9

10. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS The syllabus for the Preliminary Exams for Paper-I: oCurrent events of national and international importance. oHistory of India and Indian National Movement. oIndian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. oIndian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. oEconomic and Social Development - Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. oGeneral issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change oGeneral Science The syllabus for the Preliminary Exams for Paper-II: oComprehension oInterpersonal skills including communication skills; oLogical reasoning and analytical ability oDecision-making and problem solving oGeneral mental ability oBasic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level) 10

11. Get Set Go IAS Qualification or Eligibility for IAS Exam: A candidate must be a graduate to appear in this examination. Those who have appeared in qualifying degree are also eligible. Candidate must have completed 21 years of age. The upper age limit for General Category students is 32 years, for OBC it is 35 years and for SC/ST it is 37 years. iaskracker.com 11

12. IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series for Prelims Enroll for IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series and Get the Following Benefits 60+ tests for Paper 1 and 2 including 10 full-length tests each on Paper 1 and 2 Free weekly current affairs in PDF format that are highly relevant and focused for prelims Performance analysis and feedback on your test attempts Leaderboard to know where you stand relative to the competition Tests are strictly on UPSC pattern with time limit and negative marking Attempt the tests unlimited times and as per your convenience Know the complete details and register for the test series Remember, only IAS Kracker’s Test Series offers you: The highest number of tests Tests for Paper 1 as well as Paper 2 Free weekly current affairs The lowest price Test Yourself Before UPSC Tests You! 12

13. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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. 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. 13

14. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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. One should only select “scoring” subjects 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. 14

15. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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 she has 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 15

16. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS on subsequent days. So instead of such inconsistent output you should 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. 16

17. Get Set Go IAS 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 finally taking the plunge. Obviously you don't have to select your optional subject 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 your optional right at the graduation stage it will be an added bonus. 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. iaskracker.com 17

18. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS But even if you graduated and/or did masters in some totally unrelated subject to the optional you’ve selected or plan to take up in the IAS exam then fret not as you are in good company. 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 fascinating exam. The generally accepted civil services preparation calendar runs from September to August. That is, freshers and veterans start their preparation from the first week of September. But let's focus on the IAS freshers exclusively for the time being. If for example you’re planning to attempt the 2018 Prelims, I suggest you start preparation from January 2017 itself instead of waiting till September of 2017. This will enable you to cover the CSAT/Pre syllabus comprehensively as well as allow sufficient time to cover the Mains optional subject before December end. 18

19. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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. 19

20. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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 minimum is 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 thatwe don’tpossess 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 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 IASpreparation or any examination for that matter. If you have only 20

21. Get Set Go IAS little time left before the Prelims, say 3 or 4 months, and you haven’t 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. But You Need to Attempt Mock Tests Even if you do not join any coaching institute, you will surely need to attempt mock tests based on actual UPSC pattern with time limit and performance analysis to test your preparation and cover any weak areas before you attempt the actual exam. Directly attempting the Prelims without adequate practice is like shooting in the dark; you don’t know whether the arrow will find its target or not. IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series offers the highest number of tests for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 on actual UPSC pattern with advanced performance reports. The best part is this test series is the most iaskracker.com 21

22. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS affordable right now and you can attempt the tests unlimited times so you are well prepared even before you enter the examination hall. 22

23. Get Set Go IAS 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    Indian 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   iaskracker.com 23

24. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS Geography: 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  The TMH GS Manual has a pretty good Science section and is adequate for to tackle science related questions. Environment and Ecology: Environment and Ecology is a very important topic for Paper 1 and you can expect at least 10 questions from this topic every year. Environment and Ecology by Majid Hussain is the recommended book for this important topic. This book covers the entire scope of environment and ecology in minute details and is equally useful for GS Paper 3 of Mains exam.  24

25. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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 Earlier I used to recommend three different books for Prelims paper 2 (CSAT). Not any longer. Now I recommend the very well written and accurate TMH CSAT Manual for Paper 2. Please go through my review of TMH Manuals to get an idea of why the TMH CSAT Manual is the only book you need to refer for Paper 2. Save time and money by referring one comprehensive book. Apart from these books keep your eyes open to news happenings around you as UPSC asks not just the latest current affairs events but even those two to three years back. Recommended Reading: Recommended Books for Prelims and Mains 25

26. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS GS Syllabus and Question Papers: Your Best Guide for Prelims Preparation 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. 26

27. Get Set Go IAS 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 are covered. 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 Fundamental Rights 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 iaskracker.com 27

28. Get Set Go IAS Fundamental Rights. 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 IAS), 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 toenroll 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. You should also consider enrolling in a good test series course to attempt mock tests to gain confidence while attempting the actual Prelims exam. 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 to cover the book and then after some months you decide to solve some iaskracker.com 28

29. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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 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. Recommended Reading: Ultimate IAS Preparation Guide 29

30. IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series for Prelims Enroll for IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series and Get the Following Benefits 60+ tests for Paper 1 and 2 including 10 full-length tests each on Paper 1 and 2 Free weekly current affairs in PDF format that are highly relevant and focused for prelims Performance analysis and feedback on your test attempts Leaderboard to know where you stand relative to the competition Tests are strictly on UPSC pattern with time limit and negative marking Attempt the tests unlimited times and as per your convenience Know the complete details and register for the test series Remember, only IAS Kracker’s Test Series offers you: The highest number of tests Tests for Paper 1 as well as Paper 2 Free weekly current affairs The lowest price Test Yourself Before UPSC Tests You! 30

31. Get Set Go IAS 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 approximate figure like 10 hours or 10-12 hours every day. Step 2: Determine the number of subjects to study daily 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 I don’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 iaskracker.com 31

32. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS questions in a particular section completely, and help you to keep track of your progress more effectively. Remember, reading newspapers or watching news programs is not included within this. Step 3: Divide time between the different subjects Since now 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. The exact time to devote to each of the topics will vary from person to person. Also you can be little flexible in this. For instance, if you have been devoting 3 hours to study Modern Indian History every day and have covered a major part of it you might reduce the time devoted to it by 30 mins or 1 hour and allocate this to some other subject that you study alongside Modern History, maybe Data Interpretation. 32

33. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS Step 4: Stick to your routine Now that you have a daily schedule ready, stick to it like Bees stick to Honey. In any long term work program scheduling is important but even more important is sticking to the commitment you made to yourself. If you committed to clearing the IAS, stick to it. And for this you committed to devote certain amount of hours every day and then you committed to study one, two, or three subjects on a daily basis till you covered it in entirety. Stick to it. As I mentioned in Step 3 above some flexibility is essential and the odd day off is OK but don’t make it a habit otherwise you will see yourself lying to yourself and the commitments you made. Benefits of developing a routine Track your progress easily: Instead of doing everything in bits and pieces and struggling to up the loose ends learn to cover the major distance before taking up a new path. This way you can test yourself against past papers to know which are your strong and weak areas and rectify the weak ones. If you cover only a small part of every subject, you’ll have to wait till Jan or Feb to test yourself and if for some reasons you deviated off course then course correction might be too late. Avoid this by finishing off a  subject as quickly as possible and effective scheduling is a good way to do this. 33

34. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS Build up stamina to devote long hours of study: If you thought only running and other physical activities required stamina, think again. 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 one subject 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.  34

35. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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. Prelims Smart Preparation Strategy As you know from Prelims pattern given in the initial pages of this eBook, Paper 2 is now only qualifying in scope and you require just 33% or 66 marks to qualify this paper. The marks obtained in this paper are not counted for preparing the merit of candidates who will qualify the Prelims and write the Mains exam. So your workload is considerably reduced, especially if you’re from a non-Science and non-Engineering background. You can now mostly focus on preparing the Paper 1 topics. And you just need to prepare Comprehension, Data Interpretation, Interpersonal Skills and Decision Making well in Paper 2 to obtain 66 marks. These four topics are considerably easier to prepare and attempt as compared to mental ability and logical reasoning topics. Also remember that there is no negative penalty for questions on Decision Making. At least 5 questions on Decision Making will be asked in Paper 2 so you can and should attempt these questions without any 35

36. Get Set Go IAS fear. Also if you analyze the previous 3-4 year papers, you will know that at least 5 Comprehension passages are asked in every Prelims and these are easiest to score off in Paper 2. So you can easily score 50 marks from just Comprehension passages! Rest of the marks can be obtained from Data Interpretation, Decision Making and Interpersonal Skills questions. iaskracker.com 36

37. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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  37

38. iaskracker.com Get Set Go IAS 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. Recommended Reading: How to Read the Newspaper for IAS Exam 38

39. IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series for Prelims Enroll for IAS Kracker’s Online Test Series and Get the Following Benefits 60+ tests for Paper 1 and 2 including 10 full-length tests each on Paper 1 and 2 Free weekly current affairs in PDF format that are highly relevant and focused for prelims Performance analysis and feedback on your test attempts Leaderboard to know where you stand relative to the competition Tests are strictly on UPSC pattern with time limit and negative marking Attempt the tests unlimited times and as per your convenience Know the complete details and register for the test series Remember, only IAS Kracker’s Test Series offers you: The highest number of tests Tests for Paper 1 as well as Paper 2 Free weekly current affairs The lowest price Test Yourself Before UPSC Tests You! 39