Day to day plan

DayMathematics

Reasoning

EnglishGeneral Studies

Time allocation

4 Hours 2 Hours 2 Hours 3 Hours

1Geometry – Lines & Angles

– NounPhysical Geography of Earth

2Geometry -Triangles

– PronounPhysical Geography of Earth

3

Geometry – Circles &, Quadrilaterals

Coding-Decoding

Physical Geography of India

4Mensuration Plain Figures

Coding-Decoding

Adjectives, using suitable forms of adjectives.

Physical Geography of India

5Mensuration Plain Figures

– ArticlesPhysical Geography of India

6Divisibility & Remainders

Directions Sense

Economic Geography- Metals/ Minerals/Transport

7LCM And HCF

Directions Sense

Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjection

Human Geography- Census, Population

8Simplification

Missing Series

Verbs Economics

9Surds And Indices

Missing Series

Auxiliary and Modals

Economics

10 Roots, Squares & Cubes

Analogy Test

– Economics

11 Algebra – Adverbs and its types and usage

12 Algebra –

Reading Comprehension & Idioms & Phrases

13 Algebra

Blood relations

Reading Comprehension & Idioms & Phrases

Modern History starting From 1857 Revolt

14

Problem on Numbers & Ages

Blood relations

–

Modern History- Indian National Congress & Revolutionary Activities

15Allegation & Mixture

Syllogism TensesModern History- Gandhi Era NCM/CDM/QIM

16 Averages Syllogism Tenses

Modern History- Resolutions, Cabinet Mission, Constituent Assembly and GOI acts.

17

Ratio, Proportion &Partnership

Syllogism – Ancient History

18Problem On Trains

Input-Output Analysis

Active and Passive voice

Ancient History

19Problem On Boat & Stream

Input-Output Analysis


Medieval History

20Time And Work

Inequalities


Medieval History

21Pipes And Cisterns

Inequalities

Medieval History

22 PercentageNumber Ranking

Direct & Indirect Speech

Culture/ Religion

23Profit & Loss

Number Ranking

Direct & Indirect Speech-

Culture

24 SI & CI

Statement and Conclusions

Polity- Framing of Constitution, Sources, Schedules.

25

Permutation & Combination

–

Para-Jumbled

Polity: Fundamental Rights/Duties

26

Permutation & Combination

Statement and Conclusions

Para-Jumbled

Polity- President/ Governor, Vice-President, Emergency

27 Probability – –

Polity- Parliament and Committees, Bodies

28 Probability

Assumptions and Directions

Revise the whole grammar topics & start errors.

Polity- Supreme Court/High Court, Writs

29 Trigonometry

– Error Correction/ Sentence

Polity- Panchayat, Amendments

Improvement

30Trigonometry

Assumptions and Directions

Error Correction/ Sentence Improvement

Polity- New Bills

31Trigonometry

– Biology

32Heights and Distances

Puzzles

Error Correction/ Sentence Improvement

Biology

33Heights and Distances

–

Error Correction/ Sentence Improvement-

Biology

34Mensuration Solid Figures

–Computer and Mobile Technology

35Mensuration Solid Figures

PuzzlesAntonyms & Synonyms

Physics

36Coordinate Geometry

PuzzlesAntonyms & Synonyms

Physics

37Coordinate Geometry

PuzzlesOne Word Substitution

Physics

38Data Interpretation

RevisionOne Word Substitution

Chemistry


Revision Cloze Test Chemistry


Revision Cloze Test Chemistry

41 Revision Revision Revision

42 Revision Revision RevisionInternational Organisations

43 Revision Revision Revision

44 Revision Revision Revision Current Affairs




48 Revision Revision Revision Revision

49 Revision Revision Revision Revision

50 MOCK TEST

51 MOCK TEST

52 MOCK TEST

53 MOCK TEST

54 MOCK TEST

55 MOCK TEST

56 MOCK TEST

57 MOCK TEST

58 MOCK TEST

59 MOCK TEST

60 MOCK TEST

Tip 2. Laxmikanth’s Indian Polity is an exception.

All rules have exceptions. Laxmikanth is one book that you could read from cover to cover. This book is organized as per the requirements of the prelims exam, and has helped me answer 16 questions in 2012 and 8-10 questions in 2013*.

But two important things to note here: read this book repeatedly, and pay attention to detail.

UPSC likes to ask us “edge case” questions and questions that we could easily mark wrong if we read the book only superficially. For example, 2013 Prelims had a question on whether the Attorney General can be a member of a Parliamentary Committee. It is difficult to remember this

if you only read Laxmikanth once. Another question was on whether nominated members of the Rajya Sabha can vote in Vice Presidential elections. The one-time-reader is susceptible to marking this incorrectly unless attention was paid to the detail that nominated members cannot vote in Presidential elections, but can vote in VP elections.

*Note: I am recommending Laxmikanth just because that is the book that I used for Polity. If you have an equivalent book by another author, that should do as well. I also read DD Basu, but found that a) it was more analytical/dense, b) not as well organized as Laxmikanth (it is good for Mains, though).

Tip 3. Economy questions are the easiest to get right

Economy may be daunting to some, but the questions are based on your conceptual understanding of macroeconomics. If you have this conceptual clarity, you can answer every single question accurately, without having to memorize boatloads of data! So invest time in understanding the concepts and analyzing how all the parts fit together.

What to study in economy?

1*. GDP (factor cost/production method, market price/expenditure method, income method. Don’t just read definitions, analyze! When do we use one method vs.

another? How will each method give us a different value?)2. GNP (compare with GDP. When are the two different?)3. NNP/NDP (why deduct depreciation?)4*. Inflation (demand pull and cost push. Structural. Headline and core. CPI and WPI. Phillips curve, stagflation and skewflation. Why has inflation remained persistently high in India?)5*. Monetary tools to combat inflation (there is always a question from this area) – CRR, SLR, Repo, open market operations, government securities and treasury bills.6. Nominal vs real GDP/GNP/Net National Income etc. (i.e., current prices vs constant prices.)6a. Base year selection (why does this matter? Why did we recently update to 2004-05 and are now planning to update to 2011-12? Aren’t we eroding the value of “constant” prices if we keeping changing the base year frequently?)6b. GDP deflator. Just the definition here.7*. MSME industries- also just the definition and current thresholds8*. Budget process (you may have this covered in Polity already. Look at FRBMA goals also)9*. Deficits in the budget- fiscal, primary, revenue, primary revenue, effective revenue9a. Deficit financing (monetizing vs borrowing)10. Balance of Payments- current account and capital account.11*. Current Account Deficit. Financing it with capital

inflows.12. FDI, FII, ECBs.13. Capital account convertibility14. Currency- fixed vs floating. LERMS (Liberalized Exchange Rate Management System).15. Why is the rupee in a free fall? How is this good/bad for India? Why are some countries competitively devaluing their currencies (“currency war”)? NEER and REER if you have the time.16*. Demographic Transition Theory (another area which frequently shows up in the exam)17. Banking: all the stuff under #5 above + base rate, priority sector lending, NPAs, SARFAESI Act. No need to go into excessive detail. Read any conceptual stuff that shows up in the newspapers.18*. National Manufacturing Policy (asked in both Prelims and Mains last year). Maybe also look at the National Minerals Policy this year.19. Savings and investment rates (both expressed as % of GDP). First understanding how they are different. India has a higher investment rate than savings rate. How is that possible?20*. Taxation- may be important this year due to GST. (direct and indirect. progressive and regressive. Pigovian. VAT, GST)21*. RGESS may show up this year. Keep on the lookout for such current-affairs related topics.22*. Inclusive growth. Maybe focus on gender inclusion.23. Agricultural subsidies, PDS, Food Security.

Now, whenever you pick up any book on Economy, instead of reading it cover to cover, you can use this list to study according to Tip 1 above. I would recommend Ramesh Singh’s book, just because it is organized better than other Economy books.

After reading all the above concepts, understand how things link up. How are growth–inflation–fiscal deficit–poverty–rupee value–current account deficit etc. all related? If RBI increases the CRR, for example, what effect would it have on all of these?

There were around 10 questions from Economy in both 2012 and 2013!

Note: I have left out several things you find in Economy books, like Planning, details on Indian Agriculture and Industry etc. I do not think these are as important, but you can cover them if you like Economy, or if you have a lot of time in your hands.

Tip 4. Tackle History smartly

I did not read Ancient history. I feel like it is too vast with a ton of facts to memorize, plus only 1-2 questions ever show up. So the return on investment is low.

Rather, focus on Modern India and study it thoroughly. By thoroughly, I do not mean picking up a History book

and reading it cover to cover. Instead, split the syllabus into chunks and read+revise each chunk smartly.

What to study in History? Political developments: starting from the Regulating Act of 1773 to Indian Independence

Act of 1947. Pay attention to detail because this is another area where “edge-case” type questions are asked. Sample questions– when did Communal Electorates begin? When was the Central Assembly made bicameral? And you can have multiple options questions like– Which of the following were introduced in the Minto-Morley reforms? You will be given some 5-6 options, and given permutations of those to pick from.

1857 to Pre-congress: there are some facts here about early political organizations etc.

Pre-Gandhian INC: Bengal Partition and Swadeshi movement, Moderate vs. Extremist Debate

Early Gandhian: Champaran, Ahmedabad Mill Strike, Kheda

Gandhian INC: this is the biggest chunk. Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement, Round Table Conferences, Quit India Movement etc.

Non-INC / “parallel threads” in the Freedom struggle: revolutionary movements, tribal and Peasant uprisings, Ambedkar, INA etc.

Pay special attention to the participation of women and Indians abroad.

Also go through social reforms that were happening in parallel, cover all religions.

How to study History?

Don’t just read through Spectrum like a novel. Read purposefully. Make a one-page note for each event, where you note Causes-Consequences-Important Personalities. At the end, you will have around 40 pages of these which will make revision more efficient. Revise often.

Studying Indian History this way should help you answer another 8-10 questions.

Tip 5. Focus on the basics for Geography

Study physical geography well, because it is conceptual and therefore will not fail you during the exam. You should be able to get at least 5 physical geo questions on the exam if you study the “Fundamentals of Physical Geography” NCERT XI textbook thoroughly.

Cover latitudes and longtitudes, layers of the atmosphere, pressure belts, types of rainfall (convection, orographic, frontal), monsoons, ocean currents, jet streams, different types of rainfall etc. Pretty basic stuff.

I know geography can be covered more thoroughly than that, but I hate memorizing stuff so I didn’t go any deeper into things like names of dams, tributaries etc.

Tip 6. Study the above areas in depth, and the rest in breadth

The rest of the areas in Paper 1, like environment, culture, social issues etc. do nothave a predictable base from which questions are asked. So you have to cast a wider net here. Don’t stress out too much about these, just stay curious and read whatever you can lay your hands on. Like wikipedia articles, coaching centre notes, blogs etc.

For environment, Vajiram’s booklet was nice and concise. I also searched online for endangered and critically endangered species in India. Then I looked up to see what the basic criteria are for classifying species as

“endangered” or “vulnerable”. I also searched for some government initiatives, like Project Tiger, Project Snow Leopard etc. There were some 4 questions I could attempt based on this.

Model Timetable for IAS preparation

Time Task Relevance & Tips

5:00 AM Rise & Shine

5:15 AM to 6:15 AM Exercise / Meditation / Yoga Physical activity like light exercise or a brisk walk can increase alertness and blood flow to the brain. Meditation & Yoga help to relax the mind,

relieve stress and prepare your mind for the tough schedule

ahead

6:15 AM to 6:30 AM Bath

6:30 AM to 7:30 AM Revision of previous day’s study topics

This will help in evaluating all the topics that were studied

yesterday and also build continuity for topics to be

studied today.

7:30 AM to 8:00 AM Breakfast & Newspaper Reading The most important meal of the day will provide you energy for

the tough day ahead. Newspaper reading will help you

get up to date national and international events. Try to make

notes for current affairs during this time.

8:00 AM to 10:30 AM Study Session I You can either be studying at a coaching class or on your own,

but devote this time for the toughest subjects and topics as

your brain will be at its full potential during morning hours

10:30 AM to 11:30 AM Short Break Take a tea break to refresh your mind and body. Indulge into

some mind relaxation exercises. Avoid thinking about study

topics.

11:30 AM to 1:00 PM Study Session II Try to focus on subjective topics that you need to cover for the day. With your mind already in study zone after Study Session

I, it will be easier to grasp conceptual topics in the second

session.

1:00 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Keep your lunch light. Pick items that are rich in proteins that will act as a constant energy source

for you through the day.

1:30 PM to 4:00 PM Study Session III Study Session III is the longest session of the day and,

therefore, keep topics that require extensive amount of time for this slot. Such topics can be

understood well through

reference books or expert consultation, which will require

some time.

4:00 PM to 4:30 PM Short Break Take a tea break to refresh your mind and body. Indulge into

some mind relaxation exercises. Avoid thinking about study

topics.

4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Personality & Skill Development Meet up with your study group and indulge in personality and skill development activities like debates, group discussions and other similar activities. It will help

you learn different viewpoints about different topics along with

significant improvement in interpersonal communication

skills.

5:30 PM to 6:15 PM Physical Activities / Sports Try to indulge into light sports like running, jogging or anything

else you like. The important thing is to keep your body active

and mind refreshed

6:15 PM to 6:30 PM Bath

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM Study Session IV By evening, you mind would already be stressed. Therefore, keep light subjects / topics that you are familiar with for evening

study sessions.

8:30 PM to 9:00 PM Dinner Time Keep your dinner light. Avoid Carbohydrates that will make

you feel heavy and full. Include fruits and green vegetables in

your dinner diet.

9:00 PM to 10:00 PM Watch English News & Prime Time Panel Discussions

It will give you in-depth analysis of the top news stories of the day along with all necessary

facts and figures.

10:00 PM to 10:30 PM News Reading and Preparing Notes

Devote this time to read the relevant news of the day through

the internet or any other medium. Try making factual or information based notes for it.

10:30 PM Bedtime

Documents

Day to day plan