The civil
services examination is basically a test to choose suitable administrators. It
tests the candidate right from the stage when one starts the preparation. One
common misconception about the prelims is that it is a test of facts and
figures. This is not so. A candidate should have the right frame of mind and
the will power to succeed in the exam. A proper action plan is needed for the
preparation itself since he /she will be tested for some essential
qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to identify the
correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy. All this requires a
quick decision making power. Since the preliminary exam in particular is a test
of endurance the candidate needs to prepare himself on the physical as well as
mental level. The main constraint is
the time one gets to answer questions. On an average one gets around 70
seconds for each question for GS Paper-1 and around 90 seconds for GS Paper-2. One
sure way of dealing with this stress
is to count numbers or to take a few deep breaths. Meditation and Yoga
also help in dealing with stress to a great extent.
Now we
come to the actual preparation for the prelims exam. Since it is a multiple
choice question paper, it needs a different preparation and a proper
strategy. The first thing a candidate needs to bear in mind is that the
examination is designed to evaluate certain qualities like a sharp memory
and basic retention power. There are ways to increase one's memory like
preparing charts. One gets confused when faced with mind boggling facts and
figures. Important facts and figures can be simplified and represented on
charts and they can be arranged in the form of tables or graphs. Another thing
to remember is to make short and brief notes on each topic so that the entire
syllabus can be revised a day before the exam. It is better to use diagrams and
link words which make it easier to understand difficult concepts. One more
technique to help in retaining information is the use of abbreviations. Since
the syllabus involves exhaustive information abbreviations help you to remember
it better. It is a good method to remember dates, facts and figures in a
picture format and to break up complex names and places into smaller and
simpler words. The last and the most important technique is doing regular
revision. This helps in retaining the maximum information. A separate time slot
should be given to doing not only regular but multiple revisions like daily,
weekly, monthly etc.
Many
candidates make a mistake of overloading themselves with lots of information
and end up remembering nothing. One should be able to differentiate
between relevant and irrelevant information. Since the
preliminary exam is an elimination round the candidate should also learn to
focus only on the information needed and filter out the rest. It helps to
discuss with friends and teachers but the most reliable way is to past years
question papers for the optional subject whereas for the general studies paper,
one should keep abreast with current events and information related to them.
An
important thing to remember is that for this exam it is just enough to remember
information but to understand the concepts well instead of memorizing facts and
figures. The questions asked in the General Studies paper are of 10+2 level.
Therefore emphasis has to be on conceptual clarity. Any concept
has to be understood with its origin, merits and de-merits, then it needs to be
analysed with other relevant topics and lastly it has to be correlated with the
events that have taken place during the year.
The
preliminary exam requires candidates who have the acumen and the ability to
choose the right option of many given options. This needs a proper method
of elimination. It is a good idea to go through previous years and
model question papers and solve as many as possible. Taking a mock test of a
certain number of G.S. questions would
be a good practice and help to pick out the most appropriate option.
Each
prelims paper is for two hours but a lot of time is wasted in signing
attendance sheets etc, therefore there is a lot of need for effective Time
Management not only for the exam but in the preparation as well. It is not
enough to know the right answer but it has to be marked correctly on the answer
sheet. Speed and Accuracy are important, so solving model question
papers on a regular basis would be a great help.
A good presence
of mind is needed to eliminate the least appropriate options and arrive
at the right one. Tick out the least correct answer first and go on to the next
option. Even when faced with a question for which you do not have a ready
answer, with basic common sense and a good presence of mind, it is possible to
make your guess a smart and a correct one.
Throughout
the preparation for the prelims exam, it is important to remember that any
topic or concept should not be studied in isolation. It is better to understand
and establish a correlation between related concepts from other
subjects and current events and happenings.
Even with
all this preparation, it is necessary to have a positive attitude
and a great amount of will power to succeed to achieve your goal, that of
getting through the civil services examination with flying colors!
Success Secrets:
Hard work:
Remember
that there is no substitute to hard work. All successful candidates say the
hard work is one of the first pre-requisites for the success. There is no short
cut to success and hard work never goes unrewarded.
Planning and systematic study:
Proper planning right from the stage of selection of
optional subjects and selection of text books is absolutely necessary. Though there is no one way of studying, there are ways to
study more effectively and with less stress and more enjoyment. It is important
to know how to make use of the sources available to you in the best possible
way. It is wise to take a three pronged approach to preparation, reading to
learn, making effective notes and able to write answers to various kinds of
questions.
Time management:
Effective
time management is another requirement. If we spend our time in a frenzy of
activity, we can achieve very little because we are not concentrating on the
right things. We keep hearing the word "Busy" a lot. There are two
kinds of ‘busy’(ness): chaotic, disorganized busy and calm, effective busy. It
goes without saying that being the latter helps to pack in more productivity in
your work. Improving our "effectiveness quotient" calls for mastery
of basic time management skills.
Self-confidence:
Your self-confidence can make the
difference. Your self-confidence should be at an all time high - always. You
should be in the company of people, who can increase your motivational levels
high and can inspire you. Form a group of close friends, who are as determined
as you are to make it to the Civil Services Examination.
Dedication:
Be
totally dedicated and focused in your studies. You have to sacrifice something
like movies, parties, and entertainments etc at this stage of your life to
achieve bigger things.
Patience:
As the CSE preparation spans a
minimum of one year, right from the Preliminary stage to the interview state,
it requires a lot of patience to maintain your tempo. One should not lose patience
and the tempo throughout the preparation period till success.
Tips for answering questions at the Prelims:
(
I am indebted to Mr. Parvez Dewan, IAS for giving me some of these tips.)
Don’t waste time:
Start
answering the questions from the minute you get them. The time allotted is very
limited, so waste no time on reading the entire question paper first. First
answer all the question you are sure you know the answers to. Skip all the
difficult questions in the first round: in this round if you find yourself
stuck in a question for more than 10 seconds, just skip it.
However,
keep making a small mark on the question paper to indicate that you have
skipped that question in the first round. This will enable you to save time in
the next rounds. If you answer a question in the second round, cancel this
mark, so that in third round you know which questions still remain unanswered.
Three rounds should be sufficient, but you could break the process into a
fourth round too.
Allocate time for each answer:
In GS
Prelims Paper-1, since you are to answer 100 questions (80 questions for
Paper-2) in two hours, you have an average of 72 seconds (90 seconds for
Paper-2) for each question. So on pro rata basis you should answer 25 questions
every 30 minutes (20 questions every half an hour for Paper-2). But be harsh
with yourself in the first hour. Allocate 40-45 seconds for each question (55-60 seconds in case of Paper-2).
Thus if in the first 30 minutes you haven’t
answered 30-35 questions (25-27 questions in case of optional subject), you
should tell yourself that you are not doing well. This is because in the first
hour you will be answering the easiest questions and in the last half-hour you
will need plenty of spare time for “logic and guesswork”. Even bright
candidates sometimes find themselves slower than the pro-rata speed in the
first half-hour. So unless you consciously try to be faster than that speed,
you will run into trouble later.
Negative marking:
There
will be penalty for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective type
question papers. There will be four alternatives for the answer to every
question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the
candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be
deducted as penalty. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be
treated as a wrong even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and
there will be same penalty. But if a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is
given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question. Hence you
need be very cautious in the second and third rounds when you are attempting
those questions you are fairly, but not absolutely, certain about or those
questions that you know absolutely nothing about.
Analysis
of GS Prelims questions related to Indian Economy (2005-2013):
The
questions were asked on the following topics:
CSE GS Prelims
2013
1.Balance
of payments;
2.RBI’s
regulation;
3.Bank Rate;
4.Deficit
financing;
5.Disguised
unemployment;
6.Capital
account;
7.Inflation;
8.Liquid
asset of bank;
9.Open
market operations;
10. Priority
sector lending by banks;
11.Demographic
dividend;
12.Inflation;
13.Economic
growth;
14.National
income;
15.Credit
to rural poor;
16.Foreign
exchange reserve;
17.Inflation;
18.Demand
and supply of money;
CSE GS Prelims
2012
1. National Biodiversity Authority
(NBA) and Indian agriculture;
2. National Rural Health Mission;
3. National Rural Livelihood
Mission;
4. Multi-dimensional Poverty
Index of UNDP;
5. Thirteenth Finance Commission;
6. Industrial Policy;
7. Ryotwari Settlement;
8. Demographic transition;
9. Index of Industrial
Production;
10. Janani Suraksha Yojana;
11. Employees’ State Insurance
Scheme;
12. District Rural Development
Agencies;
13. Reserve Bank of India;
14. Capital gains;
15. Measures to increase in the
money supply in the economy;
16. Foreign Direct Investment;
17. Price of a currency in
international market;
18. Lead Bank Scheme;
CSE GS Prelims
2011
1. Union Budget 2011-12;
2. Food Inflation;
3. Fiscal Stimulus;
4. Visit by foreign nationals to
India;
5. Current Account Deficit;
6. Base Effect of Inflation;
7. Demographic dividend;
8. Value Added Tax;
9. Closed economy;
10. Difference between FDI and
FII;
11. Aam Admi Bima Yojana;
12. Mega Food Parks;
13. Micro Finance;
14. MGNREGA;
15. Union Budget;
16. Finance Commission;
17. Australia Group and Wassenaar
Arrangement;
18. Difference between Vote on
Account and Interim Budget;
19. IMF;
20. Teaser Loan by commercial
Bank;
21. Growth of Indian economy;
22. Agricultural credit;
23. Inclusive Growth;
24. Disinvestment of the public sector;
25. Economic growth and
Inflation;
26.
Bank Rate;
CSE GS Prelims 2009
1.Infant
Mortality Rate;
2.Private
companies—Business house associated;
3.Financial
organization—Service provided;
4.
International auctioneers;
5.
Funds from UNFCC;
6.
Carbon credit;
7.
World Economic Forum;
8.
The Climate Change Accountability Bill—country
9.
Important events of Indian economy;
10.Population
density in south Asian countries;
11.Different
taxes in India;
12.Stock
Exchanges in India;
13.Energy
Statistics;
14.Stock
indices in different countries;
15.CACP—National
Food Security Mission;
16.Deepak
Parekh Committee;
17.Five
Year Plans-Objectives;
CSE GS Prelims 2008
1.Green
Revolution –Father of;
2.Stock
Index—S & P 500;
3.Census
2001—State with minimum population;
4.Prisoner’s
Dilemma;
5.Census
2001—State with highest % of rural population;
6.World
Summit on Sustainable Development;
7.Clean
Development Mechanism-carbon credits;
8.Census
2001-Million plus cities;
9.Name
of PSUs;
10.UN
Monetary and Financial Conference;
11.BRIT
(GOI);
12.Important
International Organisations—India as a member;
13.Census
2001-Persons above 65 years of age;
14.GDP
per capita, Wheat and Rice production;
15.Rural
Electrification Policy;
16.National
Population Policy,2000;
17.Biodiesel
Mission;
18.Indira
Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme;
19.Scheme
to provide training and skills to women in trades.
CSE GS Prelims 2007
1.National
Child Labour Project and Gurupadaswamy Committee;
2.Aluminum
company—Location;
3.National
Highways and States;
4.International
companies-Products;
5.Changing
sectoral contribution to Indian GDP;
6.Steel
Industry in India;
7.National
Housing Bank;
8.Food
grains production in India;
CSE GS Prelims 2006
1.Famous
companies-area of work;
2.Census
2001-Area,Literacy rate, Population;
3.BOP
concept;
4.Bharat
Nirman Plan and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005;
5.Fiscal
Responsibility and Budget Management Act;
6.Indonext;
7.Non
nationalized Bank;
8.Value
of India’s export and India’s share in merchandise exports;
9.SAFTA;
10.Carbon
tax-world’s first;
11.ASEAN
members;
12.National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005;
13.World
Economic Forum meeting at Davos;
14.Life
Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Company and United India Insurance
Company;
15.Service
Tax;
16.Nirmal
Gram Puraskar;
CSE GS Prelims 2005
1.Census
2001-States with 2nd largest population;
2.Chamber
of commerce-FICCI-President;
3.India’s
Forex reserve and whole sale price index;
4.First
airport owned by Public Limited Company;
5.ASEAN
members;
6.PRGF
of IMF and Singapore Regional Training Institute(STI)
7.Sensex
and New York Stock Exchange;
8.Important
companies-Business House;
9.Census
2001-Area and population of different state;
10.Census
2001-% of scheduled caste; decadal growth of population; State with least
population; State with highest sex ratio;
11.Global
Trust Bank and PNB amalgamation;
12.National
Family Planning Programme and National Population Policy;
13.No.
of Post Offices; Year of formation of BSNL and TRAI;
Major topics of GS Prelims questions
related to Indian Economy (2005-2013):
- Census 2001 and Census 2011;
- Basic statistics relating to Indian Economy;
- Five Year Plans;
- Government Policies;
- Government Schemes, Projects and Missions;
- Committees and their recommendations;
- Public Sector Enterprises;
- Stock Exchanges and Stock Indices—National and International;
- Bank and insurance sector-Role and functions of Reserve Bank of
India;
- Famous private companies—business houses associated with them and
their products/services;
- International trading blocks—India as a member;
- Environment Economics-- National and International;
- Taxes and subsidies;
- Miscellaneous;
Reading List:
1. NCERT textbooks (XI-XII) on Economics: Read the following sections:
From XI:
Course II, Units I—IV;
From
XII: Course II, Units IV—V;
2. Census 2001 and 2011Reports;
3. Economic Surveys, GOI,(2012-13
and 2013-14);
4. India 2013 and 2014;
5. One good guide book on
CSE Prelims (Access/TMH/Unique/Spectrum);
6. One/two good monthly magazine
on competitive examination;
7. One/two national English
dailies;
8. One economic/business daily,
if possible.
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