20. constitutution of india in a nutshell gp1

Constitution of India : List
of All Articles (1-395) and
Parts (1-22)
Constitution of India contains 395 articles in 22 parts. Additional
articles and parts are inserted later through various
amendments. There are also 12 schedules in Indian Constitution. Those who
are looking for a summary of Indian Constitution, this post might be the
right place to start with; to understand the purpose and background of
each article of the Constitution of India. This post can be seen as a
ready reckoner/index of the Constitution of India. (Titles are mentioned
for all articles from 1-395, separated under various parts and chapters.
Preamble and Repealed articles or parts are specially mentioned.)
PREAMBLE
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India
into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLIC and to secure
to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and
worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to
promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and
the unity and integrity of the nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty sixth day
of November 1949 , do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE
TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
PART I : THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORY
1 Name and territory of the Union.
2 Admission or establishment of new States.
2A [Repealed.]
3 Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names
of existing States.
4 Laws made under articles 2 and 3 to provide for the amendment of
the First and the Fourth Schedules and supplemental, incidental and

consequential matters.
PART II: CITIZENSHIP
5 Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution.
6 Rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India
from Pakistan.
7 Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
8 Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin
residing outside India.
9 Persons voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign State not to
be citizens.
10 Continuance of the rights of citizenship.
11 Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.
PART III : FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
General
12 Definition.
13 Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights.
Right to Equality
14 Equality before law.
15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth.
16 Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.
17 Abolition of Untouchability.
18 Abolition of titles.
Right to Freedom
19 Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech,
etc. 20 Protection in respect of conviction for offences.
21 Protection of life and personal liberty.
22 Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
Right against Exploitation
23 Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. 24
Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.
Right to Freedom of Religion
25 Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation
of religion.
26 Freedom to manage religious affairs.
27 Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion. 28
Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship

in certain educational institutions.
Cultural and Educational Rights
29 Protection of interests of minorities.
30 Right of minorities to establish and administer
educational institutions.
31 [Repealed.]
Saving of Certain Laws
31A Saving of Laws providing for acquisition of estates,
etc. 31B Validation of certain Acts and Regulations.
31C Saving of laws giving effect to certain directive
principles. 31D [Repealed.]
Right to Constitutional Remedies
32 Remedies for enforcement of rights conferred by this
Part. 32A [Repealed.]
33 Power of Parliament to modify the rights conferred by this Part in
their application to Forces, etc.
34 Restriction on rights conferred by this Part while martial law is
in force in any area.
35 Legislation to give effect to the provisions of this Part.
PART IV : DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY
36 Definition.
37 Application of the principles contained in this Part.
38 State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of
the people.
39 Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State.
39A Equal justice and free legal aid.
40 Organisation of village panchayats.
41 Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain
cases. 42 Provision for just and humane conditions of work and
maternity relief. 43 Living wage, etc., for workers.
43A Participation of workers in management of industries.
44 Uniform civil code for the citizens.
45 Provision for free and compulsory education for children.
46 Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections.
47 Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard
of living and to improve public health.
48 Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry.
48A Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests

and wild life.
49 Protection of monuments and places and objects of national
importance. 50 Separation of judiciary from executive.
51 Promotion of international peace and security.
PART IVA : FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
51A Fundamental duties.
PART V : THE UNION
CHAPTER I : THE EXECUTIVE
The President and Vice-President
52 The President of India.
53 Executive power of the Union.
54 Election of President.
55 Manner of election of President.
56 Term of office of President.
57 Eligibility for re-election.
58 Qualifications for election as President.
59 Conditions of President’s office.
60 Oath or affirmation by the President.
61 Procedure for impeachment of the President.
62 Time of holding election to fill vacancy in the office of President
and the term of office of person elected to fill casual vacancy.
63 The Vice-President of India.
64 The Vice-President to be ex officio Chairman of the Council of States.
65 The Vice-President to act as President or to discharge his functions
during casual vacancies in the office, or during the absence, of
President. 66 Election of Vice-President.
67 Term of office of Vice-President.
68 Time of holding election to fill vacancy in the office of Vice-President and
the term of office of person elected to fill casual vacancy.
69 Oath or affirmation by the Vice-President.
70 Discharge of President’s functions in other contingencies.
71 Matters relating to, or connected with, the election of a President
or Vice-President.
72 Power of President to grant pardons, etc., and to suspend, remit
or commute sentences in certain cases.
73 Extent of executive power of the Union.

Council of Ministers
74 Council of Ministers to aid and advise President.
75 Other provisions as to Ministers.
The Attorney-General for India
76 Attorney-General for India.
Conduct of Government Business
77 Conduct of business of the Government of India.
78 Duties of Prime Minister as respects the furnishing of information
to the President, etc.
CHAPTER II : PARLIAMENT
General
79 Constitution of Parliament.
80 Composition of the Council of States.
81 Composition of the House of the People.
82 Readjustment after each census.
83 Duration of Houses of Parliament.
84 Qualification for membership of Parliament.
85 Sessions of Parliament, prorogation and dissolution.
86 Right of President to address and send messages to
Houses. 87 Special address by the President.
88 Rights of Ministers and Attorney-General as respects Houses.
Officers of Parliament
89 The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council of States.
90 Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the office of
Deputy Chairman.
91 Power of the Deputy Chairman or other person to perform the duties
of the office of, or to act as, Chairman.
92 The Chairman or the Deputy Chairman not to preside while a
resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
93 The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People .
94 Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of
Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
95 Power of the Deputy Speaker or other person to perform the duties of
the office of, or to act as, Speaker.
96 The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker not to preside while a resolution
for his removal from office is under consideration.
97 Salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman and
the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
98 Secretariat of Parliament.

Conduct of Business
99 Oath or affirmation by members.
100 Voting in Houses, power of Houses to act notwithstanding vacancies
and quorum.
Disqualifications of Members
101 Vacation of seats.
102 Disqualifications for membership.
103 Decision on questions as to disqualifications of members.
104 Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation
under article 99 or when not qualified or when disqualified.
Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members
105 Powers, privileges, etc., of the Houses of Parliament and of
the members and committees thereof.
106 Salaries and allowances of members.
Legislative Procedure
107 Provisions as to introduction and passing of Bills.
108 Joint sitting of both Houses in certain cases.
109 Special procedure in respect of Money Bills.
110 Definition of “Money Bills”.
111 Assent to Bills.
Procedure in Financial Matters
112 Annual financial statement.
113 Procedure in Parliament with respect to estimates.
114 Appropriation Bills.
115 Supplementary, additional or excess grants.
116 Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional
grants. 117 Special provisions as to financial Bills.
Procedure Generally
118 Rules of procedure.
119 Regulation by law of procedure in Parliament in relation to
financial business.
120 Language to be used in Parliament.
121 Restriction on discussion in Parliament.
122 Courts not to inquire into proceedings of Parliament.
CHAPTER III : LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT
123 Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess
of Parliament.

CHAPTER IV : THE UNION JUDICIARY
124 Establishment and constitution of Supreme Court.
125 Salaries, etc., of Judges.
126 Appointment of acting Chief Justice.
127 Appointment of ad hoc judges.
128 Attendance of retired Judges at sittings of the Supreme
Court. 129 Supreme Court to be a court of record.
130 Seat of Supreme Court.
131 Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
131A [Repealed.]
132 Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in appeals from High Courts
in certain cases.
133 Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in appeals from High Courts
in regard to Civil matters.
134 Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in regard to criminal
matters. 134A Certificate for appeal to the Supreme Court.
135 Jurisdiction and powers of the Federal Court under existing law to
be exercisable by the Supreme Court.
136 Special leave to appeal by the Supreme Court.
137 Review of judgments or orders by the Supreme Court. 138
Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
139 Conferment on the Supreme Court of powers to issue certain
writs. 139A Transfer of certain cases.
140 Ancillary powers of Supreme Court.
141 Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts.
142 Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court and orders as
to discovery, etc.
143 Power of President to consult Supreme Court.
144 Civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme
Court. 144A [Repealed.]
145 Rules of Court, etc.
146 Officers and servants and the expenses of the Supreme
Court. 147 Interpretation.
CHAPTER V : COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR-GENERAL OF INDIA
148 Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
149 Duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General. 150
Form of accounts of the Union and of the States.
151 Audit reports.

PART VI : THE STATES
CHAPTER I : GENERAL
152 Definition.
CHAPTER II : THE EXECUTIVE
The Governor
153 Governors of States.
154 Executive power of State.
155 Appointment of Governor.
156 Term of office of Governor.
157 Qualifications for appointment as Governor.
158 Conditions of Governor’s office
159 Oath or affirmation by the Governor.
160 Discharge of the functions of the Governor in certain
contingencies. 161 Power of Governor to grant pardons, etc., and to
suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.
162 Extent of executive power of State.
Council of Ministers
163 Council of Ministers to aid and advise Governor.
164 Other provisions as to Ministers.
The Advocate-General for the State 165
Advocate-General for the State. Conduct
of Government Business
166 Conduct of business of the Government of a State.
167 Duties of Chief Minister as respects the furnishing of information
to Governor, etc.
CHAPTER III : THE STATE LEGISLATURE
General
168 Constitution of Legislatures in States.
169 Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in States.
170 Composition of the Legislative Assemblies.
171 Composition of the Legislative Councils.
172 Duration of State Legislatures.
173 Qualification for membership of the State Legislature.
174 Sessions of the State Legislature, prorogation and dissolution.
175 Right of Governor to address and send messages to the House or Houses.

176 Special address by the Governor.
177 Rights of Ministers and Advocate-General as respects the Houses.
Officers of the State Legislature
178 The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
180 Power of the Deputy Speaker or other person to perform the duties
of the office of, or to act as, Speaker.
181 The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker not to preside while a resolution
for his removal from office is under consideration.
182 The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council.
Chairman and Deputy Chairman.
184 Power of the Deputy Chairman or other person to perform the duties
of the office of, or to act as, Chairman.
185 The Chairman or the Deputy Chairman not to preside while a
resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
186 Salaries and allowances of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and
the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.
187 Secretariat of State Legislature.
Conduct of Business
188 Oath or affirmation by members.
189 Voting in Houses, power of Houses to act notwithstanding vacancies
and quorum.
Disqualifications of Members
190 Vacation of seats.
191 Disqualifications for membership.
192 Decision on questions as to disqualifications of members.
193 Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation
under article 188 or when not qualified or when disqualified.
Powers, privileges and immunities of State Legislatures and their Members
194 Powers, privileges, etc., of the Houses of Legislatures and of
the members and committees thereof.
195 Salaries and allowances of members.
Legislative Procedure
196 Provisions as to introduction and passing of Bills.
197 Restriction on powers of Legislative Council as to Bills other
than Money Bills.
198 Special procedure in respect of Money Bills.
199 Definition of “Money Bills”.
200 Assent to Bills.

201 Bills reserved for consideration.
Procedure in Financial Matters
202 Annual financial statement.
203 Procedure in Legislature with respect to estimates.
204 Appropriation Bills.
205 Supplementary, additional or excess grants.
206 Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional
grants. 207 Special provisions as to financial Bills.
Procedure Generally
208 Rules of procedure.
209 Regulation by law of procedure in the Legislature of the State
in relation to financial business.
210 Language to be used in the Legislature.
211 Restriction on discussion in the Legislature.
212 Courts not to inquire into proceedings of the Legislature.
CHAPTER IV : LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE GOVERNOR
213 Power of Governor to promulgate Ordinances during recess
of Legislature.
CHAPTER V : THE HIGH COURTS IN THE STATES
214 High Courts for States.
215 High Courts to be courts of record.
216 Constitution of High Courts.
217 Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High
Court. 218 Application of certain provisions relating to Supreme Court
to High Courts.
219 Oath or affirmation by Judges of High Courts.
220 Restriction on practice after being a permanent Judge.
221 Salaries, etc., of Judges.
222 Transfer of a Judge from one High Court to
another. 223 Appointment of acting Chief Justice.
224 Appointment of additional and acting Judges.
224A Appointment of retired Judges at sittings of High
Courts. 225 Jurisdiction of existing High Courts.
226 Power of High Courts to issue certain writs.
226A [Repealed..]
227 Power of superintendence over all courts by the High
Court. 228 Transfer of certain cases to High Court.

228A [Repealed.]
229 Officers and servants and the expenses of High Courts.
230 Extension of jurisdiction of High Courts to Union territories. 231
Establishment of a common High Court for two or more States.
CHAPTER VI : SUBORDINATE COURTS
233 Appointment of district judges.
233A Validation of appointments of, and judgments, etc., delivered
by, certain district judges.
234 Recruitment of persons other than district judges to the
judicial service.
235 Control over subordinate courts.
236 Interpretation.
237 Application of the provisions of this Chapter to certain class
or classes of magistrates.
PART VII : THE STATES IN PART B OF THE FIRST SCHEDULE
238 [Repealed.]
PART VIII : THE UNION TERRITORIES
239 Administration of Union territories.
239A Creation of local Legislatures or Council of Ministers or both
for certain Union territories.
239A Special provisions with respect to Delhi.
239AA Provision in case of failure of constitutional machinery.
239AB Power of administrator to promulgate Ordinances during recess
of Legislature.
240 Power of President to make regulations for certain Union
territories. 241 High Courts for Union territories.
242 [Repealed.]
PART IX : THE PANCHAYATS
243 Definitions.
243A Gram Sabha.
243B Constitution of Panchayats.
243C Composition of Panchayats.
243D Reservation of seats.

243E Duration of Panchayats, etc.
243F Disqualifications for membership.
243G Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats. 243H
Powers to impose taxes by, and Funds of, the Panchayats.
243-I Constitution of Finance Commission to review financial
position. 243J Audit of accounts of Pachayats.
243K Elections to the Panchayats.
243L Application to Union territories.
243M Part not to apply to certain areas.
243N Continuance of existing laws and Panchayats.
243-O Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.
PART IXA : THE MUNICIPALITIES
243P Definitions.
243Q Constitution of Municipalities.
243R Composition of Municipalities.
243S Constitution and composition of Wards Committees, etc.
243T Reservation of seats.
243U Duration of Municipalities, etc.
243V Disqualifications for membership.
243W Powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities,
etc. 243X. Power to impose taxes by, and Funds of, the
Municipalities. 243 Finance Commission.
243Z Audit of accounts of Municipalities.
243ZA Elections to the Municipalities. 243ZB
Application to Union territories. 243ZC Part
not to apply to certain areas. 243ZD
Committee for district planning. 243ZE
Committee for Metropolitan planning.
243ZF Continuance of existing laws and Municipalities. 243ZG
Bar to interference by Courts in electoral matters.
PART X : THE SCHEDULED AND TRIBAL AREAS
244 Administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas.
244A Formation of an autonomous State comprising certain tribal areas
in Assam and creation of local Legislature or Council of Ministers or
both therefor.

PART XI : RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNION AND THE STATES
CHAPTER I : LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS
Distribution of Legislative Powers
245 Extent of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of
States. 246 Subject-matter of laws made by Parliament and by the
Legislatures of States.
247 Power of Parliament to provide for the establishment of
certain additional courts.
248 Residuary powers of legislation.
249 Power of Parliament to legislate with respect to a matter in the
State List in the national interest.
250 Power of Parliament to legislate with respect to any matter in
the State List if a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation.
251 Inconsistency between laws made by Parliament under articles 249
and 250 and laws made by the Legislatures of States.
252 Power of Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent
and adoption of such legislation by any other State.
253 Legislation for giving effect to international agreements.
254 Inconsistency between laws made by Parliament and laws made by
the Legislatures of States.
255 Requirements as to recommendations and previous sanctions to
be regarded as matters of procedure only.
CHAPTER II : ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONS
General
256 Obligation of States and the Union.
257 Control of the Union over States in certain
cases. 257A [Repealed.]
258 Power of the Union to confer powers, etc., on States in certain
cases. 258A Power of the States to entrust functions to the Union.
259 [Repealed.]
260 Jurisdiction of the Union in relation to territories outside India.
261 Public acts, records and judicial proceedings.
Disputes relating to Waters
262 Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers
or river valleys.

Co-ordination between States
263 Provisions with respect to an inter-State Council.
PART XII : FINANCE, PROPERTY, CONTRACTS AND SUITS
CHAPTER I : FINANCE
General
264 Interpretation.
265 Taxes not to be imposed save by authority of law.
266 Consolidated Funds and public accounts of India and of the States.
267 Contingency Fund.
Distribution of Revenues between the Union and the States
268 Duties levied by the Union but collected and appropriated by the State. 269
Taxes levied and collected by the Union but assigned to the States. 270 Taxes
levied and distributed between the Union and the States.
271 Surcharge on certain duties and taxes for purposes of the Union.
272 [Repealed.]
273 Grants in lieu of export duty on jute and jute products.
274 Prior recommendation of President required to Bills affecting
taxation in which States are interested.
275 Grants from the Union to certain States.
276 Taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments.
277 Savings.
278 [Repealed.]
279 Calculation of “net proceeds”, etc.
280 Finance Commission.
281 Recommendations of the Finance Commission.
Miscellaneous financial provisions
282 Expenditure defrayable by the Union or a State out of its
revenues. 283 Custody, etc., of Consolidated Funds, Contingency Funds
and moneys credited to the public accounts.
284 Custody of suitors’ deposits and other moneys received by
public servants and courts.
285 Exemption of property of the Union from State taxation.
286 Restrictions as to imposition of tax on the sale or purchase of
goods. 287 Exemption from taxes on electricity.
288 Exemption from taxation by States in respect of water or electricity
in certain cases.
289 Exemption of property and income of a State from Union taxation. 290
Adjustment in respect of certain expenses and pensions.

290A Annual payment to certain Devaswom Funds.
291 [Repealed.]
CHAPTER II : BORROWING
292 Borrowing by the Government of India.
293 Borrowing by States.
CHAPTER III : PROPERTY, CONTRACTS, RIGHTS, LIABILITIES, OBLIGATIONS
AND SUITS
294 Succession to property, assets, rights, liabilities and obligations
in certain cases.
295 Succession to property, assets, rights, liabilities and obligations
in other cases.
296 Property accruing by escheat or laps or as bona vacantia.
297 Things of value within territorial waters or continental shelf
and resources of the exclusive economic zone to vest in the Union.
298 Power to carry on trade, etc.
299 Contracts.
300 Suits and proceedings.
CHAPTER IV : RIGHT TO PROPERTY
300A Persons not to be deprived of property save by authority of law.
PART XIII : TRADE, COMMERCE AND INTERCOURSE WITHIN THE
TERRITORY OF INDIA
301 Freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse.
302 Power of Parliament to impose restrictions on trade, commerce
and intercourse.
303 Restrictions on the legislative powers of the Union and of the
States with regard to trade and commerce.
304 Restrictions on trade, commerce and intercourse among States. 305
Saving of existing laws and laws providing for State monopolies.
306 [Repealed.]
307 Appointment of authority for carrying out the purposes of articles
301 to 304.

PART XIV : SERVICES UNDER THE UNION AND THE STATES
CHAPTER I : SERVICES
308 Interpretation.
309 Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or
a State.
310 Tenure of office of persons serving the Union or a State.
311 Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in
civil capacities under the Union or a State.
312 All-India services.
312A Power of Parliament to vary or revoke conditions of service
of officers of certain services.
313 Transitional provisions.
314 [Repeated.]
CHAPTER II : PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONS
315 Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the
States. 316 Appointment and term of office of members.
317 Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service Commission.
318 Power to make regulations as to conditions of service of members
and staff of the Commission.
319 Prohibition as to the holding of offices by members of Commission
on ceasing to be such members.
320 Functions of Public Service Commissions.
321 Power to extend functions of Public Service Commissions.
322 Expenses of Public Service Commissions.
323 Reports of Public Service Commissions.
PART XIVA : TRIBUNALS
323A Administrative tribunals.
323B Tribunals for other matters.
PART XV : ELECTIONS
324 Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in
an Election Commission.
325 No person to be ineligible for inclusion in, or to claim to be included in a
special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.

326 Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative
Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage.
327 Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections
to Legislatures.
328 Power of Legislature of a State to make provision with respect
to elections to such Legislature.
329 Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.
329A [Repealed.]
PART XVI : SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN CLASSES
330 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in
the House of the People.
331 Representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the House of
the People.
332 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in
the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
333 Representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the
Legislative Assemblies of the States.
334 Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after
sixty years.
335 Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts. 336
Special provision for Anglo-Indian community in certain services.
337 Special provision with respect to educational grants for the benefit
of Anglo-Indian Community.
338 National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
338A National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
339 Control of the Union over the Administration of Scheduled Areas and
the welfare of Scheduled Tribes.
340 Appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of
backward classes.
341 Scheduled Castes.
342 Scheduled Tribes.
PART XVII : OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
CHAPTER I : LANGUAGE OF THE UNION
343 Official language of the Union.
344 Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language.

CHAPTER II : REGIONAL LANGUAGES
345 Official language or languages of a State.
346 Official language for communication between one State and another
or between a State and the Union.
347 Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of
the population of a State.
CHAPTER III : LANGUAGE OF THE SUPREME COURT, HIGH COURTS, ETC.
348 Language to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts and
for Acts, Bills, etc.
349 Special procedure for enactment of certain laws relating to language.
CHAPTER IV : SPECIAL DIRECTIVES
350 Language to be used in representations for redress of
grievances. 350A Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at
primary stage. 350B Special Officer for linguistic minorities.
351 Directive for development of the Hindi language.
PART XVIII : EMERGENCY PROVISIONS
352 Proclamation of Emergency.
353 Effect of Proclamation of Emergency.
354 Application of provisions relating to distribution of revenues while
a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation.
355 Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression
and internal disturbance.
356 Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States.
357 Exercise of legislative powers under Proclamation issued under
article 356.
358 Suspension of provisions of article 19 during emergencies.
359 Suspension of the enforcement of the rights conferred by Part
III during emergencies.
359A [Repealed.]
360 Provisions as to financial emergency.
PART XIX : MISCELLANEOUS
361 Protection of President and Governors and Rajprakukhs.

361A Protection of publication of proceedings of Parliament and
State Legislatures.
361B Disqualification for appointment on remunerative political post.
362 [Repealed.]
363 Bar to interference by courts in disputes arising out of
certain treaties, agreements, etc.
363A Recognition granted to Rulers of Indian States to cease and
privy purses to be abolished.
364 Special provisions as to major ports and aerodromes.
365 Effect of failure to comply with, or to give effect to,
directions given by the Union.
366 Definitions.
367 Interpretation.
PART XX : AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
368 Power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure therefor.
PART XXI : TEMPORARY, TRANSITIONAL AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS
369 Temporary power to Parliament to make laws with respect to certain
matters in the State List as if they were matters in the Concurrent
List. 370 Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir. 371 Special provision with respect to the States of
Maharashtra and Gujarat.
371A Special provision with respect to the State of Nagaland.
371B Special provision with respect to the State of Assam. 371C
Special provision with respect to the State of Manipur.
371D Special provisions with respect to the State of Andhra Pradesh. 371E
Establishment of Central University in Andhra Pradesh.
371F Special provisions with respect to the State of Sikkim.
371G Special provision with respect to the State of Mizoram.
371H Special provision with respect to the State of Arunachal
Pradesh. 371-I Special provision with respect to the State of Goa.
372 Continuance in force of existing laws and their
adaptation. 372A Power of the President to adapt laws.
373 Power of President to make order in respect of persons under
preventive detention in certain cases.
374 Provisions as to Judges of the Federal Court and proceedings pending
in the Federal Court or before His Majesty in Council.
375 Courts, authorities and officers to continue to function subject to the

provisions of the Constitution.
376 Provisions as to Judges of High Courts.
377 Provisions as to Comptroller and Auditor-General of
India. 378 Provisions as to Public Service Commissions.
378A Special provision as to duration of Andhra Pradesh
Legislative Assembly.
379-391 [Repealed.]
392 Power of the President to remove difficulties.
PART XXII : SHORT TITLE, COMMENCEMENT, AUTHORITATIVE TEXT IN
HINDI AND REPEALS
393 Short title.
394 Commencement.
394A Authoritative text in the Hindi language.
395 Repeals.
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THE HINDU Epaper 29 Oct 2015
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Preparation Strategy UPSC
Civil Service [ By IAS Topper
Ira Singhal ]
Preparation Strategy
PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS AND MY WAYS OF DOING THINGS. IN
NO WAY IS ALL THIS WHAT I ASK ALL OF YOU TO DO.
1. I only prepared the topics I was comfortable with. I cannot mug
up stuff so I left the topics which required mugging up. I do
not prepare data and I don’t know data for anything. Never
mugged up any.
2. Left Art & Culture and Environment topics in G.S. and left Map
completely in Geography. They required mugging up and I am not
very good with that. So I focused on preparing the topics I
could handle.
3. Started from the basics. I found NCERTs are a must-read. But
yes, some subjects require specialised books after that. But I
found that you cannot ignore NCERTs. You have to do other books
alongside NCERTs. Everything starts from there. Also we need to
do them multiple times.
4. Mostly depended on online material. Did not go to any one site, but
checked multiple sources for everything. I like getting different
points of view on everything so I would read as many sources as
possible for the same topic. I did not revise anything though,
something I should have done. I don’t necessarily recommend doing this
because I ended up wasting a lot of time and effort and did not even
remember most of the stuff I read. Though using more than one source
is always a good idea.
5. I am extremely, extremely lazy and since Current Affairs requires
effort throughout the year, I had to depend on online websites at
the last minute for getting my material. But if you can, please read
the newspapers daily. Cannot recommend any
magazines since I never read any. Do prepare your Current
Affairs from the exam month of the previous year.
6. I never prepared notes for anything, even when I read the same
topic from multiple books. I just went back and read all the
books again – mainly for my optional Geography where I consulted
more than 35-40 books. I used to underline important stuff in
the books but I was too lazy to write it all down. Please don’t
take this is as what everyone must do. Do what makes it better
for you to remember stuff.
7. I used to discuss and debate a lot of stuff with my friends so it
helped giving me different view-points and helped my analytical

abilities.
8. I am not someone who can study throughout the day or something,
so my study plan is always about finishing a particular amount
of course rather than studying for a fixed number of hours. For
example, I would plan to finish 20 chapters in a day rather than
study for 15 hours. I did not waste time starring at the same
page for a long time and then get up telling myself that I
studied for so many hours. Instead I spent a LOT of time on my
multiple hobbies.
9. I did not lock myself away from my friends and family or my
hobbies. I somehow found time for everything…..but that might
be because I used to avoid studying. I do realise sometimes
talking to people can be a distraction because you will end up
spending time thinking about the stuff they said and that can
take your concentration away from your books when you start
studying. Do what works best for you. I couldn’t lock myself
away from all the other things I love but maybe you need to.
10. I never prepared for Prelims or Interview. I used to directly
prepare for Mains and answer prelims based on my knowledge of
Mains syllabus. Which is why I never score very high in GS of
prelims. I don’t recommend this but this is the reason I cannot
help anyone with how to prepare for the prelims. I have given
CAT so I didn’t need to prepare for CSAT so don’t know the
material for that either.
11. I didn’t prepare for interview because I see it as an
opportunity to interact and exhibit my personality and thought-
process to the interviewer rather than my knowledge. So I get
good marks in interviews when the questions are about me and my
hobbies and how I would handle situations but I do terribly
when asked factual questions of Current Affairs.
12. I have been asked many times about when to start studying for
this exam – and this is what I believe and did for myself. I
think it is important to find another alternate career before
you stake your future on this uncertain path. That will give you
confidence and a safe haven in case things don’t go your way.
This exam needs a lot of hard work, a lot of mental strength and
some amount of Luck. So to remove the luck factor, I decided to
get a strong alternate career before this drowned me. Also
working helped me analyse and see what I was good at and what I
could handle. It gave me a lot of maturity and a wider, bigger
perspective to things. Something that helped me a lot during
preparation. And having a work possibility somewhere out there,
keeps you positive and gives a lot of emotional balance.
13. I never made clearing the exam as the only thing in my life. I did not
connect it to my ego or to my personal success or made it my reason to
live. I can’t be that intense about something like this. To me this
exam is about what it allows me to do….like help manage things in my
country, help improve lives, help make policy changes and work at the
national and international levels to make lives better. I did not care
about being rank 1 or something, I would

have been quite alright even with rank 1000 as long as I get to
do the work I want to do.
14. I never took any test series or interview prep classes. I am
too lazy to attend those. But if you need to practise and can’t
do it yourself, it is upto you!
Source: XAAM
BOOKLIST FOR MAINS- [ By Ira
Singhal IAS Rank 1 -2014 ]
BOOKLIST FOR MAINS-
Essay – No book. Marks 160/250
General Studies Paper 1 – Marks 103/250
Art & Culture – never prepared. But I have heard people say Spectrum is
good. No clue cause I didn’t study so please check with others. I left all
the questions in the exam – which is reflected in my marks. J
Independence History – Old NCERT for pre-1857 and Spectrum for 1857 and beyond. I
found that the questions need you to not go in depth but just know the topic and be
able to analyse it right then and there. So I found reading the fat Bipin Chandra
etc a complete waste of time. If you feel like it, then please go ahead but I
didn’t do it. Also check out the new NCERT because the important Personalities are
mentioned in Boxes in that book.
Post- independence History – ONLY the new NCERT – India Since Independence. It is a
brilliant book which gives everything you need to know clearly and concisely. Also
again, the personalities are given in boxes. UPSC hasn’t run out of questions to ask
from that yet, so it should suffice a few more years.
World History – Old NCERTs available as photocopies right from 9-12th
. The ones from
before the year 2000. They are more than enough. Again, UPSC hasn’t run out of
questions to ask from that yet, so it should suffice a few more years.
Sociology material – did a few coaching materials on the random topics but
it was more about my general understanding of Indian Society.
Geography – can’t help there since it was my optional so I did detailed material on
the topics. But Mrunal.org has covered some stuff very nicely and YouTube has some
brilliant videos on the basic topics. NCERTs are the main

starting point even for the optional people.
Polity – I only ever did Laxmikant Polity. I find it the best book ever.
Haven’t read anything else. But maybe now after the exam I will try reading
D.D. Basu just to see what it is all about. I tried it before and couldn’t
get past the first chapter. So it was Laxmikant for me!
RPA – did google search and read stuff from multiple websites and
also whatever was in the news.
Schemes etc – I did from the direct Ministry websites. Also my friend Shikhar used
to listen to the news and would force me to listen with him on AIR Fm. Sometimes
the news analysis that came after the news would give brilliant points for the
schemes. But I hadn’t done ministry websites before and I did it this time. It made
a huge difference. Also would google search for schemes of government of India and
check out all the results that appeared.
Current Affairs – I did Vision coaching current affairs. I think they copy
paste articles from The Hindu but since I was too lazy to read the Hindu
everyday, this worked for me. I did the C.A. right from December of 2013.
Last year I did not do current affairs at all, but that was a big mistake.
International Affairs – I did from Vajiram Coaching material which they bring out
around a month before the exam. It was more than sufficient in my opinion.
Other topics – I did a lot of government documents like reports on the
topics and also googled all the topics mentioned and read some of the
articles that came up. Didn’t make notes but got a general idea. I did this
for the first time this year. Also did coaching material from 3 delhi based
coachings – Sriram, Vajiram and Vision. Some topics were good in one source
and some in the other.
Basic Economics – I had done this in Business School so I just brushed it
up. Didn’t follow any particular source.
Economics C.A. – Mrunal.org is a brilliant source. I did it only on the
last night before the exam but I regret not paying more attention.
Government documents and websites for the other topics where needed.
Referred to Vision and Sriram material for most of the topics.
Security – I did Vajiram booklet but didn’t find it great. Sriram material
had covered some of the topics really well.

Disaster – NDMA and other government websites.
S&T, Bio-diversity and Environment – I had in my first attempt finished
Wizard Science & Tech (big fat book), so I kept doing it. Bought newer
editions where I just had to update on the new additions.
Lexicon thin book on ethics
Didn’t really need to prepare much so no clue. Never did a single case
study or read any other book. Can’t help much here.
I handled Case Studies basis what I had learnt in Business School so
there isn’t any one technique. Every question requires a different
strategy. Some techniques you can google are – PESTEL, Stakeholder
Analysis, Value Chain, SWOT and Pro-Con.
Geography Optional – 305/500
Savinder Singh – Physical Geography
Rupa Made Simple – Physical & Human geography both
Majid Hussain – Evolution of geographical thought
Goh Cheng Leong – Certificate Physical and Human Geography
K. Siddhartha – Economic Geography
NCERTs -6th
to 12th
old and new
I, even, did ICSE 6-8th
– not relevant anymore
Coaching material for the rest of the topics
Google searched a lot of issues not given clearly elsewhere.
YouTube videos on resources etc.
There were a few other books but none of them were relevant. I tend to buy
everything anyone said and they were mostly useless. So just giving a list
of the books I read again and again.
I am terrible at Maps. I can do the world map perfectly but just can’t do
India Map. I have been known to draw Amarnath in China, exchange Kandla
and Mundhra port and basically change the location of every city. I know
the big features as they relate to India physical but the small towns and
cities and rivers that get asked, I never know. They ask a lot from
Current Affairs and since I do my Current Affairs differently, I always
get a 0 in map. Though I think I knew some of it correctly this year. So I
cannot help with the preparation of the Map.

Source: XAAM
Answer and Essay Writing
Strategy[ By Ira Singhal IAS
Rank 1 -2014 ]
Answer Writing Strategy
Wrote in points wherever possible. Even in the optional. And I
write full sentences as points, not phrases. In my previous
attempts I used to write answers in paragraph form and I never
got any marks. I used to know the whole paper but I still did
not get any marks because of writing in paragraph form.
Underlined key words – did not ever do this before so it must
have helped.
Did not give a beginning or an ending paragraph. No time
generally. Might have done for a few answers where it was
absolutely necessary to start giving the points. I used to write
nice starting and ending paras earlier but did not finish the
exam paper…so I skipped it this time.
Did not use coloured pens. Mainly used the pencil or the pen I
was already writing with to underline.
Diagrams if possible or needed. Not always possible or needed.
Drew them in pen or pencil as convenient.
Did not lie to the examiner like in my previous attempts. I
wrote only those questions that I knew. Did not attempt
questions I did not know. In my previous attempts I used to do
that. I saved time and energy by not trying to fool the examiner
and writing just any nonsense. Mostly in such cases we keep
writing the same thing again and again and I think it might just
irritate the examiner. So I did not do that this time.
Did not worry about the word limit. Wrote whatever and as much as
I knew. It might have been more or might have been less.
Essay Writing Strategy

Choosing the topic – I choose topics which can have something
substantial to write and not philosophical. This time I wrote
on Standardized Testing and Tourism. Both of them have
multiple dimensions to talk about. I made the mistake of
choosing a topic in an earlier attempt where I knew one part
of the question too much and not enough of the other part …
wrote it very enthusiastically and got very little marks.
Language skill matters in the essay so I wrote a nice
grammatically correct one but did not use too complicated
words…just to keep it easy to read for the examiner. I focused
on not writing colloquial language and did try to keep my
spellings in check.
I used Subheadings – something I learnt from reading the blog of
Gaurav Aggarwal Sir, last year’s AIR -1.
I underlined in a couple of places in the essay as well.
I made one or two diagrams where I could.
Source: XAAM
Political Science Shubhra
Ranjan’s Test 4: Paper 2
Test 4: Paper 2, Section B : India and The World
SECTION-A
———-
Q1. Comment on the following in about 150 words each : 10 marksx5=50
1. India and LAC countries can together become a formidable economic force.
2. Significance of LBA with Bangladesh.
3. Japan India relations is crucial for stability in Asia-Pacific. Comment.
4. India –Israel relations has been sensitive and controversial in New Delhi
diplomatic history. Comment.
5. India has begun to implement its act east policy. Substantiate the argument
with examples.
Q2. Answer following (20+15+15 marks)
1. The changing situation in West Asia and increasing capabilities of India
makes it advisable to adopt much more active forward policy in WANA region-Shiv
Shankar Menon. Comment. 20 marks

2. Pt. Nehru recognized that our armed forces has duty beyond the border as good
global citizen. Today world looks at India as net security provider, Delhi needs
to recast its peace keeping strategy-C Raja Mohan. Elaborate. 15 marks
3. India’s Nepal Policy needs caution not grandstanding-S D Muni. Comment. 15
marks
1. India UN always had complex political relations. Today India has bigger
priority than burnishing its status at UN. Comment. 20 marks
2. The margin for error in Indian diplomacy is rapidly shrinking.This demands
big change in a way we think and act in neighbourhood-C Raja Mohan. Elaborate.
15 marks
3. India’s multilateralism has degenerated into moralistic commentary on world
affairs – Shashi Tharoor. India cannot treat multilateral diplomacy as boutique
corner for the foreign office dispensing moral platitudes. It must be a tool for
advancing India’s national interest as well as expressions of its universal
ideals. Elaborate. 15 marks
1. India’s instinctive response to the unfolding tensions between US and China
is to reach for comforting blanket of Non Alignment. But the fact is China is
our neighbour with which we have many outstanding issues, makes traditional non
alignment nearly impossible. Give your views on the above statement. 20 marks
2. India envisions a new maritime security architecture by drawing India’s
island neighbours into a closer security net making Indian Ocean India’s ocean.
Critically evaluate steps taken by government to achieve its goal. 15 marks
3. India Africa represents one third of human kind. They know each other since
ages, as victim of colonial injustice and exploitation. They are linked through
common goals and mutual empathy. However their relationship is marked by
awareness deficit and gaps that needed to be addressed. Suggest a way forward.
15 marks
SECTION-B
—————–
Q5. Comment on the following in about 150 words each : 10 marksx5=50
1. Short Note: India EU future perspective.
2. Enumerate India’s recent commitment towards Climate Change.
3. Discuss India’s role in BRICS.
4. Enumerate salient Sustainable Development Goals.
5. Recent trends in India Myanmar Relations.
1. PM Modi visit to CAR is about a region that has inspired a lot of political
romanticism in New Delhi but little concrete actions. Suggest a long term
strategy for overcoming constraint faced by India in the region. 20 marks
2. India Afghanistan Relations seems Strained at present. Discuss the changes in
bilateral relations since change in government in Afghanistan. 15 marks
3. EU economic crisis has fueled the emergence of deep divide between northern
creditor countries and southern debtor countries. Now migrant crisis is dividing
EU in countries who welcome and the countries who want to do little. This shows
EU is less united and more divided. What is the possible future of EU? 15 marks

1. In the wake of growing disorders like turmoil in West Asia, EU’s migrant
crisis, China unilaterally enforcing its territorial claims. Does UN have
future? Should UN not be written off as grounds for pessimism is undeniable? 20
marks
2. Since India lacks the resources it will be worthwhile to participate in the
component of OBOR. Do you agree? What OROB means for India. Write your views. 15
marks
3. The deterrence effect of Nuclear Weapons has yet to be matured in South Asia.
South Asia’s nuclear contest is complicated by presence of Non State actors –
Happymon Jacob. Discuss the multiple nuclear dilemma faced by India. 15 marks
1. Investment in US India relationship is worthwhile in long terms security and
relative position of both India and US. Do you agree? Substantiate your
viewpoint. 20 marks
2. We may be entering into a period where tighter embrace of US brings Russia
closer to Pakistan and Russia bolstering its ties with Pakistan push India
closer to US. India needs to be more diligent in dealing with Russia. Comment.
15 marks
3. Foreign Policy is about securing permanent interest which may be judged in
long term, given the priority to foreign policy given by present government it
would we advisable to make interim assessment – Srinath Raghavan. Discuss the
continuity, success, change and blind spots of present government. 15 marks
—————–The End—————–
Source: XAAM
Delhi IAS Coaching Reviews
written by IAS Toppers [ By
Gaurav Aggrawal , Ira Singhal
]
COACHING OR NO COACHING

[ By Ira Singhal IAS Rank 1 2014]
COACHING and My recommendation – I took coaching in my first attempt in 2009-10. I
did not have idea about the preparation. I did not even know what the topics of the
course meant! I had no friends or family who had ever done this. That time, in 2009-
10 there was no material available online. I didn’t know even NCERT books are
needed. I needed coaching mainly for my optional. I didn’t attend most of the G.S.
classes but did attend the optional classes. I had to prepare most of the stuff on
my own though they helped guide me on where to start. These days a lot of material
is available online and a lot of guidance on where to begin is also present online
so if I were preparing today, I would not join them. I don’t recommend or condemn
them. It depends on the sort of person you are. Some of us need hand-holding and
need someone else to keep them on track and some of us are self-motivated. So it all
depends on how you think you can succeed best. Though if it is only about material,
a lot of it is available online these days.
Coaching at ALS, South Delhi centre in specific – I took Geography,
Public Administration and G.S. classes from ALS.
Geography as taught by Mr. Shashank Atom was brilliant. The teacher helped you recognise
patterns and build your understanding yourself. I never opened a single book for Paper 2 of
geography as I had understood everything so clearly in his class. I just had to update myself
on the trends from the Economic Survey and the Census. Even though he didn’t actually like me
and even doubted I would ever get selected, I think he was a brilliant teacher because he
made sure our fundamentals were built.
General Studies and Geography as taught by Mr. Jojo Matthews was absolutely terrible. In my
opinion, he was pretty much the worst teacher possible. Firstly, he just comes to class and
starts narrating some data which you have to take down at the speed of light because he
doesn’t feel like he should slow down and either try to explain anything or even give you
enough time to properly put your pen to paper, so that you might be able to read the things
you have written, sometime in future. After the first few attempts I gave up altogether.
Another really nice thing he does, is insult the students when they ask questions. And not
only does he insult you when you ask, right then and there, he continues doing it for the
rest of the class and carries it to the next if he can remember you. He thinks he is being
funny, the student who dared to ask feels he is being insulting, and I just found it all
plain offensive and rude. A teacher should create a learning environment and no question is
too stupid – something I think he missed when he decided to become a teacher.
Also he has claimed credit for my success so I think this is where I should clarify
a few things that happened. I had given the exam in 2010 & 2011 and scored a rank
both times. I did not give in 2012 because I thought I needed to first solve my
matter in court before attempting this again, if ever. Since nothing was happening,
I decided to try doing it again with the completely overhauled pattern in 2013. I
went to their South Delhi centre where I had taken the coaching and begged them to
let me buy the material for the new pattern. I told them I’d pay whatever they were
charging. I was told that Mr. Matthews had given strict instructions and that I
should call and ask him. I called him 5 times and messaged him 3 times. I told him I
was an old student and that I had cleared the exam before and I wanted to buy the
material and was ready to pay full price. He told me to call later but he didn’t
deign pick my calls later. He did NOT EVEN ONCE RESPOND TO MY MESSAGES AND AFTER THE
FIRST TIME STOPPED TAKING MY CALLS. He didn’t care if I was a partially successful
ex-student. Actually he doesn’t really care if you are his student, he needs money
and as long as you are paying for the full class again, he will give you the
material…not that he is polite and caring as a teacher should be even then! But then
this time, as soon as the result came, he found time from his super busy life to
call and congratulate me! I am suddenly important!

Oh and by the way, ALS was the one who taught me to write only in paragraphs. In
fact they insisted on it! They said NEVER WRITE IN POINTS. If I had stopped
following their advice earlier, I might have not had to wait for my fourth attempt
to clear IAS. I only wrote in points this time cause my friend Savita who was a
fellow sufferer at their hands told me that all the toppers write in points! I was
still scared to follow her advice because ALS had insisted SOOOO HARD to never write
in points! But I thought, well it’s not like I ever got brilliant marks ever before
so let me just try it! In my B-School and Engineering we wrote the answers in points
and it made everything to much simpler. But due to the coaching centre I wrote all
my previous attempts in paragraphs. This time I did the opposite and I think I did a
lot better in my presentation.
COACHINGS – THE GOOD AND THE BAD
[By Gaurav Aggrawal IAS Rank 1 2013]
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are purely personal and may
be wrong from someone else’s perspective.
Hi, I am writing this post so that no one gets misguided in my name by
the various advertisements being put by the coaching institutes. My
aim is just to prevent students from wasting their money n time and
tell wot I found good n bad even though some of these coachings may
become unhappy with me.
1. Vajiram classroom coaching: I joined their classroom coaching in
2012 but found it to be an utter waste of my time. So left it within a
couple of weeks and never went again. What they taught could be
studies by self in less than half the time.
2. Baliyan’s Insight classroom coaching: This was the only classroom
coaching I found good and upto standards. I also liked his approach. I
joined history optional coaching there.
3. Lalwani’s Axiom for Economics: Again an utter waste of time and
money. He doesn’t teach more than half the things n wotever is taught
is mostly lacking needed depth. I used to go to the classes only coz I
had baliyan’s class after him n coz I travelled from Gurgaon to Delhi
for the classes.
4. Sriram classroom: total waste… Attended 3-4 lectures only. His
printed notes are good.
5. Vajiram interview: Liked the one on one sitting with raveendran sir
and their panels last year. But this year their panel was very bad

with some arrogant former IFS officer at head.
6. Samkalp interview: Good panels. Took 2 mocks.
7. Chanakya interview: Very good panel. They made me realise what
areas to focus on this year. Many of their questions were asked in
actual interview in sone form or other.
8. Vision Ias test series: I joined test series for GS n Essay and
found them very good. They conduct the test series professionally n
their notes are good too. 1 ques I could answer only by studying from
their notes.
9. Synergy test series: I joined only test series. It is good and
feedback professional but unka staff bhaav bahut khata hai and is
uncooperative with students.
10. Sri Chaitanya interviews: good panel and good mock.
11. HYDERABAD study Circle: I joined mock interview and was a very
good n professional experience.
KUNAL ANGIRSH (IFOS RANK 2)
ON COACHINGWALLAHS
These are the views of Kunal Angrish (AIR 2, IFoS 2014 batch). I am
merely hosting it. Thanks to him for coming up with this. He may be
reached at https://www.facebook.com/kunal.angrish.5
***********************************************************
AS YOU CHOOSE A COACHING INSTITUTE……
Following pointers are written to cater those who have just started
their preparation for the exam and are looking forward to enroll at a
coaching institute.
– There is no co-relation (direct or inverse) between number of ads in
newspaper and quality of the coaching institute.
– Don’t believe that all the selected students that the coaching

institutes show in their print ads come out of their classroom
programme. The list generally gets longer because of the selected
candidates from the mock interview sessions conducted by the various
coaching centers. The number of candidates selected from the classroom
coaching might tell you a very different story.
– There is no point that you blindly believe in stuff like ‘unki ladki
ne wahaan se coaching kithi, IPS ban gayi’. If you are about to put
your money and (to some extent) future in the hands of a coaching
institute, you have to get a good background check. You may well try
and find out the ‘shining stars’ they exhibit in their ads on Facebook
and ask for an honest feedback. Believe me, those who clear the exam
have gone through their ordeals and in most cases would be happy to
help. You can then try to make a broad consensus from the feedbacks of
the very same ‘shining stars’. However, do not form an opinion on the
basis of a single observation. Try to ask from at least four-five
different people.
– It is obvious to infer that what matters with a coaching institute
is not the absolute number of students successful in the exam but the
conversion rate. Of course, they don’t provide data on the same (but
you may at least try to inquire it).
– It is advisable that you try and coax the institute for payment of
coaching fee in installments (many of them will simply not allow it,
but wherever manageable, try to pay in installments to minimize the
loss in case of disappointment).
– It is always better to opt for coaching schedules that are flexible.
There might be different coaching institutes excelling in different
things. E.g. a coaching institute might have a great foundation
programme but the test-series might be better somewhere else. Your
enrollment at a center should not be a barrier in case you wish to
join a course somewhere else.
– You have all the right in the world to ask for a demo class. If they
refuse it, they are already doing badly at GS-paper IV (Ethics). But
the decision to join a coaching institute should come from performance
in the class-room and not at reception.
– In the end, even if you find a great coaching institute, depending

solely on it will not take you anywhere. The exam in its present form
requires a careful application of the knowledge gained. This requires
conceptual clarity which can only be had by a personalized
understanding of topics.
KUNAL ANGRISH, AIR-2, INDIAN FOREST SERVICE,2013.
Source: XAAM
After 7.9 shock [DownTo Earth
,Geography,CurrentAffair]
Nepal, flattened by the 7.9 magnitude earthquake, has stopped looking
for the dead. As heavy machineries scoop out the ruins, the tiny
Himalayan country awakes to an unbearable future. Millions of people
have to be immediately sheltered and many areas have to be built
afresh. The cost of rehabilitation is estimated at $5 billion or one-
fourth of the country’s GDP. Aftershocks continue to traumatise the
country already in distress. For those who survived, the transition
to a normal life is going to be painfully long and difficult, given
the country’s capacity to handle such a disaster.
Five days after the earthquake shook Nepal on April 25, Nima Lama, a
resident of Chum village in Gorkha district, was still trying to get a
letter from the authorities permitting a helicopter to carry rescue
material to his village. The epicentre of the earthquke, Barpak village
in Gorkha, is very close to Lama’s home. Lama was in Kathmandu when the
earthquake struck. He rushed to his village with great difficulty. “It
is almost impossible to reach there on foot as all roads to the village
have collapsed,” he said over the phone. “My village is completely
destroyed.” His family is safe, but without food or water. “Government
officials are mainly active in accessible areas, and there is no
coordination among them for rescue work,” he added.

Others in Nepal echo Lama’s concerns. “There is absolutely no
coordination among government agencies, except the security forces.
The government mechanism has been a total failure in this disaster,”
says a doctor who does not wish to be named.
At the time of going to press, the death toll was 7,765, while the
number of injured was 15,911, according to the Nepal police. Most
deaths have been recorded in Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu and Nuwakot.
The toll would have been much higher had it been a weekday—most
school buildings in 11 districts collapsed.
Once a city of four million people, Kathmandu today wears a deserted
look. People have left the capital city in large numbers, unsettled by
aftershocks and fearing another big tremor. According to the National
Seismology Centre (NSC), Kathmandu, Nepal continued to witness strong
aftershocks for days after the first big jolt. “It was like tearing a
bamboo; the first hit was very loud, then it went from west to east and
the aftershocks are slowing down,” says Som Nath Sapkota, deputy
director general of the Department of Mines and Geology, which runs NSC.

Many have flocked to their villages to check on their families.
Santosh, who sells paan (betelnut leaf) on the streets of Kathmandu,
is under pressure from his parents to go back to his village in
Dhanusa district, as they do not want to see their only son dead.
“They have heard that there will be an outbreak of diseases in the
city, so they have been calling me home,” he says.
The base camp at Mount Everest was another site of disaster as the
quake triggered an avalanche, burying 19 people in the snow and
injuring many. The avalanche also killed at least 67 mountaineers who
were trekking at the time of the earthquake.
The United Nations has made an urgent appeal to member states to donate
US $415 million to provide relief material—tents, water, blankets and
medicines—to at least half a million people who have been living in the
open since April 25. Most buildings have crumbled to dust.
Rocky foundation
Till May 7, at least 288,798 houses were completely destroyed,
while 254,112 houses were partially damaged across the country,
according to the National Emergency Operations Centre under the
Nepal government’s Ministry of Home Affairs. More than 10,700
government buildings have collapsed.
Lax building regulations and safety standards have been blamed for the
high number of deaths. Sushil Kafle, a resident of Dhumbarahi apartments
in Kathmandu, one of the few apartments that survived the quake, says,
“Ours were among the first apartments to be built in the city so there
was a lot of monitoring by the municipal corporation. But the condition
of newly constructed high-rise buildings is not very good as they were
never checked.” Sirjna K C, a resident of Chandol, explains how
difficult it is to build a quake-resistant home in Nepal. “To ensure
that safety standards were followed in my home, I had to bribe municipal
officials to come to inspect my house,” she says.
Historical monuments were also damaged. Kathmandu Durbar Square, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, collapsed, as did the nine-storey Dharahara
Tower, built in 1832. Many temples, including the 17th century
Pashupatinath Temple, another World Heritage Site, have been affected.
Earthquake-prone Himalayas
The “Gorkha earthquake”, as termed by seismologists, has once again

triggered a debate among scientists on the vulnerability of the
Himalayas to earthquakes. “The Himalayan range stretches 2,500 km
from Afghanistan to Myanmar. There is a regular movement of the fault
line that runs along Nepal’s southern border, where the Indian
tectonic plate collided with the Eurasian plate 40-50 million years
ago,” Sapkota explains.
An earthquake of a powerful magnitude was imminent in the highly
seismic Himalayan zone, where Nepal is situated. But do we know
enough about the geology of the youngest mountain range? Research has
been on to better understand the seismicity of the Himalayas. Can
such research help us design technology to predict earthquakes and
prevent a Nepal-like disaster?
Hydropower plants affected
The EARTHQUAKE of April 25 and a series of aftershocks have
damaged about 14 hydropower plants across Nepal, resulting in
a loss of 150 megawatt (MW) of electricity. Sher Singh Bhat,
deputy managing director, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA),
said in a press briefing in Kathmandu that the Sunkoshi
hydropower plant has suffered serious damage—its 3-km canal
has multiple leakages. The power plant had already suffered
damage during a landslide last year. “It can start operation
only after three-four months,” Bhat added.
Other hydropower plants have also been damaged and will
require maintenance. NEA officials hope to restore Trishuli
and Devighat power plants within a week. The challenge, they
say, is shortage of labourers.
None of the ongoing projects, except Upper Trishuli 3A, has
suffered physical damage. “About 3 km access road of this
project has been washed away by landslides triggered by the
quake,” Bhat says. Others
Source: XAAM

UPSC GS MAINS: HOW TO IMPROVE
ANSWER WRITING[ By Gaura
Aggrawal IAS, Rank 1]
Disclaimer: These are just my inferences from my experiences last
year. May be all this is wrong… may be I get as bad or even worse
marks than last years. No guarantees. But that is life… When obstacles
come, we change course and try to steer our way around them somehow
The Background
I gave my first mains in 2012. My preparation was excellent and I
thought I had written all the papers reasonably well. That my
preparation was not lacking can be seen from the fact that I got in
130s in prelims GS paper and since prelims I had only improved the
preparation. The interview was good as well.
Yet I could secure a rank in only 200s. Everybody except me thought I
would have got less marks in History since I had no background in it
(took it only out of interest). Economics was my other optional. But
when the final marks came, the picture turned out to be entirely
different – and frankly darker for me. For it turned out that it was
not history which sunk me, but GS and Essay. I had scored reasonably
good marks in Economics (280s) and History (240s) and interview (210s)
but failed miserably in GS (170s) and Essay (80s). GS and Essay
combined took me over 80 marks below average!
I was disappointed and frustrated – for I didn’t know what went wrong
in GS and Essay. And the bad news was that from 2013, weight of GS and
Essay, where I had scored miserably, would become more than double
while that of optional, where I had done well, would be halved. Had
history been the culprit, I could have simply dropped it next time and
given the exam again without doing anything extra. But it was now GS,
with double marks, and I didn’t know what went wrong and what to
improve – forget about how to improve. Its like being stranded in the

middle of Pacific on a small boat without sails and rudder in a dark
hurricane night… And yet we are expected to find the coast on the next
morning!
Anyways, one thing would be clear to anybody given the above marks
distribution – the main problem lay not in preparation but in answer
writing. And so it had to be answer writing alone which had to be
improved drastically, even at the cost of preparation.
So how to write better GS answers
So I analyzed, joined 3 test series (vision ias GS + vision ias essay
+ Synergy GS), wrote answers, sent them to some friends for feedback,
discussed with my father and finally felt following things were
important.
– GS and optionals answers are completely different. In optionals, one
can write a PhD types answer and be confident of getting good marks –
because the examiner who is checking an economics paper would be an
economist herself. But in GS this will not work. The examiner who is
checking the economics answer in a GS paper in more likelihood would
not be an economist. She would be a generalist with limited knowledge
and interest in the subject.
– So if you write some specialized answer or use some specific terms
or models from your optional while writing a GS answer, good luck!
Most probably the examiner would not understand/appreciate it. And she
would not spend additional time or effort in going back and study the
term/model you wrote. She would simply give a zero.
– Similarly, if you write any unconventional answers like say Aadhar
cash transfers are not going to increase inflation and even give a
logic based proof from basic economics, the examiner will not give any
marks. Because she would have read mainstream media where everybody is
saying Aadhar transfers would increase inflation. And she has no
interest in taking the pain to understand a contrarian view point in
your answer. Her life would be much simpler if she just gives a zero.
– So the bottom line is, our answer should be such that they make the
life easier for the examiner. She would be happy while reading them
and would give us more marks. So no PhD types stuff… just stick to

basic points and present them in a way which is easy to read.
– Next, this exam is not a science exam. This is a generalist exam, a
humanities exam. Its like a BA or MA exam. In a science exam, if there
are 5 points in an answer but point number 1 is the most important
point and rest are insignificant as compared to point 1, so if you
cover point 1 only in your answer in great detail showing good
understanding, you would get good marks. But in a BA, MA exam this
doesn’t work. You have to not only write those 5 points, but also
invent 2 more points and write. Only then the examiner would feel that
you have covered all ‘relevant’ points. So one cannot ignore the
trivial points and has to blindly write everything.
– Going further, in BA MA exams, if the question asks something say
what is RBI doing to contain inflation and you answer all the points
(including the trivial points) on what is RBI doing to contain
inflation, you still won’t get good marks. Your answer still won’t be
considered complete. In BA MA exams, an answer would be complete if we
also write a bit about what preceded the question and what succeeded
it. For example, in this RBI question, if I also write 1 para in the
beginning on what is causing this high inflation and 1 para in the end
on the effect of high inflation if RBI is not able to control, my
answer would be considered better (even though a science student would
find all this utter stupidity).
– Now the question arises, how to think of so many points in the exam
hall? Well, because this is a BA MA exam and doesn’t require any
specialist knowledge, the good thing is, if we just pause and think
for 1-2 minutes before writing an answer in the exam hall, we would be
able to recollect 70-80% of the points.
– Another thing which helps is to beforehand prepare a list of points
for few broad topics. For example, one can remember 10 points on how
to improve citizen charter, 10 points on how to remove corruption, 8
points on how to contain inflation, 7 on small states or not, 10 on
problems of panchayats and so on… The good thing is these broad topics
are limited and most questions in the GS exam come only as a subset of
these broad topics or ask a particular aspect of these broad topics.
Once you remember this block of points on any broad topic and a
question comes asking you to look at the topic from a particular
angle, you can easily and very quickly modify your existing points to

meet the demands of the question. Then you just have to write 1 para
each on what came before the question and what happens after the
question, and your answer is complete.
– Finally on presentation style. Many coachings tell many things.
Don’t believe in any of them. Just use common sense. The examiner is a
human being who is checking your copies not because of any interest
but because its her job. She would like to get over with it as soon
and with as little mental pain as possible and attend to rest of her
life. So just present your answers in a way which you think makes her
life easier. Personally, I preferred writing point and section wise
answers this time with proper section and sub sectional headings. It
gives an impression that I have covered all aspects, given a thought
to the answer before writing and created a structure. But the choice
is yours.
Conclusion
Through this article, I just hope to help some others who may be
finding themselves in the same small, rudderless boat in the middle of
the Pacific as I found myself after the result last year – and may be
again will find after this year’s results.
Anyways, I understand that merely reading the above words is not
sufficient in improving answer writing. One has to practice. I didn’t
have any systematic guidance and practiced in near darkness. May be I
am still in dark. But I want to try my best to make life easier for
other deserving students. So mebbe if somebody wants, he/she may post
her answers along with the question to any GS questions here in the
comments. I would try to come back with feedback. It may take some
time due to heavy training activities and interview prep here, but I
would surely come back. If I feel I won’t be able to do justice to the
question, I would clearly say so. Other fellow readers may also chip
in. Les see how it goes. Even if a few are able to benefit by this to
whatever extent, the purpose would be served.
Source: XAAM

UPSC GS: HOW TO PREPARE [By
Gaurav Aggrawal, IAS Rank 1]
GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT – FROM WHERE AND HOW TO BEGIN
The base development phase has to be strong. This phase includes
studying the basic books and developing the right techniques for
things such as books reading, newspaper / magazine reading, using the
internet, reports reading etc. UPSC questions will not be from this
level, but if we don’t get this right, we won’t get the subsequent
phases right. The idea is – our base should be so strong that when we
study the higher things, we should be able to understand them
straightaway. If our base is not strong, then we would have to keep
revisiting it and will waste a lot of time. A good base means we
should not feel the need of ever revisiting the basic books again.
Basic Books
In this phase we should cover all the basic books. These include:
– Bipin Chandra for Indian freedom.
– DD Basu for Indian constitution.
– Class 11th and 12th old ncert textbooks: 3 in Geography (1 physical,
1 India, 1 economic), 3 in History (Ancient and medieval for the
culture, philosophy part only, and the modern one for modern history)
– Class 9th and 10th Science old ncerts (specially the biology part)
We must prepare notes in our own language when we read these books and
not merely underline for reasons mentioned later.
Once we do this strongly, we will also realize we won’t need to
prepare much for prelims as well!
Notes Making
Underlining vs Note Making

Some people prefer underlining to note making. However, note making is
preferable for at least 3 strong reasons:
1. In UPSC Mains exams, its the stuff we have internalized which
helps. We may have studied something in some context but in exam we
may apply it in some other context. This kind of ‘cross referencing’
is very helpful and can make our answers very powerful. While making
notes, we convert the language of the book into our own language and
this process helps a lot in internalizing stuff.
2. It saves time! This may sound contrary to common sense because
underlining is definitely faster than painstakingly writing stuff in
our own language. True, preparing notes takes lot longer than
underlining books. But because they are in our own language, revising
them takes lot lesser time than revising underlined stuff. In fact,
with well prepared notes, it may be possible to revise your entire
syllabus some 5-10 times and each successive revision will be faster!
3. Notes are customizable. We can frame our own questions which we
think may be asked in UPSC and prepare our notes accordingly. But we
can’t do the same for underlined stuff.
Notes on Paper vs Notes on Computer
Try to make notes on computer if your typing speed is even half
decent.
– Making notes on computer has one very very big advantage over making
notes on paper. It is editable and can be formatted easily. We can
delete, format, append, insert, do anything with notes on computer and
yet make it one clean nice story. For instance, many stories in
current affairs develop over weeks and months. eg. the question on
Maldives. No newspaper story will have a complete picture of it. But
the question will only ask the complete story. So in our notes, we
will have to edit bit by bit over time so that by the exam time we
have the entire story in one place. The choice is yours – read n
number of newspaper cuttings or physical paper notes, each containing
partial information or read one coherent, complete story in one place
only on computer. This will help us in quick revisions as well.
– Online note making will also help us in revising our entire syllabus

5-10 times, so that all the stuff is so well placed in our mind that
when we are solving 25 questions in 3 hours in the exam, we don’t take
a long time to recollect and arrange stuff.
– We should also get into the habit of making notes for anything and
everything we read. This may include the basic books, the advanced
books, newspapers, magazines, reports etc.
– These notes must be organized issue-wise (eg. say Coal energy)
irrespective of the sources we may read from. Thus whether we read
from a book, newspaper, internet or wherever, all our notes on coal
energy should be in one place only. To give an example of what I am
talking, uploading here my note on ‘Energy’. Click here to see the
note on energy. This will provide a picture of how to organize the
notes (forgive me for some instances of lack of formatting in the note
as they were added when I had grown lazy).
Newspaper and Magazine Reading
News vs Issues
People in the beginning tend to focus on news and make notes
accordingly. UPSC never asks news… it asks issues. For example, MDR-TB
is an issue, we need to focus on that and not any individual news
item. While reading any news on MDR-TB, we need to connect it to the
key points of the issue. An issue specific reading thus tries to:
1. identify key points with the issue in hand. For eg. in MDR-TB, the
key challenges are the challenges it poses to the public health, why
is it different from normal B, why is it more difficult to handle,
what are the institutional factors which are leading to its spread,
what needs to be done to tackle it, what steps is the government
taking.
2. Then when we read any news, we need to connect it to the key points
so identified and not bother about facts and figures. For eg. a news
item on MDR-TB may talk about some places, some drugs, some persons…
we need to only worry about our key points and skip all the rest.
Other aspects of newspaper/magazine

1. Politics, sports, masala news etc. can be skipped straightaway.
2. Keep an eye on any committee, any law, any rules, any policy, any
supreme court orders etc. These are our bread and butter in upsc
preparation.
3. Hindu has become very very important since last 2 years. Read one
more newspaper at least. Since Hindu is left leaning, so may suggest a
pro-reform newspaper say Indian Express.
4. UPSC is a left leaning exam. So one may read EPW magazine, but
beware of the excessively left leaning rattling. Similarly yojana is a
helpful magazine as well.
5. We should never go in too many details or detailed news/articles
can be straightaway skipped. GS is a generalist exam and reading has
to be kept generalist too. For eg. no need to spend hours in reading
and understanding about what Higgs Boson is. Even if we get a common
man’s understanding on Higgs Boson, its good enough. No need to do a
PhD on an issue – no use in writing things the examiner doesn’t know
about.
Our goal should be to finish one newspaper in max half an hour.
Using Internet And RSS Reader
Using the internet is of vital importance for proper UPSC preparation.
The reason is simple:
– Very often the newspaper/magazine/book/report we are reading will
only contain partial information on the issue (say just the committee
or bill name and only 1-2 points). But for our exam we need full
information. Only place today to find complete information is
internet.
– Even reading 2 newspapers will never be sufficient. We should scan
everything so that there are no ‘surprises’ in the exam. This can be
done only on internet.
How to use the

1. As mentioned earlier, the moment we find something useful and yet
incomplete in the newspapers/books, we should look up for it on
internet.
2. Since newspapers and magazines can’t cover everything, we should
use a RSS reader (say feedly on Google Chrome) and subscribe to the
editorials / sections of all major newspapers. It is free and easy.
Any new item will show up with title and one line on your feedly. We
can decide to either read it or skip it. We will find that we would
normally skip ~95% of the items. But remaining 5% are needed.
3. For certain topics like WTO & India, one may create Google alerts.
This way one will get an email everytime something is published on the
net containing keywords such as ‘WTO’ and ‘India’. Other meaningful
alerts may be created.
Report Reading
During our preparation we will need to read multiple committee
reports.
– Sometimes newspapers talk about certain reports and publish a few of
their recommendations. There is always a temptation to just make our
notes based on that newspaper article. But this is not the right
approach – because the newspaper article has not been written for the
upsc exam and the reporter may not have covered all points relevant to
us in our preparation for the exam. So the correct approach is to
always look up for the original report on the internet and read it.
How to read bulky reports
But many reports are bulky. If we read them in detail, it would take
an inordinate amount of time.
– A common temptation is to read merely the recommendations part. But
again this is faulty because the recommendations don’t contain the
context, discussion which is as important for our exam purpose as the
recommendation itself. We need the context and discussion because only
rarely does UPSC ask ‘enumerate the recommendations’… Mostly it asks
‘discuss the recommendations’.

– So we must read the entire report. But to save on time, we need not
read each part in same detail and concentration. We should put in only
that much effort to read the bulky text of the report so as to get an
overall gist / idea of what is being talked about in that part. This
will quicken up our reading substantially.
– We can then highlight the relevant ‘important’ parts of the report
text in our first reading. (If Adobe doesn’t allow you to highlight a
pdf, download Nitroreader) Then in the 2nd reading, we can read only
the highlighted parts and add it to our notes in our own words. The
second reading and note making part would be substantially faster.
– We must also search on the internet for any discussions on the
report (because UPSC asks ‘discuss’ kind of questions).
BEYOND THE BASICS
We reach this stage when we have read all our basic books, made notes
from them and have perfected our newspaper reading and internet using
skills. Now we address our syllabus directly.
Coaching Material
There are handwritten classnotes of various coaching institutes
available in the photocopy shops of rajinder nagar and mukherjee
nagar. Notes from vajiram, insight, sriram (printed material) are good
for various parts of GS. We should read them and in fact for Vajiram
and Sriram, I found them to be better than the actual classes.
ARC and Puncchi Commission Reports
For many topics in 2nd and 3rd paper, 2nd Administrative Reforms
Commissions reports are very good ( http://arc.gov.in) along with the
Puncchi Commission reports (
http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/ccsr_report.html). Each volume should
be read and notes prepared from them as mentioned earlier. In 2013
mains, at least 5-6 questions were asked directly from ARC and Puncchi
Commission reports.
Bills, Rules, Drafts and Government

– Every bill, policy, committee, rules, drafts, governmental action
etc. has to be tracked.
– PRS ( http://prsindia.org) is a good source for bills.
– Others have to be tracked on internet. PIB website
( http://pib.nic.in) is a very good source for all governmental
actions and may be subscribed to in the RSS reader.
Specific Readings For Various Parts of Syllabus
PAPER-II – General Studies- I
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of
the World and Society.
Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms,
Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
I had history optional, so ancient and medieval culture were easy.
Modern was very difficult and I found material by Insight, Nitin
Singhania and 2 pdfs titled ‘Compilation of Indian culture’
and’Compendium on Indian Culture’ very useful. Click here and hereto
download the pdfs. I tried to memorize all folk songs/dances/drama etc.
state-wise i.e. state first and then the dance.
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.
Shekhar Bandopadhyay’s “From Plassey to Partition” is by far the best
book. Also read Bipin Chandra’s book to get a different perspective.
Read both because writing a balanced perspective is very imp.
Post-independence consolidation and reorganization
within the country.

There is a book by Bipin Chandra “India since Independence”. Very
thick book, but we need to read only 3-4 chapters.
History of the world will include events from 18th century
such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of
national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political
philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.-
their forms and effect on the society.
Read Insight world history optional class notes first. for
colonization, there was one chapter in old class 9 or 10 history ncert
book.
Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Role of women and women’s organization, population and
associated issues, poverty and developmental issues,
urbanization, their problems and their remedies. Effects
of globalization on Indian society
Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
All above is very general. answer writing style matters. everybody
knows everything.
Salient features of world’s physical geography.
Distribution of key natural resources across the world
(including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent);
factors responsible for the location of primary,
secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts
of the world (including India)
Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami,
Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and
their location- changes in critical geographical features
(including waterbodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna
and the effects of such changes.
NCERT class 11 n 12 books + insight academy + vajiram notes + follow
main themes like recent IPCC report, IPSO report, IMD website for
cyclone mechanism. In 2013 mains, the cyclone naming question was

directly from IMD website. Click here to download cyclone pdf of imd.
PAPER-III
General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution,
Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings,
evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions
and basic structure.
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the
States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal
structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local
levels and challenges therein.
Separation of powers between various organs
dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that
of other countries
Parliament and State Legislatures – structure,
functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and
issues arising out of these.
Structure, organization and functioning of the
Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments
of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal
associations and their role in the Polity.
Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers,
functions and responsibilities of various
Constitutional Bodies.
Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
Government policies and interventions for development in
various sectors and issues arising out of their design
and implementation.
Development processes and the development industry- the
role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations,
donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
For all the polity, read DD Basu or Laximakanth thoroughly. Read 2nd
ARC relevant reports and Puncchi Commission Reports. These reports
directly cover most of the topics.
Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population

by the Centre and States and the performance of these
schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of
these vulnerable sections.
Issues relating to development and management of
Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education,
Human Resources.
Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Vajiram came out with an online pdf on various schemes ( Click
hereto download), its printed copy would be available on photocopy
shops in Rajinder Nagar. Handwritten classnotes by the same
institutions were also helpful. Newspapers, pib etc. will come in
handy here. CAG reports have very good analysis on various schemes
as well which can be found on internet.
Important aspects of governance, transparency and
accountability, e-governance- applications, models,
successes, limitations, and potential; citizens
charters, transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
Role of civil services in a democracy.
These topics are well covered in 2nd ARC reports.
India and its neighborhood- relations.
Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing
countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Important International institutions, agencies and
fora-their structure, mandate.
IR has to be newspapers n internet based.
PAPER-IV
General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio
diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.

Economy section has to come from budget, economic
survey, 12th 5 yr plan, newsppr n intnt. Coaching hand
written material may also help in some topics.
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning,
mobilization of resources, growth, development
and employment.
Inclusive growth and issues arising from
it. Government Budgeting.
govt budgeting has to come from 2nd ARC report.
Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the
country, different types of irrigation and irrigation
systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology
in the aid of farmers
agriculture – there was “State of Indian Agriculture”
report tabled in parliament in March 2012.
Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and
minimum support prices; Public Distribution System-
objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues
of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions;
economics of animal-rearing.
Food processing and related industries in India- scope
and significance, location, upstream and downstream
requirements, supply chain management.
Land reforms in India.
Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in
industrial policy and their effects on industrial
growth. Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports,
Railways etc.
Investment models.
All the above issues are well covered in newspapers, internet and
editorials etc. Just keep an eye for anything relevant. + I had
economics optional, so never really prepared above specifically for
GS.
Science and Technology- developments and their
applications and effects in everyday life
Achievements of Indians in science & technology;
indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers,
robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues
relating to intellectual property rights.
Conservation, environmental pollution and
degradation, environmental impact assessment
S&T: Mostly adhoc preparation. coaching classes material is relied
upon in the final month to boost confidence but it doesn’t really help
in the exam.
Disaster and disaster management.
Disaster: 2nd ARC report and CAG report on disaster preparedness
Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
2nd ARC report: 5th schedule, PESA, FRA, 6th schedule topics are imp.
here
Role of external state and non-state actors in
creating challenges to internal security.
Challenges to internal security through communication
networks, role of media and social networking sites in
internal security challenges, basics of cyber
security; money-laundering and its prevention
Security challenges and their management in border
areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism
Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
Security: coaching material and newspapers etc.
PAPER-V
General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude
Basic material has to be 2nd ARC report #4 and also Vajiram and
Insight handwritten notes. For moral thinkers, attitude, emotional

intelligence topics, refer to Sriram printed notes.
Source: XAAM

20. constitutution of india in a nutshell gp1

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20. constitutution of india in a nutshell gp1