READING LIST- SYLLABUS WISE [PRELIMS]

Hello maples and baobabs,

Note-

In my personal opinion, covering the mains syllabus comprehensively first and then moving forward to prelims based revisions is a desirable strategy. However, this should not be noted as postponing current affairs studies towards the last end. A student aspiring to write this exam must make a conscious decision to give adequate balance of time to read current affairs, prepare for mains and also should be able to take out some personal time for themselves, to rejuvenate. Also, do keep in mind that my study period ranged to almost 3 years, hence my reading list may be very expansive. Kindly make your own choices of the study material. Limited and right source of reading material when revised and conceptually understood helps in the results. 

PAPER -1 

CURRENT EVENTS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE

Sources-

• Daily newspaper reading [The Hindu/ The Indian Express] I did not make separate notes from newspapers. Earlier, I followed DNS by Rau's which was good for conceptual clarity, but then I realized, it only increased my workload, took a substantial part of my study routine and led to repetition without crisp notes useful for prelims]- 45mins to 1 hour. Cover important pages like Front Page, Text and Context, Editorials, Explained, Economy and World. Digital e-papers are cheaper than physical copies, if you are looking for budgeted study.
• Insights IAS daily current affairs- https://www.insightsonindia.com/insights-ias-upsc-current-affairs/ 
• Else, you can create a login and check Vajiram and Ravi- https://vajiramias.com/ or Rau's and cover current affairs in detail. 
• Monthly magazines- I referred to Vision monthly and PT 365, freely available here- http://visionias.in/resources/current_affairs.php?c=ca. Earlier, I referred Rau's Compass magazines which are also freely available here- https://freeupscmaterials.org/raus-ias-compass-magazines/
• Sansad TV shows- Perspective, Gyan Vigyan, Diplomatic Dispatch, The Defenders, Main Bhi Bharat, 75 years- Laws that Changed India, Eureka, Environment, Budget, In- Depth, The Big Picture. I enjoyed watching such shows. 
• Visits to important government websites like MHA, MoD, MoHFW etc and made handwritten notes.
• Visited important websites of national and international importance while reading current affairs to gain more information about any topic that I did not understand or needed more insight like Scramjet and Ramjet engines, UN sister organisations, conventions, agreements etc.
• Occasional visits to twitter handle of important informative personalities. [It merely helped me in learning during leisure]
• Mygov handle quiz are also interesting and current affairs oriented

HISTORY OF INDIA AND INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

• NCERT 6th to 12th
• Ancient India- R.S. Sharma
• Medieval India- Satish Chandra
• Modern India- Bipin Chandra
• Spectrum- selected chapters like peasant movements, good for remembering chronology
• Rau's class notes
• Fine Arts NCERT texts class 11, 12
• Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
• Good documentaries like Paintings of India by Benoy K Behl, Forts of India by Pushpesh Pant, Swaraj on DD National, DD Bharti documentaries in leisure time

INDIAN AND WORLD GEOGRAPHY- PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA AND THE WORLD

• NCERT class 6th- 12th [11, 12th very important]
• PMF IAS YouTube classes and notes on website- https://www.youtube.com/@PoorMansFriend and https://www.pmfias.com/
• Rajtanil Ma'am's classes on Mrunal sir's YouTube channel- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMPO60DOTKQ&list=PLAMBum9_RkuNDtzpNQlCRcaOrNqrD4Gf7
• Rau's Online classes notes
• G.C. Leong book
• Mapping- Lotus Arise -https://lotusarise.com/ Oxford Atlas [can be downloaded online also], important national parks, biodiversity hotspots, tiger reserves, elephant reserves, G.I. Tags, Ramsar sites- marked by hand on maps. I also referred to Telegram Geography mapping channel.

INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE- CONSTITUTION, POLITICAL SYSTEM, PANCHAYATI RAJ, PUBLIC POLICY, RIGHTS, ISSUES etc

• NCERT- Class 6th to 12th 
• Laxmikant [latest edition]- read page to page, more importantly understand
• Rau's Online class notes
• Important lists for revision like- articles, amendments, schedules, fundamental rights, DPSPs, Parliamentary Committees etc
• New bills, their features [to be covered from current affairs section]

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT- SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, POVERTY, INCLUSION, DEMOGRAPHICS, SOCIAL SECTOR INITIATIVES etc

• Class 6th- 12th Economics
• Mrunal sir's economy classes and notes [available online but old, try if you can find new ones on telegram channel]
• Rau's Economy notes
• Budget and Economic Survey [read original texts and listen Hon'ble FM's Speech + Rau's faculty Basava Uppin sir's online class available on Youtube] Also have a look at previous year's budget along with the contemporary one.
• Sociology books- NCERT Class 11, 12th
• Rau's online notes
• I have heard Sri Ram's Economy notes are available online and are good too. Kindly have a look by yourself and choose one standard notes to follow and revise
• Schemes pdf of Vision IAS
• PSBT documentaries on social issues for general awareness and quality leisure time
• Focus on conceptual clarity, application based and factual clarity

GENERAL ISSUES ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY, BIO DIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

• Class 11, 12th - Environment selected chapters
• Shankar IAS Environment book latest edition
• BBC Earth documentaries on YouTube
• Rau's IAS class notes on Environment and booklets
• Mapwork- national and international [PMF IAS]

GENERAL SCIENCE

• Rau's IAS class notes
• Class 6th to 10th Science NCERTs
• More emphasis on current issues, new technology, AI, 5G, Hydrogen economy, EV, Space and defense technology, nuclear technology, human biology and breakthroughs, Nobel prizes etc. Science and Tech section in The Hindu is very reliable.

PYQs of as long back as available can be done with a thorough reading of the options as well

Practice Mock papers at length and revise them positively before attempting a new paper [try giving mocks in hard copy than online, at least some]

https://freeupscmaterials.org/prelims/- a wonderful website for free availability of mocks with solutions that you can practise on your own

Vision Abhyaas tests are also good 

Insights IAS regularly brings around 10- 15 tests under Step Up prelims test series free of cost

GS Score and Rau's FLTs from freeupscmaterials website are also good for a diversity of questions to practise

InsightsIAS 75 days prelims strategy is also helpful, if you follow that website

PAPER 2

COMPREHENSION

• Practise PYQs and comprehensions from any good aptitude book

INTERPERSONLA SKILLS INCLUDING COMMUNICATION SKILLS

LOGICAL REASONING

• Learn Assertions, Reasoning and other such question types from any entrance books meant for CAT or NLU admissions etc

DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY

• Identify important topics from where questions are asked like probability, areas, squares, LCM, HCF, Permutation, Combinations, Speed, Time, Distance, Time and Work, Squares, Ratio and proportions, Power etc. Understand them conceptually and practice as may questions from each topics. One can start with basic class 6th to 10th mathematics textbook and selective chapters.

BASIC NUMERACY, DATA INTERPRETATION

• Rau's book on basic numeracy

Thank you for reading.

Have a good day/evening/night.

💛💜