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UPSC IAS IPS Strategy

Intro
Five Part article series on How to approach UPSC Civil Service IAS/IPS Exam: Prelims, Mains and Interview
Books
Tips on Notes-making, Standard reference books, Yojana Kurukshetra etc. Explained here
Prelim-Mains-Interview
Detailed Strategy for General Studies, science-tech, yearbook, economy, history, polity, IR-Diplomacy with booklist, free study material given here.
Doubts
Basic doubts regarding Coaching, Working professional, time Management and Non-English medium
Backup
Some guidelines for adopting career backup plans incase you can't make it to UPSC

SSC CGL

GK / GA
How to approach General Awareness for Tier-I, explained here with free study material download.
Maths
How to approach Maths, Quantitative Aptitude, Trigonometry, Geometry for Tier I and II? To-the-point strategy n tips given here +free study material
Reasoning
General Intelligence and Logical reasoninig for Tier I of SSC-CGL exam: booklist, tips shared here.
English
How to tackle vocabulary, grammar and comprehension for Tier I and II.

SBI PO

GA/Computer/Marketing
strategy booklist for approaching General Awareness, Computer, Marketing, Current Affairs in SBI PO 2013, includes free material as well!
Reasoning (High)
strategy booklist for approaching Higher Level Reasoning in SBI PO 2013
English (Descriptive)
strategy, free studymaterial, essay list for the SBI PO English MCQ and Descriptive paper!

Others

CAT (IIM)
Ragtag strategy on get 90+ percentile in CAT-prometric test.
LIC AAO
Strategy for the upcoming LIC Assistant Administrative officers' exam with free studymaterial, jobprofile.
CSIR
Studyplan + Free study material for CSIR combined Administrative services (CASE) exam
State PSC
How to approach RAS, MPSC etc explained here
CAPF
How to become an Assistant Commandant in BSF, CISF, CRPF: strategy, booklist, free studymaterial provided here.
RBI
RBI Grade "B" Officer studyplan, strategy, booklist and free download material is provided here.
SSC (FCI)
Food Corporation Grade III exam
SPIPA
For getting admission in SPIPA, Ahmedabad, which provides free coaching for IAS exam.(Gujarat Only)
ACIO
Assistant Central Intelligence Officer recruitment: booklist, strategy

UPSC tips

India Yearbook
how to efficiently utilize INDIA Yearbook for UPSC prelims, mains, interview= explained in this 6 part series article.
5 Levels
Explains five types of players in UPSC competition and why daydreamers fail in this exam.
100 Days
Why you can't succeed with vague strategies in UPSC Prelims, explained here.
Newspaper?
How to read The Hindu/Indianexpress quickly and efficiently in less than one hour for Current Affairs?, explained here.
Art of Aptitude?
3 Cardinal Rules on How to approach Aptitude section in any competitive exam.
Quotes
Motivational and inspirational quotes for competitive exams.
Essay Tips
How *not* to write an Essay in UPSC Mains exam, explained here
IR
How to prepare India World + International relations (IR) topic, explained + free download material
Stat
Approach to Statistics and Graphs portion of General Studies Mains Paper II+free study material
R.T.I
How to file R.T.I application to UPSC? explained here

Analysis

CSAT'12
Analysis of the GS-Prelims paper and how it broke the backs of Coaching classes.
GSM-12
Analysis of the General Studies (Mains) Paper I and II of 2012 and how they (again) broke the backs of Coaching classes.

Edu Tech

Auto NoteMaker
Mrunal's Autonotemaker for quickly taking notes out of PDF files and Webarticles (Win XP only)
Hindu Reader
How to use Google Reader to efficiently read The Hindu online, for Free!.
OneNote
Learn to use Microsoft Onenote software to organized your notes on computer, quickly and efficiently!
Archive
Monthly Archive Index page of everything I've published so far. (In the old articles, ignore advice written before Jan 2012, because UPSC trend has changed a lot.)

[Diplomacy] India-UK: David Cameron Visit, Student Visa, Jallianwala, Kohinoor, Agusta Westland

  1. Fodder points: India – UK relations
  2. David’s Dilemma
  3. India-UK talks
  4. Joint Cyber taskforce
  5. Agusta Westland inquiry
  6. Jallianwala Massacre
  7. David’s regret
  8. David’s refusal
  9. David’s promise
  10. Questions

Fodder points: India – UK relations

  • India is among the top five investors in Britain with over 700 Indian companies having set up shop there.
  • Since 90s,

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    • [Diplomacy] Pakistan: Kishanganga Hydroproject Judgement, Gwadar Port given to China

    1. What is Kishanganga?
    2. Indus Water treaty?
    3. Permanent Indus Commission (PIC)?
    4. What is the Kishanganga problem?
    5. Pakistan’s objections
      1. #1: less electricity for Pak
      2. #2: less water for Pak
    6. International Court of Arbitration at The Hague
    7. Gwadar Port transferred to China
    8. Mock Questions

    Indus Water treaty?

  • Signed between India(Nehru) and Pakistan

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    • [Diplomacy] 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013: Highlights, issues, awards

    1. Indian Diaspora: overview
    2. Remittances
    3. What is Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)?
    4. Why is PBD celebrated on 9th January?
    5. What happens during PBD?
    6. 10th vs 11th: Themes, location, chief-guest
    7. What did Mohan say?
      1. #1: Invest in India
      2. #2: Safety for Indians abroad
      3. #3: Social security Deals
      4. #4: Ghadar Stamp
    8. What did President

      Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013: Highlights, issues, awards

    [Diplomacy] Mali Crisis, Taureg rebels, French Troops, Algeria Hostages: Background, implications explained

    i-mali
    1. What is Mali?
    2. Players in this crisis?
    3. Who are the Tuareg?
    4. Gaddafi Angle: 2011
    5. Azawad: Jan-April 2012
    6. Mali President overthrown: March 2012
    7. Entry of French Troops: Jan 2013
    8. Back to Northern Mali
    9. What is AQIM?
    10. Implications of Mali Crisis?
    11. Algeria Hostage Crisis
    12. Mock Questions

    What is Mali?

  • Landlocked country in West Africa

    • Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] Mali Crisis, Taureg rebels, French Troops, Algeria Hostages: Background, implications explained

    [Diplomacy] Indian Ocean Rim Association (IOR-ARC): 12th Summit, Gurgaon Communique, Highlights

    icon-diplomacy
    1. What is IOR-ARC?
    2. Gang-Members
    3. Why IOA-ARC is important?
    4. Gurgaon Communiqué /Declaration (2012)
    5. 6- Priority areas
    6. What is blue economy?
    7. Mock questions

    What is IOR-ARC?

  • Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation
  • Established in 1997

    • Importance of Indian Ocean rim?

  • Indian Ocean is vital for the transportation of oil and conduct of other

    Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] Indian Ocean Rim Association (IOR-ARC): 12th Summit, Gurgaon Communique, Highlights

    • [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 3 of 3): Chinese presence, Anti-India sentiments, how & why India’s policy failed

    i-mohan-dhamal
    1. Introduction
    2. Chinese Influence
    3. USA
    4. Murderers are free
    5. Human rights are selective
    6. Corruption
    7. Reservation in Army Jobs
    8. Ethnic Unrest
    9. Anger against UN and International Community
    10. Land transfer
    11. The Priest Appointment
    12. Why Anti-India sentiment in Nepal?
    13. Regressive forces
    14. Change of India’s Stand
    15. Criticism of India’s Nepal Policy

    Introduction

    Nepal logjam is a three part

    Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 3 of 3): Chinese presence, Anti-India sentiments, how & why India’s policy failed

    [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 2 of 3): Merger of Maoists with Army, Anti-India Campaign, Why Elections are not held

    i-nepal-maoist
    1. Introduction
    2. Rehab of Maoist Combatants
    3. Problem areas in Maoist Army merger
    4. Maoist MNREGA scam
    5. Trouble in Cantonment
    6. Power struggle within Maoist Party
    7. Kiran’s makes new Party
    8. Against Prachanda
    9. Against Baburam Bhattarai
    10. People’s Constitution
    11. Against India
    12. Anti-India stand of Maoists
    13. Babu vs Prachanda @RIO+20
    14. Crisis: May 2012
    15. Why Election not held?
    16. Baburam’s next move

      17. Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 2 of 3): Merger of Maoists with Army, Anti-India Campaign, Why Elections are not held

    [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 1 of 3): Civil War, Peace-Deal, Constitutional deadlock, Frequent change of Prime Ministers

    i-nepal
    1. During British-Raj
    2. From 60s to 90s
    3. The 90s system
    4. 1996-2006: Civil War
    5. India’s Nepal Policy: 2005
    6. Main Political Parties
    7. Constituent Assembly(CA)
    8. Why is there a political crisis/logjam/turmoil in Nepal?
    9. Why No Constitution?
    10. #1: Presidential system vs Parliamentary system
    11. #2: Federation on Ethnic lines
    12. Taarikh pe Taarikh
    13. Pushpa Kamal’s Prachand “Dhamaal”
    14. Madhav Nepal’s

      Click To Continue reading [Diplomacy] Nepal Logjam (Part 1 of 3): Civil War, Peace-Deal, Constitutional deadlock, Frequent change of Prime Ministers

    [Diplomacy] WIPO Treaty for Visually Challenged, Patent vs Copyright difference explained

    This is a guest post by Manikandan Soundararajan.

    1. What is WIPO?
    2. What is this agreement?
    3. Why treaty for Visually Challanged?
    4. Difference: Patents vs. Copyrights?
    5. Salient features of the Agreement:
    6. Positive Implications:
    7. [Yearbook] educating visually challenged

    What is WIPO?

  • WIPO= World Intellectual Property Organization
  • UN agency
  • HQ: Geneva, Switzerland

    • Function of WIPO?

  • I

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    • [Diplomacy] Putin Visit, KudanKulam, GLONASS, 13th India – Russia Annual Summit: Issues, Outcomes

    icon-diplomacy
    1. Introduction
    2. Problem areas in Indo-Russia
      1. Why is Russia Unhappy?
      2. Why is India unhappy?
    3. Putin’s Wishes in Delhi visit?
    4. Business n Trade
    5. Energy: Nuke
      1. Kudankulam Nuke plant
      2. Kudankulam Nuke plant: Problems
      3. Kudankulam: Progress
      4. Kudankulam: Civil Nuke Liability
    6. Energy: Oil and Gas
    7. Defense: Indo-Russia
    8. Science Tech: Indo-Russia
      1. What

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