- Grab the weapons (Booklist)
- 1: History & Culture
- Ancient
- Medieval
- Modern History
- Culture
- 2: Science
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- 3: Geography
- Physical Geography
- Universe
- Earth: Basics
- Rocks/Geology related
- Atmosphere and Climate related
- Ocean related
- Disaster related
- Indian Geography
- World, Human and Economic Geography
- Agriculture
- 4: Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)
- 5: Polity
- 6: Economy
- 7: Yearbook
- 7: International relations/events/diplomacy
- 8: Defense
- 9: Misc GK
- Maths/Aptitude for CAPF exam
- CAPF: Maths
- CAPF Maths: ignore these topics
- CAPF: Data Interpretation
- CAPF reasoning
- #1: Chart based
- #2: coding n series
- #3 Analogy, odd man
- syllogism
- Assumption reasoning
- Paper II (Essay and Comprehension)
- How to prepare the Essay?
- Hindi Medium Aspirants of CPF Exam
- Conclusion / summary / final tips
- Appendix1: Download Links
- NCERT and NIOS (Essential/Core)
- History
- Science
- EnB
- Economy
- Geography
- India yearbook
- NCERT and NIOS (Peripheral)
- Appendix2: CAPF notification, cutoffs, previous papers
- CAPF 2013 Notification
- Cutoffs
- Interview experience of Previous Toppers
In terms of General studies Questions, the CAPF and CDS exams run almost parallel. differences are:
CDS | CAPF |
Separate paper on maths | Maths/Aptitude included within same GS paper |
English paper contains MCQ only, no essay writing / descriptive stuff. | Essay Comprehension paper, worth 2 hours and 200 marks. |
Grab the weapons (Booklist)
- As such, there is no single âcomprehensiveâ book for the CAPF exam. All I see is some Jholachhaap publishersâ copypasting chapters from other books meant for Bank PO + add some GK material + give last 3 yearsâ question papers = market it as SSC/CPF/GPSC guidebook.
- Such readymade books contain âall-in-oneâ GS+Aptitude material. So a newcomer thinks he got the jackpot.
- But In such books, the history, science portion, they directly give you 25-30 MCQs without explaining any theory.
- Similarly in aptitude portion, they merely list 3-4 formulas, show you 3-4 solved sums with 20 MCQs.
- Many sincere but naive candidates believe that if they prepare such books, theyâre going to crack the SSC/CPF/IBPS/ State PSC exam. Sorry it doesnât work like that. Please donot underestimate the level of competition.
so, First gather following:
- NCERT and NIOS textbooks (even here, youâve to do very limited study of specific chapters, as explained in this article. free download links @bottom)
- Indian Polity by M.Laxmkanth (religiously mugup this book for ~10 marks in the exam.)
- General Studies Manual (for filling up the gaps/topics left in NCERTs + for practice of mock questions) you donât need to buy latest edition, because static topics (history, geography, science) remain one and same in all edition. So grab second hand/used copy for a cheaper price or borrow it from a friend. Any publication will work: Unique, TMH, Spectrum etc.
First weâll see how to approach static topics (history, geography, science, EnB, economy and polity.) then weâll see how to approach the current affairs (for IR and Misc.GK). Iâm copy pasting the content from my article on CDS strategy because GS/GK/GA syllabus-points are running parallel.
1: History & Culture
Update Feb-24-2014:
for History/culture portion, use the Tamilnadu (TN) State education board books. They’re better than NCERTs. (Free download @bottom).
–end of update
Historycan be sub-classified into following:
Ancient | Harappa, Asoka etc. |
Medieval | Delhi sultanate, Mughals etc. |
Modern | British raj and freedom struggle. |
Culture | Music, painting, dance, religion, architecture, books etc. in above 3 periods. |
World history | rarely anything asked from it. So ignore world history. |
- In old times, UPSC used to ask trivial GK question from kings, war timelines etc. =waste of time in preparation.
- But nowadays, questions usually centered around culture or just âtrue/false/find correct statement; cause-effect-reasonsâ type questions.
- I suggest you look at last 2-3 years papers by yourself (given in the appendix) and see it yourself.
Ancient
In Ancient period, the MCQs mostly come from 2 topics:
- Harappa
- Jainism-Buddism (includes Asoka etc.)- Although this can be classified under culture.
Iâve already uploaded the NCERTs according to topics (and not according to standards/classes), so just download from appendix and start reading. If you already have downloaded NCERTs from any other source, then prepare in following sequence:
*subject*, *class*,*chapter no.*, *chapter name*
- History6_1_What, Where, How And When
- History6_2_On The Trail Of The Earliest People
- History6_3_From Gathering To Growing Food
- History6_4_In The Earliest Cities
- History6_5_What Books And Burials Tell Us
- History6_6_Kingdoms, Kings And An Early Republic
- History6_7_New Questions And Ideas
- History6_8_Ashoka, The Emperor Who Gave Up War
- History6_9_Vital Villages, Thriving Towns
- History6_10_Traders, Kings And Pilgrims
- History6_11_New Empires And Kingdoms
- History6_12_Buildings, Paintings And Books
- History12_1_Bricks Beads and Stones_Harappa
- History12_2_King farmer towns
- History12_3_Kinship Caste Class
- History12_4_Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings
After that: GS Manual and finally mock questions.
Medieval
If youâre willing to take the risk (or running out of time), you can even skip this topic (kings, wars, dynasties etc.). Because rarely 1-2 question come from medieval portion nowadays. But do prepare culture related things from medieval period.
- Hist7_1_Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years
- Hist7_2_New Kings And Kingdoms
- Hist7_3_The Delhi Sultans
- Hist7_4_The Mughal Empire
- Hist7_5_Rulers And Buildings
- Hist7_6_Towns, Traders And Craftspersons
- Hist7_7_Tribes, Nomads And Settled Communities
- Hist7_8_Devotional Paths To The Divine
- Hist7_9_The Making Of Regional Cultures
- Hist7_10_Eighteenth-Century Political Formations
- History12_1_Foreign Travelers to India
- History12_2_Bhakti -Sufi Traditions
- History12_3_Vijayanagara-An Imperial Capital
- History12_4_Mughal Empire and Agrarian Society
- History12_5_Mughal Courts
After that: Read the Medieval history section in your GS Manual and finally mock questions. But keep in mind: GS manuals contain truckload of kings and timelines in the medieval period, donât waste time mugging them up.
Modern History
Important: NCERTs donât cover all MCQ worthy topics from within the Modern history / freedom struggle. Therefore you must do following
- Read GS manual multiple times for this section.
- OR use Spectrum publicationâs brief history of Modern India.
- And then solve the Mock Questions given in the GS Manual.
here is the list of NCERT chapters:
- History8_1_How When and Where
- History8_2_From Trade to Territory
- History8_3_The Company Establishes Power
- History8_4_Ruling the Countryside
- History8_5_Tribals Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age
- History8_6_1857 and After When people rebel
- History12_1_Colonialism Official Archives
- History12_2_1857 Revolt And Its Representations
- History12_3_Colonial Cities Urbanisation, Planning And Architecture
- History12_4_Mahatma Gandhi And The Nationalist Movement
- History12_5_Understanding Partition
- History12_6_Framing The Constitution
Culture
While reading above NCERTs, youâll come across lot of culture related topics (in painting, literature, dance, music, religion etc.) however for better and consolidated preparation, I suggest you also go through the NIOS study material for Culture. (Free download links @bottom)
2: Science
@Arts/commerce students
âyeh mujse nahi hoga / science is not my cup of teaâ = this is loser talk. You want to pass CAF, CDS or SSC, then science has to be prepared, whether you like it or not. Besides, NCERT textbooks explain the science in very lucid, layman friendly manner, so science is that not difficult, just read and revise often.
@Science/Engineer/Medical students
donât live in some overconfidence that âJust because Iâm M.Sc (Botany) so I donât need to read these stupid class7 NCERT science textbooks. I know everything!â
Because, you may be good at the technical and latest things happening in your graduation field, but UPSC asks from basic principles and theories that might have evaporated from your head after you left highschool years ago. Therefore, no matter what your academic qualification is, always start with NCERTs.
anyways, continuing onâŠScience can be further divided into
Science subtopic | Comment |
Physics |
|
Chemistry | |
Biology | |
Current affairs, biotech, nanotech, computer IT, space etc. | You can ignore this if youâre running out time. otherwise
|
Here is the list of NCERT chapters to be prepared:
Physics
- Sci10_13_Magnet
- Sci10_12_electricity
- Sci10_10_light
- Sci9_12_Sound
- Sci9_11_Work And Energy
- Sci9_10_Gravitation
- Sci9_9_Force And Laws Of Motion
- Sci9_8_Motion
- Sci8_16_Light
- Sci8_14_Chemical Effects Of Electriccurrent
- Sci8_13_Sound
- Sci8_12_Friction
- Sci8_11_Force And Pressure
- Sci7_15_Light
- Sci7_14_Electric Current and its Effects
- Sci7_13_Motion and Time
- Sci7_4_Heat
- Physics11_1_What is Physics
Chemistry
- Sci7_5_Acids,Bases andSalts
- Sci7_6_Physical and Chemical Changes
- Sci8_3_Synthetic Fibres And Plastics
- Sci8_4_Materials Metals And Non-Metals
- Sci8_5_Coal And petroleum
- Sci8_6_Combustion And Flame
- Sci9_1_Matter In Our Surroundings
- Sci9_2_Is Matter Around Us Pure
- Sci9_3_Atoms And Molecules
- Sci9_4_Structure Of The Atom
- Sci10_1_Chemical Reactions and Equations
- Sci10_2_Acids, Bases and Salts
- Sci10_3_Metals and Non-metals
- Sci10_4_Carbon and its Compounds
- Sci10_5_Periodic Classification of Elements
Biology
- Sci7_1_Nutrition in Plants
- Sci7_2_Nutrition inAnimals
- Sci7_10_Respiration in Organisms
- Sci7_11_Transportation in Animals and Plants
- Sci7_12_Reproduction inPlants
- Sci8_2_Microorganisms Friend And foe
- Sci8_8_Cell Structure And Functions
- Sci8_9_Reproduction In Animals
- Sci8_10_Reaching The age Of Adolescence
- Sci9_5_The Fundamental Unit Of life
- Sci9_6_Tissues
- Sci9_7_Diversity In Living Organisms
- Sci9_13_Why Do We Fall ill
- Sci10_6_Life Processes
- Sci10_7_Control and Coordination
- Sci10_8_reproduction
- Sci10_9_evolution
- Sci10_11_human eye
- Biology12_11_Biotechnology Principle and Processes
- Biology12_12_Biotechnology and its Applications
3: Geography
Geography can be further classified into
Physical | Universe, earth, atmosphere, weather, climate etc. |
Indian | Topics related to India (e.g. industry, drainage etc.) |
World | Again not much asked from this. |
- Earlier geography used to encompass Environment biodiversity (EnB) + agriculture, but now both of them have grown up and getting more âspecialâ attention from UPSC Examiners.
- Again, our approach is NCERT => GS Manual => Mock questions.
- (optional): you may also read NIOS material on Geography for additional grip over the subject. Free download links @bottom.
- Note: In GS manual, they sometimes go in very minor details e.g. state where particular breed of goat/pig/cow/buffalo is found. donât waste time in such details. Even for Indian geography, you should know broad things. If you try to prepare every detail, youâll be stuck there forever.
Physical Geography
Universe
When you go to universe, there is no dearth of GK regarding relative size, color, distance of various planets etc. but again keep the time factor in mind.
- Sci8_17_Stars And The solar system
- Geo6_1_The Earth in the Solar System
- Geo11_2_The Origin and Evolution of the Earth
Earth: Basics
From earth basics, UPSC usually asks a few questions on
- Latitudes, Longitudes and timezones
- oceanography
- atmosphere, climate, weather phenomenon related
Anyways, here is the list of NCERT chapters
- Geo6_2_Globe Latitudes and Longitudes
- Geo6_3_Motions of the Earth
- Geo6_4_Maps
- Geo6_5_Major Domains of the Earth
- Geo6_6_Major Landforms of the Earth
- Geo11_1_Geography as a Discipline (although doesnât fit in this classification!)
- Geo11_3_Interior of the Earth
- Geo11_4_Distribution of Oceans and Continents
Rocks/Geology related
- Geo11_5_Minerals and Rocks (after that, immediacy read the Indian geography chapters related to distribution of mines and minerals in India)
- Geo11_6_Geomorphic Processes
- Geo11_7_Landforms and their Evolution.
Atmosphere and Climate related
- Geo11_8_Composition and Structure of Atmosphere
- Geo11_9_Solar Radiation, Heat Balance and Temperature
- Geo11_10_Atmospheric Circulation and Weather Systems
- Geo11_11_Water in the Atmosphere
- Geo11_12_World Climate and Climate Change
Ocean related
- Geo11_13_Water (Oceans)
- Geo11_14_Movements of Ocean Water
Disaster related
- Geo11_7_India_Natural Hazards and Disasters
- Sci7_8_Winds, Storms and Cyclones
- Sci8_15_Some Natural Phenomena lightening earthquakes
Misc
- Geo11_1_Geography as a Discipline
- Geo11_Glossary
Indian Geography
Here UPSC often asks questions on rivers-tributaries. but then again, no point in mugging up beyond a level. Apart from NCERT, also read chapter 30 from India Yearbook (free download link @bottom).
India: Physical Geography
- Geo6_7_Our Country India
- Geo9_1_size and location
- Geo9_2_physical
- Geo9_4_CLIMATE
- Geo11_1_India_Location
- Geo11_2_India_Structure and Physiography
India: rivers
- Geo9_3_drainage
- Geo10_3-water resources
- Geo11_3_India_Drainage System
- Geo12_India_6_Water Resources
India: Economic geography
- Geo10_1_resources & Development
- Geo10_5-mines & ENERGY RESOURCES
- Geo10_6-industries
- Geo10_7-transport
- Geo12_India_7_Mineral and Energy Resources
- Geo12_India_8_Manufacturing Industries
- Geo12_India_9_Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context
- Geo12_India_10_Transport and Communication
- Geo12_India_11_International Trade
- Geo12_India_12_Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems
India: Human geography
- Geo9_6_Population
- Geo12_India_1_Population – Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
- Geo12_India_2_Migration – Types, Causes and Consequences
- Geo12_India_3_Human Development
- Geo12_India_4_Human Settlements
World, Human and Economic Geography
- Geo7_7_transport
- Geo7_8_Life in tropical areas
- Geo7_9_life in Grasslands
- Geo7_10_life in Deserts
- Geo8_1_Resources
- Geo8_3_minerals and energy
- Geo8_5_industries_steel_IT
- Geo8_6_Human Resources
- Geo12_1_Nature n Scope
- Geo12_2_The World Population Distribution, Density and Growth
- Geo12_3_Population Composition
- Geo12_4_Human Development
- Geo12_6_Secondary Activities
- Geo12_7_Tertiary and Quaternary Activities
- Geo12_8_Transport and Communication
- Geo12_9_International Trade
- Geo12_10_Human Settlements
Agriculture
Here is the list of NCERT chapters that should be specifically read and revised. More emphasis on soil-types, crops and cropping technologies.
- Geo8_4_agri
- Geo10_4-agriculture
- Geo11_6_India_Soils
- Geo12_5_Primary Activities
- Geo12_India_5_Land Resources and Agriculture
- Sci7_3_Fibre to Fabric
- Sci7_9_Soil
- Sci8_1_Crop Production And Management
- Sci9_15_Improvement In Food Resources
4: Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)
- In 2012âs CAPF prelims they asked 10 Qs. from this topic. Some from static/theory, some from current affairs like National plan on climate change etc. but theyâre covered under my articles on economic survey.
- For EnB, the foundation /base material is NIOS (free download links @bottom).
- also Go through the articles posted on Mrunal.org/enb
Besides, certain chapters of NCERT Geography and Science textbooks also help in EnB. Here is the list:
- Biology12_13_Organisms and Populations
- Biology12_14_Ecosystem
- Biology12_15_BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
- Biology12_16_Environmental Issues
- Chemistry11_14_ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
- Economy11_9_ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- Geo6_8_India Climate, Vegetation and Wildlife
- Geo7_1_environment
- Geo7_2_rocks
- Geo7_3_Rivers
- Geo7_4_Air
- Geo7_5_water
- Geo7_6_Jungle
- Geo8_2_Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resource
- Geo9_5_forest and wildlife
- Geo10_2-forest & wildlife resources
- Geo11_4_India_Climate
- Geo11_5_India_Natural Vegetation
- Geo11_15_Life on the Earth
- Geo11_16_Biodiversity and Conservation
- Sci7_7_Weather, Climate and Adaptations of Animals to Climate
- Sci7_16_Water A Precious Resource
- Sci7_17_Forests Our Lifeline
- Sci7_18_Waste water Story
- Sci8_7_Conservation Of Plants And animals
- Sci8_18_Pollution Of Air And Water
- Sci9_14_Natural Resources carbon cycle
- Sci10_14_Source of energy
- Sci10_15_environment_food chain
- Sci10_16_ Management of natural resources
(Youâll find their download link @the Bottom of this article)
5: Polity
In all three exams: Civil service exam, CAPF and CDS exam, polity MCQs form a signification portion. The cost: benefit ratio is quite good.
Primary source |
|
Peripheral |
|
Here are some tips on how to Laxmikanthâs book efficiently and get a good grip over the polity within a short period of time?
Donât study the book in a linear fashion (that is chapter 1,2,3,4âŠsequence)
Instead I suggest you read the book in following direction:
- First you read the chapter on President, Vice President and immediately move to the chapter on governor. Then read on Emergency provisions.
- Read chapter on PM and cabinet, then move to CM and state council of Ministers.
- Chapter on âParliamentary systemâ and then directly to parliament, but after budget topic is done pause this chapter and move to on CAG. Then come back and resume the chapter on parliament.
- Once parliament is finished, move to State legislative assembly.
- Supreme Court and then High court, tribunals.
- Attorney Gen =>Advocate General
- UPSCÂ =>State PSC
- Finance Commission =>Planning Commission=>Nat.Development council
- Now Centre State relation and Interstate relations.
- Election Commission=> chapter on election, Anti-defection
- All the National Commissions on Women, SC, ST,OBC, CVC, Lokpal and so on.
Once ^this is done. Move to
- Citizenship, Fundamental rights, DPSP, duties.
- Amendment of Constitution=> preamble
- Jammu Kashmir => Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
- UT, Panchayati Raj, municipalities
After ^this is done. Read whatever chapters are remaining. Ultimately
- Appendix for union-state-concurrent list, table of precedence etc.
- the mock MCQ questions given in Laxmikant + also in your General studies manual.
Note: the short explanations given in appendix of every chapter= should be read.
Single time reading of Laxmikanth= useless. Revise his book, minimum 3 times.
An allied topic of Polity is ârights-issueâ for example women rights, children rights, SC/ST/OBC/PH/Minorities and various schemes meant for that. Although not much is asked from It and Most of that stuff is already covered under my economic survey chapter summaries :Mrunal.org/economy and Mrunal.org/polity
6: Economy
In 2012âs exam, 6 questions came from Economy. Mostly based on current affairs and economic survey.
but Donât waste your time in mugging up stupid numbers (like IIP in xyz month, how much sharemarket went up or down etc.).To prepare Economy use following resources
- NCERT class 11 and 12. (free download link @bottom.) Class 12 macroeconomics=good, but class-12 microeconomics=ignore.
- NIOS material for economy (free download link @bottom)
- Mrunal.org/economy  (most of the economic survey related summaries given in it)
- Finally GS Manual Mock questions for practice.
You donât need to specifically buy âIndian Economy by Ramesh Singhâ for CAPF exam, but if you have it (or can borrow from a friend) then do read it.
7: Yearbook
yearbook means government schemes, policies, institutes etc. MCQs. Most of them already covered under my Economic survey articles hence no need to purchase India 2013/Yearbook.
7: International relations/events/diplomacy
Just like CDS exam, the IR questions are also asked in CAPF exam. 2012âs paper contains 6 MCQs from this topic. So, what type of details should be prepared?
|
Goto library, read whatever competitive magazine you get (CST, Pratiyoigta, Chronicle, Wizard) and note down important things from diary of international events + Person in news. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
youâll find them covered under your GS Manual + in sociology/political science related NCERTs |
8: Defense
- The questions about various missiles, DRDO technology, joint-military exercises with other countries.
- A lot of topics that happened from 2012 upto March 2013, are already compiled in the following article
- beyond that, again Goto library, read whatever competitive magazine you get (CST, Pratiyoigta, Chronicle, Wizard) and note down important things from diary of international events + Person in news.
- for basics about army, navy, airforce: organization, recruitment, training etc. read Chapter 9 âDefenseâ From India Yearbook. (You donât need to specifically buy India 2013, just refer the India 2011 free PDF given at bottom of this article. Because that chapter remains almost one and same in all editions of India yearbook.)
9: Misc GK
It involve sports, awards, books-authors, persons in news and all other stupid infinite trivial database.
Iâve published compilation from 2012 to March 2013 click me after that, goto library, read whatever competitive magazine you get (CST, Pratiyoigta, Chronicle, Wizard) and note down important names/details. Following areas to concentrate
- Within sports: lawn tennis
- Within PIN: international personas (PM, President, chiefs of various organization etc.)
- Books: award-winners or someone who recently died.
This concludes GS/GK/GA portion. What about aptitude?
Maths/Aptitude for CAPF exam
In 2012âs exam the breakup was like following
Maths/Quantitative aptitude | 3 |
Data interpretation | 4 |
Reasoning | 13 |
Total | 20 |
just some basic stuff, if youâve already given SSC / Bank exam sincerely then this portion should not pose much challenge. anyways, for those whoâre new to this game, what to do?
CAPF: Maths
Number theory |
|
|
Algebra | Linear equation |
|
Avg and Ratios | Wine-Water mixture (Alligations) | Can be solved without formula. read this article click me |
Simple Average | Just practice sums from your quantitative aptitude book. | |
Ratio-Proportion-variations | For ratio-proportion NCERT Class 8 Chap 13. | |
Partnership | Can be solved without formula. read this article, click me | |
STD |
|
All of them can be solved effortlessly, with just one Universal STD formula.Explained in various articles of  Mrunal.org/aptitude |
Mensuration | Area, Volume, Perimeter |
|
% | Profit, loss, market price, discount |
|
Simple interest (SI), compound interest (CI), population growth |
|
- Once this is done, practice maximum questions from your quantitative aptitude book (RS Agarwal, Sarvesh Kumar, Rajesh Verma, M.Tyra) and or previous IBPS/Bank papers.
- Maintain a diary of mistakes, so whatever shortcuts you discover or whatever mistakes you make while practicing sums, note them in this diary. and refer to this diary in night before exam.
- Also depending on time and mood; prepare permutation, combination, probability, arithmetic progression. (theyâre not âpriority topicsâ).
CAPF Maths: ignore these topics
following are asked in CDS exam but not in CAPF exam (or atleast I didnât see in recent years!) so ignore them
- trigonometry
- Geometry theory except the area, volume, perimeter (AVP).
- coordinate geometry
- quadratic equations
- logarithms
CAPF: Data Interpretation
- usually some bar/pie chart that doesnât involve any lengthy calculation (unlike the IBPS/CAT exam)
- My suggestion= just solve previous SSC CGL paperâs Data interpretation sets. you can get papers from Internet, or if youâve some buddy preparing for CGL, heâll have papersets of Kiran Prakashan / Arihant etc.
CAPF reasoning
the Recommended Book is as usual: RS Aggarwalâs Modern Approach to verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Then the question is, how to prepare reasoning in systematic manner in the given time? Do it in following manner:
#1: Chart based
- This includes: Direction sense test, Sitting arrangement (rectangle, circular, building, lecture schedules etc.) and blood relations.
- I club them together because in all of them youâve to make rough diagram / chart / table to solve it.
- Here is the order in which they should be prepared:
Sr.No | Topic | RS Aggarwal Chapter No. |
1. | Direction Sense Test. | 8 |
2. | Sitting arrangement: circular | 6 |
3. | Sitting arrangement: rectangle | 6 |
4. | Sitting arrangement: âtableâ based e.g. lecture schedules, job-car-cloth color, building-car-newspaper etc. | 6 |
5. | Blood relations | 5,6 |
#2: coding n series
Sr.No | Topic | RS Aggarwal Chapter No. |
1. | Coding-decoding | 4 |
2. | Alpha-numeric sequence puzzle | 11 |
#3 Analogy, odd man
Sr.No | Topic | RS Aggarwal Chapter No. |
1. | Analogy | 2 |
2. | Oddmen out | 3 (chapter title is âClassificationâ) |
Analogy and odd men can be of two types:
- Word based.
- Number based.
If it is word based, you donât need pen and paper, you can solve it in your head and proceed.
If it is number based, then depending on your proficiency (and luck) it may be very easy question for example
- Find odd man: 13,17,21,23. Â (ans. 21 because it is not a prime number). So this is quick and easy.
But at times it can be difficult and may require lot of trial and error for example
- 182::?::210::380. Find â?â.
^in this case, you may or may not be able to see the pattern immediately. It may take you five seconds, it may take 5 minutes. So donât sit on just one question. Move to next question. You donât have to tick all answers to get selected.
syllogism
Syllogism= âAll cats are dogs,âŠâ statement and conclusion. Usually a set of 3-5 questions. First Understand the UP-UN method explained here click me
Then solve all the questions given in RS Agarwalâs book Section II, Chapter 1 : Logic.
Assumption reasoning
- RS Agarwalâs book Section II, Chapter 3 :Statement assumptions.
- From some bankPO buddy, you may borrow a book called âAnalytical reasoning by MK Pandeyâ and refer to his theory as well.
Once above chapters are finished done, then go through the peripheral topics from RS Agarwalâs book: depending on your time and mood.
This concludes aptitude preparation.
Paper II (Essay and Comprehension)
Part-A â Essay questions which are to be answered in long narrative form either in Hindi or English totaling 80 Marks. The indicative topics are modern Indian history especially of the freedom struggle, geography, polity and economy, knowledge of security and human rights issues, and analytical ability.
Part-B â Comprehension, prĂ©cis writing, other communications/language skills â to be attempted in English only (Marks 120) â The topics are Comprehension passages, prĂ©cis writing, developing counter arguments, simple grammar and other aspects of language testing.
It is worth 2 hours and 200 marks. The question paper contains
- Long Essay (four essays are given; youâve to write only one of them in 800 words.)
- Short Essay ( two topics are given, youâve to pick one and write 250 words)
- Reading comprehension (a paragraph is given and youâve to read and write answers based on that paragraph)
- PrĂ©cis (a long paragraph is given, youâve to write short version of it.)
- English grammar. (Fill in the blanks etc)
Just go through the old papers, and solve them (yes you should actually write the answers in blank papers at home, for practice).
No separate preparation is necessary. But still if youâre very uncomfortable with English, you can refer to AP Bhardwajâs book.
How to prepare the Essay?
- Paper 2 is worth 200 marks and inside it, the Essay is worth 80 marks (thatâs 40%). Therefore, You must prepare for Essay exhaustively, to ensure success in the CPF exam.
- Fundamental principles remain same like UPSC Essay: spend the first few minutes on brainstorming the idea. Then rank those ideas, start writing essay: introduction >> body (+/- pros, cons) >> conclusion.
- For more elaboration, read the earlier article on Essay writing Click Me
- To write a decent essay, what you need is decent fodder points.
- Essay can be on variety of topics, so ideally you need to keep reading newspapers, magazines, and some good books from library on regular basis.
- After some months, you have good fodder points on almost every topic.
- Iâve providing two things (in the appendix)
- Topicwise Huge list of essays, from previous UPSC, LIC etc exams. So you can practice them or atleast brainstorm for ideas about how to write them @home.
- IGNOU India democracy and Development zip file. This PDF set contains necessary fodder points to approach most of the social/democracy/Development etc. topics related essays.
- there is no dearth of readymade essay books in the market, but that type of firefighting/desi jugaad, I donât find it very helpful because such books are either outdated (only reprinted, not updated after 90s), and or donât cover all the necessary topics. But still, if you want to refer to any books, you may use Spectrum Book of Essays
Hindi Medium Aspirants of CPF Exam
- Hindi version of General Studies Manuals use very âShuddha (Pure) Hindiâ for example instead of âAuditâ they use the word âLekha parikshanâ. Similar problems in Economy and Polity portion.
- Thus it becomes very cumbersome to read such book and youâve to tick only MCQs for the CPF exam.
- So I would suggest you buy English version of GS Manual instead of Hindi version. Same reason, I suggest you download the English version of NCERTs instead of Hindi version.
- In paper 2, you can only write the first essay in Hindi, and rest of  the questions have to be answered in English. So,  If youâre going to write the Essay in Hindi, then buy Hindi version of that Spectrum Essay book.
- by the way Laxmikanthâs book is available in Hindi under title âBharat ki Rajya Vyavasthaâ
Conclusion / summary / final tips
- Revision is essential. Whatever you read in NCERT, NIOS or Laxmikanth, keep a target of revising it multiple times. Otherwise, you wonât be able to recall the exact details in the exam and UPSCâs MCQs are very tricky.
- If youâve applied for this exam, then focus on your studies only. Donât underestimate the level of competition. Donât waste time in day-dreaming, facebook, orkut, random net surfing, chatting, TV, cricket, weddings of distant relatives etc. Time-pass activities will always be there, but once you cross the age-limit, there is no restart button. (This rule applies to all competitive exams.)
- When you get bored reading General studies, then solve maths / English question. when you get bored with maths/english, resume your General studies preparation.
- Donât go in the exam-hall with a âcutoffâ mindset. Donât push luck in negative marking. Donât tick answers based on guesswork.
Appendix1: Download Links
- Foxit PDF reader (necessary prerequisite for using Mrunalâs autonotemaker) click me to download
- Almost all of these PDF files provides direct copying of text. => That means you can use Mrunalâs autonotemaker to quickly make notes and mindmaps out of it, just use mouse cursor to highlight a particular line /phrase and my software will copy its text in a separate file. for more instructions click me
NCERT and NIOS (Essential/Core)
TN State edu Books (for History) https://files.secureserver.net/0fnzZYT7SDNuC9
NIOS (for Culture)Â https://files.secureserver.net/0fdAWETp4sONW5
NCERT files: topicwise:Â https://mrunal.org/download
India yearbook
- earlier government used to upload free PDF files for India yearbook (e.g. India 2010, India 2011 etc.)
- But since 2012, they stopped. However, for CAPF you donât need a latest edition and you donât need to refer all chapters. (Most of the schemes etc. covered in my economic survey articles).
- so, just download the India 2011 edition click me And read chapter following chapters
- 1.Land and the People
- 2.National Symbols
- 3.The Polity (for polity)
- 9. Defense
- 20 Justice and Law (for polity segment)
- 30. State and UT (for geography related questions)
Free Study Material English/Paper II
|
Click Me |
|
Click Me |
|
Click Me |
NCERT and NIOS (Peripheral)
read these if depending on your time and mood.
NIOS | Single folder contains many courses from NIOS: sociology, political science etc. download as per your time, mood and requirement. | Download |
NCERTs
Biology | 12 | Biology | Download |
Chemistry | 12 | Chemistry 1 | Download |
Chemistry | 12 | Chemistry 2 | Download |
Economics | 12 | Introductory Microeconomics | Download |
Economics | 10 | Understanding Economic Development Class X Social Science | Download |
Economics | 9 | Economics for Class 9 | Download |
Physics | 12 | Physics 1 | Download |
Physics | 12 | Physics 2 | Download |
Political Science | 12 | Contemporary World Politics Political Science Class 12 | Download |
Political Science | 12 | Political Science 2 for Class 12 | Download |
Political Science | 11 | Political Theory Political Science Class 11 | Download |
Political Science | 11 | Indian Constitution at Work Political Science Class 11 | Download |
Political Science | 7 | Social and Political Life Part 2 â Class 7 | Download |
Political Science | 8 | Social and Political Life â Class 8 | Download |
Social sci. | 10 | Democratic Politics Part 2 for Class X Social Science | Download |
Sociology | 12 | Sociology Indian Society | Download |
Sociology | 12 | Sociology Social Change and Development in India for | Download |
Sociology | 11 | Introducing Sociology Class 11 | Download |
Sociology | 11 | Understanding Society Sociology Class 11 | Download |
World history | 9 | India and Contemporary World 1 for Class 9 | Download |
World history | 10 | India and the Contemporary World 2 Class X Social Science | Download |
Appendix2: CAPF notification, cutoffs, previous papers
CAPF 2013 Notification
Official notification PDF uploaded here: click me
read it for medical standards etc.
Cutoffs
Year | Gen | OBC | SC | ST |
2009 | 136 | 128 | 105 | 115 |
2010 | 126 | 121 | 111 | 116 |
Please note: In the year 2009 & 2010 paper I was for 250 marks & paper II was for 150 marks, Personality test for 200 marks. But From 2011 they have changed to paper I for 250 marks & paper II for 200 marks, Personality test for 150 marks.
Interview experience of Previous Toppers
For the interview experience of previous CAPF-2011s toppers read following:
Hi Sir,
Read your article. You made so much efforts to make this. Highly appreciated. _/\_
thanks for this valuable information and details regarding exam. your efforts to make this is clearly visible and highly appreciable. thanks for study plan.
Sir is there any changes in the syllabus for the year 2019.
because I am blindly following your syllabus.
There is nothing is covered from previous papers as compared to your
Syllabus
Not able to access any pdf data.The links are disabled.Please provide correct links.
Sir total syllabus hindi language me send karo please
Sir can you please update the information for the upcoming CAPF 2020 .Topics like defence exercise ,economic policies etc.
Please provide latest syllabus
Can you please update it for 2020…
LINKS YOU PROVIDED HERE ARE NOT WORKING, PLEASE UPDATE THEM
sir please update article for paper 2
Thank you sir, for your article.
Can you please update it for the 2020 CAPF exam.
Please, it’s my humble request.
can we use the same strategy for 2020?
Sir can you please update the page for 2020 and 2021 or if the strategy remains same kindly mention that too. thank you very much sir.
Hello Sir,
Not to be a skeptic, but a genuine query.
Is this strategy timely?
Asking just because this article is from 2012 and an update would be nice.
TIA
Respected sir, please renew the study plan of CAPF/AC, for upcoming aspirants.
sir, is this plan still effective?
sir please make a plan for just graduate student from commerce background in 2021.
Sir, please update the strategy since from the past few papers UPSC is asking more questions from Med. History And Economy.
I need the guidance for CAPF AC 2020
please update this strategy sir. Its a humble request.
no link is working here please update
sir g
strategy is still relevant ????????????