- Polity Topics
- Economy & infrastructure
- International relations, internal security
- Environment, Energy and Agriculture
- Science-tech
- History and Culture
- Moral Disclaimers
- Anti-Hindu rants
Polity Topics
SepW1
- EX-Cji as Kerala governor- pros and cons
- Doctrine of Postponement
- Lawyer databank to select judges
- SC 2013 rules on Death convicts
- Urdu as 2nd official language
- Mizoram permits DESI liquor
- Kerala wants to ban DESI Liquor
- IPS training academy bans DESI liquor
- Tribal insurgency in pre and post-independent India
- Love Jihad
- UGC vs IIT controversy
- Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- President speech on teachers day
- PM Modi’s speech on teacher’s day
- HRD minister’s speech
- Pahari Job quota bill: 5% reservation in J&K. problem- difficult to identify beneficiaries, Pahari want ST status. bill passed on last day without discussion. (that’s all, doesn’t deserve separate article).
SepW2
- LOP
- Telangana wants 50% from central taxes
- EVM totalizer update (nothing much- SC just asked question why not do it?)
- Love Jihad
- Nirbhaya Centres
- Delimitation in Telengana and Andhra Pradesh
- 100 days of M.H.A
SepW3
- Christian women property law- need for reforms.
- Archaic citizenship laws
- Pathariya system and migrant labor exploitation.
- Ethics Committee
- Why non-bureaucrats not considered for cvc job? (asked SC, but not writing any article till final verdict comes).
- Making Indian courts rape victim friendly.
- Rajasthan Ratifies JAC bill
- SC: release undertrial prisoners (not writing any article till dust settles.)
- Not every PIL deserves mandamus.
- RTI applicant must tell reasons.
- (EPW) Quotas under RTE not helping the poor
(not important): AAP won’t fight Haryana election; UP will open Nirbhaya centres, BJP low performance in byelections
SepW4
- Combating child marriage.
- Widows of vrindavan
- Fraudsters can’t do out of court settlement
- SC guideline on fake encounters
- Right to be atheist
- Electronic evidences have to be authenticated first.
- Tax tribunals unconstitutional.
- Paid news in election.
- Jaylalitha DA case.
- VP speech on inequality.
Ignored
- SC ordered UGC to conduct fresh verification of deemed univ. (dead horse topic, doesn’t deserve article at the moment.)
- HL Dattu becomes CJI. (doesn’t deserve an article)
- Sports Bill to be introduced in Winter session of Parliament- fixing age limits of NSF chiefs, RTI accountability etc. (nothing now, let the bill come).
- Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 – wanted to subsume variety of edu.bodies, was pending in RS, Union withdrew it. hence no longer important until new bill comes.
Economy & infrastructure
SepW1
- E1: Wilful defaulter?
- E2: Coinage Act & right to issue Rs.1 note
- E3: Gold account scheme
- E4: MNREGA: Sweeping changes
- E5: MPLADS & toilet building
- E7: PDS Reforms: Lessons from Delhi
- E8: Commerce Ministry on IPR and FDI
- E9: Global competiveness index 2014
- E10: MSME speech: fodder material
- E11: BSNL, MTNL merger
- E12: India’s Sovereign rating
- BRICS Bank, IMF Governance Reforms
- Minor Bank Accounts, SBI’s Pahali Udaan, Pahala Kadam, Kotak My Junior Account
- Committee on unclaimed PPF-just one line- RBI Dy.Governor HR Khan will head it, this Committee will decide how to us unclaimed money from PPF/small savings for benefit of elderly. More details when the report is published.
- Revamping planning commission –deserves separate article when dust settles down.
SepW2
- North East telecom infra
- No frill airports
- Dharavi slums
- Swatch vidhyalay
- Rajasthan sanitation
- ICICI: Cashless withdrawl
- GDP measurement reform
- Fasttrack DIPP
- UID phase 5
- NEIA
- No Dumping duty on solar panel
- EPFO problems
- Disinvestment ONGC, CIL
- FIU
- 52% shareholding in banks
- SECC problem
- ATF reforms
- Road safety bill
- 100 days of HRD ministry
- 100 days of IT-telecom ministry.
- Rajasthan-land acquisition
- Textile industry of india
- HDFC green pin
SepW3
- Promoting inland waterways.
- Bank unions against small banks
- Banning meat export.
- Capital goods sector scheme
- New aviation policy soon. (only after it comes)
- SEBI discussion paper on FPO norms (only after it is implemented).
- New gas pricing formula-panel gives report.
- RBI : equity FDI
- RBI finds faults in Jan Dhan + Frontline mirage of inclusion
- cleanliness index (yet to come)
- Real estate regulation bill
- UAN, LIN
- RSC vs PSC- which way for energy exploration
Ignored
- Scaling up Gujarat model. (hardly a few lines)
- MNREGA only for backward districts. (combined with SepW1 MNREGA reform)
SepW4
- USFD railway track security
- Corporate tax inversion (only definition, not more).
- RBI Gopalkrishna panel.
- Government to revive 5 PSU and close down 6
- Make in India
- Made in China
- Monetary policy 30th sep (no changes though)
- Sagarmala project
- Dindayal Antyodaya yojana
Ignored
- New guaranteed minimum pension scheme (nothing new- 1000 rs. Minimum pension in EPFO-1995. Earlier just 650) (that’s it- doesn’t deserve article).
- Aircel maxis deal ball by ball commentary.
- Bibek Debroy Committee to restructure railways (not right now, wait for final report)
- ICICI minor account “smart star” (not important)
- SBI share split (not important)
- S&P gives stable outlook to India (doesn’t deserve article at the moment)
- Government to review skill Development policy 2009- article only when its released.
International relations, internal security
SepW1
- Modi Japan visit + Frontline article on it (separate article only after America visit is over- because then a better comparative revision table can be prepared)
- Aus.(same as above.)
- Kashmiri Pandit rehab (later because ball by ball commentary)
- India-ASEAN FTA in services
- D1: Defense FDI reformed
- D2: Defense Procurement:
- D3: India-Nepal agreements during Modi visit
- D4: Power Trade agreement (PTA) with Nepal
- D5: Nalanda University
- D6: APF: Human rights conference 2014
- D7: Border security Management: Gujarat
- D8: Letting states have foreign relations
SepW2
- SCO summit
- UNSECO & International literacy day
- International Literacy day
- Al-Qaeda thread to India: should we worry?
- Vice President speech: ‘Europe and Emerging Asia’
- VP speech: India-Iran
Later
- China- Tibetan leverage, Doval visit. Xi’s visit (Later separate article when Modi done US visit so comparative revision tables can be prepared.)
- Using Whatsapp tackles crime (later separate article on using social media for effective governance and policing).
- Obama 9/11 speech- mainly directed against ISIL. Will incorporate fodder in a separate article against ISIL later.
Ignored
- German minister’s visit (hardly anything)
- SC nodal officer for piracy
SepW3
- Pranab goes to Vietnam (thankfully not many pacts)
- New President in Afghanistan.
- (Internal) Maoist surrender
- Nalanda univ. inaugurated (but will combine it into SepW2)
Ignored
- China asks maldives to join MSR; Xi Srilanka visit; Xi comes to India (entire thing deserves a separate article but after Modi is done visiting USA – because they larger picture and better revision table can emerge)
- Iran- Chahbahar to be notified soon. (Basics already done in old article, so new coverage only after Government notifies).
- Scotland will not be separated (doesn’t have direct relation to new Mains syllabus. hence not in my priority)
- Rajnath goes to Nepal (not Much important)
SepW4
- G20 finmin summit at Cairns
- UNHRC and India’s re-election
- Internal security -using e-Gov. to trace foreign students.
- World food program
- Global arms trade treaty
- Baamiyan, Afghanistan: SAARC Cultural capital
- India-Bangla rail connectivity
- Coastal security Management: Kerala
later
- UN Speeches: Modi, Obama; Modi reform for OCI-PIO (All part of US-China-Japan combined revision series)
- Indian diaspora in USA, Japan, China, Australia (separate article later).
- Should India join fight against ISIS – later in separate ISIL article.
- Government preparing new policy on kashmir (article when they release)
Ignored
- Unrest in hongkong (not in priority because such topics are out of mains-syllabus after 2013)
- Catalonia seeking independence from Spain. ignored for same reason cited above.
Environment, Energy and Agriculture
SepW1
- E1: Green Law panel
- E2: Fast track initiatives: Environment ministry
- E3: Fast track environment = dangerous
- E4: RAPS-5
- E5: Mangroves variety change in Sundarbans
- E6: Gold Ore Tailing
- E7: Neera Sap
- E8: Fast track initiatives: Agriculture ministry
- E9: 19th Livestock census
- Coal block – later deserve separate article when ball by ball commentary stops.
- J&K floods. (same as above)
SepW2
- Elephant Killer trains
- House sparrow Population decline
- Indo Pacific Hump-Backed Dolphins
- Wild Chinese Sturgeons
- Deaths from Snake bites
- Langurs are multiple species
- Ozone layer recovering thanks to Montreal
- IndARC
- Ministry of Earth Science: 100 days
- Suggested Rabi crop reforms by Agro ministry
- New hybrids: Tea and Banana
Later
- Ganga cleaning (separate article when ball by ball commentary stop)
- E-rickshaws- when Government releases guidelines
SepW3
- Old climate change formula is wrong.
- Barmer block, Cairn India
- Pusa hydrogel
- Karpoorvallai/hycinth
- Greenfield projects=urban heat-islands
- Tea clones.
- Hydropone and carbonlite pots.
- African giant snail.
- Biodiversity informatics
- Health ministry on noise pollution
Later
- Kerala wants Union to declare lightening as natural calamity so victims can get compensation.asked 14th FC the same. (doesn’t deserve article because I already told the points here)
- Some more agro schemes- (will combine with SepW1 when dust settle. this people are releasing new scheme every day via PIB.)
- Kamdehnu breeding centres, cloning Murrah bulls (Same as above)
- Quadricycles in Delhi (not right now, let Government/court decide).
- China to cut carbon intensity by 2020 (although hardly few lines of fodder)
SepW4
- Seed sovereignty
- Nilgiri tahr (Mountain goat)
- Invasive species: Senna Spectabilis
- CSR for wildlife corridors
- India @UN climate summit 2014
- Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
- Amur Falcon
- Lyncodon Odishi
- Revamping NDMA
Ignored
- SC forms 5 member panel to asses Jammu and Kashmir flood damage (not important because names not announced yet and report yet to publish)
- UP bans diclofenac. (Vulture -diclo already covered in old article, hence nothing new.)
Science-tech
SepW1: Public health special
- H1: Ebola virus outbreak
- H2: Kala Azar-revised strategy
- H3: Cavilon for Boxers
- H4: Free Rotavirus vaccine
- H5: Sickle Cell Anemia
- H6: XDR-TB
- H7: TB: Email + Survey
- H8: BRCA genes Patented in Australia
- H9: Eye donation
- H10: NOTTO
- H11: Misc. Developments
SepW2
Ignored entirely
- LASIK (sent to W3)
- Genetic engineering (sent to W3)
- Sniffer dog molecule (send to W3)
- CATS,GEDI, LAM, 3D printer in space (later in space compilation)
- GSAT6 (same as above)
- Sapphire glass (sent to W4)
SepW3 again public health
- Ayush mission
- RBSK, WIFS
- Hepatitis license
- Infant mortality and how to prevent it
- Tribal health problems
- Harmful food chemicals
- Sharvan implant
- Newborn action plan
- National nutrition mission
- Problems in NRHM
- NHRC sends notice to Government why shortage of anti-HIV drugs? Ignore for now, imp but someday in a bigger picture
- UNMEER for Ebola (later I’ll update it in the SepW1 when ball by ball commentary stops)
Ignored
- Neutrino observatory (later in space compilation)
- Aircraft Dakota, naval ships with stealth features (later in a defense compilation).
SepW4
- Mars mission (done already)
- Synthetic biology
- GSLV Mk3
- Shell BASH bug
- Facebook internet drones
- India will fail in MDG maternal death targets
- Harsha-wisdom on eliminating various diseases
- Terrestrial Observation and Predicting System (TOPS)
- e-toilets in schools
History and Culture
SepW1
- Ayyankali (1863-1941)
- Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956)
- Bidriware Metal craft
- Racial Hatred: Bezbaruah Commission for North Eastern People
- Stamps of 8 musicians
- Nehru 125 (later deserves separate article.)
SepW2
Ayyankali (covered along with W1)
SepW3
- Channaswami-bharati
- Hyderabad liberation day+ related Frontline book review
- Gorta village and Op.Polo
- Shuddhi sabha and tanzim.
- Sadar vs 370 (let frontline come up with article)
- Lalitkala academy 60 years of
- Tulu language and Tulu Paaddanas
SepW4
- Thugs in British India
- Koti lingala
- Wesak festival
- Mysore Dasara
- Maharaja Nandakumar
- Komagata Maru Incident
- Railway- 6 pilgrim tourist packages (although not much important- too much data)
Moral Disclaimers
Q1. What is the purpose of listing these topics? You have not written any content about them!
Ans. those are the topics from Hindu, Indian express, PIB, frontline, EPW, which I consider important for the prelims and mains. I’ll be covering them in future articles under [Current] Series.
Q2. Will you finish all these topics in your articles?
Ans. No. Unlike Salman Khan, I make no “commitment” of delivering anything on deadlines. Same reason, I don’t sell any of my stuff for Rs.7500, 9500, 11000, 45000 or 95000.
Q3. then why have you listed these topics?
Ans. To help the serious players crosscheck and update their notes accordingly. And to alert those who are still fighting with eachother over cutoffs- that much water has passed, and it’s time to get back to business.
Q4. XYZ topic was in news but you’ve not included it here.
Ans. True, for example, Government made it compulsory for scientists to teach a few hours in schools Or the Hindi Diwas and Rajbhasha awards and truckload of other topics- it depends on my interpretation of their Cost: Benefit.
Q5. What about [Current] June to August?
Ans. will try to cover only the important topics from that era. Right now Modi is in full swing- be it IR, economy or schemes. Therefore, September is first priority.
Q6. You should write neutral articles. Your pro-Modi, pro-right wing, pro-free market articles are hurting my eyes.
Ans. I write the way I enjoy writing. A civil service aspirant should be mature enough to wade through such content and extract points useful for him.
[accordion] [accordion_item title=”Anti Hindu Rants”]
Pros and Cons of CSAT
With respect to Hindu column: Pros and Cons of CSAT:
- What is the point of publishing that article at this time, when everyone has ‘moved on’ with their life?
- Writer has given the most absurd idea “bring optionals back in the prelim stage”. If anyone will benefit from such move- coaching walla and book publishers; but not the aspirants.
I can think of only three ‘rational’ reasons why Hindu published that CSAT article:
- to keep the controversy and protests alive OR
- to get more web-traffic for their site (just like the other Hindi newspaper did with stirring up the age-reduction rumor again) OR
- Hindu’s is not getting enough ad-contracts these days hence they filled up space with such ‘pending’ articles which were originally submitted back in July-August when CSAT controversy was at peak.
NASA-DINO-CANCER-HinduTM
TheHindu should be renamed into NASA-DINO-CANCER-HinduTM because:
- Almost every week, atleast one new dinosaur is discovered for example:
- 12th Sep: an “alien” like dinosaur which has mouth like crocodile and legs like a duck.
- 14th Sep: Scientists found an actual dinosaur who resembles that flying creature in “AVATAR” called IKRAN.
- Hindu has taken franchise from NASA- to publish ball by ball daily commentary on everything. I bet even American newspapers are not so obsessed with NASA.
- Xyz fruit/vegetable has anti-cancer molecules. I’ve read this line for the 10,000th time in Hindu. Seems Hindu editor’s workflow is “whenever we don’t have sufficient ad contracts, simply fill-up page with veggi-cancer-news-template”.
- “Better understanding of ____ diseases is needed“. I’ve read this headline for the 1000th time in Hindu. So, according to them, if better understanding of every diseases is needed then why don’t you simply publish a book/DVD and distribute it free of cost to everybody?
Pythons are venomous, nope?
- God can bleed and except General Dong, everyone else can be wrong- because I found an error inTheHindu article: “pythons suffer a bad stomach if they feed on a dead animal because their deadly (and also digestion-aiding) venom requires blood circulation to take full effect.”
- This is wrong because pythons are non-venomous. Ref: truckload of google books.
Only freshers need calcium?
Fresh at college? ensure proper calcium intake
- Means only fresher’s need calcium, so seniors don’t need calcium?
- What about students joining polytechnic, ITI, diploma or IGNOU’s distance education courses- they don’t need calcium?
I’m worried because some ChirkootTM type UPSC players take TheHindu too seriously. So they might interpret it in above manner, and will give wrong nutritional advice to their juniors and siblings.
Sardar is back
- Amit Shah says Sardar would have saved us from 370/Kashmir problem.
- Last year too Modi made statement about Sardar being ‘wrongly portrayed as communal / mistreated by Congis’.
- Then both Hindu and frontline kept writing dozens of articles and UPSC aspirants had to prepare it as the most important topic for mains and interview 2013.
- Seems the history will repeat for 2014 too- “Sardar vs 370”. let’s see if next frontline issue covers it.
Lucky Richard Rahul
Obama intends to nominate Richard Rahul Verma as US Ambassador to India. This Indian-American man served in US Airforce and later practiced as a lawyer in a private firm.
Lucky chap, He didnot have to face stupid UPSC to join Indian Foreign Service. And even luckier because he didn’t have to spent mornings reading TheHindu.
Poor DD daily wager
- A newsreader of Doordarshan News has been sacked as she pronounced the name of Chinese President Xi Jinping as Eleventh Jinping, mistaking the Xi as roman numeral XI.
- But she was a casual/daily wage worker hence DD quickly removed her. If she was a fulltime sarkaari employee newreader- then disciplinary inquiry would have gone for next 20 years.
Misc. news
- Pistorius can be allowed to represent S.Africa in next Olympics IF judge suspends his prison term- says their Olympic Committee. In other words, killing girlfriend is ok, as long as you’re a celebrity in S.Africa. Seems S.Africa is more bakwaas desh than I had earlier thought. And I fail to understand-why is Pistorius trial given so much daily coverage by both Hindu and Indian express?
- Hindu says “Aalishan Pakistan” expo in Delhi evokes mixed response. Well isn’t that obvious? How Pakistan can be ‘aalishan’?- even a KG-kid knows this is bogus marketing propaganda therefore unlikely to visit such expo.
- You tell two people have died in bomb blast and then immediacy show to a commercial- this is both sad and funny. The hard fact is that media-news is only about making money. (Some Paki hero said this in Hindu Interview.)
- Damn it, Malluperiyar back in news- I’m dead tired of this stupid topic. Anyways, thankfully nothing new- just that panel visited the site.
- Just when I thought gas-pricing had become a dead topic- another panel submits report. then another column on production sharing contract.#never-ending-struggle-continues.
After thought: By default, I disagree with anything theHindu columnists have to say, even without reading it-except when they criticize Bollywood movies in reviews.
[/accordion_item] [/accordion]

sir plz list the topics of JUN to AUG also since we may have missed some topics in the prelims frenzy….
As you said we can prepare with full pace while you publish article at your convenience.
will try to do that Sudhir.
nice compilation
THANKS SIR i Miss some topics in Environment, Energy and Agriculture thx for updating sir.
This Is the Best Approach…i Was thnkng Of suggesting U The Same….thre Are Certain Topcs Whch Dnt Carry Any Bckground Hstry Nd Thus Can Be Preprd On own….nd M Sure u Ll Provide Details For Tough Topics……keep This Thng Going…juss Provide the Topic Names So That We Can verify Wht We Missd….like I Missd Notto…hybrid Banana….thnks
Sir,when will you restart 12th FYP markings.we are waiting for that for a very long time..we liked that series ,it was very helpful.
What are the books prefer for UPSC (Mains) Subject wise.
Topics from that Era?! Meaning serious shift in strategy?! I remember someone said after 2013 prelims that “even if UPSC did not ask anything from current affairs in Pre, does not means they will not ask it in Mains…and BAM, String of Pearl, Maldives, Small state vs Big State, Judicial Activism, and many others things I no longer remember cause the NoOB doesn’t learns from mistake ”
As far as pre is concerned…All that is to be studies, cannot be studied.
So just one favour, simply list the worthy topics and we will cross check with our preparation.
great sir..
sir tons of thanks for this. Can i get a similar list of all the important current affair topics for the past 8 months for the mains preparation? It would help me a lot in evaluating my preparations.
arabian night, sorry it is not possible to cover similar for last 8 months. beyond the time and manpower available with me.
Thank you sir for listing topic. I will update the missed ones. I am currently referring only HINDU. Do i need to refer more than 1 paper for making notes. I am preparing for 2015.
Shivraj: thehindu + frontline.
should rumous and political manipulation like love jihad be cosidered fo upsc peparation??? mrunal seriously do u think that this love jihad is imp ??
george, thehindu column had some good points for group discussion / interview.
hey people, can you tell me what ‘GDP measurement reform’ related news is?
shilpi, this news item
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/centre-set-to-revise-gdp-measurement-next-year/article6394885.ece
The reform is related to the change in base year. It’s a routine every 5 years but this time it’s significant as it relates to the under represented informal and service sectors. Till now the base year used was 2004-05 which didn’t represent the mentioned sectors properly as data related to these was inadequate/unavailable. But with data available now (thanks to various surveys conducted in recent years), the base change will impact the GDP measure and we may see a jump next year (that’s why some political ripples). The degree to which that happens is something to look forward to!
Sir,
I might clear Prelims this time…though i am follower of yours but i really dont know how to tackle this current affairs…i used to make notes but then prelims wave took that away…i stopped it from april (just like u) and now dont know how to pick it up..moreover current affairs is taking a lot of time…can u guide me how to priortise…i m preparing self..optional pub ad already running parallel
mrunal sir, what about the remaining articles of economic survey ? you promised us to complete the same.
Pls include in your list the topic on CBI autonomy…..its consequence on the investigation in high profile cases..
with respect to pub ad also…
A brief article will be of immense help …
awesome sir. it will be of great help. sir i am in dilemma that i should prepare e notes or paper notes…former will be good in editing….and later will improve my writing speed. please give me some advice.
grt job done by u n ur team mrunal sir ………. its really helps us alot …..
n current affairs point to point like dis its just awesome…this is what actually i was wondering………u did our wrk easier….thnq sir thnx alot…..
i just wanna ask, is it possible fr u to post most debatable topic wid its detail…????
Sir,
If possible, pls upload the pdf of current affairs for keeping the hard copy.
mrunalji,aatehi sixer laga diya aapne,really i missed out some major topics but will cover up them now,
great work….thnnx a lottt
what to do if we live in rural area , where the hindu not publish ?? any method to get hard copy of the hindu murnal sir plzz suggest???????
mrunal bhai awaiting capf answer key!!
Alright then. Sir has arrived, now back to classroom & teacher has come. Good luck to all including me, for we have been waiting for Sir, & most i believe have been doing the home work. Good luck to us – the aspirants & once again Happy teachers day Sir. Thanks for being always there for us. May Almighty Allah bless you a long life, I pray. Ameen.
mrunal bhai..iam unable to see some headlines in the articles…for example i couldnt see the heading of this article(i mean the name of this article)…in home page i can see..but when i open any specific article…some headings are missing…how to fix??
Same issue with title of posts not being visible in the index / home page. Please do the needful mrunal!
Plz, suggest me some books for GS II and III.
Mrunal ji….some problem is going with the site…as d one subscriber already hv told about his problem(of not getting headline properly)…
…
..
Me too getting some serious problem…whenever i open it frm my smartphone’s chrome(i hv not opened it from pc Or laptop anymore)..ur recommendation section does not expands when i click on anyone’s + symbol…
..
…plz do check it shortly as its an important section for d newcomers of d website..
Sir If possible please provide a schedule about which ol r d topics u r gonna cover in which month and secondly are you going to cover core topics like locational factors or economics of animal rearing just u did last year??
@RAJ. There must be a big city around where you are . You can get published The Hindu from that city.. May be it will come 1 day later.. Whats the matter .. You will have it.. Front Line .. you can get from Railway stall.. M doing the same .. thats y..
I have been following The Hindu diligently and still half the topics mentioned here are beyond my radar………….how come, what should I include in my current affairs regime to get it all.
Plus Mrunal sir, you have suggested reading The Frontline but it’s a thick magazine, do you really think it serves the cost : benefit criterion.