happy new year!

to all my dear  hard working friends,a very happy new year...may the coming year see us all achieving our dreams and aspirations.May god bless us all.
as for us who stand on the cusp of uncertainty thanks to the changing pattern,the new year brings new and unique challenges.heres to  fighting spirit and hard work-the two things that will take us through!all the best!

problems of self study 2

the alternative cycles
the whole universe seems to obey the same mystical rule,life mirrors it,and we experience it when we study alone.what?the alternating cycles of the best with the worst,the lean with the peak.just like a sine wave there seems to be no respite from this wild ride,what should we do?
first,realize this is not just our own problem,but in fact a universal phenomenon.every candidate has to go through this,self-study or coaching class.

Gagan narang despite years of practice peaked in CWG and dipped in ASIAD didnt he?
its wrong to expect the cycles not to alternate because we are only human,and stressed out at that.then it is futile to imagine the cycling can be avoided.
But,what is achievable is reduction in the Lean time and increase of the peak time.
how you do that is again a personal affair,but here are my tips-
understand yourself-know what works best on you..In times of lean focus,do things you know will relax you..carefully observe your peak period and make a journal writing what all you did,read,studied and how you felt and so on..in lean times read the previous entries and try to emulate.if you notice,the oldest entries on this blog are of that type.it helps at time to recreate a burst or two of sustained focus.
also know how you get rid of stress the best,and do it in lean times.Use the lean period constructively and de-stress and re-motivate yourself.
personally i use the guilt-shock treatment..i leave my studies completely and indulge in a long time wish-watching a movie,going out to play a match,reading a novel,or just anything that tempted me earlier but i put it on hold.
i keep my books and scheduler both on the table,and at times open...i have learnt by experience that barely a day or two into the lean period guilt mounts...i drive that guilt higher.
at the same time i read interviews by toppers and other sites and blogs on civil services preparation online.Seeing these adds to my guilt and a feeling of being left out in the rat race.
i let both of the feelings grow till my tipping point is reached and its back to the books with a bang!

as i said the method may vary,but here you are no different from an out of form cricketer trying to regain his touch.its often said the best way to do that is spend time in the middle,and maybe for some thats the best way to maintain consistency.as i said,the cycles will come and go,but your goal and mind need both be steady and resolute,and the rest can be managed by self-understanding!

problems of self study 1

when i say self study i presume your optionals are set, because i meet many aspirants who are in a dilemma of which optional to chose and whether their choice is correct!please make up your mind and do not indulge in statistical wizardry as its a sheer waste of time in a rapidly changing exam.i can promise you,chose any two optionals,come in top 5 in both and irrespective of your optionals you will sail through with a modest performance in common papers.too much dithering on optionals confuses a person,and a confused person can not study.
now that i presume the optionals are decided let me address the problems that come with self study:
1.how to pace yourself to ensure you complete the vast portions in all papers.
2.how to check your own progress in study.
3.how to keep your head about yourself though you lag behind on both counts(which most will).
 the only advice i can offer is enumerated serially:
1.pace is personal.lots of things determine it.your potential,time on hand to study,your grasping,reading speed,retention,choice of optionals,stage of preparation,method of study and so on.however,i presume all of you have a copy of  the syllabus(if not go to www.upsc.gov.in) and some books or notes to study from.check for yourself how much time a identifiable part (but important part) of the syllabus takes to complete.i will use an analogy of history,i may check how many days it takes to complete Indian national movement,or maybe rule of the Mughals by doing it,and then see how many  such parts the syllabus entails.multiply the time taken by th number of such parts that remain,and as a safety measure add one third the final figure to come up with a conservative estimate.
repeating my example,i took say 10 days for Indian National movement,there are 20 such topics in the syllabus of history,means i will take,
20 *10= 200 days for the all the topics.since all are not uniform,as a safety valve i add 1/3*200= 70 (app) to the figure to come up with my final figure of 270 days(at current speed).
dont be scared by the figure,the example was hypothetical,but do up your calculations to invariably find you are lagging behind the ideal speed.
once you have figures for GS and both optionals squeeze them in the number of days at your disposal and you have a ready plan with signposts ready to follow to pace your study and complete the portion before the due time.
2.how do you check progress?first,if you prepare the above plan you have the pre-designated portions in place so you know instantly if you are on track.also,you may join a test series.but most are only active during a certain part of the year,are expensive,ask irrelevant questions,give shaky feedback,and take a lot of time for the feedback,what do you do?
download all the question papers you can,and make a folder.study each paper divide it into sectors of study from your syllabus.For eg In history,all questions asked on 1857 group aside,all questions on 1909 reforms group aside and so on.apply the same logic to your optional.that would mean you have prepared question banks from your syllabus on each topic from the questions asked thus far.
once you do feel like checking yourself,ask a friend or anyone else to pick some random questions from the relevant question bank,and jot down 5-8 questions.see how you answer them,and if you are happy with the answers.that should tell you what to revise and with what attention.  

3.the last of my questions was the most important of all.When you prepare on your own you are unaware of the competition,in an empty world of your own.

an empty mind is the devils workshop.you begin to worry if you not joining a coaching class was wise,was it the reason you are lagging behind,of miraculous coaching given to other candidates which gibes them an edge.your friends in coaching classes brag and discuss on topics irrelevant and  not likely to come at all,but not knowing that adds to your pressure.this is the time when your productive time is being eaten away by stray thoughts.

how you check that is again a personal thing.Try meditation,talking to yourself,writing a journal of record or any such thing that emphasizes the rational side of your mind.accept your situation and bring out the fighter in you.instead of worrying about the edge gained by others,study to give yourself one.as i said methods vary,but each will have to do something to keep his mind in a stable frame to maximize his output in study.

i dint mean to scare anyone and push them to coaching classes,but to hint at what ordeals await if one takes this path.knowing in advance helps to factor in the problems and not be taken by surprise by them.these are by no means all the problems,just a small part of the common ones,and many others wait to vex your heads.after reading the problems if one feels they are too much to take,i advice them to go on and join a coaching class.what is paramount is a peaceful mind,so that it can absorb.if joining a coaching class does that for you,then by all means go ahead.

never in the whole time doubt your ability,and gods grace for these are the two things that will pull you through eventually.

all the best and happy studying!

  

political science mains papers 2010

Political Science mains paper 1 2010


Section A

1.comment in 150 words (15*4 =60)
a)power flows throughout the system like blood in the capilaries of our body (focault)
b)Robert Dahls concept of deformed Polyarchy.
c)'Personal is Political'
d)'Veil of Ignorance'

2 (a) Assess the deliberative theory of democracy.30
(b) Distinguish between Liberal Feminism and Socialist Feminism in detail.30

3.(a)Evaluate Marx's Instrumentalist approach to the state.30
(b)Compare and contrast Dharmashastra and Arthashastra with reference to state power.30

4.(a) Do you think the modern nation state has been declining in the wake of Globalization?justify your answer 30
(b)Critically examine the cultural relativist approach to human rights 30

section B

5.comment in 150 words (15*4=60)
(a) Indian nationalism as depicted in S N Banerjea's 'A Nation In The Making'
(b)Upsurge in Political participation among the marginalised communities in the Indian General Elections during the last two decades.
(c)Inter-state water disputes
(d)Economic liberalization and uneven development among Indian States. 

6.(a) Assess the effectiveness of the National Human Rights Commission in redressing grievances pertaining to human rights violations in India.30
(b)"Minorities are the natural custodians of the secular state".DE Smith.Discuss 30

7.Critically examine and comment on the assertions below in 200 words
(a)"The Constituent Assembly was a one party body in an essentially one party country.The Assembly was the congress and the Congress was India"
Granvile Austin 20
(b)"Articles 2 and 3 of the Indian Constitution are inconsistent with the spirit of federalism" 20
(c)"The principle of Collective Responsibility a la the Cabinet system of government has eroded in the context of the emergence of coalition governments in India"20

8.(a) In what ways do civil liberties and human rights movements influence the working if Indian democracy?Give your answer with suitable eamples.30
(b) DO you think that post-1991 reforms in India mark a significant shift from the Nehruvian model of Economic development?Justify 30




Paper 2

Section A

1.answer the following in about 200 words each 20*3=60
(a)How is the modern comparative politics approach different from the traditional legal-institutional approach?
(b)Examine the changing nature of security in the recent times.
(c)Explain the meaning and application of the concept of 'strategic engagement'.

2.(a)Examine the post modernist critique of Realism in international politics.20
(b)Assess in detail the prospects of emergence of a nuclear-weapons-free world.40

3.(a)Discuss the different perspectives on global environment that have emerged in the context of the Copenhagen summit.20
(b)Critically examine globalisation from a third world perspective.40

4.Bring out your perspectives on the following in about 200 words each 20*3=60
(a)Plausible aims of the NAM in the post-Cold War period.
(b)The indications of the emergence of a global civil society.
(c)Should National interest be viewed as a constant category or is it situation-specific?

SECTION B
5.Answer the following in about 200 words each 20*3=60
(a)Can Israel be termed as a natural ally of India?
(b)Examine Indias response to the Af-Pak policy of the US.
(c)Bring out the role played by Indian armed forces in UN peace-keeping efforts in various parts of the world.

6.(a)Examine the nature if the issues currently being debated with the EU.
(b)Assess the problems being faced by India on account of illegal migration into the country.

7.(a)Comment on the foreign policy trends in Russia's foreign policy.20
(b)"the UN today is more of a social service organization than an exclusively security oriented body".critically examine.

8.(a)Bring out Indias perspectives and concerns on reform in the UNSC.20
(b) Would i be to Indias benefit if it were to pursue a more serious relationship with south-east Asia?Critically evaluate.40

strategy for CSAT paper 2-2

lets have a look at what remains in paper 2,and chart out basic pints on it.
the syllabus says


2.Interpersonal skills including communication skills

3.Logical reasoning and analytical ability

4.Decision making and problem solving  




What strikes me first up is that not all things are taught and so not all things can be learnt.Some are to be grasped.
Taittriya upsanishad says that a great teacher is he,who when he teaches, "saha vishayam Prakashyante'.
or makes the topic glow(illuminates) and it is this glow that guides a student to greater endeavors academically.
Closer to our times,we hear that 'WE can take a horse to a pond,but can not make it drink'.
i guess many a teacher would agree with the second point,and so do i!


after all,interpersonal skills is all about how you behave in society.how you interact with various people in it,how you speak to me,how you respond when i speak to you and so on.simple thus far as its value free.now add to it simple things-how you speak to me when i am head of your department,how you speak to me when i am your junior who is slacking in work and refuses to follow orders,or how you speak to me when i as a government servant ask you for a bribe.


people vary,and so do their approaches to such things.I am most concerned about such questions as there is no correct answer to this as each is likely to pick what appeals most to him.Anyone who has given a situation reaction test in the SSB interviews knows what i speak of.
so this part you reveal what you have made yourself in response to society over your lifetime.not much to worry about correcting,but still enough material here to cause some anxiety.



3.Logical reasoning and analytical ability : Look at Shane Warne Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting-three very different captains  who played alongside for the same team for a long time.They still vary in their leadership and that should give you a hint on this section,and the next ie 4.Decision making and problem solving.


make no mistake,any sort of responsibility,any leadership role brings alongside a lot of decision making.What do you use to make decisions?
Logic,Rationale,Information(which you filter from a mine of relevant data),and finally principles(whats right and whats wrong).this is what these two inter related points will check.
Logic can be practiced with definite results due to the simple fact that tests to check logical thinking are numbered,and practicing them enables good scores.Analysis is how your thought process works-this cant be taught and only a vague direction can be shown to you.rest of course is up to you.
making decisions comes naturally to us-we have been making them throughout our lives,so do not lose sleep over this.its just that the ones we will need to take in CSAT will be in imposed conditions with varying constraints needed to be filtered in.This is easy,only if you process things quickly and 'think on your feet' as they often say.


In short,after the veil of mystique has been removed from paper 2,it comes across a regulation paper that only tests what your thought process is like along with proficiency in english and ability to communicate-the basic trait of our species.
one need not worry-just gear up for it mentally!
all the best!

strategy for CSAT paper 2-1

The syllabus for paper two is




(Paper II) (200 marks) – Duration : Two hrs



1.Comprehension

2.Interpersonal skills including communication skills

3.Logical reasoning and analytical ability

4.Decision making and problem solving

5.General mental ability

6.Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)

7.English language comprehension skills (Class X level)




in this fist post of the series on strategy,lets deal with-point numbers 1,5,6 and 7.


now those that are used to defense exams like CDSE and NDA/NA would realize that these parts form syllabi's of the said exams and would figure prominently in all papers.those not familiar would do very well to walk up to the nearest store (or Google) to find some previous years papers of these two exams and have a look at the said portion.

1.Comprehension: guys note a fact,this is simple comprehension.Means the ability to folllow and infer from given information on any subject.You may be given a table from the Economic survey and asked to answer questions involving interpretation of given data.Alternately the data may be a sociology field study or geographical tables and so on.The normal comprehension most of us have been exposed to comes under point 7 ie English language comprehension skills (Class X level).

this difference is important so do not expect all the comprehension to be from story like english passages.

5.General mental ability :this was already part of GS paper in prelimns and one would do well to check up previous years papers. RS Sharma and RS Agrawal are two veery common books used by the community of students to improve this part of the paper.not only this,R S Agrawal is often useful for point number 6 ie 

6.Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level).

we used it in NDA exams and found the book sufficient to answer all questions that came.

as for second half of point number 6 ie Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)

this has been traditionally asked in Bank PO exams conducted the year round.A magazine called Mahindra caters solely to Bank PO exams,and has some stray information on this segment though its a waste to buy it solely for this,whats useful is the various previous and current papers of various banks,which give a clear idea of how questions will turn out to be.
 there are a large number of small books teaching how to interpret tables and stuff,but i will not recommend them blindly,having never used any.so pick and chose according to your preference.
lastly,
7.English language comprehension skills (Class X level):is a tricky thing.not always will you find straightforward here.So practice with defense entrance exams question papers.and generally improve your hold of english-after all both mains and interview demand it after all.


on the whole i would say do not panic if all this is new to you.try getting used to this.Upsc has announced that prelimns will be delayed by a month.so you have time,and you know whats coming,just get yourself to accept and then face the situation.
attitude determines your altitude in life,so dont let yourselves down guys!!!
all the best!

History mains papers

Paper 1

Section A
1.Mark the following places on the map provided and write short descriptive notes on them. (3*20=60)
1.Korkai
2.Eran
3.Birbhanpur
4.Rakhigarhi
5.Sannathi
6.Isipattan
7.Dhanyakataka
8.Junnar
9.Edakkal
10.Paithan
11.Pandu Rajar Dhibi
12.Karle
13.Vatapi
14.Porkalam
15.Kalanjar
16.Multan
17.Bairat
18.Chanhudaro
19.Rajim
20.Tripuri

2.(a)To what extent  archaeological materials are useful in understanding the progress of Neolithic man in India?30
(b) Examine the significance of the Deities depicted on coins of the Kushanas.30

3.(a)Examine the view that sacrifice was a ritual and a form of Social exchange in Vedic India.30
(b)Assess the role of guilds and trade organizations in the development of early Indian economy.30

4.What light do early inscriptions and literature throw on the status of women in politico-socio-economic spheres?60


Section B
5.Write short notes in 200 words on any three. (3*20=60)
(a)Provide a comparative analysis of the development of Arabic and Persian historiography.
(b)Discuss the social dynamics in the Vijayanagara empire.
(c)G=Discuss the different types of Karkhanas in Mughal India.How was the production organized in the different Karkhanas?
(d)Critically evaluate various approaches to study medieval Indian towns.

6(a)examine the increasing importance of maritime trade of India during 13-15 centuries.30
 (b)To what extent 'monetary anaemia' afflicted the erstwhile commercial economy during the early medieval period?30

7.(a)Comment on the Turko-mongol theory of sovereignty.To what extent was it adopted by Babur and Humayun?30
(b)How did Shivaji organize his administration and finances to consolidate his power?30

8.(a)Wat was the Indian response to European technology?30
(b)How far do you agree with the view that temples in early medieval period were catalysts in spreading education?30


paper 2
section A
1.Critically evaluate in 200 words-(3*20=60)
(a)."the educated middle class in the 19th century often found the domain of reason to be oppressive, as it implied the historical necessity  of 'civilizing' colonial rule".
(b)."Railway development in India provides an interesting instance of private enterprise at public risk".
(c)."The active participation of Aruna Asaf Ali in 1942 movement symbolized the role of women in India's freedom struggle".

2.(a)"In terms of administrative structure,the government of India act of 1858..meant more continuation than change."do you agree?substantiate.20
(b)."Punjab's fate after Ranjit Singh was foredoomed as the impulse of Neo-Victorian Imperialism was bound to overwhelm it".Elucidate 20
(c)."The developments during 1937-39 greatly undermined the ability of the Indan National Congress to push through the agenda of National Unity."comment.20

3.(a)What role did economic ideas play in the early phase of the British rule in the shaping of land tenure policy?30
(b)Discuss the extent to which the Indian Renaissance movement contributed towards the rise of national consciousness.30

4.(a)To what extent did the process of commercialization of agriculture affect the rural scene in India?30
(b)Discuss the factors that lead to the growth of Dalit consciousness and mention the major movements aimed at their empowerment. 30

Section B
5.Critically examine in200 words (20*3=60)
 (a)"..he (Voltaire ) was living in the Age of Enlightenment....The age itself was not enlightened."-E.Kant.
(b)"all long marches begin with small steps".
(c)."The essence of Perestroika is for people to feel they are the country's master"-gorbachev.

6(a)"How far is it correct to say that every feature of the American Constitution was ultimately of English Origin?20
(b)What do you understand by imperialism?state briefly its unique features in the case of Africa?20
(c)To what extent did Napoleans economic war with England become his undoing?20

7.(a)Critically examine the Dutch colonial policy in Indonesia.30
(b)"Europe faced peace in 1945 politically disorganized and economically crippled."elaborate.30

8.(a)"The eastern question has always been an international question".Elucidate 30
(b)Explain the circumstances leading to the emergence of Third world and analyze its impact on world affairs.30