Malampuzha Dam by Anu Shobana | Tripoto

Malampuzha Dam by Anu Shobana | Tripoto

On the way... Journey is too long and testing... But no thoughts of giving up !

Mains is on the way... Not ready to fancy my chances , I feel the need to supplement my strong desires with smart preparation - of course , without having an adverse impact on health aspect - but couldn't help it ! Getting exam anxiety , stretching my mind too long per day has made sure I rest for a day or two...

Strategy is set right by the end of June and I need to fill the space between my target and dreams by disciplined effort and practice.  I'm reminding myself often - not to forget that - everything is possible and how I've come determined and going through a wonderful journey - just to become an IAS - is just AMAZING !

 Hush... A long sentence indeed - not a mistake on clarity of thought but thats how it happens when I want to express how I'm feeling right now :) :)  .


 Let the best things happen in the days to come. I believe in the mystic dimension of life and keep my options open...

Cheers to life ! 







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Expected topics for Mains 2012 - GS

 Heya,

I'll keep updating till 2nd - 3rd week of August'12.

Of course I need to sort below topics based on paper 1 and 2 for GS. Will do that when time permits.




1.  Government Programmes and policies
 
      (i)   Telecom policy        - laying optical fiber through out the nation in progress

             Water polic,2012

             New Science Policy 2013

      (ii)   NREGA                 -  under scanner

      (iii)  UGC Regulation Bill , 2010 - review

      (iv)  Higher Education bill

       (vi) Copyrights Act,2012

       (vii) NELP

        

   

2. Polity

       (i)   Presidential election issue
       (ii)  Prez. Reference on 2G SC-verdict    

• The Presidential Reference which, in effect and substance, seeks to question the correctness of the judgment in the 2G spectrum allocation case, is entirely impermissible and not maintainable, the former Attorney General and senior counsel, Soli Sorabjee
• Mr. Sorabjee said such reference would be plainly ultra vires Article 143 and not maintainable. The Supreme Court, under Article 143, was not invested with appellate or review jurisdiction in respect of a judgment which had attained finality.

       (iii)  Central Water Commission
       (iv) UGC , NCERT panels
        (v) NHRC / Freedom of rights to speech and expression
       
   
    Economy

          GAAR           DTC        GST

          Indian Depository Receipts   
          Insider Trading
       


3. International Issues :


Arab Spring  - Egypt , Uzbek in news

Eurozone crisis  - current trend

South Sudan

Soft coup in Paraguay

Delhi Investors summit on Afghan , Tokyo conf



  International Organisations :

  FAO

South China Sea Issue 

• Ten Southeast Asian nations had agreed on a code of conduct to prevent armed clashes over the South China Sea but still sought China’s agreement.
   
• The issue of contending maritime claims is the major topic of the talks held in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, in large part because tensions over the sea have escalated in recent months. Chinese and Philippine ships engaged in a standoff in one disputed area, and Vietnam last month protested Chinese energy proposals for seas both nations claim.

East China Sea Dispute

• China, Japan tensions flare over disputed islands
  • Japan on Wednesday lodged a formal protest with China, summoning its Ambassador in Tokyo, after three Chinese patrol boats were spotted in waters off disputed islands in the East China Sea, over which both countries claim sovereignty. The boats left the area after a warning from the coast guard;
  • The strain emerged as their Foreign Ministers met in Phnom Penh, on the sidelines of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) meeting, where China’s territorial disputes with many of its neighbours are in focus;
  • The two countries have in recent months sparred over the islands, referred to by Japan as the Senkaku islands. Tensions rose further in recent days after Tokyo spoke of plans to “buy” the islands from a private developer, a move rejected by China as a provocation. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin told reporters China “does not accept the representation lodged by Japan”, adding that the vessels had “entered into the waters under Chinese jurisdiction to conduct official duties in accordance with Chinese law”.

 

4.Summits


Rio+20          - green economy focus

G20

Asean            - South China sea dispute takes centre stage

SCO              - India claims greater role

Tokyo declaration

CSTO



5.Foreign Affairs / Policy



NAM 2.0

India - Bangladesh

 - inland water trade renewed

India - China

• Chinese officials have said they are close to completing the repaving of the Xinjiang-Tibet national highway, which runs through the disputed Aksai Chin region (India holds claims to it), for the first time in 50 years. The 2,143-km road runs from Yecheng county in Kashgar prefecture in Xinjiang south to Lhatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR);
• The Xinjiang section of the road is 654.8 km in length. It is regarded as the highest traversable road in the world. Construction of the road began in 1951, and its completion in 1957 caught India by surprise, triggering tensions ahead of the 1962 conflict. The rebuilding of the road along with the earlier project of the high speed train through the region only increase the asymmetry of infrastructure between the countries in the region.

     

India - Nepal

India - Africa

India - US

         - Washington Accord (4 Er prac abroad)
         - OGPL
         - Millenium Alliance( promote innovation @ grassroot level)
         -

India - EU

       

INDIA, EU TO BEGIN TALKS ON FTA

Ø   FTA - Single Investor treaty - Issue Areas

 

US - Afghan - India
 
    - MNNA status : US-2-Afghan

    - Operation Enduring Freedom

    - Pak playing spoilers

Indo - Pak

   - Track 2 diplomacy

   - resolved to check cross border firing

   - river water sharing issue on the cards

   - FDI allowed , electricity exportes

   - Border trade routes opened 

6. National Issues

• Nuclear Energy
• Power Project issues - Tata Mundra Power Project , POSCO
• Economy slowdown - RBI and Govt measures

7. Science and Technology

• Higgs and Boson
• Bacterial Strain  -  GFAJ 1
• Decoding banana Genome and its benefits 
• DNSChanger
• Leish-F3 , Gla -SE vaccine

8. Environment , Climate

• IUCN Report on Extinct species
• Western Ghats as heritage site

• Monsoon worries - dam storage level dips  

  The monsoon was deficient by 23 per cent. Karnataka and Maharashtra had received scanty rain so far and the position had not improved to a satisfactory level.

  • Cultivation of groundnut and soyabean was expected to improve as there was good rain in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat in the last two days;
  • The delay in arrival of monsoon and its slow progress has affected sowing of major kharif crops including paddy, pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals. The rainy season is crucial for kharif season as only 40 per cent of cultivable area is irrigated.

• Decline in world's reefs 

  • More than 2,600 of the world's top marine scientists recently warned coral reefs around the world were in rapid decline and urged immediate global action on climate change to save what remains;
  • Coral reefs provide food and work for countless coastal inhabitants globally, generate significant revenues through tourism and function as a natural breakwater for waves and storms
  •   Caribbean 75-85 per cent  lost in the last 35 years. 
    Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the best-protected reef ecosystem on the planet,  50 per cent decline in the last 50 years;
    85 per cent of reefs in Asia's ‘Coral Triangle’ are directly threatened by human activities such as coastal development, pollution, and overfishing. 
  • The Coral Triangle covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, The Solomon Islands, and East Timor and contains nearly 30 per cent of the world's reefs and more than 3,000 species of fish.

9. Culture

       UNESCO Categ.1 Institute

       Film Commission

• Timbuktu 

  • The Islamists controlling northern Mali on Tuesday destroyed two tombs at the ancient Djingareyber mosque in fabled Timbuktu, vowing to destroy all World Heritage sites in the region.  
• Akbarabadi Masjid

10. Defense and Security

         DNSChanger


11. Personalities in news

       Dara Singh
       Anto Peter
       Gopalaswamy Parthasarathi
       Carlos Slim
       Anna Swatch
       Gagan Ulalmath 

12. Demography

      Demographic impact on Internet

      Population decline in Nagaland 


13. Health

      Kala Azar
    

Articles related to Mains topic

Points for Optionals

  Pub Ad :

1. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the Centre’s reported plans of using psychiatrists to counsel activists protesting against the 1,000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.
   
   The NHRC termed it “a check on the freedom of speech/expression.”

    2.   Media Regulation

    3. PPP
          

• Two – tier structure to monitor ppp
  • An institutional mechanism for effective monitoring of the contract performance of projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode to ensure timely completion
  • As per the Cabinet decision on the Planning Commission’s proposal, the institutional mechanism for monitoring of PPP projects will have a two-tier scanning structure by way of a ‘Projects monitoring unit’ (PMU) and a ‘Performance review unit’ (PRU) in view of the fact that a number of infrastructural development projects are likely to be routed through the partnership mode for implementation.
  • To ensure timely completion of PPP projects, while the PMU will monitor their performance at the project authority level, the PRU will also oversee their implementation at the Ministry or state government level. Thereafter, as per the mechanism, the PMU will prepare a report and submit it to the PRU within 15 days of the close of each relevant month.

Sociology


1. Racism

What books I need to read for optionals?

BOOKS: (Don’t read all, choose and read)


History:


Ancient India
NCERT- Ancient India- R.S.Sharma
D.N.Jha
An Introduction to the study of Indian History - D.D.Kosambi
Early India - Romila Thapar
IGNOU Booklets on Ancient India
The Wonder that was India - A.L.Basham
The National Book Trust book on Ancient India

Medieval India
NCERT - Medieval India- Satish Chandra
Satish Chandra - Volume 1 & 2
J.L.Mehta- Volume 3
The Wonder that was India - Part 2 - S.H.Rizvi

Modern India
NCERT - Modern India - Bipin Chandra
India’s Struggle for Independence - Bipin Chandra
India After Independence - Bipin Chandra
A new look at Modern Indian History - Grover

Modern World
L.Mukhejee - Volume 1,2,3 on World history (Basically European history)
World History - Jain and Mathur

For Map question
History through Maps - Ensemble

Public Administration:

Rajni Goyal: Indian Administration (Important)
D. D. Basu: An Introduction to the Constitution of India (Important)
Mohit Bhattacharya: New Horizons of Public Administration (Important)
Stephen P. Robbins : Organizational Behavior (5-6 chapters) (Important)
Lakshmikanth
Fadia and Fadia (Important)
Prasad and Prasad – Administrative thinkers
Avesti and Maheswari
Rumki Basu: Public Administration, concept and theory (mains)
Ferrel Heady : Public Administration-A Comparative Perspective (First 2-3 chapters reference)
Nicholas Henry : Public Administration and Public Affairs (some 3-4 chapters)

General Studies

History: 6-12th NCERT books (Important)
Geography: 6:12th NCERT books (Important)
Science: 6-12th NCERT books for physics, chemistry and biology
Foreign Affairs: Read from magazines
Statistics: B.COM first year book (7-8 chapters)
General Math: R.S. Agarwal
Current Affairs: News papers / magazines / news
Indian Polity: Lakshmikanth / DD Basu / Bakshi (Important)
Wizard Polity
Economics: Basics from any book / Investopedia (online site) / Dutt and Sundaram: Indian Economy
The Hindu book of Science thoughts
Economic Survey of India
Any other general studies book
GK Topics: World Organizations, International Nations Unions, Awards, Sports, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Parks, Countries-capitals-why famous for, Presidents, current events, inventors-discoveries, authors etc etc…

Geography

Certificate Physical and Human Geography - Goh Cheng Leong (Important)
NCERT books (Important)
Physical Geography by Savindra Singh (Important)
Comprehensive Geography – Khullar (Important)
Geography through maps
Physical Geography - Made Simple, Rupa Publisher
Physical Geography by Strahler & Strahler (Reference book)
Climatology by D.S.Lal
Evolution of Geographic Thought by Majid Husain
Indian Economy by Dutt and Sundaram
Hindu's Survey on Industry
Atlas mandatory – Oxford

Psychology

XI and XII NCERT books (Psychology) - Useful for starters with no knowledge of Psychology.
Introduction to Psychology - Morgan & King
Introduction to Psychology – Atkinson & Hilgard
Psychology – Robert A. Baron
Psychology: An International Perspective - Michael W. Eysenck
Organizational behavior – Stephen Robbins
Organizational Behavior – Fred Luthans
Developmental Psychology – Hurlock
Abnormal Psychology – Carson,Butcher & Coleman

Note: These books cover only about 50%-60% of the syllabus, for all other topics use Wikipedia or Google search, British council library and standard material from any reputed institute (Keep it as a last resort).


Economics

Advanced Microeconomics by Ahuja
Advanced Macroeconomics by Ahuja
Monetary Economics by Gupta and Rani / Gupta
Statistical methods by S.P. Gupta
Fiscal Economics by Tyagi
Indian Economy by Dutt and Sundaram
India Economy by Mishra and Puri
Economic survey of India
IGIDR (Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research) Dev Report
Relevant reading pertaining to post liberalization (read all supporting books according to syllabus)
International Economics by Dominic Salvatre / M.L Jingin

Sociology

Prelims

IGNOU material
Sociology-Themes and Perspectives by Harlambos
Sociology-A guide to Literature and problems by Bottomore
Social Anthropology by Madan and Majumdar
Principles of Sociology by Shankar Rao
Dictionary of Sociology by William.P.Scott
Wizard Sociology Workbook
Sociology Question Bank by IIMS publications

Mains

Paper 1

IGNOU material
Sociological Thought by Francis Abraham and Henry Morgan
Masters of Sociological Thought-Coser L.A
Sociology-Themes and Perspectives by Harlambos
Sociology-A guide to Literature and problems by Bottomore
Principles of Sociology by Shankar Rao
Sociology of Religion by Robertson
Dictionary of Sociology by William.P.Scott

Paper2

IGNOU material
Social Anthropology by Madan and Majumdar
Indian Society-S.C.Dube
Sociology and the Dilemmas of Development by Ramachandra Guha
Tribal India by Nadeem Hussein
Society in India by Ram Ahuja
Modernization of Indian Tradition by Yogendra Singh

Questions papers

Last 10 years prelims in each General studies, Public Admin and geography
Last 10 years mains for each subject (purchase once you are confident of clearing prelims)


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Useful online links

READING ONLINE

Useful Websites apart from Google and Wikipedia

http://goidirectory.nic.in/
http://india.gov.in/
http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/t... (Download NCERT Books)
http://planningcommission.gov.in/
http://www.investopedia.com/univers...
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ (Budget and Economic Survey of India)
http://www.pib.nic.in/
http://www.threeauthors.com/ (Useful)
http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welc...
http://www.dlshq.org/messages/caste...
http://www.indianchild.com/Pms_and_...
http://www.civilserviceindia.com/
http://www.onestopias.com/
http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/...
http://exim.indiamart.com/economic-...
http://cabsec.nic.in/abr/welcome.ht... (Allocation of business rules)

Blog Material

http://iasarticles.blogspot.com/
http://visionias.wordpress.com/
http://currentgs.blogspot.com/
http://thegyangurus.blogspot.in/ (daily news)
http://www.iasmadeeasy.blogspot.com/...
http://upscportal.com/civilservices...
http://visionias.cfsites.org/
http://iasblogz.blogspot.com/
http://www.jagranjosh.com/
http://www.preparegk.com

Online magazines / books

http://www.yojana.gov.in/ (Yojana)
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/ (Frontline)
http://70.87.196.226/Pratiyogitadar... (Pratiyogita Darpan)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/... (Economic Times)
http://www.hinduonnet.com/ (The Hindu)
http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/... ( India Year Book)

Other good sites

http://www.un.org/ (United Nations)
http://www.saarc-sec.org/main.php (SAARC)
http://www.aseansec.org/ (ASEAN)
http://www.ibsa-trilateral.org/ (IBSA)



Environment 


Bombay Natural History Society: http://www.bnhs.org/
Birding in India and South Asia: http://www.birding.in/
Website of Project Tiger: http://projecttiger.nic.in/
Nature Conservation Foundation: http://www.ncf-india.org/
Wildlife Conservation Society of India: http://www.wildlife.in/
Wildlife Trust of India: http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/
Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group: http://www.kalpavriksh.org/
Down to Earth Magazine: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/
Centre for Environment Education, India: http://www.ceeindia.org/cee/index.html
You can also add some in comment section if you find one !

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What to read for Current Affairs / General studies?

CURRENT AFFAIRS STRATEGY (Trend of  Prelims GS Questions)


Following Topics to be covered while reading ‘The Hindu’ and Competitive Monthly Magazines (Competition Wizard or Civil Service Chronicle or Civil Service Times – Preferably any one). If possible aspirants are suggested to take down daily notes on the basis of topics covered here.

1. NATIONAL
1. New Govt. schemes
2. Newly constituted committees on national issues.
3. Newly appointed heads of important offices
4. Inter state disputes
5. Important places in news

2. BILATERAL
1. Recent trade pacts like FTA, trade targets, items of trade, grouping in WTO
2. Bilateral defence deals and military exercises.
3. Bilateral visits by heads of nations
4. Bilateral summits (Place, theme to summit, issues discussed in summit)
5. Bilateral, trilateral and regional forums Eg : - IBSA, SAARC

3. ECONOMICS
1. RBI – monetary policy changes – CRR, Bank Rate, Forex reserves, inflation rate etc
2. Finance Ministry – Fiscal policy-tax rates, tax holidays, committees appointed to
review exciting tax structures.
3. CSO – National income, Per capita income, GDP growth rate, Base year, Poverty rate etc.
4. Central Govt. schemes of Employment Generation (NREGP), Social welfare (NOAP, ICDS, MDMS), Poverty eradication (AAY), Infrastructure development (NURM, NHDP)/
5. SEBI – Stock exchanges, Stock indexes, disinvestments, scams, committees
6. TRADE- Export items, Import items, export targets of various sector, trade pacts
7. PLANNING – Plan period, GDP target, priorities, sectoral allocations
8. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
WTO – Summits, discussed issues, groupings formed for trade dialogue.
IMF, WB - development agenda, loans and grants
UNDP – Theme, HDR, HDI rankings, ILO, UNCTAD reports.

4. POLITY
1. New amendments
2. National issues – Any related article in constitution
3. Major Supreme court verdict in national issues
4. Important committees related to constitution
5. Inter state river water, territorial disputes

5. INTERNATIONAL
1. International summits – theme of summit, major agenda, total membership, observers,
Declaration issued, recent members, venue of next summit.
2. International forums and NGO’s – WEF, WSF, TI ,Greenpeace etc.
3. International disputes – Territorial claims, civil war, Non Proliferation issues and
related treaties.
4. Terrorism – Organisations, funding, recent attacks and assassination, international
efforts to curb it(UN resolutions, treaties.)

6. SPACE
1. Recent space missions – name of space mission, space research organization(country)
and name of spacecraft, planet name, purpose, period.
2. Space phenomenon – Possible Asteroids threat etc.
3. Discoveries – Names of recently discovered planets, comets and asteroids
4. International Space station
5. Space accidents – Jupiter & Shoemaker levy-4 crash, Colombia shuttle crash,
6. International space projects like Galileo (GPS).

7. DEFENCE
1.Recenlty tested missiles – Name, type, range, speed, nuclear capability, technology used, indigenous or joint production.
2. Bilateral defence deals-Fighters, ships, submarines, missiles, radars etc.
3. Bilateral military, Navy and Air force exercises – Place, Code name, nature of operation.
4. International peacekeeping operations – Indian role and presence
5. Recent bodies like Strategic Forces Command etc.,

8. AWARDS
1. National Awards - Civilian – Bharath Rathna, Gandhi peace prize,
IG prize for peace, disarmament and development
- Sports – Rajiv Khel ratna – Arjuna – Dhronacharya
- Cinema – IFFI, Dadasaheb phalke, National
- Science – Kalinga, S.S. Bhatnagar
- Literature – Jnanpith, Sahithya Academy, Vyas Samman. Saraswathi samman etc.
- Social service – IG national integration, LB Shasthri award for excellence in pub-ad etc.

2. International - Noble prize.
Oscar awards (cinema)/ Grammy awards (music).
Ramon Magsaysay Awards (Asian Nobel prize).
Right livelihood (Alternative Nobel prize).
Booker – Pulitzer- Orange-Dylan Thomas awards (Literature)
Abel prize,Templeton awards etc.

9. PERSONALITIES
1. Newly elected head of nations and important world organisations.
2. News makers, inventors etc.
3. CEO’s of major corporate bodies.
4. Major national and international award winners.

10. BOOKS AND AUTHORS
1. Recent ones containing issues of national and international importance
2. Controversial books. (eg. In the line of fire, Lajja, Satanic verses)
3. Books which recently got national/international awards.
4. Popular writers of National/ International fame. (Naom Chomsky, Salman rushdie, Arunthathi roy, Shashi Tharoor, Vikram Seth, R.K. Narayan

11. SPORTS
1. Players and sports events.
2. Major national international records.
3. Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth, South Asian games-mascot, no of countries participated. Newly added disciplines, top Medal winning countries
4. Doping cases-drug used, player, ban period, country
5. Grand slam titles in tennis

12. ENVIRONMENT
- Major treaties like Montreal – Kyoto – Basel – Cartegena etc, recent
- Summits like UNFCCC, UNEP etc.
- Calamities, Accidents and natural disasters – Valcano action, Earthquake, Tsunami,
- Storms – Cyclone – typhoon (names of it Ex.Katrina,Nargis,Gustav)
- Disease outbreak (ex. Bird flu)
-Recent campaigns by environmental agencies like

13. CULTURE AND ART
1. UNESCO World heritage sites.
2. Major temples / festivals / Eg. Recent kumba mela.
3. Dances of Indian states.
4. Folk arts and states
5.Personalities in Dance, Arts and Theatre currently in news

14. MAP BASED QUESTIONS.
1. Areas of bilateral and international disputes (islands etc).
2. Any major calamities (Valcanoe, storm, nuclear accident,)
3. Countries – language wise.
4. Location of important cities, river of a country.
5. Questions based on national census(2001).

STUDY MATERIALS FOR CURRENT AFFAIRS AREA
1. Dailies - The Hindu* ,Economic times, Dhina Mani(Tamil)
2. Magazines - Frontline ,Yojana
3. India year book* , Manorama year book.
4. Economic Survey*.

* marked are important

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