General Studies- I
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society
Indian Heritage and Culture:This Part will require appreciation of Indian art, sculpture, dance, architecture, music festivals, folklore, drama, literatures etc. One has to capture the evolution of Indian art and culture since ancient times. Out of 250 marks in this paper, it is expected that approximately 50-70 marks will be allotted to this section.
Suggested readings:
· Gazetteer of India-volume II
· A. L Basham: The wonder that was India
· S.A.A Rizvi : The wonder that was India (volume II)
· Books on India Dance, painting, temples etc of Publications Divisions and National Book Trust (NBT)
ModernHistory: It coversthe period between the Revolt of 1857 and modern times. It will have the following components:
· Political History : British conquest of India
· Freedom Struggle: The moderates, the militants, the revolutionaries and the Gandhian Era.
· Important leaders of freedom movement, their ideologies and contributions.
· Social-Religious movements.
· British Economic policies and their consequences.
· Revolts: Tribal, peasant and popular revolts.
· Educational and Press policies.
· Important Governor Generals and the significant measures initiated by them.
It is expected that this section will account for 70-80 marks
Post-independent India:This will have questions relating to the following areas:
· Integration of Indian States.
· Linguistic Reorganisation of States.
· Task of nation building.
· Secularism, communalism, backward classes and affirmative action.
Suggested Readings:
· Tarachand : History of Freedom Movement in India, Vol- I to IV, (Publications Division).
· Surendernath Sen: 1857 (Publications Division)
· Ancient India-Collection of Article (Publications Division)
· NCERT-Modern India.
· NBT- Freedom Struggle.
· Bipan Chandra-India’s Struggle for Independence.
· Bipan Chandra-Post Independent India.
· Sumit Sarkar-Modern India.
· Gazetteer of India- Volume II.
World History: One can conceptualize and systematize the syllabus of the World History as follows:
· Industrial Revolution and its impact.
· The two world wars: causes and effects.
· The League of Nations and the UNO.
· The process of decolonization.
· Major ideologies: communism, socialism, capitalism.
· The Cold War.
· Policy of Non-Alignment.
· Globalization.
Suggested Readings:
· NCERT: The Story of Civilization (2 Volumes)
· NCERT: Contemporary World History.
· L.Mukherji : A History of the World.
Topics related to Indian Society: Suggested Readings
· SC Dubey- Indian Society
· Arjun Appadurai – Globalisation
· NCERT Books on Sociology
Geography of the World:Applied aspects have been emphasized in both Indian and World Geography syllabus. NCERT books on Indian and world Geography continue to remain extremely relevant to the new syllabus. The following books can help in covering the new geography syllabus:
· Physical Geography: Savindra Singh
· Geomorphology : Savindra Singh
· Oceanography: Sharma and Vatal (NCERT)
· Economics and Social Geography: Rupa Publications
· Environmental Geography: Savindra Singh
· Survey of Indian Agriculture : The Hindu Publications.
· Survey of Indian Economy: The Hindu Publications
· India-2013: Publications Division
· Certificate Physical and Human Geography : G. C. Leon
GS Paper II
Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations.
This paper is likely to find utmost favour with the aspirants because it contains interesting areas like Polity, Constitution and International Relations. The new polity syllabus is very well outlined this time and it emphasizes on the following:
· Structure of our polity i.e. the Constitutional framework of our political system.
· Operational aspects of our polity.
· Issues relating to governance.
· Public Administration.
The following source-material can be consulted on polity:
· D.D.Basu: Indian Constitution.
· P.M.Bakshi: Indian Constitution
· S.C. Kashyap : Encyclopaedia of Governance
· B.S. Baviskar & Ash Narain Roy : Local Governance - A Global Perspective (Publications Division)
· S.C.Kashyap: Our Parliament (NBT)
· S.C.Kashyap: Our Political System (NBT)
· Kuldeep Mathur: From Government to Governance (NBT)
· M Laxmikant: Indian Polity
International Relations:It covers three areas: Indian Foreign Policy, International affairs, and International Organizations. Since very contemporary issues will be asked in this section, one has to keep a close watch on day to day happenings on international affairs specially those which have a bearing on India. The following sources can be consulted:
· Rajiv Sikri: Challenge and Strategy- Understanding India’s foreign policy
· C.Rajamohan: Crossing the Rubicon
· World Focus (Magazine)
· The Economist (Magazine)
The best way to cover these areas is to read relevant articles in leading newspapers. Doordarshan News, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV presents excellent panel discussions on international issues. This gives a proper perspective and balanced approach and understanding of a particular issue.
GS Paper III
Technology, Economic Development, Bio-Diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.
Technology:Technology, questions will be framed on latest developments on the front of technology such as nano-technology, robotics, IT, space etc. Emphasis would be on India’s advances and future, progrmmes on Science and Technology. There is no single book available to include the vast theme under this section. An effort has to be made to collect material from a variety of sources.
Suggested Readings:
· India Yearbook-2013, brought out by Publications Division : Chapter on
Science and Technology
· Annual Reports of the department of Space, Atomic Energy, Ministry of
Environment etc.
· Down to Earth (Magazine)
Indian Economy:The current syllabus under this section can be covered by
referring to the following source materials.
· Mishra and Puri: Indian Economy
· NCERT: India’s Economic Development
· Relevant Economic Survey
· 12th Five Year Plan Document
· Any one Economic Newspaper like The Economic Times, Business Standard, Financial Express.
· Yojana
· Kurukshetra.
Environment and Bio-diversity:
· NCERT: India’s Physical Environment
· Together, Towards a Safer India: CBSE Publication
· Encyclopedia of Disaster Management: S.L.Goel (Deep and Deep Publications)
Security:
Since internal security is the greatest threat to our country, a good
number of questions can be expected from this section of the syllabus. The Home Ministry is responsible for internal security. Its website contains vital information on the internal security architecture including agencies, plans, mechanism. Therefore, one must visit this site and extract highly useful material relating to internal security.
Suggested Readings:
· Annual Reports of Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence and External Affairs.
· ARC II report on public order
· M M Punchhi Commission report
Disaster Management
· ARC II report on crisis management
GS Paper-IV
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude:This GS paper is a complete dark zone for the Civil Services aspirants because it has been introduced for the first time by UPSC. This paper aims to evaluate the candidate’s attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life. Further, it also seeks to test his solving approach to various issues and conflicts while dealing with society as a civil servant.
Ethics and Integrity:These two concepts have been borrowed from public administration. They deal with administrative ethics and integrity in public life. A regular study of Newspapers with focus on issues before society and issues raised by Civic Society groups will help. These two areas can be covered from the following sources.
Suggested Readings:
1. Mohit Bhattacharya- New Horizons of Public Administration.
2. Nicholas Henry- Public Administration and Public Affairs.
3. S.R.Maheshwari and Awasthi –Public Administration.
4. ARC-II report on ethics in governance.
Attitude, Aptitude and Emotional Intelligence:These topics belong to the realm of psychology. Its theoretical aspects can be comprehended by referring to any good text book of psychology.
Suggested Readings:
1. NCERT (Psychology 10+2)
2. Baron & Baron: Psychology
Public/Civil service values & Probity in governance:
· Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
· Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
Suggested Readings:
1. ARC-II report on ethics in governance.
2. ARC-II report on Citizen Centric Administration
3. Nolan Committee Report
4. Website of Department of Administrative Reform
5. William Lillie – An Introduction to Ethics
6. R. K. Arora – Ethical Governance in Business & Government
7. H. George Fredrickson -Ethics & Public Administration
8. IGNOU Notes on Ethics
