General Studies (GS) Manual

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GS Manual a very thick book containing almost every topic of General Studies (Geography History, Polity, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc.)
Many publication houses (TMH, Unique,Spectrum,Pearson) release their Manuals.
You should buy atleast one of them. Because after each topic, they provide hundreds of mock questions, you must solve them to gain confidence and command over the topic.
If you have not purchased a GS manual, I recommend you get TMH (TataMacgrawhill’s) [***buy the latest Edition***]
Crux of this whole plan is : First read NCERT, then read GS Manual and at last solve the Mock-questions given at the end of GS Manual.

Science and Technology

NCERTs 7 to 10 (science): Can be downloaded for Free. For English medium scroll down to the bottom of this article you’ll get the download links
for Hindi Medium click me
For Arts and Commerce grads, the 11-12th science NCERT may appear very tiresome, so leave them.
GS Manual’s Science and Technology section (the explanations and principles of various things are important, “Why” this or that?) + the mock tests given in it. If you’ve purchased any Manual, well and good- just stick to it. But if you’re yet to purchase a GS manual, I suggest you get TataMacgrawhill’s GS Manual.
Not much point in mugging up inventors, radius of Saturn’s moons, chem.formulas, Latin names of various plant and animal kingdoms and families etc in the manual.
The Hindu’s S&T section (can be read online).
Liberal use of websites such as Howstuffworks and Kids’ Encyclopedia Britannica for time pass.

Economy

NCERT (10, 11, 12). If you can’t grasp formulas, leave them. Just try to understand the basics only. Download Links @Bottom.
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh (TMH Publication) = best “student friendly” book on Economy topics.
Any one GS Manual’s Economy section + the mock tests given in it.
Any one Magazine’s Economy section, to be upated with currents (Pratiyogita, CST, Wizard or Chronicle)
Regular reading of Economy section of newspaper (The Hindu or Indianexpress, whichever you can get.)
Consult wikipedia and google whenever you encounter any difficult terminology but donot try to do Ph.D on Economy. You just need to understand the basic concepts.

Polity

The Best book for Polity is M.Laxmikanth (Tata Macgrawhill publication). Nobody has or can explain polity in a lucid manner than he did. So just forget everything else and read his book thoroughly atleast 3 times.
It is also available in Hindi Medium, under the title “Bharat ki Rajya Vyavastha.”
But Instead of mugging down article numbers, try to understand the provisions.
Mock questions given in GS Manual.
Magazine issues for Polity specific Current affairs (Laws, Amendments etc)
You can also try D.D. Basu’s book on Indian Constitution, .

History

NCERT 7 to 10 Social Science. Then NCERT Class 11,12 History.
GS Manual’s History Section + Mock tests.
Focus on History of Modern India (1857 and freedom struggle) as it is important topic in Mains GS too.
If you’ve time, you can use Bipin Chandra
and Spectrum’s Brief History of Modern India.
This Spectrum book is also available in Hindi, under the title “Adhunik Bharat kaa Itihas“

Geography

NCERT 7 to 10 (Social Science) then NCERT 11,12 (Geography).
GS Manual (instead of trying to mug up place-names, concentrate on clearing concepts and ‘why’ this or that). + Practice mock questions given in it.
In Newspapers and Magazines issues, in the National/ International current affairs: note down the place names and check their location on Atlas.

Environment and Biodiversity (E&B)

Again NCERT 7 to 10 (Both Geography and Science):
GS Manual’s science portion
The Hindu S&T (can be read online).
Magz : current affairs related to Environment. (without getting into fact-bombing)
Wikipedia for anything that requires elaboration.

The level of difficulty shown in last years’ paper for E&B, ain’t no point in doing Ph.D.
So I don’t think it is necessary to buy any separate ‘special’ book.

Empowerment

NCERT sociology books: Can be downloaded for Free in English Medium OR Hindi Medium
Magazine current affairs sections to know about various Social sector initiatives.
(if you’ve time) Yojana, Kurukshetra etc. (but then again no need to get into ‘village/NGO case-studies’) just get the basics.

Mock Tests Practice

No amount of preparation is complete, unless you practice some mock questions.Practice the mock questions given at the end of each topic in your General Studies Manual.

Download NCERT books HERE

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Topicwise booklist and study-plan for CSAT 2016 General studies Paper and Mains