Prepare GS

HOW TO PREPARE FOR GENERAL STUDIES FOR UPSC/STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMS 

What is General Studies ???

The Answer to this Question is not easy 

If you are preparing for UPSC /State Civil Services , you might have got some idea about what is general studies , but for begginers, its a very hard question ---how to prepare for general studies .

Some guys have confusion in starting phase for preparation between General knowledge and general studies . General knowledge is actually subset of General studies . 

General Studies is everything you face  in life, everything which affect your life  like government policies , governance , Economic policies ,environment concerns , geographical phenomenon our ancient culture , importance of Days ( big days like republic day , independence day , national unity day etc. ) , why we celebrate more than 50 days in a year as some special day ??, 

What our ancestors did for us ?

and what should we do for our future generations ?? 

How reserve bank  policy affects us ???

How Annual financial statement ( or BUDGET ) affects us ???

Why should we pay taxes ??

How can one become PM, President , CM , ministers ???

What are our fundamental rights and Duties ???

Every normally educated citizen is expected to know all the above questions , and that is what we call GENERAL STUDIES. 

UPSC is not an Detective agency and mind it , you don't need to be exceptionally intelligent to get selected in UPSC , UPSC expect you to be an aware citizen who knows all general things happening in current time and their importance and you should be able to take decision based on Ethical values /your knowledge and according to the situation  ( thats why UPSC introduced a general studies paper exclusively for Ethics and moral Values ) .

Now you know what is general Studies , so ,its time to move on and discuss the strategy to crack general studies 

First of all , you should go through NCERT social science books   (Geography + history + Polity ) from class 6-12  + Economics NCERT books ( from class 6-12 ) + General Science ( from class 6-12 ) 

IT is very necessary to clear basic concepts from NCERT , before moving further to higher levels for mains . 

If you follow NCERT religiously and are able to finish NCERT atleast 1-2 times , it is sufficient for UPSC and other Civil Services Pre examination  General Studies Paper ( most of the objective questions are directly asked from some concepts explained in NCERT ) .

Questions on Environment /Science are mostly current affairs based ( the mixture of current affairs topic + its relevant theory from NCERT book is  proved very successful , e.g. if suppose some conference on climate change is going on these days , so you must know all about global warming , you can clear these concepts from NCERT books ) .

NCERT books are government recommended and they are written by well known authors who have great knowledge ( Basics must be cleared by NCERT , after that you may follow some good books for each subject i.e. geography , history , Politics , Economics ) .

All NCERT books May be downloaded here        ALL NCERT BOOKS

Current News is very important part of general Studies , you should some news paper ( either thehindu or Indian Express - - from understanding point of view indian express is best ) . You should read news papers daily for atleast ( one hour) + you can also visit some News videos ( because it is said that Pictorial memory is long lasting than words memory and thats the reason we remember any movie we seen for a longer time than our course we read at our school/college , so its better if you cover  a part of your current News section from some good News Video ( like Rajya sabha Channel is very good channel , and if you watch rajya sabha video from you tube , then your time will not be wasted in advertisements as you can download ADDblocker from google and apply it to your browser ) .

you can watch all the News/ Discussions  here    RAJYA SABHA NEWS VIDEOS

So, GENERAL STUDIES = ALL NCERT BOOKS( Social Science Books + Economics books +                                                General Science Books )  + THE HINDU/INDIAN EXPRESS + RAJYA                                                      SABHA VIDEOS +  some of the following mentioned books .

Below Mentioned list of IAS books for general studies will help you in your prepration for the IAS and other services under the UPSC/ State Civil Services Exams . General studies is a vast subject, so it helps to know the best reference books for the ias exam.

Make sure you buy the most recent print of these books as general studies too needs a certain amount of updating every year. We Have added names of some monthly magazines too. Please select the ones that you like the most.

MUST READ BOOKS FOR GENERAL STUDIES :-

1. India Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra ( English Version / Hindi version )
2. Modern  India history by spectrum ( English Version / Hindi version )
3. Geography - Spectrum ( English Version / Hindi Version ) 
4. Indian Geography by Majid hussain ( English  Version / Hindi Version )
5. Indian Polity - Constitution of India by Bakshi ( English Version / Hindi Version ) 
6. Indian Economy - by Ramesh singh ( English Version / Hindi version ) 
7. General Science ( English  Version / Hindi Version ) 
8. Indian Culture  ( English  Version / Hindi Version ) 
9. Comprehensive Guide For UPSC - Part 1 + Part 2   ( Sufficient to prepare for Pre in less time ) 
10.  Geography through Maps ( for Map understanding + World geography )          

Topic Wise Reference On General Studies

Books on Indian History & Culture:

1. NCERT (+ 2 level) - Ancient India, Medieval India, Modern India.
2. Publication Division : Gazetteer of India (Vol 2 : History & Culture)
3. Gandhi Nehru Tagore & Ambedkar - Gopal Krishna
4. Bipin Chandra - Modern India
5. A.C.Banerjee - History of Modern India Raghavan Aiyer - Mahatma Gandhi 
6. Spectrum History ( Best book for Prelims ) 

Books on Geography:

1. NCERT : Physical Geography of India for X - XII Std
2. Oxford School Atlas 
3. Sharma & Cotinho : Economic and Commercial Geography of India.
4. Geography of India by Majid Khan  best book for Prelims ) 
5. Khullar : India- A Comprehnsive Geography  
6. Charles Farro : General Principles of World Geography
7. Charles Farro : Monsoon Asia Reports published by Centre for Science and Enviornment And Tata Energy Research Institute
8. National journal - Kurukshetra, Yojana etc.
Down to earth - website 

Books on Indian Economy:

1. NCERT (+1 level) - Evolution of Indian Economy(I C Dhingra).
2. Indian Economy - by Ramesh Singh 
3. Economic Survey
4. The Economic Times,Business Standard
5. Yojana

Books on Social and National Issues :

1. Social Problem - Ram Ahuja 
2. Social Welfare Magazine - Published by ministry of social welfare
3. Yojana/Kurukshetra
4. IIPa Journal

Books on Indian Polity:

1. NCERT (+1 level)-Indian Political System
2. Indian Polity by Lamikant ( Best book for Prelims ) 
3. N.L. Madan : Bhartiya Rajya Vyavastha
4. D.D. Basu-Indian Constitution
5. Kashyap-Constitution of India  
6. Publication Division-Subhash C. Kashyap : Our Parliament
7. P.M. Bakshi-Indian Constitution 
8. Our Constitution : Subhash C. kashyap  
9. Perspective on Constitution : S.C. Kashyap  
10. Frontline Magazine
11. IIPa Journal

Books on Science & Technology:

1. NCERT : (10 level) : Science, (+2 level) : Biology.
2. Popular Science Series (CSIR)
3. Reports Of the Ministry of Science and Technology Yojana
4. Science Reporter
5. Science and Technology in India - Spectrum

Books on India and the World :

1. Journal of peace Studies
2. World Focus
3. Strategic Analysis
4. South Asian Journal

Other Books for General Studies:

1. India Year Book latest  
2. One competitive Magazine like PD 
3. Guides like Tata Mc Graw Hill, Spectrum or Unique For General Reference
4. The Pearson General Studies Manual