Syllabus CSAT Paper - I

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration: Two Hours:

1. Current events of national and international importance 2. History of India and Indian National Movement 3. Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic geography of India and the World. 4. Indian Polity and Governance Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. 5. Economic and Social Development Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. 6. General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization 7. General Science
Syllabus CSAT Paper - II Paper II Aptitude Test : 200 Marks

Comprehension Interpersonal skills including communication skills; Logical reasoning and analytical ability Decision-making and problem solving General mental ability Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level) English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).

Total Marks : 400 Note 1 : Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of PaperII) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper. Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type. Note 3 : Each paper will be of two hours duration. Blind candidates will, however, be allowed an extra time of twenty minutes at each paper.

Paper I Books are: History:

Ancient - Ram Sharan Sharma, (old) NCERT Medieval- Satish Chandra, (old) NCERT Modern India- Bipin Chandra, (old) NCERT Art & Culture chapter of India Year Book

Science:

NCERT- VI to X (New) What, Why & How by CSIR. Defence Current Affairs & Defence chapter of India Year Book S&T Current Affairs & S&T Chapter of India Year Book.

Geography:

XI, XII NCERT (New) Read current affair with Atlas, locate each & everything which are in news. Thoroughly use your Atlas

And following chapters of India Year Book: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Land & The people. Agriculture. Energy. Environment. Water Resources. States & Union Territories

Polity:

XI, XII NCERT (New). Polity chapter of India Year Book. General Information chapter of India Year Book. Justice & Law chapter of India Year Book. Indian Polity , by Laxmikant Current Affairs of Polity

Economics:

Clear your basic concepts of Economics with any book. Current Affair of Economics Economic Survey -summery of each chapter which is given in the last page. And see the boxes given in every chapter. And following chapters of India Year Book: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. Agriculture. Basic Economic Data. Commerce. Communication. Education. Finance. Corporate Affairs. Food & Civil Supplier. Health & Family Welfare. Housing.

XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.

Industry. Labour. Mass Communication. Planning. Rural development. Transport. Welfare. Youth Affair & Sports.

Environment:

Environment chapter of India Year Book. Geography books of NCERT (new). Current Affair. Internet

Current Affairs
This is the most important section of this paper. After analyzing the recent question paper it is necessary for every aspirant that he/she should give more attention to those traditional area which are in news. For Example: (a) Indias Fast Breeder Reactor has achieved certain milestone or (b) The launch of cryogenic technology had failed recently; in this respect you must be aware with the traditional portion of these areas, these includes: What is Cryogenic technology? When India started to develop this technology? How many countries poses this technology? etc. In the same manner: What is Indias Nuclear programme? When India started the programme? How many stages are there in Indias Nuclear Programme? In which Generation the Fast Breeder Reactor comes? What are its major use /Advantages? etc. In Short you should change your traditional way of preparation and mould it with the present trend. The present trend is that you need to prepare your traditional area through current affair. That is whatever is in news you must have the awareness of its traditional background & its concept, Now the next question comes in your mind is that, how one can achieve this?

In this background I would suggest you to follow these steps :

1. 2. You need to have a sound knowledge of current affair and the traditional portion of your G.S. paper. Read traditional area, historical background and constitutional provision (if necessary) to each topic which is in news. For example In polity section what ever is in news try to connect that with the constitutional provision, and its political history. Suppose government has recently amended the constitution and provided 50% reservation for women in panchayat, so in this case you should read the constitutional provision of panchayat, its political history in India, that is from ancient India to till date. In this way you can prepare your traditional area with the current affairs. To achieve this you do not have to do any research because the above mention books are written in such a manner that you can find the historical background with its concept, in one place, you have to just update that with your current affair. At the same time, with in the Current Affair section there are some special areas where you should have a good command because questions are asked directly from those areas.

They are:-

Various Bills and Acts and their important provisions. Important Reports and their contents.

Various governments plans programmes. Initiatives taken by the government in various fields.

I hope now you are familiar with what to read and from where to read. Then the next question comes how to read.

How to read?
In this regard I would suggest that what ever you read you must solve the multiple choice questions. Make your own point wise notes (if necessary) revise your notes again and again. If possible make your own multiple choice questions with the help of previous year question papers.

Clear your concepts from NCERT. Think and analyze those concepts again and again. Revise again and again, and no need to mug up the factual information, try to remember only important facts and figures so that you can utilize those, in your mains exam as well. From, May solve the question papers in strictly exam like condition. That is with in the 2 hour time frame at morning and evening season.

Roadmap and Strategy for CSAT Paper II CSAT: How to Prepare:

Civil Services examination is being conducted by UPSC. It has three stages: Preliminary Exam (Prelims), Main Exam (Mains), and Interview (Personality Test). One has to crack the preceding stage to crack it finally and reach ones goal. As far as prelims exam is concern UPSC has changed the pattern of the exam. Earlier it used to be one paper of General Studies and other is optional subjects, now the paper 2 has changed to a new Paper 2 called CSAT. We can take the second paper CSAT as an extension of the paper first. The recent invent of new look Prelims require a little revamp in your preparation strategy. CSAT is new to everybody it requires a brand new and comprehensive strategy to go through. We have a years question paper through which we can access major points while preparing, we can sketch and pitch up the topics and areas from where questions are being asked and it is expected to come.

The syllabus of second Paper is to test the candidates' skills in comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension skills and mental ability. With the new pattern, more stress is on language skills and analysis and decision making capacities, so work on these on a consistent basis as these are skills that are developed over years and not just in a few months. It would be advisable to start focusing on your problem solving and language skills as soon as you decide to take the exam.

Moreover, there are sections in the paper 2 which a candidate thinks that it is more or less like on the lines of banking or MBA but this is a mistake, we should understand that the very purpose of this examination is to select Civil Servants, thats why the syllabus adds decision making and problem solving.

Important Takeaways of Prelims 2011 and A Strategy To Prepare:

Paper second contained only 80 questions but indeed it was a lengthy paper as it was fully loaded with comprehension passages. Comprehensions (bilingual) had 28 questions and English comprehension had 9 questions which almost contains half the paper. Quantetive Aptitude section had 13 questions, Logical reasoning contributed 13 questions including 3 questions of syllogism and 9 questions were from data interpretation. Decision making and problem solving had 8 questions which was purely application based. You can better understand by the following Table:

Comprehension English Comprehension Quantitative Aptitude Logical Reasoning Data Interpretation Decision Making and Problem Solving

28 9 13 13 9 8

There are some important areas like Comprehension, Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning which plays the most dominant section of the question paper. Now let me discuss each section in details:

Strategy for Comprehension

In terms of Comprehension Candidate needs to improve their comprehend power as comprehension consists half of the paper. It is bilingual, Hindi and English both, daily newspaper reading could keep you in safe. The paper also gave importance to testing English language skills. A comprehension exercise consists of a passage upon which questions are set to test to candidates ability to understand the content of the given text and infer information and meaning from it. For doing best in comprehension one should keep few points in mind while attempting this. Firstly, read the passage thoroughly and carefully, if the meaning of the passage is not clear in very first reading then quickly go through the passage again. The meaning of the passage should be very clear and one should understand what the writer is trying to convey. Here we can find that paper one is helpful to solve, for instance in the the Passage section questions like inclusive growth, "creative society ecosystems are the part of 2011 paper second, which is very much part of paper one. English Language Comprehension is a major concern for hindi medium candidates they should take it seriously, a basic English grammar such as High School English Grammar & Composition by Wren and Martin could be useful.

Strategy for Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability

Logical reasoning and analytical ability is also matter of concern. It has as many as 13 questions, you are required to solve problems related to blood relation, syllogism, sitting arrangement, series completion, coding decoding, puzzle test, logical sequence etc. Verbal and nonverbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal and General Mental Ability Section of Tata McGraw Hill Guide have good parts in this section. Solve the Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning questions that come out in magazines like General Knowledge Today, Pratiyogita Darpan etc. Taking a mock test of mathematics and general ability questions would be a good practice and help to pick out the most appropriate option. Develop the skill to solve mathematical & reasoning problems faster. It comes with practice. So the sooner you start practicing, the better your chances of clearing CSAT in 2012.

Strategy for Decision Making and Problem Solving

Although Decision making and Problem Solving section had less contribution in question paper but there is difference, the questions asked in this section had no penalty for wrong answer. All questions are purely application based. For example "You are officer in charge for providing medical facilities to the survivors of an earthquakes affected area. Despite your best possible effort, people put allegations against making money out of the funds given for relief. You would. Student must attempt this section it is quite scoring and the nature of questions is also practical, one must have experience the given situation at one or another moment. Here again paper one will help you out as the questions being asked is socio-economic-political in nature. In administration Decision making is a process of first diverging to explore the possibilities and then converging on solution. One of the touchstones of Decision making is its successful implementation. There is no virtue in merely taking quick decisions. What matters is whether the decision is implemented or not. It is also necessary that your course of action must figure out the situation well. There are books available in the market but as far as I am concern this books wont help in your preparation, this section have to develop by yourself. Search Techniques of Decision making and Techniques of Problem Solving in Google and Wikipedia and read

some 30-50 pages on them. You can also read chapters like Decision making from Robbins, Koontz Weirich to have theoretical knowledge.

Strategy for Quantitative Aptitude, Basic Numeracy and Data Interpretation

Quantetive Aptitude, basic numeracy and data interpretation is also a major section. You should make your mathematics, reasoning & mental ability side strong .We have Basic numeracy in syllabus but there is nothing basic in questions paper, yes your basics should be clear but you should raise your level beyond the basics. Number System, Average, Percentage, Ratio and Proportion, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Time and Distance are the important topics. Data interpretation has charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Basic concepts from your 11th and 12th class mathematics should be very clear and you should be able to derive and apply the formulas to any given situation. If the concepts are clear you will be able to relate and then solve each problem confidently. Solving mock question papers is the easiest road to cracking any Math's paper. Dont just solve questions, solve them quickly, and keep track of them time you take to solve a question. You will have limited time during the papers so stick to your time limit and solve mock papers within the stipulated time. Keep a stopwatch if required. For this section you must go thoroughly, Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal and Quicker Maths (Magical Book Series) by M. Tyra.

How To Tackle Civil Services Preliminary Examination

The prelims is going to be relatively easier to those candidate who is adopting integrated approach. Isolate study will land you in isolation. You cannot rely on any single source to prepare. You need vast coverage and institutive eye to spot and pick. It is high time to figure out your even and odds, if you sit idle and wait for the notification till February 2012 and then start your preparation, in all respects, you are missing out opportunity.

Any guesswork or supposition would not be beneficial any longer. The evolving situation requires an environment where sense of empathy would work wonders. It is better not to be isolated while preparing, being in touch with other candidates through group study is also helpful in exchanging information and discussing your strategies.

In the new format the traditional way of studying and the rote learning of concepts would no longer help to crack the exam. In the CSAT paper only application of knowledge is required, there is nothing to mug-up. The plan and examination standards make it very demanding in nature. You are supposed to catch and collect newer information and fresh ideas whenever it comes to you.

More emphasis on understanding and analysis than memorizing This is test of the candidate's aptitude for the prestigious civil services from the ethical and moral dimension. Candidates with low moral and ethical aptitude will get weeded out. Spruce up your general awareness and mental ability

Focus more on decision-oriented analytical questions. Be prepared to answer situational questions faced in real life by the civil servants. Throughout the preparation for the prelims exam, it is important to remember that any topic or concept should not be studied in isolation. It is better to understand and establish a correlation between related concepts from other subjects and current events and happenings.

Also IAS candidates who used to conveniently ignore mental ability, data analysis can no longer hide from such questions and will have to face them head long. So start practicing such questions. Also non-English background students will need to improve their English passage reading skills whereas everyone will need to reflect on their communication skills in order to tackle tricky questions on the topic. So start preparing for the prelims right away.