ECONOMY

ECONOMICS

AND

ECONOMY

Economy: Production, Distribution and

consumption of goods and services within a
region/Country
Economics: Theory of management of
economies
Economics: Distribution of limited resources

IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC

81 questions in last 5 years (500 questions):

16.2% weightage
Year/Type

CA

Grand Total

2015

10

18

2014

2013

13

18

2012

10

17

2011

13

19

Grand Total

32

49

81

WHAT TO READ(1/5)
- NCERT CLASS IX: 4

CHAPTERS

The story of a hypothetical village Palampur:

Basics of production: Land, labour, Capital, Resources
distribution, Farming and non - farming activities,
Markets Small scale manufacturing, Infrastructure
People as resource: Human resources, Education,
Health, Concepts of unemployment,
Poverty as a challenge: Concept of poverty (Causes,
challenges, Measures), poverty lines, Vulnerable
groups, Global poverty scenario,
Food security: Concept, Green revolution, FCI, PDS,
Fair price shops, Cooperatives

WHAT TO READ(2/5)
- NCERT CLASS X: 5

CHAPTERS

Development: National Development,

Indicators, Sustainability
Sectors of Indian Economy: Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary and comparison, Employment generation,
Underemployment, Organized and Unorganized, Rural vs
Urban Economy
Money and Credit: Money, its forms, Banks, Loan, Credit,
Source of Credits, Financial Inclusion, Formal and Informal
credit, Self Help Groups,
Globalisation: Production across countries, Trade and
integration of Market, Factors behind globalisation,
WTO, Liberalization and privatization, Debate on trade
practices, Impact, FDI.
Consumer Rights: Movement of consumers,
Safety, Information, Right to choose, Right to seek
redressal: Consumer courts

WHAT TO READ (3/5)

NCERT CLASS XI

INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE: LOW LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

UNDER THE COLONIAL RULE
INDIAN ECONOMY 1950-1990: THE GOALS OF FIVE YEAR PLANS, AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY AND
TRADE, TRADE POLICY: IMPORT SUBSTITUTION
LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION AND GLOBALISATION: AN APPRAISAL
POVERTY: WHO ARE THE POOR, HOW ARE POOR PEOPLE IDENTIFIED? THE NUMBER OF POOR IN
INDIA, WHAT CAUSES POVERTY? POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION,
POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
HUMAN CAPITAL: WHAT IS HUMAN CAPITAL?, SOURCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN CAPITAL AND
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION IN INDIA: GREAT PROSPECTS, EDUCATION
SECTOR IN INDIA, FUTURE PROSPECTS
RURAL DEVELOPMENT: CREDIT AND MARKETING IN RURAL AREAS, AGRICULTURAL MARKET SYSTEM,
DIVERSIFICATION INTO PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIC
FARMING
EMPLOYMENT: GROWTH, INFORMALISATION AND OTHER ISSUES: WORKERS AND EMPLOYMENT,
EMPLOYMENT IN FIRMS, FACTORIES AND OFFICES, INFORMALISATION OF INDIAN WORKFORCE,
UNEMPLOYMENT, GOVERNMENT AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION
INFRASTRUCTURE: RELEVANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE, THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA,
ENERGY, HEALTH
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: ENVIRONMENT DEFINITION AND
FUNCTIONS, STATE OF INDIAS ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, STRATEGIES FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS:
DEVELOPMENTAL PATH A SNAPSHOT VIEW, DEMOGRAPHIC I NDICATORS, GROSS DOMESTIC
PRODUCT AND SECTORS, INDICATORS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AN
APPRAISAL
GLOSSARY

WHAT TO READ (4/5)

NCERT CLASS XII - MACROECONOMICS

National Income Accounting: GDP, GNP, Methods of

Calculating, GDP and Welfare
Money and Banking: Concept of Money, Money Creation,
RBI, Monetary Policy
Money and Credit: Money, its forms, Banks, Loan, Credit,
Source of Credits, Financial Inclusion, Formal and Informal
credit, Self Help Groups,
Income Determination: Aggregate Demand, Multiplier
Mechanism.
Government budgeting and Fiscal Policy: Taxes, Debt,
Expenditure, Revenue Account and Capital account
BoP, Foreign Exchange, Determination of income in
and open economy, Deficits
Glossary

WHAT TO READ (5/5)

ECONOMIC SURVEY VOLUME 1

Volume 2
State of the Economy
Public Finance
Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation
External Sector
Price, Agriculture and Food Management
Industrial, Corporate and Infrastructure performance
Services Sector
Sustainable development
Social Infrastructure, Human Development

HOW TO READ: THE HINDU

AND PRATIYOGITA DARPAN
What not to Read?

What to read?

Mergers and
Acquisitions
News related to
various Companies
(Read only when it
has wider
implications)
For example: Satyam
Scandal, Vodafone tax
case etc.

Economic trends, RBI

policies
Data not
important,Reasons
behind data are
important
Pratiyogita Darpan for
government policies and
important current
affairs
Vision IAS current
affairs

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS DIRECT EASY

Source: NCERT, The Hindu

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS EASY ANALYTICAL

Source: NCERT, The Hindu

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS MEDIUM ANALYTICAL

Source: NCERT, The Hindu

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS MEDIUM ANALYTICAL

Source: News Paper, Eco

Survey

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS DIFFICULT ANALYTIAL

Source: Economic Survey

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS DIFFICULT FACTUAL

Source: Economic Survey

PATTERN OF QUESTIONS
Mostly Easy to Medium level Questions
More fundamental questions than current affairs
questions (60% fundamental questions in last 5
years)
Very few difficult questions: Both in terms of
facts and analytical skills
This trend has continued for last 5 years.

SUB TOPICS:
IMPORTANCE IN DECREASING ORDER
Banking and Monetary Policy
Government Budgeting Fiscal Policy
External Sector: Concepts of BoP, Trade, Foreign
Exchange, WTO and issues etc.
Social Development
Industrial Sector
Agriculture, Services, Government policies etc.

HOW TO STUDY
Syllabus not defined clearly unlike Mains
All topics and sub-topics and their importance
should be very clear in your mind.
Read NCERTs
Read New Papers and focus on the keywords
Read Economic Survey
Read Pratiyogita Darpan special issue
Focus on fundamentals and Conceptual Clarity
Try to use your prelims preparation for Mains
also: Overlap in Syllabus

SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY

IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC

63 questions in last 5 years (500 questions):

12.6% weightage
Year/Type

CA

Grand Total

2015

2014

15

2013

12

2012

11

2011

10

19

Grand Total

30

33

63

WHAT

TO READ:

BASIC SCIENCE

For students with non science background: Class VI to X NCERT

For students with Science and Engineering background: Class VI to
VIII (Optional), Class IX and X (Mandatory)
Why?

Questions on Basic understanding

Even if explicitly not mentioned, one can arrive at the right answer

Source: 7th NCERT Chapter 6

Source: 11th NCERT

Geography

WHAT

OF

SNT

Developments in Science and Technology Spectrum

Science and Technology for Civil services examinations Ashok Kumar Singh (TMH)

Daily News paper: Understanding important topics

APPLICATIONS

No fixed source
Mainly News papers, Vision IAS current affairs, SnT value added
material, Any Other material
Either of these two books can be read

TO READ:

CERN, Neutrino Research, Emerging technologies, Bioethics etc.

Other Important topics:

Space
Bio technology
Information Technology
Nano Technology
Robotics
Nobel Prizes
IPRs

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS FUNDAMENTAL EASY

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

Source: NCERT

PREVIOUS QUESTIONS: DIFFICULT

HOW TO READ
Understand the important topics
Anything related to it should be updated in your
notes
Use feedly: Add The Hindu science, Frontline
Science, Daily news and Analysis Science

CURRENT

AFFAIRS

IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC

23 Questions in 2015
22 Question from 2011 to 2014
Many questions from economy, SnT, Environment etc.
were derived from current affairs
Many questions from World affairs this year
Read daily news paper, Vision IAS current affairs
Use Feedly
If possible you can make your own notes and Revise
regularly
For making notes you can use Microsoft One Note,
Evernote, Hand written
Try to use all the resources