1.
History of Modern India and Indian
Culture
: I had read Bipin Chandra and
Spectrum – Repetitive reading of Spectrum’s book is enough for this topic in my
opinion. Beyond that, the law of diminishing returns comes into play and
reduces your RoI (return on investment)
2.
Geography of India : NCERTs
I read TMH
manual and NCERTs of standard XI and XII for this portion. I had scanned
through Goh cheng leong before prelims for conceptual clarity, but considering
the paucity of time after pre, it isn’t prudent to delve into it now
3.
Constitution of India and Indian Polity:
DD Basu is a fantastic source for this portion. I made notes of polity
from this book before pre and kept updating and revising these notes. This book
does require some patience but once you get a hang of what the author is
saying, you’ll gain immense conceptual clarity. Other than this, I did a single
reading from TMH manual. Also, latest amendments and bills are to be kept in
view. Abridged version of IYB and internet catered to this requirement. I
always kept a copy of the constitution handy while reading this topic. If done
well, this takes care of a major portion of PA-2 as well.
4.
Current National Issues and Topics of
Social
Relevance : - I’ve mentioned the
sources in a previous post. The newspaper is the key. I’ve also stated my
strategy for making notes from the newspaper in a previous post.
PAPER
- II
1.
India and the World :
I’ve dealt
with this in detail in an earlier post (note making strategy). The sources are –
newspapers for the dynamic part, books by reetika Sharma, vn khanna etc. for
the static part
2.
India’s Economic Interaction with the
World
:
Again,
newspaper for the dynamic part
Internet for
the static part (WTO, WIPO, IMF, etc.)
3.
Developments in the Field of Science
&
Technology, IT and space :
News papers,
chronicle (relevant sections), Internet (search under broad categories –
developments in robotics, space tech, biotech, nanotech, etc. – wiki has
dedicated pages for them and they are useful)
4.
International Affairs and Institutions :
Wikipedia - first download a list of international orgs
of which india is a member – then create a collection of wikipages for orgs you
feel are important or are in news….revise this repository before exam
5.
Statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams
:The book by spectrum is enough – read the theory
part as well
Other than this, I forgot to mention a source that I feel would be
useful. Vajiram’s yellow books which are released just before mains are quite
useful. There were three booklets and I read them once – cover to cover.