This is the third part of Q&A series and contains question related to Geography, Sociology, BPSC & JPSC.
Geography
Rakshendra, Haryana: My question is which is the best coaching faculty for Geography optional? (Online and offline). My plan was to move to Delhi for coaching but since the situation is unpredictable in the time of Covid I am considering opting for online classes as well. Is online classes a good idea?
Vaibhav: My personal experience with Shabbir sir (Vajiram) has been good. Can go for that. Yeah go ahead with online coaching because 90% of the times- you don’t ask queries in general and the faculty has lot of experience so generally tends to cover all the general doubts that students have. So no harms in online coaching if the known faculty is providing that. Further, Himanshu sir of Guidance is also good- But his content is too bulky and difficult to handle. So I wouldn’t prefer that. Meanwhile you can self-read basic geography books. 50% of optional or probably more than that is about reading those standard optional books and making short notes of it.
Shraddha, Madhya Pradesh - Only 40% of geography optional prepared till not by self without how to cover it efficiently between pre n mains time? How to finish pt365 expeditiously 30 days before prelim( taking 4hr for 20 pages)?
Vaibhav: Right now its prelims time. So just study for prelims without thinking about mains prep. COVERING PT365 in 30days-
1) Since time at your disposal is less comparatively- so you need to go for high priority and high productivity topics first like Economy, Environment and Science Tech.
2) First of all go through Index of PT 365 first. You will get a fair idea about the PT. Then try to read PT once quickly. Probably 1 or 2 subtopics of PT. So u just have to skim through it. Focus on the Keywords and why the news is there.
3) Then in your 2nd reading read those topics in a little detail and mindfully try not to focus on Mains related info. Going by the thought that in PT you don’t have to reproduce content on your own unlike Mains but you need to recall the right answer from given options. Further you can just jot down the keywords too on the sides of the page.
4) In 3rd reading revise the stuff. Further if you have some aspirant friends then you can ask questions from each other too.
COVERING GEOG OPTIONAL BTW PRE AND MAINS
1) Geography is a vast optional so it needs time to complete.
2) But since you don’t have enough time so u will have to follow high productivity and better cost time benefit strategy.
3) So 1st principle is that just prepare 1st paper of Geography and that too its Part b i.e. the human Geography part first. That is the most productive part of Geography optional.
4) Then go through your 1st paper Part 1 Geography notes of yours and just focus on topics which have been asked in Past 7-8 years.
5) Then if u get time then do Chapters 1 and 2 of Geography Paper 2. And rest you can write a generic answer based on your GS knowledge.
Obviously I am giving you these tips considering shortage of time but if you get enough time then cover remaining topics too. But always try to cover these higher priority topics first. I HOPE IT HELPS. ALL THE BEST.
Sociology
Areeba, Uttar Pradesh: 1)How to do value addition in Paper 1 static topics? 2)How good are IGNOU BA and MA material for sociology preparation provided I have covered most of the topics in optional classes with Mahapatra Sir ?
Yash: For value addition from current affairs international and Indian examples, can use facts from GS paper 1 or vision IAS mains 365 social issues booklet. I won't suggest the MA IGNOU booklet as it is not needed much. BA IGNOU - we should refer to topics of India in paper 2 a lot of examples are there in IGNOU booklet. Try to value add from IGNOU in Mahapatra sirs notes as per topic
Tejas Shreedhar, Maharashtra - I have started preparing for UPSC 2021.I started studying my optional subject "Sociology". Can you please explain me, what should be my flow of study? Means , sequence of covering syllabus. Thank you.
Yash: NCERT sociology of 11th & 12th is good for having basic overview of sociology. Then one should start with 1st 3 topics of paper 1 then thinkers do the same with 1st 3 topics of paper 2. Now last 5 topics of P1 and P2 are similar try to read them together. This helps in inter relating of topics and usage of P1 and P2 helps in value addition and good marks. Refer Nitin Sangwan Sociology book for examples and crisp points on trivial topics.
BPSC
Priyanka, Bihar - Sir there is a dearth of english resources for interview. Could you please suggest some resources to cover Bihar current Affairs and Bihar government schemes including the figures of different social surveys in English. Thankyou
Rohit: You may visit affairscloud.com for current issues of bihar. A brief summary of economic survey of bihar will help you in getting to know about schemes and different social indicators. You can also read Spardha Publication booklet that comes in English too where indicators related to literacy, poverty etc are mentioned.
Swati, Jharkhand - Which books are required to clear bpsc cse
Ravi: Please refer to https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/bpsc/ .
Harshvardhan, Jharkhand - Hello sir,currently I'm preparing for 65th bpsc mains in hindi medium.in 6th jpsc I had appeared for the interviews and although crossed the cutoff,I didn't get selected for yojana seva as my graduation subject was political science.after that i also failed in 64th bpsc mains.as a result currently I'm low on confidence about my writing skills.. Although I'm trying to make the presentation better with inclusion of flowcharts,schematics and data from govt.websites yet I'm somehow uncertain about my performance and ultimately the result.. Also facing some problems in intro and the length(what to write and what to left)of the answer.. Need your inputs in these concerns and also what else to do with my answers and which sources to follow.thanks in advance
Ravi: First of all, don’t bother about past only learn from your mistakes. You can’t be sure of result before it is out. You can only do karma without the iksha of faall. Your effort of adding flowcharts, schematics etc. will certainly bear fruit. Have confidence. Just do the basic stuff right.
JPSC
Deepak, Bihar - Answer Writing?
Shekhar, Jharkhand - How can we start the answer writing from basic.
Ravi: Once you are through with the syllabus. Pick up questions from any mock test and write answer. Get it evaluated from peers, friends or seniors. Regarding structure, I would discuss it for UPSC CSE. Same can be applied but in a more elaborate way.
Deepak, Bihar - Plz give books name for mains
Aditya, Jharkhand - I need your guidance sir for JPSC and BPSC. Please help.
Dipa, Jharkhand - I wanna start my jpsc preparation... need your guidance so that I can start and reach to the finish line with a proper strategy and guidance... plzzz guide me...
Ravi: Please refer to https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/jpsc/ & https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/bpsc/ .
Aakash, Jharkhand - Full strategy for jpsc for a working professional. Thank you.
Ravi: You don’t need to study full time for JPSC, with a job it can be managed. Please refer to our experience in https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/jpsc/.
Shubham, Jharkhand - Hello Sir, Congratulations on your great success! Sir, i have been an average student thats why i never planned of getting into civil services. But when i started preparing for jssc cgl and went through the syllabus, i thought that JPSC is also worth giving a try. But i have no clear idea of how to start the preparation. It will be a great help for me if you can share your valuable experience.
Ravi: By average student you would mean that you would have scored average marks in exam. I for myself never stood 9th in any class or college. So that is that! So once you have decided, study hard and you will reach your goals. You can find our experience with JPSC at https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/jpsc/.
Other Exam -
Ankita, Jharkhand - How to prepare current affairs and labour law for upsc EPFO???????
Ravi: Coincidently I cleared the first stage of EPFO exam but didn’t appear for the interview though. If you are preparing for Civil Service Exam current affairs won’t be any issue. Else you can follow GK Today material of last one year. For labour law I got a book from market. Any one good book would be sufficient.
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