Read the syllabus, again. Have a well chalked-out plan and execute it. We can and we will hold your hand to success. The Mains strategy should be out by tomorrow. Let's get cracking!

    We started thinking about Civilsdaily sometime in early January. We were talking to a friend of ours who was appearing for the civil services examination this year and among other things, he was complaining about how hard it was to connect the news items together and understand a story in full. A lot is lost among… Continue reading The Art of Reading Newspaper & How Civilsdaily Got it Right

If you are preparing for competitive exams, it is important to know what to study. But sometimes it becomes more important to know how to study. Just keeping yourself immersed in books might not work. You need to follow few good studying ethics to get meaningful results. Small changes in your habits can take you… Continue reading Tips to Make Your Study Sessions Effective

Today morning, the RBI gave in-principle approvals for payment bank licenses to 11 out of 41 applicants. While there are some big names there such as Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Vodafone and Airtel, the most humble name in the list was the one with maximum connect to the objective of financial inclusion. Indian Postal… Continue reading Making the “Most” out of Indian “Post” Office Payment Banks

Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF)? 1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government 2. NIF is an initiative to strengthen the highly advanced scientific research in India’s premier scientific institutions in collaboration with highly advanced foreign scientific institutions.  Select… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2015 – S&T and Misc.

  As I came in from my walk yesterday, I saw some little girls playing their usual, chirrupy games… Ring-a Ring-a Roses Pocket full of posies Atishoo! Atishoo! They all fall DOWWWWWNNNNNN!!! There was a great amount of scuffling and giggling to make sure that one sits down before the others. A competitive, let-me-fall-before-you-do game.… Continue reading Nursery Rhymes, SDRs and Devaluation of the Yuan

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has been launched for (a) providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates (b) Promoting women’s Self Help Groups in backward areas (c) promoting financial inclusion in the country (d) providing financial help to marginalised communities PMJDY is a National Mission on Financial Inclusion encompassing an integrated approach… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2015 – Economics Solutions

solutions to UPSC prelims

It is my pleasure to share whatever little I have and opine that the purpose is served if it helps the aspirants to whatever extent possible. Before starting the preparation, it is very important to have a complete understanding about the exam process, its structure and the various aspects related to the preparation. Prelims stage:… Continue reading Examination Framework and Action Strategy – Prelims Stage

Over the years I have witnessed many changes in IAS examination in terms of pattern, trend & nature of questions, cut-offs, composition of aspirants, etc. But one thing remains same, that is – tension & pressure. Even today especially during exams all my memories get refreshed and my BP slightly goes to higher side!! Anyways… Continue reading Post Prelims – Do’s & Don’ts

Consider the following Statements regarding the DPSP/ Directive Principles of State Policy: The Principles spell out the socio-economic democracy in the country The provisions contained in these Principles are not enforceable by any court. Which of the statements given below are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 & 2 (d) Neither… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2015 – Polity Solutions

In the South Atlantic and South Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclone does not originate. What is the reason? (a) Sea Surface temperature are low (b) Inter Tropical Convergence Zone seldom occurs (c) Coriolis force is too weak (d) Absence of land in those regions   Which of the following pairs of States of… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2015 – Geography Solutions

With reference to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which of the following statements is/are correct? IUCN is an organ of the United Nations and CITES is an international agreement between governments IUCN runs thousands… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2015 – E&B Solutions

Hello guys, Before we have the mentors take the centre stage and shower the solutions all over the place, we open the floor for the junta-janardan. There are 2 possible mental stages for the onwards journey. Pick one & enjoy the rants!        

The ONLY book I’ve read for Economy part in GS Paper III is the Macroeconomics – NCERT. Many people have been asking me about how to prepare for Economics. So, here it goes. For the GS Paper III, you don’t need to be an economist to answer the questions that are being asked. You need… Continue reading How I prepared for the GS Paper III – Economy

Dear All, By now, you must have been through with your readings and revisions. Now it is time to relax and allow your mind to calm down so it can function optimally on the D-Day. A fatigued mind is the last thing you would want on Sunday. After the humdrum, here are some last minute… Continue reading 15 Commandments – Final tips for the D Day!

  I have been asked this question many times and some people keep asking me which optional is better and why. In this post I’ll try to address these issues. To begin with, I strongly believe that UPSC is extremely fair and free from any bias. Every year you’ll find people getting selected from every… Continue reading Why did I choose Mathematics as my optional?

Of late, many people have been asking me about how to prepare for the Prelims. Before I begin, I would like to share my own personal experience with the Prelims 2014. Coming from an engineering background, I found Paper II to be extremely scoring. I used to solve 1 question paper of Paper II everyday… Continue reading How to prepare for Prelims?

I started reading studying newspapers from 1st November 2013 and I didn’t miss even a single day till 13th December, 2014 (Mains started from 14th December, 2014). I restarted the newspapers again from 1st Jan, 2015. I feel that one year of newspapers reading studying before mains would suffice (this is purely my personal opinion). The reason… Continue reading Studying newspapers, magazines and making notes

Without further ado, here we go!   Enviro and Biodiversity have varied level of difficulty level topics. Let’s make a scheme and see how you can approach them. Most read books –  Environment Studies by Erach Barucha Environment & Ecology – Majid Husain   Biodiversity [4 sub topics] Introduction for ecology and functions of ecosystem [Easy]… Continue reading Target IAS 2015 & Beyond – How to Approach Enviro & Biodiversity?