I'll add a point #6

6. Put extra emphasis on Major Conventions/UN Summits and Climate Change. I'll share a Evernote note on the same in future.

👆 is a low cost, high reward area to prepare - a low hanging fruit.

For those who have specific queries on Mains and Optional Booklist/sources, I'll share them later.

I didn't have any CSAT booklist given my engineering / IIT profile. I only solved a couple of UPSC Question Papers to get some practice and remove the habit of committing silly mistakes.

Those who have CSAT concerns, please find appropriate information from past toppers' blogs.

Those who are confident in doing well, I would still ask you to have atleast 2 simulations using UPSC PYQs. There is very thin line of separation between self-confidence and arrogance. Don't take anything for granted. Don't leave anything on chance. Prepare for everything!

[Alert: Notes Added]

Ancient Indian History, Art and Culture and Modern Indian History Vajiram classnotes have been added to the Dropbox folder.
Follow "Kanishak - UPSC Material -> Class Notes -> History" to access them.

----*****-----*****----
Everytime I add new notes, I will give out this warning. So please bear with me.

CAUTION:
Please refer to these notes only for reference.
MAKE YOUR OWN NOTES.
If you try to read from these notes directly, I can assure than your chances of success are less than 5%.
If you have your own notes, revise them instead of wasting time on my notes.

My intention to share classnotes is to specifically help those who cannot get access to such material online and also cannot afford to join any institute.
Those who are unsure about quality of lectures at coaching can have a precursory look and make a decision.
Working junta can cover basic minimum easily. Being in pdf form also helps in easy accessibility - such as reading while commuting to work.

If you have ample time to prepare (say preparing for 2020), these notes can help in streamlining your own process.

If you have already been involved in the process and made your own notes, my notes can act as a noise. PLEASE AVOID ANY FORM OF NOISE and ignore these messages. Have confidence in what you have studied and revise it!

#JanhitMeJaari 🙏

[Help Needed]

I had seen few students at Vajiram (2017-18 batch) maintain a daily index/table of what is covered in each lecture. If they can share that information, it will improve accessibility and reduce time taken to scan through class notes. I can do this myself but it will take a huge amount of effort and time.

If any of those students are reading this message, please share that information and I'll upload it along with the class notes. Those who do not have can help in spreading this message to others!

Thank you.

[Alert: Notes Added]
Economics classnotes have been added to the Dropbox folder.
Follow "Kanishak - UPSC Material -> Class Notes -> Economics" to access them.

There were 4 separate teachers (3 more lectures will be added for Teacher 2). I haven't made any index for it. Notes are mix for prelims and mains.
I would strongly recommend Teacher 1 (Vibhas Sir's) and Teacher 2 (Samyak Sir's) notes for Mains. They are systematically written. And cover lot of topics from GS3.

----*****-----*****----

CAUTION:

1. Economics has a very dynamic syllabus. Many of the stats and figures become outdated. Even policies, schemes etc change like GST. Update such information by your own.

2. Please refer to these notes only for reference.
MAKE YOUR OWN NOTES.
If you try to read from these notes directly, I can assure than your chances of success are less than 5%.
If you have your own notes, revise them instead of wasting time on my notes.

#JanhitMeJaari

Update: All Economics class notes uploaded.

[Alert: Polity Notes Added]

Some of the Polity classnotes have been added to the Dropbox folder.
Follow "Kanishak - UPSC Material -> Class Notes -> Polity" to access them.

Or go to: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ne867qcxtun3ntc/AADcff1YLh-6STz84ygdH62la?dl=0

19 lectures from 2 out of 4 teachers have been shared. For other 2 teachers, it will take a couple of days.

Usage of shortforms is very high in all the polity notes. You might face trouble understanding them. I'll try to share a short guidance key in future to improve legibility.
For eg. © is Constitution. 😛

Also, I'll try to make an index for easier reference in future.
Those who haven't started preparation yet can see these notes after referring to basic books such as NCERTs.

----*****-----*****----

CAUTION:

1. Polity (and GS2) involves static concepts being applied or observed in Current Affairs. Thus it is extremely important to link the topics with latest news. My notes would be outdated in this regard as they are from June 2017 to March 2018 time period. So self-study is very critical.

2. Continuing my strong disclaimer!
MAKE YOUR OWN NOTES!!

Refer to these notes only for basic guidance and understanding. Relevance is very less for aspirants appearing in CSE 2019. You would waste your crucial time in looking at my notes and hurt your chances.

If you try to read from these notes directly, I can assure that your chances of success are less than 5%.
If you have your own notes, please revise them multiple times. If there is specific topic you want to understand, then you can take a look. But without any index, it will take a lot of time to search for correct lecture.

#JanhitMeJaari

[Optional guidance: Mathematics]

Many people have been asking me information for Mathematics. I do not have enough bandwidth at the moment to prepare and share my sources and strategy here.
I'll share the names of toppers whose blogs I read and tried to form a strategy on my own. You can also refer to their guidance, just like I did!

1. Yogesh Kumbhejkar Sir: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3yHRwV17s-UeDdJS1dwTWgzM3M/view

2. Nitish K Sir: https://nitishhebbar.wordpress.com/

3. Prakash Rajpurohit Sir - His booklist is referred to by many students who do not have notes and rely on self study.

4. Bhavesh Mishra Sir - He has given difficulty rating to various topics which can be useful for you.

I will not be adding anything drastically different from what they have already shared. Their guidance is as good as mine. Just read their blogs and see what works for you instead of copying what they did. I made my own plans and I think you should also do the same.

For general guidance, you can also refer to my video on Youtube (by IMS). Link has been shared in one of the earlier messages.

Best of luck!

[General Gyaan for Freshers]

:
Almost everyone who enters into the world of UPSC, feels a little lost at the start.
This is the "Zero-th" phase of this process. I also had similar feelings 2 years ago in May 2017.
Here, you have to navigate your own path. There are some crucial steps everyone HAS TO FOLLOW. No one can spoonfeed you in this phase.
These include (not exhaustively):
1. Finding your source of motivation + Why UPSC?
2. Getting familiar with Syllabus and demands of the examination by looking into Past Year Questionpapers (PYQs - henceforth)
3. Identifying your strengths/subjects you like and weaknesses/subjects you dislike.
4. Reading few online blogs (of past toppers) and understand what you have to do over next 2 years.

In short, this is the phase of becoming "self-aware".
It may take 1 day, 1 week or 1 month, but devoting time to this exercise at the start is much more beneficial than having doubts during the latter phases.

Before approaching anyone else, do this basic minimum. Many of your doubts would have been resolved already. Also, your queries will be filtered and right to the point. If you ask vague / open-ended questions, you are wasting your own time and not getting the desired answer!

Thanks!

Update: I couldn't upload the remaining lectures and won't be able to do so before June (for all subjects).

Shreyans is making my job easy. My geography strategy for prelims is an exact replica of what he did!

Geography
------------------
1. Relatively lesser questions asked in last few years but one must be ready for surprises

2. Sources I had used:
- NCERT XIth and XIIth
- Manocha Sir, Shivarpit Sir and Amit Sir Notes (Vajiram)
- Ratnajali Ma'am Videos (Mrunal) - Selective
- Pmfias.com to fill gaps

3. Approach:
- Covering syllabus through NCERT as well as notes
- Understanding concepts and discussion with friends for better grasp
- Focus on Prelims specific Question areas: Rivers, Mountains, Vegetation, Biomes etc.[Have added some notes above]

4. Map based Questions:
- Had a World Political, India Political and Physical Map in my room.
- Used to look at it during some break time again and again for memorising
- Mark important visits and aspects like straits, choke points, SLOC etc.
- Resources from Human Geography NCERT (used Geography Optional Map book for reference to fill gaps)
- Use of mnemonics provided by Amit Sir (Vajiram)
- Practiced StudyIQ Map based Question series

5. Test Series
- Sectional Tests of Vision and Vajiram
- PYQs from last 5 yrs UPSC papers

Atleast for physical geography, there is no need to run behind advanced text books, unless you have geography optional.

For both Indian and World physical geography, NCERTs are like bible. If you understand everything that is written in those 2 books, your physical Geography is fully sorted out.

The NCERTs are very condensed and require lots of effort to comprehend properly. Don't give up and start searching for a shortcut. Read between the lines and understand each word that is written.

At someplaces you have to be smart. For example: various landforms. It's hard to understand it through book, so utilise internet here.

NCERTs can be supplemented with online resources like pmfias, Mrunal videos, random YouTube explanatory videos etc. I'll also share my full class notes in the future.

Addon for Mains:-
Practice each diagram given in the XI class books. It'll help you in mains answers + quick revision can be done by merely looking at what you had drawn yourself.

Try making such Mnemonics by yourself. It helps in mapwork a lot

Had found this document on internet. Quite handy for quick revision for Natural Vegetation in India.
I would still recommend that you draw everything on a map first and then use this document.

One page condensed note for "Biomes in the world".
Again do it yourself, for better retention.
Refer to GCLeong for in depth understanding (I didn't).

I'll also share the lecture which formed the source material for this note.

Hi,
We have entered the last month before prelims. It is important to remain calm and composed and not panic. The moment you start fearing elimination, your efficiency will drop sharply. Some important tips:

1. Now is the time to become mechanical in your paper solving strategy. Simulate as much as you can.
Some examples:
A) Increasing tolerance to heat given exam is in June.

B) If you are attempting in your room with attached toilet, you might have a tendency to have a quick toilet break. Remember it won't be the case in your examination hall!

C) I wasn't allowed a watch in the exam hall but my home simulations had prepared my mind and I could predict the amount of time that had elapsed. Be ready for any such eventuality.

2. Revision is the key now. Don't pick up new sources (unless it is some scheme compilation which you might have postponed till the last month).

Prelims revision is very strategic. You need to cram facts and figures for "some important/flagship" schemes. On the other hand, you need to merely glance over other topics. Best thing about prelims is that the answer is right in front of you. You only need to identify it. So even a vague idea might help you in eliminating few options.

3. Your revision time should reduce with each iteration. Revise the things you had marked in previous iteration, attempt a test and then identify the lacunaes in your preparation.
You can maintain a note of information which you feel would help in LMR.

4. You should be happy to commit mistakes in this month. Each mistake shows some flaw in your preparation. Start correcting them. More mistakes you make now means better prepared you are for 2nd June provided you are smart enough to identify and correct them and not lose confidence.

5. If you perform badly in test series, think that the world is conspiring against you to pull you down this month. On the D-Day everything will work out fine. UPSC is easier than some random institute's test paper. The Endgame is all about psychology.

6. You have sufficient information to crack prelims. Prelims is meant for elimination of those who are not serious for UPSC. If you have prepared with full diligence and hard work, you'll get your due.

7. Repeating what I said earlier: Improve accuracy first before increasing your number of attempts. You'll get false sense of security if you get guesses right in an easy paper and score high.
Speaking in statistical terms, your mean should be high while the variance is low!

Thanks.

PS: I'm travelling at the moment. Whenever I get time I'll share some more tips. Keep on mugging till then!

MUG STRONG! 💪
Best of luck! 👍

Hi,
Some of the "selected" students (IAS/IPS/IRS) have started the "Target UPSC" telegram channel to help out aspirants in their UPSC preparation.

Many people have utilised the channel constructively in the past. For eg. Shreyans Kumat (AIR 4).

There is lots of material by coachings which might act as noise around you and waste your crucial time. You need to pick the resources well and study smartly.

This initiative is a genuine effort by experienced people. I went through the channel few days ago and it has quite relevant information pieces which can be used as supplement to your regular sources, specially for those who are relying on random Telegram channels for guidance.

You can follow it here:
https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAE-R-Tptvun0DgL6rQ

I would again say that build your own knowledge pool and then use these channels for anything which you might have missed. They should never be your primary source of knowledge.

Best of luck!