Civil Services Prelims Recommended Books by Anudeep Durishetty – IAS Topper

Prelims is the first hurdle of Civil Services examination conducted by UPSC. The syllabus has been vast and sources are not prescribed. The average aspirants always feel that cracking preliminary examination itself is a halfway success. Anudeep Dureshetty, topper of Civil Services Exam – 2017 has been generous enough to guide the aspirants and Civils exam. He has listed out the books, materials and resources has had followed during his long preparation for the coveted examination. Anudeep is from Telangana State.

Anudeep Civils topper

Anudeep also suggests the Civils aspirants to understand the syllabus carefully and cover it completely, and do not refer to more than one standard material for each subject.

Here is the list of books and materials he followed for Civil Services Preliminary Exam:

The list of books:

Polity

1) Indian Polity by Laxmikanth

Economy

1) Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
2) Mrunal.org articles
3) Macroeconomics – NCERT Class XII
4) Indian Economic Development – NCERT Class XI
5) Economic Survey (Selective reading from Prelims perspective)
The Hindu
6) Internet for understanding concepts (Arthapedia, Google, Youtube)

Also Read: Civils Prelims – Preparation Strategy Guide by Experts

Ancient History of India

1) Old NCERT by RS Sharma

Medieval History of India

1) Old NCERT by Satish Chandra (Selective Reading)

Modern History

1) A Brief history of Modern India- Spectrum Publications
2) India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra (Selective Reading)
3) NCERT by Bipan Chandra (For the period 1700s to 1857)

Indian Art and Culture

1) An Introduction to Indian Art – Class XI NCERT
2) Chapters related to culture in Ancient and Medieval India NCERTs
3) Centre for Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT) material
4) Heritage Crafts: Living Craft Traditions of India -NCERT

Environment and Biodiversity

1) Shankar IAS book

General Science

1) General Science books – IX and X standard
2) The Hindu (Note down and read about the latest scientific terms, discoveries and inventions frequently mentioned in news)
3) Google and YouTube

Geography

1) Fundamentals of Physical Geography XI NCERT
2) India: Physical Environment XI NCERT
3) Fundamentals of Human Geography XII NCERT
4) India: People and Economy XII NCERT
5) Certificate Physical and Human Geography: GC Leong
6) PMFIAS (Excellent resource for understanding complex topics)
7) Google and YouTube

Govt Schemes

1) Govt schemes compilation by the website Civils Daily

General Trivia (Eg: Global groupings, Reports, Institutions, Rankings etc)
1) Any coaching material
2) Google

Current Affairs

1) The Hindu
2) Civils Daily
3) ForumIAS

About Anudeep Durishetty:

Anudeep is from Metpally in Jagityal district of Telangana. He got IAS in his fifth attempt of Civil Services exam. He has completed engineering from BITS Pilani in 2011 and presently serving as IRS officer in Telangana. Before selection for IRS, Anudeep worked in Google Hyderabad and belong to OBC category. Anudeep has chosen Anthropology for Civils Main Exam.

Civil Services Main Exam – General Essay Topics and Model Questions for Practice

General Essay is an important section in Civil Services Main Examination. The question in this section are not specific to any particular topic. Candidates are expected to discusss the given topic / issue in details from various perspectives. This is to test the comprehension and analytical skills of the candidates.

Also Read: Strategy for Civil Services Examination

Two Essays:

Candidates have to write two essays in the examination. There will be choice in the exam. The topics may include current issues also. If you look at the previous papers, the questions are asked mostly from topics like Freedom Movement, Knowledge – Education, Peace, Non-Violence, Children, Child Labour, Law and Administration, Leadership etc.

Selection of Topic:

The first critical step in attempting essay section is selection of the questions. You need to allocate at least 5 / 10 minutes to shortlist the points to be covered in the answer. Based on this plan you have to write the answer in 1200 words. Following are some of the important questions for Essay Section in Civils Main Exam:

Also Read: Civil Services Main – Previous Exam Analysis

Model / Practice Questions:

1. Will the 21st century be India’s century?
2. Privacy vs Transparency: Transparency is for Government, not for citizens
3. Globalisation is dead, Long live localisation
4. Multilateralism vs Rationalism. Which is good for world economy?
5. Nuclear weapons ensure peace on Earth
6. Is growing level of competition good for the children?
7. Social media and violence
8. Apolitical education- the need of the hour
9 ‘Malpractices in examinations threaten the future of the Indian education system’ – Comment.

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