Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India.

Union Public Service Commission

Priya Das

Swati Sharma

Column 7 
Might be of some help. 

Don't try to fill everything just for the sake of filling.

swati sharma daf column 7 
might be of some help. 

don't try to fill everything just for the sake of filling.  swati sharma topic-discussion upsc

Swati Sharma DAF

Throughout my preparation and even now, the only thing that my mother used to tell me again and again is to BELIEVE. It really works. :)

motivation by swati throughout my preparation and even now, the only thing that my mother used to tell me again and again is to believe. it really works. :)  swati sharma topic-discussion upsc

Motivation by Swati

Mains Question Paper 2023- How I answered .pdf

swati sharma - mains 2023 answers how i answered mains 2023 paper   swati sharma notes upsc

Swati Sharma - mains 2023 answers

PERSONALITY TEST aka INTERVIEW 

Mains results were out on  8th December. 

At this point, I had no idea on when my interview is scheduled.

What I did? 
1. Started reading 2 newspapers daily- Indian Express for national & international and Hindustan Times for local 
2. Started filling DAF- making notes on DAF 
3. Started reading more on Hobbies, background. 
4. Saw topper videos 

When Phase 1 interview schedule was out. 
I began giving mocks. 
My interview was scheduled on 15 January. Due to paucity of time, I gave - panel mocks at Forum IAS, Vajiram & Ravi, Shubhra Ranjan, Vajirao and Reddy; one-to-one at KSG with Khan Sir and Insights IAS. 


Learnings? 
1. CONFIDENCE is the key. 
No one is checking your knowledge domain. Just try to have a general idea on what's going on. 
2. Know yourself.
Know your strengths and weakness. Figure how you handle things when in difficulty. 
3. Newspaper is your best friend.
Maximise the effort in reading newspaper. Most of the stuff come from here only. 
4. Interview transcripts to get hold on different areas.


Interview Board- Suman Sharma Ma'am 
Marks- 187 

Will be sharing my experience of actual process once the results are out.

swati sharma personality test aka interview strategy personality test aka interview 

mains results were out on  8th december. 

at this point, i had no idea on when my interview is scheduled.

what i did? 
1. started reading 2 newspapers daily- indian express for national & international and hindustan times for local 
2. started filling daf- making notes on daf 
3. started reading more on hobbies, background. 
4. saw topper videos 

when phase 1 interview schedule was out. 
i began giving mocks. 
my interview was scheduled on 15 january. due to paucity of time, i gave - panel mocks at forum ias, vajiram & ravi, shubhra ranjan, vajirao and reddy; one-to-one at ksg with khan sir and insights ias. 


learnings? 
1. confidence is the key. 
no one is checking your knowledge domain. just try to have a general idea on what's going on. 
2. know yourself.
know your strengths and weakness. figure how you handle things when in difficulty. 
3. newspaper is your best friend.
maximise the effort in reading newspaper. most of the stuff come from here only. 
4. interview transcripts to get hold on different areas.


interview board- suman sharma ma'am 
marks- 187 

will be sharing my experience of actual process once the results are out.  swati sharma strategy upsc

Swati Sharma PERSONALITY TEST aka INTERVIEW strategy

State PCS vs UPSC
I have very little experience on State PCS. If you are taking State PCS as Plan B, ensure that you satisfy Plan A first. 
For time management you can devote 30% to State pcs and rest to UPSC. 
At the end, you need to devise a strategy as per your capabilities. 

CSAT strategy
 Shared on channel.
Just 2 things- PYQs are most important. Practice as much as you can. 

PSIR related doubts- sources, note making, tests.
Everything on channel.
Refer to sessions taken earlier. 

Answer writing- 
Cannot recall while writing- issue of revision [do more revision, see model answers]

Perfect/Ideal answer- nothing as such applicable in preparation. 

What to write and what not ? - depends how well you understand the demand of question. 

Just write and use model answers to improve upon. 

Preferably write more PYQs

Newspaper reading 
Try to read whole newspaper except political ones .
Editorials to have full idea of issues going on. 
Not more than 40-45 mins per day for newspaper. 

Selecting optional
3 things- interest, understanding, notes. 
Try to see PYQs to develop comprehensive understanding.

state pcs vs upsc state pcs vs upsc
i have very little experience on state pcs. if you are taking state pcs as plan b, ensure that you satisfy plan a first. 
for time management you can devote 30% to state pcs and rest to upsc. 
at the end, you need to devise a strategy as per your capabilities. 

csat strategy
 shared on channel.
just 2 things- pyqs are most important. practice as much as you can. 

psir related doubts- sources, note making, tests.
everything on channel.
refer to sessions taken earlier. 

answer writing- 
cannot recall while writing- issue of revision [do more revision, see model answers]

perfect/ideal answer- nothing as such applicable in preparation. 

what to write and what not ? - depends how well you understand the demand of question. 

just write and use model answers to improve upon. 

preferably write more pyqs

newspaper reading 
try to read whole newspaper except political ones .
editorials to have full idea of issues going on. 
not more than 40-45 mins per day for newspaper. 

selecting optional
3 things- interest, understanding, notes. 
try to see pyqs to develop comprehensive understanding.  swati sharma strategy upsc

State PCS vs UPSC

State in developing socities.pdf

Theories of state.pdf

Regional integration and state.pdf

Poverty and human development.pdf

Politics of community identities.pdf

Parties and party system.pdf

International organisations and state.pdf

Interest groups, pressure groups, lobbying.pdf

Human rights.pdf

Globalisation and state.pdf

Federalism-patterns and trends.pdf

Gender and development.pdf

Ethinicity politics and state.pdf

Decentralisation and participation.pdf

Comparative politics- nature and evolution.pdf

Civil society and state.pdf

Approaches- systems, public policy, structural.pdf

Approaches- political economy, dependency, world system.pdf

TNC and MNC and state.pdf

IGNOU Material for PSIR Optional- PAPER 2 A- Comparative Politics

ignou material for psir optional- paper 2 a- comparative politics ignou material for psir optional- paper 2 a- comparative politics  swati sharma notes upsc

SIR SYED AHMED.pdf

M N ROY.pdf

INDIAN POLITICAL TRADITION.pdf

B R AMBEDKAR.pdf

AUROBINDO'S POLITICAL THOUGHT.pdf

SRI AUROBINDO.pdf

ACE Scanner_2024_05_12 (1).pdf

Economy (Mains).pdf

Economy current related topics (Mains).pdf

Internal security (Mains).pdf

Disaster Management (Mains).pdf

Science & Tech (Mains).pdf

Modern History Mains PYQs (written before Prelims).pdf

IGNOU material referred for Paper 1 A- Indian Political Thought

ignou material referred for paper 1 a- indian political thought ignou material referred for paper 1 a- indian political thought  swati sharma topic-discussion upsc

ICS - 
In my opinion, GS Paper 4 is the most comprehensive and inclusive paper among all GS papers. There is a lot of scope to show your 'ethical personality' along with the morals that you hold in personal life while writing Ethics paper. 

Resources that you can refer- 
1- Lexicon Ethics
2- Forum IAS Red Book
3- Ethics, Integrity, Aptitude by G Subba Rao
 Please refer only one source, do not run after covering each book. It will be of no use to refer to multiple books for same section.

Apart from the book, I advise to refer to PYQs for making notes and TOPPER COPIES to understand the demand & structure of different answers. 


NOTE MAKING for ETHICS-
* Follow the syllabus very carefully. Try to have some basic points (such as definition of the topic, applications in personal & professional life, challenges) on each of topic mentioned in syllabus.
* You should have 1-2 pager notes (final notes) for each topic. Which dimensions to be included? - use PYQ.
* Try to incorporate 2 situational examples and 3-4 real life examples wherever possible. 
* You can use definitions by international organisations such as Amnesty, WB, etc to provide validation to the answers. 
* For the Quote based questions, rather than covering each philosopher present in the world, try to use PYQ to know the major personalities such as J Nehru, M K Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, etc. 


QUESTION PAPER ATTEMPTING STRATEGY- 
SECTION A- deals with 10M (2 pages for each) with subparts of each question. Try to complete this in 1 hour 10 minutes at max. 
I used to attempt this section first, except the quote based questions. You can use flowcharts, schematics, diagrams in this section to elaborate your answers. 
SECTION B- Case studies- this section takes a lot of time, as you need to be very specific while finding out ethical issues/dilemmas. Sometimes this section can be lengthy when questions can have more than 3 subparts. Devote good amount of time in understanding the core of case study- 
You can start this by writing a Introduction (detailing on the case study), then start answering the subparts. Write a conclusion in case study also. 

QUOTE BASED QUESTIONS- I used to attempt the 3 questions based on quotes at the end (max 15 min). 
* You can show relevance & importance of the quote. 
* Try to write examples in such questions. 
* Give a balanced opinion. 

NEWSPAPERS FOR EXAMPLES- 
You can try to add examples from newspapers.
Add them in your digital notes or your static notes wherever you have made notes of so and so topic. 
You may also use topper copies to note down examples for ethics. 

swati sharma ethics notes , resources and strategy ics - 
in my opinion, gs paper 4 is the most comprehensive and inclusive paper among all gs papers. there is a lot of scope to show your 'ethical personality' along with the morals that you hold in personal life while writing ethics paper. 

resources that you can refer- 
1- lexicon ethics
2- forum ias red book
3- ethics, integrity, aptitude by g subba rao
 please refer only one source, do not run after covering each book. it will be of no use to refer to multiple books for same section.

apart from the book, i advise to refer to pyqs for making notes and topper copies to understand the demand & structure of different answers. 


note making for ethics-
* follow the syllabus very carefully. try to have some basic points (such as definition of the topic, applications in personal & professional life, challenges) on each of topic mentioned in syllabus.
* you should have 1-2 pager notes (final notes) for each topic. which dimensions to be included? - use pyq.
* try to incorporate 2 situational examples and 3-4 real life examples wherever possible. 
* you can use definitions by international organisations such as amnesty, wb, etc to provide validation to the answers. 
* for the quote based questions, rather than covering each philosopher present in the world, try to use pyq to know the major personalities such as j nehru, m k gandhi, swami vivekananda, etc. 


question paper attempting strategy- 
section a- deals with 10m (2 pages for each) with subparts of each question. try to complete this in 1 hour 10 minutes at max. 
i used to attempt this section first, except the quote based questions. you can use flowcharts, schematics, diagrams in this section to elaborate your answers. 
section b- case studies- this section takes a lot of time, as you need to be very specific while finding out ethical issues/dilemmas. sometimes this section can be lengthy when questions can have more than 3 subparts. devote good amount of time in understanding the core of case study- 
you can start this by writing a introduction (detailing on the case study), then start answering the subparts. write a conclusion in case study also. 

quote based questions- i used to attempt the 3 questions based on quotes at the end (max 15 min). 
* you can show relevance & importance of the quote. 
* try to write examples in such questions. 
* give a balanced opinion. 

newspapers for examples- 
you can try to add examples from newspapers.
add them in your digital notes or your static notes wherever you have made notes of so and so topic. 
you may also use topper copies to note down examples for ethics.   swati sharma strategy upsc

Swati Sharma Ethics Notes , resources and Strategy

Forum test 1 checked.pdf

Forum test 3 checked.pdf

Forum test 6 checked .pdf

Forum test 4 checked.pdf

Forum test 7 checked.pdf

Forum test 8 checked.pdf

Forum Test 5 checked.pdf

Forum Checked copies
Written after clearing Prelims 2023. 
I could write only these tests. 😐
You will notice that even I could not write very excellent answers. 
You have to improve day by day to understand your mistakes and work on them to do good on the final day. 

My basic purpose of sharing these copies is to tell you all that you need to KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS & STRENGTHS by giving mocks and taking feedbacks in a POSITIVE way. 😊

forum test series checked copies forum checked copies
written after clearing prelims 2023. 
i could write only these tests. 😐
you will notice that even i could not write very excellent answers. 
you have to improve day by day to understand your mistakes and work on them to do good on the final day. 

my basic purpose of sharing these copies is to tell you all that you need to know your weakness & strengths by giving mocks and taking feedbacks in a positive way. 😊  swati sharma notes upsc

Forum Test series Checked copies

Swati Sharma - Economy (Mains) PYQ answers.
and Economy current related topics (Mains).pdf

swati sharma -  economy and economy current related topics  (mains) pyq answers. swati sharma - economy (mains) pyq answers.
and economy current related topics (mains).pdf  swati sharma notes upsc

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