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OF PHYSICS : How I Got 410 Marks in Physics This has been my 3rd attempt with in UPSC and my 2nd Mains with Physics. But dur ing this period I realized one thing that getting 370+ in Physics is not difficu lt and it does not even need a preparation of more than 6-8 months. What is need ed is the right strategy which most of us either don't realize, or realize after 1-2 years like me. I will divide my discussion in 2 parts. One for the freshers who have almost no background of Physics and Second for those who have read the syllabus atleast on ce. Strategy for Freshers As a fresher, first of all you must not panic by seeing the columns and columns of syllabus. I guess here the role of Vajpeyi Sir is maximum. You must join some good coaching and try to get your concepts clear. Vajpeyi sir is pretty good in this and he creates a nice framework which provides the foundation for further preparation. However in coaching there will be instances when you will feel that you know nothing and others are knowing a lot. Trust me it is not the matter of intellect but just time. You might be fresher while they might have background. During initial phase just concentrate on classes. Try to read the books and make your own concepts and try and solve difficult questions from last 10 year paper s. Don't try to memorize derivations at this stage. And don't give more than 5 h ours for Physics in this stage .Keep reading GS and other optional also. This stage will be over in about 3.5 month time. Strategy for those who have read syllabus atleast once After this stage comes the stage of self preparation which varies for each stude nt and I guess it is here that many people make mistakes. I will suggest the fol lowing strategy at this stage. You must start topics one by one and dedicate almost 10 days for it. Here you mu st try to learn concepts and derivations in first 6 days and then solve maximum problems in last 4 days. Your reading time can be 4 hours and question solving 3 hours. Naturally you will left with less time for other optional. So plan accor dingly. Considering that there are 8 topics, this stage should be over in 3 months. Then you can proceed to the last phase of cracking the exam. Strategy for Cracking the exam with 370+ marks By this time you must have been over with pre and there is pressure of syllabus. Therefore you are not supposed to devote more than 3-4 hours for Physics. At this stage the first thing that needs to be done is choosing your 3 optional questions in each paper and making a first fallback plan. My strategy here was as follows

In Paper 1 I choose to do Heat and Thermodynamics (Question 8), Optics (Question 4) and STR with optics (Question 3). They were my prime targets. For fallbacks in section 1 I had Mechanics. (However the chances of using this f allback were less considering I was already doing 2 questions from this section and at times of difficulty can always shift to section 2 for two questions.) For fallback in section 2 , My first choice was electricity and magnetism (Quest ion 6) and second was EMT. Regarding EMT I would like to add that this is one topic that gives maximum mark s (80%) if done correctly. However here is the deception. There are fare chances of you forgetting the derivations in between and ruining up your attempt. Also since the derivations are naturally long, they take more time in writing and eat into the time of other questions. Therefore, It was my last choice. So as you can see, I eliminated Mechanics and EMT from my target list and saved considerable time to prepare other topics well. This time I did question 4, 6, and 8 and got 204 marks. (Attempt 290). In Paper 2 I chose to do Nuclear Physics (Question 6), Molecular Physics (Question 4) and Q uantum Physics (Question 2). My fallback in section 1 was Angular Momentum and Atomic Physics (Question 3). H owever since I did not have a strong fallback in section 2, I read all 3 questio ns with same intensity in order to eliminate the chances of not able to do 2 que stions from section1. But still you can avoid Question 3. In Section 2 I did not have any fallback and I was totally dependent on Nuclear Physics. Therefore I invested considerable time in it and read it in great detai l. Still reading Nuclear was much less than covering electronics and solid state with certainty. But here those of you who can prepare one question out of Quest ion 7 or 8, it is a great respite. In exam I did Question 3,4 and 6 and got 206 marks (Attempt 280). After choosing your prime and fallback questions you need to prepare accordingly . Pay more attention and practice profusely for your prime targets and give suff icient time for 1st fallback. 2nd fallback can be neglected a bit and that time can be devoted in preparing the small compulsory questions from all topics. I personally did not pay much attention to Mechanics, EMT and Solid state and El ectronics with not touching Electronics at all. It did cost me a simple compulso ry circuit question. But I guess I saved considerable time for preparing my othe r parts extremely well. Last Strategy In the last phase do not remain confined to one topic trying to finish it comple tely. That way you will always keep on forgetting the parts read earlier. Make a list of all difficult derivations and questions that you tend to forget from al l topic and try to solve then randomly i:e one question can be from optics, seco nd from Quantum and third can be from statistical. Try to become holistic at the end. It really helps a lot in the gap that you get between exam. What is a Good answer? In Physics just solving the paper is not important. The same attempt can score a nything between 50% to 80%. If you have attempted the question correctly you generally get 50%-55% marks. Th e remaining marks are for your presentation which can be as follows You must always try to draw a neat diagram in the starting. Before starting the question you must always give some background explaining the phenomena or concept.

During answering take care to explain any Physics involved and not just concentr ate on mathematical steps. You can even skip Maths steps to save time without losing much credit. For examp le you can avoid solving a differential equation and can quote the right remembe red result. At the end, always conclude your answer and explain the result. What is the right time to begin preparation? I would say May of the year preceding your exam year ideal. Try doing coaching f or both optionals during that period and devote 4 hours each for each subject. ( A study of 12 hours). In October join GS coaching and devote 4 hours for GS and 6 hours for 1 optional and 1-2 hours for second optional for next 3 months. That makes it January end. From February swap your optionals for next 2 months i:e Feb and March. From April till May prepare exclusively for pre After Pre devote 4 hours each for both optional and 2-3 hours for GS. Don't join any coaching during this period. Just join test series. BookList for Mains Paper I Mechanics: Mechanics by D.S. Mathur Classical Mechanics by J.C.Upadhyaya Waves and Optics: Optics by Ajoy Ghatak Optics by B.S. Agarwal Electricity and Introduction to Electromagnetic Electricity and Magnetism: Electrodynamics by David J. Griffiths Theory by Chopra and Aggarwal Magnetism by D.C.Tayal

Thermal and Statistical Physics: Thermal Physics by Garg, Bansal and Ghosh Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Thermodynamics by Sears and Salin ger Paper II Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Physics by H.C. Verma Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Atomic and Molecular Physics: Atomic and Molecular Spectra by Raj Kumar Molecular Physics by Banwell Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Nuclear and Particle Physics: Nuclear Physics by D.C. Tayal Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Solid State Physics, Devices and Electronics: Principles of Electronics by Mehta and Mehta Introduction to Solid State Physics by Kittel Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg

All three stages of examination need to be managed as one single continuous proc ess since every attempt is counted as an independent one without any benefit of having cleared any stage in an earlier attempt. Therefore, DIAS follows an integ rated approach in all its programmes. The preparation for the examination has to be extensive as well as intensive . Accordingly, all the subjects offered by th e institute are structured scientifically in order to produce the best performan ce. The preliminary examination is basically an eliminating procedure & its marks ar e not counted in the grand total. The negative marking in the preliminary examin ation requires a candidate to develop a high level of accuracy . At DIAS the emp hasis is on appropriate, adequate & accurate knowledge. The preliminary examinat ion comprises of two papers of General studies. The next stage is that of the ma in examination , which is constituted by the General English, another language f rom those listed in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution, two papers o f General Studies & two papers of each of the two optional subjects. At this sta ge of the exam there is quite an emphasis on analytical & communication skills, apart from supportive knowledge. The marks obtained in the main examination are included while deciding the final merit list. Finally, the interview is decisive for the eventual outcome. Candidates invited for the interview are generally in a close cluster & hence the 300 marks of the interview are crucial for the final ranking. Moreover, the interview board wishe s to be decisive in determining the list of successful candidates. DIAS provides sustained interview guidance as well as simulated interviews. The entire course has been systematically designed to develop officer - like qualities, which inc lude analytical & presentations skills, inclusive of confidence accentuation as well as communication excellence. The Institute's overall program is exhaustive & covers a - to - z of the entire requirement of the Civil Services Examination. The distribution of marks for various stages of the Civil Services Examination i s as follows: A. Preliminary Examination B. Main Examination Paper - 1 General Studies 200 Marks Paper - 2 General Studies 200 Marks C. Personality Test Personality Test 300 Marks Total Marks 2300 Marks Paper - 1 Indian Language Paper - 2 English Paper - 3 Essay 200 Marks Paper - 4 General Studies 300 Marks Paper - 5 General Studies 300 Marks Paper - 6 Optional 1 300 Marks Paper - 7 Optional 1 300 Marks Paper - 8 Optional 2 300 Marks Paper - 9 Optional 2 300 Marks Total 2000 Marks Strategy for General Studies: How I prepared for General Studies by Supreet Singh Gulati (IAS) , Rank 2(2007)

If conventional topics (National Movement, Polity, Economics, Geography) are pre pared well during Prelims itself, then it eases a lot of pressure in preparation for the Mains as during the period May-October effort can be focused on practic ing for Mains and Current Affairs which have become very important in GS exam. I 'll try to deal with each of the topics mentioned in syllabus. For National Movement, I used to read from Spectrum's "History of Modern India" and practiced from NCERT. book There is usually a surprise element in UPSC histo ry questions (though this year's were straight forward) and practicing from NCER T book without reading it gave me adequate practice. I'd read a chapter after so lving the questions given at the back. I tried approximately. 5-8 tough question s from most chapters. Also, some topics - State People's Movements, Rise of Left Front, Communalism - are covered very well in Bipan Chandra's "India's Struggle for Independence" (Penguin). For Polity, I read Dr. D.D. Basu's "Introduction to the Constitution of India", Wizard's Indian Polity and Constitution and solved questions given at the back o f Wizard book (they are just Previous Year questions). To add some extra points or clarify doubts for important topics, I used to go through P.M. Bakshi's "The Constitution of India" For Geography, I read NCERT books - India's Physical Environment, India People a nd Economy. For Economics, I had notes from a coaching institute and substantiated them from Misra/Puri. I was thorough with XIth Five Year Plan and would read important to pics from Economic Survey. These were: State of the Economy, External Sector, In frastructure, Social Sectors. I practiced previous year papers for Statistics. And now the most important part- Current Affairs - India and World; Internationa l Affairs; current topics in Economy and Polity; National, Social and Environmen t issues; Science and Technology. I was regular with The Hindu news paper - took clippings daily, underlined impor tant points in them right away (so that I didn't have to read the article all ov er again later) and arranged them topic wise once every fortnight or so. I also read Chronicle and important topics from Frontline (20 pages in each issue out o f 130 pages). By August mid I had a list of important issues from all topics. Th is includes: Relations with about 10-12 countries (Russia, US, Pakistan, Nepal, Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, ASEAN, SAARC, G8, Italy, Germany; any country important f or that year). I arranged the clippings topic wise and wrote answers for relatio ns with each country. For example: In India-Russia relations I divided answer in to 6 sections (Energy, Defence, International affairs, Economy/Trade, Cultural, Miscellaneous). There would be about 5-10 points of recent developments under ea ch heading. Nearly 10-15 topics each from International Affairs, National issues, Polity iss ues and current Economy, Science and Technology. I prepared and practiced answers for these important topics. Atleast 3-4 revisio ns are must to get the best out of this effort. Many of the 2 markers were covered from these news clippings. Also, I practiced to write maximum information in minimum words. This is a must to do well in 2 ma rkers. Tackling the exam: For me time management was a big issue during examination. I write quite slowly. So I would answer all the questions I knew first and leave a ll the flukes for the last (around 30-40 marks detailed questions). This way I c ould give my best in the questions I was thorough with. Moreover, before writing the answer I'd think on it for a few minutes and prepare a basic framework. Thi s is a must. I wrote to the point answers. Moreover, if I could write only good 150 words for a 250 words answer, I'd leave it at that rather than trying to str etch my answer to required word limit.I left 2 markers which I didn't know rathe r than attempting flukes in them. Strategy for IAS Examination with PHYSICS as an optional :

Best Optional in Science/Engineering Group By D P Vajpeyi Civil Services examination these days have become one of the toughest nuts to cr ack. Looking at the level of competition involved in this exam., one can sail th rough this `hurdle race' in flying colours only by proper planning, hard work, p erseverance and patience. Proper planning is must for getting good ranks in this exam. And first step in proper planning is right selection of optionals. In my opinion, optionals should be chosen on the basis of one's interest in that subje ct, scoring pattern of that subject in previous few years, availability of study material and expert guidance. First optional should be generally the subject studied during graduation/Post gr aduation. (There is no hard and fast rule in this regard, but my advice to the a spirants is that choosing "parent subject" as first optional proves beneficial, until and unless there are some very genuine points against that subject). And s econd optional should be chosen by applying the above mentioned four point crite rion of interest, scoring pattern, availability of study material and expert gui dance. On the basis of above criterion of choosing optionals Physics stands tall est amongst the Science/Eng. stream optionals. Reasons in its favour are: Its well defined and well structured syllabus. It is least among all science/Eng ineering Subjects. Its scoring nature. Every year lot many Physics candidates make it to "Top-10" Easy availability of study material. Its reliable nature. If it has been prepared well one can easily score up to 6075% of marks i.e. between 360-450 marks. Highest success Rate of 12% among popular optionals In spite of all above-mentioned factors, few people are creating an environment that these days Physics is not very scoring. You have to put lot of efforts to s core "well" in this subject. So on and so forth. My answer to all these is that only those candidates do not score well in this subject who either leave many po rtions of the syllabus, do not give to-the-point answers or do not practice righ t way of answering the questions. A to Z of the present syllabus can be studied within 200 hours of study (this is the time, I take in Completing the whole cour se). Hence allegation of requirement of lot of time is not all that correct. Suc cessful candidates every year score 400+ Marks in this subject. Therefore Scienc e and Engineering Background candidates can safely opt for physics as their firs t or second optional. PHYSICS AS AN OPTIONAL IN MAINS: Now let me discuss the nature of Physics question papers in Mains examination. L ike any other optional, Physics too have two papers of 300 marks each. Each pape r being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. And out of these 8 questi ons, one has to attempt only 5. First question of both sections being compulsory , meaning there by that one has to choose remaining 3 questions out of 6. (Good 50% choice). All questions typically have 3 bits each barring compulsory questio ns, where out of 4 bits one has to attempt only 3: This is the format of the que stion papers. Now let's come to topic wise emphasis in both the papers. Paper I comprises of (i) Mechanics (ii) Waves and Optics and (iii) Electricity & Magnetism and (iv) Thermal and statistical physics. Two full questions are norm ally expected from all the four sections. Bunching (Mixing) of questions is also possible. Therefore all the sections must be prepared. Each bit is of 20 marks and should be answered within 12 minutes. Mechanics have four well defined topics: Particle dynamics, Rigid body dynamics, Mechanics of continuous media and special relativity. Two bits are expected fro m each topic. Hence you should not leave any topic. This course can be well prep ared from text books of Mechanics by D S Mathur/ Kleppner and Kolenkov . From Sp ecial Relativity, at the most two bits may be asked. Hence all old topics like L

orentz transforms, Length contraction, time dilation, velocity addition, Mass-En ergy equivalence are important. In Waves, damped and forced oscillations, phase and group velocity should be given due importance. This portion can be prepared from any book because all topics are very common and given in all text books. In Geometrical optics, Fermat's principle and matrix method should be prepared w ell. Geometrical optics along with Physical optics can be prepared from book on optics by Prof. Brijlal & Subrahmaniyam/ Ajay GhatakPhysical optics also has thr ee well defined topics providing one bit each. In interference, division of ampl itude class should be prepared well & in modern optics, optical fibres, spatial and temporal coherence and lasers be given due weightage. Electricity & Magnetism has two well defined topics of electrostatics/ magntosta tics and current electricity. This course along with EM theory have been very st raight forward and quite scoring. This course can be very well prepared from the books by David Griffiths/ Satya Prakash. Thermal and statistical Physics can be prepared from textbook by Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/ Satya Prakash. Second paper of physics can be very well covered in 80-90 hours and therefore, i f prepared well, can fetch rich dividends. Section A of paper II consists of Qua ntum mechanics and Spectroscopy, while section "B" has Nuclear & Particle Physic s and Electronics & Solid state physics. Whole of the second paper excluding ele ctronics can be prepared from quantum physics by Resnick and Eisberg/ Modern Phy sics by Arthur Beiser. Above books can be supplemented by Quantum mechanics by H . C Verma, Spectroscopy by Rajkumar, and Nuclear physics by D C Tayal. Electroni cs can be prepared from text book by B. L. Thareja Vol. 4 and for solid state Ph ysics, text book by S. O. Pillai is of immense help. In Nuclear physics, semi-em pirical mass formula, deuteron problem, Shell model of nucleus and theory of b-d ecay should be prepared well. With the latest revision of syllabus, in paper 1, syllabus of Mechanics has been enhanced and questions are also expected from the topics like relationship betw een Y, K and & Poiseuelle formula. Therefore due importance should be given to t hem. Among the courses of Paper II, electronics has maximum syllabus. Therefore non-electronics background candidates should make some extra efforts to master t his part of syllabus or may also omit it. This was all about different courses and their probable sources now I'll give fe w general tips: My first advice is that one should not skip any portion of the syllabus. Thoroug h study is a must to get 400+marks at the most; one course could be omitted from both the papers. Although I do not recommend it. Analyse the examination papers of previous few years. You'll know yourself where the focus is. Take practice tests and get them evaluated by a teacher and see yourself, what i mprovements can be made. While taking the exams, read the questions correctly. Your reply should be to th e point, beating about the bush only wastes your time and doesn't fetch you any extra mark. Units and terms used in formulas should be clearly explained. Do not give the derivation if it has not been asked. I'll elaborate on this poin t, with the help of a problem asked in 2002's exam. "Using rocket equation and i ts integral find the final velocity of a single stage rocket. Data for velocity of escaping gases is given". In this problem, you may start from rocket equation , clearly explaining all the terms and then you may integrate it and obtain desi red quantities. Here there is no need to derive rocket equation. Apart from wast ing your valuable time it does not fetch you any extra credit hence this type of "extras" should be avoided. Finally one must stay `cool' during the examination. Do not get panicky, even if you do not know few things. RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Paper I Mechanics : D S Mathur/ B S Agrawal/ Kleppner & Kolenkov Waves/Special Relativity : R. Resnick / Gupta & Goyal Optics : Brijlal and Subrahmaniyam / Ajay Ghatak / B S Agrwal Electrodynamics & EM Theory : David Griffiths / Chopra & Agrwal/ Satya Prakash Thermal & Statistical Physics : Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/P.K. Chakravarty/ Satya P rakash, Singhal et al Paper II Quantum Physics : Resnick & Eisberg Concepts of Modern Physics : Arthur Beiser Quantum Mechanics : H C Verma /Satya Prakash Atomic & Molecular Spectra : Raj Kumar Nuclear Physics : D C Tayal Solid State Physics : S.O. Pillai Electronics : B L Thareja Vol. IV Strategy for IAS Examination with CHEMISTRY as an optional Secret of scoring maximum marks By R K Singh (Sen. Faculty DIAS) Careful study of Chemistry syllabus and pattern of recent year questions reveals that it is one of scoring subjects in Mains examination with minimum effort. On e requires focussed approach. good selection of books, well understanding and pr oper guidance to score good marks in Mains examination. How to Prepare for Mains Examination? In Mains the whole subject is divided into two papers, First paper includes Phys ical Chemistry and portions of Inorganic Chemistry while second paper includes O rganic Chemistry, Polymers and pectroscopy. For the Physical Chemistry part, a g ood understanding of the topics and proper presentation will fetch good marks. I n Physical Chemistry for any derivation, all the assumptions, proper figures / d iagrams, thorough analysis along with its practical applications will bring good marks. To elaborate it further ,I take here one example, say, the question is t o derive Clausius- claypeyeron equation. In answering this question your approac h shouldl be Step (a) It is applicable only for one component- two phase system like- solidliquid, liquid- gas etc. Step (b) Mention the thermodynamic criteria of equilibrium. Step (c) Write down thermodynamic relation of free energy. Step (d) Write down assumptions in the derivation. Step (e) Write down its usefulness and applications. If one writes this way, he can score upto 80 percent marks in Physical Chemistry . For Inorganic Chemistry, a thorough- understanding is required. Sometimes the qu estions asked in the Physical Chemistry part are not scoring enough and the ques tions asked in Inorganic Chemistry are scoring , therfore a good preparation of Inorganic Chemistry will give you good marks. One thing is to be noted here if proper pres entation is done one can score more in Inorganic Chemisitry than Physical Chemis try. Proper presentation, in-depth analysis along with examples will helpful in scoring more. For both Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, the question papers of previous years are very helpful and by solving the previous year papers under pr oper guidance one can score around seventy- five percent marks in Paper I.

Second paper includes Organic Chemistry, Polymer and Spectroscopy. Here strategy should be different. To score good in this paper proper understanding and linka ges are necessary. Organic Chemistry is always a building and dynamic concept so daily revision, practice, discussion under proper efficient and effective guida nce will be helpful. For building good concepts in Organic Chemistry, in read Mo rison &Boyd and I.L Finar (vol) for basics. These books are also helpful in the Prelims examination. Now a days, question asked in the Organic Chemistry, are di rectly taken from standard books. So after building the concepts one must follow these advanced books thoroughly Previous year question bank is necessary but no t sufficient. For sufficiency and gaining confidence in this paper, one has to d o at least 50 good questions from each topic and in this respect our institute w ill be very helpful. If one does all the above things thoroughly, one can score upto seventy percent marks in Chemistry, For this, proper guidance, hard work re vision and proper practice will be very useful. FRESHER'S TOOL- KIT Physical Chemistry (a) Physical Chemistry: Sharma Puri, & Pathania. (b) A text book of Physical Chemistry: P.W. Atkins. (c) Physical Chemistry Vol. 1 to 4:K.L Kapoor. (d) Electrochemistry : Glasstone. Inorganic Chemistry (a) Inorganic Chemistry: Principle of structure and reactivity james E. Huheey, Ellen A Keiter, Richar L. Ketter. (b) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: JD.Lee (c) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: Madan Malik & Tuli Organic Chemistry (a) Advanced Organic Chemistry: Francis A.Corey, Richard J Wothers (b) Organic Chemistry: Claydon. Greeves. S.Warren. P. Wothers (c) Principle of organic synthesis: Norman & Coxon. (d) Advanced Organic chemistry. Reaction Mechanism and Structure: J March (e) Principle of Spectroscopy: Silversteen (f) Organic Spectroscopy: Kemp (g) Reaction Mechanism: Mukherjee & Singh (h) Organic Chemistry: A. Pine (i) Text book of Spectroscopy : P.S. Kalsi Strategy for Mathematics as an optional in IAS Exam: Practice makes a man perfect. By DP Vajpeyi Mathematics is amongst one of the most scoring optionals in Civil Services exami nation. This is the only subject which can easily give one 400 + marks like 431 scored by Pradeep Agrawal (Rank. 30, CSE 2005). Top 20 is always replete with ca ndidates having Mathematics as their one of the two optionals. This year (i.e.20 10) too second ranker Prakash Rajpurohit had it as one of his optionals. In the last decade Mathematics has produced maximum number of toppers. In last few year s, popularity of Maths has declined little bit due to false propeganda against t he subject . Along with Physics/ engg. subject, it can be safely opted as a firs t or second optional . Who can opt for it ? Apart from main stream Mathematics students, any one from engineering / Physics background can opt for it. Beauty of the Subject is its language / presentation neutral approach. Mathematics is truly regarded as language of Physics/ engineer ing disciplines, so it comes very handy to them. What is against the subject ? Perceived notion of its time consuming nature, which is not true. This subject, by judicious planning can be easily prepared within 4 months like any other subj

ect and believe me, if prepared well, Maths will never disappoint you. Strategy for Mathematics in Mains Examination Like any other optional, Mathematics in CSE comprise of two papers of 300 marks each. Each paper being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. Section A of paper I Comprise of the courses like Linear Algebra & Matrices, Integral & Di fferential calculus & Geometry of 2D & 3D. In this section if one prepares any t wo courses thoroughly , then one is preparing for minimum of 165 marks( 2 full q uestions and three bits) from the compulsory question. At the most one has to le ave one bit from the compulsory question. Courses of Algebra & Calculus should n ot be omitted due to their linkages from the courses of paper II. In Section B, we have the courses of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) , Vec tor Analysis & Mechanics. ODE and Vectors are regarded as simple courses, so nor mally "good " questions are asked from them. These days more weight is given to their applied aspects . Therefore they should be well prepared from the Schaum s eries books by M R Spiegel apart from standard books by Indian writers like diff . equations by M D Raisinghania / N M Kapoor/ Vector Analysis by J N Sharma. Wit h . the latest revision of syllabus , syllabus of Statics/ dynamics has been tri mmed . This portion is scoring and can be well prepared from Krishna Series (Mee rut ) books. Strategy for paper II Section A of paper II comprises of Modern Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analys is & Linear programming problems. Courses of Real Analysis & Calculus are overla pping, therefore one must definitely prepare for this course. According to preva iling opinion among experts, questions from Modern Algebra are short & scoring p rovided they have been adequately prepared & presented. Here help of good teache rs like Prof. Ramakotaih (former V. C of Nagarjun University and having 45 years of teaching experience, associated with DIAS since last many years) proves very beneficial to students. From complex Analysis & LPP, one full question & two bi ts in the compulsory part are asked. One may prepare LPP question and may or may not prepare Complex Analysis part. This way, if one prepares Modern Algebra, Re al Analysis and LPP, then 3 full questions can be prepared from this section Sec tion B comprises of Partial differential equations (P D E), Numerical Analysis ( NA) and Computer programming and .Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics. P D E and NA bei ng simple courses should be prepared .If one comes from Physics / Engineering Ba ckgrounds then Mechanics can also be a good choice.

Design & Maintain By: Neon Software Technologies Live Interaction DIAS INDIA At Facebook About us Programmes Offered Strategy Our Results Registration Form Contact Us STRATEGY OF PHYSICS : How I Got 410 Marks in Physics This has been my 3rd attempt with in UPSC and my 2nd Mains with Physics. But dur ing this period I realized one thing that getting 370+ in Physics is not difficu lt and it does not even need a preparation of more than 6-8 months. What is need

ed is the right strategy which most of us either don't realize, or realize after 1-2 years like me. I will divide my discussion in 2 parts. One for the freshers who have almost no background of Physics and Second for those who have read the syllabus atleast on ce. Strategy for Freshers As a fresher, first of all you must not panic by seeing the columns and columns of syllabus. I guess here the role of Vajpeyi Sir is maximum. You must join some good coaching and try to get your concepts clear. Vajpeyi sir is pretty good in this and he creates a nice framework which provides the foundation for further preparation. However in coaching there will be instances when you will feel that you know nothing and others are knowing a lot. Trust me it is not the matter of intellect but just time. You might be fresher while they might have background. During initial phase just concentrate on classes. Try to read the books and make your own concepts and try and solve difficult questions from last 10 year paper s. Don't try to memorize derivations at this stage. And don't give more than 5 h ours for Physics in this stage .Keep reading GS and other optional also. This stage will be over in about 3.5 month time. Strategy for those who have read syllabus atleast once After this stage comes the stage of self preparation which varies for each stude nt and I guess it is here that many people make mistakes. I will suggest the fol lowing strategy at this stage. You must start topics one by one and dedicate almost 10 days for it. Here you mu st try to learn concepts and derivations in first 6 days and then solve maximum problems in last 4 days. Your reading time can be 4 hours and question solving 3 hours. Naturally you will left with less time for other optional. So plan accor dingly. Considering that there are 8 topics, this stage should be over in 3 months. Then you can proceed to the last phase of cracking the exam. Strategy for Cracking the exam with 370+ marks By this time you must have been over with pre and there is pressure of syllabus. Therefore you are not supposed to devote more than 3-4 hours for Physics. At this stage the first thing that needs to be done is choosing your 3 optional questions in each paper and making a first fallback plan. My strategy here was as follows In Paper 1 I choose to do Heat and Thermodynamics (Question 8), Optics (Question 4) and STR with optics (Question 3). They were my prime targets. For fallbacks in section 1 I had Mechanics. (However the chances of using this f allback were less considering I was already doing 2 questions from this section and at times of difficulty can always shift to section 2 for two questions.) For fallback in section 2 , My first choice was electricity and magnetism (Quest ion 6) and second was EMT. Regarding EMT I would like to add that this is one topic that gives maximum mark s (80%) if done correctly. However here is the deception. There are fare chances of you forgetting the derivations in between and ruining up your attempt. Also since the derivations are naturally long, they take more time in writing and eat into the time of other questions. Therefore, It was my last choice.

So as you can see, I eliminated Mechanics and EMT from my target list and saved considerable time to prepare other topics well. This time I did question 4, 6, and 8 and got 204 marks. (Attempt 290). In Paper 2 I chose to do Nuclear Physics (Question 6), Molecular Physics (Question 4) and Q uantum Physics (Question 2). My fallback in section 1 was Angular Momentum and Atomic Physics (Question 3). H owever since I did not have a strong fallback in section 2, I read all 3 questio ns with same intensity in order to eliminate the chances of not able to do 2 que stions from section1. But still you can avoid Question 3. In Section 2 I did not have any fallback and I was totally dependent on Nuclear Physics. Therefore I invested considerable time in it and read it in great detai l. Still reading Nuclear was much less than covering electronics and solid state with certainty. But here those of you who can prepare one question out of Quest ion 7 or 8, it is a great respite. In exam I did Question 3,4 and 6 and got 206 marks (Attempt 280). After choosing your prime and fallback questions you need to prepare accordingly . Pay more attention and practice profusely for your prime targets and give suff icient time for 1st fallback. 2nd fallback can be neglected a bit and that time can be devoted in preparing the small compulsory questions from all topics. I personally did not pay much attention to Mechanics, EMT and Solid state and El ectronics with not touching Electronics at all. It did cost me a simple compulso ry circuit question. But I guess I saved considerable time for preparing my othe r parts extremely well. Last Strategy In the last phase do not remain confined to one topic trying to finish it comple tely. That way you will always keep on forgetting the parts read earlier. Make a list of all difficult derivations and questions that you tend to forget from al l topic and try to solve then randomly i:e one question can be from optics, seco nd from Quantum and third can be from statistical. Try to become holistic at the end. It really helps a lot in the gap that you get between exam. What is a Good answer? In Physics just solving the paper is not important. The same attempt can score a nything between 50% to 80%. If you have attempted the question correctly you generally get 50%-55% marks. Th e remaining marks are for your presentation which can be as follows You must always try to draw a neat diagram in the starting. Before starting the question you must always give some background explaining the phenomena or concept. During answering take care to explain any Physics involved and not just concentr ate on mathematical steps. You can even skip Maths steps to save time without losing much credit. For examp le you can avoid solving a differential equation and can quote the right remembe red result. At the end, always conclude your answer and explain the result. What is the right time to begin preparation? I would say May of the year preceding your exam year ideal. Try doing coaching f or both optionals during that period and devote 4 hours each for each subject. ( A study of 12 hours). In October join GS coaching and devote 4 hours for GS and 6 hours for 1 optional and 1-2 hours for second optional for next 3 months. That makes it January end. From February swap your optionals for next 2 months i:e Feb and March. From April till May prepare exclusively for pre

After Pre devote 4 hours each for both optional and 2-3 hours for GS. Don't join any coaching during this period. Just join test series. BookList for Mains Paper I Mechanics: Mechanics by D.S. Mathur Classical Mechanics by J.C.Upadhyaya Waves and Optics: Optics by Ajoy Ghatak Optics by B.S. Agarwal Electricity and Introduction to Electromagnetic Electricity and Magnetism: Electrodynamics by David J. Griffiths Theory by Chopra and Aggarwal Magnetism by D.C.Tayal

Thermal and Statistical Physics: Thermal Physics by Garg, Bansal and Ghosh Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Thermodynamics by Sears and Salin ger Paper II Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Physics by H.C. Verma Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Atomic and Molecular Physics: Atomic and Molecular Spectra by Raj Kumar Molecular Physics by Banwell Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Nuclear and Particle Physics: Nuclear Physics by D.C. Tayal Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg Solid State Physics, Devices and Electronics: Principles of Electronics by Mehta and Mehta Introduction to Solid State Physics by Kittel Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser Quantum Physics by Resnick and Eisberg All three stages of examination need to be managed as one single continuous proc ess since every attempt is counted as an independent one without any benefit of having cleared any stage in an earlier attempt. Therefore, DIAS follows an integ rated approach in all its programmes. The preparation for the examination has to be extensive as well as intensive . Accordingly, all the subjects offered by th e institute are structured scientifically in order to produce the best performan ce. The preliminary examination is basically an eliminating procedure & its marks ar e not counted in the grand total. The negative marking in the preliminary examin ation requires a candidate to develop a high level of accuracy . At DIAS the emp hasis is on appropriate, adequate & accurate knowledge. The preliminary examinat ion comprises of two papers of General studies. The next stage is that of the ma in examination , which is constituted by the General English, another language f rom those listed in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution, two papers o f General Studies & two papers of each of the two optional subjects. At this sta

ge of the exam there is quite an emphasis on analytical & communication skills, apart from supportive knowledge. The marks obtained in the main examination are included while deciding the final merit list. Finally, the interview is decisive for the eventual outcome. Candidates invited for the interview are generally in a close cluster & hence the 300 marks of the interview are crucial for the final ranking. Moreover, the interview board wishe s to be decisive in determining the list of successful candidates. DIAS provides sustained interview guidance as well as simulated interviews. The entire course has been systematically designed to develop officer - like qualities, which inc lude analytical & presentations skills, inclusive of confidence accentuation as well as communication excellence. The Institute's overall program is exhaustive & covers a - to - z of the entire requirement of the Civil Services Examination. The distribution of marks for various stages of the Civil Services Examination i s as follows: A. Preliminary Examination B. Main Examination Paper - 1 General Studies 200 Marks Paper - 2 General Studies 200 Marks C. Personality Test Personality Test 300 Marks Total Marks 2300 Marks Paper - 1 Indian Language Paper - 2 English Paper - 3 Essay 200 Marks Paper - 4 General Studies 300 Marks Paper - 5 General Studies 300 Marks Paper - 6 Optional 1 300 Marks Paper - 7 Optional 1 300 Marks Paper - 8 Optional 2 300 Marks Paper - 9 Optional 2 300 Marks Total 2000 Marks Strategy for General Studies: How I prepared for General Studies by Supreet Singh Gulati (IAS) , Rank 2(2007) If conventional topics (National Movement, Polity, Economics, Geography) are pre pared well during Prelims itself, then it eases a lot of pressure in preparation for the Mains as during the period May-October effort can be focused on practic ing for Mains and Current Affairs which have become very important in GS exam. I 'll try to deal with each of the topics mentioned in syllabus. For National Movement, I used to read from Spectrum's "History of Modern India" and practiced from NCERT. book There is usually a surprise element in UPSC histo ry questions (though this year's were straight forward) and practicing from NCER T book without reading it gave me adequate practice. I'd read a chapter after so lving the questions given at the back. I tried approximately. 5-8 tough question s from most chapters. Also, some topics - State People's Movements, Rise of Left Front, Communalism - are covered very well in Bipan Chandra's "India's Struggle for Independence" (Penguin). For Polity, I read Dr. D.D. Basu's "Introduction to the Constitution of India",

Wizard's Indian Polity and Constitution and solved questions given at the back o f Wizard book (they are just Previous Year questions). To add some extra points or clarify doubts for important topics, I used to go through P.M. Bakshi's "The Constitution of India" For Geography, I read NCERT books - India's Physical Environment, India People a nd Economy. For Economics, I had notes from a coaching institute and substantiated them from Misra/Puri. I was thorough with XIth Five Year Plan and would read important to pics from Economic Survey. These were: State of the Economy, External Sector, In frastructure, Social Sectors. I practiced previous year papers for Statistics. And now the most important part- Current Affairs - India and World; Internationa l Affairs; current topics in Economy and Polity; National, Social and Environmen t issues; Science and Technology. I was regular with The Hindu news paper - took clippings daily, underlined impor tant points in them right away (so that I didn't have to read the article all ov er again later) and arranged them topic wise once every fortnight or so. I also read Chronicle and important topics from Frontline (20 pages in each issue out o f 130 pages). By August mid I had a list of important issues from all topics. Th is includes: Relations with about 10-12 countries (Russia, US, Pakistan, Nepal, Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, ASEAN, SAARC, G8, Italy, Germany; any country important f or that year). I arranged the clippings topic wise and wrote answers for relatio ns with each country. For example: In India-Russia relations I divided answer in to 6 sections (Energy, Defence, International affairs, Economy/Trade, Cultural, Miscellaneous). There would be about 5-10 points of recent developments under ea ch heading. Nearly 10-15 topics each from International Affairs, National issues, Polity iss ues and current Economy, Science and Technology. I prepared and practiced answers for these important topics. Atleast 3-4 revisio ns are must to get the best out of this effort. Many of the 2 markers were covered from these news clippings. Also, I practiced to write maximum information in minimum words. This is a must to do well in 2 ma rkers. Tackling the exam: For me time management was a big issue during examination. I write quite slowly. So I would answer all the questions I knew first and leave a ll the flukes for the last (around 30-40 marks detailed questions). This way I c ould give my best in the questions I was thorough with. Moreover, before writing the answer I'd think on it for a few minutes and prepare a basic framework. Thi s is a must. I wrote to the point answers. Moreover, if I could write only good 150 words for a 250 words answer, I'd leave it at that rather than trying to str etch my answer to required word limit.I left 2 markers which I didn't know rathe r than attempting flukes in them. Strategy for IAS Examination with PHYSICS as an optional : Best Optional in Science/Engineering Group By D P Vajpeyi Civil Services examination these days have become one of the toughest nuts to cr ack. Looking at the level of competition involved in this exam., one can sail th rough this `hurdle race' in flying colours only by proper planning, hard work, p erseverance and patience. Proper planning is must for getting good ranks in this exam. And first step in proper planning is right selection of optionals. In my opinion, optionals should be chosen on the basis of one's interest in that subje ct, scoring pattern of that subject in previous few years, availability of study material and expert guidance. First optional should be generally the subject studied during graduation/Post gr aduation. (There is no hard and fast rule in this regard, but my advice to the a spirants is that choosing "parent subject" as first optional proves beneficial, until and unless there are some very genuine points against that subject). And s

econd optional should be chosen by applying the above mentioned four point crite rion of interest, scoring pattern, availability of study material and expert gui dance. On the basis of above criterion of choosing optionals Physics stands tall est amongst the Science/Eng. stream optionals. Reasons in its favour are: Its well defined and well structured syllabus. It is least among all science/Eng ineering Subjects. Its scoring nature. Every year lot many Physics candidates make it to "Top-10" Easy availability of study material. Its reliable nature. If it has been prepared well one can easily score up to 6075% of marks i.e. between 360-450 marks. Highest success Rate of 12% among popular optionals In spite of all above-mentioned factors, few people are creating an environment that these days Physics is not very scoring. You have to put lot of efforts to s core "well" in this subject. So on and so forth. My answer to all these is that only those candidates do not score well in this subject who either leave many po rtions of the syllabus, do not give to-the-point answers or do not practice righ t way of answering the questions. A to Z of the present syllabus can be studied within 200 hours of study (this is the time, I take in Completing the whole cour se). Hence allegation of requirement of lot of time is not all that correct. Suc cessful candidates every year score 400+ Marks in this subject. Therefore Scienc e and Engineering Background candidates can safely opt for physics as their firs t or second optional. PHYSICS AS AN OPTIONAL IN MAINS: Now let me discuss the nature of Physics question papers in Mains examination. L ike any other optional, Physics too have two papers of 300 marks each. Each pape r being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. And out of these 8 questi ons, one has to attempt only 5. First question of both sections being compulsory , meaning there by that one has to choose remaining 3 questions out of 6. (Good 50% choice). All questions typically have 3 bits each barring compulsory questio ns, where out of 4 bits one has to attempt only 3: This is the format of the que stion papers. Now let's come to topic wise emphasis in both the papers. Paper I comprises of (i) Mechanics (ii) Waves and Optics and (iii) Electricity & Magnetism and (iv) Thermal and statistical physics. Two full questions are norm ally expected from all the four sections. Bunching (Mixing) of questions is also possible. Therefore all the sections must be prepared. Each bit is of 20 marks and should be answered within 12 minutes. Mechanics have four well defined topics: Particle dynamics, Rigid body dynamics, Mechanics of continuous media and special relativity. Two bits are expected fro m each topic. Hence you should not leave any topic. This course can be well prep ared from text books of Mechanics by D S Mathur/ Kleppner and Kolenkov . From Sp ecial Relativity, at the most two bits may be asked. Hence all old topics like L orentz transforms, Length contraction, time dilation, velocity addition, Mass-En ergy equivalence are important. In Waves, damped and forced oscillations, phase and group velocity should be given due importance. This portion can be prepared from any book because all topics are very common and given in all text books. In Geometrical optics, Fermat's principle and matrix method should be prepared w ell. Geometrical optics along with Physical optics can be prepared from book on optics by Prof. Brijlal & Subrahmaniyam/ Ajay GhatakPhysical optics also has thr ee well defined topics providing one bit each. In interference, division of ampl itude class should be prepared well & in modern optics, optical fibres, spatial and temporal coherence and lasers be given due weightage. Electricity & Magnetism has two well defined topics of electrostatics/ magntosta tics and current electricity. This course along with EM theory have been very st raight forward and quite scoring. This course can be very well prepared from the

books by David Griffiths/ Satya Prakash. Thermal and statistical Physics can be prepared from textbook by Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/ Satya Prakash. Second paper of physics can be very well covered in 80-90 hours and therefore, i f prepared well, can fetch rich dividends. Section A of paper II consists of Qua ntum mechanics and Spectroscopy, while section "B" has Nuclear & Particle Physic s and Electronics & Solid state physics. Whole of the second paper excluding ele ctronics can be prepared from quantum physics by Resnick and Eisberg/ Modern Phy sics by Arthur Beiser. Above books can be supplemented by Quantum mechanics by H . C Verma, Spectroscopy by Rajkumar, and Nuclear physics by D C Tayal. Electroni cs can be prepared from text book by B. L. Thareja Vol. 4 and for solid state Ph ysics, text book by S. O. Pillai is of immense help. In Nuclear physics, semi-em pirical mass formula, deuteron problem, Shell model of nucleus and theory of b-d ecay should be prepared well. With the latest revision of syllabus, in paper 1, syllabus of Mechanics has been enhanced and questions are also expected from the topics like relationship betw een Y, K and & Poiseuelle formula. Therefore due importance should be given to t hem. Among the courses of Paper II, electronics has maximum syllabus. Therefore non-electronics background candidates should make some extra efforts to master t his part of syllabus or may also omit it. This was all about different courses and their probable sources now I'll give fe w general tips: My first advice is that one should not skip any portion of the syllabus. Thoroug h study is a must to get 400+marks at the most; one course could be omitted from both the papers. Although I do not recommend it. Analyse the examination papers of previous few years. You'll know yourself where the focus is. Take practice tests and get them evaluated by a teacher and see yourself, what i mprovements can be made. While taking the exams, read the questions correctly. Your reply should be to th e point, beating about the bush only wastes your time and doesn't fetch you any extra mark. Units and terms used in formulas should be clearly explained. Do not give the derivation if it has not been asked. I'll elaborate on this poin t, with the help of a problem asked in 2002's exam. "Using rocket equation and i ts integral find the final velocity of a single stage rocket. Data for velocity of escaping gases is given". In this problem, you may start from rocket equation , clearly explaining all the terms and then you may integrate it and obtain desi red quantities. Here there is no need to derive rocket equation. Apart from wast ing your valuable time it does not fetch you any extra credit hence this type of "extras" should be avoided. Finally one must stay `cool' during the examination. Do not get panicky, even if you do not know few things. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Paper I Mechanics : D S Mathur/ B S Agrawal/ Kleppner & Kolenkov Waves/Special Relativity : R. Resnick / Gupta & Goyal Optics : Brijlal and Subrahmaniyam / Ajay Ghatak / B S Agrwal Electrodynamics & EM Theory : David Griffiths / Chopra & Agrwal/ Satya Prakash Thermal & Statistical Physics : Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/P.K. Chakravarty/ Satya P rakash, Singhal et al Paper II Quantum Physics : Resnick & Eisberg Concepts of Modern Physics : Arthur Beiser Quantum Mechanics : H C Verma /Satya Prakash Atomic & Molecular Spectra : Raj Kumar Nuclear Physics : D C Tayal Solid State Physics : S.O. Pillai Electronics : B L Thareja Vol. IV

Strategy for IAS Examination with CHEMISTRY as an optional Secret of scoring maximum marks By R K Singh (Sen. Faculty DIAS) Careful study of Chemistry syllabus and pattern of recent year questions reveals that it is one of scoring subjects in Mains examination with minimum effort. On e requires focussed approach. good selection of books, well understanding and pr oper guidance to score good marks in Mains examination. How to Prepare for Mains Examination? In Mains the whole subject is divided into two papers, First paper includes Phys ical Chemistry and portions of Inorganic Chemistry while second paper includes O rganic Chemistry, Polymers and pectroscopy. For the Physical Chemistry part, a g ood understanding of the topics and proper presentation will fetch good marks. I n Physical Chemistry for any derivation, all the assumptions, proper figures / d iagrams, thorough analysis along with its practical applications will bring good marks. To elaborate it further ,I take here one example, say, the question is t o derive Clausius- claypeyeron equation. In answering this question your approac h shouldl be Step (a) It is applicable only for one component- two phase system like- solidliquid, liquid- gas etc. Step (b) Mention the thermodynamic criteria of equilibrium. Step (c) Write down thermodynamic relation of free energy. Step (d) Write down assumptions in the derivation. Step (e) Write down its usefulness and applications. If one writes this way, he can score upto 80 percent marks in Physical Chemistry . For Inorganic Chemistry, a thorough- understanding is required. Sometimes the qu estions asked in the Physical Chemistry part are not scoring enough and the ques tions asked in Inorganic Chemistry are scoring , therfore a good preparation of Inorganic Chemistry will give you good marks. One thing is to be noted here if proper pres entation is done one can score more in Inorganic Chemisitry than Physical Chemis try. Proper presentation, in-depth analysis along with examples will helpful in scoring more. For both Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, the question papers of previous years are very helpful and by solving the previous year papers under pr oper guidance one can score around seventy- five percent marks in Paper I. Second paper includes Organic Chemistry, Polymer and Spectroscopy. Here strategy should be different. To score good in this paper proper understanding and linka ges are necessary. Organic Chemistry is always a building and dynamic concept so daily revision, practice, discussion under proper efficient and effective guida nce will be helpful. For building good concepts in Organic Chemistry, in read Mo rison &Boyd and I.L Finar (vol) for basics. These books are also helpful in the Prelims examination. Now a days, question asked in the Organic Chemistry, are di rectly taken from standard books. So after building the concepts one must follow these advanced books thoroughly Previous year question bank is necessary but no t sufficient. For sufficiency and gaining confidence in this paper, one has to d o at least 50 good questions from each topic and in this respect our institute w ill be very helpful. If one does all the above things thoroughly, one can score upto seventy percent marks in Chemistry, For this, proper guidance, hard work re vision and proper practice will be very useful.

FRESHER'S TOOL- KIT Physical Chemistry (a) Physical Chemistry: Sharma Puri, & Pathania. (b) A text book of Physical Chemistry: P.W. Atkins. (c) Physical Chemistry Vol. 1 to 4:K.L Kapoor. (d) Electrochemistry : Glasstone. Inorganic Chemistry (a) Inorganic Chemistry: Principle of structure and reactivity james E. Huheey, Ellen A Keiter, Richar L. Ketter. (b) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: JD.Lee (c) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: Madan Malik & Tuli Organic Chemistry (a) Advanced Organic Chemistry: Francis A.Corey, Richard J Wothers (b) Organic Chemistry: Claydon. Greeves. S.Warren. P. Wothers (c) Principle of organic synthesis: Norman & Coxon. (d) Advanced Organic chemistry. Reaction Mechanism and Structure: J March (e) Principle of Spectroscopy: Silversteen (f) Organic Spectroscopy: Kemp (g) Reaction Mechanism: Mukherjee & Singh (h) Organic Chemistry: A. Pine (i) Text book of Spectroscopy : P.S. Kalsi Strategy for Mathematics as an optional in IAS Exam: Practice makes a man perfect. By DP Vajpeyi Mathematics is amongst one of the most scoring optionals in Civil Services exami nation. This is the only subject which can easily give one 400 + marks like 431 scored by Pradeep Agrawal (Rank. 30, CSE 2005). Top 20 is always replete with ca ndidates having Mathematics as their one of the two optionals. This year (i.e.20 10) too second ranker Prakash Rajpurohit had it as one of his optionals. In the last decade Mathematics has produced maximum number of toppers. In last few year s, popularity of Maths has declined little bit due to false propeganda against t he subject . Along with Physics/ engg. subject, it can be safely opted as a firs t or second optional . Who can opt for it ? Apart from main stream Mathematics students, any one from engineering / Physics background can opt for it. Beauty of the Subject is its language / presentation neutral approach. Mathematics is truly regarded as language of Physics/ engineer ing disciplines, so it comes very handy to them. What is against the subject ? Perceived notion of its time consuming nature, which is not true. This subject, by judicious planning can be easily prepared within 4 months like any other subj ect and believe me, if prepared well, Maths will never disappoint you. Strategy for Mathematics in Mains Examination Like any other optional, Mathematics in CSE comprise of two papers of 300 marks each. Each paper being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. Section A of paper I Comprise of the courses like Linear Algebra & Matrices, Integral & Di fferential calculus & Geometry of 2D & 3D. In this section if one prepares any t wo courses thoroughly , then one is preparing for minimum of 165 marks( 2 full q uestions and three bits) from the compulsory question. At the most one has to le ave one bit from the compulsory question. Courses of Algebra & Calculus should n ot be omitted due to their linkages from the courses of paper II. In Section B, we have the courses of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) , Vec tor Analysis & Mechanics. ODE and Vectors are regarded as simple courses, so nor mally "good " questions are asked from them. These days more weight is given to

their applied aspects . Therefore they should be well prepared from the Schaum s eries books by M R Spiegel apart from standard books by Indian writers like diff . equations by M D Raisinghania / N M Kapoor/ Vector Analysis by J N Sharma. Wit h . the latest revision of syllabus , syllabus of Statics/ dynamics has been tri mmed . This portion is scoring and can be well prepared from Krishna Series (Mee rut ) books. Strategy for paper II Section A of paper II comprises of Modern Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analys is & Linear programming problems. Courses of Real Analysis & Calculus are overla pping, therefore one must definitely prepare for this course. According to preva iling opinion among experts, questions from Modern Algebra are short & scoring p rovided they have been adequately prepared & presented. Here help of good teache rs like Prof. Ramakotaih (former V. C of Nagarjun University and having 45 years of teaching experience, associated with DIAS since last many years) proves very beneficial to students. From complex Analysis & LPP, one full question & two bi ts in the compulsory part are asked. One may prepare LPP question and may or may not prepare Complex Analysis part. This way, if one prepares Modern Algebra, Re al Analysis and LPP, then 3 full questions can be prepared from this section Sec tion B comprises of Partial differential equations (P D E), Numerical Analysis ( NA) and Computer programming and .Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics. P D E and NA bei ng simple courses should be prepared .If one comes from Physics / Engineering Ba ckgrounds then Mechanics can also be a good choice.

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