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[Yearbook] India 2014: How to start? Geographypreparation plan, sample MCQs

Posted By On 06/03/2014 @ 12:09 am In Yearbook | 51 Comments

1. Prologue1. Rule#1: DONOT read in linear sequence2. Rule#2: Organizations imp. BUT evolution is NOT3. Rule#3: Location not important for Misc. organization4. Rule#4: Ignore Bolbachhan5. Rule#5: Schemes/funds/projects what to read, what to skip?6. Rule#6: Policies: Must maintain separate notes

2. Chapter 1: Land and People1. Ch1: Mock MCQ Questions

3. Chapter 30: States and UT1. Ch30: Mock MCQ Questions

Prologue

Last Month, Ministry of information & broadcasting published the book India2014 (in English) || Bharat 2014 (in Hindi)They’re Commonly known as “India Yearbook” among the toppers, seniorplayers and coaching classes for UPSC.

In this [Yearbook] article series, we’ll see how to utilize this book effectivelyfor preparation of UPSC civil service exam.

Rule#1: DONOT read in linear sequence

India Yearbook has total 32 chapters + appendix. Donot read them in linearfashion (1,2,3,4,5) instead go topic wise.

CLICK TO ENLARGE THIS PHOTO

Area/subject/topic first finish then readIYB chapter

finally,newspaper/magz+

GeographyEnBSci.Tech

NCERT & NIOS 1, 4, 12, 25,27, 30 12th FYP

Economy NCERT 8, 11, 17,19, 26

12th FYP, budget,economic survey

1. Polity

polity:2, 3,2010,

2. rights issue,3. development

Laxmikanth: English/ Hindi

15,16,21,23,24, 28

12th FYP

defense, IR

For internationalrelation basics:IGNOU moduleMPSE­001

9, 18 –

Misc.GK nothing 5, 22, 29,31, 32, 33 –

Some of the chapters will overlap in multiple topics. For example:

1. Ch1: Census data during education, welfare etc. chapters2. Ch4 Agro: during finance/insurance, food­civil supply, welfare.3. Ch9 Defence: some Misc. GK, some IR/bilateral, some Sci­tech

research.4. Ch11 Energy: Part of it with EnB (renewable) and part with

infrastructure (thermal)5. Ch23: Planning chapter will overlap in other areas e.g. EnB:

environment forest; Economy­infrastructure; welfare, education and soon.

6. Ch30: state UT will also overlap­ in agro, forest, water, energy,culture/tourism etc.

Anyways, we’ll see them in detail­ where and how they overlap. But pointbeing, that if you read the book topicwise, you’ll become less vulnerable totrap MCQs, you can write more comprehensive answers and essay/mains.

Moving to the next rule:

Rule#2: Organizations imp. BUT evolution is NOT

Often the IYB will tell you evolutionary story about aministry/department/organization. For example:

“__ department was setup in ___ year under ___ ministry. In the ___year, department was shifted to _____ ministry. In the year ___, theministry was renamed into ____, blah blah blah”.

This type of GK/chronology/Evolution was important under PublicAdministration optional subject in preliminary exams (i.e. before 2011).But in 2011, UPSC introduced CSAT system (no more optionalsubjects in prelims). = such details are useless.and even for Public Administration optional subject in Mains exam­such “evolution” details are no longer asked/useful.

Therefore, don’t bother with such details. Whenever you read anyorganization, only focus on three things:

1. Nature: Constitutional/statutory/executive/attachedoffice/society/PSU/SPV/autonomous body/anything else?

2. Boss: Who is the boss? Under which ministry does it fall?3. Function:

I. What’re the functions/schemes/policies associated?II. in Sci­tech related organizations you’ll find fancy

terms/inventions associated. you need to dig their feature/benefitfrom google­ for the GS3 paper.

While you’re reading IYB, try to maintain an excel spreadsheet, mindmap,or handwritten micronote about ^this. (and continue updating it fromnewspapers, Pib.nic.in and yojana/kurukshetra magazine.)

Rule#3: Location not important for Misc. organization

Do not waste time in memorizing the locations of relatively unknownorganizations. for example

1. Harishchandra research institute, Allahbad2. Institute of mathematical science , Chennai3. Institute of physics, Bhuwaneshwar.

“Match the following (Chillar) institute vs location”= this type MCQs wereasked in late 90s­early 2000s era. But since last three years, UPSC hasstopped harassing aspirants with such trivial GK.

Besides, even if 1­2 MCQs are asked from this area, the cost:benefitis terrible (in terms of the amount of effort required to mugup & recallthe list in the exam).You’re better off investing that much time in the “Core” areas of CSAT­polity, geography, science, EnB, economy and aptitude.

Rule#4: Ignore Bolbachhan

While describing schemes/policy/functions, the IYB­writers give a lot ofbolbachhan (Filler information.) Observe:

1. Under ____ scheme, the ministry has initiated new and improvedprocesses, improved functionality and efficient cost effective services,network integration, human resources development…”

2. The Department of ____ also has a specialized center to analyzemetals, alloys, organic and organometallic compounds, inorganiccompounds, rocks and minerals.

3. The national institute of ___ provides an integrated M.Sc.+Ph.Dcourse in biology, chemistry, math and physics.

4. During the year ___ , Doordarshan’s DTH platform was upgraded from

50 to 59 SDTV channels and 65000 set top boxes with an Expenditureof Rs.____ crore.

Such details are useless for prelim­MCQs. such details won’t even fetchany marks in descriptive question under Mains /Essay.

In short, dates­numbers­fancy things are almost always useless. Even ifone or two things help directly/indirectly in the exam­ the cost benefit is stillterrible. Therefore, always focus on facts­features relevant to the exam. Askyouself “can this be asked as MCQs? can I quote this while writing adescriptive answer?” if answer is “NO”, then don’t bother reading such data.

If you’re totally new to this game, DO go through at least last three years’prelims and mains papers of UPSC. that’ll give you a basic idea of what isimportant and what is useless from exam point of view.

Rule#5: Schemes/funds/projects what to read, whatto skip?

In the schemes related paragraphs­ there is lot of bolbachchan. Example

1. During the 11th Five year plan, Rs._____ crore were spent. Out of this,____ number of beneficiaries were given ____ Cores. Under the 12thfive year plan, the allotment has been raised by __%….

2. Then a big table is given, showing the allocations made to eachstate/UT etc.

Nearly 70% of scheme related paragraphs are full of such junk. Ignore it.And extract ONLY following five things:

1. When did the scheme start?

Absolute year is not important but you need it for Chronological type MCQWhich came first? or what is the correct chronological order in following?

Q1. Project Tiger/elephant/crocodile?Q2. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan / right to education / mid­day meal?

Because ^this type of MCQs are still asked.

2. Who is the boss? [i.e. which ministry/department looks after?]3. Where does the money come?

a. Does Union government provide 100% funding, or do the statesneed to contribute something as well? 10%/20%/25% etc?]

b. In some cases, even Private sector gives money e.g. IndiaInclusive Innovation Fund – 100 crore by Union and 400 bybanks/FI/donors etc.]

4. What are the salient featuresa. Who is eligible beneficiary?

b. What benefit does he/she get?c. How does he get benefit? (direct cash, “in kind” (e.g. tractor,

wheelchair), indirect benefit via subsidy to fertilizer company andso on)

5. + any other term/condition that you find worthy of a UPSC level MCQ.

Sometimes you’ll not get all of this data within IYB. In that case digpib.nic.in

Hint: in google search box, type “site:pib.nic.in *name of the scheme*”

Rule#6: Policies: Must maintain separate notes

Usually 90% of the policy paragraph is just bolbachhan filler junk.

We only need to dig five things:

1. Year (not absolute year, but you need to be aware of chronologicalorder, for MCQs)

2. Boss: Which ministry / Department is responsible for this policy? (e.g.Manufacturing policy=Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion(DIPP) under Commerce Ministry.)

3. Features: What are the salient features/targets?4. Methods: What schemes/projects have been launched to accomplish

this policy?5. Analysis: (for mains & interview): the pros/cons/suggestions.

Often, you won’t find all these details in IYB (because the author got socarried away in writing bolbachhan, he forgot to provide the essentialdetails.) In all such cases, dig pib.nic.in for topic 1 to 4 and; for #5­ digHindu, Indianexpress etc.

hint: to find a policy on pib.nic.in quickly, open google search box, and type

“site:pib.nic.in *name of the policy*”

Don’t do Ph.D while gathering content. Try to make a revision note thatsummarizes every policy (and its five area) in single side A4 page (oreven less.)

I’m writing this article on Mar­03­2014. Meaning less than 5 monthsleft before prelims. It’s ideal time to gather these details right now.After mains, you’ll be caught up with so many other topics of GS andOptional subjects, you won’t have sufficient time to cover hte policies.Then you’ll try to take shortcut by getting some coaching note/currentaffairs book= useless, because most of them are justbolbachhan copy­pasted from IYB, newspapers and government sites.Such details will not stay in long term memory. You cannot recall thepoints in examhall = bogus quality answer.

But if you prepare a self­note in your own words­revolving around those fivethings, and keep revising it regularly, then you can handle pretty much anydescriptive question related to xyz policy, you can recall the answer pointsquickly.

Bills/Acts/laws

Approach remains similar to policy topic:

1. year2. boss3. features (from prsindia.org)4. analysis (from prsindia, other newspapers)

anyways, let’s start with ch1.

Chapter 1: Land and People

DONOT read entire Chapter 1 in a single sitting. Instead, approach infollowing manner

Read thissection from ch1 then directly shift towards

1. IndianGeography Ch. 30 States and UT

2. FloraFauna Ch. 12 environment (and then to 12th FYP)

3. CensusDonor read census right now. Instead, come back torefer census, when you’re reading education, health,welfare related chapters.

The first four pages the first chapter of IYB are dedicated to this topic“Indian (physical) Geography”.

#1 Pre­requisite: NCERT Indian Geography

If you directly read the land­people chapter. It’ll be a big “hathodaa”(hammer) on your head. So, first make sure you’ve thoroughly finished withNCERTs (for Indian Geography)

TOPIC CLASS CHAPTERS

India Basic6 79 1, 2, 411* 1 and 29 3

Rivers 10 311* 312* 6

Economic Geography 10 1,5, 6, 712* 7 to 12

Human Geography 9 612* 1to 4

*For Class 11 and 12, NCERT has three books of Geography, but In abovetable

Class 11 Geography means “India­Physical­Environment­Geography”Class 12 Geography means “India People and Economy”

PS: all NCERT, NIOS PDFs are available at Mrunal.org/download

#2: DO keep a school atlas

While reading these (NCERT) chapter and IYB topics, if you keep readingonly text like “western Himalayan region extends from Kashmir toKumaon….” without referring to atlas, it’ll never go in your long termmemory. Then, despite having read the text, you won’t be able to solve theMCQs.

Assuming that you’re done with #1 and #2. Welcome back. Now open thechapter 1, page 1 of IYB14.

1. First para. Quote of Mark Twain = important as Essay title.2. Second para. well you’d know this by reading NCERTs3. From (Page1 Para3) to (Page4 Para2): finish while simultaneously

referring to Atlas. This is mostly location /mapping type GK in acompressed form.

4. Then climate­flora­fauna thing starts. ignore it at the moment (becausewe do it in Environment­biodiversity section)

Let’s check a few demo MCQs

Ch1: Mock MCQ Questions

Q1. Consider following river basins

1. Ganga­Brahmaputra­Meghna2. Brahmani­Baitarani3. Luni4. Subarnarekha

Which of them are examples of composite river basins?

A. only 1 and 2

B. only 3 and 4C. only 1D. only 3

Q2. Find correct statements about drainage system in Western India

A. West coast streams are short in length, have limited catchment area.B. Streams of Western Rajasthan are ephemeral.C. Both A and BD. Neither A nor B

Q3. Which of the following rivers don’t drain into sea? (1) Luni (2)Macchu (3) Saraswati (4) Ghaggar

Answer choices:

a. only 1 and 3b. only 1, 2 and 3c. only 1 and 4d. 1234

Correct answers

answer/hint IYBPage#

Trap MCQ. “Composite” doesn’t mean composite word as inEnglish grammar. Composite river basin = having area between2k to 20k sq.kms => correct are Luni and Subernarekha

4

Both are correct 3None of them drains into sea 3

So far you finished India’s physical geography: mountains and rivers fromChapter 1.Now directly shift to Chapter 30.

Chapter 30: States and UT

You’ll have to refer this chapter back and forth many times (for culture,polity, mining, infrastructure etc.)

APPROACH #1 APPROACH #2

You finish everything at once e.g.picked Andhra, then readeverything about Andhra: history,geography, agro, irrigation,power, industries, transport,tourism…everything.

Only move topic wise PER state. example

History, tourism, festivals: Andra,Assam, Bihar…Agriculture: Andra, Assam,Bihar…Forest wildlife: Andra, Assam,Bihar…

and so on

use this approach for:

1. first sitting.2. state service exam (only

your state)3. UPSC interview (all the

states where you’ve been –in terms of birth, school,college and job).

use this approach for

Subsequent revisions in second,third, fourth sittings.UPSC prelims (because oftenthey ask “comparative” typeMCQs, match the following: statevs tribe, state vs festival, state vs.wildlife sanctuary etc. so youneed to prepare in parallelmanner.)

Note: in the market, many GK books deal with such data: state vs festival,tourism, river etc.– those things will work fine for SSC, Bank type exam. Butthey often ignore non­popular, non­clichéd data such as

1. Sualkuchi, Assam = silk;2. Hajo, Assam= Meeting point of Buddhism ,Hinduism and Islam

But you’ll find these things in IYB. So, do prepare Ch30 religiously.

Important: IYB 2014 doesn’t contain information on the newly formed Stateof Telengana. But do dig the similar details via google. (Power plants,tourist attraction, sanctuaries, rivers etc.)

Ch30: Mock MCQ Questions

these are only meant to test your “recalling” power. otherwise, UPSC MCQswill be way tougher than this chillar stuff.

Q1. Which of the following dynasties have ruled over Andhra/Teluguregion?

1. Satvahan2. Ahom3. Sakas4. Ikshvakus

Answer choice

a. 123b. 13c. 134d. 1234

Q2. Consider following caves: Ajanta, Elllora, Elephanta, Kanheri, Karla.

Which of them are located in Maharahstra?

a. all except Kanheri, Karlab. all except Karlac. all except Elephantad. All of them

Q3. Consider following data

State name in the ancient texts

1. Odisha Utkal

2. W.BengalGangaridai

3. Assam Kamrupa

Which of them are correctly matched?

a. only 1 and 3b. only 2 and 3c. only 1 and 3d. all of them

Q4. Match the following

I. MeghalayaII. MizoramIII. NagalandIV. Assam

1. NongkremDance

2. Cheraw Dance3. Hornbill festival4. Bhaona

Correct match

code I II III IVa 4 3 2 1b 2 1 4 3c 3 2 1 4d 1 2 3 4

Q5. which of the following is correct about Vijayanagar Kings?

A. They had helped Goa’s king to fight against Alfonso de Albuquerque.B. Their empire crumbled after the humiliating defeat in the battle of

Talikota.

C. Both A and BD. Neither A nor B

Q6. Consider following rivers: Rabi, Chenab, Beas, Sutluj, Yamuna.Which of them pass through Himachal pradesh?

a. All except Beasb. All except Yamunac. All except Chenabd. All of them

Q7. Consider following fruits: Apples, pear, peach, guava, and litchi.Which of them are temperate fruits?

a. all except guava and litchib. all except pear and peachc. all except pear and litchid. all of them

Q8. Consider following statements about Lakshadweep

1. its capital is Minicoy2. its coconuts have highest oil content in the world3. its per capita fish availability is highest in India4. its administrator is called Lt.governor

Incorrect statements are

a. only 2 and 4b. only 3 and 4c. only 1d. only 1 and 4

Q9. Consider following

1. Harvalemfalls Goa

2. Elephant falls Meghalaya

3. VantawngFalls Mizoram

Which of them are correctly matched?

a. only 1 and 3b. only 2 and 3

c. only 1 and 3d. all of them

Q10. Match the following

I. SikkimII. TripuraIII. HimachalIV. Uttarakhand

1. Garhwali2. Pahari3. Kokborak4. Lepcha

Correct match

code I II III IVa 3 4 1 2b 4 3 1 2c 3 4 2 1d 4 3 2 1

Q11. Consider following

1. Wollastonite Rajasthan

2. pyrophyllite UP

3. chyrsoliteasbestos Andra

Which of them are correctly matched?

a. only 1 and 3b. only 2 and 3c. only 1 and 3d. all of them

Q12. Consider following statements about the tribes of AndamanNicobar?

1. Negrito tribes live in Andaman group of islands2. Mongoloid tribes live in Nicobar group of islands3. The Shompen are an example of Negrito tribes.

Which of them are correct?

a. only 1 and 3

b. only 2 and 3c. only 1 and 2d. only 1 and 3

Q13. Which of the following statements are correct about Onge,Jarawa and Sentinalese tribes?

A. all of them live in Andaman group of IslandsB. all of them are Negrito tribesC. Both A and BD. Neither A nor B

Q14. Correct statements about Diu­Daman vs Dadra­Nagar Haveli?

1. Majority population of population in Diu­Daman is tribal2. Majority of area in Dadra and Nagar Haveli is under forest cover.3. Both UT are administrated by the same chief commissioner.

Answer choice

a. only 1 and 2b. only 1c. only 2d. all of them

Chapter 30: Correct Answers

1. C. Ahom = Assam. remaining are correct2. D. all of them.3. D. all of them4. D. 1234 all given in correct sequence in the table itself.5. B.only second statement correct6. D. all of them pass through HP7. A. Guava, litchi = subtropical fruits (hint: read Kashmir section of

Ch30)8. D. incorrect statement=only 1 and 4. Capital Kavaratti and

Administrator is called administrator.9. D. all falls are correctly matched10. D. 432111. D all match12. C. because Shompen are Mongoloid.13. C. both right14. B. only first statement right – Diu Daman majority tribal

—

So far you’re done with

1. chapter 1 (minus flora, fauna and census)2. chapter 30

Next article, we see how to handle Ch.7 Environment (+12th Five yearplan). Click me

visit Mrunal.org/yearbook For more on Yearbook related topics/articles.

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