How to cover NCERTs? Are they still relevant? How to use NCERTs for both prelims and mains? If you are struggling with questions like these, this is for you (open to all). Habitat link and instructions at the bottom. Details for the next session below.
Hello students,
After Prelims 2020, there is both confusion and a certain skepticism about the basic approach for Prelims preparation. Everyone seems to be struggling with the “what next?” question for 2021. There is no gainsaying that our basic approach needs to be tweaked but to discard it squarely is far from being right.
We’ve started NCERTs discussion series on Habitat and with this discussion series, we intend to begin our step by step approach to the Prelims 2021 while unraveling the mystery held by the basic books like NCERTs.
Here we are going to understand the relevance and approach to read and cover NCERTS from both prelims and mains perspective. Not only we cover in-depth analysis of topics, even from the previous year paper, but also discuss the utilization of those topics.
Below are two images of the discussion in progress.
Since NCERTs are essential as they form a foundation on which you will build and develop your understanding, we’re going to cover all NCERTs one by one. It’s discussion series you can’t afford to miss.
Details of today’s discussion
Book: Class 12th NCERT – Themes in Indian History part III
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
We’ve built an amazing community of students preparing for civil services.
How we differ is in our approach to mentorship. It has been the key focus area for Civilsdaily.
The concept is simple. With the high levels of competition, students need handholding so they can build the initial momentum and get a rhythm going on. In an age of content overload, we’ve observed even the best minds lose precious time when they start out – experimenting around all the topper tips, trying different sources, arbitrary way of studying, no proper planning, and many other factors lead to wastage of both time and effort.
More often than not the price to pay is not just the first attempt, but a lack of energy and motivation leading to suboptimal subsequent attempts.
We are far from perfecting this system. It’s still a work in progress. But regardless, it is the best system that exists in the current UPSC preparation domain.
We are looking for like-minded people, who resonate with the problem we are trying to solve. This post is to specifically invite candidates with exceptional optional skills to teach and mentor students.
Preference to those who already have an ongoing course.
Should be extremely well-versed with the optional.
Should very clearly understand how to score well in the paper. This is different from having knowledge.
Interested candidates can go ahead and fill the form given at the end of the careers page –
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
How to write an essay that will fetch you 160+ marks in IAS mains exam? What are the components of a great essay? How to write philosophical essays? Like these, you might’ve got a lot of questions.
Zeeshan sir will be live today at 7 pm to unlock the mystery around IAS mains Essay paper and answer all of your questions. Click on the video below to set reminder.
Zeeshan sir himself will be mentoring and streamlining your essay preparation in Essay FLTs 2020 program.
What is Essay FLTs 2020?
It is a mentor-driven Essay test series for UPSC 2020 Mains exam. Our focus is on personalized attention in evaluation, execution, and course correction. Our innovative methodology in topic selection, reviews, and evaluation on one hand and mentorship and collaborative approach on the other will build your capacity to write Essays that will fetch 160+ marks.
What are we offering and how is it unique?
We’ve innovated at every step of the process.
Highly relevant, precise and thoughtful topic selection
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010 – Economy, Polity, Women Issues, Education, Science & Tech, Philosophy, IR, Miscellaneous.
But there is some rationality to the way UPSC selects essay topics. Those themes are highly relevant to the current times and one can find a strong correlation with current affairs of the past year(s).
We plan to develop your competencies so that you can be better prepared for the actual exam.
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology. Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing
(X) Cross – FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
(*)Star -APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Zeeshan sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses.
We don’t want to merely suggest additional points that can be googled by the student themselves or point out superficial flaws like not ‘sticking to the topic’. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
10 parameters on which your essays are going to get evaluated
Comprehension of the topic
Language and Expression
Structure and Organisation of thought.
Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
Attitude whether a learner or judgmental
Focus and attention
Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
Model essays with indicative structure and good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures. This aspect of the program addresses this issue.
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, we’re here to help.
One-to-one Mentorship and Civilsdaily’s handholding
This component of the program is the most important. Post-evaluation of your essay test you will get on a one-to-one discussion with Zeeshan sir. He will discuss the topic in considerable depth, appropriate structure, pitfalls to avoid, etc.
Along with that, sir will also discuss copies presenting different styles in which the essays could be attempted.
Membership to exclusive group on Habitat
Habitat is our learning platform, here you’ll be given membership to an exclusive Essay group. This group will be administered by Zeeshan sir, Sajal sir, in-service officers, rankers, and other mentors.
For essays, you need multiple perspectives to understand a topic or an issue in its entirety. You need discussions; arguments; confluence, confrontation, and integration of ideas. Here, discussions will be facilitated by mentors and enriched by different viewpoints by peers. Moreover, you can ask and discuss any of your doubts with peers and Zeeshan sir.
Besides these, you will be given the following
Any additional material that we release for essays.
Notes and reference material including good articles, essays, etc. on Habitat group.
Program inclusion
5 FLTs
Model essays
One-to-one mentorship
Membership to exclusive Essay group on Habitat
Notes and references on Habitat
Price of the program
Rs. 4000 + taxes for Smash Mains 2020 enrolled students
Have you started the mains answer writing practice yet? The first test of Mains FLTs 2020 is live now. Instruction on where to find and attempt the test below.
Mains is the most important stage of the UPSC exam. It’s also becoming more and more unpredictable, analytical and dynamic than ever before.
Watch Sajal sir live today.
What is Mains FLTs 2020?
Mains FLTs 2020 is a personalised and Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers. The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
Our previous year Mains tests have had an exceptional hit ratio in 2019 and 2018 UPSC Mains.
It happens under a team of experienced Civilsdaily’s faculty. Questions framed are from the most important UPSC relevant themes and papers are based on the latest pattern of UPSC.
Our questions specifically state:
Whether they are straightforward or thought-provoking/analytical.
Whether they have subparts.
Why this question – similar previous year questions, the importance of the theme, etc.
CD Innovation – Star marked questions We go the extra mile and craft unique, intellectually-stimulating questions. Marked with a star, these questions reward analytical ability and critical thinking.
2. One-to-One Discussion on every checked copy
We believe in personalised individual attention. This is the biggest reason why you should join our TS. Students can schedule a call within 2 days of receiving their checked copies.
A one-to-one discussion with Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests.
Our evaluation focusses on multiple dimensions and parameters like structure, flow, presentation, contextuality, relevance to question, analytical excellence and cross-domain inter-linkages than simply on superficial, memory-based lapses.
More than just simply providing information, our model answers cover all the aspects of a question and provide enriching points to the student. They also include:
For ‘thought-provoking/analytical‘ type of questions, we’ll provide the best way to approach them.
Alternate introductions
Sub-headings and categorization to enhance readability and answer structure.
Colour coding for main arguments, reports, data, scholars, etc.
OTB – Out of the box points for additional marks
5. Video Discussion
Every test is discussed thoroughly in the video lecture. An in-depth explanation of every question, demand from it and the ways in which it could have been answered are discussed. Mentors will also be sharing answer writing strategy with students so that they can gain extra marks in Mains.
You’ll be assigned to a special group on Civilsdaily’s Habitat, it’s headed by Sajal Sir, Atul Sir, Ravi Sir and rankers like Dr Vipin Garg (AIR 20), Swapnil Pawar (AIR 525) and others.
Habitat is where everything comes together learning, doubt clearing, notes, references, mentor’s support, and a focussed community. You’re going to learn and discuss like never before.
How will your queries be resolved?
The moment you have a query, you post it in the group. At 11 PM, 3 AM, doesn’t matter. No need to schedule a call, or drop an email. Just drop a chat. Once our team is up, it will be resolved.
More often than not, your peers will take part in your doubt discussions adding a lot of value.
Besides doubts, what else is there on Habitat?
#DDS sessions – We have dedicated sessions every day to resolve doubts in real-time. Never keep a doubt to yourself.
An ecosystem for co-learning and active learning.
A highly motivated community to bring flexibility and consistency to your preparation.
That’s not all, we’ve Daily news analysis and Op-ed discussion sessions on Habitat. Other activities like revisions, quizzes, test discussion, CSAT, etc. are also planned.
Current affairs magazines – Civilsdaily’s Magazines are the best in terms of comprehensive coverage, superb design, and high readability. Get them here.
Listicles and other relevant study material – Supplementary content provided will be helpful in covering multiple related questions.
Program inclusion:
Tests (12 Full Syllabus) and Model Answers
Video Discussion
On phone One-to-One discussion of checked copy
Civilsdaily’s Handholding and connect with Mentor on Habitat
Civilsdaily’s Habitat special group
Civilsdaily’s Magazines, Listicles, and other relevant study material
Instructions and link to register for the Open test below. Test will be made live at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Click here for the Open test. Instructions below.
Dear students,
We have launched Mains 2020 Full-Length Test series, and are providing the first test of the series as open to all.
Details of the test
Subject: GS mains paper 1
Syllabus: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the world, Society and Current Events
Mains FLTs 2020 is a personalised and Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers.
There are 12 full length FLTs.
The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
UPSC has released the marksheet for UPSC 2019 CSE exams for both written qualified candidates and for those who couldn’t qualify. Marksheet of UPSC 2019 prelims exam has also been released.
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Is managing time a challenge for you? Manoj cleared IAS exam with a full-time job. Fill Samanvaya form and discuss how you can do it too.
Manoj Madhav, IFS, in conversation with Parth sir gave an insight into his mindset and his thought process. For him, prelims was the toughest stage. Manoj talked in length about his motivation, failures, lesson learned, study hacks and gave tips for prelims and mains. Watch the video for more.
Click on the video and set timer for 8:30 pm
About Manoj Madhav
Manoj hails from Kerala and is an Engineer from NIT, Calicut. This was his third attempt. He was working full time all the while he was preparing for the 2019 attempt. His optional was Sociology. Manoj enjoys his daily Sudoku and is a movie buff. His other hobbies include watching crime thrillers and playing table tennis.
He is going to be an asset for the Indian Foreign Service and Indian administration in general. We are proud of Manoj Madhav and wish him the very best for his future.
Unherd Topper Talk series is a Civilsdaily’s initiative. We want to highlight what makes these toppers, their approach and strategy different from the herd. And you will also be getting a sneak peek into the moments of their lives that are unheard of.
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Remember the story of the pied piper? Weren’t you astonished at the ease with which he solved the village’s problem (Rat Infestation) where everyone else had terribly failed? Certainly, the Pied Piper had special skills that villagers lacked.
Now let’s forget the Pied Piper for a moment. What if someone tells you that a 160+ score in Essay paper is very much attainable even for an average Essay writer? Don’t believe it? Have a look at these two successive scorecards.
UPSC mains scorecards of Zeeshan sir. A whopping jump of 65 marks in Essay paper.
Here you’ve seen Zeeshan sir transforming from a mere villager (average UPSC essay writer) to a pied piper. But what changes led to a whopping jump of 65 marks (from 98 to 163 Marks)? For that, you need to follow the footsteps of the Pied Piper.
Truth be told, the Essay paper is the most ignored, least understood, but the most scoring paper of the IAS exam. Consider the effort that you need to put in to score even 130 marks in any of the G.S. papers. But in the Essay, it’s altogether a different story.
Like the villagers in the story, IAS aspirants employ the wrong means to approach this paper. Some of those are:
Making the paper an enlarged version of G.S. answer and overloading it with facts, figures, data, statistics.
Using flowery language and difficult vocabulary.
Overdoing Diagrammatic representation.
Using stories, quotes, illustrations just for the sake of using them.
Being restricted to dimensional analysis e.g. PESTEL approach where the main thrust is on probing these dimensions only. And the list goes on.
It’s imperative that you become like Pied Piper to tame the Essay Paper i.e. understand the actual demands of this paper and present them as per the expectations of UPSC. What’s even more exciting is that you can do this with limited efforts and time thus allowing you to devote more time to other time taking subjects.
Zeeshan sir himself will be mentoring and streamlining your essay preparation in Essay FLTs 2020.
What is Essay FLTs 2020?
It is a mentor-driven Essay test series for UPSC 2020 Mains exam. Our focus is on personalized attention in evaluation, execution, and course correction. Our innovative methodology in topic selection, reviews, and evaluation on one hand and mentorship and collaborative approach on the other will build your capacity to write Essays that will fetch 160+ marks.
What are we offering and how is it unique?
We’ve innovated at every step of the process.
Highly relevant, precise and thoughtful topic selection
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010 – Economy, Polity, Women Issues, Education, Science & Tech, Philosophy, IR, Miscellaneous.
But there is some rationality to the way UPSC selects essay topics. Those themes are highly relevant to the current times and one can find a strong correlation with current affairs of the past year(s).
We plan to develop your competencies so that you can be better prepared for the actual exam.
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology. Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing
(X) Cross – FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
(*)Star -APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Zeeshan sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses.
We don’t want to merely suggest additional points that can be googled by the student themselves or point out superficial flaws like not ‘sticking to the topic’. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
10 parameters on which your essays are going to get evaluated
Comprehension of the topic
Language and Expression
Structure and Organisation of thought.
Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
Attitude whether a learner or judgmental
Focus and attention
Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
Model essays with indicative structure and good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures. This aspect of the program addresses this issue.
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, we’re here to help.
One-to-one Mentorship and Civilsdaily’s handholding
This component of the program is the most important. Post-evaluation of your essay test you will get on a one-to-one discussion with Zeeshan sir. He will discuss the topic in considerable depth, appropriate structure, pitfalls to avoid, etc.
Along with that, sir will also discuss copies presenting different styles in which the essays could be attempted.
Membership to exclusive group on Habitat
Habitat is our learning platform, here you’ll be given membership to an exclusive Essay group. This group will be administered by Zeeshan sir, Sajal sir, in-service officers, rankers, and other mentors.
For essays, you need multiple perspectives to understand a topic or an issue in its entirety. You need discussions; arguments; confluence, confrontation, and integration of ideas. Here, discussions will be facilitated by mentors and enriched by different viewpoints by peers. Moreover, you can ask and discuss any of your doubts with peers and Zeeshan sir.
Besides these, you will be given the following
Any additional material that we release for essays.
Notes and reference material including good articles, essays, etc. on Habitat group.
Program inclusion
5 FLTs
Model essays
One-to-one mentorship
Membership to exclusive Essay group on Habitat
Notes and references on Habitat
Price of the program
Rs. 4000 + taxes for Smash Mains 2020 enrolled students
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Abhishek scored 140 and 129 in UPSC Pre GS paper 1 when pre cut off was 105 and 98 respectively. This will be the third of three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf on IAS Prelims 2021 strategy.Link for the full playlist.
Abhishek Saraf, IAS, in this final lecture three-part lecture series will be sharing his Prelims Strategy with you all. mong things he’d be talking about are: how he attempted his pre papers?; using Civilsdaily’s Tikdams; which test series to join?; time management; and other important dimensions to IAS prelims.
Click on the video below and Set Reminder for 7:30 pm.
Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. An achiever through and through he scored this rank in his fourth attempt. Earlier he has scored a rank of 402 and 248 in UPSC 2017 (resigned in 15 days) and UPSC 2018 respectively. His optional was Civil Engineering. He is a manifestation of ‘hard work pays’ maxim. He has three research publications, two foreign internships, and a patent (pending).
This ia a three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf for Civilsdaily IAS. He has been a part of the Civilsdaily family for more than 4 years now and has been a strong supporter of our approach to IAS exam preparation.
The link for the second lecture will be shared after this lecture. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel and let us know what more we can share with you.
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Abhishek scored 140 and 129 in UPSC Pre GS paper 1 when pre cut off was 105 and 98 respectively. This will be the second of three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf on IAS Prelims 2021 strategy.Link for playlist given in the bottom.
Abhishek Saraf, IAS, in this second of the three-part lecture series will be sharing his Prelims Strategy with you all. Today he will be discussing all the topics (subject wise) on which he made notes. He will also discuss how to deal with and use factoids. His third lecture will be made live in the evening.
Click on the video below and Set Reminder for 11 am.
Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. An achiever through and through he scored this rank in his fourth attempt. Earlier he has scored a rank of 402 and 248 in UPSC 2017 (resigned in 15 days) and UPSC 2018 respectively. His optional was Civil Engineering. He is a manifestation of ‘hard work pays’ maxim. He has three research publications, two foreign internships, and a patent (pending).
This ia a three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf for Civilsdaily IAS. He has been a part of the Civilsdaily family for more than 4 years now and has been a strong supporter of our approach to IAS exam preparation.
The link for the second lecture will be shared after this lecture. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel and let us know what more we can share with you.
Abhishek scored 140 and 129 in UPSC Pre GS paper 1 when pre cut off was 105 and 98 respectively. This will be the first of three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf on IAS Prelims 2021 strategy.
Abhishek Saraf, IAS, in this three-part lecture series will be sharing his Prelims Strategy with you all. In the first lecture he will be explaining and discussing the basic approach, syllabus-wise booklist, then the need and approach to reading a newspaper. He will also be telling about notes making from newspapers and books.
Click on the video below and Set Reminder for 11 am.
Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. An achiever through and through he scored this rank in his fourth attempt. Earlier he has scored a rank of 402 and 248 in UPSC 2017 (resigned in 15 days) and UPSC 2018 respectively. His optional was Civil Engineering. He is a manifestation of ‘hard work pays’ maxim. He has three research publications, two foreign internships, and a patent (pending).
This ia a three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf for Civilsdaily IAS. He has been a part of the Civilsdaily family for more than 4 years now and has been a strong supporter of our approach to IAS exam preparation.
The link for the second lecture will be shared after this lecture. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel and let us know what more we can share with you.
