Hello everyone. This is Aishwarya Verma UPSC CSE’21 AIR 4 this year. Contrary to the common perception I am a boy😂(Sorry to those who got disappointed). Many students have asked me for the strategy, notes and experience regarding the upsc journey. As it becomes difficult to respond individually i have created this channel so that i can share the respective things and it can reach a larger pool of aspirants.
This is my scorecard. As you can see that a greater share in the GS papers with uniformity can help you get through. This is one specific area that i focussed this year compared to earlier years.
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Interview Transcript
Here is my interview transcript for the interview day
Date and session of interview-23rd May afternoon (4th to go) Board- M Satyavathi ma’am Optional-Geography Background-Electrical engineering Hobbies-Playing chess
Your experience in interview-
Chairwomen: Read my DAF loudly and asked the pronunciation of my name.
Difference in delta formation of East and west flowing rivers.
Issues in cartographic representation of 3D model of earth.
Techniques to rectify the same.
Member 1-
What is the share of renewable energy in India?
Is India facing energy crisis. What are the reasons for the same?
What do you suggest to improve this scenario.
You suggest nuclear energy. What is the present share and what is the target.
Member 2-
What is the installed capacity of hydropower in India? – (I said not aware of exact figure)
You know about total installed capacity and you know the percentage share. Can’t you make an estimate. (I made a rough estimate based on simple math-he started smiling)
What is the condition of the forex reserves in India?
What is the exchange rate and why is it falling?
You play chess. If I am a Novice, How many moves will you take to checkmate me. (I said 2 if you make a specific mistake-he seemed a bit surprised after this. He asked me about the moves)
Member 3-(Lady)
You are from Ujjain. Tell me the reasons why Indore is able to maintain the cleanest city status for the past 5 years.
What is youth’s contribution in the same. (i explained this with an example)
International yoga day and which department handles this?
What are the activities done on this day?
Tell me about the issues related to the cyber security in India?
Member 4-
A long monologue-issues related to Generation transmission and distribution. Lack of coordination among them and asked me what can be done for smooth functioning.
Based on previous answer – what are smart meters and smart grid?
Why the share and participation of rooftop solar panels is still less. Do you think it will be successful.
Can you name a company that is involved in implementing the solar rooftop project.
What is power factor? And in general what is the power factor in case of a household. Is it written somewhere on the electricity bill.
Chairwomen- Thank you. Your interview is over.
Interview experience: Very cordial board. Half of the interview went in the direction started by me and taking keywords from the previous answers. Time: 25-30 min. It was difficult to maintain eye contact with all due to round table. The distance from Chairwomen was a bit long with mask on so i have to be a bit louder compared to my natural tone. Overall good experience.
Utility of mocks – gaining confidence and framing sentences. Real interview is entirely a different game.
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Notes
I will be sharing my test copies GS notes, Geography strategy and notes gradually on this post as soon as i compile them digitally.
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Prelims Strategy
Good morning everyone, prelims is around the corner so i am not bombarding with any other thing right now. At this crucial juncture I want to share that one thing that worked immensely for me just before prelims.
Solving mocks of different institutes no doubt help you in improving your skills, knowledge and techniques like elimination and intelligent guessing. However after solving a considerable amount of mocks from a same institute makes you familiar with the tricks used by them. In this scenario you tend to score marks not on the basis of knowledge but on the basis of your familiarity with the type of questions and tricks framed by the institute.
Now just imagine if you could do the same with the UPSC exam on 5th June.🔥🔥
For this, in the final leg of your preparation i advise you all to solve the PYQs of UPSC from 2021 going in reverse order(please make sure you use the official key). By doing so you will familiarise yourself with UPSC questions rather than questions framed by the institutes. It is time to switch yourself from the INSTITUTE MODE TO THE UPSC MODE.🔥🔥🔥🔥
2-3 days for this activity is more than enough.
My experience with the same: I used to score around 95-100 in institute’s test series on an average on the days nearing prelims. This activity during the last few days has always helped me to jump from this range to 120+ in the actual upsc exam.
I know by now majority of you would have solved the PYQs multiple time. But trust me by doing so in these last 2-3 days you are going to benefit a lot by familiarising yourself with the questions asked by upsc.
My best wishes to all the aspirants for the prelims.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
What should you do after Prelims by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Hello everyone!!!!
So the prelims exam is over and I am sure that you all performed to the best of your abilities😀. Many of you have already matched the answer keys while some of you are little anxious to do so right now (it is completely normal).
In any case I would advise you to take the day off. Meet your close ones, spend time with your family, eat your favourite food and relax😊. Apart from this you can use this day for planning purposes about how you are going to approach the upcoming few months to get the best out of it.🔥🔥
I am going to share my experience based on the things I have learned and the mistakes I made so that you can take some insights from it. 🙏🙏
1. No matter what score you are getting or even if you are not matching the answer keys, under no circumstances you should wait till prelims result to start studying.🤦🏻♂️
2. Till prelims result one pragmatic approach can be to revise the static part of the optional🔥 as much as you canso that you are able to cover a significant portion of your preparation. Trust me this is going to reduce a lot of pressure.
3. From now on no skipping of newspaper. Keep 1 hour for the newspaper and start mining the crucial information from it based on the syllabus. (I will share my newspaper notes as a reference 🙏).
4. Use these 2-3 days to figure out which test series you want, how many tests you can give and analyse your strengths and weaknesses and make plans accordingly.
5. Giving mocks is important but learning from them is more important. Get them evaluated and learn from the feedback. Apply them in the next test and your learning curve will definitely improve.
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Strategy for mock Test Series
I gave around 16 GS tests, 3 essay tests and 2 geography optional tests (Only 2 because I gave around 12 last year and this year I focused on GS)-You can decide number based on your assessment.
In my case number was more because my notes were more or less in the place and required only value addition. For those who still need to cover the syllabus I suggest you do it on priority basis.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Now that phase of answer writing will start where you cannot compromise either on quality or quantity. So make sure you stick to the time discipline because that doesn’t happen overnight. At the same time try to write 2-3 answers daily where you can work on quality enhancement.
Trust me if you procrastinate on the time aspect then you won’t be able to complete the paper in exam no matter the quality of answers you possess (the biggest learning of my third attempt).🙏🏻🙏🏻
Can you clear UPSC Civil Services Exam without coaching – Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Among the various requests by the students, this one tops the chart so I am going to start with it.
COACHING: Is it necessary?
UPSC is a long journey and the strategy is unique for everyone. Since it is a long journey, sometimes we tend to divert from the right strategy and path that can cost us our attempts. Hence some or the other guidance is needed to motivate us from time to time and steer our journey along the right direction so that we don’t end up wasting our time.
It is the guidance in the right direction that we need. It can be from any source, be it coaching, elders, teachers, toppers, selected candidates, veterans in this field etc. However after steering your ship in the right direction it is your self-study, hard work and self-introspection from time to time that will decide your fate.
YOUR PREPARATION IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. DO NOT DELEGATE THIS RESPONSIBILITY TO ANYONE. SELF EVALUATE YOURSELF FROM TIME TO TIME AND WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESSES.🔥🔥🔥🔥
In the present scenario, with the penetration of the internet and videos of the toppers circulating across the platforms, I guess there is no shortage of guidance and strategy. However you have to be very careful what to follow. DON’T FOLLOW ANYONE BLINDLY. Analyse yourself and your strengths and weaknesses and adopt the strategy accordingly.
Let’s take an example here: In this attempt my static notes were more or less in the place so I had to improve upon the execution part.I analysed the topper’s copies of various selected candidates and tried to implement them in my answers “as per my needs”🔥. Some of the copies that I referred are:
Shubham Kumar sir (AIR 1-2020) Ajay Jain sir (AIR 12-2020) Vishakha Yadav ma’am (AIR 6-2019) Divya Mishra ma’am (AIR 28-2020) Ashish Mishra sir (AIR 52-2020) Ayushi Jain ma’am (AIR 85-2020) Aditya sir (AIR 92-2020)
These copies gave me an insight about how I can extract more marks and improve on the execution part. I practised the things learned from these copies in the mock tests and saw the improvement gradually.
In short if you are able to get the guidance from anywhere, I don’t think coaching is an absolute necessity because it is ultimately your self-study and hardwork that is going to yield the results.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Feeling after final selection in UPSC CSE Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
One of the most exciting feeling after results is to visit the University and interact with the young minds in making🔥🔥. Feeling honoured to be felicitated at the University specially at a literary fest, a kind of which I was associated during my college days. Thank you everyone for making this day memorable. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I shared the dice withMr. Arpit Chauhan (UPSC CSE 2021- AIR 20) who also happens to be an alumini of Mechanical Engineering 2019 batch (GB Pant university of Agriculture and Technology).
Should you read Topper’s Mock test series copy to clear UPSC Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Hello everyone, I have always emphasised on how much topper’s copies have been beneficial to me🙌🏻🙌🏻 to analyse my performance in the examination scenario.
Sometimes students tends to take more time while writing the full length tests . These copies don’t reflect the actual scenario and can be misleading with regards to the actual performance. My advise is- Always adhere to the time limit because that is the actual amount of content that you can deliver in the exam.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Here i am attaching 4 GS copies which i have written close to the exam date and within the time limitin the actual exam scenario. This is close to what i have delivered in the exam. I hope it can help in building some insights and burst some of the SUPERNATURAL ANSWER myths🔥🔥.
Wishes tto students by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Hello everyone,
So the prelims results are out. Congratulations to all those who have qualified for the mains🎉🎉🎊. It’s a golden opportunity which should not be taken for granted at any cost given the dicey nature of prelims in the recent years. Time to shift to the top gear🔥🔥. Start working on your mains strategy and resources and practise hard to make into the final list. From now on try to utilise your time in the most efficient manner and try to squeeze maximum time for preparation.
For those who could not qualify, take a week off. Yes this is a difficult time but the decision that you take now is going to determine your future. Do not make any rash decision in the heat of the moment. Let the feeling sink in- analyse your mistakes and make a promise to yourself not too repeat them in future🔥🔥. I would advise you to go ahead with the mains preparation as if you have qualified and give the mains in the examination mode. Trust me nothing prepares you better for the next year mains if you perform this exercise right now.
For those who have exhausted all the attempts. This is not the end of the world. The experience you have gained from this journey is unparalleled. The world is open to you. You will be among the top arena in whichever field you go. I wish you all the best for all the future endeavours.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Newspaper Strategy for UPSC Civil Services Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
NEWSPAPER:
In my discussion videos, I have kept the newspaper reading at one of the highest pedestal in the preparation ladder. This is due to following reasons:
1. It develops perspective slowly and effectively. 2. Current affairs coverage for prelims, mains and interview. 3. Unique content for data, examples and case studies (Always rewarding). 4. The constant repetition gets imprinted in your mind which helps in recalling.
But the approach towards the newspaper is very important. Newspaper reading for the examination should be in tandem with the UPSC syllabus. You should be very well aware of what to read and how to utilise what you have read from the newspaper in your GS paper🔥🔥For this I am attaching some of my newspaper notes for the reference.
These notes are outdated for the upcoming mains but I want you all to gain perspective from these notes so that you can optimise your preparation through newspaper. I have also mentioned where these topics can be utilised. Try to finish newspaper in 45min to 1 hour along with notes.
Use of data, examples and schemes UPSC CSE Mains Exam – Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Important Documents:
A common concern among the aspirants is the use of data, examples and schemes that can be effectively used especially in the Introduction and Conclusion. The issue is related to the authenticity as well as validity of the information.
For this the authentic documents published by the government can be very useful and citing these sources can add value to your answer🔥🔥.
Three such documents that i found very useful are: 1. Niti aayog @75 document. 2. Economic Survey. 3. Budget.
I am attaching my notes for these 3 documents which can act as a reference to how you can make your own notes of the latest policy documents.
Frequently asked questions by students to Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Q n A post:
Hello everyone. I have received several queries from students so i am sharing some questions and answering them here so that everyone can see them.
Q1. Sir can you share your notes of GS and Optional? Ans: I am working on them to arrange them in a logical manner so that students can get the best out of it.
Q2. Your name was in the list of prelims result. Did you give prelims this year? Ans- No i didn’t give prelims this year. The name belongs to someone else. It is purely coincidence.
Q3. From where did you take the coaching exactly. Many institutes have used your name. Ans- I have shared this in vision topper’s talk but for more elaboration the next post will be exclusively on this.
Q4. When will you share optional strategy? Ans- I will soon come out with the strategy in an organised manner. The way i studied was a bit chaotic. Trying to organise it in a better manner.
Q5. Did you teach in institutes while you were preparing? Ans- I tried content development and teaching after mains this year for about 2-3 months. Stopped after getting interview call.
Q6. Majority of your vision topper talk was in Hindi and i could not understand it. Can you share it in English? Ans- I am sorry for this , it was completely unintentional. I WILL SOON SHARE MY STRATEGY IN A VIDEO SESSION COMPLETELY IN ENGLISH.🔥🔥 Apart from this i will also share whatever i have talked in the session through various telegram posts here (already done for newspaper above).
Q7. Have you given any other exams in between or were you solely focussed on UPSC? Ans- For the first two attempts i was solely focussed on UPSC. However afterwards i did try for various exams which i will elaborate in upcoming posts (you will surely like this😂).
Ethics Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
GS4-Ethics:
Hello everyone!!!
Based on my discussions, this post is regarding GS4. For ethics static notes on explicit topics and EXAMPLES are very crucial.🔥🔥 The definition part should be complemented with lot of examples. The uniqueness of the examples can be highly rewarding. After this application part can be improved through answer writing.
So for reference purposes I am attaching some of my ethics notes, examples that I have collected and 2 of my ethics sectional tests given this year to demonstrate the application of the examples and case studies.😃😃
Please do practise ethics paper because the execution part of this paper is a little bit different from other GS papers and completing the paper is a challenge.
The examples can be used across the papers such as Essay, GS2-Governance part, GS4 or as case studies in other papers as well. Practise them so that you can use them at multiple places.🎊🎊. Try to collect examples from newspaper, magazines and other places to enrich your content.
If studied properly this paper is a highly rewarding paper with limited efforts.🔥🔥🔥
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Notes
These are the notes that have been accumulated from various sources and these were the only material referred before the exam.🔥🔥 However other sources that were looked into for these notes are:
1. Lexicon book- selective reading. 2. Vision ias value added material. 3. 2nd ARC report- Ethics in governance. 4. Internet search for the explicit syllabus topics.
For quotation based questions, I have tried to write all the PYQs from 2013 to get a hang of such questions.
For case studies, I have referred to the topper’s copies that gave me a perspective about how to approach a case study. The insights gained were applied in the sectional tests.
Apart from content, this paper requires lot of practice to streamline your thought and finish the paper on time.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Should you Use Schemes in Civil Services Mains Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Schemes:
Mentioning schemes in your answers is one of the important value addition that you can provide to enrich them. One beneficial thing about the use of schemes is their multiple use.🔥🔥
Schemes can be used in points, examples, case studies, way forward and most importantly CONCLUSIONS. I prepared schemes for mains purposes and accumulated them at a single place under various heads so as to use them effectively in their respective domains and questions.
You can look at this document for reference and can incorporate it in your own way. Trust me this is one of those thing that can really add value to your answers. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Motivatonal Post by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Motivational Post
This image beautifully sums up the UPSC journey.🔥🔥 Many a times students are scared with respect to the long term plans, syllabus coverage and gets demotivated just by looking at the volume of the syllabus that needs to be covered.
If you are also feeling the same then trust me you are not alone. Everyone feels the same at some or the other point. Just hang in there and focus on the immediate next step. Slowly and gradually things will happen and one day result will be yours.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Geography Optional Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper [ Part 1 ]
Geography optional-Post 1: Journey
One of the first blunders that I committed in this journey was to select my optional late- Oct 2017.😰😰 This heavily impacted my prelims preparation that year. But finally went with geography as an optional.
Many students are taking geography as an optional because I had taken it. This is not the right approach. What you need to do analyse it for yourself based on parameters like interest, scoring, overlap, background and then take a rational decision. The optional can be make or break.
Try to finish your optional within first 4-5 months with respect to content🔥🔥🔥(DON’T RUN AFTER 100% COVERAGE AT THIS POINT OF TIME). Then you can give less time to it for maintaining the momentum.
My geography journey started from Oct 2017 where I did foundation course in Vajiram under Shabbir sir. Since it went till April end I could not clear prelims that year.
In 2019 I joined 500+ under Himanshu sir between prelims and mains to fill the content gaps I had. I could not clear mains that year due to lack of answer writing practise. Geography score- 176 (115+61)
For 2020 mains I joined Masterstroke test series under Sachin Arora sir. My Geography score improved to 242 (123+119) but heavily compromised on GS papers and again could not clear mains exam. By now my geography content was more or less in place.
In 2021 I focussed majority of time towards GS and tried to rectify my errors in Geography paper based on my previous copies (MASTERSTROKE best answers copies). I tried to value add the examples and case studies from the best answers copies. I gave the paper in a flexible and relaxed state of mind this time and I got 280 in geography paper- (142+138).🔥🔥🔥
I will try to share the approach, resource list and some of the notes to help you all with the geography preparation. I will try to keep the posts as elaborate as possible so that you won’t face any problems.
Geography Optional Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper [ Part 2 ]
Geography optional Post 2- Booklist and sources (Part 1):
I will try to be exhaustive here for the 20 chapters mentioned in the syllabus so that your content can be covered in an effective way within 4-5 months.
Paper 1 Part A:
Chapter 1 : Geomorphology– Geomorphology by Savindra Singh (topics from syllabus and PYQs)- Don’t run after the bouncer questions. If a question cannot be answered from this book then believe me 99% students won’t be able to answer this. It won’t affect your score much.
Chapter 2 : Climatology– Climatology by Savindra Singh (Topics of syllabus and PYQs)- Very important, easy to comprehend, very essential for GS, MAKE THIS YOUR STRONG POINT for this section.
Chapter 3 : Oceanography– Oceanography by Savindra Singh. (Topics of syllabus and PYQs)-Again Very important, easy to comprehend, very essential for GS, along with climatology MAKE THIS YOUR STRONG POINT for this section.
Chapter 4 : Biogeography– Biogeography by Savindra Singh (selective), for some topics internet searches will help you. I also referred guidance and vajiram notes for the topic.
Chapter 5: Environmental geography– Environment Geography by Savindra Singh (very very selective), Current affairs, write ups on various disasters, Need a lot of contemporary data, examples and case studies-can be selective from Yojana and Kurukshetra. Try to club this with your GS environment section.
The remaining content can be analysed through pyqs and can be covered through internet search. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL SOURCE THAT CAN GUARANTEE YOU SUCCESS. In the end your notes compiled from various sources will get you the success in optional. The depth of the study from these 5 books will depend on analysis of PYQs as well as syllabus entries.
Value addition for this section:🔥🔥🔥
1. Apart from these books RUPA MADE SIMPLE books🔥 can add depth to your studies and value addition. Keep writing answers and get them evaluated to constantly know about the errors. 2. In this section DIAGRAMS becomes very important. You have to practise the diagrams well in advanced and try to simplify them so that you can make them as clean and fast as possible. You can maintain a separate register for the same. 3. Apart from that you need to supplement your topics with examples as well as link it with current happenings around the globe.
Along with all these things answer writing becomes very important. Improvement will take time. Try to incorporate value addition points mentioned above slowly in your answers.
Geography Optional Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper [ Part 3 ]
Geography optional Post 3- Booklist and sources (Part 2):
Paper 2:
In this paper you have a UNIVERSAL SOURCE-D.R.KHULLAR– This book only needs to be referred for static portion and NOT TO BE READ COVER BY COVER (Again syllabus being the guide). A strong hold in paper 2 will also be rewarding in GS 1.
1. Physical Setting: D.R Khullar book. This section is very easy if you follow PYQs otherwise you can get lost in the extent of syllabus that needs to be covered. This section can provide you sure shot marks given that the questions are frequently repeated.
2. Resouces: D.R Khullar book. Along with the static part you need to supplement this with latest data as well as maps🔥🔥. The topics like energy crisis are very contemporary. This needs to be supplemented with Yojana, Kurukshetra and current affairs magazines.
3. Agriculture: The syllabus is very elaborate and simple on this one👌🏻👌🏻. Make notes on each of the topic and supplement it with data, current affairs and examples. Static part covered through D.R Khullar and guidance hand written notes.
Value addition for this section:🔥🔥
1. MAPS MAPS MAPS (Your personalised maps).💥💥💥 2. Data, current affairs, examples, case studies with respect to India. 3. Interlinkages with the static portion of the paper 1 such as perspectives, models and theories etc.
Geography Optional Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper [ Part 4 ]
Geography optional Post 4- Booklist and sources (Part 3):
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY:
Here if you club your Paper 1 and Paper 2 preparation then it can be highly rewarding as well as will take lesser time to complete.
1. Models and theories: very very highly rewarding.🔥🔥🔥 This can fetch you sure shot marks. I followed Models and theories by MAJID HUSSAIN (thin book but very effective). After this you need to practise to make your answers very effective. Look at the PYQs and practise them.
2. Perspectives in Human geography:R.D Dixit being the main source. You can start with Majid Hussain’s geographical thoughts book to build a chronology and then you can go for R.D Dixit and also some topics of Sudeepta Adhikari book. I also followed guidance hand written notes for this.
3. Population, cultural setting, settlements: Sachin Arora Sir’s notes, Guidance hand written notes, Human geography by Majid Hussain (selectively)-Here you need to keep a tab on syllabus entries. Paper 1 and Paper 2 preparation needs to be combined here. This area needs a lot of MAPS and current affairs to mke your answers very effective. This can be highly rewarding.
4. Economic geography, Industries, Transport communication and trade: Lot of internet search (DO it as per syllabus entries), articles from yourarticlelibrary, epg paathshala, D.R Khullar, Human geography by Majid Hussain – and try to make good answers for the PYQs.
5. Regional planning and Regional development and planning- Internet search and linking the section with the government developmental initiatives in the past. Supplemented this with lot of examples and maps.
6. Political aspects and contemporary issues: Models and theories by MAJID HUSSAIN and current affairs.
1. It is difficult to demarcate topics in Human geography hence it is advised to study this in an integrated manner.
2. Be very strong with your MAPS, examples and case studies. Try to summarise and simplify your maps. Within 50-60 maps this section can be fully covered. (I will attach 1 sheet to demonstrate this).
3. Interlinkages are very important: Try to link various topics to add value to your answer. E.g Use of perspectives in your answer as per demand (DO NOT over do this).
4. Answer writing to apply these things is very important🔥🔥. Get yourself evaluated to know your weaknesses.
Geography Optional Preparation Strategy by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper [ Part 5 ]
Geography optional Post 5-How to prepare:
Step 1: Read NCERTs of class 11th and 12th (All four) to build a general understanding of the subject.
Step 2: Based on the above sources try to finish your syllabus in 4-5 months. Don’t run after 100% coverage. Try to cover 70-80% topics which are explicit and make your own personalised notes. You can also start answer writing after each chapter.
Step 3: Try to fill the content gaps left above through internet, other sources and PYQs. This is also the stage where full-fledged answer writing of the optional will take place. Here you can join any test series for practising full mocks.
Step 4: Create model answers for PYQs (You can do this in groups)- This exercise is very effective specially in paper 2 where majority of the paper is repeated. Enhancing quality here is directly rewarding.🔥🔥🔥
Step 5: Value addition through Maps, examples, case studies, data, government schemes and answer writing. This is an on-going process and will continue till exam. Club this with your GS preparation as these can be used interchangebly.
Step 6: Start refining your notes and make them concise. Make short notes out of most relevant topics which can be revised one day before the exam.
There will be times where you will feel depressed due to shortage of content as well as very difficult papers set by coaching institutes but you need to stick to the most important mantra for geography preparation👇🏼👇🏼
Use of Data, Reports, examples and case studies in Civil Services Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Data, Reports, examples and case studies:
These are very important components of value addition that helps in fetching more marks. I used to compile all such things at a single place and used to use them at multiple places.🔥🔥
Compiling it at one place (although in a disorganised manner) helped me to revise it multiple times which then can be recalled easily in the exam.
I am attaching these notes for reference. The documents shared earlier such as Niti@75, Economic survey, Budget, Schemes (can be accessed in files)- all these were the part of a same notebook.
You all can also maintain such a notebook as it would require more revision compared to GS notes. This is one of the highly rewarding exercise that worked for me.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
GS2 is a mix of static as well as dynamic component linked to current affairs. Answer writing is very very crucial for this paper.
1. Polity: The source was Laxmikant🔥🔥🔥only. However the focus of the topics changed and this can be analysed through PYQs of last 5 years (e.g. separation of powers). Apart from this i relied on newspaper and Mains 365 for value addition.
2. Governance: in this I created my own notes based on explicit syllabus topics and value added them through newspaper and Mains 365.
3. IR: general understanding developed through world history and newspaper over a period of time. Exam specific readiness through PT and Mains 365 (selectively) and my newspaper notes.
I have attached my short exam ready notes for GS2 as a reference which i relied on for the exam.🔥
Contents: General governance, some explicit topics of syllabus, Vision IAS polity document, SC judgements and Polity Mains 365 short notes for current affairs.🔥🔥
Please take this as a reference only and try to create your own notes that will be beneficial to you.🙏🏻🙏🏻
This is a less effort -high rewarding topic in GS 3 that can be covered very effectively. The topics are very explicit and interesting as per syllabus given by UPSC.
Sources referred: Internal security book by Ashok Kumar sir, internet search, Newspaper and current affairs magazines. Stick to the syllabus topics strictly.
Based on the topics and the sources given above, i created my own short notes which were almost exam ready for this topic🔥🔥. I am sharing them for reference so you all can benefit from them.
Map Preparation Strategy for UPSC CSE Exam by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Map work: both GS and optional.💥💥
Map can be a very effective tool for improving the presentation part. It takes LESS SPACE and CONVEYS MORE. I have seen many good candidates with brilliant content unable to draw proper maps and lose out on the opportunity to score more.
So here are some tips for map making:
1. Draw small maps- will hide your mistakes. 2. Practise a lot beforehand-try to finish Indian map in 10 seconds. 3. Simplify the map-reference from NCERTS (GS) or D.R Khullar book(optional). 4. Practise innovation in map during daily answer writing.
I am attaching one of the practise sheet of my map work which also acted as notes for me.🔥🔥
For GS students 1-2 such sheet can cover entire GS. For Optional students 4-5 such sheets will suffice (can take maps from khullar and simplify them).
It is not necessary that maps will be used only for geography. They can be used across the papers. Let me give some examples.
1. History- empire region or sites can be shown. 2. Social issues- regional disparity can be shown. 3. Geography- everything can be shown😂. 4. IR- regions such as indo pacific can be shown. 5. Agriculture- again regional differences can be shown. 6. Environment and DM- vulnerable areas can be shown. 7. Internal security-Border disputes, sensitive areas can be shown.
Apart from them you can yourself innovate the use of map to score well in the exam. So practise maps and don’t lose the opportunity to extract 1/2-1 Marks extra from the examiner.🔥🔥
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Name in Allocation list
Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper Name in Allocation list It’s finally official. 💫💫 It’s always an overwhelming feeling when all your hardwork and struggles boils down to this moment. 🔥🔥
For mains purposes i tried to rationalise my preparation (due to less time for mains) to minimise the efforts in this topic.
Sources:
– I created a general set of points on applications of technology and based on the technology asked i used to tweak them as per the demand of the question. -For value addition i referred newspaper and Vision Mains 365 (selectively). – Remaining topics such as Personalities, Nobel prizes etc. were covered through internet.
I am attaching these general set of points and some personalities for your reference🔥🔥.
In this i would suggest you to be a little bit elaborate compared to what is shown. This is also a region that can provide you sure shot marks if the question falls in your domain.🙏🏻🙏🏻
GS3 : Economy
This part of GS3 seems to be a bit large and vague. But if syllabus is followed with a bit of PYQs analysis then a short write up on every explicit topic can be prepared well in advanced. However this needs to be supplemented with current affairs and data.🔥🔥
Sources:
-Sriram’s sir book or Mrunal sir’s notes whichever you want for concepts clarity. -Mains 365 Economy and NITI AAYOG @75 document (highly recommended-already shared above)🔥🔥. -Budget and Economic survey (already shared above).
Gaps can be plugged through internet.
I have shared some exam related short notes of economy’s explicit topics for your reference. You can make your own notes as per requirements.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Frequently asked questions by students to Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
I am starting with a series of most frequent and relevant question asked to me by the students:
Q. Sir, Multiple coachings have published your name. Please clarify from where you have actually taken the coaching.
Ans: I would like this opportunity to highlight the places from where I have taken the guidance over the years since many places are misusing my name to attract the students😡. I will be totally unbiased and don’t intend to promote any coaching centre here: (Not including Geography optional here-already done in the above posts)
First attempt (2017-18): Couldn’t clear prelims GS-Vajiram foundation course (2017)
Second attempt (2018-20): Couldn’t clear mains (by a lot) Mains test series- Vision, Vajiram, Empower, GS score (essay) – Kept on running from one place to other to write test without self-introspection or rectifying my errors. I paid a hefty price for it.
Third attempt (2020-21): Couldn’t clear mains (Margin reduced)
Done nothing-Focussed on notes part through self-study. I paid heavily for the lack of answer writing in this attempt. I could not complete the paper on time. Majority of the content development and refinement happened during this phase.😃🔥
Fourth attempt (2021-22): AIR 4 Mains test series: Vision-GS and Abhyas, SOMP hurricane batch. For current affairs and value addition my primary source was newspaper, Vision PT and Mains 365 booklets (selectively) and sunya ias value addition material (referred data, examples and case study booklets).
Interview: Gave 10 mocks:
This is where majority of the publicity happens. (please beware)
2 Vajiram and 1-1 session with Ravindran sir. DAF analysis session at vision IAS. 2 Next IAS 2 Samkalp 1 Vajirao and Reddy 1 Chanakya mandal 1 Chahal/dikshant academy 1 Unacademy
Apart from these i have not done anything form anywhere else. Now the students are wise enough to figure out what is happening in the market🙏🏻🙏🏻. I along with many other toppers are fed up with many coachings misusing our name (In many case we are not even aware). We are trying our level best to remove our names from such places. Please keep reporting such institutes.🙏🏻🙏🏻
EVEN AN OPEN MOCK GIVEN AT ANY COACHING 5 YEARS AGO IS CLAIMING US TO BE THEIR STUDENT🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️. (Please please please beware of such places🙏🏻🙏🏻). I am also not associated with any course provided by any coaching or anyone commercially. Everything i have will be shared on this channel free of cost.🔥🔥
I think this is the best way in which we can prevent misguidance in the market by being open and honest to all. Please be very careful and do not pay attention to marketing gimmicks.🙏🏻🙏🏻
#Removing_misguidance_is_equally_important
Mains best wishes to students by Aishwarya Verma IAS Topper
Hello Everyone!!!
Apologies for the late post. I have been busy with the academy work. Congratulations to all the aspirants who have written mains this year🔥🔥🔥. The process itself is so enriching that it demands a lot from you. There are a few things which i want to share with you all specially at this point of time.
For those who have written their mains:
1. Yes it has been a tiring journey but trust me it is not over yet. It is not the time to rest💥💥. Start working on your interview process as personality building takes time.
2. Apart from this work on your physical fitness from this point so that you may not face any difficulties during medical later on.
3. Analyse your mistakes from this attempt and start working on them for the next attempt (Yes this is exactly the time to improve upon them).🔥🔥
