Schedule Addendum
Insights Prelims Test Series 2016
Chapters from India 2016 and Economic Survey (2015-16) were not specified in the earlier schedule.
Below are the chapters from these two books that you should read along with other books/chapters mentioned in the earlier schedule.
The addendum also addresses some of the most frequently asked doubts on the Discussion pages.
General Note:
- Economic Survey: It is a technical document and meant to assist policymakers. Minute details, technical discussions or recommendations in the document are not important for the Civil Services Examination. You should read the Survey like a layman and try to get a wholesome picture of the Indian economy. We will also avoid technical questions from the Survey.
It has been our consistent observation that the coloured boxes in the Survey contain important information and attract utmost attention from the examiners in UPSC. So, if you do not have enough time to read the entire Survey, you should at least read these coloured boxes.
They are also important for Civil Services Mains examination. Most of the questions in the Mains GS paper 3 are either from 11th NCERT or Economic Survey.
- India 2016: The content is largely same as that of previous India yearbooks. Events of 2015-16 are updated in the 2016 edition. So, you should focus on the new events mostly and on such information which cannot be found elsewhere.
Old Schemes/events/policies/programmes/information are not important and can be ignored if you are already burdened with preparation.
Details and heavy data based sections can also be safely ignored.
- Modern History Books in Schedule: We have mentioned three different books for preparation apart from NCERTs. They are: a) Plassey to Partition – Sekhar Bandyopadhyay; b) Bipan Chandra – Struggle for India’s Independence and; c) Modern India – Sumit Sarkar.
Out of these three, any ONE should be read thoroughly. Others should only be scanned quickly to see if any important questions can be framed from Prelims or Mains point of view.
For e.g. in Civil Services (Prelims) 2015, a question on Home Rule League movement was lifted directly from Sumit Sarkar’s Modern India. Statements too were given verbatim from the book.
Similarly in Civil Services (Mains) 2014, a question on RIN Mutiny was picked from Sekhar Bandyopadhyay’s Plassey to Partition.
UPSC is not limiting itself to pre-defined sources. With every passing year it is diversifying its sources. We had recommended three sources with this in view.
If you have already followed Modern history Old NCERT written by Bipan Chandra or Spectrum’s Modern India, you can stick to them too. But, you should go through at least one or two of these three books mentioned in the schedule to give depth to your preparation.
- Test-wise breakup
| Test number | India Yearbook 2016 | Economic Survey 2015-16 |
| Test 15 | Chapters 1 to 4 | NA |
| Test 16 | Chapters 5 to 8 | NA |
| Test 17 | Chapters 9 to 12 | NA |
| Test 18 | Chapters 13 to 16 | NA |
| Test 19 | Chapters 17 to 20 | Volume 1: Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 |
| Test 20 | Chapters 20 to 23 | Volume 1: Chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 |
| Test 21 | NA | Volume 1: Chapters 9, 10 and 11 |
| Test 22 | Chapters 24, 25 and 26 | Volume 2: Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 |
| Test 23 | Chapters 27 to 31 | Volume 2: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 |
Note: Test 24 to 32 are Full length Tests.
All the best!
