TLP MAINS 2015 – FIRST WEEK PLAN

INTEGRATED MAINS PREPARATION

TLP: WEEK- 1 Syllabus Outline- August 31st to September 6th

Important Note regarding Registration of TLP-  Our server for Virtual Classes has crashed due to huge traffic and it has serious loading issues. Also, our website has undergone so many malicious attacks in the last few days. We are working hard to make our virtual platform much more tech savy and secure. It will take some time for us. We don’t want it to go in vain once started. Hence for now, our plan for 100 Days will start as in the present format only. Parallelly we will be working on Virtual Classes Platform. Once it is fully done, we will integrate it with Virtual Platform.

We just don’t want our followers precious time to get killed in all this. So plan will start as per scheduled date i.e 31st August (But Day-1 questions will be posted on 30th Aug 10 PM). Do participate and don’t worry about Registration as of now 🙂

Comprehensive Paper Wise Strategies for UPSC MAINS- A Must Read

Every day, a set of 5 questions will be asked where we will try to encompass a very wide amount of syllabus along with a very in-depth study. We will be giving the detailed sub-topics from where the questions will be asked. Since the questions will be mostly inter-linked with other topics, issue-based and opinionated, there won’t be any one single link in the internet from where you can “prepare” and “reproduce” the data.

So, we will give only keywords that can be googled and it would be your duty to read a variety of articles on those keywords. We shall not give any just one “link” or just one “reference” because we are 100% sure that the aspirant will not be able to answer the question from that particular single link.

On the day questions are posted, we will give links wherever required. But understand that it will be for reference only. Our broad weekly plans will be more productive for you in the end. Don’t forget that, IASbaba will be reviewing your answers along with constructive peer review by fellow aspirants.

In fact, it will make the focus of the aspirant much narrower, as he/she will just read that one reference and will try to answer the question based on just one reference. This will make him lost out on various other factors and will make the answer one-dimensional. So, instead we shall give you the detailed sub-topics well in advance so that you would be well-prepared to answer on any question that comes.

Some of you have raised concern that the schedule is a bit “Static” and have asked us about the inclusion of Current Affairs and Issue-based questions too. All of them have already been pre-included in the given schedule. For example, there are some open-ended topics in the Time-Table, like “Indian Economy”, “Agricultural Issues”, “Science and Technology”, “International Relations” etc, out of which we need to ask 5 questions. All these questions will obviously come from Current Affairs which will be rooted in some static portion.

Further, our plan is not to extract all of your energy to overburden you. We have designed it such a way that you also focus enough time and energy on your OPTIONAL Paper as well. Those going to follow our plan for GS will realize sometime in the middle on ‘How their preparation is on the track and without being specific, they have covered and learned every important issue’.

Barring some topics of Paper 1, all the GS papers are interconnected. UPSC have stopped asking one-dimensional question. In fact whole of Paper 2, 3 and half of paper 1 is interconnected in some or the other form. Kindly go through our strategy for Paper 1 posted few days before where we have tried our best to explain the importance of interconnected approach and latest change in trends of UPSC Mains. Soon we will be publishing the strategies for paper 2 and 3.

We have given due importance to cover all important contemporary issues emanating from current affairs. So, do not worry at all. Just trust us and follow this structured time-table and we will ensure that you will not have any regrets by the end of it.

Thank you.

Here is the First Week’s Detailed Sub-Topics and Keywords.

Day 1 – August 31st – Stone Architecture prior to British arrival, Hindi as a modern literary language, Puppetry Art Form and its influence, Classical Dance Forms & their mutual differences and Handicrafts such as pottery. (GS-1)

Sources: The first step for you before answer writing is to read our detailed strategy for the relevant portion. All sources and references have been dealt in great detail there.

Now, moving further, you are still fresh with your Prelims preparation. You know the characteristic and typical features of various art forms already. You only need to use them as pillars of your answers. What we mean is that you should be able to organize your mental database of Art and Culture in a structured and logical manner to provide a satisfactory answer to the questions.

We are not going to recommend any book for this portion therefore. But if you have time, you can spend 45 minutes a day for the coming 20-25 days to watch this wonderful lecture series by UCLA Professor Dr. Vinay Lal on Indian Civilization. Just observe how logically and systematically, he approaches the study of Indian Civilization. These lectures are quite engaging and you can utilize your leisure time for watching these videos. Not only you will be spared the monotony of reading multiple books but also gain a better grip of the subject matter.

Here is the link: Click

Day 2 – September 1st – Political philosophies and their influence, Fundamental Rights and other legal rights, Fundamental Duties and their morality, Relevance of Directive Principles of State Policy in the era of liberalization and globalization and British legislations from 1773 until 1947. (GS-2)

Day 3 – September 2nd – Poverty Line methodologies and their evolution, Skill development in post-harvest food processing technologies, IPR issues – Special 301 report and Priority Watch List, Outsourcing and Financial Inclusion. (GS-3)

Day 4 – September 3rd – Ethical public conduct, Values, Case study regarding rationality and dilemma. (GS-4)

Day 5 – September 4th – Contributions of Buddha to Philosophy, Abul Fazl and his description of Medieval India, Impact of Islam, Evolution of Harsha’s rule and Sangam literature’s portrayal of the contemporary Indian Society. (GS-1)

Day 6 – September 5th – Impact of coalition politics and cooperative federalism, pressure groups’ role on the Indian political system, regional groupings and their impact on federalism, judicial activism & it’s impact on the executive and CSS restructuring. (GS-2)

Day 7 – Two essays

Keeping in view the tradition of UPSC, we shall post questions from Friday Review section of The Hindu. Not all articles are important though. In an issue, hardly one or two articles are of our interest. We are working to compile all the relevant articles and will share the links as and when we complete the same.

For all upcoming days earmarked for Art, Culture and Civilization, the sources will be the same.  

Note- Day-1 Questions will be posted tomorrow at 10 pm

P.S- Do not inhibit yourself just because the plan seems hectic. We assure that our guidance will change your outlook towards UPSC preparation and you will realize how exciting this preparation can be. It is just a matter of trust and readiness to accept challenging stuffs. And nothing is more challenging than Mains as for now 🙂 Let’s start this journey and make it memorable for life time. 

All the very Best

IASbaba