MAINS STRATEGY


GS-1


GS-1 broadly covers – Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

Two important things fundamental to your exam preparation:
  • Get familiar with all the topics and sub-topics by writing them many times – they should be  strongly etched in your memory.
  • Keep a copy of the syllabus always with you no matter where you are.
Now, how to deal with GS-1?
Assuming you are now familiar with the syllabus of GS-1, we will discuss a topic by topic what to read, from where to read and what not to read for these topics.
TOPIC-1
Indian Culture will cover the salient aspects of Art forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
In this topic, the sub-topics are  – Art forms, Literature, Architecture – from ancient to modern times. All you need to study for Art and Culture part is just TWO sources:
  1. NCERT Books
  2. NIOS Books
Among NCERT books, one indispensable source to read first and foremost before proceeding to any source is: Class XI NCERT  An Introduction to Indian Art. 
Once done with this book, then read following NCERT books. Here, in the following books, along with reading history of India, look for art and culture related topics and make a note of them. You will not find separate art and culture chapters in  these books, you have to mine them.
  1. NCERT Class VI – History – Our Past
  2. NCERT Class VII – Our Past -I
  3. NCERT  Class VIII – Our Past II and III
  4. NCERT Class XII – Themes In Indian History I
  5. NCERT Class-XII – Themes in Indian History – II
  6. NCERT Class XII – Themes In Indian History III
You have to read only a few chapters from each book that are related to Sub-Topics. For ex, you have to read only Chapters 2 and 3 from Class-XII -Themes In Indian History-II book.
Along with the above NCERT books, you should start reading NIOS Book on art and culture:
You can download them here:  NIOS Art and Culture
In NIOS chapters, you find good information all in one place. For example, in 2016 Mains GS-1 there was a question on Krishnadevaraya’s contribution to art:
For the above question, complete answer is given in NIOS chapter on Language and Literature (Click Here, Page no. 90 – 91)
Apart from these you should refer following sources for more information:CCRT Website
TOPIC-2
Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues

Note that this topic wants you to cover important events from 1750s to Present. It’s not just related to freedom struggle. You should focus on all important events and contributions of personalities that are significant and have had important impact on nation till now.
For this part of the syllabus, just rely on above mentioned NCERT books and current affairs. You don’t have to read any separate book. Looking at the kind of questions they are asking fro this part of the syllabus, your focus should be on understanding basic events from NCERT and keeping an eye on relevant current events. For example, Netaji Bose files were declassified in August 2016 and there were many articles comparing his contribution with Gandhiji and Nehru. Hence, there was a question on this issue in Mains 2016:


TOPIC-3
[The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.]
Because this topic demands specific knowledge of Freedom Struggle and its various facets, you must read Bipan Chandra’s Struggle For India’s Independence. You should revise this book at least 2-3 times.
Some prefer Spectrum’s modern history book. But for Mains preparation, Bipan Chandra’s book is very important.
If time permits, you can also read selectively from Plassey to Partition. This book is more analytical and has important insights on all important events and personalities related to this topic.
TOPIC – 4
For this you need to study Chapter 6 to 12 of India Since Independence – Bipan Chandra
0r Chapters 8 to 14 from India After Gandhi: The History Of The World’s Largest Democracy (above mentioned chapters cover completely this part of the syllabus)
TOPIC-5
[History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars,redrawal of national boundaries,colonization,decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism,socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.]
Except for Industrial revolution, Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe (Buy From Amazon India)) covers all topics of this part of the syllabus – it is a very good book. You should also read world history from NCERT books of class IX, X and XI (only modern world history part).
Above book is not available anywhere these days. Best alternative is a book by Arjun Dev – History of the World from the Late Nineteenth to the Early Twenty First Century
You can go through this book – Old NCERT World History Class-X – if you are fond of old NCERT books.
TOPIC-6
[Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.]
About salient features of Indian Society – don’t look anywhere else – Just read this NCERT – Indian Society Class 12 (Complete book without watermarks)
Two indispensable books to cover this topic:

TOPIC-7
[Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.]
Other sub-topics are general in nature and can be found in Magazines and Newspapers. If one is thorough with current events questions on these sub-topics can be answered very well by consolidating their knowledge.
This topic is mainly current affairs based. Keep tab on all important events that take place related to this topic.
You should also read about role of women from ancient to modern times (including freedom struggle, art and culture etc). UPSC will test your ability to integrate different concepts and come up with a coherent answer. So, try to interlink different parts of syllabus and prepare notes accordingly.
TOPIC-8
[Effects of Globalization on Indian society]
This is also general in nature. If you have a basic understanding of Indian Society and Globalization, their mutual relation can be elucidated with ease. Here is a good article from a Marxist politician about the topic. (UPSC people love the slightly leftist version of everything)
To know more about effect of Globalization on Indian Society, you need to know better about Indian Society. This book is a must have for broad understanding of the Indian Society.
  • Indian Society – Ram Ahuja
  • Social Problems in India – Ram Ahuja
TOPIC-9
This is again generic. But you must know the basic concept of communalism, regionalism and secularism. Wikipedia comes handy here.
BASICS:
TOPIC-10
[Salient features of world’s physical geography.
To cover this part two books are necessary:
2. NCERT Class-XI – Fundamentals of Physical Geography
TOPIC-11
[Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)]
TOPIC-12
[Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.]
This is a repetition actually. You can read Physical Geography book by Goh Cheng Leong which is mentioned above (Certificate Physical and Human Geography 1st Edition)

GS-2


how to deal with GS-2?

Broad Syllabus Of GS-2 is:
 Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Before you start preparing for this paper, please read following NCERT texts, which might take 2-3 days of your time.
  1. NCERT Class XI – India Constitution At Work
  2. NCERT Class XII –  Political Science II
  3. NCERT Class X –  Democratic Politics
TOPIC-1
 Indian Constitution– historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
This part is very useful both for Prelims and Mains. Best book to study this section is D.D. Basu’s “Introduction To The Constitution Of India” First 5 chapters in this book exclusively deal with this part of the syllabus.
For Basic Structure, These two articles might help you.
TOPIC-2
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
One good source to get the critical perspective about these topics is – Report of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, named – Organizational Structure Of Government of India (13th Report)
For devolution of finances to local bodies, Read This.. (Don’t look anywhere else)
For the concept part read – Laxmikant’s Indian Polity. Buy the new updated  4th edition.  (Chapters 12, 13 14 and 30).
But Mains demands not only basic understanding of these topics, but your critical and analytic abilities to answer questions on these topics.  So, try to relate these concepts to current event topics and write small articles. ARC reports will help you in this regard.
Eg. ” Though devolution of funds, functionaries and functions is taking place in the local governments, development is still a mirage in many parts of India”. Critically analyze. (you can frame many questions like this)
TOPIC-3
Separation of powers between various organs, dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
This topic is a dynamic portion – we read lot about conflict between the Judiciary and the Executive – to answer dynamic topics, one should first understand the constitutional provisions, redressal measures with the constitution, checks and balances provided in the constitution etc.
ARC reports come to the rescue again. 7th report of 2nd ARC named “Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution” talks elaborately on various issues such as Left Wing Extremism, Regional Disparities, Land and Water related issues, SC and ST issues, Religious conflicts and North East conflicts – which involve numerous institutions in the conflict management and resolution.
Later, scan current events and find any latest instances of conflict between any constitutional bodies, or between a constitutional body and statutory body.
Again, concepts can be studied either from D.D. Basu or Laxmikat..
TOPIC-4
A book by S.  Chand – Select Constitutions of the world is famous among Law students. This covers this topic comprehensively. One should be careful to not to study this topic in depth.
In case you can afford to buy costly book – D.D. Basu’s Classic on the Indian Constitution – Shorter Constitution Of India not only covers all above topics, it also covers the present topic.
Few links that might help:
Try to know some basics about the New Constitutions/reforms being framed/brought out in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Pakistan.
(Again, emphasis should be on relating all these topics to the current events)
TOPIC-5
Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
To cover this topic, one stop source is Subhash Kashyp’s Our Parliament. (Why this book? Because it is written by someone who worked inside the Parliament for most of his career, and this book gives a detailed idea about the functioning of our Parliament – as the above topic suggests, you should be familiar with all aspects of our Parliament. 
TOPIC-6
Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary; Ministries and Departments of the Government; Pressure Groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
BASICS: 
Again, Laxmikant is enough for this topic.  Regarding pressure groups/ informal associations – recent activism shown by Civil society, conflict with the government and other such topics should be studied in depth.
TOPIC-7
 Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act. 
First read this beautiful article by Yogendra Yadav. (PDF)
This topic has generated more heat in the past and present – eg, office of profit bill, anti-defection bill, electoral reforms bill etc.
This topic should be
Recent supreme court ruling disqualifying MPs and MLAs with criminal background, and current topics like this should be studied carefully.
TOPIC-8 and 9
Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
Read Laxmikant for this part. Part VII,VIII and IX of this book completely covers these topics.
This part of the syllabus has given rise to some contentious issues such as political interference in the appointment to various constitutional posts and statutory bodies. Eg EC, CBI, CVC, CAG, SC, Governors, Lokayukta, Lokpal (if it comes into existence) etc. So, read this topic keeping in mind these above issues.
As I said before, you need to read all the above topics with an analytical perspective. To provide you with this, there is a wonderful book published by Oxford University Press and authored by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, named – “Public Institutions in India – Performance and Design“, will be immensely useful.
As its back cover says, “This volume analytically assesses the design, performance, and adaptability of the principal institutions of governance in India and their critical role in a democratic polity.” That is what you need for this paper.
TOPIC-10
Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
This part is covered well in the same book I mentioned above: “Public Institutions in India – Performance and Design”
Also, refer Economic Survey for government policies and PIB site regularly.
TOPIC-11
Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
[Please note the phrase “Development Industry” – it refers to aid industry developed around NGOs, UN bodies, Charities etc and their role in the development process.]
Planning commission has various articles on these topics.
This report gives critical account of success and failure of SHG’s in India. (just read the summary, conclusion and recommendations – NEVER read full report)

TOPIC-12
Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Note the word “STATE” – schemes by the states are also important.
  • Focus on the schemes being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child welfare, Ministry of Social Justice, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Tribal affairs.
List of All state and central scheme – Govt. of India Website (here you can filter queries by the ministry- it is not easy though, govt site you know..)

TOPICS 12 and 13
 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
. Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
We read lot about this these days: Food security bill, PDS reform, Poverty reduction schemes, Poverty-line controversy, Malnutrition figures, report on malnutrition(remember HungMa report?) etc.
TOPIC-13
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures
This introductory article on 2nd ARC site and 2nd ARC report on “Promoting e-Governance: The SMART Way Forward” will be very useful to cover this topic.
TOPIC-14
Role of civil services in a democracy
Again, 2nd ARC report (10th report) – Refurbishing of Personnel Administration has whole chapter (ch-4) on this topic.
International Relations
TOPIC-15
India and its neighborhood- relations.
Two sources for this topic:
  1. India and its neighbours – MEA Website
2. For critical analysis – This Book by Rajiv Sikri – Challenge and Strategy – Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy is must for reading this part of the syllabus.
TOPIC – 16
Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
For India’s relations with the other countries, click here. (read only important counries – USA, UK, EU, SA, Brazil, Japan, Russia,  Australia etc)
Ministry of External Affairs has briefs on all bilateral relations of India with regional and global groupings
TOPIC-18
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
This is a dynamic part – effects of globalization, WTO policies, domestic policies of developed countries and their effect on other countries (lot of examples from USA, UK can be given – visa row, war on terrorism, immigration policies, economic policies etc)
Indian diaspora – their contribution to India, India’s contribution to them, Their contribution to the world etc. Their problems in the residing countries, their rights in India – constitutional/statutory provisions if any, their participation in track two diplomacy, their role in Indian economy etc etc.
Newspaper is the best source I guess. For more info, visit the official site.
TOPIC- 19
Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
UNO and its various bodies, agencies must be studied with respect to their structure, role, relevance and reforms. UN reforms is the hot topic.
International Organizations (no UN bodies) such as APEC, ADB, ASEAN, OECD, NATO should be studied.
For links to all these organizations: click here.
Finally, for some articles from Yojana magazines (2013) that are related to many  topics from this Paper, click here.
Five Indispensable Books For GSpaper-II
TWO RECOMMENDED BOOKS (Only If You Have More Time At Your Disposal) – Both By Granville Austin – Classics On Indian Polity

GS-3


GS-3 broadly covers – 
  • Technology,
  • Economic Development,
  • Bio diversity,
  • Environment,
  • Security and 
  • Disaster Management.
 Two important things fundamental to your exam preparation:
  • Get familiar with all the topics and sub-topics by writing them many times – they should be  strongly etched in your memory.
  • Keep a copy of the syllabus always near you no matter where you are.
Now, how to deal with GS-3? Assuming you are now familiar with the syllabus of GS-3, we will discuss a topic by topic what to read, from where to read and what not to read for these topics. TOPIC-1
 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
This is a very broad area and includes both static and dynamic part. Before going for big books, it is compulsory to read following NCERT textbooks (download full textbooks -PDF without watermark)
  1. NCERT Class X – Understaning Economic Development 
  2. NCERT Class XI – Indian Economic Development
  3. NCERT Class XII – Macroeconomics (chapters 2,5 and 6 are very important)
  4. ET in The Classroom
Three books above will make your concepts very clear.  After understanding your concepts, you have to read the above topics by relating them to the current events. For this reading one Business newspaper helps a lot. Business standard is the best (if you are comfortable with ET or FE, it is fine. But do try BS once)
More questions from Economics can be expected in this paper henceforth. To be ready for any questions that UPSC might ask, it is good to read a standard book on these topics.
There are many books on Indian economy – all bulky. Fortunately, TMH has released a book on Indian economy for Prelims and Mains, and it is very good (by Ramesh Singh)
TOPIC-2
Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
These two documents are good to understand issues related to inclusive growth, approach of the government and achievements in the 11th plan period. However, to get conceptual clarity, reading one or two articles from the following document would help you immensely.
  • Conceptualizing Inclusive Growth
For a thorough review of Inclusive Growth strategy in India read this article:
  • Inclusive Growth in India – Past Performance and Future Prospects
TOPIC – 3
 Government Budgeting
It is nothing but knowing about what is a budget and how it is passed in the parliament and then how it is implemented.
These documents should help you understand these:
TOPIC-4
 Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems; storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers
Understanding concepts is important here too. NCERT comes to the aid here;
  • NCERT – Resources and Development (a quick reading of this book will also help in understanding many other topics in this paper)
For cropping pattern read this, only this document:
  • Cropping Pattern in India (give stress to understanding the concept in it, no need to read entire paper)
For irrigation methods, irrigation systems and Irrigation in India,
  • Irrigation Methods
  • Types of Dams (storage structures)
  • Irrigation types (Government Source)
For agriculture marketing, storage and reforms in these areas, one should resort to ‘State of India Agriculture report’ and Economic Survey.
  • Agriculture Marketing Reforms
  • Agricultural Prices and Markets – State of India Agriculture Report
E-technology for the aid of Farmers
  • E-technology in the aid of farmers
TOPIC – 5
Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing
This is the most important topic in this paper – all sub-topics are dynamic in nature and 1-2 questions will be directly asked from these. This topic encompasses the broad area of Food Security, which is a hot topic these days.
Apart of getting conceptual clarity on these topics, aspirants also have to develop critical perspective on these sub-topics. I will provide links to important articles that have come in The Hindu, Business Standard and Business Line.
First, Minimum Support Price and Farm Subsidies:
  • Agriculture – Price Policy and MSP
News Articles (to develop opinion)
  • Farms need a free market -BusinessLine
  • How to fix agricultural pricing mess – Business Standard
  • India’s food conundrum – The Hindu
Regarding Public Distribution System, it is a vast area, so careful study of less materials is needed.
  • Public Distribution System – IGNOU Notes – 1
  • Public Distribution System and Food Security – IGNOU Notes – 2
News Articles;
  • Food Security Bill – The devil is in the detail – The Hindu
  • The shaky geopolitics of India’s food security – The Hindu
For basics of Food Security – NCERT source – Class IX Economics
Now, technology missions! Government of India is fond of launching these technology missions for various crops to boost their production, area coverage and make their production profitable.  This is a boring topic and I don’t think UPSC will ask any question on this (it is completely factual)
I will provide links to few such Technology Missions;
(You need to know only what these missions were meant for and what’s their progress so far)
Economics of Animal Breeding! – This has come from nowhere. Study it here
You can have a look at this report of Planning Commission (only 3 pages)
  • Role of livestock in Indian Economy
TOPIC – 6
 Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Food processing is a sunrise industry and lately there has been a lot of thrust from the government on this industry.
Articles:
TOPIC – 7
 Land reforms in India
This is a hot favourite topic for UPSC and luckily you get plenty of material to read on this topic. That is the problem. In this exam, sticking to one source is the secret of success (of course, not for all topics)
For this topic read from following two sources (IGNOU):
  • Land reforms – 1
  • Land Reforms – 2
TOPIC – 8
Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth
You can read these topics from the above mentioned book by Ramesh Singh. It is explained very well.
TOPIC-9
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc
Just two sources; one, India 2013 and Economic Survey
TOPIC – 10
Investment models
This is a puzzling topic. Because it is given along with Infrastructure related topics, I assume it to be related to investment models applied to the same field. If not, one can enumerate so many investment models just for financial sector alone!
For example, within PPP model, there are various modalities are involved (see below)
Table 1: Schemes and Modalities of PPP
SchemesModalities
Build-own-operate (BOO)
Build-develop-operate (BDO)
Design-construct-manage-finance (DCMF)
The private sector designs, builds, owns, develops, operates and manages an asset with no obligation to transfer ownership to the government. These are variants of design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) schemes.
Buy-build-operate (BBO)
Lease-develop-operate (LDO)
Wrap-around addition (WAA)
The private sector buys or leases an existing asset from the Government, renovates, modernises, and/ or expands it, and then operates the asset, again with no obligation to transfer ownership back to the Government.
Build-operate-transfer (BOT)
Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) Build-rent-own-transfer (BROT)
Build-lease-operate-transfer (BLOT) Build-transfer-operate (BTO)
The private sector designs and builds an asset, operates it, and then transfers it to the Government when the operating contract ends, or at some other pre-specified time. The private partner may subsequently rent or lease the asset from the Government.
Source: Public Private Partnership, Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF.
These two sources might help:
SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY
TOPIC -11
 Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
. Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights
There are many sources for these topics:
First, for non – science grads, a reading of NCERT Class VI to X Science Texts is advised. This will clear many concepts for you and will enable you to understand other topics in the syllabus.
Second, earlier, toppers used to recommend a book by Spectrum publications,
The problem with this book is its vastness – they have simply dumped every topic in detail like paranoid. For students with science background this book is advised, they have released 2017 edition – you have to study it selectively. Very selectively. This book has all the topics that are included in the syllabus and that are not included also.
If one goes through previous question papers, one can observe that UPSC has always asked questions on S&T from within the syllabus. For example, there will be a question on biotechnology, space, robotics, nanotechnology and computers – they might be from latest developments in the respective fields, but all are from the syllabus.
Third source is The Hindu and Frontline. Every Thursday, The Hindu carries a separate page on S&T –  if one is regular with this page and have the collection of cuttings, this will help in 5 mark and 2 mark questions asked from current event section.
Fourth source is Wikipedia and New Scientist sites. From this site, read articles on Nanotechnology, Robotics, IPR etc.
Under IPR, you may have to read about Novartis case, so The Hindu article is here. Also TRIPS is important.
For India’s achievements in the field of S&T, you must read India 2017 Year Book (chapters on Defence and Scientific and technological developments)
TOPIC-12
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
BASICS:
  • Environment and Pollution
  • Atmosphere Oxygen and Pollution (Technical)
This particular topic encompasses topics such as biodiversity and climate change, forest and wildlife conservation, river conservation, pollution in cities, waste management, pollution from human activities, marine pollution etc – so it is a vast area.
This has to be read with respect to India and the world.
First choice should be The Hindu Environmental Survey 2012 (they may release 2013 survey now).
Sources from the ministry of environment(look at the left side for related links  when you land on the page):
Annual Report of the Environment Ministry 2012-13 (for chapters on conservation, EIA and forests etc) – Click Here.
Complete info on Conservation. click here.
Current events on EIA – The Hindu article
TOPIC – 13
Disaster and disaster management
This is again a current event and a dynamic portion.
Download special edition of Yojana on Disaster Management.
A report on Disaster Management. (read selectively). You will find everything in it you ever wanted to know about the topic!
SECURITY ISSUES
TOPIC-14
. Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
. Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
. Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention
. Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism
Internal Security –INTERNAL SECURITY
Money Laundering – 
For a starter, here is a book just released by Oxford University Press, exclusively on these topics. Titled ‘India’s National Security – A Reader‘ and written by eminent scholars in this field, it covers external and internal security threats by state and non-state actors, as well as nuclear issues too.
(This section will be updated with latest news articles – soon)
TOPIC-15
Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
This topic is completely factual. You can read it on Wikipedia.

  • GS-4

STRATEGY

  •  Ethics and Human Interface
    IMPORTANT SOURCES FOR THIS PAPER:
    • Essence, determinants and Consequences of Ethics in human actions
    Source– Authentic and Good one (read this completely to get conceptual clarity)
    Read Chapters One and Two from this book
    • Ethics in private and public relationships.
    Ethics in private relationships – Read chapter 3 in the link. It’s in Google Books and the chapter has all pages. It is very good with lots of case studies.  If any IT guy can extract pages and covert them to PDF, please send me a copy.
    • Human Values
    Human values – IGNOU Material
    • Lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators
    You can read about them from school books or from website. Will provide a list later.
    • Role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
    Chapter Ten of this book. Google Books – Value Education.
    Attitude
    • Structure and Function
    Source – 1 – Very Basic
    Source – 2 – Structure
    source – 3 – Functions
    Source – 4 – Complex and Specialized (if you can understand! Page no. 38,39…)
    • Its influence and relation with thought and behaviour
    Source – 1 – Attitude and Behaviour
    Source – 2 – Values, Attitudes and Behaviour –
    Source – 3 – Very Advanced
    • Moral and political attitudes
    Source 1 – Political Attitudes
    Source – 2 – Moral Attitudes
    • Social influence and Persuasion
    Source – 1 – Simple and Straight to the point. Good one.
    Source -2 – Very Advanced
    Related Article
    Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service
    • Integrity
    • Impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
    These are actually civil service values recommended by the second ARC in its report (10th Report, Chapter 16)
    Emotional intelligence
    • Concept
    Source – 1 – Very Basic – Excellent one.
    Source – 2 – Conceptual clarity
    • Their utilities and application in administration and governance
    Emotional Intelligence and Public Leadership
    Emotional Intelligence in Bureaucracies
    Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
    • Ethics in the history of Indian Philosophy
    • Ethics in Contemporary Indian Philosophy
    • Ethics in the history of western philosophy
    • Ethics in Medieval Western Philosophy
    • Ethics in Greek Philosophy
    Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration:
    • Status and problems
    Public Service Values – Status
    Professionalism and Ethics in Public Service – UN Document. Read only Chapter One and Conclusion. Problems and Issues about Public service values is given in it.
    • Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions
    Ethical Concerns in Public Administration
    Ethical Dilemma –  In this, read only Chapter One. It is written in foreign context but it’s applicability is universal.
    Ethics in Public Administration – Don’t neglect this document because it’s written by a research scholar. It is simple and lucid.
    • Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance
    Didn’t get any credible source. I will post it when I get one.
    • Accountability and ethical governance
    Ethical Governance in twenty first century – This is culled from a costly and an authentic book. Read it to understand the importance of ethics in governance.
    Ethics As element of Good Governance 
    Ethics and Governance – T N Chaturvedi (he was CAG and Governor of Karnataka) – His reflections are insightful.
    • Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance
    Above PDFs reflect on this topic too.
    • Ethical issues in international relations and funding
    Ethics in International Relations –  Taken from a reputed book and is a primary source on the topic.
    Ethics in International Relations  – This is in relation to corporate responsibility. It covers some aspects of ethical issues in ‘funding’ mentioned in the syllabus.
    • Corporate governance
    Corporate Governance – Read it as it contains many new facts and ideas. (not so good, though)
    Corporate Governance – An Ethical Perspective – It is critical article, a research paper.
    News Report – Economic Times
    PPT Presentation – IIT Bombay
    Probity in Governance
    This part of the syllabus is completely covered in the following book. It is written by two retired IAS officers of Gujarat cadre. All the topics of this part of the syllabus and other topics of importance are covered in this book.
    I am giving below PDFs to some topics taken from some UN sites, books and ministries websites.
    • Probity in Governance
    Probity in Governance – Excellent one  – It is published by Law Ministry and contains many concepts.
    What is Probity in Governance – Private context
    • Concept of public service
    Probity in Governance – Excellent one  – it defines what’s public service.
    • Philosophical basis of governance and probity
    • Information sharing and transparency in government – Right to Information
    Articles on RTI from The Hindu, EPW will be posted.
    The above mentioned book has a chapter on this topic.
    • Codes of Ethics
    Codes of Ethics – OECD 
    Codes of ethics – World Bank –
    • Codes of Conduct
    Refer the above mentioned book.
    • Citizen’s Charters
    Citizen’s Chartes – FAQs
    Citizen Charter Handbook
    • Work culture
    • Quality of service delivery
    • challenges of corruption
    This is basically a general topic. I will compile articles published on this topic  in The Hindu (last year there were many articles on this topic) and give links soon.
    Apart from the above book, the following book might be useful as it is written by a renowned author Ramesh Arora (his books on Public Administration are well received)

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