Vinay Sunil Patil IAS Officer Trainee 2024

All the best for prelims Tomorrow, Hope you manage it with a positive mindset and handle the nerves well, Best luck 👍🙏

About test series not giving any tests or not solving mcq will likely be a blunder in upsc preparation. sectional tests/full length coaching tests/upsc pyq/other exam pyq? ans: the purpose of each is different and based on that decision should be taken. 1.sectional tests: purpose is not to target score but to see conceptual clarity,facts recalling and application in mcq solving. also see whether you are missing any straight question from the standard source that you followed. 2.upsc pyq/3.other exam pyq ans: the purpose is to understand priority topics and pattern in which upsc asks question,few may get asked directly or its options may appear in some ways,this will help you get confidence in actual paper due to familiarity of question patterns. 4.coaching full length tests ans: here the purpose is to experiment things like number of attempts,paper handling strategy,time and mindset management and logical guesswork. don't give single coaching tests,try to give combination. Here,it is very important to analyse how you solved, mistakes made and what could have been done better. making notes of its solutions given, will be a cumbersome exercise and am not sure of cost benefit. so,look at the purpose and then attend these things. How many mocks? this will depend upon what combination of above 4 things you go with,also depends upon the stage of preparation you are in like number of attempts and your previous experience with prelims. try variety, understand the approach of mcq solving and arrive at suitable strategy for those 2 hours. I personally solved 3-4 sectional tests,all pyq and 15-20 coaching tests.But,my 2 hr strategy,mcq solving aptitude & time and mindset management was prepared from this much,so work out your combination till you feel ready. not missing any question from your standard sources will get you closer to cutoff and a bit of logical application in a calm frame of mind will push you beyond the fence. all the best 👍

2025-Happy New Year to all of you As many of you will start preparing for prelims around this time, here are some of my broad understandings of prelims exam as requested by few of you. 1.preparation for exam and the day of exam are two different things for which you have to get ready from the very beginning. 2.Handling a single mcq and handling 100 mcq's are two different things, In former, you require knowledge and skill but in later you have to play a game with 100 opponents and cross the threshold anyhow. so learn this paper handling from experts and develop your own suitable way. 3.don't run behind test series and current affairs,Its just about developing the aptitude of mcq solving and dealing with exam day effectively. 4.missing out on easy and doable questions, that are asked straight away from standard sources, will get you in trouble. also,solving difficult questions using logic will help you get margin from cutoff, so work on both aspects. 5.time management and mindset management, If not managed well,these two will destroy all the efforts that you have put in preparation, This is where talented,smart players outplay the hardworking lot which bases itself on number of hours and revisions and ignore time and mindset management 6.finally, don't ignore CSAT can't say much about this. These are very broad things which are like principles that I understood,some things may work differently for you and you are free to mend it👍 best wishes for an important year in your upsc journey👍

Mains result declared Congratulations to those who cleared it and qualified for the personality test, All the best for it. To those who couldn't clear it , I don't know what to say, because I haven't been here,so it may not be worth it to share shallow advice. For the rest aiming for 2025, Hope you'll be facing this thing same time next year, mains result is a very stressful as well as relieving feeling compared to prelims result where you already have an idea of where you stand, but in mains,the unpredictability of paper checking creates so much stress that qualifying for personality test is one of the best feeling in the journey, let's work hard to have that stress and relief a year later👍👍

December is a good time to try your hands at answer writing, you may hesitate to begin and feel unprepared,you may have fear of writing a bad quality answer, but It is important to begin, first answer is often the worst for many but that sets out the bar from where you start improving. Don't wait till you'll have perfect content at your fingertip for all the questions and then you'll write,that utopian point never comes. start with your comfortable areas, identify mistakes,see what was asked and what you wrote, gradually move towards writing multiple questions,start writing within time and word limit and then finally,shift to full length paper of 3 hrs. All of this will be tough but will give you enough confidence to start prelims in January/February. If In case you couldn't do all this because you prioritise covering the syllabus first,it will still be OK,I practised all my answer writing after clearing prelims. Those who are enough ready in some areas may attempt some writing. Everything works out if you intend to work it out. All the Best.

Common doubt for current affairs note making. If the topic is greatly in news over a period of time,how to make notes of it? These are topics like russia-Ukraine war,Israel-palestine issue, citizenship act etc etc. We see articles in newspaper almost daily and it is difficult to make notes for such topics, I would advise here to focus on understand what's happening and not make notes for such topics, because the notes will get so bulky and maximum one question will get asked if at all asked. So,read and understand the issue and in the end, take a good compilation before your mains so that you can revise the concept. as read and understood over a period of time it will be easy for you to write on that issue. questions over such controversial matters are rarely asked and the topic is so much in news that we can write something even if asked...so better to look at cost-benefit ratio here and focus on overall understanding of issue rather than word to word note making.

Mains 2024, Its around the corner now, some simple but useful tips from the single mains experience of mine. 1.Its a marathon,you have prepared enough but the final battle is still to be faught,so maintain the composure till the end and fight till the last full stop. 2.take care of small things like your sleep,diet, schedule, accomodation,health etc. these little things matter alot. 3.Dont give up in the middle even if it's tough, you never know the pattern of scoring in a paper,how well other papers will go and how others aree writing, so even if you find one of the paper on difficult side,try to do average in it and maintain the mindset of covering it up in other papers,you have so many opportunities to cover that. If couple of papers go bad,still try to chase atleast the interview call based on mains cutoff of your category,the only thing is don't give up in the middle. 4.Mindset in the first week,think that you will rock in ur optional,so,just need to do average in GS,this will reduce the burden and pressure that you are feeling and in the optional week,think that you have done enough in GS,just need average in optional, this mindgame will relax you and get the best out of your mind. 5.You have enough content with you after studying for years,so try to write atleast relatable points even in difficult questions and complete the papers, respect the time and marks that the question carries and treat it likewise. 6.Remember the mains funda that it is the question that needs to be addressed from ur available knowledge pool rather than the examiner being forced to find the demanded content from knowledge pool that you write. 7.Language paper Don't get stressed out about it but also don't take it lightly, complete entire paper with your maximum capacity. 8.Have a clear idea about the optional preparation that you'll be doing in the gap between GS and optional,this clarity will help you gather yourself and be confident after finishing with GS papers. This is mainly useful for those writing first mains with many fears and insecurities in their mind...the veteran players already know the funda. That's why I interacted very little with others during mains so as not to bog down my mind with unnecessary gossips I also avoided any discussion or prediction of my marks in any of the paper,just do your karma and let the superior authority do its magic...this will help you too. All the Best from my Side...May you connect the dots well👍🙏

Answer writing Directive. Here, In the above question,I gave you a content and you applied it to the demand of the question. Similarly in Mains, You'll go with years of preparation with your brain Fully loaded with content, Now you just have to develop this, that, After reading a question,what content that i have studied so far better fits here. You definitely have that content for most of the questions,you just need to be calm enough to link that content with the question's demand in very limited time. This is the reason I could score good marks in very first Mains with very less answer writing efforts compared to others, because during the gap between prelims and mains,I had decided that I will use certain content in different answers based on requirement. Ex.I recall, similar to this situation of Bangladesh,Last year I had decided that I will use sri Lanka's economic crisis in my answers, In the very first paper of essay, writing thinking and intelligence topic,I could easily recall srilanka's and organic farming experiment with that of India's Sikkim and compared and linked them with thinking and intelligence behind the decision. If you develop this ability to link content that you have with demand of question, You won't need bundles of paper writing. My answers in mains didn't have this technical element that answer writing industry is focusing on,they were plain,simple and written point to point, nothing fancy in them. Mains 2024 candidates in last few days can work on having such handy topics with wider application. So just understand the funda, gather enough content and Fit-in whatever content you have with question's demand. Till then don't worry about FOMO of answer writing. Better work on thinking and interlinking thing.

Which Essay topic from last 5 years relates perfectly to the situation in Bangladesh?

For Mains 2024 aspirants, I hope you must be on track and started writing and strategising full length tests. Here I am giving you some repeated essay themes on which you must have ready made content so as to save time in brainstorming if same or similar theme gets repeated. Ex.In 2020 they ask Life is a long journey between human being and being humane and In 2022 they ask, A ship is safe in the harbour but that's not what it is for. Now in these two essays... the basic theme is about coming out of our comfort zone and give meaning to our existence as a human. In 2022 they asked, Just because you have a choice doesn't mean it has to be right and in 2023 they asked, visionary decision making happens at the intersection of logic and intuition and also asked about thinking and its game connection. All these essays comes under broad theme of decision making and its implementation. so you should be ready with such predictable themes. In philosophical topics, prepare following themes. 1.prevention better than cure. 2.coming out of comfort zone. 3.Decision making 4.balance between emotions and logic 5.thinking and intelligence IQ and EQ. 6.meaningful life, wisdom and truth 7.struggle,dedication towards our goal 8.Simplicity and personality 9.dilemma of 'I vs We'/ 'I vs they'. 10.resilience,bounce back after a setback, fighting spirit Another topic is GS based essay, here Health Education and policy related themes used to occur regularly earlier and now they may make comeback again. society related topics especially Gender angle is quite favourite in UPSC. following themes from PYQ, 1.Indias journey overall. democracy and other systems, federalism. 2.poverty and Justice 3.culture and values 4. media. 5.climate change and sustainabile development 6.secors of economy 7.women empowerment 8.globalization 9. IR major themes 10.History and science tech examples useful from essay point of view. Be ready with such 20-25 regular themes, brainstorm quickly and present better and be ready to face any surprise pattern in the very first paper of Mains, Just maintain the composure and trust your preparation.

We Are Officially Into IAS 😊

My advice for aspirants staying at Home and preparing for exams. I stayed at home due to covid disruption in 2020 and started preparing through online medium, Once I understood the scene,I decided to stay at home only and cleared it. my family and my seniors were supportive of this idea. here's my take on this. Who can/Should prepare from home? -Those who have suitable, favourable conditions to study and prepare at home...those who can manage advantages and disadvantages of preparing at home given below. -Those who have proper guidance from seniors or peers advantages -a familiar environment, suitable weather -health and food is taken care of -resources can be taken care of after the online shift in post covid world. -family support,lesser distractions, specific sources. -less money spend,so family may support you for one more attempt because of lesser financial burden. Disadvantages -lack of proper guidance -time waste in family things, events and functions -non UPSC friend circle -mental health challenge -family issues advice. -If suitable stay at home,If not,look for other options away from home...both are fine. -Its all about what you do staying at home. -chose and pick right resources,search for proper guidance, maintain healthy relationships with family and friends,take care of mental health,stay in touch with some delhi friends and use online resources wisely without getting distracted -spend some of your saved money in good internet connection,proper digital tools, electricity backup etc. to avoid interruptions in studies. -Family friends and relatives work both ways,healthy or toxic,stay close with healthy ones and avoid toxic one's atleast for some time. way forward. Although it's a great idea to prepare from home,its definitely not suitable for everyone,one size doesn't fit all,so there is no universal answer. You have to see and gauge your circumstances and then decide. Success is all about tapping the advantages of your position and managing the challenges of your position, you can succeed at both,home or away.

https://youtu.be/GwT4mO9Blio?si=vAOSM_QJsGupXZWo

Budget and economic survey importance for 2024 candidates and for 2025 candidates will be a bit different. 2024 mains candidates need to be aware of some basic announcements. In the past,some direct questions from budget have been asked and economic survey facts and concepts can be used in answer writing. 2025 candidates can glance through it and revise basic concepts of economy around it. as, in next year's february,this will repeat again.

It was a great experience being in Delhi and meeting so many aspirant friends in last two days. I was preparing at home throughout my upsc journey and got aware of delhi experience very late...I have been through whole lot of loneliness during these years, so, you coming to meet me or get in touch matters to me alot...Its been a great experience coming to delhi first as a mains cleared candidate and then as enlisted candidate. My seniors have helped me in addressing my doubts, motivate me and give me the confidence to clear the exam,So I am very well aware of the importance that a good guidance from your senior holds for you. Due to my FC related works and my personal commitments I couldn't stay here for long and give adequate, required time to all... Please excuse me for all the hurries and time crunch with those I met in last two days. I'll try to get in touch with the rest through mobile and wish you all the best, see you soon here ❤️

Official Invitation from LBSNAA for Foundation Course Training 👍🙏

I will be in Delhi on Friday and Saturday, Let's see if we can meet through Instagram or comment section here.

Mains 2024 aspirants, Administrative reforms commission(ARC) reports can be used as a reference for point that you are putting forward to make it more authentic. I made this list before my mains and see how I used it across papers. 1st... RTI..regular mains questions appear related to information and rights around it. 2nd ...human capital...master theme...HRD..6th question in mains 2023 GS 2 3rd...crisis management 4th .. ethics in governance...GS 4 topic. 5th... public order...GS 2 6th...local governance...3rd question in 2023 mains GS 2... regular question in previous mains. 7th ... capacity building.. GS 2 and 4 8th... combating terrorism...GS 3 topic. 9th ..social capital... regular questions asked in prelims and mains. Q.6(b) in 2023 mains GS 4. 11th ..e governance...8th question in 2023 mains GS 2. It is neither possible nor advisable to read whole report.But, just see the summary of these reports and understand their application in writing answers with authentic points.

Mains 2024 aspirants, If you are on Instagram,Do visit pages of such institutions like WEF and UN agencies where you'll get useful value addition points. You can quote, according to WEF...... while writing your answers, they post stuff across dynamic topics on social media. Also visit pages of Union ministries and PIB for useful value addition content.

Sponsorship for Mains 2024 candidates belonging to specified categories Domiciled in the state of Maharashtra