Notes

I think one’s own notes are the best arsenal one can have against the mammoth syllabus of CSE. It lends you three distinct advantages –
(a) concise and crisp
(b) faster revision
(c) confidence in your preparation.

I am sharing my notes in entirety; hope it helps you in gaining an insight in preparing an even better filing system for yourself. I really believe having own notes helps in understanding the concepts much better, and helps in faster and multiple revisions. Having said that, you do you 🙂

Here’s the web link to my OneNote notebook. It contains all my notes:

Dhananjay’s Notebook for UPSC CSE
(takes time to load on browser, definitely works on Chrome when on laptop, may not work on mobile)

* Folder with PDFs almost all the useful pages from the same notebook (if above link is not working for you)

2/Jun/2020 UPDATE: Attaching all evaluated answer sheets of the mains test series I had taken with Insights. 5 essay papers, 3 (x4) GS papers, 2 half-length GS4 papers. Evaluated answer copies

31/May/2019 UPDATE: Here’s the full notebook download link if you wish to import my notebook in your OneNote. The step by step process on how to import is detailed here by Office support.

I have also uploaded PDFs of almost all useful pages from the notebook. You can find them under the relevant General Studies sections or in a single link above *

Quick guide to the notes

  1. Static – contains notes I made out of all the NCERTs I read + Ramesh Singh for economy + Culture side reads (NIOS/CCRT)
  2. GS 1 – any current affairs related to the syllabus or any topic which required more information for a better understanding
  3. GS 2 – anything and everything which could be related to the GS2 syllabus. Kindly note: since my optional was PSIR, I made extensive notes on India’s relations in the neighbourhood and with major countries – which are filed under PSIR.
  4. GS 3 – anything and everything which could be related to the GS3 syllabus, broadly categorised by combining similar topics.
  5. GS 4 – as I have said this in GS-4 page, this paper requires you to think and write. Notes here are minimal and mostly concern definitions and concepts.
  6. Essay quotes – any quote which I thought could be useful while writing an essay. Categorised by broad topics.
  7. PSIR – see my optional prep first. Notes are mainly for Paper II – (a) some additional notes for Part A (b) Part B notes are in entirety of what I read and reread for the mains.
  8. Prelims – contains one line trivia/facts which might be pertinent for prelims only (for e.g. butterflies found in Arunachal, to be ready for à la 2016)
  9. Interview – contains all notes I prepared for interview

I did not prepare short notes of the following books but followed this strategy of preparing questions for each chapter. I tried to retain answers as much as was possible. Linking them below (all of them are accessible on Chrome on a laptop):

  • Laxmikant (Polity)
  • Shankar (Environment)
  • Spectrum (Modern History)
  • NCERTs (Geography) – docx was picked up directly from here, and made few additions. Didn’t utilise it much towards the end

87 thoughts on “Notes”

  1. sthsa's avatarsthsa

    Hey, while going through your Geography NCERT notes, The notes on India People and Economy (12th) were not there, did you skip the book or just didn’t make notes out of it?

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      1. Suraj R's avatarSuraj R

        Sir, One Note Links are not accessible, can you share google drive links after re uploading it or new onenote links.
        please sir. thank you in advance.

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          1. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

            Also sir I love reading books, so apart from UPSC prep can you list some good books/novels that you have read?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I would always finish what I am more comfortable with first (helps gaining confidence, can get though it quickly, more time for tricky/irritating parts).

      All my revisions invariably divided the day into parts with lofty aims: 10-1 Current affairs of the day 2-5 Static revision 6-8 pretending to study but not really 9-12 Current affairs revision. Not always panned out this way.

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  4. Prachi Malhotra's avatarPrachi Malhotra

    Sir ,How did u make current affairs notes,did u make it daily? Did u use monthly compilations ,if yes please explain process of making CA notes?

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  5. Gunajit's avatarGunajit

    Hi,
    Congratulations and thank you so much for sharing your strategy here.Could you please clarify if the notes that you have compiled from NCERTs(Specially Fine Arts book) is enough to depend upon and not going through the book itself.
    Thanks

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  6. choudharyswati's avatarchoudharyswati

    Hi sir, could you please elaborate your mapping strategy as it is always a dilemma on what and how to go about it? It would be great if you could put up a list on what all you covered through maps and how did you go about it.
    Thanks.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Even I don’t remember what all I covered through maps. I have detailed the most important one (National Parks et al).

      Rest were very basic, just bare single word information regarding the subject such as tribes, dances, rivers, etc.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. scswatichoudhary's avatarscswatichoudhary

        Thank you.! 🙂
        Also to mention, everytime I feel a little lost admist the chaos, I keep coming back to your blog for some clarity as well as feel good vibes.
        The ease with which you have mentioned the preparation process with all required details provides a sense of calm.

        Liked by 2 people

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  7. Sarvajot Singh's avatarSarvajot Singh

    Hi, Congratulations on making it to the list, can you share the structure(including the bare essentials to keep in mind) which you used while preparing notes on the section of WPT, IPT of Paper 1 of PSIR?

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      No structure per se. I tried to include any point I thought I would be useful for (a) getting clarity of concept (b) writing answers. Key is to not write sentences and read your own notes along with madam’s notes multiple times. Only your last two revisions should be without madam’s notes imo

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  8. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    firstly, thanks a lot for sharing your notebook(helps me understand how to make notes)
    sir , did you skipped class 10 geography Ncert?if yes,then why?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      If I didn’t make notes out of it, I surely skipped.
      It must have not been included in Insights syllabus probably. Or I must have flipped through it and didn’t find it much of significance from prelims perspective.

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  10. MONICA's avatarMONICA

    Hello sir.You said you completed insights test schedule by Feb.So did you skip the books and gave test ? Then how did you plan to cover those skipped areas? And by Feb meaning had you complteted the entire schedule as prescribed by insights till June?
    What about mains portions included within it? Did you cover those also?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. I skipped a few books (GC Leong, World History NCERTs). I still gave the test but ofc scored less in those tests.
      2. You don’t need NCERT + GC Leong imo. I instead added Shankar, and replaced Bipin Chandra with Spectrum. And then I went faster by putting in extra effort.
      3. By Feb end, I had completed all the NCERTs + standard books + CA till then. But I had a backlog of around 5-6 mocks by then.
      4. Certain portions of mains syllabus I did after prelims. I went subtopic wise and covered what wasn’t adequately covered by prelims prep.

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    2. Pooja Chaudhary's avatarPooja Chaudhary

      Hello sir,
      I am preparing for 2020 by self (i ll also clear my college in 2020), i really want to know that what u did out of the box that got u 95th rank in 1st attempt without coaching.

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  11. Shivani Jha's avatarShivani Jha

    Hello Sir,
    If you don’t mind can you pls share your email id. I would draft an email only if it is very urgent and will not misuse it. As m preparing from home and have no mentor to clear my doubts.
    If possible kindly share your ID on mitumjha097@gmail.com.
    Thank You

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  12. Syam's avatarSyam

    Hlo sir …first of all thanks for sharing the notes… while refering to history notes..didn’t find anything regarding 11th NCERT (r s sharma ).. Is it included or not ?

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  13. Tamanna's avatarTamanna

    Sir, in spectrum question pdf, questions startes from chapter5 onwards, what did you do for chapters before that i.e. Advent of European and chapters having a ton of battles. How did you them?

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        1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

          I didn’t write any PSIR answer until I walked into the exam hall; not recommended at all. Only I know how I kept myself calm.

          There are many who scored 300+ in PSIR, better to find their answer booklets.

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  16. Goutham Kb's avatarGoutham Kb

    Hey sir,
    Was wondering how to keep oneself positive during the journey? I have joined a coaching class in Delhi to make sure I understand everything clearly and systematically (because of my architecture background). The coaching class here ends 40 days before the prelims. The institute offers it’s own material, weekly tests and I’m preparing essay on my own. I’m freaking out about the fact that I can’t make notes before prelims as I’ll be occupied with the institute’s time table and studying their material. I’m lost. If it isn’t too much to ask, please help me. Any advice would be appreciated.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Go faster than their schedule. Skip books/classes that are low yield/not good enough.

      I too was following Insights schedule (as per test series) which was finishing 45 days before prelims. I skipped/added resources and worked harder during certain months to finish syllabus 3 months before their schedule.

      Point is: there’s no patthar ki lakir here. Do what you must do.

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  18. Amit Keshav's avatarAmit Keshav

    Sir, can these notes be the substitute for reading the ncerts, as you’ve already put all the take home material from the ncerts in it. Pls guide

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I would recommend a quick reading through class 6th-10th NCERTs while simultaneously reading these notes. Add what I might have missed and you deem to be important. This way you can blaze through these NCERTs and get a good hold of them while covering them thoroughly. These books are pertinent mainly from prelims point of view; if we were only writing mains the standard books + 11th-12th NCERTs would have sufficed.

      Do read properly the NCERTs for class 11th-12th for polity, history (+TN state 11th-12th for linear timeline), and geography.

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      For my prelims specific revision plan (starting 3 months before D-day) every time I would revise those books, I would have these questions docx open and I would try to answer them as I would revise sections/entire chapters.
      This accomplished two things (a) didn’t miss facts I had deemed important in those chapters (b) could identify things I had trouble remembering so could focus well on them (such as appointments to constitutional/statutory bodies)

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I have finally figured out how to make a pdf out of OneNote without splitting every page into two.
      It is a slow process and I have to use my father’s old laptop but I’ll do it before the month is over.

      Liked by 2 people

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      2. Deswal Kiran's avatarDeswal Kiran

        sir gd evening … thnks sr apne sara study material share kiya ..apke ye sare notes dwnlod ho rhe h ab…..sir ek Q ha apne jo question bank polity geo or spectrum vali book.ka share kiya h unme kuch Q ase h jo muje ni aate book.reading k bd b kya apne inke ans b khi likhe the ya only as a Q bnk hi use krte the ap.

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      3. Amit Balot's avatarAmit Balot

        Thank you sir… I was trying since last 2 days but still couldn’t import them in my one drive… Now I’ll wait until you upload pdfs

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  23. Sandy_srcc's avatarSandy_srcc

    Sir, the notes on the drive are crashing as soon as opened. Could you please export from OneNote and upload the files on Google Drive.
    Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Try scrolling for a few seconds if it’s stuck on the Geo-NCERT page?
      Google won’t be able to recognise the file format and render the upload useless. I can allow download of the entire file but I don’t know how people can utilise it since it’s linked and synced to my Microsoft account.

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          1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

            All of it is there under the Optional tab. I did mainly it from Shubhra madam’s notes + own notes + David Malone + whatever I also used for GS 2. That’s pretty much it.

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          1. Abhishek Mishra's avatarAbhishek Mishra

            Hi Dhananjay,
            Big congratulations on the immense success and thanks a ton for this Pathfinder blog.
            I have two questions:
            1. Was NCERT Science class 10 in Insights reading list? If it was and you skipped it, could you please tell why.
            2. Same goes for NCERT Biology class 11 (Chapters 11 to 22).
            As I can’t find the notes of above mentioned two books in your notes compilation.

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      2. Singh Neeraj's avatarSingh Neeraj

        thanks sir for sharing your strategy and providing that notes of ncert’s that are of immense value ……….. plzz provide that notes in pdf form…they seems very helpful.

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