Course Content
GS1
All topics given below
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1. Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
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2. Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
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5. History of the world will include events from the 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.
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7. Role of women and women’s organizations, Population and associated issues, Poverty and developmental issues, Urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
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10.2. Introduction to Maps
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GS2
All Updates topics given below
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.
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10. Government Policies and Interventions for Development in Various Sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
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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.
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13. Issues relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
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14. Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger.
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16. Role of Civil Services in a Democracy
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GS3
2. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
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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.
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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.
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6. Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
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11. Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
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12. Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
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13. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
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16. Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
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19. Security challenges and their management in border areas; -linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
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GS3: ENVIRONMENT
UPSC Full Course [English]
About Lesson

E.2. Modern Indian History Books and Authors

Important Modern Indian History Books and their authors are discussed below.

Book Name

Authors and Details

Tuhafat-ul-Muwahidin

The earliest work against idolatry, Tuhafat-ul-Muwahidin, was written by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He argued that the only legitimate forms of worship were meditation, studying the Upanishads, and prayer.

Gita Rahasya

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a key social reformer and independence leader, wrote Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya in Marathi in 1915 while imprisoned in Mandalay, Burma. Commonly known as Gita Rahasya or Karmayog Shastra, this work draws its analysis from the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text.

Neel Darpan

Dinabandhu Mitra authored the Bengali play Neel Darpan between 1858 and 1859. The play played a significant role in the success of the Nilbidraha (Indigo Revolt), when farmers in Bengal refused to grow indigo as a form of protest against the exploitative practices of the British Raj in February–March 1859.

Gitanjali

The most well-known work by Rabindranath Tagore is a collection of poetry called Gitanjali, which was published in India in 1910. Gitanjali: Song Offerings, a collection of English prose poems, was afterward created by Tagore. William Butler Yeats provided an introduction for its 1912 release.

Gitanjali is a collection of poems by Tagore that are based on Middle Ages religious melodies from India. He composed music to accompany these words as well. Although love is the primary subject, several poems also discuss the conflict between spiritual aspirations and material wants. He frequently employs naturalistic imagery, and the tone is typically subdued and calm. This collection helped Tagore win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913,

History of the Arya Samaj

Lala Lajpat Rai joined the Arya Samaj in Lahore after being inspired by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He thought that the Hindu principles united with nationalism would result in the creation of a secular state. He authored History of the Arya Samaj.

He was one of the three radical leaders that made up the Lal-Bal-Pal group, together with Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He also has ties to the Hindu Mahasabha. He fought against being invincible.

Political Testament of Gokhale

Gopal Krishna Gokhale, at Lord Willingdon’s request, created a reform plan that was to be implemented in India following the First World War. It was written by Gokhale before he died in 1915, but it wasn’t published until 1917.

Satyarth Prakash

Dayanand Saraswati (Swami Dayanand), a religious and social reformer and the founder of the Arya Samaj wrote the 1875 book Satyarth Prakash-The Light of Meaning of the Truth, also known as The Light of Truth, which was first published in Hindi. After Swami Dayanand Saraswati revised it in 1882, the book was translated into more than 20 languages, including English, French, German, Swahili, Arabic, and Chinese.

It was also translated into Sanskrit. The latter four chapters of the book argue for a comparative examination of various religious beliefs, with the majority of the book devoted to laying out Swami Dayanand’s reformist agenda.

Hind Swaraj

In 1909, Mohandas K. Gandhi published the book Hind Swaraj, also known as Indian Home Rule. In it, he discusses a variety of topics, including mechanization, contemporary civilization, and Swaraj. Gandhi rejects European civilization in the book while pledging allegiance to superior imperial principles. As a seditious literature, the book was outlawed by the British government in India in 1910.

Economic History of India

R. C. Dutt was a writer and civil servant from India. He translated the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Romesh Chunder Dutt is the author of “Economic History of India,” a well-known work. He was chosen to serve as the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad’s inaugural president. Other important works:

  • Bangabijeta.
  • A Brief History of Ancient and Modern Bengal
  • Jibanprabhat.
  • Jibansandhya.

Poverty and Un-British Rule in India

One of the forerunners of the Indian independence movement, Dadabhai Naoroji, described how poverty was pervasive throughout India while the British were draining the nation of its wealth in his 1901 book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.

“The British reign brought only India’s impoverishment with their knife of sugar,” he wrote. That is to say, although there is no oppression and everything seems pleasant, the situation is nevertheless precarious.

Anandamath

A historical novel in Bengali, Anandamath, was authored by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and released in 1882. It is regarded as one of the most significant books in the history of Bengali and Indian literature and is inspired by and set against the backdrop of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century.

The first hymn to identify Bengal as the Motherland was Vande Mataram, “Hail to the Bengal Motherland,” which was made public in this book. The book Dharma Tattva is also written by him.

Why I Am an Atheist

Bhagat Singh belonged to the revolutionary Hindustan Socialist Republican Organization during the Indian independence movement. He was an atheist who supported socialism and authored several pieces for Kirti on anarchism and socialism. He wrote the book Why I Am an Atheist.

Gulamgiri

Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was a prominent social reformer who was born in Pune. He linked the plight of the black slaves in America with that of the lower castes in India in his novel Gulamgiri, which he dedicated to the American effort to free the slaves. This comparison contains an expression of hope that one day, like the end of slavery in America, there would be an end to all sorts of caste discrimination in Indian society

The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death & Destiny

Sarojini Naidu collected her poems into one book. In 1915, it was first read aloud in public. The author was a poet and political activist from India who composed poetry about fate, love, and death. The author provides the reader with a glimpse into the poems’ meanings, dedications, and sources of inspiration through scribbles.

The book is divided into sections under which several poems are arranged. The Broken Wing, The Flowering Year, The Peacock Lute: Songs for Music, and The Temple: A Pilgrimage of Love are the headers for these sections. Songs of India, World of Time, and The Golden Threshold are also a few books written by Sarojini Naidu.

India Wins Freedom

India Wins Freedom is a well-informed description of the partition from the viewpoint of the author, Maulana Azad. It includes his thoughts on liberty and freedom as well as his personal experiences with India’s independence.

The book describes the events of the Indian Independence struggle in the style of an autobiographical story. The book deftly and profoundly traces the happenings that eventually resulted in the split. According to the book, politics, not religion, was more to blame for the divide. Additionally, it claims that after gaining independence, India fell short of realizing its full potential. In addition to discussing political hypocrisy, the book illustrates the mindsets of the author’s colleagues at the time, including Nehru, Gandhi, and Subhash Chandra Bose.

The Discovery of India

When Jawaharlal Nehru was imprisoned at Ahmednagar Fort for his involvement in the Quit India Movement, he published the book “The Discovery of India” (1942 – 1946). The book was written by Nehru during his four years of solitary confinement in prison and serves as a tribute to his beloved nation and its rich culture.

The book began with an extensive discussion of ancient texts including the Vedas, Upanishads, and textbooks, and it ended with the British Raj. The television series and the book both present a broad view of Indian history, culture, and philosophy. The book is regarded as among the best works in Indian history ever written.

An Indian Pilgrim

“An Indian Pilgrim,” which Netaji wrote around the end of 1937 while traveling through Europe after being named the Rashtrapati of Bharatbarsha, recounts Netaji’s life from his infancy until he departs from the Indian Civil Service. In this autobiography, the author gives a truthful and sincere account of his early years, his schooling in Cuttack with a group of cousins and relatives, his intellectual formative years as a promising student at Presidency College in Calcutta, his search for spiritual enlightenment, and his experiences as a student at the prestigious Cambridge University.

The story of how his life’s motivations—a spirit of service, selflessness, and zeal for national liberation—grew may be found in the book.  The autobiography also sheds a great deal of light on Netaji’s unwavering spirit in the Indian freedom movement.

History of the Indian National Congress

The book, written by B Pattabhi Sitaramayya, spans two volumes and chronicles the development of the Indian National Congress from 1885 to 1935. According to the author, the Indian National Congress is more than just an organization; it is an organism and an individual because it was founded in 1885 with a certain goal in mind. For those who want to carefully examine what happened during the formation, growth, and maintenance of the Indian National Congress, this book is essential.

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