S & T is surely one area which is irritating most of the candidates.
Is it really tough like finding Higgs Boson particle?? I will say it is really not that tough if
properly analyzed, so how a candidate should approach to tackle this area and
what to read so as to hit on the nail? Even science students find it very tough
now a days to cover S&T, so it in one sense provides a level playing field for
both humanities & commerce students with science students. Science students
should not take this area lightly. I will be covering S&T from both Prelims
& Mains point of view.
Prelims:
For prelims, I will be covering that area which exclusively comes in
prelims only, remaining part for prelims will be automatically covered in mains
syllabus and that area should be prepared for mains & prelims both by a
candidate. Now a days, more conceptual based questions are asked so a candidate
should understand the concept properly and should go for the application part
of S&T like broadband technology, difference between wi-fi & Bluetooth
etc.
Biology,
Physics & Chemistry is the only addition which forms part of prelims but do not comes in
Mains, so I will recommend students to read just Class XI & XII NCERT book on science & technology that will
serve the purpose. Even among above, Biology constitutes 95% of the questions
in prelims so one should give major attention to Biology only.
Diagrams
in biology helps a lot for easy understanding the topic so diagrams should be
understood properly.
Mains:
For mains, a candidate should prepare following area as prescribed by the
UPSC: (No Need to prepare Biology, Chemistry & Physics)
Ø
Space like ISRO, PSLV, GSLV, Chandrayaan,
Cryogenics etc
Ø
Nanotechnology & application in
various fields
Ø
Biotechnology & application in various fields, controversies
associated with it
Ø
Robotics, types of robots, new robots & uses
of robots in various fields
Ø
Communication & Information
technology like computers, super
computers (K Computer & SAGA-220 appears in Mains 2011), Mobile technology,
DTH, IPTV. GSM, CDMA etc.
Ø
Indian Defence like missiles program, new aircrafts,
submarines, AWACS etc.
The above is the major syllabus from which questions are regularly asked
although no specific area is still limited in the Mains exam. Anything related
to development in the field of S&T can be asked in the exam. In Mains both
current affairs based and traditional questions are regularly asked by the
UPSC.
A candidate should thoroughly prepare on the above mentioned areas with
concept clarity and most important on the application & use of
S&T in our various facets of life like use in agriculture, medicine,
industry etc which UPSC is now mostly interested in asking every year.
Source of
Study
Ø Wizard S&T by Jojo Mathew ( A very good book for covering basics of above topics)
Ø The Hindu Thursday reporting on S&T
Ø Times of India (Regular check on
website for Science section as TOI covers science section in a better
way than other newspapers)
Ø One Magazine S& T portion (Any one magazine either chronicle, wizard or Civil Service Times can be
referred)
Ø Ministry of Science & Technology ( Regularly visit this site and see in the bottom of
this site the blinking item or scroll for new developments in the field of
S&T) V. IMP
Ø ISRO, DRDO & BARC sites ( Again blinking item as there is huge chance of coming them in exam and
see these websites for basic understanding or new developments)
For S&T, there is no good readymade material available in the market
so one should prepare this area him/herself and should make a separate notebook
for new developments. One should not go into too many technical details while
preparing this area as examiner expects you to be GS student not S&T
student.
One
important thing I have noticed in S&T section is that now UPSC is more
interested in application part of S&T in our day to day life so one should look
around the items he/she is using like microwave, TV, refrigerator, washing
machines, mobile phone etc. and should read from internet about these and look
for detail about it like LED vs LCD screen, Drum & Spin Washing machine,
Trans fat while eating chips, omega-3 fatty acid. This way it is very easy to
cover S&T and one surely will be hitting on the nail during the exam.
I think I have covered this area in detail, still if you have any doubt
feel free to comment on my blog or suggest for the improvements. I am also
reproducing a motivational quote on excellence which is worth reading:
“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”- Aristotle
Regards,
Deepak Singla
