Topical Test 2nd Dec: Infrastructure & Resources

Topics: A. Infrastructure 1. Transportation infrastructure

Road and highway networks. Mass transit systems. Railways, including both passenger and freight. Canals and navigable waterways. Seaports. Airports, including air navigational systems.

2. Energy infrastructure

Thermal power generation. Natural gas pipelines & Petroleum pipelines. Nuclear energy. Renewable energy including wind, solar, oceanic, etc. Current energy scenario in India.

3. Water management infrastructure

Drinking water supply, including treatment and distribution of drinking water. Sewage collection, and disposal of waste water. Major irrigation systems (reservoirs, irrigation canals). Major flood control systems. Coastal management, including sand dune stabilization and the protection of mangrove forests and coastalwetlands. Water harvesting.

4. Communications infrastructure

Television and radio transmission, including the regulations and standards governing broadcasting. Internet, including some widely-used web-based services, such as social network services and web search engines. Communications satellites.

5. Solid waste management. 6. Economic infrastructure

Manufacturing infrastructure, including industrial parks and special economic zones. Agricultural, forestry and fisheries infrastructure, including agricultural price support systems (including agricultural insurance), agricultural research centers

7. Social infrastructure

The health care system, including hospitals, public health monitoring and regulations. The educational and research system, including elementary and secondary schools, universities, research institutions. Social welfare systems, including government support.

B. Resources

Water resources. Forest resources. Land resources. Energy resources. Food resources. Marine resources. Mineral resources. Resource use. Problems of resources like Environmental degradation, Over-consumption, Resource depletion.

Resource management and sustainable development.

Topical Test 23rd Dec: Demography Topics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Population composition. Density. Literacy. Sex ratio. Work force including demographic dividend. Population pyramids. Migration: National, International, State level and opposite migration. Illegal migrants and associated problems. Population policies and programmes.

Topical Test 16th Dec: Environmental problems + Global environmental governance

Topics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Deforestation. Pollution: Air, water, land, noise. Desertification. Food chain distortion. Biomagnification.

6. Acid Rain. 7. Biodiversity depletion. 8. Ozone depletion. 9. Global warming. 10. Carbon sequestration. 11. National environmental legislations. 12. International protocols. 13. Carbon credit. 14. Green budgeting and other green initiatives. 15. Sustainable development.

Topical Test 9th Dec: Human Development + Social sector initiatives + Programmes & Policies

Topics: A. Human Development in India 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Concept of Human Development. Development vs. Growth. Human development index. Economic indicators: GDP, PPP, Per capita income. Social indicators: Health, Literacy, Gender equality. Poverty including multidimensional index. HDR, UNDP. HDR India. GDI.

B. Social sector initiatives and Programmes & policies 1. Social inclusion including financial inclusion.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Child welfare. Welfare of disabled. Women empowerment. Welfare of minorities. Welfare of SCs & STs. Government initiatives in the field of agriculture , employment generation , education , health etc.

Topical Test 30th Dec: Agriculture, Urbanisation, Health

Topics: 1. Agriculture and GDP. 2. Agricultural regionalization. 3. Production and productivity. 4. Irrigation: Canal, tanks, wells. 5. Micro irrigation. 6. Institutional factors. 7. Changing and emerging trends. 8. Level of urbanization. 9. Problems of urbanization: slums, urban waste management, etc. 10. Carrying capacity of cities. 11. Health infrastructure. 12. state of public health in India. 13. Government initiatives.

Topical Test 6th January: Indian Economy basics + Planning + Trade

Topics: Indian Economy Basic

1. Sectors

Industry and Services. Agriculture. Banking and finance. Energy and Power. Infrastructure.

2. External trade and Investment

Balance of Payments. Foreign Direct Investment. Foreign Institutional Investment. Global Trade Relations.

3. Employment

Growth. Informalisation and other Issues.

4. Poverty

Poverty estimates. Impact of Poverty Efforts to alleviate property.

5. Currency

Exchange rate. Role of RBI.

6. Planning

Nature of Planning Five Year Plan. Planning after 1991 (LPG). Mechanism for planning Planning Commission & National Development Council.

7. Inflation

Topical Test 13th January: Governance and Contemporary political developments

Topics: 1. Paradigms related to politics, governance and development. 2. Development Politics - Role of state, market and civil society on governance and development. 3. Political and administrative institutions: Democracy, political parties, pressure groups, executive, legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy, and institutions of rural and urban governance. 4. Political and administrative reforms for good governance in the context of globalisation and technological revolution (constitutional, electoral and administrative reforms). 5. Implications of globalisation on polity, governance. 6. Political and governance issues covering agriculture, education, health, industry, irrigation, natural resources, power, welfare and poverty, E-

Governance, public and private partnership. 7. Issues pertaining to conflicts, communalism, corruption, terrorism, fundamentalism, sub-nationalism, regionalism, inter-state disputes, gender, ethics, poverty and environmental governance.