APSC Mains GS3 Syllabus - Paper IV

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APSC Mains GS3 Syllabus Summary

Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Government Budgeting. 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 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.
Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Land reforms in India. Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Investment models. Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievement of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Disaster and disaster management.
Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social
networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.
Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with
terrorism Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

APSC Mains GS3 Syllabus Topic List

Indian Economy

1. Basics of Indian economy

- Economy at the time of independence
- Sectors of economy
  - Primary – agriculture
  - Secondary – manufacturing
  - Tertiary – services
- Five year plans
- Reforms of 1991
- Importance of MSME sector
- Recent issues

2. Resource mobilization

- Types of resources: Physical capital
  and finance capital
- Need for resource mobilization- Police State and Democratic Welfare State
- Sources of resource mobilization:
- Public Sector and Private Sector
- Budgetary resources: Tax and Non tax
- Role of Public Debt in resource
- mobilization and effects: Market borrowing, loans, grants, etc.
- Role of foreign investment

3.Growth and employment

- Economic Growth and Development
- Measure of Growth
- Employments across sectors
- Formal vs informal employments
- Unemployment and jobless growth
- Other issues

4.Inclusive growth

- Dimensions of inclusive growth
- Models if inclusive growth
- Strategies for implementation
- Issues
- Policies
- Others

5. Government budgeting

- Terminologies
- Types of budgets
- Evolution of budgets
- Budgetary process
- Fiscal policies
- Key features of recent budget

6. Investment models

- Economic systems
- Public private partnership
- Harrod Domar model
- Mahalanobis model
- Hybrid model
- Foreign Direct Investment

7. Taxation

- Direct and indirect taxes
- GST
- Post GST collection
- Tax Evasion
- Tax Reforms

8. Fiscal Policy

- Concepts
- Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003

9. Monetary Policy in India

- Instruments of monetary policy
- Reforms
- Urijit Patel Committee

10. Irrigation and irrigation system

- Irrigation techniques
- Importance in Agriculture
- Groundwater irrigation
- Surface irrigation
- Drip irrigation
- Sprinkler irrigation
- Localized irrigation

11. Issues in Indian Agriculture

- Land holdings of farmers
- Land reforms
- Small and marginal farmers
- Sustainable land management
  - NITI Ayog report on land leasing
  - Low productivity of agriculture
  - Fertilizers
  - Soil health card

12. Agriculture Finances

- Sources and problems
- Agricultural credits
- Nabard
- Lead bank scheme
- Rural infrastructure Development fund
- MSP
- Kisan credit card
- Crop insurance
- PM Fasal Bima Yojana
- Agriculture marketing

- - APMC act
  - E Nam
  - Issues

13. Subsidies

- Farm subsidies
- Fertiliser subsidies
- Subsidy on power
- Irrigation
- Buffer stock policy
- PDS and TPDS

- - Objective
  - Issues

14. Economics of Animal rearing

- Basics
- Milk production
- Others
- Fisheries
- Recent technologies

15. Food processing industries

- Location & Scope
- Significance
- Upstream downstream requirements
- Supply chain management
- APEDA
- Small farmers agribusiness consortium
- Mega Food Parks
- PM Kisan Sampada Yojana

16. Effects of liberalization of economy

- Basics
- 1991 reforms
- Recent initiatives

17. Infrastructure

- Energy
- Ports
- Railways
- Airports
- Highways
- Industrial corridor
- Special Economic Zones
- Reverse SEZ

18. Banking

- Basics
- NBFC
- Types of banks
  - Payment banks
  - Small finance banks
  - India post payment bank
- Bank Boards Bureau
- Nationalization
- Privatization
- Non-Performing assets
- Willful defaulters
- Basel Norms
- Recent Developments

19. Financial System

- Money Market
- Capital Market
- Primary & Secondary Market
- Government Securities
- Convertibility

20. Other Institution

- SEBI

- - Security market
  - Credit rating agencies
  - Recent issues

- LIC

- - History
  - IL&FS issue

PFRDA
IRDA
Issue of Black money
Insolvency and bankruptcy code
Others

21. Foreign investments

- FPI
- FDI
- Participatory Notes
- Other issues
- India as investment destination
- Impact of Covid 19
- WTO disputes

Science and Technology

1.Introduction

- Science and Technology policy Resolution 1958
- Science and Tech policy 2013
- Objectives

2. Space

- Types of orbit
- Types of satellites
- Earth observation satellite
- Navigation satellite
- Communication Satellite
- Space Activities bill 2017
- ISRO
- Recent space activities
- New initiatives in the world

3. Defense

- Missile system
- Nuclear Missiles
- India’s Missiles- Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Nag, Akash, Dhanush, Astra
- Submarines
- Airforce
- Nuclear Triad of India
- UAVs in INDIA

4. IT Telecom Electronics

- Recent policies
- Government initiatives
- Digital India
- Bharat Net

5. Nanotechnology

- Basics
- Recent developments

6. Biotechnology

- Basics
- Government initiatives
- Crispr Cas9
- DNA profiling

7. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

- Basics
- Policies
- Govt initiatives
- Future AI technologies

8. Nuclear technology

- 3 phase nuclear program
- Nuclear reserves
- Recent developments
- No First Use policy

9. Renewable Energy

- Solar Energy
- Fuel cells
- Tidal, wave, geothermal energy
- Green Building

10. Intellectual Property Rights

- IPR basics
- WHO and IPR
- Geographical Indications
- Recent developments

11. Achievement of Indians in Science and Technology

- Scientist of ancient and medieval
- Scientist of modern India
- Technology vision 2035
- Recent developments

Environment and Ecology

1. Environmental ecology

- Ecology and ecosystem
- Functions of ecology
  - Energy flow
  - Food chain
  - Food web
  - Ecological pyramid
  - Biotic interactions
- Terrestrial ecosystem
  - Indian forest types
  - Tundra
  - Grassland
  - Desert
  - Alpine
- Aquatic ecosystem
  - Lake ecology
  - Eutrophication
  - Algal bloom
  - Mangrove
  - Coral reefs
  - Government initiatives
  - Montreux record

2. Environmental pollution

- Pollutants
- Air pollution

- - 5 PM10
  - Smog
  - NAAQ
  - Fly ash
  - Black Carbon
  - Vehicular exhaust
- Water pollution
- Soil pollution
- Noise pollution
- Radioactive pollution
- Thermal pollution
- Plastic pollution
- E Waste
- Bioremediation
- Acid Rain
- Recent initiatives
- Bharat Stage Standards

3. Environmental Impact Assessment

- Importance and need
- EIA cycle
- Components of EIA
- Drawbacks and recommendations

4. Biodiversity

- Biodiversity meaning
- Biodiversity levels
- Measurement of biodiversity
- Marine organism

- - Plankton
  - Phyto-plankton
  - Zoo-plankton
  - Others
- Biodiversity services
- Indian Biodiversity
  - Flora
  - Fauna
  - Biogeographical classification
  - Scheduled animals of Wildlife Protection Act 1972
- Red data book
  - IUCN
  - Threatened species
  - Conservation
- Medical plants in India
  - Conservation
- Invasive alien species

5. Protected Area Network

- National initiative

- - Wildlife sanctuaries
  - National parks
  - Conservation reserves
  - Community reserves
  - Sacred grooves
  - Export prohibited items
- Global initiative
  - Man and biosphere program
  - Biosphere reserves
  - World heritage site
  - Biodiversity hotspots
- Conservation efforts
  - Project tiger
  - Project elephant
  - Vulture
  - Snow leopard
  - Crocodile
  - Sea turtle
  - Secure Himalaya
  - Project hangul
  - Captive breeding project
  - Dolphin
  - Rhino vision
  - Government initiatives
  - SAWEN initiatives

6. Climate Change

- Global Warming
- Green house effect
- Green house gases
- IPCC report
- Ocean Acidification
- Ozone Depletion
- Others

7. Impact of climate change

- Food security and agriculture
- Sea level rising
- Migration
- Water stress and insecurity
- Impact on weather pattern
- Others

8. Mitigation Measures

- Carbon sequestration
- Carbon sink
- Carbon credit
- Carbon offsetting
- Carbon tax
- Geo-Engineering
- Plantation drives

9. India and climate change

- Impact of climate change

- - Himalayan rivers
  - Cities in India
  - Monsoon
- National action plan on climate change
- Indian network on climate change assessment
- Climate resilient agriculture
- BSE Greenex
- Fame India program
- National adaptation fund for climate change

10. Climate change organization

- History
- Earth summit
- UNFCCC

- - Kyoto protocol
  - Paris climate deal
  - Conference of parties
- REDD and REDD+
- Global Environmental Facilities
- Montreal Protocol
  - Kigali Amendment
- Climate Finance Architecture
- Green Economy
- UNEP and its initiatives
- Green Buildings
- World Bank Initiatives

11. Environmental Acts

- Indian Forest Act 1927
- Wildlife protection act 1972
- Water Act 1974
- Air(prevention and control of pollution) Act 1981
- Environmental protection acts 1986
- National forest policy 1988
- Biological diversity act 2002
- Forest Dwellers Act 2006
- Coastal Regulation Zone
- Biomedical waste management rule 2016
- E waste management rule 2016
- Plastic waste management rule 2016
- National Green Tribunal

12. Organizations

- National

- - Animal welfare board
  - Central zoo authority
  - Wildlife crime control bureau
  - National green tribunal
  - Pollution control board of India
- Global
  - Convention on Biological Diversity
  - CITES
  - Ramsar Convention
  - TRAFFIC
  - Conservation of Migratory Species
  - IUCN
  - WWF
  - Global Tiger Forum
  - Rotterdam Convention
  - Stockholm Convention
  - Basel Convention
- Other organisations
  - Regional
  - Partnerships among countries

Disaster Management

1. Introduction to disaster management

- Indian scenario
- Global disasters
- Hazard and classification
- Disaster management cycle

2. Hazards

- Floods
- Earthquakes
- Cyclones
- Tsunami
- Drought
- Landslide
- Volcano Eruptions
- Pandemic
- Forest Fire
- Nuclear hazard
- Chemical and Biological Hazard
- Crowd Management
- Oil Spills

3. Disaster Management Act 2005

- Basics
- Phase 1

- - Prevention
  - Mitigation
  - Preparedness
- Phase 2
  - Response
  - Recovery
- National Disaster Management Authority
- National Disaster Response Force
- State Disaster Response Authority
- National Disaster Management plan 2018

4. International Framework

- United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
- Yokohama Declaration 1994
- Hyogo Framework 2005
- Sendai Framework 2015

5. Recent disasters

- Bhuj Earthquake
- 2004 Tsunami
- Nepal Earthquake
- Fukushima disaster
- COVID 19
- Odisha success stories

Internal Security

1.Security Challenges of India

- Diversity as a threat
- Challenges within India
- Neighbours as issue of security

2. Terrorism

- Changing face of terrorism
- Cross border terrorism
- Recent developments

3. Organized crime

- Types of organized crime
- Combating organized crime

4. Naxal issues

- History of Naxal movement
- Recent developments

5. Insurgency in North East India

- Issues and conflicts
- Ulfa and Assam
- Naga issue

6. Border security challenges

- Border management
- Recent developments

7. Cyber security

- Basics
- Cyber security policy
- Organisations of cyber security

8. Money laundering

- Issue of money laundering
- Government initiatives

9. Black Money

- Parallel economy in India
- Measures by government

10. Security Forces

- Armed Forces – Army, Navy, Air force
- Central Armed forces

- - Assam Rifles, BSF, ITBP, CISF, CRPF, NSG, SSB
- Paramilitary Forces
  - Indian Coast Guard, Home Guard, Railway Protection force
- Central Intelligence and Investigation
  - RAW, IB, CBI, NIA, ED. NTRO, NCB
- Police reforms