hi brother... h r u?hope u r fine..m reading daily dawn and trek to pakistan book...m just doing reading practice but not written practice..bcz i feel i have no grasp material over any topic...i dont have extra general knowledge..so tell me dear what i have to do?for current affair which digest i should read?for essay which practice makes me perfect?plz guide me m so confused yaar

Raz will guide u very well.
Listen, when you'll hold a pen to write something, you will stop because you will have no material to write. This is not only because you have no knowledge but also because you have a low writing stamina. write what ever come to your mind. you might not be able to write more than a few lines or a paragraph the first day. But don't loose hope, make it a habit. write daily. this will increase your writing stamina. with a practice of 9 months (till march 2011), you will be an expert. the first day you will write ten lines, next day fifteen, the other day 30 and so on. It will increase your writing power and will help you develop skills for writing a good essay or to attempt any question.
Regarding the material thing, make notes of facts and figures from newspapers and articles. this will help you revise at the end also.

This was from me, now over to Raz.

__________________
If winter comes can spring be far behind

@ sahil roy!

Sorry to interrupt, as u have asked from Raz.

But i feel to share some tips with you. Css is exam of nerves, you have to analyze things in each paper and you'l be able to do when you have enough knowledge about maximum things. Before writing something one must have enough reading regarding different topics. More you study more you will be able to handle the topic.

Try to read newspaper regularly. Make cuttings of important topics like Economic conditions, International relations, Current affairs.It will be beneficial for you in case of writing skills as well because you will see use of idiomatic phrases in articles as well.Its practice of essay paper which will be helpful for other papers too. Because Islamic studies paper 2010 was critical based on contemporary issues.

Try to join any public library if possible or read books on relevant subjects it will enhance you knowledge and picture will be more clear to you.

One more thing, try to discuss things with friends, diverse opinion will improve your writing skills too.

Its my experience you can vary ..

Regards,

__________________
Main ne Allah ko apne iradon ke tootne se pehchana ... !!

Well, my job has already been done by mangat1 and Zoyee. Thank you dear members for addressing these queries. In addition to these suggestions here are some tips for multiple purposes.

Dear Sahil roy: Maintain a register and divide that register in different portions. Each portion should address a separate broad topic say for example:

Section1: Government, governance, democracy, and dictatorship in Pakistan: Short history of 62 years covering democratic developments; ,Marshal Laws, Emergencies, Constitutional amendments; three constitutions, motives behind each constitution their merits and demerits for democracy and tool for dictators, Similarities among the dictators, their major decisions and their implications; Basic democracy; devolution of Power/District governments - success vs. failure, reasons, and suggestions
Federation, grievances of provinces, Baluchistan Package, Gilgit-Baltistan, New provinces, NFC
Charter of democracy, opposition role.

Section-2: Judiciary, Executive, and Legislature: Their relations, contradictions, and contemporary issues including Judicial Activism, 18th amendment, NRO, Corruption (Ombudsman, NAB, PAC, Auditor General of Pakistan).

Section-3: Media: Its positive role, power, Public opinion, ethics, Yellow Journalism and negative role.
Women : In Islam, and in Pakistan: History, comparison with other religions, other countries. Steps taken for women empowerment in current government e.g. through different projects, schemes, assignments, Benazir Bhutto Income Support Program, different quotas for women e.g. CSS quota, increasing competition, reference of different new laws passed for the protection of women in Pakistan, women’s representation at different forums e.g. assemblies, jobs. Some exceptional roles assumed by women in Pakistan e.g. Designations in army and other forces, SBP’s governor, Senate Chairperson/speaker. Role of NGOs for women.
Traditions issues like honor killing, female humiliation in corporate culture, discriminatory treatment in rural culture, feudal culture, and other inferior treatments.

Section-4: Pakistan Economy: Pakistan’s economic problems, their solutions, five year plans, fiscal policy, monetary policy, Pakistan survey, Current Budget, SBP annual report

Section-5: Economy at Global Level: Global economic conditions, Financial meltdown, Recession, Depression, Global economic Giants and their competition- USA, China, India, etc.

Section-6: Science, Environment, and Ecology: Global warming, Global agreements and arrangements, Different forums, associations for environment protection, global disputes on environmental issues.

Section-7: Education: Pakistan’s statistics, current status, global commitments / MDGs, current education policy, positive points and deficiencies, education sectors problems, disparities, HEC’s initiatives, Budget allocation etc.

Section-8: Resources: Food crisis (Agriculture performance, gape analysis, research, hoarding, export, import and related issues), Energy crisis (reasons, implications, solutions-current short term solutions, long term strategies e.g. positive and negative sides of current government’s energy committee / two holidays a week, business hours curtailment etc.), Pakistan’s natural resources (Availability, potential, un-tapped condition, provincial issues of exploration, ownership and distribution, mismanagement, and solutions).

Section-9: Terrorism, extremism, sectarian killings, target killings, Law and Oder: War on terrorism, Afghanistan, Pakistan, America, and India. Rah-e-Nijat, Rah-e-Rast, WANA, cost paid by Pakistan, socio-psycho-eco-politico impacts on Pakistan.

Section-10: Islam, West, Middle East: American policies, international hostile behavior, Muslim Ummah-Unity, disintegration, failure, backwardness, Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Iran and international players.

Section-11: CARs: Strategic position of central Asian Republics, international players-their interests, strategies, and involvement / great game, pipeline politics, natural resources, Pakistan’s interest.

Section-12: Indo-Pak Relations: Historical differences and disputes,
Kashmir-Problem, available solutions, different alternatives, international efforts, domestic steps, hurdles and progress
Water Issues: Different disputes, agreements, new Dams, violations, current situation, future results and measures.
Boundary issues.
Steps so far taken: People to people contacts, literary delegations, Express democracy, trade relations, confidence building measures, and other related steps taken by both the governments.

Section 13: Pak-US Relations: War on terrorism, economic terms, financial packages, Kerry-Lugar Bill, USA’s double standards, Non-NATO ally status, Do more phenomenon, country sovereignty, drone attacks, violation of international boundaries. US-India coalition-armed agreements, technology bonding, role in regional peace, rivalry for china, counter-power in the region, implications on Pakistan

Section14: Pak-China Relations: All whether friends, economic ties, regional role of china, historical efforts in different agreements and disputes, Joint ventures, and related material.

Section 15: Miscellaneous Relations: Pak-Iran, Pak-Afghanistan, Pak-Iraq, Pak-Russia, US-China Relations (Economic rivalries, American economic crisis, china’s economic strength and American hostile steps, ban on products, diplomatic talks, child labor issues, currency valuation issue, health surveys and restriction of products), US-Iran Relations (Nuclear program, American involvement in Iran’s internal affairs, Iranian elections and riots), US-India Relations, AfPak policy, oil politics, OPEC Cartel and Europe.

Section 16: Pakistan’s foreign Policy, Pakistan’s trade policy

Section 17: American foreign Policy: Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, CARs, And China etc.

Section18: Associations, organizations, groups- Their performance, weaknesses and suggestions: SAAR, OIC, UNO, NAM, ASEAN, G-8/ G-20/G-22/BRICs /GAT/WTO etc.

Section 19: Nuclear World: NPT, CTBT, Veto Power, disarmament etc.

Section 20: Miscellaneous: All other topics which are not relevant to any of the above mentioned sections but are important from exam point of view.


The best and effective way is to read e-version of newspapers specially Dawn E-paper, copy past the relevant articles, extract few key points from the articles include in the relevant section and discard the remaining material. This should be an on-going process till Mid-Feb 2011. Summarize, edit, rephrase, insert and arrange the points collected in the whole period. Give it a beautiful shape for the final review. Finally, you will be handy with excellent material for your Essay, CA, PA, Islamiat, and some optional subjects. In this way your precise skills will also be sharpened.

If you have limited online facilities then it is better to maintain manual register with above mentioned sections which are not all inclusive, you can create some more sections are omit some sections as per your ease and understanding.

For your writing skills: Apart from above exercise, you should build your confidence and start writing same material in your own words but with same logic and line. Initially you may face difficulty to produce quality material, but there is a solution of that problem as well. I suggest you to copy some sentences, terms, phrases, and ideas from impressive writers, follow them, and reproduce these sentences in your practice. There is no harm in copying something which is liked by all and is fruitful for us. Nobody is born with perfect knowledge and language. Everybody has copied any skill, style, or image of his/her ideal. We all have ideals in our lives in the shape of good teachers throughout our lives, good authors, good anchors, good leaders, good economist, good technocrats, good professionals and the best writers. We have learnt from them, and by the passage of time their styles and opinions have entered in our personalities. Follow this strategy; you will feel a big difference in your personality within few months. Then after you will attain a level where you will bring uniqueness in your writings even different from your previous ideals, you will turn into a new arena of your own established track.

Note: You may resort to some current affairs / contemporary books or magazines for the historical reference of the current issues. Contemporary Affairs by M. Imtiaz Shahid may prove a helping hand.


Regards

__________________
"Tumhary nafs ki qeemat Janat hay isy Janat say kam qeemat pey na bechna."
"Jiyo to istarh ky log tum sy milny ko tarsy; maro to istrah k log tumharee mot par royain"

My approach to contemporary topics was somehow different. I don’t say that was worse or better but that was as per the constraints of time and effort I had on my own end.

About articles and gathering information from newspapers I think this takes a lot of time. Moreover articles from newspapers are basically opinions that are written assuming that reader knows the background. The writer gives her own understanding to the issue that is usually a particular way of looking at the issue. So if you have four to five articles on same topic the approach and opinion will vary. No doubt you can get a lot of info in this way but it would be scattered. The arrangement of ideas and concepts would be a task to remain!

In exam however the most important thing about your answer is its cohesion. There you take one standing then discuss different points in favor as well as against it. The aim however remains to prove your own standing. Likewise background and history of the topic is a must that you can’t find in routine articles.

So a relatively easy approach I found was to look for detailed material at one place. For contemporary topics I consulted Strategic Studies digest. The good thing is you find all the required detail on a topic. It includes history and background, as well as detailed analysis.Such information can be found at different other sources including net.

__________________
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
Helen Keller

Raz and Artemis, thanks for sharing your views and strategies, esp Raz for your stupendous post.

As I myself am confused about my CA preparation strategy, I want to share my experience with you guys, hope to get your comments and guidance.

Following the general guideline, I started following two newspapers daily (Dawn and The News) since April; read their e-papers, daily scan them objectively for any CSS related stuff, copy-paste my selected material...almost exactly Raz’s way, with the addition that on Sundays, I review all my week’s selected material and organise them.

Now if my remaining preparation was complete as is the case of any veteran aspirant, there would have been nothing to complain about this strategy. But as I am new and am also preparing my optionals, I try to do all this daily as fast as I can. Even then it usually takes almost 3 hours in my daily schedule.

Now I do appreciate the benefits of this ‘collecting and organizing material’ strategy but frankly speaking, I have grown weary of all this exercise and have started doubting if it worths all this labour. All I have deduced from this strategy that it keeps you well informed and full of discrete ideas; but will all this labour be helpful in the end and will I be able to organize and blend it the way it is told to be done, this is what I usually ask myself. I haven’t taken any CSS exam, 2011 will be my first, so I may be excused for thinking so.

Here comes Artemis’ point, I started doubting this strategy more when I came across the different standard periodicals, i.e Current Affairs, Contemporary Affairs, Strategic Studies, IPRI Journal, Dialogue etc (I have joined a library). She has explained it beautifully why the ‘complete’ articles of these periodicals are more tempting and satisfying than the daily bombardment of all the information and views in the news and opinions.

I hope you guys will appreciate a new aspirants’ confusions regarding this matter. Please comment.

I have a direct question for Artemis; was your strategy effective and safe enough to deal with the papers? Your experience please.

__________________
Don't trust your heart, its not on the right side.

So nice of you Artemis. I forgot to mention the reason for sounding impatient in my last post; my optionals aren't a piece of cake (have started them from zero), all I am trying is to cover them as early as possible to get ample time for multiple revisions and mastery, and for the compulsories of course. Actually I intend to appear in the expected PMS of our province in November as a full dress rehearsal for the next March exam. Utilization of this opportunity to experience the whole exam taste is my prime concern. I won't mention my study hours here for the fear of sounding an over-zealous jerk but I want to let you know that I am willing to go the extra mile if it is required to do well. All I worry is that I may not be doing it in the correct and productive manner.

Please guide me in blending both the above strategies. I must add that Raz's strategy, that I have so far adopted, is a very exhaustive and effective one but I find my natural inclination to your way of thinking in my set of circumstances. A push in the right direction is all I need.

Regards.

__________________
Don't trust your heart, its not on the right side.

salam dear bro..sorry 4 late i was out of city...dear il follow ur suggestion..i have contemporary affairs by imtiaz shahid...so is it enough to know abt the backgrounds and facts of historical events?dear u said to divide register in different portions but u told so many topics how i would cover them??????uffffffffff its very hard work yaar...act before this i dont have any knwldg abt c.s.s and dont ever try to ask any mentor.....but now i really feel i lost precious time...dear except dawn which book i should study which enable me to knw abt backgrounds of topics...hope ul follow me what m trying to say....

@Muser
I am not under-emphasizing the need of reading newspaper but I never took the pain to compile notes from them. Secondly I believe, being a senior I have the responsibility, if I have any shortcomings I am not supposed to promote them.
And you should obviously take my advice with a pinch of salt as I am myself waiting for the result.

About your question, from 2010 CA subjective I knew all the answers except the one about US –China relationship. In my preparation I had mainly focused on Pak relations with others. Anyhow I still had a lot of choice at my end.

To list down the sources for my preparation:
1. CA/GK book for organisations intro n history.
2. I got some hand outs from a friend few weeks before exam. Those included: notes of an academy in Lahore covering important CA topics and some photocopied articles mainly from Jahangir Times. Both were specifically for CSS purpose so included different arguments as well as critical analysis. Specially articles of Jahangir Times by CE position holders were helpful in understanding the organisation of answer required in the exam. I never bought the Mag myself but am lucky enough to have some cooperative frnds who can compile notes for me at the eleventh hour.
3. I am a boarder and I have students from every kinda dept around. So I arranged a sitting with a frnd from Mphil IR. I was worried they can ask anything in CA so would I be able to attempt the paper in full. I marked the questions from past paers that were still relevant i.e. those from organizations /relations or about the issues that have remained on world scene for decades. Then we discussed them one by one. I noted the main points. Everyone knows his/her field better. I never opted IR myself but she explained me some basic considerations and theories about diplomacy and world politics that can be used to discuss almost any kinda topic related to IR.
4. I had last three issues of Strategic Studies Digest. What is really good about it is it takes you from general understanding to an analytical and strategic level.

To answer your question further I have opened the question papers of CA and Pak Affairs. I think that was where most of contemporary affairs found their place.

From CA subjective 2010...
Q.2. "The troubling issue in Pak.pertains to an overbearing centre's supremacy in the federations and the resulting demand for Provincial autonomy."Discuss.

Related to provincial autonomy.. In a way the most expected question in CA paper after the NFC awards announcement.

Q.3. "Pakistan provides the natural link btw the Sco states to connect the Eurasian heartland with the Arabian sea and south asia." substantiate Pak's claim for the membership of Sco in the view of the above mentioned statement:
SCO was there in a question from past papers so I had discussed it in detail.

Q.4. The issue of central imp.about corruption and accountability in Pak is the increase in corruption despite six decades of efforts to eradicate it.Analyse and comment on the root cause of rampant corruption in the society.
Corruption and accountability was again something expected since NRO was in spot light at that time.

Q.5. President obama's extended hand of friendship to china ushers in a new era of realist diplomacy in washington. Highlight the new dimensions of U.S.foreign policy towards People's Republic of china.
I didn’t know specifically as I told earlier...

Q.6. That feasible measures would you suggest to bridge the existing trust deficit btw Pak and India for the resumption of stalled process of composite dialogue.
I didn’t go for it cz it was a controversial question.. I knew what diplomacy says in this regard is opposed to general popular opinion that we share as a nation.... So I decided to remain on safe side.

Q.7. "The new afghan strategy of U.S.,in fact,is a veiled request for their safe exit-.It is a gamble.the price of victory will be high and the price of failure is incalculable."analyse and comment?
Another very well expected question after the announcement of new afghan policy by the end of previous year.

Q.8. Write notes on any two of the followings:
a.liberhan commission report.
b.aghaz-e-haqooq balochistan package.
C.jewish settlements in Palestinian terroritories.
d.chinese aided development Projects in Pak.

I never go for answering questions in parts. They cost you more in terms of strict marking. I believe in scoring marks from bulk.


Now if you see Pakistan Affairs paper of 2010 it has some questions directly from day to day news. Like,

What is the role of the present leadership to de-politicize army? Give specific measures.

Papers have a more general trend now. I don’t think one can succeed with a few crammed and well prepared topics. Know as much as you can and try to cover topics in detail. Go for understanding and follow an analytical approach. This is my advice. Else everyone knows what suits him/her better.


Best of luck.. and if you don mind no follow up questions plzzzz...................

__________________
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
Helen Keller

My friends Raaz and Artemis and all other friends have very well described their strategies pertaining to material collection........Good.

I would like to make an addition here...without going into details whether this strategy is better or that one....I would like to share my mechanism of study..


I used the same sources but tried to formulate my own opinion on each issue....opinion was updated with latest information.

For Example: On local government system i held that it is good measure but should not be practised at the cost of provincial autonomy( second tier of governance namely provincial set- up be empowered first only then would the LGS succeed). likewise on Kashmir issue , Palestine issue, talibanization etc... I formulated my own opinions keeping in view latest developments..

This strategy paid me dividends....



Sources of information i used were: !. 1.news papers..2. journals and magazines, 3. net..4. T.v talk shows..5. important books..etc.



I dont mean other strategies are not good. Good they are but I used this one.............................However maintenance of a note book is important practice...


( The best strategy is one which u find easy and beneficial)

__________________
"Man shall have nothing but what he strives for". (Al-Quran. Al-Najm:39).


"""""SHIKAARI BUNNA SHIKAAR BUNNAY SE BEHTTAR HAI"""""""