I would also like to recommend a book about Islamiyat and that is, "Khutbaat-e-Bahawalpur" by Dr. Hameed ullah

@hamza
i appeared in css-2011 and if i would be "passed" it would be a "mojza"
bcz before appearing in exams i had no writing practice at all....when i was writing essay in "essay paper" i was thinking how low was my writing speed..throughtout my academic career i was never worried about my english ..........mery khyal mein my english was good...but when i started preparing for css and i saw the threads on writing in css papers ......i lost my previous confidence..though it helped me to pay more attention towards the basics of english writing but ab haal ye hai k essay paper k sath sath english writing se b dar lagta hai.....:what would u suggest for my english?
and
1)should one opt Islamiyat paper in urdu or in english....i attempted it in urdu and "sary paper english mein day day k urdu vocabulary us din khatm he huwi parhi thi"......what do u think?
2)my EDS paper was excellent one(in my personal opinin) should i continue with the same aproach that was to handle the issues using videos and writing short notes topic wise....moreover i used to teach matriculation level Physics,chemistry and Biology....beside this a handful portion of mcq's was of computer science so having cs background no problem with them.
I prepared last 5 year papers for EDS and nothing was new in 2011 too..is it so?
3)writing a scrape book is fatastic idea for current affairs..but i am bad at writing the story at my own what should i do ?and tell me how can i would be familiar with world geography? ( for general knowledge).
aur b bht sary sawal hein ..............to be continued if replied

Regards

Aapki english or current affairs ki problem ka solution he reading,reading and more reading+writing,writing and more writingin CSS u can get nowhere,and I mean NOWHERE,until u are afraid to write..not only does one has to prepare a lot of notes,but also the length of answers demanded in CSS exams is fairly long..So,this is a problem the solution of which lies with u and u alone..If ur afraid of writing AND do not plan to change this thing,forget about CSS.And I say these words with a fair deal of conviction.
Your approach regarding EDS is fine.I hope it would get u good marks.
Until u have not practiced essay writing before the exams,u are always going to struggle.U should have prepared detailed notes for atleast 4,5 general essay topics.Although essay is a test of english,but a good grasp on C.A and G.K helps a lot.After all,writing 2500-3000 words(properly) is no child's play.Essay has long been a nemesis for many a candidate.
Prepare for the precis paper by practicing precis,composition and comprehensions of past 20 years exams.For the grammar portion,use Polymer grammar or Wren and Martin.
Exactly the concern that u mentioned in the Islamiyat point was a concern for me as well.But as I had studied Islamiyat in english previously,so it was a pretty straightforward choice for me.As it turned out,it was a good choice.Islamiyat is more like an exam of Current Affairs now.So u are better off attempting it in english.
For general knowledge about geography,consult the maps of the world,encyclopedias and World alamanack.

__________________
I shall either find a way,or make one
'Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa'

Dear Hamza,
Thank you so much for bringing into our knowlege all details/tips to score high in CE.Its realy kind of you to share such useful tactics with all of us.It would be realy appreciable if you could share your preparation strategy as well by specifically answering the following questions:

1) at a time you carried on with how many subject?

2)some people say one must prepare compulsory subjects first,others are of the view that optionals must be finished first,which is a better approach?what did u do first?

3) in how many days did u cover a particular subject?

4) how many hours (in a day) did u study each subject?

5) did you cover each and every topic mentioned in the syllabus for all subjects?

Looking forward for an early response from your side...

Journalism

Journalism has traditionally been a very easy,short and scoring subject.CE-2010 has been an exception though.This year journalism has been marked my excruciatingly low scores.Having said that,I still am sure there would be atleast 15 students in the top 30 with Journalism,and they invariably would have scored in 65+ range.I for example know that I (25th position) and M.Ali Asghar (9th pos) had this subject.Don't know about the others,but they also must have it if u ask them.So,no matter how low scoring a subject gets,You still can score well enough in it with proper approach.As they say,there is always a space at the top.
How to go about preparation:
I was blessed that I got hands on a very good set of notes for journalism.And I don't have their softcopy so I can't provide it to anybody as of now,specially with me out of country currently.But I got those notes 2 months prior to the exams.Till then,I had already prepared fully for journalism,made my own notes and read about it from 2 books atleast.Remember If anyone tells you they consulted 8,10 books for journalism,he/she is either not in the right state of mind or else is lying.Journalism is a subject which can be done with 2,3 books.You don't need extensive reading for it.But yes,you do need an open and quick mind.I would say prepare ur own notes.
The beautiful thing about journalism is that it has only 12 topics.Traditionally,a mediocre preparation in journalism would get u above 60.But to get really special marks,because this is a competitive exam,u need to add more value in those 12 topics,and u must have more knowledge than the normal candidates.I believe with good prep and good attempt in Journalism u can score 75 and above(unless it adheres to the CE-2010 trend)
Books to be used:
1.Introduction to Journalism (I guess thats the name).Just ask for the book written by Professor Mehdi Hassan.It has a grey cover
2.Any other book.Can be 'Journalism for all' or the one by Imtiaz Shahid
3.Emporium 20 questions (It has the those questions that are most commonly asked in Journalism,and also gives u a good idea about how to attempt a question.

Prepare topic wise notes.There is a wide choice in the exam.So you do not need to prepare all the 12 topics.Prepare 10.Leave that 'History of Journalism in Indo Pak' topic as its too lengthy and time consuming plus u need a lot of ratta for that.I would advise u just to give it a read,and not prepare it.In bullet form,prepare notes for all the other topics.Add some quotes to those notes too.Also,do the objectives from the past papers.In my experience,they should be enough.
REMEMBER.two things are very important when preparing for journalism.Keep ur observation keen,and ur eyes and mind open.See what the people have to say about journalists.Say what the journalists themselves say about it.While reading newspapers,observe any trends in journalism and note them down.While watching the electronic media,u should be on a lookout to observe patterns and trends,small bits of information that might come in handy to answer any question.This is not only important for journalism,but all the other subjects of CSS as well.Draw up ur own ideas ad analysis about everything as well,but on proper grounds.The logics and analysis shouldn't be idiotic and based on a hunch.Should be logical and based on proper and factual arguments.
Another thing.A simple formula.Journalism mostly revolves around these terms.Information,Education,Entertainment,Reflecti on of Public opinion and Watchdog of democracy and human rights.....These are repeated in every other topic of journalism.I was lucky enough to discover this commonality.Prepare good material for these 5 terms and it would come handy in every other question.

__________________
I shall either find a way,or make one
'Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa'

Answers:
1)I started with one compulsory and one optional at a time.
2)I say do them side by side.
3)When I started with 2 subjects(one optional and one compulsory) it usually took me 10 days to finish them both the first time.So for example Journalism and Islamiyat in 10 days.Then Indo-Pak n Pak Affairs in next 10 days and so on.
4)Is sawal pe mujhe boht ghussa charhta heyI have never had this approach.If say,I had to finish a subject in three days during my 2nd revision,I would allocate the topics in those 3 days.Day 1:have to do these topics.DAY 2:these topics.Day 3:These topics..And then come what may,I did those topics in that day.ub chahe une kurne me 4 ghante lgein ya 24 ya 124..jub tk wo complete nahy honey me ne sona nahy he..Try this approach.This would InshAllah work wonders for u.Its no good k ap 18 ghante book khol k bethe rho but dmagh kissi or tarf ho..dont become a bookworm.Me roz ek movie dkhta hota tha rat ko starmovies ya HBO pe.bahir bhi jaata tha.If u relly need an estimate k me kitne hours prhta tha,Tw I would say k first 2 months me 4-5 hours a day,next 2 months me 8-9 hours a day or last month me 12-14 hours a day.n HAN.I never ever did compromise on my sleep.Atleast 8,at times 9 hours a day.I cant do without it.So,fill ur quota of sleep.A sleepy mind is a dumb mind.And its not about the number of hours u put into ur study,its about the study u put into the hours.
5)NAHY..Do I look like an idiot??kidding..seriously No..CSS ain't only about working hard.Its about working smart.Jub choice he tw kissi wajah se he na.Me ne roughly 80% kia tha hur subject.Indo Pak history parhi saari thi,prepare siref important kings or events kiye thay..

__________________
I shall either find a way,or make one
'Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa'

Wonderful counsels to go by, blended in fine expression with utmost sincerity.Thank u v.much Mr Hamza!
beautiful!
“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”(Abraham Lincoln) analogical with (hamza's sentence)''And its not about the number of hours u put into ur study,its about the study u put into the hours.''

keep the good work!

__________________
''It is the might of the self to manifest itself, In every atom slumbers the might of the self.''
--Iqbal

Yeah I actually borrowed AB Lincoln's to reverse engineer and manufacture my own
And thanx for the appreciation brother.If I can be of any benefit to any one,and if my advise helps anyone to succeed,it would be the greatest reward for me.All I wish for in return are your sincere prayers.May Allah be with us.

That blunder can actually prove to be a fatal one.For years the common practice of the examiner has been to fail the person who fails the Precis.But I hope that practice has changed now.Also I hope that u attempted the precis satisfactorily enough in those 25 minutes.As I said,U should atleast keep aside 45 minutes for the precis.At the least
For P.A,Ikram Rabbani book is good but only in combination with a couple others.Try using 'Trek to Pakistan' by Ahmed Saeed and one other book,preferably one which throws more light on he post partition phase.
I have already posted the things u need to read for Islamiyat.Ooper waali posts parh lia kro merii behnPakistan Afairs ki post bhi ki hui he me ne ooper thori zehmat uttha k saari posts daikh lijye ek bar
Well,I myself am an MSc student who has to go about writing his MSc dissertation in next 3 months.So u see,I might not have enough time to read everything that u send and check it like an examiner.Still,u can send this stuff on my email ID,and I would try my best to get back in some time regarding them.I can only say that I sha try my best to go through as much of them as I canplease don't mind.
Maps rattne ki technique mujhe khud nahy pata coz me ne nahy ratte kbi.Mujhe ittna interest he maps me k khudi yad hojatey he n Allah has bestowed me with this ability that I can make gegraphical,political and historical sense out of these maps and things.Alhamdulilah.Just take keen interest in the thing ur doing and would start coming to u.InshAllah
anymore questions

Which paper u tawkin about??

__________________
I shall either find a way,or make one
'Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa'

@Hamza:
Yes,thats an irritating question for me too that hw many hours have you studied today?i just asked it because i have heard many position holders telling that i used to study 8 hrs,10 hrs etc etc. After hearing from you i feel more satisfied no regarding my view to focus more on quality rather than quantity.Thanks alot for a prompt & quick response,i would surely like to put into practice the preparation strategies mentioned by you i have noted down your email id,will mail you for any further discussion,hope you will respond to that as well

A very practical approach........ waitn for sociology tips......