ANALYSIS OF SYLLABUS WITH THE HELP OF CLUSTER APPROACH

Analysis of the Syllabus

Following are the topics of the syllabus, which may be analysed in the following way along  with the number of the respective topics:

Paper- I

1. Geomorphology 21
2. Climatology 19
3. Oceanography 13
4. Biogeography 09
5. Environmental Geog. 12
6. Perspective in Human Geog. 10
7. Economic Geography 11
8. Population and Settlement Geog 20
9. Regional Planning 07
10. Models and Theories 12

Total                                       134

Paper II

1. India Physical Setting 11
2. Resources 10
3. Agriculture 21
4. Industries 16
5. Transport Communication and Trade 07
6. Cultural Setting 08
7. Settlement 09
8. Regional Planning and Development 14
9. Political Aspects 08
10. Contemporary Issues 19

Total                                       123

Grand Total Paper I and II         257

 

If the above mentioned 257 chapters’ interrelationship is analysed, then we will find that there are many topics which are related to each other and might show the applied part of the topic. In other words, instead of studying the chapters separately, they must be studied and analysed together. This results not only in holistic approach but also comes to light the common facets of the topics. Thus the knowledge one gets in this approach is correlative and interactive of all the topics. We can better understand this fact by the following examples:

1. There is a chapter in Geomorphology— Earth’s Movements, Endogenetic and Exogenetic Forces. Other topics which are related to this topic is —
   1. Factors affecting Landforms.
   2. Sea Floor Spreading and Isostasy

Related topics found in paper II – Under Contemporary Issues are:

3. Landslide
4. Earthquake

1. Similarly we may find the following chapters od Geomorphology are interrelated and how the cluster approach preparation would be helpful.
   1. Continental Drift Theory
   2. Plate Tectonics
   3. Mountain Building
   4. Volcanism
   5. Earthquake
   6. Tsunami

The topics of paper II which are related to these areas:

7. Evolution of Himalayas
8. Earthquake in India
9. Tsunamis in India
10. Structure and Physical Features of India

 

By now it must be clear to the aspirants how to follow the mode of cluster approach and benefit from it. The 257 topics, when clustered and analysed accordingly, then we come to a limited number of topics, i.e., only 41, as shown in the following list:

Paper- I

1. Geomorphology 3
2. Climatology 2
3. Oceanography 1
4. Biogeography 1
5. Environmental Geog. 1
6. Economic Geography 3
7. Population and Settlement Geog 7
8. Regional Planning 1

Total                                       19

Paper II

1. India Physical Setting 6
2. Resources 2
3. Agriculture 3
4. Industries 1
5. Transport Communication and Trade 1
6. Cultural Setting 1
7. Settlement 3
8. Regional Planning and Development 1
9. Political Aspects 1
10. Contemporary Issues 3

Total                                       22

Grand Total Paper I and II         41

The whole syllabus is reduced to only 16% by clustering the topics in their respective groups.

 

Thus if the preparation is done based on the cluster approach then the aspirant’s labour is reduced to 1/6 th only. Thus our most important and areas of concentration upon which we have to put our best efforts is shown below:

 

CLUSTER APPROACH: LIST OF IMPORTANT INTERLINKED TOPICS, PAPER-I

SECTION	INTERNAL LINKS	CHAPTER LINK PAPER-I	CHAPTER LINK PAPER-II	DIMENSIONS
GEOMORPHOLOGY	1.      Continental Drift 2.      Plate Tectonics 3.      Mountain Building 4.      Volcanism 5.      Earthquakes 6.      Tsunamis		Contemporary Issues India Physical Aspects Evolution of  Himalayas Evolution of Basalts Earthquake in India Tsunami in India
CLIMATOLOGY	1.      Jet Stream 2.      Temperate Cyclones 3.      Tropical Cyclones 4.      Climatic Classification		Western Disturbance in India Tropical Cyclones in India India’s Climatic Classification
OCEANOGRAPHY	1.      Ocean Bottom Relief 2.      Marine Resources 3.      Marine Pollution 4.      Coral Bleaching		Western Disturbance in India India Resources
BIOGEOGRAPHY	1.      Factors Affecting Plant and Animal Distribution 2.      Biomes 3.      Deforestation & Conservation Measures 4.      Wildlife Conservation and Management 5.      Agro Social Forestry	Environmental Geography Environmental Degradation	India Physical Aspect 1.      Vegetation 2.      Forest Resources 3.      Wildlife Resources 4.      Deforestation 5.      Desertification, 6.      Social Forestry
Environmental Geography	1.      Biodiversity 2.      Ecosystem Management 3.      Environmental Management		INDIA RESOURCES 1.      Forest Resources 2.      Biotic Resources 3.      Wildlife Resources Contemporary Issues 1.      Deforestation 2.      Desertification 3.      Environmental Pollution
Economic Geography	World Economic Development	POPULATION GEOGRAPHY 1.      Secularisation 2.      Social Capital MODELS 3.      Rostow’s Model	Contemporary Issues Globalisation
	World Energy Crises		India Resources 1.      India’s Energy Problem 2.      Rural Power
	Agricultural Inputs and productivity		Indian Agriculture Agricultural Productivity & Efficiency
Population Geography	Demographic Attributes		Demographic Attributes
	Migration		Internal Migration in India
Settlement Geography	1.      Problems and Remedies of Urbanisation 2.      Sustainable Development of Towns		1.      India’s Urban Problem 2.      Town Planning 3.      Satellite Towns 4.      Sustainable Development

IMPORTANT LIST OF AGGLOMERATED/CLUSTERED TOPICS PAPER-II

Topics		CHAPTER LINK PAPER-I	Base for all the Topics of Indian Geography
India Physical Aspects	Relief and Physiographic Regions Monsoon Floods Drought
India Resources	Water Resources		1.      Linking of Rivers 2.      Irrigation 3.      Command Area Development 4.      Drought Dry Land Farming 5.      DPAP 6.      Desertification 7.      Watershed 8.      Grouan and surface water resource 9.      Water Harvesting
Indian Industry	1.      New Industrial Policy 2.      Multinationals & Liberalisation		1.      Globalisation 2.      Trade Policy 3.      Export Promotion Zones
India Transport	1.      Rail, Road, Air,Inland Water & Pipeline Transportation 2.      Competition & Complementarity
India Cultural Setting	1.      Racial and Linguistic Ethnic Diversity 2.      Major Tribes, 3.      Tribal Areas and Problems		Regional Planning 1.      Tribal Area Development Programme 2.      Industry 3.      Cottage Industry
India Settlement	1.      Urban Problems 2.      Slums 3.      Town Planning		Sustainable Development of Cities
India Regional Planning	1.      Multi Level Planning 2.      Decentralised Planning 3.      Panchayati Raj		Indian Industry Cottage Industry Water Resources
Contemporary Issues	1.      Environmental Hazards 2.      Earthquake 3.      Tsunami 4.      Floods 5.      Drought 6.      Landslide	Geomorphology	India Physical Geology
	1.      Environmental Degradation 2.      Environmental Awareness 3.      Desertification 4.      Pollution	Environmental Degradation
	Regional Disparities in Economic Development		Base Topic

 

 

Thus a new paradigm in the form of cluster approach is introduced to make Geography preparation more easy and adaptable. If the aspirants follow this approach, no doubt they will be directed towards the right path and success.