(Syllabus) : IIT Madras Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSEE) TEST 

SYLLABUS FOR HSEE-2020

HSEE-2020 has two parts: Part I and Part II. Syllabus for Part 1 consists of English (25% marks of Part I), Analytical and Quantitative Ability (25% marks of Part I), and General Studies (in four sub-parts; 50% marks of Part I). Part II involves essay writing.

PART I

i. English and Comprehension skill

This section tests the candidate’s ability to understand and use standard English, and to appreciate literary language. Questions are related to the following areas:
Reading skills: Candidates will be required to read the given passage(s) that aim(s) to test their comprehension skills and answer the comprehension questions.
(Or This section tests candidates’ reading comprehension skills of a given passage.)
Grammar: This section tests the candidate’s knowledge of English grammar including sentence structure and usage, the use of tenses, verb patterns, articles, and active and passive constructions etc.
Vocabulary: This section is a test of vocabulary and the ability to understand meaning,structure and collocation of words.

ii. Analytical and Quantitative Ability

This section tests the candidate’s analytical skills and quantitative abilities. Questions are related to the following areas:
Numbers, Algebra, Highest Common Factor (HCF) and Lowest Common Multiple (LCM), Calendar, Basic Statistics – Average, Ratio and proportion, Profit and Loss,Percentages, Simple and Compound Interest, Work and time, Discount, Age sums,linear equations, elementary trigonometry.
Data interpretation, Analytical reasoning, Logical reasoning, Brainteasers, and Patterns.

iii. General Studies

a) Indian Economy:
This section is intended to test the understanding of some basic economic concepts and awareness of key issues pertaining to the Indian economy with a focus on the developments after independence. The concepts and issues covered are:
Understanding the Economy: Scarcity, opportunity cost, resource allocation, economic systems and their characteristics, features of market economies, forces of demand and supply, elasticity of demand and supply.
Main Features of Indian Economy: Natural resources; human resources -population size and composition, literacy and education, occupational distribution.

Major Economic problems: Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality - concepts,measurement, trends, sectoral distribution and policies, inflation - trends, causes and remedies.

Economic Growth and Development: Meaning and measurement of economic growth,stages of development, national income concepts and trends, trends in savings and investment; human development index, national policy on education, health and health care policies. Planning in India: Five-Year Plans - objectives, priorities and problems.
Sectoral Development: agriculture – Green Revolution and technological changes,current issues and policies; industry-evolution of industrial policies in India (from 1948),strategies for industrial development, public and private sectors, small and medium industries, infrastructure, transport and communication, service sector etc.

Foreign Trade and International Economy: balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves and trade policy, I.M.F., W.T.O., international aid.
Money, Banking and Public Finance: Concepts of money and measures of money supply.

b) Indian Society and Culture: 

Structure of Indian Society: Caste, Class and Tribe, Institutions of Marriage, Family and Kinship, Political institutions, Demographic Indicators and Trends.Social Change in India: Sanskritization, Modernisation, Westernization and Secularization, Social Movements and Regionalism, Panchayati Raj Institutions & Governance, Affirmative Action Programme of the Government, Commissions and Policy Interventions.
Medieval and Modern Indian History: Delhi Sultanate and Mughal era; British Raj;Uprising of 1857; (Social) Reform, and Resistance Movements; Indian National Movement and the Emergence of the Indian nation.
Indian Philosophy and Thinkers: Jainism, Buddhism, Orthodox Systems, Sikhism,Sufism, Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Indian Traditions and Knowledge Systems: Classical dance forms, Architecture,Education, Ethics, Language and Grammar, Painting, Music, Theatre, Textiles Indian Literature, Mathematical and Medical systems.

c) World Affairs:

Emergence of the US and USSR; emergence of UN system; the Cold War and nuclear race; disintegration of Soviet Union, decline of Communism and rise of nationalism;Arab-Israel conflict; India and the World; NAM and role of India; India-China and IndiaPakistan relations, China and the World, conflict and wars.Democracy and Development; Challenges to democracy; North-South divide on issues of development; UN and its various developmental and peacekeeping operations; Nuclearisation and Non-proliferation; India in SAARC and ASEAN;International terrorism, fundamentalism and the War on Terror; Indo-US relations;New centres of power in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Hunger and Poverty; Human Rights, Democracy and Development; Environmental degradation and green politics; Issues of Race, Ethnicity and Gender; Deprived Classes and minority politics; Religion in the contemporary world; Culture and Civilization; Globalization and changing economic, cultural and political landscape; Mass media and cultural change; Emergence of various popular mass movements.

d) Environment and Ecology:

Global Environmental Picture: Population Growth, Degradation of Soils, Global Atmospheric Changes, Loss of Biodiversity.
Ecosystems: Structure of Ecosystems, Biotic Structure, Categories of Organisms,Feeding and Non-feeding Relationships, Ecosystems and how they Work, Elements in Living and Non-living Systems, Energy Laws, Nutrient Cycling.

Pollution: Major forms of Pollution and their Impact, Primary and Secondary Pollutants, Control Strategies, Indoor Pollutants, Global Warming, International Treaties.
Principles of Solar Energy, Hydropower, Wind Power, Biomass Energy, Ocean Thermal Energy, Geothermal Energy, and Tidal power.

PART II

Topics for the essay writing in Part II will be based on current affairs and general knowledge.The essay should build an argument, demonstrate a clear perspective and be substantiated with examples, wherever possible.

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Courtesy : IIT Madras