Sunday, 6 September 2015

UPSC Mains syllabus


The Mains Exam contains 9 papers . Here ,I shall list out the syllabus ,as given in the Employment news, Government of India.

Paper  1        English                                               300marks
Paper  2        Indian Language                                300marks


These are the Indian Languages you can chose from :



AssameseBengali
BodoGujarati
HindiKannada
MaithiliMalayalam
MarathiNepali
OriyaPunjabi
SanskritManipuri
TamilTelugu
UrduKonkani
Sindhi (Devanagari)Sindhi (Arabic)
                                                                                                   Check out the previous years language papers.
English -Compulsory Paper -2014
Indian Language -Hindi -2014
Indian language -Tamil -2014


Paper 3      Essay 

Check out essay paper of 2014

Paper 4      General Studies Paper I
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
  • Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
  • Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present significant events, personalities, issues.
  • The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors or contributions from different parts of the country.
  • Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
  • History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc. - their forms and effect on the society.
  • Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
  • Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
  • Effects of globalization on Indian society.
  • Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
  • Salient features of world's physical geography.
  • Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
  • Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location - changes in critical geographical features (including waterbodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Paper-5  General Studies Paper II
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
  • Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
  • Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
  • Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
  • Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
  • Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
  • Salient features of the Representation of People's Act.
  • Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
  • Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
  • Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
  • Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
  • Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
  • Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
  • Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
  • Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
  • Role of civil services in a democracy.
  • India and its neighborhood- relations.
  • Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests.
  • Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian diaspora.
  • Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
Paper-6      General Studies Paper  III 
(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 Achievements 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.
Paper-7   General Studies Paper IV 
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
This paper will include questions to test the candidates' attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects. The following broad areas will be covered.
  • Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
  • Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
  • Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weakersections.
  • Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
  • Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
  • Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
  • Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen's Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
  • Case Studies on above issues.
Stay tuned ! 
(This is a part of a series of blogs on IAS Exam -Simplified like never before.)

Here is the list of blogs in this series so far -


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Prelims Syllabus

Dear Students ,

Before you start the preparation of an exam ,understand the syllabus given to you. Only then ,you can relate your reading (whether it is NCERT or The Hindu) to your preparation.




UPSC Preliminary Examination Syllabus

Syllabus of Paper I -(200 marks) Duration : Two hours
  • Current events of national and international importance.
  • History of India and Indian National Movement.
  • Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
  • Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • Economic and Social Development - Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
  • General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation General Science.
Syllabus for Paper II-(200 marks) Duration: Two hours
  • Comprehension
  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability
  • Decision-making and problem solving
  • General mental ability
  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)
Note 
1. Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) examination will be a qualifying paper only with a minimum of 33% to be secured .
2. Both the papers are objective type,multiple choice based questions.
3. A candidate has to appear in both the papers.

Stay tuned !
(This is a part of series of blogs on IAS exam -simplified like never before.)

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Cut offs for Prelims ,Mains and Finals of previous years


Dear Students,

Before you start to prepare ,you should know the cutoffs for the previous years. And then,strategically start your preparation.

Here is the cutoff for Civil services ,2014.


Here is the cutoff for Civil Services ,2013.


Note that the cutoffs for prelims includes General Studies and CSAT in 2013 and 2014.
However ,from 2015 CSAT as become a qualifying paper. Hence ,cutoffs will be lesser .


Stay tuned !

(This is a  part of series of blogs on Civil Services Examination -Simplified like never before !)

Here is the list of blogs in this series so far -

How to prepare for IAS Exam -Beginners Guide
Prelims Syllabus
How to prepare for prelims ?
How to read 'The Hindu '?
How to make notes from NCERTs?
How to prepare for GS paper 1 of Mains ?
How to prepare for GS paper 2?
IAS Mains -7 tips to improve your answer writing
How to fill DAF
DAF -Cadre and service preference

We are now active on every social media platform .
https://www.quora.com/R-A-Israel-Jebasingh/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficersIASAcademy?ref=hl
officersiasacademy (@officersiasacad) | Twitter



How to prepare for IAS Exam -Beginners Guide

Dear Students ,

Let us simplify IAS exam first ,understand the pattern and process. Then lets make our strategy and work towards our success.


HOW TO PREPARE FOR CIVIL SERVICES ?
Civil Services Exam is a common entrance test for All India Services like IAS,IPS,IRS,IFS ,etc.


PREPARATION TIME
One year of intense study after graduation, on average


DIFFERENT LEVELS


LEVEL
NO. OF MARKS
MONTH OF THE EXAM
TYPE OF QUESTIONS
Preliminary
400(200+200)
August
Objective type
Mains
1750
December
Descriptive type
Personality Test
275
April -June (following year)
Interview


PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION


PAPER 1
GENERAL STUDIES
100 QUESTIONS
100*2=200
PAPER 2
CSAT
80 QUESTIONS
80*2.5=200


Note :
There is also negative marking is 0.33.
Paper 2 is a qualifying paper .One has to get a minimum score of 66.67(Applicable from 2015)
Hence ,only Paper 1 marks count for the cutoff from 2015.


MAINS EXAMINATION


PAPER 1
Indian Language (Qualifying Paper)*
300 marks
PAPER 2
English (Qualifying Paper)*
300 marks
ESSAY
One or two essays.
250 marks
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 1
Indian heritage, culture, history, geography of the world and society
250 marks
GENERAL STUDIES
PAPER 2
Governance, constitution, polity, social justice and international relations.
250 marks
GENERAL STUDIES
PAPER 3
Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management.
250 marks
GENERAL STUDIES
PAPER 4
Ethics,Integrity and Aptitude
250 marks
OPTIONAL PAPER 1

250 marks
OPTIONAL PAPER 2

250 marks

TOTAL
1750 Marks


Note :
Two qualifying papers: English and any of the languages mentioned in the eighth schedule of the Constitution (not for final ranking)


PERSONALITY TEST-


An interview ,out of 275 marks.


FINAL SCORE -


The total of the Mains examination and personality test decide your total score.And your All India Rank is allotted on the same basis.
_
Stay tuned !
(This is a part of series of blogs on "Civil Services Examination - Simplified like never before )

Here is the list of blogs in this series so far -