The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body set up under Article 315  of the Indian constitution for conducting recruitment to various posts and services under the union government.

Functions of UPSC

The functions of the Union Public Service Commission as mentioned in Article 320 are:

1.   Recruitment for all civil services and civil posts by:

•  written examination with or without a viva voce examination or interview to
•  supplement them;
•  interview;
•  promotion,

2.    Advising the Government on disciplinary matters relating to government servants holding civil posts.

Thus we can see that UPSC is the chief recruiting agency of the central government as well as the primary body to tender advice on disciplinary matters relating to civil servants.

Examinations Conducted by UPSC

The important examinations conducted by the UPSC every year include:

• Civil Services Examination for recruitment to IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, IRTS and other central civil services.
• NDA and CDS exams
• Combined Medical Services Exam
• Indian Forests Services Exam
• Indian Engineering Services Exam
• Central Police Forces (AC) Exam
• Geologists Exam

And any other exam that the government may from time to time entrust upon it.

Composition of UPSC

The Union Public Service Commission consists of one chairman and 7-10 full-time members apart from one secretary who usually belongs to the IAS.

The UPSC chairman does not sit in any board rather is responsible for overall management and coordination of the commission. Each UPSC member heads a board which consists of guest members having unique subject knowledge or have a distinguished career.

At present the Union Public Service Commission consists of 9 members and a chairman. They are:

Prof. D.P Agrawal (Chairman)

Members:

1. Smt. Shashi Uban Tripathi
2. Dr. KK Paul
3. Sh. PK Mishra
4. Smt. Rajni Razdan
5. Smt. Alka Sirohi
6. Prof. Purushottam Agarwal
7. Sh. IMG Khan
8. Sh. Vijay Singh
9. Dr. YV Reddy

As can be seen the UPSC consists of highly distinguished members who have reached a position of eminence in their respective careers.

Every member of the Union Public Service Commission holds office for a term of six years or until he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier. It should be known that all members and the chairman are appointed by the President of India and can be removed only by him on ground of proven misbehaviour after an inquiry by the Supreme Court on reference made by the President.

The actual role of the UPSC members is highlighted during the interviews conducted to various examinations such as the Civil Services exam. Apart from this they are engaged in deliberation, offering advisory functions in disciplinary matters and other related functions.

UPSC Location

The Union Public Service Commission is located at Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069 near to India Gate.

The UPSC premises is quite expansive with gardens, office block, examination block, canteen and other buildings. It is guarded round the clock by heavily armed security personnel for obvious reasons.

Applying for UPSC Exams

Earlier aspirants to different UPSC-held exams had to apply through forms available at Head Post Offices across the country. However with the advent and rapid spread of internet across the country UPSC has mandated that candidates have to apply for most of the exams like the Civil Services Exam online only at http://upsconline.nic.in and http://upsc.gov.in.

Even the admit cards are made available online after successful submission of the online application form along with submission of requisite fees. It is suggested that candidates should first apply using secondary email in case they are filling the online application form for the first time to get some practice.

Although veteran candidates who have applied online previously should not face any difficulties.

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The Indian Administrative Services (IAS) (more correctly the Civil Services) exam is considered by many as the premier civil service job or, more correctly, career in India. As an IAS officer you will become a part of the esteemed Indian bureaucracy often called the steel frame of the country. You will deal with huge responsibilities, have a say in decision making at the top levels of the government, enjoy unmatched perks, power, and social status.

To be precise the IAS is part of the Civil Services Exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), a Constitutional body headquartered in New Delhi. Around 22 other services or posts are part of the Civil Services Exam which consists of 3 stages – Preliminary, Mains and Interview.

To qualify for the next round you have to clear the preceding stage. For instance to qualify for IAS Mains you have to clear the Preliminary stage (Prelims) first. You can know more about the Eligibility for IAS Exam. One IAS Exam cycle lasts about a year. The prelims is held usually in the second or third week of May followed by the Mains in October and it continues right through November. The Mains exam results are then declared in March and the Personality Test or IAS Interviews start in the last week of March and continue right through April. The final result is then announced in the first week of May which completes one cycle of the IAS exam.

The IAS Exam Cycle

How to Apply for the IAS Exam?

After ensuring you meet the eligibility criteria for IAS exam you can apply online (only) at http://upsc.gov.in The application form is only available online after publishing of the exam notification by UPSC and is available for 20-25 days since issue of the notification. The civil services exam notification is available in PDF format online as well as in the Employment News. For instance the 2012 IAS exam notification is available here.

Remember starting 2012 onwards, you have to apply for the IAS exam through online mode only and postal forms have been discontinued by UPSC.

A Brief Overview of the Preliminary Exam

At this point it would be worthwhile to explain the Prelims stage briefly. The Preliminary exam consists of two papers common to all candidates. Each question carries a negative penalty of 0.33 marks. Each paper consists of 200 marks each and is of 2 hour duration each. Both the papers are of objective type and test the knowledge, alertness, language skills, mathematical ability, decision making prowess besides other things.

You can go through the Prelims syllabus to know about it in detail. Each question usually carries 4 choices of which you have to select one. In case of a wrong answer 1/3 x total marks of that question will be deducted from your score.

About 13 times the total number of vacancies for that year qualify the prelims. So if in the notification for the IAS exam 800 total posts are anoounces, 800 x 13 = 10400 candidates will clear the Prelims and appear for the Mains. Finally about 2.5 times the vacancy clear the Mains exam and appear for the Interviews. So in this case about 2000 candidates will be interviewed by the UPSC board comprising of subject experts and UPSC members.

Know More About the IAS Exam

The IAS exam is a vast ocean. The more you explore the more you will discover. Before starting your prelims preparation you should go through these Books for Prelims consisting of the must-read books for Prelims with detailed reviews. I also suggest you visit the IAS Kracker Blog to get latest updates and tips on IAS exam preparation.

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Relax, you’re not alone. In fact, from more than 3 lac students who applied for the Prelims this year and about 1.5 lac who actually appeared only about 12800 managed to clear. So what about the rest? If you belong to the ‘rest’ category this time you can very well find yourself among the successful candidates next year, age and attempts willing.

Step 1: Stop worrying about the past and focus on the next attempt

What is gone cannot be redone. Thoughts like ‘wish I had attempted one more question’ or ‘ should have prepared mental ability part better’ or ‘must have reported to exam on time’ will not undo the fact of this year’s Prelims. Yes, they are valuable lessons for next year and should be treated as such; to learn from the experience you gained but don’t let these thoughts stop you from looking at the wonderful opportunity you will get in the Prelims next year.

My good friend did not clear the Prelims in his first two attempts. So did he abandon his civil services dream and turn to lesser competitive exams (even though he was recently married and in a makeshift private job)? No; he held forth and attempted the IAS exam again. Only this time, he not only managed to clear the Prelims but went on to crack the Mains and Interview and secure a good rank in the civil services list. Today he is an IRTS central civil services officer.

Lesson?  Go ahead with your preparation for next Prelims with the experience gained from this year’s attempt. You still have ample time to prepare for the Prelims next year so make the most of it.

Step 2: Evaluate your strong and weak points

Based on your experience with the Prelims just attempted which areas or topics you feel confident in and which ones you feel require more preparation? Say you went through some answer keys or scourged different books and found most answers in Polity correct but found yourself lacking in Indian Economy questions.

So now you know you’re weak and strong areas and can focus on the weak ones to bring them on par with the stronger ones.

Step 3: Ensure sufficient practice before entering the examination hall

It’s vital to make every attempt in the civil services examination count since many of you have only four. Also even if attempt is not an issue, age certainly is. That’s why I always stress on the importance of testing yourself continuously either by going through the previous years papers or enrolling in a good test series.

Having attempted adequate number of questions in all topics of Prelims will boost your confidence when you set your foot in the examination hall and will guarantee x number of marks even before you have tackled the first question. Many IAS aspirants ignore this vital step and after preparing a topic attempt the questions directly in the Prelims paper only to be disappointed later. So if you feel you missed out in this year’s Prelims due to lack of sufficient practice you can still rectify this.

Step 4: Make a habit of making micro notes

Sometimes what is lacking is the last fifteen days revision before the Prelims. If you were to ask me to choose between revising before the Prelims or preparing a new/unfinished topic to cover the syllabus I’ll always advise to stick with the former.

In Prelims, it’s not that important to cover all topics equally well but it surely is important to prepare really well what you prepare. So let’s say you covered Polity, current affairs, environment and ecology but left out Indian Economy then make sure you cover the initial topics really well and then revise them at least once, and preferably twice, before the Prelims through micro notes.

It is important that you have such notes handy as you will not have the time to go through entire books and notes in just fifteen or twenty days.

Tip: Cut out on distractions

In the previous commenting system on this blog readers could include a link to their website or blog if they had one. Many used to link to their Facebook profiles. Then I noticed something very interesting just a few days after the Prelims results. Many of these Facebook profile links were broken, meaning, the profiles or accounts on Facebook were deleted.

I suppose these readers realized that Facebook was eating into their preparation time and they should focus more on their preparation than on Facebook. So you have it. Cut out on unneeded distractions. It could be excessive chit chat on mobile, smsing, Facebooking or something else.

Remember, everything used in moderation is fine and can add to your experience but not at the cost of your preparation. You invest a number of years and money in the IAS dream and you owe it to yourself to realize this dream.

So go forth with renewed vigour and ambition!

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post Help! I didn’t clear the Prelims. Now What? appeared first on IAS Kracker.

Crony refers to friendly or close relationships. So crony capitalism is favouring businesses close to you at the expense of others. Crony capitalism has been in the news recently owing to certain domestic and international developments.

In India, the Kingfisher airlines episode highlighted the close ties between the government and Kingfisher with the former doing its best to save the airlines from certain doom.

In fact the former DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan alleged that he was removed from office for opposing the special concessions being given to KA and the kids gloves treatment given to it in spite of serious lapses on the part of KA management including non-payment of salaries to its employees, frequent cancellations of flights, defaulting on loans, failure to pay fuel bills etc.

But crony capitalism is not just limited to India, rather one can see it entrenched in advanced capitalist societies like the US as well. Take for instance the recent sub-prime housing crisis where banks after banks and companies after companies were crumbling for laxity on their part and weak financial regulation of Govt. But the US govt. saved these companies by extending the tax-payer’s money as long-term loans and financial revival packages.

So what’s the problem with Crony Capitalism?

After all the government is saving the economy from collapsing. Right? Well not entirely. In a capitalist economy only the fittest can survive. Darwin’s survival of the fittest is applicable here as well. Companies that cannot meet challenges and face financial ruin should be replaced by other worthy companies like in the case of Daewoo being replaced its competitor Hyundai, Nokia being replaced by Samsung as the world’s top mobile handset seller and so on.

If companies are prevented from failing by infusing external funds that they themselves did not raise through market loans or public issue of shares, they are incentivised for their inefficiency and this acts as a disincentive for companies that have read the market trends and performing better and can capture a higher market share for their products or services but are prevented due to the helping hand extended by the government using public funds.

Going beyond helping failing companies, crony capitalism also refers to favoritism and nepotism displayed towards certain business houses through favourable policies or decisions like restricting competition (preventing auction like in the recent Coal scandal), award of licenses to a favorite few (spectrum scam), selling of national assets cheaply (BALCO sale), waiving off tax dues (estimated to be more than Rs 1 lac crore by P. Sainath of The Hindu) and so on.

If you are a student of Public Administration, this is exactly what Fred Riggs meant in his Prismatic-Sala model of economy witnessed in developing economies.

Crony capitalism also has a moral dimension to it. It is wrong to use tax payers money for benefiting private concerns and those that are not of national relevance or of relevance to only a few. For instance, according to one report there were just 15.75 crore air travelers in India in 2011 including international travelers which is nothing when compared with the number of Rail travelers every year. Still, special concessions were handed out to Kingfisher Airlines even though the national interest in the matter was very minute. It can be argued that the funds could have been better utilised for matters of greater social relevance like basic education or plugging the gaps in delivery of our below par public health services.

Tip for Mains: Use real-life examples as mentioned above in brackets. This makes the answers more relevant and unique.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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Focus areas for IAS

Many aspirants have this doubt about what to prepare for current affairs and GK in Prelims paper 1. After the recent changes in the Prelims syllabus and pattern, a lot of stress is given to GK questions by UPSC. Of course, current affairs questions were regularly asked earlier as well but now GK based questions are also being asked regularly.

It follows then that if you prepare these two topics well then your chances of clearing the Prelims increase significantly. Before I list what you should cover for current affairs and GK and from where let me remind you that these two terms in the Prelims are overlapping and any neat categorization of questions or topics in either current affairs or GK is not possible. In fact most current affairs topics and questions have a GK aspect to them and vice-versa. But for keeping things simple here I will attempt to separate the two.

Also note that getting a good grasp of these two topics from the Prelims view point can fetch you anywhere between 40-60 marks in Paper 1 quite easily.

This is the focus of the Current Affairs and GK course.

Current Affairs for IAS

These are the topics you should focus on:

• Recent developments in the field of Science and Technology like satellite launches, vaccine development, defence deals, new diseases etc.
• Environmental issues are given high importance by UPSC and developments like important summits and their outcomes, global warming, carbon dump, carbon trading, environment-affecting projects like Dams, nuclear plants (Kudankulam protests), pollution should be regularly looked into.
• In Polity, important judgments of social or national or economic importance should be regularly tracked. This includes judgment that chief of Central Information Commission can only be a retired SC or HC judge, stopping mining in Bellary to preserve the environment, preventing tourism in core areas of Tiger reserves and so on.
• Keeping track of all the important economic data like growth rate, inflation, exports and imports, as well as current economic issues like slowdown, global economic crisis, G-8 meet, FDI in retail, etc.
• Sports events like tennis grand slams, cricket, Indian achievements in Olympics, world cup’s etc. Remember to go beyond cricket and read about other sports as well.
• Awards and honours from within India as well as from outside India like Magsaysay awards, Khel Ratna and son on.
• Persons in news those that might have received some honour, or have invented something or achieved a personal feat of social value etc.

GK for IAS

GK is a very vast topic to cover combining many sub-topics. So much information is being generated through hundreds of books and online sources that it is almost impossible to keep track of everything. But do you need to keep track of everything? No. These are the GK topics to focus on from the Prelims perspective:

• Facts about India: (demographics, census data, major economy stats and so on)
• Facts about World: Limit yourself to the important demographic and economic data of various countries. Manorama Year Book has a good section on this.
• Science and Technology: In current affairs you have to focus on the latest developments. In GK, look at the history of India’s satellite and missile development programme by remembering the important landmarks like launch of first satellite, development of indigenous aircraft carrier, development of important vaccines and so on.
• Books and Authors: Some questions from this topic are routinely asked in Prelims paper 1. So keep track of books by popular authors including their latest ones.
• Firsts like First Army General, Chief Justice, Nobel Winner, Woman Chief Minister etc. Again Manorama Year Book is your friend for this type of information.

Author information

Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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Are you looking for a companion that will provide all the topics of Prelims Paper 1 and 2 syllabus in one place? One that you can easily go through and revise before the Prelims? Tata McGraw Hill (TMH), a renowned name in educations books including books for IAS exam, has come out with with two guides that claim to fulfill the above requirements of IAS aspirants. The General Studies for Civil Services Preliminary Examination for Paper 1 and CSAT GS for Civil Services Preliminary Examination Paper 2. But how good are these manuals, do they fulfill the basic requirement of extensive syllabus coverage along with easy readability and accurate information? Let’s find out. But first let’s answer a basic question:

Do You Need a Reference Manual for Prelims?

This is a often asked question by IAS aspirants and it will be prudent to answer this first. A reference manual like the TMH Manuals for Paper 1 and Paper 2 cover all the topics listed in the Prelims syllabus along with practice question sets. The advantage of such a manual is you get all the information at one place. But is such a collection adequate or do you need to refer other books as well? For some topics you will not need to refer other books, like in the topics mentioned below in the review, while for some others you are required to read additional books (listed below). But without doubt such a manual helps to revise very quickly before the Prelims when it is not possible to refer a dozen or more books in a short time of 15 or 20 days. Another advantage is that some information like GK bits that are difficult to find or too time consuming to look up can be easily found in such reference manuals for Prelims. Plus, if you read the CSAT Manual review for Paper 2 in the end I have stated that no other book is required for Paper 2 other than the CSAT Manual. So with this important question answered, let’s get on with the review.

TMH General Studies Manual for Paper 1

The TMH GS Manual is legendary among IAS aspirants and requires no introduction. It is one of the first books I recommend in my article on Books for Prelims (or CSAT). Why so? Simply because, although a guide cannot replace the basic books that you have to refer, it surely is handy when it comes to finding information on all subjects and topics at one place. Also some topics don’t require us to read NCERT books or other books; in such case the TMH GS manual is sufficient. But the most important use of such a  General Studies manual is during revision before the Prelims when you cannot go through all the books, especially since it is vital to take mock tests, the GS manual can be a real time saver by helping you revise quickly.

Another plus of this guide for Paper 1 is that it contains a module on current events as well. You can even practice tests with the sample papers, as well as refer past year’s solved prelims papers. The content is divided into the following sections:

• History of India
• Indian National Movement
• Indian and World Geography
• Indian Polity and Governance
• Economic and Social Development
• Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change
• General Science
• General Knowledge
• Current Events
• Two Practice Test Papers
• Previous Years’ Question Papers 2007-2012

As can be seen all the topics in Paper 1 syllabus are covered here and they also provide 2 practice tests on the Prelims pattern with similar difficulty. There are many practice questions included after each section as well to provide you ample practice and opportunity for to test yourself.

Content Boxes and Easy Language

Useful Content Boxes

The first thing that strikes you as you flip the pages are the content boxes containing important facts or summarizing a topic. These boxes are there in all sections and are a very welcome addition since you immediately glance at the information contained in it even when just skipping past the other information. Also another advantage of the TMH General Studies Manual is the easy-to-read error-free language. Grammatical mistakes every now then, which are the hallmark of books from UPSCPortal.com, can put off readers. Fortunately the language is simple and lucid. Also the answers to practice questions are quite accurate. But then, this is expected of a reputed publisher like TMH.

Now let’s review the important sections briefly.

Indian History

Indian History is divided into 2 sections – History of India covering the period from Ancient period till end of 19th Century and Indian National Movement covering the period from early 20th Century till the post-Independence phase. Although History coverage was not as good as their Geography material in the earlier editions, the current edition does a pretty good job at explaining Indian History. Even then, some topics like Buddhism seem rushed and more elaborate coverage would have been appreciated since UPSC tends to ask quite a few questions on Buddhism regularly.

Historical maps pertaining to the Mauryan empire, Delhi Sultanate etc. are included to give a proper understanding of the historical context. Even diagrams of family lineages are depicted which is very useful for sequence-based questions in Prelims.

Coming to Indian National Movement, although all major events are covered as well as the post-Independence phase of integration of princely states you will still need to refer the primary books like Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence. After all you cannot expect an entire book to be condensed in a few pages. This is after all, a reference manual but it does not replace the need to refer the primary books; at least not in the case of Modern Indian History.

Good Coverage of Indian and World Geography

I’ve always felt that Geography is the most well presented and explained portion in the TMH GS Manual and it’s no exception in this edition as well. All topics in Geography like Economic, Physical, Human are covered well along with detailed maps like those in the Oxford Student Atlas. In the section on Economic Geography the latest Census data is also included along with other important data relating to tribal and racial groups etc. In fact, of you’re short of time only referring the TMH GS Manual will be adequate in relation to the geography syllabus. It’s that good.

Indian Polity and Governance

Polity plays an important part in the Prelims and you can expect anywhere between 8-15 questions on it. The TMH General Studies Manual covers Indian Polity quite extensively including the tricky topics like Panchayati Raj, Emergency and Amendments. In fact all the amendments till the latest one are listed. It also discuses the current issues in focus like Electoral Reforms, Women’s Representation and so on. You will still need to refer a good book for bare acts though and I recommend PM Bakshi’s Constitution of India for this purpose.

Indian Economy in the TMH GS Manual

Economy is another important topic and facts and figures should be on your finger tips. The Indian Economy coverage in TMH Manual is not so satisfactory. Although it does not explain the fundamentals of Economy like Stock Market, Banking in detail other topics like Planning, Women Empowerment, Budgeting, Social and Welfare Schemes have been covered well. Even demographic and social data is included for your reference. I will advise you to supplement this with the Economic Survey of India published by Oxford University Press that contains a wealth of economic data in tabulated form.

Ecology, Bio-Diversity and Climate Change

These topics as you might know are constantly in the news and thus have been included in the new Prelims syllabus by UPSC. Good news is that TMH has added a separate section on these 3 topics in the reference manual for Paper 1. Each of the 3 topics have been tackled comprehensively and a lot of supplementary information is included as well. Another plus is that there are separate questions  on Ecology, Bio-Diversity and Climate Change after each topic. For aspirants who want to know a good source for tackling this section, TMH GS Manual is good enough.

Extensive Coverage of General Science

The Science portion has always been a plus point of getting the TMH Reference Manual and its no different this year as well. Every topic has been dealt comprehensively and separately under the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology sub-sections. Useful tables on vitamin, diseases, deficiencies etc. are also included. Plenty of explanatory diagrams are thrown in as well to aid learning. If you cover General Science well from the TMH GS Manual you will not require to refer other books for this purpose.

The General Knowledge Section is Pretty Good

Yes, the TMH GS Manual has an extensive section on General Knowledge. It starts with information on the different Indian States and contains useful info on the Indian Space Programme. Awards and Honours, Dams, Rivers, Lakes, Languages etc. Important International Organisations are also covered. GK has always been a crucial component of the Prelims paper and together with the Manorama Year Book, the TMH Manual is good combination for building up your General Knowledge.

Useful Coverage of Current Events

Although aspirants tend to focus on the past 10 months or so current events they should know that nowadays UPSC is asking questions related to events that occurred years back. And this is where the Current Events section in the TMH GS Manual will help you. It covers events from January till August this year, both domestic as well as international. So if you continue from this period onwards you will have a good collection of current bits on events that occurred 1-15 months prior to the Prelims.

All in all, the TMH GS Manual for Paper 1 is highly recommended for beginners as well as experienced IAS aspirants alike. It will add real value to your preparation and revision and for certain topics like Geography and Science can completely eliminate the need for a standard text book and other books. If you still haven’t got this book, I strongly suggest you get it and start reading it at the earliest.

TMH CSAT Manual for Paper 2

For a while I used to suggest three different books for Prelims paper 2, popularly known as CSAT, but not anymore. Now that TMH has come out with a separate reference manual for CSAT you don’t need to refer other books since the quality of this book is excellent. Let us review it briefly.

The TMH CSAT Manual is divided into 7 sections:

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal Skills Including Communication Skills
• Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability
• Decision Making and Problem Solving
• General Mental Ability
• Basic Numeracy and Data Interpretation
• English Language Comprehension Skills

As you can see the book not only covers the Prelims Paper 2 syllabus in detail but even goes beyond and is useful for other competitive exams as well. Each section starts with an introduction to the topic followed by detailed solved questions where steps to solve the particular problem type are included. After you gain confidence in tackling that question type, you are expected to take the exercise that follows. But that’s not all.  Detailed solutions are provided for each question at the end so there is no confusion left in your mind.

The advantage of the TMH CSAT Manual is the accuracy of the answers. While some other reference manuals are doubtful at best when it comes to accurate answers, this is never an issue with TMH books and the CSAT Manual is no exception.

I particularly liked the section on Decision Making and Problem Solving from where 7 questions are usually asked in every Prelims that carry no  negative penalty and should therefore be attempted. In this topic various question types that could be asked are listed followed by detailed explanation of each type and tips to answer them. The basic premise followed in the Manual for Decision Making is that certain Principles or Values are tested in the question and a corresponding Rationale or Reasoning is is required to pick the correct option. Once you follow this method you can then develop a sound judgement required by UPSC of civil servants and will then be able to get most of the answers correct.

Some of the often asked question types like Probability, Permutation and Combination, Venn Diagram, Distance and Time, Family Relations are also covered well in this book. But this is not all. The TMH CSAT Manual also contains 20 solved practice paper sets each containing 80 questions. After going through so many questions I doubt you can’t crack the Prelims with flying colours.

Summarizing, I feel TMH CSAT Manual for Paper 2 is a one-stop solution for your Paper 2 needs with detailed explanation in a simple manner and more than adequate practice questions. If you want to refer just one book for Prelims paper 2, go with this one.

I hope this review of the best reference manuals for Prelims paper 1 and 2 will be useful to you. I would like to hear your responses and experiences with these and other books in the comments below.

Author information

Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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Reading passages is always fun, although time consuming. But questions on passage reading hold one big advantage over other question types: they offer easy marks for everyone when compared to questions on Mental Ability, Decision Making, Data Interpretation and so on.

In fact, as stated in my 2012 Prelims Analysis, no less than 11 passages were asked in Paper 2 carrying 39 questions in all! Now for a moment let’s assume all questions in Paper 2 are of equal marks so one question is of 2.5 marks (200 marks/80 questions). Thus, 39 x 2.5 = 97.5 marks out of a total of 200 were based only on Comprehension-based passages! UPSC surely wants you to sail through Paper 2; question remains are you willing to put in the smart work required?

Passages also removes the advantage of Mental Ability based questions which some candidates solve quite easily, but many others find too difficult and time consuming to attempt. In such a scenario passages can give you a good boost in your overall score if attempted correctly and quickly.

Why quickly? Because if you devote too much time on searching for the answers in the passage you may end up spending a lot of time and will not be left with enough time for other questions. And if you have some experience of attempting the Prelims, you know that even 2 hours is not enough for attempting 80 questions in Paper 2.

The solution then lies in following a simple tried and tested approach to tackling passages in Paper 2 which I outline below with the help of a sample passage from the 2012 Prelims paper 2.

Rule 1: Always read the passage first before attempting the questions

This is a simple method but often overlooked by students. Many directly jump to the questions trying to save some time. But this isn’t your high school paper; remember? This paper has been set by UPSC and it follws then that there will be few, if any, direct answers. Rather questions will be and are based on your understanding of the issues raised in the passage or the central message of the passage. And you cannot grasp the message or the point of view of the passage author until you go through it once. Believe me, once you have read the passage in its entirety locating the answers becomes that much easier. Compared to directly jumping to the questions and answering after reading the passage the latter will actually save your time as you will get stuck if you try to attempt the questions directly and will waste time frantically searching for the right answers but getting none. You are then left with no choice but to go through the passage. Something that you should have done before attempting the questions.

Rule 2:Don’t try too hard to understand the passage, just get to the questions

Some passages like the one used in the example below are really boring and difficult to understand. In such a scenarios don’t waste too much time trying to figure out the meaning of every sentence and word. Just read the passage once and get to the questions. You can then re-read parts of the passage to get a better understanding before selecting the right option.

Rule 3: Use your common sense while eliminating options

This might seem controversial but it’s true. Some options seem plain stupid to be correct and if short on time or when options contain multiple choices you can usually safely eliminate those that contain extreme views or impossible inferences. The example below will make this point clear to you.

So with these guidelines, let’s look at a passage from 2012 Prelims paper 2:

 These questions followed the passage:

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post How You Can Score Easy Marks With Passages in Paper 2 appeared first on IAS Kracker.

In case you have been wondering whether the Mains syllabus will change in 2013 or not, it’s now certain that it will not. According to Minister of State  for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension V Narayanswamy, UPSC has submitted certain changes in the Civil Services (Main) Examination based on Prof Arun S Nigavekar committee report. (Source: Online News)

However these proposals are still pending before the government. If and when they get the government’s approval you can expect UPSC to announce the changes after some period. Which surely means that the Main syllabus will not change in 2013 as UPSC provides ample time for students to prepare for the new syllabus.

So now you can breathe easy and focus on 2013 IAS exam keeping in view the current pattern. The question that follows naturally is whether the Mains syllabus will change in 2014? It can be safely said that if the proposed changes receive the government’s nod in the coming months then surely you can expect some far-reaching changes from 2014 onward. Till then, you can breathe easy.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post It’s Official (almost) IAS Mains Pattern is Not Changing in 2013 appeared first on IAS Kracker.

I’ve conducted a few webinars before on Prelims preparation that have received excellent response from aspirants. And this Sunday on 23/12/2012 at 6 PM I will be conducting a webinar on which books to refer for Prelims along with tips to read the most important books like what is important, what is not so important, which topics to skip etc.

Register for the free webinar here 

Note: Class re-scheduled for 23/12/2012. Please do NOT use Google Chrome when attending the webinar as it is not supported and causes issues like no audio and frequent crashes. The latest version of Firefox browser is highly recommended.

I’ve also got a nice new year gift for this blog’s readers. I am offering Rs 199 off up to 31st December on my Question Series course with which you get the Current Affairs and GK course free. You will need to use the coupon code IASK4 on the registration page to get this discount.

Enroll for the course here

Use coupon code IASK4

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post Free Live Webinar: Which Books to Refer for IAS Prelims appeared first on IAS Kracker.

Economy is a very important topic not just for IAS Prelims but for Mains, Interview as well. Also as a civil servant you are expected to remain up-to-date with relevant economic indicators and trends in order to frame effective policies. For this reason you should never ignore Economy questions in Paper 1 that can vary from 10-20 each year. In this prelims preparation post I list the topics/sub-topics that your should focus most on when preparing economy for Prelims and also the important economic data that you should know to score well in the economy questions. But that’s not all. At the end of this post, I also list the books that you should refer for economy from Prelims and IAS Mains perspective.

Analysis of Questions asked on Indian Economy

From a quick glance at TMH GS Manual, I prepared the following table that lists the topic-wise economy questions asked in Prelims from 2007 till 2012. Of course some questions are multi-disciplinary that can be classified in other topics as well like Geography, Current Affairs etc. But this is a good guide for us to know which economy topics to focus more as compared to others.

Source: TMH GS Manual

From the above table it’s clear that questions from two topics, Agriculture and Money & Banking, were asked almost every year from 2007 to 2012; and most in 2010 Prelims. It follows that you should focus more on these 2 topics or at least get them up in your economy priority list. Now let’s know what to prepare in these two topics.

Agriculture

• Land Reforms
• Green Revolution and Second Green Revolution
• Minimum Support Prices (MSP), Procurement prices, Issue price (important. who decides the MSP, the current MSP for principal crops etc)
• Buffer Stock (norms, current data)
• Economic Cost of Foodgrains
• Decentralised Procurement Scheme
• Rising Food Subsidy
• National Flood Security Bill
• Agricultural Marketing
• e-choupal
• Trifed
• Nafed
• Storing facilities for Agriculture Products (role of FCI, CWC and other central and state agencies)
• Agricultural Credit (linked to farmer suicides in many states)
• Commodity Futures Market
• Farm Waste Debate
• Irrigation
• National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and other Missions like National Bamboo Mission, National Horticulture Mission etc.
• Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA)
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• National Agricultural Policy, 2000 (should know the important points at all times)
• Agricultural Insurance
• Extension Services
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
• WTO and the Indian Agriculture: Prospects and Challenges (also relevant for Mains)
• WTO and Agricultural Subsidies (also relevant for Mains)

Money and Banking

• Indian Money Market
• Indian Capital Market
• Monetary Policy Tools
• Financial Institutions
• Mutual Fund (MF)
• Bank & Non-Bank Institutions
• Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCS)
• Reserve Bank of India
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
• Base Rate
• Nationalisation and Development of Banking
• Financial Sector Reforms
• Banking Sector Reform
• New Rules for Opening Banks
• The Menace of NPAS
• Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Why to Maintain CAR?
• Non-Resident Indian Deposits
• Primary and Secondary Markets
• Stock Exchange
• SEBI
• Important Terms of Stock Market
• Short Selling
• Insurance Industry
• Insurance Reforms
• National Export Insurance Account

Industry and Infrastructure

• Industrial Policy Resolution, 1948, 1956, 1969, 1980, 1985-86
• Disinvestment
• Investment Challenge
• New Manufacturing Policy
• National Policy on Electronics
• India Infrastructure and Finance Company

External Trade

• Foreign Currency Assets
• Foreign Exchange Reserve
• Fixed Currency Regime
• Floating Currency Regime
• Managed Exchange Rates
• Foreign Exchange Market
• Exchange Rate in India
• Trade Balance
• Trade Policy
• Depreciation
• Devaluation
• Revaluation
• Appreciation
• Current Account
• Capital Account
• Balance of Payment (BoP)
• Convertibility
• LERMS
• NEER
• REER
• EFF
• IMF Conditions on India
• Hard Currency
• Soft Currency
• Hot Currency
• Heated Currency
• Cheap Currency
• Dear Currency
• Special Economic Zone
• Autonomous Bodies
• Other Organizations
• Advisory Bodies

External Assistance and International Economic Organizations

This topic is also of high relevance for Mains GS paper.

• International Monetary System
• Bretton Woods Development
• International Monetary Fund
• World Bank
• Asian Development Bank
• OECD
• World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• WTO Negotiations and India

Public Finance

• Budget
• Fiscal Policy
• Limiting Government Expenditure (fiscal deficit and other deficits)
• Fiscal Consolidation in India
• Zero-Base Budgeting
• Charged Expenditure
• Types of Budgets
• Cut Motion
• Interest Payments
• Subsidies (direct cash transfer currently in the news)
• Government Debt
• State-Level Finances (the mess state governments are in)

Poverty, Social Security and Sustainable Development

• Human and Gender Development
• Inclusive Development
• Poverty and Inclusive Growth (BPL definition, methods to estimate poverty and  recommendations of committees)
• Inequality
• Employment
• Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation Programmes
• Social Protection
• Rural Infrastructure
• Urban Infrastructure
• Skill Development
• Education
• Health
• Women and Child Development

Planning, Growth and Development

• Economic Growth and Development Definitions
• Planned and Mixed Economy
• Emphasis on the Public Sector
• Origin and Expansion of Planning
• Types of Planning
• Major Objectives of Planning
• Planning Commission
• National Development Council
• Central Planning
• Multi-Level Planning
• Way to Decentralised Planning and Importance
• The Planning Commission & The Finance Commission
• The Changing Nature and Role of Planning
• Economic Reforms
• Economic Reforms In India
• Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation

Inflation

• Why Inflation Occurs
• Types of Inflation
• Other Variants of Inflation
• Other Important Terms
• Effects of Inflation

Indian Tax Structure

• Methods of Taxation
• Methods of Expenditure
• Value Added Tax (and need of VAT)
• Goods and Services Tax
• Additional Excise Duty
• CST Reforms
• Service Tax
• Tax Expenditure
• Non-Tax Revenue

The above list might seem very long to some, but it is comprehensive in scope. Some of the topics above are required to be covered in-depth while some require reasonable acquaintance. Also questions on some of the topics listed above like external trade and assistance, planning, taxation, poverty and sustainable development are frequently asked in the GS Mains paper as well. Covering the topics listed above keeping in mind the relative importance with the help of the table will help you gain 15-20 valuable marks in the Prelims. And studying economy is fun as well. The question difficulty level is such that candidates with non-Economy background can answer the questions with ease. UPSC usually never asks questions based on economic theories in Prelims or Mains GS paper that are discipline-specific.

Books to refer for Prelims Economy Questions

As listed in books for IAS prelims, I recommend TMH Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh for covering economy syllabus for paper 1.  The syllabus coverage in this book is complete; in fact so complete that I have used this book as a reference for listing various sub-topics above to focus on when preparing Economy for Prelims.

Another book that is a must read is Economic Survey published my Oxford University Press on behalf of the Finance Ministry. Being the authentic government source for all economic data it is highly useful not just for Prelims but also for Mains. In fact questions are directly asked in the Mains quoting the Economic Survey. It comes out usually in the last week of January or first week of February every year before the budget presentation. The second part of Economic Survey contains the latest economic data and tables some of which are must-read for Prelims.

I hope you found this guide on preparing economy for Prelims useful; I will be glad to read your responses in the comments below.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post What’s Important in Economy for IAS Prelims appeared first on IAS Kracker.

I usually don’t announce or discuss changes I make to this website. But since I have made some major changes during this weekend I thought I should list them here so you know how to navigate this site with greater ease and find the content you are looking for more easily as compared to the past.

How it was in the past

Earlier the homepage, iaskracker.com, was just a filler page and the real content was hosted on the sub-domains blog.iaskracker.com and books.iaskracker.com

This was done more than a year ago in order to streamline posts with general preparation tips and posts focusing on IAS exam books. But over time I realised readers who reached either of the sub-domains were not aware of the other sub-domain straightaway and ended up asking me queries like ‘please tell me books for Prelims’ or ‘how do I start preparation for IAS’ etc.

Find everything at one place

So I have moved all content back to the main domain, iaskracker.com and have listed the latest posts on IAS preparation tips and IAS books in two separate columns on the homepage.

So the next time I publish a new post in either of these categories you can easily find them at a single place in stead of looking for them at two different places.

Easily subscribe to eBook and updates

Also, it is now much easier to access the free eBook and updates by subscribing either through the sidebar box or using the comments section where you can post a comment and tick the box to subscribe to the Free eBook as well as blog updates.

If you are a regular subscriber of this blog, you no longer need to access blog.iaskracker.com and books.iaskracker.com separately, rather you can find the latest updates on iaskracker.com itself.

I will be holding another free webinar soon on topics to revise before the Prelims. So if you are appearing for this year’s Prelims, be sure you register and attend the webinar.

If you are interested in receiving a discount for my courses, please let me know in the comments below and I will send the discount code to your email.

I hope you continue supporting this site by visiting it regularly and leaving your feedback in the comments. And a very happy new year to you! May you realize your dream of cracking the civil services this year.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post Some Site-wide Changes for a Better Experience appeared first on IAS Kracker.

Must Read for Modern Indian History

Bipan Chandra’s (and others) India’s Struggle for Independence is a classic book, highly recommended for covering Modern Indian History syllabus not just in Prelims but also in GS Mains paper. That’s why I list this book prominently in my post on Books for Prelims. In this post I list the most important chapters to cover in India’s Struggle for Independence.

Period Covered 

India’s Struggle for Independence covers the period from the Revolt of 1857 till the period just following India’s Independence in 1947. From the point of view of Modern Indian history syllabus, this is quite extensive coverage. For the period since mid-18th century till 1857, I suggest you go through the NCERT text book on Modern India.

Classification

Modern Indian History period can be systematically classified in the following topics without following a definite sequence.

• Revolt of 1857 and resulting changes
• Socio-Religious Reforms of 19th Century
• Peasant movements and uprisings of 19th Century
• Foundation of Indian National Congress (INC)
• Moderates vs Extremists Divide
• Press Restrictions in 19th and 20th Centuries
• Swadeshi Movement
• Split in Congress and Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism
• National Movements: Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India movements
• Home Rule Movement
• Gandhi’s Satyagraha’s
• Revolutionary Terrorism: Ghadar movement, Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen etc.
• World War I and II and Indian National Movement
• Peasant movements and Indian nationalism in 20th Century
• Swarajists and No-Changers
• Congress Rule in provinces and achievements
• Indian Capitalists and National Movement
• Cripps Mission, Cabinet Mission Plan, Mountbatten Plan etc.
• Role of the Left in India’s National Movement: Subhash Bose and others
• Factors leading to freedom and partition
• Social Reform in 20th Century – Dr Ambedkar, Periyar and others

Of all the topics listed above, except for social reform in 20th Century, all other topics are covered in India’s Struggle. These topics are equally important for GS Mains paper and here also India’s Struggle for Independence is very useful.

The best part about this book is its engrossing style. Although this is a multi-author book you will not be able to distinguish the chapters written by different authors since their writing style is so similar. The information is accurate coming as it is from renowned Historians like Bipin Chandra, K.N Panikkar, Mriduala Mahajan, Aditya Mukherjee and Sucheta Mahajan.

Once you start reading the book, you will not realise how quickly you turn the pages since the reading is interesting and History is presented in an engaging-style to hold the readers attention.

How to Read India’s Struggle for Independence

When you read India’s Struggle for the first time you should read it completely, if possible, without thinking too much about what chapters are important and which are less important.

In the second and more serious reading you should underline the important factual data as you encounter it and also try to make a note of chronological events, like for instance, setting up of various reform organizations of the 19th Century.

You can go through the following chapters in passing (from Prelims viewpoint):

• Economic critique of colonialism
• Indian working class and national movement
• Peasant movements in 1930′s and 40′s
• Communalism chapters
• Development of Nationalist Foreign Policy
• Long-term strategy of national movement
• Ideological dimension of national movement

The chapters listed above are relatively less important compared to the other chapters in this book for IAS history syllabus.

When preparing History for IAS, remember the important facts and the sequence of important events. You should prepare movements separately like the Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement.

Similarly Gandhi’s various satyagrahas like Dandi march, champaran, kheda and Ahmedabad mill workers strike should be prepared separately.

Adopting this method enables you to distinguish between similar events precisely so you don’t get confused during the Prelims or Mains paper.

Finally try to remember salient features of important legislative developments like the Morley-Minto reforms, Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, Govt of India Act 1935 etc. as questions on these are frequently asked in the Prelims.

All in all India’s Struggle for Independence is a highly recommended for covering modern history syllabus for Prelims as well as Mains.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post What to Read in India’s Struggle for Independence for Prelims and Mains appeared first on IAS Kracker.

A good year book helps boost your IAS Prelims preparation since a year book contains all the important current events and GK data that matters for the IAS exam. Based on this requirement I have always recommended the highly acclaimed Manorama Year Book in the post on IAS Books for Prelims. In this post I not only review the latest 2013 edition of Manorama Year Book but I also list why you should refer MYB and which sections to focus your attention on in Manorama Year Book.

Why Manorama Year Book is Relevant for IAS Prelims

• The information is accurate and reliable
• It contains diverse but relevant information on numerous topics
• Helps build your GK base along with current affairs bits
• It is a trusted source for UPSC

The final point is particularly important. UPSC relies on Manorama Year Book and till a few years back, about 15-20 questions used to be asked directly from this year book. Even now many questions can be traced to MYB.

How is 2013 Edition Different from Previous Versions

There are two noticeable changes in the latest edition of Manorama Year Book. Firstly, the page and print quality are far better. Pages feel thicker and smoother. It seems the publishers upgraded the quality of page used. Secondly, there are far more colour images in the 2013 edition; this is a welcome change from the black and white images found in the past editions.

Which Topics to Focus on in Manorama Year Book 2013

Following topics in Manorama Year Book are of greater relevance for Prelims as compared to others:

• Current Events: India and the World
• World Panorama: country-wise information is always relevant and good source of GK
• India section: you can choose and pick here if you are referring other books on the same topics
• General Knowledge: Quiz show, Awards and Honours, Books and Authors
• Sports: India @ London Olympics, India’s ODI titles, Batsmen with most double centuries, Leading run getters in test cricket and ODIs, Tennis and other sports

The Quiz Show containing 500 questions on current events and GK is a great feature of Manorama Year Book. I suggest you attempt these questions since some of them can and have been asked in the Prelims.

There is also very useful information on Science and Geography but if you are referring standard books for these topics then MYB can be skipped for such kind of information.

How to Read Manorama Year Book

The best way to read MYB is how you would read a novel or a magazine. Pick a topic that you find interesting or arouses your curiosity and try to know more about it. For instance, let’s say you want to find more about the previous election commissioners of India then you go through the section in greater detail knowing the name of the first election commissioner and who succeeded him and so on.

Similarly, if you want to build up your vocabulary for tackling Paper 2 English grammar-based questions, you should look in to the section on Vocabulary Acquisition.

The idea is reading a year book should not be a monotonous chore rather a fun-filled rewarding experience. The book is written in such a manner that it can be a stress buster as well to relive you from the stress and monotony of the conventional topics like History, Science, Economy and others.

Should You Buy the Latest Edition

Unlike reference manual that contain more or less the same information between two successive editions, year books contain a lot of recent information based on the events occurred in the immediate past and for this reason it makes sense to get the latest edition of Manorama Year Book.

All in all, I would recommend the Manorama Year Book as a must have reference year book for Prelims preparation.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post Manorama Year Book 2013 Review: Boost Your Prelims Preparation appeared first on IAS Preparation Blog for IAS Books, Tips, Videos and Online Coaching.

If you visit the UPSC website there’s a notice announcing deferment of civil services 2013 exam notification. Snapshot of the short notice is attached below.

Why did UPSC defer 2013 Prelims notification?

The notice states that the Civil Services Exam (Prelims and Mains) 2013 that was scheduled to be notified on 2nd February will be notified later. Why so? A plausible reason could be pending changes in the Mains pattern. As you might know the Prelims and Mains exam pattern are notified together and not separately. So UPSC could have deferred the notice due to three possible reasons:

1. The planned changes to the Mains exam that are pending approval from the Union govt as mentioned in this post have not  received sanction. But there could be a possibility of receiving the approval in the coming days so UPSC wants to defer the IAS exam notification by a few days.
2. UPSC has received the sanction for the proposed changes to Mains exam pattern so may be finalising the new notification and will announce it in the coming days.
3. Union govt may have asked for certain modifications to the Prof Arun S Nigavekar committee proposals and UPSC may have re-submitted the proposals for final approval and could have deferred the notification pending the outcome of the revised proposals.

So, whatever may be the real reason for the delay in notifying the Civil Services Examination 2013, the current position is that IAS Prelims and Mains exam 2013 notification is delayed by some days and IAS aspirants will surely feel a tinge of anxiety for the next few days until UPSC notifies the exam.

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Lazylord

I can make your IAS journey easier with my experience of reaching every level of the IAS exam, including the interview, on more than one occasion. I also cracked the Prelims in every attempt including the first. Learn how I can help you in your IAS Preparation through my Test Series course prepared just for you.

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The post UPSC Defers Civil Services 2013 Exam Notification: Why? appeared first on IAS Preparation Blog for IAS Books, Tips, Videos and Online Coaching.

On 3rd May 2013, UPSC declared the final result of the Civil Services Examination 2012 interview for which was held in March-April 2013. 998 candidates have made it through to the merit list from about 2674 candidates called for interview. The total number of vacancies was 1091, which is higher than the 1037 vacancies originally announced in the 2012 notification. Selection of 92 candidates is provisional. Of the 998 selected, 34 are physically challenged candidates. A brief overview of the result is presented below.

Women again outshone men in the IAS exam for the 3rd year straight. Haritha V Kumar from Kerala topped the list followed by V Sriram and Stuti Charan respectively. Interestingly, Engineers and Doctors again bagged the top ranks in the 2012 IAS exam.

753 Male and 245 Female candidates have been selected in the 2012 civil services exam. Of the top 25 positions, there are 13 male and 12 female candidates. Thus it is clear that although final selection of females is less than half that of male candidates, women are doing really well by getting the top rankings consistently each year.

Haritha Kumar, B.Tech, topped the list in her 4th attempt. She was previously selected for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). V Sriram, also from Kerala, is a Doctor and cleared the IAS exam in only his second attempt. Stuti Charan, despite being an MBA, chose Agriculture and Botany as her Mains optional subjects.

The post Civil Services (Main) 2012 Final Results Declared appeared first on IAS Kracker.

History for Prelims and Mains is  a very important topic. Almost 15-20 questions are asked in Prelims paper 1 on History every year. Add to that questions totaling about 60-90 marks in GS Mains paper and you get a good idea about the importance of History in IAS exam. But many IAS aspirants don’t know how to start, what to cover and how to cover the History syllabus.

To solve these queries I have prepared a useful flowchart detailing the entire History syllabus at a glance. You can download and print it for ready reference while preparing History topics. I’ve divided the History syllabus into three parts – Ancient, Medieval and Modern period. Below each is the chronological sequence of topics that should be covered.

Note: I have relied heavily on TMH GS Manual for listing the topics. You can read review of TMH GS Manual as well. Refer other books for Prelims here.

Click on image for full view

This is first part of series on History for IAS. Next post in this series will be preparation tips for History. If you found the diagram useful do consider sharing it.

The post History Syllabus and How to Cover It appeared first on IAS Kracker.

Under direction of the Central Information Commission (CIC), UPSC has for the first time released the marks of all successful candidates in the 2012 Civil Services (Main) Examination. The result is downloadable in PDF format at the bottom of the this post but for the convenience of this blog’s readers.  Also go through the analysis of these marks to get an idea of the importance of interview in deciding your overall score.

Note: The table is fully sortable. You can choose to display from 10 to 100 results on a single page. You can sort the table written total marks-wise or interview-marks wise, or from lowest to highest etc. You can even search the table for roll no, name, and marks. Just click on a particular label to sort the table. For instance, clicking on Final Total column twice will sort it from highest to lowest marks. Similarly do it for other heads as well.

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