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UPSC Prelims books

The UPSC Preliminary Examination is the first hurdle in the challenging journey towards becoming a civil servant in India. Success in this stage is critical, as it determines eligibility for the mains examination. To navigate through the intricacies of the UPSC Prelims, a well-rounded approach to book selection and preparation is essential. This guide explores the recommended UPSC Prelims books and effective preparation strategies to help aspirants tackle this formidable exam. UPSC Prelims Books: Building a Strong Foundation NCERT Textbooks: Begin your UPSC Prelims preparation with Class 6 to Class 12 NCERT textbooks for subjects such as History, Geography, Economy, and Polity. These textbooks provide a solid base and help in understanding fundamental concepts. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth: Considered a must-read for UPSC aspirants, this book comprehensively covers the Indian political system, constitutional provisions, and governance structures. Regular revisions of this book are cr...
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What is the UPSC Syllabus 2024?

According to the UPSC calendar 2024 which has been released, the  official notification for UPSC CSE 2024 will be out on 14 th  February 2024 .   The UPSC Mains 2023 exam is over, therefore if you are planning to prepare for UPSC CSE 2024, then you can check the last revised syllabus for this exam, i.e., UPSC 2023 syllabus.    Since the UPSC syllabus 2024 is huge, the aspirants must go through it repeatedly to familiarize with the exam nature which is both objective and descriptive.    To begin with, there are 3 stages in the UPSC Civil service examination which are as follows:   UPSC Prelims : The first stage of the UPSC exam cycle is the Preliminary  exam . There are  2 papers,  each containing a total of 100 and 80  objective–based  questions respectively.  Both the papers are of 2 hours each with 1/3rd negative marking.     UPSC Mains : The second stage is the Mains exam. There are a total of  9 pa...

UPSC Preparation Strategy

  One of the premium attributes that is required to ace UPSC CSE exam is a well curated and sorted strategy. Since the UPSC Syllabus is a mountain to climb, therefore, it is logical for you to make a distinct plan and base your journey as per the plan made. While you can make your unique strategy but to save your time, I have done that task for you. Study Sequence To make it further convenient for you I am summarizing the UPSC Preparation Strategy and framing it in a way that would save your time and also check your ability to comprehend things. Commence your preparation by studying UPSC Previous Year Papers. From previous year papers, identify the subjects that you have addressed in the past. Download the syllabus, and mark the subjects you have identified in the syllabus doc. Initiate syllabus with these topics. Focus on completing the syllabus subject after subject for the next 5-6 months. Upon realising you have completed 50-60% of the syllabus, start with answer writ...

UPSC Notification 2023

The notification regarding the UPSC examination 2023 has been officially released on 1st February 2023. The application process starts on the same day itself and continues till 21st February 2023. To read the complete details given in the notification, you can download pdf here. In case any correction or change needs to be made in the application form by the candidate, the application window for correction shall be available from 22 February to 28th February 2023. An approximate number of 1105 vacancies has been announced by UPSC in 2023. The elaborative notification also consists of other important details such as the number of vacancies, the eligibility criteria, the UPSC exam pattern, exam dates, registration start and has provided the link for the online application. UPSC has a well- structured timeline, and the notification has provided a good view of that. Aside from the timeline, the notification has also answered every possible question you might have. The Preliminary ...

IAS Interview Syllabus

  Consequently, after a candidate clears the UPSC Mains exam, they are called for the IAS interview. There is no IAS Interview syllabus per se, as the purpose of this interview is to assess the personality of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The interview will constitute of 275 marks. The IAS Interview syllabus is universal; thus, these are some points you should look at: What sources can you prepare from: Try preparing for questions that may revolve around your personal details like ethnicity, home-town, community, childhood, your educational institutions, etc. Prepare for questions that would circle around your interests and hobbies. Prepare for any questions related to your experiences mentioned on your CV and what challenges and learnings you have applied from them. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their special subjects of academic study but also in the events which are happeni...

What is the right time to start with UPSC Mock Test Series?

  Let me begin this answer by saying that the best time to start with your UPSC Mock test series is right at the beginning of your preparation itself. Even before you have started with your syllabus. Then of course, as the exams come nearer and nearer, you should solve more and more mocks with increasing seriousness, making sure to do so as if solving a real exam.   Solving a mock test before starting your preparation would tell you where you are weak and where you are strong. Then you start your preparation accordingly. And after a while, again take a mock to gauge you strengths and weaknesses, and then carry on with your prep again.    Repeat this process until you’ve no weaknesses left. After that, right before the exams, you can sit down to take even more mock tests, solving them whilst imitating actual exam conditions. Read more : IAS Mock Test 

UPSC Prelims Syllabus for Paper 1: General Studies (GS)

  This GS paper or paper 1 is designed to test your overall knowledge about your surroundings and the world, and also to test how observant you are as a person, by asking questions related to current affairs. The UPSC 2022 prelims syllabus for the GS paper consists of topics from a wide range of subjects making it extremely difficult to pinpoint the kind of questions that might be asked in the upcoming paper. Getting back, I have written down the list of major topics from the UPSC Prelims syllabus that you’d need to broadly cover for GS Paper (Paper 1) below: Current events of national and international importance History of India and Indian National Movement Indian & World Geography – Social, Physical, Economic Geography of the World and India. Governance and Polity in India –Rights Issues, Constitution, Public Policy, Political System, Panchayati Raj, etc. Social & Economic Development –Social Sector initiatives, Demographics, Sustainable Development, Inclusion, Poverty,...

UPSC Previous Year Papers

  The benefits of attempting UPSC previous year question papers are enormous. Let me quote a few of them:   Know the Exam Pattern  Gauge the Levels of Prelims & Mains  Identify Important Topics  Know Your Strengths & Weaknesses  Manage Time Better  Be More Instinctive in Exams  Read More: UPSC Previous Year Paper

UPSC Answer Key 2022

  UPSC Answer Key is a document that entails the right answers of the questions that features in the UPSC Prelims exam. UPSC releases the Prelims Answer Key every year at the end of the exam cycle, i.e., at the time of the declaration of the final result. That means the aspirants have to wait a long time to assess their answers. However, to curtail the waiting period, we are providing the UPSC CSE candidates the answer key of the latest edition of the exam, i.e., UPSC Prelims 2022. Explore the UPSC Answer Key 2021-22 below: UPSC Answer Key 2022- GS 1 UPSC Answer Key 2022- CSAT

How to Optimally Utilize Suggested UPSC Books

  It should be noted that the UPSC Syllabus is vast, and therefore, it takes a minimum duration of at least a year to read through comprehensively. Thus, make sure that you do not waste precious time reading from books that are not up to the mark or are below standard. By below standard, I mean books that might contain unauthenticated or incorrect information. Make sure to take notes while reading from the UPSC books that I have listed for you above. There are some excellent books for UPSC preparation like Laxmikanth, & the NCERTs. Books such as these are tailor-made for the UPSC exams. This is because a lot of questions related to the subject of polity are asked directly from this book. These are the kind of books that you should read as thoroughly as possible. In addition to the points that I have written above, there are a lot of books that consist of information in a “notes”- like format. So, in a way, books like these already do provide you with the notes that you need to...

UPSC Syllabus 2022

  Without beating much around the bush let me get straight to the point. The UPSC exam is a 3-phase affair: Phase 1 is the UPSC Preliminary Examination, also called UPSC Prelims. This exam contains questions of the objective type. Phase 2 is the UPSC Mains Examinat1ion, also called UPSC Mains. This exam contains descriptive-type questions. Phase 3 is the Personal Interview round conducted to test the Personality of the Candidate. With that being the case, I will now start off with the first part of the article which is the UPSC prelims syllabus. To give you a brief about the UPSC syllabus , let me tell you, the IAS syllabus comes along with the official notification of UPSC CSE. While there are three phases adjoined with recruitment, the syllabus is defined for only two stages, the Prelims, and the mains. The UPSC syllabus is one of the most sought-after documents. While, few describe it as an endless well, it is something that no aspirant can do away with. And getting hold of this...

UPSC Notification 2022

  On 2nd February 2022, UPSC released the official notification for UPSC CSE 2022. It is a comprehensive notification, which carries the total vacancies, registration start-end dates, exam dates, the eligibility criteria, the exam pattern, and of course the link for the online application. The registration process for 861 vacancies started on 2nd February 2022 and went on till 22nd February 2022. Following the closing of registration process, in due course the admit card for UPSC Prelims 2022 was released on 10th May 2022. The Preliminary was scheduled to take place on 5th June 2022, and was conducted successfully. Now the next stop is the mains exam. The mains examination is scheduled to commence from September 16, 2022. While the above information is final, UPSC made a slight change in another element of the examination. In a subsequent notification, UPSC intimated the augmentation in the total number of vacancies. A total of 150 vacancies are added to the IRMS head. The number o...

IAS Officer Salary 2022

  In this section of the article, I have mentioned the topic of IAS officer salary in India in detail and also the salary structure/pay scale of IAS officers according to the 7th Pay Commission recommendation. With that said let me get straight to the point. The basic IAS salary per month in India starts from Rs. 56,100 (excluding DA, TA, and HRA). This value can go up to Rs, 2,50,000 per month which is the salary of the post of Cabinet Secretary of India. Talking about the Gross monthly salary of an IAS officer, it differs from state to state, district to district. That is because the gross IAS salary per month means includes things like the House rent allowances, and since the house rent allowances are different for different states, we cannot mention a standard Gross monthly salary for each of the IAS posts. However, the gross monthly salary typically varies from Rs. 56,000 to Rs. 1,50,000 (approx.) depending on the different allowances. Don’t worry if you are not aware of the t...