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CIVIL SERVICES EXAMIANTION
The very fact that a big share of every year's top posts in the
civil services exams are bagged by
professionals from various streams, shows that the IAS is still
the dream job for many. There are
many candidates who opt for the bureaucracy because of its sheer
versatility, scope, depth and
variety. The eminence, prestige, vitality and authority of the
Indian bureaucracy have barely waned.
The Services
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) offers the widest range of
jobs in our country and is conducted by the Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC). Most popular among them are
Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service
(IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) ,
Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Indian Customs & Central
Excise Services, etc. along with the
other central services. Recruitment is made in the following
services through Civil Services
Exam
1. Indian Administrative Service ( IAS )
2. Indian Foreign Service( IFS )
3. Indian Police Service ( IPS )
GROUP–A SERVICES
4. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
5. Indian Audit & Accounts Service
6. Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
7. Indian Defence Accounts Service
8. Indian Revenue Service (I.T)
9. Indian Ordnance Factories Service Group –A (Asst. manager,
Non-technical)
10. Indian Postal Service
11. Indian Civil Accounts Service
12. Indian Railway Traffic Service
13. Indian Railway Account Service
14. Indian Railway Personnel Service
15. Posts of Assistant Security Officer, Group-A in Railway
Protection Force
16. Indian Defence Estates Service
17. Indian Information Service(Junior Grade)
18. Indian Trade Service
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19. Indian Corporate Law Service
GROUP – B SERVICES
20. Armed Forces, Headquarters Civil Service,(Section Officer’s
Grade)
21. Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Civil Service, Group
B
22. Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Police Service
23. Pondicherry Civil Service
24. Pondicherry Civil Service
Recruitment
The recruitment to these services is made through the UPSC on
the basis of the annual
civil service competitive exam. IAS, IPS is considered as All
India Services while others services
recruited through this civil services exam is known as Central
Services. The officers of the All
India Services are recruited and trained by the federal Union
Government (“the Centre”) and
serve in the various State Government(“the States”) as well as
Centre (which is why the IRS is a “central service” instead of an
All India Service as they work only in the Central Government).
Officers are organized into cadres, derived from the states they
are allotted to work in for as
long as they continue to be a member of the respective
Service.
Training All new entrants called probationers (IAS, IPS, IRS
etc.) first undergo a 4-month Foundation Course (common
to all officers recruited through CSE) at Lal Bhadur Shastri
National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. After
the completion of the foundation course, the probationers are
sent to their respective institutes for professional
training, while the IAS probationers continue to stay at the
Academy for their professional training. The
probationers of the Indian Foreign Service are trained at Delhi.
After completing the foundation the probationers of
the Police Service are trained at Sardar Vallavbhai Patel
National Police Academy, Hyderabad. The probationers of
the Indian Revenue Service are trained at National Academy of
Direct Taxes (NADT), Nagpur for the officers of
IRS (IT) and at National Academy of Customs, Excise and
Narcotics (NACEN), Faridabad for the officers of IRS
(C&CE).
OFFICIAL Notification
Procedure of Examination
The complete examination procedure is being conducted by the
Union Public Service
Commission. The examination consists of three tier: Preliminary,
Mains and Personality Test.
Preliminary exam is followed by the Main (Written) Examination
and a personal Interview. Final
ranking has been made on the basis of performance in the Mains
exam and personal Interview.
The candidates are then allotted to various services on the
basis of their ranks and the
preferences expressed by them.
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Academic Eligibility
• A degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of
the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational
institutions established by an Act of Parliament
or declared to be a Deemed University under the UGC Act, 1956,
or an equivalent
qualification.
• Candidates who have appeared or intend to appear for the
qualifying examination and are
awaiting results are also eligible to appear for the Preliminary
Examination. All such candidates who qualify to appear for the
Civil Services Main Examination must produce
proof of having passed the said examination along with their
application for the Main
Examination.
• The UPSC may in exceptional cases treat a candidate without
the requisite qualification
as an eligible candidate if he / she has passed an examination
conducted by other standard institutions that justifies his / her
admission in the opinion of the Commission.
• Candidates with professional and technical qualifications
recognized by the Government
as equivalent to professional and technical degrees.
• Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any
Medical Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also
appear for the Main Examination. However they
must submit along with their Main Examination application, a
certificate from the
concerned authority of the University / Institution that they
have passed the final
professional medical examination. At the Interview stage they
must then produce a
certificate from a competent authority that they have completed
(including internship) all
the requirements for the award of the Medical Degree
Other Eligibility Conditions
Nationality
• Only Indian nationals are eligible for IAS and IPS.
• For other services a candidate can be either of the
following:
(i) A citizen of India,
(ii) A subject of Nepal,
(iii) A subject of Bhutan,
(iv) A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1,
1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
(v) A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Burma,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania,
Vietnam, Zaire or Zambia
with the intention of permanently settling in India.
Candidates belonging to either categories of (ii)., (iii).,
(iv). or (v). must produce an eligibility
certificate issued by the Government of India. Those who belong
to either of (ii)., (iii). or (iv). categories are not eligible for
appointment to the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).
Age Limit
• A candidate must have attained 21 years and not be over 32
years on August 1 of the year of examination.
• The upper age limit is relaxed in specific cases as mentioned
below:
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a. up to a maximum of 5 years if the candidate belongs to
SC/ST.
b. up to a maximum of 3 years if the candidate belongs to Other
Backward Classes.
c. up to a maximum of 5 years if the candidate had been
domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during the period between January
1, 1980 and December 31, 1989.
d. up to a maximum of 3 years in the case of Defence Services
personnel disabled
during hostilities with foreign countries or in a disturbed area
and consequently
released.
e. up to a maximum of 5 years in the case of ex-servicemen
including Commissioned
Officers and ECOs / SSCOs who have rendered at least five years
Military Service as on August 1 of the year of examination and have
been released:
• on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment
is due to be
completed within one year from August 1 of the year of
examination) otherwise than
by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or
inefficiency, or
• on account of physical disability attributable to Military
Service, or • on invalidment.
f. up to a maximum of 5 years in the case of ECOs / SSCOs who
have completed an
initial period of assignment (5 years Military Service) as on
August 1 of the year of
examination and whose assignment has been extended beyond 5
years. Such
candidates will have to provide a certificate from the Ministry
of Defence stating that
they can apply for civil employment and they will be released on
a notice of 3 months, upon selection, from the date of receipt of
offer of appointment.
g. up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute
and orthopaedically
handicapped candidates.
The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in
the Matriculation or
Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate
recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation
or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by
a
University, which extract must be certified by the proper
authority of the University or in the
Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate. These
certificates are required to be
submitted only at the time of applying for the Civil Services
(Main) Examination. No other
document relating to age like horoscopes, affidavits, birth
extracts from Municipal Corporation,
service records and the like will be accepted. The expression
Matriculation/Secondary Examination Certificate in this part of the
instruction includes the alternative certificates
mentioned above.
Number of Attempts
Every candidate appearing at the examination who is otherwise
eligible, shall be permitted
six attempts at the examination. Provided that this restriction
on the number of attempts will
not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
candidates who are otherwise eligible. Provided further that the
number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to
Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible shall be
seven. The relaxation will be
available to the candidates who are eligible to avail of
reservation applicable to such
candidates. Provided further that a physically handicapped will
get as many attempts as are
available to other non-physically handicapped candidates of his
or her community, subject to
the condition that a physically handicapped candidate belonging
to the General Category shall
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be eligible for seven attempts. The relaxation will be available
to the physically handicapped
candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable
to such candidates.
Note:—
• An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be
an attempt at the Examination.
• If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the
Preliminary Examination, he/she
shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
• Notwithstanding the disqualification cancellation of
candidature, the fact of appearance of
the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.
Category Upper Age Limit No. of Attempts
Allowed
General 32 Years 06 Attempts
Other Backwards Castes
(OBC)
32 Years with relaxation of
03 years = 35 years 09 Attempts
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribe (SC/ST)
32 Years with relaxation of
05 Years = 37 years Till the Upper Age limit
Physically disabled
candidates (Blind, Deaf-
Mute, Orthopedic)
32 years with relaxation of
10 years = 42 years
For the General and
OBC Candidates= 09
attempts
For SC/ST Candidates =
Unlimited till age limit
Jammu & Kashmir Domicile
General = 37 years, OBC =
40 Years, SC/ST = 42 Years,
PH = 50 years
Up to the Upper Age
limit
Disabled servicemen disabled
from duty
General= 37 years OBC = 38
Years SC/ST = 40 Years
Up to the Upper Age
limit
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Restrictions on Applying for the Examination
A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative
Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier
examination and continues to be a member of that service
will not be eligible to compete at this examination.
ONLINE
Candidates may apply online using the website
http://www.upsconline.nic.in
• Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are
available on the above
mentioned website.
• Candidates will be required to complete the Online Application
Form containing two
stages viz. Part-I and Part-II as per the instructions available
in the above mentioned site through drop down menus.
• The candidates applying Online are required to pay a reduced
fee of Rs. 50/- (Rupees
Fifty only) (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH candidates who are
exempted from payment of
fee) either by remitting the money in any branch of SBI by cash,
or by using net banking
facility of SBI or by using any Visa/ Master Credit/Debit
Card.
• Before starting filling up of online application, a candidate
must have his photograph and
signature duly scanned in the .png or .jpg format in such a
manner that each file size
should not exceed 40KB each.
Scheme of Civil Services Examination
Preliminary Examination
(A) Preliminary Examination | Multiple Choice Questions
The preliminary exam is the first stage of the whole examination
process. The very nature
of the exam is to screen to select to the next level of exam
that is mains. It is seen over the
approximately five lakh candidates appear for the Prelims but
only less than fifteen thousand made it to the Mains. The
introduction of the Preliminary Examination was introduced to
weed
out non-serious candidates and select those who are
deserving.
Preliminary Examination is an objective type (four alternatives
for every question) exercise
meant to serve as a screening test/qualifying paper only. The
exam consists of two objective
type papers. Which carry a maximum of 400 marks.
In the changed pattern, CSAT 2011 or Civil Services Preliminary
Exam 2011 onward it
carries 400 marks and 180 questions have been asked. Out of
this:
• Paper 1. 100 questions based on General Knowledge were asked,
each carrying two
marks and,
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• Paper 2. 80 questions based on Aptitude Test were asked.
Except for Question Nos. 73 to 80 in the General Studies Paper
II, all the questions both
papers had negative marking. For each wrong answer, 1/3 mark
were deducted from the total scores of the candidate. Trend
nowadays has shifted more towards current issues, hence a
thorough awareness of recent events/happenings is mandatory.
• The paper-II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam will
be qualifying in nature
from 2015.
• The General studies-II (CSAT) is the civil services
(Preliminary) Examination will remain a qualifying paper with a
minimum qualifying mark fixed at 33%.
Before 2011
Papers No. of Questions Marks Duration
I. General Studies 150 150 2 Hours
II. Optional Subjects 120 300 2 Hours
Total 270 450
After 2011
Papers No. of Marks Duration
Questions
I. Paper 1 100 200 2 Hours
II. Paper 2 80 200 2 Hours
Total 180 400
Those who passed the Preliminary examination are only eligible
for the next stage of the
examination. The Preliminary exam consists of 400 marks but the
marks obtained in this level
examination by the candidates will not be counted for
determining their place in the final order
of merit.
Negative Marking for Wrong Answers
Negative marking in the Prelims examination was introduced in
2007 with the idea to
select eligible candidate for the further stages. Also to filter
out candidates who get selected on
the basis of smart guesses and luck. Negative marking make paper
more complex but its good
and suits for the genuine and meritorious candidates. In the
Negative marking there is Penalty
for wrong answers marked by the candidate in the Objective type
Question Papers. Except some of the questions where the Negative
Marking will be built in the form of different marks
being awarded to most appropriate and not so appropriate answer
for such questions.
• There are four alternatives for the answers to every question.
For each question for which
a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one third (0.33)
of the marks assigned
to that question will be deducted as penalty.
• If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated
as a wrong answer even if
one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be
same penalty as above
for that question.
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• If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the
candidate, there will be no penalty
for that question.
Road Map for Civil Services preliminary Examination
Paper I : General Studies
The preparation strategy for Paper I involves various things
among good knowledge base, extensive reading, thorough practice,
regular test are important one.
Syllabus of Paper I
Marks : 200 Duration : Two hours
1. Current events of national and international importance.
2. History of India and Indian National Movement.
3. Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic
Geography of India and the World.
4. Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political
System, Panchayati Raj,
Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5. Economic and Social Development - Sustainable Development,
Poverty, Inclusion,
Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. 6. General issues
on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change
7. General Science.
Sticking to the syllabus is good, but certain new trends have
been emerging in the
examination. So we should go beyond the given syllabus. It is
challenging but not impossible. It
always helps to understand the trend in this changing scenario.
Go through previous years’ questions again-and-again and identify
the areas from where most of the questions are being
asked. It is wise to stress on those subjects, which are common
for Main Examination. The
areas to be taken care are Modern India, Polity, Indian Economy,
Geography, Current Events
and General Science. We can bifurcate whole General Studies into
:
• Conventional topics.
• Current affairs based.
Conventional Topics
It is composed of:
1. Indian History : History is a vital component for the Civil
services exam.
The NCERT books (Class XI and XII) are good enough for the
purpose.
You can refer following books
• Ancient India , NCERT Class XI
• Medieval India , NCERT Class XI
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• Modern India , NCERT Class XII
• NBT (National Book Trust) it cover certain parts on India’s
Struggle for Independence.
• India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
2. Geography
For Indian Geography
• Physical Geography of India, NCERT Class XI
• Land and People, NCERT Class XI
For World Geography
• General Studies Manual by TMH or Spectrum Publications.
• Physical and Human Geography by G. C. Leong
• Atlas (Oxford and Orient Longmon)
Geography must be studied with the help of ATLAS, it will help
you to understand the
Geography better. While reading newspaper always keep a Atlas
with you as more and more
questions are getting location oriented e.g. instead of asking
the venue of APEC meet they
might ask you to locate the place on world map.
3. Indian Polity and Constitution
The Indian Polity by Lakshmikanth and NCERT books are
sufficient.
Also refer, DD Basu. Read it also cover to cover.
4. Indian Economy
Candidates are required to know about some basic terminology of
economics like repo rate,
reverse repo, CRR, SLR etc. Indain Economy by Dutt &
Sundaram is good book for the Indian
Economy it can be read. The book by Uma kapilais also a good
one. Economic Survey and
Budget should be followed with comprehensively.
5. Government Policies and Programmes
Make notes on the policies that you come across in the
newspapers. But this will not be
exhaustive. Use India yearbook published by the Publications
division for an exhaustive
approach.
6. Science and Technology Over the year this section has emerged
as an important element of the General Studies Paper. It has as
many as
7-8 questions in all. The very aim of the question paper is to
test the candidates awareness of the development in this
field though questions were on the traditional areas science as
well. If you look into the trend of previous year’s
questions you will find that candidate should give special
emphasis on of biotechnology, space technology,
information technology and electronics.
General Science basically include-Physics, Chemistry, and
Biology. Among these Biology contains more
weightage. The syllabus broadly covers Human Anatomy and
Physiography. In Physics and Chemistry, basic
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concepts related to combustion, optics, energy, nuclear physics,
basic chemicals etc. are asked. In Physics,
almost all the questions might be application oriented. Thus,
understanding of basic principles
is very important. Ares like Newton’s laws, heat, sound, optics
etc. are important. In Chemistry, important minerals and their
ores, etc. are important from prelims point of view.
Maximum questions will be pertaining to chemicals which are of
economic significance. Thus
characteristic of different compound like plaster of paris,
bleaching powder, etc are also
important. Biology, in general, has important section in
science.
Science and Technology are another major area. This generally
include the application
parts of the science as space technologies, IT, electronics,
biotechnology, nuclear science,
defence etc. recent trends showed that this part is growing
significance.
7. General Knowledge and Current Affairs
General Knowledge
India Year Book is important for the prelims and for mains as
well. Manorama Year book
and other such year book is also helpful.
Current Affairs
Current affairs of one calendar year is sufficient. I recommend
The Hindu and Frontilne. The Hindu has less unwanted news and has a
balanced perspective on issues and is pro people. You shouldn’t be
an ultra leftist or a right-wing hawk. Newspaper is best to prepare
for Current Affairs and General knowledge. One has to follow at
least one newspaper to keep abreast of National and International
developments. It will keep your
current affairs up-to-date.
Newspaper could become guide and to broaden your General
Knowledge. Every day we find
lots of new things in the newspaper just whenever you come
across something these new in the
newspaper google it up and make a note on it. Newspaper reading
should be done on a daily basis without any gap until the interview
is over.
Suggested Reading
• The Hindu News paper
• Frontline Magazine
• Yojana Magazine
PAPER II : APTITUDE TEST
CSAT has came into effect from Civil Services Exam, 2011. The
General Studies - II (CSAT) in the civil
(Preliminiary) Examination will remain a qualifying paper with
minimum qualifying mark fixed at 33%.
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Syllebus of PAPER II
1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision-making and problem solving
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of
magnitude, etc.) (Class X level),
7. Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency
etc. - Class X level)
8. English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
Total Marks 200
Note
• A Hindi equivalent / translation will be available for the
initial six tested areas, while the
seventh area , English Language Comprehension skills, will be
available exclusively in
English language, indicating a need of understanding of English
language in prospective
IAS officers as English is the Lingua Franca of our country.
• The duration of the paper will be of two hours.
• The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Road Map for Paper–II Paper second contained only 80 questions
but indeed it was a lengthy paper as it was fully loaded with
comprehension passages. Comprehensions (bilingual) had 9
questions and English comprehension had 6 questions
which almost one-third the paper. Comprehension, quantitative
aptitude and reasoning were the dominant section of
the question paper.
1. Comprehension
It is bilingual, Hindi and English both, daily newspaper reading
could keep you in safe. The
paper also gave importance to testing English language skills. A
comprehension exercise
consists of a passage upon which questions are set to test to
candidate’s ability to understand
the content of the given text and infer information and meaning
from it.
Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of
Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be
tested through passages from English language only without
providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
For doing best in comprehension one should keep few points in
mind while attempting
this. Firstly, read the passage thoroughly and carefully, if the
meaning of the passage is not
clear in very first reading then quickly go through the passage
again. English Language
Comprehension is a major concern for hindi medium candidates
they should take it seriously, a basic english grammar such as High
School English Grammar & Composition by Wren and
Martin could be useful. This section tests a candidate’s
understanding of the language that a
candidate uses.
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2. Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills is people skills the ability to work with
and get on with other people. Questions reflecting the ability to
understand and manage the dynamics of social interaction
can be tested such as Fill in the Blanks, Analogy, Synonyms,
Antonyms, Jumbled Paragraphs,
Single word substitutions, Meaning Equivalence of sentences,
etc.
3. Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability
Verbal and nonverbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal and General Mental
Ability Section of
Tata McGraw Hill Guide have good parts in this section. Solve
the Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning questions that come out in
monthly magazines.
4. Decision Making and Problem Solving
This section measures a candidate’s ability to take a decision
based on given conditions
and information. The questions asked in this section had no
penalty for wrong answer. All
questions are purely application based.
There are books available in the market but as far as I am
concern this books won’t help in your preparation, this section
have to develop by yourself. Search Techniques of Decision
making and Techniques of Problem Solving in Google.
5. General Mental Ability
Questions can be based on Coding, Ages, Relations, Venn
diagrams, sets, dices, direction
sense, abstract figure, etc. General Mental Ability can test for
Verbal and Non-Verbal
Reasoning skills. Your aim should be to solve maximum questions
with high accuracy. Then try to focus more and more on practicing
the paper rather than merely studying.
6. Basic Numeracy
This section is to check numerical proficiency of a candidate
involves solving simple
numerical problems. Number System, Average, Percentage, Ratio
and Proportion, Profit and
Loss, Time and Work, Time and Distance are the important
topics.
7. Data Interpretation
Data interpretation has charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency
etc. Don’t just solve
questions, solve them quickly, and keep track of them time you
take to solve a question. For this section you must go thoroughly,
Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal and Quicker Maths
(Magical Book Series) by M. Tyra.
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Strategy FOR Civil Services Exam
Before going into the preparation of the Civil Services Exam
assess your potential,
interests, circumstances, time resources & financial
sustainability so that you can reach a
firm, determined & practicable decision. It doesn’t matter
here at all you need not to have a
splendid academic background besides you only need clear
determination and firm belief that
you can go through all the way.
Selection of Optional Subjects
Under the scheme of examination aspirants need to select one
optional subject in the
Mains Written examination. If you are not comfortable with the
subject, you should not select
the subject as an optional. In my opinion optional subject
should be chosen on the basis of
own interest in that subject and performance of subject in
previous few years as scoring
pattern, candidate got qualified from that optional etc.
Availability of study material in that optional will also taken
into account. Any optional subject may be evaluated on the basis of
a
number of parameters. These parameters are: some optional are
considered scoring while
others are preferred for their relevancy, relevant in either the
General Studies paper or in the
essay. Some candidates are chosen optional for their
comparatively short, clearly defined
syllabus. Availability and access of good and study material is
yet another consideration.
However, it is believes that the primary criteria should not be
the nature of the subject or whether it is comprehended as scoring
or not. Student interest in the subject should be given
predominant importance. It should be correctly understood that
any optional can be scoring if
the student approaches it strategically and systematically.
Selection of Medium of Exam You should chose your medium that
suits you best and you can express your views better than other
medium.
Availability of standard books & study material in that
medium should also be taken into account before choosing
the medium. Aspirants should keep in mind that medium plays key
role in the final selection, and with the new
syllabus it proved.
Importance of General Studies
General Studies is one of the subjects which have major
contribution in the whole
examination, in the Prelims there is one whole Paper of General
Studies and in the Mains it
has its contribution. In the Essay & Interview stage this
helps a lot. So General Studies should be prepared in well.
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The Mantra to Crack Civil Services Exam
Hard Work
Hard work has no any substitute. Civil service competition is
the best example of hard
work. If you work hard you will get through if not you won’t
make it the first huddle i.e. Prelims
exam. The examination that you are preparing for is like a
marathon race.
Hard work can be termed as one of the pre-requisite for every
sphere in life and in the Civil
services exam it is indispensable.
Dedication
Remember dedication towards our own duty always pays in life.
During you course of your
preparation you have to sacrifice many of your favorites like
movies, parties, and
entertainments etc. Without dedication it is impossible to
achieve what you want to be.
Patience
The whole process of exam requires patience. During your
preparation at many times you may feel tired and jaded but it is
the time when you have to keep you going. The Civil service
exam in one way is the psychometric test for the aspirants it is
test for their patience also. In
all to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is
patience.
Self-Confidence One should always keep one’s self confidence at
the high level, yes everyone agrees that one can never be
always self motivated and could lose temper, at this time you
need to keep motivated it dosen’t matter by which
means.
Faith in Luck
Most of the aspirants who have cleared the Civil Services
examination add faith in God as
a major key to their success. Still, we should remember that
there is no substitute to hard
work. Faith in God will keep you going.
Time Management
Time management is important not just in writing the exam, but
also while preparing for it. It is advisable to break up long study
sessions into a few compact ones with more breaks to
refresh oneself. For example, two four-hour sessions prove to be
more beneficial than one long
eight-hour stretch. Some students prefer to study in short
bursts of two hours, with 15-minute
breaks in between.
Ultimately it is up to the individual to find his or her own
unique time management
strategy. It is also possible to use “free time” effectively.
Thus, time spent commuting, or relaxing can also be used to refresh
concepts or read different, if not completely unrelated,
books. However, it is important to “switch-off” for at least
some time in a day.
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Writing Skills
Writing skills are perhaps the most essential requirement in the
main examination sections of the UPSC exam. As the exam is also a
test of an individual’s analytical and
interpretative ability, clear, coherent and well-written answers
in simple, effective English (or
Hindi) are essential.
Examination Tactics
Tactics take different shapes and forms in different situation.
The very nature of Civil
services exam the tactics must be applied at every level of
preparation and it should be focus on greater and intensive
coverage. Civil Services examination syllabus has a vast area
of
syllabus one is expected to know various disciplines at the same
time like history, polity,
geography, economy, science apart from other curriculum.
However, one need not to be master
on each disciplines only basics of each of the disciplines is
needed. Hence, here the full
examination tactics will help you out.
Use of Internet
Most of the aspirants has their own means of Information tools,
those who don’t have can
access through it from Internet Café. It is an ever-bulging
ocean of information. All the
important information is available on the Internet.
Addresses of Some Useful Websites:
1. http://www.pib.nic.in - For government current press
notes
2. http://www.upsc.gov.in - For all official information
regarding the exam at any stage.
3. http://www.persmin.nic.in - Useful after selection
4. http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm - To
download all NCERT
5. www.goidirectory.nic.in - It connects to official websites of
all Ministries and departments.
6. www.meaindia.nic.in - External Affairs Ministry website
useful for India-World relations
7. www.indiacode.nic.in - Constitution of India, Central Acts,
Supreme Court, etc.
8. www.indiabudget.nic.in - For latest budget and Economic
Survey
9. http://publicationsdivision.nic.in - For latest India Year
Book
Strategy for Freshers
For the freshers, firstly try to understand the whole exam and
the very nature of the exam,
keep yourself ready with the preparation, believe strongly in
yourself that you will clear the
exam in the first attempt itself and never will compromise at
any stage and if required at any
time will work harder than ever before, the preparation should
be started at least one year
ahead of your first attempt, do not take your attempt unless you
are confident of qualifying for
the it all the way. Make your first attempt as your best
one.
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Role of Coaching Institute
Although Coaching institutes are expensive and self-study is
pivotal, Coaching has many advantages, it helps to understand the
nature of exam quickly, sometimes reduces the efforts
and focused more in the subject, provides environment for the
competition, regular classes
gives the insight about the competition, many postal courses
help in the preparation etc.