Important Information About UPSC IAS 2015

Notified in Employment News probably in Nov. last week / Dec.
1st week – syllabus for prelims & main exams will be notified in this edition.

Applications will be available in HPOs in districts and other designated post offices

Applications should be sent to the UPSC within one month i.e. before Dec last week or Jan 1st week.

No original or Xerox certificates are necessary for applying for Preliminary exams

Number of attempts:

a.     General - 4 attempts / not above 30 years.

b.     OBC - 7 attempts / not above 33 years.

c.     SC/ST - Not above 35 years.

The Preliminary Examination is one of the toughest exams in India and you should not take it lightly even though it is meant to serve as a screening test. This examination is conducted according to the following pattern:

PAPER	SUBJECT	DURATION	MARKS	QUESTION TYPE
I	General Studies	2 hrs	150	Objective Type
II	Optional Subject	2 hrs	300	Objective Type

General Studies:
General Science
Current Events of national and international importance
History of India and Indian National Movement
India and World Geography
Indian Polity and Economy
General Mental Ability (Reasoning & Analytical ability)

Optional Subjects:
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
*Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
*Commerce & Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
*Geography
Geology
*Indian History
*Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
*Political Science
Psychology
*Public Administration
*Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Basic readings for Preliminary

1.     News paper “The Hindu”

2.     Magazines – Civil services chronicle, Competition Wizard; Yojana; Kurushetra; Frontline

3.     Text Books – NCERT text books on science & Tech, Indian History,
Indian Geography, Indian Polity, Indian Economy from standard VI – XII

4.     General Mental Ability – Quantitative Aptitude by R.S.Agarwal

5.     General studies manual – Tata McGraw Hill Pub / Spectrum Pub

6.     Indian polity – P.Lakshmi Kanth

7.     Modern Indian History – "India’s struggle for Independence" – Bipin Chandra

8.     Indian Economy – Pradhyogita Darpan

9.     Manorama Year book of publication division

10.   Indian Year book of publication division

11.   Atlas – Orient Longman

12.   Previous year’s solved questions.

Strategy -CCRR

1.     Collection of Study Materials

2.     Consolidation of topics in study materials that are civil services exam oriented

3.     Reading (Comprehensive Reading)

4.     Revision (Periodical)

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis will be extremely helpful in choosing an optional
Based on your area of interest, availability of study materials & coaching facilities available for an optional – You can choose your own.
1. Strengths
2. Weakness
3. Opportunities
4. Threats

How to tackle Negative Marking

1.     There will be penalty for wring answers marked by a candidate in the objective type question paper

2.     There are four alternatives for the answers for every question

3.     For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate 1/3 of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty

4.     If a question is left blank there will be no penalty for that question

5.     For example in an optional subject for prelims there are 120 MCQs

If you answer 101 questions and 80 questions correct, but 21 questions are wrong, therefore there will be (80-7) x 2 ½