A. Preliminary Examination

This is the first stage of the exam and should never be taken lightly. Candidate should clear it to keep himself in the race. But it’s never been easy; it is a hard nut to crack. The preparation should be such that you should not have any doubt about clearing the exam. The prelims should only be a passing phase. If you prepare well for the mains exam and be clear about the basics, then prelims should not be problem. Now, we have a brand new syllabus for PRELIMS with two papers, the nature of syllabus requires a candidate more to concentrate on the General Studies section. Though we have Paper 2 which is more or less an extension of Paper 1. The new Recruitment Process of Civil Services Exam conducted by the UPSC is called the CSAT or the Civil Services Aptitute Test. The CSAT has in effect from the Civil Services Examination, 2011. CSAT will not only enable us to choose civil servants with right aptitudes but also end the use of scaling system for varying subjects that has been a matter of concern for many. Earlier it used to be one paper of General Studies and other is one of the 23 optional subjects offered by the UPSC now the paper 2 has changed to a new Paper called CSAT. There are no optional subjects as both the subject is common to all candidates. In one way we can say that preliminary exam is a test of recognition. You have to recognize the correct answer from given options. So if you are strong in basics this should not be problem. Do not spend too much time in memorizing facts. It’s fine if you can recognize it. Prepare some mnemonics, which will help you in recognizing the right answer. One should do as many previous year papers as possible. It will help you in time management and also in identifying the weak areas. Please remember that this practice should be right from the beginning and not in the final stages. As the new pattern suggests that aspirants should focus more on the language skills along with other disciplines.

NEGATIVE MARKING/PENALTY 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. The underlined sentence must be read carefully as in the PRELIMS 2011 Paper 2 there were questions which didn’t had any penalty. It was free from negative marking. Candidate should keep in mind.

• 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.

• If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.

Online Coaching for UPSC, IAS (Pre.) General Studies Paper-1 Exam

Printed Study Material for IAS Pre General Studies (Paper-1)

Interview Test

Personality Test or Interview Test is the last level of the Civil Services selection process. It carries 275 marks, though it doesn’t carry much marks but it plays decisive role for the final ranking. One can get more marks than the other candidates, here it makes difference. Aspirants cannot afford it lightly. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview test is sometimes called and also known as the personality test because of its nature of the Exam.

(Answer Key) UPSC Combined Medical Services Examination, 2016

Exam Name: Combined Medical Services Examination

Year: 2016

(Final Result) UPSC Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandants) Examination, 2016

Based  on  the  results of the Central  Armed  Police  Forces  (Assistant Commandants) Examination, 2016 held  by UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION on 26th June, 2016  and the interviews for   Personality  Test  held  from 9th January to 2nd February 2017, the following is the list,   in  order  of  merit, of candidates who have been recommended for appointment to   the posts of Assistant Commandants (Group A) in the Central Armed Police Forces viz. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),  Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

A total number of 189 candidates have been recommended for appointment as per the following break-up:-

(Notification) UPSC Combined Geo-scientist and Geologist Examination, 2017

No.4/2/2016 E.(lB) : A competitive examination for recruitment to the posts mentioned in para 2 below will be held by the Union Public Service Commission commencing from the 12t h May,2017 in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Mines in the Gazette of India dated the 8th February 2017 at the following centres.

Post Details:

Category I : (Posts in the Geological Survey of India, Ministry of Mines).

(i) Geologist, Group A : 40
(ii) Geophysicist, Group A : 40
(iii) Chemist. Group A : 25

Category II : (Posts in the Central Ground Water Board , Ministry of Water Resources)

(i) Junior Hydrogeologists (Scientist B), Group A : 33

Minimum Educational Qualification

(a) Master's degree in Geological Science or Geology or Applied Geology or Geo-Exploration or Mineral Exploration or Engineering Geology or Marine Geology or Earth Science and Resource Management or Oceanography and Coastal Areas Studies or Petroleum Geosciences or Petroleum Exploration or Geochemistry or Geological Technology or Geophysical Technology from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or an educational institution established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed university under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956)

( b ) For Geophysicists Gr ' A ' i n Geological Survey of India M.Sc. in Physics or Applied Physics or M.Sc. (Geophysics) or Integrated M.Sc. (Exploration Geophysics) or M.Sc (Applied Geophysics) or M.Sc. (Marine Geophysics) Or M.Sc. (Tech.) (Applied Geophysics) from a University incorporated by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature in India or other educational institutes established by an Act of the Parliament or declared to be deemed universities under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.

( c ) F or Chemists Gr 'A' in Geol ogical Survey of India M. Sc. in Chemistry or Applied Chemistry or Analytical Chemistry from a University incorporated by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature or other educational Institutes established by an Act of the Parliament or declared to be deemed Universities under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 i.e. recognized University.

PHYSICAL STANDARDS:

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to the Examination, 2017 as per Regulations given in Appendix-II of the rules for the Combined Geoscientist and Geologist Examination, 2017 in Gazette of India dated 8th February, 2017.

(Apply Online) UPSC Combined Geo-scientist and Geologist Examination, 2017

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING ONLINE APPLICATION FOR COMBINED GEO-SCIENTIST AND GEOLOGIST EXAMINATION

1. Log on to https://www.upsconline.nic.in/ to access the home page of the "ONLINE APPLICATION".

2. Click on "Online application for various examinations of UPSC"

3. Before filling up the form candidates are advised to carefully go through the Notification No.05/2017-GEOL uploaded on the Commission's website www.upsc.gov.in on 08.02.2017. The full Notification is also available in the "Examination Notice" submenu of the "Guidelines to the Candidates" menu.

4. Place the mouse over the 'Examination' menu. The link would display a set of two options namely "PART-I Registration" and "PART-II Registration".

5. Clicking on "PART-I Registration" link would take you to the list of all the active examinations, where you can select to apply for any of the listed examination by clicking on the link "Click Here" against each exam.

6. Clicking on "PART-II Registration" would take you to the second part of the online application, which we will discuss and follow later in these instructions.

(Notification) UPSC Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2017

No.12/5/2016-E.I(B) : A combined competitive examination for recruitment to Junior Time Scale of the Services mentioned in Para 2 below will be held by the Union Public Service Commission commencing from 12th May, 2017 in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in the Gazette of India dated the 8 th February, 2017.

Post Details:

The Services to which recruitment is to be made on the results of this examination and the approximate number of vacancies in Junior Time Scale of the Services are given below :-

(i) Indian Economic Service - 15
(ii) Indian Statistical Service - 29

NOTE : 1 vacancy has been kept reserved for PH category candidates (Visually Handicapped) for Indian Statistical Service by the Government through IES/ISS Exam, 2017 and no vacancy has been kept reserved for the PH Category for the Indian Economic Service.

Minimum Educational Qualifications :

(a) A candidate for the Indian Economic Service must have obtained a Post-Graduate Degree in Economics/Applied Economics/Business Economics/Economtrics from a University incorporated by of an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutes established by an Act Parliament or declared to be deemed as University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or a Foreign University approved by the Central Government from time to time.

(b) A candidate for the Indian Statistical Service must have obtained a Bachelor's Degree with Statistics/Mathematical Statistics/Applied Statistics as one of the subject or a Master's degree in Statistics/Mathematical Statistics/Applied Statistics from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutes established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or a Foreign University approved by the Central Government from time to time.

(Apply Online) UPSC Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2017

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CANDIDATES FOR FILLING ONLINE APPLICATIONS

Candidates are required to apply Online using the website www.upsconline.nic.in

Salient features of the system of Online Application Form are given hereunder :

• 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 website through drop down menus.
• The candidates are required to pay a fee of Rs.200/- (Rupees Two Hundred only) [excepting SC/ST/Female/Physically Handicapped candidates who are exempted from payment of fee] either by depositing the money in any branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India/State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/State Bank of Hyderabad/State Bank of Mysore/State Bank of Patiala/State Bank of Travancore or by using any Visa/Master Credit/Debit Card.
• Before start filling up of Online Application, a candidate must have his/her photograph and signature duly scanned in the .jpg format in such a manner that each file should not exceed 40 KB and must not less that 3 KB in size for the photograph and 1 KB for the signature.
• The Online applications (Part I and II) can be filled from 8th February, 2017 to 03rd March, 2017 till 18.00 Hours.
• Applicants should avoid submitting multiple applications. However, if due to any unavoidable circumstances, any applicant submits multiple applications then he/ she must ensure that the applications with higher RID is complete in all respects.
• In case of multiple applications, the applications with higher RID shall be entertained by the Commission and fee paid against one RID shall not be adjusted against any other RID.
• The applicants must ensure that while filling their Application Form, they are providing their valid and active E-Mail IDs as the Commission may use electronic mode of communication while contacting them at different stages of examination process.
• The applicants are advised to check their emails at regular intervals and ensure that the e-mail address ending with @nic.in are directed to their inbox folder and not to the SPAM folder or any other folder.

Sample Material of Our Online Coaching Programme

Subject: Polity

Topic: Citizenship In India

There are two classes of people in any country- citizens and aliens. Citizens enjoy all rights and entitlements while aliens (owing political allegiance to another country or government) are denied some of them. For example, citizens can vote and contest to hold representative offices like a member of parliament while aliens can not. Aliens are of two types: citizens of friendly countries are friendly aliens while those of enemy countries are enemy aliens- the latter being denied some of the rights that the former may enjoy.

Aliens may find asylum in a country to which they have fled for political reasons. Asylum is the legal protection granted to people in any country who are afraid to return to their home country Expelling an alien is called deportation.

Domicile means to stay in a country with the intention of making it his or her permanent home. Proof of such an intention is employment or property etc.

Resident is one who resided in the country for certain number of days- 182 days in the previous fiscal year as the Indian law defines... If not, he or she is considered a non-resident. A non-resident Indian is a citizen of India but has not resided in India for the required number of days. A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) on the other hand is one who acquired citizenship of another country. He is no more a citizen of India unlike an NRI.

Sample Material of Our Online Coaching Programme

Subject: Polity

Topic: Union and its Territory

Art. 1 says that India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States.

There is an opinion that the term’ Union of States’ implies that India is a unitary system of government and is federal only in a secondary sense. However, the following explanation dispels such an interpretation.
In the Constituent Assembly, the Drafting Committee decided in favour of describing India as a Union, although its Constitution is federal in structure.

Ans. Moving the Draft Constitution for the consideration of the Constituent Assembly in 1948, Dr. Ambedkar explained the significance of the use of the expression “Union” instead of the expression “Federation”. Two reasons are given

(A) Preliminary Examination | Objective Type/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 that approximately four lakh candidates appear for the Prelims but only less than approax fourteen 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 is usually held in the month of May every year and it consists of two objective type papers which carry a maximum of 400 marks These included:

• Paper 1. 100 questions based on General Knowledge were asked, each carrying two marks and,
• 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.

Other Eligibility Conditions

Nationality

• Only Indian nationals are eligible for IAS and IPS.
• For other services a candidate can be either of the following:

a. a citizen of India,
b. a subject of Nepal,
c. a subject of Bhutan,
d. a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
e. 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 b., c., d. or e. must produce an eligibility certificate issued by the Government of India. Those who belong to either of b., c. or d. categories are not eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

Online Coaching for UPSC, IAS (Pre.) General Studies Paper-1 Exam

Printed Study Material for IAS Pre General Studies (Paper-1)

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 recognised 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 produce a certificate from a competent authority that they have completed (including internship) all the requirements for the award of the Medical Degree.

(Paper) UPSC IAS Mains General Studies Paper - IV Categorized Exam Paper - 2016

Q.1)

a) Explain how ethics contributes to social and human well-being. (150 words) 10 (Ethics and Human Interface)

b) Why should impartiality and non-pertisanship be considered as foundational values in public services, especially in the present day socio-political context? Illustrate your answer with examples. (150 words) 10 (Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service)

Q.2)

a) What do you understand by the terms ‘governance’, ‘good governance’ and ‘ethical governance’? (150 words) 10 (Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration)

b) Discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of seven sins. (150 words) (Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world)

Q.3)

a) Analyse John rawls’s concept of social justice in the Indian Context. (150 word) 10 (Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world)

b) Discuss the Public Services Code as recommended by the 2ndAdministrative Refroms Commission. (150 words) 10 (Codes of Ethics)

Online IAS Coaching for General Studies Mains

IAS Mains General Studies Study Kit