Some of my friends were quite eager to know what kind of questions one gets in the Civil Services-Main Exam (a.k.a. IAS exam) conducted by the UPSC. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Five papers. While the last two papers - English and any Indian language - were only qualifying in nature, the first three papers would matter a lot in deciding whether one got a chance to sit for the personality test in April 2009. Two papers of General studies (GS) and one Essay paper. As it gets boring to type as well to read the entire paper, I have given samples from the GS papers.
* "The emergence of new social classes in British India was the direct consequence of the establishment of new social economy, new state system, administrative machinery and Western education." Discuss. (150 words/15 marks)
* Golkonda Fort (20/2)
* Bring out the pros and cons of Special Economic Zones (150/15)
* Nor' westers (20/2)
* Discuss the major extra-constitutional factors influencing the federal polity in the country. (250/30)
* Discuss the composition and functions of the Union Public Service Commission. (150/15)
* Discuss the problems in achieving National Integration in India. (150/15)
* The conditions of urban poor are more deplorable than that of their rural counterparts." Give your views. (250/30)
* Lakshmi Mittal (20/2)
The above are from the GS - I paper. The GS papers are for 300 marks each, and one gets three hours for each paper. There is a two-hour break before one takes the GS - II paper.
* India and the New World Order (150 words/30 marks)
* India-Nigeria: Abuja Declaration (20/2)
* Indian diaspora and Bollywood (20/2)
* Access the performance of India in attracting Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). (250/30)
* NAMA (20/2)
* Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (150/15)
* INTERPOL (20/2)
* In what way "Medical Biotechnology" and "Bioengineering" are useful for technological development of India? (250/30)
* Spintronics (20/2)
* Sappan (20/2)
* Components of Robots (20/2)
* A question on representation of data by a suitable diagram.(like histogram, pie chart etc) (6 marks)
* The mean monthly income of a person is Rs.18190 and his mean monthly expenditure comes out to be Rs.17930. What is his average monthly saving? (2)
Essay paper. One gets to choose a topic from a basket of six topics. The essay paper is also for three hours. It carries 200 marks. No specific word limit.
* Is an egalitarian society possible by educating the masses?
* Discipline means success, anarchy means ruins.
* Urbanisation and its hazards.
Four more papers are remaining. Two each for the two optional subjects that one gets to choose from a range that stretches from Russian literature to Zoology.
Well, let me be frank and tell you what I felt during the Exam. I sincerely hope that the UPSC reduces the age limit for the candidates (without affecting the number of attmepts one gets. this can be done by shortening the cycle time of the Exam) I thought I was very old to sit and take this Exam, which anyone above 21 years can take. But at the Exam centre I felt I'm quite young! I genuinely feel hundreds of candidates are wasting the wonderful phase of their lives by mechanically appearing in the Exam, year after year, for many years. Some of my friends have spent more than five years in this Exam, without any result. It saddens me.
While I agree that dreams need perseverance, what hurts me is the fact that many candidates do not have a Plan B. So suddenly one fine morning, after exhausting all the attempts over the years, one realises one does not have a place to go. One is not equipped to find a decent job; an alternative career. My sincere wish is that the Civil Service aspirants while chasing their dreams, should also work on their fallback options - without mindlessly escalating their commitment year after year.
* "The emergence of new social classes in British India was the direct consequence of the establishment of new social economy, new state system, administrative machinery and Western education." Discuss. (150 words/15 marks)
* Golkonda Fort (20/2)
* Bring out the pros and cons of Special Economic Zones (150/15)
* Nor' westers (20/2)
* Discuss the major extra-constitutional factors influencing the federal polity in the country. (250/30)
* Discuss the composition and functions of the Union Public Service Commission. (150/15)
* Discuss the problems in achieving National Integration in India. (150/15)
* The conditions of urban poor are more deplorable than that of their rural counterparts." Give your views. (250/30)
* Lakshmi Mittal (20/2)
The above are from the GS - I paper. The GS papers are for 300 marks each, and one gets three hours for each paper. There is a two-hour break before one takes the GS - II paper.
* India and the New World Order (150 words/30 marks)
* India-Nigeria: Abuja Declaration (20/2)
* Indian diaspora and Bollywood (20/2)
* Access the performance of India in attracting Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). (250/30)
* NAMA (20/2)
* Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (150/15)
* INTERPOL (20/2)
* In what way "Medical Biotechnology" and "Bioengineering" are useful for technological development of India? (250/30)
* Spintronics (20/2)
* Sappan (20/2)
* Components of Robots (20/2)
* A question on representation of data by a suitable diagram.(like histogram, pie chart etc) (6 marks)
* The mean monthly income of a person is Rs.18190 and his mean monthly expenditure comes out to be Rs.17930. What is his average monthly saving? (2)
Essay paper. One gets to choose a topic from a basket of six topics. The essay paper is also for three hours. It carries 200 marks. No specific word limit.
* Is an egalitarian society possible by educating the masses?
* Discipline means success, anarchy means ruins.
* Urbanisation and its hazards.
Four more papers are remaining. Two each for the two optional subjects that one gets to choose from a range that stretches from Russian literature to Zoology.
Well, let me be frank and tell you what I felt during the Exam. I sincerely hope that the UPSC reduces the age limit for the candidates (without affecting the number of attmepts one gets. this can be done by shortening the cycle time of the Exam) I thought I was very old to sit and take this Exam, which anyone above 21 years can take. But at the Exam centre I felt I'm quite young! I genuinely feel hundreds of candidates are wasting the wonderful phase of their lives by mechanically appearing in the Exam, year after year, for many years. Some of my friends have spent more than five years in this Exam, without any result. It saddens me.
While I agree that dreams need perseverance, what hurts me is the fact that many candidates do not have a Plan B. So suddenly one fine morning, after exhausting all the attempts over the years, one realises one does not have a place to go. One is not equipped to find a decent job; an alternative career. My sincere wish is that the Civil Service aspirants while chasing their dreams, should also work on their fallback options - without mindlessly escalating their commitment year after year.
2 comments:
Last paragraph was straight and nailing.
but the questions were like phew evlo thana kindoff...he he he he...
anna nagarla engayavathu ennaiya patha vanakkam vatchuttu po...
:)
too much~~~!
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