Thursday, February 21, 2008

UPSC - IAS Exam Guide

Civil Services - UPSC, IAS, IFS, IPS, IES 2006, 2007 and 2008 Previous Quesstion Papers & Exam Guide. Press Ctrl + d to bookmark us
There are many reputed institutes at major cities which provide upsc and ias training. you must check their testimonials before going for any institute. You can get study material from Brilliant Tutorials. Most of the information related to IAS - UPSC Examination Dates, Eligibility Criteria, Prelims and Mains Examination previous question papers, Question Paper Patterns for year 2006, 2007, 2008 , Indian Forest Service, Combined Defence Services, Combined Medical Services, Indian Economics Services, Indian Statistical Services are answered at the government website.
You can visit the government website at http://www.upsc.gov.in/ for all the guidelines.

Where to Get previous years UPSC solved exam question papers?
You can get upsc question papers at Rs. 50 per subject from leading bookshops.

The Important Magazines which u should read for UPSC exam preparation and help:
Competition Success Review , Toppers , Civil Services Chronicle

You can get the UPSC eligibility criteria and Sylabus from Employment News.

The prelims are held around May-June.It has objective ie multiple choice questions.
There are two papers (duration of each being 2 hrs).
a) General studies
b) Optional subject
you can choose from Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Agriculture, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Statistics etc. You dont necessarily have to choose the subjects of your graduation.

The main written examination usually takes place in Oct-Nov, it comprises of 9 papers in all.
Duration of each paper is 3 hrs.
Language: one of the Indian languages, English, Essay GK and Current Affairs: 2 papers on general studies
Optionals: papers from two subjects that fall in optional-1 and two papers from optional-2
The subjects are listed in the prospectus.
Candidates which clear the mains exam are eligible for an interview which is the final test. The number of candidates called for interview is double the number of vacancies.

The government is contemplating a change in the UPSC selection format which is essentially the same since British times.

What does it take to opt for civil service?
Mental alertness; interest in a variety of subjects; good intellect in order to be able to tackle any subject or situation; an ability to sift, weigh and apply differing opinions from various people; leadership qualities; the ability to inspire others and to channelise available talent; tact and diplomacy; and, integrity. These are some personality traits that you should look for in yourself when you consciously make a decision to opt for civil service.

The Civil Services has been divided into various grades to facilitate functioning. The grade determines the area of work. Junior scale officerswork in the states that they are allotted to. Senior scale officers work as Under Secretaries in the State. Officers in the Junior AdministrativeGrade, which is reached after nine years of service, hold the position of a Deputy Secretary. When officers make it to the Selection Grade,which is reached after fourteen years of service they hold the position of Directors or Deputy Secretary. The next scale is known as the SuperTime Scale or the Senior Administrative Grade and the officers in this grade hold the post of a Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary, Secretaryor Cabinet Secretary. The Civil Services can be broadly classified as All India Services and Central Services.

What is the Selection Process ?
Eligibility for the Civil Services Preliminary Examination The minimum age requirement for appearing for the Civil Services PreliminaryExamination is 21 and the upper age limit is 30 years. The minimum academic requirement is graduation in any discipline from a recognisedIndian University or an equivalent academic qualification. All candidates are allowed four attempts. There is a relaxation for SC/ST candidateson the number of attempts, if they are otherwise eligible.

For entry to the civil service, there’s a multi-step examination process. The entire process takes a full calendar year. The Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) first conducts an objective type preliminary examination for screening candidates.

The Preliminary Examination:
There are two papers for the preliminary round. There is one on general studies and another on an optional subject. The question papers are set in both Hindi and English. Each paper is for a duration of two hours. General study covers history, geography, economics and so on. The questionpapers have objective type multiple choice questions. The general studies paper carries 150 marks.

The syllabus for the optional subject is the same as that for graduation level. The question paper for the optional subject carries 300 marks. The optional subject for the second paper may be chosen from the following :
  1. Agriculture
  2. Animal Husbandry and veterinary science
  3. Botany
  4. Chemistry
  5. Civil Engineering
  6. Commerce
  7. Economics
  8. Electrical Engineering
  9. Geography
  10. Geology
  11. Indian History
  12. Law
  13. Mathematics
  14. Mechanical Engineering
  15. Philosophy
  16. Physics
  17. Political Science
  18. Psychology
  19. Public Administration
  20. Sociology
  21. Statistics
  22. Zoology
The Main Examination:
The preliminary round is basically a screening round. The marks obtained are not counted for in the final stage of theexamination. The written test consists of nine papers (essay type answers to be written)

Paper I: One Indian language

That is included in the Eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution. These languages are
  1. Assamese
  2. Bengali
  3. Gujarati
  4. Hindi
  5. Kannada
  6. Kashmiri
  7. Malayalam
  8. Marathi
  9. Oriya
  10. Pali
  11. Punjabi
  12. Sanskrit
  13. Sindhi
  14. Tamil
  15. Telugu
  16. Urdu.
The marks obtainedare not counted for ranking. This paper is not compulsory for candidates from the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,Nagaland and Sikkim.
Paper II: English. The English language paper is also of a qualifying nature.

Paper III: Essay

Paper IV &V: General Studies
Optional Subject I (two papers)
Optional subject II (two papers).
For papers VI, VII, VIII, and IX two subjects are to be chosen.
The list of subjects from which the choice may be made is
  1. Agriculture
  2. Animal Husbandry and veterinary science
  3. Anthropology
  4. Botany
  5. Chemistry
  6. Civil Engineering
  7. Commerce & Accountancy
  8. Economics
  9. Electrical Engineering
  10. Geography
  11. Geology
  12. History
  13. Law
  14. Management
  15. Mathematics
  16. Mechanical Engineering
  17. Philosophy
  18. Physics
  19. Political Science & International Relations
  20. Psychology
  21. Public Administration
  22. Sociology
  23. Statistics
  24. Zoology

Literature in one of the following languages: Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya,Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. The question papers are set in Hindi and English.

The rank of a candidate is determined by the total marks obtained in the preliminary and the mains exams.

Coming Soon!
Keep Watching out here for more UPSC Exam Help and lots of solved UPSC Previous years Free Online Question Papers and Sample Papers. Press Ctrl + d to bookmark us.

Benefits of Civil Services Exam:
The job is of high esteem and respect. One derives great satisfaction by participating in the administrative machinery of the country. The greatest thing about civil service is the job security. Special facilities include subsidised accommodation, telephone and transport facilities, medical benefits, leave travel concession, etc.

All The Civil Services :
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and other departments including Finance, Post and Telegraph, Revenue, Secretariat
Indian Police Service (IPS):
The Indian Police Service is divided into various departments like the Crime Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department, Home Guards and the Traffic BureauThe IPS also has several policing agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation, Cabinet Secretariat Security, Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force.


So if you wan to join the IAS or THe Indian Intelligence Bureau - IB or the CBI, then u can start training and taking Coaching for the UPSC and IAS exam.

3 comments:

manish manglani said...

i beg to differ with the writer that one can join intelligence bureau by being an ips officer
only. If one is interested one can appear for the exam of Asst. Central Intelligence Officer-II (exe) conducted by ministry of home affairs.

nihal said...

i have applied for asst. central intelligence officer examination. can you please tell me what is the syllabus,format and approximate date of examination? or at least any site where i can find any help. i cant find the official website of IB. i will really appreciate the help....
regards

mani said...

You are hoping to be an intelligence officer. Go try out doing some investigations and big searches..