Thursday, March 7, 2013

UPSC - Indian Civil Services Examination, 2013

The Pattern of Civil Services Main Examination has been changed from the current Year. There are some other Changes also in regard to the choice of language medium in the Civil services (main) examination. These may also be noted.

As per the new pattern, the main examination has been set for 2075 marks in Seven Papers including 275 marks for interview. General studies has been divided into 4 papers for 1000 marks where each paper is set for 250 marks. 
Another major change includes restricting language medium to English and Hindi with few exceptions. A candidate can opt for the literatures of a language as an optional subject, only if the candidate has graduated in the literature of that particular language as the main subject. And if the candidate has had his/ her graduation in any of the language mediums noted by UPSC using the particular language medium for qualifying the graduate level examination, then he/she may opt for that particular language medium to answer all the question papers, except Section 2 of the Paper-I (English comprehension and English précis).

Changes in Main Examination
The written examination will consist of the following papers: 
  • Paper-I
    Section 1:     Essay 200 Marks
    Section 2: English Comprehension & English Précis 100 Marks (Of Matriculation/ Xth standard level)
  • Paper-II
    General Studies–I:     250Marks (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
  • Paper-III
    General Studies –II     250 Marks (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
  • Paper-IVGeneral Studies –III 250 Marks (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
  • Paper-VGeneral Studies –IV 250 Marks (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
  • Paper-VI
    Optional Subject – Paper 1     250 Marks
  • Paper-VIIOptional Subject – Paper 2 250 Marks
Sub Total (Written test): 1800 Marks
Personality Test: 275 Marks
Grand Total: 2075 Marks

Complete Syllabus
For Prelims Syllabus click here
For Mains Syllabus click here

Services and Posts
(i) Indian Administrative Service.
(ii) Indian Foreign Service.
(iii) Indian Police Service
(iv) Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’.
(v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’.
(vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(viii) Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’.
(ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration).
(x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’.
(xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.
(xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A'.
(xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.
(xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’
(xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’.
(xvii) Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’.
(xviii) Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III).
(xix) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group "A".
(xx) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade).
(xxi) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B'.
(xxii) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group 'B'.
(xxiii) Pondicherry Civil Service, Group 'B'.
(xxiv) Pondicherry Police Service, Group 'B'.
Number of Vacancies: 1000 Approximately
Plan of Examination: The competitive examination comprises two successive stages:
Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination. The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks
Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the various Services and Posts. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
Eligibility:
Nationality: A candidate must be either a citizen of India/ a subject of Nepal/ a subject of Bhutan/ a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India/ a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
Educational Qualifications: The candidate must hold a degree of any of 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 deemed as a University under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.
Note I : Candidates who have appeared qualifying examination and awaiting results will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. 
Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who has not any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he/she has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his/her admission to the examination.
Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by Government as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the examination.
Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/ Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree.
Age Limit: A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on 1st August, 2013, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1983 and not later than 1st August, 1992.
Number of Attempts: Every candidate appearing at the Examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted four attempts at the examination. This restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates. The number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes shall be seven
Fee: Candidates applying (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination are required to pay a fee of Rs.100/- (Rupees One Hundred only)
Selection process: prelims followed by mains and Interview

How to apply: Through Online at http://www.upsconline.nic.in/ 
Important Dates:Last date for submission of applications: 4 April, 2013
Date of prelims Examinations: 26 May, 2013

For more details Click here
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CURRENT AFFAIRS PREPARATION PLAN

“Current Affairs” and “General Knowledge” cover many topics like from economy to sports or education to politics, or even technology to automobiles. In every second some issues are happening around the world in these sectors, and to accumulate the excerpt of some highlighted news, and memorize it is a good plan to prepare current affairs and GK.

Some Important Tips to Follow:

Read Newspapers regularly

We all know that “Old is Gold”, same thing applies here too. We need to make a habit of reading newspapers regularly. I’ll suggest you to read more than one newspaper. It will be better if you read one newspaper of your mother language, and other of English. Some useful newspapers are “The Times of India”, “The Hindu”, “The Telegraph” etc. You need to start this habit at least 6 months before the actual exam that will help you to get access to all the important events of that period of time.

You need to keep an eye on what’s happening around you in your country and world as well. Trust me guys, you will surely find it interesting after several days. We all know that staying updated is always a good idea, as it will stand you apart from the rest.

Read Magazines thoroughly

This is another great option to prepare the subject we are talking about. There are many leading magazines that focus on current affairs and General Knowledge. You need to buy it from your local magazine seller, and start reading it thoroughly. These magazines beautifully categorize the articles with its genres to make it interesting to read on. Some of the useful magazines are Pratiyogita Darpan andManorma.

Try to read some business magazines and sports magazines too along with a general magazine. This will increase your chances of cracking the competitive exams with ease. Some useful business magazines areBusiness Today, Business Line etc.

Follow News Channels

You will need to follow news channels at least once a day. Now most of the leading news channels are active for 24*7. You need to pick up a suitable time for yourself to watch any favorite news channel of yours. You can watch ABP News, NDTV, Times Now, ET Now, Zee News etc. Try to go through all the breaking and highlighted news, and make it a habit.

I know that watching news channels for long will bore you, so I’ll suggest you to allocate only 30 minutes for it in a whole day. All the leading ones shows the glimpses of all important events of the day quite frequently, so 30 minutes will be enough for you to boost up your current affairs and GK knowledge.

Maintain a Diary

My teacher used to tell me that whenever you learn something try to write it down in your diary, as it will help you to memorize it in a better manner. He is so right, as this method helped me a lot to score good marks in every exam that I appeared for. As I already mentioned before that a lot of events are occurring in the country and around the world, so it is easily understandable that it is not easy to remember everything. It’s always a superb idea to maintain a diary of current events.

You need to update this diary on a daily basis with all the events that you consider as important ones. This diary will become quite useful for the revision part, as it will provide you information about all the important events at a place. You should keep revising the diary frequently, as it will help you to memorize important names, dates, awards etc.

Channelize your Preparation Accordingly

All the competitive exams are not same, as all of them have different pattern, even when it comes to the same topic as ‘Current Affairs’ or ‘GK’. For example for civil services exam, you need to give importance on events of National value. On the other scenario, in matter of bank job exam, the focus should be on the news on banking sectors, and economic and business news.

Thus I’ll suggest you to prepare as per the exams you are appearing for, as channelizing your preparation according to the pattern of the exam will accelerate your chance of getting selected.

Use Internet Resources

“Google, YouTube and Wikipedia are my favorite teachers’; one of my friends told me this once. This is quite true indeed, so you should use all the available online resources to study current affairs and GK for exams. For example this blog is all about “Current Affairs”, so you can check this blog regularly by subscribing to us (check the sidebar for subscription options). You can actively take part some forums that are focusing on current events. The good part is you can follow the websites of all leadingnewspapers online if you don’t have enough time to read newspapers.

Use Social Networking Sites for Good

Believe me or not you can surely use social networking sites to your benefits. Especially to prepare current affairs and General knowledge Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and StumbleUpon may help you a lot. You can join some Facebook pages, or follow some twitter accounts that are related to current affairs. You can join our Facebook Page too for this matter, or connect with me at LinkedIn or circle me in Google Plus for all the information on recent happenings to boost up your General Knowledgeability.

Give Priority to your Strength

We usually find difficulties when we try to learn everything at once. In that process basically we study a lot, but remember a little. We need to first select our strength areas for our preparation. Try to givepriority to your strength areas. It may be Sports, economy, Government Affairs or technology. Suppose you are applying for Bank exams, then you should prepare industry related news. Along with that you may pick any 2-3 areas of your strength like sports or technology. You need to prepare these sections to the utmost level. I can assure you that these strategies will help you to score much better in Current Affairs section.

Participate in Online Quizzes

You should participate in some free quizzes that are available online to evaluate yourself. For this matter you can easily access our “Quiz Section”. This will give you proper idea whether you are ready for the big exam day or not. As an added factor it will also provide you confidence i.e. very much essential. You can download Monthly-wise current affairs questions from Here.