UPSC CSE Prelims 2016 GS Observation+ Deep Analysis

Year 2016 Prelims Paper 

The analysis is based on premise that UPSC wants to identify aspirants with certain skills and aptitude required to function as a good administrator. UPSC does not explicitly describe these skills so we infer them from Syllabus, Question Paper and feedback of experts and students.

This analysis is an attempt to quantify the subjective understanding and make explicit the implicit.

We have inferred some conclusions from these stats but you are free to infer differently. 

Moreover independent/impartial thinking is one of the qualities expected in administrators.

Observations:

1. The Paper portrayed a departure from the trend of last 4 years. Although, in 2015 the number of current affairs questions increased but in 2016 UPSC has drastically shifted their focus on Current Affairs. 
2. There were traditional questions from non-traditional sources eg. Question on Keshab Chandra Sen and Agrahattas. 
3. Paper was more factual compared to papers of CSAT era. 
4. In the current affairs section, instead of linking the current affairs questions to concepts it was more on factual side. 
5. Proportion of unapproachable questions has increased than previous year. 
6. Polity has moved towards traditional concepts compared to last year trend and is moving towards governance and public administration type questions eg- Chief Secretary, Gram Nyayalayas. 
7. Economy questions were largely drawn from Current Affairs eg- . Ease of Doing Business, Amber Box, Blue Box Subsidies, MCLR, etc. 
8. Deceptive presentation is a common method to segregate deep knowledge with superficial knowledge or hunch. This technique was used in many questions. i.e. some questions could be solved through eliminating one statement e.g. GIAHS, National Ganga River Basin Authority etc. 
9. Some questions were too easy (e.g. Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, UDAY, etc). This does not mean that we should not have proper knowledge of topic because some questions like Atal Pension Yojana required complete knowledge of the topic). 
10. Pointers for most of the questions could be traced to The Hindu but as recommended earlier, in the age of internet, complete knowledge of topic is expected (Gram Nyayalayas, The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity).

Suggestions:

1. Read Basic/standard books, one Good News Paper (like The Hindu) and use internet extensively as almost 80% questions could be attempted with this combination.
2. Have keen perception about things going around you and assume less and less. After reading newspaper always clarify key terms from internet or books or teachers. 
3. Read one good book on each traditional subjects this will help in prelims, mains and interview i.e. all stages of examination. This will also help in making some unapproachable question approachable. 
4. This year with the inclusion of factual questions and state civil service/State Services type one liners, it is advisable to be ready for analytical and factual questions at the same time. It is expected that UPSC will not ask irrelevant facts (Date on which someone died type asked in state civil service) but important facts should not be ignored. 
5. Do not ignore your strong areas to do research in weak areas. You should be able to answer most of the questions from your strong areas. 
6. Nearly 60% of the questions were can be answered by reading elementary books and newspapers.

Strategy should be to avoid negative marking in tough questions and maximize your score by first finding the easy ones and completing them.