UPSC CSE Prelims 2020 GS Observation+ Deep Analysis

Year 2020 Prelims Paper 

1. This year the paper appeared to be on the tougher side and the options framed were confusing. 
2. The static portions like History, Polity, Geography, Economics, etc. as expected were given due weightage. 
3. Questions in almost all the subjects ranged from easy to medium to difficult level. Few unconventional questions were also seen. This year many questions were agriculture related which were asked from geography, environment and economics perspective. 
4. Few questions asked by UPSC, although inspired by current affairs, required overall general awareness. For instance the questions on Indian elephants, cyber insurance, G-20, Siachen glacier, etc. 
5. Polity questions demanded deeper understanding of the Constitution and its provisions. The options in polity questions were close but very easy basic fundamental questions like DPSP, Right to Equality, etc. were asked from regular sources like Laxmikanth. Few Questions covering the governance aspect like Aadhar, Legal Services, etc were also given weightage. 
6. In the History section, Ancient India questions were given more weightage unlike in the previous years, and their difficulty level was also high. Art & Culture and Medieval Indian history also had tough questions. However, the modern history section was of moderate level difficulty overall. 
7. Environment questions unlike previous years did not focus on International climate initiatives and bodies. This year focus lay on environmental issues, application of technology and related concepts like benzene pollution, steel slag, biochar, etc. 
8. Map reading and Atlas continues to play an important role in one's preparation in the Geography section. This year Geography included a mix of factual and conceptual questions like major minerals, ocean mean temperature, jet streams etc. 
9. S&T questions were more on technology aspects than on basic science. Direct relation of S&T developments could be linked with current affairs like Visible light communication, pronuclear transfer, Pneumococcal vaccine etc. However, few questions did seek to test deeper knowledge and clarity like germline gene therapy, e-LISA, Carbon Nano Tubes etc. 
10. Overall weightage to Economics questions was increased this year. It ranged from basic, definition based questions, questions like demand deposit, WPI, commercial paper, reserve tranche etc. to current affairs inspired questions like KCC, MSP. Statistics/trend based questions were this year as compared to last year. 
11. The Current Affairs based questions were not restricted to past one year news but gauged overall depth and comprehension of the topics. 
12. Overall, themes of the questions asked seemed relevant but required in-depth understanding and knowledge. Thus, we can say that UPSC expects the aspirants to even read the fine print and prepare topics holistically.

Suggestions:

1. Read Basic/standard books, follow one Good News Paper religiously and use the internet as extensively as possible. 
2. Have keen perception about things going around you. After reading newspaper always clarify key terms from internet. Try to refer to the official govt. websites more. 
3. Read standard text books on static subjects and don’t ignore NCERTs. Never ignore any subject completely to increase attemptability in the paper. 
4. An appropriate strategy should be to avoid negative marking in tough questions and maximize your score by first finding the easy ones and completing them.