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UPSC CSE Mains 2023 Essay Questions 

UPSC CSE PRELIMS CSAT Strategy  Highest Marks in CSAT.

 

Years 2022 Prelims Paper  This year the paper appeared to be on moderately tougher side. Many questions though framed on a single topic demanded in-depth knowledge from the students.  The different trend followed by UPSC this year was in the framing of the options of pair type questions, which limited the students to solve questions by elimination techniques.  Also, this time like previous years, UPSC linked the fundamental subjects with Current Affairs and important issues which were in the news. This made the paper more relevant and current affairs dominated.  Static portions like Environment, Economics, S&T etc. were given due weightage. However, few portions like Modern History saw a dip and other static portions like Geography and International Relations saw a rise in the number of questions being asked as compared to the previous years.  Questions in almost all the subjects ranged from easy to medium to difficult level.  This year International Re...

Year 2021 Prelims Paper  This year the paper appeared to be on moderately tougher side. Many questions though framed on a single topic demanded in-depth knowledge from the students from different dimensions. Multiple statements were woven and asked in a single question.  Static portions like Polity, Geography, Economics, etc. were on expected lines and were given due weightage. Questions in almost all the subjects ranged from easy to medium to difficult level.  Although inspired from current affairs, there were few unconventional themes and general awareness questions. For example sports section appeared after a very long time; a question on dayabhaga and mitakshara inspired from women rights in property.  Polity questions were a mix of both fundamental topics and current affairs. A few law related questions appeared for the first time like parole, judicial custody etc. Unlike previous years, Governance aspect was relatively given lesser weightage.  In the Histo...

Year 2020 Prelims Paper  This year the paper appeared to be on the tougher side and the options framed were confusing.  The static portions like History, Polity, Geography, Economics, etc. as expected were given due weightage.  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.  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.  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 aspec...

Year 2019 Prelims Paper  This year the paper appeared to be on the tougher side as it was lengthy and the options framed were confusing. The themes of the questions asked seemed relevant but required in-depth understanding and knowledge. However, the static portions like History, Polity, Geography, Economics, etc. as expected were given due weightage.  Questions ranged from both fundamental topics like those in Economics e.g. PPP, P-Notes; Modern history e.g. Swadeshi Movement; Geography e.g. 21st June etc. to unconventional sources and topics in S&T which scaled the difficulty level of this paper.  UPSC has raised the bar and it expects the aspirants to even read the fine print. Questions like that on Compensatory Afforestation, External Debt, Glacier, Jagirdari and Zamindari, etc. required thorough reading and deeper understanding of the static subjects.  In the History section, this time Medieval India questions were given more weightage unlike art & cultu...

Year 2018 Prelims Paper  The Paper portrayed a departure from the trend of CSAT era and appears to be on the tougher side.  While it is a well-known fact that UPSC has shifted its focus to current affairs, yet this year, the questions were asked in an unconventional manner.  It has been observed that some of the questions like those of Post Independence history (chronological sequence of events) have been inspired directly by the articles in THE HINDU ( India @70 Midnight to millennium) or Culture (Buland Darwaza and Rumi Darwaza - covered in the ‘The Hindu’ article)  Questions ranged from both conventional sources like those in economics e.g. CAR, Legal Tender Money to unconventional sources like those in History e.g. Swarajya Sabha, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, etc.  It is observed that UPSC has raised the bar and it is now expected of aspirants to even read the fine print. Questions like that on GST, Application Programming Interfaces, Digital India Programme require ...

Year 2017 Prelims Paper   This year’s paper was more conceptual compared to the papers of CSAT era and it displayed a good mix of current affairs and conventional subjects.  The level of questions ranged from easy to moderate and difficult from almost in all the sections. The elimination was difficult as the options framed were too close or very similar.  However, even in conventional or static portion the tilt was more towards Polity and Governance.  Polity questions were asked from traditional concepts as compared to previous year’s trend. Eg. concept of rights, democracy, etc. In the current affairs section, the testing was done from their basic concepts as well as facts related to them. However, the questions from this section was not restricted to the present year but from the previous 2 – 3 years.  Economy questions were largely drawn from Current Affairs eg- GST, Monetary Policy Committee, etc. but conventional understanding in questions like post 19...

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: 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.  There were traditional questions from non-traditional sources eg. Question on Keshab Chandra Sen and Agrahattas.  Paper was more factual compared to papers of CSAT era....

 Year 2015 GS Prelims paper  The Paper portrayed a departure from the trend of last 4 years. While many traditional questions were from non-traditional sources and inferential, many current affairs questions were very simple and straight forward eg NITI Ayog, Jandhan Yojna etc.  Paper was more factual compared to papers of CSAT era.  More focus on current affairs as many questions were inspired from news. Instead of linking the current affairs to concepts it was more on factual side.  Proportion of unapproachable questions remained on similar trends as previous year.  Polity has moved towards traditional concepts compared to last year trend of is moving towards governance and public administration type questions.  Some economy questions were on the lines of 2013 paper i.e. conceptual and analytical.  Deceptive presentation is a common method to segregate deep knowledge with superficial knowledge or hunch. This technique was used in many questions....

Year 2014 Prelims Paper  The Paper portrayed a departure from the trend of last 3 years. While traditional questions were very easy, over emphasis on questions from art and culture and environment made the paper tough. Paper was factual and traditional compared to last three years. Questions from India year book also appeared this year. Topicwise composition is moving along expected lines as weightage of art & culture and ecology/environment is increasing. Proportion of unapproachable questions increased this year, which were mostly in art & culture and ecology & environment. Polity is moving towards governance and public administration type questions (Cabinet Secretary, Constitutionalism etc.) which was on expected lines. Except few easy ones, questions this year required complete knowledge of the topic. Deceptive presentation is a common method to segregate deep knowledge with superficial knowledge or hunch. This technique was used in many questions. (Bombay Natural H...

Year 2013 GS Prelims Paper  Paper is almost on the same lines as previous year. Importance of Ecology, Economy and Culture is increasing every year. Geography is almost constant but modern India has incurred losses. Question in Economy, Polity and History are basic and easy-medium difficulty questions.  Science and Technology, Art and Culture & Geography questions are medium to difficult level. In addition, less ambiguous questions this time compared to last year. So average score should be more in this paper compared to last year but not too much. Direct current affairs is losing significance but even then half of the fundamental questions looks inspired by current happenings. Moreover, backgrounder of current affairs are becoming important.    Coal scam is of no use but properties of Indian coal are important. Recommendation of Rangarajan Panel on Sugar decontrol are not important but use of sugar by product is important. Suggestions : Read basic books properly...

Year 2012 GS Prelims Paper 2011 was an year in which UPSC asked very little from Current portion in Prelims, but 2012 has brought back Current into limelight=Never neglect Current portion and Newspapers. Increasing number of Questions from varied fields- For eg Culture questions also asked. Polity, History, Geography and Economy still rule the roost= Make these four portions as solid as possible for better scores. 

Year 2011 GS Prelims Paper   Lot of Questions could be answered by reading the basic material with a questioning mind. Newspaper reading wherever questioned required a very deep and conceptual understanding of the topic.  Questions from World Politics and India's Foreign relations were also seen which were previously absent.  Unpredictability is the beauty of UPSC Exam. Therefore the best strategy is to cover all sections of General Studies effectively.  Keep in Mind: There is no shortcut to success. All this points to the fact that a comprehensive preparation of Prelims and Mains is needed before the Prelims paper. One cannot neglect the traditional portion, but even the traditional portion has to be read with a questioning mind. 

Remember its just an exam that you have to Qualify (and not ace)…so prepare like that. It just the hall ticket to Mains. Prelims won’t make you IAS or anything. Hence don’t give more than 65-70 days for its preparation….anything more is futile and improper use of time. This may be called as a traditionally humanities exam but in my opinion the preparation has to be done in a very scientific manner based of data and numbers…after all its a game of numbers, at all stage. So always measure and track your performance and learn/analyse from that data.  This is more of a game of your attitude than your knowledge. Presence of mind is immensely important and can beat knowledge any day. Particularly paper like CSE Pre 2020 can be qualified based on option elimination and intelligent guessing. Keeping positive attitude while attempting exam is extremely important. Often you know the answer and you just get over-critical of yourself and end up leaving the question or wrongly attempting. Your ...

UPSC Prelims 2022 Paper Highlighted keywords  Q.1 ) " Rapid Financing Instrument " and " Rapid Credit Facility " are related to the  provisions of lending by which one of the following?  (a) Asian Development Bank  (b) International Monetary Fund  (c) United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative  (d) World Bank  Q.2) With reference to the Indian economy , consider the following statements :  1. An increase in Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) indicates the appreciation of  rupee.  2. An increase in the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) indicates an improvement in trade competitiveness.  3. An increasing trend in domestic inflation relative to inflation in other countries is likely to cause an increasing divergence between NEER and REER.  Which of the above statements are correct?  (a) 1 and 2 only  (b) 2 and 3 only  (c) 1 and 3 only  (d) 1, 2 and 3   Q.3)  With reference t...