Paper 1

1. Current Affairs: Events of national and international importance

2. History of India and Indian National Movement
3. Indian and World Geography: Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India
and the World.
4. Indian Polity and Governance: Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj,
Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5. Economic and Social Development: Sustainable
Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Development,

Poverty,

6. General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

(no subject specialization required)
7. General Science
Topic
History and Culture
Economy
Polity
Geography
Environment & Bio-diversity
Science & Technology
Current Affairs
Total

2011
13
18
17
11
22
19

2012
20
12
25
11
23
9

2013
15
18
18
14
22
13

100

100

100

2014
21
6
13
15
21
17
7
100

Paper 2
1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision making and problem solving
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc.) (Class X
level)
7. Data Interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)
8. English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level)
Topic
Basic Numeracy
General Mental Ability
Decision Making & Problem Solving

2011
13
15
6

2012
3
16
7

2013
19
12
6

2014
19
7
0

Analytical Ability & Logical Reasoning

Comprehension (Both English & Hindi)
English Language Comprehension Skills
Total

10
27
9
80

14
32
8
80

12
23
8
80

22
26
6
80

GS Paper - I
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)

Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and
Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the
present significant events, personalities, issues.

The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors or

contributions from different parts of the country.

Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.

History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial
revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization,
decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc. their forms and effect on the society.

Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.

Role of women and womens organization, population and associated issues,

poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their
remedies.

Effects of globalization on Indian society.

Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.

Salient features of worlds physical geography.

Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the
Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary,
and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).

Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic

activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location - changes in critical
geographical features (including waterbodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna
and the effects of such changes.

GS Paper - II
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)

Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments,

significant provisions and basic structure.

Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges
pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local
levels and challenges therein.

Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and

institutions.

Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.

Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business,

powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries
and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal
associations and their role in the Polity.

Salient features of the Representation of Peoples Act.

Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities

of various Constitutional Bodies.

Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs,
various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders.

Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and
States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and
Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services

relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governanceapplications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

Role of civil services in a democracy.

India and its neighborhood- relations.

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting Indias interests.

Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on Indias

interests, Indian diaspora.

Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

GS Paper - III
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and
Disaster Management)

Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,

development and employment.

Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Government Budgeting.

Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of
irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues
of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animalrearing.

Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location,
upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.

Land reforms in India.

Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their

effects on industrial growth.

Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.

Investment models.

Science and Technology - developments and their applications and effects in

everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of
technology and developing new technology.

Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact

assessment.

Disaster and disaster management.

Linkages between development and spread of extremism.

Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal

security.

Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and

social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security;
money-laundering and its prevention.

Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized

crime with terrorism.

Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

GS Paper - IV
(Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude)
This paper will include questions to test the candidates attitude and approach to issues
relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various
issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case
study approach to determine these aspects. The following broad areas will be covered.

Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in

human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
Human Values lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers
and administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in
inculcating values.

Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and
behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.

Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and
compassion towards the weakersections.

Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in

administration and governance.

Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.

Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems;
ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules,
regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and
ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance;
ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.

Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance

and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to

Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizens Charters, Work culture,

Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.

Case Studies on above issues.

Paper - I

1. Mechanics:

Mechanics of rigid bodies: Equations of equilibrium in space and its application; first and
second moments of area; simple problems on friction; kinematics of particles for plane
motion; elementary particle dynamics.

Mechanics of deformable bodies: Generalized Hookes law and its application; design
problems on axial stress, shear stress and bearing stress; material properties for dynamic
loading; bending shear and stresses in beams;. determination of principle stresses and
strains - analytical and graphical; compound and combined stresses; bi-axial stresses thin walled pressure vessel; material behaviour and design factors for dynamic load;
design of circular shafts for bending and torsional load only; deflection of beam for
statically determinate problems; theories of failure.

2. Engineering Materials: Basic concepts on structure of solids; common ferrous and

non-ferrous materials and their applications; heat-treatment of steels; non-metalsplastics, ceramics, composite materials and nano-materials.
3. Theory of Machines: Kinematic and dynamic analysis of plane mechanisms. Cams,
Gears and epicyclic gear trains, flywheels, governors, balancing of rigid rotors, balancing
of single and multicylinder engines, linear vibration analysis of mechanical systems
(single degree of freedom), Critical speeds and whirling of shafts.
4. Manufacturing Science:

Manufacturing Process: Machine tool engineering Merchants force analysis; Taylors tool
life equation; conventional machining; NC and CNC machining process; jigs and fixtures.
Non-conventional machining EDM, ECM, ultrasonic, water jet machining etc; application
of lasers and plasmas; energy rate calculations. Forming and welding processes- standard
processes. Metrology - concept of fits and tolerances; tools and gauges; comparators;
inspection of length; position; profile and surface finish.

Manufacturing Management: System design: factory location- simple OR models; plant

layout - methods based; applications of engineering economic analysis and break- even
analysis for product selection, process selection and capacity planning; predetermined
time standards. System planning; forecasting methods based on regression and
decomposition, design and balancing of multi model and stochastic assembly lines;
inventory management probabilistic inventory models for order time and order quantity
determination; JIT systems; strategic sourcing; managing inter plant logistics. System
operations and control: Scheduling algorithms for job shops; applications of statistical
methods for product and process quality control - applications of control charts for mean,
range, percent defective, number of defectives and defects per unit; quality cost systems;
management of resources, organizations and risks in projects. System improvement:
Implementation of systems, such as total quality management, developing and managing
flexible, lean and agile organizations.

Paper - II

1. Thermodynamics, Gas Dynamics and Turbine:

Basic concept of First law and second law of Thermodynamics; concept of entropy and
reversibility; availability and unavailability and irreversibility.

Classification and properties of fluids; incompressible and compressible fluids flows; effect
of Mach number and compressibility; continuity momentum and energy equations; normal
and oblique shocks; one dimensional isentropic flow; flow or fluids in duct with frictions
that transfer.

Flow through fans, blowers and compressors; axial and centrifugal flow configuration;
design of fans and compressors; single problems compresses and turbine cascade; open
and closed cycle gas turbines; work done in the gas turbine; reheat and regenerators.

2. Heat Transfer:

Conduction heat transfer- general conduction equation - Laplace, Poisson and Fourier
equations; Fourier law of conduction; one dimensional steady state heat conduction
applied to simple wall, solid and hollow cylinder & spheres.

Convection heat transfer- Newtons law of convection; free and forces convection; heat
transfer during laminar and turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid over a flat plate;
concepts of Nusselt number, hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layer their thickness;
Prandtl number; analogy between heat and momentum transfer- Reynolds, Colbum,
Prandtl analogies; heat transfer during laminar and turbulent flow through horizontal
tubes; free convection from horizontal and vertical plates.

Black body radiation - basic radiation laws such as Stefan-Boltzman, Planck distribution,
Weins displacement etc.

Basic heat exchanger analysis; classification of heat exchangers.

3. I .C. Engines:

Classification, thermodynamic cycles of operation; determination of break power, indicated

power, mechanical efficiency, heat balance sheet, interpretation of performance
characteristics, petrol, gas and diesel engines.

Combustion in SI and CI engines, normal and abnormal combustion; effect of working

parameters on knocking, reduction of knocking; Forms of combustion chamber for SI and
CI engines; rating of fuels; additives; emission.

Different systems of IC engines- fuels; lubricating; cooling and transmission systems.

Alternate fuels in IC engines.

4. Steam Engineering:

Steam generation- modified Rankine cycle analysis; Modern steam boilers; steam at
critical and supercritical pressures; draught equipment; natural and artificial draught;
boiler fuels solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Steam turbines - principle; types; compounding;
impulse and reaction turbines; axial thrust.

Steam nozzles- flow of steam in convergent and divergent nozzle; pressure at throat for
maximum discharge with different initial steam conditions such as wet,
saturated and superheated, effect of variation of back pressure; supersaturated flow of
steam in nozzles, Wilson line.

Rankine cycle with internal and external irreversibility; reheat factor; reheating and
regeneration, methods of governing; back pressure and pass out turbines.

Steam power plants - combined cycle power generation; heat recovery steam generators
(HRSG) fired and unfired, cogeneration plants.

5. Refrigeration and air-conditioning:

Vapour compression refrigeration cycle - cycle on p-H & T-s diagrams; eco-friendly
refrigerants - R134a,123; Systems like evaporators, condensers, compressor, expansion
devices. Simple vapour absorption systems.

Psychrometry - properties; processes; charts; sensible heating and cooling; humidification

and dehumidification effective temperature; air-conditioning load calculation; simple duct
design.

NCERT Books
History Must Read NCERT Books

6th Our Pasts 1

7th Our Pasts II

8th Our Pasts III Part 1, Part 2

9th India & the Contemporary World 1

10th India & the Contemporary World II

11th Themes in World History (Focus on Industrial Revolution)

12th Themes in Indian History I, Themes in Indian History II, Themes in Indian
History III

Geography Must Read NCERT Books

6th The Earth : Our Habitat

7th Our Environment

8th Resources & Development

9th Contemporary India 1

10th Contemporary India 1I

11th Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 11th India Physical Environment
12th Fundamentals of Human Geography, 12th India People & Economy

Economics Must Read NCERT Books

9th Economics

10th Understanding Economic Development

11th Indian Economic Development

12th Introductory Microeconomics
12th Introductory Macroeconomics, Class XII Supplementary reading material in
Economics Introductory Macroeconomics

Political Science Must Read NCERT Books

9th Democratic Politics I

10th Democratic Politics II

11th Indian Constitution at Work

11th Political Theory

12th Contemporary World Politics (8th Environment & Natural Resources)

12th Politics in India Since Independence

Also read: Books for UPSC Civil Service Preliminary Exam

Sociology Must Read NCERT Books

12th Social Change & Development in India

Culture/Fine Arts Must Read NCERT Books

11th An Introduction to Indian Art

Science Must Read NCERT Books

For science, aspirants are advised to go through at-least these selected chapters from the mentioned
standards.

6th Chapter 9: The Living Organisms & their Surroundings

7th Chapter 7: Weather, Climate & Adaptations of Animals, Chapter 9: Soil

8th Chapter 1: Crop Production & Management, Chapter 5: Coal & Petroleum,
Chapter 7: Conservation of Plants & Animals, Chapter 12: Friction, Chapter 18:
Pollution of Air & Water

9th Chapter 14: Natural Resources

10th Chapter 14: Sources of Energy, Chapter 15: Our Environment, Chapter 16:
Management of Natural Resources

12th (Biology) Unit X: Ecology ( Chapter 13 Organisms & Population, Chapter 14

Ecosystem, Chapter 15 Biodiversity & Conservation, Chapter 16 Environmental
Issues)

Essential Books
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

History Of Modern India Bipan Chandra. (History)

Indias Struggle For Independence Bipan Chandra. (History)
Indias Ancient Past R.S. Sharma. (History)
History Of Medieval India Satish Chandra. (History)
The Wonder That Was India A.L. Bhasham. (Culture)
Indian Art and Culture Nitin Singhania. (Culture)
Geography of India Majid Husain. (Geography)
Oxford School Atlas Oxford. (Geography)
Certificate Physical and Human Geography Goh Cheng Leong. (Geography)
Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations M. Laxmikanth. (Polity)
Indian Economy Ramesh Singh. (Economy)
Economic Survey. (Economy)
Science and Technology in India TMH. (Science and Technology)
Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure Rajagopalan. (Environment)
Environment for Civil Services Prelims and Mains Khuller. (Environment)
India Year Book (Current Affairs)
Manorama Yearbook. (Current Affairs)

18.
19.
20.

CSAT Paper 2 Manual by TMH or CSAT-II Arihant (CSAT Paper 2)

Analytical Reasoning M. K. Pandey (CSAT Paper 2: Analytical Reasoning)
Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning R. S.Aggarwal (CSAT Paper 2: Reasoning)

Also read: Civil Service Prelims: 6 Month Strategy - Part 1

IAS Manuals and Previous Year Question Papers (Click on the links to buy online)
1.

General Studies For Civil Services Preliminary Examination TMH. (GS Problem
Solving)
2.
UPSC Civil Services Prelims in 60 days Rakesh Dwivedi. (Revision)
3.
IAS Prelims 22 Years General Studies Topic-Wise Solved Papers Disha.
4.
IAS (Pre.) Solved Papers General Studies wih CSAT Papers Arihant