UPSC PRELIMS

EX AMINATION

• Decoding UPSC Prelims 2020

• Trend Analysis

• What to prepare from different modules?

• How to prepare for UPSC Prelims?

• What study material to be followed?

Prelims 2020: Section-wise Number of Questions

Section No. Of Q

1. Polity 18

2. History 19

3. Science & Technology 12

4. Economy 21

5. Geography + agriculture

5+6= 11

6. Environment 17

7. IR 2

Topic-wise analysis: For example- Polity Section

Topic No. of Q

1. Philosophy and features of Indian Constitution 3

2. Preamble, FRs, DPSPs, FDs 6

3. Executive, Legislature and Judiciary 3

4. Budget 1

5. Schemes and Policies 2

6. Constitutional & Statutory institutions /Organizations

1

7. Political Philosophies 1

8. Bureaucracy 1

Why?• It will improve understanding

of areas from whichquestions being asked andnature of questions fromthose areas.

• For example, in polity,generally the focus is onconceptual understanding.

• It will help you prepare in afocused manner.

Questions that can be directly tackled from NCERT

11th std. NCERT-Constitution at work

Questions that can be directly tackled from NCERT

11th std. NCERT- Constitution at work

Questions which have indirect link (context) with current affairs

Why in news?• The government, in April 2020, suspended the Member of Parliament

Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme so that these funds would beavailable for its COVID-19 management efforts.

Questions which have indirect link with current affairs

Why question on elephants?Two important incidents happened:• The death of an elephant in Kerala's

Palakkad district after explosion inmouth.

• Elephant deaths in Botswana in 2020.

UPSC and its link to ‘The Hindu Newspaper’

Some Questions From Contemporary IssuesWhat to preprare?• Contemporary developments in climate change actions at international level• International agreements and UN conventions on human rights, child rights, women’s rights,

Rights of disabled people etc.

Talanoa Dialogue:• The Paris Agreement provides for progress

assessments (“stocktakes”) every five years inorder to ensure that Parties (UNFCCC term forcountries) turn commitment into action andcontinue to regularly increase their ambition.The first full global stocktake will occur in 2023in order to prepare for a new round of climatecommitments, known as NationallyDetermined Contributions (NDCs), by 2025.

• However, Parties felt it was important toinitiate this cycle prior to the agreement’santicipated entry into force in 2020, and so aprocess called the Talanoa Dialogue (initiallycalled a facilitative dialogue) has beenestablished for 2018 to serve as an initialstocktaking exercise.

• The Talanoa Dialogue was launched at COP23in Bonn, Germany

https://cop23.com.fj/talanoa-dialogue/#:~:text=The%20Talanoa%20Dialogue%20is%20designed%20to%20take%20stock,increase%20the%20ambition%20of%20their%20NDCs%20by%202020.

The Under2 Coalition:• It is a global community of state and

regional governments committed toambitious climate action in line with theParis Agreement.

• It started as a memorandum ofunderstanding, which was signed bytwelve founding jurisdictions on May 19,2015 in Sacramento, California. Itbecame known as the Under2Coalition in 2017.

• Under2 MOU allows subnationalgovernments such as cities, counties andstates to highlight their work to reducegreenhouse gas emissions.

Geography UPSC Prelims 2020 Question UPSC 2019 Prelims Question What to prepare?

• World and Indiamapping- Oceans andbordering countries,rivers and oceans intowhich they flow into,mountain ranges, hills,plateaus, lakes etc.

• Study/observe Atlasdaily for half an hour

• Look for all places,features in news

Hint from LUKMAAN IAS The Hindu Analysis (30th August 2020)

Hints from The Hindu Newspaper (7th

November 2019, Mapping)

Hints from The Hindu Newspaper (29th April 2020, Mapping)

Environment and Ecology

What to study?• All National parks, Biosphere reserves and important wildlife sanctuaries (Study state-wise)• Species based protection areas • Also look for those in current or cotemporary news

Environment and EcologyUPSC Prelims 2019 Questions UPSC Prelims 2020 Questions

What to study?Laws, rules andregulations related to:• Wildlife and forest

protection• Environment protection• Biodiversity

conservation• Rules to reduce

pollution• Waste management

rules

Environment and Ecology

UPSC Prelims 2020 QuestionsUPSC Prelims 2019 Questions What to study?

• Pollutants and their sources

Environment and Ecology

UPSC Prelims 2020 QuestionsUPSC Prelims 2019 Questions What to study?• Fertilizers, Pesticides, bio-

fertilizers, bio-pesticides etc.

NCERT Based Questions

8th Std. NCERT: Resources and Development

History & Culture being linked to Geography

UPSC Prelims 2019 Questions UPSC Prelims 2020 Questions What to study?• Places of historical and

cultural significance and their details

• Check if these places are in news

Economics- Directly from NCERT12th std. NCERT: Introductory Macroeconomics

Economics- Conceptual understanding and its application

What to study?• Understand the important

concepts from economicsNCERTs.

• Solve more and more MCQsbased on concepts.

12th std. NCERT: Introductory Macroeconomics

Economics – Current affairs related MCQs

What to study?• Important developments in Indian and

World economy (Macroeconomics)Note- Need not to study in detail. You justneed to be aware of these developments.

Science and Technology

Questions from Basic Science

What to study?• Science NCERT Up to 10th Standards• Biology 12th std. NCERT (Some chapters on genetic

disorder and biotechnology)• Focus on biology in science

Questions asked in Prelims 2020 on different technologies

• Blockchain technology and applications

• Artificial Intelligence and applications

• Biotechnology: Stem cells, pluripotency

• Space technology: Space missions

• Communication technology: Visible Light Communication (VLC)

• Human Reproductive technology: Pronuclear Transfer

• Digital technology and infrastructure: Key terms (Public Key Infrastructure)

• Drones and their applications

• Carbon Nanotubes

History, Art & Culture

What to study?• Administration during ancient, medieval and modern period: Military, Civil, Financial,

Trade, Agriculture etc.

History, Art & Culture

What to study?• Buddhism and

Jainism in detail (go beyond NCERT)

History, Art & Culture

What to study?• Chronology of events in ancient,

medieval and modern Indian history

LUKMAAN IAS Foundation Batch History Test Discussion

Books and ResourcesHistory Geography Polity Economy

• Old NCERT: Ancient India• Old NCERT: Medieval India• Class XI NCERT –

Introduction to Fine Art(part 1)

• TN BOARD HISTORY, ClassXI

• A Brief History of ModernIndia” – Spectrum Pub.

• BL Grover Modern IndianHistory (Reference book)

• CCRT website:http://ccrtindia.gov.in/index.php

• NIOS Art & Culture• LUKMAAN IAS classroom

material

• 6th-10th STD NCERT• 11th NCERT: Fundamental

of Physical Geography• 11th NCERT: Geography -

India PhysicalEnvironment

• Certificate physical andhuman geography - GohCheng Leong

• Orient Longman Atlas orOxford Atlas

• LUKMAAN IAS classroommaterial

• Class IX and X NCERT:Democratic Politics

• 11th NCERT: IndianConstitution at Work

• Indian Polity by MLaxmikanth

• Government schemes- PIBportal, India Year Book

• Introduction to theConstitution of India: D DBasu (Reference book)

• Our Political System:Subhash Kashyap(Reference book)

• LUKMAAN IAS classroommaterial

• 11th NCERT: Economics:Indian EconomicDevelopment

• 12th NCERT: Economics:Macroeconomics

• Indian Economy byRamesh Singh

• Economic Survey 2020-21• Datta & Sundaram

(Reference book)• LUKMAAN IAS classroom

material

Science and Technology Environment and Ecology International Relations

• 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th NCERT:Science

• Class 12th Biology NCERT• Lucent pub. book– General

science• Spectrum pub. book• Science Reporter Magazine• Websites like ISRO, DST, DRDO,

NASA• Why, what, how book series• Websites like howstuffworks

Science | HowStuffWorks• LUKMAAN IAS classroom material

• Our Environment – NCERT (VII)• Ecology and Environment – ICSE

books 9th to 12th• Environment Chapter (India Year

Book)• Class 11th NCERT Chemistry: Ch

14: Environmental Chemistry• Ecology: Unit X – Class 12th

Biology NCERT• Down to Earth magazine• Textbook of Environmental Studies

for Undergraduate Courses (UGC)by Erach Bharucha (Referencebook)

• Websites of UNEP, IUCN, ENVIS,UNFCCC, MoEFCC etc.

• LUKMAAN IAS classroom material

• The Hindu analyisis• International organisations, groups

in news (e.g. G20) (directly visittheir websites and know aboutthem)

• Focus on Climate change relatedorganizations (e.g. Under2Coalition) and economics relatedinstitutions (e.g. IMF, World Banksetc.)

• LUKMAAN IAS classroom material

How to study for UPSC Prelims Exam?

• Prepare a timetable for study (try to align with it LUKMAAN IASPrelims module and test series)

• Before starting study of any module, read previous year MCQs ofUPSC prelims

• Read NCERT and basic book for each module (as given in earlier slide)

• Make small notes from the study material

• Solve more and more MCQs (Practice daily 25 MCQ)

• Give Prelims tests (every week), Evaluate your preparation and takefeedback for next test

• Give at least 10 Mock tests after completion of prelims module

Thank You