History behind the IAS

Prior going deep into cracking IAS exam, it is imperative to garner knowledge about history behind the concept of Indian Administrative Services. Indian Administrative Service Exam remains to be the second toughest exam the first being the French Civil Services Exam to get through as per a survey report. Yet it is a proven fact that cracking IAS exam could be achievable with sapience and hard work. In fact, Indian Civil Service seems to be the best opted career in India that offers status, privileges, perks, and job satisfaction above all. It is indeed a wonderful opportunity of service that enables the personnel to relish levers of power and take over the most responsible positions in the Indian administrative setup. Every year in India more than 100 IAS aspirants do manage to get through this prestigious administrative services exam. Do we all know that the brains behind our renowned policy makers are certain intelligent IAS personnel? Yes! Each and every scheme or legislation framed out in the administration with great deal of fanfare has been well planned and executed by IAS officers of various disciplines, it should be noted. The career as an IAS officer is, of course, multidimensional, challenging, and extremely fulfilling too. They need to frame out and implement different policies and programs and to govern all sectors both public and private for sustenance of economic development. The concept of IAS originates as a colonial innovation of Indian Civil Services (ICS) before Independence and the most important position then was the district collector or magistrate since the 19th century. The Collector with more powers at that time was the most authoritative person of the government in the administrative setup at the district level. After Independence, the first Indian Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhahi Patel, the mastermind behind the present day Indian Administrative Services launched the 'Steel Frame' to cater to the needs of our enormously large, but a poor, undeveloped and fledgling democratic country. Since then up until the present day, IAS officers are responsible to carry out all sorts of functions and duties effectively.

Revised 2012 IAS exam Basic features

Pattern
The pattern of IAS Exam to be held in 2012 undergoes changes from 2011 and will feature the new CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) syllabus at the preliminary level. It also indicates that as per the existing type, the questions in paper I and II of the preliminary exam would be bilingual both in English and Hindi, exceptional for testing comprehension skills in English Language that ought to be in English. A sample of questions for new CSAT syllabus has been also published on the UPSC web site for reference of the IAS aspirants. The IAS exam conducted by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC), a governing body set up in New Delhi by the Indian Constitution comprises three stages namely prelims (preliminary), mains and interview (personality test). With the prelims being objective type of new CSAT syllabus, the mains are written-type and the interview to test the aspirant's personality goes obviously viva voce. Preliminary pattern 1. As mentioned above, the new CSAT prelim exam of objective type with multiple choices consists of two papers paper I and paper II compulsory to all Civil Services aspirants including IAS, IPS, IRS, IRTS, IRPS, and so on. 2. Negative penalty is applicable, i.e., negative marking of 0.33 marks for each wrong answer. 3. Each paper carries 200 marks and two hours in duration, number of questions not fixed. 4. Candidates need to appear for both papers that would be held on the same day and dates need to be crosschecked with the notification in the web site or Employment News. 5. The attempt will be counted even if one paper is attended. In case, the aspirant simply applies for the preliminary but unable to attend the exam then the attempt will not be counted.

Mains pattern The main examination consists of nine papers that have been of descriptive pattern to be held in a period of 20-day schedule. It has been designed in such a way to analyze the aspirant's academic intelligence and ability to coordinate and showcase his/her knowledge coherently and convincingly. Overall, 2012 IAS Mains exam will carry 2000 marks and candidates scoring more than 940 marks (under general category) can be shortlisted for Interview Test from the UPSC. The duration for all nine papers of the Mains exam is of three hours with a three-hour break between the two papers held on the same day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Paper I - one among the 22 Indian Languages included in the VIIIth Schedule of the Constitution to be chosen by the IAS aspirant, a qualifying paper (300 marks) Paper II English a qualifying paper (300 marks) Paper III Essay in the medium that the aspirant has chosen (200 marks) Paper IV and V General Studies with 300 marks for each paper (total 600 marks) Papers VI, VII, VIII and IX - Any two subjects (each consisting of two papers) selected from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for each paper and in total 1200 marks) Interview or Personal Test in the medium selected by the candidate (300 marks)

Eligibility criteria to appear for IAS exam

1. Must be an Indian citizen 2. Minimum age to be 21 years at the time of filling up the prelims application form and not more than 30 years for general category, 21-33 years of age for OBC and 21-35 years for SC/ST. 3. Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university or final year students awaiting result provided they are able to submit it while applying for the mains exam. 4. Considering the number of attempts, candidates under general category are eligible to take not more than four attempts inclusive of preliminary, aspirants under OBC not more than seven attempts and under SC/ST class no attempt limit is mentioned.

Scheduled dates for 2012 IAS exam

The notification for the IAS preliminary examination will be published in the Employment News as well as on the web site of UPSC on 04/02/2012 and application can be processed through either online or by post. The application forms would be available at the Head Post Offices in major cities across the country. The last date of receipt of application is 05/03/2012 and the prelims exam (first stage) of the IAS will be conducted on 20/05/2012. The Civil Services or IAS (Main) examination will begin from 05/10/2012 to continue for 21 days. General Studies (GS) will be on the first day followed by Essay and English (compulsory), the Indian Language paper on the third day that would be followed by different optional papers on various dates.

Syllabus for IAS exam

Prelims - Paper I 1. Current 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 development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives, etc. 6. General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate change-that do not require subject specialization

7. General science Paper II 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 interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Class X level) 7. English language comprehension skills (Class X level)

X level), Data

Optional Subjects for Mains Optional subjects include agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary science, botany, chemistry, civil engineering, commerce and accountancy, economics, electrical engineering, geography, geology, history, law, management, mathematics, mechanical engineering, medical science, philosophy, physics, political science and international relations, psychology, public administration, sociology, statistics, zoology. Subjects in Literature for Mains The list contains Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Combinations not allowed The following list of combinations is not allowed while taking optional subjects in the syllabus for IAS exam: 1. Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration 2. Commerce and Management 3. Anthropology and Sociology 4. Mathematics and Statistics 5. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science 6. Management and Public Administration 7. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science 8. Combination of two branches of engineering. 9. Combination of two literatures specified in the literature list.

Study material for IAS exam

To achieve success in the IAS exam 2012, the aspirer has to equip with recommended books and magazines that support the new revised CSAT pattern for prelims. With a different adoptive approach for the prelims, the candidate has to spend equal time to those two papers of CSAT since they are based on general studies. Following part lists out the suggested books to get-go with the CSAT preparation. Books for CSAT paper I General Studies Manual: As it contains all aspects of paper I in detail and from revision viewpoint also GS manual will be useful. Modern History: India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra Ancient and Medieval History: NCERT text books of class VIII to X General Sciences: NCERT text books of class IX and X Geography: NCERT text books class XI and XII, a good Atlas, Certificate Course in Physical Geography by Goh Cheng Leong Indian economy: Spectrum's books on Economy and Economic Survey for figures and analysis

Current Affairs: Manorama Year Book, The Hindu newspaper, Frontline, and magazines like Civil Services Chronicle, Chanakya, Competition WIZARD or Civil Services Today. Politics: Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap with bare constitution containing just the articles. Paper II With paper I being unchanged, paper II includes new varied topics such as mental ability, data interpretation, English language test, passage, decision making, and logical reasoning. While topics like mental ability, logical reasoning, and data interpretation being tracked by a single book subjects like English language test, passage and decision making may be gone through by another. Some notable books have been CSAT Manual by Pearson, Crack CSAT by Disha Experts, CSAT Paper 2 by Unique Publications and Quantitative Apitude by R.S. Aggarwal for mental ability.