Here's all you need to know about preparing for the Civil Services examination -- important books, scope of career and more. 'Renu Raj has exploded many civil services myths'
IMAGE: The civil services preliminary examination will be held on June 18, this year.Photograph: Sahil Salvi
The Civil Services Exam, popularly known as the IAS Exam is one of the most coveted and challenging examinations held in India.
Each year, lakhs of aspirants apply for the exam, but only the best minds make it to the final merit list.
The online application process for 2017 has begun online and will end on March 17.
This year there will be approximately 980 vacancies across the country.
If you are planning to take the exam this year, here are some key points to remember:
Exam conducting Body: Union Public Service Examination (UPSC)
Month of Examination: June (Prelims), October (Mains)
Stages of the Exam: 3 (Preliminary examination + Mains examination + Interview)
Level of Complexity: Difficult
Exam Pattern
The Civil Services examination is held once a year in two distinct stages – Preliminary examination (popularly known as prelims) and Mains examination (comprising of written papers and an interview).
Top 10 bank exams to prepare for in 2017 Prelims
The written preliminary examination is scheduled for June 18, 2017. It consists of two objective type papers: General Studies Paper I and II.
Paper I comprises syllabus pertaining to general awareness, is extremely vast in nature.
Paper II features Aptitude and is only qualifying in nature. It is popularly known as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test), although not an official term.
There is also negative marking for every incorrect answer attempted for both Paper I and II.
Paper I (100 Questions, 200 marks)
Paper II( 80 Questions, 200 marks)
Mains
The Main examination consists of 9 descriptive papers. In addition to the written papers, an interview will also be conducted of the candidates who clear the written examination.
Paper A: Any Indian language as enlisted by UPSC (300 marks, Qualifying in nature)
Paper B: English (300 marks, Qualifying in nature)
Paper – I: Essay (250 marks, Compulsory )
Paper – II: General Studies I (250 marks, Compulsory)
Paper – III: General Studies II (250 marks, Compulsory)
Paper –IV: General Studies III(250 marks, Compulsory)
Paper – V: General Studies IV(250 marks, Compulsory)
Paper – VI: Optional Paper 1 (250 marks, Compulsory)
Paper – VII: Optional Paper 2(250 marks, Compulsory)
Recommended Books for Civil Services
The fact that Civil Services include a hefty syllabus makes it confusing for aspirants to choose from the resources available.
Here's a comprehensive list of books that will help you prepare:
History
Old NCERT book for Ancient India; Classes 11 and 12
Nitin Singhania notes for Art and Culture
NCERT book on Medieval India- Classes 11 and 12
Modern India- Spectrums
India Struggle for Independence – Bipin Chandra
World History - Norman Lowe
Geography
World Geography: NCERT books for Classes 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
Indian Geography by Majjid Hussain Certificate Physical and Human Geography by GC Leong
Oxford School Atlas
Polity
NCERT books for classes 11 and 12
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth
Constitution of India by D D Basu
Annual Reports – Sarkaria, Punchi, 2nd ARC (RTI, E-Governance, Social Capital) Economy
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
Economic Survey Summary
SRIRAM's IAS notes
Environment
NCERT book for class 7
Biology NCERT book class 12
Chemistry NCERT book 12 Part 2
ICSE books for Classes 8, 9, 10 books
Shankar IAS Notes
Down to Earth Magazine
General Science
ICSE Books Classes 8, 9 and 10
Science Reporter Magazine
The Hindu's special feature on Science and Technology
Current Affairs
The Hindu
Yojana
Kurukshetra
India Year Book
Ethics
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude by Lexicon
Aptitude
Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams by Dr RS Aggrawal
How to Prepare Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT by Aru
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