Collection Of Websites For Your Preparation

Hi all... We all know that Internet is a huge pool of knowledge.But without knowing what to read it will be a disaster. In the same way we have many websites for our preparation for UPSC. But you might know some and you might not know some.So in this post I will post some of very useful websites for your preparation. Use this post as a way to share the links of the website you think are worth to mention.

1. Saptarshi's Blog -- LINK -- If you are out of mind and you are messed up with lots of current affairs stuff then you should visit this blog for important articles with great presentation.

2. General Studies Daily Quiz -- LINK -- A great blog to test your knowledge daily on a certian topic in 5 minutes.

3. Indian Current Affairs -- LINK -- One post per day and you will get the whole news in a concise form. Best site for to keep updated with News in 3-5 minutes.

4. Help For UPSC Prelims -- LINK -- A great blog for all your questions and queries about UPSC prelims. You can also find strategies for preparation of various subjects.

5. General Knowledge Today -- LINK -- One of the best blogs for your General Knowledge and Current Affairs knowledge.

6. Civil Service India -- LINK -- Are You preparing for UPSC ? Then dont miss this site Its like our Mini Bible

7. Exam Race -- LINK -- Where can you get so much of material and previous papers in an organised way? Here is the answer.

8. CSGS India -- LINK -- UPSC General Studies Bible.

9. UPSC Portal -- LINK -- Another great website with large user database providing free material and a free monthly competitive magazine. Shouldnt miss it

10. Indian Officer Forums -- LINK -- A great forum for your questions and helpful information about preparation of the concerned subject you are opting for.

This is not the entire list. I will update it whenever I find any worthy website. If you know any good website other than these mentioned here , please make a comment here.

Analysis of Last Year UPSC Final Marks and Attached Marks List : By Ghanshyam

Ghanshyam from Target IAS community in Orkut has carried out an analysis of the number of selected candidates from each of the optionals. The same list is arranged in descending order of the number of candidates. Since every candidate has two optionals the total would come to double the number of candidates selected.

Subject - No Of Successful Candidates with this as one of their optional

Public Administration - 336
Geography - 236
History - 211
Psychology - 116
Sociology - 89
Philosophy - 84
Political Science & Intnl. Rel. - 84
Lit. of Hindi Language - 56
Agriculture - 41
Anthropology - 37
Economics - 37
Lit. of Tamil Language - 29
Law - 19
Lit. of Pali Language - 18
Zoology - 18
Medical Science - 16
Physics - 16
Commerce & Accountancy - 15
Botany - 14
Lit. of Kanada Language - 14
Lit. of Sanskarit Language - 10
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science - 8
Lit. of Telugu Language - 8
Mathematics - 8
Chemistry - 7
Lit. of Gujarati Language - 7
Lit. of Marathi Language - 7
Lit. of English Language - 6
Lit. of Malyalam Language - 5
Lit. of Punjabi Language - 5
Mechanical Engineering - 5
Electrical Engineering - 4
Lit. of Urdu Language - 4
Geology - 2
Lit. of Assamese Language - 2
Civil Engineering - 1
Lit. of Maithili Language - 1
Lit. of Manipuri Language - 1
Management - 1

Pub Ad has really been very successful this year.



Following is an analysis of Final Marks of those selected the 791 Candidates selected this year. The highlights are:

Average Marks in Interview (Category Wise) are:

General Category - 177
Other Backward Classes - 167
Scheduled Caste - 163
Scheduled Tribe - 168
Overall Average - 171

Average Marks in Essay - 111.5
Average Marks in General Studies - 285

The average marks in some popular optionals (breakup with those having the particular subject as their first & second optional) are

Geography First Optional 295
Second Optional 299

Public Administration First Optional 330
Second Optional 324

History First Optional 321
Second Optional 329

Psychology First Optional 318
Second Optional 306

Commerce First Optional 310

Sociology First Optional 307.7
Second Optional 314

It seems Geography & General studies have been a drag in general. Public Administration & History have showered in good marks.

DOWNLOAD the full marklist of the successful candidates in UPSC 2008

courtesy: Posts in Target IAS Orkut community by Ghanshyam

My Journey so Far

Hi friends its been around 2 months I decided to start preparing for IAS. So far it is good. So How is your preparation? Since I am going to write the exam in 2011. I started my preparation for General studies and with lots of thinking and other factors I decided my optionals finally. I stood with Psychology and History. My reasons for my optionals are like this. In my second year I thought of doing B.Sc Psychology in distance but could not find the time to do it. And also by seeing the average marks and success rate of Psychology I decided on it as one of my optional. Then came the biggest problem, the other optional. I have many options the relevant for me are Chemistry,Mathematics, Philosophy, History, Sociology, Public administration, Political Science.

• First I thought I am going to become IAS officer so I should know Public Administration. So I should take this.
• After two days I thought Political Science is very interesting and half of the general studies is covered by Political science So I was decided to take Polity.
• After a day I thought Sociology is interesting too and lot more easy when compared to others.
• Next I thought I should take Philosophy since I was interested from long time in the subject and the combo Psychology and Philosophy is awesome. But somehow I was not postive about it and dropped it.
• Next .. no no no I am a science student and I cleared IIT-JEE and went through Mathematics and Chemistry papers and I scored high marks in Chemistry in JEE. So I was very strongly decided to take Chemistry.
• But some doubts and other things in my mind. So I took the marks list of UPSC 2009. I know that I should not finalise my optional based on others marks but out of curiosity found some interesting and useful things that I will post after this post and dropped Chemistry with reasons like I should study for GS and Chemistry. I should take an optional which covers GS too.
• So back to Square One. How about Pub Ad and Polity?
  
• Hell I forgot one of my favorite subject all these days History. How come I ignore that subject? I went through the syllabus , previous papers , average marks and success rate. Yes Now I found what I needed.
  
• So finalised History as my first optional.

I think many of you might have also went through the same situation.Since I have so much of time I was not worried during my selection otherwise it would have been like hell. I came to know that with interest ,there should be a confidence on the subject that it wont let you down is an important factor for peaceful preparation.

Anyways Choose your optionals very cleverly Otherwise you will feel depressed.

GoodLuck to You All.

Eligibility Conditions to write UPSC

(i) Nationality:

• For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
• For other services, a candidate must be either:

(a) A citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India. or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

Provided further that candidates belonging to categories (b), (c) and (d) above will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.

A candidate, in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him by the Government of India.

(ii) Minimum Educational Qualifications:

The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University Under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.


Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission's examination but have not been informed of the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite examination with their application for the Main Examination failing which such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination.

Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who has not any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his admission to the examination.

Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications, which are recognised by Government, as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the examination.

Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree.

(iii) Age limit:

21 years must be completed on 1st August of the year, which a candidate is appearing. Maximum 30 for general category, 33 for OBCs and 35 for SCs/STs. Ex-servicemen will get 5 more years exemption from the prescribed age limit.

(The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University, which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate).

(iv) Number of Attempts:

Four attempts for open, seven for OBCs and no limit for SCs/STs. If a person appears in the Preliminary Examination or even one paper is counted as an attempt.

(v) Restrictions on applying for the examination:

A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination.

source: Examrace.com