UPSC 2020 Civil Services Preliminaries: The Union Public Service Commission conducted the 2020 Civil Services Preliminary Exam on Sunday, October 4. In the preliminaries there are two documents: Document 1 (General Studies) and Document 2 (CSAT). Test 2 is only qualifying in nature and therefore Test 1 is very important in reaching the cut marks. The cap, that is, the minimum grades required to qualify for the preliminaries vary each year. For general category candidates, the cutoff was 98 in the 2019 UPSC preliminaries, 98 in the 2018 UPSC preliminaries, and 105.34 in the 2017 UPSC preliminaries. This variation in cut scores is due to the dynamic nature of the document.
This year’s cap is expected to stay almost close to last year as the question paper was unconventional. Even current issues demanded conceptual clarity to resolve.
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In the 2020 preliminaries, UPSC asked Polity more questions, approximately 16 questions were asked directly from Polity. The document touched on the usual conventional areas like Preamble, Fundamental Rights, DPSP, Basic Structure, Government of the Union, etc. Politics also influenced some topical issues. For example, questions were asked about MPLADS and the Parliament Session. Interestingly, UPSC asked more questions that needed conceptual understanding this year. For example, the interpretation of constitutional government, parliamentary democracy, gandism, Marxism, etc. they found space. Overall, the policy level was easy to moderate.
In the midst of so much news about financial crises, current affairs are sure to influence the economics section of the newspaper. This year, around 14 questions were asked directly from the economy. Some questions, such as the questions on the golden leg, FDI, TRIMS, etc., were direct questions based on concepts. While some questions about the RBI’s monetary policy, the role of cooperative banks, etc., were influenced by current events. Overall, the Economics section was also easy to moderate.
The science section, as usual, was dominated by Science and Technology and also heavily influenced by Current Affairs. This year there were about ten Science questions and eight Science and Technology questions. It seems that UPSC has become more interested in the application of technology. For example, applications of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology, Nanotubes, etc. were asked. Overall, this section could have been easily handled, if an aspirant has covered static and current issues intelligently.
In history, the domination of modern India was not there as it used to be. The part has been taken over by Ancient, Medieval and Culture. In History, 18 questions have been formulated with around 9 from the Ancient, Medieval and Culture part. Overall, it was a mix of easy, moderate, and difficult questions.
Geography, which is UPSC’s favorite domain, is dominated by agriculture this year. There were about 10 Geography and Agriculture questions. In fact, this year UPSC has asked some fundamental technical questions. For example, soil types, climate, and crop fertilizers became part of three different questions. News-influenced Atlas-based questions were there too. Overall, this section could have been done if someone had covered the agriculture part of Geography very well.
The environment, UPSC’s favorite subject, held its ground. He marked about 17 questions. The questions were mainly based on facts and knowledge regarding pollutants, national parks, biofuels, etc. In general, an applicant with good clarity and good memorization of facts can make smart guesses by eliminating.
Current Affairs, where UPSC delivers surprises, was the same this year. About 15 questions from Current Affairs. Sometimes it becomes difficult to separate static parts of Current Affairs. For example, most of the questions in the Economics and Science and Technology Section have been asked under the influence of the news, but they have not crossed the boundaries of the static syllabus. The government’s plan was a mistake with very few like one on the Kisan credit card. The places in the news found their due space and COVID influenced questions such as animal cells and vaccines. The reports and the agencies could not find his conventional position.
Overall, UPSC Prelims 2020 was an unconventional package of questions, where the cut is expected to remain about the same as last year.
(The author Manoj K Jha is a director of GS Score, a civil services institute. Opinions expressed here are personal.)
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