The Civil Services Main examination is designed to know the aspirants personality and also his/her ability to present his/her knowledge in a comprehensible, consistent and descriptive manner. The IAS Mains Exam evaluates the overall intellectual quality of the candidates’ and his insights on different issues.

General Studies paper 1 is of  250 Marks and contains Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society in syllabus.  Click here for UPSC MAINS SYLLABUS 2021


2019 UPSC MAINS GS PAPER 1

  1. Highlight the Central Asian and Greco-Bactrian elements in the Gandhara art. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

  2. The 1857 Uprising was the culmination of the recurrent big and small local rebellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. Elucidate. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  3.  Examine the linkages between the ninteenth century's 'Indian Renaissance' and the emergence of national identity. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  4.  Assess the impact of global warming on the coral life system with examples. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  5.  Discuss the causes of depletion of mangroves and explain their importance in maintaining coastal ecology. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  6.  Can the strategy of regional resource-based manufacturing help in promoting employment in India? (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  7.  Discuss the factors for localisation of agro-based food processing industries of North-West India. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  8. What makes the Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  9.  "Empowering women is the key to control population growth." Discuss. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  10.  What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks
  11. Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  12.  Assess the role of British imperial power in complicating the process of transfer of power during the 1940s. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  13.  Explain how the foundations of the modern world were laid by the American and French Revolutions. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  14.  What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India? (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  15.  How can the mountain ecosystem be restored from the negative impact of development initiatives and tourism? (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  16.  How is efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India? (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  17.  How do ocean currents and water masses differ in their impacts on marine life and coastal environment? Give suitable examples. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  18. Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Eleborate with examples. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  19. What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space? (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks
  20. Are we losing your local identity for the global identity? Discuss. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks


The nature of questions in General Studies in civil services mains exam need answers that are relevant, consequential and synoptic . These questions are to test the candidate’s skill on assessing and taking a view on the diverging socio-economic goals and objectives.To get more tips on studies of UPSC mains  click here 


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