Paper Observation - UPSC Prelims GS - 2020

The UPSC Civil Services Examination paper this year was considered to be tougher compared to previous years, with confusing options provided. The static portions, such as History, Polity, Geography, and Economics, were given due weightage as expected.

Questions across all subjects ranged from easy to medium to difficult levels, with a few unconventional questions also being asked. This year, many questions were related to agriculture, which were asked from the perspective of geography, environment, and economics.

Some questions asked by UPSC, although inspired by current affairs, required overall general awareness. For instance, questions on Indian elephants, cyber insurance, G-20, and Siachen glacier.

Polity questions demanded a deeper understanding of the Constitution and its provisions. The options in polity questions were close, but very easy basic fundamental questions like DPSP, Right to Equality, etc., were asked from regular sources like Laxmikanth. Questions covering the governance aspect, such as Aadhar and Legal Services, were also given weightage.

In the History section, Ancient India questions were given more weightage unlike in previous years, and their difficulty level was also high. Art & Culture and Medieval Indian history also had tough questions. However, the modern history section was of moderate difficulty overall.

Environment questions, unlike previous years, did not focus on international climate initiatives and bodies. This year, the focus was on environmental issues, application of technology, and related concepts like benzene pollution, steel slag, biochar, etc.

Map reading and Atlas continue to play an important role in the Geography section preparation. This year, Geography included a mix of factual and conceptual questions like major minerals, ocean mean temperature, jet streams, etc.

Science and Technology questions were more on technology aspects than on basic science. Direct relations of S&T developments could be linked with current affairs like Visible light communication, pronuclear transfer, Pneumococcal vaccine, etc. However, a few questions sought to test deeper knowledge and clarity, like germline gene therapy, e-LISA, Carbon Nano Tubes, etc.

The overall weightage of Economics questions was increased this year. It ranged from basic, definition-based questions like demand deposit, WPI, commercial paper, reserve tranche, etc., to current affairs-inspired questions like KCC and MSP. Statistics/trend-based questions were fewer this year compared to last year.

The Current Affairs-based questions were not restricted to the past one year's news but gauged overall depth and comprehension of the topics.

Overall, the themes of the questions asked seemed relevant but required in-depth understanding and knowledge. Thus, it can be said that UPSC expects the aspirants to read the fine print and prepare topics holistically.