UPSC Prelims Answer Key 2018 with explanation.

Hello friends this is a collection of  UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2018 paper  with answers and explanations.

Answer Key and Analysis 

Just some questions Googled for quick checking, I personally suggest Shankar IAS academy/ IAS parliament key and Cut off prediction.

The ATM linking question : 

  • In August 2003, the IDRBT announced that it would be creating the National Financial Switch (NFS) to link together the country’s ATMs in a single network. It is run by the National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI).

Rule of Law Index :

  • world Justice project.

Dried up shrunk immensely 

Books on Mazzini, Garibaldi 

Merchant Discount Rate?

Delhi longitude

  • Delhi:          28.7041° N, 77.1025° E
  • Bengaluru  12.9716° N, 77.5946° E
  • Hyderabad 17.3850° N, 78.4867° E
  • Nagpur        21.1458° N, 79.0882° E
  • Pune            18.5204° N, 73.8567° E

ILO 138 and 182 : Child labour 

Geographical Indications : India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection)Act, 1999 has come into force with effect from 15th September 2003.

National food security actNational Food Security Act, 2013  (210 KB)

  • BPL is wrong and also it’s 600 calories so leaving 2 only
  • The eldest woman who is not less than eighteen years of age, in every eligible household, shall be head of the household for the purpose of issue of ration cards.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
  •  Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954, Fruit Products Order , 1955, Meat Food Products Order,1973,
  •  Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.
  • The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command.The Act establishes an independent statutory Authority

 

  • The Chapchar Kut is a festival of Mizoram
  • traditional Manipuri music Khongjom Parva

  • Thang ta during Sangai Festival in Manipur.

 

  • Sujani Embroidery Bihar
  • Uppada Jamdani Sari is a silk sari style woven in Uppada of East Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
  • Leaving only 1 Puthukkuli shawls – Tamilnadu

Legal tender is any official medium of payment recognized by law that can be used to extinguish a public or private debt, or meet a financial obligation. The national currency is legal tender in practically every country. A creditor is obligated to accept legal tender toward repayment of a debt.

Wannacry , petaya and eternal blue: Cyber attacks.

Future Buddha :  According to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future.

Diamonds question : The French traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier visited the Krishna River diggings in 1665, and estimated that about 60,000 people were mining diamonds.

Sthānakavāsī is a sect of Śvētāmbara Jainism founded by a merchant named Lavaji in 1653 AD sthanakvasi question

The Hind Mazdoor Sabha Its founders included Basawon Singh (Sinha), Ashok Mehta, R.S. Ruikar, Maniben Kara, Shibnath Banerjee, R.A. Khedgikar, T.S. Ramanujam, V.S. Mathur, G.G. Mehta.

Alarm question : Internet of things

The carbon fertilization effect The CO2 fertilization effect or carbon fertilization effect suggests that the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases the rate of photosynthesis in plants. The effect varies depending on the plant species, the temperature, and the availability of water and nutrients.

  • The Belle II experiment is a particle physics experiment designed to study the properties of B mesonsBelle II is the successor to the Belle experiment
  • Blockchain : Crypto currency
  • CRISPR Cas9 – Gene editing

GM mustard : Delhi university and ICAR ans must be 2 ?

Genetically modified crops: Taking fear-mongering to new heights Concerns over GM mustard impacting pollination and honey production have no empirical basis

IRNSS: 

  • Three satellites will be in geostationary orbit
  • Rest Geosynchronous
  • It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it.

Catalonia Spain , if you know this much B and D are eliminated ,

  • leaving Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines.
  • The Republic of Crimea, officially part of Ukraine, lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Momentum for Change: Climate Neutral Now

  • The UNFCCC secretariat launched its Climate Neutral Now initiative in 2015.

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) was launched in 2013 as a response to the call at Rio+20 to support those countries wishing to embark on greener and more inclusive growth trajectories.

Gandhi secured the presidency of Home rule league in 1920 , they changed the name to Swarajya Sabha not home rule league .

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

  • Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a platform to certify those individuals who have work experience in a concerned skill or have learned a skill without formal training or qualification. Individuals will be certified according to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

Kodaikanal Lake, also known as Kodai Lake is a manmade lake located in the Kodaikanal city in Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu, India. Sir Vere Henry Levinge, the then Collector of Madurai, was instrumental in creating the lake in 1863.

Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional compositions, most in Telugu and in praise of Lord Rama so we can eliminate option 1, they are not contemporaries , so it leaves B 2 and 4 only.

THAAD – is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.

Bani Thani is an Indian miniature painting painted by Nihâl Chand from the Marwar school of Kishangarh.

Mazar-i-Sharif often called just Mazar, is the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan , Aleppo is a city in Syria . Kirkuk is a city in Iraq. Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq.

ASEAN : Aus- Newzland-China -Japan- India http://asean.org/asean-economic-community/free-trade-agreements-with-dialogue-partners/

The concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) was originally developed by FAO and officially presented and at the Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change in 2010, GACSA is an inclusive, voluntary and action-oriented multi-stakeholder platform on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).

An Additional Protocol (AP) to the Safeguards Agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities entered into force on 25 July 2014.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-III), also referred to as the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) is a three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary – Arunachal Pradesh, Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve.

The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. 
 

Prelims [Kitkat] Questions UPSC

In 2017 there was a prelims question : At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the sea water recedes from the shore line a few kilometres and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the sea floor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at

(a) Bhavnagar
(b) Bheemunipatnam
(c) Chandipur
(d) Nagapattinam

Solution: C

One can find Chandipur’s mention in previous UPSC papers, but most recent priming is found on cover of Kit kat bar , not suggesting that question came from there but high probability ! The company is running a campaign called #MyTravelBreak pack, contains some interesting information on various places in India.

 

So we are adding Images of places with some thing “unique”, who knows a prelims question can come from these ! If you have any list or photos of any places of interest , please do let us know Mail : [email protected] Telegram : @naylak or comments section.

UMNGOT RIVER in some parts is as transparent as crystal and you can actually see the river bed!

  • Umngot river, that flows in both India and Bangladesh, is in Meghalaya
  • The river is the natural boundary between Ri Pnar (of Jaintia Hills) with Hima Khyrim (of Khasi Hills) over which hangs a single span suspension bridge.

ATHIRAPALLY FALLS Kerala  are fondly known as the Niagara Falls of India! It is on the Chalakudy River, which originates from the upper reaches of the Western Ghats

GANDIKOTA is popularly known as the Grand Canyon of India!  Gandikota is situated on the Pennar River in Andhra Pradesh and is known as the Grand Canyon of India.

The ZANSKAR RIVER in Ladakh J&K offers a unique opportunity to trek on a frozen river.The Zanskar River is a north-flowing tributary of the Indus. In winter when the road to Zanskar is closed by snow on the high passes, the only overland route to Padum is by walking along the frozen river, a multi-day hike that is now sold as an adventure activity called the Chadar ‘ice sheet’ Trek

MAJULI, a complete town situated on the world’s largest river island within the mighty Brahmaputra.  Assam ,Probably the most know and most famous topic here.

BELUM CAVES, Andhra Pradesh with almost 3.2 kms of underground tunnels, are amongst the longest caves open for public access in India. The Belum Caves is the largest and longest cave system open to the public on the Indian subcontinent, known for its speleothems, such as stalactite and stalagmite formations. The Belum Caves have long passages, galleries, spacious caverns with fresh water and siphons.

CHIKMAGALUR is often known as the birth place of coffee in India.

Nubra Valley 

is a tri-armed valley located to the north east of Ladakh valley. Diskit the capital of Nubra is about 150 km north from Leh town, the capital of Ladakh district, India.

Bactrian camels of Nubra Valley are large even-toed ungulates native to Central Asian steppes. They are a critically endangered sub species with very few of them left in the wild. he Bactrian camel has two humps on its back

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Useful Links for UPSC

This is a collection of Useful links we at Parivarthan provide, we share Current affairs of various institutes like Vision IAS,Vajiram, Shankar IAS, GS Score , AIR news analysis, Yojana , Kurukshetra and EPW magzines, also we share Rajya sabha TV select episodes.

Do let us know if you are looking for any thing specific other than copyrighted material , Thank you.

UPSC Prelims 2018 Books List and resources

Google all you want about UPSC Prelims 2018 Books List , listen to as many topper talks as you want and talk to as many seniors as you can , you will end up some what with the following books any how, because we have arrived here after doing the same , so have some faith as we are not only giving you books list but will also explain why you need to read them .

Every year prelims pattern changes, weight-age of some parts of syllabus like polity etc goes up(2013), some times it goes down(2016) , some times static part gets less attention and current affairs gets all the glory (2016).  But you cannot clear prelims just because of one subject or by reading current affairs alone , you will have to balance, for example current affairs might boost your score around hundred , but to cross that cutoff you need static part help.

Don’t take my word for it , Mrunal Bhai has written an in depth article analyzing the UPSC Prelim GS-2017 paper.

Static Part have been divided in to few major subjects. History , Polity , Economy , Geography, Science , Environment and Bio diversity . And then Current affairs contrary to popular belief not any thing and every thing under the son (at least not most of the times) .

I wont repeat my self, if you are a serious aspirant and know the importance of revision and highlighting your books go for paperbacks and dont chase after summary or PDF’s , if you are not understanding what I am saying today and excusing yourself with I am poor etc… looking for Laxmikanth summary and wasting time online, I have news for you friend , on 03.06.2018 you are going to regret it because you did not revise properly.  Ask those who failed prelims but worked very hard, they will totally agree with what I am saying, Revision will separate as what they say men from boys, and women from girls.  Your call, that is the last time I am ever going to emphasize on having the same book every time you read.

History

NCERTs:

  •  Ancient India – RS Sharma
  •  Medieval India – Sathish Chandra
  •  Modern India – Bipan Chandra First 7 chapters from there on you will find same thing in standard text books.
  • The above three are must read for basic foundation, they are useful in mains too , keep previous papers book  with you , read a chapter from the ncert , after that go through the previous papers book, you will see how many previous questions came from these NCERT books.
  •   Themes in Indian History 3 parts .
  • Tamilnadu Textbook 11th class. For ancient , selected chapters.
  • Google Drive link for all History NCERT books .

Standard text books :

  •  Brief History of Modern India (Spectrum Publication) * must read for Prelims  why this book, this book is summary of Bipan chandra it self, its a notes of a topper, so making notes again from this will be futile and time wasting exercise, also at the end of the chapters he neatly summarizes the chapter in one or two pages, along with quotes. Even topics like press, women , various movements are neatly bifurcated to help the aspirants even in mains, so going beyond this at-least for prelims is not advisable.
  • Bipan Chandra India’s struggle for Independence. For the bigger picture and deep understanding , you will not miss much if you read spectrum alone, but if time permits a wonderful read .
  • Plassey to partition by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, suggested by few toppers, deeply analytical and mostly useful in mains. But Bipan chandra or this only after you are done with Spectrum.

Art and Culture:

Geography

NCERTs 6th to 12th google drive link 

Indian Polity

  •  Political Science NCERTs (11th and 12th Standard)
  •  Indian Constitution at Work
  •  Politics in India Since Independence
  • Indian Polity – Laxmikanth ,* must read  probably the most unanimously accepted, recommended book for UPSC exam , there is no need go beyond this one for prelims, mains and Interview for polity. Almost all questions on polity 99% of them can be solved by reading laxmikanth properly, it is our lack of revision and clarity that fails us not the book . You will be surprised at the detail and depth the book offers at same time making it a lucid read for such a dry topic . If there is such thing as UPSC booker prize, Laxmikath will win it hands down. Still not convinced , that’s blasphemy.

Science

Science NCERTs

7-12 NCERT. Mrunal Bhai has kindly created a table to read chapter wise.

ClassPHYSICSChemistryBiology
74, 13, 14 & 155 & 61,2,10; 11 & 12
811 to 163 to 62, 8, 9 & 10
98 to 121 to 45,6,7 & 13
1010, 12 & 131 to 56 to 11
111,5,81,142 to 5
121514,164,5 then 7 to 16

Hindu Newspaper Science and Tech Weekly Column (Sunday) also you can read this section from Vision or Vajiram monthly current affairs section . Do not Ignore this section, you will never know what UPSC might throw at you , one question is enough to destroy your dream . So at-least read most obvious topics and revise previous questions.

Indian Economy

  •  Economy 11th and 12th NCERTs  Micro and Macroeconomics and  Indian Economic Development, dont go in to graphs and other data just the concept. once you are done, shift to Ramesh Singh.
  • Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh this book covers every thing in syllabus, useful in both prelims and mains, given that you also are in sync with daily current affairs. Best part is will update with budget and economic survey latest data, so I will recommend to buy it in next march or Feb, till then watch all mrunal videos.
  • For basic understanding of economics in very simple and exam oriented way I recommend, MRUNAL bhai ! Economy Lectures for UPSC General Studies follow his videos and you will understand every thing you need for prelims.

Environment:

You need to have static knowledge , rote learning (Tiger reserves etc ) mixed with geographical knowledge, to solve some questions, rest all are based on current affairs. Please go through previous question papers.

Current Affairs:

  • The Hindu  Selective reading , giving more importance to editorial and opinion section. If you miss any thing Vision or vajiram will cover it in their current affairs, so focus on developing analysis and learning about news and events, after a month or so current affairs magazines will be released, they will act as revision to what you already read in newspapers, they should always be your first source of knowledge and information.
  • Indian Express Opinions and explained sections only.
  • Live Mint Opinion page only.
  • Vision IAS Current affairs or Vajiram Monthly current affairs . Also Vision or Shankar IAS will release materials like ranks, World organisation and Government schemes, so do not waste your time researching, they will do all the work for you, just sit back , read , revise and write tests.

Magazines

Other Important Books

  •  India Year Book – PIB Publication, you can read the summary of this one or selected chapters .
  • Economic Survey suggested to read in full , will help in mains and prelims, with out revision time waste to read it even the first time. So plan accordingly.
  • 14000+ Objective Questions – General Studies forget about answers (some errors), will help you gain so much knowledge and understanding in little time, read the textbook, solve the questions.. you will notice the difference .

Maths:

I used to have mortal fear of maths,but slowly with practice you can over come this fear,I did not knew even the basics and it used to be a huge problem,but thanks to Narendra(my friend) and Mruanl Bhai’s posts on maths I started with NCERTS for basics then I moved on to other books.

Rajesh Verma book is perfect for those who are like me,who hate maths. Trust me he explains in very easy way,you can do most of the problems.

Reasoning:

The standard in CSAT is not complicated or tough but time taking,so Practice is the only solution to manage time. If you are like me again who never did any reasoning or dont know how to solve basic problems, Arihanth CSAT guide is a good place to start.

Passages:

Luckily for me I have the habit of reading books and blogs, this helped me immensely in this section,Reading is the only practice,read editorials of various news papers daily . Arihanth CSAT will help.

practice practice Practice … the only mantra for CSAT .

Finally will all these help you to clear prelims ?

Honestly we believe in this books list, we want you to succeed and write your mains, but reading with right orientation and knowing how much is more important than mere reading , so how will you know you are in the right path , only by writing test series.

Those who set question papers will do through analysis of past paper and present news, and set questions on the similar lines, for example do you know what are the 8 core sectors ? you must have read Hindu daily IIP, in business section , but have you taken time to find what they are ? what is their weight-age ?

Both these are UPSC prelims questions ! you can check any standard test series you will find questions on this topics because they set paper in such way, these kind of insights you can gain only by writing test, solving previous papers.

Practice, I have no idea who you are, if you are still here reading this , I sincerely believe you are dedicated aspirant , trying to learn some thing , learn from quality sources, the money you invest in test series is an investment in your future not a hole in your pocket. You are paying for the skill of analyzing and giving all that gyan and helping you . it is worth paying .

Write as many tests as you can , learn from your mistakes, work hard, UPSC is no joke, take this exam very seriously, you might be talented and smart, still you cannot master every thing in less time, the right time is now , start today ! believe in that and start, as Sun Tzu says Victorious warriors win first and then go to war. 

Hope this post helps you to consolidate the books list, and start your preparation . Your comments are most welcome, all text books links are amazon affiliate and rest are google drive links.

Thank you .
Kalyan.