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UPSC Mains PYQs

1053 questions

Every General Studies question since 2013, ready to attempt. Model answers arrive week by week.

GS1

276 questions

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2015

  1. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marksSmart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural urban integration.
  2. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marksThe states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are reaching the limits of ecological carrying capacity due to tourism. Critically evaluate.
  3. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marksHow do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
  4. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marksCritically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India.

2014

  1. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksAccount for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world.
  2. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksExplain the formation of thousands of islands in Indonesian and Philippines archipelagos.Video
  3. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksBring out the relationship between the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and the symptoms of climate change in the Indian sub-continent.
  4. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksWhy did the Green Revolution in India virtually bypass the eastern region despite fertile soil and good availability of water?
  5. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksCritically evaluate the various resources of the oceans that can be harnessed to meet the resource crisis in the world.
  6. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksWhat were the events that led to the Suez Crisis in 1956? How did it deal a final blow to Britain’s self-image as a world power?
  7. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksTo what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to present-day urbanisation? Discuss.
  8. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksGandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.
  9. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksHow does India see its place in the economic space of rising natural resource-rich Africa?
  10. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksHow do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?
  11. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksThe life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.
  12. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksWhat were the major political, economic and social developments in the world which motivated the anti-colonial struggle in India?
  13. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksMost of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?
  14. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksThe New Economic Policy – 1921 of Lenin influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.
  15. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksHow does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India?
  16. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksWhy do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
  17. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksSufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Hindu / Muslim societies to any appreciable extent. Comment.
  18. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksTaxila University was one of the oldest universities in the world with which were associated several renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered a university in the modern sense. Discuss.
  19. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksThe third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many empire-shaking battles fought at Panipat?
  20. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marksTropical cyclones are largely confined to South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico. Why?Video
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