Free General Studies Notes
Civil Service India strives to provide you with much-needed study materials and GS notes to support your IAS exam preparation. We source authentic study resources and make them available on our website for your use. Here, we are offering you free General Studies study material for the Civil Service Mains examination.
We hope these notes are useful to you and can serve as a foundation in your General Studies preparation. Please note, however, that many topics covered in the syllabus of the General Studies papers may not be uploaded here. We recommend going through the syllabus first and cross-checking with the listed references here. You can also create your own notes for the missing topics by referring to the reference books listed here.
The notes we provide are just a skeleton. You can make your own notes and further enhance them using AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Grok to deepen your understanding and add more perspectives.
Additionally, do follow the current events of national and international importance that we update every week free of cost, as they are an essential part of your preparation.
How to Prepare for General Studies
Current Affairs | Mains Syllabus of General Studies | Question Papers of General Studies | Suggested Strategy for General Studies | Civil Service Exam Book for General Studies
Paper - I
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
- Effects of globalisation on Indian society
- Salient features of world's physical geography
- Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism
- Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone
- Urbanization, their problems and their remedies
- Population and associated issues
- Poverty and developmental issues
- Political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc. - their forms and effect on the society
- Distribution of key natural resources across the world
- Role of women and women's organization
- World History: World wars
- World History: colonization and de-colonization
- World History: Industrial revolution from 18th century
- Indian culture: the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times
Paper - II
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
- Salient Features of the Constitution of India: The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine
- Salient features of the Representation of People's Act
- Role of Civil Services in a Democracy
- E Governance-- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential
- Issues relating to poverty and hunger
- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
- Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs
- Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable section
- Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes
- Separation of powers between various organs
- India and Its Neighbourhood Relations
- Pressure Groups and formal/Informal Associations and Their Role In The Polity
- Comparison of The Indian Constitutional Scheme With That of Other Countries
- Appointment to Various Constitutional Posts,Powers,Functions and Responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies
- Functions and Responsibilities of The Union and the States
Paper - III
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
- Challenges to Internal Security through Communication Networks
- Money Laundering and Its Prevention
- Role of Media and Social Networking Sites in Internal Security Challenges
- Linkages of Organised Crime with Terrorism
- Land reforms in India
- Linkages between development and spread of extremism
- Issues relating to intellectual property rights
- Awareness in the fields of IT
- Awareness in the fields of Computers
- Awareness in the fields of Robotics
- Awareness in the field of Space
- Awareness in the fields of Bio-technology
- Awareness in the fields of nano-technology
- Conservation
- Environmental pollution and degradation
- Environmental impact assessment
- Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
- Security challenges and their management in border areas
- Disaster Management
- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment
- Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country
- Different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage
- E-technology in the aid of farmers
- Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
- Transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints
- Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
- Public Distribution System-, functioning, limitations, revamping
- Issues of buffer stocks and food security
- Economics of Animal Rearing
- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways
- Science and Technology
- Effects of science and technology in everyday life
- Application of science and technology
- Achievements of Indians in science & technology
- Developments Science and Technology
- Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology
- Role of External State and non-state Actors increating Challenges to internal Security
- Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices
Paper - IV
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
- Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance
- Probity in Governance
- Probity in Governance: Right to Information
- Probity in Governance: Philosophical Basis of Governance and Probity
- Information sharing and transparency in government
- Concept of public service
- Codes of Conduct
- Challenges of corruption
- Citizen's Charters
- Utilization of public funds
- Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions
- Ethics in private and public relationships
- Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour
- Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world
- Accountability and ethical governance
- Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
- Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance
- Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions
- Corporate governance
- Dimensions of ethics
- Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems
- Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance
- Moral and political attitudes
- Human Values: role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values
- Social influence and persuasion
- Codes of Ethics
- Ethical Issues in International Relations and Funding
