UPSC Syllabus 2024: Current Events of National and International Importance

Q: Does the syllabus of IAS change every year?

No, IAS syllabus is same in last few years and before changing the syllabus, the UPSC needs to take approval from the Ministry of Personnel and Training before changing the IAS syllabus. The candidates should prepare the UPSC IAS syllabus in its present form and do not fear the change that will be made in the syllabus because in any way, the topics prepared will be relevant to the IAS exam irrespective of any change in UPSC IAS syllabus.

186 Students Q&A

Rachit Kumar Saxena

Manager-Editorial

Updated on Jun 13, 2024 20:23 IST

Current Affairs in conjunction with the static General Studies topics from the crux of the UPSC preparation, The candidates are required to prepare the fundamental concepts with the current facts. The Current Events steers the UPSC preparation in many ways. The candidates are required to check the previous year question papers.

UPSC Syllabus for the current events of national and international importance is not elaborated in the official notification. Current events of national and international importance is one of the most important topics in the UPSC IAS prelims exam. Read here in detail about the elaborated syllabus of Current Affairs for UPSC IAS exam 2022.

Current Affairs Syllabus for IAS exam 2024: The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC CSE (IAS) 2024 prelims exam on June 17, 2024. The Commission does not ask the latest and most highlightes current event in the CSE IAS prelims exam. The Commission ask the questions having underpinning in the statics general studies topics. The candidates must prepare the current event and the associated concept of the static concept of the related topic. The candidates should prepare the General Studies topics which form the backbone of the current events. The current events serve as the torchbearer to the other General Studies topics. UPSC gave current events of national and international importance top placement in the UPSC IAS prelims syllabus. It implies that it influences the other sections also. The candidate should prepare for current affairs thoroughly and fully because any aspect of an event can be asked.

Also Read: UPSC Answer Key 2024 Live Updates

Also Read: Most Important topics for UPSC Exam

UPSC always ask about the fundamental topics of general studies which are linked to the current events of national and international importance. This is the reason that current affairs can become a guiding force for important topics. IAS syllabus is the guiding light of IAS preparation. The IAS syllabus for mains is the extension of the IAS prelims syllabus. The candidates should check the IAS question papers of previous years so they can estimate the scope and depth of the IAS syllabus.

Q: What are the five fundamental subjects of IAS syllabus?

The candidates must prepare the five fundamental subjects as notified for the IAS prelims exam. These are History, Geography, Economy, Polity, Current Affairs, General Science. The candidates should also prepare the Environmental issues too.

Q: How can I download the IAS syllabus PDF?

The candidates should note that the IAS syllabus is not released separately on the official website. The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a section in the IAS notification. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus pdf as given here for all their preparation references.

The candidates can check the subject-wise IAS main syllabus in the official pdf.

Q: Does the syllabus of IAS change every year?

No, IAS syllabus is same in last few years and before changing the syllabus, the UPSC needs to take approval from the Ministry of Personnel and Training before changing the IAS syllabus. The candidates should prepare the UPSC IAS syllabus in its present form and do not fear the change that will be made in the syllabus because in any way, the topics prepared will be relevant to the IAS exam irrespective of any change in UPSC IAS syllabus.

IAS Syllabus for the Current Events of National and International Importance is the most dynamic section of all of them. The Current Events of National and International Importance covers all current affairs at the national and international levels. This is a huge section and hence very difficult to prepare. The IAS topics for current affairs are ever-increasing because of the daily events occurring around the world. The candidates find it very difficult to prepare for current affairs because of the enormity of the topics.

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See Here: How to prepare current affairs for IAS Exam?

Importance of Current Affairs in IAS Prelims

The IAS prelims exam is the first stage of the exam which filters out most candidates. Lots of candidates having a good amount of knowledge could not qualify the IAS prelims exam because of one or the other reasons. The candidates need to see the analysis of IAS question papers so they can understand the importance of current affairs in the IAS prelims exam. Following is the number of questions that appeared from the current affairs in the IAS prelims exam.

Year	No. of Current Affairs Questions	IAS Prelims Cutoff
2023	19	75.41
2022	21	88.22
2021	23	87.54
2020	25	92.51
2019	23	98
2018	28	98
2017	32	105.34
2016	29	116
2015	28	107.34
2014	21	205/385
2013	28	241/400

Current Affairs Syllabus for IAS Prelims Exam

There is a need to filter the irrelevant topics from the list of events and try to link them with the other important sections of the IAS Syllabus. It includes everything that can be said relevant to humankind existence. The current affairs topics for IAS need regular updates and their impact. The impact part of the news is very important because UPSC frames most questions from the impact/importance/relevance/after effects/issue underlying the event.

Q: Does the UPSC releases the IAS syllabus in a separate PDF?

The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a part of the Civil Service Exam notification PDF. The candidates are required to download the Notification PDF to get the IAS syllabus PDF. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus PDF available here.

The candidates can download here the IAS Syllabus PDF

Q: What is the Ethics syllabus in the IAS Main exam?

The Union Public Service Commission mention the Ethics syllabus in the IAS notification. The candidates can see below the IAS main Ethics syllabus as mentioned in the official notification:

Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
Attitude: Content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
Emotional intelligence: Concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of
Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, and challenges of corruption.
Case Studies on the above issues.

The above syllabus is taken from the official notification of UPSC CSE.

Q: Does IAS syllabus change every year?

No, the Union Public Service Commission does not change the IAS syllabus every year. The Commission is required to take the approval of the Ministry of Personnel before changing the syllabus of the IAS exam. So we can say that, the IAS syllabus does not change every year.

The candidates need to read the Civil Service Exam Notification (IAS notification) as released by the Union Public Service Commission to know all the topics mentioned in the IAS syllabus.

See here: UPSC Syllabus for IAS Prelims

Get Latest Current Affairs here

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We can divide the current affairs topics for the IAS exam in the following manner so that its preparation can become more convenient. The candidates should divide the current affairs topics based on their impact in the following manner.

National

National Issues
Indian Economy
Indian Polity
Judiciary
Environment
Science and Technology
States
Social Schemes
Sports News
Reports
Committee and Commission
Awards and Honours
Accident and calamities
First in India

International

Important Summits & Events
International Awards
First in the world
International leadership
International Reports
International committees and recommendations
Geographical event around the world

Now we can see that the current affairs syllabus for IAS can be divided into the following:

National Issues

Under this category of IAS current affairs, the candidates should include the decisions taken by the Government of India. These include national policies, important cabinet decisions, government directives and the likes. To relate these decisions with the topic, the candidates are requested to study the related topic independently and analyse and relate the current decision with the issue.

For example:

Government issues directive regarding the Corona Virus. The candidate needs to read and study the directives and besides that; The candidates need to study everything about the Corona Virus. Then only this issue can be covered.

See here: IAS Syllabus

Indian Economy

This is one of the most important sections of the IAS syllabus. This section is very dynamic because of the ever-changing environment of Geo-economics and its impact on Geo-politics. The candidates need to understand the basic principle of the Indian Economy first so they can relate the current economic interaction between various economic sectors and the impact of RBI policies on them. After the globalisation of various sectors, India is not immune to the various economic events happening across the world. The candidates need to keep an eye on such economic events that can affect the Indian economy.

For example:

India’s trade ties with China and the USA. There is a need to study the recent trade deals and the overall trade deficit and trade imbalances with these countries so that the relevancy and impact of the current trade imbalance can be understood.

Also Read: IAS Exam Pattern

Indian Polity

The IAS syllabus for Indian Polity is the topic dealing with the Indian Constitution, newly passed legislation, Constitutions functionaries and their responsibilities, by-laws planned by the government for the execution of policies and the likes. The candidates need to visit the PRS India website regularly to get the latest updates on the legislation and legislative steps taken by the government.

For Example CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) is very important for UPSC IAS Exam 2024. Other important topics may include the pardoning powers of the Governor and President, important cases and the likes.

See here: Indian Polity syllabus topic

Indian Judiciary

Indian Judiciary topic of IAS Syllabus will include the important Supreme Court decisions related to the various important provisions of the Indian Constitution. There are various law points and also landmark court cases that have decided the tenets of the “Doctrine of Basic Structure” in the Indian judicial system.

Environment

The environment section of the IAS Syllabus has become a new important section because of the increasing environmental awareness and initiative taken by the government and private organisations. There are various issues of Yojana magazine dedicated to the environment. This section overlaps with the International events of COP summits.

Science and Technology

The Science and Technology topics include the recent studies related to the diseases, new vaccines, new species discovered by the scientist, new reports related to the humans and the likes. Mostly international journals like Nature and others publish important issues related to the discoveries in medicine, diseases, etc.

States

States is another section where the candidates can expect one or two questions. India is the union of states and each state has its legislative assembly. So all the news related to the Acts, schemes, initiative and other important happenings should be covered under this section. The candidates can also cover important schemes of the states so they can answer some fact-based questions.

See here: India and World Geography Topics

Social Schemes

Indian government strives for the socio-economic development of all citizens. To pursue and fulfil this purpose, the government of India design and devise various social schemes for the downtrodden and socially and economically weaker section such as children, women, backward classes, senior citizens and the likes. The candidates need to write all the schemes, their nodal ministries, starting year, objectives and any new data released with that schemes. It will help them understand the social objective of the government.

Committee and Commission and Reports

This is a very important section of the IAS syllabus because in the past various questions have been asked from this section and it is very important to know the finding of all the important committees and commission formed by the government. The candidates should also take note of the terms of reference of the Committee/Commission. In India, most of the government decisions are taken based on one or other committee/commission reports or recommendations. This makes a very important section of the IAS syllabus.

Awards and Honours

This is fact-based data that the candidates need to remember. We cannot overlook it even when the number of questions is very less from this section. UPSC can surprise any year with new questions and hence the candidates should be ready for the surprises.

Sports

This is not so important section but cannot be overlooked because UPSC used to ask about the venue, time and chronology of various tournaments. The candidates need to remember the player's names and their games so they can answer fact-based questions in various PCS exams. UPSC can also ask about the new records in the IAS prelims paper.

Accident and natural calamities

The candidates should keep reading the newspapers and website to get the latest updates about the large accidents/calamities occurring around. The candidates should read and understand the real event/phenomenon behind the accident/calamity. The latest example in the Coronavirus. The candidates should read and understand the real cause of Coronavirus, why it is named as COVID-19, how it infects the human body and the likes.

First in India

As the name shows, this will cover any innovation, discovery or anything which can be counted as first in India, first by an Indian or any geographical phenomenon occurred the first time in India. These type of events can be covered under this topic.

International

International events are huge in numbers and need to be filtered to make it more manageable for the IAS preparation. The candidates need to filter out international events which don’t have any impact or importance for our country. The candidate should cover only those events that have a direct or indirect bearing in India. They can further divide the international events which fall under the following categories.

Important Summits & Events

This category is one of the most important in the International events as one or two questions always appear in the IAS question paper. UPSC has asked the chronology of international events in recent times. The candidate should relate the event name and objective, their place, geographical feature near that place and any other information.

International Awards

This is a very large category and the candidates should limit their preparation to the important awards only. Not all the awards are important. The candidates should not go beyond the awards given by world bodies. The other important part is to make a list of awards where Indians had been awarded and why they were awarded.

International leadership

The candidates need to remember the change in the leadership of countries. The candidates need to note down the names of the foreign functionaries who visited India in the past one year and the countries where our dignitaries have paid the visit. There are many countries where the top leadership has the Indian Lineage are important. The guest came in the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas are also important.

International Reports

International reports are very important for the IAS exam. For the main exam, it can justify the argument in the discussion questions and in the IAS prelims exam, these facts are very important. Most reports are related to the Science and Environments and overlap with those sections. The candidates should also remember the committees that issue the reports.

First in the world

These are the records, inventions or discoveries made and are first in the world. These facts are interesting to read and easy to understand.

One of the most important approaches for preparing the current affairs topics for the IAS exam is to relate the current affairs with the static General Studies topics such as history, geography, economy, polity and the likes. It will help to memorise large data through cross-references.

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