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.
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.
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.
See here: UPSC Syllabus for IAS Prelims
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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Student Forum
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The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC Civil Service (prelims) exam on May 24, 2026. The exam will be conducted in two sessions and the General Studies Paper 2 will be qualifying only.
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The Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC IAS 2026 notification on January 14 on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The Commission will also activate the UPSC CSE (IAS) 2026 online application link on its website. The last date for the UPSC IAS application form is February 3, 2026.
Answered 2 weeks ago
The candidates should analyse the UPSC CSE previous year question papers to know the trend of the most asked topics. The Commission releases the UPSC question paper on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The candidates can get the UPSC question paper of previous year here. The candidates can downloa
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Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC Civil Service (IAS) notification on January 14, 2026. With the release of official notification, the UPSC IAS Application form 2026 will also be activated for the candidates. The last date to apply online for the UPSC CSE (IAS) exam 2026 wil
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The Union Public Service Commission released the UPSC CSE notification 2025 on January 22, 2025. In the official notification, the Commission notified 979 vacancies for the UPSC CSE 2025 exam. But this is a tentative number and the final number of vacancies will be mentioned in the final Result of
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The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC CSE (IAS) Main exam (written) from August 22 to 31, 2025. The Commission will conduct the UPSC IAS main exam in offline mode at the designated exam centres. The candidates are informed about their exam centre through their UPSC admit card.
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Beginner-Level 5
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Yes, the Union Public Service Commission has released the UPSC CSE (IAS) Main exam admit card 2025 on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The candidates are required to log in with their UPSC OTR and password. The UPSC CSE admit card will inform the candidate about their UPSC exam centre.
The UPSC IA
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Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission released the UPSC CSE (IAS) Prelims cutoff 2024 after the declaration of final result. The candidates can see below the UPSC IAS Prelims Cutoff 2024
Category | IAS Prelims Cut off 2024 |
---|---|
General | 87.98 |
EWS | 85.92 |
OBC | 87.28 |
SC | 79.03 |
ST | 74.23 |
PwBD1 | 69.42 |
PwBD2 | 65.30 |
PwBD3 | 40.56 |
PwBD5 | 40.56 |
Shiksha.com had predicted the UPSC CSE cutoff most accurately in some cases.
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Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The UPSC CSE (IAS) exam result 2024-25 was released on June 11. The Commission released the final UPSC CSE (IAS) 2024 cutoff for all the categories and stages of exam. The Commission released the UPSC Cutoff 2025 for all the stages of exam as given below:
Category | CS (Prelim)* | CS (Main)# | CS (Final) |
---|---|---|---|
General | 87.98 | 729 | 947 |
EWS | 85.92 | 696 | 917 |
OBC | 87.28 | 702 | 910 |
SC | 79.03 | 685 | 880 |
ST | 74.23 | 684 | 884 |
PwBD-1 | 69.42 | 663 | 876 |
PwBD-2 | 65.30 | 696 | 913 |
PwBD-3 | 40.56 | 307 | 701 |
PwBD-5 | 40.56 | 361 | 461 |
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Beginner-Level 5