UPSC CSE Mains General Studies I (Mains Paper II) Syllabus:

• Indian Heritage: Salient aspects of Indian art, architecture, and literature from ancient to modern times, important historical sites, monuments, and their significance, cultural traditions, festivals, and performing arts of India, contributions of Indian philosophers, thinkers, and scholars to the world.
• Indian Culture: The diversity of Indian culture and its regional variations, socio-religious movements and reforms in India, Indian languages, literature, and traditions, impact of globalization on Indian culture, preservation, promotion, and revitalization of cultural heritage.
• History of the World and Society: Major events, personalities, and issues in world history from the 18th century to the present, Industrial Revolution and its impact on society, decolonization and its consequences, World wars, the cold war, and the post-cold war world order, globalization and its socio-economic implications.
• Geography of the World and Society: Physical geography of the world, including landforms, climate, and natural resources, human geography, including population, migration, urbanization, and regional development, geopolitical issues, international relations, and global challenges, environmental issues and sustainable development, interactions between society, culture, and the environment.

UPSC CSE Mains General Studies II (Mains Paper III) Syllabus:

• Governance: Indian governance systems, structures, and institutions, role of various stakeholders in governance, government policies and interventions for development in various sectors, issues and challenges in governance and their solutions, transparency and accountability in governance.
• Constitution: Historical background and making of the Indian constitution, salient features and key provisions of the Indian constitution, fundamental rights, fundamental duties, and directive principles of state policy, constitutional amendments and their significance, role of constitutional bodies, statutory institutions, and non-constitutional bodies.
• Polity: Indian political system and its evolution, union, state, and local governments in India, parliament and state legislatures: structure, functioning, and powers, electoral processes and reforms, political parties, pressure groups, and their influence on policy making.
• Social Justice: Issues of social justice, inequality, and inclusive growth in India, rights-based approaches and social empowerment initiatives, reservation policies and affirmative action, vulnerable sections of society and their welfare schemes, social movements and their impact on social change.
• International Relations: India’s relations with neighboring countries and major powers, India’s foreign policy and its key principles, international organizations, institutions, and their role in global governance, bilateral, regional, and global groupings and agreements involving India, India’s role in addressing global challenges like climate change, terrorism, etc.

UPSC CSE Mains General Studies III (Mains Paper IV) Syllabus:

• Technology: Different aspects of technology, its applications, and effects on society, government policies and initiatives for promoting technology and innovation, ethical concerns and challenges in the use of technology, digital governance, e-governance, and the role of technology in governance, technology and inclusive development.
• Economic Development: Indian economy: issues, challenges, and various sectors, planning, development, and inclusive growth, economic reforms and their impact on the economy, poverty, unemployment, and social sector initiatives, inclusive development and sustainable development goals.
• Biodiversity: Types of biodiversity and their significance, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, threats to biodiversity and measures for its protection, international conventions and initiatives on biodiversity, biodiversity hotspots and their conservation.
• Environment: Environmental ecology: concepts, issues, and concerns, environmental degradation and its impact on human health, conservation and management of natural resources, environmental policies and regulatory frameworks, climate change, global warming, and their mitigation.
• Security and Disaster Management: Security challenges and their management in various sectors, border security, internal security, and terrorism, disaster management: types, mitigation, and preparedness, role of technology in disaster management, cybersecurity and its implications.

UPSC CSE Mains General Studies IV (Mains Paper V) Syllabus:

• Ethics: Understanding the essence, determinants, and consequences of ethics in human actions, application of ethical principles in public administration, governance, and business, analysis of ethical issues in international relations and their relevance to India, promoting probity in governance through ethical decision making, addressing challenges related to corruption, nepotism, and favoritism.
• Integrity: Importance of integrity in public service and administration, upholding impartiality and non-partisanship in the civil service, fostering objectivity, dedication, empathy, tolerance, and compassion, recognizing and enhancing emotional intelligence in governance, examining moral and political attitudes in the context of public service.
• Aptitude: Developing aptitude and foundational values for civil service, emphasizing integrity, impartiality, and non-partisanship in public administration, cultivating objectivity, dedication, empathy, tolerance, and compassion, harnessing emotional intelligence and emotional quotient in governance, drawing inspiration from moral thinkers and philosophers globally.