UPSC Civil Services — Study Notes
Bilingual UPSC Civil Services study notes — topic-wise notes written separately in English and Hindi for the 2026 cycle.
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Advent of Europeans & British Territorial Expansion
Agricultural economics — MSP, subsidies, PDS & food security
Agriculture & environment — organic farming, GM crops, invasive species
Amendment of the Constitution & Basic Structure doctrine
Art, culture & heritage in news (GI tags, UNESCO sites, festivals)
Awards & honours
Banking system, NPAs & financial inclusion
Basic concepts — National income, GDP/GNP, growth vs development
Basic scientific measurements, units & phenomena
Bhakti & Sufi Movements
Biodiversity — levels, hotspots & significance
Biogeography — soils, natural vegetation & world biomes
Biology — cell biology, genetics & heredity
Biology — human physiology, systems & nutrition
Biotechnology — applications, GM crops & gene editing
Blockchain, quantum computing & other frontier technologies
Buddhism — teachings, councils, schools & spread
Centre-State & Inter-State relations
Chemistry — concepts, materials & everyday applications
Climate change — greenhouse effect, global warming & impacts
Climate change — international framework (UNFCCC, Kyoto, Paris Agreement, COPs)
Climatology — Atmosphere, insolation, temperature & pressure belts
Climatology — Humidity, precipitation, air masses, cyclones & climate classification
Communication technology — 5G, networks & spectrum
Comparison of Indian constitutional scheme with other countries
Constitutional Bodies (EC, UPSC, SPSC, Finance Commission, CAG, AG, etc.)
Constitutional Development & British Acts (1773–1935)
Defence & internal security news (exercises, systems, operations)
Defence technology — missiles, DRDO & indigenous systems
Delhi Sultanate — dynasties, administration & economy
Demographics, census & human development indices
Digital economy, fintech, UPI & new financial institutions
Directive Principles of State Policy
Early Medieval South India (Pallavas, Cholas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Pandyas)
Ecology & Ecosystem basics — food chains, energy flow, ecological pyramids
Economic Geography - factors in location of primary/secondary/tertiary sectors
Economic impact of British rule (land revenue, deindustrialisation, drain of wealth)
Economic reforms — LPG & liberalisation
Economy — Budget, Economic Survey, reports & indices
Ecosystem types — forest, grassland, desert, aquatic & wetland
Elections, Representation of People's Act & Anti-Defection Law
Emergency provisions
Employment, labour reforms & informal economy
Environment & ecology current events
Environmental laws & institutions (EPA, NGT, CPCB, EIA)
Environmental pollution — air, water, soil, noise & thermal
Environmental reports, indices & organizations in news
External sector — Balance of Payments, forex & exchange rate
Financial markets — capital & money markets, SEBI
Fiscal policy, Government Budgeting & deficits (FRBM)
Foreign investment — FDI, FPI & FEMA
Forests, forest types & forest conservation (FRA, forest reports)
Fundamental Duties
Gandhian Era — Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience & Quit India
Geomorphology — Earth's interior, plate tectonics & landforms
Governance, public policy, e-governance, transparency & accountability
Government committees, bodies & institutions in news
Government schemes & flagship programmes
Government schemes & programmes (new & updated)
Governors-General & Viceroys — key events & policies
Gupta Empire & Golden Age
Health — diseases, immunity, vaccines & public health
Historical background & Making of the Constitution
Human Geography — population, migration & settlements
Important days, events & summits calendar
Important geophysical phenomena & geographic features in news
Inclusive growth & social sector initiatives
India — Agriculture (crops, cropping patterns, revolutions, irrigation)
India — Climate & the Monsoon system
India — Drainage system (Himalayan & Peninsular rivers)
India — Industries & industrial regions
India — Mineral & energy resources
India — Physiography (Himalayas, Plains, Peninsular Plateau, Coasts, Islands)
India — Soils, natural vegetation & forest types
India — Transport, communication & infrastructure
India's climate actions — NAPCC, state action plans & missions
Indian Architecture (temple, rock-cut, stupa, Indo-Islamic, colonial)
Indian biodiversity — flora, fauna, endemic & keystone species
Indian National Congress — Moderate & Extremist phases
Indian Painting (mural, miniature, Mughal, Rajput, folk)
Indian Philosophy schools, Religious traditions & Festivals
Industry — policies, MSME & industrial growth
Inflation — types, measurement (WPI/CPI) & effects
Infrastructure — energy, transport & PPP/investment models
Intellectual Property Rights & innovation ecosystem
International economic institutions — IMF, World Bank, ADB, etc.
International environmental conventions & organizations (CBD, CITES, CMS, Ramsar, UNEP)
International organizations & groupings (UN, G20, BRICS, QUAD, SCO, etc.)
International relations — bilateral & multilateral summits
International trade — WTO, FTAs & trade policy
IT, Computers, Artificial Intelligence & cyber technology
IUCN Red List, threatened categories & Wildlife (Protection) Act schedules
Jainism — teachings, sects & spread
Later 18th-century regional states (Sikhs, Rajputs, autonomous states)
Literature, Languages & Classical Texts
Mahajanapadas & Rise of Magadha
Map-based questions - places, boundaries, national parks & geographic locations in news
Maratha Empire, Shivaji & Confederacy
Mauryan Empire — administration & Ashoka
Money, RBI & Monetary Policy
Mughal Empire — administration, policies & decline
Municipalities & Urban local government (74th Amendment)
Nanotechnology & applications
National affairs — polity & governance developments
Nuclear technology, reactors & applications
Oceanography — relief, salinity, currents, tides & coral reefs
Ozone depletion, Montreal Protocol & Kigali Amendment
Panchayati Raj (73rd Amendment)
Peasant, Tribal & Working-Class Movements
Performing Arts — Classical Music, Dance & Theatre
Persons in news & key appointments
Physics — concepts & everyday applications
Places in news (locations, geographic & geopolitical)
Planning in India — Five Year Plans & NITI Aayog
Political parties & pressure groups
Post-Gupta North India (Vardhanas, Pushyabhutis, Harsha)
Post-Mauryan Age & Sangam Period (Kushanas, Satavahanas, Sangam Age)
Poverty, unemployment & inequality
Prehistoric Cultures & Indus Valley Civilisation
President, Vice-President & Union Executive
Prime Minister, Council of Ministers & Attorney General
Protected Area Network — National Parks, Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Conservation & Community Reserves
Public finance & fiscal federalism (Finance Commission devolution)
Renewable & unconventional energy sources
Reports & indices — national & international
Revolt of 1857 — causes, leaders & consequences
Revolutionary & Militant Nationalism
Rights issues, RTI & citizen empowerment
Robotics, drones & emerging technologies
Salient features of the Constitution & Preamble
Science & technology developments in news
Science & technology in current affairs — discoveries, missions & awards
Socio-Religious Reform Movements (19th century)
Space technology — ISRO missions, satellites & launch vehicles
Special Provisions, Union Territories, 5th & 6th Schedules
Species conservation programmes (Project Tiger, Project Elephant, species recovery)
Sports events, tournaments & achievements
State Executive — Governor, Chief Minister & Council of Ministers
State Legislature & High Courts
Statutory & Non-Constitutional Bodies (NITI Aayog, NHRC, CIC, CVC, Lokpal, etc.)
Supreme Court, Judiciary & Judicial Review
Sustainable development & SDGs
Sustainable development, SDGs & environmental economics
Taxation — direct & indirect taxes, GST
Towards Independence, Partition & Integration of Princely States
Tribunals & Commissions for SCs/STs/OBCs/Minorities/Women
Union & its Territory and Citizenship
Universe, Solar System & Earth's Motions
Vedic Age (Early & Later Vedic Period)
Vijayanagara & Bahmani Kingdoms
Waste management — solid, plastic, e-waste & hazardous waste
Wetlands, Ramsar sites, mangroves & coral reefs
World — Agriculture & economic geography
World — Climatic regions & natural vegetation
World — Continents, major physical features & map-based location
World — Minerals, industries & resource distribution