Study Notes

Everything published under Study Notes on Anantam IAS, newest first.

3454 articles

25 Jul 2026Art and Culture, General Studies, GS I

Art and Culture PYQs for UPSC Prelims: Weightage and Recurring Themes

Art and culture is 6.6% of the Prelims paper — and it is where ancient India is really tested. Here is the full topic…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, GS III, Science & Tech

Science and technology is 13% of the Prelims paper, and biotechnology alone is a fifth of it. The 2026 paper asked 20 — the…

25 Jul 2026Ancient Indian History, General Studies, GS I, Indian History

Ancient India is 1.5% of the Prelims paper and was asked zero times in four of the last fourteen years. That does not make…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, GS I, Indian History, Modern Indian History

Modern history is 59% of all history asked in Prelims and the most predictable part of the subject. Here is the full breakdown of…

25 Jul 2026Environment & Ecology, General Studies, GS III

Environment is the biggest subject in the Prelims paper and has been for fourteen years. Pollution alone accounts for 43 questions. Here is the…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, GS III, Indian Economy

Economy is the second-largest subject in Prelims at 16.5% — and two-fifths of it sits in just four topics. Here is the full breakdown…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, Geography, GS I

Geography went from 4 questions in 2016 to 20 in 2024 — the sharpest rise of any subject in the Prelims paper. Here is…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, Governance, GS I, GS II, Indian Polity

Polity averages 14 questions a year in Prelims — but it swung from 5 in 2016 to 22 in 2017. Here is the full…

25 Jul 2026Environment & Ecology, General Studies, GS I, GS II, GS III, Indian Economy, Indian Polity

Four subjects carry 61% of the UPSC Prelims paper. We classified every one of the 1,403 questions asked between 2013 and 2026 to find…

25 Jul 2026General Studies, GS I, GS II, GS III, GS IV, Indian Polity, International Relations

1,066 questions across GS-1 to GS-4 and thirteen years. Classified by theme, the Mains papers turn out to be far more predictable than the…

25 Jul 2026International Relations, PSIR Optional

The order that is emerging is not a new hegemony or a return to classical multipolarity. It is a system with several centres, overlapping…

25 Jul 2026International Relations, PSIR Optional

South Asia is the least economically integrated region in the world, and the cause is not the absence of institutions but the presence of…