IAS Mains 2013 General Studies Paper 2 (GS2) analysis is based on the UPSC Mains 2013 GS2 question paper, which is already shared in this website.

GS2 Question paper shows that UPSC has given maximum weightage for Foreign relations and Social Justice. Questions from polity and constitution combined together corresponded to 80 marks out of 250.

There were questions from governance and international affairs (IMF/WB question). UPSC has touched almost all topics mentioned in the syllabus and all together this was a paper for a well read candidate and not for any constitutional experts.

Table of Contents

IAS Mains 2013 General Studies Paper 2 (GS2) Analysis and Break-Up of Marks

IAS Mains 2013 General Studies Paper 2 (GS2) Question Areas and Types

Qn. No	Subject	Question	Marks	Question Type
1	Polity	Anti-defection law	10	Static Analytical
2	Polity + Constitution	66A of IT Act	10	Current Analytical
3	Polity + Constitution	Article 371A + Nagas	10	Current Analytical
4	Constitution	Amending the Constitution	10	Static Analytical
5	Governance	Smaller States	10	Current Analytical
6	Constitution	inter-state water disputes	10	Current Analytical
7	Polity + Constitution	13th Finance Commission	10	Current Analytical
8	Governance	SEBI and IRDA	10	Current Analytical
9	Social Justice	Mid-Day Meal (MDM)	10	Current Analytical
10	Social Justice	Pressure groups	10	Current Analytical
11	Social Justice	Self Help Groups (SHGs)	10	Current Analytical
12	Governance + Social Justice	Centrally sponsored schemes	10	Current Analytical
13	Governance	Electronic cash transfer system	10	Current Analytical
14	Governance + Social Justice	PURA	10	Current Analytical
15	Social Justice	Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)	10	Current Analytical
16	Governance	Citizen’s charters	10	Current Analytical
17	Governance	Lokpal	10	Current Analytical
18	Foreign Relations	International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)	10	Current Analytical
19	Foreign Relations	The String of Pearls	10	Current Analytical
20	Foreign Relations	India and Japan	10	Current Analytical
21	Foreign Relations	Protests in Shahbag Square	10	Current Analytical
22	Foreign Relations	Maldives	10	Current Analytical
23	Foreign Relations	India — Sri Lanka	10	Current Analytical
24	Foreign Relations	Gujral doctrine	10	Current Analytical
25	International Relations	World Bank and the IMF	10	Static Conceptual

IAS Mains 2013 General Studies Paper 2 (GS2) Analysis and Inference

IAS text books like Laxmikanth or NCERT helped candidates to get a few questions from polity and consitution section, but most of the questions of GS2 came from news papers and online materials provided from the government’s side. (PIB, Government reports, online studymaterials etc. for CSS, PURA etc.)
90% of questions were related to current affairs. Good news paper reading habit (exploring the right areas) might have helped students in this paper much more than any bulky text book.
Most of the question were analytical in nature.
Foreign affairs totaled 70 marks, and to answer this section, good knowledge about the current foreign relations of India was necessary.

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