UPSC IES/ESE (Engineering Services) General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Common Paper) Syllabus

General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Common Paper) syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Common Paper) in UPSC IES/ESE (Engineering Services), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Current Affairs and National/International Developments

   4 topics

   • Events of national and international importance relating to socio-economic development
   • Key government schemes and flagship infrastructure programmes
     • Smart Cities, AMRUT and urban missions
     • National infrastructure and power-sector initiatives
   • Important international cooperation, treaties and summits relevant to engineering
   • Recent science and technology breakthroughs in the news
2. 2

   Engineering Aptitude including Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability

   4 topics

   • Verbal and non-verbal logical reasoning
     • Series, analogies and coding-decoding
     • Syllogisms and statement-conclusion reasoning
   • Analytical ability and data interpretation
     • Tables, bar charts and pie diagrams
     • Caselet and arrangement-based puzzles
   • Numerical aptitude and quantitative reasoning
   • Decision-making and problem-solving in engineering contexts
3. 3

   Engineering Mathematics and Numerical Analysis

   4 topics

   • Linear algebra, matrices and eigenvalue problems
   • Differential and integral calculus, vector calculus
   • Probability, statistics and curve fitting
   • Numerical methods for roots, integration and differential equations
4. 4

   General Principles of Design, Drawing and Safety

   4 topics

   • Standards and codes of practice in engineering design
   • Engineering drawing conventions and importance of safety
   • Production, construction, installation and maintenance principles
   • Reliability, quality assurance and value engineering basics
5. 5

   Standards and Quality Practices in Production and Construction

   4 topics

   • ISO quality systems and BIS standards
   • Total Quality Management and Six Sigma fundamentals
   • Quality control in manufacturing and construction
   • Inspection, testing and certification practices
6. 6

   Energy, Environment, Ecology and Climate Change

   4 topics

   • Basics of energy systems and renewable energy sources
     • Solar, wind, biomass and hydro
     • Energy conservation and efficiency
   • Environmental pollution, degradation and control
   • Climate change, global warming and mitigation strategies
   • Environmental impact assessment and sustainable development
7. 7

   Basics of Project Management, Materials Science and ICT

   5 topics

   • Project planning, scheduling and network techniques (PERT/CPM)
   • Project monitoring, cost estimation and resource management
   • Basics of material science and engineering materials
   • Information and communication technologies, e-governance and IoT awareness
     • Networking, data storage and digital tools
     • Automation and emerging technologies
   • Ethics and values in engineering profession

General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Common Paper) flashcards for UPSC IES/ESE (Engineering Services)

19 of 52 cards from the General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Common Paper) deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Under the Smart Cities Mission (launched 2015), what are the two main components of the area-based development strategy?

   Retrofitting (city improvement) and redevelopment (city renewal), plus pan-city solutions that apply smart/ICT-based technologies across the whole city. A third strategy, greenfield development (city extension), is added for new areas.

2. What does AMRUT stand for and what is its primary focus?

   Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. Its focus is providing basic civic infrastructure — water supply, sewerage and septage management, stormwater drainage, non-motorised urban transport, and green spaces — in selected cities.

3. Name the flagship scheme launched in 2014 to provide universal financial inclusion through zero-balance bank accounts.

   Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which provides basic savings accounts with RuPay debit cards, accident insurance cover, and overdraft facilities.

4. What is the goal of the UDAY scheme in India's power sector?

   Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) aims at the financial and operational turnaround of state electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) by restructuring their debt and improving operational efficiency to reduce AT&C losses.

5. What is the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative?

   An international initiative championed by India to create a trans-national interconnected solar power grid so that 'the sun never sets', enabling solar electricity sharing across regions and time zones for renewable energy security.

6. In coding-decoding, if in a certain code CAT is written as DBU, what is the coding rule and how is DOG written?

   Each letter is shifted forward by one position in the alphabet. So DOG becomes EPH ($D\to E,\ O\to P,\ G\to H$).

7. Find the next term in the series: $2,\ 6,\ 12,\ 20,\ 30,\ ?$

   $42$. The differences are $4,6,8,10,12$ (increasing by 2), so the next term is $30+12=42$. Equivalently each term is $n(n+1)$.

8. State the standard form of a number-analogy: '$8:64::9:?$'. Find the missing term.

   $81$. The relationship is square: $8^{2}=64$, so $9^{2}=81$.

9. In syllogism reasoning, from the premises 'All A are B' and 'All B are C', what valid conclusion follows?

   'All A are C.' This is a valid universal-affirmative chain (Barbara syllogism). 'Some C are A' also follows (by conversion, assuming A is non-empty).

10. In a syllogism, can a definite conclusion be drawn from two particular premises (e.g., 'Some A are B' and 'Some B are C')?

    No. Two particular premises yield no definite conclusion — this is a basic rule of syllogism (at least one premise must be universal).

11. In a pie chart representing a budget, if an item is allotted a sector with a central angle of $72^{\circ}$, what percentage of the total does it represent?

    $\frac{72}{360}\times 100 = 20\%$. A full circle ($360^{\circ}$) equals $100\%$, so each $3.6^{\circ}$ corresponds to $1\%$.

12. In data interpretation, how do you compute the percentage change between an old value $V_o$ and a new value $V_n$?

    $$\text{Percentage change}=\frac{V_n-V_o}{V_o}\times 100.$$ A positive result is an increase, a negative result a decrease.

13. What is the formula for the eigenvalues of a square matrix $A$?

    Eigenvalues $\lambda$ are the roots of the characteristic equation $$\det(A-\lambda I)=0,$$ where $I$ is the identity matrix of the same order.

14. For a $2\times 2$ matrix $A=\begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix}$, express the characteristic equation in terms of trace and determinant.

    $$\lambda^{2}-(\operatorname{tr}A)\lambda+\det A=0,$$ where $\operatorname{tr}A=a+d$ and $\det A=ad-bc$.

15. State the Cayley-Hamilton theorem.

    Every square matrix satisfies its own characteristic equation. If $p(\lambda)=\det(A-\lambda I)$, then $p(A)=0$ (the zero matrix).

16. What is the relationship between the eigenvalues of a matrix $A$ and its trace and determinant?

    The sum of the eigenvalues equals the trace ($\sum \lambda_i=\operatorname{tr}A$), and the product of the eigenvalues equals the determinant ($\prod \lambda_i=\det A$).

17. State the condition for a system of linear equations $Ax=b$ to have a unique solution.

    It has a unique solution when $A$ is square and non-singular, i.e., $\det A \neq 0$ (equivalently $\operatorname{rank}(A)=\operatorname{rank}([A|b])=n$, the number of unknowns).

18. What does it mean for a matrix to be diagonalizable, and give a sufficient condition.

    A matrix $A$ is diagonalizable if $A=PDP^{-1}$ for some diagonal $D$. A sufficient condition is that an $n\times n$ matrix has $n$ distinct eigenvalues (then eigenvectors are linearly independent).

19. State the fundamental theorem of calculus (the second part / evaluation form).

    $$\int_{a}^{b} f(x)\,dx = F(b)-F(a),$$ where $F$ is any antiderivative of $f$, i.e., $F'(x)=f(x)$ on $[a,b]$.

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