Complete syllabus of civil services examination 2015 (main) for mechanical engineers

1. Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
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Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
Paper No Subject Marks
1 Essay 250
2 General Studies 1 250
3 General Studies 2 250
4 General Studies 3 250
5 General Studies 4 250
6 Optional Subject Paper 1 250
7 Optional Subject Paper 2 250
Sub Total (Written Test) 1750
Personality Test 275
Grand Total 2025
Qualifying Papers on Indian Language and English (300+300 Marks)
The aim of the paper is to test the candidate’s ability to read and understand serious
discursive prose, and express his ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian Language concerned.
English:-
 Comprehension of given passages
 Precis Writing
 Usage and Vocabulary
 Short Essays
Indian Languages:-
 Comprehension of given passages
 Precis Writing
 Usage and Vocabulary
 Short Essays
 Translation from English to the Indian
 Language and vice-versa.

2. Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
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Note 1: The Papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will
be of qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
Note 2: The candidates will have to answer the English and Indian Languages papers in English and the
respective Indian language (except where translation is involved).
Paper - 1 Essay (250 Marks)
Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to
keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion and to write concisely. Credit
will be given for effective and exact expression.
Paper - 2 General Studies - 1 (250 Marks)
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society
 Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient
to modern times.
 Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant
events, personalities, issues
 The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different
parts of the country.
 Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
 History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars,
redrawal of national boundaries,colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism,
capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
 Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
 Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and
developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
 Effects of globalization on Indian society
 Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
 Salient features of world's physical geography.
 Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-
continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries
in various parts of the world (including India)
 Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-
bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

3. Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
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Paper - 3 General Studies - 2 (250 Marks)
Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations
 Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant
provisions and basic structure.
 Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the
federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
 Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
 Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries
 Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges
and issues arising out of these.
 Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and
Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in
the Polity.
 Salient features of the Representation of People's Act.
 Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various
Constitutional Bodies.
 Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of
their design and implementation.
 Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and
associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the
performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the
protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health,
Education, Human Resources.
 Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications,
models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
 Role of civil services in a democracy.
 India and its neighborhood- relations.
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's
interests

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 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian
diaspora.
 Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate
Paper - 4 General Studies - 3 (250 Marks)
Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and
Disaster Management
 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and
employment.
 Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
 Government Budgeting.
 Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and
irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related
constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers
 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution
System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security;
Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
 Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and
downstream requirements, supply chain management.
 Land reforms in India.
 Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial
growth.
 Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
 Investment models.
 Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
 Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new
technology.
 Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, Nano-technology, bio-technology and
issues relating to intellectual property rights.
 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
 Disaster and disaster management.
 Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
 Role of external state and nonstate actors in creating challenges to internal security.

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 Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social
networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its
prevention
 Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with
terrorism
 Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate
Paper - 5 General Studies - 4 (250 Marks)
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude
This paper will include questions to test the candidates' attitude and approach to issues
relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts
faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilize the case study approach to determine these
aspects. The following broad areas will be covered.
 Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions;
dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives
and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family, society and educational
institutions in inculcating values.
 Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral
and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
 Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship,
objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-
sections.
 Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
 Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
 Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns
and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as
sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and
moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate
governance.
 Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity;
Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of
Conduct, Citizen's Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds,
challenges of corruption.
 Case Studies on above issues.

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Paper - 6 Mechanical Engineering - 1 (250 Marks)
 Mechanics:
o Mechanics of rigid bodies: Equations of equilibrium in space and its application; first and
second moments of area; simple problems on friction; kinematics of particles for plane
motion; elementary particle dynamics.
o Mechanics of deformable bodies: Generalized Hooke’s law and its application; design
problems on axial stress, shear stress and bearing stress; material properties for dynamic
loading; bending shear and stresses in beams;. Determination of principle stresses and strains
- analytical and graphical; compound and combined stresses; bi-axial stresses - thin walled
pressure vessel; material behaviour and design factors for dynamic load; design of circular
shafts for bending and torsional load only; deflection of beam for statically determinate
problems; theories of failure.
 Engineering Materials:
Basic concepts on structure of solids; common ferrous and non-ferrous materials and their
applications; heat-treatment of steels; non-metals- plastics, ceramics, composite materials and
Nano-materials.
 Theory of Machines:
Kinematic and dynamic analysis of plane mechanisms. Cams, Gears and epicyclic gear trains,
flywheels, governors, balancing of rigid rotors, balancing of single and multicylinder engines, linear
vibration analysis of mechanical systems (single degree of freedom), Critical speeds and whirling of
shafts.
 Manufacturing Science:
o Manufacturing Process:
 Machine tool engineering – Merchant’s force analysis; Taylor’s tool life equation;
conventional machining; NC and CNC machining process; jigs and fixtures.
 Non-conventional machining – EDM, ECM, ultrasonic, water jet machining etc.;
application of lasers and plasmas; energy rate calculations.
 Forming and welding processes- standard processes.
 Metrology - concept of fits and tolerances; tools and gauges; comparators; inspection
of length; position; profile and surface finish.
o Manufacturing Management:
 System design: factory location- simple OR models; plant layout – methods based;
applications of engineering economic analysis and break- even analysis for product
selection, process selection and capacity planning; predetermined time standards.

7. Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
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 System planning; forecasting methods based on regression and decomposition, design
and balancing of multi model and stochastic assembly lines; inventory management –
probabilistic inventory models for order time and order quantity determination; JIT
systems; strategic sourcing; managing inter plant logistics.
 System operations and control: Scheduling algorithms for job shops; applications of
statistical methods for product and process quality control - applications of control
charts for mean, range, percent defective, number of defectives and defects per unit;
quality cost systems; management of resources, organizations and risks in projects.
 System improvement: Implementation of systems, such as total quality management,
developing and managing flexible, lean and agile organizations.
Paper - 7 Mechanical Engineering - 2 (250 Marks)
 Thermodynamics, Gas Dynamics and Turbine:
o Basic concept of First –law and second law of Thermodynamics; concept of entropy and
reversibility; availability and unavailability and irreversibility.
o Classification and properties of fluids; incompressible and compressible fluids flows; effect of
Mach number and compressibility; continuity momentum and energy equations; normal and
oblique shocks; one dimensional isentropic flow; flow or fluids in duct with frictions that
transfer.
o Flow through fans, blowers and compressors; axial and centrifugal flow configuration; design
of fans and compressors; single problems compresses and turbine cascade; open and closed
cycle gas turbines; work done in the gas turbine; reheat and regenerators.
 Heat Transfer:
o Conduction heat transfer- general conduction equation - Laplace, Poisson and Fourier
equations; Fourier law of conduction; one dimensional steady state heat conduction applied
to simple wall, solid and hollow cylinder & spheres.
o Convection heat transfer- Newton’s law of convection; free and forces convection; heat
transfer during laminar and turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid over a flat plate;
concepts of Nusselt number, hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layer their thickness;
Prandtl number; analogy between heat and momentum transfer- Reynolds, Colbum, Prandtl
analogies; heat transfer during laminar and turbulent flow through horizontal tubes; free
convection from horizontal and vertical plates.
o Black body radiation - basic radiation laws such as Stefan-Boltzman, Planck distribution,
Wein’s displacement etc.
o Basic heat exchanger analysis; classification of heat exchangers.

8. Civil Services Examinations 2015 (Main)
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 I .C. Engines:
o Classification, thermodynamic cycles of operation; determination of break power, indicated
power, mechanical efficiency, heat balance sheet, interpretation of performance
characteristics, petrol, gas and diesel engines.
o Combustion in SI and CI engines, normal and abnormal combustion; effect of working
parameters on knocking, reduction of knocking; Forms of combustion chamber for SI and CI
engines; rating of fuels; additives; emission.
o Different systems of IC engines fuels; lubricating; cooling and transmission systems. Alternate
fuels in IC engines.
 Steam Engineering:
o Steam generation- modified Rankine cycle analysis; Modern steam boilers; steam at critical
and supercritical pressures; draught equipment; natural and artificial draught; boiler fuels
solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Steam turbines - principle; types; compounding; impulse and
reaction turbines; axial thrust.
o Steam nozzles- flow of steam in convergent and divergent nozzle; pressure at throat for
maximum discharge with different initial steam conditions such as wet, saturated and
superheated, effect of variation of back pressure; supersaturated flow of steam in nozzles,
Wilson line.
o Rankine cycle with internal and external irreversibility; reheat factor; reheating and
regeneration, methods of governing; back pressure and pass out turbines.
o Steam power plants - combined cycle power generation; heat recovery steam generators
(HRSG) fired and unfired, cogeneration plants.
 Refrigeration and air-conditioning:
o Vapour compression refrigeration cycle - cycle on p-H & T-s diagrams; ecofriendly refrigerants
- R134a,123; Systems like evaporators, condensers, compressor, expansion devices. Simple
vapour absorption systems.
o Psychrometry - properties; processes; charts; sensible heating and cooling; humidification
and dehumidification effective temperature; air-conditioning load calculation; simple duct
design.
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