UPSC Prelims PYQ · 2023

UPSC Prelims 2023 — PYQ practice & sample questions

The 2023 Prelims paper was widely seen as balanced but tricky, with a noticeable share of economy and environment questions and several “how many of the above statements are correct” formats that punished guessing.

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About the 2023 paper

The 2023 Prelims paper was widely seen as balanced but tricky, with a noticeable share of economy and environment questions and several “how many of the above statements are correct” formats that punished guessing.

Preview the pattern and the explanations here, then work through the questions and revise what you get wrong.

Another sample & explanation

2023 · Geography · sample

Indian Standard Time (IST) is based on the longitude passing near which of the following?

A82°30′ E (near Mirzapur)
B90° E
C75° E
D80° E
Explanation · correct answer A

IST is set to 82°30′ E longitude, which passes close to Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, making IST 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT/UTC.

Other years

Sample question

2023 · Economy · sample

In the context of the Indian economy, “Open Market Operations” refer to:

ABorrowing by scheduled commercial banks from the RBI
BPurchase and sale of government securities by the RBI
CLending by commercial banks to industry and trade
DTrading in foreign currencies by the RBI
Explanation · correct answer B

Open Market Operations (OMOs) are the RBI’s purchase and sale of government securities in the open market to manage liquidity — buying injects liquidity, selling absorbs it. It is a quantitative tool of monetary policy.

Frequently asked questions

Are these the exact 2023 UPSC questions?

These are representative sample questions with study-aid explanations to preview the pattern and explanation quality. Full previous year sets are available inside PYQ practice, and answers should be verified against the official key.

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