100+ Important Topics for UPSC Prelims and Mains 2025

Q: Which topics are important for UPSC Prelims 2025?

The vital topics for UPSC Prelims include Indian National Movement, Indian Polity, Indian Economy, Geography, General Science, Environment, Current Affairs, Art and Culture, History of India, World History, Technology, Indian Society, and Logical Reasoning.

Q: What should I study for UPSC Mains 2025?

Study the syllabus comprehensively, focusing on important topics for UPSC from subjects like History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Science and Technology, Environment, and Current Affairs. Solve previous year's papers to get an idea about the pattern in which questions are framed.

Table of Contents☰

Important Topics for UPSC: Crucial subjects and themes for the UPSC examination pertain to the subjects and areas of significance within the Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC. The curriculum encompasses an extensive array of subjects, and being aware of those that are pivotal can substantially influence a candidate’s prospects of success. Here, the important topics for Prelims 2025 are categorised paperwise and subjectwise, which would provide ease to the aspirants while going through them. Along with the Static topics, a list of the most important current affairs topics is also provided to interrelate them.

Important Topics for UPSC Prelims

Though there are several important topics for UPSC Prelims and Mains that overlap, but here is the list of topics which are more significant from the UPSC Prelims perspective. The important topics for UPSC Prelims are given below:

1	Tungnath Temple	16	Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO)
2	Konark Wheel	17	30 Years of Project Elephant
3	Edakkal Caves	18	MeerKAT Telescope
4	Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas	19	International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA)
5	Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)	20	Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR)
6	India’s New Parliament Building	21	Article 371F
7	Washington Declaration	22	Dabba Trading
8	NITI Aayog’s State Health Index	23	Logistic Performance Index 2023
9	Enemy Property	24	Geographical Indication Tag
10	National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)	25	SHREYAS Scheme
11	Uttaramerur Inscription	26	AAINA Dashboard
12	Thirunelly Temple	27	Digital Public Infrastructure and India Stack
13	Pushkaralu Festival	28	Aspirational Block Programme
14	3200 Phaethon	29	Sarna Code
15	TeLEOS-2 & Lumelite-4	30	Freedom on The Net 2023 Report
31	Vikshit Bharat Sankalp Yatra	41	Washington Declaration
32	Railway Officers To Be Trained In Disaster Management	42	India To Train ASEAN Women in United Nations
33	Road Crash Death In India	43	Peacekeeping Operation
34	Gram Manchitra	44	India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade Pact
35	Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative	45	Israel-Palestine Conflict
36	NCRB 2022 Report On Crime In India	46	NATO PLUS
37	Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and The Pacific (IF-CAP)	47	World Bank President
38	International Organization for Migration (IOM)	48	‘Silkworm Eating’ Strategy
39	Visit of PM Modi to Egypt	49	Wagner Group
40	Sanctions Committee of UNSC	50	India Gifts Missile Corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam

Places on Map in News

1	Cuba	11	Orkney Islands	21	Gabon
2	Gaza Strip	12	Vilnius	22	Morocco
3	Uzbekistan	13	Kakhovka Dam	23	Kostyantynivka
4	Sittwe Port	14	Batagaika Crater	24	Armenia
5	Coco Islands	15	Cam Ranh Bay	25	9-Dash line
6	Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant	16	Strait of Hormuz	26	Timor Leste
7	Gulf of Oman	17	Crimean Bridge	27	Nagorno- Karabakh
8	Yanomami	18	Democratic Republic of Congo	28	AlexandriaPort
9	Chetumal Bay	19	Ubinas Volcano	29	Libya
10	Fuego Volcano	20	Peru	30	Hemis Monestry

Important Topics for UPSC Mains 2025

The IAS syllabus is extensive and might overwhelm many candidates. Developing a lucid comprehension of the important topics for UPSC aids them in refining their preparation approach and prevents wastage of effort on less pivotal areas.

General Studies I

Indian Heritage and Culture; and History and Geography of the World and Society:

1	Literature – Vedic, Buddhist, Jain, Sangam, Mughal, etc.	14	Vijayanagar Empire
2	Art and Architecture – IVC, Mauryan, Gupta, Dravidian, Mughal, etc.	15	Socio-religious Reforms
3	Geography – physical features, natural resources, phenomena like volcanism, etc.	16	Mountbatten Plan
4	Indian Society – features, issues, etc.	17	Indian Independence Act, 1947
5	Rowlatt Act	18	Land Revenue System
6	Civil Disobedience Movement	19	Home Rule Movement
7	Modern India – Personalities, Events, etc.	20	Revolt of 1857
8	Indian Freedom Struggle – several stages, leaders, etc.	21	Partition of Bengal
9	Gandhi-Irwin Pact	22	Charter Acts – 1813, 1833, etc
10	Second Round Conference	23	Government of India Act, 1919
11	World History – revolutions, World Wars, Cold War, etc.	24	First Round Conference, 1930
12	Government of India Act, 1935	25	Khilafat Movement
13	Quit India Movement	26	Non-Cooperation Movement

General Studies II

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations:

1	Constitution of India — historical underpinnings, evolution, etc	11	Government Policies
2	Constitution of other countries like USA, UK, Japan, etc.	12	NGOs, SHGs, etc
3	Separation of Powers – Organs of Government	13	Welfare schemes for vulnerable groups
4	Union and States – federalism, etc	14	Health, Education, and Human Resources
5	Parliament and State legislatures – functions, powers, etc	15	Poverty and Hunger issues
6	Judiciary – their structure, roles, etc	16	Governance, transparency, e-governance
7	Pressure Groups – RSS, AIKS, etc	17	Civil services
8	Voting laws, RPA 1950,‘51 etc	18	Bilateral, regional, and global partnerships
9	Constitutional Bodies – UPSC, ECI, etc	19	Indian Diaspora
10	Statutory and Quasi-judicial bodies – NHRC, etc	20	Global Institutions – UN, WTO, etc

General Studies III

Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management:

1	Indian Economy – planning, resource mobilization, employment, etc	16	IT, Computers and Space Technology
2	Growth and Development	17	Robotics, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology
3	Inclusive Growth	18	Intellectual Property Rights
4	Government budgeting	19	Environment – conservation, pollution, degradation, etc
5	Major crops and cropping patterns	20	Environmental Impact Assessment
6	Irrigation types – Drip, Sprinkler, etc	21	Disaster Management
7	Farm subsidies – PMKISAN, etc	22	Internal Security
8	Food Security and MSP	23	Extremism and Role of External Actors
9	Animal Rearing	24	Communication Networks
10	Food Processing Industry	25	Cyber Security
11	Land Reforms	26	Money-Laundering
12	Liberalization and Industrial Policy	27	Border Area Security
13	Infrastructure – Road, Energy, etc	28	Organized Crime
14	Investment Models – BOT, HAM, etc	29	Terrorism
15	Science and Technology – developments	30	Security forces, agencies, etc. – BSF, NIA, CBI, etc

General Studies IV

Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude:

1	Ethics and Human Interface	16	Conscience
2	Essence, Determinants, and Consequences of Ethics in Human Actions	17	Accountability
3	Dimensions of Ethics in Private and Public Relationships	18	Ethical Governance
4	Human Values from Leaders’ Lives, Role of Family, Society, and Education	19	Ethical Issues in International Relations
5	Attitude	20	Corporate Governance
6	Influence of Attitude on thought, behaviour, moral, political, and social aspects	21	Probity in Governance
7	Aptitude and Foundational Values	22	Transparency
8	Values for Civil Service	23	Right to Information
9	Integrity, Impartiality, Objectivity, Dedication, Empathy	24	Codes of Ethics
10	Emotional Intelligence	25	Codes of Conduct
11	Moral Thinkers from India and worldwide	26	Work Culture
12	Ethics in Public Administration	27	Quality Service
13	Public/Civil Service Values	28	Public Funds’ Utilization
14	Ethical Concerns and Dilemmas	29	Corruption Challenges
15	Ethical Guidance from Laws, Rules, etc	30	Case Studies on the above issues