About the author:

D.V.K Rao studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and joined Indian Ordnance Factories following success through IAS etc. (exam), 1974. In a career spanning 36 years, he specialized in corporate planning and retired from the post of Member (Finance) of the apex Ordnance Factory Board under Ministry of Defence.

He holds Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (IIPA), Delhi), International Trade Management (NMIMS, Mumbai) and Advertising and Communication Management (ICM, Bengaluru). He also attended the Advanced Level Management Programme from IIM, Calcutta. Besides, he has authored many reports, articles and is a regular guest faculty.

He has authored books covering civil services (Mains) Papers II and III, papers II and III (Questions and Answers) in civil services ( mains) 2013-2019. Indian Economy: Facts, Facets and Features is a recent book, authored by him. Gandhi and Hitler: two lives in contrast, also written by the author covers freedom movement and international relations during the time. His latest book “Games within Games” is a satirical, fictional account of Bureaucracy.

About the book:

Here is a unique book that quintessentially takes an integrated approach towards Civil Services (Main) examination with due focus, decided ease and detailed coverage; all in the questions-answers format. The focus is on the syllabus and the ease is reflected in the manner of handling and coverage, well served by extensiveness of the matter.

The book has strategy, outlining steps needed for success, paper-wise intricacies to be understood, and application of proper writing skills. Notwithstanding all the reading that candidates do, ultimately, it is the actual answers that matter most. The book has covered each of the three papers with relevant and requisite questions with answers. Paper IV has text with case studies; both remarkably refreshing as well as enriching. All in all, the book is every candidate's guide and a handy tool for success.

Mr. D.V.K. Rao is a Central Service Officer (1975 batch) and is the author of many books including one covering Paper II and another Paper III of CS (Main). Mr. Rao can be reached at dvkrau@gmail.com.

About the exam:

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS). Also simply referred to as the UPSC examination, it is conducted in three phases - a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted followed by a personality test (interview).