[sony]

Excerpt from Times of India newspaper:

The minister of state for personnel, Prithviraj Chavan, told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 10th March 2010, that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the proposal for introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of the existing Civil Services Preliminary Examination. The proposal was sent to the PMO last year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which conducts CSE every year.

In his written reply, he said: "CSAT is expected to come into effect from CSE, 2011."

Accordingly, the candidates will have to appear in two (2) objective-type papers having special emphasis on testing their (A) "aptitude for civil services" as well as on (B) "ethical and moral dimension of decision-making" under a Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). Both these papers — having equal weightage — will be common to all candidates in place of the one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice) under the existing system which lays greater emphasis on subject knowledge.


Excerpt from Hindustan Times newspaper:

A top government official said UPSC chairman Professor D.P. Agrawal has constituted a high-powered committee - under former University Grants Commission vice-chairman Professor S.K. Khanna - to work out the details of the two papers. “The committee has been given time till April-end. Then the UPSC will discuss its recommendations with the government and finalise the content of the paper,” the official said.