New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): The UPSC civil service preliminary examination was Sunday held across India, after much protest and changes in the test pattern.

A row erupted after aspirants staged violent protests demanding scrapping of the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) introduced in 2011 and postponement of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination.

The government later said the English comprehension in paper II of the examination will not be counted for merit and gradation, and allowed the 2011 aspirants to appear for examination in 2015.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court rejected a plea for postponement of the preliminary examination.

The UPSC also directed students not to attempt the English comprehension questions as they would not be counted.

The preliminary examination has two papers of 200 marks each. The students are provided two hours for each paper.

Visually impaired students are given 20 minutes extra per hour for both papers.

The civil service examination is taken by students to get into the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Services and Indian Police Service.