Best Strategy to Cover Current Affairs for UPSC
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts Civil Service Examination (CSE) annually. The exam is taken in three phases – Prelims, Mains and Interview. Current Affairs is an important part of all these three stages.
Each stage of the examination has a different approach but the syllabus more or less remains the same. Before one jumps into current affairs preparation, it’s advisable to understand the IAS Eligibility for the exam. The basic information is given below:
- An Indian Citizen can only become IAS Officer.
- One has to a minimum of 21 years of age and maximum of 32.
- The Commission considers 1st August of each year as the base to calculate the age of the aspiring candidates. For example, one who is sitting for UPSC 2021 must be 21 years old and must not have attained the age of 32 as of 1st August 2021.
- There are age exemptions for candidates belonging to different categories.
- There is a cap on the number of attempts for each category.
Now, let’s find out the best resources for current affairs in IAS preparation.
How to prepare for Current Affairs for IAS Exam
There are three major resources for current affairs:
- Daily Newspaper
- Monthly Magazine of Current Affairs
- Government Sources – RSTV, PIB, AIR, Yojana etc.
A candidate has to follow the below-mentioned steps to cover current affairs thoroughly:
- One must opt for offline or online subscription of any English/Hindi newspaper as per their choice of medium. English language students are advised to opt for The Hindu newspaper or Indian Express for wide coverage of topics related to UPSC syllabus.
- Daily newspaper reading must become a habit. This part is crucial as often candidates skip newspapers out of procrastination or lethargy.
- One must devote at least two hours each day for current affairs preparation. This phase of study should include newspaper reading, revision of current affairs and reading online sources of current affairs.
- Candidates should divide their notes according to subjects. For example, one must jot down current affairs related to history, geography or society into a separate notebook exclusively made for GS 1 exam. Similarly, one must do it for GS 2 and GS 3.
- Aspirants should subscribe to any one current affairs monthly magazine of any reputed institute. One must learn to stick to only one such magazine and not get carried away with a plethora of resources.
- One magazine should be completed within 20 days. A magazine generally comprises 80-100 pages. A target reading of 5-6 pages daily should be done. In a course of 20 days, the last couple of days, one must revise the magazine notes.
- Apart from daily newspapers, one must devote 20 minutes in exploring websites like PIB which is a government information dissemination website. Any latest update related to any scheme, initiative or bilateral meets are updated through this website.
- A candidate must make a habit of revising the current affairs note thrice in a month. Daily revision, weekly revision and monthly revision should be a part of the habit.
- There are various online websites that generate daily current affairs quizzes. One must participate in such quizzes and check their performance.
- Take a test series and diligently finish it. There are various credible test series that frame good questions. One can test their performance based on these mock tests.
This way a candidate can fully prepare current affairs and be rest assured that all questions asked from this section can be answered. Candidates must know the latest exam pattern of the CSE which the commission has mentioned in the UPSC Notification 2021. It was released on 4th March. The last date to submit the application for this year is 24th March.
Usually, there are 15-20 questions directly or indirectly asked from the current affairs section. If a candidate follows this strategy, he/she can definitely score better in the IAS Exam.