How to prepare Current Affairs for IAS?

How to prepare Current Affairs for IAS?

As we all know that current affairs plays a vital role altogether the 3 stages of IAS preparation (Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination and Interview or personality Test). In recent years, the importance of current affairs has enlarged within the IAS examination, during which the analytical tendency of the questions proportionately also as some topics like events associated with environment and economy, etc. have increased.

 

Now the question arises that the way to prepare the current affairs for the IAS exam? The information of UPSC Prelims quite clearly mentions "current events of national and international importance" that we understand as current affairs or current affairs. The Commission has very efficiently covered the current affairs within the examination, however this part has not been outlined within the information of each the preliminary and the main examination. A candidate should develop the art of reading all the necessary news associated with important current affairs and creating notes from them through the newspapers on the basis of the level of UPSC examination on a daily basis.

Read also: Best Hindi Newspapers for UPSC preparation

 

There is no specific trend in current affairs questions asked within the IAS examination. If we tend to study the previous year's paper, we will understand several questions were asked directly from many current events. Current affairs cover a good vary of disciplines and overlap with key disciplines like earth science, policy, economics, history, environment and science and technology. In this means we tend to understand that it's tough to classify questions below a particular subject for the preparation of current affairs.

 

What Topics should I cover in daily current affairs?

 

Aspects of government / policies, policies of India which are at international level like - Act East Policy, International Institutions - International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations Security Council, International Agreements Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Wasenar Arrangement, Start Treaty, Rights Issue, Social Sector Initiatives, Good Measures taken by the Government on Sustainable Development etc.

 

How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspaper?

 

You can easily understand the importance of newspapers. All static portions such as geography, history, economics, politics, science and technology or environment etc. are a regular part of daily news. In addition, to answer the questions of UPSC, we need to gain understanding of the relationship of contemporary issues with the static aspect and its analysis, etc. When you are aware of contemporary developments and events, it is not difficult to prepare.

 

How to make notes for current affairs?

 

For the preparation of current affairs, it is recommended that you make notes in the proper way. For this, create a dedicated file and in it you can note and modify the current case study material. In this way you can easily add special notes to your study material by updating the specific information found on any subject and in this way all the materials on your current affairs subject will remain in one place. Make a list of all related topics so that you can easily go to the required subject. For your convenience, you can divide current affairs into various fields so that when you study from newspaper and other sources, you can categorize and keep the news related to the topic in your current affairs file.

 

What is the importance of current affairs in IAS exam?

 

In Civil Services Examination, current events or directly related questions can be asked. You can use current events for examples to illustrate the stance you took in your answer.

 

Classification of current affairs:

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Government Schemes and Policies

Science and technology

India's space mission and defense system

International institutions like World Bank, World Trade Organization, IMF, United Nations etc.

International NGO

International Social and Environmental Initiatives

And current national news

Read the tips and sources given below for the tips to study news related to preparing and studying subject-based notes for current affairs in UPSC Civil Services Examination:

 

Geography: Newspaper reports on melting icebergs, El Nino / La Nina etc.

Indian Society: Women's Issues, Women's Organization in News, Population Issues, Regionalism, Communalism, Poverty Issues and Schemes Globalization and its impact on special groups like women, migrants etc.

Social justice: NGO, union budget, health and education to education issues, food security issues etc. welfare schemes etc.

Governance: Planning magazine report and article.

International Affairs: Newspapers, News Websites.

Indian Economy: Discussion in news channels, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha TV, Economic Survey, Union Budget, Government Initiative, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Electricity etc.

Science and Technology: The Hindu Newspaper and Science Reporter magazine.

Internal Security: Indian security, terrorism, cyber security, government measures to prevent them, etc.

Conduct Ideas: Examples of corporate espionage, corruption, etc.

The Hindu Newspaper: To prepare for socio-economic and political issues, The Hindu Newspaper.

 

Best Current Affairs Magazine for IAS:

 

Yojana.

Kurukshetra.

Economic and Political Weekly.

Down to Earth.

 

How many months current affairs for IAS Prelims 2021 is required?

 

Usually, we advise candidates' to start their preparation a year before, in a similar way, we recommend covering the issues in the news from 18 months or at least 12 months prior the UPSC Exam.

 

Which is the best current affairs site for UPSC?

 

1.www.centralgyan.blogspot.in

2.www.mea.gov.in

3.www.mha.nic.in

4.www.lawmin.nic.in

5.www.rbi.org.in

6.www.socialjustice.nic.in

7.www.indiaculture.nic.in

8.www.gov.in

10.www.pib.nic.in

 

Is 2 months enough for UPSC Prelims?

 

Truly saying it is not possible to complete preparation in 2 months, unless you have some previous knowledge and experience.

 

How can I cover my current affairs?

 

Answer is given in this post, you should go through this posts and check in details.

Some of the best sources on How to prepare for current affairs UPSC is given here.

Newspapers– The Hindu, The Indian Express, etc.

Monthly Current Affairs Magazine– Pratiyogita Darpan, Civil Services Times, Yojana, Niti Aayog reports, Economic and Political Weekly (for some topics only), World Focus year-end issue only, etc.

 

If you have any query, please feel free to ask in comment section.