10/26/13

[Strategy] How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam Mrunal

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JUNE 6TH, 2012

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[Strategy] How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam
This article is in response to many panic mails that I receive, help! It takes more than 4 hours just to read The Hindu.
Why is it important to read the newspaper? Cant I just use Chronicle, Civil Service Times or Pratiyogita Darpan? What are profile-based interview questions? Location-based questions Academic background based questions. Hobby Firefighting Which newspapers should I read Should I read more than one newspaper? What are the important items in a newspaper? Administration/ Polity National News International News Economy FrontPage Columns / Editorials What to prepare from Columns/ Editorials? Sports / music / life-style/ Bollywood How to read the newspaper in less than 1 hour? The beginning The front-page and second page Third, fourth and fifth page The 6 to 9 Page Page 10-11 (Columns and Editorials) Page 12-13 (International) Page 14 (TV, Astrology, Cartoon strips) Page 15-16 (Business and economy) Page 17-20 (Bollywood, Lifestyle, Sports) The Review

Whether you are preparing for UPSC, GPSC, KPSC, MPPSC, MPSC, UPPSC, IBPS, CAT or any other exam that involves interview and heavy competition, you have to read newspapers.

Why is it important to read the newspaper?

Because in the government job exams, at all three stages (preliminary, Mains and interview) . They ask questions related to current affairs. To write a decent essay, you need facts and viewpoints. For this you need Fodder, and newspapers are best sources for the fodder material.

Cant I just use Chronicle, Civil Service Times or Pratiyogita Darpan?

Such magazines only serve as supplement and not as substitute of the newspapers. Why? Because the magazines have the page limit, they cannot give justice to every single topic, even if they wish to. (and because on every second page, theyve to put big advertisement of coaching classes, to cover the cost.) Same goes for the readymade blogs/ websites dealing with current-affairs, theyre only supplements but not the substitutes of a newspaper. Secondly, such magazines or websites for competitive exams do not help you in the profile-based interview questions or roleplaying questions.

What are profile-based interview questions?

In the UPSC IAS, IPS or CAT/IIM, Bank or any other job interviews, they ask you questions based on your profile. Your profile is made up of: Your Location + Academic Background + hobbies and Extra-curricular activities.

Location-based questions
Socio, political, administrative and economic problems of your city, district and state.
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And (Sometimes) the role-playing questions about how will you tackle them, if youre an inspector, tehsildaar, Collector, DSP, Secretary, etc.

Academic background based questions.

For example, if you are an MBBS or Pharmacist, the current affairs relate to TB/HIV/Malaria/Delhi Superbug related research, etc. If youre a B.A (English): Whats the latest trend in English literature? What was the controversy in the Jaipur literature festival? And so on.

Hobby
Tennis, Cricket, Chess, Computer: then you are supposed to know the current affairs related to that field.

Firefighting
Most of the people, whether UPSC, State PSC aspirants or MBA aspirants: they dont prepare for profile-based questions or current affairs until the 11th hour. (i.e. When the interview or group-discussion (GD) is barely 20-30 days away). Then They start google searching for GK related to their profile. In such a short time, you cannot cover all satisfactorily. Therefore, daily reading of newspaper is essential.

Which newspapers should I read

Even if youre going to write your Mains exam in Hindi/ Gujarati/ Tamil / Telugu medium, still you should refer to English newspapers because the local newspapers only serve the masala news of politics, cricket and Bollywood.

Should I read more than one newspaper?

It depends on your time and energy, otherwise one newspaper is enough. You might have seen some coaching Sirs advising that you must-read Hindu and Economic Times (ET). I think, this is an overkill. You dont have to become a share market expert. If there is some really good columnist in ET (for example, example Bibek Debroy), then following him is excellent, but you dont have to go through two or three Whole newspaper per day.

What are the important items in a newspaper?

First go through the old question papers of UPSC (at least last three years), that should give you a rough idea on what questions are asked directly or indirectly from newspaper. And then read the newspaper keeping that in mind.

Administration/ Polity
1. Press conference of government, where they announce various policies, administrative reforms etc. (Im talking about the press conference of union and State government, not the press conference of Congress and BJP.) 2. Various bills, minutes of Cabinet meetings. 3. The big full-page advertisements given by ruling party, about their achievements. (This usually comes before the election and on the birth anniversary of Nehru Gandhi Family). It is important because, they list out the various developmental schemes and provisions in it. Most important part is who runs the scheme? for example NREGA thing for under the jurisdiction of rural development Ministry (and not under Labour Ministry) 4. Election related items: what will the initiatives taken by the election commission? Any problems or controversies. 5. You have to prepare these for both Union as well as your own state Government. (Your state-Government schemes and Administrative reforms for the profile Based Questions) What is not important? 1. Press conferences of political parties and civil society. 2. No need to do Ph.D on every scam. All you have to do is brief highlight of what was the scam, how was it committed, what is the presence status in investigation or court and how to prevent it in future. You dont have to go in minute details like on 23rd October 2007, Mr XYZ the accountant of store-dept in Commonwealth games misreported a 50 rupees ball for Rs.5000. Learn to skip the garbage sentences while you are reading a news item. 3. Same goes for elections: The XYZ by-elections were conducted on 23th October 2004 in which Mrs. XYZ wife of ABC belong with JYZ Political party defeated

National News
Maoists kidnap a collector = name of the collector is not important. But now experts and politicians say we need a comprehensive hostage-crisis guideline after this incidence= important. Railway accidents, how many killed =not important. Reason for the rail accident and suggestions to prevent future accidents = important. SP says BSP took 50 crores or vice versa = not important. How many killed in floods, landslides or tsunamis on which date= not important. But the reason behind those geographical phenomenons = important. ISRO sends an artificial satellite = important. How much does it weigh? = not important. When and How many men did leopards kill in Maharashtra = not important. Why is leopard killing men in Maharashtra= important. What is Government doing to stop the leopard? = important.

International News
1. Bilateral visits of prime ministers and presidents. What treaties or trade pacts did they sign? 2. What is going on in UN, IMF, World Bank?
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3. Elections in the big nations : USA, Russia, China, France, UK. 4. Political or military coup (usually in South America and Africa.) 5. Any major event: the democratic uprising in Middle East, Israel palestine, US vs China / Russia missile defence, NATOAfghanistan and so on. 6. Meetings of organisations such as ASEAN, G20 etc , and particularly what India did in such conferences and meetings. 7. Climate change, environment related news. 8. Science and Tech related items for example CERN, Chinas space program, missle tests by N.Korea, Irans nuke program and so on. What is not important? 1. 2. 3. 4. Lady Gaga or Justine Timberlakes world tours. How many people are killed in a car bomb blast in Pakistan or Afghanistan? XYZ researchers found out that eating tomato daily helps preventing tooth ache = not important. Anything small-time, that does not affect future of the World. For example sex-scandles of Italian PM or marital wooes of Sarkozy.

More on How to prepare India and World topic for General Studies (Mains) Paper II, is explained in a separate article. Click Me to read it.

Economy
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Press conference or press note by Government, SEBI, RBI, Planning Commission etc. ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM etc. (they usually complaint or suggest about Government policies that affect the business houses.) Columns and Editorials related to Economy. IIP, GDP, WPI, CPI etc. Not the numbers but the reasons behind that number and the future because of that number. International: ASEAN, World Bank, EU etc. Those preparing for Bank exams, should also note down the names of Chaimen of various companies and banks. What is not important in Economy 1. Daily Ups and downs of sharemarket. 2. Numbers. Because Economy is not about number but the meaning, history and future related to that number. a. For example, if IIP was 0.13 on Jan-2012. That itself is not important. Whether it was 0.13 or 0.128? that is not important. b. Important Questions are : is this IIP good or bad? And why is it good or bad? Whatll be its impact on future of Indian economy and Government / RBI policies?

FrontPage
1. There is a narrow column on the left hand side of the front page, most of the time, the yearbook related information, government schemes etc. appear here. 2. The main news item on the frontpage: it is usually not-very-important. Reason most of the time it is the political news. For example, Bihar Mahadalit Land Racket. If you are a candidate from Bihar, you should read it, for the others, it is not worth it.

Columns / Editorials
Question: What is a column / Editorial? These are big paragraphs like articles in the centre pages of a newspaper. Generally each article has photo of the author and usually the author gives a 20 years old photo when he/she was in college. If you ever happen to see them in actual TV Debate, it turns out theyre quite older than what they look in the newspapers. Editorial is written by the editor himself. For example Shekhar Gupta for IndianExpress on Saturday. While Columns are written by experts (including self-proclaimed experts) on a particular topic of politics, economy, international events.

What to prepare from Columns/ Editorials?

Usually columns are made up of 7-8 paragraphs. But not every sentence and line is important; there are just 3-4 gemstones in it, which you can use in your mains / essay / interview answers. So just note them down. Some people use highlighters to mark important lines and then file those newspaper cuttings. So do whichever method suits you (noting down or filing the cuttings). But Not every column is worth your time and energy. For example in Indianexpress, there is one guy writes about Nepals political turomil every week. But in Nepal, the Prime ministers are changed every week and this guy happens to give ball by ball commentery of everything. Its not worth the Cost-benefit ratio. So skip him. Similarly there is one Yogindar Alagh in Indianexpress, who pretends to write on rural Development but just I did this and that when I was a minister=Not important. Maintain the balance: some column writers have a habit of being totally cynical and anti-Government. For example Tavleen Singh of Indianexpress, while I do admire her for having the guts to openly write against Sonia, Mohan and Rahul, but in your answers, You must not admire or criticize a particular individual (minister / politician) in the mains / interview. And dont prepare a line that is too leftist or too rightists. And if you criticise the Government, then you should also offer the reform suggestions.

Sports / music / life-style/ Bollywood

Lifestyle = painting, pottery, music, fashion events etc. most of which cannot be afforded by middle class people. The last 3-4 pages of English newspaper are devoted to this. if your hobby is tennis or chess, then you must follow the related sport-news. For others, I say just skip it. Anything historic about Sports will get published in the competitive magazines and or the free blogs/
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[Strategy] How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam Mrunal

current-affairs related websites anyways. So daily following these sports-pages = not worth the time and energy. Bollywood and cricket related news = not important in any case. Unless something related to administration or polity for example should BCCI be brought under RTI? And the copyright act vs Bollywood.

How to read the newspaper in less than 1 hour?

Needs certain tools. 1. A study-desk or Table 2. A Red colored 0.7mm ballpoint pen and or a red sketch pen. 3. Loose papers, folders, notebooks 4. And last but not the least a newspaper.

The beginning
Keep the red pen handy. Im taking Gujarat Edition of Indian express as reference; just follow the same procedure for your City /States edition of Indianexpress/ Hindu.

The front-page and second page

Circle down on important lines from the news (which news, that is already explained above).

Third, fourth and fifth page

Is usually Gujarat / Ahmedabad news for example 20 people died in car accident in rajkot xyz girl eloped with a neighbour A cop was found taking bribes Stone-pelting and rioting in XYZ part of Ahmedabad after a cricket match. Keshubhai Patel said XYZ against Narendra Modi. Sanjay Joshis men have put posters against Modi in Ahmedabad. ^none of above, is important. Then what is important? Navjivan Trust of Abad says no to Gujarati version of Lets kill Gandhi written by Tushar Gandhi. Gujarat Maritime Board and pollution board gives clearance to ship-breaking of Exxon Valdez, but NGO lobby says it contains dangerous chemicals. (Names are not important, but the important part is the big environmental issue vs. livelihood of shipbreakers in Alang Gujarat State Government launches Girl Child education and School enrollment drive. Ahmedabad Municipal corp will give Rs.250/- to all Government school students who live more than 3 kms from the school, apart from the mid-day meal, Bicycle distribution and Vidhyalaxmi scheme. We are done with 5 pages

The 6 to 9 Page
These are devoted to national news Only concentrate on important exam oriented news. Underline the important lines using your red pen.

Page 10-11 (Columns and Editorials)

Highlight the gemstones and move on.

Page 12-13 (International)

Highlight the important news lines and move on.

Page 14 (TV, Astrology, Cartoon strips)

Highlight the important news lines for example the timing of Balika Vadhu. Haha just kidding, skip this page.

Page 15-16 (Business and economy)

Most important. Scan through every item, including small box news. Highlight the gemstones, if there are any important diagrams, cut and file them.

Page 17-20 (Bollywood, Lifestyle, Sports)

Skip it. We are done highlighting the important newslines. Now it is time for review.

The Review
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[Strategy] How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam Mrunal

Go through those red lines and either write them in the relevant notebook / cut and file it. Your can either keep five separate full-scape notebooks. OR you can write these in loose papers and then file it in five separate folders. The advantage of loose papers = you can add more pages between, when the follow up news comes. For example in case of QFIs. Same is not possible in a notebook. Folder / Notebook Economics Your profile S&T International Sorting

Administration All the polity, administration, Development related items should be either written or pasted here. Same exercise One file or notebook, make three sub-parts in it. First part- write or paste the state/city related news. Second partabout your academic background Third part- news related to hobbies. All the science-tech, environment, climate change related stuff. Same exercise

^ you dont have to write the entire sentences highlighted in red-pen but just the keywords or phrases thatd help you recall the entire issue. In the beginning, thisd be time-consuming mental torturing exercise. But with time, youll develop the expertize of weeding out the unimportant news and note down the gemstones. Ive seen Maestros who write the summary note of entire The Hindu newspaper on just one side of an A4 sized paper, without missing even a single important item. They dont read every line of a newspaper, their eyes are trained to scan through the lines and hand automatically highlights the keywords. Its an art and can be mastered only by practice Daily writing habit also improves your handwriting speed, which is again important for the Mains exam. Like a professional athlete This must be your daily regime as long as youre a contender. Just because prelims are over or just because mains are over, doesnt mean you stop this. Youve to do this on daily basis. IF youre unable to get Hindu in your city, you can read it using feedly browser addon: Click me to learn the trick Previous Posts
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301 comments to [Strategy] How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam

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shubhangi parihar
Reply to this comment THANK YOU SIR/MAM I GOT IT !

Naresh kumar.B
Reply to this comment Thank you informative things for murnal team

JASPAL
Reply to this comment Sir..while making notes for mains from newspapers what should be the strategy? Like one should just note the important points from important news from exam point of view or we should figure out the Qs from news? I want to kno that if imp news is noted down, standard
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books and selective websites are referred , then it helps in writing mains? Like from a vast material and fodder points, can we write gud ans in mains? Because figuring out Qs from newspaper articles and preparing is too time consuming and also very unlikely that we get the same Qs we thought of. So according to your experience what should be the best strategy so that it helps to write the ans in the best way? Is it the correct strategy to just understand various concepts and imp stuff of economy,policies,environment, biodiversity,technology and other imp articles from newspapers etc. ?? This helps writing mains?or some other strategy? Because there are many aspirants who have good knowledge, understanding and fodder points but are not much able to present that knowledge in mains. Kindly help sir..

Navin
Reply to this comment while reading the newspaper if HINDU, there are OP-ED and editorials those wil give some ideas/issues/recommendation which will help to write answers in mains. This is my opinion and other benefits of newsp you have already mentioned.

shashikant shukla
Reply to this comment i was initially inclined to geography as my optional but the results of geography has taken a beating in last 2years so now i am thinking of anthropology i am a medical graduate plz help me through this

ashu
Reply to this comment you can try medical subject. they are getting boost in current scenario.

Karthika
Reply to this comment Hi, If you are going to opt Anthropology please make sure you study abt various tribes in our country about their lifestyles and also related GOs. Also study abt environment as it has a huge impact on them. Anthropology also covers urban and rural, refugees etc., There are various sections like cultural anthropology, social anthropology, physical anthropology etc., Hope this helps

Vinod Kumar Gautam

Reply to this comment Dear Sir I study polt. notes in hindi language. it is very good & use ful notes. i want all notes in hindi language. can u help me

Chandra Shekhar Rai

Reply to this comment Thanx a lot sir/mam,it was really helpful,and it changed my strategy of preparation for current affairs.

ranu
Reply to this comment sir, any good news paper in hindi for hindi medium aspirants appearing IAS

Rushabh More
Reply to this comment Really excellent and helpful for all aspirants. Paradigm IAS Academy- The Best Academy. after visiting many classes & institutes for IAS, i finally met my expectations wit Paradigm IAS Academy. the strategy is completely markable & notes are concise & exam qualifying

udhisther
Reply to this comment Dear Murnal sir, Google reader has been discontinued.and data can be taken till 15 july.so any alternate to read news from a organized manner

Gaurav
Reply to this comment http://gizmodo.com/10-google-reader-alternatives-that-will-ease-your-rss-p-5990540

Mani
Reply to this comment
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hello sir, I will appear for 2015 UPSC exam.I read The Hindu regularly but a bit confused regarding the notes.should I concentrate on just reading it religiously and make notes from year 2014 or should I start doing it abhi?

RAJ D. JADHAV
Reply to this comment if you are preparing for Pre-2015 then you can start make note from Jan-2014 but if you start today then you will become master in that, If you wan to become Master in that Better you start Today..In future you can same your time

praveendra
Reply to this comment @mani, i will also appear in 2015, have u decidedur optional

RAJ D. JADHAV
Reply to this comment if you are preparing for Pre-2015 then you can start make note from Jan-2014 but if you start today then you will become master in that, If you wan to become Master in that Better you start Today..In future you will same your time

SANTOSH
Reply to this comment I m a BSc graduate student iwant to become an ias but i have no idea about optional paper so pls give advise

Nikita Mane
Reply to this comment But you didnt tell about the study of Maths in CSAT! It is the most probably asked question. Kindly, do the needful! Thanks

Ashwin
Reply to this comment Mrunal, Can you please share any previous year papers of Asst.Labour Commissioner.

vickyroshini
Reply to this comment thank you so so so much sirit was very very usefulli feel like i was sitting and wasting my time without reading thisits so helpfulcan u suggest me some good general knowledge books??im so weak in GKtq

ALKA THAKUR
Reply to this comment MRUNAL SIR PLEASE ADVISE ME REGARDING MY CAREER CHOICE. I AIMED FOR MBA BUT DUE TO FAMILY PRESSURE I DID M.COM. NOW I STAY AT HOME AND CANT STUDY BY MYSELF FOR COMP. EXAMS. I AM GOING TO TAKE ADMISSION IN B.ED. IS IT THE RIGHT STEP?

Louis Vuitton Outlet

Reply to this comment Wagner, the 14th overall pick in 2003, was shipped to Washington last July in a sevenplayer deal . Louis Vuitton Outlet http://greenefoundation.net/

piramal
Reply to this comment I am starting the preparation of assistant commandant please help me.

JASPAL
Reply to this comment Sir, i live in maharashtra but my native place is in rajasthan, so for profile based questions my focus should be on maharashtra or rajasthan?

JASPAL
Reply to this comment
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N for current affairs, should we also prepare for the reforms which the ministers talk of regularly, but yet there is no such reform or bill ? Means is it sufficient that we note down any proposed reforms after a bill is introduced or we should also note the proposed reforms (not in a bill) which the ministers talk about every alternate day?

Akshat Agarwal
Reply to this comment This really helped. Although i used to keep the paper cuttings ans make notes, but the way you described above to sort the news items will really help. Thanks a lot

Ashish Paniya
Reply to this comment Hi Mrunal, I stay in Pune & my Home state is Gujarat so will i have to prepare both states profile based questions? Further i have also worked in Bangalore so can i expect questions on Karnataka & Bangalore?

rishi
Reply to this comment no words to express, how innovative and strategic, really a helpful guide..

Nikhil Bansal
Reply to this comment Hi Mrunal I have just moved to Bangalore and am working in financial services sector with 11 hour days (including travel). My office is 5 days a week.I am targeting CSE 2014 and want to clear it in the first attempt itself. I am an engineer and a PGDM from IIM. I need your inputs about the ideal preparation strategy. Initially i had joined coaching but now i am thinking about getting my package converted to an online correspondence due to paucity of time.I am thinking about management/economics/physics/maths as optional subjects. Please let me know your views and how to proceed accordingly.

ajay kumar
Reply to this comment Sir I am a engineering student. Please suggest me for optional subject (it is engineering subject or any other).

pinky
Reply to this comment sir, you have continously mentioned of 2 newspapers,the hindu and india times.my question to you is is it so necessary to read any one out of these 2 newspapers only, cant we opt for any other english newspaper. i daily read times of india. is it not ok with it.

abhinav
Reply to this comment sir , how to prepare current by hindi medium student, who cant understand english

pallavi jain
Reply to this comment very helpful article sir, thanks a lot

Mohan
Reply to this comment Hi, I am an IAS aspirant and started preparing for the exam to be conducted in 2014(PRELIMS on 24.08.2014 & MAINS will start on 14.12.2014). I just want to share with you some of my concerns and like to ask suggestions for overcoming them and crack the exam. I am 28 years old, married, finished my M. Tech and presently working in an engineering company. Firstly, I cant stop my job and prepare for the examination as I am the only earning member in my family. I cant even afford coaching considering my financial position. Secondly, I cant spare more than 5-6 hours with respect to my office timings. But I am strongly willing to crack the exam in single attempt as age limit is 30. So, pls guide me, provide necessary tips and suggest dos & donts in the effective preparation. Thirdly, I am new to complete syllabus of civils service examination as I am from engineering background. So, I request you how to select the optional subject.

yugaselvi
Reply to this comment yes mr.mohan its possible to prepare for upsc from home preparing 4 hrs a day regularly is more sufficiant.. read hindu regularly
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vivek
Reply to this comment as you are willing to go for next year CSE and you are from science background. I wud suggest you to go for integrated studys with some of the semi scientific subjects like GEOGRAPHY OR PUB.AD as ur optional, as UPSC has kept only one optional acc. to new pattern. Geog. will be better. jst hv a look on last 15yrs questions pattern from vishal publications book ull feel easy. I wish i wud hv tell u entire thing. but for the aspirants like you some of the important things i wud like to tell you in brief, No doubt you will clear this exam by utilising those 5 hrs. Just be 1.POSITIVE (THINKING MAKES DIFFICULTIES INTO OPPORTUNITY) 2.DETERMINANT(REMINDS YOU OF YOUR TARGET TO BE ACHIEVED) 3.CLEVER(SKILLFULL PLANNING ie. UTILISING YOUR 5 HRS) 4.HONEST(UTILISING YOUR 5 HRS WITH INTEGRITY) 5.DISCIPLINED(WILL MAKE YOU TO WORK AS PER YOUR PLANNING) & 6.PUNCTUAL (FOLLOWING IT WILL BALANCE YOUR STUDY,FAMILY AND JOB)

Nikhil Bansal
Reply to this comment Hey Mrunal, I am still awaiting your reply. My query is on page 2.

g-fox
Reply to this comment sorry could not find your query. repeat it here for an answer.

KALAIYARASAN
Reply to this comment Sir, can u pls say us about some more colunists articles to be followed

sk
Reply to this comment Is it better to note down the points from newspaper or to copy paste from online Paper and save it in a word file?

ravikant sharma
Reply to this comment sir what to read in OPED in hindu is it important?

ashok k n
Reply to this comment sir what to read in EDITORIAL and OPED page in hindu

ashok k n
Reply to this comment sir i am an ias aspirant and preparing for the exam to be conducted on 2014.. i spend my 5 to 6 hours time in reading news paper i have read this article.. please tell me what to read in EDITORIAL and OPED page in hindu and how to prepare for essay writing

tushar surwade
Reply to this comment hello sir can u tell me that how many suppliment we can used during upsc mains examination ,that whether one or twoactually one can laugh on this question but,,,,,this is the question of mine plz tell me sir ji byeeeeeeee

ASHUTOSH YADAV
Reply to this comment sir i am student of hindi medium and i preparing for IAS exam. sir i want know about news paper which is best for me and also know that some books name fo economics, international relations, science-tech, polity for hindi medium studnt..sir this is mine question sir plz tell me.thanku sir.

Vinay Paul
Reply to this comment Hello Mrunal
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Im from Andhra Pradesh but doing my graduation in Tamil Nadu.So regarding profile based questions,should I prepare for both Andhra & Tamil Nadu.Plz answer.Many aspirants are dubious about this

Girish
Reply to this comment Thank you for this initiative.

abhishek swamy
Reply to this comment thanks for me to preparing upsc.

Rakesh
Reply to this comment Sir, I am an IAS aspirant and started preparing for the exam to be conducted in 2014 I am asking your suggestions for cracking the exam. As i am working and not getting time for coaching so please suggest me for preperation.

tanya
Reply to this comment i am an english post graduate,thus the natural optional choice should be english.However, scoring in english is a task in itself. Hence, i wish to shift to sociology whose knowledge is almost zilch. should i ?

g-fox
Reply to this comment if you have a couple of years to spare, sure. building a base in any new subject requires time, and given its popular nature you can be sure to find the sharks (senior candidates) lurking in sociology waters. sure the syllabus is small and there is little to understand but that itself means that the subject requires the candidate to have conceptual handles rather than ratta-fied knowledge and with the shifts in the exam, senior players are at a tremendous advantage. so the answer to your question really depends on WHEN you want to appear.

anu :)
Reply to this comment Just awesome ,thanx a ton :)

mrunali
Reply to this comment sir , as if now i hate geography and hav my certain limits in reading it hav read ncert and leog too did my coachings too but somehow interest is still at avg point.. same goes with history.. how to go about it

Pruthvi
Reply to this comment Sir, I wanted to know whether the column writing by A.S. Panneerselvan in Hindu paper on Mondays, will consist of any significant matters I can use for the UPSC exam preparation. He always talks about Press and some polity matters related to it. I will get confused what to pick from it. Please help. Regards, Pruthvi

anunay
Reply to this comment hello sir give us some knowledge on inclusive growth and issues arising from it

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