Newspaper Analysis: How to effectively read a Newspaper

Newspaper- The Hindu Date- 28th June, 2012

Page 1: The news on Sarabjeet or Surjeet is irrelevant from UPSC point of view as such individual cases are never handled and so is news on Obama campaign as it has nothing to do with how we work. Only relevant pieces we can pick here are: (i) PM suggests that reviving investor sentiment top on his priorities (Important only from a point of view that if a question comes asking for what measures can be taken to stabilize economy- make notes under different headers in a file and under economic crisis just note this point) (ii) IITs to have admission based on Advanced test apart from JEE Mains and percentile in Board exams (This info can be used in answering a question on education reforms or as an example when writing an essay relating to education- a frequently asked topic) Page 2: Regional news are not very important as UPSC expects you to have a nationwide view and approach. Just going through headlines will tell you that anti- torture bill has national relevance, so scan through this and if unaware read on net about this bill and AFSPA (You can note topics in your file about related topics you would want to read from other sources like AFSPA) Page 3: This page usually doesnt have much info. Just skim through headlines and check for if there are few state examples you can use for public administration or sociology optionals to give examples. Page 4: Periscope section sometimes has one or two decent newsitem. Nothing as important to be asked in GS exam but still reading separately about a few could help augment your mains answer writing skills like CLPR Act in todays section. Page 5 & 6 are irrelevant Page 7: Again a states page, just by skimming we know cashing on college admissions can help in education related questionsit wont require extensive reading, just a line in your notes regarding education that how private universities are costing a lot so that when you write an answer you dont miss out on this point of private institutions charging enormously.

Page 8 & 9: Most important section of newspaper- the editorials. You should try and read the whole of it making proper notes for articles that you think are important, for others just reading would help you develop your opinions and better your writing skills. Page 10: None of the news in todays paper is worth attention from UPSC point of view as they are routine run of the mill news about political parties, Maoist attack and 26/11 case progress (reading editorials relating to Maoist issues or 26/11 or terrorist issues will be more helpful not everyday news). Please note that UPSC doesnt expect you to comment on politics, they want you to be aware of polity. Similarly, more than everyday micro developments, you are expected to have an opinion about macro issues like terrorism etc. Page 11: after skimming through headlines, one should read about CIC orders news and about Ghats. You can also note, CIC and UN world heritage site as topics to be read in detail from other sources. Page 12: One should read about Syrian Presidents statement (although after this right approach is to read about Syrian crisis in detail) Also, read about South Chinese Sea Oil exploration because it relates to neighboring nation of China and also, recently we had signed contract with Vietnam for oil exploration in this area. Page 13: Thumb rule for business page is- do read about RBI related news as more often than not they are important from economy point of view. Read about plan to usher less-cash deals and how they would implement it. Also, scan through news about investment in Afghanistan, as it has been taking the centre stage in world relations for a long time. Page 14: First half is business section with nothing important. Second half is Science and Technology which is covered in next page as well. Page 15: Science and Technology section comes only once a week i.e. every Thursday. So, it is advisable to at least scan through all its news as this section has recently gained a lot of importance in UPSC. Page 16, 17 & 18: Sports news are not asked directly in UPSC rather questions can be asked pertaining to Indias sports performance, infrastructure and policies. So just skim through the news to see if any news item can help

you build an opinion about Indian sports. Since we have the Olympics this year, being vigilant of major developments in this regard will help students. As you must have noticed, it is not that scary and humungous a task to read daily newspapers. Most of the information is redundant and repetitive (a single issues runs for days in news). So, its important you filter out the news to check for what can help you writing your answers for Mains. For Prelims, a little more stress should be put on facts like names of organizations (like IUCN today in Ghats news) etc. Hope this analysis helps you swift through your newspapers in less than an hour rather than piling them up for tomorrow.

HAPPY READING!!!