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UPSC Civil service examination is one of the most prestigious exams in India which comprises the recruitment towards the All-India Services like IAS IPS IFS and so on. An IAS officer is mostly considered as the man who knows everything beneath the sky and above the sky. Even though it’s not a true expression, it’s no doubt that an IAS aspirant or UPSC preparer should know and prepare everything vast under its syllabus. The syllabus categorizes everything in each section but the main ingredient of all the sections in the syllabus is none other than current affairs. The things which are happening in and outside the country which are having national and international importance. The newspaper is the mother of all current affairs. But reading the newspaper the whole will fill your mind with the masala news and gossip which doesn’t do any good for IAS or UPSC. Let us look at how to read newspapers to prepare for the current affairs of the UPSC IAS exam.
Which Newspaper is to be read for UPSC IAS aspirants?
This is one of the most important questions to address while preparing for current affairs from the newspaper. Most of the newspaper will have a party ideology and a regional reporting aspect. If the balance of those things shatters, we cannot take it as an ideal source for current affairs especially for the UPSC IAS exam. The newspaper which we have to select is the one which gives emphasis to the national and international topics which is a favourite cup of tea of UPSC IAS aspirants. So, selecting a national rated newspaper which gives emphasis to the national and international news instead of gossip, crime and regional politics are needed. For example, newspapers like The Hindu The Times of India, Indian Express are better options. These English newspapers will not only improve your knowledge but also your language. A better language is needed and is inevitable for the UPSC IAS exam. A better language proficiency will increase your confidence as an IAS officer to communicate.
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What kind of news is to be read from the IAS point of view?
1: Which one of the following is not a Harappan site?
This is one of the major doubts that are asked by the new aspirants when they start preparing for UPSC IAS exams. When you look into a newspaper it is contented with plenty of news which are intended to serve a diverse community of audience. The newspaper is not only meant for UPSC aspirants. A true IAS aspirant should filter the newspaper for focusing on what is relevant to him and what is not relevant to him. It not only increases the quality of your preparation but also it saves your pretty good enough time. The common rule of newspaper reading is giving emphasis on these headings in these orders.
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- The First Page & continuation in other pages (For getting flow)
- The National news Page
- The international News Page
- Science and Technology
- Business (Economic aspect only not private manifestations)
- At last, Editorial and opinion Page
The following pages can be eliminated for scrutiny and preparation but it is better to have a look at it for a basic idea
- Regional news (since UPSC IAS is an all-India examination they won’t probably ask from this news unless it has gained national importance)
- Sports Pages (These pages can be completely neglected for analysis but you can read it for understanding
- Political Party and religious news (These can be neglected since it has no relevance with the all-India UPSC IAS examination. The religious matters pending before the government and honourable high court and supreme court are matters of high priority so you have to give importance for that)
How to Take Notes out of Newspapers?
First of all, taking notes is not at all a mandatory method of newspaper preparation. It is not an advisable method also since the newspaper is a daily publication with plenty of news filled in it. If you really want to take notes please be sure that you have a better methodology. Don’t ever cut and paste the paper because you are not going to refer it back. For taking the newspaper notes classify the notes into the following heads
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- Static news of IAS importance
- Dynamic news of IAS importance
Static News
The static news is news or information that is relevant to the UPSC civil service point of view which has a particular nature of not changing. For an example if the news says Sachin Tendulkar is the first sports person to be honoured by the highest civilian honour BharathRatna in India it is a static news. It won’t be changing. But every static news will be having a dynamic research needed for the background. These static news are meant to be byhearted so it is better to note it down as capsule notes.
Dynamic News
Dynamic news is news which changes frequently. For an example if Indian finance ministry has introduced a special economic policy in order to maintain the post COVID-19 economic crisis it is dynamic news. Many updates on debate analysis are going to come for the above matter. So, it is to be followed. Not only that much static information will be there behind the dynamic news as a foundation to the above news. For an example the constitutional powers of the financial ministry to introduce such a policy, the history of the ministry for such policies etc will be there. These static backgrounds should be researched and the dynamic updates should be incorporated. For dynamic news notes in papers are convenient so that you can add it later.
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Does News Paper only do enough?
The answer is purely diplomatic. Because you are preparing for the UPSC IAS examination. An IAS officer is the face of the government for administrative matters. So, you should have to know the opinion of the government in each controversial matter. All the existing newspapers will have a critical nature in reporting the news and they will always question and accuse the government for every action. It is the media responsibility in a democracy to question the government. Since you are an IAS aspirant you need to know the government opinion in each news so that you could read any of the government publication like Yojana and Kurukshethra for having a balanced opinion.
Conclusion
News papers are read by most of the Indians today. But most of the Indians are not cracking the prestigious UPSC exam which recruits to all India services like IAS IPS IFS etc. A serious IAS aspirant should know how to read the newspaper for better understanding and exam point of view. With the help of entri make sure you are on the right track of UPSC IAS preparation. Download Entri for newspaper notes important capsules and current affairs update. Keep studying, keep winning.
