Current affairs are a very important aspect of the preparation for the IAS exam.
Every aspirant must keep themselves updated with the recent happenings in the world.
These magazines and newspapers play an important role in the preparation, most of the content is available in the newspapers themselves but magazines provide an edge to each piece of information.
Newspapers are a brilliant source of information and facts on the other hand magazines are written and edited by various authors and editors thus providing a wide range of ideas and opinions.
Having proper knowledge about current affairs is important and necessary for every phase of the exam. Prelims, Mains, and interview round three of the rounds test the knowledge about current affairs differently.
Besides reading magazines students can also rely on popular recommended newspapers.
Given below article is all about how to read newspapers for preparation and which are the important papers to follow. (link)
Top recommended magazines for UPSC
- Economics and political weekly
Why are monthly current affairs magazines considered to be so important?
- Magazines are considered to be an easy version of the newspapers sometimes because of the writing styles and way of presentation
- Weekly and monthly magazines are very important as well as not as hectic as reading daily newspapers as the magazines mostly present them from a concise and different point of view as well
- Besides newspapers reading magazines also works as the revision of what you read in the newspaper for the whole week.
Advantages of reading a good recommended weekly newspaper.
- Magazines can be concise as well as descriptive and can be chosen according to the preference of the student.
- Particular topics are covered and edited by different industry professionals and thus provide a wider point of view and perspectives.
- Magazines cover topics in such ways with different opinions from professionals which is extremely important for the preparation of mains.
- If an aspirant makes it a habit of reading magazines along with newspapers that student already has an edge over the other.
- Magazines prove to be extensive revision material for the newspapers and also help in the retention of the information.
- Connecting the important parts of the newspaper and analyzing it along with the newspaper columns provide an in-depth understanding.
Good magazines not only are provided facts and editorial columns from various professionals but also.
- Key points
- UPSC exam updates
- Exam tips
- Current events
- Success stories
- Motivational quotes
- Quick quizzes
- Mock papers
How can I prepare for the UPSC exam using a newspaper or a magazine?
- Well, this might be a heck of a debate but there is a very clear-cut answer to it as well.
- Magazines basically work as an outline of what newspapers provide.
- Newspapers are very much important and should be included in the daily routine of preparation.
- Besides practicing mocks and reading newspapers leaving out magazines is totally not advisable.
- The best answer to this debate is to stick to minimum material.
- Choose one best newspapers and a weekly magazine.
- Try to read the one newspaper that you choose with complete attention and try to retain the information and relate the topic when you read it in a magazine.
- After co-relate studying the newspaper and the magazine you will understand what to read and what not to, this comes only with daily reading and consistency.
- Extract the important portions and stick to them.
# The answer to this debate is both magazines and newspaper is important for preparation and leaving either of them is not a very wise decision.
Let’s get a brief look into the recommended magazines for UPSC.
Yojna is a monthly magazine that publishes the government’s point of view on socio-political matters.
This magazine provides various points for essay writing as well also provides valuable content for the Mains preparation as well.
Yojna magazine also publishes newly launched schemes of the government, parliament discussions, policies, and initiatives.
This magazine is recommended by most of the toppers and especially by the last 3 years toppers.
It is said that 1-2 essays come in the mains paper from this magazine.
Yojna magazine is available in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Assamese, Telegu, and many more. This magazine also covers general topics such as agriculture, federalism, budget, etc.
Though these magazines provide an edge to your preparation and so this should be only started after compilation of the NCERT books and the source materials.
This is published by the Ministry of Rural development, this is a monthly journal and provides valuable content for the IAS exam.
Kurukshetra principally deals with rural developments which hold a valuable weightage in the exam. This magazine also helps aspirants prepare for public administration.
Also according to the recent trends of the exam, it is noticed that the board is putting more emphasis and focus on the environment and rural development which automatically puts this magazine in an important spot.
#Economics and political weekly
This magazine is basically a social science journal and contains many technical analyses of the contemporary world.
This journal though needs a very deep level of understanding due to its technicality but at the same time provides valuable resources for the IAS exam.
The weekly economics and political edition contain articles on a wide range of topics such as:
In addition to this, it includes comments and opinions from various editors and professionals, which provides a wealth of information and helps to critically examine the topic.
How to retain and remember all the current affairs and events?
- In the first place, students should review everything they studied in the previous week by the following week. This way the retention of the information is improved.
- News and facts read in the newspaper and magazines need analysis which one might miss, because of the pressure but that should be kept in mind.
- Forming opinions and critical analysis is the most important part, also opinions are more easily remembered than any kind of fact itself.
- After completing the weekly current affairs at the end of the month read them cumulatively once again and see if you remember them, if yes that’s good! If not work on it.
A beginner’s guide to IAS current affairs.
- Begin with the syllabus of the exam and get a grasp of it.
- After knowing the syllabus try to finish the NCERT books in the beginning 1-2 months.
- Along with all these choose one recommended newspaper and read it daily,
How to read newspapers for beginners
- After reading the NCERT and the syllabus books you will get to know what are the important portions to focus on in the newspaper.
How to read NCERT for the IAS preparation https://edukemy.com/blog/know-how-important-ncert-is-for-your-upsc-preparation/)
- Try to finish reading the newspaper daily in 2-3 hours.
- After some time of preparation try to reduce the newspaper reading time to at least 1 hour.
- Rather than focusing on making notes read the newspaper carefully and retain the information.
- Choose a well-recommended magazine and go through it on a weekly basis.
- Relate the topics of the newspaper and the magazine and try to co-relate them and study.
- Good magazines also provide quick quizzes and exercises for solving which will help to memorize the important events.
Is one year of current affairs enough for the UPSC exam?
- Yes ideally, but generally the board can ask literally anything since for the syllabus there is almost each and everything.
- The last year’s current affairs are deadly important but there is no surety that there will be no other questions out of that year.
- Aspirants should get a look at various important social, economic, and political affairs which are the greatest of all time.
- Try to cover current affairs from other years as well but that should be extremely selective and not overboard because time is not something that an aspirant has a lot of
The monthly policy review by PRS provides valuable information and updates on all kinds of government policies and recent bills passed by the government.
Pt365 is basically the cumulation of all kinds of current affairs in the form of videos.
This is published by VISION and is a compilation of affairs for the whole month.
They also publish a yearly version as well.
Chronicle and Vision current affairs are more than enough for the prelims if studied properly.
These magazines are topper recommended and are available in Hindi as well as in English.
Yojana magazine is generally considered to be one of the best and most reliable magazines for the preparation of UPSC.