In this article, we will go through guidelines to effectively prepare current affairs for UPSC Civil Services Exam — Prelims and Mains.
In the past one year, thousands of aspirants emailed me with their UPSC exam queries. One topic that constantly featured in majority of them is Current Affairs. Though I tried my best to reply to those emails individually, the volume of mail on current affairs never abated. So I thought a detailed blog post on it would be ideal so that everyone can read and get their doubts clarified.
As I mentioned in my posts on Essay and GS, there’s no one best way to prepare for this exam. The rest of the post merely reflect my learnings; you must pick and choose what you feel is right and what you are convinced about. For instance: I read everyday newspaper meticulously, but I never made any hand-written notes from it because I felt it was a colossal waste of precious time. I found a better alternative in making notes online (more on this later). But if you are used to making effective hand-written notes from newspapers in limited time, don’t change it for the sake of it.
In this post, I list out 5 principles that helped me cover news comprehensively and could score well in GS-1 (123), GS-2 (123), and GS-3 (136).
Principle 1: Limit your sources
A fundamental problem with Current affairs is the deluge of reading material. In my earlier attempts, I used to buy current affair material out of whim, in the delusional hope that more material meant more marks. My room used to be filled with CSR, Pratiyogita Darpan, EPW, Chronicle, Yojana and every random magazine you can name of. I’d buy them out of excitement, keep them safely on my desk, never to reopen again for lack of time. I learned the hard way that running after too much material is counter-productive. Choose quality over quantity.
“A wealth of information leads to a poverty of attention” — Herbert Simon
My Current Affair sources:
• The Hindu (One English Daily)
• IE Explained section on website (for comprehensive understanding of an issue)
• One daily compilation (Choose any among Insights/ IAS Baba/ Forum/ Vision/ Civils Daily etc.)
• One monthly compilation
• All India Radio— Spotlight/Discussion
• Misc (RSTV’s Big Picture, India’s World, and PRS India)
• Internet
Some aspirants spend an indefinite amount of time researching about the “best website” and the ‘best coaching material’ website for current affairs and invest less time actually reading it. Others have this perfectionist mindset that forces them to make copious notes and compilations from tons of material available in the market. Desist from this. Do your research for a day, decide on your sources, and stick with it. You’ll do just fine.
Principle 2: Limit your time
The problem with most aspirants is not that they neglect newspapers, but they overplay its importance. Some read newspapers for almost 3-4 hours a day, leaving them with no time to read other subjects.
Current affairs are important, newspapers are important, but not so much that you invest disproportionate amount of time in it. In my experience, ideally one should finish reading day’s current affairs under 2 hours. 3-4 hours for everyday current affairs is an overkill.
My current affairs preparation consisted of
• Newspaper reading (30-45 min, no note making)— everyday
• Online reading of the daily news compilation (choose any institute material for this)— everyday (45 min, highlighting and capturing the material on Evernote)
• A revision of last week’s issues, catching up on All India Radio (selectively), and internet research on selective issues — weekends
• Referring to a monthly compilation (choose any institute material for this) — at the end of the month.
Principle 3: Focus on issues, not news
What’s the difference? News talks about an incident. Issues focus on ideas. Let me give you a couple of examples.
1. Prime Minister talking about $5 trillion economy is news. Merely focusing on the speech or what’s reported in the newspapers isn’t enough. You must research and understand the larger issue: Why the number 5 trillion? What sectors to focus on and what steps should the government take? How should we rapidly increase the pace of investment? What are the impediments facing the economy? How can we overcome them to realise the 5 trillion goal by 2024? etc.
2. International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav is news. But the larger issue is about bilateral relation between India and Pakistan, ICJ— its structure and mandate, who are its subjects, how are cases referred to the court, India’s role in global fora etc.,
So to understand any current issue, I used to follow the following framework:
• Reason— Why is it in news? (This is usually reported in the newspapers)
• Background Knowledge— (Data, facts, authentic reports etc.)
• Current Status— What has the government done or not done so far?
• Both sides of the issue— Pros and Cons/ Opportunities and challenges
• Opinion/ Suggestions/ Way forward— What we must do about it?
Many a time, coaching material covers issues comprehensively. If it doesn’t, use the internet to find quality content and make online notes so that you have complete understanding of each issue.
Principle 4: Learn to make notes online
I never made any hand-written notes for current affairs. Making them online saved me a lot of time. I used to read the papers, and then utilised Evernote to capture and highlight the daily news compilations put out by coaching institutes (choose any one.)
But then, a follow up question is frequently asked. Can I skip newspaper altogether and just read these compilations? I wouldn’t suggest it becasue:
• Reading newspaper gives a good summary of what’s happening, and it becomes that much easier to read the daily compilation later. Since you read it twice, you tend to retain it longer.
• Presumably, examiner will set current affairs questions from the newspapers. So recurring issues in newspapers will tell us how weighty an issue is and what we must focus on.
• Anecdotes and examples for essay, ethics and interview can be sourced only from reading the newspaper.
• Consistent reading of an English daily subconsciously improves your vocabulary and writing.
Besides, download Evernote Web Clipper extension from the Chrome webstore. This tool is incredibly useful in clipping online articles, highlight them on the spot and organise neatly into your Evernote. How my Evernote collection looked: Screenshot
Principle 5: Read. Revise. Execute.
The aforementioned methods will ensure that you capture 90-95% of current affairs in a manner relevant to this exam. But current affairs is a continuous topic that keeps piling up by the day. The best way to retain the content is through constant revision and by executing them in the answers you write during daily practice or test series. Just mentioning the relevant issue in a sentence or two will add tremendous value to your answers.
Besides, it’s best to revise current affairs immediately after you read the concerned static part of a paper. For example, if you are preparing for a GS-2 mock test, right after you finish the static part, revise that relevant current affair segment. This will help you subconsciously link the static and the current and helps you write a good answer when you take the test.
Even after reading and revising, you may not be able to recollect all current affair material in the exam hall. That’s okay. No one really can. Like perfect notes, perfect answers are a myth. You job must be to write the best answer you can in the limited time you have. Trust your instincts and have that unflinching self belief. You will outperform your own expectations.
That was my UPSC current affairs preparation strategy. Hope you found it helpful.
Best wishes,
Anudeep.
Note: My book, Fundamentals of Essay and Answer Writing is out now! It’s a comprehensive guide that helps you write better Essays and Answers in the UPSC Mains Exam. You can get the book here.
Sir , I really inspired by your personality . Wish to meet you once I crack this exam .
I have gone through your book , its written brautifully .
This article is very useful & motivational. Thank you for sharing with us, keep posting.😊
Hello sir, Will it be a issue if someone stammers !
Any way Your blogs are really very helpful. Thanks a Lot.
Which city edition of The Hindu news paper is better to read for IAS?
Today I came across this blog, this was just a random search, from yesterday i have started seeing the syllabus because I’m in my last semester of graduation. So, i found this time to invest in doing research about my future goal, basically syllabus and i got this blog, i can’t explain my level of inner satisfaction 💯. Thank you brother for being this much helpful. This gives me tonnes of motivation 🎉
Thank you a thousand times
THANK YOU SO MUCH SIR . IT REALLY MEANS ALLOT . IT’S A MUST NEEDED ADVICE .
Sir, I am confused with a doubt, should we make daily notes of current affairs released by any institute or should we refer monthly compilation and then make notes once in a month, because many times an issue will be on news for many days ..
So is it advisable to make notes every day or once from monthly magazine ??
Really I was benefitted tnq sir
HI SIR,,,,i am from karnatak i confuse in integrated study for pre mains and interviewe…..May you help me with small example……i belongs from karnataka and pure kannada medium
Really a good content and advice
This article provided me with a wealth of information. The article is both educational and helpful. Thank you for providing this information. Keep up the good work.
sir there is a query regarding current affairs .if I am making daily notes of current affairs from a website then what’s the point of reading monthly compilation better i can revise my daily notes which i had made .but if i have to read monthly magazine for revising current affairs then what’s the point in making daily notes which i can’t use in my revision
The intention of this post is to merely warn other aspirants (mostly beginners in the UPSC Preparation) before committing the same mistakes as I did.
Mistakes that I did:
1. Over emphasizing of Current Affairs: We all do it. Trust me. We do NOT need to Masters or PhD in Current Affairs and it is NOT a separate Subject.
2. Trying to do something exceptional. Exceptional is nothing in UPSC. You just have to do the basic minimum with repeated revisions so you can reproduce it in the exam hall.
3. Not realizing the word limit in Mains. For a 15 Marker – it is 250 Words and for a 10 marker it is 150 words. It doesn’t matter how many volumes of current affairs material you have studied, at the end, on the exam day, you’ll have to write 250 words at max.
4. Believing in False Claims – like 80% of Questions came from our Test Series. IT IS ALL FALSE. AND WHOEVER SAYS THAT IS FRAUD. Remember that.
5. Reading 10 different sources for one subject/Topic. It will leave your HOPELESS AND HELPLESS rendering your all EFFORT USELESS.
6. These are a few mistakes that I have done so far. Will add if I have any.
So, now let’s talk about UAP that is THE ULTIMATE ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME of Civils Daily
This is going to be a very detailed post, so brace yourselves.
I joined this course on May 13, 2022.
Why? Idk why I did, honestly.
Just glanced through their website a couple of times and I saw SAMACHAR MANTHAN
I read that Entire Post of Samachar Manthan a couple of times and also saw the reviews of previous topper on YouTube and I thought that okay, I will Cover current affairs from here.
I had a conversation with their Team Representative asking the details of Samachar Manthan. And this is where they’ll trap you, be careful.
They’ll say they have another program to offer you because you’re doing self study.
It is none other than our ProAntagonist UAP. They’ll say you have access to all the Test Series + Mentorship (which is another gimmick)
I did not join the course immediately but took a few days time. I Spoke with my parents and they warned me against it. After convincing them and taking them into confidence and trusting Civils daily (which I should have never done), I joined in their UAP.
I also asked how many students that a single mentor has? and whether it is a limited programme. They replied saying yes, it is limited programme. Around 100 mentees. THAT IS A LIE. Believe me.
They are just hungry for money and when you email them for your concerns, they don’t even acknowledge it post months.
Honestly, I don’t have any thing against my mentor as Sir has been very supportive of me and my prep for the last 5 months.
I spoke to him hardly 10 times in these months also because I was busy studying and trying to make use of the COURSE that I brought for so many bucks.
It took me considerable amount of time to realise that the course is not as per the demands of UPSC.
So, now, lets go into the details of each sub course
1. SAMACHAR MANTHAN :This is the most infamous course. Only because of the publicity it gained by Anudeep Sir (AIR -1, CSE – 2017). But the quality of course has degraded.
Reasons
a. The SM material is of 50+ pages every week. Sometimes, it also crosses 70. So, if we would have to calculate, 4 weeks a month, 4×50 = 200 pages. Bulky material. The problem just doesn’t end with that. It is not even precise. And Cherry on the cake, it is blatantly copied from free articles and Magazines of Drishti IAS website. Or just the contents of the articles of the newspaper, copied and pasted without any changes made.
b. Talking about the video, it is released after around 2 weeks and it is 7 hour long video. Plus, the teachers do not come prepared, they just read the contents of the PDF or the PPT and get away with it. I remember mailing them for the same concern in May 2022 and they haven’t addressed it till now. :’)
c. Micro notes are nothing but PPT slides with side headings. XD Useless.
d. Coming to the Test. They give 10 questions every week and they are pretty random and not on the lines of the UPSC again. I wrote 5 tests and got them evaluated as well and the remarks on my 5th test were an eye opener to me. The evaluator asked me to revise my syllabus as I was writing generic answers. I decided to do away with writing tests for few weeks as I was busy with my academics. It takes years for them to send the checked copy.
e. The model answers are lengthy and just snapshot of the articles of the newspaper. Nothing new to add.
TAKE AWAYS:
1. DO NOT PAY THEM FOR ANY COURSE. I MEAN IT WHEN I SAY ANY COURSE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BEGINNER IN THIS UPSC JOURNEY.
2. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY IT, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET COACHING FOR YOUR OPTIONAL SUBJECT OR BUY STANDARD TEST SERIES (VISION IAS, INSIGHTS IAS, FORUM IAS, other reputed institutes)
3. If you’re too worried about our weekly coverage of current affairs, let me bring to your notice that many websites are posting them free of cost( Insights IAS, Forum IAS, Drishti IAS) which are much better than Civils daily in quality and content.
4. And for conceptual clarity, you can videos on YouTube. Search that topic and add upsc. You’ll find dozens of quality enriched videos free of cost. You may also check STUDY IAS YouTube channel as some of the videos are brilliant for conceptual understanding.
5. And for answer writing, I would suggest you to go with Insights IAS Secure or IAS BABA TLP. (Many toppers have recommended it.)
2. Civils Digest
And here comes our side – kick, Civils Digest.
The contents of this program include: News+PIB, Oped, Prelims Daily, Government Schemes, SC Judgements. All these materials can come around 400–500 pages, every month, mind YOU.
Not worth the money at all.
All they do is Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, that too without removing the sources properly.
You will never have bandwidth to finish reading their content, leave revising it at all.
Do NOT waste your attempt by trusting them. They’ll sugarcoat you and trap you into buying their courses.
TAKEAWAY:
1. PICK ANY MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF YOUR CHOICE WHICH HAS LEAST NUMBER OF PAGES. Most recommended one by Toppers from 2015 like Tina Dabi, till today is VISION IAS Monthly Magazine. They upload it on their Website for free under resources. Why only this? It is prepared by a team of 15 experts and it is release around 20 -25 days after the month ends. IT IS THE MOST PRECISE, TO THE POINT and NO NONSENSE MAGAZINE.
2. If you’re not comfortable with Vision IAS Monthly Magazine, You can go with any other free magazines available but do research if any previous toppers have used or recommended it.
3. Do not fret offer current affairs as it is not a different subject. It has to be studied along with static concepts as STATIC IS THE KING.
4. Revise the magazines, which are a max of 120 pages a month, as much as you can and you can yourself see the difference once you start solving the UPSC Prelims PYQs. I have done it and the satisfaction is immense.
5. The only reason that I took the pain and effort to type such a detailed post for these two initiatives it, I always believe that people around me should not face the same problems I did. It costed me 5 months and a few thousands of rupees. Money might come back again, but TIME? Nope.
3. TEST SERIES:
I have not written any major tests except for few Practice Tests. Same old Story. Not as per the demands of the UPSC. Just Factual Questions. I doubted my preparation for a very long time because of that.
The courses might have helped veterans in Quality Enrichment because of the individual attention given to them to claim their ranks in FUTURE.
I truly believe
“ We Rise By Lifting Others “
Spread the word and Stay Safe.
Yours Sincerely 🙂
First things First:
Proof that I actually joined the course:
The intention of this post is to merely warn other aspirants (mostly beginners in the UPSC Preparation) before committing the same mistakes as I did.
Mistakes that I did:
1. Over emphasizing of Current Affairs: We all do it. Trust me. We do NOT need to Masters or PhD in Current Affairs and it is NOT a separate Subject.
2. Trying to do something exceptional. Exceptional is nothing in UPSC. You just have to do the basic minimum with repeated revisions so you can reproduce it in the exam hall.
3. Not realizing the word limit in Mains. For a 15 Marker – it is 250 Words and for a 10 marker it is 150 words. It doesn’t matter how many volumes of current affairs material you have studied, at the end, on the exam day, you’ll have to write 250 words at max.
4. Believing in False Claims – like 80% of Questions came from our Test Series. IT IS ALL FALSE. AND WHOEVER SAYS THAT IS FRAUD. Remember that.
5. Reading 10 different sources for one subject/Topic. It will leave your HOPELESS AND HELPLESS rendering your all EFFORT USELESS.
6. These are a few mistakes that I have done so far. Will add if I have any.
So, now let’s talk about UAP that is THE ULTIMATE ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME of Civils Daily
This is going to be a very detailed post, so brace yourselves.
I joined this course on May 13, 2022.
Why? Idk why I did, honestly.
Just glanced through their website a couple of times and I saw SAMACHAR MANTHAN
I read that Entire Post of Samachar Manthan a couple of times and also saw the reviews of previous topper on YouTube and I thought that okay, I will Cover current affairs from here.
I had a conversation with their Team Representative asking the details of Samachar Manthan. And this is where they’ll trap you, be careful.
They’ll say they have another program to offer you because you’re doing self study.
It is none other than our ProAntagonist UAP. They’ll say you have access to all the Test Series + Mentorship (which is another gimmick)
I did not join the course immediately but took a few days time. I Spoke with my parents and they warned me against it. After convincing them and taking them into confidence and trusting Civils daily (which I should have never done), I joined in their UAP.
I also asked how many students that a single mentor has? and whether it is a limited programme. They replied saying yes, it is limited programme. Around 100 mentees. THAT IS A LIE. Believe me.
They are just hungry for money and when you email them for your concerns, they don’t even acknowledge it post months.
Honestly, I don’t have any thing against my mentor as Sir has been very supportive of me and my prep for the last 5 months.
I spoke to him hardly 10 times in these months also because I was busy studying and trying to make use of the COURSE that I brought for so many bucks.
It took me considerable amount of time to realise that the course is not as per the demands of UPSC.
So, now, lets go into the details of each sub course
1. SAMACHAR MANTHAN :This is the most infamous course. Only because of the publicity it gained by Anudeep Sir (AIR -1, CSE – 2017). But the quality of course has degraded.
Reasons
a. The SM material is of 50+ pages every week. Sometimes, it also crosses 70. So, if we would have to calculate, 4 weeks a month, 4×50 = 200 pages. Bulky material. The problem just doesn’t end with that. It is not even precise. And Cherry on the cake, it is blatantly copied from free articles and Magazines of Drishti IAS website. Or just the contents of the articles of the newspaper, copied and pasted without any changes made.
b. Talking about the video, it is released after around 2 weeks and it is 7 hour long video. Plus, the teachers do not come prepared, they just read the contents of the PDF or the PPT and get away with it. I remember mailing them for the same concern in May 2022 and they haven’t addressed it till now. :’)
c. Micro notes are nothing but PPT slides with side headings. XD Useless.
d. Coming to the Test. They give 10 questions every week and they are pretty random and not on the lines of the UPSC again. I wrote 5 tests and got them evaluated as well and the remarks on my 5th test were an eye opener to me. The evaluator asked me to revise my syllabus as I was writing generic answers. I decided to do away with writing tests for few weeks as I was busy with my academics. It takes years for them to send the checked copy.
e. The model answers are lengthy and just snapshot of the articles of the newspaper. Nothing new to add.
Proof:
TAKE AWAYS:
1. DO NOT PAY THEM FOR ANY COURSE. I MEAN IT WHEN I SAY ANY COURSE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BEGINNER IN THIS UPSC JOURNEY.
2. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY IT, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET COACHING FOR YOUR OPTIONAL SUBJECT OR BUY STANDARD TEST SERIES (VISION IAS, INSIGHTS IAS, FORUM IAS, other reputed institutes)
3. If you’re too worried about our weekly coverage of current affairs, let me bring to your notice that many websites are posting them free of cost( Insights IAS, Forum IAS, Drishti IAS) which are much better than Civils daily in quality and content.
4. And for conceptual clarity, you can videos on YouTube. Search that topic and add upsc. You’ll find dozens of quality enriched videos free of cost. You may also check STUDY IAS YouTube channel as some of the videos are brilliant for conceptual understanding.
5. And for answer writing, I would suggest you to go with Insights IAS Secure or IAS BABA TLP. (Many toppers have recommended it.)
2. Civils Digest
And here comes our side – kick, Civils Digest.
The contents of this program include: News+PIB, Oped, Prelims Daily, Government Schemes, SC Judgements. All these materials can come around 400–500 pages, every month, mind YOU.
Proof:
Not worth the money at all.
All they do is Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, that too without removing the sources properly.
You will never have bandwidth to finish reading their content, leave revising it at all.
Do NOT waste your attempt by trusting them. They’ll sugarcoat you and trap you into buying their courses.
TAKEAWAY:
1. PICK ANY MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF YOUR CHOICE WHICH HAS LEAST NUMBER OF PAGES. Most recommended one by Toppers from 2015 like Tina Dabi, till today is VISION IAS Monthly Magazine. They upload it on their Website for free under resources. Why only this? It is prepared by a team of 15 experts and it is release around 20 -25 days after the month ends. IT IS THE MOST PRECISE, TO THE POINT and NO NONSENSE MAGAZINE.
2. If you’re not comfortable with Vision IAS Monthly Magazine, You can go with any other free magazines available but do research if any previous toppers have used or recommended it.
3. Do not fret offer current affairs as it is not a different subject. It has to be studied along with static concepts as STATIC IS THE KING.
4. Revise the magazines, which are a max of 120 pages a month, as much as you can and you can yourself see the difference once you start solving the UPSC Prelims PYQs. I have done it and the satisfaction is immense.
5. The only reason that I took the pain and effort to type such a detailed post for these two initiatives it, I always believe that people around me should not face the same problems I did. It costed me 5 months and a few thousands of rupees. Money might come back again, but TIME? Nope.
3. TEST SERIES:
I have not written any major tests except for few Practice Tests. Same old Story. Not as per the demands of the UPSC. Just Factual Questions. I doubted my preparation for a very long time because of that.
The courses might have helped veterans in Quality Enrichment because of the individual attention given to them to claim their ranks in FUTURE.
I truly believe
“ We Rise By Lifting Others “
Spread the word and Stay Safe.
Yours Sincerely 🙂
Any
Thank you soo much sir
Sir can please share some more screen shots or link to your actual current affairs nites so that i can have look how to start actually i am just starting so to get a rough idea i am reading newspaper daily and got the idea also what to make notes of but unable to get the writing structure
Sir can please share some more screen shots or link to your actual current affairs nites so that i can have look how to start actually i am just starting so to get a rough idea i am reading newspaper daily and got the idea also what to make notes of but unable to get the writing structure . Yes i am goint to write again and again so that u will be able to see it