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Monthly Current Affairs For UPSC 2023: A Strategic Manual

  • Categories
    Miscellaneous
  • Published
    12th Dec, 2022

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

-Sun Tzu

Every Successful Person knows the importance of a good strategy and every person who wants to be successful needs a good strategy. UPSC is no different. 

It is the strategy that has made toppers stand out too. In UPSC, you need a method to cover each subject and current affairs that complement those that need a plan of action too. Walk into any library or any aspirant's room, you will find a monthly magazine at their study table. But when it comes to utilisation of it, not many have a clue. If you are also wondering “What is the right strategy to study a current affairs magazine?” then read on…



Which compilation to go for? Weekly or Monthly Magazines

 

We all know the value of current affairs. Nothing we say is enough for it. And you know it too. Only a few of you can cover daily newspapers or PIB or Sansad TV or any other source effectively. And even if you do, revision seems a humongous task. This is where we realise the need for a current affairs compilation. 

Now, coming to the question of Weekly vs. Monthly current affairs. The idea behind a weekly or monthly compilation is to increase the retention power of students. The weekly compilation is Revision no. 1- Here, you can revise the whole week’s essentials and make notes out of it. Then comes Revision 2 - the Monthly Current Affairs Magazine. Here, you revise all four or five weeks’ current affairs and update your notes accordingly. It is this revision that further takes you to develop a perspective much needed for clearing UPSC.



The Right Strategy

Every right strategy is divided into steps for effective implementation. Let us follow the same and start:

Step 1: Segregate the topics into the areas of GS Paper it belongs to.

Every topic belongs to some part of the GS paper’s syllabus. Identifying which section of the syllabus it relates to is the first step. 

  • This will later help you add value to your subjects and topics. 
  • Another benefit is that you would be able to identify the important areas or topics to focus on a subject.

Step 2: Further divide them into Mains-based and Prelims-based articles.

Current affairs are needed for both Prelims and Mains. Reading the same thing for 2 different purposes is a waste of effort. Segregating the mains and prelims based topics will ease your task and you can focus on only relevant facts as per the stage of the exam you are at.

The Prelims exam is inclined more towards the factual part and the Mains towards the analytical. This doesn’t mean that Prelims doesn’t focus on the analysis of a topic and Mains is not factual. It is the inclination that makes them different.

  • Identify if a topic is focussing on the facts or analysis and put them on different sheets of paper.

Step 3: Divide the Prelims topics as per the themes.

In the preliminary exam, we find many theme-based questions like locations in news, topics in news, key concepts etc. Many magazines have a section for it. Make a different sheet for each theme and note down the topics under it.

  •  For example, if you find a topic that talks about “Region ruled by Kanishka” note it down under the location in the news section. By the time you have finished all the magazines, you will have different theme-based compilations of yearly topics to revise and this will increase your chances to get an edge over others and make you confident to appear in the exam.

Step 4: Find out the PYQs related to the segregated Mains Topics and Practise.

We all know that static and dynamic parts complement each other. When you have compiled the Mains current affairs topics as per their respective GS areas, add them to your notes, revise and practise PYQs related to those topics.

  • This will help you in writing substantial answers and make you ready for Mains. 

Step 5: Find out the Contemporary News based essays or quotes:

Writing an essay is not a cakewalk. It requires practice. When you practise writing essays on these quotes or essays and substantiate them with the contemporary. You will be ready to perform well in the essay paper too.

By following these steps, you will not just be covering the Monthly Magazine but you will be prepared holistically for the exams. By this time, your perspective would have also developed and subjects will start aligning.

We know this task might seem daunting, and this is why we have designed our “GS Analyst” where we have already done this task for you. Now, you can only focus on the revision part. You just need to revise and attempt the PYQs. It is designed so that it covers current affairs or current events related to GS Paper 1, 2, 3, 4, and Essay comprehensively. The current affairs articles are accompanied by practice questions for answer writing. As a result of these questions, you will be able to identify current affairs from static topics and you will be able to enhance your ability to write answers. Also, Do you know that our GS Analyst is the only magazine that covers Essay in Monthly Magazine? 

 

You can check out our free-to-download compilation here. 

A sincere effort by,

Samiksha

Team GS SCORE

Verifying, please be patient.

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