How to Prepare Map Based Questions related to Current Affairs for UPSC Prelims

The weightage carried by the map-based question in UPSC Prelims has been increasing year by year. The questions asked from Geography varies from 8-10 and mapping questions range from 1-2 every year. UPSC often asks two types of map-based questions One is from the static part and every aspirant is supposed to know while the other being dynamically mapped with current affairs. In today’s article, we will deal with the map questions that are dynamically mapped with Current Affairs. In previous articles we have dealt with various other areas related to mapping that are usually associated with static portion.

Before discussing the Dynamic Mapping lets discuss what is the importance of places that remain news. Usually these places make news due to their speciality or some peculiarity. For example, the Sinai Peninsula remain in news most often throughout the year so while mapping Sinai you need to see other places in the atlas such as the location or mountain or river around this peninsula. Similarly Golan Heights also remain in news around the year so you should mark the place and other places in news in atlas.

The map being an intrinsic part of your entire preparation, aspirants often gets confused where to being.
There are certain books that are needed to carry out your preparation. One can buy Oxford Student Atlas or Orient Blackswan School atlas. The most important material other than the atlas is your National Daily (The Hindu, Indian Express etc.). This will help you to guess important geographical region in news and prepare accordingly.

Now let’s have look how to prepare for the mapping . The following steps should be followed while preparing for the mapping :

1. Buy a student Oxford atlas. It is advisable not to depend on internet images and maps.
2. You should collaborate Atlas with newspaper reading. Places and regions which are in current news must be seen and marked in your atlas.
3. Note down the places in India and world which remain in news. These places may be some mountain, volcano, national park or someplace where some important excavation have been performed. Mark these places in Atlas and revise them before the examination.
4. Solve previous year question papers and specially those questions which have been related to map this will give you a fair idea about the nature and pattern of such questions.
5. In prelims exam, you also have to think smartly and take some intelligent guess. But remember this can be done only after going through the above steps.
6. Many of the entries are picked from the places that repeatedly appear in current affairs but for some unknown reason are still ignored by the candidates. Make a note of all such recurring places, locate them and prepare the write-up. While locating such entries scanning its neighbourhood shall not be a bad idea either and is recommended.
7. When you locate a current entry in the Atlas, also notice the neighbourhood, for the neighbourhood is more enticing for few. For example, the examiner may not ask about the country the Sinai Peninsula is part of but the water bodies between which it is located.

The above details might help you out while dealing with current affairs based mapping questions. However, the entire practice can be cut short by following Prelims Sampoorna Fact File on Mapping for Current Places. This fact file has been released by GS Score one of the Leading Institution for Civil Services Preparation.