How to read Newspaper Effectively in short time

Civil Services Exam, the most prestigious exam in India is taken up by lacs of aspirants from every nook and corner of India every year. A penchant desire to join the elite league of bureaucracy and service of the nation are the two main reasons behind this motivation. However, the honour and respect that is given to a bureaucrat may also be the reason behind this. Being regarded as the most difficult exam in India the journey to the civil services is not the easier one as it requires patience, perseverance and strong will to clear the exam. The exam is conducted in three phases and every phase holds immense importance. Aspirants often remain confused over the strategy and planning that should be followed to clear the exam however the dedication and hard work remain the key tactics to clear the upsc exam.

The pattern of the civil services exam has changed drastically with more emphasis given to dynamic or current affairs. Even the optional subjects are now being interlinked with the current section. The nature of current affairs is most vibrant and dynamic and there is no single source or text book to cover this. However the newspaper is one of the most trustworthy and authentic sources to cover the current affairs. However, there is no dearth of newspapers in the market that are flooded with loads of information. Hindu and Indian Express are regarded as the most authentic and most genuine newspapers among civil services aspirants. But the students remain ambiguous over the portions that need to be emphasized upon. There are certain portions in the newspaper that should be discarded at one go while reading the newspaper from a civil services point of view. The sections pertaining to political parties, entertainment, and Election coverage are some salient portions that one should not go through.

Now the question arises what sections should one target upon. There should be great focus on the areas related to the news or editorial discussing any scheme or program, any geographical problem, discussing any policy initiative by RBI etc. Sometimes students remain confused over the time that needs to be given to newspapers as spending more time on newspapers may leave other portions of the syllabus untouched. Normally 2 hours of time for a newspaper is more than sufficient. So it is quite difficult to cover an entire newspaper in 2 hours of time. To simplify this here are certain areas in the news paper that should be covered on priority basis:  Any news related to electoral reforms, Judicial reform or Political reform

• News pertaining to India’s social and economic indicators like GDP, Inflation, Poverty etc.
• Disasters, Pandemics and geographical crises like flood, Drought, Monsoon, Corona etc.
• Interlinking of rivers, Water sharing disputes and Interstate dispute over sharing of resources etc.
• Government policies and programmes such as Atma Nirbhar Bharat, JAM, KISAN,  Digital India, Make in India, Skill India, IPR policy etc.
• News covering Indian Diaspora, International Relations and World Affairs.
• Intellectual Property Rights and other related issues
• Science and Technology , Ecology and Environment related news like GI tagging, National Parks and tiger conservation, India’s Nuclear Policy etc
• News on Constitutional and Statutory organizations such as CAG, SEBI, etc.
• News related to ART and Culture such as paintings, certain excavations, particular dance form, martial art and fairs and festivals.
• You can totally leave the sports page, If something very big is not happening like Olympics etc.

The above-mentioned dimensions may certainly act as a set of guidelines for aspirants while going through a newspaper in 2 hours. However, aspirants can form their own strategy regarding newspaper reading and few more points in this list.  If you follow the above instructions time taken to read the newspaper would reduce to 1 hour 45 minutes and finally 15 minutes should be given for preparing the notes. Preparing notes is the most important exercise-related to newspapers because if notes are not prepared at the time of revision you have to do the same exercise again. So we request you to prepare the notes. It is the most well-spent time related to newspapers.