sschub - Either it is UPSC, MPSC, UPPSC, IBPS, CAT or any other exam which involves interview and hard competition, you always have to read newspapers.
Why to read the newspaper?
- In the government job exams, at all three stages (preliminary, Mains or interview) they ask questions from current affairs.
- you need facts and viewpoints to write a good essay. Newspapers are best sources for the fodder material.
Are Monthly magazine like Chronicle or Pratiyogita Darpan are sufficent ?
- Such magazines only work as “supplement” and not as “substitute” of the newspapers.
- Because the magazines cannot explain better to every single topic, even if they wish to. (and because on every second page, they’ve to put big advertisement of coaching classes, to cover the cost.)
- Same case with the readymade blogs/ websites dealing with current-affairs.
- Also such magazines or websites for competitive exams do not help you in the profile-based interview questions.
Which newspapers to read ?
- The Hindu because the local newspapers only serve the “masala” news of politics, cricket and Bollywood.
What is important in newspaper ?
Prepare old question papers of UPSC (at least last three years), should give you a rough idea on what questions are asked directly or indirectly from newspaper. And then read the newspaper keeping that in mind.
What to read in Administration/ Polity section ?
- Press conference of government, where they announce various policies, administrative reforms etc. (I’m talking about the press conference of union and State government, not the press conference of Congress and BJP. hahaha)
- Various bills, minutes of Cabinet meetings.
- The big full-page advertisements given by ruling party, about their achievements. (This usually comes before the election and on the birth anniversary of Nehru Gandhi Family). It is important because, they list out the various developmental schemes and provisions in it. Most important part is “who runs the scheme?” for example NREGA thing for under the jurisdiction of rural development Ministry (and not under Labour Ministry)
- Election related items: what will the initiatives taken by the election commission? Any problems or controversies.
- You have to prepare these for both Union as well as your own state Government. (Your state-Government schemes and Administrative reforms for the “profile Based Questions”)
- Also some important topics are well discussed here => sschub polity
What not to do ?
- No need to do Ph.D on every scam. All you have to do is brief highlight of what was the scam, how was it committed, what is the presence status in investigation or court and how to prevent it in future. You don’t have to go in minute details like on 23rd October 2007, Mr XYZ the accountant of store-dept in Commonwealth games misreported a 50 rupees ball for Rs.5000. Learn to skip the garbage sentences while you are reading a news item.
- Same goes for elections: The XYZ by-elections were conducted on 23th October 2004 in which Mrs. XYZ wife of ABC belong with JYZ Political party defeated
What to read in National News section ?
- Railway accidents, how many killed =not important. Reason for the rail accident and suggestions to prevent future accidents = important.
- SP says BSP took 50 crores or vice versa = not important.
- ISRO sends an artificial satellite = important. How much does it weigh? = not important.
- How many killed in floods, landslides or tsunamis on which date= not important. But the reason behind those geographical phenomenons = important.
- Maoists kidnap a collector = name of the collector is not important. But now experts and politicians say we need a comprehensive hostage-crisis guideline after this incidence= important.
- When and How many men did leopards kill in Maharashtra = not important. Why is leopard killing men in Maharashtra= important. What is Government doing to stop the leopard? = important.
what to read in International News section ?
- Meetings of organisations such as ASEAN, G20 etc , and particularly what India did in such conferences and meetings.
- What is going on in UN, IMF, World Bank?
- Bilateral visits of prime ministers and presidents. What treaties or trade pacts did they sign?
- Climate change, environment related news.
- Elections in the big nations : USA, Russia, China, France, UK.
- Any major event: the democratic uprising in Middle East, Israel palestine, US vs China / Russia missile defence, NATO-Afghanistan and so on.
- Science and Tech related items for example CERN, China’s space program, missle tests by N.Korea, Iran’s nuke program and so on.
- Political or military coup (usually in South America and Africa.)
What is not important?
- How many people are killed in a car bomb blast in Pakistan or Afghanistan?
- Anything “small-time”, that does not affect future of the World. For example sex-scandles of Italian PM or marital wooes of Sarkozy.
What to read for Economy ?
- IIP, GDP, WPI, CPI etc. Not the “numbers” but the reasons behind that number and the future because of that number.
- ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM etc. (they usually complaint or suggest about Government policies that affect the business houses.)
- Press conference or press note by Government, SEBI, RBI, Planning Commission etc.
- International: ASEAN, World Bank, EU etc.
- Columns and Editorials related to Economy.
- Those preparing for Bank exams, should also note down the names of Chaimen of various companies and banks.
What is not important in Economy
- “Numbers” of Daily Ups and downs of share-market. Because Economy is not about number but the meaning, history and future related to that number.
- For example, if IIP was 0.13 on Jan-2012. That itself is not important. Whether it was 0.13 or 0.128? that is not important.
- Important Questions are : is this IIP good or bad? And why is it good or bad? What’ll be its impact on future of Indian economy and Government / RBI policies?
How to prepare from Columns - Editorials?
- Usually columns are made up of 7-8 paragraphs. But not every sentence and line is important; there are just 3-4 gemstones in it, which you can use in your mains / essay / interview answers. So just note them down.
- Some people use highlighters to mark important lines and then file those newspaper cuttings. So do whichever method suits you (noting down or filing the cuttings).
- But Not every column is worth your time and energy. For example in Indianexpress, there is one guy writes about Nepal’s political turomil every week. But in Nepal, the Prime ministers are changed every week and this guy happens to give ball by ball commentery of everything. It’s not worth the “Cost-benefit” ratio. So skip him.
- Similarly there is one Yogindar Alagh in Indianexpress, who pretends to write on rural Development but just “I did this and that when I was a minister”=Not important.
- Maintain the balance: some column writers have a habit of being totally cynical and anti-Government. For example Tavleen Singh of Indianexpress, while I do admire her for having the guts to openly write against Sonia, Mohan and Rahul, but in your answers, You must not admire or criticize a particular individual (minister / politician) in the mains / interview. And don’t prepare a line that is “too leftist” or “too rightists.”
- And if you criticise the Government, then you should also offer the reform suggestions.
Sports / music / life-style/ Bollywood
- Lifestyle = painting, pottery, music, fashion events etc. most of which cannot be afforded by middle class people.
- The last 3-4 pages of English newspaper are devoted to this. if your “hobby” is tennis or chess, then you must follow the related sport-news.
- For others, I say just skip it. Anything historic about Sports will get published in the competitive magazines and or the free blogs/ current-affairs related websites anyways. So daily following these sports-pages = not worth the time and energy.
- Bollywood and cricket related news = not important in any case. Unless something related to administration or polity for example should BCCI be brought under RTI? And the copyright act vs Bollywood.
How to read the newspaper in 1 hour?
The beginning
Keep the red pen handy.
I’m taking Delhi Edition of The Hindu as reference; just follow the same procedure for your City /State’s edition of Indianexpress/ The Hindu.
I’m taking Delhi Edition of The Hindu as reference; just follow the same procedure for your City /State’s edition of Indianexpress/ The Hindu.
The front-page and second page
Circle down on important lines from the news (which news, that is already explained above).
Third, fourth and fifth page
local news for example
- 20 people died in car accident in rajkot
- xyz girl eloped with a neighbour
- A cop was found taking bribes
- Stone-pelting and rioting in XYZ part of Ahmedabad after a cricket match.
- Keshubhai Patel said XYZ against Narendra Modi.
none of above, is important.
Then what is important?
- Navjivan Trust of A’bad says no to Gujarati version of “Let’s kill Gandhi” written by Tushar Gandhi.
- Gujarat Maritime Board and pollution board gives clearance to ship-breaking of Exxon Valdez, but NGO lobby says it contains dangerous chemicals. (Names are not important, but the important part is the big “environmental issue vs. livelihood of ship-breakers in Alang”
- UP State Government launches “xyz1” and “xyz2” schemes.
- Ghaziabad Municipal corp will give Rs.250/- to all Government school students who live more than 3 kms from the school, apart from the mid-day meal, Bicycle distribution.
We are done with 5 pages
The 6 to 9 Page
- These are devoted to “national news”
- Only concentrate on important exam oriented news. Underline the important lines using your red pen.
Page 10-11 (Columns and Editorials)
- Highlight the gemstones and move on.
Page 12-13 (International)
- Highlight the important news lines and move on.
Page 14 (TV, Astrology, Cartoon strips)
- Highlight the important news lines for example the timing of Balika Vadhu. Haha just kidding, skip this page.
Page 15-16 (Business and economy)
- Most important. Scan through every item, including small box news. Highlight the gemstones, if there are any important diagrams, cut and file them.
Page 17-20 (Bollywood, Lifestyle, Sports)
- Skip it.
We are done highlighting the important newslines. Now it is time for review.
Now Review what have you read..
- Go through those red lines and either write them in the relevant notebook / cut and file it.
- Your can either keep five separate full-scape notebooks. OR you can write these in loose papers and then file it in five separate folders.
- The advantage of loose papers = you can add more pages between, when the follow up news comes. For example in case of QFIs. Same is not possible in a notebook.
| Folder / Notebook | Sorting |
| Administration | All the polity, administration, Development related items should be either written or pasted here. |
| Economics | Same exercise |
| Your profile | One file or notebook, make three sub-parts in it. First part- write or paste the state/city related news. Second part- about your academic background Third part- news related to hobbies. |
| S&T | All the science-tech, environment, climate change related stuff. |
| International | Same exercise |
you don’t have to write the entire sentences highlighted in red-pen but just the keywords or phrases that’d help you recall the entire issue.
In the beginning, this’d be time-consuming mental torturing exercise. But with time, you’ll develop the expertize of weeding out the unimportant news and note down the gemstones.
- It’s an art and can be mastered only by practice Daily writing habit also improves your handwriting speed, which is again important for the Mains exam.
- This must be your daily regime as long as you’re a contender. Just because prelims are over or just because mains are over, doesn’t mean you stop this. You’ve to do this on daily basis.
