Top tips to prepare for current affairs for UPSC

Tip to prepare for current affairs for UPSC

Current affairs for UPSC constitute a major part of the syllabus. Candidates need to attempt a
couple of questions from current affairs. In most cases, they feel confused while dealing with the
dynamic part- current affairs. However, with a proper analysis of previous years’ questions and
thorough preparation, you can perform better. The UPSC current affairs section covers both
international and national events. With dedication and effort, you will achieve success.

Identify reliable sources to know about current affairs-

● You can read The Indian Express, The Hindu, and some other newspapers.
● The most popular magazines for UPSC current affairs are Pratiyogita Darpan, Yojana,

Niti Aayog reports, and Civil Services Times.
● Listen to the All India Radio.
● You may also browse the web to search for resources related to current affairs.

Thus, both offline and online sources are available to learn about current events. Make sure that
you have received authentic and correct information about any topic.

Take 30 to 40 minutes to read newspapers every day. Moreover, you can try to practice 50 to 10
MCQs on current events.

Find the hottest issues- Not general news-

Do not casually go through the headlines and news. UPSC asks questions on different issues
related to the latest news. You have to focus on this fact while preparing for IAS current affairs.
Find the importance of every issue and take steps to look for more data.

Use your diary to make short notes-

You have to make notes offline and online, as it will be useful for your revisions. Before
appearing for the exam, you can revise your notes easily. It is the best way of preparing for
current affairs.

Some candidates like to write date-wise notes. However, it will not be advantageous, as they
cannot quickly find the important ones during their study.

The better alternative is the topic-wise notes. The relevant details about a particular topic will be
organized in one place.

Create some short and precise notes, as your word limit in the IAS exam is about 250 words.

Moreover, you can add flow charts, pointers, and other visual representations while organizing
the information collected from different sources.

Quality is important- Not quantity-

You can find IAS candidates researching a lot to find the best source of information. However,
they do not read the information in detail. It is one of the biggest mistakes of IAS candidates.

Not every news in your daily newspapers is relevant for the IAS exam. You have to avoid
reading news on political parties and other similar topics. Thus, you must read what is valuable
for your UPSC preparation. It will save time in the future.

Focus on time allocation for better preparation-

As you read the most important news articles in the newspapers, you will save energy and
effort. It is better to allocate not more than half an hour to read newspapers. The best option for
you is to read exam-oriented magazines. These monthly magazines have short articles on
different issues. It will be easy to go through them. You may also create notes on your own.

Revise current affairs every week-

Revision is highly important to retain the information that you have gathered from different
sources. The current affairs section is dynamic, and UPSC candidates have to be active to
update their knowledge every day. They must revise the notes related to current affairs that
happened throughout the year.

Thus, keep on revising the current events constantly to ensure that you have not lost track.
While writing answers, you can refer to these current affairs.

In the Prelims, 15 to 20 questions are from different current issues. You must learn about
contemporary events in India. A quick glance at the previous years’ papers will give you a clear
concept.

You can now start giving importance to current affairs for UPSC. Study magazines and
newspapers daily. Take mock tests every week and create your strategy for preparation.
Moreover, you can join an IAS training program to have a better guide on current affairs. The
best training institute will check your knowledge with regular mock tests. You will receive
high-quality study materials from the training academy.