The majority of the aspirants who are preparing for the Civil Service Examination have had this question “How to read the Hindu?”. The Hindu is a highly recommended newspaper for the civil services examination, in light of the fact that the vast majority of the questions are triggered from that point.
According to the recent trends, the current affairs play a crucial role in the Civil Services Examination. The preparation for current affairs has to be done very smartly, incorporating the conventional areas also. This holistic approach enables a candidate to fetch a handsome mark both in the preliminary and main examination.
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The following links given below will also be of immense help in strengthening the candidate’s exam preparation: |
Reading “The Hindu” newspaper for the UPSC Exam
Before reading
- Analyse the UPSC Civil Service Examination syllabus and be thorough with it.
- Examine the previous year’s question papers in order to get a glimpse of what kind of questions are asked on current affairs in IAS prelims and mains exam.
- Make a dedicated file for current affairs
What to omit from ‘The Hindu’
Read more | How to dissect newspaper
- The political statements regarding the political parties
- Read the front page selectively
- The state news, city news
- Articles related to relationships, lifestyle and philosophy etc.
- Sports and film gossips
- The extra magazines along with the newspaper
- Give importance to issues related to governance, the opinions of eminent personalities etc
For example,
NEWS: India signed a contract for exploration of polymetallic nodules with International Seabed Authority
India sets sights on gold in the ocean (fig 1, 2 and 3)
Figure: 1
From the above news jot down the important keywords for example,
- The International Seabed Authority (ISA)
- Polymetallic Sulphides
- South – West Indian Ridges (SWIR)
Figure: 2
- A Contract signed in 2002
- PMS explained
- Long-term commercial and strategic values
Figure: 3
- National Institute of Ocean Technology
- National Centre for Antarctic and ocean research
- Shipping vehicles
- New technologies like Fracking
- Challenges
- Technical
- Environmental
Here, if you look from the Civil Services Preliminary and main exam point of view, questions may appear from majorly 3 areas- Geography, Economic and International relations.
For the Preliminary exam, many questions come from the International Seabed Authority, like
- Type of organization, Its obligation and role in international waters
- Its headquarters and India’s membership
- UNCLOS
Look at the next keyword word, Polymetallic sulphides (PMS) and Deep sea mining
- Its constituents, distribution and for what it is used etc
- Volcanic activity in the deep interior of the oceanic crust
- Fracking and natural disasters
The next keyword is South-West Indian Ridges (SWIR)
- Location, type of plate and triple junction
- Plate tectonics and Seafloor spreading
These are some possible area that can be asked in the preliminary exam point of view.
Enhance your reading skills for the Civil Services Main Examination
Let’s analyze from the Civil Services Main Examination perspective. Consider the same news. For the main examination, the questions can be asked from,
- General Studies-I- Geography of the World
- General Studies-II- International relations
- General Studies- III- Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, and Disaster Management
For the Civil service main examination, candidates should go into detail. Knowing the facts and figures does not help you to write a good answer in the UPSC Mains Examinations. One should analyze in detail using the keywords. The candidate should be able to relate the news with syllabus and interlink with socio-economic- ecological and geopolitics spheres.
Here are some of the other topics that can be interlinked and inferred from the same news given in ‘The Hindu’:
- Evolution of deep-sea mining in India
- Deep sea mining: · Pros and cons
- Deep sea mining: Challenges before India
- What is Fracking and why is it controversial?
- The economic- strategic benefit for India
- Influence of China in the Indian Ocean region
- Blue economy and blue diplomacy
- Bilateral relationship, especially with Japan, Germany and South Korea in this regard
- USA does not ratify the Law of the sea- UNCLOS
- New Moore Island in the Sunder bans- India and Bangladesh
- Extended Continental Shelf
What a Civil Services aspirant must ensure is that they should concentrate on making notes as well as to cover the areas around it. While reading the newspaper, an aspirant should make a note of key points. Then he or she should ensure that they are interlinking the issue or topic and segregate them into different sections from the exam point of view as shown above, as this will fillip your preparation.
For more UPSC related preparation materials and articles, visit the links given in the table below:
Related Links
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