• One of the important segments of Civil Services preparation is daily Newspaper Reading. News Paper reading is not only important from the perspective of CSE but also to keep oneself abreast with recent developments in and around the world & overall personality development. 
• Civil Services Exam (CSE) checks the candidate’s knowledge on various matters of national and international importance. If you have gone through the previous year question papers, you would realise many questions are asked on current affairs both in prelims & mains. Hence, the importance of current affairs is very significant at all the stages of CSE, be it Prelims, Mains and of course Personality test. So, one has to be really well versed with current affairs. 
• That’s why  Reading newspapers becomes all the more important to keep oneself updated. Reading newspapers also improves your vocabulary, communication skills, formulating balanced judgement etc. But more important is, how to read, better to study newspaper, to gain maximum advantage in your exam?

Here are certain tips to help you read newspaper:

• Which newspaper to choose for CSE?

• The most recommended newspaper for CSE is ‘The Hindu’. This newspaper provides more information, knowledge, and opinions relevant to the exam rather than entertainment or masala news.

• How many newspapers to read?

• No need to go through many newspapers, just if you cover one newspaper, that is The Hindu, that will be more than sufficient. You can supplement the information about current affairs from magazines like Yojna, Kurushetra, Press Information Bureau and various Ministry’s websites.

• How much time do you devote to newspapers?

• Since the syllabus for UPSC is very vast and you have to cover Basics  like NCERT Books, advanced reference books, study materials and so on. So, you have to meticulously plan your day so that you give adequate attention to each & everything. Therefore, you should be able to cover relevant material in the newspaper in not more than one hour. It won’t come suddenly, but with sincere practice and knowledge of what to focus and what not to focus on in the newspaper you will be able to cover the newspaper in one hour or maximum one and half hours.
• Keep a copy of the syllabus with you while reading the newspaper, it will guide you properly what to focus upon and what not. You can find the keywords mentioned in the syllabus like judicial review, fiscal and monetary policies, disaster management, cyber security etc. Focus on the news related to the topics mentioned in the syllabus.

• What to focus on in Newspaper?

• Concentrate on the government policies, schemes, etc
• Legislative proposals, their discussions, concerns
• Important committees, their recommendation
• Supreme court and High courts judgements
•  News related to Fiscal and Monetary Policies
• International agreements, Visits of important dignitaries, UN bodies, agreement on climate change etc.

At GRACE IAS institute, we arrange FREE classes regularly for honing up the newspaper reading skills and every day sending the list of news articles which are important to the students. If you want to attend these FREE CLASSES, please call 7899678279 / 85500 01099 and register.

 

• What not to focus on in Newspaper?

• No need to focus on political news, like who said to whom and what
• State or regional news unless it is of national importance
• General Sports news 
• Entertainment news etc

• Page wise analysis on newspaper ‘The Hindu’

• Page 1 – The first page contains the breaking news, so read the first page
• Page 2-5 – contains the regional news which can be skipped
• Page 6-8 – contains state news which can be skipped
• Page 9- deals with national news, which may include some legislative proposals, some breakthrough in Science and Technology etc, so it is important
• Page 10 – Editorial, the most important page, read it very carefully. There are 4 articles on the editorial page which provide detailed analysis of important issues of current importance. It helps in developing analytical approach, building opinion, providing solution to the problem discussed etc, so it is very important to formulate opinion, which would be helpful in mains as well as in interview. This page also contains a letter to the Editor, so you can read to appreciate varied viewpoints.
• Page-11, it contains an open editorial, where some important issues would be discussed by eminent persons. See if the issue is relevant to the exam, read it.
• Page 12-13, contains news in general, and some continuance of national news, so read only important issues and news of political nature must be skipped.
• Page 14 – it deals with world affairs. Read only important issues like any international agreement with India, visit of any foreign dignitaries to India or Indian dignities abroad, what’s happening in neighbouring countries and its implication on India etc.
• Page 15-16 – deals with business news. So, focus on important issues like fiscal and monetary policy, growth parameters, socio- economic issues like on education, poverty, health etc.
• Page 17-till last page – deals with sports, can be skipped
• Thursday’s edition mainly deals with Science and technology – so I must focus on it.

Note: Generally this is the pattern  – page wise in ‘The Hindu’