How To Read Newspaper For UPSC

Hello, today we will discuss in this article how to read newspaper for UPSC CSE. We will discuss here taking an example of how to read The Hindu newspaper for UPSC.

Introduction

The importance of reading newspapers can be seen as there is a lot of weightage of current affairs in the prelims, mains, and interview. The toppers of the exam and the teachers also treat current affairs equally important as the rest of the syllabus.

Many factors may affect reading. For a beginner, there are a lot of problems in reading a newspaper for UPSC as most beginner takes 4-5 hours reading it and then also he wastes his most time reading the unnecessary things that are of least or no importance regarding the UPSC exam.

First of all, be very aware of which newspaper to read?

The Hindu is considered to be the best for the UPSC exam. It covers every national, state, and international important thing. But the thing is that aspirants, especially the beginner find it difficult reading The Hindu maybe, because of its tough language or the time it takes to cover the complete newspaper.

Basics of Newspaper

There are many sections in a newspaper and also many things that come every day. You have to be selective and should be able to detect the importance and time-waste things just by reading the headings.

Main sections of The Hindu Newspaper:

1. Introduction
2. Frontpage
3. National
4. International
5. Opinion and editorial
6. Business and Economics
7. Sports
8. Science and agriculture

The maximum time to cover a newspaper is 1 hour. This is recommended by expert teachers and toppers themselves.

It may seem hard to cover a complete newspaper in an hour. But you will start getting better with time. You will also learn the art of reading the important things and leaving the unimportant things when you will start reading for some days.

Before reading a newspaper you have to be well aware of the UPSC syllabus and pattern before jumping on reading the newspaper. 

Knowing the syllabus by heart will help you:

• Save your time spending on reading the newspaper.
• Read the relevant things and leaving the irrelevant things according to mentioned in the syllabus.

How To Read Newspaper For UPSC Preparation

Before moving to the topic-wise and page-wise discussion, let us see some tips that you can follow on how to read newspaper for UPSC CSE.

1. Try to have less focus on the political news as the newspaper and political parties work hand-in-hand and whatever the party shows, at the end of the day they are a family.
2. On the marks of the first point, never believe and read the political remarks.
3. Try to have a better view on the social and economic issues such as issues on women, Education, health-related issues, policies that affect the vulnerable section of society.
4. Always focus on issues that have either some national importance or international importance.
5. From the political issues, the focus should be on the political issues related to the Indian constitution, legislature, and administrative processes.
6. You should also focus on the Supreme Court and High Court verdicts.
7. You should have a formal reading of the death section, the sports section, and the awards. If you find something important about some famous personality then have a deep reading of it.
8. Always be aware and have practical knowledge of the syllabus and try to remember the complete syllabus in your mind. This will help you get to know the important topics for reading from the newspaper.
9. There is coaching The Thought Tree that provides great batches for UPSC exams. They also give special tips and strategies for reading a newspaper and for better preparation.

Now, let us see the analysis of the paper and look at the things we should focus on from different sections of the newspaper. The following will help you in solving your doubt on how to read The Hindu newspaper for UPSC.

Also Read: IAS Eligibility Criteria

The first One is Polity.

Let us see what to read and what to avoid from this section of the newspaper.

1. The foremost and most important is the Government press conference where all the policies, schemes, reforms are announced.
2. The important bills that are introduced in the Parliament.
3. There are some advertisements given by the ruling party in which they mention the achievements that they have made. This will give you a list of the developmental schemes and provisions. Apart from this, you will get to know which ministry deals with which all schemes.
4. Another important is the election-related news and reforms made by the election commission.
5. The news that is related to amendments, constitution, etc.
6. The parliamentary debates are also equally important.
7. The Supreme Court and High Court verdicts are important.

The above-mentioned ones are the things to focus on. The following are the things to avoid.

Don’t focus on the following:

• The press conference that is held by the political parties.
• The results of the by-elections i.e., who defeated whom in the by-election.

The next section is National News.

Let’s see the things to focus on from this section of the newspaper.

1. News that is of national importance. For example, let us assume there is some big railway mishap. Now, here you need not remember the number of deaths and all. Instead, you should dig a little deep into the matter and find why this happened and how our country is lagging in such disaster management plans. The same goes for the natural disasters you can read the geography of the country if important.
2. News that is related to scientific inventions, innovations by ISRO in the country is important.

Not to focus on the following news:

1. National party members fighting and blaming members of other parties and also some member caught taking bribe and all such kind of news to be left.

The next section is Economy.

Let us see the things to focus on:

1. The Government press releases that are related to SEBI, Planning Commission, RBI, banking reforms, reforms in the economy, agriculture, and industry are really important and to be focused on.
2. Business-related news such as news of NASSCOM, ASSOCHAM that affect business.
3. The reason behind the GDP, CPI. The number is not as important as the reason.

Not to focus on the following:

2. The nitty-gritty of the share market.

Now comes the International News: 

1. The visits of the Prime Minister and the President of the country are to be tracked and along with this, if there is some treaty or agreement is signed between the countries, it is important news.
2. International organizations like the UN, ASEAN, WHO, IMF, etc., and their reports/publications, India’s role in such reports or decisions is very important and should be read.
3. The major political events that are happening in the country that have some possible International consequence like a military coup, uprising, etc.

General Knowledge News 

1. Climate change news and the Global Warming news.
2. The news related to the environment and ecology.
3. The important Science and Technical news like inventions, developments in the field of Science.
4. News about species becoming extinct, some species coming to the list of endangered ones.

Also Read: UPSC Preparation Tips

After this much discussion on each and every topic, a question may come to your mind.

What news should be completely left or avoided from the topic of how to read newspaper for UPSC CSE?

That’s an obvious question as you should definitely know the things to be left, to save your time while reading a newspaper.

• Firstly, the entertainment news can be left as they are not at all important from the exam point of view.
• You can also leave sports news until you have mentioned that as your hobby in your DAF (Detailed Application Form).
• Leave the state news that has no national impact but if that is your habitat then you should know.
• Religious news is of importance when it comes to the UPSC interview. You may leave till you have cleared the mains exam.
• ‘Masala’ news pieces can be directly left.

Moving on, here are some of the tips on how to read The Hindu newspaper for UPSC, or how to read newspaper for UPSC.

Top 10 Important Tips

1. Read-only exam-related content, articles, and editorials.
2. It is more important to read a newspaper keeping in mind your goal and keeping your interest aside.
3. Keep making notes as you read the newspaper for future reference.
4. You don’t need to remember the name and numbers in most of the cases unless it is very important as per the exam.
5. When you read an editorial try to note down the positive and negative sides of the issue and make sure to have a balanced approach.
6. Having a clear idea of the syllabus and exam pattern is important while reading a newspaper.
7. Classify the items you make notes of according to the category as Polity, Geography, Sports, etc.
8. Never complicate your notes and keep them as simple as you can for better revision later on.
9. Be serious while you read a newspaper as you don’t leave important news and skip them by mistake.
10. You can also check out the daily updates on websites and Youtube channels.

Also Read: History Books for UPSC

Conclusion

Reading a newspaper is a good habit when it comes to the long run. This keeps you socially aware of the happenings around you and in your country. Moreover, will help you in the pre, mains, and interview round of the UPSC exam.

We have covered the complete details of how to read newspaper for UPSC CSE. It would be a little tough for a beginner but as time passes and you are consistent in your work, you will become the master of reading newspapers.At last, I would end with a hope that you have gained handsome knowledge from the article and would like to recommend joining The Thought Tree for UPSC courses as it one of the leading coaching for UPSC preparation in the country.