IAS preparation 2022: How to prepare current affairs?

How to prepare current affairs for UPSC IAS 2022 exam? Get all the details here.

Current events of national and international importance are the key to prepare the IAS syllabus. It is the topmost layer of the IAS syllabus that binds the whole syllabus. The candidates should see the General Studies topics through the lens of current affairs because the UPSC ask such questions linking the current event with the fundamental topics of General Studies. The candidates need to prepare for the IAS 2022 exam in a comprehensive way. The candidates should prepare the current events of national and international importance with their background of the general studies.

IAS exam 2022 will be conducted on June 5 as per the UPSC 2022 notification released on February 2. IAS preparation requires careful planning, best books and consistent strategy for implementation. IAS exam is all about the consistency of effort. There are a large number of topics in the IAS preparation but some of them are more important than others. The parameter to decide the importance of a topic depends upon the current affairs. Current affairs include the events of national and international importance that occurred in the last year or we can take 1st January of the previous year as a cut-off date to start the preparation for current affairs.

Read Here: 100 days plan for IAS prelims

The current affairs section is the most important part of the IAS syllabus because it has a decisive impact on every section. The candidates should focus more on the current affairs and the basic concepts of the traditional topics which are related directly or indirectly to the current events.

The candidates need to understand the scope and depth of current affairs while preparing for the IAS exam 2022. Before discussing the strategy to prepare the current affairs for the IAS exam, the candidates must understand and internalize the current affairs syllabus for the IAS exam. Each topic has its relevance and importance for the exam.

See here: Important Topics for Indian Polity

How to prepare Current Affairs for IAS exam?

The current affairs section is equally important for the IAS prelims and main exam so the candidates need to take an integrated approach covering both of them. Ideally, IAS preparation is a long process of over one year, but it differs from candidate to candidate. The candidate should prepare the current affairs, keeping three aspects in mind.

• How an Interview question can be framed from this topic.
• How it can be asked in IAS main exam
• What information can be used for prelims exam

Current affair is the collective name of all the events occurring across the world in a day or a date range. So the candidates need to understand, there is a daily addition in the topics for current affairs. The candidates try to cover the current events on the same day. 

The candidates should try to complete the current affairs daily and revise it on the weekends. It is commonly observed that the current affairs become baggage and the candidates spend a large amount of time in covering the current affairs only and compromise with the time allotted to other subjects. This is not a good strategy in the long run because though current affairs are most important, other subjects also need preparation because the IAS question papers always surprise the candidates. So it is advisable to take a balanced approach.

See here: Important topics for Geography

What to Study for Current Affairs for IAS Exam?

The candidates should select the sources for current affairs carefully because authentic information is the biggest requirement for IAS exam. The candidates can select from the following sources

Newspapers

The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Hindu Businessline(Monday)

Monthly Current Affairs Magazine

Pratiyogita Darpan, Civil Services Times, Yojana, Niti Aayog reports, Economic and Political Weekly (for some topics only), World Focus year-end issue only.

Websites

PMO, MEA and Finance Ministry, PRS India, PIB

Notes of some reputed coaching institutes such as Vajiram and Ravi, Vision IAS and the likes.

The candidates should also listen to the Rajya Sabha Debates.

Read Here: Most Important Topics for IAS

How to make notes of Current Affairs?

The candidates can go for two types of notes.

• Date-wise Notes
• Topic - Wise Notes

The date-wise notes are of no use because searching and sorting are impossible in these notes. On the other hand, the topic-wise notes are better. The candidates can get all the information related to the topic in one place. The candidates should stick to the topic-wise notes and try to write all the information at the same place related to that topic. The following aspects can be covered the notes.

Current Happening

• Problem definition
• Trigger point
• Impact assessment
• Sustainable Solution

Background

•  History
• Geographic Location          
•  Economic Aspects/Impact              
• Legislation related to the topic               
• Any International event similar to the event( Research)

When it is a new government initiative then the orientation should be the impact assessment of the initiative. The candidates should also take note of critical points of the initiative. It will help in the critical evaluation questions in the main exam. The most important point to remember while preparing the current affairs notes is that the notes should be concise because in the IAS main the candidates need to write 250 words (maximum) for a question and he or she needs to present all the important aspects of the topic with the future-oriented sustainable solution.

The candidates should rely on writing direct and short sentences in the notes and the answers. It will increase their writing speed and help them to write more information in the answers.

To write plenty of information in a few words, the candidates are required to improve their vocabulary. The newspapers can help them in a big way if they can write words and use them in their writings.

In other words, we can say, the candidates need to fill Gagar me Sagar.

See Here: IAS Exam Pattern