Reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services examination will go a long way in ensuring your success. You have got to make it your holy medicine.
The Hindu is a CSE aspirant’s most genuine source for current affairs. Nobody can possibly crack Civil Services without reading the Hindu regularly. Most of the aspirants realize it’s importance but feel perplexed when they first start reading it.
In the current post, I’ll elucidate the importance of the Hindu and define ways of reading it so as to gain maximum benefit.
Why is Reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services Important ?
Reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services is extremely important. I will go the extent of saying that you will never be able to have a firm grip on current affairs without going through it carefully.
The Hindu is not just comprehensive as a resource but also expansive in nature. Any aspirant who indulges in reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services will surely have an edge over others.
How is the Hindu Different from other Indian Newspapers ?
| The Hindu covers ‘news’ and not ‘paparazzi’ |
| Some of the finest individuals publish their editorials in the Hindu. |
| Some of the finest individuals publish their editorials in the Hindu. |
| The coverage of Current Affairs across disciplines is quite good. |
Proper Section Wise Time Management for Reading the Hindu Effectively
A lot of aspirants struggle with time while reading the Hindu. So here’s my recommendation for various time slots dedicated for different pages of the Hindu.
| Portion of the Hindu | Expected time to read |
| Front page | 5 to 7 minutes |
| State pages | 2 minutes |
| National pages | 10 to 20 minutes |
| Editorial pages | 10 to 15 minutes |
| Op-Ed pages | 2 to 4 minutes |
| International pages | 5 to 10 minutes |
| Business pages | 10 to 15 minutes |
| Science and Technology (Thursday special) | 20 minutes |
| Sports pages | 2 minutes |
| Last page | 2 minutes |
| Supplement pages | 2 to 4 minutes |
How to Gain the Most out of Reading the Hindu ?
I’m elucidating certain points that will assist you in deriving maximum benefits from the Hindu.
READ DAILY
Reading Hindu should be a daily activity. Invest around 1.5 hours on it daily (at least). Fix daily time for it. You can either read it in the morning or during mid day or even night. (I used to read the Hindu during evenings)
FOCUS ON ASPECTS OF NEWS RELATED TO THE GS SYLLABUS
UPSC will test you on your knowledge of current affairs in relation with the world around and not in isolation. You will have to master the craft of relating news items to your General Studies (GS) syllabus.
For instance, if there is a coverage on , let’s say – drought in South India. Relate it to Geography
OR
If there is news about “Wanna Cry” malware, relate it to technology. Focus on hacking, cyber attacks, cyber crimes, cyber laws.
NEVER IGNORE EDITORIALS
No matter how boring you find the editorials (you will at first), don’t avoid them. You will be interested over a matter of time. Nobel Laureates like Paul Krugman contribute to the Hindu weekly. Follow their posts and derive benefit out of them.
PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO GOVERNMENT SCHEMES
While reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services, make sure to always invest time on any headline pertaining to Government schemes. In fact, take any flagship programme by the Government seriously. Missing out on Government schemes will cost you in the exam dearly.
FOCUS ON ‘UNIQUE DAY’ EDITIONS
The Hindu comes up with unique editions. One day of the week is fixed for the Environment and Wildlife, another for Technology so on and so forth. Make sure your read them well. In the past few years, UPSC has picked up questions from there directly. Also, buy the special editions that the Hindu publishes yearly – Hindu’s Survey on Indian Agriculture, Hindu’s Survey on Indian Industries so on and so forth
MAKE NOTES
Lastly, and most importantly – make notes from the Hindu. What you read today will be forgotten by you in three days time if you don’t revise. Notes will serve the purpose of a good compilation especially when the exam gets closer.
Note making is especially important from the Thursay edition of the Hindu i.e from the Science and Technology page. It is extremely important and should not be missed.
I had maintained a notes (discipline wise). You can do the same. These notes will be useful for Prelims and Mains both. In fact for Mains, they will one of your most handy resource.
While Reading the Hindu effectively what are the Most Important Aspects ?
| Polity |
| International Relations |
| World Economy |
| Agriculture |
| Environment |
| Wildlife |
| Science and Technology |
| Latest Research |
While Reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services, What all to Skip ?
| Bollywood snippets |
| Articles on religious philosophy |
| Rowdy political statements |
Start reading the Hindu effectively for Civil Services examination from today itself and help scale up your preparation. There will not be a better resource for current affairs than the Hindu.
All the very best.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHICH IS BETTER – COACHING OR SELF STUDY ?
Mam I am a huge fan of yours. It is so good that you have dedicated this portal for Civil Services aspirants. Please guide me and tell me that is it mandatory to read more than 3 newspapers per day ?
Hi Sneha
Your words are most kind. You don’t have to read 3 newspapers per day. Rather focus on reading the Hindu thoroughly. It will help you a lot.
Mam,it’s so nice that you are helping civil services aspirants.kindly share your detailed time table for cse preparation.
Hey that is very thoughtful of you Priyanka.
I followed a daily time table.
I’ve shared it in one of my answers on Quora. Here – https://www.quora.com/How-should-I-prepare-subject-wise-timeline-for-Civil-Services-2018-starting-from-July-2017/answer/Akriti-Mattu-2
If you need , more details, ping me right here 🙂
Hi,
I came here while browsing Quora. So, I apologise if I am posting a query at a wrong place.
I am reading class 11 ncert Indian art book. What are the other books that I need to read to cover art and culture portion of CSE? Thanks in advance.
Hi.
You don’t need to apologize Bimal.
Art and Culture comes across as a tricky component of the GS Syllabus to a lot of aspirants. The syllabus is expansive and the topics unclear.
Art and Culture is not to be prepared in isolation. A part of it should be studied along with Indian History. The portion that is left should be studied separately.
A few resources –
New NCERT-Class 12th
CCRT Website
NIOS material
The Hindu (Specfic Articles on Art and Culture)
In addition to the above sources, do visit –
http://www.insightsonindia.com/2013/08/07/study-material-for-indian-culture-art-architecture-and-literature/
Best wishes.
Hello mam…sorry to disturb you and also because you will have to stress yourself in reading such a long question.I am a b.a.student currently in the 2 nd year …..and i will be appearing for cse 2020 due to my age restrictions. I have already browsed the internet a lot….mrunal,unacademy,quora and a lot of other stuff but still couldn’t find a relevant answer to my question….because those answers are many and are in bits.mam my humble request is if you could please suggest me a complete strategy right from today till the interview e.g.when to start reading current affairs,what to avoid,how to make notes even from the Hindu as making notes throughout the year will be a tough task and notes will become difficult to memorize etc…..including every possible detail like which test series to join,how to prepare for static and dynamic portion,some life hacks,how to avoid getting distracted,how to make crisp notes from books and also a time table….I have 33 months to prepare and I have already bought dozens of books like India after Gandhi,spectrum,romila thapar,r.s.sharma,satish Chandra,bipin chandra,Norman Lowe for history, majid Hussain and Leong for geography,laxmikanth,dd basu,khullar for environment,nitin singhania,al basham,pushpesh pant for international relations,kartikeyan for ethics,ashok Singh for science,ramesh Singh for economics and essay and arihant past 25 years question papers plus I also have all ncerts in PDF form.mam I am highly confused and your help would prove a boon for me…..please guide me.
Hi Prakash,
I’ll try my best to help you. Leave your email address here and I’ll create a PDF for you covering all the details 🙂
Best wishes.
Hello mam,
I am in the same dilemma as Prakash and your guidance would be of paramount help.Would you be able to send the same pdf to me as at my email address([email protected]).
Thank you.
Hi Shalini,
Drop me an email at [email protected] enlisting your needs. I’ll go through them and get back to you.
newspaper for study great
Yes
Your blog is really helpful for the aspirants, thanks
You’re very welcome.
I face the issue for time constraint. Else, I would have updated articles daily. I’ll try to do it in a few months.
Ma’am. I want to know, out of The Hindu and The Indian Express, which one should be preferred ? I know The Hindu is considered as the Gita for all the aspirants, can somebody read The Indian Express ?
Hi Asit,
The Hindu is ALWAYS to be preferred because it will help you crack the exam. The Indian Express is a good newspaper but when it comes to CSE, the Hindu is unbeatable.
You might be wondering , “what if I read both ?” I’ll stop you right there. Do just one and invest ample time on it. Once you clear the exam, you can surely read both 🙂
Best wishes.
Thanks a lot Ma’am, for clearing the air.
hello mam,
im really confused regarding the revision of current affairs
can you please help me with the same?
thank you!
Hello mam…i am preparing for 2020 but i am still confuse for current affairs strategy to get maximum benefit and i am much afraid for prelims because now the Current portion is much increasing so what should be strategy?
This is so useful for me. Thank you so much.
Thank you Atishi.