Current Affairs Plays an important role not only in the Prelims but in the Mains and Interview stages of UPSC CSE as well. If we refer UPSC CSE syllabus for Preliminary Exam then the first line that is mentioned is “Current Events of National & International Importance “. Its significance can be understood from it. Also, the syllabus provided by UPSC has to be deciphered as it mentions it very briefly. The depth of the Question can be understood by going through the previous year’s Questions only.
In this blog, we will cover important sources for Current Affairs, their importance in Preliminary, Mains & Interviews, the role of Current Affairs in Optional Subjects, and the allocation of time for Current Affairs.
The number of Questions pertaining to Current affairs in the General Studies Paper of the UPSC CSE Preliminary Examination is significant. Various Coaching Institutes came up with their analysis of UPSC CSE Prelims as soon as the Exam gets over. Their analysis about the number of Questions from Current Affairs asked in General Studies may have a variation of 2-3 Questions from One coaching to other.
Know About The Importance of Current Affairs
One may observe that the number of Questions from the Current Affairs section in the General Studies Paper of Prelims varies per the analysis of different Coaching Institute. Why does it happen? Let us discuss first the subject matter of Current affairs. As we know current affairs is nothing but it is simply the day-to-day events that are important.
The subject matter of Current Affairs could be Economy, Polity, Geography (Catastrophic or Natural Disaster/calamities, border disputes), History ( ancient India if some recent development with respect to the Archaeological Survey of India or some Ancient Civilization that are in the News ), Government Schemes, International Organization, Reports of Important National & International Organization, Science & Technology & Environmental & Ecology.
As the nature of the Question in UPSC CSE Prelims is objective. In a few Question of Current Affairs UPSC incorporate some static Portion as well (it may be in the form of the option) to check intelligence and analytical skills as the Preliminary Exam has the objective of screening Candidates for the second stage i.e. Mains. It rarely asks fact-based Questions as usually asked in some state PCS Examinations of BPSC, RPSC, UPPCS & others. Instead, UPSC CSE asked Questions that are analytical in nature and required some intelligence and deep observation.
Current Affairs Questions Ask in UPSC
In the Year 2017, the maximum number of Questions in the General Studies paper of Prelims was from Polity Section. Some Questions were static and others were from Current Affairs and a few Questions were integrated having both the static & current affairs aspects.
Polity & Economy has major dominance in Current affairs. In order to understand News Pertaining to Polity, we need to understand some Static or fundamental concepts. For Example, a few months back there was a series of News Pertaining to the President’s Election. So, we cannot expect UPSC to ask Questions like who gets elected as President of India. In the recently held Election for the President of India rather we must go through every aspect with respect to President.
The question may be pertaining to the Presidential Election, Impeachment of the President, Power of the President, Important articles in the Indian Constitution with respect to the President of India & others. The Syllabus of General Studies is vast and so is that of Current Affairs. Let us see the trend of the number of Questions Pertaining to Current Affairs asked in Prelims year-wise below.
CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS ASKED IN THE PRELIMINARY EXAM OF UPSC CSE YEAR WISE |
|
| ( 2016 -2022 ) | |
| YEAR | NO. OF QUESTIONS IN GENERAL STUDIES (PRELIMINARY) |
| 2016 | 21 -23 |
| 2017 | 17 -19 |
| 2018 | 16 -18 |
| 2019 | 13 -15 |
| 2020 | 8 -9 |
| 2021 | 5 -7 |
| 2022 | 09 -10 |
It is evident from the above data that the number of Questions from Current affairs was the maximum in the year 2016. Also, Current Affairs’ share in the total number of Questions was significant from 2016 to 2019. Post this the number of Questions from Current Affairs has a declining trend. But this trend must not influence us to avoid Current affairs as in the upcoming Examinations the number of Questions may be more and may have its share of 20 % or more.
Role of Current Affairs in Mains General Studies Papers:
As mentioned above Current affairs have diverse areas from Economy, Polity, Science & Technology, and Environment & Ecology to Geography & History as well. One is expected to supplement one’s answer in UPSC CSE Mains with some relevant and important event that is in the NEWS with respect to Economy, Polity, Geography, Science & Tech & Society in their General Studies Papers of UPSC CSE Mains which is descriptive. This will definitely distinguish one’s answer from others and may fetch more marks.
Significance in Optional Papers:
If someone has opted for Public Administration & Political Science as optional Subjects in UPSC CSE then sincere preparations of Current affairs will help a lot in securing good marks. As one can supplement or incorporate recent important events of national and international importance in their answers. For these papers, Current affairs are inevitable and cannot be overlooked.
For Optional Subjects like Mathematics & Engineering, one cannot supplement their answer with current events as that is not the demand of Questions. But still, students having these Subjects as their Optional Subjects cannot overlook Current affairs.
Significance of Current Affairs in Interview:
As we know Interview of UPSC CSE is the third and final Part of the Exam Process where the Personality of the Candidate is evaluated. Although in the First two-stage of Examinations knowledge of the candidate has already been checked. But still, in interviews the Board usually asks questions from their DAF, optional Subjects, and current affairs. The Board tries to know their opinion and their articulating skills about some important issues in News. One can form his/ her idea only when aware of that event. Hence Current affairs cannot be ignored and must be given serious Preparation.
IMPORTANT SOURCES FOR CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Daily News Paper
Current Affairs Magazine of IAS Coaching Discussion on subjects of national and international importance in Rajya Sabha TV.
Time Allocation for Current Affairs:
One must allocate one’s 1 Hour to the Preparation of Current Affairs on a daily basis. One can escape making daily notes from News Paper as all the important events are covered in the monthly magazine of Coaching Institutes.
Now let me conclude the theme of Current Affairs. As it is evident from the above content Current Affairs has its importance & relevance not only in Prelims but in General Studies of Mains & some Optional Subjects as well as in Interviews hence we cannot undermine its Preparation and must prepare seriously, religiously and sincerely.
Avoid reading from too many sources. It would be waste of time to read the same thing from two or more two sources for Current Affairs. Choose one good Newspaper (The Hindu / The Indian Express), one Magazine of any Coaching Institute, and refer to important discussions on Rajya Sabha TV. These will help you in forming an opinion on any issue.
Each Coaching Institute has its own Magazine. Take 2-3 magazines of different Coaching Institutes and read them and then decide for yourself which Magazine has covered all important News from the UPSC CSE point of View. Which Magazine do you find easy to understand and assimilate? You may go through the Magazine of GS SCORE which has also been popular among students aspiring for UPSC CSE. Some features of this Magazine like the easy and simple language of content enable students to read & assimilate Current Affairs easily.
One most important things that you must not forget is the Revision of Current Affairs and the daily allocation of one hour for Current Affairs in the study Time Table.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- CURRENT AFFAIRS INEVITABLE FOR PRELIMS, MAINS & INTERVIEW
- DAILY ALLOCATION OF 1 HR FOR CURRENT AFFAIRS
- ONE NEWSPAPER & ONE MAGAZINE IS A MUST
- REFER TO DISCUSSION ON ISSUES OF NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE ON RAJYA SABHA TV
- MAKE A SMALL GROUP OF 4-5 STUDENTS & HAVE REGULAR DISCUSSIONS ON IMPORTANT ISSUES.
About The Author
Shivangi is the author of this blog, she has written so many articles about the field of education, and she has completed her MBA from IIM Bangalore. Current affairs play an important role in the UPSC CSE exams and Here mentioned about the best resources for daily current affairs.
Thanks, news ethnic for providing me with this opportunity to update my content on your site.