To qualify in the Civil Services Exam conducted by the UPSC is a dream of many. It takes about a year to complete the entire UPSC CSE selection process. The exam comprises various phases, which include the Preliminary exam, Main exam and Interview. The exam focuses on a variety of areas, such as current affairs, geography, science and technology, economics etc.
Current affairs are a very important part of all the stages of UPSC CSE. Candidates who are preparing for the upcoming Civil Services Examination should be well aware of the recent happenings in India and the world, for example, the inauguration of the kashi vishwanath corridor, G20 2023 summit, micro-swimmers in drug delivery, India’s gold imports etc. Thorough knowledge of current events will help candidates in Prelims, Main exam as well as in Interview.
How to prepare for UPSC CSE Current Affairs?
Candidates can focus on the following points to prepare for CSE current affairs.
- Read the newspaper daily and note down important points. Important areas that aspirants should focus on include,
- Trade pacts and treaties
- Important bills, Acts (including amendments) passed by the Central Government
- News related to the Parliament, President, Prime minister, Attorney General of India, National Human Rights Commission, Supreme Court, High court etc.
- New discoveries and inventions, gene editing, satellites, black hole, space debris, 5G, metaverse, defence technology
- Important flora and fauna in the news, including endangered species of birds, animals, plants etc.
- Cyclones, anticyclones, volcanoes, soil erosion, permafrost, ocean currents, important rivers in India and the world, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India, forest fires, agriculture, mineral distribution, important places in the news etc.
- Environment and climate change related news, for example, stubble burning, global warming, Global Climate Risk Index, biodiversity hotspots in India, urban flooding, Montreal Protocol, IUCN Red list, etc.
- Inflation, depression, unemployment, cryptocurrency, CPI, WPI, budget, RBI, treasury bills, participatory notes, the balance of payments, exports and imports, Brent crude oil, stagflation, calculation of poverty line, Basel norms, Gross Domestic Product and national income, etc.
- Important schemes of the Central Government etc.
- Along with newspapers, candidates can also read magazines like Yojana, Down to Earth, Kurukshetra etc. Aspirants should make short notes of all the important information that they study. If candidates are unable to read newspapers, then they should go through current affairs compilations published by various institutes online. However, a summary of newspapers is not a substitute for newspapers.
- Candidates should make a note of important and relevant information given in newspapers like important judgements given by the High Courts and Supreme Court, articles by experts etc. All this information can be used in essays and GS papers in the Main examination and the Interview.
Candidates should be aware of important recent developments in the country and the world, be it the construction of national highways in india or nuclear power projects in the world; all these topics are important for UPSC CSE.
A thorough understanding of the current events can help candidates eliminate wrong options in the Preliminary examination. In addition, examples given in newspapers can be used in Essay and Ethics papers, which will help in improving the scores of candidates.
