Hello friends ,

Most of the aspirants have had this question –

How to read the Hindu/Indian Express ?

Mostly The Hindu is the preferred newspaper for Civil Services aspirants  because most of the questions were asked from there both directly and indirectly. But Indian Express Articles/Editorials were also very very important from the UPSC point of view. As lot of Issues were written in lucid form. (A Problem? hmmmmm Solution is there)

Before you learn how to read the newspaper , here are some points to be noted :

• Always have the syllabus in front of you .
• Have the past question papers with you and keep referring to them, to understand how questions are asked .
• Understand the ‘issue’ rather than just reading word by word. After identifying the issue ,take down notes topic wise and not date wise.
• Know the important websites to be referred.
• Do not spend more than 1 hour on the newspaper. Many students end up spending 3-4 hours merely on the newspaper. It does not help.
• What helps is a quick reading of the newspaper jotting the important point. This will help you revise current affairs later.

Important Tips 

Focus on Issue rather than News:

• Suppose there is a news headlined as “Continue release of water to TN, SC tells Karnataka”. So don’t read how much water cusecs have been released, etc. Rather focus on “Inter-State Relations/Water Crisis/Water Dispute mechanisms/” etc etc.

Try to Categorize the news in few categories:

• Divide news or issues in few categories like International Relations, Environment & Biodiversity, Personalities and Awards, Government Policies and Schemes, International Organisations, Economic Policies, Science and Technology etc.

Read the Hindu’s editorial:

• Matter given in The Hindu itself is not enough. Surf the Internet to get more about it. For example if something like the Personal laws and the Constitution , it will be seen in The Hindu Editorial as well. Editorial will give a some points and idea about it but that is not enough. Google the questions emerging in your mind like “Why personal laws are required/what is triple talaq (Recent Issues),What is Polygamy? etc.

Relevant articles for the exam

• Any judgement/ruling /remark by Supreme Court/High Court is important. While you note down the judgement ,also understand its relevance in your syllabus. Relate it to Geography /History /Economics/Polity.
• Identify social issues /challenges facing the society as such . Understand its pros and cons and also note down the recent incidents .You can quote them to substantiate your point. Example -caste riots ,moral policing ,restriction on freedom of speech,etc.
• Note down any issue being discussed in the Government departments/ministries. Note down the pros and cons of the issue .example -Linking rivers ,water conservation ,etc.
• Identify schemes/policies/ initiatives of the government .

For Prelims

You will have to know  –

• Objectives of the policy
• Under which ministry /department / it operates.
• Any special feature of the policy.
• Who are the members (If its an organisation eg. Inter State council)
• Any constitutional provisions related to it .
• Any Environmental News/Science & Tech/Social Issues etc

For mains ,

• You will have to understand the issue relating to the policy/scheme and make notes on pros and cons.
• While reading the editorial , identify the issue first. Then find out points in favour and against it.
• Please understand the the editorials have a bias towards one opinion. So,it is your duty to identify points ,both for the topic and against the topic.

What to Omit ?

• The political statements regarding the political parties
• The state news, city news
• Articles related to relationships/philosophy etc.
• The extra magazines that are attached and finally
• Read the front page selectively

Our New Initiatives

From now onward we will give you the important articles of the day from The Hindu/Indian Express/Livemint/PIB and their GS paper linkages, so that you can omit the unnecessary news and  read that important ones. Save your time and impart them with other readings. (Don’t worry we will continue with our daily initiatives on crux of editorials, topic for prelims/mains, important issues analysis, back to basics).

Thanking You

IAS ABHIYAN Team