Approaching current affairs in an analytical way

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the previous article on how Current Affairs and General Knowledge play an important role in the preparation of competitive exams like TSPSC.

Mains

Since Group-1 consists of Mains exam paper also, aspirants must be able to organise their ideas in a proper way. And for every current affairs issue, the information needs to be gathered in such a way that it can be used to write the essay answers in the Mains exam. As per the syllabus in Mains, in essay paper, there is a subject titled ‘Issues of Economic Growth and Justice’. Our previous example of the ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme, introduced by the Telangana government, fits here.

It can be concluded that an aspirant of Group-1 needs to prepare each and every issue objectively, as well as subjectively. Such preparation will give one a holistic view on the subject.
Similar approach is also needed for other areas mentioned, i.e., national, international current affairs and also India’s relations with other countries.

Sources: Newspapers are the best source for any student aspiring to crack the competitive examinations. Aspirants of Group-1 must follow the editorials as they have an analytical approach to the articles. With these, students would get complete idea over all the happenings around.

Group-2 and Group-3 Exams

For both of these exams, education qualification is Graduation. Like that of Group-1, here also Current Affairs can be categorised as below:
 Regional, National, International
 International Relations and Events

Since these exams do not have Mains, the writing component can be ignored, and the rest of the preparation remains similar to that of Group-1 exams. However, for each and every issue, if the aspirant extends his preparation to parent subject, it would fetch more marks, and makes the preparation more interesting. With an example, it is easy to understand the subject/ topic being asked.

 Recently, the Telangana Chief Minister had spoken about union government disturbing federal relations. He clearly mentioned issues, like amending IAS cadre rules, Agricultural (Farm) Laws passed by the Parliament, etc.

 For Current Affairs papers, the aspirants must be thorough with the areas where the union interferes in the State’s affairs/issues. Apart from this, they have to be thorough with the Constitutional conditions of these issues, such as Centre-State relations-related articles, various Commissions on a particular issue, etc.

 Here, the point is the aspirants are not only learning Current Affairs but also Polity. Such comprehensive preparation is very important for Group-2 and Group-3 examinations.
 Apart from the above, various economic affairs, advancements in science and technology, sports, persons in news are also important.

Source: Newspapers – a national newspaper besides a Telugu publication – must be followed, to get the regional issues. Apart from this, for various competitive exams, many websites like Press Information Bureau are available.

For SI exams

International, national, various States events, sports and persons in news are most important aspects in the preparation of SI exams. Aspirants need to focus even on stock issues. For example, if any international organisation is in the news, they have to learn its headquarters, when was it established and other related information.

For example, recently New Development Bank has opened its office in GIFT city. On this issue, questions can be asked in various ways.

 Where is GIFT city located?
 Where is the NDB headquarters located?
 Which group was involved in the establishment of NDB?

Constable Exam

The minimum qualification that is required for this exam is Intermediate. Topics remain the same i.e., International, National, Regional Current Affairs, Economy, Science and Technology, Persons in news. Here, aspirants need to mainly focus on events and stock issues.

For example, if any award is given away to anyone, aspirants must get the information like first recipient of that award, who awards it, category, other recipients in that category in previous years, etc.