Role of Newspapers, Magazines and Websites | Crack Civil Services in First Attempt by Divey Sethi, IRS - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


Role of Newspapers, Magazines and 
Websites
Newspapers play an undisputed role in disseminating information, 
enhancing the power to comprehend essays, articles, and passages, and 
simultaneously adding to your vocabulary. However, the difference 
between blind reading and smart reading has to be clearly understood. 
The former is reading every single item in the newspaper, while the 
latter is picking the items that would bear significance in your exam. 
Thus, reading newspapers is an art and has to be learned through 
practice.
Again, your interest must not dominate your goal. An aspirant may be 
interested in sports, but reading that section would not be considered 
important from the examination point of view. Therefore, I have 
broadly listed the topics which you should not read, and if you do so, 
please do not include the time spent on it as part of your study time;
1. The sports section can be entirely left out.
2. International news that doesn’t involve India.
3. Political debates, comments of spokespersons, and heated 
arguments shall be left out completely.
4. A book review is not required at all.
5. Historical reviews of political events.
The news section, which you should read, comes with a rider attached;
1. Political news has to be dealt with separately. You have to focus 
on the political aspect of that news, which shall be learned in the 
section dealing with the main examination.
Page 2


Role of Newspapers, Magazines and 
Websites
Newspapers play an undisputed role in disseminating information, 
enhancing the power to comprehend essays, articles, and passages, and 
simultaneously adding to your vocabulary. However, the difference 
between blind reading and smart reading has to be clearly understood. 
The former is reading every single item in the newspaper, while the 
latter is picking the items that would bear significance in your exam. 
Thus, reading newspapers is an art and has to be learned through 
practice.
Again, your interest must not dominate your goal. An aspirant may be 
interested in sports, but reading that section would not be considered 
important from the examination point of view. Therefore, I have 
broadly listed the topics which you should not read, and if you do so, 
please do not include the time spent on it as part of your study time;
1. The sports section can be entirely left out.
2. International news that doesn’t involve India.
3. Political debates, comments of spokespersons, and heated 
arguments shall be left out completely.
4. A book review is not required at all.
5. Historical reviews of political events.
The news section, which you should read, comes with a rider attached;
1. Political news has to be dealt with separately. You have to focus 
on the political aspect of that news, which shall be learned in the 
section dealing with the main examination.
Role of Newspapers, Magazines and Websites
2. The state news should be read to the extent that involves only 
some new schemes or policies.
3. The finance/economy section must be watched for policies of 
the finance ministry, actions of the RBI, and upcoming legislation 
dealing with finance. No pain should be taken to remember the 
periodic reviews of GDP, interest rates, import/export, and other 
facts and figures.
4. Business section must be read to the extent of performance of a 
particular sector. Movement of stocks, speculations of currency, 
mergers, and acquisitions can be left.
5. Science and Technology can be left out if you read the consolidated 
developments in the monthly magazine ‘Science Reporter.’
The topics which you must read completely;
1. Look out for Supreme Court judgments.
2. The Editorial section.
Thus, we see that an aspirant has to read the newspaper smartly enough 
so that the maximum can be extracted from minimum effort.
Magazines will confuse you. There are so many different magazines 
available that an aspirant may be tempted to overload themselves with 
myriad contents upon visiting the bookstall. Furthermore, there are 
diverse views emanating from the teachers, peer groups, and even the 
bookstall people regarding which magazine to study.
In this pandemonium that exists, I adhered to a clear-cut choice, that 
is, Yojana and nothing else. Initially, I took off with Frontline and 
then switched to Pratiyogita Darpan. I also tried The Gist, which gives 
the conciseness of several newspapers and magazines. But finally, I 
stabilized at Yojana. The publisher is the Information and Broadcasting 
Ministry, but it does not voice government views only.
Page 3


Role of Newspapers, Magazines and 
Websites
Newspapers play an undisputed role in disseminating information, 
enhancing the power to comprehend essays, articles, and passages, and 
simultaneously adding to your vocabulary. However, the difference 
between blind reading and smart reading has to be clearly understood. 
The former is reading every single item in the newspaper, while the 
latter is picking the items that would bear significance in your exam. 
Thus, reading newspapers is an art and has to be learned through 
practice.
Again, your interest must not dominate your goal. An aspirant may be 
interested in sports, but reading that section would not be considered 
important from the examination point of view. Therefore, I have 
broadly listed the topics which you should not read, and if you do so, 
please do not include the time spent on it as part of your study time;
1. The sports section can be entirely left out.
2. International news that doesn’t involve India.
3. Political debates, comments of spokespersons, and heated 
arguments shall be left out completely.
4. A book review is not required at all.
5. Historical reviews of political events.
The news section, which you should read, comes with a rider attached;
1. Political news has to be dealt with separately. You have to focus 
on the political aspect of that news, which shall be learned in the 
section dealing with the main examination.
Role of Newspapers, Magazines and Websites
2. The state news should be read to the extent that involves only 
some new schemes or policies.
3. The finance/economy section must be watched for policies of 
the finance ministry, actions of the RBI, and upcoming legislation 
dealing with finance. No pain should be taken to remember the 
periodic reviews of GDP, interest rates, import/export, and other 
facts and figures.
4. Business section must be read to the extent of performance of a 
particular sector. Movement of stocks, speculations of currency, 
mergers, and acquisitions can be left.
5. Science and Technology can be left out if you read the consolidated 
developments in the monthly magazine ‘Science Reporter.’
The topics which you must read completely;
1. Look out for Supreme Court judgments.
2. The Editorial section.
Thus, we see that an aspirant has to read the newspaper smartly enough 
so that the maximum can be extracted from minimum effort.
Magazines will confuse you. There are so many different magazines 
available that an aspirant may be tempted to overload themselves with 
myriad contents upon visiting the bookstall. Furthermore, there are 
diverse views emanating from the teachers, peer groups, and even the 
bookstall people regarding which magazine to study.
In this pandemonium that exists, I adhered to a clear-cut choice, that 
is, Yojana and nothing else. Initially, I took off with Frontline and 
then switched to Pratiyogita Darpan. I also tried The Gist, which gives 
the conciseness of several newspapers and magazines. But finally, I 
stabilized at Yojana. The publisher is the Information and Broadcasting 
Ministry, but it does not voice government views only.
Dear aspirant, compare the main paper of 2013 with the content of 
Yojana of the previous 7–8 months, and you will be amazed to find 
many questions in paper 2 and paper 3 of GS can be traced to several 
articles in Yojana. The monthly magazine is also important in an essay 
as it is forward-looking, prospective, and optimistic in its approach. 
The multi-dimensional analysis of an issue, its multi-sectoral linkages, 
challenges thereupon, and finally – instead of a negative view – a goal-
oriented solution with a vision for development is what is required not 
only in your essay but also as a personal trait to be an administrator. 
Yojana suffices in this regard completely.
Kurukshetra, a publication of the Ministry of Rural Development, is 
also considered equivalent to Yojana in its content and importance. 
However, I feel that it is more research-oriented and provides a detailed 
solution to a problem rather than a generalist view. Taking this factor 
into account, I would suggest the aspirant stick to Yojana and read it 
thoroughly.
Websites may become a trap if not used astutely. There are so many 
websites that give facts and analysis, including the traditional part of 
the GS course. Websites such as civilsbaba.co.in, Iasbaba.com, mrunal, 
and unacademy are good in this regard.
However, the aspirant has to be very cautious when using these sites. 
You should know precisely what you are looking for on the internet. 
Otherwise, the abundant material available on the internet will sway you 
from your target, and you will end up reading a lot but knowing nothing! 
The internet, if not used properly, is bound to create distractions. Once, 
I set out to search for the program REDD, a mechanism at the world 
level to incentivize tropical developing countries to preserve their 
forests. It took me 4 hours on the internet to learn the basic intent, 
funding mechanism, and how it is linked to joint forest groups in India. 
Some days later, I found the same content in a more structured manner 
in some coaching notes!
Page 4


Role of Newspapers, Magazines and 
Websites
Newspapers play an undisputed role in disseminating information, 
enhancing the power to comprehend essays, articles, and passages, and 
simultaneously adding to your vocabulary. However, the difference 
between blind reading and smart reading has to be clearly understood. 
The former is reading every single item in the newspaper, while the 
latter is picking the items that would bear significance in your exam. 
Thus, reading newspapers is an art and has to be learned through 
practice.
Again, your interest must not dominate your goal. An aspirant may be 
interested in sports, but reading that section would not be considered 
important from the examination point of view. Therefore, I have 
broadly listed the topics which you should not read, and if you do so, 
please do not include the time spent on it as part of your study time;
1. The sports section can be entirely left out.
2. International news that doesn’t involve India.
3. Political debates, comments of spokespersons, and heated 
arguments shall be left out completely.
4. A book review is not required at all.
5. Historical reviews of political events.
The news section, which you should read, comes with a rider attached;
1. Political news has to be dealt with separately. You have to focus 
on the political aspect of that news, which shall be learned in the 
section dealing with the main examination.
Role of Newspapers, Magazines and Websites
2. The state news should be read to the extent that involves only 
some new schemes or policies.
3. The finance/economy section must be watched for policies of 
the finance ministry, actions of the RBI, and upcoming legislation 
dealing with finance. No pain should be taken to remember the 
periodic reviews of GDP, interest rates, import/export, and other 
facts and figures.
4. Business section must be read to the extent of performance of a 
particular sector. Movement of stocks, speculations of currency, 
mergers, and acquisitions can be left.
5. Science and Technology can be left out if you read the consolidated 
developments in the monthly magazine ‘Science Reporter.’
The topics which you must read completely;
1. Look out for Supreme Court judgments.
2. The Editorial section.
Thus, we see that an aspirant has to read the newspaper smartly enough 
so that the maximum can be extracted from minimum effort.
Magazines will confuse you. There are so many different magazines 
available that an aspirant may be tempted to overload themselves with 
myriad contents upon visiting the bookstall. Furthermore, there are 
diverse views emanating from the teachers, peer groups, and even the 
bookstall people regarding which magazine to study.
In this pandemonium that exists, I adhered to a clear-cut choice, that 
is, Yojana and nothing else. Initially, I took off with Frontline and 
then switched to Pratiyogita Darpan. I also tried The Gist, which gives 
the conciseness of several newspapers and magazines. But finally, I 
stabilized at Yojana. The publisher is the Information and Broadcasting 
Ministry, but it does not voice government views only.
Dear aspirant, compare the main paper of 2013 with the content of 
Yojana of the previous 7–8 months, and you will be amazed to find 
many questions in paper 2 and paper 3 of GS can be traced to several 
articles in Yojana. The monthly magazine is also important in an essay 
as it is forward-looking, prospective, and optimistic in its approach. 
The multi-dimensional analysis of an issue, its multi-sectoral linkages, 
challenges thereupon, and finally – instead of a negative view – a goal-
oriented solution with a vision for development is what is required not 
only in your essay but also as a personal trait to be an administrator. 
Yojana suffices in this regard completely.
Kurukshetra, a publication of the Ministry of Rural Development, is 
also considered equivalent to Yojana in its content and importance. 
However, I feel that it is more research-oriented and provides a detailed 
solution to a problem rather than a generalist view. Taking this factor 
into account, I would suggest the aspirant stick to Yojana and read it 
thoroughly.
Websites may become a trap if not used astutely. There are so many 
websites that give facts and analysis, including the traditional part of 
the GS course. Websites such as civilsbaba.co.in, Iasbaba.com, mrunal, 
and unacademy are good in this regard.
However, the aspirant has to be very cautious when using these sites. 
You should know precisely what you are looking for on the internet. 
Otherwise, the abundant material available on the internet will sway you 
from your target, and you will end up reading a lot but knowing nothing! 
The internet, if not used properly, is bound to create distractions. Once, 
I set out to search for the program REDD, a mechanism at the world 
level to incentivize tropical developing countries to preserve their 
forests. It took me 4 hours on the internet to learn the basic intent, 
funding mechanism, and how it is linked to joint forest groups in India. 
Some days later, I found the same content in a more structured manner 
in some coaching notes!
Role of Newspapers, Magazines and Websites
Thus, in the language of economics, the ICOR (incremental capital-
output ratio), that is, the change in output upon increasing a unit input, 
is definitely higher for internet studies. Therefore, dear aspirant, it 
is advisable to resort to the internet only when it is urgent and exit 
immediately once your task is achieved.