MASTERING CURRENT AFFAIRS
FOR CIVIL SERVICES EXAM
How to Prepare Current
Affairs for Civil Services Exam?
Current
affairs to the civil services exam is what the backbone is to the human body.
Just as without a backbone, our body shall not get the support to stand erect,
without current affairs, civil services preparation shall come crumbling on the
ground.
If
there is one thing that defines civil services exam, it is current affairs. And
if there is one thing that needs top priority, it is again, current affairs.
To
state a simple fact, current affairs accounts for almost sixty percent of the
GS syllabus. If we take an extended view, the current affairs count even in
optional papers such as Political Science, Sociology, Public Administration
Geography etc.
The second paper of these optional are applied aspects of the subject with special
bearing for India. And unless one knows the current developments related to the
topics of these optional papers, it will be impossible to write an effective,
relevant answer.
Thus,
one can safely say that current affairs is an all-pervasive phenomenon in civil
services exam and no one can get away from this reality. Sadly, few understand
the importance of current affairs in this exam.
Even
those who are aware of its importance are at a loss to understand as to how to
handle it. It results in poor preparation, poor marks, and frustration among the
aspirants. Therefore, a true understanding of the value and significance of
current affairs is the key to success in the civil services exam.
This article briefly summarises current affairs in all its aspects to navigate the
path of preparation for the aspirants who lack direction and purpose while
attempting to cover current affairs part.
Why current
affairs in civil services exam?
As
we all know, civil services exam is a process to select generalists and not
specialists in various administrative jobs. It follows from this that a candidate
must demonstrate a good knowledge of the issues and events that have social,
economic, political and administrative implications. For a career in civil
services, knowledge of issues of current relevance is important to make
informed decisions.
Macaulay,
who introduced the merit-based civil services under the Charter Act 1853, said
:" Knowledge is transferrable" By this what he meant was that if a
candidate has a wide knowledge of diverse subjects, it will translate into his
capacity to govern better. In other words, a civil servant, with a wide knowledge base is better equipped to discharge his duties in order to meet
the broader administrative goals as also to act in the larger public interest.
Thus, the goal of wider knowledge as advocated by Macaulay can be achieved by a
good comprehension of current affairs which is made up of a very wide, diverse
range of topics reported in newspapers, journals, websites and electronic
media.
