There are moments in life where we make choices that would change the course of events that are about to unravel. For UPSC Aspirants, these choices could be something so small as deciding on how to prepare for current affairs questions in UPSC prelims 2021 examination. From your choice of resources to plan of execution, Current Affairs play the single most important role clearing the Prelims examination.
Let me put it in another way- 27,15,14,22,18– these are the number of current affairs questions asked in UPSC in past Five years, respectively. These numbers show us how important current affairs is for UPSC Prelims 2021.Static portion of the UPSC Prelims syllabus like History or Geography is more or less predictable, but Current Affairs on the other hand is the most unpredictable part in entire prelims paper.
Current Affairs is the most challenging part of UPSC Preparation because of the unpredictability associated with it- Current Affairs is one way UPSC levels the playing field for New Aspirants and Experienced UPSC Aspirants
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How to Prepare For UPSC Current Affairs in 3 Months?
UPSC Prelims 2021 will be conducted on 27th June 2021. Contrary what people are speculating, chances of UPSC postponing the prelims examination are very low. Considering the fact that Vaccination drive is going on & there is still a lot of time for the announced Prelims date, UPSC will be inclined to wait and see how the pandemic situation plays out before making any decisions on this matter.
“Chances of UPSC Postponing the Civil Services Prelims Examination for 2021 are Very Low”
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STEP 1- Choosing the Sources for Last 3 Months of Exam Preparation.
What has been done, we call it History. One thing about History is that we don’t have control over it. Forget about how you have never read Hindu Newspapers Regularly and forget about how you never made any notes for Current Affairs.
Most Aspirants feel nervous towards the end of the exam preparation, particularly for not following the principles of UPSC Religion for not making the meticulous hand written notes like toppers do. Don’t worry we have been there and truth is none of what you did before matters until you use these last three months of preparation wisely.
Best Current Affairs Resources for UPSC Prelims 2021
Insights Daily Current Affairs and Vision IAS PT365 are two of the most preferred revision resources for UPSC Prelims Current Affairs. Before we take a detailed look into Insights Daily Current Affairs Vs Vision IAS PT365, let’s go through some of the preferred Current Affairs resources by toppers and experienced UPSC Aspirants.
- Vajiram & Ravi Current Affairs
- Vision IAS Current Affairs
- GS Score Current Affairs
- Insights Current Affairs
- Shankar IAS Current Affairs
- IAS Baba Current Affairs
The above mentioned institutes and websites provide compiled resources into categories like Current Affairs from International Relations, Current Affairs from Polity, Current Affairs from Science & Technology etc. There are other standard resources like Yojana, Kurukshetra, Economic & Political Weekly which requires more effort and takes time, these resources are not ideal for last three months of preparation. However, if you have already read them, doing a quick revision is always advisable.
Insights Daily Current Affairs (Vs) Vision IAS PT 365
Insights Daily Current Affairs and Vision IAS PT 365 are both well researched sources and trusted by many toppers. However, they both have unique advantages that they can provide to students if utilized properly. Depending on the Aspirants level of exam preparedness both these sources can add great value to the exam preparation.
If you have been writing UPSC Prelims Mock Tests, then you must have felt that Vision IAS Mock Tests are a little difficult when compared to Insights Mock Tests or IAS BABA Mock Tests. This is true because, Vision IAS question papers are of traditional UPSC standards and often rely on Facts that concepts. This doesn’t mean they don’t ask conceptual questions, it simply means that even when they do ask conceptual questions they link the statements with confusing facts.
Insights Mock Tests are more conceptual and fundamentals based questions. This is a good thing for Aspirants because it boosts your morale and interests you to learn important concepts. Insights Daily Current Affairs when compared to Vision IAS, looks and feels light. If you haven’t done the Current Affairs portion until now , we recommend you to use Insights or IAS Baba and stick to this one source for covering last 8-12 Months Current Affairs.
STEP 2 – Cover At least 5-10 Days of Insights Daily Current Affairs or IAS Baba Everyday.
Your smart phone or a working laptop should do the trick. You can either download the unofficial Insights App/ IAS Baba App or simply bookmark the website for ease of access. Both Insights and IAS Baba has the feature to take daily Current Affairs Quiz. We recommend you to take these daily current affairs test so that you get used to the thought process as well as get introduced to new topics through the Multiple Choices given in the quiz.
There is no clear time frame for current affairs, UPSC is known to ask questions from topics that are in news 2 year before the examination.
It doesn’t mean that you need to study the last 2 years current affairs in next three months. It is wise to first finish last 12 Months Current Affairs and then at least revise once to avoid simple mistakes in final exam.
Once you are done with 12 Months Current affairs from Insights Daily Current Affairs or IAS Baba, you need at least go through important topics from PT 365. Vision IAS PT365 PDFs are around 100-150 pages each. Art & Culture PT 365 is one of the best resource out there for covering Art & Culture part for both UPSC Prelims & UPSC Mains Examination.
The broad range of Topics covered by these institutes and websites allows students to cover Current Affairs required for all the examinations conducted by UPSC. Candidates can confidently secure more than 40 Marks from current affairs from all the broad topics like science & technology, IR, Polity, Geography, Awards, Events, etc.
