how to take notes for newspaper?

Q&A

Recently one of the candidates asked me this question on social media. (I am posting here as some of you can also have a similar doubt.)

Ans. Sources of CA:

1. Daily newspaper reading (The Hindu) along with note-making

2. Vision monthly magazines

For Prelims

I mostly read "news in shorts" under each section like polity and governance, IR, etc. Ignore any FOMO. Sometimes, UPSC asks CA questions which has not been covered in any magazine. Also, the weightage of CA is quite low in Prelims.

For Mains

Each Vision CA monthly magazine contains roughly 50-60 topics. However most of the topics are of low significance and have very high cost but low benefit. So, I studied only the top 10-12 topics based on their importance (priority can be decided easily if you read NP daily). Ignore the rest 80%.

Remember: CA questions asked in Mains are those topics which have been in news for some time. So, only important current affairs topics must be studied for Mains.

Revision strategy

1. Daily revision of my CA notes (at least 10 pages per day)

2. Once or twice weekly I used to revise monthly CA magazine

3. Never spend more than 20% of your daily study time on CA

Another question recently asked.

(also need not call me sir, directly take my name)

Q. "Sir how did you take notes for newspaper."

Ans.

1. For daily newspaper note-making, you should be thorough with the Mains syllabus. Need not learn it verbatim, but read the syllabus 10-15 times. I also took a printout of the syllabus and pasted it on the wall in front of my desk. So that whenever I had any confusion, I can look at the syllabus and know whether a topic is included in the syllabus.

2. Secondly, you should go through the PYQs as well to help you guide in newspaper note-making.

3. Make notes of whatever you feel is important.

4. Whenever in doubt as to may be it is important or maybe it's not so important, leave it and move on. Cultivate a habit of ignoring the FOMO. This is very important in an exam like UPSC which has a huge syllabus.

For big CA topics which continue for days, I made daily notes and complemented it with Vision CA monthly magazine. These magazines contain the A-Z of any topic. So need not google and waste your time and effort.