It has been over ten years since I started reading THE HINDU (TH) in my good old days in Raebareli when you get it a day after print. In winter's that could be 2-3 days old and when you get it, you feel like getting medicine after many days. Sometimes my colleagues in office remarked why i took them home when they are of no use being old ones, perhaps what they are can be best understood by the one who appears in mother of all exams i.e. civil services exam of UPSC and even-more after 2012 mains exam.
So this is how I/We can make best possible use of TH or any other newspaper...
The FRONT page gives you glimpse of what all mattered yesterday to the globe and the nation, it is of less importance as normally it becomes just a narration of various statements ,which is analysed inside in editorials. moving on to, next
Pages 2/3 which covers specific regions/nation and makes you aware of current local issues which may not be relevant for mains but as for interview is concerned it can be useful to be in touch.like today ie 23 october there is study about caste segregation in schools in karnataka which can be used in essay,sociology or GS. also SC judgements need a good study and follow what it had to say on relevant cases as they become imp. issues for discussion along with interpretation of constitution in light of the said article.
Pages 4-5:- BEWARE , don't ever read claims of coaching,crash courses which can crash your preparations n "free" orientation programmes.
Page 6 - now covers PERISCOPE which is itself a collage of different issues on similar topic like gender,govt. business media, development, social issues on different days of the week. it can be useful for better perspective and insight on prevalent problems/issues of that specific sector. and can be used in variety of ways in Pub. adm, sociology, essay,GS.
Editorials- not everyday you have to spend equal time on it as sometimes issues and content is repeated. when there is visit of any foreign dignitary or any global meet, editorials are common, but they give multiple perspectives so read accordingly. on extreme left there are there are 2 small articles ,generally 1 on domestic and 1 on recent foreign scenario which can be seen,if not covered previously. on right side we have,
OP-ED which is of equal significance and sometimes even more than editorials ,as new initiatives like
THE DEBATE are very helpful, since it is open-ended,we can get 2 different opinions and as it has follow-up articles so it can be tracked easily. it can helpful for optionals like public administration, sociology,law,pol.sc. . As now-a-days questions are increasingly opinion-based we can get help from these articles. (you can forgo Krugman).After getting few points,skip that debate. like as today 23.10.2012 we have interview of ISRO chief and a good read of satellites(which can be fav. of UPSC). these interviews of technocrats help us to get a glimpse of their vision, organisations working and development, while of diplomats we get an insight of India's relationship n engagement with it.
International is one of the strength of TH and analysis are good one's along with follow-ups and use of images/figures make it easy to capture in 1 go. it wis advisable to have cuttings and when making notes use it with IDSA and Frontline
Business can be used in single glance and notes to be made on daily basis as and when required if new reform/scheme is started by SEBI/IRDA/RBI/PFRDA. also just have a knowledge of terminology if it appears new or is frequently quoted.
SPECIAL COLUMNS which vary as per weekdays like Monday we have economy Columns, on Tuesday book reviews are very useful as we get the basic idea of perspective covered in book and can be noted down in optionals register for last time revision. it has been observed that in Mains exam many questions appear from themes discussed in books published in preceding 2-3 months of mains. so have a clue as i have tested in last 2 mains. similarly S&T on Thursday sometimes carry basic articles on it which are very lucid and comprehend-able.
Sports can be seen as per one's interest as i didn't find it very relevant.
LAST page is very important as it deals with defense,environment and misc. issues.
if you have been bored reading it throughout week, then have a humorous break on Sunday by reading few good reads which are "intellects" humor. along with magazine which is equally interesting and sometimes full of information though occasionally boring (when compared to ToI).
there are usually advt. by CSIR/ICAR and GoI which sometimes have rich info. on schemes,projects, have a glance at it.
On an average at starting it would take 2-3 hrs daily which can vary on less important issues and can increase when parliament or any summit is in progress. so act accordingly. once pendency is created it would be difficult to remove backlog.
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| BUT MAKE IT GOOD WITH CUP OF TEA AND THE HINDU |
what makes a point in this process is how you make use of resources rather than collecting resources and not justifying them by usage, like subscribing to INDIAN EXPRESS or ECONOMIC TIMES is good. but for aspirants who are going for 1st or 2nd attempt it is difficult to have such time.
I must confess that I am The Hindu addict so I know that it is sometimes very radical or what is called in common parlance as "leftist", so you can temper down it by discussions and self-analysis . but yes it is lifeline and complete in itself. any suggestion can be discussed in comments.
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