The first of the three stages of the Civil Services Examination in India is UPSC Prelims. The other two stages of the selection process are Mains exam followed by the Personality test or Interview. It is regulated by the Union Public Service Commission. Only after qualifying the prelims exam, a candidate can write the Mains exam. The Prelims exam encompasses two papers namely General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II (also known as CSAT). Candidates who want to appear in the preliminary exam can fill out the application form if they are meeting the eligibility criteria. Prior to filling out the application form, candidates should refer to the notification to get complete information about the eligibility criteria.
The maximum marks for General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II is 200 each. GS Paper I comprises 100 objective types of questions whereas there are a total of eighty questions in GS Paper II or CSAT paper. Both papers are conducted for two hours each in two shifts. GS Paper I is conducted in the shift I from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM and GS Paper II is organized in the second shift i.e. from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM. CSAT or GS Paper II is qualifying in nature wherein aspirants are required to score only 33% marks. It comprises questions from various subjects such as Aptitude, English, Reasoning, Comprehension, etc. On the other hand GS Paper I comprises questions related to Current Affairs, International Affairs, Geography, History, etc.
Smart Approach to Cover Current Affairs 2022 for UPSC
The pattern of questions in the UPSC IAS exam has been changed. Now, about 50% of questions are directly based on current affairs. Hence, candidates should prepare for Current Affairs 2022 in a good manner. To prepare for it, online platforms like youtube or any other website can be preferred. There are numerous coaching institutes that provide the latest happenings on daily basis for free. A number of monthly magazines are available free of cost for UPSC aspirants. Candidates can follow any of them to have the study material.
Now the biggest challenge is how to remember current affairs for a long time. So, there is only one key which is modification. As we all know that revision is the mother of skill. So, it will help to keep the latest event in memory for a long time. To make the process of revision easier, candidates can make short notes of it. After making short notes, candidates can revise them on a daily or weekly basis. Without revision, it is quite difficult to have complete knowledge of the latest developments. Many toppers and qualified candidates have shared this trick and hence other UPSC aspirants can also follow it to prepare the current affairs in the best way.