Newspaper reading

I tried to do it for The Hindu. But couldn’t do it properly at http://www.thehindu.com. I need either the newspaper or epaper, which isn’t available.

Anyways, it doesn’t matter much as 2 examples (ToI and ET) are enough to get an idea. Just apply the same concept to Hindu as well. I will try to get hold of an issue of the paper in the next few days and let you know.

The Economic Times, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, Delhi edition

(available on http://www.epaper.timesofindia.com)

Page1: Look up terms such as base rate if you don’t know. Also, the G20 article is worth reading. I wouldn’t have cut it. But it gives an idea about how negotiations involve give & take and what is the talk of the town as far as world economy is concerned.

Page 2: I would have cut the article on India- Canada civil nuclear deal. Facts such as it’s the ninth one for India, other 8 are also given, etc are important.

The article on good Taliban is worth a read as it gives a decent idea about the present situation.

Page 3: The article on Centre defending CRPF is worth a read. It gives a very balanced viewpoint on the whole issue. I wouldn’t have cut it. But certainly would have remembered government’s reply as CRPF action is totally justified and is based on logic and reasoning and not emotions.

Page 4 to 10: irrelevant

Page 11: note terms like TDS and look up on the net if you don’t know.

Smart cards for NREGA workers is worth cutting. It can be used as one of the points in answers involving use of smart cards, ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness of government schemes, etc.

The article on FATF is important…know what FATF is…what is money laundering and PMLA…i would have cut the article…

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development is worth cutting. Government is funding it.

Page 12: A very good article on malnutrition that I would have definitely cut. This is why ET is very good. As most of the edits are written by serving/retired govt servants, it results in a very balanced and fact-based article. NFHS data, correlation between land productivity, women’s education and other factors such as sanitation, safe drinking water, good governance with malnutrition is definitely worth noting. Data on anaemic children and women, protein deficiency among Indians, etc is important.

Other articles which are good but I wouldn’t have cut them: the one on mobile tech, look up terms such as 3G, CDMA, LTE, BWA, Wi-Max, etc on the net.

As I have said many times, my S&T prep was from the newspapers only.

Article on structural reform is worth a read. Look up what structural reforms mean, what is Keynesian economics, stimulus, etc.

Page 13: I would have cut the article ‘Environmental governance & a new authority’ as it gives good info on the proposed NEPA, but noting that nothing concrete has happened as of now.

The article ‘Right climate for energy peg’ is worth a read. It conveys the problem of balancing development and  protecting the environment at the same time.

But I wouldn’t have cut it as it is short on facts.

From the article on aggro business, look up FCI, NCDEX, MCX, if you don’t know.

Pages 14 and 15: irrelevant. But look up BIS if you don’t know what it is.

Page 16: Terms like ULIPs, teaser rates, etc should be known.

Even though today’s ET in the classroom on CTS is not that relevant, but it is one of the few columns I always looked forward to reading. Gives very good info most often.

Pages 17 to 23: irrelevant.

Page 24: ‘Abolish death sentence’: it is a typical Hindu-like article. Strongly opinionated. Yet, I would have noted how many countries have abolished death sentence, how many have retained it, number of executions that have taken place in 2008 and 09, etc. No need to remember what Amnesty International says. But yes, cost factor when not abolished and on the other hand using captured terrorists for better understanding of their psyche, etc are good points to write in an answer on capital punishment.

I hope it was helpful in getting an idea of how to read the newspapers. I will look into Hindu in a couple of days.

earlier:

The Times of India- Thursday, 24^th June, Delhi edition

(available on www.epaper.timesofindia.com)

I will point out the relevant articles and reasons why I would/wouldn’t cut some of the articles.

Page 1:

Cabinet decision on rupee…it’s relevant but it hasn’t been decided yet. I would still cut it as it talks about the whole procedure of selecting the symbol which may not be described again later.

For those with pub ad, the matter of absentee cabinet ministers is worth cutting. In the exam, do not take names in this matter. Just write, some ministers have been absent…it’s alarming as political factors are playing more important role than governance…

In the news digest, the only one relevant and to look forward to is the Canadian PM’s apology on Kanishka…you should know what the matter was and who is the Canadian PM.

Honour killing issue not worth cutting as you are not going to write specific names/incidents in the GS paper. It is a wider issue which needs to be known in its entirety.

Page 3: irrelevant

Page 4: irrelevant

Page 5: irrelevant

Page 6: irrelevant

Page 7: irrelevant

Even though city section rarely has news relevant for the exam, yet I glance through it as sometimes it might have some important news.

Page 8: irrelevant.

Page 9: irrelevant

Page 10: irrelevant

So, 10 pages take around 15 minutes. With practice you would be able to decide whether an article is relevant or not by just reading the heading or 2-3 lines at most.

Page 11: irrelevant

Page 12: You should know what super 30 is…also coz this year the PM invited the teacher for a meeting. No need to read the whole article. Also, the only line I found relevant was “the Internet has grown the fastest in this world. It took 38 years for radio to reach the people, 13 years for television and just 4 years for the Internet.”

Finished the page in less than 5 minutes.

Page 13: irrelevant

Page 14:

Loharinag Pala is important. May be asked for 2 marks.

Kanishka is important. If you don’t know what it was, definitely cut the article.

Page 15: irrelevant

Page 16: The article on China’s support to Pakistan on nuclear plants is important if you haven’t cut an article on this before. This can be used in China-Pak r/s. I would have definitely used it in China’s peaceful rise doctrine had it happened last year.

China’s pudina patent also important. Also, remember terms like bio-piracy and TKDL.

Page 17: For those with pub ad, Karnataka’s Lokayukta resigning is important. Do not take names. Just write recently Lokayukta of Karnataka resigned…giving reasons.

Also, CVC request for tackling corruption important. It’s a government body. So CVC recommendation can be written in the exam straightaway.

Page 18: only the article on Tamil conference is important. But it’s not worth cutting. You should cut some article which presents the facts and not what TN CM has to say. Where the conference is being held, what is a classical language? Which all languages in India have been declared as classical languages, etc should be known.

Page 20:

The only relevant article and a very good one is that by Prakash Singh on Maoists. He has presented some new points such as security forces themselves being one of the biggest arms- providers to the Maoists (as they attack and decamp with weapons). The solutions he provides, local police: CPF ratio, etc and also terms such as ‘irregular war’ are important.

Rest of the articles aren’t good. Indo-Pak is the usual blah blah, nothing new. Honour killings one is just opinion based. No tangible info.

Page 21: only relevant one is the article on LHC. I wouldn’t cut it. Only look up LHC, ‘god particle’(Higgs boson), etc on wikipedia. This was my standard preparation for science and tech.

Page 22: Only know 2 lines about who Nikki Haley is. If she wins, it might be asked (even though probability is low). But if she loses, forget about her. But there is definitely no need of cutting the article.

Page 23: irrelevant.

Page 25: just note down terms like HNI, MF, ULIP, etc if you don’t know them. The article on HNI is useless. In fact, the article today (Sunday, 27^th June) on the increasing concentration of wealth in India is very good, which actually uses the same data.

Page 26: irrelevant

Pages 27 to 30: irrelevant

Page 31: Just know why John Isner and Nicolas Mahut were in the news. But I think probability of being asked in the Mains is very low.

Page 32: Just know Clean Sports India movement. But again, very low probability of being asked.

So, with some practice, it would take 30-35 minutes to finish this issue.

Do ask me questions. If you feel some article I left out was relevant or an article I chose was irrelevant, kindly let me know.