5 Best Current Affairs Magazines for UPSC Exam

Current affairs play a crucial role in UPSC Civil Service Exam that makes the UPSC aspirants wonder which magazine to cover for effective exam preparation.

Which are the best current affairs magazines for UPSC? Is one magazine sufficient or should we opt for more than one or two? How are magazines helpful in covering current affairs? All such types of questions are quite common among UPSC aspirants’ minds.

This is the reason why many of the potential aspirants consider multiple sources but nothing works as they end up juggling between the resources and study material. Hence to overcome your dilemma read ahead to know more about which magazine works for you and how to choose it.

This blog on ” 5 Best Current Affairs Magazines for UPSC” addresses your problem and tries to resolve it effectively.

Importance of Best Current Affairs Magazine for UPSC Exam

It is required for the aspirants to be aware of the current happenings across the world. Under the syllabus of the UPSC Civil Services Exam, it is mentioned to cover the “issues of national and international importance” under the current affairs question.

UPSC does not test your knowledge like other competitive exams; instead (in all three stages) it seeks how much you were aware of the surroundings.

You can understand the significance of current affairs by going through the UPSC Mains syllabus where you can observe that most of the topics mentioned are dynamic in nature. This implies topics need to be updated in regard to recent developments.

With each passing year importance of current affairs is increasing in UPSC Exam as the majority of the questions asked are current affairs oriented in both Prelims and Mains.

In short, questions directly or indirectly are linked to the static portion of the UPSC Syllabus. Hence aspiring candidates should give more attention to current affairs, international affairs, and related aspects while preparing for the prestigious exam UPSC.

If you see the trend of a detailed analysis of the past few years’ papers on UPSC Prelims, you will observe that around 20 to 30 questions are from current affairs sources that give them a significant position in UPSC and hence are a deciding factor that ensures success in UPSC Prelims.

Apart from Prelims, IAS Mains is also required to have in-depth knowledge of current affairs topics so that you can approach different issues multifacetedly while writing answers in UPSC Mains.

It develops your critical thinking skills, analytical skills and logic as well. Also, you are able to score high if you cite the current events in your answers.

Questions are also interlinked in the static block of history, Geography, polity, etc. Thus to cover the current affairs MCQs effectively at each stage, candidates are required to have a detailed preparation strategy.

It is advisable to refer to 12- 15 months of news or current affairs for the UPSC examination. For example, the UPSC Prelims will be held in June, so you should begin studying current affairs around March or June of the previous year as part of your IAS preparation.

Importance of Monthly Magazines for Current Affairs for UPSC Exam

Monthly magazines work as extra knowledge-boosting reading material that serves the purpose of revision of affairs relevant to the government as well.

They are the summary of affairs monthly that are current events of national and international importance. Monthly magazines provide a correlation between the current events of the whole month.

Merely reading current affairs is not fruitful unless you can inarticulate it into the answers properly. Different authors’ views or opinions are all included in magazines that widen your opinion to score high in UPSC.

For this you don’t need several magazines, one or two are sufficient that give comprehensive coverage to your preparation.

Benefits of Monthly Magazines over Newspapers for UPSC

Newspapers contain a wide range of news, some of which are irrelevant for Civil Services Aspirants. Some current news may escape from your mind with time which you again have to skim through and is also not effective to go through the piles of newspapers for revision or during exam time.

Instead, a monthly magazine overcomes a load of a bunch of newspapers by providing you with all the relevant information of that particular month with in-depth articles in one place.

Also, it divides and organizes the current events section-wise which will be beneficial for UPSC aspirants. It gives your preparation an edge as you learn to approach any issues or current problems multi-dimensionally.

In other words, it polishes your memory to think about any issues or problems with a multidisciplinary approach.

Important Topics to Focus on in Current Affairs

The topics that require your attention that give preparation an edge are listed below:

1. National and international topics or issues.
2. Current geographical phenomena, natural disasters, environment, and climate change-related topics or issues.
3. Socio-economic issues such as women’s issues, health-related issues, etc.
4. Constitution and constitutional amendments topics.
5. Topics related to Governance, policies, and schemes of Government.
6. High court and Supreme court verdicts, multilateral forums, diplomatic relations or topics with reference to international reference, etc.
7. Poverty, budget, employment, World and Indian economy, National and International security-related topics, etc.

Related Reading: 11 Effortless Tips on How to read “The Hindu” for UPSC 

List of Best Current Affairs Magazines for UPSC

The best current affairs magazines for UPSC are given below which will help you to ace your UPSC Preparation.

1. Yojana: Available in 13 languages and published by I & B Ministry, Government of India. This magazine focuses on socio-economic issues. Data and facts that are accepted by the Government are all covered in this magazine. It covers issues such as federalism, budgeting, etc. This magazine is useful for GS Paper III and IV and also for essay papers as one or two essays can be seen in papers from this magazine.
2. Kurukshetra: The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India publishes this magazine. It focuses on rural development which is helpful in both UPSC Prelims and Mains. By reading this magazine you can understand the scheme issued by the Government. Besides this, it performs the function of a platform for the serious debate of the many problems that are associated with agricultural and rural prosperity.
3. Pratiyogita Darpan: Topics like Polity, Economy, History, Geography, the constitution of India, and current affairs are all covered in this magazine which is helpful for UPSC CSE and is published in both Hindi and English.
4. Economic and Political Weekly (EPW):– Economy, and Political Weekly magazine for current affairs revolves around social science. This magazine requires multiple readings as it features articles that are quite technical in nature. Though it focuses on economic issues, it is a versatile publication covering politics of development, history, sociology, and environmental studies.
5. Down To Earth: This monthly magazine emphasizes the problems related to environmental issues and awareness as well. This is one of the magazines of current affairs which will help you to prepare the Geography optional paper and economic security for UPSC as well.

Many other bi-monthly and fortnightly magazines like Geography and You (English Magazine), Bhugol Aur Aap (Hindi Magazine), quotes from Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh are useful for exam perspective.

Which Current Affairs Magazine is Best for UPSC?

The best current affairs magazine for UPSC depends on personal preference and study plan.

However, some popular monthly magazines for current affairs for UPSC are Civil Services Chronicle, Pratiyogita Darpan, and Yojana. Civil Services Chronicle covers current affairs in a comprehensive and systematic manner and also provides practice questions for UPSC exams.

Pratiyogita Darpan is a well-known magazine among aspirants and covers topics relevant to various competitive exams, including UPSC.

Yojana, published by the Government of India, covers socio-economic issues and policies in detail and provides in-depth analysis and diverse perspectives on these issues.

It is important to note that magazines are not the only source of current affairs preparation and aspirants should also read newspapers, online portals, and other sources to stay updated on relevant topics of current events.

Best Hindi Magazine for UPSC Exam

Magazines including Pratiyogita Darpan, Yojana, and Kurukshetra are available in Hindi and English and feature success stories.

Additionally, Yojana is available in many other Indian languages.

List of More Current Affairs Magazines for UPSC

Besides these magazines listed above, there are a lot of other good magazines and books out there. These are:

1. PRS Legislative Research
2. Samanya Gyan Darpan
3. Economic Times
4. Competition Success Review
5. Chronicle
6. Geography and You
7. Frontline
8. Civil Services Times
9. Science Reporter
10. World Focus

Magazines Recommended by IAS Toppers

The best current affairs magazine recommended by IAS Toppers are listed below:

1. Yojana Magazine
2. PRS Legislative Research
3. Kurukshetra
4. Down To Earth
5. Economic and Political Weekly (EPW)

You Might Also Like: How to Study The Hindu Newspaper Editorial for UPSC? A Comprehensive Guide

Conclusion

To decide which magazine you choose to cover knowledge of current events, identify your level of preparation.

If you have covered the syllabus, standard books, and NCERT then go for either Yojana or Kurukshetra magazine. Don’t rely on multiple sources. Keep it limited and choose wisely according to your requirements.

FAQs on Best Current Affairs Magazine for UPSC