IAS4Sure Notes shared via Onenote / Evernote has become a Wikipedia of UPSC related topics, over the time. It contains all current events from January 2016 till date. Our subscribers usually ask from which date they should start covering CA or what should be the best approach while studying from our notes. In this post, we are providing some tips which would help you in studying our notes effectively.
Daily Notes:
We are trying to update our notes daily now. Earlier we used to update on weekly basis. Whatever we update, it will automatically sync into your Onenote or Evernote apps. So, you have to cover these daily updates. Or you can make a plan to cover entire weeks update on weekend. Whichever suits you.
Duration of coverage:
One should cover all current affairs atleast 1 year prior to Prelims. For ex for Prelims 2019, you should cover from May 2018. So, if you have joined late, sort our notes by date and read all notes updated after 01 May 2018. If you don’t know how to sort notes, please check http://www.ias4sure.com/faqs/. We have given screenshots here which will help you.
Should one cover older notes?
UPSC sometimes asks questions based on older issues. Also, it is good to have background knowledge about a particular topic. For instance, one should know background about P5+1 deal if s/he wants to understand India-Iran Relations well or one should know Sabrimala Temple Entry case to write a good answer on Gender Discrimination. Similarly, events of past 2-3 years provide you good keywords/ points for your answer. For ex. a good answer on India-US relations should include FATCA, LEMOA, Nuclear Deal, Tariff Issues, WTO Issues, Strategic Dialogue, 2+2 dialogue etc. You will be able to recall all these points/ keywords if you have atleast broad knowledge about issues of past 2-3 years.
How to cover older issues?
It is simply not possible to read all notes from cover to cover. It will be an overkill. Best way is to read all related topics whenever a particular news is related to it. For ex. if today we have written an article about India – US : 2 + 2 Dialogue then you should also read other topics under India-US tag/folder. It will give you an holistic idea about India-US relations. In Onenote, you can go to particular folder to read all related notes. In Evernote, you can use particular TAG to read all related notes. You can also SEARCH to find all related notes. Evernote Premium has a smart algorithm which suggests you all related notes in bottom. Please check http://www.ias4sure.com/faqs/ to see screenshots.
Should one google while reading from our notes?
If you think that you need to read about some basic concept or background of a particular topic, we advice to google about that term. Don’t go in depth. Just get a basic understanding about the keyword and move on.
If you have any other doubt / query , please feel free to ask in comment section. We will try to clarify your doubt.
All the best.