Civil Services Examination, conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission is one of the gateways to get associated with the Government of India’s administrative system. With lakhs of aspirants aiming for the coveted positions, the competition has become quantitatively tougher. This has led to the thousands of sources mushrooming – both online and offline, claiming to offer the roadmap to crack the examination.

In an era of such information overload, aspirants often tend to get confused and lost in the clutter. We, at Shankar IAS Academy, have long felt the urge to simplify and streamline the information, especially regarding current affairs. With this sole objective in mind, we came up with the initiative of a platform called IAS Parliament in August 2016. Since then, we have taken rapid strides and have emerged as one of the most reliable online mentor platforms, helping aspirants to ace this exam.

Why should you follow IAS Parliament?

Current Affairs

is the most important, as well as the trickiest part of Civil Services Exam. Making your own notes from any standard national newspaper consumes much of your time, especially if you are a beginner.

This is because the news articles that appear in the newspaper generally miss certain essential facts, lack the logical flow of content and are complexly worded.

Let us take an example of a news item - “National Biodiversity Commission constituted”. A lot of questions could arise to a reader from this news. e.g                          

• Who heads the Commission?
• Whether it has been formed by executive action or otherwise?
• Who does the commission report to?
• Which ministry does it come under?
• Are there other commissions like this? etc

Clearly, finding answers to all these directly from the news articles or searching for them become a herculean task.

Over and above, if done so, segregating, maintaining and reworking on them as the news progresses involve an equally tiring process.                      

It is also nearly impossible to follow more than one newspaper.                      

Keeping all this in mind and valuing above all, the time that an aspirant invests, we at IAS Parliament-

• deconstruct a news item to extract the essentials of it, consistent with the exam syllabus.
• rearrange it logically to give clarity and thorough understanding of the issue.
• provide additional facts, figures and maps for a better insight.

Besides, we consolidate the news articles as and when they develop, to follow the progress of events. In this process, we refer almost all the renowned national newspapers and government websites, cherry-pick the news articles that are relevant to UPSC Exams and update the materials on a daily basis. We ensure to keep the daily articles as crisp and clear as possible, keeping in mind the current affairs material that would pile up for a year, in line with the exam.

Essentially, all our articles start off with either 'Why in news?' or 'what is the issue?', and strictly follow the question and bullets format.

What exactly is the purpose of “Why in news”?

It introduces to the reader as to how and where the issue in the discussion has kick-started.  An understanding on this front is essential in taking lead for mains GS answers as well as in making appropriate responses in the personality test.

Why are we obsessed with the question format?

In an approach to place ourselves in the beginners’ shoes, we have chosen the unconventional "question and bullet format" for presenting the current issues in discussion.  The approach is in line with a view to offering a study material on an 'issue' and not merely on a 'news article'. Accordingly, question format is to keep the readers aligned with the demands of the syllabus, and bullet format is preferred for easy flow of content and quicker revision. This well thought out format is the uniqueness of IAS Parliament in its effort to rationalise the time that aspirants invest and ensure they don't get trapped in the information overload.

What do we offer?

The Daily News column covers current events from a range of news journals such as The Hindu, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, BusinessLine, Business Standard, Economic Times, Financial Express, Livemint along with regular updates from Press Information Bureau.

The Prelim Bits focusses on the news events that are particularly relevant from the prelims point of view. This is a section to familiarise with the organisations, features, events and facts in relation to the current issues. The section notably makes a complete coverage of PIB besides others.

The Editorial column offers a more detailed account and opinion based analytical perception of the current issues selectively.

Besides the above resources, the Daily Mains Test Series section intends to provide an opportunity to practise mains answer writing on a daily basis. The questions are essentially current affairs framed out of the news articles of the day. The source link is provided along with the question and the key points to be incorporated in the answers are also shared. The answers submitted for review are duly evaluated and appropriate suggestions are made.

Similarly Daily Prelims Test Series provides you with an opportunity to experience the UPSC prelims exam. It is an interactive platform, where 10 questions from daily current affairs is provided, to which you can answer and submit. It is validated on the UPSC exam pattern and the answers and explanations are also given. A daily list of toppers is also published just to cultivate a competitive spirit. 

The Interviews section concentrates on miscellaneous news that, though may not fit in any category of the syllabus, might be of utmost significance for interview discussions. The news here ranges from local to global. It also contains transcripts from those who have attended interviews.

The Downloads is to make available the consolidated materials for revision purposes. It includes Monthly Compilation of Current Affairs and Gist of chosen Magazines such as the Yojana, Kurukshetra, EPW, Down to Earth and IDSA. It also provides timely Prelims and Mains oriented compilations in line with the UPSC exam schedule. Additionally, previous year question papers of the UPSC and Shankar IAS Academy's test series are also made available.

The Forum functions as a platform for undertaking discussions, getting clarifications and sharing opinions on various issues among peers.

The Videos column has regular updates of the footage of lectures from renowned members of the academy's faculty as well as the alumni, offering valuable tips on streamlining and enhancing the preparation process.

Nevertheless, we recommend aspirants to follow any one of the standard National Newspapers, say The Hindu or The Indian Express. This is just to observe how news unveils, to be aware of how government functions on a day to day basis and to keep track of local news that might be of help for the interview.          

You can register with us for better interaction and can also join our Telegram Channel to receive regular updates.

Thank You!