How to & why should one read Pratiyogita Darpan?

Pratiyogita Darpan is a monthly current affairs magazine for Civil Services and other competitive examinations.

It is freely available over the Internet, and can be downloaded as pdf file.

Why should I read Pratiyogita Darpan?

Because it is a good magazine, in the first place. Secondly, most aspirants make newspaper notes between Prelim and Mains Examination and technically, it is a logical thing to do.

But there are two periods when most of us miss out on making Newspaper notes :

1. After Mains Examination till the Interview2. From the Interview result till the Prelims

But for Mains, (which is in December in 2014), one needs to revise current affairs from the end of Mains till the month of November, 2014. It is quite likely that you have made notes of the months August – October from the newspaper. But what about December-Prelims period?

The month of November December is a very crucial period. A lot of International summits take place, and it is Winter in India. A number of foreign heads of states visit India in the month of November December (this has happened year after year.) You do not want to miss out on the news of those months – especially related to International diplomacy and UNFCC meets etc.

(Thankfully, no major bills are taken up during the Winter session, usually so you dont have to do the bills then.)

So, if you have missed out on notes in these months and even otherwise, you can use it to revise and study first hand, current affairs from Pratiyogita Darpan.

(They have an android app too, but when I tried it on my Moto G, it crashed way too many times. An alternative is to download the magzter app and buy individual issues for 0.99 USD, and you may resort to it when you have no way of getting any Current Affairs notes of December to April or so. Otherwise it may not be worth the pains.)

This may be useful especially for two kinds of people:

1. Those who do a lot of Internet based study, using Laptops, iPads, Tablets, feedly etc.

2. Some of us who actually are in a job, and try to catch up whilst in office.

Do take note of one thing that Pratiyogita Darpan may be of immense use for doing IR articles – at least the coverage , usually 1-2 countries, are given in every issue – is very comprehensive – especially for beginners.

A good way to use it is to tear the useful articles, staple and and decrease your exam load, both physically and psychologically.

So click here to download Pratiyogita Darpan [English] Issues – Monthwise.