An efficient way to tackle Soul-Sucking current affairs(SSC) f | Shared Learning
An efficient way to tackle Soul-Sucking current affairs(SSC) for RBI/NABARD/SEBI
This post explains how to effectively tackle the Soul-Sucking current affairs for RBI Grade B, SEBI Grade A and NABARD Grade A.
Bi-monthly Current Affairs magazine, which was just shared on the channel, covers the Soul-Sucking Current affairs. A lot of time has been invested in creating an efficient structure that builds upon the strength of the existing magazines and rectifies their shortcomings.
What are Soul-sucking current affairs (SSC)?
In RBI Grade B 2021, 65% of Phase 1 current affairs questions and almost 100% of Phase 2 current affairs questions were from 4 sources: (a) PIB releases (b) RBI press release (c) SEBI press release (d) Reports and Indices. These are high "Return on investment" (ROI) current affairs.
The rest of the current affairs is the Low ROI current affairs, and we will call it SSC here onwards (SSC= Soul-sucking current affairs).
Examples of SSC:
Banks in the news, States in the news, Conferences, Appointments, Books and Authors, Important days etc.
Why is it "Soul-sucking"?
Because it can actually suck the soul out of anyone! When you read about RBI-related developments, it feels worthwhile. But life feels depressing when you are forced to remember which insurance company launched the " Savdhaan Rahein. Safe Rahein" campaign.
SSC is not just depressing; it's also low ROI.
Let's take the example of the "Banks in the news" section.
If you read 6 months of current affairs, you will come across more than 700 news related to Banking products. You keep mugging up various apps, campaigns, MoUs, insurance deals etc., for every bank. But when the question comes in your exam, " Which bank launched XYZ", you get confused whether it was HDFC or ICICI. Congratulations :)
Similarly, in the case of the "Appointments" or Books/Authors related questions, you have to mug up names of around 300-400 strangers, but you will be asked only 2-3 questions in the exam. IBPS is unfair.
Enough of the problem, let's talk about the solution:
Even if it is low ROI, the competition is so tough that you can't leave them. So, let's discuss how to improve efficiency.
The human brain loves Patterns; let's give it what it wants:
When you feed information to your brain in a random and chaotic manner, it gets messy. The human brain loves patterns. Organize your information around various structures and themes; your brain will thank you. The bi-monthly magazine has been designed to utilize this pattern-seeking behaviour of our brain. I will share a few examples.
Example 1: "Banks in news":
The Banking sector news has been clearly segregated into various themes like International financial institutions ( World Bank, ADB etc), All India Financial Institutions (like NABARD, SIDBI, EXIM etc), Public sector Banks, Private sector banks, Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks, Insurance sector etc.
Within each theme, all the news items have been sorted Banks-wise. For example, all the news related to SBI is given in one single place. Similarly, there is one separate section for all the major banks. Having everything compiled in one place will reduce exam-time confusion.
Example 2: "States in news"
All the states related news has been classified into various zones ( North Zone states, Central Zone states, West zone etc.) Within each zone, the news has been segregated State-wise.
Example 3: "Appointments in news"
Segregated theme-wise. E.g. Political Appointments , Banking sector Appointments, Indians appointed in international organizations, etc.
Example 4: "Apps and portals"
Grouped into three categories: (a) launched by the Central govt, (b) launched by State govt (c) Launched by banks.
That's enough of examples :) You will discover many more patterns when you read the magazine. I hope that it improves your reading and retention efficiency.
Okay, so the post has become too long. I am not sure how many of you reached the end. If you read it completely, I am proud of you:)
