An article to give you an overview about the major magazines one must follow if they are preparing for UPSC exam. So, this article “Must read magazines for UPSC Exam Preparation” gives an overview about that only.

These magazines comes with weekly / monthly frequency, gives good overview about the topics it covers and that is why UPSC aspirants follows it. There are lot of good reviews about these magazines on internet so we will not go in that direction i.e. which magazine is better and which one should read. We are just giving brief information about them so that one can decide which one they should read.

List of important Magazines

Magazine	Frequency
Yojana	Monthly
Kurukshetra	Monthly
Economics and Political Weekly	Weekly (Available by post as well as digital format)
Civil services times	Monthly
Pratiyogita darpan	Monthly
Geography & You	Monthly
Down to earth	Fortnightly (First issue 1992)
Competition success review	Monthly (First published in 1964)
World focus	Monthly (Since 1980)

1. Yojana

• Frequency: Monthly,
• Website link: Yojana,
• Published by: Publications Division of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
• Devoted to: Socio-economic issues and covers one important topic every month like Agriculture, Banking etc.,
• Helpful for: Mains Exam, Essay Paper etc.,
• Published in: 13 languages English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia,
• Downloads: Yojana downloads section,
• Cost: ~Rs. 230 for 1 year (as of Dec-2023).

2. Kurukshetra

• Frequency: Monthly,
• Website link: Kurukshetra,
• Published by: Publications Division of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
• Devoted to: Rural development, covers issues like tribal and rural development. Impact analysis of various programmes.
• Helpful for: Mains Exam, Essay Paper etc.,
• Published in: Hindi and English,
• Downloads: Kurukshetra downloads section,
• Cost: Rs. ~Rs. 230 for 1 year (as of Dec-2023).

3. Economic & Political Weekly (EPW)

• Frequency: Weekly (Available by post as well as digital format),
• Website link: Economics and political weekly,
• Published by: Sameeksha trust,
• Devoted to: Economics, politics, sociology, culture, environment etc.
  • Covers both research in social sciences and informed comment on current affairs,
  • Publishes a minimum of 70,000 to 80,000 words on a variety of issues,
  • The EPW’s biggest influence on social sciences in India has been in catalysing debates and disseminating research output etc.
• Helpful for: Mains Exam, Essay Paper and Personality Test after qualifying mains exam,
• Published in: English,
• Downloads: EPW (Paid Subscription),
• Published since: 1949,
• Cost (as of Dec-2023):
  • Print: Rs. 4,105 / yr,
  • Digital: Rs. 1,600 / yr,
  • Print + digital: Rs. 5,795/yr.

Publication language:

Magazine	Published in
Yojana	13 languages English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia
Kurukshetra	English & Hindi
EPW	English
Civil services times	English
Pratiyogita darpan	English & Hindi
Geography & You	English & Hindi
Down to earth	English & Hindi
Competition success review	English & Hindi
World focus	English & Hindi

4. Civil Services Times

• Frequency: Monthly,
• Website link: Civil services times,
• Published by: Owned, printed and published by Vivek S. Raj,
• Devoted to: National, international, foreign policy, science and technology and economy,
  • Meant to collect the information from various reliable sources which included the Government Departments/Ministries and Press Information Bureau and to provide them before everybody to not only at their awareness level but also to imbibe a sense of analysis for their in-depth understanding,
• Helpful for: Prelims, Mains,
• Published in: English,
• Downloads: CST (Paid Subscription),
• Cost: Rs. 2600/yr (As of Dec-2023),

5. Pratiyogita Darpan

• Frequency: Monthly,
• Website link: Pratiyogita darpan,
• Published by: Upkar Prakashan based in Agra,
• Devoted to: Current affairs, employment related news, solved papers of competitive exams,
• Helpful for: Prelims, Mains & Personality test,
• Published in: Hindi and English,
• Downloads: Download section,
• Cost: Rs. 125 / magazine (As of Dec-2023).

6. Geography & You

• Frequency: Monthly,
• Website link: Geography and you,
• Devoted to: Climate change, science, water, environment, social, economic, big data, hazard & geographical concerns of India and south Asi,
• Helpful for: Prelims & Mains (Especially for aspirants with geography optional),
• Published in: English & Hindi,
• Downloads: Shop | Subscription,
• Cost: Rs. 540 for GnY bundle (10 Print Magazine) and for Hindi magazine it’s Rs. 400 (as of Dec-2023).

Magazines cost comparison:

Magazine	Cost (as of Dec-2023)
Yojana	~Rs. 230 for 1 year (as of Dec-2023)
Kurukshetra	~Rs. 230 for 1 year (as of Dec-2023)
EPW	Print: Rs. 4,105 / yr Digital: Rs. 1,600 / yr Print + digital: Rs. 5,795/yr
Civil services times	Rs. 2600 / yr
Pratiyogita darpan	Rs. 125 / magazine
Geography & You	Rs. 540 for GnY bundle (10 Print Magazine) and for Hindi magazine it’s Rs. 400
Down to earth	Rs. 600 – Rs. 1650 depends on the selected plan.
Competition success review	Rs. 295 – 425 depends on selected magazin
World focus	Rs. 800 – 3900 depdnds on the selected subscription plan

7. Down to Earth

• Frequency: Fortnightly (First issue 1992),
• Website link: Down to earth,
• Published by: Started in 1992 by environmentalist Anil Agarwal,
• Devoted to: Environment, health, livelihood  and economic security,
• Helpful for: Prelims, Mains & Personality test,
• Published in: English & Hindi,
• Downloads: Subscription section,
• Cost: Rs. 600 – Rs. 1650 depends on the selected plan (as of Dec-2023).

8. Competition Success Review

• Frequency: Monthly (First published in 1964),
• Website link: Competition success review,
• Devoted to: Events taking place at home &  globally. Interviews of CSE topper.
  • It helps the Youth of India to succeed in all competitive spheres irrespective of their economic background,
• Helpful for: Prelims, Mains & Personality test,
• Published in: English & Hindi,
• Downloads: Downloads section,
• Cost: Rs. 295 – 425 depends on selected magazine (as of Dec-2023).

9. World Focus

• Frequency: Monthly (Since 1980),
• Website link: World focus,
• Devoted to: International issues with an Indian perspective. Premier Indo-centric foreign affairs journal since 1980.
• Helpful for: Prelims, Mains & Personality test,
• Published in: English & Hindi,
• Downloads: Subscription section,
• Cost: Rs. 800 – 3900 depends on the selected subscription plan (as of Dec-2023).

Conclusion:

So, with this article “Must read magazines for UPSC Exam Preparation” we hope you got some good understanding about the magazines available for the UPSC exam preparation and which one suits to you.

Please let us know in case we missed anything or if we can help further with any other topic.

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