[Tech] Shifting from Google Reader to Feedly, How to keep track Hindu & Other sites important for UPSC

By Support Staff|2014-09-30T15:00:05+05:3027/05/2013|Categories: Tips|Tags: UPSC-Tips-Misc|329 Comments

yes the answer key, analysis of CSAT 2013 will be uploaded, Work in process. Coming to the topic of this article: reading Hindu online, keeping track of other important websites and shifting from google reader to feedly.

How to get Hindu

One the biggest worries of every UPSC aspirant: Hindu not available in my city, what to do?

There are three Solutions:

via postman

Goto this page

http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=subs

Send subscription money to TheHindu, mentioning your name and address. they’ll send paper.

Problem: paper doesn’t come every day. Usually postman will throw 3-5 days’ papers at once.

e-paper

Goto this page

http://epaper.thehindu.com/sub_inf.htm

Send money. Hindu lets you access their e-paper edition online.

Problem: not convenient on small screen monitor / low-speed internet.

Via RSS-feeds

Explained in this article.

Problem: not as convenient as reading a convention “paper” newspaper. You’ve to do lot of clicks!

Why RSS feeds?

Even if you’re getting physical “paper” of Hindu newspaper, there are still some goods websites like pib, idsa, PRSIndia that you should follow for exam preparations. Here RSS-feeds came handy.
Until now, Google reader was the best RSS-feedreader. in earlier article I had explained how to use it for exam preparation click me
But from 1^st July, Google reader will be shut down. Reasons: declined users, expenditure, privacy laws.

Shifting from Google reader to feedly

There are plenty of alternatives to google reader : standalone software, desktop widgets, browser plugins. You can try out a few and decide whatever you’re comfortable with.

After wasting few days in trial n error, I’ve settled with “Feedly” (it is an extension/addon for chrome and firefox browsers. Even available for android tablets and iphones.) and yes of course free, legit and safe.

I recommend feedly to all readers for following reasons:

Seemless migration from Google reader (you just have to type your email id and password, then feedly will import everything.)
User friendly drag-n-drop features. Organizing feeds is even easier than in Google reader.
If you’re using evernote, feedly has button to directly integrate stuff in it.
Very aesthetic theme and responsive layout.
~14 lakh chrome users and ~2.5 lakh firefox users already installed it. Prominent tech websites and tech-bloggers recommend it, hence unlikely to go out of business soon.

In this article, we’ll see how to shift to feedly and how to optimize it for exam preparation.

Installing Feedly

First you’ve to install feedly extension in your browser.

chrome users click me
firefox users click me

Once you install, a green page asks you to either login or connect to google reader.

Tech Feedly 1

Since you’re using it first time, click on connect to google reader.

Tech Feedly 2

New window pops up, type of google reader username-password, which is same as you gmail username password.

Another new window comes, click “allow Access” and rest will be taken care of automatically.

Fine-tuning feedly for Competitive exams

Organizing feeds

on the left hand corner, feedly displays your name, and three buttons “organize, preference, logout” click on organize. you get a window like this.

Use drag n drop and various icons to arrange your feeds into various categories.
to add new feeds, first copy the RSS link (for example the links given below)
then goto feedly page (in Chrome, click on new tab, you’ll see feedly icon. and in firefox, it is near google search box)
While in feedly page, do as showin following screens:

A new tab will come, save the RSS feed subscriptioin approrpriate category or create a new category then save.

By the way, always keep habit of classifying news and notes whether you read it online or do it via physical paper. A bigger picture will emerge after 2-3-5-7 months, when the individual pieces start fitting in the bigger picture especially for diplomacy/International relations and economy.

Here is the list of RSS-feeds that you should consider adding (if you already had google reader then these feeds will be already displayed in your feedly, just a few minor changes in URLs for certain sites).

Following list is not exhaustive or sacred, use it as per your taste and requirements.

Diplomacy / International relations (IR)

Note: C Rajamohan writes for Indianexpress, provides decent fodder points on India-China, India-US and India and its neighbors. IDSA website also covers many goods areas/topics of international relations.

Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)

Why follow three sites? Because UPSC getting obsessed with EnB, so you don’t miss out any ‘good-stuff’. Besides these sites don’t upload dozens of EnB news everyday. So reading load is not becoming very high.

Economy

Note: The Hindu also gives RSS-feeds for Stock-quotes and markets but that stuff usually provides very low fodder material / MCQ worthy info. So cost-benefit ration not good, hence skipped here.

You can add more to this like RSS feeds of Indianexpress, financialtimes depends on your taste and time. but usually the news keeps overlapping.

Science-tech

Note: Hindu also provides aggregate RSS feed for Sci-tech but if we use that, it’ll lead to overlapping news with EnB section. That’s why giving three separate feeds. b

Besides sometimes technology feeds have useless stuff related to mobile gadgets. So makes it easier to weedout (when tech feed is separate, it doesn’t clutter the ‘whole sci-tech’).

Columns

Editorials/columns

You can add individual writers, from here: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/ (click on names and then right click on orange colored RSS icon). You can add more to this list from Indianexpress, TimesofIndia etc. as well.
Their main purpose is to provide fodder material for Essay, descriptive papers and interview.
but keep the cost-benefit ratio in mind. Some people consistently write well, others are bogus and some have never grown up beyond the era of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. Observe for 3-4 articles then unsubscribe the irrelevant.

Letters to editors

Letters to editor are written by readers (who usually disagree with what was given in previous article/column!) So, they provide you different angle / dimension / viewpoint to the same news-story/column. Helps you see a bigger, bipartisan picture.

Exam related sites

https://mrunal.org/feed (shameless self-promotion hahaha)
http://feedproxy.google.com/sarkari-naukri

Note: Sarkari naukri website gives alerts on vacancies in Central-State Government, universities and PSUs. Given the extremely competitive and unpredictable nature of UPSC results (at Prelims, mains and interview), you shouldn’t put all eggs in one basket –especially when you don’t have an IIT/IIM/CA/Doctor degree and have given more than two attempts in UPSC.

Polity n Yearbook

Notes on individual feeds:

What to read in pib.nic.in?

pib.nic.in provides updates on Government schemes policies, recommendation of Committee, schemes, statements of PM/minister etc.
So in a way it covers many areas: rights issue, public health, EnB, Sci-Tech, diplomacy.
Ignore trivial stuff like appointment of new Secretary in telecom dept.
Do read the speeches of ministers. Because they usually contain some good fodder material for essay and mains-GS (like stats for poverty, Development, launch of new scheme/policy etc)
Similarly the “joint statements” released after meetings with foreign leader / foreign summit= important. they provide you fodder for diplomacy/IR.
Salient features of government policies and schemes should be noted down.
Yes, TheHindu/Indianexpress articles will also give you the salient features of schemes/policy but they usually omit many points which may be important for exam but not so important for a journalist’s point of view.
So whenever you want salient features of schemes/policy= pib.
Similarly when you want salient features of act/bill=PRSindia.
Bottom line: if something can be asked in MCQs or can be used as fodder for mains/essay/interview then it is important, otherwise ignore. Solve last 2 years’ prelim+mains papers (+ this year’s prelim paper) and you’ll see what information is worthy tracking and what information is worth skipping. This rule applies to all books, magazines, PDF, studymaterial, and websites.

Regarding other RSS-feeds

Prsindia’s old rss link wasn’t working, hence I’ve given new RSS link. PRSindia gives you highlight of bills, Acts and other polity stuff.
Thehindu’s national feed sometimes also gives useless stuff like how many passed in CBSE exam etc. But pay attention to Committee reports, defense purchases, SC judgments etc. More on what to read and what to skip in Hindu, already explained here click me
Soli Sorabjee writes for Indianexpress. Sometimes unimportant stuff like Jazz and Music but otherwise good fodder for polity and judiciary related developments.

Profile/Location based interview Qs

For UPSC interview, you need to be up-to-date regarding the developments taking place in your state, city, district (=profile/location based interview questions). so add the RSS feeds accordingly.
The Hindu covers only a few cities and states (click me to see the list)
for remaing place, go to this page of Indian express www.indianexpress.com/rss/ locate your city / state and subscribe to its RSS feed.

Where do I get more RSS-list?

all newspaper websites provide sectional RSS (for individual topics like Economy, Sci-tech etc.). goto following pages and grab more if you need.

Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=rss
Indianexpress http://www.indianexpress.com/rss/
Economic Times http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/rss.cms

Misc/Timepass RSS

http://www.thehindu.com/books/know-your-english/?service=rss

Provides articles on English idioms, phrases, grammar.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/fakingnews

They do mockery of current news (particularly bashing Mohan and Rahul). Good read when life gets too stressful and serious.

Timepass RSS list can go long endless like theonion.com, lifehacker.com, the-editing-room.com
But use caution. Such websites are designed in a way that when you get to bottom of one article, it’ll show you list and photos of other funny/timepass articles and you can end up spending whole day reading stuff that has no application in exams.
Self discipline is necessary. Try to spend your internet-time on productive reading, Don’t waste it on facebook, orkut, MP3, themes, movies, games and wallpapers.

Feedly: Tweaking options

on the left hand corner, feedly displays your name, and three buttons “organize, preference and logout”
click on preference.
A new list of options is given.

Option	What to do?
Featured Articles	Click “no”, because exam oriented feeds are already subscribed. this thing occupies unnecessary space on our feedly homepage and gives useless breaking-news type articles like Vindu Darasingh and BCCI chairman’s son-in-law’s connections in IPL matchfixing.
Finance Module	Delete whatever text is written here. Because it tracks share-market prices, hardly useful for exam.

There are many other options, to change link colors etc. I suggest you play with those settings as and when time and mood permits.

Mrunal’s Autonotemaker (now working with Win8)

Whenever you select some phrases/sentences in any web/pdf article, this software copies it in a note. so when you combine this with RSS-reader, it becomes a killer combo.
instruction and free download link given here click me
Works flawlessly with Microsoft XP (SP3).
and now works for Win8 too, if you launch it via ‘right click on icon–>Run as Administrator”. Using the same principle (launch program using right click–>run as administor) this should also work for win7 (or I atleast hope so!)

Getting PDF output from webpages

If you use chrome browser, you can directly save webpages as PDFs.
for example, in case of my website, scrolldown to bottom right corner, there is a pink button saying “print || PDF” click on it and press Ctrl+P. you get option to save as PDF

If this thing doesn’t work, reasons are following:

You’re using outdated version of chrome. Download the latest one by clicking me
In above screenshot, observe there is a button titled “Change” in the left panel. click it and select PDF.
perhaps your printspooler function is has stopped. press Win+R key. “run” window comes.

type “services.msc”, a new Window comes,

Scroll down the list and make sure printspooler is running. otherwise click on start/restart button on left hand corner of that window.

329 Comments

Kaushik 28/05/2013 at 11:32 am - Reply

Many times, Silence speaks louder than the most erudite of speeches. Mrunal’s studied silence in this particular comments section comprising predominantly of inane chatter amidst a few pearls shows who the boss is. Anyhow, waiting for Guruji’s post on the paper. :D
tensed for mains 28/05/2013 at 12:00 pm - Reply

i know a guy who is scoring 195 in paper II. I was like hats of to you.
Jhansi 28/05/2013 at 12:02 pm - Reply

Friends, forget about cutoffs.. Just continue preparing for mains… Even if you do not clear prelims, that preparation helps at least for next CSE. Last year I did the same mistake.. Though I cleared prelims, I didn’t have any time for studying optionals.. All the best.. Forget about cutoff
- Mrunal 28/05/2013 at 5:39 pm - Reply
  
  true
- Nikhil 28/05/2013 at 6:59 pm - Reply
  
  yupp…i too second that thought….but it’s a human mind and though u know that it’s not the right time to think bout cutoffs your mind will ponder into it more…newys it’s ol bout controlling ur urges….but a simple appeal to ol cutoff predictors …plz dont make irresponsible comments that dishearten other aspirants at this crucial point of time…
satish 28/05/2013 at 1:02 pm - Reply

Mrunal Sir please do post the answers,eagerly waiting for your analysis on CSAT-1.

Please do post ASAP.
Lakshya 28/05/2013 at 1:15 pm - Reply

Hello Everyone…

Any idea about what would be the answer for question on NIRVANA as per Buddhism. In the answer key published by GKTODAY.IN it is “State of Bliss and Peace.”.

Any idea on this??

And about the cutoff GKTODAY.IN predicted it around 220-225. Seems to be reasonably fair as per all of the comments given here.
- Sri 28/05/2013 at 1:43 pm - Reply
  
  It is about end to all the desires I feel
  - Ro-han riders 28/05/2013 at 4:24 pm - Reply
    
    nirvana is a state and not a path . extinguishing desire is a path and not a state . so it should be bliss
    - Lakshya 28/05/2013 at 9:49 pm - Reply
      
      The question was in regard to what is meant by Nirvana in Buddhism…and it is clearly mentioned in ANCIENT INDIA OLD NCERT Page 95 Column 2 Para 2 Line 9 that extinguishing desire is Nirvana…where it is mentioned about state of Bliss and Peace. My reference is NCERT books no other source.
      - TRA 28/05/2013 at 10:30 pm
        
        correct!!
alok 28/05/2013 at 1:23 pm - Reply

answer for nirvana will be annhiliation of self
u can refer here http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/
authors/bullen/bl042.html
if its wrong then do let me know
- mohit 28/05/2013 at 3:20 pm - Reply
  
  budha says :- nirvana = freedom from cycle of death and birth
  & reason of why people are not free from birth and death cycle because they have desire and this desire cause them to take birth after birth and cycle continues and pains continues. so leave desire , and get freedom from cycle of death and birth.
  –By the way i was not present when budha was giving this sermon i read only ncert ;)
jdk 28/05/2013 at 1:31 pm - Reply

I belong to st category and I am getting 170 marks in prelims..do I have anychance of clearing prelims?
and when will the result of prelims release
- Kavinder Negi 28/05/2013 at 9:13 pm - Reply
  
  @jdk.
  
  I think you should prepare. You have a good chance because cut off can fluctuate -+10.
udit 28/05/2013 at 1:37 pm - Reply

has anyone seen gktoday answer key ?
varun 28/05/2013 at 1:41 pm - Reply

@mrunal sir
i m preparing for Civil2014…but not decidec about optional…electrical or pub ad….very confused… i m bitech in EE n working….. so plz suggest
- Ankur 28/05/2013 at 9:55 pm - Reply
  
  me too electrical btech….just forget it….grab pubad…u ll never regret it….
Sri 28/05/2013 at 1:44 pm - Reply

And what do you think about question reg national income

Is it good and services produced by nationals or is it just trade?
Nikhil 28/05/2013 at 2:21 pm - Reply

hello everyone

i have a doubt bout the rainbow formation vaala question….in tmh science manual the question has answer dispersion and total internal reflection (not refraction) also the theory where they have told bout rainbow formation they have not mentioned refraction…but as dispersion itself caused due to refraction will the answer be dispersion and total internal reflection or all three i.e dispersion tir and refraction??
- pradeep km 28/05/2013 at 5:51 pm - Reply
  
  refraction takes place as well as internal reflection and dispersion….total internal reflection in case of two rainbows
Hari 28/05/2013 at 2:28 pm - Reply

Hi Mrunal,
I installed feedly already for firefox. But missed to connect to google reader. Now i can not change it and can not uninstall that feedly. Pleasse help me to connect to google reader
- Satish 28/05/2013 at 3:19 pm - Reply
  
  signout from feedly and then re login with ur gmail ID, it may work
  - Hari 28/05/2013 at 10:45 pm - Reply
    
    I tried. But It didn’t work. Anyway thanks for your interest to help me.
- Mrunal 28/05/2013 at 5:35 pm - Reply
  
  in firefox> tools menu> “add on” and there you can disable/uninstall feedly.
  - Hari 28/05/2013 at 10:46 pm - Reply
    
    Thank you Mrunal
- XY 29/05/2013 at 6:49 pm - Reply
  
  Hi Hari I need help
  tell me how u did d process…. I am damn bad in Computer. thanks in advance.
  - Hari 10/06/2013 at 9:56 pm - Reply
    
    Hi dear,
    I am also not very good in computer. My suggestion is to use either google chrome or mozilla firefox. (there are so many browsers like internet explorer, safari, netscape navigator ). In this article , you can find installing feedly part. below that click to download whatever your browser is(Firefox or Chrome). then everything is as given below.
M Raj 28/05/2013 at 2:54 pm - Reply

Thank You Mrunal, You made the foundation for me by supporting with a strong basics. This was my first attempt and I hope I did very well.

GS 1…… 110
GS 2…… 173

Total = 280+

ALl credit goes to You Sir.
Waiting for the Mains Strategy….
John AbRaham Lincoln 28/05/2013 at 3:13 pm - Reply

Nikhil @ yes the answer is all three ie refraction + TIR + Dispersion
check outhttp://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rebeccapaton.net/rainbows/rnbwbmp.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.rebeccapaton.net/rainbows/formatn.htm&h=738&w=826&sz=38&tbnid=4oU2BRGXmTZdIM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=95&zoom=1&usg=__jS1G7UCmBe91Aihz9s_u6VVBUNM=&docid=q-73YL6y66kIlM&sa=X&ei=x3ukUfX9IcumrQeyv4DwCw&ved=0CDMQ9QEwAQ&dur=194

for more clearification you can look into any 12 class book :)
- John AbRaham Lincoln 28/05/2013 at 3:14 pm - Reply
  
  sorry i dont know how to post a weblink lol
- pradeep km 28/05/2013 at 5:53 pm - Reply
  
  not tir only ir…tir for double rainbow phenomena
- Nikhil 28/05/2013 at 6:18 pm - Reply
  
  yes i too think that because for dispersion to happen refraction is bound to happen….but i relied on TMH and marked wrong answer of this one …:(…I would advice everyone to not believe in manuals blindly..(though it was of great help too and i marked a lot of correct questions because of that..i would rather advice to read them intelligently)..
  - Lakshya 28/05/2013 at 10:02 pm - Reply
    
    Read 10th Class Science NCERT Chapter Light it has clearly mentioned that all the three factors-dispersion, Refraction, TIR – are responsible for rainbow formation.
    
    I m wondering as a candidate we all attempted questions to the best of our knowledge and understanding and the known institutes of India are providing answers when they have the Ocean of Information-INTERNET, varying to a larger extent. This answers to the question about the cutoff which the buzzword for all of us. That perhaps the Paper-1 is easy in its question statement but the choices rather permutation and combination could keep the level of cutoff to 50%+5% what GKTODAY.IN Suresh Sir said.
Gayathri 28/05/2013 at 3:15 pm - Reply

I was appalled by the cut off marks of many and hardly able to concentrate further that I get somewhere around 195 which is like cat on the wall!

Now that, somebody opened up the truth and anything is possible from UPSC, lets stop being nitwits and go ahead for mains!
Himanshu Srivastava 28/05/2013 at 3:33 pm - Reply

Mrunal the RSS feed for PRS is still not working. Pls help.
- Mrunal 28/05/2013 at 5:32 pm - Reply
  
  RSS feedlink is http://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/?feed=rss2
  latest article in PRS blog is Chit funds: Q & A.
  - Himanshu Srivastava 29/05/2013 at 2:38 am - Reply
    
    Thank you
    - Praveensingh 29/05/2013 at 5:08 pm - Reply
      
      Still not working. When I added this msg is ” One more doemant site” Plz help…………….
  - TRA 29/05/2013 at 6:25 pm - Reply
    
    Mrunal sir,
    both prs and soli sorabjee appears to be bugged.
    it says 1 more dormant site.
    - pradeep km 01/06/2013 at 3:23 pm - Reply
      
      just click on that dormant
      thing…then add option will
      show..i did the same
Ravi 28/05/2013 at 3:51 pm - Reply

Anyone I ask about their expected score tells me it is going to be around 240 250, I am sure prelims cut off will be higher than 230, my score, acc to cl keys 281, acc to shankar 274, acc to testfunda 265.
Zodiac 28/05/2013 at 3:56 pm - Reply

vajiram answer key out
risha 28/05/2013 at 4:44 pm - Reply

Mrunal,prs column and coulmnist soli sorabjee’s site showing dormant.Unable to add them.
- pradeep km 28/05/2013 at 5:58 pm - Reply
  
  just click on that dormant thing…then add option will show..i did the same
  - risha 29/05/2013 at 10:36 pm - Reply
    
    thanks Pradeep km,it worked.
  - Praveensingh 01/06/2013 at 10:56 am - Reply
    
    Thanks a lot pradip km, i was from 3 days…..
    - Praveensingh 01/06/2013 at 10:57 am - Reply
      
      Thanks a lot pradip km, i was trying from 3 days….
S K 28/05/2013 at 6:53 pm - Reply

i have installed feedly on my chrome but it says”synchronizing version 14. please wait….” and does nothing. i have searched on the net and many people are facing the same problem. i have disabled all other extensions. even have changed the flags of chrome but to no avail. it is working fine on firefox but chrome is my browser and i want feedly to work on it. anyone having similar problem please let me know about the solution. mrunal sir, please see if u can do anything about it.
i have also cleared my cache using ccleaner.
- S K 28/05/2013 at 6:54 pm - Reply
  
  i meant chrome is my main browser. sorry for missing the word
Ari 28/05/2013 at 7:30 pm - Reply

Hi Mrunalji,

In 2012 Mains the public Administration optional was very tough and so many unheard thinkers, and areas are given. The marks also very low even those score well in previous.

For me I Completed 3/4 syllabus in Both Papers before prelims and now planned to complete It and Read 2nd ARC Reports fully, but i have confused that time also if the same trend continue?

I try to read Sociology but i was not attract as much PubAd. For alternate i plan to choose Political Science optional but it is new for me. please suggest me.

Somebody rooming that MOHIT Bhhattachary has reentered into UPSC so only this optional face disaster. please give answer to me as soon as possible. I was residing in a rural and not able to discuses with any seniors or centers, i believe only internet and books. I’m waiting for ur reply, so that i start preparing from 01june2013 for mains.

Please reply sir.

If you suggest PoliticalSc please give difference b/w both optional and Books and strategy and whether it will completed in 5 months.

Thank You sir.
Chandan 28/05/2013 at 9:43 pm - Reply

Guys! let some sanity prevail..your scores are for you to know coz honestly i dont give a damn about how much one scores and his idea of cutoff according to his own whimsical calculations.we all wrote exams for ourselves not for others..so lets do what we are supposed to be doing i.e. studying with zeal of a 4 year old boy.
all the best!
Madhushree C M 29/05/2013 at 12:04 pm - Reply

Hello Mrunal sir,

Ur blog s like BIBLE for CS aspirants. Thanks a lot for the wonderful blog.
There is an application called “NewsHunt” which s developed for mobiles. It runs on all platforms and we can read the newspapers of 11 languages including THE HINDU.

It can be downloaded from http://newshunt.com/hunt/?src=fr&ref=720088029
I’ve been using ths app to read newspapers, its been very useful.I hope ths app is gonna help all those who would like to read newspapers on mobile.

thank you.
nimika 29/05/2013 at 3:10 pm - Reply

Hi Mrunal ,I have just recently downloaded feedly .and i am finding it very beneficial .Thanks. but I want to ask you we can see only today’s news ???? how can we visit past news and article
Praveensingh 29/05/2013 at 5:13 pm - Reply

RSS feedlink is still not working, even second provided by you, Sir. Plz help……
Praveensingh 29/05/2013 at 5:14 pm - Reply

RSS feedlink for PRS is still not working, even second provided by you, Sir. Plz help……
arun 29/05/2013 at 10:06 pm - Reply

i am unable to access feedly.there is a message saying” syncronising data please wait and screen is blank. i have tried to reinstall it but it doesn’t work.
please fix it.
Deepak 30/05/2013 at 7:41 am - Reply

Hi Mrunal,
thx for ur efforts. Sir, i marked the articles as “read” and they disappeared in Feedley. where can i find them?
Deepak 30/05/2013 at 7:43 am - Reply

Mrunal , can you plz compose an article on Centerally Sponsored Schemes, ACAs, funding by PC n FC, special category states etc.
that will be real help.
Thx sir.
shekhar 31/05/2013 at 1:02 am - Reply

hi mrunal sir
i am using rss feedly in android phone. is there any auto notemaker like apps which i can use for making notes during direct reading from web page,means just select text/lines and it will automatically save like your auto notemaker for xp and windows.plz help.
- Mrunal 31/05/2013 at 9:25 am - Reply
  
  sorry not much idea on android apps.