General Awareness and Current Affairs
General Awareness and Current Affairs in AIIMS CRE rewards a broad, current base rather than deep specialisation. Because the recruitment is for a health-sector organisation, questions often lean on national health programmes, medical institutions, Indian polity, science and recent appointments, alongside standard static GK (history, geography, economy, sports, awards).
What to prioritise
- Health schemes: Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY gives ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation; Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) builds digital health IDs; National Health Mission covers rural and urban primary care; Mission Indradhanush targets full immunisation; Jan Aushadhi stores sell generic medicines.
- Institutions: AIIMS New Delhi was set up under the AIIMS Act, 1956; ICMR is India’s apex medical research body; WHO headquarters is in Geneva.
- Polity: Constitution, fundamental rights, President, Parliament, amendments, constitutional bodies.
- Current affairs: last 12 months of national schemes, summits, space missions, Nobel and national awards, sports championships.
Worked example
“Which scheme provides ₹5 lakh annual health cover per family for secondary and tertiary care?” The answer is PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana). Rule out PMSBY, which is accidental-death/disability insurance, and RSBY, the earlier scheme PM-JAY replaced. The ₹5 lakh and hospitalisation wording are the distinguishing clues.
Traps that cost marks
Mixing up similarly named schemes; relying on stale current affairs; confusing WHO with UNICEF or ICMR; and guessing on dates or founding years when elimination is safer under negative marking.