General Knowledge and Current Affairs
This section mixes static knowledge (Indian polity, geography, history, science, economy) with current affairs of roughly the preceding year, and it usually carries a distinct Andhra Pradesh and High Court orientation. Marks come from appointments, awards, sports, defence exercises, government schemes, summits, indices, books, important days and their themes, and State-specific developments.
How to organise preparation
- Static anchors: constitutional articles and bodies, capitals and seats of High Courts, national parks, classical dances, currency and central banks, and scientific units.
- State file: Andhra Pradesh has had 26 districts since the 2022 reorganisation; the capital is Amaravati; the State was reconstituted by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
- Institutional dates: after the 2014 bifurcation the two States shared the High Court at Hyderabad for a transitional period, and a separate High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established at Amaravati with effect from 1 January 2019.
Worked example
Question: Where is the principal seat of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and when did that High Court come into being? Reasoning: recall the sequence of events rather than a single fact. The Reorganisation Act, 2014 created two successor States but provided a common High Court for a transitional period. The separate High Court was then notified and began functioning on 1 January 2019 at Amaravati. Answer: Amaravati, 1 January 2019.
Traps that cost marks
Using outdated sources that still describe Hyderabad as the seat of the Andhra Pradesh High Court; confusing similarly named schemes and their ministries; mixing up the year of an award with the year of the award ceremony; guessing on "first in India" claims; and not reading whether the question asks for the first, the largest or the most recent.