Current Affairs and Aptitude (AP focus)
Current affairs in this paper cluster around food regulation in the news, national health and nutrition programmes and Andhra Pradesh developments; the aptitude half tests arithmetic and data interpretation at a working level.
Current affairs to track
- FSSAI orders and amendments: labelling and display, front-of-pack issues, licence fee changes, action against non-permitted colours and misleading claims.
- Schemes: Eat Right India, FoSTaC training, Food Safety on Wheels, PM POSHAN, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat.
- Dates: World Food Safety Day, 7 June; National Nutrition Week, 1–7 September; World Food Day, 16 October.
- Andhra Pradesh: State Food Safety Index ranking, district and administrative decisions, food parks and aqua clusters.
Aptitude - recurring types
- Ratio, average, percentage change, time and work, and data interpretation from a table of production or sales.
- Alligation for mixing problems, which reappears in blending and standardisation questions.
Worked example
Rice at ₹42/kg is blended with rice at ₹54/kg to sell at ₹48/kg. By alligation the ratio is (54 − 48) : (48 − 42) = 6 : 6 = 1 : 1. Check: 1 kg of each costs ₹96 for 2 kg, i.e. ₹48/kg. Always test the blend price against the cheaper and dearer prices - an answer outside that range is impossible.
Traps
- Percentage points versus percentage increase.
- Reading "per serve" values when the question asks per 100 g (1 ppm = 1 mg/kg; 1 g/100 g = 10 g/kg).
- Using stale scheme names - PM POSHAN replaced the Mid-Day Meal scheme.
- Rounding early in a chain of calculations.