General Knowledge and Current Affairs
General Knowledge and Current Affairs rewards organised recall rather than scattered reading: Indian polity, geography, awards, sports and books on the static side, and events of roughly the twelve months before the exam on the dynamic side, with a distinct Bihar tilt.
What is actually asked
- Polity: constitutional bodies (UPSC, Election Commission, CAG, Finance Commission), landmark Articles (14, 19, 21, 32, 44, 356) and amendments.
- Geography: national parks, river systems, state boundaries, mineral belts.
- Science and technology in the news: ISRO missions, health programmes, digital public infrastructure.
- Awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma Shri, Nobel prizes, Jnanpith, Khel Ratna, Oscar and Booker winners.
- Sports: Olympic and Asian Games results, cricket and hockey records.
- Reports and indices: Human Development Index, Global Hunger Index, NITI Aayog SDG India Index.
Method that scores
Anchor every fact to a number or a date - an event with its year is far harder to forget than a bare name. For appointments, remember the office as well as the person, because the incumbent may change before your paper. Keep one page of Bihar-only current affairs: state welfare schemes, Bihar Diwas (22 March) awards and state sports achievements.
Worked example
Chandrayaan-3 touched down on which date and at which site? The lander Vikram landed on 23 August 2023 near the lunar south pole, and the site was named Shiv Shakti Point. The reasoning is recall built on three scaffolds - mission number, date and the naming of the landing point - so a question on any one of them is answerable.
Traps
Mixing the founding years of organisations; treating a former office-holder as current; confusing the Nobel Peace Prize with Literature; and revising only outdated current affairs. The Ease of Doing Business index was discontinued in 2021, so questions built on it are stale.