General Knowledge and Current Affairs: Anchored Facts
What the section tests
General Knowledge and Current Affairs covers Indian polity, geography, history, economy and the last six to twelve months of national and Bihar-focused events. For a Bihar cooperative bank clerk, state-specific facts sit alongside national ones.
Core rules
- Polity: the Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and enforced on 26 January 1950; Fundamental Rights are in Articles 12–35; Fundamental Duties in Article 51A (added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976); Directive Principles in Articles 36–51.
- Geography: Bihar is landlocked, bordered by Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal; the Ganga runs west to east; the capital is Patna.
- Economy: GDP, CPI versus WPI, the Union Budget, and the GST Council.
- Dates to anchor: RBI 1935, bank nationalisation 1969, GST 1 July 2017, UPI 2016.
- Bihar timeline: Bihar and Orissa province 1912, Orissa separated 1936, Jharkhand carved out 2000.
Worked example
Which Article makes it a duty of every citizen to protect the natural environment? Reason it out: Part IVA (Articles 51A–51J) lists eleven Fundamental Duties, and the environment duty is Article 51A(g) - to protect and improve the natural environment, forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife. If the question asked instead for a right, the answer would be Article 21, whose right to life has been read to include a clean environment. Direction matters: duties versus rights.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing Fundamental Rights with Directive Principles (rights are enforceable in court, DPSPs are not); mixing the 42nd and 44th Amendments; and guessing current-affairs options instead of eliminating. Keep a short Bihar list: Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Valmiki Tiger Reserve and the state's cooperative structure.