General Awareness and General Knowledge: Static Plus Current
What this section tests
General Awareness and General Knowledge covers Indian polity and the Constitution, history, geography, economy, general science, defence and security organisations, awards, sports, books and health schemes. For a paramedical recruitment paper, expect a few questions linking GK to health: national health programmes, institutions such as AIIMS or ICMR, and the ministry that runs them.
Core rules and high-yield areas
- Polity: Part III holds Fundamental Rights (Articles 12–35); Article 21 is the right to life and personal liberty; Article 32 gives the Supreme Court writ jurisdiction, Article 226 the High Courts.
- Defence: the BSF was raised in 1965 and functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, not the Ministry of Defence - a frequent trap.
- Health: Ayushman Bharat has two arms, PM-JAY hospitalisation cover and Health and Wellness Centres; the National Health Mission has rural and urban components.
- Science: vaccines are preventive, while antibiotics act only on bacterial infections, not viral fevers.
Worked example
Question: which Article did Dr Ambedkar call the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution? Reasoning: the phrase refers to the right to constitutional remedies, which is Article 32. Article 19 (freedoms) and Article 21 (life and liberty) matter greatly but were not described that way. Answer: Article 32.
Traps that cost marks
- Swapping Article 32 with 226, or Fundamental Rights with Directive Principles.
- Confusing the founding years and headquarters of the central armed police forces.
- Relying on stale current-affairs lists when a scheme has been renamed or merged.
- Overlooking 'which of the following is NOT' phrasing, and picking the true statement instead of the false one.