Current Affairs, General Knowledge and Defence Awareness
This section rewards a cadet who reads a newspaper and understands how defence is organised. The stable facts are examined every year; the fast-changing items must be updated from the news.
Defence organisation, stable facts
- The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Raksha Mantri, with the Chief of Defence Staff as the senior-most uniformed adviser, and the three service chiefs - Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, Chief of the Air Staff.
- Paramilitary forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs: BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles; the Indian Coast Guard is under the Ministry of Defence.
- DRDO is the defence research agency; HAL, BEL, BDL and the defence shipyards are defence public sector undertakings. ISRO is a civilian space agency, not a defence body.
- Gallantry awards: Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra (wartime); Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra (peacetime, awarded for gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy).
NCC events to know
Republic Day Camp and the Prime Minister's Rally in January, the annual training camp of about ten days, Thal/Vayu/Nau Sainik Camps, and the Independence Day and Republic Day contingents.
Worked example
A question asks which award a soldier receives for conspicuous bravery while facing the enemy. Reasoning: the highest wartime award is the Param Vir Chakra; the Maha Vir Chakra is the second and the Vir Chakra the third. The Ashoka Chakra family is for gallantry away from the battlefield, so it is excluded. Answer: Param Vir Chakra, with Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra as the lower wartime grades.
Traps
Putting the Ashoka Chakra in the wartime series; saying the Coast Guard is under MHA; listing ISRO as a defence PSU; relying on memorised "current" facts that have since changed.