General Knowledge and Current Affairs (with Madhya Pradesh focus)
What this section tests
The GK paper for MP Patwari blends static Madhya Pradesh geography, polity, culture and schemes with national current affairs of roughly the past year. Typically two or three questions connect a headline to a state fact - a new tiger reserve, a state award, a scheme beneficiary count.
Static core you must own
- Formation: Madhya Pradesh was reorganised on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act; capital Bhopal; 52 districts grouped into 10 divisions.
- State symbols: animal barasingha (swamp deer), bird Indian paradise flycatcher (dudhraj), tree banyan, flower palash.
- Rivers: the Narmada rises at Amarkantak and runs west; the Tapti also drains westward; the Chambal, Betwa, Son and Wainganga belong to other basins.
- Wildlife: Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Satpura, Pench, Panna and Kuno; Dhupgarh in Pachmarhi is the highest point.
- Heritage: Bhimbetka rock shelters and the Sanchi stupa are UNESCO sites; Khajuraho temples were built by the Chandelas; Ujjain holds the Mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga and hosts Simhastha.
- Figures: Tansen, Rani Durgavati of Garha-Mandla, Ahilyabai Holkar of Maheshwar, Chandrashekhar Azad at Orchha.
Handling current affairs
Keep a one-line card per event: state, scheme, amount, purpose. Track MP welfare schemes (Ladli Behna cash transfer, Ladli Laxmi, Sambal), newly carved districts and divisions, the state budget's headline numbers, national awards and sports results.
Worked example
The question asks in which city Simhastha Kumbh is held and on which river it sits. Reasoning: Simhastha is the Ujjain fair, held once in twelve years; Ujjain lies on the Shipra, a tributary of the Chambal - not on the Narmada. Answer: Ujjain, Shipra.
Traps that cost marks
Bhopal is the capital but Indore is the most populous city; Sanchi is Buddhist, Khajuraho is not; 1956, not 1947, is the state's formation year; do not confuse Kuno (cheetahs) with Panna (tigers).