General Knowledge and Current Affairs
What this domain tests
General Knowledge and Current Affairs in the Odisha Police SI paper leans heavily on Odisha - its schemes, institutions and public figures - and adds a layer of national and international events from roughly the past twelve months. Expect a few questions on State welfare schemes, two or three on appointments, awards and sports, and a couple on static State facts.
Core facts to lock in
- Odisha institutions: 147 Assembly seats, 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha seats, 30 districts, Orissa High Court at Cuttack (established 1948), Utkal Divas on 1 April.
- State schemes: KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) for small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural households; Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana for cashless hospital treatment; Mission Shakti for women's self-help groups; Jaga Mission for slum land rights; Odisha Millet Mission; the 5T governance charter.
- National: Union Budget headline allocations, RBI policy rate, ISRO missions, Olympic and Asian Games medallists, Jnanpith and Khel Ratna awardees.
Worked example
Question: "Chilika, the largest brackish-water lagoon on India's east coast, lies in which State?" Reasoning: Pulicat straddles Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Vembanad is in Kerala; Chilika, connected to the Bay of Bengal, is in Odisha and was declared a Ramsar site in 1981. Answer: Odisha.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing State and Central schemes - KALIA is Odisha's, PM-KISAN is Central.
- Quoting an outdated launch year; KALIA dates from 2018-19.
- Mugging office-holders without checking the latest list - Governors, Chief Justices and DGPs change.
- Two options with near-identical names (several Odisha schemes carry "Biju" or "Mission") - read the full expansion before ticking.