General Studies: Polity, History, Geography, Economy, Science, Current Affairs
General Studies is broad but shallow. Precision on dates, articles and definitions scores; vague narrative does not. Expect polity questions to dominate, with history and geography close behind, and current affairs tied to national schemes and appointments.
Polity
- Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946; the Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and enforced on 26 January 1950.
- Part III Fundamental Rights; Part IV Directive Principles (not justiciable); Part IVA Fundamental Duties.
- 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) gave Panchayati Raj constitutional status.
History, geography, economy, science
- 1885 Indian National Congress; 1905 partition of Bengal; 1919 Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh; 1930 Dandi March; 1942 Quit India.
- Monsoon mechanism, soil types, latitude and longitude basics.
- RBI functions, GST (2017), CPI versus WPI, types of inflation.
- SI units, Newton's laws, human body systems and common deficiency diseases.
Worked example
Fundamental Duties were added by which amendment? The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, inserted Part IVA with ten duties. An eleventh duty, for parents and guardians to provide education to children aged 6-14, came with the 86th Amendment, 2002, which also inserted Article 21A making elementary education a Fundamental Right. Reasoning: two amendments are involved, and the question tests whether you can separate them.
Traps that cost marks
- Crediting the 44th Amendment with Fundamental Duties; it instead removed the right to property from Part III and made it a legal right under Article 300A.
- Describing Directive Principles as enforceable in court.
- Attributing Article 21A to the 42nd Amendment.
- Confusing the roles of the two Houses in a Money Bill; the Lok Sabha prevails and the Rajya Sabha has 14 days.
- Quoting a superseded current-affairs fact without checking the year.