General Knowledge and Current Affairs (including Telangana State Affairs)
What the paper tests
This part mixes Indian static general knowledge - polity, geography, history, science - with a strong Telangana focus: state formation, districts, rivers and irrigation projects, art and festivals, state symbols, and recent appointments and schemes.
Core rules and facts
- Telangana is the 29th State of India, created from Andhra Pradesh under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, with effect from 2 June 2014. Hyderabad is the capital; K. Chandrashekar Rao was the first Chief Minister and E. S. L. Narasimhan the first Governor.
- The State was reorganised from 10 to 21 districts in 2016 and later to 33. If a question fixes a date, answer for that date, not for today.
- The two great rivers are the Godavari (northern Telangana) and the Krishna (southern). Kaleshwaram lift irrigation draws from the Godavari; Nagarjuna Sagar, Srisailam and Jurala are on the Krishna; Sriram Sagar (Pochampadu) is on the Godavari.
- State symbols: animal - spotted deer; bird - Indian roller (palapitta); tree - jammi chettu; flower - tangedu.
- Heritage: the Ramappa (Rudreshwara) temple at Palampet, built under the Kakatiyas, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021; Charminar (1591) belongs to the Qutb Shahi period; Bathukamma and the Sammakka–Saralakka jatara at Medaram are signature Telangana festivals.
- Economy and craft: Singareni Collieries (coal), HITEC City (IT), Pochampally ikat, Nirmal toys and paintings.
Worked example
Question: “Ramappa temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies in which district?” Reasoning: the temple stands at Palampet in the old Warangal district, which was later split; Palampet now falls in Mulugu district. Answer: Mulugu.
Traps
Do not confuse Kaleshwaram (Godavari) with Srisailam (Krishna); do not quote a stale district count; and do not assign Ramappa temple to the Qutb Shahis - it is Kakatiya work.