General Knowledge and Current Affairs
What this domain tests
This section checks a candidate's grip on the static facts of India and Telangana plus the events of roughly the twelve months before the exam. DEECET-level questions stay at the level of a well-read high-school student: exact names, dates, titles and places rather than deep analysis.
Telangana facts that recur
- Statehood: formed on 2 June 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, becoming the 29th state. First Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao; first Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan.
- State symbols: animal spotted deer (jinka), bird Indian roller (pala pitta), tree jammi (Prosopis cineraria), flower tangidi puvvu (Cassia auriculata).
- Geography: the Godavari and the Krishna are the major rivers; Hyderabad is the joint capital.
Polity anchors
- The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950; the Drafting Committee was chaired by B. R. Ambedkar; the Preamble describes India as a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.
Worked example
Question: On which date did Telangana come into existence as a state? Reasoning: the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 carved Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh and fixed 2 June 2014 as the appointed day. Answer: 2 June 2014. It must not be confused with 17 September 1948, Telangana Liberation Day, when Hyderabad State was merged with the Indian Union.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing 2 June 2014 (state formation) with 17 September 1948 (liberation) and 1 November 1956 (Andhra Pradesh formed).
- Quoting the older count of "28 states".
- Confusing the state bird (pala pitta) with the national bird (peacock).
- Current-affairs items older than the announced window.