General Knowledge and Current Affairs
What this section tests
Twenty-five questions span Indian polity, history, geography, economy, general science and the current affairs of roughly the preceding year, with a deliberate Telangana emphasis. The state-specific block is where well-prepared candidates separate themselves, because it is finite and learnable.
Static core you must own
- Polity: the Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950. Know Articles 14 (equality), 19 (freedoms), 21 (life and personal liberty), 21A (right to education, inserted by the 86th Amendment, 2002), 32 (writs) and 51A (fundamental duties). Landmark amendments: 42nd (mini-Constitution), 73rd and 74th (panchayats and urban local bodies), 101st (GST).
- Telangana statehood: formed on 2 June 2014 as the 29th state under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, with Hyderabad as joint capital for ten years. The movement's milestones include the 1969 agitation and the 2001 formation of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
- Telangana geography and culture: the Godavari and Krishna are the major rivers, the Musi flows through Hyderabad, and the Kaleshwaram project lifts Godavari water. State symbols include the palapitta (Indian roller) as state bird, jammi chettu as state tree and tangidi puvvu as state flower. Bathukamma is the floral festival of Bhadrapada; the Sammakka–Saralamma Jatara at Medaram is held every two years.
- Science and economy: SI units, vitamins and deficiency diseases, RBI functions, sectors of the economy, key central and state schemes.
Worked example
"Which Article lets a citizen move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights?" Answer: Article 32. Reasoning: it sits in Part III, so the right to move the Court is itself a Fundamental Right - Ambedkar called it the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution. Article 226 gives High Courts similar power, but that power is wider and is not a Fundamental Right, which is exactly why it appears as a distractor.
Traps that cost marks
- Superlatives ('first', 'largest', 'oldest') that changed recently.
- Mixing national schemes with Telangana state schemes.
- Using stale current affairs from an older cycle.
Key points
- Article 32 is itself a Fundamental Right; Article 226 is not.
- Telangana: 29th state, 2 June 2014, AP Reorganisation Act 2014.
- Learn Telangana symbols, rivers, projects and festivals as a fixed list.
- Track only current affairs within the notified window.
- Separate 'first in India' from 'first in Telangana'.