General Studies: Indian History, Polity, Geography, Economy, Science and Current Affairs
General Studies is the backbone of the BPSC screening paper. History, polity, geography, economy, science and current affairs together supply the largest block of the 150 objective questions, and Bihar-specific items are threaded through every one of them. The level is NCERT-based rather than specialist, so breadth of recall beats depth of argument.
History
Build a spine of dates and firsts: Harappan sites, Mauryan administration (Arthashastra, Megasthenes), Gupta-era science and literature, the five Delhi Sultanate dynasties, Todar Mal's zabti revenue, 1857, the Congress founded in 1885, and Gandhi's movements from Champaran (1917) to Quit India (1942).
Polity
The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and commenced on 26 January 1950. Learn sources: Fundamental Rights and judicial review from the USA, parliamentary government from Britain, Directive Principles from Ireland, emergency provisions from the Weimar Constitution, federation with a strong centre from Canada. Article 368 governs amendment.
Geography, economy and current affairs
Use an atlas while revising climate, soils, rivers and crops. In economy, be clear on GDP, inflation, deficits, and the replacement of the Planning Commission by NITI Aayog in 2015. Revise current affairs month by month, filtering Bihar items first because they recur.
Worked example
The Directive Principles of State Policy were borrowed from which country? Ireland. Reasoning: the Irish Constitution of 1937 contained such principles, and the framers adopted the idea from there, so it is not the USA (Fundamental Rights) or Britain (parliamentary system).
Traps that cost marks
Adoption date confused with commencement date; Constitution sources mixed up; static facts answered from memory of a headline rather than the actual text; and negative marking punished on wild guesses.