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Current Affairs — How to Prepare

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high importance~7 Q in Tier 1⚡ 12 shortcuts6 subtopics

The static layer of current affairs: how CA questions are framed, the award, sports, summit, day and index categories to track every month, and the pairing-based method to revise them — structure that never expires, whatever the news cycle.

Track record in the exam

avg 5.0 Q / shift2024: 4–6 Q2025: 4–6 Q

Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.

Test difficulty mix (88 questions)

29 easy46 medium13 hard

Question patterns exams keep repeating

Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.

Award and who it is for

very common

"X award is given for..." or "the highest civilian award".

Order of civilian awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri.

Sports: Arjuna Award = players, Dronacharya Award = coaches.

Example

The Dronacharya Award is given to whom?

The Arjuna Award is for players

The Dronacharya Award is for the people who train them

Those people are coaches

Coaches

Learn this in “Award categories to track — structure, not winners” →

Sports event facts

very common

"The X tournament is related to which sport?" or "how often is it held?"

Learn the sport for each cup: Thomas and Uber = badminton, Davis = tennis, Ranji = cricket.

Olympics, Asian Games and the FIFA World Cup come every four years.

Example

The Thomas Cup is related to which sport?

Thomas Cup is for men's teams

The women's version is the Uber Cup

The sport is badminton

Badminton

Learn this in “Sports events and how tournament news is asked” →

Groupings: headquarters and members

very common

"The headquarters of X is at..." or "India is not a member of..."

SAARC = Kathmandu, ASEAN = Jakarta, UN = New York, Commonwealth = London.

India is in G20, BRICS, SCO and QUAD. India is not in G7 or NATO.

Example

Where is the SAARC headquarters?

SAARC is a group of South Asian countries

Its secretariat is in a Himalayan capital

That capital is Kathmandu in Nepal

Kathmandu

Learn this in “Summits, groupings and organisations to track” →

Important days and what they mark

very common

"X day is observed to remember..." or "birth anniversary of..."

Person days: 12 Jan = Vivekananda, 5 Sep = Radhakrishnan, 14 Nov = Nehru, 22 Dec = Ramanujan.

Other days: 28 Feb = Science Day, 21 Jun = Yoga Day, 5 Jun = Environment Day.

Example

National Science Day (28 February) marks which discovery?

28 February is National Science Day

It marks a discovery by C.V. Raman in 1928

That discovery is called the Raman effect

Raman effect

Learn this in “Important days — national and UN framework” →

Index and the body that publishes it

very common

"Which organisation releases the X index?" or "which pair is wrongly matched".

Match each index to its publisher.

HDI = UNDP, Global Hunger Index = Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, Gender Gap = WEF, Corruption Index = Transparency International.

Example

Who publishes the Global Hunger Index?

The Hunger Index is not a UN report

It is made by two NGOs

They are Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe

Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe

Learn this in “Indexes and reports — index ↔ publisher” →

Who appoints whom

very common

"Who has been appointed as...?" or "who appoints the Governor / CJI / CEC?"

Note each new person with their post in one line.

The President appoints Governors, the CJI, the CEC and the CAG.

Example

Who appoints the Governor of a state?

Article 155 covers this

The Governor is named by the head of the Union

That head is the President of India

The President

Learn this in “How current-affairs questions are framed” →

Statement questions: pick the correct ones

very common

Two or three numbered statements are given, with one wrong detail mixed in.

Check the easiest statement first (a year, a publisher, a headquarters).

One clearly wrong statement removes every option that contains it.

Example
  1. NITI Aayog releases the SDG India Index. 2. The Global Hunger Index is a UNDP product. Which are correct?

Statement 1: the SDG India Index is by NITI Aayog, so it is true

Statement 2: the Hunger Index is by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, so it is false

Only statement 1 is true, so Statement 1 only

Learn this in “How current-affairs questions are framed” →

News item linked to a lasting fact

common

A news item is given, and the question asks the fixed fact behind it (publisher, year, ministry).

Link each news item to its lasting fact.

Award = year started, summit = headquarters, index = publisher, day = person or event.

Example

A news item reports the latest Human Development Report. Which body publishes the HDI?

The news item is one edition of a yearly report

The lasting fact is who publishes it

The HDI is published by the UNDP

UNDP

Learn this in “How current-affairs questions are framed” →

Your next step

New here? Start with subtopic 1 in Learn. Revision mode? Jump straight to the test and let it tell you what to fix.