Current Events of National and International Importance

What the official syllabus says

HCS Preliminary Examination, Paper I: General Studies:

Current events of national and international importance.

In current events, knowledge of significant national and international events will be tested.

Topics in detail

The official line names no list, so this page sorts the field into the areas that make up "significant" events. Read a newspaper daily and keep notes by area. Haryana's own events are listed last, as the paper also has a line on Haryana.

National: polity and governance

• Constitutional amendments, important new Acts and Bills passed by Parliament
• Important judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and the constitutional points they settle
• Elections, appointments to constitutional and statutory offices, and changes in institutions
• New government schemes, missions and programmes: their aim, ministry and target group
• Centre-state relations, finance commission awards and GST Council decisions

National: economy

• Union Budget and Economic Survey: main announcements and figures
• Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decisions and changes in banking regulation
• Reports and indices published by national bodies (growth, inflation, employment, poverty)
• Agriculture, industry, infrastructure and trade policy changes

National: science, environment and society

• Space missions, defence technology and indigenous development
• Health: disease outbreaks, vaccination drives, new health programmes
• Environment: protected areas, new Ramsar sites, climate commitments, wildlife conservation
• Social sector: education, women and child development, social justice measures

International

• India's relations with neighbours and major powers; important visits, agreements and summits
• International organisations and groupings: United Nations and its agencies, WTO, IMF, World Bank, G20, BRICS, SCO, SAARC, BIMSTEC, ASEAN, the Quad
• Global conflicts and crises and their effect on India
• International reports and indices and India's position in them
• Climate negotiations (UNFCCC Conference of Parties) and other global agreements

Defence, security and reports

• Military exercises with other countries, new defence platforms and missiles
• Internal security developments: border management, cyber security, disaster response
• Data releases: Census and survey reports, national accounts, health and education surveys

Persons, places, awards and sports

• National and international awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma awards, Nobel Prizes, Gallantry awards, National Sports Awards, literary awards (Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi, Booker)
• Persons in the news and new appointments
• Places in the news: located on a map and linked to the event
• Sports: major tournaments (Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, cricket and hockey events) and India's medal winners, including Haryana's sportspersons
• Books and authors, important days and their themes

Haryana in the news

• State budget and the Economic Survey of Haryana
• New state schemes, policies and institutions
• Haryana's achievements in sports, agriculture and industry
• Infrastructure projects in the state: expressways, metro and rail links, industrial townships

Overlaps

• Recent developments also serve Mains General Studies II and Mains General Studies III, and the Personality Test, where candidates are asked questions on matters of general interest.
• State events link with Haryana: Economy and Haryana: Polity and Administration.