About National Affairs
National affairs is the largest part of any current affairs paper, and the part that is most predictable in its subjects even though the events change. What is examined is not the news but a small number of continuing themes - schemes, appointments, constitutional bodies, legislation and federal disputes - and each of them can be followed through the year. This page has no practice questions, deliberately. Questions written about the events of one year are wrong within months, and a bank of them would need rebuilding every season. What is taught here is the part that stays useful: what to read, how to keep it, and how it is asked.
What you need to understand
- Government schemes and programmes are asked about more than anything else in this area, and they are asked in a set pattern: what the scheme is for, who it covers, and which ministry runs it.
- Appointments to constitutional posts are asked because the posts themselves are settled. The name changes, the office does not, and the question is usually about the office rather than the person.
- Legislation is worth following through its stages. A bill that has been passed and a bill that has been introduced are different facts, and papers test the difference.
- Reports from the constitutional bodies - the Comptroller and Auditor-General, the Finance Commission, the Law Commission - are a small recurring group with one finding apiece that is worth remembering.
- The census, the national accounts and the periodic labour force surveys are published on a known schedule, so the figures are predictable in form even when the numbers change.
- Federal matters - a dispute between a State and the Union, the terms of a Finance Commission award, or the creation of a new district - recur every year in some form.
- Awards and honours given to individuals are asked in the national paper as often as in the sports one: the Padma awards, the bravery awards and the national film awards are all announced on known dates.
- Read national affairs with a map beside you. Most candidates lose marks on the location of an event rather than on its content.
- Keep the constitutional fact next to the current one. A question about a new commission is easier if you already know which article provides for a commission of that kind.
- Where a scheme has replaced an older one, learn them as a pair. Questions ask what a scheme superseded quite as often as what it does.
- Do not collect every appointment. Collect the constitutional ones and the heads of the regulators, which are the ones that recur.
- Where a figure is quoted, keep the year with it and the basis of the figure - whether it is a projection, an estimate or a final figure - because that is the distinction the best questions turn on.
- The habit that repays most is following three or four continuing stories through the year rather than reading a fresh headline every day.
How to work through these questions
- Read one newspaper a day rather than five on a Sunday. The habit is what works, and the same item seen three times in three sources is remembered without effort.
- Keep a single notebook, physical or digital, divided by the same headings as this section: national, international, economy, science and technology, sports and awards.
- Write four lines per item at most: what happened, who was involved, where, and why it matters. More than that and the notebook becomes unreadable by the third month.
- Revise the notebook monthly rather than reading it daily. The monthly pass is what turns a list of items into a shape.
- For examinations, the previous six months matter more than the last six days. A paper set in June draws on the year to March.
- In an interview, follow one story through rather than listing ten. An interviewer can tell the difference immediately.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Collecting material without ever revising it, so that the folder grows and nothing is retained.
- Reading only the headlines, which gives the subject of an event and not what happened.
- Learning figures without the year they belong to, so that last year's number is quoted for this year.
- Trusting a single source for a disputed fact, particularly on figures and on appointments.
- Spending time on items that no examination asks about, such as individual match results, while missing appointments and policy decisions.
- Revising in the last week only, which works for facts and fails for the connections between them.
- Reading about an event without knowing where it happened, which is the commonest half-knowledge in a viva.
- Treating an announced policy as an event that has taken place, when the announcement and the implementation are usually months apart.
Worked example
How should an item about a new government scheme be recorded in the notebook?
- Write what the scheme is for, in one line, in your own words rather than the ministry's.
- Add who it covers and who runs it, which are the two facts most often asked.
- Note the date of the announcement and, separately, the date it comes into force, since the two are often months apart.
- Add one line on what it replaced or what it is meant to change, which is what makes the item useful in an interview.
Answer: Purpose, coverage, the ministry, the two dates, and what it replaces - four lines in all
Practice questions with answers
A few National Affairs questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
Under which provision is the office of the Chairman of a State Public Service Commission established?
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A
Article 66
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B
the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act
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C
Article 124
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D
Article 316
Answer: Option D — with explanation
the Chairman of a State Public Service Commission is appointed by the Governor, under Article 316.
Learn the offices by who appoints them and under which provision, and the working bodies by what they do. The two lists answer most of what is asked about national affairs, and neither changes when the government does.
Common mistakes
- this provision establishes a different office: Article 66
- this provision establishes a different office: the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act
- this provision establishes a different office: Article 124
Question 2
Under which provision is the office of the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission established?
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A
the National Commission for Women Act
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B
Article 316
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C
Article 338A
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D
the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission is appointed by the President, under Article 316.
Learn the offices by who appoints them and under which provision, and the working bodies by what they do. The two lists answer most of what is asked about national affairs, and neither changes when the government does.
Common mistakes
- this provision establishes a different office: the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act
- this provision establishes a different office: Article 338A
- this provision establishes a different office: the National Commission for Women Act
Question 3
The appointment of the Chairman of the Council of States is made by which of these?
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A
the fellows of the Academy
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B
the Central Government
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C
the office is held by the Vice-President ex officio
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D
the Governor
Answer: Option C — with explanation
the Chairman of the Council of States is appointed by the office is held by the Vice-President ex officio, under Article 89.
Learn the offices by who appoints them and under which provision, and the working bodies by what they do. The two lists answer most of what is asked about national affairs, and neither changes when the government does.
Common mistakes
- this body appoints a different office: the fellows of the Academy
- this body appoints a different office: the Governor
- this body appoints a different office: the Central Government
Question 4
The appointment of the Chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is made by which of these?
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A
an electoral college of elected members of Parliament and the State legislatures
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B
the Central Government
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C
the fellows of the Academy
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D
the members of both Houses of Parliament
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the Chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is appointed by the Central Government, under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act.
Learn the offices by who appoints them and under which provision, and the working bodies by what they do. The two lists answer most of what is asked about national affairs, and neither changes when the government does.
Common mistakes
- this body appoints a different office: the fellows of the Academy
- this body appoints a different office
- this body appoints a different office: the members of both Houses of Parliament
Question 5
Which of these bodies carries out the investigation of offences against the laws of the Union?
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A
the Central Bureau of Investigation
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B
the Financial Intelligence Unit
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C
the University Grants Commission
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D
the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
Answer: Option A — with explanation
the investigation of offences against the laws of the Union is the responsibility of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Learn the offices by who appoints them and under which provision, and the working bodies by what they do. The two lists answer most of what is asked about national affairs, and neither changes when the government does.
Common mistakes
- this body is responsible for a different work: the Financial Intelligence Unit
- this body is responsible for a different work: the University Grants Commission
- this body is responsible for a different work: the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
Frequently asked questions
Why are there no questions on this page?
Because they would date. A question about this year's scheme is wrong next year, and this site would rather teach the part of the subject that lasts than publish a bank that has to be rebuilt every season.
What should I read for national affairs?
One newspaper and one monthly compilation. The newspaper gives the sequence and the compilation gives the revision; two newspapers give the same items twice and cost an hour.
How much of the paper is national affairs?
In most competitive papers it is a third to a half of the current affairs section, and the subjects are predictable even though the events are not.
Are appointments important?
The constitutional ones are, and so are the heads of the regulators and the commissions. Individual departmental appointments are asked rarely and are forgotten quickly.
How far back should my notes go?
Six months is enough for most papers, and a year is enough for the civil service examinations. Anything older belongs in a static topic rather than in current affairs.
