Current Affairs Practice
Railway exams (NTPC, Group-D, JE, ALP, Technician, RPF-SI & Constable) dedicate 10-15 % of the General Awareness section to Current Affairs. Questions are factual, memory-based and usually drawn from events of the last 6-8 months before the exam date. Focus areas are: (1) National—new government schemes, Cabinet approvals, MoUs, Indian Railways news; (2) International—summits hosted/attended by India, major bilateral agreements, global rankings; (3) Appointments—new CMs, Governors, CEOs of PSUs, Brand Ambassadors; (4) Awards & Honours—especially Bharat Ratna, Padma, Nobel, Booker, Olympic/Asian medals; (5) Days & Themes—UN observances with exact theme wordings; (6) Defence & Space—new missiles, DRDO tests, ISRO missions; (7) Banking & Economy—RBI Governors, repo-rate changes, GDP projections by IMF/World Bank; (8) Sports—host cities, winners, records broken; (9) Books & Authors—autobiographies of sportspersons/politicians; (10) Index & Reports—India’s rank in Global Competitiveness, Ease of Doing Business, etc.
While preparing, maintain a month-wise micro-note (one A-4 side per month) with “ONE-LINE FACTS” in the format: WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE. Revise this note every Sunday. Attempt daily 10-question quizzes and keep an error-log—a tiny notebook where you rewrite the facts you missed. In the exam hall, eliminate the two most improbable options first—railway current-affairs questions rarely have close-sounding options; usually two choices are outright wrong. If unsure, go with the option that contains the exact date/number you remember from your notes—railway answer keys reward precision.
Practice MCQs
-
Who became the 46th Chief Justice of India in November 2022?
- A) U. U. Lalit
- B) D. Y. Chandrachud
- C) Sanjay Kishan Kaul
- D) S. A. Bobde
Answer
Correct: Option B. Justice D. Y. Chandrachud took oath on 9 Nov 2022. -
The G-20 Summit 2023 was held under India’s Presidency in which city?
- A) Mumbai
- B) Kolkata
- C) New Delhi
- D) Bengaluru
Answer
Correct: Option C. New Delhi hosted the Leaders’ Summit on 9-10 Sep 2023. -
India’s first semi-high-speed freight train “Gati Shakti” was flagged off between which stations?
- A) Delhi & Mumbai
- B) Delhi & Howrah
- C) Mumbai & Ahmedabad
- D) Chennai & Bengaluru
Answer
Correct: Option B. 9 Dec 2022; 1,500 km in less than 24 h. -
Which country won the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023?
- A) USA
- B) England
- C) Spain
- D) Germany
Answer
Correct: Option C. Spain defeated England 1-0 in Sydney on 20 Aug 2023. -
The book “Watchman” is the autobiography of which Indian cricketer released in 2023?
- A) M. S. Dhoni
- B) Virat Kohli
- C) R. Ashwin
- D) KL Rahul
Answer
Correct: Option C. Ravichandran Ashwin’s “Watchman” launched in Feb 2023. -
Who was appointed the new Chairman of Railway Board in April 2023?
- A) Vinay Kumar Tripathi
- B) Anil Kumar Lahoti
- C) Suneet Sharma
- D) Arun Kumar
Answer
Correct: Option B. Anil Kumar Lahoti, ex-WR GM, took charge on 1 Apr 2023. -
The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to:
- A) Narges Mohammadi
- B) Maria Ressa
- C) Dmitry Muratov
- D) Olga Tokarczuk
Answer
Correct: Option A. Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi. -
India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index 2023 released by WIPO was:
- A) 46
- B) 40
- C) 81
- D) 32
Answer
Correct: Option B. India climbed to 40th (out of 132) – best among lower-middle-income economies. -
National Energy Conservation Day is observed every year on:
- A) 14 November
- B) 14 December
- C) 25 January
- D) 2 October
Answer
Correct: Option B. 14 Dec – since 1991. -
The 2023 Asia Cup (50-over) was co-hosted by:
- A) India & UAE
- B) Pakistan & Sri Lanka
- C) Bangladesh & India
- D) Nepal & UAE
Answer
Correct: Option B. Hybrid model—4 matches in Pakistan, rest in Sri Lanka; India won the final in Colombo. -
Which Indian airport was ranked #1 in the world for customer service in ACI’s 2023 ASQ awards?
- A) Delhi IGI
- B) Mumbai CSI
- C) Hyderabad RGIA
- D) Bengaluru KIA
Answer
Correct: Option C. RGIA Hyderabad bagged 5–15 mn pax category. -
The “Bharat Ratna” for 2023 was posthumously conferred upon:
- A) Pranab Mukherjee
- B) Karpoori Thakur
- C) L. K. Advani
- D) Mulayam Singh Yadav
Answer
Correct: Option B. Socialist leader & former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur (announced 26 Jan 2024). -
India’s first water metro was inaugurated in January 2023 in:
- A) Mumbai
- B) Kochi
- C) Kolkata
- D) Chennai
Answer
Correct: Option B. Kochi Water Metro—electric boats connecting 10 islands. -
The theme for World Environment Day 2023 (hosted by Côte d’Ivoire) was:
- A) Ecosystem Restoration
- B) Beat Plastic Pollution
- C) Solutions to Plastic Pollution
- D) Only One Earth
Answer
Correct: Option C. #BeatPlasticPollution – focus on solutions. -
Which nation became the 31st member of NATO on 4 April 2023?
- A) Sweden
- B) Finland
- C) Ukraine
- D) Georgia
Answer
Correct: Option B. Finland formally joined; Sweden still in process. -
India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier commissioned in Sep 2022 is:
- A) INS Vikrant
- B) INS Vishal
- C) INS Viraat
- D) INS Vikramaditya
Answer
Correct: Option A. INS Vikrant (IAC-1) at Cochin Shipyard. -
Who won the Australian Open 2023 Men’s Singles title?
- A) Rafael Nadal
- B) Novak Djokovic
- C) Carlos Alcaraz
- D) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Answer
Correct: Option B. Djokovic defeated Tsitsipas; 22nd Grand-Slam. -
The “PM Vishwakarma Yojana” announced in Budget 2023-24 aims to benefit:
- A) MSME exporters
- B) Traditional artisans & craftspeople
- C) Start-ups in AI
- D) Women SHGs
Answer
Correct: Option B. ₹13,000 cr for 5 years for carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. -
India’s first hydrogen-powered train trial started in February 2023 on which section?
- A) Sonipat-Jind
- B) Jind-Sonipat
- C) Haryana Circle
- D) Rewari-Rohtak
Answer
Correct: Option A. 89 km DEMU on 18 Feb 2023. -
The 2023 Union Budget lowered the highest surcharge under the new tax regime to:
- A) 25 %
- B) 37 %
- C) 15 %
- D) 10 %
Answer
Correct: Option A. Reduced from 37 % to 25 %; effective peak rate 39 %→ 30 %. -
“Operation Dost” refers to India’s humanitarian assistance to which earthquake-hit country?
- A) Turkey
- B) Syria
- C) Nepal
- D) Afghanistan
Answer
Correct: Option A & B both accepted by UPSC; Railway keys prefer **Turkey** as landing base—Answer marked A. -
The 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was hosted by:
- A) Australia
- B) South Africa
- C) England
- D) New Zealand
Answer
Correct: Option B. South Africa; Australia beat them in final. -
Which state launched India’s first “Right to Walk” law guaranteeing pedestrian footpaths?
- A) Kerala
- B) Tamil Nadu
- C) Maharashtra
- D) Karnataka
Answer
Correct: Option A. Kerala Gazette notification Feb 2023. -
“UPI-PayNow” linkage between India and which country went live on 21 Feb 2023?
- A) Singapore
- B) UAE
- C) Mauritius
- D) Bhutan
Answer
Correct: Option A. Real-time retail remittances using mobile numbers. -
The “International Year of Millets 2023” was proposed by India and adopted by:
- A) WHO
- B) FAO
- C) UN General Assembly
- D) WTO
Answer
Correct: Option C. UNGA resolution March 2021; observed worldwide 2023.
Quick Shortcuts & Tips
- 6-Month Rule: Limit static-current overlap to events not older than 6 months from the date of CBT (not notification).
- Railway- Specific: Every Railway Budget merge (2023-24), new train launch, station redevelopment, ** Kavach / Vande Bharat route**—note them on a pink sticky page; 2-3 questions guaranteed.
- Numerical Trap: When two options differ only by a digit/ year, the exact figure you saw in PIB/Press Note is usually correct—don’t round off in mind.
- Elimination 50-50: In “Appointments” & “Awards” questions, foreign-sounding names (never in Indian news) are decoys—eliminate first.
- One-liner Diary: Finish every night by writing 5 new facts in Q-A format (e.g., Q: CJI Nov 22? A: Chandrachud). Re-write the wrong ones next morning—active recall beats passive reading.
All the best—keep your error-log thinner every week!
BETA
