Current Affairs and general knowledge play a very important role in the preparation of competitive exams. We know that subjects like Economics, Polity, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Environmental Science form the main part of the preparation of competitive exams, but the students who prepare current affairs have higher chances of qualifying the exam. All the students who prepare for competitive exams study the subjects specified in the syllabus but only them who know the current affairs well can completely be sure of their preparation. Hence, apart from academic knowledge, the aspirants must also be completely aware of the daily current affairs to qualify the examinations as most of the competitive exams have a major section of the question paper dedicated to current affairs.

What are Current Affairs?

The word current means recent and the word affairs mean events and issues. Current affairs refer to the day to day events and incidents.

They generally contain news, information, awareness and various other things that are happening around the world. Current affairs cover a wide range of topics like national, international, sports, business, education, appointments, obituary, science and technology, defence, politics etc. It also ranges from a small business deal to an international terrorist attack and deals with all topics concerning business deals, victories, failures, tragic incidents, corruption, political agreements etc.

Why are Current Affairs important?

The significance of current affairs is undoubtedly different for different people who fall in different age brackets, pursue different career options and have different interests.

In the case of competitive examinations, the importance of Current affairs and general knowledge can be seen even after an aspirant qualifies the written examination. There are several questions asked about the recent happenings in and outside the country which can only be answered if the candidate is thorough with the current affairs and general knowledge. In the case of interviews as well the aspirants are asked questions on general knowledge and current affairs as it is expected from a candidate that he will know the details about his surroundings. If we take the example of the IAS examinations, which is still considered the toughest examination in India, has more than fifty per cent of questions asked from current affairs in the preliminary, as well as mains examinations. Also in competitive examinations conducted by banks, railways, PSUs, SSCs current affairs play an important role. Also, it is considered that a government employee whose motto is to serve the nation should know about the recent happenings nationally and internationally.

How to keep in touch with daily current affairs?

  • Previously newspapers were the only medium using which people kept themselves updated and came to know about the surrounding events. Newspaper reading has always been considered an important habit to make students socially aware of their surroundings.
  • Nowadays there are dedicated websites that cater to the needs of a student preparing for a competitive examination. There are some important websites which give current updates on a daily basis with useful points important for examinations.
  • There are also various groups on social media sites that serve this purpose.

Why is it important to keep up with current affairs?

Keeping up with current affairs is actually very important for many reasons.

  • Apart from preparing for competitive exams, knowing current affairs helps us stay informed and keep up with what’s going on in the world. If we keep up with what’s going on in the world we will be able to define our own views and express them. We will be more confident while making decisions as well.
  • Knowing current affairs will also help us be more articulate when we are speaking to others at work, school or other social events.
  • Staying informed about current affairs will also help us feel more empowered throughout our day to day life.
  • Knowing current affairs also help us take important decisions when it comes to exercise our constitutional right, to vote.
  • To start engaging conversations, healthy debates or conversations to make people aware of issues such as hunger, poverty, war and conflict, foreign policy and the world economy.
  • And lastly, it increases our chances of public employment. Displaying a broad understanding of international affairs and current events will help us set ourselves apart from our fellow colleagues.

Though we come to know a lot about academics from the subjects we study in school and college, it is also important to come to terms with the fact that without being updated with the current affairs there is not much we can do in the domain of competitive exams. It is also necessary that we know not only about the happenings in the superpowers of the world but also about the schemes and plans that the government is launching for public welfare. Without being properly updated with these facts we can neither use them for our help nor can we inform people who need those. Only by keeping ourselves updated can we bring awareness in ourselves and to our future generations. Therefore, it’s the time we understand the importance of general knowledge and current affairs in all the educational and social spheres and make reading current affairs an everyday ritual.