Current Affairs and International Relations

Military exercises and defence awards

Military exercises are structured training activities in which two or more armed forces practise joint operations, communication and tactics. They are classified by the number of participants. A bilateral exercise is held between two countries, a multilateral exercise involves several countries, and a national exercise is held within one country, often among its own services or with coast guard and civil agencies. The main purpose of most exercises is interoperability, which means the ability of different forces to work together smoothly, and the sharing of tactical experience.

• Bilateral air exercise — an air-force training event between two countries. A bilateral air exercise between the Indian Air Force and the French Air Force is an example of this type.
• Named bilateral army exercises — India holds separately named army exercises with different partners. Garuda Shakti is held with Indonesia, Nomadic Elephant with Mongolia, Mitra Shakti with Sri Lanka and Dharma Guardian with Japan. Each name belongs to one partner, so the pairing must be memorised with the name. Desert Cyclone is a joint army exercise with the United Arab Emirates, and it focuses on counter-terrorism and desert operations. DUSTLIK is a joint army exercise with the Uzbekistan Army.
• Multinational naval deployment — the Indian Navy also trains with the European Union Naval Force. The first such exercise was held in the Gulf of Aden, a route with heavy shipping where anti-piracy patrols are conducted.
• Exercises not involving India — Keen Sword is a biennial exercise between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the United States Forces Japan, so it is a Japan–US exercise and not an Indian one.
• National exercises — Sea Vigil is a national exercise that tests India's preparedness for maritime security and coastal defence, and it does not include foreign navies. Exercise Kavach is a joint exercise involving the armed forces together with the Indian Coast Guard, so a statement that lists only one service is incomplete.
• Legion of Merit — a decoration of the United States armed forces conferred by the President of the United States for exceptionally meritorious service. It is also given to certain foreign leaders, and it is not the highest civilian award of the USA, which is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• Gallantry awards of India — the first three gallantry awards of independent India, namely the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra, were instituted on 26 January 1950. The Ashoka Chakra classes were instituted later, so they were not among the first three.

Sports events 2021

Sports current affairs questions test the name of a tournament, its organising body, the winner, or the sport linked to a person. Learn each event with its organiser, format and host, and keep a record of firsts and records.

• Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy — a domestic Twenty20 tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and contested by state and zonal teams. The winner of the 2020–21 edition was Tamil Nadu.
• Indian Ocean Island Games — a multi-sport event for the island nations of the Indian Ocean. The host is chosen in advance, and when a host withdraws, another island nation can be selected as the replacement.
• First female match official — a milestone in officiating, meaning the first woman to officiate a particular level of match. Claire Polosak became the first female match official to conduct a men's cricket Test match, which is why she was in the news.
• Sport of a personality — Dingko Singh won Asian Games gold in boxing in 1998, so his name is linked to boxing and not to any other sport.
• ICC Hall of Fame — the International Cricket Council honours outstanding players with induction. Special inductions can be made for an occasion, such as the inaugural ICC World Test Championship Final, and Vinoo Mankad was the only Indian cricketer in that special group.
• French Open 2021 — Novak Djokovic won the men's singles title, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, while the defending champion Rafael Nadal had already lost in the semifinals.
• ICC T20 World Cup records — England won the tournament in 2010 and 2022, while the West Indies won it in 2012 and 2016, so England is not the only country with two titles. Virat Kohli was named Player of the Tournament in 2014 and 2022, and he is the only player to receive that award twice.

World political developments 2020–21

Questions on world politics ask you to identify which country a leader governs, which emergency was declared, or which person heads an international organisation. Link each leader to the country and the period in which he or she held office.

• Re-election of a head of state — a leader who is elected for a second term in a presidential election. Faustin-Archange Touadera won a second term as President of the Central African Republic in the election held in December 2020.
• State of emergency — a legal declaration that gives the government extraordinary powers during a crisis. Myanmar declared a state of emergency in February 2021 after the military seized power in a coup.
• Heads of UN bodies — UNCTAD is the UN body for trade and development. Rebeca Grynspan, an economist from Costa Rica, became the first woman to head UNCTAD, so her country must be identified with her name.
• Former heads of state — Kenneth Kaunda was the first President of Zambia, serving from independence in 1964 until 1991. He led a country in southern Africa, not any of the other countries listed in such questions.

Sports personalities and events 2022

Sports personalities are tested through the event they won, the team they captained, or the milestone they reached. A career-end milestone, such as the final match of a player, is a common subject.

• Farewell milestones in Test cricket — a player's final Test may end with a notable event, such as a wicket taken on the last delivery. New Zealand's Ross Taylor is the cricketer associated with that particular farewell.
• Grand Slam winners — the French Open is a Grand Slam tennis tournament. Rafael Nadal won the men's singles title in 2022, defeating Casper Ruud of Norway in the final.
• Limited-overs captaincy — a captain may lead a team in One Day and Twenty20 internationals without ever playing Test cricket. Aaron Finch was an opening batter who captained the Australian men's team in limited-overs cricket, and he never played Test cricket.

National commemoration days

National commemoration days are fixed dates on which the government or the nation honours a person, a movement or an event. Learn each day with its date, its origin and the person or event it honours.

• Veer Baal Diwas — observed on 26 December to honour the martyrdom of the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzade Zorawar Singh and Sahibzade Fateh Singh. The Government of India fixed this date for the observance.
• National Youth Day — observed on 12 January, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The day is not observed on 12 March, so a date check is essential when a question tests this fact.
• National Technology Day — observed on 11 May to mark the nuclear tests of May 1998, which were conducted under the name Operation Shakti. Questions usually test the date and the event, while the annual theme must be checked in current official sources.

Indian Navy platforms and deals 2022

Questions on navy platforms test the terms used for ship status, the supplier of a helicopter or aircraft, and the type of a named ship. Learn these terms together with the class or role of each platform.

• Decommissioning — the formal withdrawal of a ship or submarine from active service in a navy. Ships are decommissioned on a fixed date, and in June 2022 two named ships were withdrawn from service in this way.
• Foreign Military Sales — a route by which the United States government sells defence equipment to a foreign government. India signed such an agreement with the USA for the MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters, which are used for anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and search and rescue.
• Naval ship classes and names — Surat is a guided missile destroyer of Project 15B, and Udaygiri is a stealth frigate of Project 17A. Both names belong to warships of the Indian Navy, so neither refers to a helicopter, aircraft or patrol boat.

UN Security Council composition

The United Nations Security Council has 15 members, of which 5 are permanent members with veto power and 10 are non-permanent members. The Council was first set up with 11 members, of which 6 were non-permanent. It was enlarged to 15 members in 1965, which raised the number of non-permanent members to 10.

Non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for a term of two years, and they cannot be re-elected immediately after completing that term. Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members, so the term structure is staggered. The ten seats are distributed by region: five for Africa and Asia, one for Eastern Europe, two for Latin America and the Caribbean, and two for Western Europe and other states.

A common mistake is to confuse the number elected each year with the total number of seats. The total is ten, while the annual election fills five seats.

American and Russian revolutions

The American and Russian revolutions are tested through the body or leader that took the decisive step in each. Identify the institution, the date and the sequence of governments.

• American Declaration of Independence — adopted on 4 July 1776 by the Second Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress met earlier, in 1774, to protest British policies, and it did not adopt the Declaration.
• Provisional Government in Russia (1917) — after the Tsar abdicated in March 1917, a Provisional Government was formed, first under Prince Georgy Lvov and later under Alexander Kerensky. The Bolsheviks overthrew this government in the October Revolution of 1917, so Kerensky was the head of the government at that time.
• Sequence check — the Tsar Nicholas II was not the head of government when the Bolsheviks took power, since he had already abdicated. Lvov led the government only until July 1917, so the head at the time of the overthrow was Kerensky.

ISRO leadership and space missions

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is India's national space agency, and its chairman also heads the Department of Space. Officeholders are numbered in sequence, so a question about 'the tenth Chairman' asks you to identify a specific successor in that order, not merely a current or former chairman. S. Somanath, formerly Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, took over as Chairman in January 2022. Space missions also use precise terms. A sub-orbital rocket rises into space and falls back without completing an orbit, whereas an orbital launch vehicle places a payload in orbit. Vikram-S is a sub-orbital rocket developed by the private company Skyroot Aerospace and launched from Sriharikota in November 2022 with ISRO's support, and it is recognised as the first privately developed rocket launched by ISRO. Students often confuse the company with the product. Skyroot is the firm, while Vikram-S is the rocket. Example: 'The company built the rocket, and the agency provided the launch facilities.'

Environment campaigns and days 2022

World Environment Day is observed every year on 5 June, and the United Nations Environment Programme selects a host country for the global observance. Sweden hosted the 2022 event, which marked fifty years since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. National campaigns are often confused with international days. Puneet Sagar Abhiyan is a nationwide flagship campaign to clean seashores, beaches and other water bodies of plastic and other waste, and it was carried out through cadet-led drives organised by the National Cadet Corps. When studying such campaigns, separate the initiating agency from bodies that merely join or support the work. Example: 'The campaign was launched by a youth organisation, while the navy and the coast guard only contribute to coastal safety.'

Hydroelectric and dam projects abroad

A run-of-river hydroelectric project generates power from the natural flow of a river and usually has little or no large storage reservoir. The Phukot Karnali Hydro Electric Project is a 480 MW run-of-river project built on the Karnali River, and it lies entirely in western Nepal. A dam is identified by three things: its river, its region and its country. The Nova Kakhovka dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, and its destruction in June 2023 during the Russia–Ukraine war drew wide international attention. Students should not link a foreign dam with a neighbouring country merely because the river flows across a border. Example: 'A dam on the Dnipro is located in Ukraine, even if the river also flows through other countries.'

Outward direct investment (ODI) rankings

Outward Direct Investment (ODI) is investment made by enterprises of one country in enterprises or assets located in another country. It is the reverse of inward foreign direct investment, and it is recorded by the source country's authorities. Tracking ODI by destination shows which countries receive the most Indian overseas capital. In the Union Finance Ministry's data for 2020–21, Singapore ranked first as a destination for Indian ODI, reflecting its role as a regional financial and holding hub. Students should not confuse ODI with FDI or with portfolio investment, which does not give the investor managerial control. Example: 'An Indian company buying a majority stake in a firm abroad counts as ODI for India.'

Republic Day parade tableaux 2021

The Republic Day parade in New Delhi includes tableaux presented by states, union territories and ministries, and a jury evaluates them each year. A tableau 'adjudged best' is the one the jury declares the top entry. In the 2021 parade, the tableau of Uttar Pradesh received the best-tableau award. The phrase 'adjudged best' means judged or declared best by an authorised panel, not merely praised or selected for display. Example: 'The jury adjudged the tableau of a northern state the best entry of that year.'

Western political philosophers and their works

Each classic political thinker is associated with a specific work, and examination questions test whether the work is matched with its true author. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote A Discourse on Political Economy, published in 1755 as an article in the Encyclopédie. The text discusses the general will and the legitimate role of the state in economic life. Useful pairings include Montesquieu with The Spirit of the Laws, which deals with the separation of powers, Voltaire with Candide and the Philosophical Letters, and Adam Smith with The Wealth of Nations. Students should not assume that two works on economics or politics share an author. Example: 'Rousseau's text on political economy predates Smith's major work on wealth.'

G7 membership

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal forum of advanced economies. Its members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and the European Union takes part as a non-enumerated member. India is not a member of the group, although it is sometimes invited as a guest country to outreach sessions of G7 summits. Distinguish a permanent member from an invited guest, since a country may attend a summit without holding membership. Example: 'Canada and Italy sit at the G7 table as members, while an invited partner joins only specific sessions.'

Operation Olivia (Olive Ridley protection)

Operation Olivia is an annual conservation mission of the Indian Coast Guard that protects Olive Ridley sea turtles during their mass nesting season on the coasts of Odisha and neighbouring states. Its activities include patrolling nesting beaches and safeguarding eggs and hatchlings. Students should separate operational missions from policy-making. The environment ministry frames conservation policy, while the coast guard carries out the field protection on the beaches. Example: 'Patrol and egg protection on nesting beaches are the operational tasks of the coast guard.'

Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was announced by China in 2013 as a foreign policy and infrastructure strategy. It links China with Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond through a land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and a maritime 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Other powers have run their own connectivity or infrastructure programmes, but these are separate initiatives and should not be attributed to the BRI. Example: 'A railway financed under the Chinese strategy belongs to the BRI, whereas a project under another country's scheme does not.'

International Day of Yoga 2021

The International Day of Yoga is observed on 21 June each year, following a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. Each edition is given an official theme, which differs from campaign slogans used in particular years. The theme for the International Day of Yoga 2021 was 'Yoga for Well-being', reflecting the focus on physical and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students should distinguish the official theme from related slogans such as 'Yoga at home'. Example: 'The official theme focused on well-being, while other messages were promotional.'

Non-Aligned Movement founders

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was formed to keep newly independent countries away from the blocs of the Cold War. Its core founders were five leaders: Nehru of India, Tito of Yugoslavia, Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957 and served as its first Prime Minister and later as President. Students often confuse African leaders of the same era. The key fact is the country each leader governed, so match the founder with his own nation. Example: 'Nkrumah's leadership of Ghana is the basis for identifying him among the founders.'

Indian classical dance gharanas

A gharana is a hereditary school or style of an Indian classical art, with its own training, repertoire and characteristic features. The principal Kathak gharanas are Jaipur, Lucknow, Banaras and Raigarh. Pandit Birju Maharaj (1938–2022) was the doyen of the Lucknow gharana, the senior-most exponent of a tradition noted for graceful abhinaya and expressive style. The Jaipur gharana is associated with rhythmic complexity and tihai-based footwork, while Raigarh takes its name from a former princely state in Chhattisgarh. Example: 'A dancer described as the doyen of a gharana is its leading senior exponent.'

Indian defence exports

Defence exports occur when Indian-made or jointly developed equipment is sold to a foreign government. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is developed jointly with Russia, and in January 2022 India signed a contract to export it to the Philippines, the first foreign customer for the missile. Students should distinguish a signed contract from actual delivery, and the first export customer from later buyers. Example: 'The first export contract for a jointly developed missile is a milestone in defence trade.'

Supreme Court-appointed inquiry committees

The Supreme Court of India can constitute inquiry committees on matters of major public concern, and these committees are generally headed by a retired judge of the Court. In January 2022, a committee appointed by the Supreme Court to examine a security lapse on the Prime Minister's route in Punjab was headed by Justice Indu Malhotra, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. Students should keep 'appointed by' and 'headed by' separate. The Court appoints the committee, and its head is named in the order. Example: 'A retired Supreme Court judge can lead a court-appointed inquiry panel.'

AYUSH and yoga initiatives

The Ministry of AYUSH is responsible for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, and it promotes yoga as part of its mandate. On 14 January 2022, the Ministry of AYUSH organised a global Surya Namaskar demonstration programme. Students should not confuse the AYUSH Ministry with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which handles public health policy and allopathic medicine. Example: 'Yoga demonstrations fall under AYUSH, while national hospital policy falls under the health ministry.'

Digital health initiatives India

Digital health initiatives use information technology to deliver and record health services. eSanjeevani is the national telemedicine service of India, providing teleconsultation between patients and doctors, and it was integrated with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the national digital health ecosystem. Insurance schemes such as Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana provide financial cover and are not telemedicine platforms. Example: 'A telemedicine service linked to a national health ID belongs to the digital health ecosystem, not to an insurance scheme.'

Government schemes for students

Government scholarship and residential education schemes are identified by their full name, target group and implementing ministry. SHRESHTA is the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas, and it provides residential high-school education for meritorious but economically weak students of the Scheduled Castes. Each statement in a 'which statements are correct' question must be checked separately, because a scheme may satisfy one clause and fail another. Example: 'A scheme that offers residential schooling to a specific social group can be evaluated clause by clause.'

Indian literature and authors 2022

A translated work is credited to its original author, while the translator is recognised separately. Tomb of Sand is the English translation by Daisy Rockwell of the Hindi novel Ret Samadhi, written by Geetanjali Shree. The translated novel won the International Booker Prize in 2022 and became the first Hindi-language novel to receive the award. The writers who are often confused with Geetanjali Shree include Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, Chetan Bhagat, known for Five Point Someone, and Jhumpa Lahiri, author of The Namesake. Example: 'The author of the Hindi original is the answer, not the translator of the English edition.'