General Knowledge quick-facts sheet for CUET's General Aptitude Test
The numbers, pairs and firsts to remember from all eight General Knowledge chapters on one page: the Constitution, history, geography, the economy, art and culture, awards, sport and world bodies.
This is the page to read the night before the test. Each section is the short version of one General Knowledge chapter. The chapter notes explain each fact, and every chapter has its own practice questions. Current Affairs has its own monthly digests and is not repeated here.
Which Constitution numbers must you know?
| Article or item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Article 1 | India is a Union of States |
| Articles 14–18 | Right to Equality; Article 17 abolishes untouchability |
| Article 19 | six freedoms |
| Article 21 / 21A | life and personal liberty / education for ages 6–14 (86th Amendment, 2002) |
| Article 32 | right to move the Supreme Court; Article 226 is the High Courts |
| Part IV (Articles 36–51) | Directive Principles; Article 44 is the uniform civil code |
| Part IVA, Article 51A | Fundamental Duties (42nd Amendment, 1976), now eleven |
| Article 61 | impeachment of the President |
| Article 110 / 112 | Money Bill / annual financial statement (the Budget) |
| Article 143 | President asks the Supreme Court for advice |
| Articles 148 / 280 / 315 / 324 | CAG / Finance Commission / Public Service Commissions / Election Commission |
| Article 279A | GST Council (101st Amendment, 2016) |
| Article 368 | amending the Constitution |
- The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 (Constitution Day) and came into force on 26 January 1950.
- There are 12 Schedules today and 8 at adoption. The Seventh Schedule has the three Lists, the Eighth has 22 languages, the Tenth deals with defection, the Eleventh has 29 panchayat subjects and the Twelfth has 18 municipal subjects.
- The 42nd Amendment added "Socialist", "Secular" and "Integrity" to the Preamble. The 44th removed property from Fundamental Rights. The 73rd and 74th (1992) created panchayats and municipalities. The 61st lowered the voting age to 18.
- The Lok Sabha can have at most 550 elected members and the Rajya Sabha at most 250 (12 of them nominated). A Money Bill can be held by the Rajya Sabha for 14 days at most.
- Minimum ages: 25 for the Lok Sabha, 30 for the Rajya Sabha, 35 for President and Vice-President, 21 for a panchayat. Supreme Court judges retire at 65 and High Court judges at 62.
- Kesavananda Bharati (1973) set out the basic structure doctrine.
Which history dates and pairs come up most?
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1526, 1556, 1761 | the three battles of Panipat: Babur; Akbar's side against Hemu; the Marathas against Abdali |
| 1757 / 1764 | Plassey / Buxar (the Diwani) |
| 1793 | Permanent Settlement (Cornwallis) |
| 1829 | sati abolished (Bentinck) |
| 1857 | revolt begins at Meerut |
| 1858 | Crown takes over from the Company |
| 1885 | Indian National Congress; first president W. C. Bonnerjee |
| 1905 / 1911 | Partition of Bengal (Curzon) / annulled, capital moved to Delhi |
| 1915 | Gandhi returns from South Africa |
| 13 April 1919 | Jallianwala Bagh |
| 1922 | Chauri Chaura ends Non-Cooperation |
| 12 March / 6 April 1930 | Dandi March begins / salt law broken |
| 1932 | Poona Pact (Gandhi and Ambedkar) |
| 8 August 1942 | Quit India, "Do or Die" |
- Harappan sites: Mohenjo-daro has the Great Bath, Lothal has the dockyard and Dholavira has the water reservoirs. Rakhigarhi is the largest Harappan site in India.
- Buddha's four places: Lumbini (birth), Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), Sarnath (first sermon) and Kushinagar (death). Mahavira was born at Kundagrama and attained nirvana at Pavapuri.
- Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan empire with Kautilya (the Arthashastra). Megasthenes wrote the Indica. Ashoka turned to Buddhism after Kalinga, and his edicts are mostly in Brahmi.
- The Guptas had Aryabhata and Kalidasa. Fa-Hien came under Chandragupta II and Hiuen Tsang under Harsha.
- The Sultanate dynasties in order: Slave, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi.
Which geography facts are asked again and again?
- Highest peaks: Nanda Devi is the highest wholly in India, Kangchenjunga is the highest on India's border, and Anaimudi is the highest in the peninsula.
- Rivers: the Godavari is the Dakshin Ganga. The Narmada and Tapi flow west. Devprayag is where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet. Majuli lies in the Brahmaputra. Wular Lake is on the Jhelum.
- The monsoon reaches Kerala first. The Coromandel coast gets the retreating monsoon. Mawsynram and Cherrapunji are in Meghalaya. The Tropic of Cancer crosses 8 states.
- Crops: kharif crops are sown in June–July, rabi crops in October–November, and zaid crops grow in summer. Black soil suits cotton, Assam grows the most tea, and jute is the golden fibre.
- Minerals: Jharia has coking coal, Kerala's beaches have monazite (thorium), Odisha has bauxite, Khetri has copper, Hutti has gold and Digboi had the first oil well (1889).
- Census 2011: about 121 crore people and 17.7% decadal growth. Kerala had the highest literacy and sex ratio (1,084). Bihar was the densest state and Uttar Pradesh the most populous.
- Rajasthan is the largest state by area, and Gujarat has the longest coastline. Bangladesh has India's longest land border. Uttar Pradesh borders 8 states. Telangana became a state in 2014.
What should you remember about the economy?
- The RBI was set up under a 1934 Act, opened in 1935 and has its central office in Mumbai. The Governor chairs the six-member Monetary Policy Committee. The inflation target is 4% CPI (Combined) with a band of plus or minus 2 points.
- The corridor has the SDF as its floor, the repo rate in the middle and the MSF as its ceiling. The CRR is kept with the RBI and the SLR is held by the bank itself.
- Fourteen banks were nationalised in 1969. The SBI was formed from the Imperial Bank in 1955. RRBs date from 1975 and NABARD from 1982. The DICGC insures deposits up to ₹5 lakh.
- GST came in on 1 July 2017. Inter-state supplies pay IGST. Petrol is not yet under GST. The CBDT handles direct taxes and the CBIC indirect ones.
- The financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the Budget has been presented on 1 February since 2017. Fiscal deficit minus interest gives the primary deficit.
- NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015. The Second Plan followed the Mahalanobis model, and the Twelfth Plan (2012–17) was the last.
- The IMF and World Bank (Washington, D.C.) came from Bretton Woods in 1944. The WTO (Geneva) started on 1 January 1995. The New Development Bank is in Shanghai and the ADB in Manila.
Which art and culture pairs should you learn?
| Classical dance | State |
|---|---|
| Bharatanatyam | Tamil Nadu |
| Kathak | north India |
| Kathakali, Mohiniyattam | Kerala |
| Kuchipudi | Andhra Pradesh |
| Odissi | Odisha |
| Manipuri | Manipur |
| Sattriya | Assam |
- Folk forms: Yakshagana is from Karnataka, Tamasha from Maharashtra, Bhavai and Garba from Gujarat, Giddha and Bhangra from Punjab, Kalbelia from Rajasthan and Bihu from Assam.
- Paintings: Madhubani (Bihar), Warli (Maharashtra), Pattachitra (Odisha), Kalamkari (Andhra Pradesh), Tanjore (Tamil Nadu), Gond (Madhya Pradesh), and Kangra and Basohli (Pahari).
- Monuments: the Cholas built the Great Living Chola Temples, the Pallavas built Mahabalipuram, the Chandelas built Khajuraho and Narasimhadeva I built Konark. The Qutb Minar was begun by Aibak and finished by Iltutmish. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah built the Charminar.
- India's first World Heritage Sites (1983) were Ajanta, Ellora, Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. Khangchendzonga is the only mixed site, and Santiniketan was added in 2023.
- Darjeeling tea was the first GI. There are 11 classical languages, the first being Tamil in 2004. The Indian Museum in Kolkata (1814) is the oldest museum.
Which awards, books and symbols facts are safest?
- The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, and its first awards in 1954 went to Rajagopalachari, Radhakrishnan and Raman. The Padma awards run Vibhushan, Bhushan, Shri, and are announced on the eve of Republic Day.
- Gallantry awards in order: Param Vir, Ashoka, Maha Vir, Kirti, Vir, Shaurya. They are announced twice a year.
- Indian Nobel winners: Tagore (Literature, 1913), Raman (Physics, 1930), Sen (Economic Sciences, 1998) and Satyarthi (Peace, 2014, shared with Malala).
- Books: The Discovery of India is by Nehru, Wings of Fire by Kalam, Godan by Premchand, and Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (International Booker 2022).
- Symbols: the tiger is the national animal and the lotus the national flower. Tagore wrote Jana Gana Mana and Bankim Chandra wrote Vande Mataram. The flag's ratio is 3:2.
- Days: 12 January (Youth), 28 February (Science), 11 May (Technology), 21 June (Yoga), 29 August (Sports), 5 September (Teachers) and 26 November (Constitution).
Which sports facts should you hold?
- The Olympic symbol has five rings. The Paralympics are held in the same year and city as the Olympics. The IOC is in Lausanne.
- Team sizes: 11 in hockey, football and cricket, 6 in volleyball, 5 in basketball, and 7 in kabaddi and handball. A cricket pitch is 22 yards and a marathon 42.195 km.
- Trophies: the Ranji Trophy (cricket), Santosh Trophy and Durand Cup (football), Thomas Cup and Uber Cup (badminton, men and women), and Davis Cup (tennis). Wimbledon is on grass and the French Open on clay.
- Indian firsts: K. D. Jadhav (1952, wrestling), Karnam Malleswari (2000, first woman), Abhinav Bindra (2008, first individual gold) and Neeraj Chopra (javelin, Tokyo). Murlikant Petkar won the first Paralympic gold (1972) and Avani Lekhara was the first woman to win one.
- Awards: the Khel Ratna (renamed for Dhyan Chand in 2021) is the highest; the Arjuna Award goes to athletes and the Dronacharya Award to coaches.
Which world bodies and lines are asked most?
| Body | Seat |
|---|---|
| UN | New York |
| ICJ | The Hague |
| WHO, ILO, WTO, UNHCR | Geneva |
| UNESCO | Paris |
| FAO, WFP | Rome |
| IAEA | Vienna |
| UNEP | Nairobi |
| NATO | Brussels |
| Interpol | Lyon |
| SAARC | Kathmandu |
| ASEAN | Jakarta |
- The UN Charter was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and came into force on 24 October 1945. The UN had 51 original members and has 193 today. Trygve Lie was the first Secretary-General.
- The Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent and 10 elected for two-year terms. The ICJ has 15 judges. The ILO is the oldest agency (1919) and is tripartite.
- Boundary lines: the Radcliffe Line is India–Pakistan, the Durand Line Pakistan–Afghanistan and the McMahon Line India–China. The LAC is with China, the LoC with Pakistan, and Sir Creek is disputed with Pakistan.
- Treaties: Montreal is ozone, Kyoto and Paris are climate, Ramsar is wetlands, CITES is wildlife trade and Basel is hazardous waste. India has not signed the NPT.
Which traps cost the most marks in General Knowledge?
- Mixing up adoption (26 November) and commencement (26 January) of the Constitution.
- Taking the 44th Amendment for the one that added "Socialist" and "Secular".
- Swapping Plassey with Buxar, or Mahavira's birthplace with where he attained nirvana.
- Choosing Kangchenjunga when the question says "wholly within India".
- Saying the WPI is the inflation target, or that the RBI issues the one-rupee note.
- Mixing up where a body was founded with where it is based: SAARC was founded at Dhaka but sits in Kathmandu; ASEAN was founded at Bangkok but sits in Jakarta.
- Taking the Lok Sabha Speaker's power over Money Bills for the President's.