Introduction
What are the subjects covered in the General Awareness Section?
- General Awareness section is one of the many sections that are included in the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) exams.
- It tests a candidate’s awareness about the current affairs, banking terms, history, monetary policies, sports, finance, and many other topics.
- This is one section where a candidate can score marks easily without wasting their time since it does not contain any problem solving or calculations.
- Current affairs especially related to the banking industry and latest RBI policy revisions
- Indian economy
- World economy
- Current happenings and news related to UNO
- Indian constitution
- Awards
- Sports
- Agriculture
- Finance
- Banking history
- Currencies of different countries
- Famous books and their authors
- Banking concepts and terms
- RBI & Indian banking policies
Format
What is the format of the General Awareness section?
| IBPS Exam | No. of Questions | Total marks |
|---|---|---|
| IBPS Clerk Exam | 50 | 50 |
| IBPS PO Exam | 40 | 40 |
| IBPS SO Exam | 50 | 50 |
| IBPS RRB Exam (Office Scale) | 40 | 40 |
| IBPS RRB Exam (Office Assistant) | 40 | 40 |
Tips
Candidates need to prepare these questions for scoring well in the General Awareness Section:
- Some questions are commonly asked in most of the previous papers. Candidates need to find out those questions and their answers from these papers.
- For staying updated in current affairs they can follow different news channels. YouTube is also a good source for getting the latest updates.
- Many websites offer free online tests and quizzes to sharpen your GK (General Knowledge). A candidate should appear in these tests and quizzes daily to score good marks.
- Reading GK magazines is a must for the candidates because many questions are asked from their content. The candidates need to mug-up some sections of these magazines to score well.
- Candidates must remember the crucial events and important dates clearly. They can even make notes of these events and dates so that they can revise it easily before the exam.
- Appearing in mock tests is important as it prepares the candidates for the exam like conditions. Also, they must try to answer all the questions in a time-bound manner.
- Mock tests also act as a confidence booster.
Students must focus on these simplified topics and mug them up for securing high marks in the exams:
- Current affairs of India
- Current affairs of the world
- Sports news
- Current affairs related to science, space technology, defense, technology
- Current affairs related to economy
- News of awards
- Names of capitals of different countries
- Currencies of various countries
- Full form of banking concepts and terms
- The basic idea of banking terms
- Candidates must have total information on Asian Games
- Cabinet Ministers
- India’s economic policies
- Budget (Union & Railway)
- Taxes (Direct & Indirect)
- Dams, rivers, and reservoirs
The commonly asked questions on various topics are as follows:
Awards
- Candidates must know the names of all the people who have been awarded in India and abroad.
- The names of recent recipients of awards in the fields of science, literature, gallantry honors, etc. should be mugged up.
- Candidates must be aware of the winners of Nobel Prize, Magsaysay Awards, Grammy Awards, Jnanpith Awards, Oscar Awards, etc.
- Candidates must know the names of Nobel Prize winners who were from India.
- Candidates must know the names of people who have been awarded Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
- The names of people who were awarded Arjuna Awards and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards must be mugged up by students.
- Basic financial & banking terms
- New banking schemes introduced for the customers
- Policies initiated by RBI and the Government of India for public welfare
- Common banking terms that are used in day-to-day deals and transactions
- Abbreviations that are used in the bank's functioning
- Full-forms of organizations
- Candidates must read about some organizations like the World Bank, RBI, Finance Commission, the role of RBI in the banking system of India, NABARD, 5-year plans, and Planning commission.
- Candidates must have a stronghold on concepts such as GDP, Mutual Funds, Reverse Repo Rate, Inflation, PPP, SLR, IIP, CPI, HDI, GNP, WPI, CRR, Money Supply, and some other terms.
- They must also know about the different types of accounts and the interest rates that are associated with them.
- Candidates must be updated with the current Foreign Exchange reserves of the country.
- They must be able to differentiate between financial companies like NBFCs and banks.
- The students who wish to clear the General Awareness Section must know about the current Budget, Railway Budget, latest laws and bills introduced by the government, economic surveys, etc.
- A candidate must be aware of the bank related services like NEFT, RTGS, etc. and must know the concepts such as assets, liabilities, bank's working capital, latest schemes of government that are related to the banking system, etc.
- Headquarters of private banks, PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings), and nationalized banks
- Mortgage and reverse mortgage loans
- Various markets, banking instruments, and money instruments
- BASEL Norms
- Banking abbreviations
- Information on PSL i.e. Priority Sector Lending
- P2P (Peer-to-peer) lending
- Various financial initiatives are taken by RBI and GOI