Current Affairs, Flagship Government Programs & Public Sector Organisations

Part A: How Current Affairs Is Actually Tested

Current affairs questions in SSC and RRB exams are drawn from roughly the last 6-8 months before the exam, with heavier weight on the last 3 months. They focus on:

• Appointments (new CEOs of PSUs/ministries, new Governors, Army/Navy/Air Force chiefs, Election Commissioners, Supreme Court/High Court Chief Justices, sports federation heads)
• Awards & honours (Bharat Ratna, Padma Awards, Nobel Prizes, Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith, Ramon Magsaysay, Oscar/Grammy for Indians)
• Summits & conferences (G20, SCO, BRICS, UN General Assembly, COP climate summits) — venue, host country, theme, and India's specific announcements
• New schemes/policies launched by the Union government and their objectives
• Sports events — winners of major tournaments (Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cups, IPL, Khel Ratna/Arjuna awardees)
• Defence — new equipment inducted, joint military exercises (name + participating countries), missile tests
• Science & space — ISRO launches, satellites, any Nobel-adjacent Indian research
• Reports & Indices — India's rank in Global Hunger Index, Human Development Index, Ease of Doing Business, Corruption Perception Index, World Press Freedom Index, and which organisation publishes each
• Obituaries of notable personalities
• Books released and their authors
• New airports, ports, expressways, dams inaugurated
• RBI monetary policy changes (repo rate, CRR, SLR)
• Census/economic survey/budget highlights of the year

A Fixed Study Method (works for any exam date)

1. Track one static monthly current affairs compilation (from any reputed source) and read the "Ranks & Reports," "Appointments," and "Schemes" sections closely — these give the highest return per hour.
2. Maintain a single running table: Date | Event | Key Fact | Category. Revise this table weekly.
3. One week before the exam, revise only headlines and key facts, not full articles.

Because current affairs is inherently time-sensitive, this book gives you the permanent scaffolding (categories, how questions are framed, format of answers expected) rather than a dated list that would already be stale by the time you read it. Ask for a fresh current affairs digest 4-6 weeks before your actual exam date for the latest facts.

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Part B: Flagship Government Programs of India (Static — high-frequency in exams)

These schemes are asked repeatedly across years because they are "static current affairs" — launched once, tested for years afterward. Know: Year of launch, Ministry, Objective, one distinguishing feature.

Financial Inclusion & Social Security

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) — 2014, financial inclusion, zero-balance bank accounts, RuPay debit card.
• Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) — 2015, accidental insurance, ₹2 lakh cover, premium ₹20/year (as originally launched, revised later).
• Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) — 2015, life insurance, ₹2 lakh cover.
• Atal Pension Yojana (APY) — 2015, pension scheme for unorganised sector workers, PFRDA administered.
• Stand Up India — 2016, loans to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.
• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) — 2015, collateral-free loans to micro/small enterprises (Shishu, Kishor, Tarun categories).

Housing, Sanitation & Infrastructure

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) — 2015, "Housing for All" (Urban 2015, Gramin 2016).
• Swachh Bharat Mission — 2 October 2014, sanitation and cleanliness, Ministry of Jal Shakti/Housing & Urban Affairs.
• Jal Jeevan Mission — 2019, "Har Ghar Jal," piped drinking water to every rural household by 2024.
• Smart Cities Mission — 2015, 100 smart cities development.
• Bharatmala Pariyojana — 2017, highway/road connectivity project.
• Sagarmala Programme — 2015, port-led development.
• UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) — 2016, regional air connectivity scheme.

Health

• Ayushman Bharat / Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) — 2018, ₹5 lakh health cover per family per year, world's largest health assurance scheme.
• Mission Indradhanush — 2014, immunisation of children and pregnant women.
• Poshan Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) — 2018, tackle malnutrition.

Skill, Employment & Rural Development

• Skill India Mission — 2015, includes Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
• MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) — 2005, 100 days guaranteed wage employment in rural areas.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) — 2014, rural youth skilling.
• PM Gati Shakti — 2021, National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity.

Agriculture

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) — 2016, crop insurance.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) — 2019, ₹6,000/year income support to farmers.
• Soil Health Card Scheme — 2015.
• e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) — 2016, online trading platform for agri-commodities.

Digital India & Startups

• Digital India — 2015, digital infrastructure and e-governance.
• Startup India — 2016, promoting startups, tax benefits.
• Make in India — 2014, manufacturing promotion.
• BharatNet — broadband connectivity to villages.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme — 2020 onward, sector-specific manufacturing incentives.

Education

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao — 2015, girl child welfare and education.
• Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan — 2018, integrated school education scheme.
• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — replaced NEP 1986, introduced 5+3+3+4 structure.
• PM SHRI Schools — 2022, model schools scheme.

Environment & Energy

• National Solar Mission (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) — 2010, under National Action Plan on Climate Change.
• PM-KUSUM — 2019, solar energy for farmers.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA) — launched by India and France, 2015, headquartered in Gurugram.
• National Green Hydrogen Mission — 2023.

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Part C: Important Government & Public Sector Organisations of India

Constitutional & Statutory Bodies

Body	Function
Election Commission of India (ECI)	Conducts elections; Chief Election Commissioner + 2 Election Commissioners
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)	Recruits for All India and Central Services
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)	Audits government accounts
Finance Commission	Recommends Centre-State revenue sharing, constituted every 5 years
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)	Protects human rights
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)	Anti-corruption body for central govt
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)	Premier investigating agency
National Investigation Agency (NIA)	Counter-terrorism investigation
Lokpal	Anti-corruption ombudsman at central level

Financial & Regulatory Bodies

Body	Function
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)	Central bank, est. 1935, HQ Mumbai
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)	Regulates securities market, est. 1988/statutory 1992
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI)	Regulates insurance sector
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)	Regulates pension sector
NITI Aayog	Policy think tank, replaced Planning Commission in 2015
Competition Commission of India (CCI)	Prevents anti-competitive business practices

Major Public Sector Undertakings (Maharatna companies — as of recent classification)

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), NTPC, ONGC, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Coal India, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Power Grid Corporation, GAIL India, Oil India Limited.

Scientific & Strategic Organisations

Organisation	Full Form / Focus
ISRO	Indian Space Research Organisation, HQ Bengaluru
DRDO	Defence Research and Development Organisation
BARC	Bhabha Atomic Research Centre — nuclear research
CSIR	Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
ICMR	Indian Council of Medical Research
ICAR	Indian Council of Agricultural Research
NABARD	National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

Tip: For SSC/RRB, memorise headquarters + founding year + head/apex authority for each of the above — this exact triplet is the most repeated question format.