As well all know, the UPSC CAPF examination has a major portion of current or general affairs in its examination pattern. Hence one who is preparing for UPSC CAPF exam must be well versed with current affairs.
CAPF Exam pattern
The CAPF exam conducts in two stages. Stage 1 consists of general ability and general science that includes mental ability, science, current events both national and international, Indian politics and economy, world geography. The second stage of the examination consists of essay and comprehension that judges the writing ability of the candidate.
Current affair knowledge
Candidates aspiring to clear CAPF exam must have a thorough knowledge on last twelve months of current affairs. This include both national as well as international. Along with current affairs it is very important for the candidate to also know about recent developments of his state and area where he belongs to or presently residing. Not only in the first part of the test but also candidates are checked for current affair knowledge while they sit for a face to face interview in the last round of the test.
Topic wise preparation
Candidates should prepare current affairs from every topic that includes, current affairs from politics and economy, current affairs from geography and so on. A candidate is supposed to have a detailed knowledge about all the ongoing and relevant topics under all the headers. It is important to know about politics, economy geography and major other topics.
Sourced for current affairs
It is very important to know the right source from where you can brush up your knowledge about current affairs. Start reading newspaper from the very early stage of your preparation. Reading newspapers daily for an hour or two will help you stay connected with the rest of the world. Also reading newspaper daily will increase your chances of clearing the CAPF examination as you will know all the current affairs. Although newspapers are a very reliable source for knowing current affairs you can also relate to news channels and some current affairs magazines. Magazines like vision, made easy, insight and Gktoday will help you with previous years questions on current affairs and also give you a fair knowledge of questions that is majorly asked in CAPF.
Number of question and difficulty level
| Topic | No of questions | level |
| Current affairs | 12 | moderate |
| Politics and economy | 33 | difficult |
| history | 19 | difficult |
| geography | 18-20 | moderate |
We can see the difficultly level for each stage of questions and hence one can understand the level of knowledge you need to have in order to clear this level with good marks. This is an important part of cracking CAPF examination. Once you master the art of being an expert in current affairs there is no looking back. No one can stop you in clearing this section in your CAPF
Conclusion
A UPSC CAPF preparation takes almost one to two years. From the day you decide you will appear for a CAPF examination to the day when you actually sit for the examination has a lot of gap. While there is no end to gaining knowledge or there is no fixed time that you can devote to study current affairs for your upcoming UPSC CAPF test, still having a knowledge about last one year’s current affairs is a good enough and it will help you in clearing your upcoming CAPF examination. Apart from bookish knowledge it is advisable you keep your eyes and ears open so that you do not miss any recent development in and around you during this phase.
