General & Banking Awareness Exam – Topics to Prepare

Ever thought of answering questions from a subject that gets updated everyday?If not, then get ready to prepare for General knowledge a.k.a General awareness that has become an integral part of banking exams. With the IBPS CWE round the corner let us see the GA section & the type of queries asked in detail

 

What kind of questions are likely to be asked in GA sections as part of the upcoming common bank exams?See below

 

* What is the full form of NPA?

* How many public sector banks does India have?

* What is the current base rate fixed by RBI?

* Who is the chairman of State Bank of India?

* How to denote ‘account payee’ on a cheque?

 

The clerk exam pattern has included a section ‘General Awareness with special reference to Banking Industry’. It is also a part of PO written examination

Apart from the regular GK you can also expect questions about banks, economical indicators, trade etc say common PO exam attendees.

Topics to cover in banking awareness:

1. Base rate	6.0%
   Savings rate	4%
   Repo rate	8.25%

   Questions about RBI, its governor, recent rate hikes will be asked.Visit rbi.org.in & look for the current rates (see table for latest)
2. Latest technologies used in banking (Internet, Mobile & SMS banking)
3. Names of banks chairman/MD, RBI governor & important financial organizations
4. Terms used in banking field (like NEFT,RTGS,Repo rate,NPA etc.,)
5. Money instruments (cheque,DD,ATM,debit, credit cards etc) & how, when to use them.
6. Five year plans,recent developments in banking sector,mergers,Indian economy, policy decisions (newspapers & GK books will cover this) 
7. Of the 50 questions, atleast 20 would be related to banks.

General awareness: This is a vast subject but we have listed some must-read topics based on previous papers.

1. Names of popular people,govt. departments,building,rivers,projects
2. About the functioning of government (who reports to whom, job role etc.)
3. Population of India (poverty line,planning commission,census etc.,)
4. Recent news of importance (Lokpal,RTI,Telecom policy,CAG,CWG etc.,)

Get some books

The biggest problem while preparing for general knowledge/ awareness papers is - new details are added every second.Rather than searching those info yourself, it is always better to have atleast few guides or books from which you can know the basics.

 

Few books related to banking knowledge are available on Internet, which can be bought by paying in cash/ netbanking or debit/credit cards.One such is,

* Banking awareness 2012 (with practice papers) – Rs.131 – Buy online

 

Prepare notes: You may have a good GK book & newspapers but it wont be possible to read them again during the final preparatory stage.Here are some tips that would help you to plan.

• Take notes while reading for the first time itself by writing hints & short sentences.
• Make sure its understandable as you wouldn't want to see a note that is hard to recollect at the time of revision.
• Glance through them everyday to avoid forgetting.

Start now: It can be very hard to memorize the dates, famous persons, abbreviations, definitions & numbers - all in one day.

Preparation for general & banking awareness tests must be an ongoing activity.

Incase you have not begun, allot 1-2 hours daily from today to read the materials & transfer them onto your scribble book.

General Awareness Test – Why & How to Prepare?

Many would have often wondered the need to test one`s general knowledge skills in bank exams.How much do you know of the surroundings, tells lot about your behavior & mindset.Read on to know why is it necessary & how to prepare for general awareness sections.

 

A paper on general knowledge/awareness is now part of all competition exams  especially in government & public sector recruitments.But most people score very low marks in this section due to improper preparations, affecting their score & ranking.

 

Newspaper is one of the best source of updating yourself on the events happening nationally & internationally.It is necessary to read newspaper daily with more focus on business & banking news - as it would help you for banking jobs & in Interview.While reading newspapers, pay attention to usage of words, verbs & sentence formation that can improve your english skills as well.

 

TV news: Television channels report news with visuals as they occur, making it easier for anyone to know what has really taken place.While talk shows & debates on news channels, could provide more insight on a specific issue that could be useful in group discussion, there isn't any bigger advantage of watching news on TV.

 

Note it down: Taking note of important news events date or month-wise has helped candidates in preparing for GK exams.It is not advisable to go through all the newspapers of a certain period, just days before the exam - as it can only lead to confusion.Prepare notes as you read to avoid last minute rush.

 

Question banks: Nowadays all those who are preparing for competitive exams are buying books containing numerous questions on general knowledge.As questions from various categories are provided with answers in a single book, practicing with such materials help in gaining speed at the time of exams.They are also called year books, are available at all leading book stores.

 

* Manorama Year Book 2011 (with free CD) – Rs.120 – Buy Online (pay in cash/ net banking/ ATM card)

Special preparations for General Awareness may not be required if you follow the above regularly

How to prepare for General Awareness Test

Preparation for bank exams must be underway for most, as exams for some of the big banks are to take place in the next few months.The first section in most written tests would be Test of General Awareness.

 

What is General Awareness ?

General Awareness test is nothing but pure General knowledge.Almost all exams – competitive exams,banking exams,placement exams have one such paper but the name could differ.It is meant to test the knowledge of the candidate,apart from the usual subjects.This test also helps to find out, how fast the candidate is,in gathering latest information around them

 

What type of Questions will be asked in General Awareness?

As the name suggests - General awareness,the questions would be based on the current events happening in India and across the world.Depending upon the nature of the job,emphasis will be given to a particular category.More questions could be asked on subjects like Economy, Finance & Banking technologies, incase of general awareness test.Questions on world politics,social & cultural events can be asked in competitive exams.

 

How to prepare for General Awareness Tests?

Preparing for General awareness or General knowledge is not possible in a single day.It must be started well in advance.Read newspapers,news magazines, general knowledge books & gather information from all sources.Form a group & start discussing various issues, as group discussions can make preparations interesting & active.

 

Here are some books that could be useful in preparing for general awareness tests,

* General Knowledge Manual (2010 edition) – Rs.134 – Buy Online