Current Affairs Questions for AFCAT

Defence and Military Current Affairs

This is the highest-priority category for AFCAT. Since you are appearing for an Air Force exam, anything related to IAF, Indian Army, Indian Navy, DRDO, and defence deals is almost guaranteed to appear. Focus on newly inducted aircraft, missiles, defence exercises, and appointments of Chiefs of Defence Staff or service chiefs. Also track India's defence exports milestones and Make in India defence projects.

• Track all IAF aircraft inductions — Rafale, C-295, LCA Tejas Mk1A, Apache, Chinook
• Remember bilateral and multilateral military exercises — Tasman Saber, Garuda, Cope India, Yudh Abhyas, Malabar
• Note defence deals signed with USA, France, Russia, Israel — quantity and equipment name
• CDS and tri-service command updates — especially Theatre Commands if announced
• DRDO milestones — Agni series, ASAT, hypersonic missile tests, Akash NG
• INS ship commissionings and submarine launches are frequently asked

National Events and Government Schemes

AFCAT tests awareness of flagship government programs, major infrastructure launches, and national milestones. Questions often ask the launch date or ministry of a scheme, or link a scheme to its beneficiary group. Focus on schemes launched in the past 12 to 18 months before your exam date. Constitutional and legal developments — new laws, amendments, and supreme court verdicts of national importance — also appear here.

• Know the ministry behind each major scheme — PM Vishwakarma, PM Surya Ghar, Jal Jeevan Mission etc.
• Track large infrastructure inaugurations — highways, airports, metro lines, tunnels
• New state or UT changes, new districts, and capital city changes
• India's space missions — ISRO launches, Chandrayaan, Aditya-L1, Gaganyaan progress
• Major summits hosted in India — G20, SCO, QUAD — venue and year
• Census and economic reports — GDP growth rate, inflation figures, budget highlights

International Affairs

This section covers India's foreign policy moves, visits by heads of state, international summits, and global conflicts affecting India's interests. AFCAT does not go deep into global politics but does test landmark treaties, India's role in UN missions, and changes in global organisations. Questions are usually one-liner facts — who visited where, what India signed, which country joined or left an alliance.

• Track PM and President's foreign visits — country, purpose, and what was signed
• UN Security Council non-permanent member status of India if applicable
• Global organisations — changes in leadership of UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO
• Major international conflicts and India's stance or evacuation operations like Op Kaveri
• India's neighbourhood diplomacy — SAARC, BIMSTEC, Act East Policy developments

Awards, Sports, and Science

Awards and sports sections are consistent scorers in AFCAT. Nobel Prizes, Bharat Ratna, Padma awards, Dadasaheb Phalke, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna), and Arjuna Awards are standard questions. For sports, focus on international tournaments where India performed — Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Cricket World Cup, Chess Olympiad. Science questions are often about recent space missions or medical breakthroughs of global significance.

• Nobel Prize winners — year, field, and what they discovered or wrote
• Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees for the current year
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardees and which sport
• Olympics and Asian Games — India's medal tally, gold medalists, and sport
• Chess — Indian prodigies and World Chess Championship results
• ISRO and NASA mission names, launch vehicles, and objectives

Books, Authors, and Appointments

A small but regular category. AFCAT occasionally asks about recently published books by prominent Indians — especially former military officers, politicians, or sportspeople. Appointments of governors, ambassadors, heads of commissions, and CEOs of public sector enterprises also appear. Always note who replaced whom in a key constitutional or statutory post.

• Books by military personalities — especially former Chiefs of Air Staff, Army Chief, NSA
• Governors appointed to key states — Rajyapal changes are exam favourites
• Heads of CBI, CVC, CAG, Election Commission, and NHRC appointments
• CEOs of ISRO, DRDO, RBI Governor, Finance Commission chairman
• International appointments — UN Secretary General, WHO Director General etc.

• Studying only the month before the exam — AFCAT covers 12 to 18 months of events so start tracking from day one of preparation
• Ignoring IAF-specific news assuming it is too niche — it is actually the most asked category in AFCAT current affairs
• Confusing exercise names with wrong countries — for example mixing up Shakti (India-France) with Garuda (also India-France, Air Force specific) — always memorise the service branch involved
• Remembering scheme names but not the nodal ministry — AFCAT often asks which ministry launched it
• Skipping sports results thinking they are not important — Asian Games and Olympics medal winners are direct one-mark questions

• DISAB framework for categories: Defence, International, Schemes, Awards, Books-Appointments — tick all five while reading news daily
• For military exercises remember the country pair using the first letters — Garuda = G for Gaul (France) + India Air Force, Shakti = S for Sword (Army) with France
• Nobel categories in order: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, Economics — use PCMLPE — Pretty Clever Men Love Peace Enormously
• For IAF aircraft remember RATCL — Rafale, Apache, Tejas, Chinook, LCA Mk1A — India's major current fleet additions

• AFCAT typically has 4 to 6 direct current affairs questions in the General Awareness section of 25 questions — each worth 3 marks, so 15 to 18 marks are at stake
• Questions are almost always one-liner factual type — who, what, where, when — no inference needed, so speed matters here
• Defence-related current affairs appear almost every paper — if you get one IAF exercise or aircraft induction question right, that is likely because you tracked IAF news specifically
• The 18-month window is critical — AFCAT held in February tests events up to December of previous year and sometimes from the year before that
• Avoid guessing in current affairs if you are not sure — wrong answer costs 1 mark, and current affairs questions have very plausible-sounding options designed to confuse