Unlike several of the entrance exams for the business management courses, General Knowledge (GK) remains an integral portion of the DUJAT (Delhi University Joint Admission Test) paper. GK is not a component for the entrances to the Integrated Programme in Management at both the IIMs offering this course- Indore and Rohtak- or at the Narsee Monjee University in Mumbai. This is challenging for the students, as unlike say quants or verbal which they are studying for across the board, GK preps can get hampered. The timing of the DUJAT also plays a role in the students’ ambiguity throughout the year.
As the DUJAT paper us held the latest among all the major papers, usually in the middle or towards the end of June, students often focus less on GK the whole year. By the time of the DUJAT exam, students have already sat for all other exams, with even results being declared for many. That is why test takers need to have a specific strategy to take on the challenge of GK. It cannot be ignored as the topic has 25% weightage in the exam. In addition to this, a sound GK will help students crack the second round at all colleges, post getting shortlisted, on items such as a Personal Interview (PI), Group Discussion (GD), Micro Presentation or the Written Ability Test (WAT).
Following are the main topics from which questions in the GK segment are asked:
- Current Affairs- mainly last 8- 12 months, so from June previous year to May of that year to be on the safer side, though mainly October to March is the time period.
- Static GK- includes evergreen topics such as History, Geography, Constitution, Science, Economy and Miscellaneous.
- Business Awareness- topics concerned with CEO appointments, company taglines, mergers & acquisitions, conglomerates & their brands etc.
Listed below are some techniques these students must adopt to ace the GK portion:
1. Regular Newspaper Reading
This is easier said than done, but can be managed. Even if one isn’t reading the whole of the newspaper, one can just do the editorial segment as it gives a good all- round view of national and world affairs. Reading the editorial will help frame opinions that can be expressed at the GD or WAT as well. A lot of proactive students also participate in debates or Mock United Nations (MUNs) when in class 11 and 12. This aspect too will be further boosted by the activity.
2. Magazines
There are some very useful magazines which can help with tracking of monthly or even weekly highlights. Facts and figures are best captured through these. Competition Success Review (CSR) or Pratiyogita Darpan are two good examples of such magazines.
3. TV News
A lot of the TV news is too commercial, and based around opinions rather than facts. One needs to stay clear of all that. But Doordarshan brings out the best coverage, so does the Rajya Sabha TV. These are official government channels, which dabble more with facts and figures, less on opinions, and certainly none of the fake news.
4. Internet
This can be the biggest villain in the room or the greatest hero, depending on how one approaches the net. There is a lot of information, but it is difficult to assess what is credible or not. Thus, one must rely on official sites of credible bodies such as any national or international newspapers, news agencies or even magazines such as Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, The Economics or Business Insider. For tracking entrance related GK, gktoday.in and Cloud Affairs are worth recommending. In case one is taking coaching for these exams from any major institute, these institutes do provide portals, where the data is most tailored to topics which are required.
5. Books
Some books are ideal for Static GK. Arihant, Pearson, Manorama, Lucent and Universal are all very well- known publications which bring out year books. These are great repositories for all the static topics mentioned above.
GK is not an overnight phenomenon. Students under the impression that they will crack the same, just after the IPMAT and prepare for DUJAT in the interceding month, are committing a grave error. They must be in touch for the whole year. It will also help them crack the second round at exams such as the IPMAT as well as do well in the other exams such as the IPU- CET or the SET, which do contain GK as a section.
Join Our Telegram Group for IPM / SET / NPAT / DUJAT Preparation
Join Our WhatsApp Group for IPM / SET / NPAT / DUJAT Preparation