SSC-CHSL exam is conducted for selecting Postal Assistants, Data Entry Operators (D.E.O) & Lower Division Clerks (LDC) for various central Govt. organizations in India. The selection process consists of a written exam followed by skill tests. The merit is based on the marks secured in the written exam and the skill test is of qualifying nature only.
Test Consists of
Questions Marks
General Awareness 50 50
General English 50 50
General Intelligence 50 50
Numerical Aptitude 50 50
The CHSL written exam is a two hour long, 200 mark objectives type (i.e. multiple choice) question exam in which there are four test sections.
Beware! There is negative marking in CHSL exam: 0.25 mark for each wrong answer. So make your guess
Skill test for Data Entry Operators in CHSL:
In the DEO skill test, you would be given printed passage in English containing 2000-2200 strokes/key-depressions which you have to enter in the computer within 15 minutes. You would be judged based on how many correct entries of the key depressions you made.
As said, this is of qualifying nature only – you just have to reach the threshold level of 8,000 Key Depressions per hour i.e. in 15 minutes, you have to make 2,000 correct key depressions.
Typing Test for LDCs in CHSL:
It is almost similar to above – but here you can take the test either in Hindi or in English. In the typing test for LDCs in CHSL, you would be given a text passage, which you have to enter correctly in 10 minutes. The speed will be judged based on how many words you could correctly type on the computer.
This again is qualifying nature only – you just have to reach the threshold level of:
1.0) If you take the test in English: 35 words per minute (10500 key depressions/hour).
2.0) If you take the test in Hindi: 30 words per minute (9000 key depressions/hour).
A proper strategy is necessary to crack any competition exam. You need to concentrate on minor details because every second matters in such tough competitions.
GENERAL AWARENESS
Now Strategy begins with proper understanding of syllabus and planning and ends with your responses on the OMR sheet.
General Awareness is an Integral part of most of the competitive exams and it Comprises of current finance and economy, Geographical, social, cultural aspects at national and international level. The fact that makes it a challenge to prepare is its unlimited range of questions.
General awareness is considered a big challenge by the aspirants due to is large range of questions. It is believed that you cannot prepare it completely as there are so many things happening around and you can’t remember them all. I am receiving many mails from aspirants asking how to tackle this big hurdle. The solution is simple, Stay Updated!!
Although we accept it is challenging but it may be a great decider of your success if prepared properly.
The General Awareness questions don’t take any time to solve. You only have to read and Mark. There is no calculation that you have to do (And very minimal, if any!!). So you may attempt this section in 10 minutes without much effort and it’s highly scoring also. It saves precious time to go for other time-taking sections. So I advise you to go for General awareness first as people normally complain about not being able to attempt this section due to lack of time. It's a common reason of failure for many people that although they were able to score exceptionally good in other sections but they were unable to even attempt general awareness. So attempt general awareness first!!
General awareness cannot be prepared in a single day. It has to be done daily for some time. Make it a habit to keep you updated. If done properly, you'll surely gain a deciding edge over competitors and will easily pass through. So the preparation should be started well in advance.
SSC CHSL GK Syllabus (50 marks).
General Knowledge - Questions on current events, Sports, History, Geography, Basic economics, General politics, Indian Constitution, Science environment etc.
Questions in this component will be aimed at testing the candidate’s general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions will also be designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of every day observations and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of any educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighboring countries
While going for any competitive exam, before you start preparing have a through look on exam structure and syllabus. For Example: For IAS exam, you have to be a master in General Studies.
Keep one thing in mind, you are not preparing for IAS exam and GK is just only of 50 marks and requires knowledge of History, Polity, Geography, Science, Current Events and Economics. Once again From SSC CGL point of view, don´t give so much time to GK. Use smart approach and devote your quality time to Mathematics and English.
If you take a look at previous SSC papers, you will find that most of questions have been asked from Static+ Science
Static: Static means simple questions based on History, Polity, Geography from NCERT text books.
Science: Science questions from NCERT text books. Up to 10th
Current Events: Person in news, books published, Summits, Awards
While preparing for GK(SSC) keep one thing in mind, you will give most of time preparing for STATIC + SCIENCE part. New comers waste most of time in memorizing facts and other irrelevant data that come in magazines.
Most of static questions are from Indian Polity & Indian History not from World History, basic question are asked in Economics which are based on current events, some questions in economics are definition based and these question should not be attempted because they are not beneficial from cost of time point of view.
Current Events / Affairs:
There is always something happening in this bloody big world so it’s not easy to stay updated with all the latest affairs all the time. We need to strategize our plan of action to prepare it accordingly; otherwise it will be tough nut to break for sure. In every second some issues are happening around the world in these sectors, and to accumulate the excerpt of some highlighted news, and memorize it is a good plan to prepare current affairs and GK.
So, how to prepare the current affairs?
Go to Govt. library, read Daily News Paper (The Hindu, Indian Express or The Times of India) whatever competitive magazine you get (CST, Pratiyoigta Kiran / Darphan, Chronicle, Wizard) and note down important names/details
But keep in mind that all such magazines provide too many details/ball by ball commentary – you just need to maintain a brief MS word file / Dairy or containing important events/names/awards/mascots/venues only. Otherwise it’ll become very difficult to revise entire content from original source on the night before the exam.
Many of us are always confused about following questions:
Which newspaper to read? , Which books or magazines to read?
Is monthly magazines are enough?, and most important How to read newspaper ?
Before going to read any book, magazine or newspaper, it is most important to collect previous year papers of SSC CHSL exam and make your own analysis that what type of questions are being asked. It is must before any study plan.
Because the local newspapers give only the "hot-shot" news of politics, cricket and Bollywood and exams are not asking much about it. So i prefer "The Hindu". If not possible then Indian Express.
Following things are extremely important to read in newspaper
Recent developments in the field of Science and Technology like satellite launches, vaccine development, defence deals, new diseases, Computers, Hybrid Seeds, Solar Energy etc
Environmental issues are given high importance and developments like important summits and their outcomes, global warming, carbon dump, carbon trading, environment-affecting projects like Dams, nuclear plants (Kudankulam protests), pollution should be regularly looked into.
In Polity, important judgments of social or national or economic importance should be regularly tracked. land acquisition bill,Nirbhaya Chattam, Food Safety bill etc
Keeping track of all the important economic data like growth rate, inflation, exports and imports, as well as current economic issues like slowdown, global economic crisis, FDI in retail, RBI policy, big players and the companies owned by them, PSU's activity –its heads, Govt.'s policies, budget etc
Sports events like tennis grand slams, cricket, Indian achievements in Olympics, world cup’s etc. Remember to go beyond cricket and read about other sports as well.
Awards and honours from within India as well as from outside India like Magsaysay awards, Khel Ratna, Nobel Prizes and so on. Winners of Booker, Pulitzer, Miss World / Miss Universe.
Persons in news those that might have received some honor, or have invented something or achieved a personal feat of social value etc. Foreign Prez /PM; chief guest of 26th Jan. Parade, Indian diaspora – especially in USA, chiefs of army-navy-air force, supreme court, various national bodies etc
International Affairs / Important office Holders of World Organizations, OPEC,ASEAN,SAARC etc- if they're meeting then note down where they met and what points did they discuss? Indian Army Exercise with China/US etc
Administration: Administrative reforms, E-gov etc.
Government schemes (NPS, NREGA- and editorials related to it-good things, bad things), DIGITAL INDIA, SWACH BHARATH.
Education related- Deemed univ etc.
How to Prepare for History
What to prepare from History: Major preparation should be done from Medieval India to freedom of India. As per my opinion it is better to concentrate on Modern Indian History
While studying don´t overload your mind by memorizing dates. Questions will be asked from major events and major persons. As every person has limited amount of memorizing capacity, you will have to forget something for something new. So use your memory smartly.
Try to understand and co-relate the events in Indian History and try to make relationship with your life. Its your duty to create memory link up with the events.
REFERENCE BOOKS
For Indian history and culture refer NCERT books from class 7 to 10, Indian history (Arihant) or lucent G.k etc.
Medieval Indian History:
1. Important Wars (who fought with whom, when and what was the result + some of them are from ‘modern history’)
Two Tarai battles, Three Panipat battles, Three Anglo Maratha wars, three Anglo-French wars, Two Anglo-Sikh wars, Plassey, Buxar, Bedera, Burmese, Afghan
2. Delhi Sultanate: Qutubuddin Aibak, Iltutmish, Razia Sultan, Balban , Alauddin Khilji and his policies, Mohd. Tuglaq and his speciality, Firoz Shah Tughlaq and his policy, Sikandar Lodhi, Ibrahim Lodhi.
3. Mughal and their policy / work/ constructions, Babar, Humayun,Sher Shah (although not a Mughal), Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurungzeb
4. Maratha: Shivaji, his administration and the three Anglo Maratha wars
5. Culture: South India Temple and features: Gopuram, Garbhagriha, Hoysala temple etc.
6. Poets-patron kings, main books, Mosques, tombs, gates, forts etc.: where are they located and who built them?
7.Travelers (incl. Ancient) + envoys: mainly Megasthenes, Fa-Hien, Al-Baruni, Huien Tsang, Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta, Nicolo Conti, Wiliam Hawkins, Thoms Roe, Tavernier, Bernier.
8. Religion: Bhakti saints, Sufi Saints particularly Khwaja Muinuddin Chisty, Sikhism, Gurus particularly Nanak, Arjan Dev and Gobind Singh
Modern Indian History
1.Entry of Europeans: where did they setup factory and under whose rule? + their conflicts with Native rules (e.g Siraz-ud daula, Tipu Sultan)
2.Important Gov.Gen/Viceroys and their policies ,
Hastings, Cornwallis, Wellesley, Bentick, Metcalfe; Aukland; Hardinge (each of them only did 1 or 2 imp things), Canning, Mayo, Lytton, Ripon, Landsdown. Curzon, Minto, Chelmsford
The Viceroys after Chelmsford should be prepared with focus on how they handled Gandhi and Partition of India:
Irwin, Willingdon, Linlithgow, Wavell, Mountbatten,C. Rajagopalachari (only the fact that he was 1st and last Indian governor general of free India)
3.Revolts : 1857
Peasant revolts and their leaders+reasons: mainly Indigo, Deccan, Ramosi, Chamran, Kheda, Moplah, Tebhaga, Telengana and Eka
Tribal revolts and leaders+reasons: mainly Rampa, Munda, Naga and Tana Bhagat.
Others mainly Sanyasi, Pagal Panthi and Kuka
4.Culture:
Books and authors (Dadabhai, RC Dutt, Gandhi, Bankim etc)
Newspaper-language-owner
various org. and their founders: Mainly Brahmo, Sadharan Brahmo, Namdhari, Radha Swami, Arya Samaj, Prarthana, Deccan Edu., Theosophical, Ramkrishan Mission, Servents of India, Purna Seva Sadan, Satya Sodhak, Aravipuram, Justice party, Bahishkrit Hitkarini, Self-Respect, Harijan Sevak, Derozio, Tattvabodhini, Wahabi, DEoband, Aligarh,
Reformers: Roy, Vivekanand, Sahjanand, Saraswati, Kesab Chandra etc.
Education reform: Hunter, Sadler, Macaulay and Sargeant
5.Freedom Struggle :
Congress, GK related to Congress Sessions: prominent chairmen, resolution etc.
Moderate, Extremist and their leader, Surat Split
Swaraj Party, Nehru Report.
Congress Ministries vs Muslim League
Revolutionaries: org.-leaders-members and conspiracy-cases + INA and its trials + RIN munity
Home Rule Besant and Tilak and Lucknow Pact
6. Gandhi:
Champaran, A’bad, Kheda;NCM, Khilafat, CDM, QIM
Gandhi-Irwin, Gandhi-Amebedkar, Gandhi-Bose
Reforms: Morley Minto; Montague-Chelmsford
Thuggary: Rowlett, Jalliyanwala, Simon, RTC, Communal award
Acts: 1909, 1919, 1935 and 1947;
Partition related: Linlithgow offer, Wavell plan, Cabinet Mission , Cripps Mission.
Geography:
Most of the questions will be from Indian Geography. So don´t prepare for world Geography.
Use NCERT books for proper concept building and finally use LUCENT GK for quick revision of facts.
Indian Geography
1. Some Geographical Facts of India
Climatic conditions in India- Major Seasons of India
2. Major Solis of India- Forest types and their distribution
3. Mountain, Plateaus, Deserts
Which states do they cover (e.g Khasi-Garo-Jantia hills)
highest peaks.
Mountain passes (Nathu-la etc.)
Which of them are young mountain/fold mountain etc.?
4. Rivers / Lakes / Waterfalls
Where do they start? , Which states do they cover?
In which sea do they end?, list of their tributaries
Any water fall?, Any dams? If yes then which states get benefit from it?
Any national inland waterway on them?, Major Lakes, Reservoirs
5. States:
Administrative, CENSUS-2011 related GK (highest-lowest in literacy, sex ratio etc.) + State with maximum ST population in absolute numbers and in percentages. etc.
State capitals (especially for North East); where is state high court; in case of UT/islands which HC has jurisdiction (under polity), do they come under 5th or 6th schedule (under polity)
border: with neighboring states and countries; state with largest area, longest coastline, max no. of district
Soil-crop-cropping seasons – Agriculture Pattern- Major producers of crops
Trade and Transport- Major Highways of India- Railway Zones
6.Mines/minerals (only the very prominent names. don’t go in all details)
7.Famous industrial / handicraft cities
8. Towns of export excellence (especially those recently added)
If it is a costal state: name of major ports?
Any famous airport?
National highway: shortest and longest
9.Culture
Any important fairs / cultural events-dances/festivals?
Famous tourist places hill stations, temples, monuments, mosques, minar, caves etc?
Any sites included in UNESCO world heritage list? (use google)
Environment, Any biodiversity hotspot?
Any famous wildlife parks / sanctuaries?
Any rare species found? Any place famous for migratory birds?
Physical Geography:
Universe: basics of planets-their moons, asteroid, comet, stars etc. (just do high school level coverage, don’t put lot of time here on individual planet)
Layers of atmosphere: their sequence, uses (Ionosphere, stratosphere etc)
Layers of earth-core, SIAL, SIMA, discontinuity.
Main terms associated with volcanos and earthquakes
Longitude, latitude, timezone, coriolls effect.
Climate: how altitude, distance from sea affect temp.; axis-tilt-seasons-day n night; albedo, ozone, aurora
Types of soils and rocks- what crops/minerals do they have
Major Grasslands of the world / Deserts/ Lakes / Waterfalls/ straits
Polity:
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, s