A repeatable method for compiling a twelve-month current-affairs review before the CAPF exam: the categories to cover, the durable-versus-dated filter, a compilation workflow, and a revision cycle
A year-in-review is the consolidation you build in the final two to three months before the exam: a single, structured digest of the preceding twelve months, filtered through the durable-versus-dated lens so you memorise the structural spine and verify the dated values once. This note gives a repeatable category list, a compilation workflow, and a revision cycle. It is the method companion to how to prepare current affairs for capf and uses the monthly digests produced with monthly brief template as its raw material.
| Item | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Window | The roughly twelve months before the exam, plus the timeless static GK that never expires |
| Economic figures | The latest Union Budget and Economic Survey (verify against the most recent release) |
| Sources | PIB, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Home Affairs, RBI and the Economic Survey, plus one reliable monthly compilation; do not rely on coaching brand-name digests as the source of record |
Compile the year under these heads, each linked to its durable note so you revise the structure, not just the headline.
| Category | What to capture | Durable note |
|---|---|---|
| International relations | Summits held, members added, new agreements; revise the grouping's HQ and members, not the communique | durable international relations |
| Defence and security | New exercises and editions, inductions, postings; revise the exercise-to-partner pairing | durable defence and security |
| Internal security and the CAPFs | Force developments, counter-insurgency, border infrastructure | human rights and internal security |
| Schemes and governance | New or scaled schemes; revise the year, ministry and objective | durable government schemes |
| Economy and indices | Index releases and reports; revise the publisher and measure, mark the rank "verify the latest" | durable economy reports and indices |
| Polity and institutions | Bodies in the news; revise constitutional or statutory basis and function | durable polity and governance |
| Environment and climate | COP outcomes, targets, species and habitat news; revise the convention structure | durable environment and climate |
| Science and technology | Space missions, nuclear, digital, biotech; revise the named programme and organisation | durable science and technology |
| Sports, awards and honours | Winners and hosts; revise the trophy-to-sport mapping and award order | durable sports awards and honours |
| Places in news | Locations in the headlines; revise the durable map fact | places in news static |
For every item, write two lines: the durable fact (which you memorise and reuse) and the dated value (which you mark "verify the latest"). Example for an index release:
This keeps the review accurate even if a number changes, and it mirrors how CAPF tests current affairs (the durable fact is almost always the answer).
| Section of the review | Contents |
|---|---|
| One-page index | The categories above, each with a count of items |
| Tables, not prose | Schemes (name, year, ministry, objective), indices (index, publisher, measure), exercises (exercise, partner, domain), awards (award, field) |
| A dated-values appendix | Every "verify the latest" item collected in one place for a final refresh |
| A CAPF-priority flag | Mark the security, defence, border and human-rights items, which carry extra weight |
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| Months 3 to 2 before | Build the year-in-review from the monthly digests; finalise the tables |
| Month 1 before | Refresh the dated-values appendix against the latest releases (Budget, Survey, index ranks, winners) |
| Final week | Revise the durable tables only; do a last pass on the dated appendix |