Read daily news briefly, make one-line notes by category, and revise them weekly and monthly. Focus on banking, RBI, economy, schemes, appointments and awards from the months before Mains, and check facts on official sites.
Current affairs is a Mains-only topic, part of the 50-question General/Financial Awareness section (50 marks, 35 minutes). It is fact-based, so the method is simple: collect, compress, revise.
Which period to cover
SBI does not publish a fixed time window. Most candidates cover roughly the six months before the Mains date, with extra attention on the last three. Banking and economy news matters more than sports or entertainment for a bank exam.
The three-layer method
| Layer | When | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | 20-30 min | Read a news summary. Write one-line notes only for exam-type facts |
| Weekly | Sunday, 1 h | Re-read the week's notes, take a 25-question quiz |
| Monthly | 2-3 h | One monthly compilation, mark anything you missed |
Categories for your notes
- RBI: policy decisions, new rules, circulars that affect banks
- Banking: mergers, new products, appointments of bank heads
- Economy: GDP estimates, inflation data, Union Budget announcements
- Government schemes: launches, extensions, targets
- Appointments, awards, summits, sports events, important days
How to write a one-line note
Use the same format every time: what happened, the key name or number, and why a bank exam might ask it. For example, for an RBI policy meeting, note the decision on the repo rate, the stance and any change to other rates, with the date. Keep notes short enough that one month fits on two or three pages. During weekly revision, mark every fact you got wrong in the quiz and revise those first next time.
- SBI: Recruitment of Junior Associates 2026, detailed advertisement (CRPD/CR/2026-27/17)
- Reserve Bank of India (official website)
- Press Information Bureau, Government of India
- Union Budget, Government of India
Rules can change with each notification. Confirm on sbi.bank.in/web/careers.
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