From UPSC Civil Services to SSC recruitment exams, from college admissions to group discussions, general knowledge questions mark a significant part of almost every exam. For candidates preparing to crack an exam or those who need to get their news in a compact form, News18 offers a weekly column – GK Capsule. While we provide you a weekly news wrap, to get more information on a specific topic or an exam, reach out at @news18dotcom.

Are you preparing for any upcoming recruitment exam? Keep in mind that the general knowledge section is an important part of it. To pass the majority of employment exams, a candidate must have a basic understanding of general knowledge and current events. Here is a curated list of top news events from the past week to help you prepare for any upcoming exams.

Parliament Security Breach:

On December 15, the Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested two more people in connection to the December 13 Parliament security breach. The incident involved two individuals, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, who jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber and used canisters of yellow gas to cause panic among the lawmakers. Meanwhile, the other two detainees have been identified as Mahesh and Kailash, both from Rajasthan with an alleged connection with the social media group “Justice for Azad Bhagat Singh.”

Article 370 Verdict:

In a unanimous decision issued on December 11, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the constitutionality of the repeal of the contentious Article 370 and directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30 next year. In his decision in the much-anticipated case, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud stated that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood should be restored as soon as possible because Article 370 is only a temporary measure for the union territory.

Chennai Needs Additional Higher Capacity Drains:

Days after Cyclone Michuang flooded parts of Tamil Nadu’s Chennai with over 50 cm of rain, a senior Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) official recently stated that the city needs to install at least 2,000 km more of contemporary stormwater drains with a greater capacity to withstand heavy downpours. The majority of the city’s 2,950 km of drains have a handling capacity of only 2 to 5 cm per hour, according to S Rajendiran, the chief engineer for stormwater drains (SWD) for the GCC, who spoke to PTI.

Devotees Without Q booking Not Allowed in Kerala’s Sabarimala:

The Kerala High Court said on December 13 that devotees of Lord Ayyappa who do not possess virtual Q booking or spot booking tickets are not permitted to enter Sannidhanam, amid criticism directed towards the Pinarayi Vijayan government for alleged “mismanagement” at Sabarimala. On December 12, the court ordered the police to maintain daily cleanliness and to prevent devotees from being crammed into the queue complex.

Pilgrims Visit Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Using Kartarpur Corridor:

The government told the Rajya Sabha on December 14 that since the Kartarpur Corridor’s opening in November 2019, about 2.35 lakh pilgrims have travelled through it to visit the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. A historic people-to-people initiative, the Kartarpur corridor opened in November 2019 between the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, and Dera Baba Sahib in Gurdaspur, India. According to information provided by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, 1,002 applications to visit the Sikh shrine via the Kartarpur Sahib corridor were denied in 2021 while 8,309 were denied in 2022. He added that 7,332 applications were rejected in 2023 (up until December 4).