NIFT Current Affairs & Fashion GK — Monthly Capsule Topics List
The GK section nobody studies — and everyone loses marks in.
The exact current affairs and fashion GK topics NIFT asks about: national and international news, government schemes, awards, sports, science, environment, plus Indian textiles, handlooms, embroidery, designers, fashion capitals, fibres and sustainable fashion.
Why this section is free marks
Most NIFT aspirants prepare Quant, English and Reasoning seriously and treat General Knowledge as "whatever I happen to know". That is exactly why GK is where you gain the most relative ground: a focused six-week plan here moves your score more than another month on Percentages.
Static GK checklist
- Indian states, capitals, and important cities
- Indian geography: rivers, mountains, national parks, soils
- Indian history: ancient, medieval, modern, freedom struggle
- Constitution and polity: fundamental rights, important articles, institutions
- Important national institutions and their headquarters
- Indian festivals and their states
- Traditional Indian art forms and dance styles
- Indian handicrafts and their regions
- Famous monuments and UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Important personalities
- Awards and honours (national and international)
- Books and authors
- Important days and dates
- Countries, capitals and currencies
- International organisations
- Sports, tournaments, trophies and recent winners
Fashion & Design awareness — the full list
- History of Indian clothing
- Traditional Indian textiles
- Indian handloom traditions and weaving clusters
- Indian embroidery techniques
- Traditional Indian crafts
- Regional costumes of India
- Textile-producing regions
- Famous Indian fashion designers
- International fashion designers
- Fashion capitals of the world
- Fashion weeks and major fashion events
- Sustainable fashion and circularity
- Natural and synthetic fibres
- Fabric types and their properties
- Fashion terminology
- Famous fashion brands and their founders
- Traditional prints and motifs
- Colour theory and colour terminology
- Important design institutions
- Government initiatives for textiles and handicrafts
Crafts and textiles you must know by name
| Craft / Textile | Region |
|---|---|
| Chikankari | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| Kantha | West Bengal |
| Phulkari | Punjab |
| Kanjeevaram silk | Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu |
| Banarasi brocade | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| Bandhani | Gujarat and Rajasthan |
| Ajrakh | Kutch, Gujarat |
| Pashmina | Kashmir |
| Patola | Patan, Gujarat |
| Ikat | Telangana, Odisha |
| Jamdani | Bengal |
| Kalamkari | Andhra Pradesh |
| Zardozi | Lucknow, Hyderabad |
| Muga silk | Assam |
Fibres quick sheet
- Natural: cotton, silk, wool, linen (flax), jute, hemp, cashmere, pashmina, coir
- Regenerated: viscose/rayon, modal, lyocell (Tencel), bamboo viscose
- Synthetic: polyester, nylon (polyamide), acrylic, spandex/elastane, lycra
Current affairs coverage plan
- National news
- International news
- Government initiatives and schemes
- Awards and honours
- Sports
- Science and technology
- Environmental developments
- Fashion industry news (collections, sustainability, retail, exports)
- Important cultural events
- Major appointments
- Key economic developments
Do not just memorise headlines. For every item, learn the person, organisation, location and event attached to it — that is how NIFT builds its four options.
How to revise it without drowning
- One monthly capsule PDF, read twice: once in the month, once in the final fortnight.
- A running one-page sheet of crafts, designers and fashion capitals — revise weekly.
- Fifteen GK questions a day, mixed sources, with errors written into a notebook.
- In the final two weeks, revise only your notebook. New material at that point does more harm than good.
Frequently asked questions
How many months of current affairs should I cover?
Cover the full run-up to the exam but give the most recent six months the deepest attention — that window is where most question setters pick from.
Do I really need fashion GK if I am applying for B.FTech?
Yes. The design and creativity-oriented awareness portion of GAT applies to all candidates, and fashion/textile questions are a NIFT speciality regardless of programme.