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CDS GK Questions 2026

Static GK carries most of the 100 marks of the CDS General Knowledge paper. Of the 120 questions in the CDS (II) 2026 paper, about 20 were on Indian Polity, about 20 on the History of India, about 15 on Geography and the environment, about 10 on the Indian Economy and about 37 on Physics, Chemistry and Biology, which makes CDS the most science-heavy General Knowledge paper among the major recruitment exams. Polity questions test writs, the NHRC, electoral systems, disqualification of legislators, GST and delimitation. History runs from the Upanishads and the Shunga dynasty to Vijayanagara, temple architecture, the Sylhet referendum and the SNDP Yogam. Geography asks about the atmosphere, earthquakes and tsunamis, Ramsar sites, mangroves and World Heritage sites. Science stays at school level but expects reasoning: a lens problem, a magnetic field direction, molarity versus molality, what cooking soda is, how enzymes act. This page holds GK24's topic-wise GK notes for CDS, written as short facts and tables so that a topic can be revised in one sitting. Read a topic, then solve its previous-year questions and quiz on this site to check what stayed with you.

CDS GK Questions with Answers

Q2521.Indian PolityHard

Which Constitutional Amendment added consequential seniority to the reservation in promotion under Article 16(4A)?

  1. A.The Seventy-seventh Amendment Act, 1995
  2. B.The Eighty-first Amendment Act, 2000
  3. C.The Eighty-second Amendment Act, 2000
  4. D.The Eighty-fifth Amendment Act, 2001
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The Eighty-fifth Amendment Act, 2001

It amended Article 16(4A) so that a government servant of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes promoted under the reservation also keeps the seniority of the promoted post, which is called consequential seniority, and the change was given effect from 1995.

Q2522.Indian PolityMedium

Article 15(4) of the Constitution, allowing special provision for backward classes, was inserted by which Constitutional Amendment Act?

  1. A.The First Amendment Act, 1951
  2. B.The Seventh Amendment Act, 1956
  3. C.The Forty-second Amendment Act, 1976
  4. D.The Ninety-third Amendment Act, 2005
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The First Amendment Act, 1951

It was passed after the Supreme Court in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan struck down a communal order reserving seats in colleges, holding that it offended Article 15(1); Parliament answered by adding clause (4) to Article 15, which permits special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward…

Q2523.Indian PolityMedium

In Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992), the Supreme Court directed that which group be excluded from the benefit of reservation?

  1. A.The creamy layer among the backward classes
  2. B.All government employees
  3. C.Residents of metropolitan cities
  4. D.Candidates above forty years of age
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The creamy layer among the backward classes

The nine-judge bench in Indra Sawhney upheld the twenty-seven per cent quota for the Other Backward Classes but held that the socially advanced members of those classes, described as the creamy layer, must be excluded so that the benefit reaches the genuinely backward; the same judgment laid down the fifty…

Q2524.Indian PolityMedium

The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 inserted which clauses to provide reservation for the economically weaker sections?

  1. A.Articles 15(5) and 16(5)
  2. B.Articles 15(6) and 16(6)
  3. C.Articles 16(4A) and 16(4B)
  4. D.Articles 338A and 338B
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Articles 15(6) and 16(6)

The 103rd Amendment Act of 2019 added clause (6) to Article 15 for reservation in admission to educational institutions and clause (6) to Article 16 for reservation in appointments, in each case up to ten per cent for the economically weaker sections of citizens who are not covered by the…

Q2525.Indian PolityEasy

Which Article of the Constitution of India allows the State to reserve appointments or posts for a backward class not adequately represented in its services?

  1. A.Article 14
  2. B.Article 15(4)
  3. C.Article 16(4)
  4. D.Article 19(1)(g)
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Article 16(4)

It says that nothing in Article 16 shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

Q2526.Indian PolityAsked in: SSC GD Constable · 15 Feb 2019, Shift 1Easy

The B.P. Mandal commission was set up to study the reasons of backwardness of the:

  1. A.scheduled tribes
  2. B.scheduled castes
  3. C.rural women and children
  4. D.socially and educationally backward classes
Show answer
Correct answer: D. socially and educationally backward classes

The Second Backward Classes Commission was appointed in 1979 under Article 340 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.

Q2529.GeographyMedium

The Beas river joins the Sutlej at which place in Punjab?

  1. A.Harike
  2. B.Ferozepur
  3. C.Ropar
  4. D.Ludhiana
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Harike

The Beas, which rises at Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass, joins the Sutlej at Harike in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, where a barrage has been built; the Indira Gandhi Canal, which carries water into the desert of Rajasthan, takes off from this barrage, and the wetland there…

Q2531.GeographyMedium

Through which pass does the Sutlej river enter India?

  1. A.Rohtang Pass
  2. B.Shipki La
  3. C.Nathu La
  4. D.Zoji La
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Shipki La

The Sutlej rises in the Rakshastal area of Tibet, near Lake Mansarovar, and enters India through the Shipki La pass in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, after which it flows past the Bhakra dam into the plains of Punjab.

Q2533.GeographyHard

The Kishanganga project, on which a Court of Arbitration gave its award in 2013, lies on a tributary of which river?

  1. A.The Indus
  2. B.The Jhelum
  3. C.The Chenab
  4. D.The Ravi
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Jhelum

The Kishanganga, known as the Neelum in Pakistan, is a tributary of the Jhelum, and the Court of Arbitration at The Hague held in 2013 that India could divert its water for generating power at the Kishanganga project while maintaining a minimum flow downstream.

Q2534.GeographyHard

The Baglihar hydroelectric project dispute on the Chenab was decided by which authority under the treaty?

  1. A.The Permanent Indus Commission
  2. B.A Neutral Expert
  3. C.A Court of Arbitration
  4. D.The United Nations Security Council
Show answer
Correct answer: B. A Neutral Expert

When the Permanent Indus Commission could not settle Pakistan's objections to the design of the Baglihar dam, the matter was referred to a Neutral Expert, the Swiss engineer Raymond Lafitte, appointed with the help of the World Bank, who gave his determination in 2007 and allowed the project with changes…

Q2535.GeographyMedium

Which international institution acted as the broker of the Indus Waters Treaty and is a signatory to it?

  1. A.The United Nations
  2. B.The World Bank
  3. C.The International Court of Justice
  4. D.The Asian Development Bank
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The World Bank

The Bank brought India and Pakistan to the table in 1952, proposed the division of the rivers into eastern and western groups, helped to arrange the finance for Pakistan's replacement canals, and signed the treaty for the limited purposes in which it has a role, such as helping to appoint…

Q2536.GeographyEasy

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, which group of rivers was allotted to India for unrestricted use?

  1. A.Indus, Jhelum and Chenab
  2. B.Ravi, Beas and Sutlej
  3. C.Ganga, Yamuna and Gomti
  4. D.Chenab, Ravi and Beas
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ravi, Beas and Sutlej

These are the three eastern rivers of the Indus system, and the treaty gives their waters to India for unrestricted use, which is why the Bhakra dam on the Sutlej, the Pong dam on the Beas and the Ranjit Sagar dam on the Ravi could be built.

Q2538.GeographyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2025, GS Paper IEasy

Consider the following pairs : Region — Country I. Mallorca — Italy II. Normandy — Spain III. Sardinia — France In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?

  1. A.Only one
  2. B.Only two
  3. C.All the three
  4. D.None
Show answer
Correct answer: D. None

Mallorca belongs to Spain, Normandy to France and Sardinia to Italy, so every pair in the question is wrong. Mallorca, also spelt Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean and part of Spain; its capital is Palma.

Q2539.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2017, GS Paper IMedium

For election to the Lok Sabha, a nomination paper can be filed by

  1. A.anyone residing in India.
  2. B.a resident of the constituency from which the election is to be contested.
  3. C.any citizen of India whose name appears in the electoral roll of a constituency.
  4. D.any citizen of India.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. any citizen of India whose name appears in the electoral roll of a constituency.

To contest a Lok Sabha seat, a person must be a citizen and an elector, but the name can be on the roll of any constituency in the country.

Q2540.Science & TechnologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2018, GS Paper IEasy

In which of the following areas can GPS technology be used ? 1. Mobile phone operations 2. Banking operations 3. Controlling the power grids Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 and 3 only
  3. C.1 and 3 only
  4. D.1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Correct answer: D. 1, 2 and 3

Besides location, GPS satellites broadcast extremely precise time, and mobile networks, banks and power grids all depend on that timing.