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.
Which of the following is not a bird ?
The golden mahseer is a large freshwater fish, not a bird. The golden mahseer (Tor putitora) lives in fast-flowing rivers of the Himalayan foothills, from the Indus basin to the Brahmaputra.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements :
1. Ballistic missiles are jet-propelled at subsonic speeds throughout their flights, while cruise missiles are rocket-powered only in the initial phase of flight.
2. Agni-V is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile, while BrahMos is a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Both statements swap the features of ballistic and cruise missiles. A ballistic missile is rocket-powered only in the first, boost phase; after that it follows a high, curved, mostly unpowered path, re-entering the atmosphere at very high speed.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements are correct in respect of a Money Bill in the Parliament?
1. Article 109 mentions special procedure in respect of Money Bills.
2. A Money Bill shall not be introduced in the Council of States.
3. The Rajya Sabha can either approve the Bill or suggest changes but cannot reject it.
4. Amendments to a Money Bill suggested by the Rajya Sabha have to be accepted by the Lok Sabha.
Select the answer using the code given below :
Only statement 4 is wrong, because the Lok Sabha is free to accept or reject the Rajya Sabha's recommendations. Article 110 defines a Money Bill and Article 109 lays down the special procedure for it.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with regard to recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission of India are correct?
I. It has recommended grants of ₹ 4,800 crores from the year 2022-23 to the year 2025-26 for incentivizing States to enhance educational outcomes.
II. 45% of the net proceeds of Union taxes are to be shared with States.
III. ₹ 45,000 crores are to be kept as performance-based incentive for all States for carrying out agricultural reforms.
IV. It reintroduced tax effort criteria to reward fiscal performance.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Statement II is wrong because the 15th Finance Commission fixed the States' share at 41%, not 45%. The 15th Finance Commission, chaired by N. K. Singh, covered 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Read the full explanation →The mass number of an element is NOT changed when it emits
Neither beta nor gamma emission changes the total number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus, so the mass number stays the same.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about Harappa Civilization is/are correct?
1. There is the extraordinary uniformity in artefacts as evident in pottery, seals, bricks and weights.
2. The late Harappa sites also maintained the same construction techniques as were used in mature Harappa sites.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
The mature Harappan phase shows a striking uniformity in its artefacts, but that uniformity broke down in the late Harappan phase.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following authorities CANNOT organize 'Lok Adalats' ?
Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, only legal services bodies can organise Lok Adalats, and panchayat committees are not among them.
Read the full explanation →SAUBHAGYA, a Central Government scheme, is related to
SAUBHAGYA, the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, aimed to give an electricity connection to every household. The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Power in September 2017 and was carried out mainly through the Rural Electrification Corporation.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following statements about facilitated transport in plants is correct?
In facilitated transport, molecules cross the membrane with the help of membrane proteins, while still moving down their concentration gradient.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about a cloud form :
1. These are made up of ice crystals rather than droplets of water.
2. They are thin, stringy, white clouds that trail like feathers across the sky.
3. These clouds are formed at very high altitudes - normally between 6000 metres and 10000 metres.
Which one among the following cloud forms is described above?
Cirrus clouds are thin, feathery clouds made of ice crystals that form high in the troposphere. At heights of roughly 6,000 to 10,000 metres the air is far below freezing, so cirrus clouds hold ice crystals instead of water droplets.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following has coined the term 'Quark', the fundamental particles that make up protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus ?
The American physicist Murray Gell-Mann proposed quarks in 1964 and gave them their name. Gell-Mann, and independently George Zweig, suggested that protons, neutrons and other such particles are built from smaller units.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following has not written about partition in his works?
Bankim died in 1894, more than fifty years before the Partition of 1947, so he could not have written about it.
Read the full explanation →"To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom" is a provision of which one of the following of the Constitution of India ?
This is the second fundamental duty, listed in Article 51A(b) of the Constitution. Fundamental duties were added in Part IVA by the 42nd Amendment of 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and drew on the constitution of the former USSR.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statement(s) regarding promulgation of ordinance is/are correct?
1. President can promulgate ordinances which are of temporary duration.
2. An ordinance promulgated by the President has to be ratified by Parliament within six weeks of its re-assembly.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Under Article 123 an ordinance is a temporary law, and it lapses unless Parliament approves it within six weeks of reassembling.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following assumed the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah to set himself up as an independent ruler with his base in Hyderabad?
Chin Qilich Khan, a powerful Mughal noble, took the title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah and founded the independent state of Hyderabad.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about Barchans :
1. These landforms are found in Thar desert in India.
2. The windward side has concave slope with maximum height at the centre.
3. Two ends of the barchan are called horns.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Barchans are common in the Thar and their two tips are called horns, but the windward side of a barchan is a gentle convex slope, not a concave one.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements are correct with regard to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ?
1. UNCLOS authorizes the UN Security Council to take a direct action in case of the disputes between States on sovereign rights over Exclusive Economic Zones
2. UNCLOS defines contiguous zones and specifies its functions
3. Both the US and India have ratified UNCLOS
4. UNCLOS grants certain rights to Landlocked States
Select the answer using the code given below:
UNCLOS defines the contiguous zone and gives landlocked states rights, but it gives the Security Council no such role, and the United States has not ratified it.
Read the full explanation →The spindle fibre is attached to which of the following specific regions of the chromosomes?
Spindle fibres attach to the kinetochore, a disc-shaped protein structure on the centromere of each chromosome. During cell division the spindle, made of microtubules, pulls the copies of each chromosome apart.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following capital cities of the Union Territories of India is located at coordinates 11.62° North and 92.72° East?
The capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands lies at about 11.6° North and 92.7° East, on the east coast of South Andaman.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is the chemical name of heavy water?
Heavy water is D₂O: two atoms of deuterium joined to one atom of oxygen. Deuterium is the isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, so it is about twice as heavy as ordinary hydrogen.
Read the full explanation →