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 one of the following is the oldest football tournament of Asia ?
First held in 1888, it is the oldest football tournament in Asia and one of the oldest in the world.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following is known as "Payyoli Express"?
The sprinter from Payyoli in Kerala's Kozhikode district earned the nickname Payyoli Express for her speed on the track.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following educational institutions established under the Union Ministry of Culture is promoting to preserve, protect and promote Lord Buddha's teaching and value of love, compassion and non-violence for developing good moral values and practices ?
It is a deemed university under the Union Ministry of Culture devoted to Pali language and Buddhist studies.
Read the full explanation →The Sanikatta Salt Works, known for Salt Satyagraha, is located in :
Sanikatta lies near Gokarna in the Uttara Kannada district of coastal Karnataka. Sanikatta is one of the oldest traditional salt pans on the west coast, where sea water is let into the fields at the mouth of the Aghanashini river and dried by the sun.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is involved in light independent reactions of photosynthesis?
The Calvin cycle fixes carbon dioxide into sugar without needing light directly, so it forms the light-independent (dark) reactions. Photosynthesis happens in two stages inside the chloroplast.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements regarding the Constituent Assembly of India is/are correct? 1. The Assembly was elected indirectly by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies. 2. The elections were held on the basis of Universal Adult Franchise. 3. The scheme of election was laid down by the Cabinet Delegation. 4. The distribution of seats was done on the basis of the Mountbatten Plan. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
The Constituent Assembly was chosen indirectly by the provincial assemblies under a scheme drawn up by the Cabinet Mission of 1946.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) are correct? 1. It began as the political wing of the Singh Sabhas in the late 19th century. 2. It was formed in 1920 as part of the upcoming Akali movement. 3. It was founded to reclaim control of the Sikh shrines from the government manipulated loyalist committees. 4. It formed the Akali Dal to coordinate groups (Jathas) to reclaim control of the shrines. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
The SGPC was born in 1920 out of the Gurdwara reform (Akali) movement, not out of the Singh Sabhas of the nineteenth century.
Read the full explanation →Around twelfth century, Sufi Silsilas began to crystallize in different parts of the Islamic world to signify 1. continuous link between the master and disciple 2. unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet Muhammad 3. the transmission of spiritual power and blessings to devotees Select the correct answer using the code given below.
A silsila stood for all three ideas: the master-disciple link, the chain back to the Prophet and the flow of blessings to followers.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following tissues is responsible for increase of girth in the stem of a plant?
Lateral meristems divide along the sides of the stem and root and add new cells that make them thicker. Meristems are groups of cells that keep dividing.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is the correct sequence of formation of the Commissions starting from the earliest?
The four bodies were set up in 1950, 1950, 1951 and 2004 in that order. The Election Commission was established on 25 January 1950, a day before the Constitution came into force, under Article 324.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following correctly represents the theme on which the interiors of the new Parliament Building is based ?
The two chambers of the new Parliament House take their interior themes from India's national symbols. The Lok Sabha chamber is designed on the theme of the peacock, the national bird, and the Rajya Sabha chamber on the theme of the lotus, the national flower.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is an indigenous assault rifle developed by DRDO?
Ugram is a 7.62 mm assault rifle designed in India by DRDO for the armed forces and police. Ugram was developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, a DRDO laboratory, together with a private Hyderabad firm, Dvipa Armour India, and it was unveiled in January 2024.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements associated with Malaria : 1. Only the female Anopheles mosquitoes take human blood for reproduction 2. Plasmodium can pass across the placenta from mother to foetus Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Female Anopheles mosquitoes bite humans because they need blood to mature their eggs, and the malaria parasite can cross the placenta.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about Fatehpur Sikri is NOT correct ?
In 1585 Akbar moved his capital from Fatehpur Sikri to Lahore, not to Delhi, so this statement is not correct.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following was the author of the Badshah Nama ?
He wrote the Badshah Nama, the official history of the reign of Shah Jahan. Abdul Hamid Lahori was a pupil of Abul Fazl and was chosen by Shah Jahan to write the history of his reign in the same style as the Akbarnama.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following Indian States : 1. Bihar 2. Rajasthan 3. Jammu and Kashmir 4. Haryana Which one of the following is the correct ascending order of the above States on the basis of percentage of State's population to total population of India (based on census 2011) ?
By Census 2011, Jammu and Kashmir had the smallest share of India's population among these four, then Haryana, then Rajasthan, and Bihar the largest.
Read the full explanation →If the absolute refractive indices of glass and water are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively, what will be the ratio of velocity of light in glass and water ?
The speed of light in a medium is inversely proportional to its refractive index, so the ratio of speeds is the inverse ratio of the refractive indices.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following pairs of Tribe and State is NOT correctly matched ?
The Tharu are a tribe of the Terai, the foothill belt along the Nepal border, and live mainly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, not in Madhya Pradesh.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following sections of the Golden Quadrilateral Highway in India is the longest in terms of route distance ?
At about 1,684 km, the Kolkata–Chennai arm along the east coast is the longest of the four sides of the Golden Quadrilateral.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following characteristics of a tropical cyclone : 1. A warm sea temperature of > 26°C 2. High relative humidity of atmosphere at a height of > 700 m 3. Atmospheric instability The above mentioned characteristics are associated with which one of the following cycles of its development ?
Warm sea water, moist air and an unstable atmosphere are the conditions a tropical cyclone needs in order to be born.
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