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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

Q4103.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKMedium

Photo 51 refers to an image of

  1. A.a crater on the Moon
  2. B.DNA molecules
  3. C.the virus responsible for COVID-19
  4. D.the virus responsible for common cold
Show answer
Correct answer: B. DNA molecules

Photo 51 is the X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA that revealed its helical shape. The picture was taken in May 1952 at King's College London by Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling.

Q4105.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2025, GKMedium

A sound wave travelling at a speed of 330 m/s produces 20 crests and 20 troughs in 0.1 second. The wavelength of the sound wave is:

  1. A.1.1 m
  2. B.3.3 m
  3. C.1.65 m
  4. D.2.2 m
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1.65 m

Twenty crests and twenty troughs make twenty complete waves in 0.1 second, so the frequency is 200 Hz and the wavelength is 330 ÷ 200 = 1.65 m. One complete wave, or one cycle, contains one crest and one trough (for sound, one compression and one rarefaction).

Q4106.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2026, GKHard

Which of the following statements about Goods and Services Tax (GST) in course of inter-State trade or commerce is/are correct? 1. Levy and collection of GST are governed under Article 269A of the Constitution of India 2. GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce may not be levied and collected by the States 3. GST is apportioned between the Union and the States Select the answer using the code given below:

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

Article 269A makes inter-State GST a tax that only the Centre levies and collects and then shares with the States.

Q4108.GeographyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2018, Paper IMedium

Which of the following cities experience the warm temperate Mediterranean climate? 1. Cape Town 2. Los Angeles 3. Adelaide 4. Santiago Select the correct answer using the code given below.

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

Cape Town, Los Angeles, Adelaide and Santiago all lie in the Mediterranean climate belt on the western sides of continents, roughly between 30° and 40° latitude.

Q4111.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2021, Paper IMedium

Manganese is extracted by heating manganese dioxide with aluminium powder. Which one of the following statements with regard to the reaction is correct?

  1. A.The reaction is exothermic.
  2. B.The reaction is endothermic.
  3. C.Manganese is produced as a solid.
  4. D.Manganese is more reactive than aluminium.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The reaction is exothermic.

Reducing manganese dioxide with aluminium, 3MnO₂ + 4Al → 3Mn + 2Al₂O₃, gives out a large amount of heat. This method of reducing a metal oxide with aluminium powder is called aluminothermy, or the Goldschmidt thermite process.

Q4112.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2023, Paper IEasy

Which one of the following holds true for freely falling object ?

  1. A.It moves with a uniform velocity.
  2. B.It moves with a uniform speed.
  3. C.It moves with a non-uniform acceleration.
  4. D.It moves with a uniform acceleration.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. It moves with a uniform acceleration.

A freely falling object moves with a uniform acceleration, the acceleration due to gravity, g, about 9.8 m/s² near the Earth's surface.

Q4113.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2024, Paper IEasy

In an ecosystem why is the number of trophic levels of a food chain usually limited ?

  1. A.Lower trophic level has lesser energy than the higher trophic level
  2. B.Because of the loss of energy at each trophic level
  3. C.Higher trophic level individual can control the lower ones more efficiently
  4. D.Limited trophic level makes a food chain less vulnerable to parasites
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Because of the loss of energy at each trophic level

A large part of the energy is lost at every trophic level, so after four or five links too little is left to support another level.

Q4114.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2025, Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements about the powers and duties of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India : 1. He audits and reports on all expenditures from the Consolidated Fund of India. 2. He controls the issue and receipt of money from the Consolidated Fund of India. 3. He audits and reports on the expenditure of all bodies substantially financed from the Union or State revenues. Which of the statements given above are correct?

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

The CAG audits spending from the Consolidated Fund and of bodies substantially financed by government, but has no control over the release of money from the fund.

Q4115.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2026, Paper IEasy

Which one among the following events of Indian history was the earliest to take place?

  1. A.Dandi March
  2. B.Chauri Chaura Incident
  3. C.Partition of Bengal
  4. D.Champaran Satyagraha
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Partition of Bengal

Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal came into effect on 16 October 1905, years before the other three events. Curzon announced the partition in July 1905, claiming it was for administrative convenience, but it was widely seen as a way to divide Hindus and Muslims and weaken Bengali nationalism.

Q4116.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2017, Paper IMedium

Which one of the following statements about the Indigo Revolt of 1859 is correct ?

  1. A.It broke out at Poona and Ahmadnagar
  2. B.It was directed against moneylenders
  3. C.It was supported by the intelligentsia of Bengal
  4. D.It was directed against the petty Zamindars and ex-employees of the planters
Show answer
Correct answer: C. It was supported by the intelligentsia of Bengal

The Indigo Revolt (1859–60) of Bengal's peasants against European indigo planters won strong support from the Bengali intelligentsia, press and missionaries.

Q4117.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2020, Paper IMedium

Which one of the following statements is correct ?

  1. A.Glucose breaks down to CO₂, H₂O and energy in all organisms
  2. B.Glucose breaks down into ethanol, CO₂ and energy in our muscle cells
  3. C.Glucose breaks down into CO₂, H₂O and energy in all aerobic tissues
  4. D.Glucose breaks down into lactate and energy in yeast
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Glucose breaks down into CO₂, H₂O and energy in all aerobic tissues

In aerobic tissues, where oxygen is available, glucose is broken down completely into carbon dioxide, water and energy. Aerobic respiration begins with glycolysis in the cytoplasm, which gives pyruvate.

Q4120.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2024, Paper IHard

Which one of the following is the correct chronology of invention/ discovery in the field of Bio- technology?

  1. A.Discovery of Plasmid, Double Helical structure of DNA, DNA fingerprinting, cloning of Dolly
  2. B.Double Helical structure of DNA, Discovery of Plasmid, DNA fingerprinting, cloning of Dolly
  3. C.DNA fingerprinting, cloning of Dolly, Double Helical structure of DNA, Discovery of Plasmid
  4. D.Double Helical structure of DNA, DNA fingerprinting, Discovery of Plasmid, cloning of Dolly
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Discovery of Plasmid, Double Helical structure of DNA, DNA fingerprinting, cloning of Dolly

The order is plasmid (1952), DNA double helix (1953), DNA fingerprinting (1984) and the cloning of Dolly (1996). Joshua Lederberg coined the word "plasmid" in 1952 for genetic material that lives outside the chromosome; plasmids later became the main vectors of genetic engineering.