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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

Q5901.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 10 Oct 2021Hard

In a pressure cooker, the temperature at which the food is cooked depends mainly upon which of the following?

1. Area of the hole in the lid

2. Temperature of the flame

3. Weight of the lid

  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 cooking temperature is set by the pressure inside the cooker, and that pressure is fixed by the weight sitting on the vent and the area of the hole under it.

Q5902.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 10 Oct 2021Easy

Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid because

  1. A.it is dipolar in nature
  2. B.it is a good conductor of heat
  3. C.it has high value of specific heat
  4. D.it is an oxide of hydrogen
Show answer
Correct answer: A. it is dipolar in nature

Water is called the universal solvent because its molecule is polar: the oxygen end carries a partial negative charge and the two hydrogen ends carry partial positive charges.

Q5903.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 28 May 2023Hard

Consider the following statements:

Statement-I: The soil in tropical rainforests is rich in nutrients.

Statement-II: The high temperature and moisture of tropical rain forests cause dead organic matter in the soil to decompose quickly.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. A.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
  2. B.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
  3. C.Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
  4. D.Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct

Rainforest soil is actually poor in nutrients, even though the forest above it is the richest on land. Heat and heavy rain make dead leaves decompose within weeks, and the released nutrients are taken up almost at once by the dense roots and fungi of the trees.

Q5905.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 28 May 2023Medium

'Invasive Species Specialist Group' (that develops Global Invasive Species Database) belongs to which one of the following organizations?

  1. A.The International Union for Conservation of Nature
  2. B.The United Nations Environment Programme
  3. C.The United Nations World Commission for Environment and Development
  4. D.The World Wide Fund for Nature
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The International Union for Conservation of Nature

The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is one of the expert groups of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission, and it manages the Global Invasive Species Database.

Q5906.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 10 Oct 2021Medium

Which of the following are detritivores?

1. Earthworms

2. Jellyfish

3. Millipedes

4. Seahorses

5. Woodlice

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1, 2 and 4 only
  2. B.2, 3, 4 and 5 only
  3. C.1, 3 and 5 only
  4. D.1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1, 3 and 5 only

Earthworms, millipedes and woodlice feed on dead plant and animal matter, called detritus, so they are detritivores. Detritivores break dead leaves and bodies into small pieces, which speeds up the work of decomposers such as bacteria and fungi that finish the breakdown and return nutrients to the soil.

Q5907.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 10 Oct 2021Easy

What is blue carbon?

  1. A.Carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems
  2. B.Carbon sequestered in forest biomass and agricultural soils
  3. C.Carbon contained in petroleum and natural gas
  4. D.Carbon present in atmosphere
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems

Blue carbon is the carbon stored by marine and coastal ecosystems, especially mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows.

Q5908.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 16 Jun 2024Easy

The total fertility rate in an economy is defined as:

  1. A.the number of children born per 1000 people in the population in a year.
  2. B.the number of children born to a couple in their lifetime in a given population.
  3. C.the birth rate minus death rate.
  4. D.the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her child-bearing age.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her child-bearing age.

Total fertility rate (TFR) adds up the age-specific fertility rates of women aged 15 to 49 to show how many children a woman would have if she lived through these years at current rates.

Q5909.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 28 May 2023Medium

Consider the following markets:

1. Government Bond Market

2. Call Money Market

3. Treasury Bill Market

4. Stock Market

How many of the above are included in capital markets?

  1. A.Only one
  2. B.Only two
  3. C.Only three
  4. D.All four
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Only two

The government bond market and the stock market deal in long-term funds, so they are capital markets; call money and treasury bills belong to the money market.

Q5910.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 28 May 2023Medium

Which one of the following activities of the Reserve Bank of India is considered to be part of 'sterilization'?

  1. A.Conducting 'Open Market Operations'
  2. B.Oversight of settlement and payment systems
  3. C.Debt and cash management for the Central and State Governments
  4. D.Regulating the functions of Non-banking Financial Institutions
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Conducting 'Open Market Operations'

Sterilization means cancelling out the effect of foreign exchange operations on the domestic money supply, and the RBI does it mainly through open market operations.

Q5911.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 5 Jun 2022Hard

With reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements:

1. If the inflation is too high, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to buy government securities.

2. If the rupee is rapidly depreciating, RBI is likely to sell dollars in the market.

3. If interest rates in the USA or European Union were to fall, that is likely to induce RBI to buy dollars.

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: B. 2 and 3 only

Selling dollars supports a falling rupee and buying dollars absorbs heavy inflows, but to fight inflation the RBI sells, not buys, securities.

Q5912.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 10 Oct 2021Medium

The money multiplier in an economy increases with which one of the following?

  1. A.Increase in the Cash Reserve Ratio in the banks
  2. B.Increase in the Statutory Liquidity Ratio in the banks
  3. C.Increase in the banking habit of the people
  4. D.Increase in the population of the country
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Increase in the banking habit of the people

When people keep more of their money in banks instead of as cash, banks can lend more, so each rupee of reserve money creates more money in the economy.

Q5915.GeographyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 5 Jun 2022Easy

In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year normally occurs in the:

  1. A.First half of the month of June
  2. B.Second half of the month of June
  3. C.First half of the month of July
  4. D.Second half of the month of July
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Second half of the month of June

The longest day in the northern hemisphere is the summer solstice, which falls on 20, 21 or 22 June, usually 21 June.

Q5917.Art & CultureAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 28 May 2023Medium

'Souls are not only the property of animal and plant life, but also of rocks, running water and many other natural objects not looked on as living by other religious sects.'

The above statement reflects one of the core beliefs of which one of the following religious sects of ancient India?

  1. A.Buddhism
  2. B.Jainism
  3. C.Shaivism
  4. D.Vaishnavism
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Jainism

Jainism holds that souls (jiva) live not only in humans, animals and plants but also in earth, water, fire and air.

Q5919.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 16 Jun 2024Medium

With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets?

1. Nayaputta

2. Shakyamuni

3. Tathagata

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 and 3 only
  3. C.1, 2 and 3
  4. D.None of the above are epithets of Gautama Buddha
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 2 and 3 only

Shakyamuni and Tathagata are titles of the Buddha, while Nayaputta is a name of Mahavira. Shakyamuni means 'the sage of the Shakyas', the clan of Kapilavastu into which Siddhartha was born.

Q5920.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · Prelims GS Paper I, 5 Jun 2022Hard

With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.

2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.

3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.

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: B. 2 and 3 only

Goa was taken from Bijapur and the Madras site came from a Vijayanagara Nayak, but the Dutch did not get their east coast land from the Gajapatis.