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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

Q5963.Environment & EcologyAsked in: NDA · NDA (II) 2023, 3 Sep 2023Medium

The green plants in a terrestrial eco-system absorb sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy. The percentage of solar radiation absorbed by all green plants for the process of photosynthesis is about

  1. A.1%
  2. B.5%
  3. C.8%
  4. D.10%
Show answer
Correct answer: A. 1%

Green plants are the producers of a terrestrial ecosystem, and NCERT's Class 10 chapter Our Environment states that they capture about 1 percent of the energy of the sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy through photosynthesis.

Q5964.Environment & EcologyAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2023, 16 Apr 2023Easy

Which one of the following is not a main greenhouse gas?

  1. A.Water vapour
  2. B.Oxygen
  3. C.Carbon dioxide
  4. D.Methane
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Oxygen

A greenhouse gas is one whose molecules absorb the long-wave infrared radiation given off by the warm surface of the Earth and send part of it back, keeping the planet about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be.

Q5965.Indian EconomyAsked in: NDA · NDA (II) 2024, 1 Sep 2024Medium

Before the inception of the First Five Year Plan, which among the following Plans were initiated in India? 1. Bombay Plan 2. Peoples Plan 3. Sarvodaya Plan 4. Gandhian Plan

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

All four plans came before the First Five Year Plan started on 1 April 1951. The Bombay Plan of 1944 was prepared by eight industrialists led by J. R. D. Tata and G. D. Birla and favoured state-led heavy industry.

Q5966.Indian EconomyAsked in: NDA · NDA (II) 2023, 3 Sep 2023Easy

Which Five Year Plan of India focused on rapid industrialization based growth process?

  1. A.First Five Year Plan
  2. B.Second Five Year Plan
  3. C.Fifth Five Year Plan
  4. D.Seventh Five Year Plan
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Second Five Year Plan

The Second Plan (1956 to 1961) was built on the model of the statistician P. C. Mahalanobis and aimed at rapid industrialisation with a stress on heavy and basic industries such as steel, machinery and chemicals, on the belief that machines to make machines would speed up growth.

Q5967.Indian EconomyAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2022, 10 Apr 2022Medium

The idea of Planning in Independent India was drawn from

  1. A.the Bombay Plan
  2. B.the demand made by peasants
  3. C.the demand made by workers' unions
  4. D.the Gandhian vision of India's future
Show answer
Correct answer: A. the Bombay Plan

The Bombay Plan of 1944 was drawn up by a group of eight, mostly leading industrialists such as J. R. D. Tata, G. D. Birla, Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Lala Shri Ram and Kasturbhai Lalbhai, with John Mathai among them.

Q5971.Indian PolityAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2023, 16 Apr 2023Easy

By which one of the following amendments, was Article 51A, relating to the Fundamental Duties, inserted into the Constitution of India?

  1. A.The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act
  2. B.The Constitution (44th Amendment) Act
  3. C.The Constitution (85th Amendment) Act
  4. D.The Constitution (92nd Amendment) Act
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act

The 42nd Amendment of 1976, passed on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, added a new Part IV-A with a single Article 51A listing ten Fundamental Duties of citizens, such as respecting the Constitution, the National Flag and the National Anthem, protecting the environment and developing the scientific temper.

Q5973.GeographyAsked in: NDA · NDA (II) 2024, 1 Sep 2024Medium

Where is the Coriolis Effect the largest?

  1. A.At the Equator
  2. B.At the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer
  3. C.At the North Pole
  4. D.At 45 degree latitude in each hemisphere
Show answer
Correct answer: C. At the North Pole

The Coriolis force is the apparent force caused by the rotation of the Earth that deflects moving air and water to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

Q5974.GeographyAsked in: NDA · NDA (II) 2023, 3 Sep 2023Easy

Which one of the following crops is generally benefitted by the rain caused by western disturbances in India?

  1. A.Rice
  2. B.Wheat
  3. C.Bajra
  4. D.Cotton
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Wheat

Western disturbances are low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean Sea and travel eastward with the subtropical westerly jet stream in winter, bringing light rain to Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, and snow to the Himalaya, between December and February.

Q5975.GeographyAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2022, 10 Apr 2022Easy

Snow, sleet and hail are the forms of

  1. A.precipitation
  2. B.condensation
  3. C.transpiration
  4. D.evaporation
Show answer
Correct answer: A. precipitation

Precipitation is any form of water, liquid or solid, that falls from clouds to the ground. When the temperature is above freezing it falls as rain or drizzle; below freezing, water vapour turns directly into ice crystals that fall as snow.

Q5977.Indian HistoryAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2021, 18 Apr 2021Easy

When and where was the demand for 'Purna Swaraj' or complete independence made by the Indian National Congress?

  1. A.Bombay, 1885
  2. B.Lahore, 1929
  3. C.Kheda, 1917
  4. D.Bombay, 1942
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Lahore, 1929

At its Lahore session in December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution declaring complete independence, not dominion status, as its goal.

Q5978.Indian HistoryAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2024, 21 Apr 2024Medium

First coins in Indian history bearing the names and images of rulers were issued by the:

  1. A.Mauryas
  2. B.Pushyabhutis
  3. C.Guptas
  4. D.Indo-Greeks
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Indo-Greeks

The Indo-Greek kings who ruled the north-west of India from about the second century BCE were the first in Indian history to issue coins that carried the name and portrait of the ruler, with Greek legends on one side and Prakrit in the Kharoshthi script on the other.

Q5980.Indian HistoryAsked in: NDA · NDA (I) 2023, 16 Apr 2023Easy

Who among the following composed the 'Prayag Prashasti' of Samudragupta?

  1. A.Harishena
  2. B.Chand Bardai
  3. C.Vishakhadatta
  4. D.Kalidasa
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Harishena

The Prayag Prashasti, also called the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, is a Sanskrit eulogy of the Gupta emperor Samudragupta (about 335 to 375 CE) composed by his court poet and minister Harishena, who held the titles sandhivigrahika (minister of peace and war) and kumaramatya.