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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

Q902.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2018, GKEasy

Which one of the following is a west-flowing river?

  1. A.Mahanadi
  2. B.Godavari
  3. C.Krishna
  4. D.Narmada
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Narmada

The Narmada flows west through a rift valley and falls into the Arabian Sea. The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and flows west for about 1,300 km between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, along a rift valley formed by faulting.

Q903.Static GKAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

Which one of the following issues was included in the Indo-US Nuclear Agreement of 2007?

  1. A.India has 'advance right to reprocess' US-origin safeguarded spent fuel.
  2. B.India did not have the right to build a strategic fuel reserve with the help of the other supplier countries.
  3. C.India should not test a nuclear device.
  4. D.The US will impede the growth of India's nuclear weapons programme.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. India has 'advance right to reprocess' US-origin safeguarded spent fuel.

. The 123 Agreement finalised in 2007 gave India advance consent to reprocess US-origin spent fuel at a new safeguarded facility.

Q908.Awards & HonoursAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2022, GKMedium

Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Nilamoni Phukan Jr. is the 56th Jnanpith Award winner. 2. Damodar Mauzo is the 57th Jnanpith Award winner. Select the correct answer using the code given below :

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Both 1 and 2

The Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan received the 56th Jnanpith Award and the Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo the 57th; both were announced together in December 2021.

Q909.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2023, GKHard

Name the location of the musical inscription containing groups of musical notes arranged for the benefit of his pupils by a king in the seventh or eighth century CE.

  1. A.Ennayiram
  2. B.Uttaramerur
  3. C.Siyyamangalam
  4. D.Kudumiyamalai
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Kudumiyamalai

The rock inscription at Kudumiyamalai records groups of musical notes set out by a king for his pupils. Kudumiyamalai is in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu.

Q910.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2023, GKMedium

Which of the following pairs of Isolines and its properties are correctly matched ? 1. Isonif : Snowfall 2. Isohel : Sunshine 3. Isohaline : Salinity 4. Isohypse : Cloudiness Select the correct answer using the code given below :

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

Isonif, isohel and isohaline are matched correctly; an isohypse joins places of equal height, not equal cloudiness. An isoline joins points on a map that have the same value of something.

Q911.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKEasy

On which among the following is National Waterway No. 2 situated?

  1. A.The Ganga, Haldia-Prayagraj
  2. B.West Coast Canal, Kottapuram-Kollam
  3. C.The Brahmaputra, Sadiya-Dhubri
  4. D.Godavari and Krishna, Kakinada-Puducherry
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Brahmaputra, Sadiya-Dhubri

National Waterway 2 is the 891 km stretch of the Brahmaputra between Sadiya and Dhubri in Assam. It was declared a national waterway in 1988 and is managed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, set up in 1986 with its headquarters at Noida.

Q912.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2025, GKMedium

Which one among the following pairs of Subjects and Lists under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India is not correctly matched ?

  1. A.Forest : Concurrent List
  2. B.Taxes on land and building : State List
  3. C.Insurance : Union List
  4. D.Census : Concurrent List
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Census : Concurrent List

Census is entry 69 of the Union List, so placing it in the Concurrent List is the wrong pair. The Seventh Schedule divides legislative subjects among the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List under Article 246.

Q914.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2026, GKMedium

The term 'Pendentive' refers to which form of Indian architecture ?

  1. A.A building/temple which tends to be broader and shorter than Latina type
  2. B.A triangular bracket in the angle of two walls, connecting the base of the dome to its supporting arches
  3. C.Drum house from where ceremonial music was played which was usually situated over the gate
  4. D.Many curves in an arch
Show answer
Correct answer: B. A triangular bracket in the angle of two walls, connecting the base of the dome to its supporting arches

A pendentive is the curved triangular piece in the corner of a square room that carries the round base of a dome down onto the arches below.

Q915.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKEasy

Light travels in a straight line (rectilinear propagation of light). This statement does hold if the medium of travel for light is

  1. A.of variable refractive index
  2. B.made up of slabs of different refractive indices
  3. C.homogeneous and transparent
  4. D.inhomogeneous and transparent
Show answer
Correct answer: C. homogeneous and transparent

Light keeps to a straight line only while its speed stays the same, which happens in a homogeneous, transparent medium.

Q916.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKMedium

Which one of the following statements is not correct?

  1. A.The cathode rays originate from cathode and proceed towards the anode in a cathode-ray discharge tube.
  2. B.The television picture tubes are nothing but cathode-ray tubes.
  3. C.The cathode rays themselves are not visible.
  4. D.The characteristics of cathode rays depend upon the nature of the gas present in the cathode-ray tube.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The characteristics of cathode rays depend upon the nature of the gas present in the cathode-ray tube.

. Cathode rays behave the same whatever gas is in the tube, so the statement that they depend on the gas is not correct.

Q917.Awards & HonoursAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2017, GKMedium

Who among the following is the recipient of the Jnanpith Award, 2016?

  1. A.Shankha Ghosh
  2. B.Raghuveer Chaudhari
  3. C.Pratibha Ray
  4. D.Rehman Rahi
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Shankha Ghosh

The Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh received the 52nd Jnanpith Award, for the year 2016. The Jnanpith Award is given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith trust for an outstanding contribution to literature in Indian languages, and is India's highest literary honour.

Q918.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2018, GKMedium

Which one of the following was not a part of the strategies followed by the Government of India to increase food grain production in India immediately after Independence?

  1. A.Intensification of cropping over already cultivated land
  2. B.Increasing cultivable area by bringing cultivable and fallow land under plough
  3. C.Using high-yielding varieties (HYV) seeds
  4. D.Switching over from cash crops to food crops
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Using high-yielding varieties (HYV) seeds

High-yielding variety seeds came only in the mid-1960s with the Green Revolution, not immediately after Independence. After Partition, India lost much of its irrigated wheat and rice land to Pakistan and faced food shortages.

Q919.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

Which one of the following developments took place because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

  1. A.The Missouri Compromise was repealed and people of Kansas and Nebraska were allowed to determine whether they should own slaves or not.
  2. B.The Act did not permit the territories the right to vote over the question of slavery.
  3. C.The voice of the majority in regard to the issue of slavery was muzzled.
  4. D.The Federal Government had the sole authority to decide on slavery.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Missouri Compromise was repealed and people of Kansas and Nebraska were allowed to determine whether they should own slaves or not.

. The Act set aside the Missouri Compromise and let the settlers of the two territories decide on slavery by vote.