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 land territories of Indonesia is not touched by the Equator ?
Java lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere, roughly between 6° S and 9° S, so the Equator does not pass over it.
Read the full explanation →The duration of monsoon in India extends for an average period of
The south-west monsoon usually lasts about 100 to 120 days, from early June to about mid-September. The monsoon reaches the Kerala coast around 1 June and spreads over almost the whole country by early to mid-July.
Read the full explanation →At which one of the following places was a Shiva temple not constructed under the patronage of the Chola rulers?
Naneghat is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, known for Satavahana cave inscriptions, not for a Chola Shiva temple.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following tissues is known as basic packing tissue and found in xylem and phloem ?
Parenchyma is the basic packing tissue of plants, and it is also present in both xylem (xylem parenchyma) and phloem (phloem parenchyma).
Read the full explanation →While watching news, you hear about a place, of which you had never heard of earlier. You want to know more about the place and you want to locate it on the map. Which of the following is/are required for you to be able to locate the place on the map?
A point on a map is fixed where its line of latitude crosses its line of longitude, so both values are needed and enough.
Read the full explanation →Which among the following is the correct arrangement of halogens in the increasing order of their oxidizing nature ?
Oxidising power of the halogens falls as we go down group 17, so iodine is the weakest and fluorine the strongest oxidising agent.
Read the full explanation →Identify the Iron and Steel Plant on the basis of the given characteristics : 1. It receives coal from Jharia and iron-ore from Sundargarh and Kendujhar. 2. Power for the electric furnaces is procured from Hirakund. 3. Water is obtained from Koel and Sankh rivers. Select the correct Iron and Steel Plant from the options given below :
Rourkela in Sundargarh district of Odisha matches all three clues: Jharia coal, Sundargarh and Kendujhar iron ore, Hirakud power and water from the Koel and Sankh.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following fertilizers is a source of nitrogen ?
Urea, CO(NH2)2, contains about 46 per cent nitrogen, the highest of any common solid fertiliser, and is the main nitrogen fertiliser used in India.
Read the full explanation →A chain of peptide containing linear sequences of amino acid linked by peptide bonds best represent the
The primary structure of a protein is simply the linear order of amino acids joined one after another by peptide bonds.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements is NOT correct ?
This statement is false: diamond is an electrical insulator because it has no free electrons. In diamond, every carbon atom uses all four of its valence electrons to form strong covalent bonds with four other carbon atoms in a rigid three-dimensional network.
Read the full explanation →As per the land-use categories in the Land Revenue Records of India, "a cultivable land which is left uncultivated for more than a year but less than 5 years" is called
Land left uncultivated for more than one year but less than five years falls in this category of the land revenue records.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements with regard to economic models is not correct ?
This is false: an economic model can be stated in words, shown in diagrams or graphs, or written as equations.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following groups of cities does not have Sclerophyll as its natural vegetation cover?
Neither has a Mediterranean climate, so neither has sclerophyll vegetation. Sclerophyll means 'hard leaf'.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is considered as the deepest point of the oceans?
Its Challenger Deep, about 10,900 metres (nearly 11 km) below sea level, is the deepest known point of the oceans.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with regard to the creation of a new state or alteration of boundaries of states is/are correct ?
1. An amendment has to be moved in the Parliament under Article 368 of the Constitution of India.
2. Ratification by one half of the states is necessary after the amendment is made by the Parliament.
3. The legislation can be passed by a simple majority of both Houses of Parliament.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
A new state is created, or a state's boundaries changed, by an ordinary law of Parliament under Article 3, passed by a simple majority.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is not correct in respect of Directorate of Enforcement ?
This statement is wrong: the Benami law is enforced by the Income Tax Department, not the ED. The Directorate of Enforcement, set up in 1956, is a specialised financial investigation agency under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance, with its headquarters in New Delhi.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements:
1. In the 19th century, peasants in various parts of India rose in revolt against moneylenders and grain dealers.
2. In May 1875, at village Supa in Poona District in the Bombay Deccan, peasants attacked shopkeepers, burnt the bahi khatas (account books), looted grain shops and set fire to the houses of Sahukars.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Peasant risings against moneylenders were common in the 19th century, and the Deccan Riots began at Supa in May 1875.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following indicators is included in the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)?
It is one of the two education indicators in NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index. The national MPI measures deprivation, not income, across three equally weighted dimensions: health, education and standard of living.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements regarding poverty in India :
1. While determining poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirements, etc. are determined for subsistence.
2. The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Both statements describe the standard method used to draw India's poverty line. A poverty line is the income or spending needed to meet basic needs.
Read the full explanation →From which among the following are blood clotting factors released?
Platelets, or thrombocytes, release the factors that start blood clotting at a wound. Platelets are tiny cell fragments made from large cells called megakaryocytes in the bone marrow; a healthy adult has about 1.5 to 4.5 lakh of them per cubic millimetre of blood.
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