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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

Q1642.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKMedium

A photon of X-ray has energy of 1 keV. A photon of visible radiation has energy of 3 eV. In this context, which one of the following statements is not correct?

  1. A.The wavelength of X-ray photon is less than the wavelength of visible radiation photon.
  2. B.Both the photons have different energies.
  3. C.The speeds of both the photons in vacuum are different.
  4. D.The frequency of X-ray photon is higher than the frequency of visible radiation photon.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The speeds of both the photons in vacuum are different.

This statement is wrong because every photon, whatever its energy, travels in vacuum at the same speed of light, about 3 × 10^8 metres per second.

Q1643.Indian EconomyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2017, GKEasy

The phenomenon of 'demographic dividend' of a country relates to

  1. A.a sharp decline in total population
  2. B.an increase in working age population
  3. C.a decline in infant mortality rate
  4. D.an increase in sex ratio
Show answer
Correct answer: B. an increase in working age population

A demographic dividend is the boost to economic growth that a country can get when the share of people of working age, roughly 15 to 64 years, rises above the share of dependants, children and the elderly.

Q1644.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKEasy

Which of the following substances cause temporary hardness in water?

1. Mg(HCO3)2

2. Ca(HCO3)2

3. CaCl2

4. MgSO4

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

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

Temporary hardness is caused by the bicarbonates of magnesium and calcium, Mg(HCO3)2 and Ca(HCO3)2. It is called temporary because simple boiling removes it: on heating, the soluble bicarbonates break down into insoluble carbonate or hydroxide, carbon dioxide and water, and the solid settles out.

Q1645.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2018, GKHard

When a convex lens produces a real image of an object, the minimum distance between the object and image is equal to

  1. A.the focal length of the convex lens
  2. B.twice the focal length of the convex lens
  3. C.four times the focal length of the convex lens
  4. D.one half of the focal length of the convex lens
Show answer
Correct answer: C. four times the focal length of the convex lens

The gap between an object and its real image is smallest when the object is placed at 2F, twice the focal length from the lens.

Q1646.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

Which European traveller had observed, "A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers"?

  1. A.Francois Bernier
  2. B.Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
  3. C.Thomas Roe
  4. D.Abbe J. A. Dubois
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Abbe J. A. Dubois

The remark comes from Abbé Jean-Antoine Dubois, a French Catholic missionary who lived in south India, mostly in Mysore, from 1792 to 1823.

Q1648.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2021, GKMedium

Which one of the following scholars of Akbar's court translated Bhaskaracharya's Lilavati into Persian?

  1. A.Abul Fazl
  2. B.Faizi
  3. C.Fathullah Shirazi
  4. D.Ataullah Rashidi
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Faizi

Faizi, Akbar's poet laureate and the elder brother of Abul Fazl, translated the Lilavati into Persian in 1587. The Lilavati is the arithmetic part of the Siddhanta Shiromani, written by the mathematician Bhaskaracharya (Bhaskara II) in the twelfth century, and it covers numbers, fractions, progressions and measurement.

Q1651.Books & AuthorsAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKHard

Which one of the following is not the work of Ashvaghosha ?

  1. A.Sariputraprakarana
  2. B.Buddhacharita
  3. C.Saundarananda
  4. D.Manjushrimulakalpa
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Manjushrimulakalpa

It is a later Mahayana Buddhist text of ritual and prophecy, not a work of Ashvaghosha. Ashvaghosha was a Buddhist poet, dramatist and philosopher of the first–second century CE, linked by tradition to the court of the Kushana king Kanishka.

Q1653.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKMedium

Consider the following statements :

1. In India, the Special Marriage Act protects an individual if one enters into an interreligious marriage.

2. Right to marry a person of one's choice is an integral aspect of one's Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

3. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also resonates marital rights of every adult consenting individuals.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

All three statements are correct. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 lets any two Indians marry by civil registration whatever their religion, without either partner having to convert, so it is the law that covers inter-religious marriages.

Q1657.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2026, GKHard

Which of the pairs of Ashokan inscription and location is/are correctly matched ?

1. Jaugada : Karnataka

2. Bahapur : New Delhi

3. Rajula-Mandagiri : Andhra Pradesh

Select the answer using the codes given below :

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

Jaugada is in Odisha, not Karnataka, so only pairs 2 and 3 are right. Jaugada, in Ganjam district of Odisha, is one of the two places, with Dhauli, that carry Ashoka's Separate Kalinga Edicts.

Q1659.Indian PolityHard

In which case did the Supreme Court recognise a living will, or advance medical directive, as part of the right to die with dignity?

  1. A.Aruna Shanbaug versus Union of India, 2011
  2. B.Common Cause versus Union of India, 2018
  3. C.Gian Kaur versus State of Punjab, 1996
  4. D.P. Rathinam versus Union of India, 1994
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Common Cause versus Union of India, 2018

A Constitution Bench held that the right to die with dignity is part of the right to life under Article 21, and that an adult of sound mind may draw up an advance directive, popularly called a living will, refusing life support if he later becomes terminally ill or goes…

Q1660.Indian PolityMedium

Hussainara Khatoon versus State of Bihar, 1979, is associated with which right under Article 21?

  1. A.Right to a speedy trial
  2. B.Right to privacy
  3. C.Right to shelter
  4. D.Right to a clean environment
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Right to a speedy trial

The petition, India's first reported public interest litigation, brought to light thousands of undertrial prisoners in Bihar jails who had been locked up longer than the maximum sentence for their alleged offence.