Previous-year questions are the most reliable guide to the CDS General Knowledge paper, because the syllabus in the notice is one paragraph long and the paper is not. UPSC uploads the question papers of every CDS on upsc.gov.in the day after the exam, so a full record of what was asked exists for each cycle. Reading them shows the weight of each area, the depth UPSC expects in Polity, History, Geography, Economy and Science, and the question forms it prefers: statements with "which of the above are correct", "how many of the following pairs are correctly matched", match the lists, and arrange in chronological order. Many topics return: writs and constitutional bodies, dynasties and reform movements, Ramsar sites and World Heritage sites, budget and balance-of-payments terms, and school science applied to everyday situations. This page collects CDS previous-year General Knowledge questions in English and Hindi, each with the correct answer, an explanation and the topic it belongs to, so that a question leads you to the GK note that covers it. Use them in three passes: untimed to learn, timed to build speed, and a week later to revisit your wrong answers.
The right to form associations and unions is a right
The right to form associations or unions is part of Article 19, and Article 19 rights belong only to citizens of India.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements with regard to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is not correct?
It is not correct, because the President causes the Commission's reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, not only before the Lok Sabha.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with regard to the conduct of elections in India is/are not correct? 1. The responsibility for the preparation of the electoral rolls is vested in the Election Commission of India. 2. The Model Code of Conduct comes into existence as soon as the date of the election is announced. 3. The laws relating to delimitation of constituencies are made by the Election Commission of India. 4. No election shall be called in question except by an election petition. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Statement 3 is the only incorrect one, because laws on the delimitation of constituencies are made by Parliament, not by the Election Commission.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is not included in the National Air Quality Index?
Methane is not one of the pollutants used to calculate India's National Air Quality Index. The National Air Quality Index was launched in 2014 under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and is run by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Read the full explanation →According to the law of diminishing marginal utility, as the amount of a good consumed increases, the marginal utility of that good tends to
Each extra unit of a good gives a consumer less additional satisfaction than the unit before it, so marginal utility falls as consumption rises.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements with regard to the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India is not correct?
It is not correct, because Article 31B says the opposite: an Act placed in the Ninth Schedule shall not become void merely because it is inconsistent with a fundamental right in Part III.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about impact of tax : 1. A tax is shifted forward to consumers if the demand is inelastic relative to supply. 2. A tax is shifted backward to producers if the supply is relatively more inelastic than demand. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The burden of a tax falls more heavily on whichever side of the market is less elastic, the side that cannot easily walk away.
Read the full explanation →The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India pertains to the administration of tribal areas in which of the following States?
The Sixth Schedule covers the administration of tribal areas in exactly these four north-eastern states.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is not true about the powers of the Supreme Court?
The power to issue writs for fundamental rights is not exclusive to the Supreme Court, because High Courts also issue writs under Article 226.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the Elephanta Island is correct?
The Elephanta caves are Shaiva rock-cut shrines, and their imagery is linked by scholars to the Pashupata order of Shiva worshippers.
Read the full explanation →UBI, as an alternative for subsidies in poverty alleviation, stands for
UBI is the idea of paying every citizen a fixed sum of money regularly, without conditions, in place of a large number of separate subsidies and welfare schemes.
Read the full explanation →Who is the author of Manimekalai?
Manimekalai, one of the five great epics of Tamil literature, was written by Sithalai Sathanar, a grain merchant of Madurai, in the post-Sangam period.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following are constitutional provisions and laws for the protection of the rights of the Scheduled Castes in India? 1. Article 17 of the Constitution of India 2. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 3. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Select the correct answer using the code given below.
All three protect the rights of the Scheduled Castes: one is a provision of the Constitution and two are laws made by Parliament to give it effect.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Preamble of the Indian Constitution? 1. The Preamble by itself is not enforceable in a Court of Law. 2. The Preamble states the objectives which the Constitution seeks to establish and promote. 3. The Preamble indicates the source from which the Constitution derives its authority. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
All three statements describe the Preamble correctly. Statement 1 is correct: the Preamble is not a source of power and cannot by itself be enforced in a court; it is used to interpret the Constitution where the words of an Article are unclear.
Read the full explanation →The Ryotwari experiment in land revenue was started by
Captain Alexander Read (the name is also spelt Reed) began the Ryotwari experiment in 1792 in the Baramahal region, which the Company had taken from Tipu Sultan, with Thomas Munro as one of his assistants.
Read the full explanation →Who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts?
Prinsep, an official of the East India Company's mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, deciphered the Brahmi script in 1837 and also made the key breakthrough in reading Kharoshthi.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following is the Chairman of the Fourteenth Finance Commission?
The Fourteenth Finance Commission, set up in 2013 for the award period 2015-2020, was chaired by Y. V. Reddy, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the Justice Party is not correct?
The Justice Party did not join the Congress boycott of the 1920 elections; it contested them, won a majority in the Madras Legislative Council and formed the first ministry under the new reforms.
Read the full explanation →The first BRICS Summit, after the inclusion of South Africa, was held at
South Africa joined the group in late 2010, turning BRIC into BRICS, and its first summit as a member was the third summit of the group, held at Sanya on Hainan Island in China in April 2011.
Read the full explanation →Which organization was started at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela in 1915?
The All-India Hindu Mahasabha held its founding session at Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela of 1915, bringing together the provincial Hindu Sabhas that had grown up, first in Punjab, since 1909.
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