Skip to content
GK24

CDS Previous Year GK Questions

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.

Previous Year Questions

Q642.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKEasy

Tsunami waves are the undersea occurrence of earthquake exceeding 7.5 on Richter scale. Which one of the following statements regarding this is not correct?

  1. A.It often generates strong waves.
  2. B.The Pacific coasts are most vulnerable to Tsunami waves.
  3. C.Tsunami waves are also called high-energy tidal waves or seismic sea waves.
  4. D.Tsunami is a Latin word.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Tsunami is a Latin word.

The statement is not correct because tsunami is a Japanese word, from tsu (harbour) and nami (wave), meaning a harbour wave.

Q644.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKMedium

A wire of copper having length l and area of cross-section A is taken and a current I is flown through it. The power dissipated in the wire is P. If we take an aluminium wire having same dimensions and pass the same current through it, the power dissipated will be

  1. A.P
  2. B.< P
  3. C.> P
  4. D.2P
Show answer
Correct answer: C. > P

The power turned into heat in a wire carrying a current I is P = I²R, and the resistance of a wire is R = ρl/A, where ρ is the resistivity of its material.

Q645.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2018, GKHard

Which one of the following is the correct ascending sequence of States with regard to percentage of urban population (2011)?

  1. A.Tamil Nadu—Mizoram—Goa—Maharashtra
  2. B.Goa—Mizoram—Maharashtra—Kerala
  3. C.Maharashtra—Kerala—Mizoram—Goa
  4. D.Mizoram—Goa—Maharashtra—Kerala
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Maharashtra—Kerala—Mizoram—Goa

According to Census 2011, the share of people living in urban areas was about 45.2 per cent in Maharashtra, 47.7 per cent in Kerala, 52.1 per cent in Mizoram and 62.2 per cent in Goa, so this order runs from lowest to highest.

Q647.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2019, GKHard

Statement I : The Oudh Kisan Sabha established in 1920 failed to bring under its wing any Kisan Sabhas. Statement II : The Oudh Kisan Sabha asked the Kisans to refuse to till bedakhli land, not to offer hari and begar.

  1. A.Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I
  2. B.Both the statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I
  3. C.Statement I is true but Statement II is false
  4. D.Statement I is false but Statement II is true
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Statement I is false but Statement II is true

The Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up in October 1920 at Pratapgarh by Baba Ramchandra, Gauri Shankar Misra, Jawaharlal Nehru and others, to unite the tenants of Awadh against high rents, illegal cesses and eviction by taluqdars.

Q648.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2020, GKMedium

The 'Tattvabodhini Sabha' was established by

  1. A.Devendranath Tagore in 1839
  2. B.Keshab Chandra Sen in 1857
  3. C.Akshay Kumar Datta in 1850
  4. D.Dwarakanath Tagore in 1840
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Devendranath Tagore in 1839

Debendranath (Devendranath) Tagore founded the Tattvabodhini Sabha in Calcutta in 1839 to spread the monotheistic ideas of Raja Rammohan Roy and the study of the Upanishads.

Q653.Indian EconomyAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKHard

Under normal downward sloping demand curve and fully elastic supply curve of a commodity, an exogenous decrease in demand would lead to

  1. A.increase in equilibrium price and quantity
  2. B.decrease in equilibrium price and quantity
  3. C.decrease in equilibrium quantity and no change in price
  4. D.increase in equilibrium price and no change in quantity
Show answer
Correct answer: C. decrease in equilibrium quantity and no change in price

A fully (perfectly) elastic supply curve is a horizontal line: sellers will supply any quantity at one fixed price and nothing below it.

Q654.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2025, GKEasy

Myopia is also known as :

  1. A.Far-sightedness
  2. B.Near-sightedness
  3. C.Cataract
  4. D.Presbyopia
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Near-sightedness

A person with myopia sees nearby objects clearly but finds distant objects blurred, which is why the defect is called near-sightedness or short-sightedness.

Q655.Books & AuthorsAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2025, GKMedium

The book 'The Art of War' was written by :

  1. A.Niccolo Machiavelli
  2. B.Thucydides
  3. C.Thomas Hobbes
  4. D.J.S. Mill
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Niccolo Machiavelli

Among the four thinkers listed, Machiavelli is the one who wrote a work called The Art of War (Dell'arte della guerra), published in Florence in 1521.

Q656.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2026, GKEasy

The mass of one mole of a substance in grams is called its

  1. A.Kilo-gram mass
  2. B.Gram-mass
  3. C.Molar-mass
  4. D.All the above
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Molar-mass

The mass of one mole of any substance, expressed in grams, is by definition its molar mass. One mole contains the Avogadro number of particles, about 6.022 × 10 23, so the molar mass links the mass we can weigh to the number of atoms or molecules present.

All Defence previous year questions