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Defence GK Questions 2026

Static GK carries most of the General Knowledge marks in the defence exams, and science carries the largest share of it. In NDA & NA, Physics, Chemistry and General Science are about half of the 400 marks of Part B, and History, the freedom movement and Geography are about 20% each, as per the notice. In the CDS (II) 2026 General Knowledge paper, GK24 counted about 37 science questions, about 20 each on Polity and History, about 15 on Geography and environment and about 10 on the Economy; this count is guidance, not an official break-up. The Army's Agniveer CEE gives 15 of its 50 General Duty questions to General Knowledge and 15 to General Science, which covers cells, the human body, plants and animals and common epidemics. Its GK list names history, culture and geography of India and its neighbours, the Constitution, inventions and discoveries, books and authors, and the Indian Armed Forces. This page holds GK24's topic-wise GK notes and GK questions tagged for NDA, CDS and Agniveer, in English and Hindi: General Science, Indian History, Art and Culture, Indian Polity, Geography, Indian Economy and Static GK. Read one topic at a sitting, then solve its questions and the previous-year questions of your exam to see what stayed with you.

Defence GK Questions with Answers

Q3541.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2018, GATEasy

Which one of the following statements about meristematic tissues in plants is correct ?

  1. A.These are dead tissues and form wood
  2. B.They provide flexibility to plant due to their thickened walls
  3. C.These are present in the bark of a tree only
  4. D.Growth occurs in plants due to division of cells of these tissues
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Growth occurs in plants due to division of cells of these tissues

Meristems are groups of actively dividing cells, and all new plant tissue comes from them. Meristematic cells are living, small and closely packed, with thin cellulose walls, dense cytoplasm, a large nucleus and few or no vacuoles.

Q3542.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2018, GATMedium

Which one of the following statements is not correct?

  1. A.All carbons in diamond are linked by carbon-carbon single bond.
  2. B.Graphite is layered structure in which layers are held together by weak van der Waals forces.
  3. C.Graphite layers are formed by hexagonal rings of carbon atoms.
  4. D.Graphite layers are held together by carbon-carbon single bond.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Graphite layers are held together by carbon-carbon single bond.

The layers of graphite are held only by weak van der Waals forces, not by covalent bonds. Diamond and graphite are allotropes of carbon.

Q3544.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2020, GATEasy

Which of the following statements is NOT correct regarding the travel of sound waves?

  1. A.Sound waves can travel through water
  2. B.Sound waves can travel through air
  3. C.Sound waves can travel through steel
  4. D.Sound waves can travel through vacuum
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Sound waves can travel through vacuum

Sound is a mechanical wave that needs a medium, so it cannot pass through empty space. Sound travels as a series of compressions and rarefactions passed from particle to particle of a medium.

Q3545.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2021, GATMedium

In a dicot pot herb, vaseline/vegetable oil was applied on the upper surface of one leaf (Experimental leaf 1) and on the lower surface of another leaf (Experimental leaf 2). Vaseline/Vegetable oil was not applied on the control leaf. The plant was deliberately not watered for several days. Which leaf will dry up last?

  1. A.Experimental leaf 1
  2. B.Experimental leaf 2
  3. C.Control leaf
  4. D.All the leaves will dry up simultaneously
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Experimental leaf 2

In a dicot leaf most stomata are on the lower surface, so coating that surface blocks most of the water loss and the leaf stays fresh the longest.

Q3547.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2022, GATEasy

Which one of the following is caused by a bacterial pathogen?

  1. A.AIDS
  2. B.Dengue fever
  3. C.COVID-19
  4. D.Typhoid fever
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Typhoid fever

Typhoid is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi; the other three are viral diseases. Salmonella typhi spreads through food and water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person, which is why typhoid is common where sanitation is poor.

Q3548.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2022, GATEasy

Which one of the following statements about animal cells and plant cells is correct?

  1. A.Animal cells have only cell membrane not cell wall, whereas plant cells have only cell wall not cell membrane.
  2. B.Animal cells have only cell membrane not cell wall, but plant cells have both.
  3. C.Both animal and plant cells have cell membrane and cell wall.
  4. D.Only some cells of animals have cell wall and all plant cells have cell membrane.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Animal cells have only cell membrane not cell wall, but plant cells have both.

Every living cell needs a cell membrane, and plant cells add a rigid cell wall outside it. The cell membrane, or plasma membrane, is the thin, selectively permeable boundary of every cell; it controls what enters and leaves.

Q3550.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2024, GATMedium

Which of the following statements regarding animal cell membrane is correct ?

  1. A.They are composed of phospholipids only.
  2. B.They are composed of proteins only.
  3. C.They are composed of phospholipids and proteins only.
  4. D.They are composed of phospholipids, proteins and cholesterol (lipid).
Show answer
Correct answer: D. They are composed of phospholipids, proteins and cholesterol (lipid).

The animal cell membrane is a phospholipid bilayer with proteins set in it and cholesterol between the lipid molecules. The fluid mosaic model of Singer and Nicolson (1972) describes the membrane as a double layer of phospholipids, whose water-loving heads face outward and water-fearing tails face inward.

Q3553.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2025, GATMedium

Suppose, a ball of mass M is thrown upwards from a point A and it reaches up to the highest point B and returns back to point A, which one among the following is correct?

  1. A.Kinetic Energy at A = Potential Energy at B
  2. B.Kinetic Energy at A = Potential Energy at A
  3. C.Kinetic Energy at B = Potential Energy at B
  4. D.Kinetic Energy at B = Kinetic Energy at A
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Kinetic Energy at A = Potential Energy at B

Taking A as the reference level and ignoring air resistance, all the kinetic energy given at A turns into potential energy at the top, B. Mechanical energy is conserved when only gravity does work.

Q3555.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2026, GATHard

Consider the following statements regarding oxidation numbers : I. The oxidation number of oxygen in peroxides and superoxides is assigned as -1 and -1/2 respectively. II. In all its compounds, fluorine has an oxidation number of -1. III. In a reduction half-reaction, the oxidation number of the reductant decreases. Which of the statements given above are correct?

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

Statements I and II are standard rules for oxidation numbers, but Statement III reverses what happens to a reducing agent.

Q3557.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2017, GATEasy

Melanin is the natural pigment that gives colour to human skin, hair and the iris. It provides protection against

  1. A.Ultraviolet radiation
  2. B.Infrared radiation
  3. C.X-ray radiation
  4. D.Short wave radio radiation
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Ultraviolet radiation

Melanin absorbs the ultraviolet rays of sunlight and shields the DNA of skin cells from damage. Melanin is made by cells called melanocytes in the lower layer of the epidermis.

Q3558.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2018, GATEasy

Which one of the following is the correct sequence of levels of hierarchy of classification of organisms from higher to lower ?

  1. A.Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus
  2. B.Phylum - Class - Family - Order - Genus
  3. C.Family - Order - Class - Species - Genus
  4. D.Class - Family - Order - Species - Genus
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus

This is the order of the taxonomic ranks from the broader group to the narrower one. The full hierarchy set out by Linnaeus and used today runs Kingdom, Phylum (Division in plants), Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.

Q3559.General ScienceAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2018, GATMedium

Which one of the following is a tribasic acid?

  1. A.Hydrochloric acid
  2. B.Nitric acid
  3. C.Sulphuric acid
  4. D.Phosphoric acid
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Phosphoric acid

Orthophosphoric acid, H 3 PO 4, has three replaceable hydrogen ions, so it is tribasic. The basicity of an acid is the number of hydrogen ions one molecule can give up in water.

GK Questions for sub-exams