Static general knowledge makes up about 90% of Part B of the NDA General Ability Test, about 360 of its 400 marks. The NDA & NA (II) 2026 notice divides it into five sections: Physics (about 25%), Chemistry (about 15%), General Science (about 10%), History, Freedom Movement etc. (about 20%) and Geography (about 20%). Half of Part B is science. Physics covers matter, motion, gravitation, heat, sound, light, magnetism, electricity and the working of everyday devices such as the siphon, pressure cooker, periscope and safety fuse. Chemistry covers changes of matter, elements and compounds, common gases, acids, bases and salts, carbon, fertilizers and the materials used to make soap, glass, cement and gunpowder. General Science covers cells, the human body, diseases, diet, the solar system and eminent scientists. Section D spans Indian history and culture, the freedom movement, the Constitution, Five Year Plans, Panchayati Raj and world history from the Renaissance to the Russian Revolution. Geography covers the Earth, rocks, oceans, the atmosphere and climate, and India's resources, industries, ports and trade. This page holds GK24's topic-wise GK notes for NDA, in English and Hindi, written as short facts and tables. Read a topic, then solve its quiz and previous-year questions on this site.
Chandrayaan-1 and the Mars Orbiter Mission were both launched by which vehicle?
Chandrayaan-1 went up on PSLV-C11 in October 2008 and the Mars Orbiter Mission on PSLV-C25 in November 2013, both in the extended PSLV-XL configuration with six long strap-on motors.
Read the full explanation →In the GSLV Mk II, which stage is the cryogenic stage?
The GSLV has three stages: a solid core first stage with four liquid strap-on motors, a liquid second stage using a Vikas engine, and a cryogenic upper stage that burns liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen.
Read the full explanation →How many stages does the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) have?
The PSLV is unusual in alternating propellants between its stages: the first and third stages burn solid propellant and the second and fourth burn liquid propellant.
Read the full explanation →Which was the first Indian launch vehicle to place a satellite in orbit, and which satellite did it carry?
On 18 July 1980 the four-stage, all-solid SLV-3 placed the small Rohini RS-1 satellite in a low earth orbit from Sriharikota, and India became the sixth nation able to launch its own satellite.
Read the full explanation →Chandrayaan-3 was placed in orbit by which Indian launch vehicle?
Chandrayaan-3 weighed close to 3,900 kg at lift-off, far beyond the reach of any lighter Indian rocket, so it flew on LVM3, the vehicle earlier named GSLV Mk III.
Read the full explanation →The Barabar caves near Gaya, among the earliest rock-cut caves in India, were granted by the Mauryas to which sect?
The dedicatory inscriptions in the Barabar hills record the gift of the caves by Ashoka, and of the nearby Nagarjuni caves by his grandson Dasharatha, to the Ajivikas, an ascetic sect founded by Makkhali Gosala that taught a strict doctrine of destiny.
Read the full explanation →The Third Buddhist Council, held at Pataliputra during Ashoka's reign, was presided over by
Buddhist tradition places the Third Council at Pataliputra in Ashoka's reign under the presidency of Moggaliputta Tissa, who is credited with settling disputes in the order and with the compilation of the Kathavatthu, a work of the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Read the full explanation →The Sudarshana lake, built in the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, is known from the inscription of
The Junagadh rock inscription of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman, the earliest long inscription in polished Sanskrit, records that the embankment of the Sudarshana lake in Saurashtra was originally built by Pushyagupta, a governor of Chandragupta Maurya, and that conduits were added by Tushaspha in Ashoka's reign; it then describes the…
Read the full explanation →Who was the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty?
He was the last of the Mauryas and was killed about 185 BCE by his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Sunga, who then founded the Sunga dynasty with its capital at Pataliputra.
Read the full explanation →Ashoka's personal name is found in which of the following inscriptions?
Almost all of Ashoka's inscriptions call him only Devanampiya Piyadasi, the beloved of the gods, of amiable appearance.
Read the full explanation →In Mauryan administration, the officer described as the chief collector of revenue was the
In the Arthashastra the Samaharta is the officer in charge of assessing and collecting the revenue of the realm from land, mines, forests, trade routes and city dues, and of keeping the accounts of income and expenditure on which the state ran.
Read the full explanation →The Lion Capital adopted as the State Emblem of India was originally erected by Ashoka at
The Sarnath capital has four lions standing back to back on an abacus that carries an elephant, a bull, a horse and a lion separated by wheels, the whole resting on an inverted lotus.
Read the full explanation →The Brahmi script of the Ashokan inscriptions was deciphered in 1837 by
Prinsep, an official of the mint at Calcutta and secretary of the Asiatic Society, worked out the values of the Brahmi letters in 1837 and so made Ashoka's edicts readable.
Read the full explanation →The Kalinga war and its aftermath are described in which of Ashoka's inscriptions?
It is the longest of the fourteen major rock edicts and the only source in Ashoka's own words for the war on Kalinga, the number of people killed, deported and dead of other causes, and the remorse that turned him from conquest by arms to conquest by Dhamma.
Read the full explanation →Who was sent by Seleucus Nicator as his ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya?
After the treaty of about 305 BCE between Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus Nicator, the Greek ruler sent Megasthenes to Pataliputra as his ambassador.
Read the full explanation →Which jet stream develops over the Indian peninsula during the season of the south-west monsoon?
In summer, as the subtropical westerly jet withdraws to the north of the plateau of Tibet, an easterly jet stream forms in the upper air over peninsular India and blows from east to west.
Read the full explanation →The belt of low pressure and calm air lying along the equator is known as the
Strong heating at the equator makes the air expand and rise, so surface pressure is low and horizontal winds are weak; sailing ships were often becalmed there.
Read the full explanation →Which cold local wind blows down the Rhone valley of France towards the Mediterranean?
It is a cold, dry and often violent wind that blows from the north down the Rhone valley of southern France to the Gulf of Lion, chilling the coast and damaging crops, which is why orchards there are protected by lines of trees and walls.
Read the full explanation →The deflection of winds to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere is stated as
It states the deflection produced by the rotation of the earth, the Coriolis effect, which turns every freely moving body to the right of its path in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern.
Read the full explanation →The hot and dry wind that blows over the northern plains of India in May and June is called
It is a strong, hot and dry wind that blows during the day over the plains of north India and Pakistan in the peak of summer, raising temperatures sharply and causing heat stroke, and it dies down after sunset.
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