Defence 2021 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B, mitochondria and plastids. Both carry a small circular DNA of their own and their own 70S ribosomes, so they make a part of their protein themselves and divide independently of the cell; this semi-autonomous nature is the main evidence for the view that they descend from free-living bacteria engulfed by an early cell. Option A is wrong because the Golgi body and the endoplasmic reticulum are membrane systems that modify and transport material and carry no genetic matter of their own; the rough endoplasmic reticulum merely holds ribosomes on its outer surface. Option C is wrong because the lysosome is only a sac of digestive enzymes and the Golgi body, as stated, has no DNA. Option D is wrong because the vacuole is a storage sac bounded by the tonoplast and has no DNA, even though its partner in the option, the plastid, does. Remember the pair as the two power organelles of the cell.

The correct answer is C, Telangana. The Kaleshwaram project lifts water from the Godavari near the confluence of the Godavari and the Pranahita and carries it through a chain of barrages, pump houses, tunnels and canals to the drier districts of Telangana; it is described as a multi-stage lift irrigation scheme rather than a single storage dam. Option A is wrong because Kerala’s largest irrigation and power works are on the Periyar, such as the Idukki arch dam. Option B is wrong because Gujarat’s major project is the Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada. Option D is wrong because Maharashtra’s best-known works are Koyna on the Koyna river and Ukai lies in Gujarat on the Tapi. For this topic remember the pairing of state, river and type of structure, since that is exactly what the question tests.

The correct answer is B, it slows down and bends towards the normal. A denser medium has a higher refractive index, and the refractive index is the speed of light in vacuum divided by its speed in the medium, so light must travel more slowly inside it. When the ray meets the surface at an angle, the part of the wavefront that enters first is slowed first, which swings the ray towards the normal. Air to glass and air to water are the standard examples.

Option A takes the correct change of speed with the wrong bending. Option C describes what happens in the opposite case, when light passes from a denser medium to a rarer one. Option D combines two errors at once. A ray that falls along the normal is a special case and passes straight through without bending, though its speed still changes.

The correct answer is The Council of Ministers. A no-confidence motion tests whether the government still has the support of the Lok Sabha, and because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to that House under Article 75(3), the motion is moved against the Council as a whole, never against a single minister. It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha, needs the support of at least 50 members to be admitted and does not have to state reasons. If it is passed, the whole Council must resign.

An individual minister cannot be targeted by a no-confidence motion; Parliament can express disapproval of a minister's policy through a censure motion, which must give reasons. The Prime Minister is not singled out either: the motion is against the government the Prime Minister leads. A political party is not answerable to the House at all. The first no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha was moved in 1963 against Jawaharlal Nehru's government by Acharya J.B. Kripalani, and it was defeated.

The correct answer is B, Roasting. Roasting means heating a sulphide ore strongly in plenty of air, so that the sulphide turns into an oxide and the sulphur escapes as sulphur dioxide gas. The standard example is zinc blende: 2ZnS + 3O2 gives 2ZnO + 2SO2. An oxide is easier to reduce to the metal with carbon, which is why ores of zinc, lead and copper first pass through this step. Remember the key contrast: roasting uses excess air and suits sulphide ores, while calcination uses limited or no air and suits carbonate ores. A is wrong, because calcination heats carbonate ores such as calamine in limited air, as when ZnCO3 gives ZnO and CO2. C is wrong, because smelting is the later step in which the oxide is reduced to metal in a furnace with a reducing agent and a flux. D is wrong, because incineration is burning waste at a high temperature, not a step in extracting metals. Exam tip: sulphide ore, roasting, excess air; carbonate ore, calcination, little or no air.

The correct answer is C, Bhabar. When rivers leave the Himalayas and reach the plains, their speed drops suddenly and they drop the heaviest load first, pebbles and boulders, in the Bhabar belt. The Bhabar is a narrow strip about 8 to 16 km wide that runs along the foot of the Shiwaliks from the Indus to the Tista. The ground is so porous that most streams sink underground and seem to disappear here. South of it, the water comes up again and creates the wet, marshy Terai, once covered by thick forests full of wildlife. A is wrong, because Khadar is the newer, fine alluvium of the flood plains, renewed almost every year by floods. B is wrong, because Bhangar is the older alluvium on higher ground above flood level, with lime nodules called kankar. D is wrong, because the Terai lies below the Bhabar and has fine, damp soil where the lost streams re-emerge, not boulders. Exam tip: from the hills down, Bhabar (boulders, streams vanish), Terai (streams return, marshy), then Bhangar old and Khadar new alluvium.

The correct answer is C, Samudragupta. The Prayaga Prashasti, better known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, is a long Sanskrit poem in his praise. It was composed by Harishena, his court poet and minister, and engraved on an old Ashokan pillar now kept in the Allahabad (Prayagraj) Fort. It lists the kings Samudragupta defeated in the north and the south, the frontier states and forest kingdoms that paid him tribute, and praises him as a poet and a player of the veena, which his coins also show. His wide conquests led the historian V. A. Smith to call him the Napoleon of India. A is wrong, because the same pillar carries Ashoka's own edicts, not a prashasti praising him. B is wrong, because Harshavardhana is praised in Banabhatta's Harshacharita, not in this inscription. D is wrong, because no prashasti at Prayaga praises Bindusara, the Mauryan king who was Ashoka's father. Exam tip: Prayaga Prashasti, Harishena, Samudragupta; Aihole inscription, Ravikirti, Pulakeshin II.

The correct answer is C, Right to Property. The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 removed it from the list of Fundamental Rights. Before 1978, property was protected by Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31. The Janata government repealed both and placed a new Article 300A in Part XII, which says no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. So property is now only a constitutional and legal right: a person can go to a High Court under Article 226, but not straight to the Supreme Court under Article 32. A is wrong, because the Right against Exploitation under Articles 23 and 24 still stands as a Fundamental Right. B is wrong, because the Right to Constitutional Remedies under Article 32 remains; Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution. D is wrong, because the Right to Education was added, not removed, as Article 21A by the 86th Amendment of 2002. Exam tip: 44th Amendment, 1978, property moved from Articles 19(1)(f) and 31 to Article 300A.

The correct answer is C, Article 243 D. This Article deals with reservation of seats in Panchayats, including the seats for women. Article 243 D, added by the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, reserves seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population, and reserves not less than one-third of the total seats for women, counting women's seats inside the SC and ST quota too. The same one-third rule applies to the offices of chairpersons at every level. Many states, Bihar being the first, have raised the women's share to 50 per cent through their own laws. A is wrong, because Article 243 B deals with the constitution of Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels. B is wrong, because Article 243 C covers the composition of Panchayats. D is wrong, because Article 243 E fixes the duration of Panchayats at five years. Exam tip: 243 B set up, 243 C composition, 243 D reservation, 243 E five-year term.

The correct answer is B, Satluj. The Beas rises at Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, flows past Manali, Kullu and Mandi, enters Punjab and meets the Satluj at Harike in Punjab, where the Harike barrage and wetland stand. It is the only one of the five rivers of Punjab that lies entirely within India. The Pong Dam on the Beas in Kangra district is one of the largest earth dams in the country, and the Beas-Satluj link carries its water to the Bhakra system. In ancient times the Beas was the Vipasa, the river beyond which Alexander's army refused to march in 326 BCE. A, the Indus, receives the combined waters of the Punjab rivers only through the Panjnad in Pakistan. C, the Chenab, receives the Jhelum and the Ravi, not the Beas. D, the Ravi, flows to the west of the Beas and joins the Chenab in Pakistan. Exam tip: Punjab rivers from east to west are Satluj, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum; the Beas and the Satluj meet at Harike.

The correct answer is B, Lahore, 1929. At its Lahore session in December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution declaring complete independence, not dominion status, as its goal. The tricolour was unfurled on the bank of the Ravi at midnight on 31 December 1929, and 26 January 1930 was celebrated as the first Independence Day; that date was later chosen for the Constitution to come into force in 1950, which is why Republic Day falls on 26 January. The session also authorised Gandhi to launch civil disobedience, which began with the Dandi March in March 1930. A, Bombay, 1885, was the first session of the Congress under W. C. Bonnerjee, which asked only for modest reforms. C, Kheda, 1917, is wrong: Kheda was the peasant satyagraha of 1918, and Champaran came in 1917. D, Bombay, 1942, was the session that passed the Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942. Exam tip: Lahore 1929, Nehru as president, Purna Swaraj, first Independence Day on 26 January 1930.

The correct answer is B. R. Ambedkar. Dr Ambedkar, chairman of the Drafting Committee, described the Directive Principles as a "novel feature" of the Constitution. He also compared them to the Instrument of Instructions that the Government of India Act, 1935 issued to the Governor-General and the Governors, with one difference: under the Constitution the instructions are addressed to the government by the people, not by a colonial power.

Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution and shaped the Preamble, but this description is not his. Dr Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly. S.N. Mukherjee was the Chief Draftsman of the Constitution in the Assembly, the official who put its provisions into legal language, which makes him a clever distractor. Other famous descriptions are worth pairing with their authors: K.T. Shah called the Directive Principles "a cheque on a bank, payable at the convenience of the bank", and T.T. Krishnamachari called them "a veritable dustbin of sentiments".