Defence 2022 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is D, all four. A bicameral State legislature has a Legislative Assembly and a Legislative Council, and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh each have both Houses. Options A, B and C are wrong because each of them leaves out a State that does have a Council. Bihar has had a Council since before independence and Uttar Pradesh is the largest of the bicameral States; Andhra Pradesh revived its Council by an Act of Parliament, and Telangana received one when it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. The Governor is central to this arrangement: under Article 168 he is part of the legislature, under Article 171 he nominates one-sixth of the Council, and under Article 169 no Council can be created or abolished unless the Assembly passes a special-majority resolution and Parliament then makes a law.

The correct answer is A, Bryophytes. Bryophytes live on land but still need water to complete reproduction, so they are called the amphibians of the plant kingdom. Mosses, liverworts and hornworts belong here. They grow in damp, shady places, have no true roots, stems or leaves and no vascular tissue, so water moves through them by simple absorption. Their male gametes swim to the egg through a film of water, which ties them to moist ground exactly as frogs are tied to ponds. Option B is wrong because thallophytes are the algae, mostly water plants that never left water. Option C is wrong because pteridophytes, the ferns, are the first plants with true vascular tissue, xylem and phloem. Option D is wrong because gymnosperms such as pine and cycas bear naked seeds and use pollen, not swimming gametes. Exam tip: bryophytes are amphibians of the plant kingdom, pteridophytes are the first vascular plants, and gymnosperms are the first seed plants.

The correct answer is D, 2 s. Convert the units first: 1 kilohertz is 1000 hertz and 50 centimetres is 0.5 metre. The speed is frequency multiplied by wavelength, that is 1000 multiplied by 0.5, which gives 500 metres per second. Time equals distance divided by speed, so 1000 metres divided by 500 metres per second gives 2 seconds.

Option A, 5 s, would follow from using a speed of 200 metres per second. Option B, 4 s, corresponds to a speed of 250 metres per second, which arises if the wavelength is halved by mistake. Option C, 3 s, is close to the time sound actually takes to cover a kilometre in ordinary air, about 340 metres per second, and is the trap for candidates who use the remembered speed of sound instead of the speed calculated from the data given.

The correct answer is To value and preserve a unitary national culture. Article 51A(f) actually asks citizens "to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture". The word matters: India's culture is described as composite, a blend of many traditions, languages and faiths, not a single unitary culture. By changing one word, the examiner turns a real duty into a false one.

The other three options are genuine duties. Rendering national service when called upon to do so is part of clause (d). Renouncing practices derogatory to the dignity of women is part of clause (e), which also asks citizens to promote harmony across religious, linguistic and regional diversities. Developing the spirit of inquiry and reform is part of clause (h), along with the scientific temper and humanism. This question is a reminder to learn the exact wording of the duties, because CDS and UPSC papers often test a single changed word rather than the whole idea.

The correct answer is D, Proteins. Kwashiorkor is caused by a severe lack of protein in the diet, even when the child gets some calories from starchy food. It usually strikes children aged one to five after they stop breastfeeding and are fed mostly rice, maize or cassava. The tell-tale signs are a swollen belly and puffy legs due to fluid retention (oedema), a moon face, peeling skin, thin reddish hair and poor growth. The word comes from Ghana and is often explained as the sickness of the older child pushed off the breast when a new baby arrives. Its cousin marasmus comes from a lack of both protein and calories and leaves the child wasted, with no swelling. A is wrong, because mineral shortages cause other diseases, such as anaemia from lack of iron and goitre from lack of iodine. B is wrong, because vitamin deficiencies cause scurvy, rickets and night blindness, not kwashiorkor. C is wrong, because a lack of fat is not what causes kwashiorkor. Exam tip: kwashiorkor, protein only, swollen belly; marasmus, protein and calories, wasting.

The correct answer is C, erect, virtual and larger than the object. For a lens, magnification m is the image height divided by the object height, which also equals v divided by u. A plus sign means the image is erect and virtual, and a value of 2 means it is twice as tall as the object. Only a convex lens can form such an image, when the object is placed between the optical centre and the principal focus; this is exactly how a magnifying glass or a simple microscope works. A concave lens also forms erect, virtual images, but they are always smaller, so its magnification stays between 0 and plus 1. A is wrong, because an erect, virtual, smaller image needs m between 0 and 1, as with a concave lens. B is wrong, because a real, inverted image always has a negative magnification. D is wrong, because a real, inverted, enlarged image would have m below minus 1, such as minus 2. Exam tip: the sign tells the type, plus for virtual and erect, minus for real and inverted; a value above 1 means enlarged.

The correct answer is A, Any privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion. A unicorn is a startup that is not listed on the stock market and is valued at more than one billion US dollars. The term was coined in 2013 by the American venture capitalist Aileen Lee, who picked the mythical animal because such startups were then very rare. Related words follow the same pattern: a decacorn is valued at over 10 billion dollars and a hectocorn at over 100 billion dollars. Once a unicorn lists its shares through an IPO, it becomes a listed company and, strictly speaking, is no longer called a unicorn. B is wrong, because merging one public sector company with another, as done with several public sector banks, is consolidation. C is wrong, because selling a loss-making state-owned company is privatisation or disinvestment. D is wrong, because a foreign firm working with an Indian partner forms a joint venture. Exam tip: unicorn, private startup, over 1 billion dollars; decacorn, over 10 billion.

The correct answer is C, Sikkim. Tsomgo Lake, also called Changu Lake, lies in East Sikkim, about 40 km from Gangtok on the road to Nathu La. It is a glacial lake at a height of roughly 3,750 metres; it freezes in winter and is fed by melting snow in summer, which makes it one of Sikkim's best-known tourist spots. In the local language tso means lake, the same word you see in the names of Ladakh's lakes. Nathu La, the pass just beyond it, is a point for border trade with the Tibet region of China. A is wrong, because Ladakh's famous high lakes are Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri, not Tsomgo. B is wrong, because Himachal Pradesh is known for lakes such as Chandratal and Suraj Tal. D is wrong, because Uttarakhand's lakes include Nainital, Bhimtal and the mysterious Roopkund. Exam tip: Tsomgo (Changu) and Gurudongmar are Sikkim lakes; Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri are in Ladakh.

The correct answer is A, Basavanna. Basavanna led the Virashaiva or Lingayat movement in Karnataka in the twelfth century. He served as a minister at the court of King Bijjala at Kalyana. His followers worship Shiva in the form of a linga, usually worn in a small case on the body, and they questioned caste, rituals and the theory of rebirth, and supported the remarriage of widows. Basavanna and fellow saints such as Allama Prabhu and Akka Mahadevi taught through vachanas, short sayings in simple Kannada, and met in the Anubhava Mantapa to discuss spiritual questions. The other three names all belong to the Tamil country. B is wrong, because Appar was a Tamil Nayanar saint devoted to Shiva, not a leader in Karnataka. C is wrong, because Sambandar was also a Tamil Nayanar, whose hymns are collected in the Tevaram. D is wrong, because Sundarar was another Tamil Nayanar saint. Exam tip: Virashaiva, Basavanna, Kannada vachanas; Nayanars Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar, Tamil Tevaram.

The correct answer is A, Amuktamalyada. Krishnadevaraya wrote this Telugu poem, and a part of it sets out his ideas on how a king should rule. Krishnadevaraya of the Tuluva dynasty ruled Vijayanagara from 1509 to 1529 and was himself a poet, which earned him the title Andhra Bhoja. Amuktamalyada tells the story of Andal, the Tamil woman saint, and her marriage to Lord Vishnu, but history books quote it for its advice on statecraft: a king should rule with an eye to dharma, improve the harbours of his country, encourage trade and look after his subjects. His court had eight Telugu poets known as the Ashtadiggajas. B is wrong, because Jambavati Kalyanam is a Sanskrit drama by him, not a Telugu work on statecraft. C is wrong, because Rayavachakamu is a later Telugu prose account of his reign, written by others. D is wrong, because Satyavadu Parinaya is a Sanskrit work credited to him, not a Telugu text on polity. Exam tip: Krishnadevaraya in Telugu, Amuktamalyada; in Sanskrit, Jambavati Kalyanam.

The correct answer is D, 86th Amendment Act. The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 inserted Article 21A and made elementary education a Fundamental Right. Article 21A says the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years in the manner the State may by law determine. That law is the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2010. The same amendment rewrote Article 45 to cover early childhood care up to 6 years and added Fundamental Duty 51A(k), under which parents or guardians must provide opportunities for education to their child aged 6 to 14. A is wrong, because the 83rd Amendment, 2000 exempted Arunachal Pradesh from SC reservation in Panchayats. B is wrong, because the 84th Amendment, 2001 extended the freeze on readjusting constituencies. C is wrong, because the 85th Amendment, 2001 gave consequential seniority in promotions to SC and ST employees. Exam tip: 86th Amendment 2002 made three changes, 21A, 45 and 51A(k); the RTE Act 2009 came into force on 1 April 2010.

The correct answer is A, the Bombay Plan. The Bombay Plan of 1944 was drawn up by a group of eight, mostly leading industrialists such as J. R. D. Tata, G. D. Birla, Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Lala Shri Ram and Kasturbhai Lalbhai, with John Mathai among them. It proposed a fifteen-year plan to double per-capita income and treble national income, with the state taking the lead in heavy industry and infrastructure and the private sector working under its guidance. It showed that even big business wanted the state to plan the economy and to run a large public sector, and this consensus shaped the Planning Commission of 1950 and the mixed-economy model. B, the demand of peasants, and C, the demand of workers' unions, were not the origin of the planning idea; they were groups the plans tried to serve. D, the Gandhian vision, favoured village industries and decentralisation and was set out separately in the Gandhian Plan of 1944 by S. N. Agarwal. Exam tip: Bombay Plan 1944 by eight industrialists; People's Plan 1945 by M. N. Roy; Gandhian Plan 1944 by S. N. Agarwal.

The correct answer is A, precipitation. Precipitation is any form of water, liquid or solid, that falls from clouds to the ground. When the temperature is above freezing it falls as rain or drizzle; below freezing, water vapour turns directly into ice crystals that fall as snow. Sleet is rain that freezes into small ice pellets while falling through a cold layer of air, and hail is made of hard ice balls built up layer by layer inside towering cumulonimbus clouds during thunderstorms. All three are therefore solid forms of precipitation. B, Condensation, is the change of water vapour into tiny droplets or ice crystals, which forms clouds, dew, frost and fog, but these do not fall from clouds. C, Transpiration, is the loss of water vapour from the leaves of plants. D, Evaporation, is the change of liquid water into vapour, the first step of the water cycle. Exam tip: rain, drizzle, snow, sleet and hail fall, so they are precipitation; dew, frost, fog and mist form on or near the ground, so they are condensation.

The correct answer is C, refraction of starlight. Starlight has to cross many layers of air before it reaches the eye, and these layers keep changing in temperature and density, so their refractive index keeps changing too. The light is bent a little differently every moment, the apparent position of the star shifts slightly and the amount of light entering the eye rises and falls. This flickering is what we call twinkling. A star is so far away that it acts as a point source, so the small shifts are easily seen. Planets are nearer and appear as tiny discs; light from the many points of the disc averages out, so planets do not twinkle. A, Diffraction, is the bending of light around edges and is not the cause. B, Reflection, sends light back from a surface and cannot make a star flicker. D, Scattering, of sunlight by air makes the sky blue but does not cause twinkling. Exam tip: twinkling and the early sunrise both come from atmospheric refraction; the blue sky and the red sunset come from scattering.