Defence Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is D, 1, 2 and 3. All three statements are true. Statement 1: the size of an eruption is rated on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, a scale from 0 to 8 based on the volume of material thrown out and the height of the eruption column; each step up means roughly ten times more material. Statement 2: Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where two plates move apart, and the Philippines lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, so both were built by volcanic activity. Statement 3: volcanic ash and lava weather into deep, mineral-rich soils, which is why Java in Indonesia supports dense farming and the Deccan's black soil, formed from basalt lava, grows cotton so well. A is wrong, because it leaves out statement 3, which is true. B is wrong, because it drops statement 1, and the index is the standard measure. C is wrong, because it drops statement 2, though both Iceland and the Philippines are volcanic. Exam tip: VEI runs from 0 to 8; Iceland sits on a ridge, the Philippines on the Ring of Fire; basalt gives black soil.

The correct answer is B, 2 and 6. The Tropic of Cancer crosses eight Indian states, and only two of them touch the sea. Running at about 23.5 degrees north, it passes from west to east through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Gujarat and West Bengal have coastlines, while the other six are landlocked. The line divides India into two nearly equal halves, with the northern part in the temperate zone and the southern part in the tropical zone. A is wrong, because two coastal states, not one, lie on the line, and the total is eight. C is wrong, because 2 and 5 makes only seven states and misses one of the six landlocked ones. D is wrong, because no third coastal state such as Odisha lies on the Tropic; Odisha lies south of it. Exam tip: Tropic of Cancer, eight states from Gujarat to Mizoram; the coastal pair is Gujarat and West Bengal.

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 D, The Treaty of Salbai. Signed in May 1782 between the East India Company and the Marathas, it ended the First Anglo-Maratha War that had begun in 1775. The war started when the Bombay government backed Raghunathrao's claim to the Peshwa's seat. Mahadji Scindia helped broker the peace at Salbai: the British kept Salsette, recognised the young Madhavrao II as Peshwa, and Raghunathrao was pensioned off. The treaty brought about twenty years of peace between the two powers. A is wrong, because the Treaty of Surat of 1775 between the British and Raghunathrao started the war rather than ending it. B is wrong, because the Treaty of Purandar of 1776, made by the Calcutta council with the Poona ministers, set Surat aside but did not end the fighting. C is wrong, because the Convention of Wadgaon of 1779 was a humiliating surrender by a British force, later rejected by Warren Hastings. Exam tip: Surat 1775 began it, then Purandar 1776 and Wadgaon 1779, and Salbai 1782 ended it.

The correct answer is C, Lahore. The Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted the Purna Swaraj or complete independence resolution. At midnight on 31 December 1929, Nehru hoisted the tricolour on the banks of the river Ravi. The Congress then fixed 26 January 1930 as Purna Swaraj Day for the whole country, and the session also authorised the Working Committee to launch civil disobedience, which began with the Dandi March in March 1930. That is why the Constitution was brought into force on 26 January 1950. A is wrong, because the Ahmedabad session of 1921 met during the Non-Cooperation Movement, with Hakim Ajmal Khan as acting president. B is wrong, because the Calcutta session of 1928 under Motilal Nehru only gave the British one year to accept dominion status. D is wrong, because the Lucknow session of 1916 is known for the Congress-League pact and the reunion of moderates and extremists. Exam tip: Lahore 1929, Nehru, Purna Swaraj; 26 January 1930, the first Independence Day.

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 B, The Battle of Colachel. At Colachel in August 1741, Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeated the Dutch East India Company. It was one of the rare times an Indian ruler decisively beat a European power in open battle, and it ended Dutch hopes of expanding on the Malabar coast. The Dutch commander Eustachius De Lannoy was captured, joined Travancore's service, trained its army on European lines and rose to be its chief commander. Colachel lies on the coast of today's Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. A is wrong, because at Porto Novo in 1781 the British under Eyre Coote defeated Hyder Ali in the Second Anglo-Mysore War. C is wrong, because the battles of Pollilore were fought in 1780 and 1781 between Hyder Ali and the British in that same war. D is wrong, because Changanacherry is a town in central Kerala, not the scene of the 1741 fight with the Dutch. Exam tip: Colachel 1741, Marthanda Varma beat the Dutch; Porto Novo 1781, Eyre Coote beat Hyder Ali.

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 B, The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Article 338A sets up this Commission as a constitutional body. It was inserted by the 89th Amendment Act, 2003, which split the old combined National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two; the separate ST Commission began work in 2004. It has a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three members appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, and it reports to the President, who has the report laid before Parliament. An easy hook: the letter A was added when the tribes got a Commission of their own. A is wrong, because the National Commission for Scheduled Castes comes under Article 338. C is wrong, because the National Commission for Backward Classes got constitutional status under Article 338B through the 102nd Amendment, 2018. D is wrong, because the National Commission for Women is a statutory body set up under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. Exam tip: 338 SC, 338A ST, 338B backward classes; the Women's Commission is only statutory.

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 C, The Estimates Committee. All its 30 members are elected by the Lok Sabha alone, so the Rajya Sabha has no seat on it. The Estimates Committee examines the budget estimates and suggests economies in expenditure, which is why it is called a continuous economy committee. It is the largest financial committee of Parliament; its members are elected every year by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, and a minister cannot be a member. The point that sticks: money matters belong to the Lok Sabha, so the Rajya Sabha is kept out of this one. A is wrong, because the Public Accounts Committee has 22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha. B is wrong, because the Committee on Public Undertakings also has 15 Lok Sabha and 7 Rajya Sabha members. D is wrong, because the committee on SC and ST welfare has 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. Exam tip: Estimates 30, all Lok Sabha; PAC and Public Undertakings, 15 plus 7.

The correct answer is C, The post of the SGI is a constitutional post. It is the one false statement, because the Constitution creates only the Attorney General, not the Solicitor General. Article 76 provides for the Attorney General for India, the chief legal advisor to the Government and the highest law officer. The Solicitor General is the second law officer who assists the Attorney General; the post rests on the Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987, so it is a non-constitutional post. The detail that sticks: only the Attorney General gets an Article number and, under Article 88, the right to speak in both Houses of Parliament. A is a true statement, since the chief legal advisor is the Attorney General, not the SGI. B is true, because the SGI ranks just below the Attorney General as the second law officer. D is true, as the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appoints the SGI and the Additional Solicitors General. Exam tip: Attorney General, Article 76, constitutional; Solicitor General, no Article, non-constitutional.

The correct answer is D, Shudraka. Mrichchhakatika, The Little Clay Cart, is a ten-act Sanskrit play written by Shudraka, a king-poet of the classical age. Unlike most classical plays about kings and gods, it tells the story of an ordinary poor Brahmin merchant, Charudatta, and his love for the courtesan Vasantasena in the city of Ujjain, with the wicked prince Shakara as villain and a political revolt in the background; the title comes from the toy clay cart of Charudatta's son. It is prized for its realistic picture of city life, thieves, gamblers and courts, and Girish Karnad's film Utsav (1984) is based on it. A, Kalidasa, wrote Abhijnanashakuntalam, Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvashiyam, Meghaduta and Raghuvamsha. B, Bhasa, wrote Svapnavasavadattam and Charudattam, the shorter play on which Shudraka built his story. C, Valmiki, is the author of the Ramayana, an epic and not a play. Exam tip: Mrichchhakatika by Shudraka, Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta, Ratnavali by Harsha, Svapnavasavadattam by Bhasa.

The correct answer is B, Vairengte. The Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, known as CIJWS, is at Vairengte in the Kolasib district of Mizoram, close to the Assam border. It trains Indian soldiers in fighting insurgents and in surviving and operating in dense jungle, and its motto is Fight a Guerrilla like a Guerrilla. Soldiers from many friendly foreign armies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have also trained here, and every army unit going for counter-insurgency duty passes through its courses. A, Dehradun, has the Indian Military Academy, which trains officers before commissioning. C, Gulmarg, in Jammu and Kashmir, has the High Altitude Warfare School, which trains for mountain and snow warfare. D, Mhow, in Madhya Pradesh, has the Infantry School, the Army War College and the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering. Exam tip: jungle warfare at Vairengte in Mizoram, high altitude warfare at Gulmarg, infantry at Mhow, officers at IMA Dehradun and NDA Khadakwasla.

The correct answer is C, 1962. The Battle of Rezang La was fought on 18 November 1962 during the India-China war, at a pass about 16,000 feet high near Chushul in Ladakh. The Charlie Company of 13 Kumaon, 120 men mostly Ahirs from Haryana under Major Shaitan Singh, held the post against repeated Chinese attacks in freezing cold and without artillery support; 114 of them died fighting almost to the last man and the last round. Major Shaitan Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously, and the battle is remembered as one of the greatest last stands in military history. A rebuilt memorial at Rezang La was inaugurated in 2021. A, 1948, falls in the first India-Pakistan war over Kashmir (1947 to 1948), remembered for the tank assault on Zoji La. B, 1956, saw no war fought by India. D, 1972, is the year of the Shimla Agreement, after the 1971 Bangladesh war. Exam tip: Rezang La, 18 November 1962, 13 Kumaon, Major Shaitan Singh, Param Vir Chakra.

The correct answer is A, 1%. Green plants are the producers of a terrestrial ecosystem, and NCERT's Class 10 chapter Our Environment states that they capture about 1 percent of the energy of the sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy through photosynthesis. The rest of the sunlight is reflected, passes through the leaf or is lost as heat. This tiny fraction is the base of every food chain, and only about 10 percent of it passes from one trophic level to the next, which is Lindeman's ten percent law; that is why food chains rarely have more than three or four steps and why energy flow in an ecosystem is unidirectional. B, 5%, C, 8%, and D, 10%, are all too high: 10 percent is the share of energy transferred between trophic levels, not the share of sunlight captured by plants, and students often mix up these two numbers. Exam tip: plants capture about 1 percent of sunlight; about 10 percent of energy moves up at each trophic level.

The correct answer is B, Oxygen. A greenhouse gas is one whose molecules absorb the long-wave infrared radiation given off by the warm surface of the Earth and send part of it back, keeping the planet about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be. Such absorption needs molecules made of three or more atoms, or of two different atoms, that can vibrate in the right way. Oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), which together make up 99 percent of the air, are made of two identical atoms, do not absorb infrared radiation and therefore are not greenhouse gases, even though they are the most abundant gases. A, Water vapour, is the largest natural contributor to the greenhouse effect. C, Carbon dioxide, is the main greenhouse gas added by humans through burning coal, oil and gas, and it is the reference gas for global warming potential. D, Methane, traps about 28 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a century and comes from paddy fields, cattle and landfills. Exam tip: the main greenhouse gases are water vapour, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and CFCs; N2 and O2 are not.

The correct answer is D, 1, 2, 3 and 4. All four plans came before the First Five Year Plan started on 1 April 1951. The Bombay Plan of 1944 was prepared by eight industrialists led by J. R. D. Tata and G. D. Birla and favoured state-led heavy industry. The Gandhian Plan of 1944 by Shriman Narayan Agarwal stressed village self-sufficiency, cottage industries and agriculture. The People's Plan of 1945 was drawn up by M. N. Roy for the Indian Federation of Labour and put agriculture and nationalisation first over a ten-year period. The Sarvodaya Plan of January 1950 by Jayaprakash Narayan, inspired by Vinoba Bhave, combined Gandhian ideas with land reform and decentralised planning. Even earlier, M. Visvesvaraya's book Planned Economy for India (1934) and the Congress National Planning Committee of 1938 under Nehru had raised the idea. Options A, B and C are wrong only because each leaves out plans that also existed before 1951. Exam tip: sequence them as Visvesvaraya 1934, Bombay and Gandhian 1944, People's 1945, Sarvodaya 1950, Planning Commission March 1950, First Plan 1951.