SSC MTS GK Questions 2026

The correct answer is C, 82. Lead has 82 protons in its nucleus, so its atomic number is 82. Its symbol is Pb, from the Latin plumbum, the root of the word "plumber", because Roman water pipes were made of lead. It sits in group 14 and period 6 of the periodic table, below carbon, silicon, germanium and tin, and it is the heaviest element that has stable isotopes; the decay chains of uranium and thorium end at lead. Lead is soft, dense and poisonous, which is why it has been removed from petrol and paint, and it is used in car batteries and radiation shields. The four options are neighbours in the table, so the exam is testing the exact number. A, 81, is thallium (Tl). B, 78, is platinum (Pt). D, 79, is gold (Au). Exam tip: the run of heavy metals goes 78 platinum, 79 gold, 80 mercury, 81 thallium, 82 lead.

The correct answer is B, Pressure. The torr is a unit of pressure named after Evangelista Torricelli, the Italian scientist who invented the mercury barometer in 1643. One torr is the pressure of a one-millimetre column of mercury, so 1 torr = 1 mm Hg, and it equals about 133.3 pascal. Normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 760 torr, which is the same as 760 mm Hg, 1 atmosphere or 101,325 pascal. The pascal is the SI unit of pressure, one newton per square metre, but the torr and mm Hg are still used for blood pressure and vacuum work. A, Power, is measured in watt, with horsepower as the older unit. C, Energy, is measured in joule, with calorie and electron-volt as other units. D, Force, is measured in newton, or dyne in the CGS system. Exam tip: pressure units are pascal, bar, atmosphere, torr and mm Hg; 760 torr = 1 atm.

The correct answer is B, Vitamin C. Vitamins fall into two groups: the water-soluble ones, which are vitamin C and the whole B-complex, and the fat-soluble ones, A, D, E and K. Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, found in citrus fruits, amla, guava and tomatoes; its deficiency causes scurvy, with bleeding gums and slow healing of wounds. Because water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body and the extra is passed out in urine, they must be taken daily, while fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissue. A, Vitamin K, is fat-soluble and needed for blood clotting. C, Vitamin A, retinol, is fat-soluble and its deficiency causes night blindness. D, Vitamin D, calciferol, is fat-soluble, made in the skin in sunlight, and its lack causes rickets. Exam tip: remember "ADEK are fat-soluble"; everything else, B-complex and C, dissolves in water.

The correct answer is B, NABARD. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development was set up on 12 July 1982 by an Act of Parliament, on the recommendation of the Sivaraman Committee (CRAFICARD), as the apex body for rural and farm credit. It took over the agricultural credit work of the Reserve Bank and the whole of the Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation. Its headquarters is in Mumbai, it refinances cooperative banks and regional rural banks, and it runs the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. The year 1982 and the words "farmers" and "national level" together point only to NABARD. A, NEDFI, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation, was set up in 1995 to fund projects in the North-East. C, IFCI, the Industrial Finance Corporation of India, was India's first development bank, founded in 1948 for industry, not farmers. D, SIDBI, the Small Industries Development Bank of India, began in 1990 at Lucknow for small and medium enterprises. Exam tip: IFCI 1948, NABARD 1982, SIDBI 1990, NEDFI 1995.

The correct answer is D, Vembanad Lake. Vembanad in Kerala is the longest lake in India, stretching about 96 km from Alappuzha to Kochi, and it is also the largest lake of Kerala. It is a brackish backwater lagoon separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier, it is a Ramsar wetland since 2002, and the famous Nehru Trophy snake-boat race is held on it at Punnamada every August. Willingdon Island, on which Kochi port stands, was raised inside this lake. A, Shivaji Sagar Lake, is the reservoir of the Koyna dam in Maharashtra, a man-made lake. B, Indira Sagar, is the reservoir of the Indira Sagar dam on the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, the largest reservoir in India by water volume but not the longest lake. C, Chilika Lake in Odisha is the largest brackish-water lagoon in India and Asia by area, but it is shorter than Vembanad. Exam tip: longest lake Vembanad, largest brackish lagoon Chilika, largest freshwater lake Wular.

The correct answer is D, Tamil Nadu. The Shevaroy Hills, also spelt Servarayan, rise near Salem in Tamil Nadu and are part of the Eastern Ghats. Their best-known spot is the hill station of Yercaud, about 1,500 metres high, famous for coffee plantations, oranges and the Yercaud lake, which is why the range is sometimes called the "poor man's Ooty". The Shevaroys form a set with the other Eastern Ghats hills of Tamil Nadu, the Javadi, Kalrayan and Pachaimalai hills, and all four sit between the Palar and Kaveri river basins. A, Chhattisgarh, has the Maikal range and the Bastar plateau. B, Odisha, has the Garhjat hills and Mahendragiri in its stretch of the Eastern Ghats. C, Rajasthan, has the Aravalli range with Guru Shikhar as its highest point. Exam tip: Shevaroy, Javadi, Kalrayan and Pachaimalai are Tamil Nadu's Eastern Ghats hills; Yercaud sits on the Shevaroys.

The correct answer is C, Godavari river. The Wardha rises in the Satpura range near Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, flows south-east through Vidarbha and meets the Wainganga; the combined stream is called the Pranhita, which is the largest tributary of the Godavari and joins it at Kaleshwaram in Telangana. So the Wardha reaches the Godavari through the Pranhita, and both names appear in exams. The Godavari is the longest river of peninsular India, about 1,465 km, rising at Trimbakeshwar near Nashik and ending in the Bay of Bengal. A, Mahanadi, is fed by the Seonath, Ib, Tel and Ong, not the Wardha. B, Tapi, receives the Purna, Girna and Panzara. D, Narmada, has tributaries like the Tawa and Hiran. Exam tip: Wardha + Wainganga = Pranhita, and Pranhita, Indravati, Manjra all feed the Godavari, the "Dakshin Ganga".

The correct answer is C, Tapi. Aner, Panzara and Waghur all join the Tapi in the Khandesh region of northern Maharashtra, along with the Purna, Girna and Bori. The Tapi rises near Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, flows west for about 724 km through the Satpura and Ajanta ranges and the Khandesh plain, and enters the Gulf of Khambhat near Surat. With the Narmada it is one of the two big west-flowing rivers of the Peninsula that run through rift valleys and form estuaries instead of deltas. The Ukai dam in Gujarat is built on it. A, Kaveri, has the Kabini, Bhavani and Amaravati as tributaries. B, Mahanadi, is joined by the Seonath, Ib and Tel. D, Godavari, receives the Pranhita, Indravati and Manjra. Exam tip: Tapi group = Purna, Girna, Panzara, Waghur, Aner, Bori; Tapi and Narmada are the west-flowing pair.

The correct answer is D, Bihar. The Lomas Rishi cave is one of the Barabar caves in the Barabar Hills of Jehanabad district, about 25 km north of Gaya. These are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, carved from hard granite in the Mauryan period, in the third century BCE, and their inner walls carry the famous glass-like Mauryan polish. Ashoka and his grandson Dasharatha gave the caves to the Ajivika monks, as inscriptions at the site record. The Lomas Rishi cave is best known for its doorway, carved to look like the arched wooden entrance of a hut, the earliest "chaitya arch" that later appears at Bhaja, Karle and Ajanta. A, Maharashtra, has the later Buddhist caves of Ajanta, Ellora, Karle and Bhaja. B, Karnataka, has the Badami cave temples of the Chalukyas. C, Madhya Pradesh, has Bhimbetka rock shelters and Udayagiri caves, but not Lomas Rishi. Exam tip: Barabar and Lomas Rishi, Mauryan, Ajivikas, Bihar.

The correct answer is B, 1934. Gandhi formally withdrew the Civil Disobedience Movement in April 1934, after it had lost momentum under heavy repression. The movement had begun on 12 March 1930 with the Dandi March and the breaking of the salt law on 6 April 1930. It was suspended after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931, when Gandhi agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. The conference failed, Gandhi was arrested on his return, and the movement was restarted in January 1932, but by 1934 most leaders were in jail and it was called off. So the movement has three dates to keep apart: 1930 launch, 1931 pause, 1934 end. A, 1917, is the year of the Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhi's first movement in India. C, 1923, is when the Swaraj Party was formed by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru. D, 1943, is the year Subhas Chandra Bose set up the Azad Hind Government in Singapore. Exam tip: Civil Disobedience 1930 to 1934, with the 1931 pact in between.

The correct answer is D, Kashmir. Lalitaditya Muktapida was the most powerful king of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir in the eighth century, ruling roughly from 724 to 760 CE. He is remembered for building the Martand Sun Temple near Anantnag, whose ruins still stand, and for founding the town of Parihaspora as his capital. Almost everything we know about him comes from Kalhana's Rajatarangini, the twelfth-century Sanskrit chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, which credits him with campaigns against Yashovarman of Kannauj and with wide conquests. The words Karkota, Martand and Rajatarangini all point to Kashmir, so any one of them settles the question. A, Gujarat, was ruled at that time by the Maitrakas of Valabhi and later the Chaulukyas. B, Sikkim, had no such king; its Namgyal kingdom began only in 1642. C, Kerala, was under the Cheras and never had a Karkota ruler. Exam tip: Lalitaditya, Karkota, Martand temple, Rajatarangini all mean Kashmir.

The correct answer is A, Alauddin Khalji – Jalaluddin Khalji. Jalaluddin Khalji founded the Khalji dynasty in 1290, and in 1296 his nephew and son-in-law Alauddin had him killed at Kara and took the throne. Alauddin then ruled till 1316, fixed market prices, kept a large standing army and sent Malik Kafur into the Deccan. In the pair, the first name is the ruler and the second is the person who ruled just before him, so you only need to check who came first. B is wrong because Balban came after Iltutmish: Iltutmish ruled from 1211 to 1236 and Balban from 1266 to 1287. C is wrong because Firuz Shah Tughluq succeeded Muhammad Tughluq in 1351, so he is the successor, not the predecessor. D is wrong for the same reason in reverse: Ghiyasuddin Tughluq founded the dynasty in 1320 and Muhammad Tughluq followed him in 1324. Exam tip: Jalaluddin to Alauddin 1296, Ghiyasuddin to Muhammad 1324, Muhammad to Firuz 1351.

The correct answer is D, Rajput dynasties, Khalji dynasty, Tughluq dynasty. This is the only option in which every dynasty comes after the one before it. The full order of the rulers of Delhi, as the NCERT table gives it, is: Rajput dynasties, the Tomaras and the Chauhans, in the early twelfth century; Early Turkish Rulers from 1206 to 1290, starting with Qutbuddin Aibak; the Khalji dynasty from 1290 to 1320; the Tughluq dynasty from 1320 to 1414; the Sayyid dynasty from 1414 to 1451; and the Lodi dynasty from 1451 to 1526, ending with Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat. A is wrong because the Sayyids ruled before the Lodis, not after. B is wrong because the Khaljis came before the Tughluqs. C is wrong because the Rajput rulers of Delhi came before the Turkish rulers, not after. Exam tip: remember the chain Rajput, Turk (Slave), Khalji, Tughluq, Sayyid, Lodi with the years 1206, 1290, 1320, 1414, 1451, 1526.

The correct answer is B, Article 61. It lays down the procedure for impeachment of the President, the only ground being "violation of the Constitution". The charge may be started in either House by a resolution signed by at least one-fourth of its members, with fourteen days' notice, and must be passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of that House. The other House then investigates, the President may appear and be represented, and if it too passes the resolution by a two-thirds majority the President stands removed. No Indian President has ever been impeached. A, Article 51, is a Directive Principle on promoting international peace and security. C, Article 63, simply says there shall be a Vice-President of India. D, Article 54, is about the election of the President by the electoral college. Exam tip: 54 election, 56 term, 61 impeachment, 63 Vice-President.

The correct answer is A, Part V. Part V is titled "The Union" and its first chapter, "The Executive", covers the President, the Vice-President, the Council of Ministers and the Attorney-General. Part V runs from Article 52 to Article 151 and also contains Parliament, the legislative powers of the President, the Union Judiciary (Supreme Court) and the Comptroller and Auditor-General. Article 52 is the opening line: "There shall be a President of India." Whatever belongs to the Centre as an institution lives in Part V. B, Part III, is Fundamental Rights, Articles 12 to 35. C, Part IV, is the Directive Principles of State Policy, Articles 36 to 51. D, Part VI, is "The States", Articles 152 to 237, which has the Governor, the state legislature and the High Courts, the state mirror of Part V. Exam tip: Part V is the Union, Part VI is the States; Part III rights, Part IV directives.

The correct answer is D, The People of India. The Preamble opens with the words WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, which declare that the Constitution draws its authority from the people, not from any king, court or legislature. It goes on to promise Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, and ends by recording that the Constituent Assembly adopted, enacted and gave the Constitution to ourselves on 26 November 1949. The Preamble is based on Nehru's Objectives Resolution of 1946; the words Socialist, Secular and Integrity were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976; and in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution. A is wrong because the Supreme Court is created by the Constitution and cannot be its author. B is wrong because Parliament too gets its powers from the Constitution. C is wrong because the Central Government is only an organ that works under the Constitution. Exam tip: Preamble begins We the People, adopted 26 November 1949, amended once in 1976.

The correct answer is C, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. National Unity Day, or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, is observed on 31 October, the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, who was born in 1875 at Nadiad, Gujarat. The day was started in 2014 to honour his role as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister who brought more than 560 princely states into the Indian Union, earning him the title Iron Man of India. It is marked with a Run for Unity and a unity pledge, and on 31 October 2018 the 182-metre Statue of Unity was unveiled in his memory at Kevadia on the Narmada. A is wrong because Dr Ambedkar's birth anniversary, 14 April, is Ambedkar Jayanti. B is wrong because Indira Gandhi's birthday, 19 November, is observed as National Integration Day. D is wrong because Mother Teresa was born on 26 August, which is not a national day. Exam tip: 31 October means Sardar Patel, National Unity Day and the Statue of Unity.

The correct answer is D, Jyotirao Govindrao Phule. Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj at Pune on 24 September 1873 to fight caste discrimination and the hold of priests over society. The same year he published Gulamgiri (Slavery), attacking Brahmanical domination, and earlier, in 1848, he and his wife Savitribai had opened one of the first schools for girls in Pune. The Samaj promoted education for Shudras, Dalits and women, marriages without priests, and equality; Phule was given the title Mahatma in 1888, and Dr Ambedkar counted him among his three gurus. A is wrong because Savitribai Phule, though a pioneer of women's education and a member of the Samaj, was not its founder. B is wrong because E. V. Ramasamy Periyar led the Self-Respect Movement in Tamil Nadu from 1925. C is wrong because Ayyankali was a Dalit reformer of Kerala who set up the Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham in 1907. Exam tip: Satyashodhak Samaj, Pune, 1873, Jyotiba Phule, book Gulamgiri.

The correct answer is A, Brahmaputra. Majuli lies in the Brahmaputra river in Assam, near Jorhat, and is the largest river island in the world. In 2016 it became India's first island district. It is the heart of Assam's neo-Vaishnavite culture: the saint Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Madhavdeva set up satras (monasteries) there in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the island is famous for its mask-making and the Raas festival. Every monsoon the Brahmaputra eats away its banks, so Majuli has shrunk from over 1,200 square km to less than half of that, making erosion its biggest worry. B is wrong because the Ganga has no comparable island; its delta islands such as Sagar belong to the Sundarbans. C is wrong because the Indus flows mainly through Pakistan and has no such island. D is wrong because the Godavari's Konaseema is a delta region, not a single river island. Exam tip: Majuli equals Brahmaputra equals Assam, first island district of India (2016).

The correct answer is D, metamorphic. Quartzite is formed when sandstone, a sedimentary rock, is changed by great heat and pressure deep inside the earth. The quartz grains of the sandstone recrystallise and fuse, so quartzite becomes one of the hardest and most weather-resistant rocks, which is why the ridges of the Aravalli range and the Delhi Ridge, made largely of quartzite, have survived for hundreds of millions of years. Such change of an existing rock without melting is called metamorphism. A is wrong because igneous rocks such as granite and basalt form from cooled magma or lava, not from an older rock under pressure. B is wrong because basalt is itself a specific igneous rock, not a class of rock. C is wrong because sedimentary is the parent type; sandstone is sedimentary, but once transformed it is no longer classed that way. Exam tip: sandstone becomes quartzite, limestone becomes marble, shale becomes slate, granite becomes gneiss.