SSC 2022 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is A, Loo. The loo is a hot, dry wind that blows over the plains of north India and Pakistan in May and June, often pushing afternoon temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius and causing heat strokes. Winds are grouped as planetary, which blow across the globe all year, seasonal, which reverse with the seasons, and local, which affect a small area for a short period because of local heating and pressure differences. Other local winds worth remembering are the chinook of North America, the foehn of the Alps, the mistral of France and the sirocco of the Mediterranean. Option B is wrong because the westerlies are planetary winds blowing from the subtropical high towards the subpolar low. Option D is wrong because the easterlies, or trade winds, are also planetary winds moving towards the equator. Option C is wrong because the monsoon is a seasonal wind that reverses direction between summer and winter. Exam tip: loo, chinook, foehn, mistral and sirocco are the standard local winds.

The correct answer is C, Indira Gandhi. Fundamental Duties were inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment of 1976, passed during the Emergency when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister. The amendment followed the report of the Swaran Singh Committee, and the duties were placed in Part IVA as Article 51A, drawing on the practice of the Soviet constitution. Ten duties were listed at first; an eleventh, on providing education to children between six and fourteen years, was added by the 86th Amendment of 2002. Like the Directive Principles, these duties are not enforceable by the courts. Option A is wrong because P V Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister in 1991 and is linked with the economic reforms. Option B is wrong because Charan Singh was Prime Minister briefly in 1979-80. Option D is wrong because Lal Bahadur Shastri held office from 1964 to 1966. Exam tip: 42nd Amendment 1976 added Fundamental Duties and the words socialist, secular and integrity to the Preamble.

The correct answer is A, Shehnai. The shehnai is called a mangal vadya, an instrument of auspicious occasions, because it is played at weddings, temple rituals and processions. It is a double-reed wind instrument with a wooden body and a metal bell at the end, and in classical music it belongs to the sushir or wind family. Ustad Bismillah Khan, who played the shehnai from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August 1947 and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, turned it into a concert instrument. Option B is wrong because the santoor is a trapezoid string instrument of Kashmir struck with light mallets, made famous by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Option C is wrong because the tabla is a pair of drums used for rhythm in Hindustani music. Option D is wrong because the damaru is a small two-headed drum linked with Lord Shiva. Exam tip: shehnai-Bismillah Khan, santoor-Shivkumar Sharma, sarod-Amjad Ali Khan.

The correct answer is C, Anga. Champa was the capital of the Anga mahajanapada, and its site lies near modern Bhagalpur in Bihar, where the Champa river meets the Ganga. Anga is one of the sixteen mahajanapadas listed in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, and Champa was among the six great cities of the Buddha's time. The kingdom was rich because the river port carried trade downstream, which is why Bimbisara of Magadha annexed it and made his son Ajatashatru its governor. Option A is wrong because the capital of Kashi was Varanasi. Option B is wrong because Matsya, in the Alwar-Jaipur region of Rajasthan, had Viratnagar as its capital. Option D is wrong because the Vajji confederacy, a group of clans led by the Lichchhavis, had its centre at Vaishali. Exam tip: pair the capitals - Anga-Champa, Kashi-Varanasi, Vajji-Vaishali, Magadha-Rajgir.

The correct answer is Article 66. It provides that the Vice-President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament, elected and nominated alike, by proportional representation through the single transferable vote and by secret ballot. It also lays down the qualifications: a citizen, at least 35 years old, qualified for election to the Rajya Sabha, and not holding an office of profit. Until the 11th Amendment of 1961, the Vice-President was elected at a joint meeting of the two Houses.

The other options are neighbouring Articles on related matters. Article 64 makes the Vice-President the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Article 68 deals with the time of holding the election to fill a vacancy in the office of Vice-President. Article 62 deals with the time of holding the election to fill a vacancy in the office of President. So remember the pair: Article 54 elects the President, Article 66 the Vice-President.

The correct answer is 15th. Droupadi Murmu was elected President in July 2022, defeating Yashwant Sinha, and took the oath on 25 July 2022, succeeding Ram Nath Kovind, the 14th President. She is the first President from a Scheduled Tribe, the second woman to hold the office after Pratibha Patil, and the first President born after India's independence. Before becoming President she had been the Governor of Jharkhand.

The options 16th, 17th and 18th are simply wrong counts; they tempt candidates who confuse the number of the President with the number of the Lok Sabha, since the Lok Sabha elected in 2024 is the 18th. When counting, remember that acting Presidents such as V.V. Giri, M. Hidayatullah and B.D. Jatti are not given a number, which is why fifteen people, not more, have held the office as elected Presidents. Her term runs for five years from July 2022.

The correct answer is A, West Bengal. Kaal Baisakhi is the name used in West Bengal for the violent evening thunderstorms of the pre-monsoon months. They strike in April and May, the Bengali month of Baishakh, with squalls, thunder, lightning and sometimes hail, which is why the name means the calamity of Baishakh. They form when strong heating over the plains meets moist air drawn in from the Bay of Bengal, building tall thunderclouds, and they are also called Nor'westers because the squalls sweep in from the north-west. They damage crops and huts, but their rain helps tea, jute and rice seedlings in Bengal and Assam, where the same storms are called Bardoli Chheerha. Option B is wrong because the pre-monsoon showers of Karnataka are called Cherry Blossom or coffee showers. Option C is wrong because Punjab gets its winter rain from western disturbances. Option D is wrong because Kerala's pre-monsoon showers are the Mango Showers. Exam tip: Kaal Baisakhi in Bengal, Mango Showers in Kerala, Cherry Blossom showers in Karnataka and Loo in the northern plains.

The correct answer is A, Unbreakable: An Autobiography. The boxer M.C. Mary Kom told her story in Unbreakable, written with Dina Serto and published in 2013, in which she describes her childhood in a farming family in Manipur, her fight to box at a time when few Indian women did, and her return to the ring after becoming a mother. Mary Kom is a six-time world amateur champion, won a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and gold at the 2014 Asian Games, and received the Padma Vibhushan. Option B is wrong because Undisputed Truth is the memoir of the American heavyweight Mike Tyson. Option C is wrong because Playing it My Way is Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, brought out in 2014. Option D is wrong because The Test of My Life is Yuvraj Singh's account of his fight with cancer. Exam tip: Unbreakable - Mary Kom; Playing it My Way - Sachin Tendulkar; The Test of My Life - Yuvraj Singh; Ace against Odds - Sania Mirza.

The correct answer is C, Rupnath. Rupnath lies in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, not in Karnataka, and it bears Minor Rock Edict I. Karnataka holds the largest cluster of Ashokan Minor Rock Edicts, in the Raichur, Ballari and Chitradurga belt — at Maski, Gavimath, Palkigundu, Brahmagiri, Siddapura, Jatinga-Rameshwara, Nittur and Udegolam. Minor Rock Edicts differ from the fourteen Major Rock Edicts in being short, personal declarations of the king's faith in dhamma rather than statements of policy. Option A is wrong because Maski, in Raichur district of Karnataka, is a find spot, and a famous one — it is where the name Ashoka itself was first read in an inscription. Option B is wrong because Gavimath, near Koppal in Karnataka, also carries Minor Rock Edict I. Option D is wrong because Brahmagiri, in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, is another Karnataka find spot. Exam tip: Maski, Gavimath, Brahmagiri, Siddapura and Nittur are in Karnataka, while Rupnath is in Madhya Pradesh and Bairat in Rajasthan.

The correct answer is A, 5 NTU. Under the Bureau of Indian Standards specification for drinking water, IS 10500:2012, turbidity has an acceptable limit of 1 NTU and a maximum permissible limit of 5 NTU in the absence of any alternate source. Turbidity is the cloudiness of water caused by suspended clay, silt and organic matter, and it is measured in nephelometric turbidity units by how much light a sample scatters sideways. It is kept low because suspended particles shelter bacteria and viruses from chlorine and make disinfection less effective. Option B is wrong because 1 NTU is the acceptable limit, not the maximum permissible one. Option C is wrong because 3 NTU appears in neither column of the standard. Option D is wrong because 7 NTU is above what the standard allows in any circumstance. Exam tip: for IS 10500:2012 remember the pair — turbidity acceptable 1 NTU and permissible 5 NTU, with pH held between 6.5 and 8.5.

The correct answer is B, Charaka. Charaka is the physician of ancient India whose name is attached to the Charaka Samhita, the great text on medicine, and tradition makes him a court physician of the Kushana king Kanishka. The Charaka Samhita is a reworking of the older Agnivesha Tantra and deals with diagnosis, diet, hygiene, drugs and the ethics a physician must keep; with Sushruta's Samhita on surgery it forms the base of Ayurveda. Option A is wrong because Bhasa was a Sanskrit dramatist, remembered for plays such as Svapnavasavadatta. Option C is wrong because Panini was the grammarian who composed the Ashtadhyayi, the standard work on Sanskrit grammar. Option D is wrong because Harsha was a seventh-century ruler of Kanauj and himself a playwright, author of Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda, not a writer on medicine. Exam tip: fix the pairs — Charaka for medicine, Sushruta for surgery, Panini for grammar, Aryabhata for mathematics and astronomy.

The correct answer is D. The Vice-President is not removed by the President. Article 67(b) says he may be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, and at least fourteen days' notice of such a resolution must be given. No grounds are laid down and there is no formal impeachment procedure, unlike the President's removal. Option A states the position correctly, so it is not the answer: the Vice-President is chosen by an electoral college of the members of both Houses of Parliament alone, including nominated members, and members of State legislatures take no part. Option B is correct because Article 64 makes him the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Option C is correct because Article 67 fixes his term at five years from the day he enters office. Exam tip: the President's removal needs impeachment by both Houses on a stated charge; the Vice-President's needs only a Rajya Sabha resolution agreed to by the Lok Sabha.

The correct answer is A, Jawaharlal Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister from 15 August 1947 until his death on 27 May 1964, about sixteen years and nine months, and no Indian Prime Minister has held the office for longer. He is also the only one to have served continuously through three general elections, in 1952, 1957 and 1962. Option B is wrong because Indira Gandhi served in two spells, from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984, together about fifteen years and eleven months — close to Nehru but short of him. Option C is wrong because I.K. Gujral was Prime Minister for less than a year, from April 1997 to March 1998. Option D is wrong because Narendra Modi took office in May 2014, so his tenure was far shorter than Nehru's when this paper was set. Exam tip: Nehru's tenure of about sixteen years and nine months is the longest, and Indira Gandhi's of about fifteen years and eleven months comes next.

The correct answer is C, Public. The public sector is owned and run by the government, and its guiding aim is social welfare rather than profit. Services such as railways, electricity, drinking water, schools and hospitals need heavy spending and return money slowly, so private firms often keep away from them; the state supplies them at prices ordinary people can pay. The public sector is also used to reduce regional imbalance and to create employment, and in India it expanded after the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 gave the state the leading role in basic industries. Option A is wrong because the foreign sector covers trade and investment across borders and follows returns. Option B is wrong because the co-operative sector is owned by its own members and works chiefly for their benefit, not for society at large. Option D is wrong because the private sector is owned by individuals and companies whose main aim is profit. Exam tip: public sector equals government ownership plus welfare motive; private sector equals private ownership plus profit motive.

The correct answer is D, Beas and Sutlej. The third book of the Rigveda holds a hymn in which the sage Vishvamitra speaks with two rivers, Vipasha and Shutudri, and asks them to run low so that his party may cross with its wagons. Vipasha is the Beas and Shutudri is the Sutlej, and the hymn treats both as goddesses who answer the sage in their own voice. The Rigveda names many rivers this way; the Nadistuti hymn lists them from east to west, and the Sindhu and the Saraswati are praised most often. Option A is wrong because the Ganga is named only once in the Rigveda and the Yamuna three times, and neither appears in this dialogue. Option B is wrong because Alakananda and Bhagirathi are later names for the headstreams of the Ganga. Option C is wrong because the Ravi, called Parushni, belongs to the hymn on the Battle of the Ten Kings, and the Chenab is Asikni. Exam tip: learn the Vedic names — Vipasha (Beas), Shutudri (Sutlej), Parushni (Ravi), Asikni (Chenab), Vitasta (Jhelum).

The correct answer is D, Odissi. Kelucharan Mohapatra was the guru who brought Odissi, the classical dance of Odisha, back to the stage in the twentieth century. He began as a gotipua boy dancer and a pakhawaj player, and went on to train Sanjukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh, Madhavi Mudgal and Protima Bedi. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 2000 and a Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. Odissi is marked by the tribhanga or three-bend pose and the square chauka stance, both drawn from the temple sculpture of Konark and Puri. Option A is wrong because Kuchipudi belongs to Andhra Pradesh, whose great teacher was Vempati Chinna Satyam. Option B is wrong because Manipuri comes from Manipur and the Jhaveri sisters are among its exponents. Option C is wrong because Bharatanatyam is from Tamil Nadu, linked with Rukmini Devi Arundale and Balasaraswati. Exam tip: pair guru with form — Kelucharan Mohapatra with Odissi, Birju Maharaj with Kathak, Kalamandalam Gopi with Kathakali.

The correct answer is A, Banking method. National income is estimated by three standard methods — the product or value-added method, the income method and the expenditure method — and there is no banking method. The product method adds the value added by every producing unit so that intermediate goods are not counted twice. The income method adds the wages, rent, interest and profit earned by the factors of production. The expenditure method adds private consumption, investment, government spending and net exports. In India the National Statistical Office uses all three and cross-checks them, since in theory each must give the same total. Option B is wrong because the expenditure method is a recognised route to the same figure. Option C is wrong because the product method is what the estimates for agriculture and industry rest on. Option D is wrong because the income method is used mainly for the service sector. Exam tip: remember the identity Product = Income = Expenditure, the threefold basis of national income accounting.

The correct answer is C, Ceres. Ceres is the only dwarf planet that orbits inside the main asteroid belt, the ring of rocky bodies between Mars and Jupiter. Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in 1801 and it was first called a planet, then an asteroid, and since the International Astronomical Union's definition of 2006, a dwarf planet — the smallest of them. With a diameter of about 940 km it holds roughly a quarter of the mass of the whole belt, and NASA's Dawn spacecraft orbited it in 2015 and found bright salt deposits. Option A is wrong because Eris is a scattered-disc body far beyond Neptune, and its discovery forced the 2006 redefinition. Option B is wrong because Makemake orbits in the Kuiper belt. Option D is wrong because Haumea, with its stretched shape and a thin ring, is also a Kuiper belt object. Exam tip: of the five recognised dwarf planets — Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea — only Ceres lies inside the asteroid belt.

The correct answer is A, Rakhigarhi. Rakhigarhi lies in Hisar district of Haryana, on the dry bed of the Ghaggar river. It is the largest Harappan site found in India, spread over several mounds, and excavations there have given up planned streets, brick drains, a granary area, seals and terracotta toys. DNA work on skeletons from its cemetery has made the site famous well beyond archaeology. Option B is wrong because Dholavira is in the Rann of Kachchh in Gujarat, known for its water reservoirs and its signboard. Option C is wrong because Lothal, also in Gujarat, is the dockyard site near the Gulf of Khambhat. Option D is wrong because Kalibangan is in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, where ploughed fields and fire altars were found. Exam tip: fix the states in mind — Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Dholavira, Lothal and Surkotada (Gujarat), Ropar (Punjab) and Banawali (Haryana).

The correct answer is Article 51A (a). The very first Fundamental Duty asks every citizen to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. Parliament had already backed this up with the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which punishes insulting the Flag, the Constitution or the Anthem.

The other clauses carry different duties. Clause (b) asks citizens to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired the national struggle for freedom. Clause (c) asks them to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Clause (d) asks them to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so. A frequent trap follows from this question: clause (a) names the National Flag and the National Anthem, but it does not mention the National Song, "Vande Mataram". An option such as "to respect the National Song" is therefore not a Fundamental Duty.