SSC 2023 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is A, JLGs. NABARD started a pilot project on Joint Liability Groups in 2004-05 so that small, marginal and tenant farmers, who often till land they do not own, could borrow without the land papers a bank usually demands. A JLG is an informal group of roughly four to ten farmers of the same village who take a bank loan together and stand guarantee for one another, so the trust within the group takes the place of collateral. The pilot ran through selected banks in a few states, worked well, and was then adopted as a regular channel of farm credit alongside the older self-help group route. B is wrong because MEDP is NABARD's Micro Enterprise Development Programme, a skill training effort for members of mature SHGs. C is wrong because SGSY was a self-employment scheme of the rural development ministry. D is wrong because the SHG Bank Linkage Programme began in 1992 and mainly serves women's savings groups. Exam tip: JLG pilot 2004-05, tenant and oral lessee farmers, joint guarantee and no collateral.

The correct answer is D, Vijayalaya. Vijayalaya founded the line known as the Imperial Cholas around 850 CE by taking Thanjavur from the Muttaraiyar chiefs, who held it as feudatories of the Pallavas. He built a temple to the goddess Nishumbhasudini in the captured town, and Thanjavur stayed the Chola capital until Rajendra I shifted to Gangaikonda Cholapuram. The dynasty he began reached its height under Rajaraja I, who raised the Brihadeshwara temple, and under Rajendra I, who carried Chola arms to Sri Lanka and across the sea to Srivijaya. A is wrong because Dantidurga founded the Rashtrakuta dynasty of the Deccan. B is wrong because Simhavishnu was an early Pallava king of Kanchipuram. C is wrong because Upendrarai has no place in the Chola genealogy. Exam tip: Vijayalaya founded the Cholas at Thanjavur around 850 CE, Rajaraja I built the Brihadeshwara temple, and Rajendra I founded Gangaikonda Cholapuram.

The correct answer is A, Charles Cornwallis. Cornwallis, Governor General from 1786 to 1793, introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in 1793, with John Shore doing much of the groundwork. It recognised the zamindars as owners of the land and fixed for all time the revenue they had to pay the Company, so any later rise in output went to the zamindar and not to the state. The sunset clause meant that a zamindar who had not paid by sunset on the appointed day lost his estate at auction, which ruined many old families and created a new class of landlords, while the peasant got no security of tenure. B is wrong because Bentinck came in 1828 and is remembered for abolishing sati. C is wrong because Mountbatten was the last Viceroy, in 1947. D is wrong because Ripon, in the 1880s, is known for local self-government. Exam tip: Permanent Settlement 1793 Cornwallis, Ryotwari Munro and Read, Mahalwari Holt Mackenzie.

The correct answer is C, Securities and Exchange Board of India. SEBI is the regulator of the securities market, and protecting the interests of investors is the first duty written into its founding law. It was set up in 1988 and given statutory powers by the SEBI Act of 1992, after the securities scam of that period exposed how weak the old controls were; its headquarters is in Mumbai. SEBI registers brokers, merchant bankers and mutual funds, lays down the rules for public issues, acts against insider trading and price rigging, and runs an online grievance system called SCORES for small investors. A is wrong because the Bombay Stock Exchange is a market place where shares are traded, not the regulator that polices it. B is wrong because the Reserve Bank of India looks after banks, currency and credit. D is wrong because the National Stock Exchange, like the BSE, is itself a body regulated by SEBI. Exam tip: SEBI, formed 1988, statutory in 1992, headquarters Mumbai, regulator of the securities market.

The correct answer is D, NABARD. E-Shakti was launched by NABARD in 2015 to put the accounts and records of self-help groups on a digital platform. Until then an SHG kept its savings, loans, attendance and repayments in handwritten registers, which a bank could not check quickly, so grading a group and sanctioning credit took a long time. E-Shakti holds the same records online, where the lending branch can see them, so an SHG that repays well can be identified and financed faster. The project began as a pilot in Ramgarh in Jharkhand and Dhule in Maharashtra and was then extended to many more districts. A is wrong because SIDBI is the apex bank for micro, small and medium industries. B is wrong because SEBI regulates the securities market. C is wrong because IFCI was India's first development finance institution, set up for industry. Exam tip: NABARD milestones are the SHG Bank Linkage Programme of 1992, the JLG pilot of 2004-05 and E-Shakti in 2015.

The correct answer is B, Shah Alam II. The Third Battle of Panipat was fought in 1761 between Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan and the Marathas, who were defeated. Shah Alam II was the reigning Mughal emperor from 1759 to 1806, though he held little real power and was away from Delhi at the time. Option A is wrong because Akbar II ruled from 1806 to 1837, long after 1761, and is remembered for giving Ram Mohan Roy the title of Raja. Option C is wrong because Bahadur Shah I, the son of Aurangzeb, ruled from 1707 to 1712, half a century before the battle. Option D is wrong because Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor, came to the throne in 1837 and was deposed after the revolt of 1857. Tie the three Panipats to 1526, 1556 and 1761 to avoid this trap.

The correct answer is A, Humayun Shah. Humayun Shah Bahmani ruled from 1458 to 1461 and the chronicles of the Deccan record his punishments as so savage that he was nicknamed Zalim, the cruel or the tyrant. His short reign is remembered mainly for that title and for the fact that Mahmud Gawan served on his council. Option B is wrong because Firuz Shah Bahmani, who ruled from 1397 to 1422, was the most learned sultan of the line, a patron of astronomy who built an observatory at Daulatabad and married a daughter of Deva Raya I. Option C is wrong because Mujahid Shah, who ruled from 1375 to 1378, is known for his campaign against Vijayanagara and his murder by his uncle, not for tyranny. Option D is wrong because Ahmad Shah Wali, who ruled from 1422 to 1436, is remembered for shifting the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar and for his reputation as a saintly figure.

The correct answer is Article 226. It empowers every High Court to issue directions, orders or writs, including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, to any person or authority within its territory, for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights "and for any other purpose". Those last words make the High Courts' writ power wider than the Supreme Court's under Article 32, which covers only Fundamental Rights. On the other hand, Article 32 is itself a Fundamental Right, while Article 226 is not, so the Supreme Court cannot refuse to hear a genuine Fundamental Rights petition merely because a High Court remedy exists.

The other options are nearby Articles about High Court judges. Article 220 restricts a retired permanent judge from practising law before the same courts. Article 222 lets the President transfer a judge from one High Court to another. Article 224 provides for additional and acting judges. Pair the two writ Articles in your mind: 32 for the Supreme Court and 226 for the High Courts.

The correct answer is Article 137. It gives the Supreme Court the power to review any judgment it has pronounced or any order it has made, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament and the rules made by the Court under Article 145. A review petition is normally heard by the same bench that gave the judgment, and it succeeds only if there is an error apparent on the face of the record or some similar strong ground. Beyond review, the Court recognised the curative petition in the Rupa Ashok Hurra case (2002) as a last remedy to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice.

The other options are the Articles right around it. Article 135 lets the Supreme Court exercise the jurisdiction the Federal Court had under earlier law. Article 136 is the special leave to appeal from any court or tribunal. Article 138 allows Parliament to enlarge the Court's jurisdiction. The sequence 136, 137 is worth fixing in memory: special leave to appeal, then review of its own judgments.

The correct answer is A, Satyendra Prasanna Sinha. The 1915 session of the Indian National Congress, held at Bombay, was presided over by Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, later Lord Sinha of Raipur. He was the first Indian appointed to the Governor-General's Executive Council, in 1909, and went on to become Under-Secretary of State for India and Governor of Bihar and Orissa, the first Indian to govern a province. His presidency came in the year Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta died and Gandhi returned from South Africa, so the session marks a turning point for the party. Option B is wrong because Ambica Charan Mazumdar presided at Lucknow in 1916, where the Congress and the Muslim League signed their pact and the moderates and extremists reunited. Option C is wrong because Bhupendra Nath Bose presided at Madras in 1914. Option D is wrong because Madan Mohan Malaviya presided at Lahore in 1909 and at the Delhi special session in 1918. Exam tip: 1914 Madras Bose, 1915 Bombay Sinha, 1916 Lucknow Mazumdar.

The correct answer is C, Debendranath Tagore. Debendranath Tagore founded the Tattvabodhini Sabha in Calcutta in 1839 to study the Upanishads and Vedanta and to spread the rational religion that Rammohun Roy had preached. The Sabha ran a school and brought out the Tattvabodhini Patrika, a journal that carried writings on religion, science and social reform; Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Akshay Kumar Datta were among its members. Debendranath, the father of Rabindranath Tagore, joined the Brahmo Sabha in 1843 and reorganised it as the Brahmo Samaj, and the Tattvabodhini Sabha merged into it in 1859. Option A is wrong because Keshab Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj much later and broke away to form the Brahmo Samaj of India in 1866. Option B is wrong because Rammohun Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 and died in 1833, before this body was set up. Option D is wrong because Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 at Bombay. Exam tip: Brahmo Sabha 1828 Rammohun Roy, Tattvabodhini Sabha 1839 Debendranath Tagore, Arya Samaj 1875 Dayanand Saraswati.

The correct answer is D, Financial service to disadvantaged people. A microfinance institution exists to lend small sums to poor and low-income people who cannot offer the security an ordinary bank asks for. It gives tiny loans, takes small savings and sells simple insurance, usually working through self-help groups or joint liability groups in which the members stand guarantee for one another, so no collateral is needed. The loans are small, are repaid weekly or monthly, and are often used for a small shop, a sewing machine, cattle or seed. In India these bodies are registered with the Reserve Bank of India as NBFC-MFIs, and NABARD's SHG-Bank Linkage programme works on the same idea. A and B are wrong because government employees and Union ministers draw regular salaries and can borrow from ordinary banks. C is wrong because corporate borrowers are served by commercial banks and the capital market. Exam tip: microfinance means small collateral-free loans to the poor, through SHGs and NBFC-MFIs under the RBI.

The correct answer is C, Battle of Talikota. The Battle of Talikota, fought in January 1565, broke the Vijayanagara empire. The Deccan sultanates of Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar and Bidar joined hands against it, and their combined army defeated Aliya Rama Raya, the regent of the Aravidu dynasty, who was captured and killed on the field. The victors then sacked the capital Vijayanagara, at Hampi on the Tungabhadra, for months, and the city never recovered. The rulers moved to Penukonda and later Chandragiri, and the empire shrank away over the next century. The battle is also called Rakshasa-Tangadi, after the two villages near the site. A is wrong because the Battle of Raichur in 1520 was a Vijayanagara victory under Krishnadevaraya. B is wrong because Haldighati in 1576 was fought in Mewar between Maharana Pratap and Akbar's army. D is wrong because Arcot in 1751 belongs to the Carnatic wars. Exam tip: Talikota 1565, also called Rakshasa-Tangadi, Rama Raya killed and Hampi sacked.

The correct answer is B, Polar Region. The Eskimos, who call themselves Inuit, live in the polar region, that is the Arctic lands of Greenland, northern Canada, Alaska and eastern Siberia. Their home is cold tundra where the ground stays frozen for most of the year, so no crops grow and they live by hunting seal, walrus and caribou and by fishing. They travel by dog sledge and kayak, wear clothes of skin and fur, and in winter build the igloo, a dome of snow blocks whose thick walls trap the warmth inside. Their summer shelter is a tent of animal skin called a tupik. A is wrong because the arid region is home to desert people such as the Bedouins of Arabia. C is wrong because the savanna grassland of Africa is home to the Masai herders. D is wrong because the tropical rainforest is home to the Pygmies of the Congo basin. Exam tip: Inuit and tundra, Bedouin and desert, Masai and savanna, Pygmy and equatorial forest.

The correct answer is A, Christians. In Census 2011 Muslims were the largest religious minority of India at 14.2 per cent of the population, and Christians came next at 2.3 per cent, which makes them the second largest minority. Sikhs followed with 1.7 per cent, Buddhists with 0.7 per cent and Jains with 0.4 per cent, while Hindus formed 79.8 per cent. Christians are the largest group in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya, and they have a strong presence in Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu as well. These are the figures of the 2011 count and they hold until a fresh census is published. B is wrong because Buddhists are smaller than both Christians and Sikhs. C is wrong because Sikhs stand third among the minorities. D is wrong because Muslims are the largest minority, not the second largest. Exam tip: Census 2011 order, Hindu 79.8, Muslim 14.2, Christian 2.3, Sikh 1.7, Buddhist 0.7, Jain 0.4 per cent.

The correct answer is A, Gujarat. The Kawas Thermal Power Station stands at Kawas near Hazira in the Surat district of Gujarat, on the bank of the Tapi. It is a gas-based station run by NTPC with an installed capacity of about 656 MW, and it draws its fuel from the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline that carries gas from the Bombay High and South Basin fields. Gujarat's western coast has several such gas stations because the offshore fields and the landing terminals lie close by, which keeps the cost of moving the fuel low. A gas station can also be started and stopped quickly, so it helps meet the evening peak in demand. B is wrong because Maharashtra's big gas station is Uran, not Kawas. C is wrong because NTPC's West Bengal stations, such as Farakka, burn coal. D is wrong because Rajasthan has coal and lignite stations like Suratgarh and Giral. Exam tip: Kawas and Gandhar are NTPC's gas stations in Gujarat; Uran is Maharashtra's.

The correct answer is D, National Sample Survey Organisation. The poverty line in India is worked out from the consumption expenditure data that the NSSO collects through its large sample surveys. The NSSO, now part of the National Statistical Office, asks households what they spend in a month on food and on other items. From these figures a minimum expenditure for a basic basket is fixed, covering food that gives about 2,400 calories a day in villages and 2,100 in towns, along with clothing, fuel, footwear and schooling, and anyone spending below it is counted as poor. Expert groups such as the Lakdawala, Tendulkar and Rangarajan committees have all drawn the line from this NSSO data. A is wrong because the Reserve Bank of India handles currency and monetary policy. B is wrong because NITI Aayog uses the survey figures but does not collect them. C is wrong because the ICAR works on farm research. Exam tip: the NSSO collects the consumption data; expert committees only fix the line from it.

The correct answer is C, Loess. Loess is a deposit of fine silt and dust carried by the wind and dropped far from where it was picked up, so it is the classic wind made or aeolian soil. It is loose, porous, pale yellow and stands in steep walls when cut, and because it holds nutrients well it is very fertile. The largest spread in the world is the Loess Plateau of northern China, formed from dust blown out of the Gobi desert, and it also covers parts of central Europe, Central Asia and the Mississippi valley. Option A is wrong because loam is a balanced mixture of sand, silt and clay and is not defined by the wind. Option B is wrong because marl is a clay rich in lime, laid down in water. Option D is wrong because podsol is the ash grey, acidic and leached soil of cold coniferous forest lands. Exam tip: loess means wind blown silt, and the Huang He carries it, which is why the river is called the Yellow River.

The correct answer is A, Mangrove Forests. Palm, coconut, keora and agar are the trees named for India's mangrove or tidal forests, which grow where the land meets the sea in deltas, estuaries and creeks. Their roots stand in salt water and mud, so many of them send up breathing roots above the ground to take in air. The largest such belt in India is the Sundarbans of the Ganga and Brahmaputra delta in West Bengal, famous for the sundari tree that gives it its name and for the Royal Bengal tiger, and mangroves also line the Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna deltas and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Option B is wrong because evergreen forests of very heavy rainfall give rosewood, mahogany and ebony. Option C is wrong because deciduous or monsoon forests give teak, sal and shisham. Option D is wrong because montane forests of the hills give pine, deodar, oak and silver fir. Exam tip: tidal forest, Sundarbans and breathing roots all mean mangroves.

The correct answer is D, Warren Hastings. Raja Nand Kumar, a Brahmin revenue officer of Bengal, accused Warren Hastings of taking bribes. Soon afterwards Nand Kumar himself was charged with forgery, tried by the Supreme Court at Calcutta under Chief Justice Elijah Impey and hanged in 1775. Indian opinion held that the case was arranged to silence an accuser, and the episode is remembered as the judicial murder of Nand Kumar. It became one of the charges in the impeachment proceedings brought against Hastings, the first Governor General of Bengal, in the British Parliament, where he was finally acquitted. Option A is wrong because Wellesley came much later and is known for the subsidiary alliance system. Option B is wrong because Dalhousie belongs to the 1850s and the doctrine of lapse. Option C is wrong because Cornwallis followed Hastings and is known for the Permanent Settlement of 1793. Exam tip: Nand Kumar, the Rohilla war and the Chait Singh affair are all charges against Warren Hastings.