SSC 2023 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B, 1.64 percent. The Census of 2011 puts the average annual exponential growth rate of India's population for the decade 2001 to 2011 at 1.64 per cent. The same census counted 121.09 crore people, a decadal growth of 17.7 per cent, which was the first decade since independence in which the number added was smaller than in the decade before. Census 2011 was the fifteenth census of the country and the seventh after independence, and its motto was Our Census, Our Future. Option A is wrong because 1.97 per cent was the annual rate for the earlier decade of 1991 to 2001, and the fall from 1.97 to 1.64 is the point of the question. Options C and D are wrong because rates above two per cent belong to the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, when growth was at its peak. Exam tip: 2001 to 2011 means 17.7 per cent for the decade and 1.64 per cent a year.

The correct answer is B, Malegam Committee. The Reserve Bank of India set up this sub committee of its Central Board under Y. H. Malegam in October 2010, after complaints of very high interest rates and harsh recovery in the microfinance business. Its report of January 2011 asked the RBI to treat microfinance lenders as a class of their own, and the RBI then created the NBFC-MFI category with rules on the share of qualifying assets, a ceiling on the borrower's income and loan size, and a cap on the margin and the interest rate. Option A is wrong because the Narasimham committees of 1991 and 1998 dealt with banking sector reform, capital adequacy and bad loans. Option C is wrong because the Deepak Parekh committee reported on financing infrastructure. Option D is wrong because the P. K. Mohanty working group of 2020 examined ownership and corporate structure of private banks. Exam tip: Malegam means microfinance, Narasimham means banking reforms.

The correct answer is C, 151. Article 151 deals with the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. It provides that the CAG's reports on the accounts of the Union are given to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament, while the reports on a state's accounts go to the Governor, who lays them before the state legislature. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee then examines these reports, which is why the CAG is called the guardian of the public purse. Option A is wrong because Article 148 creates the office of the CAG and protects its independence through the manner of appointment, removal and service conditions. Option B is wrong because Article 150 deals with the form in which the accounts of the Union and the states are kept, prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG. Option D is wrong because Article 149 lists the duties and powers of the CAG. Exam tip: 148 office, 149 duties, 150 form of accounts, 151 audit reports.

The correct answer is A, Change in sales during the year. Inventory investment, also called change in stock, measures the physical stock of goods a firm holds at the end of the year minus the stock it held at the start. Sales are goods that have already left the firm and gone to buyers, so a change in sales is part of consumption or final demand and is never counted as inventory. The three items that do make up stock are unsold finished goods, goods still being made and raw material waiting to be used. B is wrong because a change in the stock of raw material is a clear part of inventory. C is wrong because semi finished goods, also called work in progress, are counted in stock. D is wrong because unsold finished goods are the most obvious part of inventory. Exam tip: inventory equals raw material plus semi finished plus finished goods, and change in stock is a part of gross domestic capital formation.

The correct answer is B, Rural Cooperatives. Rural cooperative credit societies were the microfinance structure already in place when India became independent. They began with the Cooperative Credit Societies Act of 1904, which was passed to free village borrowers from moneylenders, and by 1947 a three tier structure of primary societies, district central cooperative banks and state cooperative banks was working across the provinces. The later forms of microfinance came much later. A is wrong because Joint Liability Groups were introduced by NABARD only in 2004 05 for small tenant farmers who lack land papers. C is wrong because the Self Help Group movement grew from the 1980s, and the SHG Bank Linkage Programme started as a pilot in 1992. D is wrong because the Grameen model belongs to Bangladesh, where Muhammad Yunus began it in the 1970s, and it reached India afterwards. Exam tip: cooperatives 1904, SHG Bank Linkage 1992, Joint Liability Groups 2004.

The correct answer is D, Sodium benzoate. Sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of benzoic acid and is the preservative most often added to sauces, salad dressings, jams, pickles and soft drinks. It works best in acidic foods, where part of it turns into benzoic acid, and that stops the growth of moulds, yeasts and many bacteria. It dissolves easily in water, costs little and does not change the taste of the food, which is why it is so widely used; on labels it appears as INS 211 or E211. A is wrong because sodium bicarbonate is baking soda, used as a raising agent in cooking and as an antacid. B is wrong because sodium fluoride is added to toothpaste and drinking water to protect teeth, not to preserve food. C is wrong because sodium hypochlorite is the bleaching and disinfecting agent used in household bleach. Exam tip: common food preservatives - sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulphite and potassium metabisulphite; salt and sugar are the oldest of all.

The correct answer is C, Kerala. The Moplahs, or Mappilas, were Muslim cultivators of the Malabar region of northern Kerala, and their long struggle against the jenmi landlords grew into the Malabar or Moplah rebellion of 1921. The tenants had no security of tenure and paid heavy rents and renewal fees, so when the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation campaigns of 1920-21 reached Malabar the anger turned into an armed revolt in the Ernad and Valluvanad taluks. British troops crushed the rising, and dozens of prisoners died of suffocation in a closed goods wagon in the Wagon Tragedy of November 1921. A is wrong because Tamil Nadu saw no Moplah movement. B is wrong because Bengal's tenant struggles were the Pabna agitation and, later, the Tebhaga movement. D is wrong because the peasant risings of Uttar Pradesh were the Awadh Kisan Sabha movement and the Eka movement. Exam tip: Moplah rebellion - Malabar in Kerala, 1921, linked to the Khilafat movement and the Wagon Tragedy.

The correct answer is C, Table Tennis. The Corbillon Cup is the trophy of the women’s team event at the World Table Tennis Championships, and its companion, the Swaythling Cup, is the men’s team trophy. Option D, Badminton, is the distractor the setter counts on, because badminton has its own pair of team cups — the Thomas Cup for men and the Uber Cup for women — and candidates who remember only that cups exist in racket games mix the two sets. Option A, Golf, is wrong: golf’s team trophies are the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup and the Solheim Cup. Option B, Hockey, is wrong as well; Indian hockey is associated with the Dhyan Chand Trophy, the Rangaswami Cup and the Beighton Cup. Keep the four cups in two pairs, table tennis against badminton, and this family of questions becomes easy marks.

The correct answer is C, The President of India. The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under Article 280, and it therefore makes its recommendations to the President. Under Article 281 the President must cause every recommendation, together with an explanatory memorandum on the action taken on it, to be laid before each House of Parliament. Option A is wrong because NITI Aayog is an executive body set up by a Cabinet resolution in 2015 and has no role in receiving the Commission's report. Option B is wrong because the Finance Minister and the Ministry of Finance act on the recommendations once accepted but are not the authority the report is addressed to. Option D is wrong because the Prime Minister chairs the Union Council of Ministers and NITI Aayog but does not receive the report either.

The correct answer is C, A and C only. Statement A is correct: Article 280 provides that the Commission shall consist of a Chairman and four other members appointed by the President. Statement C is also correct: Article 280 is the very article that lists the matters on which the Commission makes its recommendations, including tax devolution and grants-in-aid. Statement B is wrong, and this is the trap the question is built on. The recommendations of the Finance Commission are advisory in nature, and the Union government is not legally bound to accept them; Article 281 only requires the report, with a memorandum explaining the action taken, to be laid before each House of Parliament. Because B is false, options A, B and D, each of which includes B, cannot be right, leaving A and C only.

The correct answer is A, J. Chadwick. James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932 by bombarding beryllium with alpha particles and showing that the radiation produced consisted of neutral particles of nearly the same mass as the proton. The discovery explained why the mass of an atom is greater than the mass of its protons and electrons together. Option B is wrong because E. Goldstein discovered canal rays, which carried positive charge and led to the identification of the proton. Option C is wrong because Niels Bohr gave the model in which electrons revolve in fixed permitted shells without radiating energy. Option D is wrong because Ernest Rutherford discovered the nucleus through alpha-particle scattering and had only predicted that a neutral particle should exist. Note the years, which papers like to ask together: the electron in 1897, the nucleus in 1911 and the neutron in 1932, the last of the three fundamental particles to be found.

The correct answer is 1950. The Estimates Committee of independent India was first constituted in 1950, on the recommendation of John Mathai, the Finance Minister. It examines the estimates included in the budget and suggests economies in public expenditure, improvements in organisation and alternative policies, which is why it is often called a "continuous economy committee". It has 30 members, all elected from the Lok Sabha each year, and ministers cannot be members.

The other years are close enough to tempt. 1947 is the year of independence, 1949 is when the Constitution was adopted, and 1948 has no link to the committee. For comparison, the Public Accounts Committee is older, having first been set up in 1921, and the Committee on Public Undertakings was set up in 1964, on the recommendation of the Krishna Menon Committee. Remember the three financial committees with their numbers: Public Accounts 22, Estimates 30 (all Lok Sabha), Public Undertakings 22.

The correct answer is twelve. Under Article 80, the Rajya Sabha consists of 12 members nominated by the President and not more than 238 representatives of the States and Union Territories, a maximum of 250. The nominated members are chosen for their special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service; Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar and the composer Ilaiyaraaja are among those nominated over the years.

The wrong numbers have no basis in the Constitution. Remember too the contrast with the Lok Sabha: the President could once nominate two Anglo-Indian members to it under Article 331, but that provision lapsed in January 2020 after the 104th Amendment did not extend it. So today the President nominates members only to the Rajya Sabha. Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha can vote in the election of the Vice-President but not in the election of the President, a point examiners often combine with this one.

The correct answer is B, Ctrl + Alt + I. In MS Word 365 the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + I switches the document to print preview and, pressed again, brings you back to the normal view. Print preview shows the page exactly as it will come out of the printer, with the margins, headers, page breaks and page numbers in place, so it is used for a last check before printing. The same screen is reached from the File menu by choosing Print, where Ctrl + P also takes you. A is wrong because Ctrl + Alt + P switches Word to the reading or outline area, not to print preview. C is wrong because Alt + P only opens the Layout tab of the ribbon through the key tips. D is wrong because Alt + I is an old menu key for Insert and does not open a preview. Exam tip: Ctrl + P print, Ctrl + Alt + I print preview toggle, Ctrl + F2 also opens print preview in Word.

The correct answer is A, Odisha. The Lingaraja Temple stands in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, and is the largest temple in that city. It was built in the eleventh century, mainly under the Somavamshi ruler Jajati Keshari and completed by the Ganga rulers, and is dedicated to Shiva as Tribhuvaneshwara, the lord of three worlds. The temple is the finest example of the Kalinga or Nagara style of eastern India, with a tall curved tower about 55 metres high and four parts in a line: the vimana for the deity, the jagamohana or assembly hall, the natamandira for dance and the bhogamandapa for offerings. The deity here is worshipped as both Shiva and Vishnu, called Harihara. B is wrong because Karnataka is known for the Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebidu. C is wrong because Maharashtra has the rock-cut Kailasa temple at Ellora. D is wrong because Tamil Nadu has the Dravidian temples of Thanjavur and Madurai. Exam tip: Lingaraja Bhubaneswar, Kalinga style, with Mukteshwara and Rajarani temples in the same city.

The correct answer is B, Fundamental rights. Fundamental rights are the one set of provisions here that a court can enforce directly. They are placed in Part III of the Constitution, Articles 12 to 35, and Article 32 lets a person move the Supreme Court itself when such a right is broken, while Article 226 lets them move a High Court. The courts issue five writs for this purpose: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. Dr B. R. Ambedkar called Article 32 the heart and soul of the Constitution because the right to a remedy is itself a fundamental right. A is wrong because the Preamble only states the aims of the Constitution; it cannot be enforced in a court, though judges use it to read an unclear provision. C is wrong because the Directive Principles in Part IV are expressly non-justiciable under Article 37 and work as goals for the government. D is wrong because the Fundamental Duties in Article 51A carry no direct court remedy. Exam tip: Part III is justiciable, Part IV is not, and Article 32 is the remedy.

The correct answer is C, Ctrl + Y. In MS Excel 365, Ctrl + Y repeats the last command or action wherever repeating it is possible, so if you have just made a cell bold or inserted a row, pressing Ctrl + Y does the same thing again at the new position. It also works as Redo, undoing an undo, because Excel treats the two as one key. The function key F4 does the same repeat job in Excel, which is why it is popular for copying formatting down a sheet. A is wrong because Ctrl + Z is Undo, which cancels the last action instead of repeating it. B is wrong because Shift + Z is not a command shortcut in Excel; it simply types a capital Z. D is wrong because Shift + Y likewise only types a capital Y. Exam tip: Ctrl + Z undo, Ctrl + Y redo or repeat, Ctrl + C copy, Ctrl + V paste, and F4 also repeats in Excel.

The correct answer is D, Buccal cavity. In humans the digestion of starch begins in the buccal cavity, that is the mouth. The salivary glands pour out about 1.5 litres of saliva a day, and the enzyme in it, salivary amylase or ptyalin, breaks starch into the simpler sugar maltose. This is why a piece of chapati or rice starts tasting slightly sweet if it is chewed for a while. The saliva also wets the food so the tongue can roll it into a bolus for swallowing. A is wrong because the rectum only stores the waste left after digestion and absorption. B is wrong because in the small intestine pancreatic amylase carries this work forward and maltase finishes it into glucose, but it does not begin there. C is wrong because the oesophagus is only a food pipe that pushes the bolus down by peristalsis and has no digestive enzyme. Exam tip: starch begins in the mouth with salivary amylase, protein in the stomach with pepsin, fat in the small intestine with lipase and bile.

The correct answer is D, Karnataka. Karnataka won the 2017-18 Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Saurashtra in the final played in Delhi. The tournament is India's premier domestic limited-overs competition for state teams, run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India since 2002-03, and it is named after Vijay Hazare, the batsman who led India to its first Test victory, against England at Madras in 1952. Karnataka's Mayank Agarwal was the story of that season, scoring 723 runs, the highest total by any batsman in a single edition of the trophy. Option A is wrong because Uttar Pradesh did not reach the 2017-18 final. Option B is wrong because Kerala was knocked out before the final that season. Option C is wrong because Maharashtra also failed to reach the final; Karnataka's opponent was Saurashtra. Exam tip: Vijay Hazare Trophy is the one-day tournament, the Ranji Trophy the first-class one and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy the Twenty20 one.

The correct answer is B, Article 161. Article 161 lets the Governor grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment, and suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of an offence against a law on a matter to which the executive power of the state extends. His power is narrower than the President's under Article 72 in two ways: the Governor cannot pardon a death sentence and has no say in a sentence passed by a court martial, while the President can act in both cases. Like the President, the Governor exercises this power on the advice of the state Council of Ministers. Option A is wrong because Article 163 provides for the Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor. Option C is wrong because Article 55 lays down the manner of election of the President. Option D is wrong because Article 145 lets the Supreme Court frame rules of procedure. Exam tip: Article 72 for the President's pardon and Article 161 for the Governor's; only the President can pardon a death sentence or a court-martial sentence.