SSC Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, 1989. The Election Commission of India became a multi-member body for the first time on 16 October 1989, when two Election Commissioners were appointed alongside the Chief Election Commissioner just before the general election of that year. Article 324 leaves the number of Election Commissioners to the President, so the size of the Commission can be changed. The two posts were abolished in January 1990 and the Commission went back to being a single-member body; it was made multi-member again on 1 October 1993 and has remained a three-member body since. All members have equal say and matters are decided by majority. A is wrong because in 1995 the Supreme Court only upheld the multi-member structure that already existed. B is wrong because in 1985 the Commission was still headed by the Chief Election Commissioner alone. D is wrong because 1994 brought no change in the Commission's composition. Exam tip: multi-member first on 16 October 1989, single-member again in 1990, three-member since 1 October 1993.

The correct answer is C, Philippines. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the seventh President of the Philippines, who died in an air crash in 1957. The award was created that same year by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York with the agreement of the Philippine government, and it is presented every year at Manila on 31 August, his birth anniversary. It honours greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia and is often called Asia's Nobel Prize. Vinoba Bhave was its first Indian recipient, in 1958. A is wrong because Myanmar has no link with the award, though some of its citizens have won it. B is wrong because Magsaysay was never connected with Malaysia. D is wrong because Sweden is associated with the Nobel Prize, not with the Magsaysay Award. Exam tip: Ramon Magsaysay - President of the Philippines; award instituted in 1957 and given at Manila; first Indian winner Vinoba Bhave.

The correct answer is C, Amritsar. Sri Harmandir Sahib, popularly called the Golden Temple, stands in Amritsar in Punjab and is the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. The fourth Guru, Ram Das, had the sacred tank dug and the city grew around it, taking its name Amritsar from the pool of nectar; the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, built the shrine and installed the Adi Granth there in 1604. Maharaja Ranjit Singh later covered its upper storeys with gold leaf, which gave the temple its popular name. It has a door on each of its four sides to show that it is open to people of every caste and faith, and its community kitchen feeds thousands every day. A is wrong because Manali is a hill town in Himachal Pradesh. B is wrong because Patna has Takht Sri Patna Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, which is a different shrine. D is wrong because Jalandhar has no such temple. Exam tip: Amritsar founded by Guru Ram Das; Harmandir Sahib built by Guru Arjan Dev; Akal Takht stands beside it.

The correct answer is B, Ukraine. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant stands near the town of Pripyat in northern Ukraine, close to the border with Belarus, and was part of the Soviet Union when reactor number four exploded on 26 April 1986 in the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosion during a late night safety test blew off the reactor roof and scattered radioactive material across much of Europe. Pripyat was evacuated, an exclusion zone of 30 kilometres was drawn around the plant and it is still in force. The last working reactor at the site was shut down in December 2000, so the plant is now closed. A is wrong because Russia, though also a Soviet republic at the time, does not contain the site. C is wrong because Belarus received much of the fallout but the plant is not on its soil. D is wrong because Georgia has no connection with the accident. Exam tip: Chernobyl - Ukraine, 26 April 1986; Fukushima - Japan, 2011; Three Mile Island - United States, 1979.

The correct answer is B, London dispersion forces. These are the weak attractions that appear when the electron cloud of an atom becomes momentarily lopsided, creating a temporary dipole which then induces a matching dipole in a neighbouring atom. Named after Fritz London, they are the weakest of the van der Waals forces and fall away very sharply with distance, so they count only over a few hundred picometres. They exist between all atoms and molecules and are the only forces holding non-polar substances such as helium, argon and methane together, which is why such gases liquefy only at very low temperatures. Their strength grows as the electron cloud gets larger. A is wrong because dipole-dipole forces act between molecules that already carry permanent dipoles. C is wrong because dipole-induced dipole forces need one permanent dipole to begin with. D is wrong because a hydrogen bond is a far stronger attraction, formed where hydrogen is bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine. Exam tip: strength order - hydrogen bond, then dipole-dipole, then London dispersion.

The correct answer is B, Seventh. Prophet Muhammad was born at Mecca in about 570 CE and began preaching the faith of Islam after his first revelation in about 610 CE, so the religion was founded in the seventh century. His migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, called the Hijra, marks the start of the Islamic calendar, and he died in 632 CE. The revelations were later compiled as the Quran. Islam reached the Indian subcontinent within decades, first through Arab traders on the Malabar and Konkan coasts and then with the Arab conquest of Sind under Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE. A is wrong because the sixth century ended before the Prophet began his mission. C is wrong because by the ninth century Islam had already spread from Spain to Central Asia. D is wrong because the eighth century saw the expansion of Islam, not its founding. Exam tip: Prophet Muhammad born about 570 CE, Hijra 622 CE, death 632 CE, Arab conquest of Sind 712 CE.

The correct answer is B, Article 213. Article 213 gives the Governor the power to promulgate an ordinance when the state legislature is not in session and he or she is satisfied that circumstances make immediate action necessary. An ordinance has the same force as an Act of the legislature, but it must be laid before the House when it reassembles and ceases to operate six weeks from that date unless it is approved earlier; the Governor may also withdraw it at any time. For a bill that would have needed the President's previous sanction, the Governor must take the President's instructions before issuing the ordinance. A is wrong because Article 200 deals with the Governor's assent to bills passed by the state legislature. C is wrong because Article 161 gives the Governor the power to grant pardons and remit sentences. D is wrong because Article 167 lays down the Chief Minister's duty to furnish information to the Governor. Exam tip: ordinance power - President under Article 123, Governor under Article 213.

The correct answer is D, Maharashtra. Maharashtra has by far the largest number of large dams in India, more than two thousand of the roughly 5,300 listed in the National Register of Large Dams, which is close to half the country's total. The rivers of its Deccan plateau, its dependence on irrigation for sugarcane and its long record of building storage projects explain the number, and Koyna, Jayakwadi, Ujani and Bhatsa are among its best known dams. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat come next on the list. A is wrong because Rajasthan is dry and has few perennial rivers to dam, so its count is much smaller. B is wrong because Tamil Nadu has thousands of tanks but far fewer large dams. C is wrong because Gujarat, though high on the list and home to the Sardar Sarovar, stands behind Maharashtra. Exam tip: most large dams - Maharashtra, then Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat; a large dam is one more than 15 metres high.

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 D, 1761. The British East India Company captured Pondicherry from the French in 1761, during the Third Carnatic War, after Sir Eyre Coote had broken French power in the south at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. The town was handed back to France by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, but the French were forbidden to fortify it or keep troops there, so it survived only as a trading settlement and the contest for India was settled in Britain's favour. Pondicherry stayed with France until it was transferred to India in 1954. A is wrong because 1674 is the year the French East India Company set up Pondicherry under Francois Martin. B is wrong because no such capture took place in 1699. C is wrong because 1738 falls before the Carnatic Wars began in 1746. Exam tip: Battle of Wandiwash 1760, Pondicherry captured 1761, returned by the Treaty of Paris 1763, merged with India 1954.

The correct answer is D, Dharampala. Dharmapala, the second and greatest ruler of the Pala dynasty of Bengal and Bihar, founded the Vikramshila monastery and university in the late eighth century in what is now Bhagalpur district of Bihar, and he also restored and supported the older university at Nalanda. Vikramshila became the leading centre of tantric Buddhism, and its scholar Atisa Dipankara carried Buddhism to Tibet. The Palas were the last great royal patrons of Buddhism in eastern India, and both universities were destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1200. A is wrong because Gopala founded the Pala dynasty and the Odantapuri monastery, not Vikramshila. B is wrong because Vasudeva was a Kushan ruler of the north-west, far from Bengal and much earlier. C is wrong because Shri Gupta founded the Gupta line and lived centuries before the Palas. Exam tip: Nalanda founded by Kumaragupta I and revived by Dharmapala; Odantapuri by Gopala; Vikramshila by Dharmapala.

The correct answer is C, Intercellular spaces are present. Permanent tissues are made of cells that have stopped dividing and have taken on a fixed shape, size and function, and in simple permanent tissues such as parenchyma the loosely packed cells leave clear intercellular spaces through which gases can move. Permanent tissue is formed when cells produced by meristematic tissue undergo differentiation; the simple kinds are parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma, while xylem and phloem are the complex kinds. Such cells are usually large, with a big central vacuole and a thin lining of cytoplasm. A is wrong because repeated division is the mark of meristematic tissue, not of permanent tissue. B is wrong because permanent cells often hold inorganic inclusions such as crystals of calcium oxalate. D is wrong because large vacuoles are typical of permanent cells, while it is meristematic cells that lack them. Exam tip: meristematic - small cells, dense cytoplasm, no vacuole, no intercellular spaces; permanent tissue is the opposite on every count.

The correct answer is D, He/She should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha, because that is the one statement which is not correct. Article 66(3) of the Constitution says a person may be elected Vice-President only if he or she is a citizen of India, has completed 35 years of age and is qualified for election as a member of the Council of States, that is the Rajya Sabha. The qualification is tied to the Upper House because the Vice-President is the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. A is not the answer because citizenship of India is indeed a required condition. B is not the answer because 35 years is the correct minimum age laid down in the same clause. C is not the answer because the bar on holding any office of profit under the Union, a state or a local authority is also a genuine condition. Exam tip: President - qualified for election to the Lok Sabha; Vice-President - qualified for election to the Rajya Sabha; both must be 35.

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, Loo - Hot wind. The Loo is the strong, dry and very hot wind that blows over the plains of north and north-west India during the day in May and June. It moves from the west towards the east across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, often pushing afternoon temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius, and long exposure to it can cause heat stroke. It dies down once the monsoon arrives in late June. A is wrong because Kaal Baisakhi is not an autumn wind; it is the violent evening thunderstorm of April and May in West Bengal, Odisha and Assam that brings sudden rain and squalls. B is wrong because trade winds are the steady tropical winds blowing from the subtropical high pressure belts towards the equator, not winter snow storms. D is wrong because the Loo is a summer wind, not a winter stormy wind. Exam tip: Loo - hot summer wind of the northern plains; Kaal Baisakhi - pre-monsoon thunderstorm of eastern India; mango showers - pre-monsoon rain of Kerala and Karnataka.

The correct answer is A, Heritage Foundation. The Index of Economic Freedom has been published by this research organisation based at Washington DC since 1995, and it scores countries on matters such as property rights, tax burden, government spending, trade freedom and business regulation. Questions on this topic usually pair an index with the body that publishes it, so this name is worth memorising along with the index it produces.

Option B, the Fraser Institute of Canada, publishes a similarly named report called Economic Freedom of the World, which makes it the closest trap in the set. Option C, the International Monetary Fund, publishes the World Economic Outlook and the Global Financial Stability Report. Option D, the World Bank, brings out the World Development Report and earlier the Ease of Doing Business rankings, but not this index.

The correct answer is C, International Monetary Fund. The conference held in 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in the United States set up two twin institutions, the International Monetary Fund to keep exchange rates orderly and help countries facing balance of payments difficulty, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to lend for reconstruction and development. Both have their headquarters at Washington DC.

Option A is wrong because the United Nations was created by its own Charter, signed at San Francisco in 1945. Option B, UNESCO, was founded in 1946 as a specialised agency for education, science and culture. Option D, the International Labour Organization, is older than all of them, set up in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles. Only the IMF and the World Bank are called the Bretton Woods institutions.

The correct answer is B, Gaganyaan. Gaganyaan is the programme under which the Indian Space Research Organisation is preparing to send Indian astronauts into a low orbit around the Earth in a crew module of its own and bring them back safely. The programme includes uncrewed test flights, a crew escape system and a human rated launch vehicle. Its first flight test of the crew escape system, called TV-D1, took place in October 2023.

Option A, Mangalyaan, is the Mars Orbiter Mission, an uncrewed spacecraft that reached Mars orbit in 2014. Option C, Chandrayaan-2, was an uncrewed Moon mission of 2019 with an orbiter, a lander and a rover. Option D, Aditya-L1, is the solar observatory launched in 2023 to a halo orbit around the Lagrange point L1. None of the three carries a crew, so only Gaganyaan can be the human spaceflight programme.

The correct answer is D, 1575. The Buland Darwaza, the lofty gateway on the south side of the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, was raised by Akbar in 1575 to mark his conquest of Gujarat. It is built of red sandstone with white and black marble inlay, stands about 54 metres above the ground and is reached by a long flight of steps, which makes it one of the tallest gateways in the world. An inscription on it carries the saying that the world is a bridge, to be passed over and not built upon.

Option A, 1502, falls before the Mughals reached India at all. Option B, 1526, is the year of the first battle of Panipat, when Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, so it belongs to the founding of the empire, not to Akbar. Option C, 1534, falls in the reign of Humayun. Only 1575 fits Akbar and the Gujarat campaign.

The correct answer is C, 73. The Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi, rises to about 72.5 metres, which is taken as 73 metres in answer keys. It is the tallest brick minaret of its kind, tapering from a base diameter of roughly 14.3 metres to about 2.7 metres at the top, and it is climbed inside by a spiral staircase of around 379 steps. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began it, Iltutmish added storeys, and Firoz Shah Tughlaq repaired the upper part after lightning damage, which is why the material changes from red sandstone below to marble and sandstone above.

Options A, B and D give 75, 77 and 71 metres. All three are near misses put there to test whether the figure has been memorised rather than guessed. Examiners like this monument because it also carries the Iron Pillar of Delhi in the same complex, along with the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the Alai Darwaza.