SSC Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, USSR. The Fundamental Duties were taken from the constitution of the erstwhile Soviet Union, the only major constitution of the time that listed the duties of citizens. They were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, and are placed in Part IVA as Article 51A. Ten duties were listed at first; the 86th Amendment of 2002 added the eleventh, that a parent or guardian shall provide opportunities for education to a child between six and fourteen years. They apply only to citizens and cannot be enforced in a court. Option A is wrong because France gave the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. Option B is wrong because Canada gave a federation with a strong centre, residuary powers with the Union and the appointment of Governors by the Centre. Option D is wrong because Britain gave the parliamentary system and single citizenship. Exam tip: Fundamental Duties came from the Soviet constitution, through the 42nd Amendment of 1976, as Article 51A in Part IVA.

The correct answer is B, Kapil Dev. Straight from the Heart is the autobiography of Kapil Dev, the fast bowler who captained India to its first World Cup win in 1983 at Lord's. The book came out in 2004 and describes his rise from Chandigarh, the 175 not out against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells and his years as captain and coach. Kapil Dev was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in Test cricket and was named Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden in 2002. Option A is wrong because Sachin Tendulkar wrote Playing It My Way. Option C is wrong because M.S. Dhoni has not written an autobiography; his life was told in a film and in books by other authors. Option D is wrong because Sourav Ganguly wrote A Century Is Not Enough. Exam tip: Straight from the Heart is Kapil Dev, Playing It My Way is Sachin Tendulkar, A Century Is Not Enough is Sourav Ganguly.

The correct answer is A, Bank Rate. Section 49 of the Reserve Bank Of India Act defines the bank rate as the standard rate at which the Bank is prepared to buy or rediscount bills of exchange or other commercial paper eligible for purchase. It is long term lending by the RBI without any collateral being pledged, so it is higher than the repo rate; today it is aligned with the marginal standing facility rate and is used mainly for penal interest when a bank falls short of its reserve requirements. Option B is wrong because the cash reserve ratio is the share of net demand and time liabilities a bank must keep as cash with the RBI, not a rate of lending. Option C is wrong because the reverse repo rate is what the RBI pays banks when it absorbs their surplus funds. Option D is wrong because the repo rate is short term lending by the RBI against government securities. Exam tip: bank rate means no collateral and a long term, repo means securities pledged for a short term.

The correct answer is D, price stability. The Reserve Bank Of India Act, as amended in 2016, states that the primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth. Under the inflation targeting framework the government, in consultation with the RBI, sets the target for consumer price inflation at four per cent with a band of two per cent on either side. A six member Monetary Policy Committee, three from the RBI including the Governor, who has the casting vote, and three appointed by the government, decides the policy repo rate, usually every two months. Option A is wrong because creating wealth is not a task of monetary policy. Option B is wrong because the RBI manages the exchange rate under FEMA, but only to curb sharp volatility, not as its main aim. Option C is wrong because growth is an objective the RBI must keep in mind, yet it comes after price stability in the law. Exam tip: price stability first, growth kept in mind, four per cent inflation target with a two per cent band.

The correct answer is A, Zanskar Range. Zoji La, or the Zojila pass, lies in the Zanskar range of the Himalayas at a height of about 3,528 metres. It is on the Srinagar to Leh highway between Sonamarg in the Kashmir valley and Drass in the Kargil district, and it is the gateway to Ladakh. Heavy snow closes it in winter, which is why the Zojila tunnel is being built to keep the route open through the year and give the armed forces year-round access to Ladakh. Option B is wrong because the Ladakh range holds the Khardung La and Chang La passes. Option C is wrong because the eastern Karakoram range holds the Karakoram pass and Saser La on the old trade route to Central Asia. Option D is wrong because the Dhauladhar range runs through Himachal Pradesh above Dharamshala and Kangra. Exam tip: Zoji La in the Zanskar range for Kashmir to Ladakh, Khardung La in the Ladakh range beyond Leh.

The correct answer is C, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister from 1964 to 1966 and led the country through the war with Pakistan in 1965. He gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, which linked the soldier at the border with the farmer in the field, and his years saw the beginning of the Green Revolution and the setting up of the Food Corporation of India. The war ended with the Tashkent Agreement, signed with Ayub Khan on 10 January 1966; Shastri died in Tashkent the same night. He was given the Bharat Ratna after his death, and 2 October is remembered as his birthday as well as Gandhi Jayanti. Option A is wrong because Morarji Desai became Prime Minister in 1977. Option B is wrong because Indira Gandhi took office in 1966 and led India in the 1971 war. Option D is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964, before this war. Exam tip: 1962 China under Nehru, 1965 Pakistan under Shastri, 1971 Bangladesh war under Indira Gandhi.

The correct answer is B, Bogibeel. The Bogibeel bridge crosses the Brahmaputra near Dibrugarh in Assam and links the south bank to the north bank on the way to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. It was opened on 25 December 2018 and is India's longest rail and road bridge, about 4.94 km long, with a double line railway track below and a three-lane road above. Built to withstand earthquakes, it cuts the journey between Dibrugarh and the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh by several hours and also serves the armed forces near the border. Option A is wrong because the Naini or New Yamuna bridge is a cable-stayed bridge at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Option C is wrong because the Coronation bridge spans the Teesta near Siliguri in West Bengal. Option D is wrong because the Pamban bridge joins Rameswaram island to the Tamil Nadu mainland. Exam tip: Bogibeel is the longest rail and road bridge, while Dhola-Sadiya, also called Bhupen Hazarika Setu, is the longest road bridge.

The correct answer is B, sedimentary rock. Sandstone forms when grains of sand carried by rivers, wind or waves settle in layers and are cemented together over long periods, which makes it a sedimentary rock. Rocks are of three kinds. Igneous rocks form from cooling magma or lava, sedimentary rocks from the deposition and compaction of sediments, and metamorphic rocks when heat and pressure change an existing rock. Sedimentary rocks often show layers and may hold fossils, and coal and limestone belong to this group. Under heat and pressure sandstone turns into quartzite, limestone into marble and shale into slate. Option A is wrong because non-foliated is a description of texture used for metamorphic rocks such as marble and quartzite, not a class of its own. Option C is wrong because basalt and granite are igneous rocks. Option D is wrong because slate, marble and gneiss are metamorphic rocks. Exam tip: sandstone becomes quartzite, limestone becomes marble, shale becomes slate and granite becomes gneiss.

The correct answer is B, Article 21. Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. It is available to citizens and foreigners alike and cannot be suspended even during a national emergency, which the 44th Amendment made clear. The Supreme Court has read many rights into it, among them the right to live with dignity, to privacy in the Puttaswamy case of 2017, to a clean environment, to livelihood, to health and to a speedy trial. Article 21A, added by the 86th Amendment in 2002, makes free and compulsory education for children aged six to fourteen a fundamental right. Option A is wrong because Article 19 gives the six freedoms, including speech and expression. Option C is wrong because Article 20 protects against conviction for an act that was not an offence when done, double jeopardy and self-incrimination. Option D is wrong because Article 22 protects against arbitrary arrest and detention. Exam tip: Article 19 freedoms, 20 protection in conviction, 21 life and liberty, 22 arrest.

The correct answer is B, French Revolution. The storming of the Bastille in Paris on 14 July 1789 marks the beginning of the French Revolution. French society then had three estates: the clergy first, the nobility second and everyone else, from peasants to merchants, in the third, which paid the taxes but had no privileges. The Bastille was a royal fortress prison and a symbol of the despotic power of Louis XVI, so the crowd attacked it for arms and gunpowder. The revolution gave the world the slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and 14 July is still the national day of France. Option A is wrong because the Russian Revolution of 1917 began with strikes in Petrograd. Option C is wrong because the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. Option D is wrong because the Tsar, Nicholas II, abdicated in the February Revolution of 1917. Exam tip: 14 July 1789 Bastille, 1917 Russian Revolution, 1991 end of the Soviet Union.

The correct answer is A, Rajasthan. Dabu is a mud resist hand block printing craft of Rajasthan, practised mainly at Akola in Chittorgarh and at Bagru and Sanganer near Jaipur. A paste of clay, gum, lime and wheat chaff is stamped on the cloth with wooden blocks; the covered portions resist the dye, usually indigo, and stay pale while the rest takes colour. The cloth is washed and the mud falls away, leaving the pattern, and the steps are repeated for more colours. Rajasthan is also home to Bandhani tie and dye, Bagru and Sanganeri prints and Kota Doria weaving. Option B is wrong because Odisha is known for Ikat or Bandha tie and dye and Pattachitra painting. Option C is wrong because Andhra Pradesh is known for Kalamkari, printed and painted with a bamboo pen. Option D is wrong because Assam is known for Muga and Eri silk weaving. Exam tip: Dabu means mud resist, Bandhani means tie and dye, Kalamkari means pen work.

The correct answer is C, M.S. Subbulakshmi. Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, the Carnatic vocalist, received the Bharat Ratna in 1998 and was the first singer and the first musician of any kind to be given the award. She was also the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, in 1974, and she sang at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966. Her rendering of the Venkateswara Suprabhatam and of Vaishnava Jana To is still heard every morning in temples and homes. The Bharat Ratna, instituted in 1954, is India's highest civilian honour and is given for exceptional service in any field. Option A is wrong because Zakir Hussain is a tabla player who was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, not the Bharat Ratna. Option B is wrong because A.R. Rahman, a composer, holds the Padma Bhushan. Option D is wrong because R.D. Burman, a music director, never received the Bharat Ratna. Exam tip: M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1998 was the first musician, and Lata Mangeshkar in 2001 the second singer to receive it.

The correct answer is B, Pinjore. India's first vulture breeding centre, the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, was set up at Pinjore in the Panchkula district of Haryana in 2001. It was started because the population of white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed vultures had crashed by more than ninety per cent in the 1990s. The cause was diclofenac, a painkiller given to cattle, which caused kidney failure in vultures that fed on the carcasses; its veterinary use was banned in India in 2006. The centre breeds these three critically endangered species in captivity and releases them into the wild. Option A is wrong because Pushkar in Rajasthan is known for its lake and the Brahma temple. Option C is wrong because Rampur in Uttar Pradesh has no such centre, though a vulture centre works at Rani in Assam. Option D is wrong because Agra is known for the Taj Mahal and a bear rescue facility. Exam tip: Pinjore in Haryana for vultures, and diclofenac as the reason for their decline.

The correct answer is A, Russia. India took the idea of five-year plans from the erstwhile Soviet Union, which began its first plan in 1928 under Stalin. Along with it India borrowed Fundamental Duties and the ideal of justice, social, economic and political, in the Preamble, all from the Soviet constitution. India's own First Five Year Plan ran from 1951 to 1956 and focused on agriculture and irrigation; the Planning Commission set up in 1950 prepared the plans, and the Prime Minister was its chairman. The Twelfth Plan, which ended in 2017, was the last, and NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015. Option B is wrong because England gave the parliamentary system, rule of law and single citizenship. Option C is wrong because the United States gave Fundamental Rights and judicial review. Option D is wrong because Germany, that is the Weimar constitution, gave the suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency. Exam tip: from the Soviet Union came Fundamental Duties, five-year plans and the ideal of justice in the Preamble.

The correct answer is C, Tropic of Cancer. The Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees 30 minutes north, cuts India almost in half and divides it into a tropical south and a subtropical north. This is why the south stays warm through the year while the north has a cold winter, and it is the main reason India is described as having a tropical monsoon climate. The line passes through eight states, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Option A is wrong because the Equator, at zero degrees, lies well south of India and passes through countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. Option B is wrong because the Tropic of Capricorn lies in the southern hemisphere at 23 degrees 30 minutes south. Option D is wrong because the Antarctic Circle at 66 degrees 30 minutes south is far from India. Exam tip: remember the eight states on the Tropic of Cancer from west to east, starting with Gujarat and ending with Mizoram.

The correct answer is A, Maharashtra. Lavani is the best known folk dance of Maharashtra, performed by women in a nine-yard sari to the beat of the dholki. The name comes from the Marathi word lavanya, meaning beauty. It grew in the eighteenth century in the Peshwa period, when it entertained soldiers, and it is danced in the Tamasha theatre tradition with quick footwork and expressive lyrics. Other folk forms of Maharashtra are Tamasha, Povada, Dhangari Gaja and Koli. Option B is wrong because Rajasthan is known for Ghoomar, Kalbeliya, Chari and Bhavai. Option C is wrong because Gujarat is known for Garba, Dandiya Raas and Bhavai. Option D is wrong because Bihar is known for Jat-Jatin, Bidesia, Jhijhiya and Paika. Exam tip: link each dance to its state, Lavani with Maharashtra, Ghoomar with Rajasthan, Garba with Gujarat and Bidesia with Bihar.

The correct answer is D, Part XIV. Part XIV of the Constitution, titled Services under the Union and the States, covers Articles 308 to 323, and the public service commissions sit in it. Article 315 provides for a Union Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each state. Article 316 deals with the appointment and term of members, Article 317 with their removal, Article 320 with the functions of the commissions, mainly conducting examinations for appointment to services, and Article 323 with their annual reports. The UPSC is a constitutional body and its chairman and members are appointed by the President. Option A is wrong because Part XVII deals with official language. Option B is wrong because Part XV deals with elections and the Election Commission. Option C is wrong because Part XVI covers special provisions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Anglo-Indians. Exam tip: Part XIV services and UPSC, Part XV elections, Part XVI special provisions, Part XVII language.

The correct answer is D, gross domestic product. Gross domestic product, or GDP, is the money value of all final goods and services produced inside the borders of a country in one year. Two words in the definition matter. Domestic means the output is counted where it is produced, no matter who owns the factor of production, so the earnings of a foreign company working in India are inside India's GDP. Gross means depreciation, the wear and tear of machines and buildings, has not been deducted. In India the National Statistical Office estimates GDP and releases it every quarter. Option A is wrong because per capita income is national income divided by population, an average per person. Option B is wrong because net domestic product is GDP minus depreciation. Option C is wrong because national income, or net national product at factor cost, counts the output of the residents of a country wherever they earn it. Exam tip: domestic means inside the borders, national means by the residents; gross keeps depreciation, net removes it.

The correct answer is D, Saturn. Saturn lies beyond the asteroid belt, so it is an outer planet. The eight planets are divided by the asteroid belt that runs between Mars and Jupiter. The four inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are small, rocky and dense, with solid crusts and few or no moons; they are called terrestrial planets. The four outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are huge balls of hydrogen and helium with low density, ring systems and many moons; they are called Jovian or gas giant planets. Saturn is the second largest planet and its bright rings make it the easiest to recognise. Option A is wrong because Venus is the second planet from the Sun and an inner planet. Option B is wrong because Earth is the third planet and also an inner one. Option C is wrong because Mercury is the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun. Exam tip: four rocky planets inside the asteroid belt, four gas giants outside it.

The correct answer is C, Mehrgarh. Mehrgarh was a Neolithic farming village, not a city of the Harappan civilisation. It lies on the Kachi plain of Balochistan and goes back to about 7000 BCE, thousands of years before the mature Harappan phase of 2600 to 1900 BCE. Mehrgarh gives the earliest evidence in the subcontinent of settled farming, wheat and barley cultivation and the herding of sheep, goats and cattle, so it is studied as a pre-Harappan site. Option A is wrong because Lothal in Gujarat was a Harappan port with a brick dockyard and a bead-making workshop. Option B is wrong because Dholavira in the Rann of Kachchh is a Harappan city known for its water reservoirs and its signboard, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Option D is wrong because Sokhta Koh was a Harappan coastal settlement near Pasni on the Makran coast. Exam tip: Mehrgarh stands for Neolithic beginnings, while Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi are Harappan cities.