Delhi 2017 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is A, inhalation. Inhalation, also called inspiration, is the phase of breathing in which the diaphragm flattens and the intercostal muscles pull the ribs up and out, so the chest cavity enlarges, the pressure inside the lungs falls below the pressure of the atmosphere and oxygen rich air rushes in through the nostrils and the windpipe. Option B is wrong because exhalation is the opposite phase, in which the muscles relax, the chest cavity shrinks and carbon dioxide rich air is pushed out; it is normally a passive process. Option C is wrong because flotation is a physical property of bodies in a fluid, described by the law of Archimedes, and has nothing to do with breathing. Option D is wrong because exploration simply means searching or investigating and is not a term of biology at all. Remember the pair as inhalation for taking air in and exhalation for sending it out.

The correct answer is B, rayon. Rayon is made by dissolving the cellulose of wood pulp in a chemical and forcing the solution through fine holes to form filaments. Because it is made from a natural polymer rather than built from small molecules, it is called a regenerated or semi-synthetic fibre, and its silk-like sheen has earned it the name artificial silk.

Option A is wrong because nylon is fully synthetic, the first fibre made entirely from coal, water and air, with no plant material in it. Option C is wrong because silk is a natural animal fibre obtained from the cocoon of the silkworm and is not man-made at all. Option D is wrong because polyester, of which terylene is the best known form, is a fully synthetic fibre made from petroleum products. Only rayon starts from wood pulp.

The correct answer is C, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The Delhi Metro was the first metro and rail based system in the world to be certified by the United Nations for earning carbon credits, because its regenerative braking returns electricity to the grid each time a train slows. It also built solar plants at its stations and depots and uses rainwater harvesting and green buildings, which is why it is described as the first completely green metro.

Option A, the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway, and option B, the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit, are both older and efficient systems but did not take the carbon credit route first. Option D, the London Underground, opened in 1863 and is the oldest underground railway in the world, which makes it the natural trap for a candidate who reads first as oldest. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation itself was set up in 1995 and its first stretch opened in December 2002.

The correct answer is A, 1990. SIDBI was set up under the Small Industries Development Bank of India Act, 1989 and began operations in 1990 as the principal financial institution for the promotion, financing and development of micro, small and medium enterprises. It started as a subsidiary of IDBI and its head office is at Lucknow, which is itself a frequently asked detail.

Option B, 1988, is the year before the Act and is a common trap. Option C, 1992, is the year the Securities and Exchange Board of India became a statutory body, and Option D, 1994, is the year the first new generation private banks were licensed after the Narasimham Committee report. Keeping the development institutions in order helps: NABARD in 1982, SIDBI in 1990, and the National Housing Bank in 1988, each set up by its own Act of Parliament.

The correct answer is D, Mathura. The main Kushana capital was Purushapura, the modern Peshawar, which Kanishka I developed as his seat of power. As the empire spread into the Ganga-Yamuna plain, Mathura on the Yamuna became its second capital and the southern headquarters of the family. Mathura also grew into a great centre of sculpture, and a shrine of Kushana royal portrait statues, including a famous headless figure of Kanishka, was found at Mat near the city.

Option A, Pataliputra, was the Magadhan capital of the Nandas, the Mauryas and later the Guptas, not of the Kushanas. Option B, Delhi, did not exist as a capital in this period and rose only from the twelfth century under the Delhi Sultanate. Option C, Lahore, lay within Kushana territory but was never a Kushana capital and became important much later.