Delhi 2023 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, Jim Corbett National Park. It is India's first national park, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park, in the Nainital area of present-day Uttarakhand. It was later called Ramganga National Park and was renamed in the 1950s in honour of Jim Corbett, the famous hunter who turned into a naturalist and wrote 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon'. Project Tiger was launched here in 1973, and the park lies along the Ramganga river in the foothills of the Himalayas. Option A is wrong because Gir in Gujarat, the last home of the Asiatic lion, became a national park only in 1975. Option B is wrong because Kaziranga in Assam, famous for the one-horned rhinoceros, became a national park in 1974. Option D is wrong because Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand was formed in 1983 by joining three sanctuaries. Exam tip: the first national park went from Hailey (1936) to Ramganga to Jim Corbett, and Project Tiger began here in 1973.

The correct answer is B, H3O+. A hydrogen ion (H+) is just a bare proton, so it cannot stay alone in water. It at once attaches itself to a water molecule and forms the hydronium ion, H3O+. So when an acid such as hydrochloric acid dissolves in water, it really produces H3O+ ions, and these give the solution its acidic nature. Without water, acids do not show acidic behaviour, which is why dry HCl gas does not change the colour of dry blue litmus paper. Option A is wrong because HO- (OH-) is the hydroxide ion, which bases give in water. Option C is wrong because H2 is hydrogen gas, a neutral molecule, not an ion. Option D is wrong because H2SO4 is sulphuric acid itself, a compound that releases hydrogen ions in water. Exam tip: acids give H3O+ ions in water and bases give OH- ions; a solution with pH 7 is neutral, below 7 acidic and above 7 basic.

The correct answer is C, GDP at market price + Net factor income from abroad. GDP counts everything produced within the country's borders, whoever produces it. GNP counts what is produced by the country's own normal residents, wherever they work. So to move from GDP to GNP, we add the income our residents earn abroad and subtract what foreigners earn in India; this net figure is called net factor income from abroad (NFIA). If NFIA is negative, GNP is smaller than GDP. Option A is wrong because GDP at market price minus depreciation gives NDP at market price, not GNP. Option B is wrong because it uses GNP to define itself, and adding subsidies is a step used to move from market price to factor cost, not to find GNP. Option D is wrong because NDP at factor cost plus NFIA gives NNP at factor cost, which is the national income. Exam tip: domestic to national, add NFIA; gross to net, subtract depreciation; market price to factor cost, subtract indirect taxes and add subsidies.

The correct answer is B, SBI. The State Bank of India was not part of the 1969 nationalisation because it was already a government-owned bank. It was created on 1 July 1955, when the Imperial Bank of India was taken over under the State Bank of India Act, following the advice of the All India Rural Credit Survey Committee. On 19 July 1969, the government of Indira Gandhi nationalised 14 major commercial banks, each with deposits of over ₹50 crore. Six more banks were nationalised in 1980. Option A is wrong because Canara Bank was one of the 14 banks nationalised in 1969. Option C is wrong because UCO Bank, then called United Commercial Bank, was also on the 1969 list. Option D is wrong because Bank of Baroda was likewise nationalised in 1969. Exam tip: Imperial Bank became SBI in 1955; 14 banks were nationalised in 1969 and 6 in 1980; the RBI itself was nationalised in 1949.

The correct answer is A, Central Highlands. The Narmada divides the Peninsular plateau into two parts: the Central Highlands to its north and the Deccan Plateau to its south. The Central Highlands cover a major area of the Malwa plateau, with the Aravalli range to the north-west and the Vindhya range along the south. Rivers here, such as the Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken, flow from south-west to north-east, which shows the slope of the land. The eastward extensions of the Central Highlands are called Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand, and the Chotanagpur plateau lies further east. Option B is wrong because the Western Ghats mark the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, along the Arabian Sea coast. Option C is wrong because the Eastern Ghats form the broken eastern edge of the Deccan Plateau. Option D is wrong because the Deccan Plateau is the triangular landmass that lies south of the Narmada. Exam tip: north of the Narmada lie the Central Highlands; south of it lies the Deccan Plateau.

The correct answer is C, Exclusive Original. Under Article 131, disputes between the Government of India and one or more States, or between States, can be heard only by the Supreme Court and by no other court. Such a case starts directly in the Supreme Court, which is why this is called original jurisdiction, and because no High Court can hear it, it is exclusive. The dispute must involve a legal right, not just a political quarrel. Option A is wrong because advisory jurisdiction under Article 143 is the President seeking the Court's opinion on a question of law or fact. Option B is wrong because appellate jurisdiction, under Articles 132 to 134, covers appeals against the judgments of High Courts. Option D is wrong because writ jurisdiction under Article 32 protects Fundamental Rights, and the High Courts share that power under Article 226. Exam tip: Article 131 original, Articles 132–134 appellate, Article 143 advisory, Article 32 writs.

The correct answer is D, Cooperative Societies. The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011 added Article 43B, a new Directive Principle asking the State to promote the voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies. The same amendment made forming cooperative societies a Fundamental Right by adding these words to Article 19(1)(c), next to associations and unions. It came into force in February 2012. Option A is wrong because maternity relief was already part of the original Directive Principles in Article 42, which speaks of just and humane conditions of work. Option B is wrong because child labour is dealt with by Article 24, a Fundamental Right, and by Article 39; it was not the subject of the 97th Amendment. Option C is wrong because protection of the environment, Article 48A, was added much earlier by the 42nd Amendment of 1976. Exam tip: the 97th Amendment of 2011 put cooperatives in Article 19(1)(c) and Article 43B.

The correct answer is D, President of India. Article 239AA(5) of the Constitution says the Chief Minister of Delhi shall be appointed by the President. The other ministers are also appointed by the President, on the advice of the Chief Minister, and they hold office during the pleasure of the President. This is the key difference from a state, where the Governor appoints the Chief Minister under Article 164. Article 239AA was added by the 69th Amendment Act, 1991, which gave Delhi a Legislative Assembly and named it the National Capital Territory. The Council of Ministers in Delhi cannot be larger than 10% of the Assembly's total strength. Option A is wrong because Delhi, being a Union Territory, has no Governor. Option B is wrong because the Lieutenant Governor is the administrator and administers the oath, but does not make the appointment. Option C is wrong because the Prime Minister has no constitutional role in appointing a Chief Minister. Exam tip: a state's Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor (Article 164); Delhi's by the President (Article 239AA).

The correct answer is C, Lal Kot. Lal Kot was built by the Tomara Rajputs before the Delhi Sultanate began. The Tomara king Anangpal is credited with raising this fort in the 11th century, and it is counted as the first of the 'cities of Delhi'. Later the Chauhans under Prithviraj Chauhan enlarged it into Qila Rai Pithora. When Qutbuddin Aibak took Delhi, the Sultans first ruled from here, and the Qutb Minar complex in Mehrauli stands inside this old fort area. Option A is wrong because Siri was built by Alauddin Khalji around 1303 as a garrison city against the Mongols. Option B is wrong because Jahanpanah was built by Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, who walled in the area between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri. Option D is wrong because Tughlakabad was built by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, in the 1320s. Exam tip: Lal Kot (Tomara) → Siri (Khalji) → Tughlakabad (Ghiyasuddin) → Jahanpanah (Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq).

The correct answer is D, 1928. On 8 and 9 September 1928, young revolutionaries met secretly at the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi and renamed the Hindustan Republican Association as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. Chandrashekhar Azad became its commander, with Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Bhagwati Charan Vohra among the key members. The word 'Socialist' showed that the group now wanted not just freedom but a society free from exploitation. The HRA itself had been founded in 1924 at Kanpur by Sachindranath Sanyal and others, and it had carried out the Kakori train action in 1925. Option A is wrong because 1927 is the year Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan and others were hanged in the Kakori case. Option B is wrong because 1930 saw the Chittagong armoury raid, not the birth of the HSRA. Option C is wrong because 1929 is the year Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly. Exam tip: HRA 1924 at Kanpur, HSRA 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

The correct answer is B, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. The Bahmani kingdom was born in 1347 out of a revolt against his rule in the Deccan. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq ruled from 1325 to 1351 and tried to control the far south from Delhi, even shifting his capital to Daulatabad for a while. His nobles in the Deccan rebelled, and one of them, Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu), founded the Bahmani kingdom with its first capital at Gulbarga. Harihara and Bukka had set up Vijayanagara in 1336 in the same reign, so both great southern kingdoms rose under this one Sultan. Option A is wrong because Iltutmish ruled from 1211 to 1236, long before any Deccan kingdom of this kind. Option C is wrong because Ibrahim Lodi was the last Delhi Sultan, defeated at Panipat in 1526. Option D is wrong because Alauddin Khalji died in 1316; his general Malik Kafur raided the south, but no Bahmani state existed then. Exam tip: Vijayanagara 1336 and Bahmani 1347, both in Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq's reign.