State Exams 2020 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B. Potential difference between two points of a circuit is the difference in electric potential between them, and it equals the work done in moving a unit positive charge from one point to the other. In symbols V = W/Q, so the unit is the volt, and one volt means one joule of work for each coulomb of charge. Potential difference is the push that drives a current, it is measured with a voltmeter joined in parallel across the two points, and Ohm's law links it to current as V = IR. Option A is wrong because capacitance is the charge a capacitor stores for each volt applied, measured in farad; it is a property of the device, not a difference between points. Option C is wrong because current is the rate of flow of charge, measured in ampere by an ammeter placed in series, and in a series circuit it is the same everywhere. Option D is wrong because resistance opposes current and is measured in ohm. Exam tip: V = W/Q, voltmeter in parallel, ammeter in series.

The correct answer is A, Bundi style. The Bundi school of the Hadoti region is the one that fills its pictures with birds, animals and thick green forest. Its painters loved nature: mango and banana groves, lotus tanks, monsoon clouds with lightning, elephants, tigers, squirrels, parrots and peacocks all crowd the background, and human figures are shown with round faces and small noses against them. Bundi work began under Rao Surjan Singh with help from Chunar artists, and its offshoot at Kota went further, making hunting scenes in dense jungle its speciality. Option B is wrong because the Nathdwara school paints Shrinathji, mostly on cloth as pichhwai hangings. Option C is wrong because Kishangarh is remembered for the graceful Bani-Thani face and the Krishna-Radha themes of Nihal Chand, not for animals. Option D is wrong because Bikaner painting carries Mughal and Deccani influence, with pale colours and artists who signed their work. Exam tip: Bundi and Kota mean nature and hunting; Kishangarh means Bani-Thani.

The correct answer is D, Akbar. He built Fatehpur Sikri in the Agra district of present day Uttar Pradesh in the sixteenth century and made it his capital, naming it after his victory in Gujarat. The city holds the Buland Darwaza, the Jama Masjid, the Panch Mahal and the tomb of Salim Chishti, and it was abandoned after a few years, which is why it survives so completely. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Option A, Babur, founded the dynasty after the first battle of Panipat in 1526 and ruled from Agra, not from Sikri. Option B, Humayun, lost the empire to Sher Shah Suri and regained it shortly before his death, and built nothing of this kind. Option C, Jahangir, was Akbar's son and was born at Sikri, which is the reason the place is often wrongly credited to him; he ruled from Agra and Lahore.

The correct answer is A, 1975. The rupee was tied to the pound sterling from colonial times and stayed pegged to it after independence. In 1975 the link was cut and the rupee was tied instead to a basket of currencies of India's major trading partners, with the Reserve Bank fixing the daily rate. The step was taken because the pound itself had become unstable after the breakdown of the fixed exchange rate system in the early 1970s.

Option B, 1947, is independence, when the sterling link was retained. Option D, 1963, belongs to no exchange rate change; the two devaluations students confuse it with are 1949 and 1966. Option C, 1982, is the year NABARD and the EXIM Bank were set up, not an exchange rate landmark. The basket peg lasted until the reforms of 1991 to 1993, when India moved to a market determined exchange rate.

The correct answer is B, Geitonogamy. Geitonogamy is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on the same plant. In the way it happens it is like cross-pollination, because an outside agent such as an insect or the wind carries the pollen; but genetically it is like self-pollination, because the pollen comes from the same plant and brings no new genes. The word comes from the Greek geiton, meaning neighbour, which is an easy way to remember it: pollen goes to the neighbouring flower. Option A is wrong because autogamy is pollination within the same flower, where pollen reaches the stigma of the very flower that produced it, as in closed cleistogamous flowers. Option C is wrong because xenogamy is the transfer of pollen to a flower of a different plant, the only type that brings genetically different pollen to the stigma. Option D is wrong because geitonogamy is the exact name for this process. Exam tip: autogamy same flower, geitonogamy same plant, xenogamy different plant.

The correct answer is C, iii iv i ii. Kalahandi in Odisha is known for the large bauxite deposits of the Eastern Ghats; Zawar near Udaipur in Rajasthan is India’s best-known zinc and lead mine, worked since ancient times; Kolar in Karnataka is famous for the Kolar Gold Fields, among the deepest gold mines in the world until they closed in 2001; and Mosabani in the Singhbhum copper belt of Jharkhand is a major copper mining centre. Paper setters like to pair each mineral with one famous place, so learning one landmark site per mineral pays off quickly. Option A is wrong because it gives gold to Kalahandi and bauxite to Kolar. Option B is wrong because it also gives Kalahandi gold instead of bauxite and Kolar bauxite instead of gold. Option D is wrong because it pairs Zawar with copper and Kolar with zinc and lead. Exam tip: Kalahandi bauxite, Zawar zinc and lead, Kolar gold, Mosabani copper.

The correct answer is B, Minto-Morley Reforms, 1909. The Indian Councils Act of 1909, known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, first gave Muslims separate electorates, in which only Muslim voters could elect Muslim members. It followed the Simla Deputation of 1906, when the Aga Khan led Muslim leaders to Lord Minto to ask for separate representation, and the Muslim League was founded the same year. That is why Lord Minto is called the Father of Communal Electorate. The Act also enlarged the legislative councils, and Satyendra Prasanna Sinha became the first Indian on the Viceroy’s Executive Council. Option A is wrong because the 1892 Act only brought indirect elections and let members discuss the budget. Option C is wrong because the 1919 Act widened communal representation to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans; it did not start it. Option D is wrong because the 1935 Act extended it further to the depressed classes, women and labour. Exam tip: separate electorates began in 1909 under Minto and grew in 1919 and 1935.

The correct answer is C, Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson, an American marine biologist and writer, published Silent Spring in 1962. She showed how synthetic pesticides, above all DDT, were killing birds, fish and insects far beyond the fields where they were sprayed, and how these chemicals build up in food chains, becoming more concentrated at each level, a process now called biomagnification. The title imagines a spring with no birdsong because the birds have been poisoned. The book stirred public opinion and helped lead to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and a ban on most uses of DDT in the USA in 1972. Option A is wrong because Carolyn Merchant is an environmental historian known for The Death of Nature (1980). Option B is wrong because Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto, works on economics and politics. Option D is wrong because no writer of that name is linked to this book. Exam tip: Silent Spring 1962 (Rachel Carson, DDT), The Limits to Growth 1972 (Club of Rome), Our Common Future 1987 (Brundtland Report).

The correct answer is A, Vitamin K. The liver needs vitamin K to make several clotting factors, including prothrombin, which help blood form a clot and seal a wound. Its letter comes from the German word ‘Koagulation’. When it is lacking, even small cuts bleed for a long time and bruises form easily. Newborn babies have very little of it, so hospitals give them a vitamin K injection at birth to prevent dangerous bleeding. Good sources are green leafy vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and fenugreek, and bacteria in our gut also make some of it. It is a fat-soluble vitamin, like A, D and E. Option B is wrong because vitamin E (tocopherol) works mainly as an antioxidant that protects cells. Option C is wrong because vitamin A (retinol) is needed for vision, and its lack causes night blindness. Option D is wrong because vitamin C (ascorbic acid) keeps gums and skin healthy; its lack causes scurvy, with bleeding gums, but it is not a clotting vitamin. Exam tip: K for Koagulation; A for night blindness, C for scurvy, D for rickets.

The correct answer is C, 2.1. The Total Fertility Rate is the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime if she followed the current birth rates at each age from 15 to 49. Replacement level is the TFR at which each generation exactly replaces itself, so that over time, leaving migration aside, the population stops growing or shrinking. Two children are needed to replace the two parents, and the extra 0.1 covers children who die before reaching adulthood and the fact that slightly more boys than girls are born. India’s National Population Policy, 2000 set the goal of bringing TFR down to replacement level. Option A is wrong because a TFR of 1.0 would halve the population in each generation. Option B is wrong because 1.6 is below replacement, a level seen in ageing societies. Option D is wrong because 2.3 is above replacement, so the population would keep rising. Exam tip: replacement level fertility means a TFR of about 2.1 children per woman.

The correct answer is C, 1971 and 1981 respectively. A ‘million city’ is a city or urban agglomeration with a population of ten lakh or more. Kanpur, the leather and textile centre on the Ganga once called the ‘Manchester of the East’, crossed this mark in the 1971 Census and became the first million city of Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow, the state capital, followed ten years later in the 1981 Census. The order is worth noting: in those decades the mills and factories drew workers from the countryside, so the industrial city grew faster than the capital. In later censuses more cities of the state, such as Agra, Varanasi, Meerut and Ghaziabad, crossed the mark too. Option A is wrong because in 1951 and 1961 neither city had yet reached ten lakh. Option B is wrong because Kanpur reached the mark in 1971, not 1961, and Lucknow only in 1981. Option D is wrong because both years are ten years too late. Exam tip: Kanpur first (1971), Lucknow next (1981): the mill town crossed ten lakh before the capital.

The correct answer is B, Sutlej. Trans-Himalayan rivers rise beyond the Great Himalaya, on the Tibetan side, and are older than the mountains themselves. As the Himalaya rose, they kept cutting down through it, which is why they flow through deep gorges; geographers call them antecedent rivers. There are three: the Indus, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra, all rising near Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. The Sutlej begins at Rakas Tal in Tibet, enters India through the Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradesh, and is dammed at Bhakra. Option A is wrong because the Jhelum rises at the Verinag spring in the Kashmir valley, south of the Great Himalaya. Option C is wrong because the Ganga begins as the Bhagirathi at the Gangotri glacier inside the Indian Himalaya. Option D is wrong because the Ravi rises near the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh. Exam tip: the three trans-Himalayan rivers are the Indus, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra; remember them as the rivers that come from Tibet.

The correct answer is A, Himadri Range. The Himadri, or Greater Himalaya, is part of the Himalayan system, the youngest fold mountains in India, formed as the Indian plate pushed into the Eurasian plate and folded up the sediments of the old Tethys Sea. The uplift began only about 50 million years ago and is still going on, which is why the region has frequent earthquakes. The Himadri is the highest and most continuous range, with an average height of about 6,000 metres and peaks such as Kanchenjunga and Nanda Devi. Within the Himalaya itself, the outer Shiwalik range is the youngest, but it is not among the options. Option B is wrong because the Aravalli is the oldest fold mountain range of India, worn down over hundreds of millions of years. Option C is wrong because the Western Ghats are the raised western edge of the ancient Deccan plateau. Option D is wrong because the Vindhyas are an old range of Peninsular India made of ancient sedimentary rocks. Exam tip: oldest range, Aravalli; youngest, the Himalaya, and within it the Shiwaliks.

The correct answer is B, The Keshavanand Bharati Case in 1973. On 24 April 1973 a 13-judge bench, the largest in the Court’s history, ruled by 7 to 6 that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution under Article 368, including Fundamental Rights, but cannot alter or destroy its basic structure. The judges did not give a closed list; features such as the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, secularism, federalism, separation of powers and judicial review have since been treated as part of it. The case began as a challenge by the head of a Kerala math to land reform laws. Option A is wrong because the Golaknath case (1967) held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights at all; Kesavananda overruled this. Option C is wrong because the Shankari Prasad case (1951) upheld the First Amendment and said Fundamental Rights could be amended. Option D is wrong because the Sajjan Singh case (1965) repeated that view while upholding the 17th Amendment. Exam tip: Shankari Prasad 1951, Sajjan Singh 1965, Golaknath 1967, Kesavananda 1973, Minerva Mills 1980.

The correct answer is B, Vitamin K. The liver needs vitamin K to make prothrombin and other clotting factors, so without it blood takes much longer to clot. The letter K comes from the German word Koagulation, which makes it easy to remember. Vitamin K1, or phylloquinone, comes from green leafy vegetables such as spinach, and bacteria in the large intestine also make a form of it. Newborn babies have very little vitamin K, which is why they are given a vitamin K injection at birth to prevent bleeding. A lack of it causes easy bruising and bleeding that does not stop. Option A is wrong because vitamin A, retinol, is needed for vision, and its lack causes night blindness. Option C is wrong because vitamin D, calciferol, helps absorb calcium, and its lack causes rickets. Option D is wrong because the B vitamins help release energy from food, and their lack causes diseases such as beriberi and pernicious anaemia. Exam tip: K for Koagulation; A for eyes, D for bones.

The correct answer is C, Vitamin C. Milk contains very little vitamin C, and what little there is gets destroyed further when milk is boiled. Milk is otherwise called a nearly complete food: it gives calcium and phosphorus for bones and teeth, good-quality protein, mainly casein, the sugar lactose, fat, and vitamins A, B2 and B12. Its two well-known gaps are vitamin C and iron. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, comes from fresh fruits such as amla, guava, lemon and orange, and a lack of it causes scurvy, with bleeding gums as the classic sign. Option A is wrong because milk is one of the richest everyday sources of calcium. Option B is wrong because milk supplies good protein, which is why it is advised for growing children. Option D is wrong because milk carries a carbohydrate of its own, lactose, the milk sugar. Exam tip: milk is poor in vitamin C and iron, and rich in calcium, protein and lactose.

The correct answer is D, Kosi - Magadh. Neither the Kosi division nor the Magadh division touches the Ganga, while every other division named in the options does. The Ganga enters Bihar near Chausa in Buxar, where the Karmanasa meets it, and flows west to east, splitting the State into North Bihar and South Bihar. The Kosi division, with Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura, lies well north of the river and is drained by the Kosi. The Magadh division, with Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad and Arwal, lies to the south on the plateau edge and is drained by rivers such as the Phalgu and the Punpun. Option A is wrong because the Ganga touches Samastipur in Darbhanga division and flows past Munger. Option B is wrong because the Ganga flows through Bhagalpur and along Katihar in Purnea division. Option C is wrong because the Ganga touches Vaishali in Tirhut division and Saran district in Saran division. Exam tip: Kosi is north of the Ganga's reach and Magadh is south of it, so neither division sits on the river.

The correct answer is C, West Champaran. Piedmont swamp soil is found only in the north-western part of West Champaran, at the foot of the Someshwar hills. Piedmont means 'at the foot of the mountain': streams coming down the hills slow down on the flat land below, and the ground stays wet and marshy, which gives this soil its name. The same corner of the district holds Valmiki National Park and Someshwar fort, the highest point in Bihar. Just to the east, a strip of Terai soil runs along the Nepal border, while most of the Bihar plain is covered by alluvial soil laid down by the Ganga and its tributaries. Option A is wrong because Madhubani, in the Mithila plain, has alluvial soil with a Terai strip in the north. Option B is wrong because Bhagalpur, on the Ganga in east Bihar, has alluvial soil. Option D is wrong because this soil occurs in only one district. Exam tip: piedmont swamp soil means West Champaran, below the Someshwar hills.