State Exams 2021 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, both I and II. The Reserve Bank is banker to banks: every scheduled bank keeps an account with it, holds its cash reserve ratio there, settles payments with other banks through those accounts and can borrow from it when short of funds. It is also the currency issuing authority, with the sole right to issue currency notes in India under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Option A is wrong because it leaves out note issue, which is the function the Bank is best known for. Option D is wrong because it leaves out the banker to banks role, from which the description lender of last resort follows. Option B is wrong on both counts. The one refinement worth remembering is that the one rupee note and all coins are issued by the Government of India, although the Reserve Bank puts them into circulation, and that the Bank is also banker to the Government.

The correct answer is D, A and D. Vitamins A, D, E and K dissolve in fat, while the B group and vitamin C dissolve in water. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed along with the fat in our food and are stored in the liver and fatty tissue, so the body can build up a reserve; for the same reason, too much of them, especially A and D taken as supplements, can be harmful. Most water-soluble vitamins are not stored in large amounts, the extra is passed out in urine, and so they must be eaten regularly. Vitamin A keeps the eyes healthy and its lack causes night blindness, while vitamin D is made in the skin in sunlight and its lack causes rickets in children. Option A is wrong because vitamin B12 is water-soluble, even though D is fat-soluble. Option B is wrong because vitamin C is water-soluble. Option C is wrong because it pairs fat-soluble A with water-soluble C. Exam tip: remember the fat-soluble group as 'ADEK'; the B group and C are water-soluble.

The correct answer is B, Marine. In the sea the producers are tiny phytoplankton. At any given moment their total mass is smaller than the mass of the zooplankton and fish that feed on them, so the pyramid of biomass stands upside down. This happens because phytoplankton grow and divide very fast and are eaten almost as quickly as they are produced, so a small standing crop can support a larger mass of consumers. The pyramid of energy, however, is always upright in every ecosystem, because energy is lost as heat at each step and only about 10 percent passes to the next level. Option A is wrong because in a grassland the grasses far outweigh the grazing animals, giving an upright pyramid. Option C is wrong because the tundra also has more plant mass than animal mass. Option D is wrong because in a forest the huge trees give a large biomass base, so the pyramid of biomass is upright, even though the pyramid of numbers there can be inverted. Exam tip: numbers can be inverted in a tree ecosystem, biomass in the sea, but energy never.

The correct answer is D, Gas and water supply. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) covers only three sectors: mining, manufacturing and electricity. It is a monthly index released by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, and it shows how fast the volume of industrial output is rising or falling compared with a base year. Manufacturing carries by far the largest weight in the index, so a slowdown in factories pulls the IIP down quickly. Gas and water supply are counted in the wider industry sector of national income, together with electricity, but they are not part of the IIP basket, and that is the trap in this question. Option A is wrong because mining is one of the three sectors of the IIP. Option B is wrong because electricity is also a sector of the IIP. Option C is wrong because manufacturing is the biggest part of the index. Exam tip: IIP = mining + manufacturing + electricity; the index of eight core industries is a separate, smaller index.

The correct answer is C, Nilgiri Hills. Doddabetta, about 2,637 metres high, is the highest peak of the Nilgiri Hills and stands close to Ooty (Udhagamandalam) in Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiris are the place where the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet, which is why they are often described as a knot of the two ranges. In Kannada, 'dodda betta' simply means 'big mountain', an easy way to remember that it is the top of the Nilgiris. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's first biosphere reserve, is spread around these hills. Option A is wrong because the Vindhyas are a low range of central India whose peaks stay well below 1,000 metres. Option B is wrong because the highest point of the Satpura Range is Dhupgarh near Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, about 1,350 metres. Option D is wrong because the Anamalai Hills of Kerala hold a different peak, Anamudi, about 2,695 metres, the highest point of South India. Exam tip: Anamudi (Anamalai, Kerala) is the highest in South India; Doddabetta (Nilgiri, Tamil Nadu) is the highest of the Nilgiris.

The correct answer is B, Election Commission. Article 103 says the President shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to that opinion. Article 102 lists the grounds on which a member of either House can be disqualified, such as holding an office of profit, being of unsound mind, being an undischarged insolvent or not being a citizen of India. When a question arises on these grounds, Article 103 makes the President's decision final, but the President is bound by the Commission's opinion, so the advice is not a formality. Disqualification for defection is a different route: under the Tenth Schedule it is decided by the Speaker or the Chairman. For state legislators, Article 192 gives the same role to the Governor. Option A is wrong because the Attorney General advises the government on law but has no role under Article 103. Option C is wrong because the Supreme Court is not consulted in this process. Option D is wrong because the Speaker decides only defection cases. Exam tip: Article 102 gives the grounds; Article 103 gives the decision to the President on the Election Commission's opinion.

The correct answer is A, (i) and (iv). Anekantavada and Syadvada are the two central Jain ideas about knowledge and truth. Anekantavada means 'many-sidedness': reality has many aspects, and no single point of view can capture all of it. Syadvada, the doctrine of 'may be', puts this into language; every statement should carry the word 'syat', meaning 'in some respect', and Jain thinkers built on it a sevenfold way of stating a thing, called saptabhangi. The story often used to explain it is that of the blind men and the elephant, each touching one part and describing a different animal. Option B is wrong because Sarvastivada ('everything exists') was an early Buddhist school, and Shunyavada ('emptiness') is the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism founded by Nagarjuna. Option C is wrong because it pairs a Buddhist school with a Jain doctrine. Option D is wrong because it adds two Buddhist schools and leaves out Syadvada. Exam tip: Anekanta and Syad are Jain; Sarvasti and Shunya are Buddhist.

The correct answer is B, Flavour enhancer. Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid, and it is added to soups, sauces, noodles and snacks to strengthen their savoury taste. This taste, called umami, is the fifth basic taste after sweet, sour, salty and bitter; it was identified in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who first made MSG from a seaweed broth. In India MSG is widely sold as Ajinomoto, the name of the Japanese company that makes it. Option A is wrong because colour enhancers are food colours such as caramel or permitted dyes, which change how food looks, not how it tastes. Option C is wrong because preservatives such as sodium benzoate, or salt and vinegar, stop food from spoiling. Option D is wrong because emulsifiers such as lecithin help oil and water stay mixed in foods like mayonnaise and ice cream. Exam tip: MSG gives the umami flavour, sodium benzoate preserves, lecithin emulsifies.

The correct answer is B, Nagaland. In the 2011 Census, Nagaland was the only state whose population actually fell, with a decadal growth rate of about minus 0.6 per cent for 2001–2011, the lowest in India. Experts linked the fall mainly to the correction of an inflated count in 2001, when Nagaland had shown one of the fastest growth rates in the country. For India as a whole, decadal growth was 17.7 per cent, down from 21.5 per cent in 1991–2001, and among states Meghalaya grew the fastest, at about 27.9 per cent. Option A is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh grew by about 26 per cent, well above the national average. Option C is wrong because Madhya Pradesh grew by about 20.3 per cent. Option D is wrong because Punjab grew by about 13.9 per cent, which is low but still positive. Exam tip: Census 2011 decadal growth, lowest Nagaland (negative), highest state Meghalaya, India 17.7 per cent.

The correct answer is C, 3 1 2 4. The Steppes are the temperate grasslands of Eurasia, stretching across Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan; the Prairies cover the central plains of the United States and Canada; the Velds are the grassy plateaus of South Africa; and the Downs are the grasslands of south-eastern Australia, famous for sheep rearing and merino wool. All four are temperate grasslands in the interior of continents, where light rainfall, hot summers and cold winters keep trees few and let grass dominate. The Pampas of Argentina and the Canterbury plains of New Zealand belong to the same family, while the Llanos and Campos of South America are tropical grasslands. Option A is wrong because it places the Steppes in South Africa. Option B is wrong because it puts the Steppes in the USA and the Prairies in Australia. Option D is wrong because it sends the Steppes to Australia and the Downs to the USA. Exam tip: Steppes–Russia, Prairies–USA, Velds–South Africa, Downs–Australia, Pampas–Argentina.

The correct answer is C, Dr. Vishnudhar Vakankar. Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, an archaeologist from Ujjain, spotted the rocks of Bhimbetka in 1957–58 while travelling by train near Bhopal, and then explored the shelters in detail. Bhimbetka lies in Raisen district, about 45 km south of Bhopal, at the southern edge of the Vindhya hills. Its more than 700 rock shelters carry paintings from the Stone Age to the medieval period, showing hunting, dancing and animals, which makes it one of the oldest records of human life in India. UNESCO listed the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka as a World Heritage Site in 2003. Option A is wrong because H. D. Sankalia is known for excavating sites such as Navdatoli and Nevasa, not for finding Bhimbetka. Option B is wrong because the historian Shyam Sundar Nigam did not discover the site. Option D is wrong because Rajbali Pandey was a historian of ancient India, not the discoverer. Exam tip: Bhimbetka, Raisen district, found by Wakankar in 1957–58, World Heritage Site in 2003.

The correct answer is B, Cash Reserve Ratio. The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the share of a bank's deposits that it must keep with the Reserve Bank of India in cash, and the bank earns no interest on this money. The RBI fixes the CRR under Section 42 of the RBI Act, 1934, and uses it to control the money supply: raising the CRR leaves banks with less money to lend, while cutting it releases funds into the economy. The ratio is worked out on a bank's net demand and time liabilities, which are mainly its deposits. Option A is wrong because the Statutory Liquidity Ratio is kept by the bank itself, in cash, gold or approved government securities, not deposited with the RBI. Option C is wrong because the Minimum Reserve System is the rule under which the RBI keeps a minimum stock of gold and foreign exchange to back the currency it issues. Option D is wrong because the reverse repo rate is the rate at which the RBI borrows money from banks. Exam tip: CRR is kept with the RBI; SLR is kept by the bank itself.

The correct answer is B, Nagaland – Haryana – Sikkim – Arunachal Pradesh. Nagaland became a state on 1 December 1963, carved out of Assam. Haryana followed on 1 November 1966, when the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 divided Punjab on the basis of the Shah Commission's report. Sikkim, until then an Indian protectorate, became the 22nd state through the 36th Amendment Act, 1975, with statehood from 16 May 1975. Arunachal Pradesh, earlier the North-East Frontier Agency and then a Union Territory from 1972, became a state on 20 February 1987, on the same day as Mizoram. Option A is wrong because it places Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh before Nagaland and Haryana. Option C is wrong because Sikkim (1975) cannot come before Haryana (1966) or Nagaland (1963). Option D is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh (1987) became a state long after both Sikkim and Haryana. Exam tip: 1963 Nagaland, 1966 Haryana, 1975 Sikkim, 1987 Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram; Haryana Day falls on 1 November.

The correct answer is B, Belgaum Session 1924. Gandhi presided over the Congress only once, at its session held at Belgaum (now Belagavi in Karnataka) in December 1924. At that time the party was split between the No-Changers, who wanted to stick to his constructive programme, and the Swarajists led by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru, who wanted to contest elections and enter the legislative councils. Under Gandhi's presidency the Belgaum session let both groups work side by side, and it gave great importance to spinning and khadi. Option A is wrong because the Amritsar session of 1919, held after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, was presided over by Motilal Nehru. Option C is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru presided at Lahore in 1929, where Purna Swaraj was adopted as the goal. Option D is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru also presided at the Lucknow session of 1936. Exam tip: Gandhi presided only at Belgaum 1924; Jawaharlal Nehru at Lahore 1929 and Lucknow 1936; Subhas Bose at Haripura 1938.

The correct answer is A, Zat, Sawar. Every Mughal mansab was expressed by two numbers, the zat rank and the sawar rank. Akbar organised the mansabdari system in the 1570s so that every noble and officer, civil or military, had a place on one graded ladder. The zat rank fixed a mansabdar's status and his personal salary, while the sawar rank fixed how many horsemen he had to keep ready for the emperor. Mansabdars were usually paid through jagirs, which were rights to collect land revenue from an area, not ownership of the land, and they could be transferred at the emperor's will. The post was not hereditary. Option B is wrong because barkat (blessing) and fana (merging of the self in God) are ideas from Sufi thought. Option C is wrong because namus and din are words for honour and faith, not ranks. Option D is wrong because peshkash and nazr were tributes and gifts offered to a ruler or a superior. Exam tip: zat = personal rank and pay; sawar = number of cavalrymen; together they make one mansab.

The correct answer is B, 30. Sensex, short for ‘Sensitive Index’, tracks 30 large, well-established and actively traded companies listed on the BSE, chosen from different sectors of the economy. It was launched in 1986 with 1978–79 as its base year, when its value was set at 100, and it is calculated by the free-float market capitalisation method, which counts only the shares available for trading. When people say ‘the market rose today’, they usually mean the Sensex or the Nifty went up. The BSE, founded in 1875 and located on Dalal Street in Mumbai, is Asia’s oldest stock exchange. Option A is wrong because the Sensex has never been a 20-stock index. Option C is wrong because 25 is not its size either; the count has stayed at 30 since 1986. Option D is wrong because ten companies would be too few to represent the whole market. Exam tip: Sensex has 30 companies on the BSE, base 1978–79 = 100; Nifty has 50 companies on the NSE.

The correct answer is B, Shri K. C. Neogy. Article 280 of the Constitution requires the President to set up a Finance Commission every five years, or earlier if needed, to recommend how the taxes collected by the Union should be shared with the states and how grants-in-aid should be given. The first Finance Commission was set up in 1951 with Kshitish Chandra Neogy, a former member of Nehru’s first cabinet, as chairman, and its recommendations covered the five years from 1952 to 1957. Commissions are numbered in order, which is how setters frame questions on their chairmen. Option A is wrong because K. Santhanam chaired the second Finance Commission, appointed in 1956; he is also known for the Santhanam Committee on corruption. Option C is wrong because P. V. Rajamannar chaired the fourth Finance Commission, appointed in 1964. Option D is wrong because A. K. Chanda chaired the third Finance Commission, appointed in 1960. Exam tip: the first four chairmen in order are Neogy, Santhanam, Chanda and Rajamannar.

The correct answer is C, 61st Amendment. The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988 changed Article 326, which provides for elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of adult suffrage, and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years. It was passed under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and came into force in March 1989, so the Lok Sabha election of 1989 was the first in which 18-year-olds could vote. The aim was to give young people, a large part of the population, a voice in choosing governments. Option A is wrong because the 66th Amendment (1990) added more land reform laws to the Ninth Schedule. Option B is wrong because the 62nd Amendment (1989) extended the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in legislatures for another ten years. Option D is wrong because the 63rd Amendment (1989) repealed the special emergency provisions for Punjab added by the 59th Amendment. Exam tip: 61st Amendment, 1988, Article 326, voting age 21 to 18.

The correct answer is B, Sir William Jones. Jones, a judge of the Supreme Court at Calcutta and a scholar of many languages, founded the Asiatic Society on 15 January 1784 to study the history, languages and culture of Asia. He translated Kalidasa’s Abhijnanashakuntalam into English in 1789, which made Sanskrit literature famous in Europe, and in 1786 he pointed out the family link between Sanskrit, Greek and Latin. Governor-General Warren Hastings supported the society as its patron but declined to be its president in favour of Jones. Option A is wrong because Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College at Benares in 1791. Option C is wrong because Warren Hastings was only the patron; his own foundation was the Calcutta Madrasa of 1781. Option D is wrong because William Bentinck, Governor-General from 1828 to 1835, is remembered for abolishing sati in 1829, not for this society. Exam tip: Calcutta Madrasa 1781 (Hastings), Asiatic Society 1784 (Jones), Benares Sanskrit College 1791 (Duncan).