State Exams Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

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 A, Total internal reflection. When light travels from a denser medium to a rarer one and strikes the boundary at an angle greater than the critical angle, it does not pass out at all but is reflected completely back. An optical fibre uses exactly this. It has a thin glass or plastic core of higher refractive index, covered by a cladding of lower refractive index, so light entering one end keeps bouncing off the walls and travels long distances, even around bends, with very little loss. That is why fibres carry internet and telephone signals and are used in endoscopes to see inside the body. The Indian-born physicist Narinder Singh Kapany is called the father of fibre optics. Option B is wrong because diffraction is the bending of light around small obstacles or through narrow slits. Option C is wrong because scattering spreads light in many directions, which makes the sky look blue. Option D is wrong because refraction is only the bending of light as it enters a new medium, while a fibre works by stopping light from escaping. Exam tip: optical fibre, mirage and a sparkling diamond all work by total internal reflection.

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, 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 A, Morris D. Morris. The American economic historian Morris David Morris built the Physical Quality of Life Index in the 1970s for the Overseas Development Council, and set it out in his 1979 book on measuring the condition of the world’s poor. He wanted a simple measure of well-being that did not depend on income alone. The PQLI uses three indicators, each scored from 0 to 100 and given equal weight: basic literacy, infant mortality and life expectancy at age one. Their average gives a country a score out of 100. Kerala was often cited as a place where a high PQLI came with a low income. Option B is wrong because the UNDP publishes the Human Development Index, which came later, in 1990. Option C is wrong because Mahbub-ul-Haq designed the HDI, not the PQLI. Option D is wrong because the index has a known author, Morris D. Morris. Exam tip: PQLI, Morris D. Morris, 1979, three indicators; HDI, Mahbub-ul-Haq and the UNDP, 1990.

The correct answer is A, Only 1. Statement 1 is correct: the Ramganga rises in the Garhwal hills of Uttarakhand, flows through Corbett National Park, where the Kalagarh dam stands on it, then passes through Moradabad and Bareilly districts and joins the Ganga on its left bank near Kannauj. Statement 2 is wrong: the Betwa, the ancient Vetravati, rises in the Vindhyan region of Madhya Pradesh, flows past Orchha and through the Jhansi area of Bundelkhand, and joins the Yamuna near Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, not near Prayagraj. At Prayagraj it is the Yamuna itself that meets the Ganga, at the Sangam. Option B is wrong because statement 2 puts the Betwa’s confluence in the wrong place. Option C is wrong because it accepts the wrong statement and rejects the right one. Option D is wrong because statement 1 is correct. Exam tip: Ramganga into the Ganga at Kannauj, Betwa into the Yamuna at Hamirpur, Yamuna into the Ganga at Prayagraj.

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 D, Bolivia. A landlocked country has no coastline on an open sea or ocean. South America has only two such countries, Bolivia and Paraguay. Bolivia once had a Pacific coast, but it lost that coastal province to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) and has been landlocked ever since. It still keeps a navy, which patrols Lake Titicaca, the lake it shares with Peru and one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. La Paz is the seat of government, while Sucre is the constitutional capital. Option A is wrong because Uruguay lies on the Atlantic coast, and its capital Montevideo stands on the Rio de la Plata estuary. Option B is wrong because Suriname has an Atlantic coastline in the north of the continent, with Paramaribo as its port capital. Option C is wrong because Peru has a long Pacific coast, with Lima and the port of Callao. Exam tip: South America’s two landlocked countries are Bolivia and Paraguay.

The correct answer is A, 82° 30′ E longitude. India keeps one standard time for the whole country, Indian Standard Time, based on the 82° 30′ E meridian, which passes near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. Since the Earth turns one degree every 4 minutes, 82.5 degrees gives 330 minutes, so IST is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The meridian was chosen because it runs roughly through the middle of India’s east-west spread of about 30 degrees of longitude, from about 68° 7′ E in Gujarat to 97° 25′ E in Arunachal Pradesh. That spread makes the sun rise nearly two hours earlier in Arunachal than in Gujarat. The line passes through five states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Option B is wrong because 83° 30′ E is one degree too far east. Option C is wrong because 82° E is half a degree short of the standard meridian. Option D is wrong because 82° 50′ E is not the chosen line either. Exam tip: 82° 30′ E × 4 minutes = 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.

The correct answer is A, Devprayag. At Devprayag in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, the Bhagirathi, coming from the Gangotri glacier, meets the Alaknanda, and from this confluence onwards the river is called the Ganga. Devprayag is the last of the five sacred confluences on the Alaknanda, known as the Panch Prayag. Going downstream, the Alaknanda meets the Dhauliganga at Vishnuprayag, the Nandakini at Nandprayag, the Pindar at Karnaprayag, the Mandakini at Rudraprayag and finally the Bhagirathi at Devprayag. Setters often mix up these pairs, so learning them in order helps. Option B is wrong because Vishnuprayag is where the Dhauliganga joins the Alaknanda. Option C is wrong because Rudraprayag is where the Mandakini, flowing down from Kedarnath, joins the Alaknanda. Option D is wrong because Karnaprayag is where the Pindar joins the Alaknanda. Exam tip: Vishnu, Nand, Karna, Rudra, Dev is the Panch Prayag order from upstream to downstream, ending with the Bhagirathi at Devprayag.

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 C, Nyaya Panchayat. A Nyaya Panchayat is a village court for small civil and criminal disputes, a judicial body that some states created, so it is not a tier of local self-government. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was set up in 1957 to review the Community Development Programme and recommended ‘democratic decentralisation’ through three linked tiers. It wanted the block-level body to be the main executive body and the district body to guide and supervise. Rajasthan was the first state to adopt the scheme, at Nagaur on 2 October 1959, and Andhra Pradesh followed soon after. Option A is wrong because the Gram Panchayat is the first tier, at the village level. Option B is wrong because the Panchayat Samiti is the middle tier, at the block level. Option D is wrong because the Zila Panchayat, also called the Zila Parishad, is the top tier, at the district level. Exam tip: Balwant Rai Mehta 1957, three tiers, Nagaur 1959; the Ashok Mehta Committee of 1977 proposed two tiers.

The correct answer is C, 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002. The 86th Amendment inserted Article 21A, which makes free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14 years a Fundamental Right, in the manner the State decides by law. The same amendment rewrote Article 45 so that the State should provide early childhood care and education until age six, and added Fundamental Duty 51A(k), making parents and guardians responsible for giving their children education. The law that gives effect to Article 21A, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, came into force on 1 April 2010. Option A is wrong because the 103rd Amendment (2019) created 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections. Option B is wrong because the 93rd Amendment (2005) added Article 15(5), allowing reservation in educational institutions, including private ones. Option D is wrong because the 71st Amendment (1992) added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali to the Eighth Schedule. Exam tip: the 86th Amendment made three changes: Article 21A, a new Article 45 and duty 51A(k).

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, 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, Article 110. Article 110 says a Bill is a Money Bill if it deals only with matters such as imposing or changing a tax, government borrowing, the custody of the Consolidated Fund or Contingency Fund of India and payments into or out of them, and spending charged on the Consolidated Fund. Under Article 110(3), if a question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is final, and the Speaker certifies it before it goes to the Rajya Sabha. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and only on the President’s recommendation. Option A is wrong because Article 109 lays down the special procedure for Money Bills: the Rajya Sabha must return the Bill within 14 days and can only make recommendations. Option C is wrong because Article 111 deals with the President’s assent to Bills. Option D is wrong because Article 112 deals with the Annual Financial Statement, the budget. Exam tip: 109 procedure, 110 definition, 111 assent, 112 budget; the Speaker certifies a Money Bill.

The correct answer is B, Khan Bahadur Khan. When the sepoys at Bareilly rose on 31 May 1857, Khan Bahadur Khan, a grandson of the Rohilla chief Hafiz Rahmat Khan, took charge of the town and of much of Rohilkhand. He had served as a judge under the Company and was living on a British pension, yet he set up his own government, raised an army of several thousand men and ruled in the name of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, who recognised him as governor. The British recaptured Bareilly in May 1858; Khan Bahadur Khan fled to Nepal, was handed over and was hanged at Bareilly in 1860. Option A is wrong because Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II, led the revolt at Kanpur. Option C is wrong because Begum Hazrat Mahal led the rising at Lucknow in the name of her son Birjis Qadr. Option D is wrong because Kunwar Singh led the revolt at Jagdishpur near Arrah in Bihar. Exam tip: Kanpur–Nana Saheb, Lucknow–Hazrat Mahal, Bareilly–Khan Bahadur Khan, Jhansi–Lakshmibai, Arrah–Kunwar Singh.

The correct answer is D, San Francisco. The Ghadar Party was formed in 1913 by Indian immigrants on the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada, most of them Punjabi Sikh farmers and workers. Sohan Singh Bhakna was its president and Lala Har Dayal its leading thinker. Its office, called the Yugantar Ashram, was in San Francisco, and from there it brought out the weekly paper ‘Ghadar’ from 1 November 1913 in Urdu and Punjabi, calling for armed revolt against British rule. When the First World War began, thousands of members sailed home, but the planned rising of February 1915 was betrayed, and many were tried in the Lahore Conspiracy Cases. Option A is wrong because Delhi became the capital of British India in 1911 but was never the party’s base. Option B is wrong because Lahore is linked to the trials of the Ghadar revolutionaries, not to their headquarters. Option C is wrong because Calcutta was the base of Bengal groups such as the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar. Exam tip: Ghadar Party, 1913, Yugantar Ashram, San Francisco; president Sohan Singh Bhakna.