UPSC CAPF 2023 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B, 1, 2 and 3 only. The first three are written into Article I of the SAARC Charter; ending cross-border terrorism is not one of its listed objectives.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was set up by the Charter signed at Dhaka on 8 December 1985, and its secretariat is in Kathmandu. Its objectives include promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and improving their quality of life, strengthening collective self-reliance, contributing to mutual trust and understanding of one another's problems, and promoting collaboration in economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields. Terrorism is handled through a separate SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism (1987), not as a Charter objective.

A is wrong: it leaves out objective 3, which is in the Charter.

C is wrong: it adds statement 4, which is not a Charter objective.

D is wrong: it drops the true objectives 1 and 2 and adds statement 4.

Exam tip: SAARC, Dhaka Charter 1985, secretariat Kathmandu, eight members with Afghanistan joining in 2007.

The correct answer is C, which is the statement that is not correct. The Kushana gold coins were struck on the same weight standard as the Roman aureus of the time, not on a different one, because the dynasty traded briskly with the Roman world and found it convenient to match that standard. The other three statements are sound. The Indo-Greeks issued the first Indian coins that carry the ruler’s name along with his portrait, a sharp change from the earlier punch-marked coins, which bore only symbols. The Kushanas, from Vima Kadphises and Kanishka onwards, issued the first gold coins in India in any quantity, with deities such as Shiva and the Buddha on the reverse. And their gold coins have indeed been found at many sites across north India and Central Asia, which is the clearest proof of how far their trade reached. Exam tip: punch-marked coins are the earliest, Indo-Greek coins the first with royal portraits, Kushana coins the first gold, and the Guptas issued the most gold coins.

The correct answer is D, 2 only. The United Nations works in six official languages, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Of the four names in the list, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese are all official, so only German, the second item, is not. Arabic was the last of the six to be added, in 1973. Of the six, English and French are also the working languages of the Secretariat.

Option A is wrong because Arabic is official, having been added in 1973. Option B is wrong for the same reason and because Chinese was official from the beginning as one of the languages of the founding members. Option C again wrongly counts Arabic as not official. Only option D keeps German alone, and German is not a UN language although Germany is a large contributor to the UN budget.