Skip to content
GK24

UPSC Civil Services GK Questions 2026

Static general knowledge is six of the seven lines of the General Studies Paper-I syllabus in the UPSC CSE notice: History of India and the Indian National Movement; Indian and World Geography; Indian Polity and Governance; Economic and Social Development; Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change; and General Science. The Commission tests understanding rather than recall, through statements to be judged correct or incorrect, pairs to be matched and assertion-reason items, and it likes the edges of a topic: a lesser-known provision of the Constitution, a river's tributary, a species' conservation status, the mandate of a statutory body. This page holds GK24's topic-wise GK notes for UPSC, written as short facts and tables, in English and Hindi, with each note linked to the current affairs and previous-year questions on the same topic. Start with Polity and Modern History, which carry the most questions, then Geography, the Economy, Environment, Ancient and Medieval culture and Science. Read a note, solve its PYQs, take its quiz, and come back to it in your monthly revision. A candidate who knows these notes and reads the daily current affairs has covered the syllabus the notice prescribes for Paper-I.

UPSC Civil Services GK Questions with Answers

Q4081.Indian PolityHard

Which of the following is NOT a parliamentary privilege available to a member of Parliament in India?

  1. A.Freedom of speech in the House
  2. B.Immunity from court proceedings for a vote given in the House
  3. C.Immunity from arrest in a criminal case during a session
  4. D.The right of the House to be informed of a member’s arrest
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Immunity from arrest in a criminal case during a session

No such privilege exists. Freedom from arrest covers civil cases only, and a member may be arrested in a criminal matter or under a preventive detention law at any time, including on the floor of the House in exceptional circumstances with the permission of the presiding officer.

Q4083.Indian PolityMedium

Which Constitutional Amendment Act removed the reference to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from the privileges clause of Article 105(3)?

  1. A.42nd Amendment Act, 1976
  2. B.44th Amendment Act, 1978
  3. C.52nd Amendment Act, 1985
  4. D.61st Amendment Act, 1988
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 44th Amendment Act, 1978

As originally enacted, Article 105(3) said that until Parliament defined the privileges by law they would be those of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Q4084.Indian PolityMedium

Which Article protects a person from liability for publishing a substantially true report of the proceedings of a House of Parliament?

  1. A.Article 105
  2. B.Article 194
  3. C.Article 361A
  4. D.Article 123
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Article 361A

Article 361A protects a person from civil or criminal liability for publishing a substantially true report of the proceedings of either House of Parliament or of a State Legislature, unless the publication is proved to have been made with malice; the protection does not extend to reports of a secret…

Q4087.Indian HistoryAsked in: Uttar Pradesh · 5 Dec 2021Hard

In which of the following years was almost the entire area of present Uttar Pradesh separated from the Bengal Presidency and placed under the Agra Presidency?

  1. A.1832 A.D.
  2. B.1833 A.D.
  3. C.1834 A.D.
  4. D.1835 A.D.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1834 A.D.

The Charter Act of 1833 authorised the creation of a fourth presidency with its seat at Agra, and the Presidency of Agra was actually carved out of the Bengal Presidency in 1834, taking in almost the whole of what is now Uttar Pradesh; in 1836 the territory was placed under…

Q4088.Indian HistoryMedium

After the revolt of 1857, which arm of the Indian army was kept entirely in European hands?

  1. A.The infantry
  2. B.The cavalry
  3. C.The artillery
  4. D.The engineers
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The artillery

After the revolt the Peel Commission of 1859 advised a larger European element, the ratio of Europeans to Indians was raised to about one to two in Bengal and two to five in Madras and Bombay, and the artillery, the arm that decides a siege, was reserved for European troops…

Q4089.Indian HistoryHard

The Federal Court of India, set up under the Government of India Act, 1935, began functioning in which year and under which first Chief Justice?

  1. A.1935, Sir Elijah Impey
  2. B.1937, Sir Maurice Gwyer
  3. C.1939, Sir Harilal Kania
  4. D.1947, Sir Patrick Spens
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 1937, Sir Maurice Gwyer

The Government of India Act of 1935 provided for a Federal Court to settle disputes between the centre and the provinces and to hear appeals on constitutional questions, and the court began sitting at Delhi in 1937 with Sir Maurice Gwyer as its first Chief Justice.

Q4091.Indian HistoryMedium

The Supreme Court at Calcutta, which began work in 1774, was provided for by which Act?

  1. A.The Pitt’s India Act, 1784
  2. B.The Regulating Act, 1773
  3. C.The Charter Act, 1813
  4. D.The Indian High Courts Act, 1861
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Regulating Act, 1773

The Regulating Act made the Governor of Bengal the Governor General, gave him a council of four, and provided for a Supreme Court at Calcutta, which was established by a royal charter and began sitting in 1774 with Sir Elijah Impey as its first Chief Justice.

Q4092.Indian HistoryHard

Which commission recommended that recruitment to the higher civil services be shared equally between Indians and Europeans?

  1. A.The Aitchison Commission, 1886
  2. B.The Islington Commission, 1912
  3. C.The Lee Commission, 1924
  4. D.The Simon Commission, 1927
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Lee Commission, 1924

The Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India, headed by Lord Lee of Fareham, recommended that direct recruitment to the Indian Civil Service be divided equally between Indians and Europeans and that a Public Service Commission be set up without delay, and such a commission began work in…

Q4093.Indian HistoryHard

The Indian Police Commission of 1902-03, known as the Fraser Commission, recommended the creation of which body?

  1. A.A Department of Criminal Intelligence
  2. B.The Imperial Police Service
  3. C.A Federal Court of India
  4. D.A Public Service Commission
Show answer
Correct answer: A. A Department of Criminal Intelligence

The commission appointed in 1902 under Sir Andrew Fraser reported in 1903 and asked for better pay, training schools, the recruitment of Indians as officers and a central agency to collect and share criminal intelligence; the Department of Criminal Intelligence was created in 1903 and grew into the central intelligence…

Q4094.Indian HistoryEasy

Which Act laid the foundation of the modern police system in India?

  1. A.The Government of India Act, 1858
  2. B.The Indian Police Act, 1861
  3. C.The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
  4. D.The Indian Councils Act, 1892
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Indian Police Act, 1861

Passed on the advice of the Police Commission of 1860, this Act gave every province an Inspector General, every range a Deputy Inspector General and every district a Superintendent of Police working under the district magistrate, with the village chowkidar at the base, and that structure is still recognisable in…

Q4095.Indian HistoryMedium

Who was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service?

  1. A.Romesh Chunder Dutt
  2. B.Satyendranath Tagore
  3. C.Surendranath Banerjee
  4. D.Anandamohan Bose
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Satyendranath Tagore

Satyendranath Tagore, an elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore, succeeded in the London examination and joined the Indian Civil Service in 1864, nine years after the first competitive examination was held, and served in the Bombay Presidency.

Q4096.Indian HistoryMedium

Which Charter Act ended the patronage of the Company and introduced open competition for recruitment to the civil service?

  1. A.Charter Act of 1793
  2. B.Charter Act of 1813
  3. C.Charter Act of 1853
  4. D.Charter Act of 1833
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Charter Act of 1853

This Act took away the Company's right to nominate its civil servants and threw recruitment open to competition, after which the committee headed by Lord Macaulay in 1854 settled the syllabus and the first competitive examination was held in London in 1855.

Q4097.Indian HistoryEasy

Who among the following is called the father of the civil services in India?

  1. A.Warren Hastings
  2. B.Lord Cornwallis
  3. C.Lord Wellesley
  4. D.Lord Dalhousie
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Lord Cornwallis

Cornwallis, Governor General from 1786 to 1793, is called the father of the civil services in India because he fixed adequate salaries for the Company's servants, forbade them from carrying on private trade or taking presents, and made promotion depend on seniority instead of patronage, which together turned a trading…

Q4098.GeographyAsked in: SSC CGL · 20 April 2022, Shift 3Medium

Decrease in which of the following factors leads to an increase in the rate of evaporation?

  1. A.Ambient temperature
  2. B.Area of the free surface of the liquid concerned
  3. C.Wind speed above the surface of the liquid
  4. D.Humidity
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Humidity

Evaporation is the escape of molecules from a liquid surface into the air, and it slows as the air above fills with vapour; when the humidity falls the air can hold more vapour, so the rate of evaporation rises.

Q4099.GeographyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · UPSC Civil Services Exam Official 2022 PHard

Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth. 2. Low clouds have a high absorption of infrared radiation emanating from the Earth’s surface and thus cause warming effect. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Neither 1 nor 2

High clouds such as cirrus are thin and made of ice crystals; they let most of the sunlight pass through but absorb the outgoing infrared radiation from the surface, so their net effect is to warm.

Q4100.GeographyAsked in: Delhi · 9 Oct 2021, Shift 3Easy

The transfer of heat energy through the movement of a mass of substance from one place to another place is called ______.

  1. A.Conduction
  2. B.Convection
  3. C.Condensation
  4. D.Radiation
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Convection

In convection the heated matter itself moves and carries its energy with it: air near a warm surface expands, becomes lighter, rises as a current and is replaced by cooler air sinking in its place, and the same happens in a pan of boiling water.