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.
'The Descent of the Ganga' is a
The Descent of the Ganga is a huge open-air rock relief carved under the Pallavas at Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) in Tamil Nadu.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the provisions of the Constitution of India is correct ?
Article 30(1) says that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
Read the full explanation →North-west part of the Indian peninsula was converted into a great centre of vulcanicity in
The Deccan Traps, the vast lava plateau of the north-western peninsula, were laid down by eruptions at the close of the Cretaceous, about 66 million years ago.
Read the full explanation →A long narrow stretch of sand and/or shingle with one end attached to the mainland is called
A spit is a ridge of sand or shingle joined to the land at one end, with the other end running out into open water.
Read the full explanation →Madhyamika Karika, the basic text of Madhyamika School, was composed by
Nagarjuna, the Mahayana philosopher of about the second century CE, founded the Madhyamika school and wrote its root text, the Mulamadhyamakakarika.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following processes is/are part of the Rock Cycle ? 1. Lithification 2. Metamorphism 3. Solidification Select the answer using the code given below :
Lithification, metamorphism and solidification are each a step in the rock cycle, the endless change of rocks from one type into another.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following ancient towns is known for the evidence of a ploughed field from its early Harappan levels, with two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting two different crops grown together?
Excavators found a ploughed field below the Harappan town at Kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, on the dry bed of the Ghaggar.
Read the full explanation →Gwadar port is located in
Gwadar is a deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan's Balochistan province. Gwadar lies on the Makran coast, not far from the border with Iran and close to the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Read the full explanation →Natural Population Change is calculated by
Natural change counts only births and deaths, so it is the birth rate minus the death rate. Both rates are usually given per thousand people per year.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following classical poets is the author of the book Kiratarjuniyam ?
Bharavi, a Sanskrit poet of the sixth century CE, wrote the Kiratarjuniyam. The Kiratarjuniyam is a mahakavya in eighteen cantos.
Read the full explanation →What was the Dutt-Bradley thesis?
The Dutt-Bradley thesis was a communist document which held that the Indian National Congress could play a great and foremost part in building an anti-imperialist people's front.
Read the full explanation →In which one of the following places was the Ahmadiyya Movement started by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad?
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889 at Qadian, a town in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The Ahmadiyya Movement was one of the Muslim reform movements of the late nineteenth century.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana are correct?
1. It is part of Government of India's poverty reduction strategy.
2. It is a centrally sponsored scheme for rural development.
3. It provides connectivity in rural areas.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
PMGSY is a centrally sponsored rural development scheme, launched as part of the poverty reduction strategy, to give all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following clues about a State of India:
1. It is known as 'land of red river and blue hills'.
2. It contains three of the six physiographic divisions of India.
3. It covers about 2.39 percent of total areas of the country.
Identify the State on the basis of the given clues.
Assam is called the land of the red river and blue hills, the red river being the silt-laden Brahmaputra and the blue hills those that ring its valley.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is not correct about the Indian Independence Act, 1947?
The Indian Independence Act ended British rule but did not lay down the framework of the Constitution; that framework came largely from the Government of India Act, 1935.
Read the full explanation →What is the correct sequence of the following mountain ranges as one moves from North towards South?
1. Karakoram
2. Kunlun
3. Ladakh
4. Zaskar
Select the answer using the code given below:
Going south from Central Asia one crosses the Kunlun, then the Karakoram, then the Ladakh Range and then the Zaskar Range.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following groups of countries consists of the members of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)?
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation brings together India and the five Mekong basin countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The grouping was launched at Vientiane in Laos in 2000.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following rivers takes a U turn at Namcha Barwa and enters India?
Flowing east across Tibet as the Tsangpo, the river bends sharply around Namcha Barwa and turns south into Arunachal Pradesh.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following gave evidence before the Joint Select Committee on the Government of India Bill, 1919 in favour of female franchise?
1. Mrs. Annie Besant
2. Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
3. Mrs. Hirabai Tata
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu and Hirabai Tata all went before the Joint Select Committee in London in 1919 to argue for votes for Indian women.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the DDU-GKY is not correct?
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana does not rely only on government agencies; most of its training is run by private and non-government partners.
Read the full explanation →