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.
Which one of the following indicates the Tropical Savannah climate?
In Köppen's scheme, 'A' is a tropical climate and 'w' means a dry winter, which together describe the tropical savanna.
Read the full explanation →The rest mass of Higgs boson is estimated to be close to
The Higgs boson found at CERN in 2012 has a mass of about 125 GeV, which among the given options is closest to 100 GeV.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with reference to Easter Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is/are correct? 1. It is part of Polynesia group of islands. 2. It is a territory of the South American nation Chile. Select the answer using the code given below:
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island in the south-eastern Pacific that has belonged to Chile since 1888.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about State Election Commissioner is/are correct? 1. Preparation of electoral rolls for elections to the Panchayats takes place under his/her direction 2. He/she is appointed by the Governor of the concerned State on the advice of the Chief Election Commissioner of India Select the answer using the code given below:
The State Election Commission directs the preparation of electoral rolls for panchayat elections, but the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, not on the Chief Election Commissioner's advice.
Read the full explanation →The Summary Settlement of 1856 was based on which one of the following assumptions?
The British settlement in Awadh treated the talukdars as intruders who had gained land by force and fraud. After Awadh was annexed in 1856, the British introduced the Summary Settlement of land revenue there.
Read the full explanation →River Danube does not flow through which one of the following capital cities in Europe?
Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, stands on the Vltava river, not on the Danube. The Danube is Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about Goods and Services Tax (GST) in course of inter-State trade or commerce is/are correct? 1. Levy and collection of GST are governed under Article 269A of the Constitution of India 2. GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce may not be levied and collected by the States 3. GST is apportioned between the Union and the States Select the answer using the code given below:
Article 269A makes inter-State GST a tax that only the Centre levies and collects and then shares with the States.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is NOT a river covered under the Indus Water Treaty 1960 ?
The Teesta flows from Sikkim through West Bengal into Bangladesh and joins the Brahmaputra, so it has nothing to do with the Indus system.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following cities experience the warm temperate Mediterranean climate? 1. Cape Town 2. Los Angeles 3. Adelaide 4. Santiago Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Cape Town, Los Angeles, Adelaide and Santiago all lie in the Mediterranean climate belt on the western sides of continents, roughly between 30° and 40° latitude.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following was awarded Saraswati Samman for the year 2018?
The Telugu poet K. Siva Reddy received the Saraswati Samman for 2018 for his poetry collection "Pakkaki Ottigilite".
Read the full explanation →Manganese is extracted by heating manganese dioxide with aluminium powder. Which one of the following statements with regard to the reaction is correct?
Reducing manganese dioxide with aluminium, 3MnO₂ + 4Al → 3Mn + 2Al₂O₃, gives out a large amount of heat. This method of reducing a metal oxide with aluminium powder is called aluminothermy, or the Goldschmidt thermite process.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following holds true for freely falling object ?
A freely falling object moves with a uniform acceleration, the acceleration due to gravity, g, about 9.8 m/s² near the Earth's surface.
Read the full explanation →In an ecosystem why is the number of trophic levels of a food chain usually limited ?
A large part of the energy is lost at every trophic level, so after four or five links too little is left to support another level.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about the powers and duties of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India : 1. He audits and reports on all expenditures from the Consolidated Fund of India. 2. He controls the issue and receipt of money from the Consolidated Fund of India. 3. He audits and reports on the expenditure of all bodies substantially financed from the Union or State revenues. Which of the statements given above are correct?
The CAG audits spending from the Consolidated Fund and of bodies substantially financed by government, but has no control over the release of money from the fund.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following events of Indian history was the earliest to take place?
Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal came into effect on 16 October 1905, years before the other three events. Curzon announced the partition in July 1905, claiming it was for administrative convenience, but it was widely seen as a way to divide Hindus and Muslims and weaken Bengali nationalism.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements about the Indigo Revolt of 1859 is correct ?
The Indigo Revolt (1859–60) of Bengal's peasants against European indigo planters won strong support from the Bengali intelligentsia, press and missionaries.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements is correct ?
In aerobic tissues, where oxygen is available, glucose is broken down completely into carbon dioxide, water and energy. Aerobic respiration begins with glycolysis in the cytoplasm, which gives pyruvate.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following metals produces hydrogen with cold water?
Sodium reacts vigorously with cold water to form sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas: 2Na + 2H₂O → 2NaOH + H₂.
Read the full explanation →The depletion in atmospheric ozone layer in last century was due to :
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol sprays and foams were the main cause of ozone depletion in the twentieth century.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is the correct chronology of invention/ discovery in the field of Bio- technology?
The order is plasmid (1952), DNA double helix (1953), DNA fingerprinting (1984) and the cloning of Dolly (1996). Joshua Lederberg coined the word "plasmid" in 1952 for genetic material that lives outside the chromosome; plasmids later became the main vectors of genetic engineering.
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