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.
Gersoppa Falls is formed by which one of the following rivers?
Gersoppa Falls, better known as Jog Falls, is where the Sharavati river plunges down the edge of the Western Ghats in Karnataka.
Read the full explanation →According to the Law of Diminishing Returns, in a production function when more and more units of the variable factor are used, holding the quantities of a fixed factor constant, a point is reached beyond which
When one input is kept fixed and another is added again and again, each extra unit eventually adds less to output than the one before.
Read the full explanation →In human body, the hormone which is secreted into blood and which controls the rate of heart beat is
Adrenaline, released by the adrenal glands into the blood, speeds up the heart beat when the body faces stress or danger.
Read the full explanation →According to early Indian philosophers, what are the basic elements described in Pancha Tattva ?
These are the five great elements, the Pancha Mahabhuta, that Indian philosophy saw as the building blocks of the physical world.
Read the full explanation →Water is a good solvent for dissolving ionic compounds because
Water molecules are strongly polar, so they can pull apart the positive and negative ions of a salt and surround them.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about the relationship between price elasticity of demand and type of firm is/are correct? 1. Perfectly elastic demand is associated with a competitive firm. 2. Perfectly inelastic demand is associated with a monopolistically competitive firm. Select the answer using the code given below.
A firm in perfect competition faces a perfectly elastic demand curve, but a monopolistically competitive firm faces a downward-sloping, fairly elastic one, not a perfectly inelastic one.
Read the full explanation →In the context of labour market of an economy, consider the following statements : 1. Labour Force Participation Rate is defined as the share of employed and unemployed workers to the total working-age population. 2. Worker Population Ratio is defined as the share of unemployed workers to the total working-age population. 3. The usual activity status of a person is determined on the basis of the activities pursued by the person during the specified reference period of the last 365 days preceding the date of survey. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statements 1 and 3 give the standard definitions, but the Worker Population Ratio counts the employed, not the unemployed. In India these measures come from the Periodic Labour Force Survey.
Read the full explanation →Pollens are produced in
The anther is the top part of the stamen, the male organ of a flower, and pollen grains form inside it.
Read the full explanation →During respiration in human beings, the actual place of gaseous exchange is
The alveoli are tiny air sacs at the end of the smallest airways, and oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through their walls.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is an example of endothermic reaction?
Breaking calcium carbonate into quicklime and carbon dioxide needs a steady supply of heat, so the reaction absorbs energy. An endothermic reaction takes in heat from its surroundings, while an exothermic reaction gives heat out.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following metals does not react with oxygen directly?
Platinum is a noble metal and does not combine with oxygen even when heated in air. Metals low in the reactivity series, such as gold and platinum, hold on to their electrons very firmly, so oxygen cannot pull them away under ordinary conditions.
Read the full explanation →Which among the following regarding the nature of goods and income elasticity are correctly matched? (Nature of Goods : Income Elasticity) 1. Necessity : Between 0 and 1 2. Luxury : More than 1 3. Inferior : More than 0 Select the answer using the code given below.
Necessities and luxuries are matched correctly, but an inferior good has a negative income elasticity, not a positive one. Income elasticity of demand is the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in income.
Read the full explanation →Whose package rates have states been urged to display prominently, besides those of ordinary patients?
The Union Health Secretary's letter asks states and union territories to encourage the prominent display, wherever applicable, of the package rates offered to international patients travelling to India on these visas.
Read the full explanation →In which languages must clinical establishments display their service rates under the Rules?
The Rules require a clinical establishment to put up its rates at a conspicuous place in both, so that patients and the people accompanying them can read the charges without having to ask.
Read the full explanation →The directive on displaying healthcare service rates is based on which Act?
Together they form the regulatory framework for clinical establishments, and the Rules require that the rate charged for each type of service and each facility be displayed at a conspicuous place, in the local language as well as in English.
Read the full explanation →Who chaired the second working session of the seminar, on air power as a strategy of national power?
That session treated air power as an instrument of national power and covered deterrence, coercion, escalation control and human capital development.
Read the full explanation →In which year was the Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies established?
CAPSS was set up in that year as an autonomous research and analysis body working on national security, nuclear and aerospace questions, which is why the year 2026 marks its Silver Jubilee.
Read the full explanation →The CAPSS-IAF seminar held in New Delhi was organised on the sidelines of which exercise?
The seminar was held on 9 October 2026 at the Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, New Delhi, while this multinational flying exercise was under way, so the participating teams moved from flying sorties to a conceptual discussion on doctrine.
Read the full explanation →How many Government ITIs are covered by the two clusters for which shareholders' agreements were signed under PM-SETU?
The partnership covers a cluster of five Government ITIs in Surat in Gujarat and a cluster of four Government ITIs in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, which adds up to nine institutes in two states.
Read the full explanation →In the Special Purpose Vehicles for the Surat and Visakhapatnam ITI clusters, what stake will AM/NS India hold?
Dedicated Special Purpose Vehicles are being set up to manage the upgradation and operations of the two ITI clusters, and in them the industry partner AM/NS India holds a majority stake of 51 per cent.
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