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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

Q8101.Art & CultureMedium

Which UNESCO programme is concerned with the protection of documentary heritage such as manuscripts and archives?

  1. A.World Heritage List
  2. B.Memory of the World
  3. C.Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage
  4. D.Creative Cities Network
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Memory of the World

The Memory of the World Programme protects documentary heritage, which means manuscripts, archives, maps, printed material, photographs and sound and film recordings, and it keeps an International Register, regional registers and national registers.

Q8108.Indian PolityMedium

In Government of NCT of Delhi versus Union of India (2018), the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

  1. A.may take decisions independently of the Council of Ministers on every subject
  2. B.has no independent decision-making power and is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except on reserved subjects and matters of discretion
  3. C.is the constitutional head of a full-fledged state
  4. D.can dissolve the Legislative Assembly on his own without reference to the President
Show answer
Correct answer: B. has no independent decision-making power and is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except on reserved subjects and matters of discretion

The five-judge Bench read Article 239AA as a scheme of representative government and held that the Lieutenant Governor has no independent decision-making power; he must act on the aid and advice of the elected Council of Ministers except on public order, police and land, and where a law requires him…

Q8111.Indian PolityHard

The category of Union Territories was created, and the classification of states into Parts A, B, C and D abolished, by which amendment?

  1. A.The 1st Amendment, 1951
  2. B.The 7th Amendment, 1956
  3. C.The 14th Amendment, 1962
  4. D.The 42nd Amendment, 1976
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The 7th Amendment, 1956

Acting on the report of the States Reorganisation Commission, Parliament passed the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, which ended the four-fold classification of Part A, B, C and D states and left a single class of states together with a new class called Union…

Q8112.Indian PolityHard

Which of the following Union Territories is not covered by the President's power to make regulations under Article 240?

  1. A.Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  2. B.Lakshadweep
  3. C.Chandigarh
  4. D.Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Chandigarh

Article 240(1) names the territories for which the President may make regulations for peace, progress and good government: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Puducherry, the last only while its assembly stands dissolved or suspended.

Q8113.Indian PolityMedium

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 came into force on which date, creating two Union Territories?

  1. A.5 August 2019
  2. B.9 August 2019
  3. C.31 October 2019
  4. D.26 January 2020
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 31 October 2019

The Act was passed in August 2019 but the appointed day on which the former state was reorganised into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislative assembly, and the Union Territory of Ladakh, without one, was 31 October 2019.

Q8114.Indian PolityMedium

Article 239A, which allows Parliament to create a local legislature or Council of Ministers for a Union Territory, was inserted for which territory and by which amendment?

  1. A.Delhi, by the 69th Amendment of 1991
  2. B.Puducherry, by the 14th Amendment of 1962
  3. C.Lakshadweep, by the 7th Amendment of 1956
  4. D.Jammu and Kashmir, by the 103rd Amendment of 2019
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Puducherry, by the 14th Amendment of 1962

The Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 absorbed the former French settlements into India and inserted Article 239A so that Parliament could give such a territory a legislature and a Council of Ministers; Parliament then passed the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, under which the Puducherry assembly of thirty elected…

Q8115.Indian PolityEasy

Who functions as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh?

  1. A.The Governor of Punjab
  2. B.The Governor of Haryana
  3. C.The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court
  4. D.An officer of the Indian Administrative Service appointed by the Union Home Ministry
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Governor of Punjab

Article 239(2) allows the President to appoint the Governor of a state as the administrator of an adjoining Union Territory, and under it the Governor of Punjab has been given additional charge as the Administrator of Chandigarh.

Q8117.Indian PolityMedium

Which three subjects of the State List are kept outside the legislative competence of the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi?

  1. A.Public health, education and local government
  2. B.Public order, police and land
  3. C.Police, prisons and agriculture
  4. D.Land, water and electricity
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Public order, police and land

Article 239AA(3)(a) lets the Delhi assembly make laws on the State List and the Concurrent List as they apply to the territory, but excludes Entries 1, 2 and 18 of the State List, which are public order, police and land, along with Entries 64, 65 and 66 so far as…

Q8118.Indian PolityEasy

Article 239AA, which gives the National Capital Territory of Delhi its special status, was inserted by which Constitutional Amendment Act?

  1. A.The 14th Amendment, 1962
  2. B.The 61st Amendment, 1988
  3. C.The 69th Amendment, 1991
  4. D.The 74th Amendment, 1992
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The 69th Amendment, 1991

The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 inserted Articles 239AA and 239AB, renamed the Union Territory of Delhi as the National Capital Territory of Delhi and provided it with a Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers.

Q8120.Indian HistoryMedium

Which of the following statements about the women members of the Constituent Assembly of India is correct?

  1. A.Begum Aizaz Rasul was its only Muslim woman member
  2. B.Sarojini Naidu was its only woman member
  3. C.No woman was a member of the Assembly
  4. D.Sucheta Kriplani chaired the Drafting Committee
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Begum Aizaz Rasul was its only Muslim woman member

Fifteen women were members of the Constituent Assembly, and Begum Aizaz Rasul was the only Muslim woman among them; Dakshayani Velayudhan was its only Dalit woman member.