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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

Q8981.Banking & Financial AwarenessHard

Under the PMLA, how long must a reporting entity preserve records of the transactions it is required to report?

  1. A.Three years from the date of the transaction
  2. B.Five years from the date of the transaction
  3. C.Eight years from the date of the transaction
  4. D.Fifteen years from the date of the transaction
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Five years from the date of the transaction

Section 12 requires every reporting entity to maintain a record of all transactions of the prescribed nature and value for a period of five years from the date of the transaction between the client and the entity, and to maintain records of the identity of its clients for five years…

Q8982.Banking & Financial AwarenessHard

For how long is a provisional attachment of property by the Director under Section 5 of the PMLA valid?

  1. A.Thirty days
  2. B.Ninety days
  3. C.One hundred and eighty days
  4. D.One year
Show answer
Correct answer: C. One hundred and eighty days

Section 5 allows the Director or an authorised officer, on reasons to be recorded in writing, to attach property believed to be the proceeds of crime provisionally for a period of one hundred and eighty days.

Q8983.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

Under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the punishment for money laundering is rigorous imprisonment of

  1. A.One to three years
  2. B.Three to seven years
  3. C.Five to ten years
  4. D.Seven to fourteen years
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Three to seven years

Section 4 provides that whoever commits the offence of money laundering shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, which may extend to seven years, and with a fine.

Q8984.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

A suspicious transaction report under the PMLA rules must be filed within

  1. A.Seven working days of forming the suspicion
  2. B.Thirty days of forming the suspicion
  3. C.The fifteenth day of the following month
  4. D.Ninety days of forming the suspicion
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Seven working days of forming the suspicion

The rules require a reporting entity to furnish a suspicious transaction report to the Financial Intelligence Unit not later than seven working days from the date on which it is satisfied that the transaction is suspicious.

Q8985.Banking & Financial AwarenessMedium

Under the rules framed under the PMLA, a bank must file a Cash Transaction Report for cash transactions in an account exceeding

  1. A.One lakh rupees in a month
  2. B.Five lakh rupees in a month
  3. C.Ten lakh rupees in a month
  4. D.Fifty lakh rupees in a month
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Ten lakh rupees in a month

Under the Prevention of Money-laundering Maintenance of Records Rules of 2005, a reporting entity must report all cash transactions of a value of more than ten lakh rupees, or their equivalent in foreign currency, and all series of integrally connected cash transactions that together exceed that amount within a month.

Q8987.Banking & Financial AwarenessEasy

Which agency investigates and prosecutes offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act?

  1. A.Financial Intelligence Unit India
  2. B.Enforcement Directorate
  3. C.Central Bureau of Investigation
  4. D.Reserve Bank of India
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Enforcement Directorate

The Directorate, which works under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance and traces its origin to the Enforcement Unit set up on the first of May 1956, registers cases under the Act, attaches property provisionally, arrests, and files prosecution complaints in the Special Court.

Q8989.Banking & Financial AwarenessEasy

The three stages of money laundering, in order, are

  1. A.Layering, placement and integration
  2. B.Placement, layering and integration
  3. C.Integration, placement and layering
  4. D.Placement, integration and layering
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Placement, layering and integration

Placement comes first because the criminal must get cash into the financial system, which he does through small deposits, the purchase of bearer instruments or by mixing the cash with the takings of a shop or a petrol pump.

Q8990.Art & CultureHard

Which of the following pairs of building and style is correctly matched?

  1. A.Writers Building, Kolkata and Indo-Saracenic
  2. B.Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai and Victorian Gothic
  3. C.Gateway of India, Mumbai and Baroque
  4. D.Se Cathedral, Old Goa and Dravidian
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai and Victorian Gothic

The Rajabai Clock Tower in the University of Mumbai campus, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1878, is a Victorian Gothic tower modelled on the Big Ben clock tower in London, with pointed arches, stained glass and carved figures.

Q8992.Art & CultureMedium

At which event was the decision to shift the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi announced?

  1. A.The Delhi Durbar of 1877
  2. B.The Delhi Durbar of 1903
  3. C.The Delhi Durbar of 1911
  4. D.The Round Table Conference of 1930
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Delhi Durbar of 1911

George V and Queen Mary came to India in December 1911 and at the Delhi Durbar announced both the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi and the reversal of the partition of Bengal of 1905.

Q8993.Art & CultureMedium

The India Gate in New Delhi is a memorial to

  1. A.Soldiers of the Revolt of 1857
  2. B.Indian soldiers who died in the First World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War
  3. C.Victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
  4. D.Soldiers of the Indian National Army
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Indian soldiers who died in the First World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War

The India Gate, originally the All India War Memorial Arch, was designed by Edwin Lutyens as a memorial to the Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in the First World War between 1914 and 1921 and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War.

Q8998.Art & CultureEasy

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, completed in 1888, is built in which architectural style?

  1. A.Victorian Gothic
  2. B.Baroque
  3. C.Dravidian
  4. D.Nagara
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Victorian Gothic

The station, built as Victoria Terminus and designed by Frederick William Stevens, is the finest Victorian Gothic Revival building in India, with pointed arches, a ribbed central dome, turrets, stained glass, gargoyles and a stone figure of Progress on the dome.

Q9000.Art & CultureAsked in: Delhi · 10 July 2021, Shift 1Easy

The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of which of the following king?

  1. A.King Edward VII
  2. B.King George I
  3. C.King William IV
  4. D.King George V
Show answer
Correct answer: D. King George V

The Gateway of India at Apollo Bunder in Mumbai was raised to mark the landing of George V and Queen Mary in December 1911, the visit on which the Delhi Durbar was held and the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was announced.