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 of the following districts of Puducherry lies within the State of Kerala?
Puducherry is made up of four non-contiguous districts, and Mahe is the one on the Malabar coast surrounded by Kerala.
Read the full explanation →Which is the capital of Lakshadweep, the smallest Union Territory of India by area?
Kavaratti is the capital and administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep, which is India’s smallest Union Territory by area and its only group of coral atolls.
Read the full explanation →The Ten Degree Channel separates which two groups of islands?
The Ten Degree Channel runs roughly along the tenth parallel of north latitude, between Little Andaman to its north and Car Nicobar to its south, and it is a busy shipping lane.
Read the full explanation →Which is the only active volcano in India?
Barren Island, in the Andaman Sea about one hundred and forty kilometres north-east of the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is the only active volcano in India and in South Asia, and it has erupted several times in recent decades.
Read the full explanation →Which Article of the Constitution provides that every Union Territory shall be administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him?
It lays down the basic rule that a Union Territory is administered by the President acting through an Administrator appointed by him with such designation as the President may specify, which is why some Administrators are styled Lieutenant Governor.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is the folk theatre form of the Kashmir valley?
Bhand Pather is the traditional satirical folk theatre of the Kashmir valley, performed by the Bhand community with music on the surnai and the dhol, and it mixes acting, dance and sharp social comment.
Read the full explanation →The Siachen glacier, on which Operation Meghdoot was launched in 1984, lies in which valley of Ladakh?
The Siachen glacier lies at the head of the Nubra valley in the eastern Karakoram and is the longest glacier of that range; the Nubra river issues from it and joins the Shyok, which joins the Indus.
Read the full explanation →Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India on
Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of the princely State, signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947 after tribal raiders backed from across the border entered the State, and Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar the next day.
Read the full explanation →India’s first Dark Sky Reserve, notified in 2022, is at which place in Ladakh?
Hanle in eastern Ladakh, within the Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, already hosts the Indian Astronomical Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, and the surrounding area was notified in 2022 as India’s first Dark Sky Reserve to keep artificial light from spoiling the night sky for astronomy and for…
Read the full explanation →Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which three rivers were allotted to Pakistan as the western rivers?
The treaty signed in 1960 with the World Bank as a party gave the three western rivers to Pakistan and the three eastern rivers, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej, to India for unrestricted use.
Read the full explanation →The Shalimar Bagh at Srinagar was laid out by which Mughal ruler?
Jahangir laid out the Shalimar Bagh on the shore of the Dal lake in 1619 for Nur Jahan, and it is the largest of the Mughal gardens of Srinagar, built on terraces with a central water channel.
Read the full explanation →Rajatarangini, the chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, was written by
Kalhana wrote the Rajatarangini in Sanskrit verse in the twelfth century as a history of the rulers of Kashmir from legendary times to his own day, and it is regarded as the earliest connected historical narrative produced in India; later writers continued it.
Read the full explanation →Kashmir saffron, which received a Geographical Indication tag in 2020, is grown chiefly around which town?
Pampore in Pulwama district, on the karewa uplands beside the Jhelum, produces most of Kashmir’s saffron and is called the saffron town of India; the crop received its Geographical Indication tag in 2020 for its high crocin content and deep colour.
Read the full explanation →Which pass on the Srinagar–Leh highway connects the Kashmir valley with Ladakh?
Zoji La lies on the Srinagar–Leh highway between Sonamarg and Drass and is the gateway from the Kashmir valley to Ladakh; the Zojila tunnel is being built beneath it to keep the road open through winter.
Read the full explanation →Dachigam National Park near Srinagar is best known for the conservation of which animal?
Dachigam, which lies just east of Srinagar and whose name means ten villages, is the last stronghold of the Hangul, the only red deer found in India.
Read the full explanation →Wular lake, the largest freshwater lake in India, is fed by which river?
Wular lake lies in Bandipora district of the Kashmir valley and is fed and drained by the Jhelum, which rises at Verinag and is known locally as the Vyeth; the lake acts as a natural flood basin for the river and is a Ramsar site.
Read the full explanation →Which of the two Union Territories created in 2019 does NOT have a Legislative Assembly?
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 gave the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir a Legislative Assembly but made Ladakh a Union Territory without a legislature, administered by a Lieutenant Governor.
Read the full explanation →The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 came into force on which date?
The Act was passed by Parliament in August 2019 but the appointed day on which the former State ceased to exist and the two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and of Ladakh came into being was 31 October 2019.
Read the full explanation →Peer-to-peer lending platforms in India are registered with the Reserve Bank of India under which category?
A peer-to-peer lending platform, which matches individual lenders with individual borrowers, must be registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company — Peer to Peer Lending Platform under master directions the Reserve Bank issued in 2017; it acts only as an intermediary and may not lend on its own book or give…
Read the full explanation →The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, set up in 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, is located at
The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub was set up in 2020 at Bengaluru as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank to build products that deepen financial inclusion, and the Unified Lending Interface, a common platform through which lenders can draw authenticated data for credit appraisal, grew out of its…
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