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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

Q9381.Indian PolityEasy

Who was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, often called the Father of the Lok Sabha?

  1. A.Sachchidananda Sinha
  2. B.G. V. Mavalankar
  3. C.M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar
  4. D.Hukam Singh
Show answer
Correct answer: B. G. V. Mavalankar

Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar was the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly when it sat as a legislature and then became the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 1952, which is why he is remembered as the Father of the Lok Sabha; many of the conventions of the chair were laid…

Q9382.Indian PolityHard

Under which Schedule of the Constitution does the Speaker decide questions of disqualification of members on the ground of defection?

  1. A.Eighth Schedule
  2. B.Ninth Schedule
  3. C.Tenth Schedule
  4. D.Twelfth Schedule
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Tenth Schedule

The Tenth Schedule, inserted by the Fifty-second Amendment Act of 1985, carries the anti-defection provisions, and Paragraph 6 of that Schedule says that a question of disqualification on the ground of defection shall be decided by the Chairman or the Speaker of the House concerned, whose decision is final.

Q9383.Indian PolityMedium

Which of the following statements about the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee is correct?

  1. A.The chairperson is elected by the members of the committee
  2. B.The chairperson is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  3. C.The chairperson is nominated by the Prime Minister
  4. D.The Deputy Speaker is the ex officio chairperson
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The chairperson is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha

The chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from among the Lok Sabha members of the committee, and since 1967 the settled convention has been to appoint a member belonging to the Opposition, which strengthens the committee as an instrument of accountability.

Q9386.Indian PolityMedium

What is the total membership of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament?

  1. A.15 members, all from the Lok Sabha
  2. B.22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha
  3. C.30 members, all from the Lok Sabha
  4. D.31 members, 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha

The Public Accounts Committee has twenty-two members, fifteen elected by the Lok Sabha and seven by the Rajya Sabha, each by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, for a term of one year.

Q9387.Indian PolityEasy

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha exercises a vote in which situation?

  1. A.In the first instance on every question put to the House
  2. B.Only a casting vote when the votes are equally divided
  3. C.Only on Money Bills
  4. D.The Speaker never votes in the House under any circumstance
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Only a casting vote when the votes are equally divided

Article 100(1) provides that the Speaker or the person acting as Speaker shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.

Q9388.Indian PolityMedium

What happens to the office of the Speaker when the Lok Sabha is dissolved?

  1. A.The Speaker vacates office on the day of dissolution
  2. B.The Speaker continues in office until immediately before the first meeting of the next Lok Sabha
  3. C.The President appoints a caretaker Speaker for the interval
  4. D.The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha takes over the duties of the Speaker
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Speaker continues in office until immediately before the first meeting of the next Lok Sabha

The proviso to Article 94 states that the Speaker shall not vacate office on the dissolution of the House of the People but shall continue to hold it until immediately before the first meeting of the next Lok Sabha.

Q9389.Indian PolityMedium

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha can be removed from office by a resolution of the House passed by which majority?

  1. A.A simple majority of members present and voting
  2. B.A majority of all the then members of the House
  3. C.A two-thirds majority of members present and voting
  4. D.A two-thirds majority of the total membership of the House
Show answer
Correct answer: B. A majority of all the then members of the House

Article 94(c) says the Speaker or Deputy Speaker may be removed from office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House, and the proviso requires fourteen days notice of the intention to move such a resolution.

Q9390.Indian PolityEasy

Under which Article of the Constitution does the Lok Sabha choose a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members?

  1. A.Article 89
  2. B.Article 93
  3. C.Article 97
  4. D.Article 100
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Article 93

Article 93 of the Constitution provides that the House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and that whenever either office becomes vacant the House shall choose another member to fill it.

Q9399.Indian HistoryMedium

The First Anglo-Maratha War ended with which treaty, and how long did the peace it brought last?

  1. A.Treaty of Purandhar, about five years
  2. B.Treaty of Surat, about ten years
  3. C.Treaty of Salbai, about twenty years
  4. D.Treaty of Bassein, about thirty years
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Treaty of Salbai, about twenty years

Signed in 1782 during the governor-generalship of Warren Hastings, the Treaty of Salbai restored to each side the territory held before the war, recognised Madhavrao II as Peshwa and gave the Company and the Marathas roughly twenty years of peace, until the Treaty of Bassein upset the balance in 1802.

Q9400.Indian HistoryMedium

The Treaty of Bassein of 1802, which led to the Second Anglo-Maratha War, was signed by the British with

  1. A.Mahadji Scindia
  2. B.Peshwa Baji Rao II
  3. C.Yashwantrao Holkar
  4. D.Raghuji Bhonsle
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Correct answer: B. Peshwa Baji Rao II

Defeated by Yashwantrao Holkar at Poona, the Peshwa fled to British protection and signed the Treaty of Bassein on 31 December 1802, accepting a subsidiary alliance under which a British force was stationed in his territory and his foreign relations passed to the Company.