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.
Tipu Sultan was killed during which war and in which year?
Lord Wellesley, who wanted every major state inside his subsidiary alliance system, accused Tipu Sultan of corresponding with the French.
Read the full explanation →Which treaty brought the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end in 1784?
The Second Anglo-Mysore War, fought from 1780 to 1784, ended with the Treaty of Mangalore signed in 1784 between Tipu Sultan and the English East India Company on the basis of mutual restitution of conquered territory.
Read the full explanation →Which body became the national reinsurer of India after the general insurance subsidiaries were detached from it in 2000?
It was created under the General Insurance Business Nationalisation Act of 1972 as a holding company with four subsidiaries, namely National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance.
Read the full explanation →Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, what share of the sum insured does a farmer pay as premium for a kharif crop?
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, launched in 2016, fixes the farmer share of the premium at two per cent of the sum insured for kharif food and oilseed crops, with the rest of the actuarial premium shared by the central and state governments.
Read the full explanation →The Insurance Amendment Act of 2021 raised the ceiling on foreign direct investment in an Indian insurance company to
The Insurance Amendment Act of 2021 amended the Insurance Act of 1938 to raise the permissible foreign direct investment in an Indian insurance company to seventy-four per cent, subject to conditions designed to keep management and control in Indian hands.
Read the full explanation →Which organisation administers the Employees Pension Scheme of 1995 and is not regulated by the pension regulator?
It functions under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and administers three schemes under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1952: the Employees Provident Fund Scheme of 1952, the Employees Pension Scheme of 1995 and the Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme of 1976.
Read the full explanation →Which principle of insurance states that the insured can recover no more than the actual loss suffered, and does not apply to life insurance?
The principle of indemnity means a general insurance claim restores the insured to the position held before the loss but never pays more than the loss actually suffered, which is why a motor or fire claim is settled on the value of the damage.
Read the full explanation →The Atal Pension Yojana is open to subscribers of which age group?
The Atal Pension Yojana was launched in 2015 in place of the earlier Swavalamban scheme and is aimed at workers of the unorganised sector.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is correct about Tier I and Tier II accounts under the National Pension System?
Under the National Pension System a subscriber holds a Permanent Retirement Account Number and a Tier I account, which is the pension account proper and permits only restricted withdrawal before retirement, and may additionally open a Tier II account, which is a voluntary savings account from which money can be…
Read the full explanation →The National Pension System was made compulsory for central government employees joining service on or after
The National Pension System, a defined contribution arrangement, applies compulsorily to central government employees who joined service on or after 1 January 2004, with the armed forces excluded; employees recruited before that date remain under the older defined benefit pension.
Read the full explanation →The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority became a statutory body under an Act of which year?
The authority first worked as an interim body set up by a government resolution in October 2003, and it was given statutory status by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act of 2013, which came into force on 1 February 2014.
Read the full explanation →The Life Insurance Corporation of India was established in which year?
The Life Insurance Corporation of India came into being on 1 September 1956 under the Life Insurance Corporation Act, which nationalised life insurance in India and took over the business of about two hundred and forty-five insurers; its head office is at Mumbai.
Read the full explanation →The committee whose recommendations led to the opening of the Indian insurance sector and the creation of its regulator was headed by
The committee on insurance sector reforms was appointed in 1993 under R. N. Malhotra, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Read the full explanation →The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has its headquarters in which city?
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India was constituted under the Act of 1999, became a statutory body in April 2000 and has its head office at Hyderabad, having moved there from Delhi in its early years.
Read the full explanation →The Thal Ghat and the Bhor Ghat of the Western Ghats carry the routes from Mumbai to which two cities respectively?
The Thal Ghat, also called the Kasara Ghat, is the climb by which the road and railway from Mumbai reach Nashik and continue towards central India, while the Bhor Ghat is the climb by which the Mumbai to Pune road and railway cross the Sahyadri, passing Khandala and Lonavala.
Read the full explanation →Which hill station of Maharashtra does not permit motor vehicles and is reached by a narrow gauge hill railway?
Matheran, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, is an eco-sensitive hill station where motor vehicles are not allowed within the town; visitors walk, ride horses or use hand-pulled carts, and the Matheran Hill Railway, a narrow gauge line from Neral, is the classic way to reach it.
Read the full explanation →Which pass of Ladakh lay on the old caravan trade route from Leh to Yarkand in Central Asia?
The Karakoram Pass crosses the Karakoram range north of the Nubra valley and was the crucial crossing on the centuries-old caravan route that carried pashmina wool, silk and tea between Leh and Yarkand in Xinjiang.
Read the full explanation →The Lipulekh Pass, used on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route, lies in which district of Uttarakhand?
The Lipulekh Pass lies in the Pithoragarh district of the Kumaon division and has long been the traditional Indian route for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, as well as an old trade crossing into Tibet.
Read the full explanation →Which city served as the summer capital of British India and is linked by a World Heritage mountain railway?
Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh, was made the summer capital of British India in 1864, and the Government of India moved there from Calcutta and later Delhi every hot season; the narrow gauge Kalka to Shimla Railway that serves it was added to the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage site…
Read the full explanation →The Khardung La pass, which gives access to the Nubra valley, lies on which range?
Khardung La lies on the Ladakh range just north of Leh and carries the road from Leh into the Nubra valley and on towards the Siachen area, which makes it one of the most strategically used high passes in the country.
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