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.
The word robot was first used in a play written by whom?
The Czech writer Karel Capek used the word in his play R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots, written in 1920, taking it from the Czech word robota, which means forced labour.
Read the full explanation →A technology for the application of mechanical, electronics, and computer-based systems to control and operate the systems is called.
Automation is the technology in which mechanical parts, electronics and computer based control are put together so that a process is controlled and operated with little human help, which is exactly the description in the question.
Read the full explanation →Which gap in the Western Ghats forms the main break between Kerala and Tamil Nadu?
It is the broad low break in the Western Ghats, about thirty kilometres wide, through which road and rail run between Kerala and Tamil Nadu and through which the summer winds blow inland, which is why the rainfall pattern on either side of it differs.
Read the full explanation →The state bird of Kerala is
The great hornbill, a large forest bird of the Western Ghats with a heavy yellow bill and a casque above it, is the state bird of Kerala, and the state animal is the Indian elephant, the state flower the golden shower called kanikonna and the state tree the coconut palm.
Read the full explanation →Kerala is the leading producer in India of which of the following?
Kerala grows most of the natural rubber produced in India, with the Kottayam region at its centre, and the Rubber Board of India works from Kottayam.
Read the full explanation →Vasco da Gama first landed on the Indian coast in 1498 at which place?
Vasco da Gama reached Kappad on the Malabar coast in 1498, having sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, and was received by the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut; this was the first sea route opened from Europe to India.
Read the full explanation →The Kerala High Court has its seat at which place?
The Kerala High Court sits at Ernakulam and its jurisdiction covers both the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep, which has no high court of its own.
Read the full explanation →Onam, the state festival of Kerala, is kept chiefly as which kind of festival?
Onam falls in the Malayalam month of Chingam, is kept over ten days with the chief day called Thiruvonam, and marks the harvest along with the remembered visit of the king Mahabali, with flower carpets, the sadya meal, boat races and the Pulikali dance.
Read the full explanation →Silent Valley National Park, saved from a hydroelectric project after a public campaign, lies in which district of Kerala?
Silent Valley lies in the Palakkad district on the Kunthipuzha river, a tributary of the Bharathappuzha, and the dam proposed on that river was given up after one of the best known conservation campaigns in India, after which the valley was made a national park.
Read the full explanation →Anamudi, the highest peak of India south of the Himalaya, is located in which national park?
Anamudi, about 2,695 metres high, stands in Eravikulam National Park in the Idukki district of Kerala, and the same park holds the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr, the mountain goat of the Western Ghats.
Read the full explanation →Vembanad, the lake crossed at Alappuzha, holds which distinction?
Vembanad is the greatest of the Kerala backwaters, a brackish lagoon that runs behind the coast for a long stretch and is crossed at Alappuzha, the town called the Venice of the East, where the Nehru Trophy Boat Race is rowed on its Punnamada part.
Read the full explanation →Which is the longest river of Kerala?
The Periyar rises in the Western Ghats and flows west to the Arabian Sea, and it carries both the Idukki arch dam and the Mullaperiyar dam, the second of which is worked by Tamil Nadu under an old lease.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Chief Minister of Kerala?
He became the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957, after the first assembly election held in the new state, and his ministry is remembered for its land reform and education bills.
Read the full explanation →The state of Kerala was formed on which date?
Kerala came into being on that day under the States Reorganisation Act, which joined Travancore and Cochin with the Malabar district of the Madras State and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara, so that the Malayalam speaking areas formed one state.
Read the full explanation →The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, born of the Bretton Woods conference, both have their headquarters in which city?
Both institutions were planned at the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 in the United States and both work from Washington DC, which is why they are called the Bretton Woods twins; the IMF looks after exchange stability and balance of payments while the World Bank lends for development.
Read the full explanation →The Contingent Reserve Arrangement of the BRICS countries is a pool of what size?
The Contingent Reserve Arrangement was agreed at the Fortaleza summit of 2014 as a pool of 100 billion dollars on which a member facing short term pressure on its balance of payments may draw, so that it works for the BRICS group somewhat as the International Monetary Fund does for…
Read the full explanation →Who was the first president of the New Development Bank?
The first presidency of the New Development Bank went to India, and K. V. Kamath, formerly of ICICI Bank, took charge when the bank began work in 2015, the presidency afterwards rotating among the member countries.
Read the full explanation →At which BRICS summit was the decision to create the New Development Bank taken?
The sixth BRICS summit was held at Fortaleza in July 2014, and the agreement establishing the New Development Bank was signed there, along with the treaty for the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.
Read the full explanation →The New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS countries, has its headquarters in which city?
The New Development Bank works from Shanghai in China, a decision taken when the bank was being set up, in return for which the first regional centre was given to another member.
Read the full explanation →The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank started its operations in which year?
The bank opened for business in January 2016 at Beijing, after its articles of agreement had been signed and ratified by the founding members.
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