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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

Q10701.Indian HistoryAsked in: Uttar Pradesh · 12 June 2022Hard

The first Interim National Government was announced on

  1. A.25th August 1946
  2. B.24th August 1946
  3. C.23rd August 1946
  4. D.22nd August 1946
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 24th August 1946

The Viceroy announced the formation of the interim national government on 24 August 1946, and the new Executive Council took office on 2 September 1946 with Jawaharlal Nehru as its Vice-President, which made him in effect the head of government.

Q10703.Indian HistoryAsked in: Delhi · 15 Oct 2018, Shift 3Easy

Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, A.V. Alexander are related to which of the following?

  1. A.Wavell plan
  2. B.Mount Beaton plan
  3. C.Cabinet mission plan
  4. D.Cripps mission
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Cabinet mission plan

These three were the members of the Cabinet Mission that reached Delhi on 24 March 1946: Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, who headed it, Sir Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander.

Q10705.Indian EconomyMedium

Swachh Survekshan, the annual survey that ranks the cleanliness of Indian cities, is conducted by which ministry?

  1. A.Ministry of Jal Shakti
  2. B.Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  3. C.Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
  4. D.NITI Aayog
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

Swachh Survekshan has been conducted since 2016 as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, and it ranks cities on waste collection and processing, public and community toilets and citizen feedback.

Q10706.Indian EconomyEasy

What does AMRUT stand for?

  1. A.Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
  2. B.Accelerated Mission for Rural and Urban Transport
  3. C.Atal Mission for Rural Water and Urban Toilets
  4. D.Augmented Mission for Renewal of Urban Townships
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

Launched on 25 June 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, AMRUT funds water supply, sewerage and septage management, storm water drains, urban transport and green spaces in selected cities, and AMRUT 2.0 followed on 1 October 2021 with an emphasis on recycled water and the rejuvenation of…

Q10707.Indian EconomyMedium

Which earlier scheme was restructured into the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin?

  1. A.Indira Awaas Yojana
  2. B.Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan
  3. C.Rajiv Awas Yojana
  4. D.Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Indira Awaas Yojana

The old rural housing scheme was restructured as PMAY-Gramin with effect from 20 November 2016, with beneficiaries now identified from the deprivation data of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 and verified by the gram sabha instead of being chosen from the earlier below poverty line lists.

Q10708.Indian EconomyEasy

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban is implemented by which ministry?

  1. A.Ministry of Jal Shakti
  2. B.Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  3. C.Ministry of Panchayati Raj
  4. D.Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

The urban half of the mission, including the construction of community and public toilets, solid waste management and the Swachh Survekshan ranking of cities, is with that ministry, and its second phase, SBM-Urban 2.0, was launched on 1 October 2021 for garbage free cities.

Q10709.Indian EconomyMedium

The Jal Jeevan Mission is implemented by which ministry?

  1. A.Ministry of Rural Development
  2. B.Ministry of Jal Shakti
  3. C.Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  4. D.Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ministry of Jal Shakti

The mission is run by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in that ministry, which was itself created in 2019 by merging the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation with drinking water and sanitation.

Q10713.Indian EconomyMedium

Rural India was declared open defecation free under the Swachh Bharat Mission on which date?

  1. A.2 October 2018
  2. B.2 October 2019
  3. C.1 October 2021
  4. D.15 August 2019
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 2 October 2019

The declaration was timed for the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, exactly five years after the mission was launched, and the second phase then began with the goal of ODF Plus villages that sustain the status and manage solid and liquid waste.

Q10714.Indian EconomyEasy

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on which date?

  1. A.2 October 2014
  2. B.15 August 2014
  3. C.25 June 2015
  4. D.2 October 2019
Show answer
Correct answer: A. 2 October 2014

The mission was launched on the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, with the target of an open defecation free India by 2 October 2019, his 150th birth anniversary, and its logo is a pair of spectacles recalling him.

Q10716.Environment & EcologyHard

The core area of a tiger reserve is notified as a critical tiger habitat under which Act?

  1. A.The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
  2. B.The Indian Forest Act, 1927
  3. C.The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
  4. D.The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

Section 38V of that Act, inserted in 2006, requires the State government to notify a tiger reserve on the recommendation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, with a core or critical tiger habitat to be kept inviolate and a buffer area in which coexistence is allowed, and to prepare a…