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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

Q1163.Summits & ConferencesMedium

What is the theme of the 13th ADMM-Plus addressed by the Raksha Mantri?

  1. A.Shared Seas, Shared Future
  2. B.Youth, Peace and Security
  3. C.Navigating Our Future, Together
  4. D.Peace Through Partnership
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Navigating Our Future, Together

This was the theme of the thirteenth ADMM-Plus, and the Defence Minister said it sits well with India’s foreign and defence policy thinking as well as the civilisational sentiment ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah’, the wish that all beings be happy.

Q1164.Summits & ConferencesEasy

In which city was the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) held?

  1. A.Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  2. B.Cebu, Philippines
  3. C.Jakarta, Indonesia
  4. D.Hanoi, Vietnam
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Cebu, Philippines

The thirteenth edition of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus was hosted at Cebu in the Philippines, and Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh addressed it there on 29 October 2026, speaking on collective regional security, counter-terrorism and maritime cooperation.

Q1165.Government SchemesMedium

Under the New Amnesty Scheme, 2025, how are damages treated when an ad-hoc assessment is settled?

  1. A.Damages are charged in full
  2. B.No damages are levied
  3. C.Damages are charged at half the assessed rate
  4. D.Damages are converted into an equal instalment plan
Show answer
Correct answer: B. No damages are levied

Where the Corporation had raised a demand on an ad-hoc or estimated basis, the New Amnesty Scheme, 2025 allows the employer to close the matter by paying the contribution that was genuinely owed together with the interest on it, and the claim to damages is given up altogether.

Q1169.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKMedium

Statement I : King Ashoka abolished capital punishment and disbanded his army.

Statement II : After Kalinga War, Ashoka was remorseful and became a Buddhist.

  1. A.Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I
  2. B.Both the statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I
  3. C.Statement I is true but Statement II is false
  4. D.Statement I is false but Statement II is true
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Statement I is false but Statement II is true

Ashoka turned to Buddhism after the Kalinga war, but he neither abolished the death penalty nor disbanded his army. The Kalinga war, fought around 261 BCE in the eighth year of his reign, left over a lakh dead, and in Rock Edict XIII Ashoka records his deep remorse.

Q1171.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKMedium

Which of the following are the functions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)? 1. Inquiry at its own initiative on the violation of human rights 2. Inquiry on a petition presented to it by a victim 3. Visit to jails to study the condition of the inmates 4. Undertaking and promoting research in the field of human rights Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1 and 2 only
  2. B.2, 3 and 4 only
  3. C.1, 3 and 4 only
  4. D.1, 2, 3 and 4
Show answer
Correct answer: D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 gives the NHRC every one of these four functions. The NHRC is a statutory body, not a constitutional one, set up on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

Q1173.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2020, GKMedium

The Hunter Commission (1882) appointed to survey the state of education in India

  1. A.deprecated University education
  2. B.overruled the Despatch of 1854
  3. C.endorsed the Despatch of 1854 with greater emphasis on primary education
  4. D.criticized the grants-in-aid system of schooling
Show answer
Correct answer: C. endorsed the Despatch of 1854 with greater emphasis on primary education

The commission upheld Wood's Despatch but asked the state to give special care to the spread of primary education. The Indian Education Commission was appointed in 1882 by Lord Ripon under the chairmanship of Sir William Wilson Hunter, to review how far the Despatch of 1854 had been carried out.

Q1174.Environment & EcologyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKEasy

The 'Ramsar Convention' relates to which one of the following areas ?

  1. A.Wetland preservation
  2. B.Promote afforestation
  3. C.Action plan on climate change
  4. D.Combat desertification
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Wetland preservation

The Ramsar Convention is the international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. It was signed on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar, a town in Iran on the Caspian Sea, and came into force in 1975.

Q1176.Environment & EcologyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2023, GKMedium

A new species of pit-viper was discovered in 2019 and named after the State in which it was found. Identify the State from among the following :

  1. A.Kerala
  2. B.Arunachal Pradesh
  3. C.Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  4. D.Assam
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Arunachal Pradesh

The species was named Trimeresurus arunachalensis, the Arunachal pit viper, after the state where it was found. Pit vipers are venomous snakes with a heat-sensing pit between each eye and nostril, which lets them detect warm-blooded prey in the dark.

Q1177.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKHard

As per the State List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, the States have jurisdiction over agricultural land in connection with which of the following subjects? 1. Taxes on agricultural income 2. Duties in respect of succession of agricultural land 3. Estate duty in respect of agricultural land Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1 and 2 only
  2. B.2 and 3 only
  3. C.1 and 3 only
  4. D.1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Correct answer: D. 1, 2 and 3

All three are State List subjects: taxes on agricultural income, duties on succession to agricultural land and estate duty on agricultural land.

Q1178.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2025, GKMedium

Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. First Law Commission recommended Indian Penal Code, 1860. 2. Indian Penal Code, 1860 has been completely replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Select the answer using the code given below :

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Both 1 and 2

The Indian Penal Code was drafted on the recommendation of the First Law Commission, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 repealed and replaced it.

Q1179.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKHard

Statement I : The Zamindars were an exploitative class in Mughal India.

Statement II : The Zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in a large number of agrarian uprisings in North India in the seventeenth century.

  1. A.Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I
  2. B.Both the statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I
  3. C.Statement I is true but Statement II is false
  4. D.Statement I is false but Statement II is true
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Both the statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I

The zamindars did exploit the peasants, and yet peasants often backed them against the Mughal state. Zamindars held rights over land and collected revenue on behalf of the state, keeping a share for themselves.

Q1180.Static GKAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKMedium

India became a member of which one of the following in 2016?

  1. A.Non-Proliferation Treaty
  2. B.Missile Technology Control Regime
  3. C.Nuclear Suppliers Group
  4. D.Wassenaar Arrangement
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Missile Technology Control Regime

India joined the MTCR as its 35th member on 27 June 2016. The MTCR was set up in 1987 by the G7 countries as an informal group that limits the spread of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles able to carry weapons of mass destruction.