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 Sardar Sarovar Dam is built on which river?
The Sardar Sarovar Dam stands on the Narmada in Narmada district of Gujarat, is the largest irrigation and power project of the state and carries canals into Saurashtra and Kachchh; the Statue of Unity was built nearby at Kevadia.
Read the full explanation →The Sun Temple at Modhera in Gujarat was built by which dynasty?
The correct answer is B, the Solankis, also called the Chalukyas of Gujarat, who ruled from Anhilwad Patan and built the temple to Surya at Modhera with its stepped tank, assembly hall and sanctum aligned so that light falls within it.
Read the full explanation →Rani ki Vav, the step well inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014, is located at:
Rani ki Vav, the queen's step well, was built in the Solanki period on the bank of the Saraswati at Patan, is carved in seven descending storeys with hundreds of sculptures, and appears on the hundred rupee note.
Read the full explanation →India's first marine national park was established in which gulf?
The correct answer is A, the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat, where the Marine National Park was the first of its kind in India, protecting coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass, sponges and a rich bird life across a group of islands.
Read the full explanation →Gir National Park, the only natural home of the Asiatic lion, is located in which state?
Gir lies in the Junagadh region of the Saurashtra peninsula and is the last place where the Asiatic lion survives in the wild; the lion is the state animal of Gujarat.
Read the full explanation →The Statue of Unity, the tallest statue in the world, is a statue of which leader?
The statue stands 182 metres tall at Kevadia, now Ekta Nagar, near the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada, and it was unveiled on 31 October 2018, the leader's birth anniversary; the name recalls his work in integrating the princely states.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian state has the longest coastline?
Its coast runs for about 1,600 km, longer than that of any other state, because the Saurashtra peninsula and the Kachchh region give it two deep gulfs, the Gulf of Kachchh in the north west and the Gulf of Khambhat in the south east.
Read the full explanation →Which city is the capital of Gujarat?
It is a planned city laid out in numbered sectors on the bank of the Sabarmati and named after Mahatma Gandhi, and it took over as capital after the state was formed.
Read the full explanation →The state of Gujarat was formed on which date?
On that day the bilingual State of Bombay was divided under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960 into a Gujarati speaking Gujarat and a Marathi speaking Maharashtra, so both states share their formation day.
Read the full explanation →A geographical indication registered in India remains valid for how long before it must be renewed?
Under the Act of 1999 a registered geographical indication, and the entry of an authorised user, is valid for ten years and may be renewed for further periods of ten years without limit, so a GI can last for ever if renewal is applied for in time.
Read the full explanation →Muga silk, prized for its natural golden colour, is a geographical indication of which state?
Muga is reared on som and soalu trees in the Brahmaputra valley, and its thread has a natural golden sheen that grows brighter with washing; it is used for the mekhela chador and holds a GI in the name of Assam.
Read the full explanation →Madhubani painting, marked by double outlines and motifs that leave no empty space, is a folk art of which state?
Madhubani, also called Mithila painting, comes from the Mithila region of northern Bihar, where women painted the walls and floors of the marriage chamber with natural colours, gods, fish, bamboo and the sun and moon, filling every gap with pattern.
Read the full explanation →Channapatna, famous for its lacquered wooden toys coloured with vegetable dyes, is located in which state?
Channapatna, a town between Bengaluru and Mysuru, is called the toy town of India; its artisans turn soft ivory wood on a lathe and finish it with lac and vegetable colours, and the toys carry a GI.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following places is known for Chintzes cloth?
Masulipatnam, the port town of coastal Andhra Pradesh, was the great centre of the painted and block printed cotton that European traders bought as chintz, and the same town is still one of the two homes of kalamkari.
Read the full explanation →The Patola sari, a double ikat woven so that the design appears identical on both faces, is a handicraft of which place?
In Patola weaving the yarn of both the warp and the weft is tied and dyed before weaving, so the motif is built up from the threads themselves and looks the same from either side; Patan in north Gujarat is its historic centre and the craft carries a GI.
Read the full explanation →Bidriware, the metal craft in which silver wire is inlaid into a blackened zinc alloy, belongs to which state?
Bidriware takes its name from Bidar, a town in northern Karnataka, where craftspersons cast an alloy of zinc and copper, engrave it, inlay pure silver wire and then rub the surface with a special soil that turns the alloy deep black while the silver stays bright.
Read the full explanation →The Geographical Indications Registry of India is located in which city?
Every GI application in India is filed at the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai, which functions under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Read the full explanation →The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act was enacted in which year?
Parliament passed the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act in 1999 to meet India's obligation under the TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization, and the Act was brought into force on 15 September 2003.
Read the full explanation →Which was the first product in India to be registered as a geographical indication?
After the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 came into force on 15 September 2003, the tea of the Darjeeling hills was the first Indian good entered in the register, and its logo is still the best known Indian GI abroad.
Read the full explanation →The reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power station have been built with the cooperation of which country?
Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu uses pressurised water reactors of the Russian VVER type, supplied under an agreement signed with the Soviet Union in 1988 and carried forward by Russia.
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