Skip to content
GK24
Prime

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

Q1361.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.

Q1362.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.

Q1364.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.

Q1365.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.

Q1366.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.

Q1367.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.

Q1368.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.

Q1371.Science & TechnologyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKMedium

Chronologically arrange the following Indian-origin astronauts on the basis of their flying into space starting with the first: 1. Sunita Williams 2. Rakesh Sharma 3. Sirisha Bandla 4. Kalpana Chawla Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A.4-3-2-1
  2. B.2-4-1-3
  3. C.2-1-4-3
  4. D.1-4-3-2
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 2-4-1-3

Rakesh Sharma flew in 1984, Kalpana Chawla in 1997, Sunita Williams in 2006 and Sirisha Bandla in 2021. Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen in space on 3 April 1984, aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11, and told Indira Gandhi that India looked 'saare jahan se achha'.

Q1374.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKMedium

Through the Forty Second Amendment to the Constitution of India, which of the following was/were inserted into its Preamble? 1. 'Liberty of thought, expression and belief' was substituted by 'Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship'. 2. The expression 'Unity of the Nation' was substituted by 'Unity and Integrity of the Nation'. Select the correct 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: B. 2 only

The 42nd Amendment of 1976 changed 'unity of the Nation' to 'unity and integrity of the Nation', but it did not touch the words on liberty.

Q1375.Indian EconomyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2024, GKHard

The Rangarajan Committee methodology for determining the poverty line incorporated which of the following ? 1. A food component 2. A normative level of expenditure for essential non-food items 3. A behaviourally determined expenditure for other non-food items Select the answer using the code given below :

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

The Rangarajan Committee built its poverty line basket from all three parts named in the question. The expert group headed by C. Rangarajan was set up in 2012 and reported in 2014, to review the Tendulkar method.

Q1378.Indian PolityAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2018, GATEasy

The Superintendence, direction and control of elections in India is vested in

  1. A.The Supreme Court of India
  2. B.The Parliament of India
  3. C.The Election Commission of India
  4. D.The Chief Election Commissioner
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Election Commission of India

Article 324(1) vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission, as a body. Under Article 324 the Commission conducts elections to Parliament, the State legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President.

Q1379.Indian PolityAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2018, GATEasy

Article 352 of the Constitution of India contains provisions related to

  1. A.financial emergency
  2. B.failure of constitutional machinery in States
  3. C.suspension of the enforcement of rights conferred in Part III of the Constitution
  4. D.general emergency
Show answer
Correct answer: D. general emergency

Article 352 lets the President proclaim a national (general) emergency when the security of India or any part of it is threatened by war, external aggression or armed rebellion.