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.
Near which one of the following cities in India have large statues of Kushana rulers been discovered ?
At Mat, a village near Mathura, the Kushanas had a dynastic shrine (devakula) where life-size statues of their kings were found.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following pairs related to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals :
I. Goal 1 : End poverty in all forms everywhere
II. Goal 2 : Ensure healthy lives
III. Goal 3 : Ensure quality education
IV. Goal 4 : Achieve gender equality
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Only pair I is correct; pairs II, III and IV each give a goal the theme of the next goal.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following pairs with reference to the Constitution of India :
I. Part V : The Union
II. Part X : The Scheduled and Tribal Areas
III. Part XII : Relations between the Union and the States
IV. Part XIV : Amendment of the Constitution
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Pairs I and II are correct; pairs III and IV are wrong. Part V (Articles 52 to 151) deals with the Union: the President, the Vice-President, the Council of Ministers, Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
Read the full explanation →The Indian Railways have gone in for qualitative improvements since independence. Which of the following have taken place in recent years ?
1. Gauge conversion
2. Track electrification
3. Automatic signals
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Gauge conversion, electrification of tracks and automatic signalling have all been part of the modernisation of Indian Railways. Gauge conversion: under Project Unigauge, started in 1992, metre-gauge and narrow-gauge lines have been steadily converted to broad gauge (1,676 mm) so that trains can run through without transhipment.
Read the full explanation →Name the rebel who fought against the British in the battle of Chinhat in the course of the 1857 Revolt ?
Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah of Faizabad was among the rebel leaders who defeated the British force of Henry Lawrence at Chinhat near Lucknow on 30 June 1857.
Read the full explanation →The Nehru-Mahalanobis Strategy of Development was implemented for the first time by which one of the following Five-Year Plans?
The Second Plan (1956–61) was built on the model prepared by the statistician P. C. Mahalanobis, which gave priority to heavy and basic industries.
Read the full explanation →Fundamental right guaranteed under which one of the following Articles of the Constitution of India is available only to the citizens of India ?
The six freedoms of Article 19, such as speech and expression, assembly and movement, are guaranteed only to citizens of India.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is NOT a reason of decrease in biodiversity?
Sacred groves are patches of forest protected by local communities for religious reasons, so they conserve biodiversity instead of reducing it.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following clouds is a rain-bearing cloud?
The word nimbus means rain cloud: these dark, thick clouds bring steady rain or snow. Nimbus clouds form at low to middle heights and are so dense that sunlight hardly passes through them, which is why they look dark grey or black.
Read the full explanation →In India, rigid and stable elevated lands, denuded rocks and series of scarps are the features of which of the following?
The plateau is part of the ancient Gondwana landmass, so it is a rigid, stable block worn down by long erosion.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following is the author of the Hastyayurveda ?
The Hastyayurveda, an ancient Sanskrit treatise on the care and medicine of elephants, is traditionally ascribed to the sage Palakapya.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following European explorer conquered Mexico ?
This Spanish conquistador overthrew the Aztec Empire and brought Mexico under Spain between 1519 and 1521. Cortés landed on the Mexican coast in 1519, allied with peoples hostile to the Aztecs such as the Tlaxcalans, and reached the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, where the ruler Moctezuma II received him.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following pairs with reference to the Constitution of India :
I. Part IX A : The Municipalities
II. Part IX B : The Cooperative Societies
III. Part X : Relations between the Union and States
IV. Part XII : Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Pairs I, II and IV are correct; pair III is wrong because Part X deals with the Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements :
I. The Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi is the earliest Pallava temple hewn from solid rock.
II. The Vaikuntha Perumal temple at Kanchi is a rare Pallava temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
The Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi is a structural temple built of stone blocks, not a temple cut out of solid rock, so statement I is wrong.
Read the full explanation →'The Beijing Declaration' is concerned with which one of the following issues?
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following stated in the Constituent Assembly that on 26th January, 1950, India was going to enter a life of contradictions?
In his closing speech to the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar warned that on 26 January 1950 India was going to enter into a life of contradictions.
Read the full explanation →The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) was established in the year
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India was set up on 1 October 2016 under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following characteristics of a cloud type : 1. They are born through convection. 2. Only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning. 3. They are large cauliflower-shaped towers, often with 'anvil tops'. Identify the type of cloud on the basis of the given characteristics.
Cumulonimbus clouds form by strong convection, grow into huge cauliflower-like towers with flat anvil-shaped tops, and are the only clouds that bring hail, thunder and lightning.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following Chola kings encouraged the Sailendra ruler of Sri Vijaya to build a Buddhist Vihara in Negapatnam?
Rajaraja I allowed and encouraged the Sailendra king of Srivijaya, Sri Mara Vijayottungavarman, to build a Buddhist vihara at Nagapattinam on the Chola coast.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about the Indus Waters Treaty is/are correct ? 1. The term 'Eastern Rivers' means the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi taken together. 2. The term 'Western Rivers' means the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab taken together. Select the answer using the code given below :
The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 defines the Eastern Rivers as the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi, and the Western Rivers as the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.
Read the full explanation →