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UPSC GK Questions 2026

Static general knowledge is the larger part of every UPSC general studies paper. The notices name the same areas again and again: the history of India and the national movement, Indian and world geography, polity and the Constitution, the economy and social development, and general science with environment and ecology. The balance shifts from exam to exam. NDA puts about half of its General Knowledge part on Physics, Chemistry and General Science. CSE favours polity, modern history, environment and the economy. CAPF adds security and human rights, and CDS spreads its questions across polity, history, geography, the economy and school science.

GK24's GK notes are written topic by topic in English and Hindi, as short, fact-first chapters that are easy to revise. They cover Indian Polity, Indian History, Geography, Indian Economy, General Science, Environment and Ecology, Art and Culture, Computer, and the fact lists of awards, sports, books and days. A new chapter is added in each subject as the series grows. Each note carries practice questions, and those that have appeared in an exam say which exam and year. Start with Polity and modern history, then Geography, the Economy and Science. Read a note, take its topic quiz, and come back to it in your monthly revision.

UPSC GK Questions with Answers

Q3581.Science & TechnologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2019, GS Paper IHard

RNA interference (RNAi) technology has gained popularity in the last few years. Why?

1. It is used in developing gene silencing therapies.

2. It can be used in developing therapies for the treatment of cancer.

3. It can be used to develop hormone replacement therapies.

4. It can be used to produce crop plants that are resistant to viral pathogens.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

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

RNA interference switches particular genes off, and every use in statements 1, 2 and 4 depends on switching a gene off.

Q3582.Science & TechnologyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2022, GS Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements :

DNA Barcoding can be a tool to :

1. assess the age of a plant or animal.

2. distinguish among species that look alike.

3. identify undesirable animal or plant materials in processed foods.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

DNA barcoding tells us which species a sample belongs to, not how old the organism is.

Q3584.Awards & HonoursAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2020, GKEasy

Amitabh Bachchan was recently conferred with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Who among the following was the first recipient of the award?

  1. A.Prithviraj Kapoor
  2. B.Devika Rani
  3. C.Sohrab Modi
  4. D.Naushad
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Devika Rani

Devika Rani received the first Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for 1969, the year the Government of India instituted it to mark the centenary of the birth of Dadasaheb Phalke, maker of Raja Harishchandra (1913), India's first full-length feature film.

Q3585.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2020, GKHard

Which one of the following statements with regard to 'protective democracy' is not correct?

  1. A.It propounds that citizen participation is essential in democracies.
  2. B.Citizens must be able to protect themselves from governmental encroachments.
  3. C.It is compatible with laissez-faire capitalism.
  4. D.Political equality is understood in formal terms as equal voting rights.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. It propounds that citizen participation is essential in democracies.

Protective democracy does not hold that active citizen participation is essential; it values democracy only as a shield that lets citizens protect themselves from those who govern them.

Q3588.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2022, GKMedium

According to the Constitution of India, which one of the following statements is not correct ?

  1. A.The executive powers of the Union shall be vested in the President of India.
  2. B.Parliament, by law, can confer functions on authorities other than the President of India.
  3. C.The President of India is elected by an electoral college consisting of all Members of Parliament and all Members of all State Legislatures.
  4. D.A person, having held office as the President, shall be eligible for election to that office for the second term.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The President of India is elected by an electoral college consisting of all Members of Parliament and all Members of all State Legislatures.

Under Article 54, the President is elected only by the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies, so a college of all members of Parliament and all State Legislatures is wrong.

Q3589.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKMedium

The Bengal Famine of 1769-70 was worsened by

  1. A.Locust attacks
  2. B.Rat infestation
  3. C.High levels of taxation
  4. D.Smallpox epidemic
Show answer
Correct answer: C. High levels of taxation

The great Bengal famine of 1769–70 began with failed rains, but the East India Company's harsh revenue demand turned a crop failure into a catastrophe.

Q3590.Awards & HonoursAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2023, GKMedium

Consider the following statements and identify the actress : She is a renowned film actress, director and producer, and an accomplished Indian classical dancer. She was conferred the Padma Shri in 1992 and has served as the Head of Central Board for Film Certification from 1998 to 2001. In recognition to her exemplary lifetime contribution to Indian Cinema, she was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

  1. A.Vyjayanthimala
  2. B.Waheeda Rehman
  3. C.Mala Sinha
  4. D.Asha Parekh
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Asha Parekh

Asha Parekh received the Padma Shri in 1992, chaired the Central Board of Film Certification from 1998 to 2001 as its first woman head, and was given the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2020.

Q3591.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2023, GKMedium

Consider the following statements about clouds : 1. Two major forms of clouds are stratiform and cumuliform. 2. According to the altitude, clouds are classified as high clouds, middle clouds and low clouds. 3. Stratus, nimbostratus and stratocumulus are types of high clouds. 4. Clouds having nimbo attached to their name produce precipitation. Which of the statements given above are correct ?

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

Only statement 3 is wrong, because stratus, nimbostratus and stratocumulus are low clouds, not high clouds. Statement 1 is correct: clouds take two basic forms, layered stratiform sheets formed by gentle lifting of air and heaped cumuliform clouds formed by rising convection currents.

Q3592.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2024, GKMedium

Consider the following statements about the Ancient Hindu metal images in India : 1. The Chola period is well known for the aesthetic and technical finesse of its metal sculpture. 2. The iconography and style of Chola metal images were similar to those of their stone counterparts. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

  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

Chola bronzes are celebrated for their beauty and casting skill, and they follow the same iconographic rules and style as the stone sculpture of the period.

Q3596.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKEasy

'Altitude sickness' is caused at high altitude due to

  1. A.high partial pressure of oxygen
  2. B.low partial pressure of oxygen
  3. C.low level of haemoglobin
  4. D.high partial pressure of carbon dioxide
Show answer
Correct answer: B. low partial pressure of oxygen

As one climbs, air pressure falls, so each breath delivers oxygen at a lower partial pressure and less of it passes from the lungs into the blood.

Q3597.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKEasy

Which one of the following is not a characteristic of a compound?

  1. A.Composition is variable.
  2. B.All particles of compound are of only one type.
  3. C.Particles of compound have two or more elements.
  4. D.Its constituents cannot be separated by simple physical methods.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Composition is variable.

A compound always has a fixed composition by mass, so a variable composition is a property of mixtures, not compounds.

Q3598.Books & AuthorsAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

Which European ruler had observed, "Bear in mind that the commerce of India is the commerce of the world ... he who can exclusively command it is the dictator of Europe"?

  1. A.Queen Victoria
  2. B.Peter the Great of Russia
  3. C.Napoleon Bonaparte
  4. D.Gustav II Adolf
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Peter the Great of Russia

The remark that the commerce of India is the commerce of the world, and that whoever commands it exclusively is the dictator of Europe, is attributed to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725.

Q3600.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2020, GKMedium

Which one of the following statements in relation to Panchayats is not correct?

  1. A.Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the composition of Panchayats.
  2. B.Panchayat area means the territorial area of a Panchayat.
  3. C.Gram Sabha includes all persons in the electoral rolls of village within a Panchayat.
  4. D.Reservation of seats for SCs and STs has nothing to do with proportion of their population.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Reservation of seats for SCs and STs has nothing to do with proportion of their population.

Under Article 243D, seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in every Panchayat are reserved in proportion to their share of the population of that Panchayat area, so the statement that reservation has nothing to do with population is wrong.

GK Questions for sub-exams