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.
Avani Lekhara excels in which one of the following sports ?
Avani Lekhara is an Indian para-shooter from Jaipur, Rajasthan, who competes in rifle events in the SH1 class. A car accident in 2012 left her with a spinal cord injury, and she took up shooting a few years later.
Read the full explanation →What will be the correct sequence of cities on the bank of river Ganga if someone moves from west to east?
The Ganga flows from west to east across the northern plains, so the cities follow the order in which the river reaches them.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about the early phase of the National Movement in India : 1. Ferozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji and others formed the Bombay Presidency Association. 2. Surendranath Banerjee and his group planned an Indian National Conference at Calcutta. 3. Allan Octavian Hume decided to create an all-India body as a rival to the above organisations to give vent to the grievances of the poor and marginalised Indians. How many of the above statements is/are correct?
Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but statement 3 is not. Statement 1 is correct: the Bombay Presidency Association was founded in January 1885 by Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji and K. T. Telang, and its members hosted the first session of the Indian National Congress in Bombay that December.
Read the full explanation →Isobars of elements have same :
Isobars are atoms of different elements that have the same mass number but different atomic numbers. The mass number is the total of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, so isobars have the same number of nucleons arranged differently: more protons and fewer neutrons in one, the reverse in another.
Read the full explanation →The Chalcolithic Ahar Culture has been identified in which of the following river systems ?
The Ahar culture, also called the Banas culture, is a Chalcolithic (copper and stone age) culture of south-east Rajasthan, spread along the Banas river and its tributary the Berach, roughly between 3000 and 1500 BCE.
Read the full explanation →Three resistors, R1, R2 and R3, (R1 > R2 > R3), are connected to a battery of voltage V, such that the circuit generates maximum heat per unit time. Which one among the following is the correct circuit combination for this ?
Heat produced per unit time is the power, and with a fixed battery voltage the power is P = V²/R. So the circuit gives the most heat when its total resistance is the smallest, and the smallest possible resistance comes from joining all three resistors in parallel.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following cells do not contain nucleus? 1. Root hair cells 2. Red blood cells 3. Platelets 4. Monocytes Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Mature human red blood cells and platelets have no nucleus. Red blood cells lose their nucleus as they mature in the bone marrow; this gives their biconcave disc shape more room for haemoglobin to carry oxygen, but it also means they cannot divide or repair themselves and live only about…
Read the full explanation →The plant growth regulators are small, simple molecules of diverse chemical composition. They are
Plant growth regulators, or plant hormones, are small molecules that control growth even in tiny amounts, and each main group comes from a different chemical family.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following features were borrowed by the Constitution of India from the British Constitution? 1. Rule of Law 2. Law-making Procedure 3. Independence of Judiciary 4. Parliamentary System Select the correct answer using the code given below.
The Constitution of India borrowed the rule of law, the law-making procedure and the parliamentary system from the British Constitution, but took the independence of the judiciary from the US Constitution.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following nitrogen oxides has the highest oxidation state of nitrogen?
In dinitrogen pentoxide, nitrogen has an oxidation state of +5, the highest it can reach, because a nitrogen atom has five electrons in its outer shell.
Read the full explanation →Who designed the Bombay Secretariat in the 1870s?
Henry St. Clair Wilkins, an officer of the Royal Engineers, designed the Bombay Secretariat, completed in 1874 as part of the grand row of public buildings that rose along the Oval in Bombay after the old fort walls were pulled down in the 1860s. The building is in the Venetian…
Read the full explanation →Name the site that gives us valuable information about India's maritime links on the Coromandel coast.
Arikamedu, near Puducherry on the Coromandel coast, was a busy port from about the 2nd century BCE, and its remains show trade with the Roman world.
Read the full explanation →The Cash Reserve Ratio refers to
The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the part of a bank's net demand and time liabilities (mainly its deposits) that it must keep as cash balances with the Reserve Bank of India.
Read the full explanation →The National Disaster Management Authority functions under the Ministry of
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is the nodal ministry for disaster management in India.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is a type of igneous rock ?
Granite is an igneous rock, formed when molten magma cools and hardens. Because it cools slowly deep inside the earth's crust, its crystals grow large enough to be seen by the naked eye, so it is called an intrusive or plutonic igneous rock.
Read the full explanation →The biography of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, authored by Jahanara, is known as
Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan, wrote the Munis al-Arwah ("Confidant of Souls") in 1640 as a biography of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, the founder of the Chishti order in India.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following factors signify monopolistic competition ? 1. Differentiated products 2. Large number of buyers and sellers 3. Barriers to entry 4. Homogeneous products Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Monopolistic competition is a market with many buyers and sellers, each seller offering a product that is slightly different from the others.
Read the full explanation →Manav is planning to visit all UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Delhi. He will be visiting
Delhi has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and they are exactly these three. Humayun's Tomb was inscribed in 1993; built in the 1560s at the wish of his widow Bega Begum, it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent and a model for the Taj Mahal.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following concepts are considered as pillars of Human Development ? 1. Equity 2. Sustainability 3. Productivity 4. Security Select the correct answer using the code given below:
The idea of human development, put forward by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, rests on four pillars: equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following industries was most affected by the 'deindustrialisation' of India in the 19th century?
Handloom cotton weaving was India's largest industry, and it suffered most when British rule opened India to machine-made cloth. Before the 19th century, Indian muslins, calicoes and chintz from Bengal, Gujarat and the Coromandel coast were sold across the world.
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