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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

Q4981.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2019, Paper IMedium

Why did the early nationalists oppose the Council Act of 1892?

  1. A.The number of members of the Imperial Legislative Council was increased
  2. B.The number of members of Provincial Councils was increased
  3. C.The Councils were given the right to discuss the annual budgets
  4. D.The Act did not give the Indians control over the public funds
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The Act did not give the Indians control over the public funds

The councils could discuss the budget but could not vote on it or amend it. The Indian Councils Act, 1892 raised the number of additional members in the Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils and introduced an indirect, nominated form of election through bodies such as municipalities, district boards and universities.

Q4982.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2020, Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements about sulh-i kul :

1. It means 'absolute peace'

2. It provided for freedom of expression to all religions and schools of thought

3. The ideal of sulh-i kul was implemented through state policies

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

Sulh-i kul, Akbar's ideal of absolute peace, gave every faith freedom of expression and was put into practice through state policy.

Q4983.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2021, Paper IMedium

Which one of the following powers has not been conferred on the President of India?

  1. A.Appointment of Prime Minister
  2. B.To decide at his/her discretion any question regarding disqualification of a Member of the Parliament
  3. C.To grant pardon to a person who has been punished by a court-martial
  4. D.To remove a Judge of the High Court
Show answer
Correct answer: B. To decide at his/her discretion any question regarding disqualification of a Member of the Parliament

Under Article 103 the President decides a question of disqualification of an MP, but must obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and act according to it, so there is no discretion.

Q4984.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2023, Paper IMedium

Which among the following statements regarding the powers of the High Courts under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is not correct?

  1. A.It can issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, and prohibition.
  2. B.Writs can be issued to enforce any rights conferred by Part-III and for any other purpose.
  3. C.This power can derogate the power conferred on the Supreme Court under Article 32(2).
  4. D.Writ can be issued to any authority under its jurisdiction.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. This power can derogate the power conferred on the Supreme Court under Article 32(2).

Article 226(4) says expressly that the High Court's writ power shall not be in derogation of the power conferred on the Supreme Court by Article 32(2).

Q4986.Static GKAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2018, Paper IEasy

Which one of the following pairs of countries with new names and old names is correctly matched?

New name : Old name

  1. A.Kingdom of eSwatini : Swaziland
  2. B.Malawi : Rhodesia
  3. C.Botswana : Nyasaland
  4. D.Zimbabwe : Ceylon
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Kingdom of eSwatini : Swaziland

In April 2018 King Mswati III renamed Swaziland as the Kingdom of eSwatini, meaning land of the Swazis. eSwatini is a small landlocked kingdom in southern Africa, bordered by South Africa and Mozambique.

Q4987.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2019, Paper IMedium

Which of the following statements about Prarthana Samaj are correct ?

1. Its aim was to reform the Hindu society

2. It was based in Maharashtra

3. It believed in monotheism

4. It had greatly influenced the Brahmo Samaj

Select the correct 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 4
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1,2 and 3

The Prarthana Samaj was a monotheistic Hindu reform body of Maharashtra, but it was influenced by the Brahmo Samaj, not the other way round.

Q4988.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2020, Paper IEasy

Transition zone of varied natural vegetation occupying the boundary between two adjacent and differing plant communities is known as

  1. A.ecological succession
  2. B.ecotone
  3. C.ecological niche
  4. D.climax
Show answer
Correct answer: B. ecotone

An ecotone is the zone of transition where two different communities or ecosystems meet and blend. Examples of ecotones are the belt between forest and grassland, the mangrove zone between land and sea, an estuary where river water meets the ocean, and the margin between a lake and its shore.

Q4989.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2021, Paper IEasy

Consider the following quote :

"On the 26th January, 1950, we are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality."

To whom among the following leaders is this quote attributed?

  1. A.Mahatma Gandhi
  2. B.Sarojini Naidu
  3. C.B. R. Ambedkar
  4. D.Somnath Lahiri
Show answer
Correct answer: C. B. R. Ambedkar

He spoke these words in his final speech to the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949. Dr B. R. Ambedkar, chairman of the Drafting Committee, closed the debates on the draft Constitution with a speech warning about the gap between political and social democracy.

Q4990.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2023, Paper IMedium

Which among the following deals with Habeas Corpus?

  1. A.State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain and Ors. (1975)
  2. B.Additional District Magistrate, Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla (1976)
  3. C.Mrs. Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978)
  4. D.Nandini Satpathy v. P.L. Dani (1978)
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Additional District Magistrate, Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla (1976)

This is the famous habeas corpus case decided during the Emergency. During the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, the President suspended the right to move courts for the enforcement of Article 21.

Q4991.GeographyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2026, Paper IHard

Consider the following statements regarding the Andaman and Nicobar Islands :

1. There are 836 islands/islets/rocky outcrops.

2. The group of islands is divided by the Ten Degree Channel.

3. The Union Territory is home to tribes such as Koya, Malmi, Melacheri and Aminidivi.

4. There are more than two major ports in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

The islands number 836 by the Union Territory's own count, and the Ten Degree Channel separates the Andaman group from the Nicobar group.

Q4992.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2018, Paper IMedium

Which of the following statements about Jainism is/are correct?

1. The most important idea in Jainism is that the entire world is animated, even stones, rocks and water have life.

2. Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of Karma.

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: C. Both 1 and 2

Jainism holds that all of nature has life, and it teaches that a soul escapes karma only through strict self-discipline.

Q4993.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2020, Paper IEasy

The Cartagena Protocol, to which India is a party, is related to

  1. A.combat the green house gasses and to reduce the global warming and climate change
  2. B.biosafety, negotiated under the aegis of the Convention on Biological Diversity
  3. C.combat the ozone depleting substances to protect the human lives from diseases
  4. D.combat the phenomenon of desertification by improving dry land farming in dry regions
Show answer
Correct answer: B. biosafety, negotiated under the aegis of the Convention on Biological Diversity

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety deals with the safe handling of living modified organisms. The protocol was adopted in 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and came into force in 2003; India is a party to it.

Q4994.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2021, Paper IEasy

The Constitution of India contains no provision for the constitution of municipalities in every State for

  1. A.a Nagar Panchayat
  2. B.a Municipal Council
  3. C.a Municipal Corporation
  4. D.an Urban Panchayat
Show answer
Correct answer: D. an Urban Panchayat

Article 243Q names only three kinds of municipalities, and an urban panchayat is not one of them. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 added Part IXA (Articles 243P to 243ZG) to the Constitution.

Q4996.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2026, Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements :

1. Many urban and suburban areas experience a higher temperature than surrounding rural areas known as urban heat islands.

2. The reduction in urban green cover and the increase of built-up hard surface is the only cause of urban heat island.

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: A. 1 only

Statement 1 defines the urban heat island correctly, but statement 2 is wrong because loss of green cover and more hard surfaces are not the only cause.

Q4998.GeographyAsked in: NDA · NDA-I 2020, GATMedium

Which one of the following Indian states does NOT share international border with two or more countries?

  1. A.Arunachal Pradesh
  2. B.Assam
  3. C.Mizoram
  4. D.Tripura
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Tripura

Tripura shares an international border with only one country, Bangladesh, which surrounds it on three sides. Tripura's border with Bangladesh is about 856 km long, and on its remaining side it touches only the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram.

Q4999.Indian HistoryAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2021, GATMedium

Which one of the following statements about the ishtahars issued during the Revolt of 1857 is correct?

  1. A.They glorified the Muslim rule in India.
  2. B.They glorified the co-existence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.
  3. C.They glorified the message of Islam.
  4. D.They glorified the role of Queen Victoria.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. They glorified the co-existence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.

The rebel proclamations (ishtahars) recalled Mughal rule as a time when Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony. During the Revolt of 1857, rebel leaders issued many proclamations and notices.

GK Questions for sub-exams