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.
The vahana of goddess Saraswati is which bird or animal?
Saraswati is shown with the veena, a manuscript or palm-leaf book, a rosary and the swan, the bird also given to Brahma, whose consort she is in the later tradition.
Read the full explanation →A Jain Tirthankara image with a serpent hood above the head represents whom?
The correct answer is C, Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, who is shown with the hood of a serpent, usually of seven heads, spread over his head and the coils rising behind him; his lanchana, the emblem on the pedestal, is a snake.
Read the full explanation →The Nataraja image shows Shiva performing which dance?
The Nataraja shows Shiva within a ring of flames, hair flying, the damaru drum in one hand and fire in another, the right foot pressing down the dwarf of ignorance called Apasmara and one hand raised in the gesture of protection; the form is linked with Chidambaram and is the…
Read the full explanation →Which avatar of Vishnu is depicted as a boar?
The correct answer is B, Varaha, the boar, third in the usual sequence of ten avatars, carved either fully as a boar or with a boar's head on a human body, often lifting the earth goddess on one tusk.
Read the full explanation →The conch of Vishnu is known by which name?
Vishnu is recognised by four attributes, and each has its own name: the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana, the mace Kaumodaki and the lotus.
Read the full explanation →Which mudra of the Buddha is associated with the first sermon at Sarnath?
The gesture joins the thumb and forefinger of each hand into a circle, the wheel, and holds them before the chest, marking the turning of the wheel of law in the deer park at Sarnath, where the Buddha preached to his first five disciples.
Read the full explanation →The Bhumisparsha mudra of the Buddha represents which event of his life?
In the Bhumisparsha, or earth-touching, mudra the Buddha sits with the left hand in his lap and the right hand lowered with the fingers pointing to the ground, calling the earth to witness that he had earned the right to enlightenment against the temptations of Mara.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following amendments requires ratification by the legislatures of at least half the States?
Article 368(2) lists the provisions whose amendment needs a special majority in each House and, in addition, ratification by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the States: the election of the President, the extent of the executive power of the Union and the States, the Supreme Court and…
Read the full explanation →Which amendment limited the size of the Council of Ministers to fifteen per cent of the strength of the House?
It added clauses to Articles 75 and 164 so that the total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister, cannot exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha or of the State Legislative Assembly, with a floor of twelve ministers…
Read the full explanation →The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which protects certain laws from judicial review, was added by which amendment?
It added Article 31B and the Ninth Schedule so that the zamindari abolition and land reform laws of the States could not be struck down for violating the Fundamental Rights, and it also added reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech in Article 19(2) and Article 15(4) for the advancement…
Read the full explanation →The Eleventh Schedule, which lists the subjects of the panchayats, was added by which amendment?
The amendment also made a three-tier structure, five-year terms, reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, a State Election Commission and a State Finance Commission compulsory.
Read the full explanation →The right to property was removed from the list of Fundamental Rights by which amendment?
It repealed Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31 and put the right to property in a new Article 300A in Part XII, so that no person may be deprived of his property except by authority of law.
Read the full explanation →The Goods and Services Tax was introduced in India by which Constitution Amendment Act?
It inserted Article 246A, which gives both Parliament and the State legislatures the power to make laws on goods and services tax, Article 269A for the levy and collection of integrated GST on inter-State supply, and Article 279A, under which the President constituted the GST Council with the Union Finance…
Read the full explanation →Article 21A, which makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right, was inserted by which amendment?
It inserted Article 21A, which gives every child of the age of six to fourteen years the right to free and compulsory education in such manner as the State may determine by law; the law that followed was the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
Read the full explanation →By which amendment was the voting age in India lowered from 21 years to 18 years?
The first general election held on the new franchise was that of 1989.
Read the full explanation →The anti-defection law was added to the Constitution as the Tenth Schedule by which amendment?
It inserted the Tenth Schedule, which disqualifies a member of Parliament or of a State legislature who voluntarily gives up the membership of the party on whose ticket he was elected, or who votes against the party whip.
Read the full explanation →Which Constitution Amendment Act is popularly called the Mini-Constitution?
It is called the Mini-Constitution because no other single amendment has changed so much of the Constitution at once.
Read the full explanation →Who was the last Viceroy of India and the first Governor-General of independent India?
He took charge in March 1947, announced the plan of 3 June 1947 under which the country was divided, and after the Indian Independence Act of 1947 came into force he continued as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India until June 1948.
Read the full explanation →Which Viceroy had the longest term in office and faced the Quit India Movement?
During it the provincial elections of 1937 were held under the Government of India Act of 1935, India was taken into the Second World War without consulting the legislatures and the Congress ministries resigned in 1939, the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution of 1940, the August Offer was made…
Read the full explanation →The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931 was signed at the end of which movement?
The movement began with the Dandi March of March 1930 against the salt law, and after the first Round Table Conference the Viceroy Lord Irwin negotiated a pact with Mahatma Gandhi on 5 March 1931: political prisoners were to be released, the making of salt for domestic use on the…
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