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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

Q7681.General ScienceEasy

Which vitamin is essential for the clotting of blood?

  1. A.Vitamin A
  2. B.Vitamin C
  3. C.Vitamin D
  4. D.Vitamin K
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Vitamin K

The liver needs vitamin K to make prothrombin and several other clotting factors, so a deficiency of it lengthens the clotting time and causes bleeding; this is why a newborn is given vitamin K and why the vitamin is sometimes called the anti-haemorrhagic vitamin.

Q7682.General ScienceMedium

The Rh factor in human blood is named after

  1. A.a rhesus monkey
  2. B.a rabbit
  3. C.a river in Europe
  4. D.the scientist Rh. Weber
Show answer
Correct answer: A. a rhesus monkey

Landsteiner and Wiener found the antigen in 1940 while working with the blood of the rhesus monkey, and the first two letters of rhesus gave the factor its name; a person with the D antigen on the red cells is Rh positive and one without it is Rh negative.

Q7684.General ScienceEasy

Which blood group is called the universal donor?

  1. A.A
  2. B.B
  3. C.AB
  4. D.O
Show answer
Correct answer: D. O

The red cells of group O carry neither the A antigen nor the B antigen, so when they are transfused the antibodies in the recipient's plasma find nothing to bind to and the cells are not destroyed, which is why group O, and strictly O negative, can be given to…

Q7685.General ScienceEasy

Who discovered the ABO system of blood groups?

  1. A.Karl Landsteiner
  2. B.William Harvey
  3. C.Edward Jenner
  4. D.Alexander Fleming
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Karl Landsteiner

The correct answer is A, Karl Landsteiner, the Austrian physician who found in 1900 that human blood falls into groups according to the antigens on the red cells, which made safe transfusion possible, and who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for it in 1930; with Wiener he…

Q7686.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2019, GKMedium

Arrange the following in the chronological order of their implementation: 1. The Indian Factory Act (First) 2. The Vernacular Press Act 3. The Morley-Minto Reforms 4. The Cornwallis Code Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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

The order is the Cornwallis Code (1793), the Vernacular Press Act (1878), the first Indian Factory Act (1881) and the Morley-Minto Reforms (1909).

Q7689.GeographyAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2025, GKMedium

Which of the following statements with reference to Easter Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is/are correct? 1. It is part of Polynesia group of islands. 2. It is a territory of the South American nation Chile. Select the 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

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island in the south-eastern Pacific that has belonged to Chile since 1888.

Q7690.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2026, GKMedium

Which of the following statements about State Election Commissioner is/are correct? 1. Preparation of electoral rolls for elections to the Panchayats takes place under his/her direction 2. He/she is appointed by the Governor of the concerned State on the advice of the Chief Election Commissioner of India Select the 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: A. 1 only

The State Election Commission directs the preparation of electoral rolls for panchayat elections, but the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, not on the Chief Election Commissioner's advice.

Q7691.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

The Summary Settlement of 1856 was based on which one of the following assumptions?

  1. A.The Talukdars were the rightful owners of the land.
  2. B.The Talukdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in the land.
  3. C.The Talukdars could evict the peasants from the lands.
  4. D.The Talukdars would take a portion of the revenue which flowed to the State.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Talukdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in the land.

The British settlement in Awadh treated the talukdars as intruders who had gained land by force and fraud. After Awadh was annexed in 1856, the British introduced the Summary Settlement of land revenue there.

Q7693.Indian PolityAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2026, GKHard

Which of the following statements about Goods and Services Tax (GST) in course of inter-State trade or commerce is/are correct? 1. Levy and collection of GST are governed under Article 269A of the Constitution of India 2. GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce may not be levied and collected by the States 3. GST is apportioned between the Union and the States Select the answer using the code given below:

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

Article 269A makes inter-State GST a tax that only the Centre levies and collects and then shares with the States.

Q7695.GeographyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2018, Paper IMedium

Which of the following cities experience the warm temperate Mediterranean climate? 1. Cape Town 2. Los Angeles 3. Adelaide 4. Santiago Select the correct answer using the code given below.

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

Cape Town, Los Angeles, Adelaide and Santiago all lie in the Mediterranean climate belt on the western sides of continents, roughly between 30° and 40° latitude.

Q7698.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2021, Paper IMedium

Manganese is extracted by heating manganese dioxide with aluminium powder. Which one of the following statements with regard to the reaction is correct?

  1. A.The reaction is exothermic.
  2. B.The reaction is endothermic.
  3. C.Manganese is produced as a solid.
  4. D.Manganese is more reactive than aluminium.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The reaction is exothermic.

Reducing manganese dioxide with aluminium, 3MnO₂ + 4Al → 3Mn + 2Al₂O₃, gives out a large amount of heat. This method of reducing a metal oxide with aluminium powder is called aluminothermy, or the Goldschmidt thermite process.

Q7699.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2023, Paper IEasy

Which one of the following holds true for freely falling object ?

  1. A.It moves with a uniform velocity.
  2. B.It moves with a uniform speed.
  3. C.It moves with a non-uniform acceleration.
  4. D.It moves with a uniform acceleration.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. It moves with a uniform acceleration.

A freely falling object moves with a uniform acceleration, the acceleration due to gravity, g, about 9.8 m/s² near the Earth's surface.

Q7700.Environment & EcologyAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2024, Paper IEasy

In an ecosystem why is the number of trophic levels of a food chain usually limited ?

  1. A.Lower trophic level has lesser energy than the higher trophic level
  2. B.Because of the loss of energy at each trophic level
  3. C.Higher trophic level individual can control the lower ones more efficiently
  4. D.Limited trophic level makes a food chain less vulnerable to parasites
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Because of the loss of energy at each trophic level

A large part of the energy is lost at every trophic level, so after four or five links too little is left to support another level.

GK Questions for sub-exams