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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

Q8181.General ScienceMedium

The acrosome present in the head of a sperm contains

  1. A.Mitochondria for energy
  2. B.Enzymes that help it enter the ovum
  3. C.The genetic material of the sperm
  4. D.A reserve of glucose
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Enzymes that help it enter the ovum

The acrosome is a cap-like structure over the sperm nucleus filled with enzymes that digest the layers around the egg so that one sperm can fuse with it.

Q8182.General ScienceMedium

What is the main function of the Sertoli cells in the testis?

  1. A.To secrete testosterone
  2. B.To nourish the developing sperms
  3. C.To store mature sperms
  4. D.To produce the fluid of semen
Show answer
Correct answer: B. To nourish the developing sperms

Sertoli cells line the seminiferous tubules and provide nutrition and support to the germ cells as they divide and change into sperms, which is why they are called nurse cells; they are controlled mainly by follicle stimulating hormone.

Q8183.General ScienceMedium

Testosterone in the human male is secreted by which cells?

  1. A.Sertoli cells
  2. B.Leydig or interstitial cells
  3. C.Cells of the prostate gland
  4. D.Cells of the epididymis
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Leydig or interstitial cells

The correct answer is B, the Leydig or interstitial cells, which lie in the spaces between the seminiferous tubules of the testis and secrete androgens, chiefly testosterone, under the influence of luteinising hormone from the anterior pituitary.

Q8185.Indian PolityHard

Article 244A, inserted by the Twenty-second Amendment Act of 1969, empowers Parliament to create an autonomous State within which State?

  1. A.Nagaland
  2. B.Assam
  3. C.Manipur
  4. D.Tripura
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Assam

Article 244A, added by the Twenty-second Amendment Act of 1969, allows Parliament by law to form an autonomous State within Assam comprising all or any of the tribal areas specified in the Sixth Schedule, and to give it a legislature or a council of ministers, or both, with powers it…

Q8186.Indian PolityHard

Grants-in-aid from the Union to a State for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and for raising the level of administration of Scheduled Areas are provided under which Article?

  1. A.Article 270
  2. B.Article 275(1)
  3. C.Article 280
  4. D.Article 282
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Article 275(1)

Its proviso directs that sums be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India as grants-in-aid to States for schemes of development approved by the Union for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and for raising the level of administration of Scheduled Areas, and it names Assam specially for the administration…

Q8187.Indian PolityEasy

The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, known as PESA, was enacted in which year?

  1. A.1992
  2. B.1993
  3. C.1996
  4. D.2006
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1996

Because Part IX of the Constitution does not extend of its own force to Scheduled Areas, Parliament enacted PESA in December 1996 on the recommendations of the Bhuria Committee, and made the Gram Sabha the pivot of village government in those areas, with powers over minor forest produce, minor water…

Q8189.Indian PolityMedium

Under the Fifth Schedule, the Tribes Advisory Council of a State consists of not more than how many members?

  1. A.15
  2. B.20
  3. C.25
  4. D.30
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 20

Paragraph 4 of the Fifth Schedule requires every State with Scheduled Areas, and if the President so directs a State with Scheduled Tribes but no Scheduled Areas, to set up a Tribes Advisory Council of not more than twenty members, of whom roughly three-fourths must be representatives of Scheduled Tribes…

Q8190.Indian PolityEasy

Who has the power to declare an area as a Scheduled Area under the Fifth Schedule?

  1. A.The Governor of the State
  2. B.The President of India
  3. C.Parliament by a simple majority
  4. D.The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The President of India

Paragraph 6 of the Fifth Schedule says that the President may by order declare an area to be a Scheduled Area, and may increase or decrease its area, alter its boundaries, rescind the declaration or make a fresh order after consulting the Governor of the State concerned.

Q8191.Indian PolityEasy

The administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in States other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram is governed by which Article of the Constitution?

  1. A.Article 243
  2. B.Article 244(1)
  3. C.Article 245
  4. D.Article 246
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Article 244(1)

It states that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, while Article 244(2) applies the Sixth Schedule to the tribal areas of those four States.

Q8193.Indian PolityAsked in: Uttar Pradesh · 4 Jan 2020, Shift 2Medium

How many states with Fifth Schedule Areas are covered under the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996?

  1. A.7
  2. B.9
  3. C.10
  4. D.13
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 10

PESA applies to the Scheduled Areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, and these ten States must bring their Panchayati Raj laws in line with it.

Q8194.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2019Medium

Under which Schedule of the Constitution of India can the transfer of tribal land to private parties for mining be declared null and void?

  1. A.Third Schedule
  2. B.Fifth Schedule
  3. C.Ninth Schedule
  4. D.Twelfth Schedule
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Fifth Schedule

Regulations made by the Governor under paragraph 5(2) of the Fifth Schedule can prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of Scheduled Tribes, and a transfer made in breach of such a regulation is void.

Q8195.Indian PolityAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2022, 5 JuneMedium

If a particular area is brought under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which one of the following statements best reflects the consequence of it?

  1. A.This would prevent the transfer of land of tribal people to non-tribal people.
  2. B.This would create a local self-governing body in that area.
  3. C.This would convert that area into a Union Territory.
  4. D.The State having such areas would be declared a Special Category State.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. This would prevent the transfer of land of tribal people to non-tribal people.

Paragraph 5(2) of the Fifth Schedule allows the Governor of a State to make regulations for the peace and good government of a Scheduled Area, and expressly permits regulations that prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of Scheduled Tribes.

Q8197.Indian HistoryHard

The Ad Dharm movement, which asked its followers to register themselves as a separate religious community, was founded in Punjab by whom?

  1. A.Mangoo Ram
  2. B.Guruchand Thakur
  3. C.Guru Ghasidas
  4. D.Ayyankali
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Mangoo Ram

After years of work in the United States, Mangoo Ram returned to Punjab and founded the Ad Dharm movement in 1926, arguing that the so-called untouchable castes were the original inhabitants of the land and formed a religion of their own; the census of 1931 recorded lakhs of people as…

Q8199.Indian HistoryMedium

Who started the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 in the Madras Presidency?

  1. A.C. Rajagopalachari
  2. B.E. V. Ramasamy Periyar
  3. C.T. M. Nair
  4. D.M. C. Rajah
Show answer
Correct answer: B. E. V. Ramasamy Periyar

He left the Congress in 1925 and launched the Self-Respect Movement, which rejected priestly ritual, conducted marriages without Brahmin priests and without religious ceremony, campaigned for widow remarriage and for women rights, and later turned into the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944.

GK Questions for sub-exams