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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

Q8981.Indian HistoryEasy

The trials of Indian National Army officers Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon in 1945 and 1946 were held at which place?

  1. A.The Red Fort, Delhi
  2. B.Fort William, Calcutta
  3. C.The Cellular Jail, Port Blair
  4. D.Mumbai High Court
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The Red Fort, Delhi

The court martial of the three officers, a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh, opened at the Red Fort in November 1945, and the Congress set up an INA Defence Committee whose counsel included Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Asaf Ali, Kailash Nath Katju and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Q8982.Indian HistoryEasy

Which territory was handed over to the Provisional Government of Free India in December 1943 and renamed Shaheed and Swaraj?

  1. A.Lakshadweep
  2. B.The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  3. C.Singapore
  4. D.Manipur
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Japanese, who had occupied the islands in 1942, transferred them in name to the Azad Hind Government in December 1943, and Bose renamed them Shaheed and Swaraj, meaning the martyr and self-rule.

Q8989.Indian HistoryAsked in: Delhi · 3 Dec 2020, Shift 1Easy

Who among the following founded the Forward Bloc in 1939?

  1. A.Mahatma Gandhi
  2. B.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
  3. C.Subhas Chandra Bose
  4. D.Jawaharlal Nehru
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Subhas Chandra Bose

After winning the Tripuri presidential election of 1939 against Pattabhi Sitaramayya and then resigning in April that year, Bose founded the Forward Bloc on 3 May 1939 as a left wing within the Congress, meant to gather all radical and anti-imperialist forces for an immediate struggle.

Q8991.Indian HistoryAsked in: SSC CGL · 13 April 2022, Shift 3Medium

On 21 October 1943, Subhash Chandra Bose proclaimed the formation of the Provisional Government of Free India in ________.

  1. A.Singapore
  2. B.Russia
  3. C.Japan
  4. D.Germany
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Singapore

Bose reached South-East Asia in 1943, took charge of the Indian Independence League and the Indian National Army at Singapore on 4 July 1943, and on 21 October 1943 proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India, the Azad Hind Government, in the same city.

Q8992.Indian EconomyMedium

Under the Public Sector Enterprise Policy announced with the Budget of 2021, which of the following is treated as a strategic sector?

  1. A.Hotels and tourism
  2. B.Banking, insurance and financial services
  3. C.Fertiliser and chemicals trading
  4. D.Consumer goods manufacturing
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Banking, insurance and financial services

The policy of 2021 named four strategic sectors: atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunications; power, petroleum, coal and other minerals; and banking, insurance and financial services.

Q8994.Indian EconomyHard

The Disinvestment Commission set up in 1996 was headed by

  1. A.C. Rangarajan
  2. B.G. V. Ramakrishna
  3. C.Bimal Jalan
  4. D.Arjun Sengupta
Show answer
Correct answer: B. G. V. Ramakrishna

The Disinvestment Commission was constituted in 1996 as an advisory body to examine enterprises referred to it and to recommend the extent, method and timing of disinvestment in each case, and it was chaired by G. V. Ramakrishna, formerly the chairman of SEBI.

Q8996.Indian EconomyHard

Which was the first central public sector enterprise sold through a strategic sale in India?

  1. A.BALCO
  2. B.Modern Food Industries (India) Limited
  3. C.Hindustan Zinc
  4. D.Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Modern Food Industries (India) Limited

In 1999 and 2000 the government sold seventy-four per cent of this bread-making company to Hindustan Lever along with management control, and it is counted as India's first strategic sale, that is, the first real privatisation of a central enterprise.

Q8997.Indian EconomyEasy

Strategic disinvestment of a public sector enterprise means

  1. A.the sale of a minority stake while the government keeps management control
  2. B.the sale of a substantial stake along with the transfer of management control to the buyer
  3. C.the closure of a loss-making enterprise and the sale of its land
  4. D.the issue of fresh shares by the enterprise to its own employees
Show answer
Correct answer: B. the sale of a substantial stake along with the transfer of management control to the buyer

In official usage strategic disinvestment, or strategic sale, means that the government sells a substantial block of shares and hands over management control to the buyer, so the enterprise passes out of the public sector.

Q8998.Indian EconomyMedium

Which department of the Government of India handles disinvestment of public sector enterprises today?

  1. A.The Department of Public Enterprises
  2. B.The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
  3. C.The Department of Economic Affairs
  4. D.The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management

It was created as the Department of Disinvestment in 1999, was a separate Ministry of Disinvestment from 2001 to 2004, returned as a department and was given its present name in April 2016.

Q9000.Indian EconomyMedium

Which policy document is known as the Economic Constitution of India?

  1. A.The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1948
  2. B.The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956
  3. C.The New Industrial Policy, 1991
  4. D.The Public Sector Enterprise Policy, 2021
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956

It is called the Economic Constitution of India because it settled for more than three decades which industries belonged to the state and which to private enterprise, through its Schedules A, B and C, and because it gave the Second Five Year Plan its heavy industry direction under the Mahalanobis…

GK Questions for sub-exams