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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

Q9682.GeographyAsked in: CTET · 22nd Dec 2021Medium

Read the two statements in the context of urbanisation: A) Due to urbanisation, only the rich began leaving their villages to look for jobs that were opening up in cities in the colonial period B) The poor and many from the low castes, saw this opportunity to get away from oppressive hold that upper-caste land owners exercised over their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered.

  1. A.Only statement 'A' is true.
  2. B.Only statement 'B' is true.
  3. C.Both statement 'A' and 'B' are false.
  4. D.Both statement 'A' and 'B' are true.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Only statement 'B' is true.

Statement B is sound: for the poor and for people of the lower castes, the new jobs in colonial cities were a way out of the control of upper-caste landowners in the village and of the daily humiliation they suffered there, and this pull is part of every account of…

Q9684.GeographyEasy

A town with a population of 100,000 and above is placed by the Census of India in which class?

  1. A.Class I
  2. B.Class II
  3. C.Class III
  4. D.Class IV
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Class I

The Census of India groups towns into six classes by population: Class I of one hundred thousand and above, Class II of fifty thousand to ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, Class III of twenty thousand to forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, Class IV of ten thousand to nineteen…

Q9685.GeographyAsked in: Madhya Pradesh · MPPSC Forest Service Previous Year MainsMedium

Pattern of settlement in Ganga Yamuna Doab region is –

  1. A.Scattered
  2. B.Random
  3. C.Compact Random
  4. D.Semi sprinkled
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Compact Random

The Ganga-Yamuna Doab is a level alluvial plain with deep fertile soil, assured water from wells, canals and a high water table, and a long history of dense farming settlement, so its villages are compact or nucleated: the houses stand packed together in one block with narrow lanes, and the…

Q9686.GeographyMedium

According to the Census of India, which of the following is NOT one of the conditions a place must satisfy to be classified as a census town?

  1. A.A minimum population of 5,000
  2. B.At least 75 per cent of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits
  3. C.A density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometre
  4. D.The presence of a municipality or a notified town area committee
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The presence of a municipality or a notified town area committee

A place that has a municipal corporation, a municipality, a cantonment board or a notified town area committee is a statutory town, and it is urban whatever its population; it is therefore not a census town at all.

Q9688.General ScienceMedium

Bakelite is a condensation polymer of formaldehyde with

  1. A.Phenol
  2. B.Melamine
  3. C.Urea
  4. D.Aniline
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Phenol

Bakelite is a phenol-formaldehyde resin, prepared by condensing phenol with formaldehyde; on curing the chains cross-link into a rigid network, giving a hard, heat-resistant and electrically insulating solid used for switches, plug tops, pan handles and distributor caps.

Q9691.General ScienceMedium

Rayon is best described as

  1. A.a natural protein fibre
  2. B.a semi-synthetic fibre made from cellulose
  3. C.a fully synthetic polyamide fibre
  4. D.a thermosetting plastic
Show answer
Correct answer: B. a semi-synthetic fibre made from cellulose

Rayon is made by dissolving the cellulose of wood pulp, forcing the solution through fine holes and regenerating the cellulose as a thread.

Q9692.General ScienceMedium

Which of the following is a thermoplastic?

  1. A.Bakelite
  2. B.Melamine-formaldehyde
  3. C.Polyvinyl chloride
  4. D.Urea-formaldehyde
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Polyvinyl chloride

Polyvinyl chloride has linear chains held to one another only by weak forces, so it softens when heated and hardens when cooled and can be melted and moulded again and again; that reversibility is what makes a plastic thermoplastic, and it is also what allows such plastics to be recycled…

Q9693.General ScienceEasy

Which substance is added to natural rubber during vulcanisation?

  1. A.Carbon
  2. B.Sulphur
  3. C.Phosphorus
  4. D.Silicon
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Sulphur

Vulcanisation is the heating of raw rubber with sulphur, which forms short cross-links between the long isoprene chains. Raw rubber is soft, sticky when warm and brittle when cold; the vulcanised product is strong, far more elastic and stable over a wide range of temperature.

Q9694.General ScienceHard

Nylon-6,6 is obtained by the condensation polymerisation of

  1. A.Caprolactam alone
  2. B.Hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid
  3. C.Ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid
  4. D.Phenol and formaldehyde
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid

Nylon-6,6 is a polyamide formed when hexamethylenediamine condenses with adipic acid, with a molecule of water eliminated at each linkage; the name records that each monomer contributes a chain of six carbon atoms.

Q9695.General ScienceMedium

Teflon, used to coat non-stick cookware, is a polymer of

  1. A.Tetrafluoroethene
  2. B.Chloroprene
  3. C.Styrene
  4. D.Caprolactam
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Tetrafluoroethene

Teflon is polytetrafluoroethene, made by the addition polymerisation of tetrafluoroethene. The fluorine atoms shield the carbon chain so completely that the surface is chemically inert, water repellent and almost frictionless, and it holds its properties to high temperature, which is why it coats frying pans and is used for gaskets…

Q9697.General ScienceEasy

The monomer of polythene is

  1. A.Ethyne
  2. B.Ethene
  3. C.Propene
  4. D.Vinyl chloride
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ethene

Polythene, also written polyethene, is formed by the addition polymerisation of ethene, in which the double bond of each molecule opens and the units join into a long chain with nothing eliminated.

Q9698.General ScienceAsked in: Uttar Pradesh · UPPSC Civil Service 2017 Official Paper Easy

Which one of the following is a natural polymer?

  1. A.Bakelite
  2. B.Silk
  3. C.Kevlar
  4. D.Lexan
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Silk

Silk is the protein fibroin, spun by the silkworm, so it is a polymer made by a living organism and is therefore natural, like cellulose, starch, wool and natural rubber.

Q9699.Indian PolityMedium

Under Article 368, a Constitution Amendment Bill must be passed in each House by

  1. A.a simple majority of the members present and voting
  2. B.a majority of the total membership of the House and two-thirds of the members present and voting
  3. C.two-thirds of the total membership of the House
  4. D.a majority of the total membership of both Houses sitting together
Show answer
Correct answer: B. a majority of the total membership of the House and two-thirds of the members present and voting

The special majority of Article 368 has two parts that must be satisfied together: a majority of the total membership of the House, and a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.

Q9700.Indian PolityEasy

A Money Bill can be introduced in Parliament

  1. A.in either House, by any member
  2. B.only in the Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the President
  3. C.only in the Rajya Sabha, on the recommendation of the Speaker
  4. D.in either House, on the recommendation of the Finance Minister
Show answer
Correct answer: B. only in the Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the President

Article 109 read with Article 117(1) allows a Money Bill to be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and Article 110(1) permits its introduction only on the recommendation of the President; it is always a Government Bill moved by a minister.

GK Questions for sub-exams