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 Radcliffe Line, which divided India and Pakistan, was drawn in which year?
The Radcliffe Line was the award of the boundary commissions for Punjab and Bengal, headed by the British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe, and it was published in August 1947 at the time of Partition.
Read the full explanation →The Durand Line is the boundary between which two countries?
The Durand Line was agreed in 1893 between British India and the Amir of Afghanistan and is named after Sir Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of the Government of India who negotiated it; after 1947 it became the boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Read the full explanation →The heavy-lift transport aircraft C-17 of the Indian Air Force is known by which name?
The C-17 Globemaster III, made by Boeing, is the heaviest transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force and is used to move troops, vehicles and relief material over long distances, including to high-altitude airfields.
Read the full explanation →The destroyers built under Project 15B of the Indian Navy are known as which class?
Project 15B produced the Visakhapatnam class of guided missile destroyers, built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai, which includes INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao and INS Imphal.
Read the full explanation →The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was earlier known by which name?
INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev class ship of Soviet origin, formerly named Admiral Gorshkov, which was rebuilt in Russia and handed over to India, entering service as an aircraft carrier operating MiG-29K fighters.
Read the full explanation →Which is India's only tri-service command, where the Army, Navy and Air Force serve under one commander-in-chief?
It is the only command in which units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force work under a single commander-in-chief, an arrangement adopted because the islands lie far from the mainland and guard the approaches to the Malacca Strait.
Read the full explanation →Prachand, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, is which kind of platform?
Prachand is the Light Combat Helicopter developed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, designed to operate from high-altitude bases, which makes it suited to the Siachen and Ladakh sectors where few attack helicopters can carry a useful load.
Read the full explanation →The Rafale fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force is made by which company?
Rafale is a twin-engine multirole fighter made by Dassault Aviation, the same French company that made the Mirage 2000 flown by India since the 1980s, and the first Indian Rafale squadron was raised at Ambala.
Read the full explanation →INS Arihant, commissioned in 2016, is best described as
INS Arihant was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel programme and commissioned in 2016; because it carries ballistic missiles, the K-15 Sagarika among them, it completed India's nuclear triad, that is the ability to launch a nuclear weapon from land, from the air and from the sea.
Read the full explanation →The Kalvari class submarines of the Indian Navy are built to which foreign design?
The Kalvari class are conventional diesel-electric attack submarines built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai to the Scorpene design under a transfer of technology, and the class includes INS Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, Vela, Vagir and Vagsheer.
Read the full explanation →Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force, is manufactured by which organisation?
Tejas is a single-engine multirole fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the public sector company that also builds the Dhruv helicopter, the Prachand light combat helicopter and the Su-30MKI under licence at Nashik.
Read the full explanation →INS Vikrant, the first aircraft carrier designed and built in India, was constructed at which shipyard?
The indigenous aircraft carrier, commissioned in September 2022 as INS Vikrant, was designed by the Navy's own design organisation and built at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala, which made India one of the few countries able to build a carrier.
Read the full explanation →The Ghosh Committee of 1992 reported on which subject relating to banks?
The committee chaired by A. Ghosh reported in 1992 on frauds and malpractices in banks and recommended systems of internal control, a separate vigilance machinery and rules for the prevention and early detection of fraud.
Read the full explanation →The P. J. Nayak Committee of 2014 examined which question?
The committee to review governance of boards of banks in India, chaired by P. J. Nayak, reported in 2014 that public sector banks were handicapped by the manner of appointment of their directors and by the government's dual role as owner and policy maker, and it proposed transferring the government's…
Read the full explanation →The Tandon Committee of 1974 laid down norms for which of the following?
The study group chaired by P. L. Tandon reported in 1974 on the norms for bank lending for working capital, fixing acceptable levels of inventory and receivables for each industry and setting out methods of lending that limited how much of a borrower's working capital gap a bank would finance…
Read the full explanation →The Malhotra Committee of 1993 dealt with reform of which sector?
The committee chaired by R. N. Malhotra, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank, reported in 1993 on the reform of the insurance sector; it recommended opening the sector to private companies and the creation of an independent regulator, from which the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority was set up…
Read the full explanation →The setting up of NABARD was recommended by which committee?
The Committee to Review Arrangements for Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development, known by the short name CRAFICARD, recommended a single apex institution for rural and agricultural credit, and NABARD was established in July 1982.
Read the full explanation →The Monetary Policy Committee and flexible inflation targeting in India followed the report of which committee?
The expert committee of 2014 chaired by Urjit Patel was asked to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework; it recommended that consumer price inflation be made the nominal anchor, that a numerical inflation target be adopted, and that policy decisions be taken by a committee rather than by one…
Read the full explanation →Payments banks and small finance banks in India followed the recommendations of which committee?
The committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low-income households, chaired by Nachiket Mor, reported in 2014 and proposed differentiated banking licences; from its work the Reserve Bank issued guidelines for payments banks, which may accept deposits but not lend, and for small finance banks, which lend mainly…
Read the full explanation →Which committee reported on capital account convertibility in India?
The committee chaired by S. S. Tarapore reported in 1997 and again in 2006 on capital account convertibility, that is the freedom to convert the rupee for capital transactions, and it set out preconditions such as fiscal consolidation, a low rate of inflation, a strengthened banking system and a low…
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