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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

Q10681.Indian PolityMedium

Under which Article can the President transfer a judge from one High Court to another?

  1. A.Article 219
  2. B.Article 221
  3. C.Article 222
  4. D.Article 224
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Article 222

The correct answer is C, Article 222, which empowers the President to transfer a judge from one High Court to any other High Court after consultation with the Chief Justice of India; by the collegium practice laid down in the Third Judges Case, the Chief Justice forms that opinion with…

Q10682.Indian PolityMedium

Which of the following is a qualification for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court of India?

  1. A.Five years of practice as an advocate of a High Court
  2. B.Ten years of service as a judge of a High Court
  3. C.Five years as a judge of a High Court
  4. D.Completion of 45 years of age
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Five years as a judge of a High Court

Article 124(3) requires a citizen of India who either has been a judge of a High Court for at least five years, or has been an advocate of a High Court for at least ten years, or is in the opinion of the President a distinguished jurist.

Q10683.Indian PolityEasy

What is the age of retirement of a judge of a High Court, and which amendment fixed it?

  1. A.60 years, fixed by the original Constitution
  2. B.62 years, raised by the Fifteenth Amendment Act, 1963
  3. C.65 years, raised by the Fifteenth Amendment Act, 1963
  4. D.65 years, fixed by the original Constitution
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 62 years, raised by the Fifteenth Amendment Act, 1963

Article 217(1) originally fixed the retirement age of a High Court judge at 60 years, and the Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment Act of 1963 raised it to 62.

Q10684.Indian PolityHard

The Fourth Judges Case of 2015 struck down the Ninety-ninth Constitutional Amendment by what majority, and which judge dissented?

  1. A.3:2, Justice Kurian Joseph dissenting
  2. B.4:1, Justice J. Chelameswar dissenting
  3. C.5:0, with no dissent
  4. D.4:3, Justice Madan Lokur dissenting
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 4:1, Justice J. Chelameswar dissenting

A five-judge Constitution Bench held that the Ninety-ninth Amendment and the NJAC Act violated the independence of the judiciary, which is part of the basic structure, mainly because the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons would sit on a body selecting judges.

Q10685.Indian PolityHard

Who among the following was NOT a member of the National Judicial Appointments Commission as provided by Article 124A?

  1. A.The Chief Justice of India
  2. B.The Union Minister of Law and Justice
  3. C.The Attorney General of India
  4. D.Two eminent persons nominated by a committee
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Attorney General of India

Article 124A gave the National Judicial Appointments Commission six members: the Chief Justice of India as ex officio chairperson, the two next senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice, and two eminent persons nominated by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief…

Q10687.Indian PolityMedium

After the Third Judges Case of 1998, the collegium that recommends appointments to the Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of India and how many other judges?

  1. A.Two senior-most judges
  2. B.Three senior-most judges
  3. C.Four senior-most judges
  4. D.Five senior-most judges
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Four senior-most judges

The Second Judges Case of 1993 required the Chief Justice of India to form his opinion in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues, so the first collegium had three members.

Q10688.Indian PolityMedium

In which case did the Supreme Court first hold that the word "consultation" in Article 124 does not mean "concurrence"?

  1. A.S. P. Gupta v. Union of India (1981)
  2. B.Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (1993)
  3. C.The Third Judges Case (1998)
  4. D.Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973)
Show answer
Correct answer: A. S. P. Gupta v. Union of India (1981)

The Court there read "consultation" literally, holding that the Chief Justice of India's opinion was not binding on the government, which therefore kept the final say in appointments.

Q10689.Indian PolityEasy

Under which Article of the Constitution are the judges of the Supreme Court of India appointed?

  1. A.Article 122
  2. B.Article 124
  3. C.Article 127
  4. D.Article 217
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Article 124

Article 124(1) establishes the Supreme Court, and Article 124(2) provides that every judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as the President may deem necessary; its…

Q10690.Indian HistoryMedium

The twin epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai were composed respectively by

  1. A.Ilango Adigal and Sattanar
  2. B.Thiruvalluvar and Tolkappiyar
  3. C.Sattanar and Ilango Adigal
  4. D.Avvaiyar and Kapilar
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Ilango Adigal and Sattanar

Silappadikaram, the story of the anklet, is attributed to Ilango Adigal, who tradition calls the brother of the Chera king Senguttuvan, and Manimekalai, which continues the story in a Buddhist setting, is attributed to Sattanar, also known as Chithalai Chathanar.

Q10691.Indian HistoryHard

Consider the following statements about the Sangam Age and identify the correct ones.

1. Rock Edicts of Ashoka mention the Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras and Keralaputras.
2. The works of all three Sangams have survived.
3. The Kalabhra invasion is associated with the close of the Sangam Age.

  1. A.Only 1 and 2
  2. B.Only 1 and 3
  3. C.Only 2 and 3
  4. D.All of 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Only 1 and 3

Statement 1 is correct, because Rock Edicts II and XIII of Ashoka name the Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras and Keralaputras as peoples on the southern frontier of the Mauryan empire, and this is the firmest early date available for the chapter.

Q10692.Indian HistoryHard

Which Roman-period port of the Tamil country, excavated near modern Puducherry, has yielded Arretine ware and amphorae?

  1. A.Muziris
  2. B.Korkai
  3. C.Arikamedu
  4. D.Tondi
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Arikamedu

The correct answer is C, Arikamedu, on the Ariyankuppam river near modern Puducherry, where excavation uncovered Roman pottery including Arretine ware, amphora sherds that once held wine and oil, and the remains of warehouses, marking it as a trading station of the first centuries of the Christian era.

Q10696.Indian HistoryMedium

Which is the oldest surviving work of Tamil literature, dealing with grammar and poetics?

  1. A.Tirukkural
  2. B.Tolkappiyam
  3. C.Silappadikaram
  4. D.Purananuru
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Tolkappiyam

It is a work on Tamil grammar and poetics in three books, and because its sections on poetic conventions describe the land, the people and their occupations, historians use it as a source for Sangam society, including the five-fold division of land into kurinji, mullai, marutham, neithal and palai.

Q10699.Indian HistoryAsked in: SSC MTS · 18 May, 2023, Shift 1Easy

Who among the following was a famous ruler of the Pandya dynasty of South India?

  1. A.Nedunjeliyan II
  2. B.Karikala
  3. C.Ashoka
  4. D.Nizam Shah
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Nedunjeliyan II

The correct answer is A, Nedunjeliyan II, the Pandya king of Madurai who is remembered in Sangam poetry as the victor of the battle of Talaiyalanganam, in which he is said to have defeated a confederacy of the Chera and Chola kings and five lesser chieftains.

Q10700.Indian EconomyMedium

Engel's law states that as the income of a household rises

  1. A.The proportion of income spent on food falls
  2. B.The proportion of income spent on food rises
  3. C.Total spending on food falls in absolute terms
  4. D.Saving falls as a proportion of income
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The proportion of income spent on food falls

Engel's law, named after the nineteenth century statistician Ernst Engel, says that the share of a household's spending that goes on food falls as its income rises, even though the amount spent on food may well go up.

GK Questions for sub-exams