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.
Which hormone is called the emergency hormone or the fight-and-flight hormone?
It quickens the heartbeat, raises the blood pressure, widens the air passages, sends more blood to the muscles and releases glucose from the liver, so that the body is ready to fight or to run.
Read the full explanation →How many pairs of cranial nerves are present in the human body?
The cranial nerves arise from the brain and serve the head and neck, among them the optic nerve of sight, the auditory nerve of hearing, the olfactory nerve of smell and the vagus, which is the longest cranial nerve and reaches down to the heart, lungs and stomach.
Read the full explanation →Deficiency of iodine in the diet causes which of the following diseases?
Iodine is needed to make thyroxine, so when the diet is short of it the thyroid gland works harder and enlarges into a visible swelling of the neck called goitre; a severe shortage in a growing child causes cretinism and in an adult myxoedema, and iodised salt is the standard…
Read the full explanation →Insulin is secreted by which cells of the human body?
Insulin lowers the level of glucose in the blood by helping the cells take it in and by having the liver store it as glycogen, and a want of insulin or a failure of the body to respond to it causes diabetes mellitus.
Read the full explanation →Which endocrine gland is known as the master gland of the human body?
It is called the master gland because its secretions control other glands: thyroid stimulating hormone drives the thyroid, adrenocorticotropic hormone the adrenal cortex, and the gonadotropins the testes and ovaries, besides its own growth hormone.
Read the full explanation →Which part of the human brain controls balance and coordination of muscular movement?
The correct answer is B, the cerebellum, which lies below and behind the cerebrum and coordinates the work of the muscles so that movement is smooth and the body stays balanced; this is why a person whose cerebellum is affected by alcohol staggers.
Read the full explanation →Which is the largest endocrine gland in the human body?
The correct answer is B, the thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped gland in front of the windpipe in the neck, which is the largest purely endocrine gland in the body and secretes thyroxine, triiodothyronine and calcitonin.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following organs will not feel any pain on being pricked by a needle?
The brain is the organ that interprets pain, but its own tissue has no pain receptors, so cutting or pricking it causes no sensation; the covering membranes, the blood vessels and the scalp do have receptors, which is why a headache hurts.
Read the full explanation →Who wrote 'Nyaya Sutra'?
The Nyaya Sutra was composed by the sage Gautama, also called Akshapada Gautama, who founded the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy.
Read the full explanation →Puhar or Kaveripattinam, was the port of which of the following dynasty?
Puhar, also called Kaveripattinam, was the great port of the early Cholas of the Sangam age. The town stood where the Kaveri meets the Bay of Bengal, and Karikala, the best known early Chola ruler, is credited with developing it.
Read the full explanation →The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to ______.
That is the wording of Sustainable Development Goal 6, the water and sanitation goal. The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda, and they replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals.
Read the full explanation →The States in India have begun to get reorganized in the year 1956 on the basis of which of the following criteria?
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 redrew the map of India mainly on the basis of language. The demand for linguistic states grew strong after independence.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following forms the trading arrangement between a weaver and a merchant under the 'Putting out' system?
Under the putting out system the merchant handed the raw material to the weaver and took back the finished cloth at a price he himself fixed, which was low.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is a feature of our Constitution? (A) Adoption of universal adult suffrage. (B) Equal rights to all citizens. (C) Special privileges for the socially disadvantaged Indians. Choose the correct option.
All three statements describe real features of the Indian Constitution, so all of them have to be counted. Universal adult suffrage was there from the first general election itself.
Read the full explanation →The process that continually adds new crust is
New oceanic crust is made at mid-ocean ridges, where magma rises, cools and is pushed outwards on both sides, and that process is called seafloor spreading.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about non-plan expenditures of the Central Government is correct?
Interest paid on the government's past borrowing is the classic non-plan expenditure, because it is a committed charge the Centre must meet whatever its plans are.
Read the full explanation →Who is empowered for imposition and realization of collective fine under SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989?
Section 16 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 extends the collective-fine provision of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 to atrocities, and the power to impose and recover a collective fine on the inhabitants of an area rests with the State Government.
Read the full explanation →In which year the last election of Indian Legislature under the Government of India Act, 1919 was held?
The last election to the Central Legislative Assembly set up under the Government of India Act of 1919 was held in the winter of 1945, after the Second World War ended and the Labour government in Britain moved towards a settlement with Indian leaders.
Read the full explanation →Under which Article of the Constitution of India, has the National Commission for Scheduled Castes been constituted?
Article 338 provides for the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, a constitutional body that investigates and monitors the safeguards given to Scheduled Castes, enquires into specific complaints and reports to the President, who places the report before Parliament.
Read the full explanation →The pyramid of energy in any ecosystem is
A pyramid of energy is always upright because energy is lost as heat at every step of a food chain, so each higher trophic level holds less energy than the one below it.
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