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 Battle of Rezang La, an epic battle in hostile conditions, was fought by the Indian Army in:
The Battle of Rezang La was fought on 18 November 1962 during the India-China war, at a pass about 16,000 feet high near Chushul in Ladakh.
Read the full explanation →The green plants in a terrestrial eco-system absorb sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy. The percentage of solar radiation absorbed by all green plants for the process of photosynthesis is about
Green plants are the producers of a terrestrial ecosystem, and NCERT's Class 10 chapter Our Environment states that they capture about 1 percent of the energy of the sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy through photosynthesis.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is not a main greenhouse gas?
A greenhouse gas is one whose molecules absorb the long-wave infrared radiation given off by the warm surface of the Earth and send part of it back, keeping the planet about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be.
Read the full explanation →Before the inception of the First Five Year Plan, which among the following Plans were initiated in India? 1. Bombay Plan 2. Peoples Plan 3. Sarvodaya Plan 4. Gandhian Plan
All four plans came before the First Five Year Plan started on 1 April 1951. The Bombay Plan of 1944 was prepared by eight industrialists led by J. R. D. Tata and G. D. Birla and favoured state-led heavy industry.
Read the full explanation →Which Five Year Plan of India focused on rapid industrialization based growth process?
The Second Plan (1956 to 1961) was built on the model of the statistician P. C. Mahalanobis and aimed at rapid industrialisation with a stress on heavy and basic industries such as steel, machinery and chemicals, on the belief that machines to make machines would speed up growth.
Read the full explanation →The idea of Planning in Independent India was drawn from
The Bombay Plan of 1944 was drawn up by a group of eight, mostly leading industrialists such as J. R. D. Tata, G. D. Birla, Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Lala Shri Ram and Kasturbhai Lalbhai, with John Mathai among them.
Read the full explanation →In the passing of a Money Bill, the Rajya Sabha has limited powers in that it shall return the Bill, with or without any recommendation, within the stipulated time of
Under Article 109 a Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and after it is passed there it is sent to the Rajya Sabha, which cannot reject or amend it.
Read the full explanation →In which Schedule of the Constitution of India, provisions as to disqualification on grounds of defection are given?
The Tenth Schedule, popularly called the anti-defection law, was added by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1985.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following provisions of the Constitution of India deals with District Planning Committee?
Article 243ZD was inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992, which added Part IX-A on Municipalities.
Read the full explanation →By which one of the following amendments, was Article 51A, relating to the Fundamental Duties, inserted into the Constitution of India?
The 42nd Amendment of 1976, passed on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, added a new Part IV-A with a single Article 51A listing ten Fundamental Duties of citizens, such as respecting the Constitution, the National Flag and the National Anthem, protecting the environment and developing the scientific temper.
Read the full explanation →In which among the following states in India, the Sun rays are never perpendicular? 1. Bihar 2. Chhattisgarh 3. Manipur 4. Rajasthan
The Sun is overhead, with its rays vertical at noon, only at places between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees S).
Read the full explanation →Where is the Coriolis Effect the largest?
The Coriolis force is the apparent force caused by the rotation of the Earth that deflects moving air and water to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following crops is generally benefitted by the rain caused by western disturbances in India?
Western disturbances are low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean Sea and travel eastward with the subtropical westerly jet stream in winter, bringing light rain to Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, and snow to the Himalaya, between December and February.
Read the full explanation →Snow, sleet and hail are the forms of
Precipitation is any form of water, liquid or solid, that falls from clouds to the ground. When the temperature is above freezing it falls as rain or drizzle; below freezing, water vapour turns directly into ice crystals that fall as snow.
Read the full explanation →River Beas, flowing from Himachal and Punjab, joins the river
The Beas rises at Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, flows past Manali, Kullu and Mandi, enters Punjab and meets the Satluj at Harike in Punjab, where the Harike barrage and wetland stand.
Read the full explanation →When and where was the demand for 'Purna Swaraj' or complete independence made by the Indian National Congress?
At its Lahore session in December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution declaring complete independence, not dominion status, as its goal.
Read the full explanation →First coins in Indian history bearing the names and images of rulers were issued by the:
The Indo-Greek kings who ruled the north-west of India from about the second century BCE were the first in Indian history to issue coins that carried the name and portrait of the ruler, with Greek legends on one side and Prakrit in the Kharoshthi script on the other.
Read the full explanation →Which Governor General of Bengal underwent impeachment proceedings in the British Parliament?
Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act of 1773 and held office from 1773 to 1785.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following composed the 'Prayag Prashasti' of Samudragupta?
The Prayag Prashasti, also called the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, is a Sanskrit eulogy of the Gupta emperor Samudragupta (about 335 to 375 CE) composed by his court poet and minister Harishena, who held the titles sandhivigrahika (minister of peace and war) and kumaramatya.
Read the full explanation →Taxila was the capital of which one among the following Mahajanapadas of ancient India?
Buddhist texts list sixteen mahajanapadas of the sixth century BCE, and Gandhara, in the north-west covering the Peshawar and Rawalpindi region, had its capital at Taxila (Takshashila), near present-day Islamabad in Pakistan.
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