UPSC 2025 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is B, 2-1-3-4. The operations fall in 1965, 1971, 1984 and 1999, in that order: Riddle, Cactus Lily, Meghdoot, Safed Sagar.

Operation Riddle was the Indian Army's thrust towards Lahore in September 1965, during the second India–Pakistan war. Operation Cactus Lily was the 1971 operation in the eastern theatre in which troops were airlifted across the Meghna river by helicopters, hastening the fall of Dhaka and the birth of Bangladesh. Operation Meghdoot, launched in April 1984, secured the Siachen Glacier. Operation Safed Sagar was the Indian Air Force's part in the 1999 Kargil war, alongside the Army's Operation Vijay.

A is wrong: it puts Cactus Lily (1971) before Riddle (1965).

C is wrong: it opens with Safed Sagar, the latest of the four (1999).

D is wrong: it also starts with Safed Sagar and places Meghdoot (1984) last.

Exam tip: Riddle 1965 → Cactus Lily 1971 → Meghdoot 1984 (Siachen) → Safed Sagar 1999 (IAF in Kargil).

The correct answer is B, Uttar Pradesh. The Ghatampur Thermal Power Project stands at Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.

It is a coal-based plant of three units of 660 MW each, built by Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Limited, a joint venture of NLC India Limited and the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam. It uses supercritical technology, which burns less coal for each unit of power, and most of its electricity goes to Uttar Pradesh. A paper setter links the place, Kanpur, with the state.

A is wrong: Bihar's large thermal plants include Barh, Kahalgaon and Nabinagar, not Ghatampur.

C is wrong: Madhya Pradesh is known for Vindhyachal, Satpura and Sasan, not Ghatampur.

D is wrong: Gujarat's big coal plants are at Mundra and Ukai; Ghatampur is not in Gujarat.

Exam tip: Ghatampur = Kanpur Nagar, Uttar Pradesh; a 3 × 660 MW NLC–UP joint venture.

The correct answer is C, A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1. Taken in order, each Act adds one step in the Crown's control over the Company. Pitt's India Act, 1784 created the Board of Control to oversee the Company's civil, military and revenue affairs. The Charter Act, 1813 ended the Company's monopoly of Indian trade, leaving it only the trade in tea and with China. The Charter Act, 1833 made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India and declared that no Indian would be barred from any office because of religion, birth or colour. The Charter Act, 1853 separated law-making from executive work and enlarged the Governor-General's council for legislation, a small legislature in the making. Option A is wrong because 1784 is the Board of Control, not the enlarged council. Option B is wrong because it gives 1813 the employment clause and 1833 the end of the trade monopoly. Option D is wrong because it repeats that same swap of 1813 and 1833. Exam tip: 1784 Board of Control, 1813 monopoly ends, 1833 no bar on Indians, 1853 bigger legislative council.

The correct answer is C, 1 and 3 only. The Act split subjects between the Centre and the provinces, but the reserved and transferred split applied only to provincial subjects. The Government of India Act, 1919 put the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms into law. Through the Devolution Rules it separated central and provincial subjects, and for the first time it separated provincial budgets from the central budget, giving provinces their own sources of revenue and the right to pass their own budgets. In the provinces it brought in dyarchy: transferred subjects such as education and local self-government went to ministers answerable to the legislature, while reserved subjects such as police and land revenue stayed with the Governor and his executive council. Statement 2 is wrong because the central subjects were never divided this way; dyarchy at the Centre was proposed only by the 1935 Act and was never brought into force. That rules out options A, B and D, which all contain statement 2. Exam tip: 1919 Act, dyarchy in the provinces; 1935 Act, dyarchy proposed at the Centre.

The correct answer is C, 1 and 3 only. The CAG of India is an auditor who checks spending after it happens; he has no say over money leaving the treasury. He is appointed by the President under Article 148, and his duties are laid down in the CAG (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. He audits all spending from the Consolidated Fund of India and of each State, and also the accounts of bodies substantially financed from Union or State revenues. His reports on Union accounts go to the President under Article 151, who has them laid before Parliament, where the Public Accounts Committee examines them. Statement 2 is wrong because money is drawn from the Consolidated Fund by the executive under an Appropriation Act, and unlike his British counterpart, India's CAG does not control its issue. That rules out options A, B and D, since each of them includes statement 2. Exam tip: India's CAG is an auditor-general rather than a comptroller; he audits, he does not release money.

The correct answer is C, The President shall exercise his/her functions on the advice of the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. The 42nd Amendment made that advice binding on the President. Before 1976, Article 74(1) only said there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at its head to aid and advise the President. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added that the President "shall act in accordance with such advice". The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 then let the President send the advice back once for reconsideration, but the advice given after that must be followed. Option A is wrong because vesting executive power in the President is Article 53, which the 42nd Amendment did not touch. Option B is wrong because the Prime Minister's duty to keep the President informed is Article 78. Option D is wrong because summoning and proroguing the Houses is Article 85. Exam tip: the 42nd Amendment made the advice binding, and the 44th Amendment allowed one return for reconsideration.

The correct answer is A, A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1. Each committee is remembered for one clear idea, and the code joins them in the order 1957, 1977, 1985 and 1986. The Balwantrai Mehta Committee (1957) proposed the three-tier system of Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat, which Rajasthan launched first at Nagaur on 2 October 1959. The Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) wanted only two tiers, the Zilla Parishad and the Mandal Panchayat. The G.V.K. Rao Committee (1985) suggested a District Development Commissioner, and the L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986) asked for constitutional status, which finally came with the 73rd Amendment of 1992. Option B is wrong because it swaps the two-tier plan of Ashok Mehta with the district commissioner of G.V.K. Rao. Option C is wrong because constitutional status was the Singhvi demand, not the Balwantrai Mehta one. Option D is wrong because it gives Balwantrai Mehta the Singhvi idea and also mixes up B and C. Exam tip: Mehta 1957 three tiers, Ashok Mehta 1977 two tiers, Singhvi 1986 constitutional status.