UPSC Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, 1 and 3 only. The Rigveda describes armour and the horse as central to Aryan life, while the Harappan remains show neither armour nor clear use of the horse; but the Harappans did not know iron.

Statement 1 is correct: the Rigveda mentions the varman (coat of mail) and helmet, and the Aryans fought from horse-drawn chariots, whereas no defensive armour has been found at Harappan sites. Statement 3 is correct in the sense the question intends: the horse was vital to the Rigvedic people, but it does not appear on Harappan seals and there is no firm evidence that the Harappans used it. Statement 2 is wrong: the Indus people worked gold, silver, copper, bronze and lead, but not iron, which came into use in India only around 1000 BCE.

A is wrong because statement 3 is also correct.

B is wrong because statement 2 is false.

D is wrong because the Harappans knew no iron.

Exam tip: Harappans = Bronze Age, no iron, horse not on seals; Rigvedic Aryans = horse, chariot and armour.

The correct answer is D, 1, 2 and 3. All three are adaptations of desert plants (xerophytes) that cut down water loss through transpiration.

Plants lose most of their water through the leaves, so desert plants change their leaves to save it. A thick waxy cuticle makes the leaf surface hard and waterproof, as in the oleander and many succulents. Small leaves expose less surface to the hot, dry air, as in acacia and tamarisk. In cacti and some euphorbias the leaves are reduced to spines or thorns, and the green fleshy stem takes over photosynthesis and stores water. Sunken stomata and fewer stomata are other such features.

A is wrong because it leaves out hard, waxy leaves.

B is wrong because tiny leaves are only one of the three adaptations.

C is wrong because thorns are not the only change seen in desert plants.

Exam tip: cactus = leaves turned into spines, stem does photosynthesis; xerophytes = waxy cuticle, small leaves, sunken stomata.

The correct answer is D, Provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. The FRBM Act requires the government to lay this statement before Parliament along with the Budget.

Section 3 of the FRBM Act, 2003 lists the fiscal policy statements that must accompany the annual financial statement: the Macro-economic Framework Statement and the Medium-term Fiscal Policy cum Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement. The Macro-economic Framework Statement assesses the growth prospects of the economy, with GDP growth, the fiscal balance and the external sector balance. The Act aims to bring discipline to government borrowing and deficits.

A is wrong because the document rests on a statute, not on convention.

B is wrong because Article 112 deals with the annual financial statement and Article 110 defines Money Bills; neither requires this statement.

C is wrong because Article 113 covers the procedure for estimates and demands for grants.

Exam tip: Article 112 = Budget; the FRBM Act, 2003 = the fiscal policy statements laid with it.

The correct answer is B, 2 and 3 only. Urban Cooperative Banks are regulated by the RBI, not by local boards, and they may raise capital through equity and preference shares.

Statement 1 is wrong: UCBs are registered under State or Multi-State Cooperative Societies Acts, but their banking functions are regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India; no local boards of State Governments do this. Statement 2 is correct: the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 lets cooperative banks, with RBI approval, issue equity shares, preference shares and other securities to raise capital. Statement 3 is correct: cooperative banks were brought under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 from 1 March 1966, through an amendment applying the Act to cooperative societies.

A is wrong because statement 1 is false.

C is wrong because it keeps the false statement 1 and drops the true statement 2.

D is wrong because statement 1 is incorrect.

Exam tip: cooperative banks came under the BR Act in 1966; the 2020 amendment strengthened RBI control over them.

The correct answer is C, 1 and 3 only. A rise in NEER means the rupee has gained against a basket of currencies, and higher domestic inflation makes REER drift away from NEER.

NEER is a weighted average of the rupee's exchange rate against the currencies of India's trading partners; in the RBI's indices a rise means the rupee has appreciated, so statement 1 is correct. REER is NEER adjusted for the gap between Indian prices and partner-country prices. A rising REER means Indian goods are becoming dearer abroad, which hurts trade competitiveness, so statement 2 is wrong. Because REER includes relative prices and NEER does not, faster inflation in India than abroad widens the gap between the two, so statement 3 is correct.

A is wrong because statement 2 is false.

B is wrong because it drops statement 1 and keeps the false statement 2.

D is wrong because statement 2 reverses the effect of a rising REER.

Exam tip: REER = NEER adjusted for relative inflation; REER up means exports lose competitiveness.

The correct answer is B, Only two pairs. Pairs 1 and 2 are correct; Visakhapatnam is not India's largest container port.

Kamarajar Port at Ennore, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, was the first major port in India to be set up as a corporate entity, registered as a public company (Ennore Port Ltd). Mundra Port in Kutch, Gujarat, run by the Adani group, is the largest privately owned port in India. Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is a major port known for iron ore and bulk cargo and has a deep natural harbour, but the biggest container traffic is handled on the west coast, at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva) and Mundra.

A is wrong because two pairs, not one, are correct.

C is wrong because pair 3 is incorrect.

D is wrong because pairs 1 and 2 are correctly matched.

Exam tip: Kamarajar (Ennore) = first corporatised major port; Mundra = largest private port; container giants are on the west coast.

The correct answer is A, both statements are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I. The troposphere is thickest over the equator because strong convection there carries heat high into the air.

The troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere where almost all weather occurs, is about 18 km thick at the equator but only about 8 km at the poles. Intense heating of the surface near the equator sets up powerful rising convection currents, which lift warm air and moisture to great heights and push the top of the layer, the tropopause, upward. Over the cold poles convection is weak, so the layer stays shallow. Temperature in the troposphere falls by about 6.5 °C per kilometre of height.

B is wrong because convection is exactly the reason for the greater thickness.

C is wrong because Statement-II is correct.

D is wrong because Statement-I is correct.

Exam tip: troposphere about 18 km at the equator, about 8 km at the poles, because of convection.

The correct answer is C, Both 1 and 2. LiFi (Light Fidelity) sends data wirelessly by switching LED light on and off far too fast for the eye to notice, and it can be many times faster than WiFi.

The idea was popularised by Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh in 2011. A LiFi bulb flickers at very high frequency, and a photodetector reads these changes as binary data. Because visible light has a far wider spectrum than the radio waves used by WiFi, laboratory tests have reached speeds many times higher than WiFi. Light cannot pass through walls, which limits range but makes the signal harder to intercept and free of radio interference, useful in hospitals and aircraft.

A is wrong because statement 2 is also correct.

B is wrong because statement 1, the use of light, is the very basis of LiFi.

D is wrong because both statements describe LiFi correctly.

Exam tip: WiFi uses radio waves; LiFi uses visible light from LEDs and cannot pass through walls.

The correct answer is D, Neither 1 nor 2. A private member's bill is one introduced by any MP who is not a minister, whether elected or nominated, and such bills have become law in the past.

Statement 1 is wrong: the test is not election or nomination but whether the member is a minister. A bill moved by a minister is a government bill; a bill moved by any other member is a private member's bill, and it needs a month's notice before introduction. Statement 2 is wrong: fourteen private members' bills have been passed by both Houses and received assent, the last of them in 1970. The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2015, was notable only as the first such bill passed by that House in decades; it never became law in that form.

A is wrong because nominated status has nothing to do with it.

B is wrong because private members' bills had become law long before.

C is wrong because both statements are false.

Exam tip: private member = any MP who is not a minister; 14 such bills have become law, the last in 1970.

The correct answer is B, 2 only. The first Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was recognised in 1969, when Ram Subhag Singh of the Congress (O) was given the post.

Statement 1 is wrong: the Swatantra Party was founded only in 1959, years after the first Lok Sabha (1952–57); the largest opposition party then was the Communist Party of India. Statement 3 is wrong: the practice, based on the Speaker's direction, is that a party needs at least one-tenth of the House's strength, that is 55 members, not 75. The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 later gave the post statutory recognition.

A is wrong because both statements 1 and 3 are false.

C is wrong because the minimum is one-tenth of the House (55), not 75.

D is wrong because only statement 2 is true.

Exam tip: first LoP recognised in 1969; the one-tenth rule means 55 seats in a 543-member Lok Sabha.

The correct answer is D, Neither 1 nor 2. A jagir was a temporary, transferable revenue assignment given mainly in lieu of salary for military service, while zamindari rights were hereditary.

Under the mansabdari system, a mansabdar was paid either in cash or through a jagir, the right to collect revenue from a tract of land equal to his salary. The jagir was tied to his military rank, was transferred every few years and was not hereditary, so statement 1 is wrong about judicial and police duties being its basis. Zamindars held hereditary rights over a share of the produce and also had duties beyond revenue collection, such as keeping order and supplying troops to the state. So statement 2 has the hereditary part reversed.

A is wrong because statement 1 misstates both the jagir and the zamindar's role.

B is wrong because jagirs, not zamindari rights, were non-hereditary.

C is wrong because both statements are incorrect.

Exam tip: jagir = salary for military rank, transferable; zamindari = hereditary local right.

The correct answer is A, 1 and 4 only. A dearer substitute pushes buyers towards this good, and a fall in its own price leads them to buy more of it.

Statement 1 is correct: if tea becomes costlier, people buy more coffee, so demand for coffee rises. Statement 4 is correct: by the law of demand, a lower price raises the quantity buyers want. Statement 2 is wrong: if the price of a complement rises (petrol for cars), demand for the good falls. Statement 3 is wrong: for an inferior good, demand falls when income rises, because consumers shift to better goods.

B is wrong because it includes statements 2 and 3, both of which reduce demand.

C is wrong because statement 3 describes a fall, not a rise, in demand for an inferior good.

D is wrong because it includes 2 and 3 and leaves out 4, the plainest case of the law of demand.

Exam tip: substitute price up, demand up; complement price up, demand down; inferior good, income up, demand down.

The correct answer is B, International Monetary Fund. Both are IMF windows for quick emergency financing to member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need.

The Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) is open to all IMF members and gives fast, low-access financial help without a full-fledged programme. The Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) does the same for low-income countries but at concessional terms, through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. Both were used widely during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries needed money quickly after sudden shocks such as natural disasters or a collapse in exports.

A is wrong: the Asian Development Bank funds development projects in Asia and the Pacific; it does not run these IMF facilities.

C is wrong: the UNEP Finance Initiative is a partnership with banks and insurers on sustainable finance, not a lender.

D is wrong: the World Bank gives long-term development loans, while short-term balance of payments support is the IMF's role.

Exam tip: RFI is for all IMF members; RCF is the concessional version for low-income countries.

The correct answer is D, Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct. The atmosphere is heated mainly from below, by the Earth's own long wave (terrestrial) radiation, not directly by sunlight.

Incoming solar radiation is short wave, and the atmosphere is largely transparent to it, so most of it passes through and heats the Earth's surface. The warmed surface then gives off heat as long wave infrared radiation. Water vapour, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases absorb this long wave radiation well, and this is what warms the lower atmosphere. That is also why temperature normally falls with height in the troposphere.

A and B are wrong because Statement-I itself is false, so neither can be the answer.

C is wrong because it reverses the truth: Statement-I is the incorrect one, while Statement-II correctly describes greenhouse gases.

Exam tip: Sun gives short wave radiation that heats the ground; the ground gives long wave radiation that heats the air.

The correct answer is D, Dheera Shankarabharanam. Both ragas use all seven natural (shuddha) notes, the same scale as the Western major scale.

In Hindustani music, Bilawal is one of the ten thaats in Pandit V. N. Bhatkhande's system and is taken as the basic scale, with every note in its natural form. In Carnatic music, Dheera Shankarabharanam is the 29th melakarta raga of the 72-melakarta system and uses exactly the same set of notes. That is why musicians treat the two as counterparts across the two traditions.

A is wrong: Nat Bhairavi (20th melakarta) has a flat Ga, Dha and Ni, which matches Asavari thaat, not Bilawal.

B is wrong: Kamavardhini (51st melakarta) has a flat Re and Dha with a sharp Ma, close to Purvi thaat.

C is wrong: Hanumatodi (8th melakarta) has flat Re, Ga, Dha and Ni, which corresponds to Bhairavi thaat.

Exam tip: Bilawal = Shankarabharanam (all natural notes); Kalyan = Mechakalyani; Bhairavi thaat = Hanumatodi.

The correct answer is C, 1 and 3 only. BirdLife International is a worldwide partnership of independent national conservation organisations, with its secretariat at Cambridge in the United Kingdom, so statement 1 is correct. It is also the body that identifies and maintains the inventory of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, the sites that hold key populations of birds, which makes statement 3 correct. Statement 2 is the trap: the concept of biodiversity hotspots was proposed by the British ecologist Norman Myers in 1988 and was later developed by Conservation International, not by BirdLife International. Because statement 2 is wrong, option D, which takes all three, falls away, and option B, which keeps statement 2 while dropping the correct statement 1, is doubly wrong. Option A is incomplete because it leaves out statement 3. Remember the pairing: hotspots belong to Myers and Conservation International, Important Bird Areas belong to BirdLife.

The correct answer is C, marginal productivity of labour is zero. Disguised unemployment, also called hidden unemployment, exists where more persons are engaged in a job than are actually needed, so withdrawing one of them would not reduce output at all; that worker's marginal contribution is therefore zero. Indian agriculture is the classic illustration, where a whole family works on a holding that two members could manage. Option A is wrong because open unemployment, where people are visibly without work, is a different category altogether. Option B is wrong because the absence of alternative employment is a cause of the condition, not its definition. Option D is wrong because low productivity may arise from poor tools, poor soil or poor skills, which is a matter of degree, whereas disguised unemployment refers specifically to the zero marginal product of the surplus worker.

The correct answer is C, 1, 3 and 4. Under dyarchy the Governor kept the reserved subjects, which were those touching revenue and coercive power: administration of justice, land revenue, police, irrigation, famine relief, forests and labour relations. Local self-government, along with education, public health, agriculture, industries and excise, belonged to the transferred list, run by Indian ministers answerable to the legislative council. Option A is wrong because it includes local self-government, a transferred subject. Option B is wrong for the same reason, as it too carries local self-government. Option D is wrong because it drops land revenue, the most jealously guarded of the reserved subjects, and adds local self-government. The simple rule for the examination hall is that whatever earned money or kept order was reserved, and whatever spent money on people was transferred.

The correct answer is C, which is the statement that is not correct. The Kushana gold coins were struck on the same weight standard as the Roman aureus of the time, not on a different one, because the dynasty traded briskly with the Roman world and found it convenient to match that standard. The other three statements are sound. The Indo-Greeks issued the first Indian coins that carry the ruler’s name along with his portrait, a sharp change from the earlier punch-marked coins, which bore only symbols. The Kushanas, from Vima Kadphises and Kanishka onwards, issued the first gold coins in India in any quantity, with deities such as Shiva and the Buddha on the reverse. And their gold coins have indeed been found at many sites across north India and Central Asia, which is the clearest proof of how far their trade reached. Exam tip: punch-marked coins are the earliest, Indo-Greek coins the first with royal portraits, Kushana coins the first gold, and the Guptas issued the most gold coins.

The correct answer is A, Nizam Shahis : Bijapur, which is the mismatched pair. The Nizam Shahis ruled from Ahmadnagar, founded by Malik Ahmad in 1490, while Bijapur belonged to the Adil Shahis of Yusuf Adil Shah. All five Deccan Sultanates grew out of the break-up of the Bahmani kingdom between about 1490 and 1518, and four of them joined hands to crush Vijayanagara at the battle of Talikota in 1565. Bijapur is remembered for the Gol Gumbaz, Golconda for its fort and diamonds, and Ahmadnagar for Chand Bibi’s defence against the Mughals. Option B is a correct pair, because the Barid Shahis held Bidar, the last Bahmani capital. Option C is a correct pair, because the Qutb Shahis of Quli Qutb Shah ruled Golconda and later founded Hyderabad. Option D is a correct pair, because the Imad Shahis held Berar, the first province to break away and the first to be annexed by Ahmadnagar. Exam tip: Ahmadnagar Nizam Shahi, Bijapur Adil Shahi, Golconda Qutb Shahi, Bidar Barid Shahi, Berar Imad Shahi.