UPSC Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, 1 and 4. The Royal Indian Navy mutiny began on 18 February 1946, when the ratings of HMIS Talwar in Bombay went on a hunger strike against bad food and racial insults. So items 2 and 3 were very much part of it, and the revolt soon spread to dozens of ships and shore establishments, with crowds and mill workers of Bombay coming out in support before Sardar Patel and Jinnah persuaded the ratings to surrender. Item 1 had no part in it: the Indian National Army was Subhas Chandra Bose’s force raised abroad, and although the INA trials of 1945 stirred the same anger, the army itself was already disbanded. Item 4 is also outside it, because the Viceroy in 1946 was Lord Wavell; Lord Irwin had left India in 1931, remembered for the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Options A, B and D are wrong because each of them counts HMIS Talwar or the hunger strike, or leaves out the INA. Exam tip: RIN mutiny, 18 February 1946, HMIS Talwar, Bombay, under Viceroy Wavell.

The correct answer is C, Kolkata. The Kolkata port, now named Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, stands on the Hooghly river about 200 kilometres inland from the Bay of Bengal, which makes it the only riverine major port in the country. Opened in 1870, it is also the oldest operating major port in India and serves a vast hinterland covering eastern India, Nepal and Bhutan. Its handicap is the silt the Hooghly carries: the channel must be dredged all the time, and because large modern ships still cannot reach the city, the Haldia Dock Complex was built downstream to take them. Option A is wrong because Mormugao in Goa is a coastal natural harbour at the mouth of the Zuari, famous for iron ore exports. Option B is wrong because Deendayal port, formerly Kandla, is a tidal sea port in the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat. Option D is wrong because Paradip in Odisha is an artificial deep water sea port on the coast. Exam tip: Kolkata is the only riverine major port, on the Hooghly, with Haldia as its deep water partner.

The correct answer is D, Chin Khilich Khan. Chin Qilich Khan, better remembered by his title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, was a Mughal noble appointed governor of the Deccan by Muhammad Shah. Tired of court intrigue at Delhi, he returned to the south, defeated his rival Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda in 1724 and from then on ruled the Deccan as an independent prince in all but name, founding the Asaf Jahi or Nizam dynasty of Hyderabad that lasted until 1948. He kept the forms of Mughal loyalty, struck coins in the emperor’s name, yet appointed his own officers and made war and peace on his own. Option A is wrong because Asaf Jah II, that is Nizam Ali Khan, was a later ruler of the same line, not its founder. Option B is wrong because Bahadur Shah was the Mughal emperor who ruled from 1707 to 1712. Option C is wrong because Alivardi Khan made himself independent in Bengal, not Hyderabad. Exam tip: Hyderabad 1724 Chin Qilich Khan, Awadh 1722 Saadat Khan, Bengal Murshid Quli Khan.

The correct answer is D, nickel. An alkene has a carbon-carbon double bond, and adding hydrogen across that bond turns it into the corresponding alkane. The reaction needs a finely divided metal catalyst, and nickel is the cheap industrial choice, usually at about 150 to 200 degrees Celsius; palladium and platinum do the same job at lower temperatures. The catalyst holds hydrogen molecules on its surface, splits them into atoms and lets them join the double bond, so it only speeds the reaction up and is not used up. The best known use is in food: unsaturated vegetable oils are hydrogenated over nickel to make solid vanaspati ghee. Option A is wrong because copper is used to dehydrogenate alcohols, which is the opposite kind of change. Option B is wrong because zinc dust is used for other reductions, not for adding hydrogen to a double bond. Option C is wrong because aluminium is not a hydrogenation catalyst at all. Exam tip: alkene plus hydrogen over nickel gives an alkane; oil plus hydrogen over nickel gives vanaspati.

The correct answer is C, Mizoram. Article 371G sits in Part XXI of the Constitution, which holds temporary, transitional and special provisions, and was inserted by the 53rd Amendment Act, 1986, when Mizoram was made a full state. It protects Mizo customary law and practice, social and religious usage, and the administration of civil and criminal justice based on that customary law: a law of Parliament on these subjects applies to Mizoram only if the Legislative Assembly of the state decides by resolution that it should. The Assembly is also fixed at a minimum of forty members. Option A is wrong because the special provision for Jammu and Kashmir was Article 370, whose operation was withdrawn in August 2019. Option B is wrong because Jharkhand has no such article; it was carved out of Bihar in 2000 by an ordinary reorganisation Act. Option D is wrong because Nagaland is covered by Article 371A, added by the 13th Amendment of 1962. Exam tip: 371A Nagaland, 371B Assam, 371C Manipur, 371F Sikkim, 371G Mizoram, 371H Arunachal Pradesh.

The correct answer is B, Separate Electorate. The Nehru Report of August 1928 was the draft constitution prepared by a committee of the All Parties Conference under Motilal Nehru, with Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhas Chandra Bose and others, as Indians’ answer to Lord Birkenhead’s taunt that they could not agree on a constitution of their own. The report firmly rejected separate electorates, the device introduced by the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, and asked instead for joint electorates with seats reserved for minorities where they were in a minority. Option A is wrong because dominion status was its central demand, which is exactly why the younger leaders who wanted complete independence objected. Option C is wrong because the report did favour a unitary and democratic centre with responsible government. Option D is wrong because adult suffrage, along with a list of fundamental rights, was one of its clear recommendations. Jinnah replied to it with his Fourteen Points in 1929. Exam tip: Nehru Report 1928 — dominion status, joint electorates, adult suffrage, fundamental rights.

The correct answer is B, inter cropping. In intercropping two or more crops are grown together on the same field at the same time, but sown in a definite pattern of rows, such as a few rows of soyabean between rows of maize, or bajra with lobia. The crops chosen have different nutrient needs and different rooting depths, so they use the soil, sunlight and water better, pests spread more slowly, and if one crop fails the farmer still has the other. It differs from mixed cropping, where the seeds of two crops are simply mixed and broadcast with no row pattern. Option A is wrong because crop rotation means growing different crops one after another on the same field in successive seasons, to restore fertility. Option C is wrong because alternate cropping is not the name for sowing two crops side by side in the same season. Option D is wrong because kharif names a season, the monsoon crop sown in June and July, not a method of cropping. Exam tip: mixed cropping has no rows, intercropping has definite rows, rotation is one crop after another.

The correct answer is D, Nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up about 78 per cent of the atmosphere, yet it is not a greenhouse gas. A molecule traps heat only if it can absorb outgoing infrared radiation, and that needs vibrations which change the spread of electric charge in the molecule. Nitrogen is a simple molecule of two identical atoms, so it is transparent to infrared; the same is true of oxygen. The gases that do trap heat are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and the halocarbons, and together they keep the earth about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be. Option A is wrong because water vapour is the most abundant greenhouse gas of all. Option B is wrong because chlorofluorocarbons are powerful greenhouse gases that also destroy the ozone layer, which is why the Montreal Protocol phases them out. Option C is wrong because methane traps far more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide. Exam tip: nitrogen and oxygen are not greenhouse gases, though they make up most of the air.

The correct answer is A, whatever the change in price, there is absolutely no change in demand. Price elasticity of demand is the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price. If the elasticity is zero, the numerator is zero: buyers take the same quantity however the price moves. This case is called perfectly inelastic demand and its demand curve is a vertical straight line. Textbooks illustrate it with a life-saving medicine or with salt, goods a household buys in a fixed quantity because there is no substitute and the spending is small. Option B is wrong because a small response to a small price change means elasticity between zero and one, that is inelastic but not zero demand. Option C is wrong because a large response to a small price change is elastic demand, with elasticity greater than one. Option D is wrong because that too describes ordinary inelastic demand, where some change still takes place. Exam tip: elasticity zero is a vertical curve, elasticity infinity a horizontal one, and elasticity one is unitary.

The correct answer is B, Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid. This mosque stands inside the Purana Qila in Delhi and was built by Sher Shah Suri around 1541, during the Sur interregnum that interrupted Mughal rule, so it belongs to a period before Shah Jahan was born. Its five arched bays in red sandstone with marble inlay are counted among the finest pre-Mughal mosques of Delhi. Shah Jahan, who ruled from 1628 to 1658, is the great builder of the dynasty: he raised Shahjahanabad with its Red Fort, the Taj Mahal at Agra and the Peacock Throne. Option A is wrong because the Moti Masjid, the pearl mosque in white marble, was built in the Agra Fort in his reign. Option C is wrong because the Jama Masjid of Delhi, the largest mosque in India, was completed under him in 1656. Option D is wrong because the Rang Mahal is one of the painted palaces of his Red Fort. Exam tip: Purana Qila and its Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid belong to Sher Shah Suri, not the Mughals.

The correct answer is D, Neon. When electricity is passed through a sealed tube holding neon at low pressure, the gas atoms are excited and give out a bright orange-red glow, which is why advertising signs are still called neon signs. Neon is a noble gas discovered in 1898 by Ramsay and Travers; it is chemically inert, forms no ordinary compounds, and is also used in voltage testers, high-voltage indicators and lightning arresters. Every gas glows in its own colour in a discharge tube, and that colour is the fingerprint of its atomic energy levels. Option A is wrong because helium gives a pale pinkish-white glow and is better known for filling balloons and airships. Option B is wrong because argon glows a pale violet-blue and is used to fill electric bulbs and to shield welding. Option C is wrong because nitrogen glows bluish, and its common uses are as an inert packing gas and as a liquid coolant. Exam tip: neon gives red light in a discharge tube, while argon is the gas that fills ordinary electric bulbs.

The correct answer is A, temperature is highest at ground level and decreases with increasing altitude. In the troposphere the air is warmed mainly from below: the earth absorbs incoming short-wave insolation and then heats the layer of air touching it by conduction, radiation and convection. So the farther you go from this heat source, the colder the air, and the normal lapse rate is about 6.5 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 metres of ascent. This is why hill stations are cool in summer and high peaks stay under snow even in the tropics. Option B is wrong because that upside-down pattern is a temperature inversion, a local and short-lived reversal seen in valleys on calm clear winter nights, not the normal rate. Option C is wrong because temperature does not stay steady with height; the troposphere cools steadily upward. Option D is wrong because no such initial warming occurs in the normal profile. Exam tip: normal lapse rate is a fall of about 6.5 degrees Celsius per kilometre; the opposite is called an inversion.

The correct answer is D, New Delhi. The National Green Tribunal was set up by the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, and started work on 18 October 2010 with its principal bench at New Delhi. Its four zonal benches sit at Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai, and it also holds circuit sittings at other places. India thus became one of the first countries to create a dedicated court for environmental disputes, and the tribunal is required to decide cases within six months of filing. It hears matters under laws such as the Water Act, the Air Act and the Environment (Protection) Act, is headed by a chairperson who has been a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court Chief Justice, and its orders can be appealed only in the Supreme Court. Option A is wrong because Kolkata holds the eastern zone bench, not the principal seat. Option B is wrong because Hyderabad has no bench of the tribunal. Option C is wrong because Lucknow is not the principal seat either. Exam tip: NGT Act 2010 — principal bench Delhi; zonal benches Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai.

The correct answer is A, a destination-based consumption tax. Goods and Services Tax is collected by the state where the goods or services are finally consumed, not by the state that produced them. It came into force on 1 July 2017 through the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, and replaced a thicket of central and state taxes such as excise duty, service tax, VAT and octroi. It is a multi-stage value-added tax: a seller pays tax on the full value but claims input tax credit for the tax already paid on purchases, so only the value added at each stage is really taxed. Rates are decided by the GST Council under Article 279A, chaired by the Union Finance Minister. Option B is wrong because GST is not levied at the point of production; the earlier regime taxed at origin. Option C is wrong because GST is not a plain sales tax on each transaction, since input credit runs through the chain. Option D is wrong on both counts, origin and sales transaction. Exam tip: GST — destination-based, multi-stage, value-added; 101st Amendment, 1 July 2017.

The correct answer is A, the Arabian Sea exhibits a high rate of evaporation and a low influx of fresh water. Salinity rises where water leaves as vapour and falls where fresh water is added. The air over the Arabian Sea is dry and hot, evaporation is heavy, rainfall is modest and the only large river reaching it is the Indus, so the salt that stays behind keeps surface salinity around 36 parts per thousand. The Bay of Bengal gets the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna along with very heavy monsoon rain, and all that fresh water dilutes it to about 33 parts per thousand. Option B is wrong because the Arabian Sea is in fact the deeper of the two basins, and depth by itself does not decide salinity. Option C is wrong because the Bay of Bengal is the more enclosed of the two, yet it is the less saline. Option D is wrong because the Arabian Sea receives less rainfall, and rain lowers salinity instead of raising it. Exam tip: evaporation raises salinity; river water and rainfall lower it.

The correct answer is C, President of India after an address in both Houses of Parliament. Under Article 148 the Comptroller and Auditor-General is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, but can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court. That means each House must pass an address by a special majority on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity, and only then does the President remove him. This difficult procedure, along with a fixed term of six years or age 65, a salary charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and a bar on holding any further office of profit, is what keeps the CAG independent while he audits the accounts of the Union and the states. Option A is wrong because the Council of Ministers cannot advise his removal. Option B is wrong because the Chief Justice has no power to remove him. Option D is wrong because the advice of the Chief Justice is not the route either. Exam tip: Article 148 — CAG is removed exactly like a Supreme Court judge.

The correct answer is B, Emerald. Emerald is the deep green variety of the mineral beryl, a beryllium aluminium silicate, so beryllium is part of its very formula. Traces of chromium, and sometimes vanadium, give the stone its green colour. Beryl is the chief ore of beryllium, a light, stiff metal used in X-ray windows, aerospace alloys and nuclear reactors; aquamarine is the pale blue variety of the same mineral. Option A is wrong because topaz is an aluminium silicate carrying fluorine and hydroxyl groups, with no beryllium in it. Option C is wrong because ruby is corundum, that is aluminium oxide, which turns red because of chromium impurity. Option D is wrong because blue sapphire is the same corundum, coloured blue by traces of iron and titanium. So ruby and sapphire are two colours of one mineral, while emerald belongs to a different family altogether. Exam tip: emerald = beryl (beryllium); ruby and sapphire = corundum (aluminium oxide).

The correct answer is D, Dual Government. A dual government, one at the centre and one in the units, is the common feature of every federation, so India and the USA do not differ on this point. Both countries divide powers between a national government and state governments through a written constitution, and both let courts settle disputes about that division. The other three features are exactly where the two systems part company, because India has a federation with a strong unitary bias. Option A is wrong because every American state sends two members to the Senate regardless of size, while seats in the Rajya Sabha are allotted according to a state’s population, so representation is unequal. Option B is wrong because an American citizen is a citizen of both the Union and a state, while India gives only single citizenship. Option C is wrong because the USA has separate federal and state courts, while India has one integrated judiciary headed by the Supreme Court. Exam tip: India — single citizenship, integrated judiciary, unequal Rajya Sabha seats.

The correct answer is C, they are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the High Court of the concerned State. This is the rule laid down in Article 233 of the Constitution. Appointment, posting and promotion of district judges in a state are made by the Governor, who must consult the High Court that exercises jurisdiction over that state. A person not already in government service can be appointed only if they have practised as an advocate or pleader for at least seven years and are recommended by the High Court. Article 234 covers other judicial officers, who are appointed by the Governor from the state judicial service as per rules framed after consulting the High Court and the State Public Service Commission. Option A is wrong because the High Court is only consulted; its Chief Justice does not appoint. Option B is wrong because the President appoints judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, not district judges. Option D is wrong because the Supreme Court has no role here. Exam tip: Article 233 — Governor appoints, High Court is consulted.

The correct answer is C, First Amendment Act. The Ninth Schedule was inserted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, to shield land reform laws from being struck down by the courts. The same amendment added Article 31B, which says that a law placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be questioned for taking away a fundamental right. The Schedule started with 13 entries, mostly the zamindari abolition laws of the states, and has grown far beyond that. The protection is no longer absolute: in I. R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007) the Supreme Court held that laws added after 24 April 1973 can still be tested against the basic structure of the Constitution. Option A is wrong because the Third Amendment of 1954 reworked the Concurrent List entry on essential commodities. Option B is wrong because the Fourth Amendment of 1955 only put more laws into a Schedule that already existed. Option D is wrong because the Sixth Amendment of 1956 dealt with taxes on the inter-State sale of goods. Exam tip: First Amendment, 1951 — Ninth Schedule along with Article 31B.