General Awareness PYQs

The correct answer is Health and Sanitation.

Key Points

• The 11^th Schedule of the Indian Constitution related to Panchayat was added in 1992 by the 73^rd Constitution Amendment Act.
• This schedule contains 29 subjects.

1. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation, and soil conservation.
2. Minor irrigation, water management, and watershed development.
3. Animal husbandry, dairying, and poultry.
4. Fisheries.
5. Social forestry and farm forestry.
6. Minor forest produces.
7. Small scale industries, including food processing industries.
8. Khadi, village, and cottage industries.
9. Rural housing.
10. Drinking water.
11. Fuel and fodder.
12. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways, and other means of communication.
13. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity.
14. Non-conventional energy sources.
15. Poverty alleviation program.
16. Education, including primary and secondary schools.
17. Technical training and vocational education.
18. Adult and non-formal education.
19. Libraries.
20. Cultural activities.
21. Markets and fairs.
22. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centers, and dispensaries.
23. Family welfare.
24. Women and child development.
25. Social welfare, including the welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded.
26. The welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
27. Public distribution system.
28. Maintenance of community assets.
29. Agriculture, including agricultural extension.

Additional Information

The correct answer is Bharhut.

Key Points

• Bharhut sculpture, an early Indian sculpture of the Shunga period (mid-2^nd century BCE) that decorated the great stupa, or relic mound, of Bharhut, in Madhya Pradesh state.
• It has been largely destroyed, and most of the existing remains—railings and entrance gateways—are now in the Indian Museum in Kolkata (Calcutta).
• Sculptures similar to the Bharhut remains are located throughout northern India, suggesting that the Bharhut site was the main place for this style type.

Important Points

• Ramabhar stupa is 1.5 km away from Mahaparinirvana Temple. This large stupa rises to a height of 15 meters.
• It marks the site where the Lord Buddha was cremated. In ancient Buddhist texts, this Stupa has been referred to as 'Mukut- Bandhan Chaitya'.
• The Chaukhandi Stupa was built during the Gupta period (4^th and 5^th century CE) and is believed to mark the place where the Buddha first met a group of five ascetics (who were later to become his first disciples).
• Rectangular in shape, with steps leading upwards, it was decorated with sculptures of the Buddha.
• Dhamek Stupa is the most noticeable structure in Sarnath, near Varanasi. It is one of the most prominent Buddhist structures in India.
• The Dhamek Stupa was built in 500 CE to replace an earlier structure commissioned by the great Mauryan king Ashoka in 249 BCE. The Dhamek Stupa represents the deer park (Rishipattana).
• The stupa is 28 meters in diameter at the base and 43.6 meters in height, built partly of stone and partly of brick. The stone facing the lower part is adorned with delicate floral carvings of Gupta origin.

The correct answer is 1984.

Key Points

• 1984 Summer Olympic Games did PT Usha miss the bronze medal by 0.01 second in the Women’s 400-meter Hurdles race.
• PT Usha's international debut in the 1980 Moscow Olympics proved lackluster.
• In the 1982 New Delhi Asiad, Usha bagged a silver medal in the 100m and the 200m,
• At the Asian Track and Field Championship in Kuwait a year later, Usha bagged the gold in the 400m with a new Asian record.
• The Los Angeles Games were the 20^th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games.
• The Olympic Games Tokyo will be celebrated from 23 July 2021 until 8 August 2021.

Important Points 

• Bindra captures India's first individual gold medal in Shooting 10m Air Rifle Final Men Beijing.
• At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, weightlifter Karnam Malleswari marked her place in Olympic and Indian sports history. She took the bronze medal and became India’s first woman to win an Olympic medal.
• In 1996 when he took the men’s singles tennis bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games, he became the first Indian athlete since 1952 to win an individual Olympic medal.
• PV Sindhu from Hyderabad became a national hero when she won India's first silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016 in women's singles.

The correct answer is Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Key Points

• India Wins Freedom is an enlightening account of the partition from the author, Maulana Azad's perspective.
• It includes his personal experiences when India became independent and his ideas on freedom and liberty.

Important Points 

• Vijay Lakshmi Pandit-
• Vijay Lakshmi Pandit is an Indian political leader and also diplomat, one of the world’s leading women in public life in the 20^th century.
• She was the daughter of Motilal Nehru, a wealthy and aristocratic nationalist leader, and the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India.
• Syama Prasad Mukherjee-
• Indian politician Syama Prasad Mukherjee was born on July 6, 1901. The youngest ever Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University and Independent India’s first Minister of Industry and Supply.
• Mahatma Gandhi-
• Mahatma Gandhi, by name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, (born October 2, 1869, Porbandar, India—died January 30, 1948, Delhi), Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India.

The correct answer is Farakka.

Key Points

• The Farakka Barrage was created by India in 1975 to divert water from the Ganges River system.
• Farakka Barrage is 2245 meter long  across the river Ganga with rail-cum-road bridge, necessary river training works, and a Head Regulator on the right side bank
• The Ganges Water Treaty has a limited ability to meet the current needs of both India and Bangladesh.

Important Points

• Farakka Barrage Project comes under the Ministry of Jal Sakti.
• Farakka Barrage is located in Murshidabad and Malda districts of West Bengal at about 300 km north of Kolkata.

Additional Information

The correct answer is SIDBI.

Key Points

• Udyam Abhilasha is a Transforming national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign for progress in Terms of certain development parameters.
• In this, they Train 13,800 youth for providing a life of dignity by having a source of livelihood.
• They provide orientation to youth about various dimensions of entrepreneurship.

Important Points

• Mr. Mohammad Mustafa has been the Chairman and Managing Director of the Small Industries Development Bank of India since August 2017.
• Atul Kumar Goel assumed the charge as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of UCO Bank on November 02, 2018.
• Dr. G.R. Chintala is the Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

The correct answer is 0.01.

Key Points

• Frequency in simple terms is the no. of repetitions.
• 1 Hertz = One cycle or oscillation per second.

1. Frequency is the reciprocal of time (in seconds), hence the SI unit is s^-1.

Additional Information 

Frequency = 10 Hz.

1 KHz = 1000 Hz.

Frequency in KHz = 10/1000 = 0.01 KHz.

Important Points

• The frequency of electricity in India is 50Hz.
• They are generally represented by Sine or Cosine waves.

The correct answer is Balochistan.

Key Points

• Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.
• This site is from 7000 BCE to 2000 BCE.
• Mehrgarh is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River valley.
• The site was discovered in 1974 by an archaeological team directed by French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige and Catherine Jarrige.

Additional Information

The correct answer is 2013.

Important Points

• National Food Security Act was enacted to provide food and nutritional security in the human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to an adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Key Points

• Salient features of the National Food Security Act 2013.
• Public Distribution System (PDS) is now governed by provisions of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
• Coverage under PDS is de-linked from the erstwhile 'poverty estimates'.
• The Act provides coverage for nearly 2/3^rd of the country's total population, basis Census 2011 population estimates.
• 75% of the Rural and 50% of the Urban population is entitled to receive highly subsidized foodgrains under two categories of beneficiaries – Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households and Priority Households (PHH).
• State/UT-wise coverage is determined by the erstwhile Planning Commission (now NITI Ayog) on the basis of the 2011-12 Household Consumption Expenditure survey of NSSO.
• The Act entitles 35 kg of foodgrains per AAY Household per month, whereas 5 Kg of foodgrain per PHH Person per month.
• Identification of beneficiaries/households under NFSA is done by the respective State/UT Government, which is required to frame its own criteria.
• Highly subsidized Central Issue Prices of Re.1, Rs.2, and Rs.3 for Coarse-grains, Wheat, and Rice respectively, kept unchanged till June 2019.
• No reduction in foodgrains allocation to any State/UT under NFSA. Allocation gaps if any, are covered with Tide-Over allocation.
• The eldest woman of the beneficiary household (18 years or above) is considered as 'Head of Family' for the purpose of issuing ration cards.
• Grievance redressal mechanism, through State Food Commissions, DGROs, Vigilance Committees at different levels are provisioned for Women Empowerment.
• Provisions for disclosure of records relating to PDS operations, placing of beneficiaries' list in public domain/portals, for enhanced transparency.
• Assistance to States/UTs for meeting expenditure on intra-State transportation & handling of foodgrains and FPS Dealers' margin.

The correct answer is Uttarakhand.

Key Points

• Uttarakhand became a separate state of India on 9 November 2000.
• It got separated from Uttar Pradesh and became the 27^th state of the country.
• Capital- Dehradun.

Additional Information

• Other states that were formed in the year 2000.

• Odisha became the state on April 1, 1936.
• Goa became the state on May 1, 1987.
• Sikkim became the state in 1975.

The correct answer is Odisha.

Key Points

• The Barabati stadium was built and established in 1958 by the Odisha Cricket Association.
• The stadium is mostly used for Cricket, sometimes Football and Hockey also.
• Headquarter of International Cricket Council**(ICC)** - Dubai, Abu Dhabi.
• Headquarter of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) - Mumbai.

Additional Information

• Other big stadiums include Kalinga stadium and Brahmapur stadium.
• India's largest hockey stadium planned in Rourkela, Odisha.
• The name of the stadium is Rourkela stadium and will act as the second venue for the 2023 Hockey World Cup.
• Himachal Pradesh - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamshala, Atal Vihari Vajpayee stadium, etc.
• Assam - Barsapara Cricket Stadium and Nehru stadium.
• Goa - Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium Football stadium.

Important Points

• Chief Minister of Odisha - Mohan Charan Majhi, Since 2024.
• Governor of Odisha - Raghubar Das

The correct answer is 25^th June.

• The Indian Emergency was a 21 month period beginning from 25^th June 1975 to 21^st March 1977.
• On the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India.

Important Points

• The Constitution stipulates three types of emergencies-
• National Emergency- Under Article 352, the president can declare a national emergency when the security of India or a part of it is threatened by war or external aggression, or armed rebellion.
• Constitutional Emergency-  Under Article 356, empowers the President to issue a proclamation if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
• Financial Emergency- Article 360 empowers the president to proclaim a Financial Emergency if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen due to which the financial stability or credit of India or any part of its territory is threatened.

Additional Information

• The term ‘armed rebellion’ is inserted from the 44^th amendment. Before this term, it was known as an internal disturbance.
• The 44^th Amendment Act laid out that Article 19 can only be suspended when the National Emergency is laid on the grounds of war or external aggression and not in the case of armed rebellion.
• An emergency was declared in India in the 1962 war (China war), 1971 war (Pakistan war), and 1975 internal disturbance (declared by Indira Gandhi).

The correct answer is Chess.

Key Points

• Koneru Humpy is from Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh, India.
• In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years.
• In 2003 she was awarded Arjuna Award.
• In 2007 she was awarded Padma Shri.
• She is an Asian games gold medalist winning 2 gold medals in the individual and mixed categories that were held in Doha.

Additional Information

• Some other famous chess players from India.

The correct answer is Harmika.

Key Points

• Buddhist stupa - Symbolic representation of the Buddha’s burial mound.
• A burial mound is an artificial hill of earth and stones built over the remains of the dead.
• Terms associated with the architecture of a Buddhist Stupa:
• A hemispherical mound (anda)
• A square railing (harmika)
• A central pillar supporting a triple-umbrella form (chatter)
• Enclosure wall with decorated gateways (toranas) at the cardinal directions
• A circular terrace (Medhi)

Additional Information

The correct answer is Education.

Key Points

• Hartog Committee was appointed to survey the growth of education in British Education.
• In 1929, the committee submitted its report.
• Recommendations of the Committee:
• Adoption of the policy of consolidation in place of multiplication of schools.
• Increasing the number of Government inspection staff.
• Adjustment of school hours and holidays to seasonal and local requirements
• Relating the curricula and methods of teaching to the conditions of villages in which children live and read.
• Improvement in the quality, training, status, pay, service condition of teachers.
• Fixation of the duration of the primary course to 4 years.

The correct answer is four.

Key Points

• Crocodiles have four-chamber hearts.
• Most reptiles have two atria and one ventricle.
• The only exceptions are the living species of crocodilians (alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gharials) who, like birds and mammals, have four-chambered hearts with two atria and two ventricles.

Additional Information

• Endotherm or Homeotherm have well developed four-chamber heart. Examples:- Birds and mammals. 
• They can maintain constant body temperature.
• Poikilotherm or Ectotherm do not have a well-developed heart, so they can not maintain constant body temperature. Examples:- Amphibians and reptiles.
• Fishes have a two-chamber heart.
• Amphibians have three-chamber heart.
• The cockroach has thirteen chamber hearts.

The correct answer is Suryakant Tripathi.

Key Points

• Suryakant Tripathi is known by his pen name ''Nirala'' was a renowned poet-novelist and story-writer.
• Some of his Notable works are Saroj Smriti, Raam Ki Shaktipuja, Dhwani, Parimal, Priyatam, Anaamika, Prabhavati, Nirupama, Apsara, etc.

Additional Information

• Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was a renowned poet of Hindi language. "Dinkar" is his pen name.
• He is also known as "Rastra-Kavi".
• He was a member of Rajya Sabha for three times.
• Some of his Notable works are Rashmirathi, Hunkar,  Parashuram ki Pratiksha, Samar Shesh Hai, Baapu,  Kurukshetra etc.
• He is the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award (1959),  Padma Bhushan (1959), Bharatiya Jnanpith (1972).
• Maithili Sharan Gupta was a renowned poet of Hindi language. 
• He was an honorary member of Rajya Sabha.
• Some of his Notable works are Bharat-Bharati,  Jayadrath Vadh, Nirjhar, Yashodhara, Rang mein Bhang, Matrubhumi, Manushyata, Gurukul.
• He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan (1954).
• Jaishankar Prasad was a renowned poet, playwright, and novelist. 
• Some of his Notable works are Kamayani, Skanda Gupta, Rajyashri, indrajaal, Pratidhvani, etc.

The correct answer is Biomass.

Key Points

• Biomass is a renewable energy source that comes from plants and animals.
• Biomass contains stored chemical energy from the sun.
• Plants produce biomass through photosynthesis.​

Additional Information

• Biomass sources for energy include:-
• Wood and wood processing wastes — firewood, wood pellets, and wood chips, lumber and furniture mill sawdust, and waste, etc.
• Agricultural crops and waste materials — corn, soybeans, sugar cane, switchgrass, woody plants, and algae, and crop and food processing residues.
• Biogenic materials in municipal solid waste — paper, cotton, and wool products, and food, yard, and wood wastes.
• Animal manure and human sewage.
• Fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes.
• It is natural fuel such as coal, Petroleum products, and Natural gas, that was formed millions of years ago from dead animals or plants in the ground.

Important Points

• Burning either fossil fuels or biomass releases carbon dioxide (CO₂), a greenhouse gas.
• India's Rank in Global Energy Transition Index - 74.
• Bitumen is a low-grade of crude oil which is composed of complex, heavy hydrocarbons.
• Asphalt, a black or brown petroleum-like material that has a consistency varying from viscous liquid to glassy solid.

The correct answer is brownish.

Key Points

Metal activity series:​

• The metals are arranged in an activity order that is known as metal activity series.
• The more active metals are present at the top of the series whereas the less active metals are put at the end of the series.
• The metal activity series is as follows-

​

Importance of the series-

• The metal activity series is used to predict displacement reactions.
• When an iron nail is dipped in copper sulphate solution, a brown coating of copper is formed in the surface of iron and the colour of copper sulphate solution changes from blue to pale green.

Explanation:

Displacement reaction

• It is a reaction wherein the atom or a set of atoms is displaced by another atom in a molecule.
• The reaction shows that iron is more reactive than copper because it displaces copper from the copper sulphate solution.

Hence, Iron nails become brown whereas the solution turns green.

• CuSO4 (aq) + Fe (s) → FeSO4 (aq) + Cu (s)
• In this reaction following two processes take place:
• Cu²⁺ + 2e = Cu⁰ (re­duc­tion process, Cu²⁺ is the ox­i­dizing agent)
• Fe⁰ – 2e = Fe²⁺ (ox­i­da­tion process, Fe⁰ is the re­duc­ing agent)
• The reaction can be double displacement reaction as well as redox reaction (oxidation and reduction both take place simultaneously).

​

The correct answer is Tuticorin.

Key Points

• Tuticorin is in the south of Tamil Nadu.
• The city lies on the Gulf of Mannar of the Indian Ocean.
• The changed name of Tuticorin is Thoothukudi.
• It is also called as "Sea Gateway of Tamil Nadu".

Additional Information

• Vellore is a city in Tamil Nadu, located on the banks of the Palar River.
• It is mainly famous for medical check-ups, education, Vellore Fort, and temple.
• Tiruchirapalli is an ancient city in the southern Tamil Nadu state.
• It is famous for its ancient temples.
• Tirunelveli is the largest district of Tamil Nadu state.
• It is famous for ancient temples and waterfalls.