General Awareness PYQs

The correct answer is Gujarat.

 

Key Points

• The major groundnut growing states are Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
• Gujarat is the largest producing state accounting for 40% of the total groundnut produced in the country.
• According to the All India crop coverage report 2018, groundnut has been sown in about 40.13 lakh hectares.
• In Gujarat, it has been sown in 14.67 lakh hectares followed by Andhra Pradesh (6.61 lakh ha) and Rajasthan (6.07 lakh ha).

 

Additional Information

• Groundnut in India occupies first in terms of area and second position in terms of production.
• China is the largest producer as well as consumer of groundnut in the world with 166.24 lakh tonnes followed by India (68.57 lakh tonnes), Nigeria (30.28 lakh tonnes), and the United States (25.78 lakh tonnes).

The correct answer is Jamshedpur.

 

Key Points

• Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was founded by Jamsetji Tata and established by Dorabji Tata on 26 August 1907.
• TISCO is located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
• TISCO started pig iron production in 1911 and began producing steel in 1912 as a branch of Jamsetji's Tata Group.

 

Important Points

• The Bhilai Steel Plant was established in 1955 with the help of the USSR.
• Durgapur Steel Plant is one of the integrated steel plants of Steel Authority of India Limited, located in Durgapur, West Bengal.
• It was set up with the help of the United Kingdom.
• Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), the first integrated steel plant in the public sector in India, was set up with German collaboration with an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes.

The correct answer is 1985.

 

Key Points

• The first summit of SAARC was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 7–8 December 1985.
• It was attended by Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan Nepal, and India.

 

Important Points

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.
• The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987.
• SAARC comprises of eight-member States:
• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

 

Additional Information

• You can remember the names of SAARC Countries using the mnemonic.
• "MBBS PAIN" for Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal.

The correct answer is Calcutta.

 

Key Points

• The National Anthem of India, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress.

 

Important Points

• The National Anthem of India Jana-Gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore.
• It was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950.

 

Additional Information

Lahore session

• The Lahore session was held in the year 1929.
• President: Jawahar Lal Nehru
• It passed the resolution on ‘Poorna Swaraj.’
• Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched.
• It was also decided that 26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’.

Belgaum Session (1924)

• Belgaum Session was the only Session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.

Tripuri Session (1939)

• Subhash Chandra Bose was re-elected the President of INC at the Tripuri Session in 1939 by defeating the Gandhi Ji's Candidate Pattabhai Sitaramaiyya.
• He resigned in April 1939, and announced, in May 1939, the formation of the Forward Bloc within the Congress.

The Correct Answer is Aorta.

Key Points

• The aorta is the main artery that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of your body.
• After the blood leaves the heart through the aortic valve, it travels through the aorta, making a cane-shaped curve that connects with other major arteries to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the brain, muscles, and other cells.

Important Points

Cerebrum

• The cerebrum is the uppermost part of the brain.
• The cerebrum itself contains the major lobes of the brain and is responsible for receiving and giving meaning to information from the sense organs, as well as controlling the body.

Cerebellum

• The cerebellum is a major structure of the hindbrain that is located near the brainstem.
• This part of the brain is responsible for coordinating voluntary movements.
• It is also responsible for a number of functions including motor skills such as balance, coordination, and posture.

Medulla

• The medulla oblongata makes up the lower part of the brainstem.
• It is anterior and partially inferior to the cerebellum.
• It is a cone-shaped neuronal mass responsible for autonomic (involuntary) functions, ranging from vomiting to sneezing.

The correct answer is Somdeva.    

Key Points

• The Kathasaritsagara is also known as Ocean of the Streams of Stories is a famous 11^th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by Somadeva.
• While the Kathasaritsagara itself is a compilation of many stories and legends, there is a great emphasis on the story of Udayana and his son.

 

Important Points

• Somadeva was an 11^th century CE writer from Kashmir.
• He was believed to be the court poet to King Ananta of Kashmir.

 

Additional Information

• Kalidasa one of the “nine gems” at the court of the king Vikramaditya of Ujjain.
• Few works of Kalidasa are
• Abhjnanashakuntala (“The Recognition of Shakuntala”)
• Vikramorvashi (“Urvashi Won by Valour”),
• Malavikagnimitra (“Malavika and Agnimitra”)
• The epic poems Raghuvamsha (“Dynasty of Raghu”) and Kumarasambhava (“Birth of the War God”); and the lyric “Meghaduta” (“Cloud Messenger”).
• Bhasa is one of the earliest known Sanskrit dramatists of ancient India.
• Jayadeva has written the Sanskrit poem Gita Govinda (“Song of the Cowherd [Krishna]”).

The correct answer is 29.5.

Key Points

• The new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude.
• The approximate period between two consecutive new moons is 29.5 days.
• The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth.
• The lunar phase between new moon to full moon is know as waxing phase.
• The lunar phase between full moon to new moon is know as waning phase.

The Correct Answer is 2.

Key Points

• Calcium bicarbonate also called calcium hydrogen carbonate.
• It has a chemical formula Ca(HCO₃)₂.
• From the above formula, we can say calcium bicarbonate has 2 hydrogen atoms.

 

Additional Information

• It is an ionic compound of calcium, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen.
• Though it is not a naturally occurring solid, it forms in the water of rivers, lakes, and streams when carbonate, bicarbonate, and calcium ions are dissolved with carbon dioxide.

The correct answer is 24.

Key Points

• Article 24 prohibits child labour.
• It mandates that No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

Important Points

• Article 31 states that no person shall be deprived of his/her property, except by authority of law.
• It is also mentioned that compensation would be paid to a person whose property has been taken for public purposes.
• Article 31 with the subheading “Right to Property” has been omitted by the Constitution Forty-Fourth Amendment Act 1978.
• Article 31(1) has been shifted to article 300A as a new insertion in Chapter IV in part XII of the constitution.
• Article 17 of the Indian Constitution abolishes the practice of untouchability in any form.
• According to the provision of Article 17, “enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability” is a punishable offence in accordance with the law.
• Article 21 guarantees the protection of life and personal liberty to every individual.
• It states that "No person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

The correct answer is Tigers.

Key Points

• LTTE stand for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
• It is a militant organization that sought to establish an independent Tamil state, Eelam, in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
• The LTTE was established in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran.
• The number of civil-war-related deaths in Sri Lanka since the early 1980s was estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000, with many tens of thousands more displaced by the fighting.

The correct answer is Geneva.

Key Points

• World Trade Organization(WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations founded in 1995.
• Its headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It has 164 member countries.
• It assists its members on a daily basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of international trade are correctly applied and enforced.

Its main function is trade negotiations, implementation and monitoring trade policies, dispute settlement between member countries, and building trade capacity for its member countries.

Additional Information

• Paris is the capital and most populous city of France.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has its headquarter in Paris.
• Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the UAE is Abu Dhabi.

The correct answer is Section 7.

 

Key Points

• According to Section 7 of the RBI Act, the central government may from time to time give such directions to the RBI as it may, after consultation with the Governor of the Bank, consider necessary in the public interest.
• This implies that the government can invoke the Section 7 to get the central bank to take decisions on matters where it would otherwise be reluctant.

 

Important Points

• Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 is the legislative act under which the Reserve Bank of India was formed.
• This act along with the Companies Act, which was amended in 1936, was meant to provide a framework for the supervision of banking firms in India.
• There is a total of 61 sections in the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934.

 

Additional Information

• Section 5 of the RBI defines banking process, banking company and banking policy .
• Section 3 in The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 states that "A bank to be called the Reserve Bank of India shall be constituted for the purposes of taking over the management of the currency from the Central Government and of carrying on the business of banking in accordance with the provisions of this Act."
• Section 1 of the RBI act mentions the Short title, extent, and commencement of RBI.

The correct answer is Bryophytes.

 

Key Points

• Bryophytes are called amphibians of the plant kingdom.
• Even though these plants live in soil, and they require water for sexual reproduction.
• The bryophyte sperm, which is antherozoids is flagellate and requires water to swim into the eggs.
• The plant body is commonly differentiated to form the stem and leaf-like structures.
• However, there is no specialized tissue for the conduction of water and other substances from one part of the plant body to another.

 

Important Points

Pteridophytes

• Pteridophytes are commonly known as Ferns.
• The plant's body is differentiated into roots, stems, and leaves and has specialized tissue for the conduction of water and other substances from one part of the plant body to another.
• Some examples are marsilea, ferns, and horse-tails.

Gymnosperms

• The plants of this group bear naked seeds [ovules are not enclosed by any ovary wall] and are usually perennial, evergreen and woody.
• The seeds that develop post-fertilization are naked too.
• Examples are pines, such as deodar.

Liverworts 

• Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plants similar to mosses.
• They do not produce seeds, flowers, fruit or wood, and even lack vascular tissue.
• Instead of seeds, liverworts produce spores for reproduction.

The Correct Answer is Nagapattinam.

 

Key Points

• Velankanni has one of the country's biggest Catholic pilgrimage centres located in Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu.
• The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is popularly known as the "Lourdes of the East".
• Its origins can be traced back to the 16^th century.
• The church's founding is attributed to three miracles: the apparition of Mary and Jesus to a slumbering shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor, and the survival of Portuguese sailors assaulted by a violent sea storm.
• It is built in the Gothic style, was modified by Portuguese and then further expanded later on due to the influx of pilgrims.
• The church building was raised to the status of basilica in 1962 by Pope John XXIII.

The correct answer is Kerala.

Key Points

• The Silent Valley Movement was started in 1973 by an NGO led by school teachers and the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad(KSSP) to save Silent Valley from being flooded by a hydroelectric project.
• In 1970 the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposes a hydroelectric dam across the Kunthipuzha River that runs through Silent Valley, that will submerge 8.3 sq km of untouched moist evergreen forest.
• Silent Valley is an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India.
• The valley was declared as Silent Valley National Park in 1985.

Additional Information

• In 1973 Chipko movement, was started in the Himalayan regions of U.P. (now in Uttarakhand).
• The aim of this movement was forest conservation and increase social awareness and the need to save trees, increase ecological awareness, and demonstrate the viability of people power.
• Sunderlal Bahuguna and Gaura Devi are the key people of this movement.
• Sunderlal Bahuguna gave the slogan "Ecology is the permanent economy".

The correct answer is Urjit Patel.

Key Points

• Urjit Patel was the 24^th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 4 September 2016 to10 December 2018.
• He had also served as Deputy Governor of RBI from 11 January 2013 to 4 September 2016.
• Presently he is the Chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) is an autonomous research institute under Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• Urjit Patel was the Chairman of Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework, appointed by RBI on September 12, 2013.
• Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework:
• Objective of the Committee is to recommend what needs to be done to revise and strengthen the current monetary policy framework with a view to, inter alia, making it transparent and predictable.
• Suggestion: The Committee suggested a five-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - three members from the RBI and two nominated by the Government.
• Presently the committee comprises six members - three officials of the RBI and three external members nominated by the Government of India.
• The Governor of RBI is the ex officio chairperson of the committee.
• They need to observe a "silent period" seven days before and after the rate decision for "utmost confidentiality". Decisions are taken by majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie.
• The current mandate of the committee is to maintain 4% annual inflation until 31 March 2021 with an upper tolerance of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%.

Additional Information

• C Rangarajan was the 19^th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• He had also served as Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, from August 2009 to May 2014.
• He was the Chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission of India.
• Y V Reddy was the 21^st Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• He was the chairman of the Fourteenth Finance Commission of India.
• Bimal Jalan was the 20^th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• He has also been the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister between January 1991 to September 1992.

The correct answer is The particles of the solute settle down at the bottom when the solution is kept undisturbed.

Key Points

• A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances in which the particle size is smaller than 1 nm.

Important Points

• Properties of a Solution
• A solution is a homogeneous mixture.
• The size of solute particles in a solution too small having diameter less than 1 nanometer.
• A solution cannot be separated by filtration.
• The particles of the solute cannot be seen with unaided eyes
• The solute particles do not settle down when left undisturbed, that is, a solution is stable.
• A true solution does not scatter light because its particles are tiny enough to do so.
• Common examples of solutions are the Salt solution, Sugar solution, Vinegar, etc.

The Correct Answer is An air column in a closed organ pipe.

 

Key Points

• In a closed pipe, only odd harmonics are produced.
• The frequencies of harmonics are in the ratio of 1: 3: 5.....

 

Important Points

• Each natural frequency that an object or instrument produces has its own characteristic vibrational mode or standing wave pattern.
• A harmonic is an integer (whole number) multiple of the fundamental frequency.
• The harmonics generated depend on the note or chord being played, and each frequency will produce different harmonics.
• The harmonics heard are based on the fundamental frequency being played and produce a lower amplitude (or volume) as they increase from 1^st to 8^th harmonic.

 

Additional Information

• When a string is fixed at both ends, two waves travelling in opposite directions simply bounce back and forth between the ends.
• This will produce even harmonics.
• When air is blown into the open organ pipe, the air column vibrates in the fundamental mode.
• Antinodes are formed at the ends and a node is formed in the middle of the pipe.
• The frequencies of harmonics are in the ratio of 1: 2 : 3...

The correct answer is 0.

 

Key Points

• Venus (and the planet Mercury) are the only two planets that don't have a single natural moon orbiting them.

Important Points

• Venus is only a little smaller than the Earth.
• Venus is the second closest planet to the sun at a distance of about 108 million km (67 million miles) or 0.72 AU.
• One day on Venus lasts as long as 243 Earth days (the time it takes for Venus to rotate or spin once).

Additional Information

• Moons are also known as natural satellites that orbit planets and asteroids in our solar system.

The Correct Answer is 12:00.

 

Key Points

• From sunrise to sunset, the sun traces an arc across the sky and reaches its highest point in the sky at local noon.
• As the sun moves through the sky, the shadow cast by an object is constantly changing in length.
• The shortest shadow occurs when the sun reaches its highest point, at local noon.

 

Additional Information

• Shadows are longest in the early morning and late afternoon/early evening when the sun appears low in the sky.
• As the Earth rotates on its axis, the sun hits each location in the morning at an angle.
• This makes the shadow appear long.