RRB NTPC CBT 1 2016 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

At birth, a human baby has approximately 270 bones, many of which are made partly or entirely of flexible cartilage. As the infant grows into adulthood, these separate bony elements undergo ossification and fuse together, eventually forming the 206 fused bones characteristic of an adult human skeleton.

Explanation

Anil Kapoor was felicitated with the 73rd Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award in April 2015 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The award was instituted in memory of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, father of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, and is presented annually to honor exceptional contributions to music, cinema, theatre, literature, and social service.

Explanation

The centigrade scale was developed by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius in 1742, proposing a 100-degree interval between the freezing and boiling points of water. In 1948, the 9th General Conference on Weights and Measures officially renamed the unit from centigrade to Celsius in his honor to standardize scientific terminology globally.

Explanation

Jupiter is characterized by a distinctive striped appearance consisting of alternating orange-brown and white bands running parallel to its equator. The lighter white bands, known as zones, are regions of rising gas containing clouds of frozen ammonia ice crystals. The darker orange and brownish bands, known as belts, are regions where gas descends and contain chemical compounds such as ammonium hydrosulfide, which turn orange when exposed to ultraviolet light from the Sun.

Explanation

Lactobacillus, a genus of lactic acid bacteria, is responsible for converting milk into curd. During fermentation, it converts lactose, the natural sugar present in milk, into lactic acid. The resulting increase in acidity causes the milk protein casein to coagulate and form curd, while also imparting a characteristic sour flavor and enhancing the nutritional value by increasing vitamin B12.

Explanation

Suresh Prabhu served as the Union Cabinet Minister for Railways from November 2014 to September 2017. On February 25, 2016, he presented the 2016–17 Railway Budget in Parliament, which focused on improving passenger amenities, track electrification, speed enhancement, and infrastructure development. This was notably the last standalone Railway Budget presented in India before its 92-year-old tradition was merged into the Union Budget in 2017.

Explanation

In environmental science, SPM stands for Suspended Particulate Matter. It refers to fine solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air or water. These microscopic particles, which include dust, smoke, soot, pollen, and aerosols, are a major component of air pollution and pose significant risks to human respiratory health and environmental quality.

Explanation

In 1327 AD, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Muhammad Bin Tughlaq decided to transfer his capital from Delhi to Devagiri in the Deccan region, which he renamed Daulatabad. He believed Daulatabad was centrally located and would allow him to administer both Northern and Southern India more effectively, while also providing safety against frequent Mongol invasions from the northwest.

Explanation

The Millau Viaduct is a multi-span cable-stayed bridge designed by structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and architect Norman Foster. Located in southern France, it spans the gorge valley of the River Tarn near the town of Millau. With a maximum structural height of 343 metres (1,125 feet), it holds the official record as the tallest bridge in the world.

Explanation

Under Article 53(2) of the Constitution of India, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union is vested in the President of India. As Pranab Mukherjee was serving as the President of India in April 2016, he held the position of Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, exercising constitutional authority and supreme command over the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Explanation

In 1847, the British chocolate maker J. S. Fry | Sons (Joseph Fry | Sons) produced the world's first solid chocolate bar meant for eating. By combining cocoa powder, sugar, and melted cocoa butter, they developed a smooth chocolate paste that could be pressed into a mold, revolutionizing the way chocolate was consumed from a liquid beverage to a solid treat.

Explanation

Galileo Galilei discovered the principle of the pendulum (isochronism) in 1602 after observing a swinging chandelier in the cathedral of Pisa. In 1637, he conceived the mechanism to use a swinging pendulum to regulate a clock, and in 1641, he dictated detailed designs for the first pendulum-regulated clock mechanism alongside his son Vincenzo, pioneering the concept of pendulum timekeeping.

Explanation

Java was designated by Google as the official programming language for Android application development. The Android Software Development Kit (SDK) relies on Java to interact with the Android application framework, compiling the written code into bytecode executed by the Android Runtime (ART) or Dalvik Virtual Machine.

Explanation

Douglas Engelbart invented the computer mouse in 1964 while working at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The prototype was housed in a carved wooden block with two perpendicular metal wheels that tracked movement across a surface. He demonstrated the device publicly in 1968 during a landmark presentation known as "The Mother of All Demos" and received a patent for the "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System" in 1970.

Explanation

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is commonly referred to as the brain of the computer because it performs all basic arithmetic, logical, control, and input/output operations required to execute program instructions and process data.

Explanation

Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi served as the 20th Chief Election Commissioner of India from 19 April 2015 to 5 July 2017. A 1976-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, he previously served as an Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India and as the Union Civil Aviation Secretary.

Explanation

The Queen is the most powerful piece in chess because it combines the movement capabilities of both the Rook and the Bishop. It can move any number of squares orthogonally along ranks and files or diagonally along any unobstructed line, giving it the greatest mobility and board coverage of any piece.

Explanation

Fa Hien (Faxian) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who visited India during the Gupta period, specifically during the reign of Emperor Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya), between 399 CE and 414 CE. His primary objective was to visit sacred Buddhist sites and collect authentic copies of Buddhist religious texts. His travelogue, 'Fo-Kwo-Ki' (Record of Buddhist Kingdoms), provides detailed insights into the social, economic, and religious conditions of northern India under Gupta rule.

Explanation

In tennis, the term 'bagel' refers to a set that ends with a score of 6–0. The term was coined because the numeral zero resembles the circular shape of a bagel. A match won with scores of 6–0, 6–0 is referred to as a 'double bagel', while a three-set victory with scores of 6–0, 6–0, 6–0 is known as a 'triple bagel'.

Explanation

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a chemical compound commonly known as laughing gas. Inhaling small amounts of N₂O induces a euphoric and relaxing effect, often causing involuntary laughter. Due to its analgesic and anesthetic properties, it is widely used in dental and medical procedures.

Explanation

Binny Bansal was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Flipkart in January 2016. Co-founding the e-commerce company in 2007, he previously served as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) before taking over the CEO role to manage overall business operations and performance.

Explanation

According to Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion, planets revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits, with the Sun situated at one of the two foci. An ellipse is a closed geometric curve where the sum of the distances from any point on the curve to two fixed points (the foci) is constant, causing the distance between a planet and the Sun to continuously change throughout its orbit.

Explanation

Goecha La is a high mountain pass situated in the West Sikkim district of Sikkim in the Himalayan region. Located at an altitude of approximately 4,940 meters (16,207 feet) inside the Kanchenjunga National Park, it serves as the southeast face base camp for Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. The pass is a popular trekking route offering views of Mount Kanchenjunga and adjacent Himalayan peaks such as Pandim, Kabru, and Rathong.

Explanation

Twitter was founded in March 2006 by Evan Williams along with Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. Evan Williams, a prominent American technology entrepreneur who previously co-founded Blogger, played a key role in providing financial backing and strategic leadership during the early development of the platform, later serving as Twitter's Chief Executive Officer from 2008 to 2010.

Explanation

According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover by area among all states in the country. It possesses extensive deciduous forest tracts that cover over 77,000 square kilometers, making it the top state in terms of total geographical area under forest cover.

Explanation

An astronomical unit (AU) is a unit of length defined as approximately 149.6 million kilometers (1.496 × 10¹¹ meters), which is the mean distance between Earth and the Sun. It is commonly used in astronomy to express distances within the Solar System or around other stars.

Explanation

Deposition is a thermodynamic phase transition in which a gas transforms directly into a solid without passing through the liquid phase. A common real-world example of deposition is the formation of frost, where water vapor in cold air turns directly into solid ice crystals on surfaces without first becoming liquid water.

Explanation

In October 2015, the Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Nagpur, Maharashtra, under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The premier medical institution was allocated land at the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) site to improve healthcare facilities and medical education in the region.

Explanation

The BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine is primarily used to protect against tuberculosis (TB). It is prepared from an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a bacterium closely related to the human tuberculosis pathogen. It provides immunity against severe forms of tuberculosis, particularly tuberculous meningitis and disseminated TB in infants and young children.

Explanation

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the foundational protocols of the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) operating at the Transport layer. It provides reliable, connection-oriented, and ordered delivery of data packets between applications communicating over an IP network through mechanisms such as error-checking, flow control, and sequence numbering.

Explanation

Madurai, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in India and the historical cultural capital of Tamil Nadu, is situated on the banks of the Vaigai River. The river originates in the Varusanadu Hills of the Western Ghats and flows through Madurai before emptying into the Palk Strait.

Explanation

Morarji Desai was conferred India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1991. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of India between 1977 and 1979, heading the Janata Party government. He holds the unique distinction of being awarded both the Bharat Ratna and Pakistan's highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan.

Explanation

Sodium chloride (common salt) makes up approximately 0.4% of total body weight in a healthy human adult. Salt is an essential component of human body chemistry, found mostly in body fluids such as blood, sweat, and tears. It plays a critical role in maintaining fluid and mineral balance, transmitting nerve signals, and enabling muscle contraction and relaxation. An average adult weighing 50 kg contains around 200 grams of salt in their body.

Explanation

Temasek is the oldest recorded name for the island of Singapore, appearing in early 14th-century Javanese texts like the Nagarakretagama and Chinese records as Danmaxi. Derived from the Malay word "tasik" (meaning lake or sea), Temasek translates to "Sea Town". The settlement retained this name until the late 14th century, when prince Sang Nila Utama established a new kingdom on the island and renamed it Singapura.

Explanation

Charon is the largest of Pluto's five known natural satellites, discovered in 1978 by astronomer James Christy. It is exceptionally large relative to Pluto, with about half the diameter and one-eighth the mass of Pluto itself. Because of this, the center of mass around which they orbit lies in the open space between them, leading many astronomers to consider Pluto and Charon a double dwarf planet system.

Explanation

Michael Schumacher is a legendary Formula One racing driver born in Hürth, Germany. He won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—two with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, and five consecutive titles with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004—making him one of the most successful drivers in motorsport history.

Explanation

Mercury is a heavy liquid metal traditionally used in glass clinical and laboratory thermometers due to its uniform thermal expansion, wide liquid temperature range, and ability to expand and contract without adhering to glass walls. It is a potent neurotoxin that vaporizes at room temperature. Exposure to mercury vapors or skin absorption can severely damage the central nervous system, kidneys, and lungs, leading to its global phase-out in favor of safer digital alternatives.

Explanation

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century citadel built by the Inca Empire under the reign of Emperor Pachacuti around 1450 AD. Situated high in the Andes mountains of southern Peru, it is the most famous surviving architectural achievement of Inca civilization, renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone masonry, extensive agricultural terraces, and precise astronomical alignments.

Explanation

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was formally launched on 26 November 2012 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, by Arvind Kejriwal and other activists. The party emerged in the aftermath of the 2011 India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, following a decision to directly enter electoral politics.

Explanation

When a spoon is partially submerged in water, light rays travelling from the underwater portion bend at the interface where water meets air as they move from an optically denser medium to a rarer medium. This bending of light when passing from one medium to another with a different optical density is known as refraction. Due to this refraction, the submerged part of the spoon appears shifted from its actual position, causing it to look bent or broken at the surface of the water.

Explanation

Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 while investigating phosphorescence in uranium salts. He noticed that uranium spontaneously emitted radiation capable of penetrating opaque paper and exposing photographic plates without requiring exposure to sunlight. For this ground-breaking discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 alongside Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.

Explanation

The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), native to the South American Andes, is the only bird species in the world with a bill longer than the rest of its body. This specialized adaptation enables it to feed on nectar from flowers with deep, long corollas, such as certain species of passion flowers, which other birds cannot reach.

Explanation

Lord Dalhousie, who served as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, devised and extensively implemented the Doctrine of Lapse. Under this expansionist annexation policy, any princely state under the paramountcy of the British East India Company whose ruler died without a natural male heir was automatically annexed into British territory, refusing to recognize the rights of adopted heirs. Satara in 1848, Sambalpur in 1849, Jhansi in 1853, and Nagpur in 1854 were among the prominent states annexed under this doctrine.

Explanation

According to the 18th annual Mercer Quality of Living survey published in February 2016, Vienna (Austria) secured the first position globally for the best quality of life. The survey evaluated cities worldwide based on 39 factors across 10 categories, including political stability, economic climate, healthcare, education, public services, housing, and infrastructure.

Explanation

The Battle of Chillianwala was fought on 13 January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It took place near the Jhelum River in the Punjab region between the forces of the British East India Company, commanded by General Sir Hugh Gough, and the Sikh Empire, led by Raja Sher Singh Attariwalla. It was one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles fought by the British in India, resulting in heavy British casualties before the conflict concluded with the eventual British annexation of Punjab later that year.

Explanation

Disposable income represents the net amount of money an individual or household has available for spending and saving after deducting personal income taxes and other mandatory direct charges from their gross personal income.

Explanation

The Cray-1 was the first commercially successful supercomputer, designed by Seymour Cray and manufactured by Cray Research. Released in 1976, it featured an innovative C-shaped chassis to shorten internal vector signal delays and achieved a peak processing speed of 160 megaflops, making it the fastest computer in the world at that time.

Explanation

The PARAM series represents India's first indigenous supercomputer series, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune. The first machine in the series, PARAM 8000, was assembled and launched in 1991 under the leadership of Dr. Vijay P. Bhatkar, establishing India's self-reliance in high-performance computing.

Explanation

Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, founded homeopathy in the late 18th century and propounded its fundamental principle of "similia similibus curentur" or "like cures like." This doctrine posits that a substance that causes symptoms of a disease in healthy individuals can cure similar symptoms in sick patients when given in highly diluted doses. Hahnemann introduced this concept in 1796 and comprehensively detailed it in his seminal text, the "Organon of Medicine."

Explanation

The Sisodia clan of Rajputs ruled the Kingdom of Mewar with Chittorgarh (Chittor Fort) as its capital. Under famous rulers such as Maharana Kumbha, Maharana Sanga, and Maharana Pratap, Chittorgarh became legendary for its grand architecture and resistance against medieval invasions. Chittorgarh served as the primary seat of power for the Sisodias until Maharana Udai Singh II established Udaipur as the new capital after the siege of Chittorgarh in 1567–1568.