RRB NTPC CBT 1 2020 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a government-backed small deposit scheme launched in January 2015 as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It enables parents or legal guardians to open a dedicated high-interest savings account for a girl child below 10 years of age to accumulate funds for her future education and marriage expenses, while also providing tax benefits under Section 80C.

Explanation

Maldives is not a member of BIMSTEC. The seven member countries of BIMSTEC, which aims to promote technical and economic cooperation among nations dependent on the Bay of Bengal, are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Maldives is part of SAARC but is not included in the BIMSTEC grouping.

Explanation

Sikkim is geographically separated from the main cluster of north-eastern states by the Siliguri Corridor and is officially recognized as the brother state to the region after joining the North Eastern Council in 2002. The Seven Sisters refers specifically to the contiguous group of seven states in North-East India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

Explanation

The Environment (Protection) Act was enacted by the Parliament of India in 1986 in the wake of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of December 1984. Passed under Article 253 of the Constitution to implement the decisions made at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, the Act came into force on 19 November 1986. It serves as an umbrella legislation designed to provide a comprehensive framework for the coordination of central and state authorities in environmental protection efforts.

Explanation

India's first Vande Bharat Express, originally developed as Train 18, was flagged off on February 15, 2019, connecting New Delhi and Varanasi Junction. Indigenously designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai under the Make in India initiative, this self-propelled semi-high-speed train was designed to operate at speeds up to 160 km/h, drastically reducing travel time between the two cities.

Explanation

Pinaka is an indigenous multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army. Named after the bow of Lord Shiva, it is designed to deliver a large volume of fire in a short time and can fire a salvo of 12 high-explosive rockets in 44 seconds to neutralize area targets.

Explanation

Mass is an intrinsic property of matter that represents the total amount of matter in a body and remains constant regardless of location or gravitational pull. While weight varies depending on the acceleration due to gravity (W = mg), mass does not change. Therefore, an individual with a mass of 60 kg on Earth maintains the exact same mass of 60 kg on the Moon.

Explanation

Renowned Malayalam poet and essayist Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, popularly known as Akkitham, was conferred with the 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019 for his immense contribution to Indian literature. He became the sixth Malayalam writer to receive India's highest literary honour, widely acclaimed for his modernist poetry and notable works such as Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam.

Explanation

Dandi is a coastal village located in the Jalalpore taluka of Navsari district in Gujarat. It gained historic prominence during the Indian independence movement when Mahatma Gandhi concluded his 24-day Salt March (Dandi Satyagraha) there. Having started from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on 12 March 1930, Gandhi reached Dandi on 5 April 1930 and broke the British salt monopoly by picking up a handful of natural salt from the seashore on 6 April 1930. Today, Dandi is recognized as a historical site along the Arabian Sea coast in Navsari district.

Explanation

Zoji La is a high mountain pass situated on National Highway 1 (NH 1) in the Himalayan range. Located at an altitude of approximately 3,528 meters (11,575 feet) above sea level, it serves as a crucial strategic road link connecting Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley with Leh in Ladakh.

Explanation

Japan is not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Under Article 23 of the UN Charter, the five permanent seats belong to China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Japan, along with other G4 nations, advocates for UNSC expansion and permanent representation but currently serves on the Council only as an elected non-permanent member for two-year terms.

Explanation

The Gobi Desert is a cold desert region located in East Asia, spanning parts of northern and northeastern China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world, situated on a high plateau bounded by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tibetan Plateau to the south.

Explanation

Coal India Limited (CIL) was granted Maharatna status by the Government of India in April 2011. To be eligible for Maharatna status, a Central Public Sector Enterprise must already be a Navratna company, listed on an Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding, and achieve specific financial parameters over three consecutive years, such as an average annual net profit of over ₹5,000 crore, an average annual turnover of ₹25,000 crore, or an average annual net worth of ₹15,000 crore.

Explanation

Ubuntu is an open-source Linux-based operating system developed by Canonical Ltd. First released in October 2004, it is built on the Debian architecture and is widely used across personal computers, cloud infrastructure, and servers worldwide.

Explanation

Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda with effect from April 1, 2019. This marked the first-ever three-way merger of public sector banks in India, creating the third-largest lender in the country at the time after State Bank of India and HDFC Bank. Under the terms of the scheme of amalgamation, shareholders of Vijaya Bank received 402 equity shares of Bank of Baroda for every 1,000 shares held, while shareholders of Dena Bank received 110 equity shares of Bank of Baroda for every 1,000 shares held.

Explanation

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is referred to as the brain of the computer because it controls all internal operations and processes instructions. It receives input, executes calculations using its Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), and manages data flow across the entire system via its Control Unit (CU).

Explanation

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), informally known as Mangalyaan, on 5 November 2013. It was carried into space by the PSLV-XL C25 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, making India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to successfully do so on its maiden attempt.

Explanation

The mole (symbol: mol) is the SI base unit used to measure the amount of a substance. One mole contains exactly 6.02214076 × 10²³ elementary entities, which may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, or other specified particles. This fixed numerical value is known as Avogadro's constant.

Explanation

Kalhana, a Kashmiri scholar and poet, authored 'Rajatarangini' (The River of Kings) in Sanskrit around 1148–1150 CE. It is one of the earliest and most detailed historical chronicles of ancient and medieval India, recording the history, royal lineages, and administration of Kashmir.

Explanation

Pattachitra is a traditional cloth-based scroll painting originating from the state of Odisha. Derived from the Sanskrit words 'Patta' (canvas or cloth) and 'Chitra' (picture), this ancient art form is deeply associated with the Jagannath cult and the temple traditions of Puri. Artists, known as Chitrakars, create intricate depictions of mythological themes, deities, and folklore using natural colors derived from minerals, shells, and plants on specially prepared cotton canvas. Raghurajpur in Odisha is globally recognized as a heritage crafts village dedicated to preserving this traditional art form.

Explanation

Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, established the Khalsa Panth on the day of Baisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib. He created this warrior community of initiated Sikhs by administering Amrit (holy water) to the Panj Pyare (Five Beloved Ones), introducing the five Ks (Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachera, and Kirpan) and bestowing the surname Singh for men and Kaur for women to promote equality and righteous courage.

Explanation

Buland Darwaza is located in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra in Uttar Pradesh. It was built in 1601 AD by the Mughal emperor Akbar to celebrate his victory over Gujarat and serves as the main entrance to the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri.

Explanation

Chicken pox is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), an enveloped DNA virus belonging to the herpesvirus family. It spreads easily through airborne droplets from coughs or sneezes, as well as through direct contact with skin blisters, characteristically producing an itchy red rash accompanied by fluid-filled blisters across the body.

Explanation

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a standardized web address used to identify and retrieve specific resources, such as web pages, images, or documents, across the internet. Introduced by Tim Berners-Lee in 1994, it specifies both the location of the resource on a computer network and the protocol used to access it, such as HTTP or HTTPS.

Explanation

Sericulture is the commercial rearing of silkworms, primarily the larvae of the mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori), for the production of raw silk. The process involves cultivating host plants such as mulberry to feed the silkworms, carefully managing the larvae through their developmental stages until they spin cocoons, and then reeling the fine silk filaments from these cocoons to weave silk yarn and textiles.

Explanation

Lichens represent a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between a fungus (mycobiont) and an photosynthetic partner, which can be an alga or a cyanobacterium (photobiont). The fungal partner provides structural protection, retains moisture, and absorbs essential minerals from the surroundings, while the photosynthetic partner produces organic food through photosynthesis to nourish both components.

Explanation

World Environment Day is celebrated globally on June 5 every year to raise awareness and encourage action for the protection of the environment. For the year 2020, the United Nations declared the theme as Biodiversity, with the campaign tagline Time for Nature. The 2020 observance was hosted by Colombia in partnership with Germany, focusing on the urgent need to preserve biodiversity and protect global ecosystems.

Explanation

Prarthana Samaj was founded by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang on 31 March 1867 in Bombay (now Mumbai). It emerged as a major religious and social reform movement in Maharashtra, largely inspired by the Brahmo Samaj after Keshab Chandra Sen visited Bombay. The reform society focused on promoting monotheism, women's education, widow remarriage, and the abolition of the caste system.

Explanation

Sound is a mechanical wave that propagates as a longitudinal pressure wave through particle vibrations. Because it strictly requires a material medium to transmit these vibrations from one particle to another, sound cannot travel through a vacuum, where no matter or particles exist.

Explanation

The 3rd edition of the Khelo India Youth Games was hosted in Guwahati, Assam, from January 10 to January 22, 2020. The event featured over 6,800 athletes competing across 20 sports disciplines, with Maharashtra finishing at the top of the medal tally with 256 total medals.

Explanation

Under Article 81 of the Constitution of India, the maximum sanctioned strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552 members. This maximum composition consists of up to 530 members elected from territorial constituencies in the States, up to 20 members representing the Union Territories, and 2 members nominated by the President of India from the Anglo-Indian community under Article 331.

Explanation

The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya (Hemu) and the Mughal Emperor Akbar, whose army was led by his regent Bairam Khan. The Mughal victory in this battle secured Akbar's reign and firmly established Mughal control over Delhi and Agra.

Explanation

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power station in India by capacity. It is situated in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu along the Coromandel Coast. Constructed in technical collaboration with Russia, the plant utilizes pressurized water reactors (VVER-1000) to generate electricity for the southern grid.

Explanation

Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy assumed office as the sixth President of India on July 25, 1977, at the age of 64 years and 67 days. He held the record of being the youngest person to assume the highest constitutional post in the country. He also holds the distinction of being the only candidate elected unopposed to the office of the President of India.

Explanation

Paraguay and Bolivia are the only two landlocked countries in South America. Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific Ocean following the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), rendering it entirely landlocked. Paraguay lies in the interior of the continent with no ocean coastline, relying on the Paraguay–Paraná river network for waterway access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Explanation

The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) was established in 1949 at Patna, Bihar, under the Ministry of Agriculture, and was shifted to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in 1956 to facilitate research on seed potato production and breeding under temperate climatic conditions. It operates as a premier institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) dedicated to potato research, breeding, crop protection, and post-harvest technology.

Explanation

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and serves as the principal judicial organ of the UN. It is housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, making it the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not situated in New York.

Explanation

Bal Gangadhar Tilak raised the iconic slogan "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it" (often translated as "Freedom is my birth right and I shall have it") in 1916 during the Home Rule Movement to awaken national consciousness and demand self-rule against British colonial administration. Revered as Lokmanya, he was an ardent nationalist leader who advocated for complete self-governance and active public participation in the Indian freedom struggle.

Explanation

Gujarat has the longest mainland coastline among all Indian states, spanning approximately 1,214.7 km along the Arabian Sea. It accounts for nearly 23% of India's total mainland coastline, heavily indented with the Gulf of Khambhat and the Gulf of Kutch.

Explanation

The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple is located inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. Situated in the Western Ghats mountain ranges at an altitude of about 468 metres, this ancient temple is dedicated to Lord Ayyappan and is one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world, attracting millions of devotees during the Mandala-Makaravilakku season.

Explanation

The large intestine is a primary organ of the digestive system responsible for absorbing water, forming feces, and excreting solid waste from the human body. It is involved in food processing and nutrient absorption, rather than the movement or transport of fluids through a cardiovascular network.

Explanation

The Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) was established by the European Union in 2007 to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on climate change with developing countries that are most vulnerable to its impacts, particularly Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It provides targeted technical and financial assistance to help these nations integrate climate resilience and adaptation strategies into their national development planning.

Explanation

The Yen (symbol: ¥, code: JPY) is the official currency of Japan. Introduced in 1871 under the Meiji Restoration through the New Currency Act, it replaced the complex Tokugawa monetary system with a modern decimal currency system based on gold standard principles. Today, the Yen is one of the most traded currencies in the world and serves as a major global reserve currency administered by the Bank of Japan.

Explanation

M. N. Roy (Manabendra Nath Roy), a pioneer of the communist movement in India and a proponent of radical democratism, first put forward the idea of a Constituent Assembly for India in 1934. Following his initiative, the Indian National Congress officially adopted the demand for a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India in 1935.

Explanation

The biosphere is the global ecosystem that includes all living organisms on Earth along with the non-living environments with which they interact. It extends from the deepest soil layers and ocean trenches up into the lower layers of the atmosphere, encompassing every zone where life exists and thrives.

Explanation

The Grammy Award is presented annually by The Recording Academy in the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. Established in 1959, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious honor in global music and is awarded exclusively for excellence in musical recordings and performances across various genres.

Explanation

Dadabhai Naoroji made the first attempt to calculate national income in India for the year 1867–68, which was published in his book "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India" in 1901. He estimated India's per capita income at ₹20 per annum based on the non-scientific method of estimating total agricultural production and adding a percentage for non-agricultural products.

Explanation

Boyle's Law states that for a fixed mass of gas at a constant temperature, the volume of the gas is inversely proportional to its pressure. Mathematically, it is expressed as P ∝ 1/V or PV = constant, where P represents pressure and V represents volume. When the pressure applied to a gas increases at constant temperature, its molecules are forced closer together, causing the gas volume to decrease proportionally.

Explanation

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established in 1945 to maintain international peace and security. Its headquarters is located at the primary United Nations Headquarters complex in New York City, United States, where its regular meetings and administrative operations take place.

Explanation

Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) scheme provides non-formal vocational skill training to non-literates, neo-literates, and school dropouts, particularly focusing on women and underprivileged groups in rural and urban areas. Originally launched as Shramik Vidyapeeth in 1967 under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the scheme was transferred to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in July 2018 to integrate non-formal skill training into the national skill development framework.