RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed as the chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1946 and headed its drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Under her leadership, the committee drafted the landmark document outlining fundamental human rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Her pivotal role in uniting diverse international delegates earned her the title First Lady of the World.

Explanation

Tundra vegetation thrives in cold, extreme climate conditions characterized by low temperatures, short growing seasons, and frozen ground. In India, alpine tundra vegetation occurs at very high altitudes in the Himalayan region above the tree line (around 3,500 to 4,000 meters above sea level). Vegetation in this frigid zone mainly consists of dwarf shrubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens that are adapted to withstand harsh freezing winds and thin atmospheric conditions.

Explanation

NRDWP stands for National Rural Drinking Water Programme. Launched in April 2009 by the Government of India, it was a flagship scheme aimed at providing safe and adequate drinking water to the rural population across the country. In 2019, the programme was restructured and subsumed under the Jal Jeevan Mission with the objective of providing Functional Household Tap Connections to all rural households.

Explanation

Anju Bobby George created history when she won the bronze medal in the women's long jump at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Athletics held in Paris. With a jump of 6.70 meters, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships.

Explanation

Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, located at Babatpur in Varanasi, features an 18-foot-tall bronze statue of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Designed by renowned sculptor Ram V. Sutar and sponsored by Northern Coalfields Limited, the statue was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2019. The airport itself was officially renamed in honor of Lal Bahadur Shastri in 2005.

Explanation

Qanats, originating in ancient Persia around the 1st millennium BCE, are gently sloping underground channels designed to transport water from subterranean aquifers to the surface. By utilizing gravity along a precise, gradual decline, these subterranean aqueducts deliver water over long distances without pumping, minimizing evaporation losses in arid and semi-arid regions for irrigation and domestic consumption.

Explanation

James Prinsep, an officer at the Calcutta Mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, successfully deciphered the ancient Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts used in Ashokan edicts in 1837. His breakthrough identified King Devanampiya Piyadasi in the inscriptions as Emperor Ashoka, playing a crucial role in reconstructing early Indian history.

Explanation

In October 2019, Ecuador's Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources announced that the country would officially withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective 1 January 2020. The decision was driven by Ecuador's internal fiscal challenges and its strategic goal to increase crude oil production beyond OPEC's assigned production quotas to generate higher state revenue.

Explanation

Indradhanush 2.0 is a comprehensive plan launched by the Government of India for the recapitalisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Formulated following the Reserve Bank of India's Asset Quality Review (AQR), it aims to clean up bank balance sheets, resolve non-performing assets (NPAs), and ensure state-run banks remain solvent while meeting Basel III global capital adequacy norms. It builds upon the original seven-pronged Indradhanush framework introduced in 2015 to revamp the governance and financial health of PSBs.

Explanation

Fossil and genetic evidence indicates that the earliest members of Homo sapiens evolved in Africa approximately 300,000 years ago. Major archaeological discoveries, including early human remains found at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco and Omo Kibish in Ethiopia, establish Africa as the cradle of modern human evolution, from where early populations later migrated to other continents.

Explanation

As of January 2021, India had 38 UNESCO World Heritage sites, comprising 30 cultural sites, 7 natural sites, and 1 mixed site. The 38th site inscribed on India's list was Jaipur City, Rajasthan, during the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in July 2019.

Explanation

Al-Biruni wrote 'Tahqiq ma lil-Hind' (also known as Kitab al-Hind) in Arabic during the 11th century. He traveled to India alongside Mahmud of Ghazni and spent years studying Sanskrit literature, Hindu philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and social customs, producing a detailed and objective account of Indian society and culture.

Explanation

Pakistani economist Mahbub ul-Haq created the Human Development Index (HDI) in 1990 to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people-centered development outcomes. Published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its inaugural Human Development Report, the index measures overall achievement in key dimensions of human development, including long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living.

Explanation

Electricity production using nuclear energy in India officially began in October 1969 with the commercial commissioning of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) in Palghar district, Maharashtra. Built in collaboration with the United States using General Electric Boiling Water Reactors, Units 1 and 2 of TAPS commenced commercial operations on 28 October 1969. This landmark event marked India's entry into commercial nuclear power generation, feeding atomic electricity into the country's power grid for the first time.

Explanation

Sexually reproducing organisms are diploid, possessing two sets of homologous chromosomes—one inherited from the male parent and one from the female parent. As a result, individuals carry two copies (alleles) of each gene responsible for a specific trait.

Explanation

Banabhatta was a renowned 7th-century Sanskrit scholar and writer who served as the Asthana Kavi (court poet) in the court of King Harshavardhana of the Vardhana (Pushyabhuti) dynasty. He authored Harshacharita, a detailed biography of Harshavardhana that provides valuable insights into the political, social, and cultural life of North India during Harsha's reign. He also wrote Kadambari, one of the earliest classical romantic novels in Sanskrit literature.

Explanation

Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, the seventh ruler of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Built in 1656, it is situated in Vijayapura (formerly Bijapur) in the state of Karnataka. The monument is globally renowned for its architectural grandeur, featuring one of the largest single-chamber domes in the world and an acoustic whispering gallery where even a soft sound reverberates multiple times across the dome.

Explanation

Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote the iconic poem 'Jhansi Ki Rani', which features the famous refrain 'Khoob Ladi Mardani Woh To Jhansi Waali Rani Thi'. The poem vividly describes the bravery and sacrifice of Rani Lakshmibai during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and remains one of the most celebrated nationalist poems in Hindi literature.

Explanation

The Gommateshwara statue at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district, Karnataka, is a 57-foot-tall monolithic statue carved out of a single block of granite. Commissioned around 981 CE by Chavundaraya, a minister and general of the Western Ganga dynasty, it stands atop Vindhyagiri Hill. It depicts the Jain spiritual leader Bahubali meditating in the Kayotsarga posture and is recognized as one of the largest free-standing monolithic sculptures in the world.

Explanation

Surfly is a web-based co-browsing and visual engagement platform designed primarily for real-time web collaboration, screen sharing, and customer support. It allows users to browse websites together in real time directly within a browser without downloading software, rather than serving as a dedicated file-sharing application designed to transfer files between devices.

Explanation

In 1944, a group of prominent Indian industrialists—including J. R. D. Tata, G. D. Birla, Ardeshir Dalal, Lala Shri Ram, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, A. D. Shroff, Sir Purshottamdas Thakurdas, and John Mathai—came together to draft a joint proposal titled A Brief Memorandum Outline of a Plan of Economic Development for India, popularly known as the Bombay Plan. The plan advocated for active state intervention, economic planning, and public sector investment in heavy industries and infrastructure to achieve rapid economic growth post-independence.

Explanation

A plotter is a computer hardware output device that receives vector graphics instructions from a computer and produces high-precision line drawings, blueprints, architectural plans, and engineering designs on paper using automated pens or markers. Unlike standard printers that render output as fine grids of dots, a plotter draws continuous, smooth lines, making it an essential output device for computer-aided design (CAD) and vector graphics printing.

Explanation

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, were awarded to Paris, France during the 131st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session held in Lima, Peru, in September 2017. Paris previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1900 and 1924, making the 2024 Games the third time the French capital hosts the event.

Explanation

Sidrapong Hydroelectric Power Station, located in Darjeeling, West Bengal, was commissioned on 10 November 1897. With an initial capacity of 130 kW, it is the first hydroelectric power plant in India as well as Asia. It was commissioned by the Darjeeling Municipality to supply electricity to the town and tea gardens.

Explanation

The Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), established in 1991, has its main campus and College of Traffic Management located in Faridabad, Haryana. Situated along the Surajkund-Badkhal Road in Sector 43, the institute serves as a premier research and training facility dedicated to traffic engineering, road safety, forensic crash investigation, and driver capacity-building across India.

Explanation

The Simon Commission, officially known as the Indian Statutory Commission, was appointed in November 1927 by the British Government under Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Comprising seven British Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon, the commission was established to review the working of the Government of India Act 1919 and propose further constitutional reforms for British India.

Explanation

Under Section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013, the Central Government constituted the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as a quasi-judicial authority to adjudicate corporate disputes, merger and amalgamation approvals, oppression and mismanagement claims, and insolvency proceedings. It was established to provide a dedicated judicial forum for speedy resolution of corporate law matters, effectively taking over these responsibilities from the Company Law Board and civil court jurisdictions.

Explanation

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) was established on 17 July 1969 at Mysuru in Karnataka. Operating as a subordinate office under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, the institute is dedicated to promoting and developing Indian languages, coordinating the work of language development across the country, and advising central and state governments on language matters.

Explanation

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using water-based solutions containing essential mineral nutrients. The root system absorbs these nutrients directly from the water or through an inert supporting medium such as perlite, gravel, rockwool, or coconut coir, allowing for precise control over nutrient uptake and environmental conditions.

Explanation

Sucheta Kripalani served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from October 1963 to March 1967, becoming the first woman to hold the office of Chief Minister in any Indian state. Prior to leading the state government, she was a prominent freedom fighter, played a major role in the Quit India Movement, and was one of the few women elected to the Constituent Assembly of India.

Explanation

MS Word is a word processing application software developed by Microsoft, designed primarily for creating, editing, formatting, and printing text documents such as letters, reports, and essays, rather than managing, storing, and querying structured database records.

Explanation

Oxygen (O₂) is a symmetric diatomic molecule composed of two identical atoms, meaning it lacks a dynamic dipole moment during its standard vibrational modes. Because the absorption of infrared radiation requires a change in a molecule's dipole moment, oxygen cannot absorb or emit Earth's outgoing thermal infrared radiation, making it transparent to heat and non-reactive as a greenhouse gas.

Explanation

The Chiapas Plateau, also known as the Central Highlands of Chiapas (Meseta Central), is located in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It is an elevated region situated between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Gulf coastal plains to the north, characterized mainly by karst limestone topography, temperate valleys, and pine-oak highland forests.

Explanation

The term 'Hermit Kingdom' is used to describe any nation that willfully isolates itself from the rest of the world, both diplomatically and culturally. Historically applied to Korea during the Joseon Dynasty due to its strict isolationist policies, the term in modern times specifically refers to North Korea because of its extreme state-enforced isolation, censorship, secrecy, and minimal interaction with the international community.

Explanation

Lord William Bentinck, who served as the Governor-General of Bengal, enacted the Bengal Sati Regulation (Regulation XVII) on 4 December 1829. This law declared the practice of Sati—the burning or burying alive of Hindu widows—illegal and punishable by criminal courts as culpable homicide throughout the Bengal Presidency. Social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy played a pivotal role in creating public awareness against the custom and supporting Bentinck in bringing about this legislative reform.

Explanation

A battery consists of one or more electrochemical cells that store energy in chemical form. During discharge, spontaneous reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions take place at its positive and negative electrodes, generating a flow of electrons through an external circuit, thereby converting stored chemical energy directly into electrical energy.

Explanation

Pokhran is located in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan in the Thar Desert region. It served as the test site for India's first underground nuclear test, codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha, conducted on 18 May 1974. The location was chosen due to its sparse population, arid terrain, and remote location, and it was subsequently used for the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in May 1998.

Explanation

Sir Isaac Newton discovered that visible light consists of a spectrum of different colors. In 1666, through his classic optics experiments using a glass prism, he demonstrated that white light breaks down into a continuous spectrum of visible colors, establishing the scientific understanding of visible radiation.

Explanation

To find the median of a dataset, first arrange the given observations in ascending order: 140, 150, 151, 151, 153, 153, 158, 158, 165, 170

Since the number of observations (n) is 10 (an even number), the median is the mean of the (n/2)th term and the (n/2 + 1)th term, which corresponds to the 5th and 6th terms of the ordered list.

5th term = 153 6th term = 153

Median = (153 + 153) / 2 = 153

Explanation

Neurons are the fundamental structural and functional units of the nervous system. These specialized cells are designed to transmit information throughout the body by receiving sensory inputs, processing signals, and conveying electrical and chemical impulses between the brain, spinal cord, and other body tissues.

Explanation

The Folketing is the unicameral national parliament of Denmark, established under the Constitution of 1849. Headquartered at Christiansborg Palace on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, it consists of 179 members elected through proportional representation, which includes two representatives from the Faroe Islands and two from Greenland.

Explanation

For any two numbers, the product of their LCM and HCF is equal to the product of the numbers:

LCM × HCF = First number × Second number

Substituting the given values: 4700 × 2 = 100 × Second number 9400 = 100 × Second number Second number = 9400 / 100 = 94

Explanation

The acceleration due to gravity on Earth's surface is inversely proportional to the square of Earth's radius (g = GM/R²) and is further reduced by Earth's rotation (g_eff = g - ω²R cos²φ). Earth is an oblate spheroid, meaning its equatorial radius is larger than its polar radius. Additionally, the centrifugal acceleration caused by Earth's daily rotation is maximum at the equator where latitude φ = 0°, creating the strongest outward force opposing gravity. Both the larger radius and maximum centrifugal effect combine to make the value of gravity minimum at the equator.

Explanation

In the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, India was ranked 94th out of 107 qualifying countries. With a score of 27.2, India fell into the serious hunger category. The index calculates scores based on four key indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality.

Explanation

The Tamsa River (also known as the Tons River) originates from the Kaimur Range in Madhya Pradesh and flows through Uttar Pradesh before joining the Ganges River near Sirsa. It is a tributary of the Ganges River system, not the Brahmaputra River system.

Explanation

The Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 nations at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the UNFCCC in December 2015. It officially opened for signature on Earth Day, 22 April 2016, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where 174 states and the European Union signed it on the very first day.

Explanation

Badminton is a sport played with a net stretched across the middle of the court between two opposing individual players or teams of two. According to the given substitutions, Badminton is called 'Stool'.

Explanation

The Yellow Revolution in India was launched in 1986–1987 to significantly increase the production of edible oilseeds and achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils. Spearheaded by Sam Pitroda, it focused on nine major oilseeds, including mustard, groundnut, and soybean, by promoting the cultivation of high-yielding hybrid seeds, modern technology, and improved processing techniques.

Explanation

Vira Narsimha Raya (1505–1509 CE) was the founder and first emperor of the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. He was the son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka and took full control of the empire after his father's death, establishing the rule of the Tuluva dynasty. Upon his death in 1509 CE, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Krishnadevaraya.

Explanation

Lysosomes contain powerful hydrolytic digestive enzymes capable of breaking down complex organic substances. They function as the cellular waste disposal system by ingesting and digesting foreign materials such as bacteria, as well as worn-out cellular organelles. Through this process, known as autophagy and intracellular digestion, lysosomes keep the cell clean and free of cellular debris.