RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Article 40 of the Constitution of India, contained in Part IV under the Directive Principles of State Policy, directs the State to take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. This principle embodies Mahatma Gandhi's vision of Panchayati Raj and decentralized democratic governance.

Explanation

The 56th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1987 conferred statehood on Goa by inserting Article 371I into the Constitution and provided for a Legislative Assembly for the state consisting of not less than thirty members. Following this amendment and the accompanying Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act of 1987, Goa became the 25th state of the Indian Union on 30 May 1987, while Daman and Diu were separated to form a distinct Union Territory.

Explanation

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion launched in August 2014 to ensure access to banking services, credit, insurance, and pension at an affordable cost. It is an independent financial inclusion initiative rather than one of the nine foundational pillars of the Digital India program launched in July 2015.

Explanation

In 1928, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel led the historic Bardoli Satyagraha in Bardoli taluka of Gujarat to oppose the Bombay Presidency government's unjust decision to increase land revenue by 22 percent. Patel organized the local farmers to non-violently refuse tax payments despite land confiscations and intimidation. The overwhelming success of the movement compelled the British administration to appoint the Maxwell-Broomfield Commission, which ultimately reduced the tax hike to 6.03 percent. It was during this satyagraha that the women of Bardoli bestowed the title of Sardar (meaning chief or leader) upon Vallabhbhai Patel.

Explanation

Chlorophyll, the primary pigment responsible for capturing light energy during photosynthesis, reflects green light rather than absorbing it. Because green light is mostly reflected or transmitted through plant tissue, the photosynthetic apparatus absorbs the least amount of energy in this wavelength region, resulting in the minimum rate of photosynthetic activity.

Explanation

Mohenjo-daro is a major archaeological site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, built around 2500 BCE. It is situated on the right bank of the Indus River in the Larkana District of Sindh province, Pakistan. Discovered in 1922 by R. D. Banerji, it is renowned for its grid-based urban planning, sophisticated drainage systems, and prominent public structures such as the Great Bath.

Explanation

The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created on 1 May 1960 following the enactment of the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960. This legislation bifurcated the erstwhile bilingual State of Bombay into two distinct linguistic states: Maharashtra for the Marathi-speaking population and Gujarat for the Gujarati-speaking population.

Explanation

Participative is not one of the four primary pillars identified under the 'Make in India' initiative launched by the Government of India in September 2014. The program is built around four core pillars: New Processes, New Infrastructure, New Sectors, and New Mindset, aiming to transform India into a global manufacturing and investment hub.

Explanation

International Literacy Day is celebrated globally on September 8 every year. It was proclaimed by UNESCO on October 26, 1966, during the 14th session of its General Conference, and was first celebrated in 1967 to highlight the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.

Explanation

In computer storage measurement, data units follow a standard binary hierarchy where each higher unit is equal to 1024 (2¹⁰) times the preceding unit. The progression moves from Bytes to Kilobytes (KB), Megabytes (MB), Gigabytes (GB), Terabytes (TB), and Petabytes (PB). Consequently, 1 Petabyte (PB) is equal to 1024 Terabytes (TB).

Explanation

Sunil Gavaskar accumulated a total of 13,214 runs across his international career, consisting of 10,122 runs in Test matches and 3,092 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs), falling well short of the 20,000-run milestone.

Explanation

Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and smart TVs, rather than desktop computers.

Explanation

IRS-P4, also known as Oceansat-1, was launched by ISRO aboard PSLV-C2 in May 1999 as India's first satellite dedicated to oceanographic, coastal, and atmospheric applications. It carried two main payloads: the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and the Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR), which collected data on ocean color, coastal zone dynamics, ocean surface wind vectors, sea surface temperature, and atmospheric water vapor content.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India permanently from South Africa on January 9, 1915, after spending over 21 years there fighting against racial discrimination and developing his technique of non-violent resistance known as Satyagraha. His arrival in Mumbai on this day is commemorated annually in India as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non-Resident Indian Day).

Explanation

A mouse is a hardware input device used to interact with a computer's graphical user interface. It detects two-dimensional motion relative to a surface and translates this movement into signals that control the position of the cursor on the screen, allowing users to send commands and input data to the computer system.

Explanation

Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali, was sung for the first time on 27 December 1911 during the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The Constituent Assembly later officially adopted the song as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950.

Explanation

Udham Singh was a prominent Indian revolutionary who assassinated Sir Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton Hall in London on 13 March 1940. O'Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab during the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre and had supported Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer's actions. Udham Singh carried out the assassination to avenge the deaths of hundreds of innocent Indians killed in the massacre.

Explanation

Nanda Devi National Park is situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7,816 m) in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Established in 1982, the park encompasses the high-altitude glacial basin of the Rishi Ganga river and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

Explanation

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–2012), formulated under the theme "Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth", set an ambitious targeted annual average GDP growth rate of 9%. The plan aimed to accelerate economic expansion from 8.5% in 2007–08 to 10% by its final year, 2011–12. It also laid down key sectoral targets, including an agricultural growth rate of 4% per year. Although the actual average GDP growth achieved during this period was approximately 7.9% due to the headwinds from the 2008 global financial crisis, the official target set by the Planning Commission remained 9%.

Explanation

Omnivores are organisms that consume a varied diet consisting of both plant matter and animal tissue. The term originates from the Latin words omnis, meaning all, and vorare, meaning to devour, reflecting their dietary flexibility to obtain nutrients and energy from both plant and animal sources. Examples of omnivores include humans, bears, pigs, and crows.

Explanation

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications. Established in 1986 to oversee telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai, MTNL was granted Navratna status in 1997 and does not hold Maharatna status.

Explanation

At any vertex of a polygon, the interior angle and the exterior angle form a linear pair and sum to 180°.

Interior Angle = 180° - Exterior Angle = 180° - 72° = 108°

Explanation

The International Labour Organization (ILO) was established under Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28 June 1919. It was created as an affiliated agency of the League of Nations to promote social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights following World War I.

Explanation

Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, is regarded as the father of modern botany and modern taxonomy. He formalized binomial nomenclature, the standard system of naming organisms using a two-part scientific name indicating genus and species. His seminal publication Species Plantarum (1753) established a unified hierarchical scheme for plant classification that laid the foundation for modern botanical nomenclature.

Explanation

Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, introduced Persian court customs and rituals to enhance the prestige, supremacy, and majesty of the monarch. As part of his theory of kingship, he implemented 'Sijda' (prostration before the monarch) and 'Paibos' (kissing the feet of the monarch) to demonstrate the absolute authority and divine shadow of the crown over his nobility and subjects.

Explanation

Sum of the five observations = x + (x - 1) + (x - 2) + (x - 3) + (x - 4) = 5x - 10

Mean of five observations = (5x - 10) / 5 = x - 2

Given that the mean is 20: x - 2 = 20 x = 22

The first two observations are x and x - 1, which are 22 and 21 respectively.

Mean of the first two observations = (22 + 21) / 2 = 43 / 2 = 21.5

Explanation

In June 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment during a thunderstorm in Philadelphia. By flying a kite attached to a silk ribbon with a metal key near the bottom, he collected electrical charge from the storm cloud, demonstrating that lightning is a large-scale static electrical discharge identical in nature to small sparks produced by static electricity from clothes or friction.

Explanation

The 17th Lok Sabha elections in India were conducted in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to constitute the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted on 23 May 2019 across all 543 parliamentary constituencies.

Explanation

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas in Earth's atmosphere essential for biological processes, so it is not inherently a pollutant and only functions as one at excessive concentrations. Plants absorb carbon dioxide directly during photosynthesis to synthesize glucose and grow; they do not require carbon monoxide for growth.

Explanation

The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh). A large group of protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement clashed with the local police, who opened fire on them. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to the police station, resulting in the deaths of 22 policemen. Distressed by the violent turn of events, Mahatma Gandhi suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement nationwide on 12 February 1922.

Explanation

Let the cost of 10 pencils and 12 pens be 10x + 12y = ₹150.

The required cost is for 30 pencils and 36 pens, which is: 30x + 36y = 3 × (10x + 12y)

Substituting the given cost: 3 × ₹150 = ₹450

Explanation

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) was established in 1945 in Mumbai by nuclear physicist Dr. Homi J. Bhabha with financial assistance from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. Operating as a deemed university under the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, TIFR is a premier national centre dedicated to basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science, and science education.

Explanation

A polygraph, commonly known as a lie detector, measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, and skin conductivity while a subject answers a series of questions. The underlying premise of the device is that deceptive statements trigger involuntary physiological stress responses that can be distinguished from those associated with truthful responses.

Explanation

The Sahara Desert is the world's largest hot desert, covering an area of approximately 9.2 million square kilometers across the northern part of the African continent. It spans eleven countries in North Africa, including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, and Tunisia, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east.

Explanation

RAM (Random Access Memory) serves as the primary or main memory of a computer because it is directly accessible by the Central Processing Unit (CPU). It holds the operating system files, application software, and data currently in active use, enabling high-speed read and write operations essential for executing system processes efficiently.

Explanation

Meena Kumari Maisnam won the gold medal in the sport of boxing in April 2019. Competing in the 54 kg category (bantamweight division), the Indian pugilist defeated Thailand's Machai Bunyanut in the final bout of the Cologne Boxing World Cup held in Cologne, Germany.

Explanation

Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469–1539) was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten human Sikh Gurus. He laid the foundation of Sikh philosophy, preaching the belief in one supreme God (Ik Onkar), selfless service (Seva), equality of all human beings regardless of caste or gender, and spiritual devotion through honest work (Kirat Karo) and sharing with others (Vand Chhako).

Explanation

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight mission that accomplished the first crewed landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Launched by NASA, its Lunar Module, named Eagle, successfully touched down in the Sea of Tranquility. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface, spending over two hours collecting soil and rock samples before returning safely to Earth.

Explanation

Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his groundbreaking contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, and research on famine and poverty. His work provided a deeper theoretical understanding of the mechanisms driving poverty, famine, and economic inequality, profoundly influencing public policy and development economics globally.

Explanation

Surkotada is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization, located in the Kutch district of Gujarat. Excavated by archaeologist J. P. Joshi in 1964, the site is notable for providing evidence of horse bones and featuring a stone-fortified citadel alongside a residential complex.

Explanation

Chandrayaan-1, India's first lunar exploration mission, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on October 22, 2008, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft carried NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) payload along with other scientific instruments, which collected spectral data that successfully confirmed the presence of solid water ice in the permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles.

Explanation

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam earned the title 'Missile Man of India' for his pioneering role in the development of India's ballistic missile and space rocket technology. As the director of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) at DRDO, he spearheaded the successful design, development, and operationalization of indigenous strategic missile systems, most notably the Agni and Prithvi missiles.

Explanation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was established on April 1, 1935, under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Although its central office was initially established in Kolkata, it was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937, where the Governor sits and where key financial policies are formulated.

Explanation

The Czech physiologist Johann Evangelist Purkinje coined the term 'protoplasm' in 1839 to describe the living, translucent substance present inside plant and animal cells. Protoplasm refers to the complex fluid content of the cell, comprising both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, which carries out essential metabolic functions necessary for life.

Explanation

Gujari Mahal, popularly known as Mrignayani ka Mahal, was built in the 15th century by Raja Man Singh Tomar for his favorite Gujar queen, Mrignayani. Located inside the Gwalior Fort complex in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, this palace has been preserved as an archaeological museum showcasing historical sculptures and artifacts from the region.

Explanation

The Constituent Assembly of India held its first meeting on 9 December 1946 in the Constitution Hall, which is now the Central Hall of Parliament House in New Delhi. The session was attended by 207 members, and Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was chosen as the temporary Chairman of the Assembly following the French precedent of electing the oldest member. Two days later, on 11 December 1946, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly.

Explanation

Meristematic tissue is a type of plant tissue composed of undifferentiated, actively dividing cells found in the growing regions of plants, such as the tips of roots and shoots (apical meristems) and the girth region (lateral meristems). It is responsible for continuous growth in plants and is not present in animal bodies.

Explanation

Diffusion is the passive movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration down a concentration gradient. Small, non-polar molecules like oxygen and carbon dioxide pass directly across the hydrophobic phospholipid bilayer of the cell's plasma membrane by simple diffusion without requiring cellular energy (ATP).

Explanation

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises eight member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Founded on 8 December 1985 in Dhaka with seven initial members, the association expanded to eight when Afghanistan joined at the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi in 2007.

Explanation

Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international aviation hub serving the National Capital Region of Delhi. Located in Palam, New Delhi, it is one of the busiest airports in India and South Asia, named after the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.