RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Black soil, also known as Regur soil or black cotton soil, is formed by the weathering of basaltic lava rocks of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra covers the largest portion of the Deccan Traps, making it the leading state in India where black soil is predominantly distributed. This soil is rich in minerals such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash, and lime, and is renowned for its high moisture-retention capacity, making it exceptionally suited for the cultivation of crops like cotton.

Explanation

Charles Wilkins published the first direct English translation of the Bhagavad Gita in 1785, titled "Bhagvat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon". A founding member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Wilkins undertook the translation under the patronage of Warren Hastings, the then Governor-General of Bengal, who also contributed an influential introductory preface to the publication.

Explanation

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) was granted Maharatna status by the Government of India in May 2010. The Maharatna status is conferred upon mega Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) that consistently demonstrate exceptional financial performance, including a average annual net profit of over ₹5,000 crore, an average annual net worth of ₹15,000 crore, or an average annual turnover of ₹25,000 crore over three consecutive years. This status gives the company greater financial and operational autonomy, allowing it to delegate powers for equity investment in joint ventures or subsidiaries up to ₹5,000 crore without government approval.

Explanation

Pisum sativum is the binomial scientific name for the green pea, a flowering plant belonging to the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae). It is widely cultivated for its edible seeds, which are consumed fresh or dried as legumes. Gregor Mendel famously used Pisum sativum in his groundbreaking hybridization experiments during the 19th century to discover the fundamental laws of inheritance that established modern genetics.

Explanation

Mathuri is a traditional folk dance practiced by tribal communities, particularly the Koppu Lambadis, inhabiting the forest regions of Adilabad district in Telangana. Performed predominantly during the monsoon month of Shravan and during major festive occasions, dancers move synchronously in circular formations while singing devotional and secular songs.

Explanation

Under the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991, the Chief Election Commissioner holds office for a tenure of six years or until attaining the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They enjoy the same status, salary, and perks as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Explanation

Himadri is India's first permanent Arctic research station, inaugurated on July 1, 2008. Located at Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway, about 1,200 km from the North Pole, it is operated by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) to conduct scientific studies in atmospheric sciences, glaciology, marine biology, and environmental dynamics in the Arctic region.

Explanation

In computer storage units based on the binary measurement system, storage capacity increases in powers of 2, specifically multiples of 1024 (2¹⁰). The standard hierarchy of digital data units in ascending order is Byte, Kilobyte (KB), Megabyte (MB), Gigabyte (GB), Terabyte (TB), Petabyte (PB), and Exabyte (EB). Consequently, 1 Exabyte (EB) is equal to 1024 Petabytes (PB).

Explanation

The Servants of India Society was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale on June 12, 1905, in Pune, Maharashtra. Its primary objective was to unite and train Indians of different ethnicities and religions in social reform and public welfare work, promoting education, sanitation, healthcare, and civil rights to serve the nation.

Explanation

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Anita Bhatia of India as the Assistant Secretary-General for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships, and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women in mid-2019. Prior to this role, she built a distinguished career at the World Bank Group, serving in various senior executive leadership positions including Director of Global Partnerships for the International Finance Corporation.

Explanation

Manas Biosphere Reserve, located in Assam, is recognized as a National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Elephant Reserve, Tiger Reserve, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, it is not included in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves designated under the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.

Explanation

Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Facebook (now Meta), which he launched in 2004 while attending Harvard University. He played no role in the establishment or founding of Apple Inc.

Explanation

National Voters' Day is celebrated across India on 25th January every year to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, which was established on 25th January 1950. First observed in 2011, the day aims to encourage, facilitate, and maximize enrollment, especially of new voters, and to promote electoral awareness and active participation in the democratic process.

Explanation

Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K. became the first Indian poet invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in August 2018. He recorded his works for the long-running reading series "The Poet and the Poem," hosted by poet Grace Cavalieri. An officer in the Indian Foreign Service, Abhay K. is also widely known for penning the "Earth Anthem".

Explanation

The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) enumerated in Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) of the Indian Constitution were borrowed from the Constitution of Ireland of 1937, which in turn had derived them from the Spanish Constitution. These principles aim to establish a welfare state and secure social and economic democracy in India by providing fundamental non-justiciable guidelines for the government while framing policies and legislation.

Explanation

Under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), launched by the Government of India in May 2015, subscribers are guaranteed a fixed monthly pension ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 upon reaching 60 years of age. The pension tier depends on the age of joining and the regular contribution made by the subscriber, making ₹1,000 the minimum monthly pension permissible under the scheme.

Explanation

Kamala Das (1934–2009) was a prominent Indian poet and writer who wrote poetry and autobiographical works in English under her own name. For her short stories, novels, and memoirs written in Malayalam, her mother tongue, she adopted the pseudonym Madhavikutty. Under this pen name, she became one of the most distinguished voices in Malayalam literature, authoring celebrated works such as Ente Katha, Pakshiyude Manam, and Neermathalam Pootha Kalam.

Explanation

Justice Ranjan Gogoi served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from 3 October 2018 to 17 November 2019. He was the first person from Northeast India to hold the post of Chief Justice of India. During his tenure as CJI, he headed judicial benches that delivered significant landmark judgments, including the Ayodhya land dispute verdict and the review petitions regarding the Rafale deal.

Explanation

Charles Freer Andrews was an English priest, educator, and social reformer who arrived in India in 1904 to teach Philosophy at St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Moved by the injustices of British colonial rule, he actively supported the Indian independence movement and worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Mahatma Gandhi and students at St. Stephen's College conferred upon him the title 'Deenbandhu' (Friend of the Poor) in recognition of his selfless service to the underprivileged and his dedication to India's freedom struggle.

Explanation

Zinc is used to protect iron from corrosion and rust formation through galvanization or electrogalvanizing. Because zinc is more reactive than iron, it acts as a sacrificial anode when plated onto iron. It corrodes preferentially in the presence of air and moisture, forming a protective layer that prevents oxygen and water from reaching the underlying iron, thereby stopping rust from forming even if the surface coating is scratched.

Explanation

'Nirmala' is a classic Hindi novel written by Munshi Premchand, first published in serial format in the magazine 'Chand' between 1925 and 1926, and later as a book in 1927. The novel deals with social reform themes, particularly highlighting the issues of dowry and mismatched marriages in early 20th-century Indian society.

Explanation

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an independent, neutral, private humanitarian organization established in 1863 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It derives its mandate directly from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and operates completely independently of the United Nations system, holding only observer status at the UN General Assembly.

Explanation

An Optical Character Reader (OCR) is an electronic input device that scans printed, handwritten, or typed text from physical documents and converts it into machine-encoded digital text. By capturing data from the external physical environment and feeding it into the computer system for processing and editing, it serves as a primary source of data entry.

Explanation

J. B. Kripalani was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress at the Meerut session in November 1946. He held the position during the transfer of power and was serving as the party president when India attained independence on 15 August 1947, continuing in office until his resignation in November 1947.

Explanation

The Three Mile Island nuclear disaster occurred on March 28, 1979, at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg in the United States. It involved a partial meltdown of the plant's Unit 2 pressurized water reactor and remains the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, making its association with Tokyo incorrect.

Explanation

Standard high-density (HD) 3.5-inch floppy disks, introduced in 1987, have a formatted storage capacity of 1.44 MB. They feature 80 tracks on each of their 2 sides, with 18 sectors per track and 512 bytes per sector, resulting in a total formatted storage space of 1,474,560 bytes.

Explanation

Payments banks in India operate under a differentiated, restricted banking license issued by the Reserve Bank of India. To mitigate credit risk, payments banks are strictly prohibited from engaging in lending activities. Because a credit card represents a line of credit or unsecured lending, payments banks cannot issue credit cards to their customers.

Explanation

Barren Island, located in the Andaman Sea approximately 138 km northeast of Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, is the only confirmed active volcano in India as well as in South Asia. Situated along a tectonic belt formed by the subduction of the Indian Plate beneath the Burma Plate, the volcano first recorded historical eruptions in 1787 and has shown renewed episodic volcanic activity since 1991.

Explanation

During the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911, King George V proclaimed the transfer of the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi. The shift was decided to place the seat of government in a more geographically central location and to ease political tensions in Bengal following the 1905 partition. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V during the same event.

Explanation

Auxin is synthesized primarily in the shoot apical meristems and growing tips of shoots at the top of the plant. It moves downward through polar transport towards the root system, creating a concentration gradient where the hormone level is highest at the apical tip and decreases progressively toward the base and roots. This uneven distribution plays a critical role in maintaining apical dominance and regulating tropic growth responses.

Explanation

A scanner is an input device used to capture physical documents, photographs, or printed text and convert them into a digital format for processing and storage inside a computer system. Since it transfers external visual information into the computer rather than displaying or generating output data for the user, it functions as an input device.

Explanation

Krishnadeva Raya was the most famous emperor of the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, ruling from 1509 to 1529 CE in the 16th century. His reign is regarded as the golden age of the empire, marked by major military triumphs, extensive territorial consolidation, administrative reforms, and a grand flourishing of literature, art, and architecture in southern India.

Explanation

The Nilgiri Hills, situated at the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, serve as the geographic bridge connecting the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. Rising to an elevation of over 2,000 meters with Doddabetta as its highest peak, this mountain node forms a crucial ecological nexus between the continuous western coastal range and the fragmented eastern ranges.

Explanation

The District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development, constituted in June 2016. It serves as a single platform at the district level to ensure effective coordination and monitoring among elected representatives across Parliament, State Legislatures, and local bodies for time-bound execution of central government schemes. Under this initiative, the senior-most Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from the district chairs the DISHA committee meetings, while the District Collector functions as the Member Secretary.

Explanation

Chholiya is a traditional folk dance originating from the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand, with historical roots tracing back to the Rajput martial traditions. Performed primarily during marriage processions and cultural festivals, dancers dressed in traditional attire wield swords and shields, performing energetic mock battles to the beat of local musical instruments such as the dhol, damau, and brass trumpets like the turhi and tutari.

Explanation

India and France signed an implementation agreement on the Mobilise Your City (MYC) initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Launched globally at the COP21 climate summit in December 2015 with French and German support, the MYC programme aims to assist pilot Indian cities—Nagpur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad—in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stemming from urban transport. Supported by technical assistance and funding from the European Union through Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the initiative focuses on implementing sustainable urban mobility plans and fostering low-carbon transport policies.

Explanation

Lord Lytton, who served as the Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880, enacted the Vernacular Press Act in 1878 to curtail the freedom of the Indian-language press and prevent seditious writing against British policies. The act empowered district magistrates to compel printers and publishers of vernacular newspapers to enter into a bond agreeing not to publish anything that could excite feelings of disaffection against the government.

Explanation

Financial Literacy Week is an annual initiative conducted by the Reserve Bank of India since 2016 to propagate financial education messages on specific themes among the public across the country. Through this campaign, the Reserve Bank of India aims to build awareness regarding safe digital banking practices, consumer protection, credit discipline, and financial inclusion by coordinating with commercial banks, media outlets, and financial literacy centers.

Explanation

Sir Stamford Raffles, a British colonial administrator, established modern Singapore as a trading post for the British East India Company in January 1819. Recognizing its strategic location along the Strait of Malacca, he signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor to set up a British settlement on the island, laying the foundation for its development into a major global port.

Explanation

The headquarters of the United Nations is situated in Manhattan, New York City, on an 18-acre site overlooking the East River. The land was acquired in 1946 through an 8.5 million dollar donation from John D. Rockefeller Jr. and designed by an international committee of architects led by Wallace K. Harrison. The complex officially opened on January 9, 1951, and operates as an international territory under the administration of the United Nations.

Explanation

The atomic number (represented by Z) of a chemical element corresponds directly to the total number of protons present in the nucleus of its atom. It uniquely identifies the element, determining its position in the periodic table as well as its fundamental chemical properties. In a neutral atom, the atomic number also equals the total number of electrons orbiting the nucleus.

Explanation

Toads belong to the class Amphibia and the order Anura. Amphibians are ectothermic, four-limbed vertebrates capable of living both on land and in water. They undergo metamorphosis from a gilled, aquatic larval stage (tadpole) into a lung-breathing adult with moist, permeable skin suitable for cutaneous respiration.

Explanation

Non-metals have high electronegativities and high electron affinities, meaning they have a strong tendency to attract and gain electrons to complete their valence electron shell. When a non-metal atom gains one or more electrons, it acquires a net negative charge to form an anion. Because of this characteristic ability to form negatively charged ions during chemical reactions, non-metals are classified as electronegative elements.

Explanation

The Durand Line was established in 1893 following an agreement between Sir Mortimer Durand, a civil servant of British India, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan. It serves as the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, spanning approximately 2,670 kilometers.

Explanation

Bharati is India's third Antarctic research facility, commissioned in March 2012. Located in the Larsemann Hills region of East Antarctica, it was established to support interdisciplinary research in geology, oceanography, glaciology, and atmospheric sciences, operating as a year-round research station alongside Maitri.

Explanation

The Forbidden City is a famous imperial palace complex located in the heart of Beijing, China. Built between 1406 and 1420 during the Ming dynasty under Emperor Yongle, it served as the official residence and political center of 24 Chinese emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties for nearly 500 years. Today, it functions as the Palace Museum and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Explanation

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly on December 11, 1946, two days after its first sitting. He presided over the Assembly throughout the entire process of drafting the Indian Constitution and guided its deliberations through independence until the Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949.

Explanation

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, mandates that all mobile handsets manufactured, sold, or imported in India must comply with a maximum Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limit of 1.6 W/kg, averaged over 1 gram of human tissue. This safety standard was enforced to protect users from excessive electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile devices.

Explanation

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) is the minimum percentage of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) that commercial banks in India are required to maintain in the form of liquid assets, such as cash, gold, and government-approved securities, before extending credit to borrowers. Mandated by the Reserve Bank of India under Section 24 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, SLR helps ensure bank solvency, regulate credit flow in the economy, and secure investments in government bonds.

Explanation

India and Bhutan are the two BIMSTEC member states that have not joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India opposes the BRI on sovereignty and territorial integrity grounds, primarily because the flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Bhutan does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Beijing and has consistently abstained from signing any BRI agreement or participating in BRI summits.