RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the President of the Indian National Congress continuously from 1940 to 1946. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the launch of the Quit India Movement in 1942, and the subsequent arrest of major nationalist leaders, annual Congress organizational elections were suspended during these years. As a result, Azad held the position for six consecutive years, making him the longest continuously serving INC President prior to India's Independence.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi organized the Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919 against the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, commonly known as the Rowlatt Act. Passed by the Imperial Legislative Council, this legislation empowered the British colonial administration to arrest and detain political dissidents without trial for up to two years. In response, Gandhiji established the Satyagraha Sabha and called for a nationwide peaceful strike (hartal) on 6 April 1919, which marked his first nationwide mass movement in India.

Explanation

During seed germination, the embryonic axis inside the seed begins to grow and differentiate. The radicle is the embryonic root of the plant embryo. It is the first structure to emerge through the seed coat during germination, growing downward into the soil to absorb water and minerals, anchoring the developing seedling and forming the primary root system.

Explanation

Megan Rapinoe won the 2019 Ballon d'Or Féminin award following her outstanding performance at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, where she captained the United States national team to victory while also earning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and the Golden Boot as the top goalscorer.

Explanation

When an object is placed between the pole and the principal focus of a concave mirror, the reflected light rays diverge and appear to meet at a point behind the mirror. This creates a virtual, erect, and magnified image that is larger than the object itself.

Explanation

Carbon dioxide is a trace gas in the Earth's atmosphere, constituting approximately 0.03% to 0.04% of the atmospheric gases by volume (around 300 to 400 parts per million). Nitrogen and oxygen together account for roughly 99% of the atmosphere, with argon making up about 0.93%, leaving carbon dioxide and other trace gases to fill the remainder.

Explanation

In the binary system (base 2), memory and storage measurements are based on powers of 2 rather than powers of 10. Expressed as a power of 2:

1 Kilobyte = 2¹⁰ bytes = 1024 bytes

Explanation

Tipu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 to 1799. Srirangapatnam served as the fortified capital of his kingdom, from where both he and his father, Hyder Ali, governed. Tipu Sultan conducted his administrative operations and led resistance against the British East India Company from Srirangapatnam, where he ultimately died defending his fortress during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799.

Explanation

In the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report, India secured the 63rd rank among 190 countries. This marked a jump of 14 places from its 77th position in the previous year's report, driven by significant reforms in areas such as resolving insolvency, dealing with construction permits, starting a business, and trading across borders.

Explanation

The textile and apparel industry in India is the second-largest source of employment after agriculture. It plays a pivotal role in the Indian economy by providing employment to over 45 million people directly and millions more in allied sectors, engaging a large proportion of women and the rural workforce. It contributes significantly to India's industrial production, GDP, and export earnings due to its complete value chain from raw fibers to finished garments.

Explanation

Power is defined as the rate at which work is done or energy is transferred, given by P = W/t or as the dot product of force and velocity (P = F · v). Because work and energy are scalar quantities, and the scalar dot product of two vector quantities yields a scalar result, power possesses only magnitude and no direction.

Explanation

Under Article 88 of the Constitution of India, the Attorney General of India has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of either House of Parliament, any joint sitting of both Houses, and any parliamentary committee of which they may be named a member. However, Article 88 explicitly denies the Attorney General the right to vote in Parliament.

Explanation

The bicameral legislature of Japan is officially known as the National Diet (Kokkai in Japanese). Established under the Constitution of Japan in 1947, it consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the House of Councillors. The Constitution designates the National Diet as the highest organ of state power and the sole law-making body of the nation.

Explanation

The book "All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as Told in His Own Words" was compiled and edited by Krishna Kripalani. Originally published in 1958 by UNESCO to promote peace and universal brotherhood, the compilation brings together key selections from Gandhi's speeches, autobiographical reflections, and writings on truth, non-violence, self-discipline, and social justice. The volume also includes an introductory essay written by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Explanation

On 15 April 2010, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched GSAT-4, an experimental communication and navigation satellite, aboard the GSLV-D3 launch vehicle. The mission failed to reach orbit because the indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage (the third stage) malfunctioned. A component failure in the liquid hydrogen turbopump prevented the main cryogenic engine from sustaining thrust, causing the vehicle to lose control and fail to deposit GSAT-4 into its designated geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Explanation

Charminar, constructed in 1591 by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in Hyderabad, Telangana, is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). While it was placed on UNESCO's tentative list of heritage sites in 2010 as part of the Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad, it has not been officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site [1].

Explanation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constructed the RBI-Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) with March 2018 as the base period (set at a score of 100) to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. The index measures the growth in digital payments using five broad parameters: Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure (Demand-side factors), Payment Infrastructure (Supply-side factors), Payment Performance, and Consumer Centricity.

Explanation

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a destination-based tax levied on the consumption of goods and services. It is collected at the final point of consumption, meaning the tax revenue ultimately accrues to the jurisdiction where the goods or services are consumed rather than where they are manufactured or produced.

Explanation

The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly known as the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 across the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. A majority of 51.9% voted in favour of leaving the European Union, which initiated the formal process leading to the UK's departure from the EU.

Explanation

Alam Ara, directed by Ardeshir Irani, was released at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai on 14 March 1931. Produced by Imperial Movietone, it was the first Indian full-length sound film (talkie). The movie's immense success marked the transition of the Indian film industry from silent cinema to the era of sound and music, featuring India's first film song, De De Allah Ke Naam Pe.

Explanation

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays on November 8, 1895, while experimenting with electrical discharges in evacuated glass tubes. He noticed that a fluorescent screen placed nearby began to glow even when the tube was wrapped in heavy black cardboard. Recognizing that a new form of invisible electromagnetic radiation was being produced, he designated them as X-rays due to their unknown nature. For this revolutionary discovery, Röntgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

Explanation

Article 43 of the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV of the Indian Constitution directs the State to secure, through suitable legislation or economic organization, a living wage, decent working conditions, and a reasonable standard of life along with full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities for all agricultural, industrial, or other workers.

Explanation

The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces of the British East India Company, led by Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim (Nawab of Bengal), Shuja-ud-Daula (Nawab of Awadh), and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. The decisive victory of the British in this battle established their political control over Bengal and paved the way for the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, which granted the Company the Diwani rights to collect revenue in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.

Explanation

Amritsar was founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, who acquired the land and began the construction of a holy pool known as Amrit Sarovar. The city that developed around this sacred pool was initially called Guru Ka Chakk and later came to be known as Ramdaspur in honor of Guru Ram Das, before eventually taking the name Amritsar.

Explanation

The issue price in the Public Distribution System (PDS) is the subsidized rate at which the government supplies essential foodgrains, such as wheat and rice, to vulnerable sections of society through Fair Price Shops. To make staple food items affordable to targeted populations and ensure nationwide food security, this price is fixed significantly below the prevailing open market price, with the government absorbing the difference as a food subsidy.

Explanation

Both UV-A and UV-B radiation from solar exposure contribute to the development of skin cancer. UV-B rays directly damage DNA in skin cells, causing sunburns and genetic mutations that lead to skin cancers. UV-A rays penetrate deeper into the skin layers, generating reactive oxygen species that cause indirect DNA damage and immune suppression, which also contributes significantly to melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Because both UV-A and UV-B reach the Earth's surface and cause distinct forms of cellular damage, exposure to both types of radiation drives high skin cancer incidence rates.

Explanation

A dynamo converts mechanical energy into electrical energy using the principle of electromagnetic induction. When a conductor or coil rotates within a magnetic field under an applied mechanical force, the changing magnetic flux induces an electromotive force (EMF) in the conductor, generating an electric current.

Explanation

Machine language is a low-level programming language consisting of binary code (0s and 1s) that can be executed directly by the computer's central processing unit (CPU) without requiring translation by a compiler or interpreter.

Explanation

Photosynthesis is most efficient in red light because chlorophyll pigments, primarily chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, absorb light wavelengths most effectively in the red region of the visible spectrum (around 600–700 nm). Red light photons possess the ideal energy level to excite chlorophyll electrons in Photosystem I and Photosystem II, driving light-dependent reactions and oxygen evolution at the maximum rate.

Explanation

Pongal is a major four-day harvest festival celebrated primarily in Tamil Nadu, marking the end of the winter solstice and the beginning of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards (Makar Sankranti). Dedicated to the Sun God (Surya), the festival celebrates the abundant harvest of crops like rice, sugarcane, and turmeric, with the traditional boiling of freshly harvested rice in milk and jaggery as an offering of gratitude for nature's bounty.

Explanation

Lord Dalhousie assumed the office of Governor-General of India in 1848 and introduced the Doctrine of Lapse. Under this annexation policy, if a ruler of a dependent princely state died without a natural male heir, the state was automatically annexed by the British East India Company, denying the tradition of adopting an heir. Satara was the first princely state to be annexed under this doctrine in 1848.

Explanation

In computer memory measurement using binary prefixes (base 2), storage units increase by a factor of 1024 (2¹⁰) at each standard level. The standard hierarchy of digital storage units progresses from Byte → Kilobyte (KB) → Megabyte (MB) → Gigabyte (GB) → Terabyte (TB) → Petabyte (PB). Therefore, 1 Terabyte (TB) is equal to 1024 Gigabytes (GB).

Explanation

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur built five Jantar Mantar astronomical observatories in New Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Mathura between 1724 and 1735 to measure time and track celestial bodies. Indore was not selected as a site for any of these 18th-century observatories and does not possess a Jantar Mantar.

Explanation

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack, Odisha, at Janakinath Bhawan, which is now preserved as the Netaji Birth Place Museum. He spent his early childhood in Cuttack and received his early education at the Protestant European School and Ravenshaw Collegiate School there before moving to Kolkata for higher education.

Explanation

Citrus canker is a bacterial disease affecting citrus plant species, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas citri. The pathogen enters the host plant through natural openings such as stomata or mechanical wounds, creating raised, corky lesions surrounded by yellow halos on leaves, twigs, and fruit, ultimately leading to severe defoliation and premature fruit drop.

Explanation

Assam is home to Digboi, India's oldest operating oil field, where crude oil was discovered in 1889 and commercial production began in 1901. Located in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam possesses extensive onshore hydrocarbon reserves including major oil fields such as Digboi, Naharkatiya, and Moran-Hugrijan, making it a pioneer and major contributor to India's petroleum sector.

Explanation

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Established in 1958 by the United States government under President Dwight D. Eisenhower through the National Aeronautics and Space Act, it is an independent agency responsible for the civilian space program, aeronautics research, and space science exploration.

Explanation

Database installation is an administrative and infrastructure setup activity that configures software on a system to create an environment for storing data. It establishes the platform on which data systems run, but it does not perform any actual operation, transformation, computation, or handling of the data itself.

Explanation

Harihara I and Bukka I founded the Sangama dynasty in 1336 AD, which was the first of the four dynasties that ruled the Vijayanagara Empire. Named after their father Sangama, the brothers established their empire on the banks of the Tungabhadra River with the spiritual guidance of Sage Vidyaranya. Bukka I succeeded Harihara I as the ruler and significantly expanded the empire's territory across Southern India.

Explanation

World Population Day is observed annually on July 11 to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, including family planning, gender equality, maternal health, and human rights. It was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, inspired by Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, the approximate date on which the world's population reached five billion people.

Explanation

The Brown Revolution in India is associated with the promotion and development of leather production, cocoa cultivation, and non-conventional energy sources. It aims to fulfill the growing demand for leather and cocoa products while emphasizing sustainable practices and enhancing the income of farmers and producers involved in these sectors.

Explanation

Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, propounded the Dīn-i Ilāhī (Divine Faith) in 1582 CE. It was a syncretic ethical system and elite philosophy drawing elements from Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Christianity, designed to promote moral living, religious tolerance, and cultural unity across his vast empire.

Explanation

eNAM (National Agriculture Market) is a pan-India electronic trading portal launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, in April 2016. It integrates existing Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis across states to form a unified national market for agricultural commodities, promoting uniformity in agricultural marketing, streamlining procedures, and facilitating better price discovery for farmers.

Explanation

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 was introduced to create a unified, time-bound framework for resolving insolvency and bankruptcy in India. The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 May 2016 and by the Rajya Sabha on 11 May 2016. It received the assent of the President of India on 28 May 2016, officially enacting it into law to facilitate easier debt recovery for creditors and improve the ease of doing business.

Explanation

The Indian Elephant was officially declared as the National Heritage Animal of India in October 2010 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. This declaration was made following recommendations by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife to enhance protection measures for elephants, preserve their natural corridors, and raise public awareness regarding human-elephant conflict and conservation efforts.

Explanation

UNATI was launched in 2019 to leverage science and technology innovations aimed at transforming critical sectors including health, agriculture, and energy over the subsequent five years.

Explanation

The Yangtze River, located in China, flows for approximately 6,300 kilometers (3,915 miles), making it the third-longest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. It is also the longest river in Asia and the longest river in the world to flow entirely within a single country.

Explanation

The Modern Periodic Law, proposed by Henry Moseley in 1913, states that the physical and chemical properties of elements are periodic functions of their atomic numbers. Consequently, the Modern Periodic Table arranges elements in increasing order of their atomic numbers, which represents the number of protons in an atom's nucleus and dictates its electronic structure and chemical behavior.

Explanation

The 2020 UEFA Champions League final, Europe's premier club football tournament, was hosted at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, on 23 August 2020. UEFA relocated the knockout stages of the 2019–20 season to Lisbon as a neutral single-leg tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where Bayern Munich defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 to win the European title.

Explanation

The Strait of Dover (or Dover Strait) is the narrowest part of the English Channel, connecting the English Channel directly to the North Sea. Situated at the narrowest point between Great Britain and France, it serves as a crucial maritime gateway linking the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea and is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.