RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 inserted Article 21A into the Constitution of India, making free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14 years a Fundamental Right. This landmark amendment also altered Article 45 under Directive Principles of State Policy and added a new Fundamental Duty under Article 51A(k) for parents and guardians.

Explanation

Bihar is a completely landlocked state located in the eastern region of India, bounded by Nepal to the north, Uttar Pradesh to the west, Jharkhand to the south, and West Bengal to the east. Being entirely surrounded by land territories on all sides without direct access to any ocean or sea, it has no coastline.

Explanation

The Battle of Chausa was fought on 26 June 1539 at Chausa, near Buxar in modern-day Bihar. It was a decisive military engagement between the Mughal Emperor Humayun and the Afghan strategist Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah Suri defeated the Mughal army and subsequently assumed the imperial title of Farid al-Din Sher Shah.

Explanation

Intestinal juice contains proteolytic enzymes such as peptidases that catalyze the final stage of protein digestion. These enzymes break down proteins, peptones, and dipeptides into their simplest absorbable monomeric units, amino acids, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal microvilli.

Explanation

Article 65 of the Constitution of India specifies that when the President is unable to discharge their functions owing to absence, illness, resignation, removal, or death, the Vice President acts as the President or discharges the duties of the President until the President resumes office or a new President is elected. Under Article 64, the Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), thereby making the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha the constitutional authority to take charge of the President's office in the President's absence.

Explanation

Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, particularly species belonging to the genus Pteropus (commonly known as flying foxes), are the natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah virus. The virus resides in these bats without causing severe disease in them and is shed through their bodily fluids such as urine, saliva, feces, and birthing fluids, from which it can spread to other animals or humans.

Explanation

Plants are composed of natural organic compounds such as cellulose, starch, and lignin. Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi can secrete enzymes that readily digest and break down plant matter into simple inorganic substances, including water, carbon dioxide, and nutrient-rich soil humus, which safely re-enter ecological biogeochemical cycles.

Explanation

Samajwadi Party is a recognized state political party based primarily in Uttar Pradesh. It has never fulfilled the required criteria set by the Election Commission of India under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968—such as securing at least 6% of valid votes in four or more states along with four Lok Sabha seats, or winning 2% of total Lok Sabha seats across at least three states—to qualify for national party status.

Explanation

The Sentinels, or Sentinelese, are an indigenous Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) residing on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Archipelago. They are one of the native tribal groups of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, along with the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Shompen, and Nicobarese, and are known for maintaining complete isolation from the outside world.

Explanation

In a myopic (nearsighted) eye, the light rays coming from a distant object converge at a point in front of the retina rather than directly on it, causing distant objects to appear blurry. A concave lens acts as a diverging lens that spreads out the incoming parallel light rays before they enter the eye. This preliminary divergence allows the eye's internal optical system to focus the image farther back, bringing it precisely onto the retina to restore clear distance vision.

Explanation

The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) is established at the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management campus in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. It serves as a regional institution providing support to SAARC member nations in capacity building, policy advice, and information sharing for disaster risk reduction and management.

Explanation

Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nair was appointed as the founder director of the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) when it was inaugurated at the ISRO Headquarters campus in Bengaluru on January 30, 2019. The centre was established to spearhead India's human spaceflight initiatives, specifically the Gaganyaan project, overseeing end-to-end mission planning, crew selection and training, and the development of life-support engineering systems.

Explanation

EDUSAT, officially designated as GSAT-3, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 20, 2004, aboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F01) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It was India's first satellite built exclusively to serve the educational sector, designed to facilitate interactive satellite-based distance education systems across the country.

Explanation

Cyclone-30 is India's largest medical cyclotron facility, located at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre in Kolkata under the Department of Atomic Energy. It is used to produce radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals essential for the diagnosis and therapeutic management of cancer. The facility generates key radioisotopes such as Fluorine-18 for PET scanning, Germanium-68 for breast cancer detection, and Palladium-103 for prostate cancer therapy.

Explanation

Bhupen Hazarika was born on September 8, 1926, in Sadiya, Assam. Popularly known as the "Bard of Brahmaputra," he was an eminent singer, composer, lyricist, poet, and filmmaker who played a pivotal role in promoting the rich cultural heritage and music of Assam across the nation. He was posthumously honored with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 2019.

Explanation

Pratap Chandra Sarangi served as a Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) from May 2019 to July 2021 in the Second Modi Ministry. During the same period, he also held the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. As a Member of Parliament representing the Balasore constituency of Odisha, his role in the MSME ministry focused on strengthening small businesses, promoting indigenous manufacturing, and facilitating relief measures for enterprises during the pandemic.

Explanation

On 15th August 1947, while the rest of the country was celebrating India's independence, Mahatma Gandhi was in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He stayed at Hydari Mansion in Beliaghata to quell communal violence between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, marking the day by fasting, praying, and spinning thread on his charkha rather than attending the official festivities.

Explanation

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020. Established as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization by the Ministry of Education, the NTA was assigned the responsibility of conducting national-level entrance examinations, taking over the conduct of NEET UG from 2019 onwards.

Explanation

Under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), launched in May 2015, an insurance cover of ₹2 lakh is provided in the event of accidental death or permanent total disability. For permanent partial disability, the scheme offers a coverage of ₹1 lakh.

Explanation

Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India, and is not part of the Bay of Bengal region that defines BIMSTEC membership. The seven member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Explanation

Dampa Tiger Reserve is located in the Mamit district of Mizoram, along the international border with Bangladesh. It was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1985 and declared a tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1994, making it a protected area in Mizoram rather than Assam.

Explanation

The 7th Economic Census was launched in India in July 2019, beginning from the state of Tripura. Conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in partnership with Common Services Centers (CSC) SPV, it aimed to map and provide comprehensive data on all non-agricultural and agricultural economic establishments operating within the country.

Explanation

Captain Mohan Singh played a foundational role in forming the first iteration of the Indian National Army (INA) in 1942 with Japanese assistance. However, following serious disagreements with Japanese military authorities over the autonomy and role of the force, he disbanded the INA in December 1942 and was subsequently arrested and detained by the Japanese until the end of World War II. Because he was under Japanese detention during the major military actions of the revived INA under Subhas Chandra Bose, he was not prosecuted on charges of waging war against the King-Emperor in the famous post-war Red Fort trials.

Explanation

The Indian Rupee symbol (₹) was conceptualized and designed by D. Udaya Kumar, a postgraduate from IIT Bombay and currently a faculty member at IIT Guwahati. His design was chosen through an open national contest conducted by the Ministry of Finance and was officially adopted by the Government of India on 15 July 2010. The symbol is a blend of the Devanagari letter 'र' (ra) and the Latin capital letter 'R' without its vertical stem, incorporating two horizontal parallel lines at the top to symbolize the national flag and economic equality.

Explanation

The Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, officially began on 10 May 1857 in the garrison town of Meerut. The sepoys of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry mutinied against their British officers following the greased cartridges controversy and the imprisonment of their fellow soldiers who refused to use them. They broke open the jail, released the imprisoned soldiers, and marched to Delhi to declare the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as the symbolic leader of the uprising.

Explanation

M. Visvesvaraya was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955. The award was instituted in 1954, and the inaugural batch of recipients conferred in that first year did not include him.

Explanation

Canada is not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The five permanent members with veto power established under the UN Charter of 1945 are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Canada participates in the Security Council only when elected as a non-permanent member for a two-year term.

Explanation

When a magnesium ribbon is burned in air using a spirit lamp, magnesium reacts vigorously with atmospheric oxygen in a combustion reaction. This produces a dazzling white flame and yields a white powder of magnesium oxide.

2Mg + O₂ → 2MgO

Explanation

The Kakori Conspiracy took place on 9 August 1925 near Kakori, a village near Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Members of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), including Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Rajendra Lahiri, stopped the 8-Down train carrying government money to acquire funds for buying arms and supporting revolutionary activities against British colonial rule.

Explanation

Madhubani painting, also known as Mithila painting, is a traditional folk art form that originated in the Mithila region of Bihar. Traditionally practiced by local women, this art form is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns, double outlines, and themes drawn from nature, folklore, and Hindu religious epics, using natural pigments and dyes applied with twigs, brushes, or fingers.

Explanation

Plotters, printers, and monitors are hardware components that receive processed data from a computer and present it to the user in a visual or physical format. A plotter renders high-resolution vector graphics and technical drawings on paper using specialized pens, a printer produces hard-copy text and images on physical media, and a monitor displays soft-copy visual output on a screen. Because each of these hardware components functions exclusively to display or output information generated by the central processing unit, they are categorized strictly as output devices.

Explanation

Cheraw is one of the oldest traditional folk dances of Mizoram, popularly known as the Bamboo Dance. Performed during major festive occasions such as Chapchar Kut, the dance involves male performers holding bamboo poles horizontally near the ground and clapping them in rhythm while female dancers gracefully step in and out between the moving bamboo staves to the beat of gongs and drums.

Explanation

Meghalaya is allocated 2 seats in the Lok Sabha, representing the Shillong and Tura parliamentary constituencies. Seat distribution in the Lok Sabha is determined on the basis of population as mandated by Article 81 of the Constitution of India, giving Meghalaya multiple seats in the lower house of Parliament.

Explanation

The phrase 'Satyameva Jayate' (meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs') is taken from the Mundaka Upanishad, specifically from Chapter 3, Section 1, Verse 6. Following India's independence, this sacred mantra was adopted as the national motto of India and inscribed in Devanagari script below the Lion Capital of Ashoka on the State Emblem of India on 26 January 1950.

Explanation

Eiha Dixit, a six-year-old environmental activist from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, was conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar 2019 in the field of social service. At the time of receiving the award, she was the youngest recipient among all 26 awardees. She was recognized for her extensive tree-plantation drives and environmental awareness initiatives, having planted thousands of saplings to fight deforestation and climate change.

Explanation

During the decade 1911–1921, India recorded a negative population growth rate of -0.31%. This demographic decline was primarily caused by widespread famines and severe epidemics, most notably the influenza pandemic of 1918 (Spanish Flu), which resulted in high mortality rates across the country. Due to this drop, the year 1921 is regarded as the Year of the Great Divide in India's demographic history, after which the population increased continuously.

Explanation

Giani Zail Singh served as the President of India from 1982 to 1987 (D). Neelam Sanjiva Reddy served as the President from 1977 to 1982 (B). Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served from 1974 until his demise in 1977 (A). Dr. Zakir Hussain served from 1967 until his demise in 1969 (C). Arranging these presidential terms in reverse chronological (descending) order gives the sequence D, B, A, C.

Explanation

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is a waterborne disease transmitted primarily through the ingestion of food or drinking water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, rather than through respiratory droplets or airborne transmission.

Explanation

The Swadhar Greh Scheme, launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is designed to provide shelter, food, clothing, medical care, legal guidance, and counseling to women in difficult circumstances to aid their emotional and economic rehabilitation. Providing government jobs to socially backward women is not part of the scheme's mandates or objectives.

Explanation

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), an attached office under the Ministry of Culture, is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural monuments in the country. Founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham, its headquarters is located at Dharohar Bhawan on Tilak Marg in New Delhi.

Explanation

India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express (originally known as Train 18), was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th February 2019 from the New Delhi Railway Station. The maiden run of the train operated on the New Delhi–Kanpur–Allahabad–Varanasi route. Designed and manufactured entirely in India by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai under the 'Make in India' initiative, it reached speeds up to 160 km/h during trials and marked a major milestone in modernizing Indian Railways.

Explanation

Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his poetry collection 'Gitanjali' (Song Offerings). This distinction made him the first Indian as well as the first non-European to receive a Nobel Prize.

Explanation

English professional snooker player Matthew Selt won the 2019 Indian Open held in Kochi, Kerala. He defeated Lyu Haotian by a score of 5–3 in the final match to claim his first ranking title after 17 years as a professional on the World Snooker Tour.

Explanation

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Festival of Innovation | Entrepreneurship (FINE) at Grambharti near Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on 15 March 2019. Organised by the President's Office in association with the Department of Science and Technology and the National Innovation Foundation-India, FINE is an initiative aimed at recognizing, rewarding, and nurturing grassroots innovations. During the event, the President also presented the 10th Biennial National Grassroots Innovation Awards to promote an innovation-driven culture and support young entrepreneurs across the country.

Explanation

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of the present building of the National Museum in New Delhi on May 12, 1955. Designed by architect Ganesh Bikaji Deolalikar, the museum stands on Janpath. Following the laying of the foundation stone, the first phase of the building was formally inaugurated by Vice-President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on December 18, 1960.

Explanation

Article 74(1) of the Constitution of India explicitly provides for a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his or her functions. Under this provision, the President is constitutionally bound to act in accordance with the advice tendered by the Council of Ministers, reflecting the parliamentary system of governance in India where the real executive power rests with the elected ministry rather than the titular head of state.

Explanation

In December 2020, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs declared the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) as the best performing Municipal Corporation in India under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) annual awards for excellence. The civic body was recognized for its exemplary implementation of the housing scheme, including the effective construction and delivery of affordable pucca houses to urban poor beneficiaries alongside essential civic infrastructure like water supply, underground drainage, and street lighting.

Explanation

Germanium is a chemical element with atomic number 32 that exhibits properties intermediate between metals and non-metals, classifying it as a metalloid. It has a metallic luster and crystalline structure similar to metals, but behaves as a semiconductor with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its valence electrons allow it to form covalent bonds like non-metals while maintaining physical characteristics of metals.

Explanation

The National Air Quality Index (AQI) was launched on 17 October 2014 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in New Delhi. Formulated as a key initiative under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), the index was designed around the principle of "One Number-One Colour-One Description" to communicate complex air quality data in an easily understandable format for the general public. Developed based on recommendations from IIT Kanpur and an expert group, the AQI measures eight major pollutants: PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, ammonia, and lead.

Explanation

The hip bone (also known as the coxal bone or innominate bone) is formed by the fusion of three distinct primary bones: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. In early development and childhood, these bones are joined by cartilage at the acetabulum (the cup-shaped socket for the hip joint). During late adolescence, they completely fuse together to form a single, solid bone on each side of the pelvis.