RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

With effect from April 1, 2019, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged into Bank of Baroda under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act. This three-way merger was the first-ever consolidation among public sector banks in India, creating a larger and globally competitive entity with an expanded branch network, higher capital base, and greater operational efficiency.

Explanation

The pons is a major structure located in the brainstem, forming a critical part of the hindbrain along with the cerebellum and medulla oblongata. It serves as a neural bridge connecting the cerebral cortex with the cerebellum and medulla oblongata. The pons contains nuclei that deal primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder control, hearing, taste, eye movement, facial expressions, and posture.

Explanation

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched the Udyam Abhilasha program on October 2, 2018, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It was a national-level entrepreneurship awareness campaign implemented across 115 aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 states. The campaign aimed to inspire rural youth, particularly women, to become entrepreneurs by helping them set up their own enterprises, providing digital training, creating business opportunities, and assisting participants in accessing credit facilities from financial institutions. For implementation, SIDBI partnered with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.

Explanation

In the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Democracy Index for the year 2019, India was ranked 51st out of 167 countries with an overall score of 6.90 out of 10. The report categorized India as a flawed democracy, attributing the ten-place drop from the previous year primarily to a decline in civil liberties.

Explanation

At 10 years of age, Abhinav Shaw created history by becoming the youngest gold medalist at the Khelo India Youth Games held in Pune in January 2019. Representing West Bengal, he teamed up with shooter Mehuli Ghosh to win the gold medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

Explanation

The United States joined the Allied Powers in World War II following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. As one of the major nations among the Allied coalition—alongside Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France—the USA played a vital role in providing economic support, industrial production, and military force that ultimately secured victory in both the European and Pacific theaters.

Explanation

Daksh is a battery-powered Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to locate, handle, and neutralize Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and bombs safely. It features an integrated X-ray unit for scanning suspicious objects, a robotic arm to lift and transfer explosives, and a high-caliber water jet cutter to disable hazardous devices. Operated remotely over a range of up to 500 meters, it enhances safety for bomb disposal squads.

Explanation

On 14 November 2018, UNICEF India appointed Asian Games gold medallist sprinter Hima Das as the country's first-ever Youth Ambassador. The appointment aimed to inspire young people and adolescents to support child rights, advocate for safe and supportive educational environments, and amplify the voices and concerns of youth across India.

Explanation

Tirich Mir is the highest peak in the Hindu Kush mountain range, standing at an elevation of 7,708 metres (25,289 feet). Located in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, it is also the highest mountain peak in the world outside of the main Himalaya-Karakoram system.

Explanation

In the Mahabharata, Bhima and the demoness Hidimbi had a son named Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha married Maurvi (also known as Ahilawati) and fathered Barbarika, making Barbarika the grandson of Bhima and Hidimbi. Barbarika is also widely revered in Indian tradition as Khatu Shyam.

Explanation

The regional division of the Himalayas from west to east is traditionally demarcated by major river valleys. The stretch of the Himalayas located between the Tista River in the west and the Dihang River (also known as the Siang/Brahmaputra) in the east is designated as the Assam Himalayas. Spanning parts of Sikkim, West Bengal, Bhutan, and Arunachal Pradesh, this division forms the easternmost region of the main Himalayan range before it takes a sharp southward bend beyond the Dihang gorge.

Explanation

Freedom of Speech and Expression is guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) as a specific component of the broader 'Right to Freedom' (Articles 19–22). It is not classified as an independent, standalone category of Fundamental Right in Part III of the Indian Constitution.

Explanation

India's first green rail corridor, covering the 114 km Rameswaram–Manamadurai stretch in Tamil Nadu, was inaugurated on July 24, 2016, by the Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, via video conferencing from Chennai Central Railway Station, and not by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Explanation

Ram Nath Kovind served as the 14th President of India from July 2017 to July 2022, succeeding Pranab Mukherjee. Prior to assuming the presidency, he served as the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017 and was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha representing Uttar Pradesh from 1994 to 2006.

Explanation

Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat, served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006. During his ten-year tenure spanning two terms, he led comprehensive UN administrative reforms, championed human rights, initiated the UN Global Compact, and established the Millennium Development Goals. In 2001, Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts toward a better organized and more peaceful world.

Explanation

NASA launched the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) in September 2018 to measure the elevation of Earth's ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers with extreme precision. Equipped with the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), ICESat-2 fires 10,000 laser pulses per second to measure the height of polar ice, allowing scientists to track changes in ice thickness down to the depth of a pencil width and accurately monitor global polar ice loss.

Explanation

Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter and educator who designed the flag upon which the National Flag of India is based. He presented a tricolor flag design to Mahatma Gandhi at the Vijayawada session of the Indian National Congress in 1921. After incorporating minor modifications, including replacing the spinning wheel with the Ashoka Chakra, the Constituent Assembly officially adopted the National Flag of independent India on July 22, 1947.

Explanation

Operation Greens was announced in the Union Budget 2018–19 with an outlay of ₹500 crore to address price volatility in primary agricultural commodities, specifically Tomato, Onion, and Potato (TOP). Modeled on the lines of Operation Flood, the scheme aims to promote Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), strengthen agri-logistics and processing infrastructure, and improve supply chain management to stabilize the supply and prices of these essential vegetables throughout the year across the country.

Explanation

Tijara Jain Temple (Tijara Mandir) is a famous Jain pilgrimage site located in Tijara town in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. The temple is dedicated to Lord Chandraprabhu, the eighth Tirthankara of Jainism, whose ancient idol was recovered from the site during an excavation in 1956.

Explanation

The Konark Sun Temple in Odisha was constructed in the 13th century CE by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. European sailors called it the 'Black Pagoda' because its massive dark tower made of khondalite stone served as an essential navigational landmark off the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

Explanation

PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to ensure energy and financial security for farmers across India. The scheme promotes the adoption of solar pumps and grid-connected solar power plants on barren or fallow land. By reducing reliance on diesel for irrigation and enabling farmers to sell surplus solar power back to the grid, the program helps generate additional income and enhances financial independence for the agricultural community.

Explanation

Microcomputers are compact computing devices built around a single-chip microprocessor that serves as the central processing unit. Designed primarily for individual end-users to perform general computing, communication, and information processing tasks, this category encompasses personal desktop systems, laptops, tablets, and modern smartphones.

Explanation

Wular Lake, located in the Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, is the largest natural freshwater lake in India. Formed as a result of tectonic activity, the lake is fed primarily by the Jhelum River and plays a crucial role in regulating the flood waters and hydrological regime of the Kashmir Valley.

Explanation

All natural numbers together with zero form the set of whole numbers. Integers include zero, positive natural numbers, and negative integers. Therefore, defining integers as only natural numbers together with zero is false.

Explanation

Non-biodegradable materials are synthetic or man-made substances that cannot be broken down into simpler, harmless compounds by the natural biological activity of decomposers such as bacteria and fungi. Plastic is a long-chain synthetic polymer, DDT is a persistent organochlorine pesticide, and bakelite is a thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde resin. Microorganisms lack the specific enzymes required to cleave the strong chemical bonds in these synthetic substances, causing them to persist unchanged in the environment for hundreds of years.

Explanation

The name "United Nations" was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States of America. It was first officially used in the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 Allied nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.

Explanation

Auxin is a key plant hormone (phytohormone) essential for regulating growth and developmental processes in plants. It is primarily synthesized in the shoot apical meristem, young leaves, and developing seeds. Auxin promotes cell elongation, apical dominance, root formation, and tropisms such as phototropism (growth towards light) and gravitropism (growth in response to gravity). Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is the main naturally occurring auxin found in plants.

Explanation

Chara is a green alga belonging to the division Thallophyta. Plants classified under Thallophyta possess a simple, thalloid plant body called a thallus, which lacks specialized vascular tissues and is not differentiated into true roots, stems, and leaves.

Explanation

Early Indian philosophers classified matter into five basic elements known as the Pancha Tattva: Air (Vayu), Earth (Prithvi), Fire (Agni), Sky or Ether (Akasha), and Water (Jal). According to this ancient philosophical framework, all matter, whether living or non-living, is composed of these five fundamental constituent elements.

Explanation

S. P. Balasubramaniam was posthumously honored with the Padma Vibhushan in 2021, India's second-highest civilian honor, for his extraordinary contributions to the field of Art (Music).

Explanation

CIRUS (Canada-India Reactor Utility Services) was a nuclear research reactor established at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay, Mumbai. Commissioned in 1960 with assistance from Canada and heavy water supplied by the United States, CIRUS was India's second research reactor and played a crucial role in the country's early nuclear development program before being permanently shut down in December 2010.

Explanation

The 19th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held on 13–14 June 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Hosted by Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the summit focused on multilateral economic cooperation, regional security, and counter-terrorism initiatives among member nations.

Explanation

Tughlaq is a landmark 13-act play written in 1963 by modern Kannada playwright, actor, and Jnanpith laureate Girish Karnad. The historical play explores the turbulent reign of the 14th-century Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughlaq, serving as an allegory for the post-independence Indian political landscape of the 1960s. Translated into English by Karnad himself and into various other Indian languages, it remains one of the most frequently staged plays in modern Indian theatre.

Explanation

During the annual session of the Indian National Congress held in Lucknow in December 1916, Raj Kumar Shukla, a local farmer from Champaran, met Mahatma Gandhi. He briefed Gandhiji about the hardships faced by the local peasantry under the oppressive tinkathia system imposed by European indigo planters, and persuaded him to visit Champaran to see the situation firsthand. This led to the launch of the Champaran Satyagraha in 1917.

Explanation

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) in Mumbai was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Designed by British architect Frederick William Stevens, this iconic railway station was built over a ten-year period beginning in 1878. It represents an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture blended with elements derived from traditional Indian buildings, making it an architectural and historical landmark of 19th-century railway development.

Explanation

The Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of a constellation of satellites operating in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (around 20,000 km) above the Earth's surface. At this altitude, each satellite completes two full orbits around the Earth every day, with an orbital period of about 11 hours and 58 minutes.

Explanation

The first synchronous census in India was conducted in 1881 under the administration of Viceroy Lord Ripon, with W.C. Plowden serving as the Census Commissioner. Unlike the initial non-synchronous census efforts of 1872, the 1881 census was taken simultaneously across the entire country using a uniform schedule, establishing a regular decennial (ten-year) census tradition in India.

Explanation

Sher Shah Suri constructed the Sadak-e-Azam, also known as the Shahi (Imperial) road, to unify his empire and improve trade and military transport. It stretched over 2,500 kilometers from Sonargaon in the Sonar Valley (present-day Bangladesh) across the Gangetic plains to the Indus Valley in the northwest region. Equipped with sarais (rest houses), wells, and tree-lined pathways at regular intervals, this ancient trade route was later named the Grand Trunk Road during the British era.

Explanation

The Leh–Manali Highway was constructed and is maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under its operational projects, Project Himank and Project Deepak. The highway traverses strategic high-altitude mountain passes in the Himalayan region, connecting Leh in Ladakh to Manali in Himachal Pradesh, and plays a critical role in national defense and regional connectivity.

Explanation

Maharishi Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dvaipayana, is traditionally regarded as the sage who composed the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. He is credited with dictating the grand text to Lord Ganesha and compiling the single Veda into four distinct parts (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda). The Mahabharata, containing over 100,000 verses, is one of the longest epic poems in the world and includes the Bhagavad Gita within its Bhishma Parva.

Explanation

Article 170(1) of the Constitution of India specifies the composition of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. It stipulates that, subject to the provisions of Article 333, the Legislative Assembly of each State shall consist of not more than 500 and not less than 60 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the State.

Explanation

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Frontier Gandhi, organized the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement, commonly known as the "Red Shirts" (Surkh Posh) movement, in 1929 in the North-West Frontier Province. It was a non-violent social and political reform movement that actively supported the Indian National Congress and the Civil Disobedience Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi against British colonial rule.

Explanation

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program specifically designed to create slide shows for visual communication. It allows users to combine text, images, graphics, audio, video, and animation effects into ordered slides, making it the most effective tool for structured visual lessons, lectures, and interactive demonstrations in a classroom setting.

Explanation

Part III of the Constitution of India categorizes Fundamental Rights into six main broad groups: Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights, and Right to Constitutional Remedies. Right to profession is not categorized as an independent or standalone fundamental right; rather, the freedom to practice any profession, trade, or business is protected as a specific sub-clause under Article 19(1)(g) within the broader Right to Freedom.

Explanation

Article 343(1) of Part XVII of the Indian Constitution specifies that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi written in the Devanagari script. It further provides that the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.

Explanation

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar when British troops opened fire on an unarmed gathering. Mahatma Gandhi subsequently launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in September 1920 to protest against British rule and the Punjab atrocities. Later, Gandhi led the Salt March from 12 March to 6 April 1930 to break the salt law, marking the start of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Finally, the Quit India Movement was launched on 8 August 1942, calling for an immediate end to British rule in India.

Explanation

Dr. Manmohan Singh served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 while being a member of the Rajya Sabha representing Assam. Since the Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha must be a member of the Lok Sabha, he served as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha instead during his entire tenure as Prime Minister.

Explanation

The coding pattern divides the given word into adjacent two-letter pairs and reverses each pair:

CA-LC-UL-AT-OR becomes AC-CL-LU-TA-RO = ACCLLUTARO HE-AR-TB-RE-AK becomes EH-RA-BT-ER-KA = EHRABTERKA

Applying the same logic to EKSEKTRA: EK-SE-KT-RA becomes KE-ES-TK-AR = KEESTKAR

Explanation

Under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), permissible ambient noise limits are specified based on area zones and time of day. For residential areas, the standard limit is set at 55 dB(A) Leq during the day (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) and 45 dB(A) Leq during the night (10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.).

Explanation

Article 29 of the Indian Constitution deals with the protection of interests of minorities. It guarantees that any section of citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script, or culture of its own has the fundamental right to conserve the same, thereby safeguarding the cultural and linguistic rights of minority groups under Part III of the Constitution.