RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Shovana Narayan is an eminent Indian classical dancer who belongs to the Kathak tradition, having trained under legendary gurus like Pandit Birju Maharaj and Kundan Lal Gangani of the Jaipur gharana. Recognized for her emotional depth and technical precision, she was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1999–2000 for her significant contributions to the art form.

Explanation

Forests were transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, under Entry 17A of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. This enables both the Parliament and the State Legislatures to make laws regarding forest conservation, protection, and management.

Explanation

Nirbhay is India's first indigenously designed and developed long-range, subsonic cruise missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). On 15 April 2019, DRDO successfully test-fired the missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha. Capable of cruising at speeds of 0.7 to 0.9 Mach and operating at low altitudes down to 100 meters to evade radar detection, the missile possesses a strike range of approximately 1,000 km along with terrain-hugging and loitering capabilities.

Explanation

The Great Bath discovered at Mohenjo-daro is a large rectangular tank situated within a citadel complex. It measures approximately 11.88 meters in length, 7.01 meters in width, and 2.43 meters in depth. Constructed with finely fitted baked bricks laid on edge using mortar and sealed with bitumen to make it watertight, it served as an extraordinary public structure likely used for special religious or ritual bathing.

Explanation

The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system was commissioned in 1983 with the launch of INSAT-1B, following the launch of the series' first satellite, INSAT-1A, in April 1982. It was not initiated in 1979.

Explanation

Laterite soil develops in tropical and subtropical regions characterized by high temperatures and heavy rainfall with alternate wet and dry periods. Intense monsoon rainfall causes intense leaching, washing away silica and lime from the top layer of soil and leaving behind residual compounds rich in iron oxide and aluminium hydroxides. This process, known as lateritization, leaves the soil reddish, acidic, and poor in organic matter.

Explanation

The Sutta Pitaka is a collection of over 10,000 discourses and teachings attributed to the Buddha and his close companions. It is written in dialogue format and includes conversations between the Buddha and various contemporary rulers, such as King Ajatashatru, the ruler of Magadha, who sought his counsel on spiritual, philosophical, and moral issues.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915 after spending over two decades there fighting against racial discrimination. His arrival at Apollo Bunder in Mumbai marked his permanent return and the beginning of his leadership in the Indian national movement. In honor of his historic return, January 9 is celebrated every year as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

Explanation

The 'Adam's Apple' is the protrusion on the front of the neck formed by the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx (voice box). During puberty in males, testosterone causes the larynx to grow significantly larger, altering the voice pitch and causing the thyroid cartilage to bulge outward as a prominent feature. It serves a protective function for the vocal cords located directly behind it.

Explanation

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) is a key statistical agency operating under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India. It conducts periodic, large-scale socio-economic surveys across the country on parameters such as employment, unemployment, household consumer expenditure, health, and education to generate reliable data essential for national planning and policymaking.

Explanation

James Peebles was awarded one-half of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology. His work over five decades laid the theoretical framework for modern cosmology, transforming the study of the universe's origin and evolution into a precise quantitative science. His theoretical models provided fundamental insights into the cosmic microwave background radiation as well as the roles of dark matter and dark energy in shaping the universe.

Explanation

The Indian Councils Act of 1909, commonly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, officially introduced the system of separate electorates for Muslims in British India. Under this system, Muslim members in the legislative councils were to be elected exclusively by Muslim voters, thereby introducing communal representation into the Indian political framework.

Explanation

Under Article 109 of the Constitution of India, a Money Bill passed by the Lok Sabha is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations. The Rajya Sabha has limited powers regarding money and financial bills and must return the bill to the Lok Sabha within 14 days from the date of its receipt. If the Rajya Sabha fails to return the bill within this 14-day period, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament in the form in which it was originally passed by the Lok Sabha.

Explanation

Cai Lun, a Han dynasty court official in ancient China, is traditionally credited with inventing paper and establishing the papermaking process around 105 AD. He improved the method by using materials such as mulberry bark, hemp, old rags, and fishnets to create a light, durable, and inexpensive writing surface.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi observed that the Indian Railways played a pivotal role in national integration by bringing together people from diverse cultural, regional, and linguistic backgrounds. This extensive transport network facilitated seamless travel and communication across the country, allowing individuals from all walks of life to interact, exchange ideas, and unite under a common purpose during the Indian independence movement.

Explanation

Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, Big Dipper, or Saptarshi, is a prominent constellation visible in the northern sky during the early part of a summer night. It consists of seven prominent stars arranged in the shape of a large ladle or question mark, with four stars forming the bowl and three stars forming the handle. An imaginary line extended through the two pointer stars at the end of the bowl points directly toward the Pole Star (Polaris).

Explanation

Jelep La is a high mountain pass located in the Dongkya Range of the Eastern Himalayas in Sikkim, connecting Sikkim with the Chumbi Valley in Tibet, China. It is not situated in the Zaskar Range, which lies further north in the Western Himalayas across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Explanation

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was launched on 2 October 1975, coinciding with the 106th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It is one of the world's largest early childhood care and development programmes, providing supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-ups, and pre-school non-formal education to children under 6 years of age as well as pregnant and lactating mothers.

Explanation

Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations who served from 1953 until his death in 1961, made this famous observation regarding the role of the international organization. His statement emphasizes that the primary objective of the United Nations is pragmatic rather than utopian—it aims to prevent global conflicts and humanitarian catastrophes rather than establish an ideal world order.

Explanation

An electroscope is a scientific instrument used to detect the presence and sign of electric charge on an object. It operates on the principle of electrostatic repulsion. When a charged body touches or comes near the metal terminal of the electroscope, electric charge transfers down to thin metallic leaves, typically made of gold or aluminum. Because like charges repel each other, the leaves diverge, visually demonstrating that the object carries an electric charge.

Explanation

LOGO (Language of Graphics-Oriented) is a high-level educational computer programming language created in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. It was designed to teach programming concepts, logic, and problem-solving to children through interactive "turtle graphics", where commands control an on-screen turtle cursor to draw shapes and images.

Explanation

A rainbow is a natural spectrum formed in the sky when sunlight enters tiny, spherical water droplets present in the atmosphere. These water droplets act like microscopic prisms that split the incoming white light into its seven constituent colors (VIBGYOR). This phenomenon of splitting white light into its component colors due to the variation in bending angles for different wavelengths is known as dispersion.

Explanation

According to standard geography references, the Cardamom hills are classified as a local name for the Western Ghats in Kerala. The southernmost stretch of the Western Ghats situated in Kerala comprises both the Anaimalai hills and the Cardamom hills, making the designation of Cardamom hills in Tamil Nadu incorrect in this regional classification.

Explanation

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak proclaimed the famous slogan "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!" (often translated as "Freedom is my birth right and I shall have it!") in 1916 during the Home Rule Movement. He was one of the earliest and most prominent leaders of the Indian independence struggle who advocated for complete self-rule.

Explanation

Aryabhata was India's first satellite, completely designed and fabricated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to conduct experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics, and solar physics. It was launched into space on 19 April 1975 from the Kapustin Yar launch site in the Soviet Union using the Russian Kosmos-3M launch vehicle.

Explanation

Article 371-A was inserted into the Constitution of India by the 13th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1962, following the 16-Point Agreement of 1960 between the Government of India and the Naga People's Convention. It grants special status to Nagaland, safeguarding Naga customary law, social and religious practices, administration of civil and criminal justice according to customary law, and the ownership and transfer of land and its resources. Under this provision, no Act of Parliament relating to these matters applies to the state unless the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland decides so by a resolution.

Explanation

Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment (Nirvana) at the age of 35 under a Bodhi tree on the banks of the Niranjana River in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, after meditating for 49 days.

Explanation

Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, wrote his autobiography Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Baburnama) in Chagatai Turkic, which was his mother tongue. Chagatai was the primary literary Turkic language of Central Asia during the Timurid era. His memoirs give detailed accounts of the political events, geography, culture, flora, and fauna of Central Asia, Afghanistan, and the Indian subcontinent.

Explanation

The Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) was initiated during the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1969–1974) in 1973–74 to mitigate the adverse impacts of drought and generate employment in dryland regions. The Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974–1978) instead saw the launch of other target area programmes such as the Hill Area Development Programme and the Tribal Sub-Plan.

Explanation

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages to raise awareness of the importance of sign languages in the full realization of the human rights of deaf people. The date commemorates the establishment of the World Federation of the Deaf on 23 September 1951.

Explanation

Ruby is a red gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, which consists primarily of aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃). Its characteristic red colour is produced by trace amounts of chromium replacing aluminium atoms within the aluminium oxide crystal lattice structure.

Explanation

Qatar recorded the highest male-to-female population ratio in the world in 2019, with approximately 266 males per 100 females. This significant demographic disparity is largely due to the massive influx of foreign male migrant workers, primarily from South Asia, who moved to the country for employment in labor-intensive industries such as construction, infrastructure, and energy.

Explanation

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, along with his associates, founded two prominent newspapers in 1881 to advocate for Indian self-rule and raise national consciousness. While 'Kesari' was published in Marathi, 'Mahratta' was published in English to reach a broader national audience and present nationalist viewpoints to English-educated citizens and colonial authorities. Tilak served as the editor of Mahratta and used its platform to criticize British policies and mobilize public opinion.

Explanation

The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) was inaugurated during the 16th SAARC Summit held in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April 2010. Its permanent Secretariat is located in Thimphu, Bhutan. The fund was established by the heads of SAARC member nations to finance regional development projects aimed at poverty alleviation, social development, and infrastructure improvement across the South Asian region.

Explanation

Service tax was first introduced in India in 1994 under Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, based on the recommendations of the Dr. Raja Chelliah Committee on Tax Reforms. It came into effect on July 1, 1994, initially levying a 5% tax on three services: telephone connections, general insurance, and stockbroking services.

Explanation

The World Health Organization selected the Department of Medical and Health of the Government of Rajasthan for the World No Tobacco Day Award 2019 in recognition of its notable achievements in tobacco control. The state health department was the only government body in India chosen for the award in 2019, owing to its widespread anti-tobacco initiatives, such as establishing tobacco-free premises around educational institutions and conducting massive public awareness campaigns.

Explanation

The One Stop Centre scheme, popularly known as Sakhi, was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, on 1st April 2015. Financed through the Nirbhaya Fund, the scheme provides integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence in both public and private spaces. Its core services include emergency medical assistance, police facilitation, legal aid, psycho-social counselling, and temporary shelter.

Explanation

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched the Hope Probe, also known as the Emirates Mars Mission (Al-Amal), on July 20, 2020, aboard a Mitsubishi H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. This marked the first interplanetary mission undertaken by an Arab country. The probe successfully entered orbit around Mars in February 2021 to study the planet's atmospheric dynamics, daily weather cycles, and climate patterns.

Explanation

Rukmini Devi Arundale was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who played a pivotal role in reviving the traditional Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam. She founded the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai and served as a dedicated animal welfare activist and theosophist, rather than a painter.

Explanation

On December 23, 2020, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi to establish a Regional Academic Centre for Space (RAC-S). The centre serves as a major hub to promote research and development in space science and technology, facilitating short-term student projects as well as long-term research leading to doctoral programs across institutes in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Explanation

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States on 12 December 1974 by passing Resolution 3281 (XXIX) during its 29th session. First proposed by President Luis Echeverría of Mexico in 1972, the initiative was spearheaded by developing nations to establish legal norms for a just international economic order and promote collective economic security.

Explanation

The law of diminishing marginal utility, formulated by H. H. Gossen and expanded by Alfred Marshall, states that as a consumer consumes additional units of a specific commodity, the satisfaction or marginal utility derived from each successive unit continuously declines. This occurs because human wants are satiable, so each additional unit satisfies a progressively smaller intensity of desire.

Explanation

Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was appointed as the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on January 30, 2021. At age 32, he became the youngest administrator to assume the position, succeeding Nazmul Hassan, the chief of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Asian Cricket Council is the regional governing body responsible for organizing tournaments like the Asia Cup and promoting cricket development across Asia.

Explanation

Lord Dalhousie, who served as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, is known as the 'Father of Indian Railways'. He formulated the strategic plan to introduce a vast railway network across the country to strengthen communication, trade, and administrative control. Under his tenure, India's first passenger train operated between Bombay (Bori Bunder) and Thane on April 16, 1853.

Explanation

The motto of the Supreme Court of India is "Yato Dharmastato Jayah", an ancient Sanskrit phrase featured on the emblem of the court just below the Ashoka Chakra. Inscribed in Devanagari script, the phrase is taken from the epic Mahabharata and translates to "Where there is righteousness (Dharma), there is victory (Jaya)".

Explanation

Cytoplasm is the gel-like substance located between the cell membrane and the nuclear membrane in eukaryotic cells. It consists of cytosol along with organelles and various cellular inclusions, providing a structural framework and a fluid medium in which metabolic reactions occur.

Explanation

The Earth's axis is inclined at an angle of 23½° from the perpendicular to its orbital plane. Consequently, the angle made by the Earth's axis with its plane of ecliptic (the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun) is 90° − 23½° = 66½°. This constant tilt of the axis relative to the orbital plane, combined with the Earth's revolution around the Sun, causes the changing seasons throughout the year.

Explanation

Tajikistan is located in Central Asia and is separated from India's northernmost region by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor. Because of this intervening strip of territory, Tajikistan shares no contiguous land boundary with India.

Explanation

Telnet (Teletype Network) is a application-layer network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional, text-based communication facility using a virtual terminal connection. It allows a user on one computer to log into a remote host computer, execute commands, and interact with programs as if physically sitting at the remote system's terminal.

Explanation

Kosal, Anga, Kashi, and Vajji were among the 16 Mahajanapadas (great realms or kingdom-states) that existed in ancient India during the second urbanization period around the 6th to 4th centuries BCE. Early historical sources, including the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jain text Bhagavati Sutra, list these states as prominent Mahajanapadas that dominated the political landscape of the Indo-Gangetic plain.