RRB NTPC CBT 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The Swachh Bharat Cess was introduced under Chapter VI of the Finance Act, 2015, coming into effect on November 15, 2015. It was levied at a rate of 0.5% on all taxable services to finance and promote the cleanliness initiatives and sanitation infrastructure under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan across the nation.

Explanation

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. Renowned as the Missile Man of India for his pioneering work with ISRO and DRDO on ballistic missiles and space launch vehicle technology, he assumed the office of the President directly without ever holding the office of the Vice President of India.

Explanation

Researchers discovered a vast subglacial canyon system and an interconnected subglacial lake buried beneath the ice sheet in Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica. Satellite data and radio-echo sounding revealed this subglacial mega-canyon extending over 1,000 kilometers in length and reaching depths up to 1 kilometer.

Explanation

Radhakant Deb founded the Dharma Sabha in Kolkata in 1830. It was established as an orthodox Hindu organization aimed at preserving traditional Hindu customs, socio-religious practices, and culture in response to Western influences and contemporary socio-religious reform movements.

Explanation

Weight is defined as the measure of the gravitational force exerted on an object by a celestial body, such as Earth. It is calculated using the formula W = mg, where W is weight, m is the mass of the object, and g is the acceleration due to gravity. While mass represents the amount of matter in an object and remains constant, weight is a vector quantity that acts downwards toward the center of gravity and varies depending on the local gravitational field strength.

Explanation

A dialyser acts as an artificial kidney during hemodialysis. It contains a semipermeable membrane through which a patient's blood is passed to remove metabolic waste products like urea and creatinine, as well as excess fluid and ions, effectively replicating the natural filtration and excretory functions of human kidneys.

Explanation

Oil | Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is classified as a Maharatna company, the highest category conferred on Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in India, rather than a Navratna company. The Government of India conferred Maharatna status upon ONGC in May 2010 to grant it maximum operational flexibility and financial autonomy. This status empowers ONGC to make major capital investments up to ₹5,000 crore or 15% of its net worth in a single project without requiring prior government approval.

Explanation

The headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is located in Brussels, Belgium. Originally established in 1949 through the signing of the Washington Treaty, the alliance initially had its political headquarters in London and then Paris, before permanently moving to Brussels in 1967.

Explanation

The Rythu Bandhu scheme, officially known as the Agriculture Investment Support Scheme, was launched by the Government of Telangana in May 2018. Under this scheme, financial assistance is provided directly to farmers twice a year for the Kharif and Rabi seasons to meet their agricultural input costs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and field preparation.

Explanation

On 4 February 1922, a violent clash occurred at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, where a large group of protesters set fire to a police station, leading to the deaths of 22 policemen. Distressed by this act of violence, Mahatma Gandhi felt that the masses were not yet adequately prepared for a strictly non-violent struggle. As a result, Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement on 12 February 1922 during the Congress Working Committee meeting at Bardoli.

Explanation

Rome hosts UN specialized agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Food Programme (WFP), but it is not a designated subsidiary regional headquarters of the United Nations Secretariat.

Explanation

Ustad Bismillah Khan was a legendary Indian musician credited with elevating the shehnai from a traditional folk instrument played primarily in temples and during weddings to the classical concert stage. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001 for his monumental contributions to Indian music.

Explanation

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on April 13, 1919, in Amritsar, Punjab, when British troops led by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on thousands of unarmed civilians who had assembled to peacefully protest the Rowlatt Act and the arrest of nationalist leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal. Occurring in early 1919, this historic tragedy was a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle that predates all subsequent major pan-Indian political movements.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi called for a nationwide satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act in 1919. Passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in March 1919, the Act gave the British government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed the detention of political prisoners without trial for up to two years. Gandhi organized the Satyagraha Sabha and called for a nationwide hartal on April 6, 1919, marking his first all-India mass struggle against British rule.

Explanation

The Sundarbans mangrove forest spans the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers across India and Bangladesh. The Indian portion constitutes the Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal, which forms a continuous biosphere reserve and mangrove ecosystem directly adjacent to the Sundarbans Reserve Forest in Bangladesh.

Explanation

Rohit Sharma scored his third ODI double century on December 13, 2017, against Sri Lanka at Mohali (208*), becoming the first player in cricket history to achieve three double centuries in One Day Internationals. His earlier two ODI double centuries were 209 against Australia in 2013 and 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014.

Explanation

Microsoft Office is a commercial, proprietary office suite developed by Microsoft Corporation. Its underlying source code is kept confidential and closed to the public, protected by copyright laws and software license agreements that prohibit users from inspecting, altering, or redistributing the code. Proprietary software retains exclusive ownership and development control with the vendor.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, also known as Wandoor National Park, is located near Wandoor in the South Andaman district of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Established in 1983 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the marine park encompasses 15 islands and tropical creeks, dedicated to protecting rich marine life, coral reefs, and sea turtle nesting sites.

Explanation

Former Union Minister Vijay Sampla assumed charge as the Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) in February 2021. Appointed by the President of India, he previously served as the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment from 2014 to 2019 and represented the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is a constitutional body established under Article 338 of the Constitution of India to protect and safeguard the interests of the Scheduled Caste community.

Explanation

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the sole global international organization responsible for formulating, regulating, and enforcing rules governing international trade between nations. Its primary objective is to facilitate smooth, predictable, and free global trade through negotiated multilateral agreements, resolving trade disputes among member states, and regulating international trade policies.

Explanation

The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, appointed in January 1957 to examine the working of the Community Development Programme and the National Extension Service, submitted its report in November 1957. It recommended the establishment of a three-tier Panchayati Raj system consisting of Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level, and Zilla Parishad at the district level to achieve democratic decentralisation in India.

Explanation

The Make in India campaign was launched by the Government of India in September 2014 to encourage domestic and global companies to manufacture their products within the country. The official logo of the initiative is a silhouette of a lion made entirely of cogs and gear wheels, which symbolises industrial strength, manufacturing prowess, national pride, and economic movement.

Explanation

Wheat is a Rabi crop grown during the winter season in India. It is sown from October to December and harvested between March and April. Rabi crops require a cool climate with moderate temperatures during the growing period and warm sunshine during harvesting, relying on winter rains or artificial irrigation rather than monsoon precipitation.

Explanation

Kajri is a famous folk song and dance genre from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is traditionally performed during the monsoon season, particularly in the month of Shravan (July–August) when dark rain clouds gather in the sky. The dance and music capture the joy of the arrival of rain as well as the longing and pain of separation felt by women awaiting their lovers or husbands.

Explanation

Cones (or cone cells) are specialized photoreceptor cells located in the retina of the eye responsible for color vision and high visual acuity under bright light conditions. They function as distinct sensory cells rather than structural components of a neuron.

Explanation

The Law of Octaves was proposed in 1865 by the English chemist John Alexander Reina Newlands. He arranged the known chemical elements in order of increasing atomic masses and observed that every eighth element had physical and chemical properties similar to those of the first element, analogous to the repetition of notes in a musical octave.

Explanation

Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar exploration mission launched by ISRO on July 22, 2019, carried 13 Indian scientific payloads. These payloads were distributed across three modules: eight on the Orbiter, three on the Vikram Lander, and two on the Pragyan Rover. The Orbiter payloads were designed for remote-sensing observations of the Moon from orbit, while the payloads on the Lander and Rover were aimed at carrying out in-situ experiments on the lunar surface. Additionally, the mission included one passive laser retroreflector array payload from NASA.

Explanation

The Bara Imambara, also known as the Asafi Imambara, was built in Lucknow in 1784 by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. Construction was initiated as a major famine relief project during a devastating drought in Awadh, providing employment to thousands of common citizens and nobles alike. Designed by the architect Kifayatullah, the complex is renowned for its central arched hall, which stands as one of the largest vaulted structures in the world constructed without the support of iron or wooden beams.

Explanation

The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints regarding deficiencies in banking services. Introduced under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme provides an expeditious and cost-effective forum for resolving grievances against commercial banks, regional rural banks, and scheduled primary co-operative banks.

Explanation

Gypsum is a hydrated calcium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula CaSO₄·2H₂O, making it a sulfate mineral rather than a carbonate compound.

Explanation

WORM stands for "Write Once, Read Many". It refers to an optical storage technology or data storage medium where information can be written once and permanently stored, preventing any subsequent alteration, deletion, or overwriting of the data while allowing it to be read indefinitely. This makes WORM media, such as CD-R and DVD-R, highly valuable for data archiving, legal compliance, and long-term record preservation.

Explanation

In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals occur in the cracks, crevices, faults, or joints. The smaller occurrences of these mineral deposits are called veins, while larger ones are called lodes. They are formed when minerals in liquid, molten, or gaseous forms are pushed upward through cavities toward the Earth's surface, cooling and solidifying as they rise. Major metallic minerals such as copper, tin, zinc, and lead are extracted from these vein and lode deposits.

Explanation

The Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH) program was launched by NITI Aayog to initiate transformation in the education and health sectors. Its objective is to build role-model states in these two critical social sectors by providing structured technical support to state governments to drive systemic reforms. Under this initiative, NITI Aayog selected three states each for education (Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha) and health (Assam, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh).

Explanation

Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty to all persons, citizens and non-citizens alike. It states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Over the years, the Supreme Court of India has expanded the scope of Article 21 to include various aspects of a dignified human life, such as the right to privacy, right to a clean environment, right to livelihood, and right to education up to 14 years of age.

Explanation

India's first Digital University, the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (KUDSIT), was inaugurated in February 2021 by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan at Technocity, Mangalapuram, near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Upgraded from the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala (IIITM-K), the university focuses on postgraduate education and research in cutting-edge digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, and blockchain.

Explanation

Mount Aconcagua, located in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range in Argentina, stands at an elevation of 6,961 meters (22,838 feet) above sea level. It is the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, making it the tallest mountain peak in the world outside of Asia.

Explanation

MS Word is a word processing application software developed by Microsoft. It is primarily used for creating, editing, formatting, viewing, and printing text documents such as reports, letters, and resumes. It lacks the architectural capabilities of a database management system, which is designed specifically for structured data storage, querying, and relational data manipulation.

Explanation

Ultrasound consists of high-frequency sound waves with frequencies above 20,000 Hz. It is a longitudinal mechanical wave that propagates through physical vibrations of particles in a medium such as solid, liquid, or gas, and cannot travel through a vacuum. In contrast, electromagnetic waves consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields that require no material medium for propagation.

Explanation

Education was transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976. Under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution, both the Union Parliament and State Assemblies have the jurisdiction to enact legislation regarding education.

Explanation

In 1329–1330 AD, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced a token currency experiment inspired by similar systems in China and Persia. He issued coins made of copper and brass, declaring that their exchange value would be equal to traditional gold and silver coins (tankas). This measure was aimed at addressing a global shortage of silver and fulfilling the financial requirements of his expanding empire and military campaigns.

Explanation

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to promote organic farming in India. Implemented as an elaborated component of Soil Health Management under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, the scheme encourages eco-friendly, chemical-free organic farming practices using a cluster approach. It provides financial support to farmers for purchasing organic inputs, obtaining Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification, and marketing organic produce.

Explanation

Tuticorin Thermal Power Station is a major coal-based thermal power plant located in the Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) district of Tamil Nadu. Established in 1979 and operated by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO), the plant utilizes coal supplied through the local V.O. Chidambaranar Port and seawater for cooling operations.

Explanation

Maruni Dance is one of the oldest and most popular traditional folk dances of the Gorkha community in Sikkim. Performed during major festivals like Tihar (Diwali) as well as weddings, the dance features performers dressed in colorful traditional attire and ornate jewelry. Dancers move to the rhythms of traditional musical instruments such as the Naumati Baja, celebrating the victory of good over evil and offering prayers for prosperity and happiness.

Explanation

On February 22, 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Skill Development Centre (SDC) for Fire Safety Training of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Pilkhuwa in Uttar Pradesh. Created by the Delhi-based DRDO laboratory Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), this first-of-its-kind facility in India is spread across 24 acres. It is designed to train fire service personnel of the Indian Armed Forces, DRDO, Ordnance Factories, Coast Guard, and defence public sector undertakings, as well as trainees from neighbouring countries, using state-of-the-art simulation systems and advanced equipment.

Explanation

The Supreme Court of India directed the Election Commission to introduce the 'None of the Above' (NOTA) option on electronic voting machines in its landmark judgment on September 27, 2013 (People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India). Following the verdict, the Election Commission introduced NOTA in late 2013 during the State Legislative Assembly elections in Delhi, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Explanation

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was established in 1944 at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly known as the Bretton Woods Conference, held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States. Created alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IBRD was initially formed to finance the post-World War II reconstruction of European nations. It serves as the founding lending arm of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Explanation

Article 35A was incorporated into the Indian Constitution through the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, issued by President Rajendra Prasad on 14 May 1954 under Article 370. It empowered the Jammu and Kashmir state legislature to define permanent residents of the state and grant them special rights and privileges regarding employment, acquisition of immovable property, and state scholarships.

Explanation

Sir C. V. Raman was appointed as the director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, in 1933, becoming the first Indian to hold the position. Prior to his appointment, the institute was headed exclusively by British directors since its establishment in 1909. Raman served as the director from 1933 to 1937, during which he established the Department of Physics and actively promoted advanced scientific research in India.

Explanation

Qila Mubarak is a historical monument and fort located in Bathinda, Punjab. Dating back to the 2nd century CE, it is one of the oldest surviving forts in India and is famous for being the site where Razia Sultana, the first female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, was imprisoned in 1240 CE. Another prominent Qila Mubarak complex, constructed in 1763 by Baba Ala Singh, is situated in Patiala, Punjab.

Explanation

Mosquitoes undergo complete metamorphosis, which consists of four distinct stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult (imago). The female mosquito lays eggs on or near water, which hatch into aquatic larvae that feed and grow. The larvae then transition into pupae, a resting and transforming stage where metamorphosis into the adult form occurs. Finally, the fully developed adult mosquito, also known as the imago, emerges from the pupal case to complete the cycle.