RRB NTPC CBT 1 2026 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016 paved the way for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. Passed by Parliament in August 2016 and coming into effect on 1 July 2017, this amendment introduced key constitutional provisions, including Article 246A giving concurrent powers to Parliament and State Legislatures to make laws regarding GST, Article 269A governing inter-state trade, and Article 279A establishing the GST Council. It replaced a complex system of multiple central and state indirect taxes with a single comprehensive tax regime.

Explanation

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power station in India by capacity, located in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Developed in technical collaboration with Russia's Atomstroyexport, the plant utilizes pressurized water reactors (VVER-1000 units) to generate electricity for the southern power grid.

Explanation

Mughal architecture primarily adopted the arcuate system of construction, characterized by the extensive use of true arches and domes to span large spaces and support heavy structural weight. This contrasted with traditional indigenous Indian trabeate architecture, which relied on vertical pillars and horizontal beams to support roofs and ceilings.

Explanation

The term Sovereign in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution signifies that India is an independent state free from the control or dominance of any external power or foreign authority. It implies that India possesses supreme authority within its territory to govern itself, enact laws, and manage both its internal policies and foreign affairs independently.

Explanation

M. S. Subbulakshmi was a legendary Carnatic vocalist from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, renowned for her iconic devotional renditions such as the Venkateswara Suprabhatam, Vishnu Sahasranamam, and Bhaja Govindam. In 1998, she became the first musician ever to be awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna. She was also the first Indian musician to perform at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 and the first to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974.

Explanation

Oxygen is a Group 16 element (chalcogen) in the periodic table with the atomic number 8. It exists naturally as a diatomic molecule (O₂) and is highly reactive, forming oxides with almost all other elements. Because it has six valence electrons and readily participates in chemical reactions to achieve a stable octet, it is classified as a reactive nonmetal rather than a noble gas.

Explanation

For a body falling freely from rest, the time taken to reach the ground is t = √(2h / g) = √(2 × 100 / 9.8) ≈ 4.52 s. Since 4 s is less than the total fall time, the body is still in free fall between 3 s and 4 s.

Velocity at time t is v = gt, so kinetic energy is KE = ½ mv² = ½ mg²t².

Since kinetic energy is directly proportional to t², as time increases from 3 seconds to 4 seconds, the kinetic energy increases. Specifically, KE at 3 s is ½ × 1 × 9.8² × 3² = 432.18 J, whereas KE at 4 s is ½ × 1 × 9.8² × 4² = 768.32 J.

Explanation

NexCAR19 is India's first indigenously developed CAR-T cell therapy, created by ImmunoACT (an IIT Bombay-incubated startup) in collaboration with Tata Memorial Centre, with support from the Department of Biotechnology and BIRAC. Designed as a humanized CD19-directed therapy, it reprograms a patient's own T-cells using a lentiviral vector to identify and destroy cancer cells, providing an effective and affordable treatment for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, such as Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Presented as a landmark milestone in India's biotechnology ecosystem, NexCAR19 delivers cutting-edge cell and gene therapy at roughly one-tenth of global costs.

Explanation

Behramji Merwanji Malabari was a prominent Parsi social reformer, journalist, and poet who campaigned relentlessly against child marriage and for widow remarriage. In 1884, he published influential tracts titled 'Notes on Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood', submitting them to Indian intellectuals and the British administration. His persistent crusade created nationwide public debate and played a pivotal role in persuading the colonial government to pass the Age of Consent Act of 1891, which raised the legal age of consent for girls from ten to twelve years.

Explanation

The Pacific Ocean Rim, also known as the Circum-Pacific Belt or "Ring of Fire", is a horseshoe-shaped region characterized by intense tectonic and volcanic activity. It contains approximately 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes and experiences around 90% of the world's earthquakes. This high level of activity is caused by the movement, collision, and subduction of several major tectonic plates beneath and surrounding the Pacific Ocean plate.

Explanation

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) can directly interact only with primary memory, such as RAM, due to its high-speed data buses and word-addressable architecture. Hard disks are secondary storage devices that store data permanently but operate at much slower speeds. Before the CPU can execute instructions or process data, the operating system must load the required files from secondary storage into primary memory, from where the CPU fetches and processes them.

Explanation

Bamboo belongs to the grass family (Poaceae) and is a monocotyledonous plant (monocot). Monocots characteristically possess parallel leaf venation, where the veins run parallel to each other along the length of the leaf blade. They also feature a fibrous root system composed of a dense network of thin, slender roots originating from the base of the stem, rather than a single dominant central taproot.

Explanation

The Supreme Court of India initiated Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 10 of 2025, titled "In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issues," to address environmental conservation, unregulated mining, and the need for a uniform scientific definition across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. In its order dated 29 December 2025, the court kept in abeyance its earlier November 2025 directions regarding an elevation-based criterion and called for a High-Powered Committee to re-evaluate the definitional parameters to prevent ecological degradation in the Aravalli region.

Explanation

In Windows Operating System, pressing Alt + Enter is the standard keyboard shortcut to immediately open the Properties dialog box for any selected file, folder, drive, or desktop item. This allows users to quickly view details such as file size, location, permissions, creation date, and attribute settings.

Explanation

The Prayaga Prashasti, also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, was composed by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta. Written in classical Sanskrit using the Champu style (a mix of prose and poetry) in Gupta Brahmi script, it serves as a grand eulogy detailing Samudragupta's extensive military campaigns, empire expansion across the Indian subcontinent, and personal achievements as a ruler and patron of the arts.

Explanation

At the 6th Filmfare OTT Awards held in Mumbai in December 2025, the award for Best Actor, Series (Male): Comedy was jointly won by Barun Sobti and Sparsh Shrivastava. Barun Sobti received the honor for his performance in the comedy web series Raat Jawaan Hai, while Sparsh Shrivastava won for his role in Dupahiya.

Explanation

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a foremost leader of the extremist phase of the Indian national movement, famously proclaiming "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it". Rejecting the moderate methods of constitutional petitions, he advocated for direct action, Swadeshi, and boycott. He pioneered mass mobilization in the freedom struggle by organizing popular festivals like Ganeshotsav and Shivaji Jayanti to unite people, and by spreading anti-colonial consciousness through his newspapers Kesari and Mahratta.

Explanation

In November 2025, the Rajasthan Forest Department issued a official notification expanding the Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary by over 44,000 hectares of forest and revenue land. This expansion increased the total notified area of the sanctuary from 54,423.16 hectares to approximately 98,762.1 hectares. Issued under Section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the decision followed a rationalization process of the Critical Tiger Habitat boundaries to enhance habitat connectivity and strengthen long-term tiger conservation in the Aravalli region.

Explanation

Under Entry 53 of the State List (List II) in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, state legislatures are explicitly granted the power to impose taxes on the consumption or sale of electricity within their jurisdiction. Article 287 merely places specific restrictions regarding electricity consumed by or sold to the Government of India or used in the construction, maintenance, or operation of railways, but does not impose a general prohibition on state taxation of electricity.

Explanation

System software consists of programs that manage and control the hardware components and core operations of a computer system, providing a platform on which other applications can run. Windows is an operating system, which is the foundational type of system software responsible for memory management, file handling, processor scheduling, hardware device interaction, and user interface management.

Explanation

Shrenis were autonomous associations of merchants, artisans, and craftspersons that played a central role in organizing the economic life of ancient and post-Gupta India. They were responsible for regulating trade and craft activities by setting production standards, controlling prices, determining wages, and training new apprentices. Shrenis also functioned as financial institutions that accepted public deposits, issued loans, and supported public welfare projects, ensuring stability and structured growth in commerce.

Explanation

The Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted in 1987 to give effect to Article 39A of the Constitution of India, which provides for free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of society. The Act came into force on 9 November 1995 across the country, following the establishment of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). To commemorate the enforcement of this Act, 9 November is celebrated annually as Legal Services Day in India.

Explanation

Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy in India (1505–1509), introduced the Blue Water Policy (Cartaz system approach) to establish Portuguese maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean. His strategy focused strictly on controlling the sea trade routes and destroying Arab naval power through a strong fleet and coastal fortresses, rather than territorial expansion on land.

Explanation

The Fundamental Duties of citizens were incorporated into the Indian Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, following the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee. This amendment inserted a new Part IV-A and Article 51A into the Constitution, initially establishing ten fundamental duties to remind citizens of their obligations to the nation while enjoying their fundamental rights.

Explanation

In July 1991, during a severe Balance of Payments crisis, the Reserve Bank of India devalued the Indian Rupee by approximately 18 per cent against major foreign currencies in two successive steps on July 1 and July 3. This measure was designed to boost export competitiveness, curb non-essential imports, check foreign exchange drain, and restore international investor confidence as part of broader structural economic reforms.

Explanation

A device driver is a specialized system software component that acts as a bridge between the CPU and specific hardware peripherals such as printers, mice, or disk drives. It translates high-level system commands into low-level hardware-specific signals, directly controlling and managing the flow of input/output data between the CPU and the peripheral device.

Explanation

In the fiscal year 2024-25, total inward remittances sent by overseas Indians reached a record high of 135.46 billion dollars. This reflects strong financial flows from the Indian diaspora globally, driven by higher remittances from key destinations such as the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Explanation

In December 2025, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed five loan agreements totaling over US2.2 billion with the Government of India. These included a US 650 million loan under the Accelerating Affordable and Inclusive Rooftop Solar Systems Development Programme to support the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. The remaining four loan agreements funded initiatives in skill development, healthcare in Assam, Chennai Metro network expansion, and sustainable ecotourism in Meghalaya.

Explanation

According to the United Nations World Population Prospects (2019), Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to account for more than half of total global population growth between 2019 and 2050. Driven by high fertility rates and a large proportion of young people entering their reproductive years, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to nearly double by 2050, adding over 1 billion people. This rapid demographic expansion makes it the single largest contributor to future changes in global population distribution and density trends.

Explanation

The Trans-Himalayas, situated to the north of the Great Himalayan range, consist primarily of the Karakoram, Ladakh, Zanskar, and Kailash mountain ranges. In India, the Karakoram, Ladakh, and Zanskar ranges form the major part of this zone, shaping a high-altitude cold desert landscape characterized by deep gorges and extensive glaciation.

Explanation

INSV Kaundinya is the Indian Navy's indigenously constructed stitched sailing vessel built using ancient Indian shipbuilding techniques, where wooden planks are stitched together with coconut coir rope and sealed using natural resins rather than metal nails. Designed based on a 5th-century CE merchant ship depicted in the murals of Cave 17 at the Ajanta Caves, the vessel was constructed by skilled artisans from Kerala. It embarked on its maiden transoceanic voyage from Porbandar, Gujarat, to Muscat, Oman, in December 2025 to retrace historical trade routes across the Indian Ocean and celebrate India's ancient maritime legacy.

Explanation

In basketball, man-to-man defense is a defensive strategy where each defender is assigned to guard a specific offensive opponent throughout a possession. Defensive matchups are typically designated by coaches based on complementary physical size, athletic ability, position, and skill set to effectively neutralize the offensive player's impact on the court.

Explanation

PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. Due to their extremely small size, these particles bypass the upper respiratory tract's natural filtering mechanisms and penetrate deep into the pulmonary alveoli. Once inhaled, PM2.5 causes localized inflammation, tissue damage, and oxidative stress, directly leading to acute and chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, reduced lung function, and aggravated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Explanation

Jawaharlal Nehru referred to large dams and multi-purpose river valley projects as the "temples of modern India" while inaugurating the Bhakra Nangal Dam in 1954. He envisioned these mega-projects as key drivers of national progress that would simultaneously propel agricultural growth through irrigation and boost rapid industrialization through hydroelectric power generation.

Explanation

Assam is the largest tea-producing state in India, where tea is cultivated as a major plantation crop, particularly across the Brahmaputra and Barak river valleys. Karnataka is India's leading producer of coffee, accounting for over 70% of the nation's total coffee output, grown extensively in the Western Ghats region comprising districts such as Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, and Hassan. Both tea and coffee are classic examples of commercial plantation crops cultivated on large estates.

Explanation

J. J. Thomson determined the charge-to-mass ratio (e/m) of the electron in 1897 using a cathode ray tube. By applying mutually perpendicular electric and magnetic fields across the path of cathode rays, he balanced the deflections caused by the two fields. This allowed him to calculate the velocity of the particles and compute the value of e/m to be approximately 1.76 × 10¹¹ C/kg.

Explanation

India officially joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a full member on 9 June 2017 during the SCO Summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan. India had previously held observer status in the regional grouping since 2005 before being admitted as a full member alongside Pakistan.

Explanation

Subsistence agriculture, particularly intensive subsistence farming, remains the most widely practiced form of agriculture in India. Due to continuous land fragmentation over generations, high population density on land, and small average farm holding sizes, the majority of Indian farmers cultivate crops primarily to meet the direct consumption needs of their own families, using family labor with limited surplus for sale.

Explanation

Raja Ram Mohan Roy established the Brahmo Sabha in August 1828, which later became known as the Brahmo Samaj. Often hailed as the Father of the Indian Renaissance, he sought to reform Hinduism by denouncing idol worship, ritualism, and polytheism, while advocating monotheism based on the teachings of the Upanishads. He championed rationalism and major social reforms, playing a key role in the abolition of Sati, promoting women's education, and fighting against child marriage and caste rigidity.

Explanation

The second edition of the RESPECT women prevention framework was launched on 25 November 2025, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This global framework, developed by agencies including WHO and UN Women, provides evidence-based guidance to prevent violence against women and girls.

Explanation

Mango showers are pre-monsoon thunderous rainfall occurring in the coastal areas of Karnataka and Kerala toward the end of summer. These rains play a crucial role in preventing mangoes from dropping off trees prematurely and aiding in their early ripening, which gives this weather phenomenon its characteristic name.

Explanation

Restarting a computer, also known as rebooting or a warm boot, is the process where the operating system closes all active programs, shuts down the system processes, and immediately powers the computer back on and reloads the operating system automatically without requiring manual press of the physical power button.

Explanation

The Directive Principles of State Policy, contained in Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) of the Indian Constitution, aim to establish a welfare state by securing social and economic justice. Article 38 mandates that the State strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order where social, economic, and political justice inform all institutions of national life. While Fundamental Rights establish political democracy, the Directive Principles are specifically designed to achieve social and economic democracy by minimizing inequalities in income, status, facilities, and opportunities.

Explanation

Bryophytes are classified as embryophytes because the zygote remains enclosed within the female sex organ (archegonium) and undergoes mitotic cell division to develop into a multicellular embryo. In contrast, algae do not form a multicellular embryo after fertilization; their zygote either undergoes meiosis directly or develops independently without an embryonic stage. This development of a protected multicellular embryo from the zygote represents a major evolutionary transition to land plants, absent in algae.

Explanation

India features diverse relief features ranging from the Himalayas and coastal plains to plateaus and river deltas, rather than a uniform landform. A uniform landform lacks variation in altitude, slope, and terrain, which limits the range of agricultural practices and crop choices rather than contributing to farming variety.

Explanation

In October 2025, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Moscow with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation for the production of the SJ-100 civil commuter aircraft in India. Under this agreement, HAL secured manufacturing rights to produce the twin-engine, narrow-body regional jet for domestic customers to enhance short-haul regional connectivity under the UDAN Scheme. This partnership marks the first initiative to produce a complete passenger airliner in India since HAL manufactured the AVRO HS748.

Explanation

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed charge as the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in June 2024 following the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha government. In addition to the Agriculture portfolio, he also holds charge of the Ministry of Rural Development in the Union Cabinet.

Explanation

King Kharavela was the third ruler of the Chedi dynasty (also known as the Mahameghavahana dynasty) of Kalinga, which flourished in the first or second century BCE. His life, administrative achievements, and military conquests are recorded in detail in the 17-line Hathigumpha inscription located at the Udayagiri caves near Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Explanation

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) was announced by the Government of India on 26 October 2025 to recognise outstanding and inspiring contributions by scientists, technologists, and innovators in science, technology, and technology-led innovation. Considered one of the highest national honours in the scientific sector, the award is conferred across 13 scientific domains under four categories: Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, and Vigyan Team.

Explanation

Morocco defeated Argentina 2–0 in the final of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Chile in October 2025, securing their first-ever U-20 World Cup title. Yassir Zabiri scored both goals in the first half to secure the victory, making Morocco the first Arab nation and only the second African nation in history to win the tournament.