SSC CGL Tier 1 2023 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The Hornbill Festival was inaugurated by the Government of Nagaland in the year 2000 to encourage inter-tribal interaction and to preserve, protect, and revive the richness of the Naga heritage. Organized by the State Tourism and Art and Culture Departments, the festival provides a common platform for all the diverse tribes of the state to showcase their unique traditions, music, dance, and crafts. Often referred to as the Festival of Festivals, it is held annually in the first week of December at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, near the state capital, Kohima. This celebration serves as a vital tool for cultural promotion and tourism, bringing the collective cultural identity of Nagaland to the global stage.

Explanation

The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, often referred to as the Economic Constitution of India, classified industries into three categories based on the degree of state ownership and control. Schedule A comprised 17 industries which were to be the exclusive responsibility of the State. These industries were considered of strategic importance or basic in nature, meaning that all new units in these sectors could only be established by the government. This category included vital sectors such as arms and ammunition, atomic energy, iron and steel, heavy plant and machinery, coal and lignite, mineral oils, mining of iron ore and other major minerals, aircraft, air transport, railway transport, and shipbuilding. The inclusion of these 17 industries under state control was a key component of the Second Five-Year Plan's strategy to achieve a socialistic pattern of society.

Explanation

The Human Development Report 2021-22, issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provides the comparative rankings of countries based on their Human Development Index (HDI) scores. For the period of 2021-22, Sri Lanka was the highest-ranked neighbor among those listed, holding the 73rd position globally. The Maldives followed with an HDI rank of 90. Bhutan was placed at 127th, and Bangladesh followed at the 129th position. Arranging these countries in increasing order of their numerical ranks corresponds to the sequence of 73, 90, 127, and 129. This matches the alphabetical sequence of the assigned labels: Sri Lanka (a), Maldives (b), Bhutan (c), and Bangladesh (d).

Explanation

The Eastern Railway zone, headquartered at Fairlie Place in Kolkata, is composed of four administrative divisions: Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, and Malda. This zone serves as a critical artery for the Indian Railways, covering the state of West Bengal and significant portions of Bihar and Jharkhand. The Howrah and Sealdah divisions are responsible for managing one of the largest and most complex suburban rail networks in the world, centered around the Kolkata metropolis. The Asansol division is a major industrial and coal-loading hub, providing essential freight services for the nation's energy sector, while the Malda division facilitates connectivity between the southern parts of West Bengal and the North Eastern frontier. The zone was formally established in 1952 and remains a primary link for both passenger and heavy freight traffic in eastern India.

Explanation

Flame cells, also known as protonephridia, are specialized excretory and osmoregulatory organs found in members of the phylum Platyhelminthes, such as planarians and flukes. These cells are named for the cluster of cilia they contain, which flicker like a candle flame when observed under a microscope. The primary function of flame cells is to regulate the osmotic pressure of the organism and maintain ionic balance by filtering out excess water and metabolic wastes from the body. The beating of the cilia creates a negative pressure that draws interstitial fluid into the tubular system, where useful substances are reabsorbed and waste is eventually excreted through nephridiopores on the body surface.

Explanation

Captain Abhilasha Barak made history in May 2022 by becoming the first woman officer to join the Indian Army Aviation Corps as a combat aviator. She achieved this milestone after successfully completing the six-month Combat Army Aviation Course at the Combat Army Aviation Training School located in Nashik, Maharashtra. During a valedictory ceremony, she was awarded the prestigious Coveted Wings along with 36 other army pilots. While women had previously been serving in the Army Aviation Corps in ground-based roles such as Air Traffic Control and technical duties, her induction as a pilot marked the first time a woman officer took on a combat role within this specific wing of the Indian Army.

Explanation

Malik Ambar served as the Prime Minister and regent of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmednagar. An ethnic Ethiopian who was brought to India as a slave, he rose through the ranks to become the de facto ruler of the state during a period of intense Mughal pressure. He is widely recognized for his military genius, specifically for pioneering guerrilla warfare tactics in the Deccan region to resist the expansionist policies of Mughal Emperors Akbar and Jahangir. Beyond his military contributions, he was an exceptional administrator who implemented a systematic land revenue model based on the principles of Raja Todar Mal, which helped stabilize the finances of the Ahmednagar Sultanate. He also founded the city of Khadki, which later became known as Aurangabad, and commissioned advanced irrigation systems that showcased his engineering and administrative foresight.

Explanation

Annapurna Devi was a legendary performer and teacher of the Surbahar, a plucked string instrument that is essentially a bass version of the sitar. As the daughter of Ustad Allauddin Khan, the founder of the Maihar gharana, she inherited a rich musical lineage and achieved unparalleled mastery over the instrument. Throughout her career, she remained a highly respected figure in Hindustani classical music, known for her deep understanding of raga development and her dedication to the traditional dhrupad style of playing on the Surbahar. Her expertise and contributions earned her the Padma Bhushan, one of Indias highest civilian honors.

Explanation

Matha B. Manjamma Jogati, a renowned transgender folk dancer from Karnataka, was honored with the Padma Shri award by President Ram Nath Kovind in 2021 for her significant contributions to the field of arts. She is a veteran practitioner of Jogati Nritya, a traditional folk dance form performed by the Jogappa community. Her recognition was particularly notable as she was the first transwoman to serve as the President of the Karnataka Janapada Academy. The award acknowledged her decades of dedication to preserving and promoting rural folk arts despite facing severe social hardships and stigma.

Explanation

The Indian sprinter Dutee Chand was conferred with the inaugural Chhattisgarh Veerni Award in April 2021. This award was instituted by the Chhattisgarh government to recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of Indian women in various sectors including sports, literature, and social service. Dutee Chand was selected for her remarkable success on the international stage, specifically her silver medals in the 100m and 200m sprints at the 2018 Asian Games and her gold medal at the 2019 World University Games. The recognition celebrated her resilience and her role as a trailblazer for women in Indian athletics.

Explanation

Pteridophyta is a group of vascular plants that reproduce through spores and do not produce seeds or flowers. They are often called vascular cryptogams because they possess specialized vascular tissues, namely xylem and phloem, for the internal conduction of water and nutrients. This group includes ferns, which are the most diverse members, as well as horsetails and lycophytes such as clubmosses and quillworts. The life cycle of pteridophytes involves an alternation of generations where the sporophyte is the dominant, independent phase and is differentiated into true roots, stems, and leaves. Lycophytes and pteridophytes collectively represent the earliest diverging lineages of vascular plants, playing a crucial role in the evolutionary transition from non-vascular to seed-bearing plants.

Explanation

The Ashtadhyayi, composed by the ancient scholar Panini around the 4th century BCE, is the definitive treatise on Sanskrit grammar. It consists of approximately 4,000 sutras distributed across eight chapters, providing a rigorous and scientific framework for the morphology and phonology of the Sanskrit language. By establishing a comprehensive system of rules and meta-rules, Panini standardized the language, facilitating the transition from Vedic forms to Classical Sanskrit. The work is celebrated for its linguistic precision and its sophisticated use of logic, which parallels modern formal language theory and structural linguistics.

Explanation

The surface tension of a liquid is determined by the strength of the intermolecular forces between its molecules. Water molecules exhibit very strong cohesive forces due to extensive hydrogen bonding, which results in a high surface tension of approximately 72.8 dynes/cm at 20°C. In contrast, ethyl alcohol has weaker intermolecular attractions, and its surface tension at the same temperature is significantly lower, measuring about 22.3 dynes/cm. Therefore, the surface tension of water is much higher than that of ethyl alcohol at room temperature.

Explanation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) defines the money supply measure M₂ using the formula M₂ = M₁ + Savings deposits with Post Office savings banks. In this framework, M₁ represents narrow money, comprising currency held by the public, demand deposits in the banking system, and other deposits with the RBI. By adding savings deposits held in post office savings banks, M₂ expands the scope of liquid assets to include a significant portion of non-bank financial savings. These post office deposits are considered highly liquid but are excluded from M₁ because they do not offer the same immediate transaction and checkable facilities as commercial bank demand deposits.

Explanation

The Vernacular Press Act was enacted in 1878 during the tenure of Viceroy Lord Lytton. This legislation was specifically designed to curtail the freedom of the Indian-language press and prevent the expression of criticism toward British policies. It was often referred to as the Gagging Act because it allowed the government to confiscate the printing presses and property of any newspaper that published seditious material. The Act was prompted by increasing nationalist sentiment and vocal opposition to the colonial administration's handling of the Great Famine and the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Unlike vernacular publications, English-language newspapers were exempt from the stringent provisions of this law.

Explanation

Narthaki Nataraj is a distinguished Bharatanatyam exponent who made history in 2019 as the first transgender person to be honored with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award. Specializing in the Thanjavur Nayaki Bhava tradition, she has spent decades mastering and performing this classical dance form. Her recognition by the Government of India was for her artistic excellence and her resilience in the face of significant social stigma and marginalization. By achieving national prominence in a traditional art form, she effectively utilized Bharatanatyam as a medium to overcome social exclusion and pave the way for greater visibility and acceptance of the transgender community in the field of Indian classical arts.

Explanation

Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced a token currency system between 1329 and 1330 CE, which was a landmark experiment in the history of Indian coinage. During the Delhi Sultanate, the standard currency consisted of the silver Tanka and the copper Jittal. Faced with a global shortage of silver and the need for vast resources to fund his administrative and military projects, the Sultan issued copper and brass coins and decreed that they should be accepted at par with the value of the silver Tanka. The Jittal was the established copper denomination of the period used for this purpose. This reform was intended to ensure that the face value of the coin was independent of its metal content. However, the plan failed primarily because the state could not maintain a monopoly over minting, resulting in large-scale counterfeiting and the eventual withdrawal of the token coins.

Explanation

Silica (SiO₂) is one of the primary chemical constituents of Ordinary Portland Cement, typically making up about 17% to 25% of the total composition by weight. It is responsible for providing strength to the cement by reacting with calcium oxide (CaO) during the manufacturing process to form dicalcium silicate (C₂S) and tricalcium silicate (C₃S). These silicates are essential for the hydraulic properties of the cement, as they undergo hydration when mixed with water to form the rigid structure of the hardened paste. A concentration within this range ensures that the cement develops high compressive strength while maintaining the necessary durability and setting characteristics for construction applications.

Explanation

Article 51A of the Constitution of India, located in Part IV-A, specifies the Fundamental Duties of every citizen. These duties were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, upon the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee. Clause (h) of Article 51A explicitly mandates that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. This duty encourages citizens to adopt a rational, analytical, and progressive outlook to help the nation move forward through constant questioning and improvement.

Explanation

In Koeppen's climate classification system, the symbol Cwg represents a humid subtropical climate specifically characterized as a monsoon type with dry winters. The letter C denotes a warm temperate or mesothermal climate where the mean temperature of the coldest month is between 18°C and -3°C. The letter w indicates that the dry season occurs during the winter months, while the letter g stands for the Ganges type, meaning the highest temperatures are recorded in the summer months before the onset of the monsoon rains. This climate type is found across the vast majority of the North Indian Plains, including the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and parts of Haryana and Punjab, where the summer monsoon brings the bulk of the annual rainfall and the winter remains largely dry.

Explanation

The Hemis Festival is a prominent religious event celebrated annually at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, which is the largest and wealthiest monastery of the Drukpa Lineage of Mahayana Buddhism. The festival commemorates the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, who is revered as the Second Buddha and the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. The celebrations are characterized by the performance of Cham dances, which are traditional masked dances performed by Buddhist monks to symbolize the triumph of good over evil. These rituals are accompanied by the chanting of sacred texts and the playing of traditional instruments like long horns, cymbals, and drums, all of which are central practices within the Buddhist tradition of the Himalayan region.

Explanation

Ribosomes are the cellular organelles responsible for protein synthesis through a process called translation. They act as the site where messenger RNA (mRNA) is decoded to assemble amino acids into specific polypeptide chains. Ribosomes consist of two subunits made of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and proteins, which come together to read the genetic instructions from the mRNA and facilitate the binding of transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules carrying the corresponding amino acids. These organelles are found either floating freely in the cytoplasm or attached to the rough endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotic cells.

Explanation

M.M. Keeravani is the veteran music composer responsible for the soundtrack of the film RRR, directed by S.S. Rajamouli. In January 2023, he made history by winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for the track Naatu Naatu. This achievement marked the first time an Indian film song received this prestigious international honor. The song features high-tempo beats and intricate arrangements that blend traditional folk influences with modern orchestral elements. Keeravani collaborated with lyricist Chandrabose and singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava to create the track, which also earned him an Academy Award later the same year.

Explanation

The National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) was launched by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, to implement the goals of the National Education Policy 2020. The mission sets a clear target to ensure that every child in the country achieves foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3. This goal is intended to be reached by the academic year 2026-27, focusing on children in the age group of 3 to 9 years. The initiative emphasizes that acquiring basic reading, writing, and mathematical skills by this stage is critical for all future learning and prevents students from falling behind in higher classes.

Explanation

Alarippu is the traditional opening piece in a Bharatanatyam performance, signifying the symbolic blossoming of the dancer. It is a pure Nritta item that focuses on rhythmic body movements rather than storytelling or emotional expression. The piece serves as a warm-up for the dancer and an invocation to the gods, the guru, and the audience. It begins with simple movements of the eyes and neck and gradually builds into complex sequences involving the shoulders, arms, and legs. Usually set to a specific tala, Alarippu is performed to the accompaniment of rhythmic syllables called sollukattu and the beats of the mridangam, without any melodic lyrics.

Explanation

Typhlops is a genus of snakes belonging to the family Typhlopidae. These reptiles are commonly known as blind snakes because their eyes are vestigial and covered by protective scales, which limits their vision to merely sensing light intensity. They are specialized fossorial organisms, meaning they spend the majority of their lives burrowing underground. Their morphology reflects this lifestyle, featuring small, cylindrical bodies with smooth, highly polished scales that minimize friction during movement through soil. Found primarily in tropical and subtropical regions, Typhlops species feed almost exclusively on the larvae and pupae of ants and termites.

Explanation

The period from 1901 to 1921 is recognized as the stagnant or stationary phase of India's population growth because the growth rate was extremely low, even recording a negative growth rate of -0.03 percent during the 1911-1921 decade. During this phase, both birth rates and death rates were very high, resulting in a nearly stable population size. The high mortality rates were caused by poor medical and health facilities, a lack of food security, and frequent occurrences of epidemics such as the 1918 influenza pandemic, plague, and cholera, as well as recurring famines. This demographic trend concluded in 1921, a year known as the Year of the Great Divide, after which the population began to show a consistent and steady increase.

Explanation

The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-1997) was formulated in the immediate aftermath of the 1991 economic crisis, which necessitated the introduction of the New Economic Policy. Although the transition toward Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization (LPG) was initiated in 1991 under two annual plans, the Eighth Plan was the first comprehensive five-year framework to systematically implement these structural reforms. It prioritized the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-led model, emphasizing the role of the private sector, reducing state intervention in industrial licensing, and integrating the Indian economy with global markets through trade and capital flow relaxations.

Explanation

In standard indoor volleyball matches governed by international regulations, the game follows a best-of-five sets format. The first four sets are played to a target of 25 points using the rally scoring system, which awards a point to the winner of every rally regardless of which team served. To win one of these sets, a team must reach 25 points with a minimum lead of two points. If the score is tied at 24-24, play continues beyond 25 until a two-point advantage is achieved by one team. Only the deciding fifth set, if necessary, is played to a shorter length of 15 points.

Explanation

Vallabhbhai Patel led the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928, which was a significant non-violent movement in the Indian Independence struggle. The protest was organized against the Bombay Presidency's decision to increase land revenue by 30 percent in the Bardoli Taluka of Gujarat, despite the farmers suffering from crop failure and famine. Patel organized the peasantry, divided the taluka into camps, and oversaw a disciplined resistance that eventually forced the British government to appoint the Broomfield-Maxwell Committee. The committee found the tax hike unjustified and reduced it to approximately 6 percent. Due to his efficient leadership and the success of the struggle, the women of Bardoli conferred the title of Sardar upon him.

Explanation

Commercial banks are classified as institutional sources of credit because they are formal financial entities regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These institutions follow standardized procedures for lending, including credit assessment, documentation, and adherence to legal frameworks. They provide credit through various instruments like loans, overdrafts, and cash credit, ensuring transparency and legal protection for the borrower. By mobilizing deposits from the public and channeling them into productive sectors of the economy, commercial banks play a pivotal role in the formal financial system of India. Their operations are governed by the Banking Regulation Act of 1949, which establishes them as part of the organized credit market.

Explanation

Under Article 243K of the Constitution of India, the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor of the state. This constitutional provision, introduced by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts of 1992, ensures that the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to Panchayats and Municipalities are vested in an independent State Election Commission. The conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner are also determined by the Governor, subject to the provisions of any law made by the State Legislature.

Explanation

The Nebular Hypothesis regarding the origin of the solar system was significantly revised by the French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace in 1796. In his work Exposition du système du monde, Laplace refined the earlier concept proposed by Immanuel Kant by providing a more rigorous mathematical framework. He suggested that the sun was initially surrounded by a massive, hot, and rotating cloud of gas and dust known as a nebula. As this nebula cooled, it contracted and rotated more rapidly to conserve angular momentum. This increased centrifugal force caused the nebula to flatten into a disk and periodically shed rings of gaseous matter from its outer edge. These rings eventually condensed and accreted to form the planets, while the central remaining mass of the nebula evolved into the sun.

Explanation

Ranjitsinh Disale, a primary school teacher from Solapur, Maharashtra, was appointed as an advisor to the World Bank's Global Coach Program for the period of June 2021 to June 2024. This program is a World Bank initiative aimed at supporting countries in accelerating learning by improving in-service teacher professional development programs and systems. Disale previously gained international recognition as the winner of the Global Teacher Prize 2020 for his efforts in promoting girls' education and triggering a QR-coded textbook revolution in India. In his role as an advisor, he contributes to the World Bank's efforts to enhance teacher training and educational outcomes globally.

Explanation

The Chota Nagpur plateau region possesses the highest concentration of iron and steel industries in India due to its strategic locational advantages and the abundance of essential raw materials. This region is rich in high-grade hematite iron ore, particularly from the Singhbhum and Keonjhar belts, and hosts the country's most significant coking coal reserves in the Jharia and Raniganj fields. The presence of other necessary minerals like limestone, dolomite, and manganese in close proximity minimizes transportation costs for these bulk materials. Furthermore, the region benefits from a well-developed railway network, abundant water supply from the Damodar and Subarnarekha river systems, and access to the major ports of Kolkata and Haldia for international trade. Major integrated steel plants, including those at Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Durgapur, and Burnpur, are situated in this belt to leverage these geographical and economic benefits.

Explanation

The South Central Railway (SCR) zone of Indian Railways launched two long haul freight trains named Trishul and Garuda in October 2021 to improve freight operations. These trains are significantly longer than the standard freight train composition, usually formed by joining two or three empty or loaded rakes into a single unit. Trishul, the first of these, consisted of three freight trains with 177 wagons and was operated from Kondapalli station to Khurda division. Garuda followed shortly after, running from Raichur to Manuguru. The primary objective of operating these long haul trains is to maximize the throughput of the railway network by utilizing a single path for multiple train loads, thereby effectively bypassing capacity constraints in critical and saturated rail sections while reducing the requirement for additional locomotives and manpower.

Explanation

In a standard One Day International (ODI) cricket match, each innings consists of 50 overs. According to the playing conditions set by the International Cricket Council (ICC), no individual bowler is allowed to bowl more than one-fifth of the total overs scheduled for an innings. For a full 50-over match, this limit is calculated as 50 / 5 = 10 overs per bowler. Even if a match is shortened due to rain or other delays, the one-fifth rule generally remains the standard for determining the maximum quota for each bowler based on the revised number of overs.

Explanation

The Battle of Kalinga, fought around 261 BCE during the eighth year of his reign, was the defining moment in the life of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. According to Major Rock Edict XIII, the massive scale of destruction, involving the death of over 100,000 people and the displacement of many more, filled the emperor with profound remorse and grief. This transformation led him to abandon the policy of physical conquest, known as Bherighosha, in favor of Dhammaghosha, or conquest through righteousness and piety. Influenced by Buddhist teachings, Ashoka became a patron of non-violence and spent the rest of his reign propagating the principles of Dhamma, focusing on social welfare and moral conduct rather than territorial expansion through warfare.

Explanation

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan launched the Aligarh Movement in the mid-nineteenth century as a socio-religious reform initiative aimed at the educational and political advancement of the Muslim community in India. He believed that the decline of Muslims after the 1857 Revolt was largely due to their distance from modern Western education and scientific thought. To bridge this gap, he established the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which served as the nursery for the movement and later evolved into the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. Through this movement, he promoted a rationalistic interpretation of Islamic scripture, advocated for social reforms like the education of women, and encouraged a spirit of loyalty toward the British administration to secure better opportunities and representation for Muslims in the colonial structure. The movement was instrumental in creating a new class of modern-educated Muslim intellectuals and leaders who significantly influenced the socio-political landscape of the subcontinent.

Explanation

Metalloids are chemical elements that exhibit properties intermediate between those of metals and non-metals. They are typically located along the diagonal staircase line on the periodic table that separates metals from non-metals. Boron, silicon, and antimony are three of the most commonly recognized metalloids. Boron is a group 13 element known for its high melting point and semiconducting properties. Silicon, belonging to group 14, is the backbone of the semiconductor industry due to its unique electrical conductivity characteristics. Antimony is a group 15 element that possesses a metallic luster but is a poor conductor of heat and electricity compared to true metals. These elements are essential in various industrial applications, particularly in electronics and metallurgy, because their physical and chemical behaviors can be tuned between metallic and non-metallic states.