SSC CHSL Tier 1 2013 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The Consumer Price Index is a statistical measure that tracks the average change over time in the prices paid by households for a representative basket of consumer goods and services. It reflects the retail prices of essential everyday items such as food, housing, clothing, transportation, and healthcare. By measuring these price changes, it monitors the direct impact of inflation on the purchasing power of consumers and their cost of purchasing everyday goods and services.

Explanation

An oligopoly is a market structure dominated by a small number of large sellers or firms. The term is derived from the Greek words oligos, meaning few, and polein, meaning to sell. In this type of market, the limited number of sellers leads to a high degree of mutual interdependence, where the pricing and marketing decisions of one firm directly impact and are influenced by the strategic choices of its competitors.

Explanation

In India, the Central Statistical Organisation estimates national income by employing a combination of the product method and the income method. The product method, also known as the net output method, is primarily used for estimate formulation in primary sectors like agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining, where data on the volume of production are readily available. The income method is used for sectors such as manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply, transport, communication, and other services, where estimating the total factor incomes paid out is more feasible and reliable. This hybrid approach ensures a comprehensive and accurate measurement of the country's diverse economic activities.

Explanation

In the short run, a producing firm operates with at least one fixed factor of production, such as land, factory buildings, or heavy machinery. The expense incurred on these fixed factors is known as the total fixed cost.

By definition, fixed costs do not vary with changes in the volume of output. Whether the firm produces zero output or operates at its maximum capacity, these expenses—such as rent on land, salaries of permanent staff, and interest payments—remain completely unchanged. This differentiates them from variable costs, which fluctuate in direct response to the level of production. Thus, the total fixed cost in the short run remains always constant and fixed.

Explanation

Capital goods are tangible assets that businesses use in the production process to manufacture finished goods and services. Machine tools, such as lathes, grinders, and milling machines, are durable assets designed to facilitate the creation of other machinery and products. Since machine tools are utilized to increase productive capacity rather than being directly consumed by the final consumer, they are classified as capital goods.

Explanation

Gandhara art, which flourished in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE, represents a unique fusion of Greek and Indian artistic traditions. Often referred to as Greco-Buddhist art, it combined Hellenistic aesthetic techniques with native Indian Buddhist themes and iconography. In this style, Buddha is depicted with distinct classical Greek features, such as curly hair, realistic anatomical proportions, and flowing, heavy drapery reminiscent of a Roman toga, while the core spiritual essence and stories remain fundamentally Indian.

Explanation

Mahmud Gawan, also known as Mohammed Gawan, was a highly capable Persian merchant, statesman, and military general who served as the Prime Minister (Vakil-us-Sultanate) and Wazir of the Bahmani Kingdom from 1463 until his execution in 1481. He managed the affairs of the state during the reign of Humayun Shah and later served as the de facto ruler and regent during the minority of Muhammad Shah III. Under his administration, the Bahmani Sultanate reached the peak of its power and territorial expansion, extending from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. Gawan introduced significant administrative reforms by subdividing the larger provinces (tarafs) to curb the power of local governors, reorganized the military, and patronized education, famously constructing the grand three-story Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan in the capital city of Bidar.

Explanation

Francisco de Almeida was appointed as the first Governor and Viceroy of Portuguese India in 1505 by King Manuel I of Portugal. He was tasked with establishing Portuguese dominance in the Indian Ocean and protecting Portuguese trade interests. During his tenure, he implemented the Blue Water Policy, which focused on securing naval supremacy and controlling maritime trade routes rather than building a land-based territorial empire.

Explanation

The abolition of slavery in British India was formally enacted through the Indian Slavery Act of 1843, which was passed during the administration of Governor-General Lord Ellenborough. Lord William Bentinck, who served as Governor-General from 1828 to 1835, was not responsible for this legislative measure.

Explanation

Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776, a highly influential pamphlet that advocated for immediate independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain. Written in clear and persuasive language, the work argued against the institution of monarchy and hereditary rule, presenting logical reasons why the American colonies should govern themselves. It was widely circulated throughout the colonies and succeeded in mobilizing public opinion, turning a local tax dispute into a widespread popular movement for complete political independence and republicanism.

Explanation

Fascism is a totalitarian political ideology that rejects liberal democracy, political pluralism, and democratic opposition. It seeks to establish a highly centralized, authoritarian state under the complete control of a single dictator and a single ruling party. Under fascist regimes, all political opposition is suppressed, and other political organizations are banned, making the one-party system a fundamental structural component of fascist governance to ensure total control over society, the economy, and the state.

Explanation

The Staff Selection Commission is an executive body, established through an executive resolution of the Government of India. Originally formed as the Subordinate Services Commission in 1975 and subsequently renamed in 1977, it functions as an attached office under the Department of Personnel and Training. It was not created by the Constitution of India nor does any constitutional article mandate its existence, making it a non-constitutional body.

Explanation

Under Article 143 of the Constitution of India, the President is authorized to seek the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court on any question of law or fact that has arisen or is likely to arise, and is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Court. This constitutes the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Upon receiving such a reference, the Supreme Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report its opinion to the President. This opinion is purely advisory and is not legally binding on the President.

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 must return the bill with or without recommendations within a period of 14 days from the date of its receipt. If the Rajya Sabha fails to return the bill within this 14-day limit, 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

Under Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, including the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. Nominated members of both Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies, as well as members of State Legislative Councils, are excluded from this voting process to maintain the representative and federal character of the election.

Explanation

Deodar is a species of coniferous evergreen tree native to the Western Himalayas, typically growing at altitudes between 1500 and 3200 meters. It thrives in high-altitude montane temperate forest ecosystems characterized by cold temperatures and snowfall. As an evergreen conifer, it retains its needle-like foliage throughout the year rather than shedding its leaves seasonally.

Explanation

Alluvial soil is formed by the depositional activity of rivers. The North Indian plains are created by the depositional work of three major river systems—the Indus, the Ganga, and the Brahmaputra—which carry vast amounts of silt and sediment from the Himalayas. Similarly, the coastal plains, particularly the east coastal plain, are formed by the deltaic depositions of major rivers such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. As a result of these continuous riverine depositions, alluvial soil is the predominant soil type in both the North Indian plains and the Coastal plains, making these regions highly fertile and agriculturally productive.

Explanation

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials such as gravel, sand, or silt. These geological formations are highly porous, allowing them to store significant volumes of water, and highly permeable, which enables water to flow through them readily and be extracted for various uses.

Explanation

Selvas are the dense, evergreen tropical rainforests located in the Amazon River basin of South America. They are characterized by year-round high temperatures, heavy rainfall, and a thick, multi-layered canopy of tall trees, distinguishing them from open, grassy landscapes.

Explanation

Duncan Passage is a strait in the Indian Ocean that is approximately 48 kilometers wide. It geographically separates Rutland Island, which lies in the South Andaman region, to its north from Little Andaman to its south. This maritime route connects the Bay of Bengal in the west with the Andaman Sea in the east.

Explanation

Hydrophilic substances are polar or charged molecules that have a strong affinity for water. Because water is a polar solvent, it readily interacts with and dissolves other polar or ionic substances through the formation of hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions, making these substances highly water-soluble.

Explanation

Amoeba is a single-celled organism with a highly flexible cell membrane. This flexibility allows the cell to engulf food and other materials from its surrounding environment. The cell membrane extends temporary finger-like projections called pseudopodia around the food particle, fusing over it to form a food vacuole. This biological process of engulfing extracellular substances by folding the cell membrane inward is known as endocytosis.

Explanation

The female Anopheles mosquito serves as the vector for malaria, which is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The female mosquito requires a blood meal to obtain nutrients for the development of her eggs. If she bites an infected person, she ingests the Plasmodium parasites along with the blood. The parasites undergo a cycle of development and sexual reproduction within the mosquito, eventually migrating to her salivary glands as sporozoites. When the infected mosquito bites another human, she injects these sporozoites into the bloodstream, thereby transmitting the infection.

Explanation

Commensalism is an ecological relationship where one species benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed. The association between a sucker fish and a shark is a classic example of this interaction. The sucker fish attaches itself to the shark using a specialized dorsal fin modified into a suction disk. Through this attachment, the sucker fish obtains free transportation, protection from predators, and easy access to leftover food scraps discarded by the shark. The shark is unaffected by the presence of the sucker fish, receiving neither benefit nor harm from the relationship.

Explanation

Rhizobium is a genus of Gram-negative soil bacteria that establishes a symbiotic relationship with the root systems of leguminous plants. Upon infecting the root hairs of host plants, these bacteria induce the formation of root nodules. Within these specialized nodules, Rhizobium carries out nitrogen fixation, converting inert atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia, which is a usable form of nitrogen for the plant. In return for this vital nutrient, the host plant provides the bacteria with carbohydrates and a protected ecological niche.

Explanation

Paddy is affected by Blast, which is a devastating fungal disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae.

Wheat is affected by Rust, a major fungal disease caused by various Puccinia species such as Puccinia graminis.

Mustard is affected by White rust, a widespread disease caused by the oomycete pathogen Albugo candida.

Sugarcane is affected by Red rot, a severe stem disease caused by the fungus Colletotrichum falcatum.

Explanation

The color of an object is determined by the wavelengths of light it reflects. Green leaves appear green because they reflect green light and absorb other colors, such as red and blue. When a green leaf is placed under monochromatic red light, there is no green wavelength available to be reflected. The leaf absorbs the red light entirely, and because no light is reflected back to the eye, it appears black.

Explanation

When a body moves along a circular path with constant speed, its direction of motion changes continuously at every point. Since velocity is a vector quantity, this continuous change in direction results in a continuous change in velocity, which produces centripetal acceleration. The magnitude of this centripetal acceleration is constant and is given by v²/r, where v is the constant speed and r is the radius of the circular path. However, the direction of this acceleration vector is always directed towards the center of the circle, meaning its direction rotates continuously as the body moves. Since the direction of the acceleration vector changes continuously, the acceleration is variable.

Explanation

Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon that occurs under two specific conditions. First, the light ray must travel from an optically denser medium with a higher refractive index to an optically rarer medium with a lower refractive index. Second, the angle of incidence of the light ray in the denser medium must be greater than the critical angle for the given pair of media. When the angle of incidence exceeds this critical value, the light ray cannot refract into the second medium and is instead completely reflected back into the first, denser medium, obeying the laws of reflection. This critical angle is defined by the relation sin θ_c = n₂/n₁, where n₁ is the refractive index of the denser medium and n₂ is the refractive index of the rarer medium.

Explanation

A Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) utilizes an electromagnet (solenoid) to protect electrical circuits from short-circuits. When a short-circuit occurs, an extremely large current flows through the circuit almost instantly. This sudden surge in current generates a strong magnetic field within the solenoid, which rapidly pulls a plunger to release the mechanical latch and trip the breaker. This immediate response cuts off the electricity supply, preventing severe damage and fire hazards.

Explanation

An operating system is classified as system software because it serves as the essential interface between the computer hardware and the user or application programs. It manages the core hardware resources of the computer, including the central processing unit, memory, storage devices, and input/output peripherals. By providing critical background services and allocating resources efficiently, it creates the environment in which all other software programs can run.

Explanation

In Disk Operating System (DOS), the DIR command is an internal command used to display a list of files and subdirectories contained within the current directory or a specified directory path. Along with the names of the files and folders, it provides additional details such as the file size, the date and time of their last modification, and the remaining free space available on the drive.

Explanation

Throughput is defined as the rate at which a computer system or network processes a given amount of work over a specific period. It measures the overall productivity and efficiency of a system by quantifying the number of tasks, instructions, transactions, or data packets successfully completed per unit of time, such as seconds or hours.

Explanation

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) is a covalent molecule formed by the sharing of electrons between a central carbon atom and four chlorine atoms. Carbon has four valence electrons in its outermost shell, and each chlorine atom requires one electron to complete its octet. By sharing its four valence electrons with four separate chlorine atoms, carbon forms four single covalent bonds. Since both carbon and chlorine are non-metals, the electronegativity difference between them is not high enough to cause electron transfer, resulting in a stable covalent compound with a tetrahedral geometry.

Explanation

According to the Arrhenius definition, an acid is a substance that dissociates in an aqueous solution to produce hydrogen ions (H⁺). Under the Bronsted-Lowry theory, an acid is defined as a proton (H⁺) donor. Since any acidic substance must be capable of releasing hydrogen ions or donating protons, hydrogen is the essential constituent element present in all acids.

Explanation

Silica gel is a highly porous form of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) that acts as a highly effective desiccant, or drying agent. Due to its extremely large internal surface area and the presence of hydrophilic silanol groups on its surface, it readily adsorbs water vapor from the air inside the sealed container. Keeping the humidity levels inside the bottle extremely low prevents the chemical degradation, hydrolysis, or physical spoilage of the tablets and capsules, thereby maintaining their stability and extending their shelf life.

Explanation

Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) is amphoteric in nature because it displays both acidic and basic characteristics. It reacts with both acids and bases to produce salt and water.

When reacting with a strong acid like hydrochloric acid (HCl), aluminium oxide behaves as a base: Al₂O₃ + 6HCl → 2AlCl₃ + 3H₂O

When reacting with a strong base like sodium hydroxide (NaOH), aluminium oxide behaves as an acidic oxide to form sodium tetrahydroxoaluminate (or sodium aluminate): Al₂O₃ + 2NaOH + 3H₂O → 2NaAl(OH)₄

This dual reactivity to neutralize both acids and bases defines its amphoteric character.

Explanation

Oceans are the most stable ecosystems on Earth due to their vast size, which covers approximately 71% of the planet's surface. The massive volume of water in marine ecosystems gives them a high specific heat capacity, preventing rapid temperature fluctuations and buffering them against sudden environmental changes. Additionally, the chemical composition of seawater, including salinity and dissolved oxygen levels, remains relatively constant over long periods. This physical and chemical consistency, combined with a highly diverse and complex food web that has evolved over billions of years, provides the ocean ecosystem with exceptional resilience and stability against ecological disturbances.

Explanation

Sewage is a biodegradable pollutant because it primarily consists of organic matter derived from human feces, urine, laundry waste, and food preparation. Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi can readily break down these complex organic materials into simpler, harmless substances like water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients through natural biological processes.

Explanation

The concentration of gaseous pollutants in the atmosphere is standardly measured and expressed in parts per million. This unit represents the volume of a specific pollutant gas present in one million volumes of ambient air. It is widely used in environmental science and policy to quantify the presence of major air pollutants like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, providing a clear scale for monitoring air quality and compliance with environmental safety standards.

Explanation

Brazil won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, which was hosted in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013. In the final match played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil defeated Spain 3–0 to claim their fourth Confederations Cup title, with goals scored by Fred and Neymar.

Explanation

Justice P. Sathasivam served as the 40th Chief Justice of India, holding the office from 19 July 2013 to 26 April 2014. He was elevated to the Supreme Court of India in August 2007 after having served as a judge in both the Madras High Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Explanation

National Science Day is celebrated in India on February 28 each year to commemorate the landmark discovery of the Raman Effect by the eminent Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1928. This day marks the scientific breakthrough itself rather than a birth anniversary, as Sir C. V. Raman was actually born on November 7, 1888.

Explanation

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel of manners written by Jane Austen and published in 1813, which makes it a work of Austen rather than Charles Dickens.

Explanation

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was granted political asylum by the government of Ecuador in August 2012. He had sought refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual allegations, fearing that it would ultimately lead to his extradition to the United States for publishing classified government documents. The Ecuadorian government, under President Rafael Correa, approved his request on the grounds of political persecution and potential human rights violations.

Explanation

The currency of South Africa is the Rand, denoted by the symbol R and currency code ZAR. It was officially introduced in February 1961, replacing the South African pound at a rate of two rand to one pound, which coincided with the establishment of the Republic of South Africa. The Rand is issued and regulated by the South African Reserve Bank and is subdivided into 100 cents.

Explanation

Kamban was a medieval Tamil poet who composed the Ramavataram, popularly known as the Kamba Ramayanam, in the Tamil language during the 12th century.

Krittivasa Ojha was a 15th-century Bengali poet who translated the Sanskrit epic into Bengali, known as the Krittivasi Ramayan, making it one of the most popular translation texts in Bengal.

Madhava Kandali was a 14th-century Assamese poet who translated the Sanskrit Ramayana into Assamese, known as the Saptakanda Ramayana, which represents one of the earliest vernacular translations of the epic in India.

Tulsidas was a 16th-century poet-saint who composed the Ramcharitmanas, an epic retelling of the Ramayana written in the Awadhi dialect, which is a major dialect of the Hindi language family.

Explanation

Correct Answer: B

Brazil is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Although Brazil is one of the largest oil producers in the world, it has historically maintained independent control over its domestic petroleum policies, pricing, and production volumes. Consequently, the country has remained outside the formal membership of the OPEC cartel to preserve its national autonomy over resource development and export strategies.

Explanation

At the 20th Asian Athletics Championships held in Pune, India, in July 2013, India won two gold medals.

Vikas Gowda clinched the gold medal in the Men's Discus Throw event with a throw of 64.90 m.

The second gold medal was won by the Indian quartet of Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose, and M. R. Poovamma in the Women's 4×400m Relay, finishing first with a time of 3:32.26.

Explanation

Manthan (1976) was directed by Shyam Benegal, and its story was jointly written by him and Dr. Verghese Kurien, the pioneer of the cooperative milk movement in India. The film explores the challenges and triumphs of establishing a dairy cooperative during the White Revolution in Gujarat. It is widely celebrated as India's first entirely crowdfunded film, produced through contributions of ₹2 each from over 500,000 dairy farmers.