SSC CHSL Tier 1 2013 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Slavery in British India was formally abolished through the passage of the Indian Slavery Act of 1843, also known as Act V of 1843. This legislative measure was enacted during the tenure of Governor-General Lord Ellenborough, who served from 1842 to 1844, rather than during the administration of Lord William Bentinck, whose tenure lasted from 1828 to 1835. The Charter Act of 1833, passed during Bentinck's term, directed the colonial administration to mitigate and eventually extinguish slavery, but the actual legal abolition was only realized a decade later under Ellenborough.

Explanation

Thomas Paine wrote the highly influential pamphlet Common Sense, published anonymously in January 1776, which forcefully advocated for the independence of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain. Written in clear, accessible language, it made powerful moral and political arguments against monarchical rule and hereditary succession, urging the colonists to unite and fight for an independent democratic republic. The pamphlet spread rapidly throughout the colonies, playing a decisive role in galvanizing public opinion and inspiring the colonial population to actively support the American War of Independence.

Explanation

Fascism is a totalitarian political ideology that rejects democratic pluralism and instead advocates for absolute state control under a single, central authority. In a fascist regime, all political power is concentrated in the hands of a single ruling party led by a dictatorial leader. To maintain complete control and enforce national unity, the regime suppresses political dissent, outlaws opposition, and eliminates democratic institutions, thereby establishing a strict one-party system where the state and the party become indistinguishable.

Explanation

The Staff Selection Commission is an executive body established by a resolution of the Government of India. It was originally set up in 1975 as the Subordinate Services Commission and renamed in 1977. Since it was created by an executive order of the government and is not established under any specific article of the Constitution of India, it is classified as a non-constitutional body. It functions as an attached office of the Department of Personnel and Training to recruit staff for various Group B and Group C posts in the ministries and departments of the government.

Explanation

The Consumer Price Index is a statistical measure that tracks the changes in the weighted average of prices of a representative basket of goods and services purchased by households. It is designed to reflect the changes in the cost of consumption at the retail level, serving as a key indicator of inflation from the perspective of the ultimate consumer.

Explanation

An oligopoly is a market structure dominated by a small number of large sellers. The term itself is derived from the Greek words oligos, which translates to few, and polein, which means to sell. In an oligopolistic market, these few sellers possess significant market power, and their business decisions, such as pricing and production levels, are highly interdependent. This interdependence means that the actions of one seller directly influence and are influenced by the actions of the others in the market.

Explanation

In India, the national income is estimated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) using a combination of the product method and the income method. The product method, also known as the net output or value-added method, is applied to primary and secondary sectors like agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing, where output can be directly measured. The income method is used for the service sectors, including trade, transport, banking, insurance, public administration, and other professional services, where estimating income generated by factors of production is more reliable. Together, these two methods provide a comprehensive measurement of India's Gross Domestic Product and National Income.

Explanation

In the short-run, a producing firm's total costs are divided into fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs are expenses that do not change with the level of output produced. These overheads, such as rent of land, interest on borrowed capital, and salaries of permanent administrative staff, must be paid even if the volume of production is zero. Consequently, the total fixed cost remains constant and fixed at all levels of output in the short-run.

Explanation

Machine tools are durable tangible assets used by industries to manufacture other goods, components, or tools. Because they are not consumed directly by the final consumer and instead assist in the long-term production of other commodities without being entirely used up in a single production cycle, they are classified as capital goods. They form part of the physical capital of an enterprise, contributing to capital formation and productive capacity.

Explanation

Gandhara school of art, which flourished in the northwestern frontier of ancient India under the patronage of Kushana rulers, is characterized by a fusion of Greco-Roman artistic styles with traditional Indian Buddhist themes. It is often referred to as the Greco-Buddhist school because it applied Greek techniques of classical realism to Indian subjects. For instance, images of the Buddha were sculpted with physical features resembling the Greek god Apollo, featuring athletic bodies, curly hair, and heavy, realistic drapery similar to a Roman toga, while representing purely Buddhist spiritual philosophies.

Explanation

Mahmud Gawan, also known as Mohammed Gawan, served as the Prime Minister (Wazir and Vakil-us-Sultanat) of the Bahmani Sultanate during the late 15th century, particularly under the reign of Muhammad Shah III. Originally a Persian merchant, he rose to prominence due to his outstanding administrative prowess and military leadership. He successfully expanded the borders of the Bahmani kingdom, consolidated its administration by dividing the empire into eight provinces (tarafs), and introduced systematic land revenue reforms to improve the state's economy. He was also a great patron of education and literature, immortalized by the grand three-storied Mahmud Gawan Madrasa he established in Bidar.

Explanation

Hydrophilic substances are those that have a strong affinity for water and can readily dissolve in it. The term is derived from the Greek words hydro, meaning water, and philia, meaning love. Because water is a polar molecule, it easily interacts with and dissolves other polar or ionic substances. Hydrophilic molecules contain polar groups, such as hydroxyl or carboxyl groups, which readily form hydrogen bonds with water molecules, allowing them to mix easily and dissolve in an aqueous environment.

Explanation

Amoeba is a unicellular organism with a highly flexible cell membrane. It acquires its food through endocytosis, a process where the cell membrane folds inward to engulf external materials. Specifically, this type of endocytosis in Amoeba is phagocytosis, commonly known as cell eating. The organism extends temporary finger-like projections of its cell membrane, called pseudopodia, around the food particle. These pseudopodia fuse over the food particle, trapping it inside a food vacuole within the cell where digestion takes place.

Explanation

The female Anopheles mosquito serves as the vector for malaria because it transmits the Plasmodium parasite, which is the causative agent of the disease. When an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a human to obtain a blood meal necessary for the development of her eggs, she injects Plasmodium sporozoites from her salivary glands directly into the person's bloodstream, thereby initiating the infection.

Explanation

The relationship between a sucker fish (remora) and a shark is a prime example of commensalism. In this ecological interaction, the sucker fish benefits by attaching itself to the shark's body using its specialized dorsal fin, which acts as a suction cup. This attachment provides the sucker fish with free transportation, protection from potential predators, and easy access to food scraps left behind when the shark feeds. Meanwhile, the shark is neither harmed nor benefited by the presence of the sucker fish, fulfilling the definition of a commensal relationship where one organism benefits while the other remains unaffected.

Explanation

Rhizobium is a genus of soil bacteria that establishes a symbiotic relationship with the roots of leguminous plants, such as beans, peas, and lentils. These bacteria infect the root hairs of the host plant, leading to the formation of specialized structures called root nodules. Within these nodules, Rhizobium converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia using the nitrogenase enzyme system, providing the plant with an essential nutrient. In return, the host plant provides the bacteria with carbohydrates and a protected ecological niche.

Explanation

Under Article 143 of the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court possesses advisory jurisdiction. This article empowers the President of India to consult the Supreme Court and seek its opinion on any question of law or fact that is of great public importance and has arisen or is likely to arise.

Explanation

Under Article 109 of the Constitution of India, a Money Bill, after being passed by the Lok Sabha, is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations. The Rajya Sabha is given a maximum of 14 days from the date of receipt to return the bill with or without its recommendations. If the Rajya Sabha does not return the bill to the Lok Sabha within this stipulated 14-day period, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament in the form in which it was passed by the Lok Sabha.

Explanation

Under Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President of India 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. This system ensures that only representative members who are directly or indirectly chosen by the citizens participate in the election, excluding nominated members of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, as well as all members of State Legislative Councils.

Explanation

Deodar (Cedrus deodara) is a species of coniferous evergreen tree native to the Western Himalayas. It thrives in high-altitude temperate climates and is characterized by its needle-like leaves and cone-bearing reproduction. Because it retains its foliage year-round and does not shed its leaves seasonally, it belongs to evergreen coniferous vegetation rather than deciduous vegetation.

Explanation

Alluvial soils are formed by the depositional work of rivers in the Northern Plains and Coastal Plains of India. The Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra river systems, along with their tributaries, deposit vast amounts of silt, sand, and clay as they flow down from the Himalayas, creating the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains. Similarly, in the coastal regions, major rivers like the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri form extensive deltas that consist of rich alluvial deposits. Because of this continuous fluvial deposition, alluvial soil is the most widespread and dominant soil group in both the North Indian plains and the coastal plains of the country.

Explanation

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, gravel, sand, or silt. For a geological formation to be classified as an aquifer, it must possess both high porosity to store a large quantity of water and high permeability to allow the water to flow readily through interconnected pore spaces. These formations act as natural underground reservoirs capable of storing and yielding significant quantities of groundwater.

Explanation

Selvas are the dense, tropical equatorial rainforests located in the Amazon Basin of South America. They are characterized by high annual rainfall, lush vegetation, and a multilayered canopy, making them forest ecosystems rather than grasslands.

Explanation

An operating system is categorized as system software because it directly manages and coordinates the computer's hardware resources, including the central processing unit, memory, and storage devices. It provides a foundational platform and essential services that enable other programs to function, serving as the crucial interface between the computer hardware and the user.

Explanation

The DIR command in DOS is an internal command used to display a complete list of files and subdirectories contained within the current directory or a specified path. When executed, it provides essential details about the directory contents, including the names of the files, their extensions, file sizes, and the dates and times they were last modified, along with the total free space remaining on the storage drive.

Explanation

Throughput is a key performance metric in computing and systems theory that represents the quantity of work completed by a system within a given period of time. In the context of operating systems, databases, and network communication, it measures the rate at which a system successfully processes tasks, transactions, or data packets, typically expressed in units such as operations per second or processes per hour.

Explanation

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) is a covalent molecule formed through the sharing of valence electrons between carbon and chlorine atoms. Carbon, belonging to Group 14, has four valence electrons in its outermost shell. Chlorine, belonging to Group 17, has seven valence electrons and needs one more to achieve a stable octet configuration. To achieve stability, the central carbon atom shares its four valence electrons with four individual chlorine atoms, forming four single covalent C-Cl bonds. This sharing of electrons completes the octet for both the carbon and all four chlorine atoms, resulting in a stable, non-polar covalent compound with a symmetrical tetrahedral geometry.

Explanation

According to the Arrhenius theory of acids and bases, an acid is a substance that dissociates in water to release hydrogen ions (H⁺). Similarly, under the Bronsted-Lowry definition, an acid is defined as a proton (hydrogen ion) donor. For a compound to release or donate hydrogen ions in chemical reactions, it must structurally contain hydrogen. Consequently, hydrogen is the essential element present in all acids.

Explanation

Silica gel is a highly effective desiccant, which means it is used to maintain dryness by absorbing water vapor from its surrounding environment. It is composed of an amorphous and highly porous form of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) with a very large internal surface area. This physical structure allows the gel to readily adsorb and hold moisture that might otherwise enter or remain inside the medicine bottle during packaging or when opened. By trapping this moisture, silica gel prevents the tablets or capsules from degrading, dissolving, or losing their chemical stability and therapeutic efficacy over time.

Explanation

Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) is an amphoteric chemical compound, meaning it exhibits both acidic and basic characteristics. It can undergo chemical neutralization reactions with both acids and bases to produce salt and water.

When reacting with an acid such as hydrochloric acid (HCl), aluminium oxide behaves as a base to form aluminium chloride: Al₂O₃ + 6HCl → 2AlCl₃ + 3H₂O

When reacting with a strong base like sodium hydroxide (NaOH), it behaves as an acid to form sodium aluminate: Al₂O₃ + 2NaOH → 2NaAlO₂ + H₂O

This dual chemical nature of reacting with both acids and bases classifies it as an amphoteric substance.

Explanation

Oceanic or marine ecosystems are considered the most stable ecosystems on Earth. Their stability is primarily attributed to their colossal size, which covers more than 70% of the planet's surface and provides a massive volume of water that acts as a natural buffer. This buffer prevents rapid fluctuations in temperature, pH levels, and chemical composition. Additionally, marine environments maintain consistent salinity and dissolved oxygen levels over vast areas. This long-term physical and chemical consistency, combined with highly complex and resilient trophic networks, allows oceans to resist environmental changes and maintain ecological equilibrium far more effectively than terrestrial ecosystems.

Explanation

Paddy is matched with Blast, which is a highly destructive fungal disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae that primarily attacks the leaves, nodes, and panicles of rice plants.

Wheat is matched with Rust, as wheat crops are highly susceptible to rust fungi of the genus Puccinia, which cause yellow, brown, or black pustules on leaves and stems.

Mustard is matched with Downy mildew, a disease caused by the oomycete Hyaloperonospora parasitica that produces white to grayish powdery growth on the undersides of mustard leaves.

Sugarcane is matched with Red rot, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum falcatum, which leads to characteristic reddening of internal stalk tissues and major yield losses in sugarcane crops.

Explanation

The color of an object is determined by the specific wavelengths of light that it reflects. A green leaf appears green under natural white light because its surface absorbs all other colors of the visible spectrum and reflects only green light. When the leaf is illuminated solely by red light, it absorbs the incoming red light entirely. Since there is no green light in the incident light source to be reflected back to our eyes, no light is reflected from the leaf, making it appear black.

Explanation

In uniform circular motion, a body moves along a circular path at a constant speed. While the magnitude of the velocity remains constant, its direction changes continuously at every point along the path. Since velocity is a vector quantity, this continuous change in direction means the velocity is changing, which produces an acceleration. This acceleration is directed radially inward toward the center of the circle and has a constant magnitude of a = v²/r. However, because the direction of this acceleration vector is constantly changing as the body moves along the circle, the acceleration is variable.

Explanation

Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon that occurs when light travels from an optically denser medium to an optically rarer medium. When the light ray in the denser medium strikes the boundary at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle for that pair of media, the ray is completely reflected back into the denser medium. This happens because as the angle of incidence increases in the denser medium, the angle of refraction in the rarer medium reaches 90° at the critical angle. Any further increase in the angle of incidence causes the light to reflect entirely back into the denser medium, adhering to the laws of reflection.

Explanation

A Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) relies on an electromagnetic mechanism to protect electrical circuits against short-circuiting. During a short-circuit, an extremely high current flows through the circuit almost instantaneously. This rapid and massive surge of current passes through a solenoid within the MCB, which immediately generates a powerful magnetic field. This strong magnetic force pulls a plunger that releases the mechanical latch, instantly tripping the circuit breaker and cutting off the power supply to prevent damage. Thus, the instantaneous trip during a short-circuit is based on the magnetic effect of current.

Explanation

The South African Rand is the official currency of South Africa, introduced in February 1961 to replace the South African pound at a rate of two rands to one pound. It is issued by the South African Reserve Bank. The currency derives its name from Witwatersrand, the major gold-producing ridge in Johannesburg where most of South Africa's gold deposits were discovered.

Explanation

Kamban wrote the Ramavataram, commonly known as Kamba Ramayanam, in Tamil during the 12th century.

Krittivasa Ojha translated the epic into Bengali, known as Krittivasi Ramayan, in the 15th century.

Madhava Kandali translated the Ramayana into Assamese as the Saptakanda Ramayana during the 14th century.

Tulsidas composed the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi, during the 16th century.

Explanation

Brazil is a major global oil producer but has never been a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The South American country has historically chosen to maintain its independence in national energy policy, production levels, and pricing, allowing its state-controlled oil company, Petrobras, to operate without being subject to the production quotas or policy decisions mandated by OPEC.

Explanation

At the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships held at Pune, India won two gold medals.

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

In the Women's 4 x 400 m Relay event, the Indian team consisting of Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose, and Poovamma Raju Machettira secured the gold medal with a timing of 3:32.26.

Explanation

Manthan (1976) is a landmark film directed by Shyam Benegal, based on the pioneering milk cooperative movement in Anand, Gujarat. The story of the film was written jointly by Shyam Benegal and Dr. Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution in India. The screenplay was written by Vijay Tendulkar, with dialogues by Kaifi Azmi. The film is also notable for being India's first crowd-funded movie, financed by half a million dairy farmers of Gujarat who contributed ₹2 each to produce it.

Explanation

Sewage is primarily composed of domestic wastewater containing organic waste materials such as human excreta, food residue, and animal waste. Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi can naturally decompose these complex organic substances into simpler, non-toxic inorganic substances through biological processes. This susceptibility to natural degradation prevents these materials from accumulating indefinitely in the environment, classifying sewage as a biodegradable pollutant.

Explanation

Atmospheric pollutants are present in very low concentrations relative to the total volume of clean air. To measure and report these trace amounts effectively, environmental agencies use volume-based ratios. Parts per million is the most widely adopted standard unit, representing one volume of a gaseous pollutant mixed in one million volumes of air. For example, a concentration of 1 ppm is equivalent to 1 microliter of pollutant gas per liter of air. This unit is standard for defining regulatory limits, measuring ambient air quality, and quantifying human health exposure risks for primary gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.

Explanation

Brazil won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup by defeating Spain 3-0 in the final match, which was played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on June 30, 2013. This victory marked Brazil's fourth Confederations Cup title overall and their third consecutive tournament win, following their previous titles in 1997, 2005, and 2009.

Explanation

Justice P. Sathasivam served as the 40th Chief Justice of India, holding the office from 19 July 2013 to 26 April 2014. He succeeded Justice Altamas Kabir and was the second judge from the state of Tamil Nadu to occupy this prestigious position.

Explanation

National Science Day is celebrated in India on February 28 every year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman Effect by the eminent Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1928. For this ground-breaking discovery, Sir C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. His birth anniversary falls on November 7, meaning National Science Day marks the date of a scientific milestone rather than the birth anniversary of an individual.

Explanation

Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel written by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. It follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner, exploring themes of manners, upbringing, morality, and marriage in the society of the British Regency.

Explanation

Ecuador granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in August 2012. Assange had entered the Embassy of Ecuador in London in June 2012 to seek protection, and the Ecuadorian government under President Rafael Correa officially approved his asylum request on the grounds of potential political persecution and human rights concerns.