SSC CHSL Tier 1 2015 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Alexander the Great confronted the army of King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. The Hydaspes is the ancient Greek name for the Jhelum River, located in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Although Alexander emerged victorious after a fiercely contested battle, he was highly impressed by the bravery and valor of King Porus, subsequently reinstating him as a ruler and expanding his territories.

Explanation

Black soil, widely known as black cotton soil or regur soil, is the most suitable soil for cotton cultivation. This soil is formed by the weathering of basaltic lava sheets, giving it the characteristics of black lava soil. It has a high clay content, which endows it with excellent water-retaining capacity. During the dry season, it develops deep cracks, which aids in self-aeration and enhances its fertility, making it ideal for the growth and development of cotton crops.

Explanation

Tamil Nadu is the leading producer of lignite in India, possessing the vast majority of the country's total lignite reserves and production capacity. The major deposits are located in the Neyveli region of the Cuddalore district. This area is home to NLC India Limited, a premier public sector enterprise that conducts extensive open-cast mining to fuel massive thermal power stations, thereby contributing significantly to the nation's power sector.

Explanation

The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 was enacted on 15 June 2005 when it received the assent of the President of India. Certain provisions of the Act came into force immediately upon its enactment, while the remaining provisions came into effect fully on 12 October 2005.

Explanation

Medha Patkar is a prominent Indian social activist and reformer who is widely known as one of the founding members of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. This influential movement was initiated in 1985 to protest against the construction of a series of large dams being built across the Narmada River, particularly the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Her activism focused on advocating for the rights of the indigenous tribal communities, farmers, and daily wage earners who faced displacement due to these developmental projects, while also highlighting the severe environmental impacts associated with the dams.

Explanation

Correct Answer: D

The Reserve Bank of India acts as the Lender of the Last Resort in the Indian financial system. When commercial banks face a severe liquidity crisis and are unable to secure funds from other sources or the interbank market, they can approach the central bank for financial assistance. The Reserve Bank of India provides liquidity to these solvent but temporarily illiquid banks against eligible securities and collateral. This crucial function helps prevent financial instability, avoids bank runs, and ensures the smooth functioning of the country's banking and payment systems.

Explanation

In India, the sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in a given population. It is a critical demographic indicator used to measure the gender balance in the country. The mathematical formula used for its calculation is:

Sex Ratio = (Number of females ÷ Number of males) × 1000

This metric helps in analyzing the socio-economic and health status of women in society over different periods.

Explanation

Sachin Tendulkar was officially appointed by the International Cricket Council as the Ambassador for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. This marked the second consecutive time he held this role, having previously served as the Ambassador for the 2011 tournament. In this capacity, he promoted and supported various initiatives to enhance the global profile of the tournament.

Explanation

Soldering is a material-joining process where two or more metal items are bonded together by melting a filler metal, known as solder, into the joint. This process is made possible by the physical property of cohesion. Cohesion is the force of attraction between similar molecules or adjacent parts within the same substance. During soldering, the cohesive forces within the molten solder allow it to remain intact, flow into the joint, and form a continuous, solid metallic bond at the interface as it cools and solidifies, thereby creating a strong joint between the metals.

Explanation

Stalactites and stalagmites are cave formations that develop in limestone caves through the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃. As rainwater falls, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and soil to form a weak carbonic acid. This acidic water percolates through limestone rocks, dissolving the calcium carbonate to form soluble calcium bicarbonate, Ca(HCO₃)₂. When this solution drips into an open cave chamber, it encounters air with lower carbon dioxide pressure. This difference causes carbon dioxide gas to escape from the water droplets. The loss of carbon dioxide drives the chemical reaction in reverse, causing the dissolved calcium bicarbonate to convert back into insoluble calcium carbonate, CaCO₃, which precipitates out of the solution. Over long periods, these tiny mineral deposits accumulate to form stalactites growing downward from the ceiling and stalagmites growing upward from the cave floor.

Explanation

Hermaphroditism is a form of sexual reproduction in which an individual organism possesses both male and female reproductive organs and produces both male and female gametes. The defining feature of sexual reproduction is the fusion of haploid gametes to form a diploid zygote, which allows for genetic recombination. In hermaphroditic organisms, fertilization occurs through the merging of these male and female gametes, which can take place either via self-fertilization or cross-fertilization between two individuals.

Explanation

Sitara Devi, referred to as Satara Devi, was a legendary Indian classical dancer of the Kathak dance form. Born in 1920, she belonged to the Benaras gharana of Kathak. Rabindranath Tagore famously described her as Nritya Samragni, meaning the Empress of Dance, after watching her perform. She played a key role in bringing Kathak to mainstream cinema and global audiences, and she received several prestigious honors including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Shri.

Explanation

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, established constitutional status for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India. This amendment inserted a new Part IX titled The Panchayats to the Constitution, consisting of provisions from Article 243 to 243O, and added the Eleventh Schedule containing 29 functional items. It institutionalized a three-tier system of local self-government at the village, intermediate, and district levels, giving structural form to the directive in Article 40 of the Constitution to organize village panchayats.

Explanation

The Ryder Cup is a premier biennial men's golf competition contested between teams representing Europe and the United States. The tournament is named after Samuel Ryder, an English businessman who donated the trophy. First officially contested in 1927 between Great Britain and the United States, the event was later expanded in 1979 to include players from continental Europe to enhance the competitiveness of the matches.

Explanation

Kanha National Park, also known as Kanha Tiger Reserve, is the largest national park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, spanning across the Mandla and Balaghat districts. Established as a national park on 1 June 1955, it was subsequently declared a tiger reserve in 1973 under Project Tiger. The park is renowned for its significant population of Bengal tigers and is celebrated for saving the rare hard-ground barasingha (swamp deer) from extinction. The scenic landscape of sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows, and ravines within the reserve served as the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's famous novel, The Jungle Book.

Explanation

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote The Discovery of India during his imprisonment at Ahmednagar Fort in Maharashtra from 1942 to 1946, following his arrest for participating in the Quit India Movement. The book provides a broad analysis of Indian history, culture, and philosophy from the Indus Valley Civilization to the British Raj, written to pay tribute to the rich heritage of India.

Explanation

Kiran Bedi, referred to as Kiran Bodi in the options, became the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972. She had a highly distinguished career in law enforcement and administrative reforms, notably serving as the Inspector General of Prisons at Delhi's Tihar Jail, where she introduced major correctional reforms, and later serving as the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Explanation

Perfectly elastic demand refers to a situation where the price elasticity of demand is infinite. In this extreme theoretical case, consumers are willing to buy any quantity of a good at a specific prevailing price, but even an infinitesimally small increase in price will cause the quantity demanded to drop to zero. The demand curve under perfectly elastic demand is represented by a horizontal line parallel to the horizontal axis (quantity axis).

Mathematically, the price elasticity of demand (Ed) is defined as:

Ed = (% Change in Quantity Demanded) / (% Change in Price)

Since the quantity demanded can change infinitely without any change in the price (making the percentage change in price equal to zero), the denominator of the elasticity formula becomes zero, which yields an infinite value (∞).

Explanation

The Rydberg formula for the wavelength λ of the spectral lines of a hydrogen atom is given by:

1/λ = R × (1/n₁² - 1/n₂²)

where R is the Rydberg constant (approximately 1.097 × 10⁷ m⁻¹), n₁ is the lower energy level, and n₂ is the higher energy level.

For the Lyman series, the transitions occur from higher energy states (n₂ = 2, 3, 4, ...) to the ground state (n₁ = 1).

The longest wavelength in this series corresponds to the transition from n₂ = 2 to n₁ = 1:

1/λ_max = R × (1/1² - 1/2²) = 3R/4 λ_max ≈ 121.6 nm

The shortest wavelength, or the series limit, occurs when the transition is from n₂ = ∞ to n₁ = 1:

1/λ_min = R × (1/1² - 1/∞) = R λ_min ≈ 91.2 nm

The entire band of wavelengths for the Lyman series ranges from 91.2 nm to 121.6 nm, which lies entirely within the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Explanation

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. Established in October 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles as an affiliated agency of the League of Nations, it became the first specialized agency of the United Nations in 1946. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization brings together governments, employers, and workers of its member states to set labour standards, develop policies, and devise programmes promoting decent work for all.

Explanation

Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all buildings and houses. The state government launched the Rainwater Harvesting movement in 2001, amending municipal laws and building rules to legally mandate the installation of rainwater harvesting structures in all existing and new residential, commercial, and public buildings across the state. This initiative was aimed at replenishing depleting groundwater levels, addressing severe water scarcity, and preventing seawater intrusion in coastal regions.

Explanation

A battery is a device consisting of one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Through spontaneous redox reactions occurring within its cells, it delivers a steady, constant voltage and serves as a reliable source of direct current under standard operating conditions.

Explanation

The Times of London published its 70,000th issue in July 2010. Founded on January 1, 1785, by John Walter as The Daily Universal Register, the newspaper was renamed The Times on January 1, 1788. Reaching this milestone made it the first and only national newspaper in the English-speaking world to publish 70,000 editions.

Explanation

According to Article 61 of the Constitution of India, when a President is to be impeached for the violation of the Constitution, the charge can be preferred by either House of Parliament. The process begins with a resolution containing the charges, which must be signed by at least one-fourth of the total membership of that initiating House and moved after giving at least fourteen days written notice. This resolution must then be passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the initiating House before being sent to the other House for investigation.

Explanation

The Purana Qila (Old Fort) in Delhi was constructed during the reign of Sher Shah Suri, the founder of the Suri Empire, between 1538 and 1545. After defeating the Mughal Emperor Humayun in 1540, Sher Shah Suri took over the construction of the site, renamed the city Shergarh, and added several significant structures within the fort. These additions included the grand Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque and the Sher Mandal.

Explanation

The opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 was held simultaneously on 12 February 2015 in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Melbourne, Australia. The event in Christchurch was hosted at North Hagley Park, showcasing New Zealand's cultural heritage and cricket legends to celebrate the city's resilience. The event in Melbourne took place at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, featuring various musical artists, cultural performances, and the captains of the participating nations to officially mark the start of the tournament.

Explanation

During the process of reflection, the incident light wave strikes a boundary and bounces back into the same medium from which it originated. The velocity of a light wave depends solely on the properties of the medium through which it travels, specifically the refractive index of that medium. Because the medium does not change when the wave is reflected, the speed of the light remains constant. Consequently, the velocity after reflection remains equal to its initial velocity, which is X.

Explanation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) monitors the Earth's changing climate using five key indicators, widely referred to as the vital signs of the planet. These critical metrics include atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, global surface temperature, Arctic sea ice minimum extent, land ice mass in glaciers and ice sheets, and global sea level rise. These indicators provide clear, measurable scientific evidence of the rate and scale of global climate change.

Explanation

Round Robin is a CPU scheduling algorithm designed specifically for time-sharing systems where a small unit of time called a time quantum or time slice is defined. The CPU scheduler circulates through the ready queue, allocating the processor to each process for an interval up to one time quantum. Because it determines how execution time on the processor is distributed among active processes, it acts as a process allocation policy. This ensures fair distribution of CPU resources and prevents any single process from monopolizing the processor.

Explanation

A wildlife sanctuary is an area specifically reserved for the conservation and welfare of wildlife, where animal habitats are protected from any disturbance. National parks, by contrast, are larger areas reserved for the preservation of the entire ecosystem, including the flora, fauna, and historic objects of the region.

Explanation

Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, spent his last days at Shravanabelagola in modern-day Karnataka. After abdicating his throne in favor of his son Bindusara, he embraced Jainism under the influence of the Jain sage Bhadrabahu. He migrated to the south with Bhadrabahu and performed Sallekhana, the traditional Jain practice of fasting to death, on the Chandragiri hill at Shravanabelagola around 298 BCE.

Explanation

Project Tiger was launched by the Government of India on 1 April 1973 from the Jim Corbett National Park under the administration of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The conservation initiative aimed to address the rapid decline of Bengal tiger populations in India by ensuring their protection, conserving their natural habitats, and establishing dedicated tiger reserves across the country. Kailash Sankhala was appointed as the first director of this landmark conservation programme.

Explanation

The National Green Tribunal was established on 18 October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. It is a specialized judicial body set up for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, conservation of forests and other natural resources, and the enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment. Under this Act, the tribunal has the mandate to provide relief and compensation for damages to persons and property arising from environmental degradation and pollution.

Explanation

Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, popularly known as Dadasaheb Mavalankar, was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, serving from 15 May 1952 until 27 February 1956. Prior to this, he served as the President of the Central Legislative Assembly from 1946 to 1947 and Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of India (Legislative) from 1947 to 1952. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as the Father of the Lok Sabha due to his pivotal role in establishing parliamentary conventions, procedures, and rules of business in independent India.

Explanation

FORTRAN is an acronym derived from Formula Translator. Developed by John Backus and a team of programmers at IBM in the 1950s, it is one of the earliest high-level programming languages. It was specifically designed to enable researchers, engineers, and mathematicians to easily translate complex mathematical formulas and numerical calculations into machine-readable code.

Explanation

Dainik Jagran is India's most read daily newspaper. According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) reports released during the 2014–2015 period, Dainik Jagran consistently held the topmost position with an Average Issue Readership exceeding 16.6 million, making it the leader in terms of total readership in the country.

Explanation

Ammonia (NH₃) is highly soluble in water and acts as a weak base. When dissolved in water, ammonia molecules react with water molecules to accept a proton, producing ammonium ions (NH₄⁺) and hydroxide ions (OH⁻) according to the equilibrium reaction:

NH₃ + H₂O ⇌ NH₄⁺ + OH⁻

The generation of hydroxide ions increases the concentration of OH⁻ in the solution, which raises the pH level above 7, thereby making the aqueous solution basic.

Explanation

The largest oil spill in world history is the Gulf War oil spill, which occurred in January 1991 in the Persian Gulf. During the conflict, retreating military forces deliberately discharged an immense volume of crude oil from tankers and oil terminals into the gulf to deter a potential sea-based military landing. Estimates of the total volume spilled range from 240 million to 520 million US gallons, equivalent to roughly 6 million to 11 million barrels. This massive release created a thick oil slick covering thousands of square miles, causing catastrophic and long-lasting damage to the marine and coastal ecosystems of the region.

Explanation

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations demographic databases, Japan consistently ranks at the top globally for life expectancy. Around 2015, the average life expectancy at birth in Japan was approximately 83.7 years, with females reaching an average of 87.1 years and males 80.8 years. This high longevity is primarily attributed to a healthy traditional diet, an active lifestyle, a high standard of living, and a robust, accessible universal healthcare system.

Explanation

The Mongoloid racial group is characterized by a distinctive set of physical anthropological features. Individuals belonging to this group typically possess a yellowish or yellowish-brown skin complexion and a medium stature. Their facial features prominently include high cheekbones, a flat nasal bridge, and oblique-looking eyes characterized by the presence of an epicanthic fold. The epicanthic fold is a fold of skin of the upper eyelid that covers the inner corner of the eye, giving it its characteristic slanted appearance.

Explanation

Turner syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting females, characterized by the partial or complete absence of one of the sex chromosomes. While normal human females have 46 chromosomes, including two sex chromosomes (XX), individuals with Turner syndrome have 45 chromosomes. This karyotype contains the complete set of 44 autosomes (44A) and only one functional X chromosome, with the second sex chromosome missing entirely (represented as O). This results in the specific chromosomal configuration of 44A+XO.

Explanation

During sunrise and sunset, the sun is near the horizon, meaning sunlight has to travel through a much longer path and a denser layer of the atmosphere to reach our eyes. According to Rayleigh scattering, the scattering of light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of its wavelength (I ∝ 1/λ⁴). Since red light has a longer wavelength than blue or violet light, it is scattered much less by the molecules and fine particles in the atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths are scattered away out of our line of sight, while the longer wavelengths, primarily red and orange, pass through directly, causing the atmosphere to appear red.

Explanation

The United Nations General Assembly officially declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in December 2014. This initiative was proposed by India and supported by a record number of co-sponsoring member states. June 21 represents the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and carries significant spiritual importance in yogic traditions, marking a transition that is considered highly favorable for spiritual practice and well-being. The inaugural celebration of this global event took place on June 21, 2015.

Explanation

World AIDS Day is observed globally on December 1 every year to raise public awareness about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a life-threatening health condition caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). First designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1988, this international day serves as a global platform to educate people about prevention, support those living with the virus, and honor the memory of those who have lost their lives to the disease.

Explanation

Myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness, is a refractive error of the eye where close objects appear clearly, but distant objects look blurry or out of focus. In a myopic eye, the eyeball is typically too long from front to back, or the cornea has an excessively steep curvature. This physical structure causes light rays entering the eye from a distance to focus at a point in front of the retina rather than directly on its surface. Consequently, the image that reaches the retina is spread out and unfocused, causing distant objects to appear blurry.

Explanation

Phytoplankton are microscopic, single-celled marine organisms that inhabit the upper, sunlit layers of the oceans. Through the process of photosynthesis, they absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce nutrients, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. Because oceans cover approximately 70% of the Earth's surface, the collective photosynthetic activity of marine phytoplankton generates between 50% and 80% of the world's oxygen supply, making them the largest contributor to global oxygen production.

Explanation

The Masai are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central, and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are traditional pastoral nomads whose entire way of life, culture, and economy revolve around their herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. They practice seasonal movement, migrating across the vast savanna grasslands of East Africa to secure fresh pastures and water sources for their livestock, which serve as their primary source of sustenance and wealth.

Explanation

Trygve Lie of Norway served as the first official Secretary-General of the United Nations from February 1946 to November 1952. As a Norwegian politician, lawyer, and diplomat, he led the organization during its formative post-World War II years, overseeing the establishment of its permanent headquarters in New York City and navigating early Cold War conflicts such as the Korean War.

Explanation

Megasthenes was an ancient Greek historian and diplomat who visited India during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire. He served as an ambassador sent by Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire to the Mauryan court in Pataliputra. During his stay, he wrote Indica, a comprehensive account of Mauryan India. Although the original text is lost, its details survive in fragments quoted by later classical Greek and Roman writers. The book provides crucial insights into the imperial administration, social structure, military organization, and geography of India during that era.

Explanation

The rate of a bimolecular reaction A + B → C + D is given by the rate law:

Rate = k [A][B]

When one of the reactants, for example B, is present in a very large excess by significantly increasing its concentration, its concentration remains virtually unchanged during the course of the reaction. Because [B] is essentially constant, it can be combined with the rate constant k to define a new rate constant k' = k [B].

The rate law then simplifies to:

Rate = k' [A]

This makes the reaction behave as a first-order reaction, specifically known as a pseudo-first-order reaction. Therefore, significantly increasing the concentration of a reactant ensures the reaction follows first-order kinetics.