SSC CHSL Tier 1 2015 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Paweł Pawlikowski's critically acclaimed drama film Ida is a Polish production, filmed in Poland in the Polish language. The black-and-white film follows a young Catholic novitiate in 1960s Poland who is about to take her vows when she discovers that her birth parents were Jewish and were murdered during the German occupation. The movie marked a historic achievement by becoming the first film from Poland to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Explanation

The Public Accounts Committee is a parliamentary standing committee constituted every year to examine the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government of India. The committee consists of 22 members, of which 15 members are elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members are elected by the Rajya Sabha from among their members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

Explanation

Nek Chand Saini was a self-taught Indian artist and road inspector who secretly began building the iconic Rock Garden of Chandigarh in 1957. Located near Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, this unique sculpture garden is built entirely from industrial and domestic waste, as well as discarded items such as broken ceramics, glass bangles, electrical fittings, and tiles. In 1975, the government discovered his unauthorized work in the forest, but instead of demolishing it, they decided to support him. He was appointed as the sub-divisional engineer of the garden, which was officially opened to the public in 1976.

Explanation

Kamaljit Sandhu won the gold medal in the 400 meters race at the 1970 Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand. By completing the race in 57.3 seconds, she became the first Indian female athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games.

Explanation

Martin Cooper, an American engineer at Motorola, is widely credited with inventing the first handheld cellular mobile phone. On April 3, 1973, he made the first historic public cellular telephone call from a handheld device, a prototype Motorola DynaTAC, while standing on a street in New York City. His pioneering development revolutionized personal communication by untethering telephones from physical locations and automobiles, laying the foundational technology for modern mobile networks.

Explanation

The basic unit of biosystematics is the ecotype. In biosystematics, an ecotype represents a genetically distinct geographic variety or population within a species, which is adapted to specific local environmental conditions.

Explanation

Mohammad Hamid Ansari served as the Vice President of India for two consecutive terms. His first term began on 11 August 2007, and he was re-elected for a second consecutive term in August 2012, serving until 11 August 2017. Prior to him, only Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had achieved the distinction of being elected to two consecutive terms as the Vice President of India, serving from 1952 to 1962.

Explanation

The term GIGO stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out. In computer science and data processing, this principle states that the quality of the output produced by a system is directly determined by the quality of the input data it receives. Although a computer performs calculations with absolute precision, it cannot automatically rectify flawed or incorrect input. If inaccurate data is entered, the system will produce an inaccurate result, making GIGO a fundamental concept related to the accuracy of computer systems.

Explanation

A vector is an organism, typically a biting insect or parasite, that transmits an infectious pathogen from one infected individual or host to another. Common examples of biological vectors include mosquitoes, which transmit diseases like malaria and dengue, and ticks, which spread Lyme disease. These organisms do not cause the disease themselves but act as carriers, playing a critical role in the transmission cycle of infectious diseases by delivering pathogens directly into the bloodstream or tissue of a new host.

Explanation

The Kalinga War was fought by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE against the state of Kalinga, which corresponds to modern-day coastal Odisha. This conflict is one of the most famous turning points in Indian history. As recorded in Ashoka's Major Rock Edict XIII, the massive bloodshed, suffering, and loss of human life during the war deeply moved the emperor. This profound sense of remorse led him to completely renounce violent warfare and adopt Buddhism under the guidance of the Buddhist monk Upagupta, shifting his state policy from military conquest to conquest through righteousness, or dhamma-vijaya.

Explanation

The 1950s is widely described by historians as the Era of Decolonisation due to the onset of large-scale decolonisation, particularly across Africa. During this decade, numerous nations successfully overthrew colonial rule and established sovereignty. Significant milestones of this period include Libya gaining independence in 1951, the outbreak of the Algerian War of independence in 1954, and the independence of Sudan, Morocco, and Tunisia in 1956. Additionally, Ghana achieved independence in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to break free from colonial rule. These events catalyzed a global wave of self-determination and the swift dismantling of European colonial empires.

Explanation

The Vajji Mahajanapada, with its capital at Vaishali, was a powerful confederacy of eight clans, among whom the Videhas, the Licchavis, the Jnatrikas, and the Vajjis were the most prominent. It was governed as a Gana Sangha in the 6th century B.C., where decisions were made collectively by the representatives of these clans in their assembly hall.

Explanation

Subhas Chandra Bose took over the leadership of the Indian National Army (also known as the Azad Hind Fauj) in Singapore in July 1943. Under his supreme command, the army was restructured, reorganized, and expanded to launch an armed struggle against British colonial rule in India. He established the Provisional Government of Free India in October 1943 and led the army's campaigns on the Indo-Burma frontier, making him the defining figure associated with the establishment and operations of this revolutionary military force.

Explanation

Blood platelets are also called thrombocytes. They are tiny, disc-shaped, colorless cell fragments circulating in the blood that are produced from large cells in the bone marrow known as megakaryocytes. Thrombocytes play a vital role in hemostasis by adhering to damaged blood vessel walls and aggregating together to form a platelet plug, which initiates the blood clotting cascade to prevent excessive blood loss.

Explanation

Balaji Vishwanath is regarded as the founder of the hereditary line of Peshwas, often referred to as the House of the Peshwas. Appointed as the Peshwa or Prime Minister by the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shahu in 1713, he played a crucial role in consolidating the Maratha Empire after a period of intense civil war and Mughal interference. By securing the loyalty of various Maratha chiefs and establishing administrative stability, he made the office of the Peshwa hereditary within his family, effectively initiating the era of Peshwa dominance over the Maratha confederacy.

Explanation

Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide synthesized in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus and stored and released into the bloodstream by the posterior pituitary gland. It plays a central role in female reproduction, most notably by stimulating uterine contractions to facilitate labor during childbirth and by promoting the contraction of myoepithelial cells in the mammary glands to cause the milk let-down reflex during breastfeeding. Beyond its reproductive functions, it acts within the brain to influence social behavior, bonding, and emotional regulation.

Explanation

The Vishnu Purana is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, representing a class of post-Vedic Smriti literature that focuses on mythologies, cosmologies, and genealogies of Hindu deities. It is not classified as one of the core Vedas, which constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the highest authority of Hindu scripture.

Explanation

India was ranked 85th out of 175 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (commonly referred to as the Global Corruption Index) 2014, which was compiled and released by the global anti-graft watchdog Transparency International. This ranking represented an improvement from the year 2013, when India was ranked 94th. In the 2014 index, India scored 38 out of 100.

Explanation

October heat is experienced during the transition period of the retreating monsoon when clear skies lead to a rise in temperature while the land remains moist. This combination of high temperature and high humidity makes the weather oppressive, which is characteristic of October heat.

Explanation

Kathakali, often referred to as Kachakali, is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. It is a highly stylized story-play genre of art that originated in Kerala during the seventeenth century. The performance is distinguished by its exceptionally colorful and elaborate makeup, magnificent costumes, and detailed gestures, which traditional performers use to depict stories from Hindu mythologies and epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Explanation

El Niño is a climate pattern characterized by the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It represents the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle. Under normal conditions, trade winds blow west across the equator, pushing warm water toward Asia and the western Pacific. During an El Niño event, these trade winds weaken or even reverse, allowing the warm pool of water to slide eastward toward the coast of South America. This massive redistribution of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere alters global jet streams and atmospheric circulation, triggering extreme weather conditions worldwide.

Explanation

Sulphur dioxide is a major air pollutant primarily released during the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, in thermal power stations. Once emitted into the atmosphere, it reacts with water vapor, oxygen, and other gases in the air to form dilute solutions of sulfuric acid. This acidic mixture then falls to the ground as wet or dry deposition, commonly known as acid rain, which has harmful environmental effects on aquatic ecosystems, forests, soils, and buildings.

Explanation

The Swiss-Indian partnership of Martina Hingis and Leander Paes won the 2015 Australian Open Mixed Doubles title. Seeded seventh in the tournament, they defeated the defending champions Kristina Mladenovic of France and Daniel Nestor of Canada in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-3 in the final at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. This victory marked the first Grand Slam mixed doubles title they won together as a team.

Explanation

Uttar Pradesh is the leading wheat-producing state in India. During the crop year 2012-13, the state recorded the highest wheat production in the country, contributing approximately 30.30 million tonnes of wheat. This outstanding yield was cultivated over an extensive area of about 9.73 million hectares, accounting for more than 32% of the nation's total wheat output during that period. The highly fertile alluvial soil of the Indo-Gangetic plains, coupled with well-developed irrigation facilities and favorable winter temperatures, facilitates this high volume of cultivation.

Explanation

Magnetic flux measures the total magnetic field passing through a given surface area. The S.I. unit of magnetic flux is the weber, which is defined as the amount of magnetic flux that, linking a circuit of one turn, produces in it an electromotive force of one volt as it is reduced to zero at a uniform rate in one second. Mathematically, magnetic flux is the product of the magnetic field strength and the perpendicular area, meaning one weber is equal to one Tesla-square meter (T·m²).

Explanation

India maintains its active scientific research presence in Antarctica through its two operational research stations, Maitri and Bharti. Maitri was established in 1989 at the ice-free rocky area called the Schirmacher Oasis, where it supports multidisciplinary research in fields like earth sciences, meteorology, and glaciology. Bharti, commissioned in 2012, is located near Larsemann Hills and is designed to facilitate research in oceanography, continental breakup, and geological studies. Together, these two state-of-the-art stations serve as the core hubs for India's Antarctic Programme.

Explanation

The bark of the cinchona tree contains a high concentration of quinine, a naturally occurring alkaloid. Quinine is a highly effective drug used primarily for the prevention and treatment of malaria, a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. The bark is harvested, dried, and processed to extract this valuable medicinal compound, which has both antimalarial and antipyretic properties.

Explanation

According to the 2011 Census of India, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India. It recorded a total population of approximately 19.98 crore (199,812,341), which constitutes about 16.5% of the entire population of the country.

Explanation

Sorting is the process of organizing or arranging data in a systematic and logical sequence. This ordering can be alphabetical (from A to Z or Z to A) or numerical (ascending or descending order). Arranging data in this manner makes it significantly easier to analyze, search, and retrieve specific information efficiently.

Explanation

The Chipko movement, which began in the early 1970s in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, was a non-violent forest conservation movement. It is famous for villagers, particularly women led by activists like Gaura Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and Sunderlal Bahuguna, hugging trees to prevent them from being cut down by commercial loggers. The name of the movement comes from the Hindi word chipko, which means to cling or to hug, reflecting the primary method of demonstration used by the local communities to protect their forests and ecological balance.

Explanation

Article 213 of the Constitution of India governs the legislative power of the Governor to promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session. When the state legislature reassembles, the ordinance must be laid before the Legislative Assembly, and where there is a Legislative Council, before both Houses. According to Article 213(2)(a), the ordinance automatically ceases to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the date of reassembly of the legislature, unless it is passed and approved by the house(s) or disapproved by a resolution before that period expires.

Explanation

A higher rate of inflation in India relative to the United States reduces the purchasing power of the Indian Rupee. Because Indian goods become relatively more expensive compared to American goods, India's exports decrease while its imports increase. This creates a higher demand for the U.S. dollar to pay for those imports and increases the supply of the Indian Rupee in the foreign exchange market. Consequently, the Indian Rupee depreciates, which directly causes the U.S. dollar to appreciate in value relative to the Rupee.

Explanation

The thymus gland is located in the upper chest cavity (mediastinum), behind the sternum and between the lungs. In contrast, the thyroid gland is located in the neck, the adrenal glands are in the abdominal cavity, and the pineal gland is in the brain.

Explanation

In the double-stranded structure of DNA, complementary base pairing occurs via hydrogen bonding between nitrogenous bases. Guanine, a purine, pairs specifically with cytosine, a pyrimidine, by forming three hydrogen bonds. These three hydrogen bonds are established between the oxygen and nitrogen atoms of the functional groups on the respective bases: one between the carbonyl oxygen of guanine and the amino nitrogen of cytosine, a second between the ring nitrogen of guanine and the ring nitrogen of cytosine, and a third between the amino nitrogen of guanine and the carbonyl oxygen of cytosine. This triple hydrogen-bonded pairing contributes significantly to the thermodynamic stability and structural integrity of the DNA double helix.

Explanation

An estuary is defined as a semi-enclosed coastal body of water that has a free connection with the open sea, within which seawater is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage systems such as rivers and streams. This unique mixing zone support diverse ecosystems and serves as a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments.

Explanation

The Census of India classifies all urban areas into six distinct categories based on their population size to facilitate demographic study and urban planning. Class II towns comprise urban areas that have a population size ranging from 50,000 to 99,999.

Explanation

Fluoride is added to toothpastes to prevent dental caries and tooth decay. It works by promoting the remineralization of tooth enamel that has been weakened by acid produced by oral bacteria and dietary sugars. During this process, fluoride integrates into the mineral structure of the enamel, converting hydroxyapatite into fluorapatite. Fluorapatite is significantly harder and more resistant to future acid attacks, thereby protecting the teeth from decay and even reversing the earliest stages of enamel damage.

Explanation

Chetan Bhagat is the author of the bestselling novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, which was published in 2008. It is his third novel and is set against the backdrop of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, tracing the lives, ambitions, and mistakes of three friends named Govind, Ishaan, and Omi. The book was later adapted into the successful Bollywood film Kai Po Che! in 2013.

Explanation

Pascal's law states that any pressure applied to a confined fluid is transmitted undiminished in all directions throughout the fluid. Hydraulic brakes utilize this principle by using an incompressible fluid to transfer pressure from the brake pedal to the braking mechanism at the wheels. When the driver presses the brake pedal, the piston in the master cylinder exerts force on the brake fluid, increasing its pressure. This pressure increase is transmitted equally through the brake lines to the pistons at each wheel, pushing the brake pads against the spinning rotors or drums. This transmission of force through a liquid medium is a direct application of Pascal's law.

Explanation

The hypothalamus is a vital region of the brain that plays a central role in controlling emotional reactions and behaviors. Working closely with the limbic system, it translates emotional states into physical manifestations in the body by regulating the autonomic nervous system and coordinating the endocrine system. It controls physiological responses associated with fear, anger, pleasure, and stress by modulating heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and hormone release.

Explanation

The velocity of sound in a gas is given by the formula v = √(γP/ρ), where γ is the adiabatic index, P is pressure, and ρ is the density of the gas. Since both oxygen and hydrogen are diatomic gases, they have the same adiabatic index γ. At equal pressure, the velocity of sound is inversely proportional to the square root of the density of the gas:

v ∝ 1/√ρ

The molecular weight of oxygen is 32 g/mol and that of hydrogen is 2 g/mol. Under identical conditions, the density of a gas is directly proportional to its molecular weight, making the density of oxygen 16 times that of hydrogen (ρ_o/ρ_h = 16).

The ratio of the velocity of sound in oxygen to that in hydrogen is:

v_o/v_h = √(ρ_h/ρ_o) = √(1/16) = 1/4 = 1:4

Explanation

Seismography is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. It involves using sensitive instruments called seismographs to detect and record seismic waves, which are vibrations generated by the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust. By analyzing these recorded waves, scientists can determine the location, depth, and magnitude of an earthquake, as well as gain valuable insights into the internal structure of the Earth.

Explanation

Cuba is historically referred to as the Sugar Bowl of the World because of its extensive sugar industry and massive sugarcane cultivation. The country's warm and humid tropical climate, combined with highly fertile soils, makes it exceptionally well-suited for growing sugarcane. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Cuba was a dominant global producer and exporter of sugar, establishing the commodity as the backbone of its agricultural economy and international trade.

Explanation

NABARD stands for National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development. It is the apex development financial institution in India, established on 12 July 1982 under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981. It was set up on the recommendations of the B. Sivaraman Committee to provide credit and other facilities for the promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts, and other rural crafts, with the ultimate objective of promoting integrated rural prosperity.

Explanation

R.K. Laxman was India's most celebrated and influential cartoonist, best known for creating the iconic character "The Common Man". Through his daily comic strip "You Said It" in The Times of India, which ran for over fifty years starting in 1951, Laxman captured the essence of Indian democracy, bureaucracy, and daily struggles with gentle humor and sharp political satire. His brilliant illustrations made him a household name and a defining voice of the nation's socio-political conscience. For his outstanding contributions to journalism and creative communication arts, he was honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984 and the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, in 2005.

Explanation

The Kingdom of God is Within You is a profound non-fiction treatise written by the renowned Russian author Leo Tolstoy. First published in Germany in 1894 after being banned in his native Russia, the book explores Christian anarchism, the principles of non-violent resistance, and universal love. It had a monumental impact on global history, profoundly influencing leaders like Mahatma Gandhi by laying the ideological foundation for non-violent civil disobedience.

Explanation

The angle of deviation (δ) produced by a prism is given by the formula: δ = (μ - 1)A

where μ is the refractive index of the prism material and A is the angle of the prism.

According to Cauchy's dispersion formula, the refractive index of a medium is inversely proportional to the wavelength (λ) of the incident light: μ ≈ a + b/λ²

where a and b are constants.

In the visible spectrum, red light possesses the longest wavelength. Because the refractive index is inversely related to wavelength, the prism offers the lowest refractive index to red light. Consequently, the angle of deviation is the smallest for red light, causing it to deviate the least when passing through a prism.

Explanation

The price elasticity of demand is defined as the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price, represented by the formula:

E_p = (ΔQ / ΔP) × (P / Q)

When the demand curve is parallel to the horizontal axis representing quantity, it forms a completely horizontal line. Along this horizontal demand curve, the price remains absolutely constant (ΔP = 0) for any change in quantity demanded. Substituting a price change of zero into the denominator of the elasticity formula mathematically results in a value of infinity. This signifies perfectly elastic demand, where buyers are prepared to purchase any amount of the commodity at that specific fixed price, but the slightest increase in price would reduce the quantity demanded to zero.

Explanation

On September 2, 2015, at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand, the South African coastal city of Durban was officially selected as the host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Durban was the sole bidder for the multi-sport event after the Canadian city of Edmonton withdrew from the race in February 2015 due to economic reasons. This landmark selection marked the first time that an African nation was awarded the hosting rights for the Commonwealth Games.

Explanation

Corrosion is the degradation of a metal because of its electrochemical reaction with the surrounding environment. This natural process occurs when electrons are transferred from the metal, which undergoes oxidation at the anodic site, to an electron acceptor like oxygen or hydrogen ions at the cathodic site in the presence of an electrolyte such as moisture. The formation of rust on iron is a classic example of this electrochemical deterioration, where the pure metal is converted into a more chemically stable oxide or hydroxide.