SSC CHSL Tier 1 2016 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Economic profit is calculated by subtracting both explicit and implicit costs from the total revenue of a firm.

The formula is: Economic Profit = Total Revenue - (Explicit Costs + Implicit Costs)

Substituting the given values into the formula: Economic Profit = Rs. 35 crores - (Rs. 7 crores + Rs. 10 crores) Economic Profit = Rs. 35 crores - Rs. 17 crores Economic Profit = Rs. 18 crores

Explanation

According to the Quantity Theory of Money, the relationship between the money supply and the price level is represented by the equation MV = PY, where M is the nominal money supply, V is the velocity of circulation, P is the price level, and Y is the real output.

Taking the percentage change of each variable, the equation becomes:

growth rate of nominal money supply + growth rate of velocity = rate of inflation + growth rate of real output

Assuming the velocity of money and the growth rate of real output are stable in the long run, any increase in the growth rate of the nominal money supply directly causes a proportional increase in the rate of inflation. When the supply of money grows faster than the rate of real economic output, the purchasing power of money falls, leading to a rise in the general price level.

Explanation

Workers in leather tanning industries are continuously exposed to hazardous chemicals such as chromium compounds (particularly trivalent and hexavalent chromium salts), formaldehyde, strong acids, alkalis, and organic solvents used during the tanning, dyeing, and processing stages. In addition to handling these chemicals, workers frequently come into direct contact with wet, humid conditions and microbial agents present on raw hides. Prolonged cutaneous exposure without proper personal protective equipment leads to a high prevalence of occupational skin diseases. These commonly manifest as contact dermatitis, painful chrome ulcers or chemical burns, eczema, and various bacterial or fungal skin infections.

Explanation

Sphalerite is a zinc sulfide mineral with the chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S. It is the principal ore of zinc and the primary source for the commercial extraction of zinc metal globally. Sphalerite typically forms in hydrothermal veins and sedimentary deposits, often containing varying amounts of iron substituting for zinc in its crystal lattice.

Explanation

In August 2016, the United States Department of State designated Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group under Executive Order 13224. Founded in August 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a violent splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban operating primarily in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The group has been responsible for multiple major acts of terrorism, including the March 2016 Easter Sunday suicide bombing at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan, which resulted in the deaths of over 70 people.

Explanation

Dehradun is the capital of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Situated in the Doon Valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, it was established as the interim capital when the state was created on November 9, 2000. It serves as a major administrative, educational, and cultural hub of the region.

Explanation

Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as Sasan Gir, is located in the state of Gujarat. Established in 1965, it is renowned worldwide as the sole natural habitat of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica). The sanctuary plays a vital role in the conservation of this endangered species, alongside supporting a diverse ecosystem of deciduous forests, grasslands, and a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Explanation

Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent, was born on February 14, 1483, in Andijan, located in the Fergana Valley of modern-day Uzbekistan. His full name was Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur, and he was a direct descendant of Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's side. He inherited the principality of Fergana at a young age in 1494 and eventually went on to defeat Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, establishing the Mughal dynasty.

Explanation

Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of Bengal following the enactment of the Regulating Act of 1773. He served in this administrative capacity from 1773 to 1785. Prior to the passage of this Act, Hastings had been serving as the Governor of Bengal since 1772. The Regulating Act of 1773 was introduced by the British Parliament to bring the management of the East India Company under systematic government control, centralizing the administration by placing the presidencies of Madras and Bombay under the authority of the Governor-General of Bengal.

Explanation

Aditi Gowtrikar (also spelled Govitrikar) is an Indian actress, physician, and former supermodel who made history by winning the Mrs. World title in 2001. Prior to this global victory, she won the Gladrags Mrs. India pageant in 2000, which qualified her to represent India on the international stage. She holds the distinction of being the first Indian woman to secure the Mrs. World crown.

Explanation

Friction is the resisting force that opposes the relative motion or tendency of motion between two surfaces in contact. When a body slides over another surface, microscopic irregularities on both surfaces interlock, creating a resistance against the sliding. This opposing force acts parallel to the contact surfaces and in the direction opposite to the movement of the sliding body.

Explanation

Streamline flow is defined as a flow in which the velocity of the fluid at any given point remains constant over time. In this type of flow, every particle of the fluid passing through a specific point moves along the exact same path and with the exact same speed and direction as the particles that preceded it. Consequently, the velocity vector at any fixed point in the fluid is invariant with respect to time.

Explanation

The Drafting Committee, chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, drafted and wrote the Indian Constitution only in English. Although handwritten copies in both English and Hindi were signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly upon its completion, the actual drafting process was conducted entirely in English.

Explanation

The acronym BIMARU was coined by the demographer Ashish Bose in the mid-1980s to group states with poor economic and demographic growth indicators. The letters in BIMARU stand for BIhar, MAdhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, making Madhya Pradesh the state represented by the MA in the acronym.

Explanation

Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, which was the opening race of the 2016 Formula One World Championship held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 20, 2016. Driving for the Mercedes team, he finished first to claim his fifteenth Formula One career victory. This win initiated a highly successful season for Rosberg, which ultimately led to him winning the 2016 Formula One World Drivers Championship.

Explanation

Margaret Mitchell wrote the historical romance novel Gone with the Wind, which was published in 1936. The book is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, Georgia, during the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 and remains one of the most popular novels in American literature, later adapted into an iconic, Academy Award-winning film in 1939.

Explanation

Flash memory is a highly popular type of Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM). While traditional EEPROM allows data to be read, written, or erased byte-by-byte, flash memory is designed to be erased and programmed in large blocks or sectors, which significantly increases its read and write speeds. This non-volatile solid-state storage technology is widely utilized in devices such as memory cards, USB flash drives, and solid-state drives (SSDs) because it retains data without requiring a continuous power supply while allowing quick electrical erasure and reprogramming.

Explanation

Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, widely known as Turnip Townshend, was a key figure in the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century. He popularized the Norfolk four-course crop rotation system, which involved cultivating a sequence of wheat, turnips, barley, and clover. By incorporating turnips and clover into the rotation, this system replenished soil nutrients, particularly nitrogen, and provided winter fodder for livestock. This advancement eliminated the traditional practice of leaving fields fallow, significantly increasing agricultural productivity and revolutionizing farming practices.

Explanation

The human skull is divided into the cranium and the face. The facial skeleton, or viscerocranium, is composed of exactly 14 bones that form the structure of the face. These bones provide support for the muscles of facial expression and protect the entry points of the respiratory and digestive systems. The fourteen facial bones include two nasal bones, two maxillae, two lacrimal bones, two zygomatic bones, two palatine bones, two inferior nasal conchae, one vomer, and one mandible.

Explanation

Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants that are adapted to thrive in high-salinity environments such as coastal areas, salt marshes, and mangroves. These plants have developed specialized anatomical and physiological adaptations, including salt-excluding root systems, salt-secreting glands on their leaves, and the ability to accumulate water in succulent tissues to regulate osmotic pressure. These features allow them to survive in conditions where the concentration of dissolved salts is extremely high.

Explanation

Felis catus is the binomial nomenclature or scientific name for the domestic cat. It belongs to the family Felidae and the order Carnivora. The genus name Felis represents small feline species, and the specific epithet catus was assigned by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark work Systema Naturae in 1758 to designate the common house cat.

Explanation

Glycol is added to fuels in spacecraft and high-altitude aircraft to act as a fuel system icing inhibitor. At high altitudes and in the extreme cold of space, temperatures drop drastically. While the fuel itself does not easily freeze, any trace amounts of dissolved water or moisture within the fuel can separate and freeze into ice crystals. These ice crystals can block fuel lines and filters, leading to engine failure.

Glycol is highly soluble in water. When added as an additive, it preferentially dissolves in any free water that separates from the fuel, lowering its freezing point through freezing point depression. This prevents the water from freezing, ensuring a continuous and unobstructed flow of fuel to the spacecraft's propulsion systems.

Explanation

Lord Curzon (George Curzon), the Viceroy of India, proposed the construction of the Victoria Memorial in January 1901 following the death of Queen Victoria. He envisioned a grand, majestic monument in Kolkata (then Calcutta) that would serve both as a fitting tribute to the deceased Empress and as a historical museum showcasing the legacy of the British Empire in India. The foundation stone was later laid in 1906, and the monument officially opened to the public in 1921.

Explanation

Lavani is a traditional folk dance of Maharashtra, characterized by its powerful rhythm and energetic beats of the dholki, a percussion instrument. Historically, it served as a popular source of entertainment and morale booster for soldiers during the Peshwa rule in the 18th and 19th centuries. The dance is performed by female dancers wearing nine-yard-long nauvari sarees, who perform to songs that cover a wide range of topics, particularly focusing on love, romance, social issues, and politics.

Explanation

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country using the expenditure method is calculated using the formula:

GDP = C + I + G + (X - M)

Here, C represents consumer spending, I represents business investment, G represents government spending, X represents exports, and M represents imports.

Substituting the given values into the equation:

GDP = 400 + 80 + 150 + (35 - 40)

GDP = 630 - 5

GDP = 625 million

This calculation results in a total GDP of 625 million dollars.

Explanation

Economics is fundamentally built upon the concept of scarcity, which is the basic economic problem facing all societies. It assumes that human wants and desires are virtually unlimited and constantly expanding, while the resources needed to produce goods and services to satisfy these desires, such as land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship, are finite and limited. This mismatch forces individuals, businesses, and governments to make choices regarding resource allocation, forming the core study of economic science.

Explanation

Global warming is an environmental consequence of the accumulation of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. It refers to the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system. Because it is an effect of increased greenhouse gas concentrations rather than a physical or chemical process that generates them, it does not produce carbon dioxide.

Explanation

Carnotite is a bright yellow to greenish-yellow potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with the chemical formula K₂(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂·3H₂O. It occurs primarily as secondary deposits in sandstones and serves as an important source of uranium, which is used as a fuel in nuclear reactors and for various other industrial applications.

Explanation

Iran became the first country to issue a nationwide ban on the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go in August 2016. The decision was implemented by the High Council of Virtual Spaces, the state body responsible for monitoring and regulating internet activity. The ban was enacted due to national security concerns regarding the game's reliance on real-time GPS tracking and location-based technology. Authorities worried that the requirement for players to navigate physical locations while using their smartphone cameras could compromise sensitive sites and pose security risks to citizens.

Explanation

Melghat Tiger Reserve is located in the northern part of Amravati District of Maharashtra, bordering Madhya Pradesh. It was among the first nine tiger reserves notified in 1973-74 under Project Tiger, an initiative launched by the Government of India. The reserve lies in the Gawilghur Hill range, which is a southern offshoot of the Satpura Range, and is drained by the Tapi River and its tributaries, primarily the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga, and Dolar.

Explanation

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in our solar system. When ordered by distance starting from the Sun, the planetary sequence is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and then Saturn. This makes Saturn the sixth planet, situated between Jupiter and Uranus.

Explanation

The chronological lineage of the prominent Mughal emperors begins with Babur, who founded the empire in 1526. He was succeeded by his son Humayun, who served as the second emperor. Akbar then ruled as the third emperor, followed by his son Jahangir as the fourth. Shah Jahan, famous for his grand architectural contributions including the Taj Mahal, succeeded Jahangir to rule as the fifth Mughal emperor from 1628 to 1658.

Explanation

The Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, commonly known as Akbar the Great, was born on October 15, 1542. He was born at the Rajput Fortress of Amarkot in Sindh, where his parents, Emperor Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum, had taken refuge following Humayun's defeat and exile by Sher Shah Suri. Akbar later succeeded his father to the Mughal throne in 1556 at the age of thirteen.

Explanation

Arundhati Roy became the first Indian citizen to win the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997. She received this esteemed literary award for her debut novel, The God of Small Things, which was highly acclaimed globally for its rich narrative, linguistic inventiveness, and deep exploration of social dynamics in Kerala, India.

Explanation

Work is a scalar quantity, meaning it has only magnitude and no specific direction associated with it. Mathematically, work is defined as the scalar or dot product of two vector quantities, force and displacement. The formula is expressed as W = F · d = F d cos θ, where F is force, d is displacement, and θ is the angle between them. Since the dot product of any two vectors always yields a scalar, work does not possess any directional properties.

Explanation

Terminal velocity is defined as the constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium through which it is falling prevents further acceleration. As an object falls through a fluid, it experiences an upward drag force and a buoyant force, alongside the downward gravitational force. According to fluid dynamics, as the velocity of the object increases, the drag force opposing its motion also increases. Eventually, the sum of the upward drag force and the buoyant force becomes exactly equal to the downward gravitational force acting on the object. At this stage, the net force acting on the object becomes zero. According to Newton's first law of motion, when the net force is zero, the acceleration of the object reduces to zero, and the object continues to fall at a steady, unchanging velocity. This constant maximum velocity is known as the terminal velocity.

Explanation

The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 added Part IV-A and Article 51A to the Indian Constitution, incorporating a list of ten Fundamental Duties for citizens. This inclusion was based on the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee, which was constituted by the government to recommend provisions regarding the duties and obligations of citizens.

Explanation

The First Five-Year Plan of India was launched in 1951 by the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was based on the Harrod-Domar model and primarily focused on the development of the primary sector, particularly agriculture and irrigation, to address the acute food shortages and economic challenges post-partition.

Explanation

Arnold Schwarzenegger began his career as a highly successful professional bodybuilder, winning the prestigious Mr. Olympia title seven times. He transitioned to acting and achieved global fame as a Hollywood superstar, starring in iconic action films like Conan the Barbarian, Predator, and The Terminator. He later entered public service and served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

Explanation

Chetan Bhagat is the author of the bestselling romance novel Half Girlfriend, which was published in 2014. The story centers on Madhav Jha, a boy from Bihar who struggles with English, and Riya Somani, a wealthy girl from Delhi, exploring contemporary themes of language barriers, social status, and relationships in modern India.

Explanation

The official mascot of the Linux operating system is a penguin named Tux. It was designed by Larry Ewing in 1996. The idea of using a penguin as the logo and mascot came from Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, who chose it after having a memorable encounter with a penguin during a visit to Australia. Tux has since become a globally recognized symbol of Linux and open-source software.

Explanation

Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, and inventor, invented dynamite in 1867. He discovered that mixing highly unstable liquid nitroglycerin with an inert absorbent substance like kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) made the explosive much safer to handle, transport, and use. He patented this revolutionary invention, which went on to play a massive role in construction, mining, and industrial development worldwide, and the wealth he accumulated from his explosive patents was ultimately used to fund the establishment of the Nobel Prizes.

Explanation

A sphygmomanometer is a specialized medical device used to measure arterial blood pressure. It typically consists of an inflatable cuff that is wrapped around the upper arm to restrict blood flow, a bulb to inflate the cuff, and a manometer to measure the pressure. As the pressure in the cuff is slowly released, the observer monitors the blood flow to determine the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.

Explanation

Biological nitrogen fixation is primarily carried out by specific groups of prokaryotic microorganisms known as nitrogen-fixing bacteria, also called diazotrophs. These bacteria possess the unique enzyme complex called nitrogenase, which allows them to break the exceptionally strong triple chemical bond of atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) and reduce it into ammonia (NH₃), a form that plants can readily absorb and utilize.

These bacteria exist either in free-living states in the soil (such as Azotobacter, Clostridium, and Beijerinckia) or in symbiotic associations with the root systems of specific plants, particularly leguminous crops (such as Rhizobium). Through these processes, they significantly enrich the soil's nitrogen content naturally.

Explanation

An unfertilized ostrich egg represents the largest known single cell on Earth. Measuring approximately fifteen to eighteen centimeters in length and around nine to fifteen centimeters in width, this giant cell can weigh up to 1.4 kilograms. In biological terms, the yolk of the egg is the actual single female gamete (ovum), which expands to an enormous size due to the accumulation of nutrient-rich yolk. This makes the ostrich egg the largest cell in the living world.

Explanation

The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, starting directly at the surface of the Earth and extending upward to an average altitude of about 12 kilometers. This layer is characterized by a steady decrease in temperature with increasing altitude. It contains approximately 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere and nearly all of the atmospheric water vapor and aerosols, making it the layer where almost all weather phenomena, including cloud formation, rain, and wind, take place.

Explanation

Acetylene is a hydrocarbon gas that burns with a highly luminous and hot flame. When combined with pure oxygen in an oxy-acetylene torch, it burns at temperatures exceeding 3000°C, which is ideal for cutting and welding metals. It was also historically used to generate light in carbide lamps, where the reaction between calcium carbide and water produces acetylene gas that burns with a brilliant white flame.

Explanation

Hawa Mahal, also known as the Palace of Winds, was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, the ruler of Jaipur. Designed by the architect Lal Chand Ustad, this unique five-story structure is constructed from red and pink sandstone to resemble the crown of Lord Krishna. Maharaja Pratap Singh commissioned this palace to allow the royal women to observe daily street life and festivals through its 953 small, intricately designed windows, known as jharokhas, while maintaining their privacy.

Explanation

Dandiya, also known as Dandiya Raas, is a highly popular and traditional folk dance originating from the state of Gujarat. It is primarily performed during the annual festive season of Navratri, where dancers move in synchronized circular patterns, rhythmically striking decorative wooden sticks called dandiyas. This vibrant and energetic dance symbolizes a mock fight between the Goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasura, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

Explanation

The Arc Cross Elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of the quantity demanded of one good (X) to a change in the price of another good (Y) using the average or midpoint values. The formula is:

Arc Cross Elasticity = (ΔQ / ΔP) × ((P₁ + P₂) / (Q₁ + Q₂))

In this scenario, the initial quantity of good X (Q₁) is 2300, and the new quantity (Q₂) is 2700, which gives a change in quantity (ΔQ) of 400. The initial price of good Y (P₁) is 45, and the new price (P₂) is 55, which gives a change in price (ΔP) of 10.

Substituting these values into the formula:

Arc Cross Elasticity = (400 / 10) × ((45 + 55) / (2300 + 2700))

Arc Cross Elasticity = 40 × (100 / 5000)

Arc Cross Elasticity = 40 × (1 / 50) = 0.8