SSC CHSL Tier 1 2021 General Awareness Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Balraj Khanna was a highly acclaimed British-Indian artist and writer who is renowned for his contributions to the field of painting. After migrating to England in 1962, his career as a painter blossomed in London, where he developed a unique style of abstract art often depicting themes of nature, childhood memories, and the cosmos. He was a prominent member of the Indian Painters Collective and gained wide recognition for his vibrant canvases, which have been showcased in major institutions like the Tate Britain and the Ashmolean Museum. His 2021 autobiography, Born in India, Made in England, is subtitled Autobiography of a Painter, reflecting his lifelong dedication to this art form.

Explanation

Sa-Dhan is a leading association of microfinance and impact finance institutions in India, established to support inclusive growth and community development finance. In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India recognized Sa-Dhan as a Self-Regulatory Organization for the microfinance sector. In this role, Sa-Dhan is responsible for formulating and administering industry standards, implementing codes of conduct, conducting field monitoring, and ensuring customer protection and ethical lending practices among its member institutions.

Explanation

Bhupen Hazarika was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 2019. He was an acclaimed Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, and filmmaker from Assam. His compositions, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language, are marked by themes of humanity and universal brotherhood, making a monumental contribution to Indian music and culture.

Explanation

Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28 September 1929 in Indore, which was then the capital of the princely state of Indore in British India (present-day Madhya Pradesh). She was born in the Sikh Mohalla locality of Indore to Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theatre actor, and his wife Shevanti. She spent her early childhood in Indore before her family relocated.

Explanation

Manjamma Jogati was honoured with the Padma Shri award in 2021 for her immense contribution to the field of folk arts. She is a renowned transgender folk dancer of the Jogamma heritage from Karnataka who specializes in Jogati Nritya, a ritual dance form performed in honour of the goddess Yellamma. She also made history as the first transwoman President of the Karnataka Janapada Academy.

Explanation

The Bharat Muni Samman is a prestigious award instituted by the Nalanda Dance Research Centre, which is a premier institution for Indian classical dance research and training based in Mumbai. Founded in 1966 by the legendary Mohiniyattam exponent Dr. Kanak Rele, the centre created this honor to recognize and pay tribute to outstanding veterans, scholars, and performers who have made monumental contributions to Indian classical dance and traditional performing arts, keeping in spirit with the classical heritage of Bharat Muni's Natyashastra.

Explanation

A free throw in basketball is an unopposed shot at the basket taken from the free-throw line, which is located fifteen feet from the backboard. These shots are awarded to a player after certain types of fouls are committed against them or their team by the opponents. Each successful free throw is worth one point.

Explanation

Rectilinear motion is the motion of an object along a straight line path. When an object is lifted vertically up and down, it moves along a straight vertical line. During the parade of an army, soldiers march forward in a straight line along the ground. In a free fall, a heavy object descends vertically downwards under the sole influence of gravity, tracing a straight-line path. Since all these movements occur along a straight line, they are classified as rectilinear motion.

Explanation

All From Memory: An Autobiography is written by B.V. Acharya, a highly respected senior advocate and former Advocate General of Karnataka. The book recounts his personal journey from childhood to becoming an eminent legal luminary, chronicling his decades of practice at the Karnataka High Court. It offers unique insights into his career, his family background, and his perspectives on the legal system, including judicial conduct and the challenges faced by public prosecutors in high-profile cases.

Explanation

The West Bengal government launched the Paray Shikshalaya (Neighbourhood School) initiative on February 7, 2022. It is an open-air classroom scheme designed to provide elementary education and mid-day meals to primary and pre-primary students from classes 1 to 7. The project was implemented to encourage students who had dropped out of school during the COVID-19 pandemic to resume their physical education in safe, open environments such as neighborhood parks, playgrounds, and community spaces.

Explanation

The adventure fantasy book titled 'The Coward And The Sword' is authored by the Indian actor, director, and writer Jugal Hansraj. Published in October 2021 by HarperCollins India, this children's novel explores the themes of peace, courage, and self-discovery through the journey of a young, timid prince named Kadis from the Kingdom of Kofu.

Explanation

M.S. Subbulakshmi was a legendary Indian vocalist widely regarded as one of the greatest exponents of Carnatic music, the classical music tradition of Southern India. Born in Madurai, she began training in Carnatic music at a young age and became globally renowned for her exceptional vocal range, precise pitch, and spiritual depth. Her contributions to Carnatic music earned her several historic milestones, including becoming the first musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, as well as the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award and to perform at the United Nations General Assembly.

Explanation

The biosphere represents the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships. It constitutes the zone of life on Earth, encompassing all living communities—such as plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and photosynthetic microbes—and their interactions with the non-living components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

Explanation

Waiting for a Visa is an autobiographical work written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar during the period of 1935–36. It consists of a collection of his personal reminiscences and experiences regarding the practice of untouchability and severe social discrimination that he faced at various stages of his life, from childhood to his return to India as a highly educated professional. The book serves as a vital historical document illustrating the harsh realities of caste-based discrimination in Indian society.

Explanation

In 1797–1798, English scientist Henry Cavendish conducted a groundbreaking experiment using a highly sensitive torsion balance to measure the density of the Earth, which implicitly determined the value of the universal gravitational constant, G. Based on his experimental data measuring the gravitational attraction between lead spheres of known masses and distances, the calculated value of the gravitational constant was 6.75 × 10⁻¹¹ Nm²/kg². This pioneer measurement was remarkably accurate, differing by only about 1% from the modern accepted value of 6.674 × 10⁻¹¹ Nm²/kg².

Explanation

Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, alongside his two sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, performed the specially composed Raga for Peace at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2014. This performance took place during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony where children's rights activists Kailash Satyarthi from India and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan were honored with the prestigious award. The musical performance by the trio was designed to convey the universal message of peace, harmony, and non-violence to the global audience.

Explanation

Ahmed Ali is the author of the celebrated historical novel Twilight in Delhi, which was first published in 1940 by the Hogarth Press in Britain. Set in Delhi during the period between 1911 and 1919, the novel vividly depicts the decay and transition of the traditional Muslim aristocracy and culture under the impact of British colonialism.

Explanation

Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman, widely known as Lalgudi Jayaraman, was an acclaimed Carnatic music violinist, composer, and vocalist. He pioneered a distinct style of playing called the Lalgudi Bani, which closely mimics the human voice and emphasizes the lyrical nuances of the compositions. Born into a family of rich musical heritage tracing back to the disciples of Saint Thyagaraja, he elevated the status of the violin from an accompanying instrument to a prominent solo instrument in Carnatic classical music. His immense contributions earned him prestigious national honors, including the Padma Bhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.

Explanation

Sea of Poppies is a historic novel written by Amitav Ghosh. Published in 2008, this novel forms the first part of his critically acclaimed Ibis Trilogy, followed by River of Smoke and Flood of Fire. Set in the 1830s on the eve of the First Opium War, the narrative revolves around the diverse characters aboard the schooner Ibis, dealing with themes of colonialism, the opium trade, and indenture. The work was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2008.

Explanation

Article 110 of the Indian Constitution provides the definition of a Money Bill. Under this article, a bill is classified as a Money Bill if it deals exclusively with matters such as the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration, or regulation of any tax; the borrowing of money or giving of any guarantee by the Government of India; the custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of moneys from any such fund; or the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India. Under this article, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on whether a bill is a Money Bill is final.

Explanation

The SHG-Bank Linkage Programme was launched by NABARD in 1992 to connect the informal sector with formal banking channels. It enables self-help groups to open savings accounts, accumulate internal savings, and access bank credit without any physical collateral. By establishing this direct link, the program successfully integrates the rural poor into the formal financial system, reducing their reliance on informal, exploitative moneylenders and fostering micro-entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.

Explanation

In a hydroelectric power plant, water stored at a high elevation in a reservoir possesses gravitational potential energy. When this water is released and falls through penstocks, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy as it flows at high speed. The force of this moving water strikes the blades of the turbine, causing the turbine and its connected shaft to rotate. This rotational motion of the shaft is a form of kinetic energy, which is subsequently converted into electrical energy by the generator.

Explanation

Anai Mudi is the highest peak in peninsular India and the entire South India, standing at an elevation of 2,695 meters. It is located in the Western Ghats mountain range in the state of Kerala. Situated within the Eravikulam National Park, the peak's name translates to elephant's forehead in the local Malayalam language, signifying its distinctive shape.

Explanation

Ileana Citaristi is an Italy-born classical dancer and scholar who made Odisha her home in 1979. She trained extensively under the legendary Odissi guru, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. In 2006, she became the first dancer of foreign origin to be conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, specifically for her immense contributions to the propagation and performance of Odissi dance.

Explanation

In 1838, the German botanist Matthias Schleiden published an article titled Contributions to Phytogenesis, which discussed the structure and origin of plant cells. In this work, he concluded that all plants are composed of cells, making a foundational contribution to the development of the cell theory.

Explanation

Under the restructuring plan approved by the Union Cabinet in June 2021, the 200-year-old Ordnance Factory Board was dissolved, and its 41 production-focused ordnance factories across India were reorganized into seven new government-owned corporate entities. These seven new Defence Public Sector Undertakings include Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, Yantra India Limited, India Optel Limited, and Gliders India Limited. The Essential Defence Services Act, 2021 was introduced to ensure the maintenance of essential defence services and to prohibit strikes in these 41 production units during and after this transitional phase of corporatization.

Explanation

Jagjit Singh, widely revered as the Ghazal King, was an iconic singer, composer, and musician who played a pivotal role in popularizing ghazal singing across India and the world. During the 1970s and 1980s, along with his wife Chitra Singh, he modernized the genre by incorporating western instrumentation like the guitar, violin, and keyboard into traditional compositions. His soulful voice, simple yet profound choice of poetry, and accessible style transformed a niche, elite classical form into a highly popular commercial music genre embraced by the masses.

Explanation

The 2023 IBA Men's World Boxing Championships were hosted in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan. The International Boxing Association officially announced Tashkent as the host city in April 2021 following a successful bid presentation by the Boxing Federation of Uzbekistan. This event marked the first time Uzbekistan hosted this prestigious global tournament.

Explanation

Guru Bipin Singh was a legendary director, choreographer, and scholar of Manipuri dance, often regarded as the father of modern Manipuri dance. He played a pioneering role in adapting traditional dance-drama and Raas Leela forms for the modern proscenium stage. In recognition of his exceptional contributions to the promotion and preservation of this classical dance form, the Maharaja of Manipur bestowed upon him the prestigious title of Hanjaba. He was also honored with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1966, which is India's highest national recognition given to practicing artists.

Explanation

In July 2021, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh. A prominent leader and tribal rights advocate from Gujarat, Patel previously served as a cabinet minister and the Deputy Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He succeeded Anandiben Patel, who had been holding the additional charge of Governor of Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Mohammad Rafiq, administered the oath of office to him on July 8, 2021, at the Raj Bhavan in Bhopal.

Explanation

The Inter-tropical Convergence Zone is a broad belt of low pressure located in the equatorial latitudes where the northeast trade winds from the Northern Hemisphere and the southeast trade winds from the Southern Hemisphere meet. Because of intense solar heating near the equator, the converging warm and moist air is forced to rise, leading to convective cloud formation, frequent thunderstorms, and heavy precipitation. This zone shifts northward and southward over the course of the year, following the seasonal path of the Sun.

Explanation

Tanjore Balasaraswati, also known as T. Balasaraswati, was a legendary Indian classical dancer who revolutionized the presentation of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form from Tamil Nadu. Born into a traditional lineage of temple musicians and dancers (devadasis), she was instrumental in bringing global and national recognition to this art form. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957. Subsequently, in 1977, she became the first woman dancer to receive the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award.

Explanation

Lekha K.C. was conferred with the prestigious Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games in 2021 for her outstanding contributions to Boxing. She is a prominent Indian amateur boxer who won the gold medal in the 75 kg category at the 2006 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi. Additionally, she secured a gold medal at the 2005 Asian Championships in Kaohsiung and a silver medal at the 2008 edition in Guwahati, alongside being a multiple-time national champion.

Explanation

Georg Simon Ohm, a German physicist, discovered the relationship between the electric current flowing through a metallic conductor and the potential difference across its terminals in 1827. This fundamental relationship, known as Ohm's Law, states that the current (I) flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference (V) across its ends, provided its temperature and other physical conditions remain constant. This is represented by the formula V = IR, where R is a constant of proportionality called resistance.

Explanation

The Qila Raipur Sports Festival, widely known as India's Rural Olympics, is held annually in Qila Raipur, a village located near Ludhiana in Punjab. First organized in 1933 by philanthropist Inder Singh Grewal, this multi-sport festival showcases traditional rural sports, Punjabi culture, and remarkable feats of strength and endurance, attracting participants and spectators from across the globe.

Explanation

Alitame is an artificial, high-intensity sweetener developed by Pfizer in the early 1980s. It is a second-generation dipeptide sweetener containing L-aspartic acid and D-alanine. Its sweetening strength is approximately 2000 times more potent than sucrose (table sugar), and it is relatively stable under elevated temperature and acidic conditions.

Explanation

Aparna Satheesan, an internationally acclaimed Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam exponent based in the United States, was selected for the prestigious Abhinandan Saroja National Award 2021. The award was conferred by the National Institute of Indian Classical Dance at Samarpan on November 15, 2021. She was honored in recognition of her outstanding contributions, excellence in performance, exceptional choreographic skills, and active charitable work in the field of Indian classical dance.

Explanation

In volleyball, an antenna is a flexible rod made of fiberglass or similar material, measuring 1.8 meters in length. Two antennae are attached to the net, one on each side, aligned directly above the court sidelines. They serve as vertical boundaries extending above the net to help referees determine whether a ball passing over the net is in bounds or out of bounds. Any ball that touches or passes outside the antennae is ruled out of play.

Explanation

According to Article 66(3) of the Constitution of India, a person to be eligible for election as Vice-President must be qualified for election as a member of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha). The requirement of being qualified for election as a member of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) applies to the election of the President of India under Article 58(1)(c), rather than the Vice-President.

Explanation

Journey with a Hundred Strings: My Life in Music is the autobiography of the legendary classical musician and santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, co-written with Ina Puri and published in 2002. The book chronicles his remarkable journey of adapting and popularizing the santoor, which was traditionally used in Sufi music of Kashmir, into a mainstream classical Indian instrument. It narrates his childhood training in Jammu under his father Pandit Uma Dutt Sharma, his initial struggles in Bombay, his experiences in the Indian film industry, and his ultimate success in establishing the santoor on the global stage.

Explanation

Revenue receipts are those receipts of the government that are non-redeemable and do not create any future financial obligation or liability for the government. They also do not lead to any reduction in the assets of the government. These receipts flow into the government treasury through regular and recurring sources, which include tax revenues like income tax, corporate tax, and GST, as well as non-tax revenues like interest receipts, profits, dividends, fees, and fines. Because the government is not obligated to repay these funds, they do not create any corresponding liability.

Explanation

India achieved its best-ever performance at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2021 by winning a total of three medals, consisting of two silver medals and one bronze medal. The silver medals were won by Amit Khatri in the men's 10,000m race walk and Shaili Singh in the women's long jump. The bronze medal was won by the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team consisting of Bharath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Summy, and Kapil. This historic performance placed India 21st in the overall medal table.

Explanation

Tanvi Shah became the first Indian woman to win a Grammy Award at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2010. She won the award in the category of Best Song Written for Visual Media for her contribution to the song Jai Ho from the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. She shared this honor with music composer A.R. Rahman and lyricist Gulzar, having written and performed the Spanish lyrics for the globally acclaimed track.

Explanation

The prestigious Rashtriya Kalidas Samman for classical dance was awarded to the legendary Bharatanatyam dancer Shanta Dhananjayan and her husband V. P. Dhananjayan. Instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, this national award recognizes outstanding contributions to classical arts, including classical dance, classical music, theatre, and plastic arts. Shanta Dhananjayan is a pioneering exponent and guru of Bharatanatyam, celebrated for her mastery in performance, innovative choreography, and her role in establishing the renowned Bharata Kalanjali dance academy in Chennai.

Explanation

Kashi Ka Assi is a renowned Hindi novel written by the contemporary writer Kashinath Singh, first published in 2004. Set in the city of Varanasi (Kashi), it depicts the local culture, lively conversations, and socio-political climate around the famous Assi Ghat during the late twentieth century. Since Kashinath Singh is the author of this work, it was not written by Premchand.

Explanation

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 was enacted by the Parliament of India to provide a robust legal framework for the protection of wild animal species, birds, and plants. It aims to ensure ecological and environmental security by strictly prohibiting the hunting of specified wild animals and putting in place stringent regulations to curb the illegal trade, transport, and commercial exploitation of wildlife and their derivative parts, such as skins, tusks, horns, and bones. The Act also establishes schedules that categorize species according to the level of protection they require and provides for the creation of protected areas like National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Explanation

Beijing was selected as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games. The multi-sport event took place from 4 February to 20 February 2022, with preliminary competitions beginning on 2 February. By hosting the 2022 Winter Games, Beijing became the first city in history to host both the Summer Olympic Games, which it previously hosted in 2008, and the Winter Olympic Games.

Explanation

Guru Durga Charan Ranbir is an acclaimed exponent, choreographer, and teacher of the Odissi classical dance form. He is widely recognized as a leading torchbearer of the late Guru Debaprasad Das, specializing in and propagating the distinct Debaprasad Das style (gharana) of Odissi. He received rigorous training in Odissi under Guru Debaprasad Das and Pankaj Charan Das at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Bhubaneswar. For his outstanding contribution to Odissi dance as a performer and teacher, he has been honored with numerous prestigious accolades, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Guru Debaprasad Das Award. He also founded the dance institution Nrutyayan to preserve and teach this classical art form.

Explanation

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is a renowned Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who won the Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category. He received this honour for his collaborative album A Meeting by The River, which was recorded with the American slide guitarist Ry Cooder. On this album, Bhatt played the Mohan veena, a modified slide guitar of his own invention that blends elements of the Hawaiian guitar, sitar, and veena to suit Indian classical music.

Explanation

Manjusree Chatterjee is a highly distinguished exponent of Kathak, the classical dance form originating from northern India. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019 in recognition of her immense contributions to performing, teaching, and preserving the traditions of Kathak.

She received her training under prominent maestros, studying the Lucknow gharana under Guru Shambhu Maharaj and the Jaipur gharana under Guru Sunder Prasad. In addition to the Padma Shri, she was also honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2011 for her outstanding contributions to this dance style.