Compendium — Dates, Facts & Memory Hooks for Last-Minute Revision
Free study material · concepts, shortcuts & solved questions
This is your final rehearsal, not a new lesson. Every fact tested here has already appeared somewhere in this book, so treat this chapter as a diagnostic: it tells you exactly which pockets of your preparation still wobble, three or four weeks out from the real exam. Do not read the answer key first. Sit with a timer, allow yourself roughly one minute per question just as the real exam demands, and answer all 40 in one sitting before checking anything.
The questions below are deliberately mixed, jumping between History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Science, Computer Awareness, Static GK, and Current Affairs in no fixed order, because that is exactly how your actual GA section will feel: no warning of which subject comes next. If you get a question wrong, do not just note the correct option. Go back to the relevant chapter in this book and re-read the surrounding paragraph, because a single fact in isolation fades fast; a fact tied to its context stays.
Once you finish, score yourself out of 40. Anything below 30 means you need another full pass through the weaker subject chapters before exam day. Anything above 34 means you are genuinely exam-ready on General Awareness, and your remaining prep time is better spent on Quant and Reasoning speed drills instead.
Practice MCQs
History
Q1. The First Battle of Panipat (1526), which laid the foundation of Mughal rule in India, was fought between Babur and which ruler? (a) Rana Sanga (b) Ibrahim Lodi (c) Hemu (d) Sher Shah Suri
Q2. The Non-Cooperation Movement, launched by Mahatma Gandhi, began in which year? (a) 1917 (b) 1919 (c) 1920 (d) 1930
Q3. Which session of the Indian National Congress saw Subhas Chandra Bose elected as President against Gandhi's preferred candidate, leading to his eventual resignation? (a) Lahore Session, 1929 (b) Tripuri Session, 1939 (c) Karachi Session, 1931 (d) Haripura Session, 1938
Q4. The Doctrine of Lapse, used to annex several Indian princely states, is most closely associated with which British Governor-General? (a) Lord Curzon (b) Lord Dalhousie (c) Lord Wellesley (d) Lord Canning
Q5. The Poona Pact of 1932 was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and which leader, resolving a dispute over separate electorates for the depressed classes? (a) B.R. Ambedkar (b) Muhammad Ali Jinnah (c) Sarojini Naidu (d) Motilal Nehru
Geography
Q6. Which Indian river is known for flowing westward into the Arabian Sea through the Bharuch region, unlike most other peninsular rivers? (a) Godavari (b) Krishna (c) Narmada (d) Kaveri
Q7. The Tropic of Cancer passes through how many Indian states? (a) Six (b) Seven (c) Eight (d) Nine
Q8. Which of the following is India's highest peak, and the third-highest in the world? (a) Nanda Devi (b) Kanchenjunga (c) K2 (d) Mount Everest
Q9. Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, among the wettest places on Earth, are located in which Indian state? (a) Assam (b) Meghalaya (c) Sikkim (d) Arunachal Pradesh
Q10. India's Standard Meridian (82.5°E), which fixes Indian Standard Time, passes closest to which city? (a) Prayagraj (b) Mirzapur (c) Varanasi (d) Kanpur
Polity
Q11. Which Article of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to impose Financial Emergency? (a) Article 352 (b) Article 356 (c) Article 360 (d) Article 368
Q12. Fundamental Duties were incorporated into the Indian Constitution through which amendment? (a) 44th Amendment (b) 42nd Amendment (c) 73rd Amendment (d) 61st Amendment
Q13. Which constitutional body is responsible for conducting elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and state legislatures? (a) UPSC (b) Election Commission of India (c) NITI Aayog (d) Law Commission
Q14. The Right to Constitutional Remedies, allowing citizens to move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights, is guaranteed under which Article? (a) Article 19 (b) Article 21 (c) Article 32 (d) Article 44
Q15. Panchayati Raj institutions were given constitutional status through which amendment? (a) 42nd Amendment (b) 73rd Amendment (c) 74th Amendment (d) 86th Amendment
Economy
Q16. The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee primarily targets inflation using which index? (a) Wholesale Price Index (b) Consumer Price Index (c) Index of Industrial Production (d) Sensex
Q17. PM-KISAN, a central government scheme, provides direct income support of how much per year to eligible farmer families? (a) ₹4,000 (b) ₹6,000 (c) ₹8,000 (d) ₹10,000
Q18. Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out across India with effect from which date? (a) April 1, 2016 (b) July 1, 2017 (c) January 1, 2018 (d) October 1, 2017
Q19. NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in which year? (a) 2014 (b) 2015 (c) 2016 (d) 2017
Q20. Which institution in India is primarily responsible for setting the repo rate? (a) SEBI (b) Ministry of Finance (c) Reserve Bank of India (d) NITI Aayog
Science
Q21. Which cell organelle is commonly referred to as the "powerhouse of the cell"? (a) Ribosome (b) Nucleus (c) Mitochondria (d) Golgi body
Q22. Deficiency of Vitamin C in the human diet leads to which disease? (a) Rickets (b) Scurvy (c) Beriberi (d) Night blindness
Q23. Insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, is produced by which organ? (a) Liver (b) Pancreas (c) Thyroid (d) Adrenal gland
Q24. Which of the following elements is the only metal that remains liquid at room temperature? (a) Bromine (b) Mercury (c) Gallium (d) Caesium
Q25. Sound waves cannot travel through which of the following? (a) Water (b) Air (c) Vacuum (d) Steel
Computer Awareness
Q26. Which component of a computer is often called its "brain," housing the ALU and Control Unit? (a) RAM (b) CPU (c) Hard Disk (d) Motherboard
Q27. Which type of computer memory is volatile, losing its data when power is switched off? (a) ROM (b) RAM (c) Flash memory (d) Hard disk
Q28. Who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web in 1989? (a) Bill Gates (b) Steve Jobs (c) Tim Berners-Lee (d) Vint Cerf
Q29. How many bits make up one byte in digital storage? (a) 4 (b) 8 (c) 16 (d) 32
Q30. Which protocol adds an encryption/security layer to standard HTTP for secure web browsing? (a) FTP (b) HTTPS (c) SMTP (d) TCP
Static GK
Q31. Who was the first President of independent India? (a) Jawaharlal Nehru (b) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (c) Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (d) Zakir Husain
Q32. India's national civilian honour system ranks which award as the highest, above all three Padma awards? (a) Padma Vibhushan (b) Bharat Ratna (c) Ashoka Chakra (d) Param Vir Chakra
Q33. Which Indian personality authored the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh? (a) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (b) Rabindranath Tagore (c) Sarojini Naidu (d) Muhammad Iqbal
Q34. The Reserve Bank of India was nationalised in which year? (a) 1935 (b) 1947 (c) 1949 (d) 1955
Q35. Who became the first Indian to travel into space, in 1984? (a) Kalpana Chawla (b) Rakesh Sharma (c) Vikram Sarabhai (d) Sunita Williams
Current Affairs
Q36. Chandrayaan-3 achieved its historic soft landing near which region of the Moon in August 2023? (a) North Pole (b) South Pole (c) Equator (d) Far side, central region
Q37. August 23 is now observed annually in India as which of the following? (a) National Science Day (b) National Technology Day (c) National Space Day (d) National Innovation Day
Q38. India held the G20 presidency in 2023, handing it over to which country for 2024? (a) South Africa (b) Brazil (c) Indonesia (d) Italy
Q39. Which international organisation publishes the annual Global Innovation Index, tracking India's improving rank? (a) World Economic Forum (b) World Bank (c) WIPO (d) UNDP
Q40. PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in 2024, primarily promotes which of the following? (a) Electric vehicle adoption (b) Rooftop solar power for households (c) Rural electrification infrastructure (d) Coal power modernisation
Answer Key
| Q | Answer | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | b | Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last Delhi Sultanate ruler, founding Mughal rule in 1526. |
| 2 | c | The Non-Cooperation Movement began in 1920, following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and Rowlatt Act of 1919. |
| 3 | b | Bose won the 1939 Tripuri Session presidency over Gandhi's candidate but resigned soon after due to internal conflict. |
| 4 | b | Lord Dalhousie used the Doctrine of Lapse extensively to annex states without a natural male heir. |
| 5 | a | The Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar replaced separate electorates with reserved seats within joint electorates. |
| 6 | c | The Narmada flows west through a rift valley into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Khambhat near Bharuch. |
| 7 | c | The Tropic of Cancer passes through eight Indian states, from Gujarat to Mizoram. |
| 8 | b | Kanchenjunga in Sikkim is India's highest peak and the world's third-highest mountain. |
| 9 | b | Both Cherrapunji and Mawsynram lie in Meghalaya and rank among the world's wettest inhabited places. |
| 10 | b | The 82.5°E Standard Meridian passes near Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, fixing IST at GMT+5:30. |
| 11 | c | Article 360 empowers the President to declare Financial Emergency; 352 and 356 cover other emergency types. |
| 12 | b | The 42nd Amendment (1976) added Fundamental Duties, based on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendations. |
| 13 | b | The Election Commission of India, under Article 324, conducts elections to Parliament and state legislatures. |
| 14 | c | Article 32 grants the Right to Constitutional Remedies, letting citizens approach the Supreme Court directly. |
| 15 | b | The 73rd Amendment (1992) gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj institutions; the 74th did so for urban bodies. |
| 16 | b | RBI's flexible inflation targeting framework is anchored to CPI at a 4% target with a 2% tolerance band. |
| 17 | b | PM-KISAN provides ₹6,000 per year in direct income support, paid in three equal instalments. |
| 18 | b | GST was implemented nationwide from July 1, 2017, replacing multiple indirect taxes. |
| 19 | b | NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 as India's premier policy think tank. |
| 20 | c | The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee sets the repo rate at its bi-monthly policy reviews. |
| 21 | c | Mitochondria generate ATP through cellular respiration, earning the nickname "powerhouse of the cell." |
| 22 | b | Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, marked by bleeding gums and weakened connective tissue. |
| 23 | b | Insulin is secreted by the beta cells within the pancreas, regulating blood glucose levels. |
| 24 | b | Mercury is the only metal that stays liquid at standard room temperature and pressure. |
| 25 | c | Sound needs a physical medium to travel and cannot propagate through a vacuum, unlike light. |
| 26 | b | The CPU, containing the ALU and Control Unit, processes instructions and is the computer's core processing component. |
| 27 | b | RAM is volatile memory, clearing all stored data the moment power is cut off. |
| 28 | c | Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 while working at CERN. |
| 29 | b | One byte equals 8 bits, the standard unit for measuring digital storage. |
| 30 | b | HTTPS adds an encryption layer (via SSL/TLS) over standard HTTP for secure data transfer. |
| 31 | b | Dr. Rajendra Prasad served as independent India's first President, from 1950 to 1962. |
| 32 | b | Bharat Ratna sits above Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri as India's highest civilian honour. |
| 33 | b | Rabindranath Tagore wrote both "Jana Gana Mana" (India) and "Amar Shonar Bangla" (Bangladesh). |
| 34 | c | The RBI, established in 1935, was nationalised in 1949, becoming fully government-owned. |
| 35 | b | Rakesh Sharma flew aboard a Soviet spacecraft in 1984, becoming the first Indian in space. |
| 36 | b | Chandrayaan-3 landed near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023, a global first for that region. |
| 37 | c | August 23 is now marked as National Space Day, commemorating the Chandrayaan-3 landing. |
| 38 | b | India held the G20 presidency through 2023, passing the chair to Brazil for the 2024 presidency. |
| 39 | c | WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, publishes the Global Innovation Index annually. |
| 40 | b | The scheme subsidises rooftop solar installation, offering free electricity up to 300 units per household monthly. |