KSP Civil PSI 2020 — Paper 2 - General Studies (GS)

Stratospheric ozone absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, shielding life on Earth's surface.

The boycott of British goods was a central tactic of the Swadeshi Movement (1905 onward), launched in protest against the Partition of Bengal.

RBI's Open Market Operations (buying/selling government securities) affect liquidity in the banking system, which in turn influences both interest rates and inflation.

Viswanathan Anand was the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, in 1991-92.

P.V. Sindhu defeated Nozomi Okuhara in the final of the 2019 BWF World Championships to become the first Indian to win a World Championship badminton gold.

Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work among the poor and destitute.

Abhijit Banerjee (with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer) won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for experimental approaches to alleviating global poverty.

ICERT stands for Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, the national nodal agency for responding to cyber security incidents.

Bihu is a traditional folk dance associated with the Bihu festival of Assam.

Article 370 of the Constitution granted special autonomous status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.

'Isopycnic' describes substances or fluids that have equal (the same) density.

Higher global oil prices raise India's import bill, widening the Current Account Deficit; a larger CAD in turn typically puts downward pressure on (depreciates) the currency.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish direct trade links with India, following Vasco da Gama's arrival in 1498.

Gandhi renounced the British title 'Kaiser-i-Hind' (awarded for his ambulance work in the Boer War) as part of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

ISRO's principal satellite launch station, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, is located at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The United Nations Headquarters, including the General Assembly, is located in New York City.

Palaeontology is the scientific study of the history of life on Earth through fossils, including extinct animals.

The Richter scale is used to measure the magnitude (energy released) of earthquakes.

Devaraya I of the Vijayanagara Empire recruited skilled Turkish archers and improved his army's mounted archery capability.

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, India's premier police training institution, is located in Hyderabad.

Ashoka belonged to the Maurya dynasty, ruling the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century BCE.

The 1914 Shimla Convention/Accord sought to define the boundary (the McMahon Line) between British India and Tibet.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Pashtun freedom fighter known as 'Frontier Gandhi', was the first foreign national to receive the Bharat Ratna, in 1987.

India and Bangladesh signed the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty in 1996.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected President of the Constituent Assembly of India.

Ankleshwar in Gujarat is well known for the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas.

Unlike rivers such as the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, the Mahanadi does not originate from the Western Ghats — it rises in the Chhattisgarh plains/highlands of central India.

Jammu and Kashmir (Pampore/Kashmir Valley) is India's largest producer of saffron.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is located near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The Dharwar region of Karnataka contains some of the oldest known rock formations (Dharwar Craton) in India.

The Sahara Desert, the world's largest hot desert, is located in Africa.

Rice occupies the largest share of the total cropped/foodgrain area in India.

The Aravalli Range is geologically the oldest mountain range in India (and among the oldest fold mountains in the world).

The south-west monsoon contributes roughly 75-86% (commonly cited as ~86%) of India's total annual rainfall.

The Rock Garden, built by Nek Chand from industrial and urban waste, is located in Chandigarh.

An antigen is a substance that, when introduced into the body, triggers the immune system to produce specific antibodies against it.

Coal is the most important raw material for power generation in India, fuelling the majority of its thermal power plants.

The onion bulb is a modified underground stem (specifically, a modified bud) made of fleshy leaf bases, not a root.

Mumps is a contagious viral infection primarily affecting the salivary glands, caused by the mumps virus.

The joint between the skull (atlas) and the first two cervical vertebrae, allowing head rotation, is a pivot joint.

Ascorbic acid is the chemical name commonly used for Vitamin C.

Per the source's answer key, antibodies are attributed to eosinophils in this question.

Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Insects/organisms that transmit disease-causing pathogens from one host to another are called vectors.

MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a medical imaging technique using magnetic fields and radio waves.

Caffeine is the main active/stimulant constituent found in tea and coffee.

Polythene (polyethylene) is a polymer formed from the monomer ethylene (ethene).

On the pH scale, acidic solutions have a pH value less than 7.

During dehydration, the body typically loses water along with electrolytes such as sodium chloride.

Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide (CO2), used as a cooling agent since it sublimates directly to gas.

Graphite rods act as a moderator in some nuclear reactors, slowing down (thermalising) fast neutrons so they can sustain the fission chain reaction.

Nitrogen (about 78%) is the major constituent gas of Earth's atmosphere.

Dolomite is a carbonate mineral/rock containing both calcium and magnesium.

Being below hydrogen in the reactivity series, silver does not displace hydrogen from dilute hydrochloric acid.

Blotting paper soaks up ink through capillary action, drawing liquid up through its narrow fibre channels.

Sublimation is the direct change of state from solid to gas (or vice versa), without passing through the liquid phase.

A thermoelectric refrigerator uses the Peltier Effect, where passing current through a junction of two different conductors/semiconductors causes heat absorption on one side and release on the other.

Metals conduct electricity well because they contain a 'sea' of free/delocalised electrons that can move and carry charge.

A rectifier diode allows current to flow in only one direction, converting alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC).

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn.

The Sun is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium gas.

The sky appears blue because air molecules scatter shorter-wavelength blue light more than other colours (Rayleigh scattering).

Impulse (force x time) equals change in momentum; since both bodies experience the same force for the same time, they gain equal momentum, regardless of their mass.

Soft iron, which magnetises and demagnetises easily, is the most suitable core material for an electromagnet.

The relative speed is 10 km/hr (2.78 m/s); to cover twice the train length (2L) in 36 s at this relative speed gives 2L = 100 m, so each train is 50 m long.

Using the combined work-rate equations for A, (B+C) and (A+C), B's individual rate works out so that B alone takes 12 hours to complete the work.

Superconductors are materials that, below a critical temperature, offer zero electrical resistance to current flow.

Simple Interest = PRT/100; here 5,400 = P123/100, giving P = Rs. 15,000.

If the son's present age is x, the father's is x+24; in 2 years, x+26 = 2(x+2), solving gives x = 22 years.

Using 30/(15+s) + 30/(15-s) = 4.5 hours and solving for the stream speed s gives s = 5 km/hr.

D is B's father and A is D's brother, so A is B's uncle; since B and C are sisters, A is also C's uncle.

The unit digit of a perfect square can only be 0,1,4,5,6 or 9 — never 8 — so no two-digit number's square ends in 8.

'LEADER' has 6 letters with 'E' repeated twice, so the number of distinct arrangements is 6!/2! = 360.

Flowing West to East, then turning left (North) into a semicircle around the hillock (ending up facing South relative to entry), then turning left again (East turned to South): the river ends up flowing South.

With sum 25 and difference 13, the numbers are 19 and 6; their product is 19*6 = 114.

The Preamble is regarded as reflecting the mind, ideals and basic philosophy of the Constitution's framers.

The Chief Justice of India administers the oath of office to the President (or, in the CJI's absence, the senior-most Supreme Court judge).

The concept of a Welfare State, directing the State to promote social and economic welfare, is embodied in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

The Eleventh Schedule (added by the 73rd Amendment) lists 29 subjects/functions devolved to Panchayats.

The media's right to broadcast news is read as part of the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).

The National Advisory Council was an executive advisory body (not established by the Constitution), unlike bodies such as the Election Commission or UPSC.

Article 87 provides for the President's special address at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year.

Members of a State Public Service Commission are appointed by the Governor of the State.

Dutee Chand is an Indian sprinter known for her achievements in athletics (100m/200m).

Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of India, in consultation with the Collegium.

The Jorwe culture, a Chalcolithic culture, was first identified/discovered in Maharashtra.

Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both former Yahoo employees, co-founded WhatsApp in 2009.

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, the simulation of human intelligence by machines.

Red, Green and Blue (RGB) are the three primary colours of light, which combine additively to form other colours.

Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Western Ghats, is located in Karnataka (Kodagu district).

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the Brahmo Samaj and a pioneer of social reform, is widely called the 'Father of Indian Renaissance'.

Ca(ClO)2 (calcium hypochlorite) is commonly known as bleaching powder.

'Shinyuu Maitri' is a joint military (air force) exercise conducted between India and Japan.

Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kerala, known for its network of backwaters/lagoons and houseboats, is called the 'Venice of the East'.

Krishnadeva Raya's celebrated work 'Amuktamalyada' was composed in Telugu.

The Satapatha Brahmana and Taittiriya Brahmana are Brahmana texts (commentaries) associated with the Yajurveda.

Noonmati, near Guwahati in Assam, is associated with India's petroleum/oil refining industry (site of an early Indian Oil refinery).

The National Unity Award (Rashtriya Ekta Puraskar) has been instituted in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The SARAS Aajeevika Mela, promoting products of rural self-help groups, is organised by the Ministry of Rural Development.

A convex mirror, which gives a wider field of view, is commonly used as the rear-view mirror in vehicles.