SSC CPO Paper I 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 PYQs

Concept: Railway building needs fairly level, stable ground; physical obstacles explain the poor rail network of the North-East.

1. Highly dissected, hilly topography makes laying tracks costly and difficult.
2. Dense forests add to clearing and construction problems.
3. Heavy rainfall, landslides and frequent floods (Brahmaputra valley) damage tracks and bridges.
4. So the physical factors 1, 2 and 4 together are the answer.

Yaad rakhein: N-E rail problem = Hills + Forests + Floods (all physical).

Answer: (D) 1, 2 और 4

Concept: Revenue receipts neither create a liability nor reduce assets of the government; capital receipts do one of the two.

1. Grants-in-aid, fees for services and dividends/profits are revenue receipts (non-tax revenue).
2. Sale of government assets (disinvestment) reduces the government's assets.
3. Therefore it is a capital receipt, not a revenue receipt.

Trick: Asset sale or borrowing = capital receipt; regular income = revenue receipt.

Answer: (B) सरकारी परिसंपत्तियों की बिक्री

Concept: The Indian (Thar) Desert lies to the north-west of the Aravalli hills and is very dry.

1. It receives very low rainfall, below about 150 mm per year, not 500 mm.
2. It has sand dunes and crescent-shaped barchans.
3. It is also called Marusthali; Luni is its only large river.

Yaad rakhein: Thar: west of Aravalli, rainfall below 150 mm, Marusthali.

Answer: (A) इसे प्रति वर्ष 500 mm वर्षा मिलती है।

Concept: Qawwali is a Sufi devotional singing style of the Indian subcontinent.

1. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri Brothers and Aziz Warsi are famous qawwals.
2. Amir Khusrau is regarded as the father of Qawwali.
3. Shabad is Sikh devotional singing; Bhatiali is a boatmen's folk song of Bengal; Bhajan is Hindu devotional song.

Yaad rakhein: Sufi + Khusrau + Nusrat = Qawwali.

Answer: (A) क़व्वाली

Concept: Coulomb's law states that the force between two point charges is $F=\frac{k{q}_1{q}_2}{r^2}$.

1. In 1785 Charles-Augustin de Coulomb measured this force using a calibrated torsion balance.
2. Oersted (1820) found that current produces a magnetic field; Millikan measured the electron's charge (oil-drop).
3. John Michell designed a torsion balance earlier but did not use it for electric charges.

Yaad rakhein: 1785 + torsion balance + charges = Coulomb (unit of charge is also coulomb).

Answer: (D) Charles Augustin Coulomb

Concept: The BLRC was set up by the Ministry of Finance to design a new insolvency and bankruptcy framework.

1. It was constituted in August 2014 under the chairmanship of T. K. Viswanathan.
2. It submitted its report in November 2015.
3. Its recommendations led to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

Yaad rakhein: BLRC 2014 → report 2015 → IBC 2016.

Answer: (C) 2014

Concept: Atoms of the same element (same atomic number Z) with different numbers of neutrons (different mass numbers) are isotopes.

1. Example: hydrogen has protium (0 n), deuterium (1 n) and tritium (2 n), all with 1 proton.
2. Isobars have the same mass number but different atomic numbers (e.g. Ar-40, Ca-40).
3. Isotones have the same number of neutrons; 'isotrones' is not a term.

Trick: isotoPes = same Protons; isotoNes = same Neutrons; isobArs = same mAss number.

Answer: (A) isotopes (समस्थानिक)

Concept: The Constitution is federal in form but has strong unitary features.

1. Federal features: written constitution, division of powers, rigidity, independent judiciary, bicameralism.
2. Unitary features: single citizenship, strong Centre, single constitution, integrated judiciary, all-India services, emergency provisions.
3. India gives only one (Indian) citizenship, unlike the USA's dual citizenship.

Trick: Federal = 'divide & write'; Unitary = 'single' (citizenship, constitution, judiciary).

Answer: (D) एकल नागरिकता

Concept: Mahavir Jayanti marks the birth of Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.

1. It is celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi (March–April).
2. Jains hold processions (rath yatra) and worship at temples and sites like Pawapuri and Girnar.
3. Sikhs celebrate Gurpurabs, Buddhists Buddha Purnima, Parsis Navroz.

Yaad rakhein: Mahavira = 24th Tirthankara = Jains.

Answer: (A) जैन

Concept: Article 76 provides for the Attorney General of India, the highest law officer of the Union.

1. He is appointed by the President and must be qualified to be a Supreme Court judge.
2. Finance Commission – Article 280; UPSC – Article 315; Election Commission – Article 324.
3. The state counterpart, Advocate General, is under Article 165.

Yaad rakhein: 76 → AG (Centre); 165 → Advocate General (State).

Answer: (D) भारत के महान्यायवादी (Attorney General)

Concept: In Köppen's scheme, the cold snow forest (Dfc, taiga) climate occurs only in the large continents of the Northern Hemisphere.

1. It lies between about ${40}^{\circ }$ and ${70}^{\circ }$ N latitude across Europe, Asia and North America.
2. Winters are long and severe; summers are short and mild; coniferous forests dominate.
3. The Southern Hemisphere has no large land mass at these latitudes, so this climate is absent there.

Yaad rakhein: Taiga belt = ${40}^{\circ }$–${70}^{\circ }$ N (north of the temperate zone, south of tundra).

Answer: (A) ${40}^{\circ }$–${70}^{\circ }$

Concept: The Krishna rises near Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra) and flows east to the Bay of Bengal.

1. Right-bank tributaries: Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra.
2. Left-bank tributaries: Bhima, Musi, Munneru, Dindi.
3. Koyna, Ghataprabha and Panchganga are thus standard Krishna tributaries; 'Veena' is the option not in this list.

Yaad rakhein: Krishna's right bank: K-P-G-M-T (Koyna, Panchganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra); left: Bhima, Musi.

Answer: (B) Veena

Concept: Sarhul is the spring festival of the tribes of Jharkhand (Oraon, Munda, Ho), celebrated when sal trees get new leaves and flowers.

1. It marks the start of the new year and worship of nature, especially the sal tree.
2. Karam and Jawa are monsoon-season (Bhado) festivals; Sohrai is a harvest/cattle festival after Diwali.
3. Hence the spring festival linked to sal blossoms is Sarhul.

Trick: Sarhul = Sal + spring.

Answer: (B) सरहुल

Concept: Annapurna Devi (1927–2018) was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana.

1. She was the daughter and disciple of Ustad Allauddin Khan and played the surbahar (bass sitar).
2. She received the Padma Bhushan in 1977.
3. Her disciples included Hariprasad Chaurasia and Nikhil Banerjee; her brother Ali Akbar Khan played the sarod.

Yaad rakhein: Annapurna Devi = Surbahar; brother Ali Akbar Khan = Sarod.

Answer: (D) सुरबहार

Concept: Most Indian workers remain in agriculture because enough jobs have not been created in the secondary and tertiary sectors.

1. Industry and services have grown in output but have not absorbed labour at the same pace.
2. So surplus workers stay on farms, causing disguised (hidden) unemployment.
3. Returns in agriculture are actually low, so options A and D are not the reason.

Yaad rakhein: Too many on farms + too few factory/service jobs = disguised unemployment.

Answer: (C) अन्य क्षेत्रक कृषि से लोगों को नहीं खपा पाते

Concept: Agra as a capital city was founded by Sultan Sikandar Lodi of the Lodi dynasty.

1. He founded Agra around 1504 and shifted his capital there from Delhi.
2. Babur came later (1526); Akbar built the Agra Fort (red sandstone) in the 1560s.
3. Raja Bhoj was a Paramara king of Malwa, unrelated to Agra's foundation.

Yaad rakhein: Sikandar Lodi = Agra's founder; Akbar = Agra Fort builder.

Answer: (D) सिकंदर लोदी

Concept: Deuterium (heavy hydrogen, ${}^2\text{H}$) is the hydrogen isotope with one neutron.

1. Harold C. Urey discovered deuterium in 1931 by spectroscopy of evaporated liquid hydrogen.
2. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for this discovery.
3. Aston worked on isotopes using the mass spectrograph; Seaborg on transuranium elements; Haber on ammonia synthesis.

Yaad rakhein: Urey = heavy hydrogen (D); Haber = ammonia; Seaborg = transuranics.

Answer: (C) Harold C Urey

Concept: Babur founded the Mughal Empire after defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526).

1. In this battle Babur first used gunpowder artillery (cannons and matchlocks) effectively in India.
2. His gunners Ustad Ali and Mustafa handled the guns, combined with the Tulughma flanking tactic.
3. Khanwa (1527), Chanderi (1528) and Ghaghra (1529) came later.

Trick: Panipat-I 1526 → Khanwa 1527 → Chanderi 1528 → Ghaghra 1529 (first = first use of guns).

Answer: (B) पानीपत का प्रथम युद्ध

Concept: The Asian Wrestling Championships began in 1979.

1. The first edition was held at Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
2. It was organised under the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee, the forerunner of today's continental body.
3. Later editions have been held in Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, India and other countries.

Yaad rakhein: First Asian Wrestling Championships: 1979, Jalandhar.

Answer: (C) जालंधर, भारत

Concept: Match each musician with his instrument.

1. Nikhil Banerjee (1931–1986) was a leading sitar maestro of the Maihar gharana, a disciple of Allauddin Khan and Annapurna Devi.
2. Zakir Hussain is a tabla player.
3. Hariprasad Chaurasia is a bansuri (flute) player.

Yaad rakhein: Sitar: Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee; Tabla: Zakir Hussain; Flute: Chaurasia.

Answer: (D) निखिल बनर्जी