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

Concept: The Bahmani kingdom was founded in 1347 by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah with Gulbarga as capital.

1. Ahmad Shah I (Ahmad Shah Wali, 1422–1436) shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar (Muhammadabad).
2. Firuz Shah ruled from Gulbarga before him; Humayun and Mujahid Shah were other sultans.
3. Later the minister Mahmud Gawan built a famous madrasa at Bidar.

Yaad rakhein: Gulbarga → Bidar by Ahmad Shah (A–B: Ahmad → Bidar).

Answer: (C) Ahmad Shah

Concept: The basic structure doctrine was laid down in Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala (1973).

1. A 13-judge bench held (7:6) that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure.
2. Democratic character of the polity, supremacy of the Constitution, secularism, federalism etc. were named as basic features.
3. Sajjan Singh (1965) upheld amendment power; Romesh Thappar (1950) – free speech; A K Gopalan (1950) – preventive detention.

Yaad rakhein: 1973, 13 judges, 7:6 – Kesavananda = Basic Structure.

Answer: (B) Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala

Concept: Dr Padma Subrahmanyam is a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, scholar and choreographer.

1. She developed 'Bharata Nrityam', reconstructing the 108 karanas of the Natya Shastra.
2. In 2015 she was selected for Kerala's Nishagandhi Puraskaram; she also holds the Padma Bhushan (2003).
3. Kathakali – Kerala; Sattriya – Assam; Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh.

Yaad rakhein: Padma Subrahmanyam = Bharatanatyam / Bharata Nrityam.

Answer: (C) Bharatanatyam

Concept: Cytoplasm is the jelly-like fluid matrix that fills the cell between the plasma membrane and the nucleus.

1. Cell organelles (mitochondria, ribosomes, Golgi bodies etc.) are suspended in it.
2. It is the site of many metabolic reactions such as glycolysis.
3. Ribosomes and Golgi bodies are organelles inside the cytoplasm; plasmids are small extra DNA rings in bacteria.

Yaad rakhein: Cyto = cell, plasm = fluid → cytoplasm.

Answer: (C) Cytoplasm

Concept: 'A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time' (2012) is the autobiography of Arjun Singh.

1. Arjun Singh was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Union HRD Minister; the book was co-written with Ashok Chopra.
2. I K Gujral – 'Matters of Discretion'.
3. L K Advani – 'My Country My Life'.

Yaad rakhein: Arjun Singh – Grain of Sand; Advani – My Country My Life; Gujral – Matters of Discretion.

Answer: (B) Arjun Singh

Concept: Nitrogen was discovered by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it 'noxious air'.

1. Scheele and Cavendish isolated it independently around the same time.
2. It is colourless, odourless, tasteless and fairly inert because of the strong $\text{N}\equiv \text{N}$ triple bond; it makes up about $78\%$ of air.
3. Argon was discovered in 1894; fluorine is highly reactive and pale yellow; oxygen supports combustion.

Yaad rakhein: Rutherford 1772 → Nitrogen (Daniel, not Ernest).

Answer: (A) Nitrogen

Concept: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (renamed MGNREGA in 2009) gives a legal right to work.

1. It guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
2. If work is not given within 15 days, an unemployment allowance is payable.
3. The other options have wrong words ('Regional', missing 'Guarantee', 'Mohan').

Yaad rakhein: MGNREGA = Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act – 100 days.

Answer: (C) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Concept: Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter formed when bosons are cooled close to absolute zero.

1. S N Bose sent Einstein his paper on photon statistics in 1924; Einstein extended it to atoms and predicted BEC in 1924–25.
2. BEC was first produced experimentally in 1995 by Cornell and Wieman (Nobel Prize 2001 with Ketterle).
3. Particles called 'bosons' are named after Bose.

Yaad rakhein: Predicted 1924, made in 1995.

Answer: (C) 1924

Concept: Centrioles are cylindrical organelles made of microtubules, found in the centrosome of animal cells.

1. During animal cell division they organise the spindle fibres that separate chromosomes.
2. They also form basal bodies of cilia and flagella.
3. Most higher plant cells lack centrioles; rigidity in plant cells comes from the cell wall.

Yaad rakhein: Centriole → Centre of spindle → animal cell division.

Answer: (B) to help cell division in animal cell

Concept: Terrestrial (inner) planets are small, rocky, dense planets with solid surfaces.

1. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – 4 planets.
2. They lie between the Sun and the asteroid belt.
3. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are Jovian (gas/ice giant) planets.

Yaad rakhein: Inner 4 rocky, outer 4 gassy – 'My Very Easy Method' = Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.

Answer: (C) 4

Concept: Mettur dam is built on the Kaveri (Cauvery) river in Salem district of Tamil Nadu – a South Indian state.

1. Mettur (Stanley Reservoir), completed in 1934 – Kaveri, Tamil Nadu.
2. Rihand – Rihand river, Sonbhadra (Uttar Pradesh); Gandhi Sagar – Chambal (Madhya Pradesh); Tilaiya – Barakar river (Jharkhand). All three are in North/Central/East India.

Yaad rakhein: Mettur = Kaveri = Tamil Nadu (Stanley Reservoir).

Answer: (B) Mettur dam

Concept: 'Before We Visit the Goddess' (2016) is a novel by Indian-American writer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

1. It traces three generations of Bengali women – Sabitri, Bela and Tara.
2. Her other works: The Palace of Illusions, The Mistress of Spices, The Forest of Enchantments.
3. Arundhati Roy – The God of Small Things; Jhumpa Lahiri – The Namesake, The Lowland.

Yaad rakhein: Divakaruni = Goddess / Spices / Palace of Illusions.

Answer: (A) Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Concept: Under Article 111 the Constitution fixes no time limit for the President to act on an ordinary bill; simply keeping it pending indefinitely is called the pocket veto.

1. Absolute veto – assent withheld; the bill ends.
2. Suspensive veto – bill returned for reconsideration; if passed again, assent is compulsory.
3. Pocket veto – no action at all; used by President Zail Singh on the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 1986.

Yaad rakhein: Bill kept in the 'pocket' (pending) = pocket veto. India has no amendatory veto.

Answer: (A) pocket veto of the President

Concept: Census 2011 literacy among Union Territories: Lakshadweep was highest, Dadra and Nagar Haveli lowest.

1. Lakshadweep ≈ $91.8\%$, Daman and Diu ≈ $87.1\%$, Delhi ≈ $86.2\%$.
2. Dadra and Nagar Haveli ≈ $76.2\%$ – lowest among UTs (Bihar was lowest among states).

Yaad rakhein: UT literacy 2011 – top: Lakshadweep, bottom: Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Answer: (B) Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Concept: Huka Falls is on the Waikato River, near Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand.

1. The Waikato, New Zealand's longest river, drains out of Lake Taupo.
2. Here the river is squeezed into a narrow rocky gorge and drops about 11 m, making it a famous tourist spot.

Yaad rakhein: Huka – Waikato – Taupo – New Zealand.

Answer: (C) New Zealand

Concept: Article 110(4): when a money bill goes to the Rajya Sabha and then to the President, it carries the Speaker of the Lok Sabha's certificate that it is a money bill.

1. The Speaker's decision on whether a bill is a money bill is final (Article 110(3)).
2. The President then gives or withholds assent under Article 111; he cannot return a money bill for reconsideration.

Yaad rakhein: Money bill = Lok Sabha only + Speaker's certificate.

Answer: (A) Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Concept: The 5th Khelo India Youth Games 2022 were hosted by Madhya Pradesh (30 January – 11 February 2023).

1. Venues were spread over 8 cities including Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior.
2. Maharashtra topped the medal table; Haryana hosted the 4th edition (2021).

Yaad rakhein: KIYG 2021 – Haryana, 2022 – Madhya Pradesh.

Answer: (A) Madhya Pradesh

Concept: Purandara Dasa (15th–16th century saint-composer of Karnataka) is called the 'Pitamaha' or Father of Carnatic Music.

1. He systematised teaching by framing graded lessons – sarali, janta varisai, alankaras – in raga Mayamalavagowla.
2. The 'Trinity' of Carnatic music is Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri (later period).

Yaad rakhein: Father = Purandara Dasa; Trinity = Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri.

Answer: (B) Purandardas

Concept: Terrestrial (inner) planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – are made of rocks and metals, so they are small, dense and have solid surfaces.

1. Their crust and mantle are silicate rocks; the core is mainly iron–nickel metal.
2. Jovian (outer) planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune – are mostly gases (hydrogen, helium) and ices.

Yaad rakhein: Terrestrial = 'terra' (earth) = rocky + metallic.

Answer: (D) rocks and metals

Concept: Capital expenditure creates assets or reduces liabilities; revenue expenditure is for day-to-day running and creates no asset.

1. Construction of school buildings creates a permanent asset → capital expenditure.
2. Salaries, pensions and subsidies are recurring payments that create no asset → revenue expenditure.

Trick: Ask 'Does it leave behind an asset?' Yes → capital; No → revenue.

Answer: (C) Construction of school buildings