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

Concept: The Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline was India's first cross-state natural gas pipeline (1980s).

1. GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd., founded 1984) was set up mainly to build, operate and maintain the HVJ pipeline.
2. It carries gas from Hazira (Gujarat) through Vijaipur (MP) to Jagdishpur (UP), feeding fertiliser and power plants.
3. ONGC explores and produces gas; it does not run the HVJ line.

Yaad rakhein: HVJ = GAIL's first big project.

Answer: (C) Gas Authority of India (GAIL)

Concept: Mawsynram, in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, records about 11,800 mm rainfall a year – the highest in the world.

1. Moist Bay of Bengal monsoon winds are trapped by the funnel-shaped Khasi hills and forced to rise, giving very heavy orographic rain.
2. Cherrapunji (Sohra), also in the Khasi Hills, is nearby.
3. Patkai and Mishmi hills are in the north-east but are not where Mawsynram lies; Rajmahal hills are in Jharkhand.

Yaad rakhein: Meghalaya hills west to east: Garo – Khasi – Jaintia; Mawsynram and Cherrapunji = Khasi.

Answer: (D) Khasi Hills

Concept: The Paramahansa Mandali was a secret reform society founded in 1849 in Maharashtra (Bombay).

1. It was started by Dadoba Pandurang and others, with branches in Poona, Satara and other towns.
2. It opposed caste rules and Brahmanical orthodoxy, believed in one God and encouraged widow remarriage and education.
3. Brahmo Samaj began in Bengal; Arya Samaj was founded in Bombay (1875) by Dayanand but grew in Punjab; Ramakrishna Mission in Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: Maharashtra reform: Paramahansa Mandali (1849) → Prarthana Samaj (1867).

Answer: (B) Paramahansa Mandali

Concept: Water was long thought to be an element. Henry Cavendish showed it is a compound.

1. Cavendish burnt "inflammable air" (hydrogen, which he discovered in 1766) with oxygen and obtained water; he published the result in 1784.
2. He showed that two volumes of hydrogen combine with one volume of oxygen.
3. Priestley discovered oxygen (1774); Dalton gave atomic theory; H.C. Brown was a 20th-century chemist.

Yaad rakhein: Cavendish: discovered hydrogen and the composition of water.

Answer: (A) Henry Cavendish

Concept: Stratification is the vertical layering of plants in a forest according to height.

1. Tall trees occupy the top vertical stratum (canopy).
2. Shrubs form the middle stratum, and herbs and grasses the bottom stratum.
3. Hence trees fall under the top vertical stratum.

Yaad rakhein: Height order: Trees (top) – Shrubs (middle) – Herbs (bottom).

Answer: (B) Top vertical

Concept: Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A, Article 51A) were not in the original Constitution.

1. The Sardar Swaran Singh Committee (1976) recommended them.
2. They were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 (10 duties); the 11th was added by the 86th Amendment, 2002.
3. Balwant Rai Mehta – Panchayati Raj; L.M. Singhvi – revitalising PRIs; Bibek Debroy – railway restructuring.

Yaad rakhein: Duties: Swaran Singh (1976) → 42nd Amendment → Art. 51A, idea from USSR.

Answer: (D) Sardar Swaran Singh Committee

Concept: Moment of inertia (I) is the rotational analogue of mass: it measures how hard it is to change a body's rotation about an axis.

1. For a point mass $m$ at distance $r$ from the axis, $I=m{r}^2$.
2. For many particles, $I=\sum m_i{r}_i^2$; SI unit ${\text{kg m}}^2$.
3. Other options have wrong dimensions, e.g. $\frac{m}{r^2}$ or $2mr$.

Yaad rakhein: Mass × (distance)${}^2$ – distance is squared, mass is not.

Answer: (A) $I=m{r}^2$

Concept: Several Articles link the Prime Minister and the President; among the options only Article 75 is relevant.

1. Article 75: the President appoints the Prime Minister, and other ministers on the PM's advice; ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President.
2. (Article 74 – Council of Ministers to aid and advise the President; Article 78 – duties of PM to inform the President.)
3. Article 45 – early childhood care; Article 25 – freedom of religion; Article 35 – power of Parliament to legislate on FRs.

Yaad rakhein: PM–President links: Art. 74, 75, 78.

Answer: (D) Article 75

Concept: At the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (held in 2021), India won 7 medals – its best Olympic tally then.

1. Medals: 1 gold (Neeraj Chopra, javelin), 2 silver (Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Dahiya), 4 bronze.
2. With this, India finished 48th in the medal table.
3. The USA topped the table, followed by China.

Yaad rakhein: Tokyo 2020: 7 medals, rank 48; Paris 2024: 6 medals, rank 71.

Answer: (B) 48

Concept: The All-India Muslim League was formed on 30 December 1906 at Dhaka.

1. It was founded under the leadership of Aga Khan III and Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, during the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference.
2. It followed the Partition of Bengal (1905) and the Simla deputation (October 1906).
3. 1909 is the year of the Morley–Minto reforms (separate electorates); 1916 – Lucknow Pact.

Yaad rakhein: 1905 Partition → 1906 Muslim League → 1909 separate electorates.

Answer: (C) 1906

Concept: The Yamuna rises at Yamunotri glacier and joins the Ganga at Prayagraj.

1. Tons – its largest Himalayan tributary, joins near Kalsi (Uttarakhand).
2. Hindon – flows through western UP (Ghaziabad).
3. Chambal – right-bank tributary from the Malwa plateau; joins in Etawah. Other tributaries: Sindh, Betwa, Ken.

Yaad rakhein: Yamuna tributaries: Tons, Hindon, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken.

Answer: (A) Yamuna

Concept: Prabhat Sarma (1917–2008) of Assam was a noted flautist and music composer.

1. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to the flute and to Assamese music.
2. He composed music for Assamese films and worked with All India Radio, Guwahati.
3. Ghatam is a clay-pot percussion of Carnatic music; tabla and sarangi are not linked to him.

Yaad rakhein: Prabhat Sarma – Assam – Flute (bansuri).

Answer: (B) Flute

Concept: Mehrangarh Fort stands on a rocky hill about 120 m above Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

1. It was founded by Rao Jodha of the Rathore dynasty in 1459.
2. Jaipur has Amer, Nahargarh and Jaigarh forts; Bikaner has Junagarh fort.
3. Kota is known for Garh Palace, not Mehrangarh.

Yaad rakhein: Jodhpur = Rao Jodha = Mehrangarh (Blue City).

Answer: (C) Jodhpur

Concept: In field hockey (FIH rules), the umpire uses three cards for misconduct.

1. Green card – temporary suspension of 2 minutes of playing time.
2. Yellow card – temporary suspension of at least 5 minutes of playing time.
3. Red card – permanent suspension from the match.

Yaad rakhein: Hockey cards: Green 2 min, Yellow 5 min (minimum), Red – out.

Answer: (A) 5 minutes

Concept: Comparative advantage means a country produces a good at a lower opportunity cost than others.

1. After 1991, trade liberalisation reduced tariffs and opened Indian industry to global competition, technology and inputs.
2. This raised efficiency, so India's comparative advantage improved in medium-to-high technology goods (engineering, chemicals, pharma, automobiles).
3. Imports, fuel efficiency or labour intensity are not the gain described here.

Yaad rakhein: Liberalisation → competition + technology → comparative advantage.

Answer: (D) comparative advantage

Concept: The Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974–79), drafted by D.P. Dhar, made removal of poverty (Garibi Hatao) and self-reliance its chief objectives.

1. It was the first plan to place poverty removal as a main goal; the Minimum Needs Programme was introduced.
2. It was ended a year early (1978) by the Janata government, which started Rolling Plans.
3. The Sixth Plan (1980–85) also aimed at poverty, through IRDP, but came later.

Yaad rakhein: 5th Plan = Garibi Hatao + Aatmanirbharta.

Answer: (D) Fifth Five-year Plan

Concept: Thiamine (vitamin B1) was the first B vitamin to be identified.

1. In 1897 Christiaan Eijkman found that polished rice caused beriberi in chickens and that rice bran prevented it – the factor was thiamine.
2. As thiamine pyrophosphate it acts as a coenzyme in carbohydrate and amino-acid metabolism and energy production.
3. Riboflavin is B2, biotin B7, folate B9 – all discovered later.

Yaad rakhein: B1 = Thiamine = first; deficiency → Beriberi.

Answer: (C) Thiamine

Concept: Surajkund International Crafts Mela is held every February at Surajkund, Faridabad (Haryana).

1. It began in 1987 and brings together potters, weavers, embroiderers, wood carvers, metal and stone workers and painters from across India.
2. Each year a "theme state" displays its culture and achievements.
3. Shamlaji Fair is in Gujarat; Chitra Vichitra Fair is a tribal fair of Gujarat; Kapil Muni Fair is linked with Rajasthan/Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: Haryana + February + crafts = Surajkund Mela.

Answer: (D) Surajkund Mela

Concept: Each five-year plan covers five years; the 12th Plan was the last one.

1. The 11th Plan ran 2007–2012, so the 12th Plan ran 2012–2017.
2. Its theme was "Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth", with a growth target of 8%.
3. After it, NITI Aayog (formed 2015) replaced the planning system with vision documents.

Yaad rakhein: 12th Plan: 2012–17, last plan; then NITI Aayog.

Answer: (A) 2012 - 2017

Concept: Manisha Kalyan is an Indian women's football player from Punjab.

1. She became the first Indian woman footballer to play in the AFC Women's Club Championship / Champions League, for Apollon Ladies (Cyprus).
2. She was named AIFF Women's Emerging Footballer and later AIFF Women's Footballer of the Year (2021–22).
3. She is not linked with hockey, cricket or chess.

Yaad rakhein: Manisha Kalyan – Football – Apollon Ladies (Cyprus).

Answer: (A) Football