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

Concept: Sir Charles Metcalfe (acting Governor-General, 1835–36) is called the 'Liberator of the Indian Press'.

1. He repealed John Adam's restrictive Licensing Regulations of 1823 through the Press Act of 1835.
2. Lord Lytton passed the Vernacular Press Act (1878) – a gagging act; Lord Ripon later repealed it (1882).

Yaad rakhein: Metcalfe = Liberator of Press (1835); Lytton = Vernacular Press Act; Ripon repealed it.

Answer: (B) Lord Metcalfe

Concept: In Kathakali, the make-up and costume (vesham) shows the nature of the character.

1. There are five main veshams: Pacha (green – noble heroes), Kathi (knife – arrogant villains), Kari (black – demonesses, hunters), Thadi (beard – red, white, black) and Minukku (radiant – women and sages).
2. Hence 5 types.

Yaad rakhein: P-K-K-T-M: Pacha, Kathi, Kari, Thadi, Minukku = 5.

Answer: (C) 5

Concept: In summer a deep lake forms three temperature layers because warm water is lighter than cold water.

1. Epilimnion – warm upper layer, well mixed by wind.
2. Metalimnion (thermocline) – middle layer where temperature falls rapidly with depth.
3. Hypolimnion – cold, dense bottom layer. So these terms describe the thermal stratification of a lake.

Yaad rakhein: Epi = upon (top), Meta = middle, Hypo = below.

Answer: (A) typical thermal stratification of a lake

Concept: Match each maestro with the instrument he is famous for.

1. Hariprasad Chaurasia – flute (bansuri), not sarod.
2. Zakir Hussain – tabla; Bismillah Khan – shehnai.
3. Ustad Sultan Khan – Sarangi – correctly matched.

Yaad rakhein: Chaurasia–Bansuri, Zakir–Tabla, Bismillah–Shehnai, Sultan Khan–Sarangi.

Answer: (D) Sultan Khan – Sarangi

Concept: Pandit Kumar Gandharva (Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath), the Hindustani vocalist of Dewas, also wrote on music.

1. His book 'Anup Rag Vilas' is a collection of his compositions (bandishes) and ragas, including those he created.
2. Pandit Dinkar Kaikini wrote 'Ragas and Taalas'; Birju Maharaj was a Kathak dancer.

Yaad rakhein: Anup Rag Vilas – Kumar Gandharva (Dewas, Malwa folk-inspired singer).

Answer: (C) Pandit Kumar Gandharva

Concept: Water crosses membranes quickly through special protein channels.

1. Aquaporins are integral membrane proteins; four units form a tetramer, each with a pore for water (and some small solutes like glycerol).
2. Immunoglobulins are antibodies, mucins form mucus, transferrin carries iron in blood.

Yaad rakhein: Aqua = water + porin = pore → water channel.

Answer: (B) Aquaporins

Concept: Plant cells have structures that animal cells lack: cell wall, plastids and a large central vacuole.

1. Plastids (chloroplast, chromoplast, leucoplast) occur in plant cells, not in animal cells.
2. Nucleus and cytoplasm are in both; a neuron is a cell type, not an organelle.

Yaad rakhein: Plant-only: Cell wall, Plastids, big Vacuole (CPV).

Answer: (A) Plastids

Concept: The first true battery was built in 1800.

1. Alessandro Volta stacked zinc and copper discs separated by brine-soaked cloth – the voltaic pile, giving a steady current.
2. The SI unit volt is named after him. Ampère – electrodynamics; Oersted – magnetic effect of current (1820).

Yaad rakhein: Volta → voltaic pile → volt.

Answer: (D) Alessandro Volta

Concept: Pandit Ravi Shankar (Bharat Ratna 1999) was the world-famous sitar maestro of the Maihar gharana.

1. He set up the National Orchestra (Vadya Vrinda) of All India Radio and popularised Indian music worldwide.
2. Sarod – Amjad Ali Khan; Flute – Hariprasad Chaurasia; Sarangi – Ram Narayan.

Yaad rakhein: Ravi Shankar & Anoushka Shankar – Sitar.

Answer: (A) Sitar

Concept: The Airports Authority of India (AAI, 1995) manages civil airports and classifies them as international, customs and domestic airports.

1. For 2022, the figure tested in the exam for AAI-listed international airports is 17.
2. Counts differ across sources because some international airports are run by joint ventures or have customs status only.

Yaad rakhein: AAI was formed in 1995 by merging the International Airports Authority and the National Airports Authority.

Answer: (D) 17

Concept: Temsula Ao (1945–2022) was a Naga poet and writer, Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awardee.

1. Her memoir is 'Once Upon a Life: Burnt Curry and Bloody Rags' (2013), about her difficult childhood in Nagaland and Assam.
2. Easterine Kire and Janice Pariat are other North-East writers; Patricia Mukhim is a Shillong journalist.

Yaad rakhein: Temsula Ao – 'These Hills Called Home', 'Laburnum for My Head', memoir 'Once Upon a Life'.

Answer: (D) Temsula Ao

Concept: Check each statement against Articles 131, 129 and 142 and the Arbitration Act.

1. A – correct: Article 131 (original jurisdiction) covers Centre–State and inter-State disputes.
2. B – wrong: a dispute with the Union plus some States on one side and other States on the other also falls under original jurisdiction, not appellate.
3. C – correct: Articles 129 and 142 give the power to punish for contempt.
4. D – wrong: for international commercial arbitration, appointment of arbitrators is sought from the Supreme Court (Section 11 of the Arbitration Act).

Yaad rakhein: Article 131 = Original (federal disputes); 129 = Court of Record (contempt).

Answer: (C) A and C only

Concept: Indian Constitution borrowed features from many constitutions.

1. Directive Principles of State Policy, method of electing the President and nomination of Rajya Sabha members – from Ireland (which in turn took DPSP from Spain).
2. Britain – parliamentary system; USA – Fundamental Rights; USSR – Fundamental Duties.

Yaad rakhein: Ireland → DPSP; USSR → Duties; USA → Rights; UK → Parliament.

Answer: (C) Ireland

Concept: Mitosis stages: prophase → prometaphase → metaphase → anaphase → telophase.

1. In anaphase sister chromatids separate and move to opposite poles, pulled by kinetochore fibres.
2. At the same time non-kinetochore (polar) fibres lengthen and push the poles apart, so the cell elongates.
3. Counting prometaphase as a step, anaphase is the fourth step.

Yaad rakhein: PMAT; 'A' = Apart – chromatids move apart, cell stretches.

Answer: (D) Anaphase

Concept: Cyclic compounds containing a benzene ring are benzenoid aromatic compounds.

1. Aniline (C₆H₅NH₂) has a benzene ring with an amino group – benzenoid.
2. Acetaldehyde, propane and hexane are open-chain (acyclic) compounds.

Yaad rakhein: Benzene ring present → benzenoid (aniline, phenol, toluene).

Answer: (D) Aniline

Concept: Census 2011 religious composition of India.

1. Hindus 79.8%, Muslims 14.2%, Christians 2.3%, Sikhs 1.7%, Buddhists 0.7%, Jains 0.4%.
2. Other Religions and Persuasions formed about 0.7% (0.66%), and 'religion not stated' about 0.2%.

Yaad rakhein: Distractors 2.3, 1.7 and 0.4 are the Christian, Sikh and Jain shares.

Answer: (B) 0.7

Concept: The BWF World Badminton Championships are held almost every year except Olympic years.

1. BWF awarded the 2026 World Championships to India (New Delhi) – the second time after Hyderabad 2009.
2. 2025 edition – Paris, France.

Yaad rakhein: India hosted 2009 (Hyderabad) and gets 2026 (New Delhi).

Answer: (C) India

Concept: India's western coast faces the Arabian Sea and the eastern coast faces the Bay of Bengal.

1. Western coast (north to south): Kachchh–Kathiawar, Konkan, Kanara, Malabar – along the Arabian Sea.
2. Eastern coast: Northern Circars (north) and Coromandel (south) – along the Bay of Bengal.
3. So only b and c.

Yaad rakhein: West: Konkan, Kanara, Malabar; East: Northern Circars, Coromandel.

Answer: (A) Only b and c

Concept: A light year is a unit of distance used in astronomy.

1. Statement 1 – true: it measures distance.
2. Statement 3 – true: it is the distance light travels in vacuum in one Earth year, about $9.46\times {10}^{12}\text{km}$.
3. Statements 2 and 4 – false: it is neither a unit of time nor of light intensity (candela).

Trick: The word 'year' misleads – light year measures distance, not time.

Answer: (C) Only 1 and 3 are correct

Concept: Sugarcane is a tropical cash crop; India is the second-largest producer in the world after Brazil.

1. As per Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022, Uttar Pradesh was the top sugarcane-producing state (around 45% of national output).
2. Maharashtra was second and Karnataka third.

Yaad rakhein: Sugarcane: UP > Maharashtra > Karnataka; Sugar output often led by Maharashtra.

Answer: (C) Uttar Pradesh