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

Concept: Many banks have well-known taglines that are asked often in SSC exams.

1. Punjab National Bank (PNB) uses the slogan ‘The Name You Can BANK Upon’.
2. SBI: ‘The Banker to Every Indian’ / ‘Pure Banking, Nothing Else’; HDFC Bank: ‘We Understand Your World’.
3. Canara Bank: ‘Together We Can’.

Yaad rakhein: PNB = ‘Name you can Bank upon’ – both start with N/B sounds: Name … Bank.

Answer: (C) Punjab National Bank

Concept: The Malabar Coast is the south-western coast of India (mainly Kerala).

1. Muziris (near present-day Kodungallur/Pattanam, Kerala) was the chief port of the Chera kingdom on the Malabar Coast, famous for the pepper trade with Rome.
2. Barygaza (Bharuch) was in Gujarat; Palur was on the Odisha coast; Tamralipti (Tamluk) was in Bengal – all east or north-west, not Malabar.

Yaad rakhein: Muziris – Kerala – pepper – Romans (Sangam age).

Answer: (A) Muziris

Concept: Good Governance Day (Sushasan Diwas) is observed on 25 December every year since 2014.

1. 25 December is the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
2. The day promotes accountability and transparency in government.
3. Ambedkar’s birthday (14 April) is Ambedkar Jayanti; JP Narayan’s is 11 October.

Yaad rakhein: 25 December = Christmas = Vajpayee Jayanti = Good Governance Day.

Answer: (A) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Concept: In the first ICC World T20 (2007, South Africa), Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in one over.

1. On 19 September 2007 at Durban (India vs England), Yuvraj Singh hit Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes.
2. It was the first such over in a T20 International; Yuvraj also made a 12-ball fifty in that match.
3. India went on to win that tournament under MS Dhoni.

Yaad rakhein: Yuvraj – 6 sixes – Broad – Durban 2007.

Answer: (D) Stuart Broad

Concept: Three states were created in 1987 in this order.

1. Mizoram – 23rd state (20 February 1987).
2. Arunachal Pradesh – 24th state (20 February 1987).
3. Goa – 25th state (30 May 1987).
4. Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh came in 2000; Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya in 1972.

Yaad rakhein: 1987 = M-A-G (Mizoram, Arunachal, Goa) = 23-24-25.

Answer: (A) Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa

Concept: The Palk Strait lies between Tamil Nadu (India) and northern Sri Lanka.

1. The Gulf of Mannar lies just south of the Palk Strait/Palk Bay, separated by Adam’s Bridge (Rama Setu) and Rameswaram island.
2. Mahim Creek is in Mumbai, Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat and Chilika Lake in Odisha – all far away.

Yaad rakhein: North to south: Palk Strait → Palk Bay → Rama Setu → Gulf of Mannar.

Answer: (B) Gulf of Mannar

Concept: India’s medal tally at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

1. Silver (2): Vijay Kumar (shooting), Sushil Kumar (wrestling).
2. Bronze (4): Gagan Narang (shooting), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Mary Kom (boxing), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling).
3. Total $=2+4=6$ medals (no gold).

Yaad rakhein: London 2012 = 2 silver + 4 bronze = 6 (India’s best until Tokyo 2020’s 7).

Answer: (B) 6

Concept: The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

1. COP-11 of the CBD was held in Hyderabad, India, in October 2012.
2. India held the COP presidency for two years after that meeting.
3. COP-10 (2010) was at Nagoya, Japan (Nagoya Protocol).

Yaad rakhein: CBD: COP-10 Nagoya (2010) → COP-11 Hyderabad (2012).

Answer: (D) Hyderabad

Concept: The Ease of Living Index ranks Indian cities on quality of life, economic ability and sustainability.

1. It is released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA); first edition in 2018.
2. The same ministry also releases the Municipal Performance Index.
3. It is linked to urban missions such as the Smart Cities Mission.

Yaad rakhein: Cities ranking → Urban ministry (MoHUA).

Answer: (B) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

Concept: Mohan Ukkrapandian is an Indian sportsperson from Tamil Nadu.

1. He is a volleyball player who has represented India in international tournaments.
2. He received the Arjuna Award in 2020 for volleyball.

Yaad rakhein: Ukkrapandian – Arjuna Award 2020 – Volleyball.

Answer: (C) Volleyball

Concept: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was founded in 2001.

1. India and Pakistan became full members in June 2017 at the Astana (Kazakhstan) summit.
2. India had been an observer since 2005; the process of admission began at Ufa in 2015 and Tashkent in 2016.
3. Iran joined later in 2023.

Yaad rakhein: SCO: observer 2005 → full member 2017 (Astana, with Pakistan).

Answer: (D) 2017

Concept: FIFA World Cup hosts are frequently asked.

1. The 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar (November–December 2022) – the first in the Arab world.
2. Argentina won it; 2018 was in Russia and 2026 is in USA, Canada and Mexico.

Yaad rakhein: 2018 Russia → 2022 Qatar → 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico.

Answer: (A) Qatar

Concept: Each ${15}^{\circ }$ of longitude equals 1 hour of time.

1. IST is based on the ${82.5}^{\circ }$ E meridian, passing near Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh).
2. Time difference with GMT $=\frac{82.5}{15}=5.5$ hours, so IST = GMT + 5:30.

Trick: ${82.5}^{\circ }\text{E}÷15=5.5$ h → IST is GMT + 5 h 30 min.

Answer: (B) $82.5$

Concept: The atomic mass unit (amu/u) is defined using the carbon-12 isotope.

1. $1\text{u}=\frac{1}{12}\times$ mass of one C-12 atom $\approx 1.66\times {10}^{-27}\text{kg}$.
2. C-12 was adopted as the standard in 1961 (replacing O-16); H-1 was an earlier standard.

Yaad rakhein: amu = one-twelfth of C-12 – the ‘12’ appears twice.

Answer: (A) C-12

Concept: Lal Bahadur Shastri was India’s second Prime Minister.

1. He took office on 9 June 1964 after Nehru’s death.
2. He died in Tashkent on 11 January 1966, after signing the Tashkent Agreement – so his term was 1964 to 1966.
3. 1977–79 was Morarji Desai; 1980–84 Indira Gandhi.

Yaad rakhein: Shastri: ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, 1965 war, PM 1964–66.

Answer: (C) 1964; 1966

Concept: Sati was abolished by the Bengal Sati Regulation (Regulation XVII) of 4 December 1829.

1. It was passed under Governor-General Lord William Bentinck, supported by Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
2. Lord Auckland (1836–42), Ellenborough (1842–44) and Metcalfe (1835–36, acting) came later.

Yaad rakhein: Bentinck 1829 – Sati abolished; also suppression of Thuggee.

Answer: (D) Lord William Bentinck

Concept: ‘Those Days’ is the English translation of the Bengali novel Sei Samay.

1. Sei Samay was written by Sunil Gangopadhyay and won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985.
2. It is set in 19th-century Calcutta (Bengal Renaissance); Aruna Chakravarti translated it into English.
3. Its sequel is Pratham Alo (‘First Light’).

Yaad rakhein: Sei Samay = Those Days = Sunil Gangopadhyay.

Answer: (A) Sunil Gangopadhyay

Concept: India was one of the original (founding) members of the United Nations.

1. India signed the UN Charter at San Francisco on 26 June 1945.
2. India ratified the Charter on 30 October 1945, just after the UN came into being on 24 October 1945.

Yaad rakhein: UN Day 24 Oct 1945 → India ratified 30 Oct 1945.

Answer: (C) October 1945

Concept: Aryabhata was India’s first satellite, built by ISRO.

1. It was launched on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar (USSR) on a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket.
2. It was named after the 5th-century mathematician Aryabhata.
3. Bhaskara-I followed in 1979.

Yaad rakhein: Aryabhata – 1975 – Soviet rocket; Rohini (1980) – first by an Indian rocket (SLV-3).

Answer: (D) 1975

Concept: Tropism is directional growth of a plant part in response to a stimulus.

1. Response to gravity = geotropism (gravitropism): roots grow down (positive), shoots grow up (negative).
2. Phototropism – light; hydrotropism – water; chemotropism – chemicals (e.g. pollen tube).

Yaad rakhein: Geo = Earth → gravity.

Answer: (B) geotropism