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

Concept: The word 'electricity' comes from the Greek word for amber.

1. Thales of Miletus (about 600 BC) noticed that amber rubbed with fur attracts light objects like feathers (static electricity).
2. Greek ēlektron = amber; William Gilbert later coined 'electricus'.
3. Ebonite, charge and negative are not meanings of the word.

Yaad rakhein: Rubbed amber (elektron) attracts → electricity; the 'electron' is named after it.

Answer: (C) Amber

Concept: The Ramayana was retold in many Indian languages.

1. Kamban (12th century, Chola period) wrote Ramavataram (Kamba Ramayanam) in Tamil.
2. Telugu – Ranganatha Ramayanam; Malayalam – Adhyatma Ramayanam (Ezhuthachan); Kannada – Torave Ramayana (Narahari).
3. Bengali – Krittivas; Hindi (Awadhi) – Tulsidas.

Yaad rakhein: Kamban → Tamil; Krittivas → Bengali; Tulsidas → Awadhi.

Answer: (C) Tamil

Concept: 'Jana Gana Mana' was composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali.

1. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.
2. The Constituent Assembly adopted it as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950.
3. Full version takes about 52 seconds.

Yaad rakhein: 1911 – Calcutta session – Jana Gana Mana; 1896 Calcutta session – Vande Mataram sung by Tagore.

Answer: (A) Calcutta

Concept: Larins Sahib is a play about Henry Lawrence, the British Resident in Punjab after the Anglo-Sikh wars.

1. It was the first play of Gurcharan Das (former CEO of Procter & Gamble India).
2. It won the Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Award in 1970.
3. Das is also known for 'India Unbound' and 'The Difficulty of Being Good'.

Yaad rakhein: Gurcharan Das: Larins Sahib (play) + India Unbound (economy).

Answer: (B) Gurcharan Das

Concept: Bathukamma and Bonalu are the official state festivals of Telangana.

1. Bathukamma is a floral festival celebrated by women during Navratri, honouring Goddess Gauri.
2. Bonalu is celebrated in Ashadha month in Hyderabad–Secunderabad, offering 'bonam' to Goddess Mahakali.
3. Kerala – Onam; Tamil Nadu – Pongal; Karnataka – Mysuru Dasara.

Yaad rakhein: Flowers (Bathukamma) + Bonam pots (Bonalu) → Telangana.

Answer: (B) Telangana

Concept: The RBI Act, 1934 lays down the constitution, powers and management of the Reserve Bank.

1. Section 7 (Management) allows the Central Government, after consulting the RBI Governor, to give directions to the Bank 'necessary in the public interest'; the general superintendence then vests in the Central Board.
2. It was never invoked until the government initiated consultations under it in 2018.
3. Section 3 – establishment of the RBI; Section 8 – composition of the Central Board.

Yaad rakhein: Section 7 = 'government's directions to RBI' – in the news in 2018.

Answer: (C) Section 7

Concept: 'We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World' was published in January 2019.

1. It is written by Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace laureate (2014).
2. It tells her own story of displacement and those of refugee girls she met.
3. Her earlier book is 'I Am Malala' (2013).

Yaad rakhein: Malala's books: I Am Malala (2013), Malala's Magic Pencil (2017), We Are Displaced (2019).

Answer: (B) Malala Yousafzai

Concept: Kalinjar Fort stands on a hill in the Vindhya range in Bundelkhand.

1. It is in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, near Khajuraho.
2. It was a Chandela stronghold; Mahmud of Ghazni and Qutb-ud-din Aibak attacked it, and Sher Shah Suri died during its siege (1545).
3. Hence its strategic importance in medieval times.

Yaad rakhein: Kalinjar → Banda (UP) → Chandelas → Sher Shah's death (1545).

Answer: (A) Uttar Pradesh

Concept: At Partition (1947) Pakistan had two wings – West Pakistan and East Bengal (renamed East Pakistan in 1955).

1. Discontent over language (Bhasha Andolan, 1952) and political neglect led to the Liberation War of 1971.
2. Bangladesh declared independence on 26 March 1971; Pakistani forces surrendered on 16 December 1971.
3. So Bangladesh was part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971.

Yaad rakhein: 16 December = Vijay Diwas (India) = Victory Day (Bangladesh), 1971.

Answer: (D) 1947; 1971

Concept: TISCO was India's first large integrated private-sector iron and steel plant.

1. Founded by Jamsetji Tata's vision and set up by Dorabji Tata in 1907 at Sakchi, now Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), on the Subarnarekha–Kharkai confluence.
2. Rourkela (German help), Bhilai (Soviet help) and Durgapur (British help) are public-sector SAIL plants.
3. Hence Jamshedpur.

Yaad rakhein: Private TISCO – Jamshedpur (1907); SAIL trio: Rourkela–Germany, Bhilai–USSR, Durgapur–UK.

Answer: (D) Jamshedpur

Concept: Chemical symbols are one or two letters, usually from the English or Latin name of the element.

1. Arsenic (atomic number 33) is a metalloid of Group 15; its symbol is As.
2. Ac = Actinium, Ar = Argon; 'An' is not the symbol of any element.

Yaad rakhein: Ar-se-nic → first two letters As; do not confuse with Ar (Argon).

Answer: (C) As

Concept: 'India Wins Freedom' is the autobiographical account of the freedom struggle by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

1. Maulana Azad, Congress President (1940–46) and India's first Education Minister, wrote it; it was published in 1959.
2. Gandhi's autobiography is 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth', not this book.

Yaad rakhein: Azad = Azadi (Freedom) → 'India Wins Freedom'.

Answer: (C) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Concept: Power is the rate of doing work: $P=\frac{W}{t}$.

1. Work $W=F\times s$, so $P=\frac{F\times s}{t}$.
2. Since $\frac{s}{t}=v$ (velocity), $P=F\times v$.

Trick: Power = Force × Velocity, i.e. $P=Fv$ (unit: watt).

Answer: (B) Velocity

Concept: A stupa is a hemispherical mound enshrining relics; its main parts are the Medhi (base), Anda (dome), Harmika and Chhatra.

1. Harmika is the square, railed platform on top of the dome, from which the umbrella (chhatra) rises.
2. Gopuram, Garbhagriha and Mandapam are parts of Hindu temple architecture.

Yaad rakhein: Stupa from bottom to top: Medhi → Anda → Harmika → Chhatra.

Answer: (B) Harmika

Concept: Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess Grandmaster from Andhra Pradesh.

1. In 2002 she became the youngest woman Grandmaster at that time (aged 15).
2. She won the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship in 2019.

Yaad rakhein: Indian women chess stars: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli.

Answer: (B) Chess

Concept: The southern-most tip of mainland India is Kanyakumari (about $8^{\circ }$N); the city with the highest latitude among the options is the farthest.

1. Approx. latitudes: Kodaikanal ${10}^{\circ }$N, Bengaluru ${13}^{\circ }$N, Warangal ${18}^{\circ }$N, Nanded ${19}^{\circ }$N.
2. Nanded (Maharashtra) lies farthest north, so it is farthest from Kanyakumari.

Trick: Kodaikanal and Bengaluru are in the south; between Warangal and Nanded, Nanded lies further north.

Answer: (B) Nanded

Concept: Frequency = number of oscillations per second, measured in hertz; $1\text{kHz}=1000\text{Hz}$.

1. 10 oscillations per second $\Rightarrow f=10\text{Hz}$.
2. $f=\frac{10}{1000}\text{kHz}=0.01\text{kHz}$.

Trick: Hz → kHz: divide by 1000 (shift the decimal 3 places left).

Answer: (D) $0.01$

Concept: Many major cities of the Gangetic plain lie on the Ganga, but some lie on its tributaries.

1. Kanpur, Prayagraj and Patna are on the banks of the Ganga.
2. Lucknow lies on the river Gomti, a tributary of the Ganga, so it is not on the Ganga's path.

Yaad rakhein: Lucknow – Gomti; Kanpur – Ganga; Prayagraj – Ganga–Yamuna Sangam.

Answer: (B) Lucknow

Concept: Barabati Stadium is an international cricket stadium in Cuttack, Odisha.

1. It is named after the nearby Barabati Fort of Cuttack.
2. It has hosted ODIs and T20 internationals.

Yaad rakhein: Barabati – Cuttack – Odisha (all three together).

Answer: (C) Odisha

Concept: A more reactive metal displaces a less reactive metal from its salt solution.

1. Iron is more reactive than copper: $\text{Fe}+{\text{CuSO}}_4\to {\text{FeSO}}_4+\text{Cu}$.
2. The displaced copper deposits on the nail, giving it a brownish (reddish-brown) coat; the blue solution turns pale green.

Yaad rakhein: Nail turns brown, solution turns green (NCERT Class 10 activity).

Answer: (D) brownish