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

Concept: A joint sector industry is jointly owned and run by the government and private parties.

1. Oil India Limited was formed in 1959 as a joint venture between the Government of India and Burmah Oil Company (private).
2. Dabur and TISCO (Tata Steel) are private sector; NALCO is a public sector undertaking.

Yaad rakhein: Joint = Government + private → Oil India (GoI + Burmah Oil).

Answer: (C) Oil India Limited

Concept: Chapter V of Part VI of the Constitution deals with the High Courts in the States.

1. Article 214: 'There shall be a High Court for each State.'
2. Art. 124 – Supreme Court; Art. 245 – extent of laws made by Parliament and State Legislatures; Art. 275 – grants-in-aid from the Union.

Yaad rakhein: SC starts at Art. 124; HC starts at Art. 214 (difference 90).

Answer: (A) Article 214

Concept: Celsius and Fahrenheit are related by $\frac{C}{5}=\frac{F-32}{9}$ (water freezes at $0^{\circ }\text{C}={32}^{\circ }\text{F}$, boils at ${100}^{\circ }\text{C}={212}^{\circ }\text{F}$).

1. $F-32=59-32=27$
2. $C=\frac{5}{9}\times 27=15$
3. So ${59}^{\circ }\text{F}={15}^{\circ }\text{C}$.

Yaad rakhein: Subtract 32, then take $\frac{5}{9}$: $27\times \frac{5}{9}=15$. Also $-{40}^{\circ }$ is the same on both scales.

Answer: (C) ${15}^{\circ }\text{C}$

Concept: NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023 compares poverty headcount in states and UTs (NFHS-5, 2019–21).

1. Among the options, Puducherry has the lowest share of multidimensionally poor people (under 1%).
2. Lakshadweep, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir have higher headcount ratios than Puducherry.

Yaad rakhein: MPI 2023 – lowest poverty: Kerala (state), Puducherry (UT).

Answer: (D) Puducherry

Concept: Under Article 154, the executive power of the State is vested in the Governor.

1. The Governor is the constitutional (nominal) chief executive head of the State; all executive action is taken in his name.
2. The Chief Minister is the real executive head; the President and PM are heads at the Union level.

Yaad rakhein: State: Governor (nominal) + CM (real); Union: President + PM.

Answer: (B) Governor

Concept: India's first National Sports Policy came in the 1980s, after the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.

1. A resolution on the National Sports Policy was laid in both Houses of Parliament for the first time in 1984.
2. It was later revised as the National Sports Policy 2001.

Yaad rakhein: Sports Policy: 1984 first, 2001 revised.

Answer: (C) 1984

Concept: Fundamental Duties were not in the original Constitution; they were added on a committee's advice during the Emergency.

1. The Swaran Singh Committee (1976) recommended them; the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted Part IV-A (Article 51A).
2. Ashok Mehta Committee – Panchayati Raj (1977); Nehru Committee – constitution draft (1928).

Yaad rakhein: Duties – Swaran Singh – 1976 – 42nd Amendment.

Answer: (D) Swaran Singh Committee

Concept: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (1926–2004) of Odisha is credited with reviving Odissi.

1. He was a legendary Odissi dancer and guru, awarded the Padma Vibhushan (2000).
2. Bharatanatyam – e.g., Rukmini Devi Arundale; Kathak – Birju Maharaj; Manipuri – Guru Bipin Singh.

Yaad rakhein: Kelucharan Mohapatra – Odissi; Birju Maharaj – Kathak.

Answer: (C) Odissi

Concept: The 67th National Film Awards (for films of 2019) were presented in October 2021.

1. B Praak won Best Male Playback Singer for 'Teri Mitti' from the film Kesari.
2. Savani Ravindra won Best Female Playback Singer at the same awards.

Yaad rakhein: 67th NFA – B Praak – 'Teri Mitti' (Kesari).

Answer: (A) B Praak

Concept: Those Pricey Thakur Girls (2013) is a novel about the five Thakur sisters of Delhi.

1. It was written by Anuja Chauhan, also known for The Zoya Factor and Battle for Bittora.
2. Anita Nair wrote Ladies Coupé; Pratibha Ray wrote Yajnaseni; Preeti Shenoy wrote Life Is What You Make It.

Yaad rakhein: Anuja Chauhan – Zoya Factor, Thakur Girls.

Answer: (A) Anuja Chauhan

Concept: National income counts only the value of final goods and services. Intermediate goods are used up in producing other goods, so their value is already inside the price of the final good.

1. Example: wheat → flour → bread. The price of bread already includes the value of flour and wheat.
2. Adding wheat, flour and bread together would count the same value two or three times (double counting).
3. So economists use either final-goods value or the value-added method (sum of value added at each stage).

Yaad rakhein: Intermediate = already counted inside final; leave it out to avoid double counting.

Answer: (A) For the prevention of double accounting.

Concept: Mohiniyattam is the graceful solo classical dance of Kerala, traditionally performed by women.

1. Sunanda Nair is a well-known Mohiniyattam dancer and teacher (trained under Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma's tradition).
2. Sitara Devi and Pandit Birju Maharaj are legends of Kathak.
3. Damayanti Joshi was also a noted Kathak dancer.

Yaad rakhein: Mohiniyattam names: Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, Sunanda Nair, Bharati Shivaji, Gopika Varma.

Answer: (D) Sunanda Nair

Concept: Some Indian classical musicians adapted Western instruments; the slide (Hawaiian) guitar entered Hindustani music this way.

1. Brij Bhushan Kabra is credited with introducing the slide guitar to Hindustani classical music.
2. His album Call of the Valley (1967), with Shivkumar Sharma (santoor) and Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), became famous.
3. Santoor is linked with Shivkumar Sharma; violin with L. Subramaniam/N. Rajam; veena with E. Gayathri, etc.

Yaad rakhein: Guitar in Hindustani music: Brij Bhushan Kabra, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan Veena), Debashish Bhattacharya.

Answer: (B) Guitar

Concept: Rainfall in India generally decreases from the north-east and east towards the north-west, as the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon loses moisture while moving west.

1. Assam (north-east) gets very heavy rainfall, well above 200 cm a year in most parts.
2. Bihar in the middle Ganga plain gets moderate rainfall (around 100–150 cm).
3. Rajasthan (Thar region) is the driest state, with very low rainfall in the west.
4. So the decreasing order is Assam > Bihar > Rajasthan. Options (A), (B), (D) break this east-to-west pattern.

Yaad rakhein: Moving along the Ganga plain from east to west, rainfall keeps falling: Assam → West Bengal → Bihar → UP → Haryana → Rajasthan.

Answer: (C) Assam > Bihar > Rajasthan

Concept: Work Participation Rate (WPR) = percentage of workers (main + marginal) in the total population.

1. As per Census 2011, India's overall WPR was $39.8\%$.
2. Male WPR was $53.26\%$ and female WPR was $25.51\%$.
3. Hence the national male WPR is $53.26\%$.

Yaad rakhein: Census 2011 WPR: Total ≈ 40, Male ≈ 53, Female ≈ 25.5 (per cent).

Answer: (A) $53.26\%$

Concept: The western coastal plain is divided into three parts from north to south: Konkan, Kannad (Canara) and Malabar.

1. Konkan coast: Mumbai to Goa (northern part).
2. Kannad plain: Goa to Mangaluru (central part).
3. Malabar coast: Mangaluru to Kanyakumari (southern part).
4. Coromandel coast is on the eastern side (Tamil Nadu).

Yaad rakhein: West coast north → south: K-K-M = Konkan, Kannad, Malabar.

Answer: (A) Konkan coast

Concept: Match each reformer with the organisation he actually founded or led.

1. Brahmo Samaj (1828) was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, not Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar — so (A) is incorrect.
2. Vidyasagar is known for widow remarriage (Act of 1856) and women's education.
3. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the MAO College at Aligarh in 1875 (Aligarh Movement); Ranade was linked with the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha; Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 (Bombay).

Yaad rakhein: Brahmo – Ram Mohan Roy; Arya – Dayanand; Prarthana – Atmaram Pandurang; Aligarh – Syed Ahmad Khan.

Answer: (A) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj.

Concept: The Green Revolution (HYV seeds + fertilisers + irrigation) needed money and inputs, so its benefits went mostly to farmers who could invest.

1. Medium and large farmers gained the most — statement (A) is correct.
2. Landless labourers and marginal farmers often became worse off — (B) is correct; mechanisation also displaced service castes (artisans, etc.) — (D) is correct.
3. Subsistence farmers lacked capital for HYV inputs, so they were not the main beneficiaries — (C) is stated incorrectly.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution = 'rich got richer': big farmers, Punjab–Haryana–western UP, wheat.

Answer: (C) Only farmers involved in subsistence agriculture were benefitted

Concept: The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 (the 'mini-Constitution') changed the Preamble.

1. It added three words to the Preamble: Socialist, Secular and Integrity.
2. So India was described as a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic'.
3. Aristocratic, oligarchic or capitalist are not words of the Preamble.

Yaad rakhein: 42nd Amendment → Preamble got 'S-S-I': Socialist, Secular, Integrity.

Answer: (D) secular

Concept: Check the source (origin) of each peninsular river.

1. (a) Wrong: the Narmada rises at Amarkantak plateau (Maikal range), not the Malwa plateau.
2. (b) Correct: the Godavari rises at Trimbakeshwar near Nashik on the Western Ghats.
3. (c) Correct: the Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in the highlands of Chhattisgarh.
4. (d) Correct: the Krishna rises from a spring near Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra). Hence only b, c and d.

Yaad rakhein: Amarkantak gives two rivers: Narmada (west) and Son (north).

Answer: (A) Only b, c and d