General Knowledge - 1 (CHSL)

Panama borders Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, and is surrounded by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea (Atlantic). Venezuela is located in South America east of Colombia and does not share any border with Panama.

Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first American President to visit India in December 1959. This historic visit was part of his efforts to strengthen US-India relations during the Cold War era. Eisenhower's visit marked a significant moment in diplomatic relations between the two nations, setting a precedent for future presidential engagements with India.

IRDA stands for Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. It is an autonomous apex statutory body, which regulates and develops the insurance industry in India.

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland water body, classified as a lake despite its name. It covers approximately 371,000 square kilometers. The Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Black Sea are seas connected to oceans, not lakes. The Caspian is bordered by five countries and has no outlet to the ocean.

 Iron and steel was the first important metallurgical industry in India.

Samprati, the Mauryan ruler and grandson of Ashoka, was converted to Jainism by Suhastin, who was a prominent Jain monk and disciple of Bhadrabahu. This conversion led Samprati to become a strong patron of Jainism, building temples and spreading the religion.

Statement 1 is correct. The Election Commission was established on 25th January 1950. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16th October 1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993, two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then.
Statement 2 is correct. The salary, allowances and other perquisites of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are the same.

The 61^st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988 came into force in 1989 and the voting age was lowered from 21 years to 18 years.

The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution of India is 552, which is made up by election of up to 530 members to represent the states; up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was the Chairman of the first Rajya Sabha. He was the only Chairman to have two terms (13.5.1952-12.5.1962). The allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the States is based on the population; two hundred and forty five (245), of which 233 are elected and 12 are nominated.

One of the powers of the Supreme Court and the High Courts is that of judicial review.

Option (1) is the correct answer.

The amount received as national income is identical to the amount spent as national expenditure, which is also identical to what is produced as national output. Throughout macroeconomics, the terms income, output and expenditure are interchangeable.

According to the 2012 Mercer Cost of Living Survey, Tokyo was ranked as the world's most expensive city for expatriates, followed by Luanda and Osaka. The ranking considers housing, transport, food, and other costs.

Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics, including his work on poverty, famine, and human development theory. C. V. Raman won Physics (1930), Har Gobind Khorana won Medicine (1968), and M. S. Swaminathan has not won a Nobel Prize.

.
.

The correct answer is option (4).

The Noble Eightfold Path (Astangamarga) comprises Buddha's core teachings: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Panchasila refers to five moral precepts, not Buddha's complete philosophical principles.

Laimdota Straujuna has recently become the first female Prime Minister of Latvia country.

Justice H. R. Khanna was never Chief Justice of India. He famously resigned in protest during the Emergency in 1977 after being superseded for the CJI post despite being the senior-most judge. The other three (Patanjali Sastri, K. N. Wanchoo, and M. N. Venkatachaliah) all served as CJIs.

Clive Lloyd captained the dominant West Indies team to consecutive World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979, establishing their era of cricket supremacy. Viv Richards was a key player under Lloyd's leadership, not the captain.

The G-8 nations pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 at their 2009 summit in L'Aquila, Italy. This commitment was part of international climate change mitigation efforts led by major industrialized countries.

India

The correct answer is option (3).

Sugarcane yellow leaf is caused by a polerovirus, the Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV).

Bhakra Nangal Dam is built across the Sutlej River at the border of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. It is one of India's largest multipurpose river valley projects, providing irrigation, hydroelectricity, and water supply.

West Bengal has been India's largest rice-producing state for decades, contributing over 13% of the country's total rice production. Its fertile alluvial soil of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta and favorable climate conditions support multiple rice crops annually.

Vivekananda Rock Memorial is located on a small island off Kanyakumari coast in Tamil Nadu, where Swami Vivekananda meditated in December 1892 before attending the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. It marks the confluence of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean.

Punjab derives its name from the Persian words 'Panj' (five) and 'Ab' (water), referring to its five main rivers: Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, and Sutlej. These rivers have historically created fertile plains ideal for agriculture.

Cooking gas supplied in cylinders by gas agencies is in the liquid form and is called liquefied petroleum gas.

In March 2013, India successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a submerged platform, demonstrating its submarine-launched capability. This achievement made India the only country with a cruise missile capable of launch from land, sea, air, and underwater platforms.

All the above given substances can be used as solvent.

Damping slightly reduces the oscillation frequency because the damping force opposes motion, effectively making each cycle take marginally longer. The damped frequency is given by ωd = ω₀√(1 - ζ²) where ω₀ is the undamped frequency and ζ is the damping ratio, making ωd < ω₀ for any damping present.

Silver bromide, a soft, pale-yellow, water-insoluble salt is well known for its unusual sensitivity to light. This property has allowed silver halides to become the basis of modern photographic materials.

Leonardo da Vinci painted 'The Last Supper' between 1495-1498 on the wall of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. It depicts the scene of Jesus announcing that one of his twelve apostles would betray him.

Mahavira was originally known by the name Vardhamana.

Zambia's currency is the Kwacha (ISO code: ZMW). The Zimbabwe Dollar is from Zimbabwe, the Dong is Vietnam's currency, and the Euro is used by European Union countries - none of these are Zambia's currency.

Ramanathan Krishnan reached the Wimbledon singles semifinal in 1960 and 1961. Vijay Amritraj reached the quarterfinals, Leander Paes won the Wimbledon doubles and mixed doubles but never reached singles semifinal, and Mahesh Bhupathi was primarily a doubles specialist.

Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith) was a syncretic religious doctrine initiated by Akbar in 1581. It blended elements from Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity to create a code of conduct promoting religious tolerance and unity.

The correct answer is option (4).

Correct answer is (3). 

The Angas are the canonical sacred texts of Jainism, containing the teachings of Lord Mahavira. Tripitakas are Buddhist texts, while 'Jain Gram' and 'Jain Stuthi' are not authentic Jain scriptures.

Taylorism shifts planning and supervision work to managers, increasing their workload. Trade unions criticized it for destroying unions, eliminating collective bargaining, and increasing unemployment - but NOT for increasing manager workload (that's a feature, not a criticism from unions).

Kochi (Cochin) in Kerala is historically known as the 'Queen of the Arabian Sea' due to its strategic importance as a major port city on the Malabar Coast, connecting India to Middle Eastern and European trade routes for centuries.

Ustad Alla Rakha (1919-2000) was a legendary tabla virtuoso who popularized the instrument globally through his solo performances and collaborations, especially with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Bismillah Khan was famous for shehnai.

Johanna Fantova, a close friend of Albert Einstein during his later years at Princeton, recorded conversations and anecdotes in 'Einstein's Diary'. Dante and Plato lived centuries before Einstein, and 'Earth' appears to be a nonsensical option.

Mica is a good conductor of heat but a bad conductor of electricity. Mica sheets are used to provide structure for heating wire and can withstand upto temperatures of 900 centigrade.

The Hoysala dynasty (11th-14th century) built the magnificent temples at Belur (Chennakesava Temple) and Halebidu (Hoysaleswara Temple) in Karnataka, renowned for their intricate soapstone carvings and distinctive star-shaped platform architecture.