Static GK — SSC CGL General Awareness Notes

Ancient and classical texts

Arthashastra – Kautilya (Chanakya): statecraft and economy in the Mauryan age.

Indica – Megasthenes, Greek envoy of Seleucus at Chandragupta Maurya's court.

Abhijnanashakuntalam, Meghaduta, Raghuvamsha – Kalidasa (Gupta age).

Harshacharita – Banabhatta; Rajatarangini – Kalhana (history of Kashmir); Mudrarakshasa – Vishakhadatta.

Ashtadhyayi – Panini (Sanskrit grammar); Panchatantra – Vishnu Sharma; Gita Govinda – Jayadeva.

Medieval works

Baburnama (Tuzuk-i-Baburi) – Babur (in Turki); Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari – Abul Fazl.

Humayun-nama – Gulbadan Begum; Ramcharitmanas – Tulsidas; Padmavat – Malik Muhammad Jayasi.

Kitab-ul-Hind – Al-Biruni; Rihla – Ibn Battuta (travel account of Muhammad bin Tughlaq's India).

Freedom struggle and nation-building

Poverty and Un-British Rule in India – Dadabhai Naoroji (Drain Theory).

Hind Swaraj (1909) and The Story of My Experiments with Truth – Mahatma Gandhi.

The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History – Jawaharlal Nehru.

Gita Rahasya – Bal Gangadhar Tilak; Anandamath (contains 'Vande Mataram') – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Annihilation of Caste – B. R. Ambedkar; Gulamgiri – Jyotiba Phule; Why I am an Atheist – Bhagat Singh; India Wins Freedom – Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Modern Indian literature

Gitanjali – Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize, 1913); Godan – Munshi Premchand; Kamayani – Jaishankar Prasad.

Wings of Fire – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (with Arun Tiwari); Malgudi Days – R. K. Narayan; Midnight's Children – Salman Rushdie.

The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy; The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga; Tomb of Sand (Ret Samadhi) – Geetanjali Shree.

World classics

Das Kapital – Karl Marx; The Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith; The Republic – Plato; Politics – Aristotle.

Origin of Species – Charles Darwin; War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy; Hamlet – William Shakespeare; Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela.

Practice

SSC-style: 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' was written by? Answer: Dadabhai Naoroji.

Bharat Ratna

Highest civilian award, instituted on 2 January 1954; given for exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field.

Recommended by the Prime Minister to the President; normally at most three a year (five were given in 2024).

Medal is a bronze peepal leaf with a sun and the words 'Bharat Ratna' in Devanagari; no cash prize.

First recipients (1954): C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan and C. V. Raman.

First posthumous: Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966); first woman: Indira Gandhi (1971); first sportsperson and youngest: Sachin Tendulkar (2014).

Non-citizens: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990); Mother Teresa (1980) was a naturalised Indian.

2024 awardees: Karpoori Thakur, L. K. Advani, Charan Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao and M. S. Swaminathan; total recipients 53 (as of February 2026).

Padma awards

Three grades: Padma Vibhushan (exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of high order), Padma Shri (distinguished service).

Announced every year on the eve of Republic Day and presented by the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Total normally capped at 120 a year (excluding posthumous, foreigner and NRI/OCI awards).

In Balaji Raghavan v. Union of India (1995) the Supreme Court held that these awards are not 'titles' under Article 18 and must not be used as prefixes or suffixes to names.

Gallantry awards

Wartime (in the face of the enemy): Param Vir Chakra > Maha Vir Chakra > Vir Chakra, instituted on 26 January 1950 with effect from 15 August 1947.

Peacetime: Ashoka Chakra > Kirti Chakra > Shaurya Chakra; begun in 1952 as Ashoka Chakra Class I, II and III and renamed in 1967; civilians are also eligible.

First Param Vir Chakra: Major Somnath Sharma (posthumous, Kashmir 1947). The PVC was designed by Savitri Khanolkar and shows Indra's vajra.

Neerja Bhanot (1987, posthumous) is the youngest Ashoka Chakra awardee; Rakesh Sharma, first Indian in space, also received the Ashoka Chakra.

Practice

SSC-style: Who was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra? Answer: Major Somnath Sharma.

Indian literary awards

Jnanpith Award: given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith trust (instituted 1961, first awarded 1965) to writers in Eighth Schedule languages and English; carries a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati).

First Jnanpith: G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) for 'Odakkuzhal'; first woman: Ashapurna Devi (Bengali, 1976).

Sahitya Akademi Award: instituted in 1954 by the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) for books in 24 languages (22 Eighth Schedule languages, English and Rajasthani).

Saraswati Samman (from 1991) and Vyas Samman (Hindi) are given by the K. K. Birla Foundation; the first Saraswati Samman went to Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Film awards

Dadasaheb Phalke Award (instituted 1969) is India's highest film honour, named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, maker of 'Raja Harishchandra' (1913), India's first full-length feature film.

First recipient: Devika Rani, the 'First Lady of Indian Cinema'. It is presented with the National Film Awards.

National Film Awards began in 1954; the best film gets the Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus), many other categories the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).

Nobel Prize

Set up by the will of Alfred Nobel (inventor of dynamite); first awarded in 1901 in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace; Economics added in 1968 (first awarded 1969).

The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo (Norway); the others in Stockholm (Sweden), on 10 December, Nobel's death anniversary.

Indian citizens: Rabindranath Tagore (Literature 1913), C. V. Raman (Physics 1930), Mother Teresa (Peace 1979), Amartya Sen (Economics 1998), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace 2014).

Indian-origin: Har Gobind Khorana (Medicine 1968), S. Chandrasekhar (Physics 1983), V. Ramakrishnan (Chemistry 2009), Abhijit Banerjee (Economics 2019).

Booker and Magsaysay

Booker Prize (from 1969) for a novel in English: Indian winners include Salman Rushdie (1981), Arundhati Roy (1997), Kiran Desai (2006) and Aravind Adiga (2008).

International Booker Prize (for fiction translated into English): Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand' (Hindi, 2022) and Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp' (Kannada, 2025, translated by Deepa Bhasthi).

Ramon Magsaysay Award (from 1957, Manila, Philippines) is called 'Asia's Nobel Prize'; first Indian winner: Vinoba Bhave (1958). Others include Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Kiran Bedi and T. N. Seshan.

Practice

SSC-style: Who was the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award? Answer: Devika Rani.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna

Instituted in 1991–92 as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna; renamed after hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand in August 2021.

Given for the most outstanding performance in sport over the previous four years.

First recipient: chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (1991–92).

Usually presented on or around 29 August, National Sports Day (Dhyan Chand's birthday).

Arjuna and Dronacharya awards

Arjuna Award (from 1961): for good performance over four years along with leadership, sportsmanship and discipline; the award carries a bronze statuette of Arjuna.

Dronacharya Award (from 1985): for coaches who produce medal winners at international events; first given to O. M. Nambiar (athletics coach of P. T. Usha) among others.

The Dronacharya statuette depicts the guru of the Pandavas; the name links the coach (guru) to the Arjuna Award (disciple).

Other sports honours

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (from 2009): for organisations and companies promoting sport.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: to the university with the best overall performance in inter-university sport.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award: for adventure on land, sea and air, named after the Everest pioneer.

All National Sports Awards are presented by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Sportspersons also receive civilian honours: Sachin Tendulkar is the only sportsperson awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Practice

SSC-style: The Dronacharya Award is given to? Answer: Sports coaches.

SSC-style: National Sports Day is observed on the birth anniversary of? Answer: Major Dhyan Chand (29 August).

Trophies and cups

Cricket (domestic): Ranji Trophy (first-class national championship), Duleep Trophy (zonal), Irani Cup (Ranji champion vs Rest of India), Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day), Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20).

Cricket (international): The Ashes (England–Australia), Border–Gavaskar Trophy (India–Australia Tests).

Football: Durand Cup (begun 1888, Asia's oldest football tournament), Santosh Trophy (national championship for States), Subroto Cup (schools), IFA Shield.

Hockey: Beighton Cup (Kolkata), Aga Khan Cup, Rangaswamy Cup, Obaidullah Gold Cup (Bhopal).

Tennis: Davis Cup (men's teams), Billie Jean King Cup (women's teams, formerly Fed Cup). Badminton: Thomas Cup (men), Uber Cup (women), Sudirman Cup (mixed); India won the Thomas Cup in 2022.

Table tennis: Swaythling Cup (men), Corbillon Cup (women). Golf: Ryder Cup (USA vs Europe), Walker Cup (amateurs).

Sports terms

Cricket: LBW, googly, maiden over, hat-trick, follow-on, silly point, duck. Football: offside, penalty kick, corner, free kick.

Tennis: love (zero), deuce, advantage, ace, let. Golf: par, birdie (1 under), eagle (2 under), bogey (1 over), hole-in-one, caddie.

Chess: checkmate, stalemate, castling, gambit, en passant. Hockey: bully, penalty corner, dribble. Boxing: jab, hook, uppercut, knockout.

Kabaddi: raider, cant, bonus line, lona. Polo: chukker (a period of play). Badminton: shuttlecock, smash, drop.

Famous venues

Eden Gardens – Kolkata; Wankhede and Brabourne – Mumbai; M. A. Chidambaram (Chepauk) – Chennai; M. Chinnaswamy – Bengaluru; Green Park – Kanpur; Arun Jaitley Stadium (formerly Feroz Shah Kotla) – Delhi.

Narendra Modi Stadium (Motera, Ahmedabad) is the world's largest cricket stadium by capacity.

Abroad: Lord's (London, 'Home of Cricket'), MCG (Melbourne), Wimbledon (London, grass), Roland Garros (Paris, clay), Flushing Meadows (New York, US Open, hard court).

Practice

SSC-style: The Swaythling Cup is associated with? Answer: Table tennis.

SSC-style: How many players does a kabaddi team have on court? Answer: 7.

Olympic Games

Ancient Olympics were held at Olympia, Greece (traditionally from 776 BCE) in honour of Zeus.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin; headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland. First modern Games: Athens 1896.

Five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, red on white) stand for the five inhabited continents united by sport.

Motto: 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' (Faster, Higher, Stronger); 'Communiter' (Together) was added in 2021.

Upcoming Summer Games: Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032.

India at the Olympics

India first took part in 1900 (Norman Pritchard won two silvers in athletics); first official team in 1920.

Men's hockey has won 8 gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1980).

First individual medal: K. D. Jadhav (wrestling bronze, Helsinki 1952). First woman medallist: Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting bronze, Sydney 2000).

First individual gold: Abhinav Bindra (10 m air rifle, Beijing 2008). First athletics gold: Neeraj Chopra (javelin, Tokyo 2020, held in 2021).

Tokyo 2020: 7 medals (India's best). Paris 2024: 6 medals (1 silver, 5 bronze); Manu Bhaker became the first Indian after independence to win two medals at one Games.

Asian Games and Commonwealth Games

Asian Games: first held in New Delhi, 1951; held every four years by the Olympic Council of Asia (HQ: Kuwait City). India hosted again in 1982 (Delhi).

At Hangzhou (2022 Games, held in 2023) India won 107 medals, its first 100-plus tally. The 2026 Games are hosted by Aichi–Nagoya, Japan.

Commonwealth Games: first held in Hamilton, Canada, 1930 as the British Empire Games; India hosted in Delhi, 2010. Glasgow hosts the 2026 edition.

Practice

SSC-style: Where is the headquarters of the IOC? Answer: Lausanne, Switzerland.

National days linked to persons

12 January – National Youth Day (Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary).

23 January – Parakram Diwas (Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose).

28 February – National Science Day (announcement of the Raman Effect, 1928).

1 July – National Doctors' Day (Dr B. C. Roy). 29 August – National Sports Day (Major Dhyan Chand).

5 September – Teachers' Day (Dr S. Radhakrishnan). 15 September – Engineers' Day (M. Visvesvaraya).

31 October – National Unity Day (Sardar Patel). 14 November – Children's Day (Nehru). 15 November – Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Birsa Munda).

22 December – National Mathematics Day (Srinivasa Ramanujan). 23 December – Kisan Diwas (Chaudhary Charan Singh). 25 December – Good Governance Day (Atal Bihari Vajpayee).

National days linked to events

15 January – Army Day (Gen. K. M. Cariappa became first Indian Commander-in-Chief, 1949). 8 October – Air Force Day. 4 December – Navy Day (Operation Trident, 1971).

25 January – National Voters' Day (Election Commission founded, 1950). 26 November – Constitution Day (Constitution adopted, 1949).

24 April – National Panchayati Raj Day (73rd Amendment in force, 1993). 11 May – National Technology Day (Pokhran-II, 1998).

26 July – Kargil Vijay Diwas (1999). 7 August – National Handloom Day (Swadeshi Movement launched, 1905). 23 August – National Space Day (Chandrayaan-3 landing, 2023).

14 September – Hindi Diwas (Hindi adopted as official language by the Constituent Assembly, 1949). 30 January – Martyrs' Day (Gandhi's assassination).

International days

8 March – International Women's Day; 22 March – World Water Day; 24 March – World TB Day; 7 April – World Health Day (WHO founded, 1948).

22 April – Earth Day; 5 June – World Environment Day; 21 June – International Day of Yoga (proposed by India, first observed 2015); 11 July – World Population Day.

8 September – International Literacy Day; 16 September – World Ozone Day; 2 October – International Day of Non-Violence; 16 October – World Food Day (FAO founded, 1945); 24 October – UN Day.

1 December – World AIDS Day; 10 December – Human Rights Day (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).

Practice

SSC-style: National Science Day is celebrated on? Answer: 28 February.

SSC-style: 4 December is observed as? Answer: Navy Day.

First office-holders

First President: Dr Rajendra Prasad; first Vice-President: Dr S. Radhakrishnan; first Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru.

First Governor-General of free India: Lord Mountbatten; first and last Indian Governor-General: C. Rajagopalachari.

First Chief Justice of India: H. J. Kania; first Lok Sabha Speaker: G. V. Mavalankar; first Chief Election Commissioner: Sukumar Sen.

First Muslim President: Dr Zakir Husain; first Dalit President: K. R. Narayanan.

Women firsts

First woman Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi; first woman President: Pratibha Patil; first woman Lok Sabha Speaker: Meira Kumar.

First woman Governor: Sarojini Naidu (United Provinces); first woman Chief Minister: Sucheta Kripalani (Uttar Pradesh, 1963).

First woman Supreme Court judge: Justice M. Fathima Beevi (1989); first woman IAS officer: Anna Rajam Malhotra; first woman IPS officer: Kiran Bedi (1972).

First Indian woman to climb Everest: Bachendri Pal (1984); first India-born woman in space: Kalpana Chawla (1997).

Landmark events

First passenger train: Bombay (Bori Bunder) to Thane, 16 April 1853. First metro: Kolkata, 1984.

First newspaper: Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780, Calcutta). First telegraph line: Calcutta to Diamond Harbour (1851). Television began in Delhi in 1959.

First feature film: Raja Harishchandra (1913); first talkie: Alam Ara (1931).

First nuclear test: Pokhran, 18 May 1974; first satellite: Aryabhata (1975); first Indian in space: Rakesh Sharma (1984, Soyuz T-11); first research reactor: Apsara (1956).

First general election: 1951–52; first commercial flight: J. R. D. Tata, Karachi–Bombay (1932); first stock exchange: Bombay Stock Exchange (1875).

Practice

SSC-style: Who was the first woman Chief Minister of an Indian State? Answer: Sucheta Kripalani.

UN system by city

New York: United Nations, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA.

Geneva: WHO, ILO, WTO, UNHCR, WIPO, ITU, WMO, ICRC (Red Cross).

Rome: FAO, IFAD, World Food Programme. Vienna: IAEA, UNIDO (and OPEC, not a UN body).

Paris: UNESCO (also OECD and IEA). Nairobi: UNEP, UN-Habitat. The Hague: International Court of Justice.

Washington DC: IMF and World Bank. Montreal: ICAO. London: IMO. Bern: Universal Postal Union. Bonn: UNFCCC secretariat. Madrid: UN Tourism.

Other international bodies

Regional groups: SAARC – Kathmandu; ASEAN – Jakarta; BIMSTEC – Dhaka; SCO – Beijing; African Union – Addis Ababa; EU and NATO – Brussels.

Banks: ADB – Manila; AIIB – Beijing; New Development Bank (BRICS) – Shanghai.

Others: Interpol – Lyon; Commonwealth Secretariat and Amnesty International – London; WWF and IUCN – Gland (Switzerland); IRENA – Abu Dhabi.

Sport: IOC – Lausanne; FIFA – Zurich; International Cricket Council – Dubai. International Solar Alliance – Gurugram (the first treaty-based international body headquartered in India).

Indian institutions by city

Mumbai: RBI, SEBI, NABARD, EXIM Bank, BARC (Trombay). Lucknow: SIDBI, CDRI, NBRI.

Kolkata: Geological Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, Indian Museum, Coal India.

Dehradun: Survey of India, Forest Research Institute, Wildlife Institute of India. Bengaluru: ISRO, Indian Institute of Science.

Hyderabad: CCMB, National Institute of Nutrition. Pune: National Chemical Laboratory, IITM (monsoon research). Goa: National Institute of Oceanography. Karnal: National Dairy Research Institute. Cuttack: National Rice Research Institute.

New Delhi: NITI Aayog, DRDO, ICAR, IARI (Pusa), Archaeological Survey of India, India Meteorological Department.

Practice

SSC-style: The headquarters of UNEP is in? Answer: Nairobi.

SSC-style: SIDBI is headquartered at? Answer: Lucknow.

National Flag

Adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947; based on a design by Pingali Venkayya.

Saffron (top), white (middle) and green (bottom) in equal bands; length-to-width ratio 3:2.

A navy-blue Ashoka Chakra with 24 spokes sits in the white band.

In Naveen Jindal v. Union of India (2004) the Supreme Court held that flying the flag with respect is part of freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a).

Use is governed by the Flag Code of India, 2002; amended in 2021–22 to allow machine-made and polyester flags and flying the flag day and night.

Emblem, anthem, song and calendar

State Emblem: adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath; adopted on 26 January 1950. Four lions (three visible) stand on an abacus with an elephant, a horse, a bull and a lion separated by wheels.

Motto 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth alone triumphs) is from the Mundaka Upanishad, written in Devanagari below the emblem.

National Anthem: 'Jana Gana Mana' by Rabindranath Tagore, adopted on 24 January 1950; full version takes about 52 seconds; first sung at the Calcutta session of the INC on 27 December 1911.

National Song: 'Vande Mataram' by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (from Anandamath); has equal status with the anthem; first sung at the 1896 INC session.

National Calendar: Saka calendar, adopted on 22 March 1957; Chaitra is the first month.

Natural and other national symbols

National animal tiger (since 1973, replacing the lion); bird peacock (1963); flower lotus; tree banyan; fruit mango.

National river Ganga (2008); national aquatic animal Ganges river dolphin (2009); national heritage animal elephant (2010).

Rupee symbol ₹ designed by D. Udaya Kumar, adopted in 2010. India has no officially declared national game (hockey is popularly but wrongly called so).

Practice

SSC-style: 'Satyameva Jayate' is taken from? Answer: Mundaka Upanishad.

States and Union Territories

India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories (since Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu merged on 26 January 2020).

Newest State: Telangana (2 June 2014). Jammu and Kashmir became two UTs (J&K and Ladakh) on 31 October 2019.

Largest State by area: Rajasthan; smallest: Goa. Most populous (Census 2011): Uttar Pradesh; least: Sikkim.

Chandigarh (a UT) is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana.

*Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad was the common capital until 2 June 2024; Amaravati is the designated capital being developed.

Union Territories and capitals

Andaman and Nicobar Islands – Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair); Chandigarh – Chandigarh; Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu – Daman.

Delhi (NCT) – New Delhi; Jammu and Kashmir – Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter); Ladakh – Leh; Lakshadweep – Kavaratti; Puducherry – Puducherry.

Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir are UTs with legislatures.

Dance and festival tips

Eight dances have classical status from the Sangeet Natak Akademi: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, Odissi and Sattriya (Assam).

Chhau (Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal), Kalbelia (Rajasthan) and Garba (Gujarat) are on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Harvest festivals in mid-January have different names: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Makar Sankranti, Lohri (Punjab), Magh Bihu (Assam).

Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is held every year from 1 to 10 December.

Practice

SSC-style: 'Lavani' is a folk dance of? Answer: Maharashtra.

SSC-style: 'Hojagiri' dance belongs to? Answer: Tripura.

Eighth Schedule

Linked to Articles 344(1) and 351 (Official Language Commission and development of Hindi).

Originally 14 languages; now 22 after additions by constitutional amendments.

Sindhi added by the 21st Amendment (1967); Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali by the 71st Amendment (1992); Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali by the 92nd Amendment (2003).

'Oriya' was renamed 'Odia' by the 96th Amendment (2011). English is not in the Eighth Schedule.

Article 345: a State Legislature may adopt one or more languages used in the State as its official language.

Article 350A: facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage; Article 350B: a Special Officer for linguistic minorities.

The 22 languages are used for papers in the UPSC Civil Services Mains (Indian language paper and medium of answers).

Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union; English continues for official purposes under the Official Languages Act, 1963.

Classical languages

Status is given by the Union Government (Ministry of Culture) on the advice of a linguistic experts committee; it is not a constitutional category.

First: Tamil (2004); then Sanskrit (2005), Kannada and Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014).

In October 2024, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were added, taking the total to 11.

Criteria (revised 2024): high antiquity of early texts (1,500–2,000 years of recorded history), a body of ancient literature treated as heritage, knowledge texts (prose, poetry, epigraphic evidence), and a classical form that may differ from its later forms.

Benefits: international awards for eminent scholars, Centres of Excellence, and professional chairs in universities through the UGC.

Practice

SSC-style: Which was the first language declared classical in India? Answer: Tamil (2004).

SSC-style: Which amendment added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali? Answer: 92nd Amendment (2003).