Paper : UPSC Civil Services Exam 2008 GS Prelims Paper

1) Recently the manuscripts of which one of the following have been included in the UNESCO's Memory of World Register?

a) Abhidhamma Pitaka

b) Mahabharata

c) Ramayana

d) Rig Veda

A:  Rig Veda

2) On which of the following rivers is the Tehri Hydropower Complex located?

a) Alaknanda

b) Bhagirathi

c) Dhauliganga

d) Mandakini

A:  Bhagirathi

3) Which one of the following straits is nearest to the International Date Line?

a) Malacca Strait

b) Bering Strait

c) Strait of Florida

d) Strait of Gibraltar

A: Bering Strait

4) Which of the following is the largest (areawise) Lok Sabha constituency?

a) Kangra

b) Ladakh

c) Kachchh

d) Bhilwara

A: Ladakh

5) Who among the following discovered heavy water?

a) Heinrich Hertz

b) H C Urey

c) G Mendel

d) Joseph Priestley

A: H.C.Urey

6) From which one of the following did India buy the Barak anti-missile defence systems?

a) Israel

b) France

c) Russia

d) USA

A: Israel

7) Which of the following hills are found where the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats meet?

a) Anaimalai hills

b) Cardomom hills

c) Nilgiri hills

d) Shevaroy hills

A: Nilgiri Hills

8) Out of all the Biosphere Reserves in India, four have been recognized in the World Network by UNESCO. Which one of the following is not one of them?

a) Gulf of Mannar

b) Kanchenjunga

c) Nanda Devi

d) Sunderbans

A: Kanchenjunga

9) What is the purpose of the US Space Agency's Themis Mission, which was recently in the news?

a) To study the possibility of life on Mars

b) To study the satellites of Saturn

c) To study the colorful display of high latitude skies

d) To build a space laboratory to study the stellar explosions

A: To study the colourful display of high latitude skies

10) In which one of the following locations is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project to be built?

a) Northern Spain

b) Southern France

c) Eastern Germany

d) Southern Italy

A: Southern France