UPSC 2009 Prelims – all questions

Four metal rods of lengths 78 cm, 104 cm, 117 cm and 169 cm are to be cut into parts of equal length. Each part must be as long as possible. What is the maximum number of pieces that can be cut?

In an examination, there are three subjects A, B and C. A student has to pass in each subject. 20% students failed in A, 22% students failed in B and 16% failed in C. The total number of students passing the whole examination lies between

There is a family of 6 persons A, B, C, D, E and F. There are two married couples in the family. The family members are lawyer, teacher, salesman, engineer, accountant and doctor. D, the salesman is married to the lady teacher. The doctor is married to the lawyer. F, the accountant is the son of B and brother of E. C, the lawyer is the daughter-in-law of A. E is the unmarried engineer. A is the grandmother of F. How is E related to F?

How many times are an hour hand and a minute hand of a clock at right angles during their motion from 1.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.?

There are 240 balls and n number of boxes B1, B2, B3, … , Bn. The balls are to be placed in the boxes such that B1 should contain 4 balls more than B2, B2 should contain 4 balls more than B3, and so on.

Which one of the following cannot be the possible value of n?

In a carrom board game competition, m boys and n girls (m > n > 1) of a school participate in which every student has to play exactly one game with every other student. Out of the total games played, it was found that in 221 games one player was a boy and the other player was a girl. Consider the following statements :

1. The total number of students that participated in the competition is 30.
2. The number of games in which both players were girls is 78.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

There are three cans A, B and

1. It is possible to have 6 litres of milk each in can A and can B.
2. It is possible to have 8 litres of milk each in can B and can C.

C. The capacities of A, B and C are 6 litres, 10 litres and 16 litres respectively. The can C contains 16 litres of milk. The milk has to be divided in them using these three cans only. Consider the following statements :

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Consider the following pairs :

1. Ashok Leyland : Hinduja Group
2. Hindalco Industries : A.V. Birla Group
3. Suzlon Energy : Punj Lloyd Group

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?

In the context of global economy,

which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched ?

Consider the following houses:

1. Christie's
2. Osian's
3. Sotheby's

Which of the above is/are auctioneer/auctioneers ?

In the context of CO₂ emission and Global Warming, what is the name of a market-driven device under the UNFCCC that allows developing countries to get funds/incentives from the developed countries to adopt better technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions ?

The concept of carbon credit originated from which one of the following ?

Who among the following is the founder of World Economic Forum ?

The Security Council of UN consists of 5 permanent members, and the remaining 10 members are elected by the General Assembly for a term of

From which one of the following did Kosovo declare its independence ?

Which one of the following pairs of countries fought wars over a region called Ogaden ?

In the middle of the year 2008 the Parliament of which one of the following countries became the first in the world to enact a Climate Act by passing "The Climate Change Accountability Bill" ?

Which one among the following has the highest energy ?

In the context of independent India's economy, which one of the following was the earliest event to take place ?

Consider the following pairs :

1. BMW AG : USA
2. Daimler AG : Sweden
3. Renault S.A.: France
4. Volkswagen AG: Germany

Automobile Manufacturer : Headquarters

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?

Which one of the following is not a drug/pharma company ?

Who of the following is the author of the book "The Audacity of Hope" ?

A present group of nations known as 'G-8' started first as G-7. Which one among the following was not one of them ?

Consider the following statements :

1. The Baglihar Power Project had been constructed within the parameters of the Indus Water Treaty.
2. The project was completely built by the Union Government with loans from Japan and the World Bank.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

When Leander Paes won the "mixed doubles" at the US Open in the year 2008, who of the following was his partner ?

In the context of Indian news in recent times, what is MCX-SX ?

Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched ?

India has recently landed its Moon Impact Probe on the Moon. Among the following countries, which one landed such probe on the Moon earlier ?

Who of the following is a football player ?

Consider the following pairs: Famous place : Country

1. Cannes : France
2. Davos : Denmark
3. Roland Garros : The Netherlands

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?

Among the following, which one is not a football club ?

The marine animal called dugong which is vulnerable to extinction is a/an

The Dul Hasti Power Station is based on which one of the following rivers ?

Consider the following statements :

1. V.K. Krishna Menon Foundation is based in New Delhi.
2. The first recipient of the V.K. Krishna Menon Award is the Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Which one of the following is the country's administrative capital/new federal administrative centre of Malaysia ?

In the context of Indian defence, consider the following statements :

1. The Shourya missile flies with a speed of more than 8 Mach.
2. The range of Shourya missile is more than 1600 km.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

WiMAX is related

to which one of the following ?

For outstanding contribution

to which one of the following fields is Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given ?

In making the saffron spice, which one of the following parts of the plant is used ?

In the year 2008,

which one of the following conducted a complex scientific experiment in which sub-atomic particles were accelerated to nearly the speed of light ?

A very big refugee camp called Dadaab, recently in the news, is located in

Consider the following names :

1. Ike
2. Kate
3. Gustav

Which of the above are the names of hurricanes that had occurred very recently ?

In the context of alternative sources of energy, ethanol as a viable bio-fuel can be obtained from

Consider the following famous names:

1. Amrita Sher-Gil
2. Bikash Bhattacharjee
3. N. S. Bendre
4. Subodh Gupta Who of the above is/are well known as artist(s)?

NAMA-11 (Nama-11) group of countries frequently appears in the news in the context of the affairs of which one of the following?

In the latter half of the year 2008,

which one of the following countries pulled out of Commonwealth of Independent States?

Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists:

1. Kenya
2. Mozambique
3. Zambia
4. Zimbabwe

List I (Persons in news) A. Luisa Dias Diogo B. Mwai Kibaki C. Rupiah Banda

List II (Countries they belong to)

Consider the following regions:

1. Eastern Himalayas
2. Eastern Mediterranean region
3. North-western Australia

Which of the above is/are Biodiversity Hotspot(s)?

With reference to the evolution of living organisms, which one of the following sequences is correct?

The Panda belongs to the same family as that of