RRB Technician Grade I (Signal) 2024, 2025 PYQs

Concept: Agni-Prime is the new-generation, canisterised ballistic missile of the Agni series developed by DRDO.

1. On 3 April 2024 DRDO and the Strategic Forces Command successfully flight-tested Agni-Prime from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.
2. Its range is 1,000–2,000 km; it is lighter than Agni-I/II and uses composite motor casings.
3. Surya is a proposed ICBM, Prahaar is a short-range tactical missile and Akash is a surface-to-air missile.

Yaad rakhein: Agni = ballistic (surface-to-surface); Akash = air-defence (surface-to-air).

Answer: (A) Agni Prime

Concept: After the Fourth Buddhist Council (Kundalvana, Kashmir, under Kanishka, 1st century CE) Buddhism split into two major schools.

1. Hinayana ("Lesser Vehicle"/Theravada) – follows the original teachings, Buddha as a teacher, no idol worship.
2. Mahayana ("Greater Vehicle") – worships Buddha as God, believes in Bodhisattvas and idol worship.
3. Swetambara and Digambara are the branches of Jainism; Anga/Upanga are Jain texts.

Yaad rakhein: Buddhism → Hinayana–Mahayana (later Vajrayana); Jainism → Swetambara–Digambara.

Answer: (C) Hinayana and Mahayana

Concept: The NCRB "Crime in India 2022" report was released in December 2023.

1. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Maharashtra registered the highest number of corruption cases in the country (749 cases in 2022), followed by Rajasthan and Karnataka.
2. Hence Maharashtra was reported as the state with the most corruption cases.

Yaad rakhein: NCRB (est. 1986, under MHA, HQ New Delhi) publishes "Crime in India" every year.

Answer: (A) Maharashtra

Concept: Devendra Jhajharia is India's celebrated Paralympic javelin thrower from Rajasthan.

1. He won Paralympic gold in javelin (F46) at Athens 2004 and Rio 2016, and silver at Tokyo 2020.
2. He received the Padma Bhushan (2022) and the Khel Ratna (2017), and is President of the Paralympic Committee of India.

Yaad rakhein: Jhajharia (Para) and Neeraj Chopra (Olympic) – both javelin, both from north India.

Answer: (C) Javelin throw

Concept: The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) was launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in 2021 to lease out brownfield public assets.

1. Its estimated value is ₹6 lakh crore over four years (FY 2022–25), prepared by NITI Aayog.
2. Roads, railways and power together form the largest share; the assets are leased, not sold.

Yaad rakhein: NMP = ₹6 lakh crore, 4 years, NITI Aayog, "monetise not privatise".

Answer: (C) ₹6 lakh crore

Concept: Match each landform with the region where it is found.

1. Karewas – lacustrine (lake) deposits of the Kashmir valley, famous for saffron cultivation → II.
2. Barchans – crescent-shaped sand dunes of the Thar desert → IV.
3. Mahendragiri – peak of the Eastern Ghats in Odisha (1,501 m) → I.
4. Northern Circars – coastal plain along the Bay of Bengal between the Mahanadi and Krishna deltas → III.

Yaad rakhein: Karewa–Kashmir (both K), Barchan–desert (sand), Mahendragiri–Odisha–Eastern Ghats.

Answer: (D) A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III

Concept: The Environment Performance Index (EPI) is published by Yale and Columbia universities; the 2024 edition was released in June 2024.

1. India ranked 176th out of 180 countries overall, and the report noted India as the world's third-largest producer of greenhouse gases, after China and the United States.
2. Estonia topped the overall EPI 2024 ranking.

Yaad rakhein: GHG emitters: China 1st, USA 2nd, India 3rd; EPI 2024 overall – India 176 of 180.

Answer: (C) 3^rd

Concept: The British fought three wars with Burma in the 19th century.

1. First Anglo-Burmese War: 1824–26 (ended by the Treaty of Yandabo, 1826).
2. Second Anglo-Burmese War: 1852, under Lord Dalhousie – Lower Burma (Pegu) was annexed.
3. Third Anglo-Burmese War: 1885 – whole of Burma annexed, King Thibaw exiled to Ratnagiri.

Yaad rakhein: 1824 – 1852 – 1885: Amherst, Dalhousie, Dufferin.

Answer: (A) 1852

Concept: The share of industry in GDP is highest in manufacturing-heavy economies and lowest in agriculture/service-dependent, less industrialised economies.

1. Approximate industry share of GDP: China ≈ 38–40%, Japan ≈ 29%, India ≈ 25–28%, Pakistan ≈ 19–20%.
2. Pakistan's economy is dominated by services (about 55%) and agriculture (about 23%), with a small industrial base.

Yaad rakhein: China – "factory of the world" (highest); Pakistan – least industrialised among the four.

Answer: (D) Pakistan

Concept: Articles 36–51 (Part IV) are the Directive Principles of State Policy.

1. Article 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement.
2. Article 29 – protection of interests of minorities (Fundamental Right); Article 34 – restriction of rights during martial law; Article 50 – separation of judiciary from executive.

Yaad rakhein: 41 – work/education/assistance; 42 – maternity relief; 43 – living wage; 44 – Uniform Civil Code.

Answer: (D) Article 41

Concept: Major sporting events and their host countries.

1. The 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup (15th edition) was hosted by India in Odisha, at Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Stadium) and Rourkela (Birsa Munda Stadium), from 13 to 29 January 2023.
2. Germany won the title, beating Belgium in the final on penalties; India finished 9th.
3. India had also hosted the previous edition in 2018 (Bhubaneswar), making it the first country to host two consecutive editions.

Yaad rakhein: Hockey World Cup 2018 and 2023 – both in Odisha, India; winners Belgium (2018) and Germany (2023).

Answer: (D) India

Concept: Key allocations of the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 (presented 1 February 2024).

1. Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan – the integrated school-education scheme (pre-school to class 12) – was allocated ₹37,500 crore for FY 2024-25, up from about ₹33,000 crore in the previous year.
2. The Department of School Education received about ₹73,000 crore in total, of which Samagra Shiksha is the largest component, followed by PM-POSHAN (₹12,467 crore).

Yaad rakhein: Interim Budget 2024-25: Samagra Shiksha ₹37,500 cr; PM-POSHAN ₹12,467 cr; PM SHRI ₹6,050 cr.

Answer: (D) ₹37,500 crore

Concept: Important inaugurations in the energy sector, 2024.

1. On 4 March 2024, Union Minister of Steel and Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia virtually inaugurated India's first off-grid green hydrogen plant in the stainless-steel sector at Jindal Stainless Ltd, Hisar (Haryana).
2. The plant, set up by Hygenco, is also the world's first green hydrogen plant in the stainless-steel industry and is expected to cut about 2,700 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

Yaad rakhein: Hisar green hydrogen plant (Jindal Stainless, March 2024) – inaugurated by Steel Minister Scindia; H.D. Kumaraswamy became Steel Minister only in June 2024.

Answer: (D) Jyotiraditya M Scindia

Concept: Facts from UNDP's Human Development Report 2020 (data for 2019).

1. India's HDI value rose from 0.429 in 1990 to 0.645 in 2019 – an increase of about 50%.
2. This corresponds to an average annual HDI growth of 1.42% over 1990–2019, among the faster rates in the medium-human-development group.
3. India ranked 131 out of 189 countries in HDR 2020.

Yaad rakhein: HDR 2020: India HDI 0.645, rank 131, 1990–2019 average annual growth 1.42%.

Answer: (A) 1.42

Concept: Article 47 (Directive Principles, Part IV) directs the State to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living and to improve public health; it also calls for prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs.

1. Article 42: just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
2. Article 44: Uniform Civil Code; Article 51: promotion of international peace.

Yaad rakhein: 47 = nutrition, health, prohibition.

Answer: (D) Article 47

Concept: Khetri and Kolihan (Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan) are India's best-known copper belts, mined by Hindustan Copper Ltd.

1. Singareni (Telangana), Singrauli (MP), Pench-Kanhan (MP) and Jharia-Raniganj (Jharkhand/West Bengal) are all coal fields.
2. Other copper areas: Malanjkhand (MP) and Singhbhum (Jharkhand).

Yaad rakhein: Khetri = copper (Rajasthan); Jharia = coal.

Answer: (D) Khetri and Kolihan

Concept: Jio Space Fiber is Reliance Jio's satellite-based gigabit broadband service, unveiled at the India Mobile Congress 2023 (New Delhi, October 2023).

1. It uses the medium-earth-orbit (MEO) satellite constellation of SES to reach remote areas with no fibre or mobile coverage.
2. Jio Fiber is the existing wired broadband; DSL and mobile broadband are generic technologies, not Jio services.

Yaad rakhein: 'Space' in the name → satellite broadband.

Answer: (C) Jio Space Fiber

Concept: In the circular flow model, money entering the flow from outside is an injection; money leaving it is a leakage (withdrawal).

1. Injections: Investment (I), Government spending (G), Exports (X).
2. Leakages: Savings (S), Taxes (T), Imports (M).
3. Exports bring foreign spending into the domestic economy → injection.

Yaad rakhein: Injections = I + G + X; Leakages = S + T + M.

Answer: (A) injection

Concept: The question asks which of the given works is a Dharmashastra – a text on dharma (righteous conduct and duty). Options: Meghaduta, Bhagavad Gita, Shakuntala, Arthashastra.

1. The Bhagavad Gita (part of the Mahabharata) is a scripture of dharma – Krishna's teaching on duty (svadharma), karma and righteous action.
2. Meghaduta and Abhijnanashakuntalam are Kalidasa's poetry and drama (kavya); Arthashastra of Kautilya deals with statecraft and economics, not dharma.

Yaad rakhein: Kalidasa → kavya; Kautilya → artha; Gita → dharma.

Answer: (B) Bhagavad Gita (பகவத்கீதை)

Concept: Pitt's India Act was passed in 1784 by the British Parliament under PM William Pitt the Younger to remove defects of the Regulating Act of 1773.

1. It created a Board of Control for political affairs, leaving commercial affairs to the Court of Directors – 'dual government' of the Company.
2. 1773 = Regulating Act; 1853 = last Charter Act; 1857 = Revolt.

Yaad rakhein: 1773 Regulating → 1784 Pitt's → 1793, 1813, 1833, 1853 Charter Acts.

Answer: (A) 1784