SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Nuakhai ('nua' = new, 'khai' = eat) is the rice-harvest festival of western Odisha.

1. The new rice (nabanna) is first offered to Maa Samaleswari, the presiding goddess of Sambalpur.
2. Only after this offering do families eat the new crop together.
3. Maa Mangala (Kakatpur) and Budhi Thakurani (Berhampur) belong to other parts of Odisha.

Trick: Sambalpur → Samaleswari: the city's name itself comes from the goddess.

Answer: (C) Maa Samaleswari

Concept: Each temple style is linked to a specific region of India.

1. Vesara (mix of Nagara + Dravida) — Deccan under Chalukyas ✓.
2. Rekha-deul (curved tower) — Odisha ✓; Bhumija — Malwa, Madhya Pradesh ✓.
3. Kalinga style is Odisha's style, not Tamil Nadu's ✗ (Tamil Nadu = Dravida).

Trick: Kalinga is the ancient name of Odisha — so Kalinga style can never be Tamil Nadu.

Answer: (D) 1, 2 & 3 only

Concept: Gupta officials had specific titles for local administration.

1. Gramika / Gramadhyaksha was the head of a village — correct pair.
2. Talavataka was a village-level accounts official, not an army paymaster.
3. Prathamakulika was the chief of artisans/guilds; Pustapala maintained land-record documents.

Trick: 'Grama' = village, so Gramika/Gramadhyaksha = village head. Vishayapati headed a district (vishaya).

Answer: (A) Gramika / Gramadhyaksha - Head of the Village Administration

Concept: Match each folk form to its state.

1. Domkach — Jharkhand (also Bihar); sung mostly by women at weddings with group dance and acting.
2. Baul — West Bengal; Lavani — Maharashtra; Bhavai — Gujarat/Rajasthan.
3. Only Domkach belongs to Jharkhand.

Yaad rakhein: Domkach is sung at the groom's house on the wedding night when women stay back after the baraat leaves.

Answer: (C) Domkach

Concept: Singles and doubles courts differ only in width.

1. Length of court = 13.40 m (same for both).
2. Doubles width = 6.10 m; singles width = 5.18 m (side alleys not used).
3. So singles width = 5.18 m.

Yaad rakhein: Shuttle net height at centre = 1.524 m (5 ft); at posts = 1.55 m.

Answer: (B) 5.18 metres

Concept: Gangaikonda Cholapuram was the new capital founded by Rajendra Chola I.

1. After his army reached the Ganga, Rajendra I took the title 'Gangaikonda' and built this city and its Brihadisvara temple (c. 1035 CE).
2. His father Rajaraja I built the Brihadisvara temple of Thanjavur.
3. Both temples are part of the UNESCO 'Great Living Chola Temples'.

Yaad rakhein: Rajaraja → Thanjavur; Rajendra → Gangaikonda; Rajaraja II → Airavatesvara (Darasuram).

Answer: (D) Rajendra Chola I

Concept: The 1793 Act (with Cornwallis Code) moved British India toward rule of law.

1. It required regulations to be written and codified, and courts were to interpret them — Statement II true.
2. So it did bring legal and structural change; Statement I is false.
3. It also extended the Company's trade monopoly for 20 years.

Yaad rakhein: 1793 is also the year of the Permanent Settlement of Bengal by Lord Cornwallis.

Answer: (B) Only II is true

Concept: Know the basic equipment rules of high jump.

1. The approach runway has to be at least 15 m — so the first statement holds.
2. The crossbar is a thin bar roughly 3 cm (30 mm) thick; a 15–20 cm figure is false — so the second statement fails.

Trick: Common sense check: a 15–20 cm thick bar would be as wide as a log — impossible for high jump.

Answer: (A) Only 1 is correct

Concept: ECTA is a trade pact that came into force on 29 December 2022.

1. In its first years, India's exports to Australia grew by about 14% (2022-24), with new product categories gaining.
2. It does not remove all agricultural tariffs one-sidedly, and it has no defence clause — it is purely economic.
3. Gains were not limited to old sectors like cotton.

Trick: Eliminate options that sound extreme ('all tariffs', 'defence') — trade pacts are rarely absolute.

Answer: (C) The agreement spurred about 14% export growth during 2022-24 and opened up new export categories.

Concept: An Area of Darkness (1964) is a travel book on India.

1. It was written by V. S. Naipaul, a Trinidad-born British writer of Indian origin.
2. It opens his trilogy of non-fiction books on India.
3. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.

Yaad rakhein: Vikram Seth → A Suitable Boy; R. K. Narayan → Malgudi Days; Raja Rao → Kanthapura.

Answer: (A) V. S. Naipaul

Concept: Fencing has three weapons: épée, foil and sabre.

1. In the 2022 Asian Junior & Cadet Fencing Championships, Prachi Lohan won bronze in Women's Cadet Épée.
2. Bhavani Devi is a senior sabre fencer, so she does not fit a cadet épée event.

Yaad rakhein: Bhavani Devi was India's first fencer to qualify for the Olympics (Tokyo 2020).

Answer: (D) Prachi Lohan

Concept: Check each statement about the 2023 edition of KIYG.

1. The meet lasted 13 days and was held across 15 venues — correct.
2. It was hosted in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore), not Maharashtra.
3. It had more than 20 disciplines, including a demonstration sport, and thousands more than 4,000 athletes.

Trick: Statements with 'only', 'just', 'did not include any' are usually the false ones.

Answer: (C) The multi-sport meet spanned 13 days and was conducted across 15 venues.

Concept: Zonal Councils are statutory bodies, created in 1956 by the law that reorganised states.

1. The Union Home Minister is the chairman of all five Zonal Councils by virtue of his office — i.e., ex-officio.
2. Chief Ministers of member states become vice-chairman by rotation (one year each).

Trick: Ex-officio = 'by virtue of the post'. Rotation applies to the vice-chairman, not the chairman.

Answer: (D) Ex-officio

Concept: There are five antibody classes: IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, IgD.

1. IgG — about 75% of blood antibodies; the most abundant; also crosses the placenta ✓.
2. IgE — triggers histamine release from mast cells in allergy ✓.
3. IgA — main antibody in saliva, tears, colostrum/breast milk ✓.

Trick: Mnemonic 'GAMED' — G is the most, A in secretions, M is the first made, E for allergy, D on B-cells.

Answer: (D) 1, 2 and 3 are correct

Concept: Place each event in its year.

1. Sarkaria Commission (formed 1983) submitted its report in 1988.
2. Inter-State Council set up in 1990 under Article 263, on Sarkaria's advice.
3. Punchhi Commission constituted in 2007.
4. Order: C → B → A.

Trick: The Inter-State Council came from Sarkaria's report, so the report must come before it.

Answer: (A) C → B → A

Concept: Tippani is a work-song dance of Gujarat's Saurashtra region (Chorwad area).

1. Women beat lime-concrete floors with long sticks having a wooden block at the end (tippani).
2. The beating rhythm with songs developed into a group dance.
3. Garba and Dandiya are other Gujarati dances, popular across the state.

Yaad rakhein: Tippani = the stick used for floor-beating — so the dance is linked to construction work.

Answer: (C) Saurashtra

Concept: Some government roles are universal, whatever the level of development.

1. Markets work only when contracts are enforced and property rights are protected.
2. So making laws and providing justice is a basic economic role in every country.
3. Other options use 'solely', 'only', 'exclusively' — too narrow.

Trick: Words like 'solely/only/exclusively' in options usually signal a wrong choice.

Answer: (C) Establishing laws and ensuring justice

Concept: The Global Peace Index (GPI) is released yearly by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), Sydney.

1. GPI 2025 shows world peacefulness continuing to worsen slowly.
2. More conflicts and growing militarisation are key reasons — hence a gradual downward trend.

Yaad rakhein: Iceland has topped the GPI as the most peaceful country every year since 2008.

Answer: (B) Gradual downward trend

Concept: India's first Industrial Policy Resolution came on 6 April 1948.

1. It was presented by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then Industries Minister.
2. It laid the base of a mixed economy, dividing industries into four categories.
3. The second resolution came in 1956; the liberalising New Industrial Policy in 1991.

Yaad rakhein: Policy years to remember: 1948 → 1956 → 1977 → 1980 → 1991.

Answer: (C) 1948

Concept: Check A and R separately, then see if R gives the reason for A.

1. A: after 1991 liberalisation, income gaps within India widened — true.
2. R: gains went mostly to urban, skilled and service-sector workers — true.
3. Because gains were concentrated, inequality rose — R explains A.

Trick: Join A and R with 'because': 'Inequality rose because benefits went to a small group' — it reads naturally, so R explains A.

Answer: (A) Both A and R are correct, and R logically explains A.