SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: The IOA was formally constituted in 1927.

1. Founding President: Sir Dorabji Tata; Secretary: Dr. A.G. Noehren (YMCA).
2. India had sent athletes to the 1920 Antwerp Games even before IOA existed.

Yaad rakhein: IOA headquarters: New Delhi; current president P.T. Usha (first woman, 2022).

Answer: (B) 1927

Concept: Check each statement against the official result of the 2023-24 senior nationals.

1. Statement 1 ✓ – Maharashtra won both the men's and the women's titles, taking the overall honour.
2. Statement 2 ✗ – the venues given in it do not match the actual host venue.

Yaad rakhein: Maharashtra is the traditional powerhouse of Kho Kho; the sport's governing body is the Kho Kho Federation of India.

Answer: (A) Only 1 is correct

Concept: The 42nd Amendment (1976) moved five subjects from the State List to the Concurrent List.

1. Education, forests, weights & measures, protection of wild animals and birds, and administration of justice.
2. So both Parliament and state legislatures can now make laws on education.

Yaad rakhein: Mnemonic 'FEW-JW' – Forests, Education, Weights, Justice, Wildlife – all via the 42nd ('mini-Constitution').

Answer: (B) 42nd

Concept: Transpiration is loss of water vapour mainly through stomata; it creates the pull that lifts water in xylem.

1. 1 ✓ – dry air and wind remove vapour from around leaves, so the rate rises.
2. 2 ✓ – evaporation from leaves pulls the water column up; cohesion (water–water) and tension keep it continuous.
3. 3 ✗ – wilting happens only if water loss exceeds uptake; normal transpiration doesn't cause it.

Trick: 'Necessarily', 'always' in a biology statement is a red flag – check for exceptions.

Answer: (B) Only 1 and 2

Concept: The 1935 Act gave the idea of a federation with autonomous provinces, later carried into the Constitution.

1. It proposed an All-India Federation and ended dyarchy in provinces (provincial autonomy).
2. Introduced three lists – Federal, Provincial, Concurrent – and a Federal Court (1937).
3. Fundamental Rights, judicial review and universal adult suffrage came with the Constitution itself.

Yaad rakhein: 1935 Act = biggest source of the Constitution: federal scheme, governor's office, emergency provisions, PSCs.

Answer: (A) Federal System with Provincial Autonomy

Concept: Tippani is a women's folk dance of the Chorwad (Saurashtra) region of Gujarat.

1. It came from labourers ramming lime-and-concrete floors.
2. The 'tippani' is a long wooden stick with a block at the end, used to pound the floor in rhythm with songs.

Yaad rakhein: Tippani = the stick itself – so the tool is wooden sticks.

Answer: (C) Wooden sticks

Concept: The yearly World Competitiveness Yearbook/Ranking is published by IMD, Lausanne.

1. IMD = International Institute for Management Development, a Swiss business school.
2. Its World Competitiveness Center ranks economies on four pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, infrastructure.

Yaad rakhein: Don't confuse with WEF's Global Competitiveness Report (Geneva-based forum).

Answer: (A) IMD Business School

Concept: Ed = % change in quantity demanded ÷ % change in price.

1. Ed = 20% ÷ 10% = 2.
2. Since 2 > 1, demand is relatively elastic.

Trick: Quantity changes MORE than price → elastic; LESS → inelastic; EQUAL → unitary.

Answer: (B) Elastic demand (elasticity > 1)

Concept: P.C. Mahalanobis's model was the base of the Second Five-Year Plan (1956–61).

1. Focus: rapid industrialisation through heavy and basic industries in the public sector.
2. First Plan (1951–56) used the Harrod–Domar model and prioritised agriculture.

Yaad rakhein: 1st = Harrod–Domar (agriculture), 2nd = Mahalanobis (industry).

Answer: (A) Second Five-Year Plan

Concept: The 2025 scheme that ties mangrove restoration to MGNREGS wage work is Mission Mangrove Mitra.

1. Villagers are hired under MGNREGS to plant, protect and maintain mangroves as 'Mangrove Mitras'.
2. It complements MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes, 2023).

Yaad rakhein: The word 'Mitra' (friend) signals community participation – a giveaway among the invented-sounding names.

Answer: (B) Mission Mangrove Mitra

Concept: A BoP crisis means the country cannot pay for imports/debt – i.e., a shortage of foreign exchange.

1. Reserves fell to barely enough for about two weeks of imports.
2. Gulf War oil price shock, fall in remittances and high external debt deepened it.
3. India pledged gold and took IMF help, leading to LPG reforms.

Yaad rakhein: 'Balance of Payments' always relates to foreign currency – eliminates food, goods and savings.

Answer: (B) Foreign exchange

Concept: Judge A and R separately, then ask: 'Is A true BECAUSE of R?'

1. A ✓ – India borrowed from the IMF and World Bank in 1991.
2. R ✓ – reserves had shrunk to about two weeks' import cover.
3. Low reserves are exactly why the loan was needed → R explains A.

Trick: Put 'because' between A and R: 'India sought a loan because reserves covered only 2 weeks' – reads right.

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

Concept: 'Syncretic' = mixing several traditions; Chhau mixes tribal, folk, martial and classical Hindu elements.

1. Found in Odisha (Mayurbhanj), Jharkhand (Seraikela) and West Bengal (Purulia).
2. Stories come from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas; movements draw on martial and tribal practices; Purulia and Seraikela styles use masks.
3. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list – 2010.

Trick: Syncretic = blend; only option (A) talks about blending.

Answer: (A) It blends tribal, folk, and classical Hindu cultural traits

Concept: Place each case by its year of judgement.

1. Berubari Union – 1960 (Preamble not part of the Constitution; ceding territory needs an amendment).
2. Minerva Mills – 1980 (basic structure; balance of FRs and DPSPs).
3. Indra Sawhney – 1992 (OBC reservation, 50% cap, creamy layer).
4. Order: 1 → 3 → 2.

Trick: Mandal case (Indra Sawhney) came after the 1990 Mandal implementation – so it must be last.

Answer: (A) 1-3-2

Concept: Solar flares and CMEs disturb Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere.

1. X-rays and charged particles ionise the upper atmosphere → HF radio blackouts, GPS errors, satellite and power-grid trouble, auroras.
2. Ocean currents and volcanoes are driven by processes on/inside Earth, not by the Sun's outbursts.

Trick: Space weather hits 'signals and electricity' – radio, GPS, satellites, grids.

Answer: (B) Radio signal blackouts

Concept: Match the building's architectural style with its typical features.

1. Notre Dame des Anges (built 1855) is a French-era church in Puducherry in Greco-Roman style.
2. Its front is light and open, resting on classical pillars/piers.
3. Shikhara with amalaka = Nagara Hindu temple; minaret and lattice-work arches = Indo-Islamic.

Trick: A European church will show classical (Greek/Roman) elements — drop the temple and mosque features.

Answer: (B) Transparent façade supported by classical piers

Concept: Bissu is a harvest fair of the Jaunsari tribe of Jaunsar-Bawar (Chakrata, Dehradun).

1. It is held around mid-April and lasts about a week.
2. People thank the deities for a good harvest with folk dances, archery-style games and fairs.
3. It has no link with Gorkha martial arts or Himachali Brahmin rituals.

Yaad rakhein: Jaunsar-Bawar (Chakrata) is the home of the Jaunsari tribe — their other well-known festival is Maghmela.

Answer: (B) A week-long tribal fair of the Jaunsari community in Chakrata, held to express gratitude for the harvest

Concept: Bhaga = the ruler's share of the crop.

1. Bhaga: king's share of farm produce, generally 1/6 — correct pair.
2. Hiranya was tax in cash/gold; Dhanya was tax in grain — (c) and (d) mix them up.
3. Unpaid forced labour was 'vishti', not hiranya.

Trick: Hiranya = hiranya (gold), Dhanya = dhaan (grain) — the word itself tells the tax.

Answer: (B) Bhaga - The king's share of agricultural produce

Concept: Achal = fixed notes; Chal = notes that take komal/teevra forms.

1. Sa and Pa never change pitch → Achal.
2. Re, Ga, Dha, Ni can be komal; Ma can be teevra → Chal.
3. 7 shuddha + 4 komal + 1 teevra = 12 notes of the saptak.

Trick: 'Sa–Pa never shift' — remember the two pillars of the tanpura drone.

Answer: (B) Sa and Pa are immovable (Achal), while the remaining swaras can vary as Komal or Teevra (Chal)

Concept: En passant is a one-time pawn capture right.

1. An enemy pawn moves two squares and lands beside your pawn.
2. Your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square.
3. The capture must be made on the very next move, otherwise the right is lost.

Yaad rakhein: En passant is French for 'in passing'; square colour has nothing to do with it.

Answer: (C) Immediately on the next move after the opponent's pawn moves two squares forward