SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Check each reign period against standard dates.

1. Qutbuddin Aibak (Slave/Mamluk dynasty founder): 1206–1210 ✓
2. Alauddin Khalji: 1296–1316 ✓
3. Prithviraj Chauhan: c. 1175 (some say 1178)–1192, ended at Second Tarain ✓; Muhammad bin Tughluq: 1324/25–1351 ✓ → all four correct.

Yaad rakhein: Aibak died in 1210 falling from a horse while playing chaugan (polo).

Answer: (C) I, II, III and IV

Concept: P. T. Usha's famous near-miss at Los Angeles 1984.

1. She reached the women's 400 m hurdles final and finished 4th.
2. She lost the bronze by just 1/100 of a second (about 55.42 s vs 55.41 s).

Yaad rakhein: P. T. Usha is called the 'Payyoli Express'; she is now the President of the Indian Olympic Association (since 2022).

Answer: (B) One-hundredth

Concept: Outcomes of India's 2021 BRICS presidency (13th summit, held virtually).

1. India hosted a BRICS Digital Health Summit during its term.
2. For sustainability it launched the BRICS Alliance for Green Tourism to promote eco-friendly tourism.
3. The other options were not adopted as 2021 initiatives.

Yaad rakhein: BRICS chairs rotate in the order B-R-I-C-S; India chaired in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

Answer: (B) BRICS Alliance for Green Tourism

Concept: Match the 2016 natural-history book with its writer.

1. 'Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent' – written by Pranay Lal.
2. It narrates India's geology, fossils and evolution over billions of years.
3. Tony Joseph → 'Early Indians'; Sanjeev Sanyal → 'The Ocean of Churn', 'Land of the Seven Rivers'.

Yaad rakhein: Don't confuse it with the ancient 'Indica' by Megasthenes, Greek envoy to Chandragupta Maurya.

Answer: (C) Pranay Lal

Concept: Results of men's hockey at the 38th National Games, Uttarakhand (2025).

1. Gold: Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh 3-2 in the final → 1 ✓
2. Karnataka vs Maharashtra semi-final, 2-2, settled by shoot-out → 2 ✓
3. Bronze went to Maharashtra (beat Punjab 1-0), not Punjab → 3 ✗

Yaad rakhein: The 38th National Games (Jan–Feb 2025) were hosted by Uttarakhand; Services topped the medal table.

Answer: (A) Only 1 and 2

Concept: A DoPT digital release by the MoS (PMO, Personnel) in May 2025.

1. The e-Civil List 2025 e-book was launched by Dr. Jitendra Singh.
2. It is the official database of IAS officers – cadre, batch, posting and service details.
3. It supports transparency and quick reference under digital governance.

Yaad rakhein: Dr. Jitendra Singh holds MoS for PMO, Personnel, Atomic Energy and Space, and independent charge of Science & Technology.

Answer: (A) e-Civil List 2025 e-book

Concept: Share = state population ÷ India's population × 100.

1. UP ≈ 19.98 crore; India ≈ 121.09 crore.
2. 19.98 ÷ 121.09 × 100 ≈ 16.5% → nearly 16%.

Yaad rakhein: Top 3 states by population (2011): UP (16.5%), Maharashtra (9.3%), Bihar (8.6%).

Answer: (C) 16%

Concept: Rockets that carry people must be 'human-rated' – extra safety and redundancy.

1. LVM3 (earlier GSLV Mk III) is ISRO's heaviest launcher.
2. Its crew-ready version is HLVM3 = Human-rated LVM3.
3. It carries the Gaganyaan crew module along with a Crew Escape System.

Yaad rakhein: Gaganyaan's uncrewed test flight G1 carries the humanoid robot 'Vyommitra'.

Answer: (B) Human LVM3

Concept: India is rich in some minerals and deficient in others.

1. India has large, good-quality iron ore (haematite, magnetite) reserves – Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka.
2. It is the base raw material for steel, the backbone of industry.
3. Petroleum, copper and tin are scarce and largely imported.

Yaad rakhein: Odisha is the largest iron-ore producing state; Bailadila (Chhattisgarh) is a famous mine.

Answer: (C) Iron ore

Concept: Who advises dissolution, and on whose report President's Rule is imposed.

1. PM advises the President to dissolve Lok Sabha; CM advises the Governor to dissolve the Legislative Assembly → 1 ✓
2. Under Art. 356, President's Rule is imposed on the Governor's report (or otherwise), with Union Cabinet advice – it is not 'only by the PM' → 2 ✗

Trick: Words like 'only' in polity statements usually signal a false statement.

Answer: (A) Only 1

Concept: Macronutrients are needed in large amounts; micronutrients in traces.

1. Macro: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S (plus C, H, O).
2. Micro: Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B, Mo, Cl, Ni.
3. So Boron – micronutrient ✓; zinc and iron are micro, calcium is macro.

Trick: Micronutrient mnemonic: 'B MZ Cu Fe Cl Mo Ni' – Boron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Chlorine, Molybdenum, Nickel.

Answer: (B) Micronutrient - Boron

Concept: Match each device with its working principle.

1. Electric bell: current magnetises an electromagnet that pulls the striker → magnetic effect of current ✓
2. Transformer works only on AC; a generator turns mechanical energy into electrical (reverse of the given statement).
3. An electromagnet is a temporary magnet – it loses magnetism when current stops.

Yaad rakhein: Generator → mechanical to electrical; Motor → electrical to mechanical.

Answer: (D) Electric Bell - Operates using the magnetic effect of electric current

Concept: A–R: check each statement, then whether R explains A.

1. Launched in April 2022 (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) to develop and rejuvenate water bodies → A true.
2. Its target: 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district → R true.
3. Creating/reviving 75 ponds per district is exactly how the mission conserves water → R explains A.

Yaad rakhein: Each Amrit Sarovar should have a pond area of at least 1 acre.

Answer: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Concept: Rauf (Rouf) is a group dance of Kashmiri women.

1. Performed by women, especially on Eid and festive/harvest occasions → 1 ✓
2. Dancers stand in two facing rows, arms on each other's shoulders, and move with rhythmic toe-heel steps (ras) → 2 ✓

Yaad rakhein: Other J&K dances: Dumhal (men of Wattal tribe), Bhand Pather (folk theatre), Kud (Jammu).

Answer: (C) Both 1 and 2 are correct

Concept: A–R: test each statement on facts.

1. India ranks low in the World Happiness Report, behind neighbours such as Nepal and Pakistan → A taken as true.
2. India does not have the lowest GDP per capita in South Asia – Afghanistan and Nepal are lower → R false.

Yaad rakhein: Happiness rank uses GDP per capita plus social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption perception.

Answer: (C) A is true, but R is false.

Concept: NRCP funds pollution-abatement works on polluted river stretches.

1. In 2024 the Musi (flowing through Hyderabad) was newly added under NRCP.
2. Works include sewage interception, treatment plants and riverfront cleaning.
3. Yamuna and Gomti were covered earlier (Yamuna Action Plan, Gomti Action Plan).

Yaad rakhein: Musi is a tributary of the Krishna; Hyderabad stands on its banks.

Answer: (C) Musi

Concept: Locate the article in its Part of the Constitution.

1. Art. 50 asks the State to separate the judiciary from the executive.
2. Directive Principles occupy Part IV, Articles 36–51 – Art. 50 falls inside.
3. Fundamental Rights are Arts. 12–35; Fundamental Duties Art. 51A.

Yaad rakhein: Other key DPSPs: Art. 40 village panchayats, Art. 44 Uniform Civil Code, Art. 48A environment.

Answer: (B) Directive Principles of State Policy

Concept: Law first, then the Council, then the roll-out.

1. 101st Constitutional Amendment Act: September 2016 (assent 8 Sept 2016).
2. GST Council constituted under Art. 279A: September 2016, shortly after.
3. GST launched: 1 July 2017 → order 1-2-3.

Trick: The Council (Art. 279A) can only exist after the amendment that created the article – so 1 must precede 2.

Answer: (A) 1-2-3

Concept: A–R: verify both, then check the cause–effect link.

1. IPR 1956 divided industries into Schedules A, B and C → A true.
2. A: exclusive State; B: State gradually takes lead, private sector may join; C: left mainly to private sector → R true.
3. The schedules were made precisely to mark these zones → R explains A.

Yaad rakhein: IPR 1956 is called the 'Economic Constitution of India'; IPR 1948 was the first industrial policy.

Answer: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

Concept: Temperature pattern depends on the angle of sunlight through the year.

1. Tropics (23.5° N–23.5° S) get near-vertical sun all year → small annual temperature range → 1 ✓
2. Temperate zones (23.5°–66.5°) have clear spring, summer, autumn and winter → 2 ✓

Yaad rakhein: Torrid zone between the tropics; Frigid zones beyond the Arctic/Antarctic circles (66.5°).

Answer: (C) Both 1 and 2