Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Lakshadweep lies in the Arabian Sea off the Kerala coast, roughly between $8^{\circ }$–${12}^{\circ }$ N and ${71}^{\circ }$–${74}^{\circ }$ E.

1. It is a group of coral (atoll) islands; capital Kavaratti.
2. Andaman and Nicobar lie in the Bay of Bengal near ${92}^{\circ }$–${94}^{\circ }$ E, so they do not fit the longitude.
3. Rameswaram is a single island off Tamil Nadu (about ${79}^{\circ }$ E).

Yaad rakhein: Longitude near ${72}^{\circ }$ E = Arabian Sea = Lakshadweep.

Answer: (C) Lakshadweep

Concept: The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 created anti-corruption ombudsmen at the Centre (Lokpal) and in States (Lokayuktas).

1. Passed by Parliament in December 2013; received Presidential assent on 1 January 2014.
2. It came into force on 16 January 2014.
3. The first Lokpal, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, was appointed in March 2019.

Yaad rakhein: Lokpal Act: 2013 law, in force 16 Jan 2014.

Answer: (B) 16 January 2014

Concept: GST (from 1 July 2017) subsumed many central and state indirect taxes.

1. Central taxes subsumed: Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, Additional Duties of Customs (CVD and SAD), etc.
2. State taxes subsumed: State VAT, Entry tax, Luxury tax, Entertainment tax, etc.
3. So all three given taxes were replaced. (Basic Customs Duty was not.)

Yaad rakhein: Additional customs duty (CVD/SAD) went into IGST; basic customs duty stayed.

Answer: (C) 1, 2 and 3

Concept: Ambai is the pen name of C. S. Lakshmi, a noted Tamil feminist writer and researcher.

1. She wrote the early Tamil novel Andhi Malai and later many short-story collections such as Siragugal Muriyum.
2. She founded SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women), Mumbai.
3. Balamani Amma wrote in Malayalam, Daya Pawar in Marathi, and Akka Mahadevi was a 12th-century Kannada poet.

Yaad rakhein: Ambai = C. S. Lakshmi (Tamil).

Answer: (D) CS Lakshmi

Concept: IICAS (Indian Integrated Combat Aerial Systems) is DRDO's planned family of indigenous combat drone and unmanned aerial systems.

1. DRDO outlined its plan to develop IICAS at the Drone Industry Conclave 2025.
2. The aim is self-reliance (Aatmanirbhar Bharat) in combat drones and integrated unmanned warfare systems for the armed forces.

Yaad rakhein: IICAS ↔ Drone Industry Conclave 2025.

Answer: (D) Drone Industry Conclave 2025

Concept: Clock speed is the number of cycles a CPU performs per second, measured in hertz (GHz today).

1. Each cycle allows the CPU to fetch/execute (part of) instructions, so a higher clock speed means more instructions per second.
2. Registers and cache improve access speed but do not set the cycle rate; power consumption is a result, not a measure of processing rate.

Yaad rakhein: Clock speed → GHz → instructions per second.

Answer: (B) Clock speed

Concept: Article 246 distributes law-making powers through the three lists of the Seventh Schedule.

1. Article 246(1): Parliament has exclusive power over List I – the Union List (defence, foreign affairs, railways, banking, etc.).
2. Article 246(2): both Parliament and States on List III – Concurrent List; 246(3): States on List II – State List.
3. There is no 'Local List'.

Yaad rakhein: List I = Union = Parliament only.

Answer: (D) Union List

Concept: Lachit Barphukan was the commander (Barphukan) of the Ahom army of Assam.

1. He defeated the Mughal forces under Ram Singh I in the Battle of Saraighat (1671) on the Brahmaputra near Guwahati.
2. His birth anniversary, 24 November, is observed as Lachit Divas; the NDA's best cadet gets the Lachit Barphukan Gold Medal.
3. He fought against the Mughals, so option (C) is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Lachit = Ahom hero of Saraighat 1671.

Answer: (B) A commander of the Ahom kingdom

Concept: Madan Lal Dhingra, a student in London linked to India House, shot Sir William Curzon Wyllie on 1 July 1909.

1. Curzon Wyllie was political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India.
2. Dhingra was tried and hanged at Pentonville Prison on 17 August 1909.
3. Khudiram Bose was hanged in 1908 for the Muzaffarpur bomb case, in India, not London.

Yaad rakhein: London 1909 + Curzon Wyllie = Dhingra (India House, Savarkar's circle).

Answer: (B) Madan Lal Dhingra

Concept: Army Day is celebrated every year on 15 January.

1. On 15 January 1949, General (later Field Marshal) K. M. Cariappa took over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British C-in-C.
2. The 77th Army Day in January 2025 was celebrated in Pune, marking this same event.
3. Operation Vijay (1999 Kargil) is commemorated on 26 July as Kargil Vijay Diwas, not on Army Day.

Yaad rakhein: 15 January = Cariappa Day of the Army; 26 July = Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Answer: (D) First Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army

Concept: PM Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka on 4–6 April 2025.

1. On 6 April 2025 he visited Anuradhapura and offered prayers at the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple (the Bodhi tree grown from a sapling of the Bodh Gaya tree).
2. He also inaugurated India-assisted railway projects there.
3. Kandy is famous for the Temple of the Tooth Relic, but it was not on this visit.

Yaad rakhein: Anuradhapura = Sri Maha Bodhi; Kandy = Temple of the Tooth.

Answer: (D) Anuradhapura

Concept: Budget 2025-26 (presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 Feb 2025) revised the new tax regime.

1. Income up to ₹12 lakh became tax-free under the new regime (through an enhanced rebate under Section 87A).
2. For salaried persons, adding the ₹75,000 standard deduction makes it ₹12.75 lakh — but the general threshold is ₹12 lakh.

Yaad rakhein: 12 lakh for all; 12.75 lakh only for salaried (with standard deduction).

Answer: (D) ₹12 lakh

Concept: Seleucus Nicator sent his ambassador to the Mauryan court at Pataliputra after his treaty with Chandragupta Maurya.

1. The ambassador was Megasthenes, who wrote Indica describing Mauryan administration and Pataliputra.
2. Ptolemy, Strabo and Pliny were later geographers/writers, not ambassadors to Chandragupta.

Yaad rakhein: Megasthenes → Indica → Chandragupta; Deimachus → Bindusara.

Answer: (A) Megasthenes

Concept: Real GDP growth of India in 2023-24 was estimated at 9.2% (revised estimates of NSO).

1. This was the highest in 12 years, except 2021-22 (when growth was about 9.7% due to the post-COVID base effect).
2. 6.2% and 5.2% are too low, and 15.2% is unrealistic for a full year.

Yaad rakhein: 2023-24 → 9.2%; only 2021-22 (post-COVID rebound) was higher.

Answer: (B) 9.2%

Concept: Freon-12 is dichlorodifluoromethane (${\text{CCl}}_2{\text{F}}_2$), a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC).

1. It is manufactured industrially and was widely used as a refrigerant in ACs/refrigerators and as an aerosol propellant.
2. CFCs release chlorine in the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer, so they are being phased out under the Montreal Protocol.

Yaad rakhein: Freon = CFC = refrigerant + aerosol + ozone depletion.

Answer: (D) Freon-12

Concept: The eastern extension of the Himalayas, beyond the Dihang gorge, is called the Purvanchal (Eastern Hills).

1. Purvanchal includes the Patkai Bum, Naga Hills, Manipur Hills and Mizo (Lushai) Hills.
2. The Khasi Hills (with Garo and Jaintia) belong to the Meghalaya (Shillong) Plateau, an extension of the Peninsular Plateau — not the Himalayas.

Yaad rakhein: Garo–Khasi–Jaintia = Meghalaya Plateau (peninsular); Patkai–Naga–Mizo = Purvanchal (Himalayan).

Answer: (A) Khasi Hills

Concept: After supplying BrahMos (2022 deal), India in early 2025 was expected to finalise a further defence export deal worth over $200 million with the Philippines.

1. Reports named the Akash surface-to-air missile system for this deal.
2. Akash is an indigenous short-range SAM developed by DRDO and made by Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
3. BrahMos was already contracted by the Philippines in 2022 (about $375 million), so it is not the new deal.

Yaad rakhein: Philippines: BrahMos = 2022 deal; Akash = new 2025 deal.

Answer: (B) Akash Surface-to-Air Missile

Concept: NFHS-5 (2019–21) reported child nutrition indicators for children under 5 years.

1. Underweight: 32.1%; Stunted: 35.5%; Wasted: 19.3%.
2. 19.3% (option A) is the wasting figure — a common trap.

Yaad rakhein: NFHS-5: Stunting 35.5 > Underweight 32.1 > Wasting 19.3.

Answer: (B) 32.1%

Concept: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is a statutory body set up on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

1. Its headquarters is Manav Adhikar Bhawan, INA, New Delhi.
2. Its chairperson is a former Chief Justice or Judge of the Supreme Court.

Yaad rakhein: NHRC — 1993 Act — New Delhi.

Answer: (A) New Delhi

Concept: A cell address is written as Column letter followed by Row number.

1. In B5, “B” is the column (2nd column) and “5” is the row.
2. So B5 is the cell where column B meets row 5.

Yaad rakhein: Excel: Letters = Columns, Numbers = Rows.

Answer: (D) Column B and Row 5