Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Mehrgarh (Balochistan, Pakistan) is a Neolithic site near the Bolan Pass, a forerunner of the Harappan civilisation.

1. Charred cotton seeds and cotton fibres found at Mehrgarh (c. 5000 BCE and earlier) are the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation in the region.
2. Kalibangan is famous for a ploughed field; Harappa and Rakhigarhi are mature Harappan cities.

Yaad rakhein: Mehrgarh = earliest farming, cotton and dentistry evidence in South Asia.

Answer: (B) Mehrgarh

Concept: Important water channels around Lakshadweep and the Andaman–Nicobar islands.

1. The Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy (Lakshadweep) from the Maldives.
2. The Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the main Lakshadweep group (Kalpeni/Kavaratti).
3. The Ten Degree Channel separates Little Andaman from Car Nicobar.

Yaad rakhein: Minicoy is at about 8° N — Eight Degree Channel lies just south of it, towards the Maldives.

Answer: (B) Eight Degree Channel

Concept: The Indian High Courts Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1861.

1. It empowered the Crown to set up High Courts in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras (established in 1862).
2. These replaced the old Supreme Courts and Sadar Adalats.
3. 1861 also saw the Indian Councils Act.

Yaad rakhein: 1861 = Indian Councils Act + Indian High Courts Act; High Courts started functioning in 1862.

Answer: (B) 1861

Concept: The CPU consists of the Control Unit (CU), the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and Registers (with cache/memory unit).

1. CU directs operations; ALU does calculations and logic; registers are tiny fast storage inside the CPU.
2. A Graphics card (GPU) is a separate expansion component that handles display/graphics — it is not part of the CPU.

Yaad rakhein: CPU = CU + ALU + Registers. Graphic card is outside it.

Answer: (B) Graphic Card

Concept: Parliament makes laws; the Union Cabinet steers the legislative process.

1. The Cabinet decides which government bills are introduced, finalises their content and sets the legislative agenda of Parliament.
2. Only Parliament can enact laws, so (A) and (D) are wrong; the Cabinet has no judicial authority above courts, so (B) is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Cabinet = 'steering wheel' of Parliament's agenda, not the law-maker itself.

Answer: (C) The Cabinet gives final shape to government bills and prepares the legislative agenda.

Concept: The Tripartite Struggle (8th–10th century CE) was fought for control of Kannauj.

1. Rivals: Palas (Bengal), Gurjara-Pratiharas (western India/Malwa) and Rashtrakutas (Deccan).
2. Kannauj was the symbol of political supremacy in north India after Harsha; the Pratiharas finally held it.

Yaad rakhein: P-P-R: Palas, Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas.

Answer: (B) Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas

Concept: In April 2025 the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) approved Noida's first deer park.

1. The deer park is planned by the Noida Authority in Sector 91 (near the Biodiversity Park area) in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
2. CZA is the statutory body under the Wild Life (Protection) Act that approves zoos and deer parks in India.

Yaad rakhein: CZA approval 2025 → Noida deer park.

Answer: (D) Noida

Concept: M. N. Roy (Manabendra Nath Roy) was a pioneer of Marxism in India.

1. He founded the Communist Party of India at Tashkent in October 1920 (émigré group) and worked with the Communist International.
2. He later propounded 'Radical Humanism'. Pulin Das founded Dhaka Anushilan Samiti; V. O. Chidambaram Pillai started the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company.

Yaad rakhein: CPI 1920 Tashkent → M. N. Roy.

Answer: (D) M N Roy

Concept: The Eleventh Schedule was added by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.

1. It lists 29 functional items for Panchayats (Article 243G) — e.g., agriculture, drinking water, rural housing.
2. The Twelfth Schedule (74th Amendment) lists 18 items for Municipalities.

Yaad rakhein: 11th Schedule → 29 subjects (Panchayats); 12th Schedule → 18 subjects (Municipalities).

Answer: (D) 29

Concept: Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy; cofactors/coenzymes such as NAD⁺ help the enzyme do this.

1. NAD⁺ binds at the active site and accepts electrons/hydrogen, helping the enzyme stabilise the transition state so less activation energy is needed.
2. It does not raise enzyme concentration, is not a permanent structural part (it is loosely bound and recycled), and does not create sites for inhibitors.

Yaad rakhein: Every catalyst — and its helper cofactor — works by lowering activation energy.

Answer: (C) lowering the activation energy by stabilising the transition state

Concept: UNNATI-2024 is a Central Sector Scheme for industrial development of the North-East.

1. Outlay ₹10,037 crore; 60% of Part A outlay earmarked for the 8 NE states (rest on first-come basis) — statement 1 correct.
2. It runs 10 years from notification plus 8 years for committed liabilities — statement 3 correct.
3. Incentives are higher in industrially backward Zone B than Zone A (2 wrong); it is run by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, not MDoNER (4 wrong).

Yaad rakhein: Zone B = backward = more incentive; UNNATI nodal = DPIIT.

Answer: (C) 1 and 3 Only

Concept: The Eighth Schedule lists the official languages recognised by the Constitution.

1. Originally 14 languages; Sindhi (1967), Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali (1992) and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali (2003, 92nd Amendment) were added.
2. Total = 22 (no change up to April 2025).

Yaad rakhein: 14 + 1 + 3 + 4 = 22.

Answer: (B) 22

Concept: The Godavari is the largest Peninsular river system.

1. Length about 1,465 km; rises at Trimbakeshwar (Nashik, Maharashtra) and drains into the Bay of Bengal.
2. Due to its size it is called the 'Dakshin Ganga'. Narmada is the largest west-flowing peninsular river.

Yaad rakhein: Largest peninsular = Godavari (Dakshin Ganga); largest west-flowing = Narmada.

Answer: (B) Godavari

Concept: The 1991 New Economic Policy followed Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG).

1. Globalisation meant cutting import tariffs and quantitative restrictions, and opening up to foreign direct and portfolio investment.
2. Import substitution and high tariffs were features of the pre-1991 protectionist regime — the opposite of globalisation.

Yaad rakhein: Globalisation = lower barriers + more FDI.

Answer: (B) Reducing trade barriers and encouraging foreign investment

Concept: After the 1991 crisis India moved from a fixed (pegged) rate to a market-determined one.

1. 1992: LERMS (dual rate); March 1993: unified, market-determined exchange rate.
2. The RBI still intervenes to curb excess volatility — so it is a managed floating (dirty float) regime, not a pure float.

Yaad rakhein: India's rupee = managed float since 1993.

Answer: (B) Managed floating exchange rate

Concept: In a tree-structured directory each file has exactly one parent; an acyclic-graph (DAG) directory allows sharing.

1. A DAG lets the same file/subdirectory appear in more than one directory through links (hard links), without creating cycles.
2. This enables sharing of files among users/directories — the main advantage. Security, speed and fragmentation are not inherent benefits.

Yaad rakhein: Acyclic graph = sharing via links, no loops.

Answer: (A) DAGs enable the creation of hard links, allowing a single file to have multiple directory entries.

Concept: The Indian Open 2025 (PSA Copper event) was held in Mumbai in April 2025.

1. Egypt's Kareem El Torkey won the men's singles title.
2. India's Abhay Singh and Saurav Ghosal are top Indian players but did not win this title.

Yaad rakhein: Indian Open 2025 squash (men) → Kareem El Torkey (Egypt).

Answer: (C) Kareem El Torkey

Concept: The 2025 Pulitzer Prizes gave a posthumous Special Citation to Chuck Stone.

1. Chuck Stone (1924–2014) was a pioneering Black journalist and Tuskegee Airman honoured for his civil-rights era journalism.
2. Ida B. Wells received a Special Citation earlier, in 2020; Nikole Hannah-Jones won in 2020 for commentary.

Yaad rakhein: Pulitzer 2025 Special Citation → Chuck Stone; 2020 → Ida B. Wells.

Answer: (D) Chuck Stone

Concept: Law of Multiple Proportions: when two elements form more than one compound, the masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the other are in a simple whole-number ratio.

1. In CO: 12 g C combines with 16 g O; in CO₂: 12 g C combines with 32 g O.
2. Ratio of oxygen masses $=16:32=1:2$ — a simple ratio.
3. Other pairs do not contain the same two elements only.

Yaad rakhein: Same two elements, two compounds → multiple proportions (CO/CO₂, H₂O/H₂O₂).

Answer: (C) CO and CO₂

Concept: The Northern Plain is formed by the alluvial deposits of the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra systems.

1. It is about 2400 km long (west to east) and 240–320 km broad, covering about 7 lakh sq km.
2. 3200 km is roughly India's north–south extent; 2400 km is the length of the Himalaya-parallel plain.

Yaad rakhein: Northern Plain: 2400 km long, 240–320 km wide.

Answer: (D) 2400 km