Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Thar is the largest desert of the Indian subcontinent.

1. It spans western Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Pakistan's Sindh – hence called the Great Indian Desert.
2. The "White Desert"/salt desert refers to the Rann of Kutch, not the Thar.

Yaad rakhein: Thar = Great Indian Desert; Rann of Kutch = White/Salt desert.

Answer: (C) The Great Indian Desert

Concept: System software (OS, drivers, utilities) controls the hardware; application software (Word, browser, games) runs on top of it for user tasks.

1. The OS boots first and manages CPU, memory and devices; applications are loaded afterwards and request services from the OS.
2. Option A reverses the roles; option B swaps the jobs of the two; option C is false – software is not only for entertainment.

Yaad rakhein: Hardware $\to$ System software $\to$ Application software $\to$ User – the layer order.

Answer: (D) System software runs directly on hardware; application software runs after system software loads

Concept: C. P. Radhakrishnan's career as Governor.

1. He was sworn in as Governor of Maharashtra on 31 July 2024, succeeding Ramesh Bais.
2. Earlier he served as Governor of Jharkhand from 18 February 2023 to July 2024 (he also held additional charge of Telangana and Puducherry).
3. Both statements describe his tenures correctly.

Yaad rakhein: In September 2025 C. P. Radhakrishnan was elected the 15th Vice-President of India, after which Acharya Devvrat (Gujarat) took additional charge of Maharashtra.

Answer: (D) Both 1 and 2

Concept: The magudi (pungi/been), the snake-charmer's pipe, has a gourd air-reservoir fitted with two reed pipes – one plays the melody, the other sounds a continuous drone.

1. Because two tubes perform two different functions it is classified as a compound wind instrument.
2. Clarinet is a single-tube reed instrument; kombu is a curved brass horn; conch (shankh) is a natural shell trumpet.

Yaad rakhein: Magudi = two pipes, one gourd – melody + drone.

Answer: (C) Magudi

Concept: Vikramshila Mahavihara (Antichak, Bhagalpur, Bihar) was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala (c. 783–820 CE).

1. It became a great centre of Vajrayana Buddhism; the scholar Atisha Dipankara was its abbot before going to Tibet.
2. Gopala founded the Pala dynasty (and Odantapuri); Devapala patronised Nalanda; Mahipala was a later Pala ruler.

Yaad rakhein: Dharmapala $\to$ Vikramshila; Gopala $\to$ Odantapuri.

Answer: (C) King Dharampala

Concept: In a decomposition reaction one compound breaks into two or more simpler substances, usually on supplying heat, light or electricity.

1. Example: $2{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\stackrel{\text{electricity}}{\to }2{\text{H}}_2+{\text{O}}_2$; ${\text{CaCO}}_3\stackrel{\Delta }{\to }\text{CaO}+{\text{CO}}_2$.
2. Combination is the reverse (two $\to$ one); displacement swaps an element; neutralisation is acid + base $\to$ salt + water.

Yaad rakhein: Decomposition = de-assemble, $AB\to A+B$.

Answer: (C) Decomposition reaction

Concept: The Green India Mission (one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change) aims to increase and restore forest/tree cover and degraded ecosystems.

1. In June 2025 (World Day to Combat Desertification) the government released the revised Green India Mission roadmap, targeting restoration of degraded landscapes – Aravallis, Western Ghats, Himalayas, mangroves – with an additional carbon sink of 3.39 billion tonnes CO₂ equivalent by 2030.
2. The other options are not names of any central mission.

Yaad rakhein: Forest cover / degraded land $\to$ Green India Mission (MoEFCC).

Answer: (C) Green India Mission

Concept: The New Industrial Policy 1991 abolished industrial licensing for all but a short list of industries kept for security, safety, health and environmental reasons.

1. Alcohol (potable liquor), cigarettes/tobacco, hazardous chemicals, industrial explosives and defence equipment remained (and still remain) under compulsory licensing.
2. Steel, food processing and most consumer and capital goods were freed from licensing in 1991.

Yaad rakhein: Still-licensed today: Alcohol, Tobacco, Hazardous chemicals, Explosives, Defence.

Answer: (B) Alcohol

Concept: NITI Aayog publishes the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), built on the Alkire–Foster method of UNDP/OPHI.

1. It uses 12 indicators under three equally weighted dimensions – health, education and standard of living.
2. CPI measures inflation; HDI (UNDP) ranks countries on development; "Income Poverty Index" is not an official NITI Aayog index.

Yaad rakhein: NITI Aayog MPI 2023 report: 24.82 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty in 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Answer: (B) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

Concept: Binary memory units rise by a factor of $1024=2^{10}$: KB $\to$ MB $\to$ GB $\to$ TB $\to$ PB $\to$ EB $\to$ ZB $\to$ YB.

1. $1\text{PB}=1024\text{TB}=2^{50}$ bytes.
2. Zettabyte and yottabyte are larger than a petabyte, and $1024$ GB is only $1$ TB.

Yaad rakhein: "King Made Good Tea Please Enjoy Zesty Yummy" – K, M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y.

Answer: (A) 1024 terabytes

Concept: Article 37 states that the Directive Principles (Part IV, Articles 36–51) "shall not be enforceable by any court" but are fundamental in the governance of the country.

1. They set socio-economic goals (living wage, equal pay, village panchayats, etc.) that guide the legislature and executive while making laws.
2. Being non-justiciable is the key difference from Fundamental Rights, which courts can enforce under Article 32.

Yaad rakhein: FR = justiciable (court), DPSP = non-justiciable (conscience of the Constitution).

Answer: (D) They are legally enforceable by courts

Concept: Islamic injunctions discouraged human and animal figures, so Sultanate buildings were decorated with arabesque – intertwined geometric and floral patterns – along with calligraphy of Quranic verses.

1. Examples: Qutub Minar bands, Alai Darwaza, Quwwat-ul-Islam screens.
2. Torana (gateway), amalaka (ribbed disc on shikhara) and kalasha (finial) are features of Hindu temple architecture.

Yaad rakhein: Sultanate = arch + dome + arabesque + calligraphy; Temple = torana + amalaka + kalasha.

Answer: (C) Arabesque

Concept: Section 4 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (citizenship by descent) was made gender-neutral by the 1992 amendment.

1. Born outside India between 26 Jan 1950 and 10 Dec 1992: citizen if the father was an Indian citizen.
2. Born on/after 10 Dec 1992: citizen if either parent was an Indian citizen at the time of birth (from 3 Dec 2004 the birth must also be registered at an Indian consulate within one year).

Yaad rakhein: 1992 amendment = mother's citizenship also counts for descent.

Answer: (D) Either parent is a citizen of India at the time of birth

Concept: East-flowing rivers (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri) build large deltas on the Eastern Coastal Plain; west-flowing Narmada and Tapti form estuaries in the Gulf of Khambhat.

1. Tapti rises at Multai (Betul, MP), flows west through a rift valley and enters the Arabian Sea near Surat – no delta.
2. Mahanadi (Odisha), Godavari and Krishna (Andhra Pradesh) all have deltas on the east coast.

Yaad rakhein: East coast = delta, West coast = estuary (Narmada, Tapti, Mahi, Sabarmati).

Answer: (D) Tapti

Concept: The Global Innovation Index 2025 (WIPO, released 16 September 2025) ranked Switzerland 1st for the 15th consecutive year.

1. Top five 2025: Switzerland, Sweden, United States, Republic of Korea, Singapore.
2. India stood 38th (up from 39th in 2024), the top-ranked lower-middle-income economy; Denmark 9th, Finland 7th.

Yaad rakhein: GII = WIPO; Switzerland on top every year since 2011.

Answer: (D) Switzerland

Concept: After Cyclone Ditwah devastated Sri Lanka in late November 2025, India launched Operation Sagar Bandhu, sending relief material, NDRF teams and Indian Navy ships (INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, INS Sukanya among others).

1. The operation was expanded with additional warships and IAF aircraft carrying food, medicines and rescue teams.
2. Operation Samudra Setu (2020) repatriated Indians during COVID-19; Operation Maitri (2015) was for the Nepal earthquake; Operation Vanilla (2020) aided Madagascar after Cyclone Diane.

Yaad rakhein: Ditwah (Sri Lanka, 2025) $\to$ Sagar Bandhu ("friend across the sea").

Answer: (B) Operation Sagar Bandhu

Concept: Sodium (Na), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) are s-block metals – soft, lustrous, good conductors, form basic oxides.

1. Sulfur (S, atomic number 16) is a p-block non-metal: brittle yellow solid, poor conductor, forms the acidic oxide SO₂.
2. Na and K are alkali metals (Group 1); Ca is an alkaline-earth metal (Group 2).

Yaad rakhein: Non-metal oxides are acidic (SO₂, CO₂); metal oxides are basic (Na₂O, CaO).

Answer: (C) Sulfur

Concept: Galileo Galilei, through his inclined-plane experiments, showed that a body keeps moving at constant velocity unless a force (like friction) acts on it – the idea of inertia.

1. Newton later stated it formally as his First Law of Motion, which is why it is also called the law of inertia.
2. Archimedes – buoyancy and levers; Faraday – electromagnetic induction; Einstein – relativity.

Yaad rakhein: Inertia: idea by Galileo, law by Newton.

Answer: (C) Galileo Galilei

Concept: Article 275 provides statutory grants-in-aid from the Union to states in need; the sums are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.

1. Being "charged" means they do not need an annual vote of Parliament (unlike Article 282 discretionary grants).
2. Contingency Fund (Art. 267) is for unforeseen expenditure; Public Account (Art. 266(2)) holds money the government keeps as banker (PF, small savings); there is no "State Emergency Fund".

Yaad rakhein: Art. 275 = statutory grants (on Finance Commission advice); Art. 282 = discretionary grants.

Answer: (C) Consolidated Fund of India

Concept: During the Swadeshi movement (1905) Ashwini Kumar Dutta founded the Swadesh Bandhab Samiti in Barisal (now Bangladesh), the most effective of the Swadeshi volunteer bodies, with 159 branches.

1. It organised boycott of foreign goods, settled village disputes and did famine relief; the British banned it in 1908.
2. Anushilan Samiti was founded in Calcutta (Satish Chandra Basu/P. Mitra, 1902) and Jugantar emerged from it (Barindra Ghosh); "Bharat Mata Samiti" was a Punjab society of Ajit Singh.

Yaad rakhein: Barisal $\to$ Ashwini Kumar Dutta $\to$ Swadesh Bandhab Samiti.

Answer: (B) Swadesh Bandhab Samiti