Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Poligars (Palayakkarars) were local chieftains of Tamil country holding military and land rights.

1. They revolted (1799–1805) when the British tried to take away these rights; leaders included Veerapandiya Kattabomman and the Marudu brothers.
2. The region was under the Madras Presidency.

Yaad rakhein: Poligars = Tamil Nadu = Madras Presidency.

Answer: (C) Madras Presidency

Concept: The Union Budget 2023-24 allocated funds to the Ministry of Rural Development for schemes like MGNREGA, PMAY-G and NRLM.

1. The allocation for the ministry for 2023-24 was about ₹1,59,964 crore.
2. The largest share went to MGNREGA (₹60,000 crore BE).

Yaad rakhein: Rural Development 2023-24 ≈ ₹1.6 lakh crore.

Answer: (C) ₹1,59,964 crore

Concept: A peptide bond is an amide (–CO–NH–) bond formed by a condensation reaction between two amino acids.

1. The carboxyl group (–COOH) of one amino acid reacts with the amino group (–NH₂) of the next.
2. A molecule of water is released in the process.

Yaad rakhein: Peptide bond = –COOH + –NH₂ → –CO–NH– + H₂O.

Answer: (A) Carboxyl and amino groups

Concept: The Labour Bureau (Ministry of Labour & Employment) conducted Annual Employment-Unemployment Surveys before the PLFS replaced them.

1. The 6th survey reported labour force participation by age group.
2. Among the given groups, the 25-29 years group showed the highest participation.
3. 15-18 and 18-24 groups are lower because many are still in education.

Yaad rakhein: Teen and early-20s groups are largely students, so they cannot top the labour force list.

Answer: (A) 25-29

Concept: Lok Adalats work under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and settle disputes by compromise.

1. Parties are brought to a mutually agreed settlement – the process is conciliatory.
2. It is not adversarial like a regular court; there is no winner/loser.
3. Its award is final and binding, with no appeal.

Yaad rakhein: Lok Adalat = 'people's court' – samjhauta (compromise), not a fight.

Answer: (D) conciliatory

Concept: Emily Henry is an American author of romance novels.

1. 'Great Big Beautiful Life' (2025) follows two rival writers, Alice Scott and Hayden Anderson, competing to write the biography of reclusive heiress Margaret Ives.
2. 'Funny Story', 'Happy Place' and 'Book Lovers' are her earlier novels with different plots.

Yaad rakhein: Biography of an heiress → 'Great Big Beautiful Life'.

Answer: (D) Great Big Beautiful Life

Concept: Pipelining splits instruction execution into stages (fetch, decode, execute, write-back) that overlap.

1. While one instruction executes, the next is decoded and another is fetched – several instructions are in progress at once.
2. Serial/sequential execution does one instruction fully before the next; clock synchronisation only times operations.

Yaad rakhein: Pipeline = assembly line in a factory – many items at different stages together.

Answer: (B) Pipelining

Concept: The Bhils of Khandesh (present Maharashtra/MP region) rose against British rule after the British occupied Khandesh in 1818.

1. The Bhil rebellion began in 1818 and continued in waves for decades.
2. Leaders such as Sewaram, Kazi Singh and Bhima Naik led later phases of the struggle.

Yaad rakhein: 1818 = end of the Third Anglo-Maratha War → Khandesh taken by the British → Bhil revolt.

Answer: (C) 1818

Concept: Wells (mainly tube wells) are the largest source of irrigation in India, followed by canals.

1. Tube wells and other wells irrigate over 60% of the net irrigated area; canals about a quarter.
2. Tanks are important mainly in peninsular India but contribute only a small share.

Yaad rakhein: Wells (tube wells) > Canals > Tanks.

Answer: (D) Tube wells and canals

Concept: Municipal corporations are created by law: in States by an Act of the State Legislature, in Union Territories by an Act of Parliament.

1. Most UTs have no legislature of their own, so Parliament legislates for them.
2. E.g. the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 was passed by Parliament.

Yaad rakhein: State → State Legislature; UT → Parliament.

Answer: (B) By an Act of Parliament

Concept: The Tripitaka has three parts: Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules), Sutta Pitaka (Buddha's discourses) and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

1. Abhidhamma Pitaka is a systematic analysis of mind, mental factors, ethics and the nature of reality – Buddhist philosophy and psychology.
2. Animal stories and folk tales are found in the Jataka tales, not the Abhidhamma.

Yaad rakhein: Vinaya = rules, Sutta = sermons, Abhidhamma = philosophy/mind.

Answer: (A) Ethics, mental phenomena, and psychological insights

Concept: Article 19(1) lists six freedoms of citizens.

1. Article 19(1)(e): right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.
2. Article 19(1)(d) gives freedom to move throughout India.
3. Art. 15 – no discrimination; Art. 18 – abolition of titles; Art. 22 – protection against arrest.

Yaad rakhein: Article 19 = freedoms: speech, assembly, association, movement, residence, profession.

Answer: (B) Article 19

Concept: Energy and work share the SI unit joule (J): $1\text{J}=1\text{N}\times 1\text{m}$.

1. Watt is the unit of power (J/s).
2. Newton is the unit of force; kelvin is the unit of temperature.

Yaad rakhein: Joule = energy, Watt = rate of energy (power).

Answer: (D) Joule

Concept: Uttarapatha was the great northern route of ancient India.

1. It ran from Tamralipti/Pataliputra in the east through the Gangetic plain to Taxila and the north-west (towards Central Asia).
2. The southern route was called Dakshinapatha.

Yaad rakhein: Uttarapatha = North + East ↔ North-West; Dakshinapatha = South.

Answer: (C) northern and eastern parts of India with the northwestern region

Concept: Qurratulain Hyder wrote the Urdu novel 'Aag Ka Darya' (River of Fire) in 1959.

1. It spans over 2,500 years of Indian history and ends with the Partition and its aftermath.
2. 'Train to Pakistan' – Khushwant Singh; 'Pinjar' – Amrita Pritam.

Yaad rakhein: Qurratulain Hyder → Aag Ka Darya (also won her Jnanpith fame).

Answer: (B) Aag Ka Darya

Concept: The Northern Plains have older and newer alluvium.

1. Bhangar: older alluvium, lies above flood level, contains kankar (calcareous nodules).
2. Khadar: newer alluvium of flood plains, renewed every year.
3. Bhabar is a pebble belt at the foothills; Terai is the marshy belt south of it.

Yaad rakhein: Bhangar = Bada/Buddha (old); Khadar = new.

Answer: (A) Bhangar

Concept: Common ion effect: adding a salt with an ion common to a weak electrolyte suppresses the weak electrolyte's ionisation.

1. CH₃COOH ⇌ CH₃COO⁻ + H⁺.
2. CH₃COONa gives extra CH₃COO⁻ ions, so equilibrium shifts left (Le Chatelier).
3. Thus ionisation/solubility of acetic acid falls.

Yaad rakhein: Same ion added → equilibrium pushed back.

Answer: (A) Common ion effect

Concept: In Windows, Shift + Delete removes a file permanently, bypassing the Recycle Bin.

1. Delete alone (or Ctrl + D) sends the file to the Recycle Bin, from where it can be restored.
2. Alt + Delete is not a standard delete shortcut.

Yaad rakhein: Shift = 'skip the bin'.

Answer: (D) Shift + Delete

Concept: If speeds are in the lowest ratio $a:b$, the number of distinct meeting points is $a+b$ (opposite directions) and $|a-b|$ (same direction).

1. Siddharth's speed $=\frac{2295}{85}=27\text{m/s}$; Yash's speed $=\frac{2295}{45}=51\text{m/s}$
2. Ratio $27:51=9:17$
3. Opposite directions: $9+17=26$ distinct points

Trick: Ratio of speeds = inverse ratio of lap times: $85:45=17:9$ directly.

Answer: (C) $26$

Concept: Form two equations from the two conditions and solve.

1. $\frac{S+15}{F}=\frac{2}{3}\Rightarrow 2F=3S+45$
2. $F-5=4(S-5)\Rightarrow F=4S-15$
3. $2(4S-15)=3S+45\Rightarrow 5S=75\Rightarrow S=15$
4. $F=4\times 15-15=45$

Trick: Check options: (45, 15): $\frac{30}{45}=\frac{2}{3}$ and $40=4\times 10$ ✓

Answer: (A) 45; 15