Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: TIME Earth Awards 2025 honoured climate and environment leaders.

1. Catherine Coleman Flowers, an American environmental-justice activist, was recognised for advocating sanitation and environmental justice for marginalised (rural Black) communities.
2. Jay Inslee and Michael Bloomberg are politicians/climate funders; Selassie Atadika is a Ghanaian chef.

Yaad rakhein: Environmental justice + sanitation (Alabama) → Catherine Coleman Flowers.

Answer: (A) Catherine Coleman Flowers

Concept: Union Budget 2024-25 capital expenditure for Indian Railways.

1. Railways got a record capex of about ₹2.62 lakh crore in 2024-25 (gross budgetary support ₹2.52 lakh crore plus other sources).
2. The same ₹2.52 lakh crore support was continued in 2025-26.

Yaad rakhein: Railways capex 2024-25 → 2.62 lakh crore.

Answer: (B) ₹2.62 lakh crore

Concept: Deleting files in Windows File Explorer.

1. Pressing Delete moves the selected file to the Recycle Bin, from where it can be restored.
2. Shift + Delete deletes it permanently (bypasses Recycle Bin); F2 renames; Enter opens.

Yaad rakhein: Delete → Recycle Bin; Shift + Delete → gone for good.

Answer: (D) The file is sent to the Recycle Bin.

Concept: Hind Swaraj is Gandhi's key political text.

1. Mahatma Gandhi wrote 'Hind Swaraj' (Indian Home Rule) in Gujarati in 1909 aboard the ship Kildonan Castle, returning from London to South Africa.
2. It explains satyagraha (non-violent resistance) and swaraj (self-rule) and criticises modern civilisation.

Yaad rakhein: Hind Swaraj – 1909 – Gandhi – written on a ship in 10 days.

Answer: (B) Mahatma Gandhi

Concept: Booting = loading the operating system.

1. Cold boot (hard boot): computer is started from a completely powered-off state using the power button.
2. Warm boot (soft boot): system is restarted while it is already on, e.g. Restart option or Ctrl + Alt + Del.
3. Neither one preserves open applications.

Yaad rakhein: Cold = power OFF to ON; Warm = restart while ON.

Answer: (B) A cold boot restarts the operating system from a powered-off state, while a warm boot restarts it from a running state.

Concept: Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) give quality education to Scheduled Tribe children.

1. EMRS were started in 1997-98 under Article 275(1) grants of the Constitution.
2. From 2018-19 they were revamped, aiming at one EMRS in every block with over 50% ST population (and at least 20,000 tribal persons) – a common confusion with option 2018-19.

Yaad rakhein: EMRS – launched 1997-98; revamped 2018-19.

Answer: (D) 1997-98

Concept: Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the ISS.

1. IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station, flying on Ax-4 (launched June 2025) as mission pilot.
2. Rakesh Sharma (1984) was the first Indian in space but went to the Soviet Salyut-7 station, not the ISS.

Yaad rakhein: First Indian in space – Rakesh Sharma; first Indian on ISS – Shubhanshu Shukla.

Answer: (B) Shubhanshu Shukla

Concept: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is held on 9 January (Gandhi's return from South Africa, 1915).

1. The 18th PBD Convention was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on 8–10 January 2025.
2. Theme: 'Diaspora's Contribution to a Viksit Bharat'. The Pravasi Bharatiya Express train was also flagged off.

Yaad rakhein: 18th PBD – Bhubaneswar – Viksit Bharat.

Answer: (D) Diaspora's contribution to a Viksit Bharat

Concept: India's mainland coastline is about 6,100 km (about 7,516 km with islands).

1. Gujarat has the longest coastline of any state – about 1,600 km (≈2,340 km as per the 2023-24 revised measurement).
2. Andhra Pradesh is second among states; Tamil Nadu is next. Kathiawar and Kachchh give Gujarat its long, indented coast.

Yaad rakhein: Longest coastline – Gujarat; smallest coastline state – Goa.

Answer: (C) Gujarat

Concept: Sanyasi–Fakir Rebellion (c. 1763–1800) in Bengal against East India Company rule.

1. Bhawani Pathak and Devi Choudhurani were leaders of this rebellion, along with Majnum Shah and Musa Shah.
2. Bankim Chandra's novels 'Anandamath' and 'Devi Chaudhurani' are based on it. Indigo revolt (1859-60), Munda (Birsa, 1899-1900) and Chuar (Jungle Mahal) had other leaders.

Yaad rakhein: Anandamath + Devi Choudhurani → Sanyasi revolt.

Answer: (D) Fakir and Sanyasi Rebellion

Concept: World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 (January 2025).

1. 'Broadening digital access' was named the most transformative trend overall – about 60% of employers expect it to transform their business by 2030.
2. Among technologies, AI and information processing came first (86%), robotics and automation 58%, energy generation and storage 41%.

Yaad rakhein: Overall trend → broadening digital access; top technology → AI.

Answer: (D) Broadening digital access

Concept: Planning Commission classification of irrigation projects by Cultivable Command Area (CCA).

1. Major: CCA more than 10,000 ha.
2. Medium: 2,000 – 10,000 ha.
3. Minor: less than 2,000 ha.

Yaad rakhein: 10,000 + → Major; 2,000 – 10,000 → Medium; below 2,000 → Minor.

Answer: (D) Major Projects

Concept: Shola forests are tropical montane evergreen forests found above about 1,500 m.

1. They occur in the higher reaches of the Western Ghats – Nilgiris, Anamalai, Palani hills (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka), alternating with grasslands.
2. Sundarbans have mangroves; Thar has thorn scrub.

Yaad rakhein: Shola + grassland mosaic → Nilgiris (Western Ghats).

Answer: (C) Western Ghats

Concept: NGT banned unscientific 'rat-hole' coal mining in Meghalaya in 2014.

1. In 2025 Meghalaya began scientific coal mining (first at Bhalang, East Jaintia Hills) under approved mining plans, ending a decade-long halt.
2. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha had no such ban – they are the largest regular coal producers.

Yaad rakhein: Rat-hole mining ban 2014 → Meghalaya.

Answer: (B) Meghalaya

Concept: Founding of the INC (1885).

1. The INC was founded in December 1885 on the initiative of Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant — statement a is correct.
2. Its first session (28–31 Dec 1885) was presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee but held in Bombay (Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College), not Pune. It was shifted from Pune because of a cholera outbreak — statement b is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: First session: 1885, Bombay, 72 delegates, President W.C. Bonnerjee.

Answer: (A) Only a

Concept: Judicial review of laws against Fundamental Rights.

1. Article 13 says that all pre-constitutional laws and any law made by the State that is inconsistent with or takes away Fundamental Rights shall be void to the extent of the inconsistency.
2. Art 32 = remedy through Supreme Court; Art 226 = writs by High Courts; Art 143 = advisory jurisdiction of SC.

Yaad rakhein: 13 = 'void' article; 32 = 'heart and soul' (remedy).

Answer: (D) Article 13

Concept: Primary memory types.

1. RAM (Random Access Memory) is volatile working memory that holds the programs and data in use while the computer is running; contents are lost when power is off.
2. ROM is permanent (non-volatile); a hard disk is secondary storage; cache is a small, very fast buffer for the CPU, not the main temporary store.

Yaad rakhein: RAM = 'Running' memory (temporary, volatile); ROM = 'Remains' (permanent).

Answer: (A) RAM

Concept: PM Modi's three-nation tour, November 2024 (Nigeria, Brazil, Guyana).

1. On 16–17 November 2024 PM Modi visited Nigeria (Abuja) — the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Nigeria in 17 years (the previous was Manmohan Singh in 2007).
2. He was conferred Nigeria's national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

Yaad rakhein: Nigeria → 17 years (2007 → 2024); Guyana on the same tour → first in 56 years.

Answer: (A) Nigeria

Concept: Central Asian migrations (2nd century BCE).

1. The Shakas (Scythians) lived in Central Asia; they were driven out by the Yueh-chi tribe (who later formed the Kushana empire).
2. Pushed south-west, the Shakas entered Bactria/Parthia and then India, setting up kingdoms at Taxila, Mathura, Ujjain etc.

Yaad rakhein: Chain of pushes: Hsiung-nu → Yueh-chi → Shakas → India.

Answer: (B) The Yueh-chis

Concept: Succession in the Gupta empire.

1. Chandragupta I (c. 319–335 CE) was succeeded by his son Samudragupta (c. 335–375 CE), whose conquests are recorded in the Allahabad Pillar inscription (Prayag Prashasti) by Harisena.
2. Order: Chandragupta I → Samudragupta → (Ramagupta) → Chandragupta II → Kumaragupta I → Skandagupta.

Yaad rakhein: 'C-S-C-K-S': Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta, Skandagupta.

Answer: (D) Samudragupta