Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is appointed by the President under Article 148.

1. K. Sanjay Murthy took charge as the 15th CAG of India on 21 November 2024, succeeding Girish Chandra Murmu.
2. Tuhin Kanta Pandey later became SEBI chairman; Arunish Chawla is a finance-ministry secretary – both are distractors.

Yaad rakhein: CAG – Article 148; 15th CAG (Nov 2024) = K. Sanjay Murthy.

Answer: (A) K Sanjay Murthy

Concept: An operating system (OS) is system software that manages hardware and runs other programs.

1. Windows 10 (Microsoft) is a desktop operating system.
2. MS Word is a word processor, Photoshop is an image editor and Chrome is a web browser – all are application software that run on an OS.

Yaad rakhein: OS examples: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS. Everything else in the options is an "app".

Answer: (C) Windows 10

Concept: Compare the latitude of each capital with ${24}^{\circ }\text{N}$.

1. Bhopal ≈ ${23.3}^{\circ }\text{N}$ → difference ≈ ${0.7}^{\circ }$ (closest).
2. Patna ≈ ${25.6}^{\circ }\text{N}$, Dispur ≈ ${26.1}^{\circ }\text{N}$, Raipur ≈ ${21.3}^{\circ }\text{N}$ – all farther away.
3. The Tropic of Cancer (${23.5}^{\circ }\text{N}$) itself passes just north of Bhopal.

Yaad rakhein: Tropic of Cancer passes near Bhopal, Ranchi and Agartala – so Bhopal is nearest to the ${24}^{\circ }$ line.

Answer: (B) Bhopal

Concept: Urban local bodies differ by size and functions.

1. A Town Area Committee is set up for a small town by a state Act and has limited civic functions such as drainage, street lighting and conservancy.
2. Municipal Corporations govern big cities; Port Trusts manage ports; Special Purpose Agencies handle single functions (e.g. housing boards).

Yaad rakhein: Small town + few functions = Town Area Committee.

Answer: (C) Town Area Committee

Concept: The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is published by UNDP in the Human Development Report.

1. In GII 2022 (HDR 2023-24), India ranked 108th out of 193 countries with a score of 0.437.
2. This was an improvement of 14 places over its 122nd rank in GII 2021 – so 122 is a trap.

Yaad rakhein: GII 2022: India 108 (up from 122) – HDR by UNDP.

Answer: (A) 108

Concept: Water is absorbed by roots (root hairs, epiblema, endodermis), while most gaseous exchange of a plant occurs through stomata on aerial parts.

1. A disrupted stomatal apparatus on leaves and stems blocks gas exchange, but root cells can still absorb water.
2. Missing root hairs, defective epiblema or endodermis without suberin would directly affect water uptake/regulation – so those options are wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Stomata = gas exchange (aerial); root hairs/epiblema = water absorption (underground).

Answer: (B) Disrupted stomatal apparatus on aerial organs

Concept: A chemical change forms new substances and is usually irreversible; a physical change alters only state/shape.

1. Burning wood produces new substances – carbon dioxide, water vapour, ash – with heat and light: a chemical change.
2. Cutting paper, boiling water and melting ice change only shape or state – physical changes.

Yaad rakhein: New substance + irreversible = chemical change (burning, rusting, cooking, digestion).

Answer: (A) Burning wood

Concept: In dialog boxes, keyboard focus moves between controls.

1. Tab moves the focus to the next option/control.
2. Shift + Tab goes back to the previous control; Esc closes the dialog; Enter/Space selects or activates the highlighted option.

Yaad rakhein: Tab = forward, Shift+Tab = backward, Esc = close, Enter = OK.

Answer: (C) To move the focus to the next available option or control

Concept: Sangam poems are of two kinds: Akam (love, inner life) and Puram (war, heroism, kings).

1. Purananuru and Patirruppattu are Puram works of the Ettuttokai (Eight Anthologies).
2. They praise kings – Patirruppattu sings of ten Chera kings – their wars, generosity and heroic deeds.
3. Love themes belong to Akam works like Akananuru and Kuruntokai.

Yaad rakhein: Puram = public/heroic; Akam = love. "Pura-nanuru" → Puram.

Answer: (A) Heroism and praises of kings and their deeds

Concept: Dravida (South Indian) temples have a pyramidal tower over the garbhagriha.

1. This stepped pyramidal tower is the Vimana (e.g. Brihadeshwara temple, Thanjavur).
2. Mandapa = pillared hall; Jagati = raised platform; Adhisthana = base/plinth; Gopuram = gateway tower.

Yaad rakhein: North (Nagara) = Shikhara; South (Dravida) = Vimana over sanctum, Gopuram at gate.

Answer: (C) Vimana

Concept: Gupta and post-Gupta kingdoms were divided into territorial units.

1. Bhukti = province, headed by an Uparika.
2. A bhukti was divided into vishayas (districts, under a Vishayapati), and these into villages (grama).

Yaad rakhein: Order: Rajya → Bhukti (province) → Vishaya (district) → Grama (village).

Answer: (D) province

Concept: The Eastern Coastal Plain lies between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal.

1. It stretches from West Bengal (Subarnarekha region) in the north to Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari) in the south.
2. It is wider than the western plain and has the deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
3. Gujarat to Kerala describes the Western Coastal Plain.

Yaad rakhein: East coast: Utkal (Odisha) → Andhra → Coromandel (TN); West coast: Kutch → Konkan → Kanara → Malabar.

Answer: (B) West Bengal to Tamil Nadu

Concept: The CPU has three main parts: ALU, Control Unit and Registers.

1. ALU does arithmetic/logic, CU directs operations, Registers are tiny fast memory inside the CPU.
2. A Graphics Card (GPU) is a separate expansion card/chip for display output – not part of the CPU.

Yaad rakhein: CPU = ALU + CU + Registers (MU sometimes added).

Answer: (B) Graphic Card

Concept: Nine Indian states have a coastline: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal.

1. Rajasthan is landlocked (it has the Thar desert and an international border with Pakistan, but no sea).
2. Gujarat has the longest mainland coastline; Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are on the east coast.

Yaad rakhein: Gujarat – longest coastline; Rajasthan – largest state, but no sea.

Answer: (B) Rajasthan

Concept: Muthoot Finance is India's largest gold-loan NBFC, regulated by the RBI.

1. In February 2025, the RBI approved Muthoot Finance to open 115 new branches across India.
2. Branch expansion of NBFCs like Muthoot needs prior RBI approval.

Yaad rakhein: Muthoot Finance – 115 new branches (Feb 2025).

Answer: (A) 115

Concept: ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) is a payload on the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3.

1. It has a probe with 10 temperature sensors that penetrates about 10 cm into the soil to measure the vertical temperature profile of the lunar regolith.
2. Moon's atmosphere/plasma is studied by RAMBHA-LP, seismic activity by ILSA, and composition by LIBS/APXS on the rover.

Yaad rakhein: ChaSTE = temperature (thermo); ILSA = quakes; LIBS/APXS = elements.

Answer: (A) To measure the vertical temperature profile of the lunar regolith

Concept: The Smart Cities Mission was launched on 25 June 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

1. It aimed to develop 100 smart cities, selected through a City Challenge competition.
2. It was launched together with AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).

Yaad rakhein: Smart Cities Mission – 2015 – 100 cities.

Answer: (B) 100

Concept: The Women's Premier League (WPL) is India's franchise T20 league for women.

1. Mumbai Indians won WPL 2025, beating Delhi Capitals by 8 runs in the final (15 March 2025, Brabourne Stadium).
2. It was their second title (also 2023); RCB won in 2024. Chennai Super Kings has no WPL team.

Yaad rakhein: WPL winners: 2023 MI, 2024 RCB, 2025 MI – DC lost all three finals.

Answer: (B) Mumbai Indians

Concept: The Takht-i-Bahi inscription (near Mardan, Pakistan) is a Kharosthi record.

1. It mentions the Indo-Parthian (Pahlava) king Gondophernes, dating to his 26th regnal year.
2. Menander was Indo-Greek, Azes was Indo-Scythian (Saka) and Rudradaman a Western Kshatrapa (Saka) ruler.

Yaad rakhein: Gondophernes – Parthian – associated with St Thomas's legend and Takht-i-Bahi.

Answer: (A) Gondophernes

Concept: Several DPSP articles were inserted by later amendments.

1. The 97th Amendment (2011) inserted Article 43B – promotion of co-operative societies (also Part IXB and the right to form co-operatives in Art. 19(1)(c)).
2. Art. 39A and 43A were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976); Art. 48A also by the 42nd.

Yaad rakhein: 42nd (1976): 39A, 43A, 48A; 44th (1978): 38(2); 97th (2011): 43B.

Answer: (B) Article 43 B