Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Crop–soil matching, Indian geography.

1. Black soil (regur) is ideal for cotton – it is clayey, rich in lime, iron, magnesia and retains moisture, so it is called "black cotton soil".
2. It covers the Deccan trap region – Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP, parts of Karnataka, Telangana.
3. Alluvial soil suits wheat/rice, red soil millets/pulses, laterite tea/coffee/cashew.

Yaad rakhein: Black = cotton, Alluvial = wheat/rice, Laterite = tea/coffee/cashew.

Answer: (C) Black soil

Concept: Current affairs – employment schemes.

1. The Union Cabinet approved the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme on 1 July 2025 with an outlay of about ₹99,446 crore, aiming to create over 3.5 crore jobs in two years.
2. It was later named "Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana" (PM-VBRY) and launched on 15 August 2025.
3. Part A gives first-time EPFO employees one month's wage (up to ₹15,000); Part B gives employers incentives per additional employee.

Yaad rakhein: ELI scheme was announced in Budget 2024-25 → approved by Cabinet 1 July 2025 → launched as PM-VBRY on 15 Aug 2025.

Answer: (A) 2025

Concept: FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA/FRA) 2025.

1. According to GFRA 2025, released by FAO in October 2025, India ranks 9th in the world in total forest area (about 72.7 million ha).
2. India is also among the top countries in annual net forest gain (3rd), behind China and Australia.
3. Russia, Brazil, Canada, USA and China have the largest forest areas.

Yaad rakhein: GFRA 2025 – India: 9th in total forest area, 3rd in net annual gain.

Answer: (D) 9th

Concept: Common Windows file types.

1. .msi = Microsoft Installer package – a database of files and instructions used by Windows Installer to install, repair or remove software.
2. Raster/vector editing → .psd/.ai/.svg; formatted documents → .docx/.rtf/.pdf; multimedia → .mp4/.mp3/.avi.

Yaad rakhein: .msi = MicroSoft Installer; .exe can also install, but .msi is specifically the installer-package format.

Answer: (D) Executing the installation of software applications

Concept: World natural regions (climatic–vegetation zones).

1. Taiga is the vast belt of coniferous (softwood) forests – pine, fir, spruce, larch – across Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia, roughly 50°–70° N.
2. Long severe winters, short summers; lumbering and fur trapping are the main occupations.
3. Cool temperate grasslands are the Steppes/Prairies; cold deserts are Tundra/Gobi-type regions.

Yaad rakhein: Taiga = Siberian word for coniferous forest; "Taiga – Timber".

Answer: (B) Coniferous Forests Region

Concept: Economic critique of British rule.

1. Dadabhai Naoroji, the "Grand Old Man of India", wrote "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India" (1901), setting out the Drain of Wealth theory with official British data.
2. R. C. Dutt wrote "The Economic History of India"; Ranade and Gokhale were moderate economic critics but not authors of this book.

Yaad rakhein: Naoroji – Drain Theory – "Poverty and Un-British Rule"; Dutt – "Economic History of India".

Answer: (C) Dadabhai Naoroji

Concept: Organisations of Dalit upliftment.

1. Dr B. R. Ambedkar founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha on 20 July 1924 in Bombay to promote education and socio-economic uplift of the depressed classes; motto "Educate, Agitate, Organise".
2. Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (1873); Baba Amte founded Anandwan for leprosy patients.

Yaad rakhein: Ambedkar 1924 – Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha; 1927 – Mahad Satyagraha; 1936 – Independent Labour Party.

Answer: (D) B R Ambedkar

Concept: Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

1. CAA 2019 grants Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.
2. Six communities are covered; Muslims are not included – that rules out options C and D, and option A lists only four.
3. Rules for the Act were notified on 11 March 2024.

Yaad rakhein: CAA six communities – "H-S-B-J-P-C"; three countries – Pak, Afghan, Bangla; cut-off 31 Dec 2014.

Answer: (B) Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian

Concept: Beginning of British political power in India.

1. Battle of Plassey (23 June 1757): Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah through Mir Jafar's treachery, making the Company the real power in Bengal – the turning point of British control.
2. Buxar (1764) consolidated this (Diwani 1765); Wandiwash (1760) ended French hopes in the south.

Yaad rakhein: Plassey 1757 = beginning of British rule; Buxar 1764 = its consolidation.

Answer: (A) Battle of Plassey

Concept: Characteristics common to all living organisms.

1. All living things show growth, respiration, response to stimuli, metabolism and reproduction – reproduction is the only one listed here.
2. Movement (plants are fixed), speech (humans only) and flight (few animals) are not universal.

Yaad rakhein: MRS GREN – Movement (at cellular level), Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, Nutrition.

Answer: (A) The ability to reproduce

Concept: Computer fundamentals – firmware.

1. BIOS = Basic Input/Output System – firmware stored on a ROM chip on the motherboard that runs POST, initialises hardware and loads the operating system at start-up.
2. The other expansions are made-up; modern PCs use UEFI as the BIOS successor.

Yaad rakhein: BIOS – Basic Input Output System; it is firmware, neither storage nor software you install.

Answer: (A) Basic Input/Output System

Concept: Regional folk music forms of India.

1. Kajri is the monsoon (Sawan) folk song of eastern Uttar Pradesh – Mirzapur, Varanasi – sung mainly by women, expressing longing during the rains.
2. Bhatiali is the boatmen's song of Bengal, Lavani belongs to Maharashtra, and Maang is not a UP monsoon form.

Yaad rakhein: UP seasonal songs – Kajri (monsoon), Chaiti (Chaitra), Hori (Holi); Mirzapur is famous for Kajri.

Answer: (A) Kajri

Concept: Discovery of subatomic particles.

1. J. J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 through cathode-ray experiments and proposed the "plum pudding" model; Nobel Prize 1906.
2. Rutherford discovered the nucleus/proton, Chadwick the neutron (1932), Marie Curie studied radioactivity (radium, polonium).

Yaad rakhein: Electron – Thomson (1897); Proton – Rutherford; Neutron – Chadwick.

Answer: (C) J.J. Thomson

Concept: Current affairs – rural employment law.

1. The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G), introduced in Parliament in December 2025, seeks to repeal and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).
2. It proposes a guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per rural household in place of 100 days.
3. The other three options are insurance laws, unrelated to rural employment.

Yaad rakhein: VB-G RAM G 2025 replaces MGNREGA 2005; "Rozgar and Ajeevika" = employment and livelihood.

Answer: (C) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

Concept: Meaning of rural development (NCERT Indian Economic Development).

1. Rural development is a comprehensive action plan for the economic and social upliftment of rural areas – it combines economic growth (agriculture, credit, infrastructure) with social justice (health, education, equity).
2. Industrial zones, metropolitan growth and foreign trade are urban/external concerns, not rural development.

Yaad rakhein: Rural development = growth + social justice for villages; key areas – human capital, land reforms, credit, infrastructure, poverty alleviation.

Answer: (C) Economic growth and social justice

Concept: India's land neighbours and ASEAN membership.

1. Myanmar is the only ASEAN member that shares a land border with India (about 1,643 km, touching Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram) – hence "India's gateway to ASEAN" under the Act East Policy.
2. Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh are SAARC neighbours, not ASEAN members.

Yaad rakhein: ASEAN has 10 members; only Myanmar touches India by land (Indonesia and Thailand are maritime neighbours).

Answer: (B) Myanmar

Concept: Windows system tools.

1. MSConfig (System Configuration) has dedicated tabs – General, Boot, Services, Startup, Tools – used to control what loads at start-up; in Windows 11 the Startup tab links to Task Manager's Startup apps.
2. System Restore rolls back system files, Windows Defender is antivirus, Disk Cleanup frees disk space.

Yaad rakhein: Run → msconfig → Services/Startup tabs; "config" = configuration of boot and start-up.

Answer: (C) MSConfig

Concept: When a total is split in the ratio $a:b$, each share $=\frac{\text{part}}{a+b}\times \text{total}$.

1. Boys : Girls $=17:11$, total parts $=28$.
2. One part $=\frac{9632}{28}=344$.
3. Boys $=17\times 344=5848$.

Trick: $9632÷28$: $28\times 300=8400$, remainder $1232=28\times 44$, so one part $=344$.

Answer: (A) 5,848

Concept: Fixed provisions: $\text{men}\times \text{days}$ is constant (inverse variation).

1. Total provision $=100\times 26=2600$ man-days.
2. Men left $=100-60=40$.
3. Days $=\frac{2600}{40}=65$.

Trick: Men become $\frac{40}{100}=\frac{2}{5}$, so days become $\frac{5}{2}$ times: $26\times \frac{5}{2}=65$.

Answer: (D) 65

Concept: Alternate segment theorem: the angle between a tangent and a chord equals the angle in the alternate segment.

1. Chord PX with tangent AB makes $\angle APX={50}^{\circ }$, so the angle in the alternate segment $\angle PYX={50}^{\circ }$.
2. Chord PY with tangent AB makes $\angle BPY={60}^{\circ }$, so $\angle PXY={60}^{\circ }$.
3. Check: $\angle XPY={180}^{\circ }-{50}^{\circ }-{60}^{\circ }={70}^{\circ }$ and ${60}^{\circ }+{50}^{\circ }+{70}^{\circ }={180}^{\circ }$.

Trick: The tangent-chord angle on one side "jumps" to the opposite vertex of the triangle: ${50}^{\circ }$ at A-side goes to Y, ${60}^{\circ }$ at B-side goes to X.

Answer: (A) ${60}^{\circ },{50}^{\circ }$