Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Chola inscriptions mention different categories of land by the status of the holder.

1. Brahmadeya = land gifted to Brahmins; the settlement of Brahmins on such tax-free land was called an Agraharam.
2. Mahasabha was the Brahmin village assembly, Valanadu an administrative division (group of nadus), and Garbhagriha the sanctum of a temple.

Yaad rakhein: Brahmadeya (gift) → Agraharam (settlement); Devadana → temple land; Vellanvagai → peasant land.

Answer: (D) Agraharam

Concept: NITI Aayog, with the Ministry of DoNER and UNDP, publishes the North Eastern Region District SDG Index ranking districts of the eight NE states on Sustainable Development Goals.

1. In the 2023–24 edition (released July 2024), Hnahthial district of Mizoram topped the index with a score of 81.43.
2. Mizoram also had the largest share of "Front Runner" districts; Aizawl and Lunglei ranked lower than Hnahthial.

Yaad rakhein: NE District SDG Index 2023–24: Top – Hnahthial (Mizoram); Bottom – Longding (Arunachal Pradesh).

Answer: (C) Hnahthial

Concept: DPSPs (Part IV) are grouped as Socialist, Gandhian and Liberal-Intellectual principles.

1. Gandhian principles: Art. 40 (village panchayats), Art. 43 (promotion of cottage industries in rural areas), Art. 43B (co-operatives), Art. 46 (SC/ST/weaker sections), Art. 47 (prohibition of intoxicants), Art. 48 (cow protection).
2. Standard of living/public health (Art. 47 part), employment (Art. 41) and protection of children (Art. 39) are classed as Socialist principles.

Yaad rakhein: Gandhi ji = Gram (panchayat), Gharelu udyog (cottage), Gau (cow), Nasha-bandi, Weaker sections.

Answer: (B) Promoting cottage industries in rural areas

Concept: The Prarthana Samaj was founded in Bombay in 1867 by Atmaram Pandurang with the inspiration of Keshab Chandra Sen.

1. Its leading figures were M.G. Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar; it worked for widow remarriage, inter-caste dining and women's education.
2. Debendranath Tagore belonged to the Brahmo Samaj of Calcutta (founded Tattvabodhini Sabha, 1839) and had no direct role in the Prarthana Samaj.

Yaad rakhein: Prarthana Samaj = Bombay, 1867, "Pandurang–Ranade–Bhandarkar"; Debendranath = Brahmo Samaj.

Answer: (A) Debendranath Tagore

Concept: The World Urbanization Prospects is the UN's flagship report on urban and rural population trends.

1. Its 2025 edition was released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Population Division – the first to use the harmonised Degree of Urbanisation method (cities, towns, rural areas) instead of national definitions.
2. UN-Habitat publishes the World Cities Report; UNDP publishes the Human Development Report.

Yaad rakhein: Population reports (World Population Prospects, World Urbanization Prospects) → UN DESA.

Answer: (B) UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)

Concept: Venus has a dense CO₂ atmosphere with thick clouds made of sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) droplets.

1. Volcanic sulphur dioxide reacts with traces of water vapour in sunlight to form sulphuric acid clouds, which reflect most sunlight and make Venus the brightest planet.
2. The runaway greenhouse effect makes it the hottest planet (about 465 °C).

Yaad rakhein: Venus = "acid rain planet" – sulphuric acid clouds, CO₂ air.

Answer: (C) H₂SO₄

Concept: In December 2025 India and Liberia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of medical product regulation.

1. The MoU, between CDSCO (India's drug regulator) and Liberia's medicines authority, aims to share regulatory information and align quality standards for medicines, helping Indian pharma exports to West Africa.
2. Highways, space missions and defence manufacturing were not part of this agreement.

Yaad rakhein: India as "Pharmacy of the World" – most recent MoUs with African nations are on drug regulation and health.

Answer: (A) Enhancing co-operation on medicine quality standards

Concept: The CPCB's daily National Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletin ranks cities; a lower AQI means cleaner air.

1. In 2025, Shillong (Meghalaya) repeatedly recorded the lowest AQI among major Indian cities, placing it at the top (cleanest) of the National AQI ranking.
2. Kolkata and Mumbai are large metros with moderate-to-poor AQI; Ranchi is better than them but not the cleanest.

Yaad rakhein: Hill cities of the North-East (Shillong, Aizawl) dominate the "cleanest air" lists.

Answer: (B) Shillong

Concept: Windows uses a hierarchical (tree) file system and a Recycle Bin as a safety net for deleted files.

1. (i) False – a file sent to the Recycle Bin is only moved, not erased; it can be restored until the bin is emptied (and even then the data remains on disk until overwritten).
2. (ii) True – the path C:\Users\Documents\file.txt goes drive → folder → sub-folder → file; each file has exactly one such full path.

Yaad rakhein: Recycle Bin = "delete ka undo"; Shift + Delete skips the bin.

Answer: (D) (i) False, (ii) True

Concept: The Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms) introduced separate electorates for Muslims – Muslim voters electing Muslim members.

1. This "communal representation" legalised communalism in politics and divided the national movement; Lord Minto is called the "Father of Communal Electorate".
2. Enlarging the councils and inducting an Indian (Satyendra Prasad Sinha) into the Viceroy's Executive Council were seen as positive steps, not divisive ones.

Yaad rakhein: 1909 = Separate electorate (Muslims); 1919 = Dyarchy; 1935 = Provincial autonomy.

Answer: (A) Creation of separate electorates

Concept: Census data show male literacy rising slowly while female literacy rose much faster between 2001 and 2011.

1. 2001: male 75.3%, female 53.7% → gap 21.6 points. 2011: male 82.1%, female 65.5% → gap 16.7 points.
2. So the male–female literacy gap decreased (by about 5 points), though it did not vanish.

Yaad rakhein: Female literacy jumped ~12 points vs male ~7 points in 2001–11 → gap narrowed.

Answer: (D) decreased

Concept: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature, HQ Gland, Switzerland) has States, government agencies and NGOs as members; States join by depositing an instrument of accession.

1. In 2025 the Pacific island nation Tuvalu formally joined IUCN as its 90th State Member, strengthening the voice of climate-vulnerable small island states.
2. Maldives, Nauru and Kiribati were not the 90th State Member.

Yaad rakhein: Tuvalu – tiny Pacific nation famous for "digital nation" plan against sea-level rise; IUCN 90th State Member (2025).

Answer: (A) Tuvalu

Concept: Under the UNFCCC, developing countries (non-Annex I) submit Biennial Update Reports (BURs) on their greenhouse-gas inventories and mitigation actions.

1. "Biennial" means once in two years; India has submitted BUR-1 (2016), BUR-2 (2018), BUR-3 (2021) and BUR-4 (2024).
2. Under the Paris Agreement these are now being replaced by Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs), also every two years.

Yaad rakhein: Bi-ennial = 2 years; Bi-annual = twice a year.

Answer: (A) Every two years

Concept: The Eighth Schedule lists the officially recognised languages; it has been expanded three times.

1. 21st Amendment (1967) added Sindhi; 71st (1992) added Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali; 92nd Amendment Act, 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali, taking the total to 22.
2. 86th (2002) made education a fundamental right (Art. 21A); 91st (2003) limited the size of the council of ministers; 93rd (2005) enabled OBC reservation in educational institutions.

Yaad rakhein: 92nd → "BDMS" (Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali) → 22 languages.

Answer: (C) 92nd Amendment Act, 2003

Concept: In the post-Gupta period (6th–8th century) land grants created a class of intermediaries between the king and the peasants.

1. Samantas were feudal lords / subordinate chiefs who held land, collected revenue, kept troops and paid tribute to the overlord – the hallmark of Indian feudalism.
2. Over time powerful Samantas (Mahasamanta) became independent rulers, e.g. many Rajput dynasties.

Yaad rakhein: Samanta → Sam-ant = "border chief" → feudal lord; not priest, farmer or architect.

Answer: (D) Feudal lords

Concept: Diligence means a computer can work for hours without tiredness or loss of concentration – but it has no intelligence of its own and depends entirely on the data and instructions given (GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out).

1. Option (D): wrong input → wrong output; diligence cannot fix flawed data – this is the limitation.
2. (A) shows versatility, (B) speed and (C) diligence itself – all strengths, not limitations.

Yaad rakhein: Computer limitations = no IQ, no feelings, GIGO, needs electricity.

Answer: (D) A computer generates incorrect output because the initial data entered was flawed.

Concept: Cabinet committees are extra-constitutional bodies set up under the Rules of Business; most key ones are chaired by the Prime Minister.

1. PM chairs: Appointments, Economic Affairs, Political Affairs, Security, Investment and Growth, Employment and Skill Development.
2. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs is headed by the senior-most minister (currently the Defence Minister), not the PM; the Accommodation committee is headed by the Home Minister.

Yaad rakhein: Two committees NOT under the PM – Parliamentary Affairs and Accommodation.

Answer: (D) Cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs

Concept: Convert each percentage statement into a multiplier and link the numbers.

1. Let the numbers be $A$, $B$, $C$. $A\times \frac{125}{100}=B$ and $B=C\times \frac{80}{100}$.
2. So $\frac{5A}{4}=\frac{4C}{5}$ → $25A=16C$.
3. $A:C=16:25$.

Trick: $+25\%=\frac{5}{4}$, $-20\%=\frac{4}{5}$; equate $\frac{5}{4}A=\frac{4}{5}C$ → $A:C=\frac{4}{5}·\frac{4}{5}=16:25$.

Answer: (C) 16:25

Concept: A right triangle revolved about one leg forms a cone: that leg is the height, the other leg is the radius, the hypotenuse is the slant height.

1. Sides 3, 4, 5 form a right triangle ($3^2+4^2=5^2$). Revolving about the side 3 cm: $h=3$, $r=4$, $l=5$.
2. $V=\frac{1}{3}\pi r^{2}h=\frac{1}{3}\times 3.14\times 16\times 3$
3. $=3.14\times 16=50.24{\text{cm}}^3$.

Trick: The axis of rotation is the height; the other leg sweeps the circle (radius). Revolving about 4 cm would give $37.68$ instead.

Answer: (D) 50.24 cubic cm

Concept: Equal roots ⇒ discriminant zero and root $=-\frac{b}{2a}$; the common root satisfies both equations.

1. $x^2-3px+q=0$ has equal roots: $9p^2=4q$ → $q=\frac{9p^2}{4}$, root $\alpha =\frac{3p}{2}$.
2. $\alpha$ satisfies $x^2-2kx+t=0$: $\frac{9p^2}{4}-3pk+t=0$ → $t=3pk-\frac{9p^2}{4}$.
3. $t+q=3pk$ → $(t+q{)}^2=9p^2{k}^2$.

Trick: With equal roots, the common root is simply the repeated root $\frac{3p}{2}$ – plug it straight in.

Answer: (C) $9p^2{k}^2$