Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: On 8 April 2025, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first Himalayan High Altitude Atmospheric and Climate Research Centre.

1. It is located at Nathatop in Udhampur district, Jammu & Kashmir (about 2,250 m altitude).
2. It is a joint facility (with the University of Jammu and IMD) to monitor clouds, aerosols, pollution and climate in the Himalaya.

Yaad rakhein: High-altitude climate centre → Nathatop, Udhampur (J&K).

Answer: (C) Udhampur

Concept: A Lakhpati Didi is an SHG member whose household earns at least ₹1 lakh a year, sustained for at least four agricultural seasons or business cycles.

1. Statement 1 – correct: the aim is sustainable income of ₹1 lakh+ through livelihood activities.
2. Statement 2 – wrong: there is no direct cash transfer of ₹1 lakh; support is via skill training, credit and market linkage.
3. Statement 3 – correct: implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development under DAY-NRLM.

Trick: “Lakhpati” = income earned, not money given.

Answer: (C) 1 and 3

Concept: Before the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (1992), local bodies had no constitutional protection.

1. Panchayats and municipalities existed only through Acts passed by State legislatures – a statutory status.
2. States could supersede or postpone their elections at will.
3. The 1992 amendments (in force 1993) added Parts IX and IX-A, giving them constitutional status – that is the position after 1992.

Yaad rakhein: Before 1992 → statutory (State law); after 1992 → constitutional.

Answer: (C) Statutory status under State Law

Concept: Industries are classified by raw material: agro-based, mineral-based, marine-based and forest-based.

1. Iron and steel uses iron ore, coking coal and limestone – all minerals → mineral-based.
2. Sugar (sugarcane), textile (cotton) and rubber (latex) use agricultural/plant raw materials → agro-based.

Yaad rakhein: Mineral-based: iron & steel, cement, aluminium, petrochemicals.

Answer: (B) Iron and steel

Concept: In 2019–2020 Parliament merged 29 central labour laws into four Labour Codes.

1. Code on Wages, 2019.
2. Industrial Relations Code, 2020; Code on Social Security, 2020.
3. Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

Yaad rakhein: 29 laws → 4 codes: Wages, IR, Social Security, OSH.

Answer: (C) Four

Concept: Coastal plains are depositional landforms.

1. Rivers carry silt, sand and clay from the uplands and deposit them where they meet the sea; over long periods these layers build flat coastal plains and deltas.
2. India’s eastern coastal plain is wide because the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri deposit huge sediment loads.
3. Fault lines form by tectonic forces, not by rivers; evaporation does not build land.

Yaad rakhein: Coastal plain = river deposition; wider east coast = big deltas.

Answer: (B) By depositing sediments over time

Concept: Recent Supreme Court rulings have softened the strict bail regime of Section 45 of PMLA.

1. Statement 1 – correct: in Manish Sisodia (2024) and V. Senthil Balaji (2024), the Court held that long incarceration with no trial in sight can justify bail despite the twin conditions (Article 21).
2. Statement 2 – correct: in Arvind Kejriwal (July 2024) the Court said “need and necessity” of arrest is also relevant besides “reasons to believe”, and referred the issue to a larger bench.
3. Statement 3 – wrong: the Court reaffirmed “bail is the rule, jail the exception” even in PMLA cases (Prem Prakash, 2024).

Trick: The principle is “bail is the rule” – statement 3 reverses it.

Answer: (D) Statements 1 and 2 only

Concept: Standard Windows/Office clipboard shortcuts.

1. Ctrl + V pastes the copied/cut content.
2. Ctrl + C copies, Ctrl + X cuts, Ctrl + S saves, Ctrl + F opens Find.

Trick: C–X–V sit side by side: Copy, Cut, Paste (V looks like an insertion mark).

Answer: (B) Ctrl + V

Concept: Gandhi’s three early Indian struggles (1917–18): Champaran, Ahmedabad Mill Strike and Kheda.

1. In the Ahmedabad Mill Workers’ Strike (1918) Gandhi went on a hunger strike for the first time to support workers’ demand for a 35% wage hike.
2. The mill owners agreed and the tribunal awarded the 35% increase.
3. Champaran (1917) was his first civil disobedience; Kheda (1918) was his first non-cooperation (no-tax) campaign.

Yaad rakhein: Champaran – first civil disobedience; Ahmedabad – first hunger strike; Kheda – first non-cooperation.

Answer: (B) Ahmedabad Mill Workers' Struggle

Concept: India has a parliamentary system (fusion of executive and legislature); the USA has a presidential system (separation of powers).

1. In the USA the President and the cabinet secretaries are not members of Congress.
2. In India the PM and ministers must be members of Parliament (or become one within six months – Art. 75(5)) and are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
3. The US President needs no vote of confidence and can be removed only by impeachment – so A, C, D are wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Parliamentary = executive inside the legislature; Presidential = executive outside it.

Answer: (B) The American President and his cabinet are not members of Congress, whereas the Indian Prime Minister and his ministers must be part of Parliament.

Concept: The 74th Amendment (1992) added Part IX-A on municipalities.

1. Article 243Y: the State Finance Commission (set up under Art. 243-I every five years) also reviews the finances of municipalities and recommends tax sharing and grants.
2. For panchayats the same body works under Article 243-I (73rd Amendment).
3. RBI is the central bank (1935) – not created by this amendment.

Yaad rakhein: Finance of local bodies → State Finance Commission: 243-I (panchayats), 243Y (municipalities).

Answer: (C) State Finance Commission

Concept: Gupta-period land-grant inscriptions use the phrase a-chata-bhata-pravesya.

1. Chata and Bhata were the irregular and regular troops (soldiers/police) of the state.
2. Grant villages were declared free from their entry – they could not enter to collect dues or provisions.

Yaad rakhein: Chata–Bhata = troops; a-chata-bhata-pravesya = troops not allowed to enter.

Answer: (C) regular and irregular troops

Concept: Word’s AutoFormat continues a bulleted or numbered list automatically.

1. Pressing Enter at the end of a list item starts a new item with the same bullet or the next number.
2. Pressing Enter twice on an empty item (or Backspace) ends the list – it does not convert or delete earlier items.

Trick: Enter = next bullet; Enter on empty bullet = stop the list.

Answer: (C) It creates a new list item with the same bullet or number.

Concept: Widow remarriage was legalised by the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 (Act XV of 1856).

1. It was passed under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie (enacted 26 July 1856, during Canning’s term).
2. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar led the campaign for it.
3. The other options are not real Acts.

Yaad rakhein: 1829 Sati ban (Bentinck – Roy) → 1856 Widow Remarriage (Vidyasagar).

Answer: (C) Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1856

Concept: After Awadh was annexed (1856) and Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta, the revolt in Awadh centred at Lucknow.

1. In 1857 his young son Birjis Qadr was proclaimed Nawab of Awadh at Lucknow.
2. His mother Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt there as regent.

Yaad rakhein: Lucknow leaders: Begum Hazrat Mahal + Birjis Qadr; Delhi: Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Answer: (A) Lucknow

Concept: In contract farming, farmers and a buyer (usually a company) sign a pre-harvest agreement.

1. The company commits to buy back the produce at a pre-fixed price, often supplying seeds, inputs and technical help.
2. It involves corporations by definition and is for market sale, not self-use; improved/hybrid seeds are common.
3. Example: PepsiCo potato farming in Punjab.

Yaad rakhein: Contract farming = assured buyer + assured price before sowing.

Answer: (B) Fixed buy-back rate by companies

Concept: India's foreign exchange reserves crossed the $700 billion mark for the first time in late 2024.

1. RBI data showed reserves at about $704.9 billion (week ended 27 September 2024), released in early October 2024.
2. India thus became the fourth country after China, Japan and Switzerland to have forex reserves above $700 billion.
3. $1,000 billion and $901 billion are far above India's actual level; $101 billion is far below.

Yaad rakhein: 4th country to cross $700 bn: China, Japan, Switzerland, then India.

Answer: (C) 701

Concept: After the fall of Bashar al-Assad (December 2024), Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria's interim president.

1. In April 2025, Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Doha, Qatar.
2. The meeting was hosted by the Emir of Qatar and was the first meeting between the leaders of the two neighbours since the change of power in Damascus.
3. Lebanon, Jordan and Iran do not have an 'interim president' in this context.

Yaad rakhein: Interim president in 2025 = Syria (Ahmed al-Sharaa).

Answer: (C) Syria

Concept: Density = mass of unit cell ÷ volume of unit cell.

1. Mass of one atom $=\frac{M}{N_A}$, so mass of unit cell $=\frac{Z\times M}{N_A}$.
2. Volume of a cubic unit cell of edge $a$ $=a^3$.
3. Therefore $d=\frac{Z\times M}{a^3\times N_A}$.

Trick: Z and M (what is inside the cell) go on top; $a^3$ and $N_A$ go below.

Answer: (A) $d=\frac{Z\times M}{a^3\times N_A}$

Concept: The Bhils are among the largest tribal groups of India, living mainly in central-western India.

1. Madhya Pradesh has the largest Bhil population (Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani districts).
2. Bhils are also found in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
3. Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are not home to large Bhil populations.

Yaad rakhein: Bhil – Bhagoria festival – Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh).

Answer: (D) Madhya Pradesh