Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: National Voters’ Day is observed on 25 January (ECI’s foundation day, 1950); 2025 marked the 15th edition.

1. At the main function in New Delhi, the President presented the Best Electoral Practices Awards to officials for excellence in conducting elections.
2. No digital voting machines, new boundaries or new online voter-ID system were launched there.

Yaad rakhein: NVD = 25 January; Best Electoral Practices Awards are presented every year on this day.

Answer: (A) Presentation of best electoral practices awards

Concept: PMJDY was launched on 28 August 2014 as the National Mission for Financial Inclusion.

1. It aims at universal access to banking: zero-balance accounts, RuPay debit card, accident insurance and overdraft facility.
2. APY and MUDRA came in 2015; NRLM (2011) is a rural livelihood mission.

Yaad rakhein: Jan Dhan = "one bank account for every household" (2014).

Answer: (B) Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Concept: The Northern Plains were formed by the deposition of alluvium brought by the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems into the depression (foredeep) south of the Himalayas.

1. These alluvial deposits (bhabar, terai, bhangar, khadar) make the plains extremely fertile.
2. Volcanic eruption formed the Deccan Traps; glacial erosion and tectonic uplift relate to mountains.

Yaad rakhein: Northern Plains = river-made (alluvial) = Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plain.

Answer: (A) Deposition of alluvium

Concept: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 (in force from 24 April 1993) gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

1. It added Part IX (Articles 243–243O) and the 11th Schedule (29 subjects), with regular 5-year elections, reservations and State Election Commissions.
2. Panchayats remain under State laws – no full autonomy, no override power, no control over armed forces.

Yaad rakhein: 73rd → Panchayats (Part IX, 11th Schedule); 74th → Municipalities (Part IXA, 12th Schedule).

Answer: (B) Constitutional status and protection

Concept: Lok Adalats work under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

1. Under Section 21 of the Act, every award of a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding.
2. No appeal lies against the award in any court; no court fee is charged.

Yaad rakhein: Lok Adalat award = civil court decree, no appeal.

Answer: (D) Civil Court decree

Concept: Good file management means files can be found quickly and understood by anyone.

1. A logical (hierarchical) folder structure with clear, descriptive names keeps related files together.
2. Random names, frequent renaming or dumping everything in one folder make searching harder and do not save space.

Yaad rakhein: Folders by topic/project/date + meaningful names = easy retrieval.

Answer: (A) Creating a logical folder structure that reflects the content, using clear, descriptive names

Concept: Khelo India Centres (KICs) are small grassroots training centres set up in districts, often run by former champions as coaches.

1. As of February 2025, 1041 Khelo India Centres had been established across India, as reported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
2. KICs are different from Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs), which are far fewer.

Yaad rakhein: KIC ≈ 1041 (Feb 2025) – district-level centres; KISCE – state-level.

Answer: (C) 1041

Concept: The India–Myanmar–Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway is a road link of about 1,360 km from Moreh (Manipur) through Myanmar to Mae Sot (Thailand).

1. It is a flagship connectivity project under the Act East Policy to boost trade with ASEAN.
2. Kaladan project links Kolkata with Sittwe port (only Myanmar); Mekong–Ganga is a cultural/tourism cooperation forum.

Yaad rakhein: IMT = India–Myanmar–Thailand: the name itself gives the answer.

Answer: (C) IMT Trilateral Highway

Concept: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 offers a faster path to citizenship for persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

1. It covers Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.
2. The CAA rules were notified in March 2024.

Yaad rakhein: CAA: 3 countries, 6 communities, cut-off 31-12-2014.

Answer: (B) December 31, 2014

Concept: Convectional rainfall occurs when strongly heated air rises, cools and forms thunderclouds – typical of hot pre-monsoon afternoons (April–May).

1. Intense heating over the Chhota Nagpur Plateau and adjoining east India produces pre-monsoon thunderstorms (Nor’westers / Kalbaisakhi in Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha).
2. The Western Ghats and Kerala coast get mainly orographic monsoon rain; the Eastern Himalayas also get orographic rain.

Yaad rakhein: Pre-monsoon showers: Mango showers (Kerala–Karnataka), Kalbaisakhi (east India), Blossom showers (Kerala coffee).

Answer: (C) Chhota Nagpur Plateau

Concept: Dr K.S. Manilal was a renowned Indian botanist and plant taxonomist from Kerala; he died on 1 January 2025.

1. He is famous for translating and annotating the 17th-century Latin work "Hortus Malabaricus" on the plants of Malabar into English and Malayalam.
2. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020.

Yaad rakhein: Manilal ↔ Hortus Malabaricus ↔ Botany.

Answer: (A) Botany

Concept: Melting point of fats depends on how tightly the fatty-acid chains pack together.

1. Natural unsaturated fatty acids have cis double bonds that bend (kink) the chain, so chains cannot pack closely.
2. Weaker van der Waals forces between chains → lower melting point → liquid oils at room temperature.
3. Saturated chains are straight, pack tightly and are solid; molecular weight is similar, and no ionic bonds are involved.

Trick: Cis kink → loose packing → oil; straight chain → tight packing → fat (ghee/butter).

Answer: (A) The cis-double bonds introduce kinks, reducing van der Waals interactions.

Concept: The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2011 added Part IXB (Articles 243ZH–243ZT) on co-operative societies.

1. Under Article 243ZK and the related State laws, the annual general body meeting must be held within six months of the close of the financial year.
2. The same amendment made forming co-operative societies a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(c).

Yaad rakhein: Co-operatives: 97th Amendment, Part IXB, AGM within 6 months.

Answer: (A) 6 months

Concept: Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie published "Dream Count" in March 2025, her first novel in over a decade.

1. It follows four African women – Chiamaka, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou – whose lives are interconnected.
2. "Purple Hibiscus" (2003), "Half of a Yellow Sun" (2006) and "Americanah" (2013) are her earlier novels with different themes.

Yaad rakhein: Dream Count (2025) = four women; Half of a Yellow Sun = Biafran war.

Answer: (D) Dream Count

Concept: The Tropic of Cancer ($23{\frac{1}{2}}^{\circ }$N) passes through the middle of India.

1. It crosses 8 states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
2. In Gujarat it passes through the Rann of Kutch region.

Yaad rakhein: Tropic of Cancer states from west: Gujarat → Mizoram (8 states).

Answer: (A) ${23.5}^{\circ }$N

Concept: If c is the third proportional of a and b, then $a:b=b:c$, i.e. $b^2=ac$.

1. $40:Z=Z:10$
2. $Z^2=40\times 10=400$
3. $Z=\sqrt{400}=20$ (positive value).

Trick: Third proportional of a and b $=\frac{b^2}{a}$; check: $\frac{{20}^2}{40}=10$ ✓.

Answer: (C) $20$

Concept: $\text{Profit}=\text{SP}-\text{CP}$; the cost price stays the same when SP changes.

1. Let CP = C, SP = S. Initial profit $=S-C$.
2. New: $2S-C=8(S-C)\Rightarrow 2S-C=8S-8C\Rightarrow 7C=6S$.
3. $S=\frac{7C}{6}$, profit $=\frac{C}{6}$.
4. Profit% $=\frac{1}{6}\times 100=16.67\%$.

Trick: Take CP = 6, SP = 7 (profit 1): new SP 14 → profit 8 = 8 times ✓ → $\frac{1}{6}=16.67\%$.

Answer: (D) $16.67$

Concept: Solve innermost brackets first; inside a bracket do ÷ and × from left to right.

1. $26÷\frac{4}{2}=26÷2=13$
2. $8÷2\times \frac{10}{5}=4\times 2=8$
3. $4\times 4÷3=\frac{16}{3}$
4. $13\times 8÷\frac{16}{3}=104\times \frac{3}{16}=19.5$

Trick: Dividing by a fraction = multiplying by its reciprocal: $÷\frac{16}{3}=\times \frac{3}{16}$.

Answer: (B) $19.5$

Concept: Average of groups $=\frac{\sum (\text{share}\times \text{average})}{\text{total share}}$.

1. Children $=100-20-30=50\%$.
2. Average $=0.2\times 50+0.3\times 40+0.5\times 30$
3. $=10+12+15=37\text{kg}$.

Trick: Percentages already add to 100 → just multiply each by its average and add.

Answer: (A) $37$

Concept: $44=4\times 11$ (co-prime), so the number must be divisible by both 4 and 11.

1. By 4: last two digits divisible by 4 → only 3344 (44) qualifies; 79, 67, 50 fail.
2. By 11 for 3344: $(3+4)-(3+4)=0$ ✓.
3. Check: $3344÷44=76$.

Trick: Divisible by a composite number → test its co-prime factors.

Answer: (D) 3344