Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: In MS Word, Ctrl + M increases paragraph indent; adding Shift reverses it.

1. Ctrl + Shift + M = decrease (remove) indent.
2. Ctrl + M = increase indent; Ctrl + Tab inserts a tab inside tables; Ctrl + Shift + I is not an indent command.

Trick: M = Margin in; Shift + M = Margin back out.

Answer: (C) Ctrl + Shift + M

Concept: Himachal Pradesh was created on 15 April 1948 as a Chief Commissioner's Province.

1. About 30 small princely states of the Shimla Hills (Shimla Hill States) were merged to form it.
2. PEPSU was a separate union (1948) merged into Punjab in 1956; Rajputana became Rajasthan.

Yaad rakhein: Himachal Day = 15 April; full statehood on 25 January 1971.

Answer: (D) Shimla Hill States

Concept: The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is awarded to a news organisation, not an individual.

1. In 2025 it went to ProPublica for reporting on pregnant women who died after delayed medical care under strict abortion bans in the US.
2. The Washington Post, NYT and Reuters won in other 2025 categories, not Public Service.

Yaad rakhein: Public Service 2025 = ProPublica (gold medal).

Answer: (B) ProPublica

Concept: The Purna Swaraj resolution was passed at the Lahore Session, December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.

1. The tricolour was hoisted on the banks of the Ravi on 31 December 1929.
2. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as Independence Day; hence Republic Day is on 26 January.
3. Karachi 1931 passed the Fundamental Rights resolution.

Yaad rakhein: Lahore 1929 – Nehru – Ravi – Purna Swaraj.

Answer: (C) Lahore Session, 1929

Concept: PM-JUGA / Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan was approved in September 2024.

1. Statement 1 is correct: 25 interventions by 17 ministries in health, education, livelihood, infrastructure.
2. Statement 2 is wrong: it covers about 63,000 tribal-majority villages in 549 districts of 30 States/UTs, not just 10 states.
3. Statement 3 is wrong: it was launched by PM Narendra Modi at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on 2 October 2024.

Yaad rakhein: Dharti Aaba = Birsa Munda; launched by PM, 25 interventions.

Answer: (B) Only 1

Concept: Taanka / Kund are underground tanks that collect rooftop or courtyard rainwater in arid Rajasthan.

1. Common in Bikaner, Barmer, Jaisalmer (Thar desert) for drinking water.
2. Other Rajasthan systems: johad, khadin, baoli; Karnataka has kere, Madhya Pradesh/UP have different systems.

Yaad rakhein: Taanka-Kund-Khadin-Johad → Rajasthan.

Answer: (C) Rajasthan

Concept: Article 44: the State shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for citizens throughout India.

1. Art. 39A = equal justice and free legal aid; Art. 48 = organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry; Art. 43B = co-operative societies.
2. Goa already follows a common civil code; Uttarakhand enacted a UCC in 2024.

Yaad rakhein: 44 → UCC; 39A → legal aid; 48 → agriculture/cows.

Answer: (D) Uniform civil code for the citizens

Concept: Harappan ornaments used gold, silver, copper, faience, shell, ivory and semi-precious stones.

1. Steatite was used for beads and seals; carnelian (red stone, from Gujarat) for beads; ivory for combs and ornaments.
2. No evidence exists of diamond being used — it could not be cut with their tools.

Yaad rakhein: Harappan bead stones: carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, steatite — no diamond.

Answer: (C) Diamond

Concept: The Aditya Birla Memorial Polo Cup 2025 was played at the Jaipur Polo Ground, New Delhi.

1. In the final, Rajnigandha Achievers defeated Jindal Panther to lift the cup.
2. The tournament honours industrialist Aditya Vikram Birla.

Yaad rakhein: Final pair: Rajnigandha Achievers (winner) vs Jindal Panther.

Answer: (A) Jindal Panther

Concept: PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes on 8 November 2016.

1. The notes ceased to be legal tender from midnight; new ₹500 and ₹2000 notes were issued.
2. India's earlier demonetisations were in 1946 and 1978.

Yaad rakhein: 8-11-2016 — note-bandi.

Answer: (C) 2016

Concept: Indo-Greek rulers issued coins with Greek on one side and Kharosthi (Prakrit) on the other.

1. Demetrius (son of Euthydemus), who invaded north-west India around 190 BCE, is credited with introducing such bilingual coins.
2. Menander I (Milinda) later issued many bilingual coins too, but the practice began earlier.
3. Indo-Greeks were also the first to issue coins naming the ruler and his portrait.

Yaad rakhein: Demetrius → first Indo-Greek in India, first bilingual coins.

Answer: (D) Demetrius

Concept: Under Section 80-IAC, eligible start-ups get a 100% profit deduction for 3 out of 10 years.

1. Budget 2025-26 extended the incorporation deadline by 5 years — start-ups incorporated before 1 April 2030 (earlier 1 April 2025) remain eligible.

Yaad rakhein: 2025 → 2030 = 5 years.

Answer: (D) 5

Concept: The Act made the Governor of Bengal the Governor-General of Bengal (Warren Hastings) with a council of four.

1. Decisions were by majority; the Governor-General had only a casting vote, so he could NOT override his council — that power came with the Amending Act of 1786 (Cornwallis).
2. He could superintend and control the Bombay and Madras presidencies in matters of war and peace, and make regulations for Fort William.

Yaad rakhein: Overriding power: 1786, not 1773.

Answer: (B) Can override the decision of his council

Concept: A Named Range gives a meaningful name (e.g. Sales) to a cell or range.

1. Formulas become readable: =SUM(Sales) instead of =SUM(B2:B50).
2. Created via the Name Box or Formulas → Define Name; it does not encrypt, format or chart data.

Trick: Name Box (left of formula bar) = fastest way to name a range.

Answer: (B) To refer to a cell or range of cells using a more descriptive and easier-to-understand name in formulas

Concept: NPCI (2008) is promoted by RBI and IBA to run retail payment systems.

1. NPCI runs UPI, UPI Lite, AePS, IMPS, RuPay, NACH, FASTag (NETC), BBPS.
2. NEFT and RTGS are owned and operated by the Reserve Bank of India, not NPCI.

Yaad rakhein: NEFT/RTGS → RBI; UPI/IMPS/AePS/RuPay → NPCI.

Answer: (C) Only 2 and 3

Concept: If numbers are $x,11x,19x$ with $1,11,19$ pairwise co-prime, then HCF $=x$ and LCM $=1\times 11\times 19\times x$.

1. LCM $=209x$.
2. $209x=8778\Rightarrow x=\frac{8778}{209}=42$.
3. So HCF $=42$ (numbers 42, 462, 798).

Trick: For co-prime ratio terms, HCF $=\frac{\text{LCM}}{\text{product of ratio terms}}$.

Answer: (A) 42

Concept: Mode is the observation that occurs most often.

1. Frequencies: 27 occurs 4 times; 20, 24, 32 occur twice each; the rest once.
2. Highest frequency is 4, for 27.

Trick: Just tally repeats — no calculation needed.

Answer: (C) 27

Concept: For equal distances at speeds $a,b,c$: average speed $=\frac{3}{\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b}+\frac{1}{c}}$.

1. $\frac{1}{31}+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{34}\approx 0.03226+0.25+0.02941=0.31167$.
2. Average speed $=\frac{3}{0.31167}\approx 9.63$.
3. Rounded to one decimal: $9.6\text{km/h}$.

Trick: The slow 4 km/h stretch dominates: time on it alone is $\frac{1}{12}$ of the journey per km-unit, so the answer must be a little under $3\times 4=12$ — only 9.6 fits sensibly.

Answer: (D) $9.6$

Concept: If $DE\parallel AC$, then $△BDE~△BAC$ and the ratio of areas equals the square of the ratio of corresponding sides.

1. $BA=BD+AD=10+17=27$.
2. $\frac{\text{ar}(BDE)}{\text{ar}(BAC)}={\left(\frac{10}{27}\right)}^2=\frac{100}{729}$.
3. Trapezium $ADEC=729-100=629$ parts.
4. Required ratio $=100:629$.

Trick: Square the side ratio, then subtract: ${10}^2:({27}^2-{10}^2)$.

Answer: (D) $100:629$

Concept: Amount $A=P(1+\frac{RT}{100})$ and $SI=\frac{PRT}{100}$.

1. 3 years at 20% → SI $=60\%$ of P, so $A=1.6P=8640$.
2. $P=\frac{8640}{1.6}=5400$.
3. SI for 2 years $=5400\times \frac{40}{100}=2160$.

Trick: $160\%\to 8640$, so $40\%\to \frac{8640}{4}=2160$.

Answer: (B) ₹2,160