Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Prime Meridian is 0° longitude; India lies east of it, so the city with the smallest east longitude (westernmost) is closest.

1. Approx. longitudes: Ahmedabad 72.6° E, Delhi 77.2° E, Kanyakumari 77.5° E, Agartala 91.3° E.
2. Ahmedabad is the westernmost, hence closest to the Prime Meridian.

Yaad rakhein: Closest to 0° = farthest west in India.

Answer: (A) Ahmedabad

Concept: The Global Gender Gap Report is published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

1. In the 2024 report India closed 64.1% of its gender gap and ranked 129th of 146 countries.
2. Iceland topped the index (closing over 90% of its gap).

Yaad rakhein: GGGR 2024: India 129th, 64.1%.

Answer: (A) 64.1%

Concept: Road density = road length per 100 sq km of area; it depends on terrain and how many people need connectivity.

1. Kerala has plains/coastal lowlands and very high population density with dispersed settlements, so a dense road network is needed.
2. Rajasthan has large desert areas (Thar) with sparse population, so road density is low.

Yaad rakhein: Plain terrain + dense population ⇒ high road density.

Answer: (C) Topography and population density

Concept: Indira Point (about 6°45′ N) is the southernmost point of India's territory.

1. It lies on Great Nicobar Island, the largest island of the Nicobar group.
2. It was earlier called Pygmalion Point; Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of mainland India.

Yaad rakhein: Southernmost: Indira Point (Great Nicobar); mainland: Kanyakumari.

Answer: (B) Great Nicobar Island

Concept: India has a parliamentary system: the President is the nominal head, real power lies with the Council of Ministers.

1. Article 74: there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the PM to aid and advise the President, who shall act in accordance with such advice.
2. The President may return advice for reconsideration only once (44th Amendment, 1978); after that it is binding – so option (C) is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 74 + 42nd Amendment (advice binding) + 44th Amendment (one-time reconsideration).

Answer: (D) The President considers the advice of the Prime Minister and the Union council of ministers.

Concept: Mauryan dynasty succession: Chandragupta Maurya → Bindusara → Ashoka.

1. Ashoka was the son of Bindusara and grandson of Chandragupta Maurya.
2. He became king around 268 BCE after a succession struggle with his brothers.

Yaad rakhein: Chandragupta (grandfather) – Bindusara (father) – Ashoka (son).

Answer: (D) Son

Concept: Primary sector uses natural resources directly; secondary sector converts raw materials into goods (manufacturing); tertiary sector provides services.

1. Weaving cotton fabric turns cotton yarn into cloth – manufacturing, so secondary.
2. Fishing and farming are primary; teaching is a tertiary (service) activity.

Yaad rakhein: Making something from raw material = secondary.

Answer: (C) Weaving cotton fabric

Concept: Harishena was the court poet and minister of Samudragupta.

1. He composed the Prayag Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) praising Samudragupta's conquests.
2. Kalidasa is associated with Chandragupta II's court, not Harishena.

Yaad rakhein: Harishena → Prayag Prashasti → Samudragupta ('Napoleon of India').

Answer: (C) Samudragupta

Concept: The first phase of the Green Revolution (mid-1960s) relied on HYV wheat seeds with assured irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.

1. It benefited mainly Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, which had canal/tubewell irrigation.
2. Eastern states like Orissa (Odisha), with rice-based rain-fed farming, were least impacted.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution phase 1 = wheat belt of the north-west.

Answer: (A) Orissa

Concept: Paul Ehrlich pioneered chemotherapy and the 'magic bullet' idea.

1. In 1909–1910 Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata developed Salvarsan (arsphenamine, 'compound 606'), the first effective treatment for syphilis.
2. Penicillin – Alexander Fleming (1928); Prontosil – Gerhard Domagk; Erythromycin – a later antibiotic.

Yaad rakhein: Ehrlich → Salvarsan → syphilis → 'magic bullet'.

Answer: (D) Salvarsan

Concept: Kumudini Lakhia (1930–2025) was a renowned Kathak dancer and choreographer from Ahmedabad.

1. She founded the Kadamb Centre for Dance (1967) and modernised Kathak choreography.
2. She received the Padma Vibhushan 2025 in the field of Art (dance).

Yaad rakhein: Kumudini Lakhia = Kathak = Art.

Answer: (A) Arts

Concept: A MAC address is a 48-bit physical (hardware) address burned into a NIC.

1. It uniquely identifies a network interface at the Data Link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model; switches use it to deliver frames within a LAN.
2. Logical addressing for routing is done by the IP address (Network layer, Layer 3) – so option (D) is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: MAC = physical address, Layer 2; IP = logical address, Layer 3.

Answer: (B) To uniquely identify a network interface controller (NIC) at the data link layer

Concept: Investors are attracted by strong fundamentals, reforms and a large, growing market.

1. Statement 1 – robust economic fundamentals (high growth, stable macro indicators): favourable.
2. Statement 2 – ongoing structural reforms (GST, IBC, PLI, ease of doing business): favourable.
3. Statement 3 – a decreasing consumer market would deter investment; India's consumer market is in fact expanding. So 3 is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Any 'decreasing/weakening' statement is usually the odd one in such questions.

Answer: (B) 1 and 2 only

Concept: Successive discounts multiply: net price factor $=\prod (1-d)$.

1. Factor $=0.80\times 0.87\times 0.80$
2. $=0.696\times 0.80=0.5568$
3. Single discount $=1-0.5568=0.4432=44.32\%$

Trick: Two at a time: $20+20-\frac{20\times 20}{100}=36\%$; then $36+13-\frac{36\times 13}{100}=44.32\%$.

Answer: (D) $44.32\%$

Concept: Cross-multiply a proportion: $\frac{X}{176}=\frac{99}{X}\Rightarrow X^2=176\times 99$.

1. $X^2=176\times 99=17424$
2. $176\times 99=16\times 11\times 9\times 11=(4\times 3\times 11{)}^2$
3. $X=4\times 3\times 11=132$

Trick: Factor first: $16\times 9\times {11}^2$ is a perfect square → $X=132$.

Answer: (A) 132

Concept: Grouped median $=l+\frac{\frac{N}{2}-cf}{f}\times h$.

1. $N=23+13+24+25+35=120$, $\frac{N}{2}=60$
2. Cumulative frequencies: 23, 36, 60, 85, 120 → median class 240–290
3. $l=240,cf=36,f=24,h=50$
4. Median $=240+\frac{60-36}{24}\times 50=240+50=290$

Trick: When $\frac{N}{2}$ equals a cumulative frequency exactly, the median is that class's upper limit (here 290).

Answer: (C) 290

Concept: $a:b::b:c\Rightarrow b^2=ac$.

1. $b^2=a\times 25a=25a^2\Rightarrow b=5a$
2. $20=5a\Rightarrow a=4$
3. $c=25a=100$

Trick: Check: $4:20=20:100$ (both $=\frac{1}{5}$).

Answer: (C) 100

Concept: Multiply numerator and denominator by $\cos \theta$: $\sec \theta \to 1$, $\tan \theta \to \sin \theta$.

1. $\frac{1-\sin \theta }{1+\sin \theta }=\frac{3}{5}$
2. $5-5\sin \theta =3+3\sin \theta \Rightarrow 8\sin \theta =2$
3. $\sin \theta =\frac{1}{4}\Rightarrow 2\sin \theta =\frac{1}{2}$

Trick: Componendo-dividendo: $\sin \theta =\frac{5-3}{5+3}=\frac{1}{4}$.

Answer: (A) $\frac{1}{2}$

Concept: Under SI, interest per year is constant, so the difference of amounts gives interest for the extra years.

1. Interest for 2 years $=2000-1250=750$ → ₹375 per year
2. Principal $=1250-750=500$
3. Rate $=\frac{375}{500}\times 100=75\%$

Trick: $R=\frac{A_2-A_1}{A_1·t_2-A_2·t_1}\times 100=\frac{750}{1250\times 4-2000\times 2}\times 100=75\%$.

Answer: (B) $75\%$

Concept: Sum of exterior angles of any polygon $={360}^{\circ }$; sum of interior angles $=(n-2)\times {180}^{\circ }$.

1. Interior sum $=1.5\times {360}^{\circ }={540}^{\circ }$
2. $(n-2)\times 180=540\Rightarrow n=5$
3. Each interior angle $=\frac{{540}^{\circ }}{5}={108}^{\circ }$

Trick: Interior sum : exterior sum $=(n-2):2$ → $1.5=\frac{n-2}{2}\Rightarrow n=5$.

Answer: (D) 108