Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Make in India (launched 25 September 2014) aims to make India a global manufacturing hub and attract foreign direct investment.

1. Its logo is a lion made of gear wheels, showing manufacturing strength.
2. Digital India is about digital infrastructure, Startup India about new enterprises, Skill India about training – none is mainly about manufacturing plus FDI.

Yaad rakhein: Manufacturing + investment = Make in India (lion logo).

Answer: (B) Make in India

Concept: The Red Fort (Lal Qila) was built by Shah Jahan when he shifted the capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad (Delhi).

1. Construction ran from 1638 to 1648; architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who is also linked with the Taj Mahal.
2. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2007); the PM hoists the flag here on Independence Day.
3. Akbar built the Agra Fort, not the Red Fort of Delhi.

Yaad rakhein: Shah Jahan = Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid (Delhi).

Answer: (B) Shah Jahan

Concept: NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application) is a "One Nation, One Application" platform under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to make legislatures paperless.

1. In March 2025 the Delhi Legislative Assembly signed the MoU and became the 28th legislature to join NeVA.
2. Delhi aimed to run fully paperless sessions with this platform.

Yaad rakhein: NeVA = paperless Vidhan Sabha; Delhi = 28th (March 2025).

Answer: (B) Delhi

Concept: On 8 April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw low-intensity bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly, Delhi, to protest the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill.

1. They shouted "Inquilab Zindabad", threw leaflets and courted arrest – the aim was "to make the deaf hear".
2. Both belonged to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
3. Rajguru was hanged with Bhagat Singh in the Saunders case, but did not throw bombs in the Assembly.

Yaad rakhein: Assembly bomb 1929 = Bhagat Singh + B.K. Dutt.

Answer: (A) Bhagat Singh

Concept: In March 2025, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe was elected the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee, succeeding Thomas Bach.

1. She is the first woman, the first African and (at 41) the youngest person to hold the post.
2. She is a former Olympic swimmer with 7 Olympic medals, including 2 golds in the 200 m backstroke.

Yaad rakhein: IOC 2025 = Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), after Thomas Bach.

Answer: (A) Kirsty Coventry

Concept: Samudragupta (c. 335–375 CE) is called the "Napoleon of India" by historian V.A. Smith because of his vast, almost undefeated military campaigns.

1. His conquests are recorded in the Allahabad (Prayag) Prashasti composed by his court poet Harisena.
2. He defeated many kings of Aryavarta and Dakshinapatha; he was also a veena player (shown on his coins).
3. Chandragupta I founded the Gupta era; Skandagupta is known for repelling the Hunas.

Yaad rakhein: Napoleon of India = Samudragupta (V.A. Smith, Prayag Prashasti).

Answer: (B) Samudragupta

Concept: The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2024 ranked Iceland first for the 15th year in a row.

1. Iceland closed about 93.5% of its gender gap – the only economy above 90%.
2. Finland, Norway and New Zealand followed; India was ranked 129th out of 146.

Yaad rakhein: Gender Gap topper = Iceland (WEF report).

Answer: (C) Iceland

Concept: A colloid looks uniform to the naked eye, but its dispersed particles (about 1–1000 nm) are larger than molecules, so it is actually a heterogeneous mixture.

1. Colloidal particles scatter a beam of light – the Tyndall effect – which a true solution does not show.
2. Examples: milk, fog, smoke, gel; the particles do not settle on standing, unlike a suspension.

Yaad rakhein: Tyndall effect seen ⇒ heterogeneous (colloid or suspension).

Answer: (D) heterogeneous mixture

Concept: In Windows, pressing the Delete key on a file or folder moves it to the Recycle Bin, from where it can be restored.

1. Shift + Delete deletes the item permanently, bypassing the Recycle Bin.
2. Files deleted from removable drives (pen drives) also skip the Recycle Bin.

Yaad rakhein: Delete → Recycle Bin; Shift + Delete → gone for good.

Answer: (C) The file is sent to the Recycle Bin.

Concept: A landlocked country has no coastline. Among India’s neighbours, Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked and share only land borders with India.

1. Nepal lies between India and China (Tibet); Bhutan lies between India and China too.
2. Bangladesh and Myanmar have coasts on the Bay of Bengal; Pakistan has the Arabian Sea coast; Sri Lanka and Maldives are island nations with maritime borders.

Yaad rakhein: Landlocked neighbours of India = Nepal, Bhutan (and Afghanistan).

Answer: (B) Nepal and Bhutan

Concept: India's mainland extends from 68°7′E to 97°25′E in longitude and from 8°4′N to 37°6′N in latitude.

1. The east–west extent is about 29°; it causes roughly a 2-hour time difference between Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat.
2. The Indian Standard Time meridian, 82°30′E (Mirzapur), lies between these limits.
3. Other options start far west in Iran/Arabian Sea or end too early, so they are wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Longitude 68–97 °E; latitude 8–37 °N – both spans about 30°.

Answer: (A) 68°7′E and 97°25′E

Concept: In May 2025, Dr. Ajay Kumar, a former Union Defence Secretary (IAS, Kerala cadre, 1985 batch), was appointed Chairman of the UPSC.

1. He succeeded Preeti Sudan, whose term ended in April 2025.
2. The UPSC Chairman is appointed by the President under Article 316 and holds office for 6 years or until age 65.

Yaad rakhein: UPSC Chairman 2025 = Dr. Ajay Kumar (ex-Defence Secretary).

Answer: (C) Dr. Ajay Kumar

Concept: Godaan (1936) is the last completed novel of Munshi Premchand (Dhanpat Rai), regarded as the greatest Hindi novel of rural India.

1. It tells the story of the poor farmer Hori and his wish to own a cow (go-daan = gift of a cow).
2. Other works of Premchand: Gaban, Nirmala, Karmabhoomi, Rangbhoomi, and the story Kafan.
3. Bankim wrote Anandamath (Bengali); R.K. Narayan wrote in English; Tagore wrote Gora.

Yaad rakhein: Godaan → Hori → Premchand, the "Upanyas Samrat".

Answer: (B) Munshi Premchand

Concept: The 9th Global Technology Summit (GTS) was held in New Delhi on 10–12 April 2025, co-hosted by Carnegie India and the Ministry of External Affairs.

1. Its theme was "Sambhavna" (possibility), focusing on technology, geopolitics and diplomacy.
2. GTS has been co-hosted by MEA and Carnegie India since its start in 2016, reflecting the foreign-policy angle of technology.

Yaad rakhein: GTS = Carnegie India + MEA (tech diplomacy).

Answer: (A) Ministry of External Affairs

Concept: File Explorer (earlier called Windows Explorer) is the Windows tool used to browse, create, copy, move, rename and organise files and folders.

1. Shortcut: Windows key + E opens it.
2. Paint is for drawing, Recycle Bin stores deleted items, Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) monitors running programs and performance.

Yaad rakhein: Win + E = File Explorer = file manager of Windows.

Answer: (C) File Explorer

Concept: In May 2025, DRDO and the Indian Navy successfully carried out a combat firing (with reduced explosive) of the indigenous Multi-Influence Ground Mine (MIGM).

1. MIGM is an advanced underwater naval mine developed by DRDO’s Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam.
2. It senses multiple influences of a ship – acoustic, magnetic and pressure – to detect stealthy vessels.
3. Varunastra is a heavyweight torpedo, not a mine.

Yaad rakhein: Mine = MIGM; torpedo = Varunastra.

Answer: (A) Multi-Influence Ground Mine

Concept: In April 2025, the Bengaluru startup QNu Labs, supported by DST under the National Quantum Mission, launched QShield – billed as the world’s first quantum-safe platform for unified cryptography management.

1. QShield helps organisations manage encryption keys and move to quantum-safe security.
2. The National Quantum Mission was approved in 2023 for 2023-24 to 2030-31 with an outlay of about ₹6,003 crore.

Yaad rakhein: QShield ↔ QNu Labs (Q with Q).

Answer: (D) QNu Labs

Concept: The Law of Conservation of Mass says mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. Dalton explained it by saying atoms themselves are neither created nor destroyed.

1. In a reaction atoms only rearrange, so total mass stays the same.
2. "Atoms combine in simple whole-number ratios" explains the Law of Constant (Definite) Proportions instead.
3. "Different elements have different masses" explains the difference between elements, not mass conservation.

Yaad rakhein: Conservation of mass ↔ atoms indestructible; Constant proportion ↔ whole-number ratio.

Answer: (A) Atoms cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.

Concept: TRYSEM (Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment) was launched on 15 August 1979 to give technical and entrepreneurial skills to rural youth (18–35 years) from poor families.

1. The goal was to let them take up self-employment and reduce rural unemployment.
2. In 1999 it was merged with IRDP and other schemes into the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY).

Yaad rakhein: TRYSEM = Training → skills for self-employment (1979).

Answer: (B) Upgrading skills of rural youth to tackle unemployment

Concept: Before 1857, Indians resented British rule because of economic exploitation (high land revenue, low wages for sepoys), racial arrogance, and fear of interference with religion.

1. High taxes ruined peasants; Indian sepoys got low pay and no promotion; Europeans treated Indians as inferior.
2. The British were seen as threatening religion (missionaries, greased cartridges), so "religious tolerance" was not a grievance – it was the opposite of what people feared.

Yaad rakhein: Find the positive word in a list of grievances – that is the NOT option.

Answer: (C) Religious tolerance