Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The India Open is a BWF Super 750 badminton tournament held in New Delhi.

1. In the 2025 men's singles final, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen beat Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong (China) 21-16, 21-8.
2. It was Axelsen's third India Open title.
3. Lakshya Sen and others did not reach this final.

Yaad rakhein: India Open 2025: Axelsen (men) beat Lee Cheuk Yiu; An Se-young won the women's title.

Answer: (C) Lee Cheuk Yiu

Concept: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is a 50:50 joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Delhi.

1. DMRC was registered on 3 May 1995 under the Companies Act.
2. Its first corridor (Shahdara–Tis Hazari, Red Line) opened on 24 December 2002.
3. E. Sreedharan was its first Managing Director.

Yaad rakhein: DMRC – 1995 company, 2002 first train.

Answer: (B) 1995

Concept: MGNREGA (often written MNREGA) is India's rural employment law.

1. Full name: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
2. Enacted in 2005 as NREGA; 'Mahatma Gandhi' was added to the name in 2009.
3. It guarantees 100 days of wage employment a year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.

Yaad rakhein: The 'G' stands for Guarantee, not Growth.

Answer: (B) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Concept: Political representation means reservation of seats in elected legislatures.

1. Article 330: reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha.
2. Article 332: reservation of seats for SCs and STs in State Legislative Assemblies.
3. Articles 341–342 only notify which castes/tribes are SC/ST; Article 338 creates the National Commission for SCs; Articles 15–16 deal with equality.

Yaad rakhein: 330 – Lok Sabha, 332 – State Assemblies (both in Part XVI).

Answer: (C) Article 330 and 332

Concept: The National Biopharma Mission (NBM) is the flagship industry–academia programme of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), run by BIRAC.

1. NBM ('Innovate in India – i3'), co-funded by the World Bank, supports biologics, vaccines, devices and cell & gene therapy.
2. Under NBM, India's first GMP-grade viral vector for CAR-T research was produced, aiding indigenous CAR-T therapy.
3. BIG and PACE are smaller BIRAC grant schemes; Atal Jai Anusandhan is a research mission name, not the funding scheme here.

Yaad rakhein: CAR-T and vaccines support from DBT → National Biopharma Mission (BIRAC).

Answer: (C) National Biopharma Mission

Concept: The Luni is the main river of the Thar (Great Indian) Desert in western Rajasthan.

1. It rises in the Aravalli range near Ajmer (Pushkar valley), flows south-west and ends in the marshes of the Rann of Kutch.
2. It is an inland river – it does not reach the sea; its water becomes salty after Balotra.
3. Ravi and Satluj flow through Punjab; Mahanadi flows through Chhattisgarh–Odisha.

Yaad rakhein: Luni = 'lavanavari' (salt river) of the Thar.

Answer: (D) Luni

Concept: Vasco da Gama made two voyages to Calicut (Kozhikode) on the Malabar coast.

1. First voyage: reached Calicut on 20 May 1498, welcomed by the Zamorin.
2. Second voyage: he returned to Calicut in 1502 with a large fleet and bombarded the town.
3. He came a third time in 1524 as Viceroy and died in Cochin.

Yaad rakhein: Vasco da Gama: 1498 – 1502 – 1524.

Answer: (B) 1502

Concept: Pochampad Dam is a multipurpose project on the Godavari river in Nizamabad district, Telangana.

1. Its official name is the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP).
2. Hirakud is on the Mahanadi (Odisha), Bhakra Nangal on the Satluj, Nagarjuna Sagar on the Krishna.

Yaad rakhein: Pochampad = Sri Ram Sagar on the Godavari, Telangana.

Answer: (B) Sri Rama Sagar Project

Concept: Anandamath is a Bengali novel set during the Sannyasi rebellion.

1. It was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published in 1882.
2. It contains the song 'Vande Mataram', adopted as India's National Song.
3. Sarat Chandra wrote Devdas; Tagore wrote Gora; Kazi Nazrul Islam is the 'Rebel Poet'.

Yaad rakhein: Anandamath → Vande Mataram → Bankim Chandra.

Answer: (D) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Concept: Key ages in the life of Gautama Buddha.

1. Born at Lumbini (563 BCE, traditional date); left home at 29 (Mahabhinishkramana).
2. After six years of search he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya at the age of 35.
3. First sermon at Sarnath; Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar at 80.

Yaad rakhein: Buddha: 29 – leaves home, 35 – enlightenment, 80 – parinirvana.

Answer: (C) 35 years

Concept: The Company's rule in India effectively began with the Battle of Plassey (1757).

1. Exactly a hundred years later, in 1857, a massive revolt broke out.
2. It began at Meerut on 10 May 1857 and spread to Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and other centres.
3. After it, the Government of India Act 1858 ended Company rule.

Yaad rakhein: Plassey 1757 + 100 years = Revolt of 1857.

Answer: (B) 1857

Concept: The skull has 22 bones: 8 cranial bones and 14 facial bones.

1. Paired facial bones (12): nasal, maxillae, zygomatic, lacrimal, palatine, inferior nasal conchae.
2. Single facial bones (2): mandible and vomer.
3. So the facial skeleton has 12 + 2 = 14 bones.

Yaad rakhein: Skull 22 = 8 cranial + 14 facial.

Answer: (A) 14

Concept: National Safety Day is observed on 4 March, the foundation day of the National Safety Council (1966).

1. The theme for 2025 was 'Safety & Well-being Crucial for Viksit Bharat'.
2. It links workplace safety and health to the goal of a developed India by 2047.
3. The day also starts National Safety Week (4–10 March).

Yaad rakhein: 2025 safety theme connects to Viksit Bharat.

Answer: (A) Safety & Well-being Crucial for Viksit Bharat

Concept: The first phase of the Green Revolution used HYV seeds with assured irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.

1. These inputs were available mainly in the better-off states – Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
2. HYV seeds benefited mostly wheat-growing regions at first.
3. In the second phase (mid-1970s to mid-1980s) the technology spread to more states and crops.

Yaad rakhein: Phase 1 Green Revolution = Punjab, AP, TN (irrigated, affluent).

Answer: (D) Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Concept: Agriculture became the main occupation in the Later Vedic period, as settlements moved into the Ganga plains.

1. Heavy wooden ploughs were drawn by teams of oxen.
2. The buffalo was domesticated and used for ploughing swampy (marshy) land of the Ganga valley.
3. The horse was used for chariots and the elephant was a symbol of royalty, not ploughing animals.

Yaad rakhein: Marshy land + heavy work → buffalo.

Answer: (B) Buffalo

Concept: The Climate Risk Index (CRI) is published by Germanwatch.

1. CRI 2025 (released at COP29, Baku) covered the long-term period 1993–2022.
2. India was ranked 6th among the most affected countries for this period.
3. Dominica was 1st, followed by China and Honduras.

Yaad rakhein: CRI 2025 long-term: India 6th (Germanwatch).

Answer: (D) $6^{\text{th}}$

Concept: Andhra State was the first state formed on a linguistic basis.

1. After Potti Sriramulu's fast unto death in 1952, Andhra State was carved out of Madras State on 1 October 1953 (capital Kurnool).
2. In 1956 it merged with the Telugu areas of Hyderabad State to form Andhra Pradesh.
3. Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu only in 1969, so 'Tamil Nadu' is not correct for 1953.

Yaad rakhein: 1953 Andhra ← Madras State; 1969 Madras → Tamil Nadu.

Answer: (A) Madras

Concept: The Koyna Project is a major hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.

1. Koyna Dam is on the Koyna river, a tributary of the Krishna, in Satara district, Maharashtra.
2. It is one of India's largest hydroelectric complexes; Shivajisagar is its reservoir.
3. The 1967 Koynanagar earthquake is linked to this reservoir.

Yaad rakhein: Koyna – Satara – Maharashtra.

Answer: (C) Maharashtra

Concept: In March 2024 the Ministry of Defence signed a contract worth about ₹5,700 crore for High-Power Radars (HPR) for the Indian Air Force.

1. The contract was signed with Larsen & Toubro under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category.
2. HPRs are long-range, active aperture phased-array surveillance radars that replace older imported radars.
3. They strengthen the air-defence network and promote Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Yaad rakhein: ₹5,700 crore + March 2024 + IAF → High-Power Radar (L&T).

Answer: (D) High-Power Radars (HPR)

Concept: The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 was passed by the Janata government.

1. It deleted the Right to Property from Part III (Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31).
2. Property became a constitutional/legal right under Article 300A (Part XII).
3. It also restored many safeguards weakened by the 42nd Amendment.

Yaad rakhein: 44th Amendment = Property out, Article 300A in.

Answer: (A) Right to Property