Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Basel (hazardous wastes), Rotterdam (prior informed consent for chemicals) and Stockholm (persistent organic pollutants) Conventions hold joint meetings.

1. The 2025 BRS COPs were held in Geneva, Switzerland (28 April – 9 May 2025).
2. Geneva hosts the joint BRS Secretariat under UNEP.
3. Rotterdam and Stockholm only gave the conventions their names.

Yaad rakhein: BRS Secretariat = Geneva; conventions are named after where they were signed.

Answer: (A) Geneva

Concept: The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 26 March 2025.

1. It raised the maximum tenure of directors (other than chairperson/whole-time director) of co-operative banks from 8 to 10 years, in line with the 97th Amendment.
2. It also allows up to four nominees per bank account.

Yaad rakhein: Co-operative bank directors: 8 → 10 years; nominees: up to 4.

Answer: (A) 10 years

Concept: Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) captures CO₂ from industrial exhaust and turns it into useful products.

1. In May 2025 the Department of Science and Technology (DST) unveiled India’s first five CCU testbeds in the cement sector.
2. They are run as academia–industry consortia to decarbonise cement, a hard-to-abate sector.

Yaad rakhein: S&T research testbeds → DST.

Answer: (C) Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India

Concept: During October–November the monsoon winds retreat and blow from the north-east over the Bay of Bengal.

1. They pick up moisture over the Bay of Bengal and shed it on the Coromandel coast.
2. Tamil Nadu receives most of its annual rainfall in this season.
3. Cyclones from the Bay add to this rainfall.

Trick: Tamil Nadu is the "winter/NE monsoon" state – dry in June–Sept, wet in Oct–Dec.

Answer: (B) Tamil Nadu

Concept: An optical fibre works on total internal reflection (TIR).

1. TIR occurs only when light travels from a denser (higher refractive index) to a rarer medium at an angle greater than the critical angle.
2. So the core must have a higher refractive index than the surrounding cladding.
3. Light then keeps reflecting inside the core along the fibre.

Yaad rakhein: Core = denser (higher n), cladding = rarer (lower n).

Answer: (A) material with higher refractive index

Concept: The 78th Cannes Film Festival was held in May 2025.

1. Jacqueline Fernandez was honoured at the Women in Cinema gala held during Cannes 2025, which celebrates women’s contribution to cinema.
2. She was the Indian face at that event, unlike the other actresses listed.

Yaad rakhein: Cannes 2025 Women in Cinema – Jacqueline Fernandez.

Answer: (B) Jacqueline Fernandez

Concept: Article 334 limits reservation of SC/ST seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to a fixed period, extended by amendments every 10 years.

1. 8th (1960), 23rd (1970), 45th (1980), 62nd (1989), 79th (1999), 95th (2009) and 104th (2019) Amendments extended it.
2. The 104th Amendment extended it till 25 January 2030 and ended Anglo-Indian nomination.

Yaad rakhein: Latest extension: 104th Amendment, 2019 → till 2030.

Answer: (C) 104^th Amendment

Concept: Article 6 gives citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution to persons who migrated from Pakistan.

1. Basic condition: he, or either of his parents or grandparents, was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (undivided India, i.e. before 1947).
2. Migrated before 19 July 1948: ordinarily resident since migration is enough.
3. Migrated after 19 July 1948: in addition he must be registered by an officer of the Dominion of India after six months’ residence.

Trick: Art. 6 = birth link to undivided India + (after 19-7-1948) registration.

Answer: (D) he was born in India before 1947

Concept: Shambhu Maharaj (1910–1970) belonged to the Lucknow gharana of Kathak.

1. He was famed for abhinaya (expressive acting) and thumri-based bhava in Kathak.
2. He taught at Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Delhi; received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1967) and Padma Shri.
3. He was the uncle of Pt. Birju Maharaj.

Yaad rakhein: Maharaj family (Achhan, Lachhu, Shambhu, Birju) = Lucknow Kathak.

Answer: (D) Kathak dance

Concept: Heating gypsum at about 373 K removes part of its water of crystallisation.

1. Gypsum ${\text{CaSO}}_4·2{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$ → ${\text{CaSO}}_4·\frac{1}{2}{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$ (calcium sulphate hemihydrate) + $1\frac{1}{2}{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$.
2. This hemihydrate is Plaster of Paris, used for casts and statues.
3. Quick lime = CaO; slaked lime = ${\text{Ca(OH)}}_2$.

Trick: Hemi = half: half a water molecule → Plaster of Paris.

Answer: (C) Plaster of Paris

Concept: Excluding PoK (where K2 lies), the highest peak within India is in Sikkim.

1. Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) on the India–Nepal border in Sikkim is India’s highest peak and the world’s third highest.
2. Mount Everest and Dhaulagiri are in Nepal; Nanga Parbat is in PoK.

Yaad rakhein: India: K2 (with PoK) → Kanchenjunga (without PoK) → Nanda Devi (wholly in India).

Answer: (B) Kanchenjunga

Concept: Good file management means files can be found quickly and the system stays tidy.

1. Creating separate folders by type/subject (Documents, Photos, Projects) keeps files organised.
2. Storing everything on the desktop, mixing subjects or random names make searching hard.

Trick: One folder per category + meaningful file names.

Answer: (B) Create separate folders for different types of files

Concept: The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna 2024 was conferred in January 2025 on four athletes.

1. Awardees: Gukesh D (chess), Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh and Praveen Kumar.
2. Gukesh became the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion at 18 by beating Ding Liren (December 2024).

Yaad rakhein: Khel Ratna 2024: Gukesh, Manu, Harmanpreet, Praveen.

Answer: (D) Gukesh D

Concept: Lebanon’s presidency had been vacant since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022.

1. On 9 January 2025 the Parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun as President.
2. Michel Aoun is the former President (no relation); Hassan Diab and Saad Hariri were Prime Ministers.

Yaad rakhein: Lebanon 2025: President Joseph Aoun, PM Nawaf Salam.

Answer: (C) Joseph Aoun

Concept: WHO prequalification allows UN agencies to procure a vaccine.

1. QDENGA (TAK-003) by Takeda is a live-attenuated tetravalent vaccine against all four dengue virus serotypes.
2. WHO prequalified it in May 2024 – the second dengue vaccine to be prequalified.
3. Malaria vaccines are RTS,S and R21.

Yaad rakhein: QDENGA → DENGue.

Answer: (A) Dengue

Concept: Form the equation from the past condition, then the future condition.

1. Let present ages be father $F$, son $S$. Four years ago: $F-4=2(S-4)+33\Rightarrow F=2S+29$.
2. After $x$ years: $F+x=2(S+x)\Rightarrow x=F-2S$.
3. $x=29$.

Trick: For "after how many years will he be twice", answer $=F-2S$ directly.

Answer: (A) $29$ years

Concept: Diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other at right angles; each side is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by half-diagonals.

1. Side $=\frac{40}{4}=10\text{cm}$; half of given diagonal $=8\text{cm}$.
2. Other half-diagonal $=\sqrt{{10}^2-8^2}=\sqrt{36}=6\text{cm}$.
3. Other diagonal $=2\times 6=12\text{cm}$.

Trick: $d_1^2+d_2^2=4a^2$: $256+d_2^2=400\Rightarrow d_2=12$.

Answer: (B) $12\text{cm}$

Concept: Average speed = total distance ÷ total time (not the average of the speeds).

1. Times: $\frac{432}{72}=6\text{h}$, $\frac{275}{55}=5\text{h}$, $\frac{680}{85}=8\text{h}$; total $=19\text{h}$.
2. Total distance $=432+275+680=1387\text{km}$.
3. Average speed $=\frac{1387}{19}=73\text{km/h}$.

Trick: Every distance here is an exact multiple of its speed – find hours first, then divide.

Answer: (D) $73$

Concept: Find each square root separately; for decimals, count decimal places in pairs.

1. $\sqrt{169}=13$
2. $\sqrt{0.0324}=0.18$ (since ${18}^2=324$, four decimal places → two).
3. $\sqrt{7.29}=2.7$ (since ${27}^2=729$).
4. $13+0.18-2.7=10.48$.

Trick: Decimal places in the root = half the decimal places in the number.

Answer: (D) $10.48$

Concept: Mode is the value that occurs most often in the data.

1. Frequencies: 10 → 1, 11 → 2, 13 → 4, 14 → 1, 16 → 1, 17 → 1.
2. 13 occurs most (4 times), so mode = 13.

Trick: Sort the data first: 10, 11, 11, 13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 16, 17 – the longest run is the mode.

Answer: (A) $13$