Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The 1991 crisis was a balance-of-payments crisis: forex reserves had fallen to barely 2–3 weeks of imports.

1. Liberalisation, rupee devaluation and opening to foreign investment brought large capital inflows.
2. Foreign exchange reserves rose sharply in the following years – the clearest improvement.
3. Fiscal and revenue deficits stayed high; rural unemployment did not show a marked fall.

Trick: 1991 problem = forex; 1991 success = forex reserves.

Answer: (B) Foreign exchange reserves

Concept: Good citizenship goes beyond obeying laws.

1. Citizens should act morally and socially – respect others, promote harmony, protect public property (spirit of Fundamental Duties, Article 51A).
2. Military service is not automatic in India; equal, not higher, taxes are the rule; political silence is not a duty.
3. So participating morally and socially is the key obligation.

Trick: Laws set the minimum; good citizens go beyond them.

Answer: (B) Participate morally and socially, not just legally

Concept: Seasonal unemployment occurs when work is available only during certain months.

1. Agriculture needs labour mainly at sowing and harvesting; workers sit idle in the off-season.
2. It is common in rural India because farming depends on monsoon and crop cycles.
3. IT, manufacturing and transport work year-round.

Trick: Seasons → crops → agriculture.

Answer: (C) Agriculture

Concept: Winds blow from high pressure to low pressure.

1. In summer the land of north-west India heats up strongly, creating an intense low-pressure area over land.
2. The ocean (Indian Ocean) is cooler, with relatively high pressure.
3. Moist south-west monsoon winds are pulled from the sea toward this low – bringing rain.

Trick: Hot land → low pressure → sucks in sea winds.

Answer: (B) Low pressure over land

Concept: Rusting is the slow corrosion of iron in the presence of oxygen and moisture.

1. $4\text{Fe}+3{\text{O}}_2+x{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\to 2{\text{Fe}}_2{\text{O}}_3·x{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$
2. Iron is oxidised (Fe → ${\text{Fe}}^{3+}$) and oxygen is reduced at the same time.
3. Oxidation + reduction together = redox reaction (it is also a combination reaction, but the defining process is redox).

Trick: Corrosion/rusting = oxidation of metal = redox.

Answer: (B) Redox

Concept: The Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides for a National Disaster Response Force (Section 44).

1. NDRF was constituted in 2006 with 8 battalions drawn from CAPFs.
2. It works under the NDMA/MHA and is headed by a Director General.
3. The Act itself is of 2005 – the force came a year later.

Yaad rakhein: Act 2005 → Force 2006.

Answer: (C) 2006

Concept: The Preamble has been amended only once.

1. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added 'Socialist', 'Secular' and 'Integrity' (unity and integrity of the Nation).
2. It is called the 'Mini-Constitution' (Swaran Singh Committee).
3. The 44th Amendment (1978) removed Right to Property from Fundamental Rights; 52nd (1985) is the anti-defection law.

Yaad rakhein: 42 → S-S-I (Socialist, Secular, Integrity), 1976.

Answer: (A) 42^nd Amendment

Concept: The question asks about the first Indian athlete to win an individual Olympic gold.

1. Abhinav Bindra won gold in 10 m air rifle at Beijing 2008 – India's first individual Olympic gold.
2. KD Jadhav won India's first individual Olympic medal – bronze in wrestling, Helsinki 1952.
3. Neeraj Chopra's gold (javelin, Tokyo 2020) came later; Milkha Singh never won an Olympic medal.

Yaad rakhein: First individual medal – Jadhav (bronze 1952); first individual gold – Bindra (2008).

Answer: (A) Abhinav Bindra

Concept: On 20 May 2025, the Supreme Court (All India Judges Association case) restored the practice requirement for entry-level judicial posts.

1. Candidates for Civil Judge (Junior Division) must have at least 3 years of legal practice.
2. Practice is counted from provisional enrolment with the Bar Council.
3. The rule applies to future recruitments, not ongoing ones.

Yaad rakhein: SC May 2025: Civil Judge entry = 3 years at the Bar.

Answer: (D) 3 years

Concept: An elastomer is a material that can stretch and return to its original shape (rubber-like elasticity).

1. In the body, the protein elastin behaves as a natural elastomer.
2. The wall of the aorta is rich in elastic fibres, letting it stretch with each heartbeat and recoil.
3. Kidney, pancreas tissue are mainly functional (epithelial/glandular) tissues; veins have far less elastic tissue than the aorta.

Yaad rakhein: Elastomer in body = elastin = aorta (largest elastic artery).

Answer: (D) Tissue of Aorta

Concept: NHAI works under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

1. As of May 2025, Santosh Kumar Yadav (IAS) was Chairman of NHAI.
2. He took charge in 2022.
3. NHAI was set up under the NHAI Act, 1988.

Yaad rakhein: NHAI Chairman (2025) – Santosh Kumar Yadav.

Answer: (A) Santosh Kumar Yadav

Concept: Epigraphic sources for Harsha's reign include his own copper plates and seals, and inscriptions of his rivals.

1. Banskhera (628 CE) and Madhuban copper plates, and the Nalanda and Sonepat seals, are Harsha's records.
2. Pulakeshin II's Aihole inscription (by Ravikirti) records Harsha's defeat on the Narmada – also an epigraphic source on Harsha.
3. No 'Muzaffarnagar seals' are known for Harsha – so C is the odd one.

Yaad rakhein: Harsha's records: Banskhera, Madhuban, Nalanda, Sonepat (+ Aihole).

Answer: (C) Muzaffarnagar Seals

Concept: WAVES is India's global summit for media and entertainment, organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

1. The first WAVES was held on 1–4 May 2025 at Jio World Centre, Mumbai.
2. PM Modi inaugurated it.
3. Mumbai, home of Indian cinema, was the natural host.

Yaad rakhein: Entertainment summit → Bollywood city → Mumbai.

Answer: (B) Mumbai

Concept: Padma Vibhushan is India's second-highest civilian award.

1. M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the great Malayalam writer and Jnanpith awardee, died in December 2024 and received the Padma Vibhushan 2025 posthumously for literature.
2. Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy got Padma Vibhushan for medicine.
3. Shekhar Kapur and Nandamuri Balakrishna received Padma Bhushan (art).

Yaad rakhein: MT – Malayalam literature – posthumous Padma Vibhushan 2025.

Answer: (B) Shri MT Vasudevan Nair

Concept: The CPU is the 'brain' of the computer that executes instructions.

1. CPU = Central Processing Unit.
2. Its parts: ALU (calculations), CU (control) and registers/memory unit.
3. 'Control', 'Computer' or 'Program' unit are wrong expansions.

Trick: C-P-U = Central Processing Unit; its control part is CU.

Answer: (A) Central Processing Unit

Concept: Follow BODMAS: division and multiplication before addition and subtraction.

1. $(-60)÷(-10)=6$ and $(-2)\times 7=-14$
2. Expression $=-9-6+(-14)$
3. $=-9-6-14=-29$

Trick: Signs: $(-)÷(-)=+$, $(-)\times (+)=-$.

Answer: (D) $-29$

Concept: Simplify the complex fraction first, then take the LCM.

1. $1+\frac{3}{8}=\frac{11}{8}\Rightarrow \frac{1}{11/8}=\frac{8}{11}$
2. $\frac{5}{2}+\frac{8}{11}-\frac{5}{3}$, LCM $=66$
3. $=\frac{165+48-110}{66}=\frac{103}{66}$

Trick: Denominator must be a factor of 66 (2, 11, 3) – only $\frac{103}{66}$ fits.

Answer: (B) $\frac{103}{66}$

Concept: 54,10,96,943 in the Indian system = 541096943. Test each option by division.

1. $541096943÷97=5578319$ exactly (remainder 0).
2. $541096943÷103$ leaves remainder 39; $÷87$ leaves 8; $÷107$ leaves 83.
3. Also 87 = $3\times 29$: digit sum $=4+1+0+9+6+9+4+3+5=41$, not divisible by 3, so 87 is out at once.

Trick: Eliminate fast: digit-sum rule kills 87; then divide by the remaining primes.

Answer: (B) 97

Concept: Use ${\tan }^2\theta =\frac{1}{{\cot }^2\theta }$, ${\sec }^2\theta =1+{\tan }^2\theta$, ${\text{cosec}}^2\theta =1+{\cot }^2\theta$.

1. ${\tan }^2\theta =1-a^2$, so $\sec \theta =\sqrt{2-a^2}$
2. ${\text{cosec}}^2\theta =1+\frac{1}{1-a^2}=\frac{2-a^2}{1-a^2}$, so $\text{cosec}\theta =\frac{\sqrt{2-a^2}}{\sqrt{1-a^2}}$
3. $\text{cosec}\theta {\tan }^3\theta =\frac{\sqrt{2-a^2}}{\sqrt{1-a^2}}\times (1-a^2{)}^{3/2}=\sqrt{2-a^2}(1-a^2)$
4. Sum $=\sqrt{2-a^2}[1+1-a^2]=(2-a^2{)}^{\frac{3}{2}}$

Trick: Put $a=0$: $\theta ={45}^{\circ }$, value $=\sqrt{2}+\sqrt{2}=2\sqrt{2}=2^{3/2}$ – only option A gives this.

Answer: (A) $(2-a^2{)}^{\frac{3}{2}}$

Concept: For successive discounts, multiply by $(1-\frac{d_1}{100})(1-\frac{d_2}{100})$.

1. SP $=7500\times \frac{92}{100}\times \frac{95}{100}$
2. $7500\times 0.92=6900$
3. $6900\times 0.95=6555$

Trick: Net discount $=8+5-\frac{8\times 5}{100}=12.6\%$; $7500\times 0.874=6555$.

Answer: (B) ₹6,555