Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: India's merchandise exports in 2024-25 were about US$ 437 billion.

1. Engineering goods were the largest export group – about US$ 116.7 billion, i.e. about 26.67% of total merchandise exports.
2. Petroleum products come next; crude petroleum, gold and edible oil are mainly India's imports.
3. Engineering goods include machinery, auto parts, iron & steel products, etc.

Yaad rakhein: Export no. 1 = Engineering goods; Import no. 1 = Crude oil.

Answer: (C) Engineering goods

Concept: Coordination compounds contain a central metal atom/ion bonded to ligands.

1. Swiss chemist Alfred Werner proposed the first theory of their structure in 1893 (primary and secondary valency).
2. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for this work and is called the father of coordination chemistry.
3. Dalton gave atomic theory; Bunsen – the Bunsen burner; Newton was a physicist.

Trick: Werner → ‘W’ for ‘Werner’s theory of coordination’; primary valency = oxidation state, secondary = coordination number.

Answer: (D) Alfred Werner

Concept: Poverty lines in India have been reviewed by several expert committees.

1. The Planning Commission set up the C. Rangarajan Expert Group in 2012 after criticism of the Tendulkar poverty line.
2. It submitted its report in 2014 and estimated poverty at 29.5% for 2011-12.
3. Earlier: Lakdawala (1989-93), Tendulkar (2005, report 2009).

Yaad rakhein: Rangarajan: formed 2012 → report 2014 (gap of 2 years).

Answer: (B) 2012

Concept: Instant-on / always-connected PCs behave like smartphones: they wake instantly and stay connected to the network while ‘asleep’.

1. This needs Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) in Windows 10 and 11.
2. Traditional S3 sleep switches off network activity, so it cannot give an always-connected experience.
3. Hibernate and hybrid sleep save memory to disk and resume more slowly.

Yaad rakhein: Modern Standby = smartphone-like ‘S0’ sleep; legacy = S3.

Answer: (C) Modern Standby

Concept: A balance of payments (BoP) crisis occurs when a country cannot pay for imports or repay foreign debt.

1. By 1990-91 India had a large fiscal deficit and a high current account deficit, financed by borrowing.
2. The Gulf War raised oil prices; foreign exchange reserves fell to cover only about two weeks of imports.
3. India pledged gold and began the LPG reforms (liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation) in July 1991.

Trick: 1991 crisis = ‘twin deficits’ (fiscal + current account).

Answer: (C) Large fiscal and current account deficits

Concept: India's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites were inscribed in 1983.

1. In 1983 four sites were inscribed: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves.
2. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in memory of Mumtaz Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna at Agra.
3. 1984 saw sites such as the Sun Temple, Konark and Mahabalipuram added.

Trick: 1983 = ‘TAAE’ – Taj, Agra Fort, Ajanta, Ellora.

Answer: (A) 1983

Concept: Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun twice and founded the Sur Empire.

1. Battle of Chausa (1539) near Buxar, Bihar: Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun.
2. Battle of Kannauj/Bilgram (1540): Sher Shah defeated him again; Humayun went into exile.
3. Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi = Panipat I (1526); Akbar vs Hemu = Panipat II (1556).

Yaad rakhein: Chausa 1539 + Kannauj 1540 → Humayun lost both to Sher Shah.

Answer: (C) Humayun and Sher Shah Suri

Concept: Spices like pepper, cinnamon and cloves were highly valued in Europe.

1. After the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople (1453), the old land routes to Asia became costly and controlled by others.
2. Europeans therefore searched for a direct sea route to India for the spice trade.
3. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498 by sea; Dutch, English and French companies followed.

Trick: Europeans came for ‘Masala, not Democracy’ – trade first, rule later.

Answer: (D) To find a direct sea route for the spice trade

Concept: HDI is published by UNDP in the Human Development Report.

1. It combines three dimensions: a long and healthy life, education (knowledge) and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita).
2. Each dimension is converted to an index, and the HDI score always lies between 0 and 1.
3. Countries with HDI $\ge 0.800$ are ‘very high’ human development.

Trick: HDI is a ratio-type index – like a probability, it runs from 0 to 1.

Answer: (D) 0 to 1

Concept: The early Congress (1885-1905) was led by Moderates who used petitions and constitutional methods.

1. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a leading Moderate; he founded the Servants of India Society (1905).
2. Gandhi regarded him as his political guru (mentor).
3. Swaraj Party (1923) – C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru; Salt March (1930) – Gandhi; armed propaganda – revolutionaries.

Yaad rakhein: Gokhale → Gandhi's guru; Gandhi → Nehru's mentor.

Answer: (C) He worked via constitutional reforms and moderate methods, respected as Gandhi's political mentor.

Concept: The United Nations was created in 1945 to maintain international peace and promote cooperation.

1. India signed the UN Charter in June 1945 and is one of the 51 founding members of the UN (UN Day – 24 October 1945).
2. India was not then independent, yet it joined as an original member.
3. India is not a member of NATO (military alliance), OPEC (oil exporters) or ASEAN (South-East Asian nations).

Trick: Peace + cooperation + 1945 = United Nations.

Answer: (A) United Nations

Concept: Windows provides built-in utilities to watch and control the system.

1. Task Manager shows running applications, background processes and CPU, memory, disk and network usage.
2. It can end a hanging (not responding) program and manage startup apps.
3. Open it with Ctrl + Shift + Esc (or Ctrl + Alt + Del → Task Manager).

Trick: Task Manager = ‘task’ (running programs) + ‘manager’ (control them). Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Esc.

Answer: (C) To monitor and manage running applications, processes and system performance

Concept: Rivers in their youthful (mountain) stage cut downward strongly (vertical erosion).

1. When a river cuts down through hard rock or a ridge, it forms a gorge – a deep, narrow valley with steep sides.
2. A larger, wider version is a canyon (e.g. Grand Canyon). Example in India: Indus gorge, Gandak gorge.
3. Moraines are glacial deposits; dunes are wind deposits; plains are formed by deposition.

Trick: Narrow + steep + river cutting = Gorge.

Answer: (C) Gorge

Concept: A homogeneous mixture has a uniform composition throughout; its parts cannot be seen separately.

1. Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is completely miscible with water.
2. The two mix evenly to give a single clear phase – a homogeneous mixture (a solution).
3. No new compound or element forms; the components can be separated by fractional distillation.

Trick: Miscible liquids (alcohol + water) → homogeneous; immiscible (oil + water) → heterogeneous.

Answer: (C) Homogeneous

Concept: Pattachitra means ‘painting on cloth’ (patta = cloth, chitra = picture).

1. It is a traditional scroll painting of Odisha, famous at Raghurajpur near Puri.
2. Themes come from mythology – especially Lord Jagannath and stories of Krishna; natural colours are used.
3. Rajasthan – Phad; Madhya Pradesh – Gond; Assam is known for Sattriya art, not Pattachitra.

Trick: Pattachitra → Puri → Odisha (Raghurajpur heritage village).

Answer: (D) Odisha

Concept: $\text{Time}=\frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Speed}}$.

1. Walking time $=\frac{40}{5}=8$ h.
2. Running time $=\frac{30}{10}=3$ h.
3. Ratio $=8:3$.

Trick: Find each time separately, then compare – never compare speeds directly.

Answer: (D) $8:3$

Concept: $\text{Saving}=\text{Income}-\text{Expenditure}$.

1. Expenditure $=10000$ ⇒ 5 parts $=10000$, so income $=8\times 2000=16000$.
2. New income $=16000\times 1.4=22400$; new expenditure $=10000\times 0.9=9000$.
3. New saving $=22400-9000=13400$.

Trick: 1 part $=\frac{10000}{5}=2000$ – convert the ratio to rupees first.

Answer: (A) ₹13,400

Concept: A regular $n$-gon splits into $n$ equal triangles: $\text{Area}=n\times \frac{1}{2}\times a\times r$ ($r$ = distance from centre to side).

1. One triangle $=\frac{1}{2}\times 11\times 9=49.5{\text{cm}}^2$.
2. $n\times 49.5=247.5$.
3. $n=\frac{247.5}{49.5}=5$.

Trick: $\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\times \text{Perimeter}\times r$ ⇒ perimeter $=55$, so $n=\frac{55}{11}=5$.

Answer: (B) 5

Concept: Number $=k\times \text{LCM}+3$.

1. $\text{LCM}(6,10,14)=210$.
2. $9999÷210$ gives quotient 47, so largest multiple $=47\times 210=9870$.
3. Add remainder: $9870+3=9873$.

Trick: Check: $9873-3=9870$ is divisible by 6, 10 and 14.

Answer: (A) 9873

Concept: Take the lower power common: $6^x-6^{x-1}=6^{x-1}(6-1)$.

1. $5\times 6^{x-1}=180$ ⇒ $6^{x-1}=36=6^2$.
2. So $x-1=2$, $x=3$.
3. $\frac{2x-1}{2x+3}=\frac{5}{9}$.

Trick: $a^x-a^{x-1}=a^{x-1}(a-1)$ – always factor out the smaller power.

Answer: (B) $\frac{5}{9}$