Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, won the Liberal Party leadership after Justin Trudeau.

1. He was sworn in as Canada's 24th Prime Minister on 14 March 2025.
2. Claudia Sheinbaum is President of Mexico, Donald Tusk is PM of Poland, J. D. Vance is US Vice-President.

Yaad rakhein: Carney = central banker turned Canadian PM (2025).

Answer: (B) Mark Carney

Concept: The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761.

1. The Maratha northern army under Sadashivrao Bhau fought Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani), King of Afghanistan, and his allies (Rohillas, Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh).
2. The Marathas were defeated. Second Battle of Tarain was 1192; First Anglo-Afghan War was 1839–42.

Yaad rakhein: Panipat: 1526 (Babur), 1556 (Akbar–Hemu), 1761 (Abdali–Marathas).

Answer: (D) Third Battle of Panipat

Concept: Western Disturbances are extra-tropical low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean region and move east with the westerly jet stream.

1. In winter they bring sudden rain to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western UP and snowfall in the Himalayas.
2. This winter rain is very useful for the rabi (wheat) crop. Easterly waves affect the monsoon and the east coast, not north-west winter rain.

Yaad rakhein: Winter rain in north-west India = Western Disturbance; winter rain in Tamil Nadu = north-east monsoon.

Answer: (A) Western Disturbances

Concept: The Karachi Session of the INC (March 1931), presided over by Sardar Patel, passed the Resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy.

1. It promised civil rights, free primary education, a living wage, protection of workers and state control of key industries.
2. These social-economic aims later inspired the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV). The Lahore Session (1929) declared Purna Swaraj.

Yaad rakhein: Karachi 1931 = Fundamental Rights + Economic Programme; drafted largely by Nehru.

Answer: (A) Karachi Resolution

Concept: Article 350B (added by the 7th Amendment, 1956) provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.

1. He is appointed by the President and investigates matters relating to safeguards for linguistic minorities, reporting to the President.
2. Article 350A deals with instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.

Yaad rakhein: 350A = mother-tongue education; 350B = Special Officer (Commissioner) for Linguistic Minorities.

Answer: (A) Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities

Concept: Under the RTI Act, 2005, a first appeal goes to a senior officer in the same public authority; the second appeal goes to the Information Commission.

1. For central public authorities the Central Information Commission (CIC) hears the second and final appeal (Section 19); its decisions are binding.
2. Courts may hear writ petitions, but they are not the appellate authority under the Act.

Yaad rakhein: RTI ladder: PIO → First Appellate Authority → CIC/SIC (final).

Answer: (B) Central Information Commission

Concept: Article 13 declares that laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the Fundamental Rights are void.

1. Art. 13(2) bars the State from making any law that takes away Fundamental Rights – this is the constitutional basis of judicial review.
2. Article 17 abolishes untouchability; Articles 5 and 9 deal with citizenship.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 13 = 'guardian' of Fundamental Rights → judicial review.

Answer: (D) Article 13

Concept: The Indian National Congress was founded in December 1885 at Bombay with A. O. Hume's initiative; W. C. Bonnerjee presided over 72 delegates.

1. Early founders/associates include Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Dinshaw Wacha, William Wedderburn and other moderate leaders.
2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was not among the founders – he joined later and became the leading Extremist.

Yaad rakhein: Tilak = Extremist ('Swaraj is my birthright'), not a 1885 founder.

Answer: (B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Concept: The medulla oblongata is the lowest part of the hindbrain, joining the spinal cord.

1. It controls involuntary actions and reflexes such as heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, swallowing, coughing, sneezing and vomiting.
2. Vision (occipital lobe), thinking and memory are functions of the cerebrum.

Yaad rakhein: Medulla = involuntary/reflex centre; Cerebellum = balance; Cerebrum = thinking.

Answer: (A) Reflex actions

Concept: The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) is published every two years by the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun.

1. ISFR 2021: highest forest cover as % of geographical area among states – Mizoram (about 84.5%), followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
2. Largest forest area (absolute) is Madhya Pradesh; Lakshadweep tops among UTs, but it is not in the options.

Yaad rakhein: % cover → Mizoram; area → Madhya Pradesh.

Answer: (D) Mizoram

Concept: Article 13 makes any law inconsistent with Fundamental Rights void to the extent of the inconsistency.

1. It empowers courts to examine laws and strike them down – the basis of judicial review of laws.
2. Freedom of speech is Art. 19(1)(a); Right to Equality is Arts. 14–18; reservation provisions are in Arts. 15(4), 16(4).

Yaad rakhein: 13 → judicial review; 32 → constitutional remedies (heart and soul).

Answer: (A) Judicial Review

Concept: In November 2025 the Supreme Court, in the suo motu case on stray-dog bites, issued directions for institutional public places.

1. Stray dogs are to be removed from premises of schools, colleges, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations and sports complexes, which must be fenced.
2. Removed dogs are to be sterilised, vaccinated and shifted to shelters, not released back to the same place.

Yaad rakhein: SC Nov 2025 → stray dogs out of schools, hospitals, stations.

Answer: (A) Stray dogs

Concept: System software (mainly the operating system) manages hardware resources; application software only performs user tasks on top of it.

1. Allocating a time slice of the CPU to a newly started program is CPU scheduling – done only by the OS kernel.
2. Accepting keyboard input, showing output, saving files or running a script are things application programs also do (through OS services).

Yaad rakhein: Resource allocation (CPU, memory, devices) = OS job only.

Answer: (D) Allocating a specific block of CPU processing time to a newly launched program

Concept: The Khelo India Youth Games 2025 (7th edition) were held in Bihar in May 2025.

1. Their mascot was Gajasimha – a figure combining an elephant (gaja) and a lion (simha), inspired by Bihar's heritage.
2. Maharashtra topped the medal table.

Yaad rakhein: KIYG 2025 = Bihar, mascot Gajasimha.

Answer: (D) Gajasimha

Concept: Non-renewable (exhaustible) resources are limited stocks formed over millions of years.

1. Coal is a fossil fuel – it will run out, and burning it releases CO₂, SO₂, fly ash and particulates.
2. Solar, wind and biogas are renewable and comparatively clean.

Yaad rakhein: Fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas) = exhaustible + polluting.

Answer: (D) Coal

Concept: Orange juice : water stays in the same ratio $2:5$.

1. Water for 1 L juice $=\frac{5}{2}=2.5$ L.
2. Water for 5 L juice $=5\times 2.5=12.5$ L.

Trick: $\frac{2}{5}=\frac{5}{x}\Rightarrow x=\frac{25}{2}=12.5$.

Answer: (A) 12.5 litres

Concept: Wages are proportional to (workers $\times$ days).

1. Wage per worker-day $=\frac{2880}{9\times 8}=\frac{2880}{72}=40$.
2. For 15 workers, 9 days: $15\times 9\times 40=5400$.

Trick: $2880\times \frac{15}{9}\times \frac{9}{8}=2880\times \frac{15}{8}=5400$.

Answer: (D) ₹5,400

Concept: Make the decimal places equal, find the LCM of the whole numbers, then put the decimal back.

1. $3=3.00,7.2=7.20,0.64$ → work with $300,720,64$.
2. $300=2^2\times 3\times 5^2$, $720=2^4\times 3^2\times 5$, $64=2^6$.
3. LCM $=2^6\times 3^2\times 5^2=14400$ → $\frac{14400}{100}=144$.

Trick: Check: $144÷3=48$, $144÷7.2=20$, $144÷0.64=225$ – all whole numbers.

Answer: (C) 144

Concept: In an odd count of consecutive even numbers, the average is the middle (4th) number.

1. Middle number $=32$; numbers: $26,28,30,32,34,36,38$.
2. Smallest + largest $=26+38=64$.

Trick: Smallest + largest $=2\times \text{average}=2\times 32=64$.

Answer: (B) 64

Concept: Savings $=$ Income $-$ Expenditure.

1. New income $=45000\times 1.1=49500$.
2. New expenditure $=36000\times 1.2=43200$.
3. New savings $=49500-43200=6300$.

Trick: Change in savings $=4500-7200=-2700$; old savings $9000-2700=6300$.

Answer: (B) ₹6,300