Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Divisions of the Ganga–Brahmaputra plains.

1. The Malda Gap (West Bengal) is the narrow corridor between the Rajmahal Hills (west) and the Meghalaya/Garo plateau (east) through which the Ganga flows into Bengal.
2. The Rajmahal Hills, an outlier of the Chhota Nagpur plateau, thus mark off the Malda Gap from the main Ganga plain.

Yaad rakhein: Rajmahal–Garo Gap = Malda Gap; Ganga turns south here.

Answer: (C) Rajmahal Hills

Concept: Tributaries of the Spiti river system.

1. The Pin river rises in the Pin valley (Pin Valley National Park, Lahaul & Spiti) and joins the Spiti near Attargo – its most important right-bank tributary.
2. Chandra and Bhaga unite at Tandi to form the Chenab; Tsarab is a Zanskar tributary in Ladakh.

Yaad rakhein: Pin → Spiti → Sutlej (at Khab).

Answer: (B) Spiti River

Concept: Heat is a form of energy; SI unit of energy is the joule.

1. Joule's law: $H=I^{2}Rt$, measured in joules (J).
2. Watt is the unit of power (rate of heating), volt of potential difference, coulomb of charge.

Yaad rakhein: Energy/heat/work → joule; power → watt $=$ J/s.

Answer: (C) Joule

Concept: Sequence of Stone Age phases.

1. Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) → Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) → Neolithic (New Stone Age).
2. The Mesolithic (c. 10,000–6,000 BCE in India) is marked by microliths and the beginning of animal domestication – the bridge between hunting-gathering and farming.

Yaad rakhein: "Meso" = middle, so it lies between Palaeo and Neo.

Answer: (C) Palaeolithic Age and Neolithic Age

Concept: India–Sri Lanka bilateral naval exercise SLINEX.

1. SLINEX-25 was held at Colombo in August 2025; the Indian Navy was represented by INS Rana (guided-missile destroyer) and INS Jyoti (fleet tanker).
2. The exercise had a harbour phase (professional exchanges, sports) followed by a sea phase (gunnery, seamanship, helicopter operations).

Yaad rakhein: SLINEX = Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise (since 2005).

Answer: (D) INS Rana and INS Jyoti

Concept: Classification of Indian percussion (avanaddha) instruments.

1. The Pakhawaj, a two-headed barrel drum of Hindustani music (dhrupad), is traditionally regarded as the forerunner of the Tabla, which is said to have been created by splitting it into two drums.
2. Kanjira and Thavil are South Indian (Carnatic) instruments; Dhol is a folk drum.

Yaad rakhein: Pakhawaj → Tabla (North); Mridangam → Carnatic.

Answer: (A) Pakhawaj

Concept: Nature of input devices and speed mismatch between CPU and peripherals.

1. (i) A microphone only converts sound into electrical signals for the computer – it is a pure input device and cannot play sound. True.
2. (ii) The CPU works in nanoseconds while printers and similar devices are far slower; this is why buffers/spooling are used. True.

Yaad rakhein: Mic = input, speaker = output; CPU ≫ peripheral speed.

Answer: (D) (i) True, (ii) True

Concept: System software vs application software.

1. System software (OS like Windows/Linux, device drivers, utilities) controls the hardware and provides the platform on which application software runs.
2. Word processors, browsers and media players are application software – they serve end-user tasks.

Yaad rakhein: System = runs the machine; Application = does your task.

Answer: (B) Software that manages hardware and provides platform for application software

Concept: Protozoan diseases and their pathogens.

1. Amoebiasis (amoebic dysentery) is caused by Entamoeba histolytica; symptoms include abdominal pain, cramps and stools with mucus and blood; houseflies act as mechanical carriers (NCERT Class 12).
2. Cholera is bacterial (Vibrio cholerae), Ascariasis is caused by a roundworm, Giardiasis by Giardia (watery diarrhoea, no blood).

Yaad rakhein: Entamoeba → Amoebiasis; Plasmodium → Malaria; Trypanosoma → Sleeping sickness.

Answer: (D) Amoebiasis

Concept: Government initiatives for 5G use-case development.

1. The 5G Innovation Hackathon 2025 was launched by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, as a six-month programme for students, start-ups and professionals to build 5G-powered solutions using the 100 5G Use Case Labs.
2. MeitY and DST handle IT and science programmes; telecom networks and 5G policy sit with DoT.

Yaad rakhein: Anything on 5G/6G, spectrum, telecom → DoT.

Answer: (D) Department of Telecommunications (DoT)

Concept: Babur's battles in India.

1. Battle of Khanwa (17 March 1527), near Fatehpur Sikri, was fought between Babur and Rana Sanga of Mewar, who led a Rajput confederacy; Babur won and took the title Ghazi.
2. Ibrahim Lodi was defeated at Panipat (1526); Sher Shah fought Humayun (Chausa 1539, Kannauj 1540); Bairam Khan was Akbar's regent.

Yaad rakhein: Babur's sequence – Panipat 1526 (Lodi), Khanwa 1527 (Sanga), Chanderi 1528 (Medini Rai), Ghaghra 1529 (Afghans).

Answer: (C) Rana Sanga

Concept: Second Round Table Conference, London, 1931.

1. Gandhi attended as the sole Congress representative and claimed Congress spoke for all of India.
2. This was contested: Muslim League spoke for minorities, Dr Ambedkar for the depressed classes, and the Indian Princes said Congress had no stake or authority in their princely states (NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History).

Yaad rakhein: 2nd RTC = Gandhi present, failed on the communal question; 1st and 3rd boycotted by Congress.

Answer: (A) Indian princes

Concept: Primary memory of a computer.

1. RAM = Random Access Memory – volatile main memory in which the running program and its data are kept so the CPU can access any location directly in equal time.
2. Its contents are lost when power goes off; ROM, by contrast, is non-volatile.

Yaad rakhein: RAM – Random Access, volatile; ROM – Read Only, permanent.

Answer: (D) Random Access Memory

Concept: WMO climate updates for 2025.

1. The WMO's State of the Global Climate update released in November 2025 (for COP30, Belém) reported that the global mean temperature for January–August 2025 was about $1.42{}^{\circ }$C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average.
2. 2025 was set to be the second or third warmest year on record, after 2024, which was the first to exceed $1.5{}^{\circ }$C.

Yaad rakhein: 2024 ≈ 1.55 °C (first above 1.5); Jan–Aug 2025 ≈ 1.42 °C.

Answer: (C) 1.42°C

Concept: Impact of globalisation on India (NCERT Class 10, Globalisation and the Indian Economy).

1. Globalisation and liberalisation after 1991 led to a boom in India's IT and services sector – software exports, BPO/call centres and IT-enabled services serving global clients.
2. Services now contribute over half of India's GDP; handicrafts and small producers, in contrast, often faced tough competition from imports.

Yaad rakhein: Globalisation + India = IT & services boom (Bengaluru, Hyderabad).

Answer: (D) IT and Services

Concept: National Youth Day marks the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

1. Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 in Calcutta.
2. The Government of India declared his birthday as National Youth Day in 1984; it is observed since 1985.

Yaad rakhein: International Youth Day (UN) is a different day – 12 August.

Answer: (A) January 12^th

Concept: The Rigveda is not the work of one author – it is a compilation of hymns (suktas) by many seers (rishis).

1. It has 10 mandalas and about 1,028 hymns, composed by sage families such as Vishvamitra, Vasishtha, Atri and Bharadvaja over several generations.
2. Vyasa is traditionally credited with arranging the Vedas, not composing them; Valmiki wrote the Ramayana.

Yaad rakhein: Rigveda = 'shruti' (heard) – many rishis, many generations, passed on orally.

Answer: (D) It is a collection of hymns composed by various sages over generations

Concept: The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 shaped India's mixed economy.

1. Adopted on 30 April 1956, it divided industries into three schedules (A – public sector, B – mixed, C – private).
2. It replaced the first Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 and matched the socialistic pattern of the Second Five Year Plan.

Yaad rakhein: IPR: 1948 (first), 1956 (the 'economic constitution' of India), new policy 1991 (LPG).

Answer: (A) 1956

Concept: Light is an electromagnetic wave; its energy comes in packets called photons.

1. Energy of a photon $E=h\nu$ ($h$ = Planck's constant, $\nu$ = frequency).
2. It is carried by oscillating electric and magnetic fields – no mass, no height or motion of a body is involved, so it is not gravitational or mechanical energy.

Yaad rakhein: Radio, microwave, IR, visible, UV, X-ray, gamma – all are electromagnetic energy.

Answer: (A) Electromagnetic Energy

Concept: Article 164(1A) was inserted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 to cap the size of State ministries.

1. Total Ministers including the Chief Minister must not exceed $15\%$ of the total strength of the Legislative Assembly.
2. The number must not be less than 12.
3. For the Union, the same $15\%$ cap (of Lok Sabha) is in Article 75(1A).

Yaad rakhein: 91st Amendment: $15\%$ cap; minimum 12 for States.

Answer: (C) 15% of the strength of the Legislative Assembly