Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: CAFE norms limit the average CO₂ emission (fuel use) of all cars sold by a manufacturer in a year.

1. CAFE-2 norms are in force from April 2022.
2. The next stage, CAFE-3, proposed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), is scheduled to apply from April 2027 (for 2027–2032).

Yaad rakhein: CAFE-1: 2017, CAFE-2: 2022, CAFE-3: April 2027.

Answer: (A) April 2027

Concept: The ITCZ is the low-pressure zone near the equator where the trade winds of both hemispheres converge.

1. Strong heating near the equator makes air rise, creating the Equatorial Low (doldrums).
2. NE trade winds (north) and SE trade winds (south) blow from the subtropical highs (${30}^{\circ }$) and meet here.
3. It shifts north–south with the sun; its northward shift over India helps draw in the monsoon.

Trick: ITCZ = 'Inter-tropical' + 'Convergence' → between the tropics, where winds converge = equatorial low.

Answer: (C) It is an equatorial low-pressure belt where trade winds meet.

Concept: Mumbai has the world's second-largest collection of Art Deco buildings, after Miami (USA).

1. The 'Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai' became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
2. The ensemble around the Oval Maidan – Victorian Gothic on one side, Art Deco along Marine Drive/Backbay on the other – includes 94 buildings.

Yaad rakhein: Oval Maidan + Marine Drive = Mumbai's Art Deco; first is Miami.

Answer: (A) Mumbai

Concept: The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 added safeguards to Article 352 after the 1975 Emergency.

1. The President can proclaim a National Emergency only on the written recommendation of the Union Cabinet.
2. It also replaced 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion'.
3. The 42nd Amendment (1976) had instead widened the Centre's powers.

Yaad rakhein: 42nd = 'mini-Constitution' (more power); 44th = repair job (safeguards).

Answer: (C) 44^th Amendment

Concept: Sleep and Hibernate differ in where the open work (system state) is stored.

1. Sleep: the session stays in RAM, which keeps getting a small amount of power – resume is almost instant.
2. Hibernate: the contents of RAM are written to the hard disk (file hiberfil.sys) and the PC switches off fully – resume is slower but no power is used.

Trick: Sleep = RAM (needs power); Hibernate = Hard disk (no power).

Answer: (A) Sleep keeps data in RAM; Hibernate saves it to disk

Concept: Article 72 gives the President power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, remissions or to suspend, remit or commute sentences.

1. It covers punishment by court-martial, offences against Union laws and death sentences.
2. Governor's similar power is in Article 161; Article 53 vests executive power in the President, Article 74 deals with the Council of Ministers advising the President, Article 75 with appointment of Ministers.

Yaad rakhein: President – 72, Governor – 161 (both act on ministerial advice).

Answer: (C) Article 72

Concept: GII stands for Gender Inequality Index, published by UNDP in its Human Development Report.

1. Introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report.
2. It measures inequality between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and labour-market participation.
3. A value of 0 means perfect equality, 1 means maximum inequality.

Yaad rakhein: UNDP family: HDI, IHDI, GDI, GII, MPI.

Answer: (A) Gender Inequality Index

Concept: Brahmo Samaj (founded 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy as Brahmo Sabha) preached worship of one formless God.

1. It rejected idol worship, priestly rituals and sacrifices, and based belief on reason and the Upanishads.
2. It opposed caste rigidity and social evils like sati – so options praising priests, hereditary priesthood or polytheism are the opposite of its ideas.

Yaad rakhein: Brahmo Samaj = Monotheism + no idols + no rituals (Ram Mohan Roy, 1828).

Answer: (A) Promoting monotheistic worship and rejecting ritual sacrifices entirely.

Concept: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is the national voluntary body of doctors of modern medicine; its President changes every year.

1. Dr. Anil Nayak assumed charge as IMA National President in December 2025 (at the annual national conference), for the year 2026.
2. He succeeded Dr. Dilip Bhanushali, who was IMA National President for 2025.

Yaad rakhein: IMA headquarters – New Delhi; President's term – one year, taken over each December.

Answer: (C) Dr. Anil Nayak

Concept: Chlorophyll gives leaves their green colour and traps light for photosynthesis.

1. It absorbs mainly red and blue light and reflects green light – so leaves look green.
2. Carotene (orange), xanthophyll (yellow) and anthocyanin (red/purple, in vacuoles) give other colours, seen in autumn leaves, carrots and flowers.

Yaad rakhein: Chlorophyll has magnesium (Mg) at its centre; found in chloroplasts.

Answer: (B) Chlorophyll

Concept: Appeals from High Courts to the Supreme Court are divided by subject in Articles 132–134.

1. Article 133 – appeals in civil matters.
2. Article 132 – appeals involving a substantial question of law on interpretation of the Constitution; Article 134 – criminal matters.
3. Article 131 is the original jurisdiction (Centre–State disputes), not appellate.

Trick: Order 132-133-134 = Constitutional – Civil – Criminal (C-C-C).

Answer: (A) Article 133

Concept: The first Sanskrit Commission was set up by the Government of India in 1956.

1. It was chaired by Suniti Kumar Chatterji and submitted its report in 1957 on the state of Sanskrit education.
2. The second Sanskrit Commission was formed much later, in 2013–14 (chaired by Satyavrat Shastri) – hence 2013 is the tempting wrong choice.

Yaad rakhein: Sanskrit Commission: first 1956 (S. K. Chatterji), second 2013–14.

Answer: (D) 1956

Concept: Article 243ZI (Part IXB, added by the 97th Amendment, 2011) lets the State make laws on co-operatives based on co-operative principles.

1. Principles listed: voluntary formation, democratic member control, member-economic participation and autonomous functioning.
2. 'Compulsory State supervision' goes against autonomy, so it is not part of the scope.

Yaad rakhein: 97th Amendment, 2011: co-operatives in Part IXB, right to form them in Article 19(1)(c), Article 43B in DPSP.

Answer: (D) Compulsory State supervision

Concept: The Morley-Minto Reforms are the Indian Councils Act of 1909.

1. Named after John Morley (Secretary of State) and Lord Minto (Viceroy).
2. They introduced separate electorates for Muslims and enlarged the legislative councils.
3. 1919 = Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms; 1935 = Government of India Act; 1905 = Partition of Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: 1909 – Morley-Minto – separate electorate ('father of communal electorate': Minto).

Answer: (B) 1909

Concept: Census 2001 had its reference date as 00:00 hours of 1 March 2001.

1. The provisional population figure released was about 1,027 million (102.7 crore) – India crossed one billion.
2. The final figure was revised to about 1,028.7 million; 1,210 million is the 2011 Census figure.

Yaad rakhein: Census 2001 ≈ 102.7 crore; Census 2011 ≈ 121 crore.

Answer: (A) 1,027 million

Concept: Volume of a cylinder $V=\pi r^{2}h$. First find the radius of the second cylinder, then scale it by $\frac{3}{5}$.

1. Second cylinder: $\frac{22}{7}\times r^2\times 14=317900\Rightarrow 44r^2=317900\Rightarrow r^2=7225$, so $r=85$ cm.
2. Required radius $=\frac{3}{5}\times 85=51$ cm.
3. Volume $=\frac{22}{7}\times {51}^2\times 21=22\times 2601\times 3=171666$ cm${}^3$.

Trick: $h=21$ cancels the 7 neatly: $\frac{22}{7}\times 21=66$, so just compute $66\times 2601$.

Answer: (D) 171666 cm${}^3$

Concept: Rice : water stays in the fixed ratio $2:3$ (direct proportion).

1. $\frac{2}{3}=\frac{6}{x}$.
2. $x=\frac{6\times 3}{2}=9$ cups.

Trick: Rice is tripled ($2\to 6$), so triple the water too: $3\times 3=9$.

Answer: (B) 9 cups

Concept: $(a-b{)}^2=(a+b{)}^2-4ab$.

1. $(a-b{)}^2={36}^2-4\times 180=1296-720=576$.
2. $a-b=\sqrt{576}=24$.

Trick: Check: the numbers are 30 and 6 ($30+6=36,30\times 6=180$), difference 24.

Answer: (A) 24

Concept: Take LCM; use $1-{\cos }^{2}A={\sin }^{2}A$.

1. $\frac{{\sin }^{2}A}{1-\cos A}+\frac{{\sin }^{2}A}{1+\cos A}={\sin }^{2}A·\frac{(1+\cos A)+(1-\cos A)}{(1-\cos A)(1+\cos A)}$.
2. $={\sin }^{2}A·\frac{2}{1-{\cos }^{2}A}={\sin }^{2}A·\frac{2}{{\sin }^{2}A}=2$.

Trick: $\frac{1}{1-\cos A}+\frac{1}{1+\cos A}=\frac{2}{{\sin }^{2}A}=2{\csc }^{2}A$ – a standard pair worth remembering.

Answer: (B) 2

Concept: Check whether the triangle is right-angled; in a right triangle each leg is the altitude on the other leg.

1. ${21}^2+{72}^2=441+5184=5625={75}^2$, so the triangle is right-angled with hypotenuse 75.
2. The legs 21 and 72 are perpendicular, so the altitude on the side of 21 cm is the other leg $=72$ cm.
3. Check via area: $\frac{1}{2}\times 21\times 72=756=\frac{1}{2}\times 21\times h\Rightarrow h=72$.

Trick: $(21,72,75)=3\times (7,24,25)$ – a Pythagorean triplet. Spotting it saves all the work.

Answer: (D) 72