Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The annual World Report is published by Human Rights Watch (HRW), headquartered in New York.

1. World Report 2025 (35th edition) reviews human rights practices in around 100 countries.
2. Amnesty International publishes The State of the World's Human Rights, a different annual report.

Yaad rakhein: "World Report" → Human Rights Watch; "State of the World's Human Rights" → Amnesty.

Answer: (A) Human Rights Watch

Concept: Article 171(1) fixes the maximum strength of a State Legislative Council relative to the Assembly.

1. Originally the Council could not exceed one-fourth of the Assembly's strength.
2. The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956 raised this limit to one-third (minimum remains 40 members).

Yaad rakhein: Vidhan Parishad: max $\frac{1}{3}$ of Assembly (after 7th Amendment, 1956), min 40.

Answer: (C) Term "one-fourth" was replaced with "one-third"

Concept: Ambubachi Mela is held every June (monsoon) at the Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam.

1. It marks the annual menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya; the temple stays closed for three days and reopens on the fourth.
2. Kamakhya on Nilachal Hill is one of the most important Shakti Peethas.

Yaad rakhein: Ambubachi – Kamakhya – Guwahati – Assam.

Answer: (C) Assam

Concept: Shi Yuqi of China won the men's singles title at the BWF World Championships 2025 in Paris.

1. He beat Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) in the final at Adidas Arena, Paris (August 2025).
2. It was his first World Championship gold; he is a former world No. 1.

Yaad rakhein: Shi Yuqi, Chen Yufei, Shi Yuqi – "Shi/Chen" surnames → China.

Answer: (D) China

Concept: Article 38 directs the State to secure a social order for the promotion of the welfare of the people.

1. Art. 38(1): State shall promote welfare by securing social, economic and political justice; 38(2) aims to minimise inequalities of income and status.
2. Art. 40 – village panchayats; Art. 41 – right to work, education, public assistance; Art. 42 – just and humane work conditions, maternity relief.

Yaad rakhein: 38 – social welfare/order; 39 – principles of policy; 40 – panchayats.

Answer: (A) Article 38

Concept: Article 74 provides for a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at its head to aid and advise the President.

1. After the 42nd and 44th Amendments the advice is binding, though the President may ask for reconsideration once.
2. Art. 75 deals with appointment and other provisions of ministers; Art. 64 – Vice-President as Rajya Sabha Chairman; Art. 84 – qualification for MPs.

Yaad rakhein: 74 – advice to President; 163 – advice to Governor.

Answer: (D) Article 74

Concept: On 9 April 2025 the MPC cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, from 6.25% to 6.00%.

1. It was the second consecutive 25 bps cut (first in February 2025) and the stance was changed from neutral to accommodative.
2. A 50 bps cut came later, in June 2025 (to 5.50%).

Yaad rakhein: 2025 repo path: Feb 6.25 → Apr 6.00 → Jun 5.50 (paused thereafter).

Answer: (C) 25 basis points

Concept: NASM-SR (Naval Anti-Ship Missile – Short Range) is DRDO's indigenous helicopter-launched anti-ship missile.

1. In the February 2025 test from a Seaking helicopter off Odisha, it demonstrated "man-in-loop" capability: the pilot received imaging infrared (IIR) seeker feed and retargeted the missile in flight to a different ship.
2. It carries a conventional warhead and is air-launched, not nuclear, underwater or laser-guided.

Yaad rakhein: NASM-SR = helicopter-launched, IIR seeker, man-in-loop retargeting.

Answer: (A) Man-in-loop retargeting via infrared seeker

Concept: The Tirukkural, a classic of 1,330 couplets on virtue, wealth and love, is attributed to Thiruvalluvar.

1. It belongs to the post-Sangam Tamil didactic works; a 133-ft statue of Thiruvalluvar stands at Kanyakumari.
2. Ilango Adigal wrote Silappadikaram; Kambar wrote the Tamil Ramayanam; Avvaiyar wrote moral verses like Aathichudi.

Yaad rakhein: Tirukkural – Thiruvalluvar – Kanyakumari statue.

Answer: (C) Thiruvalluvar

Concept: Thankamani Kutty, a Kolkata-based Keralite danseuse, is known for Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam.

1. She founded Kalamandalam Kolkata and received the West Bengal government's Nritya Natak Sangeet Drishya Kala Akademy award, besides Sangeet Natak Akademi recognition.
2. Radha Reddy – Kuchipudi; Elam Endira Devi – Manipuri; Aruna Mohanty – Odissi.

Yaad rakhein: Kerala + Kolkata + Mohiniyattam → Thankamani Kutty.

Answer: (B) Thankamani Kutty

Concept: A more reactive metal displaces a less reactive metal from its salt solution.

1. Iron is above copper in the reactivity series, so $\text{Fe}+{\text{CuSO}}_4\to {\text{FeSO}}_4+\text{Cu}$.
2. The blue solution turns pale green and reddish-brown copper deposits on the nail.

Yaad rakhein: Reactivity: K > Na > Ca > Mg > Al > Zn > Fe > Pb > H > Cu > Ag > Au.

Answer: (D) Iron is more reactive

Concept: The South-West Monsoon splits into the Arabian Sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch.

1. The Arabian Sea branch strikes the Western Ghats and gives very heavy rain to the west coast (Kerala, Karnataka, Konkan, Mumbai).
2. The Bay of Bengal branch waters the north-east and the Ganga plain; the North-East monsoon rains on the Tamil Nadu coast in winter.

Yaad rakhein: West coast – Arabian Sea branch; Tamil Nadu – North-East monsoon.

Answer: (A) South-West Monsoon Arabian Sea branch

Concept: Rabi crops are sown in winter (Oct–Dec) and harvested in summer (Apr–Jun).

1. Wheat is the main Rabi crop of north India (Punjab, Haryana, UP), along with barley, gram, mustard and peas.
2. Rice, cotton and bajra are Kharif crops, sown with the onset of monsoon.

Yaad rakhein: Kharif = monsoon (rice, cotton, bajra, maize); Rabi = winter (wheat, gram, mustard).

Answer: (D) Wheat

Concept: At its 57th meeting (29 Sep – 1 Oct 2025) the MPC unanimously kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.50% and retained the neutral stance.

1. This was the second consecutive pause after the cumulative 100 bps of cuts in Feb–Jun 2025.
2. The FY26 GDP growth forecast was raised to 6.8% and the inflation projection cut to 2.6%.

Yaad rakhein: Oct 2025: repo 5.50%, SDF 5.25%, MSF 5.75%, stance neutral.

Answer: (A) Repo rate kept at 5.50% with a neutral monetary policy stance

Concept: The Congress Socialist Party was founded in 1934 as a socialist group within the Indian National Congress.

1. Formed at Patna (May 1934) and formally launched at Bombay (October 1934) by Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev, Minoo Masani, Ram Manohar Lohia and others.
2. Its members later led the 1942 underground movement and formed the Socialist Party after leaving Congress in 1948.

Yaad rakhein: CSP 1934 – JP Narayan, Narendra Dev (president), Lohia.

Answer: (D) 1934

Concept: MoSPI now releases monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) bulletins giving the Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15+ on the Current Weekly Status basis.

1. The bulletin for November 2025 put the all-India UR (15+) at $4.7\%$, down from $4.9\%$ in October 2025.
2. Urban UR was higher than rural, and female UR higher than male, but the headline all-India figure asked here is $4.7\%$.

Yaad rakhein: Monthly PLFS started in 2025; the headline UR hovered between $4.6\%$ and $5.6\%$ through the year – note the exact month in the question.

Answer: (D) $4.7\%$

Concept: In North India the Iron Age is identified through pottery: Painted Grey Ware (PGW, c. 1200–600 BCE) of the Ganga–Yamuna doab, followed by Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW, c. 700–200 BCE) of the Mahajanapada/second-urbanisation phase.

1. PGW sites such as Hastinapur, Atranjikhera and Ahichchhatra yield the earliest iron tools in the doab – the classic early Iron Age culture.
2. NBPW continues the iron-using tradition into the age of cities, so the pair PGW + NBPW represents the Iron Age sequence of North India.
3. Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) and Black-and-Red Ware are mainly Chalcolithic/late Harappan horizons, so options B and C do not fit.

Yaad rakhein: OCP → Copper Hoards (Chalcolithic); PGW → early Iron/later Vedic; NBPW → Mahajanapadas.

Answer: (A) Painted Grey Ware and Northern Black Polished Ware

Concept: Canals need a perennial water source and flat, soft land in which long channels can be dug cheaply – the conditions of the northern alluvial plains.

1. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar, lying on the Indo-Gangetic plain with Himalayan (snow-fed) rivers, have the densest canal network in India.
2. Sandy coastal soil loses water by seepage, rocky deserts and steep slopes make digging and gravity flow impractical – so options A, B and D are unsuitable.

Yaad rakhein: Canals – northern plains; tanks – peninsular hard-rock south; wells/tube-wells – the largest share overall.

Answer: (C) Alluvial plains with perennial rivers

Concept: A precipitation (double displacement) reaction occurs when two soluble salts exchange ions and one product is insoluble, appearing as a solid precipitate.

1. ${\text{BaCl}}_2+{\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4\to {\text{BaSO}}_4\downarrow +2\text{NaCl}$
2. Barium sulphate is insoluble in water, so it separates instantly as a white curd-like precipitate – exactly what the student sees.
3. No gas is evolved, no oxidation states change (not redox) and nothing decomposes, so options A, B and C are wrong.

Yaad rakhein: White precipitate + ${\text{Ba}}^{2+}$ = the classic test for sulphate ions.

Answer: (D) Precipitation reaction forming insoluble barium sulphate

Concept: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule, which lists the subjects that States may devolve to Panchayats under Article 243G.

1. The Eleventh Schedule contains 29 functional items – agriculture, minor irrigation, rural housing, drinking water, roads, primary education, health, PDS, etc.
2. Do not confuse with the Twelfth Schedule (74th Amendment, Municipalities), which has 18 items.

Yaad rakhein: 73rd → 11th Schedule → 29 subjects (Panchayats); 74th → 12th Schedule → 18 subjects (Municipalities).

Answer: (A) 29