Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: In the Rig Veda, "varna" originally meant colour/kind, not a rigid caste.

1. The Rig Veda speaks of Arya varna (the Vedic people) and Dasa/Dasyu varna (the indigenous non-Vedic groups they fought).
2. The terms thus marked the distinction between Vedic and non-Vedic peoples, based on language, culture and worship.
3. The four-fold rigid hierarchy appears only in the late Purusha Sukta and later texts, so option B is wrong.

Trick: Early Vedic: Arya vs Dasa (two groups); Later Vedic: four varnas.

Answer: (C) ऋ

Concept: Judicial activism = courts going beyond traditional limits to protect rights and public interest.

1. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) relaxed the rule of locus standi – any public-spirited person can move the court for those who cannot.
2. PIL was pioneered by Justices P.N. Bhagwati and V.R. Krishna Iyer in the late 1970s–80s and is the classic example of judicial activism.
3. Judicial review (checking validity of laws) is a different power; PIL is about an active role in social justice.

Trick: PIL = People's access + active judge → Judicial Activism.

Answer: (D) P

Concept: The FRBM Act institutionalises fiscal discipline in India.

1. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act was passed by Parliament in 2003 and came into force on 5 July 2004.
2. It set targets to reduce fiscal deficit and eliminate revenue deficit; the N.K. Singh committee (2017) later reviewed it.
3. 1991 was the year of economic liberalisation, not of FRBM.

Trick: FRBM = 2003 (Vajpayee government, FM Jaswant Singh).

Answer: (C) F

Concept: Articles 14–18 form the Right to Equality.

1. Article 14: "The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India."
2. Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or birthplace; Article 16 gives equality in public employment; Article 13 deals with laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights.

Trick: 14 – equality; 15 – no discrimination; 16 – jobs; 17 – untouchability; 18 – titles.

Answer: (B) 1

Concept: The Swadeshi and Boycott movement was the response to the Partition of Bengal (1905).

1. The formal proclamation of Swadeshi and Boycott was made at a massive meeting in the Calcutta Town Hall on 7 August 1905.
2. Partition came into effect on 16 October 1905, observed as a day of mourning with rakhi-tying.
3. The Benaras Congress (Dec 1905, G.K. Gokhale) only endorsed the movement later; Dhaka was the capital of the new province.

Trick: 7 Aug 1905 – Calcutta Town Hall; 16 Oct 1905 – Partition in force.

Answer: (C) 7

Concept: Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent.

1. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet averaging nearly 2 km thick; the lowest temperature on Earth (−89.2°C, Vostok) was recorded here.
2. Africa and South America are largely tropical; North America has ice only in its far north.

Trick: Antarctica = "anti-Arctic" – the frozen continent at the South Pole.

Answer: (D) अ

Concept: WSDS is TERI's annual flagship summit on sustainable development, held in New Delhi.

1. The 24th World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2025) was held on 5–7 March 2025 with the theme "Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions".
2. It was inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu; TERI = The Energy and Resources Institute.

Trick: WSDS 2025 → "Partnerships… Climate Solutions"; WSDS 2024 was "Leadership for Sustainable Development and Climate Justice".

Answer: (B) W

Concept: Child sex ratio = girls per 1000 boys in the 0–6 age group.

1. Census 2011: India's child sex ratio was 919 (lowest since Independence).
2. Among states, Haryana had the lowest at 834, followed by Punjab (846); Arunachal Pradesh was highest (972).
3. Chandigarh (880) and J&K (862) were higher than Haryana, and Chandigarh is a Union Territory, not a state.

Trick: Overall sex ratio lowest – Haryana (879); child sex ratio lowest – Haryana (834).

Answer: (D) क

Concept: India's updated NDC (2022) targets 50% cumulative installed electric capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.

1. In its COP30 (Belém, Brazil, Nov 2025) statements India said it had already achieved 50% of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources (solar, wind, hydro, nuclear) by June–July 2025 – five years ahead of the 2030 target.
2. Option C (100% renewable by 2030) is not an Indian target, and India has not closed all coal plants.

Trick: Panchamrit: 500 GW non-fossil, 50% capacity, net-zero 2070.

Answer: (D) प

Concept: Most sixes in ODI cricket.

1. In November 2025, during the first ODI against South Africa at Ranchi, Rohit Sharma went past Shahid Afridi (351) to become the highest six-hitter in ODIs with 352 sixes.
2. Rohit also holds the record for most sixes in international cricket overall; Virat Kohli is the run-machine, not the six-record holder.

Trick: "Hitman" Rohit = sixes record; Kohli = runs/centuries record.

Answer: (C) "

Concept: Electric charge is not an SI base quantity; it is derived from current and time.

1. $Q=I\times t$, so the unit of charge coulomb (C) $=1\text{ampere}\times 1\text{second}$.
2. Ampere (current) and second (time) are SI base units; hence charge needs the combination of electric current and time.
3. Length or mass do not enter the dimension of charge $[\text{A}\text{s}]$.

Trick: 1 C = 1 A·s – "charge flows per second as current".

Answer: (C) 1

Concept: The Mansabdari system was the backbone of Mughal military-civil administration.

1. Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system (1571–75) – every officer held a mansab (rank) with zat and sawar grades, directly appointed and paid by the emperor.
2. With Todar Mal's revenue reforms and the division of the empire into subas, Akbar built a centralised bureaucracy.
3. Shah Jahan and Muhammad Shah only modified or weakened it; Humayun had no stable administration.

Trick: Akbar = Mansabdari + Din-i-Ilahi + Sulh-i-Kul.

Answer: (D) अ

Concept: Literacy rate = literate persons aged 7+ as a percentage of population aged 7+.

1. Census 2011: India's literacy rate was 74.04% (male 82.14%, female 65.46%).
2. In 2001 it was 64.83% (option A); 79.40% and 70% are not census figures.
3. Kerala (94%) was the most literate state, Bihar (61.8%) the least.

Trick: 2001 → 64.8%, 2011 → 74.04% (rise of about 9 points).

Answer: (D) 2

Concept: Dicots and monocots differ in root type.

1. In dicotyledonous plants (mustard, gram, mango) the radicle grows into a main primary root from which lateral/secondary roots arise – the tap root system.
2. Monocots (wheat, grass) have fibrous roots arising from the stem base; prop roots (banyan) and adventitious roots are not primary roots.

Trick: Dicot → Tap root (one main root); Monocot → Fibrous (bunch of thin roots).

Answer: (A) द

Concept: World Leprosy Day is observed on the last Sunday of January.

1. World Leprosy Day 2025 (26 January 2025) had the theme "Unite. Act. Eliminate." – a call for joint action to end leprosy (Hansen's disease).
2. "Beat Leprosy" was the 2024 theme and "Act Now. End Leprosy." the 2023 theme; "United for Dignity" was 2022.

Trick: 2022 United for Dignity → 2023 Act Now → 2024 Beat Leprosy → 2025 Unite. Act. Eliminate.

Answer: (C) 2

Concept: Form equations from the three situations and subtract them pairwise.

1. Let the numbers of ₹10, ₹5, ₹2 coins be $x,y,z$: $10x+5y+2z=120$ …(1)
2. Swapping ₹10 and ₹2 counts: $2x+5y+10z=304$ …(2); swapping ₹5 and ₹2: $10x+2y+5z=165$ …(3)
3. (2)−(1): $8z-8x=184\Rightarrow z-x=23$. (1)−(3): $3y-3z=-45\Rightarrow z-y=15$.
4. Put $x=z-23,y=z-15$ in (1): $10(z-23)+5(z-15)+2z=120\Rightarrow 17z=425\Rightarrow z=25$.

Trick: When counts are swapped, subtracting the equations removes the unchanged coin at once — the difference depends only on the two swapped counts.

Answer: (C) 25

Concept: From $\cos A=\frac{4}{5}$ (base 4, hypotenuse 5, perpendicular 3) write every ratio, then substitute.

1. $\sin A=\frac{3}{5},\tan A=\frac{3}{4},\sec A=\frac{5}{4}$, so ${\sin }^{2}A=\frac{9}{25},{\cos }^{2}A=\frac{16}{25},{\sec }^{2}A=\frac{25}{16},{\tan }^{2}A=\frac{9}{16}$.
2. Numerator: $\frac{9}{25}-\frac{80}{25}+\frac{25}{16}=-\frac{71}{25}+\frac{25}{16}=\frac{-1136+625}{400}=-\frac{511}{400}$.
3. Divide by ${\tan }^{2}A$: $-\frac{511}{400}\times \frac{16}{9}=-\frac{511}{225}$.

Trick: The 3-4-5 triple gives all six ratios instantly; keep denominators 25 and 16 separate and combine only at the end (LCM 400).

Answer: (B) $-\frac{511}{225}$

Concept: Price charged $=65\%$ of the cost of 1 kg, yet the actual profit on goods given is $85\%$.

1. Let cost of 1000 g $=$ ₹1000 (₹1 per g). Selling price of a "kg" $=$ ₹650.
2. Let the true weight given be $w$ g, costing ₹$w$. Profit $85\%$: $650=1.85w$.
3. $w=\frac{650}{1.85}=351.35\approx 351.4$ g.

Trick: $\text{True weight}=\frac{100-\text{loss}\%}{100+\text{profit}\%}\times 1000=\frac{65}{185}\times 1000$.

Answer: (D) 351.4 gm

Concept: $SI=\frac{P\times R\times T}{100}$.

1. $1440=\frac{P\times 12\times 2}{100}=\frac{24P}{100}$.
2. $P=\frac{1440\times 100}{24}=6000$.

Trick: $12\%$ for 2 years $=24\%$ of the sum; $24\%\to 1440$, so $1\%\to 60$ and $100\%\to 6000$.

Answer: (D) 6,000

Concept: If numbers are $4k,3k,13k$ with $4,3,13$ co-prime, then HCF $=k$ and LCM $=4\times 3\times 13\times k=156k$.

1. $156k=4524\Rightarrow k=29$.
2. HCF $=k=29$.

Trick: For co-prime ratio terms, $\text{LCM}=(\text{product of ratio terms})\times \text{HCF}$.

Answer: (B) 29