Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The New Industrial Policy (24 July 1991) brought Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG).

1. It abolished industrial licensing for all but a short list of industries (initially 18, later cut to about 5–6), ending the 'licence raj'.
2. It reduced industries reserved for the public sector (from 17 to 8, now 2), allowed up to 51% FDI and encouraged private participation – the opposite of options (A), (B), (C).

Yaad rakhein: 1991 = De-licensing, De-reservation, Dis-investment, FDI.

Answer: (D) Abolishing industrial licensing for most industries

Concept: Harappan town planning was practical and uniform – grid streets, drains, granaries, baths – but strikingly free of royal display.

1. Houses and public buildings (Great Bath, granary, assembly hall) were built of standardised baked bricks in the ratio 1:2:4, with utilitarian, undecorated design – so (A), (B), (C) are true.
2. No palaces, royal tombs or monumental temples have been found at any Harappan site – statement (D) is false.

Yaad rakhein: Harappa = drains and granaries, not palaces and pyramids (contrast Egypt/Mesopotamia).

Answer: (D) Cities had magnificent palaces, monuments and royal tombs

Concept: Economic 'pull factors' – jobs, industry, trade, good transport – attract people to a region; their absence pushes people away.

1. Industrial development creates employment, markets and services, so population concentrates there (e.g. Mumbai, Jamshedpur).
2. High cost of living, poor transport and lack of jobs are push factors – they repel population.

Yaad rakhein: Pull = industry, jobs, minerals, urbanisation; Push = poverty, unemployment, poor facilities.

Answer: (C) Industrial development

Concept: Uruguay elected a new president in the November 2024 run-off; the term began on 1 March 2025.

1. Yamandú Orsi of the left-wing Frente Amplio was sworn in as President of Uruguay on 1 March 2025, succeeding Luis Lacalle Pou.
2. Jair Bolsonaro is a former president of Brazil, Claudia Sheinbaum is President of Mexico and Masoud Pezeshkian is President of Iran.

Yaad rakhein: Uruguay (capital Montevideo) – Orsi, March 2025.

Answer: (A) Yamandu Orsi

Concept: Kaziranga, famous for the one-horned rhino, also holds some of India's largest wet alluvial grasslands.

1. In 2025 Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (Assam) completed India's first grassland bird census, recording 43 species using passive acoustic recorders and AI-based call identification.
2. The Prime Minister praised this effort in the August 2025 episode of Mann ki Baat.

Yaad rakhein: Grassland birds (Bengal florican, finn's weaver) → Kaziranga grasslands → Assam.

Answer: (B) Kaziranga National Park, Assam

Concept: BRICS chairmanship rotates among members; Brazil chaired BRICS in 2025.

1. The 17th BRICS Summit was held on 6–7 July 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted by President Lula da Silva.
2. Johannesburg hosted the 15th summit (2023), Kazan (Russia) the 16th (2024); India is to chair BRICS in 2026.

Yaad rakhein: 2023 Johannesburg → 2024 Kazan → 2025 Rio → 2026 India.

Answer: (C) Rio de Janeiro

Concept: India is the world's second-largest coal producer; production crossed 1 billion tonnes for the first time in 2024-25.

1. Coal production in 2023-24 was 997.826 million tonnes (Ministry of Coal), about 11.7% higher than 893.19 MT in 2022-23.
2. In 2024-25 it rose further to about 1047.6 MT – the first time above 1 billion tonnes.

Yaad rakhein: 2022-23 ≈ 893 MT, 2023-24 ≈ 998 MT (just under 1 billion), 2024-25 ≈ 1048 MT.

Answer: (D) 997.826 Million Tonne (MT)

Concept: Reactivity series: K > Na > Ca > Mg > Al. Only the most reactive metals react violently with cold water.

1. $2K+2H_{2}O\to 2KOH+H_2+\text{heat}$; the reaction is so exothermic that the hydrogen ignites with a lilac flame (sodium does the same).
2. Calcium reacts with cold water only mildly (no fire), magnesium reacts with hot water/steam, and aluminium reacts only with steam.

Yaad rakhein: K, Na = fire in cold water; Ca = bubbles in cold water; Mg = hot water; Al, Zn, Fe = steam only.

Answer: (B) Potassium

Concept: Tundra vegetation (mosses, lichens, dwarf shrubs) occurs where it is too cold for trees – near the poles (Arctic tundra) or at great height (Alpine tundra).

1. The Tibetan Plateau averages over 4,500 m, above the tree line, so its cold-desert and meadow vegetation is classified as alpine tundra.
2. Arctic tundra lies at high latitudes (Siberia, Canada, Alaska), not at high altitude in the mid-latitudes.

Yaad rakhein: Altitude → Alpine tundra; Arctic latitude → Arctic tundra.

Answer: (B) Alpine Tundra

Concept: The 106th Amendment (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023) reserves one-third of seats for women in Lok Sabha, state assemblies and the Delhi assembly.

1. It inserted Article 330A (women's reservation in Lok Sabha), Article 332A (in state legislative assemblies) and Article 334A (commencement after delimitation), and amended Article 239AA for Delhi.
2. Articles 371A/371B are special provisions for Nagaland/Assam; 339 relates to Scheduled Areas – not this amendment.

Yaad rakhein: 330 = SC/ST seats in Lok Sabha → 330A = women in Lok Sabha; 332 = SC/ST in assemblies → 332A = women in assemblies.

Answer: (D) 330A, 332A

Concept: Times Higher Education (THE) publishes a separate Asia University Rankings every year.

1. In the THE Asia University Rankings 2025 (released April 2025), Tsinghua University (Beijing) was first and Peking University second – Tsinghua has topped since 2019.
2. IISc Bengaluru was the best-ranked Indian institution; India had the second-highest number of ranked universities after Japan.

Yaad rakhein: THE Asia No. 1 = Tsinghua; THE World No. 1 = Oxford.

Answer: (D) Tsinghua University

Concept: Regional disparity in HDI arises because backward regions get fewer schools, hospitals and funds; the remedy is targeted, decentralised development.

1. Region-specific policies (e.g. Aspirational Districts Programme, higher allocations to lagging states) direct resources to where education and health indicators are weakest.
2. Concentrating effort in capitals or cities, or cutting rural investment, would widen the gap – options (A), (B), (C) are the opposite of the goal.

Yaad rakhein: Disparity → decentralise and target; concentration → widens the gap.

Answer: (D) By implementing region-specific policies and resource allocation

Concept: BIMSTEC (7 members: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand) runs youth exchanges to build regional ties.

1. The first-ever BIMSTEC Youth Summit was held on 7–11 February 2025 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports with MEA, on the theme 'Youth as a bridge for intra-BIMSTEC exchange'.
2. The 6th BIMSTEC Summit followed in April 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Yaad rakhein: BIMSTEC Youth Summit 2025 = Gandhinagar; BIMSTEC HQ = Dhaka.

Answer: (C) Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Concept: Article 168 provides that a state legislature consists of the Governor and one House (unicameral) or two Houses (bicameral).

1. States with a Legislative Council in addition to the Assembly are bicameral – currently Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh; the rest are unicameral.
2. Under Article 169 Parliament can create or abolish a Council only on a resolution of the state assembly passed by special majority – so the choice is not Parliament's alone.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 168 = one or two Houses; Art. 169 = creation/abolition of Council; 6 bicameral states.

Answer: (A) Either a single-house or two-house systems

Concept: Pre-Congress political associations voiced Indian grievances to the British government.

1. The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was founded in 1870 by Mahadev Govind Ranade along with Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (Sarvajanik Kaka) as a link between the government and the people.
2. Dadabhai Naoroji founded the East India Association (1866); Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society (1905); Lokhitwadi was a social reformer-writer.

Yaad rakhein: Ranade = Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870) + Prarthana Samaj; Gokhale was Ranade's disciple.

Answer: (C) Mahadev Govind Ranade

Concept: Find each square root first, then solve the simple equation.

1. $\sqrt{2601}=51$, $\sqrt{1089}=33$, $\sqrt{324}=18$.
2. RHS $=(33+18)\times 35=51\times 35=1785$.
3. $\sqrt{x}\times 51=1785\Rightarrow \sqrt{x}=35$.
4. $x={35}^2=1225$.

Trick: Memorise squares up to 60: ${51}^2=2601$, ${33}^2=1089$, ${18}^2=324$ – the whole question becomes mental maths.

Answer: (C) 1225

Concept: Form two equations in pen price $p$ and notebook price $n$ and eliminate one variable.

1. $3p+2n=120$ …(i) and $2p+4n=140\Rightarrow p+2n=70$ …(ii).
2. (i) $-$ (ii): $2p=50\Rightarrow p=25$.
3. From (ii): $2n=70-25=45\Rightarrow n=22.5$.

Trick: Halve the second equation first – it makes the $2n$ terms identical and subtraction instant.

Answer: (D) ₹22.50

Concept: Convert the percentages to fractions: $11\frac{1}{9}\%=\frac{1}{9}$, $16\frac{2}{3}\%=\frac{1}{6}$, $20\%=\frac{1}{5}$.

1. Required SP $=1800\times \frac{10}{9}=2000$.
2. After discounts, SP $=\text{MP}\times \frac{5}{6}\times \frac{4}{5}=\text{MP}\times \frac{2}{3}$.
3. $\text{MP}\times \frac{2}{3}=2000\Rightarrow \text{MP}=3000$.

Trick: Two successive discounts of $\frac{1}{6}$ and $\frac{1}{5}$ together leave exactly $\frac{2}{3}$ of MP – so MP $=\frac{3}{2}\times$ SP.

Answer: (D) ₹3000

Concept: If $c$ is the third proportional to $a$ and $b$, then $a:b=b:c$, i.e. $b^2=ac$.

1. Here $b=16$, $c=32$.
2. $a=\frac{b^2}{c}=\frac{256}{32}=8$.

Trick: Third proportional: square the middle number and divide by the known end.

Answer: (C) 8

Concept: $24=8\times 3$: the number must be divisible by both 8 (last three digits) and 3 (digit sum).

1. Last three digits $76B$ divisible by 8: $B=0$ ($760=8\times 95$) or $B=8$ ($768=8\times 96$).
2. Digit sum $=3+2+A+7+7+6+B=25+A+B$ must be a multiple of 3.
3. $B=0$: $25+A$ → $A=2$ gives 27. So $A+B=2$.
4. $B=8$: $33+A$ → $A=0$ gives $A+B=8$. Minimum is 2.

Trick: For 24, always test 8 first (only 2 choices for the last digit) and then fix the digit sum for 3.

Answer: (B) 2