Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: In June 2025, the Delhi government proposed setting up six Khelo India Centres in the capital.

1. Khelo India Centres are run under the Khelo India scheme of the Union Sports Ministry to train grassroots athletes in a chosen sport using existing facilities.
2. The proposal aimed to widen sports access and spot local talent in Delhi.

Yaad rakhein: Delhi, June 2025: 6 Khelo India Centres.

Answer: (A) Six

Concept: The roentgen (R) measures exposure: the charge produced by X/γ-rays ionising a unit mass of air.

1. So in SI it is charge per mass: $1\text{R}=2.58\times {10}^{-4}\text{C/kg}$.
2. $1.6\times {10}^{-19}\text{C}$ is the electron charge; $3.7\times {10}^{10}$ disintegrations per second is 1 curie (activity); gray is absorbed dose.

Yaad rakhein: Roentgen → C/kg; Curie → disintegrations/s; Gray → J/kg.

Answer: (B) $2.58\times {10}^{-4}$ coulombs per kilogram

Concept: Thomas Babington Macaulay's Minute on Education (2 February 1835) argued for teaching Western learning through English.

1. Lord William Bentinck accepted it through the English Education Act, 1835.
2. Charter Act of 1813 only set aside ₹1 lakh a year for education, without fixing English as the medium.
3. Regulating Act (1773) and Pitt's India Act (1784) dealt with administration of the Company.

Yaad rakhein: English education = Macaulay's Minute 1835; Wood's Despatch 1854 = "Magna Carta of English education".

Answer: (C) Macaulay’s Minute

Concept: Palaeolithic people were hunter-gatherers; they did not practise agriculture.

1. They moved because plants and fruits in one area got used up (resource exhaustion), animals they hunted migrated, and seasons changed water/food availability.
2. Crops and farming began only in the Neolithic age, so "failure of crops" could not be a reason.

Yaad rakhein: Old Stone Age = no farming; farming starts in New Stone Age (Neolithic).

Answer: (A) Failure of crops

Concept: Littoral (coastal) and swamp forests grow along sea coasts, deltas and estuaries that are flooded by tides.

1. Mangroves of the Sundarbans, Mahanadi, Godavari–Krishna deltas and Andaman are littoral/swamp forests.
2. Such tidal, waterlogged land is a wetland ecosystem (Ramsar sites include many mangroves).
3. Tundra, grassland and desert are dry or cold land ecosystems.

Yaad rakhein: Littoral = coast + tide = mangrove wetland.

Answer: (A) Wetland ecosystem

Concept: The basic aim of British rule was the economic exploitation of India for Britain's benefit.

1. India was made a supplier of cheap raw materials (cotton, indigo) and a market for British factory goods.
2. Heavy land revenue, ruin of handicrafts (de-industrialisation) and the "drain of wealth" (Dadabhai Naoroji) prove this.
3. Industrialisation or farmer welfare were not the British goals.

Yaad rakhein: Dadabhai Naoroji – Drain Theory: colonial rule = economic exploitation.

Answer: (D) Economic exploitation of India

Concept: The Women's Kabaddi World Cup 2025 was announced to be held at Rajgir, Bihar.

1. Bihar was chosen as host with matches at the Rajgir Sports Complex; Rajgir had also hosted the Women's Asian Champions Trophy hockey in 2024.
2. Bihar was building Rajgir into a major sports hub with a state sports university.

Yaad rakhein: Rajgir (Bihar) = Women's Kabaddi World Cup 2025 + hockey events.

Answer: (B) Rajgir

Concept: The southwest monsoon is caused mainly by differential heating of land and sea.

1. In summer the land (north-west India) heats faster than the Indian Ocean, forming an intense low-pressure area over land.
2. High pressure stays over the cooler sea, so moist winds blow from sea to land; the Coriolis force turns them south-westerly.
3. Tides, Atlantic westerlies or desert local winds do not create the monsoon.

Yaad rakhein: Monsoon = giant sea breeze: land hot (L), sea cool (H).

Answer: (B) Differential heating of land and sea

Concept: On 25 April 2025, DRDO's Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, ran an active-cooled scramjet subscale combustor for over 1,000 seconds.

1. This followed an earlier 120-second test (January 2025) and is a step towards long-duration hypersonic cruise missiles.
2. Scramjet = supersonic combustion ramjet, needed for flight above Mach 5.

Yaad rakhein: Scramjet: Jan 2025 – 120 s → Apr 2025 – 1,000+ s.

Answer: (B) 1,000 seconds

Concept: Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched on 1 April 1999 for rural self-employment.

1. It merged IRDP, TRYSEM, DWCRA and other schemes; Swarozgaris were organised into SHGs and given bank credit plus subsidy.
2. In 2011 SGSY was restructured as the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM, Aajeevika).

Yaad rakhein: SGSY 1999 → NRLM (Aajeevika) 2011.

Answer: (A) 1999

Concept: Convectional rainfall occurs when intense heating of the ground makes warm, moist air rise in convection currents.

1. Rising air expands, cools adiabatically, reaches dew point and forms cumulonimbus clouds.
2. Heavy afternoon rain with thunder follows – typical of equatorial regions.
3. Mountains forcing air up = orographic (relief) rain; warm and cold air masses meeting = frontal/cyclonic rain.

Yaad rakhein: Heat → rise → cool → rain = Convectional; mountain = Orographic; fronts = Cyclonic.

Answer: (B) Intense surface heating causing air to rise

Concept: Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV, Articles 36–51) are non-justiciable.

1. Article 37 says DPSPs shall not be enforceable by any court, yet they are fundamental in governance and the State must apply them in making laws.
2. Article 36 defines "State"; Article 38 – social order for welfare; Article 39 – principles of policy (equal pay, livelihood).

Yaad rakhein: Art. 37 = non-justiciable DPSP; Art. 32 = justiciable FRs.

Answer: (B) Article 37

Concept: Article 335 (Part XVI) deals with claims of SCs and STs to services and posts.

1. Their claims are to be considered in appointments to services and posts under the Union and States, consistent with efficiency of administration.
2. The 82nd Amendment (2000) added a proviso allowing relaxation in qualifying marks for them in promotions.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 335 = SC/ST claims in public jobs; Art. 16(4) = reservation in appointments.

Answer: (D) public employment

Concept: The Global Terrorism Index is published every year by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), Sydney.

1. GTI 2025 (12th edition) ranked Burkina Faso most affected; Pakistan was 2nd and India 14th.
2. IEP also publishes the Global Peace Index; UN bodies (UNOCT, UNODC) do not publish GTI.

Yaad rakhein: GTI + Global Peace Index = IEP (Australia).

Answer: (C) The Institute of Economic and Peace

Concept: On 26 May 2025, India launched the Bharat Forecasting System (BharatFS), developed by IITM Pune.

1. It gives forecasts at about 6 km resolution – among the highest for any global weather model – helping village-level predictions of heavy rain.
2. It runs on the Arka supercomputer and was launched by Union Minister Jitendra Singh.

Yaad rakhein: BharatFS = 6 km resolution, IITM Pune, Arka supercomputer.

Answer: (C) Bharat Forecasting System

Concept: Pondicherry, founded by François Martin (1674), was captured by the Dutch in 1693.

1. The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) ended the Nine Years' War in Europe and provided for its return.
2. Pondicherry was actually handed back to the French East India Company in 1699, and became the French capital in India.

Yaad rakhein: Dutch capture 1693 → Treaty 1697 → returned 1699.

Answer: (C) 1699

Concept: Earthquakes cannot be predicted or prevented; damage is reduced mainly by proper planning and safe construction.

1. Seismic zoning (India has Zones II–V) tells where risk is high, so land use and building codes (IS 1893) can be applied.
2. Earthquake-resistant buildings (base isolation, ductile frames) prevent collapse – the main cause of deaths.
3. Water harvesting and flood barriers do not help in earthquakes; deforestation increases landslide risk.

Yaad rakhein: "Earthquakes don't kill, buildings do" – so safe buildings + zoning.

Answer: (A) Seismic zoning and earthquake-resistant buildings

Concept: The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was moved by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2025 (Lok Sabha: December 2024).

1. It merges the provisions of the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 into the Railways Act, 1989, giving statutory backing to the Railway Board.
2. Sarbananda Sonowal handles Ports and Shipping; Hardeep Puri – Petroleum; Kiren Rijiju – Parliamentary Affairs.

Yaad rakhein: Railway bill → Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Answer: (A) Ashwini Vaishnaw

Concept: In Windows, function keys have fixed jobs in File Explorer.

1. F2 – rename the selected file or folder.
2. F5 – refresh the window; Esc – cancel/close a menu; Ctrl is a modifier key used with other keys (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V).

Yaad rakhein: F1 Help, F2 Rename, F3 Search, F5 Refresh.

Answer: (B) F2

Concept: On 17 December 2024, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced along with the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill for simultaneous elections.

1. It amends three Acts: the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963; the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
2. Purpose: align the terms of the Puducherry, Delhi and J&K assemblies with Lok Sabha elections.

Yaad rakhein: UT Laws Bill = 3 Acts: Puducherry (1963), Delhi (1991), J&K (2019).

Answer: (A) 3