Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Pre-monsoon showers have local names in India; in Kerala and Karnataka they are called 'Blossom Showers'.

1. These April–May thunder showers make coffee plants burst into flower.
2. They are vital for coffee plantations of Kerala, Karnataka (Coorg, Chikmagalur) and nearby areas.
3. Tea gets 'tea showers' (Nor'westers in Assam), not blossom showers.

Yaad rakhein: Blossom shower = Coffee; Mango shower = Mangoes (Kerala/Karnataka coast); Kal Baisakhi = Bengal.

Answer: (B) Coffee

Concept: Good file management means storing files so they can be found and identified quickly.

1. Meaningful names (e.g. 'Budget_2025.xlsx') tell what a file contains without opening it.
2. Putting everything on the desktop or in one folder creates clutter.
3. Not saving files is not organisation at all — data will be lost.

Yaad rakhein: Organise = meaningful names + folders/sub-folders + consistent naming.

Answer: (A) Naming files meaningfully

Concept: Land use categories in India include forests, barren land, permanent pastures and grazing lands, etc.

1. Most permanent pastures and grazing lands are village common land (common property resources).
2. They are owned by the Village Panchayat or the government; only a small part is private.
3. Forests (not pastures) are managed by the Forest Department.

Yaad rakhein: Pastures/grazing land = 'gaon ki shamlat zameen' → Village Panchayat.

Answer: (D) Village Panchayats

Concept: In April 2025 India and Slovakia deepened defence-industrial cooperation.

1. Airbornics Defence & Space Pvt Ltd (ADSL), an Indian defence company, signed a landmark MoU with Slovakia's defence industry.
2. The pact aims at joint production and technology transfer, supporting Make in India in defence.
3. NewSpace India Ltd is ISRO's commercial arm; BrahMos is an Indo-Russian missile JV.

Yaad rakhein: Slovakia + India MoU, April 2025 → ADSL (Airbornics).

Answer: (C) Airbornics Defence & Space Pvt Ltd

Concept: An e-passport has an embedded RFID chip and antenna storing the holder's biometric data.

1. The chip stores personal details, photo and fingerprints, digitally signed and encrypted.
2. This makes forgery and identity fraud very difficult and speeds up immigration checks.
3. India rolled out e-passports nationwide under Passport Seva Programme 2.0 in 2025.

Yaad rakhein: e-Passport = chip = security (anti-forgery), not cost, pages or colour.

Answer: (A) To enhance security and prevent identity fraud

Concept: Article 222 of the Constitution deals with transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.

1. The President may transfer a High Court judge after consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
2. In practice the CJI's recommendation comes through the Supreme Court collegium, but the order is issued by the President.
3. The Chief Minister and Parliament have no power of transfer.

Yaad rakhein: Art 217 = appointment, Art 222 = transfer – both done by the President.

Answer: (A) President of India

Concept: Literacy depends mainly on access to schools, income levels and social factors.

1. States like Kerala have high literacy due to strong schooling, social reform and spending on education.
2. States with poverty, gender gaps and fewer schools lag behind.
3. Climate or population density alone do not decide literacy.

Yaad rakhein: Literacy gap = socio-economic + educational gap.

Answer: (A) Socio-economic and educational disparities

Concept: The Green Revolution (HYV seeds, fertilisers, irrigation) started in the mid-1960s.

1. The Third Five Year Plan ran from 1961–66; HYV wheat seeds were introduced in 1965–66 towards its end.
2. The Intensive Agricultural District Programme (1960–61) of the Third Plan laid its base.
3. The movement expanded during the Annual Plans and the Fourth Plan.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution began ≈ 1965–66 = end of 3rd Plan (M.S. Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug).

Answer: (A) Third Five Year Plan

Concept: A state function depends only on the present state of a system, not on the path taken to reach it.

1. Pressure, temperature, volume, internal energy, enthalpy and entropy are state functions.
2. Work (and heat) depend on the path followed, so they are path functions.
3. Hence work is NOT a state variable.

Yaad rakhein: Path functions = W and Q (work and heat); everything else common is a state function.

Answer: (C) Work

Concept: NOMADIC ELEPHANT is the annual India–Mongolia joint military exercise, held alternately in the two countries.

1. The 17th edition was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 31 May to 13 June 2025.
2. The 16th edition (2024) was held at Umroi, Meghalaya, India.
3. It focuses on counter-terrorism in semi-urban and mountainous terrain under a UN mandate.

Yaad rakhein: Alternate venue: 2024 India (Umroi) → 2025 Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar).

Answer: (C) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Concept: The Peninsular Block is the oldest, stable landmass of India, bounded by distinct features on each side.

1. NCERT describes its north-eastern part as separated from the Chotanagpur plateau by the Malda fault in West Bengal (the Meghalaya/Karbi Anglong plateau lies beyond it).
2. The Aravallis mark its north-western edge; the Western and Eastern Ghats mark its western and eastern edges.

Yaad rakhein: NW = Aravalli, NE = Malda fault (gap filled by Ganga–Brahmaputra deposits).

Answer: (B) Malda fault

Concept: The 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 inserted Article 124A creating the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

1. NJAC was to recommend appointments and transfers of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
2. In 2015 the Supreme Court struck it down (Fourth Judges case), restoring the collegium system.
3. The other options are not real constitutional bodies.

Yaad rakhein: NJAC = 99th Amendment (2014) → struck down 2015 → collegium back.

Answer: (A) National Judicial Appointments Commission

Concept: France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres honours contributions to arts and literature.

1. In April 2025 filmmaker Payal Kapadia was made an Officier of this order.
2. She is known for 'All We Imagine as Light', which won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2024 — the first Indian film to do so.
3. Mira Nair, Zoya Akhtar and Deepa Mehta were not the 2025 awardees.

Yaad rakhein: Payal Kapadia → Cannes Grand Prix 2024 → French honour 2025.

Answer: (D) Payal Kapadia

Concept: The 86th Amendment Act, 2002 reorganised the provisions on education.

1. It inserted Article 21A — free and compulsory education for children of 6–14 years as a Fundamental Right.
2. It substituted Article 45 — the State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children below six years.
3. It added Fundamental Duty 51A(k) for parents/guardians.

Yaad rakhein: 86th Amendment = 21A + new 45 + 51A(k) — the 'education amendment'.

Answer: (C) Eighty-sixth Amendment Act, 2002

Concept: The Prarthana Samaj was founded in Bombay in 1867 by Atmaram Pandurang.

1. Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade joined it and devoted his life to it, becoming its leading figure.
2. Ranade also founded the Widow Remarriage Association and the Deccan Education Society (co-founder).
3. Servants of India Society was founded by Gokhale (1905); Deva Samaj by Shiv Narayan Agnihotri.

Yaad rakhein: Ranade = Prarthana Samaj (Maharashtra's Brahmo Samaj).

Answer: (A) Prarthana Samaj

Concept: In May 2025 the Supreme Court heard a petition on 171 alleged fake police encounters in Assam (2021–22).

1. The Court did not dismiss or justify the allegations.
2. It directed the Assam Human Rights Commission to conduct an independent, expeditious inquiry into the cases.
3. It did not transfer the cases to the CBI.

Yaad rakhein: Assam encounters → SC → Assam Human Rights Commission to probe.

Answer: (A) Ordered the Assam Human Rights Commission to investigate

Concept: The International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, was set up by the Rome Statute (2002).

1. In April 2025 Hungary announced its withdrawal from the ICC, during Israeli PM Netanyahu's visit (against whom the ICC had issued an arrest warrant).
2. Hungary became the first EU member to leave the ICC.
3. Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria remain members.

Yaad rakhein: ICC exit 2025 = Hungary (PM Viktor Orbán).

Answer: (D) Hungary

Concept: DIGIPIN is a 10-character alphanumeric digital address code for a roughly 4 m × 4 m grid, launched by India Post in 2025.

1. It was developed by the Department of Posts in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad and NRSC, ISRO.
2. DRDO had no role in its development.
3. It helps precise delivery and emergency services using latitude–longitude.

Yaad rakhein: DIGIPIN = Posts + IIT Hyderabad + ISRO (NRSC); DRDO ✗.

Answer: (C) DRDO

Concept: Padma awards 2025 were presented by the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan in April 2025.

1. Prof. Anil Kumar Boro of Assam, a Bodo scholar and folklorist, received the Padma Shri for Literature and Education.
2. M.T. Vasudevan Nair got the Padma Vibhushan (posthumous); Nandamuri Balakrishna got the Padma Bhushan (Art); Sushil Kumar Modi got the Padma Bhushan (Public Affairs, posthumous).

Yaad rakhein: Bodo literature (Assam) → Anil Kumar Boro → Padma Shri 2025.

Answer: (B) Prof. Anil Kumar Boro

Concept: The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President (Article 124) and takes oath before the President.

1. Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd CJI on 14 May 2025, succeeding Justice Sanjiv Khanna (51st).
2. He is the first Buddhist and the second Dalit CJI (after K.G. Balakrishnan).
3. U.U. Lalit was 49th and D.Y. Chandrachud 50th CJI.

Yaad rakhein: 49 Lalit → 50 Chandrachud → 51 Khanna → 52 Gavai.

Answer: (A) Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai