Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Classical Sanskrit drama follows Bharata's Natyashastra, whose central idea is rasa – the aesthetic emotion evoked in the audience.

1. Natyashastra lists eight rasas (Shanta added later as the ninth) such as Shringara, Hasya, Karuna, Veera.
2. Plays combined dialogue, music, dance, costume and make-up (aharya abhinaya), so 'only comedy', 'only dance' or 'no make-up' are wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Natyashastra → Rasa theory → Navarasa.

Answer: (D) Inclusion of rasas

Concept: In 2025 the Andhra Pradesh government announced the Amaravati Quantum Valley – planned as India's first quantum computing village in the capital region, Amaravati.

1. It is being developed with IBM, TCS and L&T; IBM's Quantum System Two (156-qubit) is to be installed there.
2. It supports the National Quantum Mission approved in 2023.

Yaad rakhein: Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) → Quantum Valley.

Answer: (C) Andhra Pradesh

Concept: The FutureBrand Index ranks the world's top 100 companies (PwC Global Top 100 by market cap) on how strongly they are perceived as future-ready brands.

1. In the 2024 index Reliance Industries rose to 2nd place, just behind Apple – the highest-ever for an Indian company.
2. Reliance was the only Indian brand in the top ranks; it jumped from 13th place in 2023.

Yaad rakhein: FutureBrand 2024: Apple 1st, Reliance 2nd.

Answer: (D) Reliance Industries Limited

Concept: The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), set up in July 1948, was India's first multipurpose river valley project.

1. It was modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority of the USA (engineer W. L. Voorduin drafted its plan).
2. It covers Jharkhand and West Bengal – flood control (Damodar was the 'Sorrow of Bengal'), irrigation and power.

Yaad rakhein: TVA (USA) → DVC (1948) – first multipurpose project of independent India.

Answer: (A) Damodar Valley Project

Concept: In Windows, a new folder is created from the right-click (context) menu.

1. Right-click an empty area of the desktop and choose New → Folder; type a name and press Enter.
2. Dragging from the Start Menu makes a shortcut, Ctrl + S saves a file, and Task Manager only manages running programs.

Yaad rakhein: In File Explorer, Ctrl + Shift + N also makes a new folder.

Answer: (D) Right-click on the desktop → New → Folder

Concept: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (passed April 2025, renamed the law as UMEED Act) reformed the management of Waqf properties.

1. It makes the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards more inclusive – mandatory representation of Muslim women, members from Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Aghakhani and backward Muslim communities, and up to two non-Muslim members.
2. Waqf boards continue to exist; properties are not nationalised and it is not a UCC law.

Yaad rakhein: Waqf Amendment 2025 = inclusivity + transparency (digital registration).

Answer: (B) Inclusion of Muslim women and all sects in the boards

Concept: The Paikas were the traditional landed militia (foot soldiers) of the Gajapati kings of Khurda, Odisha, who held rent-free land for military service.

1. After the British took Khurda (1803) and resumed their lands, the Paikas rose in revolt in 1817 under Bakshi Jagabandhu.
2. Ahom revolt – Assam (1828); Wahabi and Faraizi – religious-reform movements in north India and Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: Paika (Odisha, 1817) – often called the 'first war of independence' of Odisha.

Answer: (C) Paika rebellion

Concept: A body is constitutional if created by the Constitution, statutory if created by an Act, and non-statutory (executive) if created by a government resolution.

1. NITI Aayog was set up on 1 January 2015 by a Union Cabinet resolution, replacing the Planning Commission – so it is neither constitutional nor statutory.
2. Attorney General – constitutional (Article 76); CIC – statutory (RTI Act 2005); NHRC – statutory (Protection of Human Rights Act 1993).

Yaad rakhein: Executive-resolution bodies: NITI Aayog, (old) Planning Commission, NDC.

Answer: (B) NITI Aayog

Concept: Veer Kunwar Singh, the zamindar of Jagdishpur (Bihar), led the 1857 revolt in Bihar at about 80 years of age.

1. On his Vijayotsav (23 April 2025), the IAF's Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team performed over Patna, the capital of Bihar.
2. Lucknow and Meerut are linked with 1857 too, but the tribute show for the Bihar hero was held in Patna.

Yaad rakhein: Kunwar Singh = Bihar → show in Bihar's capital, Patna.

Answer: (C) Patna

Concept: The Munda Ulgulan ('Great Tumult', 1899–1900) was led by Birsa Munda in the Ranchi region (Chotanagpur).

1. Birsa first started a religious reform movement (Birsait sect), then turned it against the breakdown of the khuntkatti land system, dikus (moneylenders, outsiders) and forest restrictions.
2. Kuka – Punjab (Namdhari Sikhs); Sannyasi – Bengal; Wahabi – Islamic reform movement.

Yaad rakhein: Birsa Munda's birthday, 15 November, is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.

Answer: (B) Munda uprising

Concept: Privy purses were annual payments guaranteed to former rulers of princely states for merging with India (Articles 291 and 362).

1. The 26th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971 (Indira Gandhi govt.) omitted Articles 291 and 362 and inserted Article 363A, ending privy purses and privileges.
2. 24th (1971) – Parliament's power to amend Fundamental Rights; 25th (1971) – property right/Article 31C; 31st (1972) – Lok Sabha seats raised.

Yaad rakhein: 26th Amendment, 1971 → privy purses of the rajas ended.

Answer: (C) 26th Amendment Act, 1971

Concept: Pankaj R. Patel is the Chairman of Zydus Lifesciences Ltd (formerly Cadila Healthcare), Ahmedabad.

1. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2025 for trade and industry.
2. Sun Pharma is headed by Dilip Shanghvi, Dr. Reddy's by K. Satish Reddy and Cipla by Y. K. Hamied.

Yaad rakhein: Zydus – Patel family, Ahmedabad (Cadila).

Answer: (A) Zydus Lifesciences Limited

Concept: Strong heating at the Equator makes air rise, forming the Equatorial Low (about 5°N–5°S).

1. Since air mainly rises here, surface winds are very weak – sailors called it the Doldrums (zone of calm); it coincides with the ITCZ.
2. Horse Latitudes = sub-tropical high-pressure belts (about 30°N/S); Trade Winds blow from 30° towards the Equator; Polar Front lies near 60°.

Yaad rakhein: Pressure belts from Equator: L – H – L – H (0°, 30°, 60°, 90°).

Answer: (C) Doldrums

Concept: IAM stands for the India Association of Minnesota, a non-profit body of the Indian diaspora in the US state of Minnesota.

1. Its 'Connect India 2025' event brought together Indian-American partner organisations of the Minnesota region to strengthen community ties.
2. The abbreviation itself (I-A-M) points to Minnesota.

Yaad rakhein: IAM = India Association of Minnesota.

Answer: (A) Minnesota

Concept: The Fifth Schedule (Article 244(1)) deals with the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

1. Fifth-Schedule states (10): Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan.
2. Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram come under the Sixth Schedule; Nagaland and Manipur have special provisions (Article 371A/371C).

Yaad rakhein: Sixth Schedule = AMTM (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram); central-Indian tribal states → Fifth.

Answer: (B) Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh

Concept: NeVA – National e-Vidhan Application is a Mission Mode Project of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs under Digital India.

1. It is a 'One Nation, One Application' platform to make all State/UT legislatures paperless – questions, bills, papers and notices go online.
2. Nagaland was the first state to implement NeVA fully (2022); e-Sansad is the parallel project for Parliament.

Yaad rakhein: e-Vidhan = Vidhan Sabha (states); e-Sansad = Parliament.

Answer: (D) National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)

Concept: Pushyamitra Shunga, the senapati of the last Mauryan king Brihadratha, killed him in about 185 BCE.

1. He then founded the Shunga dynasty with its capital at Pataliputra (later Vidisha).
2. The Kanva dynasty replaced the Shungas (Vasudeva Kanva, about 73 BCE); Satavahanas ruled the Deccan; the Guptas came much later (about 320 CE).

Yaad rakhein: Maurya → Shunga → Kanva (Magadha order).

Answer: (C) Shunga dynasty

Concept: Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal on 16 October 1905 (announced July 1905).

1. The official reason was administrative convenience – Bengal Presidency (about 7.8 crore people) was too large to govern efficiently.
2. The real aim was to 'divide and rule' – weaken Bengali nationalism by splitting Hindus and Muslims; it led to the Swadeshi Movement and was annulled in 1911.

Yaad rakhein: Official reason: administration; real reason: divide and rule.

Answer: (C) administrative convenience

Concept: The Ten Degree Channel is the strait along the 10° N parallel in the Bay of Bengal.

1. It separates Little Andaman (north) from Car Nicobar (south) and is about 150 km wide.
2. Similarly, the Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the Maldives, and the Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the Lakshadweep group.

Yaad rakhein: Andaman | 10° | Nicobar; Lakshadweep | 9° | Minicoy | 8° | Maldives.

Answer: (B) 10° N parallel

Concept: Pattadakal (Karnataka, UNESCO World Heritage Site) was the coronation centre of the Badami (early Western) Chalukyas.

1. The Virupaksha Temple (about 740 CE) was built by Queen Lokamahadevi to celebrate the victory of her husband Vikramaditya II over the Pallavas of Kanchi.
2. It is in Dravida style and was inspired by the Kailasanatha temple of Kanchipuram – that is why 'Pallava' is the tempting wrong option.

Yaad rakhein: Pattadakal = Chalukya; Virupaksha built by Queen Lokamahadevi.

Answer: (A) Chalukyas