Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Mission 'Har Shikhar Tiranga' aims to hoist the national flag on the highest peak of every state.

1. The National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS), Dirang (Arunachal Pradesh), runs this mission under the Ministry of Defence.
2. In May 2025, the NIMAS team summited Mt. Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the highest peak of India (Sikkim), completing the mission.
3. IMF and Himalayan Club are mountaineering bodies but did not lead this mission.

Yaad rakhein: Har Shikhar Tiranga → NIMAS Dirang → Kangchenjunga (Sikkim).

Answer: (A) National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports

Concept: Sustainable agriculture meets present food needs without damaging soil, water and future productivity.

1. Efficient irrigation (drip/sprinkler) saves water – sustainable.
2. Drought-resistant crops, crop rotation and organic farming conserve soil and resources – sustainable.
3. Excessive chemical fertilizers degrade soil, cause eutrophication and groundwater pollution – NOT sustainable.

Trick: Look for the word 'excessive' – overuse of any input is never sustainable.

Answer: (C) Excessive use of chemical fertilizers

Concept: The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–90) focused on 'Food, Work and Productivity'.

1. It stressed rural development through programmes like Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (1989) for rural employment.
2. Investment was directed to rural capital formation – irrigation, rural roads, rural infrastructure – to raise rural productivity.
3. Industrial zones, urban centres and foreign markets were not the area of special rural emphasis.

Yaad rakhein: 7th Plan = Food, Work, Productivity → rural employment + rural capital formation.

Answer: (D) Rural capital formation areas

Concept: Hazara Rama Temple in Hampi was the royal chapel of the Vijayanagara kings.

1. It was built by Devaraya I in the early 15th century (around 1410s).
2. Its walls carry friezes of the Ramayana – 'Hazara' means 'thousand' (images of Rama).
3. Vijayanagara itself was founded in 1336, so the 11th or 13th century is too early and the 19th far too late.

Yaad rakhein: Vijayanagara = 14th–16th century; Hazara Rama = Devaraya I, early 1400s.

Answer: (B) Early 15^th century

Concept: PMGSY was launched on 25 December 2000 to give all-weather road connectivity to unconnected rural habitations.

1. PMGSY = Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana – 'Sadak' means road.
2. PMAY-G gives rural housing; RURBAN Mission develops rural clusters; SAGY makes model villages through MPs.
3. So only PMGSY is about all-weather rural roads.

Trick: Gram Sadak = village road → PMGSY.

Answer: (A) Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

Concept: India's indigenous defence production has grown sharply under Make in India / Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

1. As per the PIB release of 17 April 2025, defence production rose from about ₹40,000 crore (2014) to over ₹1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24.
2. This is roughly a 174% rise in a decade.
3. Defence exports in 2024-25 also crossed ₹23,000 crore.

Yaad rakhein: Defence production 2023-24 ≈ ₹1.27 lakh crore.

Answer: (C) ₹1.27 lakh crore

Concept: NULM (launched 2013, now DAY-NULM) is a scheme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

1. Its aim is to reduce poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households.
2. It does this through skill training and placement, self-employment loans, Self-Help Groups and shelters for the urban homeless.
3. Smart cities, foreign investment and rural housing belong to other schemes.

Yaad rakhein: NULM = Urban poor → Skill + Self-employment + SHGs.

Answer: (B) Reducing urban poverty through skill development and self-employment

Concept: Article 340 empowers the President to appoint a Commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.

1. Commissions under Art. 340: Kaka Kalelkar (1953) and B.P. Mandal (1979).
2. Art. 330 – reservation of SC/ST seats in Lok Sabha; Art. 332 – in State Assemblies.
3. Art. 342 – President specifies Scheduled Tribes.

Yaad rakhein: 340 → Backward Classes Commission (Mandal); 341 → SC; 342 → ST.

Answer: (C) Article 340

Concept: Reverberation is the persistence of sound after the source stops, caused by repeated reflections from walls, ceiling and floor.

1. In large halls, multiple reflections keep reaching the listener, so the sound lingers.
2. It is reduced using sound-absorbing materials like curtains, fibre boards and rough plaster.
3. Diffraction is bending around obstacles; refraction is change of direction in a new medium; interference is superposition of waves.

Trick: Reverberation = repeated reflection → sound 'lingers'.

Answer: (A) Reverberation

Concept: Bal Gangadhar Tilak ('Lokmanya') was a leading Extremist (Garam Dal) leader.

1. He gave the slogan 'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it'.
2. 'Inquilab Zindabad' – coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani, popularised by Bhagat Singh.
3. 'Vande Mataram' – Bankim Chandra Chatterjee; 'Quit India' – Yusuf Meherally (1942).

Yaad rakhein: Tilak = Swaraj; Gandhi = Do or Die; Bose = Jai Hind.

Answer: (D) Swaraj is my birthright

Concept: The Government of India Act, 1935 provided for an All-India Federation of British provinces and princely states.

1. It divided powers into Federal, Provincial and Concurrent lists and set up a Federal Court (1937).
2. It gave provincial autonomy and proposed dyarchy at the Centre (the federation never came into being as princely states did not join).
3. Act of 1858 transferred rule to the Crown; 1892 Act enlarged councils; Rowlatt Act (1919) was a repressive law.

Yaad rakhein: 1935 Act = Federation + 3 Lists + Federal Court + Provincial autonomy.

Answer: (C) Government of India Act, 1935

Concept: Bharatanatyam is the classical dance of Tamil Nadu, rooted in the Natya Shastra and temple traditions.

1. It tells stories through abhinaya (facial expressions) and mudras (hand gestures).
2. Kathak – North India (Uttar Pradesh); Odissi – Odisha; Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh.
3. Only Bharatanatyam originates from Tamil Nadu.

Yaad rakhein: Tamil Nadu → Bharatanatyam; Andhra → Kuchipudi; Kerala → Kathakali, Mohiniyattam.

Answer: (A) Bharatanatyam

Concept: The right mouse button opens a context menu for the item clicked.

1. Right-click the file/folder → choose Rename from the context menu.
2. The name becomes editable – type the new name and press Enter to confirm.
3. Desktop → New creates a new item; double-click opens the file; Delete removes it – none of these renames.

Trick: Keyboard shortcut for rename: select the item and press F2.

Answer: (C) Right-click on the file → Select Rename → Type new name → Press Enter

Concept: Genome-edited rice varieties are made by precise changes in the plant's own genes (no foreign DNA).

1. In May 2025, ICAR (India) released the world's first two genome-edited rice varieties – DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1.
2. They were developed using CRISPR-Cas based SDN-1 technology.
3. They give higher yield, mature about 20 days earlier and tolerate salinity/drought.

Yaad rakhein: Kamala + Pusa DST Rice 1 → India, first genome-edited rice (2025).

Answer: (B) India

Concept: India has a land border of about 15,200 km with seven countries.

1. Bangladesh – about 4,096 km, the longest (touching WB, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram).
2. China – about 3,488 km; Pakistan – about 3,323 km; Nepal – about 1,751 km.
3. Shortest land border is with Afghanistan (about 106 km).

Yaad rakhein: Order: Bangladesh > China > Pakistan > Nepal > Myanmar > Bhutan > Afghanistan.

Answer: (C) Bangladesh

Concept: MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards are UK music awards.

1. At the 2025 MOBO Awards (Newcastle), rapper Central Cee won Best Male Act.
2. With this he became the first artist to win the Best Male Act category three times.
3. Stormzy, Skepta and Dave are also UK rappers but did not achieve this record.

Yaad rakhein: MOBO 2025 – Central Cee: Best Male ×3 (record).

Answer: (C) Central Cee

Concept: Lakshadweep is a group of 36 coral (atoll) islands in the Arabian Sea off the Malabar coast of Kerala.

1. They are formed by coral reefs; capital Kavaratti.
2. Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in the Bay of Bengal and are mostly volcanic/tectonic.
3. Sundarbans is a mangrove delta in West Bengal, not coral islands.

Yaad rakhein: Arabian Sea + coral = Lakshadweep; Bay of Bengal = Andaman & Nicobar.

Answer: (D) Lakshadweep Islands

Concept: The tertiary (service) sector provides services that support the primary and secondary sectors.

1. Banking, transport, communication, trade and storage are services → tertiary sector.
2. Primary – agriculture, mining; Secondary – manufacturing, construction.
3. Quaternary is a sub-part for knowledge-based activities like research and IT.

Trick: Primary = nature, Secondary = factory, Tertiary = service.

Answer: (D) Tertiary

Concept: Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire around 321 BCE by overthrowing the Nanda dynasty with Chanakya's help.

1. He built a highly centralised administration with provinces, officials and a spy system (described in Kautilya's Arthashastra).
2. Bindusara was his son, Ashoka his grandson; Brihadratha was the last Mauryan ruler.
3. Megasthenes, Greek envoy at his court, wrote Indica.

Yaad rakhein: Founder = Chandragupta; Greatest = Ashoka; Last = Brihadratha.

Answer: (C) Chandragupta Maurya

Concept: 'DBW' stands for Directorate of Wheat Research / ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal.

1. DBW 187 (Karan Vandana), DBW 303 (Karan Vaishnavi), DBW 371 (Karan Vrinda) are high-yielding wheat varieties.
2. 'Karan' names come from Karnal, Haryana, where the institute is located.
3. Rice varieties use names like Pusa Basmati, IR; maize uses names like HQPM.

Yaad rakhein: DBW / Karan = wheat (Karnal).

Answer: (B) Wheat