Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: 'Prachand Prahaar' was a tri-service integrated multi-domain warfare exercise held in March 2025.

1. It was conducted by the Indian Army with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force in the high-altitude terrain of Arunachal Pradesh.
2. Aim: test joint surveillance, command-control and precision fire power along the eastern front.
3. Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya were not the venue of this exercise.

Trick: Prachand Prahaar = 'Pr' of Pradesh, i.e. Arunachal Pradesh on the eastern border.

Answer: (D) Arunachal Pradesh

Concept: World Wildlife Day is observed every year on 3 March, the day CITES was signed in 1973.

1. The 2025 theme was 'Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet'.
2. Biological Diversity Day is 22 May, Earth Day 22 April and World Environment Day 5 June, so they do not fit 3 March.

Yaad rakhein: 3 March = CITES signing day = World Wildlife Day.

Answer: (D) World Wildlife Day

Concept: Harihara and Bukka, founders of the Vijayanagara Empire (1336), were earlier in the service of the Kakatiyas of Warangal.

1. After Muhammad bin Tughlaq's army ended the Kakatiya kingdom (1323) and then attacked Kampili, the two brothers were captured and taken to Delhi.
2. They were later sent back to the south, broke away and founded Vijayanagara in 1336.
3. Alauddin Khalji only raided Warangal; he did not capture the brothers.

Yaad rakhein: Vijayanagara story begins with Tughlaq: capture → convert → return → revolt.

Answer: (C) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Concept: The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world, running along the western edge of South America.

1. They stretch about 7,000 km through Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina; highest peak Aconcagua.
2. Rockies are in North America; Alps and Vosges are in Europe.

Trick: Andes – Aconcagua – America (South).

Answer: (D) Andes

Concept: 'The Himalaya in a Small House' (2025) is a non-fiction memoir by novelist Anuradha Roy.

1. It chronicles her life, garden and the changing seasons in a small house in Ranikhet, a Himalayan hill town.
2. Anuradha Roy is also known for 'An Atlas of Impossible Longing' and 'All the Lives We Never Lived'.
3. Ruskin Bond also writes on the hills, but this 2025 book is not his.

Yaad rakhein: Roy's Ranikhet house = 'Himalaya in a Small House'.

Answer: (C) Anuradha Roy

Concept: Under Project Cheetah, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in 2024 approved India's first cheetah conservation breeding centre in the Banni grasslands, Kutch (Gujarat).

1. Banni is one of Asia's largest tropical grasslands – ideal open habitat for cheetahs.
2. Gandhi Sagar (MP) is a release site in the wild, not the breeding centre; Bandhavgarh and Tadoba are tiger reserves.

Yaad rakhein: Breeding centre → Banni (Gujarat); wild release → Kuno & Gandhi Sagar (MP).

Answer: (B) Banni grasslands

Concept: Urbanisation = share of a state's population living in urban areas.

1. Census 2011: Goa is the most urbanised state with about 62.2% urban population.
2. Kerala (about 47.7%) and others are lower; among UTs Delhi (about 97.5%) is highest.
3. Least urbanised state: Himachal Pradesh (about 10%).

Yaad rakhein: Most urban – Goa; least urban – Himachal.

Answer: (B) Goa

Concept: The Western Coastal Plain is the narrow strip of land between the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) and the Arabian Sea.

1. It runs from Gujarat to Kerala – Konkan, Kanara and Malabar coasts.
2. The Deccan and Malwa plateaus lie east/north of the Ghats; the Eastern Coastal Plain lies along the Bay of Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: West Ghats + Arabian Sea = West Coastal Plain (narrow); East Ghats + Bay of Bengal = East Coastal Plain (wide).

Answer: (D) Western Coastal Plain

Concept: The Kailasa (Kailasanatha) Temple, Cave 16 at Ellora, is a monolithic rock-cut temple carved from a single rock.

1. It was built in the 8th century under Rashtrakuta king Krishna I.
2. Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves.
3. Do not confuse with the Kailasanatha Temple of Kanchipuram, built by the Pallavas.

Yaad rakhein: Ellora Kailasa – Rashtrakuta Krishna I; Kanchi Kailasanatha – Pallava Rajasimha.

Answer: (D) Rashtrakutas

Concept: Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in 2022.

1. He was nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.
2. AAP also sent persons like Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak from Punjab at the same time.

Yaad rakhein: Punjab 2022 – AAP government – AAP Rajya Sabha seats incl. Harbhajan.

Answer: (A) Aam Aadmi Party

Concept: Windows keyboard shortcuts with Alt control windows and applications.

1. Alt + Tab cycles through open applications/windows so you can switch between them.
2. Alt + F4 closes the active window; Alt + Ins and Alt + Del have no such standard role.

Trick: Tab = 'jump' between apps; F4 = 'Finish' (close).

Answer: (D) Alt + Tab

Concept: The Sarkaria Commission (1983–88) reviewed Centre–State relations.

1. Its 247 recommendations stressed consultation, the Inter-State Council (Article 263), sparing use of Article 356 and neutral Governors.
2. All of these aim at co-operation between the Union and the States, i.e. co-operative federalism.
3. Competitive federalism (states competing) and fiscal federalism are not its primary focus.

Trick: Sarkaria = 'Sahyog' (cooperation) between Centre and States.

Answer: (A) Co-operative federalism

Concept: The 1991 New Economic Policy had three parts: Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation (LPG).

1. Liberalisation mainly abolished the 'Licence-Permit-Quota Raj' – industrial licensing was removed for most industries and quotas/controls were relaxed.
2. Banking services, public employment and farm subsidies were not what it aimed to eliminate.

Yaad rakhein: Liberalisation = end of Licence–Quota Raj.

Answer: (B) Industrial licensing and quota system

Concept: Article 244(2) and the Sixth Schedule provide Autonomous District Councils for tribal areas of four north-eastern states.

1. These four states are Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
2. Tribal areas of other states (e.g. Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan) are 'Scheduled Areas' under the Fifth Schedule, Article 244(1).

Trick: Sixth Schedule = 'AMTM' – Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram.

Answer: (B) Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram

Concept: The SI system is built on mutually independent base quantities; all others are derived from them.

1. There are 7 base quantities: length (m), mass (kg), time (s), electric current (A), temperature (K), amount of substance (mol), luminous intensity (cd).
2. Quantities like force, energy and speed are derived.

Trick: 'MKS-AKMC' – metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela = 7.

Answer: (A) 7

Concept: In 2025 the World Bank approved a loan of about USD 280 million (around ₹2,424 crore) for Kerala.

1. It supports the Kerala Health System Improvement Programme – strengthening public health care, non-communicable disease control and an ageing population's needs.
2. No such health loan of this amount went to Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh or Rajasthan.

Yaad rakhein: Kerala + World Bank + ₹2,424 crore = health system upgrade.

Answer: (D) Kerala

Concept: Article 14 is the first article of the Right to Equality (Articles 14–18).

1. It guarantees 'equality before the law' and 'equal protection of the laws' to every person within India.
2. Freedom of religion is Articles 25–28, child labour ban Article 24, life and personal liberty Article 21.

Yaad rakhein: 14 = Equality; 21 = Life; 24 = Child labour; 25 = Religion.

Answer: (A) Equality before the law

Concept: ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

1. It assigns numeric codes to characters (e.g. 'A' = 65), so it is used to encode text in computers.
2. CD (Compact Disc) is a storage medium, not for internet access; LAN is a Local Area Network covering a small area, not continents.

Yaad rakhein: ASCII = text encoding; LAN = Local (small) area.

Answer: (C) ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange – Encodes text in computers

Concept: Sher Shah Suri (1540–45) organised his empire into sarkars and parganas with fixed officials.

1. The Shiqdar (Shiqqdar) was the officer in charge of law and order and general administration at the local (pargana) level; the Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran did this at sarkar level.
2. The Qazi handled justice, the Muqaddam was the village headman collecting revenue, and Fotedar was the treasurer.

Yaad rakhein: Shiqdar = police/order; Amin = land revenue; Fotedar = treasury.

Answer: (C) Shiqqdar

Concept: Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) was launched in 2001 by merging the Employment Assurance Scheme and the Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana.

1. 'Grameen' itself means rural – it provided wage employment and food security to the rural poor while creating rural assets.
2. It was later merged into MGNREGA (2006).

Trick: Grameen = Rural.

Answer: (D) Rural areas