Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Bangladesh lies on India's eastern side, almost surrounded by Indian territory.

1. India and Bangladesh share India's longest international land border (about 4,096 km).
2. Bordering Indian states: West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram – all in the east/north-east.
3. Pakistan is to the west/north-west, and China/Nepal to the north.

Yaad rakhein: West Bengal has the longest share of the India–Bangladesh border.

Answer: (A) East

Concept: Humans have 12 pairs of ribs: true, false and floating.

1. Pairs 1–7 are true ribs – each joins the sternum directly by its own costal cartilage.
2. Pairs 8, 9, 10 are false ribs – their cartilages join one another and then the 7th rib's cartilage, so they lie just above the floating ribs.
3. Pairs 11 and 12 are floating ribs – no front attachment.

Yaad rakhein: 7 true + 3 false + 2 floating = 12 pairs.

Answer: (D) 3

Concept: India's first AI-focused Special Economic Zone is coming up in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, Chhattisgarh (2025).

1. The SEZ is being developed with an AI data-centre project by RackBank in Nava Raipur.
2. It aims to attract AI, cloud-computing and data-centre investment to Chhattisgarh.
3. Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru are IT hubs, but the first AI SEZ is in Nava Raipur.

Yaad rakhein: First AI SEZ → Nava Raipur (Chhattisgarh's new capital city).

Answer: (A) Nava Raipur

Concept: A semicryogenic engine burns refined kerosene with liquid oxygen; ISRO is developing a 2000 kN engine for future boosters.

1. On 28 March 2025 ISRO successfully carried out the first hot test of the engine power head test article at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu).
2. The power head includes the pre-burner, turbo-pump and control parts – everything except the thrust chamber.
3. No full flight test of a launch vehicle with this engine has happened yet.

Yaad rakhein: Semicryogenic = LOX + kerosene (ISROsene); test site = Mahendragiri.

Answer: (D) Hot test of the engine power head test article

Concept: Terahertz (THz) bands for 6G research start above the millimetre-wave range.

1. As reported by VarIndia (April 2025), India's draft '6G THz Testbed' plan targets components working at frequencies above 100 GHz.
2. The testbed is meant to develop and test indigenous THz devices, antennas and transceivers for 6G.
3. 6 GHz and 60 GHz belong to current Wi-Fi/5G-type bands, not THz.

Yaad rakhein: 6G THz testbed → above 100 GHz.

Answer: (C) 100 GHz

Concept: Gupta inscriptions name several high officials; the army chief was the Mahasenapati (also called Mahabaladhikrita).

1. Mahasenapati – Commander-in-Chief of the army.
2. Sandhivigrahika – minister of peace and war (foreign affairs).
3. Amatya / Mahamatya – ministers/high officers of civil administration.

Yaad rakhein: Sena-pati = master of the army; Sandhi-vigraha = peace-war.

Answer: (C) Mahasenapati

Concept: CSMT (formerly Victoria Terminus), designed by F. W. Stevens and completed in 1887, is a famous example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture.

1. It blends Victorian Italianate Gothic features with some traditional Indian elements – domes, turrets, pointed arches.
2. It was named after Queen Victoria for her Golden Jubilee (1887) and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2004).
3. Indo-Saracenic is the style of buildings like the Gateway of India and Victoria Memorial – a tempting but wrong option.

Yaad rakhein: Victoria Terminus → Victorian Gothic.

Answer: (B) Victorian Gothic

Concept: The Portuguese were the first Europeans to find a sea route to India.

1. Vasco da Gama sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and reached Kappad near Calicut on 20 May 1498.
2. He was received by the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut.
3. Albuquerque (captured Goa, 1510) and Nino da Cunha came later; Columbus reached America (1492), not India.

Yaad rakhein: 1498 – Vasco da Gama – Calicut; 1510 – Albuquerque – Goa.

Answer: (B) Vasco da Gama

Concept: Mont Blanc (about 4,808 m) is the highest peak of the Alps and of Western Europe.

1. It lies on the France–Italy border.
2. Himalayas → Mount Everest; Andes → Aconcagua; Western Ghats → Anamudi.

Yaad rakhein: Mont Blanc = 'White Mountain', always snow-covered, in the Alps.

Answer: (A) Alps

Concept: The eastern coastal plain is an emergent coast, while the western coastal plain is a submerged coast.

1. On an emergent coast the land has risen relative to the sea, so the plain is broad and the continental shelf is wide and shallow near the shore.
2. Shallow water and deltas make it hard to build deep natural harbours, so the east coast has fewer ports.
3. The submerged western coast has deep water close to the shore – good for natural ports (Mumbai, Kochi, Mormugao).

Yaad rakhein: West = submerged = deep harbours; East = emergent = broad plain, fewer ports.

Answer: (C) It is an emergent coast

Concept: 'Diyaslai' (matchbox) is the autobiography of Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

1. Kailash Satyarthi founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan and shared the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 with Malala Yousafzai.
2. IGNCA (Ministry of Culture) held a discussion on 'Diyaslai' in February 2025 with former President Ram Nath Kovind as chief guest.
3. Kiran Bedi, Laxmi Agarwal and Kamla Bhasin are other activists, not authors of this book.

Yaad rakhein: Diyaslai → Satyarthi (child-rights activist).

Answer: (A) Kailash Satyarthi

Concept: Article 61 lays down the procedure for impeachment of the President for 'violation of the Constitution'.

1. The charge can start in either House with a notice signed by at least one-fourth of its members and 14 days' notice.
2. It must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of each House.
3. Art. 52 – there shall be a President; Art. 54 – election; Art. 66 – election of the Vice-President.

Yaad rakhein: 52 President exists, 54 election, 61 impeachment.

Answer: (A) Article 61

Concept: Tribunals do judicial work, so the Supreme Court insists they must enjoy the same independence as courts.

1. In cases such as L. Chandra Kumar (1997) and the Madras Bar Association cases, the Court held that tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that must be free from executive control.
2. It struck down provisions on appointments, tenure and service conditions that gave the government too much say.
3. So tribunals cannot be treated as executive bodies or run by the parent ministry.

Yaad rakhein: Separation of powers + judicial independence → tribunals too.

Answer: (C) Tribunals, being quasi-judicial bodies, must be independent of the executive, just like regular courts.

Concept: Bharatpol is a portal developed by the CBI, India's National Central Bureau for Interpol.

1. Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched it on 7 January 2025.
2. It lets central and state police agencies send requests for Interpol assistance (notices, information) quickly through one platform.
3. NCRB keeps crime data and NIA probes terror cases – they are not Interpol's nodal body.

Yaad rakhein: Interpol link in India = CBI → Bharatpol.

Answer: (C) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Concept: English education exposed educated Indians to western ideas of liberty, equality, democracy and nationalism.

1. Thinkers like Mill, Rousseau and Mazzini inspired Indian leaders to question colonial rule.
2. English became a common language that linked leaders from different regions, helping form bodies like the INC (1885).
3. Hence it ignited national awakening – it did not suppress nationalism or support casteism.

Yaad rakhein: Western education → new middle class → national awakening.

Answer: (C) Ignited national awakening

Concept: Per capita income = national income divided by population.

1. After the LPG reforms of 1991, GDP growth rose to around 6–8% a year for most years.
2. As a result India's per capita income has risen steadily, despite short dips (e.g. 2020 COVID year).
3. So the overall trend is a gradual increase, not decline or stagnation.

Yaad rakhein: 1991 reforms = Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation → faster growth.

Answer: (D) Gradual increase

Concept: RBI has four Deputy Governors, appointed by the Central Government.

1. Economist Dr. Poonam Gupta took charge as RBI Deputy Governor in May 2025 for three years.
2. She succeeded Michael Debabrata Patra and looks after monetary policy; earlier she was Director-General of NCAER.
3. Swaminathan J is an existing Deputy Governor; the others are not Deputy Governors.

Yaad rakhein: Poonam Gupta – ex-NCAER chief – RBI DG, 2025.

Answer: (D) Dr. Poonam Gupta

Concept: In May 2025 Mizoram became the first state of India declared fully functionally literate.

1. The declaration was made on 20 May 2025 under the ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram) scheme.
2. A state is called fully literate when its literacy rate crosses 95%; Mizoram's is about 98%.
3. Ladakh (a Union Territory) achieved this status earlier, in 2024.

Yaad rakhein: First fully literate state (ULLAS) → Mizoram.

Answer: (A) Mizoram

Concept: Specific heat is the heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1 K; a low value means it heats up quickly.

1. Copper: about $386{\text{J kg}}^{-1}{\text{K}}^{-1}$ (low – good for cookware).
2. Aluminium ≈ $900$, iron ≈ $450$, water ≈ $4186{\text{J kg}}^{-1}{\text{K}}^{-1}$.
3. $239{\text{J kg}}^{-1}{\text{K}}^{-1}$ is closer to silver; the other values do not match copper.

Yaad rakhein: Water highest (≈ 4186); copper ≈ 386; lead ≈ 128.

Answer: (D) $386.4{\text{J kg}}^{-1}{\text{K}}^{-1}$

Concept: India's first National Agriculture Policy was announced by the Central Government in July 2000.

1. It aimed at over 4% annual growth in agriculture, sustainable use of resources and better returns to farmers.
2. The National Policy for Farmers (2007, based on the Swaminathan Commission) came later.

Yaad rakhein: NAP – 2000; National Policy for Farmers – 2007.

Answer: (A) 2000