Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: In the cycle of erosion (W.M. Davis), a river keeps wearing down the land until, in old age, an almost flat, gently undulating surface remains.

1. This nearly flat end-surface of long river erosion is called a peneplain ('almost a plain').
2. Isolated hard-rock hills that survive on it are monadnocks – they are remnants, not the surface itself.
3. A floodplain is built by river deposition; a plateau is a raised table-land.

Yaad rakhein: Pene = almost; peneplain = almost a plain. Monadnock = the hill left standing on it.

Answer: (D) Peneplain

Concept: Wind power needs strong, steady winds – found along coasts and open plains of western and southern India.

1. Gujarat has a long coastline (about 1,600 km) and the Kutch–Saurashtra region with high wind speeds.
2. Gujarat is among the top states in installed wind capacity, along with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
3. Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand are inland states with weaker winds; Bihar and Jharkhand have very little wind power.

Yaad rakhein: Top wind states: Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (Muppandal in TN, Kutch in Gujarat).

Answer: (D) Gujarat

Concept: In arid areas land degrades mainly by wind erosion and moving sand, so the remedy must break the wind.

1. Shelterbelts – rows of trees planted across the wind direction – reduce wind speed, stop sand dunes moving and protect fields (e.g., western Rajasthan).
2. Contour ploughing and terrace farming check water erosion on slopes in hilly areas.
3. Shifting cultivation causes deforestation and actually increases degradation.

Trick: Desert/wind problem → trees as wind-breaks (shelterbelts); hill/slope problem → contour or terrace.

Answer: (C) Shelterbelt plantation

Concept: World Water Day is observed every year on 22 March by the UN, each year with a theme.

1. The theme of World Water Day 2025 was 'Glacier Preservation', linked to 2025 being the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation.
2. 'Water for Peace' was the 2024 theme; 'Accelerating Change' was the 2023 theme.

Yaad rakhein: 2023 – Accelerating Change, 2024 – Water for Peace, 2025 – Glacier Preservation.

Answer: (D) Glacier preservation

Concept: The Insert key is traditionally linked with copying (e.g., Ctrl + Ins copies). In some file-manager programs Alt + Ins copies the selected item instead of moving it.

1. Alt + F4 closes the active window/program.
2. Alt + Tab switches between open programs.
3. Alt + Del is not a standard copy command.
4. So the combination meant for copying is Alt + Ins.

Trick: 'Ins' (Insert) keys = copy/paste family: Ctrl + Ins copy, Shift + Ins paste.

Answer: (C) Alt + Ins

Concept: In 1991 India faced a balance-of-payments crisis with foreign-exchange reserves enough for only about two weeks of imports.

1. India took a large loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (and World Bank support).
2. The loan came with conditions – liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) – which shaped the New Economic Policy of 1991.
3. RBI is India's central bank; it implemented policy but did not provide the external bail-out.

Yaad rakhein: 1991 crisis → IMF loan → LPG reforms (PM Narasimha Rao, FM Manmohan Singh).

Answer: (D) International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Concept: Fiscal discipline means keeping government deficits and debt under control by law.

1. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act was passed in 2003 (in force from 2004).
2. It set targets to reduce fiscal deficit and revenue deficit and to make budgets transparent.
3. Companies Act deals with companies, Banking Regulation Act (1949) with banks and FEMA (1999) with foreign exchange.

Yaad rakhein: FRBM = 2003 = fiscal deficit targets; FEMA = 1999 = foreign exchange.

Answer: (D) Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act

Concept: An operating system (OS) is system software that acts as an interface between the user and the computer hardware.

1. The OS manages CPU, memory, files and input/output devices and runs other software – i.e., it manages hardware and software resources.
2. Compiling code is the job of a compiler; displaying web pages is done by a browser; arithmetic is done by the ALU of the CPU.

Yaad rakhein: OS = resource manager (examples: Windows, Linux, Android, macOS).

Answer: (C) Managing computer hardware and software resources

Concept: Article 74: there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President.

1. The Council of Ministers frames government policies and the President acts on its advice.
2. Judicial review is done by courts; state legislatures are not supervised by the Union Council of Ministers.
3. War is declared in the name of the President (on the Cabinet's advice), so 'framing policies and advising the President' is the correct description.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 74 – Council of Ministers aids and advises; Art. 75 – collectively responsible to Lok Sabha.

Answer: (D) Framing policies and advising the President

Concept: The Northern Plain is an alluvial plain built by deposits of Himalayan rivers.

1. It is formed by three river systems – the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra – with their tributaries.
2. Narmada and Mahanadi are Peninsular rivers; Damodar is a tributary of the Hooghly in the Chota Nagpur region.

Yaad rakhein: Northern Plain = I-G-B: Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra.

Answer: (A) Brahmaputra

Concept: Frequency $f$ = number of oscillations per second; time period $T$ = time for one oscillation.

1. If one oscillation takes $T$ seconds, then in 1 second there are $\frac{1}{T}$ oscillations.
2. So $f=\frac{1}{T}$ (equivalently $T=\frac{1}{f}$).
3. Example: $T=0.01\text{s}\Rightarrow f=100\text{Hz}$.

Trick: Units check: $f$ in hertz $={\text{s}}^{-1}$, so it must be the reciprocal of time.

Answer: (B) $f=\frac{1}{T}$

Concept: The Firangi Mahal is a famous centre of Islamic learning (ulema) in Lucknow.

1. Maulana Abdul Bari of Firangi Mahal supported Gandhiji in the Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) and later in the Khilafat Movement.
2. This built Hindu–Muslim unity in the national movement.
3. Aligarh was the centre of Sir Syed's Aligarh Movement, not of the Firangi Mahal ulema.

Yaad rakhein: Firangi Mahal → Lucknow; Deoband → Saharanpur; Aligarh → Sir Syed.

Answer: (D) Lucknow

Concept: All-India Services (IAS, IPS, IFoS) are created under Article 312 and regulated by the All-India Services Act, 1951.

1. Section 3 of the Act empowers the Central Government, after consulting the State Governments, to make rules for recruitment and conditions of service.
2. UPSC only conducts the examinations; Parliament made the Act itself.

Yaad rakhein: Act by Parliament → rules by Central Government → exam by UPSC.

Answer: (B) Central Government

Concept: In IPL 2025, Gujarat Titans opener B. Sai Sudharsan had a record season.

1. He scored 759 runs and won the Orange Cap.
2. At 23, he became the youngest player to score 700+ runs in a single IPL season.
3. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal also batted well but did not set this record.

Yaad rakhein: IPL 2025: Orange Cap – Sai Sudharsan (GT); title – RCB.

Answer: (A) Sai Sudharsan

Concept: The English East India Company got land at Madraspatnam in 1639 and built its first major fortified settlement there.

1. Fort St. George (1639–40) was founded by Francis Day and Andrew Cogan in Chennai.
2. It was the first English fort in India; today it houses the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
3. Fort St. David is at Cuddalore, Sadras was Dutch, and Gingee Fort is in Villupuram district.

Yaad rakhein: Chennai – Fort St. George (1640); Kolkata – Fort William; Cuddalore – Fort St. David.

Answer: (B) Fort St. George

Concept: The National Commission for Women (NCW) launched 'Yashoda AI' in May 2025 with Future Shift Labs.

1. Its aim is to build AI literacy, cyber-safety and digital awareness among women, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
2. It is a training and awareness campaign, not a loan, health or crafts scheme.

Yaad rakhein: Yashoda AI = NCW + AI literacy for women.

Answer: (C) To enhance AI literacy and digital awareness among women

Concept: Paul Ehrlich, a German scientist, is called the father of chemotherapy.

1. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908 (shared with Élie Metchnikoff) for his work on immunity.
2. His team developed salvarsan (compound 606), the first modern chemotherapeutic drug, used against syphilis (1909–10).
3. 1901 was the year of the first Nobel Prizes (von Behring in Medicine).

Yaad rakhein: Ehrlich – 'magic bullet' idea – Nobel 1908 – salvarsan for syphilis.

Answer: (B) 1908

Concept: Sanskrit is the classical language of ancient India.

1. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are composed in Sanskrit.
2. It is mainly linked with religious, philosophical and classical literature – not with folk or pop songs, tribal stories or modern novels.

Yaad rakhein: Sanskrit → Vedas and epics; Valmiki (Ramayana), Vyasa (Mahabharata).

Answer: (D) ancient religious texts and epics

Concept: The Delhi Legislative Assembly has 70 seats; elections were held on 5 February 2025.

1. The BJP won 48 seats and formed the government; Rekha Gupta became Chief Minister.
2. The AAP won 22 seats and the Congress won none.
3. 22 is AAP's tally; 62 was AAP's tally in 2020; 70 is the total seats.

Yaad rakhein: Delhi 2025: BJP 48 + AAP 22 = 70.

Answer: (A) 48

Concept: Pankaj Advani is India's most successful cue-sports player.

1. In November 2024 he won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Doha, Qatar, defeating England's Robert Hall in the final.
2. This was his 28th world title (billiards and snooker combined).
3. Sourav Kothari won the 2018 world title; Yasin Merchant is a snooker player.

Yaad rakhein: Advani – 28 world titles; Padma Bhushan 2018; Khel Ratna 2006.

Answer: (B) Pankaj Advani