Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Padma Awards (Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri) are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day.

1. For 2025 the President approved 139 Padma Awards.
2. Break-up: 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri.
3. 113 is only the Padma Shri count – a common trap.

Yaad rakhein: Remember the set 7 + 19 + 113 = 139.

Answer: (D) 139

Concept: The Rowlatt Act (1919) allowed detention without trial; Gandhiji launched a nationwide satyagraha against it in April 1919.

1. Protests turned most violent in Punjab – Amritsar, Lahore, Gujranwala.
2. After the arrest of Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew came the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919).
3. Martial law was then imposed in Punjab under General Dyer / Governor O'Dwyer.

Trick: Rowlatt → Jallianwala → Martial law: all in Punjab.

Answer: (C) Punjab

Concept: The MPI (UNDP–OPHI; NITI Aayog's national MPI) measures deprivation in three dimensions – health, education and standard of living – not income or spending.

1. Health: nutrition, child mortality; Education: years of schooling, school attendance.
2. Living standard: cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets.
3. Monthly Per Capita Expenditure is a consumption (money) measure used in poverty-line estimates, not an MPI indicator.

Trick: MPI = non-money deprivations; anything in rupees is out.

Answer: (D) Monthly Per Capita Expenditure

Concept: The Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) is ISRO's planned reusable heavy-lift rocket, approved in 2024.

1. ISRO is developing a LOX-Methane (liquid oxygen + liquid methane) engine for it.
2. Methane burns cleaner than kerosene (less soot/coking), which makes engine reuse easier, and it is cheaper to handle than hydrogen.
3. 'Cryogenic solid fuel' is not a real engine type.

Trick: Reusable rocket → methalox (LOX + methane), as in modern reusable boosters.

Answer: (D) LOX-Methane engine

Concept: Under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the apex national body is the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

1. NDMA is chaired by the Prime Minister and lays down national disaster policies and plans.
2. SDRF is a state-level force/fund; IRDA regulates insurance; NITI Aayog is a policy think-tank.

Trick: N-DMA = National; S-DRF = State.

Answer: (C) NDMA

Concept: The Indian (Thar) Desert lies to the north-west of the Aravalli Hills in Rajasthan.

1. The Aravalli Hills run SW–NE and form the eastern boundary of the desert.
2. They block the desert from spreading east and lie parallel to the south-west monsoon winds, so the west stays dry.
3. Western Ghats, Satpura and Vindhya are far to the south.

Trick: Thar to the west, Aravalli as its eastern wall.

Answer: (C) Aravalli Hills

Concept: Desktop/laptop operating systems include Windows, Linux, Unix and macOS.

1. Android (Google, Linux-based) is designed mainly for smartphones and tablets.
2. Windows, Linux and Unix are standard OS for computers/laptops and servers.

Trick: Android = mobile OS; it is the odd one for computers.

Answer: (B) Android

Concept: The MPC was set up in 2016 under the amended RBI Act, 1934 (Section 45ZB) to fix the policy repo rate for the inflation target of 4% (±2%).

1. It has 6 members: 3 from RBI (Governor as chair, a Deputy Governor, one officer) and 3 external members nominated by the Central Government.
2. In a tie, the Governor has a casting vote.

Yaad rakhein: 3 + 3 = 6; quorum is 4.

Answer: (A) 6

Concept: Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General, passed the Bengal Sati Regulation (Regulation XVII) on 4 December 1829.

1. It declared Sati (burning of widows) illegal and punishable.
2. Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned strongly for this ban.
3. Child-marriage law came much later (Sarda Act, 1929).

Yaad rakhein: 1829 – Bentinck – Ram Mohan Roy – Sati.

Answer: (D) Sati

Concept: Kavach is India's indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, developed by RDSO with Indian industry.

1. It automatically applies brakes if the loco pilot fails to, preventing signal-passing and head-on collisions.
2. In 2025 Indian Railways reported Kavach rollout over about 3,500 km at a cost near ₹1,700 crore, as part of nationwide expansion.

Trick: Kavach = 'armour' = automatic train protection.

Answer: (B) Kavach Automatic Train Protection

Concept: The Kashmir Valley lies between the Pir Panjal Range (south-west) and the Great Himalaya/Zaskar (north-east).

1. The Pir Panjal (Lesser Himalaya) separates the valley from the Jammu region and the outer Himalaya.
2. Jawahar Tunnel / Banihal Pass and Qazigund–Banihal tunnel cross the Pir Panjal.
3. Zaskar and Ladakh ranges lie on the Ladakh side; Karakoram is further north.

Trick: Banihal Pass is in Pir Panjal – the gateway into the Valley.

Answer: (B) Pir Panjal

Concept: The OECD's Southeast Asia Regional Programme holds a Regional Forum to discuss policy reforms with ASEAN economies.

1. The 2025 Southeast Asia Regional Forum was held in Bangkok, Thailand.
2. Thailand is a key OECD partner and an accession candidate.

Yaad rakhein: OECD SEA Forum 2025 → Bangkok (Thailand, an OECD accession candidate).

Answer: (B) Bangkok, Thailand

Concept: Tolkappiyam, written by Tolkappiyar, is the oldest surviving work of Tamil grammar and poetics.

1. It deals with letters (ezhuttu), words (sol) and subject-matter (porul).
2. Silappadikaram and Manimekalai are epics; Kural (Tirukkural, by Thiruvalluvar) is an ethical work.

Trick: Tol = old: Tolkappiyam = oldest Tamil grammar.

Answer: (A) Tolkappiyam

Concept: Christiaan Huygens (1678) proposed that light travels as a wave.

1. Huygens' principle: every point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary wavelets; their common envelope (tangent) after a time gives the new wavefront.
2. Doppler – change of frequency due to motion; Fermat – least time path; Superposition – adding displacements of waves.

Trick: Wavefront + secondary wavelets = Huygens.

Answer: (B) Huygens' Principle

Concept: Hydrogen makes ordinary steel brittle (hydrogen embrittlement), so special-grade pipes are needed to carry it.

1. Tata Steel became the first Indian company to develop steel pipes (API X65 grade) suitable for hydrogen transportation.
2. This supports India's National Green Hydrogen Mission.

Yaad rakhein: Green hydrogen pipe first → Tata Steel.

Answer: (C) Tata Steel

Concept: Grandmaster (GM) is the highest title awarded by FIDE.

1. Viswanathan Anand became India's first GM in 1988 and later a five-time World Champion.
2. Dibyendu Barua was the second (1991); Harikrishna and Praggnanandhaa came much later.

Yaad rakhein: Anand – first GM (1988), first Khel Ratna (1991-92).

Answer: (B) Viswanathan Anand

Concept: Article 239AA (69th Amendment, 1991) gives the Delhi Legislative Assembly power over State and Concurrent List subjects, with exceptions.

1. Excluded: public order (Entry 1), police (Entry 2) and land (Entry 18) of the State List, and related entries.
2. These remain with the Centre (Lt Governor / MHA).
3. Electricity, education and public health are handled by the Delhi government.

Trick: Delhi exclusions: Police, Public order, Land – 'PPL'.

Answer: (A) Public order

Concept: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad, is the PSU that makes guided missiles.

1. The Invar anti-tank guided missile (fired from the T-90 tank's gun) is produced by BDL under licence from Russia.
2. GRSE builds ships, AVNL makes armoured vehicles, BEL makes electronics/radars.

Trick: Missile = Bharat Dynamics (Akash, Astra, Invar).

Answer: (A) Bharat Dynamics Limited

Concept: The 1962 war (October–November) was fought over disputed Himalayan territory.

1. The two fronts were Aksai Chin (Ladakh, western sector) and NEFA – today's Arunachal Pradesh (eastern sector, McMahon Line).
2. Both lie along the Himalayan border; the plains and plateau were not war zones.

Trick: 1962 = Aksai Chin + McMahon Line, both Himalayan.

Answer: (A) Himalayan Border

Concept: Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 sets the time limit for the Public Information Officer to reply.

1. Normal request: 30 days from receipt.
2. Life or liberty of a person: 48 hours.
3. Via an Assistant PIO: 5 days extra (35 days); third-party information: 40 days.

Yaad rakhein: RTI = 30 days, life/liberty = 48 hours.

Answer: (B) 30 days