Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Laureus World Sports Awards honour the best sportspersons of the year.

1. Simone Biles (USA) won the 2025 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award.
2. She is an artistic gymnast with multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medals, including three golds at Paris 2024.

Yaad rakhein: Biles = Gymnastics; the 'Biles' skills on vault, beam and floor are named after her.

Answer: (C) gymnastics

Concept: Alluvial soil is formed by deposition of silt brought by rivers.

1. The Great (Northern) Plains were built by sediments of the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra systems, so alluvial soil covers them on a large scale.
2. It is the most widespread soil in India (about 40% of the area) and is very fertile.
3. Black soil is typical of the Deccan lava region; red and laterite soils are found on old crystalline rocks and high-rainfall plateaus.

Yaad rakhein: Plains = rivers = alluvium (Khadar new, Bhangar old).

Answer: (C) Alluvial soil

Concept: Vitamins are either fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) or water-soluble (B-complex and C).

1. Vitamin A – fat-soluble ✔
2. Vitamin B6 – water-soluble ✘
3. Vitamin C – water-soluble ✘
4. Vitamin D – fat-soluble ✔ → so only 1 and 4.

Yaad rakhein: Fat-soluble vitamins = 'KEDA' (K, E, D, A). B and C dissolve in water.

Answer: (B) Only 1 and 4

Concept: Moving a file means removing it from the old place and placing it in the new one – this is Cut + Paste.

1. Cut: Edit → Cut or Ctrl + X (file is marked to move).
2. Go to the new location and Paste: Edit → Paste or Ctrl + V.
3. Option B uses Copy, which leaves the original in place (that is copying, not moving); option A deletes the file.

Yaad rakhein: Ctrl + X = cut (move), Ctrl + C = copy, Ctrl + V = paste.

Answer: (C) Select file → Edit → Cut or Ctrl + X → Go to new location → Edit → Paste or Ctrl + V

Concept: In the Pala and Pratihara empires, the kingdom was divided into bhuktis (provinces), which were subdivided into vishayas (districts).

1. The governor of a bhukti was called the Uparika (Uparika-maharaja).
2. The head of a vishaya (district) was the Vishayapati.
3. Koshtapala was an officer in charge of a fort/store, not a province.

Yaad rakhein: Bhukti → Uparika; Vishaya → Vishayapati (the name of the unit gives the officer).

Answer: (B) Uparika

Concept: The Finance Commission is a constitutional body under Article 280, constituted by the President every five years.

1. It recommends the distribution of net tax proceeds between the Centre and the States (vertical devolution) and among the States (horizontal devolution).
2. The 15th FC kept the States' share at 41%; the 16th FC is chaired by Arvind Panagariya.
3. CAG audits accounts; NITI Aayog is a policy think tank and does not divide taxes.

Yaad rakhein: Tax sharing = Article 280 = Finance Commission.

Answer: (B) Finance Commission

Concept: After the 1991 reforms (Narasimham Committee), the RBI issued guidelines in 1993 for licensing new private sector banks.

1. In 1994, the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Limited) was among the first to receive an 'in principle' approval from the RBI to set up a private sector bank.
2. This led to HDFC Bank, incorporated in August 1994 (HDFC Ltd merged into HDFC Bank in 2023).
3. Kotak Mahindra converted to a bank only in 2003.

Yaad rakhein: First wave of new private banks (1994): HDFC, ICICI, UTI (Axis), IndusInd …

Answer: (D) HDFC Limited

Concept: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

1. Article 243D reserves not less than one-third (33%) of seats for women, including the offices of chairpersons.
2. Many States (e.g., Bihar, Rajasthan) have voluntarily raised it to 50%, but the constitutional minimum is 33%.

Yaad rakhein: Minimum = one-third = 33%; 50% is a State-level extension.

Answer: (B) 33%

Concept: The Vedas are the oldest sacred texts of India, composed in Vedic Sanskrit.

1. The Rigveda, the oldest, is a collection of 1,028 hymns (suktas) in praise of gods like Agni, Indra and Varuna.
2. Samaveda sets hymns to melody, Yajurveda gives sacrificial formulas, and Atharvaveda contains charms and spells – all are essentially prayers and hymns.
3. Laws (Dharmashastras) and war/agricultural manuals came in later texts.

Yaad rakhein: Veda = hymns; 'Rig' itself means praise.

Answer: (D) Prayers and hymns

Concept: Manipuri, also called Meitei (Meiteilon), is the official language of Manipur.

1. Manipuri/Meitei was added to the Eighth Schedule by the 71st Amendment, 1992.
2. Khasi is spoken in Meghalaya, Mizo is the official language of Mizoram and Bodo is spoken in Assam.

Yaad rakhein: Manipur → Meitei, Mizoram → Mizo, Meghalaya → Khasi/Garo, Assam → Bodo.

Answer: (D) Meitei

Concept: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is a constitutional body.

1. Article 338 provides for the National Commission for SCs; Article 338A (89th Amendment, 2003) for STs.
2. Article 340 – commission on backward classes; Article 342 – specification of STs; Article 335 – claims of SCs/STs to services.

Yaad rakhein: 338 = SC, 338A = ST, 338B = Backward Classes (102nd Amendment).

Answer: (B) Article 338

Concept: Roads can reach almost every doorstep, while trains run only between fixed stations.

1. Road transport gives door-to-door service, reducing loading and unloading costs.
2. For long distances and bulk cargo, railways are cheaper and faster, so options B and C actually favour railways.
3. Railways are also more environment-friendly per tonne-km than road vehicles.

Yaad rakhein: Road = short distance & door-to-door; Rail = long distance & bulk.

Answer: (A) Door-to-door service

Concept: T20 records in IPL 2025.

1. During IPL 2025, Virat Kohli became the first batter to score 9,000 T20 runs for a single team – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (IPL + Champions League T20).
2. Kohli also holds the record for most runs in IPL history (8,000+).
3. Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Tilak Varma do not hold this record.

Yaad rakhein: Kohli – one team (RCB) since 2008: hence the single-team record.

Answer: (A) Virat Kohli

Concept: The Faraizi Movement was founded by Haji Shariatullah in eastern Bengal (1818) and led later by his son Dudu Miyan.

1. It began as an Islamic reform movement but turned into an agrarian movement of poor peasants.
2. Dudu Miyan urged peasants not to pay illegal cesses/taxes to zamindars and resisted the indigo planters who oppressed them.

Yaad rakhein: Faraizi → Bengal → Shariatullah & Dudu Miyan → against zamindars and indigo planters.

Answer: (A) Indigo planters and zamindars

Concept: The NAPCC (2008) has eight national missions.

1. The National Solar Mission (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, 2010) specifically promotes solar energy.
2. Other missions: Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Himalayan Ecosystem, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture, Strategic Knowledge.

Yaad rakhein: The name says it – 'Solar' Mission for solar energy.

Answer: (A) National Solar Mission

Concept: Modern quantum mechanics was born in 1925.

1. In 1925, Werner Heisenberg published his paper founding matrix mechanics, the first complete form of quantum mechanics; he also gave the uncertainty principle (1927).
2. Pauli gave the exclusion principle, Hertz discovered radio waves, and Rutherford gave the nuclear model of the atom.

Yaad rakhein: 1925 = Heisenberg (matrix mechanics), 1926 = Schrödinger (wave mechanics).

Answer: (A) Werner Heisenberg

Concept: Patent support for medical innovators.

1. In 2025, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched 'Medical Innovations Patent Mitra' to help doctors and researchers convert innovations into patents.
2. It provides guidance on prior-art search, drafting and filing of patent applications.

Yaad rakhein: Medical research body of India = ICMR → medical patents initiative.

Answer: (D) ICMR

Concept: The Munda Rebellion (Ulgulan, 1899–1900) took place in the Chotanagpur region (present Jharkhand).

1. It was led by Birsa Munda, called 'Dharti Aaba' (Father of the Earth).
2. It opposed the destruction of the Khuntkatti land system, forced labour (begari), zamindars and missionaries.
3. His birth anniversary, 15 November, is observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.

Yaad rakhein: Ulgulan = Great Tumult = Birsa Munda.

Answer: (D) Birsa Munda

Concept: 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE) means holding Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections together.

1. The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced in the Lok Sabha on 17 December 2024, provides for simultaneous elections.
2. It proposes a new Article 82A and amends Articles 83, 172 and 327; it is based on the Ram Nath Kovind Committee report.
3. It was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Yaad rakhein: 129th Bill = ONOE = Kovind Committee = Article 82A.

Answer: (D) the Election Commission to conduct elections for Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies at the same time

Concept: New Supreme Court judges are administered oath by the Chief Justice of India.

1. On 30 May 2025, CJI B.R. Gavai administered oath to three new judges.
2. They were Justices N.V. Anjaria, Vijay Bishnoi and A.S. Chandurkar, taking the court close to its full strength of 34.

Yaad rakhein: 30 May 2025 → 3 judges: Anjaria, Bishnoi, Chandurkar (A-B-C).

Answer: (B) three