Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Prime Minister's mentorship scheme for young writers.

1. PM-YUVA 3.0 (Ministry of Education, 2025) proposes to select 50 young authors.
2. Authors must be under 30; the National Book Trust (NBT) implements it, with ₹50,000 per month for 6 months.

Yaad rakhein: PM-YUVA = Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors; implementing agency – NBT.

Answer: (B) 50

Concept: New criminal laws replacing colonial codes (in force from 1 July 2024).

1. BNS 2023 has 358 sections (IPC had 511).
2. BNSS (replacing CrPC) has 531 sections; BSA (replacing Evidence Act) has 170.

Trick: BNS 358, BNSS 531, BSA 170 – note 358 and 531 use similar digits.

Answer: (A) 358

Concept: Eligibility under APY.

1. Launched 9 May 2015 → completed 10 years in May 2025; regulated by PFRDA.
2. Entry age: 18–40 years; pension ₹1,000–₹5,000 per month from age 60.

Trick: Join by 40, contribute at least 20 years, pension at 60.

Answer: (B) 18-40 years

Concept: Employer-survey based university ranking, 2025 edition.

1. Top 3: MIT (1st), Caltech (2nd), Stanford (3rd).
2. Harvard University was placed 4th.
3. IIT Delhi was the top Indian institution.

Trick: If the top three are known, Harvard follows directly – learn the podium.

Answer: (D) 4th

Concept: Neeraj Chopra's Olympic medals.

1. Gold: Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), men's javelin, 87.58 m.
2. Paris 2024: silver (89.45 m) – the tempting wrong option.

Trick: Tokyo = gold, Paris = silver. First Indian Olympic gold in athletics.

Answer: (B) 2020

Concept: Technical parts of a swimming race.

1. A race has three phases: start (dive off block), strokes (freestyle, back, breast, butterfly) and turns at the wall.
2. Serves/rallies, pitches/swings, smashes/footwork belong to tennis, cricket/golf, badminton.

Trick: Eliminate any option with words from other sports – only 'starts and turns' happen in a pool.

Answer: (B) Strokes, starts, and turns

Concept: State anti-poaching drive for the one-horned rhino (Aug 2025).

1. Operation Falcon was launched by Assam.
2. Greater one-horned rhinos live mainly in Assam's Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang and Manas.

Trick: One-horned rhino → Kaziranga → Assam. The animal itself gives away the state.

Answer: (A) Assam

Concept: Location of a tiger-corridor sanctuary.

1. Umred-Pauni-Karhandla WLS lies in Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra.
2. It links tiger habitats around Tadoba-Andhari with other Vidarbha forests.

Trick: Umred is a town near Nagpur – Nagpur = Maharashtra.

Answer: (C) Maharashtra

Concept: Venue of the February 2025 National Marathon (fitness awareness).

1. The marathon was organised in New Delhi.
2. Its aim matched the Fit India Movement – promoting fitness and health awareness.

Yaad rakhein: Fit India Movement was launched on 29 August 2019 (National Sports Day).

Answer: (C) New Delhi

Concept: Folk song forms by state.

1. Dewar Geet is a folk song of Chhattisgarh, sung by the wandering Dewar community.
2. Other Chhattisgarh folk songs: Pandavani, Sua geet, Bhojali.

Trick: Dewar (singer community) – Chhattisgarh; Pandavani (Teejan Bai) – also Chhattisgarh.

Answer: (D) Chhattisgarh

Concept: Typical size of the Indian bamboo flute (bansuri).

1. The bansuri is a keyless bamboo tube with a blow hole and 6–7 finger holes.
2. Its outer diameter is commonly about 1.9 cm – thick enough for a full tone, thin enough for finger reach.

Yaad rakhein: Bansuri maestro: Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia; Pannalal Ghosh popularised the long bass bansuri.

Answer: (C) 1.9 cm

Concept: Harappan town planning used standard baked bricks.

1. Citadels at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Kalibangan etc. were enclosed by thick fortified walls of baked/mud bricks.
2. These walls also guarded against floods.
3. Wooden palisades and moats with drawbridges belong to later/other cultures.

Yaad rakhein: Harappan hallmark = burnt bricks in fixed ratio 1 : 2 : 4.

Answer: (D) Fortified walls made of baked bricks

Concept: Match the folk dance with its state.

1. The Halam community of Tripura performs Hai-Hak after the harvest.
2. Other Tripura dances: Hojagiri, Garia, Lebang Boomani.

Trick: Tripura dance set: Hojagiri (Reang), Garia, Hai-Hak (Halam).

Answer: (B) Tripura

Concept: Orbits per day = minutes in a day ÷ orbital period.

1. ISS orbits ~400 km high, once every ~90 minutes.
2. 1440 ÷ 90 = 16 orbits per day.

Trick: So astronauts see about 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets daily.

Answer: (C) 16

Concept: Friction converts mechanical work into heat.

1. Rubbing produces heat by friction; this heat converts a little red phosphorus on the strip into white phosphorus, which ignites easily.
2. The flame lights the match head (potassium chlorate + antimony trisulphide).
3. No liquid fuel is inside; moisture would stop ignition.

Yaad rakhein: Safety match: red phosphorus on the box side, not on the stick head.

Answer: (B) Heat generated due to friction

Concept: US biotech investment in India (Feb 2025).

1. Amgen announced a $200 million investment to expand its technology and innovation centre in Hyderabad.
2. Gilead, Eli Lilly and AbbVie are also US pharma firms but were not linked with this announcement.

Yaad rakhein: Hyderabad is called India's 'Genome Valley' – a hub for life-science investment.

Answer: (C) Amgen

Concept: Colonial plantation economy in Assam.

1. The British developed tea plantations in Assam from the 1830s (Assam Company, 1839).
2. Peasants and indentured labourers were forced to work on tea gardens under harsh contracts.
3. Coffee and rubber were mainly southern plantation crops.

Trick: Region → crop: Assam–tea, Bengal/Bihar–indigo, South India–coffee/rubber.

Answer: (C) Tea

Concept: Origin of India's longest canal.

1. The Indira Gandhi Canal starts from the Harike Barrage near the Sutlej–Beas confluence (Punjab).
2. It was earlier called the Rajasthan Canal and irrigates the Thar desert of western Rajasthan.

Trick: Bhakra Nangal is on the Sutlej but is a dam upstream – the canal takes off at Harike.

Answer: (B) Harike Barrage at the confluence of Beas and Sutlej rivers

Concept: Religion-wise population share, Census 2011.

1. Hindus 79.8%, Muslims 14.2% (second largest), Christians 2.3%, Sikhs 1.7%, Buddhists 0.7%, Jains 0.4%.

Trick: Order: H-M-C-S-B-J (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain).

Answer: (C) Muslim

Concept: Key terms of the Upanishads and Samkhya.

1. Brahman = the ultimate, eternal, formless reality – source of the universe.
2. Atman = the individual self (identical with Brahman: 'Tat Tvam Asi').
3. Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (matter) are Samkhya concepts.

Trick: Brahman = cosmic soul, Atman = individual soul; 'Aham Brahmasmi' links them.

Answer: (C) Brahman