Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: India's rank in GHI 2024.

1. India ranked 105th of 127 countries, score 27.3 – 'serious' category.
2. GHI is published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
3. Indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, child mortality.

Trick: GHI indicators – 'U-S-W-M': Undernourishment, Stunting, Wasting, Mortality.

Answer: (C) 105th

Concept: Structure of the Fiscal Health Index 2025.

1. Released by NITI Aayog (January 2025) for 18 major states.
2. Indicators fall in 5 sub-indices: quality of expenditure, revenue mobilisation, fiscal prudence, debt index, debt sustainability.
3. Odisha topped the index.

Trick: Remember 'E-R-P-D-D': Expenditure, Revenue, Prudence, Debt, Debt sustainability = 5.

Answer: (C) 5

Concept: Rebound = gaining the ball after a missed shot.

1. Offensive rebound: attacking team recovers its own miss – keeps possession.
2. Defensive rebound: defending team grabs the miss – gains possession.
3. So there are 2 main types.

Trick: Rebound types follow the two teams: attack and defence → 2.

Answer: (A) 2

Concept: Origin of the Asian Games.

1. The Asian Games Federation was formally inaugurated in New Delhi in 1949.
2. India's G. D. Sondhi championed the idea.
3. The first Asian Games followed in New Delhi in 1951; the Olympic Council of Asia replaced the AGF in 1982.

Yaad rakhein: 1949 federation → 1951 first Games, both in New Delhi.

Answer: (C) 1949

Concept: Location of Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

1. Amrabad lies in the Nallamala hills of Telangana (Nagarkurnool area).
2. It was the Telangana part of the former Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam reserve, separated after 2014.
3. Telangana's other tiger reserve is Kawal.

Trick: Nallamala hills → Andhra/Telangana: Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam (AP) and Amrabad (Telangana).

Answer: (C) Telangana

Concept: Nodal agency for IBCA in India.

1. India launched the IBCA in April 2023 at Mysuru (50 years of Project Tiger) for 7 big cats.
2. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is its nodal agency in India.
3. NTCA is a statutory body under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Yaad rakhein: 7 big cats: tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar, puma.

Answer: (D) National Tiger Conservation Authority

Concept: Rohini rockets are named by their diameter in mm.

1. India's first indigenous sounding (weather-research) rocket was the Rohini RH-75.
2. '75' in the name = 75 mm diameter (RH-200 = 200 mm, RH-560 = 560 mm).
3. It was flown from Thumba (TERLS), near Thiruvananthapuram.

Trick: Read the number in the rocket's name – it is the diameter in millimetres.

Answer: (B) 75 mm

Concept: India's first agentic AI assistant (June 2025).

1. Bengaluru startup Krutrim launched Kruti.
2. 'Agentic' AI can plan and complete multi-step tasks (e.g. booking a cab, ordering food), not just answer questions.
3. It supports several Indian languages.

Trick: Krutrim → Kruti: the product name echoes the company name.

Answer: (A) Kruti

Concept: State of matter depends on particle spacing, controlled by temperature and pressure.

1. Heating gives particles more energy → solid melts, liquid boils.
2. High pressure forces particles closer → a gas can liquefy (e.g. LPG in cylinders).
3. Hence both temperature and pressure decide the state.

Trick: Options with 'only' or 'fixed under all conditions' are extreme – reject them.

Answer: (D) Both temperature and pressure affect the state of a substance

Concept: Maratha expansion north of the Chambal.

1. After taking Malwa, the Marathas pushed into Rajputana from the 1740s.
2. Repeated raids for chauth and involvement in succession disputes (Jaipur, Marwar) drained the Rajput states and halted their growth.

Trick: 1600s/1660s is too early (Shivaji's era in the Deccan); 1780s is too late – mid-18th century fits.

Answer: (C) 1740s

Concept: Succession after Shivaji (d. 1680).

1. His elder son Sambhaji became Chhatrapati (ruled 1680–1689).
2. Shahu (Sambhaji's son) came later in 1707; Balaji Vishwanath and Nana Saheb were Peshwas, not kings.

Yaad rakhein: Order of Chhatrapatis: Shivaji → Sambhaji → Rajaram → (Tarabai as regent) → Shahu.

Answer: (B) Chhatrapati Sambhaji

Concept: Dual exchange rate after the 1991 crisis.

1. LERMS began in March 1992 (with the 1992-93 Budget).
2. Exporters gave 40% of foreign exchange to RBI at the official rate and sold 60% at the market rate.
3. It ended in March 1993 when the rupee moved to a unified market-based rate.

Yaad rakhein: Sequence: 1991 crisis → 1992 LERMS (dual) → 1993 unified rate.

Answer: (C) March 1992

Concept: Classification of economic activities.

1. Taking resources directly from nature (farming, fishing, forestry, mining) = Primary sector.
2. Secondary = manufacturing; Tertiary = services; Quaternary/Quinary = knowledge and top decision-making.

Trick: Primary = Prakriti (nature), Secondary = Sanyantra (factory), Tertiary = Takneeki seva (services).

Answer: (D) Primary

Concept: Kharif crops are sown with the monsoon (June–July) and harvested in Sept–Oct.

1. Rice needs heat and plenty of water → kharif.
2. Wheat, mustard and barley are rabi crops (sown Oct–Dec, harvested Mar–Apr).

Trick: Kharif = rainy season crops: rice, maize, jowar, bajra, cotton, groundnut, soybean.

Answer: (B) Rice

Concept: Uses of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011.

1. SECC recorded household-level deprivation, so it helps identify beneficiaries.
2. It is used for MGNREGA (rural job planning) and for identifying households under the NFSA.
3. So both statements are correct.

Yaad rakhein: SECC 2011 was India's first paperless census, done on handheld electronic devices.

Answer: (C) Both I and II

Concept: Higher government spending or tax cuts raise aggregate demand.

1. People and firms have more money → demand rises.
2. In the short run output cannot rise as fast → excess demand.
3. Excess demand pushes up prices = demand-pull inflation.

Trick: 'Too much money chasing too few goods' – the classic line for demand-pull inflation.

Answer: (D) Firms cannot produce enough to meet the higher demand at existing prices

Concept: Founding of the Maurya Empire.

1. Chandragupta Maurya, guided by Chanakya, overthrew Dhana Nanda and founded the empire around 321 BCE.
2. He later defeated Seleucus Nicator (c. 305 BCE).
3. Bindusara and then Ashoka followed.

Yaad rakhein: Megasthenes, Seleucus's envoy, wrote 'Indica' at Chandragupta's court.

Answer: (B) 321 BCE

Concept: Jain theory of conditional truth.

1. Syadvada ('syat' = 'perhaps / from some viewpoint') is linked with Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara.
2. Every statement is true only from a certain standpoint; it rests on anekantavada (many-sidedness).
3. Shankaracharya – Advaita; Buddha – Middle Path; Kanada – Vaisheshika.

Trick: Jain trio: Anekantavada (many sides), Syadvada (maybe), Saptabhangi (7-fold statement).

Answer: (C) Lord Mahavira

Concept: Location of Harappan sites.

1. Rakhigarhi is in Hisar district, Haryana, in the Ghaggar basin.
2. It is among the largest Harappan sites in the subcontinent.
3. Gujarat has Lothal and Dholavira; UP has Alamgirpur.

Yaad rakhein: Haryana Harappan sites: Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Bhirrana.

Answer: (C) Haryana

Concept: Raw materials of the Harappans.

1. Red carnelian for beads came mainly from Gujarat (Bharuch/Khambhat area).
2. Bead-making centres like Lothal and Chanhudaro processed it.
3. Other sources: copper – Khetri (Rajasthan); gold – Kolar (Karnataka); lapis lazuli – Shortughai (Afghanistan).

Trick: Bead city Lothal is in Gujarat – the stone came from nearby.

Answer: (B) Gujarat