Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Cricket deliveries are either pace (speed/swing) or spin (turn).

1. Yorker, out-swinger and slower bouncer are all bowled by fast bowlers.
2. Chinaman is left-arm wrist spin (left-arm unorthodox) – a spin delivery.

Trick: Words like swing, bouncer, yorker = pace; googly, doosra, chinaman, carrom ball = spin.

Answer: (C) Chinaman

Concept: Bombay won the first Ranji Trophy in 1934-35.

1. In the inaugural final, Bombay beat Northern India.
2. The trophy honours K.S. Ranjitsinhji, India's first Test cricketer (played for England).
3. Bombay/Mumbai is the most successful Ranji team.

Yaad rakhein: Duleep Trophy is named after Ranji's nephew K.S. Duleepsinhji – don't mix the two.

Answer: (B) Bombay

Concept: Mission Amrit Sarovar is led by the Ministry of Rural Development.

1. Launched in April 2022 under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
2. Goal: build or revive 75 water bodies in each district.
3. Rural Development is the nodal ministry; work is done largely through MGNREGA, with other ministries supporting.

Trick: Amrit Sarovar = ponds in villages → village works → Rural Development (MGNREGA).

Answer: (C) Ministry of Rural Development

Concept: Mission Mausam aims to make India "weather-ready and climate-smart".

1. Approved in September 2024; run by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (through IMD, IITM, NCMRWF).
2. It improves forecast accuracy (I) and develops high-resolution models, radars and observation systems for better monsoon forecasting (II).
3. Both statements are aims.

Trick: Both statements describe forecasting improvement – no contradiction, so both are true.

Answer: (C) Both statement I and statement II

Concept: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was founded in Paris in 1924.

1. Founded on 7 January 1924 by Paul Léautey (first president).
2. Headquarters today: Lausanne, Switzerland.

Trick: FIFA – 1904 Paris; FIH – 1924 Paris: both born in Paris, 20 years apart.

Answer: (B) 1924

Concept: Bal Gandharva was the legendary singer-actor of Marathi musical theatre (Sangeet Natak).

1. Narayanrao Rajhans became famous for playing women's roles on the Marathi stage.
2. The title "Bal Gandharva" was given by Lokmanya Tilak; he received the Padma Bhushan (1964).
3. Marathi Sangeet Natak → Maharashtra.

Yaad rakhein: Pune's "Bal Gandharva Rangmandir" theatre is named after him.

Answer: (B) Maharashtra

Concept: Two Lives (2005) is a memoir by Vikram Seth.

1. It is about his great-uncle Shanti Behari Seth and his German wife Henny.
2. Seth's other books: A Suitable Boy, The Golden Gate, An Equal Music.

Yaad rakhein: Vikram Seth won the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Golden Gate (a novel in verse).

Answer: (C) Vikram Seth

Concept: The Mahabodhi Temple is at Bodh Gaya in Bihar.

1. It marks the spot where Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.
2. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.

Yaad rakhein: Bihar's two UNESCO sites: Mahabodhi Temple (2002) and Nalanda Mahavihara (2016).

Answer: (A) Bihar

Concept: Feroz Shah Kotla was built by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in 1354.

1. It was the fort of his new city Firozabad on the Yamuna bank.
2. It holds an Ashokan pillar brought from Topra (Haryana).
3. Firoz Shah ruled 1351–1388, so 1354 is the only option within his reign.

Trick: Match the date with the ruler: Firoz Tughlaq's reign began 1351 – only 1354 fits.

Answer: (A) 1354

Concept: Kumbh Mela is held at four places by rotation.

1. Sites: Prayagraj (Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati), Haridwar (Ganga), Ujjain (Shipra), Nashik (Godavari).
2. Varanasi is a holy city but not a Kumbh site.

Trick: Mnemonic "PHUN": Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik.

Answer: (D) Varanasi

Concept: Communication satellites sit in geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the equator.

1. At this height one orbit takes 24 hours – same as Earth's rotation, so the satellite looks fixed.
2. Acting like a very tall TV tower, it covers about one-third of the Earth.

Yaad rakhein: Exact figure ≈ 35,786 km – round to 36,000 km in exams.

Answer: (C) $36,000\mathrm{km}$

Concept: Aditya-L1, India's first solar observatory mission, was launched in 2023.

1. Lift-off: 2 September 2023, Sriharikota, on PSLV-C57.
2. It reached a halo orbit around Lagrange point L1 (about 15 lakh km from Earth) in January 2024.

Yaad rakhein: 2023 was ISRO's big year: Chandrayaan-3 (July, landed 23 Aug) and Aditya-L1 (Sept).

Answer: (C) 2023

Concept: Pressure = Force ÷ Area; SI unit N/m² = pascal (Pa).

1. 1 Pa = 1 N/m².
2. Joule → energy/work; Volt → potential difference; Newton → force.

Trick: Derive the unit: N ÷ m² → pascal. 1 atm ≈ 1.013 × 10⁵ Pa.

Answer: (C) Pascal

Concept: Chandrayaan-2 had an orbiter, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover.

1. Launched July 2019 on GSLV Mk III.
2. Lander named after Vikram Sarabhai; "Pragyan" means wisdom.
3. Vikram crash-landed, but the orbiter still works; Chandrayaan-3 reused the same names.

Trick: Lander = Vikram (person), Rover = Pragyan (wisdom) – "V lands, P roams".

Answer: (A) Vikram, Pragyan

Concept: International Years are proclaimed by the UN General Assembly.

1. The UN declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
2. It marks 100 years since modern quantum mechanics (1925).
3. UNESCO only leads the celebrations – it did not make the declaration.

Trick: Trap: UNESCO is the implementing agency; the proclaiming body is always the UN (General Assembly).

Answer: (D) United Nations (UN)

Concept: PFRDA was set up in 2003 to regulate pensions.

1. Created on 23 August 2003 through a government resolution.
2. Became a statutory body only in 2013, when its own Act was passed.
3. Oversees NPS and the Atal Pension Yojana.

Yaad rakhein: Set up 2003, Act 2013 – exactly 10 years apart. NPS for government staff began in 2004.

Answer: (C) 2003

Concept: Disinvestment = the government selling its shares in a public sector unit.

1. When the government sells part of its PSU stake, its ownership reduces – that is disinvestment.
2. Buying shares is the reverse (investment); FDI permission is a separate policy matter.
3. In India it is handled by DIPAM (Ministry of Finance).

Trick: "Dis-invest" = take investment out → sell shares.

Answer: (B) Sale of shares in a PSU

Concept: The 91st Amendment (2003) capped the size of the Council of Ministers.

1. Article 75(1A): Union ministers incl. PM ≤ 15% of Lok Sabha members.
2. Article 164(1A): same 15% cap for states, but minimum 12 ministers.
3. It also tightened anti-defection rules (removed the split provision).

Yaad rakhein: 91st = "15%" – and for states minimum 12 ministers.

Answer: (B) 15% of the total strength of the House of the People

Concept: ATP is the cell's energy currency; its breakdown releases energy used to drive energy-requiring reactions.

1. ATP → ADP + Pi releases energy.
2. This energy powers reactions that need energy input – endothermic (endergonic) ones, e.g. protein synthesis, active transport, muscle contraction.
3. Exothermic reactions release energy themselves, so they need no ATP.

Trick: Endo = "into": energy goes in → ATP supplies it.

Answer: (B) Endothermic reactions

Concept: Sangam literature, the earliest Tamil writing, dates to about 2,300 years ago.

1. Composed roughly between 300 BCE and 300 CE.
2. Called "Sangam" after assemblies of poets held at Madurai under Pandya patronage.
3. Main collections: Ettuthogai and Pattuppattu; Tolkappiyam is the grammar text.

Yaad rakhein: 300 BCE to today ≈ 2,300 years – the NCERT figure for Sangam literature.

Answer: (C) 2,300 years ago