Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Union Budget 2025-26 announced 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in government schools over 5 years.

1. ATLs are run under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog.
2. They give students hands-on tools like robotics kits, sensors and 3D printers.

Yaad rakhein: AIM was launched in 2016 by NITI Aayog.

Answer: (C) 50,000

Concept: BNS 2023 replaced the IPC 1860 and came into force on 1 July 2024.

1. Imprisonment term enhanced for 33 offences.
2. Fine increased in 83 offences; mandatory minimum punishment brought in for 23 offences.
3. Community service introduced as a new punishment for petty offences.

Yaad rakhein: Three new criminal laws (from 1 July 2024): BNS (replaces IPC), BNSS (replaces CrPC), BSA (replaces Indian Evidence Act).

Answer: (B) 33

Concept: Sakhi Niwas = Working Women Hostel scheme of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

1. It is part of Mission Shakti (umbrella scheme for women's safety and empowerment).
2. Mission Shakti has two parts: Sambal (safety – One Stop Centres, helpline) and Samarthya (empowerment – Sakhi Niwas, PMMVY, creches).

Trick: Mission Vatsalya = child protection; Poshan = nutrition – don't confuse with women's schemes.

Answer: (A) Mission Shakti

Concept: Basketball was invented in 1891 in the USA.

1. Inventor: Dr James Naismith, at the YMCA school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
2. Naismith was Canadian-born – that's why 'Canada' is the trap option.

Yaad rakhein: Volleyball was also invented in the USA (1895, William G. Morgan).

Answer: (B) United States of America

Concept: 38th National Games were held in Uttarakhand (Jan–Feb 2025).

1. Maharashtra: 54 gold + 71 silver + 76 bronze.
2. Total = 54 + 71 + 76 = 201 medals (2nd place).
3. Services Sports Control Board topped the table.

Yaad rakhein: Uttarakhand hosted the National Games for the first time in 2025.

Answer: (C) 201

Concept: Badminton uses a shuttlecock, not a ball.

1. Shuttlecock = cork base + feather (or synthetic) skirt.
2. Tennis, table tennis and volleyball are all played with balls.

Yaad rakhein: Shuttle is also called a 'birdie'; official badminton shuttles have 16 feathers.

Answer: (D) Badminton

Concept: Chalakudy River flows in Kerala.

1. It is a tributary of the Periyar and rises in the Anamalai hills (Western Ghats).
2. It is rich in fish diversity, home to the endangered black-collared yellow catfish.
3. Athirappilly and Vazhachal falls lie on this river.

Yaad rakhein: Athirappilly Falls is nicknamed the 'Niagara of India'.

Answer: (C) Kerala

Concept: Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is in Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur–Neemuch districts, on the Chambal).

1. It is the second home for cheetahs after Kuno National Park (also MP).
2. Project Cheetah began on 17 Sept 2022 with cheetahs from Namibia.

Yaad rakhein: Both cheetah sites (Kuno and Gandhi Sagar) are in MP – the 'Tiger State' of India.

Answer: (C) Madhya Pradesh

Concept: 'Dedh Satara' belongs to the folk music of Rajasthan.

1. Satara is a double-flute of the Thar desert – one pipe plays the tune, the other a drone.
2. It is played by desert folk musicians, especially pastoral communities of western Rajasthan.

Yaad rakhein: Other Rajasthani folk instruments: Kamaicha, Ravanhatha, Morchang, Algoza.

Answer: (B) Rajasthan

Concept: Orbital speed v = √(GM/r), with r measured from Earth's centre.

1. r ≈ 6371 + 800 = 7171 km; GM ≈ 3.99 × 10⁵ km³/s².
2. v = √(398600 / 7171) ≈ √55.6 ≈ 7.45 km/s ≈ 7.5 km/s.

Trick: Low Earth orbits are always near 7.5–7.8 km/s; 9.8 is 'g' in m/s² and 12 exceeds escape speed (11.2 km/s) – reject both.

Answer: (B) 7.5

Concept: W = F × s × cos θ.

1. Force along displacement → θ = 0°, cos 0° = 1.
2. W = 8 × 3 = 24 J.

Trick: Force and displacement in the same direction → just multiply them.

Answer: (C) 24 J

Concept: 'Prachand' is HAL's indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH).

1. Joined IAF service in 2022 (first unit at Jodhpur); the Army flies it too.
2. Designed for high-altitude operations such as Siachen and Ladakh.

Yaad rakhein: HAL helicopters: Dhruv (ALH), Rudra (armed Dhruv), Prachand (LCH); Tejas is HAL's light combat aircraft.

Answer: (C) Light combat helicopter

Concept: Forex reserves pay for imports and external obligations.

1. India imports crude oil, fertilisers, electronics etc., paid in foreign currency.
2. Low reserves → fewer months of 'import cover' → risk to essential imports and pressure on the rupee.
3. Tourism, tax collection and government spending are not directly decided by reserves.

Yaad rakhein: Forex reserves (held by RBI) = foreign currency assets + gold + SDRs + IMF reserve tranche.

Answer: (C) It limits the country's ability to import essential goods for long periods

Concept: Capital receipts either create a liability or reduce assets.

1. Borrowing must be repaid with interest → increases future obligations (liability).
2. Disinvestment = selling government stake → reduces assets, no repayment.
3. Both are capital receipts, not revenue receipts.

Trick: Liability-creating → borrowing; asset-reducing → disinvestment. Recovery of loans also reduces assets.

Answer: (A) Borrowing increases future obligations, while asset sale does not

Concept: Tipu Sultan's capital was Srirangapatna (Seringapatam).

1. It is an island town on the Kaveri, near Mysuru (Karnataka).
2. Tipu died defending it in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799).

Yaad rakhein: Treaty of Srirangapatna (1792) ended the Third Anglo-Mysore War; Tipu lost half his kingdom.

Answer: (B) Srirangapatna

Concept: National Highways ≈ 2% of India's total road length.

1. Yet they carry about 40% of road traffic.
2. They are developed by NHAI under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Yaad rakhein: Remember '2% length, 40% traffic'. Longest NH: NH-44 (Srinagar–Kanyakumari).

Answer: (B) 2%

Concept: The 2nd Plan (1956–61) was based on the P.C. Mahalanobis model.

1. Focus: rapid industrialisation through heavy and basic industries in the public sector.
2. Steel plants at Bhilai, Rourkela and Durgapur were set up in this plan.

Yaad rakhein: 1st Plan – Harrod-Domar model (agriculture); 2nd – Mahalanobis (industry); 4th Plan was drafted with D.R. Gadgil's ideas (Gadgil formula).

Answer: (C) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

Concept: The 1991 policy brought liberalisation (LPG reforms).

1. I: Industrial licensing abolished for most industries; foreign investment up to 51% allowed automatically in priority sectors → true.
2. II: An 'exit policy' allowed closing sick units, with a National Renewal Fund to protect workers → true.

Yaad rakhein: LPG = Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation – introduced in July 1991 (PM P.V. Narasimha Rao, FM Manmohan Singh).

Answer: (C) Both statements I and II

Concept: Rural settlements are classed by how houses are spaced.

1. Clustered (nucleated): compact groups of houses – common in fertile plains (e.g. Ganga plains).
2. Scattered (dispersed): isolated huts spread out – hills, forests, deserts.
3. Both are standard types (others: semi-clustered, hamleted).

Yaad rakhein: India's 4 rural settlement types: clustered, semi-clustered, hamleted, dispersed.

Answer: (C) Both statements I and II

Concept: Alcoholic fermentation (yeast, no oxygen) turns pyruvate into ethanol + CO₂.

1. Glycolysis: glucose → 2 pyruvate (in cytoplasm).
2. Yeast: pyruvate → ethanol + carbon dioxide (used in bread and brewing).
3. Muscles lack oxygen → pyruvate → lactic acid only (no oxygen is produced, so A is wrong).

Trick: Yeast → 'E + C' (ethanol, CO₂); Muscle → 'L' (lactic acid, causes cramps).

Answer: (B) Ethanol and carbon dioxide