Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Governors are appointed by the President (Article 155).

1. Ajay Kumar Bhalla took oath as Governor of Manipur on 3 January 2025 in Imphal.
2. He was earlier Union Home Secretary (2019–2024).
3. Arif Mohammed Khan, in the same reshuffle, moved to Bihar.

Yaad rakhein: Governor's oath is administered by the Chief Justice of the state's High Court (Article 159).

Answer: (B) Ajay Kumar Bhalla

Concept: Medical devices and pharma fall under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

1. The scheme was launched in November 2024 by Union Minister J. P. Nadda.
2. It is run by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers), with ₹500 crore outlay.
3. Health Ministry is the tempting option, but it does not run industry-support schemes for devices.

Yaad rakhein: Department of Pharmaceuticals → Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (also runs PLI for pharma and Jan Aushadhi).

Answer: (C) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Concept: The Periodic Labour Force Survey is conducted by the NSSO.

1. PLFS started in 2017 and is run by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
2. It measures LFPR, Worker Population Ratio and Unemployment Rate.
3. NSSO is part of MoSPI, but the question asks for the conducting organisation.

Yaad rakhein: PLFS gives quarterly urban data and annual rural + urban data on employment.

Answer: (A) National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)

Concept: India's first organic fisheries cluster was launched in Sikkim in January 2025.

1. It is located in Soreng district, Sikkim.
2. It was set up under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
3. Sikkim fits because it is India's first fully organic state (2016).

Trick: Link 'organic' with Sikkim – India's first 100% organic state.

Answer: (B) Sikkim

Concept: 'A Suitable Boy' (1993) is by Vikram Seth.

1. The novel is set in India of the early 1950s and centres on Lata's marriage.
2. It is among the longest single-volume English novels.
3. Mistry – A Fine Balance; Khushwant Singh – Train to Pakistan; Adiga – The White Tiger.

Yaad rakhein: Vikram Seth's other works: The Golden Gate, An Equal Music, Two Lives.

Answer: (B) Vikram Seth

Concept: 'Last Man in Tower' (2011) is by Aravind Adiga.

1. The story is set in a Mumbai housing society facing a builder's buy-out offer.
2. Adiga won the Booker Prize in 2008 for 'The White Tiger'.
3. Mistry, Ghosh and Seth wrote other well-known novels, not this one.

Yaad rakhein: Adiga's books: The White Tiger, Between the Assassinations, Last Man in Tower, Selection Day, Amnesty.

Answer: (B) Aravind Adiga

Concept: India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

1. It is a war memorial for Indian soldiers of World War I; completed in 1931.
2. Lutyens also designed Viceroy's House (Rashtrapati Bhavan).
3. Herbert Baker designed the North and South Blocks – the tempting wrong choice.

Yaad rakhein: New Delhi = 'Lutyens' Delhi'; Baker = Secretariat blocks and Parliament House (with Lutyens).

Answer: (B) Edwin Lutyens

Concept: Navroz is the Parsi (Zoroastrian) New Year.

1. 'Navroz' means 'new day' and comes from Persian tradition.
2. In India it is mainly celebrated by the Parsi community.
3. Nowruz is on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Yaad rakhein: Parsi worship place = Fire Temple (Agiary); holy book = Zend Avesta.

Answer: (B) Parsi

Concept: GSLV Mk-III is officially called LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3).

1. It is ISRO's heaviest launcher, with a C25 cryogenic upper stage.
2. It launched Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3.
3. It is the chosen vehicle for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.

Trick: Other options are misspellings (PSLN, ASLB) or old vehicles – only LVM3 is real.

Answer: (B) LVM3

Concept: Pressure is thrust acting per unit area.

1. P = Thrust ÷ Area (SI unit N/m² = pascal).
2. For constant area, pressure ∝ thrust.
3. Adding/subtracting force and area is meaningless (different units).

Trick: Check units: only N ÷ m² gives a pressure unit – eliminates (C) and (D) at once.

Answer: (B) Pressure = Thrust / Area

Concept: Financial-sector reforms after 1991 opened banking to more private and foreign capital.

1. The foreign investment ceiling in banks was raised to about 74%.
2. RBI's role shifted from controller to facilitator.
3. Eligible banks could open new branches without RBI's prior approval.

Yaad rakhein: LPG = Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation; reforms started under PM Narasimha Rao and FM Manmohan Singh.

Answer: (C) 74%

Concept: In the 18th century Ujjain grew under the Sindhia (Scindia) family.

1. Ranoji Sindhia made Ujjain the seat of his Malwa territory in the 1730s.
2. The Sindhias later moved their capital to Gwalior.
3. Gaikwads ruled Baroda; Pawars ruled Dhar/Dewas; Tomars were an earlier Rajput dynasty.

Yaad rakhein: Maratha houses: Sindhia – Gwalior, Holkar – Indore, Gaikwad – Baroda, Bhonsle – Nagpur.

Answer: (A) Sindhia

Concept: The general sepoy uprising began at Meerut on 10 May 1857.

1. Sepoys at Meerut rebelled after comrades were punished over the greased cartridges.
2. They marched to Delhi and declared Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor.
3. Barrackpore saw only Mangal Pandey's single act (29 March 1857) – not the outbreak.

Trick: Date pair: 29 March – Barrackpore (Mangal Pandey); 10 May – Meerut (revolt begins).

Answer: (B) Meerut

Concept: Article 110 defines a Money Bill.

1. A Money Bill deals only with taxes, government borrowing, Consolidated/Contingency Fund matters etc.
2. The Lok Sabha Speaker's certificate on it is final; it starts only in Lok Sabha.
3. Art. 108 = joint sitting; 111 = assent to Bills; 113 = demands for grants.

Yaad rakhein: Rajya Sabha can hold a Money Bill for at most 14 days and can only recommend changes.

Answer: (B) Article 110

Concept: Ferrous minerals contain iron or are used for iron/steel alloys; non-ferrous ones are not.

1. Iron ore, manganese and cobalt are grouped as ferrous (steel-making) minerals.
2. Bauxite is the ore of aluminium – it has no iron.
3. So bauxite is non-ferrous, like copper, lead and zinc.

Trick: Steel helpers (Mn, Cr, Ni, Co, W) count as ferrous; Bauxite (Al) is the classic non-ferrous example.

Answer: (C) Bauxite

Concept: Operation Flood began in 1970 under the NDDB.

1. Led by Dr Verghese Kurien ('Father of the White Revolution').
2. It spread the Anand model of milk cooperatives across India.
3. It made India the world's largest milk producer.

Yaad rakhein: National Milk Day = 26 November (Kurien's birthday).

Answer: (B) 1970

Concept: Factor cost = payments to factors of production (rent, wages, interest, profit).

1. It is what producers pay land, labour, capital and entrepreneur.
2. Market price = Factor cost + Net indirect taxes (indirect taxes − subsidies).
3. Options (A), (C), (D) all describe taxes, which are excluded from factor cost.

Trick: Three options talk of 'taxes' – the odd one out is the answer.

Answer: (B) Payments made to factors of productio

Concept: Vessels are part of xylem, which carries water and minerals upward.

1. Xylem = tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma, xylem fibres.
2. Phloem = sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, fibres – no vessels.
3. So only statement II is correct.

Trick: Xylem moves water one way (root → leaves); phloem moves food both ways (leaves ↔ other parts).

Answer: (A) Only II

Concept: Tendrils show thigmotropism – growth response to touch.

1. On contact, the part touching the support grows slower than the outer side.
2. Faster growth on the free side makes the tendril bend and coil.
3. So it winds round the support and holds the plant up.

Trick: Touch → thigmotropism; light → phototropism; gravity → geotropism; water → hydrotropism.

Answer: (B) It coils around the support and holds it

Concept: Banabhatta, court poet of Harshavardhana, wrote 'Kadambari' and 'Harshacharita'.

1. 'Kadambari' is a prose romance by Banabhatta (completed by his son).
2. 'Raghuvamsha' and 'Ritusamhara' are by Kalidasa.
3. 'Dhatupatha' is the list of verb roots linked with Panini's grammar.

Trick: Bana + Harsha: Harshacharita (biography) and Kadambari (romance) – both prose.

Answer: (C) Kadambari