Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Budget 2025-26 announced social security for gig and platform workers.

1. I ✓ – identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal.
2. II ✓ – healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana (₹5 lakh cover per family per year).
3. About 1 crore gig workers expected to benefit.

Yaad rakhein: e-Shram = national database of unorganised workers (launched 2021).

Answer: (D) Both I and II

Concept: Expand the acronym to find the sector.

1. MOVCDNER = Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region.
2. Run by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (since 2015-16).
3. Promotes certified organic farming, FPOs, processing and marketing in NE States → Agriculture.

Trick: 'Organic' inside the acronym gives it away – organic farming = agriculture.

Answer: (B) Agriculture

Concept: Environmental Performance Index is released every two years by Yale and Columbia universities.

1. EPI 2024 ranked 180 countries; Estonia came first.
2. India was placed 176th.

Yaad rakhein: EPI 2024: Estonia #1; Denmark had topped the previous edition (2022).

Answer: (B) Estonia

Concept: Elderly = persons aged 60+; projection by the Technical Group on Population Projections (July 2020).

1. Elderly population 2021 ≈ 138 million.
2. Projected for 2031 ≈ 193.4 million (about 13% of the population).

Yaad rakhein: Elderly share rises from ~10% (2021) to ~13% (2031).

Answer: (D) 193.4 million

Concept: The 19th Asian Games were hosted by Hangzhou, China.

1. Planned for 2022, postponed due to COVID-19.
2. Held 23 Sep – 8 Oct 2023 (still branded 'Hangzhou 2022').
3. India won a record 107 medals (28 gold).

Yaad rakhein: Next edition: 20th Asian Games – Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (2026).

Answer: (C) 2023

Concept: Asian Games editions: 1951 Delhi, 1954 Manila, 1958 Tokyo, 1962 Jakarta.

1. Men's volleyball first appeared at the 3rd Games, Tokyo 1958.
2. Women's volleyball was added in 1962 (Jakarta).
3. No Asian Games were held in 1952 or 1956.

Trick: Asian Games run every 4 years from 1951 → 1954, 1958, 1962 – years 1952/1956 can be struck off at once.

Answer: (C) 1958

Concept: India's coastline was re-measured using large-scale maps that trace every creek and inlet.

1. Revised length: 11,098.8 km (old figure ~7,516.6 km).
2. The increase is due to finer measurement, not new land.
3. Gujarat has the longest coastline among States.

Yaad rakhein: Old 7,516 km → new 11,098 km: about 48% longer on paper. Option 7550 km is the old figure trap.

Answer: (B) $11,098.8\mathrm{km}$

Concept: Indian-origin Booker winners and their novels.

1. 'The White Tiger' – Aravind Adiga, Booker 2008 (his debut novel).
2. Arundhati Roy – 'The God of Small Things' (1997); Salman Rushdie – 'Midnight's Children' (1981).
3. Jhumpa Lahiri – Pulitzer for 'Interpreter of Maladies'.

Yaad rakhein: Booker trio: Rushdie 1981, Roy 1997, Adiga 2008 (Kiran Desai 2006 – 'The Inheritance of Loss').

Answer: (A) Aravind Adiga

Concept: Gandhara art = Indo-Greek (Greco-Buddhist) style of the north-west.

1. Greek realism (wavy hair, draped robes, muscular build) + Buddhist themes.
2. Patronised by the Kushanas; material – grey/blue schist and stucco.
3. Mathura – indigenous red sandstone; Amaravati – white marble (Satavahanas); Gupta – classical Indian.

Trick: Gandhara = Greek; Mathura = red sandstone; Amaravati = white marble.

Answer: (C) Gandhara art

Concept: Identify by features; the order also matches distance from the Sun.

1. Largest banded planet with the Great Red Spot → Jupiter.
2. Planet with prominent rings → Saturn.
3. Two smaller bluish ice giants → Uranus, then Neptune.

Trick: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles → Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Answer: (B) Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus → Neptune

Concept: Work against gravity = mgh; Power = Work/time.

1. W = 40 × 9.8 × 5 = 1960 J.
2. P = 1960 ÷ 20 = 98 W.

Trick: P = mgh/t directly: (40 × 5 / 20) × 9.8 = 10 × 9.8 = 98 W.

Answer: (B) 98 W

Concept: Pangenome = all genes of a species: core genes of every variety + extra genes of some.

1. In May 2025 scientists (team led from China) reported the first complete pangenome of Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa).
2. It helps breed varieties for yield and stress tolerance.

Yaad rakhein: Rice is the staple for more than half of the world's population.

Answer: (B) Rice

Concept: Most Rajput states allied with the Mughals; Mewar (Sisodias) was the exception.

1. Rana Sanga vs Babur (Khanwa, 1527); Maharana Pratap vs Akbar (Haldighati, 1576).
2. Amber, Bikaner, Jodhpur accepted Mughal service and marriage alliances.
3. Mewar accepted terms only in 1615 (Amar Singh – Jahangir) and never gave a bride to the Mughals.

Trick: Mewar = Maharana Pratap = never bowed; Amber (Raja Man Singh) = Akbar's closest ally.

Answer: (B) Mewar

Concept: CPSE tiers: Maharatna > Navratna > Miniratna-I > Miniratna-II.

1. BSNL (formed 2000, Ministry of Communications) is a Miniratna Category-I CPSE.
2. Miniratna-I: profit in each of the last 3 years, pre-tax profit ≥ ₹30 crore in at least one year, positive net worth.

Yaad rakhein: Miniratna-I boards can invest up to ₹500 crore (or net worth, whichever is less) without government approval.

Answer: (D) Miniratna-I

Concept: Post-1991 reform committees and their chairs.

1. Tax Reforms Committee (1991) – Raja J. Chelliah.
2. Suggested lower and fewer tax rates on a wider base and simpler customs duties.
3. Narasimham Committee (1991) – banking sector reforms.

Yaad rakhein: Chelliah = 'Father of Tax Reforms in India'; Kelkar Task Force (2002) – later tax reforms.

Answer: (B) Raja J. Chelliah

Concept: Capital expenditure creates assets or reduces liabilities; revenue expenditure does neither.

1. I ✗ – creating assets (roads, buildings, machinery) is exactly what capex does.
2. II ✓ – buying equipment/machinery adds a durable asset → capital expenditure.
3. Salaries, interest, subsidies → revenue expenditure.

Trick: Ask 'Does the spending leave an asset behind?' Yes → capital; No → revenue.

Answer: (A) Only II

Concept: Mangal Pandey – sepoy of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry.

1. On 29 March 1857 he fired on his British officers at Barrackpore cantonment, Bengal.
2. He was hanged there on 8 April 1857.
3. Meerut (10 May 1857) is where the main revolt broke out – the trap option.

Trick: Barrackpore = first spark (March); Meerut = full revolt (10 May).

Answer: (C) Barrackpore

Concept: Constitution Amendment Bills need a special majority in each House.

1. Majority of the total membership of the House, AND
2. at least 2/3 of members present and voting.
3. Federal provisions additionally need ratification by half of the State legislatures.

Trick: Amendment = 'total majority + two-thirds present'. Simple majority is for ordinary bills only.

Answer: (B) $2/3$ of members present and voting

Concept: India's population growth (Census) is studied in four phases.

1. 1901–1921: stagnant growth.
2. 1921–1951: steady growth (death rate fell, birth rate stayed high).
3. 1951–1981: population explosion; after 1981: high but slowing growth.

Trick: 1921 = 'Year of the Great Divide' – population never declined after it. Order: Stagnant → Steady → Explosion → Slowing.

Answer: (B) 1921-1951

Concept: Gautama Buddha belongs to the 6th century BCE.

1. Traditional birth date ≈ 563 BCE at Lumbini → nearest option 560 BCE.
2. Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar at age 80 (≈ 483 BCE).

Yaad rakhein: Four places: Lumbini (birth), Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), Sarnath (first sermon), Kushinagar (death).

Answer: (A) 560 BCE