Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Ramganga (West) river rises from the Doodhatoli ranges in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

1. It flows south-west through Corbett National Park (Kalagarh dam) and enters the plains near Kalagarh.
2. It finally joins the Ganga near Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh.
3. The Nayar river also originates from the Doodhatoli hills of Pauri Garhwal.

Yaad rakhein: Doodhatoli = Pauri Garhwal; Ramganga flows through Jim Corbett Park.

Answer: (C) Pauri Garhwal

Concept: Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma was an instrumentalist – the legendary santoor player – not a vocalist.

1. He popularised the santoor (a Kashmiri hammered dulcimer) in classical music; also composed film music with Hariprasad Chaurasia as 'Shiv–Hari'.
2. Pt. Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Kirana gharana) and Gangubai Hangal (Kirana gharana) were Hindustani vocalists.
3. Bhimsen Joshi received the Bharat Ratna in 2008.

Yaad rakhein: Shiv Kumar Sharma – Santoor; Hariprasad Chaurasia – Flute; Zakir Hussain – Tabla.

Answer: (B) Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma

Concept: Arrange the battles by their years.

1. First Battle of Panipat (b) – 1526: Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi.
2. Battle of Khanwa (a) – 1527: Babur defeated Rana Sanga.
3. Battle of Ghaghra (c) – 1529: Babur defeated the Afghans (Mahmud Lodi).
4. Battle of Chausa (d) – 1539: Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun.

Yaad rakhein: Babur's three battles: Panipat → Khanwa → Ghaghra (1526, 1527, 1529); then Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540).

Answer: (D) b, a, c, d

Concept: Energy stored due to position or configuration is potential energy; energy due to motion is kinetic energy.

1. Before release, the yo-yo is held at rest at a height, so it has gravitational potential energy $mgh$ and no kinetic energy.
2. When released, this potential energy changes into kinetic energy (both translational and rotational).
3. At the bottom it rewinds, converting kinetic energy back into potential energy.

Yaad rakhein: At rest + raised = potential; moving = kinetic.

Answer: (D) Potential energy

Concept: Godaan (The Gift of a Cow), published in 1936, is the last completed novel of Munshi Premchand.

1. It depicts the exploitation and poverty of the peasant Hori and his wife Dhaniya.
2. Other works of Premchand: Gaban, Nirmala, Karmabhoomi, Rangbhoomi, Sevasadan; story 'Kafan'.
3. Mulk Raj Anand wrote 'Untouchable' and 'Coolie' in English.

Yaad rakhein: Godaan – Hori – 1936 – Premchand (Dhanpat Rai Srivastava).

Answer: (A) Munshi Premchand

Concept: Kapil Dev became India's Test captain in 1982–83, the first genuine fast bowler to lead the Indian Test side.

1. He led India to its first World Cup title in 1983 at Lord's.
2. He retired with 434 Test wickets, then a world record.
3. Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan never captained India in Tests; Jasprit Bumrah led India in a Test in 2022, much later.

Yaad rakhein: Kapil Dev – 1983 World Cup captain; 'Haryana Hurricane'.

Answer: (C) Kapil Dev

Concept: Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, inventor of the Mohan Veena, won the Grammy Award in 1994.

1. The award was for the album 'A Meeting by the River' with American guitarist Ry Cooder (Best World Music Album).
2. The Mohan Veena is a modified Hawaiian/slide guitar with sympathetic strings.
3. He received the Padma Shri (2002) and Padma Bhushan (2017).

Yaad rakhein: Mohan Veena + Ry Cooder + 'A Meeting by the River' → Grammy 1994.

Answer: (C) 1994

Concept: 'Along the Red River: A Memoir' is the autobiography of Sabita Goswami, the Assamese journalist.

1. The Red River refers to the Brahmaputra (Lohit).
2. The memoir describes her journalism career amid the insurgency and political turmoil of Assam.
3. Mitra Phukan is a novelist ('The Collector's Wife'); Nirupama Borgohain was an Assamese novelist and Sahitya Akademi winner.

Yaad rakhein: Red River = Brahmaputra; memoir of journalist Sabita Goswami.

Answer: (B) Sabita Goswami

Concept: Raj Kumar Shukla, an indigo cultivator from Champaran, met Gandhi at the Lucknow session of the Congress (1916) and urged him to visit Champaran.

1. The peasants were forced under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on $\frac{3}{20}$ of their land; Shukla described their plight.
2. Gandhi reached Champaran in 1917 – his first satyagraha in India.
3. Rajendra Prasad and J.B. Kripalani joined Gandhi later in Champaran; Hasrat Mohani was a different leader.

Yaad rakhein: Champaran 1917 – invited by Raj Kumar Shukla at Lucknow 1916.

Answer: (A) Raj Kumar Shukla

Concept: Garlic (Allium sativum) is particularly rich in manganese and also supplies selenium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

1. Manganese is a cofactor for many enzymes and antioxidant systems.
2. Selenium is a trace element with antioxidant action (part of glutathione peroxidase).
3. Garlic is not a notable source of cobalt, aluminium or copper pairs given in other options.

Yaad rakhein: Garlic → Manganese + Selenium (plus allicin, the sulphur compound).

Answer: (B) manganese and selenium

Concept: Montane (mountain) forests of the Himalaya are home to animals adapted to cold, high-altitude conditions.

1. Typical animals: yak, Kashmir stag (hangul), spotted deer, wild sheep, snow leopard, red panda, shaggy-horned wild ibex.
2. The yak, with long thick hair, is found in the cold high Himalaya (Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal).
3. Sloth bear lives in tropical deciduous forests; scorpions are typical of deserts.

Yaad rakhein: NCERT: Montane forests → Kashmir stag, spotted deer, wild sheep, yak, snow leopard, rare red panda.

Answer: (C) Yak

Concept: The Nile rises south of the equator (Lake Victoria region) and flows north through north-eastern Africa into the Mediterranean Sea.

1. Its two main branches – White Nile (from Lake Victoria) and Blue Nile (from Lake Tana, Ethiopia) – meet at Khartoum.
2. It is about 6,650 km long, generally regarded as the longest river in the world.
3. The Congo crosses the equator twice and drains into the Atlantic; the Lena flows into the Arctic Ocean.

Yaad rakhein: Nile – flows South → North – ends in a delta at the Mediterranean (Egypt).

Answer: (B) Nile River

Concept: After the Third Buddhist Council (Pataliputra, c. 250 BCE), Ashoka sent missionaries abroad to spread Dhamma.

1. His son Mahendra (Mahinda) and daughter Sanghamitra went to Sri Lanka.
2. They converted King Devanampiya Tissa; Sanghamitra carried a sapling of the Bodhi tree to Anuradhapura.
3. Sona and Uttara were sent to Suvarnabhumi (Burma/Myanmar region).

Yaad rakhein: Mahendra + Sanghamitra → Sri Lanka (Bodhi tree sapling).

Answer: (A) Sri Lanka

Concept: Under the Constitution, law-making for the Union is the function of the Legislature, i.e. Parliament (President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – Article 79).

1. Parliament makes laws on Union List and Concurrent List subjects and approves policies through laws and budgets.
2. The Prime Minister heads the executive, which implements laws; he cannot by himself make law.
3. Political parties and pressure groups only influence policy; they have no constitutional law-making power.

Yaad rakhein: Legislature makes law, Executive implements, Judiciary interprets.

Answer: (D) The Parliament

Concept: Part V, Chapter I of the Constitution (Articles 52–78) deals with the Union Executive.

1. It covers the President (Art. 52–62), Vice-President (63–71), pardoning power (72), Council of Ministers (74–75), Attorney General (76) and conduct of business (77–78).
2. Articles 36–51 (Part IV) are Directive Principles; 79–122 deal with Parliament (80 – Rajya Sabha composition; 112–117 – financial procedure).
3. Hence 52 to 78 is correct.

Yaad rakhein: Executive 52–78, Parliament 79–122, Supreme Court 124–147.

Answer: (B) Article 52 to 78

Concept: Mixing solutions of sodium sulphate and barium chloride gives a double displacement (precipitation) reaction.

1. ${\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4+{\text{BaCl}}_2\to {\text{BaSO}}_4\downarrow +2\text{NaCl}$
2. Barium sulphate is insoluble in water and separates as a white precipitate.
3. Sodium chloride stays dissolved in the solution, so it is not the precipitate.

Yaad rakhein: White ppt of ${\text{BaSO}}_4$ is the standard test for sulphate ions.

Answer: (B) Barium sulphate

Concept: Article 164(1A), inserted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, fixes limits on the size of a State Council of Ministers.

1. Total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, must not exceed $15\%$ of the total strength of the Legislative Assembly.
2. But the number of ministers in a State shall not be less than 12.
3. For the Union, the limit is $15\%$ of Lok Sabha strength (Article 75(1A)), with no minimum.

Yaad rakhein: 91st Amendment: maximum $15\%$, minimum 12 (States).

Answer: (D) 12 persons

Concept: Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is required for red blood cell formation, nerve function and DNA synthesis.

1. Its deficiency causes pernicious (megaloblastic) anaemia and nerve damage.
2. It contains cobalt and is found mainly in animal foods – meat, eggs, milk; absorption needs intrinsic factor from the stomach.
3. Vitamin K – blood clotting; Vitamin E – antioxidant; Vitamin B7 (biotin) – metabolism, skin and hair.

Yaad rakhein: B12 = Cobalamin = Cobalt = RBC + nerves + DNA.

Answer: (D) Vitamin B12

Concept: Ustad Bundu Khan (1880–1955) was a celebrated sarangi player of the Delhi gharana.

1. He was famous for his virtuosity and wrote a book on sarangi technique, 'Jauhar-e-Mausiqui'.
2. He served at the court of Indore and later worked with All India Radio.
3. Other sarangi greats: Ram Narayan, Sabri Khan, Sultan Khan.

Yaad rakhein: Bundu Khan – Sarangi – Delhi gharana.

Answer: (A) sarangi

Concept: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne, Paris, on the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin.

1. Its first president was Demetrios Vikelas of Greece.
2. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.
3. IOC headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland; 23 June is observed as Olympic Day.

Yaad rakhein: IOC 1894 → first modern Games 1896 (Athens).

Answer: (A) 1894