Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: SI prefixes for small quantities go down in steps of ${10}^{-3}$.

1. milli ${10}^{-3}$, micro ${10}^{-6}$, nano ${10}^{-9}$, pico ${10}^{-12}$, femto ${10}^{-15}$, atto ${10}^{-18}$.
2. So femto means ${10}^{-15}$; ${10}^{-12}$ is pico.

Yaad rakhein: Order: m-μ-n-p-f-a (Milli Micro Nano Pico Femto Atto).

Answer: (B) $-15$

Concept: The pascal ($1\text{Pa}=1{\text{N/m}}^2$) is the SI unit of pressure.

1. The torr is also a unit of pressure: $1\text{torr}=1\text{mm of Hg}\approx 133.3\text{Pa}$.
2. watt – power, newton – force, joule – energy/work.

Yaad rakhein: Pressure units: pascal, bar, atm, torr (mm Hg).

Answer: (B) torr

Concept: Tripura is almost surrounded by Bangladesh.

1. Bangladesh lies on its north, west and south; only the east touches India (Assam and Mizoram).
2. Meghalaya has Bangladesh only to its south; West Bengal has it to the east; Assam touches it only in a short stretch.

Yaad rakhein: Tripura = teen taraf Bangladesh, sirf poorv mein Assam–Mizoram.

Answer: (A) Tripura

Concept: Hydrothermal Carbonisation (HTC) heats wet biomass in water under pressure to make a coal-like hydrochar.

1. IIT Kharagpur developed HTC to convert solid waste with high moisture content (food and municipal wet waste) into fuel.
2. Unlike incineration, no prior drying is needed, so wet waste becomes an energy source.
3. It has nothing to do with river currents, dams or natural hydrocarbons.

Yaad rakhein: Hydro = paani ke saath pakana; Carbonisation = koyla banana → geela kachra.

Answer: (C) Solid waste with high moisture content

Concept: Project Elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Environment.

1. It was launched in February 1992 to protect elephants, their habitats and corridors and to reduce human–elephant conflict.
2. Project Tiger was launched in 1973; the Wildlife Protection Act came in 1972.

Yaad rakhein: Tiger 1973 → Elephant 1992.

Answer: (D) 1992

Concept: Right to education became a Fundamental Right through the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002.

1. It inserted Article 21A: free and compulsory education for all children aged 6–14 years.
2. The RTE Act, 2009 gives effect to it (in force from 1 April 2010).
3. Article 31A protects laws on acquisition of estates; Art. 101 deals with vacation of seats; Art. 74 with Council of Ministers.

Yaad rakhein: 86th Amendment 2002 → 21A, Art. 45 (early childhood) and Art. 51A(k) (parents’ duty).

Answer: (A) 21A

Concept: Chittagong (Chattogram) is the principal seaport of Bangladesh, on the Karnaphuli river near the Bay of Bengal.

1. It handles most of the country’s sea trade; Mongla is the second seaport.
2. Dhaka (capital), Rajshahi and Faridpur are inland cities.

Yaad rakhein: Bangladesh seaports: Chittagong, Mongla, Payra.

Answer: (C) Chittagong

Concept: The Qadam Rasul Mosque stands in the fort of Gaur (Malda district, West Bengal), the old capital of the Bengal Sultanate.

1. It was built in 1530–31 by Sultan Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah.
2. It houses a stone said to bear the footprint of the Prophet (Qadam Rasul); it is built of brick with black-marble (basalt) facing typical of Bengal style.
3. Mandu has Jahaz Mahal, Hindola Mahal – not Qadam Rasul.

Yaad rakhein: Qadam Rasul – Gaur – Nusrat Shah.

Answer: (A) Gaur

Concept: Abhinav Bindra won India’s first individual Olympic gold in the 10 m air rifle at Beijing 2008.

1. Till the exam (2020) he was the only Indian with an individual Olympic gold.
2. P.V. Sindhu (silver 2016, bronze 2020) and Karnam Malleswari (bronze 2000) won other medals; Leander Paes won bronze in tennis (1996).
3. Note: Neeraj Chopra later won javelin gold at Tokyo (held 2021).

Yaad rakhein: Bindra 2008 – first individual gold.

Answer: (A) Abhinav Bindra

Concept: Kamet (7,756 m) lies in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India, near the Tibet border.

1. Mount Everest and Lhotse are on the Nepal–China (Tibet) border in the Mahalangur range.
2. Annapurna is in north-central Nepal.

Yaad rakhein: Kamet, Nanda Devi, Trisul → Uttarakhand.

Answer: (B) Kamet

Concept: Namami Gange is the Integrated Conservation Mission for pollution abatement and rejuvenation of the river Ganga.

1. It was approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014.
2. It had a budget outlay of ₹20,000 crore and is implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).

Yaad rakhein: New government (May 2014) → Namami Gange June 2014.

Answer: (A) June 2014

Concept: ‘Penalty corner’ is a set piece in field hockey.

1. It is awarded to the attacking side for a foul by defenders inside their shooting circle (or a deliberate foul in the 23 m area).
2. Football has ‘penalty kick’ and ‘corner kick’ separately, not ‘penalty corner’.

Yaad rakhein: Hockey terms: penalty corner, penalty stroke, bully, dribble.

Answer: (A) Hockey

Concept: NREGA, 2005 guarantees 100 days of wage employment a year to rural households.

1. On 2 October 2009 (Gandhi Jayanti) the Act was renamed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
2. The Act was passed in 2005 and came into force on 2 February 2006 in 200 districts.

Yaad rakhein: Act 2005 → launched 2006 → ‘MG’ added 2009.

Answer: (C) 2009

Concept: In Millikan’s oil-drop experiment a charged oil drop moves between two horizontal charged plates.

1. Forces on the drop: weight (gravitational), air drag (viscous, Stokes’ law), electrostatic force $qE$, and buoyancy.
2. No magnetic field is used, so no magnetostatic force acts.
3. Balancing these forces gave the charge of the electron $e\approx 1.6\times {10}^{-19}\text{C}$.

Yaad rakhein: Millikan: G + V + E (+ buoyancy) – no M.

Answer: (D) magnetostatic

Concept: Smriti Mandhana is an Indian women’s cricket opener.

1. She bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace.
2. She won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year (Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award) in 2018 and 2021.

Yaad rakhein: Mandhana = left bat, right arm.

Answer: (A) left arm batsman, right arm bowler

Concept: The six orthodox (Astika) schools each have a founder-sage.

1. Vaisheshika – Kanada (atomic theory, ‘parmanu’).
2. Nyaya – Gautama; Yoga – Patanjali; Purva Mimamsa – Jaimini; Sankhya – Kapila; Vedanta – Badarayana.

Yaad rakhein: Kanada → Kan (particle) → atoms → Vaisheshika.

Answer: (C) Kanada

Concept: Morarji Desai was India’s second Deputy Prime Minister, under Indira Gandhi.

1. He held the post (with Finance) from 13 March 1967 to 16 July 1969.
2. He resigned when Indira Gandhi took the Finance portfolio away from him before bank nationalisation (1969).
3. Sardar Patel was the first Deputy PM (1947–50).

Yaad rakhein: Desai Deputy PM 1967–69; PM 1977–79.

Answer: (A) 1967-1969

Concept: OTEC = Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.

1. It uses the temperature difference (about ${20}^{\circ }\text{C}$ or more) between warm surface water and cold deep water to run a heat engine and generate electricity.
2. Tidal energy is a separate form based on rise and fall of tides.

Yaad rakhein: OTEC: T = Thermal (temperature gradient), not Tidal.

Answer: (A) Thermal

Concept: The FPO mark comes from the Fruit Products Order, 1955 and certifies processed fruit products made hygienically.

1. It is mandatory on all processed fruit products (jams, squashes, pickles, fruit beverages etc.) under the FSS Act, 2006 regime.
2. ISI – industrial products (BIS); Hallmark – gold/silver purity; BEE Star – energy efficiency of appliances.

Yaad rakhein: Fruit → FPO; Gold → Hallmark; Appliances → Star rating.

Answer: (C) FPO

Concept: Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister on 31 October 1984, the day Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

1. The President then was Giani Zail Singh (1982–87), who administered the oath.
2. R. Venkataraman became President only in 1987.

Yaad rakhein: 1984 → Zail Singh; 1987 → Venkataraman.

Answer: (A) Giani Zail Singh