Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: In Köppen’s scheme, group A is tropical; ‘Aw’ = tropical climate with a dry (w = winter dry) season – the tropical wet and dry or savanna climate.

1. It lies just outside the equatorial (Af) belt of the ITCZ, getting rain in summer when the ITCZ shifts towards it and dryness in winter.
2. Mediterranean (Cs), marine west coast (Cfb) and humid subtropical (Cfa/Cwa) are group C (warm temperate) climates.

Yaad rakhein: Aw = A (tropical) + w (dry winter) = Savanna.

Answer: (C) Tropical wet and dry climate

Concept: The 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games were held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in May 2022.

1. They were postponed from 2021 because of COVID-19; Vietnam topped the medal table.
2. The 32nd SEA Games (2023) were held in Cambodia.

Yaad rakhein: 31st SEA Games – Vietnam (2022); 32nd – Cambodia (2023).

Answer: (D) Vietnam

Concept: Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of Rajasthan, originally developed by the Bhil tribe to worship Goddess Saraswati.

1. It was later adopted by the Rajput communities; women in flowing ghagras dance in circles (‘ghoomna’ = to twirl).
2. Gujjar, Sahariya and Gond tribes have their own dances, but Ghoomar is linked to the Bhils.

Yaad rakhein: Ghoomar – Bhil tribe – Saraswati – Rajasthan.

Answer: (D) Bhil

Concept: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was the leading Odissi guru who revived and popularised Odissi in India and abroad.

1. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 2000 (earlier Padma Shri 1974, Padma Bhushan 1988) – the first from Odisha to get it for dance.
2. Pankaj Charan Das was another Odissi guru, but did not get the Padma Vibhushan.

Yaad rakhein: Odissi’s ‘big three’ gurus – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Deba Prasad Das.

Answer: (B) Kelucharan Mohapatra

Concept: The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 – the ‘Mini Constitution’ – was passed during the Emergency under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

1. It added ‘socialist’, ‘secular’ and ‘integrity’ to the Preamble and inserted Fundamental Duties (Article 51A).
2. Morarji Desai’s Janata government later passed the 44th Amendment (1978) to undo many of its changes.

Yaad rakhein: 42nd – Indira (1976, Emergency); 44th – Morarji (1978).

Answer: (C) Indira Gandhi

Concept: The Deccan Plateau is a triangular tableland bounded by the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east.

1. The Western Ghats are higher and continuous; the Eastern Ghats are lower and broken.
2. So the plateau is higher in the west and slopes gently eastwards – that is why most peninsular rivers (Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi) flow east into the Bay of Bengal.

Trick: East-flowing rivers prove the eastward tilt of the Deccan.

Answer: (C) The Deccan Plateau is higher in the west and slopes gently eastwards.

Concept: Marketable surplus is the part of a farmer’s output left after meeting his own (on-farm) consumption needs, which he can sell in the market.

1. Marketable surplus = Total production − (family consumption + seed + feed + payments in kind).
2. Consumer surplus is the gap between what a buyer is willing to pay and the price actually paid – a different concept.

Yaad rakhein: What the farmer can SELL = marketable surplus.

Answer: (B) marketable surplus

Concept: Banana is an instant energy booster because it is rich in easily digestible natural sugars – glucose, fructose and sucrose – plus potassium.

1. These sugars are absorbed quickly and give immediate energy, which is why athletes eat bananas during matches.
2. Garlic, coriander and lemon are valued for medicinal properties/vitamins, not as quick energy sources.

Yaad rakhein: Banana = quick sugars + potassium = instant energy.

Answer: (D) Banana

Concept: Pandit Birju Maharaj (1938–2022) was the leading exponent of the Lucknow (Kalka–Bindadin) gharana of Kathak.

1. The gharana is named after the brothers Kalka Prasad and Bindadin Maharaj, his ancestors.
2. Padma Subrahmanyam – Bharatanatyam; Sonal Mansingh – Odissi/Bharatanatyam; Guru Bipin Singh – Manipuri.

Yaad rakhein: Birju Maharaj – Lucknow gharana – Kalka-Bindadin family.

Answer: (A) Pandit Birju Maharaj

Concept: ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ was coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani (1921) but popularised by Bhagat Singh.

1. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt raised this slogan after throwing bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly (1929) and in court.
2. It became the war-cry of the HSRA and the freedom movement.

Yaad rakhein: Coined – Hasrat Mohani; popularised – Bhagat Singh.

Answer: (B) Bhagat Singh

Concept: ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My Struggle’) by Adolf Hitler was originally written in German.

1. Volume 1 was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926; he dictated much of it while in Landsberg prison after the failed Beer Hall Putsch.
2. It sets out his Nazi ideology; English and other translations came later.

Yaad rakhein: Mein Kampf = German for ‘My Struggle’.

Answer: (C) German

Concept: The medals of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were named ‘Tong Xin’, a Chinese phrase meaning ‘Together as One’.

1. The design of five concentric rings was inspired by ancient Chinese jade pieces.
2. ‘Together for a Shared Future’ was the official motto of the Games, not the meaning of the medal name.

Yaad rakhein: Tong Xin (medal) = Together as One; Games motto = Together for a Shared Future.

Answer: (D) Together as One

Concept: The Rolling Plan (1978–80) was introduced by the Janata government after it ended the Fifth Five-Year Plan a year early.

1. Fifth Plan: 1974–78 (cut short); Rolling Plan: 1978–80; Sixth Plan: 1980–85.
2. Under a rolling plan, the plan is reviewed and extended every year (concept by Gunnar Myrdal).

Yaad rakhein: Janata govt → Rolling Plan 1978–80 between 5th and 6th.

Answer: (D) Fifth and Sixth

Concept: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was formed in 1927; Sir Dorabji Tata was its first president.

1. Dorabji Tata also financed India’s first Olympic team (Antwerp 1920).
2. Suresh Kalmadi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and N. Ramachandran were later presidents/acting presidents.

Yaad rakhein: IOA 1927 – first president Sir Dorabji Tata.

Answer: (D) Sir Dorabji Tata

Concept: The Congress split into Moderates and Extremists at the Surat Session of 1907, presided over by Rash Behari Ghosh.

1. Moderates (Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta) and Extremists (Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal) clashed over the choice of president and the Swadeshi–boycott programme.
2. The two groups reunited at the Lucknow Session of 1916.

Yaad rakhein: Surat 1907 split → Lucknow 1916 reunion.

Answer: (B) Surat Session of 1907

Concept: During the cold season (Dec–Feb), the mean temperature of Chennai on the east coast is about 24°–25° Celsius.

1. Chennai is close to the equator and to the sea, so its winter is mild with little difference from summer.
2. By contrast, the northern plains have mean temperatures of only about 10°–15° Celsius in this season.

Yaad rakhein: Chennai winter ≈ 24–25 °C (NCERT); north plains ≈ 10–15 °C.

Answer: (C) 24° - 25° Celsius

Concept: Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) were added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 and are non-justiciable.

1. Statements A, B and C are true.
2. The idea was borrowed from the Constitution of the former USSR, not the American Constitution (which has no list of citizens’ duties). So D is NOT correct.

Yaad rakhein: Fundamental Duties – USSR; Fundamental Rights – USA.

Answer: (D) Their inclusion in the Constitution was inspired by the American Constitution.

Concept: Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh in February 1856 on the grounds of misgovernance (not the Doctrine of Lapse).

1. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was deposed and sent to Calcutta.
2. The annexation angered sepoys (many came from Awadh) and was a major cause of the Revolt of 1857.

Yaad rakhein: Awadh 1856 – ‘misrule’; Satara 1848, Jhansi 1853 – Doctrine of Lapse.

Answer: (D) 1856

Concept: ‘Follow-on’ is a cricket term used in Test (multi-day) matches.

1. If the side batting second trails by a set margin (200 runs in a five-day Test), the leading side may ask it to bat again immediately – to ‘follow on’.
2. Hockey, badminton and football have no such rule.

Yaad rakhein: Follow-on, LBW, maiden over, googly – cricket.

Answer: (B) Cricket

Concept: The 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988 reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years by amending Article 326.

1. It came into force on 28 March 1989, under the Rajiv Gandhi government.
2. The first Lok Sabha election with 18-year-old voters was in 1989.

Yaad rakhein: 61st Amendment – voting age 21 → 18 (in force 1989).

Answer: (D) In 1989