Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Right against Exploitation (Articles 23–24) protects people from forced labour and child labour.

1. Article 24 prohibits employment of children below 14 years in factories, mines or other hazardous work.
2. Article 23 bans human trafficking and begar (forced labour).
3. Right to Equality is Articles 14–18; Right to Freedom 19–22; Constitutional Remedies 32.

Yaad rakhein: Art 23 – trafficking/begar; Art 24 – no child labour below 14 in hazardous jobs.

Answer: (C) Right against Exploitation

Concept: Iron-deficiency anaemia lowers haemoglobin, so less oxygen reaches the tissues. Its signs are mainly seen as paleness and tiredness.

1. Manifestations: general pallor, paleness of the conjunctiva of the eyes, pale/soft palate and tongue, brittle nails, fatigue, breathlessness.
2. Blindness is not caused by iron deficiency; night blindness is due to vitamin A deficiency.

Yaad rakhein: Iron → anaemia (pallor); Vitamin A → night blindness; Iodine → goitre.

Answer: (B) Blindness

Concept: My Country My Life (2008) is the autobiography of BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani.

1. Wings of Fire – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (with Arun Tiwari).
2. The other two titles (My Times; In Pursuit of Justice) are autobiographies of other persons, not of Advani.

Yaad rakhein: Advani – My Country My Life; Kalam – Wings of Fire.

Answer: (B) My Country My Life

Concept: The Second Five-Year Plan (1956–61), based on the Mahalanobis model, gave top priority to rapid industrialisation, especially heavy and basic industries.

1. The First Plan (1951–56) focused on agriculture and irrigation.
2. Steel plants at Bhilai, Durgapur and Rourkela were set up during the Second Plan.
3. The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 backed this push.

Yaad rakhein: 1st Plan – agriculture (Harrod-Domar); 2nd Plan – industry (Mahalanobis).

Answer: (B) Second Five-year Plan

Concept: The Green Revolution was the big rise in food-grain output from the use of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds with fertilisers, pesticides and assured irrigation.

1. I – It began in the mid-1960s (1965–66) in India: correct.
2. II – HYV seeds were the key to its success: correct.
3. III – It relied on machines such as tractors and tube wells, not extensive use of cattle: incorrect.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution package = HYV seeds + fertilisers + irrigation + mechanisation; father in India – M. S. Swaminathan.

Answer: (B) Only I and II

Concept: Ghanakanta Bora Borbayan of Assam received the Padma Shri (2022) in the field of Art for his contribution to Sattriya, the classical dance of Assam.

1. Sattriya was introduced by Srimanta Sankardeva in the Vaishnavite monasteries (sattras) of Assam.
2. Bhortal is a dance of Assam's Barpeta region, Bagurumba is a Bodo folk dance, and Chhau belongs to Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: Sattriya – Assam, Sankardeva, recognised as classical dance in 2000.

Answer: (C) Sattriya

Concept: Manipuri dance has a vigorous masculine (tandava) aspect called Cholom and a gentle feminine (lasya) aspect called Jagoi.

1. Pung Cholom (drum dance) and Kartal Cholom (cymbal dance) are famous forms.
2. Ras Lila is the graceful lasya dance-drama; Pareng is a dance sequence of Lai Haraoba; Maibas are priests.

Yaad rakhein: Manipuri: Cholom = tandava (masculine), Jagoi = lasya (feminine).

Answer: (B) Choloms

Concept: Article 315 provides that there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State.

1. Article 316 – appointment and term of members.
2. Article 317 – removal and suspension of members.
3. Article 318 – power to make regulations on conditions of service of members and staff.

Yaad rakhein: Part XIV, Articles 315–323: 315 establish, 316 appoint, 317 remove, 320 functions, 323 reports.

Answer: (A) Article 315

Concept: An indirect tax is collected from one person (seller) but its burden is passed on to another (consumer). A direct tax is paid by the person on whom it is imposed.

1. GST is levied on supply of goods and services and finally borne by the consumer – an indirect tax.
2. Death duty (estate duty), interest tax and capital gains tax are paid directly by the taxpayer – direct taxes.

Yaad rakhein: Indirect: GST, customs, excise; Direct: income tax, corporate tax, capital gains, wealth/estate duty.

Answer: (C) Goods and services tax

Concept: Ball Badminton, a game that originated in Tanjore (Tamil Nadu), is played with a light ball made of wool which is yellow in colour.

1. The woollen ball weighs about 22–25 g and is hit with a light racket over a net.
2. Each team has five players; a game is of 29 points.

Yaad rakhein: Ball Badminton – Tanjore origin, yellow woollen ball, 5 players a side.

Answer: (A) yellow

Concept: A bicameral legislature has two houses ("bi" = two, "camera" = chamber).

1. Parliament of India is bicameral: Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States), with the President (Article 79).
2. States with a Legislative Council (e.g. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) also have bicameral legislatures; one house = unicameral.

Yaad rakhein: Uni = 1 house, Bi = 2 houses.

Answer: (B) It is legislative body with two houses.

Concept: Neeruswamy Pillai and T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai are renowned exponents of the Nadaswaram, a double-reed wind instrument of Tamil Nadu used in temples and weddings.

1. T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai is often called the greatest Nadaswaram player of the 20th century.
2. Mandolin – U. Srinivas; Mridangam – Palghat Mani Iyer, Umayalpuram Sivaraman; Sarangi – Ram Narayan.

Yaad rakhein: Nadaswaram – T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai, Sheik Chinna Moulana.

Answer: (A) Nadaswaran

Concept: Earth is about 4.6 billion years old, and the oldest evidence of life (microbial fossils) is about 3.5–3.8 billion years old.

1. Share of Earth's history with life $\approx \frac{3.8}{4.6}\approx 0.8$.
2. So living organisms have existed for roughly $80\%$ of Earth's history.
3. Complex multicellular life is much younger, but simple life appeared very early.

Yaad rakhein: Earth 4.6 bn years; life from about 3.8 bn years → about four-fifths of Earth's history.

Answer: (A) $80\%$

Concept: According to Census 2011, India's literacy rate was about $74\%$; Kerala was highest (about $94\%$) and Bihar was lowest (about $61.8\%$).

1. Arunachal Pradesh – about $65.4\%$; Jharkhand – about $66.4\%$; Andhra Pradesh – about $67\%$.
2. All these are above Bihar.

Yaad rakhein: Census 2011 literacy: highest Kerala, lowest Bihar; UT highest Lakshadweep.

Answer: (B) Bihar

Concept: Article 177 gives every Minister and the Advocate-General of a State the right to speak in and take part in the proceedings of the State Legislature (without the right to vote, if not a member).

1. Article 175 – right of the Governor to address and send messages to the House(s).
2. Article 176 – special address by the Governor.
3. Article 178 – Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. (Union parallel: Article 88.)

Yaad rakhein: Article 88 (Union) ↔ Article 177 (State): rights of Ministers and law officer in the House.

Answer: (B) Article 177

Concept: In Ball Badminton a game is played to 29 points, and the sides change ends when one side first reaches 9, 18 and 27 points.

1. So 9, 18 and 27 are change-over points.
2. 11 is not a change-over point in Ball Badminton (it is used in table tennis game length).

Yaad rakhein: Change of ends at multiples of 9: 9 – 18 – 27; game = 29 points.

Answer: (D) 11

Concept: In 1928 Paul Dirac derived the Dirac equation, a relativistic wave equation that combines quantum mechanics with special relativity to describe an electron moving at speeds close to light.

1. It naturally explained electron spin and predicted antimatter (the positron).
2. Bernoulli's equation – fluid flow; Lorentz equation – force on a moving charge in fields; Helmholtz equation – wave/vibration problems.

Yaad rakhein: Dirac equation (1928) → spin + antimatter; Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel with Schrödinger.

Answer: (D) Dirac equation

Concept: Dribble means moving the ball forward by repeated short touches or bounces while keeping control of it.

1. In basketball, a player must bounce (dribble) the ball while moving with it.
2. The term is also used in football and hockey, but among the given options only basketball fits.
3. Cricket – googly, LBW; baseball – home run, pitcher; tennis – deuce, ace.

Yaad rakhein: Basketball terms: dribble, rebound, slam dunk, free throw.

Answer: (C) basketball

Concept: Under Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji, his nephew and son-in-law Alauddin was appointed Amir-i-Tuzuk (Master of Ceremonies), and later governor of Kara.

1. Alauddin killed Jalaluddin in 1296 and became Sultan.
2. Balban was a member of Iltutmish's "Chalisa" and served as naib; Iltutmish was a slave and son-in-law of Qutbuddin Aibak; Muhammad bin Tughlaq was Master of the Horse (Amir-i-Akhur) under his father.

Yaad rakhein: Alauddin – Amir-i-Tuzuk under Jalaluddin; then governor of Kara; Sultan in 1296.

Answer: (B) Alauddin Khalji

Concept: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey (2004) was written by the boxing legend Muhammad Ali with his daughter Hana Yasmeen Ali.

1. The title comes from Ali's famous line "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee".
2. Jake LaMotta and Roberto Duran were also boxers, and Eugene J. Bullard was an aviator – but this book is by Ali.

Yaad rakhein: Butterfly → "Float like a butterfly" → Muhammad Ali.

Answer: (D) Muhammad Ali