Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Basketball is played between two teams of five players each on the court.

1. Each team has 5 players on court (up to 12 in the squad, rest as substitutes).
2. Volleyball has 6 per side; netball 7; 4 is not standard for basketball (3x3 basketball has 3).

Yaad rakhein: Basketball 5, Volleyball 6, Kabaddi 7, Hockey/Football 11.

Answer: (A) 5

Concept: High altitude makes a place cold; temperature falls about ${6.5}^{\circ }\text{C}$ per km of height.

1. Leh (Ladakh, about 3,500 m) has severe winters with temperatures far below $0^{\circ }\text{C}$, while summers are mild and pleasant.
2. Amritsar and New Delhi have hot summers (continental climate); Chennai is hot and humid throughout the year.

Yaad rakhein: Cold desert Ladakh: freezing winter, pleasant summer.

Answer: (B) Leh

Concept: The Battle of Wandiwash (1760) ended the Third Carnatic War with a decisive British victory over the French.

1. The Seven Years' War in Europe ended with the Treaty of Paris (1763).
2. By it, Pondicherry and other French settlements in India were restored to France, but only as trading posts without fortification.

Yaad rakhein: Wandiwash 1760 → Treaty of Paris 1763 (Eyre Coote beat Count de Lally).

Answer: (A) Paris

Concept: The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a metal surface when light of suitable frequency falls on it.

1. Heinrich Hertz observed it in 1887 while experimenting with electromagnetic waves: UV light on the spark-gap electrodes made sparks jump more easily.
2. Einstein explained it in 1905 (Nobel Prize 1921); Millikan verified it experimentally in 1916.

Yaad rakhein: Hertz 1887 (discovery) → Einstein 1905 (theory) → Millikan 1916 (proof).

Answer: (D) 1887

Concept: Rusting is the corrosion of iron in the presence of both oxygen and moisture.

1. Rust = hydrated iron(III) oxide, Fe₂O₃·xH₂O, so it is hydrated, not anhydrous.
2. The word 'rust' applies only to iron; copper forms a green basic copper carbonate coating, and zinc oxide is not rust.

Yaad rakhein: Rust needs air + water; only iron rusts.

Answer: (C) Chemically rust is hydrated ferric oxide.

Concept: Ugadi (from Yuga + Adi, 'beginning of a new age') is the New Year of the Telugu and Kannada people.

1. It is celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (March–April) in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka; Ugadi Pachadi (six-taste dish) is made.
2. The Marathi New Year on the same day is Gudi Padwa; Bengali New Year is Poila Baisakh; Punjabi is Baisakhi.

Yaad rakhein: Same day: Ugadi (Telugu/Kannada) = Gudi Padwa (Marathi).

Answer: (C) Telugu

Concept: Dhrupad has four banis (styles): Gauhar (Gaudi), Dagar, Khandar and Nauhar.

1. Ustad Asad Ali Khan (1937–2011) was a renowned Rudra Veena player of the Khandarbani style of Dhrupad, from the Jaipur Beenkar gharana.
2. The Dagar bani is famous through the Dagar family of vocalists.

Yaad rakhein: Asad Ali Khan = Rudra Veena + Khandarbani (Padma Bhushan 2008).

Answer: (D) Khandarbani

Concept: A drainage pattern describes how streams are arranged; it depends on slope and rock structure.

1. When rivers flow from all sides into a central lake or depression, the pattern is centripetal (inward), e.g. Loktak Lake, Manipur.
2. Radial is the opposite – streams flow outward from a central high point (Amarkantak).
3. Trellis forms on folded rocks; dendritic is tree-like branching (Indo-Gangetic plain).

Yaad rakhein: Centripetal = 'seeking the centre' (inward); radial = outward.

Answer: (A) centripetal

Concept: Several pre-independence reports demanded a list of fundamental rights.

1. Motilal Nehru Report (1928) demanded fundamental rights; Tej Bahadur Sapru Report (1945) recommended justiciable and non-justiciable rights; J.B. Kripalani headed the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights in the Constituent Assembly.
2. The Sarkaria Commission (1983–88) dealt with Centre–State relations, not fundamental rights.

Yaad rakhein: Sarkaria, Punchhi, Rajamannar = Centre–State relations.

Answer: (B) Sarkaria Commission Report

Concept: The allyl group is CH₂=CH–CH₂– (three carbons with one double bond).

1. Allyl bromide = CH₂=CH–CH₂Br: parent chain propene (3 C).
2. Number from the end nearer the double bond: C1=C2, Br on C3 → 3-bromoprop-1-ene, i.e. 3-Bromopropene.
3. 2-Bromopropene would be CH₂=CBr–CH₃ (a vinylic bromide).

Yaad rakhein: Allyl = Br next to C=C (on C3); vinyl = Br on C=C itself.

Answer: (A) 3-Bromopropene

Concept: Kanaka Raju, a Gond tribal artist from Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, Telangana, received the Padma Shri in 2021.

1. He was honoured for preserving and popularising the Gussadi dance of the Raj Gond tribe, performed during the Dandari festival around Diwali.
2. Ganagor is from Rajasthan, Bhavai from Gujarat/Rajasthan, Fugdi from Goa/Maharashtra.

Yaad rakhein: Gussadi = Gond tribe, Telangana, peacock-feather headgear.

Answer: (A) Gussadi

Concept: Part IV of the Constitution, Articles 36 to 51, contains the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).

1. DPSP were borrowed from the Irish Constitution and are non-justiciable.
2. Fundamental Rights: Part III, Articles 12–35; Fundamental Duties: Part IVA, Article 51A.

Yaad rakhein: Part III = Art 12–35 (FR); Part IV = Art 36–51 (DPSP); Part IVA = Art 51A (FD).

Answer: (C) directive principles of state policy

Concept: ${\text{GDP}}_{FC}={\text{GDP}}_{MP}-\text{Indirect taxes}+\text{Subsidies}$, i.e. subtract net indirect taxes.

1. ${\text{GDP}}_{FC}=600-200+50$
2. $=450$ crores.
3. Consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) is not deducted because GDP is a gross measure; it would be needed only for NDP.

Yaad rakhein: MP → FC: minus net indirect taxes; Gross → Net: minus depreciation.

Answer: (D) 450 crores

Concept: India imports crude oil, refines it (e.g. at Jamnagar) and exports refined petroleum products.

1. In 2021 (and FY 2021-22) petroleum products were India's largest export item, worth about US$67 billion in 2021-22.
2. Gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals and automobiles were important but ranked below petroleum products.

Yaad rakhein: India's top export = refined petroleum; top import = crude oil.

Answer: (C) Petroleum products

Concept: Iltutmish (ruled 1211–1236) built his own tomb near the Qutub Minar complex, Mehrauli, Delhi.

1. It was built in 1235 AD, shortly before his death in 1236.
2. It is a square red-sandstone chamber with richly carved interiors and was originally domed (the dome has collapsed).

Yaad rakhein: Iltutmish: completed Qutub Minar, tomb 1235, died 1236.

Answer: (C) 1235 AD

Concept: Timur (Tamerlane), the Turko-Mongol ruler of Samarkand, invaded India in 1398.

1. He sacked Delhi in December 1398 during the reign of Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah of the Tughlaq dynasty, weakening the Sultanate.
2. Babur's invasion/First Battle of Panipat: 1526; Humayun's flight to Persia: after 1540; Battle of Haldighati: 1576.

Yaad rakhein: 1398 Timur → Tughlaq decline → Sayyid dynasty (1414).

Answer: (B) Timur invasion of india

Concept: Article 101(4) deals with absence of a Member of Parliament.

1. If a member is absent from all meetings of the House for 60 days without the House's permission, the House may declare the seat vacant.
2. Days of prorogation or adjournment of more than four consecutive days are not counted in these 60 days.

Yaad rakhein: 60 days absence → seat vacant: Art 101(4) for MPs, Art 190(4) for MLAs.

Answer: (D) 60 days

Concept: The Green Revolution (from mid-1960s) used High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, fertilisers and assured irrigation.

1. HYV seeds need assured water, so it was introduced in well-irrigated areas such as Punjab, Haryana and western UP – not rain-fed areas. Hence statement B is incorrect.
2. It focused mainly on wheat and rice, was a government modernisation programme, and received support from international agencies such as the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution = HYV + fertiliser + irrigation; M.S. Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug.

Answer: (B) It was introduced in areas that were rain-fed.

Concept: Many features of the Indian Constitution were borrowed from other constitutions.

1. Fundamental Rights, judicial review, independence of judiciary and the post of Vice-President come from the US Constitution (its Bill of Rights).
2. USSR gave Fundamental Duties; Australia gave the Concurrent List; Japan gave 'procedure established by law'.

Yaad rakhein: USA → FR; Ireland → DPSP; USSR → Fundamental Duties.

Answer: (D) The USA

Concept: Alivardi Khan was Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756.

1. After his death in April 1756, his grandson Siraj-ud-Daulah became Nawab.
2. Siraj lost the Battle of Plassey (1757); Mir Jafar succeeded him, then Mir Kasim (1760). Shaukat Jang was a rival cousin, not a successor.

Yaad rakhein: Bengal order: Alivardi → Siraj → Mir Jafar → Mir Kasim → Mir Jafar again.

Answer: (B) Siraj-ud-Daulah