Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995) is a novel by Salman Rushdie, set largely in Bombay and Cochin.

1. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995.
2. Rushdie's other works: "Midnight's Children" (Booker 1981), "The Satanic Verses", "Shame".
3. VS Naipaul wrote "A House for Mr Biswas"; John Keay is a historian.

Yaad rakhein: Rushdie: Midnight's Children, Shame, Satanic Verses, The Moor's Last Sigh.

Answer: (D) Salman Rushdie

Concept: Manipuri dance of Manipur is deeply rooted in Vaishnavism; its central theme is the Raas Leela of Radha, Krishna and the gopis.

1. Main forms: Maha Raas, Vasanta Raas, Kunja Raas, Nitya Raas.
2. Dancers wear the cylindrical skirt "Potloi"; movements are soft and graceful.
3. Sattriya (Assam) is based on Sankardev's Ankiya Naat; Mohiniyattam (Kerala) is a solo lasya dance.

Yaad rakhein: Raas Leela + Potloi costume = Manipuri.

Answer: (A) Manipuri dance

Concept: The Mauryan dynasty ended in about 185 BCE.

1. Brihadratha was the last Mauryan king.
2. He was killed during an army review by his commander-in-chief (senapati) Pushyamitra Shunga, who founded the Shunga dynasty.
3. Bindusara was Chandragupta's son; Dasharatha and Shatadhanvan were earlier later-Mauryas.

Yaad rakhein: Brihadratha (last Maurya) → killed by Pushyamitra → Shunga dynasty.

Answer: (C) Brihadratha

Concept: Writs are issued by the Supreme Court (Art. 32) and High Courts (Art. 226) to enforce rights.

1. Habeas corpus ("to have the body") orders the authority to produce a detained person before the court; if detention is unlawful, the person is freed.
2. Mandamus commands a public official to do a duty; Prohibition stops a lower court from exceeding jurisdiction.
3. Quo warranto asks "by what authority" a person holds a public office.

Yaad rakhein: Unlawful arrest/detention → Habeas corpus (bring the body).

Answer: (D) Habeas corpus

Concept: The émigré (expatriate) Communist Party of India was formed at Tashkent on 17 October 1920.

1. It was founded by M.N. Roy with Abani Mukherji, Evelyn Trent-Roy and others, with Comintern support.
2. Inside India, the CPI was formally launched at the Kanpur conference in 1925.
3. S.A. Dange and P.C. Joshi were later CPI leaders, not founders at Tashkent.

Yaad rakhein: Tashkent 1920 → M.N. Roy; Kanpur 1925 → CPI in India.

Answer: (D) MN Roy

Concept: Male gametes must reach the egg for fertilisation. In lower plants the male gametes (antherozoids) are flagellated and motile.

1. Bryophytes and pteridophytes need a film of water so that their motile male gametes can swim to the archegonium – statement (B) is correct.
2. Gymnosperms and angiosperms carry non-motile male gametes inside pollen grains, moved by wind, insects etc., and then by the pollen tube.
3. So transport through water in gymnosperms/angiosperms, or through air in bryophytes, is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Mosses and ferns are "amphibians of plants" – water needed for fertilisation.

Answer: (B) The transport of male gametes in bryophytes and pteridophytes occurs through water.

Concept: According to Census 2011, Lakshadweep had the highest literacy among Union Territories.

1. Lakshadweep: overall literacy about 91.8%, male literacy about 96.1% – highest among UTs.
2. Daman and Diu (about 91.5%), Delhi (about 91%) and Andaman and Nicobar (about 90.3%) were lower.
3. Among states, Kerala had the highest male literacy (about 96.1%).

Yaad rakhein: Highest literacy (2011): State – Kerala, UT – Lakshadweep.

Answer: (D) Lakshadweep

Concept: Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920–2012) was a sitar maestro of the Maihar gharana, disciple of Ustad Allauddin Khan.

1. He took the sitar to the world through collaborations with George Harrison (Beatles) and Yehudi Menuhin.
2. He received the Bharat Ratna in 1999 and three Grammy Awards.
3. Tabla – Zakir Hussain; Veena – S. Balachander; these are not linked to him.

Yaad rakhein: Ravi Shankar = Sitar; Zakir Hussain = Tabla; Bismillah Khan = Shehnai.

Answer: (A) Sitar

Concept: Census 2011 ranks metropolitan cities (urban agglomerations) by population.

1. Greater Mumbai UA: about 1.84 crore – the largest.
2. Delhi UA about 1.63 crore was second, Kolkata about 1.41 crore third, Chennai about 0.87 crore.
3. Patna is far smaller, so Mumbai is the answer among the options.

Yaad rakhein: Million-plus UAs 2011: Mumbai > Delhi > Kolkata > Chennai.

Answer: (A) Mumbai

Concept: Ker Puja and Garia Puja are tribal festivals of Tripura.

1. Garia Puja (April, around Bengali New Year) honours Garia, the god of wealth and livestock, by tribes like the Tripuri and Reang.
2. Ker Puja (July–August, after Kharchi Puja) worships Ker, the guardian deity of Vastu; movement is restricted during it.
3. Kharchi Puja (14 gods) is another famous festival of Tripura.

Yaad rakhein: Tripura festivals: Kharchi, Ker, Garia.

Answer: (D) Tripura

Concept: The Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline was India's first cross-state natural gas pipeline (1980s).

1. GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd., founded 1984) was set up mainly to build, operate and maintain the HVJ pipeline.
2. It carries gas from Hazira (Gujarat) through Vijaipur (MP) to Jagdishpur (UP), feeding fertiliser and power plants.
3. ONGC explores and produces gas; it does not run the HVJ line.

Yaad rakhein: HVJ = GAIL's first big project.

Answer: (C) Gas Authority of India (GAIL)

Concept: Mawsynram, in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, records about 11,800 mm rainfall a year – the highest in the world.

1. Moist Bay of Bengal monsoon winds are trapped by the funnel-shaped Khasi hills and forced to rise, giving very heavy orographic rain.
2. Cherrapunji (Sohra), also in the Khasi Hills, is nearby.
3. Patkai and Mishmi hills are in the north-east but are not where Mawsynram lies; Rajmahal hills are in Jharkhand.

Yaad rakhein: Meghalaya hills west to east: Garo – Khasi – Jaintia; Mawsynram and Cherrapunji = Khasi.

Answer: (D) Khasi Hills

Concept: The Paramahansa Mandali was a secret reform society founded in 1849 in Maharashtra (Bombay).

1. It was started by Dadoba Pandurang and others, with branches in Poona, Satara and other towns.
2. It opposed caste rules and Brahmanical orthodoxy, believed in one God and encouraged widow remarriage and education.
3. Brahmo Samaj began in Bengal; Arya Samaj was founded in Bombay (1875) by Dayanand but grew in Punjab; Ramakrishna Mission in Bengal.

Yaad rakhein: Maharashtra reform: Paramahansa Mandali (1849) → Prarthana Samaj (1867).

Answer: (B) Paramahansa Mandali

Concept: Water was long thought to be an element. Henry Cavendish showed it is a compound.

1. Cavendish burnt "inflammable air" (hydrogen, which he discovered in 1766) with oxygen and obtained water; he published the result in 1784.
2. He showed that two volumes of hydrogen combine with one volume of oxygen.
3. Priestley discovered oxygen (1774); Dalton gave atomic theory; H.C. Brown was a 20th-century chemist.

Yaad rakhein: Cavendish: discovered hydrogen and the composition of water.

Answer: (A) Henry Cavendish

Concept: Stratification is the vertical layering of plants in a forest according to height.

1. Tall trees occupy the top vertical stratum (canopy).
2. Shrubs form the middle stratum, and herbs and grasses the bottom stratum.
3. Hence trees fall under the top vertical stratum.

Yaad rakhein: Height order: Trees (top) – Shrubs (middle) – Herbs (bottom).

Answer: (B) Top vertical

Concept: Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A, Article 51A) were not in the original Constitution.

1. The Sardar Swaran Singh Committee (1976) recommended them.
2. They were added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 (10 duties); the 11th was added by the 86th Amendment, 2002.
3. Balwant Rai Mehta – Panchayati Raj; L.M. Singhvi – revitalising PRIs; Bibek Debroy – railway restructuring.

Yaad rakhein: Duties: Swaran Singh (1976) → 42nd Amendment → Art. 51A, idea from USSR.

Answer: (D) Sardar Swaran Singh Committee

Concept: Moment of inertia (I) is the rotational analogue of mass: it measures how hard it is to change a body's rotation about an axis.

1. For a point mass $m$ at distance $r$ from the axis, $I=m{r}^2$.
2. For many particles, $I=\sum m_i{r}_i^2$; SI unit ${\text{kg m}}^2$.
3. Other options have wrong dimensions, e.g. $\frac{m}{r^2}$ or $2mr$.

Yaad rakhein: Mass × (distance)${}^2$ – distance is squared, mass is not.

Answer: (A) $I=m{r}^2$

Concept: Several Articles link the Prime Minister and the President; among the options only Article 75 is relevant.

1. Article 75: the President appoints the Prime Minister, and other ministers on the PM's advice; ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President.
2. (Article 74 – Council of Ministers to aid and advise the President; Article 78 – duties of PM to inform the President.)
3. Article 45 – early childhood care; Article 25 – freedom of religion; Article 35 – power of Parliament to legislate on FRs.

Yaad rakhein: PM–President links: Art. 74, 75, 78.

Answer: (D) Article 75

Concept: At the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (held in 2021), India won 7 medals – its best Olympic tally then.

1. Medals: 1 gold (Neeraj Chopra, javelin), 2 silver (Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Dahiya), 4 bronze.
2. With this, India finished 48th in the medal table.
3. The USA topped the table, followed by China.

Yaad rakhein: Tokyo 2020: 7 medals, rank 48; Paris 2024: 6 medals, rank 71.

Answer: (B) 48

Concept: The All-India Muslim League was formed on 30 December 1906 at Dhaka.

1. It was founded under the leadership of Aga Khan III and Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, during the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference.
2. It followed the Partition of Bengal (1905) and the Simla deputation (October 1906).
3. 1909 is the year of the Morley–Minto reforms (separate electorates); 1916 – Lucknow Pact.

Yaad rakhein: 1905 Partition → 1906 Muslim League → 1909 separate electorates.

Answer: (C) 1906