Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Fundamental Duties are in Article 51A (Part IVA), added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation.

1. Duties include: cherish the ideals of the freedom struggle, value our composite culture, develop scientific temper and humanism – so (A), (B), (C) are correct.
2. They are non-justiciable: no court can directly enforce them. Hence 'justiciable in nature' is NOT correct.

Yaad rakhein: Fundamental Rights – justiciable; Fundamental Duties and DPSP – non-justiciable.

Answer: (D) They are made justiciable in nature.

Concept: The Finance Commission is a constitutional body under Article 280, constituted by the President every five years.

1. The First Finance Commission was set up in 1951 with K.C. Neogy as chairman.
2. Later chairmen: K. Santhanam (2nd), A.K. Chanda (3rd), P.V. Rajamannar (4th).

Yaad rakhein: Order 1-2-3-4: Neogy – Santhanam – Chanda – Rajamannar.

Answer: (B) KC Neogy

Concept: The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada.

1. They were then called the British Empire Games.
2. The Games are held every four years; India hosted them in 2010 (New Delhi).

Yaad rakhein: 1930 – Hamilton (Canada) – British Empire Games.

Answer: (B) 1930

Concept: The continental shelf is the extended margin of each continent occupied by shallow seas and gulfs; it is the shallowest part of the ocean.

1. It has an average gradient of $1^{\circ }$ or even less (NCERT).
2. The shelf ends at a very steep slope called the continental slope (gradient about $2^{\circ }$–$5^{\circ }$).
3. Average width about $80\text{km}$ and depth up to about $200\text{m}$.

Yaad rakhein: Shelf – gentle ($1^{\circ }$ or less); Slope – steep ($2^{\circ }$–$5^{\circ }$).

Answer: (B) $1^{\circ }$ or even less

Concept: The Maitrakas ruled from Valabhi (Saurashtra, Gujarat) between the 5th and 8th centuries CE.

1. Dhruvasena II (also called Dhruvabhata) was a Maitraka king and son-in-law of Harshavardhana.
2. He attended Harsha's assembly at Prayag; Hiuen Tsang mentions him.
3. Pushyabhuti – Harsha's own dynasty (Thanesar); Maukhari – Kannauj; Vakataka – Deccan.

Yaad rakhein: Maitraka = Valabhi; Valabhi was also a great Buddhist university.

Answer: (C) Maitraka

Concept: The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statutory body.

1. It was established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
2. It was actually constituted on 31 January 1992; its first chairperson was Jayanti Patnaik.

Yaad rakhein: Act 1990 → body set up 1992 → first chief Jayanti Patnaik.

Answer: (C) The National Commission for Women Act, 1990

Concept: Stomata are tiny pores in the epidermis of plants, each surrounded by two guard cells.

1. They are found mainly on the surface of leaves (more on the lower surface in dicot leaves).
2. They allow exchange of gases (CO₂ in, O₂ out) and loss of water vapour by transpiration.
3. Roots and flowers have no role of this kind.

Yaad rakhein: Stoma = 'mouth' of the leaf; guard cells open and close it.

Answer: (D) Surface of leaves

Concept: Emergency provisions are in Part XVIII (Articles 352–360) of the Constitution.

1. The President can proclaim National Emergency (Art. 352), President's Rule in a state (Art. 356) and Financial Emergency (Art. 360).
2. During emergency, the President gets extraordinary powers, e.g. suspending the enforcement of fundamental rights (Art. 359).
3. The PM advises, but the constitutional power is vested in the President.

Yaad rakhein: Emergency articles 352, 356, 360 – all proclaimed by the President.

Answer: (C) The President

Concept: Micro loans (microfinance) are small, usually collateral-free loans to low-income households and micro-entrepreneurs.

1. In India, loans below one lakh rupees are treated as micro loans.
2. They are given mainly by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), Self-Help Group–bank linkage, small finance banks and NBFC-MFIs.

Yaad rakhein: Micro loan – small ticket, below ₹1 lakh, no collateral.

Answer: (A) one lakh rupees

Concept: Groups 13 to 18 of the periodic table form the p-block.

1. In p-block elements the last (differentiating) electron enters the outermost p orbital – Statement A is correct.
2. As stated in NCERT, the non-metals and metalloids exist only in the p-block (hydrogen is placed separately) – Statement B is correct.
3. The p-block thus contains metals, metalloids and non-metals.

Yaad rakhein: s-block – metals; d and f blocks – metals; p-block – the only home of non-metals and metalloids.

Answer: (A) Both Statements A and B are correct

Concept: Kheda Satyagraha (1918, Gujarat) supported peasants who could not pay land revenue after crop failure.

1. Gandhiji led it; Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Indulal Yajnik organised his tour of the villages.
2. They urged peasants to stand firm and not pay revenue; the government finally gave relief to poor peasants.
3. Indulal Yajnik later led the Mahagujarat movement (1956).

Yaad rakhein: Kheda = Gandhi + Patel + Indulal Yajnik.

Answer: (D) Indulal Yajnik

Concept: Three Round Table Conferences were held in London (1930–1932) to discuss constitutional reforms for India.

1. First: November 1930 – January 1931 (Congress boycotted).
2. Second: September–December 1931 (Gandhiji attended after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact).
3. Third: November–December 1932 (Congress did not attend; B.R. Ambedkar attended all three).

Yaad rakhein: RTC 1-2-3 = 1930-1931-1932.

Answer: (A) 1932

Concept: Fundamental Rights are in Part III (Articles 12–35) of the Indian Constitution.

1. Part II – Citizenship (Art. 5–11); Part IV – Directive Principles of State Policy (Art. 36–51); Part V – The Union.
2. Part III is called the 'Magna Carta of India'.

Yaad rakhein: Part II citizenship, III rights, IV DPSP, IVA duties.

Answer: (A) Part III

Concept: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a gas heavier than air at room temperature and pressure.

1. Its density is about $1.87{\text{kg/m}}^3$, roughly $1.5$ times that of air.
2. Its critical temperature is about ${31}^{\circ }\text{C}$; below it CO₂ can be liquefied by pressure.
3. Nitrogen and hydrogen are lighter than (or about as light as) air; lithium is a solid metal.

Yaad rakhein: CO₂ is heavy – it collects at low places and is used in fire extinguishers.

Answer: (A) carbon dioxide

Concept: Sao Joao is a monsoon festival of the Catholic Christians of Goa, celebrated on 24 June.

1. It honours St. John the Baptist (feast of St. John).
2. Young men wear crowns of leaves and flowers (kopels) and jump into wells, ponds and streams to celebrate.

Yaad rakhein: Sao Joao – Goa – well-jumping festival in June.

Answer: (B) Goa

Concept: The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 ranked 121 countries.

1. India was ranked 107th – the lowest in South Asia except Afghanistan.
2. Afghanistan was ranked 109th, i.e. the only neighbour behind India.
3. Others: Sri Lanka 64, Nepal 81, Bangladesh 84, Pakistan 99.

Yaad rakhein: GHI 2022: India 107, Afghanistan 109 out of 121.

Answer: (B) Afghanistan

Concept: Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Truth Seekers) on 24 September 1873 in Pune.

1. It fought against caste discrimination, idolatry and Brahmin priestly dominance, and worked for the education of lower castes and women.
2. SNDP – Sree Narayana Guru (Kerala, 1903); Young Bengal – Henry Vivian Derozio; Arya Samaj – Dayananda Saraswati (1875).

Yaad rakhein: Phule – Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) – book 'Gulamgiri'.

Answer: (B) Satyashodhak Samaj

Concept: Satish Kumar became the first Indian boxer to compete in the super heavyweight (+91 kg) category at the Olympics (Tokyo 2020).

1. He reached the quarter-final, where he lost to Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan, the eventual gold medallist.
2. Amit Panghal fought in the flyweight (52 kg) category.

Yaad rakhein: Satish Kumar – +91 kg – first Indian super heavyweight Olympian.

Answer: (A) Satish Kumar

Concept: Prithviraj Raso is an epic poem on the life of Prithviraj Chauhan (Prithviraj III).

1. It is attributed to Chand Bardai, the court poet of Prithviraj, and is written in Brajbhasha (Pingal).
2. Banabhatta – Harshacharita, Kadambari; Ashvaghosha – Buddhacharita; Bharavi – Kiratarjuniyam.

Yaad rakhein: Raso of Prithviraj by his friend-poet Chand Bardai.

Answer: (D) Chand Bardai

Concept: The Nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model for the formation and evolution of the solar system.

1. It was proposed by Immanuel Kant and revised by Pierre-Simon Laplace (1796).
2. A slowly rotating cloud of gas and dust (nebula) collapsed under gravity; the centre formed the Sun and the surrounding disc formed the planets.
3. Later revised by Otto Schmidt and Carl Weizsäcker.

Yaad rakhein: Nebula = cloud; Kant–Laplace.

Answer: (A) Nebular hypothesis