Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: The Thar (Great Indian) Desert lies in western Rajasthan and adjoining Pakistan.

1. It lies to the west/north-west of the Aravalli range, which runs from Gujarat to Delhi.
2. The Aravallis lie parallel to the south-west monsoon winds, so they fail to block them and the region to their west stays dry.
3. Vindhya and Satpura are in central India; the Eastern Ghats are along the east coast.

Yaad rakhein: Aravalli = eastern boundary of Thar; Thar = west of Aravalli.

Answer: (B) Aravalli range

Concept: The Kalidas Samman is a national-level arts award instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1980.

1. It is named after the classical Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, associated with Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh).
2. It is given in fields such as classical music, classical dance, theatre and plastic arts.
3. Other states have their own awards, but the Kalidas Samman belongs to Madhya Pradesh.

Yaad rakhein: Kalidasa – Ujjain – Madhya Pradesh.

Answer: (B) Madhya Pradesh

Concept: In West Bengal, rice is grown three times a year, and each crop has a local name.

1. Aus – autumn (pre-kharif) rice, sown in summer.
2. Aman – winter rice, the main kharif crop sown in the monsoon.
3. Boro – summer/spring rice grown with irrigation in the dry season.
4. So the words name rice-sowing seasons, not wells, soils or festivals.

Yaad rakhein: Aus–Aman–Boro = three rice crops of Bengal.

Answer: (A) Types of seasons of sowing rice in West Bengal

Concept: Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are in Part IV of the Constitution.

1. Part IV covers Articles 36 to 51.
2. They are borrowed from the Irish Constitution and are non-justiciable (not enforceable by courts).
3. Fundamental Rights are in Part III (Articles 12–35).

Yaad rakhein: Part III: 12–35 (FR); Part IV: 36–51 (DPSP); Part IV-A: 51A (Duties).

Answer: (B) Article 36-51

Concept: Holi is the Hindu festival of colours celebrated at the end of winter.

1. It is celebrated on the full-moon day (Purnima) of the month of Phalguna (February–March).
2. Holika Dahan is performed the night before.
3. Sravana, Magha and Asadha are other months – e.g. Raksha Bandhan falls in Sravana.

Yaad rakhein: Phalguna Purnima = Holi.

Answer: (D) Phalguna

Concept: In the simple model, money multiplier $=\frac{1}{\text{CRR}}$, i.e. it moves inversely with the cash reserve ratio.

1. If CRR $=10\%$, multiplier $=\frac{1}{0.10}=10$.
2. If CRR falls to $5\%$, multiplier $=\frac{1}{0.05}=20$.
3. A lower CRR leaves banks more funds to lend, so credit creation and the multiplier rise.

Yaad rakhein: CRR down → multiplier up (inverse relation).

Answer: (D) rises

Concept: Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.

1. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted Part IV-A (Article 51A) with 10 duties.
2. The 86th Amendment Act, 2002 added the 11th duty – parents/guardians to provide education to children aged 6–14.
3. So total duties today = 11, of which 10 came from the 42nd Amendment.

Yaad rakhein: 42nd: 10 duties; 86th: +1 = 11.

Answer: (B) 10

Concept: Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is called the Steel City of India.

1. Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO, now Tata Steel) was set up here by Jamsetji Tata's vision in 1907.
2. The city is named after Jamsetji Tata and lies near the Subarnarekha and Kharkai rivers, close to iron ore and coal fields.
3. Ranchi is the state capital; Mumbai and Patna are not steel centres.

Yaad rakhein: Jamshedpur = Tata = Steel City (also called Tatanagar).

Answer: (D) Jamshedpur

Concept: Making India Awesome (2015) is a non-fiction collection of essays.

1. It was written by Chetan Bhagat and deals with issues such as governance, youth, women and society.
2. Chetan Bhagat also wrote Five Point Someone and 2 States.
3. Aravind Adiga wrote The White Tiger; Vikram Seth wrote A Suitable Boy; Siddhartha Mukherjee wrote The Emperor of All Maladies.

Yaad rakhein: Chetan Bhagat's non-fiction: What Young India Wants, Making India Awesome.

Answer: (C) Chetan Bhagat

Concept: A bank is defined (Banking Regulation Act, 1949) as an institution that accepts deposits from the public, repayable on demand, for lending or investment.

1. Many financial institutions (NBFCs, development banks) lend and give long-term loans, so lending alone is not unique to banks.
2. Accepting demand deposits (savings/current accounts withdrawable by cheque) is the key feature that sets banks apart.
3. These deposits also allow banks to create credit.

Yaad rakhein: Bank = deposits + loans; the deposit-taking function is its identity.

Answer: (A) Accepting deposits

Concept: Match each lake with its state.

1. Chilika Lake – Odisha (largest brackish-water lagoon of India) ✔
2. Wular Lake – Jammu and Kashmir (one of the largest freshwater lakes) ✔
3. Vembanad Lake – Kerala ✔
4. Sardar Sarovar is a reservoir on the Narmada river at Kevadia, Gujarat – not Karnataka ✘

Yaad rakhein: Sardar Sarovar – Narmada – Gujarat (near Statue of Unity).

Answer: (C) Sardar Sarovar Lake - Karnataka

Concept: Census 2011 counted India's population as about 121 crore.

1. Rural population ≈ 83.3 crore = $68.8\%$ (68.84%).
2. Urban population ≈ 37.7 crore = $31.2\%$.
3. Check: $68.8+31.2=100$.

Yaad rakhein: Census 2011: Rural $68.8\%$, Urban $31.2\%$.

Answer: (B) $68.8\%$

Concept: Indian classical dance questions often ask which artist is linked with which dance form.

1. Deepa Kartha is known as a performer of Kathak, the classical dance of north India.
2. Kathak is marked by fast footwork (tatkar), spins (chakkar) and storytelling.
3. For comparison: Odissi – Sonal Mansingh; Manipuri – Guru Bipin Singh; Sattriya – Assam.

Yaad rakhein: Kathak – north India – tatkar and chakkar.

Answer: (C) Kathak

Concept: Anushilan Samiti was a revolutionary society of Bengal, founded in 1902 (Calcutta) with a strong branch at Dhaka under Pulin Behari Das.

1. Its members came from Bengal; among the options only Jatindra Mohan Sengupta was a Bengal leader linked with it.
2. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev belonged to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) of north India.
3. They were hanged together in Lahore on 23 March 1931.

Yaad rakhein: Anushilan Samiti = Bengal; HSRA = Bhagat Singh–Rajguru–Sukhdev.

Answer: (B) Jatindra Mohan Sengupta

Concept: Limited government means the powers of the government are restricted by a written constitution and the rule of law.

1. The main purpose of limiting government is to protect the rights and liberties of citizens from arbitrary rule.
2. In India these rights are guaranteed as Fundamental Rights (Part III), enforceable through courts.
3. Separation of powers and checks and balances are methods of limiting government, not what is being protected.

Yaad rakhein: Limited government → protects citizens' fundamental rights.

Answer: (A) fundamental rights

Concept: Archimedes' principle: a body wholly or partly immersed in a fluid experiences an upward (buoyant) force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.

1. It was discovered by the Greek scientist Archimedes (3rd century BCE) – the famous 'Eureka' story.
2. It explains floating of ships, hydrometers and lactometers.
3. Bohr – atomic model; Newton – laws of motion and gravitation; Galileo – telescope and laws of falling bodies.

Yaad rakhein: Buoyancy = weight of displaced fluid → Archimedes ('Eureka!').

Answer: (D) Archimedes

Concept: Dharmapala (c. 770–810 CE) was a great ruler of the Pala dynasty of Bengal and Bihar.

1. He founded the Vikramashila Mahavihara near Bhagalpur (Antichak), Bihar, a major centre of Buddhist learning.
2. Nalanda (near Rajgir) was founded earlier by the Gupta ruler Kumaragupta I.
3. Takshila was in the north-west (now Pakistan) and Valabhi in Gujarat.

Yaad rakhein: Pala – Dharmapala – Vikramashila (Bhagalpur).

Answer: (D) Vikramashila

Concept: Albums are often asked by linking them with famous instrumentalists.

1. The Forty Minute Raga is an album by sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
2. Ali Akbar Khan was the son of Ustad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar gharana and founded the Ali Akbar College of Music in California.
3. Amjad Ali Khan is also a sarod player; Hariprasad Chaurasia plays the flute; Bhimsen Joshi was a Hindustani vocalist.

Yaad rakhein: Ali Akbar Khan – sarod – Maihar gharana.

Answer: (B) Ali Akbar Khan

Concept: John Dalton was the first to use symbols for elements; each symbol was a circle with a distinct mark.

1. Hydrogen – circle with a central dot; Carbon – fully filled black circle; Oxygen – plain empty circle.
2. Phosphorus – a circle divided into three parts by three lines meeting at the centre.
3. In the given figures, this matches figure c.

Yaad rakhein: Dalton's phosphorus looks like a circle cut into three equal sectors.

Answer: (A) c

Concept: The Green Revolution (from the mid-1960s) raised output mainly by using HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation on the same land.

1. Output per hectare rose, so cultivation became more intensive – statement A is true.
2. It did not spread farming to large new areas, so calling it more extensive is NOT true – statement B.
3. In its second phase it reached dry and semi-arid regions, shifting them from dry to irrigated cultivation and changing cropping patterns – C and D are true.

Yaad rakhein: Green Revolution = intensive (more yield per hectare), not extensive (more area).

Answer: (B) Cultivation became more extensive in nature.