Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Local winds develop because of local differences in temperature and pressure.

1. Loo is a hot, dry, dusty wind blowing in the afternoons of May–June over north and north-west India (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar).
2. Bora is a cold wind of the Adriatic; Foehn (Alps) and Chinook (Rockies) are warm dry winds descending mountain slopes abroad.

Yaad rakhein: Indian summer local winds: Loo (north), Kalbaisakhi/Nor'westers (Bengal), Mango showers (Kerala–Karnataka).

Answer: (A) Loo

Concept: In a covalent bond, the shared electron pair may be pulled more towards one atom.

1. Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom (or group) in a molecule to attract the shared pair of electrons towards itself; fluorine is highest (4.0 on Pauling scale).
2. Electron affinity is the energy released when an isolated gaseous atom gains an electron – not about a shared pair.
3. Electropositivity is the tendency to lose electrons.

Yaad rakhein: Shared pair → electronegativity; isolated atom gaining electron → electron affinity.

Answer: (D) electronegativity

Concept: The Morley–Minto Reforms were named after Secretary of State John Morley and Viceroy Lord Minto.

1. They were enacted as the Indian Councils Act, 1909.
2. It introduced separate electorates for Muslims; hence Lord Minto is called the 'Father of Communal Electorate'.
3. The 1919 Act (Montagu–Chelmsford) extended them to Sikhs etc.; the 1935 Act extended them further.

Yaad rakhein: Morley–Minto 1909 → separate electorate begins.

Answer: (C) Indian Council Act, 1909

Concept: Mallika Sarabhai is a dancer, choreographer and activist from Ahmedabad, daughter of Vikram Sarabhai and Mrinalini Sarabhai.

1. She is renowned as an exponent of Kuchipudi (and Bharatanatyam), and heads the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts.
2. Among the options given, Kuchipudi is the dance she is famous for; Kathak, Odissi and Sattriya are not her forms.

Yaad rakhein: Sarabhai family: Mrinalini – Bharatanatyam; Mallika – Kuchipudi & Bharatanatyam.

Answer: (D) Kuchipudi

Concept: In June 2023 the CCEA fixed Kharif MSPs for 2023-24.

1. MSP of common paddy was raised from ₹2040 to ₹2183 per quintal – an increase of ₹143.
2. Percentage rise $=\frac{143}{2040}\times 100\approx 7\%$.

Trick: Remember 2183 for 2023-24 paddy; ₹143 rise ≈ 7%.

Answer: (C) 7%

Concept: Sitara Devi (1920–2014) was a celebrated Kathak dancer of the Benaras tradition.

1. Rabindranath Tagore, after seeing her perform at age 16, called her 'Nritya Samragini', and she became known as the Queen of Kathak.
2. So she was a doyen of Kathak – the question itself names it.

Yaad rakhein: Nritya Samragini Sitara Devi = Kathak.

Answer: (D) Kathak

Concept: Industries are classified by raw material: agro-based, mineral-based, marine-based, forest-based.

1. Agro-based industries use agricultural produce: cotton, jute, silk, woollen textiles, sugar, edible oil, tea, coffee.
2. Fertiliser industry uses natural gas, naphtha, rock phosphate, sulphur – it is a chemical (mineral-based) industry that serves agriculture but does not use farm produce.

Yaad rakhein: Ask: is the raw material grown on a farm? Fertiliser – no.

Answer: (B) Fertiliser

Concept: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-American author known for retelling Indian epics from women's viewpoint.

1. The Palace of Illusions (2008) retells the Mahabharata through Draupadi (Panchaali).
2. The Feast of Roses – Indu Sundaresan; Malgudi Days – R. K. Narayan; A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry.

Yaad rakhein: Divakaruni: Palace of Illusions (Draupadi), The Forest of Enchantments (Sita), The Mistress of Spices.

Answer: (C) The Palace of Illusions

Concept: Open-chain (acyclic/aliphatic) compounds have carbon atoms joined in straight or branched chains with no ring.

1. Acetaldehyde, ${\text{CH}}_3\text{CHO}$, is a two-carbon chain with ends open – an open-chain compound.
2. Benzene and toluene are aromatic rings (closed chain); tetrahydrofuran is a heterocyclic ring containing oxygen.

Trick: If the structure has a ring (hexagon, pentagon) it is closed-chain; ethanal has none.

Answer: (D) Acetaldehyde

Concept: Major Christian festivals mark events in the life of Jesus Christ.

1. Christmas (25 December) celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.
2. Good Friday marks his crucifixion and Easter his resurrection; Eid-ul-Fitr is a Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan.

Yaad rakhein: Birth – Christmas; death – Good Friday; resurrection – Easter.

Answer: (A) Christmas

Concept: Some taxes are levied by law but bring in very little revenue compared with their cost of collection.

1. Taxes like gift tax and wealth tax are called 'paper taxes' because they exist mainly on paper, yielding negligible revenue.
2. Gift tax was abolished in 1998 and wealth tax in 2015 for this reason.
3. They are also direct taxes, but the specific term asked for this group is 'paper taxes'.

Yaad rakhein: Paper tax = big on paper, tiny in collection.

Answer: (D) Paper taxes

Concept: Harshacharita is a Sanskrit biography of King Harshavardhana of Thanesar–Kannauj (7th century).

1. It was written by Banabhatta, Harsha's court poet, who also wrote Kadambari.
2. Harisena wrote the Allahabad Prashasti of Samudragupta; Amarasimha wrote Amarakosha; Vararuchi was a grammarian in Vikramaditya's court.

Yaad rakhein: Bana – Harshacharita + Kadambari.

Answer: (D) Banabhatta

Concept: Rashtrakuta king Krishna III (c. 939–967) invaded the Chola kingdom.

1. He defeated the Chola ruler Parantaka I at the battle of Takkolam (949 CE).
2. He then marched south and set up a victory pillar and a temple at Rameswaram.
3. Takkolam is the battle site, not the place of the pillar – the tempting wrong option.

Yaad rakhein: Battle – Takkolam; pillar and temple – Rameswaram.

Answer: (D) Rameswaram

Concept: Article 22(2) requires an arrested person to be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours (excluding journey time).

1. Detention beyond that without a magistrate's order is illegal, and the court releases the person through the writ of Habeas Corpus ('to have the body').
2. Mandamus orders a public official to do a duty; Prohibition stops a lower court exceeding jurisdiction; Quo-warranto questions the right to hold a public office.

Yaad rakhein: Illegal detention → Habeas Corpus – 'produce the body'.

Answer: (D) Habeas Corpus

Concept: Article 22(4) limits preventive detention to three months unless an Advisory Board reports sufficient cause for longer detention.

1. The Advisory Board consists of persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judges of a High Court.
2. Under the 44th Amendment, the chairman must be a serving High Court judge (this part is not yet in force).

Yaad rakhein: Preventive detention → Advisory Board of High Court-level judges.

Answer: (C) Judges of High court

Concept: India invites a foreign head of state or government as chief guest for Republic Day.

1. In 2023 the chief guest was Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt; an Egyptian Army contingent also marched on Kartavya Path.
2. 2024 – Emmanuel Macron (France); 2025 – Prabowo Subianto (Indonesia).

Yaad rakhein: 2023 Egypt, 2024 France, 2025 Indonesia.

Answer: (A) Egypt

Concept: Bajra (pearl millet) is a hardy crop of hot, dry areas with sandy soil.

1. As per Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022, Rajasthan is the largest producer of bajra, contributing over 40% of India's output.
2. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Yaad rakhein: Desert state → desert millet: Rajasthan tops bajra.

Answer: (D) Rajasthan

Concept: Openings of the body are controlled by ring-shaped muscles.

1. Sphincter muscles are circular muscles that open and close passages; the anal sphincters control the exit of faeces and the urethral sphincter controls urine.
2. Pectoralis is a chest muscle, rectus (e.g. rectus abdominis) an abdominal/eye muscle, and gastrocnemius the calf muscle.

Yaad rakhein: Sphincter = ring gate of the body (anus, bladder, stomach exit).

Answer: (B) Sphincter

Concept: Banks must keep a fraction (CRR) of deposits as reserves; the rest is lent and re-deposited, creating credit.

1. Money multiplier $=\frac{1}{\text{CRR}}$.
2. With CRR $=25\%=\frac{1}{4}$: multiplier $=\frac{1}{0.25}=4$.

Trick: Multiplier is just the reciprocal of the reserve ratio.

Answer: (A) 4

Concept: Patiala gharana of khayal singing was founded in the 19th century in the Patiala court.

1. Its founders were Ali Baksh Khan and Fateh Ali Khan, famous as the duo 'Aliya–Fattu', disciples of the Delhi gharana.
2. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is its best-known later exponent.
3. Abdul Wahid Khan belongs to the Kirana gharana, so he is not a Patiala musician.

Yaad rakhein: Patiala = Aliya–Fattu → Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

Answer: (D) Ali Baksh Khan