Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Eutrophication is the nutrient enrichment of water bodies, i.e., the natural ageing of a lake.

1. Nitrogen and phosphorus (from fertiliser runoff, sewage, detergents) increase in the lake.
2. Algal blooms grow, dissolved oxygen falls and fish die; the lake slowly fills and ages.
3. It concerns aquatic ecosystems, not grasslands or deserts, and nutrients increase, not decrease.

Yaad rakhein: Eu-trophic = 'well-nourished' water → more N and P in an ageing lake.

Answer: (D) the gradual increase in the concentration of phosphorus, nitrogen and other plant nutrients in an ageing aquatic ecosystem such as a lake

Concept: In disubstituted benzene, positions are named ortho (1,2), meta (1,3) and para (1,4).

1. 'm' stands for meta.
2. In m-dichlorobenzene the two Cl atoms are on carbons 1 and 3.
3. IUPAC uses lowest locants, so the name is 1,3-Dichlorobenzene; 1,2 is ortho, while '2,3' and '3,4' are not lowest numbering.

Trick: O-M-P = 1,2 – 1,3 – 1,4 (each one carbon further).

Answer: (C) 1,3-Dichlorobenzene

Concept: The World Athletics U20 Championships 2021 were held at Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi.

1. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya; it was the first time Kenya hosted this championship.
2. India won three medals there, including Neeraj's fellow athletes Amit Khatri (silver, 10 km race walk) and Shaili Singh (silver, long jump).
3. South Africa, Brazil and Argentina were not hosts.

Yaad rakhein: U20 Worlds 2021 → Nairobi (Kenya), the land of distance runners.

Answer: (D) Kenya

Concept: Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873) attacked caste oppression and compared the condition of lower castes to slavery.

1. It was written by Jyotiba Phule, who founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (1873).
2. He dedicated it to the people of the USA who fought to end slavery.
3. Tilak – Gita Rahasya; Gandhi – Hind Swaraj; Ambedkar – Annihilation of Caste.

Yaad rakhein: Phule 1873: Gulamgiri + Satyashodhak Samaj – same year.

Answer: (D) Jyotiba Phule

Concept: Match each scientist with his actual contribution.

1. Hertz experimentally produced and detected electromagnetic waves (1887) – correct.
2. Einstein explained the photoelectric effect (Nobel Prize 1921) – correct.
3. Faraday gave the laws of electromagnetic induction (1831) – correct.
4. The wave theory of light was given by Christiaan Huygens, not Galileo; Galileo is known for the telescope and laws of falling bodies – incorrect pair.

Yaad rakhein: Wave theory → Huygens (H for 'Huygens' and 'wave')... Galileo → telescope.

Answer: (D) Galileo Galilei – Wave theory of light

Concept: The Rashtrakutas were feudatories of the Chalukyas of Badami before becoming independent in the Deccan.

1. Dantidurga (Dantivarman II) overthrew the Chalukya king Kirtivarman II around 753 CE and founded the Rashtrakuta dynasty.
2. Krishna I built the Kailasa temple at Ellora; Amoghavarsha I made Manyakheta the capital.
3. Pala – Gopala; Gurjara-Pratihara – Nagabhata I; Chera – ancient Sangam-age dynasty.

Yaad rakhein: Danti-durga → Deccan → Rashtrakuta (part of the tripartite struggle with Palas and Pratiharas).

Answer: (D) Rashtrakuta

Concept: India set up a body in the late 1960s to scrutinise foreign investment proposals.

1. The Foreign Investment Board (FIB) was established in 1968 to handle foreign investment cases.
2. In 1991, after liberalisation, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was created – a different body (the tempting option).
3. FIPB itself was abolished in 2017.

Yaad rakhein: FIB 1968 → FIPB 1991 → abolished 2017.

Answer: (B) 1968

Concept: The Salal Hydroelectric Project is a run-of-the-river project of NHPC.

1. It is built on the Chenab river in Reasi district.
2. Reasi lies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. Ladakh's projects are Nimoo-Bazgo and Chutak; Lakshadweep and Chandigarh have no such project.

Yaad rakhein: Chenab projects (Salal, Baglihar, Dulhasti) → J&K.

Answer: (D) Jammu and Kashmir

Concept: Open Market Operations (OMO) are the RBI's buying and selling of government securities to control liquidity.

1. When the RBI sells bonds, banks and the public pay money to the RBI.
2. This money leaves the system, so bank reserves and lending capacity fall.
3. Hence the money supply decreases (contractionary policy, used to check inflation); buying bonds does the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: RBI sells bonds → sucks money; RBI buys bonds → pumps money.

Answer: (A) decrease

Concept: The central bank of a country controls its currency, credit and banking system.

1. The Reserve Bank of India was set up on 1 April 1935 under the RBI Act, 1934 and nationalised in 1949.
2. It issues currency, frames monetary policy and regulates banks (Banking Regulation Act, 1949).
3. SBI, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank are commercial banks regulated by the RBI.

Yaad rakhein: RBI = Banker's bank + Government's bank + currency issuer.

Answer: (A) RBI

Concept: Article 173 and the Representation of the People Act lay down qualifications for MLAs.

1. Must be a citizen of India.
2. Must be at least 25 years of age for the Vidhan Sabha.
3. Must not hold an office of profit under government (Article 191 disqualification).
4. There is no requirement of educational or 'knowledge of politics' qualification.

Yaad rakhein: Constitution asks for citizenship and age – never education or knowledge.

Answer: (C) Knowledge of Politics

Concept: The Advocate General (Article 165) is the highest law officer of a State.

1. Article 177 gives Ministers and the Advocate General the right to speak and take part in proceedings of the State Legislature and its committees.
2. He cannot vote there.
3. Article 181 – Speaker not to preside when removal is under consideration; Article 179 – vacation of Speaker's office; Article 183 – Chairman of Council.

Yaad rakhein: Union: AG of India – Art 76 & 88; State: Advocate General – Art 165 & 177.

Answer: (B) Article 177

Concept: Bases react with acids to form salt and water; some bases dissolve in water.

1. Water-soluble bases are called alkalis – e.g., NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH)₂.
2. All alkalis are bases, but not all bases are alkalis (e.g., Cu(OH)₂ is insoluble).
3. Alkanes and alkenes are hydrocarbons; acids are the opposite of bases.

Yaad rakhein: All alkalis are bases, but not all bases are alkalis.

Answer: (A) Alkalis

Concept: The early sessions of the Indian National Congress and their presidents are a standard exam topic.

1. 1885 Bombay (1st) – W.C. Bonnerjee.
2. 1886 Calcutta (2nd) – Dadabhai Naoroji.
3. 1887 Madras – Badruddin Tyabji (first Muslim president); 1889 Bombay – William Wedderburn; 1891 Nagpur – P. Ananda Charlu.

Yaad rakhein: B-D-B: Bonnerjee (1885), Dadabhai (1886), Badruddin (1887).

Answer: (A) Dadabhai Nauroji

Concept: The Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development works under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

1. It was set up in 1958 as the Central Board for Workers Education.
2. It was later renamed after trade-union leader Dattopant Thengadi (founder of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh).
3. It trains workers of organised and unorganised sectors about their rights and welfare schemes.

Yaad rakhein: Workers Education Board – 1958, renamed after the BMS founder.

Answer: (C) 1958

Concept: India's first urbanisation was the Harappan civilisation; the second began in the Ganga valley after a long gap.

1. Around the 6th century BCE, iron tools, surplus agriculture and trade led to new towns in the middle Ganga plain.
2. This was the age of the 16 Mahajanapadas, Buddha and Mahavira.
3. Towns like Rajagriha, Shravasti, Kaushambi and Champa grew; punch-marked coins appeared.

Yaad rakhein: Buddha's age = Mahajanapadas = second urbanisation (6th century BCE).

Answer: (C) 6^th Century BCE

Concept: Ramzan (Ramadan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a month of fasting.

1. Fasting ends with the sighting of the new moon of Shawwal.
2. Eid-ul-Fitr ('festival of breaking the fast') is celebrated on the 1st of Shawwal.
3. Jamat-ul-Vida is the last Friday within Ramzan; Muharram is the first month; Milad-un-Nabi marks the Prophet's birthday (Rabi-ul-Awwal).

Yaad rakhein: Fitr = breaking the fast → right after Ramzan.

Answer: (C) Eid ul Fitr

Concept: Aditi Mangaldas is a leading Kathak and contemporary dancer from Ahmedabad, trained under Kumudini Lakhia and Birju Maharaj.

1. She received the Mahari Award 2022, a dance honour named after the Mahari (temple dancer) tradition of Odisha.
2. No Bharat Ratna was conferred in 2022.
3. She was not among the Padma Vibhushan or Padma Bhushan awardees of 2022.

Yaad rakhein: Mahari = temple dancers of Odisha → award for a dancer.

Answer: (A) Mahari Award 2022

Concept: Lord Dalhousie (Governor-General 1848–56) is called the father of Indian Railways.

1. The first passenger train ran on 16 April 1853 from Bombay (Bori Bunder) to Thane, about 34 km.
2. His 1853 Railway Minute laid down the plan for the network.
3. He also started the telegraph and a uniform postal system (1854).

Yaad rakhein: Dalhousie: Railway 1853, Post 1854 – both after 'Doctrine of Lapse'.

Answer: (C) 1853

Concept: The Jhelum is the main river of the Kashmir valley.

1. It rises from Verinag spring, flows north-west through Srinagar.
2. It enters Wular lake (India's largest freshwater lake), comes out and flows to Baramulla, then through a gorge into Pakistan.
3. Beas, Sutlej and Ravi do not pass through the Kashmir valley.

Yaad rakhein: Verinag → Srinagar → Wular → Baramulla = Jhelum.

Answer: (C) Jhelum