Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Key officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

1. Dr P.K. (Pramod Kumar) Mishra became Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi in September 2019 and continued in 2024.
2. He is a retired Gujarat-cadre IAS officer.
3. Shivshankar Menon was National Security Adviser under Dr Manmohan Singh – not this post.

Yaad rakhein: Current NSA: Ajit Doval; Principal Secretary-2 to the PM (appointed 2025): Shaktikanta Das.

Answer: (C) PK Mishra

Concept: Indian winners at the Academy Awards.

1. A.R. Rahman composed the music of Slumdog Millionaire (2008, director Danny Boyle).
2. He won two Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards: Best Original Score and Best Original Song ('Jai Ho', lyrics by Gulzar).
3. Resul Pookutty won the Oscar for Sound Mixing for the same film.

Yaad rakhein: Rahman is nicknamed 'Mozart of Madras'; his debut film was Roja (1992).

Answer: (D) AR Rahman

Concept: Child sex ratio = girls per 1000 boys in the 0–6 age group.

1. Census 2011 child sex ratio: 919 (final figure).
2. Overall sex ratio 2011: 943 (provisional 940).
3. Census 2001 child sex ratio was 927 – so 927 is the trap option.

Yaad rakhein: Remember the pair '943 overall, 919 child' for Census 2011.

Answer: (D) 919

Concept: Objectives of India's Five-Year Plans.

1. The Fourth Plan ran 1969–74, after three annual plans (plan holiday, 1966–69).
2. The wars of 1962 and 1965 and droughts shaped it; its aims were 'growth with stability' and 'progressive achievement of self-reliance'.
3. The Third Plan (1961–66) aimed at a self-sustaining economy but was disrupted by the wars; the Fourth was planned around those lessons.

Yaad rakhein: Fourth Plan model: Ashok Rudra–Alan Manne; Fifth Plan (1974–78) slogan: 'Garibi Hatao'.

Answer: (B) Fourth Plan

Concept: Banking codes used for electronic fund transfer.

1. IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) has 11 alphanumeric characters, given by the RBI.
2. First 4 letters = bank, 5th = 0 (reserved), last 6 = branch.
3. It is used in NEFT, RTGS and IMPS.

Trick: IFSC = 4 + 1 + 6 = 11; MICR = 9 digits; SWIFT = 8 or 11 characters.

Answer: (C) Eleven

Concept: Fundamental Rights are in Part III of the Constitution.

1. Part III spans Articles 12 to 35.
2. Art. 12 defines 'State', Art. 13 voids laws violating rights; the rights themselves start at Art. 14.
3. Right to Property was removed by the 44th Amendment (1978) and is now a legal right under Art. 300A.

Trick: Part III = 12–35, Part IV (DPSP) = 36–51, Part IVA (Duties) = 51A – consecutive blocks.

Answer: (B) Articles 12-35

Concept: Kho-Kho tournaments and India's record.

1. The 4th Asian Kho-Kho Championship was held in Tamulpur, Assam in March 2023.
2. India won the women's title (and the men's title too).
3. Kho-Kho is a traditional Indian sport; India dominates the Asian event.

Yaad rakhein: First Kho-Kho World Cup (New Delhi, January 2025): India won both men's and women's titles.

Answer: (A) India

Concept: India's highest film honour, given at the National Film Awards.

1. Mithun Chakraborty received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award on 8 October 2024 (70th National Film Awards).
2. Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth had already received it earlier, so they can be eliminated.
3. Mithun's debut film Mrigayaa (1976) won him the National Award for Best Actor.

Yaad rakhein: First Phalke awardee: Devika Rani (1969). The award has a Swarna Kamal and ₹10 lakh.

Answer: (D) Mithun Chakraborty

Concept: Election Commission of India works under Article 324.

1. An Election Commissioner holds office for 6 years or till age 65, whichever is earlier.
2. The term is fixed by a law of Parliament as allowed by Art. 324.
3. The CEC can be removed only like a Supreme Court judge.

Yaad rakhein: '6 or 65' – the same formula applies to the CAG and the Chief Election Commissioner.

Answer: (D) Six years

Concept: Revolutionary organisations of the freedom struggle.

1. Abhinav Bharat (Young India Society) was founded in 1904 at Nashik.
2. Founders: V.D. Savarkar and his elder brother Ganesh (Babarao) Savarkar.
3. It grew from their earlier group, Mitra Mela.

Yaad rakhein: Savarkar wrote 'The Indian War of Independence, 1857'; he was jailed in the Cellular Jail, Andaman.

Answer: (A) Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Ganesh Damodar Savarkar

Concept: Festivals linked with famous monuments.

1. The Konark Dance Festival is held every December (1–5) near the Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha.
2. Classical dancers from across India perform there.
3. The Sun Temple (13th century, king Narasimhadeva I) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Yaad rakhein: Konark Sun Temple is called the 'Black Pagoda'; it is shown on the ₹10 note.

Answer: (A) Odisha

Concept: Classical dances and their home states.

1. Mohiniyattam is a solo, graceful (lasya) dance of Kerala performed by women.
2. Its name comes from Mohini, the enchantress form of Vishnu.
3. Kerala's other classical dance is Kathakali.

Yaad rakhein: Kerala – Kathakali & Mohiniyattam; Andhra – Kuchipudi; Tamil Nadu – Bharatanatyam; Odisha – Odissi.

Answer: (D) Kerala

Concept: Post-COVID employment schemes.

1. ABRY was announced in November 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 package, effective from 1 October 2020.
2. It encouraged new hiring by paying EPF contributions of new employees through EPFO.
3. Since it was a COVID-recovery scheme, years before 2020 are ruled out.

Trick: Any scheme with the word 'Aatmanirbhar' dates from 2020 or later (the campaign began in May 2020).

Answer: (A) 2020

Concept: Course of the Indus river system.

1. The Indus rises in Tibet near Lake Mansarovar.
2. It enters India in Ladakh (near Demchok) and flows north-west between the Ladakh and Zanskar/Karakoram ranges, past Leh.
3. It then enters Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) and ends in the Arabian Sea near Karachi.

Yaad rakhein: Common trap: the river of the Kashmir Valley (Srinagar) is the Jhelum.

Answer: (D) Ladakh

Concept: Element = one kind of atom; compound = elements chemically combined in fixed ratio; homogeneous mixture = uniform composition.

1. Iron (Fe) – element.
2. Methane (CH₄) – compound of C and H.
3. Sea water – salts evenly dissolved in water → homogeneous mixture.
4. Others fail: salt is not an element (A); iron is not a compound (B); milk is a colloid, heterogeneous (C).

Trick: Check the first item: salt is a compound → (A) out. Then check the second: iron is an element → (B) out.

Answer: (D) Iron, methane and sea water

Concept: Formula for sharing Central plan assistance among states.

1. The Gadgil formula (1969, Fourth Plan) decided how Central Assistance for state plans is distributed.
2. Named after D.R. Gadgil, then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; population got the largest weight (60%).
3. Sharing of taxes is a Finance Commission job (Art. 280), not this formula.

Yaad rakhein: It was revised in 1991 as the Gadgil–Mukherjee formula (Pranab Mukherjee).

Answer: (B) distribution of Central Assistance among the state

Concept: Niche = the functional role of a species, not just its location.

1. A niche covers what a species eats, what eats it, when it is active and how it uses resources.
2. Habitat or physical space (B, D) is only part of the niche.
3. Genetic diversity (C) is a separate concept.

Trick: Habitat = 'address' of a species; niche = its 'job' in the ecosystem.

Answer: (A) Ecological niche refers to a species' specific role in an ecosystem.

Concept: Neeraj Chopra's major medals in order.

1. 2018 Asian Games, Jakarta: gold with 88.06 m – the first Indian javelin gold at the Asian Games.
2. Olympic gold came at Tokyo 2020 (held 2021); World Championship gold in 2023 (Budapest).
3. His U20 world title was in 2016, not 2018.

Trick: Match the year: only the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games gave him gold in 2018.

Answer: (C) Asian Games

Concept: Foreign groups in ancient north-west India.

1. Indian texts call the Parthians (from Iran) 'Pahlavas'.
2. They ruled the north-west alongside the Shakas, so texts pair them as 'Shaka-Pahlava'.
3. Shakas were Scythians from Central Asia; Kushanas were Yuezhi; Indo-Greeks were Greek.

Yaad rakhein: Famous Parthian king: Gondophares – St Thomas is said to have come to India in his reign.

Answer: (B) Parthians

Concept: Padma awardees in classical dance.

1. Saroja Vaidyanathan was a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and choreographer.
2. She received the Padma Shri (2002) and the Padma Bhushan (2013).
3. She founded Ganesa Natyalaya, a Bharatanatyam school in New Delhi.

Yaad rakhein: Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu) was revived by Rukmini Devi Arundale, founder of Kalakshetra, Chennai.

Answer: (A) Bharatanatyam