UPSC Prelims PYQs with explanations
Real questions from official papers, mapped to syllabus topics. Attempt each one; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
Consider the following pairs :
- 1. Garba : Gujarat
- 2. Mohiniattam : Odisha
- 3. Yakshagana : Karnataka
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (c). Garba is Gujarat's circle dance performed during Navratri, and it was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2023. Yakshagana is the coastal Karnataka dance-drama with painted faces and tall headgear. Pair 2 is wrong: Mohiniattam, the graceful solo dance of the enchantress Mohini, belongs to Kerala. Odisha's classical dance is Odissi.
India has eight dance forms recognised as classical by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Notice how matching dances to states is easier when linked to their temples, festivals and myths.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
It is essential that we mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases and thus avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change that would take place in coming years and decades. Mitigation would require a major shift in the way we produce and consume energy. A shift away from overwhelming dependence on fossil fuels is now long overdue, but unfortunately, technological development has been slow and inadequate largely because government policies have not promoted investments in research and development, myopically as a result of relatively low prices of oil. It is now, therefore, imperative for a country like India treating the opportunity of harnessing renewable energy on a large scale as a national imperative. This country is extremely well endowed with solar, wind and biomass sources of energy. Where we have lagged, unfortunately, is in our ability to develop and to create technological solutions for harnessing these resources.
One particular trajectory for carrying out stringent mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly shows the need for ensuring that global emissions of greenhouse gases peak no later than 2015 and reduce rapidly thereafter. The cost associated with such a trajectory is truly modest and would amount, in the estimation of IPCC, to not more than 3 percent of the global GDP in 2030. In other words, the level of prosperity that the world would have reached without mitigation would at worst be postponed by a few months or a year at the most. This is clearly not a very high price to pay for protecting hundreds of millions of people from the worst risks associated with climate change. Any such effort, however, would require lifestyles to change appropriately also. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is not a mere technological fix, and clearly requires changes in lifestyles and transformation of a country’s economic structure, whereby effective reduction in emissions is brought about, such as through the consumption of much lower quantities of animal protein. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has determined that the emissions from the livestock sector amount to 18 percent of the total. The reduction of emissions from this source is entirely in the hands of human beings, who have never questioned the impacts that their dietary habits of consuming more and more animal protein are bringing about. Mitigation overall has huge co-benefits, such as lower air pollution and health benefits, higher energy security and greater employment.
According to the passage, which of the following would help in the mitigation of greenhouse gases ?
- 1. Reducing the consumption of meat
- 2. Rapid economic liberalization
- 3. Reducing the consumerism
- 4. Modern management practices of livestock
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (c) & explanation
Eating less meat and cutting consumerism help mitigation (c). Step 1: find what the passage asks people to do. Mitigation needs "changes in lifestyles", such as "consumption of much lower quantities of animal protein" (item 1). It also requires a change in the way we "consume" energy and goods (item 3). Step 2: test the others. Item 2 is wrong: economic liberalization is never mentioned. Item 4 is wrong: the passage wants fewer livestock emissions through diet change, not modern livestock management. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Tip: when an option sounds like a reasonable real-world solution but the passage never names it, it is outside the passage and wrong.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
"Price is not the same thing as value. Suppose that on a day the price of everything viz., coal, bread, postage stamps, a day's labour, the rent of houses, etc. were to double. Prices then would certainly rise, but values of all things except one would not."
The writer wants to say that if prices of all things were doubled
Answer (d) & explanation
Only the value of money is halved (d). Step 1: understand the claim. If every price doubles, things still trade for the same amounts against each other: a loaf still costs as many hours of labour as before. So their real values do not change. Step 2: the "one" thing whose value changes is money: one rupee now buys only half as much. Step 3: test the others. Option (a) is wrong: it misses the exception the writer mentions. Options (b) and (c) are wrong: values of goods neither double nor halve.
Tip: price is value measured in money. If all prices rise together, it is money that has lost value; this is what inflation means.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
(Same information as the question above.)
Which of the following is/are a couple/couples ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Both AD and BC are couples (c). Step 1: from the earlier working, A, the engineer, is married to the lady stenographer, who is D. Step 2: the judge, B, is married to the lawyer, C. Step 3: so the two couples are A–D and B–C. This also matches the clue that there are exactly two married couples. Option (a) and (b) give only one couple. Option (d) is wrong: C is married to B, not A, and D is B's mother, not wife.
Tip: once the main puzzle is solved, related questions only need you to read off the answer. Check it against every clue, here "two married couples", to be sure.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas?
- 1. It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages.
- 2. It enables the beneficiaries in the rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Both are correct (c). Business Correspondents, allowed by the RBI since 2006, act as bank agents in villages without branches. With a handheld or biometric device they let people deposit and withdraw small sums and open accounts (2 correct). They also deliver subsidies, pensions and MGNREGA wages through Direct Benefit Transfer at the doorstep (1 correct).
BCs were the backbone of financial inclusion drives such as PM Jan Dhan Yojana (2014), together with Aadhaar-enabled payments. Notice how technology, banking and welfare delivery come together in the JAM trinity: Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In addition to fingerprint scanning, which of the following can be used in the biometric identification of a person?
- 1. Iris scanning
- 2. Retinal scanning
- 3. Voice recognition
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
All three are used (d). Biometrics identifies people by unique physical or behavioural features. Iris scanning reads the coloured ring's patterns (1). Retinal scanning maps blood vessels at the back of the eye (2). Voice recognition analyses the pitch and features of speech (3). Options that leave any of these out are incomplete.
Aadhaar collects fingerprints, iris scans and a face photograph, and face authentication is now widely used too, including in DigiYatra at airports. Notice how biometrics links technology to welfare delivery, while also raising privacy concerns addressed in the Puttaswamy judgment (2017).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following organizations brings out the publication known as 'World Economic Outlook'?
Answer (a) & explanation
The IMF publishes the World Economic Outlook twice a year, in April and October, with updates in between (a). The World Bank (d) publishes Global Economic Prospects and earlier the Ease of Doing Business report. The UNDP (b) publishes the Human Development Report. The World Economic Forum (c) publishes the Global Competitiveness and Global Gender Gap reports.
The IMF also publishes the Global Financial Stability Report and the Fiscal Monitor. Notice how matching reports to their publishers is one of UPSC's most repeated themes; a short table saves easy marks.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
The Himalayan ecosystem is highly vulnerable to damage, both due to geological reasons and on account of the stress caused by increased pressure of population, exploitation of natural resources and other related challenges. These aspects may be exacerbated due to the impact of climate change. It is possible that climate change may adversely impact the Himalayan ecosystem through increased temperature, altered precipitation patterns, episodes of drought and biotic influences. This would not only impact the very sustenance of the indigenous communities in uplands but also the life of downstream dwellers across the country and beyond. Therefore, there is an urgent need for giving special attention to sustain the Himalayan ecosystem. This would require conscious efforts for conserving all the representative systems.
Further, it needs to be emphasized that the endemics with restricted distribution, and most often with specialized habitat requirements, are among the most vulnerable elements. In this respect the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, with rich endemic diversity, is vulnerable to climate change. The threats include possible loss of genetic resources and species, habitats and concomitantly a decrease in ecosystem services. Therefore, conservation of endemic elements in representative ecosystems/habitats assumes a great significance while drawing conservation plans for the region.
Towards achieving the above, we will have to shift toward contemporary conservation approaches, which include a paradigm of landscape level interconnectivity between protected area systems. The concept advocates a shift from the species-habitat focus to an inclusive focus on expanding the biogeographic range so that natural adjustments to climate change can proceed without being restrictive.
Consider the following statements :
According to the passage, the adverse impact of climate change on an ecosystem can be a
- 1. permanent disappearance of some of its flora and fauna.
- 2. permanent disappearance of ecosystem itself.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). Step 1: find the threats. The passage lists "possible loss of genetic resources and species, habitats and concomitantly a decrease in ecosystem services". Losing species means some flora and fauna can disappear permanently, so statement 1 holds. Step 2: test statement 2. The passage speaks of a decrease in what the ecosystem provides, not of the ecosystem itself vanishing. So 2 goes beyond the text. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: watch the size of the claim. "Some species may be lost" is much smaller than "the whole ecosystem disappears". UPSC often adds an extreme version of a true point as the wrong statement.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Net profits are only 2·2% of their total assets for central public sector undertakings, lower than for the private corporate sector. While the public sector or the State-led entrepreneurship played an important role in triggering India’s industrialization, our evolving development needs, comparatively less-than-satisfactory performance of the public sector enterprises, the maturing of our private sector, a much larger social base now available for expanding entrepreneurship and the growing institutional capabilities to enforce competition policies would suggest that the time has come to review the role of public sector.
What should the portfolio composition of the government be ? It should not remain static all times. The airline industry works well as a purely private affair. At the opposite end, rural roads, whose sparse traffic makes tolling unviable, have to be on the balance-sheet of the State. If the government did not own rural roads, they would not exist. Similarly, public health capital in our towns and cities will need to come from the public sector. Equally, preservation and improvement of forest cover will have to be a new priority for the public sector assets.
Take the example of steel. With near-zero tariffs, India is a globally competitive market for the metal. Indian firms export steel into the global market, which demonstrates there is no gap in technology. Indian companies are buying up global steel companies, which shows there is no gap in capital availability. Under these conditions, private ownership works best.
Private ownership is clearly desirable in regulated industries, ranging from finance to infrastructure, where a government agency performs the function of regulation and multiple competing firms are located in the private sector. Here, the simple and clean solution — government as the umpire and the private sector as the players is what works best. In many of these industries, we have a legacy of government ownership, where productivity tends to be lower, fear of bankruptcy is absent, and the risk of asking for money from the tax payer is ever present. There is also the conflict of interest between government as an owner and as the regulator. The formulation and implementation of competition policy will be more vigorous and fair if government companies are out of action.
The author prefers government as the umpire and private sector as players because
Answer (a) & explanation
Government sets norms for fair play (a). Step 1: understand the image. An umpire sets and enforces rules; players compete. In regulated industries "a government agency performs the function of regulation" and many private firms compete. Competition policy will be "more vigorous and fair" if government firms are out. So the umpire's job is to set norms for fair play. Step 2: test the others. Option (b) is wrong: being "ultimate in policy formulation" is not the point of the analogy. Option (c) is wrong: an umpire does control the players. Option (d) is wrong because (a) fits.
Tip: for an analogy question, ask what the two roles do in real life, then match that to the passage.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to a conservation organization called ‘Wetlands International’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It is an intergovernmental organization formed by the countries which are signatories to Ramsar Convention.
- 2. It works at the field level to develop and mobilize knowledge, and use the practical experience to advocate for better policies.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Wetlands International is a global non-profit NGO, headquartered in the Netherlands. It is not an intergovernmental body formed by the Ramsar parties, so statement 1 is wrong. It does work at the field level, builds knowledge and uses that experience to advocate for better policies (2 correct).
It is one of the official International Organisation Partners of the Ramsar Convention, along with bodies like BirdLife, IUCN and WWF. It also has a South Asia office in New Delhi. Notice how "partner of a convention" and "created by a convention" are two different things, a distinction UPSC likes to test.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of
Answer (c) & explanation
Seasonal reversal of winds is the hallmark of the monsoon climate (c). The word comes from the Arabic mausim, meaning season. Land heats faster than the sea, so winds blow from sea to land in summer (south-west monsoon) and from land to sea in winter (north-east monsoon). The equatorial climate (a) has steady heat and rain all year without such reversal. The Mediterranean climate (b) sees a seasonal shift of rain belts, not a full wind reversal, so (d) fails too.
Notice how the monsoon links geography to farming, the economy and even festivals across India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| National Highway | Cities connected
| 1. NH 4 | Chennai and Hyderabad
| 2. NH 6 | Mumbai and Kolkata
| 3. NH 15 | Ahmedabad and Jodhpur
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
No pair is correct (d). Under the old numbering used in 2014, NH 4 ran Mumbai–Pune–Bengaluru–Chennai, not Chennai–Hyderabad. NH 6 ran from Hazira (Surat) through Nagpur and Raipur to Kolkata, not from Mumbai. NH 15 ran Pathankot–Bikaner–Jaisalmer–Samakhiali, not Ahmedabad–Jodhpur.
Since 2010 highways carry new numbers: even numbers run east–west and odd numbers north–south, increasing from north to south and east to west. Old NH 7 from Varanasi to Kanyakumari is now largely NH 44, India's longest. Notice how numbering systems change, so read such questions in their year.
This question uses the old highway numbers. Do not apply today's numbering.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
It is easy for the government to control State-owned companies through nods and winks. So what really needs to be done as a first step is to put petrol pricing on a transparent formula — if the price of crude is x and the exchange rate y, then every month or fortnight, the government announces a maximum price of petrol, which anybody can work out from the x and the y. The rule has to be worked out to make sure that the oil-marketing companies can, in general, cover their costs. This will mean that if one company can innovate and cut costs, it will make greater profits. Hence, firms will be more prone to innovate and be efficient under this system. Once the rule is announced, there should be no interference by the government. If this is done for a while, private companies will re-enter this market. And once a sufficient number of them are in the fray, we can remove the rule-based pricing and leave it truly to the market (subject to, of course, the usual regulations of anti-trust and other competition laws).
Consider the following statements :
According to the passage, private oil companies re-enter the oil producing market if
- 1. a transparent rule-based petrol pricing exists.
- 2. there is no government interference in the oil producing market.
- 3. subsidies are given by the government.
- 4. regulations of anti-trust are removed.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Transparent pricing and no interference bring private firms back (a). Step 1: find the sequence. The government sets a transparent formula; "once the rule is announced, there should be no interference by the government"; then "private companies will re-enter". That gives items 1 and 2. Step 2: test the others. Item 3 is wrong: subsidies are not mentioned. Item 4 is wrong: the passage says anti-trust and competition rules stay even after the market is freed. So options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Tip: words like "subject to, of course, the usual regulations" mean those rules remain. An option saying they are removed reverses the text.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
(Same graph as the question above.)
What is the trend of the average profit of B from the year 1997 to the year 2000 ?
Answer (b) & explanation
B's profit trend is non-decreasing (b). Step 1: read B's values. 1997: 4. 1998: 4. 1999: 5. 2000: about 5.6 (thousand rupees). Step 2: describe the pattern. The profit stays the same for a year, then rises, and never falls. That is "non-decreasing". Option (a) is wrong: non-increasing means it never rises. Option (c) is wrong: steady means no change at all. Option (d) is wrong: fluctuating means going up and down.
Tip: "non-decreasing" allows flat stretches and rises, but no falls. "Increasing" would need a rise every year, which B does not show from 1997 to 1998.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Two cars start towards each other, from two places A and B which are at a distance of 160 km. They start at the same time 08 : 10 AM. If the speeds of the cars are 50 km and 30 km per hour respectively, they will meet each other at
Answer (a) & explanation
They meet at 10:10 AM (a). Step 1: the cars move towards each other, so their speeds add: 50 + 30 = 80 km/hr. This is how fast the gap between them closes. Step 2: time to close the 160 km gap = 160 ÷ 80 = 2 hours. Step 3: they start at 8:10 AM, so they meet at 8:10 + 2 hours = 10:10 AM. Options (b), (c) and (d) use the wrong speed or wrong start time.
Tip: moving towards each other: add speeds. Moving in the same direction: subtract speeds. Then time = distance ÷ that combined speed.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In medieval India, the designations ‘Mahattara’ and ‘Pattakila’ were used for
Answer (b) & explanation
Mahattara (village elders or headmen) and pattakila (the village headman) appear in early medieval land-grant inscriptions as village leaders (b). When land was granted, these local figures were told to respect the rights of the donee. The modern word patel comes from pattakila. They were not military officers (a), Vedic ritual specialists (c) or guild chiefs (d).
Land grants grew common from the Gupta period and are a major source on rural society. Notice how a single word can survive for a thousand years: patel is still a village office and a surname in western India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Constitution of India, promotion of international peace and security is included in the
Answer (b) & explanation
Article 51, the last of the Directive Principles (Part IV), directs the State to promote international peace and security, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, respect international law and settle disputes by arbitration (b). The Preamble (a) speaks of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity but not international peace. The Fundamental Duties (c) in Article 51A deal with citizens' duties, and the Ninth Schedule (d) shields certain laws from judicial review.
Notice how Article 51 reflects Nehru's foreign policy of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence, and the Panchsheel principles of 1954.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Buddhist history, tradition and culture in India, consider the following pairs :
| Famous shrine | Location
| 1. Tabo monastery and temple complex | Spiti Valley
| 2. Lhotsava Lhakhang temple, Nako | Zanskar Valley
| 3. Alchi temple complex | Ladakh
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (c). Tabo monastery (996 CE) in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, was founded by the translator Rinchen Zangpo. Alchi, on the Indus in Ladakh, has fine 11th–12th century murals in the same tradition. Pair 2 is wrong: Nako, with the Lotsava Lhakhang, is in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, not the Zanskar Valley of Ladakh.
Rinchen Zangpo is credited with building many temples in the western Himalaya during the "second spread" of Buddhism into Tibet. Notice how these monasteries preserve Kashmiri art styles that have vanished elsewhere.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
It is essential that we mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases and thus avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change that would take place in coming years and decades. Mitigation would require a major shift in the way we produce and consume energy. A shift away from overwhelming dependence on fossil fuels is now long overdue, but unfortunately, technological development has been slow and inadequate largely because government policies have not promoted investments in research and development, myopically as a result of relatively low prices of oil. It is now, therefore, imperative for a country like India treating the opportunity of harnessing renewable energy on a large scale as a national imperative. This country is extremely well endowed with solar, wind and biomass sources of energy. Where we have lagged, unfortunately, is in our ability to develop and to create technological solutions for harnessing these resources.
One particular trajectory for carrying out stringent mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly shows the need for ensuring that global emissions of greenhouse gases peak no later than 2015 and reduce rapidly thereafter. The cost associated with such a trajectory is truly modest and would amount, in the estimation of IPCC, to not more than 3 percent of the global GDP in 2030. In other words, the level of prosperity that the world would have reached without mitigation would at worst be postponed by a few months or a year at the most. This is clearly not a very high price to pay for protecting hundreds of millions of people from the worst risks associated with climate change. Any such effort, however, would require lifestyles to change appropriately also. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is not a mere technological fix, and clearly requires changes in lifestyles and transformation of a country’s economic structure, whereby effective reduction in emissions is brought about, such as through the consumption of much lower quantities of animal protein. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has determined that the emissions from the livestock sector amount to 18 percent of the total. The reduction of emissions from this source is entirely in the hands of human beings, who have never questioned the impacts that their dietary habits of consuming more and more animal protein are bringing about. Mitigation overall has huge co-benefits, such as lower air pollution and health benefits, higher energy security and greater employment.
Why do we continue to depend on the fossil fuels heavily ?
- 1. Inadequate technological development
- 2. Inadequate funds for research and development
- 3. Inadequate availability of alternative sources of energy
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (d) & explanation
All three reasons are accepted (d). Step 1: find the line. A shift from fossil fuels is "long overdue", but "technological development has been slow and inadequate" (item 1), "largely because government policies have not promoted investments in research and development" (item 2). Step 2: item 3, the lack of usable alternative sources, follows because India has "lagged" in creating ways of "harnessing" its solar, wind and biomass resources, so in practice they are not available. Step 3: UPSC's key accepts all three, so options (a), (b) and (c) fall short.
Tip: India is "well endowed" with renewables, so the sources exist in nature. The point is that they are not yet available for use, because the technology is missing.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
A and B decide to travel from place X to place Y by bus. A has ₹ 10 with him and he finds that it is 80% of the bus fare for two persons. B finds that he has ₹ 3 with him and hands it over to A. In this context, which one of the following statements is correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
A is left with 50 paise (c). Step 1: A's ₹10 is 80% of the fare for two people. So full fare = 10 ÷ 0.8 = ₹12.50. Step 2: B gives ₹3, so A now has 10 + 3 = ₹13. Step 3: after buying two tickets: 13 − 12.50 = ₹0.50 left. Option (a) is wrong: ₹13 is more than "just enough". Option (b) is wrong: A needs nothing extra. Option (d) is wrong: the money is enough.
Tip: to find the whole from a percentage, divide by the percentage as a decimal: whole = part ÷ 0.8. Quick check: 80% of 12.50 = 10.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.