UPSC Prelims PYQs with explanations
Real questions from official papers, mapped to syllabus topics. Attempt each one; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
(Same information as the question above.)
Who wore the sweater ?
Answer (a) & explanation
A wore the sweater (a). Step 1: someone wore a white sweater. Clue 1 says B did not wear it. Clue 2 says C wore a tie. So the white sweater belongs to A. Step 2: this also fixes the rest. A is Kumar, C (Ribeiro) wears the blue tie, and B (Singh) wears the black jacket. Kumar does not wear a jacket, which fits A wearing the sweater. Step 3: so option (b) B wears the jacket, and option (c) C wears the tie. Option (d) fails because the answer is clear.
Tip: in linked puzzles, the first fact you work out often answers a later question directly. Write down each solved fact as you go.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to 'IFC Masala Bonds', sometimes seen in the news, which of the statements given below is/are correct?
- 1. The International Finance Corporation, which offers these bonds, is an arm of the World Bank.
- 2. They are the rupee-denominated bonds and are a source of debt financing for the public and private sector.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Both are correct (c). The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, first used the name "Masala bonds" in 2014 (1). They are rupee-denominated bonds issued abroad and serve as a source of debt financing (2).
Because they are in rupees, the foreign investor bears the currency risk, not the Indian borrower. HDFC and NTPC were among the early Indian issuers, and the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board also used them. Notice how this helps internationalise the rupee, along with steps such as rupee trade settlement.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the 'Gram Nyayalaya Act', which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. As per the Act, Gram Nyayalayas can hear only civil cases and not criminal cases.
- 2. The Act allows local social activists as mediators/reconciliators.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: under the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, these village courts hear both civil and criminal cases listed in the Act's Schedules. Statement 2 is right: the Act lets the court appoint local social workers as conciliators to help parties settle disputes.
Gram Nyayalayas are set up at the intermediate panchayat level, presided over by a Nyayadhikari with the powers of a judicial magistrate. They can be mobile courts and follow simplified procedure. Notice how they aim to bring cheap, quick justice to the doorstep, reflecting Article 39A on equal justice and free legal aid, though few states have set them up.
"only civil". Most local justice schemes cover both kinds of dispute.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana is aimed at
Answer (a) & explanation
MUDRA brings small entrepreneurs into the formal financial system (a). Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (2015) gives collateral-free loans to non-farm micro and small enterprises through banks, NBFCs and MFIs. It has slabs called Shishu (up to ₹50,000), Kishore (up to ₹5 lakh) and Tarun (up to ₹10 lakh). Since 2024, Tarun Plus goes up to ₹20 lakh. It is not a crop loan scheme (b), which is the Kisan Credit Card's job. It is not a pension scheme (c), which is NSAP's, and it does not fund NGOs (d).
MUDRA stands for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency, a SIDBI arm that refinances lenders. Notice how the target is the "missing middle": the unfunded, informal small business.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
Accountability, or the lack of it, in governance generally, and civil services, in particular, is a major factor underlying the deficiencies in governance and public administration. Designing an effective framework for accountability has been a key element of the reform agenda. A fundamental issue is whether civil services should be accountable to the political executive of the day or to society at large. In other words, how should internal and external accountability be reconciled ? Internal accountability is sought to be achieved by internal performance monitoring, official supervision by bodies like the Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General, and judicial review of executive decisions. Articles 311 and 312 of the Indian Constitution provide job security and safeguards to the civil services, especially the All India Services. The framers of the Constitution had envisaged that provision of these safeguards would result in a civil service that is not totally subservient to the political executive but will have the strength to function in larger public interest. The need to balance internal and external accountability is thus built into the Constitution. The issue is where to draw the line. Over the years, the emphasis seems to have tilted in favour of greater internal accountability of the civil services to the political leaders of the day who in turn are expected to be externally accountable to the society at large through the election process. This system for seeking accountability to society has not worked out, and has led to several adverse consequences for governance.
Some special measures can be considered for improving accountability in civil services. Provisions of articles 311 and 312 should be reviewed and laws and regulations framed to ensure external accountability of civil services. The proposed Civil Services Bill seeks to address some of these requirements. The respective roles of professional civil services and the political executive should be defined so that professional managerial functions and management of civil services are depoliticized. For this purpose, effective statutory civil service boards should be created at the centre and in the states. Decentralization and devolution of authority to bring government and decision making closer to the people also helps to enhance accountability.
Which one of the following is the essential message implied by this passage ?
Answer (d) & explanation
The essential message is the need for reforms in civil service accountability (d). Step 1: the passage first explains the problem, then lists special measures: reviewing Articles 311 and 312, a Civil Services Bill and independent boards. A list of fixes means the message is reform. Step 2: option (a) is too absolute. Civil servants are accountable, only the balance is off. Step 3: option (b), about educated people avoiding politics, is not discussed. Option (c) is wrong because the framers did build in a balance through Articles 311 and 312.
Tip: the "essential message" usually sits where the author moves from the problem to the solution. Watch for words like "needs" or "measures".
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
(Same information as the question above.)
Which of the following statements is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
F is painted indigo (b). Step 1: A is orange, C is green, and E (golf) is violet. Indigo, blue and yellow are left for B, D and F. Step 2: F holds the hockey ball. The hockey ball is in neither the blue nor the yellow box. So F must be indigo. Step 3: B and D share blue and yellow, but no clue says which is which. So option (a), D yellow, and option (c), B blue, are only possible, not certain. Option (d), "all of the above", fails too.
Tip: "is/are correct" in puzzles means "must be correct". If a fact could go either way, it does not count as correct.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
An increase in human-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could initiate a chain reaction between plants and microorganisms that would unsettle one of the largest carbon reservoirs on the planet — soil. In a study, it was found that the soil, which contains twice the amount of carbon present in all plants and Earth’s atmosphere combined, could become increasingly volatile as people add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This is largely because of increased plant growth. Although a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, carbon dioxide also supports plant growth. As trees and other vegetation flourish in a carbon dioxide-rich future, their roots could stimulate microbial activity in soil that may in turn accelerate the decomposition of soil carbon and its release into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Which among the following is the most logical corollary to the above passage ?
Answer (d) & explanation
The best corollary is that more green cover could release carbon trapped in soil (d). Step 1: the passage says thriving vegetation feeds soil microbes, which "accelerate the decomposition of soil carbon". When soil carbon breaks down, carbon dioxide is released. So more plants could release soil carbon. That is option (d). Step 2: option (b) says humans are solely responsible for carbon dioxide, which the passage contradicts. Step 3: option (c) reverses the cause: plants feed the microbes, not the other way. Option (a) is true but not the passage's point.
Tip: a corollary follows from the passage's chain of cause and effect. Trace the chain carefully, plants to microbes to soil carbon.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Community sometimes mentioned in the news | In the affairs of
| 1. Kurd | Bangladesh
| 2. Madhesi | Nepal
| 3. Rohingya | Myanmar
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 2 and 3 are correct (c). The Madhesis of Nepal's Terai protested the 2015 constitution, which led to a border blockade with India. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority denied citizenship in Myanmar's Rakhine State, and many fled to Bangladesh after 2017. Pair 1 is wrong: the Kurds live across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, not Bangladesh.
The Kurds are among the largest ethnic groups without a state of their own. Notice how communities in the news link to India's neighbourhood policy, as with refugees and border relations.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to an initiative called ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It is an initiative hosted by UNEP, IMF and World Economic Forum.
- 2. It is a global initiative that focuses on drawing attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity.
- 3. It presents an approach that can help decision-makers recognize, demonstrate and capture the value of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (c). TEEB began in 2007 after a G8+5 environment ministers' meeting in Potsdam. Germany and the European Commission backed it, and it is hosted by UNEP. Statement 1 is wrong because the IMF and WEF do not host it. TEEB draws attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity (2). It also gives decision-makers a way to recognise, demonstrate and capture the value of ecosystems (3), for example through payments for ecosystem services.
The idea is that nature is lost partly because its services look "free". Notice how it connects with natural capital accounting, including the UN SEEA framework that India's MoSPI uses for its EnviStats environmental accounts.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Regarding ‘DigiLocker’, sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It is a digital locker system offered by the Government under Digital India Programme.
- 2. It allows you to access your e-documents irrespective of your physical location.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Both statements are correct (c). DigiLocker, launched by MeitY in 2015 under the Digital India programme (1), is a cloud-based document wallet linked to Aadhaar. Agencies such as transport departments, CBSE, universities and UIDAI issue documents into it directly, and users can open them from anywhere (2). Under the IT Rules (2016 amendment), documents in DigiLocker are legally valid like physical originals. Police can accept a digital driving licence and registration certificate under the Motor Vehicles rules.
Today it has hundreds of millions of users and links to ABHA health records and the Academic Bank of Credits. Notice that it is part of India's Digital Public Infrastructure stack, alongside Aadhaar, UPI and e-Sign.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
There are some nectar-filled flowers on a tree and some bees are hovering on it. If one bee lands on each flower, one bee will be left out. If two bees land on each flower, one flower will be left out. The number of flowers and bees respectively are :
Answer (c) & explanation
There are 3 flowers and 4 bees (c). Step 1: one bee per flower leaves one bee out. So bees = flowers + 1. Step 2: two bees per flower leaves one flower empty. So bees = 2 × (flowers − 1). Step 3: put them together: f + 1 = 2f − 2, so f = 3 and bees = 4. Check: 4 bees on 3 flowers leaves 1 bee over, and 2 bees each on 2 flowers uses all 4 bees with 1 flower empty. Option (a), 2 and 4, fails the first rule. Options (b) and (d) give fewer bees than flowers, which breaks the first rule.
Tip: you can skip the algebra by testing each option against both rules. The one that passes both is the answer.
(d) swaps the order. The question asks for flowers first.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
To understand the nature and quantity of Government proper for man, it is necessary to attend to his character. As nature created him for social life, she fitted him for the station she intended. In all cases she made his natural wants greater than his individual powers. No one man is capable, without the aid of society, of supplying his own wants, and those wants, acting upon every individual, impel the whole of them into society.
Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage ?
Answer (d) & explanation
The best inference is that many natural wants pushed people into society (d). Step 1: the passage says human wants are greater than one person's powers. These wants "impel the whole of them into society". That is option (d). Step 2: option (b) says every society is always short of its wants. But the passage says individuals, not societies, fall short. Step 3: option (c), that social life is special to humans, states a fact without the reason. Option (a), that nature created diversity, is not discussed.
Tip: an inference should keep the author's cause and effect. Here the cause is many wants and the effect is social life.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In a race, a competitor has to collect 6 apples which are kept in a straight line on a track and a bucket is placed at the beginning of the track which is a starting point. The condition is that the competitor can pick only one apple at a time, run back with it and drop it in the bucket. If he has to drop all the apples in the bucket, how much total distance he has to run if the bucket is 5 meters from the first apple and all other apples are placed 3 meters apart?
Answer (d) & explanation
He runs 150 m in total (d). Step 1: the first apple is 5 m from the bucket, and each next one is 3 m further. So the apples are at 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 20 m. Step 2: add them: 5 + 8 + 11 + 14 + 17 + 20 = 75 m. Step 3: for each apple, he runs out and back, so each trip is doubled. Total = 2 × 75 = 150 m. Option (c), 75 m, is the trap: it counts only one way. Options (a) and (b) do not fit.
Tip: in "pick and return" problems, every trip is a round trip. For evenly spaced items, the sum = number × (first + last) ÷ 2 = 6 × 25 ÷ 2 = 75.
75 m counts only one way.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Terms sometimes seen in the news | Their origin
| 1. Annex-I Countries | Cartagena Protocol
| 2. Certified Emissions Reductions | Nagoya Protocol
| 3. Clean Development Mechanism | Kyoto Protocol
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Only pair 3 is correct (c). The Clean Development Mechanism comes from the Kyoto Protocol (1997). Pair 1 is wrong: Annex-I countries, the industrialised nations, are listed under the UNFCCC (1992), not the Cartagena Protocol. Pair 2 is wrong: Certified Emission Reductions are carbon credits earned under Kyoto's CDM, not the Nagoya Protocol.
Cartagena (2000) deals with the safe movement of living modified organisms, and Nagoya (2010) with access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing; both come under the CBD. Notice how the Paris Agreement's Article 6 carbon market now takes the place of the CDM, so these old terms still matter.
Cartagena and Nagoya are both CBD protocols, so neither belongs with climate terms.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘SWAYAM’, an initiative of the Government of India, aims at
Answer (d) & explanation
SWAYAM gives free, quality education to all (d). SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Education (then MHRD). It is a free MOOC platform with courses from Class 9 to postgraduate level. National coordinators include NPTEL, IGNOU, UGC-CEC, NCERT and NIOS, and universities can count up to 40% of a programme's credits from it. It is not about Self Help Groups (a), start-up finance (b), or adolescent girls (c), which come under schemes like DAY-NRLM, Startup India and SABLA.
Its sister tool SWAYAM Prabha runs free DTH education channels. Notice how this fits the NEP 2020 push for blended learning and the Academic Bank of Credits.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Recently, which of the following States has explored the possibility of constructing an artificial inland port to be connected to sea by a long navigational channel?
Answer (d) & explanation
Rajasthan explored the idea (d). As a landlocked State, Rajasthan studied building an artificial inland port at Jalore. It would be joined to the Arabian Sea by a long navigation channel running through the Rann of Kutch and the Luni river area into Gujarat's Gulf of Kutch. The plan was to cut freight costs for its minerals, marble and farm goods. Andhra Pradesh (a) and Karnataka (c) already have sea coasts. Chhattisgarh (b) is landlocked but had no such plan.
Notice the related national ideas: Sagarmala, which develops ports and coastal shipping, and the National Waterways Act, 2016, which named 111 national waterways. Dry ports and freight corridors such as the Western DFC are the cheaper option for landlocked States.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Read the passage
We are witnessing a dangerous dwindling of biodiversity in our food supply. The green revolution is a mixed blessing. Over time farmers have come to rely heavily on broadly adapted, high yield crops to the exclusion of varieties adapted to the local conditions. Monocropping vast fields with the same genetically uniform seeds helps boost yield and meet immediate hunger needs. Yet high-yield varieties are also genetically weaker crops that require expensive chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. In our focus on increasing the amount of food we produce today, we have accidentally put ourselves at risk for food shortages in future.
Which among the following is the most logical and critical inference that can be made from the above passage ?
Answer (d) & explanation
The best inference is that the green revolution can threaten biodiversity and food security in the long run (d). Step 1: the passage calls the green revolution a "mixed blessing". Uniform high-yield crops cut biodiversity and may lead to "food shortages in future". Option (d) says exactly this. Step 2: option (a) says we use fertilisers "only due to green revolution". The word "only" goes too far. Option (c) says monocropping is "the only way" to food security, which the passage does not claim. Step 3: option (b) repeats a detail from the passage, not an inference.
Tip: a good inference joins the passage's warning to its consequence. Options with "only" are usually traps.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
AB is a vertical trunk of a huge tree with A being the point where the base of the trunk touches the ground. Due to a cyclone, the trunk has been broken at C which is at a height of 12 meters, broken part is partially attached to the vertical portion of the trunk at C. If the end of the broken part B touches the ground at D which is at a distance of 5 meters from A, then the original height of the trunk is :
Answer (b) & explanation
The original height was 25 m (b). Step 1: the trunk breaks at C, 12 m high, and the top touches the ground 5 m from the base. The standing part (12 m), the ground distance (5 m) and the broken part form a right-angled triangle. Step 2: broken part = √(12 × 12 + 5 × 5) = √169 = 13 m. This is the 5-12-13 set. Step 3: original height = standing part + broken part = 12 + 13 = 25 m. Option (a), 20 m, and options (c) and (d) do not fit.
Tip: in broken-tree problems, the broken piece is the long side of the triangle. Add it back to the standing part to get the full height.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Regarding the taxation system of Krishna Deva, the ruler of Vijayanagar, consider the following statements :
- 1. The tax rate on land was fixed depending on the quality of the land.
- 2. Private owners of workshops paid an industries tax.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Both are correct (c). Under Krishnadevaraya (1509–29), land was surveyed and taxed by its quality: wet, dry, orchard and forest land paid different rates (1). Besides land revenue, the state taxed property, sales and professions, and charged an industries tax on owners of workshops (2), along with tolls and even marriage taxes.
Accounts of foreign travellers such as Domingo Paes and Fernão Nunes describe the empire's wealth. Krishnadevaraya also wrote the Telugu work Amuktamalyada and patronised the Ashtadiggajas. Notice how a strong revenue system funded Vijayanagara's temples, armies and markets.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is an agreement among all the Pacific Rim countries except China and Russia.
- 2. It is a strategic alliance for the purpose of maritime security only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Statement 1 is wrong: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (signed 2016) had only 12 Pacific Rim economies, not all of them except China and Russia; countries such as South Korea and Indonesia were outside it. Statement 2 is wrong: the TPP was a trade and investment agreement, not a maritime security alliance.
The US withdrew in 2017, and the remaining 11 signed the CPTPP in 2018. The UK joined in 2024. China has applied to join. Notice how the TPP contrasts with RCEP, a separate Asia-Pacific trade bloc that India chose to leave in 2019.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.