UPSC Prelims PYQs with explanations
Real questions from official papers, mapped to syllabus topics. Attempt each one; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
Which of the following is/are the indicator/indicators used by IFPRI to compute the Global Hunger Index Report?
- 1. Undernourishment
- 2. Child stunting
- 3. Child mortality
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
All three are indicators (c). The Global Hunger Index uses four: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality (under five). So undernourishment, stunting and child mortality are all part of it, and options leaving any out are incomplete.
IFPRI helped compile the GHI until 2017; it is now published by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. India often ranks low, mainly because of high child wasting, and the government has questioned the methodology. Notice how hunger links to nutrition schemes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan, the PDS and mid-day meals.
"Child" items look like health, not hunger. GHI deliberately mixes food supply with child nutrition outcomes.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to pre-packaged items in India, it is mandatory to the manufacturer to put which of the following information on the main label, as per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011?
- 1. List of ingredients including additives
- 2. Nutrition information
- 3. Recommendations, if any, made by the medical profession about the possibility of any allergic reactions
- 4. Vegetarian/non-vegetarian
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct (c). The FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011 required a list of ingredients including additives (1), nutrition information (2) and the veg/non-veg symbol, a green dot or brown dot in a square (4). Statement 3 is wrong: medical recommendations about allergic reactions were not a mandatory label item in those rules.
Other mandatory items included name of the food, net quantity, batch number, manufacturing and best-before dates, and the FSSAI licence number. These rules were later replaced by the Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020. Notice how labelling turns food safety into a consumer right to informed choice.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. New Development Bank has been set up by APEC.
- 2. The headquarters of New Development Bank is in Shanghai.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). The New Development Bank (NDB) was set up by BRICS, not APEC, so statement 1 is wrong. The agreement was signed at the Fortaleza summit (2014), and the bank started work in 2015. Its headquarters is in Shanghai (2), and India's K. V. Kamath was its first president. Fortaleza also created the Contingent Reserve Arrangement for balance-of-payments support. APEC is an Asia-Pacific economic forum, and India is not a member.
The NDB has since added Bangladesh, the UAE, Egypt and Algeria, and Brazil's Dilma Rousseff now leads it. Notice the contrast with the AIIB (Beijing), which is a different, China-led bank, even though India is its second-largest shareholder.
APEC is an Asia-Pacific trade forum. The NDB is a BRICS bank.
One trap spotted is one mark saved. The PYQ Book lines up every trap UPSC has set, so you walk in prepared. Try the free sample
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of Panchayat is 25 years.
- 2. A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder period.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because, under Article 243F, a person can become a Panchayat member at 21 years of age, not 25. The State legislature may also set other disqualifications, and some States have two-child rules or minimum education rules, which the Supreme Court upheld in Rajbala (2015). Statement 2 is right because, under Article 243E, a Panchayat elected after early dissolution serves only for the remainder of the original five-year term. If less than six months remain, no election is needed.
The 73rd Amendment (1992) also requires elections within six months of dissolution, run by the State Election Commission. Notice the same rules for municipalities under Articles 243U and 243V.
25 is the age for MLAs and Lok Sabha members. Panchayats use 21.
Traps like this come back in new clothes. The PYQ Book collects all of them, topic by topic, so none catch you twice. Try the free sample
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In aid of charity, every student in a class contributes as many rupees as the number of students in that class. With the additional contribution of Rs. 2 by one student only, the total collection is Rs. 443. Then how many students are there in the class?
Answer (b) & explanation
There are 21 students (b). Step 1: each student gives as many rupees as there are students. With n students, the total is n × n = n². Step 2: one student gives Rs 2 extra, so n² + 2 = 443, which gives n² = 441. Step 3: 21 × 21 = 441, so n = 21. Option (a), 12, gives only 144. Options (c) 43 and (d) 45 are traps built from the digits of 443 and 441.
Tip: when a total is "n times n", look for a perfect square near the number. Learning squares up to 30 by heart saves a lot of time in CSAT. Check: 21 × 21 + 2 = 443, which matches.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
A military code writes SYSTEM as SYSMET and NEARER as AENRER. Using the same code, FRACTION can be written as :
Answer (d) & explanation
FRACTION is written as CARFNOIT (d). Step 1: look at SYSTEM → SYSMET. Split it into halves: SYS | TEM. Each half is written backwards: SYS stays SYS, and TEM becomes MET. Step 2: check with NEARER → AENRER. NEA becomes AEN, and RER stays RER. The rule holds. Step 3: FRACTION splits into FRAC | TION. Reversed: CARF | NOIT, giving CARFNOIT. Option (a), CARFTION, reverses only the first half. Option (b), FRACNOIT, reverses only the second half. Option (c), NOITCARF, reverses the whole word.
Tip: in coding questions, test a rule on both examples before using it. Palindrome halves like SYS can hide the pattern.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What is/are the importance/importances of the ‘United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’?
- 1. It aims to promote effective action through innovative national programmes and supportive international partnerships.
- 2. It has a special/particular focus on South Asia and North Africa regions, and its Secretariat facilitates the allocation of major portion of financial resources to these regions.
- 3. It is committed to bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating the desertification.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). The UNCCD (1994) promotes action through national action programmes and supportive international partnerships (1). It is committed to a bottom-up, community-led approach involving local people (3). Statement 2 is wrong: its special regional focus is Africa, not South Asia and North Africa, and the Secretariat does not allocate most funds to particular regions.
India hosted COP14 in Greater Noida in 2019 and aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. Notice how desertification links to food security, migration and climate change.
South Asia never had special focus. Africa is the region the treaty highlights.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Recently, our scientists have discovered a new and distinct species of banana plant which attains a height of about 11 metres and has orange-coloured fruit pulp. In which part of India has it been discovered?
Answer (a) & explanation
The new banana was found in the Andaman Islands (a). Named Musa indandamanensis, it was discovered in 2014 in a remote forest on Little Andaman. It grows to about 11 metres and has unusual orange-coloured pulp. The Anaimalai forests (b), the Maikala Hills (c) and the north-east rainforests (d) were not where it was found.
The Botanical Survey of India described the species. Wild bananas are valuable as gene pools for breeding disease-resistant cultivated varieties. Notice how island ecosystems, isolated for long periods, produce high endemism, which is why the Andaman and Nicobar Islands keep yielding new species.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
On which of the following can you find the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Star Label?
- 1. Ceiling fans
- 2. Electric geysers
- 3. Tubular fluorescent lamps
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
All three carry the BEE star label (d). The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (a statutory body under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, under the Ministry of Power) runs the Standards & Labelling programme from 2006. It rates appliances from 1 to 5 stars, with more stars meaning more efficient. Labels are mandatory for items like air conditioners, frost-free refrigerators, tubular fluorescent lamps (3), distribution transformers, electric geysers (2), colour TVs and LED lamps. Ceiling fans (1) were voluntary at first and became mandatory in 2023.
Notice the link with UJALA, which spread cheap LED bulbs, and with the Energy Conservation Building Code. The 2022 amendment to the Act also brought in a domestic carbon credit trading framework.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The rate of population growth is increasing in the country
- 2. The death rate is declining faster in the country compared to birth rate
- 3. The birth rate is declining faster in the country compared to death rate
- 4. Rural-urban migration is taking place regularly in the country
Which one of the following conclusions may be true in the light of the above facts ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Population growth rises because the death rate falls faster than the birth rate (d). Step 1: growth = birth rate − death rate. If the death rate falls faster than the birth rate, the gap between them widens. So growth rises. This matches statements 1 and 2. Step 2: option (a) blames migration. But people moving from villages to cities stay in the same country, so the national total does not change. Step 3: options (b) and (c) use the word only. The facts show both rates falling, so neither single cause explains it. Statement 3 contradicts statement 2, so it cannot be used.
Tip: population growth is simply births minus deaths, plus or minus migration across the border. Internal migration never changes the national count.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In a question paper there are five questions to be attempted and answer to each question has two choices — True (T) or False (F). It is given that no two candidates have given the answers to the five questions in an identical sequence. For this to happen, the maximum number of candidates is :
Answer (d) & explanation
At most 32 candidates (d). Step 1: each question has 2 possible answers, True or False. Step 2: for five questions, the number of different answer patterns is 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 32. Step 3: if no two candidates may have the same pattern, there can be at most 32 candidates. Option (a), 10, is 2 × 5, a common mistake of multiplying instead of raising to the power. Options (b) 18 and (c) 26 do not fit.
Tip: when each of n choices has k options, the number of combinations is k multiplied by itself n times. For yes/no questions that is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Four-digit numbers are to be formed using the digits 1, 2, 3 and 4; and none of these four digits are repeated in any manner. Further,
- 1. 2 and 3 are not to immediately follow each other
- 2. 1 is not to be immediately followed by 3
- 3. 4 is not to appear at the last place
- 4. 1 is not to appear at the first place
How many different numbers can be formed ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Six numbers can be formed (a). Step 1: the rules are: 2 and 3 are not next to each other, 1 is not directly before 3, 4 is not last, and 1 is not first. So each number starts with 2, 3 or 4. Step 2: test each arrangement. Numbers starting with 2: 2143, 2431. Starting with 3: 3142, 3412, 3421. Starting with 4: 4312. Step 3: every other order breaks a rule, for example 2134 ends in 4, and 4213 has 1 before 3. That is 6 numbers. Options (b), (c) and (d) do not fit.
Tip: when there are only 24 orders, list them in a fixed order by first digit. A neat list stops you missing or repeating any.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Why does the Government of India promote the use of 'Neem-coated Urea' in agriculture?
Answer (b) & explanation
The neem-oil coating slows down the dissolution and breakdown of urea in the soil (b), so nitrogen is released slowly and less is lost. Crops use it better, and less urea is needed. Option (a) is wrong: neem does not boost nitrogen fixation. Option (c) is wrong because "not at all" is too extreme; nitrous oxide emissions are reduced, not eliminated. Option (d) is wrong: it is not a weedicide-fertiliser mix.
Neem coating was made compulsory for all urea in 2015, which also stopped subsidised urea being diverted to industry. Notice how a simple coating saves subsidy, soil and money.
"not at all" in option (c). Neem coating lowers nitrous oxide losses; it cannot stop them.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ‘Agenda 21’, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is a global action plan for sustainable development.
- 2. It originated in the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). Agenda 21 is a non-binding, global action plan for sustainable development in the 21st century. Statement 2 is wrong because it was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), 1992, not at Johannesburg. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002 (Rio+10) only reviewed how it was being carried out. Rio also produced the UNFCCC, the CBD, the Rio Declaration and the Forest Principles.
Its local version, Local Agenda 21, asked city governments to make their own plans. Notice the order of events: Stockholm 1972, Rio 1992, Johannesburg 2002, Rio+20 2012 ("The Future We Want"), and then the SDGs/Agenda 2030 in 2015, which carry Agenda 21's ideas forward.
Johannesburg was the review summit. Rio 1992 is where Agenda 21 began.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, the memorizing of chronicles, dynastic histories and epic tales was the profession of who of the following?
Answer (d) & explanation
Memorising chronicles and epic tales was the job of the Magadha (d). The Magadhas and Sutas were court bards who learnt by heart and recited royal genealogies, dynastic histories and epic stories. The Puranas and the Mahabharata were passed down partly through them. In the Mahabharata, the suta Sanjaya narrates the war to Dhritarashtra. A shramana (a) was an ascetic of non-Vedic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. A parivrajaka (b) was a wandering mendicant. An agraharika (c) was linked with an agrahara, a tax-free land grant to Brahmins.
Notice how ancient Indian history depended on oral traditions. Bards kept the genealogies the Puranas later wrote down, which is why historians check them against inscriptions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
(Same information as the question above.)
Who of the following is definitely a man ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Q is definitely a man (c). Step 1: the puzzle says Q is "the brother of P". A brother is male, so Q is certainly a man. Step 2: T is also described as a man. But T is not one of the options, apart from "None of the above", which is wrong because Q qualifies. Step 3: the genders of P and S are never given. P could be Q's brother or sister, and S could be either. So options (a) and (b) are not certain. Option (d) fails because Q is a man.
Tip: "definitely" means the facts must prove it. Do not assume gender from names, jobs or seating; only words like brother, wife or "a man" count.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The sum of the ages of 5 members comprising a family, 3 years ago was 80 years. The average age of the family today is the same as it was 3 years ago, because of an addition of a baby during the intervening period. How old is the baby?
Answer (b) & explanation
The baby is 1 year old (b). Step 1: three years ago, the 5 members' ages added to 80. So the average was 80 ÷ 5 = 16. Step 2: today each of the five is 3 years older. Their total = 80 + 5 × 3 = 95. Step 3: with the baby there are 6 members, and the average is still 16. So the total = 6 × 16 = 96. Baby = 96 − 95 = 1 year. Option (a), 6 months, and options (c) and (d) do not fit.
Tip: in age-average questions, work with totals, not averages. Every year adds 1 year to each person, so a group of n people gains n years in total each year.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
There has been a persistent deficit budget year after year. Which action/actions of the following can be taken by the Government to reduce the deficit?
- 1. Reducing revenue expenditure
- 2. Introducing new welfare schemes
- 3. Rationalizing subsidies
- 4. Reducing import duty
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
A deficit falls when spending falls or revenue rises. Cutting revenue expenditure (1) and rationalising subsidies (3) both reduce spending, so the answer is (c). New welfare schemes (2) add spending, and reducing import duty (4) cuts revenue; both widen the deficit.
India's FRBM Act (2003) set the path for fiscal discipline, later revised by the N. K. Singh committee to focus on debt. Notice how this question repeats a 2015 idea with one change: a revenue-reducing step in place of expanding industries. Small changes in options test whether you truly understand the logic.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Project Loon’, sometimes seen in the news, is related to
Answer (b) & explanation
Project Loon was about wireless communication (b). Google's X lab sent solar-powered high-altitude balloons into the stratosphere, about 20 km up, to work as floating cell towers and bring internet access to remote and disaster-hit areas. It had nothing to do with waste management (a), solar power production as such (c), though the balloons used solar panels, or water conservation (d).
Loon helped restore connectivity after floods in Peru and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, but it was shut down in 2021 as too costly. Notice how the same goal of connecting remote places now drives satellite constellations such as Starlink and OneWeb.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Gadgil Committee Report’ and ‘Kasturirangan Committee Report’, sometimes seen in the news, are related to
Answer (d) & explanation
Both reports deal with protecting the Western Ghats (d). The Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (2011) suggested treating the whole range as ecologically sensitive. It put about 64% in the strictest zones and called for a bottom-up, gram-sabha-led approach. The K. Kasturirangan high-level working group (2013) cut the area to about 37%, around 60,000 sq km, focusing on natural landscape. The reports have nothing to do with constitutional reform (a), the Ganga Action Plan (b), or river linking (c).
The Environment Ministry has issued several draft Eco-Sensitive Area notifications since 2014, and the matter came up again after the Wayanad landslides (2024). Notice that the Ghats are a UNESCO site and a global biodiversity hotspot.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.