UPPCS Prelims 2022 GS Paper I PYQs with explanations

Option (c), both (a) and (b), is correct. The UNDP's Human Development Report 1997 distinguished income poverty (a), meaning lack of adequate money income, measured by poverty lines such as $1 a day, from human poverty (b), meaning deprivation in the basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. It measured human poverty with the Human Poverty Index (HPI-1 for developing and HPI-2 for developed countries). Option (d) is wrong. Concept: since 2010, UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative publish the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). NITI Aayog estimated about 24.8 crore Indians escaped multidimensional poverty from 2013-14 to 2022-23.

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Option (b), Charles Booth, is correct. Charles Booth, a Liverpool shipowner and social reformer, surveyed poverty in London from 1886 and published 'Life and Labour of the People in London' (17 volumes, 1889-1903). He mapped poverty street by street, finding about 30% of Londoners lived in poverty, which showed that poverty was a widespread social problem caused by low wages and irregular work, not only individual failing. Henry George (a) wrote Progress and Poverty and proposed a land value tax. Sir Henry Maine (c) wrote Ancient Law, contrasting status and contract. Kingsley Davis (d) was a demographer. Concept: Seebohm Rowntree's survey of York (1901) built on Booth's work.

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Option (d), A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1, is correct. M.S. Swaminathan (A) is called the father of India's Green Revolution (3) for promoting high-yielding wheat and rice varieties in the 1960s with Norman Borlaug; he got the Bharat Ratna in 2024. L.K. Jha (B), a former RBI governor, chaired the Economic Administration Reforms Commission (4) in 1981. Verghese Kurien (C) led Operation Flood from 1970 (2), making India the world's largest milk producer. As Finance Minister, Morarji Desai (D) brought in social control over banks in 1967-68 (1), before the 1969 nationalisation. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: 26 November, Kurien's birthday, is National Milk Day.

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Option (d), 3, 4, 1, 2, is correct. In UNDP's Human Development Report 2021-22, released in September 2022, Hong Kong ranked 4th, Australia 5th, Japan 19th and the Russian Federation 52nd. So the descending order is Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and Russia. Options (a), (b) and (c) misorder these. Concept: Switzerland, Norway and Iceland topped that report, and India ranked 132nd of 191. The HDI combines life expectancy, education (mean and expected years of schooling) and per capita gross national income (PPP). In the 2025 report, Iceland was first and India rose to 130th of 193. The report also publishes inequality-adjusted and gender development indices.

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Option (a), population, is correct. In 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' (1798), Thomas Robert Malthus argued that population grows geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8) while food supply grows only arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4). Population would therefore outstrip food, and be held down by positive checks such as famine, disease and war, unless restrained by preventive checks like late marriage and moral restraint. Poverty (b), the economy (c) and unemployment (d) are linked, but the theory is about population. Concept: the theory was disproved by technological change, like the Green Revolution, and demographic transition theory explains falling birth rates. Neo-Malthusians favour contraception.

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Option (b), working population of 15-59 years, is correct. The demographic dividend is the economic growth potential that comes when the share of the working-age population rises relative to dependants (children and the elderly). In Indian usage, such as the Census and Economic Survey, the working age is usually 15-59 years; the international convention is 15-64. India's dividend window is expected to last until about 2055. Option (a), 14-50, has wrong limits. Option (c), above 60, is the elderly dependent group. Option (d), 0-6, is the child population counted in the Census. Concept: reaping the dividend needs jobs, skills, health and female workforce participation, through schemes like Skill India.

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Option (c), 2021-22, is the key. The Union Budget 2021-22, presented on 1 February 2021, announced the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), aiming at universal tap water in all 4,378 urban local bodies, about 2.86 crore household connections, with an outlay of about Rs 2.87 lakh crore over five years. That is what the key marks. But the original, rural Jal Jeevan Mission ('Har Ghar Jal') was announced in the Budget 2019-20 (b), in July 2019, and launched on 15 August 2019, so (b) is also defensible. Options (a) and (d) are wrong. Concept: the rural mission's deadline was extended to 2028, and over 15 crore rural homes now have tap connections.

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Option (d), G.S. Ghurye, is the key. The word 'rurban' was coined by the American rural sociologist C.J. Galpin. In India, G.S. Ghurye, called the father of Indian sociology, developed the idea of rural-urbanisation. He argued that Indian towns often grew out of rural market centres and kept caste and kinship ties, and studied a Maharashtrian settlement in 'Anatomy of a Rururban Community' (1963). Yogendra Singh (a) wrote Modernization of Indian Tradition. Herbert Spencer (b) applied evolution to society. M.N. Srinivas (c) gave the concepts of Sanskritisation and dominant caste. Concept: the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (2016) develops rural clusters with urban amenities.

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Option (c), 136th, is correct. India ranked 136th of 146 countries in the World Happiness Report 2022, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in March 2022. Finland was first for the fifth year in a row, followed by Denmark and Iceland, while Afghanistan was last. 110th (a), 130th (b) and 140th (d) are distractors, though India had been 139th in 2021. Concept: the report is based on Gallup World Poll life evaluations and explains them through GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption. India ranked 118th in 2025, and 20 March is the International Day of Happiness.

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Option (c), 1 and 4, is the key, but it looks doubtful. Statement 1 is right: input subsidies such as fertiliser subsidy, paid to manufacturers, are indirect subsidies. Statement 2 is wrong: cheap power and irrigation are also input, or indirect, subsidies, while cash transfers like PM-KISAN are direct. Statement 3 is wrong: the WTO Agreement on Agriculture does not ban indirect subsidies; it caps trade-distorting Amber Box support at 10% of production value for developing countries. Statement 4 also seems wrong, because India gives direct subsidies too, such as PM-KISAN (2019). So only statement 1 is clearly right, and no option fits exactly; the key treats statement 4 as true.

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Option (a), Lead Bank Scheme, is correct. The Lead Bank Scheme was introduced by the RBI in 1969, based on the Gadgil Study Group and the Nariman Committee. Each district is assigned a lead bank, usually a public sector bank, which coordinates credit planning, prepares district credit plans and promotes banking outreach, supporting financial inclusion. Loan Banking Scheme (b), Lead Breaking System (c) and Loan Banking System (d) are made-up distractors. Concept: lead banks convene District Consultative Committees and run Rural Self Employment Training Institutes. Other inclusion measures include priority sector lending, Jan Dhan Yojana (2014), business correspondents, payments banks and the Financial Inclusion Index launched by the RBI in 2021.

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Option (c), A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3, is correct. The Golden Revolution (A) refers to horticulture and honey (2), especially the growth of fruit and vegetable output from 1991-2003. The Grey Revolution (B) refers to fertilisers (4). The Yellow Revolution (C) refers to oilseeds (1), especially mustard and sunflower, launched through the Technology Mission on Oilseeds (1986). The Black Revolution (D) refers to petroleum production (3). Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: others include the Green (food grains), White (milk), Blue (fish), Pink (onions, pharma or meat), Silver (eggs), Round (potatoes) and Sweet revolution (honey). The National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds was approved in 2024.

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Option (d), Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab, is correct. NITI Aayog's State Energy and Climate Index (Round I), released on 11 April 2022 using 2019-20 data, ranked Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab as the top three larger states. Goa led the small states and Chandigarh the Union Territories, while Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh were among the bottom. The index has six parameters: DISCOMs' performance, access and affordability of energy, reliability, clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, plus new initiatives. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka (a), Punjab, UP and West Bengal (b), and Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram (c) are distractors. Concept: NITI Aayog also publishes the Export Preparedness, Fiscal Health and SDG indices.

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Option (b), both true but R does not explain A, is the key, which looks doubtful. The assertion is true: in the 20th century, poverty came to be treated as a social problem and a public duty, through social surveys like Booth's and Rowntree's, welfare states, and, in India, planned anti-poverty programmes. But the reason, that a lack of targeted action gave the issue momentum, is not a standard or accurate explanation; the rise of concern is usually put down to social research, democratic politics and the welfare idea. So option (a), A true and R false, seems better. Options (c) and (d) fail. Concept: India's anti-poverty schemes include IRDP (1978) and MGNREGA (2005).

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: Make in India was launched by Prime Minister Modi on 25 September 2014. Statement 2 is right: it aims to encourage companies to manufacture in India, make investment easier, foster innovation, protect intellectual property and build manufacturing infrastructure, focusing initially on 25 sectors. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: it was backed by FDI liberalisation, ease of doing business reforms and, from 2020, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in 14 sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals and solar modules. Its target of raising manufacturing to 25% of GDP has not been met; manufacturing remains at about 14-17%.

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Option (b), A-4, B-1, C-3, D-2, is the key. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (A), founded in 1955 by Dattopant Thengadi, belongs to the Sangh Parivar and is aligned with the BJP (4); it is now India's largest union. INTUC (B), founded in 1947, is the Congress-affiliated union (1). AITUC (D), founded in 1920 with Lala Lajpat Rai as first president, is linked with the CPI (2). The key pairs UTUC (C) with the CPI(M) (3), but UTUC is actually linked to the Revolutionary Socialist Party; the CPI(M)'s own union is CITU. So this pairing is doubtful, though it is the only slot left. Concept: the four Labour Codes took effect in November 2025.

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Option (a), Katarniaghat, is correct. Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, on the Girwa river in Bahraich district along the Nepal border, was set up in 1975. It is now part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and is known for gharials, Gangetic dolphins, tigers and rhinos. Kishanpur (b), in Lakhimpur Kheri, dates from 1972 and is also in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. The National Chambal Sanctuary (c) in UP was notified in 1979, spread across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, for gharials, red-crowned roof turtles and dolphins. 'Raipur' (d) is a distractor. Concept: Uttar Pradesh has four tiger reserves: Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Amangarh (buffer of Corbett) and Ranipur in Chitrakoot (2022).

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Option (b), 1986, is correct. The Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in 1986, after the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984. It is an umbrella law passed under Article 253 to implement the decisions of the 1972 Stockholm Conference, giving the Centre wide powers to set standards, regulate hazardous substances, conduct environmental impact assessments and close polluting industries. 1974 (a) is when the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed, which set up the pollution control boards. 1971 (c) is the year of the Ramsar Convention. 1981 (d) is the year of the Air Act. Concept: the Wildlife Protection Act dates from 1972 and the National Green Tribunal Act from 2010.

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Option (a), non-biodegradable pollutant, is correct. DDT is a persistent organochlorine insecticide. Microbes cannot easily break it down, so it stays in the environment for years, dissolves in fat, and builds up in organisms (bioaccumulation), with concentrations rising at each level of the food chain (biomagnification). It thinned eggshells of birds such as eagles and pelicans, as shown in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962). Option (b) is vague, (c) is wrong since DDT is harmful, and (d) is wrong because it does not decompose readily. Concept: the Stockholm Convention (2001) on persistent organic pollutants restricts DDT, but allows use against malaria vectors. India is a major producer and user.

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Option (c), Loktak, is correct. Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur is the world's only floating national park. It lies on phumdis, floating mats of vegetation, soil and organic matter, in the southern part of Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in north-east India. It is the last natural home of the endangered sangai, or brow-antlered deer, Manipur's state animal. Dal (a) and Wular (d) are lakes in Kashmir. Kolleru (b) is a freshwater lake in Andhra Pradesh. Concept: Loktak is a Ramsar site on the Montreux Record. The Ithai barrage of the Loktak hydroelectric project has thickened phumdis, threatening the sangai's habitat.

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Option (c), argon, is correct. Greenhouse gases absorb outgoing infrared radiation and re-emit it, warming the earth. Carbon dioxide (b), the main human-caused one, methane (d), about 28-80 times more potent than CO₂ over different periods, and chlorofluorocarbons (a), which are also ozone-depleting, are all greenhouse gases. Argon, which makes up about 0.93% of the air, is a monatomic noble gas with no molecular vibrations that absorb infrared, so it is not a greenhouse gas. Concept: nitrogen and oxygen also are not greenhouse gases, while water vapour is the most abundant one. The Kyoto Protocol covered six gases, including nitrous oxide, HFCs, PFCs and SF₆.

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Option (d), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is the key. Under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, the daytime limits are 50 dB(A) for silence zones (B-1), 55 for residential areas (A-2) and 65 for commercial areas (D-3). Industrial areas (C) have the highest limit: 75 dB(A) by day and 70 by night. Since 75 is not listed, the key pairs the industrial area with 70, which is strictly the night-time limit, so the match is not exact but is the only consistent one. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: night limits are 40, 45 and 55 for silence, residential and commercial zones, and silence zones are within 100 m of hospitals, schools and courts.

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Option (c), making its water pollution free, is correct. The Ganga Action Plan, launched in 1985 under the Central Ganga Authority, aimed to improve the river's water quality by intercepting, diverting and treating municipal sewage and industrial effluents, along with electric crematoria and riverfront development in towns such as Kanpur, Varanasi and Patna. It was not an irrigation scheme (a) or a dam project (b), so option (d) is also wrong. Concept: Phase II (1993) added tributaries like the Yamuna and Gomti. The National Ganga River Basin Authority (2009) declared the Ganga a national river, and Namami Gange (2014) and the National Mission for Clean Ganga now lead the effort.

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Option (b), A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1, is the key. Manas (A) is in Assam (3) and is also a tiger reserve and World Heritage Site. Sundarbans (B) is in West Bengal (4), the largest mangrove forest. Pachmarhi (D) is in Madhya Pradesh (1). Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (C) was notified in 1988, when the area was part of Uttar Pradesh (2); it has been in Uttarakhand since 2000, so the key reflects the old position. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: India has 18 biosphere reserves, 12 in UNESCO's world network, and Nanda Devi with the Valley of Flowers is a World Heritage Site. The Gulf of Mannar was India's first marine biosphere reserve.

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Option (d), echidna, is correct. The echidna, or spiny anteater, and the platypus are monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs. They are found in Australia and New Guinea. Like other mammals, they have hair and feed milk to their young, but secrete it through skin patches rather than nipples. The kangaroo (b) is a marsupial, giving birth to tiny young that develop in a pouch. The loris (a), a nocturnal primate found in India, and the hedgehog (c) are placental mammals. Concept: mammals are divided into monotremes, marsupials and placentals. Bats are the only flying mammals, and whales and dolphins are aquatic mammals.

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Option (d), environment friendly, is correct. Ecomark is a voluntary label launched by the Government of India in 1991 and administered by the Bureau of Indian Standards. It is given to consumer products, such as soaps, paper, paints, food items and electrical goods, that meet quality standards and cause less harm to the environment, and its logo is an earthen pot. It does not certify economic viability (a), carbohydrate content (b) or freedom from adulteration (c), although Agmark and FSSAI deal with food quality. Concept: other marks include ISI (industrial products), Agmark (farm produce), BIS hallmark (gold), BEE star rating (energy) and FPO (processed fruit products).

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Option (a), 5 October, is correct. In 2021 the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change declared 5 October National Dolphin Day, to raise awareness about conserving dolphins, especially the endangered Gangetic river dolphin, India's national aquatic animal since 2009. It was first celebrated in 2022. 28 October (b), 15 April (c) and 15 July (d) are distractors. Concept: Project Dolphin was announced on Independence Day 2020, and the first survey (2021-23) counted about 6,327 river dolphins, most in Uttar Pradesh. The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar is India's only dolphin sanctuary. The Gangetic dolphin is nearly blind and uses echolocation.

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Option (a), ozone, is correct. Photochemical smog, or Los Angeles smog, forms in warm, sunny weather when sunlight acts on nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (volatile organic compounds) from vehicle exhaust. The resulting secondary pollutants are mainly tropospheric ozone, along with peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), aldehydes and acrolein, which cause eye irritation and breathing problems. Ozone is its defining oxidant. Aluminium ions (b), phosphorus (c) and methane (d) are not its essential components. Concept: classical or London smog is reducing, formed from smoke, sulphur dioxide and fog in cold, humid weather, as in the 1952 Great Smog. Delhi's winter smog combines both types with crop-burning smoke.

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Option (a), eucalyptus, is correct. Eucalyptus, native to Australia, is criticised as harmful to the environment when grown in monoculture plantations. It grows fast and draws heavily on soil moisture and groundwater, its leaf litter releases allelopathic chemicals that suppress undergrowth, and it supports little local biodiversity. It was widely planted under social forestry in the 1980s. Banana (b) is a fruit crop, not a problem tree. Neem (c) is valued for medicine, pest control and air quality. Babool (d), Acacia nilotica, is a useful native tree for fodder and fuel, although the related invasive Prosopis juliflora is harmful. Concept: Lantana and Parthenium are also harmful invasive plants.

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Option (b), Hariyali, is correct. The Hariyali guidelines of 2003, from the Ministry of Rural Development, made panchayats central to watershed development projects under schemes like the Integrated Wastelands Development Programme, the Drought Prone Areas Programme and the Desert Development Programme. The aim was to enable rural communities to conserve rainwater for drinking, irrigation, fisheries and afforestation. Pani Sansad (a) is a community-level water forum, not a central scheme. Jal Kranti Abhiyan (c), from 2015, involved 'Jal Grams' but was not the watershed scheme meant here. Option (d) is wrong. Concept: watershed development is now under the PMKSY's Watershed Development Component (WDC-PMKSY 2.0).

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Option (a), Lakhimpur Kheri, is correct. Dudhwa National Park, set up in 1977, lies in Lakhimpur Kheri district along the Indo-Nepal border, in the terai. It is the core of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (1987), which also includes the Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary (Lakhimpur Kheri and Shahjahanpur) and the Katarniaghat sanctuary in Bahraich (c). It is known for swamp deer (barasingha), tigers and reintroduced one-horned rhinos (from 1984). Sitapur (b) has no national park. Pilibhit (d) has its own tiger reserve, which won the TX2 award in 2020 for doubling tigers. Concept: Dudhwa is UP's only national park; Billy Arjan Singh's Tiger Haven is nearby.

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Option (a), Moradabad, is correct. UNEP's Frontiers 2022 report, 'Noise, Blazes and Mismatches', named Dhaka, Bangladesh as the world's most noise-polluted city, with 119 dB, and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh as second, with 114 dB, due to traffic, industries and its brass trade. Other South Asian cities on the list included Islamabad, Kolkata, Asansol, Jaipur and Delhi. Patna (b), Kota (c) and Indore (d) were not ranked second. Concept: the WHO recommends 55 dB for outdoor residential areas, and India's Noise Pollution Rules 2000 set 55 dB by day for residential areas. Noise raises the risk of heart disease, sleep disorders and hearing loss.

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Option (d), A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3, is correct. 18 April (A) is World Heritage Day, the International Day for Monuments and Sites (2), set by ICOMOS. 22 May (B) is the International Day for Biological Diversity (4), marking the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity text in 1992. 29 July (C) is International Tiger Day (1), agreed at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit (2010). 5 December (D) is World Soil Day (3), set by the FAO in honour of Thailand's King Bhumibol. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: other days include World Wetlands Day (2 February), World Environment Day (5 June) and Ozone Day (16 September).

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Option (b), Andhra Pradesh, is correct. The India State of Forest Report 2021, released by the Forest Survey of India in January 2022, showed the largest increase in forest cover since 2019 in Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km), followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km). Arunachal Pradesh (d), along with other north-eastern states, recorded a loss. Assam (a) and Kerala (c) were not top gainers. Concept: ISFR 2021 put forest and tree cover at 24.62% of India's area. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest area, and Mizoram the highest share. ISFR 2023, released in December 2024, put total forest and tree cover at 25.17%.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is correct. In a lake, the limnetic zone is the open, sunlit surface water away from the shore, down to the compensation depth, where light still supports photosynthesis. Because it is open, well-lit water with no rooted plants, phytoplankton, such as diatoms and green algae, are its main producers and grow abundantly there, supporting zooplankton and fish. So the reason explains the assertion. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: a lake has three zones: the littoral zone near the shore with rooted plants, the limnetic zone in open water, and the profundal zone, the deep dark water where decomposers dominate. The benthic zone is the bottom.

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Option (b), wool, is correct. Wool is a natural animal fibre made of the protein keratin, which microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi can break down, so it is biodegradable. Plastic cups (a) are made of synthetic polymers that take hundreds of years to break down, forming microplastics. Glass bottles (c) are made of silica and do not decompose, though glass can be recycled endlessly. Aluminium foil (d) is a metal that does not biodegrade, though it is recyclable. Concept: India banned identified single-use plastic items from 1 July 2022 under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) applies to plastic packaging. Cotton, jute and paper are also biodegradable.

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Option (a), 16 September, is correct. The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, or World Ozone Day, is observed on 16 September, the date the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer was signed in 1987. It was declared by the UN General Assembly in 1994. 30 January (b) is Martyrs' Day (Gandhi's death anniversary), 2 October (c) is Gandhi Jayanti and the International Day of Non-Violence, and 29 April (d) is International Dance Day. Concept: the Montreal Protocol, the most successful environmental treaty, phased out CFCs, and the Kigali Amendment (2016) targets HFCs. The ozone layer is expected to recover by about 2066.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: a species' ecological niche is its functional role in the ecosystem, including the range of conditions it can tolerate, the resources it uses, and its interactions with other species. Statement 2 is right: under Gause's competitive exclusion principle, no two species can occupy exactly the same niche in the same habitat for long, because one will outcompete the other, so each species has a distinct niche. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: a habitat is a species' address, and the niche is its profession. Resource partitioning, as in MacArthur's warblers, lets similar species coexist. The fundamental niche is broader than the realised niche.

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Option (d), Kerala-rubber, is correct. Kerala is India's leading producer of natural rubber, though its share has fallen to around 70% as Tripura and other north-eastern states have grown. Rubber needs a hot, humid climate with rainfall above 200 cm. The other pairs are wrong: jute (a) is grown mainly in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam, not Uttar Pradesh; Assam (b) is famous for tea, not wheat; and Gujarat (c) is a leading producer of cotton and groundnut, not tea. Concept: Uttar Pradesh leads in wheat and sugarcane, Assam in tea, and the Rubber Board in Kottayam regulates rubber. India is the world's fourth largest natural rubber producer.

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Option (b), Jain, is correct. Census 2011 data on religion showed that Jains are the most urbanised religious community in India, with about 79% living in urban areas, reflecting their concentration in trade and business. Buddhists (a) were about 46% urban, Christians (d) about 40%, and Hindus (c) about 29%. Muslims were about 40% urban and Sikhs about 29%. Concept: Jains also had the highest literacy rate (about 94%), and Hindus formed about 79.8% of the population. Jains are concentrated in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Overall, India's urban population in 2011 was about 31%, with Goa the most urbanised state and Himachal Pradesh the least.

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Option (d), A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1, is the key. Bateshwar hill (A) is in Bihar (3), near Bhagalpur, with the Vikramshila area nearby. Dhosi Hill (D), an extinct volcanic hill with the ashram of sage Chyavana, is in Mahendragarh district of Haryana (1). The Chin Hills (C) extend from Myanmar into Manipur and Mizoram (2). That leaves Karnataka (4) for the 'Bilari range'. No such range is well known; it is probably meant to be the Biligiri Rangana hills in Chamarajanagar, Karnataka, home to a tiger reserve. So the key works by elimination, but the item is doubtful. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: Biligiri Rangana hills link the Eastern and Western Ghats.

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. MALCO (Madras Aluminium Company) has its smelter at Mettur in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, near the Mettur dam's hydroelectric power, not at Chennai. The other pairs are correct: BALCO (a) is at Korba in Chhattisgarh, now owned by Vedanta; INDAL (b) had its smelter at Hirakud in Odisha, now part of Hindalco; and HINDALCO (d) is at Renukoot in Sonbhadra, UP, using power from the Rihand dam. Concept: aluminium smelting needs huge amounts of cheap power, so plants sit near hydro or coal power. NALCO, a public sector company, has its smelter at Angul and its bauxite mine at Damanjodi in Odisha.

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Option (b), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. The deepest point of the Pacific (A) is the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (3), about 10,935 m, the deepest point on earth. The deepest point of the Arctic (B) is the Molloy Deep (4) in the Fram Strait, about 5,550 m. The deepest point of the Indian Ocean (C) is in the Sunda or Java Trench (1), about 7,290 m. The deepest point of the Atlantic (D) is in the Puerto Rico Trench (2), about 8,400 m. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: trenches form at subduction zones. India's Deep Ocean Mission plans a crewed dive to 6,000 m in the Matsya-6000 submersible.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is correct. Agra (about 27.2°N) and Darjeeling (about 27°N) lie on almost the same latitude, so they receive similar solar radiation. Yet in January Agra averages about 16°C while Darjeeling, at about 2,000 m, averages only about 4°C. The reason explains this: temperature falls with height at the normal lapse rate of about 6.5°C per 1,000 m, because the atmosphere is heated mainly from below by terrestrial radiation, and thinner air at height holds less heat and water vapour. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: altitude, distance from the sea and ocean currents also affect temperature, as do hill stations like Shimla.

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Option (c), mineral oil, is correct. The Pegu Yoma is a low range of hills in central Myanmar, between the Irrawaddy and Sittang rivers. The Irrawaddy basin and Pegu Yoma flanks hold Myanmar's main petroleum fields, such as Yenangyaung, Chauk and Minbu, among the world's oldest oil fields, worked since the 19th century by the Burmah Oil Company. The Pegu Yoma is also known for teak forests. Tin (a) comes mainly from the Tenasserim area in the south, silver (b) from the Bawdwin mines in Shan state, and copper (d) from Monywa. Concept: Myanmar also has jade (Hpakant), rubies (Mogok) and rare earths; India's Kaladan project links Mizoram to Sittwe port.

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Option (b), A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3, is correct. Dudhsagar Falls (A), on the Mandovi river on the Goa-Karnataka border, is in Goa (4) and among India's tallest at about 310 m. Barkana Falls (B), in Shivamogga district of Karnataka (1), is on the Sita river. Khandadhar Falls (C), in Sundargarh and Keonjhar of Odisha (2), is the state's highest waterfall. Palani Falls (D) is near Manali in Himachal Pradesh (3). Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: India's highest waterfall is Kunchikal in Karnataka, and Jog Falls on the Sharavathi is famous. Nohkalikai in Meghalaya is the tallest plunge waterfall.

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Option (d), Basra, is correct, because it is not part of the Sunni Triangle. The 'Sunni Triangle' is the Sunni Arab-majority area north and west of Baghdad, roughly bounded by Baghdad (b), Ramadi (a) and Tikrit (c), Saddam Hussein's home town. It was the centre of the insurgency after the 2003 US invasion and later of ISIS activity, including Fallujah. Basra, in the far south near the Shatt al-Arab and the Persian Gulf, is a Shia-majority city and Iraq's main port and oil hub. Concept: Iraq's population is mainly Shia Arabs in the south, Sunni Arabs in the centre and west, and Kurds in the north, where the Kurdistan Region has autonomy.

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Option (c), China, is correct. According to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), China produced about 1,033 million tonnes of crude steel in 2021, more than half of world output. India (b) was second with about 118 million tonnes, having overtaken Japan in 2018, and Japan (a) was third with about 96 million tonnes. England (d), or the UK, produces only about 7 million tonnes, although Britain led the world in the 19th century. Concept: India's National Steel Policy 2017 targets 300 million tonnes of capacity by 2030-31, and India remains the second largest producer. Steel needs iron ore, coking coal (largely imported) and limestone; green steel using hydrogen is a new focus.

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Option (d), the Khambhat coast, is correct. India's tidal energy potential is concentrated on the Gujarat coast. The Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) has the largest share, with an estimated potential of about 7,000 MW, because of its funnel shape and very high tidal range of up to 11 m. The Gulf of Kutch is second, with about 1,200 MW, and the Sundarbans in West Bengal has a small potential. The Mannar coast (a), Kerala coast (b) and North Circars coast (c) have low tidal ranges. Concept: India has no commercial tidal plant yet; projects at Kutch and Durgaduani (Sundarbans) were abandoned due to costs. France's La Rance and South Korea's Sihwa are major tidal plants.

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Option (d), the Mahanadi, is correct. According to Central Water Commission data, the Mahanadi basin covers about 1.42 lakh sq km across Chhattisgarh, Odisha and parts of Jharkhand and Maharashtra, making it the largest of the four. The Narmada basin (a) covers about 0.99 lakh sq km, the Cauvery (b) about 0.81 lakh, and the Tapi (c) about 0.65 lakh sq km. Concept: among peninsular rivers, the Godavari has the largest basin (about 3.13 lakh sq km), followed by the Krishna. The Ganga basin is India's largest overall. The Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh is before a tribunal set up in 2018, and the Hirakud dam is on the Mahanadi.

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Option (a), Bangladesh, is correct. Bangladesh, along with West Bengal in the same Bengal delta, has the world's worst natural arsenic contamination of groundwater. Arsenic is released from delta sediments into shallow tube wells, which were dug from the 1970s to avoid contaminated surface water. The WHO has called it the largest mass poisoning of a population in history, causing skin lesions, cancers and other diseases. Pakistan (b) also has some arsenic in the Indus plains, but Bangladesh is the best-known case. Sri Lanka (c) and Bhutan (d) are distractors. Concept: in India, arsenic affects West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Assam and Punjab, and fluoride affects Rajasthan and Telangana.

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Option (a), 1 and 4, is correct. Pair 1 is right: the Kharia (Keria) tribe lives in Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, with the Hill Kharia classed as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in Odisha. Pair 4 is right: the Paliyan are a forest tribe of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, traditionally foragers. Pair 2 is wrong: the Kuki live in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam, not Uttar Pradesh. Pair 3 is wrong: the Yanadi live in Andhra Pradesh, especially Nellore, not Rajasthan. So options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Uttar Pradesh's tribes include the Tharu, Buksa, Gond and Sahariya; Rajasthan's include the Bhil, Meena and Sahariya.

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Option (c), long-wave terrestrial radiation, is correct. The atmosphere is largely transparent to incoming short-wave solar radiation (b), so most of it passes through to heat the earth's surface. The earth then re-emits energy as long-wave infrared terrestrial radiation, which water vapour, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases absorb. So the atmosphere is heated mainly from below, which is why temperature falls with height in the troposphere. Scattered (a) and reflected (d) solar radiation do not heat the air much. Concept: the earth's albedo is about 30%. Conduction, convection, advection and latent heat of condensation also transfer heat to the air.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is the key, though (d) is arguably better. The assertion is true: Mediterranean regions, lying between 30° and 45° on the western sides of continents, get rain in winter, when the pressure belts shift towards the equator and the rain-bearing westerlies and their cyclones reach them. The reason is true too: in summer these regions lie under the subtropical high and dry offshore trade winds, so summers are dry. But the reason explains the dry summer, not the winter rainfall, which is due to the westerlies, so strictly R does not explain A. Concept: such regions include California, central Chile, the Cape and south-west Australia.

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Option (b), only 1 and 2, is correct. Cho Oyu (8,188 m), the world's sixth highest peak, and Lhotse (8,516 m), the fourth highest, are Himalayan peaks in the Mahalangur range on the Nepal-Tibet border, near Everest. Strictly they are peaks rather than ranges, but they belong to the Himalaya. The Anaimalai hills (3) are part of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, with Anamudi, the highest peak in peninsular India. The Sirumalai hills (4) are near Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. Options (a), (c) and (d) include peninsular hills. Concept: the 14 peaks above 8,000 m are in the Himalaya and Karakoram, with K2 the second highest.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is correct. Chile is the world's leading copper producer, mining about a quarter of global output, around 5.3 million tonnes a year, according to the US Geological Survey. Most of it comes from giant porphyry copper deposits in the Andes of northern Chile, such as Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, and Chuquicamata in the Atacama region. These deposits are what make Chile the leading producer, so the reason explains the assertion. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the next largest producers. In India, copper is mined at Khetri (Rajasthan), Malanjkhand (Madhya Pradesh) and Singhbhum (Jharkhand).

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Option (c), Turkmenistan, is correct. The Karakum ('black sand') desert covers about 70% of Turkmenistan, between the Caspian Sea and the Amu Darya river. The Karakum Canal, one of the world's longest irrigation canals, carries Amu Darya water across it, and contributed to the shrinking of the Aral Sea. The Darvaza gas crater, the 'Gate of Hell', is in the Karakum. Tajikistan (a) is mountainous, with the Pamirs. Kazakhstan (b) and Kyrgyzstan (d) do not contain the Karakum. Concept: the Kyzylkum ('red sand') desert lies mainly in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. India's TAPI gas pipeline project would start from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh field.

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Option (c), 2 and 3, is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: India, at 3.28 million sq km, is the seventh largest country, after Russia, Canada, the USA, China, Brazil and Australia. Statement 2 is right: India has about 2.4% of the world's land area but about 18% of its population. Statement 3 is right: the Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) runs through the middle of the country, through eight states from Gujarat to Mizoram, dividing it into two roughly equal latitudinal halves. Statement 4 is wrong: the part north of the Tropic lies in the temperate zone, though India's monsoon climate is treated as tropical. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail.

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Option (b), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: Borneo, the world's third largest island, is shared by three countries: Indonesia (Kalimantan, about 73%), Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Brunei. Statement 2 is wrong: unlike Java and Sumatra, which sit on the volcanic Sunda arc, Borneo is not volcanic. It was built up by tectonic accretion, uplift and sedimentary deposits, and has almost no active volcanoes, though Mount Kinabalu is a granite peak. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Borneo's rainforests hold orangutans, but palm oil plantations have caused heavy deforestation. Indonesia is building its new capital, Nusantara, in East Kalimantan.

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Option (a), Germany, is correct. The Ruhr coalfield lies in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, along the Ruhr river, a tributary of the Rhine. Its rich coking coal, together with cheap transport on the Rhine, made it the base of Europe's largest heavy-industrial region, with cities like Essen, Dortmund and Duisburg and firms like Krupp and Thyssen. France (b) has the Lorraine iron ore, Great Britain (c) had the Yorkshire and South Wales coalfields, and Russia (d) has the Kuznetsk basin. Concept: Germany's last hard coal mine closed in 2018, and the Ruhr has shifted to services and culture; Essen's Zollverein is a World Heritage Site.

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Option (b), Bolivia, is correct. Bolivia has been landlocked since it lost its Pacific coastline, including the port of Antofagasta, to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-84). It still claims sea access, and the International Court of Justice ruled in 2018 that Chile had no obligation to negotiate. Paraguay is South America's only other landlocked country. Suriname (a) is on the Atlantic, Uruguay (c) on the Atlantic and the Río de la Plata, and Peru (d) on the Pacific. Concept: Bolivia has the world's largest lithium reserves in the Salar de Uyuni, and its administrative capital La Paz is the highest capital city. It joined BRICS as a partner country in 2025.

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Option (b), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. Osaka (A), called the 'Manchester of Japan', is known for cotton textiles (3), along with engineering and chemicals. Detroit (B), the 'Motor City' in Michigan, USA, is the home of the automobile industry (4), with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Cuba (C), especially Havana, is famous for cigars (1) made from tobacco grown in the Vuelta Abajo region. St Petersburg (D), on the Baltic, is a major shipbuilding centre (2). Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: other industrial centres include Pittsburgh (steel), Ahmedabad and Mumbai (cotton textiles), and Chennai (automobiles, the 'Detroit of Asia').

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Option (b), 1 and 2, is correct. Ministry of Mines data for 2020-21 show that Odisha produces more than half of India's iron ore, from mines in Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj. Chhattisgarh is second, with the Bailadila mines in Dantewada producing high-grade haematite. Karnataka (4), with Bellary-Hospet, and Jharkhand (3), with Noamundi and Kiriburu, follow. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: India is the world's fourth largest iron ore producer. Haematite and magnetite are the main ores, and magnetite deposits are mainly in Karnataka. NMDC is the largest iron ore miner, and Odisha auctioned many leases after 2020.

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Option (a), Rock Edict XII, is correct. Major Rock Edict XII is Ashoka's appeal for religious tolerance and harmony. It asks people to honour all sects, to restrain their speech so as not to praise their own sect or condemn others without reason, and to learn about other faiths, so that the essence (saravadhi) of all religions may grow. Rock Edict II (b) deals with medical care for humans and animals and planting herbs and trees. Rock Edict XI (c) explains Dhamma as the best gift. Rock Edict XIII (d) describes the Kalinga war, Ashoka's remorse and the idea of Dhamma-vijaya. Concept: Ashoka's 14 major rock edicts were deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837.

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Option (a), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is correct. D.K. Karve (A) worked for widow remarriage and women's education, served as secretary of the Widow Remarriage Association (2), and founded SNDT Women's University in 1916. J.E.D. Bethune (B) founded a girls' school in Calcutta in 1849 (1), later Bethune College. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (C) became Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta in 1851 (4) and campaigned for the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. B.M. Malabari (D) campaigned against child marriage (3), which helped bring about the Age of Consent Act of 1891. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Karve got the Bharat Ratna in 1958.

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Option (c), 2, 4, 3, 1, is correct. In the war of succession after Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, Shah Shuja was defeated near Banaras at Bahadurpur in February 1658 by Dara's son Sulaiman Shikoh. Aurangzeb and Murad then defeated the imperial army under Jaswant Singh at Dharmat in April 1658, and Dara Shikoh at Samugarh in May 1658. Aurangzeb finally defeated Dara at Deorai near Ajmer in March 1659. Options (a), (b) and (d) misorder these. Concept: Aurangzeb also defeated Shuja at Khajwa (1659), imprisoned Shah Jahan in Agra Fort, and had Murad executed. Dara translated the Upanishads as Sirr-i-Akbar and wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: after defeating the Western Kshatrapas (Shakas) of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra, around 409 CE, Chandragupta II issued silver coins in western India modelled on Shaka coins, with the king's bust and a Garuda. These coins are the strongest evidence for his conquest. Statement 2 is right: these small silver coins weighed about 30-35 grains, so about 33 grains is standard. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: the Gupta gold coin was the dinara, and Chandragupta II had the title Vikramaditya. The Chinese traveller Fa-Hien visited in his reign, and the navaratnas included Kalidasa. The Mehrauli iron pillar is linked to him.

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Option (d), Jyotirao Phule, is correct. Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth) at Pune on 24 September 1873 to fight caste discrimination, Brahmanical dominance and priestly rituals, and to promote education for the lower castes and women. M.G. Ranade (a) was associated with the Prarthana Samaj and the Deccan Education Society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy (b) founded the Brahmo Samaj (1828). Tarabai Shinde (c), a feminist writer associated with Phule's circle, wrote Stri Purush Tulana (1882). Concept: Phule wrote Gulamgiri (1873), and with Savitribai Phule opened a girls' school in Pune in 1848. He was given the title 'Mahatma' in 1888.

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Option (c), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. Iltutmish (3) built Sultan Ghari (A) in 1231, the first Islamic tomb in India, for his son Nasiruddin Mahmud. Balban (4) built the Lal Mahal or Red Palace (B) in Delhi. Alauddin Khilji (1) built the Jamat Khana Masjid (C) at Nizamuddin Dargah, the earliest mosque built with true arches. Qutbuddin Aibak (2) built the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra (D) at Ajmer, on the site of a Sanskrit college. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: Aibak began the Qutub Minar and Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, and Iltutmish completed the Minar. Alauddin built the Alai Darwaza and Siri Fort.

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Option (d), Mohenjodaro and Lothal, is correct. A seal from Mohenjodaro shows a boat with a cabin and steering oars, and a terracotta boat model was found at Lothal in Gujarat, a port town with a large dockyard. These finds show river and sea trade with Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf and Oman. Harappa and Kot Diji (a) are known for granaries and pre-Harappan fortification. Kalibangan and Ropar (b) are known for ploughed fields and fire altars, and a dog buried with a human. Dholavira and Bhagatrav (c) are known for water reservoirs and a signboard. Concept: a National Maritime Heritage Complex is being built at Lothal.

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Option (a), I, III, IV, II, is correct. The Ghadar Party was founded in 1913 at San Francisco by Lala Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna and others. The Indian Independence Committee was set up in Berlin in 1915 by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Datta and others, with German support. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929, protesting against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills. The Chittagong Armoury Raid, led by Surya Sen, took place on 18 April 1930. Options (b), (c) and (d) misorder these. Concept: the Komagata Maru incident (1914) and the Lahore Conspiracy Case were also linked to Ghadar activity.

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Option (b), A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1, is correct. Ramanuja (A), the 11th-12th century teacher, gave Vishishtadvaita or qualified non-dualism (4), where souls and matter are real but dependent on Brahman. Madhvacharya (B), the 13th century teacher from Udupi, gave Dvaita or dualism (3), holding God and souls eternally distinct. Nimbarka (C) gave Dvaitadvaita, dualistic non-dualism (2). Vallabhacharya (D) gave Shuddhadvaita, pure non-dualism (1), and founded the Pushti Marg. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Shankaracharya gave Advaita, pure non-dualism, and Chaitanya gave Achintya Bhedabheda. Ramanuja's Statue of Equality is in Hyderabad.

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Option (b) is the key: Jatindranath, Ajoy Ghosh and Phanindranath Ghosh. No organisation of exactly this name, 'Hindustan Socialist Democratic Union', is well documented in standard histories, so this item is doubtful. Of the names given, Jatindra Nath (Jatin) Das, Ajoy Ghosh and Phanindra Nath Ghosh were Bengal-linked revolutionaries who worked within the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (1928). Jatin Das died after a 63-day hunger strike in Lahore jail in 1929, Ajoy Ghosh later led the CPI, and Phanindra Nath Ghosh turned approver in the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Sachindranath Sanyal, in options (c) and (d), founded the earlier Hindustan Republican Association in 1924. Options (a), (c) and (d) are rejected.

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Option (d), Amaravati, is the key. Ayaka platforms, projecting from the four sides of the stupa drum and each carrying five ayaka pillars, are the signature feature of the Krishna valley stupas of Andhra Pradesh, built under the Satavahanas and Ikshvakus. Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda (c) and Ghantasala (a) all have them, while Bodh Gaya (b) in Bihar does not. Since three options fit, the question is doubtful; Amaravati, the best-known and most elaborate example, is the best answer. Concept: the Amaravati school used white-green limestone and narrative reliefs; much of its sculpture is now in the British Museum and the Chennai Government Museum.

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Option (c), Ziya-ud-din Nakhshabi, is correct. Ziya-ud-din Nakhshabi, a Sufi writer of Muhammad bin Tughlaq's time, translated the Sanskrit Shukasaptati ('Seventy tales of a parrot'), attributed to Chintamani Bhatt, into Persian as the Tutinama around 1330. A famous illustrated version was later made for Akbar. Abdur Razzaq (a) was a Persian envoy to Vijayanagara in 1443. Amir Khusrau (b) was a poet of the Delhi Sultanate who wrote Khazain-ul-Futuh and Nuh Sipihr. Shihabuddin al-Umari (d) was an Arab writer who described Muhammad bin Tughlaq's India. Concept: Akbar's Maktab Khana translated the Mahabharata as Razmnama and the Ramayana.

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Option (d), the anti-caste movement, is correct. Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890) led the anti-caste movement in Maharashtra. He founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 to fight Brahmanical dominance, wrote 'Gulamgiri' (1873), dedicated to the American anti-slavery movement, and with Savitribai Phule opened schools for girls and lower castes from 1848. Trade union movements (a) were led by N.M. Lokhande, a Phule associate, and N.M. Joshi. Peasant movements (b) are linked to leaders like Sahajanand Saraswati. The Civil Disobedience Movement (c) began in 1930, long after Phule's death. Concept: Phule was given the title 'Mahatma' in 1888, and Ambedkar regarded him as one of his gurus.

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Option (b), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. Ragamala (A) was written by Pundarika Vitthala (3), a 16th-century musicologist from Karnataka who worked at Mughal and Rajput courts. Rasa Kaumudi (B) is by Srikantha (4). Raga Vibodha (C), from 1609, is by Somanatha (1), who classified ragas using the vina. Chaturdandi Prakashika (D), from the 17th century, is by Venkatamakhin (2), who set out the 72-melakarta scheme of Carnatic music. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: this is a repeat of the 2021 question. Other music texts include Sharangadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) and Ramamatya's Swaramela Kalanidhi. Ragamala paintings illustrate ragas.

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Option (a), Rabindranath Tagore, is correct. Rabindranath Tagore gave up his knighthood, conferred in 1915, in a letter to Viceroy Chelmsford on 30 May 1919, protesting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919, when General Dyer's troops fired on an unarmed crowd in Amritsar. C. Sankaran Nair (b) resigned from the Viceroy's Executive Council in protest but did not return a knighthood. Jinnah (c) had resigned from the Imperial Legislative Council in protest against the Rowlatt Act. Rameshwar Singh (d), Maharaja of Darbhanga, did not return any title. Concept: Gandhi returned his Kaiser-i-Hind medal in 1920. The Hunter Committee investigated the massacre.

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Option (b), A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1, is the key. These titles come from early medieval, Rajput-period inscriptions. Talara (A), from talaraksha, was the watch officer in charge of night guards (3). Pattakila (B) was the village headman who collected revenue (4). Sahasadhipati (C) dealt with sahasa, violent crimes such as dacoity (2). Baladhipa (D) is described in textbooks as the guard of octroi, or tolls (1). Standard reference works do not record these pairings uniformly, so this item rests on textbook usage and is somewhat doubtful. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: other officers include the mahasandhivigrahika (war and peace), dandanayaka (army) and akshapatalika (records).

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Option (d), 2, 1, 4, 3, is correct. Alauddin Khilji's army, under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, conquered Gujarat in 1299, when the Somnath temple was sacked and Malik Kafur was acquired. Ranthambhor fell in 1301, when Hammir Deva was killed. Chittor fell in 1303 after a siege, and Padmavati's legend is linked to it. Malik Kafur's expedition against the Kakatiyas of Warangal came in 1309-10, when the Kakatiya ruler Prataparudra paid tribute, reportedly including the Koh-i-Noor. Options (a), (b) and (c) misorder these. Concept: Kafur later raided Devagiri, the Hoysalas and the Pandyas up to Madurai (1310-11). Alauddin's market reforms and the Mongol defence are also often asked.

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Option (b), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is correct. In Hindu iconography, Shiva (A) carries the trishula, or trident (2). Vishnu (B) carries the Sudarshana chakra (1), along with the conch, mace and lotus. Ganesha (C) carries a pasha, or noose (4), and an ankusha, or goad, along with a modak. Saraswati (D), the goddess of learning and music, plays the veena (3). Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: other symbols include Shiva's damaru (drum), Lakshmi's lotus, Durga's lion and weapons, and Kartikeya's spear (vel). Vahanas, or mounts, are also asked: Shiva's Nandi, Vishnu's Garuda, Ganesha's mouse, and Saraswati's swan.

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Option (a) is the wrongly matched pair. The Gaya copper plate is attributed to Samudragupta, not the Maukhari ruler Sarvavarman. Sarvavarman is known from the Asirgarh copper seal. The other pairs are correct: the Maukhari ruler Ishvaravarman is known from the Jaunpur stone inscription (b); Ishanavarman, the first Maukhari to take the title Maharajadhiraja, from the Haraha inscription (554 CE) in Barabanki (c); and Jivitagupta II of the Later Guptas issued the Deo-Baranark inscription in Bihar (d). Concept: the Maukharis ruled from Kannauj, and Grahavarman married Harsha's sister Rajyashri. The Later Guptas of Magadha fought the Maukharis for supremacy after the imperial Guptas declined.

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Option (a), A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2, is correct. Swadesh (A) was a Hindi nationalist weekly from Gorakhpur (4), started in 1919 by Dashrath Prasad Dwivedi, known for its fiery writing. Bharat Bandhu (B) was published from Hathras (3). Satyawadi (C) was published from Agra (1). Shakti (D) was published from Almora (2), started in 1918 by Badri Datt Pande, who led the Coolie Begar movement in Kumaon. Options (b), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: other UP papers include Pratap from Kanpur (Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, 1913), Aaj from Varanasi (Shiv Prasad Gupta, 1920), Abhyudaya from Allahabad (Madan Mohan Malaviya) and the Leader from Allahabad.

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Option (d), Marwar, is correct. Jaita and Kumpa were commanders of Rao Maldeo of Marwar, the Rathore ruler of Jodhpur. In the Battle of Sammel (Giri-Sumel) in 1544, after Maldeo withdrew, they fought Sher Shah's much larger army with a small force and died. Their courage led Sher Shah to say that he had nearly lost the empire of Hindustan for a handful of millet (bajra), referring to Marwar's poor soil. Malwa (a), Mewar (b) and Bundelkhand (c) are wrong. Concept: Sher Shah died in 1545 while besieging Kalinjar in Bundelkhand. He built the Grand Trunk Road, introduced the rupiya and reformed land revenue.

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Option (a), III, IV, II, I, is correct. At Shakarkheda (1724), Nizam-ul-Mulk defeated the Mughal governor Mubariz Khan and founded the virtually independent state of Hyderabad. At Bedara (1759), the English defeated the Dutch in Bengal, ending Dutch ambitions there. At Porto Novo (1781), during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, Eyre Coote defeated Haidar Ali. Mudki (1845) was the first battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War, followed by Ferozeshah, Aliwal and Sobraon. Options (b), (c) and (d) misorder these. Concept: the First Anglo-Sikh War ended with the Treaty of Lahore (1846), and Punjab was annexed after the second war in 1849.

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Option (a), 24 August 1946, is correct. On 24 August 1946, the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, announced the formation of the Interim Government, with Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice-President of the Executive Council, effectively Prime Minister. It took office on 2 September 1946. The Muslim League, which had called Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946, joined in October 1946, and Liaquat Ali Khan became Finance Minister. 22 August (b), 23 August (d) and 25 August (c) are distractors. Concept: the Interim Government was formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan (May 1946), which also set up the Constituent Assembly, first meeting on 9 December 1946. Patel held Home.

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Option (c), Shah Jahan, is correct. Kavindracharya Saraswati, a Sanskrit and Hindi scholar of Banaras, was patronised by Shah Jahan, who gave him the title 'Sarvavidyanidhan'. He led a delegation that persuaded the emperor to remit the pilgrim tax at Banaras and Prayag, and he was close to Dara Shikoh, who was interested in Hindu philosophy. Jahangir (a), Humayun (b) and Akbar (d) are wrong, though Akbar patronised many Sanskrit and Hindi poets. Concept: other scholars at Shah Jahan's court included Jagannatha Pandita, author of Rasagangadhara, and Sundar Das. Dara translated the Upanishads into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar (1657).

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Option (d), Sanatan Dharma Rakshini Sabha-Calcutta, is correct. The Sanatan Dharma Rakshini Sabha was an orthodox Hindu body formed in Calcutta in 1873 to defend traditional Hinduism against reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj. The other pairs are wrong: the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal (a), formed in 1902 under Madan Mohan Malaviya and others, was based at Varanasi, not Delhi; the Deva Samaj (b) was founded at Lahore in 1887 by Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, not Banaras; and the Radhasoami Satsang (c) was founded at Agra in 1861 by Shiv Dayal Sahib, not Lahore. Concept: orthodox bodies rose in response to the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj.

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Option (a), both, is correct. In Brand Finance's IT Services 25 ranking for 2022, Accenture was the most valuable IT services brand in the world, with a brand value of about US$ 36 billion. Tata Consultancy Services was second, the highest-ranked Indian brand, with Infosys third and among the fastest growing. So both statements are right, and options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Brand Finance is a London-based brand valuation firm; Indian IT firms such as Infosys, HCLTech and Wipro have grown in these rankings. TCS, founded in 1968, is India's largest IT company by revenue and part of the Tata Group. Accenture is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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Option (a), Sajan Prakash, is correct. At the Danish Open swimming meet in Copenhagen in April 2022, Sajan Prakash won the gold medal in the men's 200 m butterfly. In 2021 he became the first Indian swimmer to achieve the Olympic 'A' qualification time, for Tokyo, in the same event. Srihari Nataraj (d) is a backstroke swimmer who also qualified for Tokyo. Sandeep Sejwal (c) is a breaststroke swimmer. 'Sakshi Balkrishnan' (b) is a distractor. Concept: Vedaant Madhavan, son of actor R. Madhavan, won silver in the 1500 m freestyle at the same meet and gold in the 800 m. Khelo India and TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) support elite athletes.

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Option (a) is correct. 'Partygate' was the political scandal of 2021-22 over social gatherings held at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's office and residence, and other government buildings during COVID-19 lockdowns, when such gatherings were banned for the public. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined by the Metropolitan Police in April 2022, the first sitting PM found to have broken the law. Options (b), (c) and (d) are wrong: it was not about general democratic norms, illegal party funding or the Labour Party. Concept: Johnson resigned as PM in July 2022, and in 2023 a Commons committee found he had misled Parliament.

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Option (d), CUET, is correct. From the 2022-23 academic year, the UGC made the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the single entrance test for undergraduate admission to central universities, replacing reliance on Class 12 board marks. It replaced the earlier Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) (a), which covered only some central universities. UAET (b) and CUAT (c) are distractors. Concept: many state, private and deemed universities also use CUET scores. The NTA, set up in 2017, also conducts NEET-UG, JEE Main and UGC-NET. The Radhakrishnan committee (2024) recommended reforms after the NEET paper leak controversy.

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Option (a), Hong Kong, is correct. Statista's Global Business Cities Index, published in early 2022, placed Hong Kong first with the benchmark score of 100, followed by London (b) at about 95, Paris (c) at about 95, and Frankfurt (d) at about 91. The index combines sub-indices for the economy, business environment, society and 'charisma' of cities, using data such as GDP, business rankings and quality of life. Concept: other city rankings include the Global Financial Centres Index, in which New York and London lead, and the Kearney Global Cities Index. Indian cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru feature lower in such rankings. GIFT City is India's international financial centre.

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Option (a), both, is the key. Statement 1 is right: the 22nd Commonwealth Games were held in Birmingham, England, from 28 July to 8 August 2022, and India won 61 medals. Statement 2 was right when the exam was held, because the 2026 Games had been awarded to the state of Victoria, Australia, to be held across regional cities. Victoria withdrew in July 2023 because of rising costs, and Glasgow, Scotland agreed to host a smaller 2026 Games in July-August 2026. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: the Games have been held every four years since 1930. India hosted them at Delhi in 2010, and Ahmedabad was chosen to host the 2030 Centenary Games.

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Option (c), Karnataka, is correct. India's first digital water data bank, 'AQVERIUM' (spelt 'Aquarium' in the paper), was launched in Bengaluru, Karnataka in March-April 2022 by the state's Science and Technology Minister, C.N. Ashwath Narayan. It is a venture of the AquaKraft Group and aims to collect data on water sources, quality and use to support water security. Uttar Pradesh (a), Tamil Nadu (b) and Punjab (d) are distractors. Concept: national efforts include the Jal Jeevan Mission (2019) for tap water to every rural home, the Atal Bhujal Yojana for groundwater, the India-WRIS water information system and the Jal Shakti Abhiyan's 'Catch the Rain' campaign.

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Option (b), Samia Suluhu Hassan, is correct. She became Tanzania's first woman President on 19 March 2021, after President John Magufuli died; she had been Vice-President. The question says April 2022, but she took office in 2021, so the date in the question is inaccurate though the answer stands. She won the October 2025 election amid disputes. Sahle-Work Zewde (a) was Ethiopia's first woman President (2018-24). Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (c) was Liberia's President (2006-18) and Africa's first elected woman head of state, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Option (d) is wrong. Concept: Tanzania's capital is Dodoma, and Dar es Salaam is its largest city.

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Option (b), P.V. Sindhu, is correct. P.V. Sindhu won the women's singles at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament in Lucknow in January 2022, beating fellow Indian Malvika Bansod in the final. It was her second title there after 2017. Saina Nehwal (d) won it earlier, in 2009, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Jwala Gutta (a) and Ashwini Ponnappa (c) are doubles players. Concept: the tournament is named after Syed Modi, an eight-time national champion murdered in Lucknow in 1988. Sindhu is the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals (silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo) and won the World Championships in 2019.

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Option (b), Operation Ganga, is correct. In February-March 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Indian government ran Operation Ganga to evacuate about 18,000 Indian nationals, most of them medical students, through neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Moldova, using Air India and IAF flights. Ministers were sent to these countries to coordinate. Operations Himalaya (a), Godavari (c) and Yamuna (d) are distractors. Concept: other evacuation missions include Vande Bharat (COVID-19, 2020), Devi Shakti (Afghanistan, 2021), Kaveri (Sudan, 2023), Ajay (Israel, 2023), Indravati (Haiti, 2024) and Sindhu (Iran and Israel, 2025). Operation Raahat (Yemen, 2015) was among the largest.

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Option (a), Karolina Bielawska, is correct. Karolina Bielawska of Poland was crowned Miss World 2021 at San Juan, Puerto Rico on 16 March 2022; the contest had been postponed from December 2021 because of a COVID-19 outbreak among contestants. Toni-Ann Singh (b) of Jamaica was Miss World 2019. Olivia Yacé (c) of Côte d'Ivoire was second runner-up. Shree Saini (d), an Indian-American, was first runner-up. Concept: Indian winners of Miss World include Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra (2000) and Manushi Chhillar (2017). India hosted Miss World 2024 in Mumbai, and Thailand's Opal Suchata won in Hyderabad in 2025.

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Option (c), space research, is correct, because it is not a Sustainable Development Goal. The 17 SDGs of Agenda 2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, include Zero Hunger as Goal 2 (b), Quality Education as Goal 4 (a), and Gender Equality as Goal 5 (d). Space research is not one of the goals, though space technology helps monitor progress on several of them. Concept: the goals have 169 targets, starting with No Poverty (Goal 1) and ending with Partnerships (Goal 17). They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals (2000-15). NITI Aayog tracks Indian states through the SDG India Index, with Kerala and Uttarakhand topping the 2023-24 edition.

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Option (b), Jamnagar, is correct. The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) is being set up at Jamnagar, Gujarat, with India's support of about US$ 250 million. Its foundation stone was laid on 19 April 2022 by Prime Minister Modi and WHO Director-General Tedros. It is the first global outposted centre for traditional medicine, working on evidence, data, innovation and sustainability. Jaffna (a), Johannesburg (c) and Haridwar (d) are distractors, though Haridwar has Patanjali. Concept: Jamnagar also has the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), an institution of national importance. The second WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit was held in New Delhi in December 2025.

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Option (b), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: Prime Minister Modi addressed the 5th BIMSTEC Summit, held virtually on 30 March 2022. Statement 2 is wrong: the summit was hosted and chaired by Sri Lanka, the then chair, not India. The BIMSTEC Charter was adopted there, giving the grouping a legal identity. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) was formed in 1997 by the Bangkok Declaration and has seven members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Its secretariat is in Dhaka. The 6th summit was held in Bangkok in April 2025.

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Option (a), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is correct. The India Smart City Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 results were announced in June 2021, and the awards were given at the 'Smart Cities-Smart Urbanisation' event in Surat in April 2022. Project award winners were: Culture (A), Indore (2), jointly with Chandigarh; Governance (B), Vadodara (1), for its GIS platform; Social Aspects (C), Tirupati (4), for a health benchmark in municipal schools; and Urban Environment (D), Bhopal (3), for clean energy, jointly with Chennai. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Indore and Surat jointly won the overall city award. The Smart Cities Mission (2015) covered 100 cities and ended in March 2025.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Lata Mangeshkar, the 'Nightingale of India', who died on 6 February 2022, performed at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1974. It was her first international concert, so statement 2 is right, and it is widely described as the first live performance at the Royal Albert Hall by an Indian artist, so statement 1 is right too. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: she sang in over 36 languages, received the Bharat Ratna (2001), the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1989) and the French Legion of Honour (2007), and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha (1999-2005). Her best-known patriotic song is 'Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon' (1963).

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Option (d), Teen Murti Bhavan, is correct. The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, a museum on all of India's Prime Ministers, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 14 April 2022 in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex in New Delhi. Teen Murti Bhavan was Jawaharlal Nehru's residence as Prime Minister and earlier housed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which was renamed the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society in 2023. India Habitat Centre (a), Talkatora Stadium (b) and Vigyan Bhavan (c) are other Delhi buildings. Concept: Teen Murti Bhavan was built in 1930 as the British commander-in-chief's residence; the three statues commemorate Indian soldiers in World War I.

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Option (b), A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2, is correct. SDG 10 (A) is Reduced Inequalities (3), within and among countries. SDG 13 (B) is Climate Action (1), urgent action to combat climate change. SDG 14 (C) is Life Below Water (4), conserving oceans and marine resources. SDG 15 (D) is Life on Land (2), protecting terrestrial ecosystems, forests and biodiversity. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: the 17 SDGs were adopted in 2015 under Agenda 2030. Other goals include SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities). The SDG Index ranked India 99th of 167 in 2025, its first time in the top 100.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: the 45th World Bridge Team Championships were held at Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy, from 27 March to 9 April 2022. Statement 2 is right: India's seniors team reached the final of the d'Orsi Trophy, lost to Poland and won silver, India's first-ever silver at the championships after four earlier bronze medals. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: bridge is a card game recognised as a sport; it was included in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where Pranab Bardhan and Shibhnath Sarkar won gold in the men's pair. The World Bridge Federation runs the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and d'Orsi Trophy.

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Option (c), III, I, II, IV, is correct. The Telugu Desam Party (III) was founded by N.T. Rama Rao in March 1982 and won power in Andhra Pradesh within a year. The Bahujan Samaj Party (I) was founded by Kanshi Ram on 14 April 1984, Ambedkar's birth anniversary. The Samajwadi Party (II) was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav in October 1992. The All India Trinamool Congress (IV) was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998, after leaving the Congress. Options (a), (b) and (d) misorder these. Concept: the Election Commission recognises six national parties, including the BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI(M), AAP and NPP; TMC lost national status in 2023.

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Option (c), the Public Accounts Committee, is correct. Under Article 151, the CAG's audit reports on the accounts of the Union are submitted to the President, who lays them before Parliament. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) then examines them, and the CAG acts as its 'friend, philosopher and guide'. By convention since 1967, the PAC is chaired by a member of the opposition. The Committee on Public Undertakings (a) examines CAG reports on public sector undertakings, so it is partly involved, but the PAC is the main committee. The Estimates Committee (b) examines budget estimates and suggests economies. Option (d) is wrong. Concept: PAC has 22 members, 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha.

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Option (d), the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya, is correct. On 29 March 2022, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma signed the agreement settling six of the twelve disputed areas along their border, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Shah witnessed it but did not sign it, so (b) is wrong. Home Secretaries, Chief Secretaries and police chiefs (a, c) did not sign it. Concept: Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, and the dispute arose from the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act, 1971. Assam also has border disputes with Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, and settled the Arunachal dispute in 2023.

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Option (d), street vendors, is correct. PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi), launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2020, gives collateral-free working-capital loans to urban street vendors hit by the COVID-19 lockdown: Rs 10,000 at first, then Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 for timely repayment, with a 7% interest subsidy and digital cashback. Marginal farmers (a) are covered by PM-KISAN, dairy farmers (b) by Kisan Credit Cards and dairy schemes, and landless labourers (c) by MGNREGA and other schemes. Concept: the Street Vendors Act 2014 protects vendors' livelihoods. The scheme was extended to 2030 with higher loan limits.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is correct. The 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, in force from 24 April 1993, is seen as a watershed in local self-government because it gave panchayats constitutional status for the first time, which is the reason. It added Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule with 29 subjects, and required a three-tier system, regular elections every five years, one-third reservation for women, reservation for SCs and STs, and State Election Commissions and Finance Commissions. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: before 1992, panchayats depended on state laws and were often superseded. The 74th Amendment did the same for municipalities.

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Option (d), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is correct. The Third Schedule (A) holds the forms of oaths and affirmations (2) for ministers, MPs, MLAs, judges and the CAG. The Fourth Schedule (B) allocates seats in the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (1). The Seventh Schedule (C) contains the Union, State and Concurrent Lists dividing legislative subjects (4). The Eighth Schedule (D) lists the 22 recognised languages (3). Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: the President's and Vice-President's oaths are in Articles 60 and 69, not the Third Schedule. The 92nd Amendment (2003) added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali to the Eighth Schedule. There are 12 Schedules.

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Option (a), A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4, is correct. The committees on Panchayati Raj were set up in this order: Balwant Rai Mehta (A) in 1957 (1), which recommended the three-tier system; Ashok Mehta (B) in 1977 (2), which recommended a two-tier system with the mandal panchayat and reported in 1978; L.M. Singhvi (C) in 1986 (3), which recommended constitutional status; and P.K. Thungon (D) in 1988 (4), which also recommended constitutional status. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: the G.V.K. Rao Committee (1985) called the bureaucratised system 'grass without roots', and the Gadgil Committee (1988) shaped the 64th Amendment Bill, which became the basis for the 73rd Amendment.

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Option (a), A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3, is correct. The National Social Assistance Programme (B) was launched on 15 August 1995 (1), giving pensions to the elderly, widows and disabled persons below the poverty line. The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (C) began in April 1999 (4), promoting self-employment through self-help groups; it became NRLM in 2011. The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (D) began in September 2001 (3), providing wage employment with food grains; it merged into MGNREGA. The National Rural Health Mission (A) began in April 2005 (2), introducing ASHA workers. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: NRHM became part of the National Health Mission in 2013.

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. Manipur's Legislative Assembly has 60 seats, not 62. The other pairs are correct: Goa (a) has 40 seats; Uttarakhand (b) has 70; and Uttar Pradesh (d) has 403, the largest assembly in India. Concept: under Article 170, a state assembly can have between 60 and 500 members, but Sikkim (32), Goa (40), Mizoram (40) and Puducherry (30, a UT) have fewer by special provision. Uttar Pradesh also has a Legislative Council with 100 members. Manipur, with Meitei-dominated valley seats and tribal hill seats, came under President's Rule in February 2025 after ethnic violence; it was revoked on 4 February 2026, when an elected government returned.

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Option (a), 1996, is correct. The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, or PESA, was passed in December 1996 on the recommendations of the Dilip Singh Bhuria Committee. It extends Part IX of the Constitution, on panchayats, to Fifth Schedule areas with changes, giving gram sabhas special powers over minor forest produce, land alienation, minor minerals, money lending, village markets and consent for development projects. 1993 (b) is when the 73rd Amendment came into force. 1995 (d) and 1998 (c) are distractors. Concept: ten states have Fifth Schedule areas, and most have framed PESA rules, with Jharkhand notifying its rules only in January 2026. The Forest Rights Act 2006 complements PESA.

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Option (b) is the wrongly matched pair. The 7th Lok Sabha was elected in January 1980, after the Janata government fell and Charan Singh's government lasted only a few months; Indira Gandhi returned to power. It was not elected in 1982. The other pairs are correct: the 11th Lok Sabha (a) was elected in 1996, giving a hung House and United Front governments; the 13th (c) in 1999, after Vajpayee's government lost a confidence vote by one vote; and the 9th (d) in 1989, when V.P. Singh formed the National Front government. Concept: the 18th Lok Sabha was elected in 2024, and the 1st in 1951-52.

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Option (b), the 69th Amendment, is correct. The 69th Amendment Act, 1991, based on the Balakrishnan Committee, inserted Articles 239AA and 239AB. It renamed the Union Territory of Delhi the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and gave it a Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers. The question says 'National Capital Region', but the correct term is National Capital Territory; the NCR is a wider planning region covering parts of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan. The 70th Amendment (d) added NCT and Puducherry MLAs to the presidential electoral college. The 73rd (a) dealt with panchayats and the 75th (c) with rent tribunals. Concept: the GNCTD Amendment Act 2023 placed services under the Centre.

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Option (c), Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973), is correct. In that case a 13-judge bench held by 7:6 that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution under Article 368, including Fundamental Rights, but cannot alter its basic structure. Golaknath (a), from 1967, had held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights at all. Yusuf v. State of Bombay (b), from 1954, upheld special provisions for women under Article 15(3). Chitralekha v. State of Mysore (d), from 1964, dealt with reservations based on caste and economic criteria. Concept: basic structure features include judicial review, secularism, federalism and free elections, as reaffirmed in Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) and Minerva Mills (1980).

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Option (c), protecting monuments and places of national importance, is correct, because it is not a Fundamental Duty. It is a Directive Principle under Article 49, which directs the State to protect monuments of artistic or historic interest. The related duty in Article 51A(f) is to value and preserve our composite culture. The others are Fundamental Duties: respecting the National Anthem (b) is in Article 51A(a), protecting and improving the natural environment (a) is 51A(g), and safeguarding public property (d) is 51A(i). Concept: the Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on the Swaran Singh Committee's advice; there are now 11, with the 86th Amendment (2002) adding the duty on education.

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Option (a), Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, is correct. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy had been Lok Sabha Speaker and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and was elected President unopposed in 1977 without serving as Vice President; he had lost the 1969 presidential election to V.V. Giri. R. Venkataraman (b), Shankar Dayal Sharma (c) and Zakir Husain (d) were all Vice Presidents before becoming President. Concept: other Vice Presidents who became President are S. Radhakrishnan, V.V. Giri and K.R. Narayanan. Zakir Husain was the first President to die in office (1969). Reddy is the only President elected unopposed. The current President, Droupadi Murmu, is the first tribal President.

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Option (d), the 86th Amendment Act 2002, is correct. It inserted Article 21A, making free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14 a Fundamental Right. It also changed Article 45 to cover early childhood care for children under six, and added Article 51A(k), the duty of parents to give their children opportunities for education. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 put it into effect from 1 April 2010, with 25% reservation for disadvantaged children in private schools. The 93rd Amendment (a), 2005, allowed reservation in educational institutions. The 71st (b) added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali to the Eighth Schedule. The 103rd (c) brought EWS reservation.

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Option (a), Parliament if requested by the states concerned, is correct. Under Article 315, a Joint State Public Service Commission (JSPSC) for two or more states can be created by a law of Parliament, but only if the legislatures of the states concerned pass resolutions asking for it. It is a statutory body, not a constitutional one. Its chairman and members are appointed by the President, and it reports to the Governors of the states. The Lok Sabha (b) or Rajya Sabha (d) alone cannot create one, nor can the UPSC (c), though the UPSC can serve a state's needs if the Governor requests and the President agrees. Concept: Punjab and Haryana shared a JSPSC briefly after 1966.

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Option (b), A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4, is correct. After the 2022 assembly elections, the newly elected Speakers were Ramesh Tawadkar (A) in Goa (1), Kultar Singh Sandhwan (B) of AAP in Punjab (2), Thokchom Satyabrata Singh (C) in Manipur (3), and Ritu Khanduri Bhushan (D) in Uttarakhand (4), the state's first woman Speaker and daughter of former Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: Satish Mahana became Speaker in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. Under Article 178, the assembly chooses its Speaker, who decides disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule, subject to judicial review as held in Kihoto Hollohan (1992).

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Option (a), I, III, IV, II, is correct. The Constitution's sequence is Part I, the Union and its territory (Articles 1-4); Part II, Citizenship (Articles 5-11); Part III, Fundamental Rights (12-35); Part IV, Directive Principles of State Policy (36-51); and Part IVA, Fundamental Duties (Article 51A). So the order is Union and territory, Citizenship, Directive Principles, Fundamental Duties. Options (b), (c) and (d) misorder these. Concept: Part IVA was added by the 42nd Amendment (1976). Part V covers the Union executive and Parliament, Part VI the states, Part IX panchayats, Part XVIII emergency provisions and Part XX amendment (Article 368). The Constitution now has 25 parts.

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Option (a), nuclear energy, is the key. Biomass (c) stores solar energy through photosynthesis, and wind (d) is driven by uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun, so both come from solar energy, as do fossil fuels, hydropower and wave energy. Nuclear energy comes from fission of heavy nuclei like uranium-235, formed in ancient stellar explosions, not from the sun's present energy. Note that geothermal energy (b) also does not come from the sun; it comes from radioactive decay and the earth's primordial heat, so the question has two valid answers and the official key picks nuclear. Concept: tidal energy comes mainly from the moon's gravity, also non-solar.

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Option (a), nuclear energy, is the key. Biomass energy comes from recently living organic matter, such as wood (b), crop residues and cattle dung (d), which is used in gobar gas plants. Nuclear energy comes from fission of uranium, so it is clearly not biomass. Note that coal (c) is also not considered biomass energy; it is a fossil fuel formed from plants over millions of years, so it is non-renewable. The question thus has two defensible answers, and the official key picks nuclear energy, perhaps treating coal as ancient biomass. Concept: India's SATAT scheme promotes compressed biogas, and biomass co-firing of 5-7% in coal power plants is mandated.

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Option (d), A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1, is the key. Citrus canker (A) is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas citri (3). Red rot of sugarcane (B), the 'cancer of sugarcane', is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum falcatum (4). Black heart of potato (C), called Krishnakant in Hindi, is a physiological disorder caused by lack of oxygen in storage at high temperatures (2). That leaves the insect factor (1) for the wheat disease, 'Sahu', which is probably the sunn pest or a similar insect pest; this item is not well documented, so the key works by elimination. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: wheat's main diseases are rusts and loose smut, both fungal.

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Option (d), methane, is correct. Saturn's atmosphere is mainly hydrogen (about 96%) and helium (about 3%), with traces of methane, ammonia, ethane and phosphine. Of the given options, methane is the only gas present in significant amounts. Carbon monoxide (a), nitrogen (b) and sulphur dioxide (c) are not major constituents; nitrogen dominates the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, which also has methane lakes. Concept: Saturn is a gas giant, the second largest planet, least dense (it would float on water) and famous for its rings of ice and rock. It has the most known moons, over 270. NASA's Cassini mission ended in 2017, and Dragonfly will explore Titan.

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Option (d), graphite, is correct. Under standard conditions, graphite is carbon's thermodynamically most stable allotrope, having the lowest Gibbs free energy. Diamond (b) is metastable, with slightly higher energy, but turns into graphite only extremely slowly because of a high activation barrier, so 'diamonds are forever' in practice. Fullerenes (a), such as buckminsterfullerene C₆₀, are less stable than both. Coal (c) is an impure fossil fuel, not a pure allotrope. Concept: in graphite, each carbon is sp² bonded in layers held by weak forces, so it is soft and conducts electricity. Diamond is sp³ bonded in a 3D network, so it is very hard. Graphene is a single layer of graphite.

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Option (d), whole virus vaccine, is correct. Sinovac's CoronaVac is an inactivated whole-virus vaccine: SARS-CoV-2 is grown in cells and killed with beta-propiolactone, then combined with an aluminium adjuvant. India's Covaxin, by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, uses the same platform. Non-replicating viral vectors (a) include Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca) and Sputnik V, which use an adenovirus carrying the spike gene. mRNA vaccines (b) include Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna; India's Gennova developed an mRNA vaccine too. Protein subunit vaccines (c) include Novavax (Covovax) and Corbevax. Concept: ZyCoV-D, by Zydus, was the world's first DNA vaccine for COVID-19 approved for humans (2021).

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Option (a), a form of meningitis in young children, is correct. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a bacterium that causes bacterial meningitis in children under five, as well as pneumonia and epiglottitis. Despite its name, it does not cause influenza (b), which is a viral disease; the bacterium was wrongly blamed for the 1890 flu pandemic. Whooping cough (c) is caused by Bordetella pertussis. Hib can also cause pneumonia (d), but meningitis in young children is its best-known disease, so the key picks (a). Concept: the pentavalent vaccine in India's Universal Immunisation Programme protects against Hib, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and hepatitis B.

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Option (b), photovoltaic cells, is correct. Photovoltaic (solar) cells, usually made of silicon semiconductors, convert sunlight directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect: photons free electrons in a p-n junction, creating a current. Leclanché cells (a), dry cells (c) and voltaic cells (d) are electrochemical cells that produce electricity from chemical reactions, not sunlight. The dry cell is a modified Leclanché cell using zinc and manganese dioxide. Concept: solar thermal plants instead use mirrors to heat fluids. India's solar capacity has crossed 100 GW, and the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (2024) supports rooftop solar for one crore homes. Perovskite cells are an emerging technology.

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Option (a), Aedes, is correct. The dengue virus, a flavivirus, is spread mainly by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which bites during the day and breeds in clean, stagnant water in containers, coolers and tyres. Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito (c), is a secondary vector, but the key picks the genus. Female Anopheles (b) transmits malaria. Culex (d) transmits filariasis, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile fever. Concept: Aedes also spreads chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. Severe dengue causes plasma leakage and low platelets. India's Qdenga trials and the ICMR-Panacea Biotec DengiAll vaccine are under study, and Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are used to curb spread.

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. The SI unit of radioactivity is the becquerel (Bq), equal to one decay per second, named after Henri Becquerel. The curie (Ci), equal to 3.7 × 10¹⁰ Bq (the activity of one gram of radium), is an older non-SI unit. The other pairs are correct: lens power is measured in dioptre (a), the reciprocal of focal length in metres; pressure in pascal (b), one newton per square metre; and heat, a form of energy, in joule (d). Concept: other radiation units include the gray (absorbed dose) and the sievert (equivalent dose). The calorie, used for food energy, equals about 4.184 joules.

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Option (b), methane, is correct. Natural gas is mostly methane (CH₄), often 70-90% or more, with smaller amounts of ethane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It is found in oil fields and separate gas fields, such as Bombay High and the Krishna-Godavari basin. Hexane (a) is a liquid component of petrol and a solvent. Butane (c), with propane, is the main constituent of LPG. Benzene (d) is an aromatic hydrocarbon, a carcinogen found in petrol. Concept: compressed natural gas (CNG) is used in vehicles, and piped natural gas (PNG) in homes. India aims to raise natural gas to 15% of its energy mix by 2030, from about 6%.

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Option (c), methane, is correct. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is natural gas, mostly methane (CH₄), compressed to about 200-250 bar and stored in cylinders. It burns cleaner than petrol and diesel, with lower particulate and sulphur emissions, which is why the Supreme Court ordered Delhi's buses and autos to switch to CNG in 1998, with the change made by 2002. Propane (a) and butane (b) are the main constituents of LPG. Ethane (d) is a minor component of natural gas. Concept: CNG is lighter than air, so leaks disperse upward, unlike LPG. Biogas and compressed biogas (SATAT scheme) are also mainly methane. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is cooled to -162°C.

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Option (b), Mark Vande Hei, is correct. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to earth on 30 March 2022 after 355 days on the International Space Station, the longest single spaceflight by an American at the time, beating Scott Kelly's 340 days. Pyotr Dubrov (a) and Anton Shkaplerov (c) are Russian cosmonauts who returned with him. Option (d) is wrong. Frank Rubio later broke the American record in 2023 with 371 days. Concept: the overall record is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, with 437 days on Mir (1994-95). Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to visit the ISS in 2025 on Axiom-4, ahead of the Gaganyaan mission.

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Option (a), (A) true but (R) false, is correct. The assertion is true: table salt dissolved in water forms a true solution with the same composition throughout, so it is homogeneous; you cannot see separate particles, and it does not settle. The reason is false because it states the definition the wrong way round: a mixture whose composition varies from place to place is heterogeneous, such as sand in water or oil and water. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: true solutions have particles smaller than 1 nm, colloids 1-1,000 nm (showing the Tyndall effect, like milk and fog), and suspensions larger particles that settle. Air and alloys like brass are homogeneous mixtures too.

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Option (a), Cochin, is correct. Cochin International Airport (CIAL) in Kerala became the world's first fully solar-powered airport in August 2015, using a large solar plant near its cargo complex to meet all its power needs. It won the UN Environment Programme's Champions of the Earth award in 2018. CIAL was also India's first airport built under a public-private partnership model, with shares held by thousands of investors. New Delhi (b), Chennai (c) and Ahmedabad (d) airports have solar plants but were not first. Concept: CIAL later set up a floating solar plant and green hydrogen plant. India's airports are moving towards carbon neutrality under the Airports Authority of India.

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Option (b), antibacterial, is correct. Sulpha drugs, or sulphonamides, such as sulphanilamide, were the first synthetic antibacterial drugs, developed from the dye Prontosil by Gerhard Domagk in the 1930s (Nobel 1939). They work by competing with para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and blocking bacterial folic acid synthesis, which stops bacteria from multiplying (bacteriostatic). They are not analgesics (a), which relieve pain, like aspirin; antiseptics (c), applied to living tissue, like Dettol; or antipyretics (d), which reduce fever, like paracetamol. Concept: humans get folic acid from food, so these drugs do not harm human cells. Penicillin, discovered by Fleming in 1928, was the first antibiotic.

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Option (b) is the wrongly matched pair. Rayon, or artificial silk, is regenerated cellulose made from wood pulp, a semi-synthetic fibre, not modified starch. Starch and cellulose are both glucose polymers but are linked differently. The other pairs are correct: aspartame (a) is a synthetic sweetener, about 200 times sweeter than sugar, that the WHO's IARC classed as 'possibly carcinogenic' in 2023; neoprene (c), or polychloroprene, is a synthetic rubber resistant to oil and heat, used in wetsuits and gaskets; and oxytocin (d) is a hormone from the posterior pituitary that causes uterine contractions and milk let-down. Concept: nylon and polyester are fully synthetic fibres.

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Option (d), the petrol engine, is correct. A carburettor mixes air and petrol in the right proportion and atomises the fuel before the charge enters the cylinder of a spark-ignition (petrol) engine, where a spark plug ignites it. Diesel engines (b) are compression-ignition engines: they take in only air, compress it until it is very hot, and then inject fuel directly, so they need no carburettor; option (c) is therefore wrong. Steam engines (a) are external-combustion engines. Concept: modern petrol vehicles use electronic fuel injection instead of carburettors for better efficiency and lower emissions. Diesel engines have higher compression ratios (about 15-22) than petrol engines (about 8-12).

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Option (a), both, is correct. Uttar Pradesh's budget for 2020-21, presented in February 2020, totalled Rs 5,12,860.72 crore, then the largest in the state's history. It included new schemes worth Rs 10,967.87 crore, with major allocations for infrastructure, expressways such as Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Ganga, and the Ayodhya airport. So both statements are right, and options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: UP's budgets have grown fast; the 2021-22 budget was about Rs 5.5 lakh crore, and the 2025-26 budget crossed Rs 8 lakh crore. Budgets of states are presented under Article 202 as the Annual Financial Statement.

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Option (b) is the wrongly matched pair. Under Uttar Pradesh's One District One Product (ODOP) scheme, launched in January 2018, Baghpat's product is home furnishing (handloom textiles), not wooden toys. Wooden toys belong to Varanasi and Chitrakoot. The other pairs are correct: Amethi (a) is listed for moonj (grass) products; Gautam Buddh Nagar (c) for readymade garments; and Agra (d) for leather products. Concept: other ODOP products include Moradabad brassware, Firozabad glassware, Lucknow chikankari, Kannauj perfume, Bhadohi carpets, Aligarh locks and Varanasi silk. The scheme's success led to a national ODOP initiative, and many products have GI tags.

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Option (d), II, IV, I, III, is the key: Kanpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Agra. This order fits Census 2011 urban agglomeration figures, where Kanpur (about 29.2 lakh) was slightly ahead of Lucknow (about 29.0 lakh). City (municipal corporation) figures put Lucknow first, at about 28.2 lakh, ahead of Kanpur at about 27.7 lakh, so the order of the top two depends on the measure. Ghaziabad (about 16.5 lakh) and Agra (about 15.9 lakh) come next by either measure. Options (a), (b) and (c) misplace Ghaziabad or Agra. Concept: Uttar Pradesh has 17 municipal corporations, and Lucknow is now usually treated as the largest city.

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Option (d), 24 January, is correct. Uttar Pradesh Day, or UP Diwas, is celebrated on 24 January, because on 24 January 1950 the United Provinces was renamed Uttar Pradesh by the Governor-General's order. The state government began the celebration in 2018, along with the launch of the One District One Product scheme. 25 January (a) is National Voters' Day, 23 January (b) is Parakram Diwas (Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary), and 26 January (c) is Republic Day. Concept: the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh got that name in 1902. Lucknow became the capital in 1920, replacing Allahabad. Uttarakhand was carved out on 9 November 2000.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: western Uttar Pradesh has the state's highest agricultural productivity, irrigation intensity and per capita income, and has industrialised alongside the National Capital Region, with Noida, Ghaziabad and Meerut. Statement 2 is right: Green Revolution technology, including high-yielding wheat, tubewells and fertilisers, spread here early along with Punjab and Haryana, and the region is a major producer of sugarcane and wheat. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: eastern UP (Purvanchal) and Bundelkhand lag behind in incomes and infrastructure. Uttar Pradesh is divided into four economic regions: western, central, eastern and Bundelkhand. The Jewar airport is in western UP.

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Option (c), Badua, is correct, because it is not in Uttar Pradesh. The Badua dam is on the Badua river in Banka district of Bihar, built in the 1960s for irrigation. Adwa (a) and Ahraura (b) dams are in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, in the Vindhyan region. The Baghelkhand dam (d), despite the regional name suggesting Madhya Pradesh, is in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. Concept: other major dams in UP include Rihand (Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, Sonbhadra), Matatila (Betwa, Lalitpur), Rajghat (Betwa, shared with MP), and Meja (Mirzapur). The Ken-Betwa link project will transfer water from the Ken to the Betwa basin.

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