UPPCS Prelims 2023 GS Paper I PYQs with explanations

Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: in February 2023 the Ministry of Mines said the Geological Survey of India had found 5.9 million tonnes of inferred (G3 stage) lithium resources at Salal-Haimana in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. Statement 2 is right: India imports almost all of its lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are critical for electric-vehicle batteries and energy storage. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: an inferred resource is the least certain stage, so mining needs more exploration; the first auction of the Reasi block drew weak interest. The National Critical Mineral Mission (2025) and KABIL, which seeks assets in Argentina and Australia, aim to cut import dependence.

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Option (b), Azolla, is correct. Azolla is a small floating water fern that lives in partnership with the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae, held in its leaf cavities. Grown in flooded paddy fields, it can add 20-40 kg of nitrogen per hectare and also suppresses weeds. Option (a), Lemna (duckweed), and option (c), Wolffia, the smallest flowering plant, are floating plants without this nitrogen-fixing partnership. Option (d), Trapa, is the water chestnut (singhara), grown as food. Concept: other biofertilisers are Rhizobium in legume root nodules, free-living Azotobacter and Azospirillum, blue-green algae such as Nostoc and Anabaena, and mycorrhizal fungi that help plants absorb phosphorus.

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Option (d), subsidies (9%), is the untrue statement. In the 'Rupee goes to' chart of the Union Budget 2023-24, major subsidies took 7 paise of every rupee, not 9. The other options are correct: interest payments (a) took 20 paise, the largest single item; the States' share of taxes and duties (b) took 18 paise; and defence (c) took 8 paise. Concept: the rest went to central sector schemes (17 paise), Finance Commission and other transfers (9), centrally sponsored schemes (9), pensions (4) and other expenditure (8). On the 'Rupee comes from' side, borrowings and other liabilities gave 34 paise. Trap: 9 paise belongs to transfers, not subsidies.

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Option (c), both, is correct. The study of human resources in economic development covers both directions of the link. Statement 1 is right: development affects population growth, because rising incomes, health care and education lower first death rates and then birth rates, the pattern called the demographic transition. Statement 2 is right: population growth affects development, through the supply of labour, the burden of dependants, savings, demand and pressure on resources. Concept: a large working-age share can give a 'demographic dividend' if people are educated and employed; India's dividend window is expected to last until about 2040. Human capital theory, developed by T.W. Schultz and Gary Becker, treats education and health as investments.

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Option (b), Gunnar Myrdal, is correct. The Challenge of World Poverty: A World Anti-Poverty Program in Outline (1970) was written by the Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal, who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics with Friedrich Hayek. It followed his three-volume Asian Drama (1968), which called countries like India 'soft states' that could not enforce their own laws. Option (a), Adam Smith, wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776). Option (c), Amartya Sen, wrote Poverty and Famines and Development as Freedom. Option (d), Jean Dreze, co-wrote An Uncertain Glory with Sen. Concept: Myrdal's An American Dilemma (1944) studied race in the US. His idea of 'backwash effects' explains regional inequality.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: each year the UN Secretary-General presents the Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report, based on the global indicator framework and on data produced by national statistical systems and gathered at the regional level. Statement 2 is wrong: the Global Sustainable Development Report is prepared by an independent group of scientists once every four years to inform the quadrennial SDG review at the UN General Assembly, not every quarter. Concept: the High-Level Political Forum reviews SDG progress every year under ECOSOC, and every four years under the General Assembly. Countries present Voluntary National Reviews there; India presented in 2017 and 2020.

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Option (b), only 2, is correct. In UNDP's Human Development Report 2021-22, released in September 2022, India ranked 132 of 191 countries, with an HDI value of 0.633. Its earlier rank was 130 in the comparable series. Statement 1 is wrong: a move from 130 to 132 is a fall, not an improvement. Statement 2 is right: India's rank slipped from 130 to 132. Concept: the HDI combines life expectancy, years of schooling and gross national income per person. India stayed in the medium human development category. In the HDR 2025, India ranked 130 of 193. Trap: a higher rank number means a worse position. Switzerland, Norway and Iceland led the 2021-22 list.

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Option (b), only 2, is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan was launched by the Prime Minister on 13 October 2021, not in 2022. Statement 2 is right: the Budget 2022-23 described it as driven by seven engines, namely roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure, and said projects in these sectors under the National Infrastructure Pipeline would be aligned with the Gati Shakti framework. Concept: Gati Shakti is a GIS-based digital platform built by BISAG-N, linking 16 ministries so that projects are planned together. The National Logistics Policy (2022) complements it, aiming to cut logistics costs.

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Option (c), voluntary social service, is correct, because it is not an economic activity. Economic activities produce goods or services for income, profit or exchange, and they add to national income. Voluntary social service is done out of goodwill without payment, so it is a non-economic activity, like a parent cooking at home. Option (a), farming, is a primary economic activity. Option (b), services, such as teaching or banking, are tertiary activities. Option (d), transportation, is also a tertiary economic activity. Concept: GDP leaves out unpaid household and voluntary work. India's Time Use Survey (2019 and 2024) shows women spend far more time on unpaid care work than men.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: MGNREGA's allocation was cut from about Rs 89,400 crore in the revised estimates for 2022-23 to Rs 60,000 crore in the budget estimates for 2023-24, a fall of about a third, the steepest among major schemes. Statement 2 is wrong: Jal Jeevan Mission's allocation rose by about 27% to Rs 70,000 crore, but PM Awas Yojana's grew by about two-thirds, to Rs 79,590 crore, which was higher. Concept: MGNREGA, enacted in 2005, guarantees 100 days of wage work a year to rural households. Since it is demand-driven, its actual spending usually ends above the budget figure.

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Option (b), fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GSDP for States, is correct. Budget 2023-24 allowed States a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GSDP, of which 0.5% was tied to power-sector reforms. Option (a) is wrong: it continued 50-year, not 20-year, interest-free loans to States for capital investment, with Rs 1.3 lakh crore. Option (c) is wrong: the target was a central fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26; the 2023-24 estimate was 5.9%. Option (d) is wrong: total expenditure was estimated at about Rs 45 lakh crore, not Rs 55 lakh crore. Concept: the FRBM Act 2003 governs fiscal targets. The Centre's fiscal deficit fell to 4.8% in 2024-25 and was budgeted at 4.4% for 2025-26.

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Option (c) is the incorrect statement. The Economic Survey 2022-23 projected that fashion, grocery and general merchandise would capture nearly two-thirds of the Indian e-commerce market by 2027, not by 2030. The other statements match the Survey. Credit growth to services (a) had been above 16% since July 2022. The 75 Digital Banking Units (b) were announced to transform financial services, and were inaugurated in October 2022. The PMI for services (d) showed its strongest expansion since July 2022. Concept: services make up over half of India's gross value added and are the main export earner, led by IT and business services. Trap: the year 2027 has been changed to 2030.

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Option (b), only 1, 2 and 3, is correct. Absolute poverty (1) means falling below a fixed minimum, such as a poverty line based on consumption, like the World Bank's $3 a day line. Relative poverty (2) means being poor compared with others in the same society, often measured as a share of median income. Subjective poverty (3) is based on how people judge their own condition. 'Functional poverty' (4) is not a standard category, so options (c) and (d) fail and option (a) is incomplete. Concept: NITI Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index uses health, education and living standards; it estimated that about 24.8 crore Indians left multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23.

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Option (d), Bimal Jalan, is correct. From Dependence to Self-Reliance: Mapping India's Rise as a Global Superpower (Rupa, 2022) is by Bimal Jalan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003. It traces India's economic path since independence and argues for reforms in governance. Option (a), Y.V. Reddy, wrote Advice and Dissent. Option (b), C. Rangarajan, wrote Forks in the Road. Option (c), Raghuram Rajan, wrote Fault Lines and I Do What I Do. Concept: Jalan headed the 2018-19 committee on the RBI's economic capital framework, which led to a transfer of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the government. His other books include India's Economic Crisis and The Future of India.

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Option (c), the International Labour Organization, is correct. The World Social Protection Report is the ILO's flagship report on social security systems worldwide. The 2020-22 edition found that only 47% of the world's people had at least one social protection benefit, and the 2024-26 edition, released in 2024, found that more than half were covered for the first time, though most still lack climate-related protection. Option (a), the World Bank, publishes the World Development Report. Option (b), the WHO, publishes the World Health Statistics. Option (d), the World Economic Forum, publishes the Global Gender Gap and Global Competitiveness reports. Concept: the ILO, founded in 1919, is the only tripartite UN agency, and it is based in Geneva.

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Option (a), Ministry of Health – Rs 89,155 crore, is correct. Budget 2023-24 allocated Rs 89,155 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, about 13% more than the previous year. Option (b) is wrong: the Department of Health and Family Welfare got about Rs 86,175 crore, not Rs 80,000 crore. Option (c) is wrong: the Department of Health Research got about Rs 2,980 crore, not Rs 9,155 crore. Option (d) is wrong: PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat) got about Rs 7,200 crore, not Rs 5,000 crore. Concept: the National Health Policy 2017 aims for public health spending of 2.5% of GDP. PM-JAY, launched in 2018, gives Rs 5 lakh of cover per family per year, and was extended to everyone aged 70 or more in 2024.

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Option (a), both true and R explains A, is correct. The assertion is true: on 18 February 2023, twelve cheetahs, seven male and five female, arrived from South Africa at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. They followed eight cheetahs flown in from Namibia on 17 September 2022. The reason is true and explains it: India treats bringing back the cheetah, declared extinct in the country in 1952, as a conservation priority under Project Cheetah, the world's first intercontinental large carnivore translocation. Concept: Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh became the second cheetah site in 2025. Many cheetahs and cubs have died, from heat, infections and fights, which has drawn criticism.

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Option (c), destruction of natural habitat, is correct. Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation is the leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. It is driven by clearing forests, wetlands and grasslands for farming, settlements, mining, dams and roads. Option (a), genetic assimilation, is an evolutionary concept, not a driver of loss. Option (b), control of predators, can upset food chains but is minor. Option (d), pest control, through pesticides, harms some species, but it ranks well below habitat loss. Concept: the IPBES assessment (2019) ranks drivers as land and sea-use change, direct exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species, the 'evil quartet' of habitat loss, over-exploitation, invasive species and co-extinctions.

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Option (a), pollution assay in aquatic ecosystems, is correct. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen that microbes need to break down organic matter in water, usually measured over 5 days at 20°C. A high BOD means heavy organic pollution, such as sewage, so it is a standard test of water quality. Clean water has a BOD below about 3 mg per litre. Options (b), (c) and (d) are wrong: BOD does not measure oxygen at high altitude, in blood or in forests. Concept: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) measures all oxidisable matter chemically and is always higher than BOD. Low dissolved oxygen causes fish kills, and the CPCB uses BOD to list polluted river stretches.

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Option (b), 10th, is the official key. India is actually the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter by total emissions, after China and the United States, though its per-capita emissions are far below the world average. The ranks in the options match the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) instead, in which India was placed 10th in the 2022 edition (released November 2021) and 8th in the 2023 edition (released November 2022). Options (a), (c) and (d) do not fit either measure. Note: the question's wording does not match the key, which is doubtful as worded. Concept: the CCPI is published by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and CAN, and leaves the top three places empty.

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Option (a), watershed, is correct. A watershed, also called a catchment or drainage basin, is an area of land where all rainfall drains to a common outlet, such as a stream, river or lake. It collects, stores and releases water, which makes it the basic unit for planning soil and water conservation. Option (b), wasteland, is degraded land. Option (c), a wetland, is land saturated with water, like a marsh or lake edge. Option (d), a water reserve, is not a technical term. Concept: watershed development uses check dams, contour bunds and afforestation; examples are Ralegan Siddhi and Hiware Bazar in Maharashtra. The scheme is now the Watershed Development Component of PMKSY.

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Option (a), 1974, is correct. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was India's first major environmental law. Parliament passed it under Article 252, on the request of state legislatures, since water is a State subject. It set up the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards and made consent necessary for discharging effluents. Options (b), (c) and (d), 1975, 1976 and 1977, are wrong; the Water Cess Act came in 1977. Concept: the Air Act followed in 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act in 1986, after the Bhopal gas tragedy. The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 decriminalised many minor offences under these laws.

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Option (c), rivers, is correct. Lotic ecosystems have flowing water, such as rivers, streams and springs. The current keeps the water well oxygenated, and organisms there have adaptations like flat bodies, suckers and hooks to avoid being swept away. Options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong: swamps, ponds and marshes are lentic ecosystems, with still or standing water, as in lakes too. Concept: in lakes, zones include the littoral (shore), limnetic (open water) and profundal (deep) zones, and many lakes stratify by temperature into the epilimnion, thermocline and hypolimnion. Trap: remember lotic for 'locomotion', moving water, and lentic for 'lentus', slow or still. Wetlands are protected under the Ramsar Convention.

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Option (b), Jamnagar, is correct. India's first National Centre for Marine Biodiversity was set up at Jamnagar, Gujarat. It lies near the Marine National Park and Sanctuary in the Gulf of Kachchh, India's first marine national park (1982), which has coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass and creatures like dugongs and dolphins. The centre supports research and training on coral reefs and coastal species. Options (a), (c) and (d), Mumbai, Bhavnagar and Puducherry, are distractors. Concept: India's other marine protected areas include the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park in Tamil Nadu, Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park in the Andamans, and Bhitarkanika in Odisha, a mangrove park famous for crocodiles.

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Option (d), xerocoles, is correct. Animals adapted to live in deserts are called xerocoles. Examples are camels, fennec foxes, kangaroo rats and desert tortoises, which survive with little water through behaviour, such as being active at night and burrowing, and physiology, such as producing concentrated urine and getting water from food. Option (a), arboreal animals, live in trees, like monkeys. Option (b), terrestrial animals, live on land generally. Option (c), fossorial animals, are adapted to digging and living underground, like moles. Concept: xerophytes are desert plants, with thick cuticles, sunken stomata and spines, like cacti. India's Desert National Park near Jaisalmer protects the great Indian bustard.

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Option (a), organisms linked in a food chain, is correct. A trophic level is a feeding position in a food chain. Producers, the green plants, are the first level; herbivores, the primary consumers, are the second; and carnivores, the secondary and tertiary consumers, are higher levels. So trophic levels are formed by all organisms linked through feeding. Options (b), (c) and (d) are wrong because plants alone, animals alone or carnivores alone form only parts of the chain. Concept: only about 10% of energy passes from one level to the next (Lindeman's 10% law), so food chains rarely have more than four or five links. Decomposers break down dead matter at every level.

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Option (a), in-situ conservation, is correct. National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, community reserves and sacred groves protect species in their natural habitats, which is in-situ ('on site') conservation. It keeps genetic diversity alive along with the ecosystem and the natural processes of evolution. Option (b), ex-situ conservation, protects species outside their habitats, as in zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks, gene banks and cryopreservation. Option (c), the gene pool, is the total genetic variety of a species, not a method. Option (d) is wrong because (a) is correct. Concept: India has 106 national parks, 18 biosphere reserves and 58 tiger reserves. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is ex-situ.

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Option (d), Jammu and Kashmir, is correct. The hangul, or Kashmir stag (Cervus hanglu hanglu), is the only surviving red deer subspecies in India. It is critically endangered and is found mainly in Dachigam National Park near Srinagar, with a few in the Gurez and Kishtwar areas. It was the state animal of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. Options (a), (b) and (c), Kerala, Assam and Rajasthan, are wrong. Concept: its numbers fell from several thousand in the early 1900s to about 260-290 today, because of habitat loss, poaching and overgrazing. A captive breeding centre has been set up at Shikargah, Tral. Kerala has the Nilgiri tahr and Assam the swamp deer.

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Option (d), pesticide, is correct, because it is not biodegradable. Many pesticides, especially organochlorines like DDT, aldrin and BHC, resist breakdown by microbes. They persist in soil and water, accumulate in fatty tissue and increase up food chains, a process called biomagnification. Options (a), (b) and (c), domestic waste, urine and faecal matter, are organic wastes that microbes break down into simpler substances, though they still pollute water if untreated. Concept: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) exposed DDT's harm to birds. The Stockholm Convention (2001) controls persistent organic pollutants, and India still allows limited DDT use for malaria control. Plastics and heavy metals are other non-biodegradable pollutants.

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Option (b), sustainable development, is correct. The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future (1987), by the World Commission on Environment and Development, defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is exactly the balance between using resources and conserving them. Option (a), resource conservation, is only the protection side. Option (c), future resources, is not a concept. Option (d), reducing consumption, is one tool, not the whole idea. Concept: it rests on three pillars, economic, social and environmental. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit adopted Agenda 21, and the 2015 Agenda 2030 set the 17 SDGs.

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Option (c), A true but R false, is correct. The assertion is true: fast population growth puts pressure on land, water, forests, energy and waste systems, so checking it helps protect the environment. The reason is false: rapid population growth upsets the environmental balance through deforestation, pollution, habitat loss and over-use of groundwater; it does not maintain the balance. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: the IPAT equation states that environmental impact equals population times affluence times technology, so consumption matters as much as numbers. India became the world's most populous country in 2023, though its fertility rate has fallen to about 2.0, below replacement level.

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Option (a), sustainable development, is correct. Agenda 21, adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, is a non-binding global plan of action for sustainable development in the 21st century, to be carried out at global, national and local levels. Option (b), the polluter-pays principle, is Principle 16 of the separate Rio Declaration. Option (c), environmental education, is only one chapter of Agenda 21. Option (d), protection of the ozone layer, comes under the Vienna Convention (1985) and Montreal Protocol (1987). Concept: Rio also produced the UNFCCC, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Forest Principles, and led to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

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Option (c), sustainable development, is correct. Development in which the present generation uses natural resources with the least degradation, leaving enough for future generations, is called sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland Report (1987). Option (a), economic development, means growth in output and income with structural change, but it may harm resources. Option (b), social development, refers to improvement in health, education and well-being. Option (d), organic development, is not a recognised term. Concept: sustainable development balances economic, social and environmental goals; ideas like the circular economy, green GDP and inter-generational equity follow from it. India's Mission LiFE (2022) promotes sustainable lifestyles.

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Option (d), 2 February, is correct. World Wetlands Day is marked on 2 February because the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed on that day in 1971 at Ramsar, Iran. The UN General Assembly made it an international day in 2021. Options (a), (b) and (c), 10 January, 15 January and 1 February, are distractors. Concept: India joined the Ramsar Convention in 1982, with Chilika in Odisha and Keoladeo in Rajasthan as its first sites. It now has one of Asia's largest Ramsar networks, with Tamil Nadu having the most sites. The Montreux Record lists threatened wetlands, including Keoladeo and Loktak. The Wetlands Rules of 2017 guide protection in India.

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Option (d), Pranhita – Mahanadi, is the wrongly matched pair. The Pranhita is formed by the union of the Wardha and the Wainganga, and it joins the Godavari, its largest tributary, near Kaleshwaram on the Telangana-Maharashtra border. It does not flow into the Mahanadi. The other pairs are correct: the Manjra (a) is a right-bank tributary of the Godavari; the Hemavathi (b) joins the Kaveri near Krishnarajasagar; and the Malaprabha (c) joins the Krishna in Karnataka. Concept: the Godavari, India's longest peninsular river, also receives the Indravati and Sabari. The Mahanadi's tributaries include the Seonath, Hasdeo, Mand, Ib and Tel.

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Option (d), Devprayag, is correct. The Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi meet at Devprayag in Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, and from this point the river is called the Ganga. Option (a) is wrong: Vishnuprayag is where the Alaknanda meets the Dhauliganga. Option (b) is wrong: Karnaprayag is the Alaknanda-Pindar confluence. Option (c) is wrong: Rudraprayag is the Alaknanda-Mandakini confluence. Concept: the Panch Prayag, from upstream down, are Vishnuprayag, Nandprayag (Nandakini), Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devprayag. The Bhagirathi rises at Gaumukh on the Gangotri glacier, and the Alaknanda at Satopanth near Badrinath. Trap: the Bhagirathi is generally treated as the source stream, though the Alaknanda is longer.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: laterite develops in hot, humid tropical areas with heavy rainfall that alternates with a dry season, as on the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats, Odisha, Meghalaya and parts of Kerala and Karnataka. Statement 2 is wrong: intense leaching washes out silica, lime and bases, and leaves the soil rich, not poor, in oxides of iron and aluminium. These give it its red colour and harden into brick on exposure. Concept: laterite is poor in nitrogen, phosphate, potash, lime and humus, so it is acidic and infertile unless manured. With care it grows tea, coffee, cashew and rubber. The word comes from Latin 'later', meaning brick.

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Option (c), the stratosphere, is correct. About 90% of atmospheric ozone lies in the stratosphere, mostly between 15 and 35 km, in what is called the ozone layer. It absorbs harmful ultraviolet-B and ultraviolet-C radiation, and that absorption is why temperature rises with height in this layer. Option (a), the troposphere, holds only a little ozone, and there it is a harmful pollutant formed in smog. Option (b), the mesosphere, is the coldest layer, where meteors burn up. Option (d), the thermosphere, contains the ionosphere, which reflects radio waves. Concept: CFCs released chlorine that thinned the layer, causing the Antarctic ozone hole. The Montreal Protocol (1987) phased them out, and the Kigali Amendment (2016) targets HFCs.

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Option (a), A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1, is correct. The Yamuna (A) rises at the Yamunotri glacier on the Banderpunch range in Uttarakhand (4). The Krishna (B) rises near Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats of Satara district, Maharashtra (3). The Godavari (C) rises at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district (2). The Mahanadi (D) rises near Sihawa in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh (1). Options (b), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: the Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi flow east into the Bay of Bengal, while the Narmada (Amarkantak) and Tapi (Multai) flow west into the Arabian Sea through rift valleys. The Kaveri rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of Kodagu.

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Option (d), both true and R explains A, is correct. The assertion is true: the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu gets little rain from June to September, while most of India gets its main rain. The reason is true and explains it. The Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west monsoon blows roughly parallel to this coast, so it does not strike it, and the Western Ghats block the Arabian Sea branch, leaving Tamil Nadu in its rain shadow. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: Tamil Nadu gets most of its rain in October to December from the north-east or retreating monsoon, when winds picking up moisture over the Bay hit the coast. Chennai's wettest month is November.

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Option (c), Niti – Uttarakhand, is correct. The Niti pass lies in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and links the state with Tibet; it was an old trade route used by the Bhotiya traders. Option (a) is wrong: the Aghil pass is in the Karakoram, north of K2, linking Ladakh with Xinjiang. Option (b) is wrong: the Diphu pass is at the tri-junction of Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar and China. Option (d) is wrong: the Mana pass is also in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, beyond Badrinath, not in Himachal Pradesh. Concept: other Uttarakhand passes are Lipulekh (Kailash Mansarovar route, Pithoragarh) and Muling La. Himachal passes include Shipki La, Rohtang and Baralacha La.

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Option (a), hydel power and nuclear energy, is correct. Shivanasamudra, where the Kaveri splits around an island and falls in the Gaganachukki and Bharachukki waterfalls in Mandya district of Karnataka, has one of Asia's first hydroelectric stations, commissioned in 1902 to supply the Kolar gold fields. Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu has the Madras Atomic Power Station and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research. Options (b), (c) and (d) mismatch the pair. Concept: Kalpakkam is the base of India's three-stage nuclear programme, with the Fast Breeder Test Reactor and the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, which began core loading in 2024. India's first atomic power station was Tarapur (1969).

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Option (b), Igarka – China, is the wrongly matched pair. Igarka is a Russian river port on the lower Yenisei in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, north of the Arctic Circle, and it exports timber during the short summer navigation season. It is not in China. The other pairs are correct: Rotterdam (a), at the mouth of the Rhine-Maas delta, is Europe's largest port, in the Netherlands; Montevideo (c), on the Rio de la Plata, is Uruguay's capital and main port; and Jakarta (d), with its port Tanjung Priok, is in Indonesia. Concept: Russia's Arctic ports include Murmansk, ice-free because of the North Atlantic Drift, and Dudinka on the Yenisei.

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Option (c) is the true statement, as the key gives it. Surface salinity is highest in the subtropical belts around the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, about 20°-30°, where evaporation is high and rainfall low under subsiding air. It is lower at the equator because of heavy rain. Option (a) is wrong: the Benguela is a cold current of the South Atlantic, off south-west Africa. Option (b) is wrong: when the Sun, Earth and Moon are in a line, at new and full moon, the combined pull gives spring tides, the highest; neap tides come at right angles. Option (d) is wrong: high tides recur about every 12 hours 25 minutes, not 12 hours 30. Concept: the Red Sea and the Dead Sea are among the saltiest waters.

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Option (b), the Rio Grande, is correct. The Rio Grande, called the Rio Bravo del Norte in Mexico, rises in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and forms the US-Mexico border for about 2,000 km, from El Paso and Ciudad Juarez to the Gulf of Mexico. Option (a) is wrong: the Mississippi flows entirely within the United States to the Gulf near New Orleans. Option (c) is wrong: the Amazon is in South America. Option (d) is wrong: the Colorado, which carved the Grand Canyon, crosses into Mexico only briefly near its mouth in the Gulf of California and forms a short border stretch. Concept: the US-Canada border is partly formed by the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and the 49th parallel.

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Option (c), I, IV, II, III, is correct. The Great Sandy Desert (I) in north-west Australia covers about 0.28 million sq km, making it the smallest of the four. The Gobi (IV), across Mongolia and northern China, covers about 1.3 million sq km. The Arabian Desert (II) covers about 2.3 million sq km. The Sahara (III), in North Africa, covers about 9 million sq km, the largest hot desert. Options (a), (b) and (d) misorder them. Concept: counting cold deserts, Antarctica and the Arctic are larger than the Sahara. The Gobi is a cold rain-shadow desert, while the Sahara and Arabian are trade-wind deserts. The Great Victoria Desert is Australia's largest.

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Option (d), the Spanish and Americans, is correct. The Philippines was a Spanish colony from 1565, when Legazpi founded the first settlement, to 1898, and then came under the United States until independence in 1946. The Spanish encouraged commercial sugarcane growing and copra, and under American rule sugar and coconut became big export plantation crops, with tariff-free access to the US market. Option (a), the French, ruled Indo-China. Option (b), the British, held Malaya and Burma. Option (c), the Dutch, held Indonesia. Concept: the Philippines remains one of the world's top coconut producers along with Indonesia and India, and Negros island is its sugar bowl.

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Option (b), A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2, is correct. Kilimanjaro (A), Africa's highest peak at 5,895 m, is a dormant volcano in Tanzania (3). Toubkal (B), the highest peak of the Atlas, is in Morocco (1). Mount Stanley (C), in the Rwenzori range, is on the Uganda-DR Congo border and is counted under Uganda (4). The Hoggar or Ahaggar massif (D) is a volcanic highland in southern Algeria (2), in the Sahara. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest, is in Kenya. The Rwenzori are the 'Mountains of the Moon', block mountains rather than volcanoes. The Tibesti in Chad has Emi Koussi, the Sahara's highest point.

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Option (c), Onega – Canada, is the wrongly matched pair. Lake Onega is in north-west Russia, in Karelia, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga, which lies next to it. The other pairs are correct: Baikal (a) in Siberia, Russia, is the world's deepest and oldest lake; Michigan (b) is the only Great Lake entirely within the United States; and Maracaibo (d), a large lagoon-lake linked to the Caribbean, is in Venezuela and rich in oil. Concept: Canada's great lakes include the Great Bear, Great Slave and Winnipeg. Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by area, and the Caspian Sea the largest lake overall.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: El Nino is the appearance of an unusually warm current off the coast of Peru and Ecuador in the eastern Pacific, usually around Christmas, which gave it its name ('the Christ child'). Statement 2 is wrong: the warm water raises sea temperature by a few degrees and stops the cold, nutrient-rich upwelling of the Humboldt (Peru) current. Plankton and fish, especially anchovy, decline sharply, so the catch falls, not rises. Concept: El Nino is the warm phase of ENSO, and it weakens the Indian monsoon in many years, as in 2009 and 2015. La Nina, the cool phase, usually helps it. The Indian Ocean Dipole also shapes monsoon rain.

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Option (b), the Coriolis force, is correct. The Coriolis force comes from the Earth's rotation. It deflects moving air and water to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, a rule called Ferrel's law. It is zero at the equator and greatest at the poles. Option (a), temperature, creates pressure differences but does not set the direction of deflection. Option (c), the magnetic field, does not affect winds. Option (d), the pressure gradient, starts the wind moving from high to low pressure, but it does not cause the deflection. Concept: because of Coriolis, cyclones spin anticlockwise in the north and clockwise in the south, and tropical cyclones rarely form within 5° of the equator.

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Option (c), Donetsk, is correct. The Donets basin, or Donbas, centred on Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, has been the country's main coalfield since the 19th century. Its coking coal supported a large iron and steel and heavy industrial belt. Option (a), Zaporizhzhia, is known for its hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper and Europe's largest nuclear plant. Option (b), Kharkiv, is a major engineering and tractor-making centre. Option (d), Kyiv, the capital, is an administrative and industrial city. Concept: Ukraine's iron ore comes from Kryvyi Rih, and manganese from Nikopol. Much of the Donbas has been under Russian occupation since the war, which began in 2014 and widened in 2022.

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Option (a), iron ore, is correct. Mount Newman, around Mount Whaleback in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is one of the world's largest open-cut iron ore mines, run by BHP. The ore is carried by rail to Port Hedland for export, mainly to China, Japan and South Korea. Option (b), manganese, in Australia comes mainly from Groote Eylandt. Option (c), copper, comes from Mount Isa in Queensland and Olympic Dam in South Australia. Option (d), bauxite, comes from Weipa in Queensland and the Darling Range near Perth. Concept: Australia is the largest exporter of iron ore, and other Pilbara mines include Mount Tom Price. Brazil's Carajas is another giant iron ore mine.

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Option (a), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. Edwin Cannan (A) developed the optimum population theory (3), holding that output per head is highest at an ideal population size; Lionel Robbins and Dalton refined it. Henry George (B) argued that poverty comes from social maladjustment, such as unfair land ownership, not from population numbers (4). Warren Thompson (C) first set out the demographic transition stages in 1929 (1), later developed by Frank Notestein. Thomas Malthus (D) related population to food supply (2) in his 1798 essay. Options (b), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: Malthus said population grows geometrically and food arithmetically, and the checks are positive (famine, disease) and preventive (late marriage).

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Option (c), 1871, is the official key. The first census of India was taken under Lord Mayo between 1867 and 1872, finishing in 1872, though not in all areas at the same time. It is often called the 1871-72 census, which is why the key takes 1871. Option (a), 1850, and option (b), 1861, are wrong. Option (d), 1881, under Lord Ripon, was the first synchronous census, held across British India on one date, and censuses have been held every ten years since. Note: strictly, the first census year is 1872, so the key is somewhat doubtful. Concept: the 2011 census was the 15th. The next census, with caste counting, has a reference date of 1 March 2027.

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Option (b), 2070, is correct. The National Population Policy, 2000 set three objectives: meet unmet contraception needs in the short term, bring the total fertility rate to replacement level (2.1) by 2010 in the medium term, and reach a stable population by 2045 in the long term. In 2010 the Union Health Ministry told the National Commission on Population that the 2045 goal was out of reach and moved the target for population stabilisation to 2070. Option (a), 2045, is the older target. Options (c) and (d) are distractors. Concept: India's TFR fell to 2.0 in NFHS-5 (2019-21). UN projections show India's population peaking at about 170 crore in the early 2060s.

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Option (a), Greeks, Sakas, Kushans, is correct. The Indo-Greeks (Bactrian Greeks) entered north-west India in the early 2nd century BCE, after the Mauryan decline; Demetrius and Menander were important rulers. They were followed by the Sakas, or Scythians, in the 1st century BCE, with branches at Taxila, Mathura and in western India (Western Kshatrapas, including Rudradaman). The Kushans, a branch of the Yuezhi from Central Asia, came in the 1st century CE; Kanishka, who began the Saka era in 78 CE, was their greatest ruler. Options (b), (c) and (d) misorder these. Concept: the Parthians (Pahlavas), such as Gondophernes, ruled in the north-west between the Sakas and Kushans.

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Option (c), Nagasena, is correct. The Milindapanha, or 'Questions of King Milinda', a Pali Buddhist text, records a dialogue between the Indo-Greek king Menander (Milinda), who ruled from Sakala (Sialkot) in the 2nd century BCE, and the Buddhist monk Nagasena, who answered his questions on Buddhist doctrine, such as rebirth and the nature of the self, and is said to have converted him. Nagarjuna (a) founded the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism. Nagabhata (b) was a Gurjara-Pratihara king. Kumarila Bhatta (d) was a Mimamsa philosopher who opposed Buddhism. Concept: Menander's coins carry the dharmachakra, and Plutarch says Buddhist-style relic stupas were raised after his death.

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Option (a), 120 chapters and 8 sections, is correct. The Charaka Samhita, the classic text of Ayurvedic internal medicine, attributed to Charaka, physician to the Kushan ruler Kanishka, has 120 chapters arranged in eight sections, or sthanas: Sutra (general principles), Nidana (pathology), Vimana (specific features), Sharira (anatomy), Indriya (prognosis), Chikitsa (therapy), Kalpa (pharmacy) and Siddhi (successful treatment). Options (b), (c) and (d) give wrong numbers. Concept: it was based on Agnivesha's earlier work and revised by Dridhabala. The Sushruta Samhita, by Sushruta, deals with surgery, including rhinoplasty, and Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya summarised both. Ayurveda is linked to the Atharvaveda.

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Option (d), revenue collector, is correct. In later Vedic polity the Bhagadugha was one of the ratnins, the 'jewels' of the king's household who were honoured in the Rajasuya sacrifice. The word means 'distributor of shares': he collected the king's share (bhaga) of produce, roughly a sixth, as tax. Option (a) is wrong: the messenger was the duta. Option (b) is wrong: no forest chief appears in the standard ratnin lists. Option (c) is wrong: the akshavapa kept the dice and looked after gambling. Concept: other ratnins were the senani (army chief), purohita (priest), gramani (village headman), sangrahitri (treasurer), suta (charioteer) and palagala (courier). The list shows kingship growing more complex after the Rig Vedic age.

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Option (a), A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2, is correct. Nevasa (A), on the Pravara river in Ahmednagar district, is in Maharashtra (3); H.D. Sankalia found Middle Palaeolithic 'Nevasian' tools there. Isampur (B), a Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian workshop in the Hunsgi valley, is in Karnataka (4). Didwana (C), with stone-tool layers in its sand dunes, is in Nagaur district of Rajasthan (1). Gudiyam cave (D), a rock shelter near Chennai in Tiruvallur district, is in Tamil Nadu (2). Option (b) swaps Nevasa and Isampur; options (c) and (d) misplace Didwana and Gudiyam. Concept: Attirampakkam, also near Chennai, has Acheulian tools dated to about 1.5 million years. Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is the best-known rock shelter site.

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Option (b), Alamgirpur, is correct. Alamgirpur, on the Hindon river in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, is the easternmost known Harappan site, and it marks the eastern boundary of the culture. Option (a), Harappa, on the Ravi in Pakistani Punjab, is the type site and lies far to the west. Option (c), Rakhigarhi in Haryana, is one of the largest Harappan cities, but it lies west of Alamgirpur. Option (d), Manda, on the Chenab near Jammu, marks the northern limit. Concept: the other limits are Sutkagendor in Baluchistan (west) and Daimabad on the Pravara in Maharashtra (south). Shortughai in Afghanistan is an outlying trade post. Some lists add Hulas or Sanauli in western Uttar Pradesh, but Alamgirpur is the standard answer.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: the Vishnu Purana gives a detailed account of the Mauryan dynasty, naming Chandragupta and his successors and saying that Kautilya would raise Chandragupta to the throne after uprooting the Nandas. Statement 2 is right: the Vayu Purana describes the early Guptas and the lands they ruled along the Ganga, Prayag, Saketa and Magadha, which matches the extent of Gupta rule before Samudragupta's conquests. Options (a), (b) and (d) therefore fail. Concept: there are 18 major Puranas, compiled in their final form mostly in the Gupta age. Their dynastic lists (vamshanucharita) are valuable sources; the Matsya Purana is valued for the Satavahanas.

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Option (c), Nyaya – Gautama, is correct. The Nyaya school of logic and epistemology was founded by Gautama, also called Akshapada, author of the Nyaya Sutra. Option (a) is wrong: Vaisheshika, the atomist school, was founded by Kanada (Uluka); Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutra. Option (b) is wrong: Mimamsa (Purva Mimamsa), which studies Vedic ritual, was founded by Jaimini, not Kanada. Option (d) is wrong: Uttara Mimamsa, or Vedanta, goes back to Badarayana's Brahma Sutra; Kapila founded Samkhya. Concept: the six orthodox (astika) darshanas form three pairs: Nyaya-Vaisheshika, Samkhya-Yoga and Mimamsa-Vedanta. Charvaka, Jainism and Buddhism are the heterodox (nastika) schools.

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Option (b), only 2, is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: Captain William Hawkins reached Surat in 1608 on the ship Hector with a letter from King James I, and he was at Jahangir's court in Agra from 1609. He left India in 1611, so 1611 is the year he departed, not arrived. Statement 2 is right: Hawkins spoke Turkish fluently, so he could talk to Jahangir without an interpreter, and the emperor made him a mansabdar of 400 and called him 'English Khan'. Concept: Hawkins failed to win trading rights because of Portuguese opposition. Sir Thomas Roe, James I's ambassador (1615-19), later obtained a farman for factories, and the English had set up their first factory at Surat in 1613.

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Option (a), despatcher of royal decrees, is correct. A kharita was a bag or envelope of brocade or silk in which royal letters and orders were sealed before being sent. The kharitadar was the official in charge of sealing and despatching these royal communications. Option (b) is wrong: palace management was the work of the mir-i-saman or khan-i-saman. Option (c) is wrong: pargana officers were the shiqdar, amil, qanungo and fotadar. Option (d) is wrong: accountants were called mustaufi, karkun or munshi. Concept: Mughal and Sultanate records had a large written culture: the waqia-navis and sawanih-nigar sent news reports, and the dak chowki system carried letters and kharitas across the empire.

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Option (a), A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3, is correct. Mirat-i-Sikandari (A), by Sikandar bin Muhammad Manjhu, is a history of the Gujarat sultanate (4). Burhan-i-Maasir (B), by Ali bin Aziz-ullah Tabataba, covers the Bahmanis and the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar (2). Riyaz-us-Salatin (C), written by Ghulam Husain Salim in 1788, is the first full history of Muslim rule in Bengal (1). Riyaz-ul-Insha (D) is the collection of letters of Mahmud Gawan, the Bahmani prime minister (3). Option (b) swaps A and B; options (c) and (d) misplace Bengal and the letters. Concept: Mahmud Gawan also built a madrasa at Bidar. Firishta's Gulshan-i-Ibrahimi is another key Deccan history.

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. Hamida Banu Begum was the wife of Humayun, whom she married in 1541, and the mother of Akbar, born at Amarkot in 1542; she was not Alauddin Khalji's wife. The other pairs are correct. Iltutmish (a) was the father of Razia, the only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate (1236-40), whom he named his heir. Shah Turkan (b) was Iltutmish's wife and mother of Ruknuddin Firuz, and she held real power during his short reign. Gulbadan Begum (d) was Babur's daughter and wrote the Humayun-nama. Concept: Alauddin Khalji's chief queen was Malika-i-Jahan, the daughter of Jalaluddin Khalji. Hamida Banu was titled Maryam Makani.

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Option (d), I, II, IV, III, is correct. Balaji Vishwanath (I) was Peshwa from 1713 to 1720 and won the Mughal grants of 1719. His son Bajirao I (II) served from 1720 to 1740 and carried Maratha power north. Madhav Rao I (IV), 1761-1772, revived Maratha power after Panipat. His younger brother Narayan Rao (III) became Peshwa in 1772 and was murdered in 1773. Options (a), (b) and (c) misorder these. Concept: Balaji Bajirao (Nana Saheb, 1740-61) came between Bajirao I and Madhav Rao I, and the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought in his time. Raghunath Rao's claims after Narayan Rao's murder led to the First Anglo-Maratha War.

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Option (c), Zain-ul-Abidin, is correct. Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (1420-70), called Budshah or the 'Great King', reversed the harsh policies of his father Sikandar. He abolished the jizya, banned cow slaughter, invited Brahmins who had fled back to Kashmir and rebuilt temples. Option (b) is wrong: Sikandar Shah (1389-1413), called Butshikan ('idol breaker'), imposed the jizya and destroyed temples. Option (a), Shamsuddin Shah (Shah Mir), founded the dynasty in 1339. Option (d), Haider Shah, was Zain-ul-Abidin's weak successor. Concept: Zain-ul-Abidin had the Mahabharata and Kalhana's Rajatarangini translated into Persian, and Jonaraja continued the Rajatarangini at his court.

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Option (a), Azizuddin Khan, is correct. During his campaign to Nagarkot (Kangra) in 1361, Firoz Shah Tughlaq seized about 300 Sanskrit manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi temple library. The court poet Azizuddin Khalid Khani translated some of them, on philosophy, astronomy and divination, into Persian as the Dalail-i-Firozshahi. Talib Amuli (b) was Jahangir's poet laureate. Mulla Abdul Baqi (c), better known as Abdul Baqi Nahawandi, wrote the Maasir-i-Rahimi in Jahangir's time. Mirza Muhammad Ali (d) does not fit the event. Concept: Firoz Tughlaq also had the Ashokan pillars from Topra and Meerut moved to Delhi. Under Akbar, the Maktab Khana translated the Mahabharata as Razmnama.

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Option (d), Muhammad Shah, is correct. The tappa grew out of the folk songs of Punjabi camel drivers. It was refined into a semi-classical form by Shori Miyan (Ghulam Nabi) in the later Mughal period, during the reign of Muhammad Shah 'Rangila' (1719-48). His court also saw khayal flourish under Sadarang and Adarang. Akbar (a) patronised Tansen and dhrupad. Jahangir (b) and Shah Jahan (c) supported dhrupad and painting, but the tappa had not yet taken shape. Concept: the tappa is known for fast, knotty taans and is sung in Punjabi; Banaras and Gwalior gharanas kept it alive. Thumri, also semi-classical, grew at Wajid Ali Shah's Lucknow court.

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Option (c), Gangabai – Ganesh Dev Leela, is the key for the wrongly matched pair. Daya Bai and Sahajo Bai were disciples of Sant Charandas of Delhi in the 18th century. Daya Bai wrote Daya Bodh and Vinay Malika, so option (a) is correct. Sahajo Bai wrote Sahaj Prakash, so option (b) is correct. Option (d), Son Kumari with 'Swarn Beli', is accepted by the key. Gangabai, a Krishna-bhakti poetess of the Vallabha sect, is known for devotional padas on Krishna, not a work on Ganesha, which is why (c) is taken as wrong. Concept: Mirabai is the best-known bhakti poetess of Hindi. Note: the works of Gangabai and Son Kumari are poorly documented, so this key rests on lesser-known lists and is somewhat doubtful.

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Option (d), Jhansi – 11 May 1857, is the wrongly matched pair. At Jhansi the sepoys mutinied only in early June 1857 (around 4-5 June), after which Rani Lakshmibai took control. The other pairs are correct. At Barrackpore (a), Mangal Pandey of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry attacked his officers on 29 March 1857 and was hanged on 8 April. At Meerut (b), the sepoys rose on 10 May 1857 and marched to Delhi. At Lucknow (c), the rising spread in late May and broke out fully by 4 June 1857, with the siege of the Residency. Concept: 11 May is the date the Meerut sepoys reached Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar emperor. Trap: do not confuse it with Jhansi.

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Option (b), Indra Narayan Dwivedi, is correct. The United Provinces Kisan Sabha was founded in February 1918 in Allahabad by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi, with the support of Madan Mohan Malaviya. Option (a) is wrong: Baba Ramchandra led the Awadh peasant movement and the Awadh Kisan Sabha, set up in October 1920 at Pratapgarh. Option (c) is wrong: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati founded the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha in 1929 and was the first president of the All India Kisan Sabha (1936). Option (d) is wrong: Nehru worked with the Awadh peasants from 1920 but did not found the 1918 sabha. Concept: the Eka movement (1921-22) in Hardoi and Bahraich was led by Madari Pasi.

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Option (c), Anushilan Samiti, is the official key. On 23 December 1912, during the state entry of Viceroy Lord Hardinge into the new capital Delhi, a bomb was thrown at his elephant at Chandni Chowk. The plot was led by Rash Behari Bose, and the bomb was thrown by Basanta Kumar Biswas; Hardinge was wounded and his attendant killed. Options (a) and (b) are wrong: they were not revolutionary societies. Option (d), Yugantar, is the group most textbooks link Rash Behari Bose with, since he worked in the Jugantar network. Note: the key (c) is doubtful, and (d) is arguably the better answer. Concept: in the Delhi Conspiracy Case, Amir Chand, Avadh Behari, Bal Mukund and Basanta Biswas were hanged.

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Option (d), the Act of 1919, is correct. The Chamber of Princes, or Narendra Mandal, was proposed by the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and set up under the Government of India Act, 1919. It was inaugurated by the Duke of Connaught in February 1921 with 120 members, and it gave rulers of the princely states a forum to discuss common matters with the Viceroy. Option (a), the Charter Act of 1853, separated legislative and executive functions. Option (b), the Charter Act of 1793, renewed the Company's charter for 20 years. Option (c), the 1909 Act, brought the Morley-Minto reforms and separate electorates. Concept: the Chamber was advisory only, and big states like Hyderabad and Mysore stayed away. It was dissolved in 1947.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) joined the Congress in 1919 and took part in the Non-Cooperation Movement, picketing toddy shops and burning foreign cloth. In 1924 he led the Vaikom Satyagraha in Travancore, earning the title Vaikom Veerar. Statement 2 is right: he left the Congress in 1925 at its Kanchipuram conference, after his resolution for communal reservation was rejected and after the Cheranmadevi gurukulam row over separate dining for Brahmin students. Concept: he then launched the Self-Respect Movement (1925), headed the Justice Party from 1938 and founded the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944. C.N. Annadurai later formed the DMK in 1949.

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Option (b), Rani Jhansi Regiment, is correct. Subhas Chandra Bose raised the women's regiment of the Indian National Army in Singapore in July 1943 and named it after Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. It was led by Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan, later Lakshmi Sahgal, and drew many recruits from Indian families in Malaya and Burma. Options (a), (c) and (d), Rani Bhabani, Bharat Mata and Veerangana, are distractors. Concept: the INA's regiments were named after Gandhi, Nehru, Azad and Subhas. Bose formed the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October 1943, and the INA trials at the Red Fort (1945) were defended by Bhulabhai Desai and Nehru. Lakshmi Sahgal stood for President in 2002.

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Option (b), Khan Bahadur Khan, is correct. Khan Bahadur Khan, a grandson of the Rohilla chief Hafiz Rahmat Khan, took charge at Bareilly in May 1857. He declared himself the Mughal emperor's viceroy (nazim) and ran a government in Rohilkhand until the British retook Bareilly in May 1858. He was later hanged. Option (a) is wrong: Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt at Lucknow. Option (c) is wrong: Kunwar Singh led it at Jagdishpur in Bihar. Option (d) is wrong: Nana Saheb led at Kanpur. Concept: other leaders were Bakht Khan (Delhi), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Tatya Tope (Kanpur and central India), Maulvi Ahmadullah (Faizabad) and Liaqat Ali (Allahabad).

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Option (d), the Moplah Revolt, came last. The Home Rule Leagues (a) were founded in 1916, Tilak's in April and Annie Besant's in September. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (c) took place at Amritsar on 13 April 1919. The Khilafat Movement (b) started in 1919, with a Khilafat Day on 17 October 1919 and the Khilafat Committee's non-cooperation call in 1920. The Moplah (Malabar) rebellion broke out in August 1921 in Malabar, Kerala, when Mappila tenants rose against landlords and the British. So the order is Home Rule, Jallianwala, Khilafat, Moplah. Concept: the Wagon Tragedy of November 1921, when Moplah prisoners died in a closed goods wagon, came in the revolt's suppression.

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Option (d), Shanti Ghosh, is correct, because she was not linked to the Quit India Movement of 1942. Shanti Ghosh and Suniti Choudhury, schoolgirls of the revolutionary Jugantar group, shot dead the Comilla district magistrate C.G.B. Stevens in December 1931. Matangini Hazra (a), aged 73, was shot leading a procession at Tamluk in Bengal in September 1942. Aruna Asaf Ali (b) hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank, Bombay on 9 August 1942. Kanaklata Barua (c), aged 17, was shot at Gohpur in Assam while trying to hoist the flag. Concept: Usha Mehta ran the secret Congress Radio during Quit India, and Sucheta Kripalani worked underground. Bina Das shot at the Bengal Governor in 1932.

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Option (b), Anuradha Roy, is correct. Anuradha Roy won the Sahitya Akademi Award for English for 2022 for her novel All the Lives We Never Lived (2018). Set in the hill town of Muntazir, the novel tells of a boy whose mother leaves the family in the 1930s, and it weaves in the German artist Walter Spies and Rabindranath Tagore's travels to Bali. Anita Desai (a) won the Akademi award earlier, in 1978, for Fire on the Mountain. Shobha De (c) and Sudha Murty (d) are popular writers but did not win this award. Concept: the Sahitya Akademi gives awards in 24 languages. Roy's other novels include An Atlas of Impossible Longing and Sleeping on Jupiter.

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Option (b), M.M. Keeravani, is correct. 'Naatu Naatu', from S.S. Rajamouli's Telugu film RRR (2022), was composed by M.M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose, and sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January 2023, the first Indian song to do so, and then the Academy Award for Best Original Song in March 2023. Option (a), Rajamouli, directed the film. Option (c), Devi Sri Prasad, composed for Pushpa. Option (d), A.R. Rahman, won two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. Concept: at the same Oscars, The Elephant Whisperers won Best Documentary Short.

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Option (a), Prince Harry, is correct. Spare, published on 10 January 2023 and ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer, is the memoir of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. The title refers to the old saying that a royal family needs 'an heir and a spare'. The book describes his mother Diana's death, his army service in Afghanistan, and his rifts with his father and brother. It sold over 3.2 million copies in its first week, a record for non-fiction. Prince William (b) is the heir, Prince Philip (c) was his grandfather, who died in 2021, and King Charles III (d) is his father. Concept: Charles was crowned on 6 May 2023.

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Option (a), Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Goa, is correct. The Social Progress Index for States and Districts, prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative for the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and released in December 2022, put Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Goa at the top of Tier 1, 'very high social progress'. Option (b), Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, were among the next leaders. Option (c) names states placed lower, and option (d) is wrong because (a) is correct. Concept: the index measures basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity, using 12 components. Jharkhand and Bihar scored lowest. Aizawl in Mizoram topped the districts.

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Option (b), 30, is correct. The Union Budget 2023-24 announced 30 Skill India International Centres across different States to train young people for jobs abroad. It also announced Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 with on-the-job training, industry partnership and new-age courses such as coding, AI, robotics, IoT and drones, as well as a unified Skill India Digital platform. Options (a), (c) and (d), 20, 40 and 50, are distractors. Concept: the same budget proposed the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme for stipends to 47 lakh youth and announced 157 new nursing colleges. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was created in 2014, and the Skill India Mission in 2015.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: the logo of India's G20 presidency (1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023) places the Earth on a lotus, India's national flower, with seven petals. Statement 2 is right: the seven petals stand for the seven continents, and the lotus for growth amid challenges. The logo uses the saffron, white, green and blue of the national flag. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: the theme was 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, One Future', from the Maha Upanishad. The New Delhi summit in September 2023 admitted the African Union as a permanent member and launched the Global Biofuels Alliance.

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Option (b), 2025, is correct. New Zealand's Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act, passed in December 2022, banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, so a 'smoke-free generation' would never legally buy cigarettes. It also cut the number of shops allowed to sell tobacco and lowered nicotine levels. The aim was the 'Smokefree 2025' goal, which means a daily smoking rate below 5%. Options (a), (c) and (d) are distractors. Concept: the new coalition government repealed the law in February 2024 before it took effect. The UK later pursued a similar generational ban. Trap: the goal year was 2025, not 2030.

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Option (d), Yeti Airlines, is correct. On 15 January 2023, Yeti Airlines Flight 691, an ATR 72-500 flying from Kathmandu, crashed into the Seti river gorge while approaching the newly opened Pokhara International Airport. All 72 people on board, including five Indians, were killed. It was Nepal's deadliest air crash since 1992. The investigation found that the pilots had mistakenly moved the propellers to feather, cutting thrust. Options (a), (b) and (c), Nepal Airlines, Buddha Air and Tara Air, did not suffer this crash. Concept: Nepal's mountain terrain and weather make it one of the riskiest places to fly, and the EU has long barred Nepali carriers from its airspace.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927 at Marktl in Bavaria, Germany, was the first German pope in about 1,000 years. Statement 2 is right: he resigned in February 2013 on grounds of age, the first pope to step down since Gregory XII in 1415, about 600 years earlier. He then lived as Pope Emeritus in the Vatican until his death on 31 December 2022. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: he was succeeded by Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America. Francis died on 21 April 2025, and the American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV in May 2025.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: India held the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for 2022-23, and as part of it the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held the SCO Film Festival in Mumbai from 27 to 31 January 2023. Statement 2 is right: it showcased films from SCO member countries, with a competition section and awards. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: the SCO, formed in 2001, has members China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran (2023) and Belarus (2024). India and Pakistan joined in 2017. Its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is in Tashkent, and its secretariat in Beijing.

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Option (b), Chris Hipkins, is correct. After Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation, saying she no longer had 'enough in the tank', Chris Hipkins of the Labour Party was elected unopposed as leader and sworn in as New Zealand's 41st Prime Minister on 25 January 2023. Option (a), Ardern, was the outgoing leader. Option (c), Cindy Kiro, is the Governor-General who swore him in. Option (d), Carmel Sepuloni, became his deputy, the first deputy prime minister of Pacific heritage. Concept: Labour lost the October 2023 election, and Christopher Luxon of the National Party became Prime Minister. Ardern led the country through the Christchurch attacks (2019) and COVID-19.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: Australia's Deakin University was announced in March 2023 as the first foreign university to set up an independent campus in India, during the Australian Prime Minister's visit. Statement 2 is wrong: the campus is at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, under the International Financial Services Centres Authority's rules, not in Maharashtra. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Wollongong University also opened at GIFT City. Under the UGC's 2023 regulations for foreign campuses, the UK's University of Southampton opened in Gurugram in 2024. The National Education Policy 2020 allows top-ranked foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

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Option (b), Sunil Chopra, is correct. Sunil Chopra, a Delhi-born businessman and Labour councillor, was elected Mayor of the London Borough of Southwark for the second time; he first held the post in 2014-15. Option (a), Sam Dalton, does not fit. Option (c), Gautam Adani, is an Indian industrialist, not a London mayor. Option (d), Neeraj Patil, was the first Indian-born mayor of the London Borough of Lambeth, in 2010. Concept: a borough mayor in London is a ceremonial civic post chosen by the councillors each year. The elected Mayor of London is Sadiq Khan, of Pakistani heritage, in office since 2016. Trap: do not confuse the two posts.

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Option (b), Taiwan, is correct. On 27 December 2022, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen announced that compulsory military service would rise from four months to one year from January 2024, for men born on or after 1 January 2005. She cited rising pressure from China, including large military drills around the island after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit in August 2022. Options (a), (c) and (d), Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, did not make this change. Concept: Myanmar's junta activated its conscription law later, in February 2024. China claims Taiwan under its 'One China' principle, and the Taiwan Strait is a major flashpoint.

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Option (b), Australia, is correct. On 2 February 2023, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced that its new five-dollar note would carry a design honouring the culture and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, replacing Queen Elizabeth II's portrait. It decided not to put King Charles III on the note. The monarch's face still appears on Australian coins. Options (a), (c) and (d) are wrong: Canada kept the monarch on its notes, and Sri Lanka and Nepal are republics without the British monarch on their money. Concept: Australia's head of state is still the British monarch, as the 1999 republic referendum failed. Barbados became a republic in 2021.

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Option (c), tax scandal, is correct. Nadhim Zahawi, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and then Conservative Party chairman and minister without portfolio, was sacked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 29 January 2023. An inquiry by Sunak's ethics adviser found a 'serious breach' of the ministerial code because Zahawi had not disclosed that he was under investigation by the tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, and had paid a penalty in a multi-million-pound settlement. Options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong. Concept: the UK ministerial code is enforced by the Prime Minister on the advice of the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests. Trap: the question calls him Finance Minister, but he was party chairman when sacked.

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Option (d), space research, is correct, because it is not a Sustainable Development Goal. The UN General Assembly adopted the 17 SDGs in September 2015 as Agenda 2030, to be achieved by 2030. Among them, Zero Hunger (b) is SDG 2, Good Health and Well-being (c) is SDG 3, and Gender Equality (a) is SDG 5. Space research is not one of the goals, though space data helps track many of them. Concept: the goals have 169 targets. They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). India's NITI Aayog publishes an SDG India Index; Kerala and Uttarakhand topped the 2023-24 edition. SDG 1 is No Poverty, and SDG 17 is Partnerships.

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Option (b), 'Dignity for All in Practice', is correct. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, marked every year on 17 October, had the theme 'Dignity for All in Practice' for 2022-23. It stressed that people in poverty face daily disrespect and discrimination, and that dignity is the basis of all human rights. Option (a) was the theme for 2017, option (c) belongs to the UN's Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, and option (d) is a distractor. Concept: the UN General Assembly declared the day in 1992. It traces back to 17 October 1987, when about 100,000 people gathered at the Trocadero in Paris, at the call of Father Joseph Wresinski of ATD Fourth World. SDG 1 is No Poverty.

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Option (d), 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 and its impacts. SDG 14 (C) is Life Below Water (4), conserving oceans, seas and marine resources. SDG 15 (D) is Life on Land (2), protecting forests, fighting desertification and halting biodiversity loss. Options (a), (b) and (c) misplace these. Concept: the 17 SDGs of Agenda 2030 were adopted in 2015. Others include SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. Tribunals are in Part XIV-A (Articles 323A and 323B), added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on the Swaran Singh Committee's advice. Article 323A covers administrative tribunals for public service matters, and 323B covers tribunals for other matters like taxation and land reforms. Part XI deals with relations between the Union and the States. The other pairs are correct: Part VIII covers Union Territories (a), Part X the Scheduled and Tribal Areas (b), and Part XVII the Official Language (d), with Hindi in Devanagari under Article 343. Concept: in L. Chandra Kumar (1997), the Supreme Court held that tribunal decisions are subject to High Court review.

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Option (b), A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1, is correct. Article 324 (A) vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission (4). Article 315 (B) provides for Public Service Commissions for the Union and the States (3). Article 280 (C) provides for the Finance Commission (2), appointed every five years. Article 338 (D) provides for the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (1); the 89th Amendment (2003) split the earlier joint commission, with Article 338A for Scheduled Tribes. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Article 338B, added by the 102nd Amendment (2018), gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes. Article 148 covers the CAG.

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Option (d), IV, I, II, III, is correct. The Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946, with Sachchidananda Sinha as interim president; Rajendra Prasad was elected president on 11 December. The Drafting Committee, chaired by B.R. Ambedkar, was appointed on 29 August 1947. The Constitution was adopted and enacted on 26 November 1949, now Constitution Day, and came into force on 26 January 1950, Republic Day, chosen to mark the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration. Options (a), (b) and (c) misorder these. Concept: some provisions, such as citizenship and elections, took effect on 26 November 1949. The Assembly took about 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.

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Option (b), both true but R does not explain A, is correct. Under Article 3, a bill to form new states or change the boundaries or names of existing states can be introduced in Parliament only on the President's recommendation. Before recommending it, the President must refer it to the State Legislature concerned for its views within a set period. The assertion is therefore true. The reason is also true: the State Legislature's views are not binding on the President or Parliament. But that non-binding nature does not explain why the President recommends the bill, so R does not explain A. Concept: this is why India is called an 'indestructible union of destructible states'; Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised in 2019.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Article 71(2) says that if the election of the President or Vice-President is declared void by the Supreme Court, acts done by that person in the exercise of the office on or before the date of that declaration are not invalidated. So acts done before the declaration are valid, which makes statement 1 right. Acts done on the day of the declaration are also valid, so statement 2, which says they are not valid, is wrong. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: all disputes over presidential and vice-presidential elections are decided only by the Supreme Court, under Article 71(1). C.P. Radhakrishnan became Vice-President in September 2025, after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned.

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Option (c), Meira Kumar, is correct. Meira Kumar, a former diplomat and daughter of Jagjivan Ram, was elected unopposed as Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha in June 2009, the first woman to hold the office. Pratibha Patil (a) was India's first woman President (2007-12). Urmila Singh (b) was Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Sushma Swaraj (d) was Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha and later External Affairs Minister. Concept: Sumitra Mahajan was the second woman Speaker (16th Lok Sabha), and Om Birla has been Speaker since 2019. Under Article 93, the Lok Sabha elects its Speaker, and the Speaker's casting vote applies only in a tie.

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Option (c) is the wrongly matched pair. Seats in the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) are allocated in the Fourth Schedule, not the Ninth. The Ninth Schedule, added by the First Amendment (1951), lists laws, mostly land-reform Acts, protected from challenge for violating Fundamental Rights under Article 31B. In I.R. Coelho (2007), the Supreme Court held that laws added after 24 April 1973 can be reviewed against the basic structure. The other pairs are correct: the Third Schedule has forms of oaths and affirmations (a), the Eighth lists languages (b), and the Tenth, added by the 52nd Amendment (1985), deals with disqualification on the ground of defection (d).

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Option (c), 15 years, is correct. Article 343(1) makes Hindi in Devanagari script the official language of the Union, but Article 343(2) allowed English to continue for all official purposes of the Union for 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution, that is, until 26 January 1965. Fears of Hindi imposition led to protests, especially in Tamil Nadu, and the Official Languages Act, 1963, amended in 1967, allowed English to continue indefinitely alongside Hindi. 5 years (a), 10 years (b) and 20 years (d) are wrong. Concept: Article 344 provides for an Official Language Commission (B.G. Kher, 1955), and Article 351 directs the Union to promote Hindi.

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Option (b), both true and R explains A, is correct. Article 79 says Parliament consists of the President and the two Houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The President is an integral part of Parliament mainly because no bill passed by both Houses can become law without the President's assent under Article 111, so the reason explains the assertion. The President also summons and prorogues the Houses, dissolves the Lok Sabha, addresses Parliament and issues ordinances when it is not in session (Article 123). Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: this follows the British model, where the Crown is part of Parliament. The President is not a member of either House.

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Option (d), neither, is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: under Article 280 and the Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951, the Finance Commission has a Chairman and four other members, not six. Statement 2 is wrong: it submits its report to the President, who lays it before Parliament with an explanatory memorandum on action taken, not to NITI Aayog. Options (a), (b) and (c) fail. Concept: the Commission is appointed every five years and recommends sharing of taxes and grants to states. Its recommendations are advisory. The Sixteenth Finance Commission, chaired by Arvind Panagariya, covers 2026-31 and kept the states' share at 41%.

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Option (a), both, is correct. Statement 1 restates Article 32(2): the Supreme Court can issue directions, orders or writs, including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, to enforce Fundamental Rights. Statement 2 restates Article 32(3): Parliament may by law empower any other court to exercise these powers within its local limits, though Parliament has not yet done so. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: Ambedkar called Article 32 the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution. High Courts can issue writs under Article 226 for Fundamental Rights and other legal rights, so their writ power is wider. Article 32 is part of the basic structure.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: under Article 76, the President appoints as Attorney General a person qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. Statement 2 is wrong: the Attorney General holds office during the pleasure of the President and can be removed at any time; the Constitution fixes no tenure or removal procedure, so the impeachment-like process used for judges does not apply. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: the Attorney General is the highest law officer, can speak in Parliament but cannot vote (Article 88), and is not a full-time government servant. R. Venkataramani has been Attorney General since 2022.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Article 171(1) says the total membership of a state's Legislative Council shall not exceed one-third of the total membership of the State Legislative Assembly, and shall not be less than 40. So statement 1, the one-third cap, and statement 2, the minimum of 40, are both right. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: about one-third of members are elected by local bodies, one-third by MLAs, one-twelfth by graduates, one-twelfth by teachers, and about one-sixth are nominated by the Governor. Under Article 169, Parliament creates or abolishes a council on an Assembly resolution. Six states have councils, including UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Article 98(1) gives each House of Parliament its own separate secretarial staff, but its proviso allows posts common to both Houses to be created. So statement 1 is right. Article 98(2) lets Parliament, by law, regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of the secretarial staff of either House, so statement 2 is right. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: until Parliament makes such a law, the President, after consulting the Speaker or the Chairman, may make rules under Article 98(3). The Lok Sabha Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General under the Speaker, and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat under the Chairman. Article 187 is the state equivalent.

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Option (b) is correct, because the statement is untrue. The Central Government does not decide the Gram Sabha's powers. Under Article 243A, the Gram Sabha exercises powers and functions at the village level that the State Legislature gives it by law. Statement (c) is true: Article 243(b) defines the Gram Sabha as all persons on the electoral rolls of the village panchayat area. Statement (a) is broadly true, since it describes the Gram Sabha's role as the village-level deliberative body, so option (d) is not the answer. Concept: under PESA (1996), Gram Sabhas in Fifth Schedule areas have special powers. Panchayati Raj is a state subject in the Seventh Schedule.

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Option (b), the State Election Commission, is correct. Article 243K vests the superintendence, direction and control of preparing electoral rolls and conducting all panchayat elections in the State Election Commission. The Governor appoints the State Election Commissioner, who can be removed only like a High Court judge. Article 243ZA does the same for municipal elections. The State Legislature (a) makes laws on panchayat elections but does not conduct them. The Election Commission of India (c) conducts elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President, not panchayats. 'Panchayati Raj Commission' (d) is a distractor. Concept: the State Finance Commission is under Article 243I.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: the Ashok Mehta Committee (1977, reporting in 1978) recommended replacing the three-tier system with a two-tier system of Zila Parishad at the district level and Mandal Panchayat, covering a group of villages, below it. Statement 2 is wrong: it made the district, not the block, the first point of decentralisation under popular supervision below the state. Options (b), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: it also recommended official participation of political parties in panchayat elections, compulsory taxation powers, and constitutional recognition. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal acted on it. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) had proposed three tiers.

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Option (c), the President, is correct. Under Article 124(2)(a), a Supreme Court judge may resign by writing under his hand addressed to the President. A High Court judge also addresses his resignation to the President under Article 217(1)(a). A resignation letter is not addressed to the Chief Justice of India (a), the senior-most judge (b) or the Prime Minister (d). Concept: Supreme Court judges serve until 65 and can be removed only by an order of the President after an address by each House of Parliament, passed by a special majority, on grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity (Article 124(4)). No judge has yet been removed, though Justice V. Ramaswami faced proceedings in 1993.

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Option (c), prohibition against torture, is correct, because it is not expressly in Article 20. Article 20 protects persons accused of offences in three ways: against ex post facto criminal laws, meaning no one can be punished under a law passed after the act (20(1), d); against double jeopardy, meaning no one can be prosecuted and punished twice for the same offence (20(2), b); and against self-incrimination, meaning no accused can be compelled to be a witness against himself (20(3), a). The Supreme Court has read protection against torture and custodial violence into Article 21, as in D.K. Basu (1997). Concept: Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during an emergency, under the 44th Amendment.

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Option (b), protection of environment, is correct. It appears in both Part IV and Part IVA: Article 48A, a Directive Principle added by the 42nd Amendment (1976), directs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife; and Article 51A(g), a Fundamental Duty, asks every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment and have compassion for living creatures. The parental duty to provide educational opportunity (a) is only in Article 51A(k), though Article 45 covers early childhood care. Workers' participation in management (c) is only in Article 43A, and the Uniform Civil Code (d) only in Article 44. Concept: Uttarakhand enacted a Uniform Civil Code in 2024.

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Option (b), only 2, is correct. Statement 1 is wrong: joint sittings of both Houses are provided for in Article 108, which applies when the Houses disagree on an ordinary bill. Article 109 deals with the special procedure for Money Bills, and there is no joint sitting for Money Bills or constitutional amendment bills. Statement 2 is right: under Article 118(4), the Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting; in the Speaker's absence, the Deputy Speaker, and then the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. Options (a), (c) and (d) fail. Concept: there have been three joint sittings: the Dowry Prohibition Bill (1961), the Banking Service Commission Bill (1978) and POTA (2002).

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Option (d), reduction in both maternal and neonatal mortality, is correct. Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), launched in April 2005 under the National Rural Health Mission, gives cash help to poor pregnant women to deliver in health facilities. Its stated aim is to reduce both maternal and neonatal deaths by promoting institutional delivery. ASHA workers link women to the scheme and are paid an incentive. Options (a), (b) and (c) are wrong because each names only one goal. Concept: low-performing states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar get higher payments. Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (2011) gives free delivery and transport. India's maternal mortality ratio fell to 93 per lakh live births in 2019-21.

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Option (c), Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission – 2015, is the key for the wrongly matched pair. The mission was approved by the Cabinet in September 2015 but launched by the Prime Minister in February 2016 at Kurubhat in Chhattisgarh, so the key treats 2016 as its year. The other pairs are correct: DDU-GKY (a), the rural skilling scheme, began in September 2014; the Rural Housing Interest Subsidy Scheme (b) was announced in 2017; and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (d) was launched in October 2014. Note: since the Cabinet approval was in 2015, this key is doubtful. Concept: the Rurban Mission develops clusters of villages with urban amenities while keeping their rural character.

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Option (d), 2021, is correct. In September 2021 the Union Cabinet approved PM POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) to replace the National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools, for the five years 2021-22 to 2025-26. It gives hot cooked meals to children in Classes 1 to 8 in government and aided schools, and it was extended to pre-primary classes in Balvatikas. Options (a), (b) and (c), 2018, 2019 and 2020, are wrong. Concept: the Mid-Day Meal began nationally in 1995 as the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education. The Supreme Court made cooked meals mandatory in 2001 (PUCL case), and the National Food Security Act, 2013 made it a legal entitlement.

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Option (b), Rajasthan, is correct. Exercise Sudarshan Prahar was an integrated fire-power and manoeuvre exercise held in December 2022 in the desert sector of Rajasthan by the Indian Army's Sudarshan Chakra Corps, part of the Southern Command. It tested how well tanks, artillery, infantry, aviation and the Air Force could fight together, using drones and new technology. Options (a), (c) and (d), Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, are distractors. Concept: the Sudarshan Chakra Corps (21 Corps) is a strike corps based at Bhopal. The Army's other exercises include Yudh Abhyas with the US and Mitra Shakti with Sri Lanka, while Gagan Shakti is an Air Force exercise.

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Option (a), ISRO and NASA, is correct. NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is the first joint earth-observation satellite of the two agencies. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the L-band radar and the 12-metre mesh antenna, and ISRO built the S-band radar and the spacecraft bus. It was launched on ISRO's GSLV-F16 from Sriharikota on 30 July 2025. Options (b), (c) and (d), with ESA, Roscosmos or China's CNSA, are wrong. Concept: NISAR maps the whole Earth every 12 days, by day and night and through clouds. It tracks ground deformation from earthquakes and landslides, ice sheets, crops, soil moisture and coastal change. It is among the costliest earth-observation satellites ever built.

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Option (b), Tumakuru, Karnataka, is correct. On 6 February 2023 the Prime Minister dedicated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's greenfield helicopter factory at Tumakuru to the nation. It is India's largest helicopter manufacturing plant and will first build the indigenous Light Utility Helicopter, with later production of the Indian Multi-role Helicopter. Option (a), Chakeri (Kanpur), has HAL's transport aircraft division. Option (c), Coimbatore, is a textile and engineering hub. Option (d), Nashik, has HAL's aircraft division, which builds Su-30MKI jets. Concept: HAL's main helicopter design and Dhruv production are in Bengaluru. Trap: Tumakuru is planned to produce over 1,000 helicopters in 20 years.

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Option (a), Haryana, is correct. The Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC), India's first national repository for life-science data, was set up by the Department of Biotechnology at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad, Haryana, with a disaster-recovery site at NIC Bhubaneswar. It stores DNA sequences, genomic and proteomic data generated by publicly funded research in India, as required under the Biotech-PRIDE guidelines. Options (b), (c) and (d), Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, are distractors. Concept: the IBDC holds data of the Genome India project, which sequenced 10,000 genomes, and of INSACOG's SARS-CoV-2 sequencing. Its data portal is called INDA.

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Option (b), INS Vagir, is correct. INS Vagir, the fifth of six Kalvari-class (Scorpene) submarines built by Mazagon Dock in Mumbai with France's Naval Group under Project 75, was commissioned on 23 January 2023. Options (a), (c) and (d) are wrong: INS Kalvari was commissioned in 2017, INS Karanj in 2021 and INS Vela in November 2021. Concept: the sixth boat, INS Vagsheer, was commissioned in January 2025. The Scorpenes are diesel-electric attack submarines; Project 75 India (P-75I) plans six more with air-independent propulsion. India's nuclear submarines are INS Arihant, Arighaat and their successors under the Advanced Technology Vessel programme.

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Option (d), actinium, is correct, because it is not a noble gas. Actinium (Ac, atomic number 89) is a radioactive metal that heads the actinide series. The noble gases are the group 18 elements: helium, neon, argon (a), krypton (b), xenon and radon (c). They have a full outer shell of electrons, so they are very unreactive and exist as single atoms. Concept: argon makes up about 0.93% of air and is used to fill bulbs. Neon lights glow red, helium fills balloons and is used in MRI cooling, xenon is used in headlamps, and radon is radioactive and a cause of lung cancer. Trap: the similar endings radon and actinium can confuse; only actinium is a metal.

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Option (b), insulin, is correct. The islets of Langerhans are the endocrine part of the pancreas. Their beta cells, the most numerous, secrete insulin, which lowers blood sugar by helping cells take up glucose and the liver store it as glycogen. Option (a) is wrong: glucagon, which raises blood sugar, comes from the alpha cells. Option (c) is wrong: adrenaline comes from the adrenal medulla. Option (d) is wrong: aldosterone, which controls sodium and water, comes from the adrenal cortex. Concept: delta cells secrete somatostatin. Type 1 diabetes is the autoimmune destruction of beta cells, while type 2 involves insulin resistance. Banting and Best discovered insulin in 1921.

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Option (a), toxoid, is correct. Diphtheria is caused by a toxin made by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The vaccine uses diphtheria toxoid, a toxin made harmless with formaldehyde, which trains the body to make antitoxin antibodies. It is given in the DPT and pentavalent vaccines. Option (b), live-attenuated vaccines, use weakened live germs, as in measles, BCG and oral polio. Option (c), mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, were used for COVID-19. Option (d), viral-vector vaccines, such as Covishield, use a harmless virus to carry genes. Concept: the tetanus vaccine is also a toxoid. India's Universal Immunisation Programme now gives Td in place of TT to pregnant women.

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Option (b), Moderna, is correct. Moderna's Spikevax, like Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty, is an mRNA vaccine: it gives cells genetic instructions to make the coronavirus spike protein, which triggers an immune response. Option (a) is wrong: Sinovac's CoronaVac, from China, is an inactivated-virus vaccine, like Covaxin. Option (c) is wrong: Sputnik V, from Russia, is a viral-vector vaccine, like Covishield. Option (d) is wrong: Novavax is a protein-subunit vaccine, made in India as Covovax. Concept: India's Gennova developed GEMCOVAC, a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine. The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for the work that made mRNA vaccines possible.

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Option (a), water, is correct. Xylem is the plant tissue that carries water and dissolved minerals one way, upward from the roots to the stems and leaves. It is made of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and fibres, and the walls of its dead conducting cells are strengthened with lignin, which also gives wood its strength. Option (b), amino acids, and option (d), food, are carried by the phloem, which moves sugars and other organic substances both up and down, a process called translocation. Option (c), oxygen, moves mainly by diffusion through stomata and lenticels. Concept: water rises by transpiration pull, explained by the cohesion-tension theory, helped by root pressure. Annual rings are layers of secondary xylem.

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Option (b), renewable, is correct. Non-conventional energy sources, such as solar, wind, small hydro, biomass, tidal, wave and geothermal energy, are renewable: they are replenished naturally and cause little pollution. Option (a) is wrong: coal, oil and natural gas are conventional, non-renewable fossil fuels. Option (c) is wrong: electricity is a form of energy produced from sources, not a source in itself. Option (d) is wrong: heat is a form of energy, not a defining feature. Concept: India's Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources was renamed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in 2006. India targets 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, and crossed half its installed capacity from non-fossil sources in 2025.

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Option (b), nitrous oxide, is correct. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is called laughing gas because inhaling it causes euphoria and laughter. Joseph Priestley made it in 1772, and Humphry Davy described its effects; it is still used as a mild anaesthetic and painkiller in dentistry and childbirth, and as a propellant for whipped cream. Option (a), ammonia, is a pungent gas used for fertilisers. Option (c), carbon monoxide, is a poisonous gas that binds haemoglobin. Option (d), CFCs, are ozone-depleting refrigerants. Concept: N₂O is also a powerful greenhouse gas, about 270 times stronger than CO₂ over a century, released mainly from nitrogen fertilisers, and it is now the main ozone-depleting emission.

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Option (a), iodine, is correct. Brown seaweeds, such as kelps (Laminaria), concentrate iodine from seawater, and their ash was long the main commercial source of iodine; Bernard Courtois discovered the element in seaweed ash in 1811. Option (b), bromine, is extracted mainly from seawater and brines, not seaweeds. Option (c), chlorine, comes from common salt through electrolysis. Option (d), argon, is a noble gas taken from the air. Concept: today most iodine comes from Chilean nitrate deposits and Japanese brines. Seaweeds also give agar, alginates and carrageenan, and Tamil Nadu's Gulf of Mannar coast is India's main seaweed farming area. Iodised salt prevents goitre.

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Option (d), Nepenthes, is correct. Nepenthes, the pitcher plant, has leaves shaped into pitchers with a lid and slippery rim. Insects fall in and are digested by enzymes in the fluid, giving the plant nitrogen that is scarce in its boggy or poor soils. Option (a), Nyctanthes, is harsingar (night jasmine). Option (b), Nelumbo, is the lotus. Option (c), Nicotiana, is tobacco. Concept: other insectivorous plants are Drosera (sundew), Utricularia (bladderwort), Dionaea (Venus flytrap) and Aldrovanda. Nepenthes khasiana, India's only native pitcher plant, grows in Meghalaya and is endangered. Insectivorous plants make their own food by photosynthesis and use insects only for nutrients.

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Option (a), only four, is correct. The human heart has four chambers: two upper atria, which receive blood, and two lower ventricles, which pump it out. The right side sends deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the left side sends oxygenated blood to the body, so the two never mix. This is called double circulation. The left ventricle has the thickest wall because it pumps blood around the whole body. Options (b), (c) and (d) are wrong for humans. Concept: fish hearts have two chambers; amphibians and most reptiles have three, though crocodiles have four; and birds and mammals have four. The sino-atrial node is the natural pacemaker.

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Option (b), nitrogen, is correct. Natural silk is a protein fibre made mainly of fibroin, which forms the strong core thread, and sericin, a gummy coating. Like all proteins, these are chains of amino acids containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Options (a), (c) and (d), phosphorus, magnesium and potassium, are not structural parts of silk. Concept: silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, which feeds on mulberry; non-mulberry silks are tasar, eri and muga, the last found only in Assam. Wool is also a protein (keratin), while cotton and jute are cellulose. India is the second-largest silk producer after China, and the only one to produce all four commercial types.

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Option (b), A-4, B-1, C-3, D-2, is correct. Most peptic ulcers (A) are linked to the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (4); Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize for showing this. Dengue (B) is caused by a virus (1), spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Elephant foot, or elephantiasis (C), is caused by parasitic worms (3), mainly Wuchereria bancrofti, spread by Culex mosquitoes. Malaria (D) is caused by the protozoan Plasmodium (2), spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Options (a), (c) and (d) misplace these. Concept: India aims to eliminate lymphatic filariasis through mass drug administration and malaria by 2030. Kala-azar is also caused by a protozoan, Leishmania.

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Option (c), both, is correct. Statement 1 is right: under the Fourth Schedule, Uttar Pradesh has 31 Rajya Sabha seats, the largest share of any state. Statement 2 is right: Uttar Pradesh elects 80 members to the Lok Sabha, also the most of any state, followed by Maharashtra with 48 and West Bengal with 42. Options (a), (b) and (d) fail. Concept: Lok Sabha seats are allotted roughly by population, frozen at 1971 levels by the 42nd and 84th Amendments until after the first census after 2026, which will be followed by delimitation. Uttar Pradesh's Legislative Assembly has 403 seats and its Legislative Council 100. Uttarakhand, carved out in 2000, has 5 Lok Sabha seats.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Statement 1 is right: the Ramganga, rising in the Kumaon Himalaya near Gairsain and passing through Corbett, joins the Ganga on its left bank near Kannauj, in the Farrukhabad-Kannauj area. Statement 2 is wrong: the Betwa, rising in the Vindhyas near Bhopal, joins the Yamuna near Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, not near Prayagraj. Concept: the Yamuna meets the Ganga at the Sangam in Prayagraj, and its main peninsular tributaries are the Chambal (near Etawah), the Sindh, the Betwa and the Ken (near Chilla, Banda). Trap: Prayagraj is the Ganga-Yamuna confluence, not the Betwa-Yamuna one. The Ken-Betwa link project, begun in December 2024, joins these two Bundelkhand rivers.

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Option (b), Chandauli, is correct. Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary, set up in 1957, lies in the Vindhyan hills of Chandauli district, about 70 km from Varanasi. It is known for the Rajdari and Devdari waterfalls on the Chandraprabha river, and it was once tried as a home for Asiatic lions brought from Gir in 1958, an effort that failed. Option (a), Sonbhadra, has the Kaimoor Sanctuary. Option (c), Bahraich, has Katarniaghat Sanctuary, known for gharials and dolphins. Option (d), Lakhimpur Kheri, has Dudhwa National Park and tiger reserve. Concept: Uttar Pradesh's tiger reserves are Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Amangarh (buffer) and Ranipur in Chitrakoot, notified in 2022.

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Option (b), both, is the official key. Statement 2 is broadly right: the densely farmed eastern plains districts of Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Ballia have almost no notified forest land, and state forest statistics list them among districts without forest area. Statement 1 is doubtful: the India State of Forest Report shows Uttar Pradesh's actual forest cover at only about 6% of its area, and forest plus tree cover at about 9-10%. The 12.8% figure seems to come from older state figures that combined recorded forest area with tree cover, which is why the key accepts it. Note: on current ISFR data, statement 1 looks too high, so option (c) is arguable. Concept: the National Forest Policy 1988 aims at 33% forest cover.

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Option (d), 149, is correct. The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, launched by the Ministry of Railways in early 2023, aims to redevelop stations in phases with master plans for better access, waiting halls, roof plazas, lifts, escalators and city-centre design. Of the 1,275 stations listed in February 2023, Uttar Pradesh had the largest share, 149. Options (a), (b) and (c), 57, 82 and 123, are distractors. Concept: the list was later expanded to 1,300 or more stations nationwide, with UP still among the leaders. Stations such as Gomti Nagar (Lucknow) and Rani Kamlapati (Bhopal) were redeveloped earlier on a public-private model. Trap: the figure asked is the February 2023 count.

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Option (c), Kanpur, is correct, because it was not a G20 venue. During India's G20 presidency in 2023, Uttar Pradesh hosted 11 meetings in four cities: Agra, Varanasi, Lucknow and Greater Noida. Varanasi (b) hosted the development ministers' meeting and the culture working group. Agra (a) hosted the Women 20 and other meetings. Greater Noida (d) hosted meetings at the India Expo Mart, and Lucknow hosted working group meetings. Concept: India held over 200 G20 meetings in about 60 cities, so that each region could showcase its culture, the idea of a 'people's G20'. The New Delhi Leaders' Summit was held at Bharat Mandapam in September 2023.

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Option (a), only 1, is correct. Anuthee Uphar was an Uttar Pradesh government scheme. Statement 2 is wrong: Matrishakti Udyamita is a Haryana scheme that gives women entrepreneurs loans with interest subsidy. Statement 3 is wrong: Kaushalya Matritva Yojana is a Chhattisgarh scheme giving cash help to mothers on the birth of a second girl child. Statement 4 is wrong: Stree Nidhi is a women's credit cooperative linked to self-help groups in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Concept: Uttar Pradesh's flagship schemes include Kanya Sumangala Yojana, Mission Shakti for women's safety, One District One Product (2018) and the Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana. Trap: schemes with similar women-centred names belong to different states.

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Option (c), Ganga Expressway, is correct. The Ganga Expressway, a six-lane, about 594 km road from Meerut to Prayagraj through 12 districts, is a project of the Uttar Pradesh government, built by the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) on a public-private partnership model. Its foundation was laid in December 2021. Option (a), MGNREGA, and option (b), the rural health mission (now part of the National Health Mission), are central programmes. Option (d) is a distractor. Concept: UPEIDA has also built the Agra-Lucknow, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand expressways, and the Gorakhpur Link Expressway. The Ganga Expressway includes an airstrip for Air Force landings near Shahjahanpur.

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