Home › GK Questions Asked › SSC Stenographer 2026 › 15 September 2026 Shift 2

SSC Stenographer 2026 15 September 2026 Shift 2 GK Questions – with answers & solutions

All 48 GK / GS questions asked in SSC Stenographer 2026 on 15 September 2026 Shift 2, with correct answers and short solutions, subject-wise: Modern History, Static GK, Ancient History, Medieval History, Polity, Geography.

📚 48 questions🗓️ 15 September 2026⏰ Shift 2
📥 Full paper PDF
Subjects: Modern History (3) · Static GK (14) · Ancient History (5) · Medieval History (1) · Polity (3) · Geography (8) · Physics (2) · Economics (6) · Current Affairs (6)

Modern History (3)

British Administration and Policies · Constitutional Acts under British rule

Q1. The primary objective of the Act of Settlement, 1781, was to rectify which critical flaw in the judicial structure established by the Regulating Act of 1773?

  1. (a) The lack of a centralized revenue administration system in Bengal Presidency
  2. (b) The ambiguous jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over the Company's servants and native population
  3. (c) The absence of appellate jurisdiction for the Sadar Diwani Adalat
  4. (d) The exclusion of Indians from the Executive Council of the Governor-General
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) The ambiguous jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over the Company's servants and native population

Answer: Option 2 — The ambiguous jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over the Company's servants and native population
The Regulating Act of 1773 created the Supreme Court at Calcutta but never drew a line between the Court and the Governor-General-in-Council.
The Court began trying Company officers, revenue collectors and Indians under English law, and the two clashed openly.
The Act of Settlement, 1781 was passed to settle exactly that boundary.
Revision note — Act of Settlement, 1781
• Also called the Amending Act of 1781; it followed the clashes exposed by the Nand Kumar case (1775), the Patna case (1777–79) and the Cossijurah case (1779–80).
• The Governor-General and Council were exempted from the Supreme Court's jurisdiction for acts done in their official capacity.
• Revenue matters and revenue officers were placed outside the Supreme Court's jurisdiction.
• In civil suits the Court was to apply the personal law of the parties — Hindu law for Hindus, Muslim law for Muslims.
• The Sadar Diwani Adalat was recognised as the court of appeal from the provincial courts, with a further appeal to the King-in-Council.
• The Governor-General-in-Council was empowered to frame regulations for the provincial courts and councils.
Do not mix these up
• Regulating Act, 1773 vs Act of Settlement, 1781 — the 1773 Act created the Supreme Court at Calcutta (it opened in 1774); the 1781 Act curtailed it.
• Act of Settlement, 1781 vs Pitt's India Act, 1784 — 1781 was about the courts; 1784 created the Board of Control and the system of dual government.
Also asked from this topic: the Act that set up the Supreme Court at Calcutta (Regulating Act, 1773); the size of the council of 1773 (four members); the body created in 1784 (Board of Control).
British Administration and Policies · Land revenue systems (Permanent, Ryotwari, Mahalwari)

Q2. What was the fundamental flaw in the Mahalwari system that led to peasant distress?

  1. (a) Revenue was based on annual auctions
  2. (b) Revenue was fixed permanently with no flexibility
  3. (c) Revenue demand was periodically revised upward, burdening the whole village collectively
  4. (d) It granted collective ownership of land to European planters
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Revenue demand was periodically revised upward, burdening the whole village collectively

Answer: Option 3 — Revenue demand was periodically revised upward, burdening the whole village collectively
Under Mahalwari the settlement was made with the village (mahal) as a unit and was not permanent — it was revised every 20 to 30 years.
Each revision pushed the demand up on the basis of inflated estimates, and the whole village was jointly liable if any cultivator defaulted.
Revision note — The Mahalwari system
• Devised by Holt Mackenzie in 1819 and brought into force by Regulation VII of 1822; reworked by R. M. Bird in 1833 and later by James Thomason.
• Applied in the North-Western Provinces (present UP), Punjab, the Central Provinces and parts of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh — about 30 per cent of British India by area.
• The village headman (lambardar) collected the revenue from the cultivators and paid it to the Company.
• The demand was first pitched at 83 per cent of the rental value; Bird's settlement of 1833 lowered it to 66 per cent, and the Saharanpur Rules of 1855 to 50 per cent.
• Land was measured field by field and a record of rights (khewat) was kept — the origin of the modern patwari records.
• The three systems: Permanent Settlement 1793 (Cornwallis, Bengal), Ryotwari 1820 (Munro, Madras and Bombay), Mahalwari 1822 (Mackenzie, north India).
Do not mix these up
• Mahalwari vs Permanent Settlement — Mahalwari revenue was revised periodically; only the Permanent Settlement fixed it for ever, which is why option 2 describes Bengal, not the north.
• Mahalwari vs Ryotwari — Mahalwari dealt with the village collectively; Ryotwari dealt with each individual cultivator (ryot).
Also asked from this topic: the year the Mahalwari system came into effect (1822); who devised it (Holt Mackenzie); who introduced the Ryotwari system (Alexander Read and Thomas Munro).
British Administration and Policies · Constitutional Acts under British rule

Q3. The Charter Act of 1813 ended whose monopoly over trade in India?

  1. (a) Dutch East India Company
  2. (b) Indian merchants
  3. (c) British East India Company (except tea/China trade)
  4. (d) French East India Company
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) British East India Company (except tea/China trade)

Answer: Option 3 — British East India Company (except tea/China trade)
The Charter Act of 1813 threw open trade with India to all British merchants, ending the East India Company's monopoly.
The Company kept its monopoly over tea and over trade with China for twenty more years.
The Dutch and French companies never held a monopoly over Indian trade, so they could not lose one.
Revision note — The Charter Acts
• The Company's charter was renewed every 20 years; the Charter Act of 1793 extended its trade monopoly for twenty years.
• 1813: ended the monopoly except tea and China trade; asserted the sovereignty of the British Crown over the Company's territories.
• 1813 also allowed Christian missionaries into India and set aside ₹1 lakh a year for education — the first such grant.
• 1833: ended the remaining tea and China monopoly, turning the Company into a purely administrative body.
• 1833 also made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of India (Lord William Bentinck first) and set up a Law Commission under Macaulay.
• 1853: introduced open competition for the civil service and separated the legislative and executive functions of the Council.
• 1853 renewed the charter with no fixed term, so the Company could be wound up at any time.
• The Government of India Act, 1858 ended Company rule after the Revolt of 1857 and transferred power to the Crown.
• The pressure for free trade in 1813 came from the Continental System of Napoleon, which had shut British goods out of Europe and forced merchants to look to India.
Do not mix these up
• 1813 vs 1833 — 1813 ended the monopoly over Indian trade; 1833 ended the last monopoly, over tea and China.
• Regulating Act 1773 vs Charter Acts — the Regulating Act was the first step of parliamentary control, creating the Governor-General of Bengal and the Supreme Court at Calcutta.
• The Charter Acts only renewed the Company's charter every twenty years.
Also asked from this topic: what the 1813 Act ended (the Company's monopoly, except tea and China); the provision it sanctioned (western sciences); the Act that created the Governor-General of India (1833).

Static GK (14)

Awards and Honours · Nobel Prize and international awards

Q4. Which of the following Indian authors has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though never awarded?

  1. (a) Kamala Das
  2. (b) Rabindranath Tagore
  3. (c) R. K. Narayan
  4. (d) Vikram Seth
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) R. K. Narayan

Answer: Option 3 — R. K. Narayan
The Nobel Foundation opens its nomination records after 50 years, and those records show R. K. Narayan was nominated for the Literature prize repeatedly in the 1960s and early 1970s without ever winning.
Tagore actually won the prize in 1913, so he cannot be the answer.
Revision note — R. K. Narayan (1906–2001)
• Born in Madras, grew up in Mysore; created the fictional south Indian town of Malgudi.
• First novel Swami and Friends (1935), published in England with the help of Graham Greene; it opens the Malgudi trilogy with The Bachelor of Arts (1937) and The English Teacher (1945).
• Won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for The Guide; the novel became the 1965 film with Dev Anand.
• Other works: The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Man-Eater of Malgudi, The Painter of Signs (1976), My Dateless Diary (1960), My Days (autobiography).
• Honours: Padma Bhushan (1964), A. C. Benson Medal (1980) of the Royal Society of Literature, nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1989, Padma Vibhushan (2000).
• Other Indians in the open Nobel nomination lists include Sri Aurobindo (Literature 1943, Peace 1950).
Do not mix these up
• Nominated vs awarded — Tagore was awarded (1913, Gitanjali, the first Asian laureate); Narayan was only nominated.
• Kamala Das is often said to have been "shortlisted" in 1984, but records after 1975 are still sealed, so no nomination of hers or of Vikram Seth is on record.
Also asked from this topic: the first Indian Nobel laureate (Rabindranath Tagore, 1913); the first novel of the Malgudi trilogy (Swami and Friends); the author of The Painter of Signs (R. K. Narayan).
Dances · Classical dances and their states

Q5. Which of the following aspects most distinctly differentiates Manipuri Ras Leela from other classical Indian dance forms like Bharatanatyam and Kathak, in terms of philosophy, technique, and presentation style?

  1. (a) Use of rapid footwork and intricate facial expressions to narrate mythological tales.
  2. (b) Integration of martial elements like swordplay and acrobatics to depict stories from the Mahabharata.
  3. (c) Emphasis on bhakti rasa (devotional mood) with minimal facial expressions, soft body movements, and circular patterns, focusing on the spiritual love of Radha and Krishna.
  4. (d) Depiction of temple rituals through rigid geometric postures and vibrant facial expressions representing navarasas.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Emphasis on bhakti rasa (devotional mood) with minimal facial expressions, soft body movements, and circular patterns, focusing on the spiritual love of Radha and Krishna.

Answer: Option 3 — Emphasis on bhakti rasa (devotional mood) with minimal facial expressions, soft body movements, and circular patterns, focusing on the spiritual love of Radha and Krishna
Manipuri Ras Leela is a Vaishnava dance of worship, not of narration.
The face stays serene, the body moves in soft, rounded curves, the dancers trace circles around Krishna — the mood is bhakti, not the sharp footwork of Kathak or the angular geometry of Bharatanatyam.
Revision note — Manipuri dance
• Classical dance of Manipur; its roots lie in the pre-Vaishnava Lai Haraoba festival of the Meitei people.
• The Ras Leela form was created by Raja Bhagyachandra (Ching-Thang Khomba) in the 18th century, after Chaitanya Vaishnavism reached the Manipur court.
• The dancer's feet touch the ground gently and no ankle bells (ghungroo) are worn — the opposite of Kathak.
• Two strands: Lasya (gentle, the Ras of Radha and Krishna) and Tandava (vigorous, the Pung Cholom drum dance and Kartal Cholom).
• Costume: the stiff, barrel-shaped skirt Kumil (Potloi) with a translucent veil for Radha and the gopis.
• Rabindranath Tagore introduced Manipuri to Santiniketan in the 1920s; exponents include Guru Bipin Singh, the Jhaveri sisters and Elam Endira Devi.
Also asked from this topic: the deity worshipped through Manipuri dance (Krishna); the classical dance performed in the Ras Leela style (Manipuri); the dance form of Padma Shri Elam Endira Devi (Manipuri).
Dances · Dance texts, theory and terminology

Q6. Which of the following classical dance forms incorporates the use of Sanchari Bhavas and is heavily based on Abhinaya Darpana and Natya Shastra?

  1. (a) Kathak
  2. (b) Bharata Natyam
  3. (c) Odissi
  4. (d) Manipuri
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Bharata Natyam

Answer: Option 2 — Bharata Natyam
Bharatanatyam draws its grammar of hand gestures, eye movements and postures from Bharata's Natya Shastra and Nandikeshvara's Abhinaya Darpana.
Its Varnam and Padam pieces elaborate a single line of poetry through sanchari bhavas — the passing, transitory emotions that colour the dominant mood.
Revision note — Bharatanatyam
• Classical dance of Tamil Nadu; the oldest of the classical forms, earlier called Sadir or Dasiattam and performed by devadasis in temples.
• Texts: the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni (2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE) and the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeshvara.
• The Tanjore Quartet (Ponnaiah, Chinnaiah, Sivanandam, Vadivelu) codified the recital (margam) in the 19th century: Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Shabdam, Varnam, Padam, Tillana.
• Revived in the 1930s by E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who founded Kalakshetra at Adyar, Chennai, in 1936.
• Known as the "fire dance"; the music is Carnatic; the dancer wears ghungroo and the posture is the half-seated araimandi.
• Exponents: Balasaraswati, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Padma Subrahmanyam, Alarmel Valli, Mallika Sarabhai.
Do not mix these up
• Abhinaya Darpana vs Abhinaya Chandrika — the Darpana (Nandikeshvara) guides Bharatanatyam; the Chandrika (Maheshwara Mahapatra) guides Odissi.
• Bharatanatyam vs Kathak — both use the Natya Shastra, but Kathak grew in the north with Persian court influence and tells stories through footwork and spins (chakkars).
Also asked from this topic: the meaning of Alarippu (to adorn with flowers); the state where Bharatanatyam originated (Tamil Nadu); the year of Rukmini Devi Arundale's first public performance (1935).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q7. The Govardhan Puja, celebrated a day after Diwali, primarily commemorates which incident from Hindu mythology?

  1. (a) Krishna defeating Kansa
  2. (b) Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill
  3. (c) Krishna's Ras Lila
  4. (d) Krishna stealing butter
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill

Answer: Option 2 — Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill
The Bhagavata Purana tells how Krishna persuaded the people of Braj to worship the Govardhan hill instead of Indra.
When Indra sent a deluge in anger, Krishna lifted the hill on his little finger for seven days and sheltered the villagers and their cattle beneath it.
Revision note — Govardhan Puja and the five days of Diwali
• Falls on Kartik Shukla Pratipada, the day after Diwali; also called Annakut, "mountain of food", because a hill of cooked food is offered to Krishna.
• The five days: Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali), Lakshmi Puja (Diwali), Govardhan Puja, Bhai Dooj.
• In Gujarat and Maharashtra the same day is Bali Pratipada / Padwa and opens the Vikram Samvat new year.
• The Govardhan Parikrama of about 21 km around the hill near Mathura is a major Vaishnava pilgrimage, central to the Pushtimarg of Vallabhacharya.
• Diwali itself marks Rama's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile; for Sikhs it is Bandi Chhor Divas, the release of Guru Hargobind with 52 kings from Gwalior.
• Elsewhere Diwali is Tihar in Sikkim and Nepal and Kali Puja in Bengal.
Do not mix these up
• Govardhan Puja vs Naraka Chaturdashi — the day before Diwali recalls Krishna slaying Narakasura; the day after recalls the hill.
• Govardhan Puja vs Bhai Dooj — Bhai Dooj comes two days after Diwali and honours the brother–sister bond, linked to Yama and Yamuna.
Also asked from this topic: the festival marking Rama's return after 14 years of exile (Diwali); the festival called Tihar in Sikkim (Diwali); what Bandi Chhor Divas commemorates (Guru Hargobind's release).
Space, Defence and Technology · International space missions and agencies

Q8. Why is Skylab considered a pioneering milestone in the history of space stations, and what critical lessons did it offer for the development of long-duration space habitats?

  1. (a) Skylab was the first international space station launched by NASA and ESA, equipped with artificial gravity and lunar landing capabilities.
  2. (b) Skylab was the first modular space telescope in low Earth orbit used to detect dark matter and black holes using X-ray astronomy.
  3. (c) Skylab was the United States' first space station that demonstrated the feasibility of long-duration human presence in space and helped study the effects of microgravity on humans, despite suffering damage during launch.
  4. (d) Skylab was a robotic Mars outpost that served as a base for interplanetary navigation and surface sample return missions.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Skylab was the United States' first space station that demonstrated the feasibility of long-duration human presence in space and helped study the effects of microgravity on humans, despite suffering damage during launch.

Answer: Option 3 — Skylab was the United States' first space station, proving long-duration human presence in space and the effects of microgravity, despite damage during launch.
Skylab, launched on 14 May 1973, lost its micrometeoroid shield and one solar panel during launch; the first crew repaired it in orbit with a parasol sunshade.
Its three crews then lived aboard for 28, 59 and 84 days, the first long-duration medical data on humans in microgravity.
Revision note — Skylab and the space stations
• Skylab was launched on 14 May 1973 on the last Saturn V rocket, built from a converted S-IVB stage.
• It re-entered on 11 July 1979, scattering debris over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.
• Three crewed missions (Skylab 2, 3 and 4) spent a total of about 171 days aboard; the 84-day Skylab 4 stay was the record until Salyut 6.
• The world's first space station was the Soviet Salyut 1 (April 1971); the first modular station was Mir (1986–2001).
• The International Space Station has been assembled since 20 November 1998 (Zarya module); it orbits at about 400 km, inclined at 51.6°, circling the Earth about 16 times a day.
• China's Tiangong station was completed in 2022; India's Bharatiya Antariksh Station is planned with 5 modules, the first (BAS-1) targeted for 2028 and the full station by 2035.
• Skylab carried the Apollo Telescope Mount, which produced the first detailed X-ray and ultraviolet images of the Sun from orbit.
Do not mix these up
• Skylab vs Salyut 1 — Salyut 1 (USSR, 1971) was the first space station of all; Skylab (1973) was the first American one.
• Skylab vs Hubble — Skylab was a crewed station; Hubble (1990) is an uncrewed telescope and was never a habitat.
Also asked from this topic: the year the International Space Station was launched (1998); its orbital altitude (about 400 km); the number of modules planned for Bharatiya Antariksh Station (5).
Space, Defence and Technology · Launch vehicles and satellites

Q9. In the context of India's development of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology, which of the following statements best explains the long-term advantages and challenges associated with such systems in comparison to conventional expendable launch vehicles?

  1. (a) RLVs eliminate the need for onboard cryogenic stages, making them more suitable for deep-space interplanetary missions.
  2. (b) RLVs significantly reduce launch costs by enabling partial or full recovery and reuse of stages, but face challenges in thermal protection, hypersonic aerodynamics, and autonomous landing precision.
  3. (c) RLVs use air-breathing propulsion systems for orbital injection, removing dependence on ground-based launch pads.
  4. (d) Unlike expendable launch vehicles, RLVs require no telemetry tracking systems as they operate exclusively in suborbital trajectories.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) RLVs significantly reduce launch costs by enabling partial or full recovery and reuse of stages, but face challenges in thermal protection, hypersonic aerodynamics, and autonomous landing precision.

Answer: Option 2 — RLVs significantly reduce launch costs by enabling partial or full recovery and reuse of stages, but face challenges in thermal protection, hypersonic aerodynamics and autonomous landing precision.
The whole case for an RLV is cost: an expendable rocket is thrown away after one flight, while a reusable stage flies again.
The price is engineering difficulty — surviving re-entry heating, flying stably at hypersonic speed and landing autonomously on a runway or pad.
Revision note — ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle programme
• RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator) is ISRO's winged vehicle.
• Its first flight, HEX-01 (hypersonic flight experiment), took off from Sriharikota on 23 May 2016 and splashed down in the Bay of Bengal.
• RLV-LEX-01 (2 April 2023) at the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka: the vehicle was released from an IAF Chinook helicopter at 4.5 km and landed autonomously on the runway.
• LEX-02 (22 March 2024) and LEX-03 (23 June 2024) repeated the landing from higher release points and cross-wind conditions; the vehicle is named Pushpak.
• The next step is the Orbital Re-entry Vehicle (ORV) experiment, in which a winged body returns from orbit and lands.
• The SpaceX Falcon 9 first landed and recovered its first stage in December 2015, cutting launch costs sharply; NASA's Space Shuttle (1981–2011) was the first partly reusable launcher.
• Cost of access to space was estimated at roughly US$ 20,000 per kg with expendable rockets; ISRO aims to cut it to about one-tenth with reusability.
Do not mix these up
• RLV-TD vs RLV-LEX — RLV-TD is the vehicle programme; LEX is the series of landing experiments flown with it.
• Reusable vs air-breathing — an RLV still uses rocket engines; ISRO's scramjet (air-breathing) test of August 2016 was a separate programme.
Also asked from this topic: the name of India's reusable launch vehicle (RLV-TD); the landing missions that put India among RLV-capable nations (RLV-LEX); the main purpose of RLVs (lower launch cost).
Books and Authors · Modern Indian books and authors

Q10. Which modern Indian writer and Booker Prize winner authored The God of Small Things, a novel that broke conventional narrative and addressed caste, love, and politics with lyrical prose?

  1. (a) Arundhati Roy
  2. (b) Kiran Desai
  3. (c) Jhumpa Lahiri
  4. (d) D. Anita Desai
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Arundhati Roy

Answer: Option 1 — Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things (1997) was Arundhati Roy's debut novel and won the Booker Prize in 1997, making her the first Indian woman to win it.
It is set in Ayemenem, Kerala, and follows the twins Estha and Rahel.
Revision note — Arundhati Roy and Indian Booker winners
• Roy was born in 1961 at Shillong; her second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, came in 2017, twenty years after the first.
• Her non-fiction includes The Algebra of Infinite Justice, War Talk (2003), Capitalism: A Ghost Story (2014) and the memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025).
• Booker winners of Indian origin: Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children, 1981), Arundhati Roy (1997), Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Loss, 2006), Aravind Adiga (The White Tiger, 2008).
• Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize (2000) for Interpreter of Maladies; she also wrote The Namesake and The Lowland.
• Anita Desai, Kiran Desai's mother, was Booker-shortlisted three times (Clear Light of Day, In Custody, Fasting, Feasting) but never won.
• International Booker Prize: Geetanjali Shree (Tomb of Sand, 2022, first Hindi book) and Banu Mushtaq (Heart Lamp, 2025, first Kannada book).
Do not mix these up
• Kiran Desai vs Anita Desai — the daughter won the Booker (2006); the mother was only shortlisted.
• Booker vs International Booker — the Booker is for a novel written in English; the International Booker is for a work translated into English.
Also asked from this topic: the author of The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy); the first Indian woman to win the Booker (Arundhati Roy, 1997); the author of The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga).
National Symbols, Firsts and Superlatives · National symbols of India

Q11. While hockey is widely celebrated as India's unofficial national sport, what legal clarification did the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports issue regarding this status in 2020?

  1. (a) Hockey remains the official national game since independence
  2. (b) India has multiple national sports including kabaddi and kho-kho
  3. (c) No sport has been officially designated as India's national sport
  4. (d) Cricket has overtaken hockey as the official national sport
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) No sport has been officially designated as India's national sport

Answer: Option 3 — No sport has been officially designated as India's national sport
In a 2020 RTI reply the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports stated that the Government has not declared any game as the national game, because its aim is to promote all popular sports equally.
Hockey's "national game" tag is popular usage born of its eight Olympic golds, not a legal status.
Revision note — Hockey and India's national symbols
• The same clarification was first given in 2012, in reply to an RTI filed by a 10-year-old schoolgirl, Aishwarya Parashar of Lucknow.
• India won hockey gold at six successive Olympics, 1928–1956, and again in 1964 (Tokyo) and 1980 (Moscow) — eight golds in all.
• Major Dhyan Chand, the Wizard of Hockey, was born on 29 August 1905; the date is National Sports Day, and the Khel Ratna was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.
• The men's team took Olympic bronze at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, ending a 41-year medal drought.
• Hockey in India is governed by Hockey India (2009); the world body is the FIH, headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland.
• India's declared national symbols are the Tiger, Peacock, Lotus, Banyan, Mango, Ganga and Elephant (heritage animal) — there is no national game.
Do not mix these up
• National game vs national sports day — India has no official national game, but it does observe National Sports Day on 29 August.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna vs Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna — the same award, renamed in August 2021.
Also asked from this topic: the Wizard of Hockey (Dhyan Chand); the year of India's last men's hockey Olympic gold (1980, Moscow); the sport governed by Hockey India (hockey).
Sports · Football and hockey

Q12. Which Indian woman hockey player's journey from the rural Jharkhand village of Hesal to Tokyo 2020 became a symbol of resilience and national pride?

  1. (a) Gurjit Kaur
  2. (b) Vandana Katariya
  3. (c) Salima Tete
  4. (d) Rani Rampal
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Salima Tete

Answer: Option 3 — Salima Tete
Salima Tete comes from Hesal village, Simdega district, Jharkhand, where her father, a farmer, played hockey; she was a midfielder in the Indian team that finished fourth at Tokyo 2020.
The other three are Tokyo team-mates, but from Punjab, Uttarakhand and Haryana.
Revision note — Salima Tete and the Tokyo 2020 women's hockey team
• Salima Tete, born 27 December 2001, captained India to silver at the 2018 Youth Olympics (Buenos Aires) and was named Hockey India captain in 2024.
• She received the Arjuna Award in 2023 and was the Asian Hockey Federation's Emerging Player of the Year 2023.
• Rani Rampal (Shahabad Markanda, Haryana) captained India at Tokyo; Khel Ratna 2020, Padma Shri 2020.
• Vandana Katariya (Roshnabad, Haridwar, Uttarakhand) scored a hat-trick against South Africa at Tokyo — the first Indian woman with an Olympic hockey hat-trick.
• Gurjit Kaur (Miadi Kalan, Amritsar, Punjab), a drag-flicker, scored the lone goal in the 1–0 quarter-final win over Australia at Tokyo.
• India's women lost the bronze play-off 3–4 to Great Britain, their best-ever Olympic finish; Nikki Pradhan (Rio 2016) was the first Jharkhand woman to play Olympic hockey.
Do not mix these up
• Salima Tete vs Nikki Pradhan — both are from Jharkhand; Nikki was the state's first woman Olympian (2016), Salima captained the Youth Olympic side (2018) and the senior side (2024).
Also asked from this topic: the captain of India's 1980 Olympic gold hockey team (Vasudevan Baskaran); the year hockey moved to four quarters (2014); the first Women's HIL winners (Odisha Warriors).
Awards and Honours · Literary awards (Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi)

Q13. What is the highest literary award in India for lifetime achievement?

  1. (a) Jnanpith Award
  2. (b) Sahitya Akademi Award
  3. (c) Man Booker Prize
  4. (d) Saraswati Samman
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Jnanpith Award

Answer: Option 1 — Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honour, given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith trust for an author's overall contribution to Indian literature.
The Sahitya Akademi Award honours a single book of a year, so it ranks below it.
Revision note — Jnanpith Award
• Instituted in 1961 by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, the trust founded by the Sahu Jain family; the first award was given in 1965 to G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) for Odakkuzhal.
• Since 1982 it recognises an author's body of work, not one book — that is why it is called a lifetime-achievement award.
• Open to the 22 Eighth Schedule languages and, since 2013, to English; Amitav Ghosh (2018) was the first English-language laureate.
• The award carries ₹11 lakh, a citation and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati).
• Ashapoorna Devi (Bengali, 1976) was the first woman laureate; Mahadevi Verma (1982) was the first Hindi woman laureate.
• The 58th award (for 2023) went jointly to Gulzar (Urdu) and Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (Sanskrit), presented by President Droupadi Murmu in May 2025.
• The 59th award (for 2024) went to Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla.
Do not mix these up
• Jnanpith vs Sahitya Akademi Award — Jnanpith is for a lifetime's work in one language.
• The Sahitya Akademi Award (₹1 lakh, since 1955) is given every year for one outstanding book in each of 24 languages.
• Saraswati Samman vs Jnanpith — the Saraswati Samman is a K. K. Birla Foundation prize (₹15 lakh, since 1991) for a single work published in the last ten years.
Also asked from this topic: the first woman Jnanpith laureate (Ashapoorna Devi, 1976); the first English-language laureate (Amitav Ghosh); who conferred the 58th award in May 2025 (Droupadi Murmu).
Monuments and Heritage · Forts and palaces

Q14. What innovation did Rajput fort architecture introduce to withstand siege warfare?

  1. (a) Stepwells for sustained water supply
  2. (b) Glass domes
  3. (c) Mechanical drawbridges
  4. (d) Collapsible gates
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Stepwells for sustained water supply

Answer: Option 1 — Stepwells for sustained water supply
A hill fort can hold out only as long as its water lasts, so Rajput builders carved stepwells (baoris), tanks and reservoirs inside the walls that could supply a garrison through a months-long siege.
Glass domes, mechanical drawbridges and collapsible gates are not features of Rajput fort building.
Revision note — Rajput forts and stepwells
• Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in India (about 700 acres), once had 84 water bodies, of which about 22 survive — the Gaumukh Kund is the best known.
• Six forts — Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber and Jaisalmer — are the UNESCO World Heritage Hill Forts of Rajasthan, inscribed in 2013.
• Kumbhalgarh, built by Rana Kumbha in the 15th century, has a wall about 36 km long, the second-longest continuous wall in the world after the Great Wall of China.
• Other Rajput defences: massive thick walls with bastions, gates set at right angles to slow a charge, and iron spikes on doors against elephants — as at Mehrangarh, Jodhpur.
• Famous stepwells: Chand Baori at Abhaneri, Rajasthan (about 3,500 steps, 13 storeys), and Rani-ki-Vav at Patan, Gujarat, built by Solanki queen Udayamati and a UNESCO site since 2014.
• Stepwells are called baori or bawdi in Rajasthan and vav in Gujarat.
Also asked from this topic: the water bodies once inside Chittorgarh Fort (84); the feature that defines Rajput forts (massive thick walls with bastions); the river beside Rani-ki-Vav (Saraswati).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q15. Which Indian festival is famous for vibrant colours and water fights in the spring?

  1. (a) Baisakhi
  2. (b) Diwali
  3. (c) Holi
  4. (d) Janmashtami
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Holi

Answer: Option 3 — Holi
Holi, the festival of colours, falls on Phalguna Purnima (February–March) and marks the arrival of spring; people throw gulal and coloured water at one another.
Baisakhi is the harvest festival of April, Diwali the festival of lights in autumn, and Janmashtami the birthday of Krishna in August–September.
Revision note — Holi and its regional forms
• The night before is Holika Dahan, the bonfire recalling Prahlad and the burning of his aunt Holika; the colour play the next day is Dhulandi or Rangwali Holi.
• Lathmar Holi is played at Barsana and Nandgaon (Uttar Pradesh), where women drive men away with sticks; Braj Holi at Mathura and Vrindavan is linked to Krishna and Radha.
• Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, is the Sikh martial festival started by Guru Gobind Singh, held the day after Holi with Nihang mock battles.
• Dol Jatra / Dol Purnima is Holi in Bengal and Odisha; Shigmo in Goa; Yaosang in Manipur; Rang Panchami is played on the fifth day after Holi in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
• The Bhagoria haat festival of the Bhil tribes of Madhya Pradesh begins seven days before Holika Dahan.
• Spring festivals to pair with it: Basant Panchami (Saraswati puja, in Magha) and Baisakhi (13 or 14 April, Punjab's harvest and the birth of the Khalsa in 1699).
Also asked from this topic: what Holi is popularly called (festival of colours); the festival that begins seven days before Holika Dahan (Bhagoria); where Hola Mohalla is held (Anandpur Sahib).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q16. The 'Hornbill Festival', known as the "Festival of Festivals" and uniting Naga tribes, is held in:

  1. (a) Assam
  2. (b) Nagaland
  3. (c) Manipur
  4. (d) Sikkim
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Nagaland

Answer: Option 2 — Nagaland
The Hornbill Festival is held every year from 1 to 10 December at Kisama Heritage Village near Kohima, bringing all the Naga tribes of Nagaland together in one place.
It is named after the great Indian hornbill, a bird revered in Naga folklore.
Revision note — Hornbill Festival and the North-East
• Started in 2000 by the Nagaland government's Tourism and Art and Culture departments; it opens on 1 December, Nagaland's Statehood Day (Nagaland became the 16th state on 1 December 1963).
• Kisama is about 12 km from Kohima; the village has a morung (traditional youth dormitory) of each tribe, with folk dances, war cries, wrestling and the Hornbill International Rock Contest.
• Nagaland has 16 to 17 major tribes — Angami, Ao, Sema (Sumi), Lotha, Konyak, Chakhesang and others — each with its own shawl, dance and dialect.
• The hornbill symbolises boldness and grandeur in Naga tradition; its feathers were worn as a mark of valour.
• Other North-East festivals: Bihu (Assam), Sangai (Manipur, 21–30 November), Losar (Sikkim, Arunachal).
• Also Wangala of the Garos (Meghalaya), Chapchar Kut (Mizoram) and Moatsu of the Aos (Nagaland, May).
Do not mix these up
• Hornbill vs Sangai — both are December-side tourism festivals of the North-East, but Hornbill belongs to Nagaland and Sangai, named after the brow-antlered deer, to Manipur.
Also asked from this topic: the state of the Hornbill Festival (Nagaland); the tribal group associated with it (Naga); what the hornbill symbolises in Naga folklore (boldness and grandeur).
Dances · Classical dances and their states

Q17. In Manipuri dance traditions, consider the following statements and choose the correct option:
1. Samkirtana is one of the main styles of Manipuri dance.
2. Rasalila is not a part of Manipuri dance traditions.

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2 are correct
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2 is correct
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) 1 only

Answer: Option 1 — 1 only
Statement 1 is correct — Nata Sankirtana, the ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur, is a core form of Manipuri dance and is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list.
Statement 2 is wrong — the Raslila (Ras Leela), depicting Radha and Krishna, is the very heart of Manipuri classical dance.
Revision note — Manipuri dance
• One of the eight classical dances recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi; rooted in the Vaishnava faith of the Meitei people of Manipur.
• The Ras Leela form was shaped by King Bhagyachandra (Rajarshi Bhagyachandra) in the 18th century, about 1779; it depicts the love of Radha and Krishna.
• Sankirtana (Nata Sankirtana) was inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013; it is performed with the pung (drum) and kartal (cymbals).
• Two broad divisions: the gentle Jagoi (lasya) and the vigorous Cholom (tandava); the Pung Cholom is the famous drum dance.
• The pre-Vaishnava ritual dance Lai Haraoba and the cylindrical stiff skirt Potloi (Kumil) worn by the Radha and gopi dancers are its other markers.
• Rabindranath Tagore saw Manipuri at Sylhet in 1919 and brought it to Santiniketan; Guru Bipin Singh and the Jhaveri Sisters popularised it across India.
Do not mix these up
• Sankirtana vs Ras Leela — Sankirtana is the devotional singing-and-drumming prelude; Ras Leela is the danced story of Radha and Krishna that follows it.
• Manipuri vs Sattriya — both are Vaishnava dances of the North-East, but Sattriya belongs to the Assam monasteries of Sankaradeva and was recognised only in 2000.
Also asked from this topic: the deity worshipped through Manipuri dance (Krishna); its two main divisions (Jagoi and Cholom); who revived Manipuri dance in the early 20th century (Rabindranath Tagore).

Ancient History (5)

Ancient Art, Culture and Science · Temple architecture styles (Nagara, Dravida, Vesara)

Q18. Which of the following is the most distinctive feature of Dravida-style temples as compared to Nagara-style temples?

  1. (a) Beehive-shaped shikhara
  2. (b) Absence of mandapas
  3. (c) Towering gopurams dominating the temple complex
  4. (d) Use of red sandstone as the main construction material
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Towering gopurams dominating the temple complex

Answer: Option 3 — Towering gopurams dominating the temple complex
A Dravida temple stands inside a walled compound, and its entrances carry huge gateway towers called gopurams.
In the later Vijayanagara and Nayaka temples the gopurams grew taller than the sanctum tower itself — nothing like this exists in the Nagara style of the north.
Revision note — Dravida vs Nagara temple architecture
• Dravida (south India): the tower over the sanctum is the vimana, a stepped pyramid; the gateway tower is the gopuram; the compound has an enclosure wall and a water tank.
• Nagara (north and central India): the tower is a curvilinear shikhara topped by an amalaka and kalasha; the temple stands on a platform (jagati) with no boundary wall or gateway.
• Nagara shikhara types: Latina (single curvilinear tower), Phamsana (straight-edged, lower and broader), Valabhi (barrel-vaulted).
• Vesara is the hybrid style of the Deccan (Chalukyas of Badami, Hoysalas).
• Dravida landmarks: the Shore Temple and Kailasanatha (Pallavas), the Brihadeshwara Temple at Thanjavur (Rajaraja I, 1010 CE), the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai with its gigantic gopurams.
• Nagara landmarks: Khajuraho (Chandelas), Sun Temple at Konark, Lingaraja Temple at Bhubaneswar, Dilwara temples at Mount Abu.
Do not mix these up
• Vimana vs gopuram — the vimana rises over the sanctum; the gopuram is the gateway tower.
• Shikhara vs vimana — the beehive shikhara is a Nagara feature; the stepped vimana is Dravida.
Also asked from this topic: the main tower of a Dravida temple (vimana); the feature characteristic of the Nagara style (shikhara); the temple famous for gigantic gopurams (Meenakshi Temple, Madurai).
Ancient Art, Culture and Science · Stupas and chaityas

Q19. Which of the following best explains why early stupas lacked anthropomorphic depictions of the Buddha?

  1. (a) Absence of skilled artisans during the Mauryan era
  2. (b) Buddhist prohibition on image-making
  3. (c) Prevalence of aniconic tradition in early Buddhism
  4. (d) Preference for royal patronage over religious motifs
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Prevalence of aniconic tradition in early Buddhism

Answer: Option 3 — Prevalence of aniconic tradition in early Buddhism
Early Buddhist art at Bharhut, Sanchi and early Amaravati never shows the Buddha as a man.
His presence is marked by symbols — this is the aniconic phase, a matter of convention and reverence, not of a formal ban or a lack of skill.
Revision note — Symbols of the Buddha in early art
• Lotus = birth; Bodhi tree = enlightenment; Dharmachakra (wheel) = first sermon at Sarnath; Stupa = Mahaparinirvana.
• Empty throne and footprints (Buddhapada) stand for the Buddha himself; the horse without a rider (Kanthaka) shows the Great Departure.
• The reliefs on the Sanchi toranas (1st century BCE) narrate Jataka stories and the Buddha's life using only these symbols.
• The first human images of the Buddha appear around the 1st century CE under the Kushanas, in the Gandhara school (Greco-Roman) and the Mathura school (indigenous, Yaksha-like).
• The change went with the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, which encouraged image worship; the earlier Hinayana tradition had used symbols.
• Sequence of early Buddhist sculpture: Bharhut (2nd century BCE) → Sanchi (1st century BCE) → Mathura (1st–3rd century CE).
Do not mix these up
• Gandhara vs Mathura — Gandhara shows Hellenistic drapery and wavy hair; Mathura shows a robust, indigenous Buddha in spotted red sandstone.
• Aniconic vs prohibition — no Buddhist text forbade images; the early convention simply preferred symbols.
Also asked from this topic: the order of Bharhut, Sanchi and Mathura (Bharhut → Sanchi → Mathura); what the Sanchi gateways depict (Jataka stories); the art born of Greek and Indian fusion (Gandhara).
Sources and Prehistoric India · Palaeolithic Age

Q20. Which phase of the Palaeolithic period is characterized by the dominance of 'flake tools'?

  1. (a) Lower Palaeolithic
  2. (b) Neolithic
  3. (c) Upper Palaeolithic
  4. (d) Middle Palaeolithic
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Middle Palaeolithic

Answer: Option 4 — Middle Palaeolithic
The Middle Palaeolithic industry of India is built on flakes struck from prepared cores — scrapers, points and borers — which is why it is called a flake-tool culture.
The Lower Palaeolithic is a core-tool culture and the Upper Palaeolithic a blade-and-burin culture.
Revision note — The three phases of the Palaeolithic Age in India
• Lower Palaeolithic (about 6,00,000–1,50,000 years BP): core tools — handaxes, cleavers and choppers of the Acheulian tradition; pebble tools of the Sohan (Soan) valley.
• Lower Palaeolithic sites: Bhimbetka, Attirampakkam, Hunsgi and Didwana.
• Middle Palaeolithic (about 1,50,000–40,000 BP): flake tools — scrapers, points, borers, many made by the prepared-core Levallois technique.
• Its type site is Nevasa on the Pravara river in Maharashtra, hence the name Nevasian.
• Upper Palaeolithic (about 40,000–10,000 BP): blades and burins, bone tools and the first rock paintings; associated with anatomically modern Homo sapiens.
• The Palaeolithic was followed by the Mesolithic (microliths, bow and arrow; Bagor, Langhnaj, Adamgarh) and then the Neolithic (polished stone axes, farming, pottery).
• Robert Bruce Foote found the first Indian Palaeolithic tool, a handaxe, at Pallavaram near Madras in 1863.
• The Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh show the full sequence — Acheulian, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.
Do not mix these up
• Core tools vs flake tools vs blade tools — Lower Palaeolithic works the core (handaxe), Middle Palaeolithic uses the flakes struck off it, Upper Palaeolithic uses long thin blades.
• Palaeolithic vs Neolithic — Neolithic is not a Palaeolithic phase at all; it is the New Stone Age of polished tools and agriculture.
Also asked from this topic: the technique used to make Middle Palaeolithic flake tools (Levallois technique); the span of the Lower Palaeolithic including the Acheulian phase (6,00,000–1,50,000 years BP).
Sources and Prehistoric India · Palaeolithic Age

Q21. What were the primary tools used during the Upper Palaeolithic period?

  1. (a) Wooden spears
  2. (b) Handaxes and cleavers
  3. (c) Burins and scrapers
  4. (d) Chopping tools
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Burins and scrapers

Answer: Option 3 — Burins and scrapers
The Upper Palaeolithic is the blade-and-burin stage: long parallel-sided blades were struck from a core and worked into burins (chisel-edged engraving tools), scrapers, points and knives.
Handaxes, cleavers and chopping tools belong to the Lower Palaeolithic, and wooden spears are not the defining tool of any Indian phase.
Revision note — Upper Palaeolithic culture in India
• Dated to about 40,000–10,000 years BP, coinciding with the last phase of the Ice Age; the climate was cold and dry.
• Tool kit: blades, burins, scrapers, points and, for the first time, bone tools — needles, harpoons and awls.
• The makers were anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), though no Upper Palaeolithic human fossil has been found in India; the subcontinent's only early-human fossil is the Narmada cranium from Hathnora (Madhya Pradesh, 1982), an older, archaic form.
• Key sites: Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh), Belan valley (Uttar Pradesh), Renigunta and the Kurnool caves (Andhra Pradesh), Patne (Maharashtra), where ostrich egg-shell beads were found.
• Art begins in this phase — the earliest rock paintings of Bhimbetka and engraved ostrich egg-shells at Patne; a mother-goddess stone shrine has been reported from Baghor in the Son valley.
• A burin is a stone tool with a narrow chisel edge used for engraving and working bone; a scraper has a steep worked edge for cleaning hides and wood.
Do not mix these up
• Burin vs borer — a burin engraves (Upper Palaeolithic); a borer drills holes and is a Middle Palaeolithic flake tool.
• Handaxe vs cleaver — both are Lower Palaeolithic core tools; the handaxe is pointed, the cleaver has a straight bit-like edge.
Also asked from this topic: the human species associated with the Upper Palaeolithic (anatomically modern Homo sapiens); the site with Acheulian, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic levels (Bhimbetka).
Sources and Prehistoric India · Neolithic Age

Q22. Which Neolithic site is located in Jammu and Kashmir?

  1. (a) Maski
  2. (b) Gufkral
  3. (c) Bhimbetka
  4. (d) Mahagara
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Gufkral

Answer: Option 2 — Gufkral
Gufkral, in Pulwama district near Tral in Jammu and Kashmir, is a Neolithic site of pit dwellings; its name means cave of the potter.
Maski is in Karnataka, Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh and Mahagara in Uttar Pradesh.
Revision note — Neolithic sites of India
• Gufkral (Pulwama, J&K): excavated in 1981 by A. K. Sharma; three phases — aceramic Neolithic, ceramic Neolithic and Megalithic; pit dwellings, bone tools, domesticated sheep and goat.
• Burzahom (near Srinagar, J&K): excavated 1960–71; pit dwellings, bone harvesters and burials in which dogs were buried with their masters; a stone slab shows a hunting scene.
• Mehrgarh (Baluchistan, Pakistan): the earliest farming village of the subcontinent, about 7000 BCE, with the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation.
• Koldihwa and Mahagara (Belan valley, Prayagraj, UP): early evidence of rice cultivation and a cattle pen at Mahagara.
• Chirand (Bihar) is known for bone tools; the southern Neolithic ash mounds are at Utnur, Kupgal and Piklihal (Karnataka).
• Maski (Raichur, Karnataka) is a Neolithic-Chalcolithic site better known for the Ashokan minor rock edict that names the emperor Ashoka.
• Bhimbetka (Raisen, MP) is a Palaeolithic-Mesolithic rock-shelter site, not a Neolithic one.
Do not mix these up
• Burzahom vs Gufkral — both are J&K Neolithic pit-dwelling sites; Burzahom lies near Srinagar and is famous for dog burials, Gufkral lies in Pulwama and has an aceramic phase.
• Mahagara vs Mehrgarh — Mahagara is in the Belan valley of UP; Mehrgarh is in Baluchistan and much older.
Also asked from this topic: the Neolithic site with pit dwellings and dog burials (Burzahom); the site with the earliest cotton cultivation (Mehrgarh); a feature that is NOT Neolithic (use of bronze tools).

Medieval History (1)

Mughal Empire · Akbar's Navratnas and Din-i-Ilahi

Q23. Which architectural element introduced during Akbar's reign most symbolically represented his policy of Sulh-i-Kul (universal tolerance)?

  1. (a) Chhatri-covered tombs
  2. (b) Double dome structure
  3. (c) Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri
  4. (d) Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri

Answer: Option 4 — Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri
The Ibadat Khana (House of Worship), built by Akbar in 1575, was the hall where scholars of every faith debated before the emperor.
It is the physical expression of Sulh-i-Kul, "peace with all", the idea Abul Fazl placed at the centre of Akbar's rule.
Revision note — Akbar's religious policy
• 1563 — pilgrimage tax abolished; 1564 — jizya abolished.
• 1575 — Ibadat Khana built at Fatehpur Sikri; debates were at first among Sunni scholars only.
• 1578 — the hall was opened to Hindus, Jains, Parsis and Christians; Jesuit fathers such as Monserrate and Aquaviva came from Goa in 1580.
• 1579 — the Mahzar (so-called Infallibility Decree), drafted by Shaikh Mubarak, made Akbar the final arbiter in religious disputes.
• 1582 — Din-i-Ilahi (Tauhid-i-Ilahi), an order of discipleship; Birbal was its only prominent Hindu member.
• Sulh-i-Kul is described by Abul Fazl in the Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari as the basis of Akbar's statecraft.
Do not mix these up
• Ibadat Khana vs Din-i-Ilahi — the Ibadat Khana was a building for debate (1575); Din-i-Ilahi was a creed (1582).
• Buland Darwaza — the great gateway at Fatehpur Sikri commemorates Akbar's conquest of Gujarat (1573), a victory, not tolerance.
Also asked from this topic: the purpose of the Ibadat Khana (a hall for religious debates); the meaning of Sulh-i-Kul (universal peace); what the Buland Darwaza commemorates (the victory over Gujarat).

Polity (3)

Special Provisions, Official Language and Miscellaneous Provisions · Official language (Part XVII) and Eighth Schedule languages

Q24. In the context of India's commitment to multilingualism in education, which of the following statements best reflects the constitutional mandate, educational policy approach, and implementation challenges of promoting mother tongue-based instruction at the foundational level?

  1. (a) The Constitution of India mandates compulsory education only in Hindi for all primary-level students, and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 supports this by promoting Hindi as the sole medium of instruction
  2. (b) Article 350A of the Constitution imposes an obligation on every State to provide facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage, but this is limited only to Scheduled Tribe children.
  3. (c) The National Education Policy 2020 encourages mother tongue or regional language as the medium of instruction at least until Grade 5, preferably till Grade 8, for all children, aligning with Article 350A, though actual implementation faces linguistic diversity and resource constraints.
  4. (d) Article 29 of the Constitution provides for the right to conserve one's distinct language but does not recognize the use of any language other than English in educational institutions.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The National Education Policy 2020 encourages mother tongue or regional language as the medium of instruction at least until Grade 5, preferably till Grade 8, for all children, aligning with Article 350A, though actual implementation faces linguistic diversity and resource constraints.

Answer: Option 3 — The National Education Policy 2020 encourages mother tongue or regional language as the medium of instruction at least until Grade 5, preferably till Grade 8, for all children …
NEP 2020 says the medium of instruction should be the home language, mother tongue or local language "wherever possible" until Grade 5, and preferably till Grade 8 and beyond.
This rests on Article 350A, which asks every State to provide primary-stage instruction in the mother tongue to children of linguistic minorities — not only Scheduled Tribes, and never Hindi alone.
Revision note — Language provisions and NEP 2020
• Article 350A (inserted by the 7th Amendment, 1956): every State to provide instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage for children of linguistic minority groups.
• Article 350B: a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President, reporting to the President.
• Article 29(1): any section of citizens may conserve its distinct language, script or culture; Article 30: minorities may establish and administer educational institutions.
• Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari is the official language of the Union; Article 351 directs the Union to promote Hindi; the Eighth Schedule lists 22 languages.
• Article 21A and the RTE Act, 2009: free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 (86th Amendment, 2002).
• NEP 2020: approved on 29 July 2020 on the Kasturirangan Committee report; replaced the 1986 policy; brought the 5+3+3+4 structure and a flexible three-language formula.
Do not mix these up
• Article 350A vs Article 29 — 350A is a direction to the State about the medium of instruction; Article 29 is a Fundamental Right to conserve a language.
• Official language vs medium of instruction — Hindi is the Union's official language (Article 343); no article makes it the medium of school teaching.
Also asked from this topic: the structural reform of NEP 2020 (5+3+3+4); the officer under Article 350B (Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities); the article protecting minority interests (Article 29).
Special Provisions, Official Language and Miscellaneous Provisions · Special provisions for SCs, STs and backward classes (Articles 330-342)

Q25. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the policy rationale and implementation challenges associated with the identification and development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India?

  1. (a) PVTGs are identified through periodic national censuses and their status is automatically revised every 10 years by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
  2. (b) The PVTG classification applies only to tribes with no access to forest lands, and all PVTGs have now been settled through formal land titles under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
  3. (c) PVTGs are identified based on characteristics such as pre-agricultural level of technology, stagnant or declining population, low literacy, and economic backwardness; however, there is no mechanism under the Constitution for periodic review or addition of new PVTGs.
  4. (d) All tribes classified as PVTGs have been granted Scheduled Tribe status in their respective states, and are uniformly eligible for the same central development schemes without variation.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) PVTGs are identified based on characteristics such as pre-agricultural level of technology, stagnant or declining population, low literacy, and economic backwardness; however, there is no mechanism under the Constitution for periodic review or addition of new PVTGs.

Answer: Option 3 — PVTGs are identified on pre-agricultural technology, stagnant or declining population, low literacy and economic backwardness; the Constitution has no mechanism for periodic review.
PVTGs are an administrative sub-category of Scheduled Tribes created by the Government of India, not a constitutional category.
They are identified on the four Dhebar Commission criteria; the Constitution itself provides no procedure for reviewing or adding to the list.
Revision note — Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
• The Dhebar Commission (1960–61) first pointed to the most backward tribes; the Centre created the category Primitive Tribal Groups in 1975 and renamed it PVTGs in 2006.
• The four criteria: pre-agricultural level of technology, stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy and a subsistence level of economy.
• 75 PVTGs are notified in 18 states and the UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Odisha has the most (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh.
• Examples: Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese and Great Andamanese (A&N), Baiga (MP), Bonda and Dongria Kondh (Odisha), Chenchu (AP/Telangana), Toda (Tamil Nadu), Cholanaikayan (Kerala).
• PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan) was launched on 15 November 2023 (Janjatiya Gaurav Divas) from Khunti, Jharkhand.
• Its outlay is about ₹24,104 crore for 11 critical interventions delivered through 9 ministries — housing, water, health, education, roads and connectivity.
• Scheduled Tribes are notified by the President under Article 342; the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (created in 1999) is the nodal ministry, and the Fifth Schedule governs Scheduled Areas.
Do not mix these up
• Scheduled Tribes vs PVTGs — every PVTG is a Scheduled Tribe, but a PVTG is a more vulnerable sub-group picked out for targeted schemes; the two lists are not the same.
• Article 342 vs Article 341 — 342 notifies Scheduled Tribes, 341 notifies Scheduled Castes.
Also asked from this topic: the scheme focused on the development of PVTGs (PM-JANMAN, launched 15 November 2023); the state with the largest number of PVTGs (Odisha, 13).
Polity Miscellaneous · Important acts and rights laws (RTI, RTE, etc.)

Q26. Which of the following best illustrates a controversial yet constitutionally upheld provision of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, that marks a significant shift from the earlier 2000 Act?

  1. (a) The 2015 Act prohibits all forms of juvenile detention and mandates only rehabilitative care for all children below 18, regardless of offence
  2. (b) The 2015 Act permits the trial of children aged 16–18 as adults for heinous offences, but only after a preliminary assessment by the Child Welfare Committee.
  3. (c) The Act allows a child aged 16–18 accused of a heinous offence to be tried as an adult, subject to a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board regarding the child's mental and physical capacity, understanding of consequences, and circumstances of the offence.
  4. (d) The 2015 Act categorically treats all offences committed by juveniles as bailable and non-cognizable, regardless of the nature or severity.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The Act allows a child aged 16–18 accused of a heinous offence to be tried as an adult, subject to a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board regarding the child's mental and physical capacity, understanding of consequences, and circumstances of the offence.

Answer: Option 3 — A child aged 16–18 accused of a heinous offence may be tried as an adult, after a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board of capacity, understanding and circumstances.
Section 15 of the 2015 Act requires the Juvenile Justice Board, not the Child Welfare Committee, to make the preliminary assessment.
Only after that can the case go to the Children's Court for trial as an adult — the biggest departure from the 2000 Act, which treated every child under 18 alike.
Revision note — Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
• Passed by Parliament in December 2015 and in force from 15 January 2016; it replaced the JJ Act, 2000. The push for change came after the Delhi gang-rape case of December 2012.
• Offences are graded: petty (up to 3 years), serious (3 to 7 years) and heinous (7 years or more). Only a heinous offence by a child of 16 to 18 can lead to trial as an adult.
• The Juvenile Justice Board completes its preliminary assessment within 3 months.
• Even when tried as an adult, a child cannot be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release (Section 21).
• The Child Welfare Committee handles children in need of care and protection; the JJB handles children in conflict with law.
• The Act made the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) a statutory body and streamlined adoption; the 2021 amendment empowered the District Magistrate to issue adoption orders.
• The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Women and Child Development; the Act reads with Article 15(3) and Article 39(e) and (f) of the Constitution.
Do not mix these up
• Juvenile Justice Board vs Child Welfare Committee — the Board deals with a child accused of an offence; the Committee deals with a child who needs care and protection.
• Heinous vs serious offence — heinous means punishable with 7 years or more; serious means 3 to 7 years, and never invites adult trial.
Also asked from this topic: what the JJ Act 2015 allows in cases of heinous crimes (children of 16–18 to be tried as adults); the body that makes the preliminary assessment (Juvenile Justice Board).

Geography (8)

Atmosphere and Climate · Air masses, fronts and jet streams

Q27. Which of the following statements most accurately explains the nature, dynamics, and regional implications of jet streams, particularly in the context of South Asian monsoon behavior and extreme weather events?

  1. (a) Jet streams are permanent low-level winds flowing parallel to the equator, and their seasonal shift has no significant influence on Indian monsoon onset or withdrawal.
  2. (b) The Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) and Subtropical Westerly Jet (STWJ) are upper tropospheric winds whose seasonal dominance over the Indian subcontinent strongly influences the monsoon cycle, with the STWJ facilitating active monsoon conditions.
  3. (c) The Subtropical Westerly Jet retreats northward during summer, allowing the Tropical Easterly Jet to dominate, which aids monsoon onset, whereas the presence of STWJ over India during summer can suppress monsoon activity.
  4. (d) Jet streams have no role in mid-latitude cyclones or upper-air divergence, and their impact is confined to aviation and turbulence rather than synoptic-scale weather systems.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The Subtropical Westerly Jet retreats northward during summer, allowing the Tropical Easterly Jet to dominate, which aids monsoon onset, whereas the presence of STWJ over India during summer can suppress monsoon activity.

Answer: Option 3 — The Subtropical Westerly Jet retreats northward in summer, letting the Tropical Easterly Jet dominate and aid monsoon onset; an STWJ lingering over India in summer suppresses the monsoon.
The Subtropical Westerly Jet sits south of the Himalayas in winter; its shift north of the Himalayas by early June lets the Tropical Easterly Jet establish itself and is the trigger for the monsoon burst.
Option 2 fails on its last clause — the STWJ suppresses, not facilitates, the monsoon when it lingers over north India.
Revision note — Jet streams and the Indian monsoon
• A jet stream is a narrow band of fast upper-tropospheric westerly wind at about 9–14 km height, blowing west to east at more than 120 km/h.
• The Subtropical Westerly Jet (STWJ) lies at about 25°–30° N, south of the Himalayas, in winter; it steers western disturbances from the Mediterranean into north-west India.
• In summer the STWJ moves north of the Tibetan plateau.
• The Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) then forms at about 15° N over peninsular India at 14–16 km, blowing east to west, strengthened by the heating of the Tibetan plateau.
• The return of the STWJ south of the Himalayas in autumn induces subsidence over north-west India and helps the monsoon withdraw.
• The Somali (Findlater) jet is a low-level cross-equatorial jet that carries moisture across the Arabian Sea toward the Kerala coast.
• The role of jet streams in the monsoon was stressed by Koteswaram and Flohn; jet streams also feed upper-air divergence that deepens mid-latitude cyclones.
Do not mix these up
• STWJ vs TEJ — the STWJ blows west to east and dominates winter; the TEJ blows east to west and dominates the summer monsoon.
• Western disturbances vs monsoon rain — western disturbances bring winter rain to north-west India along the westerly jet; the monsoon is a summer system.
Also asked from this topic: the direction of jet streams over India in winter (west to east); how the subtropical jet aids monsoon withdrawal (subsidence over land).
Lithosphere - Earth's Interior and Landforms · Continental drift and plate tectonics

Q28. Which phenomenon is most directly responsible for plate tectonics on Earth?

  1. (a) Rotation of the Earth's core
  2. (b) Convection currents in the mantle
  3. (c) Gravitational pull of the Moon
  4. (d) Heat from the lithosphere
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Convection currents in the mantle

Answer: Option 2 — Convection currents in the mantle
Heat from the core and from radioactive decay sets up slow convection cells in the mantle; hot material rises, cools, spreads sideways and sinks.
The rigid lithospheric plates riding on the soft asthenosphere are dragged along by this flow, so they move, collide and split.
Revision note — Plate tectonics and the Earth's interior
• Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift in 1912 (Pangaea, Laurasia and Gondwana); Arthur Holmes suggested mantle convection as the driving force in the 1930s.
• Harry Hess explained sea-floor spreading in 1961; the theory of plate tectonics was formalised in 1967 by McKenzie, Parker and Morgan.
• The lithosphere (crust plus uppermost mantle, about 100 km thick) is broken into 7 major plates and many minor ones.
• It rests on the asthenosphere, the partly molten layer of the upper mantle reaching down to about 400 km.
• Three kinds of boundary: divergent (mid-ocean ridges, new crust), convergent (subduction trenches and fold mountains) and transform (San Andreas Fault).
• The Himalayas rose from the collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate; the Indian plate still moves north at about 5 cm a year.
• Discontinuities: Moho between crust and mantle, Gutenberg between mantle and core at about 2,900 km, Lehmann between outer and inner core.
Do not mix these up
• Lithosphere vs asthenosphere — the lithosphere is the rigid plate itself; the asthenosphere is the weak layer beneath it on which the plate moves.
• Convection in the mantle vs rotation of the core — the core's rotation generates the magnetic field, not plate motion.
Also asked from this topic: the plate boundary that formed the Himalayas (convergent); why the asthenosphere lets plates move (it is partially molten); the San Andreas Fault's boundary type (transform).
India - Location, Physiography and Neighbours · Northern Plains

Q29. The Indo-Gangetic Plains are formed by the alluvial deposits of three major river systems. Which of the following characteristics is NOT true for the Indo-Gangetic Plains?

  1. (a) High fertility due to alluvium
  2. (b) Subject to frequent floods
  3. (c) Uneven terrain with many hills
  4. (d) Dense population
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Uneven terrain with many hills

Answer: Option 3 — Uneven terrain with many hills
The plains are among the flattest stretches of land on Earth — the gradient is so gentle that the Ganga falls only a few centimetres per kilometre.
Fertile alluvium, frequent floods and dense population are all true of the region.
Revision note — The Northern (Indo-Gangetic) Plains
• Formed by alluvium of the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra and their tributaries, filling a foredeep between the Himalayas and the Peninsular plateau.
• About 7 lakh sq km in area, roughly 2,400 km long and 240–320 km wide; the alluvium is over 1,000 m deep in places.
• Four belts from north to south: Bhabar (pebbles, streams disappear), Terai (marshy, streams re-emerge), Bhangar (old alluvium, kankar) and Khadar (new alluvium, renewed by floods).
• Three sections: Punjab plains (doabs, Indus), Ganga plains (Delhi to Kolkata) and Brahmaputra plains (Assam).
• Most densely populated region of India and its main food-grain area; the rice–wheat cropping system is characteristic.
• Alluvial soil is India's most widespread soil; its unconsolidated formations hold the country's largest groundwater reserves.
Do not mix these up
• Bhangar vs Khadar — Bhangar is the older, higher, less fertile alluvium with kankar; Khadar is the newer, low-lying, most fertile floodplain.
• Bhabar vs Terai — in Bhabar the streams sink into pebbles; in Terai they re-emerge to make marshy land.
Also asked from this topic: the rivers that formed the Northern Plains (Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra); India's most densely populated region (Indo-Gangetic Plain); the plains' cropping system (rice–wheat).
India - Population and Census · Demographic concepts and transition

Q30. India's Dependency Ratio is a critical measure of economic burden. In demographic terms, which age groups are considered "dependent" in calculating this ratio?

  1. (a) 0–14 and 60+
  2. (b) 0–14 and 65+
  3. (c) 0–17 and 60+
  4. (d) 0–14 and 55+
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) 0–14 and 65+

Answer: Option 2 — 0–14 and 65+
In the standard demographic definition used by the UN and the World Bank, dependants are children aged 0–14 and the elderly aged 65 and above; the working-age population is 15–64.
Dependency ratio = (population 0–14 + population 65+) ÷ (population 15–64) × 100.
Revision note — Dependency ratio and the demographic dividend
• Child dependency ratio = 0–14 per 100 of 15–64; old-age dependency ratio = 65+ per 100 of 15–64; their sum is the total dependency ratio.
• A falling dependency ratio means a bulge of workers relative to dependants — the demographic dividend; India entered this window around 2018 and it is expected to last till about 2055.
• India's total dependency ratio was about 47 per 100 (World Bank, 2023), low by world standards; Japan's exceeds 70 because of ageing.
• Europe has the highest old-age dependency ratio among world regions; Africa has the lowest.
• The Technical Group on Population Projections (2020) projects India's 60+ population to rise from about 10 crore (2011) to about 23 crore (2036).
• The National Population Policy 2000 aimed at replacement-level fertility (TFR 2.1) by 2010 and a stable population by 2045; NFHS-5 (2019–21) put India's TFR at 2.0.
Do not mix these up
• International vs Indian cut-off — the UN/World Bank counts the elderly from 65; the Census of India and the Economic Survey usually count from 60. "Demographic terms" means the international one.
• Dependency ratio vs sex ratio — the dependency ratio compares age groups; the sex ratio is females per 1,000 males.
Also asked from this topic: the elderly dependency ratio (65+ per 100 of working age 15–64); the region with the highest elderly dependency ratio (Europe); India's 60+ population in 2036 (about 23 crore).
India - Drainage System · Drainage patterns, basins and river terminology

Q31. What primarily influenced the formation of India's drainage system?

  1. (a) Only tectonic plate collisions
  2. (b) Climatic zones and forest cover
  3. (c) Physiographic evolution and rainfall patterns
  4. (d) Man-made canals and irrigation plans
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Physiographic evolution and rainfall patterns

Answer: Option 3 — Physiographic evolution and rainfall patterns
A river system is shaped by the relief and slope of the land it drains and by the amount and timing of rainfall that feeds it.
India's drainage is therefore controlled by the broad physiographic divisions — the Himalayas, the Northern Plains and the Peninsular Plateau — together with the monsoon.
Revision note — Drainage system of India
• Indian rivers are grouped into the Himalayan rivers (Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra) and the Peninsular rivers (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi).
• Himalayan rivers are perennial — fed by both rain and snowmelt — and are antecedent, older than the mountains they cut through, forming deep gorges.
• Peninsular rivers are seasonal, rain-fed, and flow through broad shallow valleys because the plateau is old, hard rock.
• Most peninsular rivers flow east into the Bay of Bengal and form deltas; Narmada and Tapi flow west through rift valleys and form estuaries.
• About 77 per cent of India's drainage area goes to the Bay of Bengal and about 23 per cent to the Arabian Sea.
• The Western Ghats form the main water divide between the two.
• The Ganga has the largest river basin in India; the Godavari is the largest peninsular river, called the Dakshin Ganga.
Do not mix these up
• Antecedent vs consequent drainage — antecedent rivers are older than the relief and cut across it (Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra); consequent rivers simply follow the slope of the land.
• Delta vs estuary — east-flowing rivers drop silt on a gentle slope and build deltas; the west-flowing Narmada and Tapi drop into the sea through a rift with no delta.
Also asked from this topic: the process that formed the Northern Plains (deposition of alluvium); the peninsular rivers that flow west (Narmada and Tapi); the river with the largest catchment area (Ganga).
Universe and Solar System · Planets and their features

Q32. Which planet is closest to the Sun?

  1. (a) Venus
  2. (b) Earth
  3. (c) Mercury
  4. (d) Mars
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Mercury

Answer: Option 3 — Mercury
Mercury is the innermost planet, orbiting the Sun at an average distance of about 58 million km (roughly 0.39 AU).
The order outward is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, then the four giant planets.
Revision note — Mercury and the inner planets
• Mercury is the smallest planet of the solar system and the fastest — one revolution takes only 88 Earth days.
• It rotates slowly, once in about 59 Earth days, and has no moon and almost no atmosphere, so its day side is scorching and its night side freezing.
• It is not the hottest planet — that is Venus (about 465 °C), whose thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat by the greenhouse effect.
• Venus is the brightest planet in our sky, the Morning and Evening Star, and rotates east to west with a day longer than its year.
• Earth is the fifth largest planet and the only one with liquid surface water — the Blue Planet; Mars is the Red Planet, coloured by iron oxide, with two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
• The four inner planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars — are the rocky terrestrial planets; the outer four are the gaseous Jovian planets.
Do not mix these up
• Closest vs hottest — Mercury is closest to the Sun but Venus is hotter, because Mercury has no atmosphere to hold the heat.
• Smallest planet vs smallest body — Mercury is the smallest planet; Pluto is smaller but has been a dwarf planet since 2006.
Also asked from this topic: why Venus is hotter than Mercury (greenhouse effect of its atmosphere); the planet with the longest day (Venus); Earth's rank by size among the planets (fifth largest).
Environment and Protected Areas · Environmental organisations and laws

Q33. What is a key focus of the Draft Solid Waste Management Rules, 2024, compared to the 2016 rules?

  1. (a) Limiting regulations to urban areas
  2. (b) Circular economy and advanced recycling
  3. (c) Abolishing penalties
  4. (d) Ignoring e-waste
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Circular economy and advanced recycling

Answer: Option 2 — Circular economy and advanced recycling
The Draft Solid Waste Management Rules, 2024 were issued to move India from "collect and dump" to a circular economy — waste treated as a resource to be segregated, recycled and recovered.
The other three options describe the opposite of what any waste rule tries to do.
Revision note — Solid waste rules in India
• All waste rules are made under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 replaced the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
• They extended coverage beyond municipal areas to census towns, industrial townships and defence establishments.
• The 2016 rules made segregation at source into wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste the duty of every generator and introduced a user fee and spot fines for littering.
• The draft 2024 rules were published in December 2024, proposing four-stream segregation (adding sanitary waste), a centralised online portal for tracking waste, and the polluter pays principle.
• They were notified as the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, which require segregation into four streams at source and specifically incorporate the polluter pays principle.
• The 2016 family of rules also includes the Plastic Waste, E-Waste, Bio-Medical Waste, Construction and Demolition Waste and Hazardous Waste rules, all notified in 2016.
Do not mix these up
• Circular economy vs linear economy — a linear model is take, make, dispose; a circular model keeps material in use through reuse, recycling and recovery.
• Polluter pays vs precautionary principle — polluter pays makes the generator bear the cost of the damage; the precautionary principle acts before harm is proved.
Also asked from this topic: the streams of source segregation under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026 (four, 2026); the principle those rules adopt so polluters bear the cost (polluter pays, 2026).
India - Population and Census · Current population estimates and projections

Q34. What is the estimated percentage of people in India aged 65 and above in 2025?

  1. (a) 3%
  2. (b) 5%
  3. (c) 7%
  4. (d) 15%
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) 7%

Answer: Option 3 — 7%
The UN World Population Prospects puts India's population aged 65 and above at about 7 per cent in 2025 — roughly 10 crore people out of about 146 crore.
Crossing the 7 per cent mark is the conventional line at which a country is called an ageing society.
Revision note — India's ageing population
• The UN's World Population Prospects 2024 estimates India's 65+ share at about 7 per cent in 2025, expected to reach about 15 per cent by 2050.
• Indian law counts a senior citizen from age 60 (Senior Citizens Act, 2007); on that count the elderly were 8.6 per cent in Census 2011 and about 10.5 per cent in 2021.
• The India Ageing Report 2023 (UNFPA) projects the 60+ share to reach 20.8 per cent (about 34.7 crore) by 2050.
• The Technical Group on Population Projections (July 2020) projected the 60+ population at about 19.3 crore in 2031 and 23 crore in 2036.
• Kerala has the highest share of elderly among the states; Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the lowest.
• India's median age is still only about 28–29 years, so it enjoys a demographic dividend even as it begins to age.
Do not mix these up
• 60+ vs 65+ — Indian law and the Census count the elderly from 60 (about 10–11 per cent); the UN's international comparison uses 65 (about 7 per cent).
• Ageing society vs aged society — 7 per cent of the population aged 65+ makes a country ageing; 14 per cent makes it aged.
Also asked from this topic: India's projected 60+ population in 2036 per the Technical Group on Population Projections (23 crore); the elderly population expected by 2031 (193.4 million).

Physics (2)

Force and Laws of Motion · Conservation of momentum and recoil

Q35. Which of the following best reflects the principle of conservation of linear momentum?

  1. (a) In an isolated system, the total momentum before and after a collision remains constant, regardless of the internal forces.
  2. (b) The total energy in an isolated system remains zero unless acted upon by external forces.
  3. (c) Linear momentum can only be conserved in gravitational fields.
  4. (d) Linear momentum applies only to subatomic particles in a magnetic field.
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) In an isolated system, the total momentum before and after a collision remains constant, regardless of the internal forces.

Answer: Option 1 — In an isolated system, the total momentum before and after a collision remains constant, regardless of the internal forces.
When no external force acts, the internal forces between the bodies come in equal and opposite pairs (Newton's third law), so they cannot change the total momentum.
Hence m₁u₁ + m₂u₂ = m₁v₁ + m₂v₂ for any collision, elastic or not.
Revision note — Momentum and its conservation
• Momentum p = mv; it is a vector with SI unit kg m/s (kg m s⁻¹).
• Newton's second law in its original form: force = rate of change of momentum, F = Δp/Δt; hence impulse = F × t = change in momentum.
• Law of conservation of momentum: in the absence of an external force the total momentum of a system stays constant; it follows directly from the third law.
• Applications: the recoil of a gun, rocket propulsion, a swimmer pushing water backward, and the analysis of collisions.
• In an elastic collision both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved; in an inelastic collision only momentum is conserved and some kinetic energy becomes heat or sound.
• A cricketer lowering his hands while catching, or a car's crumple zone, lengthens the time of impact and so reduces the force for the same change in momentum.
Do not mix these up
• Conservation of momentum vs conservation of energy — momentum is conserved in every collision of an isolated system; kinetic energy is conserved only in an elastic one.
• Momentum vs kinetic energy — p = mv is a vector; KE = ½mv² is a scalar. Doubling the velocity doubles the momentum but quadruples the kinetic energy.
Also asked from this topic: the scenario that best illustrates conservation of momentum (a gun recoiling when a bullet is fired); the formula for momentum (p = mv); its SI unit (kg m/s).
Physics Miscellaneous · Scientific instruments and their uses

Q36. Which instrument measures atmospheric pressure?

  1. (a) Barometer
  2. (b) Thermometer
  3. (c) Ammeter
  4. (d) Hygrometer
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Barometer

Answer: Option 1 — Barometer
A barometer measures atmospheric pressure — the weight of the column of air above a place.
A thermometer measures temperature, an ammeter electric current and a hygrometer humidity.
Revision note — Atmospheric pressure and the barometer
• The mercury barometer was invented by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643; at sea level the air supports a mercury column of 76 cm (760 mm).
• 1 atmosphere = 760 mm of Hg = 1.013 × 10⁵ Pa = 1,013 millibar (hPa); the SI unit of pressure is the pascal.
• An aneroid barometer uses a sealed, partly evacuated metal box instead of mercury; a barograph records pressure continuously on a chart.
• Pressure falls with height — that is why an altimeter in an aircraft is really a barometer.
• A sudden fall in the barometer warns of a storm; a slow rise means fair, dry weather.
• Weather instruments to remember: anemometer — wind speed; wind vane — wind direction; hygrometer — humidity; rain gauge — rainfall; thermometer — temperature.
Do not mix these up
• Barometer vs manometer — a barometer measures the pressure of the atmosphere; a manometer measures the pressure of a gas in a container against it.
• Hygrometer vs hydrometer — a hygrometer measures the moisture of air; a hydrometer measures the density of a liquid.
Also asked from this topic: the instruments for wind speed, humidity and pressure (anemometer, hygrometer, barometer); why we are not crushed by the atmosphere (the pressure inside the body balances it).

Economics (6)

External Sector and International Economic Organisations · Balance of payments and current account

Q37. What was the economic rationale behind India's move to current account convertibility in 1994, and how did it impact India's external sector and global integration?

  1. (a) It allowed unrestricted capital inflows, including FDI and FPI, to finance domestic development
  2. (b) It enabled full convertibility of the rupee for trade in goods, services, and remittances, thereby liberalizing the external sector without exposing the economy to volatile capital flows
  3. (c) It permitted the RBI to fix the exchange rate of the rupee in line with the gold standard
  4. (d) It reversed the liberalization process by restricting foreign exchange availability to public sector units only
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) It enabled full convertibility of the rupee for trade in goods, services, and remittances, thereby liberalizing the external sector without exposing the economy to volatile capital flows

Answer: Option 2 — It enabled full convertibility of the rupee for trade in goods, services and remittances, liberalising the external sector without exposing the economy to volatile capital flows
The current account covers trade in goods and services, income and remittances.
Making the rupee convertible there in August 1994 let importers, exporters and travellers buy foreign exchange freely at the market rate.
The capital account — FDI, portfolio flows, loans — was deliberately kept only partly convertible, which shielded India during the 1997 Asian crisis.
Revision note — Rupee convertibility and the exchange-rate reforms
• July 1991: the rupee was devalued in two steps (1 and 3 July) by about 18–19 per cent against the US dollar to meet the balance-of-payments crisis.
• March 1992: the Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System (LERMS) created a dual rate — 40 per cent of forex earnings surrendered at the official rate, 60 per cent sold at the market rate.
• March 1993: the two rates were unified and the rupee became market-determined, as recommended by the Rangarajan Committee on the balance of payments.
• August 1994: India accepted Article VIII of the IMF Articles of Agreement, making the rupee fully convertible on the current account.
• The Tarapore Committee (1997, again in 2006) laid down preconditions for capital account convertibility — fiscal deficit, inflation and bank NPA targets; it remains partial even today.
• FEMA, 1999 (in force from 1 June 2000) replaced the restrictive FERA, 1973, treating forex violations as civil rather than criminal offences.
Do not mix these up
• Current account vs capital account convertibility — current account (goods, services, remittances) has been fully convertible since 1994; capital account (investment and loans) is only partly convertible.
• Devaluation vs depreciation — devaluation is a deliberate cut by the government under a fixed rate (1966, 1991); depreciation is a market fall under a floating rate.
Also asked from this topic: when the rupee became convertible on the current account (August 1994); the committee on capital account convertibility (Tarapore Committee); when LERMS began (March 1992).
External Sector and International Economic Organisations · Balance of payments and current account

Q38. Which reform measure directly aimed to make Indian exports more competitive post-1991?

  1. (a) Increased Minimum Support Prices (MSP)
  2. (b) Convertibility on current account
  3. (c) Corporate tax exemptions
  4. (d) Crop insurance schemes
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Convertibility on current account

Answer: Option 2 — Convertibility on current account
The external-sector reforms after 1991 — devaluation, a market-determined exchange rate and then current account convertibility (1994) — priced the rupee realistically.
Exporters could convert earnings at the market rate, and Indian goods became cheaper abroad.
MSP, corporate tax breaks and crop insurance are domestic measures; none of them acts on export prices.
Revision note — External-sector reforms of 1991 and export competitiveness
• The 1991 crisis: forex reserves fell to about two weeks of imports, gold was pledged abroad, and India took an IMF loan.
• The New Economic Policy was announced on 24 July 1991 by Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.
• Devaluation of the rupee by about 18–19 per cent in July 1991 was the first direct step to boost exports.
• Trade policy shifted from import substitution to export promotion: import licensing was abolished for most goods and quantitative restrictions were removed.
• Peak customs duty was cut from over 300 per cent to 150 per cent in 1991–92 and then steadily lower.
• Export subsidies (cash compensatory support) were withdrawn in July 1991 and replaced by tradable Exim scrips; the EPCG scheme allowed duty-free import of capital goods against export obligations.
• LERMS (March 1992) and a unified market rate (March 1993) led to current account convertibility in August 1994.
• MSP is an agricultural price floor announced on the advice of the CACP; it supports farmers' incomes, not exports.
Do not mix these up
• Current account convertibility vs capital account convertibility — the 1994 step covered trade and remittances; free movement of investment capital was never fully allowed.
• Export promotion vs import substitution — the pre-1991 strategy protected domestic industry with tariffs and licences; the post-1991 strategy opened trade to make exports competitive.
Also asked from this topic: why the rupee was devalued in 1991 (to boost exports and attract foreign exchange); the 1991 external-sector reform (import substitution replaced by export promotion).
Planning and NITI Aayog · Five-Year Plans - objectives and models

Q39. In the context of the Mahalanobis strategy adopted in India's Second Five Year Plan, why was the capital goods sector identified as the lead sector, and what economic trade-offs were implicit in this prioritization?

  1. (a) Because it generated immediate consumer demand and high employment in the short term
  2. (b) As it ensured surplus food production through mechanized farming
  3. (c) Due to its ability to build internal capacity for self-sustaining industrial growth, despite the short-term sacrifice of consumption and employment
  4. (d) Because it attracted high levels of foreign direct investment and export earnings
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Due to its ability to build internal capacity for self-sustaining industrial growth, despite the short-term sacrifice of consumption and employment

Answer: Option 3 — Due to its ability to build internal capacity for self-sustaining industrial growth, despite the short-term sacrifice of consumption and employment
The Mahalanobis model argued that machines which make machines — steel, heavy engineering, power — build the base for long-run growth.
The price was accepted openly: less consumption and slower job creation in the short run, in return for self-reliance later.
Revision note — The Second Five-Year Plan and the Mahalanobis model
• The Second Five-Year Plan (1956–61) was framed on the model of Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis, founder of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata (1931).
• It was a two-sector model (capital goods and consumer goods), later extended to four sectors; investment was tilted towards the capital-goods sector.
• Three public-sector steel plants came from this plan — Bhilai (USSR), Rourkela (West Germany) and Durgapur (United Kingdom).
• The plan followed the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, which reserved core and heavy industries for the public sector.
• Heavy imports of machinery drained reserves and caused the foreign-exchange crisis of 1957; the growth target was 4.5 per cent a year.
• The model is also called the Nehru–Mahalanobis strategy; the First Plan (1951–56) had followed the Harrod–Domar model with agriculture as the priority.
Do not mix these up
• First Plan vs Second Plan — the First (1951–56) put agriculture and irrigation first; the Second (1956–61) put heavy industry first.
• Harrod–Domar vs Mahalanobis — Harrod–Domar links growth to the savings rate; Mahalanobis decides how investment is split between capital and consumer goods.
Also asked from this topic: the plan that focused on heavy industries (Second Plan, 1956–61); the institute Mahalanobis founded (Indian Statistical Institute); why capital goods led (long-run capacity).
Agriculture and Food Security · Green Revolution and other agricultural revolutions

Q40. Which renowned Indian scientist was conferred the title 'Father of India's Green Revolution' for introducing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, transforming India from a food-deficient to a self-sufficient nation?

  1. (a) Norman Borlaug
  2. (b) C. Subramaniam
  3. (c) M.S. Swaminathan
  4. (d) Verghese Kurien
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) M.S. Swaminathan

Answer: Option 3 — M.S. Swaminathan
M. S. Swaminathan adapted Norman Borlaug's dwarf Mexican wheat to Indian conditions in the mid-1960s and pushed HYV seeds into Punjab, Haryana and western UP.
That is why he is called the Father of India's Green Revolution.
Revision note — M. S. Swaminathan and the Green Revolution
• Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (7 August 1925 – 28 September 2023), born at Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu; a plant geneticist.
• The Green Revolution began in 1966–67 with HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, irrigation and pesticides, first in wheat, then rice.
• Norman Borlaug (USA) is the Father of the global Green Revolution and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
• C. Subramaniam, Union Food and Agriculture Minister (1964–66), is called the political architect of the Green Revolution; Bharat Ratna 1998.
• Swaminathan won the first World Food Prize (1987), the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971) and the Bharat Ratna (2024, posthumous).
• He chaired the National Commission on Farmers (2004–06), which recommended MSP at cost plus 50 per cent (C2 + 50%); he founded the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai (1988).
Do not mix these up
• Borlaug vs Swaminathan — Borlaug bred the dwarf wheat and is Father of the Green Revolution worldwide; Swaminathan brought it to India.
• Green vs White Revolution — Green is food grains (Swaminathan); White is milk, Operation Flood (Verghese Kurien, 1970).
Also asked from this topic: the Father of India's Green Revolution (M. S. Swaminathan); the crops of the Green Revolution (wheat and rice); the Father of the White Revolution (Verghese Kurien).
Government Schemes and Economic Reports · Global indices - publishers and methodology

Q41. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is widely cited in governance discourse. How does India's position on this index affect its foreign investment potential?

  1. (a) Negatively, as it signals high regulatory risk and lack of institutional transparency
  2. (b) Positively, due to high public sector employment
  3. (c) Negligibly, since foreign firms ignore such reports
  4. (d) Only in defense contracts
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Negatively, as it signals high regulatory risk and lack of institutional transparency

Answer: Option 1 — Negatively, as it signals high regulatory risk and lack of institutional transparency
Investors read a low CPI score as a warning of bribes, opaque rules and weak contract enforcement, so perceived corruption raises the cost of doing business and deters FDI.
A weak rank therefore works against India's investment pull; it is neither ignored nor confined to defence.
Revision note — Corruption Perceptions Index
• Published every year since 1995 by Transparency International, a civil-society body founded in 1993 by Peter Eigen and headquartered at Berlin, Germany.
• Scores run from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean); it measures perceived public-sector corruption, drawing on expert and business surveys.
• CPI 2024 (released February 2025): India scored 38 and ranked 96th of 180, down from a score of 39 and rank 93 in 2023.
• Denmark topped CPI 2024 (score 90), followed by Finland and Singapore; South Sudan was last.
• The 2024 report's theme was corruption and climate action — it warned that corruption diverts climate funds and lets vested interests shape environmental policy.
• Other TI publications: the Global Corruption Barometer and the Bribe Payers Index; the Democracy Index is by the Economist Intelligence Unit, not TI.
Do not mix these up
• CPI (corruption) vs CPI (inflation) — Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index and the Consumer Price Index compiled by India's NSO share initials only.
• Corruption Perceptions Index vs Ease of Doing Business — the CPI is by a civil-society body; Ease of Doing Business was a World Bank ranking, discontinued in 2021.
Also asked from this topic: the body that releases the Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International); what a score near 0 means (more corruption); India's score in CPI 2024 (38, rank 96).
Planning and NITI Aayog · Five-Year Plans - objectives and models

Q42. The Five-Year Plans of India were adopted from which nation?

  1. (a) France
  2. (b) Great Britain
  3. (c) The former Soviet Union
  4. (d) The United States of America
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The former Soviet Union

Answer: Option 3 — The former Soviet Union
The idea of centralised five-year planning was borrowed from the USSR, whose Gosplan ran the world's first Five-Year Plan from 1928 under Stalin.
Nehru, impressed by Soviet industrialisation, made planning the backbone of India's mixed economy.
Revision note — Planning in India
• Early roots: M. Visvesvaraya's Planned Economy for India (1934) and the National Planning Committee under Nehru (1938).
• Private blueprints followed — the Bombay Plan of industrialists (1944) and the People's Plan of M. N. Roy (1945).
• The Planning Commission was set up by a Cabinet resolution on 15 March 1950 with the Prime Minister as ex-officio chairman; it was not a constitutional body.
• The First Five-Year Plan (1951–56) followed the Harrod–Domar model and stressed agriculture; the Second Plan (1956–61) followed the Mahalanobis model and stressed heavy industry.
• The Plan Holiday of 1966–69 — three Annual Plans after the Third Plan — followed the wars and drought of the mid-1960s.
• The Twelfth Plan (2012–17) was the last; the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.
• The National Development Council (1952) approved the plans; its functions have passed to the NITI Aayog Governing Council.
Do not mix these up
• Planning Commission vs Finance Commission — the Planning Commission allocated plan funds and was extra-constitutional.
• The Finance Commission (Article 280) recommends tax devolution and is constitutional.
• Planning Commission vs NITI Aayog — NITI Aayog is a think tank that does not allocate funds to states.
Also asked from this topic: the year the Planning Commission was set up (1950); the focus of the Second Five-Year Plan (heavy industry); what a plan holiday means (a break in planning, 1966–69).

Current Affairs (6)

Science, Technology and Space - Current · Space missions - current

Q43. On 30th January 2025, Sunita Williams broke the spacewalking record among women astronauts. Whose record did she surpass?

  1. (a) Christina Koch
  2. (b) Peggy Whitson
  3. (c) Jessica Meir
  4. (d) Jeanette Epps
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Peggy Whitson

Answer: Option 2 — Peggy Whitson
On 30 January 2025 Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore completed a 5 hour 26 minute spacewalk outside the ISS, taking her career total to 62 hours 6 minutes over nine spacewalks.
That passed Peggy Whitson's mark of 60 hours 21 minutes — the most spacewalking time by any woman.
Revision note — Sunita Williams and women's spaceflight records
• Williams, a US Navy officer of Indian origin (father from Jhulasan, Gujarat), flew to the ISS on 5 June 2024 on the first crewed Boeing Starliner; the planned 8-day test became 286 days.
• She returned on 18 March 2025 in the SpaceX Crew Dragon (Crew-9), splashing down off Florida; her career total in space is 608 days over three missions.
• Peggy Whitson holds the record for the most cumulative days in space by an American and was the first woman to command the ISS (2007); she commanded Axiom-4 (2025) with India's Shubhanshu Shukla.
• Christina Koch holds the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days, 2019–20) and is on the Artemis II crew; with Jessica Meir she made the first all-female spacewalk on 18 October 2019.
• Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman in space (1997), lost in the Columbia disaster, 1 February 2003; Rakesh Sharma (1984) was the first Indian in space.
• The overall spacewalk record belongs to Anatoly Solovyev (Russia) — 16 spacewalks, over 82 hours.
Do not mix these up
• Most spacewalk time (women) vs longest single flight (women) — Whitson, then Williams, for cumulative spacewalk hours; Koch for the longest single mission.
• Sunita Williams vs Kalpana Chawla — Williams is US-born of Indian descent; Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana.
Also asked from this topic: the total time Sunita Williams had spent in space on her return in March 2025 (608 days).
Reports, Indices and Rankings · Global indices and India's rank

Q44. The World Happiness Report 2025 highlights India's happiness rank dropped compared to 2015 despite:

  1. (a) GDP doubling
  2. (b) Improved AQI
  3. (c) Higher literacy
  4. (d) Falling life expectancy
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) GDP doubling

Answer: Option 1 — GDP doubling
⚠️ Note: literacy also rose between 2015 and 2025, so option 3 is true as a fact too; the key is option 1 because the report's contrast is between income growth and happiness.
India stood 117th in the 2015 report and 118th of 147 countries in 2025 — a slip of one place.
In those ten years its GDP roughly doubled, from about $2 trillion to about $4 trillion.
The report uses this to show that income growth alone does not raise happiness; social support and trust matter as much.
Revision note — World Happiness Report
• Published every year on 20 March, the International Day of Happiness.
• Produced by the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford, with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
• Rankings rest on the Cantril ladder — people rate their life from 0 to 10 — averaged over the previous three years.
• Six variables explain the scores: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
• Finland topped the 2025 report for the eighth year running; Denmark, Iceland, Sweden followed, and Costa Rica (6th) and Mexico (10th) entered the top ten for the first time.
• Afghanistan was last (147th); among India's neighbours Nepal (92nd) and Pakistan (109th) ranked above India, while Sri Lanka (133rd) and Bangladesh (134th) ranked below.
• The 2025 theme was caring and sharing — the report found that people are far more likely to have a lost wallet returned than they expect.
Do not mix these up
• World Happiness Report vs Human Development Index — the HDI is a UNDP index built from income, education and life expectancy.
• The happiness report is not a UN agency publication; it rests on how people rate their own lives.
Also asked from this topic: the country that topped the World Happiness Index 2025 (Finland); the number of key variables used (six); the least happy country in 2024 (Afghanistan, 2024).
Reports, Indices and Rankings · Global indices and India's rank

Q45. Which country ranked 3rd in the World Press Freedom Index 2026?

  1. (a) Denmark
  2. (b) Estonia
  3. (c) Finland
  4. (d) Sweden
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Estonia

Answer: Option 2 — Estonia
In the World Press Freedom Index 2026, released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May 2026, Norway stayed first for the tenth year in a row and Estonia was placed third.
Estonia was second in 2025 (up from sixth in 2024); in 2026 the Netherlands took second place.
Revision note — World Press Freedom Index
• Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), headquartered in Paris; it is released around 3 May, World Press Freedom Day.
• It ranks 180 countries and territories on five indicators — political, economic, legislative, social and security.
• Norway has topped the index every year since 2017; Eritrea was last (180th) in 2025.
• India ranked 151st in 2025, an improvement from 159th in 2024 and 161st in 2023.
• The 2025 top three were Norway, Estonia and the Netherlands; the Nordic and Baltic states fill most of the top ten.
• RSF grades a country's situation as good, satisfactory, problematic, difficult or very serious; in 2025 the global average fell into the difficult band for the first time.
Do not mix these up
• World Press Freedom Index vs Global Press Freedom Ranking — the RSF index is the one exams ask; Freedom House publishes a separate Freedom in the World report.
• RSF vs CPJ — Reporters Without Borders (Paris) publishes the index; the Committee to Protect Journalists (New York) publishes the Global Impunity Index and journalist killings data.
Also asked from this topic: India's rank in the World Press Freedom Index 2025 (151st); the country that topped the 2025 index (Norway); the worst performer in 2025 (Eritrea).
Appointments and Resignations · Heads of organisations

Q46. Who assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Steel Authority of India Limited in May 2026?

  1. (a) Alok Verma
  2. (b) Amarendu Prakash
  3. (c) Ashok Kumar Panda
  4. (d) Krishna Kumar Singh
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Ashok Kumar Panda

Answer: Option 3 — Ashok Kumar Panda
Ashok Kumar Panda took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of SAIL in May 2026, succeeding Amarendu Prakash, who had headed the company since 31 May 2023.
Option 2 is the trap — Amarendu Prakash is the outgoing chairman, not the new one.
Revision note — Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)
• Incorporated on 24 January 1973 as a holding company for the public sector steel plants; headquartered in New Delhi under the Ministry of Steel.
• A Maharatna CPSE — one of the first four to get the status in 2010, along with ONGC, IOC and NTPC.
• Five integrated steel plants: Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Bokaro (Jharkhand), Rourkela (Odisha), Durgapur and Burnpur (IISCO) in West Bengal.
• Three special steel plants: Salem (Tamil Nadu), Alloy Steels Plant, Durgapur, and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant, Bhadravati (Karnataka).
• Bhilai was built with Soviet help, Rourkela with German help and Durgapur with British help under the Second Five-Year Plan.
• Amarendu Prakash was CMD from May 2023 to 2026; earlier chairpersons include Soma Mondal (2021–23), the first woman to head SAIL.
Do not mix these up
• SAIL vs RINL — SAIL is the Delhi-based Maharatna with five integrated plants; Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited runs the single Visakhapatnam steel plant.
• SAIL vs Tata Steel — SAIL is the largest public sector steel producer; Tata Steel (Jamshedpur, 1907) is India's oldest private steel maker.
Also asked from this topic: the year Steel Authority of India was created (1973).
Appointments and Resignations · Heads of organisations

Q47. In May 2026, Prasoon Joshi was appointed as the Chairman of which organization?

  1. (a) Central Board of Film Certification
  2. (b) National Trust
  3. (c) Prasar Bharati
  4. (d) Sahitya Academy
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Prasar Bharati

Answer: Option 3 — Prasar Bharati
In May 2026 lyricist and ad-man Prasoon Joshi was appointed Chairman of Prasar Bharati, India's public broadcaster.
Option 1 is the trap — he had already been chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification since August 2017, so that was not a new appointment.
Revision note — Prasar Bharati and Prasoon Joshi
• Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body set up under the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990; it came into being on 23 November 1997, headquartered in New Delhi.
• It runs Doordarshan (television) and Akashvani / All India Radio; the day-to-day head is the Chief Executive Officer (Gaurav Dwivedi since November 2022).
• Earlier chairpersons include A. Surya Prakash (2014–20) and Navneet Kumar Sehgal (appointed March 2024).
• Prasoon Joshi wrote the lyrics of Taare Zameen Par and Rang De Basanti; he won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice (2007, 2013) and the Padma Shri in 2015.
• He headed McCann Worldgroup India and succeeded Pahlaj Nihalani as CBFC chairperson in 2017.
• The CBFC is a statutory body under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, headquartered in Mumbai, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Do not mix these up
• Prasar Bharati vs CBFC — both come under the I&B Ministry, but Prasar Bharati broadcasts (DD and AIR) while the CBFC certifies films for public exhibition.
• Sahitya Akademi vs Lalit Kala Akademi vs Sangeet Natak Akademi — India's three national academies (all 1953–54) for literature, fine arts and performing arts respectively.
Also asked from this topic: the organisation that certifies films before public release in India (Central Board of Film Certification).
Sports - Current · Venues and hosts

Q48. Where were the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2026 held?

  1. (a) Hyderabad
  2. (b) Gandhinagar
  3. (c) New Delhi
  4. (d) Ahmedabad
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Gandhinagar

Answer: Option 2 — Gandhinagar
The Asian Weightlifting Championships 2026 were held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in May 2026 — the first time India hosted the continental senior championships.
Option 4 is the trap: Ahmedabad is Gujarat's largest city and the venue of the 2030 Commonwealth Games, but the lifting took place in the state capital, Gandhinagar.
Revision note — Weightlifting and India
• The Asian Championships are run by the Asian Weightlifting Federation; the 2025 edition was held at Jiangshan, China, and the 2024 edition at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• World weightlifting is governed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which moved its headquarters from Budapest to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2020–21.
• Olympic weightlifting has only two lifts — the snatch and the clean and jerk; the clean and press was dropped after 1972.
• Karnam Malleswari won India's first women's Olympic medal — bronze in the 69 kg class at Sydney 2000; Mirabai Chanu won silver in the 49 kg class at Tokyo 2020.
• Mirabai Chanu won India's first gold of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games; Sanket Sargar won its first medal there, a silver in 55 kg.
• Gujarat hosted the 36th National Games in 2022, and Ahmedabad was confirmed as host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games in November 2025.
Do not mix these up
• Gandhinagar vs Ahmedabad — Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat (Mahatma Mandir, Sabarmati); Ahmedabad is the largest city and the Commonwealth Games 2030 host.
• Asian Championships vs Commonwealth Championships — the 2026 Commonwealth Youth and Junior weightlifting championships were held in Apia, Samoa, not in India.
Also asked from this topic: the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships (Samoa); India's first woman Olympic medallist (Karnam Malleswari); the IWF headquarters (Lausanne).
← 15 September 2026 Shift 1All shifts
📥 PDF of this paper (all subjects, English & Hindi): SSC Stenographer previous year papers PDF · ▶ Attempt previous year papers as free online tests · 🏆 Free live mock tests · 📰 Daily current affairs quiz