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SSC Stenographer 2026 9 September 2026 Shift 1 GK Questions – with answers & solutions

All 45 GK / GS questions asked in SSC Stenographer 2026 on 9 September 2026 Shift 1, with correct answers and short solutions, subject-wise: Polity, Static GK, Geography, Biology, Physics, Economics.

📚 45 questions🗓️ 9 September 2026⏰ Shift 1
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Subjects: Polity (6) · Static GK (19) · Geography (6) · Biology (1) · Physics (2) · Economics (9) · Modern History (1) · Current Affairs (1)

Polity (6)

Polity Miscellaneous · Pre-2024 criminal and procedural law (IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act)

Q1. Under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which of the following statements most accurately describes the rule regarding the admissibility of confessions made to police officers?

  1. (a) A confession made to a police officer is admissible if recorded in the presence of a magistrate.
  2. (b) A confession made to a police officer is admissible only if it leads to the discovery of a fact under Section 27.
  3. (c) All confessions made to police officers are admissible as per Section 25.
  4. (d) A confession made to a police officer is admissible if made voluntarily without any inducement, threat or promise
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) A confession made to a police officer is admissible only if it leads to the discovery of a fact under Section 27.

Answer: Option 2 — A confession made to a police officer is admissible only if it leads to the discovery of a fact under Section 27
A confession made to a police officer is barred outright, however voluntary it was.
The one opening is Section 27, where the information given leads to the discovery of a fact.
Revision note — Confessions in the law of evidence
• Section 25, Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — no confession made to a police officer shall be proved against a person accused of any offence. A blanket bar.
• Section 26 — a confession made while in police custody is not provable unless it is made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate.
• Section 27 — the exception. Only so much of the information as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered may be proved.
• Section 27 rests on confirmation by subsequent facts: the recovery itself shows that the statement was true.
• Section 24 is the voluntariness test — a confession caused by inducement, threat or promise is irrelevant. It applies to confessions made to anyone.
• A confession is recorded before a Magistrate under Section 164 CrPC, now Section 183 of the BNSS, 2023.
• Current law: the 1872 Act is replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. Sections 25 to 27 are now carried by Section 23 and its proviso.
Do not mix these up
• Section 25 vs Section 26 — Section 25 bars a confession made to a police officer anywhere; Section 26 bars one made in police custody to anybody.
• Section 24 vs Section 25 — Section 24 asks whether the confession was voluntary; Section 25 does not ask, it shuts the police confession out either way.
• Confession vs recovery — under Section 27 only the part that led to the discovery is proved, never the whole confession.
Also asked from this topic: the law replacing the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam); the date the new criminal laws took effect (1 July 2024); the law replacing the IPC (BNS).
Parliament · Composition of Parliament

Q2. The Parliament of India consists of which of the following?

  1. (a) Only Lok Sabha
  2. (b) Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
  3. (c) President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
  4. (d) Only Rajya Sabha
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Answer: Option 3 — President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
Article 79 defines Parliament as the President together with the two Houses — the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
Revision note — Composition of Parliament
• Article 79 — Parliament = President + Rajya Sabha + Lok Sabha. Learn the article number; it is asked directly.
• The President is not a member of either House, yet is an integral part of Parliament: no Bill becomes law without the President's assent (Article 111).
• Article 80 — the Rajya Sabha: maximum 250, of whom 238 are elected by the state and UT assemblies and 12 nominated by the President.
• Article 81 — the Lok Sabha: maximum 550, that is 530 from the states and 20 from the Union Territories.
• The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House: it is never dissolved, one third of its members retire every two years, and a member's term is 6 years. The Lok Sabha's normal term is 5 years.
• The Indian Parliament is bicameral, a feature taken from the British system.
Do not mix these up
• Parliament vs the two Houses — the commonest trap here. The two Houses alone are not Parliament; Article 79 adds the President.
• Article 79 vs 80 vs 81 — 79 is the composition of Parliament, 80 of the Rajya Sabha, 81 of the Lok Sabha.
Also asked from this topic: what Parliament consists of under Article 79 (President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha);
the number of Houses in the Indian Parliament (two);
the amendment capping the Council of Ministers at 15 per cent of Lok Sabha strength (91st Amendment, 2003).
Preamble, Features, Parts and Schedules · Preamble - text and keywords

Q3. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution declares India as a:

  1. (a) Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, Democratic Republic
  2. (b) Federal Kingdom
  3. (c) Dictatorship
  4. (d) Constitutional Monarchy
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, Democratic Republic

Answer: Option 1 — Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, Democratic Republic
The Preamble resolves to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic, and option 1 carries those same words.
Revision note — The Preamble
• Exact text: "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC…"
• The words Socialist, Secular and Integrity were inserted by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, the "Mini Constitution".
• The four objectives it secures are Justice (social, economic and political), Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
• Sovereign = free of any external control; Republic = the head of state is elected, never hereditary; Secular = the State has no religion of its own and treats all religions equally.
• The Preamble rests on the Objectives Resolution, moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 and adopted on 22 January 1947.
• The idea of a written preamble opening "We, the People" is borrowed from the United States.
• The date written into the Preamble is 26 November 1949.
• In Berubari Union (1960) the Supreme Court held the Preamble was not part of the Constitution; in Kesavananda Bharati (1973) it held that it is.
• One loose point: the option reads "Sovereign, Secular, Socialist", while the Preamble's own order is Socialist before Secular. Only the sequence is off.
Do not mix these up
• Berubari Union (1960) vs Kesavananda Bharati (1973) — Berubari said the Preamble is not a part of the Constitution; Kesavananda reversed that.
• Preamble vs Fundamental Rights — the Preamble is not enforceable in a court; it guides interpretation only.
Also asked from this topic: the amendment that added Socialist, Secular and Integrity (42nd Amendment Act, 1976);
the four objectives named in the Preamble (Justice, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity); the term meaning an elected head of state (Republic);
the case that first held the Preamble to be part of the Constitution (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973);
the resolution the Preamble is based on (Objectives Resolution).
Polity Miscellaneous · New criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA)

Q4. After July 2024, what is the focus of all three laws introduced (BNS, BNSS, BSA)?

  1. (a) Citizen rights and justice
  2. (b) Harshest punishments
  3. (c) Revenue collection
  4. (d) Taxes simplification
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Citizen rights and justice

Answer: Option 1 — Citizen rights and justice
The three new criminal laws are built around the citizen. The declared shift is from danda (punishment) to nyaya (justice) — a victim-centric, decolonised criminal justice system.
Revision note — The three new criminal laws
• Passed in December 2023 and in force from 1 July 2024, piloted by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Amit Shah.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860; 358 sections in 20 chapters, against the IPC's 511.
• The BNS is the substantive law: it defines offences and fixes punishments.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; 531 sections. It is the procedural law, covering investigation and trial.
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872; 170 sections. It governs evidence, with detailed rules for digital and electronic records.
• Citizen-centric features: Zero FIR at any police station regardless of jurisdiction (Section 173, BNSS), e-FIR, and a compulsory forensic team visit for offences carrying 7 years or more.
• More of them: charges framed within 60 days, judgment within 45 days of the trial ending, videography of search and seizure, and community service for petty offences.
• Section 112 of the BNS defines petty organised crime — theft, snatching, cheating, unauthorised ticket selling and the like committed by a member of a gang.
Do not mix these up
• BNS vs BNSS vs BSA — BNS is offences (was the IPC), BNSS is procedure (was the CrPC), BSA is evidence (was the Evidence Act).
• A memory hook: Suraksha points to the procedure code and Sakshya means evidence, so BSA is the evidence law.
Also asked from this topic: the law that replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023);
the number of sections in the BNS (358); the branch of law the BNS consolidates (criminal substantive law);
what a Zero FIR allows (an FIR at any police station, regardless of jurisdiction);
the law that modernises criminal procedure and investigation (BNSS).
Constitutional Development and Making · Borrowed features - sources of the Constitution

Q5. The “Power of Judicial Review” in India is inspired from which country's constitution?

  1. (a) British Constitution
  2. (b) French Constitution
  3. (c) Irish Constitution
  4. (d) United States Constitution
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) United States Constitution

Answer: Option 4 — United States Constitution
Judicial review — the power of courts to test a law against the Constitution and declare it void — is borrowed from the United States.
Revision note — Judicial review and the borrowed features
• In the USA judicial review is judge-made, laid down in Marbury v. Madison (1803). In India it is written into the Constitution itself.
• Its textual base is Article 13 — any law inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights is void. It is enforced through Article 32 (Supreme Court) and Article 226 (High Courts).
• Judicial review is part of the basic structure — Kesavananda Bharati (1973), Minerva Mills (1980), L. Chandra Kumar (1997).
• It is what makes the Supreme Court the guardian of the Constitution.
• Also from the USA: Fundamental Rights, the Preamble, impeachment of the President, the office of Vice-President, independence of the judiciary.
• From the UK: parliamentary government, rule of law, the legislative procedure, single citizenship, the cabinet system, writs, the office of the Speaker.
• From Ireland: Directive Principles, nomination to the Rajya Sabha, the method of electing the President. From France: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
• From Canada: a quasi-federal structure with a strong Centre and residuary powers with the Union. From Australia: the Concurrent List and freedom of trade and commerce.
Do not mix these up
• Judicial review vs judicial activism — review tests the constitutionality of a law; activism is the court's expansive role through PIL, traced to the mid-1970s.
• Article 13 vs Article 32 — Article 13 supplies the ground (void laws); Article 32 supplies the remedy (writs).
• USA vs UK borrowings — Fundamental Rights and judicial review came from the USA; the writs and parliamentary government came from the UK.
Also asked from this topic: the Article that forms the basis of judicial review (Article 13); the guardian of the Constitution (the Supreme Court);
the case recognising judicial review as basic structure (Kesavananda Bharati); when judicial activism began (mid-1970s).
Parliament · Composition of Parliament

Q6. The Constitution of Parliament comes under:

  1. (a) Article 72
  2. (b) Article 75
  3. (c) Article 77
  4. (d) Article 79
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Article 79

Answer: Option 4 — Article 79
Article 79 is headed Constitution of Parliament: there shall be a Parliament for the Union consisting of the President and two Houses — the Council of States and the House of the People.
Revision note — Parliament, Articles 79 onwards
• Parliament = President + Rajya Sabha + Lok Sabha. The President is a part of Parliament although he sits in neither House.
• Article 79 opens Part V, Chapter II of the Constitution, the chapter on Parliament.
• Article 80 — composition of the Rajya Sabha: maximum 250 members, 238 from States and Union Territories and 12 nominated by the President for literature, science, art and social service.
• Article 81 — composition of the Lok Sabha: maximum 550 elected members, 530 from States and 20 from Union Territories.
• Article 83 — duration of the Houses: the Lok Sabha runs 5 years; the Rajya Sabha is never dissolved, one-third retiring every 2 years.
• Article 84 — qualifications for membership: citizen of India, 30 years for the Rajya Sabha and 25 years for the Lok Sabha.
• Nearby articles worth fixing: Article 72 — the President's pardoning power.
• Article 75 — appointment of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers; Article 77 — conduct of business of the Government.
Do not mix these up
• Article 79 vs Article 80/81 — Article 79 says what Parliament is; Articles 80 and 81 say how each House is composed.
• Article 72 vs Article 161 — Article 72 is the President's pardoning power; Article 161 is the Governor's.
• Article 74 vs Article 75 — Article 74 creates the Council of Ministers to aid and advise; Article 75 governs their appointment and responsibility.
Also asked from this topic: what Parliament consists of under Article 79 (President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha); the number of Houses (two); the Article on the Rajya Sabha's composition (Article 80);
the members nominated by the President (12).

Static GK (19)

Monuments and Heritage · Vernacular and tribal architecture

Q7. Which of the following features is most characteristic of Meitei Traditional Architecture associated with Sanamahism in Manipur?

  1. (a) Use of large granite blocks with intricate stone carvings depicting Hindu epics.
  2. (b) Predominantly wooden construction with raised platforms and open-air sanctuaries dedicated to nature deities.
  3. (c) Pyramid-shaped stupas with golden spires influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.
  4. (d) Fortified palaces with Mughal-style domes and minarets reflecting medieval Islamic influence.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Predominantly wooden construction with raised platforms and open-air sanctuaries dedicated to nature deities.

Answer: Option 2 — Predominantly wooden construction with raised platforms and open-air sanctuaries dedicated to nature deities
Meitei traditional building is timber, bamboo and thatch raised on an earthen plinth.
The shrines of the nature deities stand in the open air, inside sacred groves.
Revision note — Sanamahism and Meitei culture
• Sanamahism (Meitei Laining) is the indigenous pre-Hindu faith of the Meitei people of Manipur.
• Lainingthou Sanamahi is the household deity. His seat is fixed at the south-west corner of the main room of every traditional house.
• Umang Lai means forest deity. These shrines are small open structures in sacred groves — the open-air sanctuary of the answer.
• Lai Haraoba, meaning pleasing of the deities, is the ritual festival held for the Umang Lai. The dance is enacted by priestesses called Maibi, their male counterparts being Maiba, to the pena fiddle.
• The traditional house is the Yumjao — wooden posts, bamboo walls, thatched roof, raised earthen floor and a direction-bound plan.
• Other Meitei items worth holding: Thang-Ta or Huyen Langlon, the sword-and-spear martial art; Ningol Chakouba, the festival for married daughters; Kwak Jatra in October.
Do not mix these up
• Sanamahism vs Manipuri Vaishnavism — Sanamahism worships nature and ancestor deities; Vaishnavism reached Manipur in the 18th century and gave the Ras Leela of Manipuri classical dance.
• Umang Lai shrine vs temple — the Umang Lai shrine is an open grove structure, not a walled stone temple with carved epic panels.
Also asked from this topic: the state of the Lai Haraoba festival (Manipur); the women who enact that dance (Maibis); the Meitei festival for married daughters (Ningol Chakouba).
Dances · Folk dances by state

Q8. Which of the following characteristics best distinguishes Kamsale from other devotional dance forms in Karnataka, particularly in terms of its musical instrumentation, religious significance, and performance context?

  1. (a) It is a temple dance performed silently by women, emphasizing stillness and subtle hand gestures to invoke goddess Durga.
  2. (b) It involves rhythmic clashing of metal cymbals called ‘Kamsale’ by male performers, who sing praises of Lord Male Mahadeshwara, combining martial dance movements with devotional fervor during pilgrimage and festival rituals.
  3. (c) It is a purely theatrical folk drama without any musical instruments, narrating mythological stories through dialogue and facial expressions.
  4. (d) It is a harvest dance performed during the festival of Sankranti, primarily focused on celebrating agricultural prosperity with group formations and colorful costumes.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) It involves rhythmic clashing of metal cymbals called ‘Kamsale’ by male performers, who sing praises of Lord Male Mahadeshwara, combining martial dance movements with devotional fervor during pilgrimage and festival rituals.

Answer: Option 2 — Rhythmic clashing of metal cymbals called kamsale by male performers singing of Lord Male Mahadeshwara
Kamsale is a vigorous, male, martial-flavoured devotional dance of Karnataka.
The bronze instrument that gives it its name is clashed in rhythm all through the song.
Revision note — Kamsale and the folk forms of Karnataka
• The performers are the Devara Guddas, men dedicated to Male Mahadeshwara, who take a vow and carry the instrument as a badge of devotion.
• Home region: the Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajanagar district, and Mysuru, Mandya and Bengaluru Rural.
• The instrument is a bronze disc and cup joined by a leather strap, struck to mark the beat.
• The sung text is the Mahadeshwara Kavya, an oral epic on the saint-god, carried father to son with no written notation.
• Context: jatre (fair) and pilgrimage rituals. The movement is near-acrobatic, with leaps and squats, and a competitive pairing called Horadata.
• Neighbouring Karnataka forms: Yakshagana, the night-long dance-drama of the coastal and Malnad districts, and Dollu Kunitha, the drum dance for Beereshwara.
• Also Veeragase, the Shaiva warrior dance, and Suggi Kunitha, the harvest dance.
Do not mix these up
• Kamsale vs Yakshagana — Kamsale is a sung, cymbal-driven devotional dance; Yakshagana is a costumed dance-drama with dialogue, on epic and Puranic stories.
• Kamsale vs Dollu Kunitha — both are male and athletic, but Dollu Kunitha is danced with the large dollu drum slung at the waist.
Also asked from this topic: the state of origin of Yakshagana (Karnataka); the state of the Bolak-aat dance-theatre form (Karnataka); the Kodava harvest festival that invokes Lord Iguthappa (Puthari).
Dances · Folk dances by state

Q9. Which folk dance of India is performed during Navratri and involves rhythmic clapping and circular group formations?

  1. (a) Bihu
  2. (b) Ghoomar
  3. (c) Garba
  4. (d) Lavani
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Garba

Answer: Option 3 — Garba
Garba is the Navratri folk dance of Gujarat.
Dancers move in circles around a perforated earthen lamp-pot, keeping time with rhythmic claps.
Revision note — Garba and the dances around it
• The name comes from garbha deep, the lamp set inside the pot — a symbol of the womb and of life. The pot itself is the garbo.
• Danced through the nine nights of Navratri for Goddess Amba / Durga, whose victory over Mahishasura the festival marks.
• Dandiya Raas, the Gujarati stick dance, is its companion and usually follows Garba the same night; it enacts the mock fight of Durga and Mahishasura.
• UNESCO inscribed Garba of Gujarat on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2023, at the 18th session in Kasane, Botswana — India's 15th element on that list.
• Other Gujarat folk forms: Tippani, Padhar and the folk theatre Bhavai.
• Bihu belongs to Assam — the Bohag Bihu spring dance of April, with dhol, pepa and gogona.
• Ghoomar belongs to Rajasthan — a twirling dance of Bhil origin later taken up by Rajput women, first danced for Saraswati.
• Lavani belongs to Maharashtra — a fast, dholki-driven song-and-dance of the Tamasha stage.
Do not mix these up
• Garba vs Dandiya Raas — Garba is danced with claps around the lamp-pot; Dandiya Raas is danced in pairs with decorated sticks.
• Garba vs Ghoomar — both are women's circling dances, but Ghoomar is Rajasthani and tied to weddings and Teej, not to Navratri.
Also asked from this topic: the Gujarat dance of Navratri (Garba); the deity it honours (Durga / Amba); the Gujarati stick dance (Dandiya Raas); the odd one out beside Garba and Tippani (Giddha).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q10. Which of the following festivals is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism?

  1. (a) Mahavir Jayanti
  2. (b) Paryushana
  3. (c) Diwali
  4. (d) Navapad Oli
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Mahavir Jayanti

Answer: Option 1 — Mahavir Jayanti
Mahavir Jayanti marks the birth of Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism.
The other three festivals in the list mark a fast, a death and a semi-fast, not a birth.
Revision note — Mahavira and the Jain calendar
• Date: Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi, the 13th day of the bright half of Chaitra, falling in March or April.
• Born about 599 BCE at Kundagrama near Vaishali, Bihar, to Siddhartha, chief of the Jnatrika clan, and Trishala, a Lichchhavi princess and sister of Chetaka.
• He left home at 30, practised austerities for about 12 years, and gained kevala jnana at 42 at Jrimbhikagrama on the Rijupalika river.
• Nirvana at Pavapuri about 527 BCE. Jain Diwali, and Deo Deepawali in Bihar, mark that nirvana.
• The five vows: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Aparigraha, Brahmacharya. He added Brahmacharya to the four of Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara.
• Doctrines: Anekantavada, the many-sidedness of reality, and Syadvada, conditional predication.
• He preached in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit, the sacred language of Jainism; the Agamas are in it and the Kalpa Sutra of Bhadrabahu is recited at Paryushana.
Do not mix these up
• Mahavir Jayanti vs Jain Diwali — Jayanti is his birth in Chaitra; Diwali marks his nirvana at Pavapuri.
• Paryushana vs Das Lakshana — the same season of fasting and forgiveness, but eight days for Svetambaras and ten for Digambaras. It ends in Samvatsari / Kshamavani.
• Mahavira vs Parshvanatha — Mahavira is the 24th Tirthankara, Parshvanatha the 23rd; the fifth vow is Mahavira's addition.
Also asked from this topic: the city near Mahavira's birthplace (Vaishali); his age at renunciation (30); the sacred language of Jainism (Prakrit); whose nirvana Deo Deepawali marks (Mahavira's).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q11. Which of the following festivals marks the beginning of the harvest season in Tamil Nadu and is closely associated with sun worship?

  1. (a) Ugadi
  2. (b) Vishu
  3. (c) Pongal
  4. (d) Makar Sankranti
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Pongal

Answer: Option 3 — Pongal
Pongal is the four-day Tamil harvest festival that opens the harvest season.
Its central day is dedicated to the Sun God, Surya.
Revision note — Pongal and the mid-January solar festivals
• Celebrated in the Tamil month of Thai, normally 14 to 17 January, at the Sun's transit into Capricorn (Makara).
• Pongal means to boil over. Rice boiled in milk is allowed to spill from the pot as a sign of plenty.
• The four days: Bhogi, burning the old; Thai Pongal or Surya Pongal, the sun-worship day; Mattu Pongal, for cattle; Kaanum Pongal, for family visits.
• Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport of Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Pudukkottai, is held around Mattu Pongal.
• The same solar transit is Makar Sankranti in the north, Uttarayan with kites in Gujarat, Magh Bihu in Assam, Lohri on the eve in Punjab, and Sankranti with Kanuma in Andhra and Telangana.
• Ugadi is the lunar New Year of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, known for Ugadi pachadi.
• Vishu is the Malayalam New Year of Kerala in the month of Medam, mid-April, known for the Vishukkani.
Do not mix these up
• Pongal vs Makar Sankranti — the same astronomical event on the same date. Pongal is its Tamil Nadu name and its four-day form.
• Solar vs lunar new years — Pongal, Vishu and Baisakhi follow the Sun; Ugadi and Gudi Padwa follow the lunar calendar in Chaitra.
• Thai Pongal vs Mattu Pongal — the sun is worshipped on the second day, the cattle on the third.
Also asked from this topic: the number of days Pongal runs (4); the day cattle are adorned (Mattu Pongal); the sport held during Pongal (Jallikattu); the sign the Sun enters at Sankranti (Capricorn).
Music and Musical Instruments · Folk music and songs by state

Q12. In what ways do Manganiyar and Langas musical traditions reflect the complex interplay of social hierarchy, patronage, and cultural transmission in Rajasthan’s folk music landscape?

  1. (a) By being independent of any patronage system and performed solely in public festivals
  2. (b) By historically relying on the patronage of Rajput and Muslim elites, these communities preserved and transmitted a rich repertoire of songs praising rulers, deities, and local legends, thus blending diverse cultural influences and sustaining their social identity through music
  3. (c) By exclusively performing classical Hindustani music without any folk elements
  4. (d) By rejecting all traditional instruments and focusing only on vocal performances
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) By historically relying on the patronage of Rajput and Muslim elites, these communities preserved and transmitted a rich repertoire of songs praising rulers, deities, and local legends, thus blending diverse cultural influences and sustaining their social identity through music

Answer: Option 2 — Historical reliance on Rajput and Muslim patronage, through which these communities preserved and transmitted songs of rulers, deities and local legends
The jajman, or hereditary patron, is the whole basis of both traditions.
The repertoire survived because it was sung at the patron's births, weddings and festivals, generation after generation.
Revision note — Manganiyars and Langas of western Rajasthan
• Both are hereditary professional musician communities of the Thar belt — Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur — with kin across the border in Sindh.
• Both are Muslim by faith, yet the Manganiyars sing to Hindu deities such as Krishna and Ramdevji. This is the textbook case of syncretic folk practice.
• Their patrons are the jajmans. The Manganiyars' jajmans were largely Rajput and Hindu households; the Langas' were mostly Sindhi-Sipahi Muslim patrons.
• Signature instruments — Manganiyar: the kamaicha, a bowed instrument with a round mango-wood resonator covered in goatskin, with khartal and dholak.
• Langa: the sindhi sarangi, a bowed instrument with many sympathetic strings, with satara / algoza and murli.
• Transmission is oral and hereditary, father to son, with no written notation. Their modern stage is the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur.
Do not mix these up
• Manganiyar vs Langa — the kamaicha marks the Manganiyar, the sindhi sarangi the Langa, and their patron communities differ as well.
• Jajmani patronage vs stage performance — the tradition was sustained by hereditary patrons attached to families, not by ticketed public concerts.
Also asked from this topic: the instrument central to the Manganiyar tradition (kamaicha); the bowed Rajasthani-Sindhi instrument with sympathetic strings (Sindhi Sarangi).
Music and Musical Instruments · Carnatic music

Q13. The padams of Kshetrayya are known for which of the following features?

  1. (a) Purely devotional language
  2. (b) Use of abstract philosophical ideas
  3. (c) Sringara rasa with Nayika-Nayaka bhava
  4. (d) Exclusive usage of Sanskrit
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Sringara rasa with Nayika-Nayaka bhava

Answer: Option 3 — Sringara rasa with Nayika-Nayaka bhava
Kshetrayya's padams are love-lyrics in the sringara mode, sung in the voice of the nayika to her nayaka.
That heroine-hero framing is the idiom of madhura bhakti, where longing for God is set as human love.
Revision note — Kshetrayya and the padam
• Kshetrayya, also written Kshetragna, was a 17th-century Telugu composer from Muvvapuri (Movva) in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, close to Kuchipudi village.
• His mudra, the signature carried in every composition, is Muvva Gopala — Krishna of Muvva, who is the nayaka of the padams.
• A padam is a slow, vilamba kala lyric. Its unhurried tempo is exactly what makes it the classic vehicle for abhinaya in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
• He composed in colloquial Telugu, not Sanskrit. Tradition credits him with thousands of padams, of which a few hundred survive.
• In the Bharatanatyam margam the padam sits in the abhinaya half after the varnam. Alarippu, meaning to adorn with flowers, opens the margam and the tillana closes it.
• Kuchipudi takes its name from Kuchipudi village in Krishna district and owes its dance-drama form to Siddhendra Yogi; its best-known item is the Tarangam on the rim of a brass plate.
Do not mix these up
• Kshetrayya vs Annamacharya — Annamacharya (1408 to 1503) of Tirupati wrote about 32,000 sankirtanas on Lord Venkateswara; Kshetrayya wrote padams on Muvva Gopala in the sringara mode.
• Padam vs javali — both are abhinaya pieces on love, but the padam is slow and devotional while the javali is fast and frankly secular.
Also asked from this topic: the theme of the padam in a Bharatanatyam margam (love and divine affection); the meaning of Alarippu (to adorn with flowers); the saint behind Kuchipudi (Siddhendra Yogi).
Space, Defence and Technology · Launch vehicles and satellites

Q14. Which of the following statements about the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) is correct?

  1. (a) POEM is a separate satellite launched alongside PSLV missions that remains in orbit to perform manned space experiments.
  2. (b) POEM utilizes the spent PS4 stage of the PSLV as an orbital platform to host payloads, thereby enhancing mission utility without launching a new satellite bus.
  3. (c) POEM is an independent ISRO launch vehicle program intended to replace the PSLV for deploying nanosatellites.
  4. (d) POEM refers to a dedicated PSLV variant that deploys multiple satellites into geostationary orbit using reusable boosters.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) POEM utilizes the spent PS4 stage of the PSLV as an orbital platform to host payloads, thereby enhancing mission utility without launching a new satellite bus.

Answer: Option 2 — POEM uses the spent PS4 stage of the PSLV as an orbital platform to host payloads
Instead of being abandoned as space junk, the PSLV's fourth stage is kept alive with solar panels, batteries and attitude control and flown as a free orbital laboratory.
So a payload reaches orbit with no separate satellite bus built or launched for it.
Revision note — PSLV and the POEM platform
• POEM = PSLV Orbital Experimental Module, an ISRO platform. It is neither a satellite nor a launch vehicle, and it carries no crew.
• PSLV = Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, ISRO's medium-lift workhorse: four stages, alternating solid – liquid – solid – liquid. PS4 is the liquid fourth stage that becomes POEM.
• POEM-1 flew on PSLV-C53 (June 2022); POEM-3 on PSLV-C58 (1 January 2024, XPoSat); POEM-4 on PSLV-C60 (30 December 2024, SpaDeX).
• POEM operates in low Earth orbit. The PSLV has no reusable boosters and no cryogenic stage.
• The PSLV-XL, the most powerful variant, has six strap-on boosters and a lift-off mass of about 320 tonnes.
• India's human spaceflight programme is Gaganyaan; its small-satellite launcher is the SSLV.
Do not mix these up
• POEM vs a hosted-payload satellite — POEM reuses the rocket's own spent stage; a hosted payload still rides on a satellite bus that had to be built.
• POEM vs SSLV — POEM is a platform already in orbit; the SSLV is a launch vehicle that puts things there.
Also asked from this topic: the full form of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle); the vehicle that launched SpaDeX (PSLV-C60); the lift-off mass of the PSLV-XL (320 tonnes).
Space, Defence and Technology · Indian space missions

Q15. Which of the following best highlights the multifaceted significance of India's Gaganyaan mission, beyond simply launching humans into space?

  1. (a) Gaganyaan focuses exclusively on deploying reusable satellites to reduce mission costs and eliminate dependency on international crew modules.
  2. (b) Gaganyaan demonstrates India's autonomous capability in human spaceflight, fosters development in advanced life-support systems, and strategically positions India among select nations with orbital crewed mission capabilities.
  3. (c) Gaganyaan aims to deploy a space telescope for X-ray astronomy and deep-space observation of black holes and neutron stars.
  4. (d) Gaganyaan is a robotic interplanetary mission targeting Venus, with autonomous AI payloads for analyzing the planet's sulfuric atmosphere.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Gaganyaan demonstrates India's autonomous capability in human spaceflight, fosters development in advanced life-support systems, and strategically positions India among select nations with orbital crewed mission capabilities.

Answer: Option 2 — Gaganyaan shows autonomous human spaceflight capability, develops life-support technology and places India among the few nations with crewed orbital capability
The significance is threefold — an indigenous crewed launch, the spin-off technologies (life support, crew escape, safe re-entry),
and strategic standing among the few nations that can fly their own astronauts.
Revision note — Gaganyaan
• Announced by PM Narendra Modi on 15 August 2018; executed by ISRO.
• Profile: 3 crew members, low Earth orbit at about 400 km, duration about 3 days, splashdown in Indian waters.
• Launcher: HLVM3, the human-rated LVM3 (GSLV Mk-III). The two critical systems are the Crew Escape System (CES) and the ECLSS, the Environmental Control and Life Support System.
• The abort test TV-D1 flew on 21 October 2023 from Sriharikota. The uncrewed precursor Gaganyaan-G1 carries the half-humanoid robot Vyommitra.
• Four astronaut-designates were named in February 2024 — Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla, who flew to the ISS on Axiom-4 in June 2025.
• On success India becomes the fourth nation to launch humans on its own vehicle, after the USSR/Russia, the USA and China.
Do not mix these up
• LVM3 vs HLVM3 — the same rocket, but HLVM3 is human-rated, with higher safety margins and a crew escape tower.
• Gaganyaan vs XPoSat vs Shukrayaan-1 — Gaganyaan is crewed; XPoSat is the X-ray polarimetry satellite of January 2024; Shukrayaan-1 is the planned robotic Venus orbiter.
Also asked from this topic: the crew size of Gaganyaan (3); its orbital altitude (about 400 km); the full form of HLVM3 (Human-rated LVM3); the humanoid robot on the uncrewed flight (Vyommitra).
Space, Defence and Technology · Launch vehicles and satellites

Q16. Which of the following best explains the evolving strategic and technological significance of Earth Observation Satellites (EOS) in India's space program, and how they differ from traditional remote sensing systems?

  1. (a) EOS are space-based telescopes used exclusively for astronomical imaging and star tracking, differing from remote sensing satellites which focus only on Earth's land cover and mineral deposits.
  2. (b) EOS satellites are designed to detect gravitational waves from Earth's core, while remote sensing satellites map tectonic activities through radar interferometry.
  3. (c) EOS in India form an integrated constellation for real-time, high-resolution monitoring of weather, agriculture, disasters, and strategic assets using synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral imaging, offering higher revisit capability and data fusion compared to traditional remote sensing satellites.
  4. (d) EOS are low-cost balloon-based systems that collect atmospheric data in real-time, replacing the need for satellite-based observation platforms.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) EOS in India form an integrated constellation for real-time, high-resolution monitoring of weather, agriculture, disasters, and strategic assets using synthetic aperture radar and multi-spectral imaging, offering higher revisit capability and data fusion compared to traditional remote sensing satellites.

Answer: Option 3 — EOS form an integrated constellation using SAR and multi-spectral imaging, with higher revisit and data fusion than traditional remote sensing satellites
The upgrade is the constellation, not any single satellite.
Optical, multi-spectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar craft fly together, so weather, crops, floods and border areas are imaged often and the data are fused.
Revision note — India's Earth Observation Satellites
• EOS = Earth Observation Satellite. From 2020 ISRO merged its older families — IRS, Cartosat, Oceansat, RISAT — into one EOS-nn series.
• SAR images day and night and through cloud, which an optical sensor cannot. That is the key gain for disaster and border monitoring.
• EOS-01 (November 2020, PSLV-C49) was a radar-imaging satellite; EOS-04 (February 2022, PSLV-C52) carries a C-band SAR; EOS-06 is Oceansat-3; EOS-08 flew on SSLV-D3 in August 2024.
• NISAR, the NASA–ISRO dual-frequency L- and S-band SAR satellite, launched on GSLV-F16 on 30 July 2025.
• NISAR flies in a near-polar sun-synchronous orbit at about 747 km and maps land and ice every 12 days.
• Earth observation satellites use sun-synchronous polar orbits so that every pass over a place happens at the same local solar time — essential for comparing images taken months apart.
• Cartosat-3 is the high-resolution optical satellite used for agriculture, forestry, urban planning and coastal work. NRSC, Hyderabad distributes the data.
Do not mix these up
• Sun-synchronous vs geostationary — EOS fly in a low sun-synchronous polar orbit a few hundred km up; communication satellites sit at about 36,000 km over the equator.
• Earth observation vs astronomy satellites — EOS look at the Earth; AstroSat and XPoSat look outward.
• SAR vs optical imaging — radar penetrates cloud and darkness; an optical camera needs daylight and a clear sky.
Also asked from this topic: what Earth observation satellites are for (monitoring weather, land use and environmental change); NISAR's imaging type (radar imaging); its revisit period (12 days).
Space, Defence and Technology · Launch vehicles and satellites

Q17. What are the unique design features and strategic advantages of India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) compared to traditional launch vehicles like PSLV, and what challenges must be addressed to fully operationalize its commercial potential?

  1. (a) SSLV uses cryogenic propulsion to place large payloads into geostationary orbit and is fully reusable, unlike PSLV which requires booster recovery.
  2. (b) SSLV is designed for launching small payloads on-demand into low Earth orbit, offers rapid turnaround, modular manufacturing, and on-site assembly, but faces challenges in payload capacity, precision injection, and commercial competition.
  3. (c) SSLV carries hybrid electric propulsion for Earth–Moon transfer orbits and faces difficulties in re-entry shielding and autonomous docking.
  4. (d) SSLV is primarily an air-launched system capable of deploying mini-satellites globally without fixed launch infrastructure, similar to Gaganyaan's human space module.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) SSLV is designed for launching small payloads on-demand into low Earth orbit, offers rapid turnaround, modular manufacturing, and on-site assembly, but faces challenges in payload capacity, precision injection, and commercial competition.

Answer: Option 2 — SSLV launches small payloads on demand into low Earth orbit with rapid turnaround, but faces limits of payload, injection precision and commercial competition
The SSLV is ISRO's launch-on-demand small-lift rocket — assembled in days by a small team, at low cost.
Its open problems are low payload capacity, injection accuracy and a crowded global small-launcher market.
Revision note — Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)
• About 34 m tall, 2 m in diameter, lift-off mass about 120 tonnes.
• Configuration: three solid stages plus a liquid Velocity Trimming Module (VTM), which does the fine injection at the end.
• Capacity: about 500 kg to a 500 km low Earth orbit, or about 300 kg to a sun-synchronous polar orbit.
• Flights: SSLV-D1 (August 2022) failed to reach a stable orbit; SSLV-D2 (February 2023) placed EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 in a 450 km circular orbit; SSLV-D3 (August 2024) carried EOS-08.
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited won the transfer-of-technology deal for the SSLV in 2025 with a bid of ₹511 crore, moving production to industry.
• Launches are from Sriharikota. A new small-launcher spaceport is coming up at Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu, and a third launch pad at Sriharikota was approved in January 2025.
Do not mix these up
• SSLV vs PSLV — the SSLV carries about 500 kg to LEO and turns around in days; the PSLV carries about 1,750 kg to SSO and takes months to prepare.
• Solid vs cryogenic — the SSLV is all-solid plus a liquid trim module; cryogenic upper stages belong to the GSLV and LVM3, and no Indian launcher yet has reusable boosters.
Also asked from this topic: what makes the SSLV distinct from PSLV and GSLV (on-demand, low-cost launches); its lift-off mass (120 tonnes); the firm that won its technology transfer (HAL).
Sports · National championships - venues and winners

Q18. The National Games 2007 held in Assam were a turning point for the North East's representation in national sports. What was a major social impact of this event?

  1. (a) Reduction in insurgent activities due to youth participation
  2. (b) Decline in migration to urban centers
  3. (c) Massive urban expansion across Tripura
  4. (d) Formation of a Northeast Olympic Council
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Reduction in insurgent activities due to youth participation

Answer: Option 1 — Reduction in insurgent activities due to youth participation
The 33rd National Games at Guwahati, Assam, in February 2007 were the first held in the North East.
The social gain credited to them is that organised sport drew local youth into training and competition instead of insurgent groups.
That is a qualitative claim rather than a measured statistic — but it is the only option of the four that describes a social impact at all.
Revision note — The National Games of India
• The 33rd National Games were held at Guwahati, Assam, in February 2007 — the first edition hosted by a North-Eastern state.
• They are organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with the host state government, and are meant to be held every two years, though the schedule slips often.
• The IOA was formed in 1927 with Sir Dorabji Tata as founding President and Dr A. G. Noehren as Secretary. P. T. Usha became its first woman president in December 2022.
• Stadiums and training centres built for a National Games stay with the host state afterwards — the standard argument for awarding the Games to an under-served region.
• The 38th National Games (January-February 2025) were hosted by Uttarakhand, its first, across several cities; the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) topped the tally with 121 medals.
• Khelo India (2018) carries the same idea further, through the Khelo India Youth Games, the University Games and the first Khelo India Para Games in December 2023.
Do not mix these up
• National Games vs Khelo India Youth Games — the National Games are the senior inter-state competition run by the IOA; the Khelo India Youth Games are an age-group programme of the Sports Ministry.
Also asked from this topic: the host state of the 33rd National Games, 2007 (Assam); how often the Games are held (every two years); the body that organises them (Indian Olympic Association).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Tribal festivals

Q19. Which one of the following is correctly paired regarding the Santhal festival Erok Sim?

  1. (a) Celebrated in Baisakh – Santhal sowing begins
  2. (b) Celebrated in Asarh – Marks agricultural commencement
  3. (c) Celebrated in Kartik – Festival of hunting
  4. (d) Celebrated in Phalgun – Harvest concludes
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Celebrated in Asarh – Marks agricultural commencement

Answer: Option 2 — Celebrated in Asarh – Marks agricultural commencement
Erok Sim is the Santhal sowing rite, kept in Asarh (Ashadha, June-July) as the monsoon breaks and paddy sowing begins — so both halves of option 2 match.
Revision note — Santhal festivals and the Santhals
• The Santhals are among India's largest tribal communities, spread over Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Assam.
• Their festival year follows the crop: Erok Sim (Asarh, sowing) → Hariar Sim (Sawan, when the seedlings green) → Janthar (Aghan, the new paddy) → Sohrai, the harvest festival.
• Sohrai is the biggest Santhal festival and the harvest festival of Jharkhand — built around the worship, bathing and decoration of cattle, and around Sohrai wall painting.
• Sohrai's month varies by region: Poush-Magh among the Santhals, and just after Diwali in parts of Jharkhand.
• Baha is the flower festival of Phalgun, marking the blossoming of sal and mahua. Disum Sendra is the community hunting festival, held in summer.
• Santhal dance is performed in circular or line formations, by men and women together, chiefly at Sohrai, Baha and Karam.
• Santhali was added to the Eighth Schedule by the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003, with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili, taking the total to 22.
• Santhali is an Austro-Asiatic language; its script Ol Chiki was devised by Pandit Raghunath Murmu.
• The Santhal Hul rebellion broke out on 30 June 1855 in the Santhal Parganas, under Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu.
Do not mix these up
• Erok Sim vs Sohrai — Erok Sim marks the sowing, at the start of the agricultural year; Sohrai marks the harvest, at its close.
• Baha vs Sohrai — Baha is the flower festival of Phalgun; Sohrai is the harvest and cattle festival.
• Santhali vs Bodo — both entered the Eighth Schedule in 2003, but Santhali is Austro-Asiatic and Bodo is Tibeto-Burman.
Also asked from this topic: the harvest festival of Jharkhand (Sohrai); the form of Santhal dance (circular or line group dance); the amendment that added Santhali to the Eighth Schedule (92nd).
Dances · Folk dances by state

Q20. Which of the following dance forms and accompaniments is accurately matched?

  1. (a) Rouf – Rabab and Tumbaknari
  2. (b) Thiruvathira Kali – Dhol and Harmonium
  3. (c) Saila – Pheran and Flute
  4. (d) Sattriya– Nagara and tribal flute
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Rouf – Rabab and Tumbaknari

Answer: Option 1 — Rouf – Rabab and Tumbaknari
Rouf is a women's folk dance of Jammu and Kashmir, and its accompaniment is the Kashmiri folk ensemble of the rabab and the tumbaknari.
Revision note — Rouf and the three dances it is set against
• Rouf (Rauf) — Jammu and Kashmir. Women stand in two facing rows and use a toe-heel footwork called ras. Danced at Eid, in spring and at weddings; the costume is the pheran.
• Its instruments are the tumbaknari (goblet-shaped clay drum), the noot (earthen pot) and the rabab (Kashmiri stringed instrument). For SSC, fix this: tumbaknari → Jammu and Kashmir.
• Thiruvathira Kali (Kaikottikali) — Kerala. Women circle the nilavilakku lamp at Onam and Thiruvathira.
• Its accompaniment is the dancers' own clapping and the ilathalam cymbals, not dhol and harmonium.
• Saila — a men's stick dance of Chhattisgarh, danced after the harvest and at Dussehra and the Chaitra Parva; the drum is the mandar.
• Sattriya — the classical dance of Assam, created by Srimanta Sankaradeva in the Vaishnavite sattras; classical status from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2000.
• Sattriya uses the khol drum and taal cymbals, not the nagara; the women's costume is the Mekhela Chador.
• A pheran is a Kashmiri woollen cloak — a costume, not an instrument at all.
Do not mix these up
• Rouf vs Chakri — both are Kashmiri and both use the rabab and tumbaknari, but Rouf is a dance while Chakri is a sung folk music form.
• Sattriya vs Saila — Sattriya is classical and from Assam; Saila is folk and from Chhattisgarh.
Also asked from this topic: the region of the Rouf dance (Jammu and Kashmir); the state of Saila (Chhattisgarh);
the state of Thiruvathirakali (Kerala); the instruments of Thiruvathira Kali (claps and ilathalam);
the year Sattriya was recognised as a classical dance (2000).
Books and Authors · Modern Indian books and authors

Q21. In which language was The Blind Lady’s Descendants originally written?

  1. (a) Kannada
  2. (b) Malayalam
  3. (c) Hindi
  4. (d) English
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) English

Answer: Option 4 — English
The Blind Lady's Descendants was written in English by Anees Salim, a Kerala-born novelist who writes only in English.
Revision note — Anees Salim and the Sahitya Akademi Award for English
• Anees Salim was born in Varkala, Kerala, but writes in English. The Kerala setting of his novels is the trap; it says nothing about their language.
• The Blind Lady's Descendants won the Sahitya Akademi Award for English in 2018. Amar, the youngest child of a Muslim family in a small Kerala town, narrates it as what is meant to be his suicide note.
• His novel Vanity Bagh won The Hindu Literary Prize, 2013.
• The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, was set up in 1954 and gives its annual award in 24 languages, English among them.
• Other Sahitya Akademi English winners that exams repeat: Amitabha Bagchi for Half the Night is Gone (2019) and Ruskin Bond for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra (1992).
Do not mix these up
• Sahitya Akademi Award vs Jnanpith Award — the Sahitya Akademi honours one book each year in each of 24 languages; the Jnanpith honours a writer's whole body of work.
• Language of the author vs language of the book — many Indian writers from a regional state publish in English. Judge the book, not the birthplace.
Also asked from this topic: the Sahitya Akademi winner who wrote Half the Night is Gone (Amitabha Bagchi);
Ruskin Bond's Sahitya Akademi book of 1992 (Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra);
the Jnanpith-winning collection of Sumitranandan Pant (Chidambara).
Sports · Sports schemes and campaigns (Khelo India, Fit India)

Q22. Read the Assertion (A) and Reason (R) carefully. Choose the correct option regarding their truth value and relationship.
Assertion (A): The Fit India Movement was launched to promote daily fitness.
Reason (R): It aims to train elite Olympic athletes.

  1. (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
  2. (b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
  3. (c) A is true, but R is false.
  4. (d) A is false, but R is true.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) A is true, but R is false.

Answer: Option 3 — A is true, but R is false
The Fit India Movement was indeed launched to make fitness part of daily life, so A is true. Training elite Olympic athletes is the job of TOPS and Khelo India, not of Fit India, so R is false.
Revision note — Fit India and the other sports schemes
• Fit India Movement — launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 August 2019 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi. Nodal ministry: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• 29 August is National Sports Day, the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand, the "Wizard of Hockey".
• Fit India is a mass-participation campaign for everyday physical activity. An offshoot, Fit India Sundays on Cycle, was launched in December 2024.
• Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), 2014 — supports a small group of elite medal prospects with funding, foreign training and equipment.
• Khelo India, 2018 — grassroots talent scouting, with the Youth Games, University Games and Winter Games; the first Khelo India Para Games were held at New Delhi in December 2023.
• RESET (Re-Empowering Sports Elites through Training) — launched on National Sports Day, 29 August 2024, to help retired elite athletes into a second career.
Do not mix these up
• Fit India vs Khelo India vs TOPS — Fit India is for every citizen, Khelo India for young talent, TOPS for Olympic medal contenders.
• A-R questions — settle the truth of A and of R separately first. Only if both are true do you go on to ask whether R explains A.
Also asked from this topic: the year the Fit India Movement was launched (2019); what it encourages (everyday physical activity);
the sports legend National Sports Day commemorates (Major Dhyan Chand); the date of National Sports Day (29 August);
the year the RESET programme began (2024).
Music and Musical Instruments · Indian classical music - overview and traditions

Q23. Which are the two principal traditions of Indian classical music?

  1. (a) Hindustani and Western
  2. (b) Carnatic and Hindustani
  3. (c) Odissi and Rabindra Sangeet
  4. (d) Gharana and Folk
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Carnatic and Hindustani

Answer: Option 2 — Carnatic and Hindustani
Indian classical music has exactly two principal traditions — Hindustani in the North and Carnatic in the South.
Both grew from the same root and share the raga–tala framework.
Revision note — The two streams of Indian classical music
• Both traditions trace their origin to the Samaveda, and both are built on raga (melody) and tala (rhythm cycle).
• Hindustani — North India; shaped by Persian and Mughal contact; organised into gharanas (Gwalior, Kirana, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli); instruments sitar, sarod, tabla, santoor.
• Carnatic — South India; composition-bound, the kriti being the main concert form; instruments veena, mridangam, ghatam, violin.
• Purandara Dasa is called the Father of Carnatic music; the Carnatic Trinity are Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri.
• Venkatamakhi gave the 72-melakarta scheme in the 17th-century Chaturdandi Prakashika; Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande classified Hindustani ragas into 10 thaats.
• Sharangadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century, Yadava court at Devagiri) is the last great text common to both, written just before the two streams parted.
Do not mix these up
• Bandish vs kriti — the fixed composition is called a bandish in Hindustani and a kriti in Carnatic.
• Gharana vs tradition — a gharana is a stylistic lineage inside Hindustani music, not a third tradition.
• Odissi vs Odissi music — Odissi is primarily a classical dance of Odisha; the two classical music systems remain only Hindustani and Carnatic.
Also asked from this topic: the author of Sangeet Ratnakara (Sharangadeva); the structured Hindustani composition (bandish); the main Carnatic concert form (kriti);
who gave the 72-melakarta scheme (Venkatamakhi).
Festivals, Fairs, Paintings and Crafts · Festivals by state

Q24. Which Punjabi festival is celebrated in January with bonfires, folk songs, and marking the harvest of Rabi crops?

  1. (a) Baisakhi
  2. (b) Lohri
  3. (c) Teej
  4. (d) Maghi
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Lohri

Answer: Option 2 — Lohri
Lohri, on 13 January, is the Punjabi bonfire festival marking the end of the coldest days and the rabi harvest.
January plus a bonfire fits only Lohri.
Revision note — Lohri and the Punjab festival calendar
• Lohri falls on 13 January, the eve of Makar Sankranti, and marks the turn after the winter solstice.
• People circle a bonfire and offer til (sesame), gur, rewri and peanuts — the produce of the winter season, especially sugarcane.
• The folk song sung round the fire honours Dulla Bhatti, a Punjabi hero of Akbar's reign remembered for rescuing abducted girls.
• Maghi is the very next day, 14 January — Makar Sankranti in Punjab, when Sikhs remember the Chali Mukte (Forty Immortals) at Muktsar.
• Baisakhi, on 13 or 14 April, is the spring harvest festival and the day Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth at Anandpur Sahib in 1699.
• Bhangra and Giddha are the folk dances of Punjab, performed chiefly at Baisakhi; Teej is the monsoon festival of women, with swings and mehndi.
Do not mix these up
• Lohri vs Maghi — Lohri is 13 January with the bonfire; Maghi is 14 January, Makar Sankranti, with a dip and the Muktsar fair.
• Lohri vs Baisakhi — both are harvest festivals, but Lohri is January, winter, bonfire and Baisakhi is April, spring, Khalsa.
Also asked from this topic: the January harvest festival of Punjab (Lohri); the crop it is linked with (sugarcane); the event of Baisakhi 1699 (founding of the Khalsa Panth);
the harvest folk dance of Punjab (Bhangra).
Organisations and Headquarters · Regional groupings (SAARC, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, SCO, G20)

Q25. The 'SAARC' Secretariat is located in which South Asian capital city?

  1. (a) New Delhi
  2. (b) Islamabad
  3. (c) Kathmandu
  4. (d) Malé State
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Kathmandu

Answer: Option 3 — Kathmandu
The SAARC Secretariat is at Kathmandu, Nepal, set up in January 1987 and inaugurated by King Birendra.
Revision note — SAARC
• SAARC was founded by the Charter signed at Dhaka on 8 December 1985 by the leaders of seven South Asian countries; 8 December is SAARC Charter Day.
• It has 8 members — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan, which joined in 2007. China is only an observer.
• The Secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General appointed for a three-year term, by rotation in alphabetical order of member states.
• Exam keys give the date it was set up as either 16 or 17 January 1987 — remember the month and year.
• SAFTA, the South Asian Free Trade Area, was signed at the 12th Summit, Islamabad, 2004 and came into force in 2006.
• The 18th Summit at Kathmandu in 2014 was the last held; Pakistan's objection there blocked the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement, so India pushed the sub-regional BBIN agreement instead, signed in 2015.
• Decisions need unanimity, which India–Pakistan rivalry has repeatedly stalled — the main reason BIMSTEC, which excludes Pakistan, works more smoothly.
• The SAARC Development Fund sits at Thimphu, Bhutan.
Do not mix these up
• Dhaka vs Kathmandu — the Charter was signed at Dhaka (1985); the Secretariat is at Kathmandu (1987).
• SAARC vs BIMSTEC — SAARC has 8 members including Pakistan; BIMSTEC links Bay of Bengal states, excludes Pakistan and includes Myanmar and Thailand.
• Male vs Male State — Male is the capital of the Maldives, the southernmost SAARC country; there is no country called "Male State".
Also asked from this topic: where the SAARC Secretariat was set up (Kathmandu); the year SAARC was established (1985, at Dhaka); the eighth member and its year (Afghanistan, 2007);
a country that is only an observer (China); the southernmost SAARC country (Maldives).

Geography (6)

Environment and Protected Areas · Environmental organisations and laws

Q26. Which of the following statements best reflects the scope, powers, and limitations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in India's environmental governance framework?

  1. (a) The Act empowers only the Central Pollution Control Board to lay down standards for discharge of environmental pollutants and excludes the Ministry of Environment from enforcement functions.
  2. (b) The Act, enacted under Article 21 of the Constitution, enables state governments to declare ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) without central approval, ensuring decentralised environmental protection.
  3. (c) The Act allows the Central Government to take all necessary measures for environmental protection, including issuing directions that override other laws, but lacks provisions for penal action against non-compliance.
  4. (d) The Act enables the Central Government to delegate powers to any authority, including creation of Environment Tribunals, and provides the legal basis for notifications such as EIA and Coastal Regulation Zones.
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) The Act enables the Central Government to delegate powers to any authority, including creation of Environment Tribunals, and provides the legal basis for notifications such as EIA and Coastal Regulation Zones.

Answer: Option 4 — the Act lets the Centre delegate powers to any authority, including Environment Tribunals, and is the legal basis for the EIA and CRZ notifications
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 is an umbrella law.
Section 3(3) lets the Centre constitute any authority it needs, and Section 3 read with Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 is the legal source of the EIA and CRZ notifications.
Revision note — Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• Passed on 23 May 1986 and brought into force on 19 November 1986 — the legislative answer to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of December 1984.
• Enacted under Article 253, Parliament's power to legislate to implement an international agreement, here the Stockholm Conference of 1972.
• Nodal ministry: MoEFCC. Section 3 gives the Centre power to take all measures and to lay down standards.
• Section 5 is the power to issue directions — closure of a unit, stoppage of its power or water supply.
• The Act is not toothless: Section 15 carried imprisonment up to 5 years, converted by the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 into monetary penalties of ₹1 lakh to ₹15 lakh.
• Notifications made under it: EIA Notification 2006, CRZ Notification 2019, Eco-Sensitive Zone notifications, the Green Credit Programme (2023) and the Environment Audit Rules, 2025.
• Eco-Sensitive Zones — buffer areas around national parks and sanctuaries — are notified by the Central Government, not by a state acting on its own.
Do not mix these up
• EP Act, 1986 vs NGT Act, 2010 — the EP Act is the executive umbrella law; the NGT Act creates the adjudicating tribunal, whose orders are appealable only to the Supreme Court.
• Article 253 vs Article 48A — the Act rests on Article 253; Article 48A is only a Directive Principle on protecting the environment, and Article 51A(g) the matching Fundamental Duty.
• EP Act vs Water Act 1974 and Air Act 1981 — discharge standards under the EP Act are laid down by the Central Government; the CPCB sets standards under the Water and Air Acts.
Also asked from this topic: the parent Act of the Green Credit Programme and of the Environment Audit Rules, 2025 (Environment (Protection) Act, 1986); the meaning of an Eco-Sensitive Zone (a buffer zone).
India - Location, Physiography and Neighbours · Himalayas - ranges and peaks

Q27. The Himalayas are a young fold mountain system which significantly influences the climate and physiography of India. Among the different ranges of the Himalayas, which range lies the furthest north and contains some of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Godwin-Austen (K2)?

  1. (a) Shiwalik Range
  2. (b) Middle Himalayas
  3. (c) Trans-Himalayas
  4. (d) Greater Himalayas
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Trans-Himalayas

Answer: Option 3 — Trans-Himalayas
K2, or Mount Godwin-Austen, stands in the Karakoram, and the Karakoram belongs to the Trans-Himalaya — the division lying furthest north, beyond the Indus valley.
Revision note — Divisions of the Himalayan system
• The Trans-Himalaya, also called the Tibetan Himalaya, is made up of the Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar and Kailash ranges. It lies north of the Greater Himalaya, across the Indus.
• K2 — 8,611 m — is the world's second highest peak after Everest, standing on the Karakoram watershed in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
• The Siachen Glacier, about 76 km long, lies in the eastern Karakoram — the longest glacier in India and the second longest outside the polar regions, after the Fedchenko.
• The Greater Himalaya (Himadri) averages about 6,000 m and holds Everest, Kanchenjunga, Nanga Parbat, Makalu and Dhaulagiri.
• The Lesser or Himachal Himalaya rises to 3,700-4,500 m — the Pir Panjal, Dhauladhar and Mussoorie ranges, carrying Shimla, Nainital and Mussoorie.
• The Shiwaliks are the outermost and lowest, 900-1,100 m, built of loose river deposits; the flat valleys between them and the Lesser Himalaya are the Duns.
• The Karakoram Highway through this belt links Pakistan with Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, and is the world's highest paved international road.
Do not mix these up
• Trans-Himalaya vs Greater Himalaya — K2 is in the Trans-Himalaya (Karakoram), while Everest and Kanchenjunga are in the Greater Himalaya.
• Northernmost of the three vs northernmost of all — among the three parallel Himalayan ranges the northernmost is the Himadri.
• Of the whole mountain system, the Trans-Himalaya lies further north still. Read which of the two is being asked.
• Young vs old fold mountains — the Himalaya and Karakoram are young fold mountains; the Aravalli is one of the oldest fold ranges in the world.
Also asked from this topic: the ranges of the Trans-Himalayan zone (Zanskar, Ladakh, Karakoram); the longest glacier in India (Siachen); the country the Karakoram Highway links Pakistan to (China).
India - Location, Physiography and Neighbours · Himalayas - ranges and peaks

Q28. Which among the following is the correct sequence of the Himalayan ranges from south to north?

  1. (a) Greater Himalayas → Lesser Himalayas → Shiwalik
  2. (b) Shiwalik → Lesser Himalayas → Greater Himalayas
  3. (c) Lesser Himalayas → Greater Himalayas → Shiwalik
  4. (d) Shiwalik → Greater Himalayas → Lesser Himalayas
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Shiwalik → Lesser Himalayas → Greater Himalayas

Answer: Option 2 — Shiwalik → Lesser Himalayas → Greater Himalayas
Moving south to north you cross the outermost range first: Shiwalik, then the Lesser (Himachal) Himalaya, then the Greater Himalaya (Himadri) — the height rising at every step.
Revision note — The three parallel Himalayan ranges
• Shiwalik (Outer Himalaya) — southernmost and lowest, 900-1,100 m, formed of unconsolidated river deposits brought down by Himalayan streams.
• Between the Shiwalik and the Lesser Himalaya lie the flat longitudinal valleys called Duns — Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun, Patli Dun.
• Lesser / Himachal Himalaya — 3,700-4,500 m, about 50 km wide. Pir Panjal is the longest range here; also Dhauladhar and Mahabharat. The Kangra and Kullu valleys lie within it.
• Greater Himalaya (Himadri or Inner Himalaya) — northernmost of the three, average height 6,000 m, permanently snow-covered, carrying the loftiest peaks.
• North of all three lies the Trans-Himalaya — Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar, Kailash.
• South of the Shiwalik comes the Bhabar, a porous pebble belt 8-16 km wide where the streams sink underground, and then the marshy Terai where they re-emerge.
Do not mix these up
• South to north vs north to south — read the direction in the stem before you look at the options. Shiwalik → Lesser → Greater is south to north; the exact reverse is north to south.
• Shiwalik vs Bhabar — the Shiwalik is a hill range; the Bhabar is the pebble belt of the plain at its foot, counted with the Northern Plains.
Also asked from this topic: the valley between the Lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks (Duns); the northernmost of the three parallel ranges (Himadri); the range that is NOT a Himalayan division (Aravalli).
Universe and Solar System · Moons and dwarf planets

Q29. What term is used for a moon that occurs on the second full moon within a calendar month?

  1. (a) Blood moon
  2. (b) Blue moon
  3. (c) Super moon
  4. (d) Harvest moon
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Blue moon

Answer: Option 2 — Blue moon
A second full moon inside the same calendar month is called a Blue Moon. The name is only a calendar label — the Moon does not actually turn blue.
Revision note — The names given to the Moon
• A Blue Moon is possible because the lunar (synodic) month is about 29.5 days, slightly shorter than most calendar months, so a month can just hold two full moons.
• It recurs roughly once in 2.5 years, which is where the phrase once in a blue moon comes from.
• An older, seasonal definition calls the third full moon in a season that has four full moons a blue moon.
• Blood moon — the coppery-red Moon of a total lunar eclipse. Blue light is scattered out of the sunlight bent through the Earth's atmosphere, so mainly red light reaches the Moon.
• Supermoon — a full moon at perigee, the Moon's nearest point to Earth, so it looks larger and brighter. A micromoon is the opposite, at apogee.
• Harvest moon — the full moon nearest the autumn equinox, around late September.
• A lunar eclipse can occur only on a full moon, a solar eclipse only on a new moon.
Do not mix these up
• Blue moon vs blood moon — the blue moon is a calendar event (a second full moon in one month); the blood moon is an optical one (a total lunar eclipse).
• Blue moon vs supermoon — a blue moon is about when the full moon falls; a supermoon is about how near the Moon is.
Also asked from this topic: the phenomenon caused by the Earth blocking sunlight from reaching the Moon (lunar eclipse);
the phase on which a lunar eclipse can occur (full moon); the phase on which a solar eclipse occurs (new moon).
India - Minerals, Energy and Industries · Industrial regions and cities

Q30. The western region of India is most famous for which economic activity?

  1. (a) Tea plantations
  2. (b) Oil refining and petrochemicals
  3. (c) Rice cultivation
  4. (d) Rubber industries
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Oil refining and petrochemicals

Answer: Option 2 — Oil refining and petrochemicals
Western India — Gujarat and Maharashtra — is the country's refining and petrochemical belt, fed by the Cambay basin onshore and Mumbai High offshore.
Revision note — Petroleum and petrochemicals in India
• Jamnagar (Gujarat) has the world's largest single-location refinery complex; other western refineries are Koyali near Vadodara, Trombay and Mahul in Mumbai, and Vadinar.
• Mumbai High, in the Arabian Sea off Maharashtra, is India's largest offshore field, discovered in 1974 and worked by ONGC.
• Gujarat's onshore fields — Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Lunej — lie in the Cambay (Khambhat) basin.
• India's first oil refinery was at Digboi, Assam (1901), near where oil was struck in 1889; Assam is the Oil Bowl of India.
• Asia's first cross-country crude pipeline ran Naharkatiya (Assam) to Barauni (Bihar) via Nunmati.
• The petrochemical industry has four sub-groups — polymers, synthetic fibres, elastomers and surfactant intermediates; petrochemicals are a mineral-based industry.
Do not mix these up
• Digboi vs Jamnagar — Digboi is the oldest refinery (1901, Assam); Jamnagar is the largest (Gujarat).
• Oil field vs refinery — Mumbai High and Ankleshwar produce crude; Koyali, Trombay and Vadinar process it.
• Chennai's nickname — Chennai is the Detroit of India for automobiles, not a petrochemical hub.
Also asked from this topic: the site of India's first oil refinery (Digboi, Assam, 1901); the state called the Oil Bowl of India (Assam);
the refinery at the end of Asia's first cross-country pipeline (Barauni); how petrochemicals are classified by raw material (mineral-based).
India - Population and Census · Demographic concepts and transition

Q31. What is India's population pyramid expected to look like by 2047, based on current demographic transitions noted in 2025?

  1. (a) Huge youth base
  2. (b) Narrow top, wide base
  3. (c) Symmetrical, with elderly equal to youth
  4. (d) Bulging at elderly end, base contracts
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Bulging at elderly end, base contracts

Answer: Option 4 — Bulging at elderly end, base contracts
Fertility has already fallen below replacement, so fewer children enter the base each year while the 60+ group keeps growing — the pyramid goes top-heavy.
Note: this is a projection question.
No official 2047 age pyramid has been published, so only the direction of change is defensible.
The figures below are the standard UN and NFHS projections, not an exact official 2047 figure.
Revision note — India's demographic transition
• India's Total Fertility Rate is about 2.0 (NFHS-5, 2019–21), below the replacement level of 2.1; it was about 3.8 in 1990 and 2.4 in 2011.
• The UNFPA India Ageing Report projects the 60+ share to rise from roughly 10 per cent in 2021 to about 20 per cent by 2050 — a doubling in one generation.
• A wide base means high birth rates — an expansive, triangular pyramid; a steady population gives a bell shape.
• A narrow base with a wider top means low birth rates and high life expectancy — a constrictive pyramid, as in Japan.
• India is placed in the late expanding (third) stage of the demographic transition — low death rates with birth rates now falling fast.
• The demographic dividend window is expected to begin closing in the 2040s, and India's population is projected to peak around 2060.
• The National Population Policy 2000 aimed to lower fertility, cut infant mortality below 30 per 1,000 live births and delay marriage for girls.
Do not mix these up
• Expansive vs constrictive pyramid — a wide base is expansive (young, growing); a contracting base with a heavy top is constrictive (ageing).
• Fertility rate vs birth rate — the general fertility rate is per 1,000 women aged 15–49; the crude birth rate is per 1,000 of the whole population.
• Falling TFR vs falling population — India's population keeps rising for decades after TFR crosses 2.1, because of population momentum.
Also asked from this topic: India's TFR as per NFHS-5 (2.0); the replacement level (2.1); what a narrow-based, wide-topped pyramid shows (low birth rates, high life expectancy);
the pyramid of a fast-growing population (triangular); India's stage of transition (late expanding).

Biology (1)

Nutrition and Digestion · Nutrients - carbohydrates, proteins, fats

Q32. Which part of the egg contains the highest protein content?

  1. (a) Shell
  2. (b) Yolk
  3. (c) Chalaza
  4. (d) Albumen
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Albumen

Answer: Option 4 — Albumen
The albumen, the egg white, holds the largest total protein of any part of the egg.
About 3.6 g of the roughly 6.3 g in one large (50 g) egg sits in the white — close to 60 per cent of the whole.
Revision note — The egg as a food
• Albumen is about 88 per cent water and 10–11 per cent protein, with almost no fat.
• Its chief protein is ovalbumin, about 54 per cent of egg-white protein; the others are conalbumin, ovomucoid and lysozyme.
• The yolk stores the fat, cholesterol, lecithin, iron and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Yolk lecithin is the emulsifier that makes mayonnaise.
• The shell is about 95 per cent calcium carbonate. The chalazae are the two twisted protein cords that hold the yolk centred in the white.
• Egg protein is the reference protein of nutrition, with a biological value of 100, because its amino-acid pattern is closest to what the body needs.
• Proteins are the body-building nutrient and are digested down to amino acids; lysine is one of the essential amino acids the body cannot make for itself.
Do not mix these up
• Total content vs concentration — by concentration the yolk is richer, about 16 per cent protein, but it is far smaller, so by total quantity the white wins.
• Contains vs is richest in — a question asking which part contains the most protein wants the albumen; only a wording about percentage would point to the yolk.
• Albumen vs albumin — albumen is the egg white; albumin is a class of proteins, including the serum albumin of blood plasma.
Also asked from this topic: the nutrient that supports growth and healing (proteins); the end product of complete protein digestion (amino acids); an essential amino acid in the diet (lysine).

Physics (2)

Heat and Thermodynamics · Conduction, convection and radiation

Q33. According to Wien's Displacement Law, how does the temperature of an object influence the wavelength of its peak emission?

  1. (a) The hotter the object, the shorter the wavelength at which it emits the most energy.
  2. (b) The colder the object, the more energy it emits at visible wavelengths.
  3. (c) The temperature has no impact on emission spectrum.
  4. (d) The higher the temperature, the broader the wavelength range it absorbs, not emits.
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) The hotter the object, the shorter the wavelength at which it emits the most energy.

Answer: Option 1 — The hotter the object, the shorter the wavelength at which it emits the most energy
Wien's displacement law makes the peak wavelength inversely proportional to absolute temperature.
A hotter body therefore pushes its peak towards the shorter, bluer end of the spectrum.
Revision note — Wien's displacement law and thermal radiation
• λ(max) × T = b, where b = 2.898 × 10⁻³ m·K is Wien's displacement constant. Doubling T halves the peak wavelength.
• The colour sequence follows from it: heated iron glows dull red → orange → white-hot → bluish as its temperature rises.
• The Sun, at about 5,800 K, peaks near 500 nm, in the visible. The human body, near 310 K, peaks in the infrared — which is what a thermal camera sees.
• Stated by Wilhelm Wien, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1911.
• The partner law is Stefan–Boltzmann: total power radiated per unit area E = σT⁴, with σ = 5.67 × 10⁻⁸ W m⁻² K⁻⁴.
• Both laws describe a black body, an ideal surface that absorbs and emits at all wavelengths. Together they explain the colours of stars from their surface temperature.
Do not mix these up
• Wien's law vs Stefan–Boltzmann law — Wien fixes where the peak lies; Stefan–Boltzmann fixes how much total energy is radiated.
• Inverse in T, not in T⁴ — the fourth power belongs to Stefan–Boltzmann. Wien's peak is inversely proportional to the first power of T.
Also asked from this topic: the law that explains the colours of the Sun and other stars from their temperature (Wien's displacement law); the value of the Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.67 × 10⁻⁸ W m⁻² K⁻⁴).
Modern Physics and Electronics · Relativity - special and general

Q34. What is a direct consequence of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity?

  1. (a) Mass and energy are distinct and independently conserved.
  2. (b) Time and space are absolute quantities for all observers.
  3. (c) The speed of light is constant in all inertial frames, leading to time dilation and length contraction.
  4. (d) Gravity travels faster than light under certain conditions.
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The speed of light is constant in all inertial frames, leading to time dilation and length contraction.

Answer: Option 3 — The speed of light is constant in all inertial frames, leading to time dilation and length contraction
Special relativity begins from c being the same for every inertial observer.
From that one postulate follow time dilation — a moving clock runs slow — and length contraction, a shrinking of moving lengths along the direction of motion.
Revision note — Special Theory of Relativity
• Published by Albert Einstein in 1905, his Annus Mirabilis, in the paper On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.
• Postulate 1: the laws of physics are identical in all inertial frames.
• Postulate 2: the speed of light in vacuum, c = 3 × 10⁸ m/s, is the same for every observer, whatever the motion of the source or the observer.
• Consequences: time dilation, length contraction, relativity of simultaneity, relativistic mass increase, and mass–energy equivalence, E = mc².
• Evidence the boards like: muons formed high in the atmosphere reach the ground only because of time dilation, and GPS satellite clocks must be corrected for relativistic effects.
• Nothing carries a signal faster than c. Gravitational waves travel at exactly the speed of light, as confirmed by LIGO, whose detection won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Do not mix these up
• Special vs General relativity — Special (1905) deals with inertial frames at constant velocity; General (1915) adds acceleration and gravity, treating gravity as the curvature of spacetime.
• What is absolute — relativity makes space and time relative to the observer and only the speed of light absolute. It is Newtonian physics that held space and time to be absolute.
• Mass and energy — they are not separate conserved quantities. E = mc² makes them two forms of one thing.
Also asked from this topic: who developed the General Theory of Relativity (Albert Einstein); the year of the General Theory (1915).

Economics (9)

Money and Banking · Digital payments (UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS)

Q35. Which of the following statements best explains the transformative impact of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on India's digital payments ecosystem as of 2025, and what challenges does it face in achieving inclusive financial digitization?

  1. (a) UPI replaced all forms of cash transactions by mandating digital payments for all retail purchases above ₹1000
  2. (b) UPI enables instant, interoperable, and cost-free fund transfers across banks via mobile devices, significantly boosting financial inclusion; however, challenges like cybersecurity risks, digital literacy gaps, and rural internet connectivity continue to limit its universal adoption
  3. (c) UPI operates solely on QR-code based transactions and does not support mobile app or bank-to-bank transfers
  4. (d) UPI transactions are limited to government subsidies and welfare payments, with minimal use in private sector payments
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) UPI enables instant, interoperable, and cost-free fund transfers across banks via mobile devices, significantly boosting financial inclusion; however, challenges like cybersecurity risks, digital literacy gaps, and rural internet connectivity continue to limit its universal adoption

Answer: Option 2 — UPI gives instant, interoperable, cost-free transfers across banks, though cyber risk, digital literacy and rural connectivity still limit it
UPI's transformation is that bank-to-bank transfer became instant, interoperable and free to the user on an ordinary phone.
What is left unsolved is cyber fraud, low digital literacy and patchy rural internet.
Revision note — Unified Payments Interface
• Launched on 11 April 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is built on IMPS, runs 24×7, and is addressed by a VPA / UPI ID.
• NPCI was set up in 2008 under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, promoted by the RBI and the Indian Banks' Association.
• NPCI runs UPI, UPI Lite, RuPay, IMPS, NACH and AePS. NEFT and RTGS are run by the RBI, not by NPCI.
• Free to the user because MDR on UPI person-to-merchant payments was set at zero from 1 January 2020; banks are compensated through incentive schemes instead.
• UPI carries over 80 per cent of India's digital-payment transaction volume and is the largest real-time payment system in the world.
• Inclusion tools: UPI 123PAY for feature phones (2022), UPI Lite for small offline payments, UPI AutoPay for recurring mandates.
• International links include Singapore's PayNow (February 2023), the UAE, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and France.
Do not mix these up
• UPI and IMPS vs NEFT and RTGS — UPI and IMPS are NPCI systems settling instantly; NEFT and RTGS are RBI systems.
• Interoperable vs cost-free — interoperable means any UPI app can pay any bank account; cost-free refers to zero MDR, a separate policy decision.
• UPI vs DBT — subsidies reach beneficiaries mainly through the APBS / NACH route, not UPI, which is dominated by person-to-person and person-to-merchant payments.
Also asked from this topic: the payment system with the largest share of digital transaction volume (UPI); the facilities run by NPCI and not the RBI (AePS and UPI Lite, not NEFT).
Government Schemes and Economic Reports · Economic indices and rankings

Q36. In the context of India's Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) developed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which of the following best reflects the multidimensional nature of the index and its policy significance in 2025?

  1. (a) The FI-Index is a single-dimensional score based only on the number of bank accounts per 1,000 adults, useful solely for rural credit planning
  2. (b) The FI-Index measures the total value of digital payments in the economy and is used primarily to track fintech investments
  3. (c) The FI-Index captures multiple dimensions—Access, Usage, and Quality—making it a comprehensive tool for assessing inclusive financial growth, guiding both central and state-level policies
  4. (d) The FI-Index is used only by private sector banks for internal risk assessment and is not a public policy instrument
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) The FI-Index captures multiple dimensions—Access, Usage, and Quality—making it a comprehensive tool for assessing inclusive financial growth, guiding both central and state-level policies

Answer: Option 3 — The FI-Index captures Access, Usage and Quality, making it a comprehensive tool for assessing inclusive financial growth
The RBI's Financial Inclusion Index rests on three dimensions, so it measures how inclusive finance actually is.
A count of bank accounts alone would not say whether they are used, or used well.
Revision note — RBI Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index)
• Three parameters with fixed weights — Access 35 per cent, Usage 45 per cent, Quality 20 per cent. Usage carries the largest weight.
• Access is the availability of banking, insurance, pension and post-office outlets.
• Usage is actual transactions, credit, insurance and pension use. Quality is financial literacy, consumer protection and inequality of service.
• Scale 0 to 100 — 0 is complete financial exclusion, 100 is full inclusion. It uses about 97 indicators and has no base year, so each value reflects cumulative effort.
• First published by the RBI in August 2021 for the year ended March 2021, at 53.9. A fresh value is released annually for the financial year ending March.
• Later values reported by the RBI were about 64.2 for March 2024 and 67.0 for March 2025. Always quote the figure with its year — the number moves every release, the three-dimension structure does not.
• Policy use: it guides the Centre, the states, the RBI and banks and tracks the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion.
• It also tracks the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (28 August 2014), which crossed 55 crore accounts by mid-2025.
Do not mix these up
• FI-Index vs Digital Payments Index — the FI-Index measures financial inclusion on three dimensions; the RBI's DPI measures the spread of digital payments and is based on March 2018 = 100.
• Access vs Usage — Access asks whether the outlet or account exists; Usage asks whether it is actually used.
Also asked from this topic: who releases the Financial Inclusion Index (the Reserve Bank of India); its number of sub-indices (3); its value for March 2025 (67.0).
Economics Miscellaneous · Economic reform committees

Q37. In the context of post-1991 economic reforms in India, what was the core contribution of the Chelliah Committee, and why was it considered foundational for modern tax policy?

  1. (a) It recommended the introduction of GST and a common market across states.
  2. (b) It laid down a framework for monetary policy autonomy and inflation targeting.
  3. (c) It advocated a shift from direct to indirect taxation to improve fiscal federalism.
  4. (d) It recommended broadening the tax base, reducing exemptions, and rationalizing tax rates to improve revenue efficiency.
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) It recommended broadening the tax base, reducing exemptions, and rationalizing tax rates to improve revenue efficiency.

Answer: Option 4 — It recommended broadening the tax base, reducing exemptions, and rationalizing tax rates to improve revenue efficiency.
The Chelliah Committee's whole design was low rates on a wide base — cut the rates, delete the exemptions, and let the widened base carry the revenue.
Revision note — The Tax Reforms Committee, 1991
• Chairman Dr Raja J. Chelliah, called the father of tax reforms in India; the committee was set up in 1991 under Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.
• The context was the 1991 balance of payments crisis — punitive rates, a narrow base and widespread evasion. High rates were themselves a cause of the small base.
• It reported in stages between 1991 and 1993. The January 1993 report asked that India's high import duty rates be rationalised and lowered.
• Core prescription: fewer slabs, lower peak rates, a wider base, fewer exemptions, and a simpler law that an ordinary officer can administer.
• It wanted the tax mix to lean more on direct taxes and less on customs and trade taxes — the opposite of a shift towards indirect taxation.
• On wealth tax it recommended confining the levy to unproductive assets; the tax was narrowed in 1992-93 and abolished altogether in the 2015-16 Budget.
Do not mix these up
• Chelliah Committee (1991) vs Kelkar Task Force (2002-03) — Chelliah framed the first post-reform tax structure.
• Vijay Kelkar came later, driving direct and indirect tax simplification and the GST design.
• Chelliah (taxes) vs Narasimham (banking) vs Malhotra (insurance) — three reform committees of the same decade, each with its own sector.
Also asked from this topic: the chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee 1991 (Raja J. Chelliah); the sector it reformed (tax structure); the year it asked for import duties to be cut (1993).
Planning and NITI Aayog · Five-Year Plans - objectives and models

Q38. Which of the following sectors received the highest priority in the First Five Year Plan (1951-56)?

  1. (a) Industry
  2. (b) Transport
  3. (c) Agriculture and irrigation
  4. (d) Communications
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Agriculture and irrigation

Answer: Option 3 — Agriculture and irrigation
The Plan opened on a food crisis and a refugee influx after Partition, so raising food output came first; irrigation and power took the largest share of the outlay.
Revision note — The First Five Year Plan (1951-56)
• Based on the Harrod-Domar model, which makes growth equal the saving rate divided by the capital-output ratio (ICOR).
• Priority sector: agriculture and irrigation, with power. The big projects — Bhakra Nangal, Hirakud, Damodar Valley — belong to this Plan.
• Target growth 2.1 per cent, achieved 3.6 per cent — one of the few plans that overshot its target.
• The Community Development Programme, India's first major rural development effort, was launched on 2 October 1952, during this Plan.
• The Second Plan (1956-61) switched to heavy industry on the Mahalanobis model, built on the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 and its 'commanding heights' doctrine.
• Planning ran under the Planning Commission, set up in March 1950 with the Prime Minister as chairman; it was replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.
Do not mix these up
• First Plan vs Second Plan — First Plan is agriculture, Harrod-Domar; Second Plan is heavy industry, Mahalanobis.
• Plan holiday vs a plan cut short — the plan holiday was the break of 1966-69 after the Third Plan, run instead on three annual plans.
Also asked from this topic: the focus of the First Plan (agriculture); its model (Harrod-Domar); the problems at its start (refugee influx and food shortage); the Second Plan's model (Mahalanobis).
Inflation · Types of inflation (demand-pull, cost-push, stagflation)

Q39. What is the economic term used to describe a situation where high inflation occurs simultaneously with stagnant economic growth?

  1. (a) Depression
  2. (b) Recession
  3. (c) Reflation
  4. (d) Stagflation
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Stagflation

Answer: Option 4 — Stagflation
Stagnation + inflation — prices rising while output stays flat and unemployment stays high, all at the same time.
Revision note — Inflation and its types
• The word was coined by the British MP Iain Macleod in 1965.
• The textbook case is the oil shocks of the 1970s: a supply shock pushes costs and prices up while output falls.
• Stagflation breaks the Phillips curve trade-off, under which inflation and unemployment are supposed to move in opposite directions.
• It is hard to treat — tightening to fight inflation deepens the slump, and stimulus to revive growth feeds the inflation.
• Demand-pull inflation is aggregate demand outrunning supply; cost-push inflation is a rise in input costs. Stagflation is the classic cost-push outcome.
• Hyperinflation is an extremely high and accelerating price rise (Weimar Germany in the 1920s, Zimbabwe in the 2000s); deflation is a general fall in prices.
Do not mix these up
• Recession vs depression — a recession is usually two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth; a depression is far deeper and longer, as in 1929.
• Stagflation vs recession — in an ordinary recession prices normally slow or fall; in stagflation they surge even as output stagnates.
• Reflation vs inflation — reflation is a deliberate policy of lifting demand and prices after a slump, so it is a remedy; inflation is the price rise itself.
Also asked from this topic: what stagflation is a situation of (inflation plus unemployment); the name for a very high price rise (hyperinflation); the result of demand outrunning supply (demand-pull).
Government Schemes and Economic Reports · Global indices - publishers and methodology

Q40. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), India faces significant institutional challenges. Which one below best illustrates such a challenge?

  1. (a) Lack of foreign language education
  2. (b) Inefficient government bureaucracy and weak legal enforcement
  3. (c) Rise in rural tourism
  4. (d) Increase in household debt
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Inefficient government bureaucracy and weak legal enforcement

Answer: Option 2 — Inefficient government bureaucracy and weak legal enforcement
The GCI's Institutions pillar measures precisely this — red tape, contract enforcement, judicial independence, corruption — and it is where India scores weakest.
Revision note — The Global Competitiveness Index
• Published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its annual Global Competitiveness Report.
• The WEF was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, is headquartered at Cologny near Geneva, Switzerland, and holds its annual meeting at Davos.
• The index scores economies on 12 pillars, of which Pillar 1 is Institutions — property rights, corruption, judicial independence, bureaucratic burden, contract enforcement, security.
• India ranked 68th of 141 in the GCI 2019, slipping 10 places, with institutions among its weak areas.
• The WEF also publishes the Global Gender Gap Report, the Energy Transition Index, the Global Risks Report and the Travel and Tourism Development Index.
• The Human Development Index is not a WEF product — it is published by the UNDP.
Do not mix these up
• Global Competitiveness Index vs Ease of Doing Business — the GCI is the WEF's; Doing Business was the World Bank's, and it was discontinued in September 2021 after data irregularities.
• WEF indices vs UN indices — Gender Gap, Energy Transition and Competitiveness are WEF; the HDI is UNDP.
Also asked from this topic: the publisher of the Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum); the index NOT published by the WEF (Human Development Index); where its annual meeting is held (Davos).
External Sector and International Economic Organisations · Foreign trade policy and EXIM

Q41. What was the main objective of India's 'Import Substitution Policy' adopted post-independence?

  1. (a) To increase the export of Indian manufactured goods
  2. (b) To attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into key industries
  3. (c) To protect domestic industries from foreign competition
  4. (d) To liberalize trade and integrate with the global economy
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) To protect domestic industries from foreign competition

Answer: Option 3 — To protect domestic industries from foreign competition
Import substitution meant replacing imported goods with goods made at home, shielding infant domestic industries behind tariffs and quotas until they could compete.
Revision note — Import substitution and the inward-looking years
• Import substitution industrialisation (ISI) was India's trade strategy through the first seven Five Year Plans, roughly 1950 to 1990. It was an inward-looking policy aiming at self-reliance.
• Its tools were high tariffs, import quotas and licensing, and a large protected public sector.
• It was built into the Second Five Year Plan (1956–61) on the Mahalanobis model, which put heavy and capital goods industries first.
• The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956 went with it, giving the state the commanding heights of the economy.
• Foreign capital was restricted in these years, not courted — FERA, 1973 tightened the rules on foreign exchange and foreign companies.
• The strategy was reversed by the 1991 LPG reforms, under Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, shaped by the conditions attached to the IMF and World Bank loan.
Do not mix these up
• Import substitution vs export promotion — import substitution replaces imports at home; export promotion pushes domestic goods into world markets. India turned to the second only after 1991.
• Liberalisation vs globalisation — liberalisation loosens internal controls on Indian producers; globalisation opens the economy outward to world markets.
Also asked from this topic: the name of India's inward-looking trade strategy in the early Plans (import substitution);
its main rationale (to protect infant domestic industries); the plan built on the Mahalanobis model (Second Five Year Plan);
the Prime Minister who initiated the 1991 LPG reforms (P. V. Narasimha Rao).
Planning and NITI Aayog · Planning Commission and NDC

Q42. Which institution was set up in 1950 for central economic planning in India?

  1. (a) Reserve Bank of India
  2. (b) Planning Commission
  3. (c) NITI Aayog
  4. (d) NABARD
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Planning Commission

Answer: Option 2 — Planning Commission
The Planning Commission was set up on 15 March 1950 by a Cabinet resolution to frame India's Five Year Plans.
Revision note — Planning Commission, NDC and NITI Aayog
• It was an extra-constitutional, non-statutory body — created by a resolution, not by the Constitution or by an Act of Parliament.
• The Prime Minister was its ex-officio Chairman. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman and Gulzarilal Nanda the first Deputy Chairman; the Deputy Chairman ran it in practice.
• The First Five Year Plan (1951–56) used the Harrod–Domar model and stressed agriculture and irrigation; the Second (1956–61) used the Mahalanobis model and stressed heavy industry.
• The National Development Council, its companion body chaired by the Prime Minister with all Chief Ministers, was set up in 1952 and gave final approval to every plan.
• NITI Aayog replaced it on 1 January 2015 — a think tank for cooperative federalism, with the Prime Minister as Chairperson and a CEO; it allocates no funds to the states.
• The Twelfth Plan (2012–17) was the last; from 2017 India works through NITI Aayog strategy documents instead of Five Year Plans.
Do not mix these up
• Planning Commission vs Finance Commission — the Finance Commission is a constitutional body under Article 280 that divides tax revenue; the Planning Commission was neither constitutional nor statutory.
• Planning Commission vs National Development Council — the Commission drafted the plan; the NDC approved it.
• Planning Commission vs NITI Aayog — the Commission allocated funds to states; NITI Aayog only advises.
Also asked from this topic: the year the Planning Commission was set up (1950); its ex-officio Chairman (the Prime Minister); the body that replaced it (NITI Aayog, 1 January 2015);
the plan built on the Mahalanobis model (the Second).
Industry and Infrastructure · Disinvestment

Q43. Under the 1991 economic reforms, reducing government equity in Public Sector Undertakings and selling shares to private entities was a mechanism of:

  1. (a) Globalisation
  2. (b) Liberalisation
  3. (c) Privatisation
  4. (d) Nationalisation
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Privatisation

Answer: Option 3 — Privatisation
Cutting the government's equity in a PSU and selling those shares to private hands transfers ownership — that is privatisation, carried out through disinvestment.
Revision note — Privatisation and disinvestment under the 1991 reforms
• Disinvestment is the sale of part or all of the government's equity in a public sector enterprise, to raise resources and improve efficiency.
• A minority sale keeps management control with the government; a strategic sale hands over control and is full privatisation. A 100 per cent transfer is total denationalisation.
• Privatisation is the second limb of the LPG reforms of 1991 — Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation — under PM P. V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
• The trigger was the balance of payments crisis; India borrowed from the IMF and the World Bank, whose conditions shaped the New Economic Policy.
• The New Industrial Policy of 24 July 1991 abolished industrial licensing for most industries and cut the industries reserved for the public sector from 17 to 8.
• Disinvestment receipts are capital receipts — they reduce the government's financial assets. Disinvestment is handled by DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management), Ministry of Finance.
Do not mix these up
• Privatisation vs liberalisation — privatisation changes ownership; liberalisation removes regulation, the licence-permit-quota raj.
• Privatisation vs globalisation — privatisation is internal (who owns the firm); globalisation is external (linking India to world markets).
• Disinvestment vs privatisation — a minority-stake disinvestment leaves control with the government; only a strategic sale amounts to privatisation.
• Privatisation vs nationalisation — nationalisation is the opposite, the State taking over private firms, as with the 14 banks in 1969 and 6 more in 1980.
Also asked from this topic: what disinvestment sells stakes in (public enterprises); the sale that transfers only partial ownership (minority sale);
the bodies whose emergency loans triggered the 1991 reforms (IMF and World Bank); the receipt category of disinvestment (capital receipts).

Modern History (1)

Advent of Europeans and British Expansion · Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse

Q44. Which of the following pairs correctly matches a British annexation policy with its primary characteristic?

  1. (a) Subsidiary Alliance: Annexation of states due to misgovernance.
  2. (b) Doctrine of Lapse: Annexation of states if a ruler died without a natural male heir.
  3. (c) Paramountcy Policy: Integration of princely states through popular referendum.
  4. (d) Ring-Fence Policy: Direct military confrontation for territorial expansion.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Doctrine of Lapse: Annexation of states if a ruler died without a natural male heir.

Answer: Option 2 — Doctrine of Lapse: Annexation of states if a ruler died without a natural male heir
Under the Doctrine of Lapse a dependent princely state lapsed to the British when its ruler died without a natural male heir; an adopted son was not recognised.
Revision note — The British annexation policies
• Doctrine of Lapse — devised by Lord Dalhousie (Governor-General, 1848–56). Satara (1848) was the first state annexed under it; Jaitpur, Sambalpur, Baghat, Udaipur, Jhansi and Nagpur followed.
• It became a major cause of the Revolt of 1857 — Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb were both hit by it.
• Subsidiary Alliance — Lord Wellesley, 1798. The Indian state kept a British force, paid for it and surrendered its foreign relations.
• The Nawab of Awadh had to cede over half his territory in 1801 for failing to pay for that force.
• Awadh was finally annexed in 1856 on the plea of misgovernance by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah — that is the policy the first option describes, and it has nothing to do with the Subsidiary Alliance.
• Paramountcy — begun under Lord Hastings (1813–23): the Company claimed to be the supreme power standing above all princely states. No popular referendum was ever part of it.
• Ring Fence Policy — Warren Hastings: defend the frontiers of neighbouring states such as Awadh so they act as a buffer, rather than conquer directly.
Do not mix these up
• Warren Hastings vs Lord Hastings — Warren Hastings (1772–85) gave the Ring Fence policy; Lord Hastings (1813–23) began paramountcy.
• Doctrine of Lapse vs annexation for misgovernance — Lapse needed a failure of natural male heirs (Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur); Awadh in 1856 was taken on a charge of misrule.
Also asked from this topic: the first state annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse (Satara, 1848);
the Governor-General who devised it (Lord Dalhousie); the ruler forced to give up half his territory in 1801 (Nawab of Awadh);
the objective of the Ring Fence policy (to create buffer states); the Governor-General under whom paramountcy began (Lord Hastings).

Current Affairs (1)

Reports, Indices and Rankings · Global indices and India's rank

Q45. What was India's rank in the World Press Freedom Index 2026?

  1. (a) 151st
  2. (b) 153rd
  3. (c) 157th
  4. (d) 166th
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) 157th

Answer: Option 3 — 157th
India was placed 157th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2026 of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — a fall of 6 places from 151st in 2025.
Revision note — World Press Freedom Index
• Published every year by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based body; the Index has appeared since 2002, when it ranked 139 countries, and has ranked 180 countries and territories since the 2014 edition.
• Countries are scored on five indicators — political, economic, legislative, social and safety.
• India's recent run: 161st in 2023, 159th in 2024, 151st in 2025 and 157th in 2026. So the 2026 slip reverses the 2025 gain but is not India's worst placing.
• Norway has topped the Index every year since 2017; Eritrea stood last (180th) in the 2025 edition.
• RSF attributes India's low position to concerns over media independence, harassment of and violence against journalists, and online censorship.
• World Press Freedom Day is 3 May. The related UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is awarded on that day.
Do not mix these up
• RSF vs Freedom House — the World Press Freedom Index is RSF's; the Freedom in the World report is Freedom House's.
• Rank vs score — a lower rank number is better; RSF's score runs the other way, a higher score meaning more freedom.
Also asked from this topic: India's rank in the 2025 Index (151st); the number of countries ranked (180); the publishing body (Reporters Without Borders); the country that topped it (Norway);
the lowest-ranked country in 2025 (Eritrea).
All shifts9 September 2026 Shift 2 →
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