CDS II 2026 General Knowledge with Solutions
Q.1 [Physics — Current Electricity]
Three resistors, R₁, R₂ and R₃, (R₁ > R₂ > R₃), are connected to a battery of voltage V, such that the circuit generates maximum heat per unit time. Which one among the following is the correct circuit combination for this?
Of all ways of connecting three given resistors, the all-parallel combination gives the smallest equivalent resistance (1/Req = 1/R₁ + 1/R₂ + 1/R₃, which is smaller than even the smallest individual resistor).
Answer: all in parallel.
Trap: reaching for P = I²R and concluding that series (same current, largest R) gives most heat. That reasoning applies at constant current; here the voltage is fixed.
Q.2 [Physics — Optics]
Convex side of a plano-convex lens is fully immersed in a liquid, of same refractive index (equal to 8/5) as that of the lens. Which one among the following is correct regarding the image of a point source of light placed in air at 40 cm away from the lens? (Assume the focal length of the plano-convex lens as 20 cm)
For a single refracting surface: n₂/v − n₁/u = (n₂ − n₁)/R. For a plane surface R = ∞, so the right-hand side is 0:
n₂/v = n₁/u
(8/5)/v = 1/(−40)
v = −40 × 8/5 = 64 cm (in magnitude), on the far side measured into the medium.
So the image forms at 64 cm. Note option (c) is wrong: matching indices kills the curved surface's power, but the plane air–glass boundary still refracts.
Q.3 [Physics — Laws of Motion]
A car of mass 800 kg is travelling at a speed of 40 km/h on a straight road. A force of 1000 N is applied on it in the direction of its velocity for 12 s. Which one among the following is the final speed of the car?
Change in speed = a × t = 1·25 × 12 = 15 m/s.
Convert: 15 m/s × 18/5 = 54 km/h.
Final speed = 40 + 54 = 94 km/h.
The unit conversion is the whole question — a candidate who adds 15 to 40 gets 55 km/h, which is option (a), planted for exactly that slip.
Q.4 [Physics — Magnetism]
A positively charged particle (alpha-particle) is projected towards west in a horizontal plane. It is deflected towards north in the same plane by a magnetic field. Which one among the following is the direction of the magnetic field?
v = −x̂ (west), and the required force F = +ŷ (north).
v × B with B = Bzẑ: (−x̂) × (Bzẑ) = −Bz(x̂ × ẑ) = −Bz(−ŷ) = +Bzŷ.
For this to point north we need Bz > 0, i.e. the field is vertically upwards.
Fleming's left-hand rule check: forefinger up (field), middle finger west (current direction for a positive charge), thumb points north ✓
Q.5 [Physics — Magnetism]
With regard to the magnetic field lines, which one among the following statements is NOT correct?
(d) Field-line density is the standard visual measure of field strength. Correct.
(c) Magnetic field lines never intersect — anywhere, inside or outside the magnet. If two lines crossed, the field would have two different directions at one point, which is impossible. This is the canonical NCERT property, so (c) is the intended answer.
Note for candidates: statement (a) is also not correct as written — field lines around a bar magnet visibly curve and are not parallel to one another. This item is therefore a fair candidate for a key challenge. If the official key differs from (c), (a) is the alternative.
Q.6 [Physics — Mechanics]
A rod is balanced vertically on one of its ends. Which one among the following is the correct nature of its state of equilibrium?
• Stable — CG rises, body returns (e.g. a cone on its base).
• Unstable — CG falls, body moves further away (e.g. a cone on its apex).
• Neutral — CG stays at the same height (e.g. a sphere on a plane).
A rod balanced on one end has its CG at the highest possible position. Any tilt lowers the CG and the rod topples further.
Answer: unstable equilibrium.
Q.7 [Physics — Vectors]
Two parallel, but not necessarily unidirectional, forces of magnitude 1 N and 2 N are acting on a body. Two more, parallel, again not necessarily unidirectional, forces of magnitude 3 N and 1 N, but perpendicular to the earlier forces, are applied to the body. Which one among the following are the smallest and largest possible magnitudes of the resultant force on the body?
Second pair (perpendicular axis): 3 N and 1 N give 3 + 1 = 4 N or 3 − 1 = 2 N.
The two axis-resultants are perpendicular, so combine by Pythagoras:
√(1² + 2²) = √5 ≈ 2·24 √(1² + 4²) = √17 ≈ 4·12
√(3² + 2²) = √13 ≈ 3·61 √(3² + 4²) = 5
Smallest = √5 N, largest = 5 N.
Q.8 [Physics — Fluids]
Gravitational acceleration at moon is 1/6 of that on earth. On earth, if an object floats in water with fraction 'fe' of its volume submersed in water, and on moon, fraction 'fm' is submersed, then
ρobject V g = ρliquid Vsubmerged g
The g cancels from both sides, leaving
Vsubmerged/V = ρobject/ρliquid
The submerged fraction depends only on the ratio of densities, not on gravity. On the Moon both the weight and the buoyant force fall to one-sixth, so the balance point is unchanged.
Answer: fe = fm.
Q.9 [Physics — Magnetism]
Two very thin and very long uniform wires, placed very close to each other, carry equal but opposite currents. Point 1 is exactly at the middle of those wires and point 2 is far away from the wires. Which one among the following regarding the net magnetic field produced is correct?
• Between the wires (point 1) the two fields point the same way and add, giving a maximum — so (a) is wrong.
• Far away (point 2) the two wires look like a single object of zero net current. Their fields nearly cancel, falling off much faster than 1/r, so the net field is effectively zero ✓
• The combined field pattern is not a set of concentric circles (that describes a single wire) nor ellipses — so (c) and (d) are wrong.
Answer: magnetic field at point 2 is zero.
Q.10 [Physics — Modern Physics]
Which one among the following is the primary reason for asking persons undergoing X-ray imaging to remove metallic objects?
Answer: (a). Options (b), (c) and (d) describe effects that simply do not occur at diagnostic X-ray energies.
Q.11 [Computer Science]
Which one among the following protocols works at application layer in a TCP/IP protocol suit?
• IP — Internet (network) layer
• TCP — Transport layer
• TELNET — Application layer ✓ (remote terminal access, alongside HTTP, FTP, SMTP, DNS)
• Go-back-N — an automatic repeat request (ARQ) sliding-window technique, not an application protocol
Answer: TELNET.
Q.12 [Computer Science]
Which one among the following tasks is NOT carried out by an operating system?
Linking a program with the library subroutines it references is the job of the linker, part of the language-translation toolchain (compiler → assembler → linker → loader), not of the operating system itself.
Answer: (a).
Q.13 [Computer Science]
Which one among the following is NOT true about Standard Generalised Markup Language (SGML)?
So (a), (c) and (d) are all true — it does define document types through the DTD (Document Type Definition).
(b) is NOT true: SGML is deliberately hardware-independent.
Q.14 [Computer Science]
Which one among the following consists of a list of commands that is executed automatically as the computer system starts up?
• AUTOEXEC.BAT — a batch file of commands executed automatically at start-up ✓
• CONFIG.SYS — loads device drivers and sets system parameters at boot, but holds configuration directives rather than a list of commands
• COMMAND.COM — the command interpreter (the shell) itself
• AUTOSTART.BAT — not a standard DOS file
Answer: AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Q.15 [Computer Science]
In MS Word, which one among the following is used to set the alignment for the content in the document?
The Status bar only displays information (page number, word count). The Scrollbar moves the view. The Ruler bar sets indents and tab stops — related to layout, but not the alignment buttons themselves.
Answer: Toolbar. (If your source key says Ruler bar, the reasoning there is tab-stop alignment; the alignment commands proper live on the toolbar.)
Q.16 [Economy]
Consider the following statements:
1. Services sector contributes more than 50% to India's GVA.
2. Services sector growth is more volatile than agriculture sector.
3. FDI in services sector contributes to three-fourth of total FDI in the post-Covid period.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
2. Incorrect. This is the wrong way round. Agriculture is the volatile sector because it depends on the monsoon; services growth is comparatively steady. This is the statement the question is really testing.
3. Correct as intended. Taken broadly — the services sector plus computer software and hardware, telecom and trading — services-linked flows have dominated FDI inflows in the post-Covid years.
Answer: 1 and 3 only.
Q.17 [Economy]
Which one of the following best explains the 'crowding-in effect' observed in India?
Crowding in is the opposite, and it is what India's capital-expenditure push is argued to produce: government investment in roads, railways, ports and power raises the return on private investment — a new highway makes a factory beside it viable — so private investment rises rather than falls.
Answer: public investment leading to increase in private investment.
Q.18 [Economy]
Consider the following statements:
1. India runs a current account deficit
2. Merchandise imports of India exceed exports
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
2. Correct. India's merchandise imports (crude oil, gold, electronics, coal) consistently exceed merchandise exports, producing a goods trade deficit.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Useful framing: Current Account = trade in goods + trade in services + net income + net transfers. India is in deficit on goods, surplus on services and transfers, net deficit overall.
Q.19 [Government Schemes]
With reference to Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. It provides health insurance coverage to vulnerable families
2. It covers both secondary and tertiary care hospitalization
3. It is applicable to all citizens irrespective of income
2. Correct. The scheme covers secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation — not outpatient or primary care, which is the job of the Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
3. Incorrect. The scheme is targeted, not universal. (Cover for all citizens aged 70 and above is a specific extension, not a general removal of the income criterion.)
Answer: 1 and 2.
Q.20 [Economy]
India's fiscal deficit widens significantly due to increased Government spending on subsidies while tax revenue remains unchanged. Which one of the following is the most likely consequence?
Answer: (b). Note the careful hedging in the option ('may rise', 'may slow') — the most defensible economics is rarely the most emphatic.
Q.21 [Economy]
India's reliance on imported energy exposes it to geopolitical supply shocks. In this context, what is the most likely short-term impact of a major disruption in crude oil imports?
• transport and freight costs rise, lifting prices across every sector
• petrochemicals, fertiliser and plastics feedstock all become dearer
• the higher import bill widens the current account deficit and weakens the rupee (so (b) is wrong), which raises import costs further
Answer: higher input costs and inflation pressure.
Q.22 [Defence]
The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) recently conducted a successful flight-test of the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR). The rocket was tested for a user-defined minimum range of
Context worth carrying: the maiden test of the Pinaka LRGR on 29 December 2025 validated the maximum range of 120 km. Testing a minimum range matters because a guided rocket must be able to engage close targets as well as distant ones, and the same in-service launcher must handle every Pinaka variant.
Developed by ARDE with HEMRL, DRDL and RCI. Answer: 60 km.
Q.23 [Economy]
Which one of the following best explains how India's growth resilience is achieved in a fragile global context in recent years?
(b) is wrong — depreciation is a symptom of stress, not a growth strategy. (c) is wrong — the fiscal push has come through capital expenditure, and revenue-deficit financing is precisely what policy has tried to reduce. (d) is wrong — public capex has been raised sharply, not cut.
Answer: (a).
Q.24 [Economy]
If Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is 50% and Worker Population Ratio (WPR) is 45%, what is the Unemployment Rate?
• LFPR = labour force ÷ population = 50%
• WPR = workers ÷ population = 45%
• UR = unemployed ÷ labour force
Take a population of 100: labour force = 50, workers = 45, so unemployed = 5.
UR = 5/50 × 100 = 10%.
Trap: subtracting 45 from 50 and answering 5%. The unemployment rate is measured against the labour force, not the population — that single distinction is the entire question.
Q.25 [Economy]
Which one of the following major structural trends in agricultural output is highlighted in the Economic Survey 2025-26?
It matters because it signals a diet and demand shift away from cereals towards higher-value produce, and because horticulture is more labour-intensive and more perishable, which raises the premium on cold chains and marketing reform.
(b) is wrong — vegetable production exceeds fruit production in India by a wide margin.
Answer: (d).
Q.26 [Government Schemes]
Consider the following statements with reference to PANI (Portal for Asset and Navigation Information):
1. It is a unified platform which provides river navigation and infrastructure information
2. It provides detailed information of various features of National Waterways
3. It facilitates 'One Nation – One Registration' through a single-window system
1. Correct. It is a unified platform carrying river navigation and infrastructure information.
2. Correct. It details features of the National Waterways — fairway depth, navigational aids, terminals, jetties and bridges.
3. Incorrect. 'One Nation – One Registration' for inland vessels flows from the Inland Vessels Act, 2021 and its central database of vessel registration, not from PANI, which is a navigation-information portal.
Answer: 1 and 2.
Q.27 [Polity & Governance]
Consider the following statements with reference to Indian Ports Act, 2025:
1. It established Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) as a statutory consultative body to coordinate between Centre and coastal states
2. Its legislation mandates Global Green Norms and Disaster Readiness for Indian Ports
1. Correct. The Act gives the Maritime State Development Council a statutory footing. The MSDC had existed since 1997 as a purely advisory body; the new Act makes it the formal consultative mechanism between the Centre and the coastal States on integrated port development.
2. Correct. The Act carries provisions on pollution control, environmental compliance aligned with international conventions, and disaster-preparedness obligations for ports.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Q.28 [Polity & Governance]
Which of the following statements relating to Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 are correct?
1. It mandates the creation of a National Disaster Database
2. It addresses the issue of urban disaster risk management through Provision 41 A
3. It empowers the constitution of an Urban Disaster Management Authority (UDMA) for State Capitals and all cities having Municipal Corporations (excluding NCT of Delhi and Union Territories of Chandigarh)
1. Correct. It mandates a National Disaster Database — disaster assessments, fund allocation, expenditure, preparedness and risk registers, at national and State level.
2. Correct. Urban disaster risk is addressed through the newly inserted provision numbered 41A.
3. Correct. It empowers the constitution of an Urban Disaster Management Authority for State capitals and all cities with Municipal Corporations, with the NCT of Delhi and Chandigarh excluded because of their distinct administrative arrangements.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Q.29 [Government Schemes]
Consider the following statements with reference to Fisheries Startups Ecosystem in India:
1. Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge was launched to identify start-ups offering solutions related to productivity, sustainability, and market access
2. Matsya Manthan is a knowledge-building lecture series aimed at strengthening the innovation ecosystem in the fisheries sector
3. The Department of Fisheries has supported the establishment of fisheries business incubation centres to provide mentorship and training for developing business models
1. The Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge identifies start-ups solving for productivity, sustainability and market access.
2. Matsya Manthan is the knowledge and lecture series supporting innovation in the sector.
3. Fisheries Business Incubation Centres provide mentorship and training for business-model development.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Q.30 [Government Schemes]
Which of the following statements relating to objectives of National Livestock Mission are correct?
1. Promoting risk management measures including livestock insurance for farmers
2. Increase in production of meat, egg, goat milk, wool and fodder
3. Employment generation through entrepreneurship development in small ruminant, poultry and piggery sector & fodder sector
1. Risk management — livestock insurance to protect farmers against animal mortality.
2. Production — raising output of meat, eggs, goat milk, wool and fodder.
3. Employment and entrepreneurship — in the small ruminant, poultry, piggery and fodder sectors, through entrepreneurship development.
Note what the Mission deliberately leaves out: cattle and buffalo milk, which fall under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the National Programme for Dairy Development. The list says 'goat milk', not milk generally — a precise detail worth noticing.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Q.31 [Geography]
Which of the following statements relating to given weather phenomena in India is/are correct?
1. When maximum temperature of a station reaches ≥40°C for plains and ≥30°C for hilly regions, it is considered heat wave
2. When minimum temperature of a station is ≤10°C for plains and ≤0°C for hilly regions, it is considered cold wave
Heat wave — declared only when the maximum temperature reaches at least 40°C in the plains and at least 30°C in hilly regions (with 37°C for coastal stations), and the departure from normal meets the prescribed limit.
Cold wave — considered when the minimum temperature is 10°C or below in the plains and 0°C or below in hilly regions, subject again to the departure criterion.
The logic is that the same absolute temperature means very different things in Rajasthan and in Shimla, so IMD anchors the definition to both an absolute floor and a local departure.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Q.32 [Environment]
Match List I (Biosphere Reserve) with List II (State/Union Territory):
A. Seshachalam B. Manas C. Similipal D. Panna
1. Andhra Pradesh 2. Assam 3. Odisha 4. Madhya Pradesh
B. Manas — Assam (2), on the Bhutan border; also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a tiger reserve.
C. Similipal — Odisha (3), in Mayurbhanj district; known for its melanistic tigers.
D. Panna — Madhya Pradesh (4), on the Ken river; famous for the successful tiger reintroduction.
Answer: A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4.
Q.33 [Environment]
Which one of the following is India's key programmes to conserve wildlife and protect endangered species?
It covers seven big cats: tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah — the first three of which India holds in significant numbers, along with snow leopards in the Himalaya.
The other options are genuine conservation bodies but are not Indian programmes: the International Gorilla Conservation Programme works in central Africa, and the International Rhino Foundation is a US-based organisation.
Answer: International Big Cat Alliance.
Q.34 [Environment]
Consider the following statements:
1. Mangroves are natural buffers against cyclones, storm surges and coastal erosion
2. Recognising it, India implemented the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI)
2. Correct. MISHTI — Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes — was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt-pan lands, wherever feasible, in convergence with MGNREGA and CAMPA funds.
Note the phrase 'Tangible Incomes' in the name: the scheme is designed to pair ecological restoration with livelihoods for coastal communities.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Q.35 [Environment]
Consider the following statements with reference to Ramsar sites in India:
1. India has the highest number of Ramsar sites in Asia
2. Ramsar site Patna Bird Sanctuary is situated in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh
2. Correct. Patna Bird Sanctuary is in Etah district, Uttar Pradesh — not in Patna, Bihar, which is the trap the name sets. It is among India's smallest bird sanctuaries and was designated a Ramsar site in 2019.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Remember the Ramsar Convention itself: signed at Ramsar, Iran, in 1971; India acceded in 1982.
Q.36 [Environment]
Which of the following are India's first Ramsar-accredited Wetland Cities?
1. Udaipur 2. Patna 3. Indore 4. Bhubaneswar
The accreditation recognises cities that are close to wetlands and have taken exceptional steps to safeguard them — Indore for Sirpur Lake, and Udaipur for the chain of lakes including Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Rang Sagar, Swaroop Sagar and Doodh Talai that define the city's character.
Answer: 1 and 3.
Q.37 [Geography]
Which of the following statements related to the stages of evolution of the present atmosphere are correct?
1. The first stage is marked by the loss of primordial atmosphere
2. In the second stage, the hot interior of the earth contributed to the evolution of the atmosphere
3. Finally, the composition of the atmosphere was modified by the living world through the process of photosynthesis
Stage 1 — loss of the primordial atmosphere. The early envelope of hydrogen and helium was stripped away by the solar wind, both around the Earth and across all the terrestrial planets.
Stage 2 — degassing. The hot interior released gases through intense volcanism — water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and various trace gases — building a secondary atmosphere.
Stage 3 — modification by life. Photosynthesis by early organisms converted carbon dioxide into oxygen, producing the oxygen-rich atmosphere we have now. The oxygen we breathe is a biological product, not a geological one.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Q.38 [Geography]
Consider the following statements with reference to earthquakes:
1. Collapse earthquakes are most common
2. Tsunamis are waves generated by the tremors and not an earthquake in itself
3. High magnitude earthquakes i.e. 8+ are quite rare whereas 'tiny' types occur almost every minute
2. Correct. A tsunami is a consequence of an earthquake (or landslide or volcanic eruption), a train of water waves generated by the displacement of the sea floor. It is not itself a type of earthquake.
3. Correct. The frequency–magnitude relationship is strongly skewed: magnitude 8+ events occur roughly once a year worldwide, while very small tremors occur many times an hour.
Answer: 2 and 3 only.
Q.39 [Geography]
Consider the following statements related to water vapours:
1. It is a variable gas in the atmosphere, which decreases with altitude
2. In the dry and cold areas of desert and polar regions, it may be less than one per cent of the air
2. Correct. Water vapour also decreases from the equator towards the poles. In the warm, humid tropics it may reach about 4% of the air by volume; in the dry deserts and cold polar regions it can be less than 1%.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Why it matters: water vapour absorbs both incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation, so it acts as a blanket and is the reason deserts swing so sharply between day and night temperatures.
Q.40 [Geography]
Consider the following statements related to river terraces:
1. They are surfaces marking old valley floor or floodplain levels
2. They may be bedrock surfaces without any alluvial cover or alluvial terraces consisting of stream deposits
3. They are basically products of deposition as they result due to vertical erosion by the stream into its own depositional floodplain
2. Correct. They may be bedrock surfaces stripped of alluvium, or alluvial terraces made of stream deposits.
3. Incorrect — and this is the whole question. The NCERT wording is that terraces are basically products of erosion, since they result from vertical erosion by the stream into its own depositional floodplain. The statement as printed substitutes 'deposition' for 'erosion' while keeping the rest of the sentence intact — and the sentence then contradicts itself, because vertical erosion is named within it.
Answer: 1 and 2 only.
Q.41 [Geography]
Consider the following States:
1. Nagaland 2. Assam 3. Mizoram 4. Tripura
The State of Arunachal Pradesh has common boundary with which of the above States of India?
Its other boundaries are international — with China to the north (the McMahon Line), Myanmar to the east and Bhutan to the west.
Mizoram and Tripura lie far to the south and share no boundary with Arunachal Pradesh.
Answer: 1 and 2 only.
Useful check: Assam is the hub State of the North East, sharing boundaries with all seven of the others.
Q.42 [Geography]
The Tetrahedral Hypothesis of the origin of continents and ocean basin was proposed by
Keep the other names apart:
• F. B. Taylor — continental drift by 'horizontal displacement' (1908)
• Alfred Wegener — Continental Drift Theory and Pangaea (1912)
• W. M. Davis — the Cycle of Erosion (youth, maturity, old age)
Answer: Lowthian Green.
Q.43 [Biology — Ecology]
Which one among the following constitute a food chain?
Grass (producer) → Insects (primary consumer) → Frog (secondary consumer) ✓
Checking the others:
• (a) Grass, Fish and Goat — a goat does not eat fish, and the fish does not eat the grass in this chain.
• (c) Goat, Cow and Elephant — all three are herbivores at the same trophic level; none eats another.
• (d) Tiger, Lion and Grass — tigers and lions are both top carnivores and neither eats grass.
Answer: (b).
Q.44 [Environment]
UNESCO World Heritage site Nanda Devi National Park is located in which one of the following States?
It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and extended in 2005 to become the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks — the two together form a single World Heritage property.
Uttarakhand's other World Heritage connection to note is that the wider area forms the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.
Answer: Uttarakhand.
Q.45 [Environment]
What was the theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity, 2026?
Keep the recent themes apart, because they rotate as distractors:
• 2023 — 'From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity' (option (c) here)
• 2024 — 'Be Part of the Plan'
• 2025 — 'Harmony with Nature and Sustainable Development'
• 2026 — 'Acting Locally for Global Impact'
The day is observed on 22 May, marking the adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.
Q.46 [Polity]
Which of the following statements related to the Constituent Assembly of India is/are correct?
1. Its members were chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies
2. Indian Princely States were given representation in the Constituent Assembly
2. Correct. The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 allotted 93 seats to the Princely States out of a total of 389, with their representatives to be nominated by the heads of the princely states rather than elected.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Figures worth carrying: 389 total under the Cabinet Mission Plan (296 from British India + 93 from the States), reduced to 299 after Partition.
Q.47 [Polity & Governance]
Consider the following statements regarding State Support Mission by NITI Aayog:
1. State Support Mission is an umbrella initiative by NITI Aayog aimed at fostering structured and institutionalized engagement with states and Union Territories (UTs)
2. Its primary objective is to assist States and UTs in achieving their socioeconomic goals by 2036
2. Incorrect. The target year is wrong. The Mission's horizon is aligned with Viksit Bharat @2047 — the centenary of Independence — not 2036.
Answer: 1 only.
General lesson: where a statement about an Indian government initiative carries a date, check it against the standard policy horizons — 2030 (SDGs), 2035 (the new NDC), 2047 (Viksit Bharat). An unfamiliar year is usually the planted error.
Q.48 [Polity & Governance]
Consider the following pairs of Institutions/Organizations and their official motto:
1. National Investigation Agency : Rāṣṭrarakṣaṇam ādyakartavyam
2. Supreme Court of India : Yato Dharmastato Jayah
3. University Grants Commission : Gyan-Vigyan Vimuktaye
How many of the above is/are correctly paired?
1. NIA — Rāṣṭrarakṣaṇam ādyakartavyam, 'Protection of the nation is the foremost duty'.
2. Supreme Court of India — Yato Dharmastato Jayah, 'Whence there is dharma, there is victory', taken from the Mahabharata.
3. UGC — Gyan-Vigyan Vimuktaye, 'Knowledge and science liberate'.
Answer: 3.
Other mottos worth knowing: Indian Army — Service Before Self; Indian Navy — Sham No Varunah; Indian Air Force — Nabhah Sparsham Deeptam; CBI — Industry, Impartiality, Integrity; ISRO — Space technology in the service of humankind.
Q.49 [Defence]
Which one of the following is the 'Theme of the Year 2026' of Indian Army?
The theme treats data as an operational asset and pushes networked, AI-enabled decision-making, cyber resilience and real-time situational awareness across formations. It follows directly from the earlier themes:
• 2024 — Year of Technology Absorption
• 2025 — Year of Reforms
• 2026 — Year of Networking and Data Centricity
Option (a) is a Navy formulation, not an Army theme — a useful reminder to keep service-wise themes apart.
Answer: (b).
Q.50 [Polity]
Which one of the following Writs literally means 'you have the body'?
• Habeas Corpus — 'you may have the body' / 'to have the body of'. Issued to produce a detained person before the court and test the legality of the detention. It is the only writ that can be issued against private individuals as well as the State.
• Mandamus — 'we command'. Orders a public official to perform an official duty.
• Prohibition — 'to forbid'. Issued by a higher court to stop a lower court exceeding its jurisdiction; preventive.
• Certiorari — 'to be certified'. Quashes an order already passed by a lower court; curative.
• Quo Warranto — 'by what authority'.
Answer: Habeas Corpus. Writs are issued by the Supreme Court under Article 32 and by the High Courts under Article 226.
Q.51 [Polity]
Which of the following statements about National Human Rights Commission, India is/are correct?
1. It can intervene in court proceedings involving human rights violations with the approval of the court
2. It can undertake research in the field of human rights
3. It cannot investigate human rights violation on its own initiative
1. Correct. It may intervene in proceedings involving allegations of human rights violation pending before a court, with the approval of that court.
2. Correct. It undertakes and promotes research in the field of human rights.
3. Incorrect. The Commission can inquire suo motu — on its own initiative — as well as on a petition presented to it. Suo motu cognisance is one of its most visible powers.
Answer: 1 and 2 only.
Limitation worth knowing: the NHRC's recommendations are not binding, and it cannot inquire into a matter more than one year after the alleged violation.
Q.52 [Polity]
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. In First-Past-the-Post system of representation, candidate who wins the election may not get majority votes
2. In Proportional Representation system of representation, candidate who wins the election gets majority votes
2. Incorrect. Proportional Representation allocates seats in proportion to vote share; it is designed to reflect minority opinion, not to guarantee any individual candidate a majority of votes. India uses PR with the single transferable vote for the Rajya Sabha, the State Legislative Councils and the election of the President and Vice-President.
Answer: 1 only.
Q.53 [Polity]
Which of the following statements is/are correct with respect to the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?
1. The merger of the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu was given effect to by an Act of the Parliament of India
2. After the merger of the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, three seats have been allocated in the House of People
3. The jurisdiction of the High Court of Bombay continues to extend to this Union Territory
2. Incorrect. The merged Union Territory has two seats in the Lok Sabha — one for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and one for Daman and Diu — not three.
3. Correct. The Bombay High Court continues to exercise jurisdiction over the Union Territory.
Answer: 1 and 3 only.
Context: this merger reduced the number of Union Territories from nine to eight, the same year Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were created.
Q.54 [Polity]
As regards the 'disqualification on ground of defection' as per the Constitution of India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. Disqualification on ground of defection does not apply to any nominated member of a House
2. Disqualification on ground of defection does not apply to a member of a House if she/he does not accept the merger of her/his original political party into another and opts to function as a separate group
1. Incorrect. Nominated members are not exempt. A nominated member is disqualified if he joins any political party after the expiry of six months from taking his seat. (Within those six months he may join a party without penalty.)
2. Correct. Under the merger exception (Paragraph 4), if not less than two-thirds of the members of a legislature party agree to a merger, then both those who accept the merger and those who refuse it and choose to function as a separate group are protected from disqualification.
Answer: 2 only.
Note: the 91st Amendment, 2003 deleted the earlier 'split' exception (one-third), leaving only the two-thirds merger route.
Q.55 [Polity]
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. Using powers given under Article 342 A of the Constitution of India, the President of India may notify a Central List of socially, educationally and economically backward classes with respect to a State
2. Every State may prepare a list of socially and educationally backward classes for its own purposes different from the Central List
2. Correct. The 105th Amendment, 2021 inserted Article 342A(3), expressly restoring the power of every State and Union Territory to prepare and maintain its own list of SEBCs for its own purposes, which may differ from the Central List. This was Parliament's response to the Supreme Court's reading in the Maratha reservation case.
Answer: 2 only.
Q.56 [Polity & Economy]
Which of the following statements about Goods and Services Tax (GST) in course of inter-State trade or commerce is/are correct?
1. Levy and collection of GST are governed under Article 269 A of the Constitution of India
2. GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce may not be levied and collected by the States
3. GST is apportioned between the Union and the States
1. Correct. Levy and collection on inter-State supplies are governed by Article 269A.
2. Correct. Such GST is levied and collected by the Government of India (this is IGST), not by the States.
3. Correct. The tax so collected is apportioned between the Union and the States in the manner Parliament provides on the GST Council's recommendation.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Keep the Articles apart: 246A — power to make GST laws; 269A — inter-State GST; 279A — the GST Council; 366(12A) — the definition of GST.
Q.57 [Polity]
Which of the following statements about State Election Commissioner is/are correct?
1. Preparation of electoral rolls for elections to the Panchayats takes place under his/her direction
2. He/she is appointed by the Governor of the concerned State on the advice of the Chief Election Commissioner of India
2. Incorrect. The State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor — with no role for the Chief Election Commissioner of India. The State Election Commission is an entirely separate constitutional body from the Election Commission of India; the ECI handles Parliament, State legislatures, the President and the Vice-President, while local body elections belong to the SEC.
Answer: 1 only.
Protection of tenure: the State Election Commissioner can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Judge of a High Court.
Q.58 [Polity]
Which one of the following statements related to below mentioned Committees of the Parliament is correct?
• (a) Incorrect — Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs: 30 members, 20 Lok Sabha + 10 Rajya Sabha.
• (b) Correct — the Chairperson of the Committee on the Welfare of Other Backward Classes is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha ✓
• (c) Incorrect — Committee on Empowerment of Women: 30 members, 20 Lok Sabha + 10 Rajya Sabha.
• (d) Incorrect — Public Accounts Committee: 22 members, 15 Lok Sabha + 7 Rajya Sabha.
Answer: (b). Memorise the three financial committees: PAC 22 (15+7), Estimates Committee 30, all from the Lok Sabha, Committee on Public Undertakings 22 (15+7).
Q.59 [Environment]
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. India has committed to reduce Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 47% by 2035 from 2005 level
2. India has set the target to achieve 60% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035
1. Correct. Reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 47% by 2035 from the 2005 level (raised from the earlier 45%-by-2030 target).
2. Correct. Achieve 60% of cumulative installed electric power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2035 (raised from 50% by 2030, a target India had already crossed — reaching about 52·6% by early 2026, five years ahead of schedule).
The NDC also commits to a carbon sink of 3·5–4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2035.
Answer: Both 1 and 2. Keep the old and new numbers apart: 45%/50% by 2030 were the previous NDC; 47%/60% by 2035 are the current one.
Q.60 [Polity]
Which of the following statements with respect to the Ordinance promulgated under Article 213 of the Constitution of India is/are correct?
1. It shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly of the State, or where there is a Legislative Council in the State, before both the Houses
2. It shall cease to operate at the expiration of two months from the reassembly of the Legislature
3. It may be withdrawn at any time by the Governor
1. Correct. Every such Ordinance must be laid before the Legislative Assembly, or before both Houses where there is a Legislative Council.
2. Incorrect. The period is six weeks from the reassembly of the Legislature, not two months. If a resolution disapproving it is passed earlier, it ceases from that earlier date. (The same six-week rule applies to the President's Ordinance under Article 123.)
3. Correct. An Ordinance may be withdrawn at any time by the Governor.
Answer: 1 and 3 only.
Maximum life of an Ordinance: six months plus six weeks, arrived at because the Constitution requires that the Legislature not have a gap of more than six months between sessions.
Q.61 [International Relations]
Which one of the following groups of countries consists of the members of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)?
Its focus areas are tourism, culture, education, transport and communication — a soft-power and connectivity grouping under the Act East Policy rather than a security or trade bloc.
Bangladesh is not a member, which is what options (b), (c) and (d) are testing. Bangladesh belongs to BIMSTEC and BBIN, not MGC.
Answer: (a).
Q.62 [Polity]
Which one of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?
(b) Correct. The 53rd Amendment, 1986 inserted Article 371G for Mizoram.
(c) NOT correctly matched ✓ — the special provision for Nagaland is Article 371A, inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment Act, 1962, not the Fourteenth. The 14th Amendment, 1962 dealt with the incorporation of the former French territories (Puducherry) and inserted Article 239A.
(d) Correct. The 56th Amendment, 1987 inserted Article 371I in connection with Goa's statehood.
Answer: (c).
Q.63 [Polity]
Consider the statements regarding the delimitation exercise carried out in Assam in 2023:
1. The delimitation of constituencies was done on the basis of 2001 census
2. No increase was made in the number of ST Assembly seats
2. Incorrect. The number of Assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes was increased from 16 to 19 (and seats reserved for Scheduled Castes went from 8 to 9). The total number of Assembly seats stayed at 126 and Lok Sabha seats at 14 — what changed was the reservation and the boundaries, not the totals.
Answer: 1 only.
Q.64 [Polity]
Consider the following statements about the administration and control of Scheduled Areas:
1. The Governors of each State having Scheduled Areas therein shall, annually or whenever so required by the President, make a report to the President regarding the administration of the Scheduled Areas in that State
2. The Executive Power of the Union shall extend to the giving of directions to the States as to the administration of the Scheduled Areas
1. Correct. Paragraph 3 requires the Governor of each State having Scheduled Areas to report to the President annually, or whenever the President so requires, on the administration of those areas.
2. Correct. The same paragraph provides that the executive power of the Union extends to giving directions to the State as to the administration of the Scheduled Areas.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Keep the two Schedules apart: the Fifth Schedule covers Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in States other than the four North-Eastern ones; the Sixth Schedule covers tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through Autonomous District Councils.
Q.65 [Economy]
Under the Ministry of Finance, which Department is responsible for giving advice on economic issues having a bearing on internal and external aspects of economy including foreign exchange management?
The others:
• Department of Expenditure — public expenditure management, pay commissions, financial rules
• DIPAM — disinvestment and management of Central government investment in CPSEs
• Department of Financial Services — banks, insurance and pensions
The Ministry's other two departments are Revenue (CBDT and CBIC) and Public Enterprises.
Answer: Department of Economic Affairs.
Q.66 [Biology]
Which of the following statements regarding the similarity in glycogen in animal cell and starch in plant cell is/are NOT correct?
1. Both are mixtures of amylose and amylopectin
2. Starch and glycogen, both represent the storage form of carbohydrate in liver cells
1. NOT correct ✓ — starch is a mixture of amylose (unbranched) and amylopectin (branched). Glycogen is a single, highly branched polymer of glucose, more branched even than amylopectin; it is not a mixture of the two.
2. NOT correct ✓ — glycogen is the storage carbohydrate in liver and muscle cells of animals. Starch is the plant storage form and is not found in liver cells at all.
Since both statements are incorrect, the answer is Both 1 and 2.
What they genuinely share: both are polysaccharides of α-glucose serving as storage molecules — insoluble enough not to disturb osmotic balance, and rapidly mobilised when energy is needed.
Q.67 [Biology]
In which of the following processes, active transport is NOT used?
• (a) Reabsorption in the proximal convoluted tubule works against a gradient — active.
• (b) Phloem loading concentrates sucrose in sieve tubes against a gradient — active.
• (c) Passage of Na⁺ and Cl⁻ through a hydrophilic protein channel is facilitated diffusion — passive, no ATP ✓
• (d) Absorption of glucose from the gut is coupled to sodium and is active.
Answer: (c). The phrase 'through hydrophilic channel created by protein molecules' is the signature of a channel protein, hence of passive transport.
Q.68 [Biology]
Which one of the following is NOT true of mitotic cell division?
(a), (b) and (c) all follow from that — identical daughter nuclei, tissue repair and replacement, and asexual reproduction in eukaryotes.
(d) is NOT true ✓ — halving of the chromosome number is meiosis (reductional division), which produces four haploid gametes from one diploid cell.
Answer: (d).
One-line contrast: mitosis 2n → 2n + 2n (growth and repair); meiosis 2n → four cells of n (gamete formation and variation).
Q.69 [Biology]
Which one of the following is important for cartilage but NOT a globin protein?
The others:
• Haemoglobin — a globin; oxygen transport in blood
• Myoglobin — a globin; oxygen storage in muscle
• Keratin — a fibrous protein, but of hair, nails, horn and the outer skin, not cartilage
Answer: Collagen. The question needs both conditions met — cartilage and not a globin — which eliminates keratin on the first and the two globins on the second.
Q.70 [Biology]
Which of the following activity a mammalian erythrocyte CANNOT perform?
Without a nucleus and ribosomes it cannot synthesise proteins or divide ✓
What it can still do: carry haemoglobin (which fills the space the organelles vacated), allow oxygen to diffuse across its membrane, and deform to squeeze through capillaries narrower than itself — the biconcave disc shape gives it both the surface area and the flexibility.
Answer: (b). This is why a red cell survives only about 120 days: it cannot repair itself.
Note the word 'mammalian': birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish retain nucleated red cells.
Q.71 [Biology]
Consider the following statements associated with Malaria:
1. Only the female Anopheles mosquitoes take human blood for reproduction
2. Plasmodium can pass across the placenta from mother to foetus
2. Correct. Congenital malaria is well documented: Plasmodium can cross the placenta from an infected mother to the foetus. Malaria in pregnancy is a recognised cause of low birth weight and maternal anaemia.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Facts worth carrying: the causative organism is the protozoan Plasmodium (P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale); the mosquito is the definitive host and humans the intermediate host; Ronald Ross established the mosquito transmission cycle in 1897 at Secunderabad.
Q.72 [Biology]
Which one of the following is involved in light independent reactions of photosynthesis?
• Light-dependent reactions (in the thylakoid membranes) — light absorption by pigments, photosystems I and II, photolysis of water (the Hill reaction), and the production of ATP and NADPH.
• Light-independent reactions (in the stroma) — the Calvin cycle, which uses the ATP and NADPH to fix CO₂ into carbohydrate ✓
Answer: Calvin cycle, also called the dark reaction or the C₃ cycle, with RuBisCO as its key enzyme.
Note: 'light-independent' does not mean it happens in the dark — it means it does not directly require photons, though it depends on the ATP and NADPH that the light reactions supply.
Q.73 [Biology]
Which of the following is associated to Schizophrenia?
Correcting the distractors, each of which is a common misconception:
• (a) 'Multiple personalities' is dissociative identity disorder, an entirely different condition. The confusion arises from the Greek root schizo, 'to split' — but the split referred to is between thought and reality, not between personalities.
• (b) Neurodegeneration describes conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
• (c) Schizophrenia has both genetic and environmental contributors (stress, urban upbringing, substance use).
Answer: Hallucination.
Q.74 [Biology]
Which one of the following is NOT found in a prokaryotic cell?
The others are present: bacteria have a cell wall (of peptidoglycan), ribosomes (of the 70S type, smaller than the eukaryotic 80S), and often plasmids — small circular extra-chromosomal DNA molecules that carry accessory genes such as antibiotic resistance.
Answer: Nuclear membrane.
Also absent from prokaryotes: mitochondria, chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes — all membrane-bound organelles.
Q.75 [Biology]
Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
The others are all correct:
• (b) Darwin's theory rests on branching descent and natural selection.
• (c) Lamarckism holds that characters acquired in a lifetime are inherited — the giraffe's neck argument.
• (d) The five factors that disturb Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium are gene migration (gene flow), genetic drift, mutation, genetic recombination and natural selection — which is precisely why a departure from equilibrium is evidence that evolution is occurring.
Answer: (a).
Q.76 [Biology — Ecology]
Which of the following can be considered associated with mitigation of environmental problems?
• Biomagnification — the progressive concentration of a non-degradable toxin (DDT, mercury) at successive trophic levels.
• Accelerated eutrophication — nutrient enrichment of water bodies by sewage and fertiliser runoff, causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion.
• Release of nuclear wastes — a serious hazard requiring deep, shielded disposal.
Categorical disposal of different wastes — segregating waste at source into biodegradable, recyclable and hazardous streams — is a genuine mitigation measure and the basis of the Solid Waste Management Rules ✓
Answer: (d).
Q.77 [Biology]
Which of the following statements is/are associated with role of enzymes in genetic engineering?
1. Exonucleases remove nucleotides from the ends of DNA
2. Restriction endonucleases are used to form recombinant molecule of DNA
2. Correct. Restriction endonucleases cut DNA at specific internal recognition sequences (endo = within). Because many produce staggered cuts with sticky ends, fragments from different sources can be joined — which is exactly how a recombinant DNA molecule is formed. They are often called 'molecular scissors'.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
The third essential enzyme: DNA ligase, the 'molecular glue', seals the joined fragments. EcoRI, isolated from Escherichia coli, is the classic example of a restriction enzyme.
Q.78 [Biology]
Which one of the following is NOT a biocontrol agent?
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) — a bacterium whose crystal protein kills insect larvae; the basis of Bt cotton.
• Ladybird beetle — a predator that feeds on aphids.
• Trichoderma — a free-living fungus used as a biocontrol agent against plant pathogens.
• Aphid — a pest, not a control agent ✓ It is sap-sucking and damages crops; it is the organism the ladybird beetle is deployed against.
Answer: Aphid.
Other biocontrol agents worth knowing: Baculovirus (Nucleopolyhedrovirus) for narrow-spectrum insect control, and dragonflies against mosquitoes.
Q.79 [Biology]
Which one of the following statements is NOT correct?
The others are correct:
• (a) Kingdom Protista, in Whittaker's five-kingdom classification, comprises single-celled eukaryotes.
• (c) Fungi are heterotrophs — they lack chlorophyll and absorb nutrition, living as saprophytes, parasites or symbionts.
• (d) Ascomycetes (sac fungi) are generally multicellular, with yeast as the rare unicellular member — the statement is worded carefully and correctly.
Answer: (b). Note that (d) actually contains the clue that defeats (b).
Q.80 [Biology]
Which of the following statements associated with cancer is/are correct?
1. Oncogenes expression and some viral infections can cause cancer
2. In metastasis, the cancer cells spread through the blood and lymphatic system
2. Correct. Metastasis is precisely the property that makes a tumour malignant: cells detach from the primary tumour and travel through the blood and lymphatic systems to establish secondary tumours elsewhere. A benign tumour, by contrast, stays at its site of origin.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Related term: tumour suppressor genes such as p53 normally restrain division; their loss is the other half of the cancer story.
Q.81 [Defence]
Consider the following statements with regard to the defence sector in India:
1. The overall defence budget has increased from about ₹2·50 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to ₹7·80 lakh crore in FY 2026-27
2. Capital expenditure has risen sharply from about ₹94,000 crore in 2014-15 to more than ₹2·00 lakh crore in 2026-27
1. Correct. The overall defence budget has risen from approximately ₹2·50 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to about ₹7·80 lakh crore in FY 2026-27 — roughly a three-fold increase in nominal terms.
2. Correct. The capital outlay, which funds modernisation and new acquisitions rather than salaries and pensions, has grown from about ₹94,000 crore in 2014-15 to more than ₹2 lakh crore in 2026-27.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Why the capital share matters: the revenue component (pay, pensions, maintenance) is largely committed expenditure. Only the capital head buys new capability, so its growth rate is the better indicator of modernisation.
Q.82 [Defence]
The Technology Development Fund (TDF) is a flagship initiative under
It sits within the wider Atmanirbhar Bharat defence-indigenisation architecture alongside iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), the positive indigenisation lists, the Defence Acquisition Procedure's Buy (Indian-IDDM) category, and the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Answer: Ministry of Defence.
Q.83 [Defence]
Consider the following statements about Exercise Khaan Quest, 2026:
1. The Indian Army contingent comprises 40 personnel, including troops from a battalion of the Sikh Regiment and personnel from other Arms and Services
2. The aim of the Exercise is to prepare contingents of participating Defence Forces for peacekeeping missions while operating in a multilateral environment
2. Correct. Khaan Quest is a multinational peacekeeping exercise whose stated aim is to prepare participating forces for United Nations peacekeeping operations in a multilateral environment, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
Answer: 2 only.
Details worth carrying: held at the Five Hills Training Area, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; began in 2003 as a US–Mongolia bilateral exercise and became multinational from 2006; the 2026 edition marked 20 years of the multilateral format, with over 1,000 troops from 18 countries.
Q.84 [Awards]
How many of the 2026 Padma awardees were conferred the award from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI?
Within that list, 6 awardees were from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI. The list also included 19 women and 16 posthumous awards.
Answer: 6.
Background: the Padma Awards were instituted in 1954, are announced on the eve of Republic Day and conferred by the President, and are conferred in three grades — Padma Vibhushan (exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of a high order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service).
Q.85 [Environment]
The Report on Floating Solar PV Potential Assessment of India was released by
Its headline finding: India's floating solar potential is about 102·18 GWp, assessed on the conservative assumption that only 20% of reservoir surface area is used. This takes India's total assessed solar potential to about 3,445 GW.
Leading States: Maharashtra (16·28 GWp), Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana.
Answer: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Why floating solar matters: it uses reservoir surface rather than farmland, reduces evaporation, and the water cools the panels, raising their efficiency.
Q.86 [Current Affairs]
Which one among the following was the theme of Fire Safety Week 2026?
National Fire Service Week is observed every year from 14 to 20 April. The date commemorates the Bombay Docks explosion of 14 April 1944, when the SS Fort Stikine caught fire at Victoria Dock and exploded, killing 66 firefighters — the largest single loss in the history of the Indian fire services. 14 April is observed as Fire Service Martyrs' Day.
Answer: (b).
Q.87 [Science & Technology]
NDMA has recently successfully operationalised the Integrated Alert System (SACHET). It has been developed by
It pushes geo-targeted disaster warnings — cyclone, flood, heatwave, tsunami, lightning — to mobile phones in the affected area in multiple Indian languages, using SMS and cell broadcast, so that alerts reach every handset in a cell without needing an app or a subscriber list.
Keep the acronyms apart: C-DOT is the telecom R&D centre, C-DAC builds supercomputers (the PARAM series), C-MET works on electronic materials and SAMEER on microwave and electromagnetics.
Answer: C-DOT.
Q.88 [Awards]
Which book won the 2026 International Booker Prize?
The novel is framed as the translation of a rediscovered manuscript by a Japanese writer travelling through Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule in the 1930s, and turns on questions of empire, identity and what is lost in translation.
Answer: Taiwan Travelogue.
Distinguish the two prizes: the Booker Prize is for fiction originally written in English; the International Booker Prize is for fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland, with the £50,000 split equally between author and translator.
Q.89 [Economy]
Which of the following statements relating to SEBI (Index Providers) Regulations, 2024 is/are correct?
1. These are applicable only to Index Providers that administer significant indices consisting of securities listed on a recognized stock exchange in India for use in the Indian securities market
2. The primary objective is to promote transparency and accountability in governance and administration of indices
2. Correct. The stated objective is to promote transparency and accountability in the governance and administration of indices.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Why regulate index providers at all? Passive investing has grown enormously, so index inclusion or exclusion now moves very large sums of money automatically. That gives the body deciding index composition real market power, which is why SEBI brought it under a registration and governance framework aligned with IOSCO principles.
Q.90 [Economy]
Which of the following statements regarding 'Startup India Fund of Funds 2·0' is/are correct?
1. It has a corpus of about ₹10,000 crore
2. NITI Aayog serves as the primary implementation agency
3. It focuses on deep-tech and technology-driven manufacturing startups
2. Incorrect. The implementing agency is SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India), not NITI Aayog. This is the planted error.
3. Correct. The renewed fund is oriented towards deep-tech and technology-driven manufacturing start-ups.
Answer: 1 and 3 only.
How a fund of funds works: it does not invest in start-ups directly. It invests in SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds, which in turn invest in start-ups — so the government's capital is leveraged several times over by private money, and the investment decisions stay with professional fund managers.
Q.91 [History]
'Study of human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present' is the work of
The neighbouring disciplines are narrower:
• Archaeologists study the human past through material remains — artefacts, structures, burials.
• Palaeontologists study fossils of ancient life generally, not just humans.
• Geologists study the Earth — its rocks, structure and history.
Answer: Anthropologists. The give-away phrase is 'societies and cultures … to the present': archaeology deals with the past, anthropology reaches into the living world as well.
Q.92 [History]
How many of the following pairs is/are correctly matched? (Harappan site : Modern state/region)
1. Bhirrana : Haryana 2. Ganweriwala : Punjab (Pakistan) 3. Dholavira : Gujarat 4. Farmana : Uttar Pradesh
2. Ganweriwala : Punjab (Pakistan) ✓ — in the Cholistan desert of Bahawalpur, Punjab province, Pakistan; one of the five largest Harappan cities and still largely unexcavated.
3. Dholavira : Gujarat ✓ — on Khadir island in the Rann of Kachchh; famous for its water-harvesting reservoirs and the ten-sign 'signboard'; a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
4. Farmana : Uttar Pradesh ✗ — Farmana (Daksh Khera) is in Rohtak district, HARYANA, not Uttar Pradesh. It is known for its large cemetery and for the residue analysis that identified turmeric and ginger.
So 3 pairs are correctly matched. Answer: (c).
Q.93 [History]
Which of the following is/are correct about the Harappans?
1. They were the first to grow cotton in Eurasia
2. They consumed turmeric, ginger and banana
2. Correct. Analysis of dental calculus and cooking-vessel residues — notably at Farmana — has identified turmeric, ginger and banana in the Harappan diet, pushing the documented use of these spices back several millennia.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Other Harappan crops: wheat, barley, peas, sesame, mustard, and rice at the Gujarat sites such as Lothal and Rangpur.
Q.94 [History]
The stories of Shvetaketu and Nachiketa teach us the worth of
Shvetaketu, in the Chandogya Upanishad, returns home proud of his learning and is asked by his father Uddalaka Aruni whether he has learnt 'that by which the unheard becomes heard'. The dialogue that follows — 'Tat tvam asi', 'That thou art' — proceeds entirely by the boy's questions.
Nachiketa, in the Katha Upanishad, goes to Yama and refuses wealth, cattle and long life, insisting instead on an answer about what lies beyond death — and will not be deflected.
The common lesson is questioning in the pursuit of knowledge, which is precisely the opposite of option (a).
Answer: (b).
Q.95 [History]
Which of the following schools of thought believed that 'this material world is the only thing that exists' and therefore 'there can be no life after death'?
The others:
• Vaisheshika — orthodox; atomism, founded by Kanada
• Nyaya — orthodox; logic and epistemology, founded by Gautama
• Ajivika — heterodox, founded by Makkhali Gosala; strict determinism (niyati), but not materialist in the Charvaka sense
Answer: Charvaka.
Q.96 [History]
Consider the following statements:
1. Dasavatara temple at Deogarh is a Gupta period building
2. Bhitargaon temple is built of dressed stone
2. Incorrect. The Bhitargaon temple (Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh), also Gupta period, is built of brick with terracotta panels — not dressed stone. It is in fact the oldest surviving brick temple in India, and that is precisely why it is famous.
Answer: 1 only.
Gupta temple sequence worth carrying: flat-roofed Temple 17 at Sanchi → Dasavatara at Deogarh with a shikhara → brick-built Bhitargaon.
Q.97 [History]
Consider the following statements about the treaty of Allahabad (1765):
1. It was an agreement between the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and the English East India Company
2. It made the English East India Company the Diwan of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
3. As per the provisions of the treaty, the East India Company was granted Diwani in exchange for an annual tribute to Mughal Emperor
4. The treaty was worked out after the defeat of the Mughal emperor in the battle of Buxar
How many of the above statements is/are correct?
1. The Treaty of Allahabad, 1765, was concluded between Shah Alam II and the English East India Company, negotiated by Robert Clive.
2. It granted the Company the Diwani — the right to collect revenue — of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
3. In return the Company agreed to pay the Emperor an annual tribute (₹26 lakh) and to meet the expenses of the Nizamat.
4. It followed the Company's victory at the Battle of Buxar (1764), where the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula and Shah Alam II were defeated.
Answer: 4.
Significance: the Diwani grant created the Dual Government in Bengal — the Company held the revenue power and the Nawab the administrative responsibility, with neither accountable — which Warren Hastings ended in 1772.
Q.98 [History]
Which of the following is a correct order of placement of major Harappan settlements from north to south?
• Lakhmirwala — Bathinda district, Punjab, about 30·2°N — the northernmost
• Banawali — Fatehabad district, Haryana, about 29·6°N
• Bhirrana — Fatehabad district, Haryana, about 29·55°N
• Rakhigarhi — Hisar district, Haryana, about 29·28°N — the southernmost
Only option (a) begins with Lakhmirwala and places Banawali second, and it is the intended answer. Note that Bhirrana and Rakhigarhi lie very close in latitude, and their relative order differs between sources — so do not lose time on that pair. The discriminating facts are that Lakhmirwala (in Punjab) is clearly the northernmost and Rakhigarhi is the southernmost of the Haryana cluster.
Answer: (a).
Q.99 [History]
Arrange the following landmarks in the discovery and preservation of early monuments and sculpture in a chronological order:
1. Founding of the Indian museum, Calcutta
2. H. H. Cole appointed Curator of Ancient Monuments
3. Establishment of the Government Museum, Madras
4. Passing of the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878
• 1814 — Indian Museum, Calcutta founded, the oldest museum in India and in the Asia-Pacific, growing out of the Asiatic Society
• 1851 — Government Museum, Madras established
• 1878 — Indian Treasure Trove Act passed, regulating the ownership of discovered antiquities
• 1881 — H. H. Cole appointed Curator of Ancient Monuments
Chronological order: 1 → 3 → 4 → 2.
Answer: (b).
Related milestones: the Archaeological Survey of India was founded in 1861 with Alexander Cunningham as its first Surveyor; the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act came in 1904 under Lord Curzon.
Q.100 [History]
With reference to the eligibility criteria for becoming the member of a 'Sabha' as laid down in the Uttarmerur inscription, consider the following statements:
1. The candidate should have his own house and his own plot of land
2. The candidate should be within 60 years of age and above 30 years
1. Correct. A candidate had to own land from which revenue was collected and to own a house built on his own site.
2. Incorrect. The inscription fixes the age range at between 35 and 70 years, not 30 to 60.
Answer: 1 only.
Other conditions listed: knowledge of the Vedas and of administration; and disqualifications for those who had not submitted accounts, or who had committed certain offences — including, notably, their relatives.
Q.101 [History]
Why do you think Vijayanagara incorporated agricultural tracts within the fortified area?
Vijayanagara's answer, as the sources describe, was to enclose agricultural tracts, granaries and an elaborate water-storage system within the outermost of its seven fortification lines. The city could then feed itself through a prolonged siege — and its besiegers could not destroy the crops that sustained it.
Answer: (b).
Abdur Razzaq, the Persian ambassador who visited in the 1440s, described the seven lines of fortification and noted the cultivated fields and gardens between them.
Q.102 [History]
What do you think the titles of Mahendravarman-I like 'Vichitrachitta', 'Chaityakari' and 'Chitrakarapuli' seem to suggest?
• Vichitrachitta — 'of curious or versatile mind'
• Chaityakari — 'temple-builder' or 'builder of shrines'
• Chitrakarapuli — 'tiger among painters'
Every one points to artistic activity — building, painting, and creative versatility.
This matches what is known of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I (c. 600–630 CE): he pioneered the rock-cut cave temples (mandapas) at Mandagapattu, Mahendravadi and Pallavaram, and wrote the Sanskrit satirical play Mattavilasa Prahasana. His Mandagapattu inscription boasts of a temple built without brick, timber, metal or mortar.
Answer: (b).
Q.103 [History]
The term 'Pendentive' refers to which form of Indian architecture?
It is a defining feature of Indo-Islamic architecture in India and is one of the two standard solutions; the other is the squinch, an arch thrown across the corner.
The distractors name other real terms: (a) describes the Phamsana type of temple as against the Latina or Rekha-Prasada; (c) is the Naubat Khana or Naqqar Khana; (d) describes a multifoil arch.
Answer: (b).
Q.104 [History]
Which one of the following European travelers have NOT written an account of the Vijayanagara Empire?
The others all did leave accounts:
• Niccolo di Conti — Italian, visited about 1420 during Deva Raya I's reign
• Domingo Paes — Portuguese, about 1520, during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya
• Fernao Nuniz — Portuguese, about 1535–37, during Achyuta Deva Raya's reign
Answer: Marco Polo. Also worth knowing: Abdur Razzaq (Persian, 1440s) and Duarte Barbosa (Portuguese).
Q.105 [History]
Who among the following was the founder president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal?
The others are connected but distinct:
• Warren Hastings — Governor-General and the Society's patron, not its president
• Charles Wilkins — first translator of the Bhagavad Gita into English (1785)
• Henry Thomas Colebrooke — a later president and Sanskrit scholar
Answer: William Jones.
Note: the Society's work laid the ground for the Indian Museum, Calcutta (1814) — the same institution that appears in Q99 of this paper.
Q.106 [History]
Which one among the following terms was used in the Sangam Texts for ploughmen?
• Vellalar — the large landowners
• Uzhavar — the ploughmen, the cultivators who actually worked the land ✓
• Adimai — the slaves or bonded labourers
• Gahapati — a term from the Pali and northern Indian texts for the head of a household, not a Sangam Tamil category
Answer: Uzhavar.
Context: the Sangam age runs roughly from the third century BCE to the third century CE, with the Tolkappiyam, Ettuthogai, Pattuppattu and the epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai among its principal works.
Q.107 [History]
Prithivimahadevi, Dharmamahadevi, Dandimahadevi and Valkulamahadevi, who became rulers due to the absence of a male heir, belonged to the
The dynasty is historically remarkable because at least six women ruled in their own right in the absence of a male heir — an unusual concentration of reigning queens in early medieval India, attested by their own copper-plate grants. They were patrons of Buddhism and later of Shaivism.
The other options: the Eastern Chalukyas ruled Vengi in coastal Andhra; the Kadambas ruled from Banavasi in Karnataka; the Gonandas are the legendary early dynasty of Kashmir in Kalhana's Rajatarangini.
Answer: Bhauma-Kara dynasty.
Q.108 [History]
Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Movement took place in which of the following States of India?
It worked among the Ezhava community against caste disabilities — temple entry, education, and access to public roads and wells — and its philosophy is captured in Narayana Guru's formulations 'One caste, one religion, one God for man' and 'Whatever be the religion, it is enough that man becomes good'.
Guru's consecration of a Shiva idol at Aruvippuram in 1888, asserting that a non-Brahmin could consecrate a temple, was the movement's founding act.
Answer: Kerala. The SNDP fed directly into the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) and the Temple Entry Proclamation (1936).
Q.109 [History]
With reference to the Shunga dynasty, Patanjali refers to the yavanas reaching up to Saketa and Madhyamika. The place Madhyamika is identified as located near
The reference comes from Patanjali's Mahabhashya, his commentary on Panini, composed in the Shunga period (second century BCE). Illustrating a grammatical point about the imperfect tense used for events witnessed in one's own lifetime, Patanjali gives the examples 'arunad yavanah saketam' and 'arunad yavano madhyamikam' — 'the Yavana besieged Saketa' and 'the Yavana besieged Madhyamika'.
The passage is valued because it independently dates the Indo-Greek (Yavana) incursions into the Ganga valley and western India, corroborating the evidence of the Yuga Purana and of Menander's coins.
Saketa is Ayodhya. Answer: Chittor.
Q.110 [History]
The Sylhet Referendum was held in?
The vote went in favour of joining East Bengal, and most of Sylhet was transferred to Pakistan, with the Karimganj sub-division retained in Assam by the Radcliffe Boundary Commission.
It is worth remembering as one of only two Partition-era referendums, the other being in the North-West Frontier Province, also held in July 1947, which voted to join Pakistan.
Answer: 1947.
Q.111 [Chemistry]
Which of the following are the forms of calcium carbonate?
1. Marble 2. Chalk 3. Limestone
• Limestone — a sedimentary rock, formed largely from the accumulated shells and skeletons of marine organisms
• Chalk — a soft, fine-grained, porous variety of limestone made of microscopic marine plankton remains
• Marble — the metamorphic rock produced when limestone is recrystallised under heat and pressure
Answer: 1, 2 and 3.
Related chemistry: heating CaCO₃ gives quicklime, CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂; adding water to quicklime gives slaked lime, Ca(OH)₂. Other CaCO₃ forms include calcite, aragonite and the shells of molluscs.
Q.112 [Chemistry]
Upon adding hydrochloric acid in copper oxide, it turns to blue-green color which is due to the formation of
CuO + 2HCl → CuCl₂ + H₂O
Copper oxide (CuO) is black; the copper(II) chloride formed gives the characteristic blue-green solution. Copper here is in the +2 oxidation state, matching the +2 state in CuO.
Why the others are wrong: 'copper hydrochloride' is not a real compound; copper(I) chloride, CuCl, is white and insoluble and would require reduction of the copper, which does not occur here; copper(I) hydride is neither formed nor blue-green.
Answer: Copper (II) chloride. This reaction is the NCERT demonstration that metal oxides are basic — they neutralise acids to give salt and water.
Q.113 [Chemistry]
Match List I (Source) with List II (Acid present):
A. Tomato B. Sour milk C. Ant sting D. Vinegar
1. Acetic acid 2. Methanoic acid 3. Oxalic Acid 4. Lactic acid
B. Sour milk → Lactic acid (4) — produced when bacteria ferment lactose
C. Ant sting → Methanoic acid (2) — formic acid; the name comes from the Latin formica, ant
D. Vinegar → Acetic acid (1) — vinegar is roughly 5–8% acetic acid
So A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1 → option (b).
Extend the list for the exam: citrus fruits — citric acid; curd — lactic acid; tamarind — tartaric acid; apple — malic acid; spinach — oxalic acid; gastric juice — hydrochloric acid; nettle sting — methanoic acid.
Q.114 [Chemistry]
Chemical formula of cooking soda is
2NaHCO₃ → Na₂CO₃ + H₂O + CO₂
Keep the sodium compounds apart, because they rotate as options:
• NaCl — common salt
• NaOCl — sodium hypochlorite, used as bleach
• Na₂CO₃ — washing soda (as the decahydrate Na₂CO₃·10H₂O), not cooking soda
• NaOH — caustic soda
Answer: NaHCO₃. Baking soda is also a mild antacid, because it neutralises excess stomach acid.
Q.115 [Chemistry]
Sodium metal is kept immersed in kerosene oil. This is because
2Na + 2H₂O → 2NaOH + H₂ + heat
The hydrogen released ignites in the heat of the reaction. Kerosene, being a non-polar hydrocarbon that does not react with sodium and is denser in coverage than air, seals the metal off from both moisture and oxygen. The same is done for potassium.
Answer: (c) — the violent reaction with moisture is the primary reason, and it is the NCERT formulation.
Note: option (b) is also true in isolation (sodium does tarnish on exposure to air), which makes (d) tempting — but (a) is plainly false, since sodium does not evaporate at room temperature, so 'All of the above' cannot be correct. If your key shows (d), that is the point to challenge.
Q.116 [Chemistry]
Concentration of a solution can be expressed in:
1. Molarity 2. Molality
• Molarity (M) = moles of solute per litre of solution. Easy to measure out, but it changes with temperature because the volume of the solution expands or contracts.
• Molality (m) = moles of solute per kilogram of solvent. Temperature-independent, since mass does not change with temperature — which is why molality is used in colligative-property calculations such as boiling point elevation and freezing point depression.
Answer: Both 1 and 2.
Other measures: normality, mole fraction, mass percentage, parts per million (ppm).
Q.117 [Chemistry]
When electricity is passed through an aqueous solution of sodium chloride, it decomposes to form
2NaCl + 2H₂O → 2NaOH + Cl₂ + H₂
• Chlorine is liberated at the anode
• Hydrogen is liberated at the cathode
• Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) remains in solution near the cathode ✓
The name 'chlor-alkali' comes from the two main products: chlorine and the alkali NaOH.
Answer: NaOH.
Uses of the products: NaOH for soaps, paper and de-greasing; Cl₂ for water treatment, PVC and bleaching powder; H₂ for fuels, margarine and ammonia.
Q.118 [Chemistry]
The mass of one mole of a substance in grams is called its
Examples: carbon 12 g/mol; water 18 g/mol; oxygen gas (O₂) 32 g/mol; sodium chloride 58·5 g/mol.
Answer: Molar mass.
Definition of the mole to carry: the amount of substance containing as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 12 g of carbon-12 — that is, Avogadro's number, 6·022 × 10²³ particles. 'Kilo-gram mass' and 'gram-mass' are not standard chemical terms.
Q.119 [Chemistry]
An aqueous solution of an acid conducts electricity. This is because
Answer: (a).
Why the others fail: (b) pure water conducts very poorly, because it ionises only to a negligible extent — the water alone is not the reason; (c) merely restates the question; (d) confuses conduction with generation.
Decisive experiment: a solution of HCl in water conducts, but HCl dissolved in a non-aqueous solvent such as toluene does not — because there is no ionisation and hence no free H⁺.
Q.120 [Chemistry]
A chemical that donate proton (hydrogen ion) is called
Answer: Acid.
The distractors are terms from other contexts: hydrophilic means water-attracting and hydrophobic water-repelling — properties of molecules, not acid-base behaviour; protophilic literally means proton-loving, which would describe a base, not an acid.
Three definitions worth having ready: Arrhenius — gives H⁺ in water; Brønsted–Lowry — proton donor; Lewis — electron-pair acceptor.