200 questions · 150 minutes · −1/3 per wrong answer · Free
Answer: (B) hard
"Hard" is the adjective needed to qualify "problem"; "hardly" is an adverb meaning "barely" and doesn't fit here.
Answer: (A) racial killing
Genocide is the deliberate, large-scale killing of people belonging to a particular racial, ethnic or national group.
Answer: (A) Disembark
Adding "dis-" to "embark" gives "disembark", meaning to get off a ship, aircraft or vehicle; the other prefixes don't form real words.
Answer: (D) cry
The sentence states a general, habitual truth, so the base form "cry" is used with the plural subject "babies".
Answer: (B) Is not honesty the best policy?
Traditional grammar turns an assertive maxim into a rhetorical question by placing "not" right after the auxiliary: "Is not honesty the best policy?" is the form taught in standard grammar texts.
Answer: (D) calm down by oneself
This idiom means to regain one's composure or control of one's emotions after being upset.
Answer: (B) late
"Late" (not on time) is the adverb needed here; "lately" means "recently" and doesn't fit the sense of the sentence.
Answer: (D) Chaste
"Lecherous" means lustful; its opposite is "chaste", meaning morally pure and free of lust.
Answer: (C) in
"Deal in" is the fixed verb-preposition combination used for trading a category of goods.
Answer: (A) He told that grass is green.
Universal truths keep their present tense unchanged in reported speech, regardless of the tense of the reporting verb.
Answer: (B) it is snowing
Weather is described with the impersonal "it"; the present continuous "is snowing" correctly describes an ongoing scene.
Answer: (C) comparable
"Analogous" describes something similar to or comparable with something else.
Answer: (A) When Christmas celebrations occur everyone is happy.
A complex sentence needs a subordinate clause; "When Christmas celebrations occur" converts the time phrase into a dependent clause correctly.
Answer: (C) in
"Sit in the shade" is the standard fixed expression, using "in" to indicate being within the shaded area.
Answer: (B) with
"Cope with" is the standard verb-preposition collocation meaning to deal successfully with something difficult.
Answer: (B) look down
"Look down upon" is the correct phrasal verb meaning to regard someone as inferior.
Answer: (A) Culminating
"Climactic" relates to a climax; "culminating" (reaching a highest point) is its closest synonym.
Answer: (A) would
"Would" expresses future-in-the-past, which is required after the past-tense main clause "I was sure".
Answer: (C) Orange is sour when tasted.
Since "taste" here is a linking verb describing a quality, the natural passive-style equivalent is "is sour when tasted", not a literal passive.
Answer: (A) by
"By" is the preposition used with a clock or watch as the reference for telling time.
Answer: (A) five hundred rupees
Cardinal numbers before "hundred" are not pluralised ("five hundred", not "hundreds"), while "rupees" stays plural.
Answer: (C) Daughters-in-law
In hyphenated compound nouns, the principal noun ("daughter") is pluralised, not the qualifier — hence "daughters-in-law".
Answer: (D) am afraid
"Am afraid" is the standard collocation for expressing concern about an undesirable outcome.
Answer: (B) took
"Last night" is a definite past-time marker, which requires the simple past tense "took".
Answer: (A) ardent
"Impassioned" describes something filled with intense feeling, which is synonymous with "ardent".
Answer: (B) Mehergarh
Mehrgarh (in present-day Balochistan) is the earliest known Neolithic farming settlement in the subcontinent, dating to around 7000 BCE.
Answer: (C) an inscription found here mentions the names of Vedic Gods and Goddesses
A 14th-century BCE treaty found at Boghazkoi (the Hittite capital, in modern Turkey) invokes Vedic deities like Indra, Varuna, Mitra and Nasatya, pointing to early Indo-Iranian/Vedic cultural links.
Answer: (C) Both Surkotada and Dholavira are located in the Kutch region of Gujarat
Surkotada (known for horse remains) and Dholavira (known for its water-management system) both lie in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
Answer: (D) Both (A) and (B)
The early Vedic polity had two key assemblies — the Sabha (a smaller council of elders) and the Samiti (a general assembly) — which advised and checked the king's power.
Answer: (B) A treatise on ancient Hindu law of inheritance
The Mitakshara, written by Vijnaneshwara, is a major commentary on inheritance and property law and forms the basis of one of the two main schools of classical Hindu law.
Answer: (C) Horses
Since good war-horses could not be bred adequately in south India, horses were imported in large numbers (mainly via Arab traders) to supply the Vijayanagara cavalry.
Answer: (B) Kalhana
Kalhana's "Rajatarangini" (12th century CE) is a chronicle of the kings of Kashmir and one of the earliest true works of Indian historiography.
Answer: (A) A.L. Basham
A.L. Basham's "The Wonder That Was India" is a classic survey of Indian civilisation up to the coming of the Muslims.
Answer: (B) 1191 A.D.
Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori in the First Battle of Tarain (1191); Ghori returned to win the Second Battle of Tarain the following year (1192).
Answer: (A) Alauddin Khilji
The Alai Darwaza, an ornate gateway of the Qutb complex in Delhi, was built by Alauddin Khilji in 1311.
Answer: (C) Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur was the slave-general who led Alauddin Khilji's campaigns into the Deccan.
Answer: (A) 1575 A.D.
Akbar built the Ibadat Khana ("House of Worship") at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575 to host debates among scholars of different faiths.
Answer: (A) Sher Shah
Sher Shah Suri's land revenue reforms introduced "Kabuliyat" (a deed of agreement from the cultivator) and "Patta" (a title deed from the state).
Answer: (B) Surat
The English East India Company set up its first Indian factory at Surat in 1613 after obtaining trading rights from Emperor Jahangir.
Answer: (B) yield per unit area
Under the Zabti system (developed under Akbar by Todar Mal), land was measured and cash revenue was fixed based on average yield and prices per unit area.
Answer: (B) Tipu Sultan
Inspired by the French Revolution and his alliance with revolutionary France, Tipu Sultan planted a "Tree of Liberty" at his capital, Srirangapatnam.
Answer: (B) Dhondo Keshav Karve
Dhondo Keshav Karve founded the Indian Women's University (now SNDT Women's University) in Pune in 1916.
Answer: (A) Dr. Zakir Hussain
Jamia Millia Islamia (1920) actually had several co-founders — Mahmud Hasan, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari among them — but Dr. Zakir Hussain, a genuine founding member who later served as its long-time Vice-Chancellor and shaped its growth into a university, is the standard textbook answer among these options.
Answer: (D) Wood's Despatch
Wood's Despatch of 1854 recommended setting up universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras; the University of Calcutta was established in 1857 as a result.
Answer: (B) Lala Hansraj
The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) College, Lahore (1886), was founded and long headed by Lala Hansraj, a follower of the Arya Samaj.
Answer: (B) 1817 A.D.
Hindu College, Calcutta, was founded in 1817 by David Hare, Raja Rammohan Roy and others, and later became Presidency College.
Answer: (A) Social Reform Act
Act III of 1872 (the Special Marriage Act, 1872) was a social-reform law permitting civil marriage and inter-caste/inter-religious marriage.
Answer: (C) Santhal movement
"Hul" means rebellion in Santhali; "Kherwadi Hul" refers to the Santhal Rebellion of 1855 against oppressive landlords and moneylenders.
Answer: (D) All of the above
The play dramatises the suffering of Bengali peasants forced into indigo cultivation under coercion by European planters during the indigo revolt of 1859-60.
Answer: (C) Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
V.D. Savarkar's "The Indian War of Independence 1857" was the first major work to describe the 1857 revolt as a war of independence rather than a mere mutiny.
Answer: (B) The Nawab of Oudh
Birjis Qadr, son of the deposed Wajid Ali Shah, was proclaimed Nawab of Oudh (Awadh) by rebels in Lucknow during the 1857 revolt.
Answer: (A) 1 November 1858
Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1 November 1858 transferred control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown.
Answer: (A) Lord Bentinck
Lord William Bentinck abolished the practice of Sati through Regulation XVII of 1829, with strong support from Raja Rammohan Roy.
Answer: (C) Lord Ripon
The Ilbert Bill of 1883, which sought to allow Indian judges to try European offenders, was introduced under Viceroy Lord Ripon and provoked fierce opposition from the European community.
Answer: (A) 1813 Charter Renewal Act
The Charter Act of 1813 earmarked an annual sum of Rs. 1 lakh for the promotion of education among Indians.
Answer: (D) Lord Dalhousie
Lord Dalhousie is credited with launching India's railway network, with the first passenger line opening in 1853 during his tenure.
Answer: (B) Sisir Kumar Ghosh
Sisir Kumar Ghosh, along with his brothers, founded and edited the Amrita Bazar Patrika (started 1868).
Answer: (C) J.A. Hickey
James Augustus Hickey started the "Bengal Gazette" (also called Hickey's Gazette) in 1780, the first English newspaper printed in India.
Answer: (A) Debendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore founded the Tattwabodhini Sabha in 1839 to propagate rational, reformed Brahmoism and Bengali intellectual culture.
Answer: (C) Sayyid Amir Ali
Syed Ameer Ali wrote "The Spirit of Islam" (1891), a sympathetic and scholarly account of Islamic history and the life of the Prophet.
Answer: (A) Lahore Congress
The Lahore Session of the Congress (1929), presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted the resolution demanding "Purna Swaraj" (complete independence).
Answer: (B) A.O. Hume
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, is credited with founding the Indian National Congress in 1885 and is often called its "Father".
Answer: (A) Revolt
"Ghadar" literally means "revolt" or "mutiny", and gave its name to the Ghadar Party formed by Indian revolutionaries abroad.
Answer: (A) 26 January 1930
Following the Lahore Congress's Purna Swaraj resolution, 26 January 1930 was observed as the first "Independence Day", with the pledge read out across the country.
Answer: (A) 1946
The British Cabinet Mission arrived in India in March 1946 to discuss the transfer of power and propose a constitutional framework.
Answer: (A) Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Patel led the 1928 Bardoli Satyagraha against a steep hike in land revenue, after which he earned the title "Sardar".
Answer: (A) Sanjibani
The call for boycotting British goods, in response to the Partition of Bengal, was first made through the newspaper "Sanjibani" in 1905.
Answer: (C) Surya Sen
Surya Sen ("Masterda") planned and led the Chittagong Armoury Raid of April 1930 against British armouries in Bengal.
Answer: (B) In protest of Jallianwalabagh massacre
Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 in protest against the brutal Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar.
Answer: (B) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ("Frontier Gandhi") founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement among Pashtuns in the North-West Frontier Province.
Answer: (A) Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi presided over the All India Khilafat Conference held in Delhi in November 1919, marking his deepening involvement with the movement.
Answer: (C) Civil Disobedience movement
Gandhi's Dandi March (March-April 1930), breaking the salt law, launched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Answer: (B) 1930
The Salt Satyagraha, beginning with the Dandi March, took place in 1930.
Answer: (A) Subhaschandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose founded the All India Forward Bloc in 1939 after resigning as Congress president, to pursue a more radical path to independence.
Answer: (A) Sikkim - Bhutan
The Chumbi Valley, a narrow strip of Tibetan territory, lies wedged between Sikkim and Bhutan, close to the tri-junction with India and China.
Answer: (C) The South Andaman
Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is situated on South Andaman Island.
Answer: (C) Satluj
The Bikaner Canal draws its water from the Sutlej (Satluj) River at the Ferozepur headworks in Punjab.
Answer: (C) Andhra Pradesh
Somasila Dam is built across the Pennar River in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh.
Answer: (A) North Koel River
The North Koel River rises in the Chota Nagpur (Ranchi) plateau, flows through Palamu's Betla National Park, and joins the Son as a tributary.
Answer: (B) Pune
Pune is situated at the confluence of the Mula and Mutha rivers.
Answer: (C) Jammu and Kashmir
The Kiru Hydroelectric Project is being built on the Chenab River in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir.
Answer: (D) Mayurakshi
Tilpara Barrage is built across the Mayurakshi River in Birbhum district, West Bengal.
Answer: (A) Kolleru Lake
Kolleru Lake, one of India's largest freshwater lakes, lies between the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers in Andhra Pradesh.
Answer: (C) Surat
The Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is situated near Surat, Gujarat, on the banks of the Tapi River.
Answer: (C) 1, 2 and 3
All three statements are accurate: the World Bank-assisted National Hydrology Project (2016) set up the NWIC to consolidate and improve hydrological and water-resource data across India.
Answer: (A) 1818
A cotton mill was set up at Ghusuri (Fort Gloster), near Calcutta, in 1818 — often cited as India's earliest cotton textile venture, though it did not succeed commercially.
Answer: (B) Murshidabad, Medinipur, East Barddhaman
By rice production volume, Murshidabad ranks lowest of the three, followed by Medinipur and then East Barddhaman (a leading rice-producing district of West Bengal).
Answer: (B) Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is traditionally India's leading producer of tobacco, especially the flue-cured Virginia variety.
Answer: (A) agricultural distress
Farmer suicides are widely attributed to agricultural distress — debt burden, crop failure, low and volatile prices, and rising input costs.
Answer: (B) Thanjavur
The fertile Thanjavur delta, irrigated by the Cauvery, is known as the "Rice Bowl"/granary of South India.
Answer: (C) Laterite Soil
Gangani, known for its dramatic badland (ravine) topography in West Bengal, is characterised by laterite soil prone to erosion.
Answer: (C) 2011
The most recent completed Census of India was conducted in 2011; the 2021 Census was postponed.
Answer: (B) Alang
Alang, on the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat, hosts the world's largest ship-breaking yard.
Answer: (D) All are correctly matched
These are the standard approximate dates of the solstices and equinoxes as observed in the Northern Hemisphere.
No option is correct as printed — this question is disputed. No answer is actually correct answer here. But we should follow the PSC answer.
The UN's actual International Day of the Tropics falls on 29 June, marking the 2014 launch of the first "State of the Tropics" report — a date that is not among the given options. PSC provided answer 26th June
Answer: (C) Richter scale
Popularly, earthquake strength is reported on the Richter scale (which technically measures magnitude, i.e., energy released); intensity — the felt effect at a location — is strictly measured by the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale, a nuance worth knowing for exams.
Answer: (A) False
NIDM traces its origin to 2003, when it was established as the National Centre for Disaster Management; it was renamed the National Institute of Disaster Management under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (effective 2006) — so the bare claim that it was "established" in 2006 is not accurate.
Answer: (A) National Centre of Disaster Management
NIDM began in 2003 as the National Centre for Disaster Management before being renamed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Answer: (B) Darjeeling tea
Darjeeling Tea became the first Indian product to be registered under the Geographical Indications of Goods Act, in 2004-05.
Answer: (C) 5
West Bengal shares its border with five Indian states — Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam — besides international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
Answer: (A) India
India has been the world's largest milk producer for several years, driven by its vast dairy cooperative network.
Answer: (D) 77%
West Bengal's literacy rate as per the 2011 Census stood at about 77%, above the national average of that time.
Answer: (C) 1992
West Dinajpur was bifurcated into Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur with effect from 1 April 1992.
Answer: (B) Fourth
As per the 2011 Census, West Bengal is the fourth most populous state in India, after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.
Answer: (A) Red blood cells
Haemoglobin present in red blood cells binds oxygen and transports it from the lungs to body tissues.
Answer: (C) soil
Mineral nutrients essential for plant growth (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc.) are absorbed mainly from the soil through roots.
Answer: (A) infrared frequency
TV remotes use infrared (IR) light signals, which are invisible and travel in a line of sight to the receiver.
Answer: (A) Fermi
The Fermi (equal to a femtometre, 10^-15 m) is the unit conventionally used to express the extremely small size of atomic nuclei.
Answer: (B) Angular momentum
Angular momentum has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity, unlike heat, time and work, which are scalars.
Answer: (B) capillary action
The fine pores of blotting paper draw up ink through capillary action, the same phenomenon that pulls water up in narrow tubes.
Answer: (B) 8 minutes
Sunlight takes about 8 minutes 20 seconds to travel the roughly 150 million km from the Sun to Earth.
Answer: (D) solids
Sound travels fastest through solids because their tightly packed molecules transmit vibrations most efficiently; it cannot travel through a vacuum at all.
Answer: (C) offer no resistance to the flow of current
Superconductivity is the property of certain materials to conduct electric current with exactly zero electrical resistance, typically below a critical temperature.
Answer: (B) nuclear fusion
The hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb releases energy by fusing light nuclei (isotopes of hydrogen) into heavier ones, unlike the fission-based atomic bomb.
Answer: (A) Scattering
C.V. Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the "Raman Effect" — the inelastic scattering of light by molecules.
Answer: (B) oxidising
Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidising agent, and it purifies water by oxidising organic impurities and killing microorganisms.
Answer: (D) allotropes
Graphite and diamond are different structural forms of the same element, carbon — making them allotropes, not isotopes or isomers.
Answer: (B) propane and butane
Liquefied Petroleum Gas is primarily a mixture of propane and butane, stored under pressure as a liquid.
Answer: (D) NaNO3
Sodium nitrate (NaNO3) supplies plant-available nitrogen and is used as a fertiliser, unlike the elemental gases N2, O2 and P4.
Answer: (C) fluorosis
Prolonged intake of water with excess fluoride causes fluorosis, damaging teeth (dental fluorosis) and bones (skeletal fluorosis).
Answer: (A) nitrogen
Incandescent bulbs are typically filled with inert gases like nitrogen (often mixed with argon) to prevent the hot filament from oxidising.
Answer: (A) CO2
Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) releases carbon dioxide as its principal greenhouse-gas byproduct.
Answer: (D) fossils
Radiocarbon (Carbon-14) dating measures the decay of a radioactive carbon isotope in once-living organic material, making it suited to dating fossils and archaeological remains, not inorganic rock.
Answer: (C) Henri Becquerel
Henri Becquerel discovered natural radioactivity in 1896 while studying uranium salts; Marie and Pierre Curie later extended this work.
Answer: (C) Indian Constituent Assembly
India's Constitution was drafted and adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India.
Answer: (D) 26 November
26 November is observed as Samvidhan Divas (Constitution Day), commemorating the day the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution in 1949.
Answer: (C) 26 November 1949
The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, though it came into force later, on 26 January 1950.
Answer: (C) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, as Chairman of the Drafting Committee, is regarded as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
Answer: (B) members of Rajya Sabha
Members of the Rajya Sabha from each state are elected by the elected members of that state's Legislative Assembly.
Answer: (A) Governor of the State
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
At the time this paper was set, the Governor of West Bengal held the ex-officio position of Chancellor of the state's universities (West Bengal later amended its law (2022) to make the Chief Minister the Chancellor of state universities.).
Answer: (B) Vice President of India
The Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Answer: (C) Office of the CJI also
In its 2019 verdict, the Supreme Court held that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a "public authority" and comes within the ambit of the RTI Act.
Answer: (A) 14 January 1969
Madras State was officially renamed Tamil Nadu with effect from 14 January 1969.
Answer: (A) caretaker of the people
"Lokpal" is derived from "Lok" (people) and "Pal" (protector/caretaker), literally meaning "caretaker of the people".
Answer: (B) Ashoka Chakra
In the official Lokpal emblem, the Ashoka Chakra is used to symbolise vigilance and the rule of law.
Answer: (D) 2019
Since the Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949, its 70th anniversary (70th Constitution Day) fell on 26 November 2019.
Answer: (A) 1969
The Indian government nationalised 14 major private commercial banks in 1969 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Answer: (A) poverty
The Head Count Ratio is the proportion of a population living below the poverty line, a standard poverty measure.
Answer: (A) 62%
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
The services sector has been the largest contributor to India's GDP for years; commonly cited estimates place its share (including trade, finance, real estate etc.) around the 55-62% range depending on the year and exact measure used.
Answer: (B) Morarji Desai
The Janata Party government formed in 1977 under Morarji Desai was independent India's first non-Congress government at the Centre.
Answer: (A) Indira Gandhi
"Garibi Hatao" ("Remove Poverty") was Indira Gandhi's famous slogan for the 1971 general election.
Answer: (B) Single digit
For most of the recent years leading up to this paper, India's retail (CPI) inflation stayed in single digits, generally in the 3-7% range — a figure that moves over time and should be checked against the latest data when teaching current economics.
Answer: (B) loans not repaid within stipulated time
An NPA is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a specified period, signalling stressed bank assets.
Answer: (A) 8 November 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes on the evening of 8 November 2016.
Answer: (A) Governor, Reserve Bank of India
All Indian currency notes bear the signature of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Answer: (C) indirect taxes
GDP at market price equals GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes minus subsidies; indirect taxes are the main item bridging the two measures, per the standard textbook simplification.
Answer: (A) July 1991
India's landmark liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) reforms were formally launched in July 1991 under Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.
Answer: (B) UNDP
The Human Development Index is published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Answer: (C) both organised and unorganised
Unemployment and underemployment exist across both sectors, though disguised unemployment is most visible and severe in the vast, informal unorganised sector, especially agriculture.
Answer: (A) Exports Cheaper and Imports Costlier
A weaker rupee makes Indian goods cheaper for foreign buyers (boosting exports) while making imported goods costlier in rupee terms.
Answer: (C) D
From the clues: B > D > (C, E) > A. Since B is tallest and D is next, D is the second tallest person.
Answer: (B) 21
In a knock-out format, exactly one player is eliminated per match and all but the champion must be eliminated, so with 22 participants, 21 matches are needed.
Answer: (A) 1
Comparing the two given positions of the dice and eliminating the faces that are adjacent to the 3-dot face in both views identifies the face opposite it as bearing 1 dot.
Answer: (D) 6
Since P = 4 and |P - T| = 5, T = 9. Since |N - T| = 3, N = 6.
Answer: (B) 6, 8
Multiplying 6789 by 5 gives 33945, so the missing digits are 6 (thousands place) and 8 (units place).
Answer: (C) Chirag and Ela
Placing all six around the hexagon per the given clues shows that Chirag and Ela end up directly opposite each other.
Answer: (A) N
The distinct letters, sorted alphabetically, are A, A, D, E, I, N, O, R, R, R, T, X, Y (unique letters: A,D,E,I,N,O,R,T,X,Y); arranged in order the 5th distinct letter is N.
Answer: (B) FLAT
Fitting FATE, FORT, ROLE and TILL into the grid's crossing letters works consistently, leaving no space for FLAT to fit correctly, so FLAT is the odd one out.
Answer: (D) Sunday
If the Mondays fall on 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, exactly three of them (2, 16, 30) are even dates, which places the 15th (one day before the 16th, a Monday) on a Sunday.
Answer: (C) 39
Row 1 increases by +4, +5, +6; Row 2 increases by +8, +10, +12 (double the first row's differences), so the next difference is +12, giving 27 + 12 = 39.
Answer: (B) 81
The differences between consecutive terms increase by 5 each time (+5, +10, +15, +20, +25), so 56 + 25 = 81.
Answer: (C) 81
27 = 3³, 64 = 4³, 125 = 5³ are all perfect cubes, whereas 81 is not a perfect cube (it is 3⁴ or 9²), making it the odd one out.
Answer: (D) 15120
Each term is multiplied by an increasing factor (×3, ×4, ×5, ×6, ×7): 2160 × 7 = 15120.
Answer: (A) 127
Each term follows the pattern (previous term × 2) + 1, so 63 × 2 + 1 = 127.
Answer: (B) Maternal uncle
Z is grandmother of A (via C); P, being Z's son, is C's brother — that is, A's mother's brother, i.e. A's maternal uncle.
Answer: (B) 173
Placing 137, 301, 731 and 770 into the grid's crossing cells works consistently, leaving no valid position for 173, which is the number that won't fit.
Answer: (B) 2nd
Overtaking the runner who was in 2nd place means you take over that position — you move into 2nd place, not 1st.
Answer: (C) North West
Plotting the path on a compass grid shows Radhika ends up south-east of her starting house, so walking back "to her house" means heading north-west.
Answer: (B) 5
Working from the given numbers (bottom row 9, 7, 8, 5 and the value 59 at the apex), solving the pyramid's addition relationships gives the value 5 at the marked position.
Answer: (C) 25
After the swap, A's new position (18th from left) equals B's original position, so B was originally 18th from left, meaning the row has (10 + 18 - 1) = 27 people in total, or 25 excluding A and B.
Answer: (C) Joseph
Since Aries is the oldest and John is not the youngest, by elimination Joseph must be the youngest.
Answer: (D) Philosophy
Zoology, Physiology and Botany are all branches of biological/life science, while Philosophy is unrelated to biology, making it the odd one out.
Answer: (A) 720°
Using the polygon angle-sum formula (n-2) × 180°, for a hexagon (n=6): (6-2) × 180° = 720°.
Answer: (A) 64,800 m/day
75 cm/sec × 3600 sec/hr × 24 hr = 6,480,000 cm/day, which converts to 64,800 m/day.
Answer: (C) 4
A composite number must have more than two factors; 1 isn't composite (or prime), and 2, 3 are prime, so 4 (factors 1, 2, 4) is the smallest composite number.
Answer: (B) 19
Counting occurrences of the digit 7 in the units place (17, 27, ..., 97 — 9 times) and the tens place (70-79 — 10 times) gives a total of 19.
Answer: (B) The 71st day
The caterpillar makes a net gain of 1 inch per full day-night cycle, reaching 70 inches after 70 days; on the 71st day, its daytime climb of 5 inches takes it from 70 to 75 inches, reaching the top before it can slide back.
Answer: (B) 99
Since consecutive terms alternate to sum to 100, x_10 = 1 forces even-indexed terms to be 1 and odd-indexed terms to be 99, so working back to x1 (odd index) gives x1 = 99.
Answer: (A) x=2, y=-1, z=3
$216^{2/3} = 36$, and dividing by $\left(\dfrac{P^2}{9}\right)^{-3/2} = \dfrac{27}{P^3}$ gives $36 \times \dfrac{P^3}{27} = \dfrac{4}{3}P^3 = 2^2 \cdot 3^{-1} \cdot P^3$, so $x=2$, $y=-1$, $z=3$.
Answer: (D) Harishchandra
Bharatendu Harishchandra is regarded as the father/creator of modern Hindi literature for his pioneering contributions to Hindi prose, drama and journalism.
Answer: (A) September 5
Teachers' Day in India is observed on 5 September, the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Answer: (D) Homi Bhabha
Dr. Homi J. Bhabha was the founding chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, set up in 1948.
Answer: (A) Prohibition of Child Marriage Act
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) replaced the earlier Child Marriage Restraint Act to more effectively curb child marriage.
Answer: (A) Sriharikota
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Cartosat-3, a high-resolution earth-observation satellite, was launched by ISRO from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in November 2019.
Answer: (B) Professor Amartya Kumar Sen
Amartya Sen won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998, becoming the first Indian-born laureate in this category (Abhijit Banerjee, an Indian-born American economist, later shared the prize in 2019).
Answer: (C) Corps of signals and Confederation of Indian Industry (C.I.I.)
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
DEFCOM India, a seminar on defence communications, is jointly organised by the Indian Army's Corps of Signals and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Answer: (A) Arun Jaitley
GST was rolled out on 1 July 2017 when Arun Jaitley was the Union Finance Minister.
Answer: (A) 31 December 2020
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
As of when this paper was compiled, the government's stated target for NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid) becoming operational was end-2020; in practice, the project's rollout was repeatedly delayed beyond this date.
Answer: (B) Nirmala Sitaraman
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Nirmala Sitharaman was the Union Finance Minister (as of this paper) at the time this question was set (2019-2020).
Answer: (C) Rajnikanth
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Superstar Rajinikanth was honoured with the IIFA Icon of the Golden Jubilee Award in 2019.
Answer: (B) encourage brides to register their marriage
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Under this scheme, the Assam government provides gold assistance to brides on the condition that their marriage is registered, aiming to boost marriage registration and curb child marriage.
Answer: (D) Jagdeep Dhankar
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Jagdeep Dhankhar was the Governor of West Bengal at the time this paper was set (he took office in July 2019; he later became Vice President of India in 2022).
Answer: (B) Bulbul
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Cyclone Bulbul struck the West Bengal coast in November 2019 (Cyclone Fani had hit Odisha earlier that year, in May 2019).
Answer: (C) Narendra Modi (Prime Minister)
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Fit India Movement on 29 August 2019, National Sports Day.
Answer: (D) Pakistan
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Pakistan's Sindh province ran an early large-scale rollout of the WHO-prequalified, India-made typhoid conjugate vaccine (Typbar-TCV) in 2019, following an outbreak of drug-resistant typhoid.
Answer: (B) 2 only
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
Queen Pineapple, grown widely in India's northeast, received its Geographical Indication tag in 2015; it is not officially designated the "state fruit" of Nagaland.
Answer: (B) find, assess, create and target
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's FACT Check Module (announced in 2019) works on the four principles of Find, Assess, Create and Target.
Answer: (D) protect the Indian Government from fake news
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
The FACT Check Module was set up to monitor and counter fake news and misinformation targeting the government and its agencies.
Answer: (B) Kurukh language
Answer as of 2020 — this may have changed since.
The Kurukh language, spoken by the Oraon tribal community, was granted official status in West Bengal and is listed by UNESCO among endangered languages.
Answer: (B) Chandrabhaga beach, Odisha
Chandrabhaga Beach in Odisha's Konark became the first beach in Asia to receive the international Blue Flag eco-certification, in 2020.
