Current Affairs 26 September 2026: Today's GK & MCQs

The correct answer is B, Kanhaiyalal Maniklal Munshi. K.M. Munshi called the Preamble the 'political horoscope of the Indian Constitution' because it foretells the kind of state India set out to build. Munshi sat in the Constituent Assembly and on its seven-member Drafting Committee, and he was one of the finest phrase-makers in that House. The Preamble itself declares India a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and promises justice, liberty, equality and fraternity to every citizen. In the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and can guide how its provisions are read. Option A is wrong because Thakurdas Bhargava praised the Preamble in different words, calling it the soul and the jewel of the Constitution. Option C is wrong because N.A. Palkhivala described the Preamble as the 'identity card of the Constitution'. Option D is wrong because Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, but this particular phrase is not his. Exam tip: Munshi - political horoscope; Palkhivala - identity card; Thakurdas Bhargava - soul of the Constitution.

The correct answer is C, Ropar. Ropar, now Rupnagar in Punjab, stands on the Sutlej, not on the Indus. It was excavated by Y.D. Sharma in 1953 and was the first Harappan site dug up in independent India; a dog buried along with a human being is its best remembered find. The other three sites named here all lie in Sindh, in present-day Pakistan, along the Indus. Option A is wrong because Chanhudaro sits on the Indus and is known for its bead-making and shell-working workshops; it is the only Harappan city without a citadel. Option B is wrong because Mohenjodaro, the site of the Great Bath and the Great Granary, is on the right bank of the Indus. Option D is wrong because Kot Diji, opposite Mohenjodaro on the left bank of the Indus, gave its name to a pre-Harappan culture. Exam tip: pair the site with its river - Ropar on the Sutlej, Kalibangan on the Ghaggar, Lothal on the Bhogava, Harappa on the Ravi.

The correct answer is B, Venus. Venus is wrapped in a dense blanket of carbon dioxide topped by thick white and yellow clouds of sulphuric acid, which is why it shines so brightly in our sky. Those clouds reflect most of the sunlight that falls on them, giving Venus the highest albedo of any planet and making it the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. The same blanket traps heat so well that the surface stays near 465 degrees Celsius, hotter than Mercury even though Venus is farther from the Sun. It is called Earth's twin for its similar size and mass, and the morning or evening star for when it is seen. Option A is wrong because Uranus looks blue-green owing to methane in its hydrogen and helium atmosphere. Option C is wrong because Neptune is also a methane-rich ice giant, known for its supersonic winds. Option D is wrong because Mars looks red owing to iron oxide dust and has a very thin atmosphere. Exam tip: Venus - hottest planet, thickest clouds, sulphuric acid, rotates east to west.

The correct answer is C, 1961. The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed by Parliament in 1961 and came into force on 1 July 1961. It makes both the giving and the taking of dowry an offence, and it also punishes anyone who demands dowry or advertises an offer of money or property in return for a marriage. The Act defines dowry as property or valuable security given in connection with a marriage, and it keeps gifts freely given to the bride outside that definition. It was tightened by amendments in 1984 and 1986, which brought in Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code on dowry death and Section 498A on cruelty by a husband or his relatives. Option A is wrong because 1973 is the year of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Option B is wrong because no dowry law was enacted in 1982. Option D is wrong because 1954 is the year of the Special Marriage Act. Exam tip: Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Special Marriage Act 1954.

The correct answer is B, Madhya Pradesh. Matki is a women's folk dance of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, performed at weddings and other happy occasions. A single dancer balances an earthen pot, the matki, on her head and moves to the beat of the dhol while keeping her face covered with a veil; others join her one by one as the rhythm quickens. The solo version is often called Aada and Khada Nach. Madhya Pradesh also gives us Gaur, Karma, Saila, Grida and Jawara, so the state's folk dances are a favourite with paper setters. Option A is wrong because Assam is known for Bihu, Bagurumba and Jhumur. Option C is wrong because Bihar is known for Jat-Jatin, Jhijhiya, Bidesia and Paika. Option D is wrong because Rajasthan is known for Ghoomar, Kalbeliya, Bhavai, Chari and Terah Taali; the Chari dance also uses a pot, but one with a lit lamp in it. Exam tip: Matki and Jawara - Madhya Pradesh; Chari and Ghoomar - Rajasthan.

The correct answer is D, Socialist. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added three words to the Preamble: Socialist, Secular and Integrity. With them the description of India changed from a 'Sovereign Democratic Republic' to a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic', and 'unity of the Nation' became 'unity and integrity of the Nation'. This is the only amendment so far to have touched the Preamble, and because it made so many other changes it is nicknamed the Mini Constitution. Justice, liberty and equality were part of the original Preamble adopted on 26 November 1949, borrowed in spirit from the ideals of the French Revolution. Option A is wrong because justice, in its social, economic and political forms, was there from the start. Option B is wrong because equality of status and opportunity was also in the original text. Option C is wrong because liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship was original too. Exam tip: 42nd Amendment gave the Preamble three words - Socialist, Secular, Integrity.

The correct answer is A, JS Khehar. Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was the Chief Justice of India when the nine-judge bench delivered its verdict in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India on 24 August 2017, and he presided over it. The bench held unanimously that privacy is a fundamental right, protected mainly as part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and by the freedoms in Part III. It overruled the older rulings in M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962), which had said the Constitution gives no such right. The case grew out of a challenge to the Aadhaar scheme. Justice Khehar was also the first Sikh Chief Justice of India. Option B is wrong because Dipak Misra became Chief Justice a week later, and led the benches on Section 377 and adultery. Option C is wrong because H.J. Kania was India's first Chief Justice, in 1950. Option D is wrong because T.S. Thakur retired as Chief Justice in January 2017. Exam tip: Puttaswamy 2017, nine judges, Article 21, CJI Khehar.

The correct answer is C, Ayodhya. Jain tradition places the birth of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, and of Abhinandananatha, the fourth, at Ayodhya in present-day Uttar Pradesh. In fact five of the twenty-four Tirthankaras are held to have been born there, which is why Jains count Ayodhya among their oldest holy places. Rishabhanatha, also called Adinatha, has the bull as his symbol and is named in the Rig Veda and the Bhagavata Purana as well. The last two Tirthankaras, Parshvanatha and Mahavira, are the ones whose history is best attested; Mahavira was born at Kundagrama near Vaishali in Bihar. Option A is wrong because Gaya is linked with the Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. Option B is wrong because Varanasi is the birthplace of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, and of Suparshvanatha, the seventh. Option D is wrong because Dwarka is associated with Krishna and with Neminatha, the twenty-second Tirthankara. Exam tip: Ayodhya - Rishabhanatha; Varanasi - Parshvanatha; Kundagrama - Mahavira.

The correct answer is D, Intrusive igneous rocks. Granite forms when magma cools slowly deep inside the crust, so it is an intrusive, or plutonic, igneous rock. The slow cooling lets large crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica grow, which is why granite has a coarse, grainy look you can see with the naked eye. It is hard, weather-resistant and takes a fine polish, so it is used for temple floors, kitchen counters and monuments; India is one of the world's largest exporters of granite. Rocks such as gabbro and dolerite belong to the same intrusive family. Option A is wrong because extrusive rocks form when lava cools quickly at the surface, giving fine-grained rocks like basalt, the rock of the Deccan Traps. Option B is wrong because sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone are built from deposited layers. Option C is wrong because metamorphic rocks are older rocks changed by heat and pressure; granite itself turns into gneiss. Exam tip: granite intrusive, basalt extrusive, granite to gneiss, limestone to marble.

The correct answer is D, Secondary. A hard disk is secondary storage: the CPU cannot work on its contents directly, and data must first be copied into main memory. Secondary storage is non-volatile, so it keeps files, programs and the operating system even after the power is switched off, and it is far larger and cheaper per gigabyte than RAM, though much slower. A hard disk drive stores data magnetically on spinning platters, with a read-write head moving over the tracks and sectors; solid-state drives, pen drives, CDs and memory cards are secondary storage as well. Option A is wrong because tertiary storage means robotic tape libraries and similar archival systems used for very large backups. Option B is wrong because off-line storage is a removable medium kept away from the computer, such as a tape or a disc on a shelf. Option C is wrong because primary storage means RAM, ROM and cache, which the processor reaches directly. Exam tip: RAM is primary and volatile, hard disk is secondary and non-volatile.

The correct answer is B, Mizoram. The khuang is a hollow wooden drum of the Mizo people, made from a single log with animal hide stretched over both ends and slung from the shoulder while being played with the hands. No Mizo festival is complete without it: it sets the beat for Cheraw, the bamboo dance, and for the Chapchar Kut, Mim Kut and Pawl Kut festivals, and Mizos speak of it as the soul of their music. Other Mizo instruments include the darbu and darmang gongs, the tuium flute and the tingtang, a string instrument. Option A is wrong because Assam's best known instruments are the dhol, pepa, gogona and taal that accompany Bihu. Option C is wrong because Jharkhand's tribal music uses the mandar, nagara and dhak. Option D is wrong because West Bengal is associated with the ektara, dotara and khol, the drum of kirtan. Exam tip: khuang and Cheraw dance - Mizoram; pepa and Bihu - Assam; ektara and Baul songs - West Bengal.

The correct answer is B, interest rates were increased. A hawkish stand means the central bank is more worried about inflation than about slow growth, so it leans towards raising the policy rate and tightening money. Costlier loans cool down borrowing and spending, and prices rise more slowly. In India the Monetary Policy Committee, set up in 2016 under the amended RBI Act, has six members - three from the RBI and three named by the Centre - and it decides the repo rate by majority, with the Governor holding a casting vote. It has to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent, within a band of 2 to 6 per cent. Option A is wrong because cutting rates to support growth is the opposite, a dovish stand. Option C is wrong because leaving rates untouched is a neutral or wait-and-watch stance. Option D is wrong because increasing money supply is expansionary and again dovish. Exam tip: hawk fights inflation and raises rates, dove protects growth and cuts them.

The correct answer is A, Windows. Windows is proprietary, or closed-source: Microsoft keeps its source code private and sells it under a licence that does not let users study, change or redistribute the code. An open-source operating system publishes its source code under a licence that allows anyone to read it, modify it and share it, usually free of cost. Option B is wrong because Ubuntu is a free Linux distribution released by Canonical under open-source licences, widely used on desktops and servers. Option C is wrong because Android is built on the Linux kernel and its core is released as the Android Open Source Project, which is why phone makers can adapt it. Option D is wrong because Linux is the classic example: Linus Torvalds released the kernel in 1991 under the GNU General Public License, and Fedora, Debian and Red Hat all grew from it. Exam tip: closed-source - Windows, macOS and iOS; open-source - Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora and Android.

The correct answer is A, Unbreakable: An Autobiography. The boxer M.C. Mary Kom told her story in Unbreakable, written with Dina Serto and published in 2013, in which she describes her childhood in a farming family in Manipur, her fight to box at a time when few Indian women did, and her return to the ring after becoming a mother. Mary Kom is a six-time world amateur champion, won a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and gold at the 2014 Asian Games, and received the Padma Vibhushan. Option B is wrong because Undisputed Truth is the memoir of the American heavyweight Mike Tyson. Option C is wrong because Playing it My Way is Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, brought out in 2014. Option D is wrong because The Test of My Life is Yuvraj Singh's account of his fight with cancer. Exam tip: Unbreakable - Mary Kom; Playing it My Way - Sachin Tendulkar; The Test of My Life - Yuvraj Singh; Ace against Odds - Sania Mirza.

The correct answer is D, Seismograph. A seismograph, also called a seismometer, senses the shaking of the ground and draws it as a wavy line called a seismogram. A heavy mass hangs so that it stays almost still while the frame moves with the earth, and the difference between the two is recorded. From the gap between the arrival of the faster P waves and the slower S waves at three or more stations, scientists work out the epicentre, and from the size of the waves they work out the magnitude. Option A is wrong because a speedometer shows the speed of a vehicle. Option B is wrong because an odometer measures the distance a vehicle has travelled. Option C is wrong because the Richter scale is a scale, not an instrument: it puts a number on the energy of a quake using the readings a seismograph has already made, and each whole step means about 32 times more energy. Exam tip: seismograph records, Richter scale measures magnitude, Mercalli scale measures the damage felt.

The correct answer is C, Brihadratha. Brihadratha was the last Mauryan emperor, and about 185 BCE his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Shunga killed him while the army was being reviewed, ending the dynasty Chandragupta Maurya had founded around 322 BCE. Pushyamitra then set up the Shunga dynasty with its capital at Pataliputra. The story comes to us from Bana's Harshacharita, and the Puranas give the Mauryas a rule of about 137 years. Pushyamitra is remembered for performing two Ashvamedha sacrifices and for the revival of Brahmanical practice, while the Buddhist stupa at Bharhut and the railing at Sanchi belong to Shunga times. Option A is wrong because Devavarman was an earlier, short-lived Mauryan king. Option B is wrong because Bindusara was the second Mauryan emperor, son of Chandragupta and father of Ashoka. Option D is wrong because Dasharatha, a grandson of Ashoka, ruled earlier and gave the Nagarjuni caves to the Ajivikas. Exam tip: Chandragupta founded the Mauryas, Brihadratha ended them, Pushyamitra began the Shungas.

The correct answer is A, Kolkata. Bandhan began in 2001 at Kolkata as a microfinance body serving poor women in eastern India, and its head office has stayed in that city. In April 2014 the Reserve Bank gave in-principle approval for a universal bank to just two applicants - Bandhan Financial Services and IDFC Limited - out of twenty-five who applied, and Bandhan Bank opened for business in August 2015. It was the first bank of its kind to be set up in eastern India after independence, and the first microfinance lender in the country to turn into a full-service bank. Option B is wrong because Mumbai houses the Reserve Bank and many private banks, but not Bandhan. Option C is wrong because Pune is the home of Bank of Maharashtra. Option D is wrong because Lucknow has no connection with Bandhan. Exam tip: 2014 universal bank licences - Bandhan of Kolkata and IDFC; both began operations in 2015.

The correct answer is D, Argon. Argon is a noble gas whose outer shell already holds eight electrons, so it has no room to take another one easily; adding an electron would mean starting a new shell, and energy has to be supplied rather than released. Its electron affinity is therefore effectively zero, the lowest of the four. Electron affinity is the energy change when a neutral gaseous atom gains an electron, and it generally rises across a period and falls down a group. The other three are halogens, one electron short of a stable octet, so they release a lot of energy on gaining an electron. Option A is wrong because fluorine has a very high electron affinity, though its small size and crowded electrons push it just below chlorine. Option B is wrong because chlorine has the highest electron affinity of all elements. Option C is wrong because bromine's affinity, while lower than chlorine's, is still far above argon's. Exam tip: order is Cl greater than F greater than Br greater than I, and noble gases sit at the bottom.

The correct answer is B, P waves. P waves, or primary waves, are longitudinal: the particles of the medium move back and forth along the same direction in which the wave travels, squeezing and stretching the rock like a sound wave. They are the fastest seismic waves, so they reach a recording station first and give the quake its early warning. P waves pass through solids, liquids and gases alike, which is how scientists learned that the earth's outer core is liquid - S waves die out there and leave a shadow zone. Option A is wrong because L waves, the surface or long waves, arrive last, travel along the crust and cause the most destruction. Option C is wrong because there is no seismic wave called an N wave. Option D is wrong because S waves, or secondary waves, are transverse: particles move at right angles to the direction of travel, and they can pass only through solids. Exam tip: P longitudinal and fastest, S transverse and solids only, L surface and most damaging.

The correct answer is A, Chahamana. The Bijolia rock inscription, at Bijolia in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, is dated to 1170 CE, in the reign of Someshvara, and it sets out the family line of the Chahamanas, the Chauhans of Shakambhari. Written in Sanskrit, it was engraved near a Parshvanatha temple by the Jain merchant Lolaka, and it names the rulers from Samantaraja down to Someshvara, the father of Prithviraj Chauhan. Historians value it because it calls the Chahamanas Brahmins of the Vatsa gotra and gives the old names of places such as Ajayameru for Ajmer. Option B is wrong because the Chandelas of Bundelkhand, builders of Khajuraho, are known from the Khajuraho and Mau inscriptions. Option C is wrong because the Paramaras of Malwa appear in the Udaipur Prashasti. Option D is wrong because the Gahadavalas of Kannauj are known from the Chandrawati and other copper plates. Exam tip: Bijolia - Chahamanas; Khajuraho - Chandelas; Udaipur Prashasti - Paramaras.

The correct answer is D, Persian. Persian was the language of the Mughal court and of its records, and Akbar made it the official language of administration in 1582. The chronicles written for the emperors were therefore in Persian: Abul Fazl's Akbarnama with its third volume the Ain-i-Akbari, Gulbadan Begum's Humayun-nama, Jahangir's own Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri and Abdul Hamid Lahori's Padshahnama for Shah Jahan. Babur wrote his memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Baburi, in Chagatai Turkish, and Akbar had them translated into Persian as the Baburnama. Persian also borrowed freely from local speech at Delhi, and out of that mixing grew the language later called Urdu. Option A is wrong because Sanskrit works were translated into Persian at Akbar's Maktab Khana, not the other way round. Option B is wrong because Hindi was used in poetry and in the regions, not in court records. Option C is wrong because Urdu took shape later and never served as the Mughal chancery language. Exam tip: Akbarnama, Padshahnama and Ain-i-Akbari are all Persian; Baburnama began in Turkish.

The correct answer is D, Tide. A tide is the regular rise and fall of sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and, to a smaller extent, the Sun, together with the centrifugal force of the spinning earth. Most coasts get two high tides and two low tides in about 24 hours and 52 minutes. When the Sun, Moon and Earth line up at new moon and full moon, the pulls add up and give the high spring tides; when the Sun and Moon are at right angles in the first and third quarters, the pulls work against each other and give the low neap tides. Tides help ships enter ports and are used for tidal power. Option A is wrong because waves are made by wind blowing over the surface. Option B is wrong because a tsunami is a single train of huge waves set off by an undersea earthquake or landslide. Option C is wrong because currents are steady horizontal flows of water such as the Gulf Stream. Exam tip: spring tides at full and new moon, neap tides in the quarters.

The correct answer is C, The US. Zero-based budgeting was first put to use in the United States. Peter Pyhrr developed it at Texas Instruments around 1970, and Jimmy Carter, then Governor of Georgia, applied it to a state budget in 1973 and later carried it to the federal government as President. Under this method every expense has to be justified afresh for each new period, starting from a zero base, instead of simply adding a percentage to last year's figure. Each activity is treated as a decision package, examined for its cost and benefit, and ranked; schemes that no longer serve a purpose are dropped. India began using zero-based budgeting in 1986-87 in some departments, and the Department of Science and Technology was the first to try it. Option A is wrong because India adopted the idea more than a decade after it began. Option B is wrong because Germany is not linked with its origin. Option D is wrong because the UK did not introduce it either. Exam tip: zero-based budgeting - Peter Pyhrr, the US, 1970; India from 1986-87.

The correct answer is C, Ctrl + M. In Microsoft PowerPoint, pressing Ctrl + M adds a new slide right after the one you are on, using the layout of the current slide. Think of M for 'more slides', which makes it easy to recall. Other shortcuts worth knowing in PowerPoint are F5 to start the show from the first slide, Shift + F5 to start from the current slide, Esc to end the show, and Ctrl + S to save. Option A is wrong because Ctrl + N opens a brand new blank presentation, not a slide. Option B is wrong because Ctrl + D duplicates the slide that is selected, copying its content as well. Option D is wrong because Ctrl + I turns the selected text italic, just as it does in Word and Excel. Exam tip: Ctrl + M new slide, Ctrl + D duplicate slide, Ctrl + N new file, F5 to run the slide show.

The correct answer is A, Shashi Tharoor. Kerala: God's Own Country is an illustrated book on the land, people and culture of Kerala, written by Shashi Tharoor with photographs by M.F. Husain and brought out in 2009. Tharoor, a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and later a Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, has written many other books, among them The Great Indian Novel, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, An Era of Darkness and Why I Am a Hindu. 'God's Own Country' is also the tourism tagline of Kerala. Option B is wrong because Jeet Thayil is a poet and novelist known for Narcopolis, which reached the Booker shortlist in 2012. Option C is wrong because Sudha Murthy writes fiction and essays such as Wise and Otherwise, Dollar Bahu and Three Thousand Stitches. Option D is wrong because Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was a Malayalam novelist who wrote Chemmeen and won the Jnanpith Award in 1984. Exam tip: Tharoor - The Great Indian Novel; Thakazhi - Chemmeen; Thayil - Narcopolis.

The correct answer is C, 80. Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, more than any other state, because seats are allotted in proportion to population and UP is the most populous state. The present strength of the Lok Sabha is 543 elected members, and the allotment rests on the 1971 census; the freeze on readjusting seats was extended by the 84th Amendment and again by the 87th Amendment, so the numbers have not changed since. Uttar Pradesh also has the largest share in the Rajya Sabha, with 31 seats. Option A is wrong because 48 is the number of Lok Sabha seats for Maharashtra, the second largest. Option B is wrong because 39 is the number for Tamil Nadu; West Bengal has 42 and Bihar 40. Option D is wrong because no state has 62 seats. Exam tip: Lok Sabha seats in order - Uttar Pradesh 80, Maharashtra 48, West Bengal 42, Bihar 40, Tamil Nadu 39.

The correct answer is C, Arthropoda. The name itself says so: in Greek arthros means jointed and podos means foot, so arthropods are the animals with jointed legs. They also have a hard outer skeleton of chitin, a segmented body and an open circulatory system, and they shed the skeleton as they grow, a process called moulting. Arthropoda is the largest phylum in the animal kingdom, holding insects, spiders, scorpions, crabs, prawns, centipedes and millipedes - about eighty out of every hundred known animal species. Option A is wrong because molluscs such as snails, octopus and mussels have a soft body with a muscular foot and usually a shell. Option B is wrong because nematodes are unsegmented roundworms like Ascaris, with no legs at all. Option D is wrong because echinoderms such as starfish and sea urchins are spiny-skinned marine animals that move on tube feet. Exam tip: Arthropoda - jointed legs, chitin skeleton, largest phylum; Mollusca is the second largest.

The correct answer is B, Third. The Third Anglo-Maratha War, fought in 1817-18 under Lord Hastings, ended Maratha power. Peshwa Baji Rao II was beaten at Khadki, Koregaon and Ashti, the office of Peshwa was abolished, and his lands around Poona were taken over and joined to the Bombay Presidency. Baji Rao II was pensioned off to Bithur near Kanpur, and a small kingdom was carved out at Satara for a descendant of Shivaji. With this the East India Company became the paramount power in India. Option A is wrong because there was no fourth Anglo-Maratha war; the Marathas fought three. Option C is wrong because the Second War of 1803-05 followed the Treaty of Bassein and cost the Marathas Orissa, Delhi and Agra, but the Peshwa stayed on his seat. Option D is wrong because the First War of 1775-82 ended in the Treaty of Salbai, which restored the position as it was before the war. Exam tip: Salbai 1782, Bassein 1802, Peshwaship abolished 1818.

The correct answer is B, Immediate Payment Service. IMPS is an interbank money transfer service run by the National Payments Corporation of India, launched in November 2010. Its great advantage is that it works round the clock, on holidays and at night, and the money reaches the beneficiary within seconds. A transfer can be made using the account number with the IFSC code, or using the mobile number with the MMID, and it can be started from mobile banking, internet banking, an ATM or a branch. NPCI, set up in 2008 as an umbrella body for retail payments, also runs UPI, RuPay, NACH, AePS and FASTag. Option A is wrong because the letter S stands for service, not sector. Option C is wrong for the same reason. Option D is wrong because the first word is immediate, not instant. Exam tip: NEFT and RTGS are run by the RBI, while IMPS and UPI are run by NPCI; RTGS is meant for amounts of two lakh rupees and above.

The correct answer is C, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme was approved in 1983 and run by the DRDO under Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, which is why he is called the Missile Man of India. The programme built five missiles, easy to remember as P-A-T-N-A: Prithvi, a surface-to-surface missile; Agni, a ballistic missile; Trishul, a short-range surface-to-air missile; Nag, an anti-tank missile; and Akash, a medium-range surface-to-air missile. It was formally closed in 2008 once its main goals were met. Kalam also guided the Pokhran-II tests of 1998 and served as President of India from 2002 to 2007. Option A is wrong because Har Gobind Khorana shared the Nobel Prize in 1968 for work on the genetic code. Option B is wrong because Vikram Sarabhai is called the father of India's space programme. Option D is wrong because Homi J. Bhabha founded India's nuclear programme. Exam tip: Kalam - missiles; Sarabhai - space; Bhabha - atomic energy.

The correct answer is D, United States of America. The very idea of opening a constitution with a preamble came from the American Constitution of 1787, which begins 'We the People of the United States'. India's Preamble likewise begins 'We, the people of India', showing that the Constitution draws its authority from the people. From the same source India also took the Fundamental Rights, an independent judiciary and judicial review, impeachment of the President, and the removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges. The Objectives Resolution moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 later grew into our Preamble, which was adopted on 26 November 1949. Option A is wrong because the USSR gave us the Fundamental Duties, the ideal of justice and the five-year plans. Option B is wrong because Canada gave us a federation with a strong Centre, residuary powers and the appointment of Governors. Option C is wrong because Britain gave us the parliamentary system, rule of law, single citizenship and the office of Speaker. Exam tip: preamble and fundamental rights from the US, duties from the USSR.

The correct answer is A, Mercury. Mercury is a terrestrial planet, not a Jovian one. The eight planets fall into two groups. The four inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are called terrestrial or rocky planets: they are small, dense, have solid crusts and few or no moons. The four outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are the Jovian or giant planets, named after Jupiter, whose Roman name is Jove. They are far larger, made mostly of hydrogen and helium, have low density, ring systems and many moons. Saturn is so light that it would float on water. Mercury is also the smallest planet and the one closest to the Sun. Option B is wrong because Neptune is the outermost Jovian planet. Option C is wrong because Jupiter is the largest Jovian planet and the group is named after it. Option D is wrong because Saturn, with its bright rings, is a Jovian planet too. Exam tip: four rocky inner planets, four gas giants outside, with the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The correct answer is D, GDP - Depreciation. Net Domestic Product is what is left of the domestic product after setting aside the wear and tear of capital. Gross Domestic Product measures the value of all final goods and services produced inside a country in a year. Part of that output merely replaces machines, buildings and vehicles that have worn out during the year, and this loss is called depreciation or consumption of fixed capital. Taking it out gives NDP, a truer measure of what the economy has really added. In India these aggregates are estimated by the National Statistical Office. Option A is wrong because net factor income from abroad is added to a domestic aggregate, never subtracted. Option B is wrong because GDP plus net factor income from abroad gives Gross National Product. Option C is wrong because GNP minus depreciation gives Net National Product, the national counterpart of NDP. Exam tip: net always means depreciation removed, and national always means net factor income from abroad included.

The correct answer is D, 22. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists 22 languages. It began with 14 languages in 1950. Sindhi was added by the 21st Amendment in 1967; Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali by the 71st Amendment in 1992; and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali by the 92nd Amendment in 2003, which took the list to 22. These are the languages the Union must draw upon to enrich Hindi, and candidates may write many central examinations in them. Note that the Schedule does not by itself make all 22 languages official languages of the Union: Article 343 makes Hindi in Devanagari script the official language, with English continuing alongside. Option A is wrong because 42 is the number of the amendment that changed the Preamble, not a language count. Option B is wrong because 12 is fewer even than the 14 the Schedule started with. Option C is wrong because 32 is more than the list holds. Exam tip: remember 14 in 1950 and 22 in 2003, the last four added by the 92nd Amendment.

The correct answer is B, Literature. The Saraswati Samman is a literary award given for an outstanding work of prose or poetry. It was started in 1991 by the K.K. Birla Foundation and is open to writing in any language listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, so a book published in the previous ten years in any of those languages may win. The first award went to Harivansh Rai Bachchan for his autobiography, and the prize is counted among the most valuable literary honours in India. The same foundation runs the Vyas Samman for Hindi writing and the Bihari Puraskar for writers of Rajasthan. Option A is wrong because music is honoured by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Tansen Samman. Option C is wrong because journalism has the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. Option D is wrong because dance is recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Kalidas Samman. Exam tip: link the three K.K. Birla Foundation prizes, Saraswati Samman for all Eighth Schedule languages, Vyas Samman for Hindi and Bihari Puraskar for Rajasthan.

The correct answer is A, Dang. Dang is not a South Indian tribe. The name belongs to the Dangs district of southern Gujarat, whose tribal people are mainly Bhil, Warli and Konkana, all of western India. The other three are communities of the Nilgiri hills, where Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka meet. The Toda are pastoralists known for their barrel-shaped huts and their buffalo-centred rituals. The Badaga are farmers of the Nilgiri plateau who speak a tongue close to Kannada. The Irula, a Scheduled Tribe of Tamil Nadu, are known for snake catching and for collecting forest produce. Option B is wrong because the Toda are the best known tribe of the Nilgiris. Option C is wrong because the Badaga live on the same plateau, around Udhagamandalam. Option D is wrong because the Irula are spread across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Exam tip: remember Toda, Kota, Kurumba, Badaga and Irula as the five main Nilgiri tribes, and place Bhil, Warli and the Dangs in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The correct answer is A, Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas, so it describes the earliest Vedic culture. It is a collection of 1,028 hymns arranged in ten books called mandalas, composed in the land of the seven rivers in the north-west. Books II to VII form the oldest core, while the first and tenth were added later; the tenth holds the Purusha Sukta, the first mention of the four varnas. The Gayatri Mantra also comes from the Rig Veda. The society it shows is pastoral and tribal, with cattle as wealth and Indra, Agni and Varuna as the chief gods. Option B is wrong because the Yajurveda gives the formulas and rituals for sacrifices and belongs to the later Vedic period. Option C is wrong because the Atharvaveda, the last of the four, deals with charms, spells and cures. Option D is wrong because the Samaveda sets Rigvedic verses to music and is the root of Indian classical music. Exam tip: the order is Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva.

The correct answer is B, Primary sector. Dairying takes its produce directly from nature, so it belongs to the primary sector. Economic activity is usually grouped in three sectors. The primary sector draws on natural resources and covers farming, dairy, poultry, fishing, forestry and mining. The secondary sector turns those raw materials into goods, so a plant that converts milk into butter, cheese or milk powder is doing manufacturing. The tertiary sector provides services that support the other two, such as transport, banking, insurance and trade. Milk drawn from cattle is a natural product, which is why dairying, like beekeeping and sericulture, is counted with agriculture and allied activities. In India the primary sector still employs the largest share of workers while the tertiary sector contributes the largest share of GDP. Option A is wrong because the tertiary sector covers services. Option C is wrong because the secondary sector begins only when milk is processed into another product. Option D is wrong because the quaternary sector means knowledge services such as research and IT. Exam tip: dairy, fishing and mining are primary; processing them is secondary.

The correct answer is A, Wildlife protection. The Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award is given for outstanding courage and devotion in protecting wildlife. It was instituted by the Union environment ministry in 1994 and carries a cash prize with a citation. It is named after Amrita Devi Bishnoi, who in 1730 at Khejarli near Jodhpur clung to a khejri tree to stop the Maharaja's men from felling it; she and more than 360 other Bishnois died in that protest. The Bishnoi community, which follows the 29 rules laid down by Guru Jambheshwar, still guards the blackbuck, the chinkara and the khejri tree of the Thar desert, and the Khejarli sacrifice is remembered as an inspiration for the later Chipko movement. Option B is wrong because energy saving is rewarded by the National Energy Conservation Awards. Option C is wrong because broader environmental work is honoured by the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar. Option D is wrong because biodiversity effort is recognised by the India Biodiversity Awards. Exam tip: tie Amrita Devi to Khejarli 1730, the khejri tree and the blackbuck of Rajasthan.

The correct answer is C, Australia. Of the four countries listed, Australia gave women the vote first, in 1902. Its Commonwealth Franchise Act of that year let women vote in and stand for the federal Parliament, following the colony of South Australia, which had already granted it in 1894. New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to allow women to vote, in 1893, but it is not among the options here. Option A is wrong because France let women vote only in 1944, at the end of the Second World War. Option B is wrong because the United States granted it in 1920 through the Nineteenth Amendment. Option D is wrong because the United Kingdom gave the vote to women above 30 in 1918 and to all adult women only in 1928. India, by contrast, gave women the vote on equal terms from its very first general election under the Constitution. Exam tip: fix the order as New Zealand 1893, Australia 1902, UK 1918, USA 1920 and France 1944.

The correct answer is C, Ajatashatru. The First Buddhist Council was held under the patronage of Ajatashatru, the Haryanka ruler of Magadha. It met at Rajgir, in the Sattapanni cave, soon after the Buddha's death, and was presided over by Mahakassapa. Its task was to settle the Buddha's teachings in fixed words: Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka and Upali the Vinaya Pitaka. Ajatashatru was the son of Bimbisara and a contemporary of both the Buddha and Mahavira, and he built the fort of Rajagriha. Option A is wrong because Porus fought Alexander on the Jhelum in 326 BC, far in time and place from this council. Option B is wrong because Ashoka patronised the Third Council, at Pataliputra, presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa. Option D is wrong because Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan empire, leaned towards Jainism and called no Buddhist council. Exam tip: the four councils run Rajgir under Ajatashatru, Vaishali under Kalasoka, Pataliputra under Ashoka and Kashmir under Kanishka.

The correct answer is B, Sitar. Ustad Ilyas Khan was a sitar player. He was born in Lucknow in 1924 into a family of musicians and belonged to the Etawah or Imdadkhani gharana, the school built up by Imdad Khan and carried forward by Enayat Khan and Vilayat Khan. He played for decades on All India Radio, performed across the country and trained many students of the instrument. The sitar itself is a long-necked plucked instrument with movable frets and extra sympathetic strings that give it its ringing tone, and Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan carried it to audiences around the world. Option A is wrong because the tabla is a pair of drums, its famous names being Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain. Option C is wrong because the veena is the plucked instrument of Carnatic music, linked with the goddess Saraswati. Option D is wrong because the mridangam is the barrel drum that keeps time in Carnatic concerts. Exam tip: the Etawah gharana means sitar, while Lucknow also has well known gharanas of kathak and tabla.

The correct answer is B, Rate at which RBI borrows money from commercial banks. The reverse repo rate is what the Reserve Bank pays banks when it takes their surplus cash for a short period. It is the mirror image of the repo rate, at which banks borrow from the RBI against government securities. When the RBI wants to pull extra money out of the system, it makes parking funds with the central bank more attractive; when it wants credit to flow, it does the opposite. The reverse repo rate is always kept below the repo rate, and both are decided by the six member Monetary Policy Committee headed by the RBI Governor. Since 2022 most of this absorption of cash is done through the Standing Deposit Facility. Option A is wrong because the RBI does not borrow from foreign banks through this window. Option C is wrong because the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the RBI is the repo rate. Option D is wrong because lending between commercial banks and foreign banks is not set by the RBI. Exam tip: repo means the RBI lends, reverse repo means the RBI borrows.

The correct answer is B, Sania Mirza. 'Ace against Odds' is the autobiography of the tennis player Sania Mirza, brought out in 2016 and written with her father Imran Mirza and the journalist Shivani Gupta. The title plays on the tennis ace and on the obstacles she met on the way. Sania Mirza was the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title and the first to reach the world number one ranking in women's doubles, and she has won Grand Slam titles in women's doubles and mixed doubles. She has been honoured with the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri and the Khel Ratna. Option A is wrong because the sprinter Hima Das, known as the Dhing Express, has written no such book. Option C is wrong because Dutee Chand is a sprinter known for the 100 metres and for her legal fight against hyperandrogenism rules. Option D is wrong because Mary Kom's autobiography is titled 'Unbreakable'. Exam tip: pair 'Ace against Odds' with Sania Mirza, 'Unbreakable' with Mary Kom and 'Playing It My Way' with Sachin Tendulkar.

The correct answer is A, West Bengal. Kaal Baisakhi is the name used in West Bengal for the violent evening thunderstorms of the pre-monsoon months. They strike in April and May, the Bengali month of Baishakh, with squalls, thunder, lightning and sometimes hail, which is why the name means the calamity of Baishakh. They form when strong heating over the plains meets moist air drawn in from the Bay of Bengal, building tall thunderclouds, and they are also called Nor'westers because the squalls sweep in from the north-west. They damage crops and huts, but their rain helps tea, jute and rice seedlings in Bengal and Assam, where the same storms are called Bardoli Chheerha. Option B is wrong because the pre-monsoon showers of Karnataka are called Cherry Blossom or coffee showers. Option C is wrong because Punjab gets its winter rain from western disturbances. Option D is wrong because Kerala's pre-monsoon showers are the Mango Showers. Exam tip: Kaal Baisakhi in Bengal, Mango Showers in Kerala, Cherry Blossom showers in Karnataka and Loo in the northern plains.

The correct answer is A, 1998. Amartya Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics. His work spans social choice theory and the measurement of poverty and inequality, and his book 'Poverty and Famines' argued that famines come not only from a fall in food output but from a collapse in people's ability to buy food. With Mahbub ul Haq he helped shape the Human Development Index, and his other books include 'Development as Freedom' and 'The Argumentative Indian'. Option B is wrong because 2004 has no link with his prize. Option C is wrong because the economics prize of 1997 went to Robert Merton and Myron Scholes for their work on valuing options. Option D is wrong because 1999 is the year Amartya Sen was given the Bharat Ratna, which students often mix up with the Nobel. Exam tip: remember Nobel 1998 and Bharat Ratna 1999 for Amartya Sen, and note that Abhijit Banerjee won the economics Nobel in 2019.

The correct answer is C, Bimbisara. Bimbisara belonged to the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha, not to the Mauryas. He ruled from Rajagriha in the sixth century BC, was a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavira, and enlarged Magadha through marriage alliances and by annexing Anga. The Mauryan line came much later: Chandragupta Maurya founded it around 321 BC with the help of Chanakya after overthrowing the Nandas, his son Bindusara followed, and Ashoka, the greatest of the family, ruled from about 268 BC and spread Buddhism through his rock and pillar edicts. Option A is wrong because Ashoka was the Mauryan ruler who fought the Kalinga war and then turned to dhamma. Option B is wrong because Bindusara was Chandragupta's son and Ashoka's father. Option D is wrong because Chandragupta founded the dynasty itself. Exam tip: the Magadha dynasties run Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda and then Maurya, so Bimbisara and Ajatashatru come long before Chandragupta.

The correct answer is D, Lord Shiva. The Ramappa temple is dedicated to Shiva, worshipped there as Ramalingeswara. It stands at Palampet in the Mulugu district of Telangana and was built in the thirteenth century under the Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva by his general Recharla Rudra. The temple is unusual in being named after its sculptor, Ramappa. It is raised on a star shaped platform of sandstone, its tower uses bricks so light and porous that they are said to float on water, and its polished black basalt pillars and bracket figures of dancers are finely carved. UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List in 2021 as the Kakatiya Rudreshwara temple. Option A is wrong because Rama is worshipped at temples such as Bhadrachalam, not here. Option B is wrong because the great Vishnu temples of the region are Tirupati and Simhachalam. Option C is wrong because temples dedicated to Indra are almost unknown in India. Exam tip: link Ramappa temple with Palampet, the Kakatiya dynasty, floating bricks and the 2021 UNESCO listing.

The correct answer is C, Gol Gumbaz. Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah, carries the dome long described as the second largest in the world after St Peter's Basilica in Rome. It stands at Vijayapura, the old Bijapur, in Karnataka and was completed in 1656 for the seventh ruler of the Adil Shahi dynasty of the Deccan. The dome is about 44 metres across and rests on intersecting arches, so the hall below it needs no pillars and is one of the largest single chambers under one roof anywhere. A gallery running inside the drum, the Whispering Gallery, carries even a soft sound around the ring, and the building is as famous for that echo as for its size. Option A is wrong because GlampEco is not a monument. Option B is wrong because Teela names no such dome. Option D is wrong because the Calico Dome was a modern structure in Ahmedabad, not a historic tomb. Exam tip: Gol Gumbaz means Vijayapura, the Adil Shahi dynasty and the Whispering Gallery.

The correct answer is A, Cognizable offences. In a cognizable offence the police may register a case, start an investigation and arrest a person without any order from a magistrate. These are the graver offences, such as murder, rape, dacoity, kidnapping and theft, and a First Information Report must be recorded for them. In a non-cognizable offence, such as simple hurt, defamation or public nuisance, the police need the permission of a magistrate before they investigate or arrest. Whether an offence is cognizable, and whether it is bailable, is listed offence by offence in the criminal procedure law, which since 2024 is the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in place of the old Code of Criminal Procedure. Option B is wrong because there is no class of offences called detention offences. Option C is wrong because a non-cognizable offence is precisely the case where the magistrate's order is needed. Option D is wrong because cross offences is not a category of this kind. Exam tip: cognizable means FIR and arrest without a warrant, non-cognizable means the police must first get a magistrate's nod.