Railway 2026 Previous Year GK Questions with Answers

The correct answer is C, Ocean Vuong. The Emperor of Gladness, released in May 2025, is a novel by the Vietnamese-American writer and poet Ocean Vuong. Vuong was born near Saigon in 1988 and came to the United States as a child refugee. He first drew notice for the poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds and then for the novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and he has held a MacArthur Fellowship; migration, memory and working-class life run through all his writing. A is wrong because Colum McCann is an Irish novelist, best known for Let the Great World Spin. B is wrong because Sharon Lee is an American science-fiction writer and not the author of this novel. D is wrong because Charlotte McConaghy is an Australian novelist, known for Migrations. Exam tip: Ocean Vuong - Night Sky with Exit Wounds, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and The Emperor of Gladness in 2025.

The correct answer is A, Penguin Random House India. Arundhati Roy's memoir 'Mother Mary Comes to Me' was brought out in India in September 2025 by Penguin Random House India, under its literary imprint Hamish Hamilton. The book is a portrait of the author's mother, Mary Roy, the educationist who founded a school in Kerala and won the 1986 Supreme Court case on the inheritance rights of Syrian Christian women. Penguin Random House is the largest trade publisher in the world and its Indian arm publishes much of the country's serious literary writing. B is wrong because HarperCollins India, though a major literary publisher here, did not bring out this title. C is wrong because Hachette India publishes a wide list but not this memoir. D is wrong because Rupa Publications is an older Indian house known for popular and general interest books. Exam tip: link the book to both names — Arundhati Roy as the author and Penguin Random House India as the publisher.

The correct answer is B, Arundhati Roy. 'Mother Mary Comes to Me' is Arundhati Roy's memoir, published in September 2025, and it is built around her difficult, loving bond with her mother Mary Roy. Mary Roy was a teacher who founded a school in Kerala and won the 1986 Supreme Court case that gave Syrian Christian women an equal share in family property. Arundhati Roy herself won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel, 'The God of Small Things', and later wrote 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' along with many essays. A is wrong because Jhumpa Lahiri is known for 'Interpreter of Maladies', which won the Pulitzer Prize, and 'The Namesake'. C is wrong because Vikram Seth wrote 'A Suitable Boy' and 'The Golden Gate'. D is wrong because Chetan Bhagat writes popular novels such as 'Five Point Someone' and 'Half Girlfriend'. Exam tip: Arundhati Roy — 'The God of Small Things', Booker Prize 1997.

The correct answer is C, 1975–1977. The book takes its title from the Emergency, which ran from 1975 to 1977, and recalls those years through the author's own experience of them. The Emergency was proclaimed on 25 June 1975 under Article 352 on the ground of internal disturbance, on the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and was revoked on 21 March 1977. During it elections were postponed, the press was censored and many opposition leaders were jailed. A is wrong because 1962–1965 covers the war with China and the war with Pakistan, not the Emergency. B is wrong because 1989–1991 is the period of coalition governments and the Mandal agitation. D is wrong because 1969–1971 saw the split in the Congress, bank nationalisation and the Bangladesh war. Exam tip: Emergency declared 25 June 1975, lifted 21 March 1977; the 44th Amendment of 1978 replaced 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion'.

The correct answer is D, Article 40. Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats and give them the powers they need to work as units of self-government. It is a Directive Principle of State Policy in Part IV, based on Gandhiji's idea of gram swaraj, so it guides the government but cannot be enforced in a court. The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 gave panchayats constitutional status by adding Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule; it came into force on 24 April 1993, now observed as National Panchayati Raj Day. Jawaharlal Nehru started the first Panchayati Raj at Nagaur, Rajasthan, on 2 October 1959. A is wrong because Article 50 asks the State to separate the judiciary from the executive. B is wrong because Article 60 contains the oath of the President. C is wrong because Article 30 gives minorities the right to set up and run educational institutions. Exam tip: Gandhian Directive Principles: Art 40 (village panchayats), Art 43 (cottage industries), Art 46 (weaker sections), Art 47 (prohibition of intoxicants), Art 48 (cow protection).

The correct answer is B, Third Schedule. The Third Schedule of the Constitution gives the forms of oaths or affirmations for important constitutional posts. It covers Union ministers, candidates for election to Parliament, Members of Parliament, judges of the Supreme Court and the Comptroller and Auditor-General, and at the state level ministers, candidates for the legislature, MLAs and High Court judges. The oaths of the President and the Vice-President are not in this Schedule; they are given in Articles 60 and 69. A is wrong because the Eleventh Schedule, added by the 73rd Amendment in 1992, lists the subjects given to Panchayats. C is wrong because the Ninth Schedule, added by the First Amendment in 1951, protects certain land reform and other laws from challenge in court. D is wrong because the First Schedule lists the names of the states and union territories and their territories. Exam tip: 1st = states and UTs, 3rd = oaths, 7th = Union, State and Concurrent Lists, 10th = anti-defection, 11th = Panchayats, 12th = Municipalities.

The correct answer is C, Article 74. Article 74 says there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President, who shall act according to that advice. The words making the advice binding were added by the 42nd Amendment of 1976. The 44th Amendment of 1978 let the President send the advice back once for reconsideration, but the President must accept the advice given after that. Courts cannot inquire into what advice the ministers gave. Article 75 deals with the appointment of the Prime Minister and other ministers, and Article 78 with the Prime Minister's duty to keep the President informed. A is wrong because Article 70 covers the President's functions in other contingencies. B is wrong because Article 50 is a Directive Principle on separating the judiciary from the executive. D is wrong because Article 84 lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. Exam tip: Art 52 = President, Art 63 = Vice-President, Art 74 = Council of Ministers to advise the President, Art 75 = appointment of PM and ministers, Art 78 = PM's duties.

The correct answer is A guiding principle for interpretation. The Preamble is not enforceable in a court of law: it is neither a source of power for the legislature nor a limit on its powers. Its main legal use is as an aid to interpretation. When the meaning of a provision of the Constitution is unclear, courts look to the Preamble to understand the objectives the framers had in mind.

The other options describe things the Preamble is not. It is not a schedule: the Constitution's schedules are separate lists placed at the end of the text, such as the list of languages. It is not a financial guideline. And it is not an enforceable part of law, which is the most tempting wrong answer: even after the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution, it remained non-justiciable. Being part of the Constitution and being enforceable in court are two different things, and this question tests exactly that difference.