UPSC 2023 Prelims-GS-I — Previous Year Questions with Answers

Only statement 1 is correct. The Jhelum River does pass through Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir, which is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. Statement 2 is incorrect because Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh is fed by the Budameru and Tammileru rivers, not directly by the Krishna River, although it lies between the Krishna and Godavari deltas. Statement 3 is incorrect because Kanwar Lake (Kabartal) in Bihar was formed by the meandering of the Gandak River's tributaries, but is more accurately associated with the Burhi Gandak; the conventional answer treats it as incorrect.

Two pairs are correctly matched. Kamarajar Port (formerly Ennore) was the first major port in India to be incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act, making pair 1 correct. Mundra Port operated by Adani Ports is the largest privately owned commercial port in India, making pair 2 correct. Pair 3 is incorrect because Visakhapatnam is not the largest container port; Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) at Nhava Sheva handles the largest container traffic in India.

All three trees listed are deciduous. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) sheds its leaves seasonally and is classified as a tropical deciduous tree. Mahua (Madhuca indica) is a well-known deciduous tree of central Indian forests, valued for its flowers and seeds. Teak (Tectona grandis) is the classic tropical deciduous tree, dominant in moist and dry deciduous forests of peninsular India and shedding leaves in the dry season. Therefore, all three qualify as deciduous trees.

Only statement 1 is correct. India has a larger arable area than China; India's arable land is roughly 156 million hectares versus China's around 119 million hectares. Statement 2 is incorrect because China irrigates a smaller absolute area but the proportion is comparable; India's irrigated proportion is generally similar to or slightly lower than China's depending on the metric, and the standard answer treats this as incorrect. Statement 3 is incorrect because China's average per-hectare productivity in major crops such as rice and wheat is significantly higher than India's.

The Rann of Kutch is the best example of repeated falls in sea level giving rise to extensive present-day marshland. Geologically the Rann was once a shallow arm of the Arabian Sea, and successive marine regressions and tectonic uplift left behind a vast salt marsh that floods seasonally during the monsoon and dries into a salt desert in summer. Bhitarkanika is a mangrove delta, Marakkanam pans are anthropogenic salt works and Naupada is a coastal swamp formed by other processes, none matching the description.

Ilmenite (FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2) are both important ores of titanium. They occur abundantly in the placer beach sands of Kerala (Chavara), Tamil Nadu (Manavalakurichi) and Odisha. Titanium extracted from these minerals is used in aerospace alloys, medical implants, pigments (titanium dioxide for paints and paper) and high-strength engineering applications. Aluminium comes from bauxite, copper from chalcopyrite, and iron from haematite or magnetite, so the correct answer is titanium.

About three-fourths of the world's cobalt is produced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country's Katanga and Lualaba provinces host the world's richest copper-cobalt belt, and cobalt is mined as a by-product of copper extraction. Cobalt is a critical input for the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, and DRC's near-monopoly raises significant supply-chain and ethical concerns. Argentina, Botswana and Kazakhstan are not significant cobalt producers at this scale.

Cameroon is part of the Congo Basin. The Congo Basin spans six countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Nigeria drains primarily through the Niger River system, South Sudan lies in the Nile Basin, and Uganda's drainage flows mostly into the Nile via Lake Victoria. Therefore, of the four options, only Cameroon contributes territory to the Congo Basin's drainage and rainforest area.

None of the statements is correct. Amarkantak Hills lie at the meeting point of the Vindhya, Satpura and Maikal ranges, not the Vindhya and Sahyadri (Western Ghats), so statement 1 is wrong. Biligirirangan Hills in Karnataka form a bridge between the Western and Eastern Ghats; they are not the easternmost part of the Satpura Range, so statement 2 is wrong. Seshachalam Hills in Andhra Pradesh are part of the Eastern Ghats, not the southernmost part of the Western Ghats, so statement 3 is also wrong.

The Golden Quadrilateral (5,846 km, NHDP Phase I) connects Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Kolkata. It was launched in 2001 under PM Vajpayee. NS-EW Corridor connects Srinagar-Kanyakumari and Silchar-Porbandar (7,142 km).

Statement-I is correct because India does possess uranium reserves but still depends on coal for around 70 to 75 per cent of its electricity, with nuclear contributing only about 3 per cent. Statement-II is incorrect because power-reactor fuel uses low-enriched uranium with U-235 enrichment between 3 to 5 per cent for typical pressurised water reactors; enrichment of 60 per cent or more is associated with weapons-grade or research-reactor fuel, not commercial electricity generation. Hence Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is factually wrong.

Statement-I is correct: marsupials such as kangaroos, koalas and wombats are not naturally found in India; their natural range is Australia, New Guinea and the Americas. Statement-II is incorrect because marsupials inhabit a wide range of ecosystems including deserts, rainforests, grasslands and woodlands and they coexist with predators; they are not restricted to montane grasslands without predators. Therefore Statement-I alone is true while Statement-II is a fabricated ecological generalisation.

The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), which develops and maintains the Global Invasive Species Database, is part of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The ISSG provides expert advice on the threats posed by invasive alien species to biodiversity and supports the implementation of Article 8(h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. UNEP, WCED and WWF do not host this specialist group.

Only one of the listed species is generally nocturnal or crepuscular. The Lion-tailed Macaque is strictly diurnal, foraging in the rainforest canopy during the day. The Malabar Civet is largely nocturnal, hunting and moving after sunset, which makes it the one species fitting the description. Sambar Deer are primarily crepuscular and active around dusk and dawn but are not generally classified as nocturnal in the strict sense used by the official key, which treats only the Malabar Civet as nocturnal.

Honeybees perform the famous waggle dance, decoded by Nobel laureate Karl von Frisch, to communicate the direction and distance of food sources to other workers in the hive. The angle of the waggle run relative to the vertical comb conveys direction relative to the sun, while its duration indicates distance. Butterflies, dragonflies and wasps do not exhibit this symbolic communication; the waggle dance is unique to social Apis bees, particularly the European honeybee Apis mellifera.

All four statements are correct. Many mushrooms have documented medicinal properties, with species such as Ganoderma lucidum and Lentinula edodes used in traditional and modern medicine. Some mushrooms, including Psilocybe species, contain psychoactive alkaloids. Certain fungi produce metabolites with insecticidal activity, and species such as Beauveria are used as biopesticides. Bioluminescence is a known property of several fungal species like Mycena chlorophos and Omphalotus, which glow in the dark, so all four statements are factually accurate.

Only statement 3 is correct. Indian squirrels, particularly the common palm squirrel Funambulus palmarum and the larger Indian giant squirrel, build nests called dreys in trees and tree hollows rather than burrowing in the ground, so statement 1 is wrong. They cache food primarily in tree cavities, crevices and bark, not in the soil, making statement 2 incorrect. They eat nuts, fruits, seeds, insects, eggs and small vertebrates, which makes them omnivorous, so statement 3 is correct.

All three statements are correct. Hyperthermophiles such as Pyrolobus fumarii thrive at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius near hydrothermal vents, so statement 1 is correct. Psychrophiles such as certain Antarctic bacteria grow in sub-zero brines and ice, so statement 2 is correct. Acidophiles such as Picrophilus species grow at pH values below 1, well below 3, in environments like acid mine drainage and volcanic springs, so statement 3 is correct. Microbial life occupies an extraordinary range of physical and chemical extremes.

Orangutans are well documented to fashion sticks into tools to extract insects, honey or seeds from holes in trees and logs. Field studies in Sumatra and Borneo have shown them stripping leaves from twigs and using the resulting probes to access termites, ants and embedded seeds. Fishing cats hunt by scooping fish from water, otters do not use tools in this manner, and sloth bears use their long snout and claws rather than crafted sticks to break into insect nests, so the correct answer is the orangutan.

Hydrofluorocarbons are used in three of the four listed applications. They are used as propellants in aerosols, as blowing agents to make foams and as fire-suppression agents replacing halons in fire retardants, so options 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Lubricants are typically based on mineral or synthetic oils and do not generally use HFCs, so option 4 is incorrect. HFCs are potent greenhouse gases regulated under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, prompting their phasedown across these uses.

Statement-I is incorrect. In InvITs the interest income distributed to unit-holders is generally taxable in their hands, while dividends received by unit-holders can be exempt if the InvIT has not opted for the concessional regime, so the statement reverses the actual tax treatment. Statement-II is correct because InvITs were brought within the definition of borrowers under the SARFAESI Act, 2002, allowing secured creditors to enforce security interests against them. Hence Statement-I is wrong but Statement-II is right.

Both statements are correct, but Statement-II is not a complete explanation of Statement-I. After the COVID-19 pandemic, central banks including the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Reserve Bank of India raised policy rates aggressively to fight inflation, validating Statement-I. Statement-II expresses a general principle that monetary authorities believe interest-rate tools can curb consumer price inflation. While related, the second statement is a doctrinal claim and does not by itself explain the timing or magnitude of the post-pandemic hikes.

Statement-I is correct because carbon markets, including compliance markets like the EU ETS and voluntary markets, are widely regarded as one of the most widespread market-based instruments to mitigate climate change by putting a price on emissions. Statement-II is incorrect because carbon markets generally transfer resources between private participants, from emitters to mitigators, and from buyers in developed economies to project hosts in developing economies; they do not in essence transfer resources from the private sector to the State. Hence only Statement-I is correct.

Sterilisation refers to actions by the central bank that neutralise the impact of foreign exchange interventions or other capital flows on domestic money supply. The principal tool is Open Market Operations, where the Reserve Bank of India sells government securities to absorb the rupee liquidity created when it buys foreign exchange, or buys securities to inject liquidity when it sells foreign exchange. Oversight of payment systems, debt and cash management for governments, and regulating non-bank financial institutions are separate central-bank functions and not part of sterilisation.

Capital markets deal with long-term funds, generally instruments with maturities exceeding one year. Of the four listed, the Government Bond Market and the Stock Market clearly qualify as capital markets, dealing with long-dated securities and equities. The Call Money Market handles overnight to fortnight inter-bank lending, and the Treasury Bill Market deals with sovereign instruments of up to 364 days; both are part of the money market, not capital markets. Therefore only two of the four are capital markets.

The Small Farmer Large Field concept, promoted by ICRISAT and the National Institution for Transforming India along with state governments, refers to many marginal farmers in a contiguous area organising themselves into groups and synchronising or harmonising selected agricultural operations such as sowing, irrigation, plant protection and harvesting. By acting as one large field they capture economies of scale and improve bargaining power without giving up land ownership, distinguishing it from contract farming, corporate land surrender, or refugee resettlement schemes described in the other options.

All three statements are correct. The Government of India announces a Minimum Support Price for niger seed under the umbrella of nine oilseeds covered by the MSP regime, validating statement 1. Niger is sown with the onset of the south-west monsoon and harvested in winter, so it is cultivated as a kharif crop, validating statement 2. Niger seed oil is traditionally extracted and used for cooking by tribal communities, especially in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, validating statement 3.

Three of the four assets are intangible. Brand recognition is an intangible asset because it represents goodwill rather than a physical thing, intellectual property rights such as patents and trademarks are classic intangibles, and a mailing list of clients is treated as an intangible asset under accounting standards because its value derives from information rather than physical form. Inventory, by contrast, consists of physical goods held for sale or production and is therefore a tangible current asset, so the count is three.

The Fifteenth Finance Commission used six criteria for horizontal devolution: population, area, income distance, demographic performance, forest and ecology, and tax and fiscal efforts. Apart from the three excluded by the question (population, area and income distance), the remaining criteria adopted by the Commission are demographic performance, forest and ecology, and tax and fiscal efforts. Governance reforms and stable government were not among the formal criteria. Therefore four of the five listed items, that is options 1, 2, 3 and 5, were used.

The UNOPS Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation initiative (S3i) focuses its investments on three priority sectors: affordable housing, renewable energy and health infrastructure. It does not list mass rapid transport as a primary S3i focus area in its published mandate. Therefore three of the four listed sectors, namely affordable housing, health care and renewable energy, are correct, while mass rapid transport falls outside S3i's stated investment scope, giving the answer three.

Due Process of Law in essence means the fair application of law. It requires that any law depriving a person of life, liberty or property must itself be just, fair and reasonable in both substance and procedure, going beyond the narrower Indian doctrine of procedure established by law. The principle of natural justice and equality before law are related but distinct concepts, and procedure established by law is the textual standard of Article 21; the broader American concept absorbed into Indian jurisprudence after Maneka Gandhi is fair application.

Both statements are factually correct. Prisons in India are administered by State Governments, each having its own prison manuals and rules under the State List entry on prisons, validating Statement-I. The Prisons Act of 1894, which still forms the basic statutory framework, was enacted in colonial times and explicitly placed prison administration in the hands of provincial governments, validating Statement-II. However, Statement-II describes the colonial statutory background and is not a direct causal explanation for the present-day federal arrangement, so it is correct but not the explanation for Statement-I.

The chief purpose of a constitution is to define and limit the powers of government. While constitutions also create political offices, set objectives for legislation and aspire to social justice, their core function in constitutional theory is to constitute the state, allocate powers among its organs and place enforceable limits on those powers through fundamental rights, separation of powers, judicial review and rule of law. The other options describe consequential purposes but not the chief one of organising and constraining state power.

The First Constitutional Amendment Act of 1951 was widely understood to have been enacted to overcome judicial interpretations of the Fundamental Rights, particularly the Patna and Allahabad High Court rulings on land reforms and reservations. It added Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule to protect agrarian reform laws from challenge, qualified the right to freedom of speech, and clarified the State's power to make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, directly responding to early judicial decisions limiting these powers.

Only one of the four bodies is constitutional. The National Commission for Backward Classes was given constitutional status by the 102nd Amendment Act of 2018, which inserted Article 338B, making it the only constitutional body in the list. The National Human Rights Commission is a statutory body under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993; the National Law Commission is an executive body set up by Government order; and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is a statutory body under the Consumer Protection Act, so only one qualifies.

None of the statements is correct. Article 71(2) provides that acts done by the President before the date the Supreme Court declares the election void remain valid, so statement 1 is wrong. Under Article 62, the election to fill a vacancy in the office of the President cannot be postponed merely because some State Legislative Assemblies have been dissolved, so statement 2 is wrong. Article 111 prescribes no specific time limit within which the President must declare assent to a Bill, so statement 3 is wrong.

Only statement 1 is correct. A Finance Bill that is not a Money Bill follows ordinary legislative procedure, so the Rajya Sabha can amend or reject it. Statement 2 is wrong as stated because under Article 109 the Rajya Sabha cannot reject a Money Bill at all; it can only return it with recommendations within fourteen days. Statement 3 is wrong because Article 108 expressly excludes Money Bills from joint sittings, and joint sittings are possible for ordinary Bills including Finance Bills, but they are not made necessary.

Rajasthan (342,239 km²) is India's largest state by area, followed by Madhya Pradesh (308,252 km²) and Maharashtra (307,713 km²). Goa (3,702 km²) is the smallest state by area.

Statement-I is correct. The Supreme Court in cases such as Indra Sawhney and M. Nagaraj has held that reservations under Article 16(4) must be balanced against the requirement of efficiency of administration mentioned in Article 335. Statement-II is incorrect because Article 335 does not define the term efficiency of administration; it merely directs the State to consider claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes consistently with maintenance of efficiency, leaving the term itself undefined. Hence Statement-I is right but Statement-II is wrong.

Dhanyakataka, modern Dharanikota near Amaravati on the lower Krishna River, was located in the Andhra region and flourished as a major Buddhist centre under the Mahasanghika and later Chaitika schools. The great stupa at Amaravati and associated monasteries developed here under Satavahana and Ikshvaku patronage. Gandhara was in the north-west, Kalinga in coastal Odisha, and Magadha in southern Bihar, none of which housed Dhanyakataka, so the correct region is Andhra.

Two statements are correct. Stupas were generally built as repositories of relics of the Buddha or important monks, validating statement 2, and they functioned as votive and commemorative structures within the Buddhist tradition, validating statement 3. Statement 1 is incorrect because the concept of a sepulchral mound predates Buddhism and existed in Vedic and other earlier Indian funerary practices; the Buddha himself referred to existing stupa traditions when giving instructions about his own remains. Hence two of the three statements are correct.

Korkai, Poompuhar (Kaveripattinam) and Muchiri (Muziris) were famous ancient ports of South India during the Sangam age. Korkai on the Tamraparni estuary was the principal pearl-fishing port of the Pandyas, Poompuhar at the mouth of the Kaveri was the Chola port engaged in trade with Rome and Southeast Asia, and Muchiri on the Periyar in Kerala was the great Chera emporium where Roman ships unloaded gold for pepper. They were not capital cities, iron-and-steel centres, or Jain shrines.

Vattakirutal, as referred to in Sangam poems, denotes the practice in which a king who has been defeated in battle commits ritual suicide by sitting facing north and starving himself to death. It was viewed as an honourable end preserving the king's dignity and was praised by Sangam poets. The other options describe unrelated customs: female bodyguards, courtly philosophical assemblies and field-watching by young girls were Tamil practices but were not designated by the term Vattakirutal.

None of the four dynasties was established in the early eighth century AD. The Hoysalas rose in Karnataka in the late tenth and eleventh centuries, the Gahadavalas of Kannauj emerged in the late eleventh century, the Kakatiyas of Warangal began consolidating power in the twelfth century, and the Yadavas of Devagiri established their independent kingdom in the late twelfth century. All four are kingdoms of the late early-medieval period, so the correct count for early-eighth-century foundations is none.

Two pairs are correctly matched. Hammira-Mahakavya was composed by Nayachandra Suri on the life of the Chauhan king Hammiradeva of Ranthambore, validating pair 2. Nitivakyamrita is a work on polity by the Jain scholar Somadeva Suri, validating pair 4. Pair 1 is wrong because Devichandragupta, a play, was written by Vishakhadatta, not Bilhana, who wrote Vikramankadevacharita. Pair 3 is wrong because Milinda-panha, the Pali dialogues between King Menander and the monk Nagasena, was not authored by Nagarjuna.

Jainism teaches that souls (jivas) pervade not only animals and plants but also bodies of water, fire, air, earth and even minute particles of matter such as rocks and dust, a doctrine reflected in its strict ahimsa towards all forms of life. Buddhism rejects an enduring soul and confines sentience to animals; Shaivism and Vaishnavism are theistic Hindu traditions that do not extend personal souls to inanimate elements in this manner. The statement therefore matches Jain metaphysics most closely.

Devaraya I of the Sangama dynasty of Vijayanagara constructed a large dam across the Tungabhadra River and an extensive canal-cum-aqueduct that brought water several kilometres to the capital city of Vijayanagara (Hampi). The hydraulic works greatly enhanced agriculture and urban water supply during his reign in the early fifteenth century. Mallikarjuna, Vira Vijaya and Virupaksha were later or weaker rulers not associated with this scale of irrigation engineering, making Devaraya I the correct answer.

Bahadur Shah of Gujarat surrendered Diu to the Portuguese in 1535 through the Treaty of Bassein, seeking their support against the Mughal emperor Humayun. The Portuguese were permitted to construct a fortress at Diu in exchange for naval assistance. Ahmad Shah and Mahmud Begarha were earlier Gujarat sultans who fought the Portuguese rather than ceding Diu, and Muhammad Shah does not figure in the Diu cession, so the correct answer is Bahadur Shah.

The Charter Act of 1833 designated the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-General of India, giving Lord William Bentinck the new title and centralising legislative powers in the Government of India. The Regulating Act of 1773 had created the post of Governor-General of Bengal, Pitt's India Act of 1784 reorganised the Company's governance, and the Charter Act of 1793 renewed the Company's charter; none of these elevated the Governor-General to all-India status. The 1833 Act made that change.

Two statements are correct. Janani Suraksha Yojana aims to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women through cash assistance, validating statements 2 and 3. Statement 1 is incorrect because JSY is a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the National Health Mission, not solely a state initiative. Statement 4 is incorrect because care for sick infants up to one year of age is provided under the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, not JSY. So two are correct.

Two statements are correct. The Anaemia Mukt Bharat strategy provides for periodic deworming for children and adolescents and addresses non-nutritional causes of anaemia such as malaria, haemoglobinopathies and fluorosis in endemic pockets, validating statements 3 and 4. Statement 1 is wrong because AMB provides prophylactic iron-folic acid supplementation, not calcium, to the listed groups. Statement 2 is wrong because delayed cord clamping is a clinical practice promoted under newborn care, but not as a stand-alone campaign run by AMB. Therefore two are correct.

Only statement 1 is correct. Carbon fibres are extensively used in automobiles, aircraft, wind turbine blades and sporting goods due to their high strength-to-weight ratio. Statement 2 is incorrect because carbon fibre composites can be recycled by various processes such as solvolysis, pyrolysis and mechanical grinding to recover fibres for reuse, although recycling is more challenging than for metals. Hence the second statement, claiming carbon fibres cannot be recycled, is factually wrong.

Accelerometers measure acceleration along one or more axes and are central to all three actions described. Crash sensors in cars detect the rapid deceleration that triggers airbag deployment, laptop hard-drive protection systems sense the free-fall acceleration of about 9.8 metres per second squared and park the read-write heads, and smartphones use accelerometer data to detect device tilt and switch between portrait and landscape modes. Therefore the function of an accelerometer is required in all three of the listed scenarios.

Only statement 2 is correct. In recirculating aquaculture systems, biofilters host nitrifying bacteria that convert toxic ammonia released by fish into less toxic nitrate through the nitrification process, validating statement 2. Statement 1 is incorrect because uneaten feed is removed primarily by mechanical filters and solids-removal devices, not biofilters. Statement 3 is incorrect because biofilters do not increase phosphorus availability for fish; phosphorus accumulation is in fact a water-quality concern that operators usually try to limit, not encourage.

Only one pair is correctly matched. Pulsars are indeed neutron stars formed from the collapse of massive stars at the end of their lives and emit beamed radiation, validating pair 3. Pair 1 is wrong because Cepheids are pulsating variable stars that brighten and dim periodically, not clouds of dust and gas. Pair 2 is wrong because nebulae are giant clouds of dust and gas in space, not periodically brightening stars; the descriptions in pairs 1 and 2 have been swapped. Hence only pair 3 is correct.

Among the listed countries, only Japan operates its own satellite navigation system. Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), known as Michibiki, augments and complements the Global Positioning System over the Asia-Oceania region. Australia, Canada and Israel rely on foreign systems such as GPS and have no independent constellation. Other states with their own navigation systems are the United States (GPS), Russia (GLONASS), the European Union (Galileo), China (BeiDou) and India (NavIC), but among the choices given, Japan is the correct answer.

Neither statement is correct. Ballistic missiles are rocket-propelled in the boost phase and follow a ballistic trajectory under gravity thereafter, while cruise missiles are typically jet-propelled throughout most of their flight, often at subsonic or supersonic speeds, so statement 1 reverses the technologies. Statement 2 is also wrong because Agni-V is a long-range solid-fuelled ballistic missile, not a cruise missile, and BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile, not a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile. Both statements are factually incorrect.

All three statements are correct. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining uses elemental mercury for amalgamation and is the largest single source of anthropogenic mercury emissions globally, validating statement 1. Coal-fired thermal power plants release mercury present in coal during combustion, making them another major emission source, validating statement 2. The World Health Organization and other agencies maintain that there is no known safe level of mercury exposure, given its potent neurotoxicity and bioaccumulation in the food chain, validating statement 3.

All three statements about green hydrogen are correct. It can be combusted directly as a fuel in modified internal combustion engines, validating statement 1. It can be blended with natural gas in pipelines and burned for heat or power generation, with several pilot blends already operating internationally, validating statement 2. It can be used in hydrogen fuel cells to power electric vehicles by producing electricity through electrochemical reaction with oxygen, validating statement 3. Therefore all three uses of green hydrogen are correctly identified.

Only two of the listed countries share a land border with Ukraine: Hungary and Romania. Ukraine's land neighbours are Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Bulgaria does not border Ukraine; it is separated by Romania and the Black Sea. The Czech Republic borders Slovakia, Poland and Germany but not Ukraine. Latvia and Lithuania are Baltic states that do not touch Ukraine; Lithuania borders Belarus and Poland. Hence only Hungary and Romania from the list share a land boundary with Ukraine.

Infrared waves emitted by the Earth and present in solar radiation are largely absorbed by water vapour, which is concentrated in the lower troposphere; this absorption is central to the natural greenhouse effect. Option (a) is wrong because the equator receives only about two and a half times more insolation than the poles, not ten. Option (b) is wrong because infrared makes up roughly half rather than two-thirds of incoming solar radiation. Option (d) is wrong because infrared lies beyond the visible spectrum, not within it.

Statement-I is incorrect. Tropical rainforest soils are typically nutrient-poor; nutrients are stored in the standing biomass and rapidly recycled, while heavy rainfall leaches the soil. Statement-II is correct because the high temperature and humidity of rainforests cause organic matter on the forest floor to decompose very quickly, so nutrients are released and reabsorbed by plants almost immediately rather than accumulating in the soil. Therefore Statement-I is wrong while Statement-II is right, and the right combination is option (d).

Both statements are correct, and Statement-II properly explains Statement-I. Land surfaces heat up and cool down faster than oceans because the specific heat of water is much higher than that of land, so oceans absorb and release heat more slowly. As a result the temperature contrast between continents and oceans is greatest in summer, when continents have warmed sharply but oceans remain cooler, and is smaller in winter. Hence Statement-II is the correct explanation of Statement-I, making (a) the correct choice.

Both statements are correct. P waves are primary seismic waves that travel faster than S waves and are recorded earliest on a seismograph, validating statement 1. P waves are longitudinal compressional waves in which particles vibrate back and forth in the direction of propagation, while S waves are transverse waves in which particles vibrate perpendicular to the direction of propagation, validating statement 2. Hence both descriptions accurately represent the behaviour of body waves recorded during earthquakes.

None of the statements is correct. Several Indian coal-based thermal power plants located on the coast use seawater for cooling, including units in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, so statement 1 is wrong. Many thermal plants are located in water-stressed districts in central and western India, where competition with agriculture and urban supply is acute, making statement 2 wrong. Major private companies such as Adani Power, Tata Power, Reliance and JSW operate coal-fired thermal plants, so statement 3 is also wrong.

The Wolbachia method is a technique for controlling viral diseases spread by mosquitoes such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. Mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, are infected with the Wolbachia bacterium, which interferes with their ability to transmit these viruses. Programmes by the World Mosquito Program in countries including Indonesia, Brazil and Australia have shown major reductions in dengue incidence following Wolbachia mosquito releases. The method has nothing to do with packaging from crop residues, biodegradable plastics or biochar production.

All three activities are discussed under carbon capture and sequestration. Spreading finely ground basalt on farmland is a form of enhanced rock weathering that absorbs carbon dioxide as the silicate minerals react with it, validating activity 1. Increasing ocean alkalinity by adding lime is a proposed marine carbon-removal technique to enhance the ocean's uptake of CO2, validating activity 2. Capturing industrial CO2 and injecting it into geological formations such as abandoned mines as carbonated water is part of geological CO2 storage, validating activity 3.

Aerial metagenomics refers to collecting environmental DNA samples from the air in a particular habitat and sequencing them to identify the variety of organisms whose genetic material is present in that air. Recent studies have used air filters in zoos and forests to detect species ranging from mammals to insects from airborne DNA. The other options describe avian genetics, drone-based blood collection from animals and remote sample collection from inaccessible areas, none of which capture the air-DNA sampling concept central to aerial metagenomics.

Microsatellite DNA, also known as short tandem repeats, consists of short repeated motifs scattered across genomes and is highly polymorphic. It is widely used to study genetic diversity, population structure and evolutionary relationships among species and populations because the repeat numbers vary between individuals and species. It is not used to direct stem-cell differentiation, to clone horticultural plants or to evaluate drugs in clinical trials. Therefore the most appropriate use among the options is studying evolutionary relationships among various species of fauna.

Only statement 2 is correct. The MSME Act, 2006 was amended in 2020 to redefine medium enterprises as those with investment in plant and machinery up to fifty crore rupees and turnover up to two hundred and fifty crore rupees, so the figures in statement 1 are wrong. Statement 2 is correct because under the Reserve Bank of India's priority sector lending guidelines, all bank loans to micro, small and medium enterprises qualify as priority sector advances, irrespective of the loan size.

Both statements are correct. Central bank digital currencies allow direct transfer of value between central-bank-issued digital wallets, so cross-border payments can be settled without using the US dollar or the SWIFT messaging system, validating statement 1. CBDCs can also be programmed with conditions, such as expiry dates or restrictions on the type of goods that can be purchased, enabling targeted welfare transfers and time-bound stimulus, validating statement 2. Programmability and bypassing dollar/SWIFT rails are widely cited features of CBDCs.

In finance, beta is a numeric value that measures the sensitivity of a stock's returns to movements in the overall stock market. A beta greater than one indicates higher volatility than the market, less than one indicates lower volatility, and a negative beta indicates inverse movement. The other options describe arbitrage, portfolio risk-reward strategies, and basis risk, which are different concepts. Beta is central to the Capital Asset Pricing Model and is used to estimate expected returns relative to systematic market risk.

Two statements are correct. In an SHG, all members provide joint liability for loans availed by the group; if one member defaults, the others share responsibility, validating statement 2. Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Commercial Banks both finance SHGs under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme of NABARD, validating statement 3. Statement 1 is incorrect because the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme was originally pioneered by NABARD in 1992, not by the State Bank of India, although SBI later became a major participant in SHG financing.

Both statements are correct, but Statement-II is not the explanation of Statement-I. India's public health system has historically emphasised curative care provided through hospitals and primary health centres, with comparatively limited investment in preventive, promotive and rehabilitative services, validating Statement-I. Health is a State subject under the Seventh Schedule, so States are primarily responsible for organising health services, validating Statement-II. The federal allocation of responsibility does not by itself cause the curative bias, so the second statement does not directly explain the first.

Statement-I is correct. According to the UN World Water Development Report, 2022, India is the largest extractor of groundwater in the world, accounting for around 25 per cent of global groundwater withdrawals each year. Statement-II is incorrect because the bulk of India's groundwater extraction is used for irrigation in agriculture, not for drinking water and sanitation, and the justification linking the volume to the country's share of population is not how the WWDR explains the figure. So Statement-I alone is correct.

Only statement 1 is correct. Article 355 imposes a duty on the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance, validating statement 1. Statement 2 is incorrect because Article 22 specifically allows access to legal counsel except in some narrowly defined preventive detention cases, but the Constitution does not exempt States from providing legal counsel as a general rule. Statement 3 is incorrect because under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, confessions made to a police officer of specified rank were admissible as evidence, subject to safeguards.

Somalia has been suffering from decades of civil strife, terrorism by Al-Shabaab, recurrent droughts and severe food shortages, and was in the news for a very severe famine warning issued by the United Nations and humanitarian agencies in 2022 and 2023. Angola has experienced relative stability since the end of its civil war in 2002, while Costa Rica and Ecuador in Latin America are not associated with such famine and prolonged civil conflict. Hence Somalia is the correct answer.

Only statement 1 is correct. Biodiversity Management Committees, set up at the local self-government level under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, prepare People's Biodiversity Registers and play a key role in implementing the Nagoya Protocol's access and benefit-sharing objectives. Statement 2 is incorrect because BMCs do not have an independent power to determine access and benefit sharing or to levy fees on access; that power lies with the National Biodiversity Authority and State Biodiversity Boards, which only consult the BMCs. So one statement is correct.

Alexander Rea, A. H. Longhurst, Robert Sewell, James Burgess and Walter Elliot were nineteenth and early twentieth century officials and scholars associated with archaeological excavations and surveys in colonial India, particularly in southern India. They worked under or in connection with the Archaeological Survey of India and contributed to the documentation of sites such as Amaravati, Hampi and various megalithic and temple complexes. They were not connected with English Press, churches in princely states, or railway construction.

Two pairs are correctly matched. Bhaja in Maharashtra is famous for its Buddhist rock-cut cave shrines dating to the second century BCE, validating pair 2. Sittanavasal in Tamil Nadu is well known for its Jain rock-cut cave shrine with celebrated frescoes, validating pair 3. Pair 1 is incorrect because Besnagar near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh is famous for the Heliodorus Pillar, a Vaishnavite (Garuda-stambha) site dedicated to Vasudeva, not for a Shaivite cave shrine. Hence two of the three pairs are correctly matched.

Both statements are correct, and Statement-II is the explanation of Statement-I. National Handloom Day is observed every year on 7 August in India to celebrate the handloom-weaving community and promote indigenous textiles. The date was chosen because it commemorates the launch of the Swadeshi Movement on 7 August 1905, in response to the partition of Bengal, which gave a major boost to handloom and indigenous industries. Hence the link between the date and the historical event makes (a) correct.

Statement-I is incorrect because the Flag Code of India, 2002 lists nine standard sizes for the National Flag and 600 mm by 400 mm is not among them; the standard sizes use specific length-to-height combinations such as 6300 by 4200 mm down to 150 by 100 mm. Statement-II is correct because the Flag Code prescribes a fixed length-to-height ratio of 3:2 for all standard sizes. Therefore Statement-I is wrong while Statement-II is right, matching option (d).

Statement-I is correct. Constitution Day, also called Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated on 26 November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly on that date in 1949 and to promote constitutional values. Statement-II is incorrect because the Drafting Committee under Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was set up on 29 August 1947, not 26 November 1949; on 26 November 1949 the Constituent Assembly actually adopted the Constitution. Hence Statement-I is right but Statement-II is wrong.

Statement-I is correct. Switzerland is one of the leading exporters of gold by value, hosting major refining centres that process and re-export gold to global markets. Statement-II is incorrect because Switzerland does not have the second-largest gold reserves in the world; the country's official central-bank gold holdings are significant but rank well outside the top two. The largest official gold reserves are held by the United States, followed by Germany. Hence Statement-I alone is correct, matching option (c).

Statement-I is correct. The United States and the European Union launched the Trade and Technology Council in 2021 as a forum to coordinate transatlantic approaches on trade, technology standards, supply chains and emerging technologies. Statement-II is incorrect because the stated objective of the TTC is cooperation on shared challenges, including resilient supply chains and democratic values in technology, rather than bringing technological progress and physical productivity under joint control of the USA and EU; that framing misrepresents the body's mandate. Hence only Statement-I is correct.

Statement-I is incorrect. India accounts for less than 2 per cent of global merchandise exports, far below the 3.2 per cent figure given. Statement-II is correct because numerous Indian and foreign companies operating in sectors such as electronics, mobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food processing and white goods have benefitted from India's Production-Linked Incentive scheme launched in 2020. Therefore the trade-share figure in Statement-I is overstated while the description of PLI take-up in Statement-II is accurate, fitting option (d).

Only statement 1 is correct. The Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union is a treaty-based fiscal framework that limits member states' budget deficits to 3 per cent of GDP and public debt to 60 per cent of GDP, with corrective procedures for breaches, validating statement 1. Statement 2 is incorrect because the SGP does not require member states to share infrastructure facilities, and statement 3 is incorrect because it does not concern technology sharing among members. So only one statement is correct.

None of the statements is correct. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was adopted in 2018, but not by all UN member states; the United States, Hungary and several others did not endorse it, so statement 1 is wrong. The compact is non-binding by its own terms, leaving implementation to individual states, so statement 2 is wrong. The GCM addresses international migration and explicitly excludes internally displaced persons, who are dealt with under separate frameworks, so statement 3 is wrong as well.

Two statements are correct. The Home Guards' role is to function as an auxiliary force to the police in maintenance of internal security, civil defence, traffic regulation and disaster response, validating statement 2. Border Wing Home Guards Battalions have been raised in border States such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Assam to assist the Border Security Force in preventing infiltration along international borders and coastal areas, validating statement 3. Statement 1 is incorrect because Home Guards are raised under State legislation, not a Central Act.

Two pairs are correctly matched. Unauthorised wearing of police or military uniforms is an offence covered under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, validating pair 1. Celebratory gunfire that endangers personal safety is specifically addressed by the Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019, which criminalises such acts, validating pair 3. Pair 2 is incorrect because knowingly misleading or interfering with police or military officers on duty is dealt with under the Indian Penal Code (now Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita), not the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which deals with rules of evidence.

None of the pairs is correctly matched. Pair 1 is wrong because North Kivu and Ituri are provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo affected by armed-group violence, not the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Pair 2 is wrong because Nagorno-Karabakh is the disputed enclave between Armenia and Azerbaijan, not the location of the Mozambique insurgency. Pair 3 is wrong because Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are regions of Ukraine occupied during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, not connected with any Israel-Lebanon dispute, so all three pairs are mismatched.

Statement-I is correct. Israel has established diplomatic relations with several Arab states, beginning with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, and more recently with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco under the Abraham Accords of 2020. Statement-II is incorrect because the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 was put forward by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the Arab League, but it was not signed by Israel; it remained an offer that Israel did not formally accept. Hence only Statement-I is correct.

Two pairs are correctly matched. The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is given for spectacular and outstanding sporting performance over the previous four years, validating pair 1. The Dronacharya Award honours eminent coaches who have produced sportspersons or teams achieving outstanding results in international competitions, validating pair 3. Pair 2 is wrong because the Arjuna Award recognises consistent outstanding performance over four years, not lifetime achievement; lifetime achievement is recognised by the Dhyan Chand Award. Pair 4 is wrong because the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar is for organisational support to sports.

Two statements are correct. The 44th Chess Olympiad held at Mahabalipuram in 2022 was indeed the first Chess Olympiad ever to be hosted in India, validating statement 1. The official mascot was named Thambi, a knight figure in traditional Tamil attire, validating statement 2. Statement 3 is wrong because the trophy for the winning team in the open section is the Hamilton-Russell Cup, not the Vera Menchik Cup. Statement 4 is wrong because the Vera Menchik Cup is awarded to the winning team in the women's section.

None of the pairs is correctly matched. Pair 1 is wrong because Donbas is a region of eastern Ukraine, not Syria, where conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists and later Russian forces has been ongoing. Pair 2 is wrong because Kachin State is in northern Myanmar, where the Kachin Independence Army has long been in conflict with the Tatmadaw, not in Ethiopia. Pair 3 is wrong because Tigray is a region of northern Ethiopia, where the war between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front took place, not North Yemen.

Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan all caught international attention in recent years because of successful coups d'etat, in which the military overthrew civilian or transitional governments. Mali experienced coups in 2020 and 2021, Chad saw a military takeover in 2021 after the death of President Idriss Deby, Guinea had a coup in September 2021, and Sudan saw a military takeover in October 2021. The other options regarding rare earths, Chinese bases or desert expansion do not apply to all four countries.

Green hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in decarbonising all three industries listed. In fertiliser plants, green hydrogen can replace grey hydrogen produced from natural gas in ammonia synthesis. In oil refineries, green hydrogen can replace fossil-derived hydrogen used in hydroprocessing and desulfurisation. In steel plants, green hydrogen can substitute coking coal in direct reduction of iron ore, dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions. India's National Green Hydrogen Mission specifically targets these sectors as priority areas for hydrogen-based decarbonisation.

Both statements are correct. The G-20 was originally established in 1999 as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of major economies to discuss international economic and financial stability following the Asian financial crisis, and it was elevated to a leaders' summit only after the 2008 global financial crisis, validating statement 1. Digital public infrastructure, including platforms such as identity, payments and data exchange systems, was made one of India's key priorities during its G-20 presidency in 2022 to 2023, validating statement 2.