25 September 2025 · Shift 2

Snob effect The snob effect is the wish to own what others do not. As more people buy a good, the snob buyer wants it less, so demand falls. The bandwagon effect is the opposite, and the Veblen effect relates to high price as a mark of status. Hence option (d).

Satellite imagery Satellites give near real-time pictures of the ground and the atmosphere. This allows floods to be mapped, cyclone tracks to be predicted and drought-hit areas to be identified. ISRO’s INSAT and RISAT series serve this purpose. Hence option (a).

First Battle of Panipat Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526. The victory ended the Delhi Sultanate and founded the Mughal Empire. The Second Battle of Panipat was fought in 1556. Hence option (c).

Atal Pension Yojana APY was launched in 2015 for workers of the unorganised sector. A subscriber gets a guaranteed monthly pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 after the age of 60. It is administered by the PFRDA. Hence option (a).

Maximum height At the highest point the final velocity is zero. Using v² = u² − 2gh: 0 = 20² − 2(9.8)h. h = $\frac{400}{19.6}$. ≈ 20.4 m — option (d).

Old Goa churches The churches of Old Goa were built by the Portuguese from the sixteenth century. The Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral show Baroque and Manueline features. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hence option (d).

Antenna complex The antenna complex is a set of pigment molecules in the thylakoid membrane. It absorbs photons and funnels the energy to the reaction centre. ATPase makes ATP, while polymerase and ligase act on nucleic acids. Hence option (b).

Asian Games in India India has hosted the Asian Games twice, both times at New Delhi. The first edition was held there in 1951 and the ninth in 1982. India was the first country ever to host the Games. Hence option (a).

Uniform Civil Code Article 44 of the Directive Principles asks the State to secure a uniform civil code. It would replace the different personal laws on marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption and inheritance with one common law. Criminal law in India is already uniform. Hence option (d).

NCM Chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura has been Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities since 2020. He is a former IPS officer from Punjab. The Commission was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Hence option (a).

Pandwani Pandwani is a folk ballad form of Chhattisgarh. It narrates the story of the Pandavas of the Mahabharata, with the singer holding a tambura. Teejan Bai is its best-known exponent. Hence option (d).

Mineral oil in India Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana and Kosamba are indeed the main oilfields of Gujarat — Statement 1 correct. The Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins on the east coast are established oil and gas provinces — Statement 2 correct. Mumbai High remains India’s largest single field. Hence Both — option (c).

Rural-urban linkages Villages supply food and raw material while towns supply manufactured goods and services — Statement 1 correct. That exchange is continuous, along with the movement of people and money — Statement 2 correct. The relation is chiefly complementary; "always in competition" is too strong — Statement 3 wrong. Hence 1 and 2 — option (c).

Volcanoes Barren Island in the Andaman Sea is India’s only active volcano and has erupted in recent years — Statement 1 is wrong. Volcanoes occur chiefly along plate boundaries, where plates converge or diverge — Statement 2 correct. Barren Island lies on such a subduction belt. Hence Only 2 — option (a).

Suktas The Rigveda is arranged in ten mandalas, each divided into suktas. A sukta is a group of hymns addressed to a deity, made up of individual richas. There are 1,028 suktas in all. Hence option (d).

Basketball players A basketball team fields five players at a time. They are the point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and centre. A squad may have several substitutes on the bench. Hence option (b).

Pitt's India Act Pitt's India Act set up a Board of Control over the Company. The Court of Directors kept its commercial work but became answerable to the Board on civil and military affairs. This dual system of control lasted until 1858. Hence option (b).

The Ocean of Churn The Ocean of Churn (2016) was written by Sanjeev Sanyal. It traces how the Indian Ocean shaped human history. His other works include Land of the Seven Rivers. Hence option (b).

National Games The first Indian Olympic Games were held at Lahore in 1924, organised by H.C. Buck and A.G. Noehren — Statement 1 correct. The renaming to National Games came at the NINTH edition, held at Bombay in 1938 — Statement 2 wrong on both the number and the city. The Games have since been held across many states. Hence 1 only — option (a).

IAS cadre The IAS is one of the three All-India Services, along with the IPS and the IFoS. Officers are allotted to state cadres but the service is controlled jointly by the Centre and the states. The IRS, by contrast, is a Central Service. Hence option (d).

Gowalia Tank Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August 1942. With the senior leaders under arrest, the act made her the face of the movement. She came to be called the Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement. Hence option (c).

Green Revolution The first phase was confined to areas with assured irrigation. Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh gained the most. Bihar, with poor irrigation and small holdings, was barely touched. Hence option (b).

LPG reforms LPG stands for Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. Privatisation means transferring ownership or management of public enterprises to private hands. These were the three pillars of the 1991 reforms. Hence option (d).

Aditya-L1 Aditya-L1 was launched on 2 September 2023. It was inserted into a halo orbit around the L1 point on 6 January 2024. The journey took about 127 days. Hence option (c).

Article 123 Article 123 gives the President the power to promulgate ordinances when either House is not in session. An ordinance has the same force as an Act of Parliament. It must be approved within six weeks of reassembly, or it lapses. Hence option (d).