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Quick answer: A full 50-question UPSC Prelims general-studies mock — Polity, Economy, History, Geography, Environment and Science-Tech — with answer key and explanations, in 60 minutes at 0.66 negative marking.
UPSC Prelims Mock Test (September 9, 2026): 50 Questions
Direct answer: This is a full 50-question general-studies practice paper in the UPSC Prelims pattern — Polity, Economy, History, Geography, Environment and Science-Tech — with a complete answer key and explanations. Attempt it in 60 minutes, negative marking 0.66 per wrong answer, exactly like Paper I.
Scope note: this paper is deliberately built on durable, verifiable facts (articles, acts, dates, geography, conventions) so that what you revise from it stays true on exam day. Time-sensitive current affairs are kept out; practice those from our dated one-liner sheets.
Polity and Governance (Q1–Q10)
- Q1. Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution by which amendment?
(a) 24th (b) 42nd (c) 44th (d) 52nd - Q2. Which Article did Dr Ambedkar call the ‘heart and soul’ of the Constitution?
(a) Article 14 (b) Article 19 (c) Article 32 (d) Article 368 - Q3. The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha as laid down in the Constitution is:
(a) 238 (b) 245 (c) 250 (d) 252 - Q4. Whether a Bill is a Money Bill is decided by:
(a) The President (b) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (c) The Finance Minister (d) The Rajya Sabha Chairman - Q5. The first Indian state created on a linguistic basis (1953) was:
(a) Karnataka (b) Andhra (c) Maharashtra (d) Punjab - Q6. The words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were inserted into the Preamble by:
(a) The Constituent Assembly (b) The 42nd Amendment (c) The 44th Amendment (d) The 73rd Amendment - Q7. The Election Commission of India is constituted under:
(a) Article 315 (b) Article 324 (c) Article 340 (d) Article 350 - Q8. The Comptroller and Auditor-General holds office under:
(a) Articles 148–151 (b) Articles 124–147 (c) Articles 214–231 (d) Articles 315–323 - Q9. The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution deals with:
(a) Languages (b) Anti-defection (c) Panchayats (d) Land reforms - Q10. The Right to Education was made a fundamental right through which amendment?
(a) 83rd (b) 86th (c) 89th (d) 93rd
What Is Asked in Economy and Banking? (Q11–Q20)
- Q11. The Reserve Bank of India was nationalised in:
(a) 1935 (b) 1947 (c) 1949 (d) 1951 - Q12. The repo rate is the rate at which:
(a) Banks lend to RBI (b) RBI lends to commercial banks (c) Banks lend to each other (d) RBI buys government securities permanently - Q13. NITI Aayog was established by:
(a) A constitutional amendment (b) An Act of Parliament (c) An executive resolution (d) A Supreme Court order - Q14. MSP for major crops is announced by the government based on recommendations of:
(a) CACP (b) NITI Aayog (c) FCI (d) SEBI - Q15. The Finance Commission is constituted under:
(a) Article 266 (b) Article 280 (c) Article 281 (d) Article 301 - Q16. Which of the following is a direct tax?
(a) GST (b) Customs duty (c) Income tax (d) Excise duty - Q17. The FRBM Act was enacted in:
(a) 1991 (b) 1999 (c) 2003 (d) 2016 - Q18. Under India’s inflation-targeting framework, the CPI target is:
(a) 2% with a 2% band (b) 4% with a 2% band (c) 5% with a 1% band (d) 6% with no band - Q19. Priority sector lending for domestic scheduled commercial banks is set at what share of adjusted net bank credit?
(a) 10% (b) 18% (c) 40% (d) 50% - Q20. Narrow money (M1) in India includes:
(a) Currency with the public and demand deposits (b) Only currency in circulation (c) Time deposits (d) Post-office savings only
History and Culture (Q21–Q30)
- Q21. The Dandi March of 1930 covered the distance between:
(a) Sabarmati and Dandi (b) Sevagram and Bombay (c) Ahmedabad and Surat (d) Delhi and Amritsar - Q22. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885; its first president was:
(a) A.O. Hume (b) W.C. Bonnerjee (c) Dadabhai Naoroji (d) Gopal Krishna Gokhale - Q23. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on:
(a) 13 April 1919 (b) 13 March 1920 (c) 6 April 1919 (d) 30 January 1921 - Q24. The Simon Commission was boycotted mainly because:
(a) It had no Indian member (b) It opposed provincial autonomy (c) It supported separate electorates (d) It proposed partition - Q25. The slogan ‘Do or Die’ is associated with:
(a) Non-Cooperation Movement (b) Civil Disobedience Movement (c) Quit India Movement (d) Swadeshi Movement - Q26. The First Buddhist Council was held at Rajgriha under the patronage of:
(a) Ashoka (b) Ajatashatru (c) Kanishka (d) Bimbisara - Q27. The famous Nataraja bronze is an artistic hallmark of:
(a) Gupta art (b) Chola art (c) Maurya art (d) Gandhara art - Q28. Which saint is associated with the nirguna strand of Bhakti?
(a) Tulsidas (b) Kabir (c) Mirabai (d) Surdas - Q29. The Subsidiary Alliance system was introduced by:
(a) Warren Hastings (b) Lord Wellesley (c) Lord Dalhousie (d) Lord Curzon - Q30. The Doctrine of Lapse is associated with:
(a) Lord Cornwallis (b) Lord Dalhousie (c) Lord Ripon (d) Lord Minto
What Is Asked in Geography? (Q31–Q40)
- Q31. The highest peak in the Western Ghats is:
(a) Doddabetta (b) Anamudi (c) Mahendragiri (d) Kalsubai - Q32. The Sundarbans is the world’s largest delta formed by:
(a) Godavari and Krishna (b) Ganga and Brahmaputra (c) Mahanadi and Baitarani (d) Krishna and Kaveri - Q33. The Tropic of Cancer passes through how many Indian states?
(a) 6 (b) 8 (c) 9 (d) 11 - Q34. Mawsynram, among the wettest places on earth, is in:
(a) Assam (b) Meghalaya (c) Mizoram (d) Arunachal Pradesh - Q35. The largest peninsular river of India is:
(a) Krishna (b) Godavari (c) Mahanadi (d) Kaveri - Q36. Tropical cyclones rarely originate near the equator because:
(a) Warm water is absent (b) The Coriolis force is weak (c) Winds are too strong (d) Salinity is low - Q37. The Deccan Traps were formed by:
(a) River deposition (b) Volcanic activity (c) Glacial action (d) Wind erosion - Q38. K2, the highest peak in the Indian subcontinent, lies in:
(a) Zanskar Range (b) Karakoram Range (c) Pir Panjal Range (d) Greater Himalaya - Q39. Loktak Lake, famous for its floating phumdis, is in:
(a) Manipur (b) Mizoram (c) Tripura (d) Assam - Q40. Black soil (regur), ideal for cotton, is formed mainly from:
(a) Granite weathering (b) Basalt weathering (c) Alluvial deposition (d) Loess deposition
Environment and Science-Tech (Q41–Q50)
- Q41. The Montreal Protocol (1987) deals with:
(a) Greenhouse gases (b) Ozone-depleting substances (c) Wetland conservation (d) Biodiversity - Q42. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in:
(a) 1992 (b) 1997 (c) 2001 (d) 2015 - Q43. The Ramsar Convention, 1971, concerns the conservation of:
(a) Deserts (b) Wetlands (c) Coral reefs (d) Mangroves only - Q44. How many biodiversity hotspots fall (fully or partly) within India?
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5 - Q45. REDD+ refers to:
(a) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (b) Renewable Energy Development Directive (c) River Ecosystem Diversity Database (d) Regional Energy Demand Distribution - Q46. India’s first satellite, launched in 1975, was named:
(a) INSAT-1A (b) Aryabhata (c) Rohini (d) Bhaskara - Q47. Chandrayaan-3 achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole in:
(a) 2019 (b) 2021 (c) 2023 (d) 2025 - Q48. The double-helix structure of DNA was proposed in 1953 by:
(a) Mendel and Darwin (b) Watson and Crick (c) Bohr and Rutherford (d) Pasteur and Koch - Q49. A photovoltaic cell converts:
(a) Chemical energy into electricity (b) Light into electricity (c) Heat into electricity (d) Mechanical energy into electricity - Q50. India’s first supercomputer, PARAM 8000, was developed by:
(a) DRDO (b) ISRO (c) C-DAC (d) BHEL
Answer Key
| Q | Ans | Q | Ans | Q | Ans | Q | Ans | Q | Ans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b | 11 | c | 21 | a | 31 | b | 41 | b |
| 2 | c | 12 | b | 22 | b | 32 | b | 42 | b |
| 3 | c | 13 | c | 23 | a | 33 | b | 43 | b |
| 4 | b | 14 | a | 24 | a | 34 | b | 44 | c |
| 5 | b | 15 | b | 25 | c | 35 | b | 45 | a |
| 6 | b | 16 | c | 26 | b | 36 | b | 46 | b |
| 7 | b | 17 | c | 27 | b | 37 | b | 47 | c |
| 8 | a | 18 | b | 28 | b | 38 | b | 48 | b |
| 9 | b | 19 | c | 29 | b | 39 | a | 49 | b |
| 10 | b | 20 | a | 30 | b | 40 | b | 50 | c |
Explanations: the ten most-missed items
- Q3: Article 80 fixes the Rajya Sabha ceiling at 250 — 238 elected + 12 nominated; the current strength is 245.
- Q5: Andhra State (1953, after Potti Sriramulu’s fast) preceded the 1956 States Reorganisation Act.
- Q10: The 86th Amendment (2002) inserted Article 21A making elementary education a fundamental right.
- Q13: NITI Aayog (1 January 2015) is neither constitutional nor statutory — an executive body, which is why it cannot bind states.
- Q18: The 2016 amendment to the RBI Act fixed the 4% (+/−2%) CPI target; review is periodic under Section 45ZN.
- Q19: 40% of ANBC for domestic scheduled commercial banks; different (lower) slabs apply to regional rural banks and small finance banks.
- Q26: First Council: Rajgriha, ~483 BCE, under Ajatashatru; Second: Vaishali; Third: Pataliputra under Ashoka; Fourth: Kundalvana under Kanishka.
- Q33: Eight states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, WB, Tripura, Mizoram.
- Q44: The four: Himalaya, Western Ghats–Sri Lanka hotspot, Indo-Burma (Northeast), and Nicobar Islands (part of Sundaland).
- Q47: Vikram lander touched down on 23 August 2023, making India the first country near the lunar south pole.
FAQ
- Is this the exact UPSC pattern? Same structure and standard as GS Paper I at practice length: 50 questions, 60 minutes, 0.66 negative marking per error.
- What is a good score? Consistently 30+ raw (after negatives) on this paper tracks a comfortable Prelims clearance trajectory; 35+ tracks a top-percentile GS score.
- Why no current affairs? Dated news belongs in dated practice — use our daily one-liner sheets for that; this paper locks the evergreen core.
- When does the next full mock go live? Same slot tomorrow, fresh 50.
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Quick revision
- Q1.: Fundamental Duties were added to the Constitution by which amendment?(a) 24th (b) 42nd (c) 44th (d) 52nd
- Q2.: Which Article did Dr Ambedkar call the ‘heart and soul’ of the Constitution?(a) Article 14 (b) Article 19 (c) Article 32…
- Q3.: The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha as laid down in the Constitution is:(a) 238 (b) 245 (c) 250 (d) 252
- Q4.: Whether a Bill is a Money Bill is decided by:(a) The President (b) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (c) The Finance Minister (d) The…
- Q5.: The first Indian state created on a linguistic basis (1953) was:(a) Karnataka (b) Andhra (c) Maharashtra (d) Punjab
- Q6.: The words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were inserted into the Preamble by:(a) The Constituent Assembly (b) The 42nd…
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