CSAT (GS Paper II) 2019

Answer: (d) It is difficult, if not impossible, to repair every manifestation of historical injustice.

The passage explains why historical wrongs 'tend to resist repair': their roots lie deep in history, and they spread across overlapping wrongs, one of which (discrimination) becomes partly independent of the rest. The central message is that repairing every form of such injustice is very hard.

• ✗ (a) The passage opens by saying theorists 'have to take' such history seriously; it never says they have failed to do so.
• ✗ (b) 'Tend to resist repair' is not 'always beyond repair', and the passage does not speak of every society. 'Inevitable' and 'always' overreach.
• ✗ (c) Economic exploitation is only one face of injustice; the passage never traces discrimination to bad economies and even says discrimination gains 'partial autonomy' from the other wrongs.
• ✓ (d) Deep roots plus overlapping, partly autonomous wrongs are the two reasons for 'resistance to repair'; 'difficult, if not impossible' matches that without overstating it.

Remember · For a 'main idea' item, choose the option that restates the central claim at the passage's own strength; reject 'always', 'inevitable' and side details.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage says discrimination 'tends to acquire partial autonomy' from the other wrongs, which works against assumption 1. It says nothing about forms of government, so assumption 2 has no footing in it.

• ✗ 1. Because discrimination becomes partly autonomous of other wrongs, ending the economic wrong need not end the social one; the passage points the opposite way.
• ✗ 2. Democracy or any political system is not mentioned; 'the best way' is an outside judgement.

Remember · A statement that contradicts the passage, or brings in a subject the passage never touches, cannot be a valid assumption.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

The author wants people with 'both culture and expert knowledge' and dismisses the merely well-informed man as a bore, so education without culture is incomplete. The passage speaks of education transforming life, not of a society becoming 'modern'.

• ✗ 1. The 'transformatory role' is 'in life'; the passage makes no claim about modernising a society, and 'cannot' sets a sweeping condition it never states.
• ✓ 2. 'A merely well informed man is only a bore' and 'we should aim at... both culture and expert knowledge' — for the author, education lacking culture falls short.

Remember · Check what the passage is about — here an individual's education — and reject statements that shift to a different subject or add 'cannot'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

The passage's turn is that soil loss matters 'not just for food producers', because soil locks up carbon that would otherwise reach the atmosphere. Keeping soil healthy therefore helps against climate change. The passage gives no cause of erosion and makes no claim about present food insecurity.

• ✗ 1. The passage notes that food grows in soil and that 75 billion tonnes is lost each year, but it does not say erosion is already a major cause of world food insecurity.
• ✗ 2. Who or what causes erosion is never discussed; 'anthropogenic' is imported from outside.
• ✓ 3. Soil 'can trap huge quantities of carbon dioxide' as organic carbon; soil kept in place keeps that carbon out of the air.

Remember · An assumption must underlie the author's own argument; causes or consequences the passage never names lie outside it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

Inequality can be measured, but the economic power behind it is 'invisible and not measurable', while its effects are seen everywhere. So power can be studied mainly through what it does. The passage calls power the organising principle, not the only cause, and the causation runs from power to inequality.

• ✗ 1. 'Organising principle' is not 'the only reason'; the word 'only' goes beyond the passage.
• ✗ 2. The passage says power 'drives' inequality; it does not say inequality in turn strengthens power — this reverses the direction.
• ✓ 3. Power is 'not measurable', yet 'its effects are seen in a pervasive manner' — like gravity, it is known by its effects.

Remember · Watch the direction of cause and effect: 'A drives B' does not support 'B reinforces A'. Words like 'only' usually overreach.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Farmers who modernize their methods and diversify their fields will be in an advantageous position in future.

Croplands will shift and push some farmers to plant new crops, and the passage adds that yields depend not on climate alone but also on 'agricultural practices'. Farmers who adapt both their methods and their crops are therefore better placed.

• ✓ (a) Shifting croplands call for new crops (diversify), and 'agricultural practices will influence how farms fare' (modernise) — the two ideas combine into this option.
• ✗ (b) The passage says some plants may benefit and farmers may take up new crops; it does not predict a loss of crop diversity.
• ✗ (c) Nothing is said about total cultivated area or overall output rising; 'others won't' benefit.
• ✗ (d) 'Climate alone does not dictate yields' — the passage lists other factors and never ranks climate first.

Remember · Prefer the option that joins two lines of the passage; reject options that rank factors ('most important') or predict totals the passage never gives.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Man and the aforementioned animals have a shared evolutionary history.

Limbs used for grasping, digging, running, swimming and flying are all built on the same bone plan. The scientific reading of such sameness beneath different uses is descent from a common ancestor — a shared evolutionary history.

• ✗ (a) The passage points to sameness across species, which is evidence of common descent; biodiversity would mean variety, the opposite emphasis.
• ✗ (b) Different uses are mentioned, but the passage's wonder is at the common pattern beneath them.
• ✗ (c) A pattern repeated in man, mole, horse, porpoise and bat is not treated as chance; 'coincidence' is not a scientific inference here.
• ✓ (d) Same five fingers, same wrist bones, same long arm bones — homologous limbs that point to shared ancestry.

Remember · When a passage stresses the same structure beneath different forms, the scientific inference is common origin, not diversity or coincidence.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3

The PETM warming brought extinctions and left life 'drastically different', so warming bears on the course of evolution and can change the mix of plants and animals. The carbon release is not tied to continents separating, and the passage compares only amounts of carbon, not future outcomes.

• ✓ 1. Warming brought drought, floods, insect plagues and extinctions; life survived but was 'drastically different' — warming shaped its course.
• ✗ 2. The unopened Atlantic is only background; the cause of warming was 'a massive geologically sudden release of carbon', not linked to land masses separating.
• ✓ 3. Extinctions and a 'drastically different' life mean the composition of flora and fauna changed.
• ✗ 4. The passage compares the carbon released with burning all fossil reserves; it does not predict that today's warming 'will finally lead' to PETM conditions.

Remember · A comparison of quantities ('roughly the amount') is not a forecast; reject 'will finally lead to' claims the passage never makes.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 300

Written as three-digit strings from 000 to 999, every digit appears equally often in each place, so 5 fills one-tenth of the 3000 digit places: 300. The number 1000 adds no 5.

1. Treat 1 to 999 as three-digit strings 001–999 (leading zeros add no 5s).
2. In each place — units, tens, hundreds — the digit 5 appears in 100 of the 1000 strings 000–999.
3. So 5 appears 3 × 100 = 300 times from 1 to 999.
4. 1000 has no 5, so the total is 300.
5. Check: units place 5, 15, …, 995 = 100; tens place 50–59 in each hundred = 10 × 10 = 100; hundreds place 500–599 = 100.

Remember · From 1 to 10ⁿ − 1, each non-zero digit appears n × 10ⁿ⁻¹ times; check the end number separately.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 8

The only cut that works is a 4 × 4 × 4 cube with four 2 × 2 × 2 blocks. To keep the big blocks off both blue faces they must fill the middle two layers, leaving 16 small cubes in the top layer and 16 in the bottom. Only the 4 central cubes of each of these layers have a single painted face.

1. 36 cubes of two sizes fit a 4 × 4 × 4 cube: 4 big cubes of 2 × 2 × 2 (4 × 8 = 32 units) and 32 unit cubes; 32 + 32 = 64.
2. Let the two blue faces be the top and the bottom. A big cube is 2 units tall, so it avoids both only if it sits in the middle two layers.
3. The 4 big cubes fill the middle 4 × 4 × 2 block; the top and bottom 4 × 4 × 1 layers hold 16 + 16 = 32 small cubes.
4. Each big cube stands at a corner of the middle block and shows one yellow and one black face — two painted faces.
5. In the top layer, 4 corner cubes have 3 painted faces, 8 edge cubes have 2, and the 4 central cubes have only the blue top painted. The bottom layer is the same.
6. Cubes with exactly one face painted = 4 + 4 = 8.

Remember · Fix the cut first, place the pieces with the restriction, then count painted faces layer by layer.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 37.5%

B weighs 60% of A, but the fall is measured against the larger total A + B. Removing 60 from 160 is a 37.5% reduction, not 60%.

1. Let A weigh 100. B on top raises the weight by 60%, so B = 60.
2. Total weight of A and B = 160.
3. Removing B takes away 60 out of 160.
4. Reduction = 60/160 × 100% = 37.5%.

Remember · A rise of r% is undone by a fall of r/(100 + r) × 100% — divide by the new, larger base.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Thursday

Only one start works for both clues: 1 April a Sunday, which makes 1 November a Thursday. Counting forward from there, 20 December is a Thursday.

1. April has 30 days (4 weeks + 2 days), so it has a 5th Monday only if 1 April is a Monday or a Sunday.
2. November also has 30 days, so it has a 5th Thursday only if 1 November is a Thursday or a Wednesday.
3. Days from 1 April to 1 November = 30 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 31 + 30 + 31 = 214 = 30 weeks + 4 days, so 1 November falls 4 weekdays after 1 April.
4. 1 April Monday → 1 November Friday (no 5th Thursday). 1 April Sunday → 1 November Thursday, which fits.
5. 1 December = 1 November + 30 days = Thursday + 2 = Saturday.
6. 20 December = 1 December + 19 days = Saturday + 5 = Thursday.

Remember · In a 30-day month only the weekdays of the 1st and 2nd occur five times; link months by counting odd days.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Only III

'Some rats are cats' converts directly into 'Some cats are rats'. The other two conclusions are 'no' statements that would need a definite chain, but the links to cows and to rats run through 'some' statements, which settle nothing.

1. Statement 1 converts: some rats are cats → some cats are rats. Conclusion III follows.
2. Only the cats that are dogs are kept away from cows (no dog is a cow); the other cats may or may not be cows, so Conclusion I is not certain.
3. Rats reach dogs only through cats, by two 'some' links; a rat may or may not be a dog, so Conclusion II is not certain.
4. Only III follows.

• ✗ Conclusion I Cats that are not dogs could still be cows; nothing rules it out.
• ✗ Conclusion II Two 'some' statements give no definite link between rats and dogs, either way.
• ✓ Conclusion III It is the direct converse of 'Some rats are cats'.

Remember · A 'some' statement converts both ways; a 'no' conclusion needs an 'all' or 'no' chain — 'some' links never prove it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 36

Every choice of two lines from each family encloses exactly one parallelogram, so the count is 4C2 × 4C2 = 6 × 6 = 36.

1. A parallelogram needs two lines from the first set and two from the second.
2. Ways to choose 2 lines out of 4 = 4C2 = 6, for each set.
3. Parallelograms = 6 × 6 = 36.

Remember · m parallel lines crossing n parallel lines form mC2 × nC2 parallelograms.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 8

A student plays both games only if the number is divisible by both 4 and 6, that is by their LCM 12. There are 8 multiples of 12 up to 100.

1. Divisible by 4 and by 6 ⇔ divisible by LCM(4, 6) = 12.
2. Multiples of 12 from 1 to 100: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96.
3. Count = 8 (100 ÷ 12 = 8 remainder 4).
4. Check: using 24 (= 4 × 6) would wrongly drop 12, 36, 60 and 84.

Remember · 'Divisible by a and by b' means divisible by LCM(a, b), not a × b.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 15

12 km is four-fifths of the race, so the full distance is 12 × 5/4 = 15 km.

1. 12 km = 80% of the race.
2. Race = 12 × 100/80 = 15 km.
3. Check: 80% of 15 = 12.

Remember · If x is p% of the whole, the whole is x × 100/p.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Raju still does not have enough amount to buy the handset.

The handset costs ₹12,000 because ₹9,000 is only three-quarters of the price. With the ₹2,000 loan Raju has ₹11,000, still ₹1,000 short.

1. ₹9000 is 75% of the price, so the price = 9000 × 100/75 = ₹12000.
2. After borrowing he has 9000 + 2000 = ₹11000.
3. 11000 < 12000: he is still ₹1000 short.

Remember · Find the base first (amount ÷ percentage), then compare; don't mix percentages with rupee amounts.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1994

Writing Meera's 2002 age as three times Meenu's and applying the 'half' relation eight years later gives Meenu's 2002 age as 8, so she was born in 1994.

1. Let Meenu be m years old in 2002; Meera is then 3m.
2. In 2010 both are 8 years older: m + 8 = (3m + 8)/2.
3. 2m + 16 = 3m + 8, so m = 8.
4. Meenu was 8 in 2002, so she was born in 2002 − 8 = 1994.
5. Check: 2002 — 8 and 24 (one-third); 2010 — 16 and 32 (half).

Remember · Both ages move by the same number of years; write them with one variable and shift both together.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) ₹ 210

Only the joint spending matters: ₹2,800 buys 10 balls and 10 rackets, which is the cost of 40 balls. So a ball is ₹70 and a racket ₹210.

1. Total spent = 1300 + 1500 = ₹2800 for 10 balls and 10 rackets.
2. Let a ball cost b; a racket costs 3b.
3. 10b + 10 × 3b = 40b = 2800, so b = 70.
4. Racket = 3 × 70 = ₹210.
5. Check: 10 × 70 + 10 × 210 = 700 + 2100 = 2800.

Remember · When the split between buyers is irrelevant, add the spends and solve for the combined purchase.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Only 30 participants are not Indian. Even if all of them were vegetarian, at least 60 − 30 = 30 vegetarians are Indian; and even if all 30 were non-vegetarian, at least 40 − 30 = 10 non-vegetarians are Indian.

1. Non-Indians = 100 − 70 = 30; non-vegetarians = 100 − 60 = 40.
2. Fewest Indian vegetarians: make all 30 non-Indians vegetarian → Indian vegetarians = 60 − 30 = 30.
3. Fewest Indian non-vegetarians: make all 30 non-Indians non-vegetarian → Indian non-vegetarians = 40 − 30 = 10.
4. Both minimums hold, so both statements are correct.
5. Check: 70 + 60 − 100 = 30 and 70 + 40 − 100 = 10.

• ✓ 1. At most 30 vegetarians can be non-Indian, so at least 30 of the 60 vegetarians are Indian.
• ✓ 2. At most 30 non-vegetarians can be non-Indian, so at least 10 of the 40 non-vegetarians are Indian.

Remember · For a guaranteed overlap, push the other group to the extreme: minimum overlap = A + B − total.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) As we go digital, we must recognise the huge threat to Internet security from some IoT devices.

Low-end IoT devices stay cheap by leaving security out, and they are multiplying fast; the passage ends on 'daunting' security challenges. The sound inference is that going digital means recognising the security threat from such devices.

• ✗ (a) India, manufacturing and 'enabling technologies' are not discussed at all.
• ✗ (b) India is never mentioned, and the passage does not advise holding back; it expects the IoT 'to expand exponentially'.
• ✗ (c) Convenience devices are listed, but comfort is not the point; the passage stresses the security cost of cheapness.
• ✓ (d) Security is skipped to keep costs low, the devices are spreading everywhere, and the challenges are 'daunting' — so the threat must be recognised. 'Some IoT devices' keeps the claim to the low-end class described.

Remember · The inference usually rests on the passage's closing concern; options naming a country or sector the passage never mentions go first.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) India should be careful to protect its digital sovereignty in global trade talks.

Trade negotiations are eyeing the digital area to 'pre-emptively colonise it', while data mined in developing countries is turned into intelligence and monopoly rents elsewhere. The natural corollary for a developing country such as India is to guard control over its data in those talks.

• ✗ (a) The passage is about data in trade talks, not globalisation as a whole; rejecting globalisation outright goes far beyond it.
• ✓ (b) 'Colonise' plus data 'mined from developing countries' points to protecting one's digital sovereignty when trade rules are being written.
• ✗ (c) Monopoly rents are what the intelligence-owning firms extract; the passage does not suggest India should charge them — it twists the idea.
• ✗ (d) No proportional link between data loss and the value of foreign trade is given.

Remember · A corollary follows directly from the author's concern; reject options that invent a formula or take a sweeping stand the passage does not.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Big Data is the key resource in the digital space.

The passage treats Big Data as the raw material that is mined, turned into digital intelligence and then used to control sectors and earn monopoly rents; even a cab company is really 'digital intelligence'. That makes Big Data the key resource of the digital space.

• ✓ (a) Data → intelligence → control of sectors and monopoly rents; the cab example shows the real asset is data.
• ✗ (b) The data is mined 'from developing countries'; nothing says big economies create it.
• ✗ (c) A 'prerogative' is an exclusive right; the passage describes what is happening, not an entitlement, and the data originates in developing countries.
• ✗ (d) Developing countries hold the data at source; what developed countries have is its conversion into intelligence, so this is not definite.

Remember · 'Most definitively implied' rewards the idea the whole passage rests on; reject options that turn a described trend into a right or a rule.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Supporting small farmers is an important part of any agenda regarding environmentally sustainable development.

Small farms feed about two billion people and grow 41 percent of India's food grains, yet their farmers bear the brunt of climate change. Any agenda for environmentally sustainable development must therefore support them.

• ✓ (a) Their importance ('two billion people', '41 percent') and their exposure to climate shocks together make support for them central to sustainability.
• ✗ (b) The passage says the rural poor contributed little to climate change; it says nothing about poor countries having no role in mitigation.
• ✗ (c) The passage points to threats facing the farmers who grow the food — the opposite of assured food security.
• ✗ (d) 41 percent is a large share, not all; 'only' contradicts the passage's own figure.

Remember · Build the corollary from the passage's central tension — here, vital small farms exposed to climate risk; drop options with 'only' or 'will not'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Small-holders who grow 41 percent of India's food grains face erratic rain, droughts, floods and new threats, so food insecurity is a real possibility. And since extreme weather 'can spell disaster', India's capacity to handle such disasters must grow.

• ✓ 1. The farmers behind 'local and national food security' are on the frontline of climate shocks — a potential, not a certain, problem.
• ✓ 2. More frequent and extreme droughts and floods 'can spell disaster' for the farm sector; dealing with them calls for stronger disaster management.

Remember · 'Potential' and 'will have to' are moderate claims; accept them when the passage describes the risk that calls for them.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Climate change, and government action on it, can hit investors' returns through taxes, regulation, stranded assets and weather damage. So governments and companies must prepare, and ignoring climate change is a large risk for investors. The passage says industries 'could be affected', not that growth will fall.

• ✓ 1. Higher taxes, regulatory burdens and stranded assets await unprepared companies, and governments are expected to act 'however reluctant'.
• ✗ 2. 'Could be affected' is a possibility; 'will reduce' makes it certain, and the 'economic growth of governments' is not discussed.
• ✓ 3. Climate change 'could have a big impact on investors' returns' — ignoring it is a big risk.

Remember · Match the level of certainty: 'could' in the passage does not support 'will' in a statement.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Access to schooling is nearly universal, but access to quality falls sharply with socio-economic status, and private schools resist the equity quotas. So the present system does not deliver egalitarian education. The passage neither states the goal of the whole system nor proposes abolishing private schools.

• ✗ 1. The passage says equality of opportunity lies 'outside the space' of private school principals; it does not declare it the fundamental goal of the whole system.
• ✓ 2. 'Access to quality exhibits a sharp gradient with socio-economic status' — schooling today is not egalitarian.
• ✗ 3. The passage even calls the resistance 'sometimes justified'; abolition and 'the only way' are extreme and nowhere in it.

Remember · Accept the statement that restates the passage's diagnosis; reject remedies it never proposes, especially 'the only way'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Curing TB requires more than diagnosis and medical treatment.

Poor nutrition, stigma, lack of counselling, cost, weak support and harsh side-effects push TB patients to abandon treatment. The crucial message is that curing TB needs help well beyond diagnosis and drugs.

• ✗ (a) The problem is that patients stop treatment, not that TB cannot be cured.
• ✓ (b) Nutrition, counselling and support from providers and family are all non-medical needs the passage lists.
• ✗ (c) Surveillance is not mentioned, and patients do begin treatment — they are demotivated from continuing, so 'no access' is wrong.
• ✗ (d) Poverty matters, but 'only when' poverty programmes succeed is too strong and ignores stigma, counselling and side-effects.

Remember · The crucial message usually sums up the list the passage builds; reject 'only when' and claims about things it never mentions.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only statement 3 is sufficient

All four colours are used on five floors, so exactly one colour repeats. If floors I and V are both red, red is that repeat, and floors II, III and IV must take the other three colours, one each — no two neighbours can match. Statements 1 and 2 leave the end floors free to copy a neighbour.

1. Five floors, four colours, all four used: one colour appears on two floors, the others once each.
2. Statement 3: I and V are red, so red is the repeated colour; II, III and IV take the other three colours, all different and none red.
3. Hence I–II, II–III, III–IV and IV–V all differ: statement 3 alone is sufficient.
4. Statement 1: II, III, IV differ, but floor I may copy floor II (e.g. blue, blue, green, yellow, red) — not sufficient.
5. Statement 2 (II ≠ IV) is already implied by statement 1, so 1 and 2 together are still not sufficient; 2 alone says nothing about any adjacent pair.

• ✗ 1. Not sufficient: it leaves the pairs I–II and IV–V unchecked.
• ✗ 2. Not sufficient: floors II and IV are not neighbours, so it controls no consecutive pair.
• ✓ 3. Sufficient: it forces II, III and IV to be the three non-red colours, all different.

Remember · 'Painted using four different colours' means all four are used; with five floors exactly one colour repeats — build from that count.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 100 km

West and South are at right angles, so Q, P and R form a right triangle with the right angle at P. QR is the hypotenuse of a 60–80–100 triangle.

1. Q is due West and R due South of P, so angle QPR = 90°.
2. QR² = 60² + 80² = 3600 + 6400 = 10000.
3. QR = 100 km.
4. Check: 60 : 80 : 100 = 3 : 4 : 5.

Remember · Perpendicular directions make a right triangle; spot 3–4–5 multiples before squaring.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Since 10% only rested, 90% went shopping, sightseeing or both. Shopping and sightseeing together add up to 130%, so 40% did both, and 80 − 40 = 40% did only shopping — not 20%.

1. Members who went out = 100% − 10% = 90%.
2. Both = 80% + 50% − 90% = 40%.
3. Only shopping = 80% − 40% = 40%.
4. Check: only shopping 40 + only sightseeing 10 + both 40 + rest 10 = 100.

• ✓ 1. 80 + 50 − 90 = 40% did both.
• ✗ 2. Only shopping is 80 − 40 = 40%, not 20%.

Remember · Both = A + B − (at least one); get 'at least one' by removing the 'neither' group first.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

The data fixes only the 40% who do not play cricket: they all play football and so all own two-wheelers. Nothing is said about whether cricketers own two-wheelers or also play football, so none of the three conclusions can be drawn.

1. Non-cricketers = 40%; all of them play football, so all of them have two-wheelers.
2. The 60% cricketers are not described: some may own two-wheelers, some may also play football.
3. Conclusions 1 and 2 need every cricketer to be without a two-wheeler — not given.
4. Conclusion 3 needs cricketers to avoid football — not given; the rule runs only from 'not cricket' to 'football'.
5. So 1, 2 and 3 all cannot be drawn.

• ✗ 1. Cannot be drawn: at most 60% lack two-wheelers; fewer do if any cricketer owns one.
• ✗ 2. Cannot be drawn: cricketers' vehicles are never mentioned.
• ✗ 3. Cannot be drawn: a cricketer may also play football; the data does not forbid it.

Remember · 'Whoever is not A does B' says nothing about the members of A; claims about that group cannot be drawn.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 4

Writing the number as 10a + b, the ratio 4 : 7 simplifies to b = 2a. The digit a can be 1 to 4, giving 12, 24, 36 and 48 — four pairs.

1. Let the number be 10a + b; reversed, it is 10b + a.
2. 7(10a + b) = 4(10b + a) → 70a + 7b = 40b + 4a → 66a = 33b → b = 2a.
3. b must be a digit, so a = 1, 2, 3, 4.
4. Pairs: 12 & 21, 24 & 42, 36 & 63, 48 & 84 — each in the ratio 4 : 7.
5. Number of pairs = 4.

Remember · Turn digit-reversal conditions into 10a + b form; the equation usually gives a simple digit relation to list.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 380

B's shortfall of 5% is measured on A's marks and equals the 20-mark gap, so A has 400 and B 380.

1. B = A − 20, and B = 95% of A.
2. So 5% of A = 20, giving A = 400.
3. B = 400 − 20 = 380.
4. Check: 95% of 400 = 380.

Remember · When a percentage gap equals a known difference, that difference is the percentage of the base.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 13th January

A gap of 2 days means Seeta swims every 3rd day; a gap of 3 days means Geeta swims every 4th day. They meet again after LCM(3, 4) = 12 days, on 13th January.

1. Gap of 2 days: Seeta swims on 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 … January (every 3rd day).
2. Gap of 3 days: Geeta swims on 1, 5, 9, 13 … January (every 4th day).
3. LCM(3, 4) = 12, so the next common day is 1 + 12 = 13 January.
4. Check: 13 is in both lists; 7 is only Seeta's and 12 is neither's.

Remember · 'After a gap of n days' means the event repeats every (n + 1) days; then take the LCM.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 25

While X runs 1000 m, Y runs 960 m and Z 936 m. So while Y runs 1000 m, Z runs 1000 × 936/960 = 975 m, and Y can give Z a start of 25 m.

1. X gives Y 40 m: while X runs 1000 m, Y runs 960 m.
2. X gives Z 64 m: in the same time Z runs 936 m.
3. Speed ratio Y : Z = 960 : 936.
4. While Y runs 1000 m, Z runs 1000 × 936/960 = 975 m.
5. Start Y gives Z = 1000 − 975 = 25 m.

Remember · Turn 'starts' into distances run in the same time, then scale to the new race length.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) (y − x) is less than or equal to 15

y − x is largest when y is as big as allowed (40) and x as small as allowed (25), giving 15. So y − x can never exceed 15; the other options fail for suitable values.

1. Maximum of y − x = 40 − 25 = 15, so y − x ≤ 15 always.
2. (a) fails: x = 25, y = 40 gives x < y.
3. (b) fails: y − x never goes above 15.
4. (d) fails: x = 25, y = 10 gives x + y = 35.

Remember · For 'always correct' with bounds, test the extreme values; a single counter-example removes an option.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 23 years

Ena is 13, her mother 37 and her father 40. The marriage took place 13 + 4 = 17 years ago, when the father was 40 − 17 = 23.

1. Ena = 13; mother = 13 + 24 = 37; father = 37 + 3 = 40.
2. The marriage was 4 years before Ena's birth: 13 + 4 = 17 years ago.
3. Father's age at marriage = 40 − 17 = 23 years.

Remember · Fix everyone's present age first, then move all of them back by the same number of years.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 20%

The same money buys 10 handsets instead of 8, so the new price is 8/10 of the old one — a 20% discount. 25% is the rise in quantity, not the fall in price.

1. Let the price be ₹100; Rakesh has 8 × 100 = ₹800.
2. ₹800 now buys 10 handsets, so the discounted price = ₹80.
3. Discount = (100 − 80)/100 × 100% = 20%.

Remember · With fixed money, price × quantity is constant: quantities 8 : 10 mean prices 10 : 8.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 39.7

The total was overstated by 83 − 53 = 30 marks, so the correct total is 3970 and the mean is 39.7.

1. Recorded total = 100 × 40 = 4000.
2. Excess from the misreading = 83 − 53 = 30.
3. Correct total = 4000 − 30 = 3970; correct mean = 3970/100 = 39.7.
4. Shortcut: the mean falls by 30/100 = 0.3.

Remember · One wrong entry shifts the mean by (wrong − right) ÷ n.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Public research institutions should take the lead in GM technology and prioritise the technology agenda.

Corporate-driven GM research chases short-run profit through herbicide-tolerant and pest-resistant traits, while the National Farmers Commission wants priority for resistance to drought, salinity and other stresses. The message is that GM needs a public agenda — public institutions should lead and set the priorities.

• ✓ (a) The passage sets profit-driven corporate priorities against the public priorities named by the Commission; public research is the natural way to pursue the latter.
• ✗ (b) The passage faults an IPR regime that creates private monopolies, but it mentions neither the WTO nor abolishing IPR altogether.
• ✗ (c) Barring private firms from agribusiness is an extreme step the passage never proposes.
• ✗ (d) The passage wants 'widespread and careful adoption' of GM technology with better priorities — not rejection of GM crops.

Remember · When a passage faults who sets an agenda, the crucial message is usually a change of agenda-setter, not a ban or total rejection.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Companies invest in herbicide and pest resistance for quick profits, while resistance to drought, salinity and other stresses — the effects of natural calamities — is what the Commission says must come first. So those effects are not getting due attention. The passage never says GM cannot solve such problems; it wants GM aimed at them.

• ✓ 1. Priority 'must be given' to drought and salinity resistance, which corporations, chasing short-run profit, are not pursuing.
• ✗ 2. The passage says genes 'can help impart resistance to drought, salinity and other stresses'; it does not predict GM's long-run failure.

Remember · Don't confuse 'the technology is misdirected' with 'the technology cannot work'; the passage criticises priorities, not potential.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Sometimes, the campaigns against foreign plants are pointless.

Most invasive species are neither very successful nor very harmful; new arrivals usually raise diversity and often drive no native species extinct. So campaigns against foreign plants are sometimes pointless — 'sometimes' keeps the claim within what the passage shows.

• ✗ (a) Invaders are said to colonise disturbed habitats; the passage does not recommend using them to restore deserts or wastelands.
• ✗ (b) 'Most' and 'in many cases' leave room for harmful invaders; declaring all such laws unnecessary goes too far.
• ✓ (c) If most invaders do little harm, some campaigns against them achieve nothing; 'sometimes' fits the passage's hedged claims.
• ✗ (d) Higher diversity is a side-effect of arrivals; the passage does not advise introducing foreign plants on purpose.

Remember · Match qualifiers: 'most' and 'in many cases' in the passage support 'sometimes', not 'unnecessary' or a new policy.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The passage lists many sources of contamination and calls for regulation, public awareness, multi-agency surveillance, trained inspectors and educated street vendors — a many-sided answer to a complex problem, resting on trained people. It says nothing about new laws for the food processing industry.

• ✓ 1. 'Myriad factors that need regulation and monitoring', public awareness, several agencies and vendor training — a multipronged approach.
• ✓ 2. Surveillance 'entails a good training of inspection staff', and investing in training street vendors is 'of great significance'.
• ✗ 3. Neither the food processing industry nor legislation is discussed; the focus is farm chemicals, hygiene, street food and surveillance.

Remember · A valid assumption reflects the passage's own remedies; a new sector or instrument it never mentions is outside it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) in favour of participation of peoples’ groups in city planning.

The passage faults a planning method that draws 'exclusively from technical expertise', is 'distanced from people's live experiences' and excludes large numbers of people. The remedy it points to is bringing people's groups into city planning.

• ✗ (a) Builders and elites are not mentioned; the target is the technocratic, static Development Plan.
• ✗ (b) Global or smart cities are not discussed.
• ✗ (c) The passage wants the excluded brought in, not cities planned 'mainly' for one class — that would be a new exclusion.
• ✓ (d) Criticism of expert-only, exclusionary planning implies a plea for participation by people's groups.

Remember · Find what the author criticises and choose its remedy; avoid options that swap one exclusion for another.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 3 only

Faster growth has come with slower growth of organised jobs. That fits growth driven by technology rather than labour, delinked from labour-intensive livelihoods, and led by activity that employs few people. Nothing in the passage blames workers' unwillingness to take such jobs.

• ✓ 1. Output growth rising from 3 to 7–8 percent while employment growth falls from 2 to 1 percent suggests growth from technology and capital rather than more workers.
• ✓ 2. Had growth been tied to labour-intensive, resource-based livelihoods, jobs would have grown with it; they did not.
• ✓ 3. The passage names no sector, so this is the least direct of the three; but job-poor growth fits a leading sector that is not labour-intensive, and 'seems to imply' allows that reading.
• ✗ 4. The passage blames the pattern of growth, not workers' attitudes; unwillingness of the rural literate is never suggested.

Remember · For 'seems to imply', accept plausible explanations of the passage's core fact; reject those that shift the cause to something it never hints at.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Meaningful financial inclusion in India requires that banking correspondents have diverse skills.

Banking correspondents are expected to deliver not just basic accounts but financial education and literacy, accident and life insurance and micro pension schemes. For inclusion to be meaningful, these last-mile workers need a range of skills.

• ✗ (a) The passage says outreach 'may succeed only if' incentives improve; it does not say present efforts have failed.
• ✗ (b) The passage asks for better incentives and investment in correspondents, not more of them.
• ✓ (c) Financial literacy work plus insurance and pension products alongside accounts call for correspondents with diverse skills.
• ✗ (d) The one-bank limit is questioned, but 'impossible unless' is too strong; the condition the passage states is better incentives.

Remember · Pick the option that follows from what the passage says the workers must deliver; reject 'impossible unless' and claims of failure it never makes.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 76

The terms fall by 3, 5, 7, 11 and 13 — consecutive primes. The next prime is 17, so X = 93 − 17 = 76.

1. Differences: 132 − 129 = 3, 129 − 124 = 5, 124 − 117 = 7, 117 − 106 = 11, 106 − 93 = 13.
2. These are consecutive primes; the next one is 17.
3. X = 93 − 17 = 76.

Remember · When differences grow irregularly, test primes, squares and cubes first.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 5:36 p.m.

The clock shows 24 h 10 min for every 24 real hours. It shows 58 hours gone, which is 58 × 1440/1450 = 57.6 real hours (57 h 36 min), so the correct time is 5:36 p.m. on Wednesday.

1. From 8:00 a.m. Monday to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday the clock shows 48 + 10 = 58 hours.
2. Shown time : real time = 24 h 10 min : 24 h = 1450 : 1440.
3. Real time = 58 × 1440/1450 = 57.6 h = 57 h 36 min.
4. Correct time = Monday 8:00 a.m. + 57 h 36 min = Wednesday 5:36 p.m.
5. Check: gain = 10 min × 57.6/24 = 24 min, and 6:00 − 0:24 = 5:36.

Remember · For a fast or slow clock, convert shown time to real time by the ratio real : shown, not by a flat subtraction.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) always greater than the original fraction

For a proper fraction a/b with 0 < a < b, adding the same k > 0 to both parts gives a difference of k(b − a)/[b(b + k)], which is positive. The fraction always increases.

1. Let the fraction be a/b with 0 < a < b, and add k > 0 to both.
2. (a + k)/(b + k) − a/b = [b(a + k) − a(b + k)]/[b(b + k)] = k(b − a)/[b(b + k)].
3. k > 0 and b − a > 0, so the difference is positive: the new fraction is larger.
4. Example: 1/2 becomes (1 + 1)/(2 + 1) = 2/3, which is greater than 1/2.

Remember · Adding the same positive number to both parts pulls a fraction towards 1: proper fractions rise, improper ones fall.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 64

Every term is a square: 2², 14², 4², 12², 6², 10², 8². Bases in odd places rise 2, 4, 6, 8 and in even places fall 14, 12, 10, so the next even-place base is 8 and X = 64.

1. 4 = 2², 196 = 14², 16 = 4², 144 = 12², 36 = 6², 100 = 10², 64 = 8².
2. Odd positions: bases 2, 4, 6, 8 (rising by 2). Even positions: 14, 12, 10, … (falling by 2).
3. X is in an even position, so its base is 8 and X = 8² = 64.

Remember · In mixed sequences, split the odd and even positions and look for squares or cubes in each.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 9

Twelve people read at least one language. French and English readers add to 15, so 3 read both, and 12 − 3 = 9 read exactly one.

1. At least one language = 15 − 3 = 12.
2. Both = 7 + 8 − 12 = 3.
3. Exactly one = 12 − 3 = 9 (French only 4, English only 5).

Remember · Exactly one = (at least one) − (both); get 'both' from A + B − (at least one).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1049

Pages 1 to 999 use 9 + 180 + 2700 = 2889 digits. The remaining 200 digits give 50 four-digit page numbers, 1000 to 1049.

1. Pages 1–9: 9 digits; 10–99: 90 × 2 = 180; 100–999: 900 × 3 = 2700. Total 2889.
2. Digits left = 3089 − 2889 = 200, and 200 ÷ 4 = 50 four-digit pages.
3. These are pages 1000 to 1049, so the book has 1049 pages.

Remember · Use the digit blocks 9, 180, 2700; divide what remains by the next digit length.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) cbbb

With c, b, b, b the series reads ccacc | aabaa | bbcbb — three five-letter blocks, each of the form x x y x x. No other option keeps this shape.

1. The series has 15 places; split into blocks of five: c _ a c c | a a _ a a | _ b c _ b.
2. Each block has the shape x x y x x: c c a c c needs c; a a b a a needs b.
3. The third block b b c b b needs b in both gaps.
4. Gaps in order: c, b, b, b.
5. Check: option (a) would make the first block c a a c c, which breaks the pattern.

Remember · For letter-gap series, split the string into equal blocks (4, 5 or 6 letters) and look for a repeating shape.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 54 kg

Children plus mother weigh 150 kg and children plus father 156 kg, so the father is 6 kg heavier than the mother. With the father at 60 kg, the mother weighs 54 kg.

1. Children + mother = 3 × 50 = 150 kg.
2. Children + father = 3 × 52 = 156 kg.
3. Father − mother = 156 − 150 = 6 kg.
4. Mother = 60 − 6 = 54 kg.
5. Check: children = 156 − 60 = 96, and 96 + 54 = 150.

Remember · When two averages share members, subtract the totals — the shared part cancels.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 18

Count by the number of ₹50 notes. With none, ₹107 can include 0 to 10 ten-rupee notes (11 ways); with one, ₹57 can include 0 to 5 (6 ways); with two, ₹7 uses only ₹1 coins (1 way). Total 18.

1. No ₹50 note: ₹107 = 10a + b with a = 0, 1, …, 10 → 11 ways.
2. One ₹50 note: ₹57 = 10a + b with a = 0, 1, …, 5 → 6 ways.
3. Two ₹50 notes: ₹7 = 10a + b needs a = 0 → 1 way.
4. In each case ₹1 coins make up the balance, so each choice is one way.
5. Total = 11 + 6 + 1 = 18.

Remember · For currency combinations, fix the largest denomination, count choices for the next; the smallest always fills the rest.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 17 m

Plotting the walks from A's house, A's office is at (42, 2) and B's at (34, −13). They are 8 m apart east–west and 15 m apart north–south, so the straight-line distance is 17 m.

1. Take A's house as (0, 0), East as +x and North as +y.
2. 20 m + 10 m East: both reach (30, 0).
3. A turns left (North) 2 m → (30, 2), then right (East) 12 m → A's office at (42, 2).
4. B turns right (South) 8 m → (30, −8), left (East) 4 m → (34, −8), right (South) 5 m → B's office at (34, −13).
5. Separation: 42 − 34 = 8 m East–West and 2 − (−13) = 15 m North–South.
6. Distance = √(8² + 15²) = √289 = 17 m.

Remember · Use coordinates for direction puzzles; left and right depend on the direction currently faced.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) S2 alone is sufficient to answer the question

Two whole numbers have an odd sum only when one is even and the other odd, and then their product is even. So S2 alone gives a definite 'No'. S1 alone fails: 3 × 5 = 15 is odd but 2 × 3 = 6 is even.

1. S1 alone: p = 3, q = 5 gives pq = 15 (odd); p = 2, q = 3 gives pq = 6 (even) — not sufficient.
2. S2 alone: for whole numbers, an odd sum means one number is even and the other odd.
3. Then pq has an even factor, so pq is even — a definite 'No'. S2 is sufficient.
4. Since S2 works alone, S1 is not needed, so (c) and (d) fail.
5. Like the question itself, this reading takes p and q to be whole numbers.

Remember · In data sufficiency a definite 'No' is an answer; odd + even = odd, and an even factor makes a product even.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 2015

A year repeats 2009's calendar when the odd days carried forward total a multiple of 7 and it is also a non-leap year. From 2009 the odd days add up to 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 7 by the start of 2015, and 2015 is not a leap year.

1. Odd days carried by each year: 2009 → 1, 2010 → 1, 2011 → 1, 2012 (leap) → 2, 2013 → 1, 2014 → 1.
2. Total to the start of 2015 = 7, a full week, so 1 January 2015 falls on the same weekday as 1 January 2009.
3. 2015, like 2009, is not a leap year, so the whole calendar matches.
4. Check: 2016 would carry 8 odd days (≡ 1) and is a leap year, so it cannot match.

Remember · Same calendar = total odd days ≡ 0 (mod 7) and the same leap-year status.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 8

The units give 7 + 6 = 13 (carry 1), and the hundreds rise from 5 + 1 to 7, so the tens column must also carry: B + 4 = A + 10, i.e. A = B − 6. For 7A3 to be divisible by 3, 10 + A must be a multiple of 3, so A = 2 and B = 8.

1. Units: 7 + 6 = 13 → write 3, carry 1.
2. Hundreds: 5 + 1 + carry = 7, so the tens column must carry 1.
3. Tens: B + 3 + 1 = A + 10 → A = B − 6; so B is 6, 7, 8 or 9 and A is 0, 1, 2 or 3.
4. 7A3 divisible by 3 → 7 + A + 3 = 10 + A is a multiple of 3 → A = 2.
5. B = 8. Check: 587 + 136 = 723, and 7 + 2 + 3 = 12.

Remember · In digit-sum puzzles, go column by column with carries, then use the divisibility rule to fix the digit.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) In a competitive global economy, India must use regulations strategically.

The passage closes by saying that in a hyper competitive global economy regulations must be seen as 'weapons' that seek cost-justified social and environmental benefits while improving citizens' economic well-being. That is a call to use regulation strategically.

• ✗ (a) India's small footprint is noted, but the passage does not claim better regulation will bring the economy to a size matching its population.
• ✓ (b) Regulations as 'weapons' in a 'hyper competitive global economy', chosen for cost-justified benefits — this is strategic use.
• ✗ (c) The criticisms (political tools, unintended consequences) are of regulations in general; the passage does not say India's rules block global integration.
• ✗ (d) Jobs and growth are impacts regulations often ignore, but the passage wants them balanced with social and environmental benefits, not made dominant.

Remember · The concluding sentence often carries the crucial inference; reject options that make one of several listed concerns 'dominant'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The passage says regulations 'may be used to protect local markets', so it does not assume they fail at that. It wants regulations that seek social and environmental benefits, but never says governments across the world generally ignore these concerns.

• ✗ 1. The author's worry is the opposite: regulations may protect local markets at the cost of wider prosperity. Nothing says they are ineffective at it.
• ✗ 2. 'Generally ignored … across the world' is sweeping; the passage only says regulations often overlook impacts on jobs, growth and less restrictive alternatives.

Remember · Test each statement against the exact concern named; a reversed or globalised version of the author's worry is not an assumption.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Research on benign effects of gut bacteria on nutrition has policy implications.

The passage traces child malnutrition to low levels of a milk sugar in malnourished mothers, which keeps the infant gut microbiome immature. Research on how gut bacteria support nutrition therefore bears on policy against malnutrition, without the passage prescribing a particular cure.

• ✗ (a) Nothing says the condition cannot be treated; knowing the cause points towards possible remedies.
• ✗ (b) Inoculating guts with mature microbiomes is a specific treatment the passage neither tests nor proposes.
• ✗ (c) Replacing mother's milk with fortified dairy milk goes far beyond the passage, which shows mother's milk is the natural source of the sugar.
• ✓ (d) The research links mothers' nutrition, gut bacteria and child malnutrition — a finding with clear policy relevance, stated without overreach.

Remember · When options prescribe specific remedies, prefer the broad inference the passage fully supports.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Malnourished mothers have little of the sugar that feeds the infant microbiome; the microbiome fails to mature, and that 'leads to malnourished babies'. So such babies tend to be malnourished. Processed probiotic foods are never mentioned.

• ✗ 1. Probiotic foods are not discussed; the passage offers no treatment at all.
• ✓ 2. Low sugar in the milk → immature microbiome → 'malnourished babies' — the chain in the passage's closing sentences.

Remember · Accept a statement that restates the passage's causal chain; reject a remedy the passage never names.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Warming melts glaciers, meltwater raises suspended sediment in coastal water, and that sediment cuts seafloor biodiversity. This supports statements 2 and 3, both hedged with 'can' and 'some areas'. The fast warming is reported for one peninsula, not for glacier regions in general.

• ✗ 1. Only the Western Antarctic Peninsula is said to have warmed five times as fast; extending this to all glacier regions overreaches.
• ✓ 2. Warming melts glaciers, raising 'suspended sediment in water' over the seafloor ecosystem; 'can' and 'some areas' keep the claim modest.
• ✓ 3. Melting glaciers 'are causing a loss of species diversity among benthos' in the coastal waters.

Remember · Data from one region cannot support a rule for all such regions; 'can … in some areas' is usually the safe claim.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

Small mammals stayed stable through natural warming 13,000 years ago, but human-made changes since the late nineteenth century cut biomass and energy flow, so ecosystems no longer adapt as easily. That places the loss of resilience on humans. The passage mentions one past warming, not frequent ones, and implies modern ecosystems are more vulnerable.

• ✗ 1. A single period of warming 13,000 years ago does not show that warming is 'frequently occurring'.
• ✗ 2. Modern ecosystems 'are not adapting as easily as they did in the past' — the passage points to greater risk, not safety.
• ✓ 3. 'Human-made changes' caused the drop in biomass and energy flow that weakened ecosystems' ability to adapt.

Remember · One example cannot establish 'frequent'; when a passage contrasts past resilience with present weakness, the cause is what changed in between.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 4

Varieties bred to suit local conditions have given way to a few high-yielding varieties and technology-driven production and distribution, and we may need the lost varieties if disease or climate change strikes. So food security may depend on preserving local varieties, and eating from locally grown crops keeps that diversity alive.

• ✗ 1. The passage is about varieties within a few crops, not the extinction of plant species at large.
• ✓ 2. Diversity came from crops suited to 'their local climate and environment' and is being lost to a few varieties spread by technology-driven distribution; relying on local crops is what sustained it. 'Ensures' is strongly worded, but it follows the passage's contrast.
• ✗ 3. The passage says 'if' disease or climate change strikes, 'we might' need the varieties — a risk, not a certain scarcity in the near future.
• ✓ 4. 'We might desperately need some of those varieties' — food security may depend on keeping them.

Remember · 'If … might' in a passage supports 'may', never 'will finally lead to'; and crop varieties are not plant species.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) jUlY

From B onwards every alternate letter — B, D, F … the even-numbered letters — is written small, and the odd-numbered letters are capitals. In JULY, J (10th) and L (12th) are small, U (21st) and Y (25th) are capitals: jUlY.

1. Small letters: B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, R, T, V, X, Z — the even positions.
2. Capitals: A, C, E, …, U, W, Y — the odd positions.
3. The first month of the second half of the year is July.
4. J = 10th → j; U = 21st → U; L = 12th → l; Y = 25th → Y.
5. Result: jUlY.

Remember · Turn 'every alternate letter from B' into positions — the even-numbered letters — then check each letter's position.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 30 units

The single-digit odd primes are 3, 5 and 7, so the first piece is 5 units. With the third piece T, the second is 5 + T/3 and T = 10 + T/3, so T = 15, the second piece is 10 and the sheet is 30 units.

1. Single-digit odd primes: 3, 5, 7; average = 15/3 = 5, so the first piece = 5.
2. Let the third piece be T; the second = 5 + T/3.
3. Third = first + second: T = 5 + 5 + T/3 → 2T/3 = 10 → T = 15.
4. Second = 5 + 15/3 = 10.
5. Sheet = 5 + 10 + 15 = 30 units.
6. Check: the third piece (15) equals 5 + 10.

Remember · If one part equals the sum of the others, the whole is twice that part.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1

The sequence has three 5s. The first is preceded by 1 and followed by 7; the other two are both preceded by 3. Only one 5 meets both conditions.

1. 5s are at positions 2, 5 and 9: (1, 5, 7), (3, 5, 7), (3, 5, 7).
2. Position 2: preceded by 1, followed by 7 → counts.
3. Positions 5 and 9: preceded by 3 → excluded.
4. Count = 1.

Remember · Mark every target symbol first, then test both neighbours of each; don't count by eye.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

F is the father of B and D. G is F's widowed sister-in-law, so her late husband was F's brother, and C, B's cousin, is her child. The one slot left in the family — the mother of B and D — belongs to E, who is therefore F's wife, A's grandmother and C's aunt.

1. F is D's father; B and D are siblings, so F is B's father too, and A (B's daughter) is F's granddaughter.
2. G is a widow and F's sister-in-law, so her husband — F's brother — is no more.
3. C is B's cousin, so C is the child of G and F's late brother.
4. E completes the family as F's wife, the mother of B and D; the three females are then G, A and E.
5. So E is F's wife, A's grandmother and, as the wife of C's uncle, C's aunt.

• ✓ 1. E is the mother of B and D, hence F's wife.
• ✓ 2. A is the daughter of E's son or daughter B, so E is A's grandmother.
• ✓ 3. C is the child of F's brother; F's wife E is C's aunt.

Remember · Place each stated relation on a family tree; the leftover member usually fills the one slot the tree still needs.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 10

Treating paintings that can be turned into one another as the same, count by the number of black faces: 0, 1, 5 or 6 black faces give one pattern each, while 2, 3 or 4 give two each. Total 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 10.

1. Count by the number of black faces; rotations of the cube give the same painting.
2. 0 black: 1 way. 1 black: 1 way (any face can be turned to the top).
3. 2 black: adjacent or opposite → 2 ways.
4. 3 black: all three meeting at a corner, or in a band (two opposite faces plus one between) → 2 ways.
5. 4 black = 2 white → 2 ways; 5 black → 1 way; 6 black → 1 way.
6. Total = 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 10.

Remember · For two-colour cube patterns, count by faces of one colour; k and 6 − k faces give the same count.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 10

Each of x, y and z is at least 1, so we split 6 units into three positive parts: 5C2 = 10 ordered triplets.

1. Natural numbers start from 1, so x, y, z ≥ 1.
2. Line up 6 units and choose 2 of the 5 gaps between them to cut into three positive parts: 5C2 = 10.
3. Check by listing: (4, 1, 1) in 3 orders, (3, 2, 1) in 6 orders, (2, 2, 2) in 1 order → 3 + 6 + 1 = 10.

Remember · Positive solutions of x₁ + … + xₖ = n number (n − 1)C(k − 1); order matters in triplets.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 9

Decoded, the expression is 10 − 5 × 1 ÷ 5. Multiplication and division come before subtraction, so 5 × 1 ÷ 5 = 1 and the value is 10 − 1 = 9.

1. 10#5@1$5 = 10 − 5 × 1 ÷ 5.
2. 5 × 1 = 5, then 5 ÷ 5 = 1.
3. 10 − 1 = 9.
4. Check: working strictly left to right would give (10 − 5) × 1 ÷ 5 = 1, which ignores BODMAS.

Remember · After decoding the symbols, apply BODMAS strictly: division and multiplication before subtraction.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 4

The known digits add to 30, already a multiple of 3, so B itself must be a multiple of 3: 0, 3, 6 or 9 — four values.

1. 4 + 2 + 5 + 2 + 7 + 4 + 6 = 30.
2. 30 + B is divisible by 3 exactly when B is divisible by 3.
3. B can be 0, 3, 6 or 9 → 4 values.

Remember · Divisibility by 3 depends only on the digit sum; if the known digits already give a multiple of 3, the unknown digit must too.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Fifth

If F is second, C must be first, and then E is last. Places 3, 4 and 5 go to D, A and B in that order (D above A, A above B), so B is fifth.

1. Either C or F is first; F is second, so C is first.
2. C first → E is sixth (least).
3. D, A and B fill places 3–5 with D above A and A above B.
4. Order: C, F, D, A, B, E — B is fifth.

Remember · Apply the 'either–or' rule first; it fixes the top and bottom, leaving a short chain to slot in.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Second or third

If C were first, E would be last; B is last, so F is first. D and A are close competitors — adjacent, with D just above A — and C is above A, so C must be above the D–A pair. With E free to go anywhere in places 2–5, C is second or third.

1. B last means C is not first (C first would force E last), so F is first.
2. Places 2–5 hold C, D, A and E; D is just above A (close competitors) and C is above A.
3. C cannot sit between D and A, so C is above D.
4. Possible orders: F, C, D, A, E, B / F, C, E, D, A, B / F, E, C, D, A, B.
5. C is second or third.

Remember · 'Close competitors' means adjacent ranks; treat such a pair as one block when listing arrangements.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) C gets more marks than E

E third means E is not last, so C cannot be first; F is first and B last. D and A must sit together in places 4 and 5, leaving place 2 for C — above E.

1. E is third, so E is not last; hence C is not first (C first forces E last).
2. So F is first and B is sixth.
3. Places 2, 4 and 5 remain for C, D and A, with D immediately above A.
4. D and A take places 4 and 5; C takes place 2.
5. Order: F, C, E, D, A, B — C scores more than E; A is fifth and D fourth, so (c) and (d) fail.

Remember · Use each 'whenever' rule in reverse too: if E is not last, C cannot be first.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) ‘Whose weight is greatest’ cannot be determined

S1 makes Sohan lighter than both Mohan and Rohan. S2 only says Mohan weighs less than twice Rohan, which allows Mohan to be heavier or lighter than Rohan. So the heaviest person cannot be fixed.

1. S1 (twice Sohan is below each of the others): 2S < M and 2S < R, so Sohan is the lightest.
2. S2: 2R > M and 2R > S — Mohan may be anything below twice Rohan.
3. Example 1: S = 10, R = 30, M = 50 → 20 < 50, 20 < 30, 60 > 50, 60 > 10; Mohan is heaviest.
4. Example 2: S = 10, R = 30, M = 25 → all conditions still hold; Rohan is heaviest.
5. The greatest weight cannot be determined.

Remember · Test inequality puzzles with two sets of numbers; if both fit the conditions but give different answers, it cannot be determined.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Weight of Sohan is least

S1 says twice Sohan's weight is less than Mohan's and less than Rohan's. Since weights are positive, Sohan's own weight is even smaller, so Sohan is the lightest.

1. S1: 2S < M and 2S < R.
2. Weights are positive, so S < 2S; hence S < M and S < R.
3. Sohan is lighter than both others: Sohan's weight is the least.
4. S2 is not needed for this item.

Remember · If twice a quantity is below the others, the quantity itself certainly is — for positive values, x < 2x.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error