PPSC Assistant Director Research Past Paper 2025

Why? In a vacuum, electromagnetic waves always travel at the speed of light (≈ 3×10⁸ m/s), regardless of their frequency or intensity.

Why: The Watergate scandal (1972–74) involved a break-in at the Democratic headquarters and the Nixon administration’s cover-up. It forced Richard Nixon to resign, the only U.S. President ever to do so.

Why? The August Offer of 1940 by the British promised Indian dominion status after WWII, but was rejected by Congress and Muslim League.

ANSI

Why: Ibn Arabi, the Andalusian Sufi mystic, authored Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyah (“The Meccan Revelations”), a monumental work on spirituality and metaphysics.

Why? Fatima Bhutto, granddaughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, wrote this memoir about her family’s political struggles.

Why? The COUNTA() function counts all non-empty cells, including those with numbers, text, logical values, or formulas. It does not count only numeric cells (that is COUNT()).

Why: The UK functions under an unwritten constitution, based on statutes, conventions, judicial decisions, and traditions, unlike codified constitutions in most states.

Why? The US Navy SEALs conducted Operation Neptune Spear in May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, eliminating Osama bin Laden.

Why? A20:A31 refers to a continuous range of cells starting from cell A20 down to A31 in column A.

Why: French thinker Auguste Comte introduced sociology as a discipline to scientifically study society and human behavior.

Why? Founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume and others, the INC became the main political platform for India’s independence movement.

Why? A pixel is the smallest individual element of a digital image or display. Each pixel carries color and brightness information to form a complete picture.

Why: The Durand Line agreement (1893) was concluded after the Second Anglo-Afghan War, demarcating the frontier between British India and Afghanistan.

Why? Husain Haqqani, former diplomat, authored this book analyzing Pakistan’s civil–military relations and religious politics.

Why? Let the original price be x. After 20% discount, selling price = 80% of x. So, 0.8x = 596 → x = 596 ÷ 0.8 = 745.

Why: The Ottomans rose in Anatolia after the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, building a vast empire that lasted until 1924.

Why? Baltit Fort, a UNESCO heritage site, is located in Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, showcasing Tibetan and Balti architecture.

Why? “Prolong” means to lengthen or extend the duration of something, so the closest synonym is “Extend.”

Why: Biography literally means the written account of a person’s life, focusing on experiences, achievements, and significance.

Why? Siberia, particularly Oymyakon, records the world’s coldest inhabited places, with temperatures dropping below –60°C.

Why: Action research is practitioner-focused, aiming to solve immediate problems and improve professional practices through iterative cycles of planning, acting, and reflecting.

Why? Equatorial regions receive convectional rainfall due to intense heating, rapid evaporation, and rising moist air.