AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
In a federal system, power is divided between central and state/provincial governments, each having independent authority (e.g., India). In a unitary system, all power rests with the central government and sub-units are subordinate to it (e.g., Sri Lanka).
Source: What is federalism?, Chapter 2
The examiner expects you to clearly contrast the two systems in one sentence each. The key word in federal is "divided/independent"; in unitary it is "subordinate/central control." Always name one example for each — India/USA for federal, Sri Lanka/UK for unitary. The source passage explicitly uses Sri Lanka as the unitary example and India as federal, so prefer those in board exams.