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DETAILED SOLUTION
PRELIMS TEST: 29 (2020) TEST CODE: A-20129
SUBJECT: FULL LENGTH TEST - V + CURRENT AFFAIRS (As scheduled)
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Q 1. (D)
> The Pacific nation of ‘Palau‘ has become the first country to ban 'reef toxic' Sunscrean.
> The island nation markets itself as a "pristine paradise" for divers.
> A lagoon in Palau's Rock Islands is a Unesco World Heritage site.
> SPF, or Sun Protection Factor,is a measure of how well a sunscreen will protect skin from UV rays.
> A product with a higher SPF number will offer greater protection.
1. Low protection: SPF is below 15
2. Medium protection: SPF is 15 to 29
3. High protection: SPF is 30 to 49
4. Very high protection: SPF is over 50
> For best protection, experts recommend using a minimum SPF sunscreen of 15.
> Sunscreens with really high SPFs, such as SPF 75 or SPF 100, do not offer significantly greater protection
than SPF 30 and mislead people into thinking they have more protection than they actually do.
Q 2. (D)
Central Departments under Delhi Sultanate
Central Department - Function
> Diwan-i-Risalat - Department of appeals
> Pair 4 is matched correctly: Diwan-i-arz
- Department of Military
> Pair 1 is matched correctly: Diwan-i- Bandagan - Department of slaves
> Diwan-i-Qaza-i-Mamalik - Department of justice
> Pair 2 is matched correctly: Diwan-i-Ishtiaq
- Department of pensions
> Pair 3 is matched correctly: Diwan -i-Wizarat: Department of Finances.
> Diwan-i-Mustakhraj -Department of arrears
> Diwan-i-Khairat -Department of charity
> Diwan-i-kohi -Department of agriculture
> Diwan-i-insha -Department of correspondence
Q 3. (D)
> US kills top Iranian general in Baghdad airstrike.
> Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, killed in an air strike as tensions between US and Iran
escalate.
> Iran has one of the longest land borders of any country in western Asia covering 3,662 miles in length.
> There are 7 countries that Iran shares this long land border, these countries are Iraq, Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
> Of these countries, Turkmenistan shares the longest border with Iran.
> Kuwait and Syria do not share borders with Iran.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 4. (C)
> Statement 1 is correct: Yajur Veda - It is
the Veda of sacrificial formulas consisting of prose mantras.
> Yajur Veda refers to acts of worship such as oblations made into Agni (fire); each mantra that is recited is
also accompanied by an action within the sacrifice. There are two major renditions of this Veda known as
the Krishna (black) and Shukla (white).
> Statement 2 is incorrect: The Rigveda includes more than a thousand hymn, called sukta or well-said.
> The hymns are in the praise of various gods and goddesses. The three gods are especially important are
Agni, the god of fire; Indra, a warrior god; and Soma, a plant from which a special drink was prepared.
> The people who composed the hymns described themselves as Aryas and called their opponents Dasa or
Dasyus. The Rigveda was being composed in the north-west of the subcontinent.
> Atharva Veda glorifies the curative powers of herbs and water.
> Statement 3 is incorrect: Atharva Veda glorifies the curative powers of herbs and water.
Q 5. (C)
> For the first time, researchers have shown that a species of Brittle stars, which are relatives of starfish,
can see even though it does not have eyes.
> The ability to see without eyes is known as Extraocular Vision.
> The Red Brittle star (Ophiocomawendtii), which lives in the coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea, becomes
only the 2ndcreature, after a Sea urchin species, known to have this ability (barring freak cases in other
species).
> Researchers suspect that Extraocular vision is facilitated by the Photoreceptor cells found on their bodies.
> The Brittle star sees with the help of light-sensing cells that cover its entire body.
> These light-sensing cells give the brittle star visual stimuli, allowing it to recognise coarse structures such
as rocks, the research suggests.
Q 6. (D)
Vaishanvism
> Statement 1 is correct: Vaishnavism became a powerful movement in south India especially in Tamillakam
under the Alvars.
> They composed devotional literature in Tamil on Vaishnavism called Prabandha.
> Statement 2 is correct: Acharya’s were the Vaishnav philosophers. The first Vaishnava philosopher was
Ramanuja Acharya. He introduced visista advaitha siddhantha. Other renowned Acharya’s were Madhava
and Vallabha Acharya.
> Statement 3 is correct: Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita,
the Pancaratra (Agama) texts and the Bhagavata Purana.
Q 7. (D)
> Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS) for promoting translational,
India-centric research in Sciences, to be implemented and managed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bangalore.
> With the key objective of supporting socially relevant research, the following 6 basic thrust areas have
been identified: Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Nanosciences, Data Sciences & Mathematics and
Earth Sciences.
Objectiveswww.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> To fund science projects which are translational, i.e. which have direct implications for the progress of
country, through a competitive process in an open and transparent manner.
> Basic thrust would be to take stock of an existing problem and work backwards towards conducting
research for a solution.
> Promoting an inter-disciplinary & translational approach in research for synergy, de-duplication and
greater comprehensiveness & relevance of Research activities.
> Orient science towards addressing needs & issues of the country in key sectors like health, agriculture,
energy, environment, security etc.
> Attain demonstrable international benchmarks in scientific research
Q 8. (D)
Humayun Nama
> Statement 1 is correct: Gulbadan Begum was a Mughal princess and the youngest daughter of Emperor
Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She is best known as the author of
Humayun-Nama, the account of the life of her half-brother, Emperor Humayun, which she wrote on the
request of her nephew, Emperor Akbar.
Safinat-ul-Auliya:
> Statement 2 is incorrect: Safinat-ul- Auliya written by Dara Sikoh is about biographies of Sufisaints.
Raqqat-i-Alamgiri:
> Statement 3 is correct: Raqqat-i-Alamgiri is a compilation of Aurangzeb’s letters.
Shah Jahan Nama:
> Statement 4 is correct: The Shahjahannama (Chronicle of Shah Jahan) is a genre of works written about
the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. A significant work in this genre was written by the historian Inayat Khan in
the 17th century. The first complete English translation from Persian appeared in the 19th century by A. R.
Fuller.
Todar Mal:
> He was the Finance Minister of the Mughal empire during Akbar’s reign. He was one of the Navaratnas in
Akbar’s durbar (court). He introduced standard weights and measures, a land survey and settlement system,
revenue districts and officers. This system of maintenance by Patwari is still used in Indian Subcontinent
which was improved by British Raj and Government of India. He introduced a new system of revenue known
as zabt and a system of taxation called dahshala.
He took a careful survey of crop yields and prices cultivated for a 10-year period 1570-1580. On this basis,
tax was fixed on each crop in cash.
Q 9. (A)
> The Indian Army has recently started identifying potential industry partners to implement the
Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model for its base workshops and ordnance depots.
> The tasks undertaken by these workshops include depot-level repairs; overhaul of T-72 and T-90, guns,
mortars and small arms, vehicles, communication systems, radars, air defence systems, armoured personnel
carriers; manufacture of spares and overhaul of aviation rotables.
> The GOCO model was one of the recommendations of the Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar (Retd.) committee to
―enhance combat capability and re-balance defence expenditure.‖
Q 10. (D)
Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> These are the ways through which fundamental rights could be realized in practice and defended against
any attack on these rights.
> Dr. Ambedkar considered the Right to Constitutional Remedies as ‘heart and soul of the constitution’.
> It is so because this right gives a citizen the right to approach a High Court or the Supreme Court to get any
of the fundamental rights restored in case of their violation.
> The Supreme Court (Art 32) and the High Courts (Art 226) can issue orders (Writs) and give directives to
the government for the enforcement of rights.
Types of Writs:
> Habeas corpus: A writ of habeas corpus means that the court orders that the arrested person should be
presented before it. It can also order to set free an arrested person if the manner or grounds of arrest are
not lawful or satisfactory.
> Mandamus: This writ is issued when the court finds that a particular officeholder is not doing legal duty
and thereby is infringing on the right of an individual.
> Prohibition: This writ is issued by a higher court (High Court or Supreme Court) when a lower court has
considered a case going beyond its jurisdiction.
> Quo Warranto: If the court finds that a person is holding office but is not entitled to hold that office, it
issues the writ of quo warranto and restricts that person from acting as an officeholder.
> Certiorari: Under this writ, the court orders a lower court or another authority to transfer a matter pending
before it to the higher authority or court.
Q 11. (C)
> The RBI has granted ―in-principle‖ approval to Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank for transition into
a Small Finance Bank (SFB).
> This is the first licence issued by the RBI to an urban co-operative bank (UCB) to become an SFB under its
new policy regime.
> The Small Finance Bank (SFB) is a private financial institution intended to further the objective of financial
inclusion.
> It will primarily undertakes the basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small
industries and unorganised sector entities.
> It do not have any restriction in the area of operations, unlike Regional Rural Banks or Local Area Banks.
> The minimum capital for SFBs is prescribed at Rs. 100 crore with an initial contribution of 40% coming from
the promoters, which over a period of 12 years, have to be reduced to 26%.
> SFBs are full fledged banks in contrast to payments banks created around the same time.
> Hence, they are subject to all prudential norms and regulations of RBI as applicable to existing commercial
banks like maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR).
Q 12. (C)
Parliament (Legislature)
> Law-making is one of the functions of the Parliament. However, Parliament is not merely a law-making
body. It is the centre of all democratic political processes. It is packed with action; walkouts, protests,
demonstration, unanimity, concern, and co-operation. All these serve very vital purposes.
> A genuine democracy is inconceivable without a representative, efficient and effective legislature. The
legislature also helps people in holding the representatives accountable through different motions and
resolutions. This is, the very basis of representative democracy.
> In most democracies, legislatures are losing a central place to the executive. In Indiawww.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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too, the Cabinet initiates policies, sets the agenda for governance and carries them through. This has led
some critics to remark that the Parliament has declined. But even very strong cabinets must retain a majority
in the legislature.
> A strong leader has to face the Parliament and answer to the satisfaction of the Parliament. It is recognized
as one of the most democratic and open forms of debate. On account of its composition, it is the most
representative of all organs of government. Above all, it is vested with the power to choose and dismiss the
government.
Q 13. (B)
> The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI-Visakhapatnam) has recently registered success in
cultivation of Indian pompano in a brackishwater pond, scientifically proving its commercial viability.
Indian pompano
> The Indian Pompano, which belongs to the fast-growing Carangid family, has a great demand in the state;
especially this fish is
rarely caught in fishermen's nets because its sea population is quite low.
> The species is able to acclimatize and grow well even at a lower salinity of about 15 ppt (parts per
thousand) and, hence, is suitable for farming in saline ponds of coastal areas besides its huge potential for
sea cage farming.
Q 14. (C)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Citizenship clause can be amended by the simple majority in the parliament.
> Statement 2 is incorrect: State boundaries can be changed by a simple majority of the parliament.
> Statement 4 is incorrect: Fundamental Rights can be amended by a special majority of the parliament.
Amendment to the Constitution
Different ways of amending the Constitution are:
Amendment by a simple majority
> No special procedure for amendment is required in such cases and there is no difference at all between an
amendment and an ordinary law. These parts of the Constitution are very flexible.
> Example: Admission or establishment of new states, the formation of new states and alteration of areas,
boundaries or names of existing states, etc.
By the special majority of Parliament
> The majority of the provisions in the Constitution need to be amended by a special majority. This
amendment to the Constitution requires two different kinds of special majorities:
> Majority of the total membership of each house, andwww.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Majority of two-thirds of the members of each house present and voting.
> The expression ‘total membership’ means the total number of members comprising the House irrespective
of the fact whether there are vacancies or absentees.
> Both Houses of the Parliament must pass the amendment bill separately in this same manner. However,
in case of any deadlock between both the houses, there is no provision for a joint session.
> For every amendment bill, this special majority is required.
By the special majority of parliament and consent of states
> Those provisions of the Constitution which are related to the federal structure of the polity can be
amended by a special majority of the Parliament and also with the consent of half of the state legislatures
by a simple majority.
> If one or some or all the remaining states take no action on the bill, it does not matter; the moment half
of the states give their consent, the formality is completed.
> For some parts of the Constitution, the greater or wider consensus in the polity is expected. Hence, this
provision seeks the participation of states in the process of amendment.
> At the same time, care is taken to keep this procedure somewhat flexible. Even in its more rigid format,
consent of only half the States is required and a simple majority of the State legislature is sufficient.
> The founding fathers took care that the Constitution would not be open to easy tampering. And yet, future
generations were given the right to amend and modify according to the needs and requirements of the time.
Q 15. (C)
> BSNL have organised a function for commencement of cable-laying of Chennai - Andaman & Nicobar
Islands Submarine Optical Fibre Cable System.
> It will connect Port Blair to Chennai and will have further landings in 7 islands: Swaraj Dweep, Long Island,
Rangat, Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta and Great Nicobar.
> The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are divided into 2 island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar
Islands, which are separated by the 10°N parallel.
Q 16. (C)
First Past The Post System (FPTP)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> FPTP System, or otherwise known as Simple Majority System, is an electoral system in which the candidate,
who gets the maximum number of votes in the elections, gets elected, in a single-member constituency.
The result is based on the majority of votes obtained by the nominated candidate.
> The multi-cornered contest is also experienced, wherein the number of candidates contesting the election
rises to 3 or 4 and sometimes even more than 6. In such cases, the candidate getting the highest number of
total votes cast, gets the seat, as it follows the simple rule of the majority, even if it is less than 50% of total
votes.
> It aims at electing a person who can represent the constituency, in the Parliament. So, votes are cast by
people for different candidates, who are nominated by a political party. Countries like UK, USA, Canada, and
India follow it.
Proportional Representation (PR)
> PR or commonly called as Single Transferable Vote System implies an election system wherein the
representation of all classes of people is ensured, as each party gets as many numbers of seats as the
proportion of votes the candidate polls in the election.
> In this system, any political party or interest group obtains their representation in proportion to their voting
strength. Each party gets the number of seats in the parliament according to the number of votes.
> In this way, parties with the small support base, also get their representation in the legislature. Sometimes,
it results in the multi-party coalition government. It is followed in countries like the Netherlands and Israel.
Q 17. (C)
> The Forest Advisory Committee, an apex body tasked with adjudicating requests by the
industry to raze forest land for commercial ends, has recently approved a scheme that could allow ―forests‖
to be traded as a commodity.
> If implemented, it allows the Forest Department to outsource one of its responsibilities of reforesting to
non-government agencies.
> In the current system, industry needs to make good the loss of forest by finding appropriate non-forest
land — equal to that which would be razed.
> It also must pay the State Forest Department the current economic equivalent — called Net Present Value
— of the forest land.
> It‘s then the Forest Department‘s responsibility to grow appropriate vegetation that, over time, would
grow into forests.
> The proposed „Green Credit Scheme‟, as it is called, allows agencies — they could be private companies,
village forest communities — to identify land and begin growing plantations.
> After three years, they would be eligible to be considered as compensatory forest land if they met the
Forest Department‘s criteria.
> An industry needing forest land could then approach the agency and pay it for parcels of such forested
land, and this would then be transferred to the Forest Department and be recorded as forest land.
Q 18. (A)
> Statement 3 is incorrect: The courts cannot declare a law violative of any of the Directive Principles as
unconstitutional and invalid. However, they can uphold the validity of a law on the ground that it was
enacted to give effect to a directive.
Directive Principles of State Policy
> The Directive Principles of State Policy are enumerated in Part IV of the Constitution from Articles 36 to
51. The framers of the Constitution borrowed this idea from the Irish Constitution of 1937, which had copied
it from the Spanish Constitution.
> The Directive Principles constitute a very comprehensive economic, social and political programme for a
modern democratic State. They aim at realizing the high ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as
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> They embody the concept of a ‘welfare state’ and not that of a ‘police state’, which existed during the
colonial era. In brief, they seek to establish economic and social democracy in the country.
> The Directive Principles resemble the ‘Instrument of Instructions’ to the State.
> The Directive Principles, though nonjusticiable in nature, help the courts in examining and determining the
constitutional validity of a law.
> The Supreme Court has ruled many a times that in determining the constitutionality of any law, if a court
finds that the law in question seeks to give effect to a Directive Principle, it may consider such law to be
‘reasonable’ in relation to Article 14 (Equality before law) or Article 19 (six freedoms) and thus save such law
from unconstitutionality.
> The Directive Principles are nonjusticiable in nature, that is, they are not legally enforceable by the courts
for their violation.
> Therefore, the government (Central, state and local) cannot be compelled to implement them.
Nevertheless, the Constitution (Article 37) itself says that these principles are fundamental in the governance
of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.
Q 19. (D)
Animals found in Australia
1. Kangaroo
2. Koala
3. Echidna
4. Wombat
5. Dingo
Q 20. (D)
Equality before Law
> Exceptions to the Equality before Law are:
- The President or the Governor is not answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the
powers and duties of his office.
- No criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against the President or the Governor in any court
during his term of office.
- No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the President or the Governor shall be issued from any court
during his term of office.
- No civil proceedings against the President or the Governor shall be instituted during his term of office in
any court in respect of any act done by him in his personal capacity, whether before or after he entered upon
his office, until the expiration of two months next after notice has been delivered to him.
- No Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or
any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof (Article 105).
- No Member of the Legislature of a state shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything
said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof (Article 194). - The foreign
sovereigns (rulers), ambassadors and diplomats enjoy immunity from criminal and civil proceedings.
- The UNO and its agencies enjoy the diplomatic immunity.
Q 21. (C)
> Ministry of Home Affairs has recently inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime
Coordination Centre (I4C) and also dedicated National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to the Nation recently.
> This state-of-the-art Centre is located in New Delhi.
> National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) is a citizen-centric initiative that will
enable citizens to report cyber crimes online through the portal.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> All the cyber crime related complaints will be accessed by the concerned law enforcement agencies in the
States and Union Territories for taking action as per law.
> It enables filing of all cyber crimes with specific focus on crimes against women, children, particularly child
pornography, child sex abuse material, online content pertaining to rapes/gang rapes, etc.
> This portal also focuses on specific crimes like financial crime and social media related crimes like stalking,
cyber bullying, etc.
> This portal will improve coordination amongst the law enforcement agencies of different States, district.
Q 22. (A)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Even before the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002, the Constitution
contained a provision for free and compulsory education for children under Article 45 in Part IV of DPSP.
Article 21A: Right to Education
> Article 21 A declares that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age
of six to fourteen years in such a manner as the State may determine.
> Thus, this provision makes only elementary education a Fundamental Right and not higher or professional
education.
> This provision was added by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002.
- This amendment is a major milestone in the country’s aim to achieve ‘Education for All’. The government
described this step as ‘the dawn of the second Revolution in the chapter of citizens’ rights’.
- This amendment also added a new Fundamental Duty under Article 51A that reads —‘It shall be the duty
of every citizen of India to provide
opportunities for education to his child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years’.
> It is available to both citizens as well as foreigners.
Q 23. (A)
> Iranian military admitted to unintentionally shooting down a Ukranian aircraft.
> Ukraine, country located in eastern Europe, the second largest on the continent after Russia.
> The capital is Kyiv (Kiev), located on the Dnieper River in north-central Ukraine.
> Ukraine‘s international border is 4,345 miles in length and is shared with the following 7 countries:
1. Moldova
2. Poland
3. Hungary
4. Russia
5. Slovakia
6. Belarus
7. Romania
> Ukraine is separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
> The Dnieper River, with its hydroelectric dams, huge reservoirs, and many tributaries, dominates the
entire central part of Ukraine.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 24. (B)
> Statement 3 is incorrectly matched:
Right to Livelihood is provided under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
Freedom of Speech and Expression
> It is one of the six rights guarantees to all citizens under Article 19.
> It implies that every citizen has the right to express his views, opinions, belief and convictions freely by
word of mouth, writing, printing, picturing or in any other manner.
> The Supreme Court held that the Freedom of Speech and Expression includes the following:
- Right to propagate one’s views as well as views of others.
- Freedom of the press.
- Freedom of commercial advertisements.
- Right against tapping of telephonic conversation.
- Right to telecast, that is, government has no monopoly on electronic media.
- Right against Bundh called by a political party or organisation.
- Right to know government activities.
- Freedom of silence.
- Right against imposition of precensorship on a newspaper.
- Right to demonstration or picketing but not right to strike.
Protection of Life and Personal Liberty: Article 21
> Article 21 declares that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law.
> This right is available to both citizens and non-citizens. It has declared the following rights as part of Article
21:
- Right to live with human dignity.
- Right to decent environment including pollution free water and air and
protection against hazardous industries.
- Right to livelihood.
- Right to privacy.
- Right to shelter.
- Right to health.
- Right against custodial harassment.
- Right to emergency medical aid.
- Right to timely medical treatment in government hospital.
- Right not to be driven out of a state.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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- Right to fair trial.
Q 25. (C)
> The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved the Commissionerate system of policing for state capital Lucknow
and Noida.
> In the arrangement in force at the district level, a ‗dual system‘ of control exists, in which the
Superintendent of Police (SP) has to work with the District Magistrate (DM) for supervising police
administration.
> At the metropolitan level, many states have replaced the dual system with the commissionerate system,
as it is supposed to allow for faster decision-making to solve complex urban-centric issues.
> In the commissionerate system, the Commissioner of Police (CP) is the head of a unified police command
structure, is responsible for the force in the city, and is accountable to the state government.
> The office also has magisterial powers, including those related to regulation, control, and licensing.
> The CP is drawn from the Deputy Inspector General rank or above, and is assisted by
Special/Joint/Additional/Deputy Commissioners.
> Almost all states barring Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, UT of J&K, and some Northeastern states have a
commissionerate system.
Q 26. (D)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Originally (in
1951), the Ninth Schedule contained only 13 acts and regulations but at present, their number has reached
to 284.
> Statement 2 is incorrect: The eleventh schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the provisions of the
Panchayati Raj institutions.
> Statement 3 is incorrect: In I.R. Coelho case (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that there could not be any
blanket immunity from judicial review of laws included in the Ninth Schedule.
Schedules in the Indian constitution:
> The Schedules are like appendices to the Constitution. They contain some minute details pertaining to the
basic framework established in the Articles within the Parts of the Constitution.
> Indian Constitution had originally eight schedules. Now it has 12 schedules.
- The 9th Schedule was added by the First Amendment Act of Constitution.
- The 10th Schedule was added by 35th Amendment {Sikkim as Associate State}.
- Once Sikkim became a state of India, the 10th Schedule was repealed but later added once again by the
52nd Amendment Act, 1985 in context with the “Anti-defection” law.
- The 11th & 12th Schedules in the Indian Constitution were added by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional
Amendments respectively.
Ninth Schedule of the Constitution
> It includes the acts and regulations (originally 13 but presently 284) of the state legislatures dealing with
land reforms and the abolition of the Zamindari system and of the Parliament dealing with other matters.
> This schedule was added by the 1st Amendment (1951) to protect the laws included in it from judicial
scrutiny on the ground of violation of fundamental rights.
> Article 31B immunises any law included in the Ninth Schedule from all the fundamental rights.
> However, in I.R. Coelho case (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that there could not be any blanket
immunity from judicial review of laws included in the Ninth Schedule. The court held that judicial review is
a ‘basic feature’ of the constitution and it could not be taken away by putting a law under the Ninth Schedule.
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they violate fundamentals rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 or the ‘basic structure’ of the
constitution.
Q 27. (B)
> India had successfully test-fired the 3,500 km strike range nuclear-capable K-4 submarine-launched
ballistic missile off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
> The test-firing was carried out from an underwater platform in the sea during the daytime.
> The missile is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for being
deployed on the fleet of the Arihant Class nuclear submarines being built by India.
> K-4 is one of the two underwater missiles that are being developed by India for its submarine force.
> The other one is the over 700-kilometre strike range BO-5.
Q 28. (C)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Citizens of Pakistan or Bangladesh are not eligible to apply for Overseas
Citizenship of India (OCI).
Citizenship
> The following categories of persons (except Pakistan and Bangladesh) are eligible to apply under OCI
scheme:
- Who is a citizen of another country, but was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after, the
commencement of the constitution; or
- Who is a citizen of another country, but was eligible to become a citizen of India at the time of the
commencement of the constitution; or
- Who is a citizen of another country, but belonged to a territory that became part of India after the 15th
day of August, 1947; or
- Who is a child or a grand-child or a great grandchild of such a citizen
> Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder can buy/sell real estate in India,As per the guidelines issued
by Reserve Bank of India, an NRI or OCI card holder can invest in any residential or commercial property. The
guidelines also state that one can buy any number of residential or commercial properties.
Overseas Citizenship of India allows a holder:
> Multiple-entry, multi-purpose lifelong visa to visit India
> Exemption from foreigner registration requirements for any length of stay in India
> Parity with non-resident Indians in financial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of
agricultural or plantation properties.
Q 29. (B)
> UNMOGIP has been established by UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution and started its operations in
1949.
> It has been tasked with monitoring the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan.
> Pakistan Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan has recently said that there was an urgent need for the U.N.
Security Council to insist India to allow the U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
return to Kashmir.
> India maintains that the UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and
the consequent establishment of the Line of Control.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 30. (B)
> Statement 2 is incorrect: Under Article
32, only Supreme Court has power to issue writs for the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights and
not High Courts. High Courts can issue writs under Article 226.
> Statement 3 is incorrect: Only the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution can be enforced
under Article 32 and not any other right like non-fundamental constitutional rights, statutory rights, and
customary rights and so on.
Article 32 of the Indian Constitution:
> Article 32 confers the right to remedies for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights of an aggrieved
citizen. In other words, the right to get the Fundamental Rights protected is in itself a Fundamental Rights.
> Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called Article 32 as the most important article of the Constitution, ‘An Article without
which this constitution would be a nullity. It is the very soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it’.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Article 32 is a basic feature of the Constitution. Hence, it cannot be
abridged or taken away even by way of an amendment to the Constitution.
> In case of the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is original but not
exclusive. It is concurrent with the jurisdiction of the high court under Article 226. When the Fundamental
Rights of a citizen are violated, the aggrieved party has the option of moving either the High Court or the
Supreme Court directly.
> Under Article 32, only Supreme Court has power to issue writs for the enforcement of any of the
Fundamental Rights, and not High Courts. High Courts can issue writs under Article 226.
> Only the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution can be enforced under Article 32 and not
any other right like non-fundamental constitutional rights, statutory rights, and customary rights and so
on.
Q 31. (D)
> The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
> It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
> It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
> This organisation was formerly known as the European Management Forum.
> The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while
upholding the highest standards of governance.
Q 32. (D)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Originally, the Constitution of India did not contain these duties they are added
by 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976.
> Statement 2 is incorrect: Unlike some of the Fundamental Rights which extend to all persons whether
citizens or foreigners, the Fundamental Duties are confined to citizens only and do not extend to foreigners.
Features of the Fundamental Duties
> Some of them are moral duties while others are civic duties. For instance, cherishing noble ideals of
freedom struggle is a moral precept and respecting the Constitution, National Flag and National Anthem is a
civic duty.
> They refer to such values which have been a part of the Indian tradition, mythology, religions and practices.
In other words, they essentially contain just a codification of tasks integral to the Indian way of life.
> Like the Directive Principles, the fundamental duties are also nonjusticiable. The Constitution does not
provide for their direct enforcement by the courts. Moreover, there is not legal sanction against their
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> They are not enforceable by law but they help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional
validity of a law.
Q 33. (A)
> A recent study makes a disturbing connection between the loss of Arctic sea ice and thawing of
Permafrost in the region, with global implications.
> Researchers found that loss of sea ice was the primary driver of thawing permafrost throughout Earth's
climate history.
> The study shows that permafrost in the Siberian region was thawing intermittently during the period when
Arctic summer sea ice was absent (between 1.5 and 0.4 million years ago).
> After 0.4 million years ago the permanent sea ice was established in the Arctic.
> At the same time, Siberian permafrost became constant with no thawing events occurring till present.
> Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen at 32°F (0°C) or colder for at least two years
straight.
> These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth‘s higher
latitudes near the North and South Poles.
> It is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice.
> The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.
> A layer of soil on top of permafrost does ‗not‘ stay frozen all year. This layer, called the ‗active layer‘,
thaws during the warm summer months and freezes again in the fall.
> As Earth‘s climate warms, the permafrost is thawing, that means the ice inside the permafrost melts,
leaving behind water and soil.
> Thawing permafrost can have dramatic impacts on our planet and the things living on it.
Q 34. (B)
> Statement 2 is incorrect: The concept of ‘equal protection of laws’, (not Equality before Law) connotes
the equality of treatment under equal circumstances, both in the privileges conferred and liabilities imposed
by the laws. It simply means the similar application of the same laws to all persons who are similarly situated
i.e. The like should be treated alike without any discrimination.
Equality before law
> The concept of ‘equality before law’ is of British origin. It connotes:
- The absence of any special privileges in favour of any person.
- The equal subjection of all persons to the ordinary law of the land administered by ordinary law courts.
- No person (whether rich or poor, high or low, official or non-official) is above the law.
Q 35. (A)
> The EAO (East Asian Observatory) is formed by EACOA (East Asian Core Observatories Association) for
the purpose of pursuing joint projects in astronomy within the East Asian region.
> East Asian Observatory consists of China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea as full members and Thailand, Vietnam,
Malaysia and Indonesia as ‗observers‘.
> India is in preliminary discussions to be a part of the East Asian Observatories Consortium of eight countries
committed to build large telescopes and pool resources.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> The intention of EAO is to build and operate facilities, which will enhance and leverage existing and planned
regional facilities.
> The intention of EAO is to raise funding and to build an observatory staff, separate from that of the EACOA
institutions.
> As partners of the EAO, the EACOA institutes will help to establish the funding and to oversee the
governance of EAO.
> The communities represented by the partners in EAO would have full access to all EAO facilities.
Q 36. (D)
Union Territories in India
> Out of the seven union territories, only two (Delhi and Pondicherry) have representation in Rajya Sabha.
The population of the other UTs are too small to have any representation in the Rajya Sabha.
> As union territories are place under Article 239-241, to confer statehood it requires normal amendment
of constitution under article 2 to create a new state.
> Presently the union territories of Pondicherry and Delhi are provided with the Legislative Assembly and
a council of ministers headed by a chief minister.
Q 37. (D)
> India attracted $49 billion FDI in 2019, among top 10 recipients of overseas investment according to the
UNCTADs - Global Investment Trend Monitor report.
> With 16% surge in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 2019, India drove the FDI growth in South
Asia.
> In the developed economies, FDI flows fell by 6% to an estimated $643 billion from their revised $683
billion in 2018.
> It remained at a historically low-level, at half of their peak in 2007.
> FDI flows to developing economies remained stable at an estimated $695 billion, added the report.
> According to the report, the global FDI remained flat in 2019, at $1.39 trillion, a decline of 1% from a revised
$1.41 trillion in 2018.
> This is against the backdrop of weaker macroeconomic performance and policy uncertainty for investors,
including trade tensions.
Q 38. (C)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: A person born in India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July 1987 is
a citizen of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his parents.
Citizenship in India
> The children of foreign diplomats posted in India and enemy aliens cannot acquire Indian citizenship by
birth.
> If any foreign territory becomes a part of India, the government of India specifies the persons who among
the people of the territory shall be citizen of India according to Citizenship Act 1955.
> When an Indian citizen voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country, his Indian citizenship
automatically terminates. This provision, however, does not apply during a war in which India is engaged.
Q 39. (A)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Recently INTERPOL issued a Blue Corner notice to help locate fugitive self-styled godman Nithyananda,
weeks after the Gujarat Police sought the agency‘s intervention for this.
> INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries
to share critical crime-related information.
> Notices are published by the General Secretariat at the request of a National Central Bureau and are made
available to all our member countries.
> Notices can also be used by the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunals and the International
Criminal Court to seek persons wanted for committing crimes within their jurisdiction, notably genocide, war
crimes, and crimes against humanity.
> Orange Notice - To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent
threat to public safety.
Q 40. (D)
Single Citizenship and its exceptions:
> The Parliament not state legislature (under Article 16) can prescribe residence within a state or union
territory as a condition for certain employments or appointments in that state or union territory, or local
authority or other authority within that state or union territory. Accordingly, the Parliament enacted the
Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act, 1957 and thereby authorised the Government of
India to prescribe residential qualification only for appointment to non-Gazetted posts in Andhra Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura. As this Act expired in 1974, there is no such provision for any state
except Andhra Pradesh.
> The Constitution (under Article 15) prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth and not on the ground of residence. This means that the state can provide special
benefits or give preference to its residents in matters that do not come within the purview of the rights given
by the Constitution to the Indian citizens. For example, a state may offer concession in fees for education
to its residents.
> The freedom of movement and residence (under Article 19) is subjected to the protection of interests of
any schedule tribe. In other words, the right of outsiders to enter, reside and settle in tribal areas is
restricted. Of course, this is done to protect the distinctive culture, language, customs and manners of
schedule tribes and to safeguard their traditional vocation and property against exploitation.
Q 41. (D)
> Minister of Steel has recently launched a scheme by SAIL for Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by
its employees.
> The scheme called “SAIL Employee Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for Community Engagement
(SERVICE)‖ will promote and facilitate philanthropist activities by the employees in a structured manner.
> A portal for the employees to register for the scheme was also launched.
> ―The dedicated interacƟve “SAIL SERVICE” portal for implementation of this scheme shall act as a
platform for enabling faster interaction and communication amongst the various stakeholders.
> It shall eventually be developed as a repository of knowledge management in this regard.
Q 42. (B)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Option (b) is correct: A tax break for mortgage interest rates leading to increased demand for housing is
an example of demand-pull inflation.
Demand-pull inflation
> Demand-pull inflation exists when aggregate demand for a good or service outstrips aggregate supply. It
starts with an increase in consumer demand. Sellers meet such an increase with more supply. But when
additional supply is unavailable, sellers raise their prices. That results in demand-pull inflation.
> Five Causes of Demand-Pull Inflation:
- Expectation of Inflation
- Over-Expansion Of The Money Supply
- Discretionary Fiscal Policy
- Strong Brand, Itself Created By Marketing
- Technological Innovation
> For example, tax breaks for mortgage interest rates increased demand for housing. The financial crisis of
2008 was due to demand-pull inflation.
Cost-Push Inflation
> Even when there is no increase in aggregate demand, prices may still rise. It starts with a decrease in total
supply or an increase in the cost of that supply.
> The four main autonomous increases in costs which generate cost-push inflation have been suggested:
- Oil Price Shock: The sharp rise in the price of oil leads to inflation in all oilimporting countries.
- Farm Price Shock: The farm products are raw materials for various industries such as sugar industry, cotton
textile industry, jute industry and as a result when prices of farm products rise they lead to rise in prices of
goods which use the farm products as raw materials.
- Import Price Shock: currencies of most countries of the world are determined by demand for and supply
of a currency and they can appreciate or depreciate every month in terms of the US dollar. The cost of
production increases for the producers who import raw materials for their industries
- Wage-Push Inflation: When trade unions push for higher wages which are not justifiable either on grounds
of a prior rise in productivity or of cost of living they produce a cost-push effect.
Q 43. (A)
> The India‘s first e-waste clinic is being opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh recently.
> It will enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.
> The e-waste clinic is jointly setting up by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Bhopal Municipal
Corporation (BMC).
> The e-waste clinic is being started on the basis of a three-month pilot project.
> If this project is successful, e-waste clinics will be established at other places in the country.
> BMC officials informed that electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly
at the e-waste clinic.
> The CPCB will provide technical support to the clinic.
Q 44. (D)
> Option (d) is correct: The Phillips curve states that inflation and unemployment have an inverse
relationship.
Phillips Curve
> The Phillips curve states that inflation and unemployment have an inverse relationship. Higher inflation
is associated with lower unemployment and vice versa. > The Phillips curve was a concept used to guide
macroeconomic policy in the 20th century, but was called into question by the stagflation of the 1970’s.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Understanding the Phillips curve in light of consumer and worker expectations, shows that the relationship
between inflation and unemployment may not hold in the long run or even potentially in the short run.
Q 45. (D)
> A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister will monitor the disposal of over 9,400 enemy
properties, which are likely to fetch about Rs.1 lakh crore to the exchequer.
> Enemy properties were those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China.
> The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the
Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
> The central government through the Custodian is in possession of enemy properties spread across many
states in the country.
> Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
Q 46. (D)
A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956
engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities
issued by Government or local authority or other marketable securities of a like nature, leasing, hirepurchase, insurance business, chit business.Hence, statement 1 is correct.
NBFCs don’t include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity,
purchase or sale of any goods (other than securities) or providing any services and
sale/purchase/construction of the immovable property. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
NBFCs lend and make investments and hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however, there are a
few differences as given below: NBFCs cannot accept demand deposits. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself
Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to
depositors of NBFCs, unlike in the case of banks.
Q 47. (C)
> The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released a report on the sale of electoral bonds since the
scheme was launched in 2018.
> The report, based on a response to a query under the RTI Act, said 12,313 electoral bonds worth Rs
6,128.72 crore were sold in 12 phases from March 2018 to October 2019, and political parties redeemed
12,173 of these for Rs 6,108.47 crore. This accounts for 99.67% of the total bond value.
> The electoral bond will be valid only for fifteen days from the date of purchase.
> The bonds not encashed within the validity period of 15 days are to be deposited by the authorised bank
with the Prime Minister‘s Relief Fund.
> The donations are tax deductible. Hence, a donor will get a deduction and the recipient, or the political
party, will get tax exemption, provided returns are filed by the political party.
Q 48. (A)
When a country faces serious medium-term balance of payments problems because of structural
weaknesses that require time to address, the IMF can assist with the adjustment process under an
Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The EFF was established to provide assistance to countries:
(i) experiencing serious payments imbalances because of structural impediments;www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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(ii) characterized by slow growth and an inherently weak balance of payments position. The EFF
provides assistance in support of comprehensive programs that include policies of the scope and
character required to correct structural imbalances over an extended period.
The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement
its member countries’ official reserves. The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies—the U.S.
dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.
Q 49. (C)
> The 10th National Voters‟ Day is being celebrated recently.
> It is celebrated at over ten lakh locations across the country including Polling Stations, District and State
headquarters.
> The theme this year is „Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy'.
> It sets the tone for year-long activities focusing on voter education and renewal of citizens‘ faith in the
electoral process.
> The Day is celebrated since 2011 to mark the Foundation day of Election Commission of India, which was
established on 25th January 1950.
Q 50. (C)
• In 1854, Charles Wood prepared a ‘Despatch’ on the educational system for India.
• Considered the ‘Magna Carta of English Education in India’, this document was the first comprehensive
plan for the spread of education in India.
(i) It asked the Government of India to assume responsibility for the education of the masses, thus
repudiating the 'Downward Filtration Theory', at least on paper.
(ii) It systematized the hierarchy from Vernacular Primary Schools in villages at bottom, followed by AngloVernacular High Schools and an affiliated college at the district level, and affiliating universities in the
presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
(iii) It recommended English as the medium of instruction for higher studies and vernaculars at the school
level.
(iv) It laid stress on female and vocational education, and on teachers' training.
(v) It laid down that the education imparted in the government institutions should be secular.
(vi) It recommended a system of grants-in-aid to encourage the private enterprise.
Q 51. (D)
> Scientists at the National Centre for Microbial Resource — National Centre for Cell Science (NCMR-NCCS)
in Pune have reported a new Archaeon, which they discovered in Sambhar Salt Lake in Rajasthan.
> Archaeon (a kind of microorganism), are a primitive group of microorganisms that thrive in extreme
habitats such as hot springs, cold deserts and hypersaline lakes.
> These slow-growing organisms are also present in the human gut, and have a potential relationship with
human health.
> They are known for producing antimicrobial molecules, and for anti-oxidant activity with applications in
eco-friendly waste-water treatment.
> The new archaeon has been named Natrialba Swarupiae.
> As archaea are relatively poorly studied, very little is known about how archaea behave in the human body.
Q 52. (B)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Praja Mandals or State’s People’s Conference were organised during the Non-Cooperation Movement and
the Khilafat Movement in the princely states. Some of the states, in which these were organised, include
Mysore, Hyderabad, Baroda, Kathiawad, Deccan, Jamnagar, Indore and Nawanagar. This process came to a
head in 1927, with the convening of the All India State’s People’s Conference (AISPC), which was attended
by many political workers from the states. The men chiefly responsible for this initiative include Balwantrai
Mehta, Maniklal Kothari and G. R. Abhyankar.
Q 53. (D)
> The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of
Republic Day.
> The Awards are given in three categories:
1. Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service)
2. Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order)
3. Padma Shri (distinguished service)
> The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of
public service is involved.
> The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which
is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
> The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
> All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However,
Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for
these Awards.
> The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government
could consider giving an award posthumously.
> The total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and to
NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more than 120.
> The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees‘ name.
> All nominations received for Padma Awards are placed before the Padma Awards Committee.
> The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary
to the President and four to six eminent persons as members.
> The recommendations of the committee are submitted to the Prime Minister and the President of India
for approval.
> Among the Padma Shri award recipients this year are two women from Sri Lanka for their pioneering
contributions in their individual fields and for strengthening India-Sri Lanka ties.
> The awards have been conferred on Deshabandu Dr. Vajira Chitrasena for her contribution to dance and
Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake for her contribution to Hindi literature.
Q 54. (C)
1. The Indian capitalist class had its own notions of how the antiimperialist struggle ought to be waged. It
was always in favour of not completely abandoning the constitutional path and the negotiating table, and
generally preferred to put its weight behind the constitutional forms of struggle, as opposed to mass civil
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2. As for the capitalists determining the course of the Congress - led movements (many of them, in specific
areas, led or supported by socialists and communists), again there is little evidence to support this view. The
Congress launched or withdrew movements based on its own strategic perceptions arising out of its
understanding of the nature of the colonial state and its current postures, the organizational, political and
ideological preparedness of the people, the staying power of the masses, especially when faced with
repression, and so on. It did not do so at the behest and not even on behalf of the capitalist class. In fact,
almost each time the Congress launched mass movements, e.g., in 1905-08, 1920-22, 1930, 1932 and 1942,
it did so without the approval of either the capitalist class as a whole or a significant section of it.
3. Further, the Indian capitalists’ support to constitutional participation, whether it be in assemblies,
conferences or even joining the Viceroy’s Executive Council, is not to be understood simply as their getting
co-opted into the imperial system or surrendering to it. They saw all this as a forum for maintaining an
effective opposition, fearing that boycotting these forums completely would help ‘black legs’ and elements
that did not represent the nation to, without any opposition, easily pass measures which could severely
affect the Indian economy and the capitalist class. However, there was no question of unconditionally
accepting reforms or participating in conferences or assemblies. The capitalists were to ‘participate on (their)
own terms,’ with ‘no compromise on fundamentals,’ firmly rejecting offers of cooperation which fell below
their own and the minimum national demands.’
Q 55. (C)
> The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC) is the result of efforts of the
international community to internationally regulate the area of ballistic missiles capable of carrying weapons
of mass destruction. Along with the MTCR, the HCoC is the only multilateral transparency and confidence
building instrument concerning the spread of ballistic missiles.
> By subscribing to the HCoC, the members voluntarily commit themselves politically to provide prelaunch
notifications (PLNs) on ballistic missile and space-launch vehicle launches (SLVs) and test flights. The
subscribing states also commit themselves to submit an annual declaration (AD) of their country’s policies
on ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles.
> As agreed by the Conference in The Hague, Austria serves as the Immediate Central Contact (Executive
Secretariat) and therefore, coordinates the information exchange within the HCoC framework. > HCoC is a
voluntary, legally nonbinding international confidence building and transparency measure that seek to
prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles that are capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
> India had joined the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC) in a move that
would push India’s membership application for the coveted Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and
strengthen its case at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
> CONSEQUENCES FOR VIOLATING HCOC GUIDELINES: HCoC guidelines are an informal set of general
principles and commitments that can be adopted by any country and are not legally binding measures. There
is also no regime-wide set of compliance procedures or dispute resolution mechanism. However, member
states can consult bilaterally to clarify issues and discuss concerns at the HCoC’s annual policy-level regular
meeting.
> Membership in the HCoC demonstrates responsible stewardship of missile technology and opposition to
WMD (The Weapon of Man Destruction) - capable missile proliferation, via transparency and confidencebuilding measures.
Q 56. (C)
Government of India Act, 1935, provided for a scheme of Federation, in which the Indian states were brought
under direct, constitutional relationship with British India and the states were to send nominated
representatives to the federal Legislature.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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The elections of 1937 brought Congress to power, that gave confidence to the princely states. In fact, 1938-
39 witnessed large number of movements demanding responsible government and other reforms in the
princely states.
Q 57. (A)
> The inaugural session of the India-Brazil Business Forum was held recently in New Delhi.
> India and Brazil share close relationship at the bilateral level as well as plurilateral fora like BRICS, BASIC,
G-20, IBSA and International Solar Alliance and in larger multilateral bodies like UN, UNESCO and WIPO.
> Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) has 36 member including not only most
advanced countries but also emerging countries like Mexico, Chile and Turkey.
> Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa are key partner countries of OECD and not members of
OECD.
Q 58. (D)
• Gandhiji, during this period, asked the Congressmen to take up constructive work, especially in the villages,
that would consolidate people’s power and open the way to mobilisation of millions.
• Another section of the Congressmen advocated the revival of Constitutional methods of struggle and
participation in the elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. This section included names, such as M. A.
Ansari, Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali and B.C. Roy.
• A strong leftist trend, that had developed in early 1930s, proposed continuation of non-Constitutional mass
movement, as its discontinuation would side-track direct mass action and political work among the masses
and divert attention from basic issue of struggle against the colonial rule.
• Jawaharlal Nehru opposed Gandhian strategy of Struggle Truce Struggle. He believed that, whatever might
have been the case in the past, the Indian National Movement has now reached a stage, where there should
be permanent confrontation and conflict with imperialism, till it was overthrown.
Q 59. (C)
> The TIR Convention is an international transit system under the auspices of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE) to facilitate the seamless movement of goods within and amongst the
Parties to the Convention. The European Union is party to the Convention.
> The Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR
Convention) was drafted in 1975. It replaces the original Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) Convention
from 1959 and came into force in 1978.
> The objective of the TIR Convention is to facilitate international transit through a simplified customs transit
procedures and an international guarantee system. The underpinnings of the so-called TIR system are a
common customs document, the TIR carnet, a common guarantee system, the mutual recognition of
customs controls and secured vehicle containers. Usage of the TIR system is limited to authorized operators.
> An international transit operation under the TIR system does not require national customs documents and
a national guarantee. Because of the securization of the containers, the goods are also not subject to physical
inspection. As a consequence, the advantages are less delays at border crossings and for the overall transit
operation.
> In March, 2017, the Cabinet approved India's accession to the Customs Convention on the International
Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention).
Q 60. (C)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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• Gandhiji felt that a large section of intelligentsia favoured Parliamentary politics, with which he was in
fundamental disagreement. Hence, in October 1934, he announced his resignation from Congress ‘only to
serve it better in thought, word and deed’.
• Another section of intelligentsia felt estranged from Congress, because of Gandhiji’s emphasis on the
spinning wheel, as the ‘second lung of the nation’, on Harijan work based on a moral and religious approach
and on other items of constructive programmes.
Q 61. (C)
> Indian Railways has recently commissioned its first Waste to Energy Plant, having capacity of 500 Kg waste
per day, in Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop at Bhubaneswar in East Coast Railway.
> This Waste to Energy Plant, a patented technology called POLYCRACK, is first-of-its-kind in Indian Railways
and fourth in India.
> It is world‘s first patented heterogeneous catalytic process which converts multiple feed stocks into
hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water.
> Polycrack Plant can be fed with all types of Plastic, Petroleum sludge, Un-segregated MSW (Municipal Solid
Waste) with moisture up to 50%, E–Waste, Automobile fluff, Organic waste including bamboo, garden waste
etc., and Jatropha fruit and palm bunch.
> The process is a closed loop system and does not emit any hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere.
> The combustible, non-condensed gases are re-used for providing energy to the entire system and thus, the
only emission comes from the combustion of gaseous fuels.
> The emissions from the combustion are found to be much less than prescribed environmental norms.
> This process will produce energy in the form of Light Diesel Oil which is used to light furnaces.
Features of POLYCRACK Technology Polycrack has the following advantages over the conventional approach
of treating solid waste:-
> Pre-segregation of waste is not required to reform the waste. Waste as collected can be directly fed into
Polycrack.
> It has high tolerance to moisture hence drying of waste is not required.
> Waste is processed and reformed within 24 hours.
> It is an enclosed unit hence the working environment is dust free.
> Excellent air quality surrounding the plant.
> Biological decomposition is not allowed as the Waste is treated as it is received.
> The foot print of the plant is small hence the area required for installing the plant is less when compared
with conventional method of processing.
> All constituents are converted into valuable energy thereby making it Zero Discharge Process.
> Gas generated in the process is re-used to provide energy to the system thereby making it self-reliant and
also bring down the operating cost.
> There is no atmospheric emission during the process unlike other conventional methods except for
combustion gases which have pollutants less than the prescribed norms the world over.
> Operates around 450 degrees, making it a low temperature process when compared with other options.
> Safe and efficient system with built-in safety features enables even an unskilled user to operate the
machine with ease.
> Low capital cost and low operating cost.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Fully automated system requires minimum man power.
Q 62. (A)
• Separate electorate demand was made at the Shimla Deputation, between Aga Khan and Lord Minto. In
this meeting, for the first time, demand for separate electorate was presented. This demand was accepted
readily by the British under the Morley Minto Reforms of 1909. This demand, however, was accepted by the
Congress under the Lucknow Pact of 1916.
• Delhi Proposal, on the other hand, was 4 proposals made by the Muslim League that were to be included
in the draft Constitution. These 4 proposals were presented to Congress in 1927, which were accepted in the
Madras session of Congress, headed by M. A. Ansari.
• Communal Award came under the 3rd Round Table Conference of 1932. Untill then, Muslims, Sikh and
Christians were already given minority status and separate electorate. Under Communal Award, this was
extended to Depressed Classes, as well.
Q 63. (C)
> The Supreme Court has recently lifted its seven-year stay on a proposal to introduce African cheetahs from
Namibia into the Indian habitat on an experimental basis.
> The plan was to revive the Indian cheetah population.
> In May 2012, the top court had stalled the plan to initiate the foreign cheetahs into the Palpur Kuno
sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh fearing they may come into conflict with a parallel and a much-delayed project
to reintroduce lions into the same sanctuary.
> Asiatic Cheetah is categorised as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List.
> The Asiatic cheetah, which once roamed parts of India, is now only found in Iran, where there are thought
to be about 50 left.
Q 64. (B)
Tebhaga Movement
> In September 1946, the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha gave a call to implement, through mass struggle, the
Flood Commission’s recommendations of tebhaga — two-thirds share — to the bargardars, the sharecroppers, also known as bagchasi or adhyar, instead of the one-half share.
> The bargardars worked on the lands rented from the jotedars. The communist cadres, including many
urban student militias, went to the countryside to organise the bargardars. The central slogan was “nij
khamare dhan tolo”—i.e., sharecroppers taking the paddy to their own threshing floor and not to the
jotedar’s house, as before, so as to enforce tebhaga.
> The storm centre of the Movement was north Bengal, principally among Rajbanshis—a low caste of tribal
origin. Muslims also participated in large numbers. The Movement dissipated soon, because of the League
Ministry’s sop of the Bargardari Bill, an intensified repression, the popularisation of the Hindu Mahasabha’s
agitation for a separate Bengal and renewed riots in Calcutta, which ended the prospects of sympathetic
support from the urban sections.
Q 65. (C)
> Recently, The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted an error in its assessment of Wuhan
Coronavirus risk.
> The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) coordinated by the WHO, is an international
network of institutions that provides health professionals and expert advice in time of outbreaks to
countries.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> It is a collaboration of existing institutions and networks, constantly alert and ready to respond.
> During outbreaks, the GOARN ensures that the right technical expertise and are skills are on the ground
where and when they are needed most.
> A Endemic is an outbreak that occurs at a predictable rate in a certain area or among a set population.
> An Epidemic will see a disease rapidly spread amongst a large number of people in a given population.
> A Pandemic is the worldwide spread of a infectious disease.
Q 66. (A)
The Mountbatten Plan, June 3, 1947
The “Freedom-with-Partition Formula” was coming to be widely accepted well before Mountbatten arrived
in India. One major innovation (actually suggested by V. P. Menon) was the immediate transfer of power on
the basis of grant of dominion status (with a right of secession), thus obviating the need to wait for an
agreement in the Constituent Assembly on a new political structure.
Main Points
The important points of the Plan were as follows:
● Punjab and Bengal LegislaƟve Assemblies would meet in two groups, Hindus and Muslims, to vote for
partition. If a simple majority of either group voted for partition, then these provinces would be partitioned.
● In case of parƟƟon, two dominions and two Constituent Assemblies would be created.
● Sindh would take its own decision.
● Referendums in NWFP and Sylhet district of Bengal would decide the fate of these areas.
● Since the Congress had conceded a unified India, all their other points would be met, namely,
(i) independence for the Princely States ruled out—they would join either India or Pakistan;
(ii) independence for Bengal ruled out;
(iii)accession of Hyderabad to Pakistan ruled out (Mountbatten supported the Congress on this);
(iv) freedom to come on August 15, 1947; and
(v) a Boundary Commission to be set up, if partition was to be effected.
Thus, the League’s demand was conceded to the extent that Pakistan would be created and the Congress’
position on unity was taken into account to make Pakistan as small as possible. Mountbatten’s formula was
to divide India, but retain maximum unity.
Q 67. (B)
> The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat‘s forest department, is attempting for the first
time a process to restore coral reefs using Biorock or Mineral Accretion Technology.
> Biorock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in
seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this
case solar panels that float on the surface.
Working Principle
> The technology works by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water.
> When a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode are placed on the sea floor, with an
electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the
structure (cathode).
> This results in calcium carbonate formation.
> Coral larvae adhere to the CaCO3 and grow quickly.
> Fragments of broken corals are tied to the biorock structure, where they are able to grow at least four to
six times faster than their actual growth as they need not spend their energy in
building their own calcium carbonate skeletons.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 68. (B)
The Attlee government announced in February 1946, the decision to send a high-powered mission of three
British Cabinet Members (Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India; Stafford Cripps, President of the
Board of Trade; and A.V. Alexander, First Lord of Admiralty) to India to find out ways and means for a
negotiated, peaceful transfer of power to India. (Pethick Lawrence was the Chairman of the Mission.)
Salient points of the Cabinet Mission Plan:
1. Rejection of the demand for a fullfledged Pakistan
2. Grouping of the existing Provincial Assemblies into three sections: Section 1 (Hindu majority provinces);
Section 2 (Muslim majority provinces); and Section 3 (Muslim majority provinces)
3. Three tier executive and legislature at provincial, section and union levels.
4. A Constituent Assembly was to be elected by the Provincial Assemblies by proportional representation
(Voting in three groups – General, Muslims, and Sikhs). This Constituent Assembly would be a 389 member
body, with the Provincial Assemblies sending 292, Chief Commissioners’ Provinces sending 4, and the
Princely States sending 93 members.
5. In the Constituent Assembly, members from groups A, B and C were to sit separately to decide the
Constitution for the Provinces and if possible, for the groups also. Then, the whole Constituent Assembly (all
three sections A, B and C combined) would sit together to formulate the Union Constitution.
6. A common Centre would control defence, communication and external affairs. A federal structure was
envisaged for India.
7. Communal questions in the Central Legislature were to be decided by a simple majority of both
communities, present and voting.
8. Provinces were to have full autonomy and residual powers.
9. Princely States were no longer to be under paramountcy of the British government. They would be free
to enter into an arrangement with the successor governments or the British government.
10. After the first general elections, a province was to be free to come out of a group and after 10 years, a
province was to be free to call for a reconsideration of the group or the Union Constitution.
11. Meanwhile, an Interim Government was to be formed from the Constituent Assembly.
Q 69. (B)
> Recently, India has restricted Palm oil imports after Malaysia
> This is to curb imports from Malaysia following criticism from Kuala Lumpur on India's actions in the
Kashmir region and its New Citizenship Law.
> India is the world‘s largest importer of palm oil and a major market for Malaysia.
> India imported $10 billion worth of vegetable oil in 2019-20, making it the country‘s 5th most valuable
import after Mineral oil ($141 bn), Gold ($32 bn), Coal ($26 bn), and Telecom instruments such as cell phones
($17 bn).
> India imports most of its refined palm oil from Malaysia and crude palm oil from Indonesia.
> Malaysia‘s refining capacity equals its production capacity this is why Malaysia is keen on exporting refined
oil.
> Indonesia and Malaysia are the top 2 producers of palm oil in the world,
together produce 85% of the world‘s palm oil.
> Restricting refined oil imports will not help farmers directly, as they are not involved in the process of
refining.
> However, the restrictions have caused refined palm oil prices to increase.
> If prices continue to hold, farmers will get a better realisation for their crop.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 70. (B)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: The ban has been imposed from 2nd October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi.
Ban on Single-use Plastic
> The Government has banned singleuse plastic items with effect from 2nd October 2019, on the occasion
of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
> The Government aims to completely eliminate this use of single-use plastic by 2022.
> Six single-use plastic items will be scrapped with effect from the day including plastic bags, straws, cups,
plates, small bottles and certain types of sachets.
> India along with other south Asian countries has become global dump yards of plastic, especially from
the West. Hence, along with manufacturing and usage, the ban will cover the import of such plastic items.
> The Government has asked all the Ministries to participate in the campaign. The campaign is a part of the
central government’s ongoing Swacch Bharat Mission.
> Bottled water manufacturers and various government departments are discussing ways to find a suitable
alternative to singleuse plastic bottles for selling drinking water to prepare ahead for the single-use plastic
ban.
> Of the total plastic produced worldwide, only 1-13 per cent of the plastic items are recyclable, the rest
ends up either buried in the land or water bodies, eventually reaching the oceans, leading to polluting of
water bodies and killing of marine life. This ban will check this huge loss.
Q 71. (C)
> The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI).
> It has in its journey of eighteen years (2001- 2019) become a focal point for global leaders and practitioners
to congregate on a single platform to discuss and deliberate over climatic issues of universal importance.
> The Summit series has emerged as the premier international event on sustainability which focusses on the
global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future.
> The WSDS has continued the legacy of the erstwhile Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) which
was initiated in 2001 with the aim of making ‗sustainable development‘ a globally shared goal.
> WSDS 2020 Theme: Towards 2030: Making the Decade Count
> The 2020 edition of TERI‘s annual flagship event, the WSDS will focus on the need to assess global
contributions made, and the next steps to be undertaken by the world community to meet the 17 SDGs.
> Under the broad theme of ‗Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count‘, the Summit will hope to
establish the terms of the discourse for making the most of the decade we have left.
> This it intends to do by weaving together the many strands of climate action, through myriad, high-level
discussions.
Q 72. (C)
> Option (c) is correct: Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in the terrestrial biosphere, is an
important component of the global carbon cycle. SOC is the major constituent of soil organic matter (SOM),
which plays a critical role in soil productivity and a wide array of ecosystem processes.
Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)’s Committee on Science and
Technology (CST) has released its report on Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) during the Ongoing Conference of
Parties (COP) 14 of UNCCD in New Delhi.
> Titled Realising the Carbon Benefits of Sustainable Land Management Practices: Guidelines for Estimation
of Soil Organic Carbon in the Context of Land Degradation Neutrality Planning and Monitoring, the report
emphasises the importance of SOC in preventing land degradation and desertification.
> The carbon cycle is a fundamental part of life on earth. ‘Soil organic carbon’ (SOC) – the amount of carbon
stored in the soil is a component of soil organic matter – plant and animal materials in the soil that are in
various stages of decay.
> Soil organic carbon is the basis of soil fertility. It releases nutrients for plant growth, promotes the
structure, biological and physical health of the soil, and is a buffer against harmful substances
Q 73. (B)
> Kalakshetra Foundation was recognised by the Government of India as an Institute of National
Importance by an Act of Parliament in 1993 and is now an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture,
Government of India.
> Kalakshetra, as the name suggests, is a centre for artistic endeavour.
> Founded in 1936 by the vibrant visionary Rukmini Devi Arundale, the Institution stands testimony to her
dream of creating a space where the essence of Indian thought would find expression through artistic
education.
Q 74. (B)
> Statement 1 is incorrect: Malabar Tree Toad is an endangered species.
> Statement 3 is incorrect: It is found only in monsoon.
Malabar Tree Toad
> Malabar Tree Toad in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species is an endangered species.
> This frog species is endemic to India only. It is found in forty-five places in the Western Ghats.
> The campaign of “Mapping the Malabar Tree Toad” has been launched recently. Hence, the population of
this endangered species has been increasing now.
> A unique feature of the Malabar tree toad is that it is found in the first three weeks of the monsoon, and
then it disappears.
> The eggs hatch inside trees and streams. These species which disappears after monsoon which is the
breeding season for the amphibian is different from other species.
Q 75. (C)
> Recently, the World‘s largest Solar Telescope takes its first shot of the Sun.
> The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) shot is the highest-resolution photo of the sun ever taken.
> The National Science Foundation of United State‘s, Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is the most powerful
solar telescope in the world.
> It was built and is operated by the National Solar Observatory (NSO), a research center operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences.
> DKISTs primary objective is to observe magnetic fields on the Sun throughout the corona (the outermost
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> It collects seven times more sunlight than any other solar telescope, producing the clearest, highest
resolution images of our Sun ever taken.
Q 76. (A)
Explanation:
> Option (a) is correctly matched:
List I List II
A. Mutualism 2. Both species benefit
B. Commensalism 3. One species benefits, the other is unaffected
C. Predation 1. One species benefits, the other is harmed
D. Amensalism 4. One species is harmed, the other is unaffected
Types of biotic interaction
> Mutualism: Both species benefit. - Example: in pollination mutualisms, the pollinator gets food (pollen,
nectar), and the plant has its pollen transferred to other flowers for cross-fertilization (reproduction).
> Commensalism: One species benefits, the other is unaffected.
- Example: cow dung provides food and shelter to dung beetles. The beetles have no effect on the cows.
> Competition: Both species are harmed by the interaction.
- Example: if two species eat the same food, and there isn’t enough for both, both may have access to less
food than they would if alone. They both suffer a shortage of food
> Predation and parasitism: One species benefits, the other is harmed.
- Example: predation—one fish kills and eats parasitism: tick gains benefit by sucking blood; the host is
harmed by losing blood.
> Amensalism: One species is harmed, the other is unaffected.
- Example: A large tree shades a small plant, retarding the growth of the small plant. The small plant has no
effect on the large tree.
> Neutralism: There is no net benefit or harm to either species. Perhaps in some interspecific interactions,
the costs and benefits experienced by each partner are exactly the same so that they sum to zero.
- Example: Neutralism is also sometimes described as the relationship between two species inhabiting the
same space and using the same resources, but that has no effect on each other. In this case, one could argue
that they aren’t interacting at all.
Q 77. (B)
- Statement 3 is incorrect: He contested for Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, but did not get elected as he
failed to gain enough political traction.
- Deendayal’s personal life:
Deendayal Upadhyaya was born in a village near the Farah town in Mathura district called Chandrabhan,
which later went on to be named after him as “Deendayal Dham”.
His father’s name was Bhagwati Prasad, an astrologer, and his mother Rampyari was a religious woman.
Both his parents died when he was only eight years old and he was then brought up by his maternal uncle
and aunt who took care of him and his education as well.
- Deendayal and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh:
After meeting the RSS founder KB Hedgewar in 1942, he joined RSS as a full-time worker, called Pracharak.
In 1951, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Deendayal was seconded to the party by the RSS, bestowed with the responsibility of moulding it into a
genuine member of the ‘Sangh Parivar’.
Then, he was appointed as General Secretary of the party’s Uttar Pradesh branch, and later as the all-India
General Secretary.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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He remained the general secretary for 15 long years and also contested for Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh,
but did not get elected as he failed to gain enough political traction.
- Upadhyaya’s ideology for India:
Upadhyaya devised the political philosophy of Integral Humanism, which advocates the simultaneous and
integrated program of the body, mind and intellect and soul of each human being.
This philosophy of his is a synthesis of the material and the spiritual; the individual and the collective.
For India, he visualised a decentralised polity and self-reliant economy with the village being the core
basis which thought of India as an independent nation which cannot rely upon western concepts like
individualism, democracy, socialism, communism or capitalism.
Deendayal was of the view that India is in urgent need of a ‘fresh breeze’ to get rid of the postindependence westernisation.
He felt Indian intellect had been suffocated, and Indian polity was no more rooted in the traditions of our
ancient culture.
Deendayal, just like all strong leaders, believed in the concept of Swaraj (Self Governance). - Deendayal’s
death: A mystery
A pool of doubt surrounds the mysterious death of this political leader.
Travelling in a train to Patna, a year after he was elected in 1967 as the president of the Jana Sangh, he
was allegedly murdered.
10 minutes after the train’s arrival at Mughal sarai station, his body was found near it clutching a five-rupee
note in his hand.
Hence, the problematic case has been looked into by several judges and has seen demands made by several
MPs, politicians and family members to be reopened.
Deendayal Upadhyayas Literary work:
- Samrat Chandragupta (1946)
- Jagatguru Shankaracharya (1947)
- Akhand Bharat Kyon? (1952)
- Bharatiya Arthniti: Vikas Ki Disha (1958)
- The Two Plans: Promises, Performances, Prospects (1958)
- Rashtra Jivan Ki Samasyayen (1960)
- Devaluation: A Great Fall (1966)
- Political Diary (1968)
- Rashtra Chintan
- Integral Humanism
- Rashtra Jivan Ki Disha
Q 78. (D)
Loss of Biodiversity
> Various factors are responsible for the loss of biodiversity. These are as follows: - Human overpopulation:
Growth in the human population has increased the rate of consumption of natural resources.
It has accelerated the loss of species and habitation in different parts of the world.
- Over-exploitations of Resources:
Overexploitation occurs when a resource is consumed at an unsustainable rate. This occurs on land in the
form of overhunting, excessive logging, poor soil conservation in agriculture and the illegal wildlife trade.
- Natural Calamities: Natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, forest fires,
droughts, etc. cause damage to the flora and fauna of the earth, bringing change to the biodiversity of
respective affected regions.
- Habitat Destruction: Habitat destruction has played a key role in extinctions, especially in relation to
tropical forest destruction. Factors contributing to habitat loss include overconsumption, overpopulation,
landuse change, deforestation, pollution (air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination) and global
warming or climate change.
- Introduction of Exotic Species:www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Species that are not the natural inhabitants of the local habitat but are introduced into the system are called
exotic species. There are many examples when a natural biotic community of the ecosystem suffered
extensive damage because of the introduction of exotic species.
- Other factors: These include factors like global warming, poaching of wildlife, pesticides and other
pollutants like hydrocarbons and toxic heavy metals.
Q 79. (A)
- Statement (a) is correct: CRZ rules 2019 provide for 2 separate categories for CRZ – III (Rural areas)
- Under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) issued
notification in 1991, for regulation of activities in the coastal area.
- Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) is the area up to 500m from the high-tide line and a stage of 100m along
banks of creeks, estuaries, backwater and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations.
- CRZ Rules govern human and industrial activity close to the coastline, in order to protect the fragile
ecosystems near the sea.
- The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the 2019 Coastal Regulation
Zone (CRZ) norms, replacing the existing CRZ norms of 2011.
- The new CRZ norms aim to promote sustainable development based on scientific principles.
- Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) 1991 notification gave four fold classifications of coastal areas.
CRZ-1: These are ecologically sensitive areas as they help in maintaining the ecosystem of the coast. They
lie between low and high tide line. Exploration of natural gas and extraction of salt are permitted
CRZ-2: These areas are urban areas located in the coastal areas. Now under new coastal zone regulations
2018, the floor space index norms have been de-freezed.
CRZ-3: rural and urban localities which fall outside the 1 and 2. Only certain activities related to agriculture
even some public facilities are allowed in this zone
CRZ-4: this lies in the aquatic area up to territorial limits. Fishing and allied activities are permitted in this
zone. Solid waste should be let off in this zone. This zone has been changed from 1991 notification, which
covered coastal stretches in islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshdweep
Changes Brought about by CRZ Regulations 2019
States found the 1991 Rules to be extremely restrictive. They complained that if applied strictly, the Rules
would not allow simple things like building decent homes for people living close to the coast, and carrying
out basic developmental works 2019 CRZ notification brought following changes:
- Two separate categories for CRZ-III (Rural) areas:
CRZ-III A: The A category of CRZ-III areas are densely populated rural areas with a population density of
2161 per square kilometre as per 2011 Census. Such areas have a No Development Zone (NDZ) of 50 meters
from the High Tide Line (HTL) as against 200 meters from the High Tide Line stipulated in the CRZ Notification,
2011.
CRZ-III B – The B category of CRZ-III rural areas have population density of below 2161 per square kilometre
as per 2011 Census. Such areas have a No Development Zone of 200 meters from the HTL.
- No-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in
the mainland.
- The government has decided to de-freeze the Floor Space Index and permit FSI for construction projects
to do away with CRZ 2011 notification
- Tourism infrastructure like shacks, toilet blocks, change rooms, drinking water facilities, etc. permitted in
coastal areas: The new norms permit temporary tourism facilities such in Beaches.
- To address pollution in Coastal areas, the treatment facilities have been made permissible in CRZ-I B area
subject to necessary safeguards.
Q 80. (D)
Wildlifewww.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> Over the years, their habitat has been disturbed by human activities and as a result, their numbers have
dwindled significantly. There are certain species that are on the brink of extinction.
> Some of the important reasons for the declining of wildlife are as follows: - Industrial and technological
advancement brought about a rapid increase in the exploitation of forest resources.
- More and more lands were cleared for agriculture, human settlement, roads, mining, reservoirs, etc.
- Pressure on forests mounted due to lopping for fodder and fuel-wood and removal of small timber by the
local people.
- Grazing by domestic cattle caused an adverse effect on wildlife and its habitat.
- Hunting was taken up as a sport by the elite and hundreds of wild animals were killed in a single hunt. Now
commercial poaching is rampant.
- Incidence of the forest fire.
Q 81. (D)
About Global Oceans:
- The ocean contains about 97% of the Earth’s water, supplies 99% of the Earth’s biologically-habitable
space, and provides roughly half of the primary production on Earth.
- The average depth of the global ocean is about 3700 m, with a maximum depth of more than 10,000 m.
- The ocean is vertically stratified with less dense water sitting above more dense layers, determined by
the seawater temperature, salinity and pressure. The surface of the ocean is in direct contact with the
atmosphere, except for sea ice covered regions.
- Sunlight penetrates the water column and supports primary production (by phytoplankton) down to 50 to
200 m depth (epipelagic zone).
- Atmospheric-driven mixing occurs from the sea surface and into the mesopelagic zone (200 to 1000 m).
The distinction between the Upper Ocean and Deep Ocean depends on the processes being considered.
- The ocean is a fundamental climate regulator on seasonal to millennial time scales. Seawater has a heat
capacity four times larger than air and holds vast quantities of dissolved carbon.
- Heat, water, and biogeochemically relevant gases (e.g., oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2)) exchange
at the air-sea interface, and ocean currents and mixing caused by winds, tides, wave dynamics, density
differences, and turbulence redistribute these throughout the global ocean.
Q 82. (B)
> Altitude: The atmosphere is indirectly heated by terrestrial radiation from below. Therefore, the places
near the sea-level record higher temperature than the places situated at higher elevations. In other words,
the temperature generally decreases with increasing height. The rate of decrease of temperature with height
is termed as the Normal Lapse Rate.
> At times, the situation is reversed and the Normal Lapse Rate is inverted. It is called Inversion of
Temperature. Inversion is usually of short duration, but quite common nonetheless. A long winter night with
clear skies and still air is an ideal situation for inversion. The heat of the day is radiated off during the night
and by early morning hours; the earth is cooler than the air above. Over polar areas, Temperature Inversion
is normal throughout the year.
Q 83. (A)
- Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: Tilaiya dam was constructed across the Barakar River at Tilaiya in Koderma
district in Jharkhand. It was the first of the four multi-purpose dams included in the first phase of the
Damodar Valley Corporation.
- Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: Bansagar Dam is a multipurpose river Valley Project on Sone River situated
in the Ganges Basin in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
- Khadakwasla Dam: Khadakwasla Dam was built on the Mutha River. The dam created a reservoir known
as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs in the state of Maharashtra.
- Other major Dams and Reservoirs in India:www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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Q 84. (D)
> In general, the effect of the latitude on temperature is well pronounced on the map, as the isotherms are
generally, and not always, parallel to the latitudes.
> The deviation from this general trend is more pronounced in January than in July, especially in the northern
hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, the land surface area is much larger than in the southern
hemisphere. Hence, the effects of land mass and the ocean currents are well pronounced.
Q 85. (C)
Mass extinction:
Mass extinctions are defined as any substantial increase in the amount of extinction (lineage termination)
suffered by more than one geographically wide-spread higher taxon during a relatively short interval of
geologic time, resulting in an at least temporary decline in their standing diversity.
There are five mass extinctions that are happened during geological history of the Earth.
- Ordovician-Silurian extinction 485 to 444 million years ago.
- Late Devonian extinction - 383-359 million years ago.
- Permian-Triassic extinction - 252 million years ago.
- Triassic-Jurassic extinction - 201 million years ago.
- Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction - 66 million years ago.
Permian-Triassic extinction - 252 million years ago:
- Of the five mass extinctions, the Permian- Triassic is the only one that wiped out large numbers of insect
species. Marine ecosystems took four to eight million years to recover.
- The extinction’s single biggest cause is the Siberian Traps, an immense volcanic complex that erupted more
than 720,000 cubic miles of lava across what is now Siberia. The eruption triggered the release of at least
14.5 trillion tons of carbon.
- Magma from the Siberian Traps infiltrated coal basins on its way toward the surface, probably releasing
even more greenhouse gases such as methane.
- In the million years after the event, seawater and soil temperatures rose between 25 to 34 degrees
Fahrenheit.
- As temperatures rose, rocks on land weathered more rapidly, hastened by acid rain that formed from
volcanic sulfur. Just as in the late Devonian, increased weathering would have brought on anoxia that
suffocated the oceans. Climate models suggest that at the time, the oceans lost an estimated 76 percent of
their oxygen inventory. These models also suggest that the warming and oxygen loss account for most of the
extinction’s species losses.
Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction - 66 million years ago:
- The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event is the most recent mass extinction and the only one
definitively connected to a major asteroid impact.
- Some 76 percent of all species on the planet, including all nonavian dinosaurs, went extinct.
- About 66 million years ago, an asteroid roughly 7.5 miles across slammed into the waters off of Mexico’s
Yucatán Peninsula at 45,000 miles an hour. The massive impact left a crater more than 120 miles wide flung
huge volumes of dust, debris, and sulfur into the atmosphere, bringing on severe global cooling.
- Wildfires ignited any land within 900 miles of the impact, and a huge tsunami rippled outward from the
impact. Overnight, the ecosystems that supported nonavian dinosaurs began to collapse.
- Global warming fueled by volcanic eruptions at the Deccan Flats in India may have aggravated the event.
Some scientists even argue that some of the Deccan Flats eruptions could have been triggered by the impact.
Q 86. (C)
In the lower atmosphere, the pressure decreases rapidly with height. The decrease amounts to about 1 mb
for each 10 m increase in elevation.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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The vertical pressure gradient force is much larger than that of the horizontal pressure gradient. But, it is
generally balanced by a nearly equal, but opposite gravitational force. Hence, we do not experience strong
upward winds.
Q 87. (D)
- Onion price has been shooting in the wholesale and retail markets and the central government has taken
many efforts to control the increasing price.
- With elections nearing in Maharashtra and Haryana, the government cannot upset onion growers in rural
areas (part of the voter base) and urban consumers who have to shell out more money for the bulb.
- Since May 2019, prices in wholesale markets across the onion-growing districts of Maharashtra have been
increasing.
- The ripple effect can be seen in the retail markets where the price of onion has also increased.
- According to Price Monitoring Cell (PMC) of the Consumer Affairs department, the retail price of onion
has increased by Rs 20-25/ kilo across the country in the last six months (as of September 2019).
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
account for almost 90% of onion production in the country.
- Maharashtra contributes nearly one third of the country’s production. - Farmers across the country take
three crops of onions which ensure uninterrupted supply across the year. Of these,
Kharif and late kharif are not amenable for storage (has higher moisture content)
Rabi crop can be stored for a long period.
- Farmers usually store their produce in moistureproof and dust-proof structures to prevent the bulbs from
sprouting green shoots.
- Depending on the price, farmers release their produce, enabling steady supply for retail markets.
Why the price is rising?
- Hoarding: Hoarding of perishable items is illegal; however, many traders have hoarded onions and are now
selling at much inflated prices than before. Therefore, traders and not farmers are benefited when onion
prices hike.
- Low Onion Consumption: The price rise comes during months when onion consumption usually goes down.
It goes with the law of demand and supply. For example, it happens during the nine days of Navratri in
Maharashtra and the month of Shravan.
- Delayed Monsoon leads to supply-side constraints: The current increase in onion prices is a fall out of
2018’s drought and the delayed monsoon in 2019. Some oniongrowing areas have reported excessive rain
and delay in harvest period by a week or so.
- A combination of factors has led to the increase in prices now.
The cultivation area under rabi crop has decreased in Maharashtra. So, it reported a low cultivation in
the rabi season of 2018-19.
Karnataka received heavy rain during kharif crop’s harvest period, which delayed the arrival of kharif
onions from Karnataka.
So, the stored rabi crop should have to be supplied to the markets.
As the imported onions may not arrive soon, the price of the bulb is expected to stay high.
Steps Taken by Government to control Onion Prices
- In early September 2019, the state-run Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) had
floated contracts for importing onions from Pakistan, Egypt, China, Afghanistan, etc.Following sharp
criticism, MMTC dropped Pakistan from the list of countries.
- The Centre also tried to restrict exports by sharply hiking the Minimum Export Price (MEP).
- In June 2019, the government ended the 10% export subsidy for onion.
- Anticipating a shortage, the central government had created a buffer stock of 57,000 tonnes, of which
some have already been offloaded.
Q 88. (A)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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The Intensive Dairy Development Programme (IDDP) was launched in 1993- 94 for helping Non-Operation
Flood, and hilly and backward areas. The scheme was modified in March, 2005. It was also extended to some
districts of Operation Flood programme. Following are the main objectives of IDDP:
(i) Development of milch cattle.
(ii) Increasing milk production by providing technical input services.
(iii) Ensure remunerative prices to the milk producers.
(iv) Generate additional employment opportunities.
(v) Procurement, processing and marketing of milk in a cost effective
manner.
(vi) Improve social, nutritional and economic status of residents of compraratively more disadvantaged
areas.
Q 89. (D)
- Guru Nanak was born in Talwandi but he travelled for years before he founded the Dera Baba Nanak in
Kartarpur.
- Irrespective of their creed or caste, his followers ate together in a common kitchen known as langar. And
the sacred place/temple he created for worship and meditation was called dharmasal (now known as
Gurudwara).
- Before he died in 1539, he appointed a follower called Lena (known later as Guru Angad) as his successor.
- Guru Angad compiled the work of Guru Nanak and added to it his own script known as Gurmukhi.
- The next three Gurus also wrote under Nanak’s name, and their work was compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604.
- Works of Shaikh Farid, Sant Kabir, Bhagat Namdev, and Guru Tegh Bahadur were also added to these
compilations.
- Finally, in 1706, Guru Gobind Singh authenticated the compilation and created the Guru Granth Sahib.
- Guru Nanak’s followers increased in the sixteenth century as people from all castes and occupations joined
the community.
- By the seventeenth century, the town of Ramdaspur developed around a Gurudwara called the Harmandar
Sahib and became a self-governing society.
- The Mughal Emperor Jehangir saw them as a potential threat, and in 1606 he ordered the execution of
Guru Arjan.
- By the seventeenth century, Guru Gobind Singh organised the Khalsa Movement, and the community of
Sikhs became a political organisation called the Khalsa Panth.
Guru Nanak’s Teachings:
- Guru Nanak emphasised the worship of one God and insisted that caste, creed, and gender were irrelevant
to attaining salvation.
- According to him, pursuit of an active life would liberate humans, and he also used the terms nam, dan,
and isnan to mean right worship, welfare, and purity of conduct.
- His ideas today are called nam-japna, kirtkarna, and vand-chhakna, which mean right belief and worship,
honest living, and helping others.
- Thus, Guru Nanak’s idea of equality had social and political implications.
Q 90. (C)
A Treaty on Integrated Development of Mahakali was signed between India and Nepal in Feburary, 1996,
which came into force in June, 1997 (The Mahakali Treaty). The Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project on river
Mahakali (known as sharda in India) is the centrepiece of the Mahakali Treaty.
River Sarayu flows through Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The Sarayu river forms at the confluence of the
Karnali (or Ghaghara) and Mahakali (or Sharda) in Bahraich District. The Mahakali or Sharda forms the
western Indo-Nepal border.
Q 91. (C)www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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- The outlay of ₹10,000 crore has been made for three years till 2022 for FAME 2 scheme. - The government
will offer the incentives for electric buses, three-wheelers and fourwheelers to be used for commercial
purposes. Plug-in hybrid vehicles and those with a sizeable lithium-ion battery and electric motor will also
be included in the scheme and fiscal support offered depending on the size of the battery.
- The centre will invest in setting up charging stations, with the active participation of public sector units and
private players.
- FAME 2 will offer incentives to manufacturers, who invest in developing electric vehicles and its
components, including lithium-ion batteries and electric motors.
Q 92. (C)
> Aluminium is the second most
abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust, after silicon and has been produced in commercial quantities
since 1886. In 1900, annual output of aluminium was only 1,000 tonnes. By end 2005, annual production had
reached 31 million tonnes (mt), making aluminium the world’s second most used metal.
> It is used in water treatment and medicine-antacid to combat gastric upsets, anti-perspirants.
> Aluminum can be used as an alloy with other metals, to extend the already impressive list of its properties.
Its surface retains colour well and is, therefore, remarkably suited for printing.
> Aluminum also has the advantage of a practically infinite capacity for recycling, making it a choice solution
in terms of environmental protection. The use of secondary aluminum, employing rejects or aluminum
products at the end of their life cycle, requires only 5% of the power required to produce the primary metal.
Aluminum's many properties and qualities explain the “magic” surrounding this metal and the reason why
its popularity continues to grow among new product designers, who are constantly adding to its already
wide range of applications.
Q 93. (D)
- Only statement 1 is correct.
- A bond is a debt security which borrowers issue to raise money from investors, who are willing to lend
them a sum for a certain amount of time.
- It can be purchased by an Indian citizen or a company incorporated or established in India.
- Only political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, which
have secured no less than 1% votes in the last Lok Sabha elections, are eligible to receive electoral bonds.
- These bonds can be bought from selected branches of State Bank of India only.
- Political parties are allotted a verified account by the Election Commission and all the electoral bond
transactions are done through this account only.
- The electoral bonds are available in denominations from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore.
- Electoral bonds will be valid for 15 days from the date of purchase.
- No interest will be given by the banks on these bonds.
- Donations will be tax deductible, and the benefitting political party will get a tax exemption for the amount
received.
- They can be bought by a donor with a KYCcompliant account. Names of the donors are kept confidential.
Q 94. (A)
Deendayal Port Trust Gujarat
Paradip Port Trust Odisha
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust Maharashtra
Mumbai Port Trust Maharashtra
Vishakhapatnam Port Trust Andhra Pradesh
Chennai Port Trust Tamil Nadu
Kolkata Port Trust West Bengal
New Mangaluru Port Trust Karnataka
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Kamarajar Port Limited Tamil Nadu
Kochi Port Trust Kerala
Mormugao Port Trust Goa
Panambur Port, known as the New Mangalore Port is a seaport located near to the Surathkal railway station
in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.
New Mangalore Port is a deep-water all weather port and the only major port of Karnataka and one of the
largest ports in India.
Q 95. (C)
- Statement 1 is incorrect: The status of the emperor penguin, one of Antarctica’s most iconic species, in the
Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is Near Threatened.
Emperor Penguins
- The status of the emperor penguin, one of Antarctica’s most iconic species, in the Red List of International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is Near Threatened.
- The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica.
Emperor Penguins are the largest penguins in the world.
- Feathers of the head and back are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, paleyellow breast and
bright-yellow ear patches.
- While hunting, the species can remain submerged around 20 minutes. They can dive deeper than any other
bird.
- This is the only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter.
- Emperor Penguins don’t build any sort of nests at all. Their feet and brood patches are the only “nest” their
chicks get.
Q 96. (A)
Iron resources
S.No. Resource State
1. Dalli-Rajhara Chhattisgarh
2. Noamandi Jharkhand
3. Bababudan hills Karnataka
Q 97. (C)
- C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities
to collaborate effectively, share knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on
climate change.
- Around the world, C40 Cities connects 94 of the world’s greatest cities to take bold climate action, leading
the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future.
The chair:
- The Chair is the elected leader of the organisation.
- The Chairmanship is a rotating position, which has been held to date by the following C40 City Mayors:
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (2016-present)
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes (2013- 2016)
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (2010-2013)
Toronto Mayor David Miller (2008-2010)
London Mayor Ken Livingstone (2005- 2008)
Q 98. (A)
> The Census 2011 is the 15th National Census Survey, conducted by the Census Organization of India. Mr.
C. Chandramouli is the Commissioner and Registrar General of the Indian 2011 Census. The 2011 Indian
National Census has been conducted in 2 phases - house listing and population.www.iasprayojan.com IAS PRAYOJAN NAGPUR
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> The Indian Population Census 2011 covered a number of parameters during the survey. These parameters
include population, growth rate in population, rate of literacy, density of population, sex ratio and child sex
ratio (0-6 years). According to the census reports of Indian Census 2011, the population of India is
1,210,854,977 with 623, 724, 248 males and 586,469, 174 females. The total literacy rate in the country at
present is 74.04%. The density of population is 382 persons/sq.km. In regards to sex ratio, at present there
are 940 females on average on per 1000 males and the child sex ratio is 914 females per 1000 males.
Q 99. (C)
The major causes of the declining child sex ratio in India are:
- Female Foeticide: The rapid spread and use of ultrasound as well as amniocentesis for sex determination
are playing vital role in female foetus-induced abortions which is called as High-tech sexism by Amartya Sen.
- Female Infanticide: In India there is still preference for male child and in some areas of the country the
female infanticide is still common. At least 117 million girls around the world demographically go “missing”
due to sex-selective abortions according to United Nations Populations fund.
- Education – Due to illiteracy, people are unaware about the power and role of women in today’s era. The
role of education has a great influence on the sex ratio scenario of India. Child marriages are a common part
of the Indian society. Most of the girls are prone to the issue of child marriage at a very early age. This makes
them to stay away from the education and are compelled to take the responsibilities of the household.
- Poverty – Poverty is one of the factors which is responsible for the declining sex ratio. States like Tamil
Nadu have a high sex ratio but the poverty rate is low. There are states wherein due to poverty, a lot of girls
are denied of nutritious food. This deprives the women and girl child from a living a healthy life.
- Social status of women – In most parts of India, women are merely considered as an object. People are
worried about the dowry issue with the birth of a girl child. Due to financial problem, most of the families in
rural areas prefer male child over female.
- Lack of empowerment of women - There is a lack of empowerment of women especially in the rural areas.
Women do not enjoy opportunities as men do. Due to lack of education, women are unable to establish their
roles in many places. The state of Uttar Pradesh has become like a grave for girls.
- Male domination – Majority of the places in India follow the patriarchal system. In India, males are
considered to be the only bread earners. The methods of sex determination and female foeticide are
adopted which is main reason of declining number of females especially in North India.
- Infant and Maternal Mortality – Infant mortality rate is the number of death of babies before the age of
one. Due to female foeticide, the sex ratio declines terribly. Maternal mortality also contributes to the
declining sex ratio as most of the women die during the childbirth due to improper care and less facilities.
- Impact of Population Policies: Under family planning policies, families want one or two children and
generally prefer male child over female child. It is also true in case of China which had adopted one-child
policy for long and has huge male population now.
Q 100. (C)
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a meeting of 18 regional leaders for strategic dialogue and co-operation on
the key political, security and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region. The EAS comprises the ten
member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – as well as
Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.
EAS is the Indo-Pacific's premier forum for strategic dialogue. It is the only leader-led forum at which all key
partners meet to discuss the full range of political, security and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific,
and has an important role to play in advancing closer regional co-operation.
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