HPPSC HPAS Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 9 - HPPSC HPAS (Himachal Pardesh) MCQ

• Special features of Mahajanpadas Administration Forts were probably built because people were afraid of attacks from other kings and needed protection.

• Some rulers wanted to show how rich and powerful they were by building really large,

• tall and impressive walls around their cities.

• The land and the people living inside the fortified area could be controlled more easily by the king by building forts.

• Building such huge walls required a great deal of planning including resources, labours etc. The new rajas now began maintaining armies.

• Soldiers were paid regular salaries and maintained by the king throughout the year.

• The Mahajanapadas started to collect regular taxes.

• Changes took place in agriculture like the use of iron ploughshares and transplanting paddy.

• Generally, slave men and women, (dasas and dasis) and landless agricultural labourers (kammakaras) had to do agricultural work.

The term, which Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently used to denote a peasant, was raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. In addition, the terms kisan or asami were also used. Sources of the seventeenth century refer to two kinds of peasants – khud-kashta and pahi-kashta.

Khud-kashta were residents of the village in which they held their lands. Pahi- Kashta were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis. People became pahi-kashta either out of choice, for example, when terms of revenue in a distant village were more favourable or out of compulsion, for example, forced by economic distress after a famine.

• Statement 1 is correct: Magadha was one of the most important ahajanapada. Magadha was a monarchy as there was rule of one person. Vajji was under a different form of government, known as gana or sangha. This was different from Magadha as here there were not one but many rulers, sometimes thousands of men ruled together and each one was called as raja. Vajji was a united republic of eight smaller kingdoms including Lichhavis, Janatriks and Videhas.

• Statement 2 is correct: Both the Buddha and Mahavira belonged to ganas or sanghas. The Buddha belonged to the Sakya gana and Mahavira belonged to Jantrica clan which belonged to Vajji Sangha.

Trabeate style was used in the construction of temples, mosques, tombs and in buildings attached to large stepped-wells (baolis) between the eighth and thirteenth centuries in India.

Trabeate style of architecture refers to where the roofs, doors and windows are made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical columns”.

Statement 2 is correct. There are two technological and stylistic developments are noticeable from the twelfth century (since the medieval age) -

• Limestone cement was increasingly used in construction. This was very high-quality cement, which, when mixed with stone chips hardened into concrete. This made construction of large structures easier and faster.

Arcuate style of architecture- In this type of architecture, the weight of the superstructure above the doors and windows was carried by arches.

• Satavahanas became prominent in the Indian political scene sometime in the middle of the first century BC. Gautamiputra Satakarni (first century AD) is considered to be the greatest of the Satavahana rulers.
• He is credited with the extension of Satavahana dominions by defeating Nahapana, the Shaka ruler of
• Western India. Simuka was the founder of the Satavahana Dynasty. Hence, statement 3 is not correct
• His kingdom is said to have extended from river Krishna in the south to river the Godavari in the north. The Satavahanas had their capital at Pratishthana (modern Paithan) near Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The Satavahana kingdom was wiped out in the first quarter of the third century AD and the Satavahanas kings were succeeded by the Kings of the lkshvaku dynasty.
• Satavahana Society:
  • The Satavahanas originally seems to have been a Deccan tribe. They however were so brahmanized that they claimed to be Brahmanas. Their most famous king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, described himself as a brahmana and claimed to have established the fourfold varna system which had fallen into disorder. He boasted that he had put an end to the intermixture between the people of different social orders. He considered it their primary duty to uphold the varna system i.e. the fourfold division of social structure. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Indigenous tribal people were increasingly acculturated by the Buddhist monks who were induced by land grants to settle in western Deccan. It is suggested that traders too supported the Buddhist monks, for the earliest caves seem to have been located on the trade routes.
  • Satavahanas kings were the first in Indian history to make tax-free land grants to Buddhists and Brahmanas to gain religious merit. This practice became more prominent in succeeding periods. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• During the second millennium B.C. several regional cultures sprang up in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. These were non-urban, non-Harappan and were characterized by the use of stone and copper tools. Hence, these cultures are termed chalcolithic cultures. The chalcolithic cultures are identified on the basis of their geographical location.
  • The Jorwe culture is the most important and characteristic chalcolithic culture of Maharashtra, extending almost all over the present state, excepting the coastal strip on the west and Vidarbha in the northeast. The culture is named after the type site of Jorwe in the Ahmednagar district, of Maharashtra. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
  • Kayatha culture was named after the type site Kayatha, in the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh. Over forty settlements of the Kayatha culture have been so far discovered in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, most of them being located on the tributaries of the Chambal River.
  • The Ahar culture is among the earliest Chalcolithic cultures of India. This is seen from the calibrated radio-carbon dates available from many of the sites. The culture has been named after the type site Ahar, in District Udaipur, Rajasthan.
     

• Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (1266 to 1287 AD), the ninth Sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi, was one of the most powerful Sultans. He was a member of Iltutmish's famed group of 40 Turkic slaves. He adopted a policy of consolidation rather than expansion. So, Statement 1 is not correct.
• The silver and copper coins were mainly in circulation for cash transactions during the period of the Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish and not Balban introduced the two coins, the Tanka (silver coin) and the Jital (copper coin), which became the basis for the subsequent coinage of the Delhi Sultanate. The value of coinage fluctuated with the change in the prices of metals. So, Statement 2 is not correct.
• Qutub-ud-din Aibak and not Balbun was referred to as Lakh Baksh. Lakh Baksh is usually referred to as those who give away property and wealth to the needy and poor. Because of his generosity and gave liberal donations, Qutub-ud-din Aibak was called Lakh Baksh. So, Statement 3 is not correct.
• Balban ruled in an autocratic manner and worked hard to elevate the position of the Sultan. He introduced a new theory of kingship and redefined the relations between the Sultan and nobility. He did not allow any noble to assume great power. So, Statement 4 is correct.

• Statement 1 is not correct: Balban stood forth as the champion of Turkish nobility. He refused to entertain for important government posts anyone who did not belong to a noble family. He excluded Indian Muslims from all positions of power and authority.
  • To emphasise that the nobles were not his equals, he insisted on the ceremony of sijada and paibos. These ceremonies were Iranian in origin and were considered un-Islamic.
• Statement 2 is correct: To keep himself well informed, Balban appointed spies in every department. He also organized a strong centralized army, both to deal with internal disturbances, and to repel the Mongols who had entrenched themselves in Punjab and posed a serious danger to the Delhi Sultanat.
• Statement 3 is not correct: Muhammad bin Tughlaq launched a scheme to extend and improve cultivation in the doab. He set up a separate department called diwan-i-amir-i-kohi. The area was divided into development blocs headed by an official whose job was to extend cultivation by giving loans to the cultivators and to induce them to cultivate superior crops—wheat in place of barley, sugarcane in place of wheat, grapes and dates in place of sugarcane,etc.
  • Balban organised a strong centralized army, both to deal with internal disturbances and to repel the Mongols. For this purpose, he reorganized the military department (diwan-i-arz) and pensioned off those soldiers who were no longer fit for service.

Jagannath Puri Temple:

• Devasnana Purnima – The annual bathing ritual, where the holy trinity is brought out from their sanctum seated in a raised platform and bathed with purified water drawn from a well within thetemple premises.

• Chariot Festival – This happens during the month of June/July. During the festival, the Lord comes out to the street to greet his devotees, people irrespective of caste, creed & colour can seek his blessings.

• Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah was one of the many maulvis who played an important part in the revolt of 1857. In 1856, he was seen moving from village to village preaching Jihad (religious war) against the British and urging people to rebel. He moved in a palanquin, with drumbeaters in front and followers at the rear. He was therefore popularly called Danka Shah – the maulvi with the drum (danka). In 1857, he was jailed in Faizabad. When released, he was elected by the mutinous 22nd Native Infantry as their leader. He fought in the famous Battle of Chinhat in which the British forces under Henry Lawrence were defeated. He came to be known for his courage and power. Many people in fact believed that he was invincible, had magical powers, and could not be killed by the British. It was this belief that partly formed the basis of his authority.

• Shah Mal was a rebel at the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, based out of the village of Bijrol, Uttar Pradesh. He led the Jats of Baraut in rebellion against the East India Company. Maulvi Liaquat Ali was a Muslim religious leader from Prayagraj (Allahabad), in the state of Uttar Pradesh in present-day India. He was one of the leaders in the revolt against the British in 1857. Maulvi captured the Khusro Bagh and declared the independence of India. Khusro Bagh became the headquarters of the sepoys under Maulvi Liaquat Ali who took charge as the Governor of liberated Allahabad. However, the Mutiny was swiftly put down and Khusro Bagh was retaken by the British in two weeks.

• He escaped from Allahabad after the British recaptured the city, but was caught after 14 years in September 1871 at Byculla railway station in Surat. He was tried and sentenced to death, but died in captivity in Rangoon on 17 May 1892.

• Bakht Khan (1797–13 May 1859) was commander-in-chief of the Indian rebel forces in the region of Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company.

These comparisons are as follows:

• Statement 1 is correct. The stated objective this time was complete independence and not just remedying two specific wrongs and a vaguely-worded Swaraj. The Civil Disobedience Movement had the objective of Poorna Swaraj.

• The methods involved violation of law from the very beginning and not just non-cooperation with foreign rule.

• There was a decline in forms of protests involving the intelligentsia, such as lawyers giving up practice, students giving up government schools to join national schools and colleges.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. Muslim participation was nowhere near that in the Non-Cooperation Movement level.

• No major labour upsurge coincided with the movement.

• The massive participation of peasants and business groups compensated for the decline of other features.

• The number of those imprisoned was about three times more this time.

• The Congress was organizationally stronger.

• Statement 1 is correct: Historians have observed that the idea of finding an ocean route to India had become an obsession for Prince Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’.

• Statement 2 is correct: In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, due to which merchandise trade from India to the European markets came under Arab Muslim intermediaries. The Red Sea trade route was a state monopoly from which Islamic rulers earned tremendous revenues.

• Statement 3 is correct: In 15th Century, Europe had made great advances in the art of ship-building and navigation. Hence, there was eagerness all over Europe for adventurous sea voyages to reach the unknown corners of the East.

• The British Government summoned the first Round Table Conference of Indian leaders and spokesmen of the British Government in London in 1930 to discuss Simon Commission Report. The National Congress boycotted the Conference.

• The Government now made attempts to negotiate an agreement with the Congress so that it would attend the Round Table Conference. Finally, the Pact was signed by Gandhiji on behalf of the Congress and by Lord Irwin on behalf of the Government, a procedure that was hardly popular with officialdom as it placed the Congress on an equal footing with the Government.

• The terms of the agreement included:

  • the immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted for violence,

  • the remission of all fines not yet collected,

  • the return of confiscated lands not yet sold to third parties, and

  • lenient treatment for those government employees who had resigned.

• The Government also conceded the right to make salt for consumption to villages along the coast, as also the right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing. The Congress demand for a public inquiry into police excesses was not accepted, but Gandhiji’s insistent request for an inquiry was recorded in the agreement. Congress, on its part, agreed to discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Hence option (b) is not the correct answer.

• Mahatma Gandhi was requested by Rajkumar Shukla, a local man, to look into the problems of the farmers in the context of indigo planters of Champaran in Bihar. Gandhi went to Champaran with Rajkumar early in 1917 accompanied by Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Haq, Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parekh, and J.B. Kripalani.
• Whereas, Indulal Yajnik assisted Gandhi in Kheda satyagraha. So, Statement 1 is not correct.
• Mahatma Gandhi was assisted in Kheda Satyagraha by Sardar Vallabhai Patel and other local lawyers and advocates such as Indulal Yagnik, Shankarlal Banker, Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, and Ravi Shankar Vyas. Anasuya Sarabhai also played a major role in the Kheda satyagraha and was also one of the first signatories of the ‘Satyagraha Pledge’ created by Gandhi to oppose the Rowlatt Bill. So, Statement 2 is correct.
• Gandhi organized the third campaign in Ahmedabad where he intervened in a dispute between the mill owners and workers. Gandhi knew Ambalal Sarabhai, a millowner, as the latter had financially helped Gandhi’s Ashram. Moreover, Ambalal’s sister Anasuya Sarabhai had reverence for Gandhi. He was assisted by Anasuya Sarabhai organized daily mass meetings of workers, in which he delivered lectures and issued a series of leaflets on the situation. So, Statement 3 is correct.

Additional Information:

MAHATMA GANDHI
Champaran Satyagraha

• The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi in India and is considered a historically important revolt in the Indian Independence Movement.
• It was a farmer's uprising that took place in the Champaran district of Bihar, India, during the British colonial period. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it.
• When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and saw peasants in northern India oppressed by indigo planters, he tried to use the same methods that he had used in South Africa to organize mass uprisings by people to protest against injustice.
• Champaran Satyagraha was the first popular satyagraha movement.
• Other popular leaders associated with Champaran Satyagraha were Brajkishore Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Ramnavmi Prasad, and Shambhusharan Varma.

Kheda Satyagraha

• Because of the drought in 1918, the crops failed in the Kheda district of Gujarat.
• According to the Revenue Code, if the yield was less than one-fourth of the normal
• production, the farmers were entitled to remission.
• The Gujarat Sabha, consisting of the peasants, submitted petitions to the highest governing authorities of the province requesting that the revenue assessment for the year 1919 be suspended.
• The government, however, remained adamant and said that the property of the farmers would be seized if the taxes were not paid.
• Gandhi asked the farmers not to pay taxes.
• Gandhi, however, was mainly the spiritual head of the struggle.
• It was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and a group of other devoted Gandhians, namely, Narahari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, and Ravi Shankar Vyas, who went around the villages, organized the villagers and told them what to do, and gave the necessary political leadership.
• Patel, along with his colleagues, organized the tax revolt which the different ethnic and caste communities of Kheda supported.
• The revolt was remarkable in that discipline and unity were maintained.
• Even when, on non-payment of taxes, the government seized the farmers’ personal property, land, and livelihood, a vast majority of Kheda’s farmers did not desert Sardar Patel.
• Those Indians who sought to buy the confiscated lands were socially ostracised.
• Ultimately, the government sought to bring about an agreement with the farmers.
• It agreed to suspend the tax for the year in question, and for the next; reduce the rate increase, and return all the confiscated property.
• The struggle at Kheda brought a new awakening among the peasantry.
• They became aware that they would not be free of injustice and exploitation unless and until their country achieved complete independence.

Ahmedabad mill strike

• In March 1918, Gandhi intervened in a dispute between cotton mill owners of Ahmedabad and the workers over the issue of discontinuation of the plague bonus.
• The mill owners wanted to withdraw the bonus.
• The workers were demanding a rise of 50 percent in their wages so that they could manage in the times of wartime inflation (which doubled the prices of food grains, cloth, and other necessities) caused by Britain’s involvement in World War I.
• The mill owners were ready to give only a 20 percent wage hike.
• The workers went on strike. The relations between the workers and the m ill owners worsened with the striking workers being arbitrarily dismissed and the mill owners deciding to bring in weavers from Bombay.
• The workers of the mill turned to Anusuya Sarabhai for help in fighting for justice.
• Anusuya Sarabhai was a social worker who was also the sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners and the president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association (founded in 1891 to develop the textile industry in Ahmedabad), for help in fighting for justice.
• Though Gandhi was a friend of Ambalal, he took up the workers’ cause.
• Gandhi asked the workers to go on a strike and demand a 35 percent increase in wages instead of 50 percent.
• Gandhi advised the workers to remain non-violent while on strike.
• When negotiations with mill owners did not progress, he undertook a fast unto death (his first) to strengthen the workers’ resolve.
• But the fast also had the effect of putting pressure on the mill owners who finally agreed to submit the issue to a tribunal.

• In 1534 AD the Portuguese gained possession of Bombay, after the Treaty of Bassein was signed between them and Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate. In 1612, a battle was fought between the British and the Portuguese at Surat for the possession of Bombay, which ended the Portuguese monopoly over trade in India. 
• In 1661, under the Treaty of Whitehall, Bombay changed hands as it was presented to King Charles II as part of the dowry, when he married Princess Catherine de Braganza of Portugal. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The Treaty included a secret provision that it would be used to protect the Portuguese settlements in India. It involved a mutual defence pact against the aggressive and expanding Dutch East India Company. 
• The French East India Company was founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English and Dutch trading companies in the East Indies. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• Rural indebtedness and large-scale alienation of agricultural land to non-cultivating classes was a countrywide phenomenon in rural India during the last quarter of the 19th century. Faced with peasant uprisings in Bengal and Maharashtra the Government could not wait for a similar rebellion in Punjab before it would act. The communal complexion of the Punjab rural situation and the martial character of the Sikhs called for early effective action.
  • Following its annexation by the British in 1847, Punjab province witnessed several significant developments—individualization of property rights in land, fixation and rigorous collection of land revenue in cash, the introduction of a new legal-administrative system, construction of a road and railway network, canal-building activities and a colonization program, commercialization of agriculture and increased monetization of economic transactions.
  • These developments created a situation which, in turn, gave rise to two related problems –agricultural indebtedness and land transfer.
• As early as 1895 the Government addressed a circular to the provincial governments suggesting the advisability of imposing restrictions on the alienation of agricultural land. The famines of 1896-97 and 1899-1900 resulted in large-scale distress and brought the matter into sharp focus. The Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 was passed "as an experimental measure " to be extended to the rest of the country if it worked successfully in Punjab.
  • The Act divided the Punjab population under three heads viz., the agricultural classes, the statutory agriculturist class (those who though not belonging to the agricultural class long settled interests in the land) and the rest of the population including the moneylenders.
  • Restrictions were imposed on the sale and mortgage of the land from the first category to the other two categories, though members of the second and third category could sell or mortgage land as they pleased.
  • The Punjab peasant was also given partial relief against the oppressive incidence of land revenue demand by the Government whereby the state land revenue demand was not to exceed 50% of the annual rental value of the land.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• In 1882, the Government appointed a commission under the chairmanship of W.W. Hunter to review the progress of education in the country since the Despatch of 1854. The Hunter Commission mostly confined its recommendations to primary and secondary education.
  • It emphasized that state’s special care is required for the extension and improvement of primary education and that primary education should be imparted through vernacular.
  • It recommended the transfer of control of primary education to newly set up district and municipal boards.
  • It recommended that secondary (High School) education should have two divisions— literary—leading up to university and vocational—for commercial careers.
  • It drew attention to inadequate facilities for female education, especially outside presidency towns and made recommendations for its spread.
• The Sadler commission was set up in 1917 to study and report on problems of Calcutta University but its recommendations were applicable more or less to other universities also. It reviewed the entire field from school education to university education. It held the view that, for the improvement of university education, the improvement of secondary education was a necessary pre-condition. Its observations were as follows:
  • School course should cover 12 years. Students should enter university after an intermediate stage (rather than matric) for a three-year degree course in university.
  • A separate board of secondary and intermediate education should be set up for the administration and control of secondary and intermediate education.
  • There should be less rigidity in framing university regulations.
  • A university should function as centralized, unitary residential-teaching autonomous body, rather than as scattered, affiliated colleges.
  • Female education, applied scientific and technological education, teachers’ training including those for professional and vocational colleges should be extended
• The Hartog Committee was set up in 1929 to report on the development of education. Its main recommendations were as follows.
  • Emphasis should be given to primary education but there need be no hasty expansion or compulsion in education.
  • Only deserving students should go in for high school and intermediate stage, while average students should be diverted to vocational courses after VIII standard.
  • For improvements in the standards of university education, admissions should be restricted.
• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

The great Gujarati poet, Zaverchand Kalidas Meghani, in a famous poem gave expression to the nationalist misgivings regarding the 2nd Round Table Conference. Addressing Gandhiji on the eve of his departure for London, he sang in the first line : ̳Chchello Katoro Jerno Aa : Pi Jayo Bapu!‘ (Even this last cup of poison, you must drink, Bapu!) Mahatma Gandhi spontaneously gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar.

The Government helped these planters by passing laws such as those which made it virtually impossible for a labourer to refuse to work once a contract was entered into. A breach of contract was a criminal offence, with a planter having the right to get the defaulting labourer arrested.

Statement 1 is correct. The key objectives of the policy are:

• Broadband for all;

• Creating four million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector;

• Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from ~ 6% in 2017;

• Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017;

• Enhancing India's contribution to Global Value Chains; and

• Ensuring Digital Sovereignty.

Statement 2 is correct. The policy advocates:

• Establishment of a National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority;

• Establishing Common Service Ducts and utility corridors in all new city and highway road projects;

• Creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Rights of Way, standardization of costs and timelines;

• Removal of barriers to approvals; and

• Facilitating development of Open Access Next Generation Networks. Features: The policy aims to Provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen;

• Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022;

• Ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas;

• Attract investments of USD 100 billion in the Digital Communications Sector;

• Train one million manpower for building New Age Skills;

• Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices;

• Establish a comprehensive data protection regime for digital communications that safeguards the privacy, autonomy and choice of individuals

• Facilitate India's effective participation in the global digital economy;

• Enforce accountability through appropriate institutional mechanisms to assure citizens of safe and

• Secure digital communications infrastructure and services.

The earth’s crust constantly undergoes changes and that plays a very important role in rejuvenation of a river.

Statement 3 is incorrect. When there is an uplift of land or a fall in sea level occurs then a negative movement occurs in the river system which steepen the slope and active down-cutting of the river is renewed.

Statement 1 is correct. A fall in sea level results in the increase in the altitude of flood plain above the sea level. The river with its new energy starts to cut the former floodplain leaving behind terraces on both sides of the river. The point where the old and rejuvenated profile meet is known as Knick point or Rejuvenated head.

Statement 2 is incorrect. A positive movement occurs when there is a depression of land or rise in sea level. This submerges the land along the coast drown, the valleys and weaken the erosive power of the river

• The direction of surface winds is usually controlled by the pressure gradient and rotation of the earth. Because of rotation of the earth along its axis the winds are deflected. The force which deflects the direction of winds is called deflection force. This force is also called coriolis force.

• Because of coriolis force all the winds are deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere while they are deflected to the left in the southern hemisphere with respect to the rotating earth. This is why winds blow counter-clockwise around the centre of low pressure (to make cyclonic circulation) in the northern hemisphere while they blow clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

• The magnitude of deflection (Coriolis effects) is directionally proportional to

  • the sine of the latitude

  • the mass of the moving body, and

  • horizontal velocity of the wind.

Hence, option d is the correct.

• The importance of foodgrains in the Indian agricultural economy may be gauged from the fact these crops occupy about two-thirds of the total cropped area in the country. Foodgrains are dominant crops in all parts of the country whether they have subsistence or commercial agricultural economy. On the basis of the structure of grain, the foodgrains are classified as cereals and pulses.

• The cereals occupy about 54 percent of the total cropped area in India. India produces a variety of cereals, which are classified as fine grains (rice, wheat) and coarse grains (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi), etc. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Rice is a staple food for the overwhelming majority of the population in India. About one-fourth of the total cropped area in the country is under rice cultivation. West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab are the leading rice-producing states in the country.

• Wheat is the second most important cereal crop in India after rice. About 14 percent of the total cropped area in the country is under wheat cultivation. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan are leading wheat-producing states. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• Ocean currents are like river flow in oceans. They represent a regular volume of water in a definite path and direction.
• The ocean currents may be classified based on their depth as surface currents and deep water currents :
  • surface currents constitute about 10 per cent of all the water in the ocean, these waters are the upper 400 m of the ocean
  • deep water currents make up the other 90 per cent of the ocean water.
• These waters move around the ocean basins due to variations in the density and gravity. Deep waters sink into the deep ocean basins at high latitudes, where the temperatures are cold enough to cause the density to increase.
• Ocean currents can also be classified based on temperature: as cold currents and warm currents: o cold currents bring cold water into warm water areas. These currents are usually found on the west coast of the continents in the low and middle latitudes (true in both hemispheres) and on the east coast in the higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere o warm currents bring warm water into cold water areas and are usually observed on the east coast of continents in the low and middle latitudes (true in both hemispheres). In the northern hemisphere they are found on the west coasts of continents in high latitudes.
• The Kuroshio Current, also known as the Black or Japan Current or the Black Stream, is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. • Hence option (b) is the correct answer. 

• The most well-known rift valley on Earth is probably the so-called "Great Rift Valley System" which stretches from the Middle East in the north to Mozambique in the south.
• The area is geologically active, and features volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes. It is a series of contiguous geographic trenches that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa.
• The Afar Triple Junction (also called the Afro-Arabian Rift System) is located along a divergent plate boundary dividing the Nubian, Somali, and Arabian plates. This area is considered a present-day example of continental rifting leading to seafloor spreading and producing an oceanic basin. Here, the Red Sea Rift meets the Aden Ridge and the East African Rift. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Karbi Anglong-Meghalaya plateau is an extension of the Peninsular plateau. They are two different plateaus - Karbi Anglong Plateau and Meghalaya plateau.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. These are separated from the Peninsular plateau by a huge fault. This fault is believed to have formed due to the force exerted by the north-eastward movement of the Indian plate at the time of formation of the Himalayas. The fault was created between the Rajmahal hills and the Karbi-Meghalaya plateau. It later filled up with river deposits from numerous rivers. The plateau region receives most of its rainfall from the south west monsoons. Places like Cherrapunji and Mawsynram are located here, which receive the highest rainfall in the world.

• Statement 3 is correct. Despite heavy rainfall the region has an eroded and bare rocky structure, with little to no permanent vegetation.

Statement 1 is incorrect. India has 615 islands/islets. Majority of them, around 572 islands/islets are located in the Bay of Bengal and remaining 43 islands/islets are located in the Arabian Sea. Apart from these, there are some coral islands in the Gulf of Mannar and Khambhat regions and there are some offshore islands along the mouth of Ganga river.

The Indian Island groups are generally grouped into two:

• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands located in the Bay of Bengal

• The Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands located in the Arabian Sea (adjacent to Kerala coast) Lakshadweep Islands situated in the Arabian Sea is a group of 36 islands having an area of 32 square kilometres and extending between 8 N and 12 N latitude.

The main islands under the Lakshadweep Islands group are:

• Kavaratti

• Agatti

• Minicoy

• Amini

These islands were earlier known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands.

• The name Lakshadweep was adopted on 1 November 1973

• These islands are separated from one another by very narrow straits.

• The Lakshadweep Islands group is a Union Territory administered by the President through a Lt. Governor.

• It is the smallest Union Territory of India.

• Kavaratti is the administrative capital of the Lakshadweep Islands. It is also the principal town of the Union Territory.

• It is a uni-district Union Territory and is comprised of 12 atolls, three reefs, five submerged banks and ten inhabited islands.

• The name Lakshadweep in Malayalam and Sanskrit means 'a hundred thousand islands'.

• The Lakshadweep Islands are located at a distance of 280 km to 480 km off the Kerala coast.

• These islands are a part of the Reunion Hotspot volcanism.

• Statement 2 is correct. The entire Lakshadweep islands group is made up of coral deposits.

• Fishing is the main occupation on which livelihoods of many people depend.

• The Lakshadweep islands have storm beaches consisting of unconsolidated pebbles, shingles, cobbles and boulders.

• Minicoy Island, located to the south of nine-degree channel is the largest island among the Lakshadweep group.

• 8 Degree Channel (8 degrees north latitude) separates islands of Minicoy and Maldives.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. 9 Degree Channel (9 degrees north latitude) separates the island of Minicoy from the main Lakshadweep archipelago.

• In Lakshadweep region, there is an absence of forests.

• Pitti Island is an important breeding place for sea turtles and for a number of pelagic birds such as the brown noddy, lesser crested tern and greater crested tern. The Pitti island has been declared a bird sanctuary.

• India and US both reiterated commitment to step efforts to implement the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment in a predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• India and US Both countries shared the re-energized global efforts to increase climate ambition as well as respective domestic efforts to meet publicly expressed climate goals. Both sides affirmed their commitment to debt sustainability, transparency in bilateral lending, and coordinating closely on extending fair and equal debt treatment to countries facing debt distress.

• The two sides will continue to engage in discussions relating to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) for sharing of financial account information. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Mediterranean Agriculture: The term ‘Mediterranean agriculture’ applies to the agriculture done in those regions which are having the Mediterranean type of climate. Mediterranean agriculture is unique because it is a mixture of diverse bio-cultural activities (both animal husbandry and crop farming) that has developed in five major world regions. This type of agriculture is determined by climatic conditions, which exert such an influence that both traditional and commercial agriculture flourish with a dominance of the agriculture of citrus fruits along with horticulture and floriculture.

  • Characteristics:

    • The natural setting that lends itself to Mediterranean agriculture is distinguished by erratic rainfall, mild temperatures, irregular topography, and nearness to large water bodies.

    • In this type, farming is intensive, highly specialized, and varied in the kinds of crops raised. Subsistence agriculture occurs side by side with commercial farming. Many crops such as wheat, barley, and vegetables are raised for domestic consumption, while others like citrus fruits, olives, and grapes are mainly for export. The Mediterranean lands are also known as ‘orchard lands of the world’.

    • The land use in these areas is dependent on such factors as the total annual amount of rainfall, length of summer drought, availability of melting snow, local soil conditions, and price fluctuations in local and world markets.

  • The main aspects of Mediterranean agriculture are:

    • Orchard fanning: It represents a highly specialized commercial agriculture here. The world supply of citrus fruits, olives, and figs comes almost exclusively from Mediterranean lands. Fruit culture has long been a traditional Mediterranean occupation because of the very special climatic features in Mediterranean areas. Hence statement 1 is correct.

  • Viticulture: Viticulture or grape cultivation is a specialty of the Mediterranean region. It represents a very intensive form of farming requiring not only good conditions of moisture, temperature, and soil but also much personal care if the grapes are to be of high quality. Hence statement 2 is correct.

  • Cereal and vegetable cultivation:

    • In acreage, cereal crops are the most important in Mediterranean agriculture. Wheat, especially hard winter wheat, is the principal food grain, and barley is grown in the poorer areas. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

    • In most Mediterranean countries cereals often occupy about half the total cultivated acreage and provide enough grain for home consumption. The warm and sunny Mediterranean climate also allows a wide range of other food crops and green vegetables to be harvested.

  • Limited animal husbandry:

    • Mediterranean agriculture is also characterised by limited animal husbandry, which survives on grasslands available here. In areas like Lombardy plain, Ebro basin, San Joaquin valley of California, dairy farming is important. In mountain areas, the practice of ‘transhumance’, moving the cattle up to mountain pastures in the summer and returning them to the valleys in winter, is very common.