Spectrum Test: Miscellaneous - UPSC MCQ

• In 1867, Keshab Chandra Sen helped Atmaram Pandurang found the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay. 

• A precursor of the Prarthana Samaj was the Paramahansa Sabha. Mahadeo Govind Ranade (1842-1901), joined the samaj in 1870, and the society does much of the popularity of, and work was due to his efforts. 

• His efforts made the samaj gain an all-India character. Other leaders of the samaj were R.G. Bhandarkar (1837- 1925) and N.G. Chandavarkar (1855-1923). 

• The emphasis was on monotheism, but on the whole, the samaj was more concerned with social reforms than with religion.

• Ananda Mohan Bose was an Indian politician, academician, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. 

• He co-founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizations. 

• He later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta were associated with CPI. They were jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.

• Rash Behari Bose was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organizers of the Ghadar Mutiny, and later the Indian National Army. 

• Yugantar Patrika was a Bengali revolutionary newspaper founded in 1906 in Calcutta by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Abhinash Bhattacharya and Bhupendranath Dutt. 

• A political weekly, it was founded in March 1906 and served as the propaganda organ for the nascent revolutionary organization Anushilan Samiti that was taking shape in Bengal at the time. 

• The journal derived its name Jugantar ( New Era) from a political novel named renowned Bengali author Shivnath Shastri.

• Auckland who came to India as the governor-general in 1836, advocated a forward policy. 

• This implied that the Company government in India had to take initiatives to protect British India's boundary from a probable Russian attack. 

• This objective was to be achieved either through treaties with the neighbouring countries or by annexing them completely.

• Two resolutions were adopted during the Karachi Congress Session, 1931—one on Fundamental Rights and the other on National Economic Programme, which made the session particularly memorable. 

• Philosophy of bomb - Bhagwati Charan Vohra, a member of HSRA, has authored three important political documents. Philosophy of the Bomb, Manifesto of Naujawan Sabha, and Manifesto of HSRA. 

• These documents reveal his sharp intellect and skills of clear articulation. "Philosophy of the Bomb was a strong rebuttal to an article by Mr Gandhi titled 'Cult of the Bomb' that criticized revolutionary activities. 

• The idea of separate nation- Muhammad Iqbal during the 25th annual session of the All-India Muslim League, on the afternoon of Monday, 29 December 1930, at Allahabad, British India. 

• In this address Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India, thus becoming the first politician to articulate what would become known as the Two-nation theory—that Muslims are a distinct nation and thus deserve political independence from other regions and communities of India.

• Satyagrahis were asked to March towards Delhi, thus precipitating a movement which came to be known as the 'Delhi Chalo Movement'. 

• Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer the satyagraha and Nehru, the second. Statement b) & c) are associated with Quit India Movement.

1. School course should cover 12 years. Students should enter university after an intermediate stage (rather than matric) for a university's three-year degree course. 

2. There should be less rigidity in framing university regulations. 

3. A university should function as a centralized, unitary residential-teaching autonomous body, rather than as scattered, affiliated colleges. 

4. Female education, applied scientific and technological education, teachers' training, including those for professional and vocational colleges, should be extended.

The correct answer is None of the above.

Confusion Points

• Ashtapradhan was not an advisory body and had none of the characteristics of a modern cabinet. Hence, statement 1 is NOT correct.
• There were no such collective responsibilities or functions as the cabinet of modern times perform.

Key Points

• The “Ashtapradhan” was a council of 8 ministers who administered the Maratha empire during the Shivaji reign. 
• They were not working as a cabinet. Every minister was the head of his department. Hence, statement 1 is NOT correct.
• It was up to Shivaji whether he accepted or rejected the given advice.
• Ashtapradhan acted as the secretary of Shivaji.
• Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were the taxes collected not in the Maratha kingdom but in the neighboring territories of the Mughal empire or Deccan sultanates. Hence, Statement 2 is NOT correct.
  • Chauth was one-fourth of the land revenue paid to the Marathas in order to avoid the Maratha raids.
  • Sardeshmukhi was an additional levy of ten percent on those lands in which the Marathas claimed hereditary rights.