UPPSC GS I Practice Test - 12 (Old Pattern) - UPPSC (UP) MCQ

Key- Points

• As per the census 2011, Mizoram has the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes in its population.

• The Indian Census is the most credible source of information on Demography (Population characteristics), Economic Activity, Literacy and Education, Housing Household Amenities, Urbanisation, Fertility and Mortality, etc.

• Census 2011 was the 15th National Census of the Country.

• Census was introduced in India during the era of Lord Mayo in the year 1872. It came into force in 1881.

• This census was conducted under the guidance of Mr. C. Chandramouli.

• The slogan of census 2011 was ‘Our Census, Our future.’

• The population of the nation as per the provisional figures of Census 2011 was 1210.19 million, of which 623.7 million (51.54%) were males, and 586.46 million (48.46%) were females.

Additional Information

• The next census will be conducted in 2021.

• The census will be conducted in two phases.

• The planned rounds for the Census 2021 are given below:

  • ​The first phase – House listing operations will be conducted in any two months chosen by the respective states between April and September 2020.

  • The second phase – Actual population enumeration will be done from February 9 to February 28, 2021.

  • Final phase – Revision round of the above two phases from March 1 to March 5, 2021.

• Kolkata is the second-most densely populated city in India.

• Population density: 61,945 per square mile.

• Population: 12,700,000

Important Point

• All data of Population Density of India are as per Census 2011.

• Mumbai is the most densely populated city in India.

  • Population density: 76,790 per square mile.

  • Population: 14,350,000

• Chennai is in 3rd place in the densely populated city list.

  • Population density: 37,223 per square mile.

  • Population: 5,950,000

• Delhi is in 4th place in the densely populated city list.

  • Population density: 28,600 per square mile.

  • Population: 14,300,000.

• Shashi Tharoor’s latest book “The Battle of Belonging” was formally launched at the Prabha Khaitan Foundation’s signature event Kitab.

• This is Shashi Tharoor’s 22nd book which delves into current social, political, and cultural issues confronting India.

• Kitab is a signature event of Prabha Khaitan Foundation of Kolkata, conceptualized by Sundeep Bhutoria.

• The Gopalakrishnan Committee set up by the government on developing a governance framework for non-personal data recently put out its draft report for public consultation.

Key-Points

• Gopalakrishnan Committee Report:

  • K Gopalakrishnan Committee has recommended making privately held non-personal data open.

  • This has raised concerns about state interference in the private data ecosystem.

  • Some of the most important non-personal data sets are held by the government or result from taxpayer funding, such data can be useful in either framing public policy or creating and providing new services.

  • The state should be transparent about the information that it has, this will improve accountability.

  • If taxpayer money has funded any of the data sets, then it is an obligation of the state to return the fruits of that funding to the taxpayer.

  • By permitting the reuse of government data sets, we avoid the need for duplication.

  • Government data sets, curated according to publicly verified standards, can lead to increased confidence in data quality and increased usage.

  • The Gopalakrishnan Committee could have evaluated what is going wrong with existing policies and practices pertaining to government data.

• 'Yakuts' are the nomadic herders of the Tundra region. Yakuts along with Evenks, Enets are peasants who migrated to Lena River and Olenyok River of Siberia from the region around Lake Baikal.
• They are also called as Sakha or Sakhalar.
• They are engaged in reindeer breeding, hunting, fishing, dairy farming as well as market gardening.
• Tundra type of climate is spread across the north of arctic circle only.
  • ​Summers are cool and brief here.
  • Not more than four months have temperatures above freezing point.

• Nomadic Herders of Continents:

  

The change of place of residence for a long period of time is known as migration.

• Migration of people is related to changes in the social, political, and economic environment in the region of origin or the receiving region.

  • The push and pull factors operate together for a person to migrate.

  • The push factors make the place of origin less attractive and compel a person to migrate because of unemployment, poverty, violence, political strife etc.

  • The pull factors make the place of destination seem more attractive such as better living condition, educational and cultural development, regular work, high wages etc.

  • Adults are more likely to migrate than any other age group.

  • Rural to urban migration is far the major portion of migration. It is because of growing urbanisation.

  • The migration affects the overall population of the region. Hence, Option 1 is NOT correct.

The Andes is the longest mountain range in the world.

Key-Points

• The Andes:

  • It is located on the continent of South America and its length is about 7242 km.

  • The Andes mountain range is spread over 7 countries.

  • These are—Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Key-Points

Strait of Hormuz:

It separates Iran and Oman linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

The Strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point.

The shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction.

Most crude exported from OPEC countries is shipped through this waterway.

Additional Information

Strait of Bosporus:

• It connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.

• It forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia.

• It divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from Thrace.

Strait of Gibraltar:

• It is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

• It separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa.

Key-Points

• A sustained increase in real per capita income is a sign of economic growth.

Additional Information

• Factors Affecting Economic development

• Infrastructural improvement – Development in the infrastructure improves the quality of life of people. Therefore, an increase in the rate of infrastructural development will result in the economic development of a nation.

• Education – Improvement in literacy and technical knowledge will result in a better understanding of the usage of different equipment. This will increase labor productivity and in turn, will result in the economic development of a nation.

• Increase in the capital – Increase in capital formation will result in more productive output in an economy and this will affect the economic development positively.

• Human resources – this is a major factor that is responsible for boosting the economic growth of a country. The rate of increase in the skills and capabilities of a workforce ultimately increases the economic growth of a country.

• Infrastructure development- Improvements and increased investment in physical capital such as roadways, machinery, and factories will increase the efficiency of economic output by reducing the cost.

• Planned utilization of natural resources – Proper use of available natural resources like mineral deposits helps boost the productivity of the economy.

• Population growth – An increase in the growth of the population will result in the availability of more human resources which in turn will increase the output in terms of quantity. This is also an important factor that influences economic growth.

• Advancement in technology – Improvement in technology will affect the economic growth of a country positively. The application of advanced technology will result in increased productivity of labour and economic growth will advance at a lower cost.

Important Point

• The major iron-ore producing areas of France are Lorraine, Normandy and Pyrenees.
• Australia leads the list of the world's top iron ore producers.
• The world's top five iron ore producing countries, Australia, Brazil, India, China, and Russia, were together responsible for the production of more than 80% of global iron ore in 2019.

• India is the 7th Largest producer of coffee and as coffee is not nearly as popular as Tea in India, 80% of the country's coffee production is bound for export purposes, with the main buyers being Europe and Russia.

• Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity after oil in the world economy, with about half a trillion cups consumed per year because it is not only used for brewing a cup of coffee, but (through decaffeination) also provide caffeine for beverages (cola), pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

• The largest producer of Coconut is Indonesia.

• The largest producer of Tea is China.

• The largest producer of Jute is India.

Key-Points

• Lancashire Region is a major commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution.

  • Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England.

  • It is known for docks and the cotton mills.

• Ruhr Region is a major commercial and industrial region of Germany.

  • The Ruhr coalfield is one of the world’s largest, producing the bulk of Germany’s bituminous coal.

  • Steel production and chemical manufacturing are the other basic industries of this region.

• Keihin Region was a major commercial and industrial region of Japan.

  • Keihin Region consists of the Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama cities Japan.

  • Keihin Region is known for heavy industries like steel mills, oil refineries, petrochemical complexes, and shipyards.

• Southern Appalachian Region was a major commercial and industrial region of the United States of America.

In news

The Union Minister of State for Agriculture -Shri Parshottam Rupala launched Rs. 10,000 crore Ayushman Sahakar Fund for the creation of healthcare infrastructure by cooperatives.

Key-Points

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation formulated the Ayushman Sahakar scheme. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation functions under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

• It was set up under an Act of Parliament in 1963 for the promotion and development of cooperatives.

• Ayushman Sahakar scheme was launched to assist cooperatives in the creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmers welfare activities by the Central Government.

• There are about 52 hospitals across the country run by cooperatives. They have a cumulative bed strength of more than 5,000.

• The scheme aligns itself with the focus of the National Health Policy, 2017. It covers the health systems in these dimensions- investments in health, organization of healthcare services, access to technologies, development of human resources, encouragement of medical pluralism, affordable health care to farmers etc.

• Ayushman Sahakar specifically covers establishment, modernization, expansion, repairs, renovation of hospital and healthcare and education infrastructure.

• The scheme provides working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements. It also provides interest subvention of one per cent to women majority cooperatives.

Key-Points

• The Department of Posts launched a scheme called Five Star Villages.

• It is to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of the country.

• The scheme is being launched on a pilot basis in Maharashtra.

• It bridges the gaps for generating public awareness and reach of postal products and services, mainly in interior villages.

• Under the Five Star Village scheme, all postal products and services are going to be made available and marketed, and publicized at the village level.

• The schemes covered under the Five Star scheme include:

  • ​Savings Bank accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC / KVP certificates.

  • Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts/ PPF Accounts.

  • Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts.

  • Postal Life Insurance Policy/Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy.

  • Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.

Key-Points

• The first meeting of the constituent assembly was held on 9th December 1946.
• The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan.
• The meeting was attended by only 211 members.
• Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was elected as the interim President of the assembly following the French practice of electing the oldest member as president.
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H C Mukherjee were elected as the President and Vice-President of the Assembly, respectively on 11th December 1946.
• Sir BN Rau was appointed as the constitutional advisor to the Assembly.
• On December 13th, 1946 Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic objective resolution in the Assembly which laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure.

Important Point

List of Important Committees and their Chairperson:

Key-Points

• CIC shall be appointed for a term of 3 years from the date on which he enters his office or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

• CIC is not eligible for reappointment.

• Under the provision of Section-12 of RTI Act 2005, the Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the Central Information Commission.

• The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and a such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.

Key-Points

Objectives of the NITI Aayog:

• To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States.

• To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States continuously, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.

• To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. Hence, Statement 4 is correct.

• To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy.

• To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefiting adequately from economic progress.

• To design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy. The lessons learnt through monitoring and feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections.

• To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded Think tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.

• To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.

• To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter­ departmental issues to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

• To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders.

• To actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.

• To focus on technology up-gradation and capacity building for the implementation of programmes and initiatives. Hence, Statement 3 is correct.

• To undertake other activities as may be necessary to further the execution of the national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.

AMRUT- Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

Key-Points

• AMRUT scheme was launched in June 2015 by PM Modi.

• It has been launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The purpose of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is to -

  • Ensure that every household has access to a tap with an assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.

  • Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling).

  • All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly women, and indicators and standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA ) in the form of Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs).

• Odisha retained its top position in the implementation of the AMRUT scheme by scoring 85.67 percent. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Nine cities of Odisha - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Baripada, Balasore, Bhadrak, Berhampur, and Puri - are covered under the scheme.

• Odisha is followed by Chandigarh, Telangana, Gujarat, and Karnataka in the implementation of AMRUT.

Additional Information

• The Mission of AMRUT covers 500 cities that include all cities and towns with a population of over one lakh with notified Municipalities.

• The major project components are -

  • Water Supply system,

  • Sewerage, Septage,

  • Storm Water Drainage,

  • Urban Transport,

  • Green Space and Parks,

  • Reforms management and support,

  • Capacity building.

• The new ‘School Bag Policy, 2020’ released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

• This policy explained the various weight of the student's bags like the weight of the school bags, as per the policy, should be 1.6 to 2.2 kg for students of Classes I and II, 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes III, IV and V, 2 to 3 kg for Classes VI and VII.

• To reduce the weight of the school bag, the school management should provide quality potable water in sufficient quantity.

Key-Points

What is NCERT?

• The National Council of Educational Research and Training is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India.

• It was established in 1961.

• Its headquarters are located at Sri Aurobindo Marg in New Delhi.

D.D.T. and Bleaching Powder are compounds of chlorine.

Key-Points

• DDT is which is Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane.

• It was discovered in 1939 by Paul Hermann Müller.

• Bleaching powder is CaOCl₂ and its chemical name is Calcium hypochlorite.

Additional Information

• Gammaxene is gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane is used as an insecticide.

• DDT is used to make synthetic insecticides.

• Bleaching powder used as a disinfectant.

• It is used as an oxidizer in industries.

• It is used as a disinfectant to make potable water.

• Fructose is a monosaccharide.
• A monosaccharide is the simplest form of sugar and the smallest unit of carbohydrate which cannot be further divided.
• When two monosaccharides join it forms a molecule called Disaccharide.
• All the other options are disaccharides

Important Point

• Such plastic which gets deformed easily on heating and can be bent easily is known as thermoplastic.

  • It can be cooled and heated several times without any change in its chemical or mechanical properties.

  • These are used for manufacturing toys, combs, and various types of containers.

  • Examples of thermoplastics- Polythene and PVC.

• Such plastic which when molded once, can not be softened by heating is known as thermosetting plastic.

  • They have primary bonds between molecular chains and held together by strong cross-links.

  • Examples of thermosetting plastic- Bakelite and Melamine. (statement 1 is incorrect)

    • Bakelite is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. It is used for making electrical switches, handles of various utensils, etc.

    • Melamine is a versatile material. It resists fire and can tolerate heat better than other plastics. It is used for making floor tiles, kitchenware and fabrics which resist fire. (statement 2 is incorrect)

Key-Points

• The country's first garbage cafe has been launched here in Chhattisgarh.

• Under this, the Municipal Corporation will provide food to the poor and homeless in lieu of plastic waste.

• The cafe, situated in Ambikapur, which bagged the title of the second cleanest city in India, through the initiative, will provide impetus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'plastic-free' India resolve.

• Sahakar Mitra is an initiative of the National Cooperative Development Corporation.

• It is a scheme on the Internship Programme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’.

• The scheme will help the cooperatives to access new and innovative ideas from young professionals while interns will gain experience in the working field.

• The scheme is launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission.

Additional Information

• Graduates from Agriculture and allied areas and, IT and professionals pursuing or completing an MBA degree can apply for the internship.

• National Development Council was set up on 6 August 1952.

• It is an apex body for decisions and deliberations on development matters in India.

• It is presided by Prime Minister.

• It is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body.

• It reflects federal approach planning and is an instrument for ensuring the planning system.

• In 1946, the Planning Advisory Board under the chairmanship of KC Neogi, and it recommended the formation of NDC.

Important Point

• It comprised of PM, all Union Ministers, CMs of all States and Administrators of UTs and members of the Planning Commission.

• Planning Commission is now replaced by NITI Ayog.

• After NITI Ayog, NDC is proposed to be abolished.

• Gini Coefficient represent the Distribution of Income.
• It measures the degree of income inequality in the country's population.
• The value of the Gini Coefficient varies from 0 to 1.
• 0 means perfect equality where everyone has the same income, and 1 means perfect inequality where all the income is received by a single individual.

• Graphical Representation of the Gini Index (Lorenz curve)

  

• Disposable Personal Income Formula = Personal Income - Direct taxes = Consumption Expenditure + Savings

Key-Points

• Personal Disposable income:

  • Disposable income or disposable personal income is an economic term which means the money that is available for household consumption, savings and spending after accounting for income tax.

  • ​It is an important indicator that is used by economists in determining the demand in an economy.

  • It is used to estimate the overall state of the country’s economy.

Additional Information

• In national accounts definitions, personal income minus personal current taxes equals disposable personal income.

• Subtracting personal outlays yields personal (or, private) savings, hence the income left after paying away all the taxes is referred to as disposable income.

• For the economy or country, it is calculated as:

  • National Income + All the Indirect Taxes + Transfers from other Countries.

Key-Points

• Lindeman in 1942 pointed out a series of generalizations about the relationships between trophic levels within normal ecosystems.
• The main ones are:
  • the more remote an organism is from its initial source of energy the less probable that it will be dependent only on the preceding trophic level as a source of energy (that is, species) and above tend to be generalists rather than specialists in terms of feeding habit.
  • the relative loss of energy due to respiration is progressively greater for higher trophic levels. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • species at higher trophic levels appear to be progressively more efficient in using their available food supply, because increased activity by predators increases their chances of encountering suitable prey species, and in general predators are less specific than their prey in food preferences. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • Higher trophic levels tend to be less discrete than lower ones
  • Food chains tend to be reasonably short.
    • Four vertical links is a common maximum.
  • Hence both the statements are correct.

Additional Information

• Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem – Trophic Levels
  • A trophic level is the representation of energy flow in an ecosystem.
  • The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain.
  • Trophic level interaction deals with how the members of an ecosystem are connected based on nutritional needs.
  • Energy flows through the trophic levels from producers to subsequent trophic levels is unidirectional.
  • Energy level decreases from the first trophic level upwards due to loss of energy in the form of heat at each trophic level.
  • This energy loss at each trophic level is quite significant. Hence there are usually not more than four-five trophic levels (beyond this, the energy available is negligible to support an organism).
  • 
• The trophic level interaction involves three concepts namely
  • Food Chain
  • Food Web
  • Ecological Pyramids

Biotic Interactions

• Mutualism-
  • It is a biological interaction in which both species gets benefited. For example- Pollination is a mutualism relationship between plants and its pollens.
• Commensalism - an association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.
• Amensalism-
  • One species is harmed and other is unaffected in this relationship. for ex- a large tree shades a small plant, regarding its growth.
• Competition-
  • Both species are harmed by this interaction.

Important Point

Brief representation of biotic interaction is as follows-

+ represents benefit

- represents loss

0 represents no effect.

Key-Points

• Home gardens, Rice Field can be considered as an ecosystem because both the biotic components (plants, crops, organisms) and abiotic components (air, water, temperature, etc) are in a dynamic interaction with each other.

  • These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

• A single tree also acts as a host for various organisms and microorganisms.

  • While the tree is majorly dependent on its surroundings, it provides life support to various organisms through food and habitat.

• A cow dung pad also hosts various biotic components like bacteria, fungi, insects, etc.

  • They depend on it for various support activities like food, habitat, etc.

  • Thus it is considered an independent ecosystem.

• Hence option 4 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

• An ecosystem is the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space.

• An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.

  • Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts.

    • Biotic factors include plants, animals, and other organisms.

    • Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity.

• They occur on many different scales, with smaller systems embedded within larger systems.

• An ecosystem can be as small as a single tree or as large as the ocean, depending on the scale that the researcher is examining.