UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 Practice Test - 32 - UPSC MCQ

At the time Auckland came to India as Governor-General in 1836, there were alarming reports from Teheran about Russian advances. Russian ambition in Central Asia dates from the acquisition of Georgia in 1801. The Russo-Persian wars of 1811-13 and 1826-28 greatly humbled Persia and she was compelled to surrender important territories round the Caspian Sea to Russia besides being forbidden to keep armed vessels in that sea. Russian influence replaced British influence in Persia and thwarted an English scheme for the establishment of a new route by the Euphrates river to India.  The increased Russian influence in Persia after the Treaty of Turkmanchai (1828) alarmed English mind about possible Russian design on India. There was a search for a 'scientific frontier'. The passes of the north-west seemed to hold the keys to the gateway of India. It was felt that Afghanistan should be under the control of a friendly prince. The politicians of the day felt that the fall of Herat meant, for both political and geographical reasons, the removal of the last barrier on any possible march to India.
Both Lord Palmerston, British Foreign Secretary, and Auckland advocated a Forward Policy and thought in terms of bringing Afghanistan within their political ambit and signed a Tripartite treaty(June 1938) with Shah Suja and Ranjit Singh. The treaty provided that Shah Shuja would be reinstated on the throne of Kabul with the armed assistance of the Sikhs. The Company was to remain in the background jingling the money bag'. In return Shah Shuja bound himself to conduct his foreign relations with the advice of the English and the Sikhs; he further recognised the Maharaja's claims over the afghan territories on the right bank of the Indus and also gave up his sovereign rights over the Amirs of Sind in return for a large sum of money. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

A major landmark in the development of English education was the Wood‟s Despatch of 1854. Sir Charles Wood, the president of the Board of Control, in 1854 laid down the policy which became the guiding principle of the education program of the government of India.  The major recommendations of the Despatch were as follows: 

• 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.
• It systematized the hierarchy from vernacular primary schools in villages at the bottom, followed by Anglo-Vernacular High Schools and an affiliated college at the district level, and affiliating universities in the presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras 
• the creation of a department of public instruction in each of the five provinces of the company‘s territory, 
• the establishment of universities at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras,
• the establishment of the network of graded schools-high schools, middle schools and elementary schools, o the establishment of teachers training institutions, 
• the promotion of vernacular schools, o the introduction of a system of grants-in-aid for financial help to the schools, etc.  Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Born Mul Shankar Tiwari, Dayananda was a prolific socio-religious reformer. Dayananda understood that Hinduism had strayed away from its roots and had become tainted. He decided that to restore the true religion, it was needed to go back to the Vedas.  He promised his Guru Virajananda, that he would strive hard to reinstate the position of the Vedas to its rightful honored place in the Hindu religion and way of life. He was staunchly against rituals and superstitions. He criticized the concept of humans attaining moksha (salvation) to seek union with God. Instead, he advocated that God, soul, and matter (Prakriti) are all distinct and eternal entities. He also opposed the belief in the principles of niyati (destiny). He stated that every individual must work on his own for his salvation.  He also exhorted the importance of cows for the prosperity of the nation and encouraged the adoption of Hindi for national integration.  He founded the Arya Samaj on April 7, 1875. Through this reform movement, he stressed One God and rejected idol worship. He also advocated against the extolled position of priests in Hinduism. He also established Vedic schools for the education of girls and boys of all castes. Arya Samaj was also involved in Shuddhi ceremonies to reconvert people who had converted from Hinduism to other faiths.  He wrote three books, viz. Satyartha Prakash, Veda-Bhashya Bhumika, and Veda-Bhashya and toured India extensively to spread his teachings. He had given the slogan 'India for the Indians‘. This slogan became the basis of the Indian National Congress during the Calcutta session, remarkable for the slogan Swaraj. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.  

Please Note: India for Indians is also the title of a book authored by C.R Das. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.

Asiatic Society of Bengal, a scholarly society was founded in 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer, and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. Until Jones‘s death (1794) it was the vehicle for his ideas about the importance of Hindu culture and learning and about the vital role of Sanskrit in the Aryan languages. Indians were first admitted as members in 1829. Hence pair 1 is correctly matched. The Calcutta Madrasah was established by Warren Hastings in 1781 for the study of Muslim law and related subjects.  The Sanskrit College was established by Jonathan Duncan, the resident, at Benaras in 1791 for the study of Hindu law and philosophy. Hence pair 2 is not correctly matched.  Fort William College was set up by Wellesley in 1800 for the training of civil servants of the Company in languages and customs of Indians (closed in 1802).  The Hindu College of Calcutta was founded in 1817 and the foundation committee was headed by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the great Social Reformer. It was established with the primary objective of providing tuition to the 'sons of respectable Hindus, in the English and Indian languages and in the literature and science of Europe and Asia'. Hence pair 3 is correctly matched.  It was David Hare who developed the idea of founding a school for English education among the natives. The committee succeeded in getting funds and established the college.

Recently, India along with other Group of 24 (G24) member nations, has objected to the withdrawal of unilateral measures like the equalisation levy (EL) in one go and called for gradual withdrawal of 'Google tax'.  The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development (G24) coordinates the position of developing countries on monetary and development issues in the deliberations and decisions of the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI). The G-24 was established in 1971 by the Group of 77 (G-77) as one of its Chapters, and formally created in 1972. Hence, statement 1 is correct.  In particular, the G-24 focuses on issues on the agendas of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the Development Committee (DC) as well as in other relevant international fora.  Members of G-24 group are spread equally over Asia, Africa and Latin America. From Asia, the members include Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Iran, the Philippines, Syria and Sri Lanka. There are eight members each from Africa and Latin America. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

One of the most militant and widespread of the peasant movements during British rule was the Indigo Revolt of 1859-60. The indigo planters, nearly all Europeans, compelled the tenants to grow indigo which they processed in factories set up in rural (mofussil) areas.  The planters forced the peasants to take a meager amount as advance and enter into fraudulent contracts. The price paid for the indigo plants was far below the market price.  Since the enforcement of forced and fraudulent contracts through the courts was a difficult and prolonged process, the planters resorted to a reign of terror to coerce the peasants. Kidnapping, illegal confinement in factory godowns, flogging, attacks on women and children, etc.  Initially, the peasants made an attempt to get redressal through peaceful means. They sent numerous petitions to the authorities and organized peaceful demonstrations. Their anger exploded in September 1859 when they asserted their right not to grow indigo under duress and resisted the physical pressure of the planters and their lathiyals backed by the police and the courts.  The planters then attacked with another weapon, their zamindari powers. They threatened the rebellious ryots with eviction or enhancement of rent. The ryots replied by going on a rent strike. They refused to pay the enhanced rents and they physically resisted attempts to evict them. They also gradually learnt to use the legal machinery to enforce their rights. They joined together and raised funds to fight court cases filed against them, and they initiated legal action on their own against the planters. They also used the weapon of social boycott to force a planter‟s servants to leave him.  Ultimately, the planters could not withstand the united resistance of the ryots, and they gradually began to close their factories. The cultivation of indigo was virtually wiped out from the districts of Bengal by the end of 1860.  A significant feature of the Indigo Revolt was the role of the intelligentsia of Bengal which organized a powerful campaign in support of the rebellious peasantry. It carried on newspaper campaigns, organized mass meetings, prepared memoranda on peasants‘ grievances and supported them in their legal battles.  Outstanding in this respect was the role of Harish Chandra Mukherji, editor of the Hindoo Patriot. He published regular reports from his correspondents in the rural areas on planters‟ oppression, officials‟ partisanship and peasant resistance. He himself wrote with passion, anger and deep knowledge of the problem which, he raised to a high political plane.  Din Bandhu Mitra‘s play, Neel Darpan, was to gain great fame for vividly portraying the oppression by the planters.  Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

In 1715, an English mission led by John Surman to the court of the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar secured three famous farmans, giving the Company many valuable privileges in Bengal, Gujarat, and Hyderabad.  The farmans thus obtained were regarded the Magna Carta of the Company.  Their important terms were:  In Bengal, the Company‟s imports and exports were exempted from additional customs duties excepting the annual payment of 3,000 rupees as settled earlier.
The Company was permitted to issue dastaks (passes) for the transportation of such goods. Hence statement 1 is correct.  The Company was permitted to rent more lands around Calcutta. In Hyderabad, the Company retained its existing privilege of freedom from duties in trade and had to pay the prevailing rent only for Madras.  In Surat, for an annual payment of 10,000 rupees, the East India Company was exempted from the levy of all duties.  It was decreed that the coins of the Company minted at Bombay were to be accepted as currency throughout the Mughal empire. Hence statement 2 is correct.  But The Company‘s servants extended this privilege to their own coastal trade, inter- Asian trade, and finally the inland trade. This was an obvious usurpation.

The subsidiary alliance system was used by Lord Wellesley, who was governor-general from 1798- 1805, to build an empire in India.  Under the system, the allying Indian state‘s ruler was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.  The Indian ruler had to agree to the posting of a British resident in his court.  The Indian ruler could not employ any European in his service without the prior consultation with the Company.  Nor could he go to war or negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the governor-general.  In return for all this, the British would defend the ruler from his enemies and adopt a policy of noninterference in the internal matters of the allied state.  The Indian princes who accepted the subsidiary system were:

•  the Nizam of Hyderabad (September 1798 and 1800), 
• the ruler of Mysore (1799), o the ruler of Tanjore (October 1799), o the Nawab of Awadh (November 1801), 
• the Peshwa (December 1801), 
• the Bhonsle Raja of Berar (December 1803), 
• the Sindhia (February 1804), 
• the Rajput states of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Macheri, Bundi and the ruler of Bharatpur (1818). 
• The Holkars were the last Maratha confederation to accept the Subsidiary Alliance in 1818.
• Hence option (d) is correct answer.

Sir Surendranath Banerjee was one of the earliest Indian political leaders during British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Association of Calcutta, after getting discontented with the conservative and pro-landlord policies of the British Indian Association, through which he led two sessions of the Indian National Conference in 1883 and 1885, along with Anandamohan Bose. Banerjee later became a senior member of the Indian National Congress. Surendranath repudiated Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, unlike Congress, and with many liberal leaders, he left Congress and founded a new organization named Indian National Liberation Federation in 1919. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress, He is given the epithet of Rashtraguru. Upon his return to India in June 1875, Banerjee became an English professor at the Metropolitan Institution, the Free Church Institution, and at the Rippon College, now Surendranath College, founded by him in 1882. He began delivering public speeches on nationalist and liberal political subjects, as well as Indian history. Surendranath was influenced by the writings of Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini. He studied the writings of Mazzini in his stay in England (1874-1875) on Anandmohan's suggestion. In 1879, he bought the newspaper, The Bengalee (founded in 1862 by Girish Chandra Ghosh) and edited it for 40 years. He became the first Indian to go to jail in performance of his duty as a journalist. Hence option (d) is the correct answer  Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India, but whose attempts during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a troubled legacy. The honorific Netaji (Hindustani: "Respected Leader") was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion (English: Indian Legion) and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used throughout India.  Kashinath Trimbak Telang was an Indologist and Indian judge at Bombay High Court. Telang was active in politics from 1872 to 1889. He was nominated to the Bombay legislative council in 1884 but declined a similar position on the viceroy's council. He and fellow Bombay lawyers, Pherozshah Mehta, and Badruddin Tyabji were the founders of the Bombay Presidency Association. He was the secretary of the reception committee for the inaugural meeting of the Indian National Congress in 1885 Romesh Chunder Dutt was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, writer, and translator of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Dutt is considered a national leader of the pre-Gandhian era and was a contemporary of Dadabhai Naoroji and Justice Ranade. He was president of the Indian National Congress in 1899. He was also a member of the Bengal Legislative Council.

Adi-movements emerged as a radicalized attempt by Scheduled Castes or Dalits in the 20th century aiming towards the removal of social evil practices of Indian society which were discriminatory and exploitative in nature.  During 1920-30s a new kind of ideology emerged known as Adi , where Adi means original and it became common usage for those who were earlier known as untouchables or Dalit. Through this term, they identify themselves as the original inhabitants or indigenous population of India.  This was spread across the southern and northern parts of pre-independent India and the areas affected by it were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.  In 1922, Swami Acchutanand launched the Adi Hindu movement to bring awareness among Hindus. o According to him Aryans defeated the indigenous Kings of India and deceitfully branded indigenous inhabitants of India as Dalit and destroyed their culture and established Hindu social order based on their principles.

• He also organized various public events to take the movement forward. From 1922 to 1930, he organized eight national conventions, three special conventions, 15 provincial conventions and hundreds of district-level conventions of the Adi-Hindu movement.
• Swami Acchutanand was against the reformation works of Arya and Brahmo Samaj because according to him both of these social organizations were not dealing directly with the cause of untouchability and were containing the elements of Brahmanism which again was discriminating Dalit in gaining full equality and justice.  
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Awadh remained an independent entity till 7 February 1856 when Lord Dalhousie annexed it to the British Empire in India.  In simple terms, the doctrine stated that the adopted son could be the heir to his foster father's private property, but not the state; it was for the paramount power (the British) to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it. The doctrine was stated to be based on Hindu law and Indian customs, but Hindu law seemed to be somewhat inconclusive on this point, and the instances of an Indian sovereign annexing the state of his vassal on account of ‘lapse‘ (i.e., leaving no issue as heir) were rather rare.  Annexation of Awadh: Lord Dalhousie was keen on annexing the kingdom of Awadh. But the task presented certain difficulties.  For one, the Nawabs of Avadh had been British allies since the Battle of Buxar, Moreover, they had been most obedient to the British over the years. The Nawab of Avadh had many heirs and could not, therefore, be covered by the Doctrine of Lapse. Some other pretext had to be found for depriving him of his dominions. Finally, Lord Dalhousie hit upon the idea of alleviating the plight of the people of Avadh. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was accused of having misgoverned his state and of refusing to introduce reforms. His state was therefore annexed in 1856. Hence both statements 1 and 2 are correct.  Undoubtedly, the degeneration of the administration of Avadh was a painful reality for its people. The Nawabs of Avadh, like other princes of the day, were selfish rulers absorbed in self-indulgence who cared little for good administration or for the welfare of the people. But the responsibility for this state of affairs was in part that of the British who had at least since 1801 controlled and indirectly governed Avadh.  In reality, it was the immense potential of Awadh as a market for Manchester goods that excited Dalhousie's greed and aroused his “philanthropic‟ feelings. And for similar reasons, to satisfy Britain's growing demand for raw cotton, Dalhousie took away the cotton-producing province of Berav from the Nizam in 1853

Dadabhai Naoroji started the East India Association in London in 1867. The association‘s main goal was to make the people of the UK aware of the conditions in India and generate popular support among British People for Indian Welfare. This association is also called the predecessor to the Indian National Congress. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
The Bengal Landholder‟s Society and British India Society merged together to form British India Association in 1851. Post-merger, they used to submit petitions for the grievances of common people as well. They had submitted a petition to British Parliament with suggestions for the new Charter Law of the company. The suggestions were – a separate legislative council of popular nature, Abolition of the stamp, salt, and abkari duties, reducing the salaries of British officers at higher posts, etc. In the Charter Act of 1853, one of the above suggestions was incorporated and the Governor General‘s Council for Legislative purposes was expanded by adding 6 new members. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
Poona Sarvanajanik Sabha was started in 1870 by Mahadev Govind Ranade and his associates in Pune. They aimed to be a connecting link between the Government and the common people. It also worked for the legal rights of the peasants.  Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty established Madras Native Association in 1852 as a platform for educated Indians to protest against any injustice on the part of the British. It was the first Indian political organization in the Madras Presidency. Chetty served as its first president. The organization frequently locked horns with Christian missionaries. Hence statement 3 is correct.

One of the most important developments in 1920 was the formation of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). Lokamanya Tilak, who had developed a close association with Bombay workers was one of the moving spirits in the formation of the AITUC.  Lala Lajpat Rai, the famous Extremist leader from Punjab, was AITUC's first president and Dewan Chaman Lal, who was to become a major name in the Indian labour movement, was its first General Secretary.  Hence, statement 1 is not correct.  The manifesto issued to the workers by the AITUC urged them not only to organize themselves but also to intervene in nationalist politics.  Apart from Lajpat Rai, several of the leading nationalists of the time became closely associated with the AITUC. C.R. Das presided over its third and fourth sessions, and among the other prominent names associated with AITUC were C.F. Andrews, J.M. Sengupta, Subhas Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Satyamurti.  The Indian National Congress at its Gaya session in 1922 welcomed the formation of the AITUC and formed a committee consisting of prominent Congressmen to assist its work.  Hence, statement 2 is correct.  C.R. Das, in his presidential address to the Gaya Congress, said that the Congress must take labour and the peasantry in hand and organize them both from the point of view of their own special interests and also from the point of view of the higher ideal which demands satisfaction of their special interests and the devotion of such interests to the cause of Swaraj.  The All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed to provide representation for India at the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Sree Narayana Guru (1856-1928) preached the doctrine of "One caste, One religion, One God.‟  One of his atheist disciples, Sahadaran Ayyapan, changed it into "no religion, no caste and no God for mankind".  Sree Narayan Guru started the SNDP (Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana) Movement in 1903 among the Ezhavas of Kerala, who were a backward caste of toddy tappers and were considered to be untouchables. He took steps for several issues for the Ezhavas such as o the right of admission to Public schools. 

• recruitment to government services. 
• access to roads and entry to temples
• political representations  

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Indian (National) Social Conference was founded by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao in 1887. It was virtually the social reform cell of the Indian National Congress.  Its first session was held in Madras in December 1887. The Conference met annually as a subsidiary convention of the Indian National Congress, at the same venue, and focused attention on social reform.  The Conference advocated inter-caste marriages and opposed kulinism and polygamy. It launched the famous “Pledge Movement” to inspire people to take an oath to prohibit child marriage. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Recently, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare released Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)'s 3rd State Food Safety Index 2021(SFSI) to measure the performance of states and union territories (UTs). The index is developed by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). It measures the performance of states/UTs on five significant parameters of Food Safety that includes (i) Human Resource's and Institutional Data, (ii) Compliance,  (iii) Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance, (iv) Training & Capacity Building, (v) Consumer Empowerment.

Rankings in State Food Safety Index 2021:  Among the larger states, Gujarat was the top ranking state, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Among the smaller states, Goa stood first followed by Meghalaya and Manipur. Among UTs, Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and New Delhi secured top ranks.

Guruvayur Satyagraha took place in (1931–32) in the present Thrissur district, which was then part of Ponnani Taluk of Malabar district, now part of Kerala. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
It was an effort to allow entry for untouchables into the Guruvayur Temple. Hence, statement 1 is not correct  It was led by K. Kelappan, who undertook a hunger strike for 12 days until it was abandoned because of a request from Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.  Kelappan was popularly known as Kerala Gandhi.  Mahad Satyagrah was launched by Ambedkar to establish the right of untouchables to draw water from public wells and tanks.

India and the United States of America (USA) recently launched the “Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD)”. The CAFMD is one of the two tracks of the India-U.S. Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership launched at the Leaders' Summit on Climate in April 2021. Hence, option (d) is correct.  It will provide both countries an opportunity to renew collaborations on climate change while addressing financing aspects and deliver climate finances primarily as grants and concessional finance as envisaged under the Paris Agreement.  It will also help to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.  

Pillars to the CAFM:

• Climate Action Pillar: It would have joint proposals looking at ways in which emissions could be reduced in the next decade. 
• Finance Pillar: Through this the US will collaborate in attracting capital and enhancing the enabling environment to deploy 450 GW of renewable energy capacity in India and demonstrate and scale innovative clean energy technologies and promote bilateral clean energy investment and trade. 
• Adaptation and Resilience: The two countries will collaborate in building capacities to ―measure and manage climate risks.

Between 12.5 million and 14 million years ago, members of a genus of otters called Vishnuonyx lived in the major rivers of southern Asia. Fossils of these now extinct otters were first discovered in sediments found in the foothills of the Himalayas. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.  A newly found fossil indicates it had travelled as far as Germany. Researchers have discovered the fossil of a previously unknown species, which they have named Vishnuonyx neptuni, meaning ‘Neptune‘s Vishnu‘. The species was discovered from 11.4-million-year-old strata in the area of Hammerschmiede, which is a fossil site in Bavaria, Germany. This is the first discovery of any member of the Vishnuonyx genus in Europe; it is also its most northern and western record till date. Vishnuonyx were mid-sized predators that weighed, on average, 10-15 kg. Before this, the genus was known only in Asia and Africa.

Indian Councils Act of 1861 

• It initiated the process of decentralization by restoring the legislative powers to the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. It, thus, reversed the centralizing tendency that started from the Regulating Act of 1773 and reached its climax under the Charter Act of 1833. This policy of legislative devolution resulted in the grant of almost complete internal autonomy to the provinces in 1937. Hence statement 1 is correct. 
• The Act by vesting legislative powers in the Governments of Bombay and Madras and by making provision for the institution of similar legislative councils in other provinces laid the foundations of legislative devolution. 
• It also provided for the establishment of new legislative councils for Bengal, North-Western Provinces, and Punjab, which were established in 1862, 1886, and 1897, respectively. Hence statement 2 is correct. 
• However, the legislative councils established by the Act of 1861 possessed no real powers and had many weaknesses. The councils could not discuss important matters and no financial matters at all without the previous approval of the government. They had no control over the budget. They could not discuss executive action. The final passing of the bill needed the viceroy‘s approval. Even if approved by the viceroy, the secretary of state could disallow legislation. Indians associated as non-officials were members of elite sections only. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

The Constitution provides for a three-fold distribution of legislative subjects between the Centre and the states, viz., List-I (the Union List), List-II (the State List) and List-III (the Concurrent List) in the Seventh Schedule. This scheme of distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and the states is to be maintained in normal times. But, in abnormal times, the scheme of distribution is either modified or suspended. In other words, the Constitution empowers the Parliament to make laws on any matter enumerated in the State List under the following five extraordinary circumstances:

• When Rajya Sabha Passes a Resolution
• During a National Emergency
• When States Make a Request 
• To Implement International Agreements
• During President’s Rule

However, during the Financial Emergency, there are no such provisions

The Constituent assembly wanted to formulate a constitution which would help India to develop its economy according to the global economy as well as to improve the lives of the poverty-stricken population of India. Therefore, elaborate discussions were held, and during these discussions, previous laws proposed by the British Government in 1909, 1919 and 1935 were taken into account. The basic structure of the Indian constitution stands on the Government of India Act, 1935. Constitutions of other major countries were studied and some features of their constitution have been added in our constitution. 

• One of the most important inspiration came from the American Constitution. The following features were borrowed by the Indian Constituent assembly from the American Constitution: 
  • Written Constitution 
  • Executive head of state known as President and his being the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces 
  • Vice- President as the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Hence option 2 is correct. 
  • Fundamental Rights
  • Supreme Court 
  • Provision of States 
  • Independence of Judiciary and judicial review 
  • Preamble 
  • Removal of the Supreme court and High court Judges 
  • Due Process of Law: One of the most distinct features of the American Constitution is 'due process of law'. The 5th and 14th amendments to the American Constitution provides that a person cannot be deprived of “life, liberty or property, without due process of law”. In India, the Constituent assembly settled for the principle of 'procedure established by law' as laid down under article 21 of the Indian constitution - no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. Hence option 1 is not correct.
    (i) However, a liberal interpretation is made by the judiciary after 1978 and it has tried to make the term ‘procedure established by law’ as synonymous with ‘due process’ when it comes to protecting individual rights.
    (ii) In Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India case (1978) SC held that – ‘procedure established by law’ within the meaning of Article 21 must be ‘right and just and fair’ and ‘not arbitrary, fanciful or oppressive’ otherwise, it would be no procedure at all and the requirement of Article 21 would not be satisfied. Thus, the ‘procedure established by law’ has acquired the same significance in India as the ‘due process of law’ clause in America. 

Integrated Judiciary: The American Constitution does not have an integrated judiciary. It is the Indian Constitution which has an integrated judiciary whereby a single system of courts enforces both the Central laws as well as the state laws. In US, on the other hand, there is a double system of courts whereby the federal laws are enforced by the federal judiciary and the state laws by the state judiciary. Hence option 3 is not correct.

Part XVII of the Constitution deals with the official language in Articles 343 to 351. Its provisions are divided into four heads—Language of the Union, Regional languages, Language of the judiciary and texts of laws and Special directives. 

• Under Article 343, the Constitution contains the following provisions in respect of the official language of the Union: 
  1. Hindi written in Devanagari script is to be the official language of the Union. Hence statement 1 is correct. 
  2. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union has to be the international form of Indian numerals and not the Devanagari form of numerals. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

By the mid-eighteenth century, the English and the French were anxious to expand their trade in India. Their ambitious plans resulted in the three Carnatic wars ( 1744-63 CE) which were fought for control of trade, wealth, and territory in India. 

• The First Carnatic War( 1744-48) was the direct outcome of what was happening in Europe at the time. The English and the French were engaged in a conflict in connection with the succession of Maria Theresa to the throne of Austria. 
• The historic treaty of Aix La Chapelle was signed in Europe in 1748 CE which brought the First Carnatic War to a close. As a result of this treaty, the English regained Madras in India and the French Louisburg in North America. Hence statement 1 is not correct. 
• Not even a few months had elapsed since the First Carnatic War that the English and the French again got entangled in what came to be known as the Second Carnatic War (1748-54). 
  1. While the first war was the outcome of the political conditions in Europe, the second had its origin in India. 
  2. The treaty of Pondicherry in 1755 CE effectively end the Second Carnatic War. By the new treaty, the two powers agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Indian states and both retained their old positions. Hence statement 2 is correct. 
• The Third Carnatic War (1758-63):
  1. After the departure of Dupleix, the English and the French remained in peace for nearly four years in Karnataka, till hostilities were once again resumed when the Seven Years’ War broke out in Europe. 
  2. In India, the English took the Northern Circars which had been given to the French by the new Nizam, Salabat Jung, to meet the expenses of the French army that he maintained for his protection at Hyderabad. Salabat Jung now agreed to come under the protection of the English, awarding the Northern Circars to them. The French, commanded by Count de Lally, launched an attack on Madras at this move; but Madras was well protected by an English fleet, forcing Lally to retire to Pondicherry. He was later defeated by Sir Eyre Coote at the decisive battle of Wandiwash in 1760 CE. The very next year the English captured Pondicherry and other French settlements in India. 
  3. Meanwhile, the Seven Year’s war ended with the treaty of Paris in 1763 CE. 
  4. Pondicherry and other French possessions in India were returned on the condition that they would not be fortified. 
  5. French power in India was thus broken and the Anglo-French rivalry in southern India ended with the success of the English and the failure of the French.

Indian Councils Act of 1909, famously known as Morley-Minto Reforms. These reforms were introduced in the backdrop of the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement and split of Indian National Congress to pacify the moderate leadership. Nationalist leaders believed that the real purpose of the Morley-Minto Reforms was to divide the nationalist ranks and to check the growing unity among Indians by encouraging the growth of Muslim communalism. 

• The Act introduced the following changes 
  1. It increased the number of elected members in the Imperial (Central) Legislative Council and the Provincial Legislative Councils, considerably. In the Provincial Councils, non-official majority was introduced. Further, most of the elected members were still elected indirectly. The local bodies were to elect an electoral college, which in turn would elect members of provincial legislators, who in turn would elect members of the central legislature. 
  2. It provided for an Indian to be appointed as a member of the Governor-General’s Executive Council. Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian to join the voice Roy’s executive council he was appointed as law member. Hence, statement 1 is correct. 
  3. The act enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative councils at both the levels. It permitted members to introduce resolution and increased their power to ask questions. Voting on separate budget items was allowed by the act; but the budget as a whole could not be voted upon. Hence, statement 2 is correct. 
  4. The act also introduced separate electorates for Muslims under which the Muslim members were to be elected only by the Muslim voters thus this act legalised communalism and Lord Minto came to be known as the father of communal electorate.

Consequences of the 1857 revolt: 

• The revolt of 1857 marks a turning point in the history of India. It led to far-reaching changes in the system of administration and the policies of the British government. 
• Even before the Revolt could be suppressed fully, the British Parliament, on August 2, 1858, passed an Act for the Better Government of India. The Act declared Queen Victoria as the sovereign of British India and provided for the appointment of a Secretary of State for India (a member of the British cabinet). The direct responsibility for the administration of the country was assumed by the British Crown and Company rule was abolished. 
• The assumption of the Government of India by the sovereign of Great Britain was announced by Lord Canning at a durbar at Allahabad in the ‘Queen’s Proclamation’ issued on November 1, 1858. (It was by this proclamation that the governor-general acquired the additional title of ‘Viceroy’.) As per the Queen’s proclamation, the era of annexations and expansion had ended and the British promised to respect the dignity and rights of the native princes. 
• The Army, which was at the forefront of the outbreak, was thoroughly reorganized and British military policy came to be dominated by the idea of “division and counterpoise”. 
• The Army Amalgamation Scheme, 1861 moved the Company’s European troops to the services of the Crown. Further, the European troops in India were constantly revamped by periodical visits to England, sometimes termed as the ‘linked battalion scheme. All Indian artillery units, except a few mountain batteries, were made defunct. All higher posts in the army and the artillery departments were reserved for the Europeans. Hence option (d) is the correct answer. 
• In accordance with the Queen’s Proclamation of 1858, the Indian Civil Service Act of 1861 was passed, which was to give an impression that under the Queen all were equal, irrespective of race or creed. (In reality, the detailed rules framed for the conduct of the civil service examination had the effect of keeping the higher services a close preserve of the colonizers.)

• The railways in British India expanded gradually. There were four distinct phases in this development. 
• The British Indian government encouraged a number of British private companies to construct railways in India. The authorities thought that the enterprise would not be beneficial from the point of entrepreneurs. To attract private investment the government introduced the Guarantee system. 
  1. By this system, the government offered a number of assurances or guarantees to those companies who undertook the project of building the railroad. 
  2. The construction of the railroad in India between 1849 and 1869 went on under this system. 
  3. The chief features of the system can be summed up as follows:
     (i) The companies were offered free land by the government for the construction of railways.
     (ii) The government agreed to pay an annual interest of 5% on the amount invested by the company.
     (iii) The government-guaranteed that the amount of profit would be equally shared by the company and the government.
     (iv) It was agreed upon that after a period of 25 or 50 years the government might wish to buy back the railways. § Under this arrangement, 4,255 miles of railways were constructed by 1869. But, the Guarantee System was misused by the private companies to cheat the government. The companies used to declare fictitious accounts to conceal their actual profit amount so as to deprive the colonial government.
     (v) The Guarantee System proved to be a heavy economic burden on the government exchequer. It came under scrutiny and eventually this arrangement was abolished. 
  4. In 1869, the construction of railways was brought under the direct initiative of the government. A new policy of state construction and management of railroad was adopted in view of the various loopholes of the Guarantee System which resulted in huge financial losses for the government. The government initiative continued till 1880 when a New Guarantee System was adopted and the state initiative was given up.
     (i)  Under the New Guarantee System the private companies were again encouraged to undertake the job of railroad construction, but, this time the planning and control of the enterprise were kept under the government.
     (ii) It was a departure from the old Guarantee System.
     (iii)  The guaranteed rate of interest in the new system was reduced from 5% to 3.5%.
     (iv)  The new Guarantee System accelerated the pace of railroad construction in India. 
• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Symbols allocation to political parties: 

• Recently the Madras High Court has decided to examine whether it was fair on the part of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allot permanent election symbols to recognized political parties alone and deny such a benefit to the registered but unrecognized political parties. As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) (Amendment) Order, 2017, party symbols are either:
• Reserved: National parties and state parties across the country have “reserved” symbols. 
• Free: The Election Commission also has a pool of nearly 200 “free” symbols that are allotted to the thousands of unrecognized regional parties that pop up before elections. 
• A reserved symbol will only be allotted to the candidates set up by the National or State party and not to anyone else. Hence statement 2 is correct. 
• If a political party, which is a recognized State Party in some states, nominates a candidate in states in which it isn’t recognized as a state party, then the candidate, to the exclusion of all the other candidates, shall be allotted the symbol, provided that the symbol is not listed as a free symbol. 

How are symbols allotted to political parties?

• A party/candidate has to provide a list of three symbols from the EC’s free symbols list at the time of filing nomination papers. Among them, one symbol is allotted to the party/candidate on a first-comefirst-serve basis. When a recognized political party splits, the Election Commission takes the decision on assigning the symbol. 
• Powers of Election Commission:  The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the EC to recognize political parties and allot symbols. Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, it can decide disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognized political party staking claim to its name and symbol. The EC is also the only authority to decide issues on a dispute or a merger. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is the central recruiting agency in India. It is an independent constitutional body as directly created by the constitution. 
• Articles 315 to 323 in Part XIV of the constitution contain elaborate provisions regarding the composition, appointment and removal of members along with the independence, powers and functions of the UPSC. 
• The UPSC consists of a chairman and other members appointed by the President of India. The chairman and members of the commission hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. 
• Removal/Suspension of Members: The Chairman or any other member of UPSC shall only be removed from his/her office by order of the President of India. 
• The President can suspend the Chairman or any other member from his/her office in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court. 
• Conditions for Removal: The Chairman or any other member of UPSC may be removed if he/she:-is adjudged an insolvent.-engages during his/her term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of his/her office.-is, in the opinion of the President, unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body. 
• However, the procedure for removal of judges is through impeachment by the parliament. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• In addition to these President can also remove the chairman or any other member of UPSC for misbehaving. In this case, the president has to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for an enquiry. In this regard, the advice of the Supreme Court is binding on the President. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Constitution has defined the term misbehavior as -concerned or interested in any contract or agreement made by the Government of India or Government of State. - participates in any way in the profit of such contracts or agreements. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• Article 16 states that No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State
•  There are four exceptions to this general rule of equality of opportunity in public employment: 
  1. Parliament can prescribe residence as a condition for certain employment or appointment in a state or union territory or local authority or other authority. As the Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act of 1957 expired in 1974, there is no such provision for any state except Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Hence statement 1 is not correct. 
  2. The State can provide for reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class that is not adequately represented in the state services. 
  3. The state is permitted to make a provision for the reservation of up to 10% of appointments or posts in favor of any economically weaker sections of citizens. This reservation of up to 10% would be in addition to the existing reservation. For this purpose, the economically weaker sections would be notified by the state from time to time on the basis of family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage. Hence statement 2 is correct