UPSC Paper 1 Mock Test - 8 - UPSC MCQ

Board of control was established by Pitt’s India Act, 1784. Regulating Act, 1773 only partially subjected the activities of the East India Company to the supervision of the British Government. The main provisions of the act were the appointment of a governor-general of Fort William in Bengal with supervisory powers over the presidencies of Madras and Bombay. The governor-general had a council of four and was given a casting vote but no veto.

Buddha’s birth which is symbolized by a lotus. Dhammachakraparivartan – This was Buddha giving his first sermon in Deer Park close to Varanasi. This is symbolized by a wheel. Mahaparinirvana – Buddha’s death. This is symbolized by a stupa.

Ghadar revolutionists recognized Rash Behari Bose as their leader to organize the revolt in India.Rash Behari Bose played a crucial role in the Ghadar Revolution, a plan to attack British army from the inside. Lala Hardayal was its leader in San Francisco.

The Individual Satyagraha, launched in 1940 was not targeted to seek independence but to affirm the freedom of right to speech, as India was made a party to the 2nd World war without its consent. Vinobha Bhave, J.l.Nehru and Brahma Dutt were the three individual satyagrahis.

British officers were also corrupt. Infact, some sources mention that they were even more corrupt than French. Thus corruption was not the reason for French failure. Unlike the English East India Company, the French East India Company was a State concern, depending for anything and everything on the home government its freedom of action was very much limited by the charter and the whims and fancies of the rulers.

It was Rowlatt act that violated the principle of natural justice and thus Indians opposed it. Illbert bill allowed Indian judges to try the cases involving the Europeans. Immediately, the whole European community began an agitation to oppose the bill.

It was Mughal paintings that had three dimensional effects. In madhubani paintings, the artists prepared the colors that are used for the paintings. Black color is made by adding soot to cow dung; yellow from combining turmeric (or pollen or lime) with the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the kusam flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder and orange from palasha flowers.

Horses were used in Rig vedic age. Infact, the Rig veda itself mentions ashva ( horse ) many times. Pastoral nomadism was the dominant economic activity Rig vedic age. The later Vedic Period commenced with the emergence of agriculture as the principal economic activity. Along with that, a declining trend was experienced as far as the importance of cattle rearing was concerned.

The demand of the Individual Satyagrahi would be the freedom of speech against the war through an anti-war declaration. If the Government did not arrest the Satyagrahi, he or she would not only repeat it but move into villages and start a march towards Delhi, thus precipitating a movement which came to be known as the “Delhi Chalo Movement”.

The 1857 revolt was not properly planned and organised and this was the main reason of its failure. Hindu-Muslim disunity was not there that time. It came only from the late 19th and early 20th century.

If both parents have blood group A, then their child can have either A or O. AB or B is not possible.

Bio-Digester Toilet System is based on anaerobic biodegradation of organic waste by unique microbial consortium. In this system, faecal matter is decomposed to bits and converted into water and little of carbon dioxide &methane gas. It is totally maintenance-free system and does not require any sewerage system.

Free radicals are released as a result of oxidation in body cells. They are “free” because they are missing a critical molecule, which sends them on a rampage to pair with another molecule. Free radicals often injure the cell, damaging the DNA, which creates the seed for disease.

High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) particles are protective particles that have important functions in the body. HDL play a key role in protecting against heart disease via their role in reverse cholesterol transport, or the transport of excess cholesterol out of the body. HDL are also part of the innate immune system due to their ability to bind a number of toxic substances in the blood. Products like coconut oils & omega 3 fatty acids increase HDL. Trans fat is considered by many doctors to be the worst type of fat you can eat. It raises your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and lowers your HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

If you are exhibiting cracks on the outside of your lips, you’re likely experiencing cheliosis, a condition commonly caused by a deficiency of riboflavin, or vitamin B-2. Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease most frequently caused by a chronic lack of niacin( vitamin B3 ). Xerophthalmia ( drying of tear glands ) due to primary deficiency of vitamin A ( retinol ) is a common cause of blindness among young children in developing countries.

This antibiotic resistance, also known as antimicrobial resistance or drug resistance, is not a natural phenomena but largely due to the increasing use of antibiotics.

An example of line of sight communication is the TV remote. Bluetooth & Wi-Fi does not require line of sight. Near Field Communication (NFC) is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4cm or less to initiate a connection. NFC does not require line of sight. 

If a beam of light illuminates a rough surface, or a cloud of small particles, some of the light is removed from the beam and redistributed in all directions. This angular redistribution is called scattering. Almost all objects scatter light, that means they reflect the light that illuminates them in all directions. Air molecules individually scatter sunlight into all directions. Blue light is scattered much more strongly than longer wavelengths. Thus air above us looks blue from that scattered sunlight. The beautiful colours in soap films and in oil floating on water are due to interference by reflection. A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets. 

The difference between an LMO and a GMO is that a Living Modified Organism means any biological entity capable of transferring or replicating genetic material, including sterile organisms, viruses and viroids and typically refers to agricultural crops. Genetically Modified Organisms include both LMOs and organisms which are not capable of growing, i.e. are dead. 

Neutrinos are subatomic particles produced by the decay of radioactive elements. They are similar to the more familiar electron, with one crucial difference: neutrinos do not carry electric charge Neutrino has non-zero rest mass. Neutrinos travel at almost exactly the speed of light.

Forest ecosystem has a partly upright pyramid of number. This is because the number of producers are lesser in number and support a greater number of herbivores and which in turn support a fewer number of carnivores. Biomass pyramid is Upright in a forest ecosystem because a larger net biomass of producers support a smaller weight of consumers.

Biogeochemical cycles are pathways for the transport and transformation of matter within four categorical areas that make up planet Earth (biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and the atmosphere). Biogeochemical cycles are components of the broader cycle that govern the functioning of planet Earth.

Statement 2 and 3 are clear and require no explanation. However, some would think how deforestation increases carbon dioxide in atmosphere. When the trees are felled, they release the carbon that had been storing, into the atmosphere, which mingles with greenhouse gases from other sources.

It is to be noted that energy flow in an ecosystem is unidirectional and non-cyclic, whereas nutrient flow is cyclic. The energy enters the plants (from the sun) through photosynthesis during the making of food. This energy is then passed on from one organism to another in a food chain. Energy given out by the organisms as heat is lost to the environment, it does not return to be used by the plants again. This makes the flow of energy in ecosystem ‘unidirectional’.

Photosynthesis would decrease as increased UV radiations (due to ozone depletion) would make it difficult for leaves of green plants to exchange gases with the atmosphere. Due to increased temperature consequent upon increased UV radiation, the evaporation rate of surface water will increase and soil moisture would decrease leading to drying of agricultural crops and hence reduced yield.

Sea level changes – techtonic indicator ; Lacustrine deposits – geological indicator. Ice cores offer comprehensive records of past changes in polar climate and water cycle, aerosol deposition, natural forcings (including solar and volcanic activity), and global atmospheric composition.

The objectives of the N.A.M.P. are to determine status and trends of ambient air quality; to ascertain whether the prescribed ambient air quality standards are violated. Under N.A.M.P., four air pollutants viz ., Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Oxides of Nitrogen as NO2, Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM / PM10) have been identified for regular monitoring at all the locations

Uniformitarianism is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe

Stubble Mulching is not a mechanical method, but a crop management technique that helps in soil conservation. The soil conservation measures are mainly of two types: (a) crop management, and (b) providing mechanical protection. Techniques like stubble mulching, in which the roots, stems and leaves are left over in the agricultural fields after harvesting, help to conserve soil.