CGPSE Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 2 - CGPSC (Chhattisgarh) MCQ

Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India. The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda.

Under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, married women in Chhattisgarh will receive a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1000, amounting to Rs 12,000 annually. This initiative aims to empower women and promote gender equality in the state.

The discovery of the tunnel in Bastar marks the first instance of such an underground structure being found in the region since the onset of the Maoist insurgency nearly two decades ago, indicating a shift in Maoist tactics.

The Samagra Shiksha Scheme aims to deliver inclusive, equitable, and affordable school education, covering the entire educational spectrum from pre-school to class XII. It integrates various educational initiatives to enhance overall learning outcomes.

The Chhattisgarh government specifically requested Rs 2,606 lakh for the Laika Sanwar Yojana, which is part of the larger Samagra Shiksha initiative aimed at improving educational quality from preschool to grade 12.

Under the Bharat (BH) series vehicle registration, owners are required to pay the vehicle tax for a duration of two years in a single payment. This initiative aims to streamline the registration process across states.

The expansion of the Gevra, Kusmunda, and Dipka Opencast coal mines is recommended in Korba district of Chhattisgarh. This area is significant for coal production and has multiple mining operations.

The Mahtari Vandan Yojana is designed for married women who are residents of Chhattisgarh and aged 21 or above. This scheme also extends benefits to widowed, divorced, and abandoned women.

The Kusmunda mine is particularly vulnerable because it flows adjacent to the Hasdeo tributary, which raises concerns about environmental degradation and impacts on local ecosystems as a result of mining activities.

The document ‘Amritkaal: Chhattisgarh Vision @2047’ aims to transform Chhattisgarh from a developing state to a developed one by setting specific economic goals, including doubling the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) by 2028.

The PM-SHRI Yojana is aimed at the upgradation and development of existing schools across the country, focusing on enhancing the quality of education and infrastructure in schools managed by various government bodies.

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change responsible for advising the government on granting forest clearances for non-forest uses such as mining and industrial projects.

The Chhattisgarh government has approved a new scheme to provide financial assistance to tendu patta collectors, with a funding structure where 75% comes from the government, ensuring their social security and economic stability.

The Hasdeo river is not only a tributary of the Mahanadi river but also serves as a critical habitat with a large migratory corridor for elephants, making it ecologically significant due to its rich biodiversity.

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme provides free hot cooked meals to children aged six to fourteen years who attend school, ensuring they receive adequate nutrition, which is crucial for their growth and learning.

South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) is recognized as the highest coal-producing company in India, managing numerous coal mines primarily located in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, playing a significant role in the country's energy sector.

The newly inaugurated solar energy plant in Chhattisgarh has a capacity of 100 megawatts. This capacity allows it to generate significant electricity, contributing to the state's renewable energy goals and reducing carbon emissions. An interesting fact is that this plant is equipped with bifacial solar panels, which can capture sunlight from both sides, enhancing energy production efficiency.

The Niyad Nellanar scheme aims to provide basic amenities similar to those offered by the PM-JANMAN program, specifically targeting Naxal-affected villages. Under this scheme, various amenities will be supplied to improve the quality of life in these areas, including infrastructure and essential services. This initiative is vital for enhancing socio-economic conditions in vulnerable regions.

The primary objective of the Ujjwala Scheme is to empower women and protect their health by providing access to clean cooking fuel. This initiative aims to reduce the health risks associated with using unclean cooking methods, which can lead to respiratory diseases and other health issues. The scheme is part of a broader effort to improve living conditions for families across India.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It has four beautifully decorated toranas depicting various events from the life of the Buddha and the Jatakas. About Sanchi Stupa: Narratives get more elaborated, however, the depiction of the dream episode remains very simple showing the reclining image of the queen and the elephant at the top. Carving techniques appear more advanced than Bharhut.

Symbols continue to be used representing the Buddha and the Manushi Buddhas or the past Buddhas (according to the textual tradition, there are twenty-four Buddhas but only the first one, Dipankar, and the last six are pictorially represented).

1. Village Headman was known as Grama Bhojaka.

This statement is incorrect. During the Pre-Mauryan period, the village headman was known as Gramani or Gramabhojaka. The term Grama Bhojaka is more commonly associated with the Mauryan period and later.

2. Use of Iron began in India from the times of the Indus Valley Civilization.

This statement is also incorrect. The Indus Valley Civilization (also known as the Harappan Civilization) was predominantly a Bronze Age civilization. The use of iron in India began around 1500 BCE, during the later Vedic period, which is after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Therefore, none of the statements given are correct.

Statement 1 is correct. In the northern part of the country, the village headman was known as the grama bhojaka. The grama bhojaka was often the largest landowner. Generally, he had slaves and hired workers to cultivate the land. The post was hereditary as usually, men from the same family held the position for generations.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The use of iron began in the subcontinent around 3000 years ago. It was after the Indus Valley Civilization. In the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent, an "Iron Age" is recognized as succeeding the Late Harappan culture.

• Delhi first became the capital of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the Chauhans (also referred to as Chahamanas) of Ajmer.
• It was under the Tomaras and Chauhans that Delhi became an important commercial centre.
• Coins minted here, called dehliwal, had a wide circulation.
• The transformation of Delhi into a capital that controlled vast areas of the subcontinent started with the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate in the beginning of the thirteenth century.

Hence, option (b) is correct.
 

• Peasants formed the overwhelming majority of the population in medieval India. It was, however, not a homogenous group. One end of the spectrum was represented by rich peasants (khuts & muqaddams during Delhi Sultanate and khudkasht during the Mughal period), having large holdings and cultivated their lands with the help of hired labour.
• Statement 1 is correct: Khudkashts were the rich/prosperous peasants who owned tracts of land and tools of agriculture.
• Statement 2 is not correct: They paid land revenue at customary rates. Some of them had many ploughs and bullocks which they let out to their poorer brethren, the tenants or muzarian who generally paid land revenue at a higher rate. These two groups were the largest section among the cultivators in the village.
• Statement 3 is not correct: The khudkasht who claimed to be the original settlers of the village often belonged to a single dominant caste or castes. These castes not only dominated the village society, they exploited the other or weaker sections. In turn, they were often exploited by the zamindars.
  • Muzarian belonged to the same village but did not have either land or implements and hence were dependent on the Khud-kasht for their supply.
     

• Sri Vallabhacharya (c. 1479 – 1531 CE) was a devotional philosopher who founded the Pushtimarg sect in India, following the philosophy of Shuddha Advaita (Pure Non-dualism). Shuddadvaita is the purely non-dual philosophy propounded by him. It was a Hindu Vaishnava tradition that focused on the worship of Krishna. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Dadu Dayal (c. 1544-1603 CE) was a significant representative of the Nirguna Saint tradition in North India (Gujarat & Rajasthan). Nirgun is a form of aniconic worship of the formless as opposed to the saguna tradition, which is the worship of religious icons and deities with form. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • Dadu means brother, and Dayal means the compassionate one; later, his followers came to be known as the Dadupanthis, who set up ashrams known as Thambas.
• Surdas (c. 1483-1563 CE) was a disciple of the Vallabhacharya. He was a blind poet whose songs were centered around Krishna. His Sursagar recounts the exploits of Krishna during his childhood and youth with gentle affection and delightfulness. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• Statement 1 is not correct: 'Latina' or the rekha-prasada type buildings have simple shikhara which is square at the base and whose walls curve or slope inward to a point on top. Another major type of architectural form in the nagara order is the phamsana. Phamsana buildings tend to be broader and shorter than latina ones. Their roofs are composed of several slabs that gently rise to a single point over the centre of the building, unlike the latina ones which look like sharply rising tall towers.
• Statement 2 is correct: In many North Indian temples you will notice that the phamsana design is used for the mandapas while the main garbhagriha is housed in a latina building. Later on, the latina buildings grew complex, and instead of appearing like a single tall tower, the temple began to support many smaller towers, which were clustered together like rising mountain-peaks with the tallest one being in the centre, and this was the one which was always above the garbhagriha.
• Statement 3 is correct: These are rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber. The edge of this vaulted chamber is rounded, like the bamboo or wooden wagons that would have been drawn by bullocks in ancient times. They are usually called ‘wagon- vaulted buildings’.

• During the Vedic period, women were given equal opportunities as men for their spiritual and intellectual development. There were women poetesses like Apala, Viswavara, Ghosa and Lopamudra during the Rig Vedic period. Women could even attend the popular assemblies. There was no child marriage and the practice of sati was absent.

• However, with the transition to the later Vedic period, the position of women declined, as the society became more patriarchal. Women also lost their political rights of attending assemblies. Child marriages had become common. According the Aitreya Brahmana, a daughter has been described as a source of misery. However, the women in the royal household enjoyed certain privileges. The social divisions were not rigid during the Rig Vedic period, as it was in the later Vedic period. Larger kingdoms were formed during the later Vedic period.

• The four divisions of society (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras) or the Varna system was thoroughly established during the Later Vedic period. The two higher classes - Brahmana and Kshatriya enjoyed privileges that were denied to the Vaisya and Sudra. Many sub- castes, on the basis of their occupation appeared in this period. The two outstanding Rig Vedic gods, Indra and Agni, lost their former importance. On the other hand, Prajapati, the creator, came to occupy the supreme position in the later Vedic period.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually important people of the village with hereditary rights over their property. In mixed-caste villages, the panchayat was usually a heterogeneous body. The panchayat being an oligarchy represented various castes and communities in the village, though the village menial-cum-agricultural worker was unlikely to be represented there. The decisions made by these panchayats were binding on the members.

Statement 2 is correct. A headman known as muqaddam or mandal headed the panchayat. According to some sources, the headman was chosen through the consensus of the village elders, and this choice had to be ratified by the zamindar. Headmen held office as long as they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders, failing which they could be dismissed by them. Statement 3 is correct. The chief function of the headman was to supervise the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant or patwari of the panchayat.

• Option (a) is incorrect: Raleigh Commission: The Viceroy filled with imperialistic design was not in favor of giving any power to the Indians. He concluded the Indian Universities and the college were slowly becoming cradle of Propaganda against the Government. So, with an idea to bring the Universities under control, Lord Curzon appointed Raleigh Commission under Sir Thomas Raleigh.

• Option (b) is incorrect: Mahalwari System: In Mahalwari system, all the properties of a Mahal were jointly and severally responsible, in their persons and property, for the sum assessed by the government on that Mahal. If the number of the proprietors was large, some of them were made representatives of all. The ownership and occupancy right was reserved for individual peasants. Even cultivation was to be done individually. But for the payment of the land revenue, the peasants were jointly responsible. Usually the village as a whole would be designated a Mahal and it paid the revenue via its headman called Lambardar. Thus, Lambardars worked as a link between the individual tillers and the government, but they were not given rights like those of Zamindars under permanent settlement.

• Option (c) is correct: Permanent Settlement: In permanent settlement, fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and, assured of returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates. Initial demands were very high. The revenue was invariable, regardless of the harvest, and had to be paid punctually. In fact, according to the Sunset Law, if payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned.

• Option (d) is incorrect: Macdonnell Commission: When the people were dying out of starvation and diseases, a MacDonnell Commission was appointed by Lord Curzon in 1901 which submitted its report in the same year. This commission came out with a “Moral Strategy”, distribution of advances and loans to the peasants and setting up a Famine Commissioner in the famine affected province.

Statement 2 is incorrect. In 1883, Surendranath Banerjea became the first Indian journalist to be imprisoned. In an angry editorial in The Bengalee Banerjea had criticised a judge