UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 (GS) Mock Test - 20 - UPSC MCQ

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Mansabdari system was introduced by Akbar. The term Mansab indicated the rank of mansabdar. The Mansabdars were appointed to civil and military posts. The Mansabdars were required to maintain cavalrymen and horses. The Mansabdars who were paid in cash were called Naqdi and those paid through land (Jagirs') were called Jagirdars.

In the Iqta system one part of land belonged to the Sultan and the other part to Muqti. In the Jagirdari system the entire land belonged to the Emperor.

Thus, Mansabdari did not evolve from Iqta system

Statement 2 is correct: Feudalism was a socio-political system in Europe and based on land tenure given by lord to vassals. It is derived from the word Feud which means “conditional ownership of land”. Land became the source of power. There was no central authority resulting in little political unity.

The Feudal Lord in the west had complete control over the land. Whereas the under iqta system muqtis did not have absolute control over Iqtas.

Privy purse was the payment made to the royal families in accordance with agreement that they are willing to give up their ruling powers and get integrated with the Nation State of India. The amount of privy purse was based on several factors and it ranged from few thousands to millions of rupees. Privy purse was a constitutional privilege under Article 291 of the constitution which guaranteed a tax free amount payable to the erstwhile rulers of princely state and their successors. The 26th Constitutional Amendment Act 1971 abolished the privy purse in India.

The Gulf of Guinea includes several West African countries that border the Atlantic Ocean and these are Benin, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Option (a) The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the gulf.

Among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea are the Niger and the Volta.

Option (b) The International Chamber of Commerce has released the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report which described the Gulf of Guinea as the most dangerous area in the world for shipping.

According to its estimations, 73 percent of all sea kidnappings and 92 percent of hostage-takings occur there,

Statement 1 is correct: The Charter Act mandated that the salary of staff and administrative expenditure of the Board of Control were charged upon the company. After all the expenses, the company now had to pay an annual amount of 5 lakhs rupees to the British government from Indian revenue.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The portfolio based administration in the governor general’s executive council was introduced by the Indian Council Act 1861. It transformed the viceroy's executive council into a mini cabinet based on the portfolio system. The Charter Act of 1813 ended the monopoly of the company except for trade in tea and with China and fixed the company dividend at 10.5%. The act made endeavour for revival of Indian literature and promotion of science.

Source) Modern India, Rajiv Ahir (ch 26, pg 523, 524)

Statement 3 is correct: The Charter Act of 1833 redesignated governor general of bengal as governor general of India. The Governor general of Bombay and Madras lost their legislative powers. For the first time the government of the governor general was called the government of India and his council was called the indian council. The council had the exclusive legislative powers for the British India.

Statement 1 is correct: Sasipada banerjee was a social reformer and among the leaders of Brahmo Samaj. He is known for his work for women education and rights. He was also the founder of the newspaper Bharat Shramjivi. It was the first newspaper of the working class. He is considered as among the earliest to work for the labour rights in India. He established Working Men’s Club, the first labour organisation of Kolkata. He founded a workers organisation called Sramjivi Samiti in 1870.

Statement 2 is correct: The signallers strike in the Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) railway was related to the wages, working hours and working conditions of the labourers. The nationalist newspapers supported the strike. Tilak’s newspaper Kesari and Maharatta campaigned in favour of the strike for months and Nationalist like Pheroze Shah Mehta, D E Wacha organised public meetings and fund collections to financially support the strikers.

Bahishkrit Bharat was a Marathi Fortnightly launched by B R Ambedkar with an objective of mainstreaming issues of dalit and untouchables and working for establishing equality in India.

Maharatta was an English Newspaper started by Bal GangaDhar Tilak. He used this medium for the criticism of the government and its policies.

Som Prakash was a bengali newspaper started by Dwarkanath Vidyabhushhan. It was among the first bengali newspapers having extensive socio-political discussions. It was critical of the government policies. It criticised the passing of the Vernacular Press Act and supported the ilbert bill.

The Vedic people had a mixed economy of agriculture and pastoralism but primarily they were pastoral people. Vrajapati was the officer who controlled authority over pasture land. He also fought battles. He was considered as equivalent to heads at grama level.

Recent excavations at Nagardhan near Nagpur has provided evidence of the Vakataka dynasty and the Queen Prabhavatigupta. An oval shaped sealing has been found having the name of the queen in Brahmi script. There is also depiction of conch on the seal which indicates the affiliation to the Vaishnava sect. A copper plate has also been found which was issued by Queen Prabhavati. The copper plate mentions Samudragupta as her grandfather and Chandragupta 2 as her father. According to some scholars the sealings might have been used as an official royal permission issued by the capital.

Statement 1 is correct: Stupa is a form of architecture having a hemispherical dome. After Parinirvana the remains of Buddha were cremated and ashes were buried under eight mounds. According to the Buddhist tradition, Ashoka recollected the relics of Buddha from previously existing stupas and distributed the relics across thousands of Stupas. The Great Stupa (also called stupa no. 1) at Sanchi was originally built in the 3rd century BCE by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and is believed to house the ashes of the Buddha.

Statement 2 is correct: The Chaukhandi Stupa is called so because of its four armed plan. It is a Gupta age structure and it symbolizes the site where Lord Buddha, while returning from Bodh Gaya was reunited with his five disciples whom he previously left at Rajgir. The Archaeological Survey of India has recently declared it as a protected area of national importance.

Statement 3 is correct: Torana is an ornamental gateway found in the premise of religious buildings. Jataka tales have been found engraved on Torana and the Anda. The Torana of Sanchi is a structure dating back to the Mauryans. It is an imitation of the Timber construction of those days. The Dome shaped Anda symbolizes the mound of dirt used to cover Buddha’s remains. Over a period of time Dome has become the home of gods at the centre of the universe.

Military camps were called Skandharva during Harsha ’s reign. These camps were built at the strategic location which gave them mobility to move freely. After there was decline in trade and scarcity of money was prevailing the military officers and soldiers were getting paid through land grants and hence the city lost its importance. The military camps became power centres and dominated large areas of land.

After defeating and killing Pulakesin 2nd of Badami/Vatapi assumed title Vatapikonda and built port city Mammalapuram or Mahabalipuram. He was also known as Mammalan or the great wrestler.

Statement 1 is correct: Swami Haridas was a spiritual poet and classical musician of the 16th century credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style. Haridas's compositions maybe classed as Vishnupadas.

Statement 2 is correct: Tansen learnt music from Swami Haridas for eleven years.

He is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today in North India.

Statement 3 is correct: Swami Haridas belonged to the tradition of madhura bhakti - Adoration expressed in conjugal imagery. Haridas's theology embraces not merely the Love of Krishna and Radha but also the witnessing of the Love, a state of mind called rasa. In an ecstatic condition of trance he sings of the play of Krishna among the bowers of Vrindavan. More than Krishna, Radha was the central personality of all his poems.

Statement 1 is correct: Bali was a tax used differently by different kingdoms to have additional revenue collection. In the early vedic age the bali was collected by the king from subjects and consisted of one-sixth of the agricultural produce or even cattles paid as tribute. The tribute from the enemies was also called bali. The bali in Maurya age was not compulsory and even Rummindei inscription records that people of lumbini were exempted from bali.

In Gupta age Bali became compulsory. The Gupta age made certain changes in the administration. The Maury as had centralised administration whereas Gupta’s decentralised the administration.

Statement 2 is correct: Bhaga in Gupta age was tax paid by the cultivators. It was one-sixth of the produce. Bhaga was paid in cash. The Gupta’s had the policy of devolution and it helped local communities to progress in their administration.

Bhoga: It was a general tribute to the king

Hiranya: Tax on special produce. It was paid in cash

Halivakara: Ploughing tax

Kara: non-uniform tax charged from villagers

Shulka: Custom or toll tax

Udinanga: Tax on social security

Klipta: Tax related to sale and purchase of land

Statement 1 is correct: Tenure of William Bentinck is known for social reforms like Abolition of Sati, Suppression of Thagi and Infanticide. The Charter Act of 1833 was passed during his tenure by which company no longer remains a trading company. In 1829 Sati was officially banned in the areas under Bengal Presidency. Even those who performed it were now declared guilty of Culpable Homicide.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Lord Rippon is best known for establishing local self-governments. They were aimed to train Indians to administer their local affairs. The local committees already existing were under control of the government. Ripon removed these obstacles by resolution of 1882. Apart from that he repealed the Vernacular Press Act, first factory act was legislated and financial decentralization was carried out.

Statement 3 is correct: Lord Hardinge is remembered for suppression of female infanticide and human sacrifice carried out in the Gond tribe of Central India

Moplah Revolt (1836-54) was organised in the Malabar region of Kerala. It was against the increase in revenue demand and reduction in the size of the agricultural field.

The Punjab Peasant Revolt was organised by the peasants of Punjab. The peasants were afraid of losing their land. The Punjab Alienation Act 1900 imposed regulations on sales and mortgage of the lands owned by the peasants. The National Unionist Party was established as a reaction to the legislation of the act to protect the interest of the peasants.

Ramosi Revolt (1877-87) was in the area around Satara in Maharashtra. Vasudev Balwant Phadke formed the Ramoshi peasant force. He led people from backward communities and raided government offices and treasuries and donated money to the villagers and peasants stricken by famine.

The Bahmani kingdom was founded by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah, also called Hasan Gangu. Mahmud Gawan is considered to be the greatest Bahmani ruler. He made reforms in the military by improving their service conditions and ensured that the army is well disciplined. He also reformed primary education for children and established Madarsa. He trained his revenue officers not to be harsh on peasants and be honest while submitting revenue to the treasury.

Nicolo Conti was an Italian Traveller who visited Vijayanagara during Deva Raya 2. He mentioned the rivalry of the Bahmani kingdom and Vijayanagara and gave a description of the Bahamani defence strategy against Vijayanagara.

Krishna Tungbhadra Doab and the Marathwada region were the areas that both the kingdoms were fighting for. The Conflict, on a large scale, started during the reign of Bukka 1.

The boundaries of Bahmani do not touch Kerala and Tamil Nadu but cover areas of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana.

Statement (c) is correct: Bhaona (Assamese) is a traditional form of entertainment, with religious messages, prevalent is Assam, India.

Statement (a) is incorrect: Bhaona is a creation of saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva, written in the early sixteenth century. He created the form to convey religious messages to villagers through entertainment.

Statement (b) is correct: The plays of bhaona are popularly known as Ankiya Nats and their staging is known as bhaona. There are some special characteristics of Bhaona like the plays, dialogues, costumes, ornaments, drums & cymbals, entry and foot-steps of the characters.

Statement (d) is correct: The bhaonas are written in the Assamese and Brajavali languages.

Bhaona is generally staged at satras and namghars in Assam.

Initially, he wrote his prose in Sanskrit but later used Assamese and Brajavali (a literary language limited to theatrical usage, in which Sankardeva wrote his songs and plays) to develop the following artforms:

1. Borgeet- a new form of spiritual music,

2. Bhaona- a mythology-based theatrical performance, and

3. Monastic dances that evolved into the classical Sattriya (a classical dance form which acts as a medium for propagation of the Vaishnava faith).

Option a is incorrect: The steering committee of National mission on transformative mobility and battery storage shall be chaired by CEO of NITI Aayog. The steering committee shall consist of secretaries from different ministries: Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable energy, Ministry of Science and Technology etc. The mission aims to promote Clean, Connected, Shared and Holistic Mobility Initiatives. The Mission will recommend and drive the strategies for transformative mobility and Phased Manufacturing Programmes for EVs, EV Components and Batteries.

Option b is correct: The mission will launch a Phased Manufacturing programme with the aim to localize production across the entire value chain by 2024.

Option c is correct: The steering committee consisted of inter- disciplinary members. The mission focuses on inter-ministerial coordination and involves every stakeholder. Also the steering committee is chaired by CEO of NITI Aayog which will ensure cooperative federalism. The mission is the result of Global Mobility summit where PM outlined the vision for the future of mobility in India based on 7 C’s which are Common, Connected, Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean and Cutting-edge mobility.

The solar insolation received by the earth varies slightly in a year due to the variations in the distance between the earth and the sun. During its revolution around the sun, the earth is farthest from the sun (152 million km) on 4th July. This position of the earth is called aphelion. On 3rd January, the earth is the nearest to the sun (147 million km). This position is called perihelion. Therefore, the annual insolation received by the earth on 3rd January is slightly more than the amount received on 4th July.

Dunhuang which lies in the frontier region west of China’s Gansu province is one of the cities on Ancient Silk route which was an ancient trade route.

There has been constant trade connections between India, China, Tibet, and Central Asia from ancient times via various land routes.

Option (b) is incorrect: Vaishali was not on the silk road. Kashghar and Bactria are important nodes on the silk road.

Option (c) is incorrect: Ujjain was not on the silk road.

Oman and Samarkand were cities on the silk road.

Muscat, the modern day capital of Oman, has been a strategic centre of trade and exchange along the historic maritime Silk Roads since the 2nd century AD.

Option (d) is incorrect: Madurai was not on the silk road.

Kabul and Anxi were on the corridor routes along the ancient Silk road.

Additional Information:

There are four main corridor routes that connected India with the ancient Silk Roads. Most of these corridor roads met the main road Uttarapatha (the Grand Trunk Road) that connected the northern and eastern parts of ancient India, running roughly 2400 km and connecting Kabul (now in Afghanistan) to Chittagong (now in Bangladesh), via Lahore (now in Pakistan), Amritsar, Delhi, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Delhi, and Kolkata.

The four main corridor routes comprised of:

1. The roads that pass through the Hindu Kush and Karakoram via Srinagar, Leh, and Sangju Pass (Western Himalaya).

2. The roads via the high-altitude plateaus of Tibet that enter India and come down to the ancient site of Sravasti (Ganga belt)

3. The trade routes through Nepal, entering India via Uttarakhand, and coming down to the Ganga valley belt, to areas like Ahichchhatra, Kaushambi, Vaishali, etc.

4. The trade road that moves further down the Ganga and goes via Delhi (Indraprastha) to the ancient site of Chandraketugarh in West Bengal.

Statement 1 is correct: Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape found in India. There are two species of Hoolock Gibbon that are found in India- Western Hoolock Gibbon, found in all the states of the north-east and Eastern Hoolock Gibbon, found in specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. In the IUCN Red List, western hoolock gibbon is listed as Endangered and eastern hoolock gibbon is listed as Vulnerable.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world. They inhabit warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The species is recognized as Vulnerable by IUCN. These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemp's ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada. Arribada is the phenomena where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs. Thus it is not the only turtle known for arribada.

Statement 3 is correct: Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus) is one of the six species of river sharks found in the world and is endemic to India. It is listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. It inhabits the River Hooghly as well as the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi.While some of the other river sharks are also known to inhabit saltwater, the Ganges shark is only found in rivers and estuaries, with no confirmed records from oceans or seas.

Pair 1 is correctly matched. The Malabar coast of Kerala has got certain distinguishing features in the form of Kayals (backwaters), which are used for fishing, inland navigation and also due to its special attraction for tourists.

Pair 2 is correctly matched. The Thar desert of Rajasthan is called Marusthali. The eastern part of the Marusthali is rocky while its western part is covered by shifting sand dunes locally known as Dhrians.

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched. Rarh Plains is a geographic region that comprises part of the Lower Ganges (Ganga) Plains in northern West Bengal state. The alluvial plains are essentially flat, except in the mountainous northern area. Moist deciduous forests of sal, champac, and acacia are frequently found, together with bamboo, laurels, orchids, and giant creepers.

Various committees on poverty line estimation have been constituted from time to time. Before the Tendulkar (2009) and Rangarajan committee (2014), Alagh (1979) and Lakadwala committee (1993) was constituted. The Lakadwala committee recommended calorie intake as the basis for poverty line estimation. However, both Tendulkar and Rangarajan committee recommended poverty line estimation with a basket consisting of both food and non-food material (health, education, clothing etc.) . The Tendulkar committee shifted from calorie intake to diversification in food baskets. Food baskets to comprise rice, wheat, cereals, pulses, milk, edible oil etc. Further Rangarajan recommended food baskets on the line ICMR guidelines. Option b is correct. Poverty line is estimated not with the purpose to identify the beneficiaries. The concept of poverty line started with the purpose to identify whether the development model is providing benefit to the lower strata of society. To identify whether the welfare schemes are being implemented properly, to identify whether the welfare schemes are able to take the population out of poverty.

Option c is correct. Unlike the Alagh committee, the Tendulkar committee provided the same poverty line basket for both rural and urban areas.

Option d is correct. The poverty line estimated by Tendulkar and Rangarajan in urban areas are 33 and 47 respectively and in rural areas are 22 and 37 respectively. The total population below poverty line as per Tendulkar is 21.5 percent and as per Rangarajan is 29 percent in the country.

GEMINI (Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information) device has been launched to provide emergency information and communication on disaster warnings, Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) and Ocean States Forecasts (OSF) to fishermen.

It is a portable receiver linked to GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) satellite. GAGAN is a Satellite Based Augmentation System consisting of three geosynchronous satellites. The GEMINI device receives and transfers the data received from GAGAN satellites to a mobile through Bluetooth communication. A mobile application then decodes and displays the information in nine regional languages.

Mobile phone frequencies cannot be accessed 10-12 km beyond the coast and with GEMINI this range can increase to 300 nautical miles. However, the device only allows one-way communication — it can’t be used by fishermen to make calls.

Statement 1 is correct: CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO), Chandigarh, has designed and developed an innovative technology for effective disinfection and sanitization to fight with corona pandemic. CSIR-CSIO has transferred this technology to a Nagpur-based company, Rite Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd., for commercialization and large-scale production. This technology has been found very efficient and effective to stop the spread of coronavirus and pathogens.

Statement 2 is correct: Electrostatic Disinfection Machine is developed based on the electrostatic principle. It produces uniform and fine spray droplets of disinfectants in the size range of 10-20 micrometre to kill microorganisms and viruses. Due to the small size of droplets, the surface area of spray droplets increases thereby enhancing the interaction with harmful microorganisms and coronavirus. The machine uses very less disinfection material as compared to conventional methods, which helps to save natural resources with negligible increase of chemical waste in the environment.

Statement 3 is correct: Charged droplets emitted from the disinfection machine can cover the directly exposed and obscured surfaces uniformly with increased efficiency and efficacy and the disinfectant reaches to any hidden areas of the target, where there is a maximum possibility to find the viruses.

Option a is correct: The Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage was established to promote implementation of approaches to address loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change.

Option b is correct: It seeks to enhance knowledge and understanding of comprehensive risk management approaches to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate. It also aims at strengthening dialogue, coordination, coherence and synergies among relevant stakeholders.

Option c is incorrect: The Mechanism does not fix any liability for compensation on developed countries. But it seeks to enhance action and support, including finance, technology and capacity building, to address loss and damage associated with adverse impacts of climate change in developing countries.

Option d is correct: It was established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2013 at 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) in Warsaw, Poland.

A critically endangered (CR) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

To be defined as critically endangered in the Red List, a species must meet any of the following criteria:

1. At Least 90% reduction in population size over the past 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer. It is when the causes of the reduction are clearly reversible AND understood AND ceased.

(It is 80% when the causes of reduction may not have ceased OR may not be understood OR may not be reversible)

2. Extent of occurrence estimated to be less than 100 km² OR Area of occupancy estimated to be less than 10 km².

3. Quantitative analysis showing the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 50% within 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer.

4. Population size is less than 50 mature individuals.

5. Population size is less than 250 mature individuals AND a decline of 25% within 3 years/ one generation.

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary is a designated Ramsar Site located in Maharashtra. It is Maharashtra’s first Ramsar site.

Recently 10 more wetlands from India got recognised as Ramsar sites. These included one from Maharashtra (Nandur Madhameshwar); three from Punjab (Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal); and six from Uttar Pradesh (Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar).

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: Nagarjunsagar - Srisailam is a Tiger Reserve located in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is India’s largest tiger reserve which spreads over 3800 sq km.

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: Singhpan Wildlife Sanctuary is an Elephant Reserve located in Nagaland. It is the 30th and the newest elephant reserve of India. It is located in Mon district of Nagaland and is strategically located in contiguity with the Abhaypur Reserve Forest of Assam.

Biomedical waste is any waste generated during the diagnosis, treatment, immunisation of human beings, human tissues, items contaminated with blood, body fluids like dressings, beddings, syringes or any other contaminated sharp objects. According to Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 and 2018, Operators of common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facilities shall establish bar coding and global positioning system for handling of bio-medical waste in accordance with guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The CPCB has issued detailed guidelines on handling, treatment and disposal of waste generated during treatment, diagnosis and quarantine of COVID-19 patients. The guidelines need to be followed by isolation wards, quarantine centres, sample collection centres, laboratories, urban local bodies and the Central Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs).