Manipur PSC Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 6 - Manipur CSCCE MCQ

• During the 15th century, the Persian style of painting started influencing the Western Indian style of painting as is evident from the Persian facial types and hunting scenes appearing on the borders of some of the illustrated manuscripts of the Kalpasutra (a Jain text).
• The introduction of the use of ultramarine blue and gold color in the Western Indian manuscripts is also believed to be due to the influence of the Persian painting. These Persian paintings, which came to India, were in the form of illustrated manuscripts.
• An illustrated manuscript of the Nimat Nama (Cookery Book) which exists in the Indian Office Library, London is marked by a new trend of painting at Malwa.
  • The manuscript was started in the time of Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji of Malwa (1469-1500 A.D.)
  • It shows Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji supervising cooking being done by maids.
  • In the Nimat Nama style, the Persian influence is visible in the scroll-like clouds, flowering trees, grassy tufts and flowering plants in the background, female figures, and costumes. Indian elements are noticeable in some female types and their costumes and ornaments and colors. In this manuscript, one can notice the first attempt towards the evolution of new styles of painting by the fusion of the Persian style of Shiraz with the indigenous Indian style.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
   

The Ahoms

• The Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from present-day Myanmar in the thirteenth century. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• They created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans (landlords).
• The Ahom state depended upon forced labour.
• Those forced to work for the state were called paiks.
• A census of the population was taken. Each village had to send a number of paiks by rotation.

• Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II (1686-1743) was the ruler of the Rajput State of Amber in India. A feudatory of the Mughals, he received the title of 'Sawai' (one and a quarter) from Emperor Aurangzeb, who declared him a quarter superior to his famous forebearer Mirza Raja Jai Singh (d. 1667) after he captured the Fort of Vishalgarh from the Marathas in 1701.
• After bringing to the Emperor's notice some astronomic discrepancies that possibly affected the timings of Hindu and Muslim holy events and expressing his desire to correct these, Jai Singh also received Imperial backing for building his Astronomy Observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Mathura.
  • All except the observatory at Mathura are in existence today.
• Sawai Jai Singh's ingenuity led to the invention of several outsize masonry instruments, the majority of which were used to determine the coordinates of celestial objects with reference to the local horizon.
  • During Jai Singh’s lifetime, the observatories were used to make observations in order to update existing ephemerides such as the Zīj-i Ulugh Begī.
  • Jai Singh established communications with European astronomers through a number of Jesuits living and working in India. In addition to dispatching ambassadorial parties to Portugal, he invited French and Bavarian Jesuits to visit and make use of the observatories
• Jai Singh wrote the astronomical work 'Zij-e-Muhammad-Shahi' (Muhammad Shah's astronomical tables) in 1728. That same year he also built his new, magnificently designed capital Jaipur, about 200 km southwest of Delhi and constructed by combining the aspects of the ancient Hindu treatise on architecture, the Shilpa Shastra, and plans of many European cities of the period with Jai Singh's own ideas.
• The European travelers of the time, like the Frenchman Louis Rousselet, and the English bishop, Heber, were greatly impressed by Jai Singh's unparalleled excellence in city planning.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.
   

• Akbar used different kinds of land revenue and land measurement systems to improvise the older systems and enhance the revenue without hurting the peasants.
• In 1580, Akbar instituted a new land revenue system called dahsala. Under this system, the average produce of different crops as well as average prices prevailing over the last ten (dah) years were calculated. One- third of the average share was state's share.
• Akbar also followed the old batai or ghalla-bakshi system. In this system, the produce was divided between peasants and the state in a fixed proportion. The crop was divided after it has been thrashed, or when it has been cut and tied in stacks, or while it was standing in the field.
• A third system used under Akbar's reign was nasaq. It meant a rough calculation of the amount payable by the peasant on the basis of what he has been paying in the past.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Stellantis North America are often referred to as the "Big Three", being the largest automakers in the United States of America. All three have their headquarters in the Detroit area.

• Chennai is nicknamed "The Detroit of India", with more than one-third of India's automobile industry being based in the city. Chennai is also referred to as the ‘Detroit of India’ with the Indian operations of Ford, Hyundai, Renault, and Nissan headquartered in the city and BMW having an assembly plant on the outskirts. Chennai accounts for 35% of the country’s automobile component industry and 60 percent of the country’s automotive exports.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

The 'Goldilocks Zone,' or habitable zone, is the distance range with the right temperatures for water to remain liquid. The distance Earth orbits the Sun is just right for water to remain a liquid. This distance from the Sun is called the habitable or Goldilocks zone. So, Statement 1 is correct.

Venus and Mars are also considered to be a part of the goldilocks zones in our Solar system along with Earth, but they aren't currently habitable. Today, Mars is a frigid desert. Many dried-up riverbeds, deltas, lake basins, and inland seas make it clear that Mars once had much water on its surface. Research suggests that most of Mars’s water escaped into space as its atmosphere was stripped away by the sun’s radiation. Today, aside from a possible series of briny, underground lakes and aquifers, most of Mars’s water is locked up in the polar caps or ice buried below the surface. Venus may have had a shallow liquid-water ocean and habitable surface temperatures for up to 2 billion years of its early history, according to computer modeling of the planet’s ancient climate by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Venus is closer to the sun than Earth and receives far more sunlight. As a result, the planet’s early ocean evaporated, water-vapor molecules were broken apart by ultraviolet radiation, and hydrogen escaped to space. With no water left on the surface, carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere, leading to a so- called runaway greenhouse effect that created present conditions. So, Statement 2 is correct. 

• The Great Lakes of North America is a series of five interconnected freshwater lakes that holds about 21% of the planet's freshwater. The five lakes across the United States and Canada are Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.
• Lake Huron is the 2nd largest of the Great Lakes and the world's 4th largest freshwater lake. Lake Constance, also known as Bodensee in German, is a large body of water shared by the three European nations of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The lake forms a part of the Rhine River basin and is geographically positioned at the northern foothills of the Alps.
• Lake Constance is considered Central Europe's third-largest lake by surface area and the second-largest lake in Europe by water volume. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, reaching a staggering 15,777 ft altitude above sea level.
• Mont Blanc is the second most renowned mountain after Mount Elbrus and the world's eleventh most prominent mountain peak. Mont Blanc sits on the border of France and Italy. Some other notable mountain peaks of the Alps include the Matterhorn, Dufourspitze, Finsteraarhorn, Weisshorn, Grossglockner, Zugspitze, and Triglav.
• The Apennine Mountains are a range of several smaller parallel chains extending for about 1,200 km along the entire length of the Italian Peninsula. This mountain system forms the backbone of the Italian Peninsula and extends through the southern part of Italy and then passes beneath the narrow Strait of Messina into the island of Sicily. So, Option (a) is correct.

The features of the Indian Constitution borrowed from the British Constitution are Parliamentary government, Rule of Law, legislative procedure, single citizenship, cabinet system, prerogative writs, parliamentary privileges and bicameralism.

On November 26, 1949, the final version of the Constitution received the signature of the president of the assembly and was declared as passed. The provisions relating to citizenship, elections, provisional parliament, temporary and transitional provisions were given immediate effect from November 26, 1949.

The term liberty does not mean that citizens have unrestricted freedom. Their liberties are subject to reasonable restrictions.

• Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) became an Act in 2003. The objective of the Act is to ensure inter-generational equity in fiscal management, long-run macroeconomic stability, better coordination between fiscal and monetary policy, and transparency in the fiscal operation of the Government. 
• FRBM Act provides a legal institutional framework for fiscal consolidation. It is now mandatory for the Central government to take measures to reduce the fiscal deficit, eliminate revenue deficit and generate revenue surplus in the subsequent years. The Act binds not only the present government but also the future Government to adhere to the path of fiscal consolidation. The Government can move away from the path of fiscal consolidation only in case of natural calamity, national security and other exceptional grounds that Central Government may specify. Hence statement 2 is not correct. 
• Further, the Act prohibits borrowing by the government from the Reserve Bank of India, thereby, making monetary policy independent of fiscal policy. The Act bans the purchase of primary issues of the Central Government securities by the RBI after 2006, preventing monetization of government deficit. The Act also requires the government to lay before the parliament three policy statements in each financial year namely Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement; Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement and Macroeconomic Framework Policy Statement. Hence statement 1 is correct. 
• Through Finance Act 2012, amendments were made to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 through which it was decided that in addition to the existing three documents, the Central Government shall lay another document - the Medium Term Expenditure Framework Statement (MTEF) - before both Houses of Parliament in the Session immediately following the Session of Parliament in which Medium-Term Fiscal Policy Statement, Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement and Macroeconomic Framework Statement are laid. 
• The concepts of the “Effective Revenue Deficit” and “Medium Term Expenditure Framework” statement are the two important features of the amendment to the FRBM Act in the direction of expenditure reforms. Effective Revenue Deficit is the difference between revenue deficit and grants for the creation of capital assets. This will help in reducing the consumptive component of the revenue deficit and create space for increased capital spending. Effective revenue deficit has now become a new fiscal parameter. The “Medium-term Expenditure Framework” statement will set forth a three-year rolling target for expenditure indicators.

• Investment in health is considered an important input for the development of a nation as much as it is important for the development of an individual. A sick labourer without access to medical facilities is compelled to abstain from work, and productivity is lost. Hence, expenditure on health is an important source of human capital formation. So, Statement 1 is correct.
• Investment in education is considered one of the main sources of human capital. Spending on education by individuals is similar to spending on capital goods by companies with the objective of increasing future profits over a period of time. Likewise, individuals invest in education with the objective of increasing their future income. So, Statement 5 is correct.
• Firms spend on giving on-the-job training to their workers. This may take different forms: the workers may be trained in the firm itself under the supervision of a skilled worker; two, the workers may be sent for off-campus training. In both these cases, firms incur some expenses. Firms will, thus, insist that the workers work for a specific period after their on-the-job training, during which they can recover the benefits of the enhanced productivity owing to the training. Expenditure regarding on-the-job training is a source of human capital formation as the return of such expenditure in the form of enhanced labor productivity is more than the cost of it. So, Statement 2 is correct.
• Price support and input subsidy have proved to be the most effective instruments in accelerating agricultural growth in the country. However, some economists are of the view that subsidies consumed most of the surpluses leaving little to invest. They have argued that the increasing burden of subsidy is the most important factor· responsible for declining public investment over the years in capital formation, not only in the form of agricultural infrastructure but also human capital formation. So, Statement 3 is not correct.
• In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defense missile systems, which are considered to be one of the most advanced air defense systems available in the world. While these missiles serve the purpose of protecting the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of India, they do not serve as a source of human capital formation. So, Statement 4 is not correct.

• Statement 1 is correct: Commercial paper, also called CP, is a short-term debt instrument issued by companies to raise funds generally for a time period up to one year. It is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note.
• Statement 2 is correct: Commercial paper is an unsecured, short-term debt instrument issued by corporations. Commercial paper is issued in the form of a promissory note and not backed by any form of collateral, making it unsecured debt. It's typically used to finance short-term liabilities such as payroll, accounts payable, and inventories. Commercial paper is usually issued at a discount from face value..
• Statement 3 is incorrect: They are issued by companies at a discount to face value, and have a maturity period of up to one year. NBFCs, development financial institutions (like NABARD, SIDBI etc.), cooperative societies, Govt. entities (PSUs) and other companies can issue CP to raise money in the money market.

Commercial Paper

• Commercial paper is an unsecured form of promissory note that pays a fixed rate of interest. It is typically issued by large banks or corporations to cover short-term receivables and meet short-term financial obligations, such as funding for a new project.
• The commercial paper provides a convenient financing method because it allows issuers to avoid the hurdles and expense of applying for and securing continuous business loans and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not require securities that trade in the money market to be registered.
• It is usually offered at a discount with maturities that can range from one to 270 days, although most issues mature in one to six months.

• Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.
• The purpose of the formation of the biosphere reserve is to conserve in situ all forms of life, along with its support system, in its totality, so that it could serve as a referral system for monitoring and evaluating changes in natural ecosystems. Presently, there are 18 notified biosphere reserves in India.
• The Cold Desert Cultural Landscape of India is situated in the Himalayas and stretches from Ladakh in the north to Kinnaur (in the state of Himachal Pradesh, or H.P.) in the south. Administratively, it can be said to comprise the Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh, Spiti region of the Lahaul and Spiti district in H.P. and a part of Kinnaur District in the state of H.P. It has been declared as the 16th Biosphere Reserve of India in 2009.
• It includes Pin Valley National Park and surroundings, Chandratal and Sarchu, and the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary in H.P. The Changtang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in district Leh, J&K is another protected habitat for flora and fauna in the region. It is located adjacent to the Himalayan Mountains. It lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
• Some of the representatives of the flora are medicinal plants such as aconitum rotundifolium, arnebiaeuchroma and hyoscymusniger. The fauna also has its representatives, such as woolly hare, Tibetan gazelle, snow leopard, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan brown bear, red fox, Tibetan wolf, Himalayan ibex, Himalayan marmot, Himalayan blue sheep, red billed chough
• Kitam Bird Sanctuary is located in Sikkim. Sited beside the Rangeet River, It is home to various birds such as Indian Peafowl, Scarlet Minivet, Green Magpie, Himalayan Flame etc.

ISRO built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union  in 1975. In 1980, Rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3. On 5 November 2013, ISRO launched its Mars Orbiter Mission, which successfully entered the Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, making India the first nation to succeed on its maiden attempt, and ISRO the first Asian space agency to reach Mars orbit.

The Central government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming to stop its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027.

Three-drug regimen:

• The WHO has recommended this treatment regimen in 2015.
• It consists of three drugs — dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. The combination is referred to as MDT (multidrug therapy). MDT kills the pathogen and cures the patient.
• This regimen is known as ‘Uniform MDT’, where a single three-pack kit can be given to all leprosy patients. This measure facilitates ease of administration.
• The duration of treatment is six months for PB and 12 months for MB cases

Statement Analysis:
Statement 1

• It is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
• It is located on the banks of Vamsadhara River and is dedicated to lord Srimukha Lingeswara (a form of Shiva).
• The Shivalinga here has a mukha or facial representation of Lord Shiva.

Statement 2

• This temple, built in the Kalinga architectural style.
• The Trinity of Madhukeswara, Someswara and Bheemeswara Temples are a testimony to the magnificent architectural skills of Kalinga Kings.

Statement 3

• It was constructed in the 9th century CE by kings of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
• It was built by Kamarnava II, ruler from the family line of Eastern Ganga.

Archaeological Survey of India assured to send a note to UNESCO over inclusion of Srimukhalingam temple in Andhra Pradesh in world heritage structures’ list.

Bimbisara founded the city of Rajgriha, north of Girivarj, during his reign as the king of the Magadhan Empire.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Amaravati Stupa, which was significantly enhanced during the Satavahana period, features intricate carvings, including scenes from the Jataka tales, reflecting the Buddhist influence on their art.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. While many Satavahana rulers used the title 'Satakarni', it was not used by all rulers.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. The tax system under the Satavahanas was flexible, often adapted to local conditions and not uniformly imposed across the empire.

Hinduism was the predominant religion during Harsha's reign. Although Harsha himself was a patron of Buddhism, Hinduism remained the dominant faith among the majority of the population.

Gandhi participated in the Simla Conference (1945 and 1946) as an adviser to the Congress President and strove to win round M.A. Jinnah. Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

The main difference between the Mughal school of painting and the Rajput school of painting is that the Mughal school was aristocratic and genuinely realistic, while the Rajput school was democratic and chiefly mystic.

Borobudur, built during A.D. 750-850 under the patronage of the Sailendras, is considered the greatest monument of Indo-Java art. It is situated on the top of a hill and consists of nine successive terraces, crowned by a bell-shaped stupa at the center of the topmost terrace. The open galleries in the terraces contain 2,000 bas-reliefs illustrating various incidents in the life of the Buddha.

According to the Aihole inscription, Pulakesin II emerged victorious against King Harshavardhana.

King Harshavardhana's empire centered around Kanauj.