UPSC CSE Complete Practice Test - 1 - UPSC MCQ

• Permanent wilting point (PWP) or wilting point (WP) is defined as the minimum amount of water in the soil that the plant requires not to wilt. If the soil water content decreases to this or any lower point a plant wilts and can no longer recover its turgidity when placed in a saturated atmosphere for 12 hours. Turgidity is the state of being turgid or swollen, especially due to high fluid content. Turgidity is essential in plant cells to make them keep standing upright. Plant cells that lose much water have less turgor pressure and tend to become flaccid.
• The matric potential at this soil moisture condition is commonly estimated at -15 bar. Most agricultural plants will generally show signs of wilting long before this moisture potential or water content is reached (more typically at around -2 to -5 bars) because the rate of water movement to the roots decreases and the stomata tend to lose their turgor pressure and begin to restrict transpiration.
• This water is strongly retained and trapped in the smaller pores and does not readily flow. The volumetric soil moisture content at the wilting point will have dropped to around 5 to 10% for sandy soils, 10 to 15% in loam soils, and 15 to 20% in clay soils.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer

Bases are a class of chemical substances that exhibit certain characteristic properties.

• Taste and Feel:
  • Bases often have a bitter taste. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • Many bases have a slippery or soapy feel when touched.
  • This is especially noticeable with concentrated solutions.
• pH:
  • Bases have pH values greater than 7 on the pH scale.
  • The pH scale is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution, with 7 being neutral, values below 7 indicating acidity, and values above 7 indicating alkalinity (basicity).
• Turns Litmus Paper Blue:
  • Bases turn red litmus paper blue. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • Litmus paper is a commonly used indicator that changes color depending on whether a substance is acidic or basic.
• Electrolyte Properties:
  • Bases typically dissociate or ionize in water to produce hydroxide ions (OH⁻).
  • This makes them electrolytes, as they conduct electricity in solution. o Reaction with Acids:
  • Bases react with acids in a chemical reaction known as neutralization.
  • In this reaction, a base and an acid combine to form water and a salt.
• Feeling of Coolness:
  • Some dilute bases give a cooling sensation when applied to the skin.
  • This property is commonly observed with substances like antacids.
• Solubility:
  • Many bases are soluble in water, forming aqueous solutions. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
  • However, some bases, especially those containing heavy metal cations, may be less soluble.
• Corrosive Properties:
  • Concentrated bases can be corrosive and may cause damage to living tissues.
  • Caution is necessary when handling strong bases.
• Reaction with Metals:
  • Bases can react with certain metals to produce hydrogen gas.
  • This reaction is similar to the reaction of acids with metals but produces hydroxide ions instead of hydronium ions.
• Amphoteric Nature:
  • Some substances can act as both acids and bases, depending on the conditions.
  • These substances are referred to as amphoteric. Water itself is an example of an amphoteric substance.
• Common examples of bases include sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), and ammonia (NH₃)

• Electrochemical Machining (ECM) is a non-traditional machining process that involves the controlled removal of metal from a workpiece through the process of electrochemical dissolution. The primary application of ECM in the industry is removing metal from surfaces through controlled dissolution.
• In ECM, a conductive workpiece (anode) and a tool (cathode) are immersed in an electrolyte solution. When a voltage is applied between the workpiece and the tool, metal ions from the workpiece are selectively dissolved into the electrolyte, leading to the removal of material from the workpiece surface.
• ECM is particularly effective for machining complex shapes, intricate patterns, and areas that are difficult to reach with traditional machining methods.
• It is a precise and efficient process that allows for the machining of high-strength and heat-resistant materials.
• ECM is often used in the aerospace, medical, and automotive industries for applications such as turbine blade machining, the production of complex molds, and the creation of intricate components.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

The melting point of a metal is the temperature at which it changes from a solid to a liquid state. Here's a brief overview of the melting points of some common metals.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer

• A catalyst is a substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction by providing an alternative pathway with a lower activation energy, without itself undergoing any permanent change or being consumed in the reaction. o In other words, a catalyst increases the reaction rate by lowering the energy barrier (activation energy) for the reaction to occur, facilitating the conversion of reactants into products.
• Key points about catalysts:
  • Speeding up Reactions: Catalysts accelerate the rate of chemical reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway that requires less energy for the formation of products.
  • Remains Unchanged: A catalyst is not consumed in the reaction, and at the end of the reaction, it is regenerated and can be used again in subsequent reactions. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
  • Specific to Reactions: Catalysts are specific to particular reactions or types of reactions. They do not alter the equilibrium position of a reaction but influence the kinetics, making the reaction proceed faster.
  • Not a Reactant or Product: A catalyst is not a reactant, and it does not appear in the stoichiometry of the balanced chemical equation for the reaction. It is not a part of the final products formed.
  • Can be Homogeneous or Heterogeneous: Catalysts can be in the same phase as the reactants (homogeneous catalysis) or in a different phase (heterogeneous catalysis).
• Examples: Common catalysts include transition metals (such as platinum, palladium, and nickel), enzymes in biological systems, acid or base catalysts, and various solid materials with catalytic properties.
• Platinum is indeed a commonly used catalyst in various chemical reactions, particularly in heterogeneous catalysis where the catalyst is in a different phase from the reactants. Platinum's catalytic properties are utilized in reactions such as hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions in the chemical industry. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon in which the gravitational field of a massive object, such as a galaxy or a black hole, bends the light coming from a more distant object behind it. This bending of light is a consequence of Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
• When a massive object, like a galaxy or a black hole, is situated between a distant light source (e.g., another galaxy or a quasar) and an observer, its gravitational field acts as a lens.
• The massive object's gravitational field warps the spacetime around it. As light travels through this curved spacetime, it bends, following the curvature caused by the massive object's gravity.
• Depending on the alignment of the observer, the massive object, and the distant light source, gravitational lensing can result in multiple images of the background object. These images may appear as distorted arcs, rings, or even multiple copies of the same object.
• Gravitational lensing has been observed and confirmed through various astronomical observations. One famous example is the gravitational lensing effect around massive galaxy clusters, where the lensing can magnify and distort background galaxies.
• In some cases, individual stars within a galaxy can act as gravitational lenses. This phenomenon, known as microlensing, can be used to detect objects like exoplanets, which might otherwise be challenging to observe directly.
• Gravitational lensing provides a powerful tool for astronomers to study the distribution of mass in the universe, including dark matter, and to investigate distant objects that might otherwise be too faint or distant to observe directly.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• Viruses are non-living and made up of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat. They can replicate. However, they cannot reproduce on their own. They reproduce when inside a living cell. Therefore viruses pose a special classification problem. Viruses are extremely small and can be seen only under the electron microscope. They are smaller than the smallest bacteria. They can pass through fiters which retain bacteria.
• Virus has a simple structure consisting of a core and a cover. The core particle is the genetic material, either DNA or RNA. The cover is a protein coat called capsid. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• A virus cannot reproduce by itself. For its reproduction it needs to enter the cell of some organism. From the host cell, it uses the raw material and enzymes and energy generating machinery of the host cell to produce its own DNA. A number of virus particles are thus formed inside the host cell. The host cell bursts to release the new virus particles. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Viruses are known to attack bacteria, plants or animals. Viruses which invade bacteria are called bacteriophages. Viruses are highly specific in their relationship with the host and tissue.
  • Viroids are circular RNA molecules, consisting of several hundred nucleotides. They infect plants and even kill them. In plants, they use enzymes of the plant cells to replicate like the viruses do. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Viruses are responsible for causing many diseases, including:
  • AIDS, Common cold, Ebola, Herpes, Influenza, Measles, Chickenpox and shingles, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Hepatits, Small Pox, Dengue etc. Antibiotics designed for bacteria have no effect on viruses. Hence statement 4 is correct.

• SDN or sequence specific nuclease (SSN) refers to the practice of cleaving DNA strands to affect the subsequent genome editing. SDN technology takes advantage of targeted DNA break and host’s natural repair mechanisms to introduce specific small changes at the site of the DNA break.
• The basis of current targeted genome editing applications is the capacity to induce a DNA double strand break (DSB) at a selected location in the genome where the modification is intended. Directed repair of the DSB allows for targeted genome editing. Such applications can be applied to generate mutations (targeted mutations or precise native gene editing) as well as precise insertion of genes (cisgenes, intragenes, or transgenes).
• Different approaches can be used to achieve targeted DNA breaks, including Meganucleases (MN), Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs) and the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-associated proteins (CRISPR/Cas) etc. Collectively, these are often discussed under the acronym site directed nucleases (SDNs), pointing out to the general principle of the technology to use a DNA cutting enzyme (nuclease) for the generation of the targeted (or site directed) DNA break. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
• Variants of SDN applications are often categorized as SDN-1, SDN-2 and SDN-3 depending on the outcome of the DNA double strand break repair.
  • SDN-1: When the SDN is used in the absence of a DNA repair template (see SDN-2/-3), the outcome is a targeted, non-specific genetic deletion mutation. In this case, the position of the DNA DSB is precisely selected, but the DNA repair by the host cell is random and results in small nucleotide deletions, additions or substitutions.
  • SDN-2: Is used to generate gene editing mutations. In this case, a SDN is used to generate a targeted DSB and a DNA repair template (a short DNA sequence identical to the targeted DSB DNA sequence except for one or a few nucleotide changes) is used to repair the DSB. The outcome is a targeted and predetermined point mutation in the desired gene of interest.
  • SDN-3: When the SDN is used along with a DNA repair template that contains new DNA sequence (e.g.gene), the outcome of the technology would be the integration of that DNA sequence into the plant genome. The most likely application illustrating the use of SDN-3 would be the insertion of cisgenic, intragenic, or transgenic expression cassettes at a selected genome location.

• An actively photosynthesizing plant has an insatiable need for water. Photosynthesis is limited by available water which can be swiftly depleted by transpiration. The humidity of rainforests is largely due to this vast cycling of water from root to leaf to the atmosphere and back to the soil. The evolution of the C4 photosynthetic system is probably one of the strategies for maximizing the availability of CO₂ while minimizing water loss. C4 plants are twice as efficient as C3 plants in terms of fixing carbon (making sugar). However, a C4 plant loses only half as much water as a C3 plant for the same amount of CO₂ fixed. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Food, primarily sucrose, is transported by the vascular tissue phloem from a source to a sink. Sugar stored in roots may be mobilized to become a source of food in the early spring when the buds of trees, act as a sink; they need energy for growth and development of the photosynthetic apparatus. Since the source-sink relationship is variable, the direction of movement in the phloem can be upwards or downwards, i.e., bi-directional. This contrasts with that of the xylem where the movement is always unidirectional, i.e., upwards. Hence, unlike the one-way flow of water in transpiration, food in phloem sap can be transported in any required direction so long as there is a source of sugar and a sink able to use, store, or remove the sugar. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Mycorrhizae are a symbiotic association between plant roots and fungi. The fungal filaments form a network around the young root or they penetrate the root cells. The hyphae have a very large surface area that absorbs mineral ions and water from the soil a much larger volume of soil that perhaps a root cannot do. The fungus provides minerals and water to the roots, in turn, the roots provide sugars and N containing compounds to the mycorrhizae. Some plants have an obligate association with the mycorrhizae. For example, Pinus seeds cannot germinate and establish without the presence of mycorrhizae. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• Recent Context: A Namibian cheetah gave birth increasing the population amid deaths of Cheetahs at Kuno National Park.
• Project Cheetah, India's ambitious attempt to introduce African cheetahs in the wild in the country was launched in September 2022.
  • The cheetah was declared extinct in India by 1952, the only large carnivore species that went extinct in Independent India. So, its objective was to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows cheetahs to perform its functional role as top predator.
• Under Project Cheetah, a total of 20 animals were relocated from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park (KNP) in two batches under the government's Project Cheetah. The first batch came in September 2022 and the second in February 2023. As of now, 13 of the original 20 are alive. 20 Cheetah were translocated from Namibia and South Africa. Whereas, Sahel region is defined as the North-Central African semi-arid region between the Sahara Desert and savanna regions. It includes the countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Out of 6 criteria for assessing short-term success, the project has already met four criteria namely:50% survival of introduced cheetahs, Establishment of home ranges, Birth of cubs in Kuno, and Revenue to local communities.
• Implementing Agency of Project Cheetah is National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Hence statement 2 is correct. Funding of project Cheetah is from Project Tiger as well as Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA).
• Cheetah is protected under Appendix 1 of CITES. The IUCN status of African cheetah is Vulnerable and Asiatic cheetah is Critically endangered. Till now, there were 15 cheetahs at KNP and the tally now stands at 18.

Sohagaura is an ancient village of Uttar Pradesh, located at the bank of the Sangam (meeting point) of two famous River Rapti and Aami. It is an Ashokan-era Copper Plate Inscription. The Sohgaura Copper Plate Inscription is an Indian Copper Plate Inscription written in Prakrit in the Brahmi script. Siswal is a village in Hisar district, Haryana. It is a site of Chalcolithic Age / Early Harappa Age. Damb Sadat is an archaeological mound and ancient settlement in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan. It is related to the early phases of the Indus Valley Civilization. Amri is an ancient settlement in modern day Sindh (Pakistan). The Indus Valley site is located south of Mohenjo Daro.

Most Harappan sites are located in the semi-arid lands, where irrigation was probably required for agriculture. Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not in Punjab or Sind. Terracotta models of plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali (Haryana). The archaeologists have also found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), associated with the early Harappan levels. The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two different crops were grown together.

Chanhudaro were devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal making and weight-making. The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable: Stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal and metals, like copper, bronze and gold; and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay. Some beads were made of two or more stones, cemented together, some of stone with gold caps. The shapes were numerous – disc-shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, segmented. Some were decorated by incising or painting and some had designs etched onto them. Techniques for making beads differed according to the material. Nageshwar and Balakot were the specialized centres for making shell objects – including bangles, ladles and inlay – which were taken to other settlements. The finished products (such as beads) from Chanhudaro and Lothal were taken to the large urban centres, such as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

• Recent archaeological finds suggest that copper was also probably brought from Oman, on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Chemical analyses have shown that both the Omani copper and the Harappan artefacts have traces of nickel, suggesting a common origin. There are other traces of contact as well. A distinctive type of vessel, a large Harappan jar coated with a thick layer of black clay, has been found at Omani sites. Such thick coatings prevent the percolation of liquids. Mesopotamian texts, datable to the third millennium BCE, refer to copper coming from a region called Magan, perhaps a name for Oman, and interestingly enough copper was found at the Mesopotamian sites also contain traces of nickel.
• The Mesopotamian texts mention contacts with the regions named Dilmun (probably the island of Bahrain), Magan and Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region. They mention the products from Meluhha: Carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and varieties of wood. This text also refers to Meluhha as a land of the sea-farers.

• The Rig Veda is the earliest text of the Indo-European languages. It is written in Sanskrit, but also includes many Munda and Dravidian words. It is a collection of prayers offered to Agni, Indra, Mitra, Varuna and other gods by various families of poets or sages. Several tribal or kin-based assemblies, such as the Sabha, the Samiti, the Vidatha and the Gana, are mentioned in the Rig deliberative, Veda.
• They exercised military and religious functions. Even women attended the Sabha and the Vidatha in the Rig Vedic times. The Sabha and the Samiti mattered a great deal in the early Vedic times, so much so that the chiefs or the kings showed an eagerness to win their support. Naditama, another name of the Sarasvati River, is mentioned in the Rig Veda.

The Bharata ruling clan was opposed by a host of ten chiefs, five of whom were the heads of the Aryan tribes and the remaining five of the non-Aryan people. The battle that the Bharatas fought with the host of ten chiefs is known as the Battle of Ten Kings. It was fought on river Parushni, coterminous with river Ravi, and it gave victory to the Sudas and established the supremacy of the Bharatas. Tribal conflicts during the Rig Vedic period were mainly over the control of land and resources.

Mother Goddess: Mother Goddess is the most important terracotta statue found in the Indus Valley Civilization. Mother Goddess figures are usually crude standing female figures adorned with necklaces hanging over prominent breasts and wearing a loin cloth and a girdle. Fan shaped head-dress, with a cup-like projection on each side, is a distinct decorative feature of Mother Goddess figures of the Indus Valley. Dancing Girl: Dancing Girl is one of the best-known artefacts of the Indus Valley Civilization. It was found at Mohenjo-Daro. This four-inch statue of a dancing girl is made using copper. Bearded Priest: The bust of a bearded man has been interpreted to represent a priest. This statue is made in soapstone. The man in the statue is draped in shawl coming under the right arm and covering the left shoulder.

Bead industry was well developed during the Indus Valley Civilization. Bead making factories are found at Chanhudaro and Lothal. Beads were made of carnelian, amethyst, jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, etc. Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay were also used for manufacturing beads. Beads are in varying shapes—disc shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel shaped and segmented. Some beads were made of two or more stones cemented together, some of stone with gold covers. Some were decorated by incising or painting and some had designs etched onto them. Great technical skill has been displayed in the manufacture of these beads.

• The 6th century BCE marks the beginning of new religious and social movements in the Gangetic valley in the form of Buddhism and Jainism, which were part of the Shraman tradition. Both religions became popular, as they opposed the Varna and the Jati systems of the Hindu religion. Yaksha worship was very popular before and after the advent of Buddhism, and it was assimilated in Buddhism and Jainism. By the fourth century BCE, the Mauryas established their power, and by the third century BCE, a large part of India was under the Mauryan control. Ashoka emerged as the most powerful king of the Mauryan dynasty, who patronized the Buddhist Shraman tradition in the third century BCE.
• Religious practices had many dimensions and were not confined to just one particular mode of worship. The lethal war with Kalinga transformed the vengeful emperor Ashoka into a stable and peaceful emperor, and he became a patron of Buddhism. According to the prominent Indologist, A. L. Basham, Ashoka’s personal religion became Buddhism, if not before, then certainly after the Kalinga war. However, according to Basham, the Dhamma officially propagated by Ashoka was not Buddhism at all. Nevertheless, his patronage led to the expansion of Buddhism in the Mauryan Empire and other kingdoms during his rule, and worldwide from about 250 BCE.

• The tradition of constructing pillars is very old and it may be observed that the erection of the pillars was prevalent in the Achaemenid Empire as well. But, the Mauryan pillars are different from the Achaemenid pillars. The Mauryan pillars are rock-cut pillars, thus displaying the carver’s skills, whereas the Achaemenid pillars were constructed in pieces by a mason. The Achaemenid pillars were part of some larger architectural scheme, composed of much too many component parts looking complex and complicated.
• While the Ashokan columns were intended to produce the effect of an independent free standing monument with simpler specimen, more harmonious in conception and execution, and give the feeling of greater stability, dignity and strength. Stone pillars were erected by Ashoka, which have been found in the north Indian part of the Mauryan empire with inscriptions engraved on them.
• The top portion of the pillar was carved with capital figures, like the bull, the lion, the elephant, etc. All the capital figures are vigorous and carved standing on a square or circular abacus. Abacuses are decorated with stylised lotuses. Some of the existing pillars with capital figures were found at Basarah-Bakhira, Lauriya, Nandangarh and Rampurva in Bihar, and Sankisa and Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Rampurva Bull Capital holds significance as one of the seven surviving animal capitals from the pillars of Ashoka. It features a lotiform base adorned with floral designs, while the central focus is a life-like depiction of a Zebu bull. The intricate composition of the capital showcases its artistic and historical value.

Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan traveller. Travelling overland through Central Asia, Ibn Battuta reached Sind in 1333. He had heard about Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi. The Sultan was impressed by his scholarship, and appointed him the Qazi or judge of Delhi. The Sultan ordered him in 1342 to proceed to China as the Sultan’s envoy to the Mongol ruler.

He travelled extensively in China, going as far as Beijing, but did not stay for long, deciding to return home in 1347. His account is often compared with that of Marco Polo, who visited China (and also India) from his home base in Venice in the late thirteenth century. Ibn Battuta’s book of travels, called Rihla (A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling), written in Arabic, provides extremely rich and interesting details about the social and cultural life in the sub-continent in the fourteenth century. He travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around 1,17,000 km, surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km and Marco Polo with 24,000 km. Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of southern Eurasia, including Central Asia, South Asia, South-east Asia, China and the Iberian Peninsula. Other visitors to India in the centuries between 1400 and 1800: Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi visited south India in the 1440s, Mahmud Wali Balkhi travelled very widely in the 1620s, and Shaikh Ali Hazin came to north India in the 1740s. Some of these authors were fascinated by India, and one of them – Mahmud Balkhi – even became a sort of Sanyasi for a time. Others, such as Hazin, were disappointed and even disgusted with India, where they expected to receive a red-carpet treatment. Most of them saw India as a land of wonders.

• A significant part of the current output of capital goods goes into maintaining or replacing part of the existing stock of capital goods. This is because the already existing capital stock suffers wear and tear and needs maintenance and replacement. A part of the capital goods produced this year goes for the replacement of existing capital goods and is not an addition to the stock of capital goods already existing and its value needs to be subtracted from gross investment for arriving at the measure for net investment. This deletion, which is made from the value of a gross investment in order to accommodate the regular wear and tear of capital, is called depreciation. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• So new addition to the capital stock in an economy is measured by net investment or new capital formation, which is expressed as: o Net Investment = Gross investment – Depreciation
• Depreciation is an accounting concept. No real expenditure may have actually been incurred each year yet depreciation is annually accounted for. In an economy with thousands of enterprises with widely varying periods of life of their equipment, in any particular year, some enterprises are actually making the bulk replacement spending. Thus, we can realistically assume that there will be a steady flow of actual replacement spending which will more or less match the amount of annual depreciation being accounted for in that economy. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Depreciation does not take into account unexpected or sudden destruction or disuse of capital as can happen with accidents, natural calamities, or other such extraneous circumstances. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• GVA is the value of total output produced in the economy less the value of intermediate consumption (the output which is used in the production of output further, and not used in final consumption). It is important to understand the concepts such as basic prices, factor cost, and market price to understand GVA. The distinction between factor cost, basic prices, and market prices are based on the distinction between net production taxes (production taxes fewer production subsidies) and net product taxes (product taxes less product subsidies).
• Production taxes and subsidies are paid or received in relation to production and are independent of the volume of production such as land revenues, stamp and registration fees. Product taxes and subsidies, on the other hand, are paid or received per unit or product, e.g., excise tax, service tax, export, and import duties, etc. Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• Factor cost includes only the payment to factors of production, it does not include any tax. In order to arrive at the market prices, we have to add to the factor cost the total indirect taxes less total subsidies. The basic prices lie in between: they include production taxes (fewer production subsidies) but not product taxes (fewer product subsidies). Therefore in order to arrive at market prices we have to add product taxes (less product subsidies) to the basic prices.

• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) is a new scheme announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy (2011-12) and refers to the penal rate at which banks can borrow money from the central bank over and above what is available to them through the LAF window. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• MSF, being a penal rate, is always fixed above the repo rate. The MSF would be the last resort for banks once they exhaust all borrowing options including the liquidity adjustment facility by pledging government securities, where the rates are lower in comparison with the MSF. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The MSF would be a penal rate for banks and the banks can borrow funds by pledging government securities within the limits of the statutory liquidity ratio. The scheme has been introduced by RBI with the main aim of reducing volatility in the overnight lending rates in the inter-bank market and enabling smooth monetary transmission in the financial system. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Financial markets comprise both capital and money markets. Capital markets refer to markets that trade financial instruments with maturities longer than one year. Money markets trade debt securities or instruments of maturities of a year or less.
• In the simplest terms, capital markets can be defined as a marketplace where buyers and sellers can engage in the trade of long-term financial securities. Long-term here means for a period greater than one year.
• Capital Markets vis-a-vis Commercial Banks
  • Intermediation between lenders (or savers) and borrowers (or users of funds) is a fundamental function of the financial system in an economy and is performed primarily by commercial banks and primary capital markets.
  • The key distinction is that capital markets provide direct funding from saver to user via the issuance of securities, while bank intermediation involves indirect funding with banks as the go-between connecting the saver and user. Hence, statement 1 is  correct.
• The following characteristics are typical of Capital Markets:
  • The capital market is the market for securities, where companies and governments can raise long-term funds.
  • The market in which corporate equity and longer-term debt securities maturing in more than one year are issued and traded.
  • The capital market is the market for long-term debt equity shares. In this market, capital funds comprising both equity and debt are issued and traded. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • The market in which long-term securities such as stocks and bonds are bought and sold.
  • The capital market comprises financial securities, government securities, and semi-government securities. The capital market concerns two broad types of securities traded - debts and equity. Buying stock allows investors to gain an equity interest in the company and become an owner of the company.

• The SDR basket of currencies includes the US dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and the Chinese renminbi (included in 2016). 
• The SDR currency value is calculated daily (except on IMF holidays or whenever the IMF is closed for business) and the valuation basket is reviewed and adjusted every five years. Quota (the amount contributed to the IMF) of a country is denominated in SDRs. Members’ voting power is related directly to their quotas. IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in the IMF. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) refers to the minimum percentage of deposits that commercial banks are mandated to maintain as gold assets, cash, or government-approved securities, in their own vaults. These deposits have to be maintained by the banks themselves and not with the Reserve Bank of India. By definition, the SLR is the ratio of a bank’s liquid assets to their Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL). The SLR is an essential instrument in the RBI’s monetary policy that helps regulate the cash flow in the economy and ensures the bank’s stability.
• As per the Reserve Bank of India SLR norms are applicable to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) (including Regional Rural Banks), Small Finance Banks (SFBs), Payments Banks, Local Area Banks (LABs), Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs), State Co-operative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs). Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
• SLR is used by the RBI to control credit flow in the banks. In a way, SLR also makes commercial banks invest in government securities. Making banks invest a portion of their deposits in government securities also ensures the solvency of such banks.
• SLR is decided by the RBI from time to time. The maximum limit of SLR is 40% and the minimum limit is Zero. If the bank fails to control the required level of the statutory liquidity ratio, then it becomes responsible to pay a penalty to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• The Union Cabinet recently approved a project to build an advanced gravitational-wave detector in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 2,600 crore. The facility’s construction is expected to be completed by 2030. By building it, “Indian S&T is expected to leap-frog in a number of cutting-edge frontiers of great national relevance, in particular quantum-sensing and metrology. It will come up in the Hingoli district, where land has been acquired to the tune of 174 acres. LIGO stands for "Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory". It is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and a marvel of precision engineering. Comprising two enormous laser interferometers located 3000 kilometers apart, LIGO exploits the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect and understand the origins of gravitational waves (GW). Currently, there are three operational gravitational wave observatories around the world - two in the United States (Hanford and Livingston), one in Italy (Virgo), and one in Japan (Kagra). For accurate detection, four comparable detectors need to be operated simultaneously across the globe.
• The LIGO detectors consist of two 4-km-long vacuum chambers, arranged at right angles to each other, with mirrors at the end. The experiment works by releasing light rays simultaneously in both chambers.
• Normally, the light should return at the same time in both chambers. However, if a gravitational wave passes through, one chamber gets elongated while the other gets squished, resulting in a phase difference in the returning light rays. Detecting this phase difference confirms the presence of a gravitational wave.
• Three things fundamentally distinguish LIGO from a stereotypical astronomical observatory:
  • LIGO is blind to the light from the Universe. Unlike optical or radio telescopes, LIGO does not see electromagnetic radiation (e.g., visible light, radio waves, microwaves). But it doesn't have to because gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • It doesn't need to focus on starlight or point at a particular part of the sky. o It is difficult for a single detector to make a discovery on its own.
  • The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is three things. First, it is large – so large that it’s the world’s largest science experiment. Second, it’s a collider. It accelerates two beams of particles in opposite directions and smashes them head-on. Third, these particles are hadrons. The LHC, built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), is on the energy frontier of physics research, conducting experiments with highly energized particles.
  • Laser Interferometer Space Antenna(LISA) is a space-based gravitational wave observatory building on the success of LISA Pathfinder and LIGO. Led by ESA, the LISA mission is a collaboration of ESA, NASA, and an international consortium of scientists. Gravitational waves were first theorized by Albert Einstein. They are created during events such as supermassive black hole mergers, or collisions between two black holes that are billion times bigger than our Sun. These collisions are so powerful that they create distortions in spacetime, known as gravitational waves. Studying gravitational waves gives enormous potential for discovering the parts of the universe that are invisible by other means, such as black holes, the Big Bang, and other, as yet unknown, objects. Gravitational waves were first directly detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015.
• Three types of detectors have been designed to look for gravitational radiation, which is very weak. The changes of curvature of space-time would correspond to dilation in one direction and a contraction at right angles to that direction. One scheme, first tried out about 1960, employed a massive cylinder that might be set in mechanical oscillation by a gravitational signal. The authors of this apparatus argued that signals had been detected, but their claim was not substantiated.
• In a second scheme, an optical interferometer is set up with freely suspended reflectors at the ends of long paths that are at right angles to each other. Shifts of interference fringes corresponding to an increase in the length of one arm and a decrease in the other would indicate the passage of gravitational waves. One such interferometer is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which consists of two interferometers with arm lengths of 4 km (2 miles), one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.
• A third scheme, the Evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA), is planned that uses three separate, but not independent, interferometers installed in three spacecraft located at the corners of a triangle with sides of some 5 million km (3 million miles). A mission to test the technology for eLISA, LISA Pathfinder, was launched in 2015.
• LISA Pathfinder, formerly Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology-2, was an ESA spacecraft that was launched on 3 December 2015 onboard Vega flight VV06. The mission tested technologies needed for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, an ESA gravitational wave observatory planned to be launched in 2037. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

• Non-Tax Revenue: Non-Tax Revenue is the recurring income that is earned from sources other than taxes by the government. They are the revenue receipts that are not generated by taxing the public. Some of the major sources of non-tax revenue are mentioned below:
  • Interests that the government receives through the loans provided by it to the state governments, UTs, private enterprises, and the general public are an important source of non-tax revenue.
  • Power Supply Fees: This includes fees received by the central power authority of any nation. In the case of India, this includes fees received by the Central Electricity Authority.
  • Fees: These are the charges that cover the cost of recurring services that are provided and imposed by the government. It is a compulsory contribution like a tax.
  • License Fee: It is a form of tax charged by the government and its allied entities for conducting an activity that can be anything such as opening a restaurant or operating a heavy vehicle.
  • Fines and Penalties: Fines are mostly used in the context of criminal law wherein a court of law will punish a person convicted of a crime by imposing a fine. Penalty, meanwhile, is used in both civil as well as criminal law. It includes both monetary and physical forms of punishment.
  • Escheats: Escheats is the transfer of estate assets or property to the government if an individual passes away without leaving a legally biding bill or legal heirs
  • Several grants are received by the government from various International Organisations and foreign governments. Such grants are not a fixed source of revenue and are generally received during a national crisis such as war, flood, etc.
  • Forfeitures: Forfeiture is the loss of any property without compensation as a result of defaulting on the obligations of a contract or a penalty for illegal conduct. Under the terms of a contract, forfeiture refers to the requirement by the defaulting party to give up ownership of an asset or cash flows from an asset, as compensation for the resulting losses to the other party.
  • Interests: It comprises of interests of loans and insurance given to the government for non-plan schemes and planned schemes and also interest on loans that have been advanced to Public Sector Enterprises or other statutory bodies.
  • Fees for Communication Services: This mainly includes the license fees from telecom operators on account of spectrum usage charges that licensed Telecom Service Providers pay to the government ministry that handles telecommunications. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• Usually, there are two main sources of the government’s income – revenue receipts and capital receipts. Revenue receipts comprise both tax and non-tax revenues while capital receipts consist of capital receipts and non-debt capital receipts.
• Non-debt creating capital receipts refer to those receipts of the government which lead to a decrease in assets, and not an increase in liabilities. Non-debt capital receipts, also known as NDCR, account for just 3% of the central government’s total receipts.
• Broadly, there are two kinds of non debt capital receipts:
  • Recoveries of loans and advances and
  • Miscellaneous capital receipts
• Recoveries of loans and advances: This kind of non debt capital receipts includes:
  • Recovery of loans and advances from state governments and union territories with legislature
  • Recovery of loans given to foreign governments
  • Recovery of loans and advances from PSUs and other autonomous bodies
• Miscellaneous Capital Receipt: This includes proceeds from disinvestment in public sector undertakings. The government further classifies disinvestment proceeds into:
  • Disinvestment receipts
  • Strategic disinvestment
  • Listing of PSUs in stock markets and
  • Issue of bonus shares
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.