Goa PCS Screening Mock Test- 5 - GPSC (Goa) MCQ

• The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was founded under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani at Bombay in October, 1934.
• Despite the ideological diversity among the leaders, the CSP, as a whole, accepted a basic identification of socialism with Marxism.
• Jayaprakash Narayan wrote the book “Why Socialism?”

• The All India Students Federation (AISF) is the first student organization of India. It was founded by the students in 1936.
• The Progressive Writers‘ Association was established in London in 1935 by the Indian writers and intellectuals, with the encouragement and support of some British literary figures. It was in the central London that a group of writers, including Mulk Raj Anand, Sajjad Zaheer and Jyotirmaya Ghosh drafted a manifesto which stated their aims and objectives.
• The All India States Peoples' Conference (AISPC) was a conglomeration of the political movements in the princely states of the British Indian Empire. In Bombay, in December 1927, the first session of the organization was held. (Nehru became its President in 1939).

• The British Government was forced by the agitation of the nationalists to pass the Indian Councils Act of 1892. By this Act, the number of members of the Imperial Legislative Council, as well as the Provincial Councils was increased. Some of these members could be elected indirectly by the Indians, but the officials‘ majority remained.
• The nationalists were totally dissatisfied with the Act of 1892 and declared it to be a hoax. They demanded a larger share for the Indians in the Councils, as also wider powers for them. In particular, they demanded Indian control over the public purse and raised the slogan that had earlier become the national cry of the American people during their War of Independence : No taxation without representation‘. At the same time, they failed to broaden the base of their democratic demands; they did not demand the right to vote for the masses or for women.

Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi in Kolkata (Calcutta).

• He is popularly known as ‘Gurudev’.

• He was primarily known as a writer, poet, playwright, philosopher and aesthetician, music composer, choreographer, and painter.

• He was influenced by the classical poetry of Kalidasa and started writing his own classical poems.

• He released his first collection of poems under the pen name ‘Bhanusimha’ at 16 years of age.

• He published several books of poetry in the 1880s and completed Manasi (1890), a collection that marks the maturing of his genius.

• He wrote the National Anthems of India and Bangladesh.

• He wrote the song Banglar Mati Banglar Jol (Soil of Bengal, Water of Bengal) to unite the Bengali population after the Bengal partition in 1905.

• He also wrote the famed ‘Amar Sonar Bangla' which helped ignite a feeling of nationalism amongst people.

• In 1913, he became the first Indian to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel ‘Geetanjali.

The Narendra Modi government abolished all Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) in 2014 for greater accountability and empowerment, signaling a break from the past practices.

• According to article 257(1) of the Constitution, the executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose. So, Option (a) is correct.

• The executive power of the Union shall also extend to the giving of directions to a State as to the measures to be taken for the protection of the railways within the State is enshrined in article 257(3) of the Indian Constitution. So, Option (b) is correct.

• According to article 257(2), the executive power of the Union shall also extend to the giving of directions to a State as to the construction and maintenance of means of communication declared in the direction to be of national or military importance: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be taken as restricting the power of Parliament to declare highways or waterways to be national highways or national waterways or the power of the Union concerning the highways or waterways so declared or the power of the Union to construct and maintain means of communication as part of its functions concerning naval, military and air force works.

  Hence, it does not require prior approval from the State Government and the Union itself can do it. So, Option (c) is not correct.

• Under article 260 of the Indian Constitution, The Government of India may by agreement with the Government of any territory not being part of the territory of India undertake any executive, legislative or judicial functions vested in the Government of such territory, but every such agreement shall be subject to, and governed by, any law relating to the exercise of foreign jurisdiction for the time being in force. So, Option (d) is correct.

Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees. Hence statement 2 is correct.

Types of parliamentary committees:

1. Broadly, parliamentary committees are of two kinds:

• Standing Committees: They are permanent (constituted every year or periodically) and work on a continuous basis. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

• Ad Hoc Committees: They are temporary and cease to exist on completion of the task assigned to them. For instance, to deliberate on a particular bill.

2. Referring bill to the committee:

• Currently, it is not mandatory to refer a Bill to a Committee.

• In some Parliamentary systems like the UK, all Bills other than Money Bills are automatically referred to Committees.

• However, in India, it depends on the decision of the Speaker or Chairman, in consultation with the Minister putting forth the Bill, whether a Bill should be referred to a Committee.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

A number of provisions in the Constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the two Houses of Parliament outside the scope of Article 368. These provisions include:

• Admission or establishment of new states. Hence option 1 is correct.

• Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, or names of existing states.

• Abolition or creation of legislative councils in states.

• Second Schedule–emoluments, allowances, privileges, and so on of the president, the governors, the Speakers, judges, etc.

• Quorum in Parliament.

• Salaries and allowances of the members of Parliament.

• Rules of procedure in Parliament.

• Privileges of the Parliament, its members, and its committees.

• Use of English language in Parliament.

• Number of puisne judges in the Supreme Court.

• Conferment of more jurisdiction on the Supreme Court. Hence option 4 is correct.

• Use of official language. Hence option 2 is correct.

• Citizenship–acquisition and termination.

• Elections to Parliament and state legislatures. Hence option 3 is correct.

• Delimitation of constituencies.

• Union territories.

• Fifth Schedule–administration of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.

• Sixth Schedule–administration of tribal areas.

All States now have a uniform three tier Panchayati Raj structure:

At the base is the ‘Gram Panchayat‘. A Gram Panchayat covers a village or group of villages.

Option a is incorrect. The intermediary level is the Mandal (also referred to as Block or Taluka). These bodies are called Mandal or Taluka Panchayats. The intermediary level body need not be constituted in smaller States.

Option b is correct. At the apex is the Zilla Panchayat covering the entire rural area of the District.

Option c is correct. The amendment also made a provision for the mandatory creation of the Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha would comprise of all the adult members registered as voters in the Panchayat area. Its role and functions are decided by State legislation.

Option d is correct. The term of each Panchayat body is five years. If the State government dissolves the Panchayat before the end of its five year term, fresh elections must be held within six months of such dissolution. This is an important provision that ensures the existence of elected local bodies. Before the 73rd amendment, in many States, there used to be indirect elections to the district bodies and there was no provision for immediate elections after dissolution.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The umbrella scheme is set to provide welfare and rehabilitation to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.
• Statement 2 is correct: It has provisions for Skill Development and Livelihood under PM-DAKSH scheme.

SMILE scheme

• Through Composite Medical Health it provides a comprehensive package in convergence with PM-JAY supporting Gender-Reaffir mation surgeries through selected hospitals.
• The Housing facility in the form of ‘Garima Greh’ ensures food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill development opportunities, recreational activities and medical support etc. to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.

The Parliament of India consists of three parts: (i) The President, (ii) The Council of States (Rajya Sabha), and (iii) The House of the People (Lok Sabha). The Supreme Court is not a part of the Parliament.

The supreme court may give or refuse to give its opinion in the first case whereas it must give its advisory opinion in the second case. The advice so given is not binding on the President. The minimum number of judges to sit on the Constitutional Bench or on Bench which gives its advisory opinion on the reference by the President must be one half of the total strength of the Supreme Court.

The three-member committee comprises (1). The Chief Justice or senior-most judge of the Supreme Court (2). Chief justice of the High Court and (3). A prominent jurist

Supreme Court will review Sabarimala judgment and a review plea is set to be moved over Ayodhya verdict too. About: Article 137 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to review any of its judgments or orders. The court has the power to review its rulings to correct a “patent error” and not “minor mistakes of inconsequential import”. Grounds for review petition: In a 2013 ruling, the Supreme Court itself laid down three grounds for seeking a review of a verdict it has delivered — the discovery of new and important matter or evidence which was not within the knowledge of the petitioner or could not be produced by him; mistake or error apparent on the face of the record; or any other sufficient reason which means a reason that is analogous to the other two grounds. Who can file a review petition? It is not necessary that only parties to a case can seek a review of the judgment on it. Any person aggrieved by a ruling can seek a review. Time frame: As per 1996 rules framed by the Supreme Court, a review petition must be filed within 30 days of the date of judgment or order. While a judgment is a final decision in a case, an order is an interim ruling that is subject to its final verdict.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Global Tiger Forum (GTF) is an inter-governmental and international body established with members from willing countries to embark on a worldwide campaign, common approach, promotion of appropriate programmes and controls to save the remaining five subspecies of tigers in the wild distributed over 14 tiger range countries of the world.

• Statement 2 is correct: It was established in 1994 with its secretariat at New Delhi, GTF is the only inter-governmental & international body campaigning to save the TIGER worldwide

• Recently, the Union Minister of Jal Shakti released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for the entire country for the year 2022. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• As per the report, the total annual groundwater recharge is 437.60 billion Cubic Meters (BCM) and the annual groundwater extraction is 239.16 BCM. Assessment indicates an increase in groundwater recharge. Groundwater recharge is a hydrologic process in which water seeps from the earth's surface downward. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Photochemical smog is a mixture of pollutants that are formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react to sunlight, creating a brown haze above cities. It occurs in warm, dry, and sunny climates. The main components of the photochemical smog result from the action of sunlight on unsaturated hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides produced by automobiles and factories. Photochemical smog has a high concentration of oxidizing agents and is, therefore, called oxidizing smog.

• Formation of Photochemical Smog:

  • When fossil fuels are burnt, a variety of pollutants are emitted into the earth’s troposphere including hydrocarbons (unburnt fuels) and nitric oxide (NO). When these pollutants build up to sufficiently high levels, a chain reaction occurs from their interaction with sunlight in which NO is converted into nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).

  • This NO₂ in turn absorbs energy from sunlight and breaks it up into nitric oxide and free oxygen atoms.

    • NO₂(g) → NO(g) + O(g)

  • Oxygen atoms are very reactive and combine with the O2 in the air to produce ozone.

    • O(g) + O₂ (g) → O₃ (g)

  • The ozone formed in the above reaction reacts rapidly with the NO to regenerate NO2. NO₂ is a brown gas and at sufficiently high levels can contribute to haze.

    • NO(g) + O (g)→NO (g) + O (g)

  • Ozone is a toxic gas and both NO2 and O3 are strong oxidizing agents and can react with the unburnt hydrocarbons in the polluted air to produce chemicals such as formaldehyde, acrolein, and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN).

• Effects of Photochemical Smog: The common components of photochemical smog are ozone, nitric oxide, acrolein, formaldehyde, and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN). Photochemical smog causes serious health problems. Both ozone and PAN act as powerful eye irritants. Ozone and nitric oxide irritate the nose and throat and their high concentration causes headache, chest pain, dryness of the throat, cough and difficulty in breathing. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• Filter feeding is a form of food procurement in which food particles or small organisms are randomly strained from water. Filter feeding is found primarily among small- to medium-sized invertebrates but occurs in a few large vertebrates.
• Some filter feeders are sessile organisms - they don't move much, if at all. Example : tunicates (sea squirts), bivalves (e.g., mussels, oysters, scallops), tubeworm and sponges. Bivalves filter-feed by straining organic matter from the water using their gills. This is accomplished using cilia, thin filaments that beat to produce a current over water over the gills.
• Additional cilia remove the food. Some filter feeders are free-swimming organisms that filter the water while swimming or even actively pursue their prey.
• Examples of these filter feeders are basking sharks, whale sharks, and baleen whales. Basking sharks and whale sharks feed by swimming through the water with their mouths open.
• The water passes through their gills, and food is trapped by bristle-like gill rakers. Baleen whales feed either by skimming the water and trapping prey on the fringe-like hairs of their baleen or gulping in large quantities of water and prey and then forcing the water out, leaving prey trapped inside.

So, Option (d) is correct. 

• R.H. Whittaker (1969) proposed a Five Kingdom Classification. The kingdoms defined by him were named Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. The main criteria for classification used by him include cell structure, thallus organisation, mode of nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic relationships.
  

From the above figure, statement 1 is correct.

• Bacteria are the sole members of the Kingdom Monera. They are the most abundant micro-organisms. Bacteria occur almost everywhere. Hundreds of bacteria are present in a handful of soil. They also live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow and deep oceans where very few other life forms can survive. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• All single-celled eukaryotes are placed under Protista, but the boundaries of this kingdom are not well defined. Members of Protista are primarily aquatic. This kingdom forms a link with the others dealing with plants, animals and fungi. Being eukaryotes, the protistan cell body contains a well defined nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Some have flagella or cilia. Protists reproduce asexually and sexually by a process involving cell fusion and zygote formation.

• Neutrinos are fundamental particles created in a wide variety of nuclear processes. Protons, neutrons, and electrons are tiny particles that makeup atoms. The neutrino is also a tiny elementary particle, but it is not part of the atom. Such particles are also found to exist in nature. Neutrino has a very tiny mass, no charge, and spin half. It interacts very weakly with other matter particles. So weakly that every second trillion of neutrinos fall on us and pass through our bodies unnoticed. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Neutrinos change the way they spin depending on how far they have traveled and how much matter they have passed through. If the properties are studied thoroughly and suitable detectors built, they can reveal the presence of minerals and oil deposits. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Neutrino oscillation was established by Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, Canada, and Super-Kamiokande experiment in Japan. They studied Solar neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos, and man-made neutrinos. It's the process of fission inside the nuclear reactor that eventually leads to the birth of neutrinos through beta decay. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Other use of neutrinos:
  • Scientists have already shown that it's possible to detect neutrinos emitted from the decay in nuclear reactors and have proposed using neutrino detectors to locate undocumented nuclear reactors or reactors that are secretly harvesting plutonium.
  • Use in communication, Scientists have proven that it's possible to encode a message in neutrinos using binary code.
  • the neutrinos are carriers of information regarding the universe.
  • neutrinos can help in identifying the geological defect deep inside the earth, thereby answering the question of an early warning system for an earthquake.

Human papillomavirus (HPV):

• HPV is the name of a very common group of viruses that affects skin. They do not cause any problems in most people, but some types can cause genital warts or cancer.

• Symptoms: HPV does not usually cause any symptoms. Most people who have it do not realise and do not have any problems. But sometimes the virus can cause painless growths or lumps around vagina,penis or anus (genital warts)

• For plants, the soil is the nearest and richest source of raw materials like nitrogen, phosphorus and other minerals. The absorption of these substances therefore occurs through the part in contact with the soil, namely roots.
• Plants do not move, and plant bodies have a large proportion of dead cells in many tissues. As a result, plants have low energy needs, and can use relatively slow transport systems. The distances over which transport systems have to operate, however, can be very large in plants such as very tall trees. Plant transport systems will move energy stores from leaves and raw materials from roots. These two pathways are constructed as independently organised conducting tubes, xylem and phloem.
• The xylem and the phloem make up the vascular tissue of a plant and transports water, sugars, and other important substances around a plant. What is commonly referred to as ‘sap’ is indeed the substances that are being transported around a plant by its xylem and phloem. 
• One, the xylem moves water and minerals obtained from the soil. The other, phloem transports products of photosynthesis from the leaves where they are synthesised to other parts of the plant.
• The xylem is responsible for keeping a plant hydrated. Xylem sap travels upwards and has to overcome serious gravitational forces to deliver water to a plant’s upper extremities, especially in tall trees. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The phloem carries important sugars, organic compounds, and minerals around a plant. Sap within the phloem simply travels by diffusion between cells and works its way from leaves down to the roots with help from gravity. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• In xylem tissue, vessels and tracheids of the roots, stems and leaves are interconnected to form a continuous system of water-conducting channels reaching all parts of the plant. At the roots, cells in contact with the soil actively take up ions. This creates a difference in the concentration of these ions between the root and the soil. Water, therefore, moves into the root from the soil to eliminate this difference. This means that there is steady movement of water into root xylem, creating a column of water that is steadily pushed upwards.
• Transpiration is a process that involves loss of water vapour through the stomata of plants. The loss of water vapour from the plant cools the plant down when the weather is very hot, and water from the stem and roots moves upwards or is 'pulled' into the leaves.Transpiration also provides the driving force for transport of water and nutrients from roots to shoots. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Chloroplasts: They are green-colored plastids, which comprise green-colored pigments within the plant
cell and are called chlorophyll. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
Chloroplast is an organelle that contains the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll that captures sunlight and
converts it into useful energy, thereby, releasing oxygen from water.
Chloroplasts are found in all green plants and algae. They are the food producers of plants. These are found in the guard cells located in the leaves of the plants. They contain a high concentration of chlorophyll that traps sunlight. This cell organelle is not present in animal cells. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Chloroplast has its own DNA and can reproduce independently, from the rest of the cell. They also produce amino acids and lipids required for the production of chloroplast membrane.
Functions of Chloroplast: Following are the important chloroplast function:

• The most important function of the chloroplast is to synthesize food by the process of photosynthesis.
• Absorbs light energy and converts it into chemical energy.
• Chloroplast has a structure called chlorophyll which functions by trapping the solar energy and used for the synthesis of food in all green plants.
• Produces NADPH and molecular oxygen (O2) by photolysis of water.
• Produces ATP – Adenosine triphosphate by the process of photosynthesis.
• The carbon dioxide (CO2) obtained from the air is used to generate carbon and sugar during the Calvin Cycle or dark reaction of photosynthesis.
• Where does the photosynthesis process occur in the plant cell?
• In all green plants, photosynthesis takes place within the thylakoid membrane of the Chloroplast.
   

Statement 1
Polygraph test results are generally not admissible as evidence in Indian courts. The reason for this is the perceived lack of absolute reliability and the potential for false positives and false negatives. Courts often consider polygraph results as suggestive but not conclusive proof of guilt or innocence.
Statement 2
The use of polygraph tests in India is not specifically regulated by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Instead, the admissibility and use of polygraph tests are guided by general legal principles, and there is no specific legislation that comprehensively addresses the use of lie detector tests.
Statement 3
In India, obtaining informed consent from the individual before administering a polygraph test is considered crucial. Consent is a fundamental ethical and legal requirement, and individuals must be fully aware of the nature and implications of the test before agreeing to undergo it. The absence of consent could render the test inadmissible or raise ethical concerns.
Additional information
Legal and Constitutional Rulings

• Selvi vs State of Karnataka & Anr (2010): The Supreme Court ruled that lie detector tests should be voluntary, with legal implications explained to the accused.
• K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal (1997): The Court deemed involuntary administration of these tests as potentially violating the Right to Life and Liberty and the Right to Privacy.
• Indian Evidence Act, 1871: The results of these tests are not admissible as evidence in court.
• National Human Rights Commission Guidelines (1999): Established consent and procedural guidelines for administering polygraph tests.

In the ongoing investigation of the Parliament security breach, Delhi Police sought court permission for polygraph tests on six accused to uncover their motives.

The term  ̳black hole‘ was coined in the mid-1960s by American physicist John Archibald Wheeler. Blackhole refers to a point in space where the matter is so compressed as to create a gravity field from which even light cannot escape.

Black-holes were theorized by Albert Einstein in 1915. There is a region of space beyond the black hole
called the event horizon. Hence statement 2 is correct.

This is a "point of no return", beyond which it is impossible to escape the gravitational effects of the
black hole.

Black holes have an intense gravitational field near them because of the large amount of mass they have
which is concentrated in a very small volume. Hence statement 1 is correct.

If one defines the density of a black hole as the ratio of its mass to its volume, then the density decreases
as the size of the black hole increases. So the ―density‖ would depend on the size of the black hole. The
―density‖ of black holes left behind by stellar death is much, much higher than that of the earth.

Stars end their lives in two different ways:

• those will mass around the mass of the Sun will end their lives in a gentle way, becoming a planetary nebula and leaving behind a remnant called "white dwarf".
• Stars much more massive than the Sun explode as a supernova leaving behind either a "neutron star" or a "black hole".

So the Sun will never burst and will not become a black hole. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
 

Statement Analysis:
Statement 1

• It is a non-statutory apex council under the Ministry of Finance constituted by the Executive Order in 2010.
• The Raghuram Rajan committee (2008) on financial sector reforms first proposed the creation of FSDC.

Statement 2

• To strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development.
• To monitor macro-prudential supervision of the economy. It assesses the functioning of large financial conglomerates.

Statement 3

• It is chaired by the Finance Minister and its members include the heads of all Financial Sector Regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, and IRDA), Finance Secretary, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Secretary of Department of Financial Services (DFS), and Chief Economic Adviser.
• In 2018, the government reconstituted FSDC to include the Minister of State responsible for the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Secretary of Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the Revenue Secretary.

India has consciously proceeded to explore the possibility of tapping nuclear energy for the purpose of
power generation. As result, India has planned three stage nuclear programme.

• STAGE 1 : Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor using Natural UO2 as fuel matrix to produce electricity while generating plutonium-239 as by-product. Heavy water as moderator and coolant India achieved complete self- reliance in this technology and this stage of the programme is in the industrial domain
• STAGE 2 (FBR): Fast Breeder Reactor is India‘s second stage of nuclear power generation. FBR is a nuclear reactor that uses fast neutron to generate more nuclear fuels than they consume while generating power.

In the second stage, it envisages the use of Pu-239 obtained from the first stage reactor operation. As the fuel core in FBR, a blanket of U-238 surrounding the fuel core will undergo nuclear transmutation to produce fresh Pu239 as more and more Pu-239 is consumed during the operation.

Besides a blanket of Th-232 around the FBR core also undergoes neutron capture reactions leading to the formation of U-233. U-233 is the nuclear reactor fuel for the third stage of India‘s Nuclear Power Programme. FBR is known as fast breeder because it doesn‘t use moderator while liquid sodium is used as coolant. India‘s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is a 500 MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu).

• STAGE 3: (Breeder Reactor). A Stage III reactor or an Advanced nuclear power system involves a self-sustaining series of thorium-232-uranium-233 fuelled reactors. U-233, obtained from second stage will be used as fuel in nuclear reactor.

Besides, U-233 fuelled breeder reactors will have a Th-232 blanket around the U-233 reactor core which will generate more U-233 as the reactor goes operational thus resulting in the production of more and more U-233 fuel from the Th-232 blanket as more of the U-233 in the fuel core is consumed helping to sustain the long term power generation fuel requirement.

Hence all the statements are correct.