Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2017 Test
2017 Test
2017 Test
SOLUTIONS
9. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is also the youngest United
Nations (UN) Messenger of Peace is
a) Antonio Guterres
b) Malala Yousafzai
c) Ban Ki-Moon
d) Kailash Satyarthi
Solution: b)
Learning: United Nations Messengers of Peace are distinguished
individuals, carefully selected from the fields of art, literature, science,
entertainment, sports or other fields of public life, who have agreed to
help focus worldwide attention on the work of the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Nobel laureate
Malala Yousafzai (at 19, youngest such messenger) as a UN Messenger of
Peace to promote girls education.
It is the highest honour given by the United Nations. The messengers are
initially chosen for a period of three years.
They mainly promote the work of the UN agency they are ambassador
for.
Q Source: United Nations Website
10. The constitution grants both the President and the Governor
right to pardon punishments granted by the Judiciary. What is/are
the important differences between their powers?
1. President can only grant pardon on the advice of Union Council
of Ministers, whereas for the Governor this is purely a
discretionary matter.
2. President can grant pardon to a person awarded death sentence,
but Governor cannot do so.
3. President can exercise this power only in cases adjudicated by
the Supreme Court, whereas Governor can do this only in cases
under High Courts.
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 2 and 3 only
Solution: b)
Justification: Statement 1: The pardoning power of President is not
absolute. It is governed by the advice of the Council of Ministers. Same
applies for Governor as well.
Statement 2: There are only three major differences:
• President has the right to pardon punishments of sentences given
under Court Martial, whereas the governor does not have this
power.
• President can grant pardon to a person awarded death sentence.
But Governor of State does not enjoy this power.
• Governor’s pardoning power only extends to those areas where the
executive power of the concerned state extends. He cannot pardon
in case of offences committed under Central laws. So, 3 is
incorrect.
Q Source: Chapter on President: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth
11. Consider the following with reference to the concept of time as
discussed in the Puranas.
1. The cycle of time is connected with the cyclical decline and
revival of dharma on earth.
2. One yuga follows the other, but the world once destroyed will
not be re-created.
Which of the above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) None
Solution: a)
Justification: The conception of time in the Puranas is mind-boggling.
There are four ages or yuhas — sat, treta, dwapara and kala, all
consisting of thousands and thousands of years.
These four yugas make up a mahayuga, and 1,000 mahayugas constitute
a kalpa.
Every kalpa is divided into 14 manvantaras, each presided over by a
Manu.
One yuga is followed by another, and the periodic destruction of the
world is followed by its re-creation. So, 2 is incorrect.
This cycle of time is connected with the decline and revival of dharma as
satyuga was considered to host the most moral society, and kalayuga the
least moral.
Q Source: Upinder Singh: A History of Ancient and Early Medieval
India
12. Ratooning is the practice of growing a Sugarcane crop
a) from the stubbles of previous crop
b) without the application of fertilizers or irrigation water
c) on hilly slopes with step cultivation
d) with symbiotic support from azolla and ferns
Solution: a)
Learning: When sugarcane is harvested, a portion of stalk is left
underground to give rise to a succeeding growth of cane, the ratoon or
stubble crop.
Ratooning utilizes this stubble, saves cost on preparatory tillage and
planting material. So, it gets benefit of residual manure and moisture.
Ratoon crop also matures earlier and gives more or less same yield as of
normal sugarcane.
However, only one ratoon should be taken because incidence of pests
and diseases increases and deterioration of soil takes place.
Q Source:
www.agriinfo.in/default.aspx?page=topic&superid=1&topicid=1089
31. With reference to Medieval India, what did Khutbah refer to?
a) A sermon read in the name of the ruling king on the occasion of
Friday prayers
b) A group of merchants who owned large caravans and
transported goods from market to market
c) Muslim devotee who emphasized the personal devotion of man
to God through love
d) A docket that contained the core instructions of the ruler
Solution: a)
Learning: Option B were Banjaras (this was the place from where
UPSC probably lifted the Banjara question in 2016 – some of these
keywords were mentioned with definitions at the Q Source).
Option C is sufis.
• Khutabh serves as the primary formal occasion for public
preaching in the Islamic tradition.
• Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all
legal schools.
• The Islamic tradition can be formally at the dhuhr (noon)
congregation prayer on Friday.
Q Source: Medieval India – Romila Thapar: Class VII: Old NCERT
32. The ‘Man Ki Baat’ programme on All-India Radio is hosted
by
a) President of India
b) Prime Minister
c) Member of Parliaments in rotation
d) Major celebrities working in development sector
Solution: b)
Learning: In the programme, he addresses the people of the nation on
radio, DD National and DD News.
Each month, some selected calls become a part of the broadcast.
The President of the United States was a part of one January edition of
'Mann Ki Baat', aired in 2015.
Q Source: Yojana – May 2017
34. If you stay long in a busy traffic area, you often feel
lightheadedness, confusion, headache due to the haemoglobin in
your blood combining with X. What is X here?
a) Carbon dioxide
b) Carbon monoxide
c) Methane
d) Sulphur dioxide
Solution: b)
Learning: Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after breathing in too
much carbon monoxide (CO). The above are symptoms of mild acute
poisoning.
Carbon monoxide causes adverse effects by combining with hemoglobin
to form carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) in the blood. This prevents
hemoglobin from carrying oxygen to the tissues.
Carboxyhemoglobin can revert to hemoglobin, but the recovery takes
time
Q Source: 8th Science NCERT
35. Government of India implements the Integrated Child
Development Scheme (ICDS) via
a) Anganwadi centres
b) Krishi Kiosks
c) Common Service Centres (CSCs)
d) Single Window Facilitation Centres (SWFCs)
Solution: a)
*Learning*: It provides food, preschool education, and primary
healthcare to children under 6 years of age and their mothers. These
services are provided from Anganwadi centres established mainly in
rural areas and staffed with frontline workers.
In addition to fighting malnutrition and ill health, the programme is also
intended to combat gender inequality by providing girls the same
resources as boys.
Target group is children in the age of 0-6 years, pregnant women and
lactating mothers.
Q Source: Important Government Schemes
41.The Micro Solar Dome (MSD) is a clear and green energy initiative
of the Department of Science and Technology. Consider the
following with reference to it.
1. It is a low cost solution to the industries for off-grid mass power
generation using captive plants at remote locations.
2. It is designed to be installed by restaurants and large kitchens
with large open spaces to replace gas cooking with solar-
powered cooking.
Which of the above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) None
Solution: d)
Justification: None of the above is correct.
• It is a tiny device that basically captures day light and provides the
same inside a dark room (typically in a slum that are closed from
all sides even during the day without windows).
• So, it is a day and night lighting device without needing any bulbs.
No opening on the roof is required to let the sunlight come in.
• A transparent semi-spherical upper dome made of acrylic material
captures the sunlight and the light passes through a sun-tube
having a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall of
the passage. This allows for a bright exposition.
• It is leak proof and works throughout the day and 4 hours
continuously after sunset.
• The potential users of this device are the 10 million off-grid
households in urban and rural spaces.
Q Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=153493
73. As per Mahatma Gandhi "God is truth” and “The way to truth
lies through” .…..?
a) Non-Violence
b) Resistance
c) Fasting
d) Love and devotion
Solution: a)
Learning: Mahatma Gandhi, proclaimed this in a note in English made
at Sabarmati Ashram in 1927.
• He also quoted at another place, “Ahimsa is the highest ideal. It is
meant for the brave, never for the cowardly. The highest religion
has been defined by a negative word: Ahimsa.
• These are excerpts from other notes, “Dharma is one and only one.
Ahimsa means moksha, and moksha is the realization of Truth.”
• “The most distinctive and largest contribution by Hinduism to
India’s culture is the doctrine of Ahimsa.”
Q Source: Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi
82. SBI Blue Chip Fund is a mutual fund. What does the “Blue
Chip” in the fund name denote?
a) Sea-faring companies
b) Reputed firms able to absorb economic downturns
c) Emerging start-ups
d) Semi-conductor manufacturing companies
Solution: b)
Learning: A blue chip is stock in a corporation with a national
reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably in
good times and bad.
Blue chip stocks are seen as a less volatile investment than owning
shares in companies without blue chip status because blue chips have an
institutional status in the economy.
The name "blue chip" came about because in the game of poker the blue
chips have the highest value.
Q Source: Terminologies in news
Q Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/new-
plant-species-discovered/article8411662.ece
87. Archaeological evidences of Painted Grey Ware (PGW)
CANNOT be found in which of these regions?
a) Panipat
b) Hastinapura
c) Kurukshetra
d) Nigwaram
Solution: d)
Learning: Excavations at places for e.g. Hastinapura, Kurukshetra,
Panipat, Tilpat, Baghpat, Mathura, and Bairat—have given evidence of a
pottery Painted Grey Ware (PGW) which goes back to c. 1000 BCE.
This shows that these sites were inhabited around this time, and the
nature of the remains suggests that the people who lived here shared a
pastoral-cum-agricultural lifestyle.
Excavations at Hastinapura also give evidence of a flood in the Ganga,
after which the site was deserted
Q Source: Upinder Singh: A History of Ancient and Early Medieval
India
99. M.K. Gandhi was the editor of three English weeklies, which
of these was NOT one of them?
a) Harijan
b) Young India
c) Indian Opinion
d) Statesman
Solution: d)
*Learning*: Statesman is related to Robert Knight, not Gandhi.
Gandhi edited Indian Opinion (in South Africa during 1903-1915), Young
India (1919- 1931), and Harijan (1933-1942 and 1946-January 1948).
Indian Opinion was bi-lingual (English and Gujarati). For some time it
had also Hindi and Tamil sections.
Young India had a Gujarati edition - Navajivan. Harijan had both
Gujarati and Hindi editions.
All these journals which he described as "newspapers" were organs of
political and social movements and discussed with intensity and
concentration, problems that demanded immediate action.
Q Source: Publications by Gandhi