(Prelims) IAS General Studies – 1993 (Part 1)

1. During 1992 − 93 there was a record bumper in

a. rice

b. sugarcane

c. pulses

d. oil seeds

Ans: Old data. New data in 2003-04:

• India is likely to produce record 264.38 mt of foodgrain during 2013-14 compared with 257.13 mt last year
• The second advance estimate put out by Union Agriculture Ministry shows rice output at 106.19 million tonnes, as against 105.24 million tonnes produced in 2012-13, and wheat at 95.60 million tonnes compared to 93.51 million tonnes in 2012-13 .With a new thrust on pulses production through adoption of “pulses villages,” the output this year has gone up to 19.77 million tonnes compared to 18.34 million tonnes in 2012-13. Coarse cereal production too increased by 1.5 million tonnes to 41.64 million tonnes. The total oilseeds production is expected to be 329.83 lakh tonnes as against 309.43 lakh tonnes in 2012-13. Production of rapeseed and mustard is likely to be an all-time high at 82.51 lakh tonnes, compared to 80.29 lakh tonnes in 2012-13.

2. The term nishka which meant an ornament in the Vedic period was used in later times to denote

a. an Weapons

b. agricultural implement

c. script

d. coin

Ans: d

3. The working of the quartz crystal in the watch is based on the

a. Photoelectric Effect

c. Johnson Effect

c. Piezo-electric Effect

d, Edison Effect

Ans: c

• The trouble with pendulum clocks and ordinary watches is that you have to keep remembering to wind them. If you forget, they stop—and you have no idea what time it is. Another difficulty with pendulum clocks is that they depend on the force of gravity, which varies very slightly from place to place; that means a pendulum clock tells time differently at high altitudes from at sea level! Pendulums also change length as the temperature changes, expanding slightly on warm days and contracting on cold days, which makes them less accurate again.
• Quartz watches solve all these problems. They are battery powered and, because they use so little electricity, the battery can often last several years before you need to replace it. They are also much more accurate than pendulum clocks. Quartz watches work in a very different way to pendulum clocks and ordinary watches.
• Quartz is one of the most common minerals on Earth. It’s made from a chemical compound called silicon dioxide (silicon is also the stuff from which computer chips are made). The most interesting thing about quartz is that it’s piezoelectric. That means if you squeeze a quartz crystal, it generates a tiny electric current. The opposite is also true: if you pass electricity through quartz, it vibrates at a precise frequency (it shakes an exact number of times each second).
• Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress.

4. Which one of the following pairs of kings of ancient and medieval periods of Indian history and the works authored by them is correctly matched?

a. Krishnadevaraya     Samaranganasutradhra

b. Mahendravarman     Mattavilasaprahasana

c. Bhojadeva         Manasollasa

d. Somesvara      Amuktamalyada

Ans: b

• Bhoja’s great compendium of architectural knowledge known as the Samaranganasutradhara
• Mattavilasa Prahasana ( A Farce of Drunken Sport) is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the two great one act plays written by scholar King Mahendravarman I (571– 630CE), a Pallava king, in the beginning of the seventh century. He was author of another play called Bhagavadajjuka.
• The Mānasollāsa (मानसोल्लास) (the refresher of the mind) or the Abhilaṣitārtha Cintāmaṇi (the magical stone that fulfils desires) is an encyclopedic work in Sanskrit composed in 1051 Saka era (c. 1129 CE) by Somesvara III , a Western Chalukya king
• Krishnadevaraya composed Amuktamalyada which is one of the most famous poetic works in the entire Telugu literature

5. The founder of Boy Scouts and Civil Guides movement in India was

a. Charges Andrews

b. Robert Montgomery

c. Richard Temple

d. Baden Powell

Ans: d

• The Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) is the national Scouting and Guiding association of India. The national headquarters of BSG is recognised by the Government of India. Scouting was founded in India in 1909 as an overseas branch of the Scout Association and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1938. Guiding in India started in 1911 and was amongst the founder members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928
• Robert Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder of the Scout Movement and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association. His wife Olave Baden-Powell was the founder of Scouting and Girl Guides,

6. Acid precipitation is now regarded as a serious problem in some European and Man countries. Its major cause or source is

a. discharge of acidic effluents onto neutral or slightly alkaline land where the acidic components precipitate

b. emissions of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides from thermal power plants and burning of fossil fuels; these oxides dissolve in atmospheric water vapour and fall back on earth as acid rain

c. natural carbondioxide released during respiration of living organisms dissolves in water, forming carbonic acid which is the chief contributor to acidity in rain water

d. chlorofluorocarbons readily react with various chemicals near the earths surface, producing acidic intermediates which cause acid precipitation

Ans: b

7. The growth rate of which one of the following sectors has very low employment elasticity?

a. Manufacturing

b. Construction

c. Financial services

d. Mixed farming

Ans: a

• Employment elasticity is a measure of the percentage change in employment associated with a 1 percentage point change in economic growth. The employment elasticity indicates the ability of an economy to generate employment opportunities for its population as per cent of its growth (development) process. These are commonly used to track sectoral potential for generating employment and in forecasting future growth in employment.
  
• Employment elasticity measurement generally faces two sets of criticisms: (1) the relationship between employment and output need not be uni-directional and (2) the notion of employment elasticity is valid for a given state of technology, wage rate and policies.
• The Planning Commission says that employment elasticity has come down “from 0.44 in the first half of the decade 1999–2000 to 2004–05, to as low as 0.01 during the second half of the decade 2004–05 to 2009–10.” An employment elasticity of 0.01 implies that with every 1 percentage point growth in GDP, employment increases by just one basis point. (One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.)
• Employment elasticity of growth was much higher during the pre-reform period. The 10th Plan document has a table that shows employment elasticity for the economy as a whole was 0.68 during the period 1983 to 1987-88; this fell to 0.52 if we consider the period 1983 to 1993-94, implying a slowing down during the later years; and it went down to a mere 0.16 during 1993-94 to 1999-2000, which led to much worrying about jobless growth at that time.
• In agriculture and manufacturing, employment elasticity in the latter half of the decade has been negative. The negative employment elasticity in agriculture indicates movement of people out of agriculture to other sectors where wage rates are higher. This migration of surplus workers to other sectors for productive and gainful employment is necessary for inclusive growth. However, the negative employment elasticity in manufacturing sector is a cause of concern particularly when the sector has achieved 6.8 per cent growth in output during Eleventh Plan.
• Many of the new jobs in the informal sector were in the construction industry. That means it has high employment elasticity.
• In India, employment elasticity of : Agriculture < Manufacturing < Mining < Finance, Real Estate etc < Construction

8. Which one of the following is considered to be the worlds greatest iconographical creations made by the sthapatis of south India, particularly during the Chola period?

a. Mahishasuramardini

b. Nataraja

c. Rama

d. Somaskanda

Ans:b

• Sthapathis of South India were highly skilled in the construction of Temples and idols and works on art of making icons
• The Chola king Kadaraditya Cholan and his wife Sembian Mahadevi were pious and asked the Sthapathi to make a Lord Nataraja’s statue in five metals or pancha loha which is tall and appealing . The Sthapathi was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and was very happy with the King’s order.
• Nataraja is a depiction of the Hindu God Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe

9. Which one of the following colloidal systems is represented by fog?

a. Liquid in gas

b. Gas in liquid

c. Solid in gas

d. Liquid in liquid

Ans: a

• Fog is a complex atmospheric phenomenon. It is a visible mass consisting of cloud water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth’s surface. Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud
• Fog forms when the difference between air temperature and dew point is generally less than 2.5 °C. Fog begins to form when water vapor condenses into tiny liquid water droplets suspended in the air.

10. The dispute regarding East Timor is between

a. Japan and Russia

b. China and Philippines

c. Indonesia and Malaysia

d. Australia and Indonesia

Ans: d

• East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until Portugal’s decolonisation of the country. In late 1975, East Timor declared its independence but later that year was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia’s 27th province the following year. In the build-up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975, five Australian journalists were killed
• Located in Southeast Asia, the island of Timor is part of the Maritime Southeast Asia,

  The Timor Sea separates the island from Australia to the south, and the Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara lies to East Timor’s west.

• The 1991 Dili Massacre was a turning point for the independence cause internationally, and an East Timor solidarity movement grew in Portugal, Australia, and other western countries.
• In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory, and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002.

11. If a mouse of over eight times its normal size has been produced by introducing human growth hormone gene, the technique involved is called

a. Hybridization

b. Genetic engineering

c. Mutation Breeding

d. Hormonal feeding

Ans: b

• In biology a hybrid is mix of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera. In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the breeding of two genetically distinct individuals.
• Genetic engineering is the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism. The goal is to add one or more new traits that are not already found in that organism.
• Mutation breeding is the process of exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation in order to generate mutants with desirable traits to be bred with other cultivars. Plants created using mutagenesis are sometimes called mutagenic plants or mutagenic seeds.

12. Which one of the following provides the correct sequence of occurrence of four town/cities as one proceeds from west to east?

a. Rajkot, Baroda, Kharagpur, Bilaspur

b. Bikaner, Aligarh, Darbhanga, Nowgong

c. Indore, Raurkela, Agartala, Jamshedpur

d. Nasik, Aurangabad, Berhampur Nanded

Ans:b

13. Which of the following were the main objectives of the Khalifat Movement?

1. To rouse anti-British feelings among the Muslims of India.

2. To reform the Muslim society.

3. To demand separate electorates and preserve the Khalifat.

4. To save the Ottoman empire and preserve the Khalifat

Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

Codes:

a. 1 and 2

b. 2 and 3

c. 3 and 4

d. 1 and 4

Ans: d

• The Khilafat movement (1919-1924) was a pan-Islamic, political protest campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I. It won the support of Mahatma Gandhi and the  Congress movement because of its anti-British overtones.

14. The earnings of India from diamond export is quite high. Which one of the following factors has contributed to it?

a. Pre-independence stock-pilling of diamonds in the country which are now exported

b. Large production of industrial diamonds in the country

c. Expertise available for cutting and polishing of imported diamonds which are then exported

d. As in the past, India produces huge quantity of gem diamonds which are exported

Ans: a

• India has been adding modern techniques that are more in tune with trends in the world market. Several well-organised polishing units have been established to improve productivity and to meet growing international demand. Moreover, moving ahead from processing small-sized and rough diamonds, the industry has acquired the additional skills required to cut and polish large pieces as well.
• Surat is the heart of India’s thriving diamond-polishing industry besides other cutting centres in surrounding areas; as well as Mumbai. India dominates the polishing business, despite having no diamond mines of its own. Recently, exploration of the Panna Mines in North India was initiated and it would be a while before rough supply can be expected. Therefore, most of the rough stones polished in Surat and elsewhere in India now are mined in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Russia.
• In FY 2013–14, the Indian gems and jewellery sector contributed around US$ 34,993 million to India’s foreign exchange earnings.
• In FY 2013-14, India exported polished and cut diamonds valued at around US$ 19,643 million and coloured gemstones worth around US$ 520 million.
• The key export destinations for Indian gems and jewellery in 2013-14 were UAE with 35 per cent of export valued at US$ 12 billion followed by Hong Kong at 28 per cent with value of US$ 9 billion and USA at 14 per cent with export value of US$ 5 billion.

15. When the Couple Protection Rate is going up

a. birth rate must necessarily fall

b, birth rate will fail only if couples are of younger age

c. death rate must necessarily fall

d. infant mortality rate must be falling

Ans: a

• Couple Protection Rate: The rate at which couples (specifically women) are protected against pregnancy using modern contraceptive methods INCLUDING sterilisations. (previously Women year protection rate)
• Increase in Couple Protection Rate (CPR) from 10.4% (1970-71) to 45.4% (31.3.1997).

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