(Prelims) IAS General Studies – 1993 (Part 3)

31. Which one of the following is a feature common to both the Indian Federation and the America. Federation?

a. A single citizenship

b. Three lists in the Constitution

c. Dual judiciary

d. A federal supreme court to interpret the Constitution

Ans: d

32. In Mizoram the settlement pattern is mostly of linear type along the ridges because

a. the valleys are cooler than the ridges

b. accessibility is easier on the ridge tops

c. the ridges are cooler than the valleys

d. the valleys are densely forested

Ans: a

• A valley is an elongated depression in the landscape that is formed by the action of water (V-shaped) or carved out by glaciers (U-shaped). Valley bottoms are represented by “U” or “V” shaped contour lines with their closed end pointing towards higher elevation.
• A ridge is a landform feature characterized by a continuous elevational crest with sloping sides. Arête is a narrow ridge formed by glacial erosion. A spur is a lateral ridge projecting from the mountain or the main ridge crest. A spur is usually formed by the two roughly parallel streams eroding gullies (draws) down the face of the mountain from the ridge line. (Gully is a channel or ditch formed by water erosion.)
• Under “normal” circumstances, temperatures decrease at a known rate, the “lapse rate”, with elevation. During an inversion, air temperatures are cooler than expected near the surface. Due to mountain breezes, temperature inversion occurs ad so valleys are cooler than the ridges.

33. In Mughal paintings one notices the adoption of the principle of foreshortening whereby near and distant people and things could be placed in perspective. This was due to the influence of the

a. British

b. Dutch

c. Portuguese

d. Danish

Ans: c

34. The Government of India has totally banned the export of Burnt cola (Jhama) because it contains recoverable amount of a metal/element used in transistors. Which one of the following is that element?

a. Phosphorus

b. Germanium

c. Silicon

d. Tungsten

Ans: b

35. Which one of the following is in the Concurrent List in the Constitution of India?

a. Population control and family planning

b. Public health and sanitation

c. Capitation taxes

d. Treasure trove

Ans: a

• Public health and sanitation, Capitation taxes, Treasure trove are in State list

36. Asokan inscriptions were first deciphered by

a. Buhler

b. Robert Sewell

c. James Prinsep

d. Codrington

Ans: c

• Princep as the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India. The Brahmi script was not deciphered until 1837, by James Prinsep.

37. Which one of the following sets of economists strongly favoured a market economy?

a. Adam Smith, Keynes, Hicks

b. Adam Smith, Marx, Strumlin

c. Adam Smith, Hayek, Friedman

d. Adam Smith, Ricardo, J. K. Galbraith

Ans: a

38. Which one of the following approaches comes under the category of biotechnology?

a. Use of living organisms or substances obtained from them in industrial processes

b. Modernizing the commercial industries to produce products for use in biological research

c. Use of modern technology to investigate biological disorders

d. Use of industrial technology to increase the biosphere

Ans: a

39. Which one of the following is correctly matched

a. Dr. Kurien– Space Science

b. Dr. Malcom Adiseshiah — Cooperative  Movement

c. Dr. Abdul Kalam –Development Economics

d. Dr. Pramod Karan Sethi  — Jaipur Foot

Ans: d

• Malcolm Sathiyanathan Adiseshiah (April 18, 1910 – November 21, 1994),was an Indian development economist and educator. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his outstanding services to the country in 1976. UNESCO has awarded ‘The Malcolm Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize’ every year from 1998 in recognition of the outstanding contribution he made to education and to literacy in particular.
• Dr. Abdul Kalam – Space Science
• Dr. Kurien – Cooperative Movement
• Pramod Karan Sethi (28 November 1927 – 6 January 2008) was an Indian orthopaedic surgeon. With Ram Chandra Sharma, he co-invented the “Jaipur foot”, an inexpensive and flexible artificial limb, in 1969

40. Which one of the following seeds can benefit a patient of diabetes mellitus by normalizing his blood sugar level?

a. Coriander seeds

b. Mustard seeds

c. Cumin seeds

d. Fenugreek seeds

Ans: d

• Fenugreek is used as a herb (dried or fresh leaves), spice (seeds), and vegetable (fresh leaves, sprouts, and microgreens). The seed is used in Ethiopia as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes.

41. Which of the following places have their standard times that are the same as GMT?

1. Accra

2. Dublin

3. Madrid

4. Lisbon

Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

a. 1, 2, and 3

b. 1, 3, and 4

c. 1, 2 and 4

d. 2, 3 and 4

Ans: a

• Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana.
• Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland.
• Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.
• Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal

42. Among the four works mentioned below which one is encyclopaedic in nature?

a. Amarakosa

b. Siddhantasiromani

c. Brhat Samhita

d. Ashtangahrdaya

Ans: c

• The Amarakosha is a thesaurus of Sanskrit written by the ancient Indian scholar Amarasimha. The word “Amarkosha” derives from the Sanskrit words amara (“immortal”) and kosha (“treasure, dictionary”). It is also known as Namalinganushasana
• Siddhānta Shiromani (“Crown of treatises”) is the major treatise of Indian mathematician Bhāskarāchārya. He wrote Siddhanta Shiromani in 1150 AD
• Brihat-Samhita, a  contribution of Varahamihira, is the encyclopedic in nature. It covers wide ranging subjects of human interest, including astrology, planetary movements, eclipses, rainfall, clouds, architecture, growth of crops, manufacture of perfume, matrimony, domestic relations, gems, pearls, and rituals. Varahamihira was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer who lived in Ujjain
• Vāgbhata is one of the most influential classical writers of ayurveda. Several works are associated with his name as author, principally the Ashtāṅgasaṅgraha (अष्टाङ्गसंग्रह) and the Ashtāngahridayasaṃhitā (अष्टाङ्गहृदयसंहिता).

43. Consider the following passage: In the course of a career on the road spanning almost thirty years, he crossed the breadth of the Eastern hemisphere, visited territories equivalent to about 44 modern countries, and put behind him a total distance of approximately 73, 000 miles.

The worlds greatest traveler of premodern times to whom the above passage refers is

a. Megasthenes

b. Fa Hien

c. Marco Polo

d. Ibn Battuta

Ans: c

• Megasthenes (350 – 290 BC) was a Greek ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indika. He was born in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of the Seleucid dynasty and Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India.
• Faxian (337 – c. 422 CE) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled by foot all the way from China to India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites during Chandragupta 2.
• Marco Polo(1254 – 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveller whose travels are recorded in Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo,1300, a book that introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China.
• Ibn Battut (1304 –  1369), was a Moroccan explorer . He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (“Journey”). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Ibn Battuta is generally considered one of the greatest travellers of all time.

44. Which one of the following statements regarding the office of the Speaker is correct?

a. He holds office during the pleasure of the President

b. He need not be a member of the House at the time of his election but has to become a member of the House within six months from the date of his election

c. He loses his office if the House is dissolved before the end of its normal tenure

d. If he intends to resign the letter of his resignation is to be addressed to the Deputy Speaker

Ans: d

45. Scratching eases itching because

a. it removes the outer dust in the skin

b. it kills the germs

c. it stimulates certain nerves which direct the brain to increase the production of antihistaminic chemicals

d. it suppresses the production of enzymes which cause itching

Ans: c

• Antihistamines are chemicals that block the action of histamine (a compound released in allergic inflammatory reactions) at the H₁ receptor sites, responsible for immediate hypersensitivity reactions such as sneezing and itching.

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