(Prelims) IAS General Studies – 1993 (Part 9)

121. Which one of the following types of borrowings from the IMF has the softest servicing conditions?

a. Second trance loan

b. SAF

c, ESAF

d. Oil facility

Ans: c

• The IMF has sought to respond to the balance of payments difficulties confronting many of the world’s poorest countries by providing concessional financing. From the mid-1970s, such assistance was made available through the Trust Fund. Beginning in March 1986, concessional financing was provided through the Structural Adjustment Facility (SAF), and then through the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) beginning in December 1987.
• In December 1993, the ESAF was enlarged and extended. In September 1996, the ESAF was made a permanent (rather than a temporary) facility, and the centerpiece of the IMF’s strategy to help low-income countries. In addition, the IMF’s participation in the initiative to lower the debt of the heavily indebted poor countries was initially linked to special, more concessional ESAF operations.

122. The Buddhist sect Mahayana formally came into existence during the reign of

a. Ajatashatru

b. Ashoka

c. Dharmapala

d. Kanishka

Ans: d

• The Fourth Buddhist Council was held in Kashmir under during the reign of Kanishka in the early Christian era . He was a patron of Buddhism and was instrumental in spreading the religion in the northwestern borders of India. He played a key role in organizing the fourth Buddhist Concil. The Council was presided over by Vasumitra and Asvaghosha and had to deal with a seriious conflict between the Sarvasthivada teachers of Kashmir and Gandhara.
• The reign of Kanishka witnessed the the division of Buddhism into the Hinayana and  the Mahayana sect. The followers of the Hinayana sect adhered strictly to the early teachings of the Buddha and were uncompromising on the fundamental teachings of the Buddha. They did not introduce new gods or heavens, nor encouraged any speculation about such matters as Nirvana and the after life of an of Arhat. The followers of the Mahayana sect, on the other hand, tried to elaborate upon the earlier doctrines and remove the ambiguities and contradictions inherent in early Buddhism by providing new explanations and clarifications.

123. Which one of the diagrams given below represents most closely follow the path of geostationary satellite in space?

Ans:

124. The book The Man who knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel published in 1991 and extensively reviewed in newspapers in India is the biography of

a. Vikram Sarabhai

b. Homi Bhabha

c. Sir C V Raman

d. Srinivasa-Ramanujan

Ans: d

125. Which one of the Following is correctly matched?

a. Lebanon  —- For supervising a 1992 accord

b. El Saivador —- To deliver humanitarian aid

c. Mozambique —- To supervise a referendum

d. Cyprus —- To maintain peace between the two dominant ethnic groups in the country

Ans: d

• Cyprus dispute is an ongoing conflict on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus between the population of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots

126. In India the Public Sector is most dominant in

a. steel production

b. organized term-lending financial institutions

c. transport

d. commercial banking

Ans: b

127. Among the four house types shown below, which one represents the house type of the Pygmies?

Ans:

• African pygmies live in several ethnic groups in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo (ROC), the Central African Republic, Cameroon, the Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, and Zambia. Most Pygmy communities are partially hunter-gatherers, living partially but not exclusively on the wild products of their environment. They trade with neighbouring farmers to acquire cultivated foods and other material items.

128. The last in the succession of Jaina Tirthankaras was

a. Parsvanatha

b. Rishabha

c. Mahavira

d. Manisubrata

Ans: c

129. Consider the figures of a metal ball and a metal ring given below: The metal ball can just pass through the hole of a metal ring formed out of a strip. When the ball is healed it gets stuck. But when the metal ring is heated

a. the ball can still pass through it because the ring diameter expands on heating the ball

b. gets stuck because the diameter of the hole decreases on expansion

c. the ball will still pass through because the hole diameter does not change

d. the ball will pass through because there is no change in the ring

130. The abolition of the I. A. S. and the I. P. S. Has been recommended by the

a. Dhebar Commission

b. Kalekar Commission

c. Kher Commission

d. Rajamannar Commission

Ans: d

• Rajamannar Committee: The Centre-State Relations Inquiry Committee was set up by the Government of Tamil Nadu on 2 September, 1969 under the Chairmanship of Dr. P.V. Rajamanar to consider the entire question regarding relationship that should subsist between the Centre and the States in a federal set up. Regarding the all-India services, the committee observed: “Recruitment through the Union Public Service Commission may be discontinued.” The committee recommended that recruitment to the all-India services be made by holding an examination confined to each State.
• Kher Commission: As provided for by Article 343, Nehru appointed the First Official Language Commission under the chairmanship of B. G. Kher on 7 June 1955.
• Dhebar Commission (1960-1961): The first Tribal Commision. ( the second one was a 10-member panel led by former MP Dileep Singh Bhuria in 2002.)
• Kaka Kalelkar Commission: First Backward Classes Commission, 1955
  

131. Which one of the following is the best strategy for environment-friendly, sustainable development in Indian agriculture?

a. Expansion of cultivable land, increased use of super phosphate, urea and effective biocides

b. Wider popularization of high-yielding crop varieties, better aid more frequent irrigation and increased frequency of aerial spray of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides

c. Mixed cropping, organic manures, nitrogen-fixing plants and pest.

d. Resistant crop varieties Improved farm implements and machinery, use of potent insecticides to minimize post-harvest grain losses and monoculture cropping practices

Ans: c

132. Consider the map given below. The mean annual rainfall in the shaded parts of India varies from:

a. 100 to 150 cm

b. 150 to 200 cm

c. 200 to 250 cm

d. 250 to 300 cm

133. As on today, which one of the following countries has the largest external debt?

a. India

b. Brazil

c. USA

d. Mexico

Ans: c

• USA has external debt of 106 % of GDP i.e. 18 trillion dollar
• India has 23 % of GDP (455 Billion Dollar)

134. The earliest rock-cut caves in western India are those at

a. Nasik,  Ellora and Ajanta

b. Junnar, Kalyan and Pitalkhora

c. Ajanta, Bhaja and Kondane

d. Bhaja, Pitalkhora and Kondane

Ans:  a

135. Consider a specific point on the surface of the earth (say, the city of Delhi). The temperature at a given time of day (say, 12.00 noon) will in general be higher in summer than in winter. This is because

a. the earth is closer to the sun in summer than in winter.

b. sun-rays fall on the earth are inclined more towards the surface of the earth in winter

c. evaporation of water from atmospheric precipitation occurring in winter alone

d. the axis of the earth is inclined more towards the sun in winter

Ans: b

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