(Prelims) IAS General Studies – 2009 (Part 7)

91. With which one of the following has the B.K. Chaturvedi Committee dealt ?
(a) Review of centre- state relation
(b) Review of delimitation Act
(c) Tax reforms and measures to increase revenues
(d) Price reforms in the oil sectorAns : d

• B.K. Chaturvedi Committee was looking into the issues pertaining to the development of National Highways in 2010.

92. Mahamastakabhisheka, a great religious event is associated with and for whom of the following ?
(a) Bahubali
(b) Buddha
(c) Mahavir
(d) Nataraja

Ans : a

• The Mahamastakabhisheka is an important Jain festival held once every twelve years in the town of Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. The festival is held in veneration of a 17 metres (57 ft) high statue of the Bahubali. The anointing last took place in 2006, and the next ceremony is going to take place in 2018.

93. Consider the following pairs:
         Tradition                                                                   State
(1) Gatka, a traditional martial art                          :              Kerala
(2) Madhubani, a traditional Painting                      :             Bihar
(3) Singhey Khababs, Sindhu Darshan  Festival       :          Jammu And Kashmir

which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans : c

• Gatka is a traditional South Asian form of combat-training in which wooden sticks are used to simulate swords in sparring matches.In modern usage, it commonly refers to the northwestern Indian martial arts. It is famous in Punjab (Indian and Pakistani)
• Madhubani painting or Mithila painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state, India, and the adjoining parts of Terai in Nepal. Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns. There are paintings for each occasion and festival such as birth, marriage, Holi, Surya Shasti, kali puja, Upanayanam, Durga Puja etc
• The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, handmade paper and canvas. Madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice.
• Madhubani art has five distinctive styles – Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Nepali and Gobar. In the 1960s Bharni, Kachni and Tantrik style were mainly done Brahman & Kayashth women, who are upper caste women in India and Nepal. Their themes were mainly religious, and they depicted Gods and Goddesses in their paintings. People of lower castes and classes included aspects of their daily life and symbols of Gods and Goddesses much more, in their paintings. The Godna and Gobar style is done by the Dalit and Dushadh communities. Now these distinctions have vanished.
• Three day Singhey Khababs Sindhu Festival is commenced in Leh-Laddakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The “Sindhu Darshan Festival,” launched by the National Democratic Alliance Government in 2001 was renamed as “Ladakh Singhey Khabab Spring Festival”
  

94. Match list I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists :
List I                                                                          List II
(Famous person )                                                     (Well-known as)
(A) Anna Hazare                        :                             (1) Lawyer
(B) Deepak Parekh                    :                             (2) Banker
(C) GVK Reddy                        :                             (3) Gandhian and social activist
(D) Harish Salve                         :                             (4) Industrialist
Code :
A         B             C             D
(a)            1          2             4              3
(b)            1          4             2              3
(c)            3          2             4              1
(d)            3          4             2              1

Ans : c

95. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists :
List I                                                      List II
( Famous person )                                   (Well- known as)
(A) Amrita Sher-Girl                                     (1) Dancer
(B) Bhimsen Joshi                                         (2) Painter
(C) Rukmini Devi Arundale                           (3) Poet
(D) Suryakant Tripathi Nirala                        (4) Singer
Code :
       A              B               C                  D
(a)   2               1                4                  3
(b)   2               4                1                  3
(c)   3               1                 4                 2
(d)   3               4                 1                 2

Ans : b

• Amrita Sher-Gil (1913 – 1941) was an eminent Indian painter born to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, sometimes known as India’s Frida Kahlo, and today considered an important woman painter of 20th century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal Renaissance
• Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and an activist for animal rights and welfare.
• Bhimsen Joshi was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music.
• Khyal is the modern genre of classical singing in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning “imagination”. It is thought to have developed out of the qawwali singing style. It appeared more recently than dhrupad, is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for improvisation. Like all Indian classical music, khyal is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga. Khayal was popularized by Niyamat Khan (a.k.a. Sadarang descendant of Naubat Khan) and his nephew Firoz Khan (a.k.a. Adarang), both musicians in the Mughal court of Muhammad Shah Rangila (1719–1748)

96. With reference  to the schemes launched by the union government consider the following statements :
(1) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
(2) Ministry of Textiles launched the Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana

which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans : b

• Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is a government-run health insurance scheme for the Indian poor. It provides for cashless insurance for hospitalisation in public as well as private hospitals. The scheme started enrolling on April 1, 2008.The RSBY is a project under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The scheme has won plaudits from the World Bank, the UN and the ILO as one of the world’s best health insurance schemes.
• Every below poverty line family holding a yellow ration card pays 30 registration fee to get a biometric-enabled smart card containing their fingerprints and photographs.This enables them to receive inpatient medical care of up to 30,000 per family per year in any of the empanelled hospitals. Pre-existing illnesses are covered from day one, for head of household, spouse and up to three dependent children or parents.
• Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana aims at financially enabling the artisans’ community to access to the best of healthcare facilities in the country. This scheme covers not only the artisans but his wife and two children also. All Craft persons whether male or female, between the age group of one day to 80 years will be eligible to be covered under the Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana. It is under Ministry of Textiles.

97. Consider the following pairs :
Persons                                                             Sport
(1) Anand Pawar                                          :         Chess
(2) Akhil Kumar                                           :         Boxing
(3) Shiv Shankar Prashad    Chowrasia         :         Golf

which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans : b

• Anand Pawar is Indian badminton playr

98. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists :
List I                                                            List II
   (Book)                                                         (Author)
(A) In Custody                                            (1) Amartya Sen
(B) Sea of Poppies                                      (2) Amitav Ghosh
(C) The Argumentative Indian                      (3) Anita Desai
(D) Unaccustomed Earth                             (4) Jhumpa Lahiri
Code :
A        B       C        D
(a)     4        1        2         3
(b)     4        2        1         3
(c)     3        2        1         4
(d)     3        1        2         4

Ans : c

99. Among the following who are the Agaria Community ?
(a) A traditional toddy tappers Community of Andhra Pradesh
(b) A traditional Fishing Community of Maharashtra
(c) A traditional silk-weaving Community of Karnataka
(d) A traditional salt pan workers community of Gujarat

Ans : d

100. Recently, which one of the following was included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage list ?
(a) Dilwara Temple
(b) Kalka-Shimla Railway
(c) Bhiterkanika Mangrove Area
(d) Visakhapatnam to Araku valley Railway line

Ans : b (In 2009)

• There are 32 World Heritage Sites (Of these 32 sites, 25 are cultural sites and the other seven are natural sites) in India that are recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of 2014. These are places of importance of cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.The Convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted on 17 November 1997
• Latest additions in 2014 are: (1) Rani ki vav (The Queen’s Stepwell) in Patan, Gujarat and (2)Great Himalayan National Park at Kullu, Himachal Pradesh
• Largest Number of sites are in Maharashtra