ANSWER – B
Prakash Singh, who served as DGP of UP Police and Assam Police besides other postings, filed a PIL in the Supreme Court post retirement, in 1996, seeking police reforms. In 2006, the Supreme Court gave 7 directives with a view to bring in police reforms.
The Court put on record the deep rooted problems of politicization, lack of accountability mechanisms and systemic weaknesses that have resulted in poor all round performance and fomented present public dissatisfaction with policing.
Various expert bodies have examined issues with police organization and functioning over the last few decades. Its chronology as follows-
ANSWER- C
After India achieved Independence, Hasrat Mohani was elected as a member to the constituentassembly tasked with framing the Constitution of India under the chairmanship of B.R. Ambedkar. During the constituent assembly debates, Mohani emerged as one the most outspoken critics of Ambedkar and the constituent assembly itself.Maulana Hasrat Mohani refused to sign the constitution of india passed by the constituent assembly because he thought it was anti people.
When the Constitution of India was drafted, however, he refused to sign it, as he believed it should have been drafted by the genuine representatives of the people of India and not those who were privileged enough to have the right of franchise during British rule.
ANSWER – A
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, was a popular Prime Minister and the subject of several cartoons by the celebrated K.Shankar Pillai & later R.K Laxman.
With India gaining Independence, Shankar’s cartoons too shifted focus from the colonial administration to Indian politicians and Nehru thus featured in 4000+ cartoons.
Political Cartoons are a heady combination of politics, journalism and art. In making these, Pillai not only poked fun at Nehru but made a valid point about an ongoing issue or the political climate of the time. In a way, he summarised a complex situation for everyone to understand. If Shankar’s cartoons reflected public interest, they also helped form opinion. In one of his illustrations, Shankar labels Nehru as the ‘Sentinel of the East’.
ANSWER – A
The Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002 enshrined right to education as a fundamental right in part-III of the constitution. It came up with the below features:
Change in Fundamental Rights
A new article 21A was inserted which made Right to Education a Fundamental Right for children in the range of 6-14 years. This article reads:
“The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of theage of six to fourteen years.”
Change in DPSP
Article 45 which originally stated:
“The State shall endeavour to providefor free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.”
Was substituted as
“The State shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.”
ANSWER – B
During Morarji Desai’s regime, the Right to Property was excluded from the list of Fundamental Rights. In the year 1978, the 44th amendment eliminated the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property as a fundamental right. However, in another part of the Constitution, Article 300 (A) was inserted to affirm that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.
ANSWER – C
National Development Council (NDC) is the apex body for decision making and deliberations on development matters in India presided over by the Prime Minister.National Development Council was set up on August 6, 1952. One of the functions of NDC was to review the working of the Plan from time to time and recommend such measures as are necessary for achieving the aims and targets.
The 12th five-year plan is considered the last five-year plan of India. The decades-old Five-Year Plans was replaced by a three-year action plan, which will be part of a seven-year strategy paper and a 15-year vision document. The Niti Aayog has replaced the Planning Commission in the Modi Cabinet and launched three-year action plans from April 1, 2017, onwards.
ANSWER – D
Ad hoc judges can be appointed in the Supreme Court by “Chief Justice of India” with the prior consent of the President, if there is no quorum of judges available to hold and continue the session of the court. Only the persons who are qualified as to be appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court can be appointed as ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court (Article 127).
ANSWER – C
Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions.
1. No religion instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds.
2. Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by the State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution.
3. No person attending any educational institution recognized by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto Cultural and Educational Rights.
ANSWER – B
“Preamble is a keynote to the constitution” by Ernest Barker.
Barker praises Indian Preamble at the onset of his famous book – “The Principles of Social and Political Theory”. According to him, the Indian Preamble summarize his entire political philosophy in few words. Preamble is the most important aspect of Indian constitution to understand the essence of Indian political system.
ANSWER: A
The town was founded as “Sajjanpur” by Raja Sansar Chand Katoch in the 18th-century. Over time, it was referred to as Sujanpur. The Katoch dynasty developed it as a capital, adding a fort near it along a Tihra – a strip of the foothills.
ANSWER: B
Marriage of Halwaha’s daughter into a Nagarkotiya family.
ANSWER: B
Bhojkis are Priests of Jwalaji and Naina Devi Temples.
ANSWER: A
Pabuchi, Pandvani and Bhataakshri are types of Scripts.
ANSWER: C
Raja Aniruddha Chand went to the extent of abdicating the throne instead of carrying out the bidding of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh to marry his sister in the family of Main Dhyan Chand.
ANSWER: B
Katoch
ANSWER: B
Mukhiyam Wazir and Mahar sub castes of Kanets are found in Shimla District.
ANSWER: B
Famers the Ghiraths of Kangra region.
ANSWER: C
Pandit Chandradhar Sharma Guleri’s father held an honourable position in Jaipur state. He was Principal of Maharaja’s College.
ANSWER: A
‘Bhent’ and ‘Bihagra’ folk- songs are Religious songs.
ANSWER: A
Customs of Chundavad and Pagvand are related with division of parental property.
ANSWER: C
Folk-song
ANSWER: A
Mandi district was the first place where Himachal’s first music studio, ‘Sound of Mountains’ established in the year 1986.
ANSWER: B
The theme of Kinnauri folk-song “Tipsi Ban Thanee” is Usha Devi’s curse to beautiful Kinnar girl being envious of her beauty.
ANSWER: C
Haare hue Log.
ANSWER:B
Prem Pakhrolvi
ANSWER: B
Essay collection of Deshraj Dogra litterateur has been published under title “Bund Samani Samudra”.
ANSWER: B
She stayed in Shimla as a Research fellow in IIAS for two years.
ANSWER: C
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables the creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.
ANSWER: B
During the Riyasati era Minjar festival in Chamba used to commence with Presentation of Minjar in the temples of Raghuveer and Laxminarayan in early morning by the King.
ANSWER: C
Kugati pass connects Lahul region to Chamba district’s Bharmaur area.
ANSWER: A
ANSWER: A
Trilokinath Temple : The Sri Trilokinath ji Temple (is in a village of same name 6 km south of the left bank of the Chaṅdrābhāgā or Chenab River, and about 9 km from the village of Udaipur, in the Lahul and Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is sacred to both Tibetan Buddhists and Hindus.
ANSWER: A
For the prosperity and happiness of Mandi state Guru Govind Singh performed Akhand Keertan for 18 days .
ANSWER: C
Johadji fair, the most popular fair of Solan district is associated with Guru Nanak Dev.
ANSWER: A
Announcement of war with Afghanistan was taken by the British government through Shimla manifesto.
ANSWER: B
ANSWER: B
ANSWER: C
Sir John Lawrence officially declared Simla the summer capital of the British empire in 1864. The capital covered a 3-mile radius from the famous Christ Church in the Simla Bazaar.
ANSWER: A
ANSWER: B
Austria’s National Anthem has been revised to remove its masculine bias by inserting into it the words ‘Great Daughters’ too along with great sons.
ANSWER: D
Angelina Jolie DCMG is an American actress and filmmaker. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress multiple times.
ANSWER: B
ANSWER: C
Maharashtra
ANSWER: A
Legendary astronomer Patric Moore (passed away recently) holds the unique record of presenting a programme continuously for 50 years of BBC Television. This landmark programme was the sky at night.
ANSWER: B
According to a new genetic study, Europe’s largest minority group Romani began their migration 1500 years ago from India.
ANSWER: C
At the heart of current political impasse in Nepal happens to be the, Opposition’s insistence on changing the Prime Minister .
ANSWER: A
80% of population should have Aadhar Cards.
ANSWER: A
British Prime Minister’s decision to reject Lord Leveson Report has evoked widespread protests there. Its key recommendation is an establishment of an independent media regulatory body backed by legislation.
ANSWER: C
Literature
ANSWER: D
Religious functions cannot be performed in the Church located within the Rashtrapati Niwas.
ANSWER: C
The Jungfrau Railway is a mountain railway in the Bernese Alps, connecting Klein Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. The railway, which uses a 1,000 mm metre gauge and racks, runs 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the station of Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)) to the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m (11,332 ft)). It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, the Jungfraujoch being the highest railway station on the continent and well above the perennial snow line.
ANSWER: C
Gunwalking, or “letting guns walk“, was a tactic used by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Field Office of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which ran a series of sting operations between 2006 and 2011 in the Tucson and Phoenix area where the ATF “purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal straw buyers, hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders and arrest them”. These operations were done under the umbrella of Project Gunrunner, a project intended to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico by interdicting straw purchasers and gun traffickers within the United States.
ANSWER: B
Kerala
ANSWER: C
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY):
The scheme aims to contribute to a better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers. It is being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
ANSWER: B
An energy co-operation agreement through which Venezuela supplies crude oil on concessional terms to 17 Latin American nations.
ANSWER: C
Goa
ANSWER: B
She accepted it personally after 21 years of winning the award.
ANSWER: C
Time magazine has included Raj Kapoor’s 1951 classic Awaara among 20 new entries added to its All-Time 100 list of the greatest films made since 1923, the beginning of the prestigious US periodical.
ANSWER: B
ANSWER: B
Syria
ANSWER: C
Adi Shankaracharya was an Indian philosopher and theologian whose works had a strong impact on the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta. Kalady or Kaladi is a town located between east of the Periyar river, in Ernakulam district of Keral It is notable as the birthplace of 8th century. Indian philosopher Adi Shankara.
ANSWER: C
Buddhists, especially Newar Buddhists, Diwali is celebrated as the day when Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism, hence the day is observed as Ashok Vijayadashami. On this day the monasteries and temples are decorated and Buddha is worshipped. It is observed by the Vajrayana Buddhist minority among the Newar people of Nepal. Diwali comes within the month of October or November.
ANSWER: C
Bhagirathais a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty who brings the Sacred River Ganges, personified as the Hindu River Goddess Ganga, to Earth, from the Heavens.
Bhagiratha became prince of Sagara Dynasty, learning the awful end of his forefathers, who were unable to attain region of gods, he regretfully made over his kingly duties to his minister and went to practice austerities in the Himalayas.
On the advice of his guru Trithala, he did penance for a thousand years (according to god timeline) to please Ganga, to gain the release his 60,000 great-uncles from the curse of saint Kapila.
ANSWER: D
Bandi Chhor Divas is a Sikh celebration that commemorates the day the sixth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind ji released 52 kings from Gwalior Fort, who had been imprisoned by Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Emperor Jahangir had held 52 kings at the Gwalior Fort for several months.
ANSWER: A
Meghaduta is considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poems.
It describes how a yakṣa (or nature spirit), who had been banished by his master to a remote region for a year, asked a cloud to take a message of love to his wife. Meghadoot is literary work of Sanskrit depicts the geographical features of India in an enchanting manner.
ANSWER: B
Karna also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the major characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Karna is called Radheya as he is the adopted son of Radha, who nurtured him as her own son. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the Pandavas), and thus a demigod of royal birth.
ANSWER: C
It’s said that Ganesha wrote the Mahabharata, as it was recited to him by sage Vyasa (Veda Vyasa).
ANSWER: C
Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 563 B.C. in the Lumbini, which soon became a place of pilgrimage. The site is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre, where the archaeological remains associated with the birth of the Lord Buddha form a central feature.
ANSWER: C
Vrindavani Vastrais a drape woven by Assamese weavers led by Mathuradas Burha Aata during 16th century under the guidance of Srimanta Sankardeva, a Vaishnavite saint and scholar who lived in present-day Assam. Mathuradas Burha Aata along with his 12 assistant weavers wove the Brindavani Bastra. The large drape illustrates the childhood activities of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan.
ANSWER: A
Sri Lanka is in the throes of Standoff between the executive and judiciary because of controversy over ‘Divineguma Bill’. It meas Uplifting lives.
ANSWER: B
Manipur Indian state members of the BneiMenashe Community have been migrating to Israel for the last seven years.
ANSWER: D
In france Chintally Talks’ being held between the Afghan government and Taliban facilitate a roadmap for 2015.
ANSWER: B
The Parsi Panchayat Mumbai has informed the Bombay High Court that only a “Poor Parsi” is eligible for accommodation in a subsidized housing scheme of the community, According to it ‘a poor Parsi’ is one who earns Rs. 90 thousand monthly.
ANSWER: C
To educate the out of school girls across the world.
ANSWER: A
NASA’s curiosity rover which completed its first soil analysis on Mars has found minerals on the Red Planet similar to basalt volcanic soils in Hawaii.
ANSWER: B
Pratap was a Hindi newspaper was founded by Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi.
It was his popular revolutionary weekly that associated with the oppressed’s cause wherever they could be and Pratap would prove to be widespread as its circulation jumped from 500 in 1913 to 600 in 1916.
ANSWER: C
The AITUC full form is the All India Trade Union Congress which was formed on October 31st 1920 in Bombay by Lala Lajpat rai.
The All India Trade union Congress is the oldest trade union federations in India.
Since its inception when unions became organised on party lines, AITUC was the primary trade union organisation in India working under the Indian National Congress.
Since 1945, the All India Trade Union Congress has been politically associated with the Communist Party of India.
ANSWER: C
During British rule Postmen were paid more than teachers and it signified the importance of Postmen in the Summer Capital of the Raj.
ANSWER: B
Sarojini Naidu otherwise known as The Nightingale of India earned this nickname for herself because of her contribution to poetry.
She was also the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress as well as the first woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
ANSWER: C
Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi jurist, rationalist scholar, Maturidi theologian, philosopher and poet.
He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British occupation.
His grandson was Muztar Khairabadi. Renowned poet and lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar was his great-grandson and Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar all are his descendants.
He issued an early religious edict in favour of doing military jihad against British colonialism during 1857 and inspired various others to participate in the 1857 rebellion.
ANSWER: C
Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest for Jalianwalla Bagh mass killing.
ANSWER: A
“It has dawned but where is the Sun” – Lokmanya Tilak
ANSWER: B
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
ANSWER: C
Sister Nivedita was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She was engaged to marry a Welsh youth, but he died soon after their engagement.
ANSWER: C
Defying the orders of Viceroy Lord Curzon, the ruler of Mewar princely state mustered the courage to remain absent from Delhi Darbar held in 1903 to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII.
ANSWER: C
Subhadra Chauhan was born in Nihalpur village in Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman Satyagrahi to court arrest in Nagpur and was jailed twice for her involvement in protests against the British rule in 1923 and 1942. Kumari Chauhan was an Indian poet. One of her most popular poems is “Jhansi ki Rani”.
ANSWER: D
The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11)[were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from Pakistan, carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday 26 November and lasted until Saturday 29 November 2008. A total of 175 people died, including nine attackers, and more than 300 were wounded.
ANSWER: B
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad
ANSWER: B
Jewish family
ANSWER: B
In 1984 general election contest for Jadavpur parliamentary constituency in West Bengal was dubbed as “Giant Killing Contest”.
ANSWER: C
Kerala
ANSWER: C
Folk art
ANSWER: C
Ustad Bismillah Khan: Bismillah Khan often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument.
ANSWER: C
Tibetan monk Jamyang
ANSWER: C
Pranjivandas Jagjivandas Mehta (1864 – 3 August 1932) was a Mumbai-born physician, lawyer and jeweller who settled in Burma.
He was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, helping Gandhi in England, helping him return from South Africa to India and sponsoring him.
He also helped Gandhi articulate and elucidate his vision of India in the Hind Swarajwhich was written primarily for Mehta.
In 1909 he wrote a letter to Gokhale recognising Gandhi as a Mahatma(a great soul), well before Gandhi was given that title.
ANSWER: C
Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule is a book written by Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1909. In it he expresses his views on Swaraj, modern civilization, mechanisation etc. The book was banned in 1910 by the British government in India as a seditious text. Gandhi ji wrote it in, Gujarati, while traveling from London to South Africa . Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj takes the form of a dialogue between two characters, The Reader and The Editor.
ANSWER: B
Gandhi argues that India will never be free unless it rejects Western civilization itself. He speaks about civilization not just in relation to India, though. He argues that “Western civilization is such that one has only to be patient and it will be self-destroyed.” Not only is western civilization unhealthy for India, but western civilization is by its own virtue unhealthy.
ANSWER: B
Sermon on the Sea, sometimes entitled Indian Home Rule or Hind Swaraj, written by Gandhi in South Africa in 1909 reveals Gandhi’s views on civilization and on soul force.
Edited by Haridas T. Muzumdar
ANSWER: C
Romesh Chunder Dutt was an Indian civil servant retired in1897, economic historian. R. C. Dutt is remembered for his monumental work, The Economic History of India (1902), and his translation of the Rig Veda in Bengali. He speaks feelingly about inter-caste and widow marriage. Mahatma Gandhi after going through R.C. Dutta’s monumental work “Economic History of India” His eyes were moist with tears.
ANSWER: C
According to M.K. Gandhi ,After finding better alternative to desired things is a mental state conducive for the renunciation of anything according.
ANSWER: C
During Dandi March Winston Churchill dubbed Mahatma Gandhi “Half Naked Fakir”
ANSWER: C
During a long train journey in South Africa, Gandhi was given a book of John Ruskin (Unto This Last) by one of his friends.
The good of the individual is contained in the good of all”
The concept of “Sarvodaya” and “Antyodaya” were the products of this influence of Ruskin on Gandhi.
ANSWER: D
Dr. Pranjeevandas Mehta
ANSWER: B
Manorville Mansion is located in vicinity of the picturesque Summer Hill in Shimla. This mansion is a significant historical property as it once served as residence of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, daughter of Raja Harnam Singh. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur , was an Indian activist and politician. Following her long-lasting association with the Indian independence movement, she was appointed the first Health Minister of India in 1947 and remained in office until 1957. The main attraction of the mansion is the area where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during the years 1935,1946.
ANSWER: C
Bomdi La is in Arunachal Pradesh. Situated at an altitude of 4331 m near the western boundary of Arunachal Pradesh in the Greater Himalayas, this pass connects Arunachal Pradesh with Lhasa.
ANSWER: C
Sikkim is a state in northeast India, bordered by Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal. Part of the Himalayas, the area has a dramatic landscape that includes India’s highest mountain, 8,586m Kangchenjunga. Sikkim is also home to glaciers, alpine meadows and thousands of varieties of wildflowers. Steep paths lead to hilltop Buddhist monasteries such as Pemayangtse, which dates to the early 1700s.
ANSWER : A
Calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.
ANSWER: B
When an onion is sliced or diced, the onion’s cells release these compounds into the air. When this occurs, “enzyme” works to alter the amino acids into lachrymator compounds. This form of sulfuric acid irritates the nerves around the eyes making them tear.
ANSWER : A
Iodine is a micronutrient of crucial importance for the health and well-being of all individuals. It is a trace element, just 5 gm of which are sufficient to meet the life-time needs of an individual with a life-span of 70 years. Iodine is mostly concentrated in thyroid gland. A healthy adult body contains 15-20 mg of iodine, 70-80% of which is stored in the thyroid gland. Daily intake of iodine by an individual amounts to 500 micrograms; daily physiological requirement during adult life is 150 micrograms; during pregnancy and lactation period is 200 micrograms; and during neonatal period is 40 micrograms.
ANSWER: A
Night blindness is one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency. In its more severe forms, vitamin A deficiency contributes to blindness by making the cornea very dry, thus damaging the retina and cornea.
ANSWER: C
Defying the orders of Viceroy Lord Curzon, ruler of Mewar princely state mustered the courage to remain absent from Delhi Darbar held in 1903 to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII.
ANSWER: D
In the sixth and eighth brahmana of the third chapter in Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad is the dialogue between Gargi Vachaknavi – the female Vedic sage, and Yajñavalka, on the nature of universe.
ANSWER: D
In spite of being a secular state Indian Constitution itself has provided for grant from consolidated fund of certain states to ‘Devaswom’ (Divine Property) Trust as a consequence to the merger agreement with Travancore Cochin.
ANSWER: B
During the first War of independence Tatya Tope exhorted the fellow Indians in the following manner. “Hamari rai hai ki videshion ka sashan Bharat per na bhao Chahi jeaur hum fauj ki taiyar eekarrahehain so Angrejan se ladvo bahut zaruri hai”.
ANSWER: A
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan said this, “when India is said to be a secular state, it does not mean that we reject the reality of an unseen spirit or the relevance of religion to life or that word exalt irreligion”.
ANSWER: C
Malala’s central message is that no matter what the obstacles — whether they be economic, cultural or social — everybody is entitled to a quality education as a human right. In the words of the young activist: “Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. It has symbolized that the fight of Malala and 32 million girls more for their basic rights of education will go on, and the world is in solidarity with ensuring education for every single child across the globe. Malala’s story has touched millions of people.
ANSWER: A
Leveson found that the existing Press Complaints Commission was not sufficient, and recommended a new independent body, which would have a range of sanctions available to it, including fines and direction of the prominence of apologies and corrections.
ANSWER: C
Sir John Lawrence : Sir John Lawrence officially declared Simla the summer capital of the British empire in 1864. After independence, the city became the capital of Punjab and was later made the capital of Himachal Pradesh.
ANSWER: A
Lord Curzon
ANSWER: B
Austria
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