HPAS Mains 2020 (General Studies Paper I ): Questions and Model Answers

                                                                        SECTION I

1. Write a critical note on major Sepoy Mutinies before 1857 Revolt.

2. Highlight the social contribution of Behramji Malabari.

3. Write a critical note on- “The Charter Act of 1813”.

4. Give an account of three important events of Viceroy Lord Chelmsford period.

5. What is hazard mapping? Why is it essential?

• Hazard is associated with the processes that have the potential to inflict social, economic or environmental losses. It can be natural or anthropogenic. A hazard map is a map that highlights areas that are affected by or are vulnerable to a particular hazard. They are typically created for natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, flooding and tsunamis. Hazard maps help prevent serious damage and deaths.

Hazard mapping is essential because of the following roles played by it:

• Identifying vulnerable areas: Zonal mapping of hazards will allow authorities to identify those places that are vulnerable and be prepared to handle sudden crises.
• Example: Mountain slopes with no vegetation are the most vulnerable to landslides. In addition, high rainfall aids landslides.
• Relocation of human settlement: Saving human lives is at the core of disaster mitigation exercise. In this regard, the role of preparedness becomes of utmost importance. The human population vulnerable due to one or the other natural hazards can be relocated to safer regions.
• Example: Houses present in flood prone areas need to be relocated.
• Creating awareness: The threat of disasters like landslides, earthquakes, floods etc. cannot be handled by authorities alone. The citizen participation will ensure that they will not be immediately affected by the disaster. In this regard, authorities have to make people aware of the threat and also techniques to protect themselves.
• Example: Mock drills for different areas in accordance with the hazard mapping.
• Capacity building: The infrastructure needs to be built well in advance in order to tackle any sudden disasters. The people handling operations must be trained to handle any kind of crisis. Example: Rescue operation training.
• Disasters and their consequences are still a great problem for many countries, particularly in India due to rapidly increasing populations. For this reason, hazard zonation mapping serves as one of the many components in an integrated disaster management planning.

6. Write a geographical note on effect of Jhuming on soil.

• Jhumming is predominantly practiced in the northeastern states of India. Jhum cultivation also called slash and burn agriculture is a type of shifting agriculture. In the North-East states, agriculture is primarily based on Jhum cultivation. It is an agricultural system where a farming community slashes forest on a planned location, burns the slash and cultivates the land for a limited number of years. The land is then left unused and the farming community moves to the next location to repeat the process till they return back to the starting point. Geographically, this type of cultivation is found by different names in different states and countries.
• It is found in the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, and a few other places
• In Madhya Pradesh, it’s known as “Bewar” or “Dahiya.”
• ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh
• In Odisha, this is known as ‘Pama Dabi,’ ‘Koman,’ or ‘Bringa.’‘Kumari’ in the Western Ghats.
• In Mexico and Central America, it’s known as Milpa, Conuco in Venzuela, Roca in Argentina, Ladang in Brazil
• North eastern forest are major carbon sinks, home to biodiversity This mode of farming has ill-effects on ecology, biodiversity, habitats and other natural features.It also causes loss or deterioration of forest cover leading to soil erosion and degradation of catchments of rivers and other water bodies.
• The farmers could be given financial assistance for terracing the hill slopes where jhumming is practised now. So, the jhumias would gladly shift to permanent farming.This should be complied with to put an end to the socio-ecological curse that shifting farming has virtually turned into

7. Write a geographical note on Mantalai Lake.

• Mantalai Lake, situated at an altitude of 4100m, is located in the Parvati Valley in Kullu District. Parvati valley is one of the most beautiful valleys of Himachal Pradesh. This lake is the source of the Parvati River which meets river Beas at Bhunter. One can reach Mantalai Lake after several days of trekking.  In fact, Mantalai trek is one of the popular and famous treks in Himachal Pradesh. It is a beautiful water body surrounded by frozen glaciers in the foothills of Himalayas.
• There is a legend associated with a stone crossing at Mantalai and a shrine lined with tridents has been built to this effect. The Parvati River is crossed on Pandu Pul, which marks the route that the Pandava brothers took in an earlier age. There are two natural boulder on river, one being on the Parvati river named Pandu Pul/bridge, and the other one on a side stream called as Chhota Pandu Pul.
• The trail comprises boulder and moraine stretches, icy cold river crossings and crevasse filled glacier round the pass. Mantalai lake trek fall on the way to Pin Parvati Pass, The pass connects the luxuriant and lush Parvati valley on the Kullu side with the Pin valley on the Spiti side.The Pin Parvati valley trek is one of the most captivating and challenging trekking trails in India. It was first transverse in 1884 by Sir Louis who was looking for an alternate rute to Spiti. The imposing view of the Pin Parvati Pass is full of adventure and thrills.

8. Mention the philosophical basis of public service.

Public services include services provided by a government to people living within its jurisdiction like Law and Order, Defence, Basic amenities like water, electricity, food, Education, health care, transport etc.

Philosophy of Public Services is about commitment to the welfare of the downtrodden, compassion, Justice – Social, political and Economic and promoting Common good.

Philosophical basis of Public Service is to promote an environment of equality in which dignified life could be realized and to create equality of opportunity and to promote equity so that inclusive development could be reached and each one could be empowered.

In such scenario a person can lead a fulfilled and quality life so that an individual can spiritual evolve and peace and harmony will prevail in the society.

9. How technology is helpful in bringing the transparency and objectivity?

10. How rights of differently-able persons have able to improve the quality of life for themselves?

As per Census 2011 of India, there are 2.68 crore persons with disabilities who constitute 2.21 per cent of the total population. Out of the total disabled population of 2.68 crores in Census 2011, 1.46 crores (54.5%) are literates and the remaining 1.22 crores (45.5%) are illiterates.

State-wise data shows, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir have more than 2.51 per cent disabled population. Over 5.4 million people have some kind of physical disability, followed by hearing impairment affecting 5.07 million and 5.03 million who have problems with their vision. Just about 2 million have speech disability, and 2 million are affected by mental retardation and other mental illnesses.

Differently abled people in India are facing sundry of problems because of the disabled infrastructure and policies in the nations. These problems are ranging from health, education, employment, social exclusiveness/discrimination and inaccessibility. Therefore, to promote social justice in the nation intervention from the part of government in very important here.

11. Discuss how cultural tourism is a tool for socio-economic development in Himachal Pradesh?

12. Discuss the beliefs and practices during birth and death among Kinnaur tribe.

13. How far do you agree that recreation and amusement are becoming part of cultural tourism in Himachal Pradesh?

14. Discuss the changing pattern of family among tribes in Himachal Pradesh.

15. Discuss the structural and functional view of caste system in Himachal Pradesh.

                                                               SECTION II

16. Examine critically the boundary settlements after the First World War.

World War I began after the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand by South Slav nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Four empires collapsed during World War I – the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, the victorious Allies redrew the maps of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East to replace these fallen empires.

REDWRAWL OF BOUNDARIES

• Austria-Hungary was divided into several countries: Austria-Hungary-Czechoslovakia
• Poland was created from portions of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. The Polish corridor was provided to grant Poland access to the Baltic Sea. As a result, the German province of East Prussia was divided from the rest of the country.
• Three Baltic countries, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia came into existence after World War I. However, these were not part of the post-war treaties. Instead, each country used the chaos following the Russian Revolution and end of World War I to declare independence.
• German colonies in Africa were forfeited at the end of the War. These colonies were converted into League of Nations ‘Mandates’ and split between the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and South Africa.
• Germany had a sphere of influence on the eastern coast of China, the Shandong province. Both China and Japan were members of the Allies opposing the Germans. The Treaty of Versailles awarded Shandong to the Japanese even though it was part of mainland China.
• The Ottoman Empire was broken up into several pieces including modern day Turkey. The secret ‘Sykes–Picot Agreement’ of 1916 between England and France split the remaining Ottoman Empire between them. The French were granted a mandate over an area that eventually became Lebanon and Syria. The British were granted mandates over land that later became Iraq, Jordan and Israel.

CONCLUSION

• The social trauma caused by unprecedented rates of casualties manifested itself in different ways, which have been the subject of subsequent historical debate. The war gave birth to fascism and Bolshevism and destroyed the dynasties that had ruled the Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian and German Empires

17. Make a comparative study of the islands of the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

18. ‘Natural vegetation is the outcome of climate.’ Explain the statement with reference the natural vegetation of India.

• Conclusion Forests are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than 80 % of the terrestrial species of the animals, plants and insects. They also provide shelter, jobs and security for forest dependent communities. The preservation of forests could directly be related to the sustainable development.
• India is bestowed with a wide range of flora and fauna. The natural vegetation is the endowments of nature. They grow naturally by following the climatic variables. Due to a diverse geographical and climatic condition, an extensive range of natural vegetation grows in India. The types of natural vegetation differ according to precipitation, soil, climate and topography.
• Natural vegetation or forest is the second largest land use in India next to agriculture. According to State of Forest Report 2019, total forest and tree cover rises to 24.56 % of the total geographical area of the country ranging from the Himalayan Temperate to Dry Zone forests. Area wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top 5 states are: Mizoram (85.41 %), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63 %), Meghalaya (76.33% ), Manipur (75.46 %) and Nagaland (75.31 % ).

Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests

• These forests are found in the western slope of the Western Ghats, hills of the north eastern region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands .They are found in warm and humid areas with an annual precipitation of over 200 cm and mean annual temperature above 22 degree celcius. Tropical evergreen forests are well stratified, with layers closer to the ground and are covered with shrubs and creepers, with short structured trees followed by tall variety of trees. In these forests, trees reach great heights upto 60 m or above. There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves, flowering and fruition. As such these forests appear green all the year round. Species found in these forests include rosewood, mahogony, aini, ebony, etc. The semi evergreen forests are found in the less rainy parts of these regions. Such forests have a mixture of evergreen and moist deciduous trees. The undergrowing climbers provide an evergreen character to these forests. Main species are white cedar, hollock and kail

Tropical Deciduous Forests

• These are the most widespread forests in India. They are also called the monsoon forests. They spread over regions which receive  rainfall between  70-200    On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry deciduous.
• The Moist deciduous forests are more pronounced in the regions which record rainfall betwee 100-200 cm. These forests are found in the northeastern states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha. Teak, sal, shisham, hurra, mahua, amla, semul, kusum, and sandalwood etc. are the main species of these forests.
• Dry deciduous forest covers vast areas of the country, where rainfall ranges between 70 -100 cm. On the wetter margins, it has a transition to the moist deciduous, while on the drier margins to thorn forests. These forests are found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In the higher rainfall regions of the Peninsular plateau and the northern Indian plain, these forests have a parkland landscape with open stretches in which teak and other trees interspersed with patches of grass are common. As the dry season begins, the trees shed their leaves completely and the forest appears like a vast grassland with naked trees all around. Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair, axlewood, etc. are the common trees of these forests. In the western and southern part of Rajasthan, vegetation cover is very scanty due to low rainfall and overgrazing.

Tropical Thorn Forests

• Tropical thorn forests occur in the areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm. These consist of a variety of grasses and shrubs. It includes semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In these forests, plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation. Important species found are babool, ber, andwild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etc. Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2 m as the under growth.

Montane Forests

• In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to a corresponding change in natural vegetation. Mountain forests can be classified into two types, the northern mountain forests and the southern mountain forests.
• The Himalayan ranges show a succession of vegetation from the tropical to the tundra, which change in with the altitude. Deciduous forests are found in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is succeeded by the wet temperate type of forests between an altitude of 1,000-2,000 m.
• At many places in this zone, temperate grasslands are also found. But in the higher reaches there is a transition to Alpine forests and pastures. Silver firs, junipers, pines, birch and rhododendrons, etc. occur between 3,000-4,000 m. However, these pastures are used extensively for transhumance by tribes like the Gujjars, the Bakarwals, the Bhotiyas and the Gaddis.
• The southern mountain forests include the forests found in three distinct areas of Peninsular India viz; the Western Ghats, the Vindhyas and the Nilgiris. As they are closer to the tropics, and only 1,500 m above the sea level, vegetation is temperate in the higher regions, and subtropical on the lower regions of the Western Ghats, especially in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.  The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani hills. Some of the other trees of this forest of economic significance include, magnolia, laurel, cinchona and wattle.

19. Describe the changing morphology of rural settlements in India.

Morphology refers to the internal structure or the constructional plan of a village which includes the layout of streets and roads, arrangement of houses, pattern of housing, geometrical size and shape of village and agricultural fields, location of either the water body, religious site, or the house of the village headman.

Factors affecting Morphology of Rural Settlement

1. Geographical Factors – Nature of Topography, Local Conditions like Soil, Climate, Pattern of Land Holding
2. Socio-Economic Factors – Land Holding Size, Caste System

Factors responsible for changing Morphology of Rural Settlement now – Government Schemes, Social and Behavioural Change and Population Increase.

1. Bharat Nirman – National Water Mission and Water Supply, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission.
2. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
3. Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan
4. Integrated Watershed Management and Rainwater Harvesting system
5. Increasing population –> new houses are built in the vacant places of a village not towing the caste clustering.

20. Analyze the distribution of population in India with special reference to areas of very high and very low densities.

The national population density is 382 persons per square kilometer. But the population is unevenly distributed. There has been a steady increase of more than 200 persons per sq km over the last 50 years as the density of population increased from 117 persons/ sq km in 1951 to 382 persons/sq km in 2011.

Population density is low in mountainous and desert areas like in Ladakh, western Rajasthan etc. Such an uneven spatial distribution of population in India suggests a close relationship between population and physical, socioeconomic and historical factors.

PHYSICAL FACTORS

CLIMATE

• Regions with harsh climate are sparsely populated.
• Example: Western Rajasthan has low density of population owing to the arid climate.
• Example: Coastal areas from Gujarat to West Bengal are densely populated due to moderate climate.

TERRAIN

• People avoid rugged and harsh terrains. Plain areas with minimal relief are favored by the people for settlements.
• Example: North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of population than the plateaus and hills of southern and central Indian States & Himalayan States.

AVAILABILITY OF WATER

• River plains, coastal areas and areas around lakes and ponds are densely populated.
• Example: Development of irrigation canal (Indira Gandhi Canal) in western Rajasthan have resulted in greater density of population in the region.

AVAILABILITY OF MINERAL RESOURCES

• Mineral wealth of a region attracts settlers.
• Example: In spite of rugged terrain, large number of people reside in mineral rich plateaus of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS

AVAILABILITY OF FERTILE FARMLANDS

• One reason for high population density in the North Indian plains is presence of large tracts of fertile plains where subsistence agriculture can feed a large population.

DEVELOPED TRANSPORT SYSTEM

• Development of transport facilities is easier over plains.
• Limited scope for transportation in hilly regions deters large population density in these areas.

INDUSTRIALISATION & URBANISATION

• The density of population is crude measure to study the population pressure on land.

21. Discuss how fair and festivals are true exhibitor of cultural heritage and tradition?

22. How do the rules of descent and alliance of kinship differ from each other? Illustrate.

Kinship is universal and represents one of the basic social institutions. Kinship is a method which provides the framework of social relationship. Kinship means relationship of the individual with the other members based either on marriage or blood-ties. Kinship bonds are very strong and such ties are of fundamental importance in every society all over the world.

RULES OF DESCENT

• There are two basic descent systems: corporate and cognatic. Cognatic descent is also referred to as non-unilineal descent and there are two types of cognatic descent: bilateral and ambilineal.
• In bilateral systems, children are equally descended through both parents. People from both sides of the family are considered relatives. This is the form of descent practiced in the United States
• Ambilinealsystems require children to choose either the mother or father’s side of the family to be reckoned relatives.
• In corporate descentcultures only one family line is recognized as kin. The group typically owns property together.

RULES OF ALLIANCE

• Restricted Exchange: This exchange takes place between two groups for example one group is wifegiver; the other is wife-taker. The exchange of women takes place between these two groups only. ·
• Generalized Exchange: It involves various groups and the exchange takes place in a circular fashion.
• The positive and negative rules of marriage can be understood in Indian context. In Northern India the marriage rules can be called as negative rules, as there is prohibition on marrying cousin up to several degrees. One cannot marry a person up to seven degrees on father’s side and up to five degrees on mother’s side. Clan exogamy and hypergamy is practised. One has to avoid his own gotra also while marrying.
• While in Southern India, the rules of marriage are positive as one can marry his elder sister’s daughter, he can also marry his father’s sister’s daughter. Here the family which takes a daughter returns back a daughter to the former.

CONCLUSION

• Kinship is the social recognition of the bonds a person share with his blood relatives and affinal relatives. Kinship recognizes the ties of blood ties of marriage. ÿ Kinship acts as a basis for social groups principle. ÿ The status and identity is recognized by the means of kinship relations.

23. Throw light on the emergence and growth of early medieval state of ‘Kangra’.

24. Highlight the cultural heritage of Himachal Pradesh with special reference to popular temples.

25. Define the term ‘Reet.’ Discuss the attitude of hill states towards ‘Reet’ custom.

                                                                SECTION III

26. Examine critically the Major Famines falling in India during the period 1858 to 1947 A.D. Also highlight the recommendations of Major Famine Commission during this period.

27. Why is gender dimension of Social stratification? How does gender intersect other dimensions of inequality based on class, race and ethnicity?

Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons within a social group, category, geographic region, or social unit. Gender is considered a major dimension of social stratification since the responsibilities of both men and women are different which can be traced since old times. The society provides more power to men rather than women resulted consider gender as an important dimension of social stratification. Women are denied to highly public resources since the society point out that the role of women as mother and wife are devalued even though women’s roles are vital to the well-being of society. Women are moving from being traditional wife facing new challenges of new corporate and societal responsibilities. When roles of a woman are thought to require male direction in an organization, the unequal treatment is directly related to gender roles. The roles of men and women are settled to amounts of income, prestige and power; these inequalities contribute to the system of stratification.

GENDER INTERSECTION ON CLASS

• Gender has a role be it in any dimension of the society, even when it comes to class stratification the gender orientation plays a significant role. Gender studies done by Leila dube has shown that in lower classes people gender discrimination or stratification is that very prominent but when it comes to higher class the gender sensitization is not yet present to it full optimisation. In higher classes women are subjected to more oppressive measures resulting in the gender stratification.

GENDER AND RACE

• Racially the human beings belong to same species as UNESCO as demystified racial ideology as a parameter. But gender stratification and race are not directly linked as it is more of a social conundrum

GENDER AND ETHNICITY

• Gender stratification is somewhat related to ethnic divisibility as ethnic culture groups decide what kind of society whether matrilineal or patrilineal they will be adopting.

Conclusion

• Hence stratification on gender terms is natural but due to extreme flares of stratifications sometimes the outcome is not worthy. India has followed the policy of gender neutrality when it comes to many concepts. Indian constitution also guarantees some perks to women.

28. The development of tourism industry in Himachal Pradesh has generated multifold employment opportunities. Explain the statement with example from various geographical regions of state.