UPSC Prelims 2001 — solved PYQs

The Black Hole incident of 1756 predated the Hunter Commission by over 160 years.

The 1857 Uprising was investigated by other means, not by the Hunter Commission which was established in 1919.

The Partition of Bengal (1905) did not lead to the appointment of the Hunter Commission.

Incorrect. Article 349 deals with the special procedure for the use of Hindi or English for certain purposes during the initial period after the Constitution came into force.

Incorrect. Article 350 provides for the right to make representations in any language to any authority, including the Union, for the redress of grievances.

Incorrect. Article 351 deals with the directive for the development of the Hindi language, not with mother-tongue instruction at the primary stage.

The reason is the direct cause of the assertion — lower atmospheric pressure is exactly why the boiling point drops.

The reason is factually true; atmospheric pressure does decrease with altitude.

The assertion is also true; water boils below 100°C at high altitudes.

The elephant is depicted on several Harappan seals and terracotta objects. It was one of the recognisable animals in the Harappan artistic repertoire.

The rhinoceros appears on Harappan seals, indicating that the animal was known to the Indus people, likely found in the riverine environments of the region.

The tiger appears on some Harappan seals, most famously on certain seals from Mohenjo-daro. It was part of the fauna represented in Harappan art.

Foreign exchange rates are unrelated to procurement price in agriculture.

RBI does not fix fertilizer retail prices in this sense.

Customs duties are trade taxes, not procurement prices.

Sheet erosion cannot precede splash erosion. Raindrop splash first dislodges soil particles before surface runoff can transport them as a sheet.

This is the reverse of the correct order. Erosion begins with splash impact and progressively intensifies to gully formation.

Gully erosion is the most advanced stage, not the first. The process begins with splash erosion at the smallest scale.

While Java has some industry, the primary factor for high population density in both regions is agricultural productivity, not industrialisation.

Urbanisation is a consequence of dense population, not its primary cause in these regions.

Topographic constraints can concentrate population but the primary driver in the Nile Valley and Java is fertile soil supporting intensive farming.

Calicut (Kozhikode) was a major spice-trade port on the Malabar coast, but it was not known as Babul Makka. It was more associated with the Zamorin rulers and Arab-Chinese trade.

Broach (Bharuch) was an ancient port in Gujarat but did not carry the designation Babul Makka during the Mughal period.

Cambay (Khambhat) was an important trading port but had silted up considerably by the Mughal era and was not called Babul Makka.

This is a valid function. Under Article 149 read with the CAG (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act 1971, the CAG audits all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of States.

This is a valid function. The CAG also audits expenditure from the Contingency Fund and the Public Account in accordance with statutory provisions.

This is a valid function. The CAG audits the accounts of government companies, corporations, and bodies engaged in trading and manufacturing activities.

This incorrectly assigns protein digestion to ptyalin and fat hydrolysis to pepsin; ptyalin acts on starch and pepsin on proteins.

This incorrectly pairs renin with smooth muscle contraction and oxytocin with angiotensin conversion, reversing their actual roles.

This pairing is entirely incorrect; ptyalin digests starch not proteins, and renin acts on angiotensinogen not starch.

GDP measures total output but does not account for population size. A country could have high GDP but low living standards if its population is very large.

NDP accounts for depreciation but still does not consider population size or inflation effects, making it less useful as a growth measure.

NNP at factor cost (National Income) is an important aggregate but does not account for population growth. Growth in national income may not translate to improved living standards if population grows faster.

Frequency of light does not change when it passes from one medium to another; it is determined by the source.

Frequency remains constant during refraction; only velocity and wavelength change.

Frequency is invariant during the transition between media.

GNP minus depreciation gives NNP at market price, not national income. National income requires a further conversion from market price to factor cost.

This double-counts the NFIA adjustment. GNP already includes NFIA (GNP = GDP + NFIA). Subtracting NFIA again from GNP would incorrectly give NDP at market price.

GNP minus NFIA gives GDP (not national income). This reverses the relationship used to derive GNP from GDP.

GDP measures total output but does not account for depreciation or population size. A rising GDP can mask stagnation in individual living standards if the population is growing rapidly.

NDP adjusts GDP for depreciation (capital consumption) but still does not account for population growth. It is a better measure than GDP but not the most appropriate for capturing improvements in economic well-being.

NNP accounts for net factor income from abroad and depreciation, but as an aggregate measure it does not reflect per capita changes. A country with rising NNP but faster population growth may show no improvement in living standards.

R does explain A because the assembly at Prayag was specifically intended to promote Mahayana Buddhism, as recorded by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang who attended it.

R is not false. Harsha was known to favour the Mahayana school and his patronage at the Prayag Assembly reflected this preference.

A is not false. The Prayag Assembly convened by Harshavardhana is well attested in Xuanzang's records and Bana's Harshacharita.

The Supreme Court has no suo motu advisory power. Under Article 143, the advisory jurisdiction is triggered only when the President makes a reference.

The advisory jurisdiction under Article 143 is not confined to Fundamental Rights issues. The President can refer any question of law or fact of sufficient public importance.

There is no such limitation. Article 143 allows the President to refer any question of law or fact, not only those relating to unity and integrity.

This incorrectly matches Namdev with weaver and Ravidas with barber. Namdev was a tailor (shimpi), and Ravidas was a cobbler (chamar).

This incorrectly matches Ravidas with barber and Sena with cobbler. Ravidas was a cobbler and Sena was a barber.

This incorrectly matches Namdev with weaver and Kabir with tailor. Namdev was a tailor and Kabir was a weaver.

Azad was a prominent leader but did not make this specific proposal at the 1920 Ahmedabad session.

Jawaharlal Nehru was a young leader at the time and while he later championed complete independence, the proposal at the 1920 session came from Hasrat Mohani.

Gandhi favoured Swaraj through gradual means and did not push for complete independence at the 1920 session.

This temperature range is too low for the south-east coast of India, which lies in the tropics with modifying coastal influences.

While parts of the coast may average in this range during certain months, the mean annual temperature is slightly higher.

This range is too high even for coastal tropical India; such temperatures are found only in interior desert regions during summer.

Haider Ali was a capable military commander but did not establish formal diplomatic embassies in foreign countries on modern lines.

Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, was preoccupied with his conflict with the East India Company and did not send formal embassies abroad.

Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor, was largely a puppet of the British and Marathas and did not establish modern diplomatic missions.

Laxmi Sehgal (Captain Lakshmi) was associated with the Indian National Army (INA) under Subhas Chandra Bose, not with the Chittagong Armoury Raid.

Batukeshwar Datta was associated with Bhagat Singh and the Central Legislative Assembly bombing (1929), not with the Chittagong Armoury Raid.

J. M. Sengupta was a Congress leader from Bengal but was not the organiser of the Chittagong Armoury Raid.

Jaya Prakash Narayan was associated with the Congress Socialist Party but did not preside over the All India States' Peoples' Conference in 1939.

Sheikh Abdullah was a leader of the movement in Jammu and Kashmir but was not the President of this all-India body.

Sardar Patel later handled princely states' integration but did not preside over this conference in 1939.

The distribution of legislative powers between the Union and States is dealt with in the Seventh Schedule (Union, State, and Concurrent Lists), not the Fourth Schedule.

The languages recognised by the Constitution are listed in the Eighth Schedule, not the Fourth Schedule.

Administration of tribal areas is covered by the Fifth Schedule (scheduled areas) and Sixth Schedule (tribal areas in the northeast), not the Fourth Schedule.

Parsva (Parshvanatha) was the 23rd Jain Tirthankara who lived centuries before Kanishka. He has no connection to any Buddhist council.

Nagarjuna was the great Mahayana Buddhist philosopher who founded the Madhyamaka school, but he did not preside over the Fourth Buddhist Council.

Sudraka is traditionally credited as the author of the Sanskrit play Mrichchhakatika. He was not associated with any Buddhist council.

Rough endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes is indeed the main site of protein synthesis, making this the scientifically accurate answer, though the official PYQ key differs.

Golgi apparatus packages and modifies proteins after synthesis; mitochondria produce ATP but are not primary protein synthesis sites.

Lysosomes degrade materials and mitochondria generate energy; neither is primarily responsible for protein synthesis.