UPSC Prelims 2020 — solved PYQs

Jyotiba Phule was a major social reformer who founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj and wrote Gulamgiri, but he did not publish Vital-Vidhwansak.

Gandhi published the journal Harijan starting in 1933, not Vital-Vidhwansak. His engagement with untouchability came later than Walangkar's efforts.

Ambedkar published the newspaper Mook Nayak (1920) and Bahishkrut Bharat, but Vital-Vidhwansak was published by Walangkar, who preceded Ambedkar in anti-caste activism.

Crop diversification and legume intensification are well-established eco-friendly practices endorsed by ICAR and NITI Aayog.

Vertical farming is energy-intensive and not classified as a standard eco-friendly agricultural practice in the Indian policy context.

Vertical farming's high energy requirement and artificiality exclude it from the conventional understanding of eco-friendly agriculture in India.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but Statement 4 is also correct.

Statements 3 is incorrect. Unused MPLADS funds can be carried forward.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Unspent MPLADS funds are not lost at year-end and can be carried forward to the next year.

Corbett has a significant Critical Tiger Habitat area but it is smaller than that of Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam.

Ranthambore's Critical Tiger Habitat is comparatively small given the reserve's overall modest extent.

Sundarbans Tiger Reserve has a unique mangrove habitat but its Critical Tiger Habitat area is smaller than Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam.

Statement 3 is also correct; blockchain is a permissionless technology for building decentralised applications.

Statement 2 is incorrect; blockchain can store any type of data, not just cryptocurrency transactions.

Statement 2 is wrong. Blockchain is used for supply chain management, land records, identity verification, and many non-cryptocurrency applications.

While large forex reserves are helpful, the UPSC key identifies incomplete capital account convertibility as the decisive factor that provided immunity.

Small FDI is generally a weakness, not a source of immunity. FDI is stable by nature and its small size did not shield India.

Statements 2 and 3 were not considered the key factors providing immunity in this context.

The Board of Directors did not instruct Wellesley to establish the college. In fact, they later tried to reduce its scope.

While the college taught Indian languages, the primary purpose was practical administrative training, not reviving oriental learning.

While William Carey taught at the college, providing him employment was not the motivation for its establishment.

Statement 2 is also correct based on post-reform rural employment data.

Statement 1 is also correct; non-farm activities expanded in rural India.

Both statements are supported by employment data from the post-reform period.

None of these are primates. They are all avian species belonging to different bird families found in the Indian subcontinent.

These are all bird species, not reptiles. Their names include typical avian family suffixes like frogmouth, barbet, minivet and redstart.

None of these species are amphibians. They are all well-documented bird species in Indian ornithology.

Hot mix asphalt requires high-temperature heating, which increases energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Both hot mix asphalt and Portland cement are energy-intensive and high-emission processes, the opposite of carbon-footprint reduction.

Portland cement production is one of the largest industrial sources of CO₂ and is not preferred for reducing carbon footprint.

Schedule VI does not impose an absolute ban; it requires a licence for cultivation and possession.

Schedule VI pertains to plant species needing protection, not to genetically modified organisms.

Schedule VI lists plants requiring protection due to conservation concerns, not those that are invasive.

This is incomplete because credit card debt and government treasury bills are also non-financial debt.

This is incomplete because government treasury bills are also part of non-financial debt.

This is incomplete because household loans and credit card obligations are also non-financial sector debt.

Government stockpiling (item 3) also affects supply in the open market and thereby price.

Government trading (item 2) directly affects market supply and demand dynamics.

MSP and consumer subsidies also materially influence rice pricing.

Physical damage to hardware (item 2) is typically covered under property insurance, not cyber insurance.

System restoration and legal defence costs are also covered under standard cyber insurance policies in India.

The cost of a new computer due to physical damage is not covered; cyber insurance addresses digital and cyber-related losses.

Incorrect. Mere eligibility to vote is not enough; a person must be qualified to become a member of the State Legislature to be appointed minister for six months under Article 164(4).

Incorrect. Disqualification under the RPA is not permanent — it extends through the period of imprisonment and for six years after release for relevant offences.

Incorrect. Both statements are wrong on the specifics of Article 164(4) and Section 8 of the RPA.

Manas National Park in Assam is known for the Indian rhinoceros, wild buffalo, and pygmy hog, not the hard-ground Barasingha.

Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu is an elephant and tiger habitat in the Nilgiris; it has no Barasingha population.

Tal Chhapar in Rajasthan is a blackbuck sanctuary and does not support Barasingha.

Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Terai lowlands of Uttar Pradesh, which is not suitable musk deer habitat.

Neither Kishanpur (Terai lowlands) nor Manas (Assam floodplains) provides the high-altitude habitat musk deer require.

Manas National Park is a lowland area in Assam. Musk deer are not typically found in such subtropical floodplain habitats.

Statement 1 is incorrect because the Aadhaar Act's metadata retention provisions are more nuanced than a blanket three-month limit as stated.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Following the Supreme Court's judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2018), Aadhaar cannot be mandated by private entities including insurance companies.

Statement 1 is not correct in the form stated. The Aadhaar metadata storage rules have specific provisions that do not simply impose a three-month blanket restriction.

Statement 3 is misleading. While TRIMS does not regulate investment per se, it does address investment measures that distort goods trade.

TRIMS applies only to trade in goods, not services, making Statement 2 incorrect.

Statements 2 and 3 are incorrect.

Creation of All India Services is actually a special power of the Rajya Sabha under Article 312, where the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution. This is not an area of equal power but a special Rajya Sabha prerogative.

The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha alone under Article 75(3). The Rajya Sabha cannot pass a no-confidence motion to remove the government.

Cut motions are moved during discussion of Demands for Grants, which are presented only to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha has no role in voting on Demands for Grants.

Statement 1 is incorrect because the government administers urea prices through the New Urea Policy and subsidises other fertilizers under the NBS scheme.

Statement 3 is also correct. Refinery sulphur is a significant input for phosphatic fertilizer production.

Statement 1 is wrong; fertilizer pricing in India is significantly government-administered, especially for urea.

A hundi was not a royal advisory or administrative order. It was a financial instrument used in commerce.

Hundi was not an accounting diary. It was a credit instrument facilitating trade transactions.

Hundi was a commercial and financial term, not a feudal administrative order. It belonged to the domain of trade and banking, not governance.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Rock phosphate and most phosphatic fertilizers are not easily soluble in water and hence cannot be efficiently applied through fertigation.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Phosphatic fertilizers generally cannot be applied efficiently through drip-based fertigation because of their low water solubility.

Statement 1 is also correct. Fertigation can help manage alkalinity of irrigation water.

PKI has no relation to food security; it deals with cryptographic key management.

Health care and education infrastructure is unrelated to the cryptographic and certificate framework described by PKI.

Although digital security supports telecom, PKI specifically concerns digital certificates and encryption, not physical telecom or transport infrastructure.

Machine-based textile production in India came much later, primarily after the 1850s. In the first half of the nineteenth century, India was de-industrialised.

Railway construction in India began only in 1853 with the Bombay-Thane line. Extensive railway building occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The opposite was true: heavy duties were imposed on Indian exports to Britain, while British manufactures entered India with low or no tariffs.