Insights Full Length Mock Test – 2 For Preliminary Exam-2014

(c) The radiation emitted by the sun exerts a radial pressure on the comet throwing its tail away from the sun

(d) I, II, III and IV

(a) Be shorter

Centre of gravity will shift upwards. Thus the effective length of the swing/pendulum will decrease from the point it has been hanged to. Therefore period decreases.

(a) I, II and III

(b) II, III and IV

(d) I, II and III are correct

(b) II and III

(d) Rising of water from the roots of a plant to its foliage

(c) Barium is a good absorber of X-rays and this helps the stomach to appear clearly in contrast with the other regions in the picture

(d) Refraction, diffraction and transmission

Like water drops in falling rain, the CD separates white light into all the colors that make it up. The colors you see reflecting from a CD are interference colors, like the shifting colors you see on a soap bubble or an oil slick.

You can think of light as as being made up of waves-like the waves in the ocean. When light waves reflect off the ridges on your CD, they overlap and interfere with each other. Sometimes the waves add together, making certain colors brighter, and sometimes they cancel each other, taking certain colors away.

You can also look at this link.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question52.htm

These three phenomena together account for the interference patterns seen on CD which resembles a rainbow pattern.

(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

(d) I, II, III and IV

Solution: d)

The inactivated polio vaccine produces antibodies in the blood to all three types of poliovirus. In the event of infection, these antibodies prevent the spread of the virus to the central nervous system and protect against paralysis.

Advantages

As IPV is not a ‘live’ vaccine, it carries no risk of vaccine-associated polio paralysis.

IPV triggers an excellent protective immune response in most people.

Disadvantages

IPV induces very low levels of immunity in the intestine. As a result, when a person immunized with IPV is infected with wild poliovirus, the virus can still multiply inside the intestines and be shed in the faeces, risking continued circulation.

IPV is over five times more expensive than oral polio vaccine.

Administering the vaccine requires trained health workers and sterile injection equipment and procedures.

Safety

IPV is one of the safest vaccines in use. No serious systemic adverse reactions have been shown to follow vaccination.

Efficacy

IPV is highly effective in preventing paralytic disease caused by all three types of poliovirus.

Solution: a)

Some facts about Jackfruit:

It originated from India and then Spread to South Asian countries. It is also the largest edible fruit and called by the name poor man’s fruit too.

It is rich in potassium, calcium, and iron.

Mostly Grown in South western states of India, coastal areas, Himalayan foothills.

Climate requirement: Humid tropical

Soil: Sandy, stony, laterite soil.

It can survive drought, frost, pest, high temperature.

Solution: d)

It is located In Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.

At a height of 1500-6000m, the climate type is Western Himalayan temperate and alpine type.

Some rare species found in the park like Himalayan Tahr, Blue Sheep, Giffon Vulture and Cheer Pheasant. A few of them are endangered (Musk Deer and Snow leopard), but not critically endangered.

The park also has some glaciers.

Rivers flowing through the park:  Tirthan, Sainj, JiwaNal, and Parvati. (all get water from glaciers)

Sanctuaries near the park: Sainj, Tirthan

Solution: c)

It is CFC that depletes the ozone layer. The HFCs are considered to be a replacement of the CFC. However, it is a greenhouse gas. There is a negotiation going on between India and U.S. whether to include this gas in the Montreal framework or not.

Solution: a)

Pygmy hog is the smallest wild pig and is very rare to find. It is found in the wild only in Manaspark.

Species like dwarf gecko are found in western ghats and they are not critically endangered.

Solution: d)

It was learnt by scientists, during 1950s, that whole plants could be regenerated from explants, i.e., any part of a plant taken out and grown in a test tube, under sterile conditions in special nutrient media.

This method of producing thousands of plants through tissue culture is called micro-propagation. Each of these plants will be genetically identical to the original plant from which they were grown, i.e., they are somaclones. Many important food plants like

tomato, banana, apple, etc., have been produced on commercial scale using this method.

Another important application of the method is the recovery of healthy plants from diseased plants. Although the plant is infected with a virus, the meristem (apical and axillary) is free of virus. Hence, one can remove the meristem and grow it in vitro to obtain virus-free plants.

Solution: d)

Surgical methods, also called sterilisation, are generally advised for the male/female partner as a terminal method to prevent any more pregnancies. Surgical intervention blocks gamete transport and thereby prevent conception. Sterilisation procedure in the male is called ‘vasectomy’ and that in the female, ‘tubectomy’. These techniques are highly effective but their reversibility is very poor.

Solution: c)

Discrimination between self and non-self is an important basis for immunity to work. But, vaccination is given to activate acquired immunity. Acquired immunity works on the basis of memory. Weak or dead pathogens are injected in the body to create a memory of them. This prepares the immunity to tackle future attacks from the identified pathogen.

Solution: a)

It is known that electromagnetic waves above a certain frequency are not reflected from

ionosphere. Radio waves used for radio broadcast which are in the frequency range 2

MHz to 10 MHz, are below the critical frequency. They are therefore reflected by the ionosphere. Thus radio waves broadcast from an antenna can be received at points far away where the direct wave fail to reach on account of the curvature of the earth.

Solution: c)

An acronym for Long Term Evolution, LTE is a 4G wireless communications standard developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) that’s designed to provide up to 10x the speeds of 3G networks for mobile devices such as smartphones,tablets, netbooks, notebooks and wireless hotspots. 4Gtechnologies are designed to provide IP-based voice, data and multimedia streaming at speeds of at least 100 Mbit per second and up to as fast as 1 GBit per second.

4G LTE is one of several competing 4G standards along with Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and WiMax (IEEE 802.16).

Solution: a)

Normally rain water has a pH of 5.6 (acidic) due to the presence of H+ ions formed

by the reaction of rain water with carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere to form carbonic acid. When the pH of the rain water drops below 5.6, it is called acid rain.

Solution: c)

It is known that every individual has unique fingerprints. These occur at the tips of the fingers and have been used for identification for a long time but these can be altered by surgery. A sequence of bases on DNA is also unique for a person and information regarding this is called DNA fingerprinting. It is same for every cell and cannot be altered by any known treatment. DNA fingerprinting is now used

(i) in forensic laboratories for identification of criminals.

(ii) to determine paternity of an individual.

(iii) to identify the dead bodies in any accident by comparing the DNA’s of parents or children.

(iv) to identify racial groups to rewrite biological evolution.

Solution: a)

Analgesics reduce or abolish pain without causing impairment of consciousness, mental confusion, incoordination or paralysis or some other disturbances of nervous system. These are classified as follows:

(i) Non-narcotic (non-addictive) analgesics

(ii) Narcotic drugs

(i) Non-narcotic (non-addictive) analgesics: Aspirin and paracetamol belong to the class of non-narcotic analgesics. Aspirin is the most familiar example. Aspirin inhibits the synthesis of chemicals known as prostaglandins which stimulate inflammation in the tissue and cause pain. These drugs are effective in relieving skeletal pain such as that due to arthritis. These drugs have many other effects such as reducing fever (antipyretic) and preventing platelet coagulation. Because of its anti blood clotting

action, aspirin finds use in prevention of heart attacks.

(ii) Narcotic analgesics: Morphine and many of its homologues, when administered in medicinal doses, relieve pain and produce sleep. In poisonous doses, these produce stupor, coma, convulsions and ultimately death. Morphine narcotics are sometimes referred to as opiates, since they are obtained from the opium poppy.

These analgesics are chiefly used for the relief of postoperative pain, cardiac pain and pains of terminal cancer, and in child birth.

The Narcotic drugs Act regulates the administration of narcotic analgesics. It was recently in news as the government amended the act to include flexibility for using morphine medicinally. Morphine is a narcotic drug.

Read more here

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/21/india-major-breakthrough-pain-patients

Solution: d)

Food preservatives prevent spoilage of food due to microbial growth. The most commonly used preservatives include table salt, sugar, vegetable oils and sodium benzoate, C6H5COONa. Sodium benzoate is used in limited quantities and is metabolised in the body. Salts of sorbic acid and propanoic acid are also used as preservatives.

Solution: a)

Hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions. These ions form insoluble calcium and magnesium soaps respectively when sodium or potassium soaps are dissolved in hard water. These insoluble soaps separate as scum in water and are useless

as cleansing agent. In fact these are hinderance to good washing, because the precipitate adheres onto the fibre of the cloth as gummy mass. Hair washed with hard water looks dull because of this sticky precipitate. Dye does not absorb evenly on cloth washed with soap using hard water, because of this gummy mass.

Solution: c)

The hotspots are richest and the most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth. About 20% of human population lives in hot spot areas. Degree of threat and endemism are the two key criteria to determine whether an area is a hot spot or not.

Solution: d)

Read this http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/four-new-vaccines-to-be-part-of-governments-immunisation-programme-pm-modi/

Solution: b)

A MP can speak against his political party. This forms part of his/her Parliamentary pr4ileges as well as Freedom of Speech and Expression (Article 19(a)). If this were not the case, then Parliamentary democracy will not be a reality in India post enactment of anti-defection law.

Solution: c)

The upper houses in the states do not take part in Presidential election. Therefore, if the CM is a member of the upper house, he can not vote.

Solution: d)

He neither resigns, nor ceases to be the chairman of the RS. He only stops presiding over its proceedings. Preferably the Deputy Chairman takes his position temporarily.

Solution: a)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_buoyancy

Solution: a)

Solution: d)

http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tradfa_e/tradfa_e.htm

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-why-is-india-not-agreeing-to-the-wto-trade-facilitation-agreement-2005181

Solution: b)

It has been dealt very comprehensively in this article.

http://www.livemint.com/Money/59j9pDtGyszMVGGgXlc1fN/Small-payments-banks-in-the-making.html

Solution: c)

Convertibility basically means the ability to be converted into either foreign currencies or gold for the purposes of trade or investment.

Solution: c)

The legislature is accountable to the people in both forms of government. It is in the Parliamentary form only that the executive or the government is directly accountable to the parliament. It establishes a responsible government as the legislature can question the government on its conduct. In the presidential form, this is not possible.

Solution: c)

The President must give assent to such a bill. He can not withhold assent or return the bill for reconsideration. Besides, there is no provision of a joint sitting of both the houses.

Solution: d)

The President can exercise his powers of pardon on laws made under any list. The Governor, however, can not. He is restricted to only the state laws.

Solution: c)

The Kishenganga water dispute is an international water dispute solely handled by the Central government. It does not show the federal spirit of our polity.

State election commissions conduct elections for local bodies, and not at the state level. The Election Commission of India conducts it at both the Central and State level. It actually shows the centralizing tendency and not the federal one.

Solution: d)

Although Discretionary grants were given on the recommendation of PC (now disbanded), it is covered under Article 282 of the constitution.

Solution: d)

Article 51A says that it is the fundamental duty of every individual to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

Also, the Fundamental rights and DPSP contain a number of provisions which promote a society where dignity of every individual is respected, including women. The word fraternity means the dignity of the individual (including women) and the unity and integrity of the nation as a whole.

The fundamental rights already ensure the dignity of the individual by not granting special privileges to any section of society by ensuring civic equality.

Solution: b)

In the eyes of the law, the foreigner and the Indian is alike. However, the offence for which both can be convicted and tried can be different. For e.g. a foreigner is not entitled to free speech or protection against racial discrimination.

Solution: d)

Chairperson must necessarily be a member. Besides, the manner of selection of the Panchayat chairperson is decided by the state assembly.

Solution: c)

The administrator can take a different view in case his opinion conflicts with that of the council of ministers but only after referring it to the President.

The President appoints the CM.

Solution: a)

RBI regulates banks as well as NBFIs. There are extra safeguards included in regulating banks given their sensitive handling of large amounts of public money. Money can both be deposited and withdrawn in banks.

Solution: c)

Reverse repo rate is basically the rate that banks get for parking their funds with the RBI. Reducing this rate makes the bank park their money somewhere else and not with RBI. For it is less attractive to them. Money parked outside RBI circulated by the banks would become a part of the money supply.

Solution: a)

MSF and LAF are facilities made for the banks to borrow money in the short term from the RBI even below their levels of SLR would permit. Suppose MSF is 1%, then the banks can borrow money till their SLR holdings reach 22% of their total deposits (if 23% is the SLR). If MSF is not there, the banks can only borrow up to the limit of 23% of SLR.

Liquidity adjustment facilities are used to aid banks in resolving any short-term cash shortages during periods of economic instability or from any other form of stress caused by forces beyond their control. Various banks will use eligible securities as collateral through a repo agreement and will use the funds to alleviate their short-term requirements, thus remaining stable.

Solution: c)

Banking deposits and the money held by the public form a part of the money supply. Whether a bank issues a cheque or if a customer deposits money, it will not change the money supply. But any issue by RBI or reduction in the CRR would inject liquidity in the system thus increasing the money supply.

Solution: d)

Refer to http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/cibil-makes-credit-scores-available-to-individuals-111042100067_1.html and Ramesh Singh for detailed information about the system of credit rating. Nations are rated as sovereigns and company ratings are also prepared by agencies such as Moody’s etc.

Solution: d)

Sensex, National Index and Indo Next are published by BSE and Indo Next exchange. CrisilInclusex while launched by P. Chidambaram is published by CRISIL, a S&P global company.

Here are some more details on CRISIL Inclusex. It is an indicator of financial inclusion in the country.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-p-chidambaram-launches-crisil-inclusix-1852970

Solution: a)

It was initially a non-statutory body setup by a government order. It was afterwards given powers under the SEBI Act, 1992. It is the principal agency in India which regulates the security market and promotes investor education.

Solution: b)

The practice of insurers transferring portions of risk portfolios to other parties by some form of agreement in order to reduce the likelihood of having to pay a large obligation resulting from an insurance claim is called reinsurance. The intent of reinsurance is for an insurance company to reduce the risks associated with underwritten policies by spreading risks across alternative institutions.

Solution: b)

It is important to note that India has been witnessing jobless growth since 1991. Most of the jobs have been created in the unorganized sector. And the jobs in the organized sector have actually shrinked.

The Policymakers are trying to reverse this trend for the following reasons.

One, the unorganized sector does not offer regular income and other social security benefits that a usual worker in the organized sector gets. This is because the jobs are mainly contractual in nature. The quantum of work and compensation therefore vary with seasons.

Two, the productivity in the unorganized sector is much lower than that of the organized sector. The economy can reap the demographic dividend only if the skill levels of the labour in India increase. This will lead to increased productivity consequently leading to higher economic growth.

Solution: a)

Generally with the rise of the LFPR and ER, a nation’s economic growth increases. It is assumed here that the per capita labour productivity either remains constant or increases.

Refer to the section ‘Sources of Growth’ in the chapter Preparing for the Demographic Dividend in Ramesh Singh.

Solution: c)

As per the economic survey 2012-13, the Micro industries employ as much as 69% of the total working population amongst the MSMEs. Within the MSMEs there are 94% micro industries.

Together the MSMEs employ 8.1 crore people in India which is a very high number when the same is looked at in the large scale industries.

MSMEs can be one of the keys to reap our demographic dividend.

Solution: a)

As per the ‘Employment Situation in 2010-11 quarterly survey report, only 15.6% of the workforce has regular employment. 33.5% was casual labour and 51% was self-employed.

Solution: d)

Aside these alternatives, post offices, grocery stores, banking correspondents, micro ATMs etc. will also be used.

Solution: c)

The Harappans atea wide range of plant and animal products, includingfish. Archaeologists have been able to reconstructdietary practices from finds of charred grains andseeds. These are studied by archaeo-botanists, whoare specialists in ancient plant remains. Grainsfound at Harappan sites include

wheat, barley, lentil, chickpeaand sesame. Millets are foundfrom sites in Gujarat.

Finds ofrice are relatively rare.

Animal bones found at Harappan sites include those of cattle, sheep,goat, buffalo and pig. Studies done by archaeo-zoologists or zoo-archaeologists indicate that these animals were domesticated.

Solution: c)

Both are wrong.

By the first century CE, there is evidence ofchanges in Buddhist ideas and practices. EarlyBuddhist teachings had given great importanceto self-effort in achieving nibbana. Besides, theBuddha was regarded as a human being whoattained enlightenment and nibbanaThroughhis own efforts. However, gradually the idea ofa saviour emerged. It was believed that hewas the one who could ensure salvation.

Simultaneously, the concept of the Bodhisattaalso developed. Bodhisattas were perceived asdeeply compassionate beings who accumulatedmerit through their efforts but used this not toattain nibbanaand thereby abandon the world,but to help others. The worship of images of theBuddha and Bodhisattas became an importantpart of this tradition.

This new way of thinking was called Mahayana– literally, the “great vehicle”. Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition as Hinayana or the “lesser vehicle”.

Solution: c)

Both are correct.

Travelling overland through Central Asia, IbnBattuta reached Sind in 1333. He had heard about Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi,and lured by his reputation as a generous patron of arts and letters, set off for Delhi, passing through Multan and Uch. The Sultan was impressed byhis scholarship, and appointed him the qazi or judge of Delhi. He remained in that position for several

years, until he fell out of favour and was throwninto prison. Once the misunderstanding betweenhim and the Sultan was cleared, he wasrestored to imperial service, and wasordered in 1342 to proceed to China as the

Sultan’s envoy to the Mongol ruler.With the new assignment, Ibn Battuta

proceeded to the Malabar coast throughcentral India. From Malabar he went to

the Maldives, where he stayed for eighteenmonths as the qazi,but eventually decidedto proceed to Sri Lanka. He then went back once more to the Malabar coast and the Maldives, and before resuming his mission to China, visited Bengal and Assam as well.

Solution: d)

Both statements are correct.

In introducing the Permanent Settlement, Britishofficials hoped to resolve the problems they hadbeen facing since the conquest of Bengal. Bythe 1770s, the rural economy in Bengal was incrisis, with recurrent famines and decliningagricultural output. Officials felt that agriculture,trade and the revenue resources of the state couldall be developed by encouraging investment inagriculture. This could be done by securing rightsof property and permanently fixing the rates ofrevenue demand. If the revenue demand of the statewas permanently fixed, then the Company couldlook forward to a regular flow of revenue, whileentrepreneurs could feel sure of earning a profitfrom their investment, since the state would notsiphon it off by increasing its claim. The process,officials hoped, would lead to the emergence of aclass of yeomen farmers and rich landowners whowould have the capital and enterprise to improveagriculture. Nurtured by the British, this classwould also be loyal to the Company.

The problem, however, lay in identifyingindividuals who could both improve agriculture andcontract to pay the fixed revenue to the state. Aftera prolonged debate amongst Company officials, thePermanent Settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal. They were now classified as zamindars, and they had to pay the revenuedemand that was fixed in perpetuity. In terms of this definition, the zamindar was not a landowner in the village, but a revenue Collector of the state.

Solution: c)

Kalighat painting or Kalighat Pat originated in the 19th century Bengal, in the vicinity of Kalighat Kali Temple, Kalighat, Kolkata, India, and from being items of souvenir taken by the visitors to the Kali temple, the paintings over a period of time developed as a distinct school of Indian painting. From the depiction of Hindu gods, goddesses, and other mythological characters, the Kalighat paintings developed to reflect a variety of themes.

Solution: c)

As in the case of cantonments, hill stations were a distinctive feature of colonial urban development.The founding and settling of hill stations was initiallyconnected with the needs of the British army. Simla(present-day Shimla) was founded during the course of the Gurkha War (1815-16); the Anglo-Maratha War of 1818 led to British interest in Mount Abu;and Darjeeling was wrested from the rulers of Sikkim in 1835. Hill stations became strategic places forbilleting troops, guarding frontiers and launching campaigns against enemy rulers.

The temperate and cool climate of the Indian hillswas seen as an advantage, particularly since theBritish associated hot weather with epidemics.Cholera and malaria were particularly feared and attempts were made to protect the army from these diseases. The overwhelming presence of the army made these stations a new kind of cantonment in the hills. These hill stations were also developed as sanatoriums, i.e., places where soldiers could be sent for rest and recovery from illnesses.

Solution: b)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begum_Aizaz_Rasul

Refer page no. 419, Theme in Indian History – III

Solution: b)

During the period of British rule,Ambedkar had been a political opponent of the Congress;but, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, he was asked at Independence to join the Union Cabinet as law minister.

In this capacity, he served as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. Serving with him were two other lawyers, K.M. Munshi from Gujarat and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar from Madras, both of whom gave crucial inputs in the drafting of the Constitution.These six members were given vital assistance by two civil servants. One was B. N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor to the Government of India, who prepared a series of background papers based on a close study of the political systems obtaining in other countries. The other was the Chief Draughtsman, S. N. Mukherjee, of whom Ambedkar said that his “ability to put the most intricate proposals in the simplest and clearest legal form can rarely be equaled”.

Solution: d)

Refer NCERT Page 403, Theme in Indian History – III.

Solution: a)

Page 137, NCERT Theme in Indian History – II

Solution: c)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushila_Nayyar

Solution: b)

In March 1946 the British Cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine the League’sdemand and to suggest a suitable political frameworkfor a free India. The Cabinet Mission toured thecountry for three months and recommended a loosethree-tier confederation. India was to remain united.

It was to have a weak central government controllingonly foreign affairs, defence and communicationswith the existing provincial assemblies beinggrouped into three sections while electing theconstituent assembly: Section A for the Hindu-majority provinces, and Sections B and C for theMuslim-majority provinces of the north-west and thenorth-east (including Assam) respectively. Thesections or groups of provinces would comprisevarious regional units. They would have the power to set up intermediate-level executives and legislatures of their own.

Solution: a)

Mlechchha, also spelled mleccha,  people of foreign extraction in ancient India. A Sanskrit term, mlechchha was used by the Vedic peoples much as the ancient Greeks used barbaros, originally to indicate the uncouth and incomprehensible speech of foreigners and then extended to their unfamiliar behaviour. Mlechchhas were found in northwestern India, and there is reason to believe that the people known in Akkadian as Mlakkha were the original mlechchhas. As a mlechchha, any foreigner stood completely outside the caste system and the ritual ambience. Thus, historically, contact with them was viewed by the caste Hindu as polluting.

Solution: d)

Narmada River

Solution: c)

The Vindhyas do not form a single range in the proper geological sense: the hills collectively known as the Vindhyas do not lie along an anticlinal or synclinal ridge. The Vindhya range is actually a group of discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments.

Solution: c)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccan_Traps

Solution: b)

The Cretaceous ended with a large mass extinction, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, in which many groups, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs and large marine reptiles, died out.

Solution: d)

Local mean sea level (LMSL) is defined as the height of the sea with respect to a land benchmark, averaged over a period of time (such as a month or a year) long enough that fluctuations caused by waves and tides are smoothed out. One must adjust perceived changes in LMSL to account for vertical movements of the land, which can be of the same order (mm/yr) as sea level changes. Some land movements occur because of isostatic adjustment of the mantle to the melting of ice sheets at the end of the last ice age. The weight of the ice sheet depresses the underlying land, and when the ice melts away the land slowly rebounds. Changes in ground-based ice volume also affect local and regional sea levels by the readjustment of the geoid and true polar wander. Atmospheric pressure, ocean currents and local ocean temperature changes can affect LMSL as well.

Solution: d)

The Kollur Mine in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh India was one of the most productive diamond mines in the world and the first major diamond center. It is situated on the right bank of the river Krishna. It operated between the sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries

Panna is in Madhya Pradesh.

Solution: a)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abanindranath_Tagore

Solution: a)

http://socialwelfare.icdsbih.gov.in/Schemes_Programmes/Schemes_Programmes_details.php?SPID=35&SubGroupID=4

Solution: a)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108691

Solution: c)

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/511120/Rowlatt-Acts

NCERT Class XII Theme in Indian History – III, Page 350

Solution: b)

Transmission

Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. In Africa, infection has been noticed among those handling infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.

Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.

Signs and symptoms

EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days.

Diagnosis

Before a patient is diagnosed as infected with EVD, one should rule out malaria, typhoid fever, shigellosis, cholera, leptospirosis, plague, rickettsiosis, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral hemorrhagic fevers like dengue, yellow fever and kyasanur forest disease etc.

Vaccine and treatment

There is no specific treatment nor is any licensed vaccine for EVD available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use. Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. Patients are frequently dehydrated and require oral rehydration with solutions containing electrolytes or intravenous fluids.

Solution: d)

Solution: d)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692

Solution: c)

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement on biosafety, as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by genetically modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

The Biosafety Protocol makes clear that products from new technologies must be based on the precautionary principle and allow developing nations to balance public health against economic benefits. It will for example let countries ban imports of a genetically modified organisms if they feel there is not enough scientific evidence that the product is safe and requires exporters to label shipments containing genetically altered commodities such as corn or cotton.

Solution: d)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Declaration_on_Environment_and_Development

Solution: b)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692

Solution: b)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692

Solution: d)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692

Solution: d)

There were only 22 casualites and that too were in India, not in Canada. The ship was simply returned from Canada without letting it enter their premises.

It fuelled Ghadr movement as it involved mainly the Punjabi Sikh and Muslim population. The Ghadr leaders could sympathize with the victims.

Solution: c)

Kaveri River, Kaveri also spelled Cauvery,  sacred river of southern India. It rises on Brahmagiri Hill of the Western Ghats in southwestern Karnataka state, flows in a southeasterly direction for 475 miles (765 km) through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and descends the Eastern Ghats in a series of great falls. Before emptying into the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, the river breaks into a large number of distributaries forming a wide delta called the “garden of southern India.” Known to devout Hindus as Daksina Ganga (“Ganges of the South”), the Kaveri River is celebrated for its scenery and sanctity in Tamil literature, and its entire course is considered holy ground. The river is also important for its irrigation canal projects.

Its uppermost course is tortuous, with a rocky bed and high banks under luxuriant vegetation. After passing through a narrow gorge and tumbling about 60 to 80 feet (18 to 24 metres) in the rapids ofChunchankatte, the river widens about 900 to 1,200 feet (275 to 365 metres) across the Karnataka Plateau. There its flow is interrupted by a number of anicuts or weirs. At the Krishnaraja Sagara, the Kaveri is joined by two tributaries, the Hemavati and Lakshmantirtha, and dammed for irrigation, forming a 12-square-mile (31-square-km) reservoir.

In Karnataka the river bifurcates twice, forming the sacred islands of Srirangapatnam andSivasamudram, 50 miles (80 km) apart. Around Sivasamudram are the scenic Sivasamudram Falls, comprising two series of rapids, Bhar Chukki and Gagana Chukki, plunging a total of 320 feet (100 metres) and reaching a width of 1,000 feet (300 metres) in the rainy season. The falls supply hydroelectric power to Mysore, Bangalore (Bengaluru), and the Kolar Gold Fields, more than 100 miles (160 km) away.

Solution: d)

The Coriolis effect is most apparent in the path of an object moving longitudinally. On the Earth an object that moves along a north-south path, or longitudinal line, will undergo apparent deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. There are two reasons for this phenomenon: first, the Earth rotates eastward; and second, the tangential velocity of a point on the Earth is a function of latitude (the velocity is essentially zero at the poles and it attains a maximum value at the Equator). Thus, if a cannon were fired northward from a point on the Equator, the projectile would land to the east of its due north path. This variation would occur because the projectile was moving eastward faster at the Equator than was its target farther north. Similarly, if the weapon were fired toward the Equator from the North Pole, the projectile would again land to the right of its true path. In this case, the target area would have moved eastward before the shell reached it because of its greater eastward velocity. An exactly similar displacement occurs if the projectile is fired in any direction.

Solution: c)

On August 16, 1932, the British Prime Minister McDonald announced the Communal Award. Thus it is also known as McDonald Award. The Communal Award was basically a proposal on minority representation.

Major proposals were as follows:

• The existing seats of the provincial legislatures were to be doubled.
• The system of separate electorates for the minorities was to be retained.
• The Muslims, wherever they were in minority, were to be granted a weightage.
• Except NWFP, 3 % seats for women were to be reserved in all provinces.
• The depressed , dalits or the untouchables were to be declared as minorities.
• Allocation was to be made to labor, landlords, traders and industrialists.

Thus, this award accorded separate electorates for Muslims, Europeans, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians, Depressed Classes, and even Marathas. (Some seats in Bombay were given to Marathas) The depressed classes were given seats which had to be filled by election from the special constituencies in which only they could vote. However, they were eligible to vote in the general constituencies as well. The labor, Commerce and Industry, Mining and Planting, Landholders were also given special electorates. Sikhs were 13.2% of the population in Punjab. Here they were given 32 seats out of the total 175 seats.

Solution: d)

Biofertilizers are defined as preparations containing living cells or latent cells of efficient strains of microorganisms that help crop plants’ uptake of nutrients by their interactions in the rhizosphere when applied through seed or soil.  They accelerate certain microbial processes in the soil which augment the extent of availability of nutrients in a form easily assimilated by plants.

Very often microorganisms are not as efficient in natural surroundings as one would expect them to be and therefore artificially multiplied cultures of efficient selected microorganisms play a vital role in accelerating the microbial processes in soil.

Use of biofertilizers is one of the important components of integrated nutrient management, as they are cost effective and renewable source of plant nutrients to supplement the chemical fertilizers for sustainable agriculture. Several microorganisms and their association with crop plants are being exploited in the production of biofertilizers. They can be grouped in different ways based on their nature and function.

They also protect against soil-borne diseases and drought.

Solution: c)

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/waves.html

The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave, and, consequently, the first to ‘arrive’ at a seismic station. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth. It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air. Have you ever heard a big clap of thunder and heard the windows rattle at the same time? The windows rattle because the sound waves were pushing and pulling on the window glass much like P waves push and pull on rock. Sometimes animals can hear the P waves of an earthquake. Dogs, for instance, commonly begin barking hysterically just before an earthquake ‘hits’ (or more specifically, before the surface waves arrive). Usually people can only feel the bump and rattle of these waves.

The second type of body wave is the S wave or secondary wave, which is the second wave you feel in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth’s outer core is a liquid. S waves move rock particles up and down, or side-to-side–perpindicular to the direction that the wave is traveling in (the direction of wave propagation)

Solution: c)

The monsoons are experienced in the tropical area roughly between 20° N and 20° S. To understand the mechanism of the monsoons, the following facts are important.

(a) The differential heating and cooling of land and water creates low pressure on the landmass of India while the seas around experience comparatively high pressure.

(b) The shift of the position of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in summer, over the Ganga plain (this is the equatorial trough normally positioned about 5°N of the equator – also known as the monsoon- trough during the monsoon season).

(c) The presence of the high-pressure area, east of Madagascar, approximately at 20°S over the Indian Ocean. The intensity and position of this high-pressure area affects the Indian Monsoon.

(d) The Tibetan plateau gets intensely heated during summer, which results in strong vertical air currents and the formation of high pressure over the plateau at about 9 km above sea level.

(e) The movement of the westerly jet stream to the north of the Himalayas and the presence of the tropical easterly jet stream over.

Solution: d)

Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is a treatment for HIV/AIDS. It does not cure the disease; rather, it aims to increase life expectancy reduce opportunistic infections, and may potentially reduce the likelihood that an infected individual transmits the virus to another.

A successful ART program requires all of the following:

o Diagnosis. It means for testing individuals to identify those in need of treatment. In the case of ART, diagnosis consists of more than merely testing an individual for HIV/AIDS. This is because when the disease is far enough along, the toxicity of the drugs may outweigh the benefits of starting treatment.

o Distribution. A method for distributing the drugs to those who need them.

o Drugs. Antiretroviral drugs can be costly.

o Patient adherence to drug regimen. ART consists of a relatively complex drug regimen to which patients must strictly adhere. And because ART does not cure HIV/AIDS, patients must adhere to the regimen as long as they remain alive.

o Monitoring of the patient’s response to treatment. ART may cause negative side effects in a patient. In addition, laboratory monitoring may be needed for purposes of noticing decreased efficacy or the

development of resistance.

Solution: a)

In a lake system, the biomass at the second trophic level is the highest. In land systems, generally the higher trophic levels have greater mass.

Solution: d)

Infrasound would be used to check for an explosion on the missing Malaysian plane if there was a monitoring station nearby, “or the explosion is at a level or at high altitude that it could be detected.

Acoustic waves with very low frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear are called infrasound.

“Infrasound is produced by a variety of natural and man-made sources — exploding volcanoes, earthquakes, meteors, storms and auroras in the natural world; nuclear, mining and large chemical explosions, as well as aircraft and rocket launches in the man-made arena.”

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) uses “infrasound” or infrasonic sensors to monitor the earth mainly for atmospheric nuclear explosions.