Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 20 February 2021

In Part -3 of the Constitution, which assures people certain fundamental Rights, Article 25 proclaims that “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the Right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”. What people fail to notice is that this proclamation is prefixed with the words “ subject to public order, morality, health and to the other provisions of this Part”, which set conditions precedent for the legal protection of religious practices of any community. The closing words of this prefatory rider in Article 25 virtually constitute a subordination clause placing, other fundamental Rights mentioned in Part II over and above the Right to religious freedom. Among those other fundamental Rights is the Right to equality before law and equal protection of laws – assured at the outset and elaborated in later articles to mean, inter alia, that the state shall not deny equal protection of laws to any person or group of persons on the basis of religion alone.

What is the most logical inference from the above passage?

Spanish ships in the late 16th century first brought the potato tuber from South America to Europe

Whereby in the early 19^th century, it had become a reliable backup to cereal crops, particularly in  the cold, rain-soaked soils of Ireland. The Irish were soon almost wholly dependent on the potato as their staple food. And they were planting primarily one prodigious variety, the ‘Lumper’ potato, whose genetic frailty would be cruelly exposed by the fungus ‘Phytophthora infestans. In 1845, spores of the deadly fungus began spreading across the country, destroying nearly all the Lumpers in its path. The resulting famine killed or displaced millions.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message of the passage?

India is at once among the fastest growing global economies and home to the largest number of

malnourished children in the world. There are regions where malnutrition is not the exception

but the norm. And across the country, malnutrition is the cause of death for roughly half the 1.3 million children who die before their fifth birthday each year. Even those children who survive suffer permanently from the damage that has already been done to their bodies and mind from not getting enough of the right foods and nutrients. Around 44 million children under 5 are stunted. That makes it harder for them to learn in school and subsequently earn a living as adults. Their lifetime earnings potential is almost a quarter less than that of their healthy peers.

With reference to the above passage, which of the following is/are the most rational and practical implication/implications?

• India’s Public Distribution System should be monitored by the Union Government.
• Girls should be encouraged to delay marriage and first pregnancy.
• Mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their children immediately after birth.
• The supply of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to all should be ensured.
• Authorities should ensure the vaccination as a prescribed.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

The pulse variety ‘Pusa Arhar 16’ has the potential to be grown in the paddy-growing regions of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and eventually in all of India. Its yield (about 2000 kg/hectare) will be significantly greater than those of the existing varieties and because its  size will be uniform, it will be amenable to day mechanical harvesting. an attractive feature for farmers in offer northern India who currently use this technology for paddy. Most important, Arhar straw,  unlike paddy straw, is green and can be ploughed back into the soil. In paddy straw, the problem is the high silica content, which does not allow for easy decomposition. In the case of Arhar, the farmer, even after combine harvesting, just needs , to run a rotovator to cut the leftover straw into pieces, which can be ploughed back and will decompose very fast. All this is difficult with leftover paddy stalks that cannot be easily salvaged or ploughed back. Farmers, therefore, choose the easiest option of simply burning it.

Which of the following are the most rational inferences that can be made from the passage?

• Farmers’ income will be higher with pulse cultivation than with paddy cultivation.
• Pulse cultivation causes less pollution as compared to paddy cultivation.
• Pulse straw can be used to improve soil quality
• In the context of northern Indian agriculture, paddy straw has no usefulness.
• Mechanized agriculture is the main cause for stubble burning.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below

In India, authorities always look to store the maximum amount of water in reservoirs during the monsoon season, which is then used for is irrigation and generation of electricity during the summer months It is an internationally accepted  practice that the water level of a reservoir should 11 kept below a certain level before the onset of monsoon season. This is so that when monsoon rains come, here is space to store the excess rainwater and also so that water can be released in a regulated manner. But the authorities store the maximum amount of water reservoirs even before the close of the monsoon, only to ensure greater electricity generation and irrigation.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made.

• High risks involved in holding maximum water in reservoirs are due to our over-dependence on hydropower projects.
• Storage capacity of dams should not be fully used before or during monsoon season.
• Role of dams in flood control is underestimated in India.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?