DAY – 65 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 65 )INSTA REVISION PLAN 3.0, 2021

Solution: C

Zonal councils:

• Statutory bodies established under the States Reorganisation Act 1956 and not constitutional bodies. They are only deliberative and advisory bodies.
• Aim:  to promote interstate cooperation and coordination.

There are 5 five Zonal councils namely:

• The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh.
• The Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal.
• The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
• The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The North Eastern States i.e. (i) Assam (ii) Arunachal Pradesh (iii) Manipur (iv) Tripura (v) Mizoram (vi) Meghalaya (vii) Sikkim and (viii) Nagaland are not included in the Zonal Councils and their special problems are looked after by the North Eastern Council, set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972.

Composition:

• Chairman – The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils.
• Vice Chairman – The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• Members– Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone.
• Advisers– One person nominated by the Planning Commission (which has been replaced by NITI Ayog now) for each of the Zonal Councils, Chief Secretaries and another officer/Development Commissioner nominated by each of the States included in the Zone.
• Union Ministers are also invited to participate in the meetings of Zonal Councils depending upon necessity.

The main objectives of setting up of Zonal Councils are:

• Bringing out national integration.
• Arresting the growth of acute State consciousness, regionalism, linguism and particularistic tendencies.
• Enabling the Centre and the States to co-operate and exchange ideas and experiences.
• Establishing a climate of co-operation amongst the States for successful and speedy execution of development projects.

Solution: C

Solution: D

Forces Affecting the Velocity and Direction of Wind

The air is set in motion due to the differences in atmospheric pressure. The air in motion is called wind. The wind blows from high pressure to low pressure. The wind at the surface experiences friction. In addition, rotation of the earth also affects the wind movement. The force exerted by the rotation of the earth is known as the Coriolis force. Thus, the horizontal winds near the earth surface respond to the combined effect of three forces – the pressure gradient force, the frictional force and the Coriolis force. In addition, the gravitational force acts downward.

Solution: D

Basis of International Trade

• Difference in national resources: The world’s national resources are unevenly distributed because of differences in their physical make up i.e. geology, relief soil and climate.
• Population factors: The size, distribution and diversity of people between countries affect the type and volume of goods traded.
• Stage of economic development: At different stages of economic development of countries, the nature of items traded undergo changes.
• Extent of foreign investment: Foreign investment can boost trade in developing countries which lack in capital required for the development of mining, oil drilling, heavy engineering, lumbering and plantation agriculture.
• Transport: In olden times, lack of adequate and efficient means of transport restricted trade to local areas. Only high value items, e.g. gems, silk and spices were traded over long distances. With expansions of rail, ocean and air transport, better means of refrigeration and preservation, trade has experienced spatial expansion.

Solution: B

The Penganga, the Indravati, the Pranhita, and the Manjra are Godavari’s principal tributaries.

The Krishna is the second largest eastflowing Peninsular river which rises near Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri. Its total length is 1,401 km. The Koyna, the Tungbhadra and the Bhima are its major tributaries.

Solution: D

If I am not registered as a voter in any Constituency, can I contest election?
Ans. No

For contesting an election as a candidate, a person must be registered as a voter. Sec 4 (d) of Representation People Act, 1951 precludes a person from contesting unless he is an elector in any parliamentary constituency. Section 5 (c) of R. P. Act, 1951 has a similar provision for Assembly Constituencies.

If you are a registered voter in Delhi, you can contest an election to Lok Sabha from any constituency in the country except Assam, Lakshadweep and Sikkim, as per Section 4 (c), 4 (cc) and 4 (ccc) of the R. P. Act, 1951.

Can a person confined in jail vote in an election?
Ans. No

According to section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, no person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police.

Solution: B

The Ashgabat agreement is a multimodal transport agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Oman for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The agreement was originally signed by Iran, Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on April 25, 2011. Qatar subsequently withdrew from the agreement in 2013, the same year Kazakhstan applied for membership, which was eventually approved in 2015. Pakistan has also joined the Agreement from November 2016. India formally joined in February 2018

The agreement came into force in April 2016. Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the depository state for the agreement

Afghanistan has not acceded the Ashagabat agreement.

Solution: C

The Constitution of India establishes a federal system of Government. It contains all the usual features of a federation, viz., two Government, division of powers, written Constitution, supremacy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution, independent judiciary and bicameralism.

However, the Indian Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal features, viz., a strong Centre, single Constitution, single citizenship, flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary, appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services, emergency provisions and so on.

Solution: D

Like any other modern state, India has two kinds of people—citizens and
aliens. Citizens are full members of the Indian State and owe allegiance
to it. They enjoy all civil and political rights. Aliens, on the other hand, are
the citizens of some other state and hence, do not enjoy all the civil and
political rights.

They are of two categories—friendly aliens or enemy aliens.
Friendly aliens are the subjects of those countries that have cordial relations
with India. Enemy aliens, on the other hand, are the subjects of that country
that is at war with India. They enjoy lesser rights than the friendly aliens, eg,
they do not enjoy protection against arrest and detention (Article 22).

The Constitution confers the following rights and privileges on the citizens of India (and denies the same to aliens):

1. Right against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
2. Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of public employment (Article 16).
3. Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession (Article 19).
4. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29 and 30).
5. Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly.
6. Right to contest for the membership of the Parliament and the state legislature.
7. Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is, President of India, Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts, Governor of states, Attorney General of India and Advocate General of states.

Solution: D

The Directive Principles resemble the ‘Instrument of Instructions’ enumerated in the Government of India Act of 1935. In the words of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, ‘the Directive Principles are like the instrument of instructions, which were issued to the Governor-General and to the Governors of the colonies of India by the British Government under the Government of India Act of 1935.

The Directive Principles are non-justiciable in nature, that is, they are not legally enforceable by the courts for their violation.

The Directive Principles, though non-justiciable in nature, help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional validity of a law. The Supreme Court has ruled many a times that in determining the constitutionality of any law, if a court finds that the law in question seeks to give effect to a Directive Principle, it may consider such law to be ‘reasonable’ in relation to Article 14 (equality before law) or Article 19 (six freedoms) and thus save such law from unconstitutionality.

Solution: A

The President is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. [Article 54 of the Constitution of India]

The President shall hold office for a term of 5 years from the date on which he enters upon his office. He shall, however, continue to hold office notwithstanding the expiry of his term, until his successor enters upon his office. [Article 56 of the Constitution of India]

Under the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the notification calling the election to the office of the President can be issued by the Election Commission on any day within the period of sixty days before the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing President. The election schedule shall be so fixed, that the President-elect is able to enter upon his office on the day following the expiry of the term of the outgoing President.

As per Article 55(3) of the Constitution of India, the election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.

Are the provisions of the Anti-Defection Law applicable in Presidential elections?

No. Members of the Electoral College can vote according to their wish and are not bound by any party whips. The voting is by secret ballot. Therefore, Party whip does not apply in this election.

All doubts and disputes in connection with election of the President are
inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court whose decision is final. The
election of a person as President cannot be challenged on the ground that the
electoral college was incomplete (ie, existence of any vacancy among the
members of electoral college). If the election of a person as President is
declared void by the Supreme Court, acts done by him before the date of such
declaration of the Supreme Court are not invalidated and continue to remain in force.

Solution: C

Siachen Glacier

Key facts:

• Lies in the Karakoram Range system which is a part of western Himalayas.
• Lies to the south of the zone that separates Eurasion Plate with the Indian Plate, which is the result of convergence boundary interaction in geographical terms.
• It is the highest battle field in the world and lies on LoC (Line of Control) between India and Pakistan. It has been continuously contested by Pakistan as its own part which has led to militarisation of the glacier.
• After the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971, an agreement was signed between the two countries in 1972, which came to be known as the Shimla Agreement, but it failed to clearly mention who controls the glacier.
• However, in 1984, the Pakistan army tried to enter the glacier, forcing India to launch a military operation known as “Operation Meghdoot” and since then we have control over the glacier. A ceasefire agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in 2003
• The glacier is the source of many rivers including Nubra River, a tributary of Shyok, which is a part of the Indus River System.
• Siachen Glacier also boasts of the world’s highest helipad built by India at Point Sonam, to supply its troops. India also installed the world’s highest telephone booth on the glacier.
• The region is also a home to rare species of snow leopard, brown bear etc which may be affected by military presence. This has led to talks in international forums about creating a “Peace Park” in the area and demilitarise it.
• It is the Second-Longest glacier in the World’s Non-Polar areas after Fedchenko glacier (Tajakistan).

Solution: A

The jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court can be classified into the
following:

1. Original Jurisdiction.
   2. Writ Jurisdiction.
   3. Appellate Jurisdiction.
   4. Advisory Jurisdiction.
   5. A Court of Record.
   6. Power of Judicial Review.
   7. Other Powers.

Original Jurisdiction

As a federal court, the Supreme Court decides the disputes between different units of the Indian Federation. More elaborately, any dispute:

(a) Between the Centre and one or more states; or

(b) Between the Centre and any state or states on one side and one or more other states on the other side; or

(c) Between two or more states.

In the above federal disputes, the Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction. Exclusive means, no other court can decide such disputes and original means, the power to hear such disputes in the first instance, not by way of appeal.

With regard to the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, two points should be noted. One, the dispute must involve a question (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends. Thus, the questions of political nature are excluded from it. Two, any suit brought before the Supreme Court by a private citizen against the Centre or a state cannot be entertained under this.

Further, this jurisdiction of the Supreme Court does not extend to the
following:
(a) A dispute arising out of any pre-Constitution treaty, agreement, covenant,
engagement, sanad or other similar instrument.
(b) A dispute arising out of any treaty, agreement, etc., which specifically
provides that the said jurisdiction does not extend to such a dispute.
(c) Inter-state water disputes.
(d) Matters referred to the Finance Commission.
(e) Adjustment of certain expenses and pensions between the Centre and the
states.
(f) Ordinary dispute of Commercial nature between the Centre and the states.
(g) Recovery of damages by a state against the Centre

Solution: B

Chandragupta I (320 – 330 A.D.)

The founder of the Gupta dynasty was Sri Gupta. He was succeeded by Ghatotkacha. These two were called Maharajas. Much information was not available about their rule. The next ruler was Chandragupta I and he was the first to be called Maharajadhiraja (the great king of kings). This title indicates his extensive conquests. He strengthened his position by a matrimonial alliance with the Licchavis. He married Kumaradevi, a princess of that family. This added to the power and prestige of the Gupta family.

The Meherauli Iron Pillar inscription mentions his extensive conquests. Chandragupta I is considered to be the founder of the Gupta era which starts with his accession in A.D. 320.

Solution: B

Krishna Deva Raya (1509 – 1530)

The Tuluva dynasty was founded by Vira Narasimha. The greatest of the Vijayanagar rulers, Krishna Deva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty. He possessed great military ability. His imposing personality was accompanied by high intellectual quality. His first task was to check the invading Bahmani forces. By that time the Bahmani kingdom was replaced by Deccan Sultanates. The Muslim armies were decisively defeated in the battle of Diwani by Krishna Deva Raya. Then he invaded Raichur Doab which had resulted in the confrontation with the Sultan of Bijapur, Ismail Adil Shah. But, Krishna Deva Raya defeated him and captured the city of Raichur in 1520. From there he marched on Bidar and captured it.

Krishna Deva Raya’s Orissa campaign was also successful. He defeated the Gajapathi ruler Prataparudra and conquered the whole of Telungana. He maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese. Albuquerque sent his ambassadors to Krishna Deva Raya.

Though a Vaishnavaite, he respected all religions. He was a great patron of literature and art and he was known as Andhra Bhoja. Eight eminent scholars known as Ashtadiggajas were at his royal court.

Solution: D

Thotlakonda Monastery

• Thotlakonda Buddhist Complex is situated near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• Thotlakonda was well within the influence of ancient Kalinga, which was an important source of dissemination of Buddhism to Sri Lanka and various parts of Southeast Asia.
• The excavations have established the existence of a Hinayana Buddhist complex which flourished 2000 years ago.
• The excavations reveal Satavahana dynasty lead and Roman silver coins indicating foreign trade; terracotta tiles, stucco decorative pieces, sculptured panels, miniature stupa models in stone, and Buddha footprints were also found.
• The excavations also yielded twelve inscriptions in the Brahmi script.

Solution: C

Bibi Ka Maqbara

• It is a tomb located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

• It was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the memory of his first and chief wife Dilras Banu Begum.
• It is considered to be a symbol of Aurangzeb’s ‘conjugal fidelity’.
• The structure, known as the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ because of its striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal.

Solution: A

Bronze Casting

The art of bronzecasting was practised on a wide scale by the Harappans. Their bronze statues were made using the ‘lost wax’ technique in which the wax figures were first covered with a coating of clay and allowed to dry. Then the wax was heated and the molten wax was drained out through a tiny hole made in the clay cover. The hollow mould thus created was filled with molten metal which took the original shape of the object. Once the metal cooled, the clay cover was completely removed. In bronze we find human as well as animal figures, the best example of the former being the statue of a girl popularly titled ‘Dancing Girl’.

DANCING GIRL

One of the best known artefacts from the Indus Valley is this approximately fourinchhigh copper figure of a dancing girl. Found in Mohenjodaro, this exquisite casting depicts a girl whose long hair is tied in a bun. Bangles cover her left arm, a bracelet and an amulet or bangle adorn her right arm, and a cowry shell necklace is seen around her neck. Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand is clasped in a traditional Indian dance gesture. She has large eyes and flat nose. This figure is full of expression and bodily vigour and conveys a lot of information.

Solution: A

Reduction in CRR leads to more money being available to lend. As money multiplier is in inverse relation to CRR, it increases with decrease in CRR.

Inflation increases with decrease in CRR as more money flows into the economy without concomitant increase in production within the same time. Banks profits increase as money kept as CRR can now be given out as new loans on which they earn interest. CRR and forex reserves however, have no direct relation between them.

Solution: B

Russian Ruble and Indian rupee are not part of SDRs yet.

The SDR was created as a supplementary international reserve asset in the context of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1973 and the shift of major currencies to floating exchange rate regimes lessened the reliance on the SDR as a global reserve asset. Nonetheless, SDR allocations can play a role in providing liquidity and supplementing member countries’ official reserves, as was the case amid the global financial crisis.

The SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and other international organizations.

The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.

Solution: A

The Sunga Empire (or Shunga Empire) is a Magadha dynasty that controlled North-central and Eastern India as well as parts of the northwest India.

During Sunga rule, Significant religious developments took place. Patanjali’s synthesis of the tradition of Yoga became the foundation of one of the Hindu “darshans” (schools of thought) and continues to enrich the lives of people all over the world. The Bhagavad Gita composed around about 150-100 B.C.E. is one of the most popular of all Hindu scriptures. Buddhists would later move out of India, as rulers began to identify more closely with Hinduism but early Sunga support may have enabled Buddhism to thrive long enough for the monks to complete their journey to more receptive areas. The Sunga Empire played an important role in patronizing Indian culture at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. The richness of India’s spiritual tradition, from which the whole world has gained insight, owes much to this period.

Accounts of battles between the Greeks and the Sunga in Northwestern India are also found in the Mālavikāgnimitram, a play by Kālidāsa which describes a battle between Greek cavalrymen and Vasumitra, the grandson of Pushyamitra, on the Indus river, in which the Indians defeated the Greeks and Pushyamitra successfully completed the Ashvamedha Yagna.

Solution: A

The Siddi community is also known by different synonyms such as Habshi and Badsha. It is believed that they are of African origin because they clearly show the Negroid racial strain in their physical features. Descendants of Bantu people of East Africa, Siddi ancestors were largely brought to India as slaves by Arabs as early as the 7th Century, followed by the Portuguese and the British later on.

At present, the Siddis are living on the western coast of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka states. In Karnataka, they mainly live in Dharwad, Belagavi and Uttar Kannada districts.

In India, the Union government in 2003, classified Siddis under the list of Scheduled Tribes. They are included in the Centre’s list of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Solution: D

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.

BIRAC is a industry-academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives, be it providing access to risk capital through targeted funding, technology transfer, IP management and handholding schemes that help bring innovation excellence to the biotech firms and make them globally competitive. In its Eight years of existence, BIRAC has initiated several schemes, networks and platforms that help to bridge the existing gaps in the industry-academia Innovation research and facilitate novel, high quality affordable products development through cutting edge technologies. BIRAC has initiated partnerships with several national and global partners to collaborate and deliver the salient features of its mandate.

BIRAC’s aim is to play a transformative and catalytic role in building a US$ 100 billion Indian bioeconomy. We believe that the agents of change for building the Indian bioeconomy would be biotech start-ups & SMEs & hence our focus is on raising their capabilities

Solution: D

Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. Graphene is considered to be the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – to both electricity and heat. All this properties are exciting researchers and businesses around the world – as graphene has the potential the revolutionize entire industries – in the fields of electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.

Graphene is the world’s strongest material, and so can be used to enhance the strength of other materials. Dozens of researches have demonstrated that adding even a trade amount of graphene to plastics, metals or other materials can make these materials much stronger

Graphene is the world’s most conductive material to heat. As graphene is also strong and light, it means that it is a great material to make heat-spreading solutions, such as heat sinks. This could be useful in both microelectronics (for example to make LED lighting more efficient and longer lasting) and also in larger applications – for example thermal foils for mobile devices.

Because graphene is the world’s thinnest material, it is also the material with the highest surface-area to volume ratio. This makes graphene a very promising material to be used in batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene may enable devices that can store more energy – and charge faster, too. Graphene can also be used to enhance fuel-cells.

Graphene has a lot of other promising applications: anti-corrosion coatings and paints, efficient and precise sensors, faster and efficient electronics, flexible displays, efficient solar panels, faster DNA sequencing, drug delivery, and more.

Solution: D

Neutrinos are abundantly found in nature. The Sun, the stars and the atmosphere produce millions of neutrinos every second. Most of these neutrinos pass through our body and we do not realize it. They can even pass through the earth and come out on the other side.

Neutrinos are similar to the more familiar electron, with one crucial difference: neutrinos do not carry electric charge. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral, they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces which act on electrons.  Neutrino belongs to Lepton category.

Neutrinos are affected only by a “weak” sub-atomic force of much shorter range than electromagnetism, and are therefore able to pass through great distances in matter without being affected by it.

Solution: D

Let the speed of two trains be 7x  Kmph and 8x kmph (speed of second train)

Then, 8x = 400 kms/4hrs = 100kmph

Therefore, speed of first train = 7x = (8/7) * 100

⇒Speed of first train = 87.5 kmph

Solution: A

Ratio of speeds = (550 m/60s * 18/5) : (60 * 33/45)

= 33: 44 = 3: 4

Solution: D

Total matches played = 25

Matches won = 17

Therefore, Matches lost = 25 – 17 = 8
Required Ratio = Matches won : Matches lost = 17 : 8

Solution: A

Let the present ages of Sameer and Anand be 5x years and 4x years respectively.
Then (5x +3)/(4x+3)= 11/9

By solving the equation, we get x=6.
Therefore, Anand’s present age= 4x= 24.

Solution: D.

Statement 3 is wrong as the passage states that focussing solely on economic growth is problematic. The corollary of this is not that the focus should only be on human development.

Statement 1 is wrong as there are structural and political constraints as well that need to be taken into account.

Hence D is the most accurate answer.