Insights Prelims Test Series – 2016: Discussions Test – 21

Insights Prelims Test Series – 2016: Discussions Test – 21

Hope you enjoyed solving the Twenty First Test of our 2016 Test Series. On this page, please share your doubts to seek clarifications, or to point out any mistakes in the comment box regarding the First Test. We will do our best to address  all your doubts.

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160 Replies to “Insights Prelims Test Series – 2016: Discussions Test – 21”

  2. How do people manage to get 180+ in this test? For the past few tests I am getting around 100. Anything that I am missing?

      1. In 2013 and 2014 I wrote mains. In 2015 I didn’t even clear the prelims. :'(

        1. then Insights Prelims Test Series can help u. I am not able to score more than 100. I think maintaining 100 marks in each test will help u in upsc prelims.

          1. Lets hope so. You need to revise what you studied every week. Otherwise there is a chance you will forget.

    3. They cheat… for their own reasons. They may do so. It may be a part of their preparation starategy. You should have your own standards and strategy. Keep a benchmark as per your preparation and try fare marks accordingly.
      Just remember, these are preparatory tests and make use of these in that way only. Don’t use these to discourage you.

  3. Q.25 answer should be c as bacteria is a decomposer.
    Q.30 I’m not able to understand how capital investment in India by british caused drain of wealth…need a bit more clarification.
    Thanx

    1. suppose if a british company makes investment in any of the indian sectors and earns huge profit then it will have 2 options:
      1:reinvesting
      2:taking that profit(earned through indian labour,natural resources etc.,) to their home country…..
      This becomes drain of wealth.
      HOPES THIS HELPS U….

      1. Early nationalist criticized foreign capital as they believed it supressed indian capital and led to drain of capital from India. Please see page 94, ch-7 of Bipan chandra.

      3. Not reinvesting could be the reason for drain for wealth, but not the investment itself. Please correct me if i’m wrong

      1. ok thanks sir..
        1 further query : if there was ‘are primary producers’ instead of ‘may be categorised as’ in the question then answer would have been different..right ???

        1. Yes, Bacteria in general should be considered decomposers, and not primary producers. 🙂

  4. Dear insights,in Q .no 28:: The Speaker can be removed from office only on a resolution of the House passed by a majority of all “then” the members of the house
    if we go by this is it not the effective majority??

    1. The option (b) reads (alongwith the question statement) – “She (Speaker) can be removed ONLY by a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha by a SPECIAL majority”. It is wrong. She can be removed just by an absolute majority, which is lesser than special majority. 🙂

      1. Sir,

        majority of all the members – absolute majority

        majority of members – ordinary majority

        Is this correct ??

        1. Majority of members present and voting – Ordinary Majority

          Majority of total membership of the House – Absolute Majority. 🙂

          1. In my opinion, speaker can be removed by effective majority(excluding vacancies) & not by absolute majority.

          2. And Absolute majority + 2/3rd of members present and voting is Special Majority;

  6. Please Mention the class of which ICSE textbook has been used.Are there any sources to download ICSE textbooks.

    1. 9th and 10th ICSE books. The content has been posted in Test-20. You may have to buy these books, or read the contents from other sources. Thank you.

      1. Q.37
        SC ruling says: Impugned Regulation which fastens strict liability on the Petitioners without fault (for no fault) is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution as it compels service providers to do the ‘impossible’, is against the law of physics and grants compensation even for the first call drop.
        Source: http://barandbench.com/supreme-court-strikes-call-drop-regulations/

        So answer should be D rather than C in this case, or it might be both C and D in multi-answer solution.
        Please correct me if i’m wrong. Thankyou 🙂

        1. We understand your argument. We will address this in the corrigendum. Thank you.

          1. Please issue the corrigendum. Atleast upto Test 15 so that we can begin revision of earlier tests. Please don’t delay any longer. Promise of corrigendum in “A Few Days” has been made for “a few months” now. Issue in sets..even if only a few tests at a time..but begin the process. This is my earnest request.

  8. Q59 answer should be C as aerosols were major reason for ozone depletion and further climate change.
    Q25 bacteria cant be a primary producer, even though the name “cynobacteria” as such it is’ algae’.

    1. 59. It was the CFC used in aerosol that caused the ozone depletion. Many countries have now banned the use of CFC in aerosol, so Aerosol is not likley to deplete the ozone layer as it was earlier.

      We can also understand that the Statement 2 may be subject to some ambiguity. We will try to clarify it in the corrigendum.

      25. Most bacteria are decomposers, but some bacteria are producers; they produce organic matter from inorganic matter through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. They can be found in deep ocean. Please see page 4 here http://ccrm.vims.edu/publications/wetlands_technical_reports/91-4-primary-producers.pdf

  9. Hello Insight,

    I have never thanked you even once, for your daily efforts and quiz, only while solving daily quiz of iasbaba, I realized, that credit should be given where its due. Thank you for maintaining quality.

    Insight’s quality is amazing and because of the trusted learning done at your portal, I’m able to find so many mistakes there.

    I had to come back here and thank you.

    Regards

  10. @ins@insightsprelimstestseries:disqus

    Q 83. In the link of Wikipedia “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_red_ware_culture” from where explanation for statement 3 is taken also says

    “In some sites, BRW pottery is associated with Late Harappan pottery, and according to some scholars like Tribhuan N. Roy, the BRW may have directly influenced the Painted Grey Ware and Northern Black Polished Ware cultures.[1] BRW pottery is unknown west of the Indus Valley.[2]”

    I had read earlier also that black and red ware are associated with Harappan civilization.

    Please correct me if wrong.

    1. BRW pottery could certainly be associated with a few Harappan sites, but its hard to conclude that its use was predominant in the Indus valley. Recognizing this, we had abstained from giving an option “3 only”. Thank you.

      2. 63. Is not the statement ” motion of thanks needs to be passed in LS only” correct .

        78. Doesn’t Rajya sabha represents directly elected representatives (MLAs)as LS represents people

        1. 63. Motion of Thanks needs to be passed in both houses. It was introduced recently amended in Rajya Sabha causing a moral defeat of the government.

          78. No, for all purposes, we would treat RS member as indirectly elected. 🙂

          1. Yes sir RS members are indirectly elected by directly elected representatives (MLAs). Then why can’t we say that they represent directly elected representatives.

            1. I too think that the statement that Rajya Sabha does not represent directly elected people is not correct. When it is elected by the elected people, it at the least represents them, if not the people directly. So, option D should be correct.

          2. Q 78. RS is indirectly elected. That is correct.

            But It is directly elected by elected representatives – Let us look at the statement at its face value. 🙂

    2. The statement would have been incorrect had it said: “Region needs to have species richness ‘only’ to qualify for biodiversity hotspots”.

  14. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus
    “Justice delayed is equal to justice denied” 😀 Sir this is the third time I’m writing this and many of my friends here already made the request to increase the number of attempts. I’m copy pasting my comment made on 7th may. Please check sir. Also some of queries related to test 20 has not been replied.
    “Sir as you mentioned in the previous test thread to start the strategy as well as open the number of attempts of previous tests. Apart from this major change, it is very kind of you Insights can make their test platform more aspirants friendly. By saying aspirant friendly I mean some features through which we can directly go through these- Incorrect attempts Correct attempts Unattempted (these are very important for further revisions and will help us in finding our right mistake and grey areas) It is more better if you provide with subject wise sections. We don’t want graphs/analysis sir. But atleast we can know that in which area we are lacking continuously and need to improve.Many of my friends here are also saying to enable more attempts but in addition to that please do consider some changes mentioned above. Thanks :)”
    Please REPLY INSIGHTS !!!

  15. Dear @in@insightsprelimstestseries:disqus can you please guide me on how to prepare for
    “National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Species, Environmental Laws/Conventions/Treaties/Bodies”

  16. Q43. Hukawng valley – The Siliguri Corridor connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of India, So if Hukawng valley provides access to the North-eastern region then it should be considered as an alternative to the Siliguri Corridor.

    In my view answer is both B & D.

    1. Please see the map given in the explanation. Siliguri corridor provides an access route to NE states from India. Hukawng valley would have been an alternative to Siliguri corridor if it provided an access through India.

      Hukawng valley lies in Myanmar, and it provides an access route to NE states from Myanmar, not India. The most appropriate answer is, as given (d).

      2. Is it Option (B) or (D)
        Your comment below says D, and justification reads as B.
        Plz don’t be clear on the Answers and justification.
        And the Map cannot be seen.

      3. Insights, In that case you may need to correct it in the PDF – It says B is the right answer.
        Regards.

      4. Though to an extent I agree to your this explantion but when u given explanation for Kaladan project u said it provides alternative route to northeast.Please Explain?

  17. Dear Insights,

    Your prelims strategy is full of flaws and cumbersome for all round preparation and revision for Prelims (reference to Daily Quiz, Test series and recent toppers suggestions)

    -Unnecessary and heavy reliance on Modern History (P to P, BC and Sumit sarkar) as against Spectrum History gives simple and lucid facts with short explanations. (Most toppers have made reference to it)
    Unlike BC and Sarkar wherein authors have been redundant, self appeasing explanations

    -You keep on Irrelevant reading between the lines about most of the facts to ask questions. UPSC will twist such question only on basic Part of syllabus Viz. Govt Finance, GDP, Inflation, BOP etc.

    -Your Daily Quiz questions keep on digging Opinions/Perspectives of Hindu and Indian express. Simply UPSC will never ask prelims question as to how particular author derives conclusion of Govt Policy.

    -Your current affairs Daily runs almost 150+ pages per month covering irrelevant new inventions of any university/group/research institution from any corner of Hindu or Indian express.
    (When I compare same with Vision, they have not crossed benchmark standard). Even if any student will mug up your entire current affairs, hardly anyone will recall.

    -Focus on Culture, Ancient and Medieval India has been very poor.

    -In earlier comment have already mentioned, you keep on digging only Ecology for environment (newly you started from ICSE) keeping aside conventions, Conservation,Finance, climate change and pollution parts of Environment.

    I am sorry to say but its my observation, closely following your every mail since last 8 months.

    1. Hello Amar, the views out there in market varies from person to person. There are chances, that Rank One wouldn’t have ever heard of insights while Rank 2 would have hot significant benefits from here.

      Some would view a holistic approach of study as an unnecessary waste of time while some would view a direct ,crisp and short cut relevant material very risky.
      However, I too am little doubtful about non recommendations of material like nitin singhanaias note, Shankar notes, and spectrum by insights.. I would like to listen what insights have to say on this. I am confident of insights what so ever they say. Will look to other material only if I get time after doing all insights homework.

    2. Hi Amar,
      Being a fellow aspirant, I can connect to your frustration 🙂 However, I would beg to differ on the concerns raised by you:
      1. Modern Indian History – It is necessary to read PP, BC and Sumit Sarkar’s in order to gain a holistic understanding of the freedom struggle. Trust me they would give you dividends in mains as well. I agree that Spectrum’s Modern India is crammed with a lot of facts and would be beneficial as a last minute revision source, it wont help you to gain a thorough understanding of the Indian National Movement – the pre-requisite for understanding Indian Nationalism and the problems/challenges faced by the country today

      2. Coming to the question of “Irrelevant Reading between the lines” – The questions are framed so that they force you to read such documents carefully and our concepts are crystal clear. Without the conceptual clarity, we wont be able to go far in this exam

      3. Current Affairs has become the bread and butter in the revised scheme of examination. An exhaustive daily reading of at least one standard newspaper and a selective scan of one more is recommended.. The pile up can be controlled by making concise notes coupled with regular revisions

      4. I agree that Culture has taken somewhat of a backseat in the test series. However, that portion was thoroughly covered when TN State Board History Textbooks were part of the tests syllabus (Test #10 to 12, I guess)

      The focus of these tests has been to cover as much ground as possible coupled with a thorough understanding of the basic material. It may be an overkill for prelims, but trust me it will definitely yield rewards in mains 🙂

    3. Hi Amar,
      I think the very fact that you seem disappointed in insights should make other aspirants (in addition to yourself) understand that studying for civils really is no run-of-the-mill game. Insights coverage is so holistic that I doubt any of their students would fail to crack prelims, provided they complete these targets. Of course, it becomes slightly rushed when so many things are to be studied, but I guess that’s how a civil service aspirant is supposed to study. We need to cover the depth (intensive) as well as the breadth (extensive). In fact, I personally had an opinion (before I thoroughly went through their syllabus) that they have not covered everything. But once I started paying attention, I realised I was so wrong. If you look at the past papers of UPSC, they may SEEM easier because of less statement-type ques, but they are not. In fact, some of them were slightly tougher than the previous two year prelims papers. UPSC has shown during the past two-three years that it asks fundamental ques, but in order to be thorough with those fundamental ques, we need to read from proper text and reference books..guides are usually no help unless they are your own handwritten or typed notes (Personal opinion) (Insights ppl themselves wrote in the addendum that you need not cover all the books..so read one book, but read thoroughly, and keep revising).

      Good luck. Cheer up 🙂

  18. Dear Insights , Are Fundamental duties enforceable …Pls clear the air between legally enforceable and enforceable by law

    1. Yes, they are enforceable by law. For e.g. honouring the National flag is now a law, violation of which attracts penalty and punishment. “Legally enforceable and enforceable by law” both are same.

        1. The context they have mentioned it in is different. What they mean is these are not “justiciable”.

          But, they can ofcourse be legally enforced as we have explained above. Please see both chapters in Laxmikanth. You will find abundant examples. Thank you.

  20. Test-21
    Q.4- Is the correct Ans. Option (A) as mentioned in the justification or Option (B) as marked ?

    Q.89- Wikipedia says the bird is used to detect Methane too.

    1. 14. In the justification too, it should read as B.

      89. Yes, Canaries are used to detect Methane too, but Methane is not a deadly gas, it is a highly volatile gas. CO is a deadly gas. Perhaps we should replace the word ‘deadly’ with ‘poisonous’ to clear the ambiguity. Thank you for informing. 🙂

  21. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus sir Que 25 is bacteria a primary producer??

          1. One need not be a student of Philosophy to fall in love with this quote: “dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum” 🙂

  22. @@insightsprelimstestseries:disqus sir Que 25 is bacteria a primary producer?

  23. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus regarding test 17 q-64: ur explanation says if there is fixed exchange rate and independent monetary policy then capital flows cannot be free…….plz can u explain it a bit more broadly

    1. Suppose we receive $100 billion FDI. This will cause appreciation of rupee (if exchange rate is flexible).

      Now, suppose we have a fixed exchange rate system. In such a system, the RBI would sell Indian currency (sterilize) in forex market to devaluate rupee to bring it to its original (fixed) level.

      The RBI could do this because it was setting monetary policy independently. If RBI was bound, it could not have reversed the appreciation of rupee, and the free capital flow would have appreciated rupee. So, with an independent monetary policy and free capital flows we cannot maintain a fixed exchange rate.

      Similarly, if we fix the exchange rate and have an independent monetary policy, we cannot have free capital flows. They will be restricted by the Central bank to maintain the exchange rate of currency.

      2. Thank you team insight

        Had 1 query. Question 44:

        Use of virus (Nucleopolyhedrovirus) as a biocontrol agents as given on Page 187 of Class XII Biology – Does it come under Biomremediation (waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to
        remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site)

        Or Bioremediation and Biocontrol would qualify as different things?

        Thanks in advance 🙂

  24. @insightsprelimstestseries: test 17 q-67 the fund accrues to public accounts of india……………..but revenue raised from taxes etc are deposited in consolidared fund of india rather than public accounts………….plz clarify…..and provide any other source to the answer if you have

      2. regarding question 18 of test 15: statement 1: Tattwabodini Sabha was a splinter group of Bramho samaj……………but tattwobodhini sabha never merged with bramho samaj rather worked through informal association with it.so,how can u say it was a splinter group of brahmo?splinter means breaking away or disintegrating?please clarify

    1. Please read the article carefully. It says injection of sulphur compounds into the stratosphere leads to ozone depletion, not aerosol. In fact, the article is about scientists planning to inject stratospheric aerosol to control global warming. 🙂

      Aerosols depleted the ozone layer when CFC was used in them. Since it has been banned, they no longer do.

  26. Hi
    Q 63

    What happens if RS defeats the Motion of Thanks?

    Will that mean Govt has lost majority or is this confined to only to the LokSabha?

    Someone please clarify

    1. It can be defeated only in RS, since the government enjoys majority in LS.

      Quite recently the opposition defeated the original Motion of Thanks that was moved in RS. You can read the details here. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/feisty-opposition-has-its-way/article6956063.ece

      A motion of thanks is nothing but the government’s account of itself and its plans.So, its defeat simply means the opposition in RS as a whole does not agree with the government’s plans.

      1. Hi Insights,
        That it needs to be passed in LS; If its defeated in RS – amendments will be sought, and that will be passed – but not the original Motion of thanks;

        Why is the answer C, shouldn’t it be A?

        1. Motion of Thanks needs to be passed in both houses, whether amended or unamended. It is analogous to a ordinary bill which, whether amended or unamended in RS, needs to be passed in both the houses.

  27. hi insights i got my self registered for pre test series on 22 oct. 2015 and as per ur policy ” To students who have subscribed before 15th November, we will start refunding 25% of their fees from 1st of December.” Till date i hv not got ny discount pls luk into the matter.. thnkxx

  28. Dear insights..
    Q 63: if we consider the REASON according to the ASSERTION it becomes incorrect…
    But my doubt is in these type of questions whether we have to consider the statement while deciding correct or incorrect irrespective of REASON or ASSERTION ??

    1. Only if the statement R is correct, it can explain the assertion A. 🙂 In options (A) and (B), it is implied that both A and R are correct. Thank you.

  29. Hello insights, the best part in whole prepn. mode comes when I write few words here. Got a pause for a while now. But then, your efforts always give some extra boost to work beyond the office hours some where in closed doors of my room.

    Got little doubts.

    I wanted to know, the way your compilation (reference to current affairs and synopsis) is written, if I structure my answer in a similar way in the mains, will it be a good deal..? Or shall I need to ponder a while the sole demand of question and to figure why this question has been asked in mains.

    Please help insights.

    For example, suppose a question comes on niti aayog like (copying and pasting an extract of yours)

    Raising voice over net neutrality 

    On December 24, India‘s biggest telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd announced that it would charge customers for calls made using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and then did a volte face five days later by withdrawing the proposal.  The stated reason for the U-turn was that the telecom regulator was working on a consultation paper on the subject.  The unstated part was that Airtel‘s proposal had customers and advocates of net neutrality up in arms.  Proponents of the principle of net neutrality hold that all traffic on the Internet should be treated equally or in other words, service providers such as Airtel should allow access to all content without favouring any particular product or website.

    What the TRAI says? 

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief has said even though Airtel‘s move is against net neutrality it is not illegal as there is no legal framework.  The net neutrality debate becomes even more relevant in case of India where the penetration of smart phones is increasing and efforts are on to bring more people to the Internet, through the digital India campaign. Telecom/service provider‘s argument:  The telecom/ISPs argue that they have made huge investments in broadband capacity, and, therefore, they should be allowed to charge for the services, which generate lot of traffic. Preventing the service providers from charging for over-the-top services (OTT) services would mean that they would reduce their investments in building networks.

    Net neutrality: 

    *Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. 
    * Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms. 
    * There are no laws enforcing net neutrality in India. Although TRAI guidelines for the Unified Access Service license promote net neutrality, it does not enforce it.

  30. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus -Sir, where our problems will be heard? I’m writing/requesting to get an assurance(yes we are dependent on you -atleast as a driving force) from when we will able to get prelims strategy and the options to take previous tests again. I know its not your responsibility but we believe in you and your team already did/doing a great work so of course all of us will have expectations. Please assure us sir ! May be a ‘Motivation’ post of yours can do.

    1. We will allow this option at an appropriate time. Please do not worry. 🙂

  31. Dear Insights,
    In test NO 20 &21 i took the test but question was loading then again came to my test page i didn’t attend the test. Both the test are like that only. i want to write the test what will i do please help me sir…..

  32. @@insightsprelimstestseries:disqus Could u please tell when the retake option will be available?

  33. Answer to question Number 25 should be C not D; Since Bacteria and Fungi are decomposer and don’t make food by own, both should be consumers not primary Producer.

    1. Some bacteria contain chlorophyll and hence make their own food.

  34. I am not sure for the answer given in question no 29, related to Tribal rights.
    How come Tribal right be a Fundamental Right; Nowhere in the Constitution, word tribal in mentioned. Please correct me if I m wrong.

    1. The Constitution clearly mentions “Scheduled Tribes”, and specifically provides for the Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas.

      They enjoy other rights as they are a minority community. For e.g. Articles 29 and 30 which gives them a right to preserve their cultural heritage. Thank you.

      1. Dear Team,
        Thanks for the reply!
        However my doubt still persists. Let me put my reasoning:
        1: Regarding articles 29 and 30, it talks about rights of Minorities but not SC/ST in particular. So to say that Tribal rights form part of FR, I am bit unsure.
        2: As far as 5th and 6th Schedule areas are concerned, Constitution never specifies about who the SC/SC are. It is in the purview of President to declare particular community as Tribal or Not.
        Please clarify my doubts.

  35. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus
    Q25 Not explained about bacteria…

    Q30 Statement-3-drain of wealth does not caused from investment of british capital but the agreement between the investors and britishers to take back huge protifs accruing from the investment. Otherwise investment alone undoubtedly created benefits for India. eg.railways

    Q42 Not explained about cosmic rays…

    1. 25. Most bacteria are decomposers, but some bacteria are producers; they produce organic matter from inorganic matter through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. They can be found in deep ocean. Please see page 4 here http://ccrm.vims.edu/publications/wetlands_technical_reports/91-4-primary-producers.pdf

      30. Interest and profits on private foreign (British) capital drained wealth from India. The investment could be recovered and ultimately repatriated back to England. Since the investment was exploitative (e.g. investing to export abroad by using cheap local materials), it further increased the drain of wealth from India.

      42. Cosmic rays are high energy radiation that is electrically charged and deflected by earth’s magnetic fields. You can read more here http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/cosmic.html

  37. Dear Insights

    Can you please provide option of download of question paper in two form ie 1 attempted and correct and 2 attempted but incorrect or not attemted . 2 option will help me in revision where is my weak area

    1. In order to expedite the process, we will try to release part-wise corrigendum (like Tests 1-10 at once and then others later).

      1. ok sir but when is it available for us…as revision plan started…we need to revise the material which u provide…..kindly update it today….how about test 23…both revision and test goes together,,,,how to read for that test 23

      2. Please Please post the corrigendum for the first 5 tests to start with. Had to go through each doubt/clarification post to figure out which ques/explanations need correction. It’s very time consuming. Please, and I can’t stress this enough…Post The Corrigendum Now, even if for a few Tests at a time

  40. sir in most of the most the test how hard i try i cant cross more then 85….is that my preparation in lagging ?or difficulty of paper is increasing?…please clarify…..

    1. The difficulty is increasing. Questions are being framed from a variety of sources, apart from the syllabus mentioned for that particular test. 85+ is a decent score. If you can consistently score 90-100+, it will fetch you a positive result in UPSC Prelims, All the best! 🙂

  41. Corrigendum please please please…..I might have learnt somethings wrong but I don’t want to revise those ….Please Insights provide the corrigendum…Its almost June

    1. In order to expedite the process, we will try to release part-wise corrigendum (like Tests 1-10 at once and then others later).

      3. Sir,
        Regarding Q.60: “Busiest waterway of Europe is formed by Rhine because:”
        The answer is given as “D. river passes through one of the most industrialised regions of the world.”
        But Sir, I feel, this is more of an effect, rather than a cause. The region has been industrialised because of:
        1. River is deep, able to carry cargo (i.e. option A)
        2. Passes through Black Forest (though not sure whether this qualifies as “most raw material intensive regions”)

        I feel the options are a bit confusing. Could you please shed some light on this?

  43. Q-59 How aerosols are not ozone depleting ? They have CFCS and HFCs right ?

    1. CFC containing aerosols have been phased out. HFCs do not deplete ozone. 🙂

  44. In question no 30 statement should be Indian capital invested in Britain instead of British capital invested in India. @insightsprelimstestseries.

    1. Interest and profits on private foreign (British) capital drained wealth from India. The investment could be recovered and ultimately repatriated back to England. Since the investment was exploitative (e.g. investing to export abroad by using cheap local materials), it further increased the drain of wealth from India.

      1. Q.35 is the same effect comes for legislative elections ?

        Q. 47 After merging FMC with SEBI , the seat of FMC has merged with SEBI , hasn’t it ?

        Q. 70 What is due constitution of Lok Sabha , didn’t get it please explain 🙂

        1. 35. Yes. ECI conducts both with nearly the same modalities.

          47. FMC doesn’t exist anymore after the merger with SEBI. Please clarify the question further. 🙂

          70. “Due constitution” means pending constitution (establishment of house by newly elected members) of Lok Sabha. 🙂

  45. @INSIGHTS

    SIR,I am doing study for environment from NCERT AND SHANKAR IAS ACADEMY’S BOOK….MY OPTIONAL SUBJECT IS GEOGRAPHY….I HAVE BOOK OF ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY BY K SIDDHARTA …I HAVE ALSO BOOK OF ENVIRONMENT OF NIOS…..SO,IS THERE ANY SENSE TO BUY THE ICSE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES BOOK????PLZ SPECIFY THE BROAD TOPICS (TEST-WISE) OF THE BOOK SO I CAN PREPARE THE TOPIC FROM MY BOOKS…IT IS URGENT SIR….PLZZZZ REPLY

  46. For removal speaker Laxmikanth says : Absolute Majority but Special Majoirity = Absolute majority + 2/3 of present and voting so answer can be special majority

  47. Q – 85 – “Regions need to have species richness in order to qualify as Biodiversity hotspots” .
    However 2 criteria for hotspots are – endemic + threatened;

  49. Q.35 is the same effect comes for legislative elections ?
    Q. 47 After merging FMC with SEBI , the seat of FMC has merged with SEBI , hasn’t it ?
    Q. 70 What is due constitution of Lok Sabha , didn’t get it please explain 🙂

  50. Qn 63, statement 2:- I guess the statement should be wrong since the council of ministers is not just ‘mainly’ responsible to the house of people, but “only” responsible to the LS

  51. Q 66 Regarding the total number of ministers.
    Shouldn’t the wording be maximum or minimum because there is a mention that the ruling party decides the strength of the cabinet.
    The Consti Amendment only sets limits but the actual strength is decided by the PM, isn’t it.?

    1. As per the question, none of the options stand correct. The question asks the total number is decided by whom? Ideally it is the PM who decides it subject to the maximum limit laid in the Constitution. The option that the ruling party are free to set it according to their will reflects that they are free to decide any number. And anyways, the constitution says it is the PM on whose advice ministers appointed. Ruling party has no say in it. So this option is wrong anyways.

  52. Thank you team insight

    Had 1 query. Question 44:

    Use of virus (Nucleopolyhedrovirus) as a biocontrol agents as given on Page 187 of Class XII Biology – Does it come under Biomremediation (waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to
    remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site)

    Or Bioremediation and Biocontrol would qualify as different things?

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Yes bioremediation and biocontrol are different things. Former addresses waste management, whereas the later deals with pest/insect control in various situations.

  53. hello ,
    q3 – http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=103014

    The Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today has said that the criteria evolved by Government to determine declaration of a language as a Classical language is as under:-

    (i) High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;
    (ii) A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;
    (iii) The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;
    (iv) The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

    Why have you not specified last one in “Justification and learning “?

    q 37

    From your own daily current affairs 12th may : The court said the regulation which fastens strict liability on the telecom companies for no fault of theirs is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

    so it should have been both option C n D

  54. q 37 )This says that TRAI has no such penal power.So answer B

    Trai plans to ask the department of telecommunications (DoT) for amending the Trai Act . “As the Supreme Court (SC) in its judgement had observed, Trai does not have the power to impose such a (call drop) penalty. We will write to DoT today for an amendment in the Act,” http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/trai-wants-powers-to-impose-penalties-as-telcos-fail-call-drop-test-116060101865_1.html

  55. @insightsprelimstestseries:disqus
    From my limited knowledge of polity I remember the removal of speaker as effective majority and not absolute majority .. Can you please clarify?

  57. Question 3- I think residuary powers were with provinces. Kindly clarify.

    1. Residuary power always gives a blanket power to any authority. It is like an ultimate authority. So if the central and the state list did not include, let’s say, atomic energy being unforeseen at the time of framing the Act of 1935 (just hypothetically), then later when it is discoved, it would immediately fall into residual powers. Now if the provinces were given such a residuary power, then the British would have given a too important power to the provincial governments, which were largely headed by Indians. The British could not have afforded to give this power to the provinces.

      Anyways, it was the Governor general, with whom the residuary powers were vested under the 1935 Act. Just google it!

  58. *Clarifications*
    ——————–

    25. Most bacteria are decomposers, but some bacteria are producers; they produce organic matter from inorganic matter through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. They can be found in deep ocean. Please see page 4 here http://ccrm.vims.edu/publications/wetlands_technical_reports/91-4-primary-producers.pdf

    30. Interest and profits on private foreign (British) capital drained wealth from India. The investment could be recovered and ultimately repatriated back to England. Since the investment was exploitative (e.g. investing to export abroad by using cheap local materials), it further increased the drain of wealth from India.

    37. Answer will have both option (c) and (d). The SC said that the regulation which fastens strict liability on the telecom companies for no fault of theirs (e.g. call drops due to consumer’s fault) is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

    59. CFC containing aerosols have been phased out.

    63. Motion of Thanks needs to be passed in both houses, whether amended or unamended. It is analogous to a ordinary bill which, whether amended or unamended in RS, needs to be passed in both the houses. It can be defeated only in RS, since the government enjoys majority in LS. Quite recently the opposition defeated the original Motion of Thanks that was moved in RS. You can read the details here. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/feisty-opposition-has-its-way/article6956063.ece

    A motion of thanks is nothing but the government’s account of itself and its plans.So, its defeat simply means the opposition in RS as a whole does not agree with the government’s plans.

    89. Canaries are used to detect Methane also

    Thank you.

    2. Q52 Pls elaborate why Statement A and D can’t be correct as the 18 Puranas deal with myriad subjects as mentioned in the very source you guys have given in explaination. It does have stuff like genealogy of Kings and religious customs and rituals

    3. @Insights – This is pertaining to Q.59. Ans should be C and not A. Please see the following:

      “Aerosols also can act as sites for chemical reactions to take place (heterogeneous chemistry). The most significant of these reactions are those that lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone. During winter in the polar regions, aerosols grow to form polar stratospheric clouds. The large surface areas of these cloud particles provide sites for chemical reactions to take place. These reactions lead to the formation of large amounts of reactive chlorine and, ultimately, to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere”

      https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Aerosols.html

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