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(Exam Paper) UPSC IAS Mains 2005: General Studies

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(Exam Paper) UPSC IAS Mains 2005: General Studies

Paper - I

1. Answer any one of the following questions (in about 250 words) : 30

(a) What in your opinion were the positive steps taken by the British to modernise India ?
(b) Examine the policy of Subordinate Union towards Princely States. Account for the shift from the policy of Subordinate Isolation.

2. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 150 words each) : 15 × 2 = 30

(a) “In the Montagu-Chelmsford Report communal representation and reservations were not only retained but considerably extended.” Comment.
(b) Evaluate Subhas Chandra Bose’s contribution to India’s freedom.
(c) Why and how did the Congress come to accept the partition of the country ?

3. Write about the following (not exceeding 20 words each) : 2 × 15 = 30

(a) Yajnavalkya Smriti
(b) Sutta Pitaka
(c) Bhagawati Sutra
(d) Gangaikonda-Cholapuram
(e) Nizamuddin Auliya
(f) Raidas
(g) Calcutta Madrasa
(h) Jagat Seth
(i) Bhawani Mandir
(j) Baba Ram Chandra
(k) Pandita Ramabai
(l) Sir Thomas Roe
(m) Moplah Rebellion
(n) Tavernier
(o) Darul-Uloom

4. Answer any two of the following (in about 125 words each): 10 × 2 = 20

(a) What are the resource bases available for the economic development of the newly created States of Jharkhand and Uttaranchal?
(b) Elucidate the factors contributing to the growing need for water harvesting in India, both rural and urban.
(c) “Political boundaries and regional boundaries need to be co-terminus.:” Do you agree ?

5. Write notes on the following (in about 20 words each): 2 × 5 = 10

(a) Regurs
(b) Karewas
(c) Negative impacts of shifting cultivation
(d) Causes of droughts in India
(e) Significance of Lake Chilka

6. Answer any one of the following (in about 250 words each) : 30

(a) Comment on the financial relations between the Union, and the States in India. Has post-1991 liberlization in any way affected it ?
(b) Is it possible to distinguish between judicial review and judicial activism in India ? Does the recent behaviour of the Indian judiciary partake more of judicial activism ? Argue with suitable examples.

7. Answer any ore of the following (in about 250 words) : 30

(a) Would you say that the implementation of the Panchayati System in the last ten years has led to a real restructuring of the Indian polity ?
(b) Give your views on the right to freedom of religion as enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Do they make India a secular State ?

8. Answer any two of the following (in about 150 words each): 15 × 2 = 30

(a) What are the constitutional limitations on the free movements of Indians throughout the country ?
(b) How has the Indian State tackled the trade-off between environment and development ?
(c) What are the steps that the Election Commission may take if a recalcitrant State Government wants to put off Assembly Elections ?

9. Answer the following questions (in about 20 words each): 2 × 5 = 10

(a) What is meant by double jeopardy’?
(b) What are the protections afforded to Scheduled Tribes in the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution ?
(c) In what ways can the President of India ascertain the views of the Supreme Court on a particular bill ?
(d) What is the common point between Articles 14 and 226 of the Indian Constitution ?
(e) Who and what does the Indian Parliament consist of ?

10. Answer any one of the following questions (in about 250 words): 30

(a) Discuss the impact of globalization on higher education in India.
(b) What is disaster management? Discuss the steps required to tackle natural disasters.

11. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 125 words each) : 10 x 2 = 20

(a) Explain the implications of the recent Supreme Court verdict on reservations in private and minority educational institutions.
(b) What is the energy independence ? Discuss how India can be transformed into an ‘Energy-independent Nation:
(c) What is eco-tourism ? How could it be promoted in India ?

12. Write notes on any two of the following (in about 125 words each) : 10 × 2 = 20

(a) Sethusamudram Project
(b) Causes of soil erosion and its control in India
(c) Use of Information Technology in health management in India

13. Write short notes on the following (in about 20 words each): 2 × 5 = 10

(a) Equal rights for women in parental property
(b) National knowledge Commission
(c) Genetically modified seeds
(d) Ban on bar dancing
(e) Rehabilitation of street children in India

Paper- II

1. Answer any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words): 2 x 15 = 30

(a) Present a complete picture of India’s efforts for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
(b) Explain the political and economic implications of the IndoIran gas pipeline.
(c) Examine the developments in Afghanistan in the postTaliban period.

2. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words): 5 × 2 = 10

(a) Indians in China
(b) Cyber-terrorism
(c) Military rule in Myanmar
(d) Camp David Accord of 1978
(e) Future of Indian expatriates in the Gulf

3. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words) : 5 × 2 = 10

(a) Full convertibility
(b) Physical Quality Life Index
(c) Differences between absolute poverty and relative poverty
(d) India - US nuclear pact
(e) Medical tourism

4. Answer any one of the following (in about 250 words): 30

(a) Discuss the causes and ramifications of hunger in Africa.
(b) What are the reasons for industrial sickness in India ? Suggest suitable remedies.

5. Answer any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words): 2 × 15 = 30

(a) What is the role of external financial assistance in Indian economy ?
(b) Enumerate the objectives of Latin American Reserve Fund. Do you favour such a fund for Asian countries ?
(c) Examine the functions of the European Free Trade Association.

6. Answer or write about the following (in about 20 words each): 15 × 2 = 30

(a) What is Mekong - Ganga Cooperation?
(b) What is IFC ?
(c) Crude oil price and Indian economy
(d) What is Gandhian economy ?
(e) Second Green Revolution
(f) Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Yojana
(g) What is Euro-control ?
(h) Dow Jones (i) ‘Bluetooth’
(j) MFN status to India by Pakistan
(k) The notion of development of underdevelopment
(l) Cost-push inflation
(m) What is Green GDP ?
(n) What were the terms of reference of the Abid Hussain Committee ?
(o) What is structural unemployment ?

7. Answer any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words): 2 × 15 = 30

(a) Detail the salient features of project ‘Anthareeksha.’
(b) Will a grand axis of India, China and Russia challenge the unipolar supremacy of the US ? Elaborate your views.
(c) Explain the China - US textile war.

8. Answer or write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words): 5 × 2 = 10

(a) What is Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) ?
(b) What is the concept of copyleft ?
(c) What is -a rogue state ?
(d) Repo market
(e) What is banana war ?

9. Answer the following, by expanding or explaining (answer to each question should be in about 20 words) : 10

(a) OAPEC
(b) IFAD
(c) UPU
(d) SAVE
(e) ODA

10. Answer any one of the following in about 250 words : 30

(a) Describe the sources of ionizing and non-ionizing radiations and their effects on the biotic components of the atmosphere.
(b) What is digital convergence? Examine its implications for modern society.

11. Answer any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words each): 2 × 15 = 30

(a) Why do environmentalists regard asbestos and polythene as pollutants?
(b) What is the therapeutic cloning? Describe briefly the method and its potential applications.
(c) Why is hydrogen being acclaimed as the fuel of the future?

12. Answer the following (in about 20 words each): 5 × 2 = 10

(a) What is an Exabyte?
(b) What is VIRUS?
(c) What do the following stand for?

(i) XMPL
(ii) MASER
(iii) SECAM
(iv) TIPS

(d) What is avatar?
(e) What is Wikipedia?

13.

(a) Put the following information into a frequency distribution table, assuming the range of monthly wage is from Rs. 300 to Rs. 4500, and draw a histogram on a high paper: “10%, 30%, 60%, 80% and 90% of a group of monthly wage earners receive less than Rs. 600, Rs. 1000, Rs. 1800, Rs. 2800 and Rs. 3300 respectively and 5% receive Rs. 3600 and above.”

(b) The marks obtained by 32 students of 12th class of a Government school are:

628, 665, 560, 328, 421, 525, 480, 470,
405, 424, 664, 668, 620, 300, 305, 520,
420, 370, 326, 440, 328, 480, 565, 650,
480, 360, 325, 450, 360, 426, 440, 306
Form a Cumulative Frequency Table with class interval of 50.

14.

(a) Represent the following data by a histogram:

(b) Construct a cumulative distribution table from the following frequency distribution and find the number of students obtaining below 15 marks:

Marks     Frequency
0 – 5          4
5 – 10       12
10 – 15     10
15 – 20     8
20 – 25     3
25 – 30     2

15.

(a)A train travels first 300 kilometers at an average speed of 30 kmph and further travels the same distance at an average speed of 40 kmph. What is the average speed over the whole distance? 2

(b) The arithmetic mean of 12 observations was computed to be 6. Afterwards, it was found that one of the figures was wrong. Instead of 7 (seven, which is the correct figure) it was read as 1 (one, the wrong figure). Find the correct value of the arithmetic mean after incorporating this information. 2

(c) A firm of readymade garments makes both men’s and women’s shirts. It average profit is 6% of sales. Its profit in men’s shirts average 8% of sales and women’s shirts comprise 60% of output. What is the average profit per sales rupee in women’s shirts?2

(d) The mean and variance of two set of data are given below with the data size:

   Data     Mean   Variance
I     12     64         23
II     9     72         18

What can you say about the mean and variance of the combined set of observations as compared to the individual means and variances