സിവില്‍ സര്‍വ്വീസ് പരീക്ഷ: ബ്രിട്ടീഷ് കാലഘട്ടത്തില്‍‌ കരകൗശല വിദഗ്ധരുടെ നാശത്തിന് കാരണമെന്ത് ?

Answer(a)

Statement 1 is correct. 104th Amendment Act of 2020 removed the reserved seats for the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Statement 2 is not correct. The amendment increased the deadline of reservation of SCs and STs seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by 10 years.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. For all practical purposes, the parliament has made laws with respect to functionaries mentioned in Schedule 2 hence the significance of the schedule is reduced.
Statement 2 is correct. Initially, there were 14 official languages. Now, there are 22 official languages in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution.
Statement 3 is not correct. Nationwide uniformity is desirable, not essential for listing an item in a concurrent list.

Answer (a)

•    The PLFS is an annual survey conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO). It was started in 2017, and it essentially maps the state of employment. In doing so, it collects data on variables such as the level of unemployment, the types of employment and their respective shares, etc.
•    Earlier, this job was done by Employment-Unemployment Surveys, but these were conducted once every five years.
•    The PLFS captures key indicators of the labor market such as the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker-Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR).

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Fiscal means are related to expenses and receipts of the Government. Fiscal policy is the means by which the government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation’s economy. The main objectives of the government's fiscal policy are Economic Growth (Stabilisation of business cycles), Maintaining a high level of employment, and controlling inflation.
Statement 2 is not correct.RBI deals with monetary policy but not fiscal policy. The fiscal policy on the other hand relates to taxation and public debt policies of the government.

•    Sheberghan is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban gained control of the city during the 2021 offensive.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Open-cast mining is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow.This form of mining differs from extractive methods that require tunneling into the earth, such as longwall mining. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful minerals or rocks are found near the surface; that is, where the overburden is relatively thin or the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling (as would be the case for sand, cinder, and gravel). 
Statement 2 is not correct. Open-pit mines create a significant amount of waste. Almost one million tons of ore and waste rock can move from the largest mines per day, and a couple of thousand tons moved from small mines per day
Statement 3 is not correct. Block cave mining is an underground mass mining method that allows for the bulk extraction of large, relatively lower grade, ore deposits with substantial vertical dimensions. In block caving, a large section of ore is initially undercut by drilling and blasting, creating a large unsupported roof that will start to collapse under its own weight and instability. 
 

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. It is a collective of the governments of the USA, United Kingdom and Norway.As it is a public-private effort, thus also supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Nestle, Airbnb, etc.
Statement 2 is correct. The LEAF coalition will be one of the largest ever public-private efforts to protect tropical forests and intend to mobilize at least USD 1 billion in financing to countries committed to protecting their tropical forests.

Answer (a)

•    Researchers from the World Mosquito Program have used mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria to successfully control dengue in Yogyakarta city of Indonesia.
•    Wolbachia is natural bacteria present in up to 60% of insect species, including some mosquitoes.
•    However, Wolbachia is not usually found in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary species responsible for transmitting human viruses such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
•    Wolbachia is safe for humans, animals, and the environment.

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. The most interesting urban feature of the Harappan civilization is its town planning. Almost all the major sites (Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, and others), are divided into two parts–a citadel (which contains large structures which might have functioned as administrative or ritual centers) on the higher mound on the western side and a lower town on the eastern side of the settlement where residential buildings are built.
Statement 2 is correct. The streets intersect each other at right angles in a criss-cross pattern. It divides the city into several residential blocks. The main street is connected by narrow lanes. The doors of the houses opened in these lanes and not the main streets. Thus, it has a well-connected street system.
Statement 3 is correct. Every house was connected to the street drains. The main channels were made of bricks set in mortar and were covered with loose bricks that could be removed for cleaning. In some cases, limestone was used for the covers. the drainage systems were not unique to the larger cities but were found in smaller settlements as well. At Lothal for example, while houses were built of mud bricks, drains were made of burnt bricks.

Answer (d)

•    The ruin of Indian industries, particularly rural artisan industries, proceeded even more rapidly once the railways were built. The railways enabled British manufactures to reach and uproot the traditional industries in the remotest villages of the country.
•    The high import duties and other restrictions imposed on the import of Indian goods into Britain and Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, combined with the development of modern manufacturing industries in Britain, led to the virtual closing of the European markets to Indian manufacturers after 1820.
•    The tragedy was heightened by the fact that the decay of the traditional industries was not accompanied by the growth of modern machine industries as was the case in Britain and western Europe. Consequently, the ruined handicrafts-men and artisans failed to find alternative employment. The only choice open to them was to crowd into agriculture.