സിവില്‍ സര്‍വ്വീസ് പരീക്ഷ: 'രാജ്യദ്രോഹം' എന്ന പദം ശരിയായി നിർവചിക്കുക ?

Answer (d)

    Sedition applies to anything that the government might consider as stirring up resistance or rebellion against it.
    In such cases, the government does not need absolute evidence in order to arrest persons.
    Under the Sedition Act of 1870, the British had a very broad interpretation of what constituted sedition, and what this meant was that they could arrest and detain any person they wanted under this Act.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. While the courts are available for all, in reality, access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India. Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. In response to this, the Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL to increase access to justice.
Statement 2 is correct. The legal process was greatly simplified and even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme Court or the High Court could be treated as a PIL.
Statement 3 is not correct. PIL allowed any individual or organization to file a PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of those whose rights were being violated.

Answer (a)

    Rajasthan is poised to get its fourth tiger reserve after Ramgarh Vishdhari wildlife sanctuary received a nod from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)’s technical committee.
    In 1982, a part of the forest was declared as Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary under Section 5 of the Rajasthan Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act, 1951.
    The core area of the Ramgarh Vishdhari has eight villages. The sanctuary currently has leopards, sambhars, chitals, wild boars, smaller cats, caracals, chinkaras and nilgai.
    In 2013, the Rajasthan government had upgraded the Mukundra hills sanctuary as the third tiger reserve.

Answer (d)

Statement 1 is correct: Ambergris, a solid waxy substance originating in the intestine of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). In Eastern cultures ambergris is used for medicines and potions and as a spice; in the West, it was used to stabilize the scent of fine perfumes.
Statements 2 and 3 are correct: Sperm whales are found in deep open waters, or around islands and coastal areas with deep canyons or very narrow continental shelves. Sperm whales face a number of threats today, including entanglement in fishing gears, ingestion of fishing gear and marine debris, and ship strikes. Conservation status of Sperm whales, as they were historically heavily hunted, and today are globally designated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Sperm whales are listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
 

Answer (d)

    Restructuring is a practice that allows banks to modify the terms of the loan when the borrower is facing financial stress. Banks do that to avoid the borrower being declared a defaulter and the loan having to be classified as a non-performing asset.
    If a loan account is classified as an NPA, then banks will have to set aside money—provisions—towards it. That reduces their profits.
    Restructuring could be through a change in the repayment period, repayable amount, number of installments, rate of interest, giving additional loans. 
    There could even be ‘compromise settlements’ where the time for payment of settlement amount exceeds three months.

Answer (c)

Statement 1 is correct. It is the apex banking institution to provide finance for Agriculture and rural development. It is responsible for the development of small industries, cottage industries, and any other such village or rural projects. It supervises Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and helping them develop sound banking practices and integrate them into the CBS (Core Banking Solution) platform. 
Statement 2 is not correct. NABARD provides recommendations to the Reserve Bank of India on the issue of licenses to Cooperative Banks, opening of new branches by State Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
Statement 3 is correct. RBI divested its entire stake in NABARD and NHB. With this, the Government of India now holds a 100% stake in both financial institutions. 

Answer (d)

    The crust is the outermost solid part of the earth, normally about 8-40 km thick. It is brittle in nature. Nearly 1% of the earth’s volume and 0.5% of the earth’s mass are made of the crust.
    The thickness of the crust under the oceanic and continental areas is different. Oceanic crust is thinner (about 5kms) as compared to the continental crust (about 30kms).
    Major constituent elements of crust are Silica (Si) and Aluminium (Al) and thus, it is often termed as SIAL (Sometimes SIAL is used to refer to Lithosphere, which is the region comprising the crust and uppermost solid mantle, also). 
    The mantle is the portion of the interior beyond the crust is called the mantle. The discontinuity between the crust and mantle is called the Moho Discontinuity or Moho discontinuity. 
    The mantle is about 2900kms in thickness. Nearly 84% of the earth’s volume and 67% of the earth’s mass is occupied by the mantle.
    The core is the innermost layer surrounding the earth’s center. The core is separated from the mantle by Guttenberg’s Discontinuity. It is composed mainly of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) and hence it is also called NIFE.

Answer (d)

    Hyderabad-based technology R&D firm Grene Robotics has designed and developed India’s first indigenous drone defense dome called ‘Indrajaal’.
    The ANTI-UAV systems will not only provide protection to defense bases but it will be beneficial for linear infrastructures like international borders against advanced weaponry.

Answer (a)

Lord Dalhousie(1848-1856) 
o    Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) 
o    Annexation of Lower Burma (1852) 
o    Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse 
o    Wood’s Despatch 1854
o    Laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853 
o    Establishment of PWD

Lord Lytton (1876-1880) 
o    Vernacular press Act 1878 
o    The Arms Act (1878) 
o    The Second Afghan War (1878-80) 
o    Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ or Queen Empress of India.

Lord Dufferin (1884-1888) 
o    Third Burmese war 
o    Establishment of INC

Lord Curzon (1899-1905) 
o    Appointment of police commission (1902) 
o    Appointment of Universities Commission (1902) 
o    Indian Universities Act (1904). 
o    Partition of Bengal (1905) 
 

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Indian classical music has two major traditions - the North Indian classical music tradition is called Hindustani, while the South Indian expression is called Carnatic. In Haripala's "Sangeeta Sudhakara", written in the 14th century A.D., the terms Carnatic and Hindustani are found for the first time. The Indian music of the Northern part of India assimilated some features of the music of the Persian and Arabic musicians who adorned the courts of the Mughal rulers of Delhi, the music of the South continued to develop along its own original lines. 
Statement 2 is correct. In Hindustani music, a Gharana is a system of social organization in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. 
Statement 3 is incorrect. The major vocal forms associated with Hindustani classical music are the Khayal, Ghazal, Dhrupad, Dhamma, Tarana, and Thumri. Although vocal music plays an important role, instrumental music is more important in Hindustani music. There are some purely instrumental forms, such as the theme with variations known as gat.