UPSC Prelims 1999 · GS Paper I

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  1. One consistent feature found in the history of southern India was the growth of small regional kingdoms rather than large empires because of

  2. From the balance sheet of a company, it is possible to

  3. If it is 10.00 a.m. I.S.T., then what would be the local time at Shillong on 92°E longitude?

  4. The Constitution of India recognises

  5. “The king was freed from his people and they from their king”. On whose death did Badauni comment thus?

  6. In the new Panchayati Raj Bill enacted in 1993, there are several fresh provisions deviating from the past.

    Which one of the following is not one such provision?

  7. A ship sailing from the eastern extremity of the Aleutian Islands to Dutch Harbour crosses the 180° meridian at 23.30 hrs on January 1, 1999. What time and date will be recorded by the captain of the ship in his diary after one hour journey from the point of crossing of the meridian?

  8. Consider the following statements: An amendment of the Constitution of India can be initiated by the

    I.Lok Sabha.
    II.Rajya Sabha.
    III.State Legislatures.
    IV.President.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

  9. The first venture of Gandhi in all-India politics was the

  10. Persons below the poverty line in India are classified as such based on whether

  11. The term ‘Aryan’ denotes

  12. Consider the following statements:

    Regional disparities in India are high and have been rising in recent years because

    1.There is persistent investment over time only in select locales.
    2.Some areas are agro-climatically less conducive to development.
    3.Some areas continue to face little or no agrarian transformation and the consequent lack of social and economic opportunities.
    4.Some areas have faced continuous political instability.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  13. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Volcanic Mountain)

    I.Mt. Rainier
    II.Etna
    III.Paricutin
    IV.Taal

    List II (Country)

    A.Italy
    B.Mexico
    C.Philippines
    D.USA
  14. Consider the following statements about the recent amendments to the Election Law by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 1996:

    I.Any conviction for the offence of insulting the Indian National Flag or the Constitution of India shall entail disqualification for contesting elections to Parliament and State Legislatures for six years from the date of conviction.
    II.There is an increase in the security deposit which a candidate has to make to contest the election to the Lok Sabha.
    III.A candidate cannot now stand for election from more than one Parliamentary constituency.
    IV.No election will now be countermanded on the death of a contesting candidate.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  15. Consider the following statements: The striking feature of the Jama Masjid in Kashmir completed by Zain-ul-Abidin include(s)

    I.Turret.
    II.Similarity with Buddhist pagodas.
    III.Persian style.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

  16. The Ravva offshore block, with great potential for oil, is located in

  17. Which one of the following statements regarding the levying, collecting and distribution of Income Tax is correct?

  18. The Congress policy of pray and petition ultimately came to an end under the guidance of

  19. Consider the following statements: Industrial development in India, to an extent, is constrained by

    I.Lack of adequate entrepreneurship and leadership in business.
    II.Lack of savings to invest.
    III.Lack of technology, skills and infrastructure.
    IV.Limited purchasing power among the larger masses.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  20. Among which one of the following sets of social/religious groups is the extent of poverty the highest, as per Government statistics for the nineties?

  21. Which one of the following ports handled the north Indian trade during the Gupta period?

  22. Tourism industry in India is quite small compared to many other countries in terms of India’s potential and size.

    Which one of the following statements is correct in this regard?

  23. Which one of the following statements is correct?

  24. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?

  25. The Employment Assurance Scheme envisages financial assistance to rural areas for guaranteeing employment to at least

  26. Consider the following temperature and rainfall data:

    Month Temperature °C Rainfall cm January 6.7 14.0 February 6.7 13.2

    March 7.2 11.4 April 8.9 9.4

    May 11.1 8.1 June 13.9 8.1

    July 15.0 9.6 August 15.0 12.2

    September 13.9 10.4 October 11.1 14.4

    November 8.9 14.0 December 7.8 16.8

    The climate to which this data pertains is

  27. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Persons)

    I.Shyamji Krishna Varma
    II.Madame Bhikaji Cama
    III.Annie Besant
    IV.Aurobindo Ghosh

    List II (Journals)

    A.Bande Mataram
    B.Indian Sociologist
    C.The Talwar
    D.Commonweal

    Codes:

  28. A British citizen staying in India cannot claim Right to

  29. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Timber)

    I.Cedar
    II.Douglas Fir
    III.Mahogany
    IV.Teak

    List II (Country)

    A.Myanmar
    B.Canada
    C.Mexico
    D.Honduras

    Codes:

  30. The first writer to use Urdu as the medium of poetic expression was

  31. Consider the following statements regarding the National Human Rights Commission of India:

    I.Its Chairman must be a retired Chief Justice of India.
    II.It has formations in each state as State Human Rights Commission.
    III.Its powers are only recommendatory in nature.
    IV.It is mandatory to appoint a woman as a member of the Commission.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  32. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.Cotton
    II.Flax
    III.Sugar beet
    IV.Jute

    List II

    A.Rainfall 1000-1500 mm; Temperature 40°-60 °C
    B.Rainfall 1500-2000 mm; Temperature 25°-35 °C
    C.Rainfall 600-800 mm; Temperature 5°-18 °C
    D.Rainfall 500-1000 mm; Temperature 18°-22 °C
    E.Rainfall 500-600 mm; Temperature 18°-22 °C

    Codes:

  33. The minimum land area recommended for forest cover to maintain proper ecological balance in India is

  34. The paintings of Abanindranath Tagore are classified as

  35. From the third century AD when the Hun invasion ended the Roman Empire, the Indian merchants relied more and more on the

  36. The planning process in the industrial sector in India has assumed a relatively less important position in the nineties as compared to that in the earlier period.

    Which one of the following is not true in this regard?

  37. Which one of the following port cities in Venezuela has been developed as an oil port?

  38. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.Pandit Vishnu Digamber Paluskar
    II.Venkatamahi
    III.Shyama Shastri
    IV.Amir Khusru

    List II

    A.Introduced the scheme of Raga classification of Indian music
    B.Proponent of Carnatic music
    C.Proponent of the Khayal form of Hindustani music
    D.Wrote the music for the song ‘Vande Mataram’

    Codes:

  39. There was no independent development of industries in India during British rule because of the

  40. Consider the following statements: Small-scale industries are, in most cases, not as efficient and competitive as the large-scale ones. Yet the Government provides preferential treatment and reservations in a range of products to the small firms because small-scale industries

    I.Provide higher employment on a per unit capital deployment basis.
    II.Promote a regional dispersion of industries and economic activities.
    III.Have performed better in export of manufactured products than the large-scale ones.
    IV.Provide jobs to low skill workers, who otherwise may not find employment avenues elsewhere.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  41. The first feature film (talkie) to be produced in India was

  42. The economic crisis in the latter half of 1990s most seriously affected Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. The cause of the crisis was

  43. A person of mixed European and Indian blood in Latin America is called a

  44. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Libraries)

    I.Saraswati Mahal Library
    II.Library of Tibetan Work and Archives
    III.Raza Library
    IV.Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library

    List II (Locations)

    A.Patna
    B.Dharamsala
    C.Thanjavur
    D.Rampur

    Codes:

  45. The following persons came to India at one time or another:

    I.Fa-Hien
    II.I-Tsing
    III.Megasthenes
    IV.Hieun-Tsang The correct chronological sequence of their visits is:
  46. The main sources of credit to the farmers include

  47. Trans chart is the

  48. "India has the largest population of the Asian X. Today, there are just about 20,000 to 25,000 X in their natural habitat spreading across the evergreen forests, dry thorn forests, swamps and grasslands. Their prime habitats are, however, the moist deciduous forests. The X population in India ranges from Northwest India where they are found in the forest divisions of Dehradun, Bijnor and Nainital districts of UP to the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka and Kerala and in Tamil Nadu. In Central India, their population is distributed in southern Bihar and Orissa. In the East, they are seen in North Bengal, Assam and a few other states." The animal 'X' referred to in this quotation is

  49. Which one of the following statements is not true of the Konkan Railway?

  50. 'Abhinav Bharat' a secret society of revolutionaries was organised by

  51. Which one of the following is the objective of National Renewal Fund?

  52. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Resorts)

    I.Chakrata
    II.Haflong
    III.Kalimpong
    IV.Kufri

    List II (States)

    A) Assam

    B) West Bengal

    C) Uttar Pradesh

    D) Himachal Pradesh

  53. Consider the following statements about the European Union:

    I.The European Union was known earlier as the European Community.
    II.The Single European Act (1986) and the Maastricht Treaty were milestones in its formation.
    III.Citizens of European Union countries enjoy dual citizenship.
    IV.Switzerland is a member of the European Union.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  54. Which one of the following was initially the most powerful city state of India in the 6th century B.C.?

  55. Which one of the following statements is not correct? Dinar/New dinar is the currency of

  56. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?

  57. The most short-lived of all of Britain’s constitutional experiments in India was the

  58. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Industries)

    I.Pearl fishing
    II.Automobiles
    III.Ship-building
    IV.Engineering goods

    List II (Industrial Centres)

    A) Pune

    B) Tuticorin

    C) Pinjore

    D) Marmagao

  59. The language spoken by the largest number of people in the world is

  60. 'It made its proposals in May. It still wanted a united India. There was to be a Federal Union composed of British provinces.' The above quotation is related to

  61. The Governor General who followed a spirited "Forward" policy towards Afghanistan was

  62. The first marine sanctuary in India, having within its bounds coral reefs, Mollusca, dolphins, tortoises and various kinds of sea birds, has been established in

  63. Which one of the following pairs of folk-dance forms and states is not correctly matched?

  64. The population growth rate in Kerala is the lowest among major Indian states.

    Which one of the following is the most widely accepted reason for this?

  65. In order to win the Grand Slam in Tennis, a player must win which one of the following groups of tournaments?

  66. Which one of the following legislations does not deal with the protection of environment?

  67. The Indo-Greek kingdom set up in north Afghanistan in the beginning of the second century BC was

  68. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.WTO
    II.IDA
    III.IMF
    IV.IBRD

    List II

    A) Provides loans to address short-term balance of payment problems

    B) Multi-lateral trade negotiation body

    C) Sanction of soft loans

    D) Facilitating lending and borrowings for reconstruction and development

  69. At a time when empires in Europe were crumbling before the might of Napoleon which one of the following Governors-General kept the British flag flying high in India?

  70. Which one of the following pairs of states and tribes is not correctly matched?

  71. Which Indian nationalist leader looked upon a war between Germany and Britain as a god-sent opportunity which would enable Indians to exploit the situation to their advantage?

  72. As per 1991 Census, which one of the following groups of Union Territories had the highest literacy rate?

  73. Which one of the following leaders of the Congress was totally in favour of Cabinet Mission Plan?

  74. Which one of the following statements is not correct?

  75. Which one of the following Indian leaders was dismissed by the British from the Indian Civil Service?

  76. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Writers)

    I.Sashi Tharoor
    II.Amitav Ghosh
    III.Anita Desai
    IV.Vikram Chandra

    List II (Books)

    A) Clear Light of Day

    B) Circle of Reason

    C) Love and Longing in Bombay

    D) Show Business

  77. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Rivers)

    I.Cauvery
    II.Krishna
    III.Narmada
    IV.Chambal

    List II (Dams)

    A) Alamatti

    B) Mettur

    C) Gandhi Sagar

    D) Sardar Sarovar

  78. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Books)

    I.The First Indian War of Independence
    II.Anand Math
    III.Life Divine
    IV.Sadhana

    List II (Authors)

    A) Rabindranath Tagore

    B) Sri Aurobindo

    C) Bankim Chandra Chatterji

    D) Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

  79. Consider the following events:

    I.Indigo Revolt
    II.Santhal Rebellion
    III.Deccan Riot
    IV.Mutiny of the Sepoys The correct chronological sequence of these events is:
  80. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I (Year)

    I.1775
    II.1780
    III.1824
    IV.1838

    List II (Event)

    A) First Anglo-Burmese War

    B) First Anglo-Afghan War

    C) First Anglo-Maratha War

    D) Second Anglo-Mysore War

  81. Since 1980, the share of the tertiary sector in the total GDP of India has

  82. The term "imperial preference" was applied to the

  83. Assertion (A): During the time of Akbar, for every ten cavalrymen, the mansabdars had to maintain twenty horses.

    Reason (R): Horses had to be rested while on march and replacements were necessary in times of war.

  84. Assertion (A): Lord Linlithgow described the August Movement of 1942 as the most serious rebellion since Sepoy Mutiny.

    Reason (R): There was massive upsurge of the peasantry in certain areas.

  85. Assertion (A): Devaluation of a currency may promote export.

    Reason (R): Price of the country's products in the international market may fall due to devaluation.

  86. Assertion (A): Fiscal deficit is greater than budgetary deficit.

    Reason (R): Fiscal deficit is the borrowings from the Reserve Bank of India plus other liabilities of the Government to meet its expenditure.

  87. Assertion (A): According to statistics, more female children are born each year than male children in India.

    Reason (R): In India, the death rate of a male child is higher than that of the female child.

  88. Assertion (A): Information technology is fast becoming a very important field of activity in India.

    Reason (R): Software is one of the major exports of the country and India has a very strong base in hardware.

  89. Assertion (A): Chile continues to be an important producer of copper in the world.

    Reason (R): Chile is endowed with the world’s largest deposit of porphyry copper.

  90. In eye donation, which one of the following parts of donor’s eye is utilised?

  91. Consider the following statement: An ordinary light bulb has a rather short life because the

    I.Filament wire is not uniform.
    II.Bulb cannot be evacuated completely.
    III.Wires supporting the filament melt at high temperatures.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  92. Match the hormones in List I with items in List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.Adrenaline
    II.Estrogen
    III.Insulin
    IV.Pheromones

    List II

    A) Anger, fear, danger

    B) Attracting partners through sense of smell

    C) Females

    D) Glucose

    Codes:

  93. Neem tree has acquired industrial importance as a source of

  94. Match List I (Drugs / Chemicals) with List II (Their uses) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.Atropine
    II.Ether
    III.Nitro-glycerine
    IV.Pyrethrin

    List II

    A) Local anaesthesia

    B) Heart trouble

    C) Dilation of pupil

    D) Mosquito control

    Codes:

  95. Match List I (Naturally occurring substances) with List II (Elements) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.Diamond
    II.Marble
    III.Sand
    IV.Ruby

    List II

    A) Calcium

    B) Silicon

    C) Aluminium

    D) Carbon

    Codes:

  96. Which one of the following scholars suggests the earth’s origin from gases and dust particles?

  97. Indian farmers are unhappy over the introduction of “Terminator Seed Technology” because the seeds produced by this technology are expected to

  98. Consider the following statements regarding a motor car battery:

    I.The voltage is usually 12 V.
    II.Electrolyte used is hydrochloric acid.
    III.Electrodes are lead and copper.
    IV.Capacity is expressed in ampere-hour.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  99. Match List I (Quantity) with List II (Units) and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

    List I

    I.High speed
    II.Wavelength
    III.Pressure
    IV.Energy

    List II

    A) Mach

    B) Angstrom

    C) Pascal

    D) Joule

    Codes:

  100. Which one of the following genetic diseases is sex-linked?

  101. For which one of the following is capillarity not the only reason?

  102. Consider the following statements:

    I.If a person looks at a coin which is in a bucket of water, the coin will appear to be closer than it really is.
    II.If a person under water looks at a coin above the water surface, the coin will appear to be at a higher level than it really is.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

  103. Lathyrism is caused by excessive consumption of

  104. Barium in a suitable form is administered to patients before an X-ray examination of the stomach, because

  105. Endoscopy, a technique used to explore the stomach or other inner parts of the body is based on the phenomenon of

  106. Which one of the following agricultural practices is eco-friendly?

  107. When ants bite, they inject

  108. Which one of the following is a useful functional association between fungi and the roots of higher plants?

  109. Which one of the following types of coal contains a higher percentage of carbon than the rest?

  110. Cobalt-60 is commonly used in radiation therapy because it emits

  111. Low temperatures (Cryogenics) find application in

  112. Consider the following statements:

    I.Glass can be etched or scratched by diamond.
    II.Glass can be etched or scratched by hydrofluoric acid.
    III.Glass can be etched or scratched by aqua regia.
    IV.Glass can be etched or scratched by concentrated sulphuric acid.

    Which of these statements are correct?

  113. Assertion (A): To dilute sulphuric acid, acid is added to water and not water to acid.

    Reason (R): Specific heat of water is quite large.

  114. Assertion (A): Insect-resistant transgenic cotton has been produced by inserting Bt gene.

    Reason (R): The Bt gene is derived from a bacterium.

  115. Assertion (A): Dolly was the first cloned mammal.

    Reason (R): Dolly was produced by in-vitro fertilization.

  116. In the sequence of numbers 5, 8, 13, X, 34, 55, 89, ……… the value of ‘X’ is

  117. On another planet, the local terminology for earth, water, light, air and sky are ‘sky’, ‘light’, ‘air’, ‘water’ and ‘earth’ respectively. If someone is thirsty there, what would he drink?

  118. The average speed of a train in the onward journey is 25% more than that of the return journey. The train halts for one hour on reaching the destination. The total time taken for the complete to-and-fro journey is 17 hours covering a distance of 800 km. The speed of the train in the onward journey is

  119. In a town 25% families own a phone and 15% own a car. 65% families own neither a phone nor a car. 2000 families own both a car and a phone.

    Consider the following statements in this regard:

    I.10% families own both a car and a phone.
    II.35% families own either a car or a phone.
    III.40,000 families live in the town.

    Which of the above statements are correct?

  120. In a code language, ‘SOLID’ is written as ‘WPSLPIMFHA’. What does the code word ‘ATEXXQIBVO’ refer to?

  121. In a group of five people—K, L and M are ambitious; M, N and R are honest; L, M and N are intelligent and K, N and R are industrious. Among these, neither industrious nor ambitious person(s) would include

  122. A man is standing on the 8 m long shadow of a 6 m long pole. If the length of his shadow is 2.4 m, what is the height of the man?

  123. If the angles of a triangle are in the ratio of 4 : 3 : 2, then the triangle

  124. If X + 2Y = 2X + Y, then X² / Y² is equal to

  125. A hemispherical bowl is filled to the brim with a beverage. The contents of the bowl are transferred into a cylindrical vessel whose radius is 50% more than its height. If the diameter is the same for both bowl and cylinder, then the volume of the beverage in the cylindrical vessel will be

  126. A hunter aims his gun at a point between the eyebrows of a monkey sitting on a branch of a tree. Just as he fires, the monkey jumps down. The bullet will

  127. In an office, the distribution of work hours is as shown in the following table:

    No. of Staff MembersNo. of hours worked
    50 – 19
    1220 – 24
    2525 – 29
    4030 – 34
    1535 – 39
    840 – 45

    Consider the following inferences drawn from the table:

    I.The average number of hours worked by a staff member is about 30.
    II.The percentage of those who worked 35 or more hours is less than 25.
    III.At least 5 staff members worked more than 44 hours.

    Which of these inferences is/are valid?

  128. At a given time, two players are standing on a play-field. The cartesian coordinates of their locations are (20, 60) and (-40, -20) units. What is the distance between the players?

  129. The area of an ellipse is twice that of a circle. The major diameter of the ellipse is twice that of the minor diameter. The radius of the circle is

  130. Amar, Akbar and Anthony are friends, being looked after by a matron Farah. Amar weighs 50% more than Akbar and Anthony weigh 25% less than Amar. Farah weighs a third of the combined weight of the three boys. All four together weigh 232 kg. The correct arrangement of the persons in the ascending order of their weights is

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