English Comprehension PYQs

The correct answer is option 4.

Key Points

• A bicameral legislature is a system of government in which the legislature comprises two houses.
• At the state level, the equivalent of Lok Sabha is the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), and that of Rajya Sabha is Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council).
• One-third of the members of the Vidhan Parishad are elected every 2 years.
• At present, the states that have bicameral legislature in India are:
• Uttar Pradesh
• Bihar
• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Andhra Pradesh
• Telangana

Hence option 4 is correct.

The correct answer is 86^th Amendment Act

Key Points

• In 1993, the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the Unnikrishnan JP vs State of Andhra Pradesh & Others held that Education is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21.
• Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999) was set up, which encompassed the insertion of Article 21A.
• The 86^th amendment to the constitution of India in 2002, provided the Right to Education as a fundamental right in Part III of the Constitution.
• The same amendment inserted Article 21A which made the Right to Education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years.
• Amendment of article 51A - In article 51A of the Constitution, after clause (J), the following clause shall be added, namely:-
• (k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.

Additional Information

• 83^th Amendment Act:
• Eighty-Third Amendment Act, 2000  provides that no reservation in Panchayats need be made for SCs in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The total population of Arunachal Pradesh is tribal and there are no SCs.
• It amends Article 243M by inserting Clause (3A) after Clause 3
• Article 243M – Clause 3A says that Nothing in article 243D, relating to reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes, shall apply to the State of Arunachal Pradesh.
• 84^th Amendment Act:
• The 84^th Amendment Act of 2001 extended the ban on readjustment of seats in Lok Sabha and state legislature for another 25 years (2026).
• 85^th Amendment Act:
• ​Provided for ‘consequential seniority’ in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for the government servants belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with retrospective effect from June 1995.

The correct answer is its acceleration.

Key Points

• An object that is moving only because of the action of gravity is said to be free-falling and its motion is described by Newton's second law of motion.
• ​Newton's second law of motion: The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables - the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.
• The acceleration of the freely falling object is constant and equal to the acceleration due to gravity.
• During free fall of the object, gravitational force acts on the body in a downward direction always and so the acceleration of the object remains in a vertically downward direction which is constant with time.
• The most remarkable and unexpected fact about falling objects is that, if air resistance and friction are negligible, then in a given location all objects fall toward the center of Earth with the same constant acceleration, independent of their mass.
• The force of gravity causes objects to fall toward the center of Earth. The acceleration of free-falling objects is therefore called the acceleration due to gravity.
• g= 9.81 m/sec²

Concept:

• Lens are of two types:
• Concave Lens or diverging lens
• Convex Lens or converging lens
• When a light ray falls on a concave or convex lenses obliquely at its optical centre, it continues to follow its path.
• When a light ray falls parallel to the principal axis on concave or convex lenses, the reflected ray passes through a focus (F) on the principal axis.
• When a light ray passing through focus strikes concave or convex lenses, the reflected ray will pass parallel to the principal axis.
• Convex lens always forms real image while concave always forms virtual image.

Explanation: 

When the object is placed at the focus of the convex lens then the image formed will be larger in size, real & is located at infinity as we can see in the ray diagram given below.

Here 'F' denotes focus, 'C' denotes centre of curvature & AB is height of the object.

Additional Information

• The nature of the image is decided by the magnification (M) of the lens, \(M = {v \over u}\)  ; where v is the image distance & u is object distance.
• Lens formula \( {1 \over v}-{1 \over u} = {1 \over f}\); where f is focal length of the lens.
• Focal length of convex lens is always positive & for concave lens is negative.
• Since object is real, so object distance is taken as negative.

The correct answer is option 3.

Key Points

Aperture of a convex lens:

• Aperture of a lens is the effective diameter of its light transmitting area.
• It gives the size of the mirror.
• Therefore, the brightness i.e. the intensity of the image formed by a lens which depends on the amount of light passing through the lens will vary as the square of the aperture of the lens.
• Mirrors whose aperture is much smaller than its radius of curvature, we use R=2f.
• The focal length will remain the same as it does not depend on the aperture of the lens.

Concept:

• Density is physical quantity & is defined as the unit volume of a substance.
• Its SI unit is kgm^-3
• The density of water at 4ºC is 1000 kgm-3
• Usually, water behaves like other liquids up to the temperature of 4ºC.
• But if we decrease the temperature its density decreases till it is converted into ice.
• Upon heating temperature rises which means the material will expand but water behaves differently upon heating in various temperature ranges.

Explanation: 

• When ice melts into liquid water, the density of the liquid increases. As we increase the temperatures, the molecules move faster and get further apart & thus the density decreases with an increase in temperature increases.
• At 0°C temperature, the water still contains many ice-like clusters. These clusters are free to move relative to each other, so water is still liquid.
• At 4 °C, the clusters start forming. The molecules are still slowing down and coming closer together, but the formation of clusters makes the molecules be further apart. Cluster formation is the bigger effect, so the density starts to decrease. Thus, the density of water is a maximum at 4 °C.
• Water shows anomalous behavior when its temperature is increased from 0ºC to 4ºC then its density will increase & it shows expansion. At 4ºC it shows maximum density but as we further increased its temperature, its density decreases.

The figure shown below gives a clear idea of this anomalous behavior of water.

Concept:

• The acceleration due to gravity (g) is the tendency of the planet to attract the mass towards its center.
• At the surface of the earth, g = 9.8 ms^-2
• At the center of the earth, its value is zero
• Acceleration due to gravity (g) varies with height above the earth's surface & depth below the earth's surface.

Explanation:

It is given by the formula, \(g=\frac{GM}{R^2}\)

where; G = 6.67 × 10^-11 m³kg^-1s^-2 (Gravitational Constant), M = Mass of the earth in kilogram, R = Radius of the earth in meters.

Clearly, we can see that 'g' depends upon both the mass as well as the radius of the earth.

Additional Information

• Variation of 'g' with height (h) is given by the relation, \(g' = {GM \over (R+h)^2}\)

           where h is the height above the earth's surface.

• Variation of 'g' with depth (d) is given by the relation, \(g''=g(1-\frac dR)\)
• where d is the depth below the earth's surface.
• In both the cases, we can clearly see that acceleration due to gravity decreases with height (h) & depth (d).

The correct answer is Nilgiris.

Key Points

Sholas:

• The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani hills.
• They occur only in the valleys where there is the least reach of the fog and mist.
• In general, mountains are covered in grasslands and trees never grow on the mountain tops.
• Finding the Shola forests (tropical forests) at an altitude above 2000 metres of sea-level is unique and curious.
• They are found only in South India in the Southern Western Ghats high altitude mountains in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu(Nilgiri).

Important Points

• Due to high isolation and unique climatic conditions, the Shola forests are characterised by high endemism.
• The species of plants and animals found here are native to this region and such species cannot be found anywhere else in the world. For example - Nilgiri Tahr.
• Shola tree species have one of the lowest regeneration rates. They do not get established very soon and are very sensitive to climatic change.
• These forests and grasslands are being cleared for agriculture and for the construction of hill stations.
• The shola forests have high water retention capacity than any other soil. They retain water from Monsoon and retained water is then slowly released in the year’s course and they form small streams.
• They are part of the world’s Biodiversity hotspots.

​

The correct answer is Peri-glacial.

Key Points

Pingos:

• Pingos are intrapermafrost ice-cored hills, ranging in height from 3 - 70 m.
• They are typically conical in shape and grow and persist only in permafrost environments, such as the Arctic and subarctic.
• A pingo is a periglacial landform, which is defined as a non-glacial landform or process linked to colder climates.
• Pingo is a dome-shaped hill formed in a permafrost area when the pressure of freezing groundwater pushes up a layer of frozen ground.
• It is estimated that there are more than 11,000 pingos on Earth.
• The Tuktoyaktuk peninsula area has the greatest concentration of pingos in the world with a total of 1,350 pingos.
• Modern pingos occur in the continental tundras and are generally restricted to latitudes of 65° to 75° N.
• The rupture of the overlying material at the top of the pingo exposes the ice to melting and may create a smaller crater and lake.

The correct answer is option 2.

Key Points

Drainage Pattern of River:

• It refers to the system of flow of surface water mainly through the forms of rivers and basins.
• The drainage system depends upon factors such as slope of land, geological structure, amount of volume of water and velocity of water.

Insequent (Discordant):

• A drainage pattern is described as discordant if it does not correlate to the topology (surface relief features) and geology of the area.
• In simple words, in a discordant drainage pattern, the river follows its initial path irrespective of the changes in topography.
• Discordant drainage patterns are classified into two main types: antecedent and superimposed.
• Usually, rivers in both these drainage types flow through a highly sloping surface.

Consequent:

• The rivers which follow the general direction of the slope are known as the consequent rivers.
• Most of the rivers of peninsular India are consequent rivers.
• For example, rivers like the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery, descending from the Western Ghats and flowing into the Bay of Bengal, are some of the consequent rivers of Peninsular India.

Subsequent:

• A tributary stream that is formed by headward erosion along an underlying rock after the main drainage pattern (consequent river) has been established is known as a subsequent river.
• The Chambal, Sind, Ken, Betwa, Tons and Son meet the Yamuna and the Ganga at right angles. They are the subsequent drainage of the Ganga drainage system.

Resequent:

• A resequent river flows in the same direction as that of the initial consequent drainage.
• Resequent rivers originate at a much later stage (hence they are called resequent) in comparison to the master consequent rivers.

The correct answer is Hydration.

Key Points

Hydration:

• Hydration is the chemical addition of water that involves the rigid attachment of H+ and OH- ions to the atoms and molecules of a mineral.
• When rock minerals take up water, the increased volume creates physical stresses within the rock.
• For example, iron oxides are converted to iron hydroxides which are larger in volume.
• Hydration is reversible, and continued repetition of this process causes fatigue in the rocks and may lead to their disintegration.
• The volume changes in minerals due to hydration will also help in physical weathering through exfoliation and granular disintegration.

Additional Information

Hydrolysis:

• In biological hydrolysis, a water molecule is consumed to affect the separation of a larger molecule into component parts.
• In biological hydrolysis pure water reacts with silicate or carbonate minerals resulting in the complete dissolution of the original mineral (dissolution weathering).
• Biological hydrolysis is an important reaction in controlling the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere and can affect climate.

Oxidation and Reduction:

• ​In weathering, oxidation means a combination of a mineral with oxygen to form oxides (rusting in case of iron) or hydroxides. Red soils appear red due to the presence of iron oxides.
• Oxidation occurs where there is ready access to the atmosphere and water.
• The minerals most commonly involved in this process are iron, manganese, sulphur etc.
• When oxidised minerals are placed in an environment where oxygen is absent, reduction takes place.
• Such conditions usually exist below the water table, in areas of stagnant water and waterlogged ground.

Carbonation:

• Carbonation refers to reactions of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid.
• Carbonation weathering is a process in which atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to solution weathering.
• As rain falls, it dissolves small amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, forming a weak acid that can dissolve some minerals like limestone (calcium carbonate) (solution weathering).
• When carbonic acid reacts with limestone, it produces calcium bicarbonate, which is partially soluble in water (dissolution weathering).
• Caves are formed when underground water containing carbonic acid travels through blocks of limestone, dissolves out the limestone, and leaves empty pockets (caves).

The correct answer is Mesozoic era.

Key Points

The Indian desert (Marusthali):

• Rajasthan Plains are occupied by Thar or the Great Indian Desert.
• This plain is an undulating plain rwave like whose average elevation is about 325 m above mean sea level.
• The desert region is called Marusthali and forms a greater part of the Marwar plain.
• It has a few outcrops of gneisses, schists and granites which proves that geologically it is a part of the Peninsular Plateau. It is only at the surface that it looks like an aggradational plain.
• In general, the eastern part of the Marusthali is rocky while its western part is covered by shifting sand dunes.
• The eastern part of the Thar Desert up to the Aravali Range is a semi-arid plain known as Rajasthan Bagar.
• It is drained by a number of short seasonal streams originating from the Aravali and supports agriculture in some patches of fertile tracts.
• Luni is an important seasonal stream which flows into Rann of Kuchchh. The tract north of the Luni is known as thali or sandy plain.
• This region extends over 62,000 sq. km, north of the Luni river.
• It is believed that this region during the Mesozoic era, was under the sea and this belief is made strong by the pieces of evidence found at the wood fossils park at Aakal, marine deposits around Brahmsar, near Jaisalmer.
• These wood fossils were as old as 180 million years.
• The south half of Marusthali forms a never-ending bowl, framed by flat-topped hills of sand, rocks, and limestone.
• The north part has ridden closely packed with coarse sand.

The correct answer is 1 and 3 only.

Key Points

Charvaka (Brihaspati):

• It is Unorthodox  (Heterodox) Schools of Indian Philosophy.
• Charvaka school, also called Lokayata Philosophy, is a philosophical Indian school of materialists who rejected the notion of an afterworld, karma, liberation (moksha), the authority of the sacred scriptures, the Vedas, and the immortality of the self.
• According to Charvaka there is no other world. Hence, death is the end of humans & pleasure is the ultimate object in life.
• It is also known as the Lokayata Philosophy-the philosophy of masses.
• Brihaspati laid the groundwork for this school, which was supposed to be one of the first to develop a philosophical theory.
• The Charvaka School was a major proponent of the materialistic approach to salvation.
• Because it was aimed at the common people, the philosophy was quickly dubbed Lokayata, or something derived from the common people.
• Later texts refer to two Charvaka schools—Dhurtta and Sushikshita, but details are lacking.
• The former apparently held that only the four element —earth, water, air, and fire—existed.
• They understood the body as composed of a combination of atoms and rejected the idea of a soul.
• Sushikshita Charvaka, on the other hand, accepted the idea of a soul that was distinct from the body.
• However, this soul was not eternal—it was destroyed when the body was destroyed. Hence, statements 1 and 3 are correct.

The correct answer is 1, 2 and 3.

Key Points

Terms were used to denote Muslims:

• It is a noteworthy fact that the Sanskrit texts and inscriptions of these six centuries rarely referred to the Muslims in religious terms.
• Instead, ethnic or regional terms were generally employed to refer to them.
• They included terms such as Turushka, Tajika, Mlechchha, Parasika, Yavana, Hammira, Gori, Turaka, Matanga and Garjanaka. Hence option 1 is correct.
• Only in Veraval inscription of the time of Vaghela Arjunadeva, issued in the year 1264, one finds the term Musalmaana used to denote the Muslims.
• Between fifteenth and seventeenth centuries too, Yavana, Shaka and Turushka were used but new words like Pathana, Mugil, Sultana and Patrishaha also made their appearance.
• Interestingly, Allavadina (Alauddin Khilji) was referred to as Dillishwar and Yavana and his soldiers were called Turushka.
• There are ample references in the Sanskrit texts of this period to the forging of political alliances between Yavana rulers and local or regional rulers who too were described not as Hindus but by their family names like Kakatiyas or Pandyas.

Additional Information

Kardamaka:

• A new dynasty, called the Bhadramukhas or Kardamaka dynasty, was established by the "Satrap" Castana. Hence, statement 4 is not correct.
• The date of Castana is not certain, but many believe his reign started in the year 78 CE, thus making him the founder of the Saka era.
• Castana was satrap of Ujjain during that period.

The correct answer is Dholavira.

Key Points

Dholavira:

• The ancient city of Dholavira is an archaeological site at Kachchh District, in the state of Gujarat, which dates from the 3^rd to mid-2^nd millennium BCE.
• Dholavira’s location is on the Tropic of Cancer.
• It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kachchh Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kachchh.
• It is one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia.
• It was discovered in 1968 by archaeologist Jagat Pati Joshi.
• After Mohen-jo-Daro, Ganweriwala and Harappa in Pakistan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana of India, Dholavira is the fifth largest metropolis of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC).
• The site contains ruins of an ancient IVC/Harappan city. It comprises two parts: a walled city and a cemetery to the west of the city.
• The walled city consists of a fortified Castle with attached fortified Bailey and Ceremonial Ground, and a fortified MiddleTown and a Lower Town.
• A series of reservoirs are found to the east and south of the Citadel.

Important Points

• Unlike other Harappan antecedent towns normally located near to rivers and perennial sources of water, the location of Dholavira in the island of Khadir bet.
• Artifacts that were found here include terracotta pottery, beads, gold and copper ornaments, seals, fish hooks, animal figurines, tools, urns, and some imported vessels.
• Remains of a copper smelter indicate Harappans, who lived in Dholavira, knew metallurgy.
• It is believed that traders of Dholavira used to source copper ore from present-day Rajasthan and Oman and UAE and exported finished products.
• It was also a hub of manufacturing jewellery made of shells and semi-precious stones, like agate and used to export timber.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

Key Points

Cavalry warfare in India:

• A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather.
• Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal (usually a horse).
• Between the late 6^th century AD and early 7^th century AD, during the invasion of Central Asia by the Avars marks the spread of stirrups from China to Europe.
• A pair of first century BC, double bent iron bars, approximately 17cm in length, with curvature at each end, excavated from a grave near Junapani, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have been postulated as either full foot stirrups or bridle bits.
• The iron stirrup made it possible for the armoured warrior to sit firmly on horse without falling off. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The iron stirrup also allowed a cavalry charge with lances held tightly to the body, without the rider being thrown off by the shock of impact. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

​

The correct answer is option 1.

Key Points

The British policy towards Afghanistan:

• Throughout the 19^th century, the British rulers of India were concerned that Russia would attack India via Afghanistan and the country's northwestern border.
• As a result, they desired to keep Russia at a safe distance from the Indian border.
• From a geographical standpoint, Afghanistan was placed in a critical position for the British.
• It could be used as a forward base outside of India's borders to monitor Russia's potential military threat while also promoting British commercial interests in Central Asia.
• Afghanistan's politics have been in flux since the early nineteenth century.

The British policy towards Afghanistan in the first half of the 19^th century:

• In the early nineteenth century, increased Russian influence in Persia replaced British influence and thwarted an English scheme for establishment of a new route by River Euphrates to India.
• Especially after the Treaty of Turkomanchai (1828), the English got alarmed about possible Russian plans regarding India.
• Soon, there was a search for a scientific frontier from the Indian side.
• The British wanted to weaken and end Russian influence in Afghanistan, but they did not want a strong Afghanistan.
• They wanted to keep her a weak and divided country which they could easily control.
• Passes of the north-west seemed to hold the key to enter India. The need was felt for Afghanistan to be under control of a ruler friendly to the British.
• Auckland who came to India as the governor-general in 1836, advocated a forward policy.
• This implied that the Company government in India itself had to take initiatives to protect the boundary of British India from a probable Russian attack.
• This objective was to be achieved either through treaties with the neighbouring countries or by annexing them completely.
• This prompted the British government to go ahead with the forward policy, and a Tripartite Treaty (1838) was entered into by the British, Sikhs and Shah Shuja (who had been deposed from the Afghan throne in 1809 and had been living since then as a British pensioner at Ludhiana).

The correct answer is Turkey.

Key Points

• The United Nations on 1 June 2022 granted Turkey’s request to change its name from Turkey to Turkiye.
• Turkey began the move to change its internationally recognised official name in English to Turkiye in December 2021.
• The country called itself Turkiye in 1923 after its declaration of independence.

Additional Information

• Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country located mainly on Anatolia in Western Asia, with a portion on the Balkans in Southeast Europe.
• Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East.
• Turkey:
• Speaker: Mustafa Şentop
• Capital: Ankara
• Currency: Turkish lira
• President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan​

The correct answer is option 3.

Key Points

The SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication):

• It is formally known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
• It is a trusted messaging system for banks and other financial institutions around the world.
• It doesn’t settle any money itself, but provides instruction messages for just how to give and receive specific funds.
• It is controlled by the central banks of the G10 countries, the European Central Bank, and the National Bank of Belgium.
• Prior to SWIFT, the only reliable means of message confirmation for international funds transfer was Telex.
• There are about 11,000 member banks in 200 countries and territories that use SWIFT.
• An important component of the SWIFT messaging system is the SWIFT code.
• Each bank that participates in the system is assigned this code, which identifies the bank, the country it’s in, where it’s located in the country, and, optionally, the branch.
• When a bank is a member of SWIFT, its instruction messages are cleared as secure immediately, so the transactions happen quickly.

Important Points

• Iran and North Korea are already out of the SWIFT platform.
• Recently, the US and the European Commission have excluded several Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system to counter Russia’s war over Ukraine.

The correct answer is Diesel-electric submarines.

Key Points

• ​Project 75 is a programme by the Indian Navy that envisaged building six Scorpene-Class attack submarines.
• The Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) is manufacturing six Scorpene submarines with technical assistance from the Naval Group of France.
• The submarines include:
• INS Kalavari.
• INS Khanderi.
• INS Kharanj.
• INS Vela.
• INS Vagir.
• INS Vagsheer.
• The submarines under Project-75 Scorpene-Class are powered by diesel-electric propulsion systems.

Important Points

• The Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders on 20 April 2022, launched INS Vagsheer, the last of the six submarines under Project 75.
• The submarine was launched by Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar.
• Named after sandfish, a deadly deep water sea predator of the Indian Ocean, the first submarine 'Vagsheer' was commissioned in December 1974.
• It was decommissioned in April 1997.