Social Studies PYQs

The correct answer is France.

Key Points

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to participate in the 45^th G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, in 2019.

• It was 3-days event held on 24-26 August 2019.

• The 45^th G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was also the last summit for Council President Donald Tusk.

• The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed Australia's Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as special invitees to attend the summit's outreach session.

• The current Prime Minister of Australia is Anthony Albanese. (2022) Important Points

• The Group of Seven (G7) is a multinational intergovernmental economic body made up of seven major developing nations, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, the world's largest advanced IMF economies.

• As of 2018, 58 per cent of global net income ($317 trillion) and more than 46 per cent of global gross domestic product ( GDP) is reflected by the seven countries participating, based on nominal values, and more than 32 per cent of global GDP is based on purchasing power parity.

• The invitation to the G7 is from the European Union. Seven heads of government from these seven nations are participating in the annual G7 Summit$.

The correct answer is 34. 

Key Points

• The strength of the Supreme court is 34.

Important Points

• The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial court under the Constitution of India.
• Article 124 provides for the establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court.
• Established as the Supreme court of India on 28^th January 1950.
• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Also known as the 'Guardian of our Constitution'.
• The chief justice of India is the head of the Supreme Court of India.
• Parliament has the power to increase or decrease the number of judges in the Supreme court.

Additional Information 

• In order to be named as a Judge of the Supreme Court, a person must be a citizen of India and must have been a Judge of the High Court or of two or more of those Courts in succession for at least five years, or an Advocate of the High Court or of two or more of those Courts in succession for at least 10 years, or must be a distinguished jurist in the view of the President.
• There are arrangements for the selection of a Justice of the High Court as an ad hoc Judge of the Supreme Court and for the sitting and acting of a Judge of that Court by retired Judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts.​

The correct answer is in November 2014.

• The ‘Act East Policy’ announced in November 2014 is the upgrade of the “Look East Policy”.
• It is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic, and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different levels.
• It involves intensive and continuous engagement with Southeast Asian countries in the field of connectivity, trade, culture, defense, and people-to-people-contact at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.

Additional Information

• The "Act East policy" of India is a diplomatic effort to foster, at various levels, commercial, political and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region.
• Since 1992, the country's eastward push has emphasised the role of this area in its contemporary foreign affairs.

The correct answer is the Ninth Schedule.

Important Points

• This Act can be referred to as the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act, 1950.
• It refers to the entire of Uttar Pradesh, except for areas which are included in a municipality or district on the 7^th day of July 1949 according to the United Provinces Municipalities Act, 1916 (U.P. Act II, 1916).
• An Act to allow the abolition of the Zamindari system involving intermediaries between the land tiller and the State in Uttar Pradesh and the acquisition of lands, title and interest, and to amend the law on land tenure resulting from such abolition and acquisition, and to make provision for other related matters.
• Whereas it is appropriate to provide for the abolition of the Zamindari system, which involves intermediaries between the land tiller and the State in Uttar Pradesh, and for the acquisition of their lands, title and interest, and for the reform of the law on land tenure resulting from such abolition and acquisition, and to make provision for other matters relating thereto.

Additional Information

 List of all the schedules of Indian Constitution. 

The correct answer is Dr. B. N. Rau.

Key Points

• In formulating the Indian Constitution in 1946, Dr. B.N. Rau was appointed Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly.
• He was responsible for the general structure of its democratic framework of the Constitution and prepared its initial draft in February 1948.
• This plan was debated, amended and eventually approved by the Constituent Assembly of India on 26 November 1949.
• Resolution of the Constituent Assembly forming the Drafting Committee on 29 August 1947**, under the chairmanship of B.R. Ambedkar.**
• The Indian Constituent Assembly was chosen to draft the Constitution of India.
• Following India's independence from the British Government in 1947, its members acted as the first parliament of the country.
• In 1934, the Constituent Assembly was proposed by M. N. Roy, a hero of the Communist revolution in India and a proponent of social democracy.
• In 1935, it became the official demand of the Indian National Congress.
• On 15 November 1939, Rajagopalachari asked for an Adult Franchise Constituent Assembly, which was approved by the British in August 1940.

Important Points

• Koka Subba Rao was the ninth Chief Justice of India (1966-1967).
• He has served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
• Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educator from Gujarat.
• A lawyer by profession, he later turned to a writer and politician.
• It is a well-known name in Gujarati literature.
• In 1938, he founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust.
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India to serve from 1950 to 1962.

The correct answer is The Estimate Committee.

• The committee consists of thirty members, all of whom are elected from the lower house of the Parliament of India, Lok Sabha.
• Members shall be elected annually from among their Lok Sabha members, in line with the concept of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
• The Estimates Committee is a committee of appointed members of parliament established by the Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) to scrutinize the operation of government ministries and departments with respect to spending and the utilization of funds.
• In order to bring in productivity and productivity of government, it also proposes different strategies.
• It also investigates whether the budgets are laid out within the policy parameters set out in the projections and also determines the manner in which the projections are to be submitted to Parliament.
• The three Financial Standing Committees of the Parliament of India is this Assembly, along with the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) and the Assembly on Public Undertakings (COPU).

Key Points 

• The Lok Sabha speaker appoints the chairman of the committee.
• The length of the members' term of office is one year.
• A minister is not elected for the committee to become a member.
• When a candidate becomes a minister following his election to the commission, he or she ceases to be a candidate as of the date of that nomination. There are no Rajya Sabha members.
• The committee is currently chaired by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Girish Bapat.

​

Additional Information 

• The Public Accounts Committee is a committee of appointed members of the Parliament of India for the purpose of auditing the income and expenditure of the Government of India.
• The Committee on Public Enterprises is a committee of appointed members of the Parliament of India for the purpose of reviewing the records and accounts of public sector undertakings as set out in the fourth schedule of the rules of practise and conduct of business in Lok Sabha.

The correct answer is A, B, and C.

Key Points

• In 1992, the 73^rd Amendment added to the Constitution a new Part IX entitled 'The Panchayats' covering the requirements of Article 243 to 243(O); and a new Eleventh Schedule covering the duties of the Panchayats covering 29 topics.
• This amendment imposes Article 40 of the DPSP, which states that "the State shall take steps to organise and endow village panchayats with the rights and resources that may be required to allow them to operate as self-government units" and to elevate them from an unjustifiable to a justifiable part of the Constitution and to place a constitutional duty on states to enforce the Panchayat.
• Gram Sabha is an organization consisting of all persons enrolled in the electoral rolls relating to a village at the level of the village within the Panchayat district.
• Although the members of Gram Sabha are all people listed in the electoral rolls, no elected officials are present.
• Part IX provides for a 3-tier Panchayat system, which will be formed at the level of the village, intermediate level and district in every state.

The correct answer is Centre.

Key Points

• According to Article 248 in the Constitution of India, The residuary powers of legislation,
• In respect to any matter not mentioned in the Concurrent List or State List, Parliament has exclusive authority to make any law.
• Such authority requires the power to create any law imposing a tax not specified on any of those lists.
• Parliament and state legislatures have special rights to legislate, respectively, on issues on the Union List and the State List.
• In the Concurrent list, they may also legislate on products.
• However, the Founding Fathers made residual provisions in Article 248 of the Constitution and Entry 97 of the Union List, foreseeing the likelihood of a situation in which legislation could be required in respect of matters not listed in any of the three lists.

Important Points

• Article 248 and Entry 97 of the Union List of the Constitution of India grant residuary powers of legislation solely to the Union where a piece of legislation is not included in either of the three lists.
• It must be treated as a matter not included in either of the three lists and which, according to Article 248, belongs solely to the Parliament under Entry 97 of List I.
• In other words, the meaning of Article 248 shall be identified with that of List I of Entry 97.

The correct answer is 1976.

Key Points

• By the 42^nd Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in 1976, basic duties to people were also enumerated for Indian residents.
• In the Constitution, Article 51 'A' found in Part IV A deals with basic duties.
• Fundamental Duties are derived from Russia's Constitution.
• Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy, and Fundamental Duties are parts of the Indian Constitution that lay down the fundamental obligations of States with regard to their people and the obligations and rights of citizens with regard to the State.
• Such portions form a constitutional bill of rights for the making of government policies and citizens' behavior and actions.
• These parts are considered essential elements of the constitution established by the Constituent Assembly of India between 1947 and 1949.

Important Points

• Fundamental rights are known by all people as fundamental human rights.
• These rights, as specified in Part III of the Constitution, extend regardless of ethnicity, place of birth, faith, caste, religion, or gender.
• They are enforceable, subject to particular limitations, by the courts.
• The standards for the framing of legislation by the government are the Directive Principles of State Policy.
• The aim of Fundamental Rights is to protect the independence and democratic values of people, based on the dignity of all members of society.
• Dr B.R. Ambedkar said that it is not only the duty of the legislature to grant constitutional rights, but also, and most importantly, to protect them.

The correct answer is 1959.

Key Points

• The first elections under the Rajasthan Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishads Act, 1959, were held in September-October 1959.
• On 2 October 1959, under the Rajasthan Panchayat Act, 1953, the three-tier system of Panchayati Raj began functioning with the already existing Panchayats at the village level.
• The Panchayat Raj system was first introduced by the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act of 1947 in the state of Bihar.
• It was an enduring trend of local self-government, introduced in the British period by Lord Ripon. It was later introduced by Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2 Oct 1959.
• After independence, Rajasthan was the first state to adopt the panchayat system in India.
• The ninth state was Maharashtra.
• It also formed the support for the definition in the Indian Constitution with the 73^rd amendment in 1992.
• The Constitutional Act 1992 (73^rd amendment) came into force in the history of Panchayati Raj, India, on 24 April 1993, to provide the institutions of Panchayati Raj with constitutional status.
• This clause was added to the Panchayats as of 24 December 1996 in the eight tribal districts of eight states, namely: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan.

Important Points 

• A committee formed by the Government of India in January 1957 to evaluate the function of the Cooperative Development Programme (1952) and the National Extension Service (1953) and recommend steps to strengthen their function was the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, led by MP Balwantrai Mehta.
• The report of the committee was adopted in January 1958 by the NDC, and this set the stage for the nationwide introduction of Panchayati Raj institutions.
• The committee proposed that the structure of 'democratic decentralization' be developed, which gradually came to be known as Panchayati Raj.

The correct answer is 15.

Key Points

• There are 15 Matras in Tal Pancham Sawari.
• Pancham Sawari is a taal or rhythm pattern that has fifteen beats or matras and not uniform in distribution across four divisions.
• The more commonly used structure follows a 4+3+5+3, while the second one has a 4+4+4+3 format.

Important Points

• The world-renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain presents a solo following the second format.

The correct answer is Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee:
• He was an Indian poet and journalist.
• He composed the national song Vande Mataram, the national song of India during India's freedom struggle.
• It was in Anandamath, that Bankim wrote the poem 'Vande Mataram'.

Additional Information

• ​Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was a Bengali novelist and short story writer.
• He was well known for his first novel Badadidi (1907), which was published in the Bharati.
• Amir Khusro was a disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya.
• He is regarded as the “father of qawwali”.
• Amir Khusro was also called as 'The Parrot of India'.
• He was credited with the invention of the tabla and sitar.
• Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win a Nobel prize for literature.
• His first poem 'Abhilash' was published in 'Tattobodhini Patrika in 1874.
• It was he who wrote Jana Gana Mana, National anthem of India.

The correct answer is Morning time.

Key Points

• Raag Bhairav is also referred to as the king of morning Raags.
• It is an Indian classical raga of Bhairav thaat.
• It is traditionally performed in morning.
• Bhairav is one of few ragas that can be sung in any season.

Additional Information

• Gaud Saarang (Kalyan Thaat) and Multani (Todi Thaat) is sung in afternoon.
• Bhoopali and Kamod (Kalyan thaat) is performed in the evening.
• Ragas like Malkauns and Bihag are classified in the midnight category

The correct answer is 10 : 1.

• The C: N ratio of normal soil is defined as the ratio of the mass of carbon to the mass of nitrogen in a substance.
• C: N ratio of normal soil is 10:1.
• 10:1 ratio indicates that there are ten units of carbon (C) for each unit of nitrogen (N) in the soil.
• This ratio significantly impact the crop residue decomposition, particularly residue-cover on the soil and the crop nutrient cycling.

The correct answer is Soil texture.

• Soil texture is the relative proportions of sand, silt, or clay in a soil.
• If the texture is too fine (clays), the soil tends to be compact and is difficult to cultivate.
• If the texture is too coarse (coarse sand), the solid lets the water to pass away leading to drought like situation.
• If the texture is loamy, it tends to absorb and retain moisture, and is favourable for cultivation.
• Soil structure refers to the assembling of soil particles like sand, silt, clay, organic matter, and fertilizers into porous compounds.

Additional Information

• Major Soil groups in India are:
• Alluvial soils,
• Black soils,
• Red soils,
• Laterite and Lateritic soils,
• Forest and Mountain soils,
• Arid and Desert soils,
• Saline and Alkaline soils and
• Peaty and Marshy soils.
• Soil aggregates are groups of primary soil particles that bind to each other more strongly than to adjacent particles.

The correct answer is Lack of oiling and cleaning.

Key Points

• The first functional sewing machine was invented by the French tailor, Barthelemy Thimonnier, in 1830.
• Sewing machine runs heavily when the belt is too tight and therefore puts excessive pressure on the bearings.
• If the belt is too loose, it slips on the balance wheel.
• Possible causes for the sewing machine runs heavily are
• Dust or lint clogging under the feed dog
• Insufficient oiling
• Machine not used for sometime with the result that the parts have jammed

The correct answer is Osteoporosis.

• Calcium deficiency occurs at any stage.
• It can result in rickets, osteoporosis, and osteopenia.
• Osteoporosis occurs at later stages of life and is a disease in which bone becomes more fragile and more likely leading to fractures.

Additional Information

• Anaemia is occurs due to the deficiency of iron and it may also leads to tiredness and shortening of breath.
• Osteomalacia refers to softening of bones, caused by severe vitamin D deficiency.
• Rickets usually occurs due to the lack of vitamin D or calcium and it is a condition which affects bone development in children.

The correct answer is Haemoglobin.

• Haemoglobin is a protein found in the red blood cells that carry oxygen in your body.
• It is the substance that gives blood its red colour.
• Haemoglobin is an iron-containing pigment.

Additional Information

• Globins are haem-containing colourless proteins that are involved in binding or transporting oxygen.
• Lipoproteins are macromolecular complexes of lipids and proteins that carry cholesterol through your bloodstream.
• Haemoglobin comprises of four globin chains in which each contains a haem molecule which reversibly binds to oxygen.

The correct answer is Froebel.

• Froebel was a German educator who invented the kindergarten.
• Froebel encouraged more practical education that involved practical environment to work and the direct use of materials.
• Froebel believed that education should aim at all round development of the child.
• His approach is based on play drives learning and it is prevalent in Europe and India nowadays.

Additional Information

• Montessori education is based on the principle developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori.
• The goal of Montessori education is to grow children to become independent and responsible adults who share a love for learning.
• John Dalton was an English physicist and chemist and was the best known for his atomic theory.
• Dalton's atomic theory was the first complete attempt to describe all matter in terms of atoms and their properties.
• Herbert A Simon was an was an American economist and political scientist who is best known for the theories of "bounded rationality" and "satisficing".

John Dewey, an American philosopher has proposed the concept of 'Progressive Education' that emphasizes learning takes place through a hands-on approach so the students must interact with their environment to adapt and learn.

Project method is based on the philosophy of Pragmatism.

• Project method is based on the principle of Learning by doing.
• Project method makes learning realistic and experimental.
• It aims to make students think independently and is a target-driven activity based on challenge, fostering success and efficient cooperation.

Key Points

• Learning by doing and experiencing the consequences of one's own actions.
• To enhance skills and understanding of the learners as they gain knowledge by engaging with the contents and experiences.

Hence, the Project method is based on Learning by doing.