Social Studies PYQs

The correct answer is Jammu - Kashmir.

'Pakal Dul' hydroelectric power project

• It is situated in Jammu - Kashmir.
• This hydroelectric power project is currently under construction in the village of Drangdhuran.
• The project is part of the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) for Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is expected that this project would produce 3,330 million units of energy a year. The estimated cost is Rs. 81.12 billion.
• This project is being constructed by Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited on Marusadar River which is a tributary of the Chenab River.
• Once this project is completed, it would be the first storage project and the biggest hydroelectric project in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It includes the construction of a 167 m-tall, concrete-face rockfill dam, and two circular headrace tunnels.

Each tunnel will have a diameter of 7.2m and a length of 9.6km.

• The construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 and the project is expected to start operations from March 2024.
• The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and PTC India hold 49% and 2% stakes respectively.

The correct answer is Wheat.

Plantation Crop: These crops are cultivated on an extensive scale in contiguous areas.

• These are cultivated extensively in tropical and subtropical situations and the produces of which are usually consumed after processing.
• Examples: Tea, Coffee, Coconut, Rubber, Cashewnut, Cocoa, Palmyrah, etc.
• These plantation crops are high-value commercial crops of greater economic importance and play a vital role in improving the Indian economy.

Wheat is a rabi crop and cereal grain. 

Key Points

• India is the second-largest producer of wheat in the world.
• The cultivation is traditionally been dominated by the northern region of India.
• Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Gujarat are the major wheat-growing states.
• It is to be noted that  India has exported 2,17,354.22 MT of wheat to various countries for the worth of Rs. 439.16 crores during the year of 2019-20.

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.
• This organization is an alliance of 31 independent member countries.
• It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949.

Key Points

• The fundamental goal of this organization is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
• It enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
• Article 5 states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all. This article was invoked when Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Centre in September 2001.
• Chairman of the NATO Military Committee: Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach, Royal Air Force.
• Secretary-General: Mark Rutte.

The correct answer is 22.

• 22 languages have been mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• These languages are- Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
• The constitutional provisions on languages are in articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution.

Key Points

Schedules in Indian Constitution

The correct answer is Federalism.

Key Points

• Federalism is not a part of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution**. Hence option 4 is incorrect.**
• A preamble is basically an introductory statement in a document explaining the philosophy and objectives of the document.
• The ideals of the Preamble were laid down in Objectives Resolution by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The Preamble declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic.
• The word 'socialist' was added in the Preamble by 42^nd Amendment, 1976.
• The word 'secular' was added in the Preamble by the 42^nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976.

Additional Information

Preamble

• "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."

Social Studies is the study of relations and interrelations, historical, geographical, and social. It establishes the relationship between present and past, local and distant, and personal and national lives, and also with the lives and cultures of other men and women in different parts of the world.

Audio-Visual Aids are sensory devices, they provide a sensory experience to the learner, and i.e. the learners can see and hear simultaneously using their senses. For example, LCD project, Film projector, TV, Computer, VCD player, Multimedia, etc.

Key Points

Benefits of Audio-Visual Aids:

• Audio-visual aids help in the teaching of social studies to capture and sustain the attention of students.
• Audio-visual aids are useful for students and teachers as well, these are objects which initiate, stimulate, and reinforce the learning of students.
• Audio-visual aids help in saving energy and time for both the teachers and students.

Hence, it becomes clear that Audio-visual is the most important aid in the teaching of social studies.

Social Studies is the study of relations and interrelations, historical, geographical, and social. It establishes the relationship between present and past, local and distant, and personal and national lives, and also with the lives and cultures of other men and women in different parts of the world.

Social Science at Upper Primary Level:

• Social Science must link a child's life at school with life outside the classroom.
• It helps to initiate the learner into a study of India’s past, with references to contemporary developments in other parts of the world.
• It includes disciplines of History, Geography, Political Science, Economics, and Sociology.
• The objective of teaching the social sciences is to develop an understanding of the earth as the habitat of humankind and other forms of life.
• Hence, it becomes clear that the Philosophy subject is not included in social science at the upper primary level.

Key Points

Aims of Social Science Education at the Upper Primary Level:

• To provide practical knowledge of the subject matter content.
• Relating education to the everyday experiences of learners.
• To provide the latest knowledge to develop scientific knowledge, scientific appreciation and scientific temper among the students.

The correct answer is Dr Rajendra Prasad.

Key Points

• Dr Rajendra Prasad was the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly.
• The Constituent Assembly of India was formed on the recommendations of the Cabinet Mission that visited India in 1946 to draft a constitution for the country.
• It was constituted on 9^th December 1946. Dr Sachidanand was the interim President when the first meeting took place.
• Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President and H.C. Mukherjee as the Vice-President of the Co.nstituent Assembly on December 11, 1946.
• The Constituent Assembly selected 22 committees to deal with diverse tasks of framing the Constitution. 10 committees were on procedural affairs and 12 committees were on substantive affairs.

Additional Information

• K.M. Munshi was the chairman of the Order of Business Committee.
• Jawaharlal Nehru was the chairman of the States Committee, Union Constitution Committee, and Union Powers Committee.
• Dr. Sachhidannad Sinha was the temporary president of the Constituent Assembly.

In the absence of the President, Vice - President has to perform Presidential functions.

• It is important to note that Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• As per Article 65 of the Indian Constitution, the Vice-President acts as the President when the President is unable to discharge his functions due to absence, illness, or any other cause.
• The Vice-President also acts as the President till the election of a new President which is to be held within six months when a vacancy is caused by death, resignation, or removal of President.
• It is pertinent to note that the Vice-President ceases to perform the function of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha while discharging the duty of the President.
• The removal of the President is prescribed in Article 61 of the Constitution. He/she hand-addressed the resignation to the Vice-President.

Additional Information

Current Vice President of India-Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar.

India is a member of PTBT.

Partial Test Ban Treaty(PTBT): 

• This Treaty requires all the party members to prohibit, prevent, and abstain from carrying out nuclear weapons tests or any other nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, in outer space, underwater, or in any other environment.
• It is primarily prohibited when the explosions cause radioactive debris to cross the territorial limits of the country that is conducting the explosion.
• India signed the PTBT treaty in 1963.

Key Points

Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT):

• It is an international treaty with the objective to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.
• It aims to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
• India possesses nuclear weapons but it is not a part of NPT.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty(CTBT):

• It is the Treaty banning all nuclear explosions - everywhere, by everyone.
• It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and was opened for signature on 24 September 1996.
• India is not a part of CTBT.

The correct answer is South Sudan.

Key Points

Indian soldiers had been awarded the 'UN Medal' recently for their peacekeeping works in South Sudan.

• In December 2019, about 850 Indian peacekeepers had been recognized for their strong contribution to building peace in conflict-affected South Sudan.
• Those peacekeepers went beyond their duties to support local communities. They primarily received the United Nations Medal for their dedication and sacrifice of serving away from home to protect civilians and build durable peace in South Sudan.
• The soldiers also made exemplary efforts to support peace talks between Government and Opposition forces in the Upper Nile region and establish the first-ever UNMISS base on the west bank of the Nile at Kodok.
• The peacekeepers supported local communities by building veterinary hospitals at Kodok and Malakal, training cattle-keepers to better care for their livestock, and providing life-saving medical assistance to people in need.

Additional Information 

• UN Peacekeeping helps countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. The UN peacekeepers provide security and political and peacebuilding support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.
• UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:-
• Consent of the parties
• Impartiality
• Non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate.

The correct answer is International Criminal Court​

Note: Reference is sometimes made to 15 Specialized Agencies because the World Bank Group, which is now treated as one organization, is composed, in part, of three Specialized Agencies.

• International Criminal Court is not an agency of the UNO.
• The ICC was established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998, and it began sittings on July 1, 2002, after 60 countries had ratified the Rome Statute.

Additional Information

• There are 17 Specialized Agencies:

• FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization

• ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization

• IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development

• ILO: International Labour Organization

• IMF: International Monetary Fund

• IMO: International Maritime Organization

• ITU: International Telecommunication Union

• UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

• UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organization

• UNWTO: World Tourism Organization

• UPU: Universal Postal Union

• WHO: World Health Organization

• WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization

• WMO: World Meteorological Organization

• World Bank Group

• IBRD: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

• IDA: International Development Association

• IFC: International Finance Corporation

• The main organs of the United Nations are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. These were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

Calcium Ammonium Nitrate is called the ‘Kisan Khad’.

• Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) is a fertilizer manufactured at Nangal in Punjab.
• The presence of Calcium in it prevents the development of acidity in the soil.
• It is also known as Nitro-limestone and Kisan-Khad.

Hectare is a unit of area, whereas Hectare centimetre is a unit of volume.

• 1 Hectare = 10000 m²
• 1 m² = 10000 cm²
• 1 litre = 1000 cm³

Important Points

• 1 Hectare = 10000 m² = 10000 x 10000 cm² = 100000000 cm²
• 1 Hectare cm = 100000000 cm2 cm = 100000000 cm³
• 100000000 cm3 = 100000 litre

Hence, the quantity of water in the one-hectare centimetre will be 100000 litres.

Banana is propagated by suckers.

• Bananas are propagated vegetatively because nearly all cultivated varieties are seedless.
• The principal method of banana propagation is the division of suckers that arise from the base of the main stem or from the underground corm.
• The banana has a reduced underground stem called the rhizome.
• Rhizome bears several buds.
• Each of these buds sprouts and forms its own pseudostem and a new bulbous rhizome.
• These daughter plants are called suckers.
• A good sucker is free from insects and leaf mottling and has narrow tapering leaves.
• Banana belongs to the family-Musaceae and genus-Musa.

Hygroscopic substances are those substances that tend to absorb moisture from the air.

• Fertilizer is a chemical or natural substance that is added to soil or land to increase its fertility.
• All fertilizers are more or less hygroscopic. They start absorbing moisture at a specific humidity or at a certain water vapor pressure.
• A blend of two-component can be more hygroscopic than the components on their own.
• Nitrogenous fertilizers are highly hygroscopic.
• Urea is a remarkably hygroscopic substance when the humidity of the air is at a relatively high level. It contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
• Urea is the most important nitrogenous fertilizer in the country because of its high nitrogen content of 46%. When it is applied to the bare soil surface, significant quantities of ammonia may be lost by volatilization because of its rapid hydrolysis to ammonium carbonate.
• Urea is typically stored either in closed or sealed bags on pallets because it rapidly absorbs moisture.

Key Points

• Calcium ammonium nitrate contains 20.5 to 25% nitrogen.
• Sodium nitrate contains 16% nitrogen.
• Ammonium Sulphate contains 21% nitrogen.

• Green manures are the crops that are grown primarily for building and maintaining soil fertility and structure.
• Green manure crops should be such that they can be grown quickly.
• Green manure crops include legumes such as vetch, clover, beans and peas; grasses such as annual ryegrass, oats, rapeseed, winter wheat and winter rye and buckwheat.
• Green manure crops provide nitrogen as the major nutrient.

​

The four stages of crop growth:

Initial stage:

• As seeds get water and the right temperature, they begin to germinate.
• The seeds take in or imbibe, water, and they grow larger.
• Roots then start to push out from the seed.
• After a while, the last part of the plant shoot emerges, often showing minute leaves.
• The root system will then begin to grow, and larger leaves will begin to develop.
• The nutritional requirement is not much.

Pre-flowering stage:

• This stage is often called the growth stage or vegetative stage.
• This is the time where plants do the majority of their growing.
• However, it’s not time for flowers and fruit to grow yet.
• The plant's growth is mostly focused on producing and strengthening stems, leaves, branches, and the root system.
• During this growth stage, plants need special attention with regards to nutrients that are given.
• Plants begin producing chlorophyll, to provide essential sugars needed for plant metabolism.
• Because of this, plants often need extra nitrogen.
• Otherwise, plant growth can be inhibited because of nitrogen and nutrient deficiency.
• Green manure crops should be incorporated before the flowering stage in a rainfed or dry region.

Flowering and Post-flowering stage:

• After they grow enough, plants enter their reproductive stage.
• Rather than trying to grow larger, plants focus on flowering.
• Then, producing fruit and eventually, seeds.
• Of course, plants can still grow larger during this stage, but they significantly slow down from the vegetative stage.
• While plants need more nitrogen in the pre-flowering stage of growth, their needs change as they enter the reproductive phase.
• They typically need more phosphorus and potassium instead.
• Thus, green manure crops should be cropped before this stage.

​Maturity stage:

• This is the last stage of plant growth, where it has produced seeds and the crop can be harvested.
• After harvest, there is no need for nutrition.

​Thus, the suitable stage of green manure crop for incorporation in the field is the Pre-flowering stage.

​

Some of the reasons to grow green manures are:-

• supplying nitrogen and other nutrients for a crop.
• preventing leaching of soluble nutrients from the soil.
• providing ground cover to prevent damage to soil structure.
• bringing crop nutrients up from lower soil profiles.
• getting rid of weeds and preventing weed seedling growth.
• aids in the reclamation of saline and alkaline soils by the release of organic acids.

The correct answer is refractometer.

• In fruit juice, sugar concentration is measured by a refractometer.
• Refractometer:
• It is an instrument used for measuring concentrations of aqueous solutions.
• It measures the refractive index of light.
• The refractive index is proportional to the total dissolved solids in a liquid.
• Traditionally in the fruit juice industry, the Brix scale is used to express the refractometer readings.
• The Brix scale is calibrated to the number of grams of cane sugar contained in 100 mL of water.

Key Points

• Potometer: It is an instrument used to measure the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot which is almost equal to the water lost through transpiration.
• Clinometer: It is an instrument used to measure the angle of elevation.
• Tenderometer: It is an instrument used to measure the stage of maturity of peas to determine whether they are ready for cropping.

The correct answer is the coagulation of fruit juice.

• Pectin is the major constituent of all plants.
• It makes up approximately two-thirds of the dry mass of plant primary cell walls.
• Pectin also provides structural integrity, strength, and flexibility to the cell wall. It acts as a barrier to the external environment.
• When Pectin is heated together with sugar, the product starts to thicken.
• It is widely used in the preparation of jams, jellies, and marmalades.
• All fruits contain some pectin, but some must be combined with fruits high in pectin or with commercial pectin products to obtain gels.
• It coagulates the fruit juice.
• One has to be careful while adding pectin to sugar, the product would be very hard of it is put too much.
• The product would be runny if less pectin as added.

The correct answer is Lycopene.

Key Points

• The breakdown of chlorophyll, synthesizes a red carotenoid (another pigment group), lycopene.
• When ripe, the carotenoid can easily be seen as the dominant colour of the tomato, ie red.
• Due to the resilient nature of the pigment, the colour does not fade or become dull when cooked, bottled, canned or pureed.
• Lycopene is also the dominant colour in watermelons.