UPSC Civil Services Previous Year 2020 Question Papers With Answer Key

1 .

With reference to the history of India, the terms ''kulyavapa" and "dronavapa" denote

A)

measurement of land

B)

coins of different monetary value

C)

classification of urban land religious rituals

D)

religious rituals

Correct Answer : measurement of land

Note :

Texts and inscriptions during Gupta period mention various land measure terms

• The angula (probably ¾ inch) was the smallest measure.

• The hasta (cubit) was the standardized distance between the tip of the elbow and the middle finger (18 inches).

• Larger units of measure included the dhanu/danda and nala.

The land measures used in eastern India included the adhavapa (3/8–1/2 acre), dronavapa (1½–2 acres), and kulyavapa (12–16 acres). These were the areas required to sow one adhaka, drona, and kulya of grain respectively. Pataka was another land measure, and seems to have been equivalent to 60–80 acres.

Other terms included pravartavapa (this was much smaller than a kulyavapa), padavarta (over 1 ft), and bhumi. The large number of land measure terms indicate that there was no single standard set of measurement and that different measures were current in different regions.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

2 .

The Vital-Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience was published by

A)

Gopal Baba Walangkar

B)

Jyotiba Phule

C)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

D)

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Correct Answer : Gopal Baba Walangkar

Note :

Gopal Baba Walangkar, (ca. 1840-1900) is an early example of an activist working to release the untouchable people of India from their historic socio-economic oppression and is generally considered to be the pioneer of that movement. He developed a racial theory to explain the oppression and also published the first journal targeted at the untouchable people.

In 1888, Walangkar began publishing the monthly journal titled Vital-Vidhvansak (Destroyer of Brahmanical or Ceremonial Pollution), which was the first to have the untouchable people as its target audience. He also wrote articles for Marathi-language newspapers such as Sudharak and Deenbandhu, as well as composing couplets in Marathi that were intended to inspire the people.

In 1889, he published Vital Viduvansan (Annihilation of Ceremonial Pollution), which protested the position of untouchables in society and raised consciousness regarding what those people should expect. He addressed this pamphlet, which was crafted as a collection of 26 questions, to the elites of Maharashtrian society.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

3 .

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact included which of the following?

1. Invitation to Congress to participate in the Round Table Conference

2. Withdrawal of Ordinances promulgated in connection with the Civil Disobedience Movement

3. Acceptance of Gandhiji's suggestion for enquiry into police excesses

4. Release of only those prisoners who were not charged with violence

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

A)

1 only

B)

1, 2 and 4 only

C)

3 only

D)

2, 3 and 4 only

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 1, 2 and 4 only

Note :

The 'Gandhi - Irwin Pact' was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in London.

Proposed conditions :

• Discontinuation of Salt March by the Indian National Congress

• Participation by the Indian National Congress in the Second Round Table Conference

• Withdrawal of all ordinances issued by the Government of India imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress

• Withdrawal of all prosecutions relating to several types of offenses except those involving violence

• Release of prisoners arrested for participating in the Salt March.

• Removal of the tax on salt, which allowed the Indians to produce, trade, and sell salt legally and for their own private use

Finally, the Government agreed to:

• Withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions

• Release all political prisoners, except those guilty of violence

• Permit peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops

• Restore confiscated properties of the satyagrahis

• Permit free collection or manufacture of salt by persons near the sea-coast

• Lift the ban over the Congress.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

4 .

With reference to the book "Desher Katha” written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements:

1. It warned against the Colonial State's hypnotic conquest of the mind.

2. It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.

3. The use of 'desh' by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A)

1 and 2 only

B)

2 and 3 only

C)

1 and 3 only

D)

1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 1, 2 and 3

Note :

Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912) a close associate of Sri Aurobindo. He was a Marathi Brahmin who had settled in Bengal. He published a book entitled Desher Katha describing in exhaustive detail the British commercial and industrial exploitation of India. It summarized the work of M. G. Ranade and D. Naoroji in a popular idiom and warned in its concluding chapter against the colonial state's "hypnotic conquest of the mind."

In overwhelming details, he explained the sordid story of foreign exploration leading to India's economic servitude, and this book seems to have had an enormous influence on the young men of Bengal. This book had an immense repercussion in Bengal, captured the mind of young Bengal and assisted more than anything else in the preparation of the Swadeshi movement. It turned many of them into revolutionaries and prepared them for the Swadeshi movement.

Deuskar was the first to bring in the name of Swaraj, and Sri Aurobindo was the first to endow it with its English equivalent, 'Independence.' The Nationalists adopted this word, and Swaraj became the chief item of the fourfold Nationalist programme.

The colonial state proscribed the text in 1910, but by then it had sold over 15,000 copies, informed swadeshi street plays and folk songs, and had assumed the status of mandatory reading for an entire generation of swadeshi activists.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

5 .

Which of the following phrases defines the nature of the 'Hundi' generally referred to in the sources of the post-Harsha period?

A)

An advisory issued by the king to his subordinates

B)

A diary to be maintained for daily accounts

C)

A bill of exchange

D)

An order from the feudal lord to his subordinates

Correct Answer : A bill of exchange

Note :

Hundis refer to financial instruments evolved on the Indian sub-continent used in trade and credit transactions. They were used

• as remittance instruments (to transfer funds from one place to another),

• as credit instruments (to borrow money),

• for trade transactions (as bills of exchange).

Technically, a Hundi is an unconditional order in writing made by a person directing another to pay a certain sum of money to a person named in the order.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

6 .

Consider the following events in the history of India :

1. Rise of Pratiharas under King Bhoja

2. Establishment of Pallava power under Mahendravarman – I

3. Establishment of Chola power by Parantaka – I

4. Pala dynasty founded by Gopala

What is the correct chronological order of the above events, starting from the earliest time?

A)

2 - 1 - 4 - 3

B)

3 - 1 - 4 - 2

C)

2 - 4 - 1 - 3

D)

3 - 4 - 1 - 2

Correct Answer : Option (C) - 2 - 4 - 1 - 3

Note :

The Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. Under Bhoja (836-885 CE) and his successor Mahendrapala I, the Pratihara Empire reached its peak of prosperity and power.

The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE in South India. Mahendravarman I (r. 600–630 CE) contributed to the greatness of the Pallava dynasty. Some of the most ornate monuments at Mamallapuram.

Parantaka Chola I (c. 907–955 CE) ruled the Chola kingdom in Tamil Nadu for forty-eight years, annexing Pandya.

Gopala (ruled c. 750s–770s CE) was the founder of the Pala Dynasty of Bengal region of the India.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

7 .

Which of the following statements correctly explains the impact of Industrial Revolution on India during the first half of the nineteenth century?

A)

Indian handicrafts were ruined.

B)

Machines were introduced in the Indian textile industry in large numbers.

C)

Railway lines were laid in many parts of the country.

D)

Heavy duties were imposed on the imports of British manufactures.

Correct Answer : Indian handicrafts were ruined.

Note :

Deindustrialisation of Indian traditional cottage and handicraft industry was a direct consequence of industrial revolution in England along with colonization of India. Thus, statement (a) is correct.

Machines were not introduced in Indian textile industry in large number in the first half of the 19th century. Rather the modern textile mills with imported machinery started taking baby steps in 1850s in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Calcutta. Only after the first world war that Indian industrialization started taking fast steps. Thus, statement (b) is not correct.

The first railway line in India was laid between Bombay and Thane in 1853. Railway expansion was relatively slow even till mid-1860. Only in the latter half of the 19th century that Railway expansion gathered space in India. Thus, statement (c) is not correct.

India acted as a captive market for British industrial goods. Rather, the colonial economic policy was of one-way free trade in which British manufacture was dumped at a very cheap rate in India. Thus, statement (d) is not correct.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

8 .

With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :

1. Sthaviravadins belong to Mahayana Buddhism.

2. Lokottaravadin sect was an offshoot of Mahasanghika sect of Buddhism.

3. The deification of Buddha by Mahasanghikas fostered the Mahayana Buddhism.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A)

1 and 2 only

B)

2 and 3 only

C)

3 only

D)

1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 and 3 only

Note :

Buddhism is majorly divided into Mahayana and Hinayana Sects. Hinayana, also called as Theravadins, accept as authoritative the Pali canon of ancient Indian Buddhism and trace their sectarian lineage back to the Elders (Sanskrit: Sthaviras; Pali: Theras), who followed in the tradition of the senior monks of the first Buddhist sangha, or community. Thus, Theravada is also called Sthaviravada. They don’t belong to Mahayana Buddhism. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

Lokottaravadins was one of the early Buddhist schools and was a branch of Mahasanghika sect. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Mahasanghika was the early Buddhist school in India that, in its views of the nature of the Buddha, was a precursor of the Mahayana tradition. The Mahasanghikas believed in a plurality of buddhas who are supramundane (lokottara). The two main aspects of the Buddha can be seen in Mahasaá¹ƒghika teachings: the true Buddha who is omniscient and omnipotent, and the manifested forms through which he liberates sentient beings through his skillful means (upaya). For the Mahasaá¹ƒghikas, the historical Gautama Buddha was merely one of these transformation bodies (nirmanakaya), while the essential real Buddha was equated with the Dharmakaya. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

9 .

With reference to the history of India, consider the following pairs :

Anurag	:	In-charge of treasury of the State
Banian	:	Indian agent of the East India Company
Mirasidar	:	Designated revenue payer to the State

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

A)

1 and 2 only

B)

2 and 3 only

C)

3 only

D)

1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 and 3 only

Note :

Aurang was a Persian term for a warehouse – a place where goods are collected before being sold; also refers to a workshop. Thus, pair (1) is not correct.

Banians (banias) were agents of the company. “A Banyan is a person…by whom the English gentlemen in general conduct all their business. He is interpreter, head book-keeper, head secretary, head broker, the supplier of cash and cash-keeper, and in general also secret-keeper….They might appear to have become their masters’ servants, merely managing their trade for them; but the reality was often less that of master and servant than of trading partners. The banian brought his skill and his capital to the partnership; the European contributed his privileges.” [ P.J.Marshall – East Indian Fortunes (1976) p.45]. Thus, pair (2) is correct.

Mirasdar in Urdu means hereditary landowner, co-proprietor. In Persian, mirasÌ± is inheritance, estate. He was also a revenue payer to the state. Thus, pair (3) is correct.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies

10 .

Consider the following statements :

1. The President of India can summon a session of the Parliament at such place as he/she thinks fit.

2. The Constitution of India provides for three sessions of the Parliament in a year, but it is not mandatory to conduct all three sessions.

3. There is no minimum number of days of that the Parliament is required to meet in a year.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A)

1 only

B)

2 only

C)

1 and 3 only

D)

2 and 3 only

Correct Answer : Option (C) - 1 and 3 only

Note : Article 85(1) of the Constitution empowers the President to summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one Session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next Session. So, the Constitution provides for the maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament, i.e. it cannot be more than six months. In other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year. Therefore the constitution prescribes a maximum gap but there is no minimum gap. So, statement 1 and 3 are correct, and 2 is not correct.

Year : 2020

Category : General Studies