Saibhagi 17

VISIONIAS
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ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS
GENERAL STUDIES (P) TEST – 4131 (2024)
Q 1.B
• Sayyid Ahmad Khan was one of the most important reformers among Muslims. He was tremendously
impressed by modern scientific thought and worked all his life to reconcile it with Islam.
• The Muslim upper class tended to avoid contact with Western education and culture, and it was mainly
after the revolt of 1857 that modern ideas of education and religious reform began to appear. A beginning
in this direction was made when the Mohammedan literary society was founded at Calcutta in 1863.
• In 1875 he founded at Aligarh the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh as a center for
spreading Western science and culture, later this college grew into an Aligarh Muslim university. Hence
statement 1 is not correct.
• In his view, any interpretation of the Quran that conflicted with human reason, science, or nature was in
reality a misinterpretation. He also interpreted Quran in the light of contemporary rationalism and
science. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• He was opposed to communal friction, appealing to Hindus and Muslims to unite, he was a great believer
in religious toleration.
Q 2.D
• 'The Philosophy of the Bomb' was written by Bhagwati Charan Vohra in early January 1930 as a
polemical intervention into debates among nationalist circles about the role of violence in the anti-
colonial movement in India.
• Bhagwati Charan Vohra was part of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), and he
also authored the manifesto of HSRA.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Q 3.A
• The Government of India Act of 1858 ended the Company rule and the system of Double Government
by the Board of Control in England and the Court of Directors of the company introduced by the Pitt's
India Act, of 1784. Indian Administration came directly under the Crown. The Act created the office of
the Secretary of State who was a cabinet minister in the British cabinet. His salary and establishment
were paid from the Indian revenue. He was assisted by a council of fifteen members to make him familiar
with Indian affairs.
• The Secretary of State was given the power of sending and receiving secret messages and despatches from
the Governor General without the necessity of communicating them to the Indian Council. The Secretary
of State was to present to the House of Commons periodically report on the moral and material progress
of India. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• As per the administrative changes introduced by the Government of India Act 1858, the Governor
General got an additional title of Viceroy or Crown's representative. Thus, the Governor-general
served as the personal representative of the British Crown in India. The Secretary of State sat in the
British Parliament and was accountable to the Parliament. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
Q 4.C
• In pursuance of his reactionary policies in India Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal in
December 1903 which took effect on 16 October 1905. A massive anti-partition movement was
started in Bengal which evolved into the Swadeshi and Boycott movement. The formal proclamation
of the Swadeshi Movement was, made on 7 August 1905, in a meeting held at the Calcutta town hall. At
this meeting, the famous Boycott Resolution was passed. Hence statement 1 is correct.
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• Samitis (corps of volunteers) helped in the mobilization of the mass to support the Swadeshi
Movement. The samitis took the swadeshi message to the villages through magic lantern lectures and
swadeshi songs, gave physical and moral training to the members, did social work during famines and
epidemics, organized schools, trained in the swadeshi craft, and organized arbitration courts. The
Swadesh Bandhab Samiti of Ashwini Kumar Dutt is such a prominent example. Hence statement 3
is correct.
• Indian National Congress took up the Swadeshi call and at the 1905 Banaras Session, presided over by
G.K. Gokhale, a resolution supporting the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement for Bengal was
passed. During Swadeshi Movement, the big zamindars, who had so far remained loyal to the Raj,
joined forces with the Congress leaders in support of the movement. Hence statement 2 is not
correct.
• A very important characteristic of the Movement is the active participation of women in the movement, it
marked the first instance of women participating in large numbers in the national movement. The woman
of the urban middle class came out in large numbers and participated in the Swadeshi movement they
carried out positions and picketing work.
Q 5.A
• Bengalee was a newspaper started by Surendranath Banerjee in 1879. Sanjibani (by Krishna Kumar
Mitra) and Hitabadi (by Dwijendranath Tagore) were journals. A powerful press campaign was Launched
against the partition proposals through these journals and newspapers
• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
Q 6.B
• To discourage and stop students to participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, J.R.
Cunningham, the then powerful Director of Public Information of Assam, issued the Cunningham
circular in 1930 imposing a blanket ban on any anti-British and pro-swadeshi activity by students.
• In Assam, a powerful agitation led by students was launched against the infamous ‘Cunningham circular’
which forced students and their guardians to furnish assurances of good behavior.
• It forced parents, guardians and students to furnish assurances of good behavior and also asked them to
sign an undertaking that they would have to quit their schools and colleges if they participated in anti-
government demonstrations or movements.
• The circular was aimed to forbid students from participating in political activities and so, it raised a very
strong response.
• Thousands of students, throughout Assam, left their educational institutions. Many Swadeshi educational
institutions like Kamrup Academy of Guwahati and Sibsagar Vidyapeeth were also established at the
same time to accommodate the students leaving British Government schools & colleges.
• The Kamrup Academy, the first Swadeshi school in the Northeast, was conceived with Rai Bahadur
Kalicharan Sengupta as its president and Gaurikanta Talukdar as its secretary.
• The school started functioning on July 15, 1930, and initially, lessons were imparted in both Bengali and
Assamese languages. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
Q 7.C
• The policy of the Indian National Congress towards the Indian states had been first enunciated in
1920 at Nagpur when a resolution calling upon the Princes to grant full responsible government in
their States had been passed. Simultaneously, however, the Congress, while allowing residents of the
States to become members of Congress, made it clear that they could not initiate political activity in
the States in the name of Congress but only in their individual capacity or as members of the local
political organizations.
• In the mid-thirties, two associated developments brought about a distinct change in the situation in the
Indian States.
o First, the Government of India Act of 1935 projected a scheme of federation in which the Indian
States were to be brought into a direct constitutional relationship with British India and the States
were to send representatives to the Federal Legislature.
o The second development was the assumption of office by Congress Ministries in the majority of
the provinces in British India in 1937. The fact that Congress was in power created a new sense of
confidence and expectation in the people of the Indian States and acted as a spur to greater political
activity. The Princes too had to reckon with a new political reality — the Congress was no longer just

a party in opposition but a party in power with a capacity to influence developments in contiguous
Indian States.
• The years 1938-39, in fact, stand out as years of a new awakening in the Indian States and were witness to
a large number of movements demanding responsible government and other reforms. Praja mandals
mushroomed in many States that had earlier no such organizations. Major struggles broke out in Jaipur,
Kashmir, Rajkot, Patiala, Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and the Orissa States.
• These new developments brought about a significant change in Congress policy as well. Whereas,
even in the Haripura session in 1938, the Congress had reiterated its policy that movements in the
States should not be launched in the name of the Congress but should rely on their own independent
strength and fight through local organizations, a few months later, on seeing the new spirit that was
abroad among the people and their capacity to struggle. Gandhiji and the Congress changed their attitude
on this question. The radicals and socialists in Congress, as well as political workers in the States, had in
any case been pressing for this change for quite some time.
• Following upon this, the Congress at Tripuri in March 1939 passed a resolution enunciating its new
policy: ‘The great awakening that is taking place among the people of the States may lead to a relaxation,
or to a complete removal of the restraint which the Congress imposed upon itself, thus resulting in
an ever-increasing identification of the Congress with the States’ peoples’. Also in 1939, the AISPC
elected Jawaharlal Nehru as its President for the Ludhiana session, thus setting the seal on the fusion of
the movements in Princely India and British India.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
Q 8.A
• Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023: The government has announced new Animal Birth Control (ABC)
Rules 2023, which require strays to be caught, vaccinated, neutered, and released back into the
community. The ABC 2023 rules will supersede the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2001. Hence,
statement 1 is correct.
o To reduce the stray dog population by addressing animal welfare issues.
o The program for the sterilization and immunization of stray dogs shall be carried out by
the respective local bodies, municipalities, municipal corporations, and panchayats, with the
help of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)-a recognized organization.
o Local bodies need to implement the ABC and Anti-Rabies Program jointly.
o In carrying out the ABC program, ‘cruelty to animals should be addressed.
o The Rules transform stray dogs into a new class of “community animals.” Hence, statement 2 is
correct.
o Resident welfare associations are responsible for caring for stray dogs and feeding them at fixed
intervals, away from children and the elderly. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
o The Rules provide guidelines on how to deal with human and stray dog conflicts without relocating
the dogs in an area.
o The Rules prohibit the improper disposal of solid waste and casual feeding of dogs.
o Local authorities “will be held responsible for any violation (during birth-control procedures) and
animal-human conflicts.”
Q 9.C
• Gandhi's first great experiment in satyagraha came in 1917 in Champaran, a district in Bihar. The
peasantry on the indigo plantations in the district was excessively oppressed by the European
planters. They were compelled to grow indigo on at least 3/20th of their land and to sell it at prices fixed
by the planters. In the Champaran Satyagraha, the Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to go
into the whole issue and nominated Gandhiji as one of its members. Armed with evidence collected from
8,000 peasants, he had little difficulty in convincing the Commission that the tinkathia system needed to
be abolished and that the peasants should be compensated for the illegal enhancement of their dues. As a
compromise with the planters, he agreed that they refund only twenty-five percent of the money
they had taken illegally from the peasants. Answering critics who asked why he did not ask for a full
refund, Gandhiji explained that even this refund had done enough damage to the planters’ prestige and
position. As was often the case, Gandhiji’s assessment was correct and, within a decade, the planters left
the district altogether. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

Q 10.A
• Recent context: More than 181 members of the Hakki Pikki tribal community from Karnataka are
stuck in violence-hit Sudan, even as the government is making efforts to bring them back.
• The Hakki Pikki is a tribe that lives in several states in the west and south India, especially near forest
areas. Hakki Pikkis (Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’) are a semi-nomadic
tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters.
• According to the 2011 census, the Hakki Pikki population in Karnataka is 11,892, and they live majorly in
Davangere, Mysuru, Kolar, Hassan and Shivmogga districts. In different regions, they are known by
different names, such as Mel-Shikari in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• The Hakki Pikki move in groups from place to place in search of livelihood. They are divided into four
clans, called Gujaratia, Panwar, Kaliwala and Mewaras. These clans can be equated with castes in
traditional Hindu society. In the olden days, there was a hierarchy among the clans, with the Gujaratia at
the top and the Mewaras at the bottom. The forest is the main natural resource of the Hakki Pikki.
• Hakki Pikki people are believed to hail originally from the bordering districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Hakki Pikkis in Karnataka follow Hindu traditions and celebrate all Hindu festivals. They are non-
vegetarians. The eldest son in a family is not supposed to cut his hair so that he can be identified easily.
• The tribe prefers cross-cousin marriages.
Q 11.B
• The Charter Act of 1813 was passed by the British Parliament due to increasing pressure from the British
industrialists who wanted to take part in the profitable Indian trade.
• By the Charter Act of 1813, the trade monopoly of the Company in India was ended and trade with
India was thrown open to all British subjects (private merchants). But trade in tea and trade with
China was still exclusive to the Company. Hence option 1 is correct.
• A humble beginning for the spread of education was made in 1813 through the Charter Act. It
incorporated the principle of encouraging learned Indians and promoting the knowledge of modern
sciences in the country. The Act directed the Company to spend the sum of one lakh of rupees for
the purpose. But even this petty amount was not made available by Company authorities till 1823. Hence
option 2 is correct.
• The Charter Act of 1833 brought the Company’s monopoly of tea trade and trade with China to an
end. At the same time, the debts of the Company were taken over by the Government of India, which
was also to pay its shareholders a 10½ percent dividend on their capital. Hence option 3 is not correct.
Q 12.B
• The issue which caught the popular imagination was the fate of the members of Subhas Chandra
Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), who were captured by the British in the eastern theatre of
War.
• An announcement by the Government, limiting trials of the INA personnel to those guilty of brutality or
active complicity, was due to be made by the end of August 1945.
• However, before this statement could be issued. Nehru raised the demand for leniency at a meeting in
Srinagar on 16 August 1945 — making the proposed statement seem a response to his call rather than an
act of generosity on the part of the Government.
• The defense of the INA prisoners was taken up by the Congress and Bhulabhaj Desai, Tej Bahadur
Sapru, K.N. Katju, Nehru, and Asaf All appeared in court at the historic Red Fort trials.
• The Congress organized an INA Relief and Enquiry Committee, which provided small sums of
money and food to the men on their release, and attempted, though with marginal success, to secure
employment for these men. Hence, statement 1 is not correct and statement 2 is correct.
• A significant feature of the INA campaign was its wide geographical reach and the participation of
diverse social groups and political parties.
• The Muslim League, the Communist Party of India, the Unionist Party, the Akalis, the Justice Party, the
Abrars in Rawalpindi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu Mahasabha, and the Sikh League
supported the NA cause in varying degrees.

Q 13.B
• Francis Buchanan was a physician who came to India and served in the Bengal Medical Service (from
1794 to 1815). For a few years, he was a surgeon to the Governor-General of India, Lord Wellesley.
• During his stay in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), he organized a zoo that became the Calcutta Alipore
Zoo.
• He was also in charge of the Botanical Gardens for a short period. At the request of the Government of
Bengal, he undertook detailed surveys of the areas under the jurisdiction of the British East India
Company. However, he did not establish any institution in India for the study of Indian
traditions/philosophy. Hence option 1 is not correct.
• Jonathan Duncan served as a resident of the East India Company in the late 18th century. He started
the Sanskrit College in Varanasi in 1791 for the study of Hindu law and philosophy. Hence option 2
is correct.
• Warren Hastings was the governor-general of Bengal between 1772-1785. He established the Calcutta
in 1781 for the study of Muslim law and related subjects. The Calcutta Madrasah and the Sanskrit
College were designed to provide a regular supply of qualified Indians to help the administration of law in
the Company’s court, and the knowledge of classical languages and vernaculars was useful in
correspondence with Indian states. Hence option 3 is correct.
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
Q 14.C
• Marketing and Logistics Development for Promotion of Tribal Products from North-Eastern
Region (PTP-NER) scheme:
o Aim: It is a Central Sector Scheme which aims to strengthen livelihood opportunities for tribal
artisans through increased efficiency in procurement, logistics and marketing of tribal products from
North Eastern States. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
o States covered: The scheme will apply to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
o Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development
Federation (TRIFED) is the Nodal Agency.
o Key Features of the scheme: The scheme will facilitate tribal artisans to avail opportunities of
enhancing income through the provision of backward and forward linkages through incubation
support, aggregation, skill and entrepreneurship development, sourcing and procurement, marketing,
transportation and publicity.
o The Central government will organize Tribal Artisans Melas (TAMs) in April and May to showcase
tribal products. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
Q 15.B
• Lucknow Session of the Indian National Congress (December 1916) was very important for the Indian
freedom struggle. The session produced two historic developments.
o First, the two wings of the Congress that is the Moderates and the Extremist were reunited.
o Second, the session also became significant because of the famous Congress-League Pact,
popularly known as the Lucknow Pact wherein the two organisations overcame their old
differences and put out a set of common political demands before the government. An important
role in bringing the two together was played by Lokmanya Tilak and Muhammad Ali
Jinnah because the two believed that India could win self-government only through Hindu Muslim
unity.
o Together Congress and the League passed the same resolutions at their sessions and put forward
a joint scheme of political reforms based on separate electorate and demand that the British
government should make a declaration that it would consider self-government in India at an early
date. Hence statement 1 is correct.
o The immediate effect of the signing of Lucknow Pact was that, at Lucknow was seen tremendous
unity between the moderate nationalist and the militant nationalist and between the national Congress
and the Muslim league aroused great political enthusiasm in the country. At the same time it accepted
the principle of separate electorate. Thus, it left the way open to the future resurgence of
communalism in Indian politics. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 16.D
• Rehnumai Madaysan sabha was founded in 1851 by Naoroji Furdnji, Dadabhai Naoroji, S.S.
Bengalee, and others. It campaigned against the entrenched orthodoxy in the religious field and
initiated the modernization of Parsi social customs regarding the education of women. Hence statements
1 and 2 are correct.
• The Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha had a significant influence on both the colonial milieu and the way in
which Zoroastrianism was reinterpreted by Western scholars. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Scholars from the West studied the Parsis' sacred texts, rituals, and customs, and the knowledge they
gained formed the foundation for religious change and the education of a new generation of Parsi priests.
• It works to promote the welfare and interests of the Zoroastrian community in India and to preserve
and promote the teachings and traditions of Zoroastrianism. It also provides various services to the
community, including education,
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.
Q 17.B
• On 4 June 1947, the Viceroy, Mountbatten, announced at a press conference that the British would
soon leave India for good on 15 August. On 12 June, the Nizam of Hyderabad announced that on the
lapse of British paramountcy, he would become a sovereign monarch. The intention was clear: he would
not accede to the Indian Union.
• The first open session of the Hyderabad State Congress which demanded accession to the Indian
Union and the grant of responsible government was held from 16 to 18 June. The State Congress, with
the full support of the Indian National Congress, had also thwarted an attempt by the Nizam a few months
earlier, to foist an undemocratic constitution on the people. The boycott of the elections launched by
them received tremendous support. With this new confidence, they began to take a bold stand against
Nizam’s moves. The decision to launch the final struggle was taken by the leaders of the State Congress
in consultation with the national leaders in Delhi.
o On 13 August, the Nizam banned the ceremonial hoisting of the national flag. As the movement
gathered force and gained momentum, the Nizam and his administration cracked down on it.
o But the most ominous development was the encouragement given to the storm troopers of the
Ittihad ul Muslimin, the Razakars, by the State to act as a paramilitary force to attack the
peoples’ struggle. Razakars were issued arms and let loose on protesting crowds; they set up camps
near rebellious villages and carried out armed raids.
o On 29 November 1947, the Nizam signed a Standstill Agreement with the Indian Government,
but simultaneously the repression was intensified, and the Razakar menace became even more
acute.
o Many thousands of people who could afford to do so fled the State and were housed in camps in
neighbouring Indian territory. In organizing the defence against the Razakars and attacks on
Razakar camps, the Communists played a very important role, especially in the areas of
Nalgonda, Warangal and Khammam that were their strongholds. Peasants were organized, given
training in arms, and mobilized for the anti-Nizam struggle. In these areas, the movement also took
an anti-landlord stance and many cruel landlords were attacked, some even killed, and illegally
occupied land was returned to the original owners. Virtually all the big landlords had run away, and
their land was distributed to and cultivated by those with small holdings or no land.
o Outside the Communist strongholds in the Telengana areas, it was the State Congress that was the
main vehicle for organizing popular resistance.
o By September 1948, it became clear that all negotiations to make the Nizam accede to the Union
had failed. On 13 September, 1948, the Indian Army moved in and on 18 September the Nizam
surrendered. The process of the integration of the Indian Union was finally complete.
o The people welcomed the Indian Army as an army of liberation, an army that ended the
oppression of the Nizam and the Razakars. Scenes of jubilation were evident all over, and the national
flag was hoisted.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
Q 18.B
• Bhulabhai Desai, leader of the Congress Party in the Central Legislative Assembly, met Liaqat Ali Khan,
deputy leader of the Muslim League in that Assembly, and both of them came up with a draft proposal for
the formation of an interim government at the centre, consisting of:

o an equal number of persons nominated by the Congress and the League in the central legislature.
Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
o 20% reserved seats for minorities. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• No settlement could be reached between the Congress and the League on these lines, but the fact that a
sort of parity between the Congress and the League was decided upon had far-reaching consequences.
Q 19.C
• National Quantum Mission:
o It’ll be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under the Ministry of
Science & Technology. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
o The mission planned for 2023-2031 aims to seed, nurture, and scale up scientific and industrial R&D
and create a vibrant & innovative ecosystem in Quantum Technology (QT).
o With the launch of this mission, India will be the seventh country to have a dedicated quantum
mission after the US, Austria, Finland, France, Canada and China.
o Salient features of NQM:
✓ It will target developing intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-100 physical qubits in 5
years and 50-1000 physical qubits in 8 years.
✓ Just like bits (1 and 0) are the basic units by which computers process information, ‘qubits’ or
‘quantum bits’ are the units of process by quantum computers.
✓ The mission will help develop magnetometers with high sensitivity for precision timing (atomic
clocks), communications, and navigation.
✓ It will also support design and synthesis of quantum materials such as superconductors, novel
semiconductor structures and topological materials for fabrication of quantum devices.
✓ The mission will also help developing:
▪ Satellite based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2000
km within India. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
▪ Long distance secure quantum communications with other countries
▪ Inter-city quantum key distribution over 2000 km
▪ Multi-node Quantum network with quantum memories
✓ Four Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs) would be set up in top academic and National R&D institutes on
the domains of Quantum Technology:
▪ Quantum computation
▪ Quantum communication
▪ Quantum Sensing & Metrology
▪ Quantum Materials & Devices. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Q 20.B
• Recent context: Tamil Nadu’s Manamadurai pottery gets GI tag. Hence pair 3 is not correctly
matched.
o The Vaigai river enriches the clay used for the Manamadurai pottery. A unique type of clay is sourced
from water bodies like Nedunkulam, Nathapurakki, Sundaranadappu, Seikalathur to make these pots.
• Four products that are unique to Goa - bebinca, malcorada mango, seven ridge okra and Agasaim
brinjal - have been published in the journal of the Geographical Indication (Gl) Registry, which is the
final stage in the process of obtaining a Gl status for these items. Hence pair 1 is not correctly matched
and pair 2 is correctly matched.

Q 21.B
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the outstanding leader of militant nationalism. Born in 1856, Tilak devoted his
entire life to the service of his country. In 1881, along with G.G. Agarkar, he founded the newspaper
Kesari (in Marathi) and Mahratta (in English). In 1888, he took over the two papers and used their
columns to spread discontent against British rule and to preach national resistance to it. Hence statement
1 is not correct.
• In 1893, he started the practice of using the traditional religious Ganapati festival to propagate
nationalist ideas through patriotic songs and speeches. In 1896, he started the Shivaji festival to
stimulate nationalism among young Maharashtrians. In the same year, he organized an all-Maharashtra
campaign for the boycott of foreign cloth in protest against the imposition of the excise duty on
cotton. He was, perhaps the first among the national leaders to grasp the important role that the lower
middle classes, peasants, artisans and workers could play in the national movement and, therefore, he saw
the necessity of bringing them into the Congress fold. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• In pursuance of this objective, he initiated a no-tax campaign in Maharashtra during 1896-97 with
the help of the young workers of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. Referring to the official famine code
whose copies he got printed in Marathi and distributed by the thousand, he asked the famine-stricken
peasants of Maharashtra to withhold payment of land revenue if their crops had failed.
• In 1897, plague broke out in Poona and the Government had to undertake severe measures of
segregation and house- searches. Unlike many other leaders, Tilak stayed in Poona, supported the
Government and organized his own measures against the plague. But he also criticized the harsh and
heartless manner in which the officials dealt with the plague-stricken people. Popular resentment
against the official plague measures resulted in the assassination of Rand, the Chairman of
the Plague Committee in Poona, and Lt. Ayerst by the Chaphekar brothers on 27 June 1898.
o The British- owned Press and the bureaucracy were quick to portray the Rand murder as a
conspiracy by the Poona Brahmins led by Tilak. The Government investigated the possibility of
directly involving Tilak in Rand’s assassination. But no proof could be found. And so,
the Government decided to arrest him under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code on the
charge of sedition, that is, spreading disaffection and hatred against the Government. Hence
o Tilak was arrested on 27 July 1879 and tried before Justice Strachey and a jury of six Europeans and
three Indians. The charge was based on the publication in the Kesari of 15 June of a poem titled
‘Shivaji’s Utterances’ ‘read out by a young man at the Shivaji Festival and on a speech Tilak had
delivered at the Festival in defense of Shivaji’s killings of Afzal Khan.
o Tilak’s defense of Shivaji’s killing of Afzal Khan was portrayed by the prosecution as an incitement
to kill British officials. The overall accusation was that Tilak propagated the views in his newspaper,
that the British had no right to stay in India and any and all means could be used to get rid of them.
o The jury gave a 6 to 3 verdict holding Tilak guilty, the three dissenters being its Indian members. The
Judge passed a barbarous sentence of rigorous imprisonment for eighteen months, and this when Tilak
was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council. Simultaneously several other editors of the
Bombay Presidency were tried and given similar harsh sentences.
o Tilak’s imprisonment led to widespread protests all over the country
• In 1898, the Government amended Section 124A and added a new Section 153A to the penal code,
making it a criminal offence for anyone to attempt ‘to bring into contempt’ the Government of India or to
create hatred among different classes, that is vis-a-vis Englishmen in India. This once again led to nation-
wide protest.
Q 22.A
• The Pitt’s India Act was passed in 1784 to remove the defects of the regulating act of 1773 and also
to establish British Parliamentary control over the company affairs in India. This Act gave the British
government supreme control over the company’s affairs and its administration in India.
• It established six commissioners for the affairs of India, popularly known as the Board of
Control, including two cabinet ministers. The Board of Control was to guide and control the work of the
Court of Directors and the Government of India.
• The Act placed the Government of India in the hands of the Governor-General and a Council of three so
that if the Governor-General could get the support of even one member, he could have his way. The Act
clearly subordinated the Bombay and Madras Presidencies to Bengal in all questions of war, diplomacy,
and revenues. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The British Parliament passed a series of Acts in the late eighteenth century to regulate and control
Company rule in India. It forced the Company to produce regular reports on the administration of India
and appointed committees to enquire into the affairs of the Company. The Fifth Report was one such
report produced by a Select Committee. It was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. It
became the basis of intense parliamentary debates on the nature of the East India Company’s rule in
India.
• As per the provisions of the act, the directors of the company retained the profitable right of
appointing and dismissing its British officials in India. Moreover, the Government of India was to be
carried on through their agency. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
Q 23.C
• The story of Champaran begins in the early nineteenth century when European planters had involved the
cultivators in agreements that forced them to cultivate indigo on the 3/20th of their holdings (known as the
tinkathia system). Towards the end of the nineteenth century, German synthetic dyes forced indigo out of
the market, and the European planters of Champaran, keen to release the cultivators from the obligation
of cultivating indigo, tried to turn their necessity to their advantage by securing enhancements in rent and
other illegal dues as a price for the release.
• Resistance had surfaced in 1908 as well, but the exactions of the planters continued till Raj Kumar
Shukla, a local man, decided to follow Gandhiji all over the country to persuade him to come to
Champaran to investigate the problem. Raj Kumar Shukla’s decision to get Gandhiji to Champaran is
indicative of the image he had acquired as one who fought for the rights of the exploited and the poor.
• Gandhi and his colleagues, who now included Brij Kishore, Rajendra Prasad, and other members
of the Bihar intelligentsia, Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two young men from Gujarat who
had thrown in their lot with Gandhiji, and J.B. Kripalani, toured the villages and from dawn to
dusk recorded the statements of peasants, interrogating them to make sure that they were giving
correct information. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
• Gandhiji then turned his attention to the workers of Ahmedabad. A dispute was brewing between them
and the mill owners over the question of a ‘plague bonus’ the employers wanted to withdraw once the
epidemic had passed but the workers insisted it stay since the enhancement hardly compensated for the
rise in the cost of living during the War.
• Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the leading mill owners of the town, was a friend of Gandhiji and had just
saved the Sabarmati Ashram from extinction by a generous donation. The strike began and Gandhiji
addressed the workers every day on the banks of the Sabarmati River. He brought out a daily news
bulletin and insisted that no violence be used against employers or blacklegs. Ambalal Sarabhai’s sister,
Anasuya Behn, was one of the main lieutenants of Gandhiji in this struggle in which her brother,
and Gandhiji’s friend, was one of the main adversaries.
Q 24.D
• Gandhiji returned to India on January 9th, 1915, after starting two settlements for Indians in South
Africa and launching a successful satyagraha against unfair laws and taxes on the Indian community there.
• Gandhiji was advised by his mentor Gopalkrishna Gokhale, who belonged to the ilk of Moderates
within the Congress to tour India for a year before embarking upon any political work.
• Gokhale’s instructions suited Gandhi well, as the latter realised that there was much about the country that
he had not seen, or knew about. In South Africa, differences of religion, caste and language were often
elided over, as the community of Indians stood as one against the imperial powers. In India, however, the
differences were wide and various, and Gandhi needed time to understand them.
Q 25.B
• The Punjab under Ranjit Singh: At the end of the 18th century, Ranjit Singh, chief of the Sukerchakia
misl, rose into prominence.
• A strong and courageous soldier, an efficient administrator, and a skilful diplomat, he was a born leader of
men. He captured Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.
• He soon brought all Sikh chiefs west of the Sutlej under his control and established his own kingdom in
the Punjab. Later, he conquered Kashmir, Peshawar, and Multan.
• The old Sikh chiefs were transformed into big zamindars and jagirdars.
• He did not make any changes in the system of land revenue promulgated earlier by the Mughals.
Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The amount of land revenue was calculated on the basis of 50 per cent of the gross produce.

• Ranjit Singh built up a powerful, disciplined, and well-equipped army along European lines with
the help of European instructors. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• His new army was not confined to the Sikhs. He also recruited Gurkhas, Biharis, Oriyas, Pathans, Dogras,
and Punjabi Muslims.
• He set up modern factories to manufacture cannon at Lahore and employed Muslim gunners to man
them. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• It is said that he possessed the second best army in Asia, the first being the army of the English East India
Company.
• Ranjit Singh had great capacity for choosing his ministers and officials, He was tolerant and liberal in
religious matters.
• While a devout Sikh he was “known to step down from his throne to wipe the dust off the feet of Muslim
mendicants with his long grey beard.” Many of his important ministers and commanders were Muslims
and Hindus.
• The most prominent and trusted of his ministers was Fakir Azizuddin, while his Finance Minister was
Dewan Dina Nath.
• Infact, in no sense was the Punjab, ruled by Ranjit Singh, a Sikh state, Political power was not used for
exclusive Sikh benefit.
Q 26.D
• The Karachi Congress Session in 1931, was held following the Gandhi–Irwin Pact. It reflected the
impact of the Left on the national movement through the Resolution on Fundamental Rights and
Economic Policy. The socio-economic provision in the Karachi Resolution went on to influence the
Constituent Assembly in drawing up Part IV of the Indian Constitution – the Directive Principles of State
Policy. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The Indian National Congress, on 19 December 1929, passed the historic ‘Purna Swaraj’ (total
independence) resolution at the Lahore session. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The resolutions on economic policy was passed at the Faizpur session in 1936. It was, here, for the first
time that Congress held its Annual Session in a backward rural setting. A large number of peasants
participated in the session.
Q 27.C
• C. Rajagopalachari, the veteran Congress leader, prepared a formula for Congress-League
cooperation in 1944.
o It was a tacit acceptance of the League’s demand for Pakistan.
o Gandhiji supported the formula.
• The main points in the CR Plan were:
o Muslim League to endorse Congress's demand for independence.
o League to cooperate with Congress in forming a provisional government at the centre.
o After the end of the war, the entire population of Muslim-majority areas in North-West and North-
East India was to decide by a plebiscite, whether or not to form a separate sovereign state.
o In case of acceptance of partition, an agreement is to be made jointly for safeguarding defence,
commerce, communications, etc.
o The above terms were to be operative only if England transferred full powers to India.
o Jinnah wanted Congress to accept the two-nation theory. He wanted only the Muslims of the North-
West and North-East to vote in the plebiscite and not the entire population. He also opposed the idea
of a common centre.
o While the Congress was ready to cooperate with the League for the independence of the Indian Union,
the League did not care for the independence of the Union. It was only interested in a separate nation.
o Hindu leaders led by Vir Savarkar condemned the Plan.
Q 28.A
• The Royal Indian Navy revolt, also known as the 1946 Naval Uprising, occurred in February 1946 and
was a significant event in the Indian independence movement. The naval ratings stationed at HMIS (His
Majesty's Indian Ship) Talwar, a training establishment of the Royal Indian Navy, went on strike
and refused to obey their British officers, leading to widespread protests and demonstrations in cities like
Bombay, Karachi, Calcutta, and Madras.

• The naval ratings faced racial discrimination and abusive treatment despite their qualifications and
experience. They were paid less than their British counterparts and given menial tasks, while the
quality of food and living conditions on the ships were poor. The arrest of a rating for scrawling "Quit
India" on the HMIS Talwar was also a source of resentment. Hence options 1 and 2 are correct.
• The naval ratings demanded better pay, improved living conditions, and an end to racial discrimination,
which was not limited to HMIS Talwar but shared by naval ratings serving in the Royal Indian Navy
across India. The revolt quickly spread and involved over 20,000 ratings, leading to a widespread
disruption of naval operations. The naval ratings also demanded the release of Indian National Army
soldiers who were imprisoned after the INA trials.
• There was no issue of a new recruitment policy in the Royal Indian Navy at the time of the strike.
Hence option 3 is not correct.
Q 29.A
• Oil hypocrisy:
o A new study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has found that countries
that imposed crude oil sanctions on Russia used India, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and
Turkey as ‘laundromats’ for refined products.
o During the last year, India has emerged as the leading exporter of refined oil products, followed by
China and the United Arab Emirates.
o Major exporting port: Sikka port and Vadinar port (Both in Gujarat) exported the highest amount
of seaborne refined oil to the Price Cap Coalition countries
o India now imports about 87% of its crude oil requirement (worth over US $190 bn) while it exported
petroleum products worth over $86 billion (accounting for more than 21 percent of India’s total
commodity exports)
o Laundromat: Laundromats’ is a term used to describe a type of financial fraud where large amounts
of money, often obtained through illegal means, are moved through a complex web of transactions
and accounts to disguise their origin and make them appear legitimate.
o Price Cap plan: The Price Cap Coalition is composed of Australia, Canada, the European Union,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Hence option (a) is the
correct answer.
o NOTE: The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) (est. 2019; HQ: Helsinki) is a
non-profit think tank researching energy and air pollution. It aims at tracking the impacts of air
pollution by providing data-backed research products.
Q 30.D
• REACHOUT:
o Ministry of Earth Sciences is implementing an umbrella scheme Research, Education, and Training
Outreach (REACHOUT) for capacity building
o Aim of the scheme: To support various R&D activities, develop useful collaborations with
international organizations, develop skilled and trained manpower in Earth Sciences, etc.
o It consists of the following sub-schemes:
✓ R&D in Earth System Science (RDESS).
✓ International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean).
✓ Program for Development of Skilled Manpower in Earth System Sciences (DESK). Hence option
(d) is the correct answer.
Q 31.C
• ‘Ceramic Radome’ technology:
o A ceramic is a non-metallic, inorganic solid material that is typically produced by heating natural clay
or other minerals at high temperatures. E.g. Pottery, Tiles.
✓ Properties: The majority of ceramics are excellent insulators and can withstand high
temperatures.
o Radomes are structures or enclosures designed to protect an antenna and associated electronics from
the surrounding environment and elements such as rain, UV light, etc. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o What are Ceramic radomes?
✓ Ceramic Radome Technology is the state-of-the-art technology for shielding Missiles across the
world from getting overheated. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
✓ Currently, ceramic radomes have been developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat (RCI)
which has developed India’s missile arsenal.
✓ RCI is a DRDO laboratory for carrying out R&D in the technologies of control engineering,
inertial navigation, imaging infrared seekers, radio frequency seekers and systems, onboard
computers, and mission software.
Q 32.A
• In the elections to the central assembly in December 1945, out of 102 seats, Congress won 57, the
League 30, Independents 5, Akalis 2 and Europeans 8. Congress received 91 percent of non-Muslim
votes. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• In the elections to the provincial assemblies, Congress won 923 of 1585 seats, including 23 of the 38
labour seats, but was defeated by the Muslim League in the Muslim seats.
• In the NWFP, the League contested all 33 Muslim seats and won 15 of them. 19 Muslim seats were won
by the Congress, and 58.75 percent of the Muslim vote went to the non-League parties.
• In Punjab, the League gained 73 seats, with its share of the Muslim vote being 65.10 percent. The League
gained 83.6 percent of the Muslim vote in Bengal. It won 76 percent of the total Muslim vote in India.
This was a sharp rise from the 4.8 percent vote in its tally in 1937.
• The elections of 1946 were a watershed. The results made it clear that the Congress represented the large
masses of the country. It was equally clear, however, that the Muslim League spoke for most Muslims.
• The Congress was to go on to form governments in the provinces of Madras, Bombay, United Provinces,
Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces and Berar and NWFP. The League formed ministries in Bengal and
Sind.
• In Punjab, after the 1946 elections, some negotiations between the Muslim League and Akalis were
carried out with a possible coalition in mind. This had been unsuccessful, and Akalis joined with
Unionists and Congress to form a coalition ministry. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
Q 33.A
• The peasant movement played an important role in the fight for independence from British rule. Peasant
movements were led by farmers, laborers, and rural workers who were discontent with the oppressive
policies of the British colonial government and the exploitative practices of the landlords and
moneylenders.
• Baba Ram Singh initiated the Kuka Movement, which marked the Sikh community's foremost
resistance to the British Empire's post-1849 political structure in Punjab. This movement was a blend of
political and religious beliefs and represented a notable uprising against the new British authority. Hence
pair 1 is correctly matched.
• Vasudev Balwant Phadke led the Maharashtra-based Ramosi Uprising as a protest against the British
government's failure to take any measures against the famine. This farmer uprising took a violent turn
instead of peaceful demonstrations. Hence pair 2 is not correctly matched.
• The Kisan sabhas were organized in UP mainly due to the efforts of the home rule activists. The United
Provinces Kisan Sabha was set up in 1918 by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan
Dwivedi, Madan Mohan Malaviya. Hence pair 3 is not correctly matched.
Q 34.C
• In 1897, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social
work. It laid emphasis not on personal salvation but on good or social service.
• Atmiya Sabha was established in Calcutta in 1815 by Ram Mohan Roy. The association conducted
debates and discussions on philosophical subjects, as well as advocated for free and collective thinking
and social reform.
• Truth seeker society (Satya Shodhak) was founded by Jyotiba Phule in 1873 with the leadership of
the samaj coming from the backward classes, malis, telis, kunbis, sans, dhangar.
Q 35.D
• The foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was not a sudden event or a historical accident. It
was the culmination of a process of political awakening that had its beginnings in the 1860s and 1870s
and took a major leap forward in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
• The year 1885 marked a turning point in this process, for that was the year the political Indians, the
modem intellectuals interested in politics, who no longer saw themselves as spokesmen of narrow group
interests, but as representatives of national interest vis-a-vis foreign rule, as a ‘national party,’ saw their
efforts bear fruit. The all-India nationalist body that they brought into being was to be the platform, the
organizer, the headquarters, and the symbol of the new national spirit and politics.
• The nationalist Indian demands of those years —
o no reduction of import duties on textile import
o no expansion in Afghanistan or Burma,
o the right to bear arms,
o freedom of the Press,
o reduction of military expenditure,
o higher expenditure on famine relief,
o Indianization of the civil services,
o the right of Indians to join the semi-military volunteer corps,
o the right of Indian judges to try Europeans in criminal cases,
Q 36.D
• After deliberating amongst itself for close to three weeks, and after long discussions with delegates who
had returned from London's first RTC, and with other leaders representing a cross-section of political
opinion, the Congress Working Committee authorized Gandhiji to initiate discussions with the Viceroy.
The fortnight-long discussion culminated on 5 March 1931 in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, which was
variously described as a ‘truce’ and a provisional settlement.’ The Pact was signed by Gandhiji on behalf
of the Congress and by Lord Irwin on behalf of the Government, a procedure that was hardly popular with
officialdom as it placed the Congress on an equal footing with the Government.
• The Congress met at Karachi on 29 March 1931 to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin or Delhi Pact. Bhagat
Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had been executed six days earlier.
• The Karachi Resolution was passed by the Indian National Congress at its 1931 Karachi session. The
Session was conducted in the shadow of three major events. First, Mahatma Gandhi had just been released
from prison following his Salt Satyagraha. Second, the Gandhi-Irwin pact had just been concluded which
had brought the civil disobedience movement to an end. And third, the British government had, a week
before the session, executed Bhagat Singh and two of his associates in connection with the Kakori
Conspiracy case.The Resolution is three pages long and is mostly written in a quasi-legal style. It
reiterated the Congress Party’s commitment to ‘Purna Swaraj’ or ‘complete independence’. In addition to
fundamental rights which protected civil liberties, the Resolution for the first time put forward a list of
socio-economic principles/rights that the Indian state had to adhere to. These included: protections for
industrial workers, abolishing of child labour, free primary education and protections for agricultural
labour. The Resolution also, which seems to be a Gandhian influence, prohibited intoxicating drinks and
drugs.
• Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case and
ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931. The schedule was moved forward by 11 hours and the
three were hanged on 23 March 1931 at 7:30 pm in the Lahore jail.
• Gandhiji sailed for London on 29 August 1931 to attend the Second Round Table Conference. It
was held in London from 7 September 1931 to 1 December 1931. Nothing much was expected from
the Conference for the imperialist political and financial forces, which ultimately controlled the British
Government in London, were opposed to any political or economic concessions being given to India
which could lead to its independence from their control. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Q 37.B
• The discussions of the Third Round Table Conference were held in December 1932. It led to the
issue of a white paper in 1933, which declared that according to the new constitution, there would be
a dyarchy at the center and secretary of state of India. Thus, The Third Round Table Conference
eventually led to the passing of the Government of India Act, 1935.
• The Government of India Act, of 1919 introduced a new system of dyarchy for the executive at the
level of the provincial government. The 1935 act provided for the establishment of an All India
Federation and a new system of government for the provinces on the basis of provincial autonomy. The
federation was to be based on a union of the provinces of British India and the Princely states. Hence,
• According to The Government of India Act, 1935, the Governors-General and the Governors were to be
appointed by the British government and were to be responsible for it. In the provinces, local power was
to be increased and ministers were given the power to control all departments, however, the Governors
could veto their legislative actions. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Q 38.C
• Ningaloo Eclipse:
o It is a rare ‘hybrid solar eclipse’, caused by the curvature of the earth's surface and a shift from
annular to total eclipse. The last one was seen in 2013, and the next one will appear in 2031.
o Its uniqueness is such that it has already been named Ningaloo, a part of western Australia from
which the eclipse was most visible. The Ningaloo region is also designated as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
o Types of Solar Eclipse:
✓ Total Solar Eclipse: A total eclipse happens when the Moon completely blocks out the Sun while
passing between the Earth and the Sun. The Baily's Beads effect, also known as the diamond ring
effect, is a phenomenon that occurs during a total solar eclipse or annular solar eclipse.
✓ Annular Eclipse: It happens when the Moon is at its farthest point from the Earth. The sun is
covered in such a way that only a small ring-like sliver of light is seen from the sun's disc. This
ring is known as the ring of fire. Hence pair 1 is not correctly matched.
✓ Partial Eclipse: It occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun but is not
perfectly aligned. Hence, only a part of the Sun appears covered. Hence pair 2 is not correctly
matched.
✓ Hybrid Eclipse: A hybrid solar eclipse occurs when the eclipse is total from some locations on
Earth and annular from others, due to the viewer's position relative to the Moon's shadow. Hence
pair 3 is correctly matched.
✓ It means that for some observers, the Moon appears to fully cover the Sun, resulting in a total
solar eclipse, while for others, the Moon only partially covers the Sun, resulting in an annular
solar eclipse.
Q 39.B
• In line with the government policy contained in Montagu’s statement of August 1917, the government
announced further constitutional reforms in July 1918, known as Montagu-Chelmsford or Montford
Reforms. Based on these, the Government of India Act, 1919 was enacted.
• Main Features:
o The Provincial Legislative Councils were enlarged and the majority of their members were to be
elected. Hence statement 2 is correct.
o The Act introduced dyarchy for the executive at the level of the provincial government. The Dyarchy
system provided more powers to the Provincial governments. Under this system some subjects, such
as finance and law and order, were called 'reserved' subjects and remained under the direct control of
the Governor; others such as education, public health, and local self-government, were called
'transferred' subjects and were to be controlled by ministers responsible to the legislatures. The
Governor could overrule the ministers on any grounds that he considered special. Hence statement 1
is not correct.
o At the centre, there were to be houses of the legislature, the lower house, the Legislative Assembly,
was to have 41 nominated members in a total strength of 144. The upper house, the Council of State,
was to have 26 nominated and 34 elected members. The legislature had virtually no control over the
Governor-General and his Executive Council. On the other hand, the Central Government had
unrestricted control over the provincial governments.
• The Indian National Congress met in a special session at Bombay in August 1918 under the presidentship
of Hasan Imam to consider the reform proposals. It condemned them as disappointing and unsatisfactory.
Some of the veteran Congress leaders led by Surendanath Banerjea were in favour of accepting the
government proposals and left the Congress at this time. They founded the Indian Liberal Federation.
Hence statement 3 is correct.
Q 40.D
• The Subsidiary Alliance played a significant role in the expansion of British rule in India, and many
Indian states, including Mysore, Hyderabad, and Awadh, were forced to accept it. The policy remained
in effect until the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which led to the end of the British East India Company's rule
in India and the beginning of direct British rule under the British Crown. The Subsidiary Alliance was a
policy introduced by Lord Wellesley, the Governor-General of India from 1798 to 1805, during the
British colonial rule in India.
• British were responsible for protecting their ally from external and internal threats under the terms of
the Subsidiary Alliance. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The Indian rulers who accepted the Subsidiary Alliance were required to pay for the maintenance of
British troops stationed in their territories, and in return, the British promised to protect the Indian ruler
from external aggression and internal rebellion. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• the stationing of a British armed contingent in the territory of the ally was a key feature of the Subsidiary
Alliance. Under this policy, Indian rulers were required to accept the presence of British troops in
their territories. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Under this policy, Indian rulers were required to accept British control over their foreign policy and
were not allowed to make treaties or alliances with other powers without British permission. This
condition of the Subsidiary Alliance was intended to prevent Indian rulers from forming alliances that
could potentially threaten British interests in India.
Q 41.C
• Even though the Court Martial held the INA prisoners guilty, the Government felt it expedient to set them
free.
• The changed attitude of the British Government is explained by several factors.
o Firstly, the war had changed the balance of power in the world. Not Britain, but the United States of
America and the Soviet Union emerged as winners of the war as big powers. Both supported India's
demand for freedom. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o Secondly, even though Britain was on the winning side in the war, its economic and military power
was shattered. It would take Britain years to rehabilitate itself. Moreover, there was a change of
government in Britain.
o The Conservatives were replaced by the Labour Party many of whose members supported the
Congress demands. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
o The British soldiers were weary of war. Having fought and shed their blood for nearly six years, they
had no desire to spend many more years away from home in India suppressing the Indian people's
struggle for freedom.
o Thirdly, the British Indian Government could no longer rely on the Indian personnel of its civil
administration and armed forces to suppress the national movement. Hence, statement 3 is
correct.
o The INA had shown that patriotic ideas had entered the ranks of the professional Indian army, the
chief instrument of British rule in India. Another straw in the wind was the famous revolt of the
Indian naval ratings at Bombay in February 1946.
o The ratings had fought a seven-hour battle with the army and navy and had surrendered only when
asked to do so by the national leaders. Moreover, there were also widespread strikes in the Indian Air
Force.
o The Indian Signal Corps at Jabalpur also went on strike.
o The other two major instruments of British rule, the police and the bureaucracy were also showing
signs of nationalist leanings.
o They could no longer be safely used to suppress the national movement. For example, the police force
in Bihar and Delhi went on strike.
Q 42.C
• US President Joe Biden visited Belfast, Northern Ireland, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good
Friday Agreement (GFA), a peace deal that brought an end to decades of sectarian violence on the island
of Ireland known as “the Troubles.”
• Good Friday Agreement
o The Good Friday Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998, between factions of Northern Ireland,
and the governments of Britain and Ireland.
o It ended 30 years of the violence in Northern Ireland which is known as ‘The Troubles’, has been
hailed as a model deal to end long-standing conflicts.
o It was signed to end decades of violence in Northern Ireland among those who wished to remain
with the United Kingdom (UK) and those who wanted to join Ireland.
• Terms of the Good Friday Agreement:
o Northern Ireland would continue to be a part of the UK.
o It could join Ireland if a majority of voters on both sides supported it in a referendum.
o People born in Northern Ireland could have Irish or British nationality or both.
o Northern Ireland would get a new government, which would have powers over local matters, while
the UK government would look after security, foreign policy, tax laws, immigration rules, etc.

o On May 22 1998, a referendum was held in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the agreement was
approved by 94% of voters in Ireland and 71% in Northern Ireland.
Q 43.D
• In 1625 the East India Company’s authorities at Surat made an attempt to fortify their factory but
the chiefs of the English factory were immediately imprisoned and put in irons by the local
authorities of the Mughal Empire which was still in its vigour.
• Similarly, when the Company’s English rivals made piratical attacks on Mughal shipping, the Mughal
authorities imprisoned in retaliation the President of the Company at Surat and members of his Council
and released them only on payment of £ 18,000.
• Conditions in the South were more favourable to the English as they did not have to face a strong Indian
Government there.
• The great Vijayanagar Kingdom had been overthrown in 1565 and its place was taken by a number of
petty and weak states.
• It was easy to appeal to their greed or overawe them with armed strength.
• The English opened their first factory in the South at Masulipatam in 1611.
• But they soon shifted the centre of their activity to Madras the lease of which was granted to them by the
local Raja in 1639.
• Madras was then a strip of coastal territory six miles long and one mile broad.
• The Raja authorised them to fortify the place, to administer it, and to coin money on condition of
payment to him of half of the customs revenue of the port. Here the English built a small fort
around their factory called Fort St. George.
Q 44.B
• In the late 1940s, Gandhiji decided to initiate a limited satyagraha on an individual basis. The aims were:
o To show that nationalist patience was not due to weakness;
o to express that Indians made no distinction between Nazism and autocracy that ruled India; and
o to give another opportunity to the government to accept Congress’s Demands peacefully.
• The carefully chosen Satyagrahis — Vinoba Bhave was to be the first Satyagrahi on 17 October 1940
and Jawaharlal Nehru the second — were surrounded by huge crowds when they appeared on the
platform, and the authorities could often arrest them only after they had made their speeches. And if the
Government did not arrest a Satyagrahi, he or she would not only repeat the performance but move into
the villages and start a trek towards Delhi, thus participating in a movement that came to be known as
the ‘Delhi Chalo’ (onwards to Delhi) movement.
• Third Satyagrahi was Brahma Datt, one of the inmates of the Gandhi’s Ashram.
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
Q 45.D
• March,1940: Pakistan Resolution was passed by Muslim League. The All India Muslim League met
in Lahore in March 1940 and adopted a resolution that came to be known as the Lahore Resolution
or Pakistan Resolution. Its the first hand demand was partition of the country and creation of Muslim
nation named Pakistan. The Muslim League demanded that the areas in which the Muslims are
numerically in a majority as in the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India should be grouped to
constitute Independent autonomous States.
• August,1940: August offer promising Dominion Status. On 8 August 1940, early in the Battle of
Britain, the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, made the so-called "August Offer" at Simla, a fresh
proposal promising the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indians, the establishment of
an advisory war council, giving weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians' right to frame
their own constitution (after the end of the war). In return, it was hoped that all parties and communities in
India would cooperate in Britain's war effort.
• October, 1940: Individual Satyagraha movement was launched to affirm the rights to speech.
Individual Satyagraha was the result of August offer. It was started with the mass Civil Disobedience
Movement by M.K Gandhi on Individual Satyagraha. This was movement for not only to seek
independence but also to affirm the right of Speech. The demand of the Satyagrahi was using freedom of
Speech against the war through an anti-war declaration. If government did not arrest the Satyagrahi, he or
she will move repeating it in villages and start march towards Delhi (“Delhi Chalo Movement”).
Q 46.D
• MAHARISHI Initiative:
o It will focus on Research and Awareness about agro-biodiversity, food security, and nutrition aligning
with the International Year of Millets 2023. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
o Secretariat: Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad. Hence statement 2 is not
correct.
o Technical Support: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT),
One CGIAR Centres, and other international organizations
o Millets are known as nutri-cereals or superfoods, mainly grown on marginal land in dry areas of
temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical regions.
Q 47.C
• Alfonso de Albuquerque, who succeeded Almeida as the Portuguese governor in India, was the real
founder of Portuguese power in the East, a task he completed before his death.
• He secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing bases overlooking all the
entrances to the sea.
• There were Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, off the Red Sea, at Hormuz; in Malabar; and at
Malacca. They had strongholds over the entire Asian coast from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to
Malacca in the Malaya.
• The Portuguese, under Albuquerque, bolstered their stranglehold by introducing a permit system for other
ships and exercising control over the major ship-building centers in the region.
• The nonavailability of timber in the Gulf and Red Sea regions for ship-building also helped the
Portuguese in their objectives.
• Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the
Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of
Alexander the Great”. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
• In the words of James Mill, the famous British historian of the 19th century: “The Portuguese followed
their merchandise as their chief occupation, but like the English and the Dutch of the same period, had no
objection to plunder when it fell in their way.”
• The Portuguese were intolerant and fanatical in religious matters. Their approach in this respect was
particularly hateful to the people of India where religious tolerance was the rule.
• They also indulged in inhuman cruelties and lawlessness. In spite of their barbaric behavior their
possessions in India survived for a century because they enjoyed control over the high seas, their soldiers
and administrators maintained strict discipline.
Q 48.D
• Logistics Performance Index
o It is released by the World Bank, which is an interactive benchmarking tool that helps countries to
identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics. The 2023
LPI for the first time measures the speed of trade with indicators derived from big datasets tracking
shipments.
o India has climbed six places on the World Bank's Logistic Performance Index (LPI) 2023. India was
ranked 44th on the index in 2018 and has now climbed to 38th in the 2023 listing.
• The Thales Data Threat Report, 2023:
o It is a comprehensive analysis of cybersecurity trends and threats. It has revealed some concerning
findings about ransomware attacks and cloud data breaches in India and globally. According to the
report by global technology company Thales, there has been a significant increase in these attacks,
o The report highlights a significant increase in these attacks, indicating the need for businesses to
implement robust security measures to protect their sensitive data.
• Global Food Policy Report, 2023:
o It is released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), urging stakeholders to
invest in long-term solutions for building resilient and equitable food systems.
o The report highlights multiple crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, natural
disasters, civil unrest, and political instability, which have led to a rise in food insecurity worldwide
from 2020-2022. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 49.D
• Some of the features of the Indian Independence Act of 1947:
o It ended British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign state from
August 15, 1947. Hence statement 1 is correct.
o It abolished the office of viceroy and provided, for each dominion, a governor-general, who was to
be appointed by the British King on the advice of the dominion cabinet. His Majesty’s Government in
Britain was to have no responsibility with respect to the Government of India or Pakistan. Hence
o It abolished the office of the secretary of state for India and transferred his functions to the
secretary of state for Commonwealth Affairs. Hence statement 3 is correct.
Q 50.B
• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) recently announced a new scheme Mission 50K-
EV4ECO to boost the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem in the country.
• About Mission 50K-EV4ECO:
o The objective of the mission is to promote the growth and development of the value chain of India’s
electric vehicle industry.
o It aims at strengthening the EV ecosystem, including uptake for two, three and four-wheelers through
direct and indirect lending.
o The pilot scheme, which is the precursor to EVOLVE scheme by SIDBI-World Bank, has two
components -direct lending and indirect lending.
o Under direct lending, SIDBI will directly give loans to eligible MSMEs (including aggregators,
fleet operators, and EV leasing companies) for the purchase of electric vehicles and develop charging
infrastructure, including battery swapping.
o The indirect scheme targeted at NBFCs, including small unrated focused and emerging NBFCs,
actively engaged in EV financing, will reach out to the last mile by inducing access to funds as also
reducing landed cost.
• Key facts about SIDBI
o It was established under an Act of Parliament in 1990.
o It is the Principal Financial Institution engaged in the promotion, financing & development of the
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector and coordination of the functions of the
various institutions engaged in similar activities.
Q 51.B
• Recent context: PM Modi inaugurated Kochi Water Metro. The Kochi Water Metro is a project being
implemented by Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRL) with the assistance of a German funding
agency, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.
• It includes boats that are hybrid, battery-powered, air-conditioned and disabled-friendly among other
features. The water metro will operate on water bodies like any other ferry or traditional boat service, but
with modern facilities, enhanced safety and security measures. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Kochi Water metro has been envisaged as a feeder service of the Kochi metro rail, which has been
operational since 2017. While boats have been designed as coaches of Kochi Metro, boat terminals,
passenger entry and exit gates, ticket counters and safety measures mirror the features of the metro rail
service. All jetties feature electronic display boards about boat service. Announcements will be made in
English, Hindi and Malayalam when the services are operating in full swing. Passenger entry and exit to
boats, with air-conditioned cabins, are similar to the system in Kochi metros. The water metro boat
service will operate in the backwaters of Kochi, connecting 10 nearby islands with the mainland of
Kochi. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
Q 52.D
• Kanpur Bolshevik conspiracy case was a controversial court case initiated in British India in 1924.
• It was against the newly turned communists by the British government. The charge on them was 'to
deprive King-Emperor of his sovereignty of British India, by complete separation of India from
imperialistic Britain in a violent revolution.
• S.A.Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta and Shaukat Usmani in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy
Case, all four were sentenced to four years of imprisonment.

Q 53.A
• The second phase of the Indian National Army (INA) began when Subhas Chandra Bose was brought
to Singapore on 2 July 1943, by means of German and Japanese submarines.
• He went to Tokyo and Prime Minister Tojo declared that Japan had no territorial designs on India.
• Bose returned to Singapore and set up the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October 1943.
• The Provisional Government then declared war on Britain and the United States and was recognised by
the Axis powers and their satellites.
• Subhas Bose set up two INA headquarters, in Rangoon and in Singapore, and began to reorganize
the INA.
Q 54.C
• C-Veda
o A recent study, under the C-Veda project, has evaluated and compared neurological development and
generated brain-development charts across ages, similar to charts for physical growth.
o C-Veda is an India-UK project (jointly funded by ICMR and UK’s Newton Grant from Medical
Research Council (MRC))
o Objective: It aims to investigate if environmental and genetic risk factors in industrialized
countries and emerging societies distinctly shape brain function and behavior. It has now established
the largest neurodevelopmental database in India. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
Q 55.B
• Gopal Hari Deshmukh (18 February 1823 – 9 October 1892) was a social reformer and rationalist
from Maharashtra. He wrote weekly prabhakar under the pen name of Lokahitawadi on social
reform issues. He started a weekly Hitechhu and also played a leading role in founding the
periodicals, Gyan Prakash, Indu Prakash and Lokahitawadi.
• Narayan Malhar Joshi founded a social service league in Bombay with an aim to secure for the masses
better and reasonable conditions of life and work.
• Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was a co-founder of new english school, the deccan education society, and
Fergusson College. He started his own periodical sudharak which spoke against untouchability and the
caste system.
• Jyotiba phule founded satyasodhak samaj in 1873 with the leadership of the samaj coming from the
backward classes, malis, telis, kunbis, sans, dhangar.
Q 56.C
• The Indian Councils Act of 1861 enlarged the Governor General’s Executive Council for the purpose
of making laws. The Governor General's executive council consisted of five members. And for the
purpose of the legislation, the council was reinforced by six to twelve nominated members for a two-year
term. Half of these were to be nonofficials, both European and Indian not in the service of the Crown.
There were similar councils in the provinces. Thus, the act did not provide for the non-official
majority. The executive council was still dominated by officials. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The Central legislative council constituted under the Indian Councils Act of 1861 came to be known as
the Imperial Legislative Council. The Council possessed no powers at all. It could not discuss the
budget or a financial measure or any other important bill without the previous approval of the
Government. It could not discuss the actions of the administration. The council did not have the right to
vote on the Budget. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The Charter Act of 1853 for the first time separated the legislative and executive functions of the
British government in India. The Council under the act of 1853 in its legislative capacity was to consist
of 12 members. These included the Governor General, Commander-in-Chief, four members of his council
and six legislative members. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
Q 57.C
• In June 1894 the Natal Legislature planned to introduce the Indian Franchise Bill intended for
disenfranchising Indians. Having settled the lawsuit for which he had come, Gandhiji prepared to leave
for India. But on the eve of his departure from Durban, he raised the issue of the bill to
disenfranchise Indians which was in the process of being passed by the Natal legislature. The Indians
in South Africa begged Gandhiji to stay on for a month and organize their protest as they could not do so
on their own, not knowing even enough English to draft petitions, and so on. Gandhiji agreed to stay on
for a month and stayed for twenty years.
• The second phase of the struggle in South Africa, which began in 1906, was characterized by the use
of the method of passive resistance or civil disobedience, which Gandhiji named Satyagraha. It was
first used when the Government enacted legislation making it compulsory for Indians to take out
certificates of registration that held their fingerprints. It was essential to carry these on person at all
times. At a huge public meeting held on 11 September 1906, in the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg,
Indians resolved that they would refuse to submit to this law and would face the consequences. The
Government remained adamant, and so did the Indians. Gandhiji formed the Passive Resistance
Association to conduct the campaign. The last date for registration being over, the Government started
proceedings against Gandhiji and twenty-six others. The passive resisters pleaded guilty, were ordered to
leave the country and, on refusing to do so, were sent to jail. Others followed, and their numbers swelled
to 155. The fear of jail had disappeared, and it was popularly called King Edward’s Hotel.
• Meanwhile, the Government brought in new legislation, this time to restrict Indian
immigration. The campaign widened to oppose this. In August 1908, a number of prominent
Indians from Natal crossed the frontier into Transvaal to defy the new immigration laws and were
arrested. Other Indians from Transvaal opposed the laws by hawking without a license; traders who had
Licenses refused to produce them. All of them were jailed. Gandhiji himself landed in jail in October
1908 and, along with the other Indians, was sentenced to a prison term involving hard physical labour and
miserable conditions. At this stage, the movement reached an impasse. The more committed Satyagrahis
continued to go in and out of jail, but the majority were showing signs of fatigue. Gandhiji’s own legal
practice had virtually ceased since 1906, the year he had started devoting all his attention to the
struggle. At this point in 1910, Gandhiji set up Tolstoy Farm, made possible through the generosity of
his German architect friend, Kallenbach, to house the families of the Satyagrahis and give them a way to
sustain themselves. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
• Further fuel was added to the already raging fire by a judgment of the Supreme Court in 1913
which invalidated all marriages not conducted according to Christian rites and registered by the
Registrar of Marriages. By implication, Hindu, Muslim and Parsi marriages were illegal and the
children born through these marriages were illegitimate. The Indians treated this judgment as an insult to
the honor of their women and many women were drawn into the movement because of this indignity.
Gandhiji decided that the time had now come for the final struggle into which all the resisters’ resources
should be channeled. The campaign was launched by the illegal crossing of the border by a group of
sixteen Satyagrahis, including Kasturba, Gandhiji’s wife, who marched from Phoenix Settlement in Natal
to Transvaal and were immediately arrested.
Q 58.B
• The first time that INC session was held in a village was at the Faizpur Session of 193 under the
presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru.
• National Planning Committee was set up under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Haripura
Session of 1938 under the presidentship of Subhash Chandra Bose. Hence, option (b) is the correct
answer.
• The Independence Resolution was adopted by INC at the Madras session of 1927 under the presidentship
of M.A. Ansari.
• New Constitution for INC was framed at the Nagpur Session of 1920 under the presidentship of C.
Vijayaraghavachariar.
Q 59.B
• Recent context: The first images for research purposes captured by NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon
Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) instrument have been released.
• The dark matter observatory consists of a telescope mounted on a balloon lofted to an altitude of 32.9
kilometres on April 16, 2023. The platform allows researchers to investigate scientific targets from a near-
space environment. Using a balloon is much more economical than a launch vehicle to deploy an
instrument in orbit. The super-pressure balloon can gather scientific data by circumnavigating the world
for up to 100 days after deployment. The height of the balloon prevents most of the atmospheric
interference for the imaging instrument on board.
• The goal of the observatory is to map the amount of dark matter in its targets, by measuring the
amount of light from distant sources that is amplified and distorted. The targets of SuperBIT exhibit
weak gravitational lensing, as against the strong gravitational lensing of more massive targets, such as
galaxy clusters. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 60.B
• The Revolt of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence, was a widespread uprising
against British rule in India. It began on May 1857, in the town of Meerut and quickly spread
throughout the country, involving soldiers, peasants, landlords, and princes. The Revolt spread to
different parts of the country: Kanpur, Lucknow, Benares, Allahabad, Bareilly, Jagdishpur, and
Jhansi. The rebel activity was marked by intense anti-British feelings and the administration.
• At Kanpur, the leader was Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II. Hence pair 1 is
correctly matched.
• At Bareilly, Khan Bahadur, a descendant of the former ruler of Rohilkhand, was placed in
command. Hence pair 2 is not correctly matched.
• At Delhi, the nominal and symbolic leadership belonged to the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, but the
real command lay with a court of soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan. Hence pair 3 is not
correctly matched.
• At Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal took over the reins. Her son Birjis Qadir was proclaimed the nawab
and a regular administration was organized with important offices. Hence pair 4 is correctly matched.
Q 61.C
• National Health Claims Exchange (HCX):
o The Health Claims Exchange (HCX) is a new initiative under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
(ABDM) that aims to bring interoperability of health claims and streamline the process of claim
settlement. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o The HCX was announced by the National Health Authority (NHA) on September 23rd, 2022, as a
solution to the challenges posed by the current manual and non-digital process of exchanging health
insurance claims in the country.
o Features of HCX
✓ The HCX is designed to be interoperable, machine-readable, auditable, and verifiable, ensuring
that the information being exchanged is accurate and trustworthy.
✓ Insurers and third-party administrators (TPAs) are required to send responses for each e-claim
submitted by providers via the HCX through standard protocols (APIs). The HCX acts as a
gateway for the ecosystem, validating and routing the responses.
o HCX – Sandbox Environment
✓ To ensure the success and adoption of the claims network, the NHA has introduced the HCX –
Sandbox Environment.
✓ This is a testing ground for contributors and developers from the open community, especially
those working in the Health Insurance and Healthcare Provider space, to test and contribute to the
HCX ecosystem.
✓ The HCX – Sandbox enables participants to test their specific components against communication
standards and get certified to become a part of the system. The successful completion of the HCX
– Sandbox process enables the participants to gain access to the HCX production
environment. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Q 62.C
• VAIBHAV Fellowship’ for NRI researchers
o Ministry of Science and Technology unveiled a fellowship to bring Indian-origin researchers to
higher educational institutions in India for a maximum period of two months per year. Hence,
o Aim of the fellowship: It aims to improve the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational
institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations with the best institutions in the world
through the mobility of researchers from overseas institutions to India. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o Criteria: Applicant should be NRI or PIO or OCI and must have obtained a Ph.D./M. D/M. S degree
from a recognized University.
o Eligibility:
✓ The applicant should be Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)and Overseas
Citizen of India (OCI), currently living abroad.
✓ The applicant must have obtained Ph.D/M.D/M.S degree from a recognized University.
✓ Applicant must be a researcher engaged in an overseas academic / research /
industrialorganization with proven track record of research & development working in the top500
QS World University Ranking

✓ Plan to pursue research work for minimum of 1 month to a maximum of 2 months ayear in a
research institution / academic institution in India, spread over 3 years.
✓ Applicants can submit their proposal only once in a calendar year.
o Hence, statement 3 is correct.
Q 63.C
• Wagner Group
o According to reports in The Washington Post, it is a network of contractors that supply soldiers for
hire.
o It is said to have been founded by Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer, a member of Russia’s
military intelligence service, and a veteran of both Chechen wars. Hence option (c) is the correct
answer.
o It is ostensibly private, but according to CSIS, “its management and operations are deeply intertwined
with the Russian military and intelligence community” under Vladimir Putin.
o The Wagner Group first surfaced in 2014, during Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It has been involved
in conflicts in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
o Its forces are known to be fighting in parts of Ukraine, including during a brutal, long-running battle
for the small city of Bakhmut.
Q 64.D
• Though Congress was opposed to the Government of India Act, 1935, it decided to contest the elections
under the Act, though with the desired aim of showing how unpopular the Act was.
• The election campaign of Congress met with massive response, even though Gandhiji didn’t address a
single election meeting. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• The elections, held in February 1937, conclusively demonstrated that a large majority of Indian people
supported the Congress which swept the polls in most of the provinces. Congress ministries were formed
in July 1937 in seven out of eleven provinces. Later, Congress formed coalition governments in two
others. Only Bengal and Punjab had non-Congress ministries. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Punjab was ruled by the Unionist Party and Bengal by a coalition of the Krashak Praja Party and the
Muslim League. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
Q 65.C
• Recent context: Explorers find WWII ship sunk with over 1,000 Allied prisoners of war.
• The Montevideo Maru was a ship that sunk during World War II, resulting in the loss of about 1,060
prisoners of war and civilians from 14 different countries. For 81 years, the wreckage of the ship remained
elusive, until a recent discovery by the Silentworld Foundation, led by Captain Roger Turner.
• The Montevideo Maru was a Japanese cargo ship that was used to transport prisoners of war and
civilians during World War II. On July 1, 1942, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine in
the South China Sea. The ship was carrying about 979 Australian troops and civilians, as well as prisoners
from other countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, among others.
Tragically, no one on board survived the sinking, and it became one of the deadliest maritime disasters in
Australian history. Hence statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• The wreck of the Montevideo Maru was located after a 12-day search at a depth of over 4000 meter
(13,120 feet) — deeper than the Titanic — off Luzon island in the South China Sea, using an autonomous
underwater vehicle with in-built sonar.
• The Montevideo Maru was transporting prisoners and civilians who were captured after the fall of Rabaul
in Papua New Guinea. The ship was not marked as carrying POWs, and on July 1, 1942, the American
submarine Sturgeon, after stalking the ship through the night, fired four torpedoes, which found their
target, sinking the vessel in less than 10 minutes.
Q 66.D
• Central Bureau of Narcotics
o Central Bureau of Narcotics is a central government organization dealing with the international
trade of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursor chemicals under the ambit of
various United Nations Conventions and the provisions of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act(NDPS), 1985.
o Ministry of Finance launched the unified portal of the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), which
will instil efficiency and transparency and reduce the time taken by the pharma industry to get
a trade licence. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

o The unified portal of Central Bureau of Narcotics will instil the efficiency, transparency and
accountability in department users with twin objective to cater the need of pharma and chemical
industry for synergistic growth of the drugs & pharma sector and boosting economy for
“Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" and ensure availability of the “essential narcotic drugs" and
medicines to the patients & their attendant families. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
o Exporters, importers, and manufacturers of NDPS, and controlled substances are expected to benefit
in an ecosystem which supports and harbours user-friendly, secure transactions, cloud-based storage,
simplified process for applicants to obtain various licences.
• Narcotics Control Bureau is different from Central Bureau of Narcotics
o Narcotics Control Bureau is the drug law enforcement and intelligence agency of India responsible
for fighting drug trafficking and the abuse of illegal substances.
o It is affiliated with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was made responsible for administering
the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
Q 67.A
• The advance of the national movement in British India, and the accompanying increase in political
consciousness about democracy, responsible government and civil liberties had an inevitable impact on
the people of the princely states. In the first and second decade of the twentieth century, runaway terrorists
from British India seeking shelter in the princely states became agents of politicization.
• A much more powerful influence was exercised by the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movement
launched in 1920; around this time and under its impact, numerous local organizations of the States’
people came into existence.
• Some of the States in which praja mandals or States’ People’s Conferences were organized were
Mysore, Hyderabad, Baroda, the Kathiawad States, the Deccan States, Jamnagar, Indore, and
Nawanagar. This process came to a head in December 1927 at Bombay (first session) with the
convening of the All India States’ People’s Conference (AISPC) which was attended by 700 political
workers from the States. It was presided by Dewan Bahadur Ram Chandra Rao. The men chiefly
responsible for this initiative were Balwantrai Mehta, Maniklal Kothari and G.R. Abhayankar.
Hence statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not correct.
• The main emphasis was that people of the States should build up their own strength and demonstrate their
capacity to struggle for their demands.
• Informal links between the congress and the various organisations of the people of the States,
including the AISPC, always continued to be close. In 1939, the AISPC elected Jawaharlal Nehru as its
President for the Ludhiana session, thus setting the seal on the fusion of the movements in Princely
India and British India.
Q 68.C
• The victory of the Labour Party in Britain in the post-war elections had significant implications for India.
Civil liberties were restored, the ban on Congress was lifted, and elections were declared both at the
centre and in the provinces for the winter of 1945–1946.
• The Congress welcomed the opportunity to form ministries in the provinces and to elect representatives to
the constitution-making body that would be set up.
• The election campaign became a massive exercise in the mobilisation of the people.
• A major issue taken up in the election campaign related to the unprecedented repression witnessed
against the 1942 movement. Hence option 1 is correct.
o A typical election speech would relate the tale of repression with all the details of brutality, move on
to condemning the officials who were guilty, and end with the promise (or threat) that Congress
governments would enquire into these cases and mete out punishment to the guilty officials.
• The second issue taken up in the election campaign was that of the fate of the members of Subhas
Bose’s Indian National Army taken prisoner by the Allies and put on trial for brutalities and war
crimes. Hence option 3 is correct.
o Jawaharlal Nehru hailed them as misguided patriots and called for leniency, given that big changes
were imminent in India. The Congress followed this up by passing a resolution in support of the
cause. Well-known Congress leaders like Bhulabhai Desai, K.N. Katju, M. Asaf Ali and Jawaharlal
Nehru argued the case in court when the trials began at the historic Red Fort. In addition to legal help,
Congress organised relief funds and arranged employment for the INA men. Congress election
meetings were often indistinguishable from INA meetings.
• Equal representation of Muslims and Hindus in Constituent Assembly was not specifically taken up
during the election campaign of 1945. Hence option 2 is not correct.

Q 69.C
• The British Government desperately wanted the active cooperation of Indians in the war effort during
World War II.
• To secure Indian cooperation it sent to India in March 1942 a mission headed by a Cabinet
Minister, Sir Stafford Cripps, who had earlier been a radical member of the Labour Party and a strong
supporter of the Indian national movement. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Even though Cripps declared that the aim of British policy in India was "the earliest possible realisation of
self-government in India", detailed negotiations between him and the Congress leaders broke
down. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The British Government refused to accept the Congress's demand to immediately transfer effective power
to Indians.
• On the other hand, the Indian leaders could not be satisfied by mere promises for the future while the
Viceroy retained his autocratic powers in the present.
• They were anxious to cooperate in the war effort, especially as the Japanese army endangered Indian
territory. But they could do so, they felt, only when a national government was formed in the country.
• The failure of the Cripps Mission embittered the people of India. While they still fully sympathised with
the anti-Fascist forces, they felt that the existing political situation in the country had become intolerable,
The Congress now decided to take active steps to compel the British to accept the Indian demand for
independence.
• The All India Congress Committee met in Bombay on 8 August 1942.
• It passed the famous 'Quit India' Resolution and proposed the start of a non-violent mass struggle under
Gandhi’s leadership to achieve this aim.
Q 70.C
• Paramahansa Mandali was a secret socio-religious group, established in 1849, in Bombay and is
closely related to Manav Dharma Sabha which was founded in the 1840s in Surat.
• It was the first socio-religious organization in Maharashtra, Its founders of these Mandli believed in one
god. They were primarily interested in breaking caste rules. At their meetings food cooked by lower
caste people was taken by the members. The Mandali also advocated women's education and widow
remarriage. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• It was started by Durgaram Mehtaji, Dadoba Pandurang, and a group of his friends. Hence statement
2 is correct.
• Balshastri Jambhekar started Digdardshan in 1840, which published articles on scientific subjects as
well as history.
Q 71.B
• The British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ found another expression in the announcement of the Communal
Award in August 1932. The Award allotted to each minority a number of seats in the legislatures to be
elected on the basis of a separate electorate that is Muslims would be elected only by Muslims and Sikhs
only by Sikhs, and so on. Muslims, Sikhs and Christians had already been treated as minorities.
• The Award declared the Depressed Classes (Scheduled Castes of today) also to be a minority community
entitled to separate electorate and thus separated them from the rest of the Hindus.
• The Congress was opposed to a separate electorate for Muslims, Sikhs and ‘Christians as it encouraged
the communal notion that they formed separate groups or communities having interests different from the
general body of Indians. The inevitable result was to divide the Indian people and prevent the growth of a
common national consciousness.
• But the idea of a separate electorate for Muslims had been accepted by Congress as far back as 1916 as a
part of the compromise with the Muslim League. Hence, Congress took the position that though it was
opposed to separate electorates, it was not in favour of changing the Award without the consent of the
minorities.
• Consequently, though strongly disagreeing with the Communal Award, it decided neither to accept
it nor to reject it. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• But the effort to separate the Depressed Classes from the rest of the Hindus by treating them as separate
political entities was vehemently opposed by all the nationalists. Gandhiji, in Yeravada jail at the time, in
particular, reacted very strongly.’ He saw the Award as an attack on Indian unity and nationalism, harmful
to both Hinduism and the Depressed Classes, for it provided no answers to the socially degraded position
of the latter. Once the Depressed Classes were treated as a separate community, the question of abolishing
untouchability would not arise, and the work of Hindu social reform in this respect would come to a halt.
Gandhiji argued that whatever harm separate electorates might do to Muslims or Sikhs, it did not affect
the fact that they would remain Muslims or Sikhs. But while reformers like himself were working for the
total eradication of untouchability, separate electorates would ensure that ‘untouchables remain
untouchables in perpetuity.’ What was needed was not the protection of the so-called interests of the
Depressed Classes in terms of seats in the legislatures or jobs but the ‘root arid branch’ eradication of
untouchability. Gandhiji demanded that the representatives of the Depressed Classes should be elected by
the general electorate under a wide if possible universal, common franchise. At the same time, he did not
object to the demand for a larger number of reserved seats for the Depressed Classes. He went on a fast
unto death on 20 September 1932 to enforce his demand.
• Political leaders of different political persuasions, including Madan Mohan Malaviya, M.C. Rajah and
B.R. Ambedkar, now became active. In the end, they succeeded in hammering out an agreement,
known as the Poona Pact, according to which the idea of separate electorates for the Depressed
Classes was abandoned but the seats reserved for them in the provincial legislatures were increased
from seventy-one in the Award to 147 and in the Central Legislature to eighteen per cent of the
total. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Q 72.C
• Lord Birkenhead, the Conservative Secretary of State responsible for the appointment of the Simon
Commission, had constantly harped on the inability of Indians to formulate a concrete scheme of
constitutional reforms which had the support of wide sections of Indian political opinion
• This challenge, too, was taken up and meetings of the All-Parties Conference were held in February, May
and August 1928 to finalize a scheme which popularly came to be known as the Nehru Report after
Motilal Nehru, its principal author.
o This report defined Dominion Status as the form of government desired by India.
o It also rejected the principle of separate communal electorates on which previous constitutional
reforms had been based.
o Seats would be reserved for Muslims at the Centre and in provinces in which they were in a
minority, but not in those where they had a numerical majority. Hence, option 1 is not correct.
o The Report also recommended Nineteen fundamental rights including universal adult suffrage,
equal rights for women, freedom to form unions and dissociation of the state from religion in
any form. Hence, options 2, 3 and 4 are correct.
o Linguistic provinces
o Responsible government at the Centre and in provinces
o The Indian Parliament at the Centre consists of a 500-member House of Representatives elected on
the basis of adult suffrage, a 200-member Senate to be elected by provincial councils; the House of
Representatives to have a tenure of 5 years and the Senate, one of 7 years; the central government to
be headed by a governor-general, appointed by the British government but paid out of Indian
revenues, who would act on the advice of the central executive council responsible to the Parliament.
o Provincial councils to have a 5-year tenure, headed by a governor acting on the advice of the
provincial executive council.
o Full protection to the cultural and religious interests of Muslims.
• A section of the Muslim League had in any case dissociated itself from these deliberations, but by the end
of the year, it became clear that even the section led by Jinnah would not give up the demand for
reservation of seats for Muslims, especially in Muslim majority provinces.
• The dilemma in which Motilal Nehru and other secular leaders found themselves was not one that was
easy to resolve: if they conceded more to Muslim communal opinion, then Hindu communalists would
withdraw support and if they satisfied the latter, then Muslim leaders would be estranged.
• In the event, no further concessions were forthcoming and Jinnah withdrew his support to the report and
went ahead to propose his famous ‘Fourteen Points’ which were basally a reiteration of his objections to
the Nehru Report.
Q 73.B
• Lord Curzon (1899-1905) was the viceroy during the partition of Bengal in 1905. His tenure also
include the second Delhi Durbar in 1903 and the creation of the North West Frontier Province in 1901 to
curb the uprising by the frontier tribes. Hence pair 1 is correctly matched.
• Lord Willingdon (1931-36) was the viceroy during the announcement of the Communal Award
(1932). Further, the Second Round Table Conference (1931), and failure of the conference, and the
resumption of the Civil Disobedience Movement are also associated with his tenure. Lord Irvin was the
viceroy during 1926-31. Hence pair 2 is not correctly matched.
• Lord Reading (1921-26) was the viceroy during the Chauri Chaura incident (February 5, 1922) and
the subsequent withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Hence pair 3 is correctly matched.
• Lord Hardinge II (1910-16) was the viceroy during the Ghadar mutiny in 1915. Further, the creation of
the Bengal Presidency (like Bombay and Madras) in 1911 and the transfer of capital from Calcutta to
Delhi (1911) occurred during his tenure. Lord Chelmsford was the viceroy during 1916-21. Hence pair
4 is not correctly matched.
Q 74.C
• In a private communication to Zetland, the Secretary of State, Linlithgow was to remark a few months
later: ‘I am not too keen to start talking about a period after which British rule will have ceased in India. I
suspect that that day is very remote and I feel the least we say about it in all probability the better."
• Zetland's term as Secretary of State — and the experiment with democracy represented by the 1935 Act
— came to an end with Churchill's assumption of the Prime Ministership in 1940: Zetland then
offered his resignation, feeling that his ideas and Churchill's regarding India were so different that "I
could only end by becoming an embarrassment to him."
• On 18 October, Zetland spoke in the House of Lords and stressed differences among Indians,
especially among Hindus and Muslims. He branded the Congress as a purely Hindu organization.’
• Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
Q 75.B
• what is Chagas disease?
o Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis, is a communicable parasitic disease which
is caused by the parasite protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi.that has infected 6-7 million people and
claims around 12,000 lives every year across the globe, according to WHO.
o Chagas is currently endemic in 21 countries in the Americas, and shows an annual average incidence
of 30,000 new cases, according to Pan-American Health Organisation. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Symptoms:
o The systemic, chronic disease manifests as fever, headaches, rashes and inflammatory nodules,
nausea or diarrhoea and muscle or abdominal pain.
o A majority of the patients (70-80 per cent) show an asymptomatic clinical course throughout their
lives, making early detection challenging. Because of this it is often referred to as the “silent and
silenced disease”.
• Transmission of Disease:
o It is caused by the parasite protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasites are mainly transmitted
by a family of bugs called ‘triatomines’, also known as the ‘kissing bug’.
o These blood-sucking bugs transmit the disease from infected to healthy individuals through bites and
by defecating on them.
o Other ways of Transmission:
✓ An individual can also contract this disease through congenital transmission (pregnant woman
to their baby), blood transfusions, organ transplantation, consumption of uncooked food
contaminated with faecal matter of infected bugs or even accidental laboratory exposure.
✓ This disease, however, cannot propagate by casual contact with infected humans or animals.
Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• Prevention and Treatment:
o There are currently no vaccines available for Chagas disease. However, the disease can be treated
with antiparasitic medicines Benznidazole and Nifurtimox. These have a 100 per cent efficacy rate if
the medicine is administered at the onset of the acute stage. Hence statement 3 is correct.
Q 76.A
• In Amritsar, the arrest of two local leaders, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal on 10 April led to an
attack on the town hall and the post office; telegraph wires were cut and Europeans including women
were attacked. The army was called in and the city handed over to General Dyer, who issued an order
prohibiting public meetings and assemblies.
• An unarmed but large crowd gathered on 13 April 1919 at Amritsar in the Jallianwalla Bagh, to protest
against the arrest of the leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. Jallianwalla Bagh was a large open
space that was enclosed on three sides by buildings and had only one exit. General Dyer surrounded the
Bagh with his army unit, closed the exit with his troop, and then ordered his men to shoot into the trapped
crowd with rifles and machine guns. Thousands were killed and wounded. After this massacre, martial

law was proclaimed throughout Punjab and the people were submitted to the most uncivilized atrocities.
Hence statement 1 is correct.
• A wave of horror ran through the country as the knowledge of the Punjab happenings spread. The popular
shock was expressed by the great poet and humanist Rabindranath Tagore who renounced his knighthood
in the protest.
• In February 1919, Mahatma Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Sabha whose members took a pledge to
disobey the Rowlatt Act and thus to court arrest and imprisonment. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• The Hunter Committee was appointed by the Government to enquire into the Punjab disturbances. It was
just an eyewash that the House of Lords had voted in favour of General Dyer’s action and that the British
public had demonstrated its support by helping the Morning Post collect 30,000 pounds for General Dyer.
Q 77.B
• The orientalist-Anglicist Controversy during British rule was related to educational development in India.
It erupted in the early nineteenth century (1830s) over the issue of the system of education and the
language of modern Education to be introduced in India.
• The officials who favoured the introduction of Western scientific knowledge in India came to be known as
the Anglicists while the Orientalists were in favour of promoting and disseminating traditional Oriental
learning.
• However, the famous Lord Macaulay’s Minute of 1835 settled the row in favour of Anglicists. The
limited government resources thus were to be devoted to the teaching of Western sciences and literature
through the medium of the English language alone. Thus, Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy was settled
much before the Woods despatch (1854). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The Wood’s Dispatch was a document dispatched from the Court of Directors and popularly named
after Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control in 1854.
• It was another important step in the development of education in India. The Dispatch asked the
Government of India to assume responsibility for the education of the masses. It thus repudiated the
“downward filtration” theory, at least on paper. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• It systematised the hierarchy from vernacular primary schools in villages at the bottom, followed by
Anglo-Vernacular High Schools and an affiliated college at the district level, and affiliating universities in
the presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. It recommended English as the medium of
instruction for higher studies and vernaculars at the school level.
• The despatch directed the government to establish Departments of Education at the provincial levels and
affiliated Universities on the model of the London University.
• Consequently, Departments of Education were instituted in all provinces and affiliating universities
were set up in 1857 at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the famous Bengali
novelist, became 1858 one of the first two graduates of Calcutta University.
Q 78.B
• World War II broke Out On 1 September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Earlier Germany
had occupied Austria in March 1938 and Czechoslovakia in 1939. Britain and France, which had been
following a policy of appeasement towards Hitler, were now forced to go to Poland’s aid and declare war
on Germany. This they did on 3 September 1939. The Government of India immediately declared
India to be at war with Germany without consulting the Congress or the elected members of the
central legislature.
• Different opinions on the question of Indian support to British war efforts in WW2:
o Mahatma Gandhi advocated an unconditional support to the Allied powers. Hence, statement 1
is not correct.
o Subhas Bose and other socialists leaders such as Acharya Narendra Dev and Jaya prakash Narayan
were of the view to take advantage of the situation of World War II. Hence, statement 2 is
correct.
o Nehru's View: No Indian Participation in WW2 and at the same, no opportunistic view of the
situation either. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
o The Muslim League viewed the war situation as one from which it could profit in getting a British
assurance on its demands.

Q 79.A
• The founder of the autonomous kingdom of Avadh was Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk who was
appointed Governor of Avadh in 1722. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
• He was an extremely bold, energetic, iron-willed, and intelligent person. At the time of his appointment,
rebellious zamindars had raised their heads everywhere in the province. They refused to pay the land tax,
organized their own private armies, erected forts, and defied the Imperial Government. For years Saadat
Khan had to wage war upon them.
• He succeeded in suppressing lawlessness and disciplining the big zamindars and thus, increasing the
financial resources of his government. Most of the defeated zamindars were, however, not displaced.
• They were usually confirmed in their estates after they had submitted and agreed to pay their dues (land
revenue) regularly Moreover, they continued to be refractory.
• Whenever Nawab’s military hold weakened or he was engaged in some other direction, they would rebel,
thus weakening Nawab’s power.
• As Safdar Jang, Saadat Khan's successor, later wrote. “The Avadh chiefs were capable of creating a
disturbance in the twinkling of an eye and were more dangerous than the Marathas of the Deccan ”.
• Saadat Khan also carried out a fresh revenue settlement in 1723. He is said to have improved a lot
of the peasants by levying equitable land revenue and by protecting him from oppression by the big
zamindars.
• Like the Bengal Nawabs, he too did not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims.
• Many of his commanders and high officials were Hindus and he curbed refractory zamindars, chiefs, and
nobles irrespective of their religion.
• His troops were well-paid, well-armed, and well-trained.
• Alivardi Khan: Alivardi Khan was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri
dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.
• Safdar Jung: Abul Mansur Mirza Muhammad Muqim Ali Khan, better known as Safdar Jang, was a
major figure at the Mughal court during the declining years of the Mughal Empire. He became the second
Nawab of Awadh when he succeeded Saadat Ali Khan I in 1739.
• Shuja ud Daula: Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of Safdar Jung. He was the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh
from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.
Q 80.D
• The Non-Cooperation movement was launched formally on 1 August 192O, after the expiry of the notice
that Gandhiji had given to the Viceroy in his letter of 22 June. in which he had asserted the right
recognized ‘from time immemorial of the subject to refuse to assist a ruler who misrules.’
• The Congress met in September at Calcutta and accepted non-cooperation as its own. The main
opposition, led by C.R. Das, was to the boycott of legislative councils, elections to which were to be held
very soon. But even those who disagreed with the idea of a boycott accepted the Congress discipline and
withdrew from the elections. The voters, too, largely stayed away. By December, when the Congress met
for its annual session at Nagpur, the opposition had melted away; the elections were over and, therefore,
the boycott of councils was a non-issue, and it was CR. Das who moved the main resolution on non-
cooperation
• Gandhiji’s, decision to withdraw from the Non-cooperation movement in response to the violence at
Chauri Chaura raised a Controversy whose heat can still be felt in staid academic seminars and sober
volumes of history. Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Bose, and many others have
recorded their utter bewilderment on hearing the news.
• They could not understand why the whole country had to pay the price for the crazy behavior of some
people in a remote village. Many in the country thought that the Mahatma had failed miserably as a leader
and that his days of glory were over. Many later commentators, following, the tradition established by R.
Palme Dutt in India Today, have continued to condemn the decision taken by Gandhiji, and seen in it
proof of the Mahatma’s concern for the propertied classes of Indian society.
• Their argument is that Gandhiji did not withdraw from the movement simply because of his belief in the
necessity of non-violence. He withdrew it because the action at Chauri Chaura was a symbol and an
indication of the growing militancy of the Indian masses, of their growing radicalization, of their
willingness to launch an attack on the status quo of property relations. Frightened by this radical
possibility and by the prospect of the movement going out of his hands and into the hands of radical
forces, and in order to protect the interests of landlords and capitalists who would inevitably be at the
receiving end of this violence, Gandhiji cried halt to the movement.

• They have found supportive proof in the resolution of the Congress Working Committee of 12
February 1922 popularly known as the Bardoli resolution which while announcing the withdrawal,
asked the peasants to pay taxes and tenants to pay rents. This, they say, was the real though hidden
motive behind the historic decision of February 1922. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Q 81.B
• The Rise of the Maratha Power
• The most important challenge to the decaying Mughal power came from the Maratha Kingdom which was
the most powerful of the succession states. In fact, it alone possessed the strength to fill the political
vacuum created by the disintegration of the Mughal empire.
• Moreover, it produced a number of brilliant commanders and statesmen needed for the task, But the
Maratha sardars lacked unity, and they lacked the outlook and program which were necessary for
founding an all-India empire,
• And so they failed to replace the Mughals. They did, however, succeed in waging continuous war against
the Mughal Empire, till they destroyed it.
• Shahu, the grandson of Shivaji, had been a prisoner in the hands of Aurangzeb since 1689.
• Aurangzeb had treated him and his mother with great dignity, honour, and consideration, paying
full attention to their religious, caste, and other needs, hoping perhaps to arrive at a political
agreement with Shahu. Shahu was released in 1707 after Aurangzeb’s death. Hence statement 1 is
correct.
• Very soon a civil war broke out between Shahu at Satara and his aunt Tara Bai at Kolhapur who
had carried out an anti-Mughal struggle since 1700 in the name of her son Shivaji Il after the death of
her husband Raja Ram. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Maratha sardars, each one of whom had a large following of soldiers loyal to himself alone, began to side
with one or the other contender for power. They used this opportunity to increase their power and
influence by bargaining with the two contenders for power.
• Several of them were even intrigued with the Mughal viceroys of the Deccan.
• Arising out of the conflict between Shahu and his rival at Kolhapur, a new system of Maratha
government evolved under the leadership of Balaji Vishwanath, the Peshwa of King Shahu.
• With this change began the second period—the period of Peshwa domination in Maratha history in which
the Maratha state was transformed into an empire.
• Balaji Vishwanath, a Brahmin, started life as a petty revenue official and then rose step by step as an
official. He rendered Shahu loyal and useful service in suppressing his enemies. He excelled in diplomacy
and won over many of the big Maratha sardars to Shahu's cause.
• In 1713, Shahu made him his Peshwa. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Balaji Vishwanath gradually consolidated Shahu's hold and his own over Maratha sardars and over
most of Maharashtra except for the region south of Kolhapur where Raja Ram’s descendants ruled.
• The Peshwa concentrated power in his office and eclipsed the other ministers and sardars. In fact he and
his son Baji Rao made the Peshwa' the functional head of the Maratha Empire.
• Balaji Vishwanath took full advantage of the internal conflicts of the Mughal officials to increase
Maratha's power.
Q 82.C
• Simon Commission was appointed by the British government in November 1927 to go into the question
of further constitutional reforms.
• All the members of the commission were Englishmen, this announcement was greeted by a chorus of
disenchantment from all sections of India as it was seen as a violation of the principle of self-
determination and a deliberate insult to the self-respect of the Indians.
• The Congress Party decided to boycott the Commission at their session at Madras in 1927. The Muslim
League led by M A Jinnah and the Hindu Mahasabha also decided to support the Congress decision.
Q 83.C
• The Conservative Government in Britain led by Winston Churchill was keen to reach a solution to the
constitutional question in India. The Viceroy, Lord Wavell, was permitted to start negotiations with
Indian leaders. Congress leaders were released from jails in June 1945.
o The idea was to reconstruct the governor general’s executive council pending the preparation of
a new constitution.
o For this purpose, a conference was convened by the viceroy, Lord Wavell, at Shimla in June
1945.
• The main proposals of the Wavell Plan were as follows:
o With the exception of the governor-general and the commander-in-chief, all members of the
executive council were to be Indians. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o Caste Hindus and Muslims were to have equal representation. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o The reconstructed council was to function as an interim government within the framework of the 1935
Act (i.e. not responsible to the Central Assembly).
o The governor general was to exercise his veto on the advice of ministers.
o Representatives of different parties were to submit a joint list to the viceroy for nominations to the
executive council. If a joint list was not possible, then separate lists were to be submitted.
o Possibilities were to be kept open for negotiations on a new constitution once the war was finally
won.
o The League wanted all Muslim members to be League nominees because it feared that since the aims
of other minorities—depressed classes, Sikhs, Christians, etc.—were the same as those of the
Congress, this arrangement would reduce the League to a one-third minority. (Wavell wanted Khizr
Hyat Khan as the Muslim representative from Western Punjab.)
o The League claimed some kind of veto in the council with decisions opposed to Muslims needing a
two-thirds majority for approval.
o The Congress objected to the plan as “an attempt to reduce the Congress to the status of a purely caste
Hindu party and insisted on its right to include members of all communities among its nominees”.
o Wavell announced a breakdown of talks thus giving the League a virtual veto.
o This strengthened the League’s position, as was evident from the elections in 1945–46, boosted
Jinnah’s position; and exposed the real character of the Conservative government of Churchill.
Q 84.B
• When the All-India Congress Committee met at Bezwada (now Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh) on March
31, 1921, they devised a constructive program wherein amongst other aims, it was decided to raise one
crore rupees by the end of June 1921. Bombay played the central arena of activity for Mahatma Gandhi
from April to June 1921.
• He devised several measures to build the fund and strategized to raise 60 lakhs from Bombay and 40 lakhs
from the rest of the country. Support for the Fund came from multiple angles and received a thunderous
response, and even surpassed the target.
• The AICC, at its session at Vijayawada in March 1921, directed that for the next three months,
Congressmen should concentrate on the collection of funds, enrolment of members and distribution of
charkhas. As a result, a vigorous membership drive was launched and though the target of one crore
members was not achieved, Congress membership reached a figure roughly of 50 lakhs.
• The overwhelming support and generosity that Bombay displayed earned itself the sobriquet “Bombay the
Beautiful” by Gandhi in the Young India magazine on July 6, 1921.
• In the Nagpur session of Congress which was held on December 1921, a decision was taken to create
the All-India Tilak Memorial Swaraj Fund (in the memory of Bal Gangadhar Tilak) to raise funds
for the Non-Cooperation Movement. Bombay played a central role in the collection of funds for it.
Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
Q 85.C
• Lakhajiraj died in 1939 and his son Dharmendra Singhji, a complete contrast to the father, soon took
charge of the State. The new Thakore was interested only in pleasure, and effective power fell into the
hands of Dewan Virawala, who did nothing to stop the Thakore from frittering away the State’s wealth,
and finances reached such a pass that the State began to sell monopolies for the sale of matches, sugar,
rice, and cinema licences to individual merchants. This immediately resulted in a rise in prices and
enhanced the discontent that had already emerged over the Thakore’s easy-going life-style and his
disregard for popular participation in government as reflected in the lapse of the Pratinidhi Sabha as well
as the increase in taxes. The ground for struggle had been prepared over several years of political work by
political groups in Rajkot and Kathiawad. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The first struggle emerged under the leadership of Jethalal Joshi, a Gandhian worker, who organized the
800 labourers of the state-owned cotton mill into a labour union and led a twentyone day strike in 1936 to
secure better working conditions. The Durbar had been forced to concede the union’s demands. This
victory encouraged Joshi and UN Dhebar to convene, in March 1937, the first meeting of the Kathiawad
Rajakiya Parishad to be held in eight years. The conference, attended by 15,000 people, demanded
responsible government, reduction in taxes and state expenditure. Hence, statement 2 and 3 are
correct.
Q 86.C
• In 1595, four Dutch ships sailed to India via the Cape of Good Hope.
• In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed and the Dutch States General —the Dutch
parliament—gave it a Charter empowering it to make war, conclude treaties, acquire territories
and build fortresses. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The main interest of the Dutch lay not in India but in the Indonesian Islands of Java, Sumatra, and the
Spice Islands where spices were produced.
• They soon turned out the Portuguese from the Malay Straits and the Indonesian Islands and in 1623,
defeated English attempts to establish themselves there.
• It appeared at the time that the Dutch had successfully seized the most important profitable part of Asian
trade.
• They did not, however, entirely abandon Indian trade.
• They also established trading depots at Surat, Broach, Cambay, and Ahmedabad in Gujarat in
West India, Cochin in Kerala, Nagapatam in Madras, Masulipatam in Andhra, Chinsura in Bengal,
Patna in Bihar, and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• In 1658 they also conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese.
• They exported indigo, raw silk, cotton textiles, saltpetre, and opium from India.
• Coffee was introduced to India during the late seventeenth century. The story goes that an Indian
pilgrim to Mecca – known as Baba Budan – smuggled seven beans back to India from Yemen in 1670 (it
was illegal to take coffee seeds out of Arabia at the time) and planted them in the Chandragiri hills of
Karnataka.
Q 87.D
• Damon-i-Koh was a large area of land demarcated by the British East India Company for the
settlement of Santhals near the Rajmahal hills. Santhals were given lands and persuaded to practice
settled cultivation. The Santhals were to live within it, practice plough agriculture, and become settled
peasants. The land grant to the Santhals stipulated that at least one-tenth of the area was to be cleared and
cultivated within the first ten years. The territory was surveyed and mapped. Enclosed with boundary
pillars, it was separated from both the world of the settled agriculturists of the plains and the Paharias of
the hills.
• However, the Santhals soon found that the land they had brought under cultivation was slipping away
from their hands. The state was levying heavy taxes on the land that the Santhals had cleared,
moneylenders (dikus) were charging them high rates of interest and taking over the land when debts
remained unpaid, and zamindars were asserting control over the Damin area. The discontent of the
Santhals was reflected in the Santhal Revolt (1855-56).
Q 88.D
• Indian newspapers in the 1870s became highly critical of Lord Lytton’s administration, especially
regarding its inhuman approach toward the victims of the famine of 1876-77. As a result, the Government
decided to make a sudden strike at the Indian language newspapers, since they reached beyond the
middle-class readership.
• The Vernacular Press Act (VPA) of 1878, directed only against Indian language newspapers,was
conceived in great secrecy and passed at a single sitting of the Imperial Legislative Council. Hence
o The Act provided for the confiscation of the printing press, paper, and other materials of a
newspaper if the Government believed that it was publishing seditious materials and had
flouted an official warning. Hence statement 2 is correct.
o When the Vernacular Press Bill came up before the Council, only one Indian member, Maharaja
Jitendra Mohan Tagore, the leader of the Zamindari-dominated British Indian Association was
present. He voted for it.
o Indian nationalist opinion firmly opposed the Act. The first great demonstration on an issue of
public importance was organized in Calcutta on this question when a large meeting was held in the
Town Hall. Various public bodies and the Press also campaigned against the Act.
o Consequently, it was repealed in 1881 by Lord Ripon. Hence statement 3 is correct.
o Under VPA, proceedings were instituted against Som Prakash, Bharat Mihir, Dacca Prakash,
and Samachar. Incidentally, the Amrita Bazar Patrika turned overnight into an English
newspaper to escape the VPA.
o VPA, 1878 is also known as 'gagging act'.
Q 89.D
• On 8 August 1940, early in the Battle of Britain, the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, made the so-
called "August Offer" at Simla, a fresh proposal promising the expansion of the Executive Council to
include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, giving weight to minority opinion,
and the recognition of Indians' right to frame their own constitution (after the end of the war). In return, it
was hoped that all parties and communities in India would cooperate in Britain's war effort.
• British got into conciliatory mood owing to Hitler’s advances to seek Indian Support, so this offer was
proposed:
o Promise of the expansion of the Executive Council. Hence option 1 is correct.
o Dominion status as the objective for India. Hence option 2 is correct.
o Promise of Constituent Assembly (mainly Indians) post WW2.
o No future constitution to be adopted without the consent of minorities. Hence option 3 is
correct.
• For the first time, inherent right of Indians to frame their Constitution was recognised. Both congress &
Muslim League rejected it. Nehru said, “Dominion status concept is dead as a doornail.”
Q 90.C
• Landholder's Society (Zamindari Association) was established in 1838 to protect the landlords' interests
of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Despite its limited objectives, the Landholders' Society marked the
beginning of organized political activity and the use of constitutional agitation methods for the redressal
of grievances.
• Bengal British Indian Society was organized in 1843 to protect and promote the interests of the general
public. Later on, the Landholders Society and Bengal British Indian Society were merged to form British
India Association.
• Madras Native Association was established in 1852 along with the Bombay Association.
• Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was organised in the 1870s by Justice Ranade and others. It is mainly
devoted to criticism of important legislative and administrative measures.
Q 91.A
• Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI):
o The initiative is in line with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global One Health strategy,
which emphasizes the importance of multisectoral collaboration in addressing the threat of zoonotic
diseases.
o It will help to improve veterinary services and infrastructure, disease surveillance capabilities, early
detection and response, build the capacity of animal health professionals, and awareness among
farmers through community outreach.
o It will create an “integrated disease reporting system for enhanced surveillance of zoonotic and other
animal diseases. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o It has been launched by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying under One Health
Approach to address the threat of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Hence,
o Pillars of APPI:
✓ Disease Surveillance and Monitoring.
✓ Disease Model Algorithms and Early Warning System.
✓ Outbreak Investigation and Response.
✓ Ecosystem Coordination.
✓ Vaccine Development and Research and Development.
✓ Building Disaster Resilience.
✓ Funding.
✓ Regulatory Framework.
o Aim: The initiative aims to enhance India's preparedness and response capabilities to prevent and
control zoonotic diseases, thereby safeguarding the health of both animals and humans.

• Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH):
o It aims to create an ecosystem for a better animal health management system using the One Health
approach.
o The project will be implemented over a five-year period as Central sector scheme.
o It has set a goal to cover 151 districts in five participating states, focusing on upgrading 75
district/regional laboratories, as well as strengthening 300 veterinary hospitals/dispensaries.
• NOTE: The NOHM is a cross-ministerial effort approved by the Prime Minister's Science, Technology,
and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). The NOHM will be implemented by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with other ministries.
Q 92.A
• By December 1920, when the Congress met for its annual session at Nagpur, the opposition had melted
away; the elections were over and, therefore, the boycott of councils was a non-issue, and it was CR. Das
moved the main resolution on non-cooperation. The programme of non-cooperation included within its
ambit the surrender of titles and honours, boycott of government-affiliated schools and colleges, law
courts, and foreign cloth, and could be extended to include resignation from government service and mass
civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes.
• National schools and colleges were to be set up, panchayats were to be established for settling disputes,
hand-spinning and weaving were to be encouraged and people were asked to maintain Hindu- Muslim
unity, give up untouchability and observe strict non-violence. Gandhiji promised that if the programme
was fully implemented, Swaraj would be ushered in within a year. The Nagpur session, thus, committed
Congress to a programme of extra-constitutional mass action.
• Many groups of revolutionary terrorists, especially in Bengal, also pledged support to the movement. To
enable the Congress to fulfil its new commitment, significant changes were introduced in its creed as well
as in its organizational structure. The goal of the Congress was changed from the attainment of self-
government by constitutional and legal means to the attainment of Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate
means. The new constitution of the Congress, the handiwork of Gandhiji, introduced other important
changes.
• The Congress was now to have a Working Committee of fifteen members to look after its day-to-
day affairs. This proposal, when first made by Tilak in 1916, had been shot down by the Moderate
opposition. Gandhiji, too, knew that the Congress could not guide a sustained movement unless it
had a compact body that worked around the year. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Provincial Congress Committees were now to be organized on a linguistic basis so that they could
keep in touch with the people by using the local language. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The Congress organization was to reach down to the village and the mohalla level by the formation of
village and mohalla or ward committees. The membership fee was reduced to four annas per year to
enable the poor to become members. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• Mass involvement would also enable Congress to have a regular source of income. In other ways, too, the
organisational structure was both streamlined and democratized. The Congress was to use Hindi as far as
possible.
Q 93.C
• Ghadar means 'revolt' or rebellion. The Ghadar party (started in 1913) was a revolutionary group
organized to overthrow British rule in India. It was organized by overseas Indian immigrants to
Canada and the USA. The party was organized around a weekly newspaper The Ghadar which was
published from its headquarters, the Yugantar Ashram in San Francisco. The founding president of the
Ghadar party was Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal was a co-founder of this party. Hence
statement 1 and 2 are correct.
• The leadership also included Bhagwan Singh, Barkatullah, and Ram Chandra. The Ghadar militants
immediately began an extensive propaganda campaign against British rule. They toured extensively,
visiting mills and farms where most of the Punjabi immigrant labour worked. The Yugantar Ashram
became the home and headquarters and refuge of these political workers.
• The first issue of Ghadar was published in Urdu on 1st November 1913, the Gurumukhi edition was
letter started on 9th December. The newspaper carried the captions on the masthead: ‘Angrezi Raj ka
Dushman’ or ‘An Enemy of British Rule.’ On the front page of each issue was a feature titled Angrezi Raj
Ka Kacha Chittha or ‘An Expose of British Rule.’ This exposes consisted of 14 points enumerating the
harmful effect of the British rule in India and lost two point dealt with solutions. Hence statement 3 is
not correct.

• During the first World War revolutionaries of Ghadar tried to violently overthrow the British government,
they called Rash Behari Bose to lead the movement in Punjab, but the movement was successfully
dismantled by the British India government using intelligence (CID) and force.
Q 94.A
• Bengal was the most fertile and the richest of India’s provinces. Its industries and commerce were well
developed.
• As has been noted earlier, the East India Company and its servants had highly profitable trading interests
in the province.
• The Company had secured valuable privileges in 1717 under a royal farman by the Mughal
Emperor Farrukh Siyar, which had granted the Company the freedom to export and import their
goods in Bengal without paying taxes and the right to issue passes or dastaks for the movement of
such goods. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The Company's servants were also permitted to trade but were not covered by this farman. They
were required to pay the same taxes as Indian merchants. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• This farman was a perpetual source of conflict between the Company and the Nawabs of Bengal.
• For one, it meant loss of revenue to the Bengal Government.
• Secondly, the power to issue dastaks for the Company's goods was misused by the Company’s servants to
evade taxes on their private trade.
• All the Nawabs of Bengal, from Murshid Quli Khan to Alivardi Khan, had objected to the English
interpretation of the farman of 1717.
• They had compelled the Company to pay Jump sums to their treasury and firmly suppressed the misuse of
dastaks.
• The. The company had been compelled to accept the authority of the Nawabs in the matter, but its
servants had taken every opportunity to evade and defy this authority.
Q 95.B
• The Charter Act of 1853 carried further the separation of the executive and the legislative functions by
providing additional members of the council for the purpose of the legislation.
• The Law Member was made a full member of the Executive Council of the Governor General. The
consent of the Governor General was made necessary for all legislative proposals.
• Another important provision of the act was that it dissolved the Company’s patronage. The Charter Act
decreed that all recruits to the Civil Service were to be selected through a competitive
examination. Till 1853, all appointments to the Civil Service were made by the directors of the East
India Company, who placated the members of the Board of Control by letting them make some of the
nominations.
• The number of Directors was reduced from 24 to 18. Six of them were to be nominated by the Crown. The
Company was allowed to retain possessions of the Indian territories in trust for her majesty, her heirs and
successors until Parliament shall otherwise provide. Thus, no definite period was specified for the control
of the company over Indian affairs.
Q 96.A
• CLEANaction
o The Coalition Linking Energy and Nature for Action (CLEANaction) is a partnership to protect nature
during the energy transition. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o The clean energy coalition of WWF says all forms of renewable power are better than fossil fuels.
CLEANaction is a partnership of several non-profits and organisations like WWF, IRENA and
BirdLife International formed to protect nature during energy transition. Hence, statement 2 is not
correct.
o It aims to highlight the need for new renewable energy generation projects to be carefully assessed for
their impacts on biodiversity.
o CLEANaction urged governments to consider the impact on nature at the earliest stage by evaluating
the renewable energy value chain (from sourcing material to disposal).
o It also urges the governments to develop national regulatory schemes that require energy developers
to contribute to national conservation targets.

o Findings
✓ Solar and wind energy: These transitions help achieve the International Energy Agency’s
standards of a power system capable of holding global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees
Celsius. The impact of wind energy is minimal compared to other major energy technologies,
such as fossil fuels, bioenergy, and nuclear energy.
✓ Projects: The construction of renewable energy projects, such as hydropower dams, leads to the
inundation of vast swathes of natural habitats and alters natural flow regimes and downstream
habitats.
✓ Bioenergy: In all its forms, including biomass, biofuel, and biogas, has a larger biodiversity
impact per unit of energy than that of wind and solar.
Q 97.A
• Recent context: On April 23, Manipur honours to the courageous soldiers who gave up their lives during
the war. The event is typically held at Kheba Ching in Khongjom, where Manipur’s Chief Minister and
Governor, along with other dignitaries, pay their respects to the fallen heroes.
• Khongjom Day is a significant event in the history of Manipur that commemorates the bravery of the
state’s soldiers who fought in the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri War. The battle occurred at Khongjom in
Manipur’s Thoubal district. It marked the start of the British colonialism in the region.
• After the graceful defeat at the Battle of Khongjom where the Manipuri armies fought gallantly under
Major Paona Brajabashi, Manipur lost its sovereignty to the British. And, on the fateful day of 13th
August 1891, martyrs of Manipur- Yubraj Tikendrajit, Thangal General were hanged in front of the public
Q 98.A
• The Doctrine of Lapse was used to justify the annexation of several Indian states, including Satara,
Sambalpur, Jhansi, and Nagpur. The policy was criticized by some British officials, as well as by many
Indians, who saw it as a violation of their traditional rights and customs.
• The Doctrine of Lapse was a policy introduced by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India from
1848 to 1856, during the British colonial rule in India. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• According to this doctrine, any Indian state ruled by a prince or ruler who did not have a natural
heir could be annexed by the British East India Company. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The British annexation of Awadh, also known as Oudh, took place in 1856 under the rule of Lord
Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. The annexation was carried out under the pretext of misrule
and maladministration by the then Awadh ruler. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
Q 99.B
• Fortnight-long discussions culminated on 5 March 1931 in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, which was variously
described as a ‘truce’ and a ‘provisional settlement.’ The Pact was signed by Gandhiji on behalf of the
Congress and by Lord Irwin on behalf of the Government, a procedure that was hardly popular with
officialdom as it placed the Congress on an equal footing with the Government.
• The terms of the agreement included
o The immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted for violence,
o The remission of all fines not yet collected, the return of confiscated lands not yet sold to third
parties,
o Lenient treatment for those government employees who had resigned.
o The Government also conceded the right to make salt for consumption to villages along the
coast. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o As also the right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing.
o The Congress's demand for a public inquiry into police excesses was not accepted, but Gandhiji’s
insistent request for an inquiry was recorded in the agreement.
o The Congress, on its part, agreed to discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• It was also understood that the Congress would participate in the next Round Table Conference.
• The terms on which the Pact was signed, it's timing, the motives of Gandhiji in signing the Pact, his
refusal to make the Pact conditional on the commutation of the death sentences of Bhagat Singh and his
comrades, (even though he had tried his best to persuade the Viceroy to do so), have generated
considerable controversy and debate among contemporaries and historians alike.

• The Pact has been variously seen as a betrayal, as proof of the vacillating nature of the Indian
bourgeoisie and of Gandhiji succumbing to bourgeois pressure. It has been cited as evidence of
Gandhiji’s and the Indian bourgeoisie’s fear of the mass movement taking a radical turn; a betrayal
of peasants’ interests because it did not immediately restore confiscated land, already sold to a third
party, and so on. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
Q 100.D
• Tipu Sultan was born in November 1750 to Haidar Ali and Fatima.
• A well educated man, he could freely converse in Arabic, Persian, Kanarese and Urdu.
• Tipu was a great warrior (he was known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’) and gave maximum care to the raising
and maintenance of an efficient military force.
• He organised his army on the European model with Persian words of command.
• Though he took the help of the French officers to train his soldiers, he never allowed them (French) to
develop into a pressure group. Like his father, Tipu realised the importance of a naval force.
• In 1796, he set up a Board of Admiralty and planned for a fleet of 22 battleships and 20 large frigates.
• Three dockyards were established at Mangalore, Wajedabad and Molidabad. However, his plans did not
fructify.
• Tipu was a patron of science and technology. He is credited as the ‘pioneer of rocket technology’ in
India.
• He wrote a military manual explaining the operation of rockets. He was also a pioneer in introducing
sericulture to the Mysore State.
• Tipu was a great lover of democracy and a great diplomat.
• He gave his support to the French soldiers at Seringapatam in setting up a Jacobin Club in 1797. He
ordered a salute of 2,300 cannons and 500 rockets to celebrate the occasion.
• Tipu himself became a member of the Jacobin Club and allowed himself to be called Citizen Tipu.
• His desire to change with the times was symbolised in the introduction of a new calendar, a new
system of coinage, and new scales of weights and measures.
• His personal library contained books on such diverse subjects as religion, history, military science,
medicine, and mathematics.
• He showed a keen interest in the French Revolution.
• He planted the Tree of Liberty at Seringapatam.
• He tried to do away with the custom of giving jagirs, and thus improve state income.

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