Previous Year UPSC Questions

Explanation

Agency Headquarter United Nations Development Programme (UNDP New York, USA United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Nairobi, Kenya United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Vienna, Austria Universal Postal Union (UPU) Berne, Switzerland

Explanation

Fidel Castro (1926-2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who ruled Cuba as Prime Minister (1959-1976) and President (1976-2008), totaling 49 years. He established a socialist state aligned with the Soviet Union. He handed over power to his brother in 2008.

Explanation

British Columbia is a province in Canada.

Bavaria is a federal state in Germany.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory of the UK. Rhode Island is a state in the USA.

Explanation

Benin was formerly known as Dahomey.

Belize was formerly known as British Honduras.

Botswana was formerly known as Bechuanaland.

Malawi was formerly known as Nyasaland.

Explanation

Statements (1) and (2) are correct: In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro, forming a confederation before Montenegro’s independence in 2006. Croatia was part of the Habsburg Empire and under Hungarian rule within the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, when the empire collapsed after World War I. Statements (3) and (4) are incorrect: The Macedonia dispute involved Greece, not Belgium. Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia, not Czechoslovakia, which peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 (Velvet Divorce).

Explanation

King Kharavela of Kalinga is well-known for his support of Jainism, which helped to spread Jain doctrines within his region during the 1st century BCE. His inscriptions in the Hathigumpha cave (Udayagiri, Odisha) mention Jain religious activities and his support for Jain monks.He reinstalled a Jain idol in Kalinga that had been taken away by Nanda rulers earlier.

Option (a), (b) and (d) are incorrect:

The spread of Jainism in South India is more closely linked to Bhadrabahu (not Sthalabahu) who migrated to the south with a group of monks during a famine. The Shvetambara sect emerged after the council at Pataliputra but it was not led by Bhadrabahu. the Shvetambaras were the group that remained in the north and adopted the practice of wearing white clothes. Bhadrabahu led the Digambara sect which migrated to the south. Early Jainism was aniconic (did not worship idols). Image worship in Jainism started later (after 1st century CE) under the influence of Hinduism.

Explanation

The Montagu-Chelmsford Report, published in 1918, proposed constitutional reforms for India, recommending the introduction of dyarchy in provinces and expanding the legislative councils. These recommendations formed the basis for the Government of India Act, 1919.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: Adam Osborne introduced the first portable computer, the Osborne 1, in 1981, which marked the beginning of portable computing. The computer featured a 12.7-centimetre (5-inch) screen and weighed Nearly 12 kg. However, the machine still required an AC outlet for power.

Statement 2 is correct: Ian Wilmut is a British scientist who, in 1996, led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep. Dolly was the first mammal cloned using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a process where the nucleus of an adult somatic cell is transferred into an enucleated egg cell. Dolly’s creation marked a major milestone in the field of biotechnology and cloning.

Explanation

Minto-Morley Reforms (1909) were constitutional reforms introduced by the British government to expand the legislative councils and include elected Indian representatives. The recommendations of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report (1919) led to the Government of India Act, 1919, and introduced dyarchy in the provinces. Chauri-Chaura Outrage (1922) occurred during the Non-Cooperation Movement. It was a violent incident where a police station was attacked by a mob, leading to a significant shift in Gandhi’s strategy. Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement across the country, as he felt that it had deviated from its non-violent goal. Dandi March (1930) led by Mahatma Gandhi, this was a major event in the Civil Disobedience Movement, aimed at protesting the British salt tax.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: A smart card is a physical card embedded with an integrated circuit chip, which can be a microcontroller or a memory chip. This chip enables the card to store and process data, making it useful for applications like secure identification and payment systems.

Statement 2 is correct: Digital technology relies heavily on modern communication infrastructures, including satellites and fiber optics, which enable high-speed and efficient data transmission.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Digital libraries are organized collections of digital materials, such as text, images, and multimedia, which can be accessed through the internet or local electronic systems, making them available in multiple forms.