QUESTION 1 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Which ancient Indian literary work narrates the love story of the son of the founder of the Sunga dynasty?
Explanation: Kalidasa's play Malavikagnimitra tells the romance of Agnimitra, son of Sunga dynasty founder Pushyamitra Sunga.
QUESTION 2 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Consider these terms: Eripatti - land revenue set apart for maintaining a village tank; Taniyurs - villages gifted exclusively to a single Brahmin or group of Brahmins; Ghatikas - colleges generally attached to temples. Which pairs are correctly matched?
Explanation: Eripatti and Ghatikas are correctly described, but Taniyurs were actually large autonomous administrative villages, not specifically Brahmin land-grant settlements (that description fits Brahmadeya instead).
QUESTION 3 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] On Krishnadeva Raya's Vijayanagara taxation system: (1) land tax rates were fixed according to land quality; (2) private workshop owners paid an industry tax. Which is/are correct?
Explanation: Vijayanagara records confirm both graded land taxation by soil quality and levies on privately owned manufacturing workshops.
QUESTION 4 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] In medieval India, Banjaras were generally engaged as:
Explanation: The Banjaras were itinerant traders who transported grain and goods across regions using pack-animal caravans.
QUESTION 5 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Sir Stafford Cripps' 1942 plan proposed that, after World War II:
Explanation: The Cripps proposals offered India Dominion status with a right to secede from the Commonwealth after the war, rather than immediate full independence.
QUESTION 6 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] What mainly caused the 1907 Surat split in the Indian National Congress?
Explanation: The Surat split stemmed chiefly from the Extremists' loss of faith in the Moderates' strategy of petitioning rather than direct confrontation.
QUESTION 7 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Keshab Chandra Sen helped establish which of these: Calcutta Unitarian Committee, Tabernacle of New Dispensation, Indian Reform Association?
Explanation: Keshab Chandra Sen was involved in founding all three organisations across different phases of his reformist career.
QUESTION 8 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] The Montagu-Chelmsford Proposals (1918) primarily concerned:
Explanation: These proposals laid the groundwork for the Government of India Act 1919, expanding constitutional self-government through dyarchy.
QUESTION 9 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] What did the Satya Shodhak Samaj organise?
Explanation: Founded by Jyotirao Phule, the Satya Shodhak Samaj led an anti-caste, anti-Brahminical social reform movement centred in Maharashtra.
QUESTION 10 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] 'Swadeshi' and 'Boycott' were first adopted as methods of struggle during which movement?
Explanation: These tactics were first deployed on a mass scale during the anti-Partition-of-Bengal agitation of 1905.
QUESTION 11 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Regarding Panchayats: (1) the minimum age prescribed for any person to be a Panchayat member is 25 years; (2) a Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the remainder of its original term. Which is/are correct?
Explanation: The minimum age to contest Panchayat elections is actually 21 years, not 25, but a reconstituted Panchayat does serve only the remainder of the original five-year term.
QUESTION 12 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Regarding bills in Parliament: (1) a bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses on the House's prorogation; (2) a bill pending in the Rajya Sabha, not yet passed by the Lok Sabha, does not lapse upon the Lok Sabha's dissolution. Which is/are correct?
Explanation: Prorogation of the House does not by itself cause pending bills to lapse, but a bill pending in the Rajya Sabha that has not yet been passed by the Lok Sabha does indeed survive the Lok Sabha's dissolution.
QUESTION 13 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Parliament acquires power to legislate on a State List item in the national interest if a resolution to that effect is passed by:
Explanation: Article 249 requires the Rajya Sabha to pass such a resolution by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, empowering Parliament to legislate on a State subject.
QUESTION 14 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Regarding Gram Nyayalayas: (1) they can hear only civil cases and not criminal cases; (2) the Act allows local social activists to serve as mediators/reconciliators. Which is/are correct?
Explanation: Gram Nyayalayas are actually empowered to try both petty criminal and civil cases (not civil cases alone), while the law does provide for local conciliators to assist in resolving disputes.
QUESTION 15 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] Which indicators does IFPRI use to compute the Global Hunger Index report: undernourishment, child stunting, child mortality?
Explanation: The Global Hunger Index combines undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality among its component indicators.
QUESTION 16 OF 16
[UPSC Prelims 2016] What is the Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan national campaign about?
Explanation: Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan specifically targets the elimination of manual scavenging and the rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
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