UPSC Prelims 2015 Question Paper (GS Paper I) with Answers

International liquidity means the stock of internationally acceptable means of payment, chiefly US dollars and other hard currencies, gold and SDRs, that countries hold to settle their external deficits. The 'problem of international liquidity' is their inadequate availability relative to the needs of world trade.

Dadabhai Naoroji (the drain theory), G. Subramania Iyer (founder of The Hindu, who wrote on India's economic exploitation) and R.C. Dutt (The Economic History of India) were the leading economic critics of colonialism who showed how British rule impoverished India. Hence 1, 2 and 3.

In the Index of Eight Core Industries, electricity has the highest weight (about 19.85 per cent), followed by steel (17.92) and refinery products (28.04 in the revised series). In the 2004-05 series used at the time, electricity carried the largest weight among the listed options.

Under Article 53 the executive power of the Union is vested in the President and exercised by him through the Council of Ministers, so statement 1 is incorrect. The Civil Services Board is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, not the Prime Minister, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 was awarded to the Indian Space Research Organisation for its contribution to national development and international cooperation through its space programme, including the Mars Orbiter Mission.

The West African Ebola epidemic of 2014-16, the largest in history, was centred on Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which together recorded more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.

The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 proposed a federal Union of India with the Centre controlling only defence, foreign affairs and communications and the provinces holding all other subjects, grouped in sections. It did not deal with the powers of the courts or with Indianisation of the ICS. Hence 1 only.

A hydrogen fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with only water and heat as by-products (statement 1). Fuel cells power everything from laptops and phones to vehicles and buildings, so statement 2 is incorrect, and they produce direct current, which an inverter converts to AC, so statement 3 is incorrect. Hence 1 only.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, which approves the environmental release of genetically modified organisms and products, functions in the Ministry of Environment under the Rules of 1989 framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

A budget deficit falls when expenditure is cut or revenue rises: reducing revenue expenditure and rationalising subsidies both reduce spending. New welfare schemes add to spending, and expanding industries is not a direct fiscal action. Hence 1 and 3.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have extensive mangroves along their creeks and coasts, tropical evergreen forests in the high-rainfall interior and moist deciduous forests on the drier slopes, a combination not found in the other regions listed.

The defining feature of a parliamentary system is that the executive (the Council of Ministers) is collectively responsible to the lower house of the legislature, as provided in Article 75(3). Direct election of the Lok Sabha, amending power and the permanence of the Rajya Sabha are not what make the system parliamentary.

The ideal of a welfare state is embodied in the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV, which direct the State to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order based on justice and to work towards goals such as a living wage, free education and public assistance.

Rio+20 was the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit; it produced the outcome document 'The Future We Want' and launched the process that led to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched in August 2014, is a national mission for financial inclusion that gives every household a basic bank account with a RuPay debit card, accident insurance and an overdraft facility.

Article 266(3) provides that no money can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India except under an appropriation made by law passed by Parliament (statement 2). The Budget is prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs, not the Department of Revenue (statement 1 incorrect), and payments from the Public Account do not need parliamentary authorisation (statement 3 incorrect). Hence 2 only.

The Agreement on Agriculture, the SPS Agreement and the 'peace clause' (which shields India's food-procurement subsidies from challenge) are all part of the World Trade Organization's rules and negotiations.

The Directive Principles aim at establishing social and economic democracy, complementing the political democracy of the Fundamental Rights (statement 1), and Article 37 declares them non-enforceable by any court, though fundamental in governance (statement 2). Both are correct.

Amnesty International, founded in 1961 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977, is a global non-governmental human-rights movement campaigning against torture, the death penalty and political imprisonment. It is not a UN or inter-governmental agency.

Indian Remote Sensing satellites capture images used to assess crop acreage and productivity, locate groundwater potential zones, and map minerals and geological structures. Telecommunications is the job of INSAT/GSAT satellites, and traffic studies are not a remote-sensing application. Hence 1, 2 and 3.

The living root bridges of Meghalaya, in the East Khasi and Jaintia hills around Cherrapunji and Mawlynnong, are made by the Khasi and Jaintia people by guiding the aerial roots of the rubber fig (Ficus elastica) across streams; they grow stronger over decades.

A falling tax-to-GDP ratio can reflect slowing growth, as incomes and consumption, the tax base, grow less than output, or weaker tax compliance (statement 1). It says nothing by itself about the equity of income distribution (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 only.

The Buddha was born in Kapilavastu in the Shakya republic under Kosala, attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and preached mostly in Magadha and Kosala, whose kings Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and Prasenajit were his patrons. Gandhara and Avanti were not directly connected with his life. Hence 3 and 4.

Under Article 108, a bill in a joint sitting of both Houses is passed by a majority of the total number of members of both Houses present and voting, i.e. a simple majority. The Lok Sabha's larger size gives it the advantage in such sittings.

The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes, launched in 2013 and funded by Norway, the UK, the USA and Germany, is managed by the World Bank; it pays developing countries for reducing emissions from land use and forests.

Odia was granted classical language status in 2014, becoming the sixth classical language after Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. (In 2024 Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit were added.)

India has ample iron ore but very little good-quality coking coal, which is needed to make coke for blast furnaces; it therefore imports most of its coking coal, chiefly from Australia. Saltpetre and rock phosphate are not steel inputs.

The Government of India Act, 1919 relaxed central control by separating central and provincial subjects into lists and defined the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments, introducing dyarchy in the provinces. It did not separate the judiciary from the legislature or define the Secretary of State's powers.

BirdLife International is a global partnership of national conservation organisations in over 100 countries (statement 1), and it identifies Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (statement 3). The concept of biodiversity hotspots originated with Norman Myers and was developed by Conservation International, not BirdLife (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

The Fifth Schedule provides for the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than those of the north-east, and the Sixth Schedule for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through autonomous district councils; both are meant to protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes.

The 14th Finance Commission (Y.V. Reddy) raised the states' share of the divisible pool of central taxes from 32 to 42 per cent (statement 1). It deliberately did away with sector-specific grants, leaving states free to spend, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence 1 only.

Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur, on Loktak Lake, is the world's only floating national park: its phumdis (floating mats of vegetation) are the last refuge of the endangered sangai or brow-antlered deer.

The Panchayati Raj system was set up to secure democratic decentralisation, taking democracy to the grassroots, and people's participation in planning and development, as envisaged by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee. Political accountability and financial mobilisation are secondary aims. Hence 1 and 3.

Fly ash from coal-fired plants is used to make fly-ash bricks (statement 1) and as a pozzolanic substitute for part of the Portland cement in concrete (statement 2). Besides silica and lime it contains alumina, iron oxide and traces of toxic elements such as arsenic, mercury and lead, so statement 3 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 2.

'To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India' is a Fundamental Duty under Article 51A(c), added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. The Preamble speaks of unity and integrity as goals, but the duty to uphold them is in Part IV-A.

The westerlies blow between 30 and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres, not from 30 degrees N to 60 degrees S, so statement 1 is incorrect. The western disturbances that bring winter rain to north-western India are moist air masses carried from the Mediterranean by the westerlies, so statement 2 is correct.

IceCube at the South Pole is the world's largest neutrino observatory, with sensors spread through a cubic kilometre of ice (statement 1); it is buried 1.5 to 2.5 km deep in the ice (statement 3); and it also searches for dark matter and other new physics (statement 2). All three statements are correct.

C. Rajagopalachari led the Vedaranyam Salt March from Tiruchirappalli to Vedaranyam on the Tanjore coast in April 1930, breaking the salt law in the south in parallel with Gandhi's Dandi March.

An ecosystem is the community of living organisms in an area together with the non-living environment (soil, water, air, climate) with which they interact as a system, exchanging energy and matter. A community alone, or the biosphere, is not an ecosystem.

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was created on 1 January 2015 to replace the Planning Commission, which had existed since 1950, as the government's policy think tank with cooperative federalism as its guiding principle.

The rock-cut elephant at Dhauli near Bhubaneswar, carved above Ashoka's rock edict in the 3rd century BC, is the earliest. The Varaha image at Udayagiri is Gupta (5th century AD), the Mahabalipuram monuments are Pallava (7th century) and the Lingaraja temple is 11th century.

IREDA, set up in 1987 under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, is a public limited government company (a Mini Ratna, now listed) and is registered with the RBI as a non-banking financial company that finances renewable-energy projects. Both statements are correct.

Banaras brocades and sarees (2009) and Tirupati laddu (2009) are registered Geographical Indications. Rajasthani dal-bati-churma has no GI tag. Hence 1 and 3.

Durgara is the old name of the Jammu (Dogra) region, so pair 2 is correct. Champaka was the Chamba state in Himachal Pradesh, not central India, and Kuluta was the Kullu valley, not Malabar. Hence 2 only.

The Gangetic river dolphin (Platanista gangetica), found in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system, was declared India's national aquatic animal in 2009; it is endangered and listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act.

India is a member of the East Asia Summit since its founding in 2005. It is not a member of APEC (its application has been pending for years) or of ASEAN, with which it is a dialogue partner. Hence 3 only.

Basel III is the set of international banking regulations framed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision after the 2008 crisis to strengthen banks' capital, leverage and liquidity standards, improving their ability to withstand financial stress and manage risk.

The National Innovation Foundation, set up in 2000 at Ahmedabad, is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology that documents and supports grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge (statement 1). It is not about advanced research with foreign institutions (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 only.

Replacing wooden ploughs with steel ones makes each unit of capital more productive without changing the amount of labour; it is capital-augmenting technological progress, raising output per unit of capital.

Monetary policy is conducted by the RBI through instruments such as the bank rate, repo rate, CRR, SLR and open market operations. Public debt and public revenue are instruments of fiscal policy. Hence 1 and 2.

Agricultural markets (mandis) in India are established and regulated under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Acts enacted by the state legislatures, since agricultural marketing is a state subject. The other Acts regulate essential commodities, grading (AGMARK) and processed foods.

The dugong, or sea cow, is a herbivorous marine mammal that grazes on seagrass (statement 1) and is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (statement 3). It survives only in the Gulf of Mannar, the Gulf of Kachchh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, not along the whole coast (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

The Golan Heights is a plateau on the Syria-Israel border in the Middle East (West Asia), captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981; it remains a focus of conflict in the region.

Badruddin Tyabji was the first Muslim President of the Congress (Madras, 1887), so statement 2 is correct. The first woman President was Annie Besant (Calcutta, 1917); Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman President (Kanpur, 1925), so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2 only.

Convertibility of the rupee means that it can be freely converted into foreign currencies and vice versa at market rates; India has full current-account convertibility and partial capital-account convertibility.

The Goldilocks zone, or habitable zone, is the range of distances from a star within which a planet could have liquid water on its surface, neither too hot nor too cold. The term is used in the search for Earth-like exoplanets that might support life.

NFC is a contactless technology using electromagnetic radio fields (statement 1) that can encrypt sensitive data such as card details (statement 3). It works only over a few centimetres, not a metre, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 3.

Railway bio-toilets use an anaerobic bacterial inoculum (developed by DRDO) to decompose human waste, not fungi, so statement 1 is incorrect. The end products released are water and biogas, mainly methane and carbon dioxide, not ammonia and water vapour, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

The Command Area Development Programme was launched in 1974-75 to improve water-use efficiency in irrigation commands (statement 2). The Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (1996-97) gives central assistance to states to complete irrigation projects, not loans to poor farmers (statement 1 incorrect). Hence 2 only.

Teak is the dominant species of India's tropical moist deciduous forests, found in the Western Ghats, central India and the north-east with 100-200 cm of rainfall; sal dominates the wetter parts of these forests.

The Seed Village concept trains groups of farmers in quality seed production of improved varieties on their own fields, so that quality seed of the right crop becomes available to the village and neighbours in time and at an affordable cost.

Harihara I, with his brother Bukka, founded Vijayanagara in 1336 on the south bank of the Tungabhadra, a tributary of the Krishna, and ruled as the deputy of the god Virupaksha, in whose name the kingdom's land south of the Krishna was held.

Indian feudalism, as described by historians such as R.S. Sharma, rests on administrative structures based on the control and possession of land, usually through land grants (statement 2), and on lord-vassal relationships between feudatories and their overlords (statement 3). It implies a weak centre and strong local lords, so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2 and 3.

'Global Economic Prospects', which analyses global growth trends and forecasts for developing economies, is published twice a year by the World Bank.

IOR-ARC, now the Indian Ocean Rim Association, was founded in 1997 to promote economic cooperation, trade and investment among Indian Ocean littoral states; it is neither a recent response to piracy and oil spills nor a maritime-security alliance. Hence neither.

The differences over the methods and goals of the Swadeshi Movement (1905-08) sharpened the divide between the Moderates and the Extremists and led to the split of the Congress at Surat in 1907.

Tides result from the gravitational pull of the Moon and, to a lesser extent, the Sun on the oceans, combined with the centrifugal force arising from the Earth-Moon system's rotation about their common centre of mass, which produces the second tidal bulge. Hence 1, 2 and 3.

Babur, a descendant of Timur, established the Timurid (Mughal) dynasty in India in 1526 (statement 3). Gunpowder was known in India before Babur, though he used field artillery effectively at Panipat, and the arch and dome had been introduced by the Delhi Sultanate centuries earlier; so statements 1 and 2 are incorrect. Hence 3 only.

The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), used for dearness allowance and wage revisions, is compiled and published by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane, which sugar mills must pay to cane growers, is approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh rises from about 200 to 4,500 metres, so its climate ranges from tropical in the valleys through subtropical and temperate to alpine and arctic conditions on the high peaks; it harbours tigers, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987) controls and phases out the production and use of ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs and HCFCs; the Kigali Amendment (2016) extends it to HFCs.

Nanoparticles can carry drugs to specific cells and release them there, enabling targeted drug delivery with fewer side effects (statement 1), and nano-carriers are used to deliver genes into cells for gene therapy (statement 2). Both are correct.

The Green Climate Fund, set up under the UNFCCC in 2010 at Cancun, helps developing countries with adaptation and mitigation (statement 1). It was founded under the UNFCCC, not by UNEP, OECD, ADB and the World Bank, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence 1 only.

IndARC, deployed in 2014 in the Kongsfjorden fjord of Svalbard by the National Institute of Ocean Technology and NCAOR, is India's first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic, studying ocean conditions and climate change.

The Congress Socialist Party (1934) sought to give the Congress a socialist orientation through democratic socialism; it did not advocate boycott and tax evasion as its programme, did not aim at a dictatorship of the proletariat, and did not support separate electorates. Hence none.

Tropical wet evergreen forests, needing over 200 cm of rain, occur in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in the north-east (as well as the Western Ghats and the Andamans). Himachal Pradesh has temperate and alpine vegetation. Hence 1 and 3.

Tropical cyclones need the convergence and instability of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone to form. Over the South Atlantic and the south-eastern Pacific the ITCZ stays north of the Equator through the year and the waters are cooled by the Benguela and Peru currents, so the ITCZ seldom occurs there and cyclones do not originate.

India's real GDP growth rate fluctuated in the decade to 2015, falling after 2008 and again in 2011-13, so statement 1 is incorrect. GDP at current market prices in rupees rose every year because of growth and inflation, so statement 2 is correct.

A clear bright morning, rising heat, afternoon cloud build-up and a short, heavy thunderstorm, repeated day after day with little seasonal change, is the convectional rainfall regime of the equatorial climate (Af), as in the Amazon and Congo basins and Indonesia.

IUCN runs thousands of field projects worldwide (statement 2), and CITES is legally binding on its parties but has to be implemented through national legislation (statement 3). IUCN is an independent membership union of governments and NGOs, not a UN organ, so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2 and 3.

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, hosted by the World Bank, is a global partnership of governments, businesses, civil society and indigenous peoples (statement 1) that helps developing countries prepare for and implement REDD+ with financial and technical assistance (statement 3). It does not fund forestry research in universities (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

The NPT recognises as nuclear-weapon states only the five that tested before 1967: the USA, Russia, the UK, France and China. India, Pakistan and Israel possess nuclear weapons but are outside the treaty. Hence 1 and 2.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women convened by the UN in Beijing in 1995, is the global agenda for women's empowerment and gender equality.

The Supreme Court is regarded as the custodian (guardian) of the Constitution: through judicial review under Articles 32 and 131-136 it protects the Constitution's supremacy, fundamental rights and the federal balance.

The Indravati and the Pranahita (formed by the Wardha, Wainganga and Penganga) are major left-bank tributaries of the Godavari. The Vamsadhara flows independently into the Bay of Bengal and the Pennar is a separate river of Andhra Pradesh. Hence 2 and 3.

Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (2000) comprises India and the five Mekong countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Bangladesh and China are not members. Hence 1 and 3.

H1N1 is the subtype of influenza A virus that caused the 2009 'swine flu' pandemic; it continues to circulate as a seasonal flu virus. Bird flu is caused by H5N1 and related strains.

The trade winds pile up water on the western side of the tropical oceans through the north and south equatorial currents; the resulting slope and the convergence of water make it flow back eastward along the doldrums as the equatorial counter-current.

Excess nitrogen fertiliser acidifies the soil as ammonium is nitrified (statement 2) and leaches nitrate into groundwater, causing contamination (statement 3). Abundant nitrogen suppresses rather than promotes nitrogen-fixing micro-organisms, so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2 and 3.

The Rowlatt Act of 1919 was based on the report of the Sedition Committee headed by Justice Rowlatt (statement 1), and Gandhi used the Home Rule Leagues and his Satyagraha Sabha to organise the protest (statement 2). The Simon Commission came in 1928, long after, so statement 3 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 2.

Srisailam, a Jyotirlinga shrine, lies in the Nallamala hills of Andhra Pradesh, so pair 1 is correct. Omkareshwar is on an island in the Narmada near the Vindhya range, not the Satmala hills, and Pushkar is in the Aravalli region of Rajasthan, not the Mahadeo hills. Hence 1 only.

Syria, Lebanon and Israel have Mediterranean coastlines. Jordan is almost landlocked, with only a short coast on the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea), and does not open on to the Mediterranean.

Under Article 171 the Legislative Council of a state cannot have more than one-third the strength of the Legislative Assembly, so statement 1 is incorrect. The Chairman of the Council is elected by its members from among themselves, not nominated by the Governor, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

Arunachal Pradesh is India's easternmost state (Kibithu) and Gujarat the westernmost (Guhar Moti in Kachchh). Assam lies west of Arunachal and Rajasthan east of Gujarat's western tip.

A cut in the Statutory Liquidity Ratio releases funds that banks had to hold in government securities, increasing the money available for lending; banks may therefore cut their lending rates. It does not reduce liquidity or directly affect GDP or FII flows.

The Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend a Money Bill; it can only make recommendations (statement 1), and it cannot vote on the Demands for Grants, which is the exclusive privilege of the Lok Sabha (statement 2). It can, however, discuss the Annual Financial Statement, so statement 3 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 2.

Inflation is controlled by reducing the money in circulation through tighter monetary policy, which curbs demand; increasing money supply would fuel inflation. Control is a shared responsibility of the government (fiscal policy) and the RBI (monetary policy), so options (a), (b) and (d) are wrong.

The Fortaleza Declaration was adopted at the sixth BRICS summit at Fortaleza, Brazil, in July 2014, where the BRICS countries agreed to set up the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

Kalamkari is a hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile of Andhra Pradesh, made at Srikalahasti (hand-painted with a pen or 'kalam' using natural dyes) and Machilipatnam (block-printed), traditionally depicting mythological scenes.