UPSC Prelims 2017 Question Paper (GS Paper I) with Answers

Under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, benami property is liable to confiscation by the Central Government without compensation (statement 2). A transaction in which the owner is unaware or denies knowledge of ownership is expressly included as benami, so statement 1 is incorrect, and the Act provides an Appellate Tribunal besides the Initiating Officer, Approving Authority and Adjudicating Authority, so statement 3 is incorrect. Hence 2 only.

Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court and High Courts to examine the constitutionality of laws made by the legislature and of executive orders, and to strike them down if they violate the Constitution. It does not extend to questioning the wisdom of laws or reviewing bills before assent.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee, chaired by the RBI Governor with three RBI members and three government nominees appointed for four years, decides the policy repo rate by majority vote. It is not a 12-member body reconstituted yearly, nor is it chaired by the Finance Minister. Hence 1 only.

e-NAM, launched in 2016, is a pan-India electronic trading portal that networks APMC mandis so that farmers can sell to buyers across the country, with online bidding and assaying so that prices reflect the quality of produce. Both statements are correct.

The Global Infrastructure Facility is a World Bank Group partnership with governments, development banks and private investors that helps prepare and structure complex infrastructure public-private partnerships so that private and institutional capital can be mobilised.

At Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha the sea recedes up to five kilometres at low tide twice a day because of the very gentle slope of the beach, letting visitors walk on the sea bed; the water returns at high tide.

Motupalli in present-day Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh was the chief port of the Kakatiya kingdom; Ganapatideva's Motupalli pillar inscription (1244) assured foreign merchants of security, and Marco Polo visited it in the 13th century.

M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) is a software and mobile-app based system used by field staff in tiger reserves to record patrol routes, sightings and threats, and to analyse the ecological status of the reserve.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, launched by the Ministry of Education in 2014, links institutions of higher education, led by IITs, with clusters of villages so that they can apply appropriate technologies and knowledge to the development challenges of rural communities.

Vidyanjali, a school volunteer programme launched in 2016 under the Ministry of Education, invites individuals from the private sector, the community and the diaspora to volunteer in government schools to improve the quality of education, especially in reading and co-scholastic activities. It is neither about foreign campuses nor about monetary contributions. Hence 2 only.

Equality in society implies that no person or group enjoys special privileges denied to others; the absence of privileges based on birth, caste or wealth is its first implication. Equality does not mean the absence of all restraints or of competition.

eLISA (evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a European Space Agency mission that will fly three spacecraft linked by laser beams to detect low-frequency gravitational waves from merging black holes and other cosmic events that ground-based detectors cannot sense.

After the 1991 reforms India's share in world exports rose from about 0.5 per cent to over 1.5 per cent, FDI inflows grew from almost nothing to tens of billions of dollars a year, and foreign-exchange reserves rose from about a billion dollars in 1991 to hundreds of billions. The share of agriculture in GDP fell, so statement 1 is incorrect. Hence 2, 3 and 4.

Genome sequencing of crops identifies the genes and markers linked to disease resistance and drought tolerance, allows marker-assisted selection that shortens the breeding of new varieties, and reveals the genetic basis of host-pathogen interactions. All three applications are current.

Under section 70B of the IT Act and the CERT-In rules of 2013, service providers, intermediaries, data centres and body corporates must report cyber-security incidents to CERT-In within the prescribed time. Hence 1, 2 and 3.

Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act gives the highest degree of protection, with the severest penalties for hunting or trade; a tortoise listed there enjoys the same protection as the tiger, which is also a Schedule I species. Listing does not imply extinction in the wild or endemism.

Local self-government, through panchayats and municipalities, is the devolution of powers, functions and finances from higher levels of government to elected bodies at the local level; it is therefore best described as democratic decentralisation.

The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, lying between the Nilgiris and the Biligirirangan hills, forms the ecological corridor through which elephants, tigers and other wildlife move between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.

Lebanon and Syria have coastlines on the eastern Mediterranean. Jordan is landlocked except for a short Red Sea coast at Aqaba, and Iraq's only coast is on the Persian Gulf. Hence 3 and 4.

The Second Round Table Conference was held in 1931, the Quit India Movement was launched in August 1942 and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny took place in February 1946. The sequence is 3-2-1.

TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN, not a UNEP bureau, so statement 1 is incorrect. Its mission is to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature, so statement 2 is correct.

The National Career Service is an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, not DoPT, so statement 1 is incorrect. It is a portal that links job-seekers, employers, counsellors and training providers for all youth, not a mission for uneducated youth, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

The Preamble embodies the ideals and philosophy of the Constitution makers: sovereignty, socialism, secularism, democracy and the republic, and the goals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It is described as the key to the minds of the framers.

UN-Habitat is mandated by the General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities and adequate shelter for all (statement 1), and it contributes to the UN's goals of reducing poverty and improving access to safe water and sanitation (statement 3). Its partners include civil society, academia and the private sector, not only governments and urban authorities (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

Algae can be cultivated in ponds and photobioreactors on land, so statement 1 is incorrect. Setting up algal biofuel production needs high technical expertise (statement 2), and commercially viable output requires very large facilities whose land and water use raise ecological and social concerns (statement 3). Hence 2 and 3.

The National Chambal Sanctuary on the Chambal river, across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, holds the largest wild population of the critically endangered gharial, along with Gangetic dolphins and red-crowned roofed turtles.

When President's Rule is imposed, the Council of Ministers is dismissed and the Governor runs the state on the President's behalf, so removal of the ministry is a necessary consequence. The assembly may be suspended rather than dissolved, and local bodies continue to function, so these are not necessary consequences. Hence 1 and 3.

NPCI, set up by the RBI and Indian Banks' Association in 2008, runs RuPay (its domestic card scheme), UPI, IMPS, Aadhaar-enabled payments and BHIM, which have brought low-cost digital payments to millions and advanced financial inclusion. Both statements are correct.

Manipuri Sankirtana, inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2013, is a performance of singing, drumming and dancing that narrates the life and deeds of Krishna (statements 1 and 3). It uses the pung drum and the kartal cymbals, not cymbals alone (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition was launched in 2012 by the UNEP and six countries, not the G20, so statement 1 is incorrect. It targets short-lived climate pollutants: methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons and tropospheric ozone, so statement 2 is correct.

India follows the first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate with the most votes wins regardless of whether that is a majority, so statement 1 is incorrect. The Constitution says nothing about which party the Speaker or Deputy Speaker should come from; giving the Deputy Speakership to the opposition is only a convention, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

UPI lets money move instantly between bank accounts through a mobile app, so there is no need to pre-load a wallet; mobile wallets therefore become unnecessary for online payments. The other options overstate UPI's effects.

Chabahar port on Iran's Makran coast, being developed by India, gives India a sea-land route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypasses Pakistan, which has denied India overland transit.

Dyarchy, introduced in the provinces by the Government of India Act, 1919, divided provincial subjects into 'reserved' subjects administered by the Governor and his executive council and 'transferred' subjects administered by Indian ministers responsible to the legislature.

Sautrantika and Sammitiya were schools of Buddhism, not Jainism, so statement 1 is incorrect. The Sarvastivadins held that all dharmas (constituents of phenomena) exist in the past, present and future, i.e. forever in a latent form, so statement 2 is correct.

Small finance banks, licensed by the RBI from 2015, are meant to further financial inclusion by providing savings facilities and credit to small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised-sector entities. Encouraging young rural entrepreneurs is not their stated purpose. Hence 1 and 2.

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added four Directive Principles, including Article 43A on the participation of workers in the management of industries, besides Articles 39(f), 39A and 48A. Equal pay for equal work and the right to work were in the original Constitution.

The Fundamental Duties in Article 51A are non-justiciable: the Constitution provides no legislative process or sanction for enforcing them, and they are moral and civic obligations rather than legal duties correlative to rights. Both statements are therefore incorrect.

The National Skills Qualification Framework organises qualifications by levels of knowledge and skill, and competencies can be certified through formal, non-formal or informal learning, including recognition of prior learning, so statement 1 is incorrect. It is meant to allow mobility between vocational and general education, so statement 2 is correct.

Zika is spread by Aedes aegypti, the same mosquito that transmits dengue and chikungunya (statement 1), and it can also be transmitted sexually and from mother to foetus (statement 2). Both are correct.

The Nuclear Security Summits (2010-16) were initiated by US President Obama and hosted by individual countries, not held under the UN, so statement 1 is incorrect. The International Panel on Fissile Materials is an independent group of experts, not an IAEA organ, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

Bioremediation harnesses and enhances the natural biodegradation of pollutants by micro-organisms (statement 1), and genetically engineered microbes can be designed for specific contaminants (statement 3). Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead cannot be degraded by microbes and are not readily treated by bioremediation, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 3.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer, the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep, places the nucleus of a body cell into an enucleated egg to produce an embryo genetically identical to the donor; it is used for the reproductive cloning of animals and for research cloning.

The Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement is the free-trade agreement that India and the European Union have been negotiating since 2007; talks stalled in 2013 and were relaunched in 2022.

The Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh was chosen as the second home for the Asiatic lions of Gir, and the Supreme Court ordered the translocation in 2013; Gujarat resisted it, and Kuno later received cheetahs from Africa instead.

The Digital Single Market Strategy, adopted by the European Union in 2015, aims to remove barriers to online trade and services among EU member states, harmonise digital rules and build a single European digital economy.

The Trade Disputes Act, 1929 provided for courts of inquiry and conciliation boards (tribunals) to settle industrial disputes and made strikes in public utility services and general or political strikes illegal; it was passed in the wake of the Bombay textile strikes.

The Quality Council of India was set up in 1997 jointly by the Government of India and the three industry associations (ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI) as an autonomous accreditation body (statement 1), and its chairman is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of industry (statement 2). Both are correct.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement was concluded at the WTO's Bali Ministerial Conference in 2013 (statement 2) and India ratified it in April 2016 (statement 1). It entered into force in February 2017, when two-thirds of members had ratified it, not January 2016 (statement 3 incorrect). Hence 1 and 2.

The Butler Committee (1927-29), headed by Sir Harcourt Butler, was appointed to examine and clarify the relationship between the paramount power (the British Crown and Government of India) and the Indian princely states; it held that paramountcy must remain paramount.

The cabinet system rests on the principle of collective responsibility: the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, and through it to the people, for all its decisions. It is a mechanism of parliamentary democracy, not a device for shielding or strengthening the executive.

India's tax-to-GDP ratio has fluctuated between about 10 and 12 per cent of GDP over the past decade rather than rising steadily, and the fiscal deficit fell from over 6 per cent of GDP in 2009-10 to about 3.5 per cent before rising again during the pandemic. Neither has 'steadily increased'. Hence neither.

The Global Climate Change Alliance was launched by the European Union in 2007 (statement 1) to provide technical and financial support to the least developed countries and small island states for integrating climate change into their policies and budgets (statement 2). It is run by the EU, not by WRI and WBCSD, who coordinate the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (statement 3 incorrect). Hence 1 and 2.

The shortest road route from Kohima to Kottayam passes through Nagaland, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand (or Bihar), Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala; the minimum, counting origin and destination and choosing the route through the fewest states, is seven.

Great Nicobar, the southernmost island of India, lies only about 150 km from the northern tip of Sumatra across the Great Channel (Six Degree Channel). Borneo, Java and Sri Lanka are much farther away.

Recognition of Prior Learning, a component of PMKVY, assesses and certifies the skills that workers such as construction labourers have acquired informally on the job through traditional channels, so that they can get formal certification and better wages.

The Rangeet, which rises in Sikkim, is the main tributary of the Teesta, so statement 2 is correct. The Teesta rises from the Tso Lhamo lake and Pahunri glacier in north Sikkim, not from the source of the Brahmaputra (statement 1 incorrect), and it flows into the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh, not directly into the Bay of Bengal (statement 3 incorrect). Hence 2 only.

Arasavalli in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh has the Suryanarayana temple, one of the few ancient Sun temples still in worship. Amarkantak is sacred as the source of the Narmada and Omkareshwar is a Jyotirlinga shrine of Shiva. Hence 1 only.

OLEDs emit their own light and need no backlight, so displays can be made on flexible plastic substrates, rolled up or embedded in clothing, and made transparent. All three are advantages over LCDs.

GST replaced the multiple central and state indirect taxes with one tax collected through a common system, creating a single national market (statement 1). It has no direct bearing on the current account deficit or foreign-exchange reserves, and claims that it would make India overtake China are exaggerated (statements 2 and 3 incorrect). Hence 1 only.

The chief merit of the parliamentary form is that the executive remains responsible to, and can be removed by, the legislature, ensuring continuous accountability. The executive and legislature are not independent (that is a presidential feature), and the head of government can be changed without an election.

The Right against Exploitation comprises Article 23, which prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour, and Article 24, which prohibits the employment of children below 14 in factories, mines and hazardous jobs. Abolition of untouchability (Article 17) is part of the Right to Equality and protection of minorities is a cultural and educational right. Hence 1 and 4.

The Directive Principles are positive obligations on the State to pursue certain goals; they are not enforceable in courts and do not limit the legislative or executive powers of the State. Both statements are therefore incorrect.

Reduced or zero tillage keeps soil structure and moisture intact, and leaving crop residues on the field as mulch cuts evaporation; both conserve water. Gypsum is applied to reclaim alkaline soils, not to conserve water. Hence 1 and 3.

A private member's bill is one introduced by any MP who is not a minister, elected or nominated, so statement 1 is incorrect. Fourteen private members' bills have become law, the last in 1970, so the claim that one was recently passed for the first time is incorrect. Hence neither.

Parliament holds the Council of Ministers accountable through devices such as the question hour and supplementary questions, which require ministers to answer for their departments, and the adjournment motion, which censures the government on a matter of urgent public importance. Hence 1, 2 and 3.

The Preamble promises liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; it does not mention economic liberty, which is addressed by the Directive Principles. Hence (b).

Rights are claims of individuals, recognised by society and enforced by the State, that citizens can assert against the State and against each other; they are not claims of the State against citizens nor privileges of a few.

The Ryotwari system, under which revenue was settled directly with the cultivator (ryot), was first introduced by Captain Alexander Read in the Baramahal district in 1792 and extended by Thomas Munro in Madras Presidency. Cornwallis was the author of the Permanent Settlement. Hence 2 and 3.

Butterflies pollinate many flowering plants, so their decline would affect pollination (statement 1), and they and their caterpillars are prey for wasps, spiders and birds, whose numbers would fall (statement 3). Fungal infections of crops are unrelated to butterflies (statement 2 incorrect). Hence 1 and 3.

Pulicat Lake lies across Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, so statement 3 is correct. The Himalayas stretch across many states from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, and the Western Ghats span six states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu), so statements 1 and 2 are incorrect. Hence 3 only.

To contest a Lok Sabha election a person must be a citizen of India, at least 25 years old and registered as a voter in some parliamentary constituency, though not necessarily the one being contested. Hence (c).

The Soil Health Card Scheme, launched in 2015, tests soil and gives farmers a card with the nutrient status of their fields and recommended doses of fertilisers, so as to check the overuse and imbalanced use of fertilisers. It has nothing to do with irrigation expansion or bank loans. Hence 3 only.

Lead has been detected in many lipsticks, soft drinks have used brominated vegetable oil as an emulsifier (now being phased out), and monosodium glutamate is the flavour enhancer associated with Chinese fast food. All three pairs are correctly matched.

Carbon dioxide captured from industry can be injected for long-term storage into unmineable coal seams (where it also displaces methane), depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and deep saline aquifers, which have the largest storage potential. All three are candidate sites.

The Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), introduced by the RBI in 2016, allowed banks to split the debt of large stressed companies with genuine difficulties into a sustainable portion to be serviced and an unsustainable portion converted into equity or quasi-equity, so that the business could be revived.

The Smart India Hackathon, started in 2017 by the Ministry of Education and AICTE, invites students to develop digital solutions to real problems posed by ministries and industry. It is not a smart-cities scheme or a digital-payments programme. Hence 2 only.

The Chaliha Sahib festival, a forty-day fast in honour of Jhulelal, is celebrated by the Sindhi community, so pair 1 is correct. The Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra is a pilgrimage of the hill people of Garhwal in Uttarakhand, not the Gonds, and the Wari-Warkari pilgrimage to Pandharpur belongs to the Warkaris of Maharashtra, not the Santhals. Hence 1 only.

The National IPR Policy, 2016 reaffirms India's commitment to the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health and the TRIPS Agreement (statement 1), and it makes the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (now DPIIT) the nodal agency for all IPR matters (statement 2). Both are correct.

The Election Commission has three members (statement 1 incorrect), it alone decides the election schedule, not the Home Ministry (statement 2 incorrect), and under paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order it decides disputes arising from splits and mergers of recognised parties (statement 3 correct). Hence 3 only.

The Indian Ocean Dipole is the difference in sea-surface temperature between the western Indian Ocean (near the Arabian Sea) and the eastern Indian Ocean (near Indonesia), not the eastern Pacific, so statement 1 is incorrect. A positive IOD can offset the adverse effect of El Nino on the Indian monsoon, so statement 2 is correct.

The Rigveda mentions warriors wearing coats of mail and helmets, of which the Harappans left no evidence (statement 1), and the horse was central to Rigvedic culture while there is no clear evidence of it among the Harappans (statement 3). The Harappans knew gold, silver, copper and bronze but not iron, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence 1 and 3.

Event horizon and singularity are features of black holes, string theory is an attempt to unify gravity with quantum physics, and the Standard Model describes the fundamental particles and forces. All belong to the observation and understanding of the universe.

The painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani, holding a blue lotus, in Cave 1 at Ajanta is the most celebrated of the Ajanta murals, dating from the late 5th century under the Vakatakas.

The first Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development was held in New Delhi in 2006 on the theme 'A Vision for Sustainable Urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific by 2020', not the theme stated, so statement 1 is incorrect. The conferences are hosted by different member countries in rotation, not all by India, so statement 2 is incorrect. Hence neither.

In the Indian constitutional scheme rights and duties are correlative: every right carries a corresponding duty, and the Fundamental Duties in Article 51A remind citizens that the enjoyment of rights depends on the performance of duties towards society and the State.

The National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan, 2018) aims to reduce stunting, under-nutrition and low birth weight and to bring down anaemia among children, adolescent girls and women, through awareness and convergence of services (statements 1 and 2). Promoting millets or eggs is not among its stated objectives. Hence 1 and 2.

The Factories Act, 1881 regulated child labour and working hours in factories; it did not fix wages or permit trade unions, so statement 1 is incorrect. N.M. Lokhande, who founded the Bombay Mill Hands Association in 1890, is regarded as the father of the labour movement in India, so statement 2 is correct.

The classic justification of democracy, as stated by thinkers such as J.S. Mill and Harold Laski, is that it calls into activity the intelligence and character of ordinary men and women, who govern themselves through participation, rather than relying on a superior individual or a party cadre.

The NPS was made mandatory for Central Government employees (except the armed forces) joining on or after 1 January 2004, and state government employees join it from the date notified by their state governments. It is open to all Indian citizens, including NRIs, aged 18 to 70. Option (c) is correct; (d) wrongly includes the armed forces and gives the wrong date.

The gharial, the Indian wild ass and the wild buffalo are all listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits their hunting except under the limited provisions of section 11 (for example when an animal has become dangerous to human life). Hence 1, 2 and 3.

Domestic content requirement refers to the condition under India's National Solar Mission that solar developers use cells and modules made in India; the USA challenged it at the WTO, which ruled in 2016 that the requirement violated trade rules.

Biological (biochemical) oxygen demand is the amount of dissolved oxygen that micro-organisms consume in breaking down the organic matter in water; a high BOD indicates organic pollution, so it is a standard measure for assessing pollution of aquatic ecosystems.

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, set up in 2015, is India's sovereign-linked investment fund in which the government holds 49 per cent with the rest from global investors; it is managed by NIIF Ltd, not NITI Aayog, and its target corpus was Rs 40,000 crore, not Rs 4 lakh crore. Hence neither.

BIS certification (the ISI mark) is mandatory for automotive tyres and tubes under a quality control order, so statement 1 is correct. AGMARK is a certification mark for agricultural products issued under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, not by the FAO, so statement 2 is incorrect.

The right to vote (Article 326) and the right to be elected are constitutional rights derived from the Constitution and regulated by the Representation of the People Acts; the Supreme Court has held that they are neither fundamental rights nor mere statutory rights.

The Global Gender Gap Index, which ranks countries on gender parity in economic participation, education, health and political empowerment, is published annually by the World Economic Forum.

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium is a voluntary initiative, launched by the Indian Navy, to increase maritime cooperation among the navies of the Indian Ocean littoral states (statement 2). Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in 2008, not 2015 (statement 1 incorrect). Hence 2 only.

Raja Radhakanta Deb was the first president of the British Indian Association (1851), and Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian Association in 1876, so pairs 1 and 3 are correct. The Madras Mahajana Sabha was founded in 1884 by M. Viraraghavachariar, G. Subramania Iyer and P. Ananda Charlu; Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty had founded the earlier Madras Native Association. Hence 1 and 3.

Indian federalism is not the result of an agreement among the states: the Constitution was framed by a Constituent Assembly for the whole country, and the states have no right to secede. An independent judiciary, division of powers and unequal representation in the Rajya Sabha are all features of the Indian system.