Table of Contents
Q1) Arrange in Descending order the following states in terms
of total GST collection as of December 2017 :
A) Gujarat> Uttar Pradesh> Tamil Nadu> Maharashtra
B) Uttar Pradesh > Maharashtra > Gujarat > Karnataka
C) Maharashtra > Uttar Pradesh > Karnataka > Tamil Nadu
D) Maharashtra > Uttar Pradesh > Gujarat >Tamil Nadu
Q2) Consider the following statements :
A)The Great Buddha of Thailand is the tallest
statue in the world
B)Ramanuja was a Buddhist theologian
philosopher
Options:
1) Only A is correct
2) Both are correct
3) None is correct
4) Only B is correct
Q3) The Karnataka government’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP) Includes :
A)Waiver of farm loans
B)Creation of 1 crore jobs
C) Allocation of ₹1.25 lakh crore for irrigation over the
next five years.
D)Providing free Education to girls belonging to BPL
Options :
1) All of these
2) B , C & D
3) A, B & C
4) A , C & D
Q4) Which of the following statements is true about Golden Globe Race ?
A)Only 2 Indians are participating in it
B) This race is organized to respect those who lost their
lives during ship journeys during last 50 years
C) This race started on the “day of the seafarers”
D)GPS is allowed
Options:
1) All are correct
2) None is correct
3) A & B are correct
4) C & D are correct
Q5) What are Thuriya and Suhaili ?
1)Endangered languages of Odisha recently discovered
by Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru
2)Particularly vulnerable tribal groups of Lakshadweep
3)Indian made boats
4)Types of Bamboos discovered from Agasthamala
Biosphere Reserve
Q6) Consider the following statements w.r.t Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) :
A) The UAPA authorises the government to ban “unlawful
organisations” and “terrorist organisations” and penalise
membership of such organisations.
B) The definition of “unlawful activities” includes “disclaiming” or
“questioning” the territorial integrity of India, and causing
“disaffection” against India.
Options:
1) Only A is correct
2) Both are correct
3) None is correct
4) Only B is correct
Bhima-Koregaon and the fault in our laws
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act must be cleansed of its vast discretionary powers
The arrest of five individuals in early June, ostensibly for instigating the riots at BhimaKoregaon
at the beginning of the year, throws the fears expressed in the CA into sharp relief.
The accused, who include activists and lawyers, have been booked under the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). An examination of the UAPA shows how, in one
overarching “anti-terrorism law”, vast discretionary powers are conferred upon state
agencies, judicial oversight is rendered toothless, and personal liberty is set at naught.
Boundless discretion
The UAPA authorises the government to ban “unlawful organisations” and “terrorist
organisations” (subject to judicial review), and penalises membership of such organisations.
The problems begin with the definitional clause itself. The definition of “unlawful activities”
includes “disclaiming” or “questioning” the territorial integrity of India, and causing
“disaffection” against India. These words are staggeringly vague and broad, and come close
to establishing a regime of thought-crimes.
The problem of excessive breadth is then carried over into the “membership clauses”, which are the heart of the UAPA. “Membership” of unlawful and terrorist organisations is a criminal offence, and in the latter case, it
can be punished with life imprisonment. But the Act fails entirely to define what “membership” entails. Are you a “member” if you possess literature or books about a banned organisation? If you express sympathy with its
aims? If you’ve met other, “active” members? These are not theoretical considerations: charge sheets under the UAPA often cite the seizure of books or magazines, and presence at “meetings”, as clinching evidence of membership.
In 2011, the Supreme Court attempted to narrow the scope of these provisions, holding that “membership” was limited to cases where an individual engaged in active incitement to violence. Anything broader than that, it
ruled, would violate the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and of association. The application of this ruling, however, has been patchy and arbitrary: one judge of the Bombay High Court invoked it to grant bail to some members of the Kabir Kala Manch music troupe, while another judge ignored it and refused bail to
other members of the same troupe (they were ultimately granted bail by the Supreme Court).
Despite the verdict of the Supreme Court, therefore, the wide and vague provisions of the UAPA allow governments great and virtually unbridled power to arrest people under boundlessly manipulable justifications,
such as “having suspected Maoist links”. At this point, the second serious problem with the UAPA regime kicks
in: Section 43D(5) of the Act prohibits courts from granting bail to a person if “on a perusal of the case diary or the [police] report [the court] is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against such person is prima facie true.”
Effacement of liberty
The case diary and the charge sheet is the version of the state. Therefore, under the UAPA, as long as the state’s
version appears to make out an offence, a court cannot, under law, grant bail. When we juxtapose this with the
inordinately slow pace at which criminal trials progress, Section 43D(5) of the UAPA is effectively a warrant for
perpetual imprisonment without trial. This is not a theoretical concern either: on more than one occasion in
recent years, terror accused have been acquitted after spending more than a decade in jail. This is something
for which there can be no compensation or restitution; and it is only made possible because the law places an
unbreakable shackle upon personal liberty.
This too was something that the framers of the Constitution foresaw, and wished to avoid. Maulana Hasrat
Mohani, the great freedom fighter and poet, commenting on the same set of provisions as K.T. Shah, observed
that “so long as you do not prove anything openly against anybody in a court of law, it should not be lawful to
detain anybody.” His concern was discarded when the CA decided to have a specific provision that authorised
preventive detention (Article 22). However, as the CA debates reveal, the provision was meant to be used in
rare and exceptional cases. The framers did not intend — and the Constitution does not contemplate — the
kind of perfect storm that exists when broad and vague provisions of public security laws are combined with
statutory bars upon the grant of bail, and a legal system that takes years to complete a criminal trial.
Q7) Consider the following statements :
A) U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed creation of
a “space force” as a sixth branch of the American
armed forces
B) Assassin’s Mace is a Japanese term composed of
the characters for “kill”, “hand”, and “mace.
C) PAROS stands for the prevention of an arms race in
outer space
Options :
1) All are correct
2) Only B is correct
3) Only A is correct
4) A & C are correct
Q8) In India, the word “Insurance” was/were mentioned in which of the following texts :
A)Manusmrithi
B) Dharamshastra
C) Arthashastra
D)Nyaya Sutras
Options:
1) A, C & D
2) A, B & C
3) B , C & D
4) A, B & D
Q9) Which of the following statements is correct about Solar Charkha Mission ?
A)Its aim is to generate employment in rural areas.
B) Government will disburse subsidy of Rs 550 crore to
the artisans
C)It aims at linking five crore women across the country
to the initiative.
D)It has been started by Micro, Small and medium
enterprises
Options:
1) All are correct
2) None is correct
3) A & B are correct
4) C & D are correct
Q.10 In the first ever India’s inter-state relocation, a
tiger was shifted between which two states ?
1. Uttarakhand & Madhya Pradesh
2. Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh
3. Madhya Pradesh & Odisha
4. Gujarat & Maharashtra
Q11) What are Bioplastics ?
1. Plastics derived from renewable biomass
2. Plastics derived from living microorganisms
3. Plastics derived from dead microorganisms
4. Plastics derived from fossils
Q12) Consider the following statements :
A) Anatolia is westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up
the majority of modern-day Turkey
B) Turkey is bounded by the Red Sea to the north,
the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to
the west
Options :
1) Both are correct
2) Only B is correct
3) None is correct
4) Only A is correct
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