Checking Page – Dii

DIRECTIONS
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It took us the horror of two world wars to realize and accept that peace and freedom in the true sense can be achieved only if we respect the inherent dignity of every individual and are committed to establishing social, political and economic orders that are fair and just for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may not be legally binding on nations, but as part of the customary international law, it does affect the national conscience and subject moral pressure on countries to work towards securing rights and justice for their people.
For a country like India whose commitment to this objective is amply visible in its Constitutional provisions, the actual attainment of the end is certainly not easy. To start with, probably no other country in the world has to reckon with as many potentially divisive, diverse forces as ours. There are differences of region, religion, sex, caste and language. There are differences in economic status and educational attainment. Then there are people with physical and age-related disabilities, those rendered homeless due to internal conflicts, natural disasters, industrialization and such other reasons, whose rights need to be protected. Economic development and rapid urbanization have contributed their own sets of vulnerable population groups – the migrants, the slum dwellers, the industrial labourers, and those affected by deterioration of environment. So, when India talks of securing human rights and social justice for all, she is not talking about a small, manageable, largely homogenous population. She is actually talking about securing the rights of more than a billion people, immensely heterogeneous in their diversity and often having interests that appear to be in direct conflict with those of another group.
India’s report card in this area is typically that of a student who has made significant achievement, but still has a lot more ground to cover. So, while our women today are definitely on a steady path to empowerment, a lot many of our children are still deprived of even basic education, and are forced into employment. Our mechanisms and institutions for providing long term, sustainable care to the elderly and the disabled are still very sketchy. While the government is taking rapid strides in the area of ensuring inclusive growth, caste and region- based differences still exist in the common psyche. But whatever our weaknesses, we can take pride in the fact that our framework for securing human rights and establishing a just social order is a very strong one. The judiciary has proved this time and again. Organizations like the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the many NGOs working in these areas and also our central and state governments who have brought in relevant and meaningful legislations and are striving to implement the same, give us reason to be optimistic.
What is the author’s opinion about economic development and rapid urbanization?
(A) Economic development and rapid urbanization have brought problems and hence should be stopped.
(B) Economic development and rapid urbanization have helped in establishing a just social order.
(C) Economic development and rapid urbanization have brought its own set of problems and these problems must be addressed to establish a just social order.
(D) Economic development and rapid urbanization is the only way to achieve a just social order.

DIRECTIONS
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To be inwardly rich is much more arduous than to be outwardly rich and famous; it needs much more care, much closer attention. If you have a little talent and know how to exploit it, you become famous, but inward richness does not come about in that way. To be inwardly rich, the mind has to understand and put away the things that are not important, like wanting to be famous.
What is the crucial message conveyed by the passage?
(A) We are our own masters in all walks of life
(B) If you are inwardly rich, it you don’t mind whether you are known or unknown
(C) Those who are outwardly rich can afford flattery with money power
(D) We misconceive being famous as being successful and focus outward elements

DIRECTIONS
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It is well known climate change challenges are currently receiving more and more attention worldwide. However, the effects these challenges have on groundwater are not understood yet. Groundwater is a valuable resource that supplies many of the hydrologic needs of people and habitats globally, constitutes a safety net against climate change, contributes to streams in rivers and lakes, supports the proper functioning of aquifers, and can foster economic activities. We need agendas to ensure robust decision making and the sustainable use and management of these resources. This will contribute directly to the achievement of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and other explicitly linked SDGs on poverty eradication (SDG 1), food security (SDG 2), gender equality (SDG 5), and combating climate change (SDG 13), among others.
Which of the following is most important and best implied by the passage?
(A) Water intensive cropping needs to factor in climate change impacts on it
(B) Of all the water sources, ground water is worst hit as part of hydrological cycle
(C) A sustainable and prosperous future depends on subsurface water
(D) Effects of climate change on Groundwater is an out of sight crisis

DIRECTIONS
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87% of the world’s population – 4% more than in 2019 – live in countries where authorities are willfully subverting their SDG commitments on protecting civic space. Of particular importance to our assessment is SDG target 16.10, ‘Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.’ Nine of the ten countries that have made the most progress on the SDGs have a civic space rating as ‘open.’ While there is certainly room for growth, it is important to note that in a year of crisis, these countries did not stifle free speech, repress civil society organizations, or target activists with restrictive laws. The lessons we can learn from these countries speak to the importance of partnerships and cooperation between civil society and governments.
Which of the following best describes crux of the passage?
(A) China’s progress on SDGs is less valuable than that of India
(B) Pressure groups are invisible empires
(C) Fundamental freedoms and SDGs are connected
(D) Sustainable development unleashes space of democracy

DIRECTIONS
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Expert analysis makes it abundantly clear that we need a fundamental change in how we manage the land to limit climate change, reverse biodiversity loss and create sustainable food systems. The five strategies unanimously suggested in this changed approach are – ecosystem restoration, expanding and upgrading protected areas, diversifying farming systems, transforming diets and shaping the bioeconomy responsibly – are very much in line with the UNCCD’s efforts to better manage the land.
On the basis of above passage following assumptions have been made:
(1) Integrating, instead of separating, human lives and land is central to the new approach.
(2) Centre-state cooperation for land-use planning is essential due to their overlapping jurisdiction over agriculture and essential commodities like food.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

DIRECTIONS
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Funding an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework will require a significant increase in financial resources from all sources, including official development assistance, governments’ domestic budgets, climate financing directed to nature-based solutions, philanthropies, corporations, and new sources of revenue. The cause of concern is, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year as agriculture, fisheries, and other subsidies to incentivize activities that degrade or destroy nature. All told, the finance gap for protecting 30% of the planet is about USD700 billion a year. However, a new report shows that this finance gap is not as large as it seems – it accounts for just under one percent of global GDP, and is a tiny fraction of the USD5.2 trillion we spend in fossil fuel subsidies. Moreover, the benefits of protecting nature outweigh the costs by at least 5:1.
The most positive investment ever!
Which of the following is/are the practical, rational and scientific implications made by the above passage?
(1) Green bonds have high demand owing to greater returns they give us.
(2) Funding an ambitious post-2020 global diversity framework requires eliminating negative money.
Select correct statements:
(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

DIRECTIONS
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With every new forest fire or flood, and with every new report on the loss of wildlife or increase in desertification, we are reminded that we urgently need greater attention and efforts to conserve and sustainably manage the world’s forests. Fewer natural disasters, a more stable climate, healthier people, and stronger economies are just some of the benefits that we stand to gain from helping forests to thrive. There is growing international concern over the quality and availability of training and education needed both to prepare those whose daily work and decisions most closely impact the sustainable management of forests, and to inform new generations who will look after forest resources in the future. We need talented students to enter forest education programmes. We need well-trained forest managers and policymakers.
On the basis of above passage following assumptions have been made:
(1) Keeping forests healthy is essential for keeping people, economies, and the environment healthy as well.
(2) Sustainable management of forests requires up-to-date training for forest managers and decision makers.
(3) Greater priority must be placed on the quality and availability of forest education.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(A) 1 & 2 only
(B) 2 & 3 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 1, 2 & 3

DIRECTIONS
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With every new forest fire or flood, and with every new report on the loss of wildlife or increase in desertification, we are reminded that we urgently need greater attention and efforts to conserve and sustainably manage the world’s forests. Fewer natural disasters, a more stable climate, healthier people, and stronger economies are just some of the benefits that we stand to gain from helping forests to thrive. There is growing international concern over the quality and availability of training and education needed both to prepare those whose daily work and decisions most closely impact the sustainable management of forests, and to inform new generations who will look after forest resources in the future. We need talented students to enter forest education programmes. We need well-trained forest managers and policymakers.
The author seems to argue that,
(A) Without enough health literacy, sustainability is not guaranteed
(B) We may not be knowing much about forests to take care of them properly
(C) Cultural model of conservation involves learning traditional practices of forest management
(D) Best investment to save forests is to educate all college goers

DIRECTIONS
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By creating the right policy environment, incentives for innovation, and infrastructure, governments can encourage companies to seize the opportunities of new technologies and value chains linked to green sectors. At the same time, they can accelerate the shift of current carbon-intensive economic and industrial structures onto greener trajectories, enabling countries to meet global climate and development goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Public support for change has perhaps never been greater, and governments can now direct this transition at a lower political and financial cost – due in part to the oil price collapse and low interest rates. Planned investments will target three pillars: green energy infrastructure, the green energy industry ecosystem, and low-carbon and decentralized energy expansion, with specific funds to support start-ups developing green technologies.
On the basis of above passage following assumptions have been made:
(1) COVID-19 provides suitable conditions for green industrial revolution
(2) State socialistic model can enable the transition more effectively than a market-centric model.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 & 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

DIRECTIONS
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By creating the right policy environment, incentives for innovation, and infrastructure, governments can encourage companies to seize the opportunities of new technologies and value chains linked to green sectors. At the same time, they can accelerate the shift of current carbon-intensive economic and industrial structures onto greener trajectories, enabling countries to meet global climate and development goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Public support for change has perhaps never been greater, and governments can now direct this transition at a lower political and financial cost – due in part to the oil price collapse and low interest rates. Planned investments will target three pillars: green energy infrastructure, the green energy industry ecosystem, and low-carbon and decentralized energy expansion, with specific funds to support start-ups developing green technologies.
Which of the following is the most rational, crucial and logical inference that can be made from the above passage?
(A) International cooperation can synergise MNCs to lead the shift owing to the extraordinary money and tech-power.
(B) Fund shortage compels State to cooperate with private sector.
(C) Entrepreneurship is central to the transition to green industrial scheme.
(D) We are encountering a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to re-write the existing rulebook.

DIRECTIONS
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It took us the horror of two world wars to realize and accept that peace and freedom in the true sense can be achieved only if we respect the inherent dignity of every individual and are committed to establishing social, political and economic orders that are fair and just for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may not be legally binding on nations, but as part of the customary international law, it does affect the national conscience and subject moral pressure on countries to work towards securing rights and justice for their people.
For a country like India whose commitment to this objective is amply visible in its Constitutional provisions, the actual attainment of the end is certainly not easy. To start with, probably no other country in the world has to reckon with as many potentially divisive, diverse forces as ours. There are differences of region, religion, sex, caste and language. There are differences in economic status and educational attainment. Then there are people with physical and age-related disabilities, those rendered homeless due to internal conflicts, natural disasters, industrialization and such other reasons, whose rights need to be protected. Economic development and rapid urbanization have contributed their own sets of vulnerable population groups – the migrants, the slum dwellers, the industrial labourers, and those affected by deterioration of environment. So, when India talks of securing human rights and social justice for all, she is not talking about a small, manageable, largely homogenous population. She is actually talking about securing the rights of more than a billion people, immensely heterogeneous in their diversity and often having interests that appear to be in direct conflict with those of another group.
India’s report card in this area is typically that of a student who has made significant achievement, but still has a lot more ground to cover. So, while our women today are definitely on a steady path to empowerment, a lot many of our children are still deprived of even basic education, and are forced into employment. Our mechanisms and institutions for providing long term, sustainable care to the elderly and the disabled are still very sketchy. While the government is taking rapid strides in the area of ensuring inclusive growth, caste and region- based differences still exist in the common psyche. But whatever our weaknesses, we can take pride in the fact that our framework for securing human rights and establishing a just social order is a very strong one. The judiciary has proved this time and again. Organizations like the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the many NGOs working in these areas and also our central and state governments who have brought in relevant and meaningful legislations and are striving to implement the same, give us reason to be optimistic.
Which of the following can be the reason for the author’s justification for paying respect to the dignity of every individual?
(1) Humans have witnessed horrors of the two world wars.
(2) In order to establish peace and freedom for humanity.
(3) To establish just and fair social order.
How many of the above statements is/are correct ?
(A) Only one
(B) Only two
(C) All
(D) None

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
It took us the horror of two world wars to realize and accept that peace and freedom in the true sense can be achieved only if we respect the inherent dignity of every individual and are committed to establishing social, political and economic orders that are fair and just for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may not be legally binding on nations, but as part of the customary international law, it does affect the national conscience and subject moral pressure on countries to work towards securing rights and justice for their people.
For a country like India whose commitment to this objective is amply visible in its Constitutional provisions, the actual attainment of the end is certainly not easy. To start with, probably no other country in the world has to reckon with as many potentially divisive, diverse forces as ours. There are differences of region, religion, sex, caste and language. There are differences in economic status and educational attainment. Then there are people with physical and age-related disabilities, those rendered homeless due to internal conflicts, natural disasters, industrialization and such other reasons, whose rights need to be protected. Economic development and rapid urbanization have contributed their own sets of vulnerable population groups – the migrants, the slum dwellers, the industrial labourers, and those affected by deterioration of environment. So, when India talks of securing human rights and social justice for all, she is not talking about a small, manageable, largely homogenous population. She is actually talking about securing the rights of more than a billion people, immensely heterogeneous in their diversity and often having interests that appear to be in direct conflict with those of another group.
India’s report card in this area is typically that of a student who has made significant achievement, but still has a lot more ground to cover. So, while our women today are definitely on a steady path to empowerment, a lot many of our children are still deprived of even basic education, and are forced into employment. Our mechanisms and institutions for providing long term, sustainable care to the elderly and the disabled are still very sketchy. While the government is taking rapid strides in the area of ensuring inclusive growth, caste and region- based differences still exist in the common psyche. But whatever our weaknesses, we can take pride in the fact that our framework for securing human rights and establishing a just social order is a very strong one. The judiciary has proved this time and again. Organizations like the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the many NGOs working in these areas and also our central and state governments who have brought in relevant and meaningful legislations and are striving to implement the same, give us reason to be optimistic.
Why the author is feeling optimistic in the end of the passage?
(1) India has achieved significant success in establishing just social order.
(2) India is on the path of putting the framework for establishing just social order.
(3) Indian judiciary has made significant progress in establishing just social order.
How many of the above statements is/are correct ?
(A) Only one
(B) Only two
(C) All
(D) None

DIRECTIONS
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It took us the horror of two world wars to realize and accept that peace and freedom in the true sense can be achieved only if we respect the inherent dignity of every individual and are committed to establishing social, political and economic orders that are fair and just for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may not be legally binding on nations, but as part of the customary international law, it does affect the national conscience and subject moral pressure on countries to work towards securing rights and justice for their people.
For a country like India whose commitment to this objective is amply visible in its Constitutional provisions, the actual attainment of the end is certainly not easy. To start with, probably no other country in the world has to reckon with as many potentially divisive, diverse forces as ours. There are differences of region, religion, sex, caste and language. There are differences in economic status and educational attainment. Then there are people with physical and age-related disabilities, those rendered homeless due to internal conflicts, natural disasters, industrialization and such other reasons, whose rights need to be protected. Economic development and rapid urbanization have contributed their own sets of vulnerable population groups – the migrants, the slum dwellers, the industrial labourers, and those affected by deterioration of environment. So, when India talks of securing human rights and social justice for all, she is not talking about a small, manageable, largely homogenous population. She is actually talking about securing the rights of more than a billion people, immensely heterogeneous in their diversity and often having interests that appear to be in direct conflict with those of another group.
India’s report card in this area is typically that of a student who has made significant achievement, but still has a lot more ground to cover. So, while our women today are definitely on a steady path to empowerment, a lot many of our children are still deprived of even basic education, and are forced into employment. Our mechanisms and institutions for providing long term, sustainable care to the elderly and the disabled are still very sketchy. While the government is taking rapid strides in the area of ensuring inclusive growth, caste and region- based differences still exist in the common psyche. But whatever our weaknesses, we can take pride in the fact that our framework for securing human rights and establishing a just social order is a very strong one. The judiciary has proved this time and again. Organizations like the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the many NGOs working in these areas and also our central and state governments who have brought in relevant and meaningful legislations and are striving to implement the same, give us reason to be optimistic.
What according to the author is the driving force for country like India for establishing a just social order?
(A) The disparity prevalent in the society.
(B) Institutional arrangement available in the country.
(C) The underlying philosophy of the constitution.
(D) None of the above.

DIRECTIONS
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Indian handicrafts are rich in diversity and spread all over the country both in rural and urban areas. Though it is considered a cottage industry, it has evolved as one of the major revenue generators over the years. There has been consistent growth of 15% over the last few years and the industry has evolved as a major contributor for exports and thus, for foreign revenue generation. Since most of the manufacturing units are located in rural and small towns, handicraft industry is a major source of income for rural communities, employing over six million artisans who are mainly poor and majority of them are women. Additionally, with a growing middle class that has spread beyond the four metros, there is market potential for handicrafts in smaller towns in a way not seen before, especially with the spread of retail.
Handicrafts are complex in terms of products and market segments. In textiles and clothing, there is a more seamless movement of product lines and designs among the segments than before. Products and designs that used to be considered ‘boutique’ are now seen in retail. This provides a market opportunity for artisans to be employed, despite the challenges posed by machines duplicating the designs and use of cheaper fabric. There is a greater thrust for social consciousness and fair trade and these have become worldwide movements. There is a focus on sustainable consumption, social protection, environmental standards and occupational health and safety. These concepts and terms were rarely used a few years ago. Certifications have also become available to assist in branding and socially conscious advertising. The challenge is to widen these benefits to the large number of artisans who are outside the formal sector.
Much of the work in handicrafts remains dispersed and informalized, mainly in the rural areas. This is both an advantage and a curse. For women it is an advantage because it enables them to work out of their homes thus providing much needed employment to those who would otherwise not be employed. It is a curse because the dispersed nature of production increases costs of developing an efficient value chain for production and marketing. The value chains are long and relationships along the chain are non- transparent. Margin calculations are ad hoc and exploitative with artisans not receiving returns commensurate with their skill or labor. There are no standard or average markups in many cases. Every transaction is a different transaction wherein each transacting party attempts to gain the maximum share. The mark up on lower quality, lower priced goods is low and markups on higher quality, higher priced goods are high.
What according to the author is the reason for improved market potential of handicrafts?
(A) Growth of middle class population beyond the four metros.
(B) Expansion of retail for handicraft goods in rural areas.
(C) Availability of cheap labour in the rural areas.
(D) None of the above

DIRECTIONS
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When Vladimir Putin came to power in his first term as the President of Russia a leading political leader who opposed his policies died of mysterious illness in prison/captivity. Hardly any observers of the regime were surprised by this. A cartoonist very aptly depicted this situation by showing a policeman informing journalist, “We are trying figure out whether he committed suicide or died of illness.”
Which of the conclusions can be drawn from the information given in the passage?
(A) The opposition leader did not get right medical facilities in the prison.
(B) The opposition leader committed suicide.
(C) The policeman is not clear about the reasons of the death of the opposition leader.
(D) Vladimir Putin’s regime was responsible for the death of the opposition leader.

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
Rocks which have solidified directly from molten materials are called igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are commonly referred to as primary rocks because they are the original source of material found in sedimentaries and metamorphics. Igneous rocks compose the greater part of the Earth's crust, but they are generally covered by a thin layer of sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are distinguished by the following characteristics :
(1) they contain no fossils, (2) they have no regular arrangement of layers and (3) they are nearly always made up of crystals.
Sedimentary rocks are composed largely of minute fragments derived from the disintegration of existing old rocks and from the remains of animals. Distinct layers of such sediments as gravels, sand and clay build up, as they are deposited by water and occasionally wind. These sediments vary in size with the material and the power of the eroding agents. When sediments harden into sedimentary rocks, the names applied to them change to indicate the change in physical state. Thus, small stones and gravel cemented together are known as conglomerates; cemented sand becomes sandstone; and hardened clay becomes shale. Limestone results from the deposition of dissolved materials.
The ingredient parts are normally precipitated by organic substances, such as shells and hard skeletons of marine organisms. Both igneous and sedimentary rocks may be changed under pressure, heat, solution or cementing action into metamorphic rocks, e.g. granite, an igneous rock, may be metamorphosed into gneiss or a schist. Limestone, a sedimentary rock, may become marble. Shale becomes slate.
The passage would be most likely to appear in a
(1) technical article for geologists.
(2) teaching manual accompanying an earth sciences text.
(3) newspaper featuring the formation of oil.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) 3 only
(D) All of these

DIRECTIONS
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e-Kranti is an important pillar of the Digital India programme. Digital technology for Education (e-Education), Health (e-Healthcare), Farmers, Financial Inclusion, Planning, Justice, Security, Planning and Cyber Security are its target areas. It goes beyond ensuring digital infrastructure development. In fact, the Mission of e-Kranti is to ensure delivering all Government services electronically to citizens through integrated and interoperable systems via multiple modes, while ensuring efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs.
Which of the following is the critical message conveyed by the author?
(A) E-Governance is not translation, but transformation
(B) Digital penetration will ensure wider changes in governance outcomes
(C) Unless whole governance set-up is digitalized, outcomes of e-Governance will be meagre
(D) BHIM App interoperability and its mounting accessibility provides inclusive governance

DIRECTIONS
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It took us the horror of two world wars to realize and accept that peace and freedom in the true sense can be achieved only if we respect the inherent dignity of every individual and are committed to establishing social, political and economic orders that are fair and just for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may not be legally binding on nations, but as part of the customary international law, it does affect the national conscience and subject moral pressure on countries to work towards securing rights and justice for their people.
For a country like India whose commitment to this objective is amply visible in its Constitutional provisions, the actual attainment of the end is certainly not easy. To start with, probably no other country in the world has to reckon with as many potentially divisive, diverse forces as ours. There are differences of region, religion, sex, caste and language. There are differences in economic status and educational attainment. Then there are people with physical and age-related disabilities, those rendered homeless due to internal conflicts, natural disasters, industrialization and such other reasons, whose rights need to be protected. Economic development and rapid urbanization have contributed their own sets of vulnerable population groups – the migrants, the slum dwellers, the industrial labourers, and those affected by deterioration of environment. So, when India talks of securing human rights and social justice for all, she is not talking about a small, manageable, largely homogenous population. She is actually talking about securing the rights of more than a billion people, immensely heterogeneous in their diversity and often having interests that appear to be in direct conflict with those of another group.
India’s report card in this area is typically that of a student who has made significant achievement, but still has a lot more ground to cover. So, while our women today are definitely on a steady path to empowerment, a lot many of our children are still deprived of even basic education, and are forced into employment. Our mechanisms and institutions for providing long term, sustainable care to the elderly and the disabled are still very sketchy. While the government is taking rapid strides in the area of ensuring inclusive growth, caste and region- based differences still exist in the common psyche. But whatever our weaknesses, we can take pride in the fact that our framework for securing human rights and establishing a just social order is a very strong one. The judiciary has proved this time and again. Organizations like the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the many NGOs working in these areas and also our central and state governments who have brought in relevant and meaningful legislations and are striving to implement the same, give us reason to be optimistic.
What is the author's main point of the article?
(A) The establishment of a just social system is required for a dignified life.
(B) Our efforts in establishing a just social system are not in the right direction.
(C) A just social system is the greatest need of a country.
(D) Establishment of the structure for a just social system is the most essential thing.

DIRECTIONS
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What began as a health crisis has soon turned into a devastating disrupter for trade and commerce wiping away millions of jobs due to varying degrees of lockdowns, which were announced in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. With the passage of time the trade-off between saving lives and saving livelihoods has grown starker. A milestone in the recent history of human civilisation, the pandemic is here to stay and we have no other option but to equip our healthcare systems to fight this massive battle, and vaccinate as much as we can.
As per the above passage, which of the following assumption(s) can be made?
(1) Economy of a country is closely connected with the health of its citizens.
(2) Government has not invested enough in the health infrastructure in the past.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTIONS
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The adoption of the market economy heralded a new era in which States came to occupy a strategic position in India’s market led economy. The Centre has even gone to the extent of encouraging states to negotiate loans / FDI with overseas banks / institutions directly since the 1990s. With the Centre’s grants in aid no longer being seen as the only source for financing their expenditure, States compete to attract FDI. And positively so, the Centre is not being seen as an obstacle but as a facilitator. Still, approval for FDIs are centralized with the DPIIT being the nodal Ministry at the centre for FDI approvals. In many cases, the DPIIT has to transfer the proposal for FDI licensing to the other central Ministries in whose Rules of Business the subject matter of proposal may fall. In proposals where land border issues or security issues arise, the concurrence of other nodal ministries may also be sought.
As per the above passage, which of the following assumption(s) can be made?
(1) Opportunities for states to attract the FDI in India are limited.
(2) Opening up of financial opportunities for states has improved fiscal federalism in India.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
Indian handicrafts are rich in diversity and spread all over the country both in rural and urban areas. Though it is considered a cottage industry, it has evolved as one of the major revenue generators over the years. There has been consistent growth of 15% over the last few years and the industry has evolved as a major contributor for exports and thus, for foreign revenue generation. Since most of the manufacturing units are located in rural and small towns, handicraft industry is a major source of income for rural communities, employing over six million artisans who are mainly poor and majority of them are women. Additionally, with a growing middle class that has spread beyond the four metros, there is market potential for handicrafts in smaller towns in a way not seen before, especially with the spread of retail.
Handicrafts are complex in terms of products and market segments. In textiles and clothing, there is a more seamless movement of product lines and designs among the segments than before. Products and designs that used to be considered ‘boutique’ are now seen in retail. This provides a market opportunity for artisans to be employed, despite the challenges posed by machines duplicating the designs and use of cheaper fabric. There is a greater thrust for social consciousness and fair trade and these have become worldwide movements. There is a focus on sustainable consumption, social protection, environmental standards and occupational health and safety. These concepts and terms were rarely used a few years ago. Certifications have also become available to assist in branding and socially conscious advertising. The challenge is to widen these benefits to the large number of artisans who are outside the formal sector.
Much of the work in handicrafts remains dispersed and informalized, mainly in the rural areas. This is both an advantage and a curse. For women it is an advantage because it enables them to work out of their homes thus providing much needed employment to those who would otherwise not be employed. It is a curse because the dispersed nature of production increases costs of developing an efficient value chain for production and marketing. The value chains are long and relationships along the chain are non- transparent. Margin calculations are ad hoc and exploitative with artisans not receiving returns commensurate with their skill or labor. There are no standard or average markups in many cases. Every transaction is a different transaction wherein each transacting party attempts to gain the maximum share. The mark up on lower quality, lower priced goods is low and markups on higher quality, higher priced goods are high.
Which of the following is not a problem of Indian Handicrafts?
(A) Long and non-transparent value chain.
(B) Low payments for the artisans working in the handicraft.
(C) Handicrafts are complex in terms of products and market segments.
(D) Dispersed nature of work in the handicrafts.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
India is a land of literature. It has always been so since times immemorial. When one takes stock of the history of human societies and civilizations, this is one area where India will be on top by some distance over other civilizations and societies. One hallmark of Indian literature over the past 3000 years or so is diversity. One will be surprised to see the variety of works of literature that have been produced in the sub-continent. The key to this diversity is the linguistic density of the Indian sub-continent and the willingness to absorb all wonderful things from any language or culture that people came across.
Which of the following best reflects the critical idea of the passage?
(A) The literature legacy of India is much bigger and wider than any other country/civilization.
(B) The reason for vastness of literature in India is accommodative nature of the country.
(C) People of India have always been well educated and this has led to vastness in our literature.
(D) India’s linguistic diversity is rooted in the influence it has received from all corners of the world.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
Indian handicrafts are rich in diversity and spread all over the country both in rural and urban areas. Though it is considered a cottage industry, it has evolved as one of the major revenue generators over the years. There has been consistent growth of 15% over the last few years and the industry has evolved as a major contributor for exports and thus, for foreign revenue generation. Since most of the manufacturing units are located in rural and small towns, handicraft industry is a major source of income for rural communities, employing over six million artisans who are mainly poor and majority of them are women. Additionally, with a growing middle class that has spread beyond the four metros, there is market potential for handicrafts in smaller towns in a way not seen before, especially with the spread of retail.
Handicrafts are complex in terms of products and market segments. In textiles and clothing, there is a more seamless movement of product lines and designs among the segments than before. Products and designs that used to be considered ‘boutique’ are now seen in retail. This provides a market opportunity for artisans to be employed, despite the challenges posed by machines duplicating the designs and use of cheaper fabric. There is a greater thrust for social consciousness and fair trade and these have become worldwide movements. There is a focus on sustainable consumption, social protection, environmental standards and occupational health and safety. These concepts and terms were rarely used a few years ago. Certifications have also become available to assist in branding and socially conscious advertising. The challenge is to widen these benefits to the large number of artisans who are outside the formal sector.
Much of the work in handicrafts remains dispersed and informalized, mainly in the rural areas. This is both an advantage and a curse. For women it is an advantage because it enables them to work out of their homes thus providing much needed employment to those who would otherwise not be employed. It is a curse because the dispersed nature of production increases costs of developing an efficient value chain for production and marketing. The value chains are long and relationships along the chain are non- transparent. Margin calculations are ad hoc and exploitative with artisans not receiving returns commensurate with their skill or labor. There are no standard or average markups in many cases. Every transaction is a different transaction wherein each transacting party attempts to gain the maximum share. The mark up on lower quality, lower priced goods is low and markups on higher quality, higher priced goods are high.
What is the central idea of the passage?
(A) It discusses the requirements of the handicraft industry in India.
(B) It describes the situation of the handicraft industry in India.
(C) It describes the rural and urban divide of the Indian handicrafts in India.
(D) It describes that the handicrafts industry is a blessing as well as curse.

DIRECTIONS
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For the past one and half decade as Indian industry went places, recording a hearty rate of growth, the story of Indian agriculture remained unchanged. Successive governments have put in plenty of effort but the results were still weak. This is surprising as in the same period except for 2008, the monsoon went through one of the longest periods of regular annual rainfall pattern. Despite this favourable initial condition, the rate of growth of the agriculture sector has been low. The one spoilsport in the agriculture story was of course the stagnant rate of public investment. The state, hamstrung by vastly competitive demands on its resources, initially and also by the realisation that public investments in irrigation and others were not yielding quick results, moved the money elsewhere.
But now, in the aftermath of the global meltdown, the consensus of informed opinion has switched to the view that consumption demand from rural India has been the great stabilizer for industry. The impetus for that rural consumption demand has to come from rising productivity in agriculture. In turn rising productivity can only come if adequate investment is made at all stages of agricultural operation. Not surprisingly the push for these improvements has come from one of the longest spells of rise in prices of food products – the persisting inflation in food that has just begun to soften. So, we have a fortuitous combination of circumstances that, if harvested, can create huge value upgradation for the Indian agriculture sector and in turn for the entire economy. The components of these improvements are well known like seed technology, better management of post-harvest operations like preservation of produce in warehouses and of agricultural marketing.
So even though it may seem of repeated, the time for an agricultural revolution is here. Probably the most important element of that will be the plans for a second green revolution. The government has already indicated that it is very keen to start it off in the dryland areas of the south and in the rich but weakly tapped soils of the eastern Indian states. A debate is already raging in the country, if such a rise in productivity will also necessarily entail a movement towards genetically modified crops. The need of adequate grains to feed a vastly rising population is immediate and so the decision has to be made carefully, as the government has indicated. The associated issues are of infrastructure to run the crops from the farm gates to the market. Most of the states have a poorly developed set of roads and even less carriers to undertake the task. In this context the need for refrigerated trucks and cold storage chains across the country is an immense investment possibility as well as the need of the hour. The government has to also make changes in the law to allow for the trading of warehouse receipts and that of the agricultural produce marketing act that makes transport of most agricultural produce across state boundaries, a crime. The list is large, the need is to start moving right now.
Why the author is skeptical about the debate on the genetically modified crops for the second green revolution?
(1) The author is of the opinion that genetically modified crops would be used and this would be a threat to our environment.
(2) The author feels that in this debate the immediate need of poor people may be lost.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
Evolutionary psychology takes as its starting point the uncontroversial assertion that the anatomical and physiological features of the human brain have arisen as a result of adaptations to the demands of the environment over the millennia. However, from this reasonable point of departure, these psychologists make unreasonable extrapolations. They claim that the behaviour of contemporary man, in almost all its aspects is a reflection of features of the brain that acquired their present characteristics during those earliest days of our species when early man struggled to survive and multiply. These suggestions have a ready audience and the idea that Stone age man is alive in our genome and dictating aspects of our genome and dictating aspects of our behaviour has gained ground in the popular imagination.
The tabloids repeatedly run articles about ‘discoveries’ relating to ‘genes’ for aggression, depression, repression, and anything for which we need a readymade excuse. Such insistence on a genetic basis for behaviour negates the cultural influences and the social realities that separate us from our ancestors. The difficulty with pseudo science of this nature is just this popular appeal. People are eager to accept what is printed as incontrovertible, assuming quite without foundation, that anything printed has bona find antecedents. We would do well to remember that the phrenologists of the 19th century held sway for a considerable time in the absence of any evidence that behavioural tendencies could be deuced from the shape of the skull. The phrenologists are no more, but their genes would seem to be thriving.
The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to
(A) argue for the superiority of a particular viewpoint
(B) attack the popular press
(C) ridicule a particular branch of science
(D) highlight an apparently erroneous tendency in an area of social science.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
For the past one and half decade as Indian industry went places, recording a hearty rate of growth, the story of Indian agriculture remained unchanged. Successive governments have put in plenty of effort but the results were still weak. This is surprising as in the same period except for 2008, the monsoon went through one of the longest periods of regular annual rainfall pattern. Despite this favourable initial condition, the rate of growth of the agriculture sector has been low. The one spoilsport in the agriculture story was of course the stagnant rate of public investment. The state, hamstrung by vastly competitive demands on its resources, initially and also by the realisation that public investments in irrigation and others were not yielding quick results, moved the money elsewhere.
But now, in the aftermath of the global meltdown, the consensus of informed opinion has switched to the view that consumption demand from rural India has been the great stabilizer for industry. The impetus for that rural consumption demand has to come from rising productivity in agriculture. In turn rising productivity can only come if adequate investment is made at all stages of agricultural operation. Not surprisingly the push for these improvements has come from one of the longest spells of rise in prices of food products – the persisting inflation in food that has just begun to soften. So, we have a fortuitous combination of circumstances that, if harvested, can create huge value upgradation for the Indian agriculture sector and in turn for the entire economy. The components of these improvements are well known like seed technology, better management of post-harvest operations like preservation of produce in warehouses and of agricultural marketing.
So even though it may seem of repeated, the time for an agricultural revolution is here. Probably the most important element of that will be the plans for a second green revolution. The government has already indicated that it is very keen to start it off in the dryland areas of the south and in the rich but weakly tapped soils of the eastern Indian states. A debate is already raging in the country, if such a rise in productivity will also necessarily entail a movement towards genetically modified crops. The need of adequate grains to feed a vastly rising population is immediate and so the decision has to be made carefully, as the government has indicated. The associated issues are of infrastructure to run the crops from the farm gates to the market. Most of the states have a poorly developed set of roads and even less carriers to undertake the task. In this context the need for refrigerated trucks and cold storage chains across the country is an immense investment possibility as well as the need of the hour. The government has to also make changes in the law to allow for the trading of warehouse receipts and that of the agricultural produce marketing act that makes transport of most agricultural produce across state boundaries, a crime. The list is large, the need is to start moving right now.
What is the primary purpose of the passage?
(1) To identify problems plaguing Indian economy.
(2) To highlight the need of reforms in the agriculture sector.
(3) To discuss the dismal performance of Indian agriculture in the last one and half decade.
How many of the above statements is/are correct ?
(A) Only one
(B) Only two
(C) All
(D) None

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
For the Maya of the Classic period, who lived in Southern Mexico and Central America between 250 and 900 CE, the category of “persons” was not coincident with human beings, as it is for us. That is, human beings were persons – but other, nonhuman entities could be persons, too. In order to explore the slippage of categories between “humans” and “persons”, I examined a very specific category of ancient Maya images, found painted in scenes on ceramic vessels. I sought out instances in which faces (some combination of eyes, nose, and mouth) are shown on inanimate objects. Consider my iPhone, which needs to be fed with electricity every night, swaddled in a protective bumper, and enjoys communicating with other fellow-phone-beings. Does it have personhood (if at all) because itis connected to me, drawing this resource from me as an owner or source? For the Maya (who did have plenty of other communicating objects, if not smartphones), the answer was no. Nonhuman persons were not tethered to specific humans, and they did not derive their personhood from a connection with a human. It's a profoundly democratising way of understanding the world. Humans are not more important persons – we are just one of many kinds of persons who inhabit this world.
The Maya saw personhood as 'activated' by experiencing certain bodily needs and through participation in certain social activities. For example, among the faced objects that I examined, persons are marked by personal requirements (such as hunger, tiredness, physical closeness), and by community obligations (communication, interaction, ritual observance). In the images I examined, we see, for instance, faced objects being cradled in humans' arms; we also see them speaking to humans. These core elements of personhood are both turned inward, what the body or self of a person requires, and outward, what a community expects of the persons who are a part of it, underlining the reciprocal nature of community membership.
Personhood was a nonbinary proposition for the Maya. Entities were able to be persons while also being something else. The faced objects I looked at indicate that they continue to be functional, doing what objects do (a stone implement continues to chop, an incense burner continues to do its smoky work). Furthermore, the Maya visually depicted many objects in ways that indicated the material category to which they belonged – drawings of the stone implement show that a person-tool is still made of stone. One additional complexity: the incense burner (which would have been made of clay, and decorated with spiky appliques representing the sacred ceiba tree found in this region) is categorised as a person – but also as a tree. With these Maya examples, we are challenged to discard the person/nonperson binary that constitutes our basic ontological outlook. The porousness of boundaries that we have seen in the Maya world points towards the possibility of living with a certain uncategorisability of the world.
Which one of the following best explains the “additional complexity” that the example of the incense burner illustrates regarding personhood for the Classic Maya?
(A) The example adds a new layer to the nonbinary understanding of personhood by bringing in a third category that shares a similar relation with the previous two.
(B) The example provides an exception to the nonbinary understanding of personhood that the passage had hitherto established.
(C) The example adds a new layer to the nonbinary understanding of personhood by bringing in a third category that shares a dissimilar relation with the previous two.
(D) The example complicates the nonbinary understanding of personhood by bringing in the sacred, establishing the porosity of the divine and the profane.

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
Cuttlefish are full of personality, as behavioral ecologist Alexandra Schnell found out while researching the cephalopod's potential to display self-control. ” Self-control is thought to be the cornerstone of intelligence, as it is an important prerequisite for complex decision-making and planning for the future,” says Schnell .
[Schnell's] study used a modified version of the ” marshmallow test ” – During the original marshmallow test, psychologist Walter Mischel presented children between age four and six with one marshmallow. He told them that if they waited 15 minutes and didn't eat it, he would give them a second marshmallow. A long-term follow-up study showed that the children who waited for the second marshmallow had more success later in life. The cuttlefish version of the experiment looked a lot different. The researchers worked with six cuttlefish under nine months old and presented them with seafood instead of sweets. (Preliminary experiments showed that cuttlefishes' favorite food is live grass shrimp, while raw prawns are so-so and Asian shore crab is nearly unacceptable.) Since the researchers couldn't explain to the cuttlefish that they would need to wait for their shrimp, they trained them to recognize certain shapes that indicated when a food item would become available. The symbols were pasted on transparent drawers so that the cuttlefish could see the food that was stored inside. One drawer, labeled with a circle to mean “immediate,” held raw king prawn. Another drawer, labeled with a triangle to mean “delayed,” held live grass shrimp. During a control experiment, square labels meant “never.”
“If their self-control is flexible and I hadn't just trained them to wait in any context, you would expect the cuttlefish to take the immediate reward [in the control], even if it's their second preference,” says Schnell . . . and that's what they did. That showed the researchers that cuttlefish wouldn't reject the prawns if it was the only food available. In the experimental trials, the cuttlefish didn't jump on the prawns if the live grass shrimp were labeled with a triangle – many waited for the shrimp drawer to open up. Each time the cuttlefish showed it could wait, the researchers tacked another ten seconds on to the next round of waiting before releasing the shrimp. The longest that a cuttlefish waited was 130 seconds.
Schnell [says] that the cuttlefish usually sat at the bottom of the tank and looked at the two food items while they waited, but sometimes, they would turn away from the king prawn “as if to distract themselves from the temptation of the immediate reward.” In past studies, humans, chimpanzees, parrots and dogs also tried to distract themselves while waiting for a reward.
Not every species can use self-control, but most of the animals that can share another trait in common: long, social lives. Cuttlefish, on the other hand, are solitary creatures that don't form relationships even with mates or young. “We don't know if living in a social group is important for complex cognition unless we also show those abilities are lacking in less social species,” says . . . comparative psychologist Jennifer Vonk.
In which one of the following scenarios would the cuttlefish's behaviour demonstrate self-control?
(A) Asian shore crabs and raw prawns are simultaneously released while a live grass shrimp drawer labelled with a triangle is placed in front of the cuttlefish, to be opened after one minute.
(B) raw prawns are released while a live grass shrimp drawer labelled with a square is placed in front of the cuttlefish.
(C) live grass shrimp are released while two raw prawn drawers labelled with a circle and a triangle respectively are placed in front of the cuttlefish; the triangle-labelled drawer is opened after 50 seconds.
(D) raw prawns are released while an Asian shore crab drawer labelled with a triangle is placed in front of the cuttlefish, to be opened after one minute.

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
For two years, I tracked down dozens of Chinese in Upper Egypt [who were] selling lingerie. In a deeply conservative region, where Egyptian families rarely allow women to work or own businesses, the Chinese flourished because of their status as outsiders. They didn’t gossip, and they kept their opinions to themselves. In a New Yorker article entitled “Learning to Speak Lingerie,” I described the Chinese use of Arabic as another non-threatening characteristic. I wrote, “Unlike Mandarin, Arabic is inflected for gender, and Chinese dealers, who learn the language strictly by ear, often pick up speech patterns from female customers. I’ve come to think of it as the lingerie dialect, and there’s something disarming about these Chinese men speaking in the feminine voice.” . . .
When I wrote about the Chinese in the New Yorker, most readers seemed to appreciate the unusual perspective. But as I often find with topics that involve the Middle East, some people had trouble getting past the black-and-white quality of a byline. “This piece is so orientalist I don’t know what to do,” Aisha Gani, a reporter who worked at The Guardian, tweeted. Another colleague at the British paper, Iman Amrani, agreed: “I wouldn’t have minded an article on the subject written by an Egyptian woman—probably would have had better insight.” . . .
As an MOL (man of language), I also take issue with this kind of essentialism. Empathy and understanding are not inherited traits, and they are not strictly tied to gender and race. An individual who wrestles with a difficult language can learn to be more sympathetic to outsiders and open to different experiences of the world. This learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual sense of understanding and connection—is invariably transformative. In Upper Egypt, the Chinese experience of struggling to learn Arabic and local culture had made them much more thoughtful. In the same way, I was interested in their lives not because of some kind of voyeurism, but because I had also experienced Egypt and Arabic as an outsider. And both the Chinese and the Egyptians welcomed me because I spoke their languages. My identity as a white male was far less important than my ability to communicate.
And that easily lobbed word—“Orientalist”—hardly captures the complexity of our interactions. What exactly is the dynamic when a man from Missouri observes a Zhejiang native selling lingerie to an Upper Egyptian woman? . . . If all of us now stand beside the same river, speaking in ways we all understand, who’s looking east and who’s looking west? Which way is Oriental?
For all of our current interest in identity politics, there’s no corresponding sense of identity linguistics. You are what you speak—the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your selfhood as is your ethnicity or your gender. And sometimes it’s healthy to consider human characteristics that are not inborn, rigid, and outwardly defined. After all, you can always learn another language and change who you are.
A French ethnographer decides to study the culture of a Nigerian tribe. Which of the following is most likely to be the view of the author of the passage?
(A) The author would discourage the ethnographer from conducting the study as Nigerian ethnographers can better understand the tribe.
(B) The author would encourage the ethnographer and recommend him/her to hire a good translator for the purpose of holding interviews.
(C) The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to first learn the language of the Nigerian tribe s/he wishes to study.
(D) The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to be mindful of his/her racial and gender identity in the process.

DIRECTIONS
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Bastar in south Chhattisgarh is increasingly being associated with bloody violence and strife, a political conflict that throws up disturbing questions of policy priorities that this tribal region has received in the decades following India’s Independence. Indeed as it is being increasingly acknowledged, it has been the singular lack of development that has led to birth of political groups that question the framework of parliamentary democracy in this country.
Somewhere lost in this high-intensity conflict and debate around it, is the question of Bastar’s own identity. What is the area like, how do the people live and what in a sense defines it, in terms of its terrain, its natural resources, and its cultural and social patterns? What strikes one are the luxuriant forests that stretch for miles and miles from any one point. The adivasis who have inhabited the region for centuries have evolved a way of life, a culture that worships nature, preserves it for the present generation of course, but really speaking for posterity.
Perhaps it is this philosophy embedded in the region for centuries that has led Virender Singh to take on the mantle of environment protection in the region. Even as a child growing up in Durg district in a family of agricultural workers, he would revel in the bounty of nature; the joy of seeing new leaves, crops waiting to be harvested and water gushing in the streams. As he grew, he realized that this bounty is the basis for human civilization and indeed its continuance. Yet it is finite, and if we do not nurture it, it may disappear altogether. In later years, as a schoolteacher, he saw the immense potential of opening young minds to both the joy and the threat to Nature. From this realization, began his journey and over the last 13 years earned him the pseudonym of “Green Commando”.
What according to the passage is /are the causes of violence and strife in Bastar?
1. Lack of framework for policy democracy in India
2. Lack of development in the area due to poor prioritization of policies.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
Bastar in south Chhattisgarh is increasingly being associated with bloody violence and strife, a political conflict that throws up disturbing questions of policy priorities that this tribal region has received in the decades following India’s Independence. Indeed as it is being increasingly acknowledged, it has been the singular lack of development that has led to birth of political groups that question the framework of parliamentary democracy in this country.
Somewhere lost in this high-intensity conflict and debate around it, is the question of Bastar’s own identity. What is the area like, how do the people live and what in a sense defines it, in terms of its terrain, its natural resources, and its cultural and social patterns? What strikes one are the luxuriant forests that stretch for miles and miles from any one point. The adivasis who have inhabited the region for centuries have evolved a way of life, a culture that worships nature, preserves it for the present generation of course, but really speaking for posterity.
Perhaps it is this philosophy embedded in the region for centuries that has led Virender Singh to take on the mantle of environment protection in the region. Even as a child growing up in Durg district in a family of agricultural workers, he would revel in the bounty of nature; the joy of seeing new leaves, crops waiting to be harvested and water gushing in the streams. As he grew, he realized that this bounty is the basis for human civilization and indeed its continuance. Yet it is finite, and if we do not nurture it, it may disappear altogether. In later years, as a schoolteacher, he saw the immense potential of opening young minds to both the joy and the threat to Nature. From this realization, began his journey and over the last 13 years earned him the pseudonym of “Green Commando”.
Which of the following is not true regarding Bastar?
(A) It has a wonderful collection of natural resources.
(B) It has a unique adivasi culture, which owes its existence to forests.
(C) The distinct identity of Adivasi people is the main cause of tension and strife.
(D) Worshipping and preserving nature are inherent part of Adivasi culture of Bastar.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
Bastar in south Chhattisgarh is increasingly being associated with bloody violence and strife, a political conflict that throws up disturbing questions of policy priorities that this tribal region has received in the decades following India’s Independence. Indeed as it is being increasingly acknowledged, it has been the singular lack of development that has led to birth of political groups that question the framework of parliamentary democracy in this country.
Somewhere lost in this high-intensity conflict and debate around it, is the question of Bastar’s own identity. What is the area like, how do the people live and what in a sense defines it, in terms of its terrain, its natural resources, and its cultural and social patterns? What strikes one are the luxuriant forests that stretch for miles and miles from any one point. The adivasis who have inhabited the region for centuries have evolved a way of life, a culture that worships nature, preserves it for the present generation of course, but really speaking for posterity.
Perhaps it is this philosophy embedded in the region for centuries that has led Virender Singh to take on the mantle of environment protection in the region. Even as a child growing up in Durg district in a family of agricultural workers, he would revel in the bounty of nature; the joy of seeing new leaves, crops waiting to be harvested and water gushing in the streams. As he grew, he realized that this bounty is the basis for human civilization and indeed its continuance. Yet it is finite, and if we do not nurture it, it may disappear altogether. In later years, as a schoolteacher, he saw the immense potential of opening young minds to both the joy and the threat to Nature. From this realization, began his journey and over the last 13 years earned him the pseudonym of “Green Commando”.
Which of the following according to the passage holds the key to solve the violence and strife in Bastar?
(A) People like Virender Singh should be made to promote forest conservation and thereby Adivasi culture.
(B) Government should promote development activities in the Bastar region through economic incentives.
(C) Better understanding of Adivasi culture and its history along with conservation of forest land should be at the centre of policy framework for the region.
(D) Establishing political democracy throughout the territory of India.

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
Rocks which have solidified directly from molten materials are called igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are commonly referred to as primary rocks because they are the original source of material found in sedimentaries and metamorphics. Igneous rocks compose the greater part of the Earth's crust, but they are generally covered by a thin layer of sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are distinguished by the following characteristics :
(1) they contain no fossils, (2) they have no regular arrangement of layers and (3) they are nearly always made up of crystals.
Sedimentary rocks are composed largely of minute fragments derived from the disintegration of existing old rocks and from the remains of animals. Distinct layers of such sediments as gravels, sand and clay build up, as they are deposited by water and occasionally wind. These sediments vary in size with the material and the power of the eroding agents. When sediments harden into sedimentary rocks, the names applied to them change to indicate the change in physical state. Thus, small stones and gravel cemented together are known as conglomerates; cemented sand becomes sandstone; and hardened clay becomes shale. Limestone results from the deposition of dissolved materials.
The ingredient parts are normally precipitated by organic substances, such as shells and hard skeletons of marine organisms. Both igneous and sedimentary rocks may be changed under pressure, heat, solution or cementing action into metamorphic rocks, e.g. granite, an igneous rock, may be metamorphosed into gneiss or a schist. Limestone, a sedimentary rock, may become marble. Shale becomes slate.
The passage contains information that would answer which of the following questions?
(1) Which elements form igneous rocks? .
(2) What produces sufficient pressure to alter a rock?
(3) Why is marble called a metamorphic rock?
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
(A) 1 only
(B) 3 only
(C) 1 and 2 only
(D) 2 and 3 only

DIRECTION : READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE ONLY.
For two years, I tracked down dozens of Chinese in Upper Egypt [who were] selling lingerie. In a deeply conservative region, where Egyptian families rarely allow women to work or own businesses, the Chinese flourished because of their status as outsiders. They didn’t gossip, and they kept their opinions to themselves. In a New Yorker article entitled “Learning to Speak Lingerie,” I described the Chinese use of Arabic as another non-threatening characteristic. I wrote, “Unlike Mandarin, Arabic is inflected for gender, and Chinese dealers, who learn the language strictly by ear, often pick up speech patterns from female customers. I’ve come to think of it as the lingerie dialect, and there’s something disarming about these Chinese men speaking in the feminine voice.” . . .
When I wrote about the Chinese in the New Yorker, most readers seemed to appreciate the unusual perspective. But as I often find with topics that involve the Middle East, some people had trouble getting past the black-and-white quality of a byline. “This piece is so orientalist I don’t know what to do,” Aisha Gani, a reporter who worked at The Guardian, tweeted. Another colleague at the British paper, Iman Amrani, agreed: “I wouldn’t have minded an article on the subject written by an Egyptian woman—probably would have had better insight.” . . .
As an MOL (man of language), I also take issue with this kind of essentialism. Empathy and understanding are not inherited traits, and they are not strictly tied to gender and race. An individual who wrestles with a difficult language can learn to be more sympathetic to outsiders and open to different experiences of the world. This learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual sense of understanding and connection—is invariably transformative. In Upper Egypt, the Chinese experience of struggling to learn Arabic and local culture had made them much more thoughtful. In the same way, I was interested in their lives not because of some kind of voyeurism, but because I had also experienced Egypt and Arabic as an outsider. And both the Chinese and the Egyptians welcomed me because I spoke their languages. My identity as a white male was far less important than my ability to communicate.
And that easily lobbed word—“Orientalist”—hardly captures the complexity of our interactions. What exactly is the dynamic when a man from Missouri observes a Zhejiang native selling lingerie to an Upper Egyptian woman? . . . If all of us now stand beside the same river, speaking in ways we all understand, who’s looking east and who’s looking west? Which way is Oriental?
For all of our current interest in identity politics, there’s no corresponding sense of identity linguistics. You are what you speak—the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your selfhood as is your ethnicity or your gender. And sometimes it’s healthy to consider human characteristics that are not inborn, rigid, and outwardly defined. After all, you can always learn another language and change who you are.
Which of the following can be inferred from the author’s claim, “Which way is Oriental?”
(A) Goodwill alone mitigates cultural hierarchies and barriers.
(B) Learning another language can mitigate cultural hierarchies and barriers.
(C) Globalisation has mitigated cultural hierarchies and barriers.
(D) Orientalism is a discourse of the past, from colonial times, rarely visible today.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
For the past one and half decade as Indian industry went places, recording a hearty rate of growth, the story of Indian agriculture remained unchanged. Successive governments have put in plenty of effort but the results were still weak. This is surprising as in the same period except for 2008, the monsoon went through one of the longest periods of regular annual rainfall pattern. Despite this favourable initial condition, the rate of growth of the agriculture sector has been low. The one spoilsport in the agriculture story was of course the stagnant rate of public investment. The state, hamstrung by vastly competitive demands on its resources, initially and also by the realisation that public investments in irrigation and others were not yielding quick results, moved the money elsewhere.
But now, in the aftermath of the global meltdown, the consensus of informed opinion has switched to the view that consumption demand from rural India has been the great stabilizer for industry. The impetus for that rural consumption demand has to come from rising productivity in agriculture. In turn rising productivity can only come if adequate investment is made at all stages of agricultural operation. Not surprisingly the push for these improvements has come from one of the longest spells of rise in prices of food products – the persisting inflation in food that has just begun to soften. So, we have a fortuitous combination of circumstances that, if harvested, can create huge value upgradation for the Indian agriculture sector and in turn for the entire economy. The components of these improvements are well known like seed technology, better management of post-harvest operations like preservation of produce in warehouses and of agricultural marketing.
So even though it may seem of repeated, the time for an agricultural revolution is here. Probably the most important element of that will be the plans for a second green revolution. The government has already indicated that it is very keen to start it off in the dryland areas of the south and in the rich but weakly tapped soils of the eastern Indian states. A debate is already raging in the country, if such a rise in productivity will also necessarily entail a movement towards genetically modified crops. The need of adequate grains to feed a vastly rising population is immediate and so the decision has to be made carefully, as the government has indicated. The associated issues are of infrastructure to run the crops from the farm gates to the market. Most of the states have a poorly developed set of roads and even less carriers to undertake the task. In this context the need for refrigerated trucks and cold storage chains across the country is an immense investment possibility as well as the need of the hour. The government has to also make changes in the law to allow for the trading of warehouse receipts and that of the agricultural produce marketing act that makes transport of most agricultural produce across state boundaries, a crime. The list is large, the need is to start moving right now.
What according to the passage is/are the reason(s) for the weak performance of Indian agriculture in the past decade?
(1) The monsoon has been weak during the decade especially during 2008.
(2) Successive governments have not put in enough efforts to boast the performance of agriculture.
(3) Stagnant public investment in the agriculture sector of India.
How many of the above statements is/are correct ?
(A) Only one
(B) Only two
(C) All
(D) None

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
Indian handicrafts are rich in diversity and spread all over the country both in rural and urban areas. Though it is considered a cottage industry, it has evolved as one of the major revenue generators over the years. There has been consistent growth of 15% over the last few years and the industry has evolved as a major contributor for exports and thus, for foreign revenue generation. Since most of the manufacturing units are located in rural and small towns, handicraft industry is a major source of income for rural communities, employing over six million artisans who are mainly poor and majority of them are women. Additionally, with a growing middle class that has spread beyond the four metros, there is market potential for handicrafts in smaller towns in a way not seen before, especially with the spread of retail.
Handicrafts are complex in terms of products and market segments. In textiles and clothing, there is a more seamless movement of product lines and designs among the segments than before. Products and designs that used to be considered ‘boutique’ are now seen in retail. This provides a market opportunity for artisans to be employed, despite the challenges posed by machines duplicating the designs and use of cheaper fabric. There is a greater thrust for social consciousness and fair trade and these have become worldwide movements. There is a focus on sustainable consumption, social protection, environmental standards and occupational health and safety. These concepts and terms were rarely used a few years ago. Certifications have also become available to assist in branding and socially conscious advertising. The challenge is to widen these benefits to the large number of artisans who are outside the formal sector.
Much of the work in handicrafts remains dispersed and informalized, mainly in the rural areas. This is both an advantage and a curse. For women it is an advantage because it enables them to work out of their homes thus providing much needed employment to those who would otherwise not be employed. It is a curse because the dispersed nature of production increases costs of developing an efficient value chain for production and marketing. The value chains are long and relationships along the chain are non- transparent. Margin calculations are ad hoc and exploitative with artisans not receiving returns commensurate with their skill or labor. There are no standard or average markups in many cases. Every transaction is a different transaction wherein each transacting party attempts to gain the maximum share. The mark up on lower quality, lower priced goods is low and markups on higher quality, higher priced goods are high.
According to the passage, the author is likely to agree to which of the following ideas?
(1) Indian handicrafts are equally prevalent in the rural and the urban areas.
(2) Informalized nature of work in handicrafts is more of a curse than a blessing.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
The decades of efforts aimed at containing population growth in the country have finally started yielding results, albeit mixed ones. As the provisional results of the 2011 census reveal, we have a lot to feel happy and proud about -but this happiness comes with a baggage of some very serious concerns.
With the growth rate of population slowing down to 17.64from the earlier 21.54, we can hope to see our population stabilizing earlier than we had expected. The sustained campaign by central and state governments, non-government organizations and leaders of the society to educate our masses have also borne fruit – with literacy levels having risen to 74.04 from 64.83 in 2001. What is more heartening in this regard is the fact that among these additional literates the number of women is more than that of men. India is finally giving due thought to the education of her daughters. We are now 4.91 points closer to bridging the gender gap in literacy.
However, while India may have started showing concern about her daughters’ education, the same cannot be said about her enthusiasm in welcoming female offsprings into the family- at least in major parts of the country. The alarming and continuous drop in the Child Sex Ratio over the years is not just a matter of serious concern for the nation but also a matter of shame for any civilized society. Studies point to the growing scale of son preference and the resultant sex- selective abortion or female foeticide as the major reason for this drop in CSR. The trend seems to be more alarming in the northern and the western parts of the country. Clearly, the legislation preventing sex-selective abortion has proved totally ineffectual, and we need to work out more effective strategies in this regard.
Apart from this major problem, the continued, less than satisfactory performance of the Empowered Action Group of States also needs to be addressed afresh. Not that these states have not made any progress –but the current rate of change is not good enough to ensure a satisfactory rate of development in these states, nor a fast attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
With a largely young population, problems associates with ageing of population may not appear an urgency for the country. Nevertheless, these problems need to be tackled with advance planning. While the going is still good, India needs to look into the future and plan how it will take care of its elderly in the years to come.
Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
1. According to the provisional results of 2011 census, Indian population is not growing.
2. Rising literacy levels has resulted in fall in growth rate of population.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.
(A) Both statements 1 and 2 are correct.
(B) Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.
(C) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect..
(D) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
The decades of efforts aimed at containing population growth in the country have finally started yielding results, albeit mixed ones. As the provisional results of the 2011 census reveal, we have a lot to feel happy and proud about -but this happiness comes with a baggage of some very serious concerns.
With the growth rate of population slowing down to 17.64from the earlier 21.54, we can hope to see our population stabilizing earlier than we had expected. The sustained campaign by central and state governments, non-government organizations and leaders of the society to educate our masses have also borne fruit – with literacy levels having risen to 74.04 from 64.83 in 2001. What is more heartening in this regard is the fact that among these additional literates the number of women is more than that of men. India is finally giving due thought to the education of her daughters. We are now 4.91 points closer to bridging the gender gap in literacy.
However, while India may have started showing concern about her daughters’ education, the same cannot be said about her enthusiasm in welcoming female offsprings into the family- at least in major parts of the country. The alarming and continuous drop in the Child Sex Ratio over the years is not just a matter of serious concern for the nation but also a matter of shame for any civilized society. Studies point to the growing scale of son preference and the resultant sex- selective abortion or female foeticide as the major reason for this drop in CSR. The trend seems to be more alarming in the northern and the western parts of the country. Clearly, the legislation preventing sex-selective abortion has proved totally ineffectual, and we need to work out more effective strategies in this regard.
Apart from this major problem, the continued, less than satisfactory performance of the Empowered Action Group of States also needs to be addressed afresh. Not that these states have not made any progress –but the current rate of change is not good enough to ensure a satisfactory rate of development in these states, nor a fast attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
With a largely young population, problems associates with ageing of population may not appear an urgency for the country. Nevertheless, these problems need to be tackled with advance planning. While the going is still good, India needs to look into the future and plan how it will take care of its elderly in the years to come.
What according to the author is the main cause of falling sex ratio in major parts of the country?
(A) Poor literacy among females.
(B) Failure of legislation to curb sex selective abortion.
(C) Strong preference for male child and female feticide.
(D) Apathy of government to educate people regarding this issue.

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
The decades of efforts aimed at containing population growth in the country have finally started yielding results, albeit mixed ones. As the provisional results of the 2011 census reveal, we have a lot to feel happy and proud about -but this happiness comes with a baggage of some very serious concerns.
With the growth rate of population slowing down to 17.64from the earlier 21.54, we can hope to see our population stabilizing earlier than we had expected. The sustained campaign by central and state governments, non-government organizations and leaders of the society to educate our masses have also borne fruit – with literacy levels having risen to 74.04 from 64.83 in 2001. What is more heartening in this regard is the fact that among these additional literates the number of women is more than that of men. India is finally giving due thought to the education of her daughters. We are now 4.91 points closer to bridging the gender gap in literacy.
However, while India may have started showing concern about her daughters’ education, the same cannot be said about her enthusiasm in welcoming female offsprings into the family- at least in major parts of the country. The alarming and continuous drop in the Child Sex Ratio over the years is not just a matter of serious concern for the nation but also a matter of shame for any civilized society. Studies point to the growing scale of son preference and the resultant sex- selective abortion or female foeticide as the major reason for this drop in CSR. The trend seems to be more alarming in the northern and the western parts of the country. Clearly, the legislation preventing sex-selective abortion has proved totally ineffectual, and we need to work out more effective strategies in this regard.
Apart from this major problem, the continued, less than satisfactory performance of the Empowered Action Group of States also needs to be addressed afresh. Not that these states have not made any progress –but the current rate of change is not good enough to ensure a satisfactory rate of development in these states, nor a fast attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
With a largely young population, problems associates with ageing of population may not appear an urgency for the country. Nevertheless, these problems need to be tackled with advance planning. While the going is still good, India needs to look into the future and plan how it will take care of its elderly in the years to come.
Why do we need advance planning regarding the health of elderly people?
(A) We are a relatively young country, which will grow old in coming years.
(B) Problem of elderly cannot be ignored any longer.
(C) Advance planning is essential to deal with the coming problems.
(D) None of the above

DIRECTIONS
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE ITEM. YOUR ANSWER TO THIS ITEM SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PASSAGES ONLY.
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The descriptive “milky” is derived from the appearance from Earth of the galaxy – a band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. The chance of having existence of extraterrestrial life is maximum on a planet in one of the other solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy alone contains many other suns, many of which have planets similar enough to Earth to make them suitable for life to sustain.
Which of the following is an assumption made by the speaker of the above?
(A) Life on another planet probably has the same form and appearance as those on the Earth.
(B) Condition on other planets in our solar system is not suitable for the life to exist.
(C) It is likely that life on another planet would require conditions similar to those on Earth.
(D) Earth-like planets exist in more than one of the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy.