Prelims GS Paper I 2014

Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4 only

SSI raises single-bud seedlings in a nursery and transplants them at wide spacing. This uses far less seed, suits drip irrigation and leaves room for intercrops. It does not rule out chemical fertilisers. It aims at optimum use of fertilisers.

• ✓ 1. SSI uses less seed: single-bud chips are raised as nursery seedlings instead of planting many multi-bud setts. This sharply reduces seed cost compared with conventional planting.
• ✓ 2. Drip irrigation can be practised effectively in SSI because of the wider spacing and the raising of single seedlings. It is also a less-water method.
• ✗ 3. SSI involves optimum utilisation of fertilisers, not their total exclusion. Organic inputs are encouraged, but chemical fertilisers are not banned, so 'no application at all' is wrong.
• ✓ 4. The wide spacing between rows in SSI leaves room to grow intercrops. This gives scope for extra income compared with closely planted conventional cane.

Remember · SSI = single-bud nursery seedlings + wide spacing + less seed + less water (drip-friendly) + optimum (not zero) fertiliser + intercropping.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur in the wetland as a result of human interference

The Montreux Record is a register kept within the Ramsar List. It flags Ramsar sites whose ecological character has changed, is changing or is likely to change because of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. Option (a) states exactly this.

• ✓ (a) This is the definition of the Montreux Record. It highlights wetlands of international importance that face immediate challenges, so that priority conservation attention can be directed to them.
• ✗ (b) The Montreux Record does not require a national law or a five-kilometre no-activity buffer. Listing is a voluntary mechanism that highlights a site's problems.
• ✗ (c) The Record is based on changes in ecological character, not on the cultural practices or traditions of nearby communities.
• ✗ (d) World Heritage status comes under a different treaty, UNESCO's World Heritage Convention. A Montreux Record listing is a warning flag, not an honour.

Remember · Montreux Record = the part of the Ramsar List for sites with adverse ecological change, actual or likely, from human interference. It is a voluntary alert, not a legal ban and not a World Heritage tag.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Andaman and Nicobar

The Ten Degree Channel is the stretch of sea at about 10° N latitude that divides the Andaman Islands in the north from the Nicobar Islands in the south. Together these form India's Andaman and Nicobar group.

• ✓ (a) The Andaman group lies in the north and the Nicobar group in the south. The waterbody separating them is the Ten Degree Channel.
• ✗ (b) The Ten Degree Channel lies between the Andaman and Nicobar groups, both part of India. The Nicobar Islands are separated from Sumatra by the Six Degree (Great) Channel.
• ✗ (c) Lakshadweep and the Maldives lie off India's west coast, on the other side of the peninsula. They are separated by the Eight Degree Channel, not the Ten Degree Channel.
• ✗ (d) Sumatra and Java are Indonesian islands separated by the Sunda Strait. The Ten Degree Channel is not between them.

Remember · Ten Degree Channel: Andaman (north) and Nicobar (south). Six Degree Channel: Nicobar and Sumatra. Eight Degree Channel: Lakshadweep (Minicoy) and the Maldives.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

All three pairs are wrongly matched. DPAP and DDP were run by the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources). NWDPRA was run by the Ministry of Agriculture, so the answer is none.

• ✗ 1. The Drought Prone Area Programme belonged to the Ministry of Rural Development, not the Ministry of Agriculture. It was later merged into the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) under the same ministry.
• ✗ 2. The Desert Development Programme was also a Ministry of Rural Development scheme, and it too was merged into IWMP. It was not run by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• ✗ 3. NWDPRA was a Ministry of Agriculture project, run by its Department of Agriculture & Cooperation. It was not a Ministry of Rural Development project. The pair swaps the two ministries.

Remember · DPAP, DDP and IWDP (merged into IWMP) sit with the Ministry of Rural Development. NWDPRA sits with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

BNHS is a non-governmental society, not a body under the Environment Ministry, so statement 1 is wrong. Its stated mission is conservation through action based on research, education and public awareness, and it runs nature trails and camps. Statements 2 and 3 are therefore correct.

• ✗ 1. BNHS is a non-governmental society founded in 1883. The IUCN lists it as a 'National NGO' member. It is not an autonomous body of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• ✓ 2. BNHS's published mission is the conservation of nature, mainly biological diversity, through action based on research, education and public awareness.
• ✓ 3. BNHS runs a 'Nature Trails & Camps' programme. For example, it advertises ornithology camps at Bharatpur–Chambal and Goa.

Remember · BNHS (founded 1883, Mumbai) is an NGO, not a government body. Its mission is conservation through action based on research, education and public awareness. It also runs nature trails and camps.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) It serves as financial mechanism for 'Convention on Biological Diversity' and 'United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change'

Only statement (a) is correct. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a funding body that serves as the financial mechanism for the CBD and the UNFCCC, among other conventions. It funds projects rather than doing scientific research, and it is not an OECD agency.

• ✓ (a) The 1994 Instrument that restructured the GEF tasked it with operating the financial mechanism for the UNFCCC and the CBD. The GEF today serves as a financial mechanism to six conventions, including these two.
• ✗ (b) The GEF's role is to provide grant and concessional funding to achieve global environmental benefits. It is a funding mechanism, not a research organisation.
• ✗ (c) The GEF was restructured in 1994 as an independent international financial mechanism. Its original implementing agencies were UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank, and the World Bank serves as its Trustee. It is not an agency of the OECD.
• ✗ (d) Statement (b) is false, so 'both (a) and (b)' cannot be correct.

Remember · GEF is a funding mechanism, not a research body or an OECD agency. It is the financial mechanism for the CBD and UNFCCC, among other conventions, with the World Bank as Trustee.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct. Photovoltaic cells turn sunlight straight into electricity, while solar thermal plants first make heat and then use it to run a turbine. The AC/DC claim in statement 2 is reversed. India already had a photovoltaic manufacturing base in 2014, so statement 3 is wrong.

• ✓ 1. Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. Solar thermal plants use the Sun's heat to warm a heat-transfer fluid, which produces steam to drive a turbine and generator.
• ✗ 2. Photovoltaic cells produce direct current (DC), and an inverter is needed to convert it to AC for the grid. Solar thermal plants generate electricity through a turbine-driven generator, which gives AC. The statement has the two the wrong way round.
• ✗ 3. India was already manufacturing photovoltaic modules by 2014. A Ministry of New and Renewable Energy release puts India's installed solar PV module manufacturing capacity at 2.3 GW in 2014. The statement's claim of no PV manufacturing base is false.

Remember · PV = light to DC electricity directly, with an inverter needed for AC. Solar thermal = heat, then steam, then turbine, then AC. India had PV module manufacturing capacity by 2014.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Contemporary India – II, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Kannada and Telugu were declared classical languages in 2008; Gujarati has never been.

• ✗ 1. Gujarati has not been given classical status.
• ✓ 2. Kannada was recognised in 2008.
• ✓ 3. Telugu was recognised in 2008.
• • Since then Since then Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were added on 3 October 2024, making 11 classical languages; Gujarati is still not one (PIB).

Remember · In 2014: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia. Gujarati: never.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Dampa Tiger Reserve is in Mizoram. Saramati, the highest peak of Nagaland, lies on the Nagaland–Myanmar border. Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary is in Tripura, not Sikkim, so only pairs 1 and 3 are correct.

• ✓ 1. Dampa is Mizoram's tiger reserve. The National Tiger Conservation Authority lists it as the only tiger reserve in Mizoram.
• ✗ 2. Gumti WLS is a wildlife sanctuary of Tripura, managed by the Tripura Forest Department. It has nothing to do with Sikkim.
• ✓ 3. Mount Saramati (about 3,826 m) lies in the Patkai Range along the Nagaland–Myanmar border. It is the highest point of Nagaland.

Remember · Gumti WLS is in Tripura. Dampa is Mizoram's only tiger reserve. Saramati (about 3,826 m) is Nagaland's highest peak, on the Myanmar border.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct. Wetlands International is an independent, non-governmental conservation organisation. It grew out of waterbird and wetland research bodies whose work began in 1937, and it was not created by the countries that signed the Ramsar Convention. Its own description of how it works matches statement 2 almost word for word.

• ✗ 1. Wetlands International is an NGO. Its roots go back to the International Wildfowl Inquiry of 1937, long before the Ramsar Convention was signed in 1971. Bird and wetland bureaus from Europe, Asia and the Americas built a working relationship that evolved into a single global organisation. That organisation took the name Wetlands International and set up its headquarters in the Netherlands in 1996. Its membership includes governments and NGOs alike. It is a partner of the Ramsar Convention, not an intergovernmental body formed by Ramsar parties.
• ✓ 2. The organisation describes its method in exactly these terms. It works at the field level to develop and mobilise knowledge. It then uses that practical experience to advocate for better policies.

Remember · Wetlands International is an NGO network, not an intergovernmental body. It moves from field-level work to policy advocacy. It is a Ramsar partner, not a Ramsar creation.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

Only smallpox has been eradicated. WHO declared it eradicated worldwide in 1980, and it is the only human infectious disease to reach that status. Diphtheria and chickenpox still occur, including in India.

• ✗ 1. Diphtheria has been controlled by vaccination but not eradicated. WHO says no WHO region is completely free of it, and areas with low immunization coverage allow the bacteria to circulate.
• ✗ 2. Chickenpox (varicella) is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. WHO describes it as occurring worldwide, so it has not been eradicated anywhere, India included.
• ✓ 3. Smallpox was declared eradicated by WHO in 1980. It is the only human infectious disease to achieve this. It no longer occurs in India, and the last natural case anywhere was in Somalia in 1977.

Remember · Smallpox is the only human disease eradicated (declared 1980). India was certified polio-free in 2014, but polio is not yet eradicated worldwide. Diphtheria and chickenpox still circulate.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both phenomena can shape evolution because they change where organisms live and which populations are isolated. Continental drift splits or joins landmasses, and glacial cycles push species into isolated refuges. Both can drive divergence and diversification, so both statements hold.

• ✓ 1. As continents drift apart, populations are separated and evolve along their own paths (vicariance). Research on the break-up of Pangaea finds that isolation between continents might have increased net diversification rates. Fossils such as Mesosaurus, a shallow brackish-water reptile found only in South Africa and Brazil, show that these now widely separated landmasses were once joined.
• ✓ 2. During glacial periods, species retreat into isolated refuges and later expand again. This isolation drives genetic divergence, and studies credit glacial cycles with driving divergence between species.
• ✗ (a) It leaves out glacial cycles, which are documented as a cause of divergence between species.
• ✗ (b) It leaves out continental drift, which isolates populations on separate landmasses.

Remember · Anything that isolates populations or alters climate and habitat, such as continental drift or glacial cycles, can steer evolution and speciation.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4 only

Ganges River Dolphins are mainly threatened by loss and fragmentation of river habitat, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, and polluted water. Dams and barrages, accidental netting and chemical runoff from farmland therefore fit. A rise in crocodile numbers is not a recognised threat.

• ✓ 1. Dams and barrages block the dolphins' movement and fragment their habitat. The north-westernmost reaches of the dolphin's range have seen significant declines because of dams and barrages built over the last six decades.
• ✗ 2. Crocodile numbers are not listed among the threats to this dolphin. The major threats are habitat fragmentation, fishery interactions and water pollution.
• ✓ 3. Dolphins get accidentally entangled in gillnets and drown. This bycatch is a major threat, separate from deliberate hunting.
• ✓ 4. Water pollution is a major threat. Dolphin blubber shows significant buildup of heavy metals and of organochlorine and organophosphate residues, which come from pesticides and similar agricultural and industrial chemicals. Farm-chemical runoff from fields near rivers adds to this pollution.
• ✓ (c) Only statements 1, 3 and 4 describe real threats, so the code '1, 3 and 4 only' is right.
• ✗ (d) This option adds statement 2, the crocodile statement, which is not a recognised cause of decline.

Remember · Ganges River Dolphin threats: dams and barrages (habitat fragmentation), accidental entanglement in gillnets, and water pollution including agrochemicals. Hunting and poaching for oil and flesh is the other major cause.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) delimit the boundaries between India and Pakistan

Cyril Radcliffe chaired the boundary commissions that drew the new borders between India and Pakistan in 1947. They divided Punjab and Bengal, so the task was to delimit the India–Pakistan boundary.

• ✓ (c) Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer unfamiliar with India, was given just five weeks to draw the new borders. The result was the Radcliffe Line, which split Punjab and Bengal.
• ✗ (a) The Radcliffe task was territorial: drawing borders. It was not a mechanism for resolving the problem of minorities.
• ✗ (b) The Indian Independence Act, 1947 was passed by the British Parliament. Radcliffe's commissions were confined to fixing the boundaries in Punjab and Bengal, not to giving effect to the Act as a whole.
• ✗ (d) Radcliffe was not appointed to enquire into riots. His work was to demarcate boundaries in Punjab and Bengal.

Remember · Radcliffe = chairman of the Boundary Commissions for Punjab and Bengal (1947). The Radcliffe Line is the India–Pakistan border.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct. Brominated flame retardants such as the PBDEs used in foam furnishings are highly persistent in the environment and bioaccumulative, and they have been detected in humans in all regions. This is why the Stockholm Convention lists them as persistent organic pollutants.

• ✓ 1. The commercial mixtures of pentabromodiphenyl ether (pentaBDE) and octabromodiphenyl ether (octaBDE) are both described as highly persistent in the environment. They resist degradation.
• ✓ 2. PentaBDE is bioaccumulative and has been detected in humans in all regions. OctaBDE has a high potential for bioaccumulation and food-web biomagnification, so these chemicals build up in humans and animals.

Remember · PBDE flame retardants are persistent, bioaccumulative and capable of long-range environmental transport. That is why the Stockholm Convention lists them as POPs.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 3

Hibernation is a long winter dormancy found in many mammals. Bats, bears and rodents all include hibernating species, so all three kinds of animals qualify.

• ✓ 1. Many bats survive winter by hibernating, usually in caves or mines. The US National Park Service names hibernation and migration as the two main winter strategies of bats.
• ✓ 2. Many bears spend months in a winter sleep, living on fat stored under the skin. NCERT describes this months-long winter sleep (hibernation) for polar bears.
• ✓ 3. Several rodents hibernate. The yellow-bellied marmot, a rodent, hibernates for about eight months a year. Ground squirrels and dormice are other examples.
• ✗ (a) This leaves out rodents, though marmots and ground squirrels are well-known hibernators.
• ✗ (b) Bears are not the only hibernators here; bats and rodents such as marmots also hibernate.
• ✗ (d) Hibernation is well documented in all three groups, so this option is wrong.

Remember · Hibernation (winter dormancy) occurs in bats, bears and many rodents such as marmots. Aestivation is the summer counterpart, seen in snails, lungfish and some amphibians.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 6 Curiosity, Ch 3

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) The Committee on Estimates

The Committee on Estimates has 30 members, all from Lok Sabha. That is more than the Public Accounts Committee (22), the Committee on Public Undertakings (22) and the Lok Sabha Committee on Petitions (15).

• ✗ (a) The Committee on Public Accounts has 22 members: 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha. That is fewer than 30.
• ✓ (b) The Committee on Estimates has 30 members, all elected every year by Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha has no representation on it. It is the largest of the committees listed.
• ✗ (c) The Committee on Public Undertakings has 22 members: 15 elected by Lok Sabha and 7 by Rajya Sabha. It is the same size as the Public Accounts Committee.
• ✗ (d) The Lok Sabha Committee on Petitions has 15 members, nominated by the Speaker. It is the smallest of the four.

Remember · Estimates Committee: 30 members, all from Lok Sabha, the largest of the financial committees. Public Accounts and Public Undertakings: 22 each (15 LS + 7 RS). Petitions (Lok Sabha): 15.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

Volcanic action, respiration and decay of organic matter all release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Photosynthesis does the opposite: plants take CO2 out of the air to make glucose. So only 1, 2 and 4 add CO2.

• ✓ 1. Volcanoes are part of the slow carbon cycle. When they erupt, they vent carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
• ✓ 2. Living organisms release CO2 back into the atmosphere through respiration.
• ✗ 3. Photosynthesis removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Plants use it with sunlight to make glucose, so it draws carbon dioxide out of the air rather than adding it.
• ✓ 4. When plants and animals die, decomposition returns their carbon to the air as CO2.
• ✗ (a) It leaves out respiration and decay, and wrongly includes photosynthesis.
• ✗ (d) It counts photosynthesis as a source of CO2, but photosynthesis removes CO2 from the air.

Remember · Sources of atmospheric CO2 include respiration, decomposition, volcanoes and fossil-fuel burning. Photosynthesis is the main biological process that removes CO2 from the air.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 13 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

The answer is (b), 2 only. The behaviour described belongs to a ground-feeding insect-eater of farmland that walks beside grazing cattle and picks up insects they disturb. The Common Myna fits this. The Painted Stork is a wetland wader that catches prey underwater by touch. The Black-necked Crane is a high-altitude wetland bird, not a cattle-follower.

• ✗ 1. The Painted Stork is a wading bird. It forages by touch: it holds its open beak underwater and snaps it shut when prey moves near the bill. It does not hunt insects flushed by cattle.
• ✓ 2. The Common Myna feeds on the ground in rural, cultivated land. In its native South Asian range, flocks feast on insects and grubs turned up in the soil by the plough. In the same way, it walks alongside grazing cattle to seize the insects they disturb.
• ✗ 3. The Black-necked Crane, the state bird of Ladakh, breeds only in high-altitude wetlands. There it feeds on roots, insects and occasionally fish. It is not a bird that follows cattle through countryside grasses.

Remember · Feeding on insects flushed by grazing cattle is a commensal association, best known for the Cattle Egret. Among these options, only the Common Myna, a farmland ground-feeder, does this. Storks and cranes are wetland birds.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Biology, Ch 11 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) village headmen

Both titles appear in early medieval inscriptions as village-level authorities. 'Mahattara' literally meant an elder of a town or village and was also used for a village headman. 'Pattakila' meant the village headman, the same as the modern Patel or Patil.

• ✗ (a) Neither term was a military rank. A military commander was called a senapati. Mahattara and Pattakila are glossed as village elders or headmen.
• ✓ (b) Mahattara literally means 'an elder' of a town or village. The word was also used for a village headman or a member of the village council. Pattakila is glossed as village headman, the same as the modern Patel or Patil.
• ✗ (c) A priest performing rituals was called a purohita. Mahattara and Pattakila belong to village administration, not ritual.
• ✗ (d) The head of a merchant or craft guild was called a shreshthi. Mahattara was a village or town elder, and Pattakila a village headman, not a guild chief.

Remember · Mahattara = village or town elder or headman; Pattakila = village headman (modern Patel or Patil). Both are village-administration titles.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) algae and fungi

A lichen is a partnership between a fungus and an alga. The alga photosynthesises and makes food for both partners. The fungus shelters the alga, absorbs water and minerals, and anchors the lichen to the surface. This pairing lets lichens colonise bare rock as pioneers of ecological succession.

• ✓ (b) In a lichen, one partner is an autotrophic alga and the other is a heterotrophic fungus, living in a mutual association. The alga makes food and the fungus gives protection and anchorage. Together they can survive on bare rock.
• ✗ (a) A lichen always contains a fungus as its non-photosynthetic partner. The photosynthetic partner is an alga (in some lichens, a cyanobacterium). A pairing of algae and bacteria leaves out the essential fungus.
• ✗ (c) A lichen needs a photosynthetic partner, which is an alga. Bacteria and fungi do not form a lichen.
• ✗ (d) Mosses are separate plants, not a lichen partner. In succession on rock they typically follow lichens, after lichens have begun breaking the rock down.

Remember · Lichen = alga + fungus (mutualism). It is a pioneer species in primary succession on bare rock and a bioindicator of air pollution.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 12 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Oak and rhododendron grow naturally in the Himalayas. Oak is a leading tree of the wet temperate forests, and rhododendron occurs higher up at 3,000–4,000 m. Sandalwood is a peninsular tree concentrated in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, not a natural Himalayan plant. Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only.

• ✓ 1. Evergreen broad-leaved trees such as oak and chestnut are predominant in the Himalayan wet temperate forests.
• ✓ 2. In the Himalayas, rhododendrons occur alongside silver fir, juniper, pine and birch between 3,000 and 4,000 m.
• ✗ 3. Sandalwood (Santalum album) is a tree of peninsular India, with more than 90% of its area in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is not part of the natural Himalayan vegetation.

Remember · Himalayan vegetation changes with altitude: oak and chestnut in the wet temperate belt, then silver fir, juniper, birch and rhododendron at 3,000–4,000 m. Sandalwood belongs to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

All four gases are important steel-plant pollutants, so the answer is (d). Steelmaking burns large amounts of coal and coke in sinter plants, coke ovens and blast furnaces. These operations release sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

• ✓ 1. Sulphur dioxide comes mainly from burning the sulphur compounds in the sinter feed, which enter chiefly through the coke breeze.
• ✓ 2. Nitrogen oxides are emitted mainly from sintering and heating operations, at about 1.2 kg per tonne of steel.
• ✓ 3. Carbon monoxide is listed among the air emissions of iron and steel plants. The gases produced in blast furnaces and coke ovens contain carbon monoxide.
• ✓ 4. Steel plants are energy intensive and can emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide, because they burn coal and coke to heat and reduce iron ore.

Remember · Coal and coke combustion in sinter plants, coke ovens and blast furnaces makes steel plants emitters of SOx, NOx, CO and CO2, so all four are correct.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 3 and 4 only

The Buddha's life centred on Kosala (Shravasti, Kapilavastu region) and Magadha (Rajagriha, Bodh Gaya). Avanti and Gandhara lay outside the Gangetic valley where he lived and taught; they received Buddhism and relics later.

• ✗ 1. Avanti was outside the Buddha's own area of activity.
• ✗ 2. Gandhara was outside the Gangetic valley.
• ✓ 3. Kosala was one of the Buddha's main kingdoms.
• ✓ 4. Magadha, where he attained enlightenment and taught.

Remember · Buddha: Kosala and Magadha.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Gond and Korku

The tree-planting campaign (Vriksharopan) of Madhya Pradesh's central Indian tribes is associated with the Gond and Korku, who live on the central plateau forests; Bhutia and Lepcha are Sikkim hill peoples, Irula and Toda are Nilgiri peoples, Sahariya and Agariya are Rajasthan/Gujarat groups.

• ✓ (b) Gond and Korku are central Indian forest tribes of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• ✗ (a) Bhutia and Lepcha belong to Sikkim and the eastern Himalaya.
• ✗ (c) Irula and Toda are tribes of the Nilgiris in the south.

Remember · Gond and Korku: central Indian forest tribes.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 1 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) tax imposed and collected by the State Government

Sales tax on an ordinary sale within a State, such as buying toothpaste from a local shop, was a State subject. Entry 54 of the State List empowered State legislatures to tax such sales, so the State both levied and collected it. Sales in the course of inter-State trade belonged to the Union.

• ✗ (a) The Centre's power to tax the sale of goods (other than newspapers) extended to sales in the course of inter-State trade or commerce (Union List entry 92A). A local retail purchase of toothpaste is not an inter-State sale.
• ✗ (b) The Centre did not levy any tax on ordinary local sales, so there was no Central tax here for the State to collect.
• ✗ (c) This reverses the position. The tax on local sales was imposed by the State under entry 54 of List II, and the State's own tax machinery collected it.
• ✓ (d) In 2014, State List entry 54 read: 'Taxes on the sale or purchase of goods other than newspapers, subject to the provisions of entry 92A of List I.' The State therefore imposed and collected sales tax (VAT) on goods like toothpaste.
• • Since then The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 introduced GST, which came into force in July 2017. VAT/sales tax has been subsumed in GST. Entry 54 now covers State taxes on the sale of only petroleum crude, high speed diesel, petrol, natural gas, aviation turbine fuel and alcoholic liquor for human consumption.

Remember · Before GST, intra-State sales tax (VAT) was a State tax under State List entry 54, levied and collected by the State. Taxes on inter-State sales came under Union List entry 92A.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) A long-term start-up capital provided to new entrepreneurs

Venture capital is risk capital invested for the long term in new, unlisted, early-stage businesses, usually in return for equity. That matches 'long-term start-up capital provided to new entrepreneurs'. It is not short-term finance, rescue money for loss-making firms, or funds for replacing and renovating existing plant.

• ✗ (a) Venture capital is not short-term working capital. It is patient equity put into young firms, and it is held until the firm grows enough for the investor to exit.
• ✓ (b) Venture capital funds fall in SEBI's Category I Alternative Investment Funds, which invest in start-up or early-stage ventures. Under SEBI's venture capital rules, the companies they back are unlisted domestic companies. The money is committed for the long term, typically as equity, to help a young business grow.
• ✗ (c) Money given to rescue loss-making firms is turnaround or distress finance. Venture capital is meant to back new, high-risk ideas.
• ✗ (d) Funding for replacement and renovation of existing units is ordinary capital expenditure finance, such as term loans. It is not start-up risk capital.

Remember · Venture capital means long-term, high-risk equity funding for start-ups and early-stage unlisted companies. In SEBI's framework, venture capital funds are a type of Category I Alternative Investment Fund.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth

The Planning Commission titled the Twelfth Plan (2012–17) 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth'. The Plan states its objective as faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth. Only option (d) contains all three elements: faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth.

• ✓ (d) It names all three elements of the Plan's objective: faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. The Plan document speaks of the capabilities needed 'to achieve the objective of faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth'.
• ✗ (b) This is the most tempting wrong option. It leaves out 'faster', which is part of the Plan's stated objective. The Eleventh Plan's theme was 'faster and more inclusive growth'.
• ✗ (a) 'Inclusive growth and poverty reduction' omits both 'faster' and 'sustainable'. Poverty reduction is not the stated objective in the Twelfth Plan's title.
• ✗ (c) Reducing unemployment is not part of the Plan's stated objective, and 'faster' is missing.

Remember · Twelfth Plan (2012–17): 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth'. Eleventh Plan (2007–12): 'Faster and More Inclusive Growth'.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3

The current account has two parts: the balance of trade (goods) and the balance of invisibles (services, income and transfers). Foreign assets and SDR holdings are capital-account or reserve items, so they are not part of it.

• ✓ 1. The balance of trade is the gap between exports and imports of goods (merchandise). It is the first component of the current account.
• ✗ 2. Buying or selling assets abroad is a capital-account transaction. It is not a current-account item.
• ✓ 3. The balance of invisibles covers services, income flows and transfers. It is the second component of the current account.
• ✗ 4. SDR balances are reserve assets. Changes in them are recorded under 'Movements in reserves', alongside the RBI's foreign currency assets, not in the current account.

Remember · Current account = trade balance (goods) + invisibles (services, income, transfers). Assets, loans, investments and reserves (including SDRs) belong to the capital account or reserves.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) banking operations

Both terms belong to the Reserve Bank of India's regulation of banks. The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) is an emergency overnight borrowing window for banks. Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) is the base on which a bank's reserve requirements and MSF borrowing limit are calculated.

• ✓ (a) MSF is the RBI facility through which eligible banks get overnight liquidity support against their government securities (SLR holdings). Because it is a penal rate, the MSF rate is fixed above the repo rate. A bank can borrow under MSF up to a set percentage of its NDTL. NDTL is its demand and time liabilities (mainly deposits) net of certain inter-bank items.
• ✗ (b) Neither term concerns telecom or data networks. They are balance-sheet and monetary-policy terms of the banking system.
• ✗ (c) Neither term is a military concept. MSF and NDTL appear in RBI's reserve-requirement and liquidity directions.
• ✗ (d) The rates and liabilities refer to bank funds, not to the supply or demand of farm produce.

Remember · MSF is the RBI's last-resort overnight window for banks, priced above the repo rate. Its limit and the CRR/SLR are calculated on a bank's NDTL.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Business Correspondents, also called Bank Saathi, are agents who take banking to villages that have no bank branch. The Finance Minister's statement on the Swabhimaan campaign names both functions: basic banking services such as deposits and withdrawals, and payout of subsidies and social security benefits in the village.

• ✓ 1. Subsidies and social security benefits are credited directly to the beneficiary's bank account. The beneficiary can then draw the money through the Business Correspondent in the village, without travelling to a branch.
• ✓ 2. Under the Swabhimaan campaign, banks use Business Correspondents to offer basic services such as deposits, withdrawals and remittances to rural customers in branchless areas.

Remember · Business Correspondent = Bank Saathi (Swabhimaan campaign, 2011). Offers deposits, withdrawals, remittances and village-level payout of subsidies and social security benefits in branchless areas.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 2 only

Statutory reserves (CRR and SLR) are a legal limit on how much banks can lend out of their deposits. This lets the RBI control credit creation. The same reserves keep part of depositors' money in cash or liquid form, so banks can repay on demand. They are not meant to cap bank profits or to fill bank vaults.

• ✓ 1. The RBI fixes the share of deposits that banks must hold as reserves, so that no bank over-lends. This puts a ceiling on credit and money creation. Changing the ratio changes bank lending and the money supply.
• ✓ 2. Depositors keep money in a bank only if they are confident of getting it back on demand. Holding part of deposits as a balance with the RBI (CRR) and in liquid assets (SLR) supports that confidence. SLR is a prudential measure, and banks can draw on SLR holdings to borrow from the RBI in a liquidity crunch.
• ✗ 3. Reserve requirements are not designed to cap profits. A bank's profit comes from the spread between the interest it charges borrowers and the interest it pays depositors. Reserve rules do not set a ceiling on that spread.
• ✗ 4. CRR is kept as a balance with the RBI, not as cash in the bank's own vault. SLR is held mainly in government and approved securities. Neither exists to ensure vault cash for day-to-day needs.

Remember · CRR and SLR cap banks' over-lending, so the RBI can control credit and money supply. They also protect depositors' liquidity. They are not profit controls or vault-cash rules.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 3 and 5

The Arctic Council has eight members, all of them Arctic states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA. Of the countries listed, Denmark, Russia and the USA are members. Japan and the UK are only observers, not members.

• ✓ 1. Denmark (the Kingdom of Denmark, which includes Greenland) is one of the eight Arctic states and a member.
• ✗ 2. Japan is not an Arctic state. It was admitted as an observer at the Kiruna Ministerial meeting in 2013.
• ✓ 3. The Russian Federation is one of the eight Arctic states and a member.
• ✗ 4. The UK is a non-Arctic state. It has been an observer since 1998, not a member.
• ✓ 5. The United States is an Arctic state (through Alaska) and a member.

Remember · Arctic Council members: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, USA. Japan, India, China, the UK and others are observers, not members.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only Chechnya is matched correctly: it is a republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. Darfur is in Sudan, not Mali. The Swat Valley is in Pakistan, not Iraq.

• ✓ 1. Chechnya is a republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. It saw two separatist wars, and UN agencies refer to it as part of the Russian Federation.
• ✗ 2. Darfur is a region of western Sudan, not Mali. The humanitarian crisis there since 2003 and the UN-AU peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) concern Sudan.
• ✗ 3. The Swat Valley lies in north-west Pakistan, in the province formerly called the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). In 2009 it saw a military offensive against militants and mass displacement. It is not an Iraqi region.

Remember · Chechnya is in Russia (North Caucasus), Darfur is in Sudan, and the Swat Valley is in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Match such 'regions in news' to their countries.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Agni-IV is a long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. It runs on a solid-fuel rocket motor, not liquid fuel. Its range is 4,000 km, not 7,500 km. Only statement 1 is correct.

• ✓ 1. The Ministry of Defence describes Agni-IV as a long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. It is launched from a road-mobile launcher developed by DRDO.
• ✗ 2. The 2014 test release says Agni-IV is propelled by composite solid fuel rocket motor technology. It does not use liquid propellant, so 'liquid only' is wrong.
• ✗ 3. Agni-IV's official range is 4,000 km. A range of about 7,500 km is far beyond it.
• ✗ (c) This option is tempting because Agni-IV is nuclear-capable. But it accepts the wrong 7,500 km range in statement 3.

Remember · Agni-IV: two-stage, solid-fuelled, road-mobile surface-to-surface missile with a 4,000 km range. Agni-V is the longer-range (5,000 km-plus) missile.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

The Changpa are nomadic herders of Changthang in Ladakh (then part of Jammu and Kashmir), not Uttarakhand; they rear pashmina goats and are a Scheduled Tribe.

• ✗ 1. They live in Ladakh.
• ✓ 2. They herd the goats that give pashmina.
• ✓ 3. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe.

Remember · Changpa: Ladakh, pashmina, Scheduled Tribe.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) The gum made from its seeds is used in the extraction of shale gas

The seed's commercial value lies in guar gum, a thickener from the seed endosperm. Oil and gas companies use it in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids to extract shale gas and oil. That industrial demand is why guar cultivation became important.

• ✗ (a) Guar's marketable seed product is the gum from the endosperm, not an oil. Guar is not an oilseed crop, and biodegradable plastics are not what drove its rise.
• ✓ (b) Guar gum (a galactomannan) gives fracturing fluid its viscosity. Demand from hydraulic fracturing of subsurface shale made guar gum India's largest agricultural export to the United States.
• ✗ (c) The crop's new importance comes from the seed gum, not from any leaf extract. Its recognised uses are as a vegetable, fodder, gum and meal.
• ✗ (d) Guar is grown for its gum, and the seed by-products are used as cattle feed. It is not a biodiesel crop.

Remember · Guar (cluster bean) is grown mainly in Rajasthan and yields galactomannan gum from its seed endosperm. Hydraulic fracturing for shale gas and oil drives the demand, and India produces most of the world's guar.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3 only

India's main coral reef areas are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Gulf of Kachchh, the Gulf of Mannar and Lakshadweep. The Sundarbans is a mangrove-delta ecosystem and has no coral reefs. So 1, 2 and 3 are correct.

• ✓ 1. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have fringing reefs and a barrier reef. They are one of India's major coral reef areas.
• ✓ 2. The Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat has coral reefs and is one of India's major reef areas.
• ✓ 3. The Gulf of Mannar is one of the four major coral reef areas in India and stretches from Rameswaram to Kanyakumari. It has a chain of 21 islands surrounded by fringing and patch reefs.
• ✗ 4. The Sundarbans, in the Ganges delta, contains the world's largest area of mangrove forests. It is not a coral reef area, because corals need clear, warm, saline water, not muddy, sediment-laden delta waters.

Remember · India's four coral reef regions are Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kachchh. The Sundarbans has mangroves, not corals.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Monsoon climate

The word 'monsoon' itself describes a climate in which the wind direction reverses with the seasons. Equatorial and Mediterranean climates are defined by other features, so 'all of the above' is also wrong.

• ✗ (a) Equatorial climate is defined by heat and rain throughout the year. It lies in the belt of weak equatorial winds and has no seasonal wind reversal.
• ✗ (b) Mediterranean climate occurs on the western sides of continents between about 30° and 40° latitude. It is known for dry summers and wet winters. This pattern comes from the seasonal shifting of pressure and wind belts, not from a reversal of the wind system as in monsoons.
• ✓ (c) Monsoon means the climate associated with a seasonal reversal in the direction of winds. In summer the monsoon winds blow from sea to land, and in winter from land to sea. The Arabs named this seasonal reversal 'monsoon', from the Arabic word 'mausim', meaning season.
• ✗ (d) Equatorial and Mediterranean climates do not have a seasonal reversal of winds, so the combined option cannot hold.

Remember · Monsoon = seasonal reversal of wind direction (Arabic 'mausim' = season). Trade winds and westerlies are permanent winds, not seasonal ones.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) A style of temple construction

Panchayatana is a temple plan with a main shrine and four subsidiary shrines at the corners of the plinth, five shrines in all. The Dashavatara temple at Deogarh is an early example.

• ✓ (c) Panchayatana is a style of temple construction with five shrines.
• ✗ (a) Village councils are called panchayats; the spelling and sense differ.

Remember · Panchayatana = five-shrine temple plan (main shrine plus four corner shrines); Deogarh is an early Gupta example.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

The Lohit and the Subansiri both flow through Arunachal Pradesh and belong to the Brahmaputra system. The Barak rises in the Manipur hills, runs along the Nagaland–Manipur border and enters Assam. It never enters Arunachal Pradesh.

• ✗ 1. The Barak rises in the Manipur hills, south of Mao in Senapati district of Manipur. It flows along the Nagaland–Manipur border and enters Assam, then continues into Bangladesh. Its course does not touch Arunachal Pradesh.
• ✓ 2. The Lohit flows through Arunachal Pradesh. Together with the Dibang, it joins the Siang about 30 km downstream of Pasighat to form the Brahmaputra.
• ✓ 3. The Subansiri rises in Tibet. About 192 km of its course lies in Arunachal Pradesh and about 190 km in Assam, where it joins the Brahmaputra.

Remember · The Barak belongs to Manipur–Assam, not Arunachal. The Lohit, Dibang and Siang all flow in Arunachal Pradesh, and the Subansiri crosses Arunachal before entering Assam.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Of the three, only Harike sits at a river confluence, where the Beas meets the Sutlej. Keoladeo's marshes were artificially created and are fed by floods from the Gambhir and Banganga. Kolleru is a natural lake between the Godavari and Krishna basins, fed by the Budameru and Tammileru.

• ✓ 1. Harike wetland in Punjab is a vast shallow lake created by the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers.
• ✗ 2. Keoladeo (Bharatpur) is not at the Banas–Chambal confluence. Its marshes were artificially created in 1850. Water normally reaches them twice a year from floods of the Gambhir and Banganga.
• ✗ 3. Kolleru is a natural lake lying between the Godavari and Krishna river basins. It is fed directly by two seasonal rivers, the Budameru and Tammileru, not by a Musi–Krishna confluence.

Remember · Harike = Beas + Sutlej confluence. Keoladeo = man-made marsh fed by the Gambhir and Banganga. Kolleru = between the Godavari and Krishna basins, fed by the Budameru and Tammileru.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Lokayata and Kapalika

The six orthodox systems are Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta. Lokayata (Charvaka) is a materialist, non-Vedic school and Kapalika is a Shaiva sect.

• ✓ (c) Lokayata and Kapalika are not among the six systems.
• ✗ (a) Mimamsa and Vedanta are two of the six.
• ✗ (d) Sankhya and Yoga are two of the six.

Remember · Six darshanas: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, Vedanta.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 3 and 4

Only pairs 3 and 4 are correct. The Mahadeo Hills lie in central India, on the northern edge of the Deccan Plateau. The Mikir (Karbi) Hills are in Assam, in the North-East. The Cardamom Hills are in the southern Western Ghats, and the Kaimur Hills are an inland Vindhyan range. Neither is on the coast named in its pair.

• ✗ 1. The Cardamom Hills are part of the southern Western Ghats, along the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border. They are not on the Coromandel Coast, which is the south-eastern coast of India.
• ✗ 2. The Kaimur range is the eastern part of the Vindhyan system, and Yamuna tributaries rise in the Vindhyan and Kaimur ranges. It lies far inland in northern-central India, not on the Konkan Coast.
• ✓ 3. The Mahadeo Hills, with the Satpura and Maikal ranges, form the northern border of the Deccan Plateau. This is in central India.
• ✓ 4. Mikir Hill and the North Cachar hills are named as hill areas of Assam. Assam is in North-East India.

Remember · Cardamom Hills: southern Western Ghats (Kerala–Tamil Nadu). Kaimur: eastern Vindhyan range, inland. Mahadeo: Satpura region, central India. Mikir (Karbi): Assam, North-East.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) biosphere reserves

Biosphere reserves are the protected-area model designed to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity while keeping local people and their traditional ways of life within the landscape. National parks and wildlife sanctuaries focus on wildlife and habitat with restrictions on human use. Botanical gardens are ex situ collections.

• ✓ (a) Biosphere reserves are representative ecosystems recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Each has a strictly protected core area. Around it lie a buffer zone and a transition zone, where sustainable use and human settlements, including the traditional life of local communities, continue. MAB aims at improving human livelihoods while safeguarding natural and managed ecosystems.
• ✗ (b) Botanical gardens are ex situ sites that keep plant species outside their natural habitat. They do not conserve whole ecosystems or traditional human life.
• ✗ (c) National parks are set aside mainly for wildlife and habitat protection, with strong restrictions on human use. They are not designed to sustain traditional life.
• ✗ (d) Wildlife sanctuaries protect fauna and their habitat and permit only limited, regulated human activity. They are not a model for integrating biodiversity with traditional life.

Remember · Biosphere reserves (UNESCO MAB Programme) have core, buffer and transition zones. They combine conservation with human livelihoods and the traditional life of local communities, whereas national parks and sanctuaries are species- and habitat-centred.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea

Turkey has the Black Sea on its north and the Mediterranean Sea on its south. It also has the Aegean Sea on its west. So it lies between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

• ✗ (a) The Caspian Sea is a landlocked sea far to the east. Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran lie between it and Turkey, so Turkey has no Caspian coast.
• ✓ (b) The Black Sea is Turkey's northern boundary and the Mediterranean its southern one. The Bosporus, Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles form the Turkish Straits, which lead out of the Black Sea.
• ✗ (c) The Gulf of Suez is in Egypt, on the Red Sea side of the Sinai Peninsula. It is not near Turkey.
• ✗ (d) The Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea lie in the Levant, around Israel, Jordan and Egypt's Sinai. That area is well south of Turkey, beyond Syria.

Remember · Turkey: Black Sea to the north, Mediterranean to the south, Aegean to the west. The Bosporus, Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles are the Turkish Straits.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 3-4-1-2

Going north means going to higher latitudes. Jakarta is south of the equator at about 6°S. Singapore is just north of it at about 1°N. Bangkok is at about 13°N and Hanoi is at about 21°N. The order from south to north is therefore Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Hanoi (3-4-1-2).

• ✓ 3. Jakarta is the southernmost of the four, at about 6.1°S. It lies in the Southern Hemisphere on the north-west coast of Java.
• ✓ 4. Singapore is at about 1.2°N. That is north of Jakarta but still very close to the equator.
• ✓ 1. Bangkok is at about 13°45'N, clearly north of Singapore and south of Hanoi.
• ✓ 2. Hanoi is the northernmost of the four, at about 21°N in the plains of northern Vietnam.
• ✗ (a) 4-2-1-3 puts Jakarta last, as if it were the northernmost. Jakarta is in fact south of the equator.
• ✗ (d) 4-3-2-1 puts Singapore first and Bangkok last. Jakarta (6°S) lies south of Singapore (1°N), and Bangkok lies south of Hanoi.

Remember · South-East Asian capitals from south to north: Jakarta (6°S), Singapore (1°N), Bangkok (13°N), Hanoi (21°N). Jakarta is the only one south of the equator.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 2 only

The answer is (b), 1 and 2 only. The IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report lists the impacts expected as warming rises. These include widespread coral mortality and the terrestrial biosphere tending toward a net carbon source. The same report projects only partial losses of coastal wetlands and falling cereal productivity in some regions, not total disappearance or impossibility. So statements 1 and 2 hold, while 3 and 4 are exaggerations.

• ✓ 1. The IPCC impacts chart lists 'Terrestrial biosphere tends toward a net carbon source' at higher warming levels. This means land ecosystems begin releasing more carbon than they absorb.
• ✓ 2. The chart shows a progression as warming rises: increased coral bleaching, then most corals bleached, and then widespread coral mortality.
• ✗ 3. The IPCC projects about 30% of global coastal wetlands lost, not all wetlands. A permanent disappearance of all global wetlands is not a projected outcome.
• ✗ 4. The IPCC projects cereal productivity decreasing in low latitudes and in some regions. It does not say cereal cultivation becomes impossible anywhere in the world.

Remember · IPCC AR4: at high warming, corals face widespread mortality and the land biosphere tends toward a net carbon source. Wetland and cereal losses are partial, never total.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Mundaka Upanishad

The motto 'Satyameva Jayate' comes from the Mundaka Upanishad.

• ✓ (d) Mundaka Upanishad.
• ✗ (a) The Katha Upanishad is known for the Nachiketa story.

Remember · Satyameva Jayate: Mundaka Upanishad.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Directive Principles of State Policy

Article 51 in Part IV of the Constitution, which contains the Directive Principles of State Policy, directs the State to promote international peace and security. It is a directive to the State and is not part of the Preamble, the Fundamental Duties or the Ninth Schedule.

• ✗ (a) The Preamble speaks of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It does not mention international peace and security.
• ✓ (b) Article 51 is headed 'Promotion of international peace and security'. It asks the State to promote international peace and security, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, foster respect for international law and treaty obligations, and encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.
• ✗ (c) The Fundamental Duties in Article 51A are duties of citizens, such as respecting the Constitution and protecting the natural environment. They are not directions to the State on international relations.
• ✗ (d) The Ninth Schedule lists laws, mainly land reform laws, that were placed there to protect them from challenge on the ground of violating Fundamental Rights. It has no connection to international peace.

Remember · Article 51 (DPSP, Part IV) covers international peace and security. The State should promote peace, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, respect international law and treaties, and encourage arbitration.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4 only

The official description of the watershed programme lists its outcomes as prevention of soil run-off, regeneration of natural vegetation, rainwater harvesting and recharge of the groundwater table. Linking perennial rivers with seasonal rivers belongs to river-interlinking projects, not watershed development. So statements 1, 3 and 4 are benefits, and the answer is (c).

• ✓ 1. Prevention of soil run-off is a stated outcome of the programme. Watershed management involves preventing run-off from the land.
• ✗ 2. Watershed development manages and conserves surface water and groundwater within a local catchment. It does not link rivers. Interlinking of rivers is a separate water-transfer idea.
• ✓ 3. Rainwater harvesting and recharge of the groundwater table is a listed outcome. It is achieved through methods such as percolation tanks and recharge wells.
• ✓ 4. Regeneration of natural vegetation is a listed outcome of the programme.
• • Since then IWMP began in 2009-10. In 2015-16 it was amalgamated into the Watershed Development Component of PMKSY (WDC-PMKSY). The answer for the exam year is unchanged.

Remember · Watershed programme outcomes: less soil run-off, regenerated natural vegetation, rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge. River-linking is not part of it.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 2 only

The Cabinet Secretariat services the Cabinet and its Committees. It prepares and circulates their agenda and gives them secretarial assistance. It does not allocate financial resources to Ministries, a job that rests with the Ministry of Finance through the Union Budget.

• ✓ 1. The Cabinet Secretariat convenes meetings of the Cabinet and its Committees on the Prime Minister's orders. It prepares and circulates the agenda and the papers on the cases listed in it.
• ✓ 2. Under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, the Cabinet Secretariat's business includes secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees.
• ✗ 3. The business allotted to the Cabinet Secretariat is secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and the Rules of Business. Allocating financial resources to Ministries is not part of it. The Ministry of Finance prepares the Union Budget.

Remember · The Cabinet Secretariat convenes Cabinet meetings, prepares and circulates the agenda and papers, services Cabinet Committees and handles the Rules of Business. It does not allocate funds.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Constitutional government means limited government. The constitution sets limits on what the State can do, and these limits protect the individual's rights and liberty. So statement 2 is correct. Statement 1 reverses the idea and describes an authoritarian State.

• ✗ 1. A constitution does not restrict individual liberty to serve State authority. It does the opposite. Putting liberty below State authority is the feature of authoritarian rule, not of constitutional government.
• ✓ 2. A constitution limits government power, most commonly by guaranteeing fundamental rights that no government may violate. These effective limits on the State's authority protect individual liberty.

Remember · Constitutionalism means limited government. The constitution restrains State power, for example through Fundamental Rights, to safeguard individual liberty, not the other way round.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

Under Article 163 the Governor acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers, except where the Constitution requires him to act on his own. Two of the listed matters are discretionary. The first is his report to the President that the State Government cannot be carried on according to the Constitution (Article 356). The second is reserving bills for the President's consideration (Article 200). Appointing Ministers and making rules of business follow the advice of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

• ✓ 1. Article 356 lets the President act on the Governor's report that the State Government cannot be carried on according to the Constitution. The Governor forms this assessment himself, not on his Ministers' advice.
• ✗ 2. Article 164(1) says the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor, and the other Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the Chief Minister's advice. So this is not a discretionary power.
• ✓ 3. Under Article 200 the Governor may reserve a bill for the President. This is treated as a discretionary power. The Sarkaria Commission said it should be used only in rare cases, such as a bill that is patently unconstitutional.
• ✗ 4. Article 166(3) requires the Governor to make rules for transacting the State Government's business and allocating it among Ministers. He does this on the Council of Ministers' aid and advice. The same clause keeps matters in which the Governor must act in his discretion outside that allocation.
• • Since then After 2014 the Supreme Court re-examined how far the Governor's discretion under Article 200 extends, notably in its judgment of 8 April 2025 in the Tamil Nadu Governor case. The answer above reflects the position as it stood in 2014.

Remember · Governor's discretion: report for President's rule (Art 356) and reserving bills for the President (Art 200). Appointing Ministers and framing rules of business follow ministerial advice.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) increase the investment expenditure in the economy

A lower interest rate cuts the cost of borrowing. Firms then find it cheaper to buy machines and build capacity, so investment expenditure rises. The same fall in the cost of funds also tends to raise consumption, which is the opposite of what option (a) says.

• ✗ (a) A lower interest rate cuts the cost of loans for consumer purchases and lowers the reward for saving. Consumption demand therefore tends to rise, not fall.
• ✗ (b) Tax collection depends on tax rates and on incomes and output. An interest-rate cut does not directly raise it. Any effect would come only indirectly, through changes in output.
• ✓ (c) Producers' investment decisions, such as whether to buy a new machine, depend largely on the market rate of interest. When the rate falls, borrowing for investment becomes cheaper and investment expenditure goes up.
• ✗ (d) A lower interest rate reduces the return on deposits and other savings. That discourages saving and encourages spending, so it does not increase total savings.

Remember · Lower interest rates mean cheaper credit. That raises investment and consumption demand, which is the interest-rate channel of monetary policy. Higher rates do the reverse.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct, so the answer is (a). Both statements come from Article 77 of the Constitution. Statement 1 is Article 77(3) word for word. Statement 2 is wrong because Article 77(1) says executive action is taken in the name of the President, not the Prime Minister.

• ✓ 1. Article 77(3) says the President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India and for the allocation of that business among Ministers. Two sets of rules were made under this power: the 1961 Transaction of Business Rules and the 1961 Allocation of Business Rules, both of the Government of India.
• ✗ 2. Article 77(1) says all executive action of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the President. It is never taken in the name of the Prime Minister.

Remember · Article 77 has three parts. Executive action is taken in the President's name (77(1)). Orders are authenticated as specified in rules made by the President (77(2)). The President makes the rules for transaction and allocation of business (77(3)).

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct, so the answer is (c). The Constitution never uses the term 'no-confidence motion'. It only says in Article 75(3) that the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People. The motion itself comes from the Lok Sabha's Rules of Procedure (Rule 198). Since the Council answers only to the Lok Sabha, the motion can be moved only there.

• ✓ 1. The Constitution contains no reference to a 'no-confidence motion'. The nearest provision is Article 75(3) on collective responsibility. The procedure for the motion is laid down in Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha Rules, not in the Constitution.
• ✓ 2. Under Article 75(3), the Council of Ministers is responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), not the Rajya Sabha. Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha Rules governs a motion of no-confidence in the Council of Ministers. The Rajya Sabha has no such motion.

Remember · No-confidence motion: not named in the Constitution; rests on Article 75(3) and Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha Rules; moved only in the Lok Sabha, against the Council of Ministers as a whole.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Free energy is converted into potential energy and stored

In photosynthesis, green plants capture free energy from sunlight and convert it into chemical energy. That energy is stored in carbohydrates as potential energy. This matches option (b).

• ✗ (a) This describes the release of stored energy, as in respiration or burning of food. Photosynthesis does the opposite and stores energy.
• ✓ (b) Chlorophyll absorbs light energy. This is converted to chemical energy and stored in carbohydrates made by reducing carbon dioxide, using hydrogen from split water molecules.
• ✗ (c) Oxidation of food to release carbon dioxide and water is respiration. Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and water to build food.
• ✗ (d) Taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide and water vapour is the gas exchange of respiration. In photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is taken in and oxygen is released.

Remember · Photosynthesis stores light energy as chemical (potential) energy in carbohydrates and releases oxygen. Respiration is the reverse: it oxidises food and releases energy, carbon dioxide and water.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Science, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 Science, Ch 13 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Biometrics means recognising a person from physical or behavioural traits. Iris patterns, retina patterns and voice prints are all recognised biometric traits, alongside fingerprints. So all three can be used, and the answer is 1, 2 and 3.

• ✓ 1. The iris is a standard biometric. NIST lists 'iris and retina patterns' among the biological characteristics used for biometrics. Today, Aadhaar authentication in India can be done by iris as well as by fingerprint.
• ✓ 2. The retina is a biometric trait; retinal scanning reads the pattern of blood vessels at the back of the eye. NIST lists 'iris and retina patterns' among the biological characteristics used for biometrics.
• ✓ 3. Voice is a behavioural biometric that also reflects physical features of the vocal tract. NIST lists 'voice prints' among biometric characteristics.
• ✓ (d) All three methods are valid, so '1, 2 and 3' is the answer. Option (a) leaves out retina and voice, option (b) leaves out iris, and option (c) leaves out retina.

Remember · Biometric traits include fingerprints, facial features, iris, retina, voice, palm print and vein pattern.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Statements 1 and 3 are correct, so the answer is (c). Vegetative propagation uses a single parent, so the offspring are genetically identical clones, and it does not depend on flowering or seed set. It does not remove viruses: a virus in the mother plant is carried into the new plants. Virus-free plants are obtained by meristem culture in the laboratory.

• ✓ 1. New plants arise from the vegetative parts of a single parent. They are genetically identical to it and so form a clonal population.
• ✗ 2. Vegetative propagation passes diseases and pests from the mother plant to the new plants through the planting material, and viruses go with them. Virus elimination needs meristem culture (a tissue-culture technique). The meristem stays free of virus even in an infected plant, so it can be grown in vitro to give virus-free plants.
• ✓ 3. It does not depend on flowering or seed set. Methods such as grafting can multiply plants through most of the year. For example, wedge grafting can multiply guava plants rapidly throughout the year, both in greenhouses and in the open.
• ✓ (c) Statements 1 and 3 are correct and statement 2 is wrong, so the answer is '1 and 3 only'.
• ✗ (d) This option is tempting because meristems raised in tissue culture are virus-free. That is micropropagation from meristems, not ordinary vegetative propagation, which carries viruses forward.

Remember · Vegetative propagation gives clones, is largely season-independent and carries viruses forward. Virus-free plants are obtained through meristem culture (tissue culture), because the meristem is free of virus.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 11 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Biology, Ch 10 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Messenger was a Mercury orbiter and the two Voyagers explored the outer planets, so pairs 2 and 3 are correct. Cassini-Huygens went to Saturn and its moons, not Venus, so pair 1 is wrong.

• ✗ 1. Cassini-Huygens was a Saturn mission. Cassini studied Saturn, its rings and its icy moons such as Titan and Enceladus, and the Huygens probe landed on Titan. It never orbited Venus.
• ✓ 2. NASA's MESSENGER (launched 2004) orbited Mercury for over four years. It mapped the planet and studied its surface composition, geology, magnetic field and polar ice.
• ✓ 3. Voyagers 1 and 2 (launched 1977) made the first in-depth reconnaissance of the outer planets. They are now exploring interstellar space beyond the heliosphere.

Remember · Cassini-Huygens = Saturn and Titan; MESSENGER = Mercury orbiter; Voyager 1 and 2 = outer planets, then interstellar space. Venus orbiters are different missions, such as Magellan and Akatsuki.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

No pair is correct. Kinnaur is a cold, high-altitude district famous for apples and dry fruits, while areca nut is a humid-tropical palm. Mewat is a dry Haryana district of wheat, bajra and mustard, with guava, aonla and ber as its main fruits. The Coromandel plain in Tamil Nadu is not a soya bean region; soya bean is concentrated in central India.

• ✗ 1. Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) is famous for apples, chilgoza and other dry fruits. Areca nut is grown mainly in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam and Meghalaya, with some in West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is not a crop of the cold Himalayan belt.
• ✗ 2. Mewat (Haryana) is a wheat, bajra and rapeseed-mustard district. Its listed fruit crops are guava, aonla and ber, and mango is not among them.
• ✗ 3. Coromandel is the Tamil Nadu coastal plain. Soya bean is a central-Indian kharif oilseed, and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra together produce about 90 per cent of national output.

Remember · Kinnaur means apple and chilgoza. Areca nut belongs to Karnataka, Kerala and Assam. Soya bean belongs to Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, not the Coromandel coast.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

A chemical change makes a new substance. Crystallisation of salt and melting of ice only change the form or state of the same substance. Souring of milk is caused by bacteria turning milk sugar into acid, so a new substance forms. Only statement 3 describes a chemical change, so the answer is (b).

• ✗ 1. Crystallisation of sodium chloride from its solution only brings the same NaCl out as solid crystals. No new substance forms, so it is a physical change.
• ✗ 2. Ice melting into water is a change of state. Water stays water (H2O), so this is a physical change.
• ✓ 3. Lactic acid bacteria grow in milk and make acids. The acids coagulate the milk proteins, so the milk curdles and its taste and properties change. New substances form, so this is a chemical change.

Remember · Physical change: only shape, size or state alters and no new substance forms (melting, crystallisation, dissolving). Chemical change: new substances form (souring, curdling, rusting, burning, cooking).

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) original jurisdiction

Article 131 gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction in legal disputes between the Government of India and one or more States. Such cases go directly to the Supreme Court, without passing through any lower court.

• ✓ (c) Under Article 131, legal disputes between the Centre and States, and between States, are heard by the Supreme Court as a court of first instance. This is original jurisdiction, and it excludes every other court.
• ✗ (b) Appellate jurisdiction (Articles 132–136) covers appeals against judgments of High Courts and other courts or tribunals. Centre–State disputes are not appeals.
• ✗ (a) Advisory jurisdiction (Article 143) lets the President seek the Court's opinion on questions of law or fact of public importance. It does not involve deciding a dispute between parties.
• ✗ (d) Writ jurisdiction (Article 32) is for enforcing Fundamental Rights, usually through petitions by individuals. Federal disputes between governments are not writ matters.

Remember · Article 131 gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction over Centre–State and inter-State legal disputes. Article 32 (writs), Articles 132–136 (appeals) and Article 143 (advice) are separate jurisdictions.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3

The answer is (b): 2 and 3. A transgenic crop carries a gene introduced by genetic engineering. Gene silencing (RNA interference) and engineered cytoplasmic male sterility are both used to make such crops. Budding and grafting only join plant parts and add no new gene.

• ✗ 1. Budding and grafting are methods of vegetative propagation. A bud or shoot of one plant is joined onto another. No gene is transferred, so the plant is not transgenic.
• ✓ 2. Male sterility is used in genetic engineering to help produce hybrid seed. In one example, a CMS-associated gene, orf220, was expressed in the mitochondria of Brassica juncea. The resulting transgenic plants were male-sterile: most produced no pollen, and some produced only weak pollen.
• ✓ 3. In RNA interference (RNAi), a specific mRNA is silenced by a complementary double-stranded RNA. This is used to make transgenic plants. For example, tobacco plants were given nematode-specific genes that produce both sense and antisense RNA. This silenced the nematode's mRNA and protected the plants.
• • remember

Remember · Transgenic means a foreign gene is inserted. RNAi gene silencing and engineered male sterility are used to make transgenic crops; budding and grafting are only vegetative propagation.

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Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements are correct. Maize is wet-milled to produce starch, oil from maize is used as a biodiesel feedstock, and fermented maize gives alcoholic beverages.

• ✓ 1. Wet milling of maize yields maize starch, along with by-products such as maize gluten that are used in animal feed.
• ✓ 2. Corn oil is used to make biodiesel. The US Energy Information Administration lists distillers' corn oil among biodiesel feedstocks. This is an inedible oil recovered as a by-product of corn ethanol production.
• ✓ 3. Maize is fermented to make alcohol, and FAO notes that fermentation of maize also provides some alcoholic beverages.

Remember · Maize is a multi-use crop. Wet milling gives starch, its oil can be turned into biodiesel, and fermentation gives ethanol and alcoholic drinks.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Crab

Mites, scorpions and spiders are all arachnids (class Arachnida), with four pairs of legs and no antennae. A crab is a crustacean (order Decapoda), so it is the odd one out. All four are arthropods, but the crab belongs to a different group within that phylum.

• ✓ (a) A crab is a short-tailed member of the crustacean order Decapoda in phylum Arthropoda. It is a crustacean, not an arachnid, so it does not belong with the other three.
• ✗ (b) Mites are arachnids. They are grouped with ticks, spiders and scorpions in class Arachnida.
• ✗ (c) Scorpions are arachnids and belong to class Arachnida along with spiders, mites and ticks.
• ✗ (d) Spiders are arachnids (class Arachnida). They are neither insects nor crustaceans.

Remember · Arthropoda splits into groups such as Insecta (6 legs), Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks; 8 legs) and Crustacea (crabs, prawns, lobsters). Crab is the odd one out here.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 12 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) the Parliament

Article 124(1) fixes the Supreme Court at the Chief Justice and not more than seven other judges, but only 'until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number'. So only Parliament can raise the number, and it does so by passing an ordinary law. It does this by amending the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956.

• ✗ (a) The President appoints Supreme Court judges by warrant under Article 124(2). The President cannot change how many posts exist. A Bill to raise the number must be passed by Parliament.
• ✓ (b) Article 124(1) leaves the number of judges beyond seven to Parliament, which has used this power several times. The 1956 Act, as amended, now sets the ceiling.
• ✗ (c) The Chief Justice of India can ask the government for more judges. The Constitution gives him no power to fix or enlarge the Court's strength.
• ✗ (d) The Law Commission is an advisory body. It can recommend changes but has no constitutional or legal power to change the number of judges.
• • Since then In 2014 the maximum was 30 judges plus the CJI. Parliament raised it to 33 judges plus the CJI in 2019 by amending the 1956 Act. Each increase has been made by Parliament through law.

Remember · Article 124(1): the Supreme Court has the CJI plus the number of other judges Parliament fixes by law. Parliament raises the strength by amending the 1956 Act.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Chanderi (Madhya Pradesh) and Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu) are well-known weaving centres for traditional sarees. Karnal is an agricultural-industrial district of Haryana, and Bhadrachalam is known as a temple town rather than a saree centre. So only 2 and 3 are correct.

• ✗ 1. Bhadrachalam is known mainly for its Rama temple on the Godavari, not for a traditional saree or fabric. It is not a recognised weaving centre like Chanderi or Kancheepuram.
• ✓ 2. Chanderi, in Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh, is a weaving town with around 5,000 pit looms. Its handloom sarees, woven in silk and cotton with zari work, are famous.
• ✓ 3. Kancheepuram (Kanchipuram) silk sarees are made in the Kanchipuram region of Tamil Nadu. They carry a Geographical Indication tag.
• ✗ 4. Karnal is described by the Haryana government as an agricultural-industrial district. It is not known for traditional sarees.

Remember · Chanderi (MP) and Kancheepuram/Kanchipuram (TN) are classic saree-weaving towns. Karnal is an agricultural district of Haryana and Bhadrachalam a temple town.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

None of the three pairs is correct. The Schedule to the National Highways Act, 1956 defines each highway by its route. Under that Schedule, NH 4 ran from Thane to Chennai (then Madras) via Pune and Bangalore. NH 6 ran from Dhule to Kolkata, with an extension to Hazira near Surat. NH 15 ran from Pathankot to Samakhiali in Gujarat.

• ✗ 1. NH 4 started at a junction near Thane. It ran through Pune, Belgaum, Hubli, Bangalore and Ranipet to Chennai. Hyderabad was not on its route.
• ✗ 2. NH 6 started at a junction near Dhule and ran through Nagpur, Raipur, Sambalpur and Baharagora to Kolkata. Its western end was later extended to Hazira near Surat. Mumbai was never on its route, so it is correctly called the Hazira–Kolkata highway.
• ✗ 3. NH 15 ran from Pathankot through Amritsar, Bhatinda, Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer. It ended at its junction with NH 8A near Samakhiali. It touched neither Ahmedabad nor Jodhpur.

Remember · Old NH 4: Thane–Chennai. Old NH 6: Hazira–Kolkata. Old NH 15: Pathankot–Samakhiali. Check a highway's actual route, not its popular tag.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three agreements bear on biodiversity. The Plant Treaty conserves crop genetic diversity. The UNCCD requires sustainable management of biological diversity in drylands. The World Heritage Convention links nature conservation with heritage protection.

• ✓ 1. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO) deals with the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. This is agricultural biodiversity.
• ✓ 2. The UNCCD text lists biological diversity among the natural resources to be managed sustainably. It also asks for coordination with the Convention on Biological Diversity, and healthy land supports biodiversity.
• ✓ 3. The 1972 World Heritage Convention covers natural as well as cultural heritage, linking nature conservation with the preservation of cultural properties. Natural sites protect habitats and species, so it bears on biodiversity.
• ✗ a/b/c Options (a), (b) and (c) each leave out at least one of the three agreements. Each of the three has a real link to biodiversity, so all must be included.

Remember · Biodiversity-relevant treaties include more than the CBD: the Plant Treaty (agrobiodiversity), UNCCD (land and drylands) and the World Heritage Convention (natural sites) all bear on it.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Earth Hour is a movement organised by WWF, not by UNEP or UNESCO, so statement 1 is wrong. Statements 2 and 3 correctly describe it: a yearly one-hour lights-off event that draws attention to climate change and the protection of the planet.

• ✗ 1. Earth Hour is organised by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). It began with WWF-Australia in Sydney in 2007. It is not an initiative of UNEP or UNESCO.
• ✓ 2. The movement's signature event is a lights-out hour held once a year, usually on a Saturday in late March. Individuals, households, communities and businesses take part.
• ✓ 3. In the first Earth Hour, in 2007, people switched off their lights to show they were concerned about climate change. It is now a wider movement for action on environmental issues and protecting the planet.

Remember · Earth Hour is a WWF movement. It started in Sydney in 2007, and every year, usually on a Saturday in late March, people switch off their lights for one hour.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Diatoms-Crustaceans-Herrings

A food chain starts with a producer and moves up through the animals that eat it. Diatoms are microscopic algae that make their own food, so they come first. Small crustaceans of the zooplankton graze on them, and herrings feed on these crustaceans.

• ✓ (a) Diatoms are producers, a type of phytoplankton. They are eaten by tiny crustacean zooplankton such as copepods. Herrings eat zooplankton, so the order is Diatoms → Crustaceans → Herrings.
• ✗ (b) This puts crustaceans before diatoms. Crustaceans are animals and cannot start a chain; diatoms make food from sunlight, so they are the base.
• ✗ (c) This makes crustaceans eat herrings. It is the other way round: herrings feed on small crustaceans.
• ✗ (d) This ends the chain with diatoms, the producers. Energy flows from producers to consumers, so diatoms must be at the start.

Remember · A food chain begins with a producer. In the sea the usual order is phytoplankton (e.g. diatoms), then zooplankton (e.g. copepod crustaceans), then small fish such as herring.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Curiosity, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) King George V abrogated Curzon's Act at the Royal Durbar in Delhi in 1911

The 1905 partition was undone in 1911, not later. King George V announced it at the Delhi Durbar in December 1911, and the capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi at the same time. The other options name events that came years later.

• ✗ (a) The partition had already been annulled in 1911. The First World War began in 1914, so it could not have ended the partition.
• ✓ (b) At the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911, King George V announced the annulment of the partition. Bihar was also announced as a separate province, and the formal separation followed in April 1912.
• ✗ (c) Gandhiji's Civil Disobedience Movement began in 1930, nearly two decades after the partition was annulled.
• ✗ (d) The 1947 Partition of India was a different event. Curzon's 1905 partition of Bengal had already been annulled in 1911.

Remember · Curzon's partition of Bengal (October 1905) was annulled at the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911. Bihar was separated from Bengal in 1912, and the capital moved to Delhi.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) attainment of Poorna Swaraj was adopted as the goal of the Congress

The Congress met at Lahore in December 1929 under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency. There it committed itself to Purna Swaraj, or complete independence. On 26 January 1930 it observed "Independence Day", and the Civil Disobedience Movement began soon after.

• ✗ (a) At Lahore the Congress went beyond self-government or dominion status and demanded full independence. Self-rule within the empire was the older, more moderate position.
• ✓ (b) The Lahore session of December 1929 adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence) as the Congress goal. Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President at the same session.
• ✗ (c) The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in 1920–21, alongside the Khilafat movement. It was withdrawn after Chauri Chaura in February 1922, so it has no link to the 1929 session.
• ✗ (d) The Congress took part only in the Second Round Table Conference, held from September to December 1931, after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 1931. In 1929 it was moving towards confrontation, not conference talks.

Remember · Lahore Congress, December 1929, President Jawaharlal Nehru: Purna Swaraj became the goal. Independence Day was observed on 26 January 1930, and Civil Disobedience followed in March 1930.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 India and the Contemporary World – II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 2 only

Sattriya is a dance-drama of the Vaishnava monasteries (sattras) of Assam that blends music, dance and drama. Its songs (borgeets) are composed by Srimanta Sankardev and Madhavdev, not by Tulsidas, Kabir or Mirabai.

• ✓ 1. Sattriya is a dance-drama combining ballad, dance and acting.
• ✓ 2. It began in the Krishna-centred Vaishnava monasteries of Assam and is attributed to Sankardev of the fifteenth-century bhakti movement; it is still performed.
• ✗ 3. The compositions are by Sankardev and Madhavdev (borgeets and ankiya nat), not by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.

Remember · Sattriya (Assam): Sankardev's Vaishnava sattras; music, dance and drama; borgeets by Sankardev and Madhavdev. Recognised as classical in 2000.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 22nd March (or 21st March)

The Indian National Calendar (Saka era) begins with Chaitra 1 on 22 March in a normal year, and on 21 March in a leap year.

• ✓ (a) 1 Chaitra falls on 22 March (21 March in a leap year).
• ✗ (d) 21 April is the date of the Vaisakha-linked solar new year in some regions, not Chaitra 1 of the national calendar.

Remember · National calendar: Chaitra 1 = 22 March (21 March in leap years).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Curiosity, Ch 11 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Curiosity, Ch 11 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

The reclining Mahaparinirvana Buddha is in Ajanta Cave 26, and Arjuna's Penance is the great relief at Mamallapuram, so pairs 1 and 3 match. The famous rock-cut Varaha is at Udayagiri (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh), not Mount Abu.

• ✓ 1. The biggest Buddha image in Ajanta Cave 26 is the Mahaparinibbana image.
• ✗ 2. The monumental Varaha panel is at Udayagiri, Madhya Pradesh (and Badami); Mount Abu is known for the Dilwara Jain temples.
• ✓ 3. The Mamallapuram panel is read as the descent of the Ganga or as Arjuna's penance.

Remember · Ajanta Cave 26: Mahaparinirvana Buddha. Mamallapuram: Arjuna's Penance / Descent of the Ganga. Udayagiri (MP): colossal Varaha.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 6 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco

The Ghadar (Hindustan Ghadar) Party was a revolutionary association founded in 1913 by Indian migrants in North America to fight for India's independence. It operated from Yugantar Ashram at 436 Hill Street, San Francisco. Only option (a) fits.

• ✓ (a) Indian migrants in North America, including Lala Har Dayal and Sohan Singh Bhakna, founded the party in 1913 to overthrow British rule by revolution. It started its operations from 436 Hill Street, San Francisco, known as Yugantar Ashram.
• ✗ (b) The Ghadar Party was not based in Singapore. Singapore is linked with the 1915 mutiny of Indian soldiers there, which Ghadar propaganda influenced, but the party's base was San Francisco.
• ✗ (c) Berlin was home to the Berlin Committee (Indian Independence Committee), which cooperated with the Ghadarites during the First World War. Berlin was not the Ghadar Party's headquarters.
• ✗ (d) The Ghadar Party was not a communist movement based at Tashkent. It was founded in 1913, years before the émigré Communist Party of India was formed at Tashkent in 1920.

Remember · Ghadar Party: founded 1913 by Indian migrants in North America (Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna). Headquarters: Yugantar Ashram, 436 Hill Street, San Francisco. Paper: Hindustan Ghadar.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) It is an ancient martial art and a living tradition in some parts of South India

Kalaripayattu is the traditional martial art of Kerala, taught in training halls called kalaris and still practised in parts of South India. It is not a Bhakti cult, a metalwork style or a dance-drama.

• ✗ (a) It is not a religious cult; it is a fighting system.
• ✗ (b) Bronze and brasswork are crafts; Kalaripayattu is a martial art.
• ✗ (c) The dance-drama tradition of northern Malabar is Theyyam; Kalaripayattu is a martial art.
• ✓ (d) It is an ancient martial art of Kerala and is still a living tradition.

Remember · Kalaripayattu: Kerala's ancient martial art.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Garba is Gujarat's folk dance and Yakshagana is Karnataka's dance-drama, but Mohiniattam belongs to Kerala, not Odisha (Odisha's classical dance is Odissi).

• ✓ 1. Garba is a folk dance of Gujarat, danced at Navratri.
• ✗ 2. Mohiniattam is the classical dance form of Kerala.
• ✓ 3. Yakshagana is a traditional dance-drama of coastal and Malnad Karnataka.

Remember · Mohiniattam is Kerala's; Odissi is Odisha's. Garba is Gujarat's.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Tabo lies in Spiti and Alchi in Ladakh, so pairs 1 and 3 match. Lhotsava Lhakhang (the Translator's Temple) belongs to Nako in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, not the Zanskar Valley.

• ✓ 1. Tabo, founded around 996 CE, is the great monastery of Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
• ✗ 2. Lhotsava Lhakhang is at Nako (Kinnaur), not in Zanskar.
• ✓ 3. Alchi, with early Kashmiri-style murals, is in Ladakh, on the Indus.
• • Since then Since 2019 Ladakh, including Alchi, is a Union Territory and no longer part of Jammu and Kashmir state.

Remember · Tabo = Spiti; Alchi = Ladakh; Lhotsava Lhakhang = Nako (Kinnaur). Rinchen Zangpo, the Great Translator, is linked to all of them.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The Bijak is the collection of Kabir's verses, kept by the Kabirpanth. Pushti Marg is the path founded by Vallabhacharya, not Madhvacharya, who founded the Dvaita school.

• ✗ 1. Bijak is the compilation of Kabir's sayings, preserved by the Kabirpanth; Dadu's teachings are in the Dadupanth tradition.
• ✗ 2. Pushti Marg (Shuddhadvaita) was propounded by Vallabhacharya; Madhvacharya founded Dvaita Vedanta.

Remember · Bijak = Kabir. Pushti Marg = Vallabhacharya (Shuddhadvaita). Madhvacharya = Dvaita.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Musical tradition in North-West India.

The Manganiyars are hereditary folk musicians of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, which lies in north-west India. They are known for their musical tradition, so (b) is correct.

• ✓ (b) Manganiyars are renowned folk musicians of the Thar Desert, chiefly around Jaisalmer and Barmer in western Rajasthan. They are famous for their songs and music, often accompanied by instruments such as the kamayacha.
• ✗ (a) Martial arts of the North-East, such as Thang-ta in Manipur, have no link with the Manganiyars.
• ✗ (c) The Manganiyars practise a folk musical tradition of Rajasthan, not South Indian classical (Carnatic) vocal music.
• ✗ (d) Pietra dura is decorative inlay work in stone, seen at the Taj Mahal in Agra. It is not a Manganiyar tradition.

Remember · Manganiyars (and Langas) are hereditary folk musicians of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, a north-western Indian musical tradition.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The Proclamation of 1 November 1858 announced that the Crown was taking over the government of India from the East India Company. It also assured the Indian princes that their treaties would be respected and that the Crown wanted no territorial expansion. It had nothing to do with regulating the Company's trade.

• ✓ 1. The Queen declared: 'We desire no extension of Our present territorial Possessions.' She also announced to the Native Princes that all treaties and engagements made with them by the Company were accepted and would be scrupulously maintained. This was a clear disclaimer of any intention to annex Indian States, aimed at calming the princes after 1857.
• ✓ 2. The Queen declared that she had resolved to take upon herself the government of the territories in India 'heretofore administered in trust' for the Crown by the East India Company. This placed Indian administration directly under the British Crown and ended Company rule.
• ✗ 3. The Proclamation dealt with the transfer of government to the Crown, assurances to the princes, non-interference in religion and pardon for rebels. It did not regulate the Company's trade. The Charter Act of 1833 had already ended the Company's commercial activities.

Remember · Queen's Proclamation, 1 November 1858: Crown takes over from the Company, treaties with princes honoured, no further annexation, religious non-interference, and pardon for most rebels.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) the hall in which Akbar held discussions with scholars of various religions

The Ibadat Khana (House of Worship), built by Akbar at Fatehpur Sikri in 1575, was a hall where he held discussions with scholars and religious leaders of different faiths. It was neither a royal mosque nor a private prayer room, and it was for the emperor's debates, not for nobles to meet.

• ✗ (a) It was not a mosque for the royal household; it was a debating hall.
• ✗ (b) It was a place of open debate, not a private chamber.
• ✓ (c) Akbar held discussions here with Muslim divines and later with Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Christian scholars, which fed into his policy of sulh-i-kul.
• ✗ (d) The debates were held by Akbar with scholars; it was not a room for nobles to meet and discuss religion.

Remember · Ibadat Khana (1575, Fatehpur Sikri): Akbar's hall for debates among scholars of all religions; Din-i-Ilahi and sulh-i-kul followed.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) around national parks and sanctuaries are notified by the Union Government under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, not declared under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Their purpose is to regulate activities around Protected Areas, not to ban everything except agriculture.

• ✗ 1. The Protected Area itself (a sanctuary or national park) is created under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The ESZ around it is notified by the Centre under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. For example, the Sammed Shikharji ESZ was notified in 2019 under that Act.
• ✗ 2. ESZs act as 'shock absorbers' or transition zones around Protected Areas. They are regulatory rather than prohibitive in nature, unless a particular notification specifies otherwise. There is no blanket ban on all human activity with agriculture as the sole exception.

Remember · ESZs are notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, around national parks and sanctuaries. They regulate activities as a buffer or transition zone and do not impose a blanket ban.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

The Animal Welfare Board of India comes from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, not the Environment (Protection) Act, so statement 1 is wrong. The NTCA is a statutory body, and the Prime Minister chaired the NGRBA, so statements 2 and 3 are correct.

• ✗ 1. The AWBI is a statutory advisory body on animal welfare laws. Its legal basis is Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and it started functioning in 1962. It has no link to the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• ✓ 2. The NTCA is a statutory body under the Environment Ministry. Its constitution came through the 2006 amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which gave it legal backing.
• ✓ 3. The NGRBA was set up in February 2009 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Prime Minister was its ex-officio Chairperson.

Remember · AWBI is under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. NTCA is statutory, backed by the 2006 amendment to the Wildlife Act. NGRBA (2009) was set up under the EPA, 1986, with the PM as chair.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy and vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, so pairs 1 and 2 are correct. Night blindness comes from lack of vitamin A, not vitamin E, so pair 3 is wrong.

• ✓ 1. Lack of vitamin C causes scurvy, with bleeding gums and slow healing of wounds. Amla, guava, orange and lemon are good sources.
• ✓ 2. Lack of vitamin D causes rickets, in which bones become soft and bent. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium for healthy bones and teeth.
• ✗ 3. Night blindness (poor vision in the dark) is caused by vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin E is not linked to it.

Remember · Vitamin A: night blindness. Vitamin B1: beriberi. Vitamin C: scurvy. Vitamin D: rickets. Vitamin E is not a night-blindness vitamin.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 6 Curiosity, Ch 3 · Class 6 Curiosity, Ch 3

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements describe recognised risks of engineered nanoparticles. Once released, they can reach and persist in water and soil. They can enter food chains and may bioaccumulate in some species. Their highly reactive surfaces can generate free radicals and induce oxidative stress in cells.

• ✓ 1. Nanoparticles released during the use or disposal of products end up in the environment, including water and soil. Particles that do not dissolve or break down can accumulate there.
• ✓ 2. Engineered nanomaterials can be incorporated into the food chain, and may bioaccumulate in some species. That is why their food-chain entry needs to be examined through monitoring.
• ✓ 3. Nanoparticles are highly reactive. They can generate free radicals on their surface and induce oxidative stress, which can contribute to inflammation.
• ✗ (b) This option accepts only the free-radical risk. It ignores accumulation in water and soil and entry into food chains.
• ✗ (a) This option leaves out free-radical generation and oxidative stress, a key way nanoparticles can harm living cells.

Remember · Engineered nanoparticles raise three concerns: accumulation in water and soil, entry into food chains, and free-radical-driven oxidative stress in cells.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) The International Monetary Fund

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) is the International Monetary Fund's key report on global economic trends and policy challenges. It is published twice a year, with interim updates in between.

• ✓ (a) The IMF brings out the World Economic Outlook. It sets out IMF staff analysis and projections for advanced, emerging and developing economies.
• ✗ (b) UNDP publishes the Human Development Report, which carries the Human Development Index. It does not publish the WEO.
• ✗ (c) The World Economic Forum is known for the Global Competitiveness Report and the Global Risks Report, not the WEO, despite the similar name.
• ✗ (d) The World Bank publishes the World Development Report and Global Economic Prospects. These are different from the WEO.

Remember · IMF: World Economic Outlook (twice a year), Global Financial Stability Report, Fiscal Monitor. World Bank: World Development Report. UNDP: Human Development Report.

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 2, 3 and 4

All four are covered. Before 2017-18, Non-Plan Expenditure in the Union Budget meant all government spending not included in the Plan. Its main items were interest payments, defence services, subsidies, salaries and pensions.

• ✓ 1. Defence services are one of the main items of non-plan expenditure.
• ✓ 2. Interest payments on government debt are a main item of non-plan expenditure.
• ✓ 3. Salaries and pensions are listed among the main items of non-plan expenditure.
• ✓ 4. Explicit subsidies provided by the government also form part of non-plan expenditure.
• • Since then The Plan and Non-Plan classification was done away with from fiscal 2017-18.

Remember · Non-Plan Expenditure = all government spending outside the Plan, whether revenue or capital. Its main items are interest payments, defence, subsidies, salaries and pensions. The classification ended from 2017-18.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error