Indian Panorama (UPSC) Part-II

Total Questions: 50

21. Match List-I (Distinguished Ladies) with List-II (Area of work) and select the correct answer using the codes given below: [2004]

List-I (Person)List-II (Area of Work)
A. Jhumpa Lahiri1. Science and environment
B. Sunita Narain2. Novel-writing
C. Naina Lal Kidwai3. Film industry
D. Ravina Raj Kohli4. Banking
5. Television media
OptionABCD
(a)4531
(b)2145
(c)4135
(d)2541
Correct Answer: (b)
Solution:Jhumpa Lahiri is related to novel writing. Sunita Narain is related to science and environment, Naina Lal Kidwai is related to banking and Ravina Raj Kohli is related to television media.

22. Tarun Bharat Sangh, an organisation based in a village near Alwar (Rajasthan) has become famous because of: [2004]

Correct Answer: (d) rain-water harvesting
Solution:Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) is a non-profitable environmental NGO; with headquarter in Bheekampura, Alwar, Rajasthan Dr Rajendra Singh (known as Water man of India) is the incumbent chairman of TBS since 1985.

23. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched? [2005]

Correct Answer: (c) Armoured corps centre and school: Jabalpur
Solution:Armoured corps centre and school is located at Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
Southern Air Command was raised on 19 July 1984 in response to the evolving geopolitical situation in the southern peninsula. The command was established as a full-fledged operational air command with responsibility for peninsular India up to 18 degrees north latitude, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. The headquarters was initially established at Belhaven Palace, the former residence of the Maharaja of Travancore, in Thiruvananthapuram. Following the completion of permanent facilities, the  headquarters relocated from Belhaven Palace to Akkulam on 8 August 1996. At the time of its formation, the command had five lodger units, which have since increased to eleven.

24. For which one of the following, is Satara well known? [2005]

Correct Answer: (a) Thermal Power Plant
Solution:Satara is well known for Thermal Power Plant. But as pet fecent data Satara is famous for wind energy.
  • Thermal power plants contribute the largest proportion of electricity into the national power grid of India.
  • As the name suggests, thermal power plants generate electricity by using heat from a fuel source. The heat usually generates steam in a boiler which is then used to run a steam turbine connected to a generator. They are classified according to the heat source as follows:
  • Coal-Fired
  • Gas
  • Diesel or Liquid fuel
  • Geothermal
  • Biomass
  • Waste Material
  • India mainly uses three types of thermal power plants which are listed below along with their installed capacity as of January 2021:
  • Coal: 206404.50 MW
  • Gas: 24956.51 MW
  • Liquid Fuel(Diesel): 509.71 MW
  • The total capacity of thermal power plants as on January 31, 2021, all across India is 231870.72 MW.
  • The electricity generated by these plants adds up to 71% of the total power generation in the country.

25. Consider the following statements. [2005]

1. The number of post office in India is in excess of 1.5 lakh.

2. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was formed in the year 1997.

3. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established in the year 2000.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct

Correct Answer: (c) 1 only
Solution:India has world's largest postal network with 1,55,837 post office (1,39,280 in rural areas). A post office serves an area of 21.09 sq kms and population of 6,602. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was formed in the year 2000 and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established in the year 1997.

26. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched? [2005]

1. Champadevi Sukla: Goldman Environmental Prize

2. Dr. P. Sri Ramachanrudu: Vachaspati Puraskar.

3. Ela Ramesh Bhatt: Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academic and Management.

4. Upamanyu Chatterjee: Lalit Kala Ratna Award.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct Answer: (b) 1, 2 & 3
Solution:Upamanyu Chatterjee is the winner of Shaitya Award winner and not Lalit Kala Award winner.
  • Champadevi Shukla, an Indian activist from Bhopal, was honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004 alongside Rashida Bee.
  • Ela Ramesh Bhatt received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academic, and Management in 2004.
  • Dr. P. Sri Ramachanrudu, an Indian scholar of Vedanta, Vyakarana, and Alkankar Sastra, and a prolific writer of Sanskrit and Telugu literature, was awarded the Vachaspati Puraskar by the Birla Foundation in 2003.

27. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched? [2005]

PublicationGroup
1. Sportstars1. The Hindu Publication Group
2. Business-World2. ABP Group
3. The Week3. Malayala Manorama Publication
4. Reader’s Digest4. Indian Express Publication Group

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Correct Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 3
Solution:Reader's Digest is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace.

28. Match List-1 with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists: [2005]

List-I (Distinguished person)List-II (Area of Work)
A. B. V. Rao1. Automobiles Manufacture
B. C. K. Prahald2. Fisheries Economy
C. Johan Kurien3. Information Technology and Software
D. Kiran Karnik4. Poultry Farming
5. Management Science

Codes:

OptionABCD
(a)2513
(b)4325
(c)2315
(d)4523
Correct Answer: (d)
Solution:
  • Liberhan Commission of Inquiry was appointed on 16th December, 1992, 10 days after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
  • It was a one man commission headed by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan.
  • It was assigned the task of probing the sequence of events that led to the occurrences at the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex on 6th December, 1992.
  • Initially, the Commission had to submit the report within 3 months. However, with 48 extensions, it became the longest Commission of Inquiry in the history of Independent India.
  • The report recommended a law providing for exemplary punishment for misusing religion to acquire political power.
  • It also said that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was planned, systematic, and was the intended outcome of a climate of communal intolerance deliberately created by religious extremists.

29. Which one of the following was probed by the Liberhan Commission? [2005]

Correct Answer: (d) Demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya.
Solution:The Liberhan Commission was commissioned by the Government of India to investigate the destruction of the disputed structure Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

30. Whose autobiography is the book 'My Music, My Life'? [2005]

Correct Answer: (c) Pandit Ravi Shankar
Solution:'My Music, My life' is the autobiography of Pandit Ravi Shankar.

  • About Pandit Ravi Shankar:

  • Pandit Ravi Shankar, born on 7th April 1920 in Varanasi, was a great sitarist and composer of Indian classical music.

  • His original name was Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury and he was the seventh son of his father Shyam Shankar Chowdhury and mother Hemangini Devi.

  • At the age of 18, he started learning sitar and took initiation from Ustad Allauddin Khan of Maihar.

  • He recomposed the famous song "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" at the age of 25.

  • He served as the Music Director of All India Radio in New Delhi from the year 1949 to 1956.

  • Subsequently, in the 1960s he taught and performed Indian classical music with violinists Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison, helping to popularise it in the Western world.

  • Pandit Ravi Shankar introduced Indian classical music to the western world.

  • The Beatles' George Harrison described him as the 'Godfather of World Music'.

  • He was also a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1992.

  • He died on December 11, 2012 at the age of 92.