Page Four: General Studies Preliminary Paper 2006

As on page 8 series B
General Studies Preliminary Paper May 14, 2006
Time Allowed: Two Hours
MM: 150
Total Questions: 150

23. Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?

	Inventor	:	Invention
1.	Christopher Cockerell	:	Hovercraft
2.	David Bushnell	:	Sumbarine
3.	J.C. Perrier	:	Steamship

Select the correct answer by using the code given below:
a. 1, 2 and 3
b. 1 and 2, only
c. 2 and 3, only
d. 1 and 3, only


Ans. a. 1, 2 and 3

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration
Christopher Cockerell was a British Engineer. He invented Hoovercraft. He was born on June 1, 1910 and died on June 1, 1999.

David Bushnell was an American inventor who invented the first submarine which was known as turtle.

J.C. Perrier: In 1775, the French man J. C. Perrier made a steamboat. However, the further development on steamship was hindered in France due to the French Revolution. J. C. Perrier was associated with the inventions and development of Steamship in France.

Reference: http://www.shipsonstamps.org/Topics/html/rad.htm, Steamboat in Wikipedia.

Category: Mechanical Engineering, Physics, History of Technology, Transportation.

Note: In this question, the question is about those people who were associated with the improvements and further developments of the devices. They were not the first inventors.

24. Which one among the following Commissions was set up in pursuance of a definite provision under an Article of the Constitution of India?
(a) University Grants Commission
(b) National Human Rights Commission
(c) Election Commission
(d) Central Vigilance Commission


Ans. c. Election Commission.

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration
Pending

Category: Political Science, Indian Constitution


25. Which among the following wrote “The Communist Manifesto” along with Karl Marx?
(a) Emile Durkheim
(b) Friedrich Engels
(c) Robert Brown
(d) Max Weber


Ans. b Friedrich Engels.

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration
Elaboration pending

Category: Western Thinkers, World History


26. Which portfolio was held by Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the Interim Government formed in the year 1946?

(a) Defence
(b) External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
(c) Food and Agriculture
(d) None


Ans. c. Food and Agriculture

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Life History as First President of India on Presidents of India site.

Category: Political Science, Indian Political History.



27. Who among the following was a presented with Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Award, 2005 for her lifetime achievement in dance?
(a) Chandralekha
(b) Tanjavur Balasaraswati
(c) Uma Sharma
(d) Yamini Krishnamurthy

Ans. a. Chandralekha

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration
For a News report on the above award which also shows the photograph of Chandralekha visit HERE. Chandralekha started her career as dancer of Bharatnatyam. She is now popular as choreographer. Along with her, five more people had received the Award (Fellowship). They were Smt. Zora Sehgal, Sh. Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, Smt. Annapurna Devi, Sh. Tapas Sen and Smt. Bidhyabasini Devi. The Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) is restricted to 30 living persons at any given point of time for their excellence in the field of performing arts. For Detail visit Press Information Bureau site.


Tanjavur Balasaraswati: She was also renowned Bharatnatiyam dancer. She died in 1984.


Uma Sharma: She is a Kathak Dancer. She received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Kathak in 1987.


Yamini Krishnamurthi: She is also a renowned Bharatnatiyam and Kuchipudi dancer. She received Sangeet Natak Akademy Award in 1977. She received Padam Shri in 1968 and Padam Bhushan in 2001.

(Guess Work): For a detailed note on the Music personalities of India visit HERE. The site can be useful as it can be used for making notes for General Studies Mains Paper II, on Indian personalities.

Category: India Heritage and Culture.
28. Which one of the following countries is the first country in the world to propose a carbon tax for its people to address global warming?
(a) Australia
(b) Germany
(c) Japan
(d) New Zealand

Ans. d. New Zealand


Authentication Verification Validation ElaborationGuardian News: According to May 5, 2005 report, New Zealand had proposed to introduce the tax by 2007.
The Age: According December 30, 2005 report of the Australian Newspaper, New Zealand had abandoned the plan to introduce the tax.
The Carbon Tax is being talked about for fulfilling the commitments of the signatory countries to Kyoto Protocol February 16, 2005.

Category: World Geography, Environment Pollution.




29. Consider the following statements:

1. A person who has held office as a permanent Judge of a High Court cannot plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court.

2. A person is not qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court in India unless he has for at least five years held a judicial office in the territory of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither I nor 2


Ans. a. 1 only

Authentication Verification Validation Elaboration
The Article 217 of the Indian Constitution relates to the appointments and conditions of the office of Judge. The second statement is not true. The duration of judicial office should be ten years. In case of first statement, such a person who was judge of High Court can plead in other High Court and he can plead and act before Supreme Court. It is statement as written in the Indian Constitution as Article no 220 which is reproduced below.

It is given in Chapter V of the Indian Constitution.
The article is reproduced below for the statement 2: 217. Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High Court.—(1) Every Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State, and, in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court, and shall hold office, in the case of an additional or acting Judge, as provided in article 224, and in any other case, until he attains the age of sixty-two years:
Provided that—
(a) a Judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his
office;
(b) a Judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided
in clause (4) of article 124 for the removal of a Judge of the Supreme Court;
(c) the office of a Judge shall be vacated by his being appointed by the President to
be a Judge of the Supreme Court or by his being transferred by the President to any other
High Court within the territory of India.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless he is
a citizen of India and—
(a) has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India; or
(b) has for at least ten years been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such
Courts in succession.

The related article Art.220 reproduced below for statement 1:
220. Restriction on practice after being a permanent Judge.—No person who, after the commencement of this Constitution, has held office as a permanent Judge of a High Court shall plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court and the other High Courts.
Explanation.—In this article, the expression “High Court” does not include a High Court
for a State specified in Part B of the First Schedule as it existed before the commencement of
the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956.

Source: Constitution on the National Portal of India.

Note: It is not relevant here, but, this blogger has been discussing about sources online in India. In case of government of India sites, one always finds difficulty in accessing public information because they are usually given in PDF files. They are not made available in HTML. It is a feature which could be well criticised in work of Raman Kaul, also a blogger and owner of a site, who had transformed short stories of Munshi Premchand in HTML after taking it from C-DAC Noida site. In case of Western Countries, all such information is readily available on net in form of HTML which make it easy to collect it. In case of Our Documents as discussed at sumir-history.blogspot.com, another site of this blogger, this can be well verified and evaluated. There is so much talk of e-governance, Right to Information etc but the users requirementand usibility are not looked into. It is so official even in case of cyber world.

Acknowledgement: Prof. Dr. Sunil Khosla, Department of Post Graduate Studies in Political Science, Arya College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India, also a research scholar of UGC funded research on Human Rights in India for elaboration and clarifications.

Category: Political Science. Constitution of India.