Specific Detail MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Passage: In a typical Western liberal context, deepening of democracy invariably leads to consolidation of 'liberal values'. In the Indian context, democratization is translated into greater involvement of people not as 'individuals', which is a staple to liberal discourse, but as communities or groups. Individuals are getting involved in the public sphere not as 'atomized' individuals but as members of primordial communities drawn on religious or caste identity. Community-identity seems to be the governing force. It is not therefore surprising that the so-called peripheral groups continue to maintain their identities with reference to the social groups (caste, religion or sect) to which they belong while getting involved in the political processes, despite the fact that their political goals remain more or less identical. By helping to articulate the political voice of the marginalized, democracy in India has led to 'a loosening of social strictures' and empowered the peripherals to be confident of their ability to improve the socio-economic conditions in which they are placed. This is a significant political process that has led to a silent revolution through a meaningful transfer of power from the upper caste elites to various subaltern groups within the democratic framework of public governance. According to the passage, what does 'deepening of democracy' mean in the Western context?

1. A Consolidation of group and class identities.
2. B Democratization translated as greater involvement of people.
3. C Democratization as greater involvement of 'atomized' individuals in the public sphere.
4. D None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context.

Passage: It is often forgotten that globalization is not only about policies on international economic relationships and transactions, but has equally to do with domestic policies of a nation. Policy changes necessitated by meeting the internationally set conditions (by WTO etc.) of free trade and investment flows obviously affect domestic producers and investors. But the basic philosophy underlying globalization emphasizes absolute freedom to markets to determine prices and production and distribution patterns, and views government interventions as processes that create distortions and bring in inefficiency. Thus, public enterprises have to be privatized through disinvestments and sales; sectors and activities hitherto reserved for the public sector have to be opened to the private sector. This logic extends to the social services like education and health. Any restrictions on the adjustments in workforce by way of retrenchment of workers should also be removed and exit should be made easier by removing any restrictions on closures. Employment and wages should be governed by free play of market forces, as any measure to regulate them can discourage investment and also create inefficiency in production. Above all, in line with the overall philosophy of reduction in the role of the State, fiscal reforms should be undertaken to have generally low levels of taxation and government expenditure should be kept to the minimum to abide by the principle of fiscal prudence. All these are policy actions on the domestic front and are not directly related to the core items of the globalization agenda, namely free international flow of goods and finance. According to the passage, which of the following is/are necessary for ensuring globalization? 1. Privatization of public enterprises 2. Expansionary policy of public expenditure 3. Free play of market forces to determine wages and employment 4. Privatization of social services like education and health Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. A 1 only
2. B 2 and 3 only
3. C 1, 3 and 4
4. D 2, 3 and 4

Directions: This item is based on the passage about the Right to Education given above. Your answer should be based on that passage only. According to the passage, which one of the following is critical in bringing quality in education?

1. A Ensuring regular attendance of children as well as teachers in schools
2. B Giving pecuniary benefits to teachers to motivate them
3. C Understanding the socio-cultural background of children
4. D Inculcating learning through activities, exploration and discovery

Read the following passage and answer the item that follows. Your answer should be based on the passage only. Many nations now place their faith in capitalism and governments choose it as the strategy to create wealth for their people. The spectacular economic growth seen in Brazil, China and India after the liberalisation of their economies is proof of its enormous potential and success. However, the global banking crisis and the economic recession have left many bewildered. The debates tend to focus on free market operations and forces, their efficiency and their ability for self correction. Issues of justice, integrity and honesty are rarely elaborated to highlight the failure of the global banking system. The apologists of the system continue to justify the success of capitalism and argue that the recent crisis was a blip. Their arguments betray an ideological bias with the assumptions that an unregulated market is fair and competent, and that the exercise of private greed will be in the larger public interest. Few recognize the bidirectional relationship between capitalism and greed; that each reinforces the other. Surely, a more honest conceptualisation of the conflicts of interest among the rich and powerful players who have benefited from the system, their biases and ideology is needed; the focus on the wealth creation should also highlight the resultant gross inequity. The apologists of the "Free Market System", according to the passage, believe in (a) market without control by government authorities. (b) market without protection by the government. (c) ability of market to self correct. (d) market for free goods and services.

1. A market without control by government authorities.
2. B market without protection by the government.
3. C ability of market to self correct.
4. D market for free goods and services.

Passage: Chemical pesticides lose their role in sustainable agriculture if the pests evolve resistance. The evolution of pesticide resistance is simply natural selection in action. It is almost certain to occur when vast numbers of a genetically variable population are killed. One or a few individuals may be unusually resistant (perhaps because they possess an enzyme that can detoxify the pesticide). If the pesticide is applied repeatedly, each successive generation of the pest will contain a larger proportion of resistant individuals. Pests typically have a high intrinsic rate of reproduction, and so a few individuals in one generation may give rise to hundreds or thousands in the next, and resistance spreads very rapidly in a population. This problem was often ignored in the past, even though the first case of DDT resistance was reported as early as 1946. There is an exponential increase in the numbers of invertebrates that have evolved resistance and in the number of pesticides against which resistance has evolved. Resistance has been recorded in every family of arthropod pests as well as in weeds and plant pathogens. Take the Alabama leaf worm, a moth pest of cotton, as an example. It has developed resistance in one or more regions of the world to aldrin, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, lindane and toxaphene. If chemical pesticides brought nothing but problems - if their use was intrinsically and acutely unsustainable - then they would already have fallen out of widespread use. This has not happened. Instead, their rate of production has increased rapidly. The ratio of cost to benefit for the individual agricultural producer has remained in favour of pesticide use. In the USA, insecticides have been estimated to benefit the agricultural products to the tune of around $5 for every $1 spent. Moreover, in many poorer countries, the prospect of imminent mass starvation, or of an epidemic disease, are so frightening that the social and health costs of using pesticides have to be ignored. In general the use of pesticides is justified by objective measures such as 'lives saved', 'economic efficiency of food production' and 'total food produced'. In these very fundamental senses, their use may be described as sustainable. In practice, sustainability depends on continually developing new pesticides that keep at least one step ahead of the pests - pesticides that are less persistent, biodegradable and more accurately targeted at the pests. With reference to the passage, consider the following statements: 1. Use of chemical pesticides has become imperative in all the poor countries of the world. 2. Chemical pesticides should not have any role in sustainable agriculture. 3. One pest can develop resistance to many pesticides. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. A 1 and 2 only
2. B 3 only
3. C 1 and 3 only
4. D 1, 2 and 3

Passage-3 "The conceptual difficulties in National Income comparisons between underdeveloped and industrialised countries are particularly serious because a part of the national output in various underdeveloped countries is produced without passing through the commercial channels." In the above statement, the author implies that:

1. A the entire national output produced and consumed in industrialized countries passes through commercial channels
2. B the existence of a non-commercialized sector in different underdeveloped countries renders the national income comparisons over countries difficult
3. C no part of national output should be produced and consumed without passing through commercial channels
4. D a part of the national output being produced and consumed without passing through commercial channels is a sign of underdevelopment

Read the following passage and answer the item that follows. Your answer should be based on the passage only. Many nations now place their faith in capitalism and governments choose it as the strategy to create wealth for their people. The spectacular economic growth seen in Brazil, China and India after the liberalisation of their economies is proof of its enormous potential and success. However, the global banking crisis and the economic recession have left many bewildered. The debates tend to focus on free market operations and forces, their efficiency and their ability for self correction. Issues of justice, integrity and honesty are rarely elaborated to highlight the failure of the global banking system. The apologists of the system continue to justify the success of capitalism and argue that the recent crisis was a blip. Their arguments betray an ideological bias with the assumptions that an unregulated market is fair and competent, and that the exercise of private greed will be in the larger public interest. Few recognize the bidirectional relationship between capitalism and greed; that each reinforces the other. Surely, a more honest conceptualisation of the conflicts of interest among the rich and powerful players who have benefited from the system, their biases and ideology is needed; the focus on the wealth creation should also highlight the resultant gross inequity. With reference to "ideological bias", the passage implies that (a) free market is fair but not competent. (b) free market is not fair but competent. (c) free market is fair and competent. (d) free market is neither fair nor biased.

1. A free market is fair but not competent.
2. B free market is not fair but competent.
3. C free market is fair and competent.
4. D free market is neither fair nor biased.

Passage: It is often forgotten that globalization is not only about policies on international economic relationships and transactions, but has equally to do with domestic policies of a nation. Policy changes necessitated by meeting the internationally set conditions (by WTO etc.) of free trade and investment flows obviously affect domestic producers and investors. But the basic philosophy underlying globalization emphasizes absolute freedom to markets to determine prices and production and distribution patterns, and views government interventions as processes that create distortions and bring in inefficiency. Thus, public enterprises have to be privatized through disinvestments and sales; sectors and activities hitherto reserved for the public sector have to be opened to the private sector. This logic extends to the social services like education and health. Any restrictions on the adjustments in workforce by way of retrenchment of workers should also be removed and exit should be made easier by removing any restrictions on closures. Employment and wages should be governed by free play of market forces, as any measure to regulate them can discourage investment and also create inefficiency in production. Above all, in line with the overall philosophy of reduction in the role of the State, fiscal reforms should be undertaken to have generally low levels of taxation and government expenditure should be kept to the minimum to abide by the principle of fiscal prudence. All these are policy actions on the domestic front and are not directly related to the core items of the globalization agenda, namely free international flow of goods and finance. According to the passage, the basic philosophy of globalization is to

1. A give absolute freedom to producers to determine prices and production.
2. B give freedom to producers to evolve distribution patterns.
3. C give absolute freedom to markets to determine prices, production and employment.
4. D give freedom to producers to import and export.