30 questions
General Studies Paper I
UPSC Civil Services Mains 2013
- What do you understand by the phenomenon of temperature inversion in meteorology? How does it affect the weather and the inhabitants of the place?
- Bring out the causes for the formation of heat islands in the urban habitat of the world
- What do you understand by the theory of continental drift? Discuss the prominent evidence in its support.
- Bring out the causes for more frequent landslides in the Himalayas than in the Western Ghats.
- There is no formation of deltas by rivers of the Western Ghats. Why?
- Do you agree that there is a growing trend of opening new sugar mills in the Southern states of India? Discuss with justification.
- Analyze the factors for the highly decentralized cotton textile industry in India.
- Chola architecture represents a high watermark in the evolution of temple architecture. Discuss.
- Discuss the Tandava dance as recorded in the early Indian inscriptions.
- The recent cyclone on the east coast of India was called “Phailin”. How are the tropical cyclones named across the world? Elaborate.
- The American Revolution was an economic revolt against mercantilism. Substantiate.
- Discuss the various social problems that originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.
- Analyze the circumstances that led to the Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Discuss the highlights of the agreement.
- Latecomer” Industrial Revolution in Japan involved certain factors that were markedly different from what the West had experienced.
- It is said that India has substantial reserves of shale oil and gas, which can feed the needs of the country for a quarter century. However, tapping the resources doesn’t appear to be high on the agenda. Discuss critically the availability and issues involved.
- Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss.
- With the growing scarcity of fossil fuels, atomic energy is gaining more and more significance in India. Discuss the availability of raw materials required for the generation of atomic energy in India and the world.
- Critically examine the compulsions that prompted India to play a decisive role in the emergence of Bangladesh.
- Several foreigners made India their homeland and participated in various movements. Analyze their role in the Indian struggle for freedom.
- Write a critical note on the evolution and significance of the slogan “Jai Jawana Jai Kisan”.
- In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India. Elaborate.
- Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India.
- Male membership needs to be encouraged to make women’s organizations free from gender bias. Comment.
- Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment.
- Discuss the contribution of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to pre- and post-independent India.
- Critically discuss the objectives of the Bhoodan and Gramdan movements initiated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and their success.
- Major hot deserts in the northern hemisphere are located between 20-30 degrees north and on the western side of the continents. Why?
- Africa was chopped into states artificially created by the accident of European competition. Analyse.
- Defying the barriers of age, gender and religion, Indian women became the torchbearers during the struggle for freedom in India. Discuss.
- What policy instruments were deployed to contain the great economic depression?