25 questions
General Studies Paper I
UPSC Civil Services Mains 2014
- Whereas the British planters had developed tea gardens all along the Shivaliks and Lesser Himalayas from Assam to Himachal Pradesh, in effect they did not succeed beyond the Darjeeling area. Explain.
- Why are the world’s fold mountain systems located along the margins of continents? Bring out the association between the global distribution of fold mountains and the earthquakes and volcanoes.
- How does India see its place in the economic space of rising natural resource-rich Africa?
- The New Economic Policy – 1921 of Lenin influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.
- Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?
- What were the events that led to the Suez Crisis in 1956? How did it deal a final blow to Britain’s self-image as a world power?
- Tropical cyclones are largely confined to the South China Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Mexico. Why?
- Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving the increasing feminization of agriculture in India.
- Taxila University was one of the oldest universities in the world with which were associated several renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered a university in the modern sense. Discuss.
- How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?
- To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to present-day urbanisation? Discuss.
- Explain the formation of thousands of islands in the Indonesian and Philippines archipelagos.
- How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India?
- The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.
- Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
- In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of British colonial aspirations in India?
- Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.
- The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many empire-shaking battles fought at Panipat?
- What were the major political, economic and social developments in the world which motivated the anti-colonial struggle in India?
- Bring out the relationship between the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and the symptoms of climate change in the Indian sub-continent.
- Sufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Hindu / Muslim societies to any appreciable extent. Comment.
- Examine critically the various facets of economic policies of the British in India from the mid-eighteenth century till independence.
- Why did the Green Revolution in India virtually bypass the eastern region despite fertile soil and good availability of water?
- Critically evaluate the various resources of the oceans that can be harnessed to meet the resource crisis in the world.
- Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world.