UPSC Prelims 2014 Question Paper with Answers & Explanations

In Medieval India, the designations 'Mahattara' and 'Pattakila' were used for

Lichens, which are capable of initiating ecological succession even on a bare rock, are actually a symbiotic association of

If you travel through the Himalayas, you are likely to see which of the following plants naturally growing there?

1. Oak
2. Rhododendron
3. Sandalwood

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Which of the following are some important pollutants released by steel industry in India?

1. Oxides of sulphur
2. Oxide of nitrogen
3. Carbon monoxide
4. Carbon dioxide

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Which of the following Kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?

1. Avanti
2. Gandhara
3. Kosala
4. Magadha

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Every year, a month long ecologically important campaign/festival is held during which certain communities/tribes plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees. Which of the following are such communities/tribes?

The sales tax you pay while purchasing a toothpaste is a

What does venture capital mean?

The main objective of the 12th Five-Year Plan is

With reference to Balance of Payments, which of the following constitutes the Current Account?

1. Balance of trade
2. Foreign assets
3. Balance of invisibles
4. Special Drawing Rights

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

The terms 'Marginal Standing Facility Rate' and 'Net Demand and Time Liabilities', sometimes appearing in news, are used in relation to

What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas?

1. It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages.
2. It enables the beneficiaries in the rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

In the context of Indian economy, which of the following is/are the purpose/purposes of Statutory Reserve Requirements?

1. To enable the Central Bank to control the amount of advances the banks can create.
2. To make the people's deposits with banks safe and liquid.
3. To prevent the commercial banks from making excessive profits.
4. To force the banks to have sufficient vault cash to meet their day-to-day requirements.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Recently, a series of uprisings of people referred to as 'Arab Spring' originally started from

Consider the following countries:

1. Denmark
2. Japan
3. Russian Federation
4. United Kingdom
5. United States of America

Which of the above are the members of the 'Arctic Council'?

Consider the following pairs:

Region often in news : Country

1. Chechnya : Russian Federation
2. Darfur : Mali
3. Swat Valley : Iraq

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

With reference to Agni-IV Missile, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is surface-to-surface missile.
2. It is fueled by liquid propellant only.
3. It can deliver one-tonne nuclear warheads about 7500 km away.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

With reference to two non-conventional energy sources called 'coalbed methane' and 'shale gas', consider the following statements:

1. Coalbed methane is the pure methane gas extracted from coal seams, while shale gas is a mixture of propane and butane only that can be extracted from fine-grained sedimentary rocks.
2. In India, abundant coalbed methane sources exist, but so far no shale gas sources have been found.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

With reference to 'Changpa' community of India, consider the following statements:

1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield a fine wool.
3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

In India, cluster bean (Guar) is traditionally used as a vegetable or animal feed, but recently the cultivation of this has assumed significance. Which one of the following statements is correct in this context?

The Partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until

The 1929 Session of Indian National Congress is of significance in the history of the Freedom Movement because the

With reference to the famous Sattriya dance, consider the following statements:

1. Sattriya is a combination of music, dance and drama.
2. It is a centuries-old living tradition of Vaishnavites of Assam.
3. It is based on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Chaitra 1 of the national calendar based on the Saka Era corresponds to which one of the following dates of the Gregorian calendar in a normal year of 365 days?

With reference to the Indian history of art and culture, consider the following pairs:

Famous work of sculpture : Site

1. A grand image of Buddha's Mahaparinirvana with numerous celestial musicians above and the sorrowful figures of his followers below : Ajanta

2. A huge image of Varaha Avatar (boar incarnation) of Vishnu, as he rescues Goddess Earth from the deep and chaotic waters, sculpted on rock : Mount Abu

3. 'Arjuna's Penance'/'Descent of Ganga' sculpted on the surface of huge boulders : Mamallapuram

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

The Ghadar (Ghadr) was a

With reference to India's culture and tradition, what is 'Kalaripayattu'?

Consider the following pairs:

1. Garba : Gujarat
2. Mohiniattam : Odisha
3. Yakshagana : Karnataka

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

With reference to Buddhist history, tradition and culture in India, consider the following pairs:

Famous Shrine : Location

1. Tabo monastery and temple complex : Spiti Valley
2. Lhotsava Lhakhang : Zanskar Valley
3. Alchi Temple Complex : Ladakh

Which of the above pairs given is/are correctly matched?

Consider the following statements:

1. 'Bijak' is a composition of the teachings of Saint Dadu Dayal.
2. The Philosophy of Pushti Marg was propounded by Madhvacharya.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A community of people called Manganiyars is well-known for their

What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858)?

1. To disclaim any intention to annex Indian States
2. To place the Indian administration under the British Crown.
3. To regulate East India Company's trade with India

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri was

In the context of food and nutritional security of India, enhancing the 'Seed Replacement Rates' of various crops helps in achieving the food production targets of the future. But what is/are the constraint/constraints in its wider/greater implementation?

1. There is no National Seeds Policy in place.
2. There is no participation of private sector seed companies in the supply of quality seeds of vegetables and planting materials of horticultural crops.
3. There is a demand-supply gap regarding quality seeds in case of low value and high volume crops.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

With reference to 'Eco-Sensitive Zones', which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. Eco-Sensitive Zones are the areas that are declared under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
2. The purpose of the declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones is to prohibit all kinds of human activities in those zones except agriculture.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Consider the following statements:

1. Animal Welfare Board of India is established under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

2. National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body.

3. National Ganga River Basin Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Consider the following pairs:

Vitamin : Deficiency disease

1. Vitamin C : Scurvy
2. Vitamin D : Rickets
3. Vitamin E : Night blindness

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

There is some concern regarding the nanoparticles of some chemical elements that are used by the industry in the manufacture of various products. Why?

1. They can accumulate in the environment and contaminate water and soil.
2. They can enter the food chains.
3. They can trigger the production of free radicals.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Which of the following organizations brings out the publication known as 'World Economic Outlook'?

With reference to Union Budget, which of the following is/are covered under Non-Plan Expenditure?

1. Defence expenditure
2. Interest payments
3. Salaries and pensions
4. Subsidies

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

If the interest rate is decreased in an economy, it will

Consider the following statements:

1. The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.

2. All executive actions of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Prime Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Consider the following statements regarding a No-Confidence Motion in India:

1. There is no mention of a No-Confidence Motion in the Constitution of India.

2. A motion of No-Confidence can be introduced in the Lok Sabha only.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

With reference to Neem tree, consider the following statements:

1. Neem oil can be used as a pesticide to control the proliferation of some species of insects and mites.

2. Neem seeds are used in the manufacture of biofuels and hospital detergents.

3. Neem oil has applications in pharmaceutical industry.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Which one of the following is the process involved in photosynthesis?

In addition to fingerprint scanning, which of the following can be used in the biometric identification of a person?

1. Iris scanning
2. Retinal scanning
3. Voice recognition

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding vegetative propagation of plants?

1. Vegetative propagation produces clonal population.

2. Vegetative propagation helps in eliminating the virus.

3. Vegetative propagation can be practiced most of the year.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?

Spacecraft : Purpose

1. Cassini-Huygens : Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth
2. Messenger : Mapping and investigation of Mercury
3. Voyager 1 and 2 : Exploring the outer solar system

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Consider the following pairs:

Region : Well-known for the production of

1. Kinnaur : Areca nut
2. Mewat : Mango
3. Coromandel : Soyabean

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

Which of the following is/are the example/examples of chemical change?

1. Crystallization of sodium chloride
2. Melting of ice
3. Souring of milk

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

The power of the Supreme Court of India to decide disputes between the Centre and the States falls under its

Consider the following techniques/phenomena:

1. Budding and grafting in fruit plants
2. Cytoplasmic male sterility
3. Gene silencing

Which of the above is/are used to create transgenic crops?

Consider the following statements:

1. Maize can be used for the production of starch.

2. Oil extracted from maize can be a feedstock for biodiesel.

3. Alcoholic beverages can be produced by using maize.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Among the following organisms, which one does not belong to the class of other three?

The power to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court of India is vested in

Consider the following towns of India:

1. Bhadrachalam
2. Chanderi
3. Kancheepuram
4. Karnal

Which of the above are famous for the production of traditional sarees/fabric?

Consider the following pairs:

National Highway : Cities connected

1. NH4 : Chennai and Hyderabad
2. NH6 : Mumbai and Kolkata
3. NH15 : Ahmedabad and Jodhpur

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

Consider the following international agreements:

1. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
2. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
3. The World Heritage Convention

Which of the above has/have a bearing on the biodiversity?

Consider the following statements regarding 'Earth Hour':

1. It is an initiative of UNEP and UNESCO.

2. It is a movement in which the participants switch off the lights for one hour on a certain day every year.

3. It is a movement to raise the awareness about the climate change and the need to save the planet.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Which one of the following is the correct sequence of a food chain?