UPPCS Prelims 2022: questions with answers

Major Rock Edict XII calls for tolerance and respect among all sects.

Katarniaghat WLS (Bahraich) was notified in 1975; Kishanpur in 1972 and National Chambal in 1979.

Brand Finance IT Services 2022 ranked Accenture first and TCS second.

Nuclear energy comes from fission of uranium/thorium atoms, not from the sun. (Geothermal also is not solar-derived, but the key accepts nuclear.) (As per the official UPPSC answer key.)

The Environment (Protection) Act was passed in 1986.

Sajan Prakash won the 200 m butterfly gold at the Danish Open in April 2022.

UP's 2020-21 budget was Rs 5,12,860.72 crore and included new schemes worth Rs 10,967.87 crore.

Kerala is India's leading natural rubber producer.

DDT is persistent, non-biodegradable and biomagnifies in food chains.

Karve - Widow Remarriage Association; Bethune - girls' school (1849); Vidyasagar - Principal, Sanskrit College; Malabari - campaign against child marriage.

About 80% of Jains live in urban areas, the highest among religious groups (Census 2011).

Bateshwar hill - Bihar; Bilari range - Karnataka; Chin hills - Manipur; Dhosi hill - Haryana.

UNDP's HDRs distinguish income poverty from human poverty (deprivation in capabilities).

MALCO's plant is at Mettur, Salem district, not Chennai.

Partygate involved gatherings at 10 Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdowns under Boris Johnson.

TDP (1982), BSP (1984), SP (1992), AITC (1998).

CUET (Common University Entrance Test) replaced CUCET from 2022.

Charles Booth's 'Life and Labour of the People in London' (1889-1903) established poverty as a social problem.

Shuja defeated at Bahadurpur near Banaras (Feb 1658), Dharmat (April 1658), Samugarh (May 1658), Deorai (1659).

Keibul Lamjao, the world's only floating national park, is on Loktak Lake, Manipur.

Pacific - Mariana Trench; Arctic - Molloy Deep; Indian - Sunda (Java) Trench; Atlantic - Puerto Rico Trench.

The PAC examines the CAG's audit reports.

London topped the January 2022 index of global business cities. (Low-confidence; verify with the official key.)

Nuclear energy comes from atomic fission; wood and dung are biomass and coal is fossilised biomass.

Argon is a monatomic inert gas that does not absorb infrared radiation.

Swaminathan - Green Revolution; L. K. Jha - Economic Administration Reforms Commission; Kurien - milk (Operation Flood); Morarji Desai - social control on banks (1967-68).

Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma signed the MoU on 29 March 2022 in the presence of Amit Shah.

PM SVANidhi (2020) gives collateral-free working capital loans to street vendors.

HDR 2021-22 ranks: Hong Kong 4th, Australia 5th, Japan 19th, Russia 52nd.

Daytime limits: silence zone 50 dB, residential 55 dB, commercial 65 dB and industrial 75 dB (70 dB is the closest option).

After defeating the Western Kshatrapas, Chandragupta II issued silver coins in their style (about 32-36 grains) in western India.

Malthus's 1798 essay dealt with population growth outpacing food supply.

Both are near 27 degrees N, but Darjeeling's altitude (~2,000 m) makes it far colder, explained by the lapse rate.

Citrus canker - bacterium; red rot of sugarcane - fungus; black heart ('krishnakant') of potato - oxygen deficiency in storage; Sahu of wheat - insect (aphid).

Birmingham hosted in July-August 2022; Victoria had been named host for 2026 at the time (it later withdrew and Glasgow took over).

Saturn's atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium; among the options methane is the notable constituent.

GAP-I (1985) aimed to reduce pollution of the Ganga.

The 73rd Amendment (1992) gave panchayats constitutional status (Part IX), which is why it is called a watershed.

The 'Aquarium' digital water data bank was launched in Bengaluru, Karnataka in April 2022. (Verify with the official key.)

Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873.

Manas - Assam; Sundarbans - West Bengal; Nanda Devi - listed under Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand); Pachmarhi - Madhya Pradesh.

The Pegu Yoma - Irrawaddy basin has Myanmar's oilfields (Yenangyaung, Chauk).

Baghpat's ODOP is home furnishing; wooden toys are ODOP of Varanasi/Chitrakoot.

Sultan Garhi - Iltutmish; Red Palace (Qasr-i-Lal) - Balban; Jamaat Khana Masjid - Alauddin Khalji; Adhai Din ka Jhonpra - Qutbuddin Aibak.

Demographic dividend comes from a large working-age share (15-59 in Indian usage, 15-64 internationally).

3rd - oaths; 4th - Rajya Sabha seats; 7th - legislative lists; 8th - languages.

Dudhsagar - Goa; Barkana - Karnataka; Khandadhar - Odisha; Palani falls - Himachal Pradesh (Manali).

Balwant Rai Mehta 1957, Ashok Mehta 1977, L. M. Singhvi 1986, P. K. Thungon 1988.

The Sunni Triangle is bounded by Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit; Basra is in the Shia south.

Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania's first woman President in March 2021. Sahle-Work Zewde was Ethiopia's president.

China produces over half the world's crude steel.

NRHM - 2005; NSAP - 1995; SGSY - 1999; SGRY - 2001.

P. V. Sindhu won the Syed Modi International 2022 women's singles title in Lucknow.

Graphite is the most stable allotrope at standard conditions (diamond is metastable).

Echidnas and the platypus are egg-laying monotremes.

A boat is depicted on a Mohenjodaro seal, and a terracotta boat model was found at Lothal.

Census 2011 urban agglomerations: Kanpur (~2.92 million) > Lucknow (~2.90 million) > Ghaziabad (~2.36 million) > Agra (~1.76 million).

The Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal range and the largest tidal potential in India.

JJM (Har Ghar Jal) was announced in Budget 2019-20 and launched on 15 August 2019.

Ghadar Party (1913), Berlin Committee (1915), Central Assembly bomb (April 1929), Chittagong raid (April 1930).

The official key credits G. S. Ghurye with elaborating the idea of rurbanisation (the rural-urban continuum). (As per the official UPPSC answer key.)

CoronaVac (Sinovac) is an inactivated whole-virus vaccine.

Operation Ganga (2022) evacuated Indians from Ukraine.

The official key gives whooping cough; note that Haemophilus influenzae type b is best known for causing meningitis and pneumonia in young children, while whooping cough is caused by Bordetella pertussis. (As per the official UPPSC answer key.)

Ecomark certifies environment-friendly products.

Ramanuja - Vishishtadvaita; Madhva - Dvaita; Nimbarka - Dvaitadvaita; Vallabha - Shuddhadvaita.

Photovoltaic (solar) cells convert light directly into electricity.

National Dolphin Day is observed on 5 October.

Dengue is spread mainly by Aedes aegypti (Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is a secondary vector).

This obscure question is answered here on a best-effort basis only; Sachindra Nath Sanyal was the key founder of the HRA (1924). (Low-confidence; verify with the official key.)

Manipur's Legislative Assembly has 60 members.

Photochemical smog forms when NOx and VOCs react in sunlight, producing ozone and PAN.

India ranked 136th of 146 in the World Happiness Report 2022.

The SI unit of radioactivity is the becquerel; the curie is a non-SI unit.

Ayaka platforms with five pillars are a feature of Andhra stupas such as Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Ghantasala; Amaravati is the classic example. (The question has more than one fitting option; verify with the official key.)

PESA was enacted in 1996.

Poland's Karolina Bielawska won Miss World 2021.

Quality education (SDG 4), zero hunger (SDG 2) and gender equality (SDG 5) are SDGs; space research is not.

Mahanadi basin (~1.42 lakh sq km) is larger than Narmada (~98,796), Cauvery (~81,155) and Tapi (~65,145).

Eucalyptus consumes large amounts of groundwater and suppresses undergrowth.

The 7th Lok Sabha was elected in 1980.

Ziya-ud-din Nakhshabi rendered Shukasaptati into Persian as Tutinama in the 14th century.

The 69th Amendment (1991) inserted Articles 239AA and 239AB.

The Bengal delta, especially Bangladesh, has widespread natural arsenic in groundwater.

The WHO GCTM foundation stone was laid at Jamnagar, Gujarat in April 2022.

Input subsidies such as fertilisers are indirect farm subsidies, and practically all Indian farm subsidies are classed as indirect (price-reducing) support. (As per the official UPPSC answer key.)

Phule led the anti-caste movement through the Satyashodhak Samaj and wrote Gulamgiri.

UP Diwas is observed on 24 January, the date United Provinces was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950.

Kharia (Keria) are in Odisha and Paliyan in Tamil Nadu; Kukis are in Manipur/Mizoram and Yanadis in Andhra Pradesh.

The Lead Bank Scheme (1969) assigns a lead bank to each district for banking development.

Ragamala - Pundarika Vitthala; Rasa Kaumudi - Srikantha; Raga Vibodha - Somanatha; Chaturdandi Prakashika - Venkatamakhi.

Natural gas is mostly methane (CH4).

The atmosphere is heated mainly from below by long-wave radiation emitted by the Earth's surface.

Modi addressed the virtual 5th Summit on 30 March 2022, which was hosted and chaired by Sri Lanka.

Hariyali (2003) empowers panchayats and rural communities to implement watershed projects for water conservation.

Winter rain comes from the westerlies when pressure belts shift; summer drought is due to trade winds/subtropical high. Both true, but R does not explain winter rain.

Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest in May 1919.

Cho Oyu and Lhotse are Himalayan peaks; Anaimalai and Sirumalai are in the southern Western Ghats/Tamil Nadu.

The basic structure doctrine was laid down in Kesavananda Bharati (1973).

Chile's huge porphyry copper deposits (Chuquicamata, Escondida) in the Atacama Andes make it the top producer.

Talar - chief of night guards; Pattakila - village headman/revenue collector; Sahasadhipati - officer dealing with violent crimes/dacoity; Baladhipa - octroi guard. (Verify with the official key.)

ISAC 2020: Culture - Indore; Governance - Vadodara; Social Aspects - Tirupati; Urban Environment - Bhopal.

Dudhwa National Park is in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

CNG is mostly methane compressed to about 200 bar.

The Karakum covers about 70% of Turkmenistan.

Gujarat (1299), Ranthambore (1301), Chittor (1303), Warangal (1309-10).

Golden - horticulture/honey; Grey - fertilisers; Yellow - oilseeds; Black - petroleum.

UNEP's Frontiers 2022 ranked Moradabad second after Dhaka for noise pollution.

Mark Vande Hei completed 355 days in space in March 2022 (later surpassed by Frank Rubio in 2023).

Western UP is the state's most developed region and a Green Revolution belt (wheat, sugarcane).

Badua dam is in Banka district, Bihar; Adwa and Ahraura are in Mirzapur.

Shiva - trident; Vishnu - chakra; Ganesha - noose (pasha); Saraswati - veena.

Salt water has uniform composition, so it is homogeneous; a mixture with varying composition is heterogeneous, so R is false.

India is the 7th largest country with 2.4% of world area; the Tropic of Cancer divides it roughly in half, so it is not wholly tropical.

Protection of monuments is a Directive Principle (Article 49), not a Fundamental Duty.

In 1974 Lata Mangeshkar became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, her first international concert.

Cochin International Airport became the world's first fully solar-powered airport in 2015.

Among larger states, Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab were top performers in SECI Round I.

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was Lok Sabha Speaker, never Vice-President.

Maukhari Ishvaravarman is known from the Jaunpur inscription, Ishanavarman from Harha, and Jivitagupta II from Deo-Baranark; Sarvavarman's record is the Asirgarh seal, not a Gaya copper plate.

18 April - World Heritage Day; 22 May - Biodiversity Day; 29 July - Tiger Day; 5 December - World Soil Day.

Poverty became a central policy concern in the 20th century. The claim that a lack of targeted action gave the issue momentum is not a valid reason. (Verify with the official key.)

Andhra Pradesh recorded the largest increase (647 sq km), followed by Telangana and Odisha.

Sulphonamides are synthetic antibacterial drugs.

Swadesh - Gorakhpur; Bharat Bandhu - Hathras; Satyawadi - Agra; Shakti - Almora.

The 86th Amendment (2002) inserted Article 21A.

Borneo is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei; it is largely non-volcanic continental crust.

Make in India was launched on 25 September 2014 to boost manufacturing and investment.

Jaita and Kumpa were Maldeo's Rathore commanders of Marwar at the battle of Samel/Giri-Sumel (1544).

Rayon is regenerated (modified) cellulose, not starch.

The limnetic zone is the open, well-lit surface water of a lake, ideal for phytoplankton.

The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya opened in April 2022 in the Teen Murti Bhawan complex.

SDG 10 - inequalities; 13 - climate; 14 - life below water; 15 - life on land.

Wool is a natural protein fibre broken down by microbes.

Article 315(2): Parliament may create a JSPSC by law on the request of the state legislatures concerned.

Shakarkheda (1724), Bedara (1759), Porto Novo (1781), Mudki (1845).

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is 16 September.

The Ruhr is Germany's industrial heartland.

2022 Speakers: Ramesh Tawadkar (Goa), Kultar Singh Sandhwan (Punjab), Th. Satyabrata (Manipur), Ritu Khanduri (Uttarakhand, first woman Speaker).

The Interim Government was announced on 24 August 1946 and sworn in on 2 September 1946.

Bolivia (like Paraguay) has no coastline.

Carburettors mix air and petrol in spark-ignition engines; diesel engines use fuel injection.

Kavindracharya Saraswati enjoyed Shah Jahan's patronage and secured remission of pilgrim tax.

BMS - BJP/RSS; INTUC - Congress; AITUC - CPI. The code matching these three is b (it pairs UTUC with CPI(M), which is only approximate).

Osaka - cotton textiles; Detroit - automobiles; Cuba - cigars; St Petersburg - shipbuilding.

Part I (Union and territory), Part II (Citizenship), Part IV (DPSP), Part IVA (Fundamental Duties).

The 45th World Bridge Teams Championships were held at Salsomaggiore, Italy (2022), where an Indian team won a silver medal. (Verify with the official key.)

A niche is a species' functional role, tolerance range and resource use; no two species share an identical niche (Gause's principle).

Odisha and Chhattisgarh lead iron ore output, followed by Karnataka and Jharkhand.

Sanatan Dharma Rakshini Sabha was founded in Calcutta (1873). Bharat Dharma Mahamandal was based in Varanasi, Deva Samaj in Lahore and Radhasoami Satsang in Agra.