UPSC Questions & Instant Answers

The Finance Commission is constituted under Article 280 (statement 1 correct). However, its recommendations are advisory and NOT binding on the government (statement 2 incorrect).

M3 = M1 (currency + demand deposits + other deposits with RBI) + time deposits with banks. Post office savings deposits are part of M4, not M3.

The Ramsar Convention (1971) is the intergovernmental treaty for wetland conservation (1 correct). The Montreux Record is a register, maintained under it, of Ramsar sites where ecological change has occurred or is likely (2 correct).

The 42nd Amendment added "Socialist" and "Secular" to the Preamble, inserted Fundamental Duties (Part IVA, Art 51A), and added Article 39A (equal justice and free legal aid) — all three.

The repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI. Cutting it lowers banks’ cost of funds, encourages lending, and stimulates economic activity — an expansionary (dovish) move.

The Kyoto basket covers CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs and SF₆. All four listed are included. (Note: water vapour, though a GHG, is not a regulated Kyoto gas.)

The Dandi/Salt March launched the Civil Disobedience Movement, defying the British salt monopoly and salt tax by making salt from seawater at Dandi.

It passes through 8 states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.

Habeas Corpus ("you may have the body") can be issued against both the State and private persons who unlawfully detain someone — unique among the writs, which mostly lie against public authorities.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a precise gene-editing tool that uses a guide RNA and the Cas9 nuclease to cut DNA at a target site, enabling addition, removal or alteration of genetic sequences.

GDP counts final goods/services produced in the current year. A homemaker’s unpaid services are not marketed (excluded); a second-hand car was counted in an earlier year (excluded). Only the government salary (a factor payment for current services) counts.

CITES regulates trade in endangered species, the Convention on Migratory Species (Bonn) protects migratory animals, and the Convention on Biological Diversity addresses biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing. All three are correctly matched.

Judicial review — the power of courts to examine the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions — is derived from the US Constitution.

The Narmada and Tapi are among the few peninsular rivers flowing west (through rift valleys) into the Arabian Sea. The Mahanadi flows east into the Bay of Bengal.

The First Buddhist Council met at Rajgriha (c. 483 BCE) under Ajatashatru; the Fourth was held in Kashmir under Kanishka (c. 72 CE), where Buddhism split into Hinayana and Mahayana. Both correct.

Fiscal deficit = total expenditure − total receipts excluding borrowings. It measures the government’s total borrowing requirement in a year.

Gaganyaan is ISRO’s human spaceflight programme, aiming to send Indian astronauts (Gaganyatris) to low-earth orbit. (Aditya-L1 is the solar mission; Chandrayaan the lunar one.)

Uniform Civil Code (Art 44) and village panchayats (Art 40) are DPSPs. The Right to Constitutional Remedies (Art 32) is a Fundamental Right, not a DPSP.

Lindeman’s 10% law states that only about 10% of the energy at one trophic level is transferred to the next; the rest is lost mainly as metabolic heat.

Agriculture, MSMEs, education, housing, and weaker sections are PSL categories (1 correct). PSL targets are set and regulated by the RBI, not the Finance Ministry (2 incorrect).