Mains (2014) GS (General Study) Paper – 1 Question Paper

There were TWENTY-FIVE (25) questions printed in ENGLISH. All the questions were compulsory. Each question was of 10 marks. UPSC wanted to answer the questions in NOT MORE THAN 150 words each. It was also mentioned that contents of the answer is more important than its length. 2 pages were left blank to answer each question.

Q.1) To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization? Discuss.

Q.2) Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.

Q.3) Taxila university was one of the oldest universities of the world with which were associated a number of renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered as a university in the modern sense. Discuss.

Q.4) The third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761. Why were so many empire-shaking battles fought at Panipat?

Q.5)  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.

Q.6) Examine critically the various facets of economic policies of the British in India from mid-eighteenth century till independence.

Q.7) In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of British colonial aspirations in India?

Q.8) What were the major political, economic and social developments in the world which motivated the anti-colonial struggle in India?

Q.9) 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?

Q.10) The New Economic Policy – 1921 of Lenin had influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.

Q.11) How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle class working woman in India?

Q.12) Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.

Q.13) The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss

Q.14) Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India.

Q.15) How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?

Q.16) Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?

Q.17)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.

Q.18) Explain the formation of thousands of islands in Indonesian and Philippines archipelagos.

Q.19) Tropical cyclones are largely confined to South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico. Why?

Q.20) Bring out the relationship between the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and the symptoms of climate change in the Indian sub-continent.

Q.21) 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.

Q.22) Why did the Green Revolution in India virtually by-pass the eastern region despite fertile soil and good availability of water?

Q.23) Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world.

Q.24) Critically evaluate the various resources of the oceans which can be harnessed to meet the resource crisis in the world.

Q.25) How does India see its place in the economic space of rising natural resource rich Africa?

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