Mock Test 12 by CLATalogue and CLATapult for CLAT UG 2020

ENGLISH

I. When Rudyard Kipling first alighted in Calcutta as a young journalist for The Pioneer, he

keenly felt some kinship between the city and London. As the English author took in the view

from a new colonial bequest to the city, a pontoon bridge designed by Bradford Leslie, he

exclaimed, “Why, this is London! This is the docks. This is Imperial.” He was terribly homesick

* the metropole, where the English could revel * “millions * their own kind, and a wilderness

full * pretty, fresh-coloured Englishwomen.” Calcutta, Kipling thought, bore “false hopes of

some return” to London.

In eight vignettes composed over three sweltering months in Calcutta, in 1888, and collected two

years later in The City of Dreadful Night, Kipling’s readers will never find a man whose

homesickness is assuaged by a foreign city willing to adopt him. Kipling never wanted to be

adopted by Calcutta, or give into its promises of kinship or collaboration. He was a Victorian

who was a man of his times—racial and national boundaries were sacrosanct, and any kinship

was, in fact, a gross miscegenation. Imperial ego rears its gruesome head as soon as he senses the

queer feeling of kinship between Calcutta and London. “It seems not only wrong but a criminal

thing,” Kipling writes in the opening vignette, “to allow natives to have any voice in the control

of such a city … existing only because England lives, and dependent for its life on England.”

Kipling did not perceive himself as a correspondent of Calcutta’s residents. He saw Indians as a

commodity, as a steadfast propagandist for the Crown was wont to. Being a quintessential

Victorian living in India meant serving the colonial purpose: to shoulder what he later referred to

as “the white man’s burden.” Calcutta was his city not in the genial way an outsider comes to

embrace his new home. It was his colonial bequest, a city to write about as if he owned and

governed it, as one of its many authorised custodians.

Yet, to Kipling’s ire, and that of many other Englishmen, Calcutta remained a city that subverted

the Victorians’ virulent obsession with strict boundaries. Bengalis crossed the race line as

wealthy merchants, educators, persuasive orators with a penchant for governance. They were

slowly impressing themselves as a community that had begun to challenge the Caucasian

contingent’s intellectual hierarchy, in a city that had been partitioned into strict black and white

towns. They had as much a claim on Calcutta as the English. But in the discourse of such claims

on Calcutta, at the centre of which Kipling found himself, one recurring question that emerges is

who had ownership over Calcutta: the natives who had resided in the area before Job Charnock

established a British settlement and an East India Company factory in the village of Sutanuti, or

the post-Charnock colonial rulers. Now that the white man’s burden had been lightened by

bringing a European ethos—or, in their cruder view, “civilisation”—to Calcutta, what was to be

done about its residents asking for a piece of the pie?

Rohit Chakraborty (Resident Outsiders: Imagining homeland through Kipling and his

contemporaries in colonial Bengal)

https://caravanmagazine.in/books/imagining-homeland-through-kipling-his-

contemporaries-colonial-bengal

Q.1. Replace the * in the passage with appropriate words-

a) For, with, of, of

b) About, in, of, of

c) For, in, in, with

d) About, with, of, with

Q.2. What does the word ‘sacrosanct’ mean in the context of the passage?

a) Changeable

b) Inviolable

c) Distinct

d) Important

Q.3. What according to Kipling is ‘criminal’?

a) Drawing parallels between Calcutta and London

b) Depending on natives for survival

c) Empowering the natives to take control over their lives in Calcutta

d) Treating the natives as commodity

Q.4. What was Kipling’s purpose of visiting Calcutta?

a) To act as the Crown’s ambassador

b) To civilise the natives as decreed by the white man’s burden

c) To document and write about the city

d) All of the above

Q.5. What was Kipling’s ‘ire’?

a) That Calcuttans were not perceptive to western learning

b) That Calcutta was inhabitable to a white man accustomed to living in London

c) Calcuttans posed a threat to the Englishman’s intellectual domination and thereby

wouldn’t let go of their claim on the city

d) All of the above

II. The President’s Bodyguard—a unit of the Indian Army—is considered one of the most

prestigious postings within the armed forces. In 2018, one Gaurav Yadav from Haryana’s Revari

district filed a public-interest litigation in the Delhi High Court, alleging that the recruitment

policy of the President’s Bodyguard discriminated by caste. The unit, as Yadav correctly pointed

out, only recruits from three castes—Rajputs, Hindu Jats and Sikh Jats. According to Yadav,

these three castes are being given “preferential treatment” to the detriment of other citizens of the

country. A bench of the Delhi High Court, hearing the petition, asked the defence ministry and

several senior army officials to file their counter affidavits on the issue by 9 May 2019.

Both the army and the government has exceeded the deadline, and are yet to file their responses.

This is not the first time the army’s recruitment policy has been challenged in court. In 2012, IS

Yadav, an Uttar Pradesh-based doctor, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking an end to

recruitment in the army on the basis of caste, region and religion.

“In the army alone there are caste, religion and region-based regiments such as the Jat Regiment,

Sikh Regiment, Mahar Regiment, Gorkha Rifles, Garhwal Regiment, Dogra Regiment, etc,”

Yadav’s petition said, “and hence recruitment to these regiments is primarily based on caste,

region and religion.”

The petition also questioned the existence of two separate regiments for Sikhs—one for Jat

Sikhs, and a different one for Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs, who were formerly considered

untouchables. The petitioner urged the court to end discrimination in recruitment to the army and

to frame a new hiring policy for the force.

In its response, the army said that it did not recruit on the basis of caste, region and religion, but

it grouped recruits according to their communities for “administrative convenience” and

“operational requirements.” The Supreme Court quashed the petition, saying that it did not want

to “rock the army’s boat.

The Indian Army’s own admission that caste-based stratification is necessary for “administrative

convenience” gives a glimpse of the central role caste and identity play in the functioning of the

force. In its organisation and composition, the army still closely resembles the pre-Independence

British Indian Army. The British concept of “martial races,” drawn from India’s own caste

traditions, declared some communities “martial” and others incapable of fighting. This theory—

with its racist and casteist assumptions—continues to have a significant influence on the

composition of the Indian Army. The history of the British Indian Army constitutes necessary

context to understand the identity politics in India’s armed forces today.

Sabyasachi Dasgupta (Beneath the Caste-The casteist and racist origins of the Indian

Army’s recruitment policies)

https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/casteist-racist-origin-indian-army-recruitment-

policies

Q.6. What does the word ‘quashed’ mean in the context of the passage?

a) Repudiate

b) Accept

c) Consider

d) Delay

Q.7. Identify the grammatically incorrect sentence of the ones listed below-

a) The unit, as Yadav correctly pointed out, only recruits from three castes—Rajputs, Hindu

Jats and Sikh Jats.

b) According to Yadav, these three castes are being given “preferential treatment” to the

detriment of other citizens of the country.

c) A bench of the Delhi High Court, hearing the petition, asked the defence ministry and

several senior army officials to file their counter affidavits on the issue by 9 May 2019.

d) Both the army and the government has exceeded the deadline, and are yet to file their

responses.

Q.8. What did Yadav claim?

a) The army oppressed those officials who weren’t Rajputs or Jats

b) Recruitment in the President’s Bodyguard unit was carried out on the basis of caste

c) The Indian army recruited only Rajputs, Sikh Jats, and Hindu Jats

d) More than one correct

Q.9. What was the army’s response to Yadav’s allegations?

a) It submitted affidavits to the court to defend itself

b) It said members from certain communities were chosen for easy administration

c) It said that caste based recruitments were made to pay homage to the contributions of

certain communities as seen in history

d) None of the above

Q.10. What does this reveal about the system at large?

a) Caste identity is deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of the authority

b) The ways of the British colonisers still largely dictate the ways of recruitment

c) Instead of judging each individual, the system fall back on the assumption that certain

races/communities are better at fighting than others

d) All of the above

QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES

Production of paper (in lakh tonnes) by 3 different companies A, B & C over the years.

Q.11. What is the difference between the production of company C in 1991 and the production

of company A in 1996?

a) 50,000 tonnes

b) 5,00,00,000 tonnes

c) 50,00,000 tonnes

d) 5,00,000 tonnes

50

40

55

45

60

50 55

60

50 55

50 55

45 50

60 60

45 40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Chart Title

A B C

Q.12. What is the percentage increase in production of company A from 1992 to 1993?

a) 37.5%

b) 38.25%

c) 35%

d) 36%

Q.13. For which of the following years the percentage of rise/fall in production from the

previous year the maximum for company B?

a) 1992

b) 1993

c) 1994

d) 1995

Q.14. The total production of company C in 1993 and 1994 is what percentage of the total

production of company A in 1991 and 1992?

a) 132.3%

b) 131.3%

c) 133.3%

d) 144.3%

Q.15. What is the difference between the average production per year of the company with

highest average production and that of the company with lowest average production in lakh

tonnes?

a) 3.17

b) 4.33

c) 4.17

d) 3.33

Q.16. What is the difference between average production of the six companies in 1995 and

average production of the same companies in 1994?

a) 7,05,000 tonnes

b) 7,50,000 tonnes

c) 75,000 tonnes

d) None of the above

Q.17. What is the percentage decline in production by company C from 1995 to 1996?

a) 5%

b) 20%

c) 12.50%

d) 12%

Q.18.Which of the following companies recorded the minimum percentage growth from 1994 to

1995?

a) A

b) B

c) C

50 45

30

50

70

35

55 55

40

70 70

45 40

60

35

65

80

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

A B C D E F

Chart Title

1994 1995 1996

d) D

Q.19. Production of company C in 1995 and production of company F in 1994 together is what

percent of production of B in 1996?

a) 115%

b) 125%

c) 133%

d) 120%

Q.20. In which of the following pairs of companies the difference between average production

for the three years is maximum?

a) E and F

b) D and C

c) E and C

d) A and E

LOGIC

I. Four legal approaches may be followed in attempting to channel technological development in

socially useful direction: specific directives, market incentive modifications, criminal

prohibitions, and changes in decision-making structures. Specific directives involve the

government’s identifying one or more factors controlling research, development, or

implementation of a given technology. Directives affecting such factors may vary from

administrative regulation of private activity to government ownership of a technological

operation. Market incentive modifications are deliberate alterations of the market within which

private decisions regarding the development and implementation of technology are made. Such

modifications may consist of imposing taxes to cover the costs to society of a given technology,

granting subsidies to pay for social benefits of a technology, creating the right to sue to prevent

certain technological development, or easing procedural rules to enable the recovery of damages

to compensate for harm caused by destructive technological activity. Criminal prohibitions may

modify technological activity in areas impinging on fundamental social values, or they may

modify human behavior likely to result from technological applications—for example, the

deactivation of automotive pollution control devices in order to improve vehicle performance.

Alteration of decision-making structures includes all possible modifications in the authority,

constitution, or responsibility of private and public entities deciding questions of technological

development and implementation. Such alterations include the addition of public-interest

members to corporate boards, the imposition by statute of duties on governmental decision-

makers, and the extension of warranties in response to consumer action.

Effective use of these methods to control technology depends on whether or not the goal of

regulation is the optimal allocation of resources. When the object is optimal resource allocation,

that combination of legal methods should be used that most nearly yields the allocation that

would exist if there were no external costs resulting from allocating resources through market

activity. There are external costs when the price set by buyers and sellers of goods fails to

include some costs, to anyone, that result from the production and use of the goods. Such costs

are internalized when buyers pay them.

Air pollution from motor vehicles imposes external costs on all those exposed to it, in the form

of soiling, materials damage, and disease: these externalities result from failure to place a price

on air, thus making it a free good, common to all. Such externalities lead to nonoptimal resource

allocation, because the private net product and the social net product of market activity are not

often identical. If all externalities were internalized, transactions would occur until bargaining

could no longer improve the situation, thus giving an optimal allocation of resources at a given

time.

Q.21. The passage is primarily concerned with describing

a) objectives and legal method for directing technological development

b) technical approaches to the problem of controlling market activity

c) economic procedures for facilitating transactions between buyers and sellers

d) reasons for slowing the technological development in light of environmentalist objections

Q.22. It can be inferred from the passage that the author does NOT favor which of the

following?

a) Protecting the environment for future use

b) Causing technological development to cease

c) Intervening in the activity of the free market

d) Making prices reflect costs to everyone in society

Q.23. If there were no external costs, as they are described in the passage, which of the following

would be true?

a) All technology-control methods would be effective.

b) Some resource allocations would be illegal.

c) Prices would include all costs to members of society.

d) Some decision-making structures would be altered.

Q.24. The author assumes that, in determining what would be an optimal allocation of resources,

it would be possible to

a) assign monetary value to all damage resulting from the use of technology

b) combine legal methods to yield the theoretical optimum

c) convince buyers to bear the burden of damage from technological developments

d) predict the costs of new technological developments

Q.25. On the basis of the passage, it can be inferred that the author would agree with which of

the following statements concerning technological development?

a) The government should own technological operations.

b) The effect of technological development cannot be controlled.

c) Some technological developments are beneficial.

d) The current state of technological development results in a good allocation of resources.

II. It has been known for many decades that the appearance of sunspots is roughly periodic, with

an average cycle of eleven years. Moreover, the incidence of solar flares and the flux of solar

cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and x-radiation all vary directly with the sunspot cycle But

after more than a century of investigation, the relation of these and other phenomena, known

collectively as the solar-activity cycle, to terrestrial weather and climate remains unclear. For

example, the sunspot cycle and the allied magnetic-polarity cycle have been linked to

periodicities discerned in records of such variables as rainfall, temperature, and winds.

Invariably, however, the relation is weak, and commonly of dubious statistical significance.

Effects of solar variability over longer terms have also been sought. The absence of recorded

sunspot activity in the notes kept by European observers in the late seventeenth and early

eighteenth centuries has led some scholars to postulate a brief cessation of sunspot activity at that

time (a period called the Maunder minimum). The Maunder minimum has been linked to a span

of unusual cold in Europe extending from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. The

reality of the Maunder minimum has yet to be established, however, especially since the records

that Chinese naked-eye observers of solar activity made at that time appear to contradict it.

Scientists have also sought evidence of long-term solar periodicities by examining indirect

climatological data, such as fossil records of the thickness of ancient tree rings. These studies,

however, failed to link unequivocally terrestrial climate and the solar-activity cycle, or even to

confirm the cycle’s past existence.

If consistent and reliable geological or archaeological evidence tracing the solar-activity cycle in

the distant past could be found, it might also resolve an important issue in solar physics: how to

model solar activity. Currently, there are two models of solar activity. The first supposes that the

Sun’s internal motions (caused by rotation and convection) interact with its large-scale magnetic

field to produce a dynamo, a device in which mechanical energy is converted into the energy of a

magnetic field. In short, the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field is taken to be self-sustaining, so that

the solar-activity cycle it drives would be maintained with little overall change for perhaps

billions of years. The alternative explanation supposes that the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field is

a remnant of the field the Sun acquired when it formed, and is not sustained against decay. In this

model, the solar mechanism dependent on the Sun’s magnetic field runs down more quickly.

Thus, the characteristics of the solar-activity cycle could be expected to change over a long

period of time. Modern solar observations span too short a time to reveal whether present

cyclical solar activity is a long-lived feature of the Sun, or merely a transient phenomenon.

Q.26. The author focuses primarily on

a) presenting two competing scientific theories concerning solar activity and evaluating

geological evidence often cited to support them

b) giving a brief overview of some recent scientific developments in solar physics and

assessing their impact on future climatological research

c) discussing the difficulties involved in linking terrestrial phenomena with solar activity

and indicating how resolving that issue could have an impact on our understanding of

solar physics

d) pointing out the futility of a certain line of scientific inquiry into the terrestrial effects of

solar activity and recommending its abandonment in favor of purely physics-oriented

research

Q.27. The author implies which of the following about currently available geological and

archaeological evidence concerning the solar-activity cycle?

a) It best supports the model of solar activity described in lines 37-45.

b) It best supports the model of solar activity described in lines 45-52.

c) It is insufficient to confirm either model of solar activity described in the third paragraph.

d) It contradicts both models of solar activity as they are presented in the third paragraph.

Q.28. It can be inferred from the passage that the argument in favor of the model described in

lines 37-45 would be strengthened if which of the following were found to be true?

a) Episodes of intense volcanic eruptions in the distant past occurred in cycles having very

long periodicities.

b) At the present time the global level of thunderstorm activity increases and decreases in

cycles with periodicities of approximately 11 years.

c) Hundreds of millions of years ago, solar-activity cycles displayed the same periodicities

as do present-day solar-activity cycles.

d) In the last century the length of the sunspot cycle has been known to vary by as much as

2 years from its average periodicity of 11 years.

Q.29. It can be inferred from the passage that Chinese observations of the Sun during the late

seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries

a) are ambiguous because most sunspots cannot be seen with the naked eye

b) probably were made under the same weather conditions as those made in Europe

c) are more reliable than European observations made during this period

d) record some sunspot activity during this period

Q.30. It can be inferred from the passage that studies attempting to use tree-ring thickness to

locate possible links between solar periodicity and terrestrial climate are based on which of the

following assumptions?

a) The solar-activity cycle existed in its present form during the time period in which the

tree rings grew.

b) The biological mechanisms causing tree growth are unaffected by short-term weather

patterns.

c) Average tree-ring thickness varies from species to species.

d) Tree-ring thicknesses reflect changes in terrestrial climate.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

I. 31stOctober, is celebrated across India as “National Unity Day” or “RashtriyaEktaDiwas” as a

tribute to the country’s first home minister, who led the task of integrating princely states into the

Union of India after Independence in 1947. On this occasion in 2019, Article 370 of the

Constitution was withdrawn. The day is being celebrated since the yearModi first became Prime

Minister.PM Narendra Modi commemorated the National Unity Day by paying tribute to at the

Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat. The Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had made the announcement in a press release saying, “occasion

will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the inherent strength and resilience of our nation to

withstand the actual and potential threats to the unity, integrity, and security of our country.” In

October, 2018, Modi inaugurated the “Statue of Unity”, sculpted in Patel's honour in Gujarat, on

the occasion of his 143rd birth anniversary. Located on Sadhu-Bet Island in Gujarat, the statue

occupies over 20,000 square metres and is surrounded by a 12-square-kilometre artificial lake. A

parade at Kevadiya in Gujarat which is the site of the Statue of Unity was organised. Police

forces of each State and Union Territory and Central Armed Forces participated in the Parade.

All district administration were directed to organise a 'Run for Unity' parade. In his 'Mann Ki

Baat' programme on the preceeding Sunday, Modi had urged people to participate in large

numbers in the 'Run for Unity'.

“Friends, as you know that 31 October every year since 2014 has been celebrated as National

Unity Day. This day imparts the message to protect the unity, integrity and security of our

country at any cost. On 31 October, this year too 'Run for Unity' is being organized like the

previous years. It is a symbol of unison, that the nation being united, is moving in one direction

and collectively aims for - One goal! Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat,” he said.

Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the commemorative 'Run For Unity' from New Delhi's

Major Dhyanchand National Stadium at 7.10 am.The run started at the stadium, where around

15,000 people have likely participated. Thousands of people, including the top political leaders,

will run a marathon dedicated to Patel.To inspire people, Patel's portrait with an inscription "No

one would be permitted to damage the security, unity, and integrity of India" was directed to be

displayed in all police stations and police offices.

Q.31. National Unity Day or RashtriyaEktaDiwas marks the birth anniversary of which Indian

freedom fighter?

a) SardarVallabhai Patel

b) Subhash Chandra Bose

c) LalaLajpat Rai

d) Jawaharlal Nehru

Q.32. What is the significance of the National Unity Day of 2019?

a) The Statue of Unity was unveiled on this day

b) The Statue of Unity raised enough revenue to pay in full the investment made to build it

c) India launched a peace mission in order to strengthen ties with its neighbours, beginning

with Pakistan

d) Two new Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir was formed.

Q.33. Since which year has this day of National Unity been observed?

a) 2019

b) 2014

c) 2010

d) 2004

Q.34. Sardar Patel, the Iron man of India, is also called Patron Saint of India’s civil servants.

Why?

a) Sardar Patel brought about the integration of 562 princely states into the Republic of

India

b) Sardar Patel was a strong voice against untouchability, caste discrimination and a voice

for emancipation of women

c) Sardar Patel established the modern all-India services system.

d) Sardar Patel banned the RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Q.35. How tall is the world’s tallest statue?

a) 3000 meter

b) 535 meter

c) 182 meter

d) 256 meter

II.For seventy-year old Shanta, and Kailasam, who is in his late 50s, the nationwide lockdown

announced on March 24 felt like a calamity. Shanta, a Chennai resident, has been under

treatment for insomnia for many years, but the medicines are no longer effective, requiring her to

be under regular medical supervision.Kailasam, also from Chennai, suffers from sleep. Kailasam

was unsure about whether he should continue with CPAP during the Covid-19 pandemic.But the

lockdown prevented both Kailasam and Shanta from travelling to the doctor’s clinic. Then, much

to their relief, they heard that their doctor was available for tele-consultation over voice calls and

Skype.

Shanta and Kailasam are among the 50-odd patients whom Nagarajan Ramakrishnan, a sleep

medicine specialist, has attended to remotely over the last few days. “Hospitals and clinics may

be open as they are an essential service, but how will patients reach them? Telemedicine is the

best option for providing continued access and care to those with chronic medical problems,”

says Dr Ramakrishnan, who is also the director at the Chennai-based Nithra Institute of Sleep

Sciences.

With the entire country having been put under a lockdown to check the spread of the

coronavirus, telemedicine, or the remote diagnosis of patients through electronic communication,

has come as a boon to people seeking treatment for non-critical ailments.Telemedicine has three

levels: Diagnosis through voice calls, video-calls, and through electronic mediums after

monitoring real-time data received through equipments like a glucometer or a blood pressure

monitor.

According to a McKinsey Digital India report released last year, telemedicine models possess the

capability of handling up to half of the in-person outpatient consultations in India. “Telemedicine

trials have demonstrated that remote consultations cost about 30 per cent less than equivalent in-

person visits.” Use of digital technology in healthcare may also save $4 billion to $5 billion by

2025, the report added.

To address certain legal hurdles for this mode of medical practice, the ministry of health and

family welfare, along with NITI Aayog, issued some guidelines last week to allow registered

medical practitioners to provide telemedicine consultation. However, experts say that the

guidelines are unlikely to be of help to doctors in the current situation.

“The guidelines seem broadly fine, except that they will take months to prepare the course and

will not be useful during this (Covid-19) pandemic,” says Sumanth C Raman, a healthcare

domain consultant with a leading IT services firm.

Guidelines or not, hospitals are going all out to ramp up their efforts to provide telemedicine

platforms to their patients. “It (telemedicine) is a good initiative for a follow-up patient to whom

medicines have to be prescribed, and also for someone who urgently needs medical advice,” says

Somesh Mittal, CEO of Bengaluru-based Vikram Hospital. The 225-bed hospital will roll out its

own app for online consultation by the end of this week.

(Taken and adapted) Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches National Teleconsultation Centre.Available at

https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=200767

(Taken and adapted) Sai Ishwar, Telemedicine helps doctors, patients stay connected amid

Covid-19 lockdown, available at https://www.business-

standard.com/article/technology/telemedicine-helps-doctors-patients-stay-connected-amid-covid-

19-lockdown-120040201624_1.html

Q.36. In light of the pandemic that we are battling, ‘CoNTec’ was recently in the news. What is

it?

a) A mobile application

b) A telemedicine hub

c) A preventive medicine

d) A test to check if a person has been infected by the Covid-19 virus.

Q.37. Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare launched the National Teleconsultation

Centre on 28th

March, 2020. Who is the said minister?

a) Harsh Vardhan

b) Rajnath Singh

c) Amit Shah

d) S. Jaishankar

Q.38. In which institute located in New Delhi has CoNTec been implemented?

a) Government Industrial Training Institute

b) The Parliament House

c) Lady Harding Medical College

d) All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Q.39. Along with the Ministry of Health, the Civil Aviation Ministry has also come forth with

plans to help people tide over this lockdown by way of a scheme which supplies medicines

throughout the country amid the lockdown. What is the name of this initiative?

a) Go Corona Go

b) Udan Corona

c) Lifeline Udan

d) Medical Udan

Q.40. One of the research centres of the Defence Research and Development Organisation has

developed a full body disinfection chamber by the name of ______?

a) Personnel Sanitization Chamber

b) Disinfection Chamber -1000

c) Chamber of Secrets

d) Personnel Sanitization Enclosure

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

A Hong Kong court has ruled that parts of a controversial anti-mask law enacted by the city’s

political leader during last year’s anti-government protests were unconstitutional, in a case seen

as an important test of the chief executive’s authority.

Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive, enacted colonial-era emergency powers last October in a

bid to end demonstrations that plunged the city into its worst political crisis for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of masked protesters engaged in demonstrations that often descended into

pitched battles with police, bringing parts of the city to a standstill and battering the economy.

Ms Lam’s use of emergency powers to bypass the Legislative Council, Hong Kong’s de facto

legislature, to invoke the mask ban sparked concerns that the chief executive could use similar

methods to introduce further restrictive measures. Pro-democracy legislators launched a judicial

review of the use of emergency powers. The city’s high court declared the mask ban

unconstitutional in November. Beijing bristled against the ruling and the Hong Kong government

launched an appeal. The Court of Appeal said the ban was only valid for unlawful assemblies but

ruled masks were permissible in lawful gatherings. It also ruled that granting police the power to

demand people remove facial coverings was unconstitutional. However, the court overturned the

lower court’s finding that Ms Lam had no power to introduce emergency laws.

But in a partial victory for the city government, the court said its overall right to invoke the

Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO) was constitutional in time of "public danger".First,

they declared that part of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance is unconstitutional. The

ordinance gives the city’s top official the power to enact any law she sees fit in “an occasion of

public danger or emergency.” Chief executive Carrie Lam had stated that Hong Kong is “not in a

state of emergency,” and had instead used the emergency powers on the basis that the city was

facing “serious public danger.”

The judges took issue with this, writing that the ground of public danger is “so wide in its scope,

the conferment of powers so complete, its conditions for invocation so uncertain,” that it is

unconstitutional.

The judges then turned their attention to the mask ban itself. They acknowledged that the ban

sought to achieve legitimate aims, including dampening the emboldening effect that the

anonymity offered by a mask has on protesters, and helping the police with law enforcement,

investigation, and prosecution. The judges also acknowledged that the ban was rationally

connected with its aims: for example, without a mask, certain protesters may be less willing to

commit vandalism or violent acts. Unmasked protesters would also be more easily identifiable by

the police. And though many opponents of the mask ban note that people are openly flouting the

measure, the judges wrote that the law’s ineffectiveness “does not in itself disprove rational

connection.”

The court’s decision comes as authorities have switched their focus from seeking to ban face

coverings to recommending their use in any crowded public place in order to control the spread

of coronavirus.

[Source (with edits and additions): Financial Times, Hong Kong court rules part of mask ban

‘unconstitutional’]

Q.41. A student brought a gun in his school and killed his class teacher. The police arrested him.

Due to rising tensions of gun violence, the Government banned the operation of the school for

one year citing ‘public danger’. Assuming that the Emergency Regulations Ordinance applies

here, can the school challenge the ban?

a) Yes, it was not a proportionate response to the danger.

b) No, gun violence falls within the ambit of ‘public danger’.

c) Yes, a lone incident cannot be termed as ‘public danger’.

d) None of the above.

Q.42. What, as per the passage, is the chief reason for the mask ban by Ms. Lam sparking

concern among the public?

a) The ban was it was unconstitutional.

b) Ms. Lam had bypassed the Hong Kong Legislature.

c) The emergency power used to enforce ban was vulnerable to further misuse.

d) It put the lives of protestors at risk.

Q.43. J-Pope led a protest rally in Hong Kong where all the protestors were wearing masks.

They were arrested by the police. Assuming that the verdict of the Court of Appeal applies here,

which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the legal position of J-Pope and his fellow

protestors?

a) The mask ban was lifted by the Hong Kong High Court.

b) The police could not arrest people for wearing facial covers.

c) The protest was a lawful gathering.

d) Ms Lam had no power to introduce emergency laws

Q.44. There was an outbreak of a flu. The Government brought in a ‘Cleanliness Act’ invoking

the Emergency Regulations Ordinance. Lee protested against this Act since it had no rationale

with the emergency. As per the information in the passage, can this Act be challenged?

a) Yes, only laws dealing with emergencies can be enacted by invoking the ERO.

b) No, any law which seems fit to the official can be enacted.

c) Yes, the law had to effect in combating the crisis.

d) No, the law was to ensure cleanliness in times of health emergency.

Q.45.Which of the following statements would, if true, most weaken the argument made by the

Court of Appeal in upholding the rationale of the mask ban.

a) The power to ban masks could be used by the authorities to violate human rights.

b) Wearing a mask never emboldens a person to commit great crimes.

c) The authoritiesshould notcurtail the democratic rights of citizens in garb of law and order.

d) None of the above.

Andhra Pradesh Ordinance on term of State Election Commissioner (‘SEC’) is now under

challenge before the bench headed by Chief Justice of AP High Court.

A serious Constitutional controversy is kicked off by the AP Government, which used its

extraordinary power through promulgation of ordinance to get rid of N. Ramesh Kumar as State

Election Commissioner, around 8 months in advance. Can the AP Council of Ministers led by its

Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, recommend the Governor to promulgate an ordinance

which is blatantly violative of Article 243-K of the Constitution seriously undermining the

independence of the State Election Commission which might compromise the fairness of

elections to local bodies which is now pending? How could the Governor of AP simply

promulgate the ordinance showing Nelsons' Eye to a significant Article 243 K?

If the AP Government does not want AP State Election Commissioner N. R. Kumar to continue

in his office, only recourse left to them is to prepare for impeachment in the same lines of

impeaching the High Court Judge. Without removing him as provided under 243-K of the

Constitution and adhere to norms armed under Section 200 of AP Panchayati Raj Act 1994, the

Government chose to reduce his term from five years to three years, resulting in cessation of his

office.

What is directly prohibited by the Constitution has been done by the Executive of the AP state by

indirectly removing him. Thus, the ordinance strikes fatally at the independence of the State

Election Commission and creates doubts on the sincerity of Government in conducting elections

in free and fair manner. Free and fair election is the basic structure of our constitution.

Article 243(K) says, “Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State, the

conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner shall be such as the

Governor may by rule determine: Provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be

removed from his office except in like manner and on the like ground as a Judge of a High Court

and the conditions of service of the State Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his

disadvantage after his appointment.”

Is it not unconstitutional? The basic purpose of giving fixed tenure of five years and making

removal process difficult is to secure the independent position of SEC from the whims and

fancies of newly elected Government. If actions and decisions of the office holders are adverse to

their interests, rulers prefer to remove them from such position either by transfer, or removal.

The Government is trying to defend Ordinance saying that its main aim was to bring in electoral

reform to ensure neutral, fair and independent SEC, hence, it cannot be considered

unconstitutional. It is also reported that the HC verdict in the Aparmita Prasad Singh vs. State of

UP and SC judgment in Kailash Chand Mahajan were used to support their point.

Kailash Chand Mahajan was Chairman of State Electricity Board, who was removed from office

by amending statute to reduce the term. In State of Himachal Pradesh v. Kailash Chand

Mahajan, Supreme Court held that reduction of tenure of service amounts to cessation and not

removal. The AP Government is trying to justify that Ramesh Kumar was not removed but just

his term was shortened and hence he must step out.

[Source: Live Law, Another Challenge to Independence of Constitutional Institutions: Can AP

Government Remove Election Commissioner?]

Q.46. The doctrine of colourable legislation states that what cannot be done directly cannot

also be done indirectly.

Do you think that this doctrine applies in the facts of the given passage?

a) Yes, the act of removal of SEC was directly prohibited by the Constitution.

b) No, Government had the power to remove the SEC; so it did not do something it should

not have done.

c) Yes, by reducing his term of office, they sought to remove him without following the

law.

d) No, the norms of Section 200 of AP Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, were followed.

Q.47. Does the Ordinance impair the principles of democracy, as per the passage?

a) Yes, it has a direct bearing on conducting free and fair elections.

b) No, an isolated event does not create any repercussions in democracy.

c) Yes, the SEC plays a major role in election of Governments.

d) None of the above.

Q.48. Akshay was appointed as SEC. After his appointment, the Governorimposed a rule

forbidding SEC from using the government car. As a result, Akshay had to travel by train to his

office. He complained to the Government that his service condition was deliberately changed

after his appointment inviolation of Article 243(K). Is his complaint valid?

a) Yes, it violated the protection of service conditions of SEC after appointment.

b) No, the Governor’s rule is subject only to the Legislature and SEC cannot complain.

c) Yes, the rule changing the conditions of service was disadvantageous to him.

d) No, the variance of his service condition was not severe enough to impair him from his

duty.

Q.49.What is the principal defence of the Government to support the removal of SEC?

a) The constitutional framework for removal of SEC has not been flouted.

b) The measure would boost electoral reform and

c) The new arrangement will give impetus to the independence of SEC.

d) None of the above.

Q.50. The State Election Commissioner was abruptly removed by shortening his tenure by an

amendment. The Government defended its decision by citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in

State of Himachal Pradesh v. Kailash Chand Mahajan. Which of the following statements, if

true, would most weaken the Government’s position?

a) Article 243K deals with conditions of service, and not merely tenure of service.

b) The office of SEC plays a crucial role in a democracy and should have greater

protections.

c) Cessation is not different from removal and cessation by the government will translate

into removal.

d) All of the above.

ANSWER KEY

1. A

2. B

3. C ‘it seems not only wrong but a criminal thing,” Kipling writes in the opening

vignette, “to allow natives to have any voice in the control of such a city‘

4. D ‘He saw Indians as a commodity, as a steadfast propagandist for the Crown ... living in India meant serving the colonial purpose: to shoulder what he later referred to as “the white man’s burden.”. It was his colonial bequest, a city to write about as if he owned and governed it…’

5. C Ans. c

Explanation- ‘They were slowly impressing themselves as a community that had

begun to challenge the Caucasian contingent’s intellectual hierarchy, in a city that had

been partitioned into strict black and white towns. They had as much a claim on

Calcutta as the English.’

6. A

7. D Ans. d

Explanation- According to subject-verb agreement, ‘have’ should have been used

instead of has since the subject, ‘army and the government’ is in the plural.

8. C Ans. c

Explanation-’The unit, as Yadav correctly pointed out, only recruits from three

castes—Rajputs, Hindu Jats and Sikh Jats. According to Yadav, these three castes are

being given “preferential treatment” to the detriment of other citizens of the

country.’

9. B Ans. b

Explanation- ‘the army said that it did not recruit on the basis of caste, region and

religion, but it grouped recruits according to their communities for “administrative

convenience” and “operational requirements.’

10. D Ans. d

Explanation- Re: the last paragraph of the passage

11. D Difference of production of C in 1991 and A in 1996 = 5,00,000 tonnes.

12. A Percentage increase of A from '92 to '93 = (55 - 40)/40 x 100 = 37.5%

13. B Percentage rise/fall in production for B.

1992 = 9%

1993 = 16.6%

1994 = 10%

1995 = 9%

1996 = 10%

The maximum difference is from 1992 to 1993, which is 10. And the second

nearest to it is fall or rise of 5. So, undoubtedly the answer is 1993.

14. C Percentage production = 120/90 x 100 = 133.3%

15. C Average production of A = 50

Average production of B = 54.17

Average production of C = 50

Difference of production = 54.17 - 50 = 4.17

16. D Required difference = (335 - 280)/6 = 916666 tonnes

17. C Percentage decline = (40 - 35)/40 x 100 = 12.50%.

18. A It is clear from the graph. But see the table which shows the percentage

growth of six companies from 1994 to 1995.

A = 10%

B = 22.22%

C = 33.33%

D = 40%

E = 28.57%

19. B Required percentage = (40 + 35)/60 x 100 = 125%

20. C It is clear that the highest average production is in E and lowest average

production is in C. So, the maximum difference would be in E and C.

21. A

22. B

23. C

24. A

25. C

26. C

27. C

28. C

29. D

30. D

31. A

32. D

33. B

34. C

35. C

36. B

37. A

38. D

39. C

40. D

41. C But in a partial victory for the city government, the court said

its overall right to invoke the Emergency Regulations

Ordinance (ERO) was constitutional in time of "public

danger", overruling critics who said the ERO was itself

unconstitutional.

42. C Ms Lam’s use of emergency powers to bypass the Legislative

Council, Hong Kong’s de facto legislature, to invoke the mask

ban sparked concerns that the chief executive could use

similar methods to introduce further restrictive

measures.

43. C The Court of Appeal on Thursday said the ban was only valid

for unlawful assemblies but ruled masks were permissible in

lawful gatherings. It also ruled that granting police the power

to demand people remove facial coverings was

unconstitutional. However, the court overturned the lower

court’s finding that Ms Lam had no power to introduce

emergency laws.

44. B First, they declared that part of the Emergency Regulations

Ordinance is unconstitutional. The ordinance gives the city’s

top official the power to enact any law she sees fit in “an

occasion of public danger or emergency.”

45. D B and C are correct.

The judges then turned their attention to the mask ban itself.

They acknowledged that the ban sought to achieve legitimate

aims, including dampening the emboldening effect that the

anonymity offered by a mask has on protesters, and helping

the police with law enforcement, investigation, and

prosecution. The judges also acknowledged that the ban was

rationally connected with its aims: for example, without a

mask, certain protesters may be less willing to commit

vandalism or violent acts. Unmasked protesters would also

be more easily identifiable by the police. And though many

opponents of the mask ban note that people are openly

flouting the measure, the judges wrote that the law’s

ineffectiveness “does not in itself disprove rational

connection.”

46. C What is directly prohibited by the Constitution has been done

by the Executive of the AP state by indirectly removing him.

47. A Thus, the ordinance strikes fatally at the independence of the

State Election Commission and creates doubts on the

sincerity of Government in conducting elections in free and

fair manner. Free and fair election is the basic structure of

our constitution.

48. D Article 243(K) says, “Subject to the provisions of any law

made by the Legislature of a State, the conditions of service

and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner shall

be such as the Governor may by rule determine: Provided

that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed

from his office except in like manner and on the like ground

as a Judge of a High Court and the conditions of service of

the State Election Commissioner shall not be varied to

his disadvantage after his appointment.”

49. D B and C both are correct.

The Government is trying to defend Ordinance saying that its

main aim was to bring in electoral reform to ensure neutral,

fair and independent SEC, hence, it cannot be considered

unconstitutional.

50. B Kailash Chand Mahajan was Chairman of State Electricity

Board, who was removed from office by amending statute to

reduce the term. In State of Himachal Pradesh v. Kailash

Chand Mahajan, Supreme Court held that reduction of

tenure of service amounts to cessation and not removal. The

AP Government is trying to justify that Ramesh Kumar was

not removed but just his term was shortened and hence he

must step out. Whether Kailash Chand Mahajan's rule

applies to State Election Commissioner's removal also, who is

protected by a Constitutional provision Article 243K?