The 2018 Codex
Questions 11 to 20 (Set A)
He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna; stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) Lala Lajpat Rai
The 'Lion of Punjab' was a ferocious nationalist and part of the famous Lal-Bal-Pal trio. Highly inspired by the Italian unification movement, he wrote biographies of Mazzini and Garibaldi to inspire Indian youth. During WW1, he traveled to the USA and founded the Indian Home Rule League of America (1917) in New York. Later in life, he joined the Swaraj Party and was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly.
Route: [REALM 52: National Movement Personalities] & [REALM 27: Revolutionary Phase I]The Lion's Pen
The Identity Token
Consider the following statements:
1. Aadhaar card can be used as a proof of citizenship or domicile.
2. Once issued, Aadhaar number cannot be deactivated or omitted by the Issuing Authority.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Statement 1 is False: Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act explicitly states that the Aadhaar number is a proof of identity, not a proof of citizenship or domicile. Any resident (including foreigners living in India for 182+ days) can get an Aadhaar.
Statement 2 is False: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) retains full legal authority to deactivate or omit an Aadhaar number if it is found to be generated using fake documents or if it violates other regulatory conditions.
Route: [REALM 34: Digital Identity & Public Service Delivery]Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/dried up in the recent past due to human activities?
1. Aral Sea
2. Black Sea
3. Lake Baikal
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a) 1 only
The drying of the Aral Sea (located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) is one of the planet's worst environmental disasters. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union diverted the two major rivers feeding it (Amu Darya and Syr Darya) to irrigate the desert for cotton production. Today, it is mostly a toxic desert with stranded, rusted ships. The Black Sea and Lake Baikal (the world's deepest freshwater lake) remain massive bodies of water and have not dried up.
Route: [REALM 118: Water Resources Degradation] & [REALM 69: Land-Cover Transformation]The Ghost Sea
The Global Scales
"Rule of Law Index" is released by which of the following?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) World Justice Project
The Rule of Law Index is a highly cited, independent quantitative assessment tool that measures the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice. It is published annually by the World Justice Project (WJP), an independent, multidisciplinary organization. It measures parameters like constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, and civil/criminal justice.
Route: [REALM 220: Rule of Law Index]Which one of the following links all the ATMs in India?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) National Payments Corporation of India
The National Financial Switch (NFS) is the largest network of shared automated teller machines (ATMs) in India. Originally created by the IDRBT, it was taken over in 2009 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). NPCI acts as the central digital spine linking all ATMs, meaning you can use an SBI debit card in an HDFC ATM seamlessly.
Route: [REALM 33: Digital Payments Infrastructure]The Switch
The Shock Absorber
Consider the following statements:
1. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the amount that banks have to maintain in the form of their own funds to offset any loss that banks incur if the account-holders fail to repay dues.
2. CAR is decided by each individual bank.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a) 1 only
Statement 1 is True: CAR (also known as CRAR) is the ratio of a bank's core capital to its risk-weighted assets. It acts as a financial shock absorber. If borrowers default on their loans, the bank has its own capital set aside to absorb that hit without going bankrupt and losing depositors' money.
Statement 2 is False: To prevent risky behavior, CAR is strictly determined by central banking authorities (the RBI in India), based on international Basel norms (currently 9% for Indian banks). A bank cannot arbitrarily decide its own minimum CAR.
Route: [REALM 150: Banking Legislation] & [REALM 55: Banking Sector Stability]The identity platform 'Aadhaar' provides open "Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)". What does it imply?
1. It can be integrated into any electronic device.
2. Online authentication using iris is possible.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) Both 1 and 2
An Application Programming Interface (API) is software that allows two applications to talk to each other. Because Aadhaar provides open APIs, developers can integrate Aadhaar authentication into any electronic device or app (like a fingerprint scanner at a ration shop, or a biometric attendance machine) (Statement 1 is True).
This API supports multi-modal authentication, meaning it can instantly verify a user remotely via OTP, fingerprint, or iris scan. (Statement 2 is True).
Route: [REALM 75: Digital Public Infrastructure]The Open Plug
The Starving Crescent
Very recently, in which of the following countries have lakhs of people either suffered from severe famine/acute malnutrition or died due to starvation caused by war/ethnic conflicts?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) Yemen and South Sudan
This was a major UN humanitarian alert leading up to the 2018 exams. In Yemen, the brutal civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, coupled with port blockades, created the world's worst man-made humanitarian crisis with millions on the brink of starvation. Similarly, in South Sudan, ethnic conflict and civil war led the UN to formally declare a famine in parts of the country in 2017.
Route: [REALM 120: International Relations Case-Study Bank]Regarding Wood's Dispatch, which of the following statements are true?
1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduced.
2. Establishment of universities was recommended.
3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a) 1 and 2 only
Known as the "Magna Carta of English Education in India", Charles Wood's Dispatch (1854) set the foundation for the modern educational system.
Statement 1 & 2 are True: It recommended setting up universities in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras (established in 1857), and introduced the grants-in-aid system to encourage private enterprise in education.
Statement 3 is False: The crucial detail is "at all levels". Wood's Dispatch actually recommended Vernacular (local) languages for primary school instruction, Anglo-Vernacular for high schools, and English only for higher (university) education.
Route: [REALM 60: Press & Education]The Magna Carta
The Overseer's Lens
With reference to the Parliament of India, which of the following Parliamentary Committees scrutinizes and reports to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, sub-rules, by-laws, etc. conferred by the Constitution or delegated by the Parliament are being properly exercised by the Executive within the scope of such delegation?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation
Parliament makes broad laws (the Parent Act), but delegates the power to fill in the minute operational details (rules, regulations, by-laws) to the Executive (bureaucrats/ministries). This is called "Delegated" or "Subordinate" legislation.
To ensure the executive doesn't abuse this power or write rules that contradict the original Act, the Committee on Subordinate Legislation (in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) rigorously scrutinizes these rules and reports back to the House.
Route: [REALM 143: Parliamentary Committees] & [REALM 67: Delegated Legislation]