The 2018 Codex
Questions 41 to 50 (Set A)
Consider the following statements:
1. No criminal proceedings shall be instituted against the Governor of a State in any court during his term of office.
2. The emoluments and allowances of the Governor of a State shall not be diminished during his term of office.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) Both 1 and 2
Statement 1 is True: Article 361 of the Indian Constitution provides absolute personal immunity to the President and Governors. No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or a Governor in any court during their term of office.
Statement 2 is True: Under Article 158(4), to preserve the independence of the constitutional office, the emoluments and allowances of the Governor cannot be diminished during their term of office.
Route: [REALM 201: Governor] & [REALM 216: Powers, Privileges & Immunities]The Dual Shield
The Mona Lisa of India
The well-known painting "Bani Thani" belongs to the
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) Kishangarh school
Often referred to as the "Mona Lisa of India," the painting of Bani Thani is the absolute masterpiece of the Kishangarh School of Miniature Painting (a sub-school of Marwar in Rajasthan). Painted by the master artist Nihal Chand under the patronage of Raja Savant Singh in the 18th century, it is famous for its highly stylized, exaggerated facial features—sharply arched eyebrows, lotus-like elongated eyes, and a pointed chin.
Route: [REALM 38: Rajput Painting]What is "Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)", sometimes seen in the news?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) An American anti-missile system
THAAD is a highly advanced United States Army anti-ballistic missile defense system. It is designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their "terminal" phase (descent or reentry) using a hit-to-kill approach (kinetic energy, no explosive warhead). It was frequently in the news around 2017-2018 because the US deployed it in South Korea to counter North Korean threats, which deeply angered China.
Route: [REALM 411: Missile & Air Defence Systems]The Kinetic Intercept
The Broken Strings
With reference to cultural history of India, consider the following statements:
1. Most of the Tyagaraja Kritis are devotional songs in praise of Lord Krishna.
2. Tyagaraja created several new ragas.
3. Annamacharya and Tyagaraja are contemporaries.
4. Annamacharya kirtanas are devotional songs in praise of Lord Venkateshwara.
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (b) 2 and 4 only
Statement 1 is False: Saint Tyagaraja (part of the Carnatic Music Trinity) was a devout follower of Lord Rama, not Krishna. His famous Pancharatna Kritis are dedicated to Rama.
Statement 2 is True: Tyagaraja was a musical genius who created several new ragas in the Carnatic system.
Statement 3 is False: They were not contemporaries. Annamacharya (the Telugu saint-poet) lived in the 15th century, whereas Tyagaraja lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Statement 4 is True: Tallapaka Annamacharya's sankirtanas were exclusively dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati.
Route: [REALM 49: Hindustani & Carnatic] & [REALM 97: Cultural Personalities]Which of the following are regarded as the main features of the "Rule of Law"?
1. Limitation of powers
2. Equality before law
3. People's responsibility to the Government
4. Liberty and civil rights
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) 1, 2 and 4 only
The "Rule of Law" (popularized by A.V. Dicey) ensures that a country is governed by law, not by arbitrary men.
Statements 1, 2, and 4 are True: It intrinsically requires the limitation of state power (so the state cannot act autocratically), absolute equality before the law (no one is above it), and the primacy of individual liberty and civil rights.
Statement 3 is False: This is a philosophical inversion. In a Rule of Law system (democracy), the Government is responsible to the People. Demanding that the "People are responsible to the Government" is the definition of a totalitarian or fascist state, the exact opposite of the Rule of Law.
Route: [REALM 256: Rule of Law]Dicey's Pillar
The Fiat Mandate
Which one of the following statements correctly describes the meaning of legal tender money?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (b)
"Legal Tender" is fiat money (coins and banknotes) recognized by law as the valid means for extinguishing a public or private debt. The defining characteristic is the legal compulsion: if you owe someone money, and you offer them Legal Tender (like Rupee notes in India), they cannot legally refuse it to settle the debt.
Option C (Cheques/Drafts) are called "fiduciary money" or "optional money." A shopkeeper or creditor has full legal right to say "I don't accept cheques." They cannot say "I don't accept official Rupee notes."
Route: [REALM 112: Money & Monetary System]If a commodity is provided free to the public by the Government, then
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c)
In economics, There is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TINSTAAFL). Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone. When the government provides a "free" good (like free electricity or rations), real resources (labor, land, capital) are still consumed to produce it. Therefore, the opportunity cost is never zero.
Since the consumer isn't paying for those resources, who is? The Government doesn't have its own money; it uses tax revenue. Therefore, the burden of giving up alternative uses of those resources (the opportunity cost) is transferred entirely to the tax-paying public.
Route: [REALM 21: Budget & Public Expenditure]The Hidden Bill
The Empty Chart
Increase in absolute and per capita real GNP do not connote a higher level of economic development, if
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) poverty and unemployment increase.
This gets to the fundamental difference between Economic Growth (a quantitative measure of output like GDP or GNP) and Economic Development (a qualitative measure of human well-being).
A country can have massive growth in Real GNP because a few billionaires double their wealth (skewing the per capita average). But if that wealth is highly concentrated, and the masses are sinking deeper into poverty and unemployment, there is zero actual "economic development" happening on the ground.
Route: [REALM 25: Growth vs Economic Development]Human capital formation as a concept is better explained in terms of a process which enables
1. individuals of a country to accumulate more capital.
2. increasing the knowledge, skill levels and capacities of the people of the country.
3. accumulation of tangible wealth.
4. accumulation of intangible wealth.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) 2 and 4
Human Capital is the economic value of a worker's experience, education, health, and skills. It is not physical money or property.
Statement 1 & 3 are False: "Accumulating more capital" or "tangible wealth" refers to Physical and Financial capital (buying machines, gold, land, stock), not Human capital.
Statements 2 & 4 are True: Increasing knowledge, health, and skills is the literal definition of Human Capital formation. Because you cannot physically touch "skills" or "health", this builds the intangible wealth of a nation.
Route: [REALM 06: Human Capital Formation]The Intangible Asset
The Inefficient Engine
Despite being a high saving economy, capital formation may not result in significant increase in output due to
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) high capital-output ratio
This is the concept of ICOR (Incremental Capital-Output Ratio). It measures the inefficiency of an economy.
If the ICOR is 4, it means you need to invest ₹4 of capital to get ₹1 of output. If an economy is highly inefficient (due to delays, bad technology, corruption, or infrastructure bottlenecks), the ICOR shoots up (e.g., to 7). In this scenario, even if the country is saving a massive amount of money and pouring it into factories (capital formation), the resulting output (GDP growth) remains stagnant because so much capital is being wasted just to produce one unit. Therefore, a high capital-output ratio nullifies the benefits of high savings.
Route: [REALM 42: Physical Capital] & [REALM 44: Savings & Investment]