Legend:

Document contains three categories.

(i) Errors: Both in the solution and/or the explanation. They are marked in ORANGE
font. Suitable clarification is provided wherever necessary.

(ii) Typos: Explanation is correct and complete in this case. But, the Solution
(answer) option is printed incorrectly. Clarification for the typo is given in
Regular BLACK font.

(iii) Clarifications: In the Discussion pages at the website, several

doubts/disputes/ clarifications were asked/raised/requested. We tried to address
queries in the Discussion pages wherever it was possible or required. However, some
doubts remain; they are addressed here in Regular BLUE Font.

The classification makes the document easy to read.

Test 1

77. Answer Justification was missing in the online version.

Ashoka instituted a body of officials known as the dhamma-mahamattas, who served

the dual function of propagating the dhamma and keeping the emperor in touch with
public opinion

They were directly responsible for the practical working of Dhamma. These officers
directly reported to the king and they could have been a 'privileged group'.
It may be assumed that gradually their power to interfere in the lives of the
people increased.
These officers were busy among members of various sects (edicts mention that they
worked among servants and nobles, Brahmans and wealthy householders, the poor and
the aged and others).
Learning: Ashokas dhamma did not involve worship of a god, or performance of a
sacrifice.

He felt that just as a father tries to teach his children, he had a duty to
instruct his subjects. He was also inspired by the teachings of the Buddha.
Ashoka also sent messengers to spread ideas about dhamma to other lands, such as
Syria, Egypt, Greece and Sri Lanka
Q Source: Improvisation: Page 80: NCERT 6th History: Our Pasts-I

Test 2
3. Clarification: Divya prabandam was composed only by Alvars, not Nayanars.

23. Clarification: The appointment of Governor, RBI, is approved by Prime

Ministers Office on the recommendation of Finance Minister. So, option A is the
best choice among all. Ultimately all appointments will be done in the name of the
President, even if he is not the appointing authority.

68. In the light of recent developments, answer would change to be option D.

Natural gas production will be soon started from a block in MP.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ril-close-to-starting-gas-
production-from-cbm-blocks-in-mp-116071700148_1.html

100. Option A should be 2134 instead of 1234. Rest remains the same.

Test 3

4. Question was incomplete in the online version.

Q. The Woods Despatch 1854 came to India with which of the following objectives?

1. Deciphering ancient Indian texts to bring out their relevance to the modern
society

2. To educate the natives of India so that a class of public servants could be

created.

3. To develop practical and vocational skills of the Indians to increase production

in India

4. Promote education free of cost in India

Select the correct answer using the codes below.

a) 2 and 3 only

b) 1, 3 and 4 only

c) 2 only

d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Solution: a)

44. It is Hepatitis A that spreads through water, not Hepatitis B. Replace

Hepatitis B with Hepatitis A in Statement 3 and justification part.

Test 4
10. Clarification: Iltutmish built the Hauz-i-Shamsi water tank built. It was
Khilji who built the Hauz Khas tank.

46. Clarification: We intended to ask places that lay to the east of the line
joining (broadly) Uttarakhand and Odisha with you facing North.

Test 5

7. Clarification: A UPSC member can be appointed (not re-appointed, if that is how

one was interpreting it before) as the Chairman

10. Answer will be C as per the explanation. Vienna Convention itself has not
placed legally binding reduction goals for the use of CFCs. Its protocol called
Montreal Protocol is legally binding to all signatories.

23. Clarification: Statement 1 should be read as - It will be the first river

project that will pass through a tiger reserve.

"Note: Please tag us @Insights Prelims in your doubts, especially for tests that
have been conducted long back. We will be able to track and reply to your comments
quicker."

Copyright Test 6

11. Answer will be B, not C. Justification update Option B is correct. Since

axial tilt remains the same irrespective of earths position with respect to the
Sun, different hemispheres receive different amount of solar insolation.

22. Justification update: Tashkent is in Uzbekistan.

41. Statement 3 should be updated to read as Debendranath Tagore and Keshub

Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj. Both Debendranath Tagore and Keshub Chandra
Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj, but due to differences between them, the Samaj spilt
into two. Tagore's Samaj is known as Adi Brahmo Samaj, and Sen's became Brahmo
Samaj of India.

44. The question should be updated to: Strongest and clearly detectible
Gravitational waves are generated by? Answer will remain as C. Any accelerating
object generates gravitational waves. However, the gravitational waves generated by
them are too feeble to be detected. Only very large objects rotating/accelerating
at tremendous speeds produce gravitational waves that can be detected, something of
the order of very large neutron stars or black holes.

65. Clarification: A lot of heads were raised at the interpretation of statement 1,

but it is an official statement. Please check here
http://www.bis.org.in/other/enforcement.asp The Standard mark is a unique number,
not the ISI graphic logo.
Test 7

54. Statement Typo: NCA in Statement 1 is Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), not
National Command Authority (NCA). This Hindu article as well mistakenly mentions it
as National Command authority http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Strategic-
Forces-Command-exempted-from-RTI-ambit/article14515281.ece . National Command
authority is actually a Pakistani institution.

68. Magnesium is a plant macronutrient, not a micronutrient. For the answer to

remain the same, the question should be updated to read Which of the following
plant nutrients is associated with chlorophyll formation in plants?

92. Clarification: Theosophical Society was formed in New York, but established
finally in Adyar (its international headquarters).

Test 8

77 & 84. We regret these two factual errors. In Q77, Option C should be updated as
Carpathain mountains: Europe. In Q84, Learning part should be Updated: Romania
and Poland are not landlocked states.

Test 9

31. Answer will be C, not B, as also evident from the explanation.

86. Answer will be B, not C as mistakenly given in the online version, as also
clear from the explanation.

Test 10

47. Answer should be A, not C as mistakenly mentioned in the online version, as

also evident from the explanation.

48. The report name in Statement 2 is Global Financial Stability and not Global
Financial Stability and Development.

69. Answer should be A, as clear from the explanation.

98. Option B should be 2 only, instead of 1 and 2 only. It is a repeat of

Option C: an online glitch.

Test 11

39. Clarification: There is some confusion over whether the Paris agreement is
legally binding or not. The Paris agreement is legally binding in forcing
governments to accept and cater for the 2 degree C temperature rise limit. But, the
commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions in line with that goal are NOT
legally binding. So, to avoid this confusion, Statement 1 should be read or
rephrased as, Kyoto Protocol was legally binding in terms of emission cut targets,
but Paris Agreement is not. You may want to read details here
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/04/the-paris-climate-agreement-is-
now-official

29. Answer is correct, but a factual correction needs to be made in explanation for
Statement 1. Gandhiji became president of INC during Belgaum session 1924.
http://inc.in/INCSessions.aspx

59. Answer will be C, as also evident from explanation.

60. Clarification: Statement 2 intends to say that British India never had silver
coins as they were discontinued right after the British taking reign. So, it is
incorrect. The fact is that Silver coins continued in India till 1939 and
discontinued later in view of the growing shortage of the metal.

Test 12

12. It should be EMV in both the statements of the question, instead of EVM.

57. We should have explicitly mentioned "ordinary" bills, in which case statement 1
would be unambiguously correct. In case of Constitutional amendment bills, the
President cannot send the bill back for reconsideration of the Parliament.

69. Statement 1 is actually Merger of railway and annual budget, and not
separation of railway and annual budget as written mistakenly. Rest remains the
same.

Test 13

2. Minor explanation update: Last line of the explanation should mention, So, both
1 and 2 are correct., instead of So, A is incorrect, but R is correct.

65. Minor explanation update: Last few words in explanation should mention, thus
statement 2 is correct, instead of so statement 2 is wrong.

Test 14

12. Answer will be B, not A, as also evident from the explanation. If there is no
depreciation, GDP will equal NDP. If there is high depreciation (especially due to
poor technological growth), NDP would be quite below GDP, and the difference will
progressively grow larger as the depreciation increases.

58. Clarification: There is some confusion over whether Shungas patronized

Buddhists or persecuted them. Sunga rulers were followers of the Brahmanical faith
and Buddhism was deprived of the State patronage which it enjoyed during the reign
of the Mauryan rulers, like Asoka and some of his successors (source: TN 11th
Textbook and http://ignca.nic.in/budh0002.htm ). However, they did not suppress
Buddhist art and architecture remaining great patrons of creative art pieces.

77. Clarification: The Adhidhammapitaka Pitaka was established in the first

Buddhist council, but it was formalized and refined for transmission to general
public only in the Third council. Moreover, final touch was given to all Pitakas
i.e. tripitakas in the third council.

94. Clarification: IMF ranks nations based on their GNP (PPP). Some are confused
that the explanation does not mention it and mentions otherwise, but the
explanation only highlights the fact that India is ranked 4th on GDP (PPP). All is
well with the question and answer.

Test 15

18. Clarification: Some raised the concern that it is the CSO that publishes the
IIP, OEA does not. OEA's role actually includes "Supervising as a source agency,
compilation of monthly production statistics for identified industrial items, their
validation, and onward transmission for computation of the monthly Index of
Industrial Production (IIP) by Central Statistics Office (CSO)." This was what
statement 3 also intended to put forward. It stands correct.

27. Clarification: Both 52nd and 91st Constitutional amendment brought

constitutional recognition to political parties. If the statement 1 mentioned
"constitutional recognition for the first time", it would have been wrong. As it
stands right now, it is correct.

46. Clarification: In explanation of Statement 3 we have mentioned that Kuchipudi

is one of the ten classical dances of India. You need to understand that the
number of recognized classical dances of India range from eight to more, depending
on the source and scholar. The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognizes eight
Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Sattriya, Manipuri and
Mohiniyattam. Scholars such as Drid Williams add Chhau, Yakshagana and Bhagavata
Mela to the list. The Culture Ministry of the Government of India includes Chhau in
its classical list. So, the explanation stands correct.

Test 16

50. Clarification: It is actually, As per Census 2011, the literacy rate among
tribal groups is highest in which of the following states/UTs of India? Everything
else remains the same.

55. Clarification: Telangana should also be added to the list.

63. Answer will be D as per the explanation.

82. Clarification: The competent authority is Speaker of the House, not Leader of
the House.

Test 17
25. Statement 2 should be revised to, global change, instead of global climate
change. Rest remains the same. The "Global Change" they refer to is the change in
Earth's global gravity field.

41. Clarification: IVI is an international non-profit (not inter-governmental)

working in partnership with several governments which are signatories to its
establishment.

Test 18

63. Clarification: The base year for IIP was 2004-05 when that particular test was
made. It has been revised to 2011-12 this month (May 2017).

86. Options are wrongly printed. It will be A) 1 only, B) 2 only, C) Both 1 and 2,
D) None. There is no statement 3 in the question.

Test 19

42. Statement 1 should mention Rashtrakutas instead of Chalukyas as per the

explanation. Rest remains the same.

82. Clarification: Largest basin in India is Ganga Basin. Within India (upto our
borders), Indus basin is smaller than ganga basin. However, overall Indus Basin is
larger than Ganges.

86. Clarification: The NACWC was originally set up by a resolution of Cabinet

Secretariat, and later converted into a statutory body under CWC Act, 2000.

Test 20

13. Answer is clearly D, as also clear from the explanation.

47. Clarification: Even Speaker is not a part of the committee that selects the
CIC. Answer is correct.

56. Answer will be B. Donations made to the JSK (National Population Stabilisation
Fund) are 100% exempt from income tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act,
1961.

96. Answer will be A; evident from the explanation.