 Greetings, dear aspirants. In this session, we'll be seeing some practice questions which will be helpful for your UPSC prelims examination 2020. Let us now move on to the discussion. Which one of the following is not a domain of the Niti Ayokes Health Index? And they have given four options, health outcomes, governance and information, key inputs and processes, and conservation. If you take this year's prelims question paper, you can find a question like, which one of the following is not a subindex of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index? So such questions may come at the examination. There are only three domains with a total of 23 indicators for the health index, which has been developed by Niti Ayokes. It has been the practice of Niti Ayokes. Because in both the editions of the index, the domains were same. The domains of health index are health outcomes, governance and information, and key inputs and processes. So conservation is no way related with health. So you can easily eliminate this conservation statement as well. In prelims question this year, they gave maintenance of law and order as one of the options for the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index. And that was the correct answer for that particular question. For this question, the correct answer is option D, conservation. Moving on to the second question, consider the following statements about prison statistics and prisons act. They have given two statements and I've asked you to choose the correct answer. Here, the first statement is incorrect, the prison statistics, the crime in India statistics, and the statistics with respect to the accident and suicide deaths are released by National Crime Records Bureau. If you see this National Crime Records Bureau comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The National Institute of Social Defense is a central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India. Though it develops tools, programs for correctional administration in prisons, it is not releasing the official prison statistics of the country. If you see this Institute also involves in training the authorities in prison and correctional administration. Now, the second statement, it is correct as the section 59, subsection 25 of the prisons act of 1894 makes way for the state government to provide rules for the appointment and guidance of visitors of prisons. These visitors are not the visitors of prisoners, they are a board of official and non-official visitors who make observations about the living conditions and care and welfare of prisoners by having frequent visits. So for this question, one of the statement two is correct. The correct answer is option B. Moving on to the third question, which of the following refers to children under the age of five having low weight to their height and four options are child stunting, chronic under nutrition, child wasting and under nourishment. If you see this given statement is the definition of child wasting. When we say child stunting, it means children having low height to their corresponding age. It reflects chronic malnutrition or chronic under nutrition and acute malnutrition is reflected by child wasting and under nourishment refers to having less calorie intake. The average per capita consumption of poorest 30 percentage population of India is much lower than the required number of calories. So here, the correct answer is option C. Child wasting, which means the children under the age of five having low weight to their height. The question is, a regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement has been proposed between a set of countries and an organization. In the Asia Pacific region in 2012, the agreement is proposed between. Now, whenever you are knowing or studying about regional comprehensive economic partnership or RCEP, remember ASEAN. If you see this RCEP has been proposed among 10 ASEAN members and six free trade partners of ASEAN, which also includes the countries of India, Australia, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. So here, the correct answer is option C. ASEAN and India, Australia, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. Consider the following statements with respect to United Nations Security Council. The first statement is it consists of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. And the second statement is that the non-permanent members are elected for the period of two years on the recommendations of one of the permanent members of the council. And statement three is historically India's neither permanent nor a non-permanent member of the council. They have asked you to choose the correct statement. Now, read the statements once again. We saw that United Nations Security Council consists of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. And these 10 non-permanent members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly based on the respective regions. So there were five different regions which we saw, but not on the recommendations of permanent member. So here, the statement one is correct and the second statement is not correct. Then moving on to the third statement, though India is not a permanent member, it has served as a non-permanent member in the past. So the third statement is also incorrect here because it is given that it was neither a permanent nor a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Their question is asked for the correct statements. The correct statement is only the first statement. So the answer is option A, one, only. Question is, which of the following is part of the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity from India that is maintained by UNESCO. And they have given four items. First one is the Kalbelia, second one, Draman, third, Yoga and four, Vashi. And they've asked to choose the correct answer from the options. Here, the question is asked, which of the following is part of this representative list and especially from India. Kalbelia, Draman and Yoga are a part of this list that is corresponding or belonging to India. Vashi is also on this list, but it corresponds to Japan. The question is asked to choose the correct items. The correct answer is option B, one, two and three only since Vashi will not come under this list. Moving on to the next question, consider the following statements with reference to National Human Rights Commission and the question has given some three statements and that has asked to choose the correct statements. Now, if you look at the first statement, it states that NHRC is a constitutional body, but if you look at statement three, it states that it was established by the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993. If it was established by an act, then it becomes a statutory body because an act is a statute. This means if statement one is correct, statement three is wrong or vice versa. So they both cannot be correct together. This means we can eliminate options which has both one and three. The commission was established by the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993. This makes statement three as the correct statement and statement one is incorrect, like we just discussed. So we can eliminate option A as well. Here, the second statement states that the Chief Justice of India is the chat person of the commission. Now, in this statement, you may make a mistake because the former Chief Justice of India is the chat person of the commission. Here, the statement just mentions Chief Justice of India which indicates to the present Chief Justice of India. So in a hurry just by seeing Chief Justice of India, don't mark statement two as correct. Here, statement two is incorrect. So the correct answer to this question is option C, three, one, B. Moving on to the next question. The next question is about GST. It has given two statements and has asked you to choose the correct statement. Here, the first statement may confuse you because you may know that GST was introduced by an amendment to the constitution but you may not be sure by which amendment. It is the 101st amendment to the constitution of India in the year 2016. So the statement one year is correct. The second statement is also confusing because you may think that GST is a tax which is related to the commerce of the country. You can remember this by just a small trick. Remember that GST is a tax and it is a revenue to the government which means it is a finance to the government. So the actual ministry is the ministry of finance, not the ministry of commerce and industry. So the correct answer to this question is option A, one, one, B since the question is asked to choose the correct statements. Consider the following statements about malaria and they've given two statements and have asked for the correct answer. Here the first statement is correct. Malaria is a vector bond disease caused by plasmodium parasites, especially by plasmodium vivax and plasmodium faucipera. The parasites are spread to people through the bites of infected female anopolis mosquitoes. Here the second statement is wrong. Sexual transmission of malaria is not possible. In rare cases malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Here the question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option A, one, one, B. Next question, which among the following describes superconductivity which is often seen in the news? The question is asked for the description of superconductivity. Superconductivity has two main characteristics. First is zero resistance and then is the diamagnetism. From this we know that the answer should contain zero resistance, which is available in option C and D. So we can directly eliminate other two options. In these two options C and D, one says it conducts electricity and another says it stops the conducting of electricity. Look, it is very obvious that superconductivity should mean conducting electricity because we know conductor is a material in which electricity easily travels. So we can eliminate the option which says does not or stop the conduct of electricity. Hence a correct answer is option D. It is the ability of certain materials to conduct electric current with zero resistance. So option D is the correct answer. Lower policy report rate announcement by Reserve Bank of India denotes which of the following? When the policy report rate or the report rate is being reduced by the bank, it means that the bank rates will also become lower and why it has gone for the reduction in policy report rate is because the economy is growing at a very slower pace and also the investments and the money supply are in the lower side. So here the correct answer is option D. The money supply in the economy needs to be boosted. So when the bank reduces the bank rates, the money supply in the economy can be boosted. Next question, the National Institute of Labor Economics Research and Development is an autonomous institute under Neethi Ayuk, so the correct answer is option C, Neethi Ayuk. Agenda 2063, recently seen in the news is associated with which of the following? So they have given a European Union, African Union, International Customs Union and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The Agenda 2063 is the master plan for the transforming Africa into global powerhouse for the economy. So the Agenda 2063 is the master plan for transforming Africa into global powerhouse for the future. They are determined to achieve this in a 50 year period from the year 2013 to 2063. In this question, if you look at the statements, you can tell that the statement two is correct because it is known that Dr. Homi Jahangir Baba is known as the father of the Indian nuclear program. So this eliminates option C. Now the first statement tells that BARC comes under the Department of Atomic Energy. It is correct and please include this in your notes that BARC comes under the Department of Atomic Energy. So this makes statement one as correct. Now we have to see whether statement three is correct or not. The name is Baba Atomic Research Center. So we know that the center is involved in nuclear sciences as atomic energy is a discipline of nuclear science. But in the question, it states that BARC is involved only in the field of research in nuclear sciences. Now you may easily get carried away by this logic and may consider statement three as correct but it is actually wrong. So it is where the newspaper reading and analysis is useful. Four startups have tied up with BARC to manufacture the unique membrane based water purifiers but water is not a discipline of nuclear science. So from this we can tell that BARC is involved in multidisciplinary research as well. BARC or BARC does societal commitment domains of research and application as well. Now these points make sure that the word only should not be there in the statement. So it makes this third statement wrong. So this question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option B one and two one. Next question, which among the following is are the member states of the organization of Islamic cooperation. And they have given some five nations which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Here all the countries are members except India. Please keep this in mind. So the question is asked for the correct answer. So the correct answer is option D one two three and five one B because India is not a member of OIC. Next question, who among the following are the members of G20 grouping. They have given four countries, India, European Union, Japan and South Africa. The G20 summit for this year was held in Japan in the city of Osaka, India, European Union and the BRICS grouping along with the USA are part of this G20 grouping. If you see the South Africa also comes under this BRICS grouping, the other members of BRICS grouping are Brazil, Russia, India and China. So all the countries given in this question are correct. The question is asked for the correct answer. The correct answer is option D one two three and four. The next question, consider the following statements with respect to BS6 norms. Now they've given two statements and I've asked you to choose the correct answer. The first statement is BS6 norms are meant for automobiles only but not for the fuels of automobiles. These BS6 norms are not only for automobiles but also for fuel. The first statement is incorrect. Moving on to the second statement, India's targeting to implement these norms with effect from 1st of April 2020. Therefore this second statement is correct. So here the question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option B two only since only the second statement is correct. The question is about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967. They have given two statements and I've asked you to choose the correct statements. Here the first statement which has been stated or given year is correct and it is a part of statement of object and reasons of bringing this act based on the recommendations of committee of national integration and regionalism. Therefore the statement is correct. Now come to the second statement. It actually tells that the act defines unlawful activity and unlawful association but does not define terrorist act. The act also defines terrorist act in section 15 of the act. The term unlawful activity and unlawful association are explained in section two O and two P of the act. Therefore though the statement is partly correct it becomes an incorrect statement because the terrorist act is also defined under this act. So the question is asked for the correct statements. Here statement two is wrong. So the correct answer is option A one only. Consider the following statements with reference to wholesale price index. They have given four statements and I've asked you to choose the correct statements. Consider the first statement that is nothing but the definition of wholesale price index. This first statement is correct. Now the second statement it is wrong because WPI or the wholesale price index is compiled and released on monthly basis by the office of economic advisor not the central statistical office. And this office of economic advisor comes under the department of promotion of industry and internal trade under the ministry of commerce and industry. Now the statement three is correct because the base year use for calculation is 2011 12 only. And the final statement here the first part of the statement is right that is wholesale price index is calculated under three major groups namely primary articles manufactured products and fuel and power but not services because services are not included in wholesale price index. So here the question is asked for the correct statements the correct answer is option one and three only. The periodic labor force survey 2017-18 was launched by which of the following ministry and here this is a direct question. We know that it was launched by the ministry of statistics and program implementation. We discussed this during our analysis. So the correct answer here is option C. Next question which of the following nations as being part of a bilateral naval exercise with India and also part of quad dialogue but not a part of Malabar multilateral exercise and they've given four countries. Japan, United States, United Kingdom and Australia quad consists of four nations namely India, Japan, United States of America and Australia. So we can directly eliminate option C from this question which is the United Kingdom. Now know that India and USA started the Malabar exercise as a bilateral exercise in the year 1992 and Japan joined this exercise in the year 2007. So it became a multilateral exercise but know that Australia is not a joint. So Australia here is the correct answer because it is part of quad dialogue but not a part of Malabar multilateral exercise and also it has conducted some joint naval exercise with India. Moving on they have given two statements and they are asking which of the statements are correct. Here the first statement is wrong because the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002 deals with Article 21A of Indian Constitution. It is nothing but regarding a fundamental right to education. So it has no connection with the Council of Ministers. And if you see the Article 75, 1A was inserted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003. And here the second statement is correct as the total number of ministers including the Prime Minister in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 percentage of the total number of members of the House of People that is the Lok Sabha. So here the question is asked for the correct statement. Since statement two is only correct, the correct answer is option B, two only. Consider the following statements and these statements are about e-cigarettes. The question is asked for the correct statements. So if you look at the first statement it states that e-cigarettes are battery powered devices which are used to smoke. So this is correct. But the statement further states that it does not contain nicotine. This is wrong. e-cigarettes are made up of a flavored solution which contains a varying concentration of nicotine. Since this part of statement one is wrong it makes the whole statement wrong. Here the question asked for the correct statement and if you see the options given here, two options containing statement one can easily be eliminated which are options A and B. Now the second statement is a bit confusing as you may not be sure whether e-cigarettes contain all these compounds like acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone. Also whether they are carcinogens or not that is the cancer causing elements or not because we may not always remember every detail about a particular topic. But if you see the options that are given here the option C and D, statement two is mentioned and only one option contains statement three. So try to find out if the statement three is correct or not since statement two becomes automatically correct here. The use of nicotine as an ingredient in any food item is prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales Regulation 2011 of the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. So here the third statement is correct. So finally we can arrive at the option D which is two and three only since both the statements are correct. Now also remember that it was found that e-cigarettes contain potential carcinogens like acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone that is mentioned in the second statement. With reference to the generalized system of preferences program of USA considered the following statements and the question is asked for the correct statements. Here the first statement is it was first instituted in the year 1976 and is the largest and oldest US trade preference program. This GSP program actually came into force or it was first instituted in the year 1976. So this statement is correct. Here they have told in the second statement that in 2018 India was the second largest beneficiary under the program according to the Office of United States Trade Representative. Here the second statement is incorrect as India was the largest beneficiary under the program according to this Office of United States Trade Representative not the second largest beneficiary. So here the question is asked for correct statements the correct answer is option A one only. Which of the following are used to calculate the fiscal deficit? They have given tax revenues, borrowings, capital expenditure and revenue expenditure. And we have to choose the correct answer from the options given below. The fiscal deficit is the total expenditure minus the total receipts except the debt capital receipts. So here the debt capital receipts consists of borrowings and other liabilities. So these borrowings and other liabilities are not taken into account while calculating the fiscal deficit. And if you see here the total expenditure refers to both the capital and the revenue expenditure. So if you eliminate the item B which is the borrowings the correct answer is option D one three and four only. With this we come to the end of this session. Do like comment and share the video and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.