UPSC CDS-1 Archives

41. Who designed the Bombay Secretariat in the 1870s?

Who designed the Bombay Secretariat in the 1870s?

H. St. Clair Wilkins

Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney

Purushottamdas Thakurdas

Nusserwanji Tata

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The Bombay Secretariat building, located in Mumbai, was designed by H. St. Clair Wilkins and constructed in the 1870s.

H. St. Clair Wilkins was a British architect known for his work on several prominent buildings in India during the British Raj, including part of the Government Secretariat complex in Bombay (now Mumbai).

The Bombay Secretariat is part of the larger Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Other architects involved in the design of this complex include General P. L. Maxwell (Public Works Department building) and James Scott (University Library and Clock Tower). The other options are incorrect; Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney was a notable Parsi philanthropist who funded several public works, Purushottamdas Thakurdas was a prominent businessman and nationalist, and Nusserwanji Tata was a member of the famous Tata family. None of them were architects of the Secretariat.

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42. When some goods or productive factors are completely fixed in amount,

When some goods or productive factors are completely fixed in amount, regardless of price, the supply curve is

horizontal

downward sloping to the right

vertical

upward sloping to the right

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When the amount of a good or factor is completely fixed regardless of price, the quantity supplied does not change as the price changes. This results in a vertical supply curve.

A supply curve shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied at that price. If the quantity supplied is constant irrespective of the price level, the supply curve will be perfectly inelastic.

A vertical supply curve indicates that the quantity supplied remains the same regardless of any change in price. This is characteristic of goods or factors that are fixed in supply, such as unique pieces of art, limited historical artifacts, or factors of production like land in a specific location, at least in the short run. A horizontal supply curve indicates perfectly elastic supply, a downward sloping curve is typically a demand curve, and an upward sloping curve is the usual representation of a supply curve for most goods where quantity supplied increases with price.

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43. Consider the following statements about a joint-stock company : 1. I

Consider the following statements about a joint-stock company :

1. It has a legal existence.
2. There is limited liability of shareholders.
3. It has a democratic management.
4. It has a collective ownership.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

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1 and 2 only

1, 2 and 3 only

3 and 4 only

1, 2, 3 and 4

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Statements 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all considered correct characteristics of a joint-stock company in a broad sense relevant to this type of question. Therefore, option D is the correct answer.

A joint-stock company is a form of business organization where the ownership is divided into shares, and it has several distinct features: it is a separate legal entity, shareholders have limited liability, ownership is collective through shares, and its management structure, while often involving professional managers, derives authority from the shareholders (who vote for directors).

Statement 1: A joint-stock company is incorporated under law and has an existence independent of its members. Statement 2: The liability of each shareholder is limited to the unpaid amount of the shares held by them. Statement 4: Ownership is distributed among many shareholders who collectively own the company’s capital. Statement 3, “democratic management”, is perhaps the least precise term. Management is typically professional and appointed by the board of directors, who are elected by the shareholders. While not a direct democracy, the ultimate control rests with the shareholders through their voting rights, which can be considered a form of democratic governance within the company structure compared to other business forms. Given the options, all four statements are likely intended to be considered correct features.

44. Consider the following statements about indifference curves : 1. Ind

Consider the following statements about indifference curves :

1. Indifference curves are convex to the origin.
2. Higher indifference curve represents higher level of satisfaction.
3. Two indifference curves cut each other.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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1 only

1 and 2 only

2 and 3 only

3 only

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Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is incorrect. Therefore, option B is the correct answer.

Indifference curves are graphical representations of consumer preferences, showing combinations of two goods that yield the same level of satisfaction or utility. Key properties include: they are convex to the origin (due to diminishing marginal rate of substitution), higher curves represent higher satisfaction levels, and they do not intersect each other.

The diminishing marginal rate of substitution (MRS) means that as a consumer consumes more of one good and less of another while staying on the same indifference curve, the amount of the second good they are willing to give up for an additional unit of the first good decreases. If two indifference curves intersected, it would imply that a point on one curve and a point on another curve represent the same level of utility (the intersection point), while other points on the higher curve clearly represent a higher level of utility than points on the lower curve, leading to a contradiction and violating the assumption of transitivity in consumer preferences.

45. Which one of the following statements is not correct?

Which one of the following statements is not correct?

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When total utility is maximum, marginal utility is zero.

When total utility is decreasing, marginal utility is negative.

When total utility is increasing, marginal utility is positive.

When total utility is maximum, marginal and average utility are equal to each other.

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The relationship between Total Utility (TU) and Marginal Utility (MU) is as follows:
– When TU is increasing, MU is positive.
– When TU reaches its maximum point, MU is zero (the consumer gets no additional satisfaction from the last unit consumed).
– When TU starts decreasing, MU becomes negative (the consumer experiences dissatisfaction from the last unit).
Average Utility (AU) is calculated as Total Utility divided by the number of units consumed (TU/Q). While MU is zero when TU is maximum, AU is generally positive at that point unless TU itself is zero (which is not the case when it’s at its maximum positive value). There is no principle in utility theory stating that marginal and average utility are equal when total utility is maximum.

Understanding the relationship between Total Utility, Marginal Utility, and Average Utility is fundamental in consumer behaviour theory in economics.

The point where MU = 0 is the point of ‘satiety’. Beyond this point, consuming more units reduces total utility. AU is maximized when MU equals AU, but this point typically occurs *before* TU is maximized.

46. Which one of the following is not an assumption in the law of demand?

Which one of the following is not an assumption in the law of demand?

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There are no changes in the taste and preferences of consumers.

Income of consumers remains constant.

Consumers are affected by demonstration effect.

There are no changes in the price of substitute goods.

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The Law of Demand is based on the assumption of *ceteris paribus*, meaning ‘all other things being equal’. This includes assumptions like: consumers’ tastes and preferences remain unchanged, income of consumers remains constant, prices of substitute and complementary goods do not change, and consumers’ expectations about future prices do not change. The ‘demonstration effect’ (or bandwagon effect, snob effect, Veblen effect) are phenomena where consumer demand is influenced by the consumption of others, which is generally considered a deviation from or exception to the standard law of demand, not an underlying assumption. In the basic formulation of the law of demand, consumer choices are independent and based on utility maximization given price and income.

The law of demand relies on several simplifying assumptions to establish the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded. Factors that cause demand to deviate from this relationship are typically not included in the core assumptions.

Assumptions of the law of demand include: no change in income, no change in tastes/preferences, prices of related goods are constant, no expectation of future price changes, no change in the size of the population, and no change in the distribution of income.

47. Saurabh Chaudhary excels in which one of the following sports?

Saurabh Chaudhary excels in which one of the following sports?

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Archery

Shooting

Boxing

Judo

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Saurabh Chaudhary is a prominent Indian sportsperson who excels in shooting, specifically in pistol events like 10m Air Pistol. He has won multiple medals at international competitions, including the Asian Games, ISSF World Cup, and Youth Olympics.

This question tests knowledge about famous Indian sportspersons and their respective disciplines.

Saurabh Chaudhary became the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at the Asian Games (2018) and the youngest Indian to win an ISSF World Cup gold medal.

48. Who among the following is the first Indian to win Pulitzer Prize?

Who among the following is the first Indian to win Pulitzer Prize?

Arundhati Roy

Gobind Behari Lal

Vijay Seshadri

Jhumpa Lahiri

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Gobind Behari Lal was the first Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize. He received the award in 1937 for journalism, specifically for his reporting on science at the Harvard Tercentenary together with four other journalists.

The question asks for the earliest Indian recipient of the Pulitzer Prize.

While Arundhati Roy (1998, Fiction), Vijay Seshadri (2014, Poetry), and Jhumpa Lahiri (2000, Fiction) are celebrated Indian-origin Pulitzer laureates, Gobind Behari Lal’s win predates theirs significantly.

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49. The United Nations has been observing International Day of Rural Women

The United Nations has been observing International Day of Rural Women on

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15th July

15th August

15th September

15th October

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The United Nations observes the International Day of Rural Women every year on October 15th. This day recognizes “the critical contribution of rural women and girls to agricultural and rural development, food security and poverty eradication.”

This question tests knowledge of specific international days observed by the UN.

The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on 15 October 2008, established by the UN General Assembly in its resolution 62/136 of 18 December 2007.

50. Pakyong Airport is located in

Pakyong Airport is located in

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Sikkim

Jammu and Kashmir

Arunachal Pradesh

Mizoram

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Pakyong Airport is located in Pakyong town near Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, India. It is the first greenfield airport in Sikkim and one of the five highest airports in India.

Pakyong Airport is a significant infrastructure development in the state of Sikkim, improving connectivity to the region.

The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2018. Its strategic location in the Himalayas is important for both civilian and defence purposes.