Instructions: –
1. Attempt all the questions.
2. Once you have completed all the questions of a particular section click on the submit button for scores and explanations then move to the next sections.
3. For each correct answer, you receive 1 mark. For this mock, there is no negative marking.
English Language
Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question based on what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.
One summer, many years ago, while I was living in the garden city of Pune, I lay in bed, unwell. Lying in bed, I watched a large neem tree teeming with activity. Birds like orioles, flycatchers, and magpie robins were frequent visitors to the tree. Another cute resident on the neem tree was the palm squirrel; common in peninsular India. As I lay in bed, I enjoyed watching these creatures go about their daily tasks. Their activities on the tree made me get well quicker!
Then one day, I saw to my dismay that the tree was being chopped down to widen the road in the neighbouring society. I had watched the squirrel build its nest all summer, and it was with sadness I watched as the tree was slowly chopped down. I wondered what happened to the squirrel nesting in the tree.
The loss of the squirrel’s nest made me sad. After much thought, I decided to do something about this. The loss of the tree led me to find out that in India trees, even the ones planted by us in our homes, need permission before they are chopped.
Over the next few years, I got involved in a programme called Pune Tree Watch, where citizens engaged with the Garden Department, to reduce tree felling in the rapidly developing city of Pune. We looked to balance development with the green needs of the city. We sought solutions like tree transplantation, alternate routes for roads or different designs for buildings, sewage and pipelines to save trees. In two to three years, we were able to save many trees, and create awareness about the laws relating to tree felling among citizens.
In 2008, I shifted to Dehradun, where I continued my work to save urban biodiversity. We worked with citizens and institutions ＿ the municipal and forest departments ＿ to save green cover in Dehradun. Over the last few years, we have successfully transplanted some trees, and saved many of them from being felled, too.
My ultimate reward in this line of work came when a tree in the middle of Dehradun city was being cut down. I watched as a squirrel ran down the tree that the municipality was chopping, and run up the one we had saved. It had lost a home, but found a new one. All the work I had done in the last decade seemed worthwhile.
It took a squirrel and a tree to move me from being aware and feeling sad, to action. All of us need to act to save nature.
So, what will be your “squirrel” moment?
Quantitative Techniques
In a sports club consisting of 1,250 members, the ratio of the number of males to that of females is 3 : 2. All the members are enrolled in five different games viz. Boxing, Judo Karate, Badminton, Table Tennis and Lawn Tennis. 18 percent of the females are enrolled in Judo Karate. 40 percent of the males are enrolled in Badminton. One-fifth of the females are enrolled in Table Tennis. The ratio of enrollment of males to females in Judo Karate is 3 : 2. 20 percent of the total number of members are enrolled in Boxing. The number of females enrolled in Table Tennis is 80 percent of the number of males enrolled in the same game. 12 percent of the males are enrolled in Lawn Tennis. The remaining males are enrolled in Boxing. 25 percent of the females are enrolled in Badminton and the remaining females are enrolled in Lawn Tennis.
Logical Reasoning
‘God is Truth’; or should it be ‘Truth is God’? Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi had swapped the subject and predicate of the classical statement, ‘God is Truth’ and proposed ‘Truth is God’ instead. The context here is the decline of religion in the West with the advent of modernity. Modern ideas based on reason posed a severe threat to religion. Convinced by the claims of modernity, people started moving away from god.
Now Indians could either reject religion and follow the modernists or reject modernity and continue to adhere to the orthodox path, maintaining the status quo. However, these two mutually exclusive options were not available to all Indians, especially those who were part of the Indian freedom struggle. Modernity was introduced to India by the British colonists.
While the very instruments of modernity were used by the British to enslave India, it was, at the same time, impossible to reject modern science outright and ignore the tangible benefits of technology and industrialization. It was equally challenging to reject the radical political ideas of equality, freedom, liberty and democracy that are more acceptable and liberating than the alleged traditional values of rigid hierarchy and discrimination. While truth-seekers may reject religion, no religion rejects truth. So instead of removing God, Vivekananda and Gandhi moved Truth to the front without lowering the position of God. This strategy was inclusive and facilitated more openings — both believers and non-believers are included within the spectrum, at least in principle. Only those who did not believe in truth were outside the purview of this statement. Many who were non-believers but followed the principle of non-violence — like Gora Sastry — would not find a place in the classical formula of ‘God is Truth’ but were included in its reversal, ‘Truth is God’.
Legal Reasoning
Under the Constitution of India, in Articles 19 and 21, every person throughout the territory of India is conferred with the right to freedom of movement and is guaranteed personal liberty. In furtherance of this objective set up by the Constitution, the Indian Penal Code lays down penal sanctions in case a person violates the freedom of movement or personal liberty of another. Sections 339 and 340 of Indian Penal Code define wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement, respectively. The Indian Penal Code, 1860, makes wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement punishable under Section 339 to 348.
According to Section 339 of the Indian Penal Code, “Whoever voluntarily obstructs any person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, is said wrongfully to restrain that person.” Further, the section also lays down an exception, which is that if a person in good faith believes himself to have a lawful right to obstruct and so obstructs a private way over land or water, then it does not amount to wrongful restraint. To establish the offence of wrongful restraint, the complainant must prove that there was an obstruction; the obstruction prevented the complainant from proceeding in any direction; the person/complainant so proceeding must have a right to proceed in the direction concerned.
Wrongful confinement is defined under Section 340 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 340 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, defines wrongful confinement as: “Whoever wrongfully restrains any person in such a manner as to prevent that person from proceeding beyond certain circumscribing limits, is said “wrongfully to confine” that person.” Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code says that whoever wrongfully confines any person shall be punished with simple imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both. The offence under Section 340 of the Code is cognizable, bailable compoundable and triable by any Magistrate. Section 343 of the Indian Penal Code says that whoever wrongfully confines any person for three days or more, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. The offence under this section is cognizable, bailable, compoundable with the permission of the court and triable by any Magistrate.
Current Affairs & General Knowledge
The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) is an important platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on defense issues in the Asia-Pacific region. This inter-ministerial meeting consists of ten ASEAN member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and eight dialogue partners: India, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. This expanded membership allows for diverse perspectives regarding regional security challenges.
In November 2024, India’s Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh, will attend the ADMM-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. This shows how India is seriously reaching for a greater commitment for regional security and how it is rising as an important power in the Indo-Pacific region. The ADMM-Plus offers member countries a chance to enhance cooperation in a full array of compelling security issues, including counterterrorism, maritime security, disaster relief, and keeping regional stability.
The primary purpose of the ADMM-Plus is to promote increased defense cooperation between ASEAN nations and their dialogue partners. It provides a unique forum for dialogue on the ways and means to enhance security frameworks, share best practices, and discuss mutual concerns. By encouraging transparency and confidence-building measures, the ADMM-Plus conveys a sense of shared responsibility for regional peace and stability.
Countering the threat of terrorism and extremism in Southeast Asia features prominently in the ADMM-Plus discussions. The region has been seeing a steady increase in terrorist activities as well as the spread of violent ideologies, which have both national and regional security implications. Maritime security, especially in the South China Sea, is another key area of emphasis, as territorial disputes and strategic competition have continued to escalate. Disaster relief coordination also presents a critical agenda since Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions in the wake of typhoons, earthquakes, and floods, whereby multilateral cooperation remains an essential tool for effective response and recovery efforts. The meeting sidelines are also expected to host bilateral discussions by minister Rajnath Singh with his counterparts from a number of nations, such as the US, China, Australia, and Japan. These meetings would further strengthen defense ties and provide an opportunity for joint collaboration in defense technology, intelligence sharing, and peace-keeping operations. Singh’s visit expresses India’s strategic interest in making more solid its partnerships with ASEAN countries, enhancing security cooperation in the region, and supporting the rules-based international order.
Overall, the ADMM-Plus is a critical framework for India to exert regional leadership and contribute to shaping the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific. The meeting deepens defense cooperation and strengthens multilateral ties to bring about a more secure and stable environment for all nations.