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.
When I started working with government schools in Delhi, it was quite obvious that we first needed to fix the classroom. I still remember the stench of the toilets that hit me when I walked in through the school gates. There was no running water, no drinking water, the windows were broken, the lights dysfunctional, the white fans had turned black with dirt. Several girl students told me that they avoided using the toilets in school. The first year and a half was spent cleaning up the schools; right from thinking about the number of bottles of disinfectant a school needs in a month to the required number of sanitation workers for a given number of students. It made me understand that policymaking is largely commonsensical; if government schools in this country are not changing, it is not because it is difficult to improve them, but because no one cares or wants to.
One key way to bring about long-term transformation of educational institutions is to get parents involved. Governments may come and go but it is the parents who will always care the most about how a school is run. School management committees (SMC) are mandated under the Right to Education Act, 2009. An SMC is a body consisting of parents and teachers, and it is supposed to monitor and assist in the affairs of the school. By encouraging parents to participate in these committees, we are able to bridge the gap between the government, the school and the community. Similarly, holding regular parent–teacher meetings allows parents greater participation in their children’s education.
Another major stakeholder in this process is the teacher. Generally, government schoolteachers tend to be highly qualified because they come through a rigorous selection process. Unfortunately, the atmosphere in government schools has not been conducive to teaching and learning for years. Providing the right environment in Delhi has helped many teachers, who already had the potential, to excel. Teachers are also human. You can’t always expect teachers to treat their students with respect and dignity if they themselves are not treated with respect and dignity by the system.
It’s only when you have these basics in place can you address the real goal of education, the core of which is to raise children who can think, reflect and play a meaningful role in the world. We often forget that education is more than just about getting good marks and jobs: It is about the kind of human beings that are produced by the system. That’s why we came up with the happiness curriculum. Having interventions that focus on the child’s needs instead of fixating on completing a syllabus is also an important aspect.
Quantitative Techniques
Logical Reasoning
Humans are proud of the fact that only we, among all living beings, have the ability to engage in higher-level thinking — “cogito, ergo sum”, or, “I think, therefore I am”. Our ability to entertain complex thoughts does not merely characterise us. It defines us.
This cognitive capacity has stood us in good stead. We have postulated and proved mathematical theorems, we are exploring the cosmos, we have developed relativistic and quantum physics, we have written epics, we have refined the art of lying and deception, and of course, we read Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Mathematics, philosophy, religion, family, nation, sciences, literature, and the list of our thought-derived innovations goes on and on.
The impressive success of our cognitive faculties, that of a species with thousands of years of near-continuous, accretive history and eight billion plus living members, masks something troubling and humbling. Most humans are quite lousy thinkers, when tested against the benchmarks mentioned. Study after study has revealed that the ability of an average human to comprehend complex arguments leaves a lot to be desired. A distressingly large number of kids proclaim their fear of mathematics because it is “tough”. Many readers choose to read pulp fiction over the literary classics because they are deemed “incomprehensible”. It is understandable that a person does not like mathematics or literary classics, but to fear them for being tough or incomprehensible is also a probable symptom of the lack of cognitive capacity to enjoy them. This widespread cognitive weakness is something to worry about, for it chains a plurality of humans to sub-par intellectual existence with attendant costs.
The costs of poor human cognition are immense. If we have to develop as knowledge-driven societies, we need to improve the human capacity to think coherently. With the increasing technological and organisational complexities of our times, those unable to think properly about the issues confronting them are at the risk of being left behind. Cognitive weakness has serious costs for the person concerned, with respect to that person’s ability to gainfully participate in the modern socio-economic system. Further, poor human cognition has a huge negative externality, that is, a cost not fully internalised by the person having poor cognition. Society loses out in many ways.
Legal Reasoning
Husband abusing wife, a teacher, in filthy language in front of her students would not only tarnish her image in the society but also amount to mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Chhattisgarh High Court recently held.
A division bench allowed a plea by a woman seeking divorce from her husband on the ground of cruelty.
“While the wife was working and used to sometimes come home late, the allegations that the husband used to assassinate the character of the wife and the allegations that when the wife started teaching the students in tuition at her home, the husband used to speak filthy abuses about character of wife, would naturally tarnish the image of the wife before the society specially before the students, and at their tender age they may loose respect for teacher,” the bench observed.
The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the woman challenging a November 2021 judgment by a Family Court in Raipur which had dismissed her plea for divorce.
The Court noted that the wife wasn’t initially accepted by her in-laws since it was a love marriage.
The woman contended that her husband was jobless and so she took up a teaching job at a school to meet the family expenses. She further stated that due to work load, she would sometimes come home late. Her husband did not like the fact that she was working and doubted her character and often accused her of having an illicit relationship with some male colleagues.
She, therefore, left her school job but started taking tuitions at her home.
However, when male students attended the home tuitions, the husband used to abuse her in filthy language and assassinate her character.
“The frequency of these activities got aggravated day by day and eventually the students who were coming for tuition also stopped to come, owing to that the wife was unable to meet out her expenses for the financial bottlenecking,” the bench noted.
She was kicked out of the matrimonial house on April 9, 2015 by the husband and he hardly made any attempt to bring her and their daughter back.
The bench noted that the husband failed to bring any evidence on record to counter the wife’s contentions.
“The analysis of the statements (of wife and her father) would show that if the husband has stopped working and if the wife forced to join some service to cater their need for survival, in the eventuality of such objection by the husband naturally it would lead to financial bottle-necking which may affect the life and standard of living of the parties. There is no evidence that the husband was working. Therefore, the sole testimony of wife that the husband was not working and when the wife wanted to work, it was objected, appears to be more acceptable,” the Court opined.
It, therefore, concluded that the wife was able to prove that she was subjected to mental and physical cruelty by the husband who stopped her from going to the job and used to confine her to the house as he was doubting her character.
Current Affairs & General Knowledge
Legal history in India is one with a rich tapestry of cultures and complex society. As far as the law was concerned, its origin followed the advent of ancient texts such as the Manusmriti written around 200 BCE to 200 CE. It was in this book that the foundational Hindu law and social code were laid. He believed that people should follow the principles of dharma, which can be said to be moral law, defining the rights and duties. The Manusmriti had further sub-divided the laws into two groups: varna, or social class, and ashrama, or stage of life. This division remained strong throughout the centuries and continued to influence the legal system.
Indian jurisprudence came under Islamic law when the Mughal Empire emerged in the 16th century. The Mughals introduced the term “sharia” and the “darbar” system, whereby the emperor served as the supreme judicial power. During this time, codification took place in criminal justice and land revenue, bringing together Hindu and Islamic influences. Notable figures like Emperor Akbar encouraged syncretic legal structures and instilled religious tolerance as they established courts welcoming multireligious populations.
The British colonial period was a significant watershed in the Indian law calendar. The British legal principles started invading India with the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in the 18th century. It was during this time that the formal judicial system came into existence due to the Regulating Act of 1773 and subsequent laws. The formation of the Supreme Court in Calcutta in 1774 marked the effective dawn of modern law in India. The British further codified laws through the Indian Penal Code in 1860 and the Civil Procedure Code in 1908, both of which remain indispensable for India today. The mass struggle for freedom, feeding on this drive for justice in its own endeavor, not only created expectations of what Indian reformation should be but also nurtured an ethos of legal equity and social redress by such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Constituent Assembly-A body established in 1946 to prepare the Indian Constitution; the Indian Constitution was implemented on January 26, 1950. The very constitution vested fundamental rights, equality before law, and the principle of justice in the premises of democracy.
Post-independence, India saw significant developments in its law-related field: enactment of various laws on social issues, like the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989. The independence of the judiciary has played a prime role in the enunciation of constitutional rights, interpretation of laws, and expansion of the scope of justice with landmark judgments. The journey of the legal history of India has been one of constant flux and has been made under the influences of social, political, and cultural compulsions reflecting the country’s quest for justice and equality.