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
In 1801, from his capital in St Petersburg, Tsar Paul I sent Napoleon Bonaparte a secret proposition: a joint invasion of India to drive out the English and their East India Company once and for all, before dividing the rich spoils. The tsar believed a Cossack force of 35,000 together with a similar-sized French army would be ample for victory – perhaps with some help from the fierce Turcoman tribes who may be induced to join their expedition along the way. They would meet the French south of the Caspian Sea, and then cross through Persia and Afghanistan, to be at the gates of India in an ambitious time frame of four months.
The young Napoleon was understandably reluctant. He had just been defeated and forced to withdraw from Egypt by Britain and its allies, and was less than convinced of the soundness of the tsar’s plan or its promise of success.
Not to be discouraged, the tsar decided Russia could succeed without French support, and take a more direct route to get there, in even less time. He ordered his loyal Cossacks to launch the invasion; even though his army was much depleted, having been able to muster only 22,000 troops, he was not deterred. That this was an ill-conceived undertaking was obvious not only to Bonaparte; it must have further convinced the Russian nobility their manic-depressive tsar was losing his sanity as well.
The Cossack cavalry, renowned for their hardiness and ruthlessness, started out from the frontier town of Orenburg and headed south for Khiva, some 900 miles away across the Kazak Steppe, in the dead of winter. Supported by small amounts of artillery, they each took a spare horse and whatever food they could carry. Even for these tough troops, the conditions would have been bitterly cold and cruel, both for the men and their animals.
Only a month out and less than halfway to Khiva, relief came in an unexpected way: Tsar Paul was dead and the mission recalled, averting certain disaster for the Cossacks and sparing Russia an embarrassing humiliation.
In fact, his own court officials had assassinated the old tsar; after trying unsuccessfully to force his abdication, they finally strangled him. His son and heir, Alexander, promptly gave the order to abort the mission, ending the Russian Empire’s first attempted invasion of India. It wasn’t until later that the British learnt of this threat that had fizzled out—but this would not be Russia’s last attempt.
Quantitative Techniques
Five collegs K, L, M, N and O are affiliated to Punjab University in India. Students from all the colleges are from post graduation programme only. Total number of students from all the five colleges are 5,000. A data was collected for the year 2020 and it has been found that the combined fees received from all the 5 colleges was Rs. 80 million. Further the data was analyzed and it has been found that 16% of the total number of students are from college K and 10% of the total amount of fees is received from college K. 24% and 15% of the students are from college L and M, respectively. However, fees received from college L and M are 22% and 18%, respectively of the total fees. 25% of the total number of students are from college N and 35% of the total fees is received from college N. 15% of the total fees is received from college O, but only 20% of the total number of students are from college O.
Logical Reasoning
Quantum mechanics is a real mind-bender, let me tell you. It’s a world where the fundamental rules we take for granted get tossed out the window. Down there in the subatomic realm, particles aren’t just tiny little marbles bouncing around. Nope, they’re a weird hybrid of particle and wave, existing in this fuzzy state of “maybe” until we observe them. It’s like they’re waiting for us to make up our minds about what they really are.
But here’s where it gets even weirder – the simple act of observing these particles actually changes their state. So in a very real sense, we’re not just passive observers in this quantum world; we’re active participants, shaping reality with our very perception. Mind-blowing, right?
And then there’s this utterly bizarre phenomenon called quantum entanglement. Einstein himself called it “spooky action at a distance.” Basically, two particles can become so deeply linked that whatever happens to one instantaneously affects the other, even if they’re billions of miles apart. It’s like they’re telepathically connected, defying our common-sense notions of space and time.
The implications of all this quantum weirdness are staggering. It suggests that there’s a deeper, more fundamental reality underlying everything we think we know about the universe. A reality where our classical rules don’t apply, where causality and locality are mere illusions, and where the observer and the observed are inextricably intertwined. Crazy stuff, isn’t it? Quantum mechanics is like a glimpse behind the curtain of existence, challenging us to rethink everything we thought we knew.
Legal Reasoning
The Gujarat High Court has recently explained that when a person uses without the permission of the license owner or the Registrar, any product, it amounts to an infringement of copyright as under Section 51 of the Act.
However, when the person is holding a certificate issued by the Registrar of Copyright, no infringement is committed. The Bench comprising Justice Niral Mehta was hearing an application challenging the FIR filed by Respondent No. 2. It was averred that the FIR was an ‘abuse of process of law’ and filed with a view to oust the Applicant from the business. Further, u/s 51, if any person without a license granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar does anything, it would amount to infringement.
However, in the instant case, the ‘Applicant’ had been issued certificates by the Registrar of Copyright and therefore, according to him, there was no infringement. Additionally, the police officers had invoked Section 64 of the Copyright Act to seize the material in question. Per the Applicant, this was a ‘sheer non-application of mind.’
Per contra, Respondent No. 2 opposed the application by relying on sections 44, 45, 51, 63 and 64 of the Act which largely pertain to the register of the copyright, how any interested person can apply for copyright and the infringement of such copyright.
Perusing these contentions, Justice Mehta explained: “A bare perusal of Section 51 of the said Act says that if any person uses without the permission of the licence owner or from the Registrar, any product would amount to infringement of copyright. However, in the present case, the applicant is a holder of certificate issued by the Registrar of Copyright.” Keeping in view this provision, the ingredients of section 51 were not satisfied, prima facie. It was also noted that invocation of Section 64 of the Act was a ‘sheer non-application of mind’ by the police with the clarification: “I say so because Section 64 of the said Act is not an offence, but the power envisaged to the police or Investigating Officer to seize the material, if any infringement is found for which, there cannot be any FIR.”
Current Affairs & General Knowledge
Scientists have just uncovered something gigantic about the geology of Earth. A massive reserve of water sitting some 700 kilometers under the crust of Earth was recently found. This equals three times more water than what exists on the surface of the planet, spread across the entire body. This invention came from the collective discoveries of researchers at Northwestern University, who employ state-of-the-art seismic analysis techniques to gain a better insight into Earth’s mantle. The team used data collected by more than 2,000 seismographs, where seismic waves generated from more than 500 earthquakes have been analyzed. They detected a remarkable decrease in the speed of seismic waves within certain depths and the phenomenon is indicative of the presence of water within the Earth’s interior. This forms the basis for a new view on the internal dynamics of our planet and geological processes.
All of this resonates with a fundamental blue mineral called ringwoodite, which is critical in forming the water storage system. Ringwoodite has a unique characteristic that enables it to absorb water within its crystal lattice, which in effect helps it store tremendous quantities of water in solid, compact form. This geologic significance of the mineral is not only a revelation but also such an indication that for millions of years, water might have had a close relationship with the Earth’s mantle, thus giving a different outlook in previous assumptions about the sources of the Earth’s oceans.
This finding has very important implications, above all regarding the Earth’s water cycle. It underlines the hypothesis that a large part of the Earth’s water originates from deep within Earth rather than only from comets and asteroids. Such a redefinition of sources of water implies that the deep reservoir is critical in the long-term stabilization of surface oceans; it impacts climate patterns and geological events across great time scales. The research group is looking forward to further studies by acquiring seismic data from all over the Earth. This would help to determine whether the presence of water in the mantle is a phenomenon that occurs throughout the planet. Further studies will be a stepping stone to increase our knowledge about Earth’s water cycle and its complex relationship between the interior and the surface. This extraordinary discovery has, in the long run, recast our geological history, opens up for scientists to look deeper into the Earth’s hidden world of the interior, and saliently conveys that there is a better need for more unveiling research on the geological processes on Earth. Explorations on the planet, therefore, might unveil even more of its geological changes and serve as a great chemistry in understanding the trends happening on Earth’s surface and subsurface environments.