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.
In most of the market/work places people often queue up or take a channelized approach for the intended activity. The people in the queue have enough patience and are ready to wait for their turn. This is the ordered behaviour of the society. Yet there is another set of people who do not have that much patience or do not believe in the system and hence do not form a part of the queue. They rather use force to reach the desired place before anyone else. This is the crowded/unethical or disordered behaviour of the society. Both types of people have been in the society since ages- the peace loving ordered believer for channelized work and self styled warring soldiers using all types of forces to carry out the intended tasks.
The overall system maintains a dynamic balance between two of its states (ordered & disordered). It is like maintaining a balance in the balance sheet of the accounting system. The debit and credit entries have to balance each other to maintain the overall state of money as zero. In a financial system the net or overall value of money is zero (although everybody in the society is after this entity). The hardliners in any society demand a very strict system / channel with harsh punishment to those who violate it. The soft-liners or liberals want total transparency with defined priority to jump the channel. Governance is a difficult task of tight-rope walking to satisfy both the fractions.
All living beings have to undergo cycles of War and Peace in their lives and thus evolve. The dead objects do not require going through this process. The dead remain ‘as it is’- neither ordered nor disordered. But the case of a spiritual person is special. S(he) has an unbiased attitude towards ordered / disordered activities in his/ her life. S(he) does not get attached to any one side while performing any activity. Attaining such a state is not easy. Most of us choose the easy going state of attachment with one of the two possible states.
Quantitative Techniques
Mehta electronics deals in Air conditioners (ACs) of only three companies namely Samsung, LG and Lloyd. Each AC is of one of two types namely split and window. In January, total number of ACs sold by Mehta electronics was 198. The following information is also known about the number of ACs of different companies sold:
For Samsung: Number of windows ACs sold in February was 20% more than that in January. However, number of split ACs sold in February was 25% less than that in January.
For LG: Number of ACs sold in January was 1 more than that in February, even though number of windows ACs sold in February was 8 more than that in January.
For Lloyd: Number of windows ACs to number of split ACs, sold in January were in the ratio 7:8 and this ratio changed to 7:5, in February. Total number of ACs sold in February was 36 more than that in January.
Also,
• Out of total number of windows ACs sold in February, ratio of number of Samsung, LG and Lloyd, window ACs, sold in February was 9:8:14, respectively.
• In January, number of Lloyd ACs sold was equal to number of LG ACs sold. Number of Samsung ACs sold in January was 78.
Logical Reasoning
Billions of tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere every year as a result of coal, oil, and gas production. Human activity is producing greenhouse gas emissions at a record high, with no signs of slowing down. According to a ten-year summary of UNEP Emission Gap reports, we are on track to maintain a “business as usual” trajectory.
The last four years were the four hottest on record. According to a September 2019 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, we are at least one degree Celsius above pre industrial levels and close to what scientists warn would be “an unacceptable risk”. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change calls for holding eventual warming “well below” two degrees Celsius, and for the pursuit of efforts to limit the increase even further, to 1.5 degrees. But if we don’t slow global emissions, temperatures could rise to above three degrees Celsius by 2100, causing further irreversible damage to our ecosystems.
Glaciers and ice sheets in polar and mountain regions are already melting faster than ever, causing sea levels to rise. Almost two-thirds of the world’s cities with populations of over five million are located in areas at risk of sea level rise and almost 40 per cent of the world’s population live within 100 km of a coast. If no action is taken, entire districts of New York, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Osaka, Rio de Janeiro, and many other cities could find themselves underwater within our lifetimes, displacing millions of people.
Global warming impacts everyone’s food and water security. Climate change is a direct cause of soil degradation, which limits the amount of carbon the earth is able to contain. Some 500 million people today live in areas affected by erosion, while up to 30 percent of food is lost or wasted as a result. Meanwhile, climate change limits the availability and quality of water for drinking and agriculture. In many regions, crops that have thrived for centuries are struggling to survive, making food security more precarious. Such impacts tend to fall primarily on the poor and vulnerable. Global warming is likely to make economic output between the world’s richest and poorest countries grow wider.
Disasters linked to climate and weather extremes have always been part of our Earth’s system. But they are becoming more frequent and intense as the world warms. No continent is left untouched, with heatwaves, droughts, typhoons, and hurricanes causing mass destruction around the world. 90 percent of disasters are now classed as weather- and climate-related, costing the world economy 520 billion USD each year, while 26 million people are pushed into poverty as a result.
Legal Reasoning
Taking into account some of the key changes proposed by the parliamentary panel, the Centre is likely to introduce the three criminal law Bills in the winter session of Parliament, The Indian Express has learnt.
The Parliamentary panel, which adopted its report on the three Bills on November 7, is expected to submit the report to the government.
However, sources told that the Law Ministry is already working internally on new drafts that would include key changes. The Parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, had suggested over 50 amendments and also underlined several typographical and numbering errors in the three Bills.
On August 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced three Bills in Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (originally enacted in 1898); and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The new Bills —Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, to replace the IPC; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, for CrPC; and Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023, for the Indian Evidence Act —were referred to a standing committee the same day.
From a new provision on mob lynching, punishable by seven years imprisonment or life imprisonment or death penalty; to enabling speedy justice through video trials, e-filing of FIRs; expanding the definition of sedition; bringing corruption, terrorism and organised crime under the penal laws; introducing community service and solitary confinement as new forms of punishment; holding trials in the absence of an accused; and expanding the scope of offence against women pertaining to sexual intercourse by employing “deceitful means” – the new Bills provide for substantive changes in criminal jurisprudence.
Among the key suggestions of the panel that the government is likely to consider is introducing a gender-neutral provision criminalising adultery (Section 497 of the IPC) which was omitted in the BNS, 2023. The provision was omitted since the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling in 2018, had decriminalised adultery. However, there are concerns that there is a need to retain the provision in order to safeguard the sanctity of the institution of marriage while it can be tweaked to address the gender discrimination aspect. Another key change mooted was the defining the term “mental illness” which was used in place of “unsound mind” that is widely used in IPC. Some members raised concerns that the term could be broadly interpreted to include a spectrum of psychiatric illnesses.
Current Affairs & General Knowledge
The European Space Agency has initiated preparations for a daring mission that will set out to chart the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, cataloged as asteroid (99942). Launched in 2029 to be in line with the closest proximity of the asteroid, this mission is called the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES). The parallel NASA mission, called Osiris-Apex, will also focus on observing Apophis at this time; it’s a historic opportunity for researching asteroids.
In 2004, Apophis was discovered-a potentially hazardous asteroid about 340 meters in diameter. There has been the concern that it could impact Earth around 2029, but it has already been computed that the asteroid will safely pass just 19,794 miles from Earth-about close to many satellites but still not nearly close enough to pose a threat. This close pass, however, presents a unique opportunity for detailed study of this near Earth object (NEO) that can help in understanding the behavior of an asteroid and advanced techniques for planetary defense.
Asteroids such as Apophis are leftovers of the early solar system- pieces of material that failed to coalesce into planets. Many such NEOs orbit close enough to threaten earth. The objects are presently tracked through some 35,000 NEOs, but only about 2,300 of them are considered “potentially hazardous.” When a particular asteroid is large enough and heading in the correct direction, it will release energy equal to hundreds of nuclear explosions. The asteroid impact that caused that cataclysm that led to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago serves as a reminder of the impact these objects may have.
To reduce such risks, scientists use various telescopes and surveys in the identification and monitoring of dangerous asteroids. Detection alone cannot yield sufficient techniques for deflection; therefore, further research is required. Such studies have come through RAMSES and Osiris-Apex. The RAMSES mission will be monitoring the orbit, shape, and rotational changes of Apophis as it approaches Earth while generating useful data regarding the reaction of an asteroid under gravitational force. Similarly, NASA’s Osiris-Apex mission will look to determine the composition and structure of Apophis by disturbing dust to reveal layers beneath.
Together, these missions could bring a new discovery to us in regards to planetary defense and ultimately save us from future asteroid impacts by giving us critical data as to how we may prevent a future impact. The scientific community hardly gets the chance to study an asteroid up close; such chances only materialize after 5,000 to 10,000 years have passed. Beyond their significance scientifically, the missions are symbolically connected to Egyptian mythology. In the old tales, Apophis is symbolic of the chaos and darkness trying to engulf the sun god Ra. In a sense, the quest of humans for knowledge about Apophis finds an analog even in Ra’s eternal fight against the serpent Apophis and hence imparts an ancient mythological resonance to these modern attempts at overcoming a cosmic menace.