MAT - Verbal Ability Test 3

The cynosure of the passage is the ________________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

The author is most unlikely to agree with the following, except ________________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

This passage is most likely to be an extract from the following, except _________________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

The message that the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which the parliament has the power to make laws is stated in __________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

The author categorizes the present condition of the government as ________________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

How many different articles of the Indian constitution have been cited in the passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

In a parliamentary democracy like India, ________________.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The current phase or judicial intervention has often been termed judicial activism, but the Supreme Court has held the view that far from being an activist court, it has only tried to do what it should have done long ago. i.e., enforce the law. In the process if the corrupt come to grief or the executive is called to account for its acts of omission or commission, that is all to the good.

Because we have a written Constitution, the ultimate arbiter of whether laws have constitutional validity or whether the actions of the executive conform to the law will always be the courts. With this there can be no quarrel. When we look at the constitutional provisions for the establishment of the Supreme Court and its powers we find that the basic function of the courts is to adjudicate, which means to determine judicially in a matter in which there are conflicting opinions or adversaries in a case.

It is only Article 141 that confers on the Supreme Court a power which goes beyond adjudication and that is to declare a law that will be binding on all courts in India. The declaration of such a law can be through an interpretation of the existing law, or by a judgment that a particular law is ultra vires or by laying down guidelines of how courts will decide a matter where the law is silent or where there is a legal lacuna.

One example of this is a case which came before the then Chief Justice of India, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, relating to the quantum of compensation which should be paid to persons who had strayed on to an army firing range and sustained injury while trying to retrieve what they thought was an empty shell but which turned out to be live. Justice Bhagwati ruled that whereas there was no specific law governing such compensation, there were other –laws which lay down the guidelines of compensation to victims of motor accidents, rail accidents, air accidents, etc. He then fixed compensation at an amount more or less equivalent to what the law permitted in the case of an air accident. This judgement is now law for all courts.

That, by itself, does not mean that the power which vests in Parliament under Part V, chapter 2 of the Constitution to enact laws under lists I and 3 of the Seventh Schedule also vests in the Supreme Court under Article 141. Unless the court decides that the law itself is unconstitutional, it is bound by every law of Parliament and Stale Legislatures. This is the fine-tuning of separation of power in India between the legislature and the judiciary.

In all this where does the executive fit in? Parts V and VI of the Constitution make, a specific provision for the Union and the State executive that the executive power of the Union vests in the President, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him, and the executive power of each State vests in the Governor, to be exercised by officers subordinate to him. If we take legislation to be the responsibility of the legislatures and adjudication to be that of the judiciary, then the residuary function of implementing the laws and acting according to the policy of the Government is the responsibility of the executive. This is not a delegated or subordinate function - it is the constitutional responsibility of the executive.

Under Article 73 the Union has executive powers in all matters with respect to which Parliament has the power to make laws, just as under Article 162 the executive power of the State extends to all matters which fall within the legislative jurisdiction of the State Legislature. How the Government will exercise this executive power is determined by rules framed under Articles 77 and 166.

In a parliamentary democracy, because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the legislature, it is the executive that takes the lead in legislation. Unless the executive supports a particular Bill there is almost no chance of its being enacted into law because it would not muster enough support in the House. It is the executive. Therefore, this is the initiator of legislature. It is the executive which prepares the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure under Articles 112 and 202 respectively, popularly known as the budget, and then pilots the discussion on grants, the Appropriation Bill, etc. which gives the Government the legislative sanction for incurring expenditure. It also places before Parliament appropriate proposals for taxation.

Just as there is a finely tuned balance between the legislature and the judiciary the executive also is subject to constitutional checks and balances. The biggest check is law itself and if any member of the executive violates it he is liable for action before a court of law. Then there is the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, whereby the executive can be directed to desist from a particular course of action or, conversely, directed to perform a particular function. The legislature, to whom the Ministers are responsible, can call the Government to account through discussions, resolutions, adjournment motions, budget debates, questions, and no-confidence motions. If need be the legislature can even oust the Government. However, these checks and balances by themselves do not give the other organs of the State - the legislature and the judiciary - the power to interfere in the working of the executive or to place it in a subordinate position.

All matters relating to governance being the responsibility of the executive, there is no authority in India that can interfere with its day-to-day working. Let me try and illustrate this point. The postings and transfers of officers fall within the exclusive purview of the executive.

Provided that there is no arbitrariness in this, the courts cannot interfere. This means that the courts cannot decide that an extension should be given to the Director of CBI, that his subordinate officers should bypass him in an investigation or that a particular officer should be transferred to a particular place.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been doing in a number of cases and a weak and pusillanimous Government has been surrendering in every case. The investigation of an offence may lead to a judicial process, but provided that the investigation is done according to law, the investigating agency is certainly within the supervisory control of the executive.

For the courts to order that the Government will not exercise its power of supervision and direction under Section 4 of the Police Act is an undue interference. For the Government to direct that before an investigation is undertaken into a particular case prior approval should be sought is perfectly valid, unless the law prohibits it. Nowhere in the world is the power of the police to investigate unfettered, except in a dictatorship, and the power to supervise, direct and control the police must vest in the executive. The courts may intervene only if the Government uses its power arbitrarily.

The executive has every right to decide how it will dispose of public property, provided that this is done according to a predetermined policy, clearly enunciated rules and in the public interest. Certainly it cannot be done to favour individuals or to cause pecuniary loss to the State.

When Ravi Shankar Shukla was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the capital shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal, he ordered the construction of several thousand residential units for Government servants. An objection was raised in the Vidhan Sabha to the effect that the work was awarded to a consortium without inviting tenders. The Chief Minister stated that there was paucity of time, that he had ordered the sanction of the work and its award to the consortium and that no officer was to blame.

Seven years later one of his successors, D. P. Mishra, made a similar statement in the legislature when an objection was raised about resettling 25,000 East Pakistan refugees in a district, for which purpose only seven days were given to the local officials to prepare the camps. As the person in charge, I had invited no tenders but had completed the work in time. The Chief Minister fully supported me and no further questions were asked.

What, then, is the role of the executive in a democracy? First, foremost, it is to govern, to provide governance and to implement the provisions of the Constitution and the law. For that you need a political head of the executive who, like D. P. Mishra, could say "I ordered it and so it has been done". The present lot who masquerade as ministers neither have the capacity to govern, nor have the courage. Between them they have reduced our executive to a position of impotence and subordination.

Considerable amounts of metal pollutants are found in the river(s)

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

The best remedy for shortage lies in

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

The crisis of drinking water is caused chiefly by

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

According to NEERI,

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

Municipal sewage pollutants account for

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

The degradation of natural resources will necessarily lead to

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

Which of the following statements made by the W.H.O. is/are correct?

Directions: The passage in this part is followed by question based upon its contents. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for the question.

Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agriculture and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.

According to the National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), a staggering 70 percent of water available in the country is polluted. According to the Planning Commission: “From the Dal lake in the North to the Chaliyar rivers in the South : from Damodar and Hooghly in the East to the Thane creek in the West, the picture of water pollutio n is uniformly gloomy. Even our large perennial rivers, like the Ganga, are today heavily polluted”.

According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Beside the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers today have become synonymous with drains and sewers.

Untreated community wastes discharged into watercourses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India's 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than a third of the urban population. Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water-using industries in India are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 AD. Discharges from agricultural fields which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.

Toxic effluents deplete the levels of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Indus rivers have considerable concentrations of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their banks. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which threatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receives extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hooghly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikuta river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chatiyar in Kerala, the Gomti in U.P., the Narmada in M.P and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.

According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man-days every year due to water prone diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.

The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, UK, US and the Netherlands as also the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list. The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh - Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.

The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through overpumping; this is compounded by the pollution of water sources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-’91) reveals that drinking water has been available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent of the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country's rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade i.e. March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.

As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 litres annually. This indicates a waste level of 20 to 35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system primarily due to leaks in main and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduces losses, wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.

According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March, 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crore has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crore in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crore. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991. Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within the same period.

What was the theme which the Indian intelligentsia stuck to as an act of self preservation against the western onslaught?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things which are Indian. But in the last couple of decades, with the increasing reference to India as an economically under-developed country, the image of India as a vital, pulsating land has begun to emerge from the fog of Maharajas, snake-channers, and the rope-trick. The Maharajas are now fast disappearing and the rope-trick was at best a hallucination. Only the snake-charmer remains: generally an ill-fed man who risks his life to catch a snake, remove its poisonous fangs, and make it sway to the movement of the gourd pipe and all this in the hope of the occasional coin to feed him, his family, and the snake. In the imagination of Europe, India had always been the fabulous land of untold wealth and mystical happenings, with more than just a nonnal share of wise men. From the gold digging ants to the philosophers who lived naked in the forests, these were all part of he picture which the ancient Greeks had of the Indians and this image persisted throughout many centuries. It might be more charitable not to destroy it, but to preserve it would mean to perpetuation of a myth.

Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture, was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority. Whereas in some other cultures the rope-trick would have been ascribed to the prompting of the devil and all reference to it suppressed, in India it was regarded with amused benevolence. The fundamental sanity of Indian civilisation has been due to an absence of Satan.

The association of India with wealth, magic, and wisdom remained current for many centuries. But this attitude began to change in the nineteenth century when Europe entered the modem age, and the lack of enthusiasm for Indian culture in certain circles became almost proportionate to the earlier over ­enthusiasm. It was now discovered that India had none of the qualities which the new Europe admired. There was apparently no stress on the values of rational thought and individualism. India's culture was a stagnant culture and was regarded with supreme disdain, an attitude perhaps best typified in Macaulay's contempt for things Indian. The political institutions of India, visualised largely as the rule of the Maharajas and Sultans, were dismissed as despotic and totally unrepresentative of public opinion. And this, in an age of democratic revolutions, was about the worst of sins.'

Yet, a contrary opinion emerged from amongst a small section of European scholars who had discovered India largely through its ancient philosophy and its literature in Sanskrit. This attitude deliberately stressed the non-modem, non­utilitarian aspects of Indian culture, where the existence of a continuity of religion of over three thousand years was acclaimed; and where it was believed that the Indian pattern of life was so concerned with metaphysics and the subtleties of religious belief that there was no time for the mundane things of life. German romanticism was the most vehement in its support of this image of India: a vehemence which was to do as much damage to India as Macaulay's refection of Indian culture. India became the mystic land of many Europeans, where even the most ordinary actions were imbued with symbolism. India was the genesis of the spiritual East, and also, incidentally, the refuge of European intellectuals seeking escape from their own pattern of life. A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described as 'spiritual' and European values as 'materialistic', with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.

The discovery of the Indian past, and its revelation to Europe in the eighteenth century, was largely the work of Jesuits in India and of Europeans employed by the East India Company, such as Sir William Jones and Charles Wilkins. Soon the numbers of those interested in studying the classical languages and literatures of India grew, and the early nineteenth century saw considerable achievements in linguistics, ethnography, and other fields of Indology. Scholars in Europe expressed a keen interest in this new field, as is evident from the number of persons who took to Indology and of none of whom at least mention must be made - F. Max Mueller.

According to the passage, the distinguishing trait which made the Indian civilisation sane, was

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things which are Indian. But in the last couple of decades, with the increasing reference to India as an economically under-developed country, the image of India as a vital, pulsating land has begun to emerge from the fog of Maharajas, snake-channers, and the rope-trick. The Maharajas are now fast disappearing and the rope-trick was at best a hallucination. Only the snake-charmer remains: generally an ill-fed man who risks his life to catch a snake, remove its poisonous fangs, and make it sway to the movement of the gourd pipe and all this in the hope of the occasional coin to feed him, his family, and the snake. In the imagination of Europe, India had always been the fabulous land of untold wealth and mystical happenings, with more than just a nonnal share of wise men. From the gold digging ants to the philosophers who lived naked in the forests, these were all part of he picture which the ancient Greeks had of the Indians and this image persisted throughout many centuries. It might be more charitable not to destroy it, but to preserve it would mean to perpetuation of a myth.

Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture, was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority. Whereas in some other cultures the rope-trick would have been ascribed to the prompting of the devil and all reference to it suppressed, in India it was regarded with amused benevolence. The fundamental sanity of Indian civilisation has been due to an absence of Satan.

The association of India with wealth, magic, and wisdom remained current for many centuries. But this attitude began to change in the nineteenth century when Europe entered the modem age, and the lack of enthusiasm for Indian culture in certain circles became almost proportionate to the earlier over ­enthusiasm. It was now discovered that India had none of the qualities which the new Europe admired. There was apparently no stress on the values of rational thought and individualism. India's culture was a stagnant culture and was regarded with supreme disdain, an attitude perhaps best typified in Macaulay's contempt for things Indian. The political institutions of India, visualised largely as the rule of the Maharajas and Sultans, were dismissed as despotic and totally unrepresentative of public opinion. And this, in an age of democratic revolutions, was about the worst of sins.'

Yet, a contrary opinion emerged from amongst a small section of European scholars who had discovered India largely through its ancient philosophy and its literature in Sanskrit. This attitude deliberately stressed the non-modem, non­utilitarian aspects of Indian culture, where the existence of a continuity of religion of over three thousand years was acclaimed; and where it was believed that the Indian pattern of life was so concerned with metaphysics and the subtleties of religious belief that there was no time for the mundane things of life. German romanticism was the most vehement in its support of this image of India: a vehemence which was to do as much damage to India as Macaulay's refection of Indian culture. India became the mystic land of many Europeans, where even the most ordinary actions were imbued with symbolism. India was the genesis of the spiritual East, and also, incidentally, the refuge of European intellectuals seeking escape from their own pattern of life. A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described as 'spiritual' and European values as 'materialistic', with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.

The discovery of the Indian past, and its revelation to Europe in the eighteenth century, was largely the work of Jesuits in India and of Europeans employed by the East India Company, such as Sir William Jones and Charles Wilkins. Soon the numbers of those interested in studying the classical languages and literatures of India grew, and the early nineteenth century saw considerable achievements in linguistics, ethnography, and other fields of Indology. Scholars in Europe expressed a keen interest in this new field, as is evident from the number of persons who took to Indology and of none of whom at least mention must be made - F. Max Mueller.

What was/were the ground(s) on which thinkers such as Macaulay regarded the Indian culture with supreme disdain?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things which are Indian. But in the last couple of decades, with the increasing reference to India as an economically under-developed country, the image of India as a vital, pulsating land has begun to emerge from the fog of Maharajas, snake-channers, and the rope-trick. The Maharajas are now fast disappearing and the rope-trick was at best a hallucination. Only the snake-charmer remains: generally an ill-fed man who risks his life to catch a snake, remove its poisonous fangs, and make it sway to the movement of the gourd pipe and all this in the hope of the occasional coin to feed him, his family, and the snake. In the imagination of Europe, India had always been the fabulous land of untold wealth and mystical happenings, with more than just a nonnal share of wise men. From the gold digging ants to the philosophers who lived naked in the forests, these were all part of he picture which the ancient Greeks had of the Indians and this image persisted throughout many centuries. It might be more charitable not to destroy it, but to preserve it would mean to perpetuation of a myth.

Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture, was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority. Whereas in some other cultures the rope-trick would have been ascribed to the prompting of the devil and all reference to it suppressed, in India it was regarded with amused benevolence. The fundamental sanity of Indian civilisation has been due to an absence of Satan.

The association of India with wealth, magic, and wisdom remained current for many centuries. But this attitude began to change in the nineteenth century when Europe entered the modem age, and the lack of enthusiasm for Indian culture in certain circles became almost proportionate to the earlier over ­enthusiasm. It was now discovered that India had none of the qualities which the new Europe admired. There was apparently no stress on the values of rational thought and individualism. India's culture was a stagnant culture and was regarded with supreme disdain, an attitude perhaps best typified in Macaulay's contempt for things Indian. The political institutions of India, visualised largely as the rule of the Maharajas and Sultans, were dismissed as despotic and totally unrepresentative of public opinion. And this, in an age of democratic revolutions, was about the worst of sins.'

Yet, a contrary opinion emerged from amongst a small section of European scholars who had discovered India largely through its ancient philosophy and its literature in Sanskrit. This attitude deliberately stressed the non-modem, non­utilitarian aspects of Indian culture, where the existence of a continuity of religion of over three thousand years was acclaimed; and where it was believed that the Indian pattern of life was so concerned with metaphysics and the subtleties of religious belief that there was no time for the mundane things of life. German romanticism was the most vehement in its support of this image of India: a vehemence which was to do as much damage to India as Macaulay's refection of Indian culture. India became the mystic land of many Europeans, where even the most ordinary actions were imbued with symbolism. India was the genesis of the spiritual East, and also, incidentally, the refuge of European intellectuals seeking escape from their own pattern of life. A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described as 'spiritual' and European values as 'materialistic', with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.

The discovery of the Indian past, and its revelation to Europe in the eighteenth century, was largely the work of Jesuits in India and of Europeans employed by the East India Company, such as Sir William Jones and Charles Wilkins. Soon the numbers of those interested in studying the classical languages and literatures of India grew, and the early nineteenth century saw considerable achievements in linguistics, ethnography, and other fields of Indology. Scholars in Europe expressed a keen interest in this new field, as is evident from the number of persons who took to Indology and of none of whom at least mention must be made - F. Max Mueller.

What was the source through which some of the modern scholars rediscovered the glory of India?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things which are Indian. But in the last couple of decades, with the increasing reference to India as an economically under-developed country, the image of India as a vital, pulsating land has begun to emerge from the fog of Maharajas, snake-channers, and the rope-trick. The Maharajas are now fast disappearing and the rope-trick was at best a hallucination. Only the snake-charmer remains: generally an ill-fed man who risks his life to catch a snake, remove its poisonous fangs, and make it sway to the movement of the gourd pipe and all this in the hope of the occasional coin to feed him, his family, and the snake. In the imagination of Europe, India had always been the fabulous land of untold wealth and mystical happenings, with more than just a nonnal share of wise men. From the gold digging ants to the philosophers who lived naked in the forests, these were all part of he picture which the ancient Greeks had of the Indians and this image persisted throughout many centuries. It might be more charitable not to destroy it, but to preserve it would mean to perpetuation of a myth.

Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture, was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority. Whereas in some other cultures the rope-trick would have been ascribed to the prompting of the devil and all reference to it suppressed, in India it was regarded with amused benevolence. The fundamental sanity of Indian civilisation has been due to an absence of Satan.

The association of India with wealth, magic, and wisdom remained current for many centuries. But this attitude began to change in the nineteenth century when Europe entered the modem age, and the lack of enthusiasm for Indian culture in certain circles became almost proportionate to the earlier over ­enthusiasm. It was now discovered that India had none of the qualities which the new Europe admired. There was apparently no stress on the values of rational thought and individualism. India's culture was a stagnant culture and was regarded with supreme disdain, an attitude perhaps best typified in Macaulay's contempt for things Indian. The political institutions of India, visualised largely as the rule of the Maharajas and Sultans, were dismissed as despotic and totally unrepresentative of public opinion. And this, in an age of democratic revolutions, was about the worst of sins.'

Yet, a contrary opinion emerged from amongst a small section of European scholars who had discovered India largely through its ancient philosophy and its literature in Sanskrit. This attitude deliberately stressed the non-modem, non­utilitarian aspects of Indian culture, where the existence of a continuity of religion of over three thousand years was acclaimed; and where it was believed that the Indian pattern of life was so concerned with metaphysics and the subtleties of religious belief that there was no time for the mundane things of life. German romanticism was the most vehement in its support of this image of India: a vehemence which was to do as much damage to India as Macaulay's refection of Indian culture. India became the mystic land of many Europeans, where even the most ordinary actions were imbued with symbolism. India was the genesis of the spiritual East, and also, incidentally, the refuge of European intellectuals seeking escape from their own pattern of life. A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described as 'spiritual' and European values as 'materialistic', with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.

The discovery of the Indian past, and its revelation to Europe in the eighteenth century, was largely the work of Jesuits in India and of Europeans employed by the East India Company, such as Sir William Jones and Charles Wilkins. Soon the numbers of those interested in studying the classical languages and literatures of India grew, and the early nineteenth century saw considerable achievements in linguistics, ethnography, and other fields of Indology. Scholars in Europe expressed a keen interest in this new field, as is evident from the number of persons who took to Indology and of none of whom at least mention must be made - F. Max Mueller.

Who, according to the passage, were the Westerners that glorified Indian culture?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

For many Europeans, India evoked a picture of Maharajas, snake charmers, and the rope-trick. This has lent both allure and romanticism to things which are Indian. But in the last couple of decades, with the increasing reference to India as an economically under-developed country, the image of India as a vital, pulsating land has begun to emerge from the fog of Maharajas, snake-channers, and the rope-trick. The Maharajas are now fast disappearing and the rope-trick was at best a hallucination. Only the snake-charmer remains: generally an ill-fed man who risks his life to catch a snake, remove its poisonous fangs, and make it sway to the movement of the gourd pipe and all this in the hope of the occasional coin to feed him, his family, and the snake. In the imagination of Europe, India had always been the fabulous land of untold wealth and mystical happenings, with more than just a nonnal share of wise men. From the gold digging ants to the philosophers who lived naked in the forests, these were all part of he picture which the ancient Greeks had of the Indians and this image persisted throughout many centuries. It might be more charitable not to destroy it, but to preserve it would mean to perpetuation of a myth.

Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture, was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority. Whereas in some other cultures the rope-trick would have been ascribed to the prompting of the devil and all reference to it suppressed, in India it was regarded with amused benevolence. The fundamental sanity of Indian civilisation has been due to an absence of Satan.

The association of India with wealth, magic, and wisdom remained current for many centuries. But this attitude began to change in the nineteenth century when Europe entered the modem age, and the lack of enthusiasm for Indian culture in certain circles became almost proportionate to the earlier over ­enthusiasm. It was now discovered that India had none of the qualities which the new Europe admired. There was apparently no stress on the values of rational thought and individualism. India's culture was a stagnant culture and was regarded with supreme disdain, an attitude perhaps best typified in Macaulay's contempt for things Indian. The political institutions of India, visualised largely as the rule of the Maharajas and Sultans, were dismissed as despotic and totally unrepresentative of public opinion. And this, in an age of democratic revolutions, was about the worst of sins.'

Yet, a contrary opinion emerged from amongst a small section of European scholars who had discovered India largely through its ancient philosophy and its literature in Sanskrit. This attitude deliberately stressed the non-modem, non­utilitarian aspects of Indian culture, where the existence of a continuity of religion of over three thousand years was acclaimed; and where it was believed that the Indian pattern of life was so concerned with metaphysics and the subtleties of religious belief that there was no time for the mundane things of life. German romanticism was the most vehement in its support of this image of India: a vehemence which was to do as much damage to India as Macaulay's refection of Indian culture. India became the mystic land of many Europeans, where even the most ordinary actions were imbued with symbolism. India was the genesis of the spiritual East, and also, incidentally, the refuge of European intellectuals seeking escape from their own pattern of life. A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described as 'spiritual' and European values as 'materialistic', with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.

The discovery of the Indian past, and its revelation to Europe in the eighteenth century, was largely the work of Jesuits in India and of Europeans employed by the East India Company, such as Sir William Jones and Charles Wilkins. Soon the numbers of those interested in studying the classical languages and literatures of India grew, and the early nineteenth century saw considerable achievements in linguistics, ethnography, and other fields of Indology. Scholars in Europe expressed a keen interest in this new field, as is evident from the number of persons who took to Indology and of none of whom at least mention must be made - F. Max Mueller.