296: Read the following passage and answer the question that follow passage. Your answers to the question should be based on the passage only.
Passage:
In a typical Western liberal, context, deepening of democracy invariably leads to consolidation of 'liberal values'. In the Indian context, democratization is translated into greater involvement of people not as 'individuals' which is a staple to liberal discourse, but as communities or groups. Individuals are getting involved in the public sphere not as 'atomized' individuals but as members of primordial communities drawn on religious or caste identity. Community-identity seems to be the governing force. It is not therefore surprising that the so-called peripheral groups continue to maintain their identities with reference to the social groups (caste, religion or sect) to which they belong while getting involved in the political processes despite the fact that their political goals remain more or less identical. By helping to articulate the political voice of the marginalized, democracy in India has led to 'a loosening of social strictures' and empowered the peripherals to be confident of their ability to improve the socio-economic conditions in which they are placed. This is a significant political process that had led to a silent revolution through a meaningful transfer of power from the upper caste elites to various subaltern groups within the democratic framework of public governance.
Q. Greater democratization in India has not necessarily led to
(a) The dilution of caste and communal identities in the public sphere.
(b) Irrelevance of community identity as a governing force in Indian politics.
(c) Marginalization of elite groups in society
(d) Relative unimportance of hereditary identities over class identities.
297: Consider the following statements about the Indian National Congress
I. Sarojini Naidu was the first woman to be the President of the Congress.
II. C.R. Das was in prison when he functioned as the President of the Congress.
III. The first Britisher to become the President of the Congress was Alan Octavian Hume.
IV. Alfred Webb was the President of the Congress in 1894.
Which of these statements are correct ?
(a) I and III
(b) II and IV
(c) II, III and IV
(d) I, II, III and IV
298: The name by which Asoka is generally referred to in his inscriptions is
(a) Chakravarti
(b) Dharmadeva
(c) Dharmakirti
(d) Priyadarsi
299: The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amend-ment) Act, 1992, which aims at promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country, provides for which of the following?
1. Constitution of District Planning Committees.
2. State Election Commissions to conduct all panchayat elections.
3. Establishment of State Finance Commissions.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 ans 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
300: Assertion (A):
The reservation of thirty-three per cent of seats for women in Parliament and State Legislatures does not require Constitutional amendment.
Reason (R):
Political parties contesting elections can allocate thirty-three per cent of seats they contest to women candidates without any Constitutional amendment.
In the context of the above two statements, which one of the following is correct ?
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and Rare true, but R is not a correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false, but R is true