1. Yes, UPSC official Answerkey for 2017-Prelim is out
  2. Right to vote is a Constitutional right
  3. Cabinet form of Government = collective reasonability
  4. Harappans did not know about Horse
  5. Fundamental Duties
  6. Butterfly absence doesn’t mean fungal infection
  7. Small finance bank notfor young startups to go Rural
  8. Tax revenue and Fiscal deficit graphs
  9. It’s not Bhavnagar’s beach
  10. RPL
  11. Want to crosscheck more Question Answers?

Yes, UPSC official Answerkey for 2017-Prelim is out

  • Finally, UPSC released the official Answerkey for the Prelims-2017, which had turned online forums into battlegrounds जहां भाई भाई का और Captain America Iron Man का दुश्मन बन चूका था, and some candidates had even approached Supreme court  about whether right to vote is Constitutional right or legal right and whether Harappan junta knew about horse or not?
  • Those debatable questions and their official answers are as following:

Right to vote is a Constitutional right

(Series-A) Q86. Right to vote and to be elected in India is a

  1. Fundamental Right
  2. Natural Right
  3. Constitutional Right
  4. Legal Right

right to vote Constitutional right says UPSC
Unofficial Answerkey: were divided among A, C and D. In my Answerkey, I had picked C because New NCERT,Std. 11, Introduction to Indian Constitution Chapter 3, Page 66 and 67 mentioned that, whereas some were citing SC judgements in PILs that it’s a legal right / fundamental right.
UPSC Official Answerkey: “C” is the answer. यानी की it’s the Constitutional right. So, NCERT triumphs over other sources, when it comes to authentic solution to UPSC MCQs.

Cabinet form of Government = collective reasonability not for speeding things

(Series-A) Q99.  Out of the following statements, choose the one that brings out the principle underlying the Cabinet form of Government:

  1. An arrangement for minimizing the criticism against the Government whose responsibilities are complex and hard to carry out to the satisfaction of all.
  2. A mechanism for speeding up the activities of the Government whose responsibilities are increasing day by day.
  3. A mechanism of parliamentary democracy for ensuring collective responsibility of the Government to the people.
  4. A device for strengthening the hands of the head of the Government whose hold over the people is in a state of decline.

Unofficial Answerkeys: they were divided between “B” and “C”. In my Answerkey, I opted for “B” to keep consistency in my logic that NCERT triumphs over others (Same logic applied in right to vote MCQ also.)
NCERT Class 9 ch. 5, page 87: Since it is not practical for all ministers to meet regularly and discuss everything, (hence) the decisions are taken in Cabinet meetings. That is why parliamentary democracy in most countries is often known as the Cabinet form of government.

UPSC Official Answerkey: “C” is the official answer. So, NCERT doesn’t always triumph, just like the Avengers in the infinity war against Thanos. Since I’m not General Dong, so I’ve no shame in admitting that my answerkey was wrong in that particular question.

Harappans did not know about Horse

(Series-A) Q2. With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.
  2. Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.
  3. Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having been aware of this animal.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Unofficial Answerkey: were divided among A and C- so the basic debate was over whether Harappans knew about horse or not?
UPSC Official Answerkey: “C” is the answer. यानी की in the words of the immortal F.W.Taylor, Harappan juntaa was stupid and phlagmatic like an oxen, and didnot know about horse.

Fundamental Duties

(Series-A) Q36.  Which of the following statements is/are true of the Fundamental Duties of an Indian citizen?

  1. A legislative process has been provided to enforce these duties.
  2. They are correlative to legal duties.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Unofficial Answerkey: While majority of the unofficial answerkey were unanimous that it was “D”, but some candidates were doing hairsplittery about second statement.
UPSC Official Answerkey: it’s “D”.

Butterfly absence doesn’t mean fungal infection

(Series-A) Q21. Due to some reasons, if there is a huge fall in the population of species of butterflies, what could be its likely consequence/consequences?

  1. Pollination of some plants could be adversely affected.
  2. There could be a drastic increase in the fungal infections of some cultivated plants.
  3. It could lead to a fall in the population of some species of wasps, spiders and birds.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Unofficial Answerkey: While majority of the unofficial answerkey were unanimous that it was “C”, but some candidates were doing hairsplittery by using random websites / pdfs and Birbal-ki-khichdi like logics on how butterfly genocide leads to drastic fungal infection.
UPSC Official Answerkey: it’s “C”.

Small finance bank not meant for young startups to go Rural

(Series-A) Q40. What is the purpose of setting up of Small Finance Banks (SFBs) in India?

  1. To supply credit to small business units
  2. To supply credit to small and marginal farmers
  3. To encourage young entrepreneurs to set up business particularly in rural areas.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Unofficial Answerkey: While majority of the unofficial answerkey were unanimous that it was “A”, but some candidates were doing hairsplittery about third statement that it is also right like Birbal-ki-khichdi- Small finance banks will encourage young entrepreneurs to setup biz in rural areas.
UPSC Official Answerkey: it’s “A”. let this also be a case study that in economics MCQs, UPSC examiner doesn’t apply Birbal-ki-khichdi logics.

Tax revenue and Fiscal deficit graphs

(Series-A) Q94. Consider the following statements :

  1. Tax revenue as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade.
  2. Fiscal deficit as a percent of GDP of India has steadily increased in the last decade.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

  1. 1 only?
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Unofficial Answerkeys:
People were divided over two things

  1. What is meant by last decade: 2001 to 10 or 2006 to 2016?
  2. if we look at the economic survey statistical appendix data, then there is Tax: GDP has been improving except fall in 2008-10 so some candidates felt that we should look at decade as a whole then there is “steady” improvement so we need not look at the individual years with exceptional cases.

UPSC Official Answerkey: D. That means UPSC examiner has gone by literal meaning of “steadily increase”. You’ve to look at individual years’ steady increase, and not overall rise and fall in the decade.

It’s not Bhavnagar’s beach

(Series-A) Q19. At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the sea water recedes from the shore line a few kilometres and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the sea floor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at

  1. Bhavnagar
  2. Bheemunipatnam
  3. Chandipur
  4. Nagapattinam.

Unofficial Answerkey: While majority of the unofficial Answerkeys were unanimous that it was “C”, but some candidates were doing hairsplittery in this also by posting random youtube videos and facebook images to justify their answers that it is Bhavgnagar or some other place.
UPSC Official Answerkey: it’s “C”.

RPL

(Series-A) Q3. Recognition of Prior Learning Scheme’ is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to

  1. Certifying the skills acquired by construction workers through traditional channels.
  2. Enrolling the persons in Universities for distance learning programmes.
  3. Reserving some skilled jobs to rural and urban poor in some public sector undertakings.
  4. Certifying the skills acquired by trainees under the National Skill Development Programme.

Unofficial Answerkey: While majority of the unofficial answerkey were unanimous that it was “A”, but some candidates were doing hairsplittery in this also.
UPSC Official Answerkey: it’s “A”.

Want to crosscheck more Question Answers?

  • You can download the question paper from Here
  • You can download the official answerkey from Here
  • You can see my “unofficial” answerkey here: Here