Plus Two Political Science Previous Year Question Paper 2010

Kerala Plus Two Political Science Previous Year Question Paper 2010

Question 1.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is popularly known as the “Iron Man of India”. Give the reason by which he is famous by this name. Enumerate the role played by him in the integration of Indian Union.
Answer:
He is called the ‘Iron Man of India’ because of his major role in integrating all the Princely States after independence to make the Indian Union. As the Dy. Prime Minister and also Home Minister he made diplomatic but determined moves to make agreements with the rulers of the Princely States. V.P. Menon who was the Secretary of the Princely States, and Governor General Lord Mountbatten helped Patel greatly to carry out his historic responsibility.

Question 2.
Match the following.

Garibl Hatao Nehru National Emergency
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Mrs. Gandhi Thashkent agreement
Hindi Chini Bhai Shastri First Prime Minister of India

Answer:
Garibi Hatao – Mrs. Gandhi – National Emergency Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan -Sastri-TashkentAgreement Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai – Nehru – the first Indian Prime Minister

Question 3.
In 1952 a Veteran Congress leader Potti Sriramalu died during a 56 days long hunger strike. This led to the formation of a commission. Identify the commission and its salient recommendation.
Answer:
The death of Potti Sriramulu caused a big turmoil in Andhra Pradesh. Then in December 1952, the Prime Minister declared the formation of a separate Andhra State based on language considerations. This declaration made the demand for the formation States on linguistic basis very strong and the people started clamouring for it. In 1953, the Central Government formed a State Reorganization Commission. The Commission recommended the formation of State on linguistic basis. On the recommendations of this report, in 1956 the State Reorganization Act was passed. Thus 14 States and 6 Union Territories came into existence.

Question 4.
“The dominance of Congress Party in Indian Politics was different from the one party dominance in China, Cuba and the erstwhile USSR”. Write your opinion about the above statement.
Answer:
In China, Cuba and the erstwhile Soviet Union there was one party dominance as only one party was allowed to function in those countries. But in India things were different. We had multi-party democracy. But staying within the bounds of democracy, Congress dominated in Indian politics. Many parties had contested the elections. But in consecutive elections, Congress won, maintaining its dominance.

Question 5.
Identify the Political Parties with which each leader mentioned below is associated.

C.Rajagopalachari CPI(M)
Dr.Syamaprasad Mukarjee Congress
A.K.Gopalan Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad Swathanthra party

Answer:
C. Rajagopaiachari- Swatantra Party
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – Bhartiya Jan Sangh
A.K. Gopalan – C.P.I, (M)
Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad – Congress

HSSLive.Guru

Question 6.
“The USSR was the largest state in the world. In 1991 the mammoth republic had spilt into 15 independent republics”. Analyse the reason for the disintegration of USSR.
Answer:
There are many reasons for the disintegration of the USSR:
a. Political reasons
b. Economic reasons
c. The reforms of Gorbachev
a. Political Reasons:

  • In the Soviet system there was bureaucratic misrule and misuse of authority. The life of ordinary people was not at all smooth.
  • Lack of democracy and lack of freedom of expression.
  • Although on paper Russia was just one of the 15 republics, it either suppressed or controlled the people of all other republics.

b. Economic reasons. To become equal with the US in weapons, USSR spent a lot of its money on weapons. USSR was behind the West in technology and internal structure. It had no ability to protect the political and economic interests of its people,
c. Reforms of Gorbachev: His two important reforms were Glasnost and Perestroika. They did not bring the expected results. They brought more troubles to the country leading to its disintegration.

Question 7.
From the following countries, four belong to NAM. Identify them.
France, Japan. USA
India, Zambia, China
Indonesia, Russia, Maldives
Answer:
India, Zambia, Indonesia and Maldives

Question 8.
Look at the following conversation :
A) USA’s intervention in Iraq is against all international conventions.
B) USA’s intervention in Yugoslovia is also against the international law.
C) It is ironically said that “USA is the World Police”. The above dialogues show the hegemony of USA in international politics. Analyse the different dimensions of US hegemony.
Answer:
The above statements show how USA dominates international politics after the fall of the Soviet Union. Hegemony means power is concentrated in one place. America’s hegemony can be seen at different levels:
a. Hegemony as a strong military power.
b. Hegemony in the economic structure.
c. Hegemony in cultural affairs.
a. Hegemony as a strong military power:
Today America is the strongest military power. It can reach even the remotest part of the world very quickly. To maintain this military power America spends a major portion of its budget for research and such things. It uses this power to conquer, to deter, to punish and to control. This was shown in America’s interference in Iraq and Yugoslavia.

b. Hegemony in the economic structure:
America has a big role in world economy. To a large extent world economy depends on American economy. It is for her own profit that she supports world economy. America controls world economy through her control over communications channels through the ocean and the internet. 28% of the world economy is America’s. 15% of world trade is done by them. In any sphere of world economy one of the three biggest companies will be American. The Breton Woods system adopted by America remains the basic system of world economy. World Bank, IMF, WTO etc. show American dominance over world economy.

c. Hegemony in cultural affairs:
Even in ideological and cultural levels, we can see the dominance of America. For small countries America is the role model. Many countries want to copy American ideals and cultural values. America does whatever she can to attract small countries to her. The Breton Woods system adopted by America remains the basic system of world economy. Whether we like it or not America is seen by most countries as a role model for their dreams and life style.

Question 9.
“India protests Chinese intention to intrude in Arunachal Pradesh” Times of India The above news headline shows the recent tension between Indo-China border. Give your opinion about the resolution of tension between the two countries, is peaceful co-operation between the two countries useful for us?
Answer:
Initially the relations between the two countries were cordial. Nehru had a special liking for a neighbouring country which liberated itself from the clutches of a foreign country. He tried to follow the policy of “Panchsheel” with China. Panchsheel was a declaration of five principles of peaceful cooperation and mutual respect. It was signed the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and the Chinese Prime Minister Chou-en-Lai.

The purpose was to make the relations between the two neighbours stronger. In spite of the good relations, there were border disputes between two. China claimed the Aksai Chin and some places in Arunachal Pradesh to be theirs. India’s stand on the Tibetan Issue and the India’s giving refuge to Dalai Lama made China angry. As a result in 1962 China invaded India.

After the war, for quite some time, there were no diplomatic relations between the two countries: Relations were re-established in 1976. Recently there have been ups and down in our relations with China. Times of India had reported that Dalai Lama’s visit to Tibet made China unhappy. I feel that if the two countries follow the Panchsheel principles, their relations can be made smooth once again.

Question 10.
Find the odd one out.
EUROPEAN UNION, ASEAN, SAARC, IBRD
Answer:
IBRD

HSSLive.Guru

Question 11.
Listen to the following conversation
A) “Recent recession in the global economy did not much affect India like the rest of the world”.
B) This is because of the influence of public sector in Indian Economy.
Discuss how public sector and private sector go hand in hand in India. Is there any shift in this policy ?
Answer:
As a country which got its freedom newly, India had two models to choose from. They were the capitalist model and the socialist model. After a lot of thought, the leaders of India chose a mixed economy. Because of this we got the good things from both the models. We established essential and heavy industries in the public sector. But in other areas private sector was given due consideration.

It was possible for us to accommodate the two models and work for progress. The recession in the global economy adversely affected countries which followed capitalist economy. But since India had a mixed economy, the recession did not affect us so badly. The public sector and the economic control of the government helped us to be comparatively untouched by the recession. India’s policy now can be called LPG – Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. This policy gave greater importance to private sector. Even now our essential industries are under public sector.

Question 12.
Match the following.

1st Five year plan P.C. Mahalanobis Industrial
development
2nd Five year plan White revolution Agriculture and Irrigation
Varghese Kurien K.N. Raj Anand

Answer:

1st Five year plan K.N. Raj Industrial
development
2nd Five year plan  P.C. Mahalanobis Agriculture and Irrigation
Varghese Kurien White revolution Anand

Question 13.
“Our general policy is to avoid entanglement in power politics and not to join any group of powers as against any other camp. The two leading blocs today are the Russian bloc and the anglo American bloc. We must be friendly to both and yet not join either….”
These are the words by Pandit Jawaharla Nehru, the architect of our foreign policy.Enumerate the basic ideas of India’s foreign policy. Is there any shift in our foreign policy today ?
Look at the following hints.
Non-aligned foreign policy
Afro-Asian unity
Panchasheel
Policy shifts
Answer:
Nehru is the architect of Indian foreign policy. In 1927, he worked as the spokesman for foreign affairs of the Indian National Congress. After independence he formulated India’s foreign policy. At that time the aims of the foreign policy were the following:

  • Be independent in the formulation of the foreign policy.
  • Maintain international peace.
  • Cooperate with the UN.
  • Disarmament.
  • Fight against colonialism, imperialism and racial discrimination.
  • Cooperate with the developing countries.

To achieve the above aims we followed the following policies:

  • Non-Aligned Policy
  • Panchsheel
  • Afro-Asian Unity

Non-Aligned Policy:
India’s foreign policy was formulated during the period of the Cold War. Under the prevailing circumstances we followed the policy of Non-Alignment. This policy means:

  • No military alliance with any country of either Bloc.
  • India has an independent foreign policy.
  • India wants to maintain friendly relations with all countries.

The indian leaders thought by following the policy of Non-Alignment, they could reduce the tension between the two Blocs and India and other non- aligned nations could pursue their own schemes for prosperity.

Panchsheel:
The ‘Panchsheel’ was signed on’ 29.4.1954 by the Indian PM Nehru and the Chinese PM Chou-en-Lai. They are five pillars of cooperation. These are the five pillars:

  • Respect the borders of both countries and the sovereignty of each other.
  • No war between the two countries.
  • Non-interference in the internal affairs of the other country.
  • Equality and mutual understanding.
  • Peaceful co-existence.

These were the five main ideas of Indian foreign policy.
Afro-Asian Unity: This was another important concept that led the Indian foreign policy. Nehru established relations with the newly independent African and Asian countries. In March 1947, India summoned the Asian Relations Conference. Through this India gave help to end colonialism and opposed the apartheid  (racial discrimination) policy of South Africa. Then, the Afro-Asian Conference at Bandung also helped in the formation of Non-Aligned Movement.

After the Cold War period, India’s foreign policy underwent some changes. Now India follows the LPG policy. LPG means Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. Recently India entered into a nuclear deal with America. In the IAEA meeting India took an anti-iran stand. Now America is the world’s only Superpower. Naturally, India and other countries will have to make appropriate changes in their foreign policy.

HSSLive.Guru

Question 14.
“If there is a Global War in future it will be for drinking water”.
The statement shows the necessity of water protection. There are other ‘natural phenomena’ which directly affect global politics. Identify any one of them and describe how they affect our global politics.
Answer:
These days an important issue that is discussed in world politics is Global Warming. This changes the climate. Carbon dioxide, Methane, hydrofluoro carbons etc. cause global warming. So developing countries ask the developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Since global warming affects every country, some organizations have been formed for the protection of the environment. As a result there took place the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In 2002 there was Kyoto Protocol and in 2009 there was the Copenhagen Summit.

Question 15.
Globalisation cannot be limited to the sphere of politics and economy. If affects us in our home, in what we eat, drink, wear and indeed what we think. Me Donaldisation is dangerous for the poor countries and for the humanity, because it leads to the shrinking of the rich cultural heritages of the world. The above statements point out the cultural consequences of globalisation. What is your opinion about the effect of globalisation in the cultural sphere ?Is it good or bad ? Substantiate your answer.
Answer:
Globalization means the flow of ideas, goods and people from one country to another without much restriction. It is natural that the culture of a country may be affected by this kind of free flow. In my opinion, globalization opens the way for cultural uniformity. This does not mean that all the cultures will transform themselves into just one culture. What it means is that there is a possibility of Western Culture making inroads into the cultures of other countries. The cultures of the economically powerful countries influence the weaker countries. This can be called a kind of necolonism.

Question 16.
Chipko movement is recognised as one of the first environmental movements in the country.Identify the reason which led to the Chipko movement in U.P. in the early 1970’s.
Answer:
Chipko Movement is considered as one of the first environmental movement in the country. This was a Movement that became famous the world over. It was started in 1973 in two or three villages of Uttarakhand. The Forest Department prevented the villagers from cutting down a certain kind of trees with which they made their working implements. But the same Forest Department gave permission to a Sports Equipment Manufacturing Company to cut down such trees for commercial purposes. This provoked the villagers. When the workers came to cut the trees, the villagers stood near the trees embracing them. (Chipko means embrace).

This protest spread to many parts of Uttarakhand. The people raised their voice against the exploitation of nature. They asked the government not to let outsiders come and exploit their resources. They wanted the power to manage them to be given to the local people. They also asked for permission to start small scale industries, protecting Nature and the Environment. They also demanded minimum wages for the forest workers who had no land of their own.

As a result of this Movement, the government issued an order prohibiting the cutting down of trees in the Himalayan side for 15 years. The role of women was great in this Movement. They also fought against social evils like drinking alcohol. With Chipko Movement, people realized that solutions to popular problems could be found through non-political movements.

Question 17.
Read the following paper news.
“Akali leader Sant Harchant Singh Longowal shot dead”.
The decade of the 1980s witnessed so many problems. in the state of Punjab. Identify the reasons behind this.
Answer:
In 1966 Punjab was formed as a State on language basis. The Akali Dal had made some agitations for ‘Punjabi Suba”. In 1966 Indira Gandhi approved the demand ofAkali Dal. Accordingly Punjab was divided into two States – Haryana and Punjab. Afterthat in 1967 and 1977, Akali Dal came to power in Punjab. But because of the following reasons he existence ofAkali Dal was in jeopardy.

  • The Centre dismissed the Akali Dal government before it completed its term.
  • Akali Dal did not have the support of Hindus.
  • There was division in the Sikh community itself based on caste and class.

Among the Dalits, Congress had greater support. In 1970, some Akal is demanded autonomy and a revision in the Centre-State relations and they started agitations. In 1973 in Anandpur Sahib they passed a resolution for this. They also demanded a “Sikh Kaum”. They said their aim was ‘Bolbala”. Only a few Sikh people approved this resolution. In 1980, the Akali government was dismissed. At this time some Sikh people wanted complete freedom from India as they wanted their own Khalistan. All this led to terrorist activities there which resulted in the “Operation Blue Star”. Finally it all ended in the murders of both Indira Gandhi and Sant Harchand Longoval.

HSSLive.Guru

Question 18.
“Politics in India has succeeded in accepting regionalism as the part and parcel of democratic politics. Do you agree with the above statement ? Substantiate your answer.
Answer:
I quite agree with the statement made above. India is a country of diversities. If we are to go forward democratically we ought to recognize these diversities. Our leaders and makers of the Constitution were aware of this problem. That is why we could survive the problems from Punjab, North-Eastern States, Tamil Nadu and Andhra. By giving the States some kind of regional self-rule, our democracy becomes more acceptable and strong.If we do not recognize regional demands, there will be serious troubles and they will prove a stain to our democracy.

Question 19.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union the nature of International System has undergone several trans-formations. Therefore, demand for restructuring of UN emerged from several quarters. Suggest the change in the structure and process of UN in the context of the realities in the post cold war period.
Answer:
Recently there have been demands to change the structure of the UN. Reforms are demanded in two spheres:

  • Changes in the structure and its functioning.
  • A rethinking of the problems that can come, should come, under the jurisdiction of the UN.

A big demand is that there should be changes in the structure and functions of the Security Council. There is demand for the increase of the Permanent and Non-Permanent members in the Security Council. Then contemporary political realities will be more reflected in its working. There is a demand to increase the number of Asian, African and Latin American countries.

There is also a demand from America and many Western countries to rethink about the budget and its management. Some experts and nations say that there should be some reforms in the areas of jurisdiction of the UNO. They think the UN should play more active roles to bring about peace and security. But others say UN must pay more attention to humanitarian and welfare schemes like health, education, environment, birth control, human rights, social justice etc.

Question 20.
Identify the founder and the leader of Misso National Front.
Answer:
Lai Denga

Question 21.
Traditional notions of security stress on military threats. But the non traditional notions of security include those wide range of threats and dangers affecting the condition of human existence. Write a brief note on human security and global security.
Answer:
1. Human security:
The security of people is more important than the security of countries. Nowadays the citizens are not safe in any country. In the last 100 years, governments have killed more of their own people than the enemies of the country have killed.

2. Global Security:
This concept came because of the coming of global warming, terrorism, AIDS, bird fever, etc. No country can solve these problems alone. It is in these circumstances the necessity and importance of global security was recognized. Recently there was the outbreak of swine flu which once again pointed to the importance of global security.

Question 22.
Look at the Clues.
i. On 25th June 1975, the government evoked Art. 352 of the Constitution and declared National Emergency.
ii. Large numbers of leaders and workers of the Opposition were arrested.
iii. Various Fundamental Rights of the citizens were impeded.
Answer:
According to the Constitution, during the Emergency, the Central Government has special powers. During the Emergency, the Government did the following:
a. Protests and agitations by government employees were banned.
b. Media was strictly controlled.
c. Fundamental Rights of the citizens were suspended Even the courts could not enforce article 32
d. A number of preventive arrests of leaders were made By doing all these things, the democratic set-up was seriously shaken. The media could publish only things the government approved. Protesting against this, Newspapers like Indian Express and Statesman published their papers leaving some columns blank. Many journalists were under preventive detention.

Many Opposition leaders were also kept in preventive custody. The argument for keeping them in jail was preventing any possible violence. Many leaders went underground. The suspension of article 32 was like closing the doors of justice on people. People could not even file ‘Habeas Corpus . Later article 42 was also amended. We can easily say that the Emergency adversely affected the people in many ways.
Through an advertisement. Times of India severely criticised democracy. The advertisement was: “Death of D.E.M. O’cracy, mourned by his wife T Ruth, his son L.l. Berty and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice’.

Question 23.
Find the odd man out.
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Indonesia, Pakistan
Answer:
Indonesia

Question 24.
LTTE Supremo Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan Army”.
Based on the above paper news write an article depicting “the futility of terrorist movement in the contemporary world”.
Answer:
Today the world has many terrorist organizations that work for the interests of certain sections of the people. The victims of terrorist acts are usually common people. Therefore no civilized society can approve terrorist acts. We can boldly say that terrorism is a threat against mankind. Whatever may be arguments put forward by the terrorists, their acts have no justification. The acts of Veluppillai Prabhakaran were also that like. Although he fought for serving the interest of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, his methods were not appropriate.

Before he started terrorist acts/he was supported by the Indian government. But when he embarked on violence, he lost our support and also the support of the international community. In the end he was killed by the Sri Lankan army. This should be a lesson to other terrorists. Our policies are based on Gandhian ideals. Our aims and methods should be free from blame. Only such efforts will succeed in the end.

HSSLive.Guru

Question 25.
“Storm over additional quota”. Govt, implemented Mandal Commission Report. Implementation of Mandal Commission Report evoked positive and negative reaction throughout the country.Give an appraisal of the Mandal Report in the light of the turbulence created in India.
Answer:
Since the 1960s, the South Indian States had made reservations for Other Backward Classes. But this was not done in the Northern Regions. In the 1977-79 period this demand became, very strong throughout the country. In 1978, the Janta Party appointed Mr Bindeswari Mandal to find out the groups which are socially and educationally backward and study about their condition. This Commission is known as the Second Backward Commission. This Commission was appointed with . the intention of solving the backwardness of certain sections of the society.

In 1980, this Commission presented its report. According to the Commission, the Backward Sections were to be Backward Classes. Apart from the Scheduled Tribes, there were many other classes which should be considered Backward. According to a survey conducted by this Commission, it was found out that their representation was very low in education and jobs. Therefore it recommended to give 27% reservation to these Backward Classes. With the coming of the land reforms, their condition . has become much better.

Question 26.
Read the following interview.
“Seven members of my family were killed My eighteen year old daughter Shabana was raped and killed in front of my wife. Only two of my sons and my wife are alive…,” (Report on the Godhra attack) .Based on the above interview prepare an editorial with a view to protect and promote secularism and democracy in India.
Answer:
India is a country of diversities. To accommodate these diversities, the architects of our constitution made it democratic and secular. All the governments are doing their best to maintain our rich cultural heritage and our unity. But many selfish and greedy people tried to bring in intolerance and-division and because of that there have been some troubles here and there. At the time of independence such divisive tendencies and intolerance were visible and there were many problems. Later there were anti Sikh protests in many parts of the country. There were riots in Mumbai. There were problems in Gujarat.These are the stains on our democracy. Therefore , governments, media, social workers and above all the citizens should work hard to bring tolerance and unity in our country. Bringing unity is the responsibility of each one of us.

Plus Two Political Science Previous Year Question Papers and Answers