2024 Prelims Paper 2 UPSC Question Paper

Directions for the following 4 (four) items :
Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage-1
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural production to final household consumption. The increasing wastage also results in land degradation by about 45%, mainly due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive groundwater extraction. The energy spent over wasted food results in about 3.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide production every year. Decay also leads to harmful emissions of other gases in the atmosphere. Addressing the loss and wastage of food in all forms is critical to complete the cycle of food efficiency and food sustainability.

Which of the following statements best reflect the most logical and rational inferences that can be made from the passage?
1. The current methods of food distribution are solely responsible for the loss and wastage of food.
2. Land productivity is adversely affected by the prevailing trend of food loss and wastage.
3. Reduction in the loss and wastage of food results in lesser carbon footprint.
4. Post-harvest technologies to prevent or reduce the loss and wattage of food are not available.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
1. The food distribution mechanism needs to be reimagined and made effective to reduce the loss and wastage of food.
2. Ensuring the reduction of wastage and loss of food is a social and moral responsibility of all citizens.
Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

Passage-2
As inflation rises, even governments previously committed to budget discipline are spending freely to help households. Higher interest rates announced by central banks are supposed to help produce modest fiscal austerity, because to maintain stable debts while paying more to borrow, governments must cut spending or raise taxes. Without the fiscal backup, monetary policy eventually loses traction. Higher interest rates become inflationary, not disinflationary, because they simply lead governments to borrow more to pay rising debt-service costs. The risk of monetary unmooring is greater when public debt rises, because interest rates become more important to budget deficits.

Which of the following statements best reflects/reflect the most logical and rational inference/inferences that can be made from the passage?
1. Central banks cannot bring down inflation without budgetary backing.
2. The effects of monetary policy depend on the fiscal policies pursued by the government.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :
1. Fiscal policies of governments are solely responsible for higher prices.
2. Higher prices do not affect the long-term government bonds.
Which of the assumptions given above is/are valid?

What is the least possible number of cuts required to cut a cube into 64 identical pieces?

In the expression 5 * 4* 3* 2* 1, * is chosen from +, -, × each at most two times. What is the smallest non-negative value of the expression?

A certain number of men can complete a piece of work in 6k days, where k is a natural number. By what percent should the number of men be increased so that the work can be completed in 5k days?

X, Y and Z can complete a piece of work individually in 6 hours, 8 hours and 8 hours respectively. However, only one person at a time can work in each hour and nobody can work for two consecutive hours. All are engaged to finish the work. What is the minimum amount of time that they will take to finish the work?

How many consecutive zeros are there at the end of the integer obtained in the product 1² × 2⁴ × 3⁶ × 4⁸ ×.... × 25⁵⁰?

On January 1st, 2023, a person saved Rs 1. On January 2nd, 2023, he saved Rs. 2 more than that on the previous day. On January 3rd, 2023, he saved Rs. 2 more than that on the previous day and so on. At the end of which date was his total savings a perfect square as well a perfect cube?