Ten MCQs on current International and national events - 142

PRERNA FOR IAS

(ASSOCIATE OF SAMKALP)

A-Category MCQs -142

MCQ 1. Examination Integrity and Administrative Proportionality

Consider the following propositions concerning cancellation of a competitive examination affected by allegations of malpractice:

1. The principle of proportionality requires the State to consider whether the tainted and untainted portions of the selection process can reasonably be separated.
2. Natural justice necessarily prohibits cancellation of an examination unless every successful candidate is individually heard.
3. A blanket cancellation may become defensible where the contamination is so systemic that reconstruction of a reliable merit list is impossible.
4. Administrative convenience alone constitutes sufficient justification for cancelling the entire examination.

Which of the above propositions most accurately reflect the policy reasoning emerging from the JPSC controversy?

(A) 1 and 2 only
(B) 1 and 3 only
(C) 2, 3 and 4 only
(D) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer: (B)

Explanation: The objection to blanket cancellation rests on proportionality and individualised responsibility. If malpractice can be forensically isolated to centres or candidates, cancelling the entire examination imposes severe costs on unaffected aspirants. Total cancellation becomes defensible only where contamination is so pervasive that reliable separation is impossible.

MCQ 2. Academic Autonomy and Curriculum Reform

The controversy concerning removal of specialised postgraduate history courses from Delhi University most strongly illustrates which of the following propositions?

(A) Academic autonomy requires universities to preserve every historically established course irrespective of changing knowledge structures.

(B) NEP-linked curriculum restructuring becomes constitutionally invalid whenever specialised courses are replaced by interdisciplinary courses.

(C) Legitimate curriculum reform requires transparent disciplinary deliberation while ensuring that restructuring does not unintentionally eliminate historiographical depth and specialised academic inquiry.

(D) University curriculum is entirely an internal administrative matter and therefore cannot raise questions of intellectual pluralism or institutional autonomy.

Correct Answer: (C)