Note :The following questions are for the Visually Impaired Candidates only, in lieu of Question No. 20 :

(20.1) Write the full form of SAARC.

(20.2) Assess the relations between India and China after 1991.

(20.3) ‘‘Given the size and power of India, its neighbours are bound to be suspicious of India’s intentions.’’ Justify the statement with a suitable argument.

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the following questions :

Things changed after independence and partition. Our leaders felt that carving out states on the basis of language might lead to disruption and disintegration. It was also felt that this would draw attention away from other social and economic challenges that the country faced. Therefore, the central leadership decided to postpone matters.......

(i) Highlight any one major change that took place in India due to independence and partition.

(ii) Mention two more reasons other than the ones mentioned in the passage, which were responsible for the postponement of carving out states.

(iii) Why was this postponement challenged by some local people and where ? Give any one example.

OR

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the following questions :

Most parts of the country voted in January 1952. It took six months for the campaigning, polling and counting to be completed. Elections were competitive — there were on an average more than four candidates for each seat. The level of participation was encouraging — more than half the eligible voters turned out to vote on the day of elections. When the results were declared, these were accepted as fair even by the losers. This experiment of Universal Adult Franchise proved the critics wrong.

(i) What is meant by Universal Adult Franchise ?

(ii) Explain any two reasons due to which it took about six months to complete the first general elections in 1952.

(iii) How did the elections held in 1952 in India prove that democracy could be practised anywhere in the world ?

Study the cartoon given below carefully and answer the following questions :

(i) Write the full form of SAARC.

(ii) What message is being given by the placement of seats in the cartoon with respect to India and Pakistan ?

(iii) Assess the success of SAARC in improving the relations among its member states.

In the given political outline map of India (on page 16), five States have been marked as A, B, C, D and E. Identify them on the basis of the information given below and write their correct names in your answer-book with the respective serial number of the information used and the concerned alphabet as per the following format :

(i) The State that resisted its merger with the Union of India.

(ii) The State which was carved out of Assam in 1972.

(iii) The State where the Communist Party of India formed its Government in 1957.

(iv) The State formed in 1966.

(v) The State related to Dairy Cooperative Movement under the name ‘Amul’.

Note :The following questions are for the Visually Impaired Candidates only, in lieu of Question No. 21 :