UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — 100 years ago: Supply of safety razors to British Army

Q1. With reference to the financial committees of the Indian Parliament, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Public Accounts Committee's examination is usually limited to the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General and the issues they raise, including losses and financial irregularities.
  2. The Estimates Committee is drawn only from members of the Lok Sabha.
  3. After the Departmentally Related Standing Committees took over the examination of ministries' demands for grants, the Estimates Committee has mostly examined the working of selected government organisations.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q2. An audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, laid before Parliament, finds that a Union ministry lost money on a contract that had already been carried out, because old equipment it handed over in part-exchange was undervalued. Which parliamentary committee would ordinarily take up this finding and call the ministry's officials to explain it?

  • A. Estimates Committee
  • B. Committee on Government Assurances
  • C. Committee on Public Undertakings
  • D. Public Accounts Committee

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. The early safety-razor business made its product a commercial success even though it sold its razors at a loss.
  2. The blades of that razor were meant to be thrown away once dull, so every razor owner became a repeat buyer of blades.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. A firm sells a durable base unit below cost and earns its profits on a consumable that fits only its own base unit. Consider the following statements about the likely effects of this strategy: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The firm's earnings are largely independent of how often customers use the base unit, since its revenue is booked when that unit is sold.
  2. The firm gains from making it hard for rival producers to supply consumables that fit its base unit.
  3. A customer who already owns the base unit faces a cost in switching, since moving to a rival system means buying a new base unit.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q5. Consider the following facts about an early safety-razor company: its first sale, in 1903, was 51 razors and 168 blades; by the end of 1904 it had produced 90,000 razors and 12,400,000 blades; it sold its razors below cost; and its blades were meant to be thrown away once dull. Which of the following inferences can be validly drawn from these facts?

  1. The company relied on repeat purchases of blades, rather than a one-time sale of razors, for its profits.
  2. The company must have made an overall loss in 1904, since each razor was sold below cost.
  3. Each razor sold by 1904 was bundled with a fixed pack of more than a hundred blades.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q6. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. By the end of the Second World War, India owed Britain large sterling balances for military stores and equipment that Britain had supplied to it.
  2. During the Second World War, India shipped large quantities of military stores and wheat to Britain and to various war fronts.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q7. With reference to the replacement of the straight (open) razor by the safety razor with a disposable blade, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A straight razor is kept in service by honing its edge, whereas a safety-razor blade is removed and discarded once dull.
  2. Like the straight razor, the safety-razor blade depended on individual hand-finishing by skilled craftsmen to get its edge.
  3. The disposable-blade design became commercially workable only after a method was found to mass-produce blades from sheet metal.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q8. In 1926 the British War Office decided to issue soldiers razors with throw-away blades instead of open blades that had to be honed. As an episode in industrial history, what does this change best illustrate?

  • A. The putting-out system moving craft production into rural households
  • B. Standardised mass production making a skill-dependent tool cheap and uniform
  • C. Import substitution replacing a foreign-made good with a domestically produced one
  • D. Mercantilist rules directing colonial raw materials towards the imperial centre