ICSE X | HISTORY AND CIVICS

Board Paper ˗ 2019

ICSE Board
Class X History and Civics
H.C.G. – Paper 1
Board Paper Solution – 2019

PART I
Answer 1

(a) The nominal term of the office of the Lok Sabha is 5 years.

(b) The Question Hour is the first hour on every working day of the House. During the
Question Hour, the members of the House ask questions from the government on the
matters of public interest.

(c) The speaker is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.

(d) The Parliament can legislate on subjects included in the State List during the
proclamation of an emergency.

(e) The President can proclaim a national emergency when there is a danger of foreign
aggression or danger to the peace and security of the country due to either a civil war
or an insurgency.

(f) If a motion of No-Confidence is passed against a minister, the entire ministry has to
resign.

(g) The President appoints the Council of Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

(h) The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court refers to review decisions and
changed outcomes of the decisions of the lower courts. The appellate jurisdiction
extends to constitutional, civil and criminal cases.

(i) The judge of the Supreme Court can be removed on the grounds of proven
misbehaviour and incapacity.
(j) A district judge decides civil cases, while a session judge decides criminal cases.

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Answer 2

(a) The General Service Enlistment Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1856.
According to this Act, Indian soldiers could be sent overseas on duty. This Act was
seen by many Brahmin Indian soldiers as an attempt to disgrace their religion and
caste affiliations.

(b) Two books which Dada Bhai Naoroji wrote explaining the drain of Indian's wealth
were Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India and Poverty of India (a collection of
papers collectively published into a book).

(c) Jyotiba Phule founded the ‘Satya Shodhak Samaj’ in 1873. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
founded the ‘Brahmo Samaj’ in 1828.

(d) Two contributions of Lal Lajpat Rai to the National Movement:

 Lala Lajpat Rai through his writings in ‘Young India’ preached assertive
nationalism, inspired the Indian youth and kindled the fire of patriotism in them.
 Outside India, he tried and succeeded in mobilising public opinion in favour of the
Indian struggle for freedom.

(e) Two provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 which were to decide the fate
of princely states:
(i) The princely states were to become independent of the British rule.
(ii) The princely states would be free to join either India or Pakistan or may choose to
remain independent.

(f) Two reasons for the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan by the Congress:
(i) Large-scale communal riots had engulfed the whole country. It convinced the
leaders that the partition of the country was the only solution to the communal
problem.
(ii) The only alternative to partition was a federation with a weak centre. A smaller
India with a strong central authority was considered better than a bigger country
with a weak centre.

(g) Two objections imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on the German military power:
 The area of Rhine Valley was to be demilitarised, and the German territory to the
west of Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied troops for 15 years.
 The German army was restricted to a force of 1,00,000 soldiers and the navy was
limited to 15,000 men and 24 ships.

(h) Signatory countries to the Triple Alliance were Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy.

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(i) Veto power refers to the power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
If any one of the five permanent nations casts a negative vote on any decisions, the
decision does not stand.

(j) The League of Nations was established to prevent the outbreak of any major war and
to promote international cooperation.

PART II
SECTION A

Answer 3

(a) Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the states in the Union. The representative
of each state in the Rajya Sabha is elected by the elected members of the Legislative
Assembly of each state in accordance with the system of proportional representation
by means of a single transferable vote.

(b) The Rajya Sabha is called a permanent house because it cannot be dissolved like the
Lok Sabha. The members of the house are elected for a period of six years. One-third
of the total members of the house retire after every two years.

(c) Two financial powers of the Indian Parliament:

 The Parliament passes the Union budget which consists of total income and
expenditures of a financial year.
 The Parliament decides about the salaries and allowances of the Ministers of
Parliament.
Two legislative powers
 The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha make laws on the Union List on important
subjects like foreign policy, defence etc.
 Both houses also make laws on the Concurrent List. In case of a conflict with the
state government, laws made by the Union Government are accepted.

Answer 4

(a) Position of the Prime Minister: Since India has a parliamentary form of government,
the office of the Prime Minister is the most powerful office in India. The Prime
Minister is the real centre of power as he has all power in his hands. He along with his
cabinet ministers decides foreign policy and takes all decisions with regard to finance
and administration of the country.
Two powers of the Prime Minister as a leader of the nation:
 The Prime Minister decides foreign policy of the country and the kind of relations
India would have with other countries.
 During national crises like war, even Opposition parties support the Prime
Minister.

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(b) Differences between the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers:

Cabinet Council of Ministers

It is a smaller group consisting of senior It is a larger group of ministers consisting of
members which hold important portfolios in all categories of ministers—Cabinet
the government. Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy
Ministers.
It comprises the most trusted and consulted The Prime Minister may or may not consult
colleagues of the Prime Minister. He asks these ministers when making important
their advice on important matters. Decisions decisions.
of the Cabinet are binding on all the Cabinet
ministers.
The Cabinet is a small organised group of The Council of Ministers meets rarely as a
senior ministers who meet as frequently as whole in the day-to-day functioning of the
possible to shape national policies and government.
transact government business.

(c) Four functions of the Cabinet:

 The Cabinet formulates and decides domestic and international policies of the
Government. It takes decisions on important matters like defence, finance, foreign
affairs etc. Individual ministers have to consult the Cabinet on all important
matters.
 Most of the bills are introduced by the Cabinet in the Parliament. The bills
introduced by the Cabinet are known as Official bills. These bills are given priority
over Private bills.
 The Cabinet regulates the expenditure of the government, can present demands
for required grants and for raising the necessary income through various legal
means.
 The Cabinet coordinates the working of several departments in order to
implement the policies of the government.

Answer 5

(a) (i) The President appoints the judges of the High Court.
(ii) Two qualifications required to become a judge of the High Court:
 He should be a citizen of India
 He should not be over 62 years of age

(b) The High Court is the court of record as the decisions given by it are preserved as
records for the future reference of the lower courts. These can be produced as
precedents. The law laid down by the High Court is binding on all subordinate courts.
The High Court can also punish a person for contempt of court.

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(c) Four writs which the High Court can issue for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights
are Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition and Quo Warranto. These writs play an
instrumental role in the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens.

SECTION B
Answer 6

(a) Three repressive colonial policies of the British:

 The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 by Lord Lytton which empowered
the government to confiscate newspapers if they print anything against the British
government. This Act was later repealed by Lord Ripon.
 In 1878, the Arms Act was passed by the British government. According to this Act,
no Indian could possess weapons without a valid license. However, Europeans and
Anglo Indians were allowed to keep arms without license. This caused resentment
among the Indians.
 The Ilbert Bill was passed in 1883 by Lord Ripon. This bill sought to create
political equality by vesting Indian judges with the power to try European or
British citizens residing in India. However, due to vehement protests by
Europeans, the bill was withdrawn. This enraged the Indians.

(b) Three ways in which the Press played an important role in developing
nationalism:
 Many newspapers and magazines such as Amrit Bazar Patrika, The Bengali, The
Tribune, The Pioneer and The Hindu were started during the British rule. It was
through the press that the message of liberty, freedom, equality, home rule and
independence spread among the people.
 The newspapers criticised the unjust policies of the British and exposed the true
nature of the British rule in India.
 The newspapers also encouraged various communities and groups to organise
political movements in the country.

(c) The Early Nationalists followed the Constitutional Agitation Method to put
forward their demands. The Early Nationalists held meetings and gave speeches for
pressing their demands. They criticised the policies of the government through
the press. Memorandums and petitions were sent by them to government officials
and the British Parliament. The Early Nationalists followed the three P’s—Petition,
Prayer and Protest—for the government to hear them. This was done by sending
petitions and request letters to protest against the unjust policies of the government.
The methods of the Assertive Nationalists differed from the Early Nationalists. The
former launched Swadeshi and boycott movements which hit British economic
interests. A national scheme of education was planned as an alternative to
government-controlled universities. The Assertive leaders followed the policy of
non-violent resistance and strong political action to achieve Independence.

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Answer 7

(a) (i) The memorial shown in the picture is the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial.
(ii) This incident took place at Amritsar in Punjab.
(iii) As a consequence, Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement.

(b) The Non-Cooperation Movement was suspended by Gandhi due to the incident which
occurred at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh. A procession of about 3000 people
marched to the Chauri Chaura police station. After being fired upon by the police, the
mob turned violent and set the police station on fire killing 22 police men. This
incident shocked Gandhi as he wanted to gain freedom by following the methods of
non-violence. He withdrew the movement on 12 February 1922.

(c) Four points to illustrate the impact of the Non-Cooperation Movement:

 It made the national movement a mass movement as people from every profession
and all walks of life participated in the movement.
 It generated the desire for freedom among the people and inspired them to
challenge the colonial rule.
 It fostered Hindu–Muslim unity and promoted social reforms.
 The concept of Swadeshi and the boycott of foreign goods gave impetus to the
handicraft and local industries.

Answer 8
(a) Three features of the programme of the Civil Disobedience Movement:
 To defy the Salt Law by making salt
 Boycott of foreign cloth and other foreign goods, including foreign liquor
 Non-payment of taxes and revenues

(b) The Second Round Table Conference took place from 7th September to 1st December
1931. It was attended by Gandhi. The British government refused to grant dominion
status to India. The Conference saw that the demand of separate electorates was
raised not only by Muslims but also by people of depressed classes, Anglo Indians,
Indian Christians and Europeans. The British government announced the Communal
Award. This award provided representation to the Muslims, Indian Christians,
Buddhists, Sikhs and depressed classes. Thus, the British sought to divide the Indians.
Gandhi strongly opposed this award and the ‘Poona Pact’ was signed between him
and Ambedkar, whereby seats were reserved for the dalits in the Provincial
Legislature and were not allotted through separate electorates.

(c) Four clauses of the Cabinet Mission Plan:

 The Cabinet Mission Plan proposed the formation of the federal union of the
British Provinces and princely states in India. The central government was to have
control of the defence, foreign affairs and communications in the country.

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 It was laid down that the Indian Union was to have its own executive and
legislature, and the Provinces had the powers to enjoy complete autonomy for all
subjects other than union subjects.
 The British Provinces were to be divided into groups. There were three major
groups, and a province could opt out of any group and join another by a majority
of votes.
 It proposed the setting up of a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of
India. It was to consist of 389 members. The members were to be elected by the
Provincial Legislative Assemblies.

Answer 9

(a) Three reasons for the rise of fascism in Italy:

 Italy had joined the Allies in the First World War to gain German and Turkish
territories. However, it was not able to gain any Turkish and German territories. It
could only get southern Tyrol and Trentino and a few coastal regions of Dalmatia.
Thus, there was discontentment in Italy after the end of the First World War.
 Italy suffered heavy economic losses after the end of the war. Trade, commerce
and industry were ruined, and there was large-scale unemployment. There was
also a shortage of food grains.
 After democracy was established in Italy in 1919, no one single party was able to
win a majority in the elections. This created political instability, and six coalition
governments were formed between 1919 and 1922. There was no mutual
consensus among the parties on economic policies. The government was not able
to deal with rising unemployment, strikes and frequent rioting.

(b) Three consequences of the Second World War:

 The axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) were defeated in the war. Germany
was divided into two zones—West Germany and East Germany. West Germany
was administered by Britain, France and USA, with its capital at Bonn. It followed
capitalism. East Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union with East Berlin as its
capital. It followed socialist ideologies.
 The United Nations organisation was formed in 1945 to maintain international
peace and security and to prevent the occurrence of any future wars.
 After the Second World War, many countries became independent. Some countries
which became independent after the war were India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China,
Ghana etc.

(c) Two rival blocs which fought against each other in the Second World War were the
Allies and the Axis Powers. The signatory countries of each bloc were
Allies: Britain, France and USSR; USA joined later
Axis Powers: Germany, Italy and Japan

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Question 10

(a) Three functions of UNESCO which preserve our cultural heritage:

 To provide finance, technical advice and equipment for the preservation of
monuments and other important works of art
 To encourage artistic creations in literature and fine art
 To send cultural missions to various countries, thereby promoting peace and
prosperity

(b) Composition of the Security Council: It is an executive body of the United Nations.
It consists of 15 members. It has five permanent members—China, France, Russia,
Britain and the United States of America.
The other ten non-permanent members consist of 5 members from the Afro-Asian
countries, 2 members from the Latin American countries, 2 members from the West
European and other countries and 1 member from the East European countries.

(c) Four functions of the General Assembly:

 To make recommendations on the principles of cooperation while maintaining
peace and security
 To discuss questions related to international peace and security
 To make recommendations on any question which may affect the powers and
functions of any organ of the United Nations
 To receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other organs of the
United Nations, as well as to consider and approve the budget of the United
Nations

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