Post-Independence India — PPSC previous year questions

All three bodies examined the demand for linguistic provinces. The S.K. Dhar Commission (1948) rejected language as the basis of states. The JVP Committee (Nehru, Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, 1948–49) also turned it down. The Fazl Ali Commission (States Reorganisation Commission, 1953–55) finally accepted language as a major basis. This led to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. None of them dealt with constitutional review, Centre–State relations or citizenship.

Hyderabad, Junagadh and Travancore were the states that held out against accession in 1947. Travancore first declared it would stay independent, then signed. Junagadh's Nawab tried to accede to Pakistan, and a plebiscite overturned him. Hyderabad was integrated only after Operation Polo in September 1948. Rajkot, a small Kathiawar state, joined the Indian Union without such resistance. So it is the odd one out.

Sardar Patel died on 15 December 1950. Nehru paid tribute in Parliament. He said: 'History will record his work in many pages and will call him the builder and consolidator of new India.' The words refer to Patel's merger of the 562 princely states into the Union. V.P. Menon, his secretary in the States Department, helped him. Menon was the civil servant who executed the plan, not the leader Nehru was praising.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, is called Bangabandhu, meaning 'Friend of Bengal'. He led the 1971 liberation movement and became the country's first President and later Prime Minister.

Operation Polo (1948) brought Hyderabad into India, Operation Vijay (1961) freed Goa, and Operation Cactus Lily (1971) was the campaign that liberated East Pakistan (Bangladesh). So A-III, B-II, C-I. The name Operation Vijay was used again for the Kargil War in 1999.

By 15 August 1947 almost all princely states had signed the Instrument of Accession. Sardar Patel had persuaded them. The three that held back were Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir. Junagadh's Nawab tried to join Pakistan. That state was merged after a plebiscite in February 1948. Hyderabad's Nizam held out until police action (Operation Polo) in September 1948. Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu & Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947, after the tribal invasion. Udaipur, Kapurthala and Mysore joined without such delay.

Brigadier J.P. Dalvi commanded the 7th Infantry Brigade in the NEFA sector in the 1962 war with China and was taken prisoner. His book 'Himalayan Blunder' describes the failures of that war. J.S. Arora led the Eastern Command in the 1971 war.

The Tashkent Agreement was signed on 10 January 1966 by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and President Ayub Khan. Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin was the mediator. It ended the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war. Both sides agreed to withdraw to pre-war positions and restore diplomatic relations. Shastri died in Tashkent the following night. The Panchsheel Agreement (1954) was between India and China. The Bangkok Agreement (1975) is an Asian trade pact. The Simla Agreement (1972) followed the 1971 war.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was the first Law Minister of independent India in Nehru's cabinet (1947–51), besides chairing the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly; he resigned in 1951 over the Hindu Code Bill. Patel was the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Nehru the first Prime Minister and Rajendra Prasad the first President.

The Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan in 1947, against the wishes of his largely Hindu population. He then fled, and the administration was handed to India. A plebiscite was held in February 1948. Over 99% of the voters favoured joining India. Hyderabad was integrated by police action (Operation Polo, September 1948). Bhopal acceded by agreement in 1949. No referendum was held in either.