Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in .

Importance of the flooring in a kitchen: A well maintained floor is necessary for a kitchen. Floor should be dust free means should not be kutcha. Because if the floor is kutcha (temporary) dust particles can make the food dirty and unhygienic. Proper tiles should be placed in the kitchen. Floor surface should be clean and easy to maintain. Floor should not be too slippery. 

In the simple words we can say a kitchen floor should be made-up of such materials which are easy to clean and maintain.

1. Utility of a Passbook: The passbook is a copy of the customer’s account in the bank’s Ledger as on a particular date. It shows credit for deposits and debit for withdrawals, and the balance. At the end of every month, the depositor sends his passbook to the bank for updating entries of transactions. 

2. Utility of Paying-in-Slip: This book contains a number of printed slips with perforated counterfoils. It is used while depositing cash or cheque in the bank. The depositor fills in all the particulars and handover this slip to the cashier alongwith cash or cheque. The cashier checks the details and counts the money. He than puts the stamp on the paying-in¬slip and the counterfoil and initial them. The main slip is retained and the counterfoil is returned to the depositor duly signed by the manager/cashier of the bank.

An Ecotone describes an area that acts as a transition or boundary between two ecosystems. An Ecotone can be formed naturally – through abiotic factors such as changes in soil composition – but can also be created through the result of human interaction. 

Ecotone can act as a “buffer-zone” protecting the neighbouring ecosystem from possible environmental damage i.e., a wetland area could absorb pollutants preventing them from seeping into a river or estuary.

1. Use brush for cleaning the carpet. 

2. Always do brushing on one side and stroke the pile so that the dirt can be easily removed.

Advantages of Budget: 

The following are the advantages of making a budget: 

1. The budget helps in saving money for unforeseen emergencies.

2. It helps in distribution and proper allocation of income for expenditure or different items, according to their requirements. 

3. It helps the family in spending the money carefully so that the expenditure does not exceed the income. 

4. It act as a financial guide. 

5. Since all the members in a family work together for the planning of a budget, it induces a sense of cooperation’among them.

1. Carpets should not be turned or folded. 

2. It should be lightly cleaned. 

3. Never drag any furniture over the carpet. It will damage the carpet.

ATM Card: ATM means Automated Teller Machine. It is a computer device or we can say a computerized Tele-Communication device which provides cash or money to the customers. Here, a plastic card is issued to that person who have an account with a bank. When the person or customer enter that card in the ATM, the person get identified because in the card there is a unique card number which is given by the bank. For security, a pin code is also given with the card to the customer. After inserting the card the customer have to fill that pin code in the ATM machine. This card is called ATM card. By this card customer can access his bank account and make transactions, check his balance etc.

Advantages of Budget: The following are the advantages of making a budget: 

1. The budget helps in saving money for unforeseen emergencies. 

2. It helps in distribution and proper allocation of income for expenditure or different items, according to their requirements. 

3. It helps the family in spending the money carefully so that the expenditure does not exceed the income. 

4. It act as a financial guide. 

5. Since all the members in a family work together for the planning of a budget, it induces a sense of cooperation among them.

The circle containing twelve colours i.e. three primary, three secondary and six tertiary colours is called the “colour wheel”.

(i) Fixed Deposit Account: Deposits which are made for a specified period and whose amount cannot be withdrawn before the expiry. These deposits are repayable, but only after the expiry of a fixed period. Such as one year, 5 years etc. Fixed deposits are also known as Long-Term Deposits. For such long-term investment higher rate of interest is offered. Larger the time period of the deposit higher will be the rate of interest. 

Importance: 

1. These are very flexible in nature. 

2. Fixed deposits offers guaranteed returns. The interest rate is also higher. 

(ii) Recurring Deposit Account: Started for those persons who cannot make large deposits. It is started to encourage such people. Such type of accounts can be open with a small amount for a specified period. When the time period ends the depositor gets his money with an interest. A passbook is also issued to the person who deposits his money time to time. He can check how much he deposits in the bank by checking his passbook.

Fixed Deposit Account: Fixed deposits are investment instruments offered by banks and non-banking financial companies, where you can deposit money for a higher rate of interest than savings accounts. We can deposit a lump sum of money in fixed deposits for a specific period, ranging from 7 days to 10 years. Once the money is invested with a reliable financier, it starts earning an interest based on the duration of the deposit. Usually, the defining criteria for FD is that the money cannot be withdrawn before maturity, but you may withdraw them after paying a penalty. 

Features of Fixed Deposits : 

• Fixed deposits enable investors to earn higher interest on their surplus funds. 

• You can deposit money in a fixed deposit account only once, but to deposit more money, you need to create another account. 

• Though liquidity in fixed deposits is lesser, you can look for higher rates of interests, which are higher in case of company fixed deposits. 

• Fixed deposits can be easily renewed. 

• Tax is deducted at source, from interest on Fixed Deposits as applicable, as per the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Importance of labels on packed products: 

A label is expected to provide information about the product. It assists consumer in making a wise selection of the commodity. Inadequate or incomplete information may be provided in the label to mislead the consumer. Products with inadequate labelling should not be purchased. It is the duty of the consumer to read the labels carefully and satisfy before purchase. 

Following are the information printed on a label: 

• Name of Product 

• Trade mark Standardization 

• Marks Manufacture and Expiry Date 

• Licence Number 

• Maximum Retail Price (MRP) 

• Net weight of the content 

• Brand Name 

• Manufacture’s Name and Address 

• Ingredients 

• Batch Number 

• Warning, if any 

• Direction of use/storage

Steps and precautions involved in the household methods of laundering coloured cotton: 

Cotton is available in the low-cost range also. Its maintenance is costly, as it has to be repeatedly washed and finished. As we know cotton clothes catch the soil or dirt very easily so such clothes require frequent laundering. 

Steps: 

1. Preparation: Preparation is the first step of laundering process. In this we examine the garments for tears, holes, stains or foreign particles. 

2. Steeping: In steeping, firstly sort out white and coloured cotton garments. The white cotton clothes can be kept soaking overnight, if these are very dirty. If less dirty, they can be soaked for an hour. For coloured garments, soaking should be avoided. If required, they should be soaked in tap water for not more than 15 minutes to half an hour. 

3. Washing: As we know, cotton clothes are strong fabrics and become more stronger when wet. When these are very much dirty, they should be washed with scrubbing on board. Friction or rubbing or scrubbing methods clean them quickly.

4. Rinsing: Cotton clothes should be rinse two or three times in clean, tap water. It is very important. 

5. Starching and Blueing: These two process should always be performed equally at the same time as it saves time. These are carried to clean the clothes, and make them smooth and bright. 

6. Drying: Drying varies depending upon the type of cloth. As shirts and kurtas should be dried on hangers, trousers are hung folded on the clothes line, salwar and pajamas should be spread full width and sarees, bed sheets should be hung after straightening their edges. 

7. Ironing: As we are talking about cotton clothes, these should be ironed when damp. If they become fully dry, sprinkle water on them to moisten to get good results of ironing. For starched clothes, it is preferable to iron them when still damp. 

Extra tips for cotton garments : 

• When it comes to bleach, hvoid using more than the recommended amount with cotton, as it can damage the fibers of your favourites. If your garment has had a finish applied to it, then avoid using bleach altogether. 

• Because cotton items tend to wrinkle and shrink easily, they are usually combined with other fibers. Because of this mix, no cotton garment is created equal so check the fabric care instructions on the tags before washing. 

• Cotton is a durable, soft fiber, and most clothes today are made from it. Unfortunately, 

it does have one serious drawback: It tends to shrink when washed and dried.

Advantages of detergents over soaps : 

1. Detergents are cheaper than soaps. 

2. Detergents are efficient in hard water too. 

3. They are easy to rinse. 

4. Surface tension of detergent is low. So they have more efficiency than soaps. 

5. Detergents are soluble even in cold water.

(a) Two members can be nominated to the Lok Sabha and twelve members can be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. One reason for their nomination is that they are experts in the fields of literature, science, art and social science. 

(b) Three qualifications required for a member to be elected to the Lok Sabha : 

(i) He / She should be a citizen of India, and must subscribe before the Election Commission of India an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule of Indian Constitution. 

(ii) He / She should not be less than 25 years of age. 

(iii) He / She should possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament. 

(c) The term ‘Session’ refers to a meeting of an official body, especially a legislature, council, or court of law, to conduct its business. The three Sessions of the Union Parliament include- Budget Session (February – May), Monsoon Session (July – August) and Winter Session (November – December).

(a) (i) The worst feature of the British rule in India was the economic exploitation of all classes. Britishers came to India as traders and their primary motive was to gain financial benefit. The industrial revolution in Britain necessitated the import of raw materials from different foreign countries and to search extensive market for its goods outside. India provided both to them. 

(ii) The British government maintained its civil service and military force at the cost of India. Attempt was made to destroy the indigenous Indian industries to expand the public demand for British industrial goods. While heavy import duties were put on Indian goods to restrict their entry into British market, there was free trade policy for the transactions of the raw materials or British goods in India. Economic exploitation to such a high extent had great repercussion on the growth of Indian nationalism and the people agitated against the foreign government. 

(b) Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji. 

(c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak. One of his contributions to the National Movement is that he organized the nationalist movement in Maharashtra in order to bring it into conflict with the British Government. (d) Two objectives of the Muslim League : 

(i) To promote the feeling of loyalty among the Muslims of India towards the British government and to remove any mis-conception that may arise as to intentions of the government with regard to Indian Muslims. 

(ii) To protest and advance the political rights of the Muslims of India and to represent their needs and aspirations to the government. 

(e) Two causes of the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 : 

(i) The British Government in India had deprived the Indian people of their freedom. It had based itself on the exploitation of masses. 

(ii) The British Government had ruined India economically, politically culturally and spiritually. 

(f) Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of India. Division of British India into the two new and fully sovereign dominions of India and Pakistan, with effect from 15th August 1947, was one of the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947. (g) Two similarities between the ideologies of Nazism and Fascism : 

(i) Both Nazism and Fascism pursue collectivism (ownership of the land and the means of production by the state) as a part of an economy led by the state, the establishment of a dictatorship led by a leader who literally has all power and glorify violence, imperialism, and militarism. 

(ii) Both reject Democracy and traditional left and right wing parties, oppose freedom of speech and are strongly against Communism, Capitalism and Feminism. 

(h) Germany, Italy and Japan were the countries that formed the Axis Bloc, during World War II. 

(i) UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 

(j) Two principles of Panchsheel : 

(i) Peaceful coexistence. 

(ii) Non-aggression.

(a) Money Bill. 

(b) A quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present in the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha before a meeting is allowed to begin. One tenth of the total members of the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha must be present at the beginning of a sitting of the House, including the Presiding Officer. 

(c) Six months. 

(d) President. 

(e) An Ordinance is a Presidential decree having authority of law. 

(f) The President is the Chief Executive in India.

He is elected indirectly because :

He, being a constitutional head, ought to be elected indirectly as directly elected member cannot become a Constitutional head. 

(g) The whole administration of the state is run by the Cabinet. 

(h) The Supreme Court can issue following writs : 

(a) Writ of Habeas Corpus 

(b) Writ of Mandamus 

(i) The highest criminal court is the court of the Session Judge. 

(j) A Lok Adalat means “People’s Court”. It encourages the settlement of disputes through compromise between two parties.

(a) (i) Poor condition of village economy . 

(ii) Poor condition of Handicrafts. 

(b) (i) 1st session was presided by W.C. Bannerjee. 

(ii) 2nd session was presided by Dadabhai Naoroji. 

(c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 

(i) Tilak was one of the most prominent leaders of the extremists who taught people to rely on their own strength. He instilled among the people love and pride for the country. He was an agitator and a fighter in the true sense of the term. 

(ii) He also with Bipin Chandra and Lajpat Rai transformed the anti-partition movement into a movement for Swaraj. 

(d) (i) To protect the political and other rights of the Muslims. 

(ii) To promote among the Muslims of India feeling of loyalty to the British government. 

(e) (i) The passing of‘Complete Independence’ or ‘Purna Su araj resolution at Lahore session, of the Congress. 

(ii) Rejection of Gandhi’s ‘Eleven Point’ programme. 

(f) Lord Mountbatten. The states were given the right to choose joining either the Dominions or to retain their independence. 

(g) The two main principles of Fascism and Nazism were : 

(a) Fascism and Nazism were and totally against democracy. They laid stress on duties and obligations unlike democracy. They laid stress on rights and liberties of the people. 

(b) Rule of single party and a single leader, with full authority. 

(h) (i) Germany 

(ii) Italy 

(ii) Japan 

(i) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. 

(j) The following were the two principles of Panchsheel: 

(i) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity. 

(ii) Non-aggression. Non-Alignment is the international policy of a sovereign state according to which it does not align itself with any of the power blocks and at the same time actively participates in the world affairs to promote international peace, harmony and cooperation.

(a) Lok Sabha : Not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, in his opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House. 

Rajya Sabha : The President nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha. 

(b) In order to be chosen as a member of the Lok Sabha, a person must: 

(i) Be a citizen of India. 

(ii) Be at least twenty five years of age. 

(iii) Possess such other qualifications as may be fixed by a law of the Parliament. He must also be registered as a voter in any of the Parliamentary constituencies. 

(c) It is the time period during which the House meets to conduct its business. Parliament should hold at least two sessions in a year. 

Three sessions : 

1. Summer Session (Feb – May) 

2. Monsoon Session (July – Sept.) 

3. Winter Session (Nov – Dec.)

Characteristics of tax are : 

(i) It is a compulsory contribution. No one can refuse to pay a tax, on the general ground that he doesn’t derive any benefit from certain state services. 

(ii) The fact that tax is a contribution implies the notion of a sacrifice involved on the part of the contributor. 

(iii) Tax payment is a personal obligation. 

(iv) Taxes are actually based on a great variety of material things as well as non-material and intangible form of wealth. 

(v) A tax is levied according to certain legal requirements. 

(vi) The amount of tax is not fixed with reference to the exact benefit which a taxpayer receives from public service. 

(vii) A tax is paid out of the income of the taxpayer. 

(viii) The power of taxation is mainly to be used for collecting revenue to the state.

Some advantages of having a bank account are :

(i) Money is safer

(ii) Money earns interest

(iii) It Inculcates the habit of savings/mobilizes savings

(iv) It helps in safe transactions through cheques

(v) It provides facilities of overdraft, discounting bills of exchange, ECS, etc

Difference between Central Bank and Commercial Bank

Entrepreneur is the person who controls the policy of a firm. 

Different ways by which an entrepreneur promotes economics growth are : 

(i) Creates Large-Scale Employment Opportunities: Entrepreneurs provide immediate large scale employment to the unemployed which is a chronic problem of underdeveloped nation. With setting up of more and more unit by entrepreneurs both small and large scale numerous job opportunities are created for others. 

(ii) Balanced Regional Development: The growth of industry and business leads to a lot of public benefit like transport facilities, health, education, entertainment, etc. This helps in the development of backward regions. 

(iii) Increase in National Income: National Income consists of the goods and services produced in the country and imported. The goods and services produced are for consumption within the country as well as to meet the demand of exports. The domestic demand increases with increase in population and increase in standard of living. The export demand also increased to meet the need of growing imports due to various reasons. An increasing number of entrepreneurs are required to meet this. Thus, it increases National Income. 

(iv) New Product, New Services and New Business: An entrepreneur explores new ideas for business, production techniques and services for horizontal, i.e., varieties and vertical, i.e., increase in volume and money growth of business. 

(v) Creating Innovation: An entrepreneur is a person who always looks for changes. Apart from combining the factor of production, they also introduce new ideas and new combination of factors. They always try to introduce newer and newer technique of production of goods and services. An entrepreneur brings economic development through innovation.

Some consumer rights are : 

(i) Right to Safety : 

1. Right to be protected against goods and services which are hazardous to life and health. 

2. Right to get protection against the risks caused due to the use of substandard products or products that do not conform to the safety norms. 

(ii) Right to Choose : 

1. The consumer has the freedom to choose from a variety of products at competitive prices. 

2. Marketers should offer a wide variety of products in terms of quality, price, size etc. to enable the consumer to make the choice. 

(iii) Right to be Heard : 

1. The consumer has right to file a complaint and to be heard in case of dissatisfaction with a product or a service. 

2. It is because of this reason many firms have set up their own consumer service and grievance cells. 

(iv) Right to Seek Redressal : 

1. The consumer has a right to get relief in case the product or service falls short of his expectations. 

2. The Consumer Protection Act provides relief to customers such as replacement of product, removal of defect in the product, compensation for any loss or injury suffered by the consumer. 

(v) Right to be Informed : 

1. The consumer has a right to have complete information about the product he intends to buy such as ingredients, date of manufacturing, price, quantity, etc. 

2. It is because of this reason that the legal framework in India requires the manufactures to provide such information on the package and label of the product. 

(vi) Right to Consumer Education : 

1. The consumer has the right to acquire knowledge and to be a well-informed consumer. 

2. He should be aware about his rights and the reliefs available to him in case of a product or service falling short of his expectations.

Ways by which consumer are exploited : 

(i) Production of spurious goods : Spurious goods means goods which are claimed to be genuine but they are actually not so. It may sometimes happen that traders sell fake or duplicate goods in the name of genuine goods. 

(ii) Poor quality of products : The traders may cheat the consumers by degrading the quality of the product and selling those in the market like expired products, defective items, etc.

(iii) False weight and measures: The goods being sold in the market are sometimes not measured or weighted correctly. 

(iv) Selling goods at a higher price: Very often traders charge high price from their consumers than the prescribed retail price. 

(v) Selling second hand goods as brand new goods: Many traders exploit the consumers by selling second hand goods as brand new goods. The quality of these goods is no longer in the same condition as it was when transferred to the current consumer. 

(vi) Creating false impression on consumer through sales strategy: Many times traders create false impression on consumers through sales strategies like after sales service. The suppliers do not provide after sale service which dissatisfies the consumers.

Consumers are cheated by the manufacturers and the traders commonly by the following ways : 

1. High prices : There can be some articles in the market without MRP (Market Retail Price). In this case, the traders can charge a price higher than the price prevailing in the market because of the ignorance and urgency of the customer. 

2. Underweight and under-measurement : By their cleverness, some traders stoop so low that they cheat the customers by resorting to underweight and under-measurement tactics. 

3. Substandard quality : Some traders or sellers sell substandard quality products to the consumer. Now-a-days markets are full of duplicate products. 

4. Adulterated and impure products : In edible items such as oil, ghee and spices adulteration is made in order to earn higher profits. This causes financial and health loss to the consumer. You may have heard people dying because of adulterated wine. 

5. Improper information : Companies spend a considerable amount on advertisements alone to attract consumers and feed information that they want the consumers to know but not the information the consumers need about the products. 

6. Lack of safety devices : In order to increase the sale of their products, some producers, especially of electrical goods, electronic devices and such other appliances, try to produce things of poor quality without following safety measures.

1. Development of managerial capabilities : The biggest significance of entrepreneurship lies in the fact that it helps in identifying and developing managerial capabilities of entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur studies a problem, identifies its alternatives, compares the alternatives in terms of cost and benefits implications, and finally chooses the best alternative. This exercise helps in sharpening the decision making skills of an entrepreneur. Besides, these managerial capabilities are used by entrepreneurs in creating new technologies and products in place of older technologies and products resulting in higher performance. 

2. Creation of organisations : Entrepreneurship results into creation of organisations when entrepreneurs assemble and coordinate physical, human and financial resources and direct them towards achievement of objectives through managerial skills. 

3. Improving standards of living : By creating productive organisations, entrepreneurship helps in making a wide variety of goods and services available to the society which results into higher standards of living for the people. Possession of luxury cars, computers, mobile phones, rapid growth of shopping malls, etc. are pointers to the rising living standards of people, and all this is due to the efforts of entrepreneurs.

(a) Central Bank : 

1. Central bank functions as the apex bank of the country. It is a bank of all the banks. 

2. The Central bank designs and controls all instruments of monetary policy of the country. 

3. Central bank is the sole authority of note issuing. 

4. Central bank does not deal directly with the general public. 

5. Central bank does not accept any deposits or advance loans. 

Commercial Bank : 

1. Commercial banks functions according to the rules and regulations stipulated by the central bank. 

2. Commercial banks only executes the monetary policy as directed by the central bank. 

3. Commercial banks Contribute to the flow of money only by a way of credit creation. 

4. Commercial banks deal directly with the public. 

5. Commercial banks accept deposits and advance loans. 

(b) (1) Broad Coverage : All the consumers, whether they are rich or poor, have to pay indirect taxes. For this reason, it is said that indirect taxes can cover more area than direct taxes. 

(2) Popular : Indirect taxes are more popular than direct taxes. When a common man purchases a commodity, then he or she can hardly understand whether he or she is actually paying the tax or not. Hence it is not unpopular. 

(3) Productivity not Violated : The common people are not always conscious while paying an indirect tax. Hence it doesn’t affect the willingness to work or propensity to work among the common people. 

(4) Social Reforms : Indirect taxes sometimes help to reform the society also. The Government imposes indirect taxes on those commodities which are socially harmful.

(a) Supply is directly proportional to price because supply is caused by the decision of sellers in the market. The most important indicator that the sellers would look for while making their sales is price. Price of a commodity serves as an incentive for producers and sellers. 

1. If the price of a commodity increases, it will motivate producers to produce more and sellers to sell more of the commodity. 

2. If the price of a commodity falls, producers and sellers would like to decrease the supply of that commodity because it will reduce their profit margin. Hence, the direct relation between price and supply. 

(b) Possibility of future rise in prices : It is one of the most important determinants of an exceptional demand curve. If a consumer anticipates that the price of a commodity will rise in future he will purchase more of that commodity now. The consumer will purchase more even if current price is high. 

(c) Public debt may be productive or unproductive, depending on the use of public loans. When government borrows for non-developmental uses such as war finance or extravagancy in public administration, the debt becomes unproductive. It does not create any real income in return. Such debts are dead weight debts. 

(d) Assisting Production Decisions : The main objective of a producer or manufacturer is to maximize his sales, revenue or profit. Therefore, he wants to employ such an amount of factors of production (land, labour and other materials) which help in achieving the goals of profit maximisation. While employing any factor, the firm has to make payments to pay wages to the workers, interest to the owners of capital etc. All such factor payments are made in terms of money. Therefore, money prices of these factors help a firm in taking important production decisions. 

(e) Elasticity of supply is greatly influenced by how costs of production respond to output changes. If an increase in output by the firms in an industry causes only a slight increase in their cost per unit or leads to decrease in cost per unit, supply will be fairly elastic. If, on the other hand, an increase in supply leads to a large increase in cost of production, the supply would be relatively inelastic.

(a) Reasons for the growth of public expenditure in India: 

1. Development Programmes: Most of the underdeveloped countries have initiated various programmes of economic development i.e. provision of infrastructure of the economy such as transport, communication power etc. This has led to growth of public expenditure. 

2. Growing trend of Urbanisation: With the spread of urbanization, public expenditure has increased in modem times. Urbanization has led to increase in Government expenditures on civil administration, education, public health, water supply, parks etc. 

3. Rise in Price-level: As a result of the rise in the price-level, the public expenditure has gone up everywhere. The reason is that like the private individuals the Government also has to buy goods and services from the market at higher prices. 

4. Increase in Population: As a result, the Government has to incur great expenditure to meet the requirements of increasing population. In fact, the public expenditure increases in the same ratio in which the population increases. 

5. Welfare State: The modem state is a welfare state. It has to spend increasing amounts on such items as social insurance, unemployment relief, free medical aid, free education etc. to improve the socio-economic welfare of the country. 

(b) Three merits of indirect taxes: 

1. Convenient: They are mostly levied on commodities and are paid by consumers when they buy them in the market; The amount of tax is included in the price of the commodity and the consumer pays the tax without experiencing its pinch. 

2. Equitable: Indirect taxes are equitable in the sense that they are paid by all the sections of the community at the time of making purchases of goods in the market, in the form of sales tax or custom duty. 

3. No possibility of evasion: No person can evade the indirect taxes, because they are collected in the form of higher prices of goods sold to the consumers. 

Two demerits of indirect taxes: 

1. Absence of Civic Consciousness: Since the tax payer do not feel that they are paying a tax at the time of purchasing a commodity, these taxes do not promote civic consciousness among the citizens. 

2. Uneconomical: The cost of collection is quiet heavy. Every source of production has to be guarded. Large administrative staff is required to administer such taxes. This turns out to be a costly affair.

(a) (i) Demand: Demand is the quantity of a commodity that a consumer is willing and able to buy, at each possible price during a given period of time. 

(ii) 1. Price of Commodity : Other things being equal, with a rise in own price of the commodity, its demand contracts, and with a fall in price, its demand extends. This inverse relationship between own price if the commodity and its demands is called Law of Demand. 

2. Price of related goods : Demand for a commodity is also influenced by change in price of related goods. 

The related goods are of two kinds : 

• Substitute goods 

• Complementary goods 

3. Income : Demand for a commodity is also affected by income. Change in income may have a positive or negative effect on demand of the product depending upon type of good. 

(iii) Articles of distinction such as diamonds, gems, costly carpets, etc. are in more demand when their prices are high. The reason is that rich people measure the desirability of these articles in terms of their prices alone and consider these goods as honour possession. Therefore, rich people demand more of articles of distinction when their prices are high. 

(b) (i) Development of Interior Areas : To solve the problem of inequality of income and regional disparities in India, the Government has to take several programmes to develop the backward areas through the policy of industrialisation. This requires a huge expenditure. 

(ii) Defence Expenses : To protect India from external invasion from the hand of foreign countries, the Government has to allot a huge amount of money in every fiveyear plan for national defence. On the other hand, the Government has to spend a lot to maintain law and order situation within the country. 

(iii) Infrastructural Base : In order to maintain the pace of economic development, each government has to spend money on infrastructural facilities, e.g., irrigation, transport and communications, electricity and power generation etc. 

(iv) Welfare Activities : According to Prof. Sen, the development of a country (specially LDC) depends on the amount of expenditure the particular Government is willing to spend on the welfare activities within a country. For instance, improvement of drinking water facilities, sanitation facilities, medical and public health etc. On the other hand, the Government has to spend huge amount for alleviating income inequalities, poverty in a less developed country like India. 

(v) Prevention of Monopoly : In India, most of the big private industries show a tendency towards concentration of economic power, i.e., monopolisation. Hence, the Government has to spend huge amount of money to set up public industries which will curb the monopoly power of these private industries. This requires a huge expenditure.

Factors that affect the demand for a commodity are :

1. Price of the good

2. Price of related goods

3. Income of the consumer

4. Taste and preference of the consumer

5. Consumer credit.

Reasons for increase in Public Expenditure : 

(i) Defence expenditure: There has been enormous increase in defence expenditure in India during planning period. India cannot postpone modernization in defence especially when its neighbouring countries are buying the latest defence equipment from developed countries of the world. 

(ii) Expansion of Administrative Machinery: There has been an increase in the administrative machinery in the country with the rapid growth of population and also economic development. Heavy expenditure is to be incurred on this in respect of police tax administration, administration of public sector enterprises, etc. 

(iii) Building up Strong Economic Infrastructure: Only by building up economic infrastructure, the structure of an economy can be made to improve. 

(iv) Debt Servicing: The internal as well as external debt is on the increase. The government has been borrowing heavily from both the markets i.e. domestic and foreign market sources, to meet its expenditure. As a result of which the government has to make huge amounts of money towards interest payments. 

(v) Population Growth: During the post 50 years of planning, the population of India has increased. The growth in population requires massive investment in health and education, law and social order etc. 

(vi) Increase in National Income: The increase in national income also resulted in more income to the government by way of tax revenue and other income. As a result of which the government expenditure also increased. 

(vii) Urbanization: There has been an increase in urbanization. There are more than 23 cities above one million populations which require heavy expenditure on law and order, education etc. 

(viii) Industrialization: Setting up key and basic industries requires a huge capital and profit may arise only in the long- run.

According to Economist Thorstein Veblen, some consumers measure the utility of a commodity entirely by its price, i.e., for them, the greater the price of a commodity, the greater it’s utility. Diamonds are often given an example of this case. The diamonds are considered as prestige goods in the society and for the upper strata of the society the higher the price of diamonds, the higher the prestige value of them and, therefore, the greater utility or desirability of them.

(i) Mr Oliver, a bachelor, was an Anglo Indian teacher in a school outside Simla. He encountered ‘it’ (a figure of a boy) who was sitting alone on a rock as he (Oliver) walked through the pine forest. 

(ii) Mr Oliver was teaching in the school which was run on English Public School lines. ‘Life’ magazine described this place as ‘the Eton of the East’ because the boys from wealthy Indian families studied in the school. They wore blazers, caps and ties. 

(iii) Mr Oliver approached it (the boy) in order to recognise the boy. He had mistaken it (the boy) for one of his school students who, Mr Oliver felt, should not have been there so late in the dark. 

(iv) A lantern is a lamp in a transparent case, often a metal case with glass sides, that has a handle, so that you can carry it outside. Mr Oliver was holding the lantern. He felt relieved at the sight of the lantern swinging in the middle of the path because his own lantern had fallen from his trembling hand on seeing the figure of a boy who was without eyes, ears nose or mouth. 

(v) Mr Oliver feels nervous. He stumbles up to the ‘watchman gasping for breath. He is frightened when he finds that the Watchman has also no eyes, no ears, no features at all – not even an eyebrow. All this makes the story mysterious, strange and supernatural. Mr Oliver had earlier come across a figure of a boy who had no eyes, no ears, no nose and no mouth. And then a similar watchman. This is all frightening and horrible. This makes the story a real horror story.

(i) This story is set in the time of the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936. Because Hitler childishly insisted that his performers were members of a ‘master race’, heightened nationalistic feelings at this time were at an all time high. 

(ii) Jessie Owens gained, sweated and disciplined himself for six years. He had already made a world record in the long jump in the last year. So he expected to win the gold medal easily this time. 

(iii) At the time of broad-jump trials Jessie Owens was started to see a tall boy hitting the .pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps Jessie felt angry when he was told that Hitler had kept him under wraps obviously to win the jump with.hirn. Jessie was disturbed to think if Luz Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan-superiority theory. Jessie was so disturbed that he made mistakes in his trial jumps. 

(iv) Luz Long,, a German, was Jessie Owens’ rival. On noticing Jessie Owens feeling disgusted, Luz Long counselled Jessie to focus on the jump by giving him a valuable tip. He said to Jessie, “Why don’t you draw a line a few inches in back of the board and aim at making your take off there?” 

(v) The two athletes gave their best possible performance in the finals. They improved upon their previous records. As it turned out, Luz broke his own past record. But in doing so, he pushed Owens on to a peak performance. When Owens won the medal, Long congratulated him by shaking his hand with him, without bothering about having to face the wrath of Hitler. To Jessie Owens, the greatest Olympic prize was not gold medal but his new and noble friendship with Luz Long. He was happy to learn that the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.

(i) The setting of the story is the planet Venus where it keeps on raining for years together. Sunshine occurs only once in seven years. The scene of the story is set in a school where the teachers and children await the appearance of the sun with great curiosity. One sunny day is equal to an earthly summer on this planet. 

The children inhabiting this planet are nine years old and living with their families. Seven years of continuous rain have deprived them of the brightness on their faces. They are pale and colorless. They are passive both physically and mentally. The lack of the light of the sun has dried their compassion and consideration for others. They do not gain their humanity until they spend sometime in the light of the sun. 

(ii) The children were eagerly waiting for a momentous occasion. It had been raining for seven years and now the scientists on Venus had predicted that the sun would appear for a brief period of time. 

Margot was like a stranger in her class. She had come to this planet (Venus) only five years ago from Earth. She still remembered the sun and the sky and how they looked when she was only four years old in the city of Ohio. 

The other children in the school had been on Venus all their lives and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out on Venus. Since they were small at that time, they had now forgotten the colour and heat of the sun and how it looked. When Margot told them that the sun was like a penny or like fire in the stove, nobody was ready to believe her. They thought that she was lying. 

(iii) The rain slackened slowly and came to a stop. It was followed by a disturbed violence which seemed like a tornado, a hurricane or volcanic erruption. The children put their hands to their ears. Then, all of a sudden, the sun came out. It was flaming bronze in colour and it looked very large. The sky was blazing blue and the whole jungle seemed to bum with sunlight. It was incredible. 

The children felt as if they had been released from a spell. They rushed out, yelling into the springtime (which comes only once in 7 years). The teachers warned them not to go too far. The children had only two hours to remain outside. But the children seemed to go out of control. They were running and turning their faces up to the sky. They were feeling the sun on their cheeks like a warm iron. They were letting the sun bum their arms after taking off their jackets. Margot was not able to witness this phenomenon as she had been locked into a closet by her classmates who did not like Margot to talk about the sun. The phenomenon of the sunshine lasted for a very short, time. The sun started fading off gradually behind a stir of mist. A cold wind began to blow and all the children started walking back. Their smiles had vanished. They could hear a boom of thunder and see the flash of lightning coming nearer and nearer. The sky darkened into midnight in a flash. 

Then a girl remembered Margot who was locked in the closet. Then all the children walked towards the closet, unlocked the door and let Margot come out. Their attitude towards Margot changed after they had spent some time in the light of the sun.

(i) Portia and Bassanio are in a room in Portia’s house at Belmont. Portia speaks these words when Bassanio says that he is doubtful that all what he sees is true or not until it is fully confirmed, signed and approved by Portia. The lead casket read that “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath’. 

(ii) Bassanio praises Portia’s portrait by saying that when he moves his eyeballs it seems that Portia’s eyeballs are also moving. He also says that from the parted lips of Portia a sweet breath is coming out. He further praises her picture by saying that in her golden hair the artist has worked like a spider and instead of painting her hair he has woven a golden trap to entrap the hearts of men faster t|ian flying insects are trapped in spider webs. 

(iii) The news that Antonio’s all the ships are lost in the sea and not even one venture has been successful saddens Bassanio. Bassanio is also sad because Antonio’s bond to the Jew has been forfeited and since Antonio has not repaid the money to the Jew he is not going to live anymore. Portia tells Bassanio to go to Venice and pay the’Jew six thousand ducats then double the six thousand and then three times that to cancel the bond. She tells Bassanio to do all this fast before even a hair of Antonio should fall because of Bassanio’s fault. 

(iv) Balthazar is a servant to Portia and he has always been true and honest to her. Portia expects him to be the same now also. She gives him the task of delivering a letter to her cousin Dr. Bellario who lives in Paduan. She asks him to go as fast as possible. She also asks Balthazar to bring the notes and clothes that Dr. Bellario gives him to the water route through which trade with Venice is carried out. 

(v) She plans to go Venice to help Bassanio to save Antonio’s life from Shylock, the Jew. Both of them love Bassanio from the bottom of their heart. They both have a helpful nature as shown by Antonio by giving Bassanio money and as shown by Portia by giving money to Bassanio to save Antonio’s life. Portia reveals that she is a strong woman who is both bold and capable. She takes charge of the situation, thinks of a daring plan, sends Bassanio to Venice with instructions and money to help Antonio.

(i) Portia and Bassanio are in a hall in Portia’s house in Belmont. Gratiano and Nerissa are also present there. 

(ii) Bassanio selects the lead casket which contains Portia’s beautiful picture and succeeds in winning the hand of Portia. Thus they are brought together. There are two other suitors namely the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon but they fail in winning Portia as their wife. For their failures, they have to pay the penalty. They take oath that if they make the wrong choice, they will have to remain bachelor throughout their lives. 

(iii) In the opening line Portia tells Bassanio that till now she was the master of this beautiful house, these servants and her ownself, but now all these things including herself are his. 

(iv) Bassanio tells Portia that she has deprived him of all words. Only his blood speaks to her in his veins. He adds that there is the same confusion in his faculties as after the speech of a well-beloved prince, in the midst of the murmuring of a pleased audience, the serious feelings, all blended into one, produce nothing except extreme happiness which he is unable to express. 

(v) When Portia gives Bassanio a ring saying that if he parts with this ring, loses it through negligence or gives it to somebody else knowingly it will mean the loss of love between us. Bassanio assumes her that this ring will part from him only when he dies, not before that under any circumstances and then she can safely say that Bassanio is dead. But when the case is won in the favour of Antonio, Portia disguised as a male lawyer demands Bassanio’s ring as a reward and she is not ready to accept anything except the ring. Bassanio shows his unwillingness to part with the ring. Antonio insists him and he gives it to the lawyer. 

(vi) When Portia comes to know that Bassanio’s dearest friend is in great trouble and due to losing all his ships, he is unable to pay Shylock’s debt, she tells Bassanio to take as much gold as he wants to pay the debt, twenty times over, if required, so that his friend’s life can be saved. Secondly, she saves Antonio’s life in the court.

(i) In the court of Duke, Antonio and Shylock are asked to appear before her. Portia tells Shylock that although he has brought a very strange suit, get the suit is perfectly in accord with the laws of Venice and she tells Antonio also that he is in danger of his life. Then she appeals to Shylock to be merciful, but Shylock refuses to show mercy for Antonio and remains firm on his legal bond signed by Antonio. Hence Portia tries to persuade him by explaining the moral virtue of mercy. 

(ii) While moralising the virtue of mercy before Shylock, Porita says that mercy is the greatest quality in the greatest of men. The person who are powerful and resourceful have more opportunities and means to show mercy. It is proportionate to a man’s power. She further adds that it suits the king better than his crown because his sceptre shows his temporal power which is worldly and superficial and such an authority inspires fear of the glory and power of the kings. But the mercy in a king gives him more permanent power and enables him to rule over the hearts of his subjects. 

(iii) Earlier the Duke had tried his best to convince Shylock to show mercy for Antonio and not to adopt cruel attitude towards Antonio. Bpt, for Shylock this appeal proved futile. He tells the Duke that he has already informed him qhqut his intentions. He says that he has taken an oath to extract the penalty incurred by the forfeiture of the bond and he prefers dead flesh to three thousand ducats. 

(iv) Portia is disguised as a lawyer and tries to persuade Shylock, the quality of mercy. She tells him that mercy inspires the feeling of love and reverence. According to her if justice is administered with mercy, it is moderated and tempered. Then justice imparted becomes less cruel. When a king shows not only justice but also mercy, he appears to be God himself. 

(v) When Shylock refuses to show mercy for Antonio, Portia admits the legality of his claim and Shylock’s happiness soars.Them Portia asks Shylock to arrange a surgeon at hand to save Antonio from bleeding to death. At this Shylock reminds her that no such condition is stipulated in his bond. Portia now turns this insistence against him and tells him that as per the bond he can only have a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest, but no single drop of blood should fall on the ground. Thus Shylock is entrapped in his own net. Now he shows his willingness to accept three times of money, but he is deprived of it and also loses his property. In this way, she succeeds to make Antonio free from the cruel trap of Shylock.

(i) Portia is the speaker in the disguise of Balthazar. 

Shylock was rigid to charge the penalty as mentioned in the bond. Thus Portia appeals to the Jew as she wants to save Antonio without resorting to legal actions. Earlier in the play the Duke himself and noble men of the highest standing have appealed for mercy to Shylock. 

(ii) The quality of Mercy is a divine blessing which benefits both the man who shows Mercy and the man who receives it. Mercy is a nobler quality in a royal king better than the crown he wears. Mercy is far above this world ruled by men with sceptre. 

(iii) The quality of Mercy is more powerful than the king’s rod of authority which sym¬bolizes his power and grandeur on earth ahd a king who is merciful has the quality of God. 

Shylock takes responsibility of all his deeds. He insists to follow the course of law and enforce proper penalty according to the bond for the breech of agreement. 

(iv) Bassanio is ready to give twice the stun of the money promised in the bond. If the Jew thinks that it is too little, he will pay it ten times over. He is also ready to forfeit his hands, his head and his heart for Antonio’s life. Bassanio pleads with Portia to twist the law a little from its original course. To do a great act of justice, do a little wrong. He begs her to prevent the cruel Jew from succeeding in his cruel design. But Portia immediately snubs him. 

(v) Shylock portrays himself as a strict follower of religion. When Duke appeals to him to show pity on Antonio he tells him that he has sworn by the holy Sabbath to take the penalty. 

Shylock is firm and adamant in his decision to take nothing but the penalty. His motive is to take revenge from his enemy and show the strength of his character that nothing can prevent him from his purpose.

(i) Shylock, Bassanio and Portia are present in the court of Duke. The repeated pleading by Antonio’s friends and even the Duke himself fail to melt Shylock’s heart, so there is no option but to refer the case to the highest legal authority of the state. Shylock is not least influenced by the forceful plea of Portia for showing mercy for Antonio. He says that he is prepared to suffer the punishment of his sinful deeds and still demands the implementation of the cluase of forfeiture of the bond and penalty for not paying in time. He says so because he seems to be firm to revenge upon Antonio. 

(ii) When Portia asks if Antonio is not able to repay the debt, Bassanio replies that he is prepared to give the amount in the court on behalf of Antonio and he is also ready to offer Shylock twice the amount of the debt. He further says that if Shylock is not agreeable to accept it, he (Bassanio) is prepared to pay him ten times the amount and if he fails to do that he is willing to offer his head, hands and heart as forfeit. 

(iii) Bassario means by saying that if even this amount (ten times money) does not satisfy the Jew, it becomes clear that malice and not honesty has taken hold of the Jew against the life of Antonio. He further adds that in that case he requests the court to misinterpret the law for a while to do a great right and noble thing of saving a precious life and do a little wrong of depriving the Jew of his mischievous design. At this, Portia refuses to do so saying that there is no yower in Venice which can deny an established decree and if it is done it will set a bad precedent and many wrongs will be committed on account of this. 

(iv) When Portia replies Bassanio that twisting the law once will invite many wrongs,Shylock feels great happiness to have this and he praises Portia calling her an intelligent Daniel. Gratiano also reacts in similar way as Shylock later in the scene. When Portia asks Shylock to go down on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Duke, Gratiano advises Shylock to seek permission that he may commit suicide by hanging himself. He (Gratiano) further adds that as his (Shylock’s) entire property stands forfeited to the state of Venice and he has not been left with enough money to buy a string to hang him with, he has to be hanged at the state expense. 

(v) Shylock walks out of the court of the Duke of Venice as a broken old man. We feel that he has brought his troubles upon himself. He insists on the letter of the law, and it is precisely by the letter of the law, he is defeated and made to drink the cup of humiliation. He wants to take the life of another man by way of gratifying the passion of vengeful hatred which becomes an obsession with him through his.

(i) Portia’s father had devised a lottery of caskets for the suitors. There were three caskets namely gold, silver and lead. In one of them was the portrait of Portia. Whichever suitor chose the casket which contained Portia’s picture would win her as his wife. 

The suitors had to take the oath if he chose the wrong casket he will never speak to a lady in the subject of marriage, will not reveal to anyone which casket he chose and thirdly if he fails to immediately leave Belmont and go away from there. 

(ii) Nerissa is Portia’s lady-in-waiting and close confidant. She is a smart lady with an intelligent mind and true sense of humour. 

Nerissa says to cheer up Portia that her father was always a good man, and such men have good guidance inspirations from Heaven at the time of their death when making their wills. Therefore Nerissa assures Portia that none but the person who really loves her and not her money will choose the right casket. 

(iii) Portia disapproves County Palatine saying he is always frowning as much to say that if Portia will not marry him, she may choose someone else. He bears happy stones but does not smile. She is afraid that he will become a sad philosopher like Heraclitus when he grows old because he is so sad in his young age. She would rather be married to a grinning skeleton with a bone in his mouth than to these suitors. 

(iv) Portia in order to safeguard against the worst she tells Nerissa to place a tall glass of Rhenish wine on the wrong casket. Portia is sure that the German suitor will not be able to resist the temptation of the wine even if the picture of the Devil himself is inside the casket. She will do anything rather than be married to a drunkard. 

The suitors have informed Nerissa of their decision to back to their home not to trouble Portia with any more suit, unless her father’s decree concerning the caskets can be set aside and they may woo her in an ordinary way. 

(v) Portia ultimately marries Bassanio. Prince of Morocco and Prince of Arragon were the other two suitors who took the test. 

Bassanio is worthy of Portia because both of them love each other deeply. Bassanio like a noble man has sent greetings, polite salutations, gracious speeches and costly presents before his arraival.

(i) De Levis told the inspector that after he came back from the bath he locked the door and left the key there only. Then he put back the bath sponge, took off his dressing gown and puts it on the bars at the lower end of the bedstead. After this he drew the curtains of the windows back. 

(ii) De Levis had a feeling that his pocket book was thinner than it was previously, so he checked its content. He found that the notes have been replaced by shaving papers. He went to Mr. Winsor after he discovered the theft. 

(iii) Robert was a footman, who look after the clothes of Mr. De Levis. Robert’s room was on the ground floor at the extreme end of the house where he lives with other two servants. Robert took De Levis’s clothes and boots at Ten O’clock. 

(iv) According to inspector’s final theory, the theif walked into the room through the creeper before the door was locked, probably while dinner was going on and was under the bed and then he escaped by jumping from the balcony. 

(v) De Levis accused Captain Ronald Dancy of stealing his money. De Levis told Canynge that the distance from the railing of his balcony to the railing of Dancy’s balcony is just seven feet, which anybody chp jump (if he cab jump to a narrow book case at four feet high, while standing on the floor). De Levis also told to Canynge to see the crushed and broken creeper lying in the balcony, which is a proof that someone has stood on them to jump back to his balcony.

(i) ‘I’ is the author Robert Lee Frost. It is the winter season and it is the longest and the coldest evening of the year. The line ‘To watch his woods fill up with snow’ and ‘frozen lake’ is the evidence given in the poem. 

(ii) The horse of the narrator has made the author aware of his mistake in stopping there. The horse does so by shaking his harness bells. Horse wants to ask if there is some mistake that they have stopped between the woods and the frozen lake without a farmhouse near. 

(iii) The three sounds heard by the author are the shaking of the harness bells by the horse, sweeping of the downy flakes and easy wind. 

(iv) The poet has said that he knows the owner of the woods. He says in a voice of despair that the owner lives in the village away from the woods and he is not able to admire the beauty of his woods being filled with snow. 

(v) The poet finds the woods to be beautiful and charming. The woods appear to be restful, seductive and lovely to the poet. When taken at a symbolic level, the woods are opposed to the promises which the poet must keep. Woods represent sensuous enjoyment (lovely), the darkness of ignorance (dark) as well as the dark inner self of man (deep). 

The last two lines means that the poet Robert Frost has to fulfill his promises and has to travel a lot of distance before he can rest. Sleep could also be interpreted as a metaphor for death. 

Poet attaches the moral tag that in life one must do one’s duty and carry out one’s obligations.

(i) Bassanio and Shylock are at a-public place in Venice. Bassanio meets Shylock so that he might borrow three thousand ducats for three months from Shylock on the personal security of Antonio and thus might fulfil his requirement of money for going Belmont and trying his luck in wooing Portia to marry him. 

(ii) When Bassanio approaches Shylock to ask for loan of three thousand ducats for three months on Antonio’s surety, Shylock weighs the risk involved in advancing the money and depicts the risks in view of Antonio’s investments. He tells Bassanio that despite all these risks to his capital Antonio’s surety is acceptable. At this Bassanio consoles him saying that he (Shylock) should be assured that there is no risk to money he (Shylock) is going to lend him (Bassanio). About Antonio’s ventures, Shylock says that Antonio has invested all his capital in trading by sea-going ships. But the ships can come to harm because of the vulnerability of the material they are made of or due to the error committed by men. He further adds that there are other risks to which these investments are exposed such as rats which can cause harm at sea or land and the pirates at the sea and thieves on land who too can cause great damage and there are also natural hazards of storms and rocks. 

(iii) When Bassanio requests Shylock to dine with them, he refuses to accept his invitation saying that he will not like to smell the pork hnd eat the flesh of that evil animal into which the devil was put by Jesus of Nazareth. He further adds that he is prepared to have business dealings, social dealings and such other dealings with them (Christians) but he is not prepared to eat or practise religious rites with them. 

(iv) When Antonio enters the scene, Shylock, in a soliloquy, gives vent to his loathing with which he regards him, Shylock is bitter because Antonio lends money without interest and thus spoils his business as a usurer. He is also bitter because Antonio hates his sacred nation and constantly chides him for changing interest. 

(v) When Bassanio asks Shylock to home dinner with them, Shylock contemptuously turns down Bassonio’s request. Speaking to him ironically, he says that he should come to dine in order to smell pork which is prohibited in Judaism. He says that Jesus Christ who hails from Nazareth had made the devil to live in the swine.

(i) The term of the bond is if Antonio is unable to pay the three thousand ducats specified on the paper on a certain date, in an agreed place, the forfeit to be paid, will be an exact pound of Antonio’s flesh which Shylock will be at liberty to take from any part of his body which pleases him. 

(ii) Shylock is called inhuman by Duke because he demanded the pound of flesh from Antonio’s body and did not have a single grain to pity in his heart. 

The Duke expects Shylock to show mercy on Antonio as Antonio has suffered heavy losses. Shylock will forgive him a part of the principal amount to be paid by Antonio along with forgiving their penalty. 

(iii) Shylock says he will not give any particular reason except that it is his fancy and whim. He gives the example that if his house is infested with rats it is fancy to spend ten thousand ducats to have them poisoned. Further he says that there are some people who cannot tolerate the sight of an open mouthed roasted pig, others the sight of a cat and some get angry to hear the scream of the bagpipe. It is just a matter of personal taste. What we like or dislike is determined by our whim or mood. 

(iv) Antonio tells that if Bassanio is hoping to soften Shylock’s heart he might as well stand on the sea shore and ask the tide not to rise so high as usual. Secondly he may as well ask the wolf why he has made the mother sheep’to mourn for the lamb he has devoured. Thirdly he may as well expect the tall pines on the hillside not to wave their f high tops and not to make a noise when they are disturbed by the strong winds. He may soften anything which is hard rather than soften the hard heart of Shylock. 

(v) One half of Shylock’s property will go to the person against whom Shylock plotted to take his life and the rest will be handed over to the private treasury of the state. Shylock’s life depended on the Duke’s mercy. Yes, Shylock deserves the punishment, as you sow so shall you reap. He had dug a ditch for Antonio but it seems he himself fell into it.

(i) Baldeo’s duties was to see if the tunnel is obstruction free before the arrived of the mail train. He also has to see if the signal lamp is burning at night. His son asked, “Shall I come too, father?” 

(ii) The axe was small and looked fragile. The axe-head was made of pure steel. It was made over a charcoal fire by his father. 

(iii) The frightened cry of a barking deer followed by a crashing sound in the undergrowth made Baldeo realise that the tiger was close by. 

He was worried because in the hut his son Tembu was sleeping unprotected. The tiger didn’t fear the man as it was used to the ways of man as it has been preying on them for years. 

(iv) The tiger pounced upon him with its right paw, Baldeo leaped and avoided the paw and brought his axe down on the animal’s shoulder. Unluckily the axe got stuck in the bone and so he was left without a weapon. The tiger roaring with pain sprang upon Baldeo, brought him down and tore his broken body and was killed. 

(v) The tiger was wounded in the fight, as the train entered the cutting the tiger was trapped like the man. Flight was impossible though he ran as fast as his wounded leg could allow. At the next station the driver was surprised to find major portion of tiger’s body. The tiger was cut off by the train. 

Baldeo and his son Tembu both were brave and responsible. Immediately after his father’s death Tembu takes over the responsibilities of his family. Baldeo was responsible and sincere towards his duties of a khalasi as well as a parent.

(i) Lady Adela is talking about the sale of the Rosemary filly which was sold by De Levis to Kentman, the bookie, for an amount of nine hundred and seventy pounds. The filly was gifted by Dancy to De Levis. 

De Levis was sure that Dancy knew about the sale because Goole told about the sale to Dancy. 

(ii) Margaret says about Dancy that Dancy is the type of man who simply can’t live without danger. If there’s no excitement going, they’ll make it. She says that she has seen Dancy do the maddest things for no mortal reason except the risk. 

(iii) Dancy says that apart from that much, (the accusation made by De Levis) that was a ghastly tame-cat sort of life, (life without excitement). So he thinks it would be better to go to Nairobi. 

Mabel is bothered about what others would say. She says that it looks like running away and they must stay and fight it. She also questions Dancy that if she was accused of stealing pearls, what would he think of her, if she ran away from it. 

(iv) De Levis came because Dancy had come round to his rooms when he was out.. The day before he had threatened him, De Levis didn’t want Dancy to think that he was afraid of him. 

She appealed to him to behave as a gentleman to them just as he should want them to behave towards him. She told him to withdraw that wicked charge, and write an apology which Dancy could show. 

(v) De Levis says, “I am only a—damned Jew, not a gentleman.” He says that otherwise he would have spared them but when his race is insulted, he is ready to face Dancy at home, or in the court. 

When the charge is established, De Levis says that he would willingly resign from the membership of the club mid promises to see them in the court. 

At Dancy’s home, he tears the apology letter into two and flings into the fire.

(i) Mabel and Dancy are in the sitting room of Dancy’s house. Just before the conversation Mabel is seen sitting alone on the sofa. She is in distraught state as she has been reading in the newspaper about Dancy’s case. She is feeling very weak and has a bottle of smelling salts in her hand. The door opens and Dancy comes in. 

(ii) When the door opens and Dancy comes in, Mabel is greatly surprised. She wants to know whether they want her presence in the court. Dancy tells her that the case has collapsed. They have found out the real thief through those notes. Mabel in her innocence asks whom they have found out. Dancy bluntly tells her “me”. Mabel is horrified. He blames her for not agreeing to go to Africa three months back. Infact the case takes an about turn and goes against Dancy. This is meant by spun. So far all are against De Levis as he cannot produce enough evidences against Dancy. Later on two of the stolen notes were traced to Dancy and the counsel threw up the brief. The court is convinced of Dancy’s guilt. 

(iii) Dancy is talking about those notes which De Levis got from Kentman after selling him (Kentman) the mare. Dancy kneels down and asks for her forgiveness. She tells him that she somehow knew that he was guilty. And yet she loved him as if nothing had happened. She wanted to know why he did it. He replied that it was a crazy thing to do but he felt that he was only looting a looter. He needed the money because he has promised to pay Ricardos’ daughter a thousand pounds. Jhat morning he had a letter from her father threatening to tell Mabel everything unless the money was paid immediately. He nobly confesses that he is unworthy of her. He tells her that he may soon be arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison. Dancy says that this will be good bye then. Mabel, however, is determined to be loyal to him unto death. In case of imprisonment is enevitable, she assures him that she will wait for his return. Whatever happens she will remain loyal to him and go on loving him. 

(iv) Dancy’s best friend’s name is Colford. The inspector shows loyalty to his profession. He says that he has to perform his duty, however painful it might be. He sympathises with Mabel but proceeds to search Dancy in the house, tyargaret and Colford come to . the house but are detained at the door by the constable. Dancy says from within that they can come in. They hear the lock being opened. Then there is a pistol shot. Mabel rushes into the bed-room, followed by the inspector, Margaret and Colford. They find that Dancy has shot himself. Colford and Margaret reappear supporting Mabel who faints as they lay her on sofa. Colford takes from her hand an envelope which is addressed to him. In his farewell message Dancy says that he is doing the only decent thing that he can do. In his note left after him, he asks Colford to look after Mabel. 

(v) Dancy who is a desperate character, does not get Ricardos’ sweet daughter. Due to his poverty, he has to part with his mare. He is infuriated to see that the same, useless mare is sold for $ 1000 and he gets nothing. He commits theft which is obvious from almost very beginning and he is to be caught by the police at last. For what he hands over the money to Ricardos, does not happen that is his last affairs are brought to light. These and all many other things are the manifestations of Dancy’s being desperate. He is not only the most reckless person, he is loose of morals and tongue. Leaving his immoral part, Dancy’s conversation and behaviour is most ungentlemanly, undignified and unbecoming. Being ensured he, at last has to reveal everything to his worthy wife. Despite his Himalyan efforts he is unable to leave his country and escape the clutches of law. Finally this desperate Ronald Dancy commits suicide. Dancy’s suicide is characteristic of the man. When his guilt is proved and the police comes to arrest him he shoots himself through the heart. He preferred death to dishonour. To a man of his temperament a violent death is preferable to a life of disgrace. He meets death like a soldier and never wavers or flinches. In my opinion this young Jew, or Dancy who, after all, steals, lies, insults, peeps everything from his wife, deceives his friends, and yet, in spite of all, 

has about him a queer halo of courage and adventure. On the other hand, Mabel’s heartily love, her loyalty and dedication for her husband are worth praising. Her love for her husband does not alter with the alteration in circumstances. In spite of knowing everything, she clings to him all the more and promise’s to wait for him if he is sent jail. She says, “whatever happens, I will go on loving you.”