Q90. Which Act established the Board of Control to supervise Company affairs?
[Odisha Police SI (6 July 2022, Paper II)]
(A) Government of India Act, 1858
(B) Regulating Act, 1773
(C) Charter Act, 1833
(D) Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Answer: (D) Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Explanation: Pitt’s India Act of 1784 established the Board of Control, separating supervision of political affairs from the commercial responsibilities of the Company’s directors. This structure strengthened British government authority while Company rule continued.
Q89. Which Act marked the culmination of centralization under the East India Company?
[Odisha Police SI (6 July 2022, Paper II)]
(A) Charter Act of 1833
(B) Charter Act of 1793
(C) Charter Act of 1813
(D) Charter Act of 1853
Answer: (A) Charter Act of 1833
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1833 concentrated lawmaking authority for British India in the Governor-General of India and deprived Bombay and Madras of separate legislative powers. The resulting centralized scheme was later moderated through subsequent councils legislation.
Q88. The earliest significant recommendation for merit-based recruitment to the Indian civil services is associated with which committee?
[Odisha Police Sub-Inspector Paper II (6 July 2022)]
(A) Lee Commission
(B) Islington Commission
(C) Macaulay Committee
(D) Maxwell Committee
Answer: (C) Macaulay Committee
Explanation: After the Charter Act of 1853 opened a route to competitive recruitment, the Macaulay Committee of 1854 worked out its implementation. Subsequent commissions considered Indianization, classification and representation rather than initiating the principle of open competition.
Q87. Who introduced significant local self-government reforms in India in 1882?
[TNUSRB SI (25 June 2022, General Studies)]
(A) Lord Curzon
(B) Lord Wellesley
(C) Lord Ripon
(D) Lord Hastings
Answer: (C) Lord Ripon
Explanation: Lord Ripon’s 1882 resolution promoted local boards with greater non-official and elected participation. He became known as the father of local self-government in India, though colonial financial constraints and official supervision remained extensive.
Q86. Who was the first Indian admitted to the Indian Civil Service?
[RRB NTPC CBT II Level 5 (12 June 2022, Shift 2)]
(A) Surendranath Banerjee
(B) Romesh Chandra Dutt
(C) Behari Lal Gupta
(D) Satyendranath Tagore
Answer: (D) Satyendranath Tagore
Explanation: Satyendranath Tagore succeeded in the open Indian Civil Service examination in 1863 and joined the service following training. The recruitment process was formally competitive but concentrated in London, limiting access for Indian aspirants.
Q85. In which year were district civil and criminal courts first established under Warren Hastings’ judicial reforms?
[DSSSB Junior Secretariat Assistant (9 April 2022, Shift 3)]
(A) 1786
(B) 1765
(C) 1792
(D) 1772
Answer: (D) 1772
Explanation: In 1772, Hastings introduced Diwani Adalats for civil disputes and Faujdari Adalats for criminal cases at district level. The arrangement was a key stage in the judicial institutionalization of East India Company rule in Bengal.
Q84. In which year was Pitt’s India Act enacted?
[DSSSB Assistant Teacher (Primary) (30 March 2022, Shift 2)]
(A) 1819
(B) 1901
(C) 1784
(D) 1857
Answer: (C) 1784
Explanation: The Act was passed in 1784 under Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. It established a government-appointed Board of Control and maintained a Court of Directors, creating a dual arrangement for governing the East India Company’s affairs.
Q83. For the Indian Councils Act, 1892, evaluate: (i) It came into effect on 20 June 1892; (ii) of 24 members, five were non-government members; (iii) it allowed supplementary questions. Which are correct?
[CGPSC State Services 2021 Prelims GS (13 February 2022)]
(A) (i), (ii), (iii)
(B) (i) and (ii)
(C) (i) and (iii)
(D) Only (i)
Answer: (D) Only (i)
Explanation: The examined key treats the commencement date as correct. The stated membership figure is inaccurate, and the Act permitted questions under restrictions rather than supplementary questions. Additional legislative powers remained narrow until later reforms.
Q82. Which Act provided for establishing the Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1774?
[WBCS 2021 Mains Polity (May 2022, Paper V)]
(A) Carriers Act, 1865
(B) Coroners Act, 1871
(C) India Law Reports Act, 1875
(D) Regulating Act, 1773
Answer: (D) Regulating Act, 1773
Explanation: The Regulating Act of 1773 empowered the Crown to establish a Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William. The court opened in Calcutta in 1774 under Chief Justice Elijah Impey and three other judges.
Q81. Which local official was viewed as the Company government’s representative of authority in the late eighteenth century?
[UPPSC Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (5 December 2021)]
(A) Kotwal
(B) Daroga
(C) Amala
(D) Zamindar
Answer: (B) Daroga
Explanation: The daroga was a police officer appointed under Cornwallis’ reorganization of district policing. Controlling thana jurisdictions, darogas became visible representatives of Company authority in rural areas, though local power relationships frequently compromised fair and impartial enforcement.
