Read the following statements: Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Choose the correct alternative from those given below:
Assertion (A): India could not develop a sound Industrial-base during the British rule.
Reason (R): Britishers followed restrictive trade policies, which strengthened Indian handicraft industries.
- Assertion (A) is true: During the British rule, India could not develop a strong industrial base. The British focused on extracting resources from India and promoting industries that benefited Britain rather than India.
- Reason (R) is false: The British followed restrictive policies that actually undermined India's handicraft industries rather than strengthening them. Policies such as heavy tariffs on Indian goods and the promotion of British manufactured goods led to the decline of India's traditional industries.
Conclusion: Since Assertion (A) is correct but Reason (R) is false, option (C) is the correct answer.
“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.” (From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?