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SERIES – 1 : SOLUTIONS (Days 1-4)

1. Solution- a

Citizens of U K, Ireland and common wealth nations are eligible for voting.

The conservative party headed by Theresa may emerged a single party

2. Solution: c

“Connecting People to Nature”, the theme for World Environment Day 2017, implored us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share.

2017 was hosted by Canada

India is the global host of 2018 World Environment Day which will take place on June 5, 2018.

“Beat Plastic Pollution”, the theme for World Environment 2018, urges governments, industry, communities and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives and urgently reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastic polluting our oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.

3. Solution: c

India and Pakistan were admitted as full members of SCO.

SCO is a Eurasian Political, economic and military organization will help the economic integration and the security issue among the member countries.

2017 SCO theme is “Future Energy”

4. Solution: a

AFSPA as per the act provisions, is not subjected to Judicial review. But the actions committed as part of AFSPA came under the scanner of supreme court in multiple instances

Punjab was the first state to revoke implementation of AFSPA

5. Solution: c

2nd stage uses vikas engine which is based on licensed version of Viking engine

CE 20 is indigenous cryogenic engine developed by LPSE(Liquid propulsion system center)

6. Solution: a

Nuclear seed : This is the hundred percent genetically pure seed with physical purity and produced by the original breeder/Institute /State Agriculture University (SAU) from basic nucleus seed stock. A pedigree certificate is issued by the producing breeder.

Breeder seed : The progeny of nucleus seed multiplied in large area as per indent of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DOAC), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, under supervision of plant breeder / institute / SAUs and monitored by a committee consisting of the representatives of state seed certification agency, national / state seed corporations, ICAR nominee and concerned breeder. This is also hundred percent physical and genetic pure seed for production of foundation seed. A golden yellow colour certificate is issued for this category of seed by the producing breeder.

Foundation seed : The progeny of breeder seed produced by recognized seed producing agencies in public and private sector, under supervision of seed certification agencies in such a way that its quality is maintained according to prescribed field ad seed standards. A white colour certificate is issued for foundation seed by seed certification agencies.

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Registered seed : Registered seed shall be the progeny of foundation seed that is so handled as to maintain its genetic identity and purity according to standard specified for the particular crop being certified. A purple colour certificate is issued for this category of seed.

Certified seed : The progeny of foundation seed produced by registered seed growers under supervision of seed certification agencies to maintain the seed quality as per minimum seed certification standards. A blue colour certificate is issued by seed certification agency for this category of seed.

The foundation and certified seeds can be multiplied at stage 1 and II, but the reproduction can not exceed three generations after breeder seed.

7. Solution: d

8. Solution: B

Amartya Sen talked about entitlements in the context of poor having no access to food during famines.

He defines human development as people having choice and dignity.

9. Solution: B

By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.

By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy.

By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

It was unveiled by UNAIDS

10. Solution : C

The Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) is a new and catalytic programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, one with potentially far reaching impact.

It is intended to enlarge and deepen the interface of India’s institutions of higher learning and globally recognised institutions of academic eminence.

Over the next year or so, faculty from highly rated institutions abroad will visit India, interact and partner with their counterparts and with students, and deliver specialised courses.

11. Solution: B




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12. Solution: D

MNCs or Multi-National corporations bring in new technology, employ workers, bring in foreign capital to bridge savings gap, and also adapt technology to adjust to local conditions.

13. Solution: D

Until early 2016, India’s growth had been accelerating when growth in other countries was decelerating. But then the converse happened. The world economy embarked on a synchronous recovery, but India’s GDP growth—and indeed a number of other indicators such as industrial production, credit, and investment—decelerated. There are five reasons for this:

First, India’s monetary conditions decoupled from the rest of the world. Until the middle of 2016, real policy interest rates were following the global trend downwards. Since then, the downward drift has continued in most other countries, with rates falling. But in India, for the same period, average real interest rates increased. This tightening of monetary conditions contributed to the divergence in economic activity in two ways. First, it depressed consumption and investment compared to that in other countries. Second, it attracted capital inflows especially into debt instruments, which caused the increase in demand for rupee and consequently rupee appreciates which causes dampening of exports.

The second and third factors were one-off policy actions: Demonetization and GST. Demonetization temporarily reduced demand and hampered production, especially in the informal sector, which transacts mainly in cash. On the other hand, GST was introduced, affecting supply chains.

The fourth factor exerting a drag on the Indian economy was the TBS challenge. This has been a drag for some time and its effects have cumulated as the non-performing assets have increased, the financial situation of stressed firms and banks have steadily worsened. This has reduced investment and consequently economic activity and, hence growth.

The final factor was oil prices increase since 2017. It is estimated that a $10 per barrel increase in the price of oil reduces growth by 0.2-0.3 percentage points, increases WPI inflation by about 1.7 percentage points and worsens the CAD by about $9-10 billion dollars.

14. Solution: D

The markets cannot sustain much longer high interest rates and formal workforce while taking into account GST filing and new registrations under EPFO and ESIC show greater non-farm employment than earlier estimated.

15. Solution: B

The twin balance sheet challenge is the major impediment to private investment and a full-fledged economic recovery.

To address the challenges, Economic Survey recommends these four R’s.

16. Solution: C

Coined by Arvind Subramanium in his speech and Survey. He was referring to the twin balance sheet problem and problem faced due to heightened risk to public sector banks because of stressed assets.




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He also stressed that this gives important insights into performance of India after LPG and a possible solution for public sector banks might just be more capitalism instead of a pro socialist approach.

17. Solution: C

Openness is defined as exports + imports as a percentage of GDP.

That is the more the state is connected to the outside world or with neighbours the higher is the state GDP.

18. Solution: D

That is exports are more egalitarian in India compared to similar placed countries.

This says that largest firms in India do not dominate India’s exports and MSMEs also contribute more towards exports compared to other countries in similar income circumstances.

19. Solution: B

Higher speeds are under mission Raftaar.

Operation swarn is for overall improvement in passenger comfort and services.

Major trains such as shatabdis and rajdhanis will be covered under the first phase.

20. Solution: A

These are in context of NFRA – National financial Reporting Agency

This was proposed as a result of various scams highlighting role of charted accountants and failure of audit trail to correctly warn of these risks.

21. Solution: c

It is only for augmentation of infrastructure.

There are separate schemes such as RISE for education and PMSS for healthcare. NIIF only covers problems of infrastructure finance where there is shortfall.

That is need is estimated at around $4.5 trillion whereas estimated resource is only pegged at $3.9 trillion.

22. Solution: d

All the above are benefits even after introduction of long term capital gains in the Budget, SGB remains out of the purview of capital gains.

23. Solution: D

Source: Economy Module;

IPR are under the administrative control of DIPP under ministry of commerce and recently government tried to augment capacity of patent approvals by fast tracking hiring of patent examiners.

24. Solution: D

It has power to regulate production, distribution, supply and price of the commodity. Essential commodities act 1955 aims to make available commodities in adequate number and regulate their availability during shortages. It also give action points to prevent hoarding and black marketing through instruments such as stock limits.

25. Solution: C

It has been launched by SAIL to boost consumption of steel in rural India.

This will result in better durability of assets created and also make them more prone to handle severe events through housing of better quality.




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It is aimed at encouraging steel consumption in rural areas

26. Solution: d

The monetary transmission mechanism is the process by which asset prices and general economic conditions are affected as a result of monetary policy decisions.

Such decisions are intended to influence the aggregate demand, interest rates, and amounts of money and credit in order to affect overall economic performance.

The traditional monetary transmission mechanism occurs through interest rate channels, which affect interest rates, costs of borrowing, levels of physical investment, and aggregate demand.

Additionally, aggregate demand can be affected through friction in the credit markets, known as the credit view.

In short, the monetary transmission mechanism can be defined as the link between monetary policy and aggregate demand.

27. Solution: d

What is not included in GDP ?

Intermediate goods, second hand sales and two others- o Non market transactions-trading or barter, Homemaker services o Underground economy-gambling, smuggling, prostitution, drugs and counterfeiting

28. Solution: d

Effective Revenue Deficit is the difference between revenue deficit and grants for the creation of capital assets.

In other words, the Effective Revenue Deficit excludes those revenue expenditures which were done in the form of grants for the creation of capital assets

29. Solution: a

30. Solution: b

In economics, the monetary base (also base money, money base, high-powered money, reserve money, outside money, central bank money or, in the UK, narrow money) in a country is defined as the portion of a commercial bank’s reserves that consist of the commercial bank’s accounts with its central bank plus the total currency circulating in the public, plus the currency, also known as vault cash, that is physically held in the bank’s vault.




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Thus reserve money is not a debt obligation for the government.

31. Solution: c

32. Solution: b

The economic survey says that investment rate is much more significant for growth.

The savings rate correlation to economic growth is not that significant.

It says that growth slowdowns have been preceded by investment slowdowns.

33. Solution: b

Pink-Color Economic Survey 2017-18 Highlights Gender Issues Against Backdrop of Development Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao; Sukanya Samridhi Yojana and Mandatory Maternity Leave are all Steps in Right Direction, Acknowledges Survey.

34. Solution: d

Please refer to economic survey summary.

35. Solution: c

FOOD CREDIT:

The Credit/Loan provided by the nationalised banks to the FCI (Food Corporation of India) is known as food credit.

It is used for procurement of food grains by FCI and is a part of the Gross Bank Credit

36. Solution: a

Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) includes dumping, infant industry and countervailing duties.

They are a mechanism under WTO and were used largely in the steel sector.

It was also primarily targeted at cheap imports from China.

37. Solution: c

Banks faced shortage of capital to give adequate credit and also high cost of operations and stress assets led to higher costs for all sections of the society.

38. Solution: b

Flexi funding is a good thing and not a challenge but an opportunity for states.

Rest will put additional fiscal burden on the performance of state governments.

39. Solution: c

All of them improved fiscal performance by state governments.

Perhaps it is high time state governments use these opportunities to enable a better living standard for their population in terms of health, education and other schemes.

40. Solution: c

This was done to avoid high debt service ratios and greater revenue deficits.

Also the interest burdens was becoming too much to bear.

41. Solution: a

States could role back discretionary spending when needed and therefore failed to go for long term improvements in health and education policies.

42. Solution: a




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Indian companies expanded aggressively before the recession and got stuck with surplus capacity and slowing global economy.

The financial crises also made access to working capital tougher.

43. Solution: c

India is represented by an executive director in the IMF.

Currently Subir Gokaran is responsible for representing India.

He was the Deputy governor of RBI.

44. Solution: c

It was introduced by SEBI to check for fraudulent practices.

It also issued a notification that if such price movements were found the companies would be classified as shell companies and money laundering provisions could be initiated against such companies.

45. Solution: d

Source: Insight module –Economy;

NBFCs cannot outsource core management functions only. But they are allowed to outsource other aspects.

Deposit insurance has been discussed under FRDI bill but still not passed in the parliament.

46. Solution : c

Lipu Lekh pass is high altitude mountain pass in Uttarakhand suitable for accessing Kailash-Manasarovar from Western Side.

47. Solution: d

Any offence punishable for one or above years is qualified for extradition.

India requested extradition of warren Anderson and Ottavio Quattrocchi who were foreign nationals.

India-has extradition treaty with 42 countries.

48. Solution: b

Bt-cotton was the first GM crop approved but it’s not food crop.

Bt-brinjal was the first gm-food crop approved by GEAC

Dhara Mustard Hybrid -11 is herbicide tolerant GM Mustard crop approved by GEAC, but not yet approved by Environment Ministry.

49. Solution: d

Maharaj Sri NAgendra Singh was first Indian Judge elected to ICJ.

Judges are elected for a term of 9 years.

50. Solution: c

TIR convention will boost Indian trade with Central Asian countries and neighboring countries.

It is considered as India’s counter to China’s OBOR project.

It also includes maritime transport but at least a part of transport should be through roadways

51. Solution: c

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991 head quartered in London.




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As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies.

Initially focused on the countries of the former Eastern Bloc it expanded to support development in more than 30 countries from central Europe to central Asia.

52. Ans: c

The Survey pointed out that low level of tax collections by the local Governments in rural areas is posing challenge in reconciling fiscal federalism and accountability

53. Ans: D

Judicial pendency has been a major bottleneck for doing business in India.

The courts often delay projects through litigation also causing a non-favorable position in Doing Business.

54. Ans: D

Fiscal activism or stimulus packages are needed only for recovery from depression and recession.

The course of extra spending should be strictly regulated to prevent burdening from public debt and high debt service ratios.

Burden of interest payments already is very high with up to 25% of revenue expenditure curtailing developmental spending.

55. Ans: B

Hint:

On the financial front, there has been divergence on both income and consumption.

There is convergence i.e. that IMR and life expectancy are trending towards similar goals in various states in India.

This is due to catching up of education and health parameters in various states.

56. Ans: c

The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females.

In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (primary, secondary, etc.).

57. Ans: D

The economic crises here was primarily a balance of payment crises and at the same time there was a significant increase in oil prices due to the Gulf war.

Also, low foreign exchange reserves meant India had to mortgage gold to sustain critical imports such as oil.

Import substitution policy meant that quotas and strict FERA made flow of foreign funds into India difficult.

58. Ans: D

‘The people who are always poor’ and those whose are usually poor but who may sometimes have a little more money are called chronic poor.

Another group is called the churning (transient) poor because they keep moving in and out of the poverty segment (small scale workers).

There are a segment of people who are occasionally poor meaning they are rich most of the time but due to bad luck turn poor for a while.

59. Ans: A




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Foreign trade is part of current account whereas dealings in the financial sector are largely covered under capital account.

60. Ans: C

India was called emerging market due to its fast growth in GDP.

Per capita shows us the purchasing power of people and their welfare.

61. Ans: D

Need for zero-based budgeting

1. Low priority programs can be eliminated or reduced. 2. Effectiveness of programmes can be dramatically improved. 3. Programmes of high priority can obtain increased funding by shifting resources within an

agency. 4. The government need not increase the tax revenue as ZBB can to do a more effective job

with existing revenues.

62. Solution: a

63. Ans: A

Capital gains tax will boost consumption in present as savings will be taxed later and also slow down investments.

Y=C+S. therefore, if consumption increases saving would fall.

Also S=I so investments would also reduce.

64. Ans: B

Drain of wealth is a concept before independence.

Western paradigm model shows dependence on foreign nations for everything from teachers, science and Machines.

Population explosion reduced availability of resources per capita and agriculture could not sustain demand due to its low elasticity of income demand.

65. Ans: B

The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was a set of proposals put forward during the 1970s by some developing countries through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to promote their interests by improving their terms of trade, increasing development assistance, developed-country tariff reductions

66. Ans: c

The DTAA, or Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement is a tax treaty signed between India and another country (or any two/multiple countries) so that taxpayers can avoid paying double taxes on their income earned from the source country as well as the residence country.

67. Ans: A

The Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles.

Updated monthly, the Nature Index presents research outputs by institution and country.

68. Ans: C

India has been ranked 132nd among 152 nations in a new index tracking commitment to reducing income inequality, Sweden led the index while Nigeria remained the worst performer




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69. Ans: C

The ease of doing business index is an index created by Simeon Djankov at the World Bank Group.

The academic research for the report was done jointly with professors Oliver Hart and Andrei Shleifer.

Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.

Empirical research funded by the World Bank to justify their work show that the economic growth impact of improving these regulations is strong.

70. Ans: C

The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation.

It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, in partnership with other organisations and institutions, and is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

The index was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business, a British magazine.

The GII is commonly used by corporate and government officials to compare countries by their level of innovation.

71. Solution: a

GTA is conferred with administrative, executive and financial power on the transfer subject but it does not enjoy legislative power.

GTA sabha consists of 50 members among which 45 are elected and 5 are nominated by the governor.

Source: http://www.darjeeling.gov.in/notification/GTA_ACT.pdf

72. Solution: c

Source: http://bscpcr.org/pocso_faq.html

73. Solution: c

Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime which aims for export controls for conventional arms and dual use good and technologies.

Source: https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/multilateral-export-control-regimes

74. Solution: c

Source: https://www.livemint.com/Education/GPOOGmaS6DXpsxisMqHevO/Govt-constitutes-K-Kasturirangan-committee-to-prepare-New-E.html

75. Solution: b

M777 Ultra-light howitzers artillery guns inducted in Indian army which are imported from US.

76. Solution: b

Current Affairs – June 2017 (https://www.insightsonindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Insights-Daily-Current-Events-June-2017.pdf)


http://www.darjeeling.gov.in/notification/GTA_ACT.pdf

http://bscpcr.org/pocso_faq.html

https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/multilateral-export-control-regimes

https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/multilateral-export-control-regimes

https://www.livemint.com/Education/GPOOGmaS6DXpsxisMqHevO/Govt-constitutes-K-Kasturirangan-committee-to-prepare-New-E.html

https://www.livemint.com/Education/GPOOGmaS6DXpsxisMqHevO/Govt-constitutes-K-Kasturirangan-committee-to-prepare-New-E.html

https://www.insightsonindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Insights-Daily-Current-Events-June-2017.pdf




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Here, conditional cash transfer is the mainstay of ‘Kanyashree Prakalpa‘ initiative. Hence, other schemes should have the same design.

The broad objectives of the Kishori Shakti Yojana are to improve the nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls, promote awareness of health, hygiene, nutrition and family care, link them to opportunities for learning life skills, going back to school, help them gain a better understanding of their social environment and take initiatives to become productive members of the society.

Other TWO schemes are similar to ‘Kanyashree Prakalpa‘

https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Centre-for-Budget-and-Policy-Studies-India-report.pdf

77. Solution: b


EPF money becomes unclaimed after a subscriber doesn’t withdraw money after reaching 61 years of age.

Accounts also become inoperative if persons settling abroad do not withdraw their money within three years.

The government had framed a law last year wherein unclaimed money under EPF, Public Provident Fund and small saving schemes such as post office savings accounts for a period of seven years will be diverted to set up a senior citizens’ welfare fund.

The trade unions had strongly protested the move to divert EPF money for setting up a fund for the elderly.

Following this, it was decided that the unclaimed EPF money will be diverted for EPF pensioners only.

78. Solution: d


o The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has recently launched a ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme’ to connect the Indian academic and research and










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development (R&D) systems to the best of global science and scientists for a sustained international collaborative research. o The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists, faculty

members and R&D professionals including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology including interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, materials and manufacturing, etc. with one or more Indian collaborators of public funded academic and research institutions of India.

o The VAJRA Faculty should be an active researcher working in an overseas leading academic / research / industrial organization with significant accomplishments in R&D. The initial Faculty assignment is given for a period of one year extendable to subsequent years based on the collaborative outcome and interest. The residency period of VAJRA Faculty in the host institution would be for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 3 months every year.

o VAJRA Faculty is provided US Dollars 15000 in the first month of residence and US Dollars 10000 in each of the subsequent month. Presently, call for applications is made open for prospective researchers.

79. Solution: d


o In its effort to make legal aid easily accessible to the marginalized communities and citizens living in rural areas, the Government of India has launched the ‘Tele-Law’

o Under the scheme, a portal called ‘Tele-Law’ will be launched, which will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network. This will connect the citizens to legal service providers with the help of technology enabled platforms.

o A trained PLV will be available in a CSC for ten days in a month under the Scheme. These PLVs will help the applicant connect with a lawyer through the video conferencing facility at the CSC and will keep a track of the progress of the applicants’ cases and grievances and maintain a record.

Statement 2 is wrong as it says ‘judges’

80. Solution: b

Widening the scope of its Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has included complaints relating to mis-selling and mobile banking in its purview.

The amended Banking Ombudsman Scheme will come into force from July 1.

Key facts:

o The scheme now includes deficiencies arising out of sale of insurance/mutual fund/other third party investment products by banks.

o Under the amended Scheme, a customer would also be able to lodge a complaint against the bank for its nonadherence to RBI instructions with regard to mobile banking/ electronic banking services in India.

o The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Banking Ombudsman to pass an Award has been increased from existing Rs 10 lakh to to Rs 20 lakh. Compensation not exceeding Rs 1 lakh can also be awarded by to the complainant for loss of time, expenses incurred as also, harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant.






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What is Banking Ombudsman?

Banking ombudsman is a quasi-judicial authority, created to resolve customer complaints against banks relating to certain services provided by them.

The Ombudsman is a senior official, who has been appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to address grievances and complaints from customers, pertaining deficiencies in banking services.

It covers all kinds of banks including public sector banks, Private banks, Rural banks as well as co-operative banks.

81. Ans: C

The Economic survey mentions son meta preference based on the gender of the last child.

Indian families keep on having children till the desired number of children are born.

Also, the survey mentions that once the girls are born, they are taken care of in terms of their participation in social indicators such as health and education.

82. Solution: c

What Will Orion Do ?

Orion will carry astronauts into deep space and then return them home to Earth.

Orion will be able to travel to an asteroid or even Mars.

NASA is developing a huge rocket called the Space Launch System, or SLS. This rocket is a heavy-lift launch vehicle. Orion will launch on top of this rocket. The heavy-lift launch vehicle will carry Orion beyond low Earth orbit, where the International Space Station orbits, and far past the moon.

Orion has three main parts. o The upper section is the launch abort system, or LAS; the crew module is the middle

part; and the service module is the lower portion of the spacecraft. o Astronauts will sit in the middle section, the crew module. This will be their living

quarters. If an emergency occurs during launch or the climb to orbit, the LAS would activate in milliseconds. It would propel the crew module away from the rocket to safety.

o The LAS looks like a tower on top of the crew module. Beneath the crew module is the service module. It holds the power and propulsion systems. Solar array panels on the service module will absorb sunlight to create electricity. This power will allow the spacecraft to remain in orbit for months at a time.

83. Ans: D

The survey stresses on the need to inculcate science and tech from school level itself.

Also it makes procedures and patent approach much simpler to promote ease of doing science in India.

It also calls for a mission mode approach towards areas of disruptive technologies.

84. Ans: C

Urbansiation is a feature of development. As countries develop the share of agriculture gradually falls in contribution to GDP.

China and India show relative differences in urbanization due to GDP gap and their contribution gaps in areas such as agriculture, manufacturing and service sector.

85. Ans: C




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All of them prove hindrances to the sector as they make it uncompetitive for India to compete with other countries in textiles and apparel sector.

These aspects make products from China and other countries cheaper in world markets. Also, their mass scale prevents India to capture a relatively larger share of the market.

86. Ans: B

International bank for reconstruction and development is the name of World Bank.

India started the process of LPG under new economic policy in 1991.

Also, India did not follow all conditions strictly and went for partial opening up of the Indian Economy such as partial capital account convertibility and other factors such as peak rate of tariffs for imports.

87. Ans: A

HDI is an index prepared by UNDP.

It adjusts per capita income based on purchasing power parity and also defines development as choice and access to better health, education and income opportunities. Skill development is not a factor in measuring HDI.

Learning

The report was first launched in 1990 by the Pakistani Economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Its goal was to place people at the centre of the development process in terms of economic debate, policy and advocacy. Scale is 0 to 1.

2016 HDI –‘ Human Development for Everyone’

o India — score — 0.624 o 131st place in 188 countries o placed in medium human development category.

The Report includes 4 other indices

Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI)

1. It adjusts the Human Development Index (HDI) for inequality in distribution of each dimension across the population.

2. no inequality – HDI = IHDI 3. in case of inequalities the value of IHDI < HDI 4. Thus we can say IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for this

inequality), while the HDI can be viewed as an index of “potential” human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality.

Gender Development Index

o It shows the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements in these dimensions.

o ranges —- 0 (indicating equality between men & women) to 1(indicating that women fare as poorly in comparison to their male counterparts as possible in all measured dimensions)

(The other 2 indices are Gender inequality index and multi dimensional poverty index which will be covered in next tests)

88. Ans: D




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Fertiliser DBT was recently introduced to address anomalies of allocation between rich and poor farmers and also to curb regional off take in surplus regions.

Further neem coating was made compulsory to check for diversion and also make it more durable and sustainable to use in farms.

89. Ans: C

About APEDA

1. Established by the Government of India in 1986 under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act,1985 (Hence it is statutory body)

2. The Authority replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC). 3. A Chairman, appointed by the Central Government

Functions

1. Development of industries relating to the scheduled products for export by way of providing financial assistance or otherwise for undertaking surveys and feasibility studies, participation in enquiry capital through joint ventures and other reliefs and subsidy schemes;

2. Registration of persons as exporters of the scheduled products on payment of such fees as may be prescribed;

3. Fixing of standards and specifications for the scheduled products for the purpose of exports;

4. Carrying out inspection of meat and meat products in slaughter houses, processing plants, storage premises, conveyances or other places where such products are kept or handled for the purpose of ensuring the quality of such products;

90. Ans: C

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

It is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India

initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007

The Company is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology for achieving greater efficiency in operations and widening the reach of payment systems

Products developed — Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Financial Switch (NFS), Cheque Truncation System (CTS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), RuPay Credit Card, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) and National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC)

91. Ans: C

InvIT facilitates capital into the infrastructure sector by pooling small sums of money from investors, helping infrastructure developers monetise their infrastructure assets and complete projects that sometimes get stalled midway due to lack of funding.

InvITs are a first-of-their-kind really long-term instruments. At present, Government Securities or G-secs are the only other instruments with such a long life

SEBI introduced infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) regulations for infrastructure projects

The minimum bid size is 10,000 units and in multiples of 5,000 units thereafter. At the price band Rs 100-102, it comes out at Rs 10 lakh at lower price limit. Hence these are not for small and retail investors




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Who can invest? — Any infrastructure finance company registered with the RBI as an NBFC, scheduled commercial banks, international multilateral financial institutions, familys trust that are not institutional investors, high net worth individuals, mutual funds and FPIs, among others, can invest in the IPO.

Institutional investors (qualified institutional buyers) will be allotted not more than 75 per cent of the issue size, while other bidders have a quota limit of 25 per cent

92. Ans: C

Product patent was introduced in India in 2005.

Patents are under DIPP (Ministry of commerce).

Further patents and GIs are both covered under TRIPS in WTO.

CIPAM

A professional body under the aegis of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) which ensures focused action on issues related to IPRs and addresses the 7 identified objectives of the policy.

CIPAM assists in simplifying and streamlining of IP processes, apart from undertaking steps for furthering IPR awareness, commercialization and enforcement.

Process patent vs Product patents

Process patent Product patent

Process patent — patent is granted for a particular manufacturing process, and not for the product itself. Any other person can produce the same product through some other PROCESS, modifying the various parameters.

o Hence there will be more than one producer for the same product because of the possibility of different process for the manufacturing of the product.

o Weakness is that it gives less protection for the inventor. There is high tendency for competitors to reengineer the original invention by discovering a new process with less strain and investment.

o Benefit of process patent regime is that it reduces the element of monopoly.

Product patent — it is an exclusive right given to the original inventor of a product. This means that no other manufacturer can provide the same product through the same or any other process.

o The implication is that there will not be a competitor for the producer as it is the product which is patented.

o Product patent system gives higher level of protection to the inventor as there will not be any other patent holder.

o TRIPs follow the product patent regime.

India’s 1970 Patent Act allowed only process patent before it was amended in 2005 to comply with WTO’s TRIPs provisions under which there is only product patents




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GI Tag

Indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.

In India, GI tag is governed by Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection Act), 1999. This Act is administered by Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, who is also Registrar of Geographical Indications.

GIs have been defined under Article 22(1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS)

Recently (Nov 2017) Banglar Rasogolla of West Bengal and Mamallapuram stone sculptures of Tamil Nadu has been given GI tag

93. Ans: D

Shipping lanes are not always marked by navigational aids and thus sometimes shipping lanes are marked as dangerous waters such as those frequented by icebergs.

94. Ans: D

The Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard, unveiled the Digital Evolution Index 2017.

The Index is a comprehensive research that tracks the progress countries have made in developing their digital economies and integrating connectivity into the lives of billions.

95. Ans: A

Social enterprise effects impact by marrying the social mission of a non-profit or government program with the market-driven approach of a business.

They apply commercial strategies to help the poor though affordability, accessibility and availability of products and services at the grass root level.

https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/what-is-it-all-about)

96. Ans: C

India has started biofuels blending programme and aims to reduce imports of oil by at least 1 lakh crore through processing of biomass.

Bio fuels

According to UN, the term biofuel means “any liquid fuel made from plant material that can be used as a substitute to petroleum-derived fuel”. International Energy Agency further adds gaseous fuels from biomass based sources to biofuels (IEA, Bioenergy, 2016).

The main distinction between biofuels is the feedstock used and associated conversion method.

1. First generation: These are the biofuels produced from conventional, well established processes. These are generally made from sugars, grains, or seeds, i.e. utilize only a specific (often edible) portion of the above-ground biomass produced by a plant.

o Pros: Mature technology, familiar feedstock, scalable production capabilities, cost competitive to fossil fuels

o Cons: Food vs fuel debate, feedstock price volatility, Low land use efficiency, geographical limitations, modest net reduction in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions with current processing methods.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_on_Trade-Related_Aspects_of_Intellectual_Property_Rights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_on_Trade-Related_Aspects_of_Intellectual_Property_Rights

https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/what-is-it-all-about)



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2. Second generation: these are made from lignocellulosic biomass. This includes either non-edible residues of food crop production (e.g. corn stalks or rice husks) or non-edible whole plant biomass (e.g. grasses or trees grown specifically for energy). These can be further classified based on conversion technology as biochemical and thermochemical.

o Pros: Surplus feedstock supply, less controversial, less dependence on geographical location, suitable for developing agrarian countries with large population.

o Cons: High capital cost, technological breakthroughs needed, development of high biomass feedstocks to improve land use efficiency.

3. Third generation: Biofuels made using non-arable land, based on integrated technologies that produce a feedstock as well as a fuel (or fuel precursor, such as pure vegetable oil), and require the destruction of biomass. These are similar to the 2nd generation fuels but use lot less resources in generating feedstock. Algae is the most promising feedstock candidate in this category which cannot be matched by any other feedstock in terms of quantity or diversity

o Pros: Only inputs to get feedstock is CO2 and water. Less controversial, versatile array of products possible.

o Cons: High capital costs, early research stage

4. Fourth Generation: these are made using non-arable land. These do not require destruction of biomass to be converted to fuel. This technology aims at directly converting available solar energy to fuel using inexhaustible, cheap and widely available resources.

o Pros: Only inputs to get feedstock is CO2 and water. Less controversial, versatile array of products possible, least negative environmental impact

o Cons: High capital costs, early research stage, long processing time. Slow yields

97. Ans: C

Headwinds mentioned by the economic survey are the backlash against globalization which reduces exporting opportunities, the difficulties of transferring resources from low productivity to higher productivity sectors (structural transformation), the challenge of upgrading human capital to the demands of a technology-intensive workplace, and coping with climate change-induced agricultural stress.

98. Ans: D

The Parliament has passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill which will increase the ceiling of tax-free gratuity amount to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.

Further, this will allow the government to increase the gratuity ceiling from time to time without amending the law.

Gratuity

Gratuity is given by the employer to an employee for the services rendered by him.

It is usually paid at the time of retirement but it can be paid before provided certain conditions are met.

A person is eligible to receive gratuity only if he has completed at least five years of service with an organisation.

However, it can be paid before the completion of five years at the death of an employee or if he has become disabled due to accident or disease.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Gratuity



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(Please refer the following link for the details

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/invest/how-to-calculate-gratuity/articleshow/61913387.cms

http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-payment-of-gratuity-amendment-bill-2017-5002/)

99. Ans: B

NITI Aayog has abandoned the policy concerning electric mobility.

The government is of the view that market will be enough to guide the adoption of electric vehicles in India and there is no such needs to provide incentive.

FAME India Scheme

1. The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India was launched in 2015 under the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM) aims at promoting eco-friendly vehicles in the country.

2. It is being administered by the Heavy Industries Ministry. 3. Objective — provide fiscal and monetary incentives for adoption and market creation of

both hybrid and electric technologies vehicles in the country. 4. Its mandate is to support hybrid or electric vehicles market development and its

manufacturing eco-system in country in order to achieve self-sustenance in stipulated period.

100. Ans: d

India recently overtook China in terms of GDP growth rates.

The slowdown in investments and savings is not perpetual but considerable in the last few years.

(https://www.livemint.com/Politics/9fx4v1xGMkvCk05WLP78GO/IMF-sees-India-GDP-growth-at-74-in-2018-Chinas-at-68.html

World economic outlook India – 7.4% and China 6.8%)

*****




http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-payment-of-gratuity-amendment-bill-2017-5002/

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/9fx4v1xGMkvCk05WLP78GO/IMF-sees-India-GDP-growth-at-74-in-2018-Chinas-at-68.html

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/9fx4v1xGMkvCk05WLP78GO/IMF-sees-India-GDP-growth-at-74-in-2018-Chinas-at-68.html

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