Insights Revision Plan for Prelims 2016: Test – 39

Climate change is a complex policy issue with major implications in terms of finance. All actions to address climate change ultimately involve costs. Funding is vital for countries like India to design and implement adaptation and mitigation plans and projects. Lack of funding is a large impediment to implementing adaptation plans. The scale and magnitude of the financial support required by developing countries to enhance their domestic mitigation and adaptation actions are a matter of intense debate in the multilateral negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’ The Convention squarely puts the responsibility for provision of financial support on the developed countries, taking into account their contribution to the stock of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Given the magnitude of the task and the funds required, domestic finances are likely to fall short of the current and projected needs of the developing countries. Global funding through the multilateral mechanism of the Convention will enhance their domestic capacity to finance the mitigation efforts.

In this passage, the Convention puts the responsibility for the provision of financial support on the developed countries because of

1. their higher level of per capita incomes.
2. their large quantum of GDP.
3. their large contribution to the stock of GRGs in the atmosphere.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

With regards to developing countries, it can be inferred from the passage that climate change is likely to have implications on their

1. domestic finances.
2. capacity for multilateral trade.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Which one of the following is essentially discussed in the passage?

Directions for the following 7 (seven) items:

Read the following six passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Passage ­1

Climate change is already making many people hungry all over the world, by disrupting crop yields and pushing up prices. And it is not just food but nutrients that are becoming scarcer as the climate changes. It is the poorest communities that will suffer the worst effects of climate change, including increased hunger and malnutrition as crop production and livelihoods are threatened. On the other hand, poverty is a driver of climate change, as desperate communities resort to unsustainable use of resources to meet current needs.

Which among the following is the most logical corollary to the above passage?

Passage ­ 2

The Global Financial Stability Report finds that the share of portfolio investments from advanced economies in the total debt and equity investments in emerging economies has doubled in the past decade to 12 percent. The phenomenon has implications for Indian policy makers as foreign portfolio investments in the debt and equity markets have been on the rise. The phenomenon is also flagged as a threat that could compromise global financial stability in a chain reaction, in the event of United States Federal Reserve’s imminent reversal of its “Quantitative Easing” policy.

Which among the following is the most rational and critical inference that can be made from the above passage?

Passage ­ 3

Open defecation IS disastrous when practised in very densely populated areas, where it is impossible to keep away human faeces from crops, wells, food and children’s hands. Groundwater is also contaminated by open defecation. Many ingested germs and worms spread diseases. They prevent the body from absorbing calories and nutrients. Nearly one­half of India’s children remain malnourished. Lakhs of them die from preventable conditions. Diarrhoea leaves Indians’ bodies smaller on average than those of people in some poorer countries where people eat fewer calories. Underweight mothers produce stunted babies prone to sickness who may fail to develop their full cognitive potential. The germs released into environment harm rich and poor alike, even those who use latrines.

Which among the following is the most critical inference that can be made from the above passage?

Passage ­ 4

We generally talk about democracy but when it comes to any particular thing, we prefer a belonging to our caste or community or religion. So long as we have this kind of temptation, our democracy will remain a phoney kind of democracy. We must be in a position to respect a man as a man and to extend opportunities for development to those who deserve them and not to those who happen to belong to our community or race. This fact of favouritism has been responsible for much discontent and ill­ will in our country.

Which one of the following statements best sums up the above passage?

Passage ­ 5

The existence/establishment of formal financial institutions that offer safe, reliable and alternative financial instruments is fundamental in mobilising savings. To save, individuals need access to safe and reliable financial institutions, such as banks, and to appropriate financial instruments and reasonable financial incentives. Such access is not always available to all people in developing countries like India and more so, in rural areas. Savings help poor households manage volatility in cash flow, smoothen consumption, and build working capital. Poor households without access to a formal savings mechanism encourage immediate spending temptations.

With reference to the above passage, consider the following statements:

1. Indian financial institutions do not offer any financial instruments to rural households to mobilise their savings.
2. Poor households tend to spend their earnings/savings due to lack of access to appropriate financial instruments. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

What is the crucial message conveyed in the passage?

Passage ­ 6

Governments may have to take steps which would otherwise be an infringement on the Fundamental Rights of individuals, such as acquiring a person’s land against his will, or refusing permission for putting up a building, but the larger public interest for which these are done must be authorized by the people (Parliament). Discretionary powers to the administration can be done away with. It is becoming more and more difficult to keep this power within limits as the government has many number of tasks to perform. Where discretion has to be used, there must be rules and safeguards to prevent misuse of that power. Systems have to be devised which minimise, if not prevent, the abuse of discretionary power. Government work must be conducted within a framework of recognised rules and principles, and decisions should be similar and predictable.

Which among the following is the most logical assumption that can be made from the above passage?

A student has to opt for 2 subjects out of 5 subjects for a course, namely, Commerce, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics I and Mathematics II. Mathematics II can be offered only if Mathematics I is also opted. The number of different combinations of two subjects which can be opted is

A person ordered 5 pairs of black socks and some pairs of brown socks. The price of a black pair was thrice that of a brown pair. While preparing the bill, the bill clerk interchanged the number of black and brown pairs by mistake which increased the bill by 100%. What was the number of pairs of brown socks in the original order?

The graph below depicts the earnings of A and B over the period 2000 to 2010:

From the graph, which one of the following can be concluded?

Two pipes A and B can independently fill a tank completely in 20 and 30 minutes respectively. If both the pipes are opened simultaneously, how much time will they take to fill the tank completely?

Each of the six different faces of a cube has been coated with a different colour i.e., V, I, B, G, Y and O. Following information is given:

1. Colours Y, O and B are on adjacent faces.
2. Colours I, G and Y are on adjacent faces.
3. Colours B, G and Y are on adjacent faces.
4. Colours O, V and B are on adjacent faces.

Which is the colour of the face opposite to the face coloured with O?