DAY – 66 (InstaTest-66): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2020: Topic – Economy, Previous year UPSC papers – 2008, July 2019 CA

Solution: A

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.They have the authority to prohibit a gathering of five or more persons in an area, can use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law
The Central Government, or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area

Presently, AFSPA, 1958, is operational in the entire States of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (except Imphal Municipal area), three districts namely Tirap, Changlang and Longding of Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the eight police stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam.

The notification declaring Manipur and Assam as “Disturbed Areas’ has been issued by the State governments. For Nagaland, the notification is issued by the MHA.

It is a suo-motto declaration can be made by the Central government, however, it is desirable that the state government should be consulted by the central government before making the declaration.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/afspa-extended-in-nagaland/article30434509.ece

Solution: D

NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT FUND

WHAT IS NSDF?

National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was established in 1998 under the Charitable Endowments Act 1890;

It was notified by Government of India in November, 1998;

Purpose of creation is to impart momentum and flexibility to assisting the cause of sports;

• The Fund helps sportspersons excel by providing them opportunities to train under coaches of international repute with technical, scientific and psychological support and giving them exposure to international competitions;
• The Fund also provides financial assistance for development of infrastructure and other activities for promotion of sports;
• Role of the Fund is supplementary to the overall policy and activities of the Department of Sports in achieving excellence in sports.

OBJECTIVES OF NSDF

• To administer and apply the moneys of the Fund for promotion of sports in general and specific sports disciplines and individual sports persons in particular for achieving excellence at the National and of International level;
• To impart special training and coaching in relevant sports disciplines to sports persons, coaches and sports specialists;
• To construct and maintain infrastructure for promotion of sports and games;
• To supply sports equipments to organizations and individuals for promotion of sports and games;
• To identify problems and take up research and development studies for providing support to excellence in sports;
• To promote international cooperation, in particular, exchanges which may promote the development of sports;
• To provide low-interest or interest-free loans for projects and activities related to any of the aforesaid objects.

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF NSDF

Council of NSDF

The Fund is managed by a Council constituted by the Central Government. Union Minister in charge of Youth Affairs and Sports is the Chairperson of the Council. Members of the Council include senior Officers of the Department of Sports, Chairman & Managing Directors of Private and Public Sector Companies / Corporations, representatives of Sports Promotion Boards, etc.

The Council decides all policy matters relating to the Fund.

Solution: D

NEER

The Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) ofthe rupee is a weighted average of exchange ratesbefore the currencies of India’s major tradingpartners.

REER

When the weight of inflation is adjusted with theNEER, we get the Real Effective Exchange Rate(REER) of the rupee. Since inflation has been on

the higher side in recent months, the REER of therupee has been more against it than the NEER.

Solution: D

Context: Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launches Skills Build platform in Collaboration with IBM.

Key facts:

1. Launched by Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
2. As part of the programme, a two-year advanced diploma in IT, networking and cloud computing, co-created and designed by IBM, will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).
3. The platform will be extended to train ITI & NSTI faculty on building skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Significance of the programme:

1. The digital platform will provide a personal assessment of the cognitive capabilities and personality via My Inner Genius to the students.
2. They will then learn foundational knowledge about digital technologies, as well as professional skills such as resume-writing, problem solving and communication.
3. Students will also receive recommendations on role-based education for specific jobs that include technical and professional learning. 
4. This initiative is part of IBM’s global commitment to create a job-ready workforce and to build the next generation of skills needed for new collar careers.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/05/skills-build-platform/

Solution: C

Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) has been introduced by the Government to revive PPP (Public Private Partnership) in highway construction in India.

At present, three different models –PPP Annuity, PPP Toll and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) were followed by the government while adopting private sector participation.

Features of HAM

By features the HAM is a mix between the existing two models – BOT Annuity and EPC. Hence to understand the HAM, the basic features of the existing PPP models are elucidated first.

a) The Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) Annuity Model

Under BOT annuity, a developer builds a highway, operates it for a specified duration and transfers it back to the government. The government starts payment to the developer after the launch of commercial operation of the project. Payment will be made on a six month basis.

b) BOT Toll Model

In this toll based BOT model, a road developer constructs the road and he is allowed to recover his investment through toll collection. This toll collection will be over a long period which is nearly 30 years in most cases. There is no government payment to the developer as he earns his money invested from tolls.

c) Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Model

Under this model, the cost is completely borne by the government. Government invites bids for engineering knowledge from the private players. Procurement of raw material and construction costs are met by the government. The private sector’s participation is minimum and is limited to the provision of engineering expertise. A difficulty of the model is the high financial burden for the government.

The Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM):

In India, the new HAM is a mix of BOT Annuity and EPC models. As per the design, the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments (annuity). The remaining payment will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the developer.

Here, hybrid annuity means the first 40% payment is made as fixed amount in five equal installments whereas the remaining 60% is paid as variable annuity amount after the completion of the project depending upon the value of assets created.

As the government pays only 40%, during the construction stage, the developer should find money for the remaining amount.

Here, he has to raise the remaining 60% in the form of equity or loans.

There is no toll right for the developer. Under HAM, Revenue collection would be the responsibility of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Solution: A

Invest India, set up in 2009, is a non-profit venture under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

We are the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and act as the first point of reference for investors in India.

As the national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India focuses on sector-specific investor targeting and development of new partnerships to enable sustainable investments in India. In addition to a core team that focuses on sustainable investments, Invest India also partners with substantial investment promotion agencies and multilateral organizations. Invest India also actively works with several Indian states to build capacity as well as bring in global best practices in investment targeting, promotion and facilitation areas.

Invest India was formed in 2009 under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 for promotion of foreign investment with 49% equity of the then Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and 51% shareholding by FICCI. The current shareholding pattern of Invest India is 51 % of Industry Associations (i.e. 17% each of FICCI, CII & NASSCOM) and the remaining 49% of Central and 19 State Governments.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade conducts regular review of the performance of Invest India. Further, the Board of Directors, under chairmanship of Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, including nominees from Government of India, FICCI, CII and NASSCOM manages and oversee the overall operations, direction and strategy of the company. Regular meetings of the Board of Directors are held to monitor the operational and overall performance of Invest India.

Solution: C

Agreement on Reciprocal Logistics Support (ARLS)

India and Russia are finalizing a defence agreement that will simplify interoperability and enable military platforms to receive support and supplies across bases in both nations.

This will be beneficial for the Indian Navy, which has a large number of Russian origin ships that will get access to Russian ports for supplies and refueling. It would be crucial for joint exercises.

It is an arrangement that will allow access to India and Russia, to each other’s military facilities for supplies and fuel.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-russia-to-conclude-mutual-logistics-agreement/article29881623.ece

Solution: B

Indian Ports are broadly classified as Major Ports and Non-Major Ports. The Major Ports are under the Union List while the Non-Major Ports are under the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India. Hence, Major Ports are under the administrative control of Government of India while the Non-major ports are governed by the respective Maritime State Governments.

Major Ports are defined in Section 3(8) of the Indian Ports Act 1908 to mean any port which the Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette declare, or may under any law for the time being in force have declared, to be a major port.

India has 12 major ports, which handle about 58% of sea-borne traffic.These are Kolkata (including Dock Complex at Haldia), , Visakhapatnam, Chennai, V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin), Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai, Kandla and Ennore. Of these, Ennore Port Ltd is a company and the remaining 11 are Port Trusts, governed by the provisions of the Major Port trusts Act, 1963.

Under the Indian Ports Act, 1908, the Government has declared the Port Blair Port with its territorial jurisdiction over all ports of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, – as a major port w.e.f. 1 June, 2010. All major provisions of the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 has become applicable to the major port of Port Blair from 1 June, 2010. Though Government has intended it to be the next major port, no further action has been taken on the same.

India has around 200 Non-Major ports, which handle about 42% of sea-borne traffic.

To allow the competitive market forces to play a greater role in determination of tariff at Major Port Trusts, the Government has issued two policy guidelines viz. Guidelines for Determination of Tariff for Projects at Major Ports, 2013 and Guidelines for Determination of Tariff for Major Port Trusts, 2015. These guidelines impart flexibility to the PPP operators in the Major Ports and Major Ports owned terminals in determining their tariff, subject to a ceiling rate.

Solution: A

The Local Area Banks (LABs) are small private banks, conceived as low-cost structures which would provide efficient and competitive financial intermediation services in a limited area of operation, i.e., primarily in rural and semi-urban areas, comprising three contiguous districts.

LABs were set up to enable the mobilization of rural savings by local institutions and, at the same time, to make them available for investments in the local areas.

LABs were created following an announcement made by the then Finance Minister in the Union Budget in August 1996. RBI issued guidelines for setting up of Local Area Banks (LABs) vide its Press Release dated August 24, 1996.

LABs were required to have a minimum capital of Rs. 5 crores.

The promoters of the bank may comprise of private individuals, corporate entities, trusts and societies with a minimum capital contribution of Rs. 2 crores.

The area of operation of LAB is limited to a maximum of three geographically contiguous districts and are allowed to open branches only in its area of operation.

Since LABs are being set up in district towns, their activities are focused on the local customers with lending primarily to agriculture and allied activities, small scale industries, agro-industrial activities, trading activities and the non-farm sector. LABs are also required to observe the priority sector lending targets at 40% of net bank credit (NBC) as applicable to other domestic banks. Within the above target, these banks will adhere to the requirement of lending at least 25% of their priority sector deployments (10% of NBC) to the weaker sections.

Around 5 LABs were licensed by 2002 under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949 from amongst hundreds of applicants. Presently, four LABs are functioning satisfactorily.

In 2014, RBI has permitted LABs to be converted into small finance banks subject to them meeting the prescribed eligibility criteria.

Solution: C

National Nutrition Survey

With the help of UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently conducted the first-ever comprehensive National Nutrition Survey.

The survey recorded malnutrition that included micronutrient deficiencies and details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents

The survey for the first time proved the coexistence of obesity and under nutrition.

Around 10% of children in the age group of 5 to 9 years and adolescents in the age group 10 to 19 years are pre – diabetic. The survey for the first time proved the coexistence of obesity and under nutrition.
One in five children in the age group 5 to 9 years were stunted.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/01/national-nutrition-survey/

Solution: D

In India, the minerals are classified as minor minerals and major minerals.

According to section 3(e) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 “Minor Minerals” means building stones, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand other than sand used for prescribed purposes, and any other mineral which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a minor mineral. (For the purposes of this Act, the word “minerals” includes all minerals except mineral oils- natural gas and petroleum)

Major minerals are those specified in the first schedule appended in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act 1957) and the common major minerals are Lignite, Coal, Uranium, iron ore, gold etc. It may be noted that there is no official definition for “major minerals” in the MMDR Act. Hence, whatever is not declared as a “minor mineral” may be treated as the major mineral.

The major-minor classification has nothing to do with the quantum /availability of these minerals, though it is correlated with the relative value of these minerals. Further, this classification is based more on their end use, rather than level of production, level of mechanization, export and import etc. (eg. Sand can be a major mineral or a minor mineral depending on where it is used; same is the case for limestone.)

India produces as many as 88 minerals which include 4 fuel minerals, 3 atomic minerals, 26 metallic & non-metallic minerals and 55 minor minerals (including building and other materials and the recently notified 31 additional minerals).

The central government has the power to notify “minor minerals” under section 3 (e) of the MMDR Act, 1957. On the other hand, as per Section 15 of the MMDR Act, 1957 State Governments have complete powers for making Rules for grant of concessions in respect of extraction of minor minerals and levy and collection of royalty on minor minerals.

In addition to the minor minerals specified in Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act, the Central Government has declared the following minerals as minor minerals:

• boulder,
• shingle,
• chalcedony pebbles used for ball mill purposes only,
• lime shell, kankar and limestone used in kilns for manufacture of lime used as building material,
• murrum,
• brick-earth,
• fuller’s earth,
• bentonite,
• road metal,
• reh-matti,
• slate and shale when used for building material,
• marble,
• stone used for making household utensils,
• quartzite and sandstone when used for purposes of building or for making road metal and household utensils,
• saltpeter and
• ordinary earth (used or filling or leveling purposes in construction or embankments, roads, railways, building).

  Mica;

  Ochre;

  Pyrophyllite;

  Quartz;

  Quartzite;

  Sand (Others);

  Shale;

Solution: C

Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) and Mumbai Inter-Bank Bid Rate (MIBID) are the benchmark rates at which Indian banks lend and borrow money to each other. The bid is the price at which the market would buy and the offer (or ask) is the price at which the market would sell.  These rates reflect the short-term funding costs of major banks. In other words, MIBOR reflects the price at which short term funds are made available to participating banks.

MIBID is the rate at which banks would like to borrow from other banks and MIBOR is the rate at which banks are willing to lend to other banks. Contrary to general perception, MIBID is not the rate at which banks attract deposits from other banks.

MIBOR is the Indian version of London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR). MIBOR is fixed for overnight to 3 month long funds and these rates are published every day at a designated time. Of the above tenors, the overnight MIBOR is the most widely used one which is used for pricing and settlement of Overnight Index Swaps (OIS). Corporates use the OIS for hedging their interest rate risks. The MIBID/MIBOR rate is also used as a bench mark rate for majority of deals struck for Interest Rate Swaps (IRS), Forward Rate Agreements (FRA), Floating Rate Debentures and Term Deposits. The aggregate amount of outstanding interbank/Primary Dealers (PD) notional principal referenced to MIBOR remained at INR 16,847.6 billion as on October 31, 2013

Financial Benchmarks
MIBOR, MIBID etc. are all financial benchmarks.

Solution: C

School Education Quality Index (SEQI): By NITI Aayog

The School Education Quality Index (SEQI) was developed to evaluate the performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector. The index aims to bring an outcomes focus to education policy by providing States and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions. In line with NITI Aayog’s mandate to foster the spirit of competitive and cooperative federalism, the index strives to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices across States and UTs.

It aims to bring an ‘outcomes’ focus to education policy by providing States and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions.

The index is developed through a collaborative process, including key stakeholders such as Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), the World Bank and sector experts.

It consists of 30 critical indicators that assess the delivery of quality education.

Kerala has emerged on top among 20 large states in terms of quality of school education, followed by Rajasthan and Karnataka, [while the most-populous Uttar Pradesh was ranked at the bottom position during 2016-17]

The overall performance has declined in Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

All seven union territories have shown an improvement in their overall performance scores.

https://niti.gov.in/content/school-education-quality-index

Solution: A

Commodities transaction tax (CTT) is a tax similar to Securities Transaction Tax (STT), levied in India, on transactions done on the domestic commodity derivatives exchanges. In, Finance Act, 2016 it was stipulated that transactions carried out in a recognized commodity exchange located in an International Financial Center, where the payments are carried out in terms of foreign currency, would be exempt from the payment of CTT.

Globally, commodity derivatives are also considered as financial contracts. Hence CTT can also be considered as a type of financial transaction tax.

The concept of CTT was first introduced in the Union Budget 2008-09 (para 179 of the Budget Speech).The Government had then proposed to impose a commodities transaction tax (CTT) of 0.017% (equivalent to the rate of equity futures at that point of time). However, it was withdrawn subsequently as the market was nascent then and any imposition of transaction tax might have adversely affected the growth of organized commodities derivatives markets in India. This has helped Indian commodity exchanges to grow to global standards(MCX is the world’s number 3 commodity exchange; Globally, MCX is No. 1 in Gold and Silver, No. 2 in Natural gas and No. 3 in Crude Oil)

In the Union Budget 2013-14(para 149 of the Budget Speech) CTT has been re-introduced, however, only for non-agricultural commodity futures at the rate of 0.01% (which is equivalent to the rate of equity futures). Alongwith this, transactions in commodity derivatives have been declared to be made non-speculative;and hence for traders in the commodity derivative segment, any losses arising from such transactions can be set off against income from any other source (similar provisions are applicable for the securities market transactions).

A separate provision for CTT has been made in the Finance Act, 2013 (Chapter VII).

The CTT rules were notified by Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance on 19 June 2013 (Notification No. 46 of 2013; S.O. 1769 (E)), with effect from 1 July 2013. As per the notification, only 23 agricultural commodities were exempted from CTT. However, in February 2015 a revised list of 61 commodities was notified including certain commodities where trading is currently not taking place. Like STT, the commodity exchanges have been entrusted to collect CTT on behalf of Government of India.

Like all financial transaction taxes, CTT aims at discouraging excessive speculation, which is detrimental to the market and to bring parity between securities market and commodities market such that there is no tax / regulatory arbitrage.

Solution: D

The Gini index or Gini coefficient is a statistical measure of distribution developed by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912. It is often used as a gauge of economic inequality, measuring income distribution or, less commonly, wealth distribution among a population. The coefficient ranges from 0 (or 0%) to 1 (or 100%), with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality. Values over 1 are theoretically possible due to negative income or wealth.

• The Gini index is a simple measure of the distribution of income across income percentiles in a population.
• A higher Gini index indicates greater inequality, with high income individuals receiving much larger percentages of the total income of the population.
• Global inequality as measured by the Gini index increased over the 19th and 20th centuries, but has declined in more recent years.
• Because of data and other limitations, the Gini index may overstate income inequality and can obscure important information about income distribution.

The Gini index is often represented graphically through the Lorenz curve, which shows income (or wealth) distribution by plotting the population percentile by income on the horizontal axis and cumulative income on the vertical axis. The Gini coefficient is equal to the area below the line of perfect equality (0.5 by definition) minus the area below the Lorenz curve, divided by the area below the line of perfect equality. In other words, it is double the area between the Lorenz curve and the line of perfect equality.

Solution: B

Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA):

• It was launched in 2015.
• Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA).
• It is a convergent framework across School Education and Higher Education to motivate children of the age group from 6-18 years in learning Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities and processes. It seeks to create curiosity, excitement and spirit of innovation and exploration amongst school children by encouraging higher education institutions to become Mentoring Institutions and assist secondary and elementary schools in the study of Science and Mathematics.
• Major interventions under RAA provided under Integrated scheme for School Education – Samagra Shiksha, include conduct of Science Exhibition, Book Fair, Quiz Competition, exposure/study visits for students to Higher Education institutions, participation of students in Inter-school/State/National level Science & Maths Competitions/Olympiads, strengthening of School Science and Mathematics laboratories, use of teaching-learning equipment and material including Digital models and use of technology in Science and Mathematics teaching.

Solution: B

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)

The importance of institutional credit in boosting rural economy has been clear to the Government of India right from its early stages of planning. Therefore, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at the insistence of the Government of India, constituted a Committee to Review the Arrangements For Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development (CRAFICARD) to look into these very critical aspects. The Committee was formed on 30 March 1979, under the Chairmanship of Shri B. Sivaraman, former member of Planning Commission, Government of India.

The Committee’s interim report, submitted on 28 November 1979, outlined the need for a new organizational device for providing undivided attention, forceful direction and pointed focus to credit related issues linked with rural development. Its recommendation was formation of a unique development financial institution which would address these aspirations and formation of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was approved by the Parliament through Act 61 of 1981.

NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). It was dedicated to the service of the nation by the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi on 05 November 1982. Set up with an initial capital of Rs.100 crore, its’ paid up capital stood at Rs.12,580 crore as on 31 March 2019. Consequent to the revision in the composition of share capital between Government of India and RBI, NABARD today is fully owned by Government of India.

Solution: A

About CriSidEx:

CRISIL-SIDBI MSE Sentiment Index, or CriSidEx

It was launched by CRISIL and SIDBI.

What is it? CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative) to 200 (extremely positive). CriSidEx will have 2 indices, one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data.

Benefits: The crucial benefit of CriSidEx is that its readings will flag potential headwinds and changes in production cycles and thus help improve market efficiencies. And by capturing the sentiment of exporters and importers, it will also offer actionable indicators on foreign trade.

Significance of MSME:

MSME sector is backbone of the economy. It is one of the largest employer in the country and with the vast population where employment either in government or in the large industry itself has limited potential. This is one sector where people not only exhibit their entrepreneurial skills, become part of large value chains but also become job creators in the process. And that is the reason why a bulk of the jobs in manufacturing, trading have been created in this particular sector.

Solution: A

Leader of Opposition:

• The LOP is leader of the largest party that has not less than one-tenth of the total strength of the house.
• It is a statutory post defined in the Salaries and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.

Significance of the office:

• LoP is referred to as the ‘shadow Prime Minister’.
• She/he is expected to be ready to take over if the government falls.
• The LoP also plays an important role in bringing cohesiveness and effectiveness to the opposition’s functioning in policy and legislative work.
• LoP plays a crucial role in bringing bipartisanship and neutrality to the appointments in institutions of accountability and transparency – CVC, CBI, CIC, Lokpal etc.

Solution: C

Business Correspondent (BC)

Business correspondents are bank representatives. They help villagers to open bank accounts. Business Correspondents get commission from bank for every new account opening, every transaction made via them, every loan-application processed etc. The Business Correspondent carries a mobile device and helps villagers in banking transactions. (Deposit money, take money out of savings account, loans etc.). The villager gives his thumb impression or electronic signature, and gets the money.

Eligibility to become a Business Correspondent

As per the RBI guidelines, the following entities are eligible for appointment of Business Correspondents (BCS) for banks:

• NGOs/MFls set up under Societies/Trust Acts
• Societies registered under Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Acts or the Cooperative Societies Acts of States
• Section 25 companies that are stand alone entities or in which NBFCs, banks, telecom companies and other corporate entities or their holding companies did not have equity holdings in excess of 10 per cent
• Post offices
• Retired bank employees,
• Ex-servicemen
• Retired government employees.
• Individual kirana / medical / fair price shop owners Individual Public Call Office (PCO) operators
• Agents of Small Savings Schemes of Government of India/Insurance Companies Individuals who own petrol pumps
• Retired teachers

Authorized functionaries of well run Self Help Groups (SHGs) linked to banks Non deposit taking NBFCs (non-banking finance companies) in the nature of loan companies whose micro finance portfolio is not less than 80 per cent of their loan outstanding in the financially excluded districts as identified by the Committee on Financial Inclusion.

RBI has now permitted banks to engage any individual, including those operating Common Service Centres (CSCs) as BC, subject to banks’ comfort level and their carrying out suitable due diligence as also instituting additional safeguards as may be considered appropriate to minimise the agency risks.

Appointment of BCs

• Must be a permanent resident of the area in which they propose to operate. They should be well established, enjoy good reputation and have the confidence of the local people.
• The ability of BCs to invest in POS machines and other equipment. In case of individuals Selected as BCS, the criterion is as under: A minimum education qualification of Xth pass. Field Investigation /RCU for verification of residence and dealings, etc. to be conducted.
• Credibility check – A/c with any other bank. Should open account with Bank (base branch)
• Suitable amount of Security deposit /Bank guarantee based on business Volumes.

Solution: C

International Court of Justice:

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN. Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the UN Charter.
• It has two primary functions: to settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and to act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.
• Only countries are eligible to appear before the ICJ, not individuals, non-governmental organisations, corporations or any other private entities.
• ICJ only has jurisdiction over any dispute, if the both concerned parties (states) submit to the jurisdiction of ICJ

Members of the Court:

• The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. These organs vote simultaneously but separately. In order to be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies. In order to ensure a measure of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three years. Judges are eligible for re-election.
• All members of the UN are parties to the statute of the ICJ, and non-members may also become parties.

Who nominates the candidates?

• Every state government, party to the Charter, designates a group who propose candidates for the office of ICJ judges. This group includes four members/jurists of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (machinery which enables arbitral tribunals to be set up as desired and facilitates their work) also picked by the State. Countries not part of the statute follow the same procedure where a group nominates the candidates.
• Each group is limited to nominate four candidates, two of whom could be of their nationality. Within a fixed duration set by the Secretary-General, the names of the candidates have to be sent to him/her.

What are the qualifications of ICJ judges?

• A judge should have a high moral character.
• A judge should fit to the qualifications of appointment of highest judicial officers as prescribed by their respective states or.
• A judge should be a juriconsult of recognized competence in international law.

The 15 judges of the Court are distributed as per the regions:

• Three from Africa.
• Two from Latin America and Caribbean.
• Three from Asia.
• Five from Western Europe and other states.
• Two from Eastern Europe.

Independence of the Judges:

• Once elected, a Member of the Court is a delegate neither of the government of his own country nor of that of any other State. Unlike most other organs of international organizations, the Court is not composed of representatives of governments. Members of the Court are independent judges whose first task, before taking up their duties, is to make a solemn declaration in open court that they will exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.

In order to guarantee his or her independence, no Member of the Court can be dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other Members, he/she no longer fulfils the required conditions. This has in fact never happened.

Solution: D

Recovery

An economy tries to come out of the low production phase to survive. The low production phase might be depression, recession or slowdown with the former being the worst and rare, government stake many new fiscal and monetary measures to boost demand and production and ultimately a recovery in an economy is managed. The business cycle of recovery may show the following major economy traits:

(i) an upturn in aggregate (total) demand which has to be accompanied by increase in the level of production;

(ii)  production process expands and new investments become attractive;

(iii) as demand goes upward, inflation also moves upward making borrowing cheaper for investors;

(iv) with an upturn in production, new employment avenues are created and unemployment rate starts declining; etc.

Solution: D

Port integrity campaign:

• Maritime Anti-Corruption Network starts port integrity campaign in India.
• The campaign, which aims to reduce and (in the long term) eliminate integrity issues and bottlenecks to trade during operations in Indian ports, is a collective action of MACN, the Government of India, international organizations, and local industry stakeholders.
• The main activities of the campaign include implementation of integrity training for port officials and the establishment of clear escalation and reporting processes.

About MACN:

• Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) is a global business network of over 110 companies working to tackle corruption in the maritime industry.
• Established in 2011 by a small group of committed maritime companies.

Solution: C

Under the scheme “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce through Minimum Support Price and development of Value chain for MFP” Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor Forest Produce (MFP) has been fixed for select MFP. The scheme is designed as a social safety net for improvement of livelihood of MFP gatherers by providing them fair price for the MFPs they collect.

Coverage

The Scheme has been implemented in eight States having Schedule areas as listed in the Fifth Schedule of the constitution of India. From November 2016, the scheme is applicable in all States.

What is this scheme all about?

The Union Cabinet, in 2013, approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for marketing of non-nationalized / non monopolized Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and development of a value chain for MFP through Minimum Support Price (MSP).

• This was a measure towards social safety for MFP gatherers, who are primarily members of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) most of them in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas.
• The scheme had Rs. 967.28 crore as Central Government share and Rs. 249.50 crore as the States share for the current Plan period.

Key features of the scheme: Ensure that the tribal population gets a remunerative price for the produce they collect from the forest and provide alternative employment avenues to them.

• Establish a system to ensure fair monetary returns for forest dweller’s efforts in collection, primary processing, storage, packaging, transportation etc, while ensuring sustainability of the resource base.
• Get them a share of revenue from the sales proceeds with costs deducted.

Coverage:

Earlier, the scheme was extended only to Scheduled Areas in eight states and fixed MSPs for 12 MFPs. Later expanded to all states and UTs. Total number of MFPs covered under the list include more than 40 items.

Implementation: The responsibility of purchasing MFP on MSP will be with State designated agencies.

1. To ascertain market price, services of market correspondents would be availed by the designated agencies particularly for major markets trading in MFP.
2. The scheme supports primary value addition as well as provides for supply chain infrastructure like cold storage, warehouses etc.
3. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be the nodal Ministry for implementation and monitoring of the scheme. The Minimum Support Price would be determined by the Ministry with technical help of TRIFED.

States have been given freedom for fixing MSP 10% above or below the MSP rate decided by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Significance of the scheme:

The Minor Forest Produce (MFP), also known as Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), is a major source of livelihood and provides essential food, nutrition, medicinal needs and cash income to a large number of STs who live in and around forests. An estimated 100 million forest dwellers depend on the Minor Forest Produce for food, shelter, medicines, cash income, etc.

However, MFP production is highly dispersed spatially because of the poor accessibility of these areas and competitive market not having evolved. Consequently, MFP gatherers who are mostly poor are unable to bargain for fair prices. This package of intervention can help in organizing unstructured MFP markets.

Solution: B

Urban Haats:

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Textiles of the Government of India.
• The objective of the scheme “Infrastructure and Technology Support” is to setup a permanent marketing infrastructure in big towns/ metropolitan cities to provide direct marketing facilities to the handicrafts artisans/handloom weavers.
• The scheme is implemented through State Handicrafts/Handlooms Development Corporations/Tourism Development Corporations/ Urban Local Bodies with sufficient financial resources and organizational capacity to implement the project.

The financial ceiling for Urban Haat is Rs. 300 lakh for each unit. 80% of the admissible amount is borne by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and 20% contributed by the implementing agency.

Solution: A

Total spending = Rs1, 20, 00, 000

Spending on basketball = 12.5 % of  1, 20, 00, 000

Therefore, spending on basketball = (1/8) * (1, 20, 00, 000)=Rs 15,00,000

Solution: B

By the deducing the information given above, we can get the following table

The ratio between total cars produced on Monday to that on Wednesday

= 540/750 = 18 : 25

Solution: A

The total number of cars produced by Renault from Monday to Friday

= 160+220+200+180+140

= 900

Solution: A

The average number of cars produced per day by Maruti from Monday to Friday = (200+200+300+250+200)/5

= 1150/5

= 230

Answer. D.

Statement I and II are wrong as the passage gives primary importance to spiritual growth in man in eradicating human misery.