DAY – 23 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2020

Solution: B

Advance Pricing Agreement (APA):

• An APA is an agreement between a taxpayer and the tax authority determining the Transfer Pricing methodology for pricing the tax payer’s international transactions for future years. An APA provides certainty with respect to the tax outcome of the tax payer’s international transactions.
• The Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) programme in India was launched in 2012 vide the Finance Act, 2012 through the insertion of Sections 92CC and 92CD in the Income-tax Act, 1961.

An APA can be one of the three types – unilateral, bilateral and multilateral.

• A Unilateral APA is an APA that involves only the taxpayer and the tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located.
• Bilateral APA (BAPA) is an APA that involves the tax payer, associated enterprise (AE) of the taxpayer in the foreign country, tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located and the foreign tax authority.
• Multilateral APA (MAPA) is an APA that involves the taxpayer, two or more AEs of the tax payer in different foreign countries, tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located and the tax authorities of AEs.

Solution: B

Ethanol:

• Ethanol is basically alcohol of 99%-plus purity, which can be used for blending with petrol.
• Ethanol, an anhydrous ethyl alcohol having chemical formula of C2H5OH, can be produced from sugarcane, maize, wheat, etc which are having high starch content.
• In India, ethanol is mainly produced from sugarcane molasses by fermentation process.
• It allows the engine to more completely combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions and thereby reducing the occurrence of environmental pollution.
• Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme Implemented by the Ministry or Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

Benefits of ethanol blending:

• Reduction in import dependency.
• Support to agricultural sector.
• Environmental friendly fuel.
• Additional income to farmers.

Solution: B

Green Climate Fund:

• Green Climate Fund was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention’s financial mechanism.
• It aims to deliver equal amounts of funding to mitigation and adaptation, while being guided by the Convention’s principles and provisions

How it helps?

The Green Climate Fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows.

• It is intended to be the centrepiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion a year by 2020.
• The Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
• The Fund will strive to maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach.

Solution: A

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a corpus of Rs. 2,000 crore for Agri Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) to be created with NABARD for development and up gradation of agricultural marketing infrastructure in rural agricultural markets.

The Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund was announced in 2018 Budget for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22,000 Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) and 585 Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC).

The fund will provide subsidised loans to states and Union Territories for 585 APMC mandis and 10,000 GrAMs.

States can also utilise this fund for innovative integrated market infrastructure projects, including hub and spoke model and in private-public partnership mode.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/ccea-okays-rs-2000-crore-nabard-agriculture-market-infrastructure-fund/articleshow/67877321.cms

Solution: A

Siberian crane is aCritically Endangered species. They are distinctive among the cranes, adults are nearly all snowy white, except for their black primary feathers that are visible in flight and with two breeding populations in the Arctic tundra of western and eastern Russia. The eastern populations migrate during winter to China while the western population winters in Iran and formerly, in Bharatpur, India.

Among the cranes, they make the longest distance migrations. Their populations, particularly those in the western range, have declined drastically in the 20th century due to hunting along their migration routes and habitat degradation. The world population was estimated in 2010 at about 3,200 birds, mostly belonging to the eastern population with about 95% of them wintering in the Poyang Lake basin in China, a habitat that may be altered by the Three Gorges Dam.

KeoladeoNational Park (Rajasthan) is the major destination of these birds in India.

Solution: C

Sennaspectabilis, Mikaniamicrantha and Lantana camera are invasive species threating biodiversity in India.

Major alien plant species like Sennaspectabilis, Hypoestesphyllostachya, Maesopsiseminii, Mikaniamicrantha, Lantana camara, Eupatorium cannabinum and others invade forest regions including wildlife sanctuaries.

Invasion by alien plants directly affect the germination and survival of local species, damage the quality of soil and affect underground water availability. They change the ecosystem and intrude into the food chain, with harmful affect on animals.

https://thewire.in/environment/invasive-plant-species-are-creeping-into-kerala-after-the-floods

Solution: D

“Seaweed” is the common name for countless species of marine plants and algae that grow in the ocean as well as in rivers, lakes, and other water bodies.

Some seaweeds are microscopic, such as the phytoplankton that live suspended in the water column and provide the base for most marine food chains. Some are enormous, like the giant kelp that grow in abundant “forests” and tower like underwater redwoods from their roots at the bottom of the sea. Most are medium-sized, come in colors of red, green, brown, and black, and randomly wash up on beaches and shorelines just about everywhere.

Seaweed is chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and can be tasty. For at least 1,500 years, the Japanese have enrobed a mixture of raw fish, sticky rice, and other ingredients in a seaweed called nori. The delectable result is a sushi roll.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seaweed.html

Solution: B

What is the H-1B Visa Category?

The H-1B is a temporary (nonimmigrant) visa category that allows employers to petition for highly educated foreign professionals to work in “specialty occupations” that require at least a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent.

Jobs in fields such as mathematics, engineering, technology, and medical sciences often qualify. Typically, the initial duration of an H-1B visa classification is three years, which may be extended for a maximum of six years.

Before the employer can file a petition with USCIS, the employer must take steps to ensure that hiring the foreign worker will not harm U.S. workers.

• Employers first must attest, on a labor condition application (LCA) certified by the Department of Labor (DOL), that employment of the H-1B worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
• Employers must also provide existing workers with notice of their intention to hire an H-1B worker.

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/h1b-visa-program-fact-sheet

Solution: C

The spaghetti bowl effect is the multiplication of free trade agreements (FTAs), supplanting multilateral World Trade Organization negotiations as an alternative path toward globalization.

The term was first used by JagdishBhagwati in 1995 in the paper: “US Trade policy: The infatuation with free trade agreements”, where he openly criticized FTAs as being paradoxically counter-productive in promoting freer and more opened global trades. According to Bhagwati, too many crisscrossing FTAs would allow countries to adopt discriminatory trade policies and reduce the economic benefits of trade.

Solution: D

UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)

It was created in 2004.

Currently (2019), 246 cities make up this network which aims towards a common objective of placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.

Mumbai and Hyderabad have been included amongst the 66cities selected in its network of ‘Creative Cities’. Mumbai has been designated asCreative City of Films and Hyderabad a Creative City of Gastronomy. Earlier,Chennai and Varanasi were selected UNESCO cities of music while Jaipur is the Cityof Crafts and Folk Arts.

Solution: D

The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was constituted in December, 2010. The FSDC was set up to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development. An apex-level FSDC is not a statutory body.

The Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and its members are Governor, Reserve Bank of India; Finance Secretary and/or Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Secretary, Department of Financial Services; Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance; Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India; Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. It also includes the chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board (IBBI).

Recently, the government through a gazette notification, had included ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) secretary in the FSDC in view of the increased focus of the government on digital economy.

Solution: B

What are Core Investment Companies (CICs)?

CICs are non-banking financial companies with asset size of ₹100 crore and above which carry on the business of acquisition of shares and securities, subject to certain conditions.

CICs, which are allowed to accept public funds, hold not less than 90% of their net assets in the form of investment in equity shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in group companies.

Investments of CIC in the equity shares (including instruments compulsorily convertible into equity shares within a period not exceeding 10 years from the date of issue) in group companies constitutes not less than 60% of its net assets as mentioned in clause.

Exemption: CICs having asset size of below Rs 100 crore are exempted from registration and regulation from the RBI, except if they wish to make overseas investments in the financial sector.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/07/05/what-are-core-investment-companies-cics/

Solution: D

National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) has developed a priority list of 10 leading work-related illnesses and injuries. Three criteria were used to develop the list: a) the frequency of occurrence of the illness or injury, b) its severity in individual cases, and c) its potential for prevention. Occupational lung disease is first on the list. Silicosis, asbestosis and byssinosis are still prevalent in many parts of the world. The prevalence of Occupational Asthma varies from 10% to nearly all of the workers in certain high-risk occupations. NISOH considers occupational cancer to be the second leading work-related disease, followed by cardio-vascular diseases; disorder of reproduction, neurotoxicity, noise induced hearing loss, dermatological conditions, and psychological disorders.

In India, prevalence of silicosis was 6.2 – 34 % in mica miners, 4.1 % in manganese miners, 30.4% in lead and zinc miners, 9.3% in deep and surface coal miners, 27.2% in iron foundry workers, and 54.6% in slate-pencil workers. Prevalence of Asbestosis was extended from 3% in Asbestos miners to 21% in mill workers. In textile workers the Bysinosis was as common as 28-47%. Nutritional status in terms of body mass indices (BMI) of the workers is also significantly low.

https://vikaspedia.in/health/nrhm/national-health-programmes-1/national-programme-for-control-and-treatment-of-occupational-diseases

Solution: B

Mahadayi river rises in the Western Ghats, from the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Khanapur taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district. Flowing westward, it enters Goa from Sattari taluk of North Goa districts. A number of streams join the flow of the river to form the Mandovi which is one of two major rivers that flow through Goa. It joins the Arabian Sea at Panaji.

https://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/what-is-the-mahadayi-river-issue-5037378/

Solution: B

Oligomannate, which consists of marine brown algae extract, is the first new Alzheimer’s drug to receive regulatory approval globally in 17 years.

In preclinical studies, the drug demonstrated the ability to block the abnormal rise in intestinal flora metabolites, regulate peripheral and central inflammation, decrease deposition of amyloid protein and tau hyperphosphorylation and improve cognitive function.

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/oligomannate-china-approval/