Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 12 December 2020

The NDA government’s Black Money Act may have so far managed to scoop up just the surface of the potentially retrievable unaccounted income. But the rhythm to unearth more illegal income seems to have been set. The CBI searches in State-run Bank of Baroda branches for `6,100-crore suspected black money transfer is perhaps the first major and concrete action against the ‘black sheep’ in years. Hopefully, the investigating agency and the special investigation team on black money will take this forward. The one-time compliance window for the declaration of foreign assets and income under the Black Money Act, which closed on September 30, saw just 638 declarations aggregating to `3,770 crore. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was quick to warn those who did not declare unaccounted income to face the “consequences.” The CBI raid comes just a few days after Jaitley’s warning and if his categorical statement that bulk of the black money is within India is anything to go by, more such raids can be expected.

The Act is one of the crucial components of economic reforms announced last year and there’s an urgent need to step up efforts to retrieve stashed income, both within the country and abroad. With investor appetite losing sheen, economic growth slowing down and with India moving nowhere as far as its ease of doing business rank is concerned, the government is in a tight spot to act and now. Stringent norms on undisclosed income imply the country is not a ‘safe haven’ and will strengthen the moral fiber of our society. Importantly, income recovered from such sources is crucial for the government to steer its social programmes and fund public expenditure at a time when the country’s direct and indirect tax collections are below target. The Act can also be used to clean up the mess broiling at our public sector banks that are reeling under severe stressed assets and low recoveries.

Traditionally, stock markets too are often used to circulate black money. Be it via Participatory Notes, which allow investors to invest without having to register themselves, or channeling funds through tax havens like Mauritius or Singapore. While continuing to crack the whip on banks to trace the illicit money flow, the government should also focus on the markets.

According to the passage the Black Money Act is for:

The NDA government’s Black Money Act may have so far managed to scoop up just the surface of the potentially retrievable unaccounted income. But the rhythm to unearth more illegal income seems to have been set. The CBI searches in State-run Bank of Baroda branches for `6,100-crore suspected black money transfer is perhaps the first major and concrete action against the ‘black sheep’ in years. Hopefully, the investigating agency and the special investigation team on black money will take this forward. The one-time compliance window for the declaration of foreign assets and income under the Black Money Act, which closed on September 30, saw just 638 declarations aggregating to `3,770 crore. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was quick to warn those who did not declare unaccounted income to face the “consequences.” The CBI raid comes just a few days after Jaitley’s warning and if his categorical statement that bulk of the black money is within India is anything to go by, more such raids can be expected.

The Act is one of the crucial components of economic reforms announced last year and there’s an urgent need to step up efforts to retrieve stashed income, both within the country and abroad. With investor appetite losing sheen, economic growth slowing down and with India moving nowhere as far as its ease of doing business rank is concerned, the government is in a tight spot to act and now. Stringent norms on undisclosed income imply the country is not a ‘safe haven’ and will strengthen the moral fiber of our society. Importantly, income recovered from such sources is crucial for the government to steer its social programmes and fund public expenditure at a time when the country’s direct and indirect tax collections are below target. The Act can also be used to clean up the mess broiling at our public sector banks that are reeling under severe stressed assets and low recoveries.

Traditionally, stock markets too are often used to circulate black money. Be it via Participatory Notes, which allow investors to invest without having to register themselves, or channeling funds through tax havens like Mauritius or Singapore. While continuing to crack the whip on banks to trace the illicit money flow, the government should also focus on the markets.

Which compliance rule helped in unearthing the black money?

A diversity of natural assets will be needed to cope with climate change and ensure productive agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. For example, crop varieties are needed that perform well under drought, heat, and enhanced CO2. But the private-sector and farmer-led process of choosing crops favours homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions, not varieties capable of producing consistently high yields in warmer, wetter, or drier conditions. Accelerated breeding programmes are needed to conserve a wider pool of genetic resources of existing crops, breeds, and their wild relatives. Relatively intact ecosystems, such as forested catchments, mangroves, wetlands, can buffer the impacts of climate change. Under a changing climate, these ecosystems are themselves at risk, and management approaches will need to be more proactive and adaptive. Connections between natural areas, such as migration corridors, may be needed to facilitate species movements to keep up with the change in climate.

With reference to the above passage, which of the following would assist us in coping with the climate change?

1. 1. Conservation of natural water sources
   2. Conservation of wider gene pool
   3. Existing crop management practices
   4. Migration corridors

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

A diversity of natural assets will be needed to cope with climate change and ensure productive agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. For example, crop varieties are needed that perform well under drought, heat, and enhanced CO2. But the private-sector and farmer-led process of choosing crops favours homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions, not varieties capable of producing consistently high yields in warmer, wetter, or drier conditions. Accelerated breeding programmes are needed to conserve a wider pool of genetic resources of existing crops, breeds, and their wild relatives. Relatively intact ecosystems, such as forested catchments, mangroves, wetlands, can buffer the impacts of climate change. Under a changing climate, these ecosystems are themselves at risk, and management approaches will need to be more proactive and adaptive. Connections between natural areas, such as migration corridors, may be needed to facilitate species movements to keep up with the change in climate.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made :

1. 1. Diversification of livelihoods acts as a coping strategy for climate change.
   2. Adoption of monocropping practice leads to the extinction of plant varieties and their wild relatives.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

The interests of working and poor people have historically been neglected in the planning of our cities. Our cities are increasingly intolerant,’, unsafe and unlivable places for large numbers of citizens and yet we continue to plan via the old ways — the static Development Plan — that draws exclusively from technical expertise, distanced from people’s live experiences and needs, and actively excluding large number of people, places, activities and practices that are an integral part of the city.

5-The passage seems to argue