Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 24 July 2021

The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years. There is increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to ‘impose democracy on countries in the non-Western world (in these countries’ ‘own interest’, of course) and those, who are opposed to such ‘imposition’ (because of the respect for the countries’ ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be aquintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West, But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There wereseveral experiments in local democracy in ancient India Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight, if we take democracy to be a kind of a specialised cultural product of the West.  It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognise since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is amajor ‘Western’ achievement here.

Which of the following is closest to the view of democracy as mentioned in the above passage?

The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years. There is increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to ‘impose democracy on countries in the non-Western world (in these countries’ ‘own interest’, of course) and those, who are opposed to such ‘imposition’ (because of the respect for the countries’ ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be aquintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West, But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There wereseveral experiments in local democracy in ancient India Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight, if we take democracy to be a kind of a specialised cultural product of the West.  It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognise since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is amajor ‘Western’ achievement here.

With reference to the passage the following assumptions have been made.

1. Many of the non-Western countries are unableto have democracy because they takedemocracy to be a specialised cultural product of the West.
2. Western countries are always trying to imposedemocracy on non-Western countries.

Which of the above is/are valid assumption/assumptions?

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point whichis highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence in the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in. It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company. Having a cleanimage on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs. Unfortunately, corporategovernance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam.

According to the passage, which of the following should be the practice/practices in good corporate governance?

1. Companies should always comply with labourand tax laws of the land,
2. Every company in the country should have agovernment representative as one of theindependent directors on the board to ensure transparency
3. The manager of a company should neverinvest his personal funds in the company.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point whichis highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence in the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in. It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company. Having a cleanimage on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs. Unfortunately, corporategovernance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam.

According to the passage, which of the following is/are the major benefit benefits of good corporate governance?

1. Good corporate governance leads to increasein share price of the company,
2. A company with good corporate governancealways increases its business turnover rapidly.
3. Good corporate governance is the maincriterion for foreign institutional investors whenthey decide to buy a company.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below

Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the age of six months and two years. This happens despite the child’s food requirements being less than that of an older child, Malnutrition is often attributed to poverty, but it has been found that even in households where adults eat adequate quantities of food, more than 50% of children-under-five do not consume enough food. The child’s dependence on someone else to feed him/ her is primarily responsible for the malnutrition. Very often the mother is working and the responsibility of feeding the young child is left to an older sibling. It is therefore crucial to increaseawareness regarding the child’s food needs and how to satisfy them.

According to the passage, malnutrition in children can be reduced