[Mission 2022] Insta– QUED ( Questions from Editorials. ) 27 October 2021

Solution: d)

India is the top importer of crude oil and products via the Suez Canal, higher than China, South Korea or Singapore, according to data from Vortexa, an oil and gas analytics platform. And more than two-thirds of India’s crude comes from the Gulf region.

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Solution: c)

NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR, which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.

The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into a near-polar orbit and will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.

The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth. Essentially, SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.

During the course of three years, the images will allow scientists to track changes in croplands, hazard sites and will help them to monitor crises such as volcanic eruptions. The images will be detailed enough to show local changes and broad enough to measure regional trends.

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Solution: a)

RBI is the main monetary policy authority for the country. In this regard, apart from being the lender of last resort as well as the regulator for the banking system, the RBI sets the benchmark for interest rates and credit growth.

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Solution: d)

What are the probable reasons behind the decline number of birds in/around Chandigarh wetlands?

Increasing human footprints, disturbance, especially around the specific habitats for the migratory birds like regulatory ends of Sukhna Lake, along with increasing water level of water bodies are among major reasons for this trend.

Contractual fishing, cultivation of water chestnuts at certain water bodies, unregulated human activities are among other reasons behind the disturbance in the habitats of birds.

Increasing water level in Sukhna Lake is also a matter of concern. A majority of waterfowl especially migratory birds prefer shallow water bodies for easy availability of food.

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Solution: b)

The central government has promulgated an ordinance allowing the use of pre-packs as an insolvency resolution mechanism for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with defaults up to Rs 1 crore, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

A pre-pack is the resolution of the debt of a distressed company through an agreement between secured creditors and investors instead of a public bidding process.

Under the pre-pack system, financial creditors will agree to terms with a potential investor and seek approval of the resolution plan from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

What are the benefits of pre-packs over the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP)?

• One of the key criticisms of the CIRP has been the time taken for resolution.  At the end of December 2020, over 86 per cent of the 1717 ongoing insolvency resolution proceedings had crossed the 270-day threshold. One of the key reasons behind delays in the CIRPs are prolonged litigations by erstwhile promoters and potential bidders.
• The pre-pack in contrast is limited to a maximum of 120 days with only 90 days available to the stakeholders to bring the resolution plan to the NCLT.
• Another key difference between pre-packs and CIRP is that the existing management retains control in the case of pre-packs while a resolution professional takes control of the debtor as a representative of financial creditors in the case of CIRP.

The pre-pack mechanism allows for a swiss challenge for any resolution plans which proved less than full recovery of dues for operational creditors. Under the swiss challenge mechanism, any third party would be permitted to submit a resolution plan for the distressed company and the original applicant would have to either match the improved resolution plan or forego the investment.

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