[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 26 December 2022

Solution: a)

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to phase out the buyback of shares of listed companies through the exchange route.

What is the stock exchange route?

Under the stock exchange route, a company can buy back shares only on the stock exchanges having nationwide trading terminals. The buyback of shares is made only through the order-matching mechanism. In this method, the promoters, or persons in control of a company are not allowed to participate.

What is buyback via tender offer?

A tender offer means an offer by a company to buy back its own shares or other specified securities through a letter of offer from the holders of the shares or other specified securities of the company. The buyback is done on a proportionate basis as per the buyback ratio, and the additional shares tendered over and above the prescribed buyback ratio get accepted if there are any unaccepted shares. It is a fixed-price buyback offer.

Source

Solution: d)

The Arctic sea ice is crucial to polar bears’ survival as they use it not only to hunt seals — their chief food — but also for travelling, mating and resting. However, with rising global temperatures, the sea ice is breaking earlier in summer and refreezing later in winter, due to which polar bears get less time to hunt and have to stay hungry for longer and travel greater distances.

This extra need for energy coupled with a lack of food can result in body deterioration and a drop in the average weight of adult bears.

Importance of polar bears

Polar bears are one of the most significant predators in the Arctic region and they keep biological populations in balance. The big kills made by them serve as a food resource for scavengers like Arctic foxes and Arctic birds. If polar bears aren’t able to hunt animals like seals, it can severely impact the food chain and health of the ecosystem.

Researchers have also found that once polar bears can’t find seals to eat, they would quickly move to kill and survive on other creatures in the Arctic region. This would threaten the existence of species like the Arctic fox or the walrus. Moreover, it might also cause the overpopulation of seals, which could endanger the existence of crustaceans and fish that are an important food source for local human populations as well as other Arctic wildlife.

Source

Solution: c)

The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica.

The emperor penguin relies on ice for breeding, and is the most vulnerable of Antarctica’s species.

Source

Solution: d)

P-notes are issued by registered FPIs to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.

P-note investments in Indian markets – equity, debt, hybrid securities and derivatives.

Solution: b)

In saturated hydrocarbons complete combustion of the fuel takes place but in the unsaturated hydrocarbons incomplete combustion takes place.

Hence saturated hydrocarbons give a blue flame while unsaturated hydrocarbons burn with a sooty flame.