[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 31 December 2022

Solution: c)

The Reserve Bank of India’s ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India’, paints a picture of credit growth having rebounded smartly, with the consolidated balance sheets of Indian commercial banks showing double-digit expansion after a seven-year gap.

In the fortnight to December 2, credit expanded 17.5% from a year earlier. Still, disappointingly, deposit growth lagged behind, increasing by only 9.9% in the period. 

Banks’ due diligence on borrowers and solid credit appraisal will help keep NPAs under control even while credit growth helps fund capital expenditure (capex).

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Solution: d)

Bank balance sheets have become healthier over the past few years thanks to the central bank’s asset quality reviews, mandates for stressed assets recognition and write-offs by commercial banks, as well as loan recoveries under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. 

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Solution: b)

Inter-state Council: Article 263 of the Constitution gives powers to the President to set up an Inter-state Council for resolution of disputes between states. The Council is envisaged as a forum for discussion between the states and the Centre. In 1988, the Sarkaria Commission suggested that the Council should exist as a permanent body, and in 1990 it came into existence through a Presidential Order.

The provision reads: “provisions with respect to an inter State Council If any time it appears to the President that the public interests would be served by the establishment of a Council charged with the duty of

(a) inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between States;

(b) investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States, or the Union and one or more of the States, have a common interest; or

(c) making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular, recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action with respect to that subject, it shall be lawful for the President by order to establish such a Council, and to define the nature of the duties to be performed by it and its organisation and procedure.

In 2021, the Centre reconstituted the Inter-state Council and the body now has 10 Union Ministers as permanent invitees. The standing committee of the Council has been reconstituted with Home Minister as Chairman. 

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Solution: b)

Mahaparinirvan Diwas is observed every year on December 6 to commemorate the death anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar.

He founded the Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha (1923).

Round table conferences: He participated in all three round-table conferences.

Solution: c)

A barrier to trade is a government-imposed restraint on the flow of international goods or services. The most common barrier to trade is a tariff—a tax on imports. Tariffs raise the price of imported goods relative to domestic goods (goods produced at home).

An import quota is a type of protectionist trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time.

FDI is related to the capital sector and overall investment policy of the nation. FDI is not considered a trade component.