UPSC Editorials Quiz : 8 January 2024

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

What is practice of forum shopping?

When litigants or lawyers attempt to deliberately move their case to a particular judge or Court where they think the judgment could be more favourable, they are said to be “forum shopping.”

Even the US and UK courts have criticised the practice of forum shopping as something to be avoided or prohibited.

Similarly, “Bench hunting” refers to petitioners managing to get their cases heard by a particular judge or court to ensure a favourable order, the court added.

Solution: a)

Only statement 2 is correct.

The process of evergreening of loans, a form of zombie lending, is typically a temporary fix for a bank. If an account turns into a non-performing asset (NPA), banks are required to make higher provisions which will impact their profitability. A loan turns into a nonperforming asset, or NPA, if the interest or instalment remains unpaid even after the due date — and remains unpaid for a period of more than 90 days.

So, to avoid classifying a loan as an NPA, banks adopt the evergreening of loans. In the past, many banks had indulged in dressing up bad loans and given additional funds to companies who didn’t have the capacity to repay.

An accommodative monetary policy creates an enabling environment for weak banks to evergreen loans to zombies and keeps them alive. The RBI has been following an accommodative policy since March 2020 when the pandemic struck the country. Most of the evergreening has happened in public sector banks which subsequently led to a jump in NPAs.

Solution: c)

Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum. However, recently, variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives have also emerged.

Microplastics – officially defined as plastics less than five millimetres in diameter. There are two categories of microplastics. Primary microplastics are tiny particles designed for commercial use, such as in cosmetics or textiles. On the other hand, secondary microplastics are particles that are a product of the breakdown of larger plastic items due to exposure to environmental factors such as sun’s radiation or ocean’s waves.

Solution: a)

Climbing in the Himalayas was fundamentally different than in the Alps. For one, most peaks in the Alps are far more accessible than their Himalayan counterparts. This inaccessibility gave birth to expedition climbing – climbing became military-like with massive logistics operations to support the actual ascent.

Second, the high peaks of the Himalayas were also significantly taller than the ones in the Alps – posing multiple novel challenges, including thinning air at high altitudes.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

All expenses for the UPSC are paid from the Consolidated Fund of India. Its functions, according to the website, include, “Conduct examinations for appointment to the services of the Union; Direct recruitment by selection through interviews; Appointment of officers on promotion / deputation / absorption; Framing and amendment of Recruitment Rules for various services and posts under the Government; Disciplinary cases relating to different Civil Services; Advising the Government on any matter referred to the Commission by the President of India.”