UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 23 February 2024

Solution: c)

Vostro accounts are opened to facilitate trade in rupee.

A Vostro account is an account that a domestic bank holds for a foreign bank in the domestic bank’s currency — which, in the case of India, is the rupee.

Payments in rupee for the export and import of goods will go to these Vostro accounts. The owners and beneficiaries of this money will be the exporters and importers in both the countries. The banks will keep the record of money transferred.

What is a Nostro account?

Two kinds of accounts, Vostro and Nostro, are often mentioned together. Both Vostro and Nostro are technically the same type of account, with the difference being who opens the account and where.

So, if an Indian bank like the SBI wants to open an account in the United States, it will get in touch with a bank in the US, which will open a Nostro account and accept payments for SBI in dollars.

The account opened by the Indian bank in the US will be a Nostro account for the Indian bank, while for the US bank, the account will be considered a Vostro account.

What led to creation of the Vostro accounts?

RBI put in place a mechanism to settle international trade in rupees “in order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of the global trading community in the rupee”.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Changes in a river’s course in the northern part of the country is not unusual. One of the reasons is believed to be the movement of the Indian Tectonic Plate.

The Plate has been moving northward. That is the reason the Himalayas are rising. One reason for the course of the Yamuna moving eastwards too is believed to be this.

Also, it is more likely for a river to change course in the alluvial plains of North India.

“Alluvial terrain is soft and more amenable to changing river courses. If we look at the course of the Ganga between 1786 and now, there are places where it has changed its course by 34 km. In Badaun (UP) the river has moved 10 km from where it used to be.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The first detection of gravitational waves was announced on February 11, 2016. These had been predicted, almost exactly a century ago by Albert Einstein as a natural consequence of his theory of gravity — the Theory of General Relativity. General Relativity implies that under certain circumstances, space itself would be stretched and compressed resulting in the production of gravitational waves — much like throwing a stone in a placid pool of water.

Since gravitational waves were first detected by LIGO (Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory), its detectors have observed dozens of short high-frequency gravitational wave bursts. These high-frequency waves are thought to be a result of collisions of black holes — about as massive as our Sun — as well as of neutron stars. Black holes and neutron stars are stellar remnants of stars which have exhausted their nuclear fuel.

Solution: d)

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this region and the world at large. BFA is modelled on the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos.

Solution: d)

Part IV (Articles 36-51) covers a wide range of principles, including (apart from the UCC), the securing of equal justice and free legal aid to citizens (Art 39A), participation of workers in the management of industries (Art 43A), organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry (Art 48), protection and improvement of the environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife (Art 48A), promotion of international peace and security (Art 51), etc.