Q71. Consider the following statements with reference to India:
1. According to the ‘Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act’ 2006, the ‘medium enterprises’ are those with investments in plant and machinery between ₹15 crore and ₹25 crore.
2. All bank loans to the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises qualify under the priority sector.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (d)
The definition of Medium enterprise in India not more than Rs.50 crore in investment and annual turnover of not more than Rs. 250 crore.
The MSMEs should be engaged in the manufacture or production of goods, in any manner, pertaining to any industry specified in the First Schedule to the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 or engaged in providing or rendering of any service or services.
All bank loans to MSMEs conforming to the above guidelines qualify for classification under priority sector lending.
Q72. With reference to Central Bank digital currencies, consider the following statements:
1. It is possible to make payments in a digital currency without using the US dollar or SWIFT system.
2. A digital currency can be distributed with a condition programmed into it such as a time-frame for spending it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b)2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c)
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a form of digital currency issued by a country’s central bank.
Countries will be able to directly exchange digital currencies in a bilateral way and without going through SWIFT or similar settlement systems.
A CBDC is programmable to the point that the currency can be made to expire, thus forcing consumers to use it upto a certain date.
Q73. The context of finance, the term ‘beta’ refers to
(a) the process of simultaneous buying and selling of an asset from different platforms
(b) an investment strategy of a portfolio manager to balance risk versus reward
(c) a type of systemic risk that arises where perfect hedging is not possible
(d) numeric value that measures the fluctuations of a stock to changes in the overall stock market
Answer: (d)
Beta is a measure of a stock’s historical volatility in comparison with that of a market index such as the Nifty50.
Stocks with a beta above 1 tend to be more volatile than their index, while stocks with lower betas tend to be less volatile.
Q74. Consider the following statements:
1. The Self Help Group (SHG)programme was originally initiated by the State Bank of India by providing micro credit to the financially deprived.
2. In an SHG, all members of a group take responsibility for a loan that an individual member takes.
3. The Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Commercial Banks support SHGs.
How many of the above statements are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only Two
(c) All Three
(d) None
Answer: (b)
In 1991-92 NABARD started promoting self-help groups on a large scale. And it was the real take-off point for the ‘SHG movement’. So Statement 1 is not correct.
In an SHG, all members are jointly responsible for the loans taken by individual members. So, statement 2 is correct.
Both the Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Commercial Banks support SHGs. So, statement 3 is correct.
Q75. Consider the following statements:
Statement I: Indian public sector healthcare system largely focuses on curative care with limited preventive, promotive and rehabilitative care.
Statement II: Under India’s decentralised approach to healthcare delivery, the States are primarily responsible for organising health services.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement I and Statement-II are correct and statement 2 is the correct explanation for statement one.
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and statement 2 is not the correct explanation for statement one.
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect.
(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct.
Answer: (d)
The main objective of The National Health Policy, 2017 (NHP, 2017) is to improve health status through concerted policy action in all sectors and expand preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative services provided through the public health sector with focus on quality. Hence Statement 1 is not correct.
Under India’s decentralized approach to health care delivery, the states are primarily responsible for organizing health services, since public health is a subject under the State list of 7th Schedule.
Q76. Consider the following statements:
Statement I: According to the United Nations’ ‘World Water Development Report 2022’, India extracts more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater withdrawal each year.
Statement II: India needs to extract more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater each year to satisfy the drinking water and sanitation needs of almost 18% of world population living in its territory.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement I and Statement-II are correct and statement 2 is the correct explanation for statement one.
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and statement 2 is not the correct explanation for statement one.
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect.
(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct.
Answer: (c)
According to the United Nations’ ‘World Water Development Report, 2022,’ India extracts more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater withdrawal every year. Hence Statement I is correct.
About 89% of this groundwater is used in India for irrigation. Hence Statement 2 is wrong.
Q77. Consider the following statements:
1. According to the constitution of India, the Central Government has a duty to protect States from internal disturbances.
2. The Constitution of India exempts the States from providing legal counsel to a person being held for preventive detention.
3. According to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, confession of the accused before the police cannot be used as evidence.
How many of the above statements are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only Two
(c) All Three
(d) None
Answer: (a)
Article 355: It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. The second part of Article 22 grants protection to persons who are arrested or detained under a preventive detention law. This protection is available to both citizens as well as aliens. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
According to the Prevention of Terrorism Act , 2002, confession of the accused before the police can be used as evidence. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
Q78. Which one of the following countries has been suffering from decades of civil strife and food shortages and was in news in the recent past for its very severe famine?
(a) Angola
(b) Costa Rica
(c) Ecuador
(d) Somalia
Answer: (d)
In SOMALIA:
A total of 6.5 million people in Somalia face acute food insecurity amid the driest conditions in 40 years, following five consecutive failed rainy seasons.
Drought is compounding the impacts of other recurrent climate shocks, persistent insecurity and instability.
A total of 1.84 million children under 5 face acute malnutrition.
Q79. Consider the following statements:
1. In India, the Biodiversity Management Committees are key to the realisation of the objectives of the Nagoya protocol.
2. The Biodiversity Management Committees have important functions in determining access and benefit sharing, including the power to levy collection fees on access of biological resources within its jurisdiction.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c)
The biodiversity management committees (BMCs) have been constituted in local bodies across the length and breadth of the country under the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
While primarily responsible for the preparation of peoples’ biodiversity registers(PBRs containing comprehensive knowledge on the availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal, or any other use or associated traditional knowledge, the BMCs also have important functions in determining access and benefit-sharing (ABS), including the power to levy collection fees on the access of biological resources within its jurisdiction.
BMCs are key to the realisation of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol (2010).
Q80. Consider the following statements in respect of election to the President of India:
1. The members nominated to either House of the Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of States are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College.
2. Higher the number of elective Assembly seats, higher is the value of vote of each MLA of that state.
3. The value of vote of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is greater than that of Kerala.
4. The value of vote of each MLA of Puducherry is higher than that of Arunachal Pradesh because the ratio of total population total number of elective seats in Puducherry is greater as compared to Arunachal Pradesh.
How many of the above statements are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only Two
(c) All Three
(d) All Four
Answer: (a)
The President is elected not directly by the people but by members of electoral college consisting of:
1. the elected members of both the Houses of Parliament;
2. the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states (MLAs); and
3. the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry
4. The nominated MPs and MLAs are not included in the electoral college. Hence Statement 1 is not correct.
Every elected member of the legislative assembly of a state shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the state by the total number of the elected members of the assembly. This can be expressed as: Value of the vote of an MLA of a state = Total population of the state/(1000 x total number of elected members in the state legislative assembly). From the equation, it is clear that higher the number of seats in the legislative assembly, lower the value of the vote of an MLA of that state (as the number of seats forms the denominator)
The Constitution (Eighty-fourth) Amendment Act, 2001 provides that until the relevant population figures for the first census to be taken after the year 2026 have been published, the population of the States for the purposes of calculation of value of votes for the Presidential Election shall mean the population as ascertained at the 1971-census. Hence Statement 2 is not correct.
On the basis of the above formula, the value of a vote of an MLA is given for the following states and union territories: 1. Madhya Pradesh – 131, 2. Kerala – 152, 3. Arunachal Pradesh – 8, 4. Puducherry – 16 Hence statement 3 is not correct and statement 4 is correct.
Question 6 Answer is option (d) Titanium in explanation it is correct, in Answer it is mentioned as option (b) kindly rectify it ,it will useful for others