Answers

GENERAL STUDIES (P) 2021 – Test 4 (Economy)

1. B

It is conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers welfare,

Ministry of agriculture once in every five years.

The total number of operation holdings in the country has increased from 138.35 million ha

to 146.45 million ha in 2015-16 and operated area has decreased from 159.59 million ha to

157.52 million ha.

2. C

Types of Economic Planning: In today’s world, most economies are mixed economies. The

planning can be of several types as discussed below:

Indicative Planning: It puts forward / indicates to some broad principles and guidelines to

achieve some goals. Not much specific particulars.

Comprehensive / Imperative Planning: Refers to centralized planning and implementation

with allocation of resources Used by socialist countries and each and every aspect of

planning is controlled by state.

Structural Planning: Aims to change the existing structures

Functional Planning: Aims to achieve the objectives without making much changes to

existing structural framework

Centralized Planning: One central authority formulates plan, targets and priorities for all

sectors. Also called Top bottom

Decentralized planning: Multi-level planning in which more than one institutions work for

implementation

Perspective Planning: Refers to Long term planning 15-20-25 years. Implemented by

breaking the plan period into smaller plans such as 5 years.

3. C

At the time of formulation of the 2nd five-year plan, Mahalanobis showed that to achieve a

rapid long- term rate of growth it would be essential to devote a major part of the

investment outlay to building of basic heavy industries. The pillars of Nehru - Mahalanobis

strategy were - (a) high savings rate, (b) heavy industry bias, (c) protectionist policies and

public sector, (d) import substitution, and (e) socialistic pattern of society.

4. B

In 1944 Eight Industrialists of Bombay viz. Mr. JRD Tata, GD Birla, PurshottamdasThakurdas,

Lala Shriram, KasturbhaiLalbhai, AD Shroff, ArdeshirDalal, & John Mathai working together

prepared “A Brief Memorandum Outlining a Plan of Economic Development for India”. This

is known as the “Bombay Plan”. This plan envisaged doubling the per capita income in 15

years and tripling the national income during this period. Nehru did not officially accept the

plan, yet many of the ideas of the plan were inculcated in other plans which came later.

5. D

People’s Plan: People’s plan was drafted by MN Roy. This plan was for ten years period and

gave greatest priority to Agriculture. Nationalization of all agriculture and production was

the main feature of this plan. This plan was based on Marxist socialism and drafted by M N

Roy on behalf of the Indian federation of Lahore.

Gandhian Plan: This plan was drafted by SrimanNayaran, principal of Wardha Commercial

College. It emphasized economic decentralization with primacy to rural development by

developing the cottage industries.

Sarvodaya Plan:Sarvodaya Plan (1950) was drafted by Jaiprakash Narayan. This plan itself

was inspired by Gandhian Plan and Sarvodaya Idea of VinobaBhave. This plan emphasized

on agriculture and small & cottage industries. It also suggested the freedom from foreign

technology and stressed upon land reforms and decentralized participatory planning.

6. B

The Economic Model of India assigned a pivotal role to its public sector, which came to

control "commanding heights" of the economy after the Indian parliament adopted a

resolution in 1956 to achieve a "socialistic pattern of society" as a national goal. In

pursuance to this goal, a large number of public sector units (PSUs) were set up in different

sectors of the economy.

7. A

Competition rather than control, FDI and FII were brought post 1991.

8. A

Comparative advantage is an economic term that refers to an economy’s ability to produce

goods and services at a lower opportunity cost than that of trade partners.

A comparative advantage gives a company the ability to sell goods and services at a lower

price than its competitors and realize stronger sales margins.

The law of comparative advantage is popularly attributed to English political

economist David Ricardo and his book “On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation”

in 1817, although it is likely that Ricardo’s mentor James Mill originated the analysis.

One of the most important concepts in economic theory, comparative advantage is a

fundamental tenet of the argument that all actors, at all times, can mutually benefit from

cooperation and voluntary trade. It is also a foundational principle in the theory of

international trade.

9. D

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was

established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products

Export Development Authority Act 1985.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a

Statutory Body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India, is the apex

organization engaged in the work related to the development of export of agricultural and

processed food products from India.

APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of the

following scheduled products:

o Fruits, Vegetables and their Products.

o Meat and Meat Products.

o Poultry and Poultry Products.

o Dairy Products.

o Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery Products.

o Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products.

o Cocoa and its products, chocolates of all kinds.

o Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.

o Cereal and Cereal Products.

o Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts.

o Pickles, Papads and Chutneys.

o Guar Gum.

o Floriculture and Floriculture Products.

o Herbal and Medicinal Plants.

10. C

The collapse of communism was followed in most of these countries by a painful process of

transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. The

model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and east Europe that was influenced by the World

Bank and the IMF came to be known as ‘shock therapy’. Part of it could be seen in how the

economy was restructured post-breakdown, that involved more freedom to markets and

enterprise and shunning the red tape. Shock therapy varied in intensity and speed amongst

the former second world countries, but its direction and features were quite similar.

11. D

By the early 1980s, a new development strategy emerged. After the world recognised the

limits of a state-dominated economy arguments in favour of the market, i.e. the private

sector, was promoted emphatically. Governments of the socialist or the planned economies

were urged/suggested to privatise and liberalise, to sell off state-owned companies and

eliminate government intervention in the economy. These governments were also

suggested to take the measures which could boost the aggregate demand in the economy

(i.e. macroeconomic stability measures). The broad outlines of such a development strategy

were called the Washington Consensus. This consensus is broadly termed as the popular

meaning of the ‘economic reform’ followed by almost all the socialist, the communist and

the planned developing economies. The term was usually seen as a corollary of promoting

‘naked capitalism’, openness in the economy and an open attitude towards foreign

investments, etc.

12. B

India has the 3rd largest entrepreneurship ecosystem in the world.

13. B

This policy abolished Industrial licensing for all industries except for a short list of 18

industries. This list of 18 industries was further pruned in 1999 whereby the number was

reduced to six industries.

The limit was abolished and companies were allowed to expand freely with only certain

limitations.

This was the first Industrial policy in which foreign companies were allowed to have majority

stake in India. In 47 high priority industries, up to 51% FDI was allowed. For export trading

houses, FDI up to 74% was allowed. Today, there are numerous sectors in the economy

where the government allows 100% FDI.

Restrictions on exchange of currency for the purposes of current account (such as trade or

remittances) were revoked.

14. D

A BoP crisis is a situation when the foreign exchange that a nation has is not enough to

finance the external account deficit. Foreign exchange reserves in the late 1980s declined to

a level that was not adequate to finance imports for more than two weeks. There was also

not sufficient foreign exchange to pay the interest that needs to be paid to international

lenders. Therefore, a BoP crisis was looming to avert which India resorted to the help of WB

and IMF.

15. B

The committee estimated poverty by using basic requirements of the poor such as housing,

clothing, shelter, education, sanitation, travel expenses and health etc., to make poverty

estimation realistic. The committee suggested to-do away with the calorie-based criteria.

The committee also suggested a uniform poverty line across rural and urban India.

16. A

These are different approaches for determining unemployment in India.

17. C

18. D

In economics, the Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent

the income or wealth distribution of a nation's residents, and is the most commonly used

measure of inequality. Gini Coefficient is a popular statistical measure to gauge the rich-

poor income or wealth divide. It measures inequality of a distribution — be it of income or

wealth — within nations or States. Its value varies anywhere from zero to 1; zero indicating

perfect equality and one indicating the perfect inequality. Gini Coefficients can be used to

compare income distribution of a country over time as well. An increasing trend indicates

that income inequality is rising independent of absolute incomes.

19. B

The National list of essential medicines is one of the key instruments in balanced healthcare

delivery system of a country which inter alia includes accessible, affordable quality medicine

at all the primary, secondary, tertiary levels of healthcare.

The first National List of Essential Medicines of India was prepared and released in 1996.

The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), prepared by Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare, is a list of medicines considered essential and high priority for India’s health needs.

DPCOs are issued by the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 3

of the ECA to ensure that the medicines listed under NELM are available at a reasonable

price to the general public.

20. C

The Ministry of rural development in 2008 appointed a committee to calculate rural BPL figures in states. It recommended that 50% of India’s population be given BPL cards. The committee came out with new criteria of” automatic inclusion and automatic exclusion” in poverty estimation. The alternative methodology, suggested by Dreze, deals with an “exclusion approach”, whereby all households are entitled to social support except if they meet pre-specified exclusion criteria.

21. A

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is obtained by dividing the number of persons in the

labour force with the total population.

Unemployment Rate (UR) is obtained by dividing the number of those unemployed with the

total number of persons in the labour force and not the total population.

22. B

It is an irony that a few years back, when India was on high growth trajectory, its growth was

jobless growth. Jobless growth means that the high growth in GDP did not accompany a

similar growth in employment, resulting in a low Employment Elasticity. Employment

elasticity is a measure of how employment varies with economic output. An employment

elasticity of 1 implies that with every 1 percentage point growth in GDP, employment

increases by 1%. As a missed opportunity, the extraordinary growth during yesteryears

didn’t lead to any employment growth at all. For example, between 2004–05 to 2009–10,

employment elasticity of India was as low as 0.01, which implies that with every 1

percentage point growth in GDP, employment increased by just one basis point.

23. B

By the very nature of a capitalistic economy, the goods are bought by the consumers and

money flows to the entrepreneurs. As there is little state intervention or taxes; there is little

redistribution. But, states regulate economies by way of laws, rules and regulations, for ex.

licensing of certain industries or labour laws that prevent the exploitation of labour.

If the state plans for more equitable growth, it can for e.g. provide greater incentives for

capitalists to set up industries in rural or backward areas so that rural-urban disparity can be

minimized.

24. D

Structural change represents the fundamental changes that occur in the basic features of

the economy over a long period. Structure of the economy means the occupational

structure, sectorial distribution of income, industrial pattern, composition of exports,

saving- GDP ratio etc. Due to LPG reforms, largely agriculture-based economy has

transformed into service-based economy in subsequent years or decades.

25. C

Taxation is based on the idea of Fairness. Though fairness (i.e., the first criteria of a good tax

system) is not always easy to define, economists suggested inclusion of two elements in the

tax system to make it fair namely, horizontal equity and vertical equity.

Individuals in identical or similar situations paying identical or similar taxes is known as

horizontal equity. When ‘better off people pay more taxes it is known as vertical equity.

26. A

Sustainability index and Flourishing Index report is commissioned by the WHO, UNICEF and

the Lancet assess the capacity of 180 countries on the issue.

27. D

FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7, HQ-

Paris, objectives of the FATF to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other

related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

28. B

Capital formation is a term used to describe the net capital accumulation during

an accounting period for a particular country. The term refers to additions of capital goods,

such as equipment, tools, transportation assets, and electricity. GFCF in India is not

following a particular trend in last 12 years.

Gross capital formation (formerly gross domestic investment) consists of outlays on

additions to the fixed assets of the economy plus net changes in the level of inventories.

Fixed assets include land improvements (fences, ditches, drains, and so on); plant,

machinery, and equipment purchases;

And the construction of roads, railways, and the like, including schools, offices, hospitals,

private residential dwellings, and commercial and industrial buildings.

Inventories are stocks of goods held by firms to meet temporary or unexpected fluctuations

in production or sales, and work in progress. According to the 1993 SNA, net acquisitions of

valuables are also considered capital formation.

29. C It comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

30. A

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi are the top three performers in terms of State-wise

distribution of recognized start-ups in India.

As per industry-wide distribution of recognized start-ups, IT Services accounted for 13.9 per

cent followed by Healthcare and Life Sciences (8.3 per cent) and education (7.0 per cent).

31. D The Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR) is an inclusive global

mechanism enabling all those concerned with the future of agriculture and its role in

development around the world to come together and address key global needs. GFAR

provides an open forum for stakeholders across the agricultural spectrum—from

researchers and organizations to farmers—to participate in collaborative discussion and

action around the current and future state of agriculture. Its headquarters is in Rome, Italy,

where it is hosted by FAO.

32. A

According to the economic survey 2018-19, the overall production of raw coal in India is

increased from 2008 to 2018.

33. A The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was set up in 1956 which is also known as the

private arm of the WB. It lends money to private sector companies of its member nations.

'The interest rate charged is commercial but comparatively low.

The World bank provides loans and grants to developing countries. These support a

wide array of investments in such areas as education, health, public administration,

infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and

natural resource management

34. B

Government fixes agriculture credit disbursement targets for the banking sector every year.

As per RBI directions, Domestic Scheduled Commercial Banks are required to lend 18% of

the Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent to Off-Balance Sheet Exposure

(CEOBE), whichever is higher, towards agriculture.

A sub-target of 8% is also prescribed for lending to small and marginal farmers including

landless agricultural labourers, tenant farmers, oral lessees and share croppers.

Similarly, in the case of Regional Rural Banks 18% of their total outstanding advances is

required to be towards agriculture and a sub-target of 8% has been set for lending to small

and marginal farmers.

35. D

The Economic Cost of food-grains consists of three components, namely, pooled cost of

grains, procurement incidentals and the cost of distribution. The pooled cost of food grains

is the weighted MSP of the stock of food-grains available with FCI at the time of calculating

the economic cost.

36. A

37. C

38. C The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May, 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was

formed, in the Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws

violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47).

In 1957, this Unit was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’. The administrative control of

the Directorate was transferred from the Department of Economic Affairs to the

Department of Revenue in 1960.

For a short period of 04 years (1973 – 1977), the Directorate also remained under the

administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms.

Powers:

The Directorate enforces two laws;

FEMA, a Civil Law having quasi judicial powers, for investigating suspected

contraventions of the Exchange Control Laws and Regulations with the powers to

impose penalties on those adjudged guilty.

PMLA, a Criminal Law, whereby the Officers are empowered to conduct enquiries to

locate, provisionally attach/confiscate assets derived from acts of Schedules

Offences besides arresting and prosecuting the Money Launderers.

39. A

Milk production in India has increased from 22 million tonne in 1970 to 156 million tonne in

2015-16, which shows a growth of 700 percent during last 46 years. As a result, the per

capita availability of milk in India is 337 gram/day as compared to average world per capita

availability of 229 gram/day

40. C

41. B Indian food philosophy is generally seen divided into three phases with their own objectives

and challenges:

The First Phase: This phase continued for the first three decades after independence. The

main aim and the struggle of this phase was producing as much food grains as required by

the Indian population i.e.—achieving physical access to food.

The Second Phase: Meanwhile India was celebrating its success of the first phase, a new

challenge confronted India— achieving economic access to food.

The Third Phase: India needed a new kind of green revolution which could deliver it the

physical, economic as well as ecological access to the food—the Second Green Revolution—

an all-in-one approach towards the agriculture sector.

42. D

43. A

44. D Soil fertility being degraded (due to the repetitive kind of cropping pattern being

followed by the farmers as well as the excessive exploitation of the land; lack of a

suitable crop combination and the crop intensity; etc.).

Water table falling down (as the new HYV seeds required comparatively very high

amount of water for irrigation—5 tonnes of water needed to produce 1 kg of rice.

Environmental degradation due to excessive and uncontrolled use of chemical

fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides have degraded the environment by increasing

pollution levels in land, water and air.

45. C

The economic cost of food grains procured by the FCI is a total of MSP and bonus (if any)

paid to the farmers plus the procurement incidentals and distribution cost.

The procurement incidentals are the initial costs incurred during procurement of foodgrains.

The distribution costs include freight, handling charges, storage costs in godowns, losses

during transit etc.

46. C

47. C

48. D

High-yielding varieties (HYVs) of agricultural crops are usually characterized by a

combination of the following traits in contrast to the conventional varieties:

higher crop yield per area (hectare)

dwarfness

improved response to fertilizers

high reliance on irrigation and fertilizers - see intensive farming

early maturation

49. A

The New Arrangement to Borrow is the fund mobilization arrangement of the IMF to

mobilize additional funds through borrowing from member countries.

Under NAB, member countries and institutions can stand ready to lend to the Fund.

The NAB is structured as a set of credit arrangements between the IMF and 38-member

countries (can be changed) and institutions.

The NAB was proposed for the first time at the 1995 G-7 Halifax Summit following the

Mexican financial crisis.

In January 1997, the IMF’s Executive Board adopted a decision establishing the NAB, which

became effective in November 1998.

The NAB was revived in the context of the global financial crisis in 2009; to meet the lending

requirements of the Euro zone crisis.

50. D

TRIFED is the national level cooperative body mandated to bring about socio-economic

development of tribals of the country by institutionalising the trade of Minor Forest Produce

(MFP) & Surplus Agricultural Produce (SAP) collected/cultivated by them. It is under the

administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Important Functions:

It plays the dual role of both a market developer and a service provider, empowering

the tribals with knowledge and tools to better their operations in a systematic,

scientific manner and also assist them in developing their marketing approach.

It is involved actively in capacity building of the tribal people through sensitization

and the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs).

The organisation also assists them in exploring and creating opportunities to market

the developed products in national and international markets on a sustainable basis.

It launched Tech for Tribals, an initiative of TRIFED supported by the Ministry of MSME,

aimed at capacity building and imparting entrepreneurship skills to tribal forest produce

gatherers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Van DhanYojana.

51. C To ensure that Dairy Cooperatives remain competitive for the sustained benefit of farmers,

the Government of India has announced creation of a Dairy Processing and Infrastructure

Development Fund under NABARD.

Funding will be in the form of interest bearing loan, which will flow from National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)

/ National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and in turn to eligible End

Borrowers.

The scheme has been designed with the following objectives:

To modernize the milk processing plants and machinery and to create additional

infrastructure for processing more milk.

To create additional milk processing capacity for increased value addition by

producing more dairy products.

To bring efficiency in dairy processing plants/producer owned and controlled dairy

institutions, thereby enabling optimum value of milk to milk producer farmers and

supply of quality milk to consumers.

To help the producer owned and controlled institutions to increase their share of

milk, thereby providing greater opportunities of ownership, management and

market access to rural milk producers in the organized milk market.

To help the producer owned and controlled institutions to consolidate their position

as dominant player in the organised liquid milk market and to make increased price

realisation to milk producers.

52. B

The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the

world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

• Funded entirely by voluntary donations, in 2018 WFP raised a record US$7.2 billion.

• WFP has more than 17,000 staff worldwide of who over 90 percent are based in the

countries where the agency provides assistance.

• WFP is governed by a 36-member Executive Board.

• It works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural

Development.

• WFP partners with more than 1,000 national and international NGOs to provide food

assistance and tackle the underlying causes of hunger.

53. C

Constituting about 6.3% of the global fish production, the sector contributes to 1.1% of the

GDP and 5.15% of the agricultural GDP. The total fish production of 10.07 million metric

tonnes presently has nearly 65% contribution from the inland sector and nearly the same

from culture fisheries.

Fish and fish products have presently emerged as the largest group in agricultural

exports of India, with over 10.5 lakh tonnes in terms of quantity and over Rs. 33,000 crores

in value. This accounts for around 10% of the total exports of the country and nearly 20% of

the agricultural exports. More than 50 different types of fish and shellfish products are

exported to 75 countries around the world

54. A

The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) is a statutory body set up under the Forward

Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952. It functions under the administrative control of the

Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance since September 2013. (Before this,

FMC used to function under Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs,

Food & Public Distribution, Govt. of India.

55. B

Operation Barga was a land reform movement throughout rural West Bengal for recording

the names of sharecroppers (jotadars) while avoiding the time-consuming method of

recording through the settlement machinery. It bestowed on the bargadars, the legal

protection against eviction by the landlords, and entitled them to the due share of the

produce. Operation Barga was launched in 1978 and concluded by the mid-1980s.

56. D A village, wherein trained group of farmers are involved in production of seeds of various

crops and cater to the needs of themselves, fellow farmers of the village and farmers of

neighboring villages in appropriate time and at affordable cost is called "a seed

village" Objectives: • Increasing the seed production • Increasing the seed replacement rate

• Organizing seed production in cluster (or) compact area replacing existing local varieties

with new high yielding varieties • Self sufficiency and self reliance of the village • To meet

the local demand, timely supply. The present programme of seed village scheme is having

two phases: 1. Seed production of different crops: The area which is suitable for raising a

particular crop will be selected, and raised with single variety of a kind. 2. Establishing seed

processing unit: If the seeds are not processed and handled properly, all the past efforts in

production may be lost. Thus seed processing and packaging is very important aspect in

seed production.

57. C

The National Seeds Policy, 2002, envisages timely availability of quality seeds, compulsory

registration of seeds, quality assurance, promotion of the seeds industry, abolition of

licenses for seed dealers, import of best quality seeds and creation of Seed Banks and

National Seeds Grid. The policy seeks to encourage investment in research and development

to ensure availability of high yielding varieties of seeds.

National Seeds Grid was set up by linking all seeds producing agencies the national and

particularly to ensure that seeds are available on demand by States or farmers. The Grid

would provide district wise information regarding the requirement, production and

distribution of seeds through a computerized network.

58. C

Tamil Nadu announced that the Cauvery delta region, which is Tamil Nadu’s rice bowl

comprising eight districts, will be declared as ‘Protected Special Agricultural Zone’ (PSAZ).

Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ) lies in the eastern part of Tamil Nadu. It is bounded by the Bay of

Bengal on the east and the Palk Strait on the south. In this zone, rice is the principal crop.

A Special Agricultural Zone is one where agricultural land is preserved for posterity because

of its importance to increasing agriculture production and promoting livelihood security for

a large number of farm families.

Agricultural scientists such as M.S. Swaminathan have for long-mooted such zones similar to

special economic zones; like the Indira Gandhi Canal Area (Rajasthan Canal) in Rajasthan,

the Kuttanad wetlands of Kerala (GIAHS), Punjab-Haryana belt, etc.

59. A

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has

launched ARTIS (Applications for Remedies in Trade for Indian Industry and other

Stakeholders).

It is an online system developed for filing applications by the domestic industry with respect

to various trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping duty, safeguards duty and

countervailing duty.

60. A

The NERAMAC is a pioneer marketing organization in the field of Agri-Horti sector of the

North-eastern region, involved in supporting farmers right from the fields and up to the

markets to the end consumers through registered FPO/FPCs.

It was incorporated in the year 1982 as a Government of India Enterprise and having its

registered office at Guwahati and operating under the administrative control of the Ministry

of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

61. B

Under PEG, storage capacity is created by private parties, Central Warehousing Corporation

(CWC) and State Agencies for guaranteed hiring by FCI. This is because the state alone

cannot provide such facilities at all locations.

62. A

63. D

64) A

The chequered history of evolution, developments, transformations and coming of age of

the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (Ministry of Commerce

and Industry) has been a mammoth exercise spread over a span of one hundred and forty

years and carried out under the stewardship of capable and pragmatic visionaries.

The Organization traces its origin to a statistical branch established in the Finance

Department of the Government of India way back in 1862. Sir William W. Hunter was the

first DG of the DGCI & S or the Director General of Statistics as he was designated, back in

1871.

The DGCI&S compiles and releases monthly export & import data on merchandise trade.

It also compiles and releases yearly data on inter-state movement of goods in India by river,

rail & air; customs & excise revenue collections of the Indian union, inland coasting trade

consignments of India and foreign coastal cargo movements of India.

65) D

66) C

67) C

68) D

Besides, announcement of MSP, the Government also organizes procurement operations of

these agricultural commodities through various public and cooperative agencies such as

Food Corporation of India (FCI), Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), Jute Corporation of India

(JCI), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing

Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India Ltd.

(NCCF), and Small Farmers Agro Consortium (SFAC). Besides, State Governments also

appoint state agencies to undertake PSS operations.

69) A

The World Economic Forum announced the first global consortium focused on designing a

framework for the governance of digital currencies. The Global Consortium for Digital

Currency Governance will aim to increase access to the financial system through innovative

policy solutions that are inclusive and interoperable.

This is the first initiative to bring together leading companies, financial institutions,

government representatives, technical experts, academics, international organizations,

NGOs and members of the Forum’s communities on a global level.

This consortium will focus on solutions for a fragmented regulatory system. Efficiency,

speed, interoperability, inclusivity and transparency will be at the heart of this initiative.

It will call for innovative regulatory approaches to achieve these goals and build trust.

A set of guiding principles will be co-designed to support public and private actors exploring

the opportunities that digital currencies present.

70) D

Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is a specialized financial institution, wholly owned

by Government of India, set up in 1982, for financing, facilitating and promoting foreign

trade of India.

EXIM Bank extends Lines of Credit (LOCs) to

o Overseas financial institutions,

o Regional development banks,

o Sovereign governments and

o Other entities overseas,

to enable buyers in those countries to import developmental and infrastructure projects,

equipments, goods and services from India, on deferred credit terms. It is regulated by

RBI.

71) D

72) D

ln the beginning when the PM-Kisan Scheme was launched on 24i\ February, 2019, its

benefits were admissible only to Small & marginal Farmers' (SI\4F) families, with combined

landholding up to 2 hectare. The Scheme was later on revised w.e.f. 1 .6.2019 and extended

to all farmer families irrespective of the size of their landholdings

73) A

The Service Area Approach (SAA) introduced in April 1989 for planned and orderly

development of rural and semi-urban areas was applicable to all scheduled commercial

banks including Regional Rural Banks.

Under SAA, each bank branch in rural and semi-urban area was designated to serve an area

of 15 to 25 villages and the branch was responsible for meeting the needs of bank credit of

its service area.

The primary objective of SAA was to increase productive lending and forge effective linkages

between bank credit, production, productivity and increase in income levels.

The SAA scheme was reviewed from time to time and appropriate changes were made in

the scheme to make it more effective.

74) D

Mixed economy is a golden mixture of capitalism and socialism. Under this system there is

freedom of economic activities and government interferences for the social welfare. Hence

it is a blend of both the economies.

The concept of mixed economy is of recent origin. The developing countries like India have

adopted mixed economy to accelerate the pace of economic development. Even the

developed countries like UK, USA, etc. have also adopted ‘Mixed Capitalist System’.

Mixed economy has following main features:

o Co-existence of Private and Public Sector

o Personal Freedom

o Private Property is allowed

o Economic Planning

o Price Mechanism and Controlled Price

o Profit Motive and Social Welfare

75) C

ECGC Ltd. (Formerly Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.), wholly owned by

Government of India, was set up in 1957 with the objective of promoting exports from the

country by providing Credit Risk Insurance and related services for exports.

It functions under the administrative control of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and is

managed by a Board of Directors comprising representatives of the Government, Reserve

Bank of India, banking, and insurance and exporting community.

Over the years it has designed different export credit risk insurance products to suit the

requirements of Indian exporters and commercial banks extending export credit.

ECGC is essentially an export promotion organization, seeking to improve the

competitiveness of the Indian exporters by providing them with credit insurance covers.

ECGC keeps its premium rates at the optimal level.

76) C

India is currently the world’s 2nd largest producer of crude steel in January- December,

2019, producing 111.245 Million tonnes (MT) (provisional) crude steel with growth rate

1.8% over the corresponding period last year (CPLY).

China remained world’s largest crude steel producer in same period (996 mt) followed by

India (111mt), Japan (99mt) and the USA (88mt).

Per capita finished steel consumption in 2018 was 224.5 kg for world and 590.1 kg for

China (Source: World Steel Association).

The same for India was 73.3 kg in 2018 (Source: JPC) and 75.7 kg (provisional) in 2019.The

per capita consumption of India in 2018-19 was 74.1 kg and that in 2019-20 was 74.6 kg

(prov.)

77) C

78) A

Each member country of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative position

in the world economy. ... The current quota formula is a weighted average of GDP (weight of

50 percent), openness (30 percent), economic variability (15 percent), and international

reserves (5 percent).

79) C

80) B

The Extended Fund Facility is lending facility of the Fund of the IMF and it was established

in 1974 to help countries address medium- and longer-term balance of payments problems.

The EFF is prescribed for a country who is suffering from balance of payment problem

caused by structural weaknesses and who need fundamental economic reforms.

The use of the facility has increased substantially in the recent crisis period.

81) D

Market Stabilization scheme (MSS) is a monetary policy intervention by the RBI to withdraw excess

liquidity (or money supply) by selling government securities in the economy. The MSS was

introduced in April 2004.

The Reserve Bank under Governor YV Reddy initiated the MSS scheme in 2004, to control the surge

of US dollars in the Indian market; RBI started buying US dollars while pumping in rupee.

This eventually led to over-supply of the domestic currency raising inflationary expectations. MSS

was introduced to mop up this excess liquidity.

82) A

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor will pass through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra

83) C

84) C

National Productivity Council of India (NPC), established in the year 1958, is an autonomous

organization under Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce

and Industry, Government of India (Chairman of NPC).

Besides undertaking research in the area of productivity, NPC has been providing consultancy and

training services in areas of Industrial Engineering, Agri-Business, Economic Services, Quality

Management, Human Resources Management, Information Technology, Technology Management,

Energy Management, Environmental Management etc., to the Government and Public & Private

sector organizations.

NPC is a constituent of the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organization (APO), an Inter-

Governmental Body of which the Government of India is a founding member.

85) C

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) organization is an attached office of the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is headed by Director General of Foreign Trade.

Right from its inception till 1991, when liberalization in the economic policies of the

Government took place, this organization has been essentially involved in the regulation and

promotion of foreign trade through regulation.

Keeping in line with liberalization and globalization and the overall objective of increasing of

exports, DGFT has since been assigned the role of “facilitator”. The shift was from

prohibition and control of imports/exports to promotion and facilitation of exports/imports,

keeping in view the interests of the country.

This Directorate, with headquarters at New Delhi, is responsible for formulating and

implementing the Foreign Trade Policy with the main objective of promoting India’s exports.

The DGFT also issues /authorization to exporters and monitors their corresponding

obligations through a network of 38 regional offices and an extension counter at Indore.

86) C

87) D

88) A

Currency Swap Arrangement is an arrangement, between two friendly countries, which have

regular, substantial or increasing trade, to basically involve in trading in their own local

currencies, where both pay for import and export trade, at the pre-determined rates of

exchange, without bringing in third country currency like the US Dollar.

89) A

90) D

The World Bank Group takes a comprehensive approach to enhancing debt transparency

through its own engagement with more than 100 low and middle-income countries and in

close collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In 2018, the World Bank has launched together with the IMF a comprehensive approach to

address debt vulnerabilities in low-income developing countries.

Debt transparency is a key pillar of this approach.

It also seeks to promote debt transparency in the context of the proposed Sustainable

Development Finance Policy under IDA19 and through its engagement in international fora

and outreach to other creditors.

In addition, the Bank made several important contributions to global knowledge and best

practices on debt transparency.

Two joint notes, prepared in collaboration with the IMF, were delivered to the G-20 in 2018.

The first identified ways the international financial community can help low- and lower-

middle-income countries improve the recording, monitoring, and reporting of debt.

The second evaluated how the World Bank Group and the IMF can strengthen public debt

transparency by disseminating debt data, publishing public debt analysis, enhancing creditor

outreach, and promoting sustainable borrowing and lending practices.

91) C

92) A

93) D

The head count ratio (HCR) is the population proportion that exists, or lives, below the

poverty threshold. One of the undesirable features of the head count ratio is that it ignores

the depth of poverty; if the poor become poorer, the head count index does not change.

94) B

LTRO is a tool that lets banks borrow one to three-year funds from the central bank at the

repo rate, by providing government securities with similar or higher tenure as collateral.

This helps banks get funds for a longer duration as compared to the short-term (up to 28

days) liquidity provided by the RBI through other tools such as Liquidity Adjustment Facility

(LAF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF).

It is called ‘Targeted’ LTRO as in this case, the central bank wants banks opting for funds

under this option to be specifically invested in investment-grade corporate debt

LTROs provide banks with access to cheaper capital from the RBI.

This, in turn, encourages them to lend more and spur economic activity. They can also invest

these long-term funds in assets that yield better returns to improve profitability.

Also, as banks provide government securities as collateral, the demand for such government

bonds increases and helps in lowering yield.

95) C

96) D

The eight core industries, including coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers,

steel, cement and electricity, comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the

Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

97) B

Quantitative easing (QE) is a form of unconventional monetary policy of a central bank. In

Quantitative Easing central bank purchases longer-term securities from the open market in

order to increase the money supply and encourage lending and investment. Buying these

securities adds new money to the economy, and also serves to lower interest rates by

bidding up fixed-income securities.

98) A

The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) were set up by the Government as the apex

level forum in December 2010.

The Chairman of the Council is the Finance Minister and its members include Minister of State, in

charge of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), the heads of all Financial Sector

Regulators [Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Pension Fund

Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

of India (IRDAI) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)], Finance Secretary and/or

Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Secretary, Department of Revenue (DoR),

Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA),

Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Chief Economic Adviser.

Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, in-charge-of Financial Stability &

Development Council, is the Secretary of the Council.

Without prejudice to the autonomy of Regulators, the Council monitors macro prudential

supervision of the economy, including functioning of large financial conglomerates, and addresses

inter-regulatory coordination and financial sector development issues.

It also focuses on financial literacy and financial inclusion.

99) D

The World Gold Council’s 28 Members are some of the world’s most forward-thinking gold

mining companies. They are headquartered across the world and have mining operations in

over 45 countries.

India has piped the Netherlands to move into the list of top ten countries in terms of total

gold reserves.

According to the World Gold Council, India has gold reserves totalling 618.2 tonnes, which is

marginally higher than the Netherlands’ reserves of 612.5 tonnes.

Interestingly, in terms of individual countries, India actually ranks ninth since the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) occupies the third position after the U.S. and Germany.

According to the latest release by the World Gold Council, U.S. leads the country list with

total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany with 3,366.8 tonnes.

While the IMF is ranked third with a holding of 2,451.8 tonnes, it is followed by countries

such as Italy (2,451.8 tonnes), France (2,436.1 tonnes), Russia (2,219.2 tonnes), China

(1,936.5 tonnes), Switzerland (1,040 tonnes) and Japan (765.2 tonnes) before India at the

10th spot.

India’s entry into the list of top ten countries comes at a time when the quantum of monthly

purchases is the lowest in over three years.

100) B

The SIDBI Assistance to Facilitate Emergency response against Corona virus – SAFE PLUS will

be offered collateral free and disbursed within 48 hours.

SIDBI informed that the loans will be offered at an interest rate of five per cent.

Meanwhile, the bank further informed that the limit of SAFE loans, announced a few days

back has been enhanced from 50 lakh rupees to two crore rupees.

The scheme was launched to provide financial assistance to MSMEs engaged in

manufacturing of hand sanitizers, masks, gloves, head gear, bodysuits, shoe-covers,

ventilators and goggles used in dealing with COVID-19.