UPSC CSE Free Material (OPTIMISTIC IAS)

VISION IAS
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Test Booklet Series

TEST-28
Time Allowed: Two Hours
GENERAL STUDIES (P) 2021 – Test – 3205
C
Maximum Marks: 200

INSTRUCTIONS

ECONOMIC
SURVEY BUDGET +

(COMPLETE SYLLABUS)
+ Current Affairs
DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT
9310521834
 UPSC CSE Free Material (OPTIMISTIC IAS)
1. Consider the following statements regarding 4. Consider the following statements with
the Development Financial Institution (DFI) reference to Fixed-term employment (FTE):
proposed in the budget 2021-22: 1. Fixed-term employment (FTE) is a
1. It will provide medium to long term contract in which a company hires an
finance for infrastructure in the country. employee for a specific period of time.
2. Central government’s share of 2. An FTE worker will be entitled to all
expenditure in the National statutory benefits like a permanent
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) will be worker.
completely funded by this institution. 3. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Which of the statements given above is/are allow converting permanent jobs into
correct? fixed-term contracts.
(a) 1 only Which of the statements given above is/are
(b) 2 only correct?
(c) Both 1 and 2 (a) 1 only
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
2. Consider the following statements with (d) 1, 2 and 3
reference to Startups Intellectual Property
Protection (SIPP) scheme: 5. Which of the following correctly describes
1. It enables a start-up to seek assistance in the term 'homemade leverage'?
filing and disposal of the IP applications (a) It refers to overnight borrowing a
from any empanelled facilitator. substantial amount of cash for intraday
2. Professional charges of the facilitators
stock trading.
are entirely borne by the Central
(b) It refers to the practice of printing
Government.
currency in order to insulate the
Which of the statements given above is/are
economy from black swan events.
correct?
(c) It refers to the unfair trade advantage
(a) 1 only
reaped by an economy by devaluating its
(b) 2 only
own currency.
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) It is the use of personal borrowing by
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
investors to change the amount of
financial leverage of the firm.
3. Union Government in the Budget 2021-22
has proposed to set up a Multipurpose
6. Which of the following are included in the
Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu. Which of the
category of essential Commodities under the
following statements are correct regarding
Seaweed? Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955?
1. Seaweed can be used as a feedstock for 1. Seed of cattle fodder
producing biofuel. 2. Inorganic fertilizers
2. Seaweed is a potential source to produce 3. Drugs
biofertilizers. 4. Petroleum Products
3. India is the largest producer of edible 5. Edible Oilseeds
seaweeds in the world. 6. Jute textiles
Select the correct answer using the code Select the correct answer using the code
given below. given below.
(a) 1 and 3 only (a) 1, 2, 5 and 6 only
(b) 1 and 2 only (b) 1, 3, 4 and 6 only
(c) 2 and 3 only (c) 2, 3, 4 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

7. Which of the following group of countries 10. With reference to the newly announced
strategic disinvestment policy in the budget
are the members of the Arctic Council?
2021, consider the following statements:
(a) Canada, Denmark, United Kingdom 1. Under this policy disinvestment
(b) Russia, United States and Iceland proceeds will be credited into the
National Investment and Infrastructure
(c) Norway, Sweden and Ireland Fund.
(d) Canada, Denmark, United Kingdom 2. Strategic disinvestment in India includes
the transfer of management control from
the government to the private sector.
8. Consider the following statements with Which of the statements given above is/are
respect to International Platform on correct?
(a) 1 only
Sustainable Finance: (b) 2 only
1. It is a forum for public authorities (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
working on environmentally sustainable
finance issues. 11. With reference to Consumer Price Index
2. India has recently joined the (CPI), consider the following statements:
1. Rise in Housing Prices does not have
international platform. any effect on the Rural CPI (Consumer
Which of the statements given above is/are Price Index).
2. Labour Bureau computes CPI-IW with
correct?
2012 as the base year.
(a) 1 only 3. Increase in the prices of fuel and food
(b) 2 only increases the CPI core inflation rate.
Which of the statements given above is/are
(c) Both 1 and 2 correct?
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
9. With reference to One Planet Summit, (d) 1, 2 and 3
consider the following statements:
12. Consider the following characteristic
1. It is jointly organized by the United features:
Nations Environment Programme and 1. It is an endangered mammal and state
animal of Sikkim.
the United States of America. 2. It is most active at night and spend most
2. It aims to mobilize public and private of their lives in trees and even sleep
aloft.
finance in support of climate action.
3. It thrives best at upper altitudes having
Which of the statements given above is/are deciduous and conifer forests with dense
correct? understories of bamboo.
Which of the following animal has the above
(a) 1 only characteristics?
(b) 2 only (a) Sloth bear
(b) Hoolock gibbon
(c) Both 1 and 2
(c) Red Panda
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) Lion-tailed macaque
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

13. The terms 'S&P BSE Carbonex', 'MSCI ESG 16. Consider the following statements with
India', sometimes seen in the news refer to respect to International Trade of India:
(a) stock market indices that indicate 1. Financial services account for the
majority of export services.
performance of coal based companies
2. India is suffering from a capital account
(b) indices that measure the carbon footprint
deficit in recent years.
of all the companies listed in stock 3. Crude Petroleum is the highest imported
market commodity.
(c) green indices of stock market Which of the statements given above is/are
(d) stock market indices that indicate correct?
performance of crude oil based (a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
companies
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
14. Which of the following is/are the indicators
of a robust credit flow for enterprises? 17. Which of the following are the impacts of
1. Rise in commercial paper issuances prolonged forbearance policy on banks and
2. Easing of corporate bond yields borrowers?
3. Declining rate of corporate loan default 1. Ever-greening of Loans
2. Undercapitalization of Banks
Select the correct answer using the code
3. Increased defaults by borrowers
given below.
benefitting from forbearance
(a) 1 and 2 only Select the correct answer using the code
(b) 2 only given below
(c) 1 and 3 only (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 1 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
15. Consider the following statements with
reference to Code on Social Security, 2020:
18. With reference to the United Nations
1. The Code envisages the mandatory Security Council (UNSC), consider the
extension of social security benefits to following statements:
the employees working in 1. Presidency of the United Nations
establishments with less than 10 Security Council is rotated among the
employees. five permanent member-states.
2. Permanent members can only be
2. There is a provision to include self-
removed by the unanimous voting of the
employed persons into the fold of social
General Assembly.
security coverage. 3. It can forcefully intervene in a state’s
3. Gig workers have been provided with domestic affairs only on the grounds of
social security benefit under this code. threat to “international peace and
Which of the statements given above are security”.
correct? Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

 UPSC CSE Free Material (OPTIMISTIC IAS)

19. Consider the following statements regarding 22. With respect to direct tax proposals
the United Nations' Treaty on Prohibition of regarding senior citizens in the budget 2021-
Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which recently 22, which of the following statements is
entered into force: correct?
1. It prohibits state parties to develop or (a) Senior citizens aged 70 and above are
possess nuclear weapons. exempt paying income tax.
2. Treaty provisions are legally binding
(b) Senior citizens aged 80 and above are
upon the state parties.
exempt from filing income tax returns.
3. India has not signed the treaty.
(c) Senior citizens aged 60 and above,
Which of the statements given above is/are
whose only source of income is pension
correct?
and interest are exempt from paying
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only income tax.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) Senior citizens aged 75 and above,
(d) 1, 2 and 3 whose only source of income is pension
and interest are exempt from filing
20. Which of the following is/are the initiatives income tax returns.
taken by the government to enhance the
domestic production of steel in India? 23. Which of the following dimensions are
1. Inclusion of specialty steel under included in Bare Necessities Index (BNI)?
Production Linked Incentive scheme. 1. Water
2. Offering steel to MSMEs at export 2. Sanitation
parity price. 3. Employment
3. Preference to domestically produced
4. Housing
iron and steel in government
Select the correct answer using the code
procurement.
given below.
Select the correct answer using the code
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(d) 1, 2 and 3
24. Consider the following statements with
21. With reference to the External debt of India, reference to Startup Yatra:
Consider the following statements: 1. It aims to empower budding
1. Debtors can be the Union government, entrepreneurs at the grassroots level by
state governments, corporations conducting day-long boot camps.
excluding citizens of India. 2. It focuses on building an ecosystem to
2. The ratio of External Debt to GDP has nurture innovation and startups in Tier I
been increasing steadily in the last 5
cities across the country.
years.
Which of the statements given above is/are
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
correct?
(a) 1 only
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

25. Consider the following statements with 28. Which of the following is/are correct with
respect to National Carbonaceous Aerosols reference to recently launched Light House
Projects?
Programme:
1. These are model housing projects built
1. It was launched by NITI Aayog as a part with technology suitable to the geo-
of the Climate Change Action climatic and hazard conditions of the
region.
Programme.
2. LHPs will act as live laboratories for all
2. It involves a consortium of research stakeholders leading to mainstreaming
institutions and government of global technologies in the Indian
organizations. context.
Select the correct answer using the code
Which of the statements given above is/are
given below.
correct? (a) 1 only
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 29. Which of the following factors lead to weak
transmission of Monetary policy decisions?
1. Very low-interest rates on Small Savings
26. When the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cuts
Schemes
interest rates it leads to 2. Long Maturity Profile of Deposits at
1. Increase in bond price Fixed Interest Rates
2. Increase in inflation 3. High Non Performing Assets
Select the correct answer using the code
Select the correct answer using the code
given below.
given below. (a) 1 and 3 only
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(b) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 30. With reference to the recent changes in the
classification of MSMEs, consider the
following statements:
27. Consider the following statements:
1. Units in manufacturing with an
1. Deficit financing is inflationary. investment in plant and machinery less than
2. Decreasing Direct Tax rates helps in one crore are classified as micro-scale units.
decreasing inflation. 2. Units in services with an annual turnover
between ten lakhs and two crores are
Which of the statements given above is/are
classified as medium-scale units.
not correct? Which of the statements given above is/are
(a) 1 only correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

31. Which of the following are the sub-indices 34. According to Economic Survey 2020-21,
of the Digital Payments Index of the Reserve States that adopted Pradhan Mantri Jan
Bank of India? Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) have seen better
improvement in social indicators than those
1. Consumer centricity
that did not. In this context, which of the
2. Payment Performance following are the positive outcomes of
3. Payment infrastructure adopting PM-JAY?
Select the correct answer using the code 1. PM-JAY led to a reduction in infant and
given below. child mortality rates.
(a) 1 and 2 only 2. PM-JAY has enabled increased access to
family planning
(b) 2 and 3 only
3. PM-JAY led to remarkable improvement
(c) 1 and 3 only
in vaccination of children.
(d) 1, 2 and 3 Select the correct answer using the code
given below.
32. Which of the following are the initiatives (a) 1 and 2 only
undertaken by the government to improve (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
the research eco-system in the country?
(d) 1, 2 and 3
1. Prime Minister’s Research Fellows
(PMRF) Scheme. 35. Which of the following sectors are eligible
2. Impacting Research Innovation and for loan under the Stand Up India scheme?
Technology (IMPRINT) 1. Manufacturing
3. Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana 2. Agriculture
3. Services
Select the correct answer using the code
4. Trading
given below.
Select the correct answer using the code
(a) 1 and 2 only given below.
(b) 2 and 3 only (a) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

33. Which of the following is/are the

36. Recently, a National Hydrogen Mission has
characteristic(s) of a Public Good? been announced in the budget 2021-22. In
1. Consuming the good does not reduce the this context, consider the following
amount available to other people. statements with respect to the Hydrogen
2. It is not possible to exclude people from energy scenario in India:
using the good. 1. Currently most of India's hydrogen
production is fossil fuel-based.
3. Consumption of this good is believed to
2. Recently Delhi became the first city in
confer benefits on society as a whole. India to operate buses that run on pure
Select the correct answer using the code hydrogen energy.
given below. Which of the statements given above is/are
(a) 1 and 2 only correct?
(b) 2 only (a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

37. Consider the following statements: 40. Consider the following pairs in the context
1. Interest coverage ratio is the ratio of a of various steps taken to combat the
firms profit after tax to its total interest
slowdown caused by COVID-19 in India:
expenses.
Type of Measure Example
2. Zombie Firms have an interest coverage
ratio of less than one. 1. Fiscal Measure : Interest Subvention
Which of the statements given above is/are for MUDRA loans
correct? 2. Monetary : Additional credit
(a) 1 only
Measure through Kisan Credit
(b) 2 only
Card
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 3. Structural : Raising of FDI limit
reforms in the Defence
38. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural manufacturing
Development (NABARD) is associated with
Which of the pairs given above is/are
which of the following funds?
correctly matched?
1. National Adaptation Fund for Climate
Change (a) 1 and 2 only
2. Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (b) 3 only
3. Tribal Development Fund (c) 1 and 3 only
4. National Clean Energy Fund
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Select the correct answer using the code
given below.
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only 41. Consider the following statements regarding

(b) 2, 3 and 4 only Pravasi Bharatiya Divas:

(c) 1, 2 and 4 only 1. It is celebrated annually to reconnect the
(d) 1, 3 and 4 only overseas Indian community with their
roots.
39. Consider the following statements:
1. 'Coalition for Sustainable Climate 2. It is organized by the Ministry of

Action' is a unique initiative of the Culture.

United Nations Environment Programme 3. Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is
(UNEP). organized outside India for those who
2. It is aimed to make public and private
cannot travel to India.
corporates part of the partnership to fight
climate change. Which of the statements given above is/are

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

correct? (a) 1 and 2 only
(a) 1 only (b) 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

42. Which of the following actions can be taken 45. Consider the following statements regarding
to prevent a large appreciation of Rupee? Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI):
1. Its mandate covers not only solar energy
1. Encouraging Foreign Capital outflows
but the entire renewable energy domain
2. Accumulation of forex reserves by RBI including energy sources like tidal and
3. Sale of Government Securities geothermal.
2. It can participate in the trade of power
Select the correct answer using the code
products and services both in India and
given below. abroad.
(a) 2 only 3. It acts as the implementing agency of the
Scheme for Development of Solar Parks
(b) 1 and 2 only
and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects on
(c) 1, 2 and 3 behalf of the central government.
(d) 1 and 3 only Which of the statements given above are
correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
43. The National Commission on Rural Labour (b) 2 and 3 only
was chaired by: (c) 1 and 3 only
(a) C. H. Hanumantha Rao (d) 1, 2 and 3

(b) Ravindra Varma 46. Which of the following sectors have been
(c) Montek. S. Ahluwalia identified as Strategic Sectors for Public
(d) None of the above Sector Enterprises?
1. Space
2. Petroleum
44. Which of the following statements is/are 3. Telecom
correct with respect to the National Faceless 4. Banking
Select the correct answer using the code
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal proposed in
given below.
the recent budget? (a) 1, 2 and 4 only
1. Any communication between the (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
appellant and tribunal will be in
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
electronic mode.
2. Physical presence of the appellant will 47. With reference to Sovereign Credit Rating,
consider the following statements:
be necessary only if the disputed amount
1. Sovereign Credit Rating always reflects
is more than 500 crores. the true fundamentals of an economy.
Select the correct answer using the code 2. Lower Sovereign Credit ratings tend to
given below. downgrade all debt instruments in the
country.
(a) 1 only
Which of the statements given above is/are
(b) 2 only correct?
(c) Both 1 and 2 (a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(d) Neither 1 and 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

48. With reference to Production Linked 51. Consider the following statements regarding
Incentives Scheme, consider the following Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
statements:
(TKDL):
1. It aims at boosting domestic
manufacturing of goods specifically 1. It is a repository of traditional
meant for exports. knowledge of Indian systems of
2. The scheme is designed to select only a medicine.
few top companies due to limited funds
2. It seeks to prevent the grant of patents
from the government.
Which of the statements given above is/are based on Indian traditional knowledge.
correct? 3. Complete database is openly available
(a) 1 only across the globe to promote the Indian
(b) 2 only
way of life.
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 Which of the statements given above are
correct?
49. With reference to the recently released (a) 1 and 2 only
Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI)
(b) 2 and 3 only
Wave-1 Report, consider the following
statements: (c) 1 and 3 only
1. It is a national survey to study the (d) 1, 2 and 3
population ageing in India.
2. It collects data related to health as well
52. Which of the following statements are
as income and assets.
Which of the statements given above are correct with respect to the Deep Ocean
correct? Mission launched by India?
(a) 1 only 1. It aims to explore the minerals, energy
(b) 2 only
and marine diversity of the underwater
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 world.
2. Developing manned submersible
50. The activities of the Central Statistics Office vehicles is one of the key components of
(CSO) include
the mission.
1. Conducting of Annual Survey of
Industries 3. An offshore desalination plant working
2. Publication of Consumer Price Index for on tidal energy will be developed under
Urban Non-Manual Employees this mission.
3. Publication of Index of Industrial
Select the correct answer using the code
Production
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
given below. (a) 1 and 2 only
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3

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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

53. Consider the following statements regarding 55. With reference to Atmanirbhar Bharat

the 'National Monetization Pipeline' (NMP) Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), consider the
following statements:
unveiled in the Union Budget 2021-22
1. Under the scheme, Government will pay
recently:
both employees' and employers'
1. Potential brownfield infrastructure assets
contribution towards Employees'
will be monetized under NMP. Provident Fund (EPF) in establishments
2. Both domestic and foreign investors are employing upto 1000 employees.

eligible to invest under NMP. 2. The scheme is valid only for existing
employees in an establishment whose
3. Core infrastructure assets such as
monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000.
Dedicated Freight Corridors are not
3. A beneficiary must hold Universal
included under NMP.
Account Number (UAN) in order to get
Which of the statements given above is/are the benefit of the scheme.
correct? Which of the statements given above is/are

(a) 2 only correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(d) 1, 2 and 3 only

54. Consider the following statements with 56. Consider the following statements with

respect to India Volatility Index (VIX): reference to Research and Innovation in

India:
1. The index is circulated by the Securities
1. The private sector is the largest
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
contributor to gross expenditure on
2. It calculates the degree of fluctuation
Research & Development.
that can be expected in the Nifty50 over 2. Number of non-resident patent
the next 30 days. applications are more than the resident

Which of the statements given above is/are patent applications.

Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
correct?
(a) 1 only
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

57. The Union Budget for 2018-19 announced 60. Consider the following statements:
that Minimum Support Price (MSP) would
1. At present, more than 60GW solar
be kept at the level of 1.5 times of the cost of
production. Which of the following factors energy capacity is under installation.
are considered while calculating the cost of 2. The Energy Savings Certificates under
production of crop?
Perform Achieve Trade (PAT) scheme
1. Interest on working capital
2. Diesel/electricity for operation of pump are issued by the Bureau of Energy
sets Efficiency under the Ministry of Power.
3. Expenses incurred on use of material
inputs like seeds, fertilizers and 3. India now has the 4th largest wind
manures. power capacity in the world.
4. Rent paid for leased in land
Which of the statements given above is/are
Select the correct answer using the code
given below. correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only (a) 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only (c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
58. Consider the following statements regarding
the Indian Renewable Energy Development
Agency (IREDA): 61. Consider the following statements with
1. It is a Non-Banking Financial Company
respect to Corporate Insolvency Resolution
(NFBC) registered with the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). Process (CIRP):
2. It provides financial support to projects 1. The CIRP process is initiated under the
focusing on energy efficiency.
Which of the statements given above is/are provisions of the Insolvency and
correct? Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
(a) 1 only
2. The minimum amount of default for
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 initiating CIRP is Ten lakh rupees.
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 3. The maximum time within which CIRP
has to be mandatorily completed,
59. Consider the following statements:
1. India has remained a net exporter of including any extension period, is two
agri-products since the 1991 reforms. years.
2. The share of basmati rice in total
agricultural export value has remained Which of the statements given above is/are
the largest during the last six years. correct?
Which of the statements given above is/are
(a) 1 only
correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(b) 2 only (c) 1 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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DEEPAK PHOTOSTAT 9310521834

62. Consider the following statements: 65. Which of the following inflation index has
1. The higher the Current Account Saving never been into negative territory in the last
Account (CASA) ratio the better is the
five years?
financial health of a bank.
1. Headline inflation
2. Scheduled banks in India are mandated
by RBI to maintain a minimum Capital 2. Core inflation
to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio of 15%. 3. Food inflation
3. Banks with high Capital to Risk- Select the correct answer using the code
Weighted Assets Ratio raise funds at a given below.
lower cost.
(a) 1 and 2 only
Which of the statements given above is/are
(b) 2 and 3 only
correct?
(a) 2 only (c) 3 only
(b) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
66. Consider the following statements, with
reference to digital dividend in Rural and
63. Which of the following missions has been
launched for Saturn exploration? Urban areas of India:
1. Pioneer 11 1. Teledensity in urban areas accounts
2. Cassini Probe more than twice than rural areas.
3. Perseverance rover
2. Number of telephone subscriptions is
Select the correct answer using the code
higher in rural area compare to Urban
given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only areas.
(b) 2 only Which of the statements given above is/are
(c) 1 and 3 only correct?
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
64. With respect to the insurance sector in India,
(c) Both 1 and 2
consider the following statements:
1. FDI limit in the insurance sector has (d) Neither 1 nor 2
been raised to 74 per cent in the recent
budget. 67. The 'Chile/Madrid Climate Change
2. Foreign ownership and control in
Conference’ is related to the affairs of which
agricultural insurance companies are not
of the following?
allowed.
Which of the statements given above is/are (a) The United Nations Framework
correct? Convention on Climate Change
(a) 1 only (b) The International Monetary Fund
(b) 2 only (c) The World Trade Organization
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) The Convention on Biological Diversity
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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68. Which of the following statements about 71. As per the Economic Survey 2020-21,
National Research Foundation (NRF), consider the following statements with
proposed in National Education Policy respect to the Regional Distribution of
(2020) is correct? Agricultural Credit in India:
(a) It does not fund research activities at
1. Southern region shows the highest share
state universities.
in total agricultural credit.
(b) It provides funding to research projects
in science as well as non-science 2. North-Eastern region (NER) shows the
disciplines. lowest share in agricultural credit due to
(c) It will be headed by the secretary of low cultivable area.
Ministry of Education. Which of the statements given above is/are
(d) It aims to increase the expenditure of the correct?
government on Research and (a) 1 only
Development (R&D) to 2.5 per cent of
(b) 2 only
GDP by 2025.
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
69. Consider the following statements, with
respect to the India’s Textile and Apparels
industry: 72. If the RBI decides to absorb liquidity from
1. It is the second-largest employment the market, which of the following would it
generator sector in the country not do?
2. India is the third-largest exporter of 1. Increase Reverse repo rate
textile and apparel products globally. 2. Decrease in Currency Reserve Ratio
Which of the statements given above is/are
3. Purchase Government Securities from
correct?
the market
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only Select the correct answer using the code
(c) Both 1 and 2 given below.
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
70. Which of the following initiatives have been (c) 2 and 3 only
taken by the government to bring reforms in (d) 1, 2 and 3
the Mining sector?
1. Setting up of Project Monitoring Units
73. Consider the following statements:
(PMUs)
1. Coal production in India has been
2. Removal of distinction between captive
and non-captive mines steadily declining during the last five
3. Separate licensing for prospecting and years.
mining 2. India is a net exporter of coal for the last
4. Joint auction of bauxite and coal mineral five years.
blocks Which of the statements given above is/are
Select the correct answer using the code correct?
given below.
(a) 1 only
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 4 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
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74. Which of the following supports the 77. National Language Translation Mission
argument that higher public debt leads to (NTLM) proposed in the budget 2021 aims
lower growth? to
1. Higher levels of public debt tend to (a) effectively implement the three-language
decrease consumption. policy recommended by the National

2. It can result in crowding out of private Education Policy (NEP).

(b) support the Traditional Knowledge
investments.
Digital Library (TKDL) in translating
3. It can put upward pressure on the
various books on Ayurveda.
interest rates.
(c) make available the governance and
Select the correct answer using the code
policy-related knowledge on the Internet
given below.
in major Indian languages.
(a) 1 and 2 only
(d) facilitate the translation of prominent
(b) 2 and 3 only Hindi literature works into major Indian
(c) 1 and 3 only languages.
(d) 1, 2 and 3
78. Consider the following statements regarding
75. Which of the following has been the Demand shock:
economic implication of the recent COVID 1. A demand shock is a sudden and
lockdown in India? temporary increase or decrease in the
1. Surge in government debt demand for a good.
2. Decline in inflation rates 2. Change in price cannot cause a demand
3. Widening of trade deficit shock.

Select the correct answer using the code Which of the statements given above is/are

given below. correct?

(a) 1 only
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) 1, 2 and 3

79. Union government in the budget 2021-22

76. Which of the following missions is not a part
has proposed 'MetroLite' and 'MetroNeo'
of the Umbrella 'National Action Plan on technologies to
Climate Change'? (a) replace the existing Metro rail system in
(a) Green India Mission only a few Tier-1 cities.
(b) National Mission for Sustaining the (b) upgrade the existing Metro rail system to
Himalayan Ecosystem bullet train system by 2040.
(c) National Mission on Biodiversity and (c) provide metro rail system at a much
Human Well-Being lesser cost in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
(d) National Mission on Strategic (d) achieve 100 percent electrification of the
Knowledge for Climate Change existing metro rail systems in all cities.

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80. Which of the following are the objectives of 83. Fifteenth Finance Commission has
the Samagra Shiksha programme? prescribed the borrowing limits for states as
1. Treat school education holistically as a
a percentage of Gross State Domestic
continuum from Pre-school to Class 12.
Product (GSDP). In this context arrange the
2. Focus on Digital Education through
smart classrooms, digital boards and following states in the increasing order of
DTH channels. their GSDPs.
3. Capacity Building of Teachers and
1. Uttar Pradesh
School Heads.
2. Maharashtra
4. Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika
Vidyalayas. 3. Madhya Pradesh

Select the correct answer using the code 4. West Bengal

given below. Select the correct answer using the code
(a) 1 and 2 only
given below.
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(a) 4-3-1-2
(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (b) 4-3-2-1

(c) 3-4-1-2
81. Consider the following statements regarding (d) 3-4-2-1
the Financial Stability Board (FSB):
1. It is an intergovernmental body that
84. Consider the following statements with
monitors the global financial system
2. FSB’s decisions are not legally binding reference to Food subsidy:
on its members. 1. Food Subsidy released by Government
3. India is one of its founding members.
of India has been declining since 2009-
Which of the statements given above is/are
10.
correct?
(a) 1 only 2. The Central Issue Price of rice and

(b) 2 and 3 only wheat has not been revised since the
(c) 1 and 3 only introduction of the National Food
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Security Act 2013.

Which of the statements given above is/are

82. Finance Minister has announced ‘MITRA’
scheme in the Budget 2021-22. It is related correct?
to (a) 1 only
(a) Banking sector (b) 2 only
(b) Skill development
(c) Both 1 and 2
(c) Textile sector
(d) Food Processing sector (d) Neither 1 nor 2

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85. Consider the following statements with 87. Which of the following correctly describes
the term 'Headcount ratio'?
respect to recent changes in the regulatory
(a) It is the percentage of the population that
regime of Urban Cooperative Banks is below the poverty line.
(UCBs): (b) It is the percentage of unemployed in the
working-age population.
1. The overall priority sector lending target (c) It is the ratio of rural to the urban
for UCBs has been increased to 75 % of population living below the poverty line.
(d) It is the percentage of stillborn births in
Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) by
the total newborn population.
2024.
2. The Reserve Bank of India has been 88. Indian Railways has launched the National
Rail Plan for a future-ready Railway system
given powers for approval for the by 2030. Which of the following statements
appointment and removal of Chairman is/are correct with respect to the National
Rail Plan?
of UCBs.
1. It aims to increase the modal share of
3. UCBs can raise capital by issue of equity Railways in freight by 45 per cent by
in the stock market. 2030.
2. It aims to make Indian Railways a net-
Which of the statements given above are zero carbon emitter by 2030.
correct? 3. Under this plan private sector role will
be limited to only passenger train
(a) 1 and 2 only
operations.
(b) 2 and 3 only Select the correct answer using the code
(c) 1 and 3 only given below.
(a) 1 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1, 2 and 3
86. Consider the following statements:
1. National Housing Bank (NHB) is a 89. With reference to Social Service Sector
Expenditure by General Government
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve
(Combined Centre and States), consider the
Bank of India. following statements:
2. NHB launched the NHB Residex index 1. There is continuously rise in expenditure
on social services as percentage to GDP
to track the movement in prices of during the last five years.
residential properties in 50 cities in 2. Total Budgetary Expenditure on social
sector has been increasing continuously
India.
during the last five years.
Which of the statements given above is/are 3. Health accounts the highest share in total
correct? Social Service Sector Expenditure.
Which of the statements given above is/are
(a) 1 only correct?
(b) 2 only (a) 2 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) 1 and 3 only
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90. With reference to India's debt status, 93. Consider the following statements with
consider the following statements: reference to the Central Drugs Standard
Control Organization (CDSCO):
1. India has never defaulted on its debt
1. It is the National Regulatory Authority
since the economic reforms of 1991. responsible for the regulation of drugs
2. Currently India has sufficient reserves to under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act,1940.
cover its entire debt including that of the 2. Central Drugs Standard Control
private sector. Organisation is under the administrative
control of the Ministry of Health &
Which of the statements given above is/are
Family Welfare.
correct? Select the correct answer using the code
(a) 1 only given below.
(b) 2 only (a) 1 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

91. World Investment Report 2020 sometimes 94. With reference to trade logistics in India,
seen in the news, is published by consider the following statements:
1. Ports handle around 90% of export-
(a) World Bank
import cargo by volume and 70% by
(b) International Monetary Fund
value in India.
(c) World Economic Forum 2. The average turnaround time of ships in
(d) United Nations Conference on Trade and India has increased in the last five years.
Development. Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 only
92. Consider the following statements with (b) 2 only
reference to Time Use Survey 2019: (c) Both 1 and 2
1. Its primary objective is to measure the (d) Neither 1 nor 2
participation of men and women in paid
95. With reference to Skill development in
and unpaid activities.
India, consider the following statements:
2. According to this, females 1. More than 50% of the workforce in India
disproportionately spend less time on has received training from informal
unpaid domestic and caregiving services sources.
compared to their male counterparts. 2. Agriculture sector is the largest
employer with 42.5 per cent of
3. It is conducted by the National
workforce.
Statistical Office (NSO). 3. Self-employment is the major source of
Which of the statements given above is/are employment for the workforce in India.
correct? Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only (c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
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96. Agriculture Infrastructure and Development 99. The economies across the world have
Cess (AIDC) has been proposed by the undertaken massive use of “Above-the-line”
central government on the imports of certain
fiscal policy measures, the full cost of which
products in the Budget 2021-22. Which of
the following products are exempted from reflects in the fiscal deficit and government
this cess? debt. Which of the following are the
1. Apples
“Above-the-line” fiscal measures?
2. Alcoholic beverages
3. Gold and Silver 1. Spending on unemployment benefits
Select the correct answer using the code 2. Tax relief measures
given below.
3. Special Credit Facility to Street Vendors
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only Select the correct answer using the code
(c) 2 and 3 only given below.
(d) None (a) 1 and 2 only

97. Which of the following activities are carried (b) 2 and 3 only
out by the Geological Survey of India (GSI)? (c) 1 and 3 only
1. Mineral prospecting and investigations (d) 1, 2 and 3
2. Offshore surveys
3. Natural hazards studies
Select the correct answer using the code 100. With reference to Agriculture Infrastructure
given below. Fund scheme, consider the following
(a) 1 and 2 only
statements:
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only 1. It aims to provide medium to long term
(d) 1, 2 and 3 debt financing for post-harvest
management infrastructure.
98. Consider the following statements with
respect to Foreign Exchange Reserves of 2. It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
India: Which of the statements given above is/are
1. India is the second largest foreign correct?
exchange reserves holder in the world.
(a) 1 only
2. Gold constitutes the largest component
of the foreign exchange reserves. (b) 2 only
3. Under the Reserve Bank of India Act, (c) Both 1 and 2
RBI is prohibited from investing Foreign
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
exchange reserves in debt instruments.
Which of the statements given above is/are
not correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

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 UPSC CSE Free Material (OPTIMISTIC IAS)

VISIONIAS
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ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS

GENERAL STUDIES (P) TEST – 3205 (2021)

Q 1.A
• Development Financial Institutions are organizations that are involved in medium to long-term
financing at a low cost for development. Profit is not their prime motive rather they are guided by the
developmental needs of the economy. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• These are promoted with a view to providing funding to sectors like infrastructure, industries, etc which
have long gestation periods in repaying the loans.
• To fund various government initiatives like National Infrastructure Pipeline and other initiatives
government in the budget 2021-22 has proposed to set up a Development Financial Institution (DFI) with
a seed capital of 20,000 crores. It is to have a lending portfolio of 5 lakh crores in the next three years.
• Expenditure of National Infrastructure Pipeline will be shared between the centre, states and private sector
in the ratio of 39,40 and 21 respectively. DFI proposed in the budget helps in raising finance for the
centre, states, and the private sector in meeting the expenditure towards National Infrastructure
Pipeline. It has no commitment to completely fund the central government’s share of expenditure in
the National Infrastructure Pipeline. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 2.C
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are emerging as a strategic business tool for any business organization
to enhance industrial competitiveness. Startups, with limited resources and manpower, can sustain in this
highly competitive world only through continuous growth and development-oriented innovations; for this,
it is equally crucial that they protect their IPRs. The scheme for Startups Intellectual Property Protection
(SIPP) is envisaged to facilitate the protection of Patents, Trademark and Designs of innovative and
interested startups.
• The scheme of SIPP aims to promote awareness and adoption of Intellectual Property Rights amongst
startups. The scheme is inclined to nurture and mentor innovative and emerging technologies among
Startups and assist them in protecting and commercialize it by providing them access to high-quality IP
services and resources.
• The scheme enables a start-up to seek assistance from any empanelled facilitator to file and
prosecute their application. Professional charges of the facilitators are reimbursed by the office of
CGPDTM. The facilitator can claim payment for the services given to the start-up from the Office
of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (O/o CGPDTM).
• Any Start-Up certified by the Start-up Certification Board as having an innovative business can apply for
availing benefits through the scheme.
• For effective implementation of the scheme, facilitators shall be empanelled by the Controller General of
Patent, Trademark and Design (CGPDTM). The CGPDTM shall regulate the conduct and functions of
empanelled facilitators from time to time.
• Hence, statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Q 3.B
• Seaweed is an umbrella term used for many species of marine plants and algae that grow in the ocean as
well as in rivers, lakes, and other water bodies.
• Seaweed is increasingly seen as a promising feedstock to produce biofuels. Seaweed species, like
sugar kelp, have high carbohydrate and low lignin content that is perfect for making bioethanol.
Seaweed is also sustainable and needs only sun and sea to grow and has no competition with land
crops. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Seaweed can be used as a source of bio-fertilizer in either dried or fresh form. It helps to enhance
biochemical constituents like carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, dietary fibre, etc in plants. Seaweed is
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 also a good source of micro & macro elements required for plant nutrition. Hence, statement 2 is
correct.
• China is the largest producer of edible seaweeds in the world.
• Global production of seaweed is about 33 million tonnes, half of it coming from China and most of the
rest from Indonesia and the Philippines; India produces about 20,000 tonnes. India’s potential has been
estimated at a million tonnes, a fourth of which is in Tamil Nadu alone. Hence, statement 3 is not
correct.

Q 4.D
• Fixed-term employment is a contract in which a company or an enterprise hires an employee for a
specific period of time.
• Under the fixed-term employment contract, the payout or the payment is fixed in advance and is not
altered till the term expires. In fixed-term employment, the employee is not on the payroll of the company.
• The concept of fixed-term employment (FTE) introduced is a win-win situation where an employee gets
all the benefits of a permanent employee and the employer can engage a worker without the intervention
of a contractor.
• An FTE worker will be entitled to all statutory benefits like a permanent worker. Further, an FTE
worker has also been allowed the benefit of proportionate gratuity even if the contract is for a period of
one year.
• Advantages of Fixed-term Employment:
o Fixed-term employment may allow employers the flexibility to hire workers for a fixed duration and
for work that may not be permanent in nature.
o Further, fixed-term contracts are negotiated directly between the employer and employee and reduce
the role of a middleman such as an agency or contractor.
o They may also benefit the worker since the Code entitles fixed-term employees to the same benefits
(such as medical insurance and pension) and conditions of work as are available to permanent
employees. This could help improve the conditions of temporary workers in comparison with
contract workers who may not be provided with such benefits.
• Previously Fixed-term employment cannot be given for routine jobs. It is usually given out for jobs that
are temporary. With Industrial Relations (IR) Code 2020, firms can now directly hire contract workers
through the fixed-term contract without a middle man in the way. Also Private companies in India can
now convert permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts.
• Hence, all statements are correct.

Q 5.D
• Homemade leverage is used by an individual investor to artificially adjust the leverage of a company. An
individual investing in a company with no leverage can recreate the effect of leverage using homemade
leverage, which includes taking out personal loans on the investment. However, differences in the tax rate
between the corporation and the individual will likely disrupt the ability of the investor to construct the
leveraging scenario accurately. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
• The use of leverage increases the potential for returns while increasing the riskiness of an investment.
Companies that utilize leverage may be able to generate a more substantial return for shareholders, all else
equal, than a company that does not employ leverage. However, investment in leveraged companies may
be riskier than investment in companies that do not borrow. A way to attempt to get around this
risk/reward tradeoff is for an investor to buy shares of a company that does not utilize leverage and then
takes out personal loans to gain personal leverage. Theoretically, if the person can borrow at the same rate
as the company, the investor can earn a rate of return closer to a leveraged company return while being
invested in a non-leveraged company.
• The goal of the investor is to replicate the return compounding effects of corporate leverage synthetically
but while being invested in a non-leveraged firm. Theoretically, an investor may be able to come close to
this goal if they can borrow at the same rate the company is able to borrow.

Q 6.D
• The Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955 and the Prevention of Black-Marketing and Maintenance of
Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980 are administered through the States/UTs.
• “Essential commodity” under the EC Act has been defined in Section 2A as a commodity specified
under the Schedule. Presently seven commodities are included in the Schedule of the EC Act viz.,
o Drugs
o Fertilizer, whether inorganic, organic or mixed
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 o foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils
o hank yarn made wholly from cotton
o petroleum and petroleum products
o raw jute and jute textiles;
o seeds of food-crops and seeds of fruits and vegetables; seed of cattle fodder; jute seed; cotton seed
o Hence option (d) is the correct answer.
• Recently, Government amended the Essential Commodities Act of 1955. Amendment provides that
foodstuffs, including cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds and oils shall only be regulated under
extraordinary circumstances which may include war, famine, extra ordinary price rise and natural
calamity of grave nature. However, Amendment has not curbed the powers of the State Governments to
enforce stock limits on essential commodities or take actions on hoarders and profiteers.

Q 7.B
• Recent Context: Indian government has recently released a draft Arctic Policy document in order
to solicit public comment.
• Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum for Arctic cooperation that was set up with the
twin-mandate of environmental protection and sustainable development.
• It comprises 8 member states, permanent participants and observers.
o Canada, Denmark, Finland, Russia, United States of America, Iceland, Norway, Sweden are
member states. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
o India became an Observer nation in 2013.
• The Arctic Council was established on 19 September 1996 when the governments of Canada, the
Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States
signed the Ottawa Declaration. The establishment of the Arctic Council was preceded by the Arctic
Environmental Protection Strategy (June 1991), a declaration on the protection of the Arctic
environment.
• It also comprises the six indigenous Permanent Participant organizations given below:
o Aleut International Association (AIA), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Gwich'in Council
International (GCI), Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of
the North, Siberia and Far East (RAIPON), Saami Council (SC)
o Permanent Participants is a common term for organizations that represent indigenous peoples in the
Arctic Council; either by representing a) a single indigenous people resident in more than one Arctic
State; or, b) more than one Arctic indigenous people resident in a single Arctic State.
• The Chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic States.
• All Arctic Council decisions and statements require consensus of the eight Arctic States.
• The Arctic Council is a forum; it has no programming budget. All projects or initiatives are sponsored by
one or more Arctic States. Some projects also receive support from other entities.
• The Arctic Council does not and cannot implement or enforce its guidelines, assessments or
recommendations. That responsibility belongs to individual Arctic States or international bodies.
• The Arctic Council’s mandate, as articulated in the Ottawa Declaration, explicitly excludes military
security.

• About Arctic region

o It refers to the region above the Arctic Circle, north of latitude 66° 34’ N, which includes Arctic
Ocean with North Pole at its centre.
o Much of this Ocean falls within the jurisdiction of five Arctic littoral states— Canada, Denmark
(Greenland), Norway, Russia and USA (Alaska).

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Q 8.C
• The International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) was launched on 18 October 2019 by
public authorities from Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Kenya, Morocco and the European
Union, representing almost half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Hence option (c) is the
correct answer.
• The International Platform aims to: Exchange and disseminate information to promote best practices in
environmentally sustainable finance;
• Compare the different initiatives and identify barriers and opportunities to help scale up environmentally
sustainable finance internationally;
• While respecting national and regional contexts, enhance international coordination where appropriate on
environmentally sustainable finance issues. Where appropriate, some willing members could strive to
align initiatives and approaches.
• The ultimate objective is to: Scale up the mobilisation of private capital towards environmentally
sustainable finance at global level.
• Promote integrated markets for environmentally sustainable finance.

Q 9.B
• One Planet Summit (“One Earth Summit”) is the title of a series of world climate summits
announced by French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn
2017 (COP 23). Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The aim is to promote a worldwide "ecological transformation" through which "measures for
environmental and climate protection are combined with opportunities for the job market, innovation and
economy".
• To this end, various “coalitions” have been concluded between state and private actors to achieve specific
goals. In addition to the French government, the organizers are the World Bank and the United Nations. It
aims to strengthen public and private climate action financing and to encourage actors of the
financial sector to take into account climate risks in their long-term strategies. It also aimed at
increasing local and regional action in favor of the climate and strengthening the role of local
authorities in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The first One Planet Summit took place on December 12, 2017 - the second anniversary of the world
climate agreement concluded at COP 21. After the first meeting, there were further summits in New York
in 2018 and in Nairobi in 2019. On January 11, 2021, the fourth summit, this time virtual, took place
again in Paris.
• The One Planet Summit is not a State summit but it brings together a range of actors in the fight
against climate change. It proposes to give everyone, both States and civil society representatives, the
possibility to express themselves in an equitable way. It is an event that brings together governments,
international organizations, businesses and NGOs for the preservation of biodiversity.
• The Summit focuses on biodiversity preservation: the protection of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, the
promotion of agroecology, the mobilization of funding for biodiversity, and the link between
deforestation, species and human health.

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Q 10.B
• Disinvestment means the sale or liquidation of assets by the government, usually Central and state public
sector enterprises, projects, or other fixed assets.
• To address various problems associated with central public enterprises, the government has brought out
this policy to completely overhaul the government’s presence in various sectors and minimize the number
of PSUs to an absolute minimum.
• This Policy covers existing CPSEs, Public Sector Banks, and Public Sector Insurance Companies.
• Objectives of this policy are:
o Minimizing the presence of Central Government Public Sector Enterprises including financial
institutions and creating new investment space for the private sector
o Post disinvestment, economic growth of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)/ financial
institutions will be through the infusion of private capital, technology, and best management practices.
Will contribute to economic growth and new jobs.
o Disinvestment proceeds will be used to finance various social sectors and developmental
programmes of the government. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a fund created by the Government of India
in 2015 for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country. The objective of NIIF is to maximize
economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both
greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects. NIIF Limited manages over USD 4.4 billion of
equity capital commitments across its three funds – Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic
Opportunities Fund, each with its distinct investment strategy. NIIF Master Fund primarily invests in
operating assets in core infrastructure sectors such as transportation and energy. NIIF Fund of Funds
invests in funds managed by best-in-class fund managers focused on some of the most dynamic sectors in
India such as climate infrastructure, middle-income & affordable housing, digital consumer platforms and
other allied sectors. NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund is a Private Equity fund that aims to build scalable
businesses across a range of opportunity long but capital short sectors.
• Various sectors in which government enterprises are present are classified as strategic and non-
strategic sectors. The strategic sectors are classified as :
o Atomic energy, Space and Defence
o Transport and Telecommunications
o Power, Petroleum, Coal, and other minerals
o Banking, Insurance, and financial services
• In strategic sectors, there will be a bare minimum presence of the public sector enterprises. The remaining
CPSEs in the strategic sector will be privatized or merged or made subsidiaries with other CPSEs or
closed. In non-strategic sectors, CPSEs will be privatized, otherwise shall be closed.
• Minority stake stale by SEBI approved modes and Strategic Disinvestment along with transfer of
management control. Strategic disinvestment of CPSEs lies at the heart of the disinvestment policy.
Strategic disinvestment would imply the sale of a substantial portion of the Government shareholding of a
central public sector enterprise (CPSE) of up to 50%, or such a higher percentage as the competent
authority may determine, along with transfer of management control. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Q 11.A
• Consumer price index (CPI) inflation is the headline measure used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
for the conduct of monetary policy. In terms of the provisions of the RBI Act, the target for headline
inflation is 4 per cent with a tolerance band of +/- 2 per cent. Rural and Urban CPI indices are varied in
their rates and basket of goods. for example Food has a weight of 54.18% in the CPI rural index and only
36.29% in the urban index. Also, the urban index takes into consideration housing prices that are not a
part of the rural index. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The CPI-IW is compiled and disseminated by the Labour Bureau on a monthly basis. It measures
changes in the retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services being consumed by an average
working-class family. Recently, the Ministry of Labour and Employment released the new series of
Consumer Price Index for Industrial Worker (CPI-IW) with base year 2016. The new series of CPI-IW
with base 2016 has replaced the existing series with base 2001. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• When food and energy prices are omitted from the CPI, the remaining basket is commonly referred to as
the core CPI. The overall measure of CPI, which includes food and energy, is often referred to as the
headline CPI. Hence increase in food and energy prices does not increase CPI Core inflation rates.
Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

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Q 12.C
• Recent Context: Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have concluded that India is home
to both the subspecies of Red Panda, Himalayan red panda and the Chinese red panda, and the Siang river
in Arunachal Pradesh splits the red panda into these two subspecies.
• The Red Panda is a small arboreal mammal found in the forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan and the northern
mountains of Myanmar and southern China.
• It thrives best at 2,200-4,800m, in mixed deciduous and conifer forests with dense understories of
bamboo.
• In India, it is found in Sikkim, western Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling district of West Bengal and
parts of Meghalaya.
• It is also the state animal of Sikkim.
• It is listed as Endangered in the IUCN red list of Threatened Species and under Schedule I of the Indian
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. These animals spend most of their lives in trees and even sleep aloft.
• When foraging, they are most active at night as well as in the gloaming hours of dusk and dawn.
• Threats: Habitat fragmentation and degradation; Predation by feral dogs; hunting and poaching. Hence
option (c) is the correct answer.
• The Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape found in India. The primate is native to eastern Bangladesh,
Northeast India and Southwest China. hoolock is an arboreal and a diurnal species, i.e active during
daytime. The Hoolock Gibbon is categorized into two types:
o Western hoolock gibbon:
ü It inhibits in all the states of the north-east, restricted between the south of the Brahmaputra river
and east of the Dibang river. And outside India, it is found in eastern Bangladesh and north-west
Myanmar.
ü It is listed as Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red
List.
o Eastern hoolock gibbon:
ü It inhabits specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and in southern China and
north-east Myanmar outside India.
ü It is listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Redlist.
o In India, both species are listed on Schedule 1 of the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act 1972.
• The sloth bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites.
o It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.
o It shares features of insectivorous mammals and evolved during the Pleistocene from the ancestral
brown bear through convergent evolution.
o Sloth bears are present in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
o Sloth bears occupy a wide range of habitats on the Indian mainland including wet or dry tropical
forests, savannas, scrublands, and grasslands. They are primarily a lowland species.
• The lion-tailed macaque or the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of
South India.
o It is a rainforest dweller and it is diurnal, meaning it is active exclusively in daylight hours. It is a
good climber and spends a majority of its life in the upper canopy of tropical moist evergreen forests.
o It is classified as endangered species.

Q 13.C
• The S&P BSE CARBONEX, the first index of its kind in India, tracks the performance of the companies
within the S&P BSE 100 index based on their commitment to mitigating risks arising from climate
change. The index was created to address market demand for a sophisticated approach to portfolio
management incorporating climate change risk and opportunity.
• The MSCI India ESG Leaders Index is a capitalization weighted index that provides exposure to
companies with high Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance relative to their
sector peers. MSCI India ESG Leaders Index consists of large and mid cap companies in Indian markets.
The Index is designed for investors seeking a broad, diversified sustainability benchmark with relatively
low tracking error to the underlying equity market. The index is a member of the MSCI ESG Leaders
Index series.
• The launch of green indices such as S&P BSE CARBONEX (in 2012), MSCI ESG India (in 2013), and
S&P BSE 100 ESG Index (in 2017) allows passive and retail investors to invest in ‘green’ companies.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

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Q 14.A
• Commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory
note. It was introduced in India in 1990 with a view to enabling highly rated corporate borrowers to
diversify their sources of short-term borrowings and to provide an additional instrument to investors.
Subsequently, primary dealers and all-India financial institutions were also permitted to issue CP to
enable them to meet their short-term funding requirements for their operations. Individuals, banking
companies, other corporate bodies (registered or incorporated in India) and unincorporated bodies, Non-
Resident Indians (NRIs) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), etc. can invest in CPs.
• Bond yield is the return that an investor gets on that bond or on particular government security. A fall/rise
in interest rates in an economy pushes up/pulls down bond prices. When prices of bonds rise then it means
a fall/easing in the Bond yields. So easing of bond yield implies the fall in rate of interest, which further
tends to enhance the credit attractiveness for the enterprises.
• A sharp rise in commercial paper issuances, easing yields, and sturdy credit growth to MSMEs
portend revamped credit flows for enterprises to survive and grow. Hence, option (a) is the correct
answer.
• Loan default is the failure to repay a debt, including interest or principal, on a loan or security. In the
recent past, various corporate groups defaulted on a huge amount of borrowings which created pressure on
the Indian banking industry in form of NPAs. The declining rate of corporate loan default, though is a
healthy sign for the banking and corporate alike, it does not necessarily indicate a robust credit flow
for enterprises. Instead, the banking industry, after stricter guidelines from RBI, has become more
cautious in extending big-ticket cheques to the corporate sector.

Q 15.B
• The Code on Social Security 2020 subsumes the existing nine Social Security Acts. The salient features of
the code include:
o The Code envisages the extension of benefits to the employees working in establishments with
less than 10 employees on a voluntary basis and on a mandatory basis through notification by the
Central Government for employees working in hazardous industries. Hence, statement 1 is not
correct.
o The coverage of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has been extended pan-India to all
establishments employing 10 or more employees as against notified districts/areas. The benefits
available under ESIC include medical, sickness, maternity, pension for dependents’ and for
disablement, etc.
o An enabling provision has been made to include self-employed and any other class of persons
into the fold of social security coverage under EPFO and ESIC through the formulation of
schemes. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o A Social Security Fund is proposed to be established to formulate schemes for social security to the
workers of the unorganised sector.
o Gig workers have been brought under the ambit of the newly introduced Code on Social
Security 2020 by defining them exclusively in the category of unorganized worker for providing
social security benefits. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
ü As per its definition, a gig worker under clause 2(35) of the code means “a person who performs
work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional
employer-employee relationships”. Freelancers, independent contractual workers, temporary
workers, project-based workers, etc. are some examples of gig workers.

Q 16.B
• According to Commerce Ministry's data India has the most favourable trade balance with USA followed
by Bangladesh and Nepal. The highest trade deficit is with China followed by Iraq and Saudi
Arabia during April-November, 2020-21 and April- November, 2019-20. The trade gap between US and
India is around USD 17.4 billion (in India's favour). India’s exports to Bangladesh in FY 2018-19 stood at
$9.21 billion and imports during the same period was at $1.04 billion.
• India has a significant presence in the services sector exports. It remained among the top ten trading
countries in commercial services in 2019 accounting for 3.5 per cent of world services exports.
Notwithstanding the setback witnessed in the wake of the pandemic, India’s services sector remained
relatively resilient when compared to merchandise trade. Resilience of the services sector was primarily
driven by software services, which accounted for 49 per cent (largest component ) of total services
export. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

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 • According to Economics Survey 2020-21, Net capital flows was modest in H1: FY 2020-21 at US$ 16.5
billion, as against US$ 40.0 billion in HI: FY 2019-20, mainly accounted for by net repayments of
external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and decline in banking capital. During April-October, 2020, net
FDI flows recorded an inflow of US$27.5billion, 14.8per cent higher as compared to first seven months of
2019-20. According to RBI statistics, it can be said that India has been maintaining capital account
surplus in recent years. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• Crude Petroleum continues to be the highest imported commodity in April-November, 2020,
accounting for 14.3 per cent share vis-à-vis 21.0 per cent in April-November, 2019. The share of gold
imports reduced to 5.6 per cent in April-November, 2020 from 6.3 per cent in corresponding period a year
ago, slipping to third position from second earlier. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 17.A
• Forbearance is a temporary postponement of mortgage payments. It is a form of repayment relief granted
by the lender or creditor in lieu of forcing a property into foreclosure.
• Forbearance provides the borrower time to repay delinquent mortgage sums. This is advantageous to the
struggling borrower, but offering forbearance also benefits the loan owner, such as a bank, which
frequently loses money on foreclosure after paying the fees associated with the process. But a prolonged
forbearance policy can be associated with negative consequences.
• ADVERSE IMPACT OF FORBEARANCE ON BANK PERFORMANCE AND LENDING
o Undercapitalization of Banks: A policy of prolonged forbearance has the effect of overstating the
actual capital and creating a false sense of security. Viewed differently, forbearance lets
undercapitalized banks operate without raising capital. Thus, forbearance could impact banks
adversely.
o Ever-greening of Loans: One way of ever-greening loans is lending a new loan to a borrower on the
verge of default, near the repayment date of an existing loan, to facilitate its repayment. Such
transactions go undetected as banks are not required to disclose them, unlike restructurings that
warrant disclosures. Forbearance resulted in increased lending to firms with poor fundamentals and
higher lending to inefficient projects and a larger part of the credit seems to have been used to keep
dead loans alive by ever-greening.
o Weakening of Corporate Governance in Borrowers benefitting from forbearance: The
forbearance regime witnessed a significant increase in credit supply to corporates with poor operating
metrics and a simultaneous decrease in their investment-to-debt ratio. This suggests that the increased
credit supply was not used productively by firms. this credit was instead diverted for the private
benefit of the incumbent management.
o Deterioration in performance of borrowers benefiting from forbearance: As a consequence of the
weakened governance, the impacted firms’ performance deteriorated. Firms benefitting from
restructuring during the forbearance regime, on average, turned loss-making.
o Increased defaults by borrowers benefitting from forbearance: Subsequent to the deterioration in
their fundamentals, restructured firms in the forbearance window also witnessed a decrease in their
credit ratings. the average credit rating for a firm deteriorated by 7.7% upon restructuring during the
forbearance regime. The forbearance regime also accompanied an increase in defaults by restructured
firms when compared to a decrease in the same in the pre-forbearance era. restructuring in the pre-
forbearance era seems to have helped distressed and defaulting borrowers repay their debt and undo
their defaulter tag. However, firms benefitting from restructuring during the forbearance window, on
average, started defaulting more.
• Hence, option (a) is correct.

Q 18.C
• Recent Context: India officially began its eighth term as a non-permanent member of UNSC for the
2021-22 period.
o India will serve as the president of the council, a position held by each of the members in turn for one
month, according to the alphabetical order of the member states’ names.
o Presidency entails presiding over council meetings, coordinating actions, deciding the content of
UNSC debates and more.
o India will also chair the crucial Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter-Terrorism
Committee of the UN Security Council during its tenure as non-permanent member.
• The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.

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 • It is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN
members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter.
• The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations
Security Council. It rotates among the 15 member-states of the council monthly. The presidency of the
Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of
the Member States' names. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Chapter 5 of the UN Charter deals with the membership of the Security Council. It talks about the
procedure for selecting the 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC. Any permanent member can be
removed, or a new permanent member added to the Security Council only through an amendment of the
UN Charter. As per UN Charter, it requires consent and ratification of two-thirds of the 193-member
General Assembly. It must also have the approval of all the five permanent members of the Security
Council. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• United Nations Charter (1945) obliges “all members to refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
• The organization as a whole faces the same restriction as member states: “Nothing contained in the
present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the
domestic jurisdiction of any state.”
• The only instance in which the United Nations, acting through the Security Council, can authorize
forceful intervention in a state’s domestic affairs is when “international peace and security” are
threatened. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Q 19.D
• The United Nations' Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force on 22
January 2021. The entry into force of the TPNW means that the treaty's provisions will be legally
binding for the states that have ratified or acceded to it. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• TPNW got its 50th ratification with Honduras signing it in October 2020, triggering a 90-day period
before its entry into force on January 22, 2021.
• It was officially adopted in 2017 due to efforts by International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN).
• It prohibits States Parties to:
o Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or
other nuclear explosive devices; Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o Transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control
over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly
o Receive the transfer of or control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices directly or
indirectly;
o Use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
• At present, 86 member-states have signed the Treaty, and 51 of them have ratified it.
o US, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel (countries
possessing nuclear weapons) and NATO alliance did not support it. Hence, statement 3 is
correct.
o India believes that the treaty does not constitute or contribute to the development of customary
international law, nor does it set any new standards or norms.
o India supports the commencement of negotiations on a comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention
in the Conference on Disarmament, which is the world’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating
forum working on the basis of consensus

Q 20.D
• Steel is one of the critical inputs to industries, urban development and infrastructure development. Taking
cognizance of the requirement of this critical input in these crucial pillars of economic growth, the
National Steel Policy, 2017 (NSP-17) envisioned significant expansion in production capacity while being
globally competitive. The NSP-17 aims at achieving a crude steel capacity of 300 million tonnes (MT)
and a finished steel capacity of 230 MT with a per capita consumption of 158 kg by 2030-31.
• India is the second-largest producer of crude steel only after China. India is also the second-largest
consumer of steel. However, its per capita total finished steel consumption was around 74.7 kg during
FY20 as against the global average of 229 kg.
• Recently, the GoI has taken various initiatives under the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan to enhance the domestic
production of steel such as:

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 o inclusion of ‘Speciality Steel’ incorporating four different product categories for incentives
under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme;
o offering steel to MSMEs that are members of the Engineering Export Promotion Council at
export parity price under the Duty Draw Back scheme of DGFT;
o measures to provide preference to domestically produced iron and steel in government
procurement, where aggregates estimate of iron and steel products exceeds 25 crores;
o protecting the industry from unfair trade through appropriate remedial measures including the
imposition of anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty on the products in which unfair trade
practices were adopted by other countries.
• Hence, option (d) is correct.

Q 21.D
• The external debt of India is the total debt the country owes to foreign creditors. The debtors can be the
Union government, state governments, corporations or citizens of India. Hence statement 1 is not
correct.
• The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, foreign governments, or international
financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
• At end-September 2020, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 556.2 billion. External Commercial
borrowings remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 38.1 per cent, followed by
non-resident deposits (23.9 per cent) and short-term trade credit (18.2 per cent).
• Borrower wise classification: As per the statistics released by RBI, currently outstanding Debt of the
Government is US$ 99.9 billion. Non Government Debt is US$ 454.6 dollars (End of June, 2020).
• The ratio of external debt to GDP in India varies as shown below.
Year Ratio of External Debt to GDP
2016 23.4
2017 19.8
2018 20.1
2019 19.8
2020 June (Provisional) 21.8
• Hence, It can be seen that India's External Debt to GDP ratio did not increased steadily. Hence statement
2 is not correct.
• US dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share
of 53.9 per cent at end-June 2020, followed by the Indian rupee (31.6 per cent), yen (5.7 per cent), SDR
(4.5 per cent) and the euro (3.5 per cent).

Q 22.D
• The government has introduced various reforms in the Direct Tax System for the benefit of our taxpayers
and economy. Reducing corporate tax rate, the abolition of Dividend Distribution Tax are some of the
reforms the government has brought in the recent period.
• In the same direction government in the budget 2021-22 has given relief to senior citizens aged 75
and above, whose only source of income is pension and interest by exempting them from filing
income tax returns. Paying bank will deduct the necessary tax on their income and this will reduce the
compliance burden on senior citizens. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.
Q 23.C
• The “basic needs” approach to economic development focuses on the minimum specified quantities of
basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, water and sanitation that are necessary to prevent ill
health, and undernourishment.
• The Bare Necessities Index (BNI) is an attempt to quantify this approach to economic development using
data from the National Statistical Office (NSO). To measure the progress in the delivery of “the bare
necessities”, the Survey develops a composite index called the Bare Necessities Index (BNI).
• The BNI measures access to “the bare necessities” for households in rural areas, urban areas and at the all
India level. These necessities are measured using 26 comparable indicators on five dimensions
viz., water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, and other facilities (electricity, cooking fuel
etc.).
• The indicators used to capture the availability and quality of housing, access to the bathroom, kitchen,
toilet, drinking water, waste discharge facilities, clean cooking fuel and disease free environment, etc. The
composite index for the States/UTs for 2012 and 2018 has been created using data mainly from two NSO

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 rounds viz., 69th (2012) and 76th (2018), on Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Housing Condition
in India.
• Hence, option (c) is correct.

Q 24.A
• Entrepreneurship has gained startling traction in recent years after the launch of the Startup India Scheme
and has seen a paradigm shift from being a uniquely metropolitan phenomenon to becoming an all-
pervasive culture.
• There has been a massive boom in the number of innovative startups from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and the
non-metro entrepreneurs have shown unrelenting determination and tenacity in their pursuit of success.
• With the aim of tapping the considerable potential that these regions offer, Startup India (DIPP) organizes
the Startup India Yatra to scout promising entrepreneurs from non-metropolitan cities (Tier 2 and
3 cities) and provide them with a platform through which they can pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations
through incubation and mentorship from renown institutions to help them leapfrog the limitations of the
lack of resources in their region. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Under this, the government aims to scout for grass-root level entrepreneurs in the smaller towns
where 10 to 12 boot camps are to be organised in various districts in every state. Each one-day boot
camp will have ideation workshops and idea pitching sessions. The day-long boot camp in each city will
include presentations on Startup India and Policies & Schemes of the Government, followed by an
extensive ideation workshop. An idea pitching session will be held after each boot camp to select the
foremost ideas and Startups for the Grand Finale. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

Q 25.B
• Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) a Central Sector Scheme aimed to build and support the scientific
and analytical capacity for assessment of climate change in the country, establish appropriate institutional
framework and implement climate actions. This project has been initiated by Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change. Two important components of the CCAP scheme are the National
Carbonaceous Aerosols Program (NCAP) and the Long-Term Ecological Observatories (LTEO).
Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The National Carbonaceous Aerosols Programme - Carbonaceous Aerosol Emissions, Source
Apportionment & Climate Impacts (NCAP-COALESCE) project is a multi-institutional program being
implemented by a consortium of 17 institutions led by IIT Bombay. It was inaugurated in the year
2017-18 and is a five-year duration project. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The project aims at improving our understanding of regional carbonaceous aerosols over India, in
terms of major sources, magnitude of emissions, their atmospheric fate and deposition, and their impacts
on clean air and climate. The project will be a key step to build a strong knowledge base for India related
to short lived climate pollutants, including carbonaceous aerosols, as part of India’s broad commitment to
climate action.

Q 26.C
• A bond is a debt instrument. It can be traded in financial markets like equities and other commodities. It
is used by governments and corporates to raise capital in order to fund development projects. Bonds issue
coupons, which are interest payments made in part to the repayment of the capital that was borrowed.
Unlike equities, which are vulnerable to the vagaries of the stock market, investing in bonds is a relatively
safer proposition since the capital is returned on maturity. However, the returns on bonds may not be
comparable to those of equities.
• Bond holders are free to sell their bonds before maturity. The returns accrued by holders is measured by
the yield, which is the rate of interest paid as coupons. Yield is calculated as the coupon divided by the
value of the bond. It is multiplied by 100 to be expressed in percentage. In effect, yield =
(coupon/value)*100)
• Bond yields are significantly affected by monetary policy. When interest rates are low, bond prices
increase because investors are seeking a better return. For example, when the RBI slashes the repo rate
from 4% to 2%. If there's a bond trading on the market that's paying 4%, that's suddenly going to be a lot,
and everyone's going to want it. So, an increase in the demand increases the bonds' price. Hence
statement 1 is correct.
• Bond yield is inversely proportional to its current value. The greater the yield, the lower the current
market price of the bond. In the above case, because one is paying more for the bond, its yield becomes
less. The increased demand for the bond results in rising bond prices and falling yields.

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 • Inflation refers to the rate at which prices for goods and services rise. In general, when interest rates are
low, the economy grows and inflation increases. Conversely, when interest rates are high, the economy
slows and inflation decreases. Hence statement 2 is correct.

Q 27.B
• Deficit financing is the budgetary situation where expenditure is higher than revenue. It is a practice
adopted for financing the excess expenditure with outside resources. The expenditure revenue gap is
financed by either printing of currency or through borrowing. It is said that deficit financing is
inherently inflationary. Since deficit financing raises aggregate expenditure and, hence, increases
aggregate demand, the danger of inflation looms large. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• With inflation, the currency of the economy depreciates (loses its exchange value in front of a foreign
currency) provided it follows the flexible currency regime. For example, High inflation in India means
that the price of Indian goods increases quicker than foreign goods. Therefore Indian goods become less
competitive. Demand for Indian exports will fall, and therefore there will be less demand for the Indian
rupees leading to depreciation.
• Some measures to control inflation are:
o Increasing the supplies of civilian goods through increased efficiency
o Decreasing, or limiting the increase, of spendable funds by the reduction in governmental
expenditures which tend to increase such funds
o Increasing the tax rate is a basic method as it reduces spendable funds, thus striking directly at
causes. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 28.C
• Recently, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of Light House projects (LHPs) under Global Housing
Technology Challenge (GHTC)- at six sites across six States.
• LHPs are model housing projects with houses built with shortlisted alternate technology suitable to
the geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the region. This will demonstrate and deliver ready-to-live
houses with speed, economy, and with a better quality of construction in a sustainable manner.
• The period of construction is a maximum of 12 months from the date of handing over of sites to the
construction agency after all statutory approvals. Approvals will be accorded through a fast track process
by the concerned State Government.
• These LHPs shall serve as LIVE Laboratories for different aspects of Transfer of technologies to
field application, such as planning, design, production of components, construction practices,
testing, etc. for both faculty and students, Builders, Professionals of Private and Public sectors, and other
stakeholders involved in such construction.
• Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.

Q 29.B
• Monetary transmission is the process through which monetary policy impulses in the form of policy rate
changes by a central bank are transmitted to the entire spectrum of interest rates such as money market
rates, bond yields, bank deposit and lending rates and asset prices such as stock prices and house prices.
• Monetary transmission to bank lending interest rates is impacted by the following factors:
• Long Maturity Profile of Deposits at Fixed Interest Rates: Long maturity profile of deposits in itself
does not impede monetary transmission provided interest rates on such deposits move in line with the
policy rate. However, almost all bank deposits are at fixed interest rates. This makes banks’ outstanding
liability profiles insensitive to changes in the policy rate. The transmission, in particular, is impeded more
during the easing cycle than during the tightening cycle.
• Legacy of Base Rate Loans: In the absence of any sunset clause, however, quite a sizeable portion of
floating rate rupee loans has remained linked to the base rate even after more than three years of
introduction of the Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate. Although borrowers are permitted to
switchover their base rate linked loans to MCLR linked loans at mutually convenient terms, the
switchover to the MCLR regime.
• Competitive Pressures - Mutual Funds and Small Savings Schemes: Interest rates on small savings are
administered by the government. The interest rates on small savings schemes are on average up to 100
basis points higher than the rates prevailing in the market from commercial banks. The returns on small
saving schemes, viz., 5-year time deposit, public provident fund (PPF), national savings certificate, and
senior citizens’ savings scheme, as well as debt and equity mutual funds receive favorable tax
treatment vis-à-vis bank time deposits. Bankers have been complaining that high rates on small savings
schemes prohibit them from cutting deposit rates. This makes Monetary Policy transmission ineffective.
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 • Asset Quality of Banks: A healthy bank with low default risk in its loan portfolio will be able to pass on
interest rate changes by the central bank symmetrically to its deposits and loans. On the other hand, a bank
faced with a high level of non-performing assets (NPA) is likely to build up provisions by loading credit
risk premia on its performing loans, thereby pushing up the lending rates.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 30.A
• According to the revised classification for MSMEs a composite criteria for classification has been
devised. A micro-unit is defined as those in which Investment is less than 1 crore and turnover less than 5
crore. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• A medium-scale unit is defined as those in which investment is greater than 10 crore and less than 20
crore, while turnover is greater than 50 crore and less than 100 crore. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 31.D
• Reserve Bank of India has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent
of digitisation of payments across the country. The RBI-DPI comprises of 5 broad parameters that enable
measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods.
• These parameters are:
o Payment Enablers (weight 25%)
o Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10%)
o Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%)
o Payment Performance (45%)
o Consumer Centricity (5%).
o Hence option (d) is the correct answer.
• The RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period, i.e. DPI score for March 2018 is
set at 100. The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84 respectively,
indicating high growth over the years. The index has grown more than 100 per cent in a span of 2 years.

Q 32.D
• A vast body of literature in economics extols the role of innovation and technological progress in growth
and development. The government of India has taken a number of initiatives to enhance investment in
R&D as well as to promote and improve the overall research eco-system in the country. These include:
o Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY), which promotes industry-sponsored, outcome-oriented research
with an outlay of Rs.475.00 crore. 25% of the funds under UAY are contributed by the Industry.
ü It was announced with a view to promote innovation of a higher order that directly impacts the
needs of the Industry and thereby improves the competitive edge of Indian manufacturing.
ü The scheme focuses on a viable industry-academic collaboration where industry shares a part of
the cost of research.

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 ü The scheme would be applicable to the projects proposed by the Indian Institutes of Technologies
initially. The projects should have collaboration between academia and industry – within or
outside India.
ü It is implemented by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
o Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) focuses on socially relevant research
in higher educational institutions with a budget provision of Rs.487 crore. Establishment of 9 research
parks at a total cost of Rs.775 crore, 8 of them being in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and
one in Indian Institute of Science (IISc). These research parks will propel innovation through
incubation and joint research between academia and industry.
ü Adopting engineering and technology as the vehicle to addressing societal needs and achieving
national prosperity, MHRD has drafted a new and catalytic scheme called IMPacting Research
INnovation and Technology or IMPRINT.
ü IMPRINT is a first-of-its-kind Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a (a) New Education
Policy, and (b) Roadmap for Research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in
selected domains needed by the country.
ü The ten domains represent the most important areas relevant to our country in order to enable,
empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
o Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme launched with an outlay of Rs.1650 crore
incentivises the most meritorious students to pursue research in the frontier areas of science &
technology by offering attractive rates of a fellowship from Rs.70,000/- to Rs.80,000/- per month in
addition to research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh per year for five years.
ü The Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme has been designed for improving the
quality of research in various higher educational institutions in the country.
ü With attractive fellowships, the scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby
realizing the vision of development through innovation. The institutes which can offer PMRF
include all the IITs, all the IISERs, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and some of the top
Central Universities/NITs that offer science and/or technology degrees. The candidates will be
selected through a rigorous selection process and their performance will be reviewed suitably
through a national convention.
o Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 33.A
• In economics, a public good refers to a commodity or service that is made available to all members of a
society. Typically, these services are administered by governments and paid for collectively through
taxation.
• Examples of public goods include law enforcement, national defence, and the rule of law. Public goods
also refer to more basic goods, such as access to clean air and drinking water.
• A public good has two characteristics:
o Non-rivalry – consuming the good doesn’t reduce the amount available to other people.
o Non-excludable – once provided you can’t stop anyone consuming it. It is not possible to exclude
people from using the good.
• Merit Goods: Goods or services whose consumption is believed to confer benefits on society as a whole
greater than those reflected in consumers' own preferences for them. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Hence, option (a) is correct.

Q 34.D
• An analysis of the population and household profiles across NFHS 4 and NFHS 5 suggests that the
improvement in the various characteristics were similar in the states that implemented PM-JAY vis-à-vis
states that did not.
• PM-JAY has helped the Indian states in achieving reduced infant and child mortality rates. The
neonatal mortality rate (NNMR) declined by 22 per cent in the states that adopted PM-JAY in comparison
to a 16 per cent decline in states that did not adopt PM-JAY.
• The data on the use of distinct family planning measures represents that PM-JAY has enabled
increased access to family planning in the Indian states. While the proportion of people ensuring
family planning rose across all the states between the two surveys, the increase is much more significant
in the states that adopted PM-JAY indicating its effectiveness.
• Considering the delivery care for births in the five years before the survey, we find that the PM-JAY has
not been much fruitful.

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 • Health outcomes pertaining to the vaccination of the child and vitamin-A supplementation
improved remarkably in the states which adopted the PM-JAY as compared to the states which did
not adopt the PM-JAY.
• PM-JAY has not only been successful in improving health outcomes across states but has also accounted
for the increase in the spread of knowledge and awareness regarding important health concerns like
HIV/AIDS.
• The health outcomes of the states that adopted PM-JAY improved when compared to the states that did
not adopt it.
• Hence, option (d) is correct.

Q 35.B
• Stand-Up India Scheme facilitates bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 Crore to at least one
Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank
branch for setting up a greenfield enterprise. This enterprise may be in manufacturing, services, or the
trading sector. In the budget 2021-22, this has been expanded to include "allied activities of
agriculture" like pisciculture, livestock, poultry, agro-processing, etc.(not agriculture activities like
crops, etc.) Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
• Eligibility conditions of the scheme:
o SC/ST and/or woman entrepreneurs, above 18 years of age.
o Loans under the scheme are available for only greenfield projects. Greenfield signifies, in this context,
the first time venture of the beneficiary.
o In the case of non-individual enterprises, 51% of the shareholding and controlling stake should be
held by either SC/ST and/or Women Entrepreneur.
o The borrower should not be in default to any bank/financial institution.

Q 36.A
• The energy transition is happening at a breakneck speed in the world and the focus has been on low
carbon and non-polluting energy sources. Hydrogen energy is increasingly being seen as an option to meet
future energy demands. Recognizing this India has been running a broad-based Research Development
and Demonstration (R&D) program on Hydrogen Energy and Fuel under the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• Hydrogen is also used extensively in India, mainly as an industrial feedstock in the production of
ammonia-based fertilizers.
• To further provide a boost to hydrogen production India has launched a National Hydrogen Mission in
the budget 2021-22.
• Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and
renewable power like solar and wind.
• Hydrogen can be divided into ‘grey’ (produced from fossil fuels), ‘blue’ (produced from fossil fuels with
carbon capture and storage), or ‘green’ (produced from renewable electricity).
• In India, the dominant method of production of hydrogen is from fossil fuels especially natural gas
(Methane). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Delhi became the first city in the country to roll out buses that run on hydrogen-enriched CNG (not
pure hydrogen energy), a fuel cleaner than CNG. Around 20 per cent of hydrogen is mixed with CNG
gas. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Q 37.C
• Zombies are companies that earn just enough money to continue operating and service debt but are
unable to pay off their debt. Such companies, given that they just scrape by meeting overheads (wages,
rent, interest payments on debt, for example), have no excess capital to invest to spur growth.
• Zombie companies are typically subject to higher borrowing costs and may be one just event—market
disruption or a poor quarter performance—away from insolvency or a bailout. Zombies are especially
dependent on banks for financing, which is fundamentally their life support. Zombie companies are also
known as the "living dead" or "zombie stocks."
• Interest Coverage Ratio: The interest coverage ratio (ICR) is a measure of a company's ability to meet
its interest payments. The interest coverage ratio is equal to earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for a
time period. It determines how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt.
o Interest coverage ratio = Profit after tax/ Interest expenses
• Zombies are typically identified using the interest coverage ratio, the ratio of a firm’s profit after tax
to its total interest expense.
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 • Firms with an interest coverage ratio lower than one are unable to meet their interest obligations
from their income and are categorized as zombies.
• Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.

Q 38.A
• The National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) was established in August, 2015 to
meet the cost of adaptation to climate change for the State and Union Territories of India that are
particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The projects under NAFCC prioritizes the
needs that builds climate resilience in the areas identified under the NAPCC (National Action Plan on
Climate Change). NABARD has been designated as National Implementing Entity (NIE) for
implementation of adaptation projects under NAFCC.
• In addition NABARD is also supporting other projects many of which can be classified under climate
finance. Over 28% of NABARD’s cumulative disbursements have links with climate change adaptation
and mitigation.
o Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF): The Government of India in 1995-96, set up the
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), to be operationalized by NABARD towards
financing of the ongoing rural infrastructure projects in irrigation sector.
o Tribal Development Fund (TDF): NABARD created the Tribal Development Fund (TDF) with a
corpus of Rs. 50 crore to promote sustainable participatory livelihood program which inter alia, aim at
economic uplift through sustainable agriculture, social empowerment, improvement in quality of life
including health and women development, in tribal predominant areas.
o Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
• The National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is a fund created in 2010-11 using the carbon tax - clean
energy cess - for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies of public sector or
private sector entities, upto the extent of 40% of the total project cost. The Fund is designed as a non
lapsable fund under Public Accounts and with its secretariat in Department of Expenditure, Ministry
of Finance.

Q 39.B
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a treaty based inter-governmental organization working to
create a global market system to tap the benefits of solar power and promote clean energy
applications. The Paris Declaration that established the ISA states that the countries share the collective
ambition to undertake innovative and concerted efforts to reduce the cost of finance and technology for
deployment of solar generation assets.
• ISA’s Framework Agreement mandates partnerships with various stakeholders, including public and
private corporate sector, to promote sustainable, clean and affordable solar energy. To institutionalize
its partnership with the Corporate sector, the ISA Secretariat has recently launched a ‘Coalition for
Sustainable Climate Action’ comprising of global public and private corporates. The partner
organisations under the coalition would benefit from the network and the platform provided by ISA to
leverage and demonstrate their expertise in promoting sustainable development globally. Hence
statement 1 is not correct and statement 2 is correct.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 40.C
• India’s response to COVID-19 has been unique in recognizing that the pandemic would have long-term
disruptive effects on the productive capacity.
• The Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission was, accordingly, a composite package announced with welfare
measures to address the short-term distress of individuals and firms; and structural reforms to alleviate the
long-term distress on the economy.
• With gradual unlocking of the economy, the focus of the stimulus measures shifted towards investment
boosting and consumption revival measures like Production Linked Incentives, enhancing capital
expenditure and investments in the infrastructure sector.
• The nuanced adaptations in policy as per the requirements of the pandemic was based on continuous
dialogue and coordination between the Centre, States and Local Governments. The overall policy
response, therefore, is aimed at making the Indian economy more resilient and flexible to deal with the
opportunities and problems of the post-COVID world. Some of the policy initiatives taken are listed
below.

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 • Hence, pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched.

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Q 41.B
• Recent Context:
• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated by the Ministry of External Affairs once every two
years to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government of
India and reconnect them with their roots. Hence, statements 1 and 2 are not correct.
• PBD conventions were being held every year since 2003. Since 2015, its format has been revised to
celebrate the PBD once every two years and to hold theme-based PBD Conferences during the intervening
period with participation from overseas diaspora experts, policymakers and stakeholders.
• PBD is held on January 9 as it was on this day in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South
Africa and led the country’s freedom struggle.
• During the PBD convention, select eminent Indian diaspora members are awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman Awards.
o Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards: It is the highest honor conferred on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI),
Person of Indian Origin (POI); or an organization or institution established and run by NRI or POI,
who have made a significant contribution in better understanding of India abroad, support India's
causes and concerns in a tangible way, community work abroad, welfare of local Indian community,
etc.
• Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is organized outside India. Ministry has been organizing Regional
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conferences (RPBD) to reach out to a vast majority of our diaspora, who
for various reasons, are unable to attend the main biennial event in India and benefit from its
deliberations. This is in response to the strong and persistent demand for holding such events regionally.
These have elicited enthusiastic support from the Indian diaspora and the local Governments and have
been highly successful. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Q 42.B
• Currency appreciation means an increase in the value of the domestic currency against foreign currency,
in other words, it can buy more units of the foreign currency than earlier. On the other side currency
depreciation means a fall in the value of the domestic currency against foreign currency and domestic
currency can buy less units of the foreign currency than earlier.
• After depreciating to its lowest level of 76.86 on April 16, 2020, the Indian rupee. subsequently
appreciated owing to FPI flows to the domestic equity market and the weakening of the US$. If the Rupee
appreciates on a large scale, imports become cheaper and exporters earn less. It may exacerbate the
Current Account Deficit of the country. Hence judicious interventions in forex markets and monetary
policy are required to prevent a large one-sided appreciation in the rupee. Some of the interventions can
be
o Accumulation of forex reserves by RBI: To ensure that we remain competitive the Centre and the
RBI may have decided not to allow further rupee appreciation and the central bank started absorbing
the huge dollar inflows. This increases the demand for the dollar in the market which helps in
preventing the appreciation of the rupee.
o Following expansionary Monetary Policy: It increases rupee currency supply without a
corresponding increase in the supply of dollars and as a result the dollar will strengthen, Indian rupee
can be prevented from appreciation.
• Sale of Government securities will decrease the rupee currency supply in the market. It results in
the strengthening of the Indian rupee which leads to appreciation.
• Similarly encouraging foreign capital outflows result in a decrease in the dollar supply. As a result, the
dollar will strengthen and results in rupee depreciation.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 43.A
• In order to bring Labour reforms and create employment opportunities, Previous and current government
has taken certain initiative:
• Labour Reforms post 1991:
• National Commission on Rural Labour (1991): The commission was headed by the C.
H.Hanumantha Rao which Made recommendations for specific categories of workers, definition of
migrant workers to cover all migrants, recommended a minimum wage of 20 per day at 1990
prices. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
• Task Force on Employment Opportunities (2001): It was headed by the Dr. Montek. S. Ahluwalia. It
made the following recommendation

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 o To increase share of organized sector in total employment problem of labour laws need to be
addressed.
o Introduce short term employment contracts where workers can be hired on contract basis by paying
premium wage.
o Introduce “strike ballot” -a strike can be called only if supported by a qualifying majority of workers.
• Second National Commission on Labour (2002): The commission was chaired by the Shri Ravindra
Varma. The commission recommended that Existing set of Central labour laws be grouped into four or
five broad groups pertaining to industrial relations, wages, social security, safety and welfare & working
conditions and so on.
o Labour code should also lay down a floor of substantive labour rights or standards such as minimum
wages, maximum hours of work, minimum standards of safety and health at workplace etc as a form
of basic law which would be applicable to all workers.
• Report of the Working Group on Labour Laws & other Regulations for the Twelfth Five Year Plan
(2012-17): It was chaired by Shri P. C. Chaturvedi. The group recommended the Consolidation,
simplification and rationalization of labour laws to reduce multiplicity of laws and for better
enforcement and effective compliance. This would help in moving closer to uniform labour policy on
common issues.
Q 44.A
• To reduce and gradually eliminate human interface from the Indian tax scrutiny and its appellate system,
the government has brought in Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest in 2020. It has three major
reforms like Faceless Assessment, Faceless Appeal, and Taxpayers Charter.
• As a follow-up of these reforms government in the budget 2021-22 has made the Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal faceless. For this purpose government will establish a National Faceless Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal Centre.
• All communication between the Tribunal and the appellant will be in electronic mode. Hence,
statement 1 is correct.
• If a personal hearing is needed, it will be done through video-conferencing. No lower limit of the disputed
amount has been prescribed for the appellant to approach National Faceless Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal Centre. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 45.D
• Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is a central public sector unit (CPSU) under the administrative
control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), set up on 20th September 2011.
• SECI is responsible for the implementation of a number of schemes of MNRE, major ones being the VGF
schemes for large-scale grid-connected projects, solar park scheme, and grid-connected solar rooftop
scheme, along with a host of other specialized schemes.
• Its mandate has been broadened to cover the entire renewable energy domain including energy
sources like on-shore/off-shore wind, geothermal, tidal, biogas, biomass, etc. Hence, statement 1 is
correct.
• The main Objectives of SECI are to :
o Carry on activities like generation, forecasting, purchasing, producing, manufacturing, importing,
exporting, exchanging, selling, and trading in power products and services in India and abroad.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o Own, manage, investigate, plan, promote, develop, design, construction, operation, maintenance,
renovation, modernization of power projects in solar, on-shore/off-shore wind, geothermal, tidal,
biogas, biomass, small hydro, and other renewable energy sources in India and abroad.
o Plan, develop, maintain, lease, hire, manage solar parks, infrastructure facilities, and all related
ancillary facilities & services in India and abroad.
o Establish, provide, maintain, conduct, scientific and technical research, experiments, pilot projects,
and tests of all kinds and to process, improve, innovate and invent new products, technologies,
directly or in collaboration with other agencies in India & abroad to achieve commercialization.
o Coordinate the activities of its subsidiaries and Joint Venture Companies, to determine their economic
and financial objectives/targets and to review, control, guide, and direct their performance with a view
to secure optimum utilization of all resources placed at their disposal.
• Scheme of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects will be developed in collaboration with
the State Governments. The implementation agency would be Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI) on behalf of the Government of India. SECI will handle funds to be made available under the
scheme on behalf of GOI. The states applying under the scheme will have to designate an agency for the
development of the solar park. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
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Q 46.D
• The government in the Budget unveiled the Disinvestment/Strategic Disinvestment Policy and identified
the following four sectors as strategic sectors, where bare minimum CPSEs would be retained
o Atomic energy, Space and Defence
o Transport and Telecommunications
o Power, Petroleum, Coal and other minerals
o Banking, Insurance and financial services
• The strategic sectors have been classified in four broad baskets -- national security, critical infrastructure,
energy and minerals and financial services.
• As per the statement by DIPAM, a panel of Ministers, comprising Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, will take the final call on the number of public sector
companies that will be retained in each of the strategic sectors.
• The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in other sectors would be privatised. NITI Aayog would be
working on the preliminary list of CPSEs, which could be taken up for strategic disinvestment.
• The Secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), which manages
government equity in public sector companies, said that the strategic disinvestment policy is an important
directional shift and gives a broad idea to the private sector about which companies could be up for sale.
• The government has budgeted ₹1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial
institutions, including two PSU banks and one general insurance company, in the next fiscal year
beginning April 1.
• The government is targeting to conclude strategic sale of BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India,
Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd, in the next
fiscal. Besides, Initial Public Offering of LIC too would be launched and a strategic sale process of two
PSU banks and one general insurance company would be initiated

Q 47.B
• A sovereign credit rating is an independent assessment of the creditworthiness of a country or sovereign
entity. Sovereign credit ratings can give investors insights into the level of risk associated with investing
in the debt of a particular country, including any political risk.
• Credit ratings map the probability of default and therefore reflect the willingness and ability of borrower
to meet its obligations.
• India, despite being the fifth largest economy in the world has been rated at the lowest rung of the
investment-grade (BBB-/Baa3). India’s willingness to pay is unquestionably demonstrated through its
zero sovereign default history. India’s ability to pay can be gauged not only by the extremely low foreign
currency-denominated debt of the sovereign but also by the comfortable size of its foreign exchange
reserves that can pay for the short term debt of the private sector as well as the entire stock of India's
external debt including that of the private sector.
• It implies that at times the fundamentals are inaccurately/incorrectly accounted that drive down the
sovereign credit ratings of an economy as is the case with India. Economic Survey has highlighted and
negated this anomaly. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• When a credit rating agency downgrades a country’s sovereign debt, all debt instruments in that country
may have to be downgraded accordingly because of the sovereign ceiling doctrine. Hence, statement 2 is
correct.
o Sovereign ceiling doctrine: During a sovereign downgrade, firms that have the same rating as the
sovereign are also downgraded. This exercise is done to ensure that the ratings of the firms within the
domestic economy do not pierce the sovereign rating ceiling.
• Commercial banks downgraded to sub-investment grade will find it costly to issue internationally
recognized letters of credit for domestic exporters and importers, isolating the country from international
capital markets. Downgrading corporate debt to subinvestment grade means that firms will face
difficulties issuing debt on international capital markets.

Q 48.B
• Production-Linked Incentive or PLI scheme is a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on
incremental sales (over FY 2019-20) from products manufactured in domestic units. The scheme invites
foreign companies to set up units in India, however, it also aims to encourage local companies to set up or
expand existing manufacturing units and also to generate more employment and cut down the country's
reliance on imports from other countries.
• It aims at boosting domestic manufacturing of goods for domestic consumption, enhance exports and
reduce dependence on imports. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
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 • Companies that are registered in India and are involved in the manufacturing of goods covered under the
target segments of the scheme can apply under the PLI Scheme. Eligibility under the Scheme shall be
subject to thresholds of Incremental Investment (covered under Target Segments) over the base year as
defined.
• In case more applications are received, then companies having the highest consolidated global
manufacturing revenues will be considered. Accordingly, the scheme is designed to select only the few
top companies as the Government has limited funds to disburse. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Q 49.C
• Recently, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has released the Longitudinal Ageing Study of
India (LASI) Wave-1 Report on the virtual platform.
• It is a full-scale national survey of scientific investigation of the health, economic, and social determinants
and consequences of population ageing in India. It was commissioned in 2016. Hence, statement 1 is
correct.
• It is India’s first and the world’s largest-ever survey that provides a longitudinal database for designing
policies and programs for the older population in the broad domains of social, health, and economic well-
being.
• The National Programme for Health Care of Elderly, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has
undertaken the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India, through the International Institute for Population
Sciences, (IIPS), Mumbai in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, University of Southern
California, USA, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and National Institute on Ageing.
• The first national wave of the LASI (Wave 1) covered a baseline sample of 72,250 individuals aged 45
and above and their spouses, including elderly persons aged 60 and above and oldest-old persons aged 75
and above from all States and Union Territories (UTs) of India (excluding Sikkim)
• It collects detailed data on health and biomarkers together with information on family and social
network, income, assets, and consumption. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o A biomarker is a measurable indicator of the severity or presence of some disease state. More
generally a biomarker is anything that can be used as an indicator of a particular disease state or some
other physiological state of an organism.
• Findings:
o In the 2011 census, the 60+ population accounted for 8.6% of India’s population, accounting for 103
million elderly people.
o Growing at around 3% annually, the number of elderly people will rise to 319 million in 2050.
o 75% of the elderly people suffer from one or the other chronic disease. 40% of the elderly people have
one or the other disability and 20% have issues related to mental health.
o The self-reported prevalence of diagnosed cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is 28% among older adults
aged 45 and above.
o The prevalence of multi-morbidity conditions among the elderly age 60 and above is much higher in
the states/UTs of Kerala (52%), Chandigarh (41%), Lakshadweep (40%), Goa (39%) and Andaman &
Nicobar Islands (38%). The prevalence of single morbidity and multi-morbidity conditions increases
with age
• The evidence from LASI will be used to further strengthen and broaden the scope of the National
Programme for Health Care of the Elderly and also help in establishing a range of preventive and health
care programs for the older population and most vulnerable among them

Q 50.D
• The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is a governmental agency in India under the Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation responsible for co-ordination of statistical activities in India, and
evolving and maintaining statistical standards.
• The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is the principal source of Industrial Statistics in India. It is being
conducted annually under the statutory provisions of the Collection of Statistics (COS) Act by Central
Statistical Office (CSO) industrial statistics wing.
• At the national level, there are four Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers. These are: CPI for Industrial
Workers (IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL), CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) and CPI for Urban
Non-Manual Employees (UNME). The base years of the current series of CPI(IW), CPI(AL) and
CPI(RL), and CPI(UNME) are 1982, 1986-87 and 1984-85, respectively. While the first three are
compiled and released by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour, the fourth one is released by
the Central Statistical Organisation in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. In
addition CSO also releases CPI(Urban), CPI(Rural), CPI (All India).
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 • The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various
sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing. The IIP index is computed
and published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on a monthly basis with base year as 2011.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 51.A
• Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an Indian digital knowledge repository of traditional
knowledge (TK), especially about medicinal plants and formulations used in Indian systems of
medicine. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• TK is knowledge, know-how, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from
generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.
• TKDL was initiated in 2001, as a collaboration between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR), Ministry of S&T, and Department AYUSH, Ministry of Health.
• TKDL database contains more than 3.9 lakh formulations/ practices from the Indian systems of medicine
(Ayurveda, Yoga, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa) in digitized format in five languages: English, German,
French, Japanese and Spanish.
• It seeks to prevent misappropriation of the country's traditional medicinal knowledge at International
Patent Offices by preventing the granting of patents for products developed utilizing Indian TK. Hence,
statement 2 is correct.
• Also, non-patent database serves to foster modern research based on traditional knowledge, by
simplifying access to vast knowledge of practices.
• The database is available to only patent examiners through TKDL Access (Non-disclosure) Agreement.
Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Q 52.D
• Deep Ocean Mission which has been proposed to be launched by the Ministry of Earth Sciences aims to
explore the deep ocean.
• Key objectives under this include:
o Deep-sea mining
o Energy exploration
o Offshore-based desalination plant using tidal energy.
o Exploring India’s Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf.
o Developing Underwater robotics and ‘manned’ submersible vehicles.
o Research on climate change
o Exploring marine biodiversity.
• Hence, all the statements are correct.
As part of this mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation developed the design of a Submersible
Capsule called Matsya 6000 capable of travelling 6,000 m deep for the mission. In the budget of 2021, this
mission has been allocated 4000 crores for the next five years.

Q 53.B
• To unlock the value of hitherto unutilized or underutilized public assets central government has been
focusing on asset monetization for some time. Many public sector assets are sub-optimally utilized and
could be appropriately monetized to generate resources for financing new infrastructure.
• In this direction, the central government in the Budget 2021-22 has proposed National Monetisation
Pipeline (NMP) for potential brownfield infrastructure assets. Some of the core infrastructure
assets that will be monetized under NMP include Dedicated Freight Corridor assets of Railways,
Airports, NHAI Operational Toll Roads, Oil and Gas Pipelines of GAIL, etc. Hence, statement 1 is
correct and statement 3 is not correct. (Brownfield infrastructure assets are those assets that are already
in existence, unlike the Greenfield assets which are yet to be created.)
• Both foreign and domestic investors are eligible for participating in National Monetisation Pipeline.
Hence, statement 2 is correct

Q 54.B
• Volatility Index is a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term. Volatility is
often described as the 'rate and magnitude of changes in prices' and in finance often referred to as risk.
Volatility Index is a measure, of the amount by which an underlying Index is expected to fluctuate, in the
near term, based on the order book of the underlying index options.

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 • India VIX stands for the India Volatility Index. It is an index circulated by the National Stock Exchange
(NSE). The term VIX was initially coined in 1993 by Chicago Board Options Exchange. With their
permission, NSE started the India VIX in 2008. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• It calculates the degree of fluctuation that can be expected in the Nifty50 by active traders over the next
30 days. From the best bid-ask prices of NIFTY Options contracts, a volatility figure (%) is calculated
which indicates the expected market volatility over the next 30 calendar days. Hence statement 2 is
correct.

Q 55.A
• Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY): ABRY, a component of Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 which
aim to boost employment in formal sector and incentivize creation of new employment opportunities
during the Covid recovery.
• Scheme objective: The schemes aims to provide employment to new employees and re-employing
person from low wage bracket (less than 15000) who lost their job during COVID-19
pandemic. The scheme is not valid for existing employee in establishment. Hence statement 2 is not
correct.
• The salient features of the Scheme are as under:
o Government of India will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or
after 1st October, 2020 and upto 30th June, 2021
o Government of India will pay both 12% employees' contribution and 12% employers'
contribution i.e. 24% of wages towards EPF in respect of new employees in establishments
employing upto 1000 employees for two years. Hence statement 1 is correct.
o Government of India will pay only employees' share of EPF contribution i.e. 12% of wages in
respect of new employees in establishments employing more than 1000 employee for two years.
o An employee drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000/- who was not working in any
establishment registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) before 1st
October, 2020 and did not have a Universal Account Number or EPF Member account number
prior to 1st October 2020 will be eligible for the benefit, Hence statement 3 is not correct.
o Any EPF member possessing Universal Account Number (UAN) drawing monthly wage of less than
Rs. 15000/- who made exit from employment during Covid pandemic from 01.03.2020 to 30.09.2020
and did not join employment in any EPF covered establishment up to 30.09.2020 will also be eligible
to avail benefit,
o EPFO will credit the contribution in Aadhaar seeded account of members in electronic manner,

Q 56.B
• Innovation and Research & Development in India:
o The business sector (private sector) in India contributes much less to gross expenditure on R&D
(about 37 per cent) when compared to businesses in each of the top ten economies (68 per cent
on average). This is despite the fact the tax incentives for R&D were more liberal in India when
compared to those in the top ten economies.
o The Government does a disproportionate amount of heavy-lifting on R&D by contributing 56
per cent of the gross expenditure on R&D, which is three times the average contributed by
governments in the top ten economies. Yet, India’s gross expenditure on R&D at 0.65 per cent of
GDP is much lower than that of the top 10 economies (1.5-3 per cent of GDP) primarily because of
the disproportionately lower contribution from the business sector. Hence, statement 1 is not
correct.
o India must significantly ramp up investment in R&D if it is to achieve its aspiration to emerge as the
third-largest economy in terms of GDP current US$.
o Indian residents’ share in total patents filed in the country stands at 36 per cent. This lags
behind the average of 62 per cent in other largest economies. Resident share in patent
applications must rise for India to become an innovative nation. For India to become an
innovation leader, its residents’ share in total patent applications filed in the country must rise
from the current level of 36 per cent. If India’s share of resident patents were to rise from 36 per
cent in 2019 to the average share of resident patents in total patent applications amongst the other top
10 economies (62 per cent) by 2030, resident patents would have to increase at a CAGR of 9.8 per
cent. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

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Q 57.D
• The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a minimum price guarantee under which notified crops are
procured by government agencies at a promised price from the farmers.
• As, the Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced that MSPs would be kept at the level of 1.5 times of
the cost of production. On the basis of the above-mentioned principle, Government recently increased
the MSPs for all mandated kharif and rabi crops for 2020-21 season.
• The following factors are considered while calculating the cost of production of crop
o all paid out costs such as those incurred on account of hired human labour,
o bullock labour/ machine labour,
o rent paid for leased in land. Hence option 4 is correct.
o expenses incurred on use of material inputs like seeds, fertilizers, manures, irrigation charges,
depreciation on implements and farm buildings. Hence option 3 is correct.
o interest on working capital Hence option 1 is correct.
o diesel/electricity for operation of pump sets etc Hence option 2 is correct.
o miscellaneous expenses & imputed value of family labour

Q 58.C
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna (Category – I)
Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE).
• It is established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987 engaged in promoting, developing, and
extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and
energy efficiency/conservation.
• It has been notified as a Public Financial Institution under the Companies Act, 1956, and registered
as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NFBC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Hence,
statement 1 is correct.
• The main objectives of IREDA are:
o To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and/or
energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o To maintain its position as a leading organization to provide efficient and effective financing in
renewable energy and energy efficiency/conservation projects.
o To increase IREDA`s share in the renewable energy sector by way of innovative financing.
o Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers through continual improvement of
systems, processes, and resources.

Q 59.A
• India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. The country has emerged as
a significant exporter in certain agriculture and related products like marine products, rice, meat, spices,
raw cotton and sugar. India has developed export competitiveness in certain specialized agriculture
products like basmati rice, guar gum and castor oil.
• In 2019-20, India’s agricultural and allied exports amounted to approximately 252 thousand crores. The
major export destinations were the USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh. While India occupies
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 a leading position in the global trade of the aforementioned agri- products, its total agri-export basket
accounts for a little over 2.5 per cent of world agri-trade.
• Since economic reforms began in 1991, India has remained a net exporter of agri-products, with
agri-exports touching 2.52 lakh crores and imports at 1.47 lakh crores in FY 2019-20. Hence, statement 1
is correct.
• An analysis of the last six years of the share of the top ten agricultural commodities in the total value of
agricultural export shows that there have been significant changes in the composition of Agri exports.
o The share of marine products in total agricultural export value has remained the largest over
the period. Its share in total agricultural export value increased from 14.5 per cent in 2015-16 to close
to 19 per cent in 2019-20. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
o The share of basmati rice in total agricultural export value has also shown an increasing trend during
the period.
o Other commodities that have witnessed an increasing trend during the period are non-basmati rice,
spices and sugar.
o The shares of the commodities such as buffalo meat and raw cotton in total agricultural export value
have, however, declined during the period.
o The shares of the commodities such as castor oil and tea have remained more or less stable over this
period.

Q 60.C
• The target under National Solar Mission (NSM) is to achieve 100 GW of solar power in seven years
starting from 2014-15. The cumulative capacity of 36.9 GW was commissioned till November 2020.
Around 36 GW solar energy capacity is under installation, and an additional 19 GW capacity has been
tendered. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism has been designed to accelerate as well as
incentivize energy efficiency. It is a market-based mechanism to enhance the cost-effectiveness of
improvements in energy efficiency in energy-intensive large industries and facilities, through energy
savings certificates (ESCerts) that could be traded. To facilitate the trading of ESCerts, an institutional
framework has been established. The framework defines the different roles assigned to different entities
that will be playing a vital role in the ESCerts trading mechanism. The entities involved with the role
assigned to them are given below:
o Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) -Administrator
o Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) - Market Regulator
o India Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) - Trading Platforms. Hence
statement 2 is correct.
• India’s wind power potential at hub height of 120 meters is 695 GW. The wind power installed
capacity has grown by 1.8 times during past 6.5 years to about 38.26 GW (as on 31st October 2020)
and India now has the 4th largest wind power capacity in the world. The wind energy sector is led by
the indigenous wind power industry with a strong project ecosystem, operation capabilities and a
manufacturing base of about 10 GW per annum. Ministry is developing strategy and roadmap to harness
the potential of offshore wind energy along India’s coastline. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Q 61.A
• Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) is the process of resolving the corporate insolvency
of a corporate debtor in accordance with the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC),
2016. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• CIRP may be initiated by a financial creditor, an operational creditor and corporate applicant of the
corporate debtor. Any person to whom a financial debt is owed and includes a person to whom such debt
has been legally assigned or transferred to.
• The minimum amount of default for initiating CIRP was ₹ 1 lakh till recently. The Government vide
notification dated 24th March 2020, has increased the minimum amount of default to ₹ 1 crore. Hence
statement 2 is not correct.
• National Company Law Tribunal, having territorial jurisdiction over the place where the registered
office of the corporate person is located serves as the Adjudicating Authority, in relation to insolvency
resolution and liquidation for corporate persons.
• As per section 12(1) of the Code, the CIRP shall be completed within a period of 180 days from the date
of admission of the application to initiate such a process. The Adjudicating Authority may grant a one-
time extension of 90 days. The maximum time within which CIRP has to be mandatorily completed,

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 including any extension or litigation period, is 330 days. However, it can be withdrawn either before
admission by the Adjudicating Authority or even after admission. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Q 62.C
• CASA stands for Current Account Saving Account. CASA ratio of a bank is the ratio of deposits in
current and saving accounts to total deposits. A higher CASA ratio indicates a lower cost of
funds because banks do not usually give any interest on current account deposits and the interest on
saving accounts is usually very low 3-4%, Hence better financial health. A low CASA ratio means the
bank relies heavily on costlier wholesale funding, which can hurt its margins. Hence statement 1 is
correct.
• Basel Norms are the norms issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) for the
international banking regulations to strengthen the banking system. Accordingly, RBI stipulates that
banks are required to maintain a minimum capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of 9%. Non-bank
subsidiaries are required to maintain the capital adequacy ratio prescribed by their respective
regulators. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is a measurement of a bank's available capital expressed as a percentage
of a bank's risk-weighted credit exposures. Also known as the capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio
(CRAR), it is used to protect depositors and promote the stability and efficiency of financial systems
around the world. Empirical results show that banks with higher capital to risk-weighted assets ratio
(CRAR) raise funds at a lower cost. Additionally, banks with higher CRAR transmit monetary policy
impulses smoothly, while stressed assets in the banking sector hinder transmission. Hence statement 3 is
correct.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

Q 63.A
• Recent Context:
• Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest planet in our solar system and is made
mostly of hydrogen and helium.
• Saturn's rings are thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids or shattered moons that broke up before they
reached the planet, torn apart by Saturn's powerful gravity.
• Saturn is the planet with most moons. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural
satellite in the Solar System.
o Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest.
• Its axis is tilted by 26.73 degrees with respect to its orbit around the Sun, which is similar to Earth's 23.5-
degree tilt. This means that, like Earth, Saturn experiences seasons.
• Missions to Saturn:
o Pioneer 11, launched by NASA, was the first spacecraft to study Saturn up close. The mission ended
in 1995.
o Voyager 1 and 2, launched by NASA, to conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn’s
rings, and the larger moons of the two planets.
o Cassini probe to explore Saturn’s atmosphere, rings, magnetosphere, and moons.
ü It has successfully found geysers on Saturn’s moon Eneladus, evidence that its moon Titan is
Earth-like, and Saturn’s rings are active and dynamic.
• Perseverance is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the crater Jezero on Mars as part of NASA's
Mars 2020 mission. It has a similar design to its predecessor rover, Curiosity, from which it was
moderately upgraded. It carries seven primary payload instruments, 19 cameras, and two microphones.
The rover is also carrying the mini-helicopter Ingenuity, an experimental aircraft that will attempt the first
powered flight on another planet.
• The rover's goals include identifying ancient Martian environments capable of supporting life, seeking out
evidence of former microbial life existing in those environments, collecting rock and soil samples to store
on the Martian surface, and testing oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere to prepare for future
crewed missions
Q 64.A
• The insurance sector in India is well below its potential and in terms of insurance penetration and density,
we are below the world average. To address this by way of competition and better insurance products,
services, etc the government of India has been raising the FDI limit in the insurance sector.
• In the budget 2021-22 government has raised the FDI limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent.
Hence, statement 1 is correct.
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 • Benefits of raising FDI in the insurance sector:
o It will lead to expansion of the insurance sector, increased penetration, a higher level of competition,
and value for customers in terms of better products at a lower cost.
o More capital will lead to a range of marketing products and better technology in the insurance sector.
o It will help in generating long-term money for the development of the economy and creating long-
term assets.
• The government in the budget 2021-22 has also allowed foreign ownership and control of insurance
companies including agricultural insurance companies with certain safeguards. Hence, statement 2
is not correct.
• Safeguards are such that the majority of Directors on the Board and key management persons would be
resident Indians, with at least 50% of Directors being Independent Directors, and a specified percentage of
profits being retained as a general reserve.

Q 65.A
• Headline inflation refers to the change in the value of all goods in the basket.
• Core inflation excludes food and fuel items from headline inflation.
• Since the prices of fuel and food items tend to fluctuate and create ‘noise’ in inflation computation, core
inflation is less volatile than headline inflation.
• Trends in inflation indexes of the last five years are shown below.

• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Q 66.A
• Government of India (GoI) has taken various initiatives including BharatNet for achieving the goal of
Digital India programme. Under the project, network infrastructure is being established for Broadband
Highways, accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to provide affordable broadband services to citizens
and institutions in rural areas, in partnership with States and the private sector. As a result of that
• Currently, the wireless telephony constitutes 98.3 per cent of all subscriptions whereas the share of
landline telephones now stands at only 1.7 per cent.
• The overall teledensity in India stands at 86.6 per cent at the end of November-2020, whereas
teledensity in rural and urban areas are 59.1 per cent and 139.0 per cent respectively. Hence
statement 1 is correct.
• Currently. there are nearly 117.5 crore are Number of Telephone (Wireline + Wireless) subscriptions,
out which 64.8 crore are from Urban areas and 52.6 crores are from Rural area. Hence statement 2
is not correct.
Q 67.A
• The 25th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC COP 25) was originally set to take place in Santiago, Chile, but the venue was
switched to Madrid, Spain, one month before it opened, due to the situation in Chile. Hence option (a) is
the correct answer.

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 • The 2019 Chile/Madrid Climate Change Conference was expected to conclude with decisions on guidance
for Article 6 (market and non-market mechanisms) and a review of the Warsaw International Mechanism
on Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM), among other issues. However,
despite running nearly 40 hours overtime and therefore becoming the longest climate change COP, many
delegates and observers have expressed disappointment with the few decisions adopted and the language
related to ambition in an outcome text titled, ‘Chile-Madrid Time for Action.’

Q 68.B
• Research and innovation investment in India is only 0.69% of GDP at present. To increase this and
bring synergy in research funding by various bodies in the country, National Education Policy 2020
envisions the establishment of a National Research Foundation (NRF). The overarching goal of the NRF
will be to enable a culture of research to permeate through our universities. There is no target for NRF
to increase the expenditure on Research and Development to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025. Hence
option (d) is not correct.
• NRF will be governed, independently of the government, by a rotating Board of Governors
consisting of the very best researchers and innovators across fields. Hence option (c) is not correct.
• NRF will provide a reliable base of merit-based but equitable peer-reviewed research funding, helping to
develop a culture of research in the country through suitable incentives for and recognition of outstanding
research, and by undertaking major initiatives to seed and grow research at State Universities and
other public institutions where research capability is currently limited. Hence, option (a) is not
correct.
• The primary activities of the NRF will be to:
o fund competitive, peer-reviewed grant proposals of all types and across all disciplines. (It will fund
research projects across four major disciplines –Sciences; Technology; Social Sciences; and Arts
and Humanities). Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
o seed, grow, and facilitate research at academic institutions, particularly at universities and colleges
where research is currently in a nascent stage, through mentoring of such institutions;
o act as a liaison between researchers and relevant branches of government as well as industry, so that
research scholars are constantly made aware of the most urgent national research issues, and so that
policymakers are constantly made aware of the latest research breakthroughs; so as to allow
breakthroughs to be optimally brought into policy and/or implementation and recognize outstanding
research and progress.
• In the budget 2021-22, NRF has been allocated 50,000 crores over the next 5 years.

Q 69.A
• The textile and apparel industry plays an important role in the overall social and economic development of
the country. The textile and apparel industry contributed 2 per cent in the overall GDP and 11 per
cent of total manufacturing GVA in FY20 and provided total direct and indirect employment of about
10.5 crore people.
• The sector is the second-largest employment generator in the country, next only to agriculture. Hence
statement 1 is correct.
• The major part of this workforce being women. Therefore, it plays a vital role in women empowerment
and in the overall social development of the country. The GoI is implementing several schemes cutting
across sectors such as the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS), Scheme for
Integrated textiles park (SITP) and a scheme called Samarth scheme.
• India is the sixth-largest exporter of textile and apparel products after China, Germany, Bangladesh,
Vietnam, and Italy. India is well known in the global market for many products including cotton yarn,
fashion garments, hand-made carpets, etc. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 70.B
• Recently, Government of India ( GoI)has taken following legislative and policy reform measures:
o The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act) was amended in January-
2020 to provide for, inter-alia, transfer of all valid statutory clearances vested with the old lessee
to the new successful bidder up to a period of two years for all brownfield mines.
ü Providing Composite license for prospecting and mining. Hence option 3 is not correct.
ü Removal of restriction on end-use of coal
o Setup of Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) by state government, which will in turn obtain clearances
before auction of mines and these clearances then will be transferred to successful bidders after
auction. Hence option 1 is correct.
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 • Under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the GoI announced major initiative
o introduction of a seamless composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime
o removal of distinction between captive and non-captive mines. Hence option 2 is correct.
o joint auction of bauxite and coal mineral blocks. Hence option 4 is correct

Q 71.C
• Economic Survey 2020-21 highlighted that small and marginal farmers in India faces the financial
constraints. As timely availability of adequate credit is fundamental for the success of farming activities.
• The government has taken certain initiate such as announcement of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund
announced as a part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan for better credit flow among the farmers. The
survey further highlighted that
o there is uneven distribution of agriculture credit among the different regions such as
o The regional distribution of the agricultural credit has skewed in favour of the Southern
Region and the share of north-eastern states has been very low.
o the share of southern region in agricultural credit was more than 40 per cent while it was less
than 2 per cent for the north-eastern region (NER).
o This low coverage of the agricultural credit in NER is because of
ü Lower cultivable in North Eastern States which accounts about 2.74 per cent of the total Gross
Cropped Area (GCA) of the country.
ü Moreover, community ownership of land is prevalent in most of the NE States.
ü These two factors affected the intake of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans in NER as these loans are
given against land documents. Hence statement 1 and 2 are correct

Q 72.C
• The Reserve Bank of India has the duty to stabilize the economy by managing excess liquidity in the
market. RBI can absorb excess liquidity from the market in the following ways:
• Following Restrictive Monetary Policy:
o A contractionary or tight monetary policy reduces liquidity and increases interest rates which has a
negative impact on both production and consumption and therefore, economic growth. However, it
helps in managing liquidity and inflation. In contrast following an Accommodative monetary policy
increases the liquidity in the market.
• Increase in Currency Reserve Ratio:
o CRR is the percentage of a bank’s time and demand liabilities that needs to be kept as cash with RBI.
CRR can be increased to absorb excess liquidity in the market.
• Increase in the Reverse Repo rate:
o The interest rate at which the RBI borrows money from banks for the short term is defined as Reverse
Repo Rate. Under the Reverse Repo Rate, banks deposit excess funds with the RBI and earn interest
for it. An increase in Reverse Repo rate incentivizes the banks to park the money in the Central bank
which results in the decline of the liquidity in the market.
• Open market operations (OMO):
o This is another format used to buy or sell government securities to manage liquidity. To absorb
liquidity, Government securities would have to be sold (not purchase) to banks to take up the
excess.
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

Q 73.D
• Coal is one of the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55 per cent of the
country’s energy needs. Coal is not only the primary source of energy in the country but is also used as an
intermediary by many industries such as steel, sponge iron, cement, paper, brick-kilns, etc.
• Domestic coal production in India increased from 639.23 MnT in FY15 to 730.87 MnT in FY20. In
the FY20, the production of raw coal in India was 729.1 million tonnes (MnT) with a minuscule
growth of 0.05 per cent over the previous year. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• India is also an importer of coal. Imports rose from 100 MnT in 2009 to 248.54 MnT in FY20.
Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The Central Government, amended FDI Policy 2017, to permit 100% FDI under automatic route in coal
mining activities, including associated processing infrastructure subject to the Act and other Applicable
Laws, for sale of coal.

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Q 74.D
• The argument supporting higher debt leading to lower growth is as follows:
o Higher levels of public debt are accompanied by more taxes in the future to pay for the debt, thereby
leading to lower lifetime wealth, which may decrease consumption and savings, eventually resulting
in lower aggregate demand and growth rates.
o If higher public debt (i.e. lower public savings) is not accompanied by increase in private savings, it
may also lead to lower total savings in the economy.
o This may put upward pressure on the interest rates, resulting in crowding out of investment and
thus negatively impacting the growth rates.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 75.A
• The government of India imposed a nationwide lockdown on 24 March 2020, which was gradually
extended in phases.
• The pandemic has exacerbated the risks associated with a decade-long wave of global debt accumulation.
Sizeable discretionary support, along with a sharp contraction in output and an ensuing fall in revenues
has led to a surge in government debt and deficits. Hence, option 1 is correct.
• Debt burdens have increased as corporates faced a period of sharply reduced sales and sovereigns have
financed large stimulus packages. Debt levels have reached historic highs, making the global economy
particularly vulnerable to financial market stress.
• Debt is likely to rise further as governments finance the recovery by facilitating the transition of capital,
labor, skills, and innovation to a post-pandemic economic environment.
• As a result of weak demand and subdued energy prices, inflation moderated in most part of the
world, deflationary pressure emerged in major Advanced Economies (AE) and Emerging and
Developed Economies (EMDE). Fall in inflation in EMDEs was less broad-based than in AEs, reflecting
the effects of sharp currency depreciation as well as rising domestic food prices in some countries. Hence,
option 2 is correct.
• Trade deficit contracted sharply as the country’s merchandise imports declined sharply relative to
exports on a year-on-year basis. It lead to India’s current account surplus of $19.8 billion in the first
quarter (Q1) of 2020-21 (FY21). This contrasts with deficit of $15 billion in April-June 2019
(Q1FY20). Hence, option 3 is not correct.

Q 76.C
• The National Action Plan on Climate change was formally launched on June 30th, 2008. The NAPCC
identifies measures that promote development objectives while also yielding co-benefits for addressing
climate change effectively. There are eight “National Missions” which form the core of the National
action plan. They focus on promoting understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation, energy
efficiency and natural resource conservation.”
o The eight missions are: National Solar Mission
o National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
o National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
o National Water Mission
o National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
o National Mission for a Green India
o National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
o National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
• National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being: It will include:
o a comprehensive documentation of India’s biodiversity with the potential for cataloguing and
mapping all lifeforms in India including associated cultural and traditional practices,
o assessment of the distribution and conservation status of India’s biodiversity,
o development of a cadre of professionals adept at handling large sets of environmental data for
management and monitoring of biodiversity
o establishment of a vibrant biodiversity based economy on a solid foundation of reliable information
o engagement with the public
o enhanced options for agricultural production and livelihood security and the general well-being of
society. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

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Q 77.C
• The government in the budget 2021-22 proposed to set up a National Language Translation Mission
(NTLM).
• It seeks to enable the wealth of governance and policy-related knowledge on the Internet in major
Indian languages. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
• It will enhance access to digital content to a wider demographic of Indian users and make citizens
informed on government policies and schemes.

Q 78.C
• A demand shock is a sudden and temporary increase or decrease in the demand for a good or a bundle of
goods. Usually, the phrase “demand shock” is used in the context of aggregate demand, which describes
the cumulative demand for an entire economy. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• A temporary change in demand can be caused by any factor that:
o Allows consumers to consume more, or
o Induces consumers to want to consume more
• Many factors allow consumers to consume more (such as a universal tax cut that allows consumers to
receive more to spend) and many factors that induce consumers to consume more (such as warmer
weather increasing the demand for cold drinks during the summer months).

• Change in price cannot cause a demand shock. A movement along the demand curve reflects a change in
quantity demanded due to a change in price and is not a demand shock. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The duration of the effects of demand shocks can vary greatly. Although the effects are described as
“temporary,” there are no rigorous guidelines as to how “temporary” is defined.
• Instead, “temporarily” is used to present the notion that the economy is in an irregular state and that
aggregate demand is different from what economists consider standard. Depending on the context of the
demand shock, effects can range from a few days to several years.

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Q 79.C
• Metrolite is a light rail urban transit system for cities with lower ridership projection and as a feeder
system for the existing metro systems.
• MetroNeo is a mass rapid transit system providing low-cost, energy-efficient, and eco-friendly urban
transport solutions for tier 2 cities. Metro Neo systems are lighter and smaller than conventional Metro
trains and are even cheaper than MetroLite. Currently, Nashik in Maharashtra is implementing a metro
project using MetroNeo technology.
• The government in the budget 2021-22 proposed that MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ will be deployed
to provide metro rail systems at a much lesser cost with the same experience, convenience, and
safety in Tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

Q 80.D
• Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from preschool to
class 12, was launched in 2018-19 with the following major features:
o Holistic approach to education: Treat school education holistically as a continuum from Pre-
school to Class 12.
o Focus on Quality of Education by focus on the two T’s – Teachers and Technology; Capacity
Building of Teachers and School Heads; Grants to schools for strengthening Libraries; Support for
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to promote Science and Math learning.
o Focus on Digital Education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTH channels and
ICT infrastructure in schools; Support to “DIKSHA”, a digital platform which offers teachers,
students and parents engaging learning material.
o Focus on Girl Education: Upgradation of Kasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalayas (KGBVs) from
Class 6-8 to Class 6-12; Self-defence training for girls; enhanced focus on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
o Focus on Inclusion, Skill Development, Sports and Physical Education, Regional Balance etc.
o Under Samagra Shiksha, NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic
Advancement) was contextualized to improve learning outcomes and made 100 per cent online
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
o Padhna Likhna Abhiyan: An adult education scheme has been introduced in FY 2020-21. • During
2019-20, the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Programme in schools covered 11.59 crore children enrolled in
elementary classes. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 81.D
• The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations
about the global financial system. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It was established after the G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability
Forum (FSF). India, being a member of G20 grouping, played an active role in its establishment. Hence,
statement 3 is correct.
• The Board includes all G20 major economies, FSF members, and the European Commission. Hosted and
funded by the Bank for International Settlements, the board is based in Basel, Switzerland.
• The FSB promotes international financial stability; it does so by coordinating national financial authorities
and international standard-setting bodies as they work toward developing strong regulatory, supervisory
and other financial sector policies. It fosters a level playing field by encouraging coherent implementation
of these policies across sectors and jurisdictions.
• The FSB, working through its members, seeks to strengthen financial systems and increase the stability of
international financial markets.
• The FSB’s decisions are not legally binding on its members – instead the organisation operates by moral
suasion and peer pressure, in order to set internationally agreed policies and minimum standards that its
members commit to implementing at national level. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Q 82.C
• Recent Context – In the Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister has announced ‘MITRA’ scheme for textile
sector.
• About Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) scheme - The Government has proposed a scheme of
Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) in Budget 2021-22. It will enable the textile industry to
become globally competitive, attract large investments, boost employment generation and exports. Hence
option c is correct.
• It will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable create global champions in
exports.
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 • Seven textiles parks will be established in over 3 years
• MITRA will be launched in addition to the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI).
• Emphasis on state-of-the-art infrastructure through MITRA will give our domestic manufacturers a level-
playing field in the international textiles market & pave the way for India to become a global champion of
textiles exports across all segments

Q 83.C
• For the states, the Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended the fiscal deficit limit (as a percentage
of GSDP) as follows:
o 4% in 2021-22
o 3.5% in 2022-23
o 3% during 2023-26.
• As per the data of 2019-20 at current prices the GSDP (in crores) of the four states given is as
follows:
o Madhya Pradesh- 906671
o West Bengal - 1253831
o Uttar Pradesh - 1794507
o Maharashtra- 3224013
• Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

Q 84.B
• The Central Government extends price support for paddy, coarse grains and wheat through the FCI and
State Agencies. All the foodgrains conforming to the prescribed specification offered for sale at specified
centres are bought by the public procurement agencies at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The
foodgrains so procured are allocated to the States for distribution to the identified beneficiaries under the
Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and other Welfare Schemes at subsidized prices.
• The difference between the per quintal economic cost and the per quintal Central Issue Price (CIP) gives
the quantum of per quintal food subsidy.
• In order to ensure food security to the vulnerable sections, the Government has continued with the
subsidized pricing under NFSA. The CIP of wheat and rice for NFSA beneficiaries has not been
revised since the introduction of the Act in 2013 from 200 per quintal in case of wheat and 300 per
quintal in the case of rice. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• On the other hand, the economic cost of wheat for FCI operations has increased from 1908.32 perquintal
in 2013-14 to 2683.84 per quintal in 2020-21. Similarly, the economic cost of rice has increased from
2615.51 per quintal in 2013-14 to ` 3723.76 per quintal in 2020-21. Further, the NFSA provides wider
coverage than the erstwhile TPDS. These all taken together has resulted in the rise in food subsidy.
• Expenditure on food subsidy increased from 63,844 crores to 1,15,570 crores during the period
2010-11 to 2020-21. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The food subsidy bill is becoming unmanageably large. While it is difficult to reduce the economic cost of
food management in view of rising commitment towards food security, there is a need to consider the
revision of CIP to reduce the bulging food subsidy bill.

Q 85.D
• The term Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) refers to primary cooperative banks located in urban and
semi-urban areas. These banks, till 1996, were allowed to lend money only for non-agricultural purposes.
This distinction does not hold today.
• The following regulatory measures have been taken with regard to UCBs:
• Revision in the target for priority sector lending: To promote financial inclusion, the overall priority
sector lending target for Urban Co-operative Banks has been increased from the present level of 40 per
cent of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) to 75 per cent of ANBC by March 31, 2024. Hence statement
1 is correct.
• All co-operative banks have been advised of their inclusion as Eligible Lending Institutions under the
'Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for MSMEs 2018' of the Government.
• Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with assets of `500 crore and above were brought under the CRILC
reporting framework. UCBs shall report credit information on all borrowers having aggregate exposures
of `5 crores and above with them to CRILC.
• The Banking Regulation Act has been amended by the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020. The
key changes are

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 o The Reserve Bank has been given powers over the management of the UCBs, including approval for
appointment and removal of Chairman/MD/CEO. Hence statement 2 is correct.
o Provisions of the revised Act will enable UCBs to raise capital by issue of equity/ preference/special
shares and debentures/bonds/like securities subject to such conditions as the Reserve Bank may
specify. Hence statement 3 is correct.
o The Reserve Bank has been empowered to supersede the Board of Directors of a UCB.

Q 86.B
• National Housing Bank was set up in July, 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987. NHB is
the apex financial institution for housing. It was once a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of
India (RBI). Now it is wholly owned by Government of India after Govt. of India bought the complete
stake in NHB. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• NHB RESIDEX, India’s first official housing price index (HPI), was launched in July, 2007, to track the
movement in prices of residential properties in select cities on quarterly basis, taking 2007 as the base
year. It captures two housing price indices viz. HPI@ Assessment Prices for 50 cities and HPI@ Market
Prices for Under Construction Properties for 50 cities. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• This index is used to be computed taking FY2012-13 as base year and is updated up to March 2018. With
effect from April 2018, a new series with FY2017-18 as new base year has been published and is
updated up to the current quarter.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Q 87.A
• The headcount ratio (HC) is the simplest way of measuring poverty. It gives the percentage of population
which is not above the poverty line. It can be formally defined as ratio of poor people and total
population. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
• The poverty gap is a ratio showing the average shortfall of the total population from the poverty line—the
minimum level of income required to secure the basic necessities for survival. In other words, it reflects
the intensity of poverty in a nation.
• Headcount ratio and poverty gap are indeed almost universally reported as the two basic poverty
measurements, for both temporal and cross-sectional analysis and in both developed and less developed
countries.
• Though widely used, this measure of HC has serious shortcomings, as it is not very sensitive to changes of
the income distribution involving poor individuals.
• In order to give a more appropriate picture of poverty, poverty measures based on the distance between
individual incomes and the poverty line should be used. This is the case of the poverty gap.
• The headcount ratio HC has the following properties: ƒHC has zero as lower limit. It happens when all
individuals have an income just above the poverty line. In this case, the number of poor is zero and its
ratio to total population is also zero. ƒHC has 1 as upper limit. If everybody is poor, the number of poor
people is equal to total population.

Q 88.B
• National Rail Plan has been proposed as a common platform for all future infrastructural, business, and
financial planning of the Railways. It aims to augment infrastructural capacity along with strategies to
increase the modal share of the Railways.
• Major objectives of this plan are:
o To create capacity ahead of demand by 2030, which in turn would cater to growth in demand right up
to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways from 27% currently to 45% in freight by
2030. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
o Railways will be using solar power in a big way to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2030.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.
o To assess the actual demand in freight and passenger sectors.
o Forecast growth of traffic in both freight and passenger year on year up to 2030 and on a decadal basis
up to 2050.
o Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing the average speed of freight trains from
present 22Kmph to 50Kmph.
o Reduce overall cost of Rail transportation by nearly 30% and pass on the benefits to the customers.
o Select projects along with appropriate technology in both track work, signalling, and rolling stock to
mitigate these bottlenecks well in advance.

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 • As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of
certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multitracking of congested routes, etc.
• For successful implementation of the National Rail Plan, Railways will be looking to engage with Private
Sector, PSUs, State Governments, and Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEM)/Industries.
• The government will engage with the private sector in areas like operations and ownership of
rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track
infrastructure, etc. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Q 89.C
• The expenditure on social services (education, health and other social sectors) is pre-requite for the human
development.

• From the above table, it can be analysed that

o Total Budgetary Expenditure by General Government (Combined Centre and States) on social
sector has been increasing continuously during the last five years while there is no fixed trend in
expenditure on social services as percentage to GDP. Hence statement 1 is not correct and
statement 2 is correct.
o Within the social service expenditure, Health accounts the highest share as percentage to social
services which is nearly 40% of total social service expenditure while health accounts nearly 21
%. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Q 90.C
• India, despite being the fifth largest economy in the world has been rated at the lowest rung of the
investment-grade (BBB-/Baa3). The recent economic survey has highlighted and negated this anomaly.
• India is rated much below expectation for its number of sovereign defaults since 1990 (which is zero for
India), making it a negative outlier among the similar sized economies. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• India’s ability to pay can be gauged not only by the extremely low foreign currency denominated debt of
the sovereign but also by the comfortable size of its foreign exchange reserves that can pay for the short
term debt of the private sector as well as the entire stock of India’s sovereign and non-sovereign external
debt. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• India’s non-government short term-debt as a percent of forex reserves stood at 19 percent as of September
2020. India’s forex reserves stood at US$584.24 as of January 15, 2021, greater than India’s total external
debt (sovereign and non-sovereign) of US $556.2 bn as of September 2020.
• In corporate finance parlance, therefore, India resembles a firm that has negative debt, whose probability
of default is zero by definition.
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Q 91.D
• Recently, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the
World Investment Report 2020.
• The World Investment Report focuses on trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worldwide, at the
regional and country levels and emerging measures to improve its contribution to development.
• Global Scenario:
o According to the report, global FDI flows are forecast to decrease by up to 40% in 2020, from their
2019 value of $1.54 trillion.
o This would bring global FDI below $1 trillion for the first time since 2005. The FDI is projected to
decrease by a further 5% to 10% in 2021.
o Developing economies are expected to see the biggest fall in FDI because they rely more on
investment in Global Value Chain (GVC) based industries, which have been severely hit due to
Covid-19 pandemic.
• India’s Investment Scenario:
o India improved its position from 12th in 2018 to 9th in 2019 in the list of the world’s largest FDI
recipients.
o The report also observed that FDI into India may decline sharply in 2020 because of the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures, supply chain disruptions and economic
slowdown.

Q 92.C
• National Statistical Office (NSO) has been conducting socio-economic surveys employing scientific
methods since 1950. The NSO conducted Time Use Survey (TUS) during 2019. Time Use Survey
(TUS), which will collect data on time dispositions of household members, is an area of survey introduced
in response to demands from various stakeholders. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The Time Use Survey (TUS) will enable measuring the time spent by individuals on different
activities. The primary objective of the Time Use Survey (TUS) is to measure the participation of
men, women and other groups of persons in paid and unpaid activities. Hence, statement 1 is
correct
• The survey will be an important source of information on the time spent in unpaid caregiving activities,
unpaid volunteer work, unpaid domestic service-producing activities of the household members. This will
also provide information on time spent on learning, socializing, leisure activities, self-care activities, etc.
by the household members.
• Key Observations include:
o According to the survey, it is observed that time spent by a female on unpaid domestic services and
unpaid caregiving services to household members is prominent and higher than male counterparts.
o Time spent on employment-related activities by female members is lower than male.
o Among unpaid caregiving services for household members, females spent disproportionately
higher time on childcare and instruction as compared to males. Hence, statement 2 is not
correct.
o The unpaid domestic and caregiving services provided by women are not influenced by their level of
education. Even with education level of “secondary and above”, women spend more time in unpaid
domestic services for household members and unpaid caregiving services for household members.
o The time spent on unpaid domestic and caregiving services (340 minutes or 5.6 hrs) is high for
females in the workforce. Thus, women in the workforce shoulder the responsibility of domestic
activities as well as paid work, which leaves them with less time to spend on employment-related
activities.

Q 93.C
• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Directorate General of Health
Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the National Regulatory
Authority (NRA) of India.
• It is the Central Drug Authority responsible for discharging functions assigned to the Central
Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940. It is India's national regulatory body for
pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
• It envisages uniform implementation of the provisions of the Act & Rules made thereunder for ensuring
the safety, rights and well being of the patients by regulating the drugs and cosmetics. CDSCO is
constantly thriving upon to bring out transparency, accountability and uniformity in its services in order to

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 ensure safety, efficacy and quality of the medical product manufactured, imported and distributed in the
country.
• Under the Drug and Cosmetics Act, the regulation of manufacture, sale and distribution of Drugs is
primarily the concern of the State authorities while the Central Authorities are responsible for approval of
New Drugs, Clinical Trials in the country, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of
imported Drugs, coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organisations and providing expert
advice with a view of bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
• Functions of CDSCO include:
o Approval of new drugs and clinical trials;
o Import Registration and Licensing
o Approving of Blood Banks, LVPs, Vaccines, r-DNA products & some Medical Devices CLAA
Scheme
o Banning of drugs and cosmetics
o Grant of Test License, Personal License, NOCs for Export
o Testing of New Drugs
o Oversight and market Surveillance through Inspectorate of Centre Over and above the State Authority
• Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.

Q 94.A
• Port and Shipping Services: Ports handle around 90% of export-import cargo by volume and 70%
by value in India. India has a 1% share in world fleet as on January 2020. Hence statement 1 is
correct.
• Port Capacity: The total cargo capacity of major ports which was 871.52 Million Tonnes Per Annum
(MTPA) at the end of March 2014 has increased to 1,534.91 MTPA by the end of March 2020 and
handled traffic of 704.92 MT during 2019-20.
• Important ports: Ports including Deendayal (Kandla), Paradip, JNPT, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai had
the highest cargo capacities as of March 2020. Halving of turnaround time: The turnaround time of ships,
which is a key indicator of efficiency of the ports sector, has declined from 4 days in 2014-15 to 2.62 days
in 2020-21 (April-September).
• The shipping turnaround time has declined across all major ports and is now the lowest at the
Cochin port and the highest at the Mormugao port. As per the latest UNCTAD data, the median
ship turnaround time globally is 0.97 days. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q 95.C
• According to the latest Economic Survey:
o Though there is an improvement in the proportion of skilled people, the level of skill acquirement
remained low. Only 2.4 per cent of the workforce of age 15-59 years have received formal vocational
training and another 8.9 per cent of the workforce received training through informal sources. Hence
statement 1 is not correct.
o The size of labour force in 2018-19 was estimated at about 51.8 crore persons with 3.0 crore
unemployed. Agriculture is the largest employer with 42.5 per cent of workforce, followed by other
services (13.8 per cent of workforce). Hence statement 2 is correct.
o Self-employment is the major source of employment with close to 52 per cent of the workforce was
self-employed, followed by regular wage/ salaried employees and casual workers. Hence statement 3
is correct.

Q 96.D
• A cess is a form of tax levied by the central government with a specific purpose till the time the
government gets enough money for that purpose.
• It is different from the usual taxes and duties like excise and personal income tax because a cess is
imposed as an additional tax besides the existing tax (tax on tax). For example, education cess is levied by
the government for funding education-related expenditure.
• The purpose of the newly proposed Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC ) is to raise
funds to finance spending on developing agriculture infrastructure.
• AIDC is imposed on the imports of the following products:
o Gold, Silver and dore bars
o Alcoholic beverages
o Crude palm oil
o Crude soybean and sunflower oil
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 o Apples
o Coal, lignite and peat
o Specified fertilizers (Urea etc)
o Peas
o Kabuli Chana
o Bengal Gram/Chickpeas
o Lentil (Mosur)
o Cotton (not carded or combed)
• AIDC of 2.5 per litre on petrol and 4 per litre on diesel has also been imposed.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 97.D
• Recent Context: To expedite exploration activities, Geological Survey of India (GSI) has embarked to
cover following National level surveys by 2024:
o National Geochemical Mapping (NGCM) is an all-India programme to cover entire surface area of
the country by geochemical sampling.
ü Uses: For managing and developing natural resources; application in environmental, agricultural,
human health, other social concerns and to search for hidden mineral deposits.
o National Geophysical Mapping (NGPM) generates basic and derived maps of Bouguer (Gravity
Anomaly and International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) corrected magnetic total field maps
of the country by conducting ground gravity and magnetic surveys.
ü It provides stakeholders a framework to design exploration strategies.
o National Aero Geophysical Mapping Program (NAGMP) to delineate concealed, deep seated
structure/ litho-units capable of hosting mineralization, delineate extension of the existing mineralized
zone and understating of shallow crustal architecture in the context of mineral occurrence.
o GSI has also initiated its flagship initiative of National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) that
aims at integrating the collected data by GSI and the similar organizations to build a repository on the
digital medium entailing multiple user access.
• About Geological Survey of India:
o It is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines.
o It was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for Railways. Over the years, it has attained the
status of a geo-scientific organisation of international repute.
o It is headquartered in Kolkata.
o Its main functions relate to creation and updation of national geo-scientific information and mineral
resource assessment.
o The activity domains of GSI include surface mapping, aerial and remote sensing surveys, offshore
surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo-
environmental and natural hazards studies, research and development, training and capacity
building and information services etc.
• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Q 98.D
• The Forex Reserves (foreign exchange reserves) of an economy is its ‘foreign currency assets’ added
with its gold reserves, SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) and Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) in the IMF.
In a sense, the Forex reserves is the upper limit upto which an economy can manage foreign currency in
normal times if need be.
• India's forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights
(SDRs), and the country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Foreign exchange reserves reached to an all-time high of US$ 583.8 billion as on February 19,
2021, covering about 18 months of imports. At present, India is the fifth-largest foreign exchange
reserves holder among all countries of the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia. Hence
statement 1 is not correct.
• Foreign Currency Assets (US$ 542.1 billion) constitute the largest component of the forex reserves
followed by Gold (US$ 35.2 billion) and Special Drawing rights (US$ 1.5 billion). Hence statement 2 is
not correct.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 provides the overarching legal framework for deployment of
reserves in different foreign currency assets and gold within the broad parameters of currencies,
instruments, issuers and counterparties. In brief, the law broadly permits the following investment
categories:
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 o deposits with other central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS);
o deposits with commercial banks overseas;
o debt instruments representing sovereign/sovereign-guaranteed liability with residual maturity for the
debt papers not exceeding 10 years;
o other instruments / institutions as approved by the Central Board of the Reserve Bank.
o Hence statement 3 is not correct.

Q 99.A
• The economies across the world have undertaken massive use of fiscal policy measures with an objective
to protect the lives and livelihoods against the health and economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, to
boost the demand and foster the reopening of the economies after the lockdown phase.
• The fiscal measures adopted have been diverse, comprising of above-the-line measures, below-the-line
measures, and contingent liabilities (guarantees, quasi-fiscal operations).
• “Above-the-line” measures include those for which full cost is reflected in the fiscal deficit, government
debt, and increased borrowing needs in the short term. These measures include additional spending (for
example, health services and unemployment benefits); capital grants and targeted transfers (for example,
wage subsidies or direct transfers); or tax measures (for example, tax cuts or other relief) provided
through standard budget channels. Hence options 1 and 2 are correct.
• “Below-the-line” measures are defined as generally involve the creation of assets, like equity
injections, loans, asset purchase, etc., which may have little or no upfront impact on the fiscal deficit all
although they can later increase debt or reduce liquidity. Hence option 3 is not correct.
• Estimates by IMF show that the Government of India announced above-the-line measures equivalent to
2.2 percent of GDP and other liquidity support measures of around 5.3 percent of GDP up to September
2020. Although India’s measures were smaller than those of other developed countries, they were
successful in facilitating recovery in the economy.

Q 100.A
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund:
• This central sector scheme is operational from the year 2020-21 to 2029-30. Hence statement 2 is not
correct.
• The scheme provides for medium to long term debt financing facility for investment in viable
projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. Hence
statement 1 is correct.
• Under the scheme, Rs. 1 lakh crores will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to
primary agricultural credit societies (PACS), marketing cooperative societies, farmer producers
organizations (FPOs), self help group (SHG), etc.
• All loans under this financing facility will have interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum up to a limit
of Rs.2 crores. This subvention will be available for a maximum period of 7 years.
• Further, credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility
under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to
Rs. 2 crores.
• As on January 2021, Rs. 2991 crores has been ‘in principle’ sanctioned under the scheme to 3055 PACS
by NABARD.

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