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Consider the following statements regarding External debt of India

The debtors can be the Union government, state governments, corporations or citizens of India.

Short-term borrowings dominate India’s external debt.

The largest share of India’s external debt is held in Indian rupees.

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect:

1, 2

1, 3

2, 3

3 only

Solution:

(C)

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.

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.

Long-term borrowings (more than a year to maturity) dominate India’s external debt.

India’s external debt is held in multiple currencies, the largest of which is the United States dollar.

The rest of the debt is held in Indian rupees, special drawing rights, Japanese yen, Euros and other currencies.

Source – The Hindu

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Which of these is/are not the examples of fixed capital formation?

Energy infrastructure

Office equipment, such as computers

Accumulation of foreign exchange reserve

Select the correct answer code:

1, 2

1, 3

3 only

2, 3

Solution:

(C)

Currency is not considered as fixed capital, it is liquid capital.

Fixed capital are the assets used in the productive process.

Examples include Building or expanding existing factory, Purchase of transport equipment and all other machineries used in the productive process.

Increasing an economy’s capital stock also increases its capacity for production, which means an economy can produce more.

Source – The Indian Express

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Consider the following statements regarding International Financial Service Centre (IFSC).

An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy.

IFSC exclusively deals asset management and global portfolio diversification only.

Which of the above statements is/are correct:

1 only

2 only

Both 1 and 2

Neither 1 nor 2

Solution:

(A)

An IFSC is thus a jurisdiction that provides world class financial services to non-residents and residents, to the extent permissible under the current regulations, in a currency other than the domestic currency (Indian rupee) of the location where the IFSC is located.

Products and Services at IFSCs:

Fund Raising for individuals, corporations and governments (sovereign and sub sovereign)

Asset Management and Global Portfolio Diversification

Personal Wealth Management (PWM) for highnet worth individuals (HNWIs).

Global Tax Management and Cross- border Tax Liability Optimisation

Source – The PIB

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Seaweeds are macroscopic algae usually found in oceans. In this context, which of the following can be the possible benefits of it?

It reduces coastal eutrophication.

It is a vital food for marine organism.

It can be used as fertilizer for plants.

Select the correct answer code:

1, 2, 3

3 only

2, 3

1, 3

Solution:

(A)

All the above are the benefits of sea weeds.

Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae.

Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital role in capturing carbon, producing up to 90% of Earth’s oxygen.

Source – Down To Earth

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Which of the following statements best describes biotic potential?

It refers to the potential biomass of a population measured as dry weight per unit area.

It refers to the possible functional roles a species can play in an ecosystem.

It refers to the maximum reproductive capacity of an organism under optimum environmental conditions.

It refers to the minimum population of a species required to sustain a food web.

Solution:

(C)

Biotic potential, the maximum reproductive capacity of an organism under optimum environmental conditions.

Source – Down To Earth

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What do you understand by the term ‘Social Forestry’?

Reducing the pressure on the traditional forest area by encouraging plantations on community land

Promoting commercial harvesting of timber and non-timber products from traditional forests by community to meet local demands

Which of the above is/are correct:

1 only

2 only

Both 1 and 2

Neither 1 nor 2

Solution:

(A)

The National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India, first used the term ‘social forestry’ in 1976.

It aims at raising plantations by the common man so as to meet the growing demand for food, fuel wood, fodder, fiber and fertilizer (5 F’s) etc, thereby reducing the pressure on the traditional forest area.

It does not aim at the displacement or exploitation of traditional forests, but supplementing them with community grown forests.

Source – The Hindu

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When ocean temperatures get too hot, corals often experience ‘bleaching’ events. What does this mean?

Plants and animals living in the vicinity of corals die.

Corals move towards cooler waters

The symbiotic nature of the relationship between a certain plant and animal breaks down

Corals submerge themselves completely under water, starving themselves of sunlight and air to breathe

Solution:

(C)

Often mistaken for a form of vegetation, corals “are in fact an animal that lives in symbiosis with an algae, a plant,”

Corals and algae “provide services for each other,” with the algae providing “up to 90% of the coral animal’s food” through photosynthesis

“When ocean temperatures get too hot, this symbiosis, this relationship, breaks down”.

“The algae is lost from the coral and causes the coral to look white,” effectively “starving” it.

When a coral bleaches, it is not dead.

Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

Source – The Indian Express

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Which of the following countries are members of both BIMSTEC and SAARC?

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Myanmar

Sri Lanka

Select the correct answer code:

1, 2, 4

1, 2

1, 3, 4

1, 2, 3, 4

Solution:

(A)

The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. SAARC member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Source – The Times of India

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Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), is related to?

Indian military action carried out in 1984 to remove militant religious leaders in Punjab

U.S. government’s Global War on Terrorism

Reassure safe passage of Indian flagged vessels transiting through Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman

Humanitarian assistance aimed to supply relief packages to Bangladesh for migrant Rohingya Muslims

Solution:

(B)

Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the Global War on Terrorism. Operation Enduring Freedom primarily refers to the War in Afghanistan, but it is also affiliated with counterterrorism operations in other countries.

Source – The Hindu

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Scientists usually study asteroids for which of the following reasons:

Asteroids provide information about the formation and history of planets and the sun.

To look for asteroids that might be potentially hazardous.

Asteroids offer a source of volatiles and an extraordinarily rich supply of minerals.

Select the correct answer code:

1, 2

1, 3

2, 3

1, 2, 3

Solution:

(D)

The scientific interest in asteroids is largely due to their status as the remnant debris from the inner solar system formation process.

Because some of these objects can collide with the Earth, asteroids are also important for having significantly modified the Earth’s biosphere in the past.

They will continue to do so in the future.

In addition, asteroids offer a source of volatiles and an extraordinarily rich supply of minerals that can be exploited for the exploration and colonization of our solar system in the twenty-first century.

Scientists study asteroids to look for information about the formation and history of planets and the sun since asteroids were formed at the same time as other objects in the solar system.

Another reason for tracking them is to look for asteroids that might be potentially hazardous.

Source – The Science Reporter

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