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Q.1 Jan Dhan Yojna is a recently launched Banking Scheme for financial inclusion under which each account holder will get, among others

1. An overdraft facility of Rs.5,000

2. An insurance cover of Rs. 1,00,000

3. A credit card

Codes:

A) 1 only

B) 2 & 3 only

C) 1 & 2 only

D) 1,2 & 3

Ans. C

 

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely Banking Savings & Deposit Accounts,Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. This financial inclusion campaign was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 .He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.

Under the scheme:

  1. Account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh(to be given by ‘HDFC Ergo’).

  2. Those who open accounts by January 26, 2015 over and above the 1 lakh ₹ accident claim will also be given life insurance cover of ₹ 30,000(to be given by LIC).

  3. After Six months of opening of the bank account, holders can avail 5,000 ₹overdraft from the bank.

  4. With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones so far.

 

  1. Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together

 

 

Q.2 Integrated low Cost Sanitation Scheme aims at conversion of dry latrines into

A) Pour flush latrines

B) Cistern flush latrines

C) Vacuum flush latrines

D) Pit latrines

Ans. A

 

Q.3 Which one of the following statements regarding Monitorable Socio-Economic Target of the 11th Five Year Plan, under the head Environment, is not correct ?

A) Treat all urban waste water by 2011-2012 to clear river waters

B) Increase energy efficiency by 20% points by 2016-2017

C) Attain WHO standards of air quality in all major cities by 2011-2012

D) Increase forest and tree cover by 15% points

Ans. D

The forest and tree cover is targeted to be increased by 5%.

 

Q.4 Indo-China joint mechanism on the Brahmaputra river was aimed at :

1. Sharing river water

2. Sharing river water data

3. Sharing information on transboundary projects

4. Addressing concerns on dams in upper Brahmaputra

Codes:

A) 1,3,4

B) 2 & 3

C) Only 2

D) 1 & 2

Ans. C

 

Q.5 What is Hawala ?

A) Illegal transations of foreign exchanges

B) Illegal hoarding of money

C) Illegal trading of shares

D) Tax evasion

Ans. B

 

Q.6 Which of the following statements about AESAN is not correct ?

A) India is a founding member of ASEAN

B) Its objectives were primarily to accelerate economical & social progress & cultural development

C) It is committed primarily to promote regional peace & stability

D) It encourage negotiation over conflict in the region

Ans. A

As of 2010, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has 10 member states, one candidate member state, and one observer state.

ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 with five members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

 

 

Q.7 Consider the following statements with reference to the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission:

1. The NJAC would replace the collegium in judicial appointments.

2. The NJAC will have no judicial members.

3. It recommends persons for appointment as Chief Justice of India, Judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of High Courts and other Judges of High Courts.

4. It recommends transfer of Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts from one High Court to any other High Court.

Which of the above statements are true?

A) 1 & 3

B) 1,3,4

C) 1,2,3

D) All are correct

Ans. D

 

Q.8 Which of the following countries are members of the Fragile Five?

1. Turkey

2. Brazil

3. India

4. Japan

5. South Africa

6. Indonesia

Codes:

A) 1,2,3,4,5

B) 1,2,3,5,6

C) 1,2,3,4,6

D) All are correct

Ans. B

The long-running boom in emerging markets came to be identified, if not propped up, by wide acceptance of the term BRICs, shorthand for the fast-growing countries Brazil, Russia, India and China. Recent turmoil in these and similar markets has produced a rival expression: the Fragile Five.

The new name, as coined by a little-known research analyst at Morgan Stanley last summer, identifies Turkey, Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia as economies that have become too dependent on skittish foreign investment to finance their growth ambitions.

The term has caught on in large degree because it highlights the strains that occur when countries place too much emphasis on stoking fast rates of economic growth. The new catchphrase also raises pressing questions about not just the BRICs but about emerging markets in general.

The Morgan Stanley report came out in August, when there were reports that the Federal Reserve would soon reduce its bond-buying program. The term that report coined became a quick and easy way for investors to give voice to fears of a broader emerging markets rout, propelled by runs on the Turkish lira, Brazilian real and South African rand.

These fears were realized this week when Turkey, seen by most investors as the most fragile of the Fragile Five, raised interest rates 4.25 percentage points on Tuesday.

The sharper-than-expected increase by the country’s central bank — which previously took a fairly passive approach to defending its currency — was intended to persuade foreign investors, as well as corporate and household savers, to hold on to their lira instead of exchanging them for dollars.

As with other members of the Fragile Five, Turkey relies heavily on fickle short-term investment from foreigners to finance gaping current account deficits — the result of which has been a currency that many investors say is overvalued.

Investment analysts love to come up with catchy names that simplify their views and, ideally, capture the market spirit of the moment. During the early period of the euro crisis, PIGS, unkindly, came to describe Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. And when the focus turned to Greece and its future in the euro zone, Grexit became the term of art.

 

Q.9 Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is a centrally sponsored Scheme, which aims at providing strategic funding to State public universities and colleges through the

A) University Grants Commission

B) All India Council of Technical education

C) State Government

D) Central Project Appraisal Board

Ans. C

 

Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is a holistic scheme of development for higher education in India initiated in 2013 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The centrally sponsored scheme aims at providing strategic funding to higher educational institutions throughout the country. Funding is provided by the central ministry through the state governments and union territories (UT), which in coordination with the central Project Appraisal Board will monitor the academic, administrative and financial advancements taken under the scheme. A total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 colleges will be covered under it.