Revision Series | Economic Survey | Contemporary Affairs | 103

Answer: B

• The development bank founded by the so-called BRICS countries is planning to issue its first Indian rupee bond by October, its chief operating officer said on Monday, as the lender comes under pressure to raise and lend more in local currencies.
• The New Development Bank (NDB) issued its first rand bond in South Africa last week and could consider local currency issuance in members Brazil, Russia and United Arab Emirates, Vladimir Kazbekov told a press briefing ahead of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 22-24.

Answer: (d)

• A green bond (or ‘climate bond) is a debt instrument with which capital is raised to fund ‘green’ projects, which typically include those relating to renewable energy, clean transportation, sustainable water management etc. Like any other bond, it is a fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or governmental).
• Blue bonds are sustainability bonds to finance projects that protect the ocean and related ecosystems. This can include projects to support sustainable fisheries, protection of coral reefs and other fragile ecosystems, or reducing pollution and acidification.
• All blue bonds are green bonds, but not all green bonds are blue bonds.

Hence statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Answer: (c)

• The government has said that the World Oil Outlook 2021, flagship publication by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has projected that the oil demand in India is expected to reach around 11 million barrels per day by 2045 as compared to approximately 4.9 million barrels per day in 2021

Answer: (c)

• In her Budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the central bank would launch the CBDC in the financial year 2022-23.
• RBI, which has repeatedly voiced its opposition to private digital currencies, had proposed to the government in October last year to widen the scope of the paper rupee to include currency in a digital form.
• According to the RBI, “CBDC is the legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different.”

Answer: (c)

• Shrinkflation is a combination of two words, ‘shrink’ and ‘inflation’.
• It is the practice of reducing the size of a product while maintaining its retail price. Shrinkflation is basically a form of hidden inflation.
• Shrinkflation is done most commonly in the food and beverage sector, though it may occur in any industry.
• Examples include reducing the size of chocolate bar (100g to 80g), number of pages in a notebook (100 to 80) or size of cold drink bottle (1000ml to 750ml) while keeping the price same in each case.

Hence statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Answer: (b)

• SWIFT is a messaging network used by banks and financial institutions globally for quick and faultless exchange of information pertaining to financial transactions.
• SWIFT is only a platform that sends messages and does not hold any securities or money. It enables standardized and reliable communication to facilitate the transaction.
• SWIFT is owned and controlled by its shareholders (financial institutions) representing approximately 3,500 firms from across the world.
• SWIFT is overseen by the G-10 Central Banks which includes Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, and Sweden as well as the European Central Bank (ECB), with its lead overseer being the National Bank of Belgium

Answer: (d)

• Environmental goods are typically non-market goods, including clear air, clean water, landscape, green transport infrastructure (footpaths, cycle ways, greenways, etc.), public parks, urban parks, rivers, mountains, forests, and beaches.
• Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Concerns with environmental goods focus on the effects that the exploitation of ecological systems have on the economy, the well-being of humans and other species, and on the environment.
• Hence statement 2 is correct.

Answer: A

• The Washington Postreported recently that nearly a trillion dollars worth of a vast wealth of lithium and other minerals have been found in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Nurestan.
• It is little wonder that China is working closely with the Taliban regime to gain access to this strategic asset.

Answer: C

• India and ASEAN registered a bilateral trade of USD 131.5 billion in 2022-23.
• The trade with ASEAN accounted for 11.3% of India’s global trade in 2022-23.

ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA):

• The main agenda of this year is ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009.
• The review of the AITIGA was a long-standing demand of Indian businesses and it would help in making the FTA trade facilitative and mutually beneficial.
• It is expected to enhance and diversify trade while addressing the current asymmetry in bilateral trade.

Answer: A

• Debt in the global south:It is a term used for developing, less developing and underdeveloped countries, located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia — countries.
• Global south countries are currently spending five times more on repaying debtthan they are on addressing the impacts of the climate crisis.
• Their external debt payments (money borrowed from richer countries, or from World Bank and IMF, or private lenders) has gone up by 150% between 2011 and 2023, reaching their highest levels in 25 years.

Answer: C

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP), an indigenous car crash testing programme.

Objective:The Program aims to create an ecosystem of competitive safety enhancements leading to increased awareness among consumers. Consumers can take an informed decision by making a comparative assessment on vehicle performance under crash test conditions.

Applicability:The new programme will be applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3.5-tonne . This is a voluntary program and will be based on the Automotive Industry Standard 197

Rating:A rating from one star to five stars will be assigned to a vehicle after an evaluation of three parameters — adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, and safety assist technologies present in the car.

Answer: D

Answer: A

• Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (“SANKALP”) 
• SANKALP is a Centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with loan assistance from the World Bank.
• SANKALP was launched on 19th January 2018 .
• It aims to improve short term skill training qualitatively and quantitatively through strengthening institutions, bring in better market connectivity and inclusion of marginalised sections of the society.
• The outcomes in the project are measured through the Results Framework, and Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) agreed between MSDE and World Bank.

Answer: (c)

Answer: (c)