Revision Series | Economic Survey | Contemporary Affairs (Part-3) | 88

August 8, 2023

Consider the following statements :
1 The Government has established FFS with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore.
2. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the operating agency for FFS.
Which of these is/are correct regarding the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme?

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 and 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

Show Answer

Answer: B

Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme:
The Government has established FFS with a corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore, to meet the funding needs of startups.
DPIIT is the monitoring agency and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the operating agency for FFS

Consider the following statements :
1 It was established under the G20 India Presidency 2023.
2. It intends to represent the global startup ecosystem to raise the macroeconomic concerns.
Which of these is/are correct regarding the Startup20?

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 and 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

Show Answer

Answer: C

Startup20 is an official engagement group, established under the G20 India Presidency 2023. It acts as a dialogue forum with the global startup ecosystem stakeholders and intends to represent the global startup ecosystem to raise the macroeconomic concerns and challenges faced by entrepreneurs with G20 leaders. This would function as any other G20 engagement group, supported by G20 India Sherpa initially along with the Startup20 secretariat.
Startup20 will work towards bringing forward key topics for discussion and formulating recommendations against each priority area.
Through a consensus-based approach, we will corroborate the final recommendations to the G20 Presidency for discussion at the G20 Summit.

Plant Vogtle Unit 3, recently seen in news, has been setup in which country?

(A) France.
(B) Spain.
(C) USA.
(D) United Kingdom.

Show Answer

Answer: C

Plant Vogtle Unit 3 in Georgia, United States began delivering power to the power grid.
This makes it the first nuclear reactor that was built from scratch in the country in more than thirty years.
Georgia Power announced Monday that unit 3 of the plant has begun commercial operations and is now sending power to the grid reliably. At full capacity, the unit can put out 11,000 megawatts of electricity, which can power as many as 5,00,000 homes. Power developed by the plant is being used in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama in the United States.

Consider the following statements:
1 The amount is transferred to the bank accounts of eligible farmers’ families through Direct Benefit Transfer.
2. It is a Central Sector scheme.
3. It is the first scheme of the government to do e-KYC.
How many of the statements given above is/are correct regarding the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (KISAN) Scheme?

(A) 1 statement only
(B) 2 statements only
(C) All the statements
(D) None of the statement

Show Answer

Answer: C

The government rolled out a face authentication feature in the PM-Kisan app, which will enable beneficiary farmers to complete their e-KYC process by just scanning their face on mobile phones instead of using one-time password or fingerprints.
The PM-Kisan scheme has become the first scheme of the government to do e-KYC through facial authentication mobile app. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
Until now, e-KYC of the PM-Kisan beneficiaries used to be done through either biometrics at a designated centre or one-time passwords sent to mobile phone numbers linked with Aadhaar.
The scheme was launched in 2019

Consider the following statements :
1 Headline inflation is calculated using Wholesale Price Index.
2. In context of the Indian economy, food items are more responsible in higher headline inflation than fuel and other items.
3. Super core inflation in India has shown signs of moderation in the recent past.
How many of the statements given above is/are correct regarding inflation?

(A) 1 statement only
(B) 2 statements only
(C) All the statements
(D) None of the statement

Show Answer

Answer: B

Headline inflation has been above the 4 per cent mark since 2019-20.
It is calculated using the Consumer Price Index.
There are three main categories, food items account for 46 per cent, fuel and light for 7 per cent and all other items makeup 47 per cent.
It is important to understand that a 10 per cent increase in food items will obviously raise the overall inflation far more than a 10 per cent increase in fuel prices.
Super core inflation, excluding commodities like petrol, diesel, gold, and silver, fell to around 3.6% in June from 4.5% in May, indicating a moderation in underlying inflation, largely influenced by lower input costs in the goods sector amidst subdued services inflation.

Which of the following is/are correct regarding Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate(SAAR)?

(A) It is a rate adjustment used in business to account for changes in data due to seasonal variations.
(B) It enables more accurate comparisons to be made between different time periods.
(C) Indictors like inflation, super-core inflation are often adjusted using SAAR.
(D) All of the above.

Show Answer

Answer: D

Which of the following is/are incorrect regarding the Harmonized System of Nomenclature?
1 It is governed by "The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System".
It was elaborated under the auspices of the World Customs Organization.
Select the answer using the codes given below:

(A) 1 only.
(B) 2 only.
(C) Both 1 and 2.
(D) Neither 1 nor 2.

Show Answer

Answer: D

How many among the following items is/are not included under the GST regime?
1. Alcohol for human consumption.
2. Electricity transmission or distribution utility.
3. Sale/purchase of property.
4. Student accommodation in hostels.
Select the answer using the codes given below:

(A) 1 item only.
(B) 2 items only.
(C) 3 items only.
(D) All the items.

Show Answer

Answer: C

Which of the following is/are correct?
1 As per the CMIE employment data, majority of Indians work either as farmers or as wage labourers or small traders.
2. The number of people categorised under “business” grew by 8.4 million between the last four years.
Select the answer using the codes given below:

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 and 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2

Show Answer

Answer: C

Which of the following is/are correct?
1 Rajasthan is the first state in the country to enact an urban employment guarantee law.
2. Every adult person residing in the urban areas of Rajasthan is guaranteed 125 days of work in a financial year.
Select the answer using the codes given below:

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 and 2
(D) None

Show Answer

Answer: C

The transformative ability of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) lies in which of the following?
1 Inclusion and competition in the digital realm.
2. Potential to be used across multiple use cases.
3. Creating novel solutions that drive innovation.
Select the correct statement(s) using the codes given below:

(A) 1 and 3 only
(B) 2 and 3 only
(C) 1 and 2 only
(D) All of the above

Show Answer

Answer: D

Payment through the UPI 123PAY cannot be made through which of the following?
1. IVR numbers.
2. Missed Call Pay.
3. Sound-Based Technology.
Select the correct statement(s) using the codes given below:

(A) 1 only
(B) 3 only
(C) 2 and 3 only
(D) None of these

Show Answer

Answer: D

The fourfold mission of Sustainable Development Solutions Network includes?
1 Scholarly research.
2. Public outreach.
3. Educational innovation.
4. Convening power.
5. Inter-governmental collaboration.
Select the answer using the codes given below:

(A) 1, 3 and 4 only.
(B) 2, 3, 4 and 5 only.
(C) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only.
(D) 1, 2 and 3 only.

Show Answer

Answer: C

The SDSN was created in 2012, soon after the Rio+20 Summit, to mobilize the world’s universities, think tanks, and national laboratories on behalf of the SDGs.
SDSN’s mission was fourfold:
(i) scholarly research, (ii) educational innovation and partnerships, (iii) convening power, and (iv) outreach to the public.
The SDSN is now a global network of more than 1,900 member organizations, mainly universities, organized in 53 national and regional chapters.

Recently the global credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded US Sovereign rating citing expected fiscal deterioration over next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden and steady deterioration in governance over the last 20 years. The rating has been downgraded from AAA to?

(A) AAA-
(B) AA-
(C) BBB+
(D) AA+

Show Answer

Answer: D

Global credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded US Sovereign rating from AAA to AA+ citing expected fiscal deterioration over next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden and steady deterioration in governance over the last 20 years.

ITA-1 has pulled down the IT-based trade in value added (TiVA) goods. Which of the following best defines TiVA?

(A) It considers the contribution made by developed country in the creation of goods and services that are consumed globally.
(B) It is a statistical method that helps to identify the sources of value added during the production of goods and services for export and import.
(C) It considers the contribution made by each country in the creation of goods and services that are consumed domestically.
(D) It is a statistical method that helps to identify the sources of value added during the production of goods for export and import.

Show Answer

Answer: B

TiVA is a statistical method that helps to identify the sources of value added during the production of goods and services for export and import.
In simpler terms, TiVA considers the contribution made by each country in the creation of goods and services that are consumed globally.
For instance, if a product is manufactured in one country using materials sourced from another, both countries have added value to the final product.
This value is then calculated and attributed to each country accordingly.