Answer: B

Answer: C

• An RRB is a hybrid bank combining features of commercial banks and cooperative banks.
• Commercial banks have limited presence in rural areas due to less opportunities there, while cooperative banks are not that professional in their functioning.
• There is a sponsor commercial bank over RRB, which provides it HRM practices, technical and human training etc., to inculcate professionalism.

Answer: A

Answer: D

• Differentiated banks are banking institutions licensed by the RBI to provide specific banking services and products.
• Differentiated banks are distinct from universal banks as they function in a niche segment.
• The differentiation could be on account of capital requirement, scope of activities or area of operations.
• As such, they offer a limited range of services / products or function under a different regulatory dispensation.

Answer: B

• The government has constituted a new internal oversight mechanism for official data, revamping a Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES) set up in late 2019, soon after the findings from the last round of household surveys on consumption expenditure and employment were junked, citing ‘data quality issues’.
• An order issued by MoSPI stated that the SCES — which was tasked with examining economic indicators only — will now be replaced by a Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) which has a broader mandate to review the framework and results of all surveys conducted under the aegis of the National Statistical Office (NSO).
• Pronab Sen, India’s first chief statistician and the former chairman of the National Statistical Commission (NSC), has been named the chair of the new committee.
• The SCoS — with “enhanced terms of reference” vis-à-vis the SCES, “to ensure more coverage” — has 10 official members, and four non-official members who are eminent academics.
• The panel can have up to 16 members, as per the order issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
• Hence statement 1 and 4 are incorrect.

Answer: C

• The 42nd Foundation Day of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) : 17 July 2023;
• RBI at the instance of the GoI, constituted a Committee to Review the Arrangements for Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development (CRAFICARD) to look into these very critical aspects.
• The Committee’s interim report, submitted on 28 November 1979, outlined the need for a new organisational device for providing undivided attention, forceful direction and pointed focus to credit related issues linked with rural development.
• Its recommendation was formation of a unique development financial institution which would address these aspirations and creation of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was approved by the Parliament through Act 61 of 1981.
• NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).

Answer: D

• Investment Bank Goldman Sachs has said that India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075 crossing Japan, Germany and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people, India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.
• In a recent report Goldman Sachs said, on top of a burgeoning population, driving the forecast is India’s progress in innovation and technology, higher capital investment and rising worker productivity.
• Labour force participation, a vast pool of talent and a working-age population ratio are a few of the factors set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

Answer: C

The Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management report:

• India has overtaken China as the most attractive emerging market for investing for sovereign wealth funds in 2023 due to its solid demographics, political stability and proactive regulation.
• It has captured the views of 142 chief investment officers, heads of asset classes, and senior portfolio strategists from 85 sovereign wealth funds and 57 central banks.
• Collectively, these institutions manage about $21 trillion in assets.

The Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management report:

• As per the report, India is a better story now in terms of business and political stability.
• In addition, fast-growing demographics, good regulation initiatives, and a very friendly environment for sovereign investors are the positives for the country.
• “India has now overtaken China as the most attractive emerging market for investing in emerging market debt”.
• The report noted that India is among a number of countries, including Mexico and Brazil, that are benefitting from increased foreign corporate investment aimed at both domestic and international demand. This was seen as helping fund current account deficits as well as support currencies and domestic assets including debt.
• In addition, India and South Korea continue to be the most attractive destinations for increasing exposure, the report noted.

Answer: B

• PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) was launched on 13th October 2021 for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) accorded approval for the implementation of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan on 21st October 2021.
• PM GatiShakti is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development.
• The approach is driven by 7 engines, namely:

1.Railways

2.Roads

3.Ports

4.Waterways

5.Airports

6.Mass Transport

7.Logistics Infrastructure

Answer: D

• At the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, all of the SDGs are seriously off track.
• From 2015 to 2019, the world made some progress on the SDGs, although this was already vastly insufficient to achieve the goals.
• Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 and other simultaneous crises, SDG progress has stalled globally.
• All UN Member States should present, at regular intervals, their national SDG frameworks in the form of Voluntary National Reviews(VNRs).
• To date, 188 of the 193 UN Member States have already presented VNRs.
• Five countries (Haiti, Myanmar, South Sudan, the United States, and Yemen) have yet to do so, and should prepare to do so with urgency.

Answer: C

• It shows that Tomato prices fell by a whopping 35% in June (as against the prices in June 2022).
• In fact, tomato prices have been experiencing “deflation” (the opposite of inflation) since November 2022.

Answer: A

Investment facilitation for development:

• Launched in 2017 by a group of developing and least-developed WTO members, the Joint Initiative aims at developing a multilateral agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development that will improve the investment and business climate, and make it easier for investors in all sectors of the economy to invest, conduct their day-to-day business and expand their operations.
• Facilitating greater participation of developing and least-developed members in global investment flows also constitutes a core objective of the future Agreement.
• The initiative does not cover market access, investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement.

Answer: C

• In a major relief to both residential and non-residential property owners, Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena recently launched a one-time scheme – SAMRIDDHI, Strengthening and Augmentation of Municipal Revenue for Infrastructure Development in Delhi.
• This will serve as a one-time property tax amnesty scheme for residents of authorised and regularised colonies in Delhi.
• Under this scheme, people will get a chance to settle the principal tax amount of the current and last five year. By doing so, people will get relaxation on all penalties and previous outstanding dues.

Answer: B

• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is being implemented w.e.f. 2014-15 for holistic growth of the horticulture.
• It covers fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa.
• All States including North Eastern States and UTs are covered under MIDH.

Answer: D

• Core inflation  is a measure of inflation calculated by removing the prices of food and fuel because the prices of food and fuel prices fluctuate massively.
• Super core inflation is calculated by removing gold and silver price inflation from core inflation.