Q. Bank credit to the industrial sector has started shrinking. Its decline has been a serious concern as credit growth is essential to revive investment.

The problem’s Origins lie in the incomplete reforms of the last 25 years. An institutional change that should have followed the 1991 reforms should have been setting up of a resolution corporation for banks. In a market economy with booms and busts, banks should be allowed to be set up and to fail. Today, we cannot shut down banks because there is no proper system to shut them down. Weak loss-making banks continue to need more capital.

Q1. Which one of the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?
(a) Indian banking system is not able to help the country in its economic growth.
(b) Economic reforms that started in 1991 have not helped in improving the economy to expected levels.
(c) India lacks the institutional mechanism to deal with the failure of banks.
(d) Encouraging the foreign investments in our industrial sector is a good alternative to this sector’s dependence on banks for credit.
Correct Answer: (c) India lacks the institutional mechanism to deal with the failure of banks.

Q. Economic liberalization in India was shaped largely by the economic problems of the government than by the economic priorities of the people or by the long-term development objectives.

Thus, there were limitations in conception and design which have been subsequently validated by experience. Jobless growth, persistent poverty and rising inequality have mounted as problems since economic liberalization began. And all these years later, four quiet crises confront the economy: agriculture infrastructure, industrialization and education as constraints on the country’s future prospects. These problems must be resolved if economic growth has to be sustained and transformed into meaningful development.

Q1. Which of the following is/are the most rational and logical Inference/ Inferences that can be made from the passage?
1. It is essential to rethink and redefine the economic role of the state in the quest for development.
2. India has not made effective implementation of its policies in social sectors nor made sufficient investments in them.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Q2. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. India’s economy needs to be greatly integrated with global economy so as to create large number of jobs and to sustain its growth momentum.
2. Economic liberalization would cause large economic growth which would reduce poverty and create sufficient employment in the long run.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Q. In India, authorities always look to store the maximum amount of water in reservoirs during the monsoon season, which is then used for irrigation and generation of electricity during the summer months.

It is an internationally accepted practice that the water level or a reservoir should be kept below a certain level before the onset of monsoon season. This is so that when monsoon rains come, there is space to store the excess rainwater and also so that water can be released in a regulated manner. But the authorities store the maximum amount of water in reservoirs even before the close of the monsoon, only to ensure greater electricity generation and irrigation.

Q1. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. High risks involved in holding maximum water in reservoirs are due to our over-dependence on hydro power projects.
2. Storage capacity of dams should not be fully used before or during monsoon season.
3. Role of dams in flood control is underestimated in India.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2-only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Correct Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q. The pulse variety ‘Pusa Arhar 16′ has the potential to be grown in the paddy-growing of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and eventually in all of India.

Its yield (about 2000 kg/hectare) will be significantly greater than those of the existing varieties and because its size will be uniform, it will be amenable to mechanical harvesting, an attractive feature for farmers in northern India who currently use this technology for paddy. Most important, Arhar straw, unlike paddy straw, is green arid can be ploughed back into the soil. In Paddy straw, the problem is the high silica content, which does not allow for easy decomposition. In the case of Arhar, the farmer, even after combine harvesting, just needs to run a rotovator to cut the leftover straw into pieces, which can be ploughed back and will decompose very fast.
All this is difficult with leftover paddy stalks that cannot be easily salvaged or ploughed back. Farmers, therefore, choose the easiest option of simply burning it.

Q1. Which of the following are the most rational inferences that can be made from the passage?
1. Farmers’ income will be higher with pulse cultivation than with paddy cultivation.
2. Pulse cultivation causes less pollution as compared to paddy cultivation.
3. Pulse straw can be used to improve soil quality.
4. In the context of northern Indian agriculture, paddy straw has no usefulness.
5. Mechanized agriculture is the main cause for stubble burning.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 2, 3 and 5
(b) 1, 4 and 5
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 and 4 only
Correct Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Q. India is at once among the fastest growing global economies and home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world.

There are regions where malnutrition is not the exception but the norm. And across the country, malnutrition is the cause of death for roughly half the 1-3 million children who die before their fifth birthday each year. Even those children who survive suffer permanently from the damage that has already been done to their bodies and minds from not getting enough of the right foods and nutrients. Around 44 million children under 5 are stunted.
That makes it harder for them to learn in school and subsequently earn a living as adults. Their lifetime earnings potential is almost a quarter less than that or their healthy peers.

Q1. With reference to the above passage, which of the following is/are the most rational and practical implication/ Implications?
1. India’s Public Distribution System should be monitored by the Union Government.
2. Girls should be encouraged to delay marriage and first pregnancy.
3. Mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their children immediately after birth.
4. The supply of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to all should be ensured.
5. Authorities should ensure the vaccination as prescribed
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(b) 2, 3, 4 and 5
(c) 1 only
(d) 3 and 5 only
Correct Answer: (b) 2, 3, 4 and 5

Q. Spanish ships in the late 16th century first brought the potato tuber from South America to Europe whereby in the early 19th century, it bad become a reliable backup to cereal crops, particularly in the cold, rain-soaked soils of Ireland.

The Irish were soon almost wholly dependent on the potato as their staple food. And they were planting primarily one prodigious variety, the ‘Lumper’ potato, whose genetic frailty would be cruelly exposed by the fungus ‘Phytophthora infestans’. In 1845, spores of the deadly fungus began spreading across the country, destroying nearly all the Lumpers in its path. The resulting famine killed or displaced millions.

Q1. Which one or the following statements best reflects the critical message or the passage?

(a) For introducing any foreign plant into a country, the soil and climate conditions of that country should be suitable.
(b) As a staple food of a country, tuber crops like potato cannot replace cereal crops.
(c) Some or the fungal infections or plants cannot be prevented or stopped from spreading across large areas.
(d) Relying on a homogeneous food source is not desirable.

Correct Answer: (d) Relying on a homogeneous food source is not desirable.

Q. In India, agriculture still engages about half of workforce, and about 85 per cent of its farms mall and marginal.

Compared to China Vietnam, which have experienced fast structural and rural transformation, India’s story is of slow transformation. As a result, poverty reduction in India was at a much slower pace during 1988— 2014, compared to China and Vietnam. India’s poverty reduction was slow during 1988-2005, but during 2005-2012, it accelerated dramatically-almost three times faster than during the earlier period. What did India do during this period? Research reveals that the relative price scenario changed significantly (by more than 50%) in favour of agriculture in the wake of rising global prices. This boosted private investments in agriculture by more than 50%. As a result, agri-GDP growth touched 4/1% during 2007-2012 as against 2.4% during 2002-2007. The net surplus or agri-trade touched $25 billion in 2013-2014: real farm wages rose by 7% per annum. All this led to unprecedented fall in poverty.

Q1. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Structural and rural transformation is impossible when farms are mainly small arid marginal.
2. A good price incentive can trigger investments in agriculture.
3. India needs to build value chains for high- value agri-products like livestock and horticulture.
4. Higher global prices of agricultural commodities are essential for India’s poverty reduction.
Which of the above assumptions are valid?
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 2 and 4
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 3 and 4
Correct Answer: (c) 2 and 3

Q2. Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message of the passage?
(a) India should create large-scale off-farm rural employment to reduce poverty in the near future.
(b) India should create a large number of farmer producer companies
(c) Private investment in agriculture should be given priority over public investment.
(d) Inclusive agricultural growth is key to reduce poverty in the near future.
Correct Answer: (d) Inclusive agricultural growth is key to reduce poverty in the near future.

Q. Our urban bodies cannot possibly ensure sustainable delivery of water in our cities unless financing mechanisms are put in place.

Water delivery requires heavy investment in collecting it from a natural source, treating it to make it potable, and laying a distribution network of pipes for delivery to the users. It also requires investments in sewerage infrastructure and sewage treatment plants so that the sewers can carry the wastewater to these plants to ensure that no untreated sewage is discharged back into natural water bodies. If our cities were rich enough to meet the entire cost, water could be delivered free. They are not.

Q1. What is the most logical and crucial message conveyed by the passage?
(a) Urban local bodies must recover costs through user charges.
(b) Urban local bodies are not efficient enough to meet the water requirements of our cities.
(c) Water shortage in our cities is a perennial problem that cannot be solved.
(d) In view of the water crisis in our cities, there is an urgent need to limit the population of cities by adopting an upper limit of population size.
Correct Answer: (a) Urban local bodies must recover costs through user charges.

Q2. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Rich cities only can ensure sustainable delivery of water.
2. Sustainable delivery of water in cities means much more than supplying water households.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: (b) 2 only

Q. People will invest in education whenever they are granted the economic freedom to fully enjoy benefits.

Again, this is for the obvious reason that the return on education increases as the level of economic freedom rises. When people, thanks to lower tax rates, are allowed to retain of the higher income that they gain from incremental level of education, it makes sense to invest in education. On the other hand, when the government decides to tax the higher income of educated individuals at even higher rates, it makes very little sense to invest in educating oneself further. The same incentives apply to parents who decide on whether to invest in their children’s education.

Q1. With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Lower tax rates in a country invariably translate into greater investments in higher education.
2. Investment in the education of children ensures their economic freedom.
3. Economic freedom has a positive impact on building up human capital.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Correct Answer: (c) 3 only

Q. Many opportunities to harness the highly skewed, seasonal and spatial distribution of monsoon flows, which occur in a four-month period from June to September annually, have been lost.

Since these few months account for most or the rainfall and consequent freshwater availability, the need for holding rainwater in reservoirs, for subsequently releasing it for use over the year, is a necessity nobody can afford to overlook. Climate change will continue to affect weather conditions and create water shortages and excesses. While millions suffer from droughts and floods, waters in the country’s many rivers flow unutilized, and are discharged into the sea every year.

Q1. With reference to the above passage, which of the following could be the most rational and practical implications for India?
1. Inter-linking of rivers should be undertaken.
2. A network of dams and canals should be built across the country for proper distribution of water.
3. Farmers should be provided easy loans for digging bore wells.
4. Usage or water for agriculture should be regulated by law.
5. Distribution of river water among regions regulated by the Union should be Government.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2, 4 and 5
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) 2, 3 and 5
Correct Answer: (a) 1 and 2