A person lives in a far-off village which is almost two hours by bus. The villager’s neighbor is a very powerful landlord who is trying to occupy the poor villager’s land by force. You are the District Magistrate and busy in a meeting called by a local Minister. The villager has come all the way, by bus and on foot, to see you and given an application seeking protection from the powerful landlord. The villager keeps on waiting outside the meeting hall for an hour. You come out of the meeting and are rushing to another meeting. The villager follows you to submit his application. What would you do?

Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and integration of the Indian economy and its financial systems with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets have had an impact on the emerging market economies. Sovereign risk concerns, particularly in the Euro area, affected financial markets for the greater part of the year, with the contagion of Greece’s sovereign debt problem spreading to India and other economies by way of higher-than-normal levels of volatility.

The funding constraints in international financial markets could impact both the availability and cost of foreign funding for banks and corporates. Since the Indian financial system is bank-dominated, banks’ ability to withstand stress is critical to overall financial stability. Indian banks, however, remain robust, notwithstanding a decline in capital to risk-weighted assets ratio and a rise in non-performing asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regulatory requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation, and diversification of the financial system, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skills, therefore, assume greater significance.

According to the passage, the financial markets in emerging market economies, including India, had an adverse impact in recent years due to: Weak global economic prospects.

1. Uncertainties in the international financial markets.
2. Sovereign risk concerns in the Euro area.
3. Bad monsoons and the resultant crop loss.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

A number of empirical studies find that farmers are risk-averse, though only moderately in many cases. There is also evidence to show that farmers’ risk aversion results in cropping patterns and input use designed to reduce risk rather than to maximize income. Farmers adopt a number of strategies to manage and cope with agricultural risks. These include practices like crop and field diversification, non-farm employment, storage of stocks, and strategic migration of family members. There are also institutions ranging from share tenancy to kinship, extended family, and informal credit agencies. One major obstacle to risk-sharing by farmers is that the same type of risks can affect a large number of farmers in the region. Empirical studies show that traditional methods are not adequate. Hence, there is a need for policy interventions, especially measures that cut across geographical regions. Policies may aim at tackling agricultural risks directly or indirectly. Examples of risk-specific policies are crop insurance, price stabilization, and the development of varieties resistant to pests and diseases. Policies that affect risk indirectly are irrigation, subsidized credit, and access to information. No single risk-specific policy is sufficient to reduce risk without side effects, whereas policies not specific to risk influence the general situation and affect risks only indirectly. Crop insurance, as a policy measure to tackle agricultural risk directly, deserves careful consideration in the Indian context and in many other developing countries — because the majority of farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, and in many areas, yield variability is the predominant cause of their income instability.

The need for policy intervention to mitigate risks in agriculture is because

You are in charge of implementing the Family Planning programme in an area where there is strong opposition to the present policy. You want to convince the residents of the need for keeping small families. What would be the best way of communicating this message?

While traveling in a Delhi-registered commercial taxi from Delhi to an adjacent city (another State), your taxi driver informs you that as he has no permit for running the taxi in that city, he will stop at its Transport Office and pay the prescribed fee of Rs. 40 for a day. While paying the fee at the counter, you find that the transport clerk is taking an extra Rs. 50 for which no receipt is being given. You are in a hurry for your meeting. In such circumstances, what would you do?

Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the ages of six months and two years. This happens despite a child’s food requirements being less than that of an older child. Malnutrition is often attributed to poverty, but it has been found that even in households where adults eat adequate quantities of food, more than 50 percent of children under five do not consume enough food. The child’s dependence on someone else to feed him/her is primarily responsible for the malnutrition. Very often the mother is working and the responsibility of feeding the young child is left to an older sibling. It is therefore crucial to increase awareness regarding the child’s food needs and how to satisfy them.

According to the passage, malnutrition in children can be reduced

You are the head of your office. There are certain houses reserved for allotment to the office staff, and you have been given the discretion to do so. A set of rules for the allotment of the houses has been laid down by you and has been made public. Your personal secretary, who is very close to you, comes to you and pleads that as his father is seriously ill, he should be given priority in the allotment of a house. The office secretariat that examined the request as per the rules turns down the request and recommends the procedure to be followed according to the rules. You do not want to annoy your personal secretary. In such circumstances, what would you do?

Crude mineral oil comes out of the earth as a thick brown or black liquid with a strong smell. It is a complex mixture of many different substances, each with its own individual qualities. Most of them are combinations of hydrogen and carbon in varying proportions. Such hydrocarbons are also found in other forms such as bitumen, asphalt, and natural gas. Mineral oil originates from the carcasses of tiny animals and plants that lived in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures formed large deposits under the sea-bed; and ocean currents covered them with a blanket of sand and silt. As this material hardened, it became sedimentary rock and effectively shut out the oxygen, preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock became thicker and heavier. Their pressure produced heat, which transformed the tiny carcasses into crude oil in a process that is still going on today.

Mineral oil deposits under the sea do not get completely decomposed because they:

A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and no small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for foot-passengers, but she replied, “I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.” It did not occur to the dear lady that if liberty entitled the foot-passenger to walk down the middle of the road, it also entitled the taxi-driver to drive on the pavement, and that the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everything would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.

It was pointed out to the lady that she should walk on the pavement because she was

Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and integration of the Indian economy and its financial systems with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets have had an impact on the emerging market economies. Sovereign risk concerns, particularly in the Euro area, affected financial markets for the greater part of the year, with the contagion of Greece’s sovereign debt problem spreading to India and other economies by way of higher-than-normal levels of volatility.

The funding constraints in international financial markets could impact both the availability and cost of foreign funding for banks and corporates. Since the Indian financial system is bank-dominated, banks’ ability to withstand stress is critical to overall financial stability. Indian banks, however, remain robust, notwithstanding a decline in capital to risk-weighted assets ratio and a rise in non-performing asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regulatory requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation, and diversification of the financial system, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skills, therefore, assume greater significance.

Risk and liquidity management assume more importance in the Indian banking system in the future due to:

1. Further globalization.
2. More consolidation and deregulation of the financial system.
3. Further diversification of the financial system.
4. More financial inclusion in the economy.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

It was already late when we set out for the next town, which according to the map was about fifteen kilometers away on the other side of the hills. There we felt that we would find a bed for the night. Darkness fell soon after we left the villages, but luckily we met no one as we drove swiftly along the narrow winding road that led to the hills. As we climbed higher, it became colder and rain began to fall, making it difficult at times to see the road. I asked John, my companion, to drive more slowly. After we had traveled for about twenty kilometers, there was still no sign of the town which was marked on the map. We were beginning to get worried. Then, without warning, the car stopped and we found we had run out of petrol.

The travelers were worried after twenty kilometers because

The miseries of the world cannot be cured by physical help only. Until man’s nature changes, his physical needs will always arise, and miseries will always be felt, and no amount of physical help will remove them completely. The only solution to the problem is to make mankind pure. Ignorance is the mother of evil and of all the misery we see. Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated; then alone will misery cease in the world. We may convert every house in the country into a charitable asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but human misery will continue until man’s character changes.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is most likely to be true as the reason for man’s miseries?

Seven-year-old Jim came home from the park without his new bicycle. “An old man and a little boy borrowed it,” he explained. “They are going to bring it back at four o'clock.” His parents were upset that he had given his expensive new bicycle, but were secretly proud of his kindness and faith. At four o'clock, no bicycle arrived. The parents grew anxious. But at 4:30, the doorbell rang, and there stood a happy man and a boy, with the bicycle and a box of chocolates. Jim suddenly disappeared into his bedroom and then came running out. “All right,” he said, after examining the bicycle. “You can have your watch back!”

When Jim came home without his bicycle, his parents

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting business with integrity and fairness, being transparent regarding all transactions, making necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all laws of the land, and accountability and responsibility towards stakeholders. Another highlighted point is the need for those in control to distinguish between personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, a company with good corporate governance inspires confidence in the market. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes greatly to this confidence. Corporate governance influences share prices positively and attracts foreign institutional investors. Unfortunately, it often gains attention only after large scams are exposed.

According to the passage given above, which of the following is/are the major benefit(s) of good corporate governance?

1. Good corporate governance leads to an increase in the share price of the company.
2. A company with good corporate governance always increases its business turnover rapidly.
3. Good corporate governance is the main criterion for foreign institutional investors when they decide to buy a company.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

It was already late when we set out for the next town, which according to the map was about fifteen kilometers away on the other side of the hills. There we felt that we would find a bed for the night. Darkness fell soon after we left the villages, but luckily we met no one as we drove swiftly along the narrow winding road that led to the hills. As we climbed higher, it became colder and rain began to fall, making it difficult at times to see the road. I asked John, my companion, to drive more slowly. After we had traveled for about twenty kilometers, there was still no sign of the town which was marked on the map. We were beginning to get worried. Then, without warning, the car stopped and we found we had run out of petrol.

The author asked John to drive more slowly because

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting business with integrity and fairness, being transparent regarding all transactions, making necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all laws of the land, and accountability and responsibility towards stakeholders. Another highlighted point is the need for those in control to distinguish between personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, a company with good corporate governance inspires confidence in the market. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes greatly to this confidence. Corporate governance influences share prices positively and attracts foreign institutional investors. Unfortunately, it often gains attention only after large scams are exposed.

According to the passage, which of the following should be the practice/practices in good corporate governance?

1. Companies should always comply with labor and tax laws of the land.
2. Every company should have a government representative as one of the independent directors on the board to ensure transparency.
3. The manager of a company should never mix personal funds with company funds.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Seven-year-old Jim came home from the park without his new bicycle. “An old man and a little boy borrowed it,” he explained. “They are going to bring it back at four o'clock.” His parents were upset that he had given his expensive new bicycle, but were secretly proud of his kindness and faith. At four o'clock, no bicycle arrived. The parents grew anxious. But at 4:30, the doorbell rang, and there stood a happy man and a boy, with the bicycle and a box of chocolates. Jim suddenly disappeared into his bedroom and then came running out. “All right,” he said, after examining the bicycle. “You can have your watch back!”

Jim returned the watch to the old man and the little boy because

The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years. There is, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to ‘impose’ democracy on countries in the non-Western world (in these countries ‘own interest’, of course) and those who are opposed to such imposition’ (because of respect for the countries’ ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea that has originated and flourished only in the West. But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world is extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in ancient India. Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people’s participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight if we take democracy to be a kind of specialised cultural product of the West. It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognize since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is a major ‘Western’ achievement here.

Which of the following is closest to the view of democracy as mentioned in the above passage?

Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and integration of the Indian economy and its financial systems with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets have had an impact on the emerging market economies. Sovereign risk concerns, particularly in the Euro area, affected financial markets for the greater part of the year, with the contagion of Greece’s sovereign debt problem spreading to India and other economies by way of higher-than-normal levels of volatility.

The funding constraints in international financial markets could impact both the availability and cost of foreign funding for banks and corporates. Since the Indian financial system is bank-dominated, banks’ ability to withstand stress is critical to overall financial stability. Indian banks, however, remain robust, notwithstanding a decline in capital to risk-weighted assets ratio and a rise in non-performing asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regulatory requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation, and diversification of the financial system, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skills, therefore, assume greater significance.

As per above passage, the Indian financial markets are affected by global changes mainly due to:

"The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutants into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus-based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so-called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning services of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers, and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of the decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer."

What is the central theme of this passage?

The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years. There is, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those who want to ‘impose’ democracy on countries in the non-Western world (in these countries ‘own interest’, of course) and those who are opposed to such imposition’ (because of respect for the countries’ ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the West, taking it to be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea that has originated and flourished only in the West. But the thesis and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world is extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in ancient India. Indeed, in understanding the roots of democracy in the world, we have to take an interest in the history of people’s participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight if we take democracy to be a kind of specialised cultural product of the West. It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognize since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is a major ‘Western’ achievement here.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1. Many of the non-Western countries are unable to have democracy because they take democracy to be a specialized cultural product of the West.

2. Western countries are always trying to impose democracy on non-Western countries.

Which of the above is/are valid assumption/assumptions?

"The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutants into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus-based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so-called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning services of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers, and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of the decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer."

As per the above passage, what is/are the characteristics of a water body with cultural eutrophication?

1. Loss of ecosystem services.
2. Loss of flora and fauna.
3. Loss of mineral nutrients.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining, highways, and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forest. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted, posing a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Ad hoc grants of forest lands to mining companies, coupled with rampant illegal mining, is aggravating this threat.

What is the central focus of this passage?

A number of empirical studies find that farmers are risk-averse, though only moderately in many cases. There is also evidence to show that farmers’ risk aversion results in cropping patterns and input use designed to reduce risk rather than to maximize income. Farmers adopt a number of strategies to manage and cope with agricultural risks. These include practices like crop and field diversification, non-farm employment, storage of stocks, and strategic migration of family members. There are also institutions ranging from share tenancy to kinship, extended family, and informal credit agencies. One major obstacle to risk-sharing by farmers is that the same type of risks can affect a large number of farmers in the region. Empirical studies show that traditional methods are not adequate. Hence, there is a need for policy interventions, especially measures that cut across geographical regions. Policies may aim at tackling agricultural risks directly or indirectly. Examples of risk-specific policies are crop insurance, price stabilization, and the development of varieties resistant to pests and diseases. Policies that affect risk indirectly are irrigation, subsidized credit, and access to information. No single risk-specific policy is sufficient to reduce risk without side effects, whereas policies not specific to risk influence the general situation and affect risks only indirectly. Crop insurance, as a policy measure to tackle agricultural risk directly, deserves careful consideration in the Indian context and in many other developing countries — because the majority of farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, and in many areas, yield variability is the predominant cause of their income instability.

Which of the following observations emerges from the above passage?

You are a teacher in a University and are setting a question paper on a particular subject. One of your colleagues, whose son is preparing for the examination on that subject, comes to you and informs you that it is his son’s last chance to pass that examination and whether you could help him by indicating what questions are going to be in the examination. In the past, your colleague had helped you in another matter. Your colleague informs you that his son will suffer from depression if he fails in this examination. In such circumstances, what would you do?

Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining, highways, and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forest. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted, posing a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Ad hoc grants of forest lands to mining companies, coupled with rampant illegal mining, is aggravating this threat.

What is the purpose of maintaining the continuity of forested landscapes and corridors?

1. Preservation of biodiversity.
2. Management of mineral resources.
3. Grant of forest lands for human activities.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

"The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutants into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus-based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so-called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning services of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers, and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of the decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer."

According to the passage, why should the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses be restricted?

1. Losing nutrients in this way is not a good practice economically.
2. Watercourses do not contain the microorganisms that can decompose organic components of agricultural slurry.
3. The discharge may lead to the eutrophication of water bodies.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

It was already late when we set out for the next town, which according to the map was about fifteen kilometers away on the other side of the hills. There we felt that we would find a bed for the night. Darkness fell soon after we left the villages, but luckily we met no one as we drove swiftly along the narrow winding road that led to the hills. As we climbed higher, it became colder and rain began to fall, making it difficult at times to see the road. I asked John, my companion, to drive more slowly. After we had traveled for about twenty kilometers, there was still no sign of the town which was marked on the map. We were beginning to get worried. Then, without warning, the car stopped and we found we had run out of petrol.

The travelers set out for the town although it was getting dark because

There is a shortage of sugar in your District. The Government has ordered that only a maximum amount of 30 kg sugar is to be released for wedding celebrations. A son of your close friend is getting married, and your friend requests you to release at least 50 kg sugar for his son’s wedding. He expresses annoyance when you tell him about the Government’s restrictions on this matter. He feels that since you are the District Magistrate, you can release any amount. You do not want to spoil your friendship with him. In such circumstances, how would you deal with the situation?

Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and integration of the Indian economy and its financial systems with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets have had an impact on the emerging market economies. Sovereign risk concerns, particularly in the Euro area, affected financial markets for the greater part of the year, with the contagion of Greece’s sovereign debt problem spreading to India and other economies by way of higher-than-normal levels of volatility.

The funding constraints in international financial markets could impact both the availability and cost of foreign funding for banks and corporates. Since the Indian financial system is bank-dominated, banks’ ability to withstand stress is critical to overall financial stability. Indian banks, however, remain robust, notwithstanding a decline in capital to risk-weighted assets ratio and a rise in non-performing asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regulatory requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation, and diversification of the financial system, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skills, therefore, assume greater significance.

According to the passage given above, in the Indian financial system, banks’ ability to withstand stress is critical to ensuring overall financial stability because the Indian financial system is:

"The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutants into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus-based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so-called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning services of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers, and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of the decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer."

The passage given above refers to the conversion of "pollutant to fertilizer." What is the pollutant and what is the fertilizer in this context?

Crude mineral oil comes out of the earth as a thick brown or black liquid with a strong smell. It is a complex mixture of many different substances, each with its own individual qualities. Most of them are combinations of hydrogen and carbon in varying proportions. Such hydrocarbons are also found in other forms such as bitumen, asphalt, and natural gas. Mineral oil originates from the carcasses of tiny animals and plants that lived in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures formed large deposits under the sea-bed; and ocean currents covered them with a blanket of sand and silt. As this material hardened, it became sedimentary rock and effectively shut out the oxygen, preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock became thicker and heavier. Their pressure produced heat, which transformed the tiny carcasses into crude oil in a process that is still going on today.

From the above passage, sedimentary rock leads to the formation of oil deposits because:

A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and no small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for foot-passengers, but she replied, “I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.” It did not occur to the dear lady that if liberty entitled the foot-passenger to walk down the middle of the road, it also entitled the taxi-driver to drive on the pavement, and that the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everything would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.

The lady refused to move from the middle of the street because

The miseries of the world cannot be cured by physical help only. Until man’s nature changes, his physical needs will always arise, and miseries will always be felt, and no amount of physical help will remove them completely. The only solution to the problem is to make mankind pure. Ignorance is the mother of evil and of all the misery we see. Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated; then alone will misery cease in the world. We may convert every house in the country into a charitable asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but human misery will continue until man’s character changes.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1. The author gives primary importance to physical and material help in eradicating human misery.
2. Charitable homes, hospitals, etc., can remove human misery to a great extent.

Which of the assumptions is/are valid?

A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and no small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for foot-passengers, but she replied, “I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.” It did not occur to the dear lady that if liberty entitled the foot-passenger to walk down the middle of the road, it also entitled the taxi-driver to drive on the pavement, and that the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everything would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.

The old lady failed to realize that

"The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry into watercourses. The simplest and often the most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutants into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus-based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient inputs lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so-called cultural eutrophication. Thus, important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning services of wild-caught fish and the cultural services associated with recreation. The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as the Mississippi in North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient-enriched water flows through streams, rivers, and lakes, and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of the decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer."

According to the passage given above, what are the effects of indiscriminate use of fertilizers?

1. Addition of pollutants to the soil and water.
2. Destruction of decomposer microorganisms in the soil.
3. Nutrient enrichment of water bodies.
4. Creation of algal blooms.

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the ages of six months and two years. This happens despite a child’s food requirements being less than that of an older child. Malnutrition is often attributed to poverty, but it has been found that even in households where adults eat adequate quantities of food, more than 50 percent of children under five do not consume enough food. The child’s dependence on someone else to feed him/her is primarily responsible for the malnutrition. Very often the mother is working and the responsibility of feeding the young child is left to an older sibling. It is therefore crucial to increase awareness regarding the child’s food needs and how to satisfy them.

According to the author, poverty is not the main cause of malnutrition, but the fact that

1. taking care of younger ones is not a priority for working mothers.
2. awareness of nutritional needs is not propagated by Public Health authorities.

Select the correct answer using the code given below: