Choose the odd sentence out of the given five sentences in each question:-
Q1.(a)Although aging may seem a less pressing problem than global population growth, it is real and has to be tackled.
(b)Providing contraception to the 215 million women that today want to avoid pregnancy but can’t, would cost about $3. 6 billion.
(c) It would annually result in 640,000 fewer new born deaths, 150,000 fewer maternal deaths and 600,000 fewer children who lose their mother.
(d)Estimating this misery in economic terms may seem cold, but it makes it possible to compare contraception to other big challenges.
(e) In total, contraception would avoid about $145 billion in human misery. That alone means that every dollar spent will do $40 good.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q2.(a)Thirty years after it began, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) has made middling progress.
(b) Power trading and evacuation is continuing despite belligerence on the China-Vietnam border.
(c)Each time a Saarc summit ends with relative disappointment — as the one in Kathmandu did last
month — the same cries emerge, essentially blaming India and Pakistan and their bilateral problems for holding Saarc hostage.
(d)This is largely true, and Saarc has had to wait for India and Pakistan to sort out their issues.
(e) The Chinese have exploited a vacuum and moved into many of the Saarc countries, unencumbered by the
institutional inertia of the association and happy to do easier, bilateral deals.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q3.(a)It seems that one way or another, sooner or later, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008 will become a law.
(b) This Bill is often described as critical whose passage is necessary for the whole economic reforms process to move forward.
(c)This means that industry and the regulator measure success by how much money insurers have taken from customers, rather than how much insurance they have delivered and to how many people.
(d)In fact, for many years now, this Bill has been referred to as a litmus test of whether the government of the day was serious about economic reforms.
(e)On the flip side, opposition the insurance Bill has been a given among those against economic reforms.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q4.(a)Islamic banking encourages and facilitates investment in real economic activity and societal welfare while prohibiting investment in speculative businesses. It has its roots in religious principles.
(b) So does the concept of the Hindu Undivided Family, which is treated as a distinct class of taxpayer and not taxed as an Association of Persons (AoP).
(c) The tax laws have been specially modified to harmonise the legislation with Hindu customs and social practices.
(d)The goal of trade and enterprise in Islamic finance is equitable generation of wealth and prosperity through acceptable business activities.
(e)The provision blatantly favours only a section of society.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q5.(a)The clamour for security, accountability and transparency is leading to unfettered increase in the power of states.
(b) We are enacting law after law, introducing technology after technology, to render citizens transparent to the state.
(c) But at the same time, we are weakening protections and consenting to technologies in a way that makes the state less transparent to us.
(d) Totalitarian states often do this against the wishes of their citizens; in our democracy, our consent is being mobilised to put an imprimatur over more control and arbitrariness.
(e)Clearing ambiguity means “the judiciary should not be allowed to hold the state accountable.”
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q6.(a)It is common knowledge that the auction proceeds are expected to balance the country budget and deferring the entire process to the next fiscal would mean foregoing the receipts estimated in this year’s budget.
(b)As the Telecom sector prepares to slip into the New Year 2015, the top of the mind issue for all the sector stakeholders is the upcoming spectrum auctions announced for February 2015.
(c)Aavailability and quantum of 2100 Mhz spectrum, spectrum trading/sharing guidelines, effectiveness of existing M&A guidelines, technology agnostic spectrum award etc. being some of the foremost issues.
(d) Clarity on one or more of these issues will have a significant bearing on the bidding strategy that each of the Operators will deploy in the upcoming auctions as Operators will have spectrum availability options that will go beyond just buying replacement spectrum in this auction process which has minimal fresh spectrum to offer.
(e) The other benefits of providing clarity on the pending issues before rushing into the auction will be the much needed restoration of trust and policy proactiveness that as country and as a sector we need to demonstrate to both internal and external investors.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q7.(a)For the last decade-and-a-half, the world has made a few, smart promises with the so-called Millennium Development Goals: halve the proportion of hunger and poverty, get all kids in school and dramatically reduce child mortality.
(b)Most participants discussing the Sustainable Development Goals recognize that we need much, much fewer targets.
(c)We have definitely seen a huge move towards success, although not all promises will be achieved.
(d)What is somewhat surprising, however, is that we have fairly little information about what exactly we achieved.
(e) According to data from the World Health Organization and the World Bank, in 1990 there were 560 maternal deaths out of 100,000 live births in India and this number went down to 190 last year.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q8.(a)To paraphrase a famous quote, it may have been one small step in launching rockets, but a giant leap for a country’s space ambitions.
(b) The debut experimental flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) on Thursday must have dispelled whatever doubts that lingered in the minds of India’s space scientists about their flagship launcher’s capabilities.
(c)Manned space flight capability will enable India to enter an advanced field where there are few competitors, especially given Isro’s credentials as a unique organisation where the return on investment is very high.
(d)For, India’s most powerful rocket was yet to prove its reliability, having failed in four of its previous seven flights.
(e)The Mk III did not launch any satellite. Instead, the 630-tonne rocket carried aloft the hopes of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists as they validated its flight parameters and stability during its suborbital hop of the planet at a height of around 126 km.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q9.(a)According to the International Energy Agency, India isamong the highest non-OECD subsidisers of energy consumption, with subsidies of over $10 billion per year, despite undertaking price reform of fossil fuels in the last decade.
(b) With the rise in crude oil prices since 2005, the cost of subsidies more than doubled. Although subsidy cost to government has been falling as petroleum prices are falling, it still remains high.
(c) Such a subsidy is both inefficient and inequitable. Until 2012, this was completely untargeted: the subsidy was available for all households on as many LPG cylinders as one consumed.
(d)A subsidy was offered to all households for up to nine cylinders per year, and consumption after the ninth cylinder was chargeable at full cost.
(e)There is no reason for middle class and above households not to pay the full cost of production, especially since they consume a much higher number than poor households who rarely consume more than six cylinders a year.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
Q10.(a)Ever since the global financial crisis, India has been trying to come to grips with its twin balance sheet (TBS) problem — over-leveraged corporates and the bad-loan encumbered banks.
(b) But a decisive resolution has proved elusive, and the problem has continued to fester.
(c) Perhaps it is time to consider a different approach — a centralised Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA) that could take charge of the largest, most difficult cases and make politically tough decisions to reduce debt
(d) For some years, it seemed possible to regard TBS as a minor problem, which would largely be resolved as economic recovery took hold. But the problem has only worsened.
(e)With balance sheets under such strain, the private corporate sector has been forced to curb its investments, while banks have been reducing credit in real terms.
(A)(a)
(B)(b)
(C)(c)
(D)(d)
(E)(e)
