DAY – 28 (InstaTest-28): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2022: Topic – GOVERNMENT SCHEMES, ORGANISATIONS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Subject-wise Tests 11 & 24, Text Book Based Test 14, January 2022 CA – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: A

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.

​​The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Towards stability and lastin​g peace

Justice is a key prerequisite for lasting peace. International justice can contribute to long‐term peace, stability and equitable development in post‐conflict societies. These elements are foundational for building a future free ​of violence. ​​

About ICC:

• The International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague, is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
• It is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
• Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002.
• Funding: Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

India is a non-state party and non-signatory.

Composition and voting power:

• The Court’s management oversight and legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties, consists of one representative from each state party.
• Each state party has one vote and “every effort” has to be made to reach decisions by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, decisions are made by vote. The Assembly is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by the members to three-year terms.

Jurisdiction:

• The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
• The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Councilor individual states refer situations to the Court.

Solution: C

The ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime co-operation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues. In the process, it endeavours to generate a flow of information between naval professionals that would lead to common understanding and possibly cooperative solutions on the way ahead.

That the launch of so important a regional initiative was able to meet with such wide acceptance across the length and breadth of the Indian Ocean was in itself a unique phenomenon. There are 36 littoral in the Indian Ocean which have been geographically grouped into four sub-regions.

Solution: A

Caspian Sea Breakthrough Treaty

Five Caspian Sea states reached a breakthrough agreement on sovereign rights to the sea, paving the way for new oil and gas extraction — and pipelines — after more than two decades of disputes.

Solution: C

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India is a Joint Industry Company founded by stakeholder bodies that represent Broadcasters, Advertisers, and Advertising and Media Agencies. Built upon a robust and future-ready technology backbone, BARC India owns and manages a transparent, accurate, and inclusive TV audience measurement system. Apart from the currency products to the TV industry, BARC India also provides a suite of Insight products designed for Broadcasters, Advertisers and Agencies. The Big Data and Insights generated by BARC India powers efficient media spends and content decisions in a highly dynamic and growing television sector.

Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF)

Indian Broadcasting Foundation established in 1999 is India’s premium apex organization of television broadcasters. IBF promotes the interests of the Indian Television Industry, making an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the Nation and working as a clearing house of ideas for this vast and rapidly growing industry. IBF consists of major broadcasters with more than 250 TV Channels. IBF enjoys a unique position as the accredited spokesman of the broadcasting industry.

IBF has played a significant role in a short span of time, in protecting and promoting the interests of its members and freedom of electronic media in the world’s largest democracy. IBF identifies and pursues growth opportunities for its members and ensures that the members present a strong collective voice regionally, nationally and globally. IBF, as the apex industry association of the Broadcast industry, plays a critical role in building consensus on major issues across the industry.
IBF strives to provide the best service to its members and deliver greater value through membership benefits, resources and services

What is BARC?

It is an industry body jointly owned by advertisers, ad agencies, and broadcasting companies, represented by the Indian Society of Advertisers, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Advertising Agencies Association of India.

• Created in 2010.
• I&B Ministry notified the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India on January 10, 2014 and registered BARC in July 2015 under these guidelines, to carry out television ratings in India.

Solution: C

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavor to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.

OPCW by the Numbers

193 States committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention • 98% of the global population live under the protection of the Convention • 98% of the chemical weapons stockpiles declared by possessor States have been verifiably destroyed

The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize “for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons”.

Solution: B

The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries which, through the harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

Coordination of national export control measures assists Australia Group participants to fulfil their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention to the fullest extent possible.

The Australia Group (AG) is an informal association that works on the basis of consensus. It aims to allow exporters or transshipment countries to minimize the risk of further proliferation of chemical and biological weapons (CBW). The Group meets annually to assess ways in which the national level export licensing measures of its 41 participants can collectively be rendered more effective to ensure that would-be proliferators are unable to obtain necessary inputs for CBW programs, which are banned under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Solution: D

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. It has international legal personality and is established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.

The EAEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, pursues coordinated, harmonized and single policy in the sectors determined by the Treaty and international agreements within the Union.

The Member-States of the Eurasian Economic Union are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.

The Union is being created to comprehensively upgrade, raise the competitiveness of and cooperation between the national economies, and to promote stable development in order to raise the living standards of the nations of the Member-States.

Solution: C

IEA – International Energy Agency

Created in 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies, the International Energy Agency has evolved over the years. While energy security remains a core mission, the IEA today is at the center of the global energy debate, focusing on a wide variety of issues, ranging from electricity security to investments, climate change and air pollution, energy access and efficiency, and much more.

The IEA was born with the 1973-1974 oil crisis, when industrialised countries found they were not adequately equipped to deal with the oil embargo imposed by major producers that pushed prices to historically high levels. 

A candidate country to the IEA must be a member country of the OECD.

The IEA operates within the broader framework of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

Under this agreement, IEA member nations are required to store the equivalent of at least 90 days’ worth of oil, measured according to their previous year’s net oil imports.

Association countries

• Brazil
• China
• India
• Indonesia
• Morocco
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Thailand

Solution: B

Bank for International Settlements

Established in 1930, the BIS is owned by 63 central banks, representing countries from around the world that together account for about 95% of world GDP.

Its head office is in Basel, Switzerland and it has two representative offices: in Hong Kong SAR and in Mexico City.

We pursue our mission by:

• fostering discussion and facilitating collaboration among central banks
• supporting dialogue with other authorities that are responsible for promoting financial stability
• carrying out research and policy analysis on issues of relevance for monetary and financial stability
• acting as a prime counterparty for central banks in their financial transactions
• serving as an agent or trustee in connection with international financial operations

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for regular cooperation on banking supervisory matters. Its 45 members comprise central banks and bank supervisors from 28 jurisdictions.

Solution: D

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)

AFI was founded on the idea that a global knowledge exchange platform was key to expanding and improving financial inclusion policy. Over the years the AFI network, with the support its funders and partners, has invested deeply in this platform, and data shows the model is delivering tangible results.

AFI is led by its members and partners, central banks and other financial regulatory institutions from developing countries. AFI’s members serve to give voice to the opportunities and challenges facing the unbanked. The network includes members from more than 90 countries working together to accelerate the adoption of proven and innovative financial inclusion policy solutions with the ultimate aim of making financial services more accessible to the world’s unbanked.

AFI’s members are actively engaged in advancing financial inclusion policy at national, regional and international levels through partnerships and cooperative arrangements with other regulators, as well as with international organizations and private sector leaders. The network uses the depth of unique knowledge and experience to produce regulatory guidance, provide insights on innovative policy developments and highlight proven solutions in the field.

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) members are central banks and other financial regulatory institutions from more than 80 emerging and developing countries, where the majority of the world’s unbanked reside. AFI members have pioneered some of the most innovative policy approaches to extending the financial system to the unbanked while balancing safety and stability.

Reserve Bank of India is the member.

Solution: C

Solution:

• Rules of origin are the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product. Their importance is derived from the fact that duties and restrictions in several cases depend upon the source of imports.

• There is wide variation in the practice of governments with regard to the rules of origin. While the requirement of substantial transformation is universally recognized, some governments apply the criterion of change of tariff classification, others the ad valorem percentage criterion and yet others the criterion of manufacturing or processing operation. In a globalizing world it has become even more important that a degree of harmonization is achieved in these practices of Members in implementing such a requirement.

Solution: B

Solution:

• Creation of a social stock exchange has been proposed by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2019-20 in Parliament today.

SEBI and not RBI gave the approval to establish SSE.

Solution : A

Solution:

• The Silver Line is a proposed higher-speed rail line in India that would connect Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city, and Kasaragod of Kerala state. It will have an operating speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

Solution: D

Solution:

• There are nearly 1,500 nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and 198 denotified tribes, comprising 15 crore Indians, according to the Renke Commission, 2008. These tribes remain socially and economically marginalised even now, depriving many of them of basic human rights.

Solution: D

Solution:

• Provide support to farmers: Provisions like support for installation of solar power plants and support to small and marginal farmers provide the requisite financial support farmers, thus encouraging the agricultural sector.
• Also, higher credit limits to FPOs/FPCs would encourage development of such institutions.
• Address regional disparities: New guidelines have the potential to address the regional disparities in the flow of priority sector credit via the new ‘identified districts’ methodology.
• Create environmentally friendly lending policies: Encouragement to sectors like renewable energy and development of Biogas Plants also aim to encourage and support environment friendly lending policies to help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Health Infrastructure: The revision in PSL guidelines will incentivise credit flow towards health infrastructure thus providing increased financial space to developing agencies in COVID and post-COVID financial scenario.

Solution: a)

Justification:  It is an Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission of Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

• It aims for accelerating discovery research to early development for Biopharmaceuticals approved by the Cabinet for a total cost US$ 250 million.
• It is 50% co-funded by the World Bank is being implemented at Biotechnology Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
• This program is dedicated to deliver affordable products to the nation with an aim to improve the health standards of India’s population.
• Vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics and bio therapeutics are few of its most important domains, besides, strengthening the clinical trial capacity and building technology transfer capabilities in the country.

Biotechnology Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a Public Sector Undertaking of DBT

The Aim and Objectives: The Mission Programme is a Pan-India Programme with the main aim of making India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions. This Program would aid in enhancing India’s innovation research and product development capabilities, especially by focusing on development of vaccines, biologics and medical devices for combating public health concerns.

The mission is focusing on:

• Development of product leads that are at advanced stages of the product development lifecycle and relevant to the public health need in vaccine, biosimilar and medical devices & diagnostics
• Establishing and strengthening shared infrastructure facilities for product development and validation. These would be for all product being developed.
• Developing human capital by providing specific trainings to address the critical skills gap across the product development value chain.
• Creating and enhancing technology transfer and intellectual property management capacities and capabilities

Q Source: Govt schemes

Solution: b)

Justification:  A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of debt that the government undertakes wherein it issues bonds with the promise to pay periodic interest payments and also repay the entire face value of the bond on the maturity date.

The government has been arguing that the quantum of its borrowing within India is ‘crowding out’ the private sector. In other words, it is saying that government borrowing is at such a level that there are not enough funds available for the private sector to adequately meet its credit and investment needs.

If the private sector cannot borrow adequately, then it cannot invest as it wants to, and that cripples one major engine of economic growth.

Therefore, borrowing overseas allows the government to raise funds in such a way that there is enough domestic credit available for the private sector. 

Sovereign external borrowing is also considered a cheap source of raising money by the government as interest rates in advanced countries are very low.

Q Source: Financing of government schemes

Solution: a)

Justification: Statement 1: MGNREGA provides the right to work to every adult living in rural areas. This applies to tribals as well, hence the bearing on tribal welfare.

Statement 2: It is the revised version of NRLM (Aajevika) yojana that aims to reduce rural poverty by empowering Self-Help groups (SHG).

Statement 3: Stand up India schemes specially targets SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.

Q Source: Govt schemes

Solution: c)

Justification: There are several Minor Forest Produce (MFP), identified by the Ministry for coverage under the scheme of “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP”.

• These include for e.g. Tendu, Bamboo, Mahuwa Seed, Wild Honey, Gums etc.
• This scheme has been implemented in States having areas under Fifth Schedule of the Indian constitution i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

The government also focuses on development of value chain to ensure fair monetary returns to MFP gatherers for their efforts in collection, primary processing, storage, packaging, transportation etc.

The scheme envisages fixation and declaration of Minimum Support Price for the selected MFP based on the suggestions /inputs received from Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) which came into existence in 1987.

Q Source: Govt schemes

Solution: c)

Justification:  The deposit insurance scheme is mandatory for all banks and no bank can voluntarily withdraw from it. However, the DICGC has the power and right to cancel the registration of an insured bank if it fails to pay the premium for three consecutive half-year periods. If a bank is no more under the DICGC’s coverage following the defaults, then depositors are notified through newspapers.

Who are insured by the DICGC ?

The corporation covers all commercial and co-operative banks, except in Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Only primary cooperative societies are NOT insured by the DICGC. All bank deposits–savings, fixed, current and recurring—payable in India are covered. However, the DICGC does not include the following types of deposits:

• Deposits of foreign governments
• Deposits of central/state governments
• Inter-bank deposits
• Deposits of the state land development banks with the state co-operative bank
• Any amount due on account of any deposit received outside India
• Any amount specifically exempted by the DICGC with previous approval of RBI

How much will a depositor get as insurance?

The Central government has increased the bank deposit insurance cover, in case of problems occurring such as closure, from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The amount must be refunded to the depositor within 90 days.

Q Source: Banking schemes

Answer D

In the above backdrop the Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) was set up by the Government of India (GoI). MUDRA has been initially formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Small Industries Development bank of India (SIDBI) with 100% capital being contributed by it. Presently, the authorized capital of MUDRA is 1000 crores and paid up capital is 750 crore, fully subscribed by SIDBI. More capital is expected to enhance the functioning of MUDRA.

The PMMY Scheme was launched in April, 2015. The scheme’s objective is to refinance collateral-free loans given by the lenders to small borrowers.

The scheme, which has a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore, can lend between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs.

Banks and MFIs can draw refinance under the MUDRA Scheme after becoming member-lending institutions of MUDRA.

Mudra Loans are available for non-agricultural activities upto Rs. 10 lakh and activities allied to agriculture such as Dairy, Poultry, Bee Keeping etc, are also covered.

Mudra’s unique features include a Mudra Card which permits access to Working Capital through ATMs and Card Machines.

There are three types of loans under PMMY:

Shishu (up to Rs.50,000).

Kishore (from Rs.50,001 to Rs.5 lakh).

Tarun (from Rs.500,001 to Rs.10,00,000).

Answer C

NeSL is India’s first Information Utility and is registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the aegis of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). The company has been set up by leading banks and public institutions. The primary role of NeSL is to serve as a repository of legal evidence holding the information pertaining to any debt/claim, as submitted by the financial or operational creditor and verified and authenticated by the parties to the debt.

Answer A

The main purpose of SDF is to reduce the excess liquidity of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in the system, and control inflation.

In 2018, the amended Section 17 of the RBI Act empowered the Reserve Bank to introduce the SDF – an additional tool for absorbing liquidity without any collateral.

Answer B

Features & Benefits of Green Fixed Deposit

Higher rate of interest up to 6% per annum

Additional returns for the senior citizens of 0.50% per annum

Deposits backed by insurance for up to ₹5 lakh

Low pre-mature withdrawal charges of only 1%

Assurance certification from a reputed external consulting firm

Answer B

The series will be 108, 117, 126, ….495.

Hence, Answer = [(495-108)/9]+1 =44. Option (a) is correct.

a = 25, a + 2d= 35 means d =5. The 20th term would be a + 19d= 25 +95 = 120. The sum of the series would be given by: |20/2] x [25 + 120]= 1450. Option (d) is correct.

The three parts are 11, 13 and 15 since 11² + 13² +15² =515. Since, we want the largest number, the  answer would be 15. Option (b) is correct.

In a period of l day or 24 hours the clock would strike 1 +2+3+…+23 276 times. In the course-of 3 days the clock would strike 276 x 3 = 828. Option (b) is correct.

. Correct answer A:

Explanation :- statement B is wrong because the passage is only about rural India. Statement C is again wrong because the passage is about all rural areas not just those in rainfed areas Statement D is wrong because the problem as per author is not quality or quantity of water supplied but lack of supply itself during some seasons especially summer. Statement A is correct because the passage tells, the project failed since the focus is only about creating an asset to supply water than ensuring water supply across the year. Hence, A is the answer.