[Mission 2022] Insta– QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 19 May 2022 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

What is a share buyback?

A share repurchase or buyback is a decision by a company to purchase its own stock from the market. Such a move reduces the number of outstanding shares of the company and tend to push up their price and is often undertaken when management considers the company’s shares undervalued.

It is also a key way to transfer surplus earnings to shareholders and tends to lead to an increase in share prices.

Solution: c)

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

It is a regional development bank.

• established on 19 December 1966.
• headquartered — Manila, Philippines.
• official United Nations Observer.

The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries.

It is modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.

• As of 31 December 2019, ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).

Roles and functions:

Dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

• This is carried out through investments – in the form of loans, grants and information sharing – in infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems, helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas.

Solution: a)

Preferential trade arrangements (PTAs)

This is the term used in the WTO for trade preferences, such as lower or zero tariffs, which a member may offer to a trade partner unilaterally. These include the Generalized System of Preferences schemes, under which developed countries grant preferential tariffs to imports from developing countries.

Within the broad category of PTAs, one can distinguish five forms

1. Partial Scope Agreement (PSA): A PSA is only partial in scope, meaning it allows for trade between countries on a small number of goods.
2. Free Trade Agreement (FTA): A free trade agreement is a preferential arrangement in which members reduce tariffs on trade among themselves, while maintaining their own tariff rates for trade with non-members.

Solution: b)

What is an aluminium-air battery?

Aluminium-air batteries utilise oxygen in the air which reacts with an aluminium hydroxide solution to oxidise the aluminium and produce electricity.

Benefits:

• Lower cost and more energy-dense alternative to lithium-ion batteries which are currently in widespread use for electric vehicles in India.
• Offer much greater range of 400 km or more per battery compared to lithium-ion batteries which currently offer a range of 150-200 kilometres per full charge.
• The aluminium plate in an aluminium-air battery is converted into aluminium trihydroxide over time and that aluminium can be reclaimed from aluminium trihydroxide or even traded directly for industrial uses.

Challenges:

Aluminium-air batteries cannot be recharged like lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, large scale use of aluminium-air battery-based vehicles would require the wide availability of battery swapping stations.

Solution: b)

A partial protection against double jeopardy is a Fundamental Right guaranteed under Article 20 (2) of the Constitution of India, which states “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once”.