IAS 2013 — Comprehension

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 crop-ping 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-form employment, storage of stocks and strategic migration of family members. These 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 risk can affect a large number of farmers in the region. Empirical studies show that the traditional methods are not adequate. Hence there is a need for policy interventions, especially methods 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 which affect risk indirectly are irrigation, subsidized credit and access to information. No single risk specific policy is sufficient to reduce risk and is 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:

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 crop-ping 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-form employment, storage of stocks and strategic migration of family members. These 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 risk can affect a large number of farmers in the region. Empirical studies show that the traditional methods are not adequate. Hence there is a need for policy interventions, especially methods 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 which affect risk indirectly are irrigation, subsidized credit and access to information. No single risk specific policy is sufficient to reduce risk and is 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 emerge from the above passage?

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 -

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

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 realise that

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point which is highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with a company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence m the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in. It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company. Having a clean image on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs. Unfortunately, corporate governance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam. According to the passage, which of the following should be the practice/practices in good corporate governance? 1. Companies should always comply with labour and tax laws of the land. 2. Every company in the country 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 invest his personal, funds in the company. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point which is highlighted on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with a company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence m the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign institutional investors are increasingly depending on when deciding on which companies to invest in. It is also known to have a positive influence on the share price of the company. Having a clean image on the corporate governance front could also make it easier for companies to source capital at more reasonable costs. Unfortunately, corporate governance often becomes the centre of discussion only after the exposure of a large scam. According to the passage, which of the following is/are the major benefit/benefits of good corporate governance? 1. Good corporate governance leads to increase in 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.

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 village, 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 travelled 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 travellers set out for the town although it was getting dark because

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 village, 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 travelled 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 travellers were worried after twenty kilometers because

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 village, 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 travelled 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

Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the ages of six months and two years. This happens despite the 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 fifty per cent 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 the public health authorities. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Malnutrition most commonly occurs between the ages of six months and two years. This happens despite the 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 fifty per cent 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:

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and 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 pollutant 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 the 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 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 service of wild-caught fish and cultural service 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 Mississippi and 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 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/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.

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and its financial system with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets therefore, have had their 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 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 remains robust, not with standing a decline in capital to risk weighed assets ratio and a raise in nonperforming asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regularity requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation and diversification of these financial systems, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skill therefore assume greater significance. According to the passage, in the Indian financial system, banks ability to withstand stress is critical to ensure overall financial stability because Indian financial system is:

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years, there, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those echo 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 ‘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 be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West. But the theses and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in the world, we have to take an understanding the roots of democracy in the world. We have to take an interest in the history of people 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 a specialized 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 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?

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and its financial system with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets therefore, have had their 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 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 remains robust, not with standing a decline in capital to risk weighed assets ratio and a raise in nonperforming asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regularity requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation and diversification of these financial systems, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skill therefore assume greater significance. Risk and liquidity management assumes more importance in the Indian banking system in 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:

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and 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 pollutant 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 the 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 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 service of wild-caught fish and cultural service 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 Mississippi and 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 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 refers to the conversion of “pollutant to fertilizer”. What is the pollutant and what is the fertilizer in this context?

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and 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 pollutant 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 the 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 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 service of wild-caught fish and cultural service 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 Mississippi and 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 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 agricultural slurry into watercourses be restricted? 1. Losing nutrients in this way is not good practice economically. 2. Water courses do not contain microorganisms that can decompose organic components of agricultural slurry. 3. The discharge may lead to the eutrophication of water bodies.

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Ecological-research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to the 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 forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction prone species of wild life. Habitat fragmentation is therefore considered as the most 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?

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Ecological-research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to the 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 forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction prone species of wild life. Habitat fragmentation is therefore considered as the most 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 the passage?

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years, there, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those echo 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 ‘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 be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West. But the theses and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in the world, we have to take an understanding the roots of democracy in the world. We have to take an interest in the history of people 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 a specialized 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?

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and 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 pollutant 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 the 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 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 service of wild-caught fish and cultural service 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 Mississippi and 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 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, what are the effects of indiscriminate use of fertilizer? 1. Addition of pollutants to the soil and water. 2. Destruction of decomposer microorganisms in soil. 3. Nutrient enrichment of water bodies. 4. Creation of algal blooms.

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and its financial system with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets therefore, have had their 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 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 remains robust, not with standing a decline in capital to risk weighed assets ratio and a raise in nonperforming asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regularity requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation and diversification of these financial systems, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skill therefore assume greater significance. According to the passage, the financial markets in the emerging market economies including India had the adverse impact in recent years due to: 1. Weak global economic prospects 2. Uncertainties in the international financial markets 3. Sovereign risk concerns in the Euro area 4. Bad monsoons and the resultant crop loss Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. Financial markets in India have acquired greater depth and liquidity over the years. Steady reforms since 1991 have led to growing linkages and its financial system with the global economy. Weak global economic prospects and continuing uncertainties in the international financial markets therefore, have had their 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 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 remains robust, not with standing a decline in capital to risk weighed assets ratio and a raise in nonperforming asset levels in the recent past. Capital adequacy levels remain above the regularity requirements. The financial market infrastructure continues to function without any major disruption. With further globalization, consolidation, deregulation and diversification of these financial systems, the banking business may become more complex and riskier. Issues like risk and liquidity management and enhancing skill therefore assume greater significance. The Indian financial markets are affected by global changes mainly due to the:

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only. The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and 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 pollutant 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 the 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 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 service of wild-caught fish and cultural service 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 Mississippi and 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 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?

Read the following passage and answer the two items that follow. Your answers to these questions should be based on the passage only. 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 live in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures form large deposits under the sea bed; and ocean currents cover them with a blanket of sand and silt. As this mineral hardens, it becomes sedimentary rock and effectively shut out the oxygen, so preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock become thicker and heavier. Their pressure produces heat, which transforms the tiny carcasses in to crude oil in a process that is still going on today. Sedimentary rock leads to the formation of oil deposits because:

Read the following passage and answer the two items that follow. Your answers to these questions should be based on the passage only. 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 live in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures form large deposits under the sea bed; and ocean currents cover them with a blanket of sand and silt. As this mineral hardens, it becomes sedimentary rock and effectively shut out the oxygen, so preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock become thicker and heavier. Their pressure produces heat, which transforms the tiny carcasses in to crude oil in a process that is still going on today. Mineral oil deposits under the sea do not get completely decomposed because they:

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 has given his expensive new bicycle, but were secretly proud of his kindness and faith. Came four o’clock, no bicycle. The parents were anxious. But at 4:30, the doorbell rang, and there stood a happy man and a boy, with a bicycle and a box of chocolates. Jim suddenly disappeared in to bed room, 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:

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 has given his expensive new bicycle but were secretly proud of his kindness and faith. Came four o’clock, no bicycle. The parents were anxious. But at 4:30, the doorbell rang, and there stood a happy man and a boy, with a bicycle and a box of chocolates. Jim suddenly disappeared in to bed room, 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 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 of 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 men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated; then along will misery cease in the country into a charitable asylum we may fill the land with hospitals, but human misery will continue until man’s character change. According to the passage, which of the following statements is most likely to be true as the reason for man’s miseries?

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 of 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 men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated; then along will misery cease in the country into a charitable asylum we may fill the land with hospitals, but human misery will continue until man’s character change. With reference to the 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?