Question 19: Consider the following statements:

1. Bomb cyclones form when air near Earth’s surface rises quickly in the atmosphere, triggering a sudden drop in barometric pressure.
2. Hurricanes tend to form in tropical areas and are powered by warm seas.
3. Unlike hurricanes, bomb cyclones arise in mid-latitudes, where fronts of warm and cold air might collide. 

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1 and 2

B) 2 and 3

C) 1 and 3

D) 1, 2, and 3

Correct Answer: D

Explanation

• A bomb cyclone is simply a storm that intensifies very rapidly. Bomb cyclones form when air near Earth’s surface rises quickly in the atmosphere, triggering a sudden drop in barometric pressure.
• All bomb cyclones are not hurricanes. But sometimes, they can take on characteristics that make them look an awful lot like hurricanes, with very strong winds, heavy precipitation and well-defined eye-like features in the middle.
• Hurricanes tend to form in tropical areas and are powered by warm seas. For this reason, they’re most common in summer or early fall, when seawater is warmest.
• In contrast, bomb cyclones don’t need balmy ocean waters in order to form. While they sometimes arise over the ocean, they can also appear over land — as was the case with the cyclone that hit the northern Plains in March 2019.
• Unlike hurricanes, bomb cyclones arise in mid-latitudes, where fronts of warm and cold air might collide.
• They rarely strike in summer, when the weather is generally warm across the Northern Hemisphere. Rather, they form between late fall and early spring, when warm tropical air bumps up against frigid Arctic air.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/historic-bomb-cyclone-freezes-north-america/article66299698.ece

Question 20: Consider the following statements:

1. A recession typically involves the overall output in an economy contracting for at least two consecutive quarters.
2. Typically, yields are higher for longer tenures because one is lending money for longer.
3. As prices of long-term bonds fall, their yields rise.
4. Yield inversion happens when yields for shorter duration bonds are higher than the yields on longer duration bonds.

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1, 2 and 3

B) 2, 3 and 4

C) 1, 2 and 4

D) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer: D

Explanation

• A recession typically involves the overall output in an economy contracting for at least two consecutive quarters, along with job losses and reduction in overall demand.

What is the yield curve?

• Governments borrow for durations ranging from 1 month to 30 years. Typically, yields are higher for longer tenures because one is lending money for longer.
• If the yields for different tenures of bonds are mapped, it will give an upward-sloping curve.
• The curves can be flat or steep depending on the money available in the market and the expected overall economic activity.
• When investors feel buoyant about the economy, they pull money out of long-term bonds and put it into short-term riskier assets such as stock markets.
• As prices of long-term bonds fall, their yields rise — and the yield curve steepens.

What is yield inversion?

• Yield inversion happens when yields for shorter duration bonds are higher than the yields on longer duration bonds. If investors suspect that the economy is heading for trouble, they will pull out money from short-term risky assets (such as stock markets) and put it in long-term bonds. This causes the prices of the long-term bonds to rise and their yields to fall.
• This process first leads to flattening and eventually the inversion of the yield curve.
• Yield inversion has long been a reliable predictor of recession in the US — and US treasuries have been witnessing yield inversion for a while now.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/in-inversion-of-us-treasury-yields-a-recession-is-foretold-8343881/

Question 21: Consider the following statements:

1. Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years.
2. 114th Amendment Bill was introduced in 2010 to increase the retirement age of high court judges to 65 years.
3. The Venkatachaliah Report (Report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution, 2002) recommended that the retirement age of the Judges of the High Court should be increased to 70 years.

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1 and 2

B) 2 and 3

C) 1 and 3

D) 1, 2, and 3

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

• Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, and judges of the 25 high courts in the country retire at 62 years.
• The Constitution, 114th Amendment Bill was introduced in 2010 to increase the retirement age of high court judges to 65 years. However, it was not taken up for consideration in Parliament and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
• The Venkatachaliah Report (Report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution, 2002) recommended that the retirement age of the Judges of the High Court should be increased to 65 years and that of the Judges of the Supreme Court should be increased to 68 years.
• In the Supreme Court of the United States, and in constitutional courts in Austria and Greece, judges are appointed for life.
• In Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia, the retirement age for judges is 70 years.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/raising-judges-retirement-age-could-extend-service-of-non-performers-justice-dept-to-parliamentary-panel/article66304237.ece

Question 22: Consider the following statements:

1. The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India.
2. The Delimitation Commission is an independent body whose orders cannot be challenged in any court of law. 

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) 1 and 2 only

D) Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: C

Explanation

• Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population. The main objective of delimitation is to provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.
• Delimitation is carried out by an independent Delimitation Commission, appointed by the Government of India under provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. 
• The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India. It is composed of the following: a retired Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner of India and respective State Election Commissioners.
• The Commission is a powerful and independent body whose orders cannot be challenged in any court of law. 
• The orders are laid before the Lok Sabha and the respective State Legislative Assemblies. However, modifications are not permitted.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-is-delimitation-8348977/

Question 23: Consider the following statements:

1. The polar vortex is a mass of cold, low-pressure air that consistently hovers over the Arctic region. 
2. Usually, the polar vortex remains strong and compact, meaning the mass of frigid air stays at the North Pole. 
3. The polar vortex spins counterclockwise.

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1 and 2

B) 2 and 3

C) 1 and 3

D) 1, 2, and 3

Correct Answer: D

Explanation

• As a deadly blizzard grips the United States, scientists have once again started to discuss if the rising temperatures of the Arctic are responsible for extreme cold conditions in the country and other areas of the Northern Hemisphere.
• The study largely focused on something called the polar vortex, which is a mass of cold, low-pressure air that consistently hovers over the Arctic region. It is denoted by the word “vortex” because it spins counter-clockwise, just like a hurricane does.
• Usually, the polar vortex remains strong and compact, meaning the mass of frigid air stays at the North Pole. But sometimes it weakens, like a wobbling top, and expands to influence the jet stream — an area of fast-moving air high in the atmosphere that surrounds the polar vortex. Once the jet stream is impacted, the cold polar air finds its way towards the mid-latitude regions.
• In the study, researchers found that the expansion of the polar vortex has been occurring more than twice as often in recent years and the reason for it is the rapidly warming Arctic.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/recent-study-finds-link-between-rapidly-warming-arctic-and-extreme-cold-weather-in-the-us-8348878/

Question 24: Consider the following statements:

1. The Supreme Court in its original jurisdiction decides imputes between states.
2. The Supreme Court have original jurisdiction in any dispute between the Government of India and one or more States.

Which of the following statements is/are true?
A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) 1 and 2 only

D) Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: C

Explanation

• The Supreme Court in its original jurisdiction decides imputes between states.
• Article 131 of the Constitution reads: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Supreme Court shall, to the exclusion of any other court, have original jurisdiction in any dispute
• between the Government of India and one or more States; or
• between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other States on the other; or
• between two or more States, if and in so far as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends:
• Provided that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to a dispute arising out of any treaty, agreement, covenant, engagements, and or other similar instrument which, having been entered into or executed before the commencement of this Constitution, continues in operation after such commencement, or which provides that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to such a dispute.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-are-disputes-between-states-resolved-8349561/