Question 21: Consider the following statements:

1. While a vertical reservation applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law, the horizontal quota is always applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
2. Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation.
3. If women have 50 per cent horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category.

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

• The Uttarakhand Assembly on November 30 passed a Bill to provide 30 per cent horizontal reservation to local women in state government services. This comes weeks after the Supreme Court lifted an Uttarakhand High Court stay on a 2006 order of the government, providing the same benefit.
• In simple terms, while a vertical reservation applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law, the horizontal quota is always applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
• Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation.
• Horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
• For example, if women have 50 per cent horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category — i.e., half of all selected SC candidates will have to be women, half of the unreserved or general category will have to be women, and so on.

Question 22: Consider the following statements:

1. The government declares a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jowar, bajra, and ragi.
2. In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop.

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

• Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, eligible households are entitled to get rice, wheat, and coarse grain at Rs 3, Rs 2, and Re 1 per kg respectively. While the Act does not mention millets, coarse grains are included in the definition of “foodgrains” under Section 2(5) of the NFSA.
• However, the quantity of coarse grains procured for the Central Pool and distributed under the NFSA has been negligible. The latest data on stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) show only 2.64 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of coarse grain was available in the Central Pool on November 1, 2022. In comparison, the stocks of rice, wheat, and unmilled paddy were 265.97 LMT, 210.46 LMT, and 263.70 LMT respectively.
• The government declares a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jowar, bajra, and ragi
• Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Bajra is mainly grown in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• There is evidence for consumption of millets by the Indus valley people (3,000 BC), and several varieties that are now grown around the world were first cultivated in West Africa, China, and Japan are home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
• In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop. During 2018-19, three millet crops — bajra (3.67%), jowar (2.13%), and ragi (0.48%) — accounted for about 7 per cent of the gross cropped area in the country.
• On March 3, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The proposal was moved by India, and was supported by 72 countries.

Question 23: Consider the following statements:

1. If the taxes earned by the government are more than the subsidies it provides, the GDP will be higher than GVA.
2. The private consumption expenditure contributes over 55% of India’s total GDP.

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 GDP and GVA are related by the following equation: GDP = (GVA) + (Taxes earned by the government) — (Subsidies provided by the government)
• As such, if the taxes earned by the government are more than the subsidies it provides, the GDP will be higher than GVA.
• On the GDP side, the biggest engine of growth is private consumption It typically contributes over 55% of India’s total GDP.

Question 24: Consider the following statements:

1. Egypt president Abdeh Fatah al-Sisi will be the Chief Guest for the 2023 Republic Day parade.
2. The first Chief Guest of the parade in 1950 was President Sukarno of Indonesia.
3. The association with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an important factor in choosing the Chief Guest for the Republic Day parade.

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

• Egypt president Abdeh Fatah al-Sisi will be the Chief Guest for the 2023 Republic Day Parade.
• Another factor that has historically played a role in the choice of the Chief Guest is the association with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
• The first Chief Guest of the parade in 1950 was President Sukarno of Indonesia, one of the five founding members of the NAM.

Question 25: Consider the following statements:

1. No single country met all 20 Aichi Targets within its own borders.
2. The Aichi Targets, adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya.
3. Today about 30% of the world’s land and 40% of ocean territories are under some form of protection.

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

• No single country met all 20 Aichi Targets within its own borders, according to a September 2020 UN assessment.
• The Aichi Targets, adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya, located in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems

What were the ‘Goals’ in which the twenty targets were divided?

• Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society
• Strategic Goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use
• Strategic Goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity
• Strategic Goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Strategic Goal E: Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building 
• The most notable Aichi objective — and one of the few to include a numerical goal — aimed to protect or conserve 17% of all land and inland waters and 10% of the ocean by the end of the decade. While some progress was made toward that goal, the world ultimately fell short.
• Today about 15% of the world’s land and 8% of ocean territories are under some form of protection, though the level of protection varies.

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