1. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had recently approved the continuation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) to incentivise States to increase allocations for agriculture and allied sectors.

Which of the following statements is/are not correct? 1. RKVY has been rebranded as RKVY- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RAFTAAR) to be implemented for three years till 2019-20. 2. The RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided to all states in the ratio of 60:40. Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer (b) Explanation : ✓ Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has been rebranded as RKVY-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RAFTAAR) to be implemented for three years till 2019-20 with a budget allocation of Rs 15,722 crore. ✓ The RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided in the ratio of 60:40 to the states except for north east and Himalayan states which will get 90:10 grant.

2. ‘Twin Balance Sheet problem’ sometimes seen in the news includes which of the following? 1. Bad loans of banks 2. Current Account Deficit of Union Government 3. Fiscal Deficit of state governments 4. Over-leveraged corporate firms Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 3 and 4 only (d) 1 and 4 only Answer (d) Explanation : ✓ Twin Balance Sheet problem is the stress on Balance Sheets of both; the Lenders (Banks) and the Borrowers (Corporates). ✓ Banks suffer the problem of stressed assets which have very less probability of full revival and Corporates have loan and interest obligations which are beyond their current financial standings.

3. Consider the following statements: 1. India’s Forex reserve includes the foreign currency assets, gold reserves, Special Drawing Rights with IMF and the Reserve Tranche Position in IMF. 2. India is the top holder of the forex reserve among the countries having the current account deficit. Which of the following statements above given is/are true? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer (c) : Explanation India’s foreign exchange reserves topped the $400 billion mark for the first time to hit an all-time high of $400.726 billion on September 8, 2017. Among its components: foreign currency assets were $376.20 billion, gold reserves at $20.69 billion, SDRs of $ 1.52 billion and $2.30 billion reserves in IMF. Recently India has overtaken Brazil as the top holder of foreign exchange reserves among countries with current account deficit.

4. The organizations ‘Standard & Poor’, ‘Moody’s’, ‘Fitch’ sometimes seen in the news are : (a) Crypto currency regulating firms (b) Peer to Peer lending platforms (c) Credit rating agencies (d) Firms involved in the release of Paradise papers Answer (c) Explanation ✓ A credit rating is an assessment of the creditworthiness of a borrower. Individuals, corporations and governments are assigned credit ratings — whoever wants to borrow money. Individuals are given 'credit scores,' while corporations and governments receive 'credit ratings.' ✓ National governments are assigned credit ratings by agencies like Standard & Poor, Moody's and Fitch.

5. With reference to the ‘Doing Business Report 2020’, consider the following statements:

1. The report is released by World Bank.

2. India has been ranked at 100th position.

3. India is the only economy among the South Asian nations to be within the first 100 ranks.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer (a) Explanation

✓ Doing Business Report is an annual report released by the World Bank.

✓ In the latest report - Doing Business Report 2020, India has been ranked at the 63rd position.

✓ India is not the only economy among the South Asian nations to be in the first 100 ranks as Bhutan is ranked at 89th position this year.