Test: Current Affairs December 2020 - BPSC (Bihar) MCQ

As per the data, commercial borrowings remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 38.1 per cent, followed by non-resident deposits (23.9 per cent) and short-term trade credit (18.2 per cent).

The share of short-term debt in total external debt declined to 18.9 per cent as on June 30 from 19.1 per cent at end-March. The Reserve Bank said the US dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India's external debt, with a share of 53.9 per cent at end-June followed by the Indian rupee (31.6 per cent), yen (5.7 per cent), SDR (4.5 per cent) and the euro (3.5 per cent).

Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) conducts anti-dumping investigations, under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the rules made thereunder, based on a duly substantiated application filed by the domestic industry alleging dumping of goods into the country causing injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping measures' basic intent is to eliminate injury caused to the domestic industry by the unfair trade practice of dumping and to create a level playing field for the domestic industry.

In the process, India's economy has now formally entered into a technical recession because — along with the nearly 24% contraction in Q1 — India has had two consecutive quarters when GDP growth rate has declined.

Recession is defined as a fall in the overall economic activity for two consecutive quarters (six months) accompanied by a decline in income, sales and employment.

Gross Value Added (GVA) data provides a measure of national income by looking at the value-added by different economic sectors in that quarter. If you want to compare which parts of the economy improved production and incomes from one quarter to another, the GVA is more apt.

Former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said India had moved from socialism with a limited entry (for firms) to capitalism without exit. Alas, capitalism without exit is Zombieland, full of companies neither dead nor alive.

In the financial world, companies on life support are called "Zombies": Those firms that cannot cover their debt-servicing costs with current earnings. They are in bad shape and probably should have gone out of business already. Yet, they are being kept alive.

It was the part of Indradhanush Plan of government.

It had replaced Appointments Board of Government.

Its broad agenda is to improve governance at state-owned lenders. Its mandate also involved advising the government on top-level bank appointments and assisting banks with capital-raising plans and strategies to deal with bad loans.

It guides banks on mergers and consolidations and governance issues to address bad loans problem among other issues.

The SEZ Scheme's main objectives are generation of additional economic activity, promotion of exports of goods and services, promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources, creation of employment opportunities, and the development of infrastructure facilities. All laws of India are applicable in SEZs unless specifically exempted as per the SEZ Act/ Rules. Sales in the Domestic Tariff Area from the SEZ units are treated as imported and subject to payment of applicable customs duties.

SEZs were introduced to India in 2000, following the already successful SEZ model used in China. Before their introduction, India relied on export processing zones (EPZs), which failed to impact foreign investors. By 2005, all EPZs had been converted to SEZs.

The SEZ Act 2005 envisages a key role for the State Governments in Export Promotion and creation of related infrastructure.

What are negative-yield bonds?

These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the bond's purchase price. Central banks or governments generally issue these, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.

Why do investors buy them?

Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion. When the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is a tribunal formed by the Central Government of India under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013. The tribunal is responsible for hearing appeals from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) orders, starting on 1 June 2016.

The tribunal also hears appeals from orders issued by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC. It also hears appeals from any direction issued, a decision made, or order passed by India's Competition Commission (CCI).

The World Intellectual Property Organisation defines a GI as "a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin".
GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, handicrafts, industrial products, wines and spirit drinks. Darjeeling tea, Kullu shawl, Mysore agarbathi, champagne (France), Swiss watches etc. are examples.
Internationally, GIs are covered as an element of intellectual property rights under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. They have also covered under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.

When the government decides to transfer the ownership and control of a public sector entity to some other entity, either private or public, the process is called strategic disinvestment.

What is the difference between strategic disinvestment/sale and disinvestment?

Selling minority shares of Public Enterprises, to another entity be it public or private is disinvestment. In this, the government retains ownership of the enterprise. On the other hand, when the government sells the majority shares in an enterprise, that is strategic disinvestment/sale. Here, the government gives up ownership of the entity as well.

Tax revenues comprise of direct taxes - which fall directly on individuals (personal income tax) and firms (corporation tax), and indirect taxes like excise taxes (duties levied on goods produced within the country), customs duties (taxes imposed on goods imported into and exported out of India) and service tax.

Non-tax revenue of the central government mainly consists of interest receipts (on account of loans by the central government which constitutes the single largest item of non-tax revenue), dividends and profits on investments made by the government, fees and other receipts for services rendered by the government. Cash grants-in-aid from foreign countries and international organisations are also included.

Income generated by the Central Government through the spectrum auctions is part of non-tax revenue.

Bonds are issued to institutional and high net worth individuals. The face value of each instrument slot of a municipal bond if a minimum of Rs 10 lakh. It can be subscribed to (purchased) by a single investor or multiple investors.

According to officials, under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, urban local bodies (ULBs) are encouraged to tap the bond market.

LIBOR, which stands for London Interbank Offered Rate, serves as a globally accepted key benchmark interest rate that indicates borrowing costs between banks. The rate is calculated and published each day by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Still, due to recent scandals and questions around its validity as a benchmark rate, it is being phased out.

Libor will not be published any more after end-2021, and market participants are strongly encouraged to transition to other risk-free rates.

It does not make periodic interest payments or has so-called coupons, hence the term zero-coupon bond. When the bond reaches maturity, its investor receives its par (or face) value.

Zero-coupon bonds by private companies are normally issued at a discount.