HPPSC HPAS Prelims Paper 2 Mock Test - 4 - HPPSC HPAS (Himachal Pardesh) MCQ

What initiative aims to empower women by providing affordable housing to the urban poor in India?

What is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) projected for India by 2050 according to recent studies?

Which group of individuals is specifically targeted for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019?

What is one of the main criticisms of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)?

What does the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 aim to ensure for individuals with disabilities?

Which of the following is a significant barrier faced by women rejoining the workforce?

What is one of the primary reasons for the persistent high rates of child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa?

What is the primary aim of social security as outlined in the context of social protection in India?

Which scheme provides health coverage of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization?

What is the focus of the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana?

   Passage 1

Any government that runs on a huge fiscal deficit has to, at some point, finance that deficit by creating money through borrowings. When the government does that, there is more money chasing the same number of goods and services in the economy. The result is a hike in prices, or inflation. At 5.1%, India's fiscal deficit is dangerously high, controlling which should have been the government's highest priority. Raising diesel prices by 14% such that the subsidy bill on the fuel falls will help bring this deficit under control. To put that issue in perspective, at Rs.47,800 crore oil subsidies for the first quarter of the current financial year have already exceeded the full year's budgeted figure.

For consumers already reeling under a double digit onslaught of food prices, the hike in the diesel prices will hurt, no doubt. Part of this increase can be neutralized, by cutting excise duties on the fuel, for instance. But for successive governments that have been unable to curb spending on vote buying schemes- some of them crucial - or on an inflated and unproductive bureaucracy, the other option is to increase taxes and return to the sky high rates of the coercive 1970s, a regime that is best behind us.

This brings us to the next issue: economic growth. With a high fiscal deficit that keeps inflation high, there is no way the RBI will cut interest rates. Even though most ofthe inflationary expectations are coming from goods outside India's control- crude oil imports, a falling rupee and a globally rising food and commodity prices- RBI's stance has been to keep policy rates high so that thousands cut down on discretionary grounds. In the process, home loan EMIs have been rising and along with inflation on one side, scissoring household targets.

Making matters more complex is the fact that today the sovereign has very little control over its finances. Like it or nor, India cant and will not grow at 9% if the rest of the world is contracting, thereby closing business opportunities- there, the UPA government is right. "The political power of the sovereign goes down with every move towards globalization," Kaushik Basu said. "Economics has become an instrument of global, political and even military strategy." To illustrate, Indian farmers and businesses get affected by WTO negotiations, Indian workers by ILO negotiations, Indian fiscal policy by G20 communities, Indian markets by QE3.

Q.Which of the following best explains why raising diesel prices will control the fiscal deficit?

Passage 1

Any government that runs on a huge fiscal deficit has to, at some point, finance that deficit by creating money through borrowings. When the government does that, there is more money chasing the same number of goods and services in the economy. The result is a hike in prices, or inflation. At 5.1%, India's fiscal deficit is dangerously high, controlling which should have been the government's highest priority. Raising diesel prices by 14% such that the subsidy bill on the fuel falls will help bring this deficit under control. To put that issue in perspective, at Rs.47,800 crore oil subsidies for the first quarter of the current financial year have already exceeded the full year's budgeted figure.

For consumers already reeling under a double digit onslaught of food prices, the hike in the diesel prices will hurt, no doubt. Part of this increase can be neutralized, by cutting excise duties on the fuel, for instance. But for successive governments that have been unable to curb spending on vote buying schemes- some of them crucial - or on an inflated and unproductive bureaucracy, the other option is to increase taxes and return to the sky high rates of the coercive 1970s, a regime that is best behind us.

This brings us to the next issue: economic growth. With a high fiscal deficit that keeps inflation high, there is no way the RBI will cut interest rates. Even though most ofthe inflationary expectations are coming from goods outside India's control- crude oil imports, a falling rupee and a globally rising food and commodity prices- RBI's stance has been to keep policy rates high so that thousands cut down on discretionary grounds. In the process, home loan EMIs have been rising and along with inflation on one side, scissoring household targets.

Making matters more complex is the fact that today the sovereign has very little control over its finances. Like it or nor, India cant and will not grow at 9% if the rest of the world is contracting, thereby closing business opportunities- there, the UPA government is right. "The political power of the sovereign goes down with every move towards globalization," Kaushik Basu said. "Economics has become an instrument of global, political and even military strategy." To illustrate, Indian farmers and businesses get affected by WTO negotiations, Indian workers by ILO negotiations, Indian fiscal policy by G20 communities, Indian markets by QE3.

Q.Consider the following statements:

1.Globalization ensures that economies have less autonomy and thus less say in matters of their economic growth.

2.The WTO has adversely affected the Indian farmer and the prospects of agricultural goods in the country. With reference to the above passage, which ofthe following assumptions is/are valid?

Passage 1

Any government that runs on a huge fiscal deficit has to, at some point, finance that deficit by creating money through borrowings. When the government does that, there is more money chasing the same number of goods and services in the economy. The result is a hike in prices, or inflation. At 5.1%, India's fiscal deficit is dangerously high, controlling which should have been the government's highest priority. Raising diesel prices by 14% such that the subsidy bill on the fuel falls will help bring this deficit under control. To put that issue in perspective, at Rs.47,800 crore oil subsidies for the first quarter of the current financial year have already exceeded the full year's budgeted figure.

For consumers already reeling under a double digit onslaught of food prices, the hike in the diesel prices will hurt, no doubt. Part of this increase can be neutralized, by cutting excise duties on the fuel, for instance. But for successive governments that have been unable to curb spending on vote buying schemes- some of them crucial - or on an inflated and unproductive bureaucracy, the other option is to increase taxes and return to the sky high rates of the coercive 1970s, a regime that is best behind us.

This brings us to the next issue: economic growth. With a high fiscal deficit that keeps inflation high, there is no way the RBI will cut interest rates. Even though most ofthe inflationary expectations are coming from goods outside India's control- crude oil imports, a falling rupee and a globally rising food and commodity prices- RBI's stance has been to keep policy rates high so that thousands cut down on discretionary grounds. In the process, home loan EMIs have been rising and along with inflation on one side, scissoring household targets.

Making matters more complex is the fact that today the sovereign has very little control over its finances. Like it or nor, India cant and will not grow at 9% if the rest of the world is contracting, thereby closing business opportunities- there, the UPA government is right. "The political power of the sovereign goes down with every move towards globalization," Kaushik Basu said. "Economics has become an instrument of global, political and even military strategy." To illustrate, Indian farmers and businesses get affected by WTO negotiations, Indian workers by ILO negotiations, Indian fiscal policy by G20 communities, Indian markets by QE3.

Q.Which of the following would help explain the relationship between the interest rates and a high fiscal deficit?

                        Passage 2

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and the Wall Mart into India after the government permitted FDI in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Walmart picked Bangalore based Infosys Technologies and India centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter ofWalmart's move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost.

Last year, Walmart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting edge search engine, founded by Indian born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of Walmart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the "Hindustan Service Centre". The British retail chain says 6000 employee strong HSC's strategic initiatives coverthe "IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects." In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q.It can be assumed that the author's views on FDI in multi brand retail are

  Passage 2

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and the Wall Mart into India after the government permitted FDI in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Walmart picked Bangalore based Infosys Technologies and India centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter ofWalmart's move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost.

Last year, Walmart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting edge search engine, founded by Indian born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of Walmart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the "Hindustan Service Centre". The British retail chain says 6000 employee strong HSC's strategic initiatives coverthe "IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects." In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q.Which of the following are the essential elements in the success of retail giants?

1.The use of technology to maintain an advantage over others.

2.Sales and marketing strategies based on an analysis of customer data.

Passage 2

There is a controversy raging over the entry of giants such as Tesco and the Wall Mart into India after the government permitted FDI in multi-brand retail. Most economic analysts look at it in terms of capital coming into India to oust local shopkeepers or in terms of capital coming in to offer better prices to farmers or set up distribution chains and storage facilities to help consumers. These arguments seem a little old. There is a technological dimension to this that may reveal that it is India that it is India that is behind the competitive edge of big retail chains.

In 2009, Walmart picked Bangalore based Infosys Technologies and India centric Cognizant among three information technology service vendors for a $600 million multi-year contract. Finance is now easily available for retail companies from banks and equity markets. What sets the real smart retail giants apart is their ability to leverage software and IT to keep their competitive edge.

Supply chain software can help lower costs by managing inventories. Data analytics and customer relations software can help them identify the more lucrative customers or choose discount strategies. Partners, employees and vendors of retail giants are now connected by software Indian talent figures in all this.

Infosys was an early adapter ofWalmart's move to go in for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that helps the retail chain track inventories at low cost.

Last year, Walmart also acquired Kosmix, a cutting edge search engine, founded by Indian born Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman (who earlier co-founded Junglee.com that Amazon acquired). Now Kosmix is a part of Walmart Labs. Its technology filters and aggregates information by topic from Twitter messages and the larger Web in real time. This is a new way to interact with shoppers.

Tesco now owes its edge to its Bangalore IT facility called the "Hindustan Service Centre". The British retail chain says 6000 employee strong HSC's strategic initiatives coverthe "IT, business, financial, commercial and property aspects." In Bangalore, Indian techies develop tools like mobile applications for Tesco.

Q.Which of the following options best explains the purpose of the last four paragraphs?

                        Passage 3

The relation between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial topic that is now being debated more than ever before. Although much policymaking has been informed by the idea of feminization of poverty, the precise nature of the nexus between gender and poverty needs to be better understood and operationalized in policymaking. The difficulty originates from the different shapes and forms gender inequalities and poverty take depending on the economic, social and ideological context. Yet another difficulty involves the scarcity of gender disaggregated data for a number of countries. For the last three decades, many women's advocates have been arguing that women are poorer than men. The most common empirical expression of this idea is the concept of feminization of poverty. This idea has become popular both in shaping analyses of poverty and poverty alleviation strategies. Thus, targeting women has become one vehicle for gender sensitive poverty alleviation. Poor women have become the explicit focus of policymaking, for example, in the area of microcredit programs and income generation activities.

However, the universal validity of the feminization of poverty is being empirically challenged. Although the idea that there are gender differences in experiences of poverty is not abandoned, a more nuanced and complex analysis of poverty and gender inequalities is emerging. This, in turn, is giving rise to a more gender aware approach to poverty elimination strategies.

Q.Which of the following statements agree with the author's opinions on the feminization of poverty?

1.It has drawn attention away from aspects of poverty in its generalization.

2.It has produced results in the areas of microcredit programs and income generation activities.

    Passage 3

The relation between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial topic that is now being debated more than ever before. Although much policymaking has been informed by the idea of feminization of poverty, the precise nature of the nexus between gender and poverty needs to be better understood and operationalized in policymaking. The difficulty originates from the different shapes and forms gender inequalities and poverty take depending on the economic, social and ideological context. Yet another difficulty involves the scarcity of gender disaggregated data for a number of countries. For the last three decades, many women's advocates have been arguing that women are poorer than men. The most common empirical expression of this idea is the concept of feminization of poverty. This idea has become popular both in shaping analyses of poverty and poverty alleviation strategies. Thus, targeting women has become one vehicle for gender sensitive poverty alleviation. Poor women have become the explicit focus of policymaking, for example, in the area of microcredit programs and income generation activities.

However, the universal validity of the feminization of poverty is being empirically challenged. Although the idea that there are gender differences in experiences of poverty is not abandoned, a more nuanced and complex analysis of poverty and gender inequalities is emerging. This, in turn, is giving rise to a more gender aware approach to poverty elimination strategies.

Q.Which of the following has/have not been mentioned in the passage?

1.Experiences of poverty

2.Failed poverty alleviation strategies.

    Passage 3

The relation between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial topic that is now being debated more than ever before. Although much policymaking has been informed by the idea of feminization of poverty, the precise nature of the nexus between gender and poverty needs to be better understood and operationalized in policymaking. The difficulty originates from the different shapes and forms gender inequalities and poverty take depending on the economic, social and ideological context. Yet another difficulty involves the scarcity of gender disaggregated data for a number of countries. For the last three decades, many women's advocates have been arguing that women are poorer than men. The most common empirical expression of this idea is the concept of feminization of poverty. This idea has become popular both in shaping analyses of poverty and poverty alleviation strategies. Thus, targeting women has become one vehicle for gender sensitive poverty alleviation. Poor women have become the explicit focus of policymaking, for example, in the area of microcredit programs and income generation activities.

However, the universal validity of the feminization of poverty is being empirically challenged. Although the idea that there are gender differences in experiences of poverty is not abandoned, a more nuanced and complex analysis of poverty and gender inequalities is emerging. This, in turn, is giving rise to a more gender aware approach to poverty elimination strategies.

Q.Consider the following statements:

1.The feminization of poverty happened due to a lack of empirical data.

2.Understanding gender issues in poverty is important.

With reference to the above passage, which ofthe following assumptions is/are valid?

  Passage 3

The relation between gender and poverty is a complex and controversial topic that is now being debated more than ever before. Although much policymaking has been informed by the idea of feminization of poverty, the precise nature of the nexus between gender and poverty needs to be better understood and operationalized in policymaking. The difficulty originates from the different shapes and forms gender inequalities and poverty take depending on the economic, social and ideological context. Yet another difficulty involves the scarcity of gender disaggregated data for a number of countries. For the last three decades, many women's advocates have been arguing that women are poorer than men. The most common empirical expression of this idea is the concept of feminization of poverty. This idea has become popular both in shaping analyses of poverty and poverty alleviation strategies. Thus, targeting women has become one vehicle for gender sensitive poverty alleviation. Poor women have become the explicit focus of policymaking, for example, in the area of microcredit programs and income generation activities.

However, the universal validity of the feminization of poverty is being empirically challenged. Although the idea that there are gender differences in experiences of poverty is not abandoned, a more nuanced and complex analysis of poverty and gender inequalities is emerging. This, in turn, is giving rise to a more gender aware approach to poverty elimination strategies.

Q.Consider the following statements-

1.Policymaking, till date, has ignored the link between poverty and gender.

2.Gender disaggregated data is important for formulating policies that factor in the link between poverty and gender.

With reference to the above passage, which ofthe following statements is/are valid?

Directions forthe following 5 (five) items:

Each of the items below consists of a question and two statements. You have to decide whether the data provided in the statements are sufficient to answer the question. Give answer as:

Statements:

1. Rahul at present is 25 years younger to his mother.

2. Rahul's brother, who was born in 1964, is 35 years younger to his mother.

Q. In which year was Rahul born?

Statements:

1. One-fourth of the weight of each pole is 5 kg.

2. The total weight ofthree poles is 20 kilograms more than the total weight oftwo poles.

Q. What will be the total weight of 10 poles, each of the same weight ?

Statements:

1. H is the only daughter of X who is wife of M.

2. K and J are brothers of M.

Q.How many children does M have?

Statements:

1. The company sold 8000 units of product A each costing Rs. 25.

2. This company has no other product line.

Q.How much was the total sale of the company ?

Statements:

1. P is fifteenth from the left in the row.

2.Q is exactly in the middle and there are ten children towards his right.

Q.How many children are there between P and Qina row of children?

You are appointed the Vice Chairman in an authority that is responsible for fulfilling the needs in the area. The area has a substantial number of weaker sections and low income groups, which cannot afford to buy expensive houses. You have been asked by the State Housing minister to sell the land that is meant for building houses for the poor to private builders at throw away prices so that they can build plush apartments and sell them at an exorbitant premium. You will

You are newly appointed as secretary in the telecom commission. The commission is ready to sell the radio wave spectrum to private companies. After the scrutiny of the documents you have come to know that the price at which the spectrum is being sold is substantially lower than the current market valuation. You think that this may cause a huge loss. You will