Kerala PSC KAS Prelims Paper 2 Mock Test - 8 - Kerala PSC KAS MCQ

• Unemployment is said to have occurred when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work. The measure of unemployment can be used to perceive the health of an economy.

• The types of unemployment that can occur depending upon their nature are cyclical, structural, frictional, and seasonal. The three official sources of data on unemployment in India are:

  • data of National Statistical Organisation (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Hence option 1 is correct.

  • data by Director General of Employment and Training. Hence option 2 is correct.

  • The report of Census of India. Hence option 3 is correct.

• In India census is conducted as a decennial exercise. Census provides information on the distribution of labor force by various categories at the national, state, and district levels. The distribution of the unemployed is given by age, sex, education, and rural and urban residence at the three levels. The census also provides data on the unemployed defined as; persons who had not worked at all in the reference year and were seeking work throughout the year. The Census also defines the "worker" as a person who has worked any time at all in the 365 days in the market and non-market economic activities.

• RBI decides a certain percentage of deposits that every bank must keep as reserves. This is done to ensure that no bank is ‘over lending’. This is a legal requirement and is binding on the banks.

• This is called the ‘Required Reserve Ratio’ or the ‘Reserve Ratio’ or ‘Cash ReserveRatio’ (CRR).

• Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) = Percentage of deposits which a bank must keep as cash reserves with RBI. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

  • Let's Assume, CRR = 20 percent

  • Then with deposits of Rs100, the bank will need to keep Rs 20 (20 percent of 100) as cash reserves. Only the remaining amount of deposits, i.e., Rs 80 (100 – 20 = 80) can be used to give loans. However, apart from the CRR, banks are also required to keep some reserves in liquid form in the short term. This ratio is called Statutory Liquidity Ratio or SLR.

  • The statutory requirement of the reserve ratio acts as a limit to the amount of credit that banks can create.

• In theory, if a Central Bank demands a higher reserve ratio – it has the effect of acting like a deflationary monetary policy. A higher reserve ratio should reduce bank lending and therefore reduce the money supply. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• However, in the real world, there are many reasons why the actual money created is significantly smaller than the theoretically possible money supplied:

  • Import spending: If consumers buy imports the money leaves the economy

  • Taxes: A percentage of income will be taken in taxes.

  • Savings: Not all money is spent and circulated, a significant percentage will be saved

  • Currency Drain Ratio: This is the % of banknotes that individual consumers keep in cash, rather than depositing in banks. If consumers deposited all their cash in banks, there would be a bigger money multiplier. But, if people keep funds in cash then the banks cannot lend more.

  • Bad loans: A bank may lend out $90 but the company goes bankrupt and so this is never deposited bank into the banking system.

  • Safety reserve ratio: This is the % of deposits a bank may like to keep above the statutory reserve ratio. i.e. the required reserve ratio maybe 5%, but banks may like to keep 5.2%.

  • Banks may not want to lend also, at various times, the banks may not want to lend, e.g. during a recession they feel firms and individuals more likely to default. Therefore, the banks end up with a higher reserve ratio.

• A balance sheet is a record of the assets and liabilities of any firm.

• Conventionally, the assets of the firm are recorded on the left-hand side and liabilities on the right-hand side.

• Accounting rules say that both sides of the balance sheet must be equal or total assets must be equal to the total liabilities.

• Assets are things a firm owns or what a firm can claim from others. In the case of a bank, apart from buildings, furniture, etc., its assets are loans given to the public. Hence option 1 is correct.

  • When the bank gives out loan of Rs 100 to a person, this is the bank’s claim on that person for Rs 100.

• Another asset that a bank has reserves.

  • Reserves are deposits which commercial banks keep with the Central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and its cash. Hence option 3 is correct.

  • These reserves are kept partly as cash and partly in the form of financial instruments (bonds and treasury bills) issued by the RBI. Reserves are similar to deposits we keep with banks. We keep deposits and these deposits are our assets, they can be withdrawn by us. Similarly, commercial banks like the State Bank of India (SBI) keep their deposits with RBI and these are called Reserves.

  • Assets = Reserves + Loans

• Liabilities for any firm are its debts or what it owes to others. For a bank, the main liability is the deposits that people keep with it. Hence, option 2 is not correct.

  • Liabilities = Deposits

• The accounting rule states that both sides of the account must balance. Hence if assets are greater than liabilities, they are recorded on the right-hand side as Net Worth.

  • Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities

• Agricultural Census, which is conducted every five years in India. It is the largest countrywide statistical operation undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, for the collection of data on the structure of operational holdings by different size classes and social groups.

  • The first Agricultural Census in the country was conducted with the reference year 1970-71. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

  • So far, nine Agriculture Censuses with reference years 1970-71, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1985-86, 1990-91, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2005-06, and 2010-11 have been conducted.

  • The reference period in Agriculture Census is the agriculture year starting from July to June.

  • The current Agriculture Census with the reference year 2015-16 is tenth in the series.

• Agricultural Census is carried out as a Central Sector Scheme under which 100% financial assistance is provided to States/Union Territories. Hence statement 1 is correct

• Agricultural Census operation is carried out in three phases:

  • Phase-I, a list of all holdings with data on area, gender, and social group of the holder is prepared with the help of the listing schedule.

  • Phase-II detailed data on tenancy, land use, irrigation status, area under different crops (irrigated and un-irrigated) are collected in the holding schedule.

  • Phase-III, which is called as Input Survey, relates to the collection of data of input use across various crops, States and size groups of holdings, in addition to data on agriculture credit, implements and machinery, livestock, and seeds.

• In India, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has been organizing Agricultural Census, since 1970-71 as part of the program of the World Census of Agriculture. Hence statement 3 is correct.

  • In the two Agricultural Censuses, namely, 1950 and 1960, data required for the World Agricultural Census were collected through sample Surveys carried out by the erstwhile Directorate of National Sample Survey (Now called 'National Sample Survey Office) which gave estimates for the country as a whole and also for States.

  • As per Constitutional provision, statistical surveys and inquiries fall in the Concurrent List and hence the Government of India is responsible for the preparation of an all-India Census program keeping in view the diverse systems of maintenance of land records which is a State subject.

• The World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA) is an international program led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that supports the implementation of national censuses of agriculture on a 10-year basis through the use of standard concepts, definitions, and methodology.

• Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• It is constituted for trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• APMCs are intended to be responsible for:

  • ensuring transparency in pricing system and transactions taking place in market area;

  • providing market-led extension services to farmers;

  • ensuring payment for agricultural produce sold by farmers on the same day;

  • promoting agricultural processing including activities for value addition in agricultural produce;

  • Publicising data on arrivals and rates of agricultural produce brought into the market area for sale; and

  • Setup and promote public private partnership in the management of agricultural markets.

• Under Constitution of India, agricultural marketing is a state (provincial) subject. While intra-state trades fall under the jurisdiction of state governments, inter-state trading comes under Central Government (including intra-state trading in a few commodities like raw jute, cotton, etc.).Thus, agricultural markets are established and regulated mostly under the various State APMC Acts.

• The whole geographical area in the State is divided and each one is declared as a market area which is managed by the Market Committee (APMC) constituted by the State Government. Hence statement 3 is correct.

  • States also constitute a Market Board which supervises these market committees.

  • APMCs generally consist of representatives of farmers, traders, warehousing entities, registrar of cooperative societies etc.

  • Market Boards generally consists of chairmen of all APMCs, representatives from the relevant Government Departments etc.

• When a government spends more than it collects by way of revenue, it incurs a budget deficit.

  • Primary deficit is simply the fiscal deficit minus the interest payments.

• Gross primary deficit = Gross fiscal deficit – Net interest liabilities

• Gross fiscal deficit = Total expenditure – (Revenue receipts + Non-debt creating capital receipts)

• Net interest liabilities consist of interest payments minus interest receipts by the government on net domestic lending.

• We must note that the borrowing requirement of the government includes interest obligations on accumulated debt. The goal of measuring primary deficit is to focus on present fiscal imbalances. To obtain an estimate of borrowing on account of current expenditures exceeding revenues, we need to calculate the primary deficit.

• Significance of Primary Deficit - It excludes the burden of the past debt and shows the net increase in the government’s indebtedness due to the current year’s fiscal operations. A reduction in primary deficit is reflective of government’s efforts at bridging the fiscal gap during a financial year.

• Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government’s total expenditure and its total receipts excluding borrowing.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

• In India, total Central Government Liabilities constitutes the following three categories:

  • Internal Debt.

  • External Debt.

  • Public Account Liabilities.

• Public Debt in India includes both Internal and External Debt incurred by the Central Government. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Internal Debt includes liabilities incurred by resident units in the Indian economy to other resident units, while External Debt includes liabilities incurred by residents to non-residents.

• The overall objective of the Central Government’s debt management policy is to “meet Central Government’s financing needs at the lowest possible long term borrowing costs and also to keep the total debt within sustainable levels.

• Additionally, it aims at supporting development of a well-functioning and vibrant domestic bond market”.

• Apart from this declared objectives, timely availability of resources for Government is ensured in a non-disruptive manner for the market. Various institutional arrangements are also put in place accordingly.

• Government published its first Debt Management Strategy (DMS) document (earlier published across various documents of the Government and RBI) on December 31, 2015.

• In the Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement laid before the Parliament, Government outlines the prudent debt management strategies so as to ensure that the public debt remains within sustainable limits and does not crowd out private borrowing for investment.

• The Constitution of India gives the executive branch of Government the powers to borrow upon the security of the Consolidated Fund of India. Reserve Bank as an agent of the Government (both Union and the States) used to implement the borrowing program. The Reserve Bank draws the necessary statutory powers for debt management from Section 21 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. While the management of Union Government's public debt is an obligation for the Reserve Bank, the Reserve Bank undertakes the management of the public debts of the various State Governments by agreement. Public Debt Management Cell (PDMC) has been established as an interim arrangement before setting up an independent and statutory debt management agency namely the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA). PDMA is yet to be established. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• It is announced by GoI on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• MSP is price fixed by the Government of India to protect the producer - farmers - against excessive falls in price during bumper production years.

  • The minimum support prices are a guaranteed price for their produce from the Government.

  • The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution.

  • In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to bumper production and glut in the market, govt. agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.

• Minimum support prices are currently announced for 24 commodities including seven cereals (paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi); five pulses (gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad, and lentil); eight oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soybean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed); copra, raw cotton, raw jute, and de-husked Coconut.

• Such minimum support prices are fixed at the incentive level, so as to induce the farmers to make the capital investments for the improvement of their farm and to motivate them to adopt improved crop production technologies to step up their production and thereby their net income.

• In the absence of such a guaranteed price, there is a concern that farmers may shift to other crops causing a shortage in these commodities.

• In India, commercial energy consumption makes up about 74 percent of the total energy consumed in India. This includes coal and lignite with the largest share of 74 percent, followed by oil at 10 percent, natural gas at 9 percent, hydro and other new, and renewable energy at 7 percent.

• The sectoral pattern of consumption of commercial energy is given in the Table below. The transport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy in 1953- 54.

• However, there has been a continuous fall in the share of the transport sector while the shares of the household, agriculture, and others have been increasing.

• The share of oil and gas is the highest among all commercial energy consumption. With the rapid rate of economic growth, there has been a corresponding increase in the use of energy.

Hence, both statements 1 and 2 are not correct.

• The draft of the First Five Year Plan and then the actual Plan Document, released in December 1951. The First Five Year Plan (1951–1956) sought to get the country’s economy out of the cycle of poverty.

• The First Five Year Plan addressed, mainly, the agrarian sector including investment in dams and irrigation. The agricultural sector was hit hardest by partition and needed urgent attention. Huge allocations were made for large-scale projects like the Bhakhra Nangal Dam. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The Plan identified the pattern of land distribution in the country as the principal obstacle in the way of agricultural growth. It focused on land reforms as the key to the country’s development. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• One of the basic aims of the planners was to raise the level of national income, which could be possible only if the people saved more money than they spent. As the basic level of spending was very low in the 1950s, it could not be reduced anymore. So the planners sought to push savings up. That too was difficult as the total capital stock in the country was rather low compared to the total number of employable people.

• The balance of payments (BoP) record the transactions in goods, services and assets between residents of a country with the rest of the world for a specified time period typically a year. There are two main accounts in the BoP — the current account and the capital account.

• Current Account is the record of trade and transfer payments. Trade in goods includes exports and imports of goods (assets are part of capital account). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• Balance on Current Account has two components:

  • Balance of Trade or Trade Balance

  • Balance on Invisibles

• Balance of Trade (BOT) is the difference between the value of exports and value of imports of goods of a country in a given period of time. Export of goods is entered as a credit item in BOT, whereas import of goods is entered as a debit item in BOT. It is also known as Trade Balance. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Net Invisibles is the difference between the value of exports and value of imports of invisibles of a country in a given period of time. Invisibles include services, transfers and flows of income that take place between different countries. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• Micro-insurance policies are a special category of insurance policies created to promote insurance coverage among economically vulnerable sections of society. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• These policies are regulated by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA). Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• The IRDA Micro-insurance Regulations, 2005, defines and enables micro-insurance.

• Microinsurance can be either a general insurance policy (which can insure health, belongings, house, tools, personal accident contract, livestock, etc) or a life insurance policy with a sum assured of Rs 50,000 or less. They can be on an individual or group basis.

  • A life micro-insurance product is a term insurance contract with or without return of premium, any endowment insurance contract, or a health insurance contract. They can be with or without an accident benefit rider.

• Micro-insurance business is done through the following intermediaries in India:

  • Non-Government Organisations

  • Self-Help Groups

  • Micro-Finance Institutions. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The World Bank is like a cooperative, made up of 189 member countries. These member countries, or shareholders, are represented by a Board of Governors, who are the ultimate policymakers at the World Bank.

• International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries.

• The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is a member of the World Bank Group. MIGA provides political risk insurance (guarantees) for projects in a broad range of sectors in developing member countries, covering all regions of the world.

• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is the world’s leading institution specializing in international investment dispute settlement. States have agreed on ICSID as a forum for Investor-State dispute settlement in most international investment treaties and in numerous investment laws and contracts. ICSID is an independent, depoliticized and effective dispute-settlement institution. ICSID provides for settlement of disputes by conciliation, arbitration or fact-finding.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

• The SDR was created as a supplementary international reserve asset in the context of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system. The collapse of Bretton Woods system in 1973 and the shift of major currencies to floating exchange rate regimes lessened the reliance on the SDR as a global reserve asset. Nonetheless, SDR allocations can play a role in providing liquidity and supplementing member countries’ official reserves, as was the case amid the global financial crisis.

• The SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations.

• The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Hence, statement 1 is not correct. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.

• Currencies included in the SDR basket have to meet two criteria: the export criterion and the freely usable criterion. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• A currency meets the export criterion if its issuer is an IMF member or a monetary union that includes IMF members, and is also one of the top five world exporters. For a currency to be determined “freely usable” by the IMF, it has to be widely used to make payments for international transactions and widely traded in the principal exchange markets.

• The IMF has the authority to prescribe other holders of SDRs, non-members, member countries that are not SDR Department Participants, institutions that perform the functions of a central bank for more than one member, and other official entities. SDRs cannot be held by private entities or individuals. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The term shell company is used for illegal companies whose basis of purpose of creation is derived from a 'shell' which has an outer covering but nothing inside that is a Shell company does no substantial tangible business. Such companies are generally only in papers and are mostly established in tax havens.

• Statement 1 is correct: Shell companies are corporate entities that do not have any significant assets in their possession or any active business operations.

• These companies are generally involved in money laundering and tax avoidance activities. The main purpose is to divert money for tax evasion and route money generated from illegal activities to formal financial institutions.

• Statement 2 is not correct: Shell companies are not defined under any specific law. The Companies Act, 2013 does not define shell companies and what activities constitute shell companies.

• However to curb illegal activities shell companies can be targeted under laws such as:

  • Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016

  • The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002

  • The Companies Act, 2013

• In economics, we often distinguish between quantities that are stocks and those that are flows. These differ in their units of measurement. A stock is measured at one specific time and represents a quantity existing at that point in time, which may have accumulated in the past. A flow variable is measured over an interval of time. Therefore, a flow would be measured per unit of time (say a year). Flow is roughly analogous to rate or speed in this sense.

• For example, Indian nominal gross domestic product refers to the total number of dollars spent over a time period, such as a year. Therefore, it is a flow variable and has units of dollars/year. In contrast, India's nominal capital stock is the total value, in dollars, of equipment, buildings, and other real productive assets in the U.S. economy, and has units of dollars. Hence flows are defined over a period of time and stocks are defined at a particular point of time. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• An item that is meant for final use and will not pass through any more stages of production or transformations is called a final good. Of the final goods, we can distinguish between consumption goods and capital goods. Goods like food and clothing and services like recreation that are consumed when purchased by their ultimate consumers are called consumption goods.

• There are other goods that are of a durable character that is used in the production process. These are tools, implements, and machines. While they make the production of other commodities feasible, they themselves don’t get transformed in the production process. These goods form a part of capital, which continue to enable the production process to go on for continuous cycles of production. These are called Capital goods. That part of our final output that comprises of capital goods constitutes gross investment of an economy. These may be machines, tools and implements; buildings, office spaces, storehouses or infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports or jetties. Hence statements 2 and 3 are correct.

• A Participatory Note (PN or P-Note) in the Indian context, in essence, is a derivative instrument issued in foreign jurisdictions, by a SEBI registered Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) or its sub-accounts or one of its associates, against underlying Indian securities. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The off-shore derivative market allows investors to gain exposure to the local shares without incurring the time and costs involved in investing directly.

• The underlying Indian security instrument may be equity, debt, derivatives, or may even be an index.

• PNs are also known as Overseas Derivative Instruments, Equity Linked Notes, Capped Return Notes, and Participating Return Notes etc.

• Regulation excludes a certain category of Foreign portfolio investors, like individuals, from issuing the PNs) against securities held by it that are listed or proposed to be listed on any recognized stock exchange in India.

• The investor in PN does not own the underlying Indian security, which is held by the FII who issues the PN. Thus the investors in PNs derive the economic benefits of investing in the security without actually holding it. They benefit from fluctuations in the price of the underlying security since the value of the PN is linked with the value of the underlying Indian security. The PN holder also does not enjoy any voting rights in relation to security/shares referenced by the PN. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Being derivative instruments and freely tradable, PNs can be easily transferred, creating multiple layers, thereby obfuscating the real beneficial owner. It is in this respect that concerns about the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner and the source of funds arise.

• For the reason that such instruments are issued outside India, these transactions are outside the purview of SEBI surveillance and it is the FIIs which acts as mini-exchange overseas. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The actual transactions in the underlying are executed by the FIIs only at its discretion, as and when necessary and there is no one-to-one correspondence between transactions in the underlying instruments and issuance of PNs.

• The ex-post reporting requirement enjoined upon the FII in respect of PNs on a monthly basis effectively keeps the transactions in PNs out of the real-time market surveillance mechanism and beyond the enforceability jurisdiction of SEBI.

• The asset reconstruction companies or ARCs are registered under the RBI and regulated under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act, 2002) as NBFCs. ARCs are incorporated under Companies Act. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The ARCs take over a portion of the debts of the bank that qualify to be recognised as Non-Performing Assets. Thus ARCs are engaged in the business of asset reconstruction or securitisation or both. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• All the rights that were held by the lender (the bank) in respect of the debt would be transferred to the ARC. The required funds to purchase such debts can be raised from Qualified Buyers.

• As per the RBI, the committee will review existing legal and regulatory framework applicable to ARCs and recommend measures to improve their efficacy. It'll also review the role of ARCs in resolution of stressed assets, including under Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. The committee will also suggest ways to improve liquidity in and trading of security receipts.

Statements 1 and 2 are not correct.

• Tritium (T) is a hydrogen atom that has two neutrons in the nucleus and one proton. 
• It is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays strike nitrogen molecules  in the air. It is also produced during nuclear weapons explosions, and as a byproduct in nuclear reactors.
• Tritium is a radiogenic and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.3 years. 

Hence, Statement 3 is correct.

Statement 1 is not correct: Moon’s interior is dynamic: Findings from Chandrayan 1 also showed 
that the Moon’s interior was dynamic and interacted with the exosphere, contrary to the belief 
that it was dormant.

• The terrain mapping camera found evidence of volcanic vent, lava pond, and lava channels as recent as 100 million years old, indicating recent volcanic activity. 
• Measurements of carbon dioxide by the MIP also pointed towards de-gassing from the surface. This shows an interaction of the lunar surface with the exosphere even in the absence of impacts by meteors.

Statement 2 is correct: Distribution of gas in lunar atmosphere: Chandrayaan 2 confirmed that  the Argon-40 (Ar-40) exists in the lunar exosphere but the knowledge of its distribution at higher latitudes was lacking. The findings were crucial for developing insights into the dynamics of the  lunar exosphere.

Statement 3 is correct: Mission experiments of Chandrayaan 3. The lander has four experiments 
on board.

• Study of the electrons and ions near the surface of the moon and how they change over time.
• The thermal properties of the lunar surface near the polar region. Chandrayaan-3 has landed  around 70 degree south latitude, the closest that any spacecraft has reached to the lunar south pole.
• To measure the lunar quakes near the landing site and study the composition of the Moon’s crust and mantle.
• The LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA) is a passive experiment sent by NASA that acts as a target for lasers for very accurate measurements for future missions.

India has consciously proceeded to explore the possibility of tapping nuclear energy for the purpose of
power generation. As result, India has planned three stage nuclear programme.

• STAGE 1 : Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor using Natural UO2 as fuel matrix to produce electricity while generating plutonium-239 as by-product. Heavy water as moderator and coolant India achieved complete self- reliance in this technology and this stage of the programme is in the industrial domain
• STAGE 2 (FBR): Fast Breeder Reactor is India‘s second stage of nuclear power generation. FBR is a nuclear reactor that uses fast neutron to generate more nuclear fuels than they consume while generating power.

In the second stage, it envisages the use of Pu-239 obtained from the first stage reactor operation. As the fuel core in FBR, a blanket of U-238 surrounding the fuel core will undergo nuclear transmutation to produce fresh Pu239 as more and more Pu-239 is consumed during the operation.

Besides a blanket of Th-232 around the FBR core also undergoes neutron capture reactions leading to the formation of U-233. U-233 is the nuclear reactor fuel for the third stage of India‘s Nuclear Power Programme. FBR is known as fast breeder because it doesn‘t use moderator while liquid sodium is used as coolant. India‘s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is a 500 MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu).

• STAGE 3: (Breeder Reactor). A Stage III reactor or an Advanced nuclear power system involves a self-sustaining series of thorium-232-uranium-233 fuelled reactors. U-233, obtained from second stage will be used as fuel in nuclear reactor.

Besides, U-233 fuelled breeder reactors will have a Th-232 blanket around the U-233 reactor core which will generate more U-233 as the reactor goes operational thus resulting in the production of more and more U-233 fuel from the Th-232 blanket as more of the U-233 in the fuel core is consumed helping to sustain the long term power generation fuel requirement.

Hence all the statements are correct.

Electric Fuse is a current interrupting device that protects the electrical circuit. The principle behind the operation of the fuse is the heating effect of the electrical current. If the current passes through a conductor with a certain resistance, the loss due to the conductor's resistance is dissipated in the form of heat. Under normal operating conditions, the heat produced in the fuse element is easily dissipated into the environment due to the flow of current through it. As a result, the fuse part remains at a temperature below its melting point. Hence statement 1 is correct.

Whenever some faults, such as short circuits, occur, the current flow through the fuse element exceeds the prescribed limits. This creates an excess of heat that melts the fuse part and breaks the circuit. So if the electrical current passing through the fuse goes beyond what the device can handle, the fuse link is melted and the circuit is opened to prevent damage to the electrical component. Fuses are always connected in series with the component to be protected from overcurrent, so that when the fuse blows (opens) it will open the entire circuit and stop current through the component. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Proton, neutron, and electron are tiny particles that makeup atoms. The neutrino is also a tiny elementary particle, but it is not part of the atom. Such particles are also found to exist in nature. Hence statement 1 is correct.
Neutrino has a very tiny mass and no charge. It interacts very weakly with other matter particles. So weakly that every second trillion of neutrinos fall on us and pass through our bodies unnoticed. Neutrinos come from the sun (solar neutrinos) and other stars, cosmic rays that come from beyond the solar system, and from the Big Bang from which our Universe originated. They can also be produced in the lab. Hence statement 3 is correct.

The INO (India based Neutrino Observatory) will study atmospheric neutrinos only. Solar neutrinos have much lower energy than the detector can detect. INO Project is aimed at building a world-class underground laboratory with a rock cover to conduct basic research on the neutrino. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is the nodal institution. The observatory is to be built jointly with the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology. The observatory will be located underground so as to provide adequate shielding to the neutrino detector from cosmic background radiation.

The operation of INO will have no release of radioactive or toxic substances. It is not a weapons laboratory and will have no strategic or defence applications.

They are the second most abundant particle in the universe after particles of light called photons. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

DNA fingerprinting is a chemical test that shows the genetic makeup of a person or other living things.
It‘s used as evidence in courts, to identify bodies, track down blood relatives, and to look for cures for
disease.
Uses:
DNA fingerprinting most often has been used in court cases and legal matters. It can:

• Physically connect a piece of evidence to a person or rule out someone as a suspect.
• Show who your parents, siblings, and other relatives may be.
• Identify a dead body that‘s too old or damaged to be recognizable.
• DNA fingerprinting is extremely accurate. Most countries now keep DNA records on file in much the same way police keep copies of actual fingerprints.
• For criminal identification. Hence, option1 is correct.
• To resolve disputes of maternity/paternity. Hence, option 2 is correct.
• To identify mutilated remains. Hence, option 3 is correct.
• In cases of exchange of babies in a hospital ward. Hence, option 4 is correct.
• In forensic wildlife. Hence, option 5 is correct.

It also has medical uses. It can:

• Match tissues of organ donors with those of people who need transplants.
• Identify diseases that are passed down through your family.
• Help find cures for those diseases, called hereditary conditions.

A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapour gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light.

An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapour, which produces short-wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor coating on the inside of the lamp to glow. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Astatine is a radioactive element of the halogen series: a decay product of uranium and thorium that occurs naturally in minute amounts and is artificially produced by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles. There are currently no uses for astatine outside of research.

Cinnabar is a toxic mercury sulfide mineral with a chemical composition of HgS. It is the only important ore of mercury. It has a bright red colour that has caused people to use it as a pigment, and carve it into jewellery and ornaments for thousands of years in many parts of the world.

Phases of soft landing, the 15 minutes of terror:

• The Rough Braking Phase: It includes reducing the lander’s horizontal speed from a range of  1.68 km/sec at a height of 30 km from the lunar surface, to almost zero for a soft landing at  the designated site.
• Attitude Hold Phase: At a height of 7.42 km from the surface, the lander is to go into an ‘attitude  hold phase’ lasting around 10 seconds, during which it should tilt from a horizontal to a vertical position while covering a distance of 3.48 km.
• The “fine braking phase” lasts around 175 seconds, during which the  lander is to move fully into a vertical position. 
• “Terminal descent” is the final stage, when the spacecraft is supposed to descend totally vertically onto the surface

Bacteria are microscopic, single-cell organisms that live on and inside plants, animals, and people. Some bacteria can infect the body of human or Plant that led to the bacterial disease. Some of the bacterial diseases are:

• Diphtheria: It is an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Hence option 1 is correct.
• Tetanus: It is an infection caused by bacteria called Clostridium tetani. Hence option 2 is correct.
• Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. It is curable with multidrug therapy (MDT). It is likely transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contact with untreated cases. India officially eliminated leprosy in 2005, reducing its prevalence rate to 0.72 per 10,000 people at national level but still hosts highest patients of leprosy in the world. Hence option 3 is correct.
• Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a serious respiratory infection caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. It can cause serious illness in babies, children, teens, and adults. Some other diseases which are caused by bacteria are: Cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis. Plague, and Anthrax etc. Hence option 4 is correct.

A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. The word "bacteriophage" literally means "bacteria eater," because bacteriophages destroy their host cells. All bacteriophages are composed of a nucleic acid molecule that is surrounded by a protein structure. A bacteriophage attaches itself to a susceptible bacterium and infects the host cell. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

Following infection, the bacteriophage hijacks the bacterium's cellular machinery to prevent it from producing bacterial components and instead forces the cell to produce viral components. Eventually, new bacteriophages assemble and burst out of the bacterium in a process called lysis. Bacteriophages occasionally remove a portion of their host cells' bacterial DNA during the infection process and then transfer this DNA into the genome of new host cells. This process is known as transduction.

Since their discovery, bacteriophages have been considered to be potential antibacterial therapeutics for the treatment of various infectious diseases in humans. In recent times, the rapid rise of multi-drug resistant bacteria worldwide has led to a renewed interest in phage therapy as a possible alternative to antibiotics or, at least, a supplementary approach for the treatment of some bacterial infections. Furthermore, bacteriophage-based vaccination is emerging as one of the most promising preventive strategies.

Isotopes are defined as the atoms of the same element, having the same atomic number but different mass numbers. Hydrogen atom has three atomic species, namely protium (¹₁H), deuterium ( ²₁H or D) and tritium ( ³₁H or T). The atomic number of each one is 1, but the mass number is 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
While Isobar is defined as , atoms with identical atomic number but different atomic mass number for e.g. two elements — calcium, atomic number 20, and argon, atomic number 18 but the mass number of both these elements is 40.

Statement 1 is not correct and 2 is correct: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)  primarily aimed to solve the biggest limitations of PSLV: 

• It can deliver a payload of about 1,750 kg to a lower Earth orbit, up to an altitude of 600  km from the Earth’s surface; and it can go a few hundred kilometers higher in Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO), though only with a reduced payload.
•  The latest configuration of GSLV with a cryogenic engine can put a payload of up to 2500 kilograms in the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO).
• GSLVs use cryogenic engines — they consist of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen — that provide far greater thrust than the engines used in the older launch vehicles.