QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 16 September 2017

Solution: d.
An inter-country comparison based on ‘International Debt Statistics 2017’ of the World Bank, which presents the debt data for 2015, shows that India continues to be among the less vulnerable countries with its external debt indicators comparing well with other indebted developing countries.

• Regarding Statement 1: The composition of external debt reflects a well-maintained longer maturity profile (long-term external debt accounted for 81.4 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2017).
• External Commercial Borrowings have been a crucial determinant of the magnitude of India’s external debt and its single largest component.
• Regarding Statement 2: See first row of data in the table. Statement 2 is clearly incorrect.
• The decline in external debt at end-March 2017 over end-March 2016 was due to the decrease in long-term debt particularly NRI deposits and commercial borrowings.
• Regarding Statement 3: Government (sovereign) external debt increased constituted 20.3 per cent of the total external debt at end-March 2017.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=170828;
http://www.thehindu.com/business/external-debt-at-4719-bn-in-fy17-falls-27-from-last-year/article19694124.ece

Solution: a.

The indigenous developed Trawl System is employed for breaching of land mines and creating a vehicle safe lane, through a minefield for the advancing columns of mechanized forces in combat zone. It caters to the need of all types of mines usually encountered by the battle tank in such a scenario. The Trawl System developed by DRDO is capable of breaching a variety of land mines including passive and active influence mines.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=170812;

Solution: b.
• Central trade unions continued to oppose the government’s plans to ease retrenchment norms and to restrict trade union membership under the Industrial Disputes Act.
• Certain contentious proposals in the Code on Industrial Relations Bill include allowing bigger companies to retrench workers without the government’s permission, increasing the severance pay by three times, restricting outsiders’ role in trade union leadership, changing the definition of ‘workers’ and procedure for recognition of trade unions.
• With the Centre’s plans to amend the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 taking time, States are going ahead with their own labour law changes to ease retrenchment norms in a bid to attract business locally with Assam joining the race recently.
• The Assam Assembly passed amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act to allow companies with a staff of up to 300 to retrench workers without government permission, up from the present requirement of up to 100 workers – giving industries with large workforce more flexibility in retrenchment. Since labour is a concurrent subject, however, the Assam government’s approved Bill will need the Centre’s nod to become a law.

Entry #22, #24; List 3, Seventh Schedule: http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss(35).pdf;
http://www.thehindu.com/business/unions-toughen-stand-on-reforms/article19693992.ece;

Solution: d.
Operation Insaniyat: In response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into Bangladesh, Government of India has decided to extend assistance to Bangladesh. The relief material consists of items required urgently by the affected people, namely rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, ready to eat noodles, biscuits, mosquito nets etc.

http://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/28944/Operation_Insaniyat__Humanitarian_assistance_to_Bangladesh_on_account_of_influx_of_refugees;
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/will-push-myanmar-on-refugees-india-tells-dhaka/article19693743.ece;

Solution: d.
All statements are correct.
• Re-curving Western Pacific tropical cyclones may have played a role in reducing the August rainfall across India (Statement 1).
• During the monsoon months, cyclones in the Western Pacific move westwards towards India and aid rain-bearing systems over the sub-continent. But in some years they ‘recurve’, or start to swing north-east (statement 3), and do not give as much of a push to the rains as they do in the good monsoon years.
• This re-curving frequently happens during the El Nino years (statement 2) but this time it inexplicably occurred when an El Nino hasn’t yet taken shape.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/recurving-cyclones-dried-august-rains/article19694070.ece;