Day-621 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Answer: D
Explanation:
● The location of the thermal equator is not identical to that of the geographic Equator.
● This is not due to the level of insolation received in both hemispheres. They are virtually equal.
● What creates the difference is the distribution of land and water that causes changes in the way heat is distributed and transported across the planets.
● Land dominated areas will tend to have a large variation in temperature and a higher average temperature under the same conditions (as compared to a water dominated area).
● Thus, the thermal equator lies a bit north of the geographical equator.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: The Single Market creates a unified trading territory that functions without the border regulations and tariffs, which typically apply to trade between countries. The Single Market allows the unrestricted movement of goods, services, capital, and people throughout the territory. For example, the European Single market created by European Union members and four non-EU countries that are members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
Statement 2 is incorrect: A free trade area is one where there are no tariffs or taxes or quotas on goods and/or services from one country entering another.
● A free trade area isn’t necessarily a physical location.
Statement 3 is correct: A customs union is an agreement between two or more countries to remove trade barriers and lower or eliminate tariffs. Members of a customs union generally apply a common external tariff on imports from non-member countries.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: Under the scheme, seven parks have been approved by the government. The Parks will come up in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
● To enable scale, the minimum estimated area per MITRA Park is 1,000 acres.
Statement 2 is incorrect: An SPV owned by Centre and State Government jointly will be set up for each park which will oversee the implementation of the project.
● For a greenfield MITRA Park, a Development Capital Support (DCS) of 30% of the Project Cost, with a cap of ₹ 500 crore per park will be offered.
● In respect of partly developed brownfield sites, an assessment will be made of infrastructure already developed and also the textile specific infrastructure yet to be developed. Based on such assessment, DCS @30% of project cost of balance infrastructure and other support facilities to be developed and restricted to a limit of ₹ 200 crore per brownfield park will be provided by the Union government.
● Hence, DCS for both the greenfield as well as brownfield sites is available.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
Statement 1 is correct: The Urijit Patel committee had suggested that the apex bank should adopt the new CPI (consumer price index) as the measure of the nominal anchor for policy communication.
● Before this, RBI had given more weightage to Wholesale Price Index (WPI) than CPI as the key measure of inflation for all policy purposes.
● The target for inflation was decided at 4 per cent with a band of +/- 2 per cent around it.
Statement 2 is correct: As a reason to target CPI-based inflation, the committee had pointed out that wholesale inflation “does not capture price movements in non-commodity producing sectors like services, which constitute close to two-thirds of economic activity in India”.
● Secondly, it pointed out that wholesale inflation “does not generally reflect price movements in all wholesale markets”. This happens because price quotations for some important commodities such as milk, LPG etc. are taken from retail markets.
● Thirdly, movements in WPI often reflect large external shocks and as such, the wholesale inflation rate is often subject to large revisions.
Thus, CPI-based inflation was chosen over WPI-based inflation for anchoring inflation.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is a member of the World Bank Group and not the International Monetary Fund.
Statement 2 is incorrect: It promotes cross-border investment in developing countries.
Statement 3 is correct: MIGA’s guarantees protect investments against non-commercial risks and can help investors obtain access to funding sources with improved financial terms and conditions.
It covers new investments as well as investments (a) associated with the expansion, modernization, improvement, or enhancement of existing projects, or (b) where the investor demonstrates a medium- or long-term commitment to the project, so long as in both (a) and (b) the project has a high developmental impact in the host country. Acquisitions of existing projects by new investors, including the privatization of state-owned enterprises, may also be eligible.