Comprehension
COVID-19 infections are once again on the rise with daily infections crossing 60,000 per day last week. This is considerably higher compared to the reported infections during the same period last year when the numbers were less than 500 per day. What is obvious is that the pandemic is far from over despite the availability of vaccines. However, unlike last year, the response this time has been muted with no nationwide lockdown. One of the reasons for the differing responses is the lesson from the unintended consequences on the economy of the strict lockdown last year. While aggregate estimates on the growth rate of GDP showed a sharp contraction in economic activity (the economy shrunk by 24 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2020) the impact on lives and livelihoods is still unfolding even though the sharp contractionary phase seems behind us. The extent of the loss of lives and livelihoods is becoming clear only now, with detailed data from the Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS) - the latest round of which is for the April-June quarter of 2020. This is the first official report on the estimates for the quarter, which witnessed the worst impact with the lockdown in force until the middle of May. Visuals of thousands of migrants walking back to their villages are still fresh in the mind. While many have returned to urban areas in the absence of jobs in rural areas, many did not. The PLFS, which captures the employment-unemployment situation in urban areas, provides some clues to what happened. The estimates from PLFS are broadly in line with estimates available from other privately conducted surveys, notably the unemployment surveys of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). According to the PLFS April-June 2020 round, the urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15 was 20.8 per cent, which is close to the monthly average for the same quarter from CMIE at 19.9 per cent. The CMIE data, however, does suggest a sharp decline in June compared to April and May. Similar to the CMIE data, the PLFS data also shows a sharp rise in the unemployment rate which more than doubled compared to the unemployment rate in the preceding quarter of January-March 2020 at 9.1 per cent and 8.8 per cent in the same quarter (April-June) of 2019. While one in five persons above the age of 15 was unemployed during April-June 2020, the unemployment rate among the 15-29-year-olds was 34.7 per cent - every third person in the 15-29 age group was unemployed during the same period. These are staggering numbers, but not surprising. While the lockdown certainly contributed to the worsening of the employment situation, particularly in urban areas, the fact that the economy was already going through severe distress as far as jobs are concerned is no longer surprising. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17. The fact that the economy has not been creating jobs predates the economic shocks of demonetisation and the hasty roll-out of GST. The PLFS data from earlier rounds have already shown the extent of the rise in unemployment compared to the employment unemployment surveys of 2011-12. The unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times between 2011-12 and 2017-18. On an internationally comparable basis, the unemployment rate among the 15-24-year-olds in 2017-18 was 28.5 per cent, which makes the youth unemployment rate in India amongst the highest in the world, excluding small countries and conflict-ridden countries. Since then, it has only worsened or remained at that level.
Question: 1
According to the author, which of the following is a plausible explanation for India’s prevalent crisis of unemployment?
According to the author, which of the following is a plausible explanation for India’s prevalent crisis of unemployment?
Updated On: Jul 18, 2024
- The previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced economic activity.
- Imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic led to migration of workforce from urban to rural areas
- There is a sharp decline in urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15.
Hide Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct Answer is (A):The previously existing employment crunch is worsened due to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 2
According to the author, what is current state of Indian economy?
According to the author, what is current state of Indian economy?
Updated On: Jul 17, 2024
- There is a sharp contraction in economic activity.
- The aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced
- The unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories are increasing by almost three times.
- Youth unemployment rate in India is at par with that in small and conflict-ridden countries
Hide Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The correct Answer is (B):The aftermath of a sharp contraction in economic activity is being experienced
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 3
Which of the following statements cannot be inferred from the given passage?
Which of the following statements cannot be inferred from the given passage?
Updated On: Aug 16, 2024
- Loss of lives and livelihoods is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Decline in economic growth is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas.
- Rise in unemployment is attributable to the imposition of nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hide Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The correct Answer is (C):Rise in unemployment is attributable to the migration of members of workforce from urban to rural areas.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 4
Which of the following strengthens the author’s argument that the decline in economic growth and rise in unemployment precedes the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Which of the following strengthens the author’s argument that the decline in economic growth and rise in unemployment precedes the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Updated On: Jul 18, 2024
- While one in five persons above the age of 15 was unemployed during April-June 2020, the unemployment rate among the 15-29-year-olds was 34.7 per cent - every third person in the 15-29 age group was unemployed during the same period.
- According to the PLFS April-June 2020 round, the urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15 was 20.8 per cent, which is close to the monthly average for the same quarter from CMIE at 19.9 per cent.
- Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17.
- The estimates from PLFS are broadly in line with estimates available from other privately conducted surveys, notably the unemployment surveys of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Hide Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The correct Answer is (C): Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, growth decelerated to 4 per cent, less than half the 8.3 per cent rate in 2016-17.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 5
According to the given passage, which of the following statements is correct?
According to the given passage, which of the following statements is correct?
Updated On: Jul 17, 2024
- Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.
- Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.
- Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.
- Employment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three percent over the preceding decade.
Hide Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct Answer is (A): Unemployment rates in urban areas for all categories increased by almost three times over the preceding decade.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Top Questions on Verbal Reasoning
- India is poised for rapid economic growth, potentially spurred by a young population driving production and demand. In the process, inevitably, lifestyles are being dramatically altered for the worse. India now reports the highest growth of ultra-processed food consumption among the youth, as well as low levels of exercise and adequate sleep. Cultural changes, including smartphones and a preponderance of English in schools, are also associated with weakened family relationships. Until recently, in the absence of extensive data, the role of these factors on mental well-being, encompassing our full range of mental capability, was not well understood. Recent findings based on a large database of over 1,50,000 individuals in India are beginning to shed light on the correlates of mental well-being among adolescents. The findings are dire. There is a silent epidemic of mental ill-health in India. Previous studies have found that ownership of smartphones is” frying” the brain. Data also suggests that it is not merely the ownership of a phone but also the early age of access that is associated with worse cognition and mental well-being as young adults. The young brain is developing and must be nurtured. These gadgets are handed to adolescents, presumably more out of convenience than sound logic. The American philosopher David Henry Thoreau remarked over 175 years ago,” Technology is an improved means to an unimproved end.” This is an extreme position but one worth mulling. India reports the highest growth in consumption of ultra-processed foods. Some evidence suggests that these foods are as addictive as smoking. Recent data globally and from India shows a strong association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and poor mental well-being, particularly the capacities for emotional and cognitive control.
- CLAT - 2025
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- While a majority of homeless groups exist solely in modernized cultures, homelessness remains a problem throughout the world. Everywhere there are people in constant search of food, water, and shelter. Many of these people have nowhere to go and can find no end or relief to their suffering. Homelessness was originally believed to be a cultural problem but is now revealing itself as a global problem. It is a problem suffered by all of humanity and must be faced and solved as such. Although this problem exists everywhere, it is more severe in certain parts of the world. Due to the differing circumstances of homelessness around the world, there can be no one solution or one set of guidelines for everyone to follow.
Even the United States constantly struggles with homelessness, despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world. According to a 2005 survey by the United Nations, 1.6 billion people lack adequate housing. The causes vary depending on the place and person. Common reasons include a lack of affordable housing, poverty, a lack of mental health services, and more. Homelessness is rooted in systemic failures that fail to protect those who are most vulnerable. Approximately 580,000 people experience homelessness on any given night in the United States, as stated by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department. The number of individuals experiencing homelessness varies by region, with urban areas experiencing higher rates of homelessness compared to rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated homelessness and housing insecurity, leading to increased rates of eviction, unemployment, and housing instability. Using social distancing measures to curb the virus’s transmission has presented difficulties for homeless shelters and service providers in main training their capacity. The economic fallout from the pandemic has further strained resources and support systems for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.- CLAT - 2025
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Being a consultant, your work consists of a deep examination of the company’s environment and its internal system to notice inefficiencies and potential improvements. The interaction with the company’s management and different sections to decipher their objectives, opportunities, and processes. This means that, through the use of data analysis, industry best practices, and the formulation of creative ways of solving all problems, to come up with unique solutions to all problems to increase efficiency and productivity, and hence, increase profitability for employers. This might entail operations such as logistics redesign, business process re-engineering, adopting new applications, systems, or even community relation programs. People management is a critical component of change management, to make sure that all the relevant parties interpret the potential alterations positively. Also, to offer orientation and create resources to explain the changes to the group and make it comfortable with the shift. The general goal is the organization’s ability to continue to grow and remain relevant with the shareholders and stakeholders in the industries it operates
- CLAT - 2025
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- In a world where aspirations for upward mobility are fervent, the opportunities for achieving such dreams remain limited. When one generation falls short, the mantle of ambition passes to the next, embedding within it a heavy burden of responsibility. Failing to meet these expectations can lead to profound sorrow, and in the direst cases, even to suicide. It’s in this landscape that coaching institutes assume a significant role, cultivating an atmosphere of uncertainty among students and parents. A stark discrepancy emerges between preparation for board examinations and competitive tests, amplifying the inequalities that plague the education system. The coaching industry’s massive marketing campaigns further exacerbate the situation, with some strategies veering into ethical grey areas. The tests themselves, designed to be more challenging than standardised exams, set the stage for feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt when not conquered. Our educational system is tailored to gauge an individual’s merit through examinations. Eminent thinker Michael J Sandel dubs this system the “tyranny of merit”, a sentiment echoed by the Supreme Court of India. Upholding the OBC reservation judgment, the Court called for a deeper evaluation of the “idea of merit”, highlighting its nuanced nature. Merit as a concept remains shrouded in misunderstanding and often goes unexamined within school curriculum. Adapting to new living arrangements, sourcing nourishing meals, battling isolation, and grappling with commutes form the backdrop against, which education unfolds. For marginalised communities and gender minorities, these hurdles are often amplified. Social media algorithms exacerbate mental health concerns, sowing loneliness and impeding attention spans and creativity. Technology emerges as a potential equaliser in this landscape. Online platforms now offer preparation opportunities from the comfort of one’s home. Government-curated or market-driven content could usher in a new era of accessibility.
- CLAT - 2024
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Imagine you have just been appointed as a consultant for a manufacturing company that is experiencing a decline in its production efficiency. The company produces a wide range of products, and the management is concerned about the overall output. Your task is to identify the root causes of this decline and recommend solutions.
As you begin your investigation, you gather information and observe the following:
• The company recently introduced a new production system that is more automated but requires highly specialized operators.
• The workforce has reported a lack of motivation and job satisfaction, which has led to increased absenteeism.
• There have been several breakdowns in the new machinery, leading to production delays and quality issues.
• The company’s competitors have adopted similar automation technologies and are experiencing increased productivity.
• Customer complaints about product quality have increased in recent months.- CLAT - 2024
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
View More Questions
Questions Asked in CLAT exam
- From a very early age, I knew that when I grew up, I should be a writer. I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued. I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life. I wanted to write enormous naturalistic novels with unhappy endings, full of detailed descriptions and arresting similes, and also full of purple passages in which words were used partly for the sake of their sound. I give all this background information because I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development.
His subject-matter will be determined by the age he lives in — at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own — but before he ever begins to write he will have acquired an emotional attitude from which he will never completely escape. It is his job to discipline his temperament, but if he escapes from his early influences altogether, he will have killed his impulse to write. I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They are: (i) Sheer egoism: Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood; (ii) Aesthetic enthusiasm: Desire to share an experience which one feels is valuable and ought not to be missed (iii) Historical impulse: Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity (iv) Political purpose: Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.
[Extracted with edits from George Orwell's "Why I Write"]- CLAT - 2025
- Reading Comprehension
- The right kind of education consists in understanding the child as he is without imposing upon him an ideal of what we think he should be. To enclose him in the framework of an ideal is to encourage him to conform, which breeds fear and produces in him a constant conflict between what he is and what he should be: and all inward conflicts have their outward manifestations in society. If the parent loves the child, he observes him, he studies his tendencies, his moods, and peculiarities. It is only when one feels no love for the child that one imposes upon him an ideal, for then one's ambitions are trying to fulfill themselves in him, wanting him to become this or that. If one loves, not the ideal but the child, then there is a possibility of helping him to understand himself as he is.
Ideals are a convenient escape, and the teacher who follows them is incapable of understanding his students and dealing with them intelligently; for him, the future ideal, the what should be, is far more important than the present child. The pursuit of an ideal excludes love, and without love no human problem can be solved. If the teacher is of the right kind, he will not depend on a method, but will study each individual pupil. In our relationship with children and young people, we are not dealing with mechanical devices that can be quickly repaired, but with living beings who are impressionable, volatile, sensitive, afraid, affectionate: and to deal with them, we have to have great understanding, the strength of patience and love. When we lack these, we look to quick and easy remedies and hope for marvellous and automatic results. If we are unaware, mechanical in our attitudes and actions, we fight shy of any demand upon us that is disturbing and that cannot be met by an automatic response, and this is one of our major difficulties in education.
(Extract with edits from "The right kind of Education" by J. Krishna Murti)- CLAT - 2025
- Reading Comprehension
- Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested, all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas.... If education were identical with information, the libraries are the sages in the world and encyclopaedias are the rishis. Getting by heart the thoughts of others in a foreign language and stuffing your brain with them and taking some University degree, you consider yourself educated. Is this education? What is the goal of your education? Open your eyes and see what a piteous cry for food is rising in the land of Bharata, proverbial for its food. Will your education fulfill this want?
We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one's own feet. What we need to study independent of foreign control, different branches of the knowledge that is our own, and with it the English language and Western science; we need technical education and all else that will develop industries so that men instead of seeking for service may earn enough to provide for themselves and save against a rainy day. The end of all education, all training, should be man-making. The end and aim of all training are to make the man grow. The training by which the current expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful, is called education. What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills, which nothing can resist, which can penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of the universe and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion, even if it meant going down to the bottom of the ocean, meeting death face to face.
There is only one method of attaining knowledge. It is by concentration. The very essence of education is concentration of mind. From the lowest to the highest man, all have to use the same method to attain knowledge. The chemist who works in the laboratory concentrates on elements to analyze them. Knowledge is acquired by concentration.
[Extracted with edits from "Education" by Swami Vivekananda]- CLAT - 2025
- Reading Comprehension
- Punctually at midday, he opened his bag and spread out his professional equipment, which consisted of a dozen cowrie shells, a square piece of cloth with obscure mystic charts on it, a notebook, and a bundle of palmyra writing. His forehead was dazzling with sacred ash and vermilion, and his eyes sparkled with a sharp, abnormal gleam which was really an outcome of a continual searching look for customers, but which his simple clients took to be a prophetic light and felt comforted. The power of his eyes was considerably enhanced by their position placed as they were between the painted forehead and the dark whiskers which streamed down his cheeks: even a half-wit's eyes would sparkle in such a setting. People were attracted to him as bees are attracted to cosmos or dahlia stalks, He sat under the boughs of a spreading tamarind tree which flanked a path running through the town hall park, It was a remarkable place in many ways: a surging crowd was always moving up and down this narrow road morning till night. A variety of trades and occupations was represented all along its way: medicine sellers, sellers of stolen hardware and junk, magicians, and, above all, an auctioneer of cheap cloth, who created enough din all day to attract the whole town. Next to him in vociferousness came a vendor of fried groundnut, who gave his ware a fancy name each day, calling it "Bombay Ice Cream" one day, and on the next "Delhi Almond," and on the third "Raja's Delicacy," and so on and so forth, and people flocked to him. A considerable portion of this crowd dallied before the astrologer too. The astrologer transacted his business by the light of a flare which crackled and smoked up above the groundnut heap nearby.
(Extracted with edits from "An Astrologer's Day" by R.K. Narayan)- CLAT - 2025
- Reading Comprehension
- The "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam", 2023 Act received near-unanimous support in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The legislation mandates the reservation of one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and Delhi (as a union territory with an elected assembly) for women. This linking of the implementation of the Act to the implementing of two long-term exercises of census and delimitation, makes little sense to many, and sounds quite like empowerment delayed for now.
In a 2012 article 'Holding Up Half the Sky: Reservations for Women in India', Rudolf C Heredia breaks down the common misconceptions that cloud our understanding of women's political participation- "When women do attain a national leadership role it is often because they have inherited the mantle from their fathers ophusbands, rather than as persons in their own right and are then projected as matriarchs, part of the joint family, complementary to the patriarchy rather than a challenge to it."
In 'Equality versus Empowerment: Women in Indian Legislature', 2023, Soumya Bhowmick makes the case for going a step beyond quotas, and to turn our attention to the complexities that shape women's agency in the country. This, he argues, would require a bottoms-up approach, rather than merely handing out reservations in a top-down manner. "In a country like India with a considerably large heterogeneous population, the dissemination of legislative power would be insufficient to protect the interests of minority groups such as women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes." He concludes that "implementing the idea of reservation for women would bring about descriptive representation, but its transformation into substantive representation would depend on the change in the attitudes of the people."
While the reservation of one-third of seats for women belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes under the amendment to article 330a and 332 of the constitution is a welcome step, it remains to be seen whether it fully acknowledges the complex interplay of hierarchies, socio-political relationships which also affect the extent and nature of complications that surround effective realisation of women's politics for Indian politics to emerge as a truly emancipatory space.- CLAT - 2025
- National Affairs
View More Questions