List of practice Questions

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported weak growth through HIFY24 but it witnessed a boost in embedded value (EV) due to equity market performance. But concerns regarding its stock include loss of market share as it is outpaced by private sector rivals. sticky operating expenses (reduced slightly yearon-year but up in Q2FY24 versus Q1FY24). and high sensitivity of embedded value to equity volatility. 
Traders may also factor in the likelthood of another stake sale by the Government of India. These concerns are reflected in valuations. LIC trades at a big discount in price/EV terms (less than 1x) compared to private sector rivals (mostly 3x or more). Growth is healthy on a sequential basis but weak on a Y-0-Y basis. The individual annualized premium equivalent (APE) in HIF’Y24 was flat Y-0-Y at Z 14,640 crore, whereas the group APE was down by 24.5 percent Y-0-Y to Z 7.990 crore. Policies that provide policyholders a share of the insurance company’s profits as an annual dividend payout are also called par or with-profit policies. 
The VNB (value of new business) margin was flat on a Y-0-Y basis despite the rise in share of non-par business. which is margin positive. The VNB margin for HIFY24 was 14.61 percent against 14.58 percent in HIFY23. Though the rise in share of non-par products had a positive impact on the VNB margin. more benefits were given to policyholders, particularly for annuity. which pulled margins down again. 
The product mix shift to non-par should push the VNB margin up in the long-term. But competitive intensity meant product pricing had to be low-margin and more benefits were offered to policyholders. The annuity rates have also been increased. The overall APE dropped 10.3 percent over the past year to ¥ 22.630 crore. The individual business accounted for 64.7 percent of the APE. The individual APE was flat Y-o-Y, whereas the group business dropped 24.5 percent. 
The solvency ratio is adequate. and the movement to non-par is positive for margins. But further loss of market share would occur unless LIC pushes up growth rates to match rivals. It’s hard to estimate EV trends. Valuations are cheap which leaves room for some upside.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow
India didn’t sign the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge that aims to triple global renewable energy capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency by 2030. That’s despite having successfully ensured a commitment to the aspiration by the G20 in the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. 
India has a domestic target of increasing its renewable energy capacity to 450GW from its current level of 130GW by 2030. 
New Delhi’s absence from the list of 118 countries that joined the pledge came as something of a surprise. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had highlighted India’s role as G20 president in securing the agreement on renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency. All the G20 countries- barring India, China and Russia- have signed on to the pledge launched on Saturday by COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber. The pledge seeks to triple global installed renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000GW and double the global energy efficiency improvement rate to more than 4% by 2030. 
As G20 president. India had pushed for the adoption of a numerical target for the tripling of renewable energy. without much success. ”What is interesting is that as the G20 presidency. India pushed for not just the idea of tripling renewable energy capacities but also attempted to set a target. 11.000 GW by 2030. In its efforts. India was supported by only the European Union (EU) and its member states. ” said a senior delegate privy to G20 negotiations on energy. 
India’s decision not to join the pledge can likely be attributed to the focus on coal and investments in it.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow 
Warning of a potential catastrophe in the Himalayas where the glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday said the ongoing annual climate talks must respond to the needs of the developing nations, especially the vulnerable mountain countries that need urgent help. 
Almost 240 million people depend on the glaciers and 10 major rivers, such as Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra, originate in the Himalayas. Another billion people living downstream of these rivers across eight countries, including India. are also dependent on the glacier-fed rivers. 
Addressing a meeting with mountain countries at this year’s Conference of Parties (COP28), UNSecretary-General Gutterrs emphasized that nearly a third of Nepal’s ice had vanished in just over 30 years, and it was directly linked to greenhouse gas pollution that heats up the planet. 
Guterres.who visited Nepal. including the Everest region. in October last week. called for developed countries to clarify the delivery of \(\$\)100 billion and produce a plan to double adaptation finance to \(\$\)40 billion a year by 2025. ”But those sums are dwarfed by the scale of what’s needed’ he said and advocated for reform in International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to better cater to the needs of developing countries like Nepal. 
”So, we need the outcome of this COP to call for reform of the IFIs so that they reflect today’s world and are far more responsive to the needs of developing countries and for reform of the business models of the MDBs so that they can leverage far more private finance at reasonable cost to the developing countries”, he said. ”Unless there is a change in course. a catastrophe can be unleashed. The glaciers could disappear altogether. That means massively reduced flows for major Himalayan rivers,” he said.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow
TV broadcasters and streaming platforms are concerned about the potential impact on their creative freedom from the ministry of information and’ broadcasting’s (MIB) proposed legislation that would require them to get content certified by an evaluation committee before broadcasting it. 
As part of its three-tier regulatory mechanism to regulate broadcasting content. the ministry has proposed that each broadcaster and broadcasting network operator should set up content evaluation committees (CECs) and only those programmes certified by CEC’s should be broadcast. 
The committee’s members would include eminent individuals representing different social groups, including women. child welfare. scheduled castes. scheduled tribes, and minorities. The central government may specify the number of members in the panel. the quorum required. and other details to assist the establishment and smooth operation of CEC. The proposal would not only impact creative freedom of the broadcasters and OTT platforms but also push up costs and may even prove unfeasible considering the amount of content created, industry experts said.
TMT Law Practice managing partner Abhishek Malhotra said the creative judgment of broadcasters and OTT platforms will be subjected to another review, which may not be acceptable to content creators. 
” There will also be an issue of sharing content before it’s proposed for public release-fear of disclosure,” he said. An MIB official. on condition of anonymity, said the ministry wants to strengthen self-regulation through this move. adding that the broadcasters will have freedom in running the CECs. 
Industry experts called it a misnomer. While the CEC will be set up by the broadcasting companies, it will be as per the prescription of the central government, noted Siddharth Chopra. M&E practice lead advocate at Saikrishna & Associates. ”This. to my mind. makes self-regulation a non-starter.” he said. terming CECs as mini-certification boards. The obligation of setting up CECs will apply to TV channels such as Star Plus, Colors. Zee TV, and Sony Entertainment Television (SET). streaming platforms such as Netflix. Amazon Prime Video, Disney + Hotstar. and JioCinema, and platform services provided by operators such as Tata Play. Dish TV. and Hathway Digital.

Study the following arrangement carefully and answer the question below: 
RES5DAPS3TIQ79B#2K%UIMW4*J8N 
 Which of the following is exactly in the middle between 3 and 1 in the above arrangement?

A statement is followed by two conclusions numbered (I) and (II). Assume everything in the statement to be true. Consider the two conclusions together and decide which of them logically follow/s beyond or reasonable doubt from the information given in the statement. 
Statement: Money is a huge motivator for people. 
Conclusions: 
(I) People can be motivated by some other factors other than money. 
(II) People get motivated only when they expect to get some money for doing or behaving in a certain way.

Match List I with List II. 

Match the items given in Column I with those in Column II. 

Consider the following statements in respect of MS Word: 
(A) To deselect text, one has to click on any area outside the selected area. 
(B) To change the size of a word, one has to press the font style drop-down arrow. 
Which of the above statements is/are correct

Match the following Column I with Column II. 
 

Column I		Column II
A	Hard disk	I	Input device
B	Monitor	II	Processor
C	Microphone	III	Storage
D	CPU	IV	Output device