Daily Current Affair Quiz: 18th August 2020
by
Mentors4ias
·
August 18, 2020
1. Which of the following statements are true?0
1. AT-1 bonds are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to shore up their core capital base to meet the Basel-III norms.
2. These bonds are perpetual and carry no maturity date.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: c
Justification:
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AT-1 bonds are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to shore up their core capital base to meet the Basel-III norms.
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These bonds are perpetual and carry no maturity date. Instead, they carry call options that allow banks to redeem them after five or 10 years. But banks are not obliged to use this call option and can opt to pay only interest on these bonds for eternity.
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Banks issuing AT-1 bonds can skip interest payouts for a particular year or even reduce the bonds’ face value, provided their capital ratios fall below certain threshold levels.
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If the RBI feels that a bank is tottering on the brink and needs a rescue, it can simply ask the bank to cancel its outstanding AT-1 bonds without consulting its investors.
2. Which of the following are included in Priority Sector Lending?
(a) Agriculture
(b) Housing
(c) Export Credit
(d) All of the above
Ans: d
Justification:
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Priority Sector includes the following categories: (i) Agriculture (ii) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (iii) Export Credit (iv) Education (v) Housing (vi) Social Infrastructure (vii) Renewable Energy (viii) Others
3. Which of the following statement/s is/are true?
1. Under the government route, foreign investor has to take prior approval of respective ministry/department.
2. Proposals involving FDI exceeding Rs 50 billion are placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs irrespective of sector or country.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: c
Justification:
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Under the government route, foreign investor has to take prior approval of respective ministry/department. Through automatic route, the investor just has to inform the RBI after the investment is made. Also, Proposals involving FDI exceeding Rs 50 billion are placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs irrespective of sector or country.
4. Which of the following statement/s is/are true?
1. The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached.
2. Green Box is domestic support measures that doesn’t cause trade distortion or at most causes minimal distortion
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: c
Justification:
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The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached.
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It also provides that Green Box domestic support measures cannot be the subject of countervailing duty action or other subsidy action under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
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Hence, under the present ‘Peace Clause’, developing countries can provide WTOprohibited subsidies to farmers without inviting any dispute under the Agreement on Agriculture
5. Baghdad Conference is associated with?
(a) OPEC
(b) OECD
(c) SCO
(d) G4
Ans: a
Justification:
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OPEC is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960. OPEC has 13 members including Iran, Iraq and Venezuela.
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OPEC members control about 82% of total world proved oil reserves. In 2018, OPEC members accounted for 41% of total world crude oil production.
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OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing nations (10 other countries including Russia, Kazakhstan and Mexico) formalized an agreement in 2016 to jointly cut production for stabilization of prices.
