Directions (1-5): Read the following passage and answer the questions as directed.
The basic idea of the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS), an offspring of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is that a person’s Aadhaar number becomes her financial address (I) provide multiple account details (say, her name, bank account number and IFSC code) to receive a bank transfer, she only has to provide her Aadhaar number.
Induction of a bank account into APBS involves two distinct steps, both of (II) be based on informed consent. First, the account must be “seeded” with the customer’s Aadhaar number. Second, it must be connected to the NPCI mapper — a step known as “mapping”. In cases of multiple accounts for the same person, the APBS automatically sends money to the latest-mapped account.
To understand the dangers of this “bridge”, we must rewind to 2014, when the Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY) was launched. In the frantic drive that followed, millions of bank accounts were opened and seeded with Aadhaar in a haphazard manner, under relentless pressure from the Central government. Some JDY accounts certainly served a purpose, but many others were superfluous and created a confusing multiplicity of accounts. More importantly for our purpose, Aadhaar numbers were seeded into these accounts without proper verification.
Haphazard seeding continued well beyond 2014 because the government wanted to bring all direct benefit transfer (DBT) payments — pensions, scholarships, subsidies, MGNREGA wages, and so on — under the Aadhaar payments umbrella. Government departments started sending bulk lists of bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers to the banks for ……………………….. Aadhaar seeding. Meeting the seeding targets was the top priority and due verification, once again, (III).
Thus, the groundwork required for APBS to work — reliable seeding of bank accounts with Aadhaar — had simply not been done when the APBS was rolled out. The seeding mess, it seems, was sought to be cleaned up by making “e-KYC” compulsory. This essentially means that account holders were required to go through biometric authentication to verify their Aadhaar number and identity information. To enforce e-KYC, many banks used the “ultimatum method”: a deadline was set, and people’s accounts were blocked when they missed the deadline.
Compulsory e-KYC became a nightmare for poor people, for a number of reasons: some did not know what they were supposed to do, others had problems of biometric authentication, others still struggled with inconsistencies between the Aadhaar database and the bank database. Among the worst victims were old-age pensioners. To this day, in Jharkhand, many pensioners are struggling to understand why their pension was discontinued after e-KYC was made compulsory.
Q1. As per the passage, why did the Compulsory e-KYC become miserable for poor people?
(I) Some poor people did not know what they were supposed to do.
(II) Some poor people had problems of biometric authentication.
(III) Some poor people struggled with inconsistencies between the Aadhaar database and the bank database
(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Only (III)
(d) Both (I) and (II)
(e) All of the Above
Q2. What were the challenges that were faced when the drive for Aadhaar seeding was launched for Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY)?
(a) Some JDY accounts were superfluous and created a confusing multiplicity of accounts.
(b) Some JDY accounts certainly served the purpose set by the government.
(c) Aadhaar numbers were seeded into the JDY accounts without proper verification.
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(e) All (a),(b) and (c)
Q3. In the Question below three phrases are given which must be filled in the positions given in I,II and III in the passage. From the options given below, choose the correct order of phrases that should be filled in the positions given.
- which are meant to
- instead of having to
- took the back seat
(a) ABC
(b) BAC
(c) CBA
(d) CAB
(e) BCA
Q4. Which of the following words is most similar in meaning to the word “Frantic” given in bold in the passage?
(a) tranquil
(b) delirious
(c) composed
(d) sane
(e) unperturbed
Q5. Which of the following words can fill in the blank given in the passage above to make it meaningful?
(a) demotivate
(b) rage
(c) quicken
(d) accelerated
(e) Both (b) and (c)
Directions (6-10): In each of the following sentence, there are two blank spaces. Below the sentences, there are five options with a pair of words each. Fill up the sentences with the pair of words that make the sentence grammatically and contextually correct.
Q6. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court …………….. finally concluded hearing a crucial appeal (after being nine years in cold storage) ……………… the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005.
(a) is, above
(b) has, under
(c) was, inside
(d) have, within
(e) were, under
Q7. Since the Sputnik was …………….. in 1957, more than 8,000 satellites/manmade orbiting objects have been launched, ……… which about 5,000 remain in orbit; more than half are non-functional.
(a) designed, off
(b) launch, on
(c) engulfed, between
(d) launched, of
(e) embraced, off
Q8. Growing amounts of space debris ………… a real risk to satellites and spacecraft, as the Oscar-winning film ‘Gravity’ …………………..
(a) pose, demonstrated
(b) possessing, denoted
(c) posed, demonstrating
(d) posses, appears
(e) impact, show
Q9. At present, the U.S. has a ……………… presence in space, which reflects its technological …………….. as well its dependence on space-based assets.
(a) dominance, leading
(b) dominate, ruling
(c) prevail, yield
(d) dominant, lead
(e) prevailing, lead
Q10. In 2008, Russia and China had ……………… a draft to kick off negotiations on the Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force …………….. Outer Space Objects.
(a) implemented, in
(b) submit, among
(c) urged, that
(d) proposed, against
(e) preferred, beside
Directions (11-15): In each Question below, a sentence is given with four words given in Bold in the sentence. Among these bold words one may be wrongly spelt. The option of that word is the answer. If all four words are correctly spelt mark (e). i.e. ‘All Correct’ as the answer.
Q11. The salience of space in defence is evedent from the fact that all three countries — the U.S., Russia and China — have set up ‘Space Commands’.
(a) salience
(b) evedent
(c) countries
(d) Commands
(e) All Correct
Q12. Within Indian common sense periodic elections, party-based competitive candidates and universal adult franchise have turned out to be the primary ingridients of democracy.
(a) periodic
(b) competitive
(c) franchise
(d) ingridients
(e) All Correct
Q13. American equity markets sighed in relief after details emerged of how Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and his former wife MacKenzie Bezos will divvy up their assets after their divorce.
(a) American
(b) emerged
(c) assets
(d) divorce
(e) All Correct
Q14. WhatsApp’s initiatives aimed at curbing fake news seem to be well-intended, but their efficasy in safeguarding Indian elections from its ill effects is still in doubt, sadly.
(a) initiatives
(b) curbing
(c) efficasy
(d) safeguarding
(e) All Correct
Q15. We see intellegent people defending the indefensible simply because the culprit happens to be their leader or from their community.
(a) intellegent
(b) indefensible
(c) culprit
(d) community
(e) All Correct
Solutions
S1. Ans.(e)
Sol. All (I), (II) and (III) are the reasons that made Compulsory e-KYC miserable for poor people. Refer last paragraph of the passage.
S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. Both (a) and (c). Refer 3rd paragraph.
S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. The correct sequence is BAC.
S4. Ans.(b)
Sol. Frantic: conducted in a hurried, excited, and disorganized way.
Delirious: in a state of wild excitement or ecstasy.
S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. ‘accelerated’ is the correct fit for the blank and makes the paragraph meaningful and correct.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. ‘has, under’ is the correct pair of words for the blanks.
S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. “launched, of “is the correct pair of words for the blanks. We use ‘launch’ for a satellite which means send (a missile, satellite, or spacecraft) on its course.
S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. “pose, demonstrated” are grammatically and contextually fit for the blanks.
S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. ‘Dominant’ is used as an adjective here and it means having power and influence over others. Hence’ it is a correct fit for the first blank. For second blank, ‘lead’ will be make the sentence contextually and grammatically correct and meaningful.
S10. Ans.(d)
Sol. “proposed, against ” are grammatically and contextually fit for the blanks.
S11. Ans.(b)
Sol. Evident
S12. Ans.(d)
Sol. Ingredients
S13. Ans.(e)
Sol. All correct
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. Efficacy
S15. Ans.(a)
Sol. Intelligent
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English Language Notes for Competitive E...
