Current Affairs Quiz 24 July 2024

Solution: d)
Justification: Statement 1: RBI Governor had adopted the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) (combined) as the key measure of inflation in 2014 based on the Urijeet Patel committee recommendation. Earlier, RBI had given more weightage to Wholesale Price Index (WPI) than CPI as the key measure of inflation for all policy purposes.
Statement 2: Headline inflation is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices (e.g., oil and gas). Core inflation calculations excludes food and energy which tend to be much more volatile and prone to inflationary spikes.

Ans;- c) Both 1 and 2

What are Zonal Councils?
• Zonal Councils are advisory councils and are made up of the states of India that have been grouped into five zones to foster cooperation among them. These were set up vide Part-III of the States Reorganization Act, 1956.
• The Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the constitutional) bodies.
○ They are established by an Act of the Parliament, that is, States Reorganization Act of 1956.
• The act divided the country into five zones (Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern) and provided a zonal council for each zone.
• The Union Home Minister is the common chairman of the five Zonal Councils.
• Each chief minister acts as a vice-chairman of the council by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• While forming these zones, several factors have been taken into account which include the natural divisions of the country, the river systems and means of communication, the cultural and linguistic affinity and the requirements of economic development, security and law and order.
• In addition to the above Zonal Councils, a North-Eastern Council was created by a separate Act of Parliament i.e. the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.
• These are advisory bodies that will discuss and make recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning between the Centre and States.

Answer: (a) 1 only
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct. The Skill Loan Scheme was indeed launched to provide institutional credit to individuals pursuing skill development courses aligned with NOS and QPs.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. While the scheme covers a wide range of recognized training institutes, including ITIs and polytechnics, the maximum loan amount has been increased to Rs. 7.5 lakh, not Rs. 1 lakh, and no collateral is required from the beneficiary.

Answer: (a) 1 only
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct. Angel Tax is indeed levied on the excess capital raised by unlisted companies when the share price exceeds the fair market value, and this excess is treated as income subject to tax.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. While startups recognized by the DPIIT are exempt from Angel Tax, there are specific conditions for this exemption, including a capital limit of ₹25 crores and exclusions for money raised from NRIs, venture capital firms, and specified companies. Not all startups are automatically exempt.

Answer: B