English

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: This regime of direct taxes is manned by a cadre of Indian Revenue Services (IRS).

In India, like any other country, the government draws its income from two heads: tax revenue and non-tax revenue. (1)___________. Tax revenue has two components: direct tax which comprises Income Tax and Corporate Tax; and Indirect Taxes which has GST, Customs and other taxes. (2)__________. The Income Tax Department in India collects the direct taxes portion of the tax revenue for the government of India. (3)____________.  Most of these are highly technical, professional and tech-savvy cadre. However, the services rendered by the IRS in the nation-building hardly gets recognised. The work of an IRS officer is quite challenging and interesting. They are the earner of the nation-family. (4)_________.  IRS recruits enter the cadre at Assistant Commissioner Level through the civil services examination.

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Such earthquakes are related to industrial activities.

The Pawnee earthquake followed the dramatic increase of seismic events in the central United States beginning in 2009, associated with the increase of underground wastewater disposal by oil and gas operators. (1)__________. This and other events in the area raised public concerns and led governmental agencies to shut down injection wells and establish new regulations regarding wastewater injections. (2)_________. While human-caused earthquakes have been documented for more than a century, their increasing number reported worldwide has drawn much scientific, social and political attention. (3)________. Some of the examples are mining, construction of water dams, injection of liquids such as waste water and carbon dioxide, and extractions associated with oil and gas exploitation. (4)____________. With the ever-increasing demand for energy and mineral supplies worldwide, the number of human-caused earthquakes is expected to rise in the upcoming years.

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. On 17 August 2017, three leading activists, aged 19 to 24, who had served their community service sentences for civil disobedience, were imprisoned following the Hong Kong government's unprecedented appeal of the ruling.
2. Hong Kong's version of “Occupy Wall street”, the Umbrella movement against Beijing politics was the most important protest in recent years, lasting three months.
3. As hundreds paid homage to the 2014 protests on September 29 in Hong Kong, the challenges facing the new generation of activists are not how to mobilise mass protests, but how to wrestle with the state's innovative strategy to manage society.
4. But three years later, Hong Kong's democracy is still kept at bay.

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. With every new North Korean missile – such as the one launched on Tuesday November 28 – or nuclear test, all eyes are on China.
2. For Washington, North Korea has become a top national security priority, in particular because of Pyongyang's unexpectedly fast progress in developing intercontinental nuclear capabilities that may be able to reach the US mainland.
3. Since assuming office, Trump has made North Korea the main focus of US-China relations.
4. His main strategy has been to use trade issues as a bargaining chip to pressure China on North Korea, convinced that exerting enough economic pressure on Beijing will eventually force China to do what he wants.

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.

The government has made two crucial clarifications on the e-auction process for captive coal blocks in order to make them more attractive to potential bidders. According to the changes introduced by the coal ministry, existing or upcoming power plants that don't have power purchase agreements (PPAs) with buyers of electricity will also be eligible to bid for the coal blocks. Also, the reserve price 100/tonne payable by the successful bidder will be included in the energy charge, which means that fuel cost that will be passed through to consumers will include reserve price along with the actual rate of coal at which the bid has been won. This could translate into bidders being willing to bid more aggressively and still manage to run a profitable business. The minutes of the meeting released by the ministry said: "power projects which do not have PPAs today but would be entering into PPAs (Case I bidding) in future also need to be covered explicitly.”
"Generators without PPAs have been in dilemma for some time. This was because states are unlikely to enter into PPAs with generators that do not have coal linkage and Coal India would refuse to give linkage to generators without PPAs. We have tried to correct the situation by allowing such generators to enter into the auction fray. Apart from the scarcity of coal that has led to more than 15,000 MW of generation capacity not being able to sign coal linkage pact with Coal India, the situation has been exacerbated by the loss-making state-owned distribution companies not shying away from signing pacts with power producers for long-term supply of power because of financial health. While there will not be any deadline in place for such capacity to enter into PPA's they will not be allowed to sell more than 15% of its capacity in the open market. These bidders will also have to pay an additional reserve price for the quantum of coal used for power sold in the merchant market, over and above the reserve price for other generators with long-term PPAs which is 100/ tonne.
 The clarification significantly invigorates the auction as there's considerable generation capacity without fully covered fuel supply, and generators can create an additional profit margin between the escalation offered in Case I bidding documents and the actual cost inflation. As regards the reserve price (which is to be paid to the state government) being a pass-through. For merchant power, the reserve price is higher; the new proposal will make sure that there are no extraordinary gains from open market sales. This is a safety feature as bidders would factor in the extra reserve price in their quoted prices.

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Adiyogi is generally worshipped in the country as Shiva. As per various iconographic proofs, he is said to have walked this land over 15,000 years ago. If we did not forget him for 15,000 years, he must have done something significant. Though it has largely turned into worship and rituals, you must understand that when Adiyogi came, the human intellect was generally not in a shape for human well-being and subjectivity to be handled in a scientific manner. So, not knowing how to use this technology for well-being that he offered, most people worshipped him. Only a few people made use of it.