Q.12385·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyNet profits are only 2-3% of their total assets for central public sector undertakings, lower than for the private corporate sector. While the public sector or the State-led entrepreneurship played an important role in triggering India's industrialization, our evolving development needs, comparatively less-than-satisfactory performance of the public sector enterprises, the maturing of our private sector, a much larger social base now available for expanding entrepreneurship and the growing institutional capabilities to enforce competition policies would suggest that the time has come to review the role of public sector. What should the portfolio composition of the government be? It should not remain static at all times. The airline industry works well as a purely private affair. At the opposite end are rural roads, whose sparse traffic makes them unviable, have to be on the balance-sheet of the State. If the government did not own our roads, they would not exist. Similarly, public health capital in our towns and cities will need public ownership for better sector. Equally, preservation and improvement of forest cover will have to be a new priority for the public sector assets. Take the example of steel. With near-zero tariffs, India is a globally competitive market for the metal. Indian firms export steel into the global market, which demonstrates there is no gap in technology. Indian companies are buying up global steel companies, which shows there is no gap in capital availability. Under these conditions, private ownership works best. Private ownership is clearly desirable in regulated industries, ranging from finance to infrastructure, where a government agency performs the function of regulation and multiple competing firms are located in the private sector. Here, the simple and clean solution – government as the umpire and the private sector as the players is what works best. In many of these industries, we have a legacy of government ownership, where productivity tends to be lower, fear of bankruptcy is absent, and the risk of asking for money from the tax payer is ever present. There is also the conflict of interest between government as an owner and as the regulator. The formulation and implementation of competition policy will be more vigorous and fair if government companies are out of action. The portfolio composition of the government refers toView question
Q.12386·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyNet profits are only 2-3% of their total assets for central public sector undertakings, lower than for the private corporate sector. While the public sector or the State-led entrepreneurship played an important role in triggering India's industrialization, our evolving development needs, comparatively less-than-satisfactory performance of the public sector enterprises, the maturing of our private sector, a much larger social base now available for expanding entrepreneurship and the growing institutional capabilities to enforce competition policies would suggest that the time has come to review the role of public sector. What should the portfolio composition of the government be? It should not remain static at all times. The airline industry works well as a purely private affair. At the opposite end are rural roads, whose sparse traffic makes them unviable, have to be on the balance-sheet of the State. If the government did not own our roads, they would not exist. Similarly, public health capital in our towns and cities will need public ownership for better sector. Equally, preservation and improvement of forest cover will have to be a new priority for the public sector assets. Take the example of steel. With near-zero tariffs, India is a globally competitive market for the metal. Indian firms export steel into the global market, which demonstrates there is no gap in technology. Indian companies are buying up global steel companies, which shows there is no gap in capital availability. Under these conditions, private ownership works best. Private ownership is clearly desirable in regulated industries, ranging from finance to infrastructure, where a government agency performs the function of regulation and multiple competing firms are located in the private sector. Here, the simple and clean solution – government as the umpire and the private sector as the players is what works best. In many of these industries, we have a legacy of government ownership, where productivity tends to be lower, fear of bankruptcy is absent, and the risk of asking for money from the tax payer is ever present. There is also the conflict of interest between government as an owner and as the regulator. The formulation and implementation of competition policy will be more vigorous and fair if government companies are out of action. The author prefers government as the umpire and private sector as players because
Q.12387·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyTwo cars start towards each other, from two places A and B which are at a distance of 160 km. They start at the same time i.e. 8:00 AM. If the speeds of the cars are 50 km and 30 km per hour respectively, they will meet each other at:View question
Q.12388·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyLocation of B is north of A and location of C is east of A. The distances AB and AC are 5 km and 12 km respectively. The shortest distance (in km) between the locations B and C is:View question
Q.12389·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyIn a row 'A' is in the 11th position from the left and 'B' is in the 10th position from the right. If 'A' and 'B' interchange, then 'A' becomes 18th from the left. How many persons are there in the row other than 'A' and 'B'?View question
Q.12390·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyExamine the following statements: 1.George attends Music classes on Monday. 2.He attends Mathematics classes on Wednesday. 3.His Literature classes are not on Friday. 4.He attends History classes on the day following the day of his Mathematics classes. 5.On Tuesday, he attends his Sports classes. If he attends just one subject in a day and his Sunday is free, then he is also free on:View question
Q.12391·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyA question paper must have a question on one of the eight poets – A, B, C, D, E, F, G or H. The first four belong to the medieval period while the rest are considered modern poets. Generally, modern poets figure in the question paper in alternate years. Generally, those who like H like G also; and those who like F like E also. The paper-setter does not like to ask about F as he has written a book on F, but he likes F. Last year, the paper contained a question on A. On the basis of the information given, this year’s paper is most likely to contain a question on:View question
Q.12392·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy"If political leadership fails to emerge, there is likelihood of military taking over power in developing countries. Rational student groups or labour may try to raise revolution but they are not likely to compete with the military. Military intervention, rule, and withdrawal from politics is closely related to a society’s level of political development." In the context of political development, the assumption in the above passage is that:View question
Q.12393·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyIn a group of six women there are four dancers, four vocal musicians, one actress and three violinists. Girija and Vanaja are among the violinists while Jalaja and Shailaja do not know how to play the violin. Shailaja and Tanuja are among the dancers. Jalaja, Vanaja, Shailaja and Tanuja are all vocal musicians and two of them are also violinists. If Pooja is an actress, who among the following is certainly a dancer and a violinist?View question
Q.12394·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyThe letters L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S and T in their order are substituted by nine integers 1 to 9 but not in that order. 4 is assigned to P. The difference between P and T is 6. The difference between N and T is 3. What is the integer assigned to N?View question
Q.12395·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyThe number of deaths among the army personnel is 18 in 1000, but among the civilian population it is 20 per 1000. Which one of the following inferences can be drawn from this statement?View question
Q.12396·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyThe following table gives population and total income of a city for four years : Which one of the following statements is correct in respect of the above data?View question
Q.12397·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyConsider the following matrix with one empty block in the lower extreme corner : Which of the following figures could fit in the empty block and thus complete the matrix ?View question
Q.12398·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyWith reference to the figure given below, the number of different routes from S to T without retracing from U and/or V, isView question
Q.12399·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyConsider the following figures Change in positions of beads in the four figures above follows a sequence. Following the same sequence, which of the figures below should appear as the fifth figure above?View question
Q.12400·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyA bell rings every 18 minutes. A second bell rings every 24 minutes. A third bell rings every 32 minutes. If all the three bells ring at the same time at 8 o'clock in the morning, at what other time will they all ring together?View question
Q.12401·Miscellaneous·2014·Easy"Price is not the same thing as value. Suppose that on a day the price of everything viz., coal, bread, postage stamps, a day's labour, the rent of houses, etc. were to double. Prices then would certainly rise, but values of all things except one would not." The writer wants to say that if prices of all things were doubled:View question
Q.12402·Miscellaneous·2014·EasyAs per agreement with a bank, a businessman had to refund a loan in some equal instalments without interest. After paying 18 instalments he found that 60 percent of his loan was refunded. How many instalments were there in the agreement?View question