MAT 2013 Question Paper

Study the passages below and answer the questions.

Passage I
A US economy firmly on the path of revival and robust growth would be of great significance for the world economy and Indian exporters should be looking at a sustained rise in demand in the US. The US economy, as per recent-released figures has already added some 171000 jobs in the month prior. This is shows that the US has made real progress in rejuvenating the economy. Of course, we are quite happy to see the revival of job growth in the US, especially because the Indian industry has had a not so minor role in this development. Indian companies have helped add some 20000 new jobs to the US economy in 2012-13 itself. Future Indian investment directed towards the US is likely to add to this number. Most of these new jobs are actually being created by the Indian Information Technology (IT) sector, which is mistakenly derided as a 'job stealer'by the US. However, empirical evidence clearly suggests that 'outsourcing Improves corporate bottom-lines in the US, which in turn allows corporates to expand, thereby leading to the generation of new jobs. The current rhetoric on outsourcing is overblown and counterproductive. There is after all no real use in creating impediments for a sector that has organically linked our two economies and is helping generate net employment in both lands. A growing India-US economic relationship is necessarily IT enabled.

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Passage II
The Supreme Court wants to find out whether additional taxes on diesel cars can curb air pollution. But evidence from Europe,where around half of the automobiles are diesel-based and the air is far cleaner than in our cities, demonstrates that diesel cars cannot by themselves be blamed for deterioration in air quality and evidence from the Central Pollution Control Board clearly shows that industries. road dust from construction and geography account for most of the particulate matter emission in cites.Power plants and diesel generators also increase, pollution and the bulk of the transport emissions are on account of heavy commercial vehicles that use much older technologies than new diesel cars. Undoubtedly. adulteration of diesel with subsidised to the problem. So. a tax on new diesel cars is too blunt an instrument which certainly will not yield clean aidt fact skew the market towards used rather than new cars which would not only hurt the automobile industry but also further air pollution. Cleaning the air in our cities would require concerted efforts by authorities including of diesel prices. ending sale of subsidised kerosene and supply of better quality fuel. It would also require a significant improvement in public transport systems and better enforcement of pollution control norms. The solution therefore is not so much in constraining the industry with new taxes, but in pushing through positive measures that enable their livelihoods while also breathing clean air.

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Passage III
The Election Commission (EC) has proposed an amendment to the 1950.Representation of the people Act (RPA) to ban all opinion polls once the election process is under way. which could be months before actual elections are held. Following the passing of tlhe 2009 RPA (Second Amendment) Bill, a ban on exit polls conducted while the polling process is going on is already in place. While there may be a case for banning opinion polls or their republication while polling is actually underway and poll campaigning has ceased why all opinion polls should be banned is unclear. Nevertheless major political parties argued for this at last year s consultations on electoral reform, and the EC appears to have succumbed. Proponents of the ban argue, contradictorily, that, opinion polls tend to influence voters and voting patterns besides creating confusion galore. also drawn attention to complaints about political parties funding some opinion polls. But such a draconiah ban on all opinion polls is tantamount to muzzling freedom of expression• as well as the right of the media and research organisations to undertake such pre-poll exercises. These. after all, are an important metric to assess the people 's mood and their aspirations. and their perception of political parties. Multiple opinion polls competing with each other restrict the possibility o manipulation by anyone pre-poll survey. Finally, the perception that voters are gullible enough to be duped by by opinion polls, is an affront to their intelligence and political sense.