English: Sentence Fillers — Set 28

Directions: Each of the following question contains a paragraph and a blank in it. Choose from the options, the appropriate phrase to fill in the blank that is both logically and grammatically correct.

1. In the last few days, circumstances forced the Supreme Court and the Catholic Church in Kerala, two organizations that normally operate in complete secrecy, to open up about a few of their decisions. Since what came out in the open were issues of impropriety, ______________.
   the issue of transparency can be seen from the point of view of the observer or from the point of view of the observed.
   the key decisions were taken only by a select few insiders and the man in the street was never privy to the machinations.
   the immediate demand from all quarters was for even more openness about the functioning of both these organizations.
   the ideal disinfectant, transparency has been considered the panacea against corruption in organizations and society.
   All are correct
   Option C
   As the statement says that they work in secrecy, so their openness must have been the demand. Hence C is correct.

    

2. On the foggy morning of 18 January 1955, Saadat Hasan Manto, ___________________, died in an apartment located off Hall Road in Lahore. Apart from the echoes of his turbulent life, his wife Safia and daughters Nighat, Nuzhat and Nusrat, were left with little else that day. His death, however, was no surprise. A penchant for drinking, which led to alcoholism, paved the way for Manto’s untimely demise.
   Sixty-three years after his death,
   was a source of inspiration,
   attest to his sensitivity as a writer
   one of the scions of modern Urdu literature
   All are correct
   Option D
   grammatically, D is correct.

    

3. What happens if, in the forthcoming Union Budget 2018, a tax is reinstated on long-term capital gains (LTCG) on listed shares? After an initial shock, the stock markets should stabilize. Domestic investors will realize that _______________________and India will continue to be a part of the emerging market portfolio of foreign investors.
   revenue increases for the government, which is the underlying objective of any tax proposal.
   STT collections will continue to add to revenues, while LTCG will be the icing on the top.
   equities yield better post-tax returns than other asset classes
   gains are like having a rich mineral underground. Till it is extracted, it is of no use to the tax authorities.
   All are correct
   Option C
   

    

4. While finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his first full budget in 2015 that corporate income tax rates would be rationalized in the following years, we are yet to see significant action on that front. In the last three Union budgets, there have been some limited measures to cut the marginal income tax rate to 25% for a small section of companies, but the overall tax structure has remained unchanged. As a result, thanks mainly to various rules and exemptions, __________________________. A recently published data set offers us an insight into this.
   we have the situation where companies of different sizes and in different industries pay income tax at vastly different rates
   we can compute the effective tax rate at different levels, such as region, industry, company group, etc.
   we find through Damodaran’s data set that effective tax rates vary from as little as 11%
   listed Indian companies pay 27.7% of their taxable profits in taxes
   All are correct
   Option A
   

    

5. A key determinant of investments is the corporate tax structure. Indian industry bears a high burden of taxation, including Minimum Alternate Tax and Dividend Distribution Tax. As many countries_____________________, companies in India are at risk of losing competitiveness, especially compared to other emerging economies. CII has calculated that a corporate tax rate of 18 per cent with minimal exemptions can best work for industry. In the last Budget, the Finance Minister slashed rates for smaller enterprises to 25 per cent, and we hope that the upcoming Budget would extend this to all enterprises as a beginning.
   push to spending on infrastructure
   are moving towards a lower tax regime
   are held up due to delayed judicial processes.
   are strengthening social security for informal workers
   All are correct
   Option B
   The preceding line says india is losing competitiveness. Means the market in india is not preferred for some reasons. And statement B shows that the reason is low tax rates in other countries.

    

6. Cooperative federalism is a governance mantra in India these days. Between GST, Aadhaar, demonetisation, Swacch Bharat and more, the assertiveness of the Centre in prescribing wide-ranging technocratic policy solutions is at an all-time high. And for good reason — some of these interventions may have long-term benefits, even if they are painful in the short-term. But these benefits are_____________________________, and the long-term distributional and spatial consequences of these policies are often not well understood.
   may amplify the distributive effects of RE adoption
   diminish the prospects of coal mining more broadly
   rarely uniform across regions
   accentuate income divergence through employment losses and increase resource transfers to coal-bearing States
   All are correct
   Option C
   option C is in line with the statement.

    

7. Formalisation comes with significant transition pains that can have serious political ramifications, if not managed well. While we dismiss the informal sector for not paying taxes, the fact is, it accounts for 40 per cent of the Indian economy and provides employment to 75 per cent of its labour force. Any attempt to squeeze the sector is fraught with unwelcome consequences because_________________________________. A 2014 paper, “Informality and Development”, by Rafael La Porta and Andrei Shleifer (academicians affiliated respectively to the Tuck School of Business and Harvard University), is notable for the ground it covers in furthering our understanding how informality and development relate to each other.
   untapped reservoir of entrepreneurial energy held back by government regulations
   this is where the bulk of our low skilled workers find employment
   that would drive them out of business and increase poverty and destitution.
   it is equally true that growing informalisation undermines sustainable businesses and diminishes opportunities for decent jobs
   All are correct
   Option B
   it gives employement to 75% of people. Means it necessarily constitute low nad middle class workers. Hence B is correct.

    

8. According to an analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms last year, national and regional parties received ₹78.33 billion between 2004-05 and 2014-15, with 69 per cent of their income from unknown sources. With this in mind, the finance minister announced measures ______________________________to ₹2000 and promising that a scheme of electoral bonds would be issued. Less than a month before the 2018 Budget , the scheme has been announced, thus ticking that particular box.
   to buy these bonds only upon fulfilment of KYC norms
   to look at how participatory notes were initially announced
   to cleanse political funding by restricting cash donations
   to understand how an open-ended scheme of electoral bonds can be misused
   All are correct
   Option C
   

    

9. The Government’s recent decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail on the automatic route has generated unseemly criticism from some quarters. It is not an earth-shaking policy shift, but_________________________. The investment door that was partially open is now fully open.
   the state can help small shopkeepers access finance at concessional terms for scaling up operations
   a policy not carefully crafted
   a matter of pushing the process of liberalisation further
   a policy that is equitable
   All are correct
   Option C
   FDI is directly lined with globalization and liberalization process.

    

10. Long before he landed in New Delhi, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made it amply clear he wasn’t about to allow small matters like a UN vote or a cancelled defence deal ruin his burgeoning bromance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sure enough,___________________________ , they bear-hugged and swapped effusive sentiments with Modi referring to Netanyahu as “my friend Bibi” (his nickname) and the Israeli leader calling Modi a “kindred spirit”. Netanyahu hit all the right notes, talking about how some of the world’s greatest texts are in Sanskrit and Hebrew and told Modi for good measure: “It’s an amazing fact that until you visited Israel no leader of India in 3,000 years …..has visited Israel.”
    Netanyahu is accompanied by a 130-member business delegation
    Netanyahu called the India-Israel relationship “a marriage made in heaven”
    India had stuck to its guns and refused to recognise Israel
    when the two leaders were reunited
    All are correct
    Option D