In this article we have accommodated data from the prestigious newspaper “The Hindu” and “The Economic Times” and we are presenting you the best way to read newspaper as well as practice English.
In the public mind, political corruption is the source of most forms of corruption. No doubt, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was seeking to address this concern about the lack of transparency and accountability in the funding of political parties when he announced measures in the Union Budget to cleanse the process of making donations toward election expenses of parties. But his proposals are doomed to fail, not because they do not go far enough but because they go in the wrong direction. The ceiling of Rs. 2,000 on cash donation by any individual to a party, slashed from the existing Rs. 20,000, might inconvenience parties to some extent but is unlikely to stop the disguising of huge, off-the-books cash donations from corporate houses and vested interests as small contributions from ordinary party workers and sympathizers. All that the parties will now have to do is find more people to lend their names to these donations, or better still, find more names of unsuspecting people to be listed as cash donors. The proposal does not disrupt the flow of illicit political donations but only channels it differently, and will not reduce the proportion of cash from unverifiable sources in the total donations received. If Mr. Jaitley was indeed intent on getting the political class to truly account for their donations, he should have placed a cap on the amount a party may receive in cash as a donation. In any case, the declared income is only a small part of their funding, much of which is spent during elections and mobilization efforts without coming under the radar of the Election Commission or the Income Tax Department.
The proposal to allow donors to purchase electoral bonds from banks against cheques and digital payments to be given to registered political parties for redemption, meant to cater to donors’ need to remain anonymous to rival political parties, hardly contributes to transparency. Indeed, donors should not enjoy any anonymity, before tax authorities or the general public. The absence of such anonymity, of course, will bring down the level of contributions from corporate houses and other entities to parties, not such a bad thing. Far from aiding transparency, the proposal only clouds the funding process. The Budget makes it mandatory for political parties to file returns within a time limit, but in the absence of extreme penal provisions compliance is likely to be low. Mr. Jaitley, while raising visions of a crackdown on illicit funding, seems to have left the issue untouched in real terms. Half-measures will not go even halfway in achieving the purpose of bringing about transparency and accountability in political donations.
(Source: The Hindu)
Ques 1. Suggest an appropriate title for the paragraph.
1. Political corruption
2. A wrong step towards transparency & accountability
3. Jaitley views on corruption
4. Trouble for income tax department
5. None of these
Ques 2. According to the passage what are the proposals that are not going to succeed?
1. Stopping the funding of political parties.
2. Prohibiting the donors to purchase bonds from banks
3. The steps are in the wrong direction.
4. Decreasing the individual cash donation to party from 20,000 to 2,000 to make parties more answerable.
5. Election commission having an eye on Political parties.
Ques 3. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
Disguise
1. Credible
2. Camouflage
3. Secret
4. Disclose
5. None of these
Ques 4. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Rival
1. Competitor
2. Enemy
3. Supporter
4. Marvelous
5. None of these
Budget 2017 proved the phrase “expect the unexpected” from a personal tax perspective. There was (1) ______ speculation until the budget day regarding reduction in slab rates and other sops for the salaried class. However, Mr. Jaitley came up (2) ____ a simple, yet impactful set of proposals to please the common man.
The existing tax rate of 10% for income range between Rs. 2.5 lakh (3) _____ Rs. 5 lakh has been brought down to 5%, which has cheered many. This, coupled with the existing deduction available (4) _____ section 80C of the act will ensure that individuals won’t have to pay any income tax up to an income of Rs. 4 lakh. Ironically, we (5) ____ not know how much of such 80C deductions could be utilised by the low-income group taxpayers, but still the benefit stands, if the qualifying investments are made to avail the deduction under 80C of the act. Further, this budget also simplified the tax filing process as a one pager return for the salaried class up to a taxable income of Rs.5 lakh without any business income. There is also the assurance of non-scrutiny in the case of first-time tax filers of the above class as a way to bring (6) _____ people into the tax office.
The deduction u/s 80CCD towards contribution to NPS has been increased (7) _____ 20% in respect of self-employed persons from the present 10% which is also a welcome move.
(Source: The Hindu)
1. The government has set aside over Rs 17,000 crore for skilling, employment generation and providing livelihood to millions of youth who enter the workforce every year, giving Skill India Mission—Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project— a major leg up.
2. The Skill Development Program has many faults; it won't produce what the government is targeting for. This is full of bureaucracy like smart city program.
3. Besides, the ministry would set up 100 India International Skills Centres that will conduct advanced courses in foreign languages to help youngsters prepare for overseas jobs.
4. At least 10 million young people enter the country's workforce every year, but job creation in India has not kept pace with this influx, making rising unemployment a major challenge for the government.
Directions: Substitute the bold words in the sentence with the correct alternative. If there is no error mark option (5).
1. Expected…….have…….through
2. Expecting…..will have…..by
3. Expected….will have…..and
4. Expected….has….and
5. Sentence is correct
1. By…..A…..and
2. For….the…..and
3. By….the…..with
4. Through….the….with
5. Sentence is correct
Reading Comprehension
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:In the public mind, political corruption is the source of most forms of corruption. No doubt, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was seeking to address this concern about the lack of transparency and accountability in the funding of political parties when he announced measures in the Union Budget to cleanse the process of making donations toward election expenses of parties. But his proposals are doomed to fail, not because they do not go far enough but because they go in the wrong direction. The ceiling of Rs. 2,000 on cash donation by any individual to a party, slashed from the existing Rs. 20,000, might inconvenience parties to some extent but is unlikely to stop the disguising of huge, off-the-books cash donations from corporate houses and vested interests as small contributions from ordinary party workers and sympathizers. All that the parties will now have to do is find more people to lend their names to these donations, or better still, find more names of unsuspecting people to be listed as cash donors. The proposal does not disrupt the flow of illicit political donations but only channels it differently, and will not reduce the proportion of cash from unverifiable sources in the total donations received. If Mr. Jaitley was indeed intent on getting the political class to truly account for their donations, he should have placed a cap on the amount a party may receive in cash as a donation. In any case, the declared income is only a small part of their funding, much of which is spent during elections and mobilization efforts without coming under the radar of the Election Commission or the Income Tax Department.
The proposal to allow donors to purchase electoral bonds from banks against cheques and digital payments to be given to registered political parties for redemption, meant to cater to donors’ need to remain anonymous to rival political parties, hardly contributes to transparency. Indeed, donors should not enjoy any anonymity, before tax authorities or the general public. The absence of such anonymity, of course, will bring down the level of contributions from corporate houses and other entities to parties, not such a bad thing. Far from aiding transparency, the proposal only clouds the funding process. The Budget makes it mandatory for political parties to file returns within a time limit, but in the absence of extreme penal provisions compliance is likely to be low. Mr. Jaitley, while raising visions of a crackdown on illicit funding, seems to have left the issue untouched in real terms. Half-measures will not go even halfway in achieving the purpose of bringing about transparency and accountability in political donations.
(Source: The Hindu)
Ques 1. Suggest an appropriate title for the paragraph.
1. Political corruption
2. A wrong step towards transparency & accountability
3. Jaitley views on corruption
4. Trouble for income tax department
5. None of these
Ques 2. According to the passage what are the proposals that are not going to succeed?
1. Stopping the funding of political parties.
2. Prohibiting the donors to purchase bonds from banks
3. The steps are in the wrong direction.
4. Decreasing the individual cash donation to party from 20,000 to 2,000 to make parties more answerable.
5. Election commission having an eye on Political parties.
Ques 3. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
Disguise
1. Credible
2. Camouflage
3. Secret
4. Disclose
5. None of these
Ques 4. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Rival
1. Competitor
2. Enemy
3. Supporter
4. Marvelous
5. None of these
Ques 5. What does the phrase Off-the-books cash donations signify?
1. Donations by public without a book.
2. Giving the donations to political parties in the form of book.
3. Making donations in cash rather than digital payment.
4. Cash donations by corporate houses or individual which are recorded
5. None of these
Ques 6. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage
Illicit
1. Ethical
2. Legitimate
3. Authorized
4. Sanctioned
5. Unlawful
Ques 7. What all steps government will take to bring about transparency in funding of cash donations?
I. Placing a cap on the amount of donation a party can get.
II. Making it compulsory for the political parties to file tax return within a time limit.
III. Maintaining a record of people making cash donations to the parties.
1. Only I and II are true
2. Only II and III are true
3. Only I and III are true
4. All I, II and III are true
5. None of these
1. Donations by public without a book.
2. Giving the donations to political parties in the form of book.
3. Making donations in cash rather than digital payment.
4. Cash donations by corporate houses or individual which are recorded
5. None of these
Ques 6. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage
Illicit
1. Ethical
2. Legitimate
3. Authorized
4. Sanctioned
5. Unlawful
Ques 7. What all steps government will take to bring about transparency in funding of cash donations?
I. Placing a cap on the amount of donation a party can get.
II. Making it compulsory for the political parties to file tax return within a time limit.
III. Maintaining a record of people making cash donations to the parties.
1. Only I and II are true
2. Only II and III are true
3. Only I and III are true
4. All I, II and III are true
5. None of these
Answers
Ans 1. (2)
Ans 2. (4)
Ans 3. (2)
Ans 4. (3)
Ans 5. (4)
Ans 6. (5)
Ans. 7 (2)
Cloze Test
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word.Budget 2017 proved the phrase “expect the unexpected” from a personal tax perspective. There was (1) ______ speculation until the budget day regarding reduction in slab rates and other sops for the salaried class. However, Mr. Jaitley came up (2) ____ a simple, yet impactful set of proposals to please the common man.
The existing tax rate of 10% for income range between Rs. 2.5 lakh (3) _____ Rs. 5 lakh has been brought down to 5%, which has cheered many. This, coupled with the existing deduction available (4) _____ section 80C of the act will ensure that individuals won’t have to pay any income tax up to an income of Rs. 4 lakh. Ironically, we (5) ____ not know how much of such 80C deductions could be utilised by the low-income group taxpayers, but still the benefit stands, if the qualifying investments are made to avail the deduction under 80C of the act. Further, this budget also simplified the tax filing process as a one pager return for the salaried class up to a taxable income of Rs.5 lakh without any business income. There is also the assurance of non-scrutiny in the case of first-time tax filers of the above class as a way to bring (6) _____ people into the tax office.
The deduction u/s 80CCD towards contribution to NPS has been increased (7) _____ 20% in respect of self-employed persons from the present 10% which is also a welcome move.
(Source: The Hindu)
(1)
a. More
b. Such
c. Much
d. Very
(2)
a. Through
b. With
c. By
d. In
(3)
a. Or
b. By
c. And
d. Nor
(4)
a. Under
b. In
c. On
d. upto
(5)
a. Should
b. Could
c. Ought
d. May
(6)
a. Many
b. Some
c. More
d. Thousand
(7)
a. From
b. With
c. Into
d. By
Answer
(1) c
(2) b
(3) c
(4) a
(4) d
(6) c
(7) d
Miscellaneous
Directions: Which of the following option follows the given statement?Statement: The biggest initiative under the programme is the launch of SANKALP (Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme) at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore to provide market relevant training to 350 million youths.
1. The government has set aside over Rs 17,000 crore for skilling, employment generation and providing livelihood to millions of youth who enter the workforce every year, giving Skill India Mission—Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project— a major leg up.
2. The Skill Development Program has many faults; it won't produce what the government is targeting for. This is full of bureaucracy like smart city program.
3. Besides, the ministry would set up 100 India International Skills Centres that will conduct advanced courses in foreign languages to help youngsters prepare for overseas jobs.
4. At least 10 million young people enter the country's workforce every year, but job creation in India has not kept pace with this influx, making rising unemployment a major challenge for the government.
Directions: Substitute the bold words in the sentence with the correct alternative. If there is no error mark option (5).
Demonetization is expecting to have a transient impact on the economy. It had a great impact on the economy by lives of people.
2. Expecting…..will have…..by
3. Expected….will have…..and
4. Expected….has….and
5. Sentence is correct
Government will set up mini labs in Krishi Vigyan Kendras for soil testing. A dedicated micro irrigation fund will be set up for NABARD with Rs 5,000 crore initial corpus.
2. For….the…..and
3. By….the…..with
4. Through….the….with
5. Sentence is correct
Answers
Ans 1. (3)
Ans 2. (3)
Ans 3. (5)
