Read the passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Certain words/phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.

Once upon a time, there lived a washerman in a village. He had a donkey by the name of Udhata. He used to carry loads of clothes to the river bank and back home every day. The donkey was not satisfied with the food, that was given to him by his master to eat. So he wandered into the nearby fields stealthily and ate the crops growing there. Once, the donkey, while wandering around, happened to meet a fox. Soon, both of them became friends and began to wander together in search of delicious food. One night, the donkey and the fox were eating watermelons in a field. The watermelons were so tasty, that the donkey ate in a large quantity. Having eaten to his appetite, the donkey became so happy that he was compelled by an intense desire to sing. He told the fox that he was in such a good mood that he had to express his happiness in a melodious tone. 'Don't be a fool. If you sing, the people sleeping in and around this field will wake up and beat us black and blue with sticks,' said the fox worriedly.

`You are a dull fellow', the donkey said hearing the words of the fox. 'Singing makes one happy and healthy. No matter what comes. I'll definitely sing a song." The fox became worried to see the donkey adamant to sing a song in the midst of the field, while the owner was still sleeping only a little distance away. Seeing his adamant, he said to the donkey, 'Friend, wait a minute before you start first, let me jump over to the other side of the fence for my safety.' Saying so the fox jumped over to the other side of the fence without losing a moment. The donkey began in his so-called melodious tone. Hearing, suddenly, a donkey braying in the field, the owner woke up from his sleep. He picked up his stick lying by his side and ran towards the donkey who was still braying happily. The owner of the field looked around and saw the loss caused by the donkey. He became very angry and beat him so ruthlessly that the donkey was physically incapacitated temporarily. He, somehow, managed to drag himself out of the field with great difficulty. The fox looked at the donkey and said in a sympathetic tone, I'm sorry to see you in this pitiable condition. I had already warned you, but you didn't listen to my advice.' The donkey too realised his folly and hung his head in shame.



What happened when the donkey sang a song?

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.

Agriculture has always been celebrated as the primary sector in India: Thanks to the Green Revolution, India is now self-sufficient in food production. Indian agriculture has been making technological advancements as well. Does that mean everything is looking bright for Indian agriculture? A superficial analysis of the above points would tempt one to say yes, but the truth is far from it. The reality is that Indian farmers have to face extreme poverty and financial crisis, which is driving them to suicide. What are the grave adversities that drive the farmers to commit suicide at a time when the Indian economy is supposed, to be gearing up to take on the world?

Indian agriculture is predominantly dependent on nature. Irrigation facilities that are currently available do not cover the entire cultivable land. If the farmers are at the mercy of monsoons for timely water for their crops, they are at the mercy of the government for alternative irrigation facilities. Any failure of nature directly affects the fortunes of the farmers. Secondly, Indian agriculture is largely an unorganized sector, there is no systematic planning in cultivation, farmers work on lands of uneconomical sizes, institutional finances are not available and minimum purchase prices of the government do not, in reality, reach the poorest farmer. Added to this, the cost of agricultural inputs have been steadily rising over the years, farmers margins of profits have been narrowing because the price rise in inputs is not complemented by an increase in the purchase price of the agricultural produce. Even today, in several parts of the country agriculture, is a seasonal occupation. In many districts, farmers get only one crop per year and for the remaining part of the year, they find it difficult to make both ends meet.

The farmers normally resort to borrowing from moneylenders, in the absence of institutionalised finance. Where institutional finance is available, the ordinary farmer does not have a chance of availing it because of the procedures involved in disbursing the finance. This calls for removing the elaborate formalities for obtaining the loans. Institutional finance, where available is mostly availed by the medium or large landowners, the small tamers do not even have the awareness of the existence of such facilities. The moneylender is the only source of finance to the farmers. Should the crops fail, the farmers fall into a debt trap and crop failures piled up over the years give them no other option than to end their lives.

Another disturbing trend has been observed where farmers commit suicide or deliberately kill a family member in order to avail relief and benefits announced by the government to support the families of those who have committed suicide so that their families could at least benefit from the Government's relief programmes. What then needs to be done to prevent this sad state of affairs? There cannot be one single solution to end the woes of farmers.

Temporary measures through monetary relief would not be the solution. The governmental efforts should be targeted at improving the entire structure of the small farmers wherein the relief is not given on a drought to drought basis, rather they are taught to overcome their difficulties through their own skills and capabilities. Social responsibility also goes a long way to help the farmers. General public, NGOs, Corporate and other organisations too can play a part in helping farmers by adopting drought-affected villages and families and helping them to rehabilitate.

The nation has to realise that farmers suicides are not minor issues happening in remote parts of a few states, it is a reflection of the true state of the basis of our economy.

What does the author mean by procedures when he says that farmers do not get a chance of availing institutional finance because of procedures involved in it?

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in the bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
The draft Payment and Settlement System Bill, 2018, seeks to foster competition, consumer protection, systemic stability and resilience in payments sector by providing a level playing field to non-bank players like fintech companies. It proposes an independent payments regulatory board for this. The assumption appears to be that banks, even if they use cutting edge technology, cannot meet escalating demand and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not flexible enough. Is it possible that in the name of such regulatory reforms, public interest will be compromised?
Payments services affect all citizens and have far-reaching implications for the economy. Currency and bank deposits are the backbone of money and payments. Currency issue is a government monopoly. It is initially issued through banks, and unlike digital payments, there are no implicit or explicit costs for payments in cash. Cash has a public good character, but digital payments are more convenient, saving printing and handling costs. Like cash, they also need to be easy to use, safe and secure.
With digitization of payments and use of point of sale systems for debit and credit cards, banks have compelled customers to incur additional costs for such payments. They state that there are significant costs to produce these services, which make customers’ lives easier. However, when asked to reveal costing figures to compare such costs with the costs for servicing customers at their branches for cash dispensation, they are not transparent, because such additional charges cannot be justified. Account holders implicitly sacrifice 3% (difference between risk free rate and savings accounts rate) for enjoying such services, which is substantial income for banks. But non-banks can pose a threat by popularizing the unified payments interface (UPI) for money transfer.
International brands have succeeded in imposing costly models, including influential indirect cartels. The merchant discount rate (MDR), levied on merchants mainly by the issuers and acquirers of cards (banks and their agents), is as high as 2.5% for credit cards, which affects consumers most. Irrespective of whether a customer uses a card, merchants mark up prices by around 2% to recover this cost, which is huge for the economy. MDR on credit cards can be reduced to the debit card level, which is 0.9%, through facilities such as overdraft taking care of the additional costs for float a user enjoys. Then, cards may gain popularity even with kirana shops.
RBI is well-known for its steps to promote digital payments. Initially, the RTGS fee per transaction for high values could exceed Rs.1,000. This was capped. Until 2007, the ATM charge per transaction could go up to Rs.35. The interchange fee was reduced and unified, freeing customers. These steps had salutary effects.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was conceived by RBI as umbrella organization for innovative retail payments services. It introduced immediate payment service, UPI, RuPay and Bharat Bill Payment for frictionless, interoperable payments. The very character of NPCI, with it ploughing back internally generated surplus, checks monopoly profits. It provides benefits of economies of scale, reducing transaction fees and works as extended arm of the government and RBI for spurring growth of digital payments. This benefits banks, merchants and customers.

Which of the following services are not introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)?

In the question is given a passage followed by several inferences. You have to examine each inference separately in the context of the passage and decide upon its degree of truth or falsity.

Though the state cultivates only$3.2$lakh tonnes of mangoes, they are of premium quality and with mangoes becoming second most consumed fruit in the world after grapes, the government has been trying to export it through sea route which is cheaper. An experiment which was done in this regard last year, has proved successful.

Inference: Most of the other exports are conducted through sea routes which is cheaper.