NTA UGC NET/JRF Exam, December 2022 (Commerce) Shift-II

The invention of the office – from the Latin opus (work) + facere (do) = officium (performance of work) – has necessitated by the inability of work to be done remotely. Until very recently, the prevalent technology was simply not available or very limited to allow work away from office. If you had to conduct stocktaking, copy documents or engage in a brainstorming session, one had to be physically close to the tools of work and co-workers. Even as the technology was becoming increasingly available, it was the forced disruption of pandemic that finally showed that office, like the stock exchange trading floor, a shared physical-only space was no longer essential to carry out work. Today, work restrictions thankfully recede, the push that has become the shoe of working from home (WFH) is becoming a wedge for working from anywhere (WFA).
Neither can all work be conducted WFA nor all workers prefer remote working. Several reasons for the primacy of the “face-to-face” stock model are touted out – “water-cooler” engagements, ideas flying ‘better’ at corporally attended meeting; company values welded only under ‘one roof’, one team’ norms. But studies, including pre-pandemic ones conducted by the likes of Harvard Business School’s Pritwhiraj Choudhury, have shown that WFA is a win-win for workforces and for society. WFA slashes time and energy expanded in commutes; allows workers the choice of their work surroundings that may actually improve their quantitative and qualitative output; provides less crowded space for those who chooses as their comfort work zone. Most importantly, for companies, it allows WFA – hiring from anywhere, thereby breaking the talent pool distance barrier.
The new hybrid work culture is still a work-in-progress. Floor managers will have to be trained to manage a different kind of floor. Company values will need to flourish in a digital-deeper environment. The idea of work-life balance itself has to be rejigged. But the bottom-line is work optimisation. For which WFA, without the stress of a pandemic around, makes damn good pitch.
Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R.
Assertion (A)
Work from Anywhere is only possible in case of employees working independently.
Reason (R)
Brainstorming sessions are possible in the case of Work from Anywhere.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below

A. “Water cooler” engagements
B. Ideas fly better at corporally attended meetings
C. Promotes one team norm
D. Improves work-life balance
E. Inability of work to be done remotely
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Statement I
Work from home concept was not initiated in the past because no one had conceptualised it.
Statement II
It was not possible to Work from home in the past.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below

Statement I
With ease in the stress of the pandemic around, reduce relevance of work from Anywhere will reduce.
Statement II
For the new hybrid work culture to prevail, companies will have to invest more in technology.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below

Capital flows, exchange rates and the interest rate causes of immediate concern to the national economies. Central banks of various countries have been using a variety of methods with the excessive capital inflows. Foreign portfolio investment have a direct and indirect impact on exchange rates, valuation of traded assets and yields of various government and corporate securities.
RBI, in the post-pandemic scenario and the recent Russia-Ukraine war situation is working on multiple options to stabilize the exchange rates by protecting both the exporters and importers. One way which RBI adopts to maintain a desirable level of exchanges rates is to mop up excess foreign exchange assets from scheduled commercial banks in exchanges of domestic currency (L) assets. The liquidity flows are, in essence, inflationary. RBI has projected a comfortable GDP rate for the current fiscal and believes a reasonable level of CPI inflation is 5.3%.
The retail inflation, according to the RBI governor, recently is likely to be 4.5% in 2023 fiscal. With this perspective, the repo rate and reverse repo rate remain at 4.9% and 3.35%, respectively, since May 22, 2020. A balancing act between economic growth and inflation is visible. Though the RBI rates are consistent, the burden on borrowers for the short-term and long-term, is still unpredictable.
The primary purpose of the monetary policy of RBI is to maintain