NewsTracker Answers for week of Nov. 14, 2016

Q: India scrapped 1,000 and 500 rupee notes last week in a bid to flush out tax evaders. The banknotes are worth about $7 and $14 and represent more than 85% of cash in circulation in India. Where is India?

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Q: Indians are mobbing banks to exchange or deposit their hordes of the old banknotes. By forcing citizens to use banks, the government hopes to track and tax money that has been hidden in India’s “black economy” of undeclared cash transactions. India is the world’s SECOND . . .

A. Largest economy

B. Most populous nation

C. Poorest nation

B. India’s 1.2 billion people conduct about 86% of their business in cash. Nearly a quarter of all transactions are in the “black economy” and hidden from tax authorities. But many of India’s poorest workers do not have bank accounts or even identification papers needed to exchange the old banknotes.

Q: While India’s economy is highly dependent on cash, which of these countries uses the least cash?

A. Brazil

B. Russia

C. Sweden

D. United States

C. Cash accounts for only 2% of Sweden’s economy compared with 7.7% in the United States. Sweden and its neighbors, Denmark, Finland and Norway expect to be cash-free within the next two decades. About 900 of Sweden’s 1,600 bank branches no longer keep cash on hand or take cash deposits – and many, especially in rural areas, no longer have ATMs.

Q: India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Most of India’s workers are employed in . . .

A. Agriculture

B. Industry

C. Services

A. About 49% of Indians are employed in agriculture which accounts for only 17% of the nation’s gross domestic product. Services employ only 31% of India’s workers but contribute nearly half of the nation’s output and are the major driver of the economic growth.

Q: The Indian government subsidizes farmers and sells farm goods at a loss to help feed the nation’s poor – nearly 30% of the population. Some subsidized farmers burning crop stubble contributed to severe air pollution last week in the nation’s capital . . .

A. Bangalore

B. Kolkata

C. Mumbai

D. New Delhi

D. A thick haze of smoke, ash and other pollutants blanketed India's capital city of more than 17 million people for more than a week. Measurements taken at the US Embassy in New Delhi put the city's Air Quality Index at 999, off the standard chart, which finishes at the "hazardous" level of 500.