UPHESC Assistant Professor Commerce 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: In a currency swap two parties exchange principal and interest payments in different currencies for an agreed period.

1. Each party locks in the exchange rate for its future foreign-currency payments.
2. This protects against adverse exchange-rate movements – a hedging tool.
3. It is a derivative contract, not a mode of trade payment.

Short trick: Swap = exchange cash flows to hedge.

Concept: Check each property.

1. I true – r is independent of change of origin and scale.
2. II false – r is the geometric mean of the two regression coefficients: $r=\pm \sqrt{b_{xy}{b}_{yx}}$.
3. III true – $PE=0.6745\times SE$, where $SE=\frac{1-r^2}{\sqrt{N}}$.
4. IV true – $b_{yx}=r\frac{{\sigma }_y}{{\sigma }_x}$ is the slope of the regression line of Y on X.

Short trick: r = GM (not AM) of regression coefficients.

Concept: CRAR = Capital (Tier I + Tier II) ÷ Risk-weighted assets × 100.

1. The ratio rises if the numerator (own funds/capital) rises …
2. … or the denominator (risk-weighted assets) falls.
3. Short-term borrowings, deposit rates or branch expansion do not raise regulatory capital.

Short trick: Raise capital ↑ or cut RWA ↓ → CRAR ↑.

Concept: Section 16 of the IGST Act: zero-rated supply = exports of goods/services and supplies to SEZ units/developers.

1. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies at 0%, so ITC on inputs is allowed and can be refunded (export under LUT or with IGST paid and refund).
2. Exempt supplies (Sec. 17(2) CGST) require reversal of ITC – no credit.
3. Zero rating covers goods and services, and is within GST.

Short trick: Zero-rated = export with full credit; Exempt = no tax, no credit.

Concept: Section 2(87): a company is a subsidiary of another if the holding company (i) controls the composition of its Board of Directors, or (ii) exercises/controls more than one-half of the total voting power.

1. Holding 48% fails test (ii), but the two tests are alternatives.
2. The right to appoint a majority of directors = control of board composition → test (i) satisfied.
3. So Y Ltd. is a subsidiary of X Ltd.; 'associate' applies only where there is significant influence without control.

Short trick: Board control OR > 50% votes → subsidiary.

Concept: AY 2023-24 → previous year 1-4-2022 to 31-3-2023.

1. Stay in India in PY: April 30 + May 31 + June 30 + July 31 + August 15 = 137 days.
2. An Indian citizen leaving India for employment is resident only if he stays 182 days or more (the 60 + 365 days test does not apply – Expl. 1(a) to Sec. 6(1)).
3. 137 < 182 → Non-Resident (his return in November 2023 falls in the next PY).

Short trick: Citizen leaving for job abroad → only the 182-day test.

Concept: Central Limit Theorem: the sampling distribution of the mean tends to normal as n becomes large (n ≥ 30), whatever the population shape.

1. For small samples it is normal only if the population itself is normal – so 'irrespective of sample size' makes Statement I incorrect.
2. Standard error ${\sigma }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{\sigma }{\sqrt{n}}<\sigma$ for n > 1 – Statement II correct.
3. Hence I incorrect, II correct.

Short trick: CLT needs a LARGE n; SE = σ/√n is always smaller than σ.

Concept: Section 80TTB (from AY 2019-20) allows a resident senior citizen a deduction for interest on deposits with banks, co-operative banks and post offices.

1. Maximum deduction = ₹50,000 (or actual interest, if less).
2. It covers both savings and fixed deposit interest.
3. Section 80TTA (non-senior individuals/HUF) – savings-account interest up to ₹10,000; a senior citizen claiming 80TTB cannot claim 80TTA.

Short trick: 80TTA = 10k (savings, others); 80TTB = 50k (all deposits, seniors).

Concept: Nominal income is valued at current prices; real income at constant (base-year) prices.

1. A rise in nominal income may be only due to inflation, with no extra goods and services.
2. Real income removes price changes and measures the actual flow of goods and services – (R) true.
3. That is exactly why real income is the better welfare indicator – (R) explains (A).

Short trick: Real = Nominal ÷ Price index – it shows quantity, hence welfare.

Concept: Nadler and Tushman classify change by scope (incremental vs strategic) and timing (anticipatory/planned vs reactive).

1. Incremental + anticipatory = Tuning; incremental + reactive = Adaptation.
2. Strategic + anticipatory (planned in advance) = Reorientation (redirecting).
3. Strategic + reactive (forced by crisis) = Re-creation (overhauling).

Short trick: Planned big change = Reorient; crisis big change = Re-create.

Concept: A tariff barrier is a tax/duty on traded goods; a non-tariff barrier restricts trade by rules, standards, quotas, licensing etc.

1. Import duties and countervailing duties are duties (taxes) – tariff measures.
2. Export subsidies are price-support measures, normally discussed separately from NTBs.
3. Product standards (technical, health, safety, labelling norms) restrict imports without any tax – a classic non-tariff barrier (TBT/SPS measures).

Short trick: Word 'duty' = tariff; 'standard, quota, licence' = non-tariff.

Concept: BoP is a systematic record of ALL economic transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world during a period.

1. Goods and services alone = balance of trade / current account – only a part.
2. Capital flows alone = capital account – only a part.
3. Government revenue and expenditure = budget, not BoP.

Short trick: BoP = Current account + Capital account (+ financial account) – it covers everything with the rest of the world.

Concept: India's FDI policy permits foreign investment through two routes.

1. Automatic route – no prior approval of the Government/RBI is needed; only post-facto reporting.
2. Government (approval) route – prior approval of the concerned ministry is required (earlier through FIPB, abolished in 2017).
3. Trade, bank or 'approved' routes do not exist in the FDI policy.

Short trick: FDI = 'A or G' – Automatic or Government.

Concept: ASEAN (1967, Bangkok Declaration; secretariat Jakarta) had 10 members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia (Timor-Leste joined later as the 11th member in 2025).

1. Laos, Vietnam and Brunei are members.
2. India is not a member – it is a dialogue/strategic partner and has the ASEAN–India FTA (2010).

Short trick: India deals with ASEAN through its 'Act East Policy', not as a member.

Concept: When nothing is said about how the retiring partner's share is taken, the continuing partners keep their old ratio between themselves.

1. Old ratio A : B : C = 3 : 2 : 1.
2. B retires; A and C continue in their old mutual ratio 3 : 1.
3. Gaining ratio is also 3 : 1 (B's 2/6 is shared 3 : 1).

Short trick: Just strike out the retiring partner's figure: 3 : 2 : 1 → 3 : 1.

Concept: Vouching = examination of documentary evidence (vouchers) supporting the entries/transactions in the books. Verification = confirming the existence, ownership, valuation and title of assets and liabilities on the balance-sheet date.

1. (A) is the standard definition of vouching – true.
2. (R) is also true: verification is used in a narrower sense, being confined to assets and liabilities shown in the balance sheet.
3. (R) says something about verification; it does not explain what vouching is – so it is not the explanation of (A).

Short trick: Vouching → transactions (whole year); Verification → assets & liabilities (year-end) – two separate facts.

Concept: Accounts are Personal (natural, artificial, representative), Real (tangible and intangible assets) and Nominal (expenses, incomes, losses, gains).

1. Prepaid salary – representative personal account (represents the employees).
2. Bank account – artificial personal account.
3. Proprietor's (capital) account – natural personal account.
4. Patent – an intangible asset, so it is a Real account.

Short trick: Intangible assets (patent, goodwill, trademark) are REAL accounts, not personal.

Concept: A company cannot earn profit before it legally exists, so pre-incorporation profit is not a distributable revenue profit.

1. It is credited to Capital Reserve (or used to write off goodwill/preliminary expenses).
2. It cannot be paid out as dividend, so it is not a revenue/general reserve.
3. A pre-incorporation loss is treated as goodwill (or deducted from capital reserve).

Short trick: Pre-incorporation profit → Capital reserve; loss → Goodwill.

Concept: P/V ratio = Contribution ÷ Sales × 100, and Contribution = Fixed cost + Profit.

1. Contribution = 14,000 + 6,000 = Rs. 20,000.
2. P/V ratio = 20,000 ÷ 1,00,000 × 100 = 20%.

Short trick: C = F + P; P/V = C/S.

Concept: Pre-acquisition profits of a subsidiary are capital profits and go into the cost of control (goodwill / capital reserve) calculation.

1. When the subsidiary capitalises pre-acquisition profit as bonus shares, its share capital rises and its pre-acquisition reserve falls by the same amount.
2. The holding company receives the bonus shares at no cost.
3. Paid-up value of holding's share in capital + its share of pre-acquisition profits stays the same, so cost of control and the consolidated balance sheet are unaffected.

Short trick: Bonus from pre-acquisition profit = only a transfer inside 'capital' items → no effect on CBS.