Passage 1: The Rise of India’s Creative Economy
Few countries have a unique history of innovation and creativity that changed the world. Yet, India’s trust with creativity and innovation ranges from the arts to science, from metallurgy to medicine, from astronomy and much more. As India works towards becoming a $5 trillion economy, it needs to reignite its approach to innovations, supported by creativity at all levels. Globally, in 2022, exports of creative services surged to $1.4 trillion, marking a 29% increase since 2017. Creative goods exports also experienced a 19% rise, reaching $713 billion. Collectively, the creative economy generates annual revenues exceeding $2 trillion and supports nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. According to the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on the creative economy Outlook 2024, three sectors are the main contributors of the creative economy (2022): software services (41.3%), research and development (30.7%), advertising, market research and architecture (15.5%). India’s creative economy has also demonstrated significant contributions. In 2019, creative goods and services exports totalled about $21 billion, with creative services accounting for nearly $100 billion. The design segment alone represented 87.5% of creative goods exports, while arts and crafts contributed around 9%. As of 2024, India’s creative industry is valued at $30 billion and employs about 8% of the country’s working population. Creative exports grew by 20% in the previous year, generating more than $11 billion.
Questions:
- What is the primary focus of India’s approach to becoming a $5 trillion economy?
a) Industrial manufacturing
b) Innovation supported by creativity
c) Agricultural expansion
d) Technological imports
Answer: b - By how much did global exports of creative services increase from 2017 to 2022?
a) 19%
b) 29%
c) 41.3%
d) 87.5%
Answer: b - Which sector contributes the highest percentage to the creative economy in 2022?
a) Arts and crafts
b) Software services
c) Research and development
d) Advertising
Answer: b - What was the total value of India’s creative goods and services exports in 2019?
a) $11 billion
b) $21 billion
c) $100 billion
d) $713 billion
Answer: b - What percentage of creative goods exports in India is attributed to the design segment?
a) 9%
b) 15.5%
c) 30.7%
d) 87.5%
Answer: d - How much did India’s creative exports grow in the previous year as of 2024?
a) 8%
b) 19%
c) 20%
d) 29%
Answer: c
Passage 2: Challenges and Opportunities in Creativity
Creativity in the creative economy requires investment into traditional creative economic sectors that are booming in a country such as India. We still need to explore ways of being more creative and innovative to take the economic gains to new horizons, especially at the grassroots levels. This will ensure that such creations and innovations help local people. This will be a disruptive approach to promoting local economies. Research has shown that creativity at the grassroots level bridges the gap between creativity and innovation. Pioneering work on identifying and recognising grassroots innovations by organisations such as the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) have resulted in popularising hundreds of grassroots creative ideas. An example from Indonesia, where does one start? Consider a pioneering creative solution, the Antrodam Project, that has been conceived by the students of Binus School in Bekasi, Indonesia. The Antrodam Project began with one mission: to create a solution to flooding, a challenge that affects communities worldwide. Looking for ideas from the best source of inspiration, nature itself, the Binus team explored structures from the animal and plant kingdoms to find the perfect design. Inspired by the nests of Indian Harvester ants, the students engineered a flood protection system that works with nature rather than against it. The ants have intricate tunnel systems that direct water away from their nests, keeping them safe and dry. The students were also inspired by natural structures such as ‘rose petals and their self-cleaning nature’ and the capillary action of plant roots.
Questions: 7. What is the main purpose of investing in traditional creative sectors in India?
a) To reduce exports
b) To explore new economic horizons
c) To limit local innovations
d) To focus on urban development
Answer: b
- How does creativity at the grassroots level help local economies?
a) By increasing imports
b) By bridging the gap between creativity and innovation
c) By reducing employment
d) By limiting technological growth
Answer: b - Which organization is credited with popularizing grassroots creative ideas?
a) UNCTAD
b) Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN)
c) Binus School
d) Indian Harvester Ants
Answer: b - What was the primary challenge addressed by the Antrodam Project?
a) Drought
b) Flooding
c) Pollution
d) Deforestation
Answer: b - From which natural source did the Antrodam Project draw inspiration?
a) Rose petals
b) Indian Harvester ant nests
c) Plant roots
d) Bird wings
Answer: b - What feature of the ant nests inspired the flood protection system?
a) Their color
b) Their intricate tunnel systems
c) Their size
d) Their height
Answer: b
Passage 3: Scaling Innovations and Future Prospects
A significant part of local innovations falls into deliberate and cognitive as well as spontaneous and cognitive segments. Creativity precedes innovation. While creativity can be individual-based, innovation can be bootstrapped but needs an institution to support its scale or formalisation. In a country such as India, enormous creativity exists but such creativity is not translated into innovation many a time. Creators come up with ideas while innovators translate the ideas into products and services. We need investments to bridge the gap between creativity and innovation. Pioneering work on identifying and recognising grassroots innovations by organisations such as the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) have resulted in popularising hundreds of grassroots creative ideas. It is time that India invests more in creative pursuits at all levels – grassroots to technology-intensive ideas. Grassroot innovations need more investments to ensure the proof of concept demonstrated is supported by capital investments. The innovation and associated intellectual property protection for such innovations, including informal ones, need better protection through adjustments to Indian intellectual property protection policies and regulations. It is also time that the government invests in ‘one district one innovation’ modelled after the successful initiative of ‘one district one product’ initiative. While the climate sector in India received $2,853 million in 2023, the investments that grassroots creativity received seems to be very poor. Even if a small percentage of investments go to climate adaptation and mitigation actions that are creative and not working at the local level, India’s ability to deal with climate change will be many times more.
Questions: 13. What is the relationship between creativity and innovation according to the passage?
a) Creativity follows innovation
b) Creativity precedes innovation
c) Innovation precedes creativity
d) They are unrelated
Answer: b
- Why does creativity in India often fail to become innovation?
a) Lack of institutional support
b) Excess funding
c) Overabundance of ideas
d) Strong government control
Answer: a - What is suggested to bridge the gap between creativity and innovation?
a) Reducing investments
b) Increasing investments
c) Limiting grassroots efforts
d) Focusing on urban areas
Answer: b - What initiative is proposed to support local innovations in India?
a) One district one product
b) One district one innovation
c) One city one technology
d) One state one industry
Answer: b - How much did the climate sector in India receive in investments in 2023?
a) $1,000 million
b) $2,853 million
c) $11 billion
d) $21 billion
Answer: b - What is the potential benefit of investing in grassroots creativity for climate change?
a) Reduced economic growth
b) Enhanced ability to deal with climate change
c) Increased urban pollution
d) Decreased local employment
Answer: b
Poem: Ode to Creative India
Oh, land of dreams where ideas take flight,
From humble roots to dazzling height,
Your artisans weave with skillful hands,
Building a future on golden sands.
Through fields of green, your spirit grows,
With every thread, a story flows,
Innovate bold, with hearts so true,
India shines in colors anew.
From ant to rose, nature’s design,
Inspires a world, a creative shrine,
With every step, we build and mend,
A legacy that will never end.
Questions: 19. What is the central theme of the poem?
a) Industrial growth
b) Creative innovation in India
c) Urban development
d) Technological decline
Answer: b
- What does the phrase “humble roots to dazzling height” suggest?
a) Decline of creativity
b) Growth from grassroots to success
c) Loss of tradition
d) Urban expansion
Answer: b - Who are depicted as contributing to India’s future in the poem?
a) Soldiers
b) Artisans
c) Politicians
d) Merchants
Answer: b - What natural elements inspire creativity in the poem?
a) Mountains and rivers
b) Ant and rose
c) Sun and moon
d) Forests and seas
Answer: b - What is emphasized as a key action in the poem?
a) Destruction
b) Innovation
c) Isolation
d) Stagnation
Answer: b - What is the lasting impact suggested by the poem?
a) A temporary change
b) An endless legacy
c) A forgotten past
d) A broken tradition
Answer: b
Verbal Ability Mock Test (26 MCQs)
Synonyms (5 MCQs)
- Choose the synonym of “innovation”:
a) Tradition
b) Novelty
c) Stagnation
d) Repetition
Answer: b - Synonym of “creative”:
a) Dull
b) Imaginative
c) Ordinary
d) Common
Answer: b - Synonym of “pioneering”:
a) Following
b) Leading
c) Imitating
d) Copying
Answer: b - Synonym of “enhance”:
a) Diminish
b) Improve
c) Weaken
d) Reduce
Answer: b - Synonym of “inspire”:
a) Discourage
b) Motivate
c) Deter
d) Prevent
Answer: b
Antonyms (5 MCQs)
- Antonym of “creative”:
a) Original
b) Unimaginative
c) Inventive
d) Artistic
Answer: b - Antonym of “growth”:
a) Development
b) Decline
c) Expansion
d) Increase
Answer: b - Antonym of “support”:
a) Assist
b) Oppose
c) Help
d) Encourage
Answer: b - Antonym of “significant”:
a) Important
b) Trivial
c) Notable
d) Major
Answer: b - Antonym of “bridge”:
a) Connect
b) Separate
c) Link
d) Unite
Answer: b
Sentence Completion (5 MCQs)
- India’s creative economy ___ with new innovations every year.
a) declines
b) flourishes
c) stagnates
d) fades
Answer: b - The government should ___ more funds to grassroots creativity.
a) reduce
b) allocate
c) withdraw
d) ignore
Answer: b - The Antrodam Project ___ a solution to flooding issues.
a) ignored
b) developed
c) destroyed
d) avoided
Answer: b - Creative ideas need ___ to become successful innovations.
a) neglect
b) investment
c) rejection
d) delay
Answer: b - The poem ___ the spirit of India’s artisans.
a) criticizes
b) celebrates
c) overlooks
d) diminishes
Answer: b
Error Spotting (5 MCQs)
- The body fail to release heat during extreme temperatures.
a) fail
b) to release
c) during extreme
d) temperatures
Answer: a (should be “fails”) - India’s creative economy have grown significantly.
a) have grown
b) significantly
c) No error
d) economy
Answer: a (should be “has grown”) - The government are investing in new projects.
a) are investing
b) in new
c) projects
d) No error
Answer: a (should be “is investing”) - Creative ideas needs institutional support.
a) needs
b) institutional
c) support
d) No error
Answer: a (should be “need”) - The student engineer a flood protection system.
a) engineer
b) a flood
c) protection system
d) No error
Answer: a (should be “engineered”)
Rearrangement (6 MCQs)
- P: to boost the economy
Q: India must invest
R: in creative sectors
S: with innovative ideas
a) QPRS
b) PQRS
c) QRPS
d) SQPR
Answer: a - P: and popularize them
Q: grassroots innovations
R: organizations should identify
S: to support local growth
a) RQPS
b) PQRS
c) RSQP
d) QPRS
Answer: a - P: inspired by nature
Q: the Antrodam Project
R: was designed
S: to solve flooding
a) QRPS
b) PQRS
c) QSPR
d) RPSQ
Answer: c - P: to bridge the gap
Q: investments are needed
R: between creativity and innovation
S: in India
a) QSPR
b) PQRS
c) RSQP
d) SQPR
Answer: a - P: with skilled hands
Q: artisans create
R: beautiful crafts
S: using traditional methods
a) QPRS
b) PQRS
c) QRSP
d) SPRQ
Answer: a - P: a creative future
Q: India builds
R: with every innovation
S: towards
a) QSPR
b) PQRS
c) RSQP
d) SQPR
Answer: a
