AptiDose 1.0 - Vol V
Can You Solve Sam's Schedule?? Fortnightly dose of aptitude questions, logical challenges and essential prep tips!
Brain Booster
The rectangular block shown below is portioned into nine cells.
Can you fill each cell with a different number from 1 to 9 so that neighboring cells do not contain consecutive numbers? Any two cells are considered neighboring if they share an edge or part of an edge between themselves. Four numbers are placed in advance.
1Find the answer at the end of the newsletter
Logic Lane
Sam had quite a busy schedule this week. He pulled a total of five shifts, each at a different site (including the chemical plant) on a different day (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday). At each site his shift started at a different time (6:00 AM, 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM or 12:00 PM), and lasted a different number of hours (8 through 12) at a different hourly pay rate (Rs 700, Rs 800, Rs 850, Rs 950 and Rs 1000). From the information provided, determine the day and time that Sam worked at each site, as well as the number of hours in each shift and his hourly pay rate on each day.
Sam started the shift at the housing development at some point earlier in the day than both the Sunday shift and the 11-hour shift but at some point later in the day than both the shift that paid Rs 800 per hour, and the one that earned Sam a total of exactly Rs 7600.
Sam worked the shift at the mall at some point earlier in the week than both the 12-hor shift and the one that started at 8:00 AM but at some point later in the week than both the one that paid Rs 750 per hour and the one that earned Sam a total of exactly Rs 10000.
Sam didn’t work the 12-hour shift on Saturday. The shift at the office block paid at neither the highest nor the lowest pay rate. Sam didn’t work the 12:00 PM shift on Sunday.
The 6:00 AM shift lasted longer than 8 hours. The shift at the motel didn’t pay Rs 1000 per hour.
2Find the complete answer at the end of the newsletter.
Words Worth
Taking on the Centre: On States rejecting farm laws
States aggrieved by central farm laws are adopting both legislative and legal measures
Punjab’s efforts to enact State amendments to override the effects of the Centre’s new agriculture laws epitomise the difficulties in managing the conflict between liberalising the farm sector and protecting the small and marginal farmer from the agonies of the transition. The issue also flags the consequences of not having a wide and informed debate before introducing far-reaching changes. Punjab has been the hub of the opposition to the Centre’s legislative exercise to change the basics of trade and commerce in agriculture. The Akali Dal, the main opposition in the State, eventually withdrew its Cabinet minister and later walked out of the NDA government at the Centre. Punjab argues that the central Acts would cause “grave detriment and prejudice” to agricultural communities. The Bills cite an agriculture census of 2015-16 to argue that 86.2% of farmers own less than five acres — a majority of them less than two acres — and that with limited or no access to multiple markets, they would be handicapped while negotiating fair price contracts with private players. Making efforts to buy farm produce at less than the MSP or harassing farmers in a bid to persuade them to enter into such contracts have been sought to be made punishable offences, with a jail term of at least three years. The Bills also seek to overturn the Centre’s move to remove the fee on trade and transactions that take place outside markets functioning under APMCs.
A key issue raised by Punjab’s proposed amendments is whether they are legally valid and where they stand in the teeth of the Centre’s legislation. States can indeed amend central laws enacted under the Concurrent List, subject to the condition that provisions repugnant to the parliamentary Acts will have to get the President’s assent, without which they do not come into force. The Punjab Bills note that agriculture is under the legislative domain on the States, as the subject falls under the State List in the Seventh Schedule. The Centre has enacted its farm sector Bills by invoking Entry 33(b) in the Concurrent List, which concerns trade and commerce in, and production, supply and distribution of, “foodstuffs”. By stretching the entry’s meaning to include agriculture, Parliament has managed to pass laws in the domain of the States. In these circumstances, States aggrieved by the farm sector laws will either have to go the Punjab way to adopt Bills that would require presidential assent, as Rajasthan has decided to do, or challenge the validity of the central laws in the Supreme Court, as Chhattisgarh is said to be considering. Whatever the outcome clear from the groundswell of opposition across the country is that a cavalier and centralized approach to issues that affect millions of farmers ill-serves a diverse country.
Epitomize (verb)
Meaning: Be a perfect example of
Usage: The company epitomized the problems faced by British industry.
Similar: Exemplify, Incorporate
Detriment (noun)
Meaning: The state of being harmed or damaged
Usage: He is engrossed in his work to the detriment of his married life.
Similar: Disadvantage, Injury
Repugnant (adjective)
Meaning: Extremely distasteful, Unacceptable, In conflict or incompatible with.
Usage: Cannibalism seems repugnant to us.
Similar: Offensive, Contrary to
Groundswell (noun)
Meaning: An increase in a particular opinion among a large section of the population, A large or extensive swell in the sea
Usage: A groundswell of opposition developed.
Similar: Coalition
Cavalier (adjective)
Meaning: To be haughty or domineering
Usage: Anne was irritated by his cavalier attitude.
Similar: Indifferent, Casual
Brain Booster
Logic Lane
Sam earned Rs 950 during his 8-hour shift for a total of Rs 7600 (1). He earned Rs 1000 during his 10-hour shift for a total of Rs 10000 (2). He didn’t work the shift at the mall on Sunday, Monday, Friday or Saturday (2); he worked at the mall on Wednesday. His 12-hour shift wasn’t on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, which is the day he worked at the mall (2), or Saturday (3); it was on Friday, so the one that started at 8:00 AM was on Saturday (2).
His shift at the housing development didn’t start at 6:00 AM, 7:00 AM, 10:00 AM or 12:00 PM (1); it stated at 8:00 AM. The Sunday shift didn’t start at 6:00 AM, 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM, which is when his shift at the housing development board started (1), or 12:00 PM (3); it started at 10:00 AM, so the 11-hour shift started at 12:00 Pm (1). The 8-hour shift, which is the one that earned Sam a total of Rs 7600 (above), didn’t start at 8:00 AM, which is when the shift at the housing development board started,10:00 AM (1), or 6:00 AM (4); it started at 7:00 AM.
The 12-hour Friday shift started at 6:00 AM. The 10-hour shift, which is the one that earned Sam a total of Rs 10000 (above) didn’t start at 8:00 AM (2); it started at 10:00 AM. The 9-hour shift started at 8:00 AM, which is when the shift at the housing development started, so this isn’t the one that paid Rs 800(1) or Rs 750 per hour (2); it’s the one that paid Rs 850 per hour. The 12:00 PM shift didn’t pay Rs 800 per hour (1); it paid Rs 750 per hour. The 6:00 AM shift paid Rs 800 per hour. The shift that paid Rs 750 wasn’t the Wednesday shift at the mall (2); it was the Monday shift. The Wednesday shift paid Rs 950. The shift at the office block didn’t pay Rs 750 or Rs 1000 per hour (3); it paid Rs 800. The pone at the motel didn’t pay Rs 1000 per hour (4); it paid Rs 750. The shift at the chemical plant paid Rs 1000 per hour.
In Summary:
