Among the following, which country has declared to remove the British Monarchy from its Central Bank Currency Notes on 2nd February, 2023?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Australia. On 2 February 2023 the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced that its new A$5 banknote would NOT carry a portrait of the British monarch. After Queen Elizabeth II's death the note would otherwise have shown King Charles III; instead the RBA decided the new design will honour the culture and history of Australia's First Nations peoples. The A$5 was the only Australian banknote that still featured the reigning monarch.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Nepal has been a federal republic since 2008 and never carried the British monarch on its currency, so there was nothing to remove and no such 2 Feb 2023 announcement.  (b) Canada is a Commonwealth realm that RETAINS the monarch (Charles III) on its C$20 note and coins; it made no move to remove the monarch in February 2023 — the intended trap, since Canada is the realm people most associate with the monarch on money.  (d) Sri Lanka is a republic; its rupee notes depict local heritage and motifs, not the British monarch, so this question does not apply to it.

Concept: Australia is a constitutional monarchy and a Commonwealth realm, with the British sovereign as its head of state. After Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, the Reserve Bank of Australia reviewed the A$5 note — the last denomination still bearing the monarch — and on 2 February 2023 decided to replace the royal portrait with a design celebrating Indigenous Australian culture. The reverse of the note (Australia's Parliament House) is retained.

State PCS 2023 Q31 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q31 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer