Among the following, which country has declared to remove the British Monarchy from its Central Bank Currency Notes on 2nd February, 2023?
- (a)Nepal
- (b)Canada
- (c)Australia
- (d)Sri Lanka
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.
- (a)Nepal — 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 — 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 — 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.
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.
The trap is to pick the Commonwealth realm most famous for keeping the monarch on its money (Canada). The correct anchor is the specific RBA announcement of 2 February 2023 about the A$5 note. Nepal and Sri Lanka are republics that never featured the British monarch, so they can be eliminated immediately.
- 2 February 2023: the RBA announced the new A$5 note will not feature the British monarch.
- The replacement design will honour the culture and history of Australia's First Nations peoples.
- The A$5 was the only Australian banknote still carrying the reigning monarch's portrait.
- Australia remains a constitutional monarchy; its coins still bear the monarch's effigy.
- Choosing Canada (which retains the monarch) instead of Australia.
- Forgetting that Nepal and Sri Lanka are republics with no British monarch on their currency.
UPPSC/UPSC current-affairs 'which country did X' items — pin the exact actor (Australia), the exact date (2 Feb 2023) and the object (the A$5 note).
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which authority issues and designs Australia's banknotes?
- (a)Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
- (b)Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
- (c)Bank of England
- (d)Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
Answer(a) Reserve Bank of Australia — Australia's central bank and note-issuing authority.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Caribbean nation removed the British monarch as head of state and became a republic in November 2021?
- (a)Jamaica
- (b)Barbados
- (c)The Bahamas
- (d)Trinidad and Tobago
Answer(b) Barbados — it became a republic on 30 November 2021, replacing the Queen with a President.