The Industrial Policy Resolution 1956, classified industries into how many categories?

The correct answer is C, 1950. The Planning Commission was set up in March 1950 by a resolution of the Union Cabinet, so it was neither a constitutional nor a statutory body. The Prime Minister was its chairman, and Jawaharlal Nehru therefore became the first chairman, with Gulzarilal Nanda as the first deputy chairman. Its task was to assess the country’s resources and draw up five year plans, the first of which ran from 1951 to 1956 and focused on agriculture and irrigation. The commission was replaced on 1 January 2015 by NITI Aayog, which advises rather than allocates funds. A is wrong because 1962 is the year of the India-China war, not of the commission. B is wrong because 1945 is before independence; the Planning and Development Department of that time was a colonial office. D is wrong because 1958 falls in the middle of the second five year plan. Exam tip: fix the pair - Planning Commission in March 1950, NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.

The correct answer is A, depreciation. Consumption of fixed capital is the national income term for depreciation, the fall in the value of machines, buildings and other fixed assets as they are used up or become obsolete over the year. It matters because it is the bridge between gross and net aggregates. Subtract it from gross domestic product and you get net domestic product, and the same step turns gross national product into net national product and gross investment into net investment. B is wrong because net investment is gross investment after depreciation has been taken out, so it is the result, not the same thing. C is wrong because appreciation is a rise in the value of an asset, the opposite of this wearing out. D is wrong because gross investment is total spending on capital goods before depreciation is deducted. Exam tip: remember the one line - NDP equals GDP minus depreciation, which is the consumption of fixed capital.

The correct answer is B, 18 to 50 years. The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana can be joined by anyone between 18 and 50 years of age who holds a savings bank account. It is a one-year term life insurance cover, renewed every year, and it pays the nominee if the member dies from any cause. The cover continues up to the age of 55 for a member who joined before turning 51 and keeps paying the premium. It was launched on 9 May 2015 along with the accident cover scheme and the pension scheme, and the premium is taken straight from the bank account under an auto-debit mandate. A, C and D are wrong because they all begin above 18 or end above 50, and so do not match the entry age fixed for the scheme. Exam tip: pair the two 2015 covers - Jeevan Jyoti for life at 18 to 50 years, Suraksha Bima for accidents at 18 to 70 years.

The correct answer is B, Tata Iron and Steel Company. TISCO, now Tata Steel, is owned and run by private shareholders, which is what makes an enterprise part of the private sector. It was founded by Jamsetji Tata and set up at Sakchi, later named Jamshedpur, with production beginning in 1912, making it India’s first large private steel plant. In the public sector the government owns the majority of the shares and the aim is service as much as profit, while a private firm answers to its owners and aims mainly at profit. A is wrong because SAIL is a central public sector undertaking that runs the Bhilai, Rourkela, Durgapur, Bokaro and Burnpur plants. C is wrong because Oil India Limited is a government-owned oil and gas company under the petroleum ministry. D is wrong because BHEL is a central public sector heavy engineering company. Exam tip: fix the pair - TISCO of 1907 at Jamshedpur is private, SAIL and BHEL are public sector.

The correct answer is A, 2006-07. The Goods and Services Tax was announced for the first time in the Union Budget for 2006-07, presented by the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who proposed 1 April 2010 as the date for rolling it out. The idea had come from the Kelkar Task Force on indirect taxes in 2003, which argued for one nationwide tax in place of the tangle of excise duty, service tax, VAT, octroi and entry tax. The road from that announcement was long: the Constitution had to be amended, and GST finally came into force on 1 July 2017 through the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, with the GST Council as the body that fixes rates. Option B is wrong because by 2013-14 the Bill was already before Parliament, not being mentioned for the first time. Option C is wrong because 1998-99 is well before even the Kelkar report. Option D is wrong because 2015-16 is close to the actual launch, not to the first proposal. Exam tip: proposed in Budget 2006-07, launched on 1 July 2017 by the 101st Amendment.