Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS) ?
- A.Resident Indian citizens only
- B.Persons of age from 21 to 55 only
- C.All State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments
- D.All Central Government employees including those of Armed Forces joining the services on or after 1st April, 2004
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, All State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments. Each state brings its new recruits under NPS from the date it notifies, so this group can join.
The National Pension System replaced the old defined-benefit pension for new Central Government employees from 1 January 2004, and states adopted it one by one through their own notifications. It is a defined-contribution scheme regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA): the employee and the employer put money into a pension account, which is invested in equity and debt, and the corpus pays for an annuity on retirement. Since 2009 it has also been open to any citizen through the "All Citizens" model.
A is wrong: non-resident Indians can also open an NPS account.
B is wrong: entry starts at 18 years, not 21, and the age band has never been 21 to 55.
D is wrong: the Armed Forces were kept out of NPS, and the start date for central employees was 1 January 2004.
Exam tip: NPS = central employees from 1 January 2004 (except Armed Forces), states from their own notification; regulator PFRDA.
Practice Questions
View allAccording to the law of diminishing marginal utility, as the amount of a good consumed increases, the marginal utility of that good tends to
- A.improve
- B.diminish
- C.remain constant
- D.first diminish and then improve
Show answer
Each extra unit of a good gives a consumer less additional satisfaction than the unit before it, so marginal utility falls as consumption rises.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about impact of tax : 1. A tax is shifted forward to consumers if the demand is inelastic relative to supply. 2. A tax is shifted backward to producers if the supply is relatively more inelastic than demand. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
The burden of a tax falls more heavily on whichever side of the market is less elastic, the side that cannot easily walk away.
Read the full explanation →UBI, as an alternative for subsidies in poverty alleviation, stands for
- A.Union Basic Income
- B.Undefined Basic Income
- C.Unconditional Basic Income
- D.Universal Basic Income
Show answer
UBI is the idea of paying every citizen a fixed sum of money regularly, without conditions, in place of a large number of separate subsidies and welfare schemes.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following is the Chairman of the Fourteenth Finance Commission?
- A.C. Rangarajan
- B.Vijay Kelkar
- C.Y. V. Reddy
- D.Rakesh Mohan
Show answer
The Fourteenth Finance Commission, set up in 2013 for the award period 2015-2020, was chaired by Y. V. Reddy, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Read the full explanation →Why was constitutional amendment needed for introducing GST?
- A.States were not willing to agree with the Union for introduction of GST without amendment in the Constitution.
- B.GST was to be implemented on concurrent base and Article 246 was inadequate for such a case.
- C.The Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers had recommended for constitutional amendment.
- D.The GST Council had recommended for constitutional amendment so that its power enhances.
Show answer
GST is levied by the Union and the States together on the same supply, and Article 246, which splits taxing powers between them through separate lists, did not allow such a concurrent tax.
Read the full explanation →