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The correct answer is regional rural banks' restructuring.

Key Points

• Bhandari Committee (1994) was formed on "Restructuring of Regional Rural Banks".
• Its Important Recommendations are :
• It identified 49 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) for comprehensive restructuring.
• It also recommended greater devolution of decision-making powers to the board of RRBs in mater of business development and Staff.

The correct answer is NPS is regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

Key PointsNational Pension System

• The Central Government introduced the National Pension System (NPS) with effect in January 2004.
• Initially, NPS was introduced for the new government recruits (except armed forces).
• With effect from 1^st May 2009, NPS has been provided for all citizens of the country including the unorganised sector workers on a voluntary basis. Hence option 1 is incorrect.
• In 2018 to streamline the NPS and make it more attractive, the Union Cabinet approved changes in the scheme to benefit central government employees covered under NPS.
• NPS is being implemented and regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA) in the country.
• National Pension System Trust (NPST) established by PFRDA is the registered owner of all assets under NPS.
• Structure: NPS is structured into two tiers:
• Tier-I account:
• This is the non-withdrawable permanent retirement account into which the accumulations are deposited and invested as per the option of the subscriber.
• Tier-II account:
• This is a voluntary withdrawable account which is allowed only when there is an active Tier I account in the name of the subscriber.
• The withdrawals are permitted from this account as per the needs of the subscriber as and when claimed.
• Beneficiaries:
• NPS was made available to all Citizens of India from May 2009.
• Any individual citizen of India (both resident and Non-resident) in the age group of 18-65 years can join NPS.
• However, OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card holders and Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs) are not eligible for opening of NPS accounts.

The correct answer is Disinvestment

Key Points

• The Union Budget for FY 2022-23 this year aims to strengthen the infrastructure with its focus on four priorities of:
• PM GatiShakti.
• Inclusive Development.
• Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise opportunities, Energy Transition, and Climate Action.
• Financing of investments.
• The government's effective capital expenditure is estimated at Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, about 4.1% of GDP. The outlay for capital expenditure to be stepped up sharply by 35.4% from Rs 4.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
• The Budget goals for FY2022-23 aim to further India's aspirations in Amrit Kaal, as it moves towards its 100^th year post independence.
• Focus on growth and all-inclusive welfare.
• Promoting technology-enabled development, energy transition and climate action.
• Virtuous cycle starting from private investment, crowded in by public capital investment.​

The correct answer is 11.7%

Key Points

• The tax revenue in the Union Budget for 2021-22 was estimated at ₹22.17 lakh crore against the revised estimates of ₹19 lakh crore, with a growth of 17%. The Union Budget was presented on 1^st February, 2021 when the 1^st COVID wave had tapered off in India but the world was facing successive waves.
• The surge in tax revenues has lifted India's tax-GDP ratio for the year 2021-22 to 11.7%. This includes a direct tax to GDP ratio at 6.1% and indirect tax to GDP ratio at 5.6%.

The correct answer is 1.7%

Key Points

• As per the WTO data released in April 2019, for the year 2018, India's share in global exports for merchandise was 1.7 % and in global imports was 2.6 %.
• For the year 2018 for service sector, India’s share in global exports was 3.5 % and imports was 3.2 %.
• Government of India is proactively taking a number of steps to boost exports, which inter-alia includes the following:
• Merger of Council of Trade and Development and Board of Trade providing a common platform for addressing stakeholder concerns: This common platform, comprising of representatives from industry, export promotion councils, Government of India and state governments and representatives from banking and finance Sector is playing a critical role in addressing export related concerns, with a focus on addressing these on a priority basis.
• Infusion of funds for Export Support: A capital of Rs. 389 crore has been infused into Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) on 21^st June 2019. A Grant-in-aid (corpus) of Rs. 300 crore has been contributed to National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) trust on 21^st June 2019, thereby, enhancing its risk taking capacity to support project exports in challenging markets.
• Agriculture Export Policy:A new Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) was approved in December 2018 to increase agriculture exports from present US$ 30 Billion to US$ 60+ Billion by 2022. Outlay of Rs. 206 Crores for 2019-20 has been approved for its implementation.
• Boost to Gem and Jewellery exporters - resolution of various issues which inter alia includes removal of the requirement of paying IGST on re-import of goods which were exported earlier for exhibition purpose/consignment basis. Allowing partial discharge of bonds executed by nominated agencies/banks for import of gold to be supplied to jewellery exporters, thereby enabling nominated agencies/banks to release bank guarantee of jewellery exporters who have fulfilled their export obligation.
• Promoting Ease of Doing Business
• Common Digital Platform for Issuance of electronic Certificates of Origin (CoO) for the exporters was launched on 16.09.2019 to improve ease of doing business for exporters.
• Special Economic Zone (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• SEZ (Amendment) Bill 2019 became the first legislation of the newly formed Government to be passed by the Parliament. It will enable any entity to set up a unit in SEZs, including Trusts. This would help boost investments and create new export and job opportunities.
• Better facilities for employees: SEZ units allowed to create facilities/amenities like crèche, gymnasium, cafeteria etc. for their exclusive use as a measure towards ease of doing business.

The correct answer is 109.5 million tonnes.

Key Points

• The production of wheat is estimated to come down to 106.84 million tonnes in 2021-22 from 109.59 million tonnes in 2020-21, according to the Fourth Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2021-22 released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The fourth advance estimates of production of major agricultural crops for the year 2021-22 have been released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The production of Foodgrains in the country is estimated at 315.72 million tonnes which is higher by 4.98 million tonnes than the production of foodgrain during 2020-21.
• The production during 2021-22 is higher by 25 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2016-17 to 2020-21) average production of foodgrains.

The correct answer is It is for the development of border villages on the northern border.

Key Points

• The Union government plans to open the villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the Vibrant Village programme announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.

 Vibrant Village Programme

• The program aims to improve infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China.
• Infrastructure will be improved in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Under the program, residential and tourist centers will be constructed.
• It will also provide for improvement in road connectivity and the development of decentralized renewable energy sources.
• Apart from that, direct access to Doordarshan and education-related channels will be provided.
• The programme is a counter to China’s model villages but the name has been carefully chosen so as to not cause any consternation in the neighbouring country.
• China has established new villages along the LAC in the past few years particularly across the Arunachal Pradesh border.

The correct answer is The primary sector in Bihar had grown at 2.8 per cent.

Key Points

• According to the Economic Survey, Bihar's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) grew by 2.5 percent in 2020-21 and the growth rate is better than the national average, despite the effect of the 'lockdown' imposed to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic.
• According to the survey, the per capita income in Bihar stood at Rs 50,555 during 2020-21 at the current market price as compared to the per capita income of India at Rs 86,659.
• During the last five years 2016-17 to 2020-21, Bihar grew at the highest rate of 2.3 per cent in primary sector, 4.8 per cent in secondary sector and 8.5 per cent in tertiary sector.
• Agriculture and allied sectors have grown at the rate of 2.1 percent in the state during the last five years 2016-17 to 2020-21.
• The total expenditure of the state government in 2020-21 increased by 13.4 percent over the previous year to Rs 1,65,696 crore, which includes Rs 26,203 crore as capital expenditure and Rs 1,39,493 crore as revenue expenditure.
• Agriculture and allied sectors have grown at the rate of 2.1 per cent during the last five years. The growth rate of livestock and fisheries was 10 percent and 7 percent respectively.
• The urbanization of the state has increased very rapidly in the last ten years. According to the 2011 census, the level of urbanization in Bihar was just 11.3 percent, which has increased to 15.3 percent at present.
• In the year 2011, Bihar had only 3.1 percent of the total urban population of the country. The state government has expressed hope that the level of urbanization in Bihar will be very high in the next decade in view of the urban economy growing at a high rate.
• Like the economic disparity among the districts of Bihar, the survey has also pointed out a great disparity in urbanization. Patna district has the highest level of urbanization (44.3 percent), apart from this, only two districts- Munger (28.3 percent) and Nalanda (26.2 percent) have more than 25 percent urbanization.

The correct answer is Nalanda < Munger < Patna.

Key Points

• The urbanization of the state has increased very rapidly in the last ten years.
• According to the 2011 census, the level of urbanization in Bihar was just 11.3%, which has increased to 15.3% at present.
• In the year 2011, Bihar had only 3.1% of the total urban population of the country.
• The state government has expressed hope that the level of urbanization in Bihar will be very high in the next decade in view of the urban economy growing at a high rate.
• Patna district has the highest level of urbanization (44.3%), apart from this, only two districts- Munger (28.3%) and Nalanda (26.2%) have more than 25% urbanization.

The correct answer is 3.47%.

Key Points

• According to Bihar Budget 2022-23, the fiscal deficit is estimated to be Rs 25,885 crore which is 3.47% of GSDP.
• It is within the limit of 4% of GSDP permitted by the central government in 2022-23 as per the Union Budget.
• Fiscal deficit is the excess of total expenditure over total receipts.
• The Bihar Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2006 provides annual targets to progressively reduce the outstanding liabilities. revenue deficit, and fiscal deficit of the state government.
• Revenue balance is the difference between revenue expenditure and revenue receipts.
• A Revenue Deficit implies that the government needs to borrow to finance its expenses which do not increase its assets and reduce its liabilities.
• Fiscal Deficit is the excess of total expenditure over total receipts.
• This gap is filled by borrowings by the government and leads to an increase in total liabilities.
• The government has kept the fiscal deficit under the purview of the FRBM Act at 4.82% in the year 2020-21, 2.97% in the year 2021-22, and 3.47% in the year 2022-23 of gross state domestic product respectively.