Search Previous Year Questions

The correct answer is 2 and 3 only.

Key Points

• The President of India constitutes the Finance Commission every 5 years.
• The finance commission is a constitutional body mandated by article 280 of the constitution. Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect and 2 is correct.
• The recommendations made by the Finance Commission are of an advisory nature only and therefore, not binding upon the government. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• It submits its report to the President of India.
• The first Finance Commission was constituted in 1951.
• The eligibility of members of the Finance Commission is determined by the Parliament of India. Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect.
• Chairman of the Finance Commission submits his report to the President of India. Hence, Statement 4 is incorrect.
• Composition: Chairman and 4 members.
• ​They make recommendations on
• net proceeds distribution between union and state.
• grant-in-aid from CFI (Consolidated Fund of India).
• Principles and measures needed for augmentation of CFS (Consolidated Fund of State).
• Resources to panchayats and municipalities.
• Any other matter referred to the commission by President in the interest of sound finance.
• Procedure and powers are defined by parliament law.

Important Points

• 15^th Finance Commission
• Chairperson: Nand Kishore Singh
• 16^th Finance Commission
• Chairperson: Shri Arvind Panagariya, former Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog.

The Correct Answer is 1 and 3 only

Key Points

• “The bare necessities” is the availability of such as housing, water, sanitation, electricity, and clean cooking fuel are a sine qua non to live a decent life.
• Access to bare necessities is the highest in the States such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat while it is the lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tripura.
• Compared to 2012, access to “the bare necessities” has improved across all States in the country in 2018.
• -necessities for a healthy life can not be one (think logically)

Important Points

• About Bare Necessities Index:
• The BNI talks about 26 indicators over five dimensions namely water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, along with various other facilities. Hence, statement 3 is correct while 4 is incorrect.
• It has been created for all states in 2012 and 2018 using the data by NSO. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.
• The specifications about the index are that it classifies areas on three levels of access which is high, medium and low to all bare necessities.
• In this survey, it has been underlined that the Government needs to focus on reducing variations in the access to bare necessities in rural and urban areas, and also between various income groups. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Key Takeaways:
• ​In India, access to the Bare Necessities for all income groups in 2018 is significantly better compared to 2012.
• India has seen an improvement in access to drinking water to households in 2018 compared to 2012. It is visible both in rural as well as urban areas.
• States having low access to sanitation in 2012 have gained more. The regional disparity in access to sanitation has declined after this.
• As per the survey, there is an improvement in Housing Index and reduction in inter-States disparities for the lowest income group in 2018 compared to 2012.
• The economic survey saw an improvement in the microenvironment for all States in 2018. Only some like Assam in rural and Odisha and Assam in urban areas didn’t see an improvement compared to 2012.
• Survey points towards a positive correlation between access to bare necessities and better health and education outcomes.
• In 2018, access to bare necessities was the highest in states such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat, and lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tripura.
• The survey also notes an improvement in child survival, decline in stillbirths, malnutrition, and infant mortality with improved access to sanitation and clean drinking water.
• J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh showed improvement in access to bare necessities in rural areas between 2012 and 2018.
• In 2012, urban areas of only Bihar and Manipur fell in the lowest BNI category.
• In 2018, the lowest access in rural India was seen in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Manipur, and Tripura.
• As per the Survey, “the improvement inequity is particularly noteworthy because while the rich can seek private alternatives, lobby for better services, or if need be, move to areas where public goods are better provided for, the poor rarely have such choices.”

The correct answer is Krishi Yantra Banks.

Key Points

• The Gross State Domestic Product of Bihar for 2020-21 (at current prices) is projected to be Rs 6,85,797 crore.

As per the Bihar Budget 2020-21.

• The state has allocated 3.5% of its total expenditure towards agriculture and allied activities. This is significantly lower than the average allocated by states (7.1%).
• Bihar has allocated 12.8% of its expenditure on rural development. This is significantly higher than the average allocation for rural development by states (6.2%).
• Krishi Yantra Banks has been established at Panchayat level.

The correct answer is None of the above.

Key Points

• ​UNDP says the Human Development Index of Bihar for 2019, which includes health, education, and per capita income, is 0.536. This is equal to Pakistan's HDI which also stands at 0.536.
• Human Development Index
• Human Development is measured in terms of the Human Development Index.
• Human Development Index (HDI) was to emphasize people and their capabilities as the criteria for assessing the country's development.
• It is a measure of achievement in human development.
• It does not count on inequalities, poverty and human security.
• It is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education and per capital income.

Additional Information

• UNDP
• The full form is the 'United Nations Development Programme'.
• It was founded in the year 1965.
• It is a programme of the United Nations organization to help countries eliminate poverty.
• It aids in achieving economic growth and human development.
• The organisation is headquartered in New York City.
• It emphasizes developing self-sufficiency and prosperity for developing countries.
• UNDP publishes the Human Development Report that includes Human Development.

The correct answer is Option 1.

Key Points

• The Finance Minister of Bihar, Mr. Tarkishore Prasad, presented the Budget for the state for the financial year 2021-22 on February 22, 2021.  Due to the impact of COVID-19, 2020-21 was not a standard year with respect to the performance of the economy and government finances.  In this note, 2021-22 budget estimates have been compared to the actuals for 2019-20 (in terms of compounded annual growth rate or CAGR).  A comparison of the revised estimates for 2020-21 and budget estimates for 2021-22 has been provided in the Annexure.
• The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Bihar for 2021-22 (at current prices) is projected to be Rs 7,57,026 crore.  This is an annual increase of 11% over the GSDP in 2019-20.  As per the revised estimates, in 2020-21, GSDP is estimated to increase by 4.7% over the previous year (budget estimate was 11.1%).
• Total expenditure for 2021-22 is estimated to be Rs 2,18,303 crore, an annual increase of 23% over the actual expenditure in 2019-20.  As per the revised estimates, total expenditure in 2020-21 is estimated to be 6% higher than the budget estimate (an increase of Rs 13,697 crore).
• Total receipts (excluding borrowings) for 2021-22 are estimated to be Rs 1,86,697 crore, an annual increase of 23% over the actual receipts in 2019-20.   In 2020-21, total receipts (excluding borrowings) are estimated to fall short of the budget estimate by Rs 9,684 crore (a decrease of 5%).
• Revenue surplus in 2021-22 is estimated to be Rs 9,196 crore, which is 1.21% of the GSDP.  In 2020-21 (revised estimate), the state has estimated a revenue deficit of Rs 5,187 crore (0.8% of GSDP).
• Fiscal deficit in 2021-22 is estimated to be Rs 22,511 crore (2.97% of GSDP).  As per revised estimates, in 2020-21, fiscal deficit is estimated to be 6.77% of GSDP, which is significantly higher than the budget estimate of 2.97% of GSDP. Hence Option 1 is correct.

The correct answer is option 5.

Key Points

• Under Digital Bihar Program, all students of Class VI and above will receive computer education and training from 2021-22 onwards. Hence option 5 is the correct answer.
• The state will take steps towards implementing the National Education Policy 2020 and increasing the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 50% by 2035.
• According to a preliminary report by the union education ministry, more than one crore children in Bihar and over 30 lakh children in both Jharkhand and Karnataka have no access to digital learning devices.
• Meanwhile, Kerala and Rajasthan are on the bright end of the spectrum, where all children have access to digital devices.
• The data was shared by the Ministry of Education with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports.
• The question of access to digital learning has been repeatedly raised in the past year, when the pandemic forced schools and colleges to adopt online methods of teaching, restricting education to the virtual medium.

The correct answer is 4.12%.

Key Points

• The 15^th Finance Commission’s report for the 2021-26 period was released on 1 February 2021.
• For the 2021-26 period, the Commission has recommended the share of states in the divisible pool of central taxes to be 41%, same as that for 2020-21 (also recommended by the 15^th FC in its report for 2020-21).
• Based on the 15^th Finance Commission’s recommendations for the period 2021-26, Bihar will have a 4.12% share in the divisible pool of central taxes.

The correct answer is Sudipto Mundle.

Key Points

• Sudipto Mundle is an Emeritus Professor and Member of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), New Delhi. He has served as a member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission, constituted by Government of India.
• The 15^th Finance Commission submitted its report on the ratio in which tax is to be divided between the Centre and states over the next five years.
• Head- N.K Singh
• Members- Ajay Narayan Jha, Ramesh Chand, Ashok Lahiri, Anoop Singh.
• The FFC submitted two reports—the first report consisted of recommendations for the financial year 2020-21 and the final report with recommendations for 2021-26.

Additional Information

• The 15^th Finance Commission had recommended a total devolution of ₹8,55,176 crore to the states, which is 41 per cent of the divisible pool of taxes for 2020-21.
• Whereas, 14^th Finance Commission had recommended states be given 42% of all taxes.
• The Commission has mooted a greater role for public-private partnerships to ramp up the health infrastructure and scale up public spending on health from 0.95% of GDP to 2.5% by 2024.
• The Commission has recommended steps to fix the skewed availability of healthcare across India as poorer States have the worst facilities.
• The Commission said that the total spending of around 0.95% of GDP is not adequate in relation to the commitments under the National Healthy Policy of 2017.
• The endeavour must be to raise public spending from 0.95% of GDP to 2.5% of GDP by 2024 as per the Commission.
• They also suggested the constitution of an All India Medical Service as envisaged in the Civil Services Act of 1951.

The correct answer is 74%.

Key Points

• The government raised FDI in insurance under the automatic route to 74% from 49% in 2021.
• Ownership and control had to remain with Indian residents as per the 2015 Insurance Act amendment. Several overseas investors increased their stakes in Indian insurance joint ventures after the limit was raised in 2015.
• Higher FDI enabled companies to go in for initial public offerings.

Additional Information

• Insurance, an integral part of the financial sector, plays a significant role in India’s economy.
• The insurance sector in India is a colossal one and is growing at a speedy rate of 15-20%.
• Together with banking services, insurance services add about 7% to the country’s GDP.

The correct answer is 6.8%.

Key Points

• Revenue deficit is targeted at 5.1% of GDP, and fiscal deficit is targeted at 6.8% of GDP in 2021-22.
• The target for the primary deficit (which is fiscal deficit excluding interest payments) is 3.1% of GDP.
• In 2020-21, as per the revised estimate, the revenue deficit is 7.5% of GDP, and the fiscal deficit is 9.5% of GDP.

Important Points

• Total Expenditure: The government is estimated to spend Rs 34,83,236 crore during 2021-22 which is an annual increase of 14% over 2019-20.  Out of the total expenditure, revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 29,29,000 crore (12% annual increase over 2019-20) and capital expenditure is estimated to be Rs 5,54,236 crore (29% annual increase over 2019-20).
• Total Receipts: The government receipts (excluding borrowings) are estimated to be Rs 19,76,424 crore, an annual increase of 6% over 2019-20.  Borrowings are estimated at Rs 15,06,812 crore (27% annual increase over 2019-20).
• Transfer to states: The central government will transfer Rs 13,88,502 crore to states and union territories in 2021-22 (an annual increase of 10% over 2019-20).  This includes devolution of (i) Rs 6,65,563 crore to states, out of the centre’s share of taxes (an increase of 1%), and (ii) Rs 7,22,939 crore in the form of grants and loans (an increase of 21%).  In 2020-21, while devolution to states fell by 30% at the revised stage (compared to budget estimates), grants were higher by 26%.
• GDP growth estimate: The nominal GDP is estimated to grow at a rate of 14.4% in 2021-22.  In Budget 2020-21, GDP was estimated to grow at 10%, which was revised to -13%.