CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -EPF pension scheme was launched by the government in 1995 and, hence, is also called the Employees Pension Scheme 1995. It includes both new as well as existing EPF members. The EPS pension scheme has certain arrangements in place if a member wants to withdraw pension funds.

Detailed explanation-2: -The history of the Indian pension system dates back to the colonial period of British-India. The Royal Commission on Civil Establishments, in 1881, first awarded pension benefits to the government employees. The Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935 made further provisions.

Detailed explanation-3: -EPS-95 – Employee Pension Scheme-1995 is a social security scheme provided by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Under this scheme, employees working in the organised sector can get a pension after their retirement at the age of 58 years.

Detailed explanation-4: -Earlier, EPFO was providing pension calculated on the salary of the employee with a maximum cap at Rs. 15,000. Now that the cap of Rs. 15,000 has been removed, the EPS contributions will be calculated based at 8.33% of the actual salary of the employee.

Detailed explanation-5: -Under NPS, a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) is generated and maintained by the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) for individual subscriber. NPS offers two types of accounts, namely Tier-I and Tier-II. Tier-I account is the pension account having restricted withdrawals.