Banking and Financial Awareness_nirdeshak

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Banking and Financial Awareness – 671) The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched formally on 28 September2014 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Thescheme promoted mainly to end financial untouchability in India saw the opening of an estimated 1.5crore bank accounts across the country on this single day. What are the main benefits for familiesopening accounts under PMJDY?

Explanation : Following are the main benefits for account holders of PMJDY

1. A RuPay debit card for every account holder 2.

Rs. 1 lakh accident insurance cover 3. Rs. 5,000 overdraft facility 4.

An additional Rs. 30,000/- life insurance cover for those opening bank accounts before 26

January 2015 ………………………………………………………………………………………. 2) Which professional services firm was hired by the Union Finance Ministry to undertake a validationexercise of the number of basic bank accounts opened by the banks under the Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY)? – KPMG

Explanation : KPMG would provide some comfort to the Finance Ministry that the numbers submitted by the banks

pertaining to PMJDY were accurate and reflected the true picture. KPMG‘s confirmation of the numberof accounts opened will help the Centre pitch for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records forthe maximum number of bank accounts opened in a day. On 28 August 2014, the launch date of thePMJDY, the banking system had opened around 1.5 crore bank accounts. KPMG has alreadycommenced work for this purpose and have approached banks to share information on the number ofaccounts opened under the PMJDY. Under the PMJDY, the Government is looking to open at least 7.5crore basic bank accounts for 7.5 crore unbanked families in the country.

………………………………………………………………………………………. 3) What is the slogan (punchline) of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) which was launched on

28 August 2014? – ―Mera khaata Bhagya vidhataa‖ (which means ―My Bank Account – The GoodFortune Creator‖)

………………………………………………………………………………………. 4) Which public sector bank on 5 September 2014 Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan – two new SavingsBank products for children? – State Bank of India (SBI) Explanation :Pehla Kadam is a Savings Bank account for minor of any age operated jointly with his/her

parent/guardian, while Pehli Udaan is a singly operated Savings Bank Account for a minor aged 10years and above and who can sign uniformly. Specially branded passbook and cheque book have beendesigned for these products. All the account holders will be given an exclusively designed personalised

photo ATM-cum-Debit Card. Other features bundled along with the two products include Internet banking with limited transaction facilities like bill payment, opening of fixed deposits, recurringdeposits, etc. with per day transaction limit of Rs. 5,000, and mobile banking with limited transactionfacilities like bill payment, and top-ups with per day transaction limit of Rs. 2,000.………………………………………………………………………………………. 5) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during August 2014 notified that the two-step authentication forcredit card transactions including ‗card not present transactions‘ is a must as mandated under the rules.This announcement was made by the RBI primarily to set right which anomaly? – To bring under

check the so-called customer-friendly payment model followed by certain service providers Explanation :The toughening RBI stance on two-step authentication process is primarily aimed to set right an

unintended wrong arising out of the so-called customer-friendly payment model followed by certainservice providers. By doing so, they have managed to give the two-step authentication requirement aslip. According to the RBI, however, this is resulting in foreign exchange outflow. The non-adherence tothe two-step authentication process has also made the field uneven for players especially in fields such



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as taxi operation. Frequent taxi users among credit card holders will prefer a cab provider who accepts ahassle-free payment process.

………………………………………………………………………………………. 6) The much-awaited minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1,000 and a higher wage ceiling of Rs. 15,000for social security scheme run by retirement fund manager Employees‘ Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) came into effect from 1 September 2014. This Rs. 1,000 pension scheme is being madeavailable under which scheme of EPFO? – Employees‘ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) Explanation :The government has notified enhancement of wage ceiling to Rs. 15,000 per month, fixed minimummonthly pension at Rs. 1,000 under EPS-95 and enhanced the maximum sum assured under theEmployees‘ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme to Rs. three lakh. The government‘s decision tofix pension entitlement of Rs. 1,000 under the Employees‘ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPFS -95) willimmediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners who get less than this amount at present. The move to enhancethe minimum wage ceiling for becoming a subscriber of Employees‘ Provident Fund Organisationto Rs. 15,000 per month is expected to bring 50 lakh additional formal sector workers under the ambit ofthe body.

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7) To strengthen warehousing facilities in the commodity futures market, regulator Forward Markets

Commission (FMC) has come out with which important proposal during August 2014? – Uniform

norms should be established for the accreditation of warehousing service providers Explanation :The draft rules, on which public comments have been sought by 15 September 2014, come in the wakeof Rs 5,600 crore payment scam at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) that surfaced in July lastyear, exposing loopholes in the system. The proposed changes are being made because at present nouniform norms are being followed by national level commodity exchanges for accreditation ofwarehousing service providers (WSPs).

………………………………………………………………………………………. 8) What is the most important recommendation of the Kelkar Committee on gas pricing, as disclosed in

the second report of the committee presented during August 2014? – Domestic gas prices should belinked to the market Explanation :The committee to recommend a new gas-pricing formula was constituted in 2013 under former FinanceSecretary Vijay Kelkar. The suggestion of market-linked pricing for domestic natural gas came after aseries of consultations by the committee. The committee in its recommendations said that naturalresources should be priced at the highest price possible in the market, based on market-determined

pricing. This will ensure energy security for the country by encouraging domestic exploration and production, efficient use of the resource and reduction in the import burden. The first report of thiscommittee was brought out in January 2014.

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9) The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 28 August 2014 constituted a high-level committee toscrutinise all income tax cases arising out of the retrospective tax amendment. Which govt. officialheads this committee? – The Joint Secretary of the Foreign Tax and Tax Research Unit -1 of CBDT Explanation :The announcement about this mechanism was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in hisBudget 2014-15 speech on 10 July 2014. According to the terms of reference for the new committee, itwould decide on such retrospective cases within of 60 days of receiving them from the AssessingOfficer. Retrospective tax is the tax rate levied by income tax department which is perceived higher bythe company being assessed, charged higher due to some unknown reasons.

………………………………………………………………………………………. 10) Ratan Tata, Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus, recently made personal investments in which online

marketplace company? – Snapdeal.com Explanation :Snapdeal is the second largest online marketplace in India after Flipkart.com. The company has raisedabout $400 million since its inception and has invested about $100 million in logistics and operations to



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expand its presence in the $3 billion Indian e-Commerce market. Snapdeal currently houses over 5million products across 500 diverse categories from over 50,000 sellers. Snapdeal claims that it had seen600% growth year-on-year for the last two years.

Banking and Financial Awareness – 661) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 18 August 2014 constituted a 15-member inter-regulatorycommittee to monitor the growing phenomenon of shadow banking. Who has been appointed as the

Chairman of this committee? – P. Vijaya Bhaskar (Executive Director, RBI) Explanation : Shadow banking refers to banking-like activity by non-banking finance companies(NBFCs) that remain outside the regulatory net. They generally operate as intermediaries betweeninvestors and borrowers. The role of this newly constituted committee will be to find out the volume ofmoney in shadow banks, who the investors are and direction of the money flow, etc. Also real estatedealings will be looked into very meticulously by the committee. The 15-member committee comprisesof officials of the RBI, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Central Economic IntelligenceBureau and the National Housing Bank (NHB).

…………………………………………………………………………… 2) What is the name of the new scheme announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August2014 to help the poor in opening bank accounts, which will come with the facility of a debit card and an

accidental insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh? – ‗Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana‘ Explanation : The Union Cabinet has already cleared the two-phase financial inclusion scheme underwhich bank accounts will be opened for 15 crore poor persons with an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 andaccidental insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh. The scheme, to be pushed by the government in a missionmode, seeks to provide two accounts to 7.5 crore identified households by August 2018. The PrimeMinister in his Independence Day address observed that people have mobile phones but not bankaccounts and he hoped that the scheme will help in bringing the benefits of formal banking system tothem.…………………………………………………………………………… 3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 August 2014 released the charter of customer rights, whichseeks to provide the right to be treated with courtesy to both the customer and the financial services

provider. What are the important clauses of this charter?- The customer should not be unfairly discriminated against on grounds such as gender, age,

religion, caste and physical ability when offering and delivering financial products by the financial

services provider - The key risks associated with the financial product as well as any features that may especially

disadvantage the customer should be made known to him/her by the financial services provider - The financial services provider should provide customers with product terms and conditions that

are in simple language, easily understandable, and with sufficient information that the customer

could be reasonably expected to make an appropriate choice of product - The financial services provider may, however, have certain special products which are

specifically designed for members of a target market group or may use defensible, commercially

acceptable economic rationale for discriminating between customers …………………………………………………………………………… 4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on 14 August 2014 that its board has given approval tocreate an additional post in the rank of Deputy Governor. For this RBI has approached the governmentfor required legislative changes. Which post is this? – Chief Operating Officer (COO) Explanation : The RBI, the central bank of India, is presently headed by a Governor and assisted byfour deputy governors looking after different functions of the bank. It now wants to create a post ofCOO and re-allocate work among the five. The RBI has been deliberating on a broad HR restructuringexercise to align organisational resources and structures with the needs of the domestic economy andchanges in the external environment.

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) Who took over as the fourth Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during July 2014? – Subhash Sheoratan Mundra or S.S. Mundra Explanation : S.S. Mundra took the charge as the Deputy Governor of the RBI on 31 July 2014. Threeother deputy governors of the RBI are Urjit Patel, HR Khan, and R. Gandhi. Before taking this



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responsibility at RBI, Mundra was the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the public-sector bank – Bank of Baroda (BOB). Mundra filled the vacancy created by the retirement of K.C. Chakrabartyin April 2014, two months before his five-year tenure was come to an end.…………………………………………………………………………… 6) On 20 August 2014 the Finance Ministry ordered a forensic audit to be done at the branches of two

banks in view of the reports of misappropriation of funds worth Rs. 436 crore. Which two banks areinvolved in this matter? – Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) Explanation : According to media reports, a Mumbai-based branch manager of Dena Bank mobilisedfixed deposits (FDs), using middlemen, to the tune of Rs 256.5 crore from seven corporates, while in thecase of OBC, misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs. 180 crore was reported. In the wake of risingscams in public sector banks, the Finance Ministry is looking at various steps, including strengthening ofrisk management, appointment of bank chiefs for longer tenures, separation of posts and better quality ofnominee and independent directors.…………………………………………………………………………… 7) Which international finance entity launched a $2.5-billion onshore Indian rupee bond programme on20 August 2014 so as to strengthen the capital market and support infrastructure development in India? –

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Explanation : IFC is a member of the World Bank Group. It finances and provides advice for private

sector ventures and projects in developing countries in partnership with domestic financial institutionsand banks. Under the rupee bond programme, IFC will use a combination of rupee-denominated bondsand swaps to raise local currency financing of up to $2.5 billion or Rs. 15,000 crore over the next fiveyears. Proceeds from the programme will be used for infrastructure investments in India.

…………………………………………………………………………… 8) What is the name of the ambitious e-governance project of the Union Govt., which was approved bythe Union Cabinet on 20 August 2014 and which aims to ensure that government services are availableto citizens electronically? – ‗Digital India‘ Project Explanation : The project, which has a total overlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, aims to ensure that governmentservices are available to citizens electronically and help people gain benefits from the latest information

and communication technology. ‗Digital India‘ project envisages bringing all the existing initiativessuch as the Ebiz project, E-kranti, virtual classroom, e-visas and the National Optical Fibre Network

project under a single umbrella. Other programmes include implementation of e-office to makeGovernment departments paperless, encouraging domestic manufacturing of electronic products andkick starting Research & Development and entrepreneurship development fund. The project wasunveiled in the Budget 2014-15 and is being directly monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

…………………………………………………………………………… 9) What is the name of the controversial survey conducted by the Telangana Government throughout thestate on 19 August 2014 and due to which various sections of the state were scared and apprehensive? – ―Samagra Kutumbh Survey‖ or ―Intensive Household Survey‖ Explanation : The ―Intensive Household Survey‖, completed in one day across Telangana, was to

identify genuine beneficiaries of government welfare measures. The surveyors sought to see bankaccount details and the Aadhar card. The government had declared holidays under the Shops andEstablishment Act. Residents of Telangana, especially capital Hyderabad, who originally came fromAndhra areas were scared with this survey as they felt that the information collected from them would

be used against them at a later stage. As various sections of the state populace were apprehensive aboutthis survey, the matter was taken to the Hyderabad High Court about validity of the survey. The HighCourt on 14 August 2014 permitted the Telangana government to go ahead with the survey on theassurance of the state‘s Advocate General that the exercise was not mandatory and denizens couldchoose not to answer the queries of enumerators. The survey was conducted across the ten districts inthe state with the help of four lakh government employees and a huge team of outsourced enumeratorsin the state.

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) India‘s capital market regulator SEBI on 22 August 2014 ordered which NBFC entity to refund themoney raised from some 58.5 million customers through collective investment schemes (CIS)? – Pearls

Agrotech Corp. Ltd



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Explanation : Delhi-based Pearls Agrotech operates from 15 regional offices and had 3.35 million fieldassociates in 2011-12. SEBI found Pearls Agrotech violating CIS regulations by mobilizing the moneywithout being registered with the regulator. The company offered two kinds of plans- a cash-down

payment plan and an instalment payment plan. Under the former, it offered to allot land to customerswithin 270 days of payment and under the latter within 90 days.

Banking and Financial Awareness – 65

1) The Reserve Bank of India on 14 August 2014 announced its decision to reduce the number ofmandated free transactions for savings bank account holders at other bank ATMs located in six metrocities from five to three per month. This reduction would come into effect from which date? – 1

November 2014 Explanation : The six metro cities (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad)were chosen first for reducing the number of mandated free transactions as they are well-served in termsof payment infrastructure. This reduction in the number of mandated free transactions will, however, notapply to customers having no-frills/small/Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) type ofaccounts as well as for transactions done by savings bank account holders at ATMs situated outsidethese six metro cities. Banks are also free to offer free transactions above this mandated limit.

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2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 August 2014 issued guidelines for asset reconstructioncompanies (ARCs) to increase their investments in security receipts (SRs) with the objective ofstrengthening the asset recovery sector. What is the minimum prescribed percentage of funds that ARCswould now have to invest in SRs as directed in this RBI guideline? – 15% Explanation : This minimum investment requirement for ARCs was 5% at present. Public sector bankssell their bad loans or NPAs (non-performing assets) to these ARCs. Sale of bad loans to ARCs gainedmomentum in 2013-14 mainly because banks were able to obtain better prices for these sales. But thisRBI directive is likely to dissuade ARCs from offering a better price, since they will now have to make ahigher upfront payment.

……………………………………………………………………… 3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) presented its bi-monthly policy review on 5 August 2014. It kept

the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 8.0%. It also left the cashreserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).However, which was the only major rate to be changed in this policy review? – The Statutory

Liquidity Ratio (SLR) Explanation : The SLR of scheduled commercial banks was reduced by 50 basis points from 22.5% to22.0% of their NDTL with effect from the fortnight beginning 9 August 2014.

The major rates after this policy review are as follows:* Short-term lending (repo) rate unchanged at 8%* Cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4%* SLR cut by 0.50% to 22% to unlock banking funds* Lowers banks‘ SLR holdings in held-to-maturity category by 0.5% to 24%

……………………………………………………………………… 4) Indian Parliament on 12 August 2014 passed the bill to empower SEBI to act against ponzi operatorsand market manipulators more effectively. What is the name of this bill? – The Securities Law

(Amendment) Bill, 2014 Explanation : The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2014 and the Rajya Sabha passed it on12 August 2014. It empowers SEBI to act against ponzi operators and market manipulators moreeffectively through search and seizure, attachment orders and recovery proceedings and with access tocall data records. This marks a dilution from the direct powers granted to SEBI Chairman through asmany as three ordinances in the past one year to authorise search and seizure operations. Under the actconstituted (with the passing of this bill), a special SEBI court would be set up in Mumbai to fast track

prosecution proceedings launched by SEBI, as also to clear search and seizure operations proposed bySEBI.

……………………………………………………………………… 5) India‘s capital market regulator SEBI cleared final guidelines for creation and listing of businesstrusts for key sectors of real estate and infrastructure on 10 August 2014. These guidelines have been



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cleared to help attract greater foreign and domestic investments into these sectors. What are the namesof business trusts associated with real estate and infrastructure which would be created and listed withthese SEBI guidelines? – Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts(InvITs)Explanation : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had outlined the proposal for establishment of Real EstateInvestment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in the Union Budget 2014-15

presented on 10 July 2014. The new norms would enable listing and trading of REITs and InvITs as any

other security on the stock exchange platforms and would also help create new platforms for raising offunds by real estate and infrastructure companies. Along with foreign investors, domestic institutionslike insurers, pension funds and provident funds would also be allowed to invest in these trusts.

……………………………………………………………………… 6) In order to solve the ongoing tussle between India and the WTO (World Trade Organisation), Indiaduring August 2014 suggested fixing of the base year for food subsidies on the basis of average of lastthree years. What is the year proposed by the WTO to be taken as the base year? – 1986-87 Explanation : India is of the view that taking 1986-87 as a base year in 2014-15 is completely illogicaland it has hence suggested a more scientific calculation for base year calculation. Indian Governmenthad vetoed the adoption of a WTO treaty to simplify, standardise and streamline the rules for shippinggoods across borders, having previously agreed to its terms at a ministerial conference in Bali(Indonesia) during December 2013. India wanted more attention paid to its concerns over WTO limitson stockpiling of food which will ultimately hit its subsidised food distribution programme, the world‘slargest, targeted at nearly 850 million people.……………………………………………………………………… 7) SEBI gave its approval to single registration for stock brokers during August 2014. What would bethe main benefit for brokers with this approval? – Now the brokers would not need to obtain multiple

certificates from SEBI for operating in the different segments of equity, equity derivatives,

currency derivative and debt Explanation : Under the proposed regime, initial certificate of registration as stock broker/clearingmember will be granted by SEBI and subsequent permissions to act as stock brokers/clearing member of

other stock exchanges/clearing corporations will be granted by respective stock exchange/clearingcorporation after following the prescribed procedure. The latest SEBI move will also obviate the needfor separate certificate for each category of operations – trading member, trading-cum-self clearingmember and professional clearing member.

……………………………………………………………………… 8) Petroleum Ministry during August 2014 accorded its in-principle approval for stake-sale in ONGCwhich may fetch the government about Rs. 18,000 crore to meet disinvestment target for the currentfiscal. For this how much stake-sale in the company is proposed? – 5% Explanation : As per the Budget 2014-15, the disinvestment target is Rs. 58,425 crore includingreceipts from disinvestment of government stake in the non-government companies. The Department ofDisinvestment (DoD) has kickstarted the process of stake sale in ONGC and has invited bids for

appointing merchant bankers to manage the share sale.……………………………………………………………………… 9) Indian Railways during August 2014 launched a contact-less smart card enabling passengers to payfor reserved as well as unreserved travelling train tickets as part of a pilot project. What is the name ofthis smart card with lifetime validity? – ‗Go-India‘ Explanation : The ‗Go-India‘ Card has been launched to be used at nominated UTS counters andAutomatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and nominated PRS counters for reserved tickets. Thecard will enable passengers to pay for tickets for long distance reserved, unreserved and suburban

journeys. It is part of a pilot project to be implemented on two sectors – New Delhi – Howrah and NewDelhi – Mumbai. On New Delhi – Howrah sector this card could be used at 6 railway stations – NewDelhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Dhanbad, Asansol and Howrah whereas on New Delhi – Mumbai sector the

card could be used at New Delhi, Kota, Vadodara, Ratlam, Surat and Mumbai Central. The card would be of pre-paid nature and can be bought for Rs. 70 where passenger can get a value of Rs. 20 balance.After that the card can be recharged for Rs. 20 or in multiples of Rs. 50 up to Rs. 5,000. Maximumrecharge value for ‗Go-India‘ Card would be Rs. 10,000.



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……………………………………………………………………… 10) What is the name of the proposed airline of Tata-SIA Airlines Limited (TSAL), a joint-venture

between Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines (SIA)? – ‗Vistara‘ Explanation : The much-anticipated name was announced on 11 August 2014 by TSAL amid therelease of the aubergine and gold logo of ‗Vistara‘. ‗Vistara‘ is derived from the Sanskrit word, whichmeans limitless expanse and draws inspiration from the brand‘s domain – the limitless sky. It would be afull service airline service and may take to the skies in October 2014.

Banking and Financial Awareness – 641) The Union Govt. on 26 July 2014 launched a web portal for enabling government-citizen discussionson several issues. What is the name of this portal which was inaugurated by Prime Minister NarendraModi? – MyGov Explanation : The main objective of MyGov is to engage the youth of the country in the nation‘sdevelopment. It presents an opportunity to citizens to both discuss and do constructive work. There aremultiple theme-based discussions on MyGov where a range of people would share their thoughts andideas. The portal is implemented and managed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and theDepartment of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).

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2) Public sector based Central Bank during July 2014 announced its plans to sell 4% of its stake to LICfor Rs. 581 crore. This stake sale is planned to meet bank‘s capital requirement of Rs. 2,000 crore thisfiscal. With this proposed sale Union Govt.‘s holding in Central Bank would come down to – 84% Explanation : Presently the Union Govt. holds 88% stake in Central Bank. Once the bank gets fundsfrom LIC, it will then approach the government for around Rs. 1,500 crore of additional capital. Thegovernment has earmarked only Rs.11,200 crore for fund infusion into public sector banks this currentfiscal, down from Rs.14,000 crore in the last fiscal.

…………………………………………………………………………. 3) How many banks were fined by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 July 2014 for violating central

bank rules in the case of Deccan Chronicle Holdings? – Twelve Explanation : These 12 banks are – Andhra Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Axis Bank (Rs 15 lakh), Canara Bank

(Rs 10 lakh), Corporation Bank (Rs 10 lakh), HDFC Bank (Rs 5 lakh), ICICI Bank (Rs 40 lakh), IDBIBank (Rs 15 lakh), IndusInd Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Ratnakar Bank (Rs5 lakh), State Bank of Hyderabad (Rs 10 lakh) and Yes Bank (Rs 10 lakh). The RBI had carried out ascrutiny of the loan and current accounts of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd., in certain branches ofthese banks in late 2013. After this scrutiny it came to the conclusion that some of the violations weresubstantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.

…………………………………………………………………………. 4) The government of Portugal on 4 August 2014 announced how much relief package for country‘slargest listed bank – Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to bill out the beleaguered bank? – 4.9 billion euros

($6.58 billion) Explanation : This relief package was announced just months after Portugal exited an international

bailout and is therefore expected to test the Euro Zone‘s resilience to another banking crisis. The rescueof Banco Espirito Santo would include split of the bank into a ―good bank‖, renamed Novo Banco, and a―bad bank‖, which will house BES‘ exposures to the troubled Espirito Santo business empire as well asits subsidiary.

…………………………………………………………………………. 5) Which telecom company during July 2014 became the first in India to have a combined subscriber

base of over 300 million? – Bharti AirtelExplanation : Bharti Airtel‘s subscriber base across mobile, fixed line and DTH services crossed 300million recently. Company‘s latest 100 million subscribers were added in less than 2 years. Bharti Airtelhas been ranked as the fourth-largest mobile service provider globally and second-largest globally

outside of China. It started its operations in 1995 and had touched 100-million customer mark in 2009and the 200 million mark in 2012.

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6) S.K. Jain, who was arrested by the CBI on charges of allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh toenhance the credit limit of some companies, was the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of which

public-sector bank? – Syndicate Bank Explanation : He was arrested on 2 August 2014 by the CBI and was suspended by the Union Govt. on4 August 2014. Jain was appointed CMD of state-owned Syndicate Bank in July last year for a period offive years. He was one of the youngest CMDs of a public sector bank and was due to retire in 2020.

…………………………………………………………………………. 7) What is the name of the mission announced by the Union Govt. on 28 July 2014 envisioned to protectthe indigenous breeds of cows in the country? – Rashtriya Gokul Mission Explanation : Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) was announced as part of BJP‘s poll promise to protectthe cow and its progeny. To protect indigenous breeds, such as Punganur, Vechur and Krishna Valley,the Government plans to set up ‗Gokul Grams‘ (cow sanctuaries), for which public -private partnershipsas well as NGOs will be involved. The Government has kept aside Rs. 500 crore for the mission out ofthe Rs. 1,200 crore allocated for cattle and dairy development during the 12 th Plan. Of this Rs. 150 crorewill be spent this fiscal.…………………………………………………………………………. 8) Which Indian online retailer, during July 2014 raised $1-billion (Rs 6,013 crore) of fresh funds in oneof the largest funding for any e-commerce company globally? –

Flipkart

Explanation : Flipkart is the largest online retailer of India with around 22 million registered users andfive million shipments in a month. This massive funding was co-led by existing investors Tiger GlobalManagement and Naspers. Singapore‘s sovereign wealth fund GIC, along with existing investors AccelPartners, DST Global, ICONIQ Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Sofina, also

participated in the fund-raising. The company will utilise the proceeds to make long-term strategicinvestments in India. It is estimated that the firm has, so far, raised over $1.7 billion from investors,including the current transaction.…………………………………………………………………………. 9) Palghar became the 36 th and the newest district of Maharashtra on 1 August 2014. It was carved outfrom which district, which was India‘s most populous district? – Thane

Explanation : The proposal for a new, smaller and manageable Palghar district was hanging fire forover two decades. The proposal was finally cleared by the Maharashtra Cabinet on 13 June 2014. With a

population of over 12 million, till 31 July 2014, Thane held the distinction of being the most populateddistrict in the country, spread across 9,600 sq.kms of hills, forests and coastal areas.

…………………………………………………………………………. 10) Which city would host the 21st Commonwealth Games of 2018? – Gold Coast City (Australia) Explanation : Gold Coast City is situated in the Queensland province of Australia. The city would hostthe 21st Commonwealth Games from 4 to 15 April 2018. The hosting rights to Gold Coast City wereawarded in November 2011. It thus would be the fifth hosting of these games in Australia, with theearlier stagings in 1938 (Sydney), 1962 (Perth), 1982 (Brisbane), and 2006 (Melbourne).

Banking and Financial Awareness –

631) What is the minimum paid-up capital limit recommended by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forthose entities who wish to set up payments and small banks, as announced in the draft rules released byit on 17 July 2014? – Rs. 100 crore Explanation : According to the draft guidelines, existing authorised non-bank pre-paid instrumentissuers (PPIs), non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), corporate BCs (business correspondents),mobile telephone companies, super market chains, companies, real sector co-operatives and publicsector entities are eligible for setting up a payments bank. The guidelines allow even banks to takeequity position in a payments bank as permitted under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The promoterswill have to have an initial minimum capital of at least 40%. It has prescribed a lock-in period of fiveyears for promoters‘ holding. The central bank has sought suggestions and comments on the draft

guidelines by 28 August 2014.……………………………………………………………………….. 2) Which public-sector undertaking (PSU) on 23 July 2014 became the 17 th Navratna status company? – Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)



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Explanation : The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Department of PublicEnterprises, Government of India granted Navratna status to CONCOR on 23 July 2014. CONCOR is aPSU engaged in providing comprehensive logistics solutions. It has the largest network of 62 inlandcontainer depots (ICDs)/container freight stations in India. In addition to providing inland transport byrail for containers, it has also expanded to cover management of ports, air cargo complexes andestablishing cold-chain. The Government of India (GoI) holds 61.80% stake in CONCOR (as per theshareholding pattern as on 30 June 2014).……………………………………………………………………….. 3) Which private sector bank has agreed to buy a 15% stake in beleaguered Multi Commodity Exchangeof India Ltd (MCX), announcement of which pushed the stock value of MCX by more than 10% on 21July 2014? – Kotak Mahindra BankExplanation : The commodity market regulator, Forward Market Commission (FMC), had orderedMCX to reduce its promoter- Financial Technologies‘ (FT‘s) stake from 26 to 2% in December last yearafter FT was found not fit and proper to own stake in any exchange, following the NSEL crisis.However, since the promoter repeatedly missed the deadline for reducing its stake, the regulator said itwould not allow the exchange to issue any new contracts beyond August, unless they did so. The newsof Kotak Mahindra Bank‘s buyout has thus come at the right time. Prominent investor RakeshJhunjhunwala had also acquired nearly 2% stake in MCX for about Rs. 66 crore during July 2014.

……………………………………………………………………….. 4) The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) on 19 July 2014 released a list of 1,129 ‗wilful‘corporate loan defaulters on the occasion of the Bank Nationalisation Day. All the companies mentionedin the list had defaulted loans over Rs. 10 crore. What is the approximate aggregate value of thesedefaulters? – Rs. 54,000 croreExplanation : The purpose of releasing the list by BEFI on the Bank Nationalisation Day was to put

pressure on the defaulters and bank managements. BEFI claimed that a similar list released by unionsabout five years ago helped some recovery. This list claimed that during the year ended 2013-14,

provisioning for Non Performing Assets (NPAs) accounted for Rs. 63,591 crore out of a total operating profit of Rs. 1,27,965 crore. Lanco Mandakini Hydro Energy, Sujana Group, Kingfisher, Progressive

Construction, Viceroy Hotels, Regency Ceramics, Nav Bharat International, S Kumars Nationwide Ltdand Deccan Chronicle have been named in the list, among others.

……………………………………………………………………….. 5) Who was during July 2014 chosen as the head of the committee formed to review the previous UPAgovernment‘s decision to raise the price of natural gas that would have led to a cascading effect on

power tariff, urea costs and retail price of piped cooking gas? – Suresh Prabhu Explanation : Suresh Prabhu is a former Union power minister. An indicative terms of reference for thecommittee includes revisiting the Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines of 2014 (NGPG 2014) and the C.Rangarajan formula and the possibility of applying the same in its present form or with modifications.……………………………………………………………………….. 6) Which company on 23 July 2014 became the first Indian company to cross market capitalization

value of Rs. 5 lakh crore? – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Explanation : Market capitalization is the value of a company‘s outstanding shares and is used todetermine a company‘s size. TCS‘s market capitalization crossed 5 lakh crore mark on account ofappreciation in the price of TCS scrip following good financial results and record dividend declaration

by the company. State-held ONGC‘s market cap of around Rs. 3.5 lakh crore is way behind that of TCS.It is worth mentioning that TCS‘ market cap is more than the combined market cap of its nearest threerivals – Infosys (Rs 1.90 lakh crore), Wipro (Rs 1.39 lakh crore) and HCL Tech (Rs 1.07 lakh crore).

……………………………………………………………………….. 7) The Union Govt. on 19 July 2014 set up an expert committee to look into concerns raised by costaccountants over some provisions in the new Cost Records and Audit Rules. Who is heading thiscommittee? – R. S. Sharma, ONGC‘s former Chairman and Managing Director

Explanation : Following notification of the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules 2014, theCouncil of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAI) had expressed concerns over certain

provisions of the rules, particularly coverage of sectors of economy under the rules. The other membersof the committee will be R K Jain, Additional Secretary in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,



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former ICWAI (Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India) President Chandra Wadhwa, andAruna Sethi, Adviser (Cost), Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

……………………………………………………………………….. 8) Which country on 17 July 2014 became world‘s first developed nation to repeal carbon laws that puta price on greenhouse-gas emissions? – Australia Explanation : Australian upper Senate on 17 July voted 39-32 to scrap the carbon tax that wasintroduced by centre-left Labour government Prime Minister Julia Gillard in July 2012 and was

introduced in November 2013. This tax imposed A $25 (US$23.45) tax per metric tonne of carbondioxide on country‘s worst greenhouse gas polluters. The tax was devised to penalize hundreds thecountry‘s biggest polluters. Australia is one of the largest per capita greenhouse gas emitters due to itsreliance on coal-burning power stations to power homes and industry. The carbon tax and plans for aneventual emissions market dominated Australian politics for years, gaining momentum in 2007, whenformer Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called climate change ―the greatest moral challenge of ourtime‖ and made signature of the Kyoto climate protocol one of his first political acts after taking office.

……………………………………………………………………….. 9) Which country became the first in the world to legalise child labour during July 2014? – Bolivia Explanation : While most of the world is trying to diminish child labour, Bolivia has become the firstnation to legalise it from age 10. The Congress of this Latin American country had (during early July2014) approved a legislation legalise child labour from the age of ten. Vice-President Alvaro Garciasigned it into law on 17 July 2014 in the absence of President Evo Morales, who was travelling. Underthe legislation, 10-year-olds will be able to work as long as they are under parental supervision and alsoattend school. It sets 12 as the minimum age for a child to work under contract. They also would have toattend school. The bill‘s sponsors say lowering the minimum work age from 14 simply acknowledges areality: Many poor families in Bolivia have no other choice than for their kids to work. The bill offersworking children safeguards.……………………………………………………………………….. 10) Which Southeast Asian country on 20 July 2014 allowed 100% foreign ownership in banks? – The

Philippines

Explanation : The order announced on 20 July allows foreign banks to own 100% stock of an existingdomestic bank or to open a fully owned subsidiary incorporated under Philippines laws. It replaces a capof 60% on foreign ownership and abolishes previous rules that allowed just 10 foreign banks in thecountry. The new law is in preparation for the economic integration of members of the 10-countryAssociation of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015.

Banking and Financial Awareness – 621) What is the definition of affordable housing loans as announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on 15 July 2014? – Rs. 50 lakh in metros and Rs. 40 lakh in non-metros, given by banks from the

proceeds of long-term bonds (of minimum seven years maturity) Explanation : This announcement was made by the RBI in a bid to boost the housing sector. The RBIalso announced that the cost of a house cannot exceed Rs. 65 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh in the metros andnon-metros, respectively, to qualify as affordable houses. There are six metros in the country: Mumbai,Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Under the current regulatory regime, loans given by

banks to individuals – up to Rs. 25 lakh in metros and Rs. 15 lakh in non-metros – for purchase/construction of a dwelling unit, per family, are considered as affordable housing loans. Theseloans fall under the priority sector lending category for banks. The RBI said that it will periodicallyreview the definition of affordable housing, on account of inflation. This RBI move is expected to makehousing loans up to Rs. 50 lakh cheaper.…………………………………………………………………………….. 2) The fiscal deficit target for year 2015 (2014-15) has been retained at the level announced by formerFinance Minister P.Chidambaram in his interim budget. What is this level? – 4.1% of GDP (The fiscal

deficit which had touched a high of 5.7% in 2011-12, was brought down to 4.8% in 2012-13 and furtherto 4.5% in 2013-14)

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3) In the Union Budget 2014-15, the govt. announced setting up of a commission to bring in reformsrelated to spending for achieving maximum output. What is the name given to this commission? –

Expenditure Management Commission – EMC Explanation : The proposed EMC will review the allocated and operational efficiencies of governmentexpenditure to achieve maximum output and will give its interim report within this financial year.…………………………………………………………………………….. 4) The revival of the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) was announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 on 10 July

2014. The KVP was discontinued from November 2011 on the recommendation of which committee‘srecommendations? – The Shyamala Gopinath Committee Explanation : The Shyamala Gopinath Committee, in its report submitted on 7 June 2011, hadrecommended that the KVP be discontinued as it was ―prone to misuse, being a bearer -line instrument‖.It said the KVP was more popular than the National Savings Certificate (NSC) because of the ease oftransfer and liquidity.…………………………………………………………………………….. 5) What special feature has been proposed for currency notes in the Union Budget 2014-15 presented on10 July 2014? – These currency notes will now also integrate Braille-features to benefit the

visually-disabled people

…………………………………………………………………………….. 6) What is the proposed name of an integrated Ganga Development Project for which Rs. 2037 crorewere allocated in the Union Budget 2014-15? – ―Namami Ganga‖

…………………………………………………………………………….. 7) What is the proposed name of a new 24X7 channel for northeast region that was announced in theUnion Budget 2014-15? – ―Arun Prabha‖ …………………………………………………………………………….. 8) Rs. 4200 crore were set for an ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga in the Union Budgetof 2014-15. This project would be established between which two places on Ganga covering a distanceof 1620 km? – Allahabad (UP) and Haldia (West Bengal) ……………………………………………………………………………..

9) What is the name given to a dedicated TV channel for farmers that was announced in the UnionBudget for 2014-15 and Rs. 100 crore was set aside for its establishment? – Kisan Television (Kisan

TV) …………………………………………………………………………….. 10) What GDP growth rate range for 2014-15 was estimated in the Economic Survey 2013-14, whichwas tabled on 9 July 2014 in the Lok Sabha? – 5.4 to 5.9% Explanation : GDP growth slowed to below 5% for two consecutive years, i.e. 2012-13 and 2013-14.The Economic Survey envisages a better performance during 2014-15 on account of growth in sectorslike manufacturing and mining)…………………………………………………………………………….. 11) What was the fiscal deficit for 2013-14, as disclosed in the Economic Survey 2013-14? – 4.5% of

GDP Explanation : Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government‘s expenditures and its revenues.An important factor in the increase in the Centre‘s fiscal deficit after 2008-09 has been the sharpincrease in subsidies from 1.42% of GDP in 2007-08 to 2.56% of GDP in 2012-13. For 2013-14 thesubsidy bill is 2.26% of GDP.

…………………………………………………………………………….. 12) The panel headed by C. Rangarajan, former Chairman of PMEAC (Prime Minister‘s EconomicAdvisory Council), has dismissed the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report on estimating poverty. Thereport submitted by Rangarajan to Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh recently stated that the numberof poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5% of the population. What was the poverty figurestated for the same year in the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report, which was severely criticized for its

findings? – 21.9% (According to the Rangarajan panel, poverty stood at 38.2% in 2009-10 and slid to29.5% in 2011-12. This is at variance with the Tendulkar methodology under which poverty wasestimated at 29.8% in 2009-10 and declined to 21.9% in 2011-12. This finding of C. Rangarajancommittee means that 3 out of 10 persons in India are poor. The Planning Commission in May 2012 had



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constituted the expert group under C. Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology forestimating poverty)

…………………………………………………………………………….. 13) Which state has the highest number of people below poverty line according to the new definition of

poverty that is part of the new poverty estimates that have been made by a panel led by C. Rangarajan? – Chhattisgarh Explanation : According to these estimates 47.9% of Chhattisgarh‘s population is below poverty line.

Chhattisgarh thus tops the list of states with the highest poverty count. On the other had just 6.3% ofGoa‘s population is below poverty line and it thus tops the list of states with the lowest poverty count.On a national level, the C. Rangarajan committee report estimated the number of poor at 45.46 crore at2011-12 prices, which is much higher than the 35.47 crore estimate by the Suresh Tendulkar committee.…………………………………………………………………………….. 14) What is the operating ratio of Indian Railways as announced in the Rail Budget 2014-15? – 94 paise (This means 94 paise put of every Re 1 is utilized. So the surplus for the railways is just 6%)

…………………………………………………………………………….. 15) In how many years Indian Railways would be made paperless as proposed in the Rail Budget 2014-15? – 5 years (Facilities like Mobile alerts for wake up calls, arrival alerts and digital reservation chartsat station have also been proposed)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 611) The performance ratings of banks operating in India would be put on the public domain from nextyear. Which entity is rating bank services and would share this information in public domain? – Banking Codes Standards Board of India – BCSBI (BCSBI was set up as an independent andautonomous body in 2007 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that the common consumer offinancial services from the banking industry gets what he/she has been promised. BCSBI is rating bankson customer services on five parameters – information dissemination, transparency, customer-centricity,grievance redressal system and customer feedback. Of the 48 banks rated for customer service, only fivereceived high ratings; 25 were rated above average; 17 average; and one below average. The ratingshave been shared with the banks. The ratings were given based on a survey conducted by BCSBI across

69 cities, involving 3,000 branches and 6,000 customers)……………………………………………………………… 2) State Bank of India (SBI) on 1 July 2014 launched six digital branches across the nation to serve tech-savvy customers. One of such branches in Delhi was inaugurated on this day by Finance Minister ArunJaitley. Other 5 such branches are located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmedabad. What is thename given to this new range of branches which will have full digital banking capabilities? – sbiINTOUCH (These sbiINTOUCH branches will include instant account opening with personaliseddebit cards, instant loan approvals for education, car and home and remote expert advisors available viavideo links. The new branches will be located in malls and will be primarily aimed at youth, who lookfor digital banking)

……………………………………………………………… 3) Who was re-appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 July 2014 bythe Union Govt.? – Harun Rashid Khan (The appointment has been made for two years with effectfrom 4 July 2014 or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Khan was appointed deputy governor inJuly 2011 for a three-year term, which was set to expire on 3 July. As deputy governor, Khan looks afterthe foreign exchange department and internal debt management, among others. The other two RBIdeputy governors are Urjit Patel and the recently appointed R. Gandhi. The government is yet to appointa deputy governor to replace KC Chakrabarty, who retired on 25 April 2014)……………………………………………………………… 4) Who headed the committee on Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty, the reportof which was submitted to Planning Commission on 1 July 2014? – C. Rangarajan (C. Rangarajan, the

former chief of Prime Minister‘s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), submitted the report to planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh. The Planning Commission in May 2012 had constituted the expertgroup under the then PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodologyfor estimating poverty, following an uproar over the number of poor in the country. The PlanningCommission‘s estimates had drawn flak in September, 2011 when in an affidavit to the Supreme Court it





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Banking and Financial Awareness – 601) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 17 June 2014 came out with a consultation

paper on an alternative funding source to help start-ups struggling to raise funds. Under this, funding (insmall amounts) is sought from multiple investors through a web-based platform or a social networkingsite for a specific project, business venture or social cause. What is the name of this funding sourcewhich is quite popular in developed countries? – Crowd-funding (According to SEBI‘s consultation

paper SEBI wants the issue fund-raising capped at Rs. 10 crore a year for each start-up. Only nationalstock exchanges and SEBI-registered depositories are eligible to set up a crowd-funding platform)

…………………………………………………………….. 2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17 June 2014 asked banks to make sector-wise disclosure oftheir advances from 2014-15 onwards with a view to encourage them to actively manage exposure tovarious segments. This direction was based on which committee‘s recommendation on this subject? – Dr. Nachiket Mor Committee (The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for SmallBusinesses and Low Income Households under chairmanship of Dr. Nachiket Mor had recommendedthat banks actively manage their exposures to various sectors, including priority sectors)…………………………………………………………….. 3) India‘s capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 19 June 2014

announced a slew of reforms that included a proposal to hike public holding in all public sectorundertakings (PSUs), new norms for research analysts and ESOPs given by listed firms. What is theminimum public shareholding for PSUs as fixed by the SEBI? – 25% or Rs. 400 crore whichever is

lower (Currently, PSUs have to maintain 10% of minimum public shareholding, while privatecompanies are required to maintain 25%. Now, the PSUs will be given three years to achieve minimum

public shareholding of 25%)…………………………………………………………….. 4) Which bank is organising ‗The Banking and Economics Conclave 2014′ which was inaugurated byReserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan in Mumbai on 17 June 2014? – State Bank of

India – SBI (This conclave is a national level banking conclave that has been organized for the firsttime. The conclave is on the lines of ‗Bancon‘, an event organised by Indian Bank‘s Association (IBA)

each year. It is also the first time that a commercial bank has organised an event of this magnitude)…………………………………………………………….. 5) The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) headed by Parthasarathi Shome in its firstreport endorsed the recommendations given by the 1992 committee on tax reforms for abolishing the

post of Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Who had headed that 1992 committee on taxreforms which had advocated path-breaking tax reforms for the country – Raja J Chelliah (Raja JChelliah was instrumental in bringing about the early reforms to the direct taxation structure. He servedas chairman of Tax Reforms Committee of Union govt. between 1991 and 1993 and he was often called‗The Father of Tax Reforms‘) …………………………………………………………….. 6) The Delhi Government on 17 June 2014 announced that the national capital has become the first‗kerosene-free city‘ in the country. Which scheme was implemented in the city which enabled it to doaway with the sale of non-subsidised kerosene in the city – ‗Delh i: A Kerosene-F ree City Scheme,

2012 ‘ (The scheme was launched in 2012 in collaboration with three oil marketing companies and theUnion Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for which Delhi Government had incurred an expenditureof Rs. 62 crores. With delhi being kerosene-free, India is expected to save upto Rs. 200 crore annually)…………………………………………………………….. 7) The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of May 2014 touched a 5-month high as higher food

prices and fuel costs fuelled price rise. What was the WPI for May 2014 which was released on 16 June2014? – 6.01% (The WPI for April 2014 was 5.20%. As per the data released by the government, coreinflation was at 3.8% as against 3.4% last month. Primary article inflation stood at 8.58% as against

7.06% last month. Food article inflation was at 9.50% as against 8.64% last month while non-foodarticle index was up at 1.5%)

…………………………………………………………….. 8) AirAsia India, the Indian arm of the Malaysian no-frills airline headed by Tony Fernandes, on 12June 2014 became the fifth budget carrier in India as its maiden flight took off on the day. This first



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flight of AirAsia was between which two destinations? – From Bangalore to Goa (AirAsia became thefifth budget (no-frills) airline in India after IndiGo, JetLite, SpiceJet and GoAir. AirAsia India is a three-way venture between the Malaysia-based low-cost airline, India‘s Tata Group and investment firmTelestra Tradeplace)

…………………………………………………………….. 9) The shareholders of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) got an opportunity to cast their votes throughe-voting system at company‘s 40 th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 18 June 2014 at Mumbai.

RIL shareholders cast their votes by touching the touch-pads of tablet computers that were brought byvolunteers individually to them. However, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had deferred mandatory e-voting for shareholders till which date? – 31 December 2014 (Thus e-voting for shareholders would

become mandatory for companies from 1 January 2015. An advantage of e-voting is that under it oneshare has one vote while under the earlier system one person has one vote. In the traditional voting atcompany AGM‘s hands were shown or lifted in support of a proposal and it was not more than a mereformality)

…………………………………………………………….. 10) Who was during June 2014 appointed the arbitrator from the Union Finance Ministry in theRs.20,000-crore tax dispute case with U.K. telecom major Vodafone? – Justice (Retd.) R. C. Lahoti,Former Chief Justice of India (The government‘s decision was in response to an arbitration noticeserved by Vodafone International Holdings B.V. in April 2014 under the Bilateral Investment Protectionand Promotion Agreement between India and the Netherlands for resolving the dispute. The UnionCabinet had approved the conciliation with Vodafone in June last year in a bid to resolve the capitalgains tax dispute related to its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa‘s stake in Hutchison Essar)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 591) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 June 2014 announced its first bi-monthly monetary policyreview after the new government took charge at the Centre. RBI Governor kept the most important reporate unchanged at 8% and almost all other important rates were also unchanged. Which is the only ratewhich was changed? – Statutory Liquidity Ratio – SLR (The SLR of scheduled commercial banks wasreduced by 50 basis points from 23% to 22.5%. This reduction is expected to infuse liquidity in the

economy by unlocking around Rs. 40,000 crore of bank funds)…………………………………………………. 2) The RBI in its bi-monthly monetary policy announced on 3 June 2014 raised the eligibility limit forforeign exchange remittances from $75,000 to – $1,25,000 (It was earlier possible to remit up to$2,00,000 under the liberalised remittance scheme. This was reduced to $75,000 last year, as a

prudential measure when the country was going through a sudden depreciation of its currency. However,this limit was raised to $1,25,000, thus acknowledging the recent stability on the forex front. Thiseffectively meant that individuals would now be able to spend upto $1,25,000 abroad)

…………………………………………………. 3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bi-monthly monetary policy announced on 3 June 2014allowed both residents and non-residents (except citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh) to take out Indiancurrency notes up to Rs 25,000 while leaving the country. What was the limit for this at present? – Rs.10,000 (Currently, only Indian residents were allowed to take notes up to Rs 10,000 out of thecountry)…………………………………………………. 4) Which country would become the 19th member of Eurozone and the last Baltic nation to adopt theeuro on 1 January 2015 as announced by the European Commission on 4 June 2014? – Lithuania (European Commission announced that Lithuania has fulfilled all conditions to join the Eurozone and itrecommended that the country would become the currency bloc‘s 19 th member on 1 January 2015.Lithuania would be the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro, after Estonia did so in 2011 and Latviafollowed suit at the beginning of 2014)

…………………………………………………. 5) Kotak Mahindr a Bank shares slipped after the RBI asked it to reduce its promoters‘ shareholding. The bank is to reduce its promoters‘ shareholding to what level by September 2014 as directed by the RBI? – 40% (Currently, the promoters‘ shareholding in the bank is 43.58%. Hence, the bank‘s promoters arerequired to shed 3.58% of their share. In June 2012, the RBI had asked Kotak Mahindra Bank to reduce



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the promoters‘ holding to 20% by 2018 and 10% by 2020 from the then 45.21%. This move is todiversify the promoters‘ shareholding and bring it in sync with the new banking licence regulations andthereby improve corporate governance. Kotak Mahindra Bank is a private-sector bank owned by UdayKotak)

…………………………………………………. 6) India‘s market capitalization during June 2014 crossed which major milestone after around 4 years,mainly on the back of a strong government at the Centre? – 1.5 trillion dollar (The recent spurt in the

market has also propelled India to be the 10 th biggest in terms of market cap, and the second biggest inthe BRIC group of countries, behind China which is at $3.23 trillion. In rupee terms, India‘s market capis at an all-time high of Rs 89.8 lakh crore. At the current level, India‘s market cap-to-GDP ratio is about0.79. However, this is much lower than the levels seen during the last bull market of 2007-08, when theratio was nearly 2)

…………………………………………………. 7) Curtains may be down on the UP Stock Exchange (UPSE), Uttar Pradesh‘s only trading platform, asthe deadline issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) expired on 30 May 2014. TheSEBI had fixed conditions for UPSE according to which the annual turnover of the exchange wouldhave to be around Rs. 1,000 crore and its net-worth should be at-least Rs. 100 crore. In which city is theUPSE situated? –

Kanpur (Kanpur-based UPSE failed to meet any of the two conditions prescribed by

the SEBI)…………………………………………………. 8) What is the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s mega-dream project of India‘s onlyInternational Financial Services Centre (IFSC) being conceptualised as a global financial and IT serviceshub, which on 3 June 2014 announced having achieved financial closure for its Phase I infrastructuredevelopment? – Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) – The GIFT City is beingdesigned to be at or above par with globally-benchmarked financial centres like those at Shinjuku(Tokyo), Lujiazui (Shanghai), La Defense (Paris) and London Dockyards. A consortium of banks agreedto provide a loan of Rs 1,157 crore for this project. The project, spread over 886 acres, including a 261-acre SEZ on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, is expected to involve investments of Rs 78,000 crore when

completed by 2026)…………………………………………………. 9) Al Hilal Bank, one of the fastest-growing banks in the UAE, has implemented Finacle e-Bankingsolution. Finacle e-Banking solution is a leading banking solution of which Indian IT company? – Infosys (The Finacle e-Banking solution would enable Al Hilal to provide a range of Internet bankingservices to its corporate customers with highest security. It would also allow the bank to roll out newfunctionalities on a regular basis and build upon the existing products to provide an enhanced bankingexperience, all at reduced costs)

…………………………………………………. 10) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 June 2014 unveiled a new book titled ―Getting I ndia Back onTrack: An Action Agenda For Reform ‖. The book basically carries a series of papers on different areas

for presentation to the new government arguing out the case for the reforms that would be necessary toget India back on track. Who are the editors of this book? – Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis and Reece

Trevor (The book has been published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The foreword ofthe book has been written by Ratan N Tata and it contains insightful essays by eminent academiciansand public policy experts)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 581) RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi during May 2014 said that the RBI is proposing to permit opening ofsmall bank accounts by merely filling up a form without any document for address or identity proof.This is being proposed in a bid to increase access to banking services. However, these proposed smallaccounts would come with some limitations. What are these limitations?

* These accounts will have limitations on credit/debit balances * Will be available only at core banking solution-enabled branches * No foreign remittances will be permitted * Will be available only for 12 months — further extension on application for officially valid

document





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Australia was ranked as the most expensive major economy while the United States was ranked as thecheapest developed country. Brazil was again listed as the most expensive among developing countries)……………………………………………………………………………

9) IPL franchisee Delhi Daredevils during May 2014 launched a co-branded cricket credit card in partnership with which commercial bank? – The Ratnakar Bank Ltd(This was the first time that acommercial bank and a leading cricket franchise came together to launch a co-branded cricket creditcard. The card brings to its cardholders exclusive privileges like meeting and greeting the Delhi

Daredevils team, personal and original memorabilia, coaching camps, free match tickets, talk shows,etc.)……………………………………………………………………………

10) The iconic Ambassador car of India is almost on its way to become history as its owner company theC.K. Birla Group-promoted Hindustan Motors (HM) on 24 May 2014 suspended work at its oldestfactory near Kolkota. Where is this famous factory situated? – Uttarpara (The work was suspended dueto almost negligible demand for Ambassador car, which was once the lifeline of whole India. Around2,500 workers working in the Uttarpara plant are facing the risk of losing their jobs. Ambassador wasthe first car to be completely made in India some 6 decades back)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 571) How much amount was collected by India‘s largest banking group the State Bank of India (SBI)recently in overseas debt sale through a dual tranche bond programme, which make it the largest everoffering from a domestic issuer? – $1.25 billion (The bank raised $750 million in 5-year money at UStreasury interest rate plus 205 basis points, while it priced the 10-year $500 million issue at 225 bps overthe treasury. The overseas debt sale programme was completed on 10 April 2014)……………………………………………………………………………

2) Which country during 2013 overtook Mauritius as the top gateway of money being brought in byoverseas investors through the foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indian markets? – The United

States (According to the data available with the Indian capital markets regulator SEBI during April2014, the US accounted for the largest chunk of assets under the FDI mode being invested in the Indianequity and debt markets at the end of 2013 with over Rs 4.37 lakh crore worth funds. The US was

followed by Mauritius with over Rs 3.31 lakh crore worth ‗assets under custody (AUC)‘ of FIIs andtheir sub-accounts as on 31 December 2013)……………………………………………………………………………

3) Which international financial institution on 11 April 2014 completed its first global rupee bond programme worth $ 1 billion? – International Finance Corporation (IFC) – Washington D.C.headquartered-IFC completed this huge issue in three rounds and the third and final round of bond issuetotalling Rs 12 billion (about $ 194 million) was completed on 11 April. Under its global rupee bond

programme, IFC has also issued three-year bonds totalling Rs 30 billion and five-year bonds totalling Rs20 billion. This issue was launched to strengthen India‘s capital markets and attract greater foreigninvestment)……………………………………………………………………………

4) According to the data released by World Bank Group‘s International Comparison Program (ICP)during April 2014, India became the third largest economy in the world. This was a rapid climb for Indiaas it was ranked at 10th spot in 2005. However, this ICP study was not based on evaluation of actualGDPs of countries. On which basis was this ranking done by ICP? – On Purchasing Power Parity –

PPP (The GDP of various countries was evaluated on PPP and it was evaluated that the purchasing power parities -based world GDP amounted to $90,647 billion)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) With the implementation of new Companies Act from 1 April 2014, a majority of the top 200 listedcompanies will need to change their auditors over the next three years. According to the new CompaniesAct, it is now mandatory for the companies to change their auditors after how many years? – 10

years (The latest notified section 139 of the Companies Act 2013 makes it mandatory for audit firms to be changed after every 10 years. This has been done in a bid to ensure objectivity and prevent thealleged cozy relations between management and auditors)……………………………………………………………………………



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6) India retained the top spot in the world in foreign exchange remittances from its migratory workforceduring 2013. How much remittance was received by India during the year? – $70 billion (India wasfollowed by China ($60 billion), Philippines ($25 billion), Mexico ($22 billion), Nigeria ($21 billion),Egypt ($17 billion), Pakistan ($15 billion), Bangladesh ($14 billion), Vietnam ($11 billion) and Ukraine($10 billion) in the top 10 remittance recipient nations in the world. This data was disclosed in a WorldBank report on remittances, which is an annual exercise that underscores the point that remittances arean important source of foreign exchange. One important fact is that remittance received by India was

more than the $65 billion it ear ned from country‘s flagship software services exports) ……………………………………………………………………………

7) Which two international cement companies announced their merger on 7 April 2014, which wouldnow create world‘s largest cement manufacturing company? – Holcim of Switzerland and Lafarge of

France (Holcim and Lafarge would merge to create a new company which would be called―LafargeHolcim‖. It would have cement manufacturing operations in around 90 countries and sales ofaround $44 billion. The deal will give the group a market value of close to $60 billion)……………………………………………………………………………

8) Who was appointed the new Finance Secretary on 15 April 2014? – Arvind Mayaram (ArvindMayaram is presently the Economic Affairs Secretary and replaced Sumit Bose who retired on 31 March2014)……………………………………………………………………………

9) Which famous American bank came to news during April 2014 for miscalculating a measure of thecapital on its books which reduced its capital level by $4 billion? – Bank of America (Bank of America(BoA) is the second-largest U.S. bank. It on 28 April 2014 announced that regulators had suspended its

plan to buy back more shares and raise its dividend after the bank realized it had miscalculated ameasure of the capital on its books. The bank said fixing the mistake reduced a capital level by $4

billion, or about three-quarters of the extra money that the Federal Reserve had approved its returning toshareholders over the next year.……………………………………………………………………………

10) Which leading banking luminary was appointed as the special advisor of the interim President of

BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar on 11 April 2014? – Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC (Parekh will be aspecial invitee during the IPL governing council meeting as his vast experience in financial affairs willenable Gavaskar to ensure smooth functioning if IPL for next two months)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 561) The Reserve Bank of India on 2 April 2014 granted in-principle approval of bank licences to whichtwo entitites? – IDFC Limited and Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited (These two firms

pipped to post 23 other applicants, which included some well-known financial and industrial houses likeMuthoot Finance, Reliance Capital, Tata Sons, IFCI, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bajaj Finserv, LIC HousingFinance, L&T Finance Holdings and Shriram Capital. IDFC was established in 1997 and acts as aspecialized financial intermediary for infrastructure projects. Bandhan Financial is India‘s largest microfinance institution with over 4.5 lakh borrowers and was set up in 2002)…………………………………………………. 2) Who was appointed as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 April2014? – R. Gandhi (He was appointed by the Union Govt. for a period of three years. The appointmentfollows Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy Governor in mid-January 2014. The RBI nowhas four Deputy Governors – KC Chakrabarty, HR Khan, Urjit Patel and R. Gandhi. However, KCChakrabarty too had announced his retirement and RBI is also seeking a replacement for him)…………………………………………………. 3) The Finance Ministry released a draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) on 1 April 2014. This draftfocuses on raising more revenue from high net worth individuals, while leaving the slabs unchanged forothers. In this draft high slab of income-tax has been proposed for individuals and Hindu Undivided

Family (HUF) belonging to ‗super -rich‘ category. What is the criterion of income for this ‗super -rich‘category? – Annual income above Rs. 10 crore …………………………………………………. 4) What is the proposed tax slab for super-rich individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) in thedraft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which was released on 1 April 2014? – 35%



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…………………………………………………. 5) What is the proposed additional tax on those earning over Rs 1 crore through dividend income in thedraft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which was released on 1 April 2014? – 10% …………………………………………………. 6) In its first bi-monthly monetary policy statement issued on 1 April 2014, the RBI announced whichmajor relief for saving bank account holders? – It asked banks to cut down services on low-balance

accounts and do away with fines (In this regard the RBI said that it proposes to frame comprehensive

consumer protection regulations based on domestic experience and best global banking practices.Instead of levying penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bankaccounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bankdeposit accounts and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level)…………………………………………………. 7) Private sector bank Axis Bank on 27 March 2014 launched its own Kisan Credit Card, which is aimedat helping farmers access liquidity round-the-clock. The bank claimed that it is first new generation

private sector bank to launch an electronic Kisan Credit Card on the RuPay platform. In which year theKisan Credit Card scheme was launched? – in 1998 (The scheme was introduced in August 1998 andsince then, a host of banks, a majority of them in the state-run space, have launched such cards)…………………………………………………. 8) The capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 29 March 2014got back the power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal deposit schemes and assess call data records insecurities-related offences after the SEBI Ordinance was re-promulgated. This happened after theFinance Ministry managed to get the nod of the Election Commission and Cabinet on re-promulgationof the SEBI Ordinance and finally from the President. Under this ordinance, which pooled moneyschemes would be compulsorily registered with the SEBI? – Schemes with deposits over Rs. 100 crore (This Ordinance lapsed on 17 January 2014 after the Government failed in getting the Securities (laws)Amendment Bill passed in the monsoon, winter and extended winter session of the 15th Lok Sabha,which was adjourned sine die on 21 February 2014)………………………………………………….

9) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 27 March 2014 extended the deadline for implementation ofBasel III norms by the Indian banks to 31 March 2019. What was the earlier deadline forimplementation of this norm? – 31 March 2018 (Under this norm Indian banks need to have a corecapital ratio of 8% and a total capital adequacy ratio of 11.5% against the present 9%. The norm has

been devised to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of the banking sector)…………………………………………………. 10) Who was appointed as the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) during March2014? – Ajay S. Shriram (Ajay S. Shriram is the Chairman and Sr. Managing Director of DCMShriram Ltd and he was elected as the President of CII for 2014-15. He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan ofInfosys as the new President. Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall, has been elected as the Vice-President)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 551) Who headed the committee on Credit Information Reports (CIRs), which submitted its report to theReserve Bank of India (RBI) during March 2014? – Aditya Puri, Chairman of HDFC Bank (Thiscommittee recommended that customers should be given a free copy of their credit profile as it wouldhelp in promoting financial discipline among loan seekers. The committee also recommended use ofcommon data formats and a common data quality index that could assist credit institutions indetermining the gaps in data)………………………………………………………………. 2) Which infrastructure finance company during March 2014 received RBI approval to set up aminimum of 9,000 white label ATMs (WLAs) in the next three years in rural India? – SREI

Infrastructure Finance Ltd (The company received a certificate of authorisation from the RBI to setup, own and operate a payment system for WLAs effective 25 March 2014. Through these WLAs, theinfrastructure financial institution will be able to take financial products and services of the sponsor

bank to the doorstep of the rural population)……………………………………………………………….





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Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Oil IndiaLimited (OIL), Container Corporation of India Limited (CCIL), Power Finance Corporation (PFC),Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Which financial entity ismanaging this ETF? – Goldman Sachs India MF (The CPSE-ETF tracks an index fund but trades likea stock on the exchange and is yet another avenue for the Union Govt. for selling its stake in CPSEs)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 54

1) Which round of Inflation Expectations Survey was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3March 2014? – 35

th (These inflation expectations are to be based on subjective assessments of about5,000 households across 16 cities. The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on pricechanges (they foresee in general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the next threemonths as well as in the next one year and quantitative responses on current, three-month ahead andone-year ahead inflation rates)

…………………………………………………………………………… 2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 March 2014 extended the deadline for the public to exchangecurrency notes printed before 2005 up to which date? – 1 January 2015 (Now the public would be ableto exchange currency notes printed before 2005 by 1 January 2015. The RBI on 22 January 2014 hadannounced that it would withdraw from circulation all pre-2005 currency notes from 1 April 2014. Post-

2005 notes have added security features and help in curbing the menace of fake currency)…………………………………………………………………………… 3) Which PSU bank sold its entire stake in credit information provider Credit Information Bureau ofIndia Limited (CIBIL) to Transunion International Inc (TII) during March 2014? – Central Bank of

India (Central Bank had 5% stake in CIBIL while TII is the majority shareholder in CIBIL at 27.5%.State Bank of India and ICICI Bank carry 10% each, while rest of 2.5% is with Sundaram Finance Ltd.Among others, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank, Citicorp Finance(India), HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and HDFC Ltd each hold 5% stake inCIBIL)

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) Union Government on 28 February 2014 approved the proposal to ensure Rs. 1,000 minimum

monthly pension under a scheme of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This pensionwould be provided under which EPFO scheme? – Employees‘ Pension Scheme-95 (EPS-95)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) The Union government on 4 March 2014 announced raising the interest rates on select fixed depositschemes offered by post offices. Maximum increase of 0.2% per annum (20 basis points) wasannounced on which two schemes offered by post offices? – 1-year term deposit and 2-year term

deposit (The interest on these two schemes was raised from the present 8.2% per annum to 8.4% perannum. On the other hand rate of interest was raised by 0.10% (10 basis points) on 3-year term deposit,5-year term deposit and 5-year recurring deposit schemes. This increase would come into effect from 1April 2014)

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 March 2014 hiked the trade related remittance limit from Rs. 2lakh to Rs. 5 lakh per transaction. What was the reason for this increase? – Increase in the number of

transactions handled by exchange houses (There is a rapid increase in the number of the permittedtransactions under the Rupee Drawing Arrangements (RDAs) due to rapid developments in thecommunication facilities)…………………………………………………………………………… 7) Nishi Vasudev on 1 March 2014 became the first woman to become head of a prominent blue-chipPSU. Which PSU is this? – Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. – HPCL (She replaced Subir RoyChoudhury)……………………………………………………………………………

8) Who took over as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank on 11 March2014? – Rakesh Sethi (Prior to this elevation, Sethi was an executive director at Punjab National Bank)

…………………………………………………………………………… 9) Which two state-owned companies on 14 March 2014 bought 10% government stake in Indian OilCorp (IOC) for Rs 5,340 crore? – Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) – In





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Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of major ports (three) in India. Which are the other two major ports in Tamil Nadu? – Chennai and Tuticorin

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) What is the name of the volatility index launched by the National Stock Exchange on 26 February2014 which has been based on the index options prices of Nifty? – India VIX (India VIX would providefuture contracts facility to investors and would help investors hedge near-term volatility risks in theirequity portfolio. India VIX indicates the investor‘s perception of the market‘s volatility in the near term.

The index depicts expected market volatility over the next 30 calendar days. A high India VIX valuewould suggest that the market expects significant increase in volatility, while a low value indicates thereverse. India VIX and Nifty have a negative correlation)

…………………………………………………………………………… 8) Who was appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas CorporationLimited (ONGC Ltd.) on 26 February 2014? – Dinesh K. Sarraf (The Appointments Committee of theCabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Sarraf, who at present is the Managing Director ofONGC‘s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL). Sarraf replaces Vasudeva who turned 60 on 25February and retires on 28 February. The Union Govt. earlier rejected Oil Minister M. Vee rappa Moily‘s

proposal to give Sudhir Vasudeva a post-retirement extension. ONGC Ltd. is India‘s most profitablecompany)

…………………………………………………………………………… 9) What is the name of the bitcoin exchange, which was once the largest bitcoin exchange in the worldand which on 25 February 2014 came to news for virtually disappearing from the internet with manymillions of dollars of customer deposits? – Mt. Gox (Mt. Gox‘s website was down on 25 February andits founder was unaccounted-for during the day. MtGox is a Tokyo-based exchange which allowed usersto trade Bitcoins for US Dollars and several other currencies. MtGox was going through some serious

problems after news surfaced that almost 750,000 bitcoins (currently worth more than £200m) weremissing in the exchange and this theft went unnoticed for several years)

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) Which public sector undertaking (PSU) was during February 2014 kept out of the proposed Central

Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)? – PowerGrid Corporation (With theexit of PowerGrid Corporation the CPSE ETF would now consist of 10 PSU firms. These 10 PSUs are – ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Rural Electrification Corporation(REC), Oil India Limited (OIL), Container Corporation of India Limited (CCIL), Power FinanceCorporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The proposedCPSE ETF will serve as an additional mechanism for the government to monetise its shareholdings inthose CPSEs that eventually form part of the ETF basket)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 521) Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented the Vote-on-Account on 17 February 2014, whichwould take care of union expenses until the government‘s term ends in May 2014. What the expectedfiscal deficit was for 2013-14, as announced in this vote-on-account? – 4.6% of GDP (The fiscal deficit,which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was 4.9% of GDP in the previous financial year.Earlier fiscal deficit was expected to be around 4.8%. As per current indications, the fiscal deficit hascome down mainly on account of expenditure compression and higher realisation from the 2G spectrumauction)

…………………………………………………………………………… 2) What is the expected agricultural growth rate for 2013-14, as announced in the Vote-on-Account on17 February 2014? – 4.6% …………………………………………………………………………… 3) Union govt. announced a moratorium on interest for educational loans in the Vote-on-Account

presented on 17 February 2014. With this announcement 9 lakh student borrowers are expected to

benefit to the extent of Rs. 2,600 crore. Educational loans taken before which year would be givenmoratorium on interest? – 2009

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) What is the total outlay for defence for 2014-15, as announced in the Vote-on-Account on 17February 2014? – Rs. 2,24,000 crore, which is 10% more than that of 2013-14



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…………………………………………………………………………… 5) A venture capital fund for scheduled castes (SCs) with an initial capital of Rs. 200 crore wasannounced in the Vote-on-Account presented on 17 February 2014. Which financial entity would set upthis VC fund? – IFCI

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) Which two business segments were exempted from the service tax in the Vote-on-Account presentedon 17 February 2014? – Blood banks and provider of rice warehousing facilities …………………………………………………………………………… 7) What is the name of the proposed agency for better management of the government‘s borrowingswhich was announced by the Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his vote-on-account on 17February? – Public Debt Management Agency – PDMA (Chidambaram announced that the Centre isready with the Public Debt Management Agency Bill and that the proposed agency will be established asa non-statutory body and is expected to begin work in the next fiscal. Former finance minister PranabMukherjee had first announced setting up of PDMA in his budget speech of 2011-12. The PDMA isexpected to consist of RBI officials, civil servants and people from the private sector)…………………………………………………………………………… 8) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during February 2014 constituted a committee to examine therecommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) relating tocapacity building in the banking sector. The committee has been tasked with the responsibility ofidentifying capacity building requirements keeping in view the role of financial sector and what itshould deliver. Who is heading this 9-member committee? – G Gopalakrishna (G Gopalakrishna is anExecutive Director in the RBI. The committee will examine the skills required at variouslevels/operations to deliver on the required role and also identify qualifications relevant to specific areasof operation in banks and non-banks. Further, it will evolve methodologies for prescribing certificationfor required qualifications)…………………………………………………………………………… 9) What is the name of the chairperson and managing director of Kolkata-headquartered United Bank ofIndia (UBI), who took voluntary retirement on 20 February 2014? – Archana Bhargava (Archana

Bhargava was appointed as United Bank‘s CMD in April 2013 and her appointment was up to February -end 2015. Her retirement comes in the wake of a surge in bad loans and the bank posting a loss in thethird quarter. United Bank‘s gross non-performing assets jumped 194% to Rs. 8,545.50 crore (includesfresh slippage of Rs. 3,172 crore in the October-December quarter) as at December-end 2013against Rs. 2,902 crore as at December-end 2012)…………………………………………………………………………… 10) India Post (Dept. of Posts) on 13 February 2014 launched electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) forIndian Citizens living in India. e-IPO facilitates paying online fee for which purpose? – For seeking

information under the RTI (e-IPO is a facility to purchase an Indian Postal Order electronically for paying RTI fee online through e-Post Office Portal (https://www.epostoffice.gov.in) or India Post web-site (www.indiapost.gov.in). After paying the fee online one just need to annex the print-out of the

receipt to the RTI application. Earlier last year the Department had launched the e-IPO on 22 March2013 for Indian Citizens living abroad across the globe)…………………………………………………………………………… 11) Indian market regulator SEBI on 13 February 2014 cleared new corporate governance norms thatrequire listed companies to justify CEO salaries, put in place whistle-blower policies and have orderlysuccession plans. What is the main objective of this new norm? – To exhort listed companies and their

top executives to follow ‗Good Business Practices‘ (The new norms were cleared by the SEBI boardon 13 February and the relevant provisions would be incorporated in the listing agreement soon. The

board also cleared new KRA (KYC Registration Agency) Regulations that would make it easier for theinvestors to comply with Know Your Client (KYC) requirements across various segments of the capitalmarkets)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 511) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan announced on 12 February 2014 that in coming days Indian citizenswithout a bank account would be able to withdraw cash from an ATM (automated teller machine) withthe help of mobile technology. Payment banks will play important role in facilitating this system under



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which a payment system will facilitate funds transfers from bank account holders to those withoutaccounts through ATMs. Which committee had recently recommended establishment of payment banks?

– Nachiket More Committee on Financial Inclusion (The interesting proposal essentially is that thesender can go to an ATM with a participating bank and ask the money to be withdrawn from hisaccount. The intermediary then processes the payment and sends a code via mobile to the recipient. Therecipient takes that code to the nearest ATM of that participating bank, punches in the code andwithdraws the money)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) Till February 2014, the Reserve Bank of India has issued the certificate of authorisation to how manynon-bank entities for setting up and operating white label ATMs (WLAs) in India? – Four (The entitieswhich got the permission are Tata Communications Payment Solutions; Prizm Payment Services,Mumbai; Muthoot Finance , Kochi and Vakrangee Limited, Mumbai. In June 2012, the RBI issuedguidelines permitting non-bank entities to set up and operate WLAs in the country after seeking theRBI‘s authorisation under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Prior to this, only banks were

permitted to set up and operate ATMs in India. As many as 17 entities had sought the RBI nod forWLAs. WLAs serve customers from all banks and will be connected with the entire ATM network inthe country)…………………………………………………………………………… 3) Plastic notes in the denomination of Rs. 10 will be introduced on a trial basis in which five cities inthe second half of 2014, as stated by the Union Government on 7 February 2014 in the Parliament? –

Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar …………………………………………………………………………… 4) Indian public sector banks went on a two-day strike from 10 February 2014 after the conciliationeffort made by the Central Chief Labour Commissioner to avert the all-India bank strike scheduledfailed. Which bank union made a call for this strike? – United Forum of Bank Unions – UFBU (Thetalks between the UFBU and the Indian Banks‘ Association over a five-year wage revision package,held in New Delhi on 6 February 2014 failed as UFBU alleged that the bank managements had nothingnew to offer)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) What is the name of India‘s first public sector unit (PSU), the revival plan for which was approved bythe Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 13 February 2014? – ITI Limited, which wasformerly known as Indian Telephone Industries Ltd (The company was established in 1948 and wasincorporated in 1950 under the then Mysore Companies Act, 1938 and later converted as the first PSUof the country to assist the Government in the sensitive and strategic telecommunication field. Thecompany was referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) in 2004-05 anddeclared a sick company. BIFR had recommended a revival plan for ITI Ltd. The revival plan will besupported through financial restructuring by fund infusion of Rs. 4,156.79 crore)…………………………………………………………………………… 6) Which company will become India‘s first telecom player to be fully owned by a foreign company

following approval of company‘s FDI proposal by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)on 6 February 2014? – Vodafone (The CCEA on 6 February approved the telecom major Vodafone‘s Rs10,141 crore (or $1.6 billion) proposal to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian unit. This is thesingle largest foreign investment in the telecom sector)…………………………………………………………………………… 7) The Indian Banks‘ Association (IBA) during February 2014 issued an advisory to banks to ensure

business continuity after Microsoft ends support for its popular Windows XP operating system on 8April 2014. In its advisory it drew the attention of banks to a study by Microsoft in which it claimed thatvery large number of Indian public bank branches would become vulnerable following the U.S.-basedfirm‘s decision to stop support to Windows XP. How many public sector bank branches were claimed to

be affected? – 34,000 (The fiscal impact of this could be as much as a loss of business opportunity worth

Rs.1,100 crore in a day and a loss of income worth Rs.330 crore over a period of three days. WindowsXP – launched in October, 2001 – is three generations behind the latest operating system Windows 8,which was launched in October, 2012)……………………………………………………………………………



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8) Who will head the 7th Central Pay Commission which will revise salaries of over 50 lakh centralgovernment employees and remuneration of 30 lakh pensioners? – Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur,former Judge of the Supreme Court (The composition of the 7th Central Pay Commission was approved

by the Prime Minister recently. The other members of the Commission, include, Oil Secretary VivekRae (full time Member), NIPFP Director Rathin Roy (part-time Member) and OSD in ExpenditureDepartment Meena Agarwal (Secretary). The Commission has been mandated to submit its report intwo years time and its recommendations would be implemented from January 1, 2016. Earlier in

September 2013, the Prime Minister had approved setting up of the 7th Pay Commission)…………………………………………………………………………… 9) The National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) demanded immediate reconstitution of theerstwhile Banking Services Recruitment Board (BSRB) to save banks from staff crunch and workoverload. NOBW claimed that due to disbanding of BSRB recruitment process in the banking sector hasalmost come to a standstill and as a result banking transactions have suffered. When was BSRBdisbanded? – in 2005 (This demand was made at NOBW‘s Golden Jubilee Celebrations held at Nagpuron 3 February 2014. NOBW also claimed that most of the staff in the public sector banks was working

beyond their specific limit, thereby affecting not only their output but also the overall functioning of theinstitutions)…………………………………………………………………………… 10) Who took over as Asian Development Bank‘s new Country Director for India on 3 February 2014?

– Teresa Kho (She was heading the Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB and replaced Hun Kim, whois now Deputy Director General of ADB‘s South Asia Department in Manila)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 501) India Post (Indian postal department) during January 2014 announced an ambitious plan to install asmany as 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post offices across the country for savingsaccount holders. This plan was rolled-out by installing three ATMs in New Delhi, Chennai andBangalore on 5 February 2014 and ramping it up gradually. What is the tentative deadline given by IndiaPost for installing these 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs? – September 2015 (Under this plan,1,000 ATMs with the India Post branding will be put in within the first year, which will be ramped up

massively to 3,000 in the next 18 months. To start with, the ATMs can be used only by 26 crore savingsaccount-holders who save with the postal department but India Post hopes that within six months of thelaunch, it will get the interoperability permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Postal savingsare worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half the savings in the largest lender SBI and more thandouble that of the largest private sector lender ICICI Bank)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) What is the new Repo Rate after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 28January 2014 increased it by 0.25% under RBI‘s third quarter monetary policy review? – 8% (Thismove is expected to translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of borrowing for corporates.Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) will be revised to7% and the marginal standing facility rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the cash reserveratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity seems to be comfortable)

…………………………………………………………………………… 3) The RBI released the Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Report along with the thirdquarter monetary policy review on 28 January 2014. What is RBI‘s broad expectation about economicgrowth rate (GDP Growth Rate) during 2013-13? – GDP growth rate will remain below 5% (The RBIsaid the growth is expected to fall below 5% in 2013-14 in absence of pick-up in manufacturing sector,

but likely to recover to 5.5% in the next financial year (2014-15). In the first half of 2013-14, the GDPgrowth was at 4.6%)

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) What is the name of a new fund announced on 27 January 2014 by the National Innovation Council

(NInC) and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to combine innovation and thedynamism of enterprise to solve the problems of citizens at the bottom of the economic pyramid inIndia? – India Inclusive Innovation Fund – IIIF (The fund, launched by Sam Pitroda, head of the

NInC, is an autonomous Rs. 500-crore fund, with the Union Government contributing 20%. The balance



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will come from public sector banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, multilateral/bilateraldevelopment agencies, Indian & global corporates)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) What was the GDP growth rate figure for Indian economy for 2012-13 declared by the UnionGovernment on 31 January 2014? – 4.5% (This GDP growth rate is 0.5% lower as compared with theearlier estimate of 5% on account of subdued performance in agriculture, mining and manufacturing.Growth in 2012-13 is the lowest in a decade, with the previous low of 4% recorded in 2002-03. The

estimates for 2012-13 were released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry ofStatistics and Programme Implementation)…………………………………………………………………………… 6) The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on 30 January 2014 raised the subsidised LPGcylinder quota from 9 to 12 per year per household. It also decided to put on hold the direct benefittransfer scheme for LPG which linked payment of subsidy directly into the bank accounts of theconsumers under the Aadhaar platform. After increase in the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders what

percentage of LPG cylinders are now covered by subsidisd cylinders? – Around 97% (Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily disclosed that 89.2% of the 15 crore LPG consumers use up tonine cylinders in a year and only 10% have to buy the additional requirement at the market price. Afterthe quota is raised to 12, about 97% of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised LPG)

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) In a first of its kind venture, six public sector undertakings (PSUs) including state-run Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited (BHEL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) on 29 January 2014announced joining hands to set up world‘s largest 4,000 MW ultra mega solar power project inRajasthan. Where in Rajasthan this solar plant spread across 19,000 acres is going to be established? – Sambhar (The project will be the largest single location solar plant spread across 19,000 acres atSambhar in Rajasthan. It entails an investment of Rs. 7,500 crore in the first phase. The JV will haveequity of 26% from BHEL, 23% from SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), 16% from SSL(Sambhar Salt Ltd), 16% from PGCIL, 16% from SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) and 3% from REIL(Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited))

…………………………………………………………………………… 8) India‘s first monorail – Mumbai Monorail was opened for the general public on 2 February 2014 after

being inaugurated on 1 February. Which authority owns and operates this monorail project? – Mumbai

Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) – The Rs. 3,000-crore Mumbai Monorail project is being implemented in two phases. The MMRDA has already spent Rs. 1,900 croreof Rs. 3,000 crore allocated for the project, including the civil work for the second phase. Commercialoperations of the 8.9-km first phase connecting Wadala-Chembur stations on the northeastern fringe ofMumbai metropolis commenced on 2 February with the first train leaving the Wadala station at 7am.The Mumbai Monorail is not just the first in the country, but across the subcontinent. Monorails are inoperation in China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, Europe, and the Americas

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9) Vakrangee Ltd., which is engaged in providing e-governance solutions, recently came to news for banking related activities. Why? – It has received final authorization for operating White Label

ATM (WLA) license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – Under, the RBI license, the company isentitled to set up and run minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in next three years. White labelATMs are those which are not run by the Banks but by a non- banking entity in its own brand name (likeVakrangee ATM) after passing through all the stringent qualification and due-diligence processundertaken by RBI)

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) Tata Chemicals on 23 January 2014 celebrated its platinum jubilee (75 th year) and on this occasioncompany‘s Managing Director R. Mukundan rang the opening bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Atwhich place 75 years back Tata Chemicals established its first centre of salt and soda ash production? –

Mithapur – Gujarat (Tata Group was associated with Mithapur in 1939 when it took over the OkhaSalt Works at Mithapur near Okha. Mithapur, situated between Okha and Dwarka, is a small colonysupported by Tata Chemicals Limited, which is one of the flagship companies of the Tata Group)



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Banking and Financial Awareness – 491) To promote women entrepreneurship, the country‘s first women‘s bank – the Bharatiya Mahila Bank(BMB) – has chosen to do away with collateral for loans availed by women. The BMB will providecollateral-free loans for amounts up to Rs 1 crore. Which entity would cover the risk under thisinitiative? – Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises – CGTMSE (TheCGTMSE is a credit guarantee scheme, where a premium is paid either by the lender or the applicant,

provides a guarantee cover for up to 80% of loans availed by women owned or operated micro- andsmall enterprises. For loans availed for smaller amounts such as Rs 20,000, the bank will completelywaive off the requirement for collateral)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) In a major overhaul of foreign investment regime, the government is considering splitting overseasinflows into two categories – Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – with a minimum composite cap of 49%. The proposal envisages an aggregate automatic limit of 24% ofFPI, which may be raised up to the extent of FDI permitted under the automatic route. Constituting twocategories for foreign investments is considered by which panel? – Mayaram Panel (The governmenthad set up a four-member committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Mayaram to define FDI andFII and remove the ambiguity between them. The Committee submitted its final report during the last

week of January 2014)…………………………………………………………………………… 3) Who was the head of RBI‘s committee on strengthening monetary policy framework, which in itsrecommendations has suggested that the target for inflation should be set at 4% with a band of +/- 2%around it? – Urjit Patel, Deputy Governor of the RBI (This inflation target is in view of vulnerability ofthe Indian economy to supply/external shocks and the relatively large weight of food in Consumer PriceIndex (CPI))

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) The Reserve Bank of India during January 2014 constituted an 8-member expert committee to reviewthe governance of bank boards in India, which includes examining the ownership and salary structure of

banks. Who heads this committee? – PJ Naik , former Chairman and CEO of Axis Bank (The committee

will review the regulatory compliance requirements of the board of directors of banks, judge what can be rationalised and where requirements need enhancements, examine the working of the boards,including whether adequate time is being devoted to issues of strategy, growth, governance and riskmanagement)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) Which bank came to highlight during January 2014 for declaring an interim dividend of 9000%,which is said to be the highest in India‘s banking industry? – Tamilnad Mercantile Bank – TMB (Tuticorin-based TMB took a decision to this effect at a meeting held on 18 January 2014. This dividendstands at Rs. 900 per share of Rs 10 each, for the fiscal ending March 2014. This is the second year in arow that the bank has declared such a high dividend. The bank‘s board had approved a dividend of Rs750 per share for 2008-09 and Rs 1,000 per share the following year)

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) Who retired as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 20 January 2014? – Anand

Sinha (With Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy Governor, the RBI re-allocated his portfolios among the remaining three Deputy Governors — K.C. Chakrabarty, H.R. Khan and UrjitPatel. Sinha was in-charge of eight departments, including Departments of Banking Operations andDevelopment, Risk Management, Information Technology and Expenditure and Budgetary Control)

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) The Union Government on 20 January 2014 allowed the establishment of an ad hoc authority torecommend the pricing of the passenger and cargo segments. What is the name of this authority? – Rail

Tariff Authority (Rail Tariff Authority will have a Chairman and four members. The decision to have

an ad hoc arrangement through a government resolution was taken because establishing it through anexecutive order, as had been desired by the Cabinet, was not feasible given that under the Railway Actonly the Railway Board can decide on the prices of rail services. For constitution of the RTA, anamendment to the Railway Act, 1989, is also necessary)

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8) A prominent Indian credit rating agency along with four other rating agencies from Europe, Asia,Africa and Latin America during January 2014 launched a new credit rating outfit ARC Ratings S.A.The network-based rating agency would provide credit rating services to cross-border corporates interms of accessing global capital. Which Indian rating is involved in this initiative? – CARE – Credit

Analysis and Research (ARC Ratings will be an equally held entity and have its operationalheadquarters in London. Each partner‘s shareholding is capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will ratesovereign debt, financial institutions, non-financial corporations as well as structured products)…………………………………………………………………………… 9) China‘s economy grew by 7.7% in 2013, which is far below the standards of China – world‘s second-largest economy. The economic growth rate of 2013 is the lowest since which year? – 1999 (2013‘sgrowth is the lowest in 14 years. This marks the slowest growth since 1999, when China grew 7.6%. The

previous decade saw record double-digit growth, with the country defying the global slowdown to grow10.4% in 2010 as it unveiled a massive $ 586 billion stimulus. This declining growth underlines thechallenges faced by China as it grapples with rebalancing and reviving a slowing down economy)

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) Which stock exchange retained its position as the world‘s largest bourse in terms of equity trades forthe second consecutive year in 2013? – India‘s National Stock Exchange (NSE) – NSE recordedalmost 145 crore equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3% from 2012, making it the biggestamong 51 global peers, according to data with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Rivalexchange BSE slipped one place to eighth position. Although it has more than 4,000 listed companies,the BSE recorded 34.46 crore trades last year, a drop of 3% compared to 2012. China‘s Shenzhen StockExchange recorded 129 crore trades, climbing three places to become the second-largest bourse in theworld. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from 2012

Banking and Financial Awareness – 481) According to announcement made by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014the Centre has revised its target upwards to opening 10,000 new bank branches a year. This has been

part of Centre‘s initiative of taking banking services to rural areas. What was the earlier target? – 7,000

branches (From the coming financial year, it has been revised to open 10,000 branches a year and

through this, an additional 55,000 new jobs are expected to be created)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) Which major bank during January 2014 came out with plans to outsource the management of some ofits ATMs by taking calls from vendors? – State Bank of India (SBI called for a Request for Proposal(RFP) from vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers (ATMs). Vendors will be expected to haveall capabilities to remotely capture and initiate appropriate action in the event of any problems at thesecash dispensers. They will be expected to ensure that the downtime of these ATMs in metro and urbanareas is less than 3%, while it is less than 6% in rural areas. SBI had 32,777 ATMs as of 30 September2013. It has expanded its network steadily in the past few years, adding about a third of its network(about 11,000 ATMs) in the past 18 months. ATM operations have however not been profitable)

…………………………………………………………………………… 3) Retirement fund- body the Employees‘ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 13 January 2014decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 per cent for 2013-14, a movethat will benefit about 5 crore subscribers. What was the present rate of interest for EPFO subscribers? – 8.5% (The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex decision- making body of the Employees‘Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), met on 13 January and approved the interest rate. The EPFO‘srecommendation will now be vetted by the Finance Ministry. Once the ministry approves the decision,the interest would be credited to the accounts of subscribers. The EPFO is estimated to have an incomeof Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current financial year)

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during January 2014 clarified that the provision of prior RBI nod

applies for establishments from Hong Kong and Macau to set up business or related activities in India.As per the existing conditions this provision pertaining to RBI‘s approval applies on which 6 countries? – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (As per the existing conditionsunder the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, no entity or citizens of these 6 countries is



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allowed to set up any branch office or a liaison office or a project or any other such business activitywithout prior permission of the RBI)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) The government Union on 10 January 2014 gave its approval to the plan to form an Exchange TradedFund (ETF) comprising scrips of 11 bluechip state-owned companies, which will be offered in themarket with a view to garnering Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal. Which are the 11 state-owned companies(PSUs) involved in this ETF plan? – ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Power Grid, REC, Oil

India Limited, Container Corporation of India, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Limited,

Engineers India Limited and Bharat Engineering Limited (ETF is a security that tracks an index, acommodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange. The PSUETF would comprise shares of various profitable state-owned companies. The composition of ETF andweightage of the shares of individual PSU in the index has been decided by the EGoM)

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) SEBI on 10 January 2014 notified new norms empowering its Chairman to order search and seizureoperations during investigations, while necessary safeguards have also been put in place to protect rightsof affected persons. This would add extra power to SEBI‘s crackdown against fraudsters. What is thename of the ordinance promulgated by the Union government in September 2013, which had conferredexplicit powers on SEBI Chairman to authorise investigating authority or any other officer of SEBI toconduct search and seizure under the SEBI Act? – Securities Laws (Amendment) Second Ordinance,

2013 (The new norms providing SEBI with powers to conduct search and seizure have been finalisedafter taking into account suggestions from public and other stakeholders to draft regulations, which wereissued in November 2013)

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) Which bank during January 2014 became the first Indian domestic private sector bank to have a

branch presence in China? – Axis Bank (Axis Bank recently opened its branch in Shanghai afterreceiving permission from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The branch will engagein foreign currency businesses that includes all business approved by the banking supervision andregulatory authorities of the China. With opening of Shanghai branch, Axis Bank‘s overseas presence

has grown to eight – one each in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Colombo, and Shanghai, tworepresentative offices at Dubai and Abu Dhabi and an overseas subsidiary in London)

…………………………………………………………………………… 8) Which private asset management company (AMC) January 2014 became the first private sector fundhouse to launch an inflation indexed fund that aims to provide inflation-adjusted returns to investors? – Deutsche Asset Management India – DAMI (DAMI‘s scheme, ‗DWS Inflation—Indexed Bond Fund‘is an open — ended debt fund and will open for subscription on 16 January 2014, and close on 27January. Inflation indexed bonds (IIBs) are instruments where interest payment and principal are linkedto whole sale price index (WPI) inflation and these bonds are currently available at an attractive yield of3.6% above WPI. Government has been issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June, 2013 and the currentoutstanding issuance stands at Rs 6,500 crore as of now)

…………………………………………………………………………… 9) SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) Chairman UK Sinha‘s term was extended by 2 yearsduring January 2014. Sinha will now head the regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last fourchairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been extended. Who is the only SEBI chief to have heldthe post for a longer duration than Sinha? – D.R. Mehta (Mehta served as SEBI Chairman for 7 years(1995-2002). Sinha‘s three predecessors – GN Bajpai (2002-2005), M Damodaran (2005-2008) and CBBhave (2008-2011) – had only got a three-year terms)

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) The three day 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was held between 7-9 January 2014 at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi. What was the theme of this year‘s PBD? – Engaging Diaspora: Connecting

Across Generations (PBD is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas

Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate thisoccasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi (non-residentcitizen), returned to India from South Africa, led India‘s freedom struggle and changed the lives ofIndians forever)



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Banking and Financial Awareness – 471) The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI‘s) to promote financial inclusionheaded by Nachiket Mor in its report, presented to the RBI on 7 January 2014, recommended universalelectronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years. What is the deadline foropening these bank accounts as recommended by the committee? – 1 January 2016 (The committee hasrecommended that an instruction to open the bank account should be initiated by the Unique

Identification Authority of India (UIAI) after the issue of an Aadhaar number to an individual over theage of 18. It also recommended that the RBI should issue a circular indicating that no bank can refuse toopen an account for a customer who has adequate KYC proof which specifically includes Aadhaar)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) Which country became the 18th member of Eurozone on 1 January 2014? – Latvia (The formerSoviet republic on the Baltic Sea recently emerged from the financial crisis to become the EU‘s fastest-growing economy. Latvia was given final clearance to join Eurozone on 9 July 2013 by financeministers of the 28-nation European Union. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a political entityand represents the interest of all of Europe whereas Eurozone is a currency block of 18 nations that haveaccepted Euro as a common currency. Not all countries of EU use Euro as currency (Britain still usesPound as its currency))

…………………………………………………………………………… 3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 December 2013 dismissed rumours that it has stopped banksfrom accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014 and announced that banks will continue toaccept currency notes with scribbling. However, it reiterated that writing or scribbling on banknotesworks against its policy to keep currency notes clean and sought co-operation from public, institutionsand others in keeping the banknotes clean by not writing anything on them. What is the name of this

policy which was released during 2013? – ‗Clean Note Policy‘ (RBI in 2013 had said it has beennoticed that at certain branches of banks, the practice of writing/scribbling on the body of the bank notescontinues to remain in vogue. Under the present system of mechanised processing of banknotesinscription or scribbling on any part of the banknote would render it to be classified as unfit for reissue)……………………………………………………………………………

4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 December 2013 warned users, holders and traders of virtualcurrencies, including bitcoins, of financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security relatedrisks. Why was this warning given by the RBI for bitcoins type currency, which is digital or virtualcurrency that uses peer-to-peer technology to facilitate instant payments? – Because bitcoins as a

medium for payments are presently not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority inIndia (Bitcoin is an alternative currency, which uses cryptography for security, making it difficult tocounterfeit. Bitcoin issuance and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no centralauthority. The central bank said it was keeping watch at the developments relating to certain electronicrecords claimed to be decentralised digital currency such as bitcoins, litecoins, bbqcoins, dogecoins andtheir usage or trading in the country)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) Union government during December 2013 announced decision to covert the National Institute forMicro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME) into the National SME (Small and MediumEnterprises) University. NIMSME is situated at – Hyderabad (This decision was announced at thegolden jubilee celebrations of NIMSME held on 21 December 2013 at Hyderabad)

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) Who on 20 December 2013 was appointed as the first woman managing director of the Life InsuranceCorporation of India (LIC) by the Government? – Usha Sangwan (She became the first woman MD incorporation‘s history since its establishment in 1956. With this appointment, LIC is set to function at itsfull strength of four MDs after almost two years. These would be S B Mainak, Sushobhan Sarkar,Sangwan and V K Sharma)

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) Indian financial markets were left surprised by R eserve Bank of India (RBI‘s) mid-quarter monetary policy review released on 18 December 2013 as all key policy rates were left unchanged in this review presented by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. The short-term lending rate was kept unchanged at 7.75%,while the cash reserve ratio (CRR) remained at 4%. Why markets were left surprised with this move? –



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Because markets had expected another 25 bps hike in the short-term lending rate due to persistent highinflationary pressure (The RBI said it will take calibrated action in the future, based on inflationarytrends and action by the US Federal Reserve)Key highlights of RBI‘s mid-quarter review of monetary policy

- Key policy rate, cash reserve ratio unchanged - Repo rate unchanged at 7.75%; cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4%

- RBI to wait for more data before taking policy action

- Outlook on global growth continues to remain moderate …………………………………………………………………………… 8) According to the statistics given by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)during December 2013, the average number of policies sold by an agent of LIC was almost 10 times thatof his private sector counterpart. LIC‘s agents managed their outperformance last year too, when the lifeinsurance business was on a slide. What was the average policy sale figure for an LIC agent as disclosed

by the IRDA? – 29 Policies (LIC has an agency force of 11.72 lakh while private companies have 9.49lakh agents working for them)…………………………………………………………………………… 9) The much-anticipated inflation indexed bonds, linked to consumer prices were made available forsale for a week beginning 23 December 2013. What was the name of these bonds which sought to

protect consumer savings from price rise by offering returns over and above inflation at the retail level? – Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities – Cumulative

…………………………………………………………………………… 10) The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced on 20 December 2013 that the ecologically-sensitive Western Ghats will remain off-bounds for mining, quarrying, sand mining and other industrialactivities. This move comes after a high-level working group recommended that all destructive industrialactivities, that include mining and thermal power plants, should be banned in the region. Who headedthis group? – K. Kasturirangan, Member (Science), Planning Commission (The group recognisedabout 37% of the Western Ghats, covering about 60,000 square km, to be ecologically sensitive)

Banking and Financial Awareness – 461) National Stock Exchange (NSE) during December 2013 completed how many years of itsestablishment? – 20 years (NSE was founded in 1992 and started trading operations in 1993. It was thefirst in India to start electronic trading and was successful in bringing about a paradigm shift in the waytrading and settlements were done. NSE has a market capitalisation of more than US$989 billion and1,635 companies listed as on July 2013 and is the largest stock exchange in India)…………………………………………………………………………… 2) Who was appointed as the new Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) during December 2013? – Harsh Kumar Bhanwala (Bhanwala succeedsPrakash Bakshi, who retired as NABARD Chairman in September 2013. Before this appointmentBhanwala was an Executive Director at India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a state-owned infrastructure lender. His term will be for 5 years)

…………………………………………………………………………… 3) Who was appointed as the new Finance Secretary of India on 10 December, 2013? – Sumit Bose (Bose takes place of R.S. Gujral, who retired during November 2013. Gujral was also looking after theexpenditure department. Sumit Bose is an IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre (1976 batch) and wasthe senior-most secretary in the Finance Ministry that has two other secretaries- Arvind Mayaram(economic affairs) and Ratan P Watal (expenditure). He is due to retire in March 2014)

…………………………………………………………………………… 4) Top 30 loan defaulters of public sector banks (PSBs) account for more than one-third of total grossnon-performing assets (NPAs) of state-run lenders. This information was given in the Parliament on 10December, 2013. According to this information what is the ratio of top 30 NPAs as a percentage of gross

NPAs, in respect of public sector banks, as on September 2013? – 35.5% (This figure stands at 38.8%for all banks in India. The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) amount of top 30 accounts of publicsector banks (PSBs) stood at Rs. 72,174 crore, while for all banks it was Rs. 91,667 crore at the end ofSeptember 2013. In case of nationalised banks, the top 30 defaulters contributed 43.8 per cent to the



GNPA with Rs. 55,663 crore. The GNPAs of the SBI Group, comprising SBI and its five associates,were worth Rs. 71,620 crore at the end of first quarter of the current fiscal)

…………………………………………………………………………… 5) Which private sector bank during December 2013 joined hands with the National PaymentsCorporation of India (NPCIL) to introduce eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) norms in its

branches? – HDFC Bank (The eKYC procedure will enable a consumer to walk in with an Aadhaarnumber and open an account by getting his fingerprint scanned. HDFC Bank will install biometric

readers for scanning fingerprints at most of its branches in a few months. The banks systems will pull alldata stored online with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) including name, address,

birth date and photograph)

…………………………………………………………………………… 6) The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), in its memorandum given during December 2013 to theFinance Minister, has kept which demand prominently which has huge support of bank employees allover the country? – Working for five-days in a week (Trade unions in the banking sector have raisedthis demand as part of their bipar tite wage negotiations with the Indian Banks‘ Association. Withalternative channels such as ATMs, Internet and mobile banking in place, the unions feel that the time isripe for moving to a five-day week. Unions argue that not only Central and State Governmentministries/departments but even the Reserve Bank of India follows the five-day work schedule.However, another section of bankers were of the opinion that five-day week was not advisable as itwould come in the way of efforts towards financial inclusion)

…………………………………………………………………………… 7) Which natural gas pipeline inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 3 December, 2013 is the first one toconnect Southern India to the national grid? – Dabhol – Bangaluru Gas Pipeline of GAIL (TheDabhol – Bangaluru gas pipeline is 1,000 km long and has been put-up with an investment of around Rs.4,500 crore. The pipeline starts at Dabhol in Maharashtra and passes through Belgaum, Dharwad,Gadag, Bellary, Devanagere, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Ramanagaram, Bengaluru Rural and BengaluruUrban districts)……………………………………………………………………………

8) More than a year after allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, the government on 17 December 2013received the first application to open stores under this category. Which company gave this application toset-up multi-brand retail stores in India with an Indian group? – Tesco Plc. (Tesco Plc. is a UK-basedretailer and it has sought approval to open retail stores in India with an investment of $110 million in

joint venture with Tata Group. The joint-venture Trent Hypermarket, will trade in products under 14categories and plans to open three to five stores every financial year. The government in September2012 had allowed 51% FDI in multi-brand retail with certain riders)

…………………………………………………………………………… 9) Which public sector bank is the only Indian bank to have a branch in Bangkok (Thailand) and itduring December 2013 received the Reserve Bank of India (RBI‘s) approval for opening a second

branch here? – Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) – IOB will open the second branch before the end of

March 2014. IOB had few years back roped in Deloitte to devise a strategy for the bank‘s overseasexpansion)…………………………………………………………………………… 10) State-run Indian Oil Corp has emerged as the country‘s biggest company in terms of annual revenue,followed by Mukesh Ambani-led private sector giant Reliance Industries at the second place, as per anannual list of Fortune 500 companies in India in Fortune magazine‘s Indian edition released duringDecember 2013. Among the top ten companies in this list, the highest number of companies is fromwhich sector? – Energy Sector (There are as many as seven energy companies in the top 10 list. IndianOil Corp (IOC) was the biggest with annual revenue of Rs 4,75,867 crore, followed by RelianceIndustries (RIL) with a full-year revenue of Rs 4,09,883 crore. This is followed by Bharat Petroleum (Rs2,44,822 crore) at the third place and Hindustan Petroleum (Rs 2,17,771 crore) at fourth. Other entities

in the list are State Bank of India (5 th rank), Tata Motors (6th), ONGC (7th), Tata Steel (8th), Essar Oilth th

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Banking and Financial Awareness_nirdeshak