‘Banking and Financial Awareness’ => January–June 2014 Dear aspirants, Hope this study material will help you to know more about Important Banking and Financial awareness in the last few months. Wish you guyz All the best…. For More Current Affairs and GK stay tuned to our page…

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 June 2014 announced its first bi-monthly monetary policy review after the new government took charge at the Centre. RBI Governor kept the most important repo rate unchanged at 8% and almost all other important rates were also unchanged. Which is the only rate which was changed? – Statutory Liquidity Ratio – SLR (The SLR of scheduled commercial banks was reduced 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 for foreign 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. This effectively 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 2014 allowed both residents and non-residents (except citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh) to take out Indian currency 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 the country)

4) Which country would become the 19th member of Eurozone and the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro 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 it recommended that the country would become the currency bloc’s 19th member on 1 January 2015. Lithuania would be the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro, after Estonia did so in 2011 and Latvia followed suit at the beginning of 2014)

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5) Kotak Mahindra 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 are required to shed 3.58% of their share. In June 2012, the RBI had asked Kotak Mahindra Bank to reduce the promoters’ holding to 20% by 2018 and 10% by 2020 from the then 45.21%. This move is to diversify the promoters’ shareholding and bring it in sync with the new banking licence regulations and thereby improve corporate governance. Kotak Mahindra Bank is a private-sector bank owned by Uday Kotak)

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 10th biggest in terms of market cap, and the second biggest in the BRIC group of countries, behind China which is at $3.23 trillion. In rupee terms, India’s market cap is at an all-time high of Rs 89.8 lakh crore. At the current level, India’s market cap-to-GDP ratio is about 0.79. However, this is much lower than the levels seen during the last bull market of 2007-08, when the ratio was nearly 2)

7) Curtains may be down on the UP Stock Exchange (UPSE), Uttar Pradesh’s only trading platform, as the deadline issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) expired on 30 May 2014. The SEBI had fixed conditions for UPSE according to which the annual turnover of the exchange would have to be around Rs. 1,000 crore and its net-worth should be at-least Rs. 100 crore. In which city is the UPSE 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 only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) being conceptualised as a global financial and IT services hub, which on 3 June 2014 announced having achieved financial closure for its Phase I infrastructure development? – Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) – The GIFT City is being designed 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 agreed to 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-Banking solution. 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 banking services to its corporate customers with highest security. It would also allow the bank to roll out new functionalities on a regular basis and build upon the existing products to provide an enhanced banking experience, all at reduced costs)

10) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 June 2014 unveiled a new book titled “Getting India Back on Track: 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 to get 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

of the book has been written by Ratan N Tata and it contains insightful essays by eminent academicians and public policy experts)

1) The Reserve Bank of India on 2 April 2014 granted in-principle approval of bank licences to which two 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 like Muthoot Finance, Reliance Capital, Tata Sons, IFCI, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bajaj Finserv, LIC Housing Finance, L&T Finance Holdings and Shriram Capital. IDFC was established in 1997 and acts as a specialized financial intermediary for infrastructure projects. Bandhan Financial is India’s largest micro finance 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 April 2014? – R. Gandhi (He was appointed by the Union Govt. for a period of three years. The appointment follows Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy Governor in mid-January 2014. The RBI now has four Deputy Governors – KC Chakrabarty, HR Khan, Urjit Patel and R. Gandhi. However, KC Chakrabarty 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 draft focuses on raising more revenue from high net worth individuals, while leaving the slabs unchanged for others. 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 the draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which was released on 1 April 2014? – 35%

5) What is the proposed additional tax on those earning over Rs 1 crore through dividend income in the draft 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 which major 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 bank accounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit 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 aimed at 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 the Kisan Credit Card scheme was launched? – in 1998 (The scheme was introduced in August 1998 and since 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 2014 got back the power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal deposit schemes and assess call data records in

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securities-related offences after the SEBI Ordinance was re-promulgated. This happened after the Finance Ministry managed to get the nod of the Election Commission and Cabinet on re-promulgation of the SEBI Ordinance and finally from the President. Under this ordinance, which pooled money schemes 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 of Basel III norms by the Indian banks to 31 March 2019. What was the earlier deadline for implementation of this norm? – 31 March 2018 (Under this norm Indian banks need to have a core capital 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 March 2014? – Ajay S. Shriram (Ajay S. Shriram is the Chairman and Sr. Managing Director of DCM Shriram Ltd and he was elected as the President of CII for 2014-15. He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys as the new President. Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall, has been elected as the Vice-President)

1) The Reserve Bank of India on 2 April 2014 granted in-principle approval of bank licences to which two 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 like Muthoot Finance, Reliance Capital, Tata Sons, IFCI, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bajaj Finserv, LIC Housing Finance, L&T Finance Holdings and Shriram Capital. IDFC was established in 1997 and acts as a specialized financial intermediary for infrastructure projects. Bandhan Financial is India’s largest micro finance 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 April 2014? – R. Gandhi (He was appointed by the Union Govt. for a period of three years. The appointment follows Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy Governor in mid-January 2014. The RBI now has four Deputy Governors – KC Chakrabarty, HR Khan, Urjit Patel and R. Gandhi. However, KC Chakrabarty 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 draft focuses on raising more revenue from high net worth individuals, while leaving the slabs unchanged for others. 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 the draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which was released on 1 April 2014? – 35%

5) What is the proposed additional tax on those earning over Rs 1 crore through dividend income in the draft 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 which major 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 bank accounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit 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 aimed at 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 the Kisan Credit Card scheme was launched? – in 1998 (The scheme was introduced in August 1998 and since 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 2014 got back the power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal deposit schemes and assess call data records in securities-related offences after the SEBI Ordinance was re-promulgated. This happened after the Finance Ministry managed to get the nod of the Election Commission and Cabinet on re-promulgation of the SEBI Ordinance and finally from the President. Under this ordinance, which pooled money schemes 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 of Basel III norms by the Indian banks to 31 March 2019. What was the earlier deadline for implementation of this norm? – 31 March 2018 (Under this norm Indian banks need to have a core capital 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 March 2014? – Ajay S. Shriram (Ajay S. Shriram is the Chairman and Sr. Managing Director of DCM Shriram Ltd and he was elected as the President of CII for 2014-15. He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys as the new President. Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall, has been elected as the Vice-President)

1) Who headed the committee on Credit Information Reports (CIRs), which submitted its report to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during March 2014? – Aditya Puri, Chairman of HDFC Bank (This committee recommended that customers should be given a free copy of their credit profile as it would help in promoting financial discipline among loan seekers. The committee also recommended use of common data formats and a common data quality index that could assist credit institutions in determining the gaps in data)

2) Which infrastructure finance company during March 2014 received RBI approval to set up a minimum 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 set up,

own and operate a payment system for WLAs effective 25 March 2014. Through these WLAs, the infrastructure financial institution will be able to take financial products and services of the sponsor bank to the doorstep of the rural population)

3) What is the name of the pre-paid/remittance provider associated with the m-Pesa platform, which during March 2014 started a pan-India inter-bank money transfer service by joining hands with the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)? – Mobile

Commerce Solutions Ltd (MCSL) – With this tie-up, an MCSL (m-Pesa) user can send money to customers of any IMPS-enabled bank using NPCI’s remittance platform. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organisation of all retail payment systems in India, set up with the support of the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is a remittance processing platform offered by NPCI that offers instant, 24X7, electronic funds transfer through mobile, Internet or ATM between banks and pre-paid providers)

4) Union Government on 21 March 2014 sold its 9% stake in which private sector bank? – Axis Bank (The stake was divested through the Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI), which was formed in 2003 is an offshoot of erstwhile UTI and held 20.72% in Axis Bank. The other promoters of the bank are Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation, New India Assurance and National Insurance Company)

5) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 March 2014 allowed five domestic private banks to import gold. This decision is expected to give a boost to gold supplies and bring down premiums gold prices in India, which is the world’s second-biggest consumer after China. Which 5 banks are these? – HDFC

Bank , Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES Bank (Experts of the global gold market believe that this could be a significant step towards easing of tough curbs on the metal imposed last year to cut the country’s trade deficit)

6) Which state scored the highest in monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) report rankings for urban areas which was released during March 2014 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)? – Haryana (Haryana’s MPCE stood at Rs. 3817 and it was followed by Kerala (Rs. 3,408) and Maharashtra (Rs. 3,189). Among urban areas, Bihar (Rs. 1,507) shows the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure. The 68th round survey on level and pattern of consumption expenditure was conducted by the NSSO between July 2011 and June 2012)

7) Which state scored the highest in monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) report rankings for rural areas which was released during March 2014 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)? – Kerala (Kerala’s MPCE stood at Rs. 2,669 and it was followed by Gujarat (Rs. 2,581) and Punjab (Rs. 2,345). Among rural areas, Orrisa (Rs. 1,003) displayed the lowest MPCE. The 68th round survey on level and pattern of consumption expenditure was conducted by the NSSO between July 2011 and June 2012)

8) What is the name of the Deputy Governor of the RBI who resigned on 20 March 2014? – KC

Chakrabarty (He resigned on personal grounds three months ahead of completion of his term. Chakrabarty was appointed as Deputy Governor in June 2009 for a period of three years. In 2012, he got an extension of two years)

9) Indian market regulator SEBI on 19 March 2014 passed an order against Financial Technologies (FTIL), declaring it as not fit and proper to hold any shares directly or indirectly in any stock exchange or clearing corporation. FTIL presently holds equity stakes in which stock exchanges of the country? – MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX), National Stock Exchange (NSE), Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE), Vadodara Stock Exchange (VSE) and MCX-SX Clearing Corporation (MCX-SX CCL) – As per this SEBI order, all these holdings will need to be disposed of within 90 days. In December 2013, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had declared FTIL as not fit and proper to hold two per cent or more of the equity share capital in the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX))

10) Union Govt. on 18 March 2014 launched the exchange traded fund of Central public sector enterprises (CPSE-ETF) hoping to raise Rs 3,000 crore. The long awaited CPSE-ETF is an open-ended scheme comprising of shares of 10 Central public sector enterprises and it includes ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Oil India Limited (OIL), Container Corporation of India Limited (CCIL), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Which financial entity is managing this ETF? – Goldman Sachs India MF (The CPSE-ETF tracks an index fund but trades like a stock on the exchange and is yet another avenue for the Union Govt. for selling its stake in CPSEs)

1) Which round of Inflation Expectations Survey was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 March 2014? – 35th (These inflation expectations are to be based on subjective assessments of about 5,000 households across 16 cities. The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes (they foresee in general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the next three months as well as in the next one year and quantitative responses on current, three-month ahead and one-year ahead inflation rates)

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 March 2014 extended the deadline for the public to exchange currency notes printed before 2005 up to which date? – 1 January 2015 (Now the public would be able to exchange currency notes printed before 2005 by 1 January 2015. The RBI on 22 January 2014 had announced 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 of India 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 in CIBIL)

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 pension would 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 deposit schemes offered by post offices. Maximum increase of 0.2% per annum (20 basis points) was announced 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% per annum. 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 1 April 2014)

6) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 March 2014 hiked the trade related remittance limit from Rs. 2 lakh 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 permitted transactions under the Rupee Drawing Arrangements (RDAs) due to rapid developments in the communication facilities)

7) Nishi Vasudev on 1 March 2014 became the first woman to become head of a prominent blue-chip PSU. Which PSU is this? – Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. – HPCL (She replaced Subir Roy Choudhury)

8) Who took over as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank on 11 March 2014? – 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 Oil Corp (IOC) for Rs 5,340 crore? – Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) – In off-market transactions, ONGC and OIL bought 5% stake each at Rs. 220 per share. This stake sale doubled government’s disinvestment proceeds for the current fiscal to Rs 10,434 crore. An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram had on 28 February 2014 decided to sell the stake in IOC, the nation’s largest oil firm, at a discount of 10% through an off-market deal)

10) Which state was ranked as the most industry-friendly state in a Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu study sponsored by the Planning Commission? – Haryana (This study shows that Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are the top three industry-friendly states in the country. Orissa occupied fourth positioned whereas fifth place was given to Andhra Pradesh. Bihar ranks sixth, while Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland followed it. Among the bottom five states West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Goa and Jharkhand occupied top five places respectively. This study was commissioned by the Planning Commission in 2013 and consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu was asked to rate states based on certain parameters that would help them improve the regulatory ecosystem for the manufacturing sector. However the report was not officially released due to the Model Code of Conduct imposed by the Election Commission)

1) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) during February 2014 gave its approval for foreign equity participation up to 74% of the paid-up capital of which private bank based in Kerala? – Federal Bank (The 74% foreign equity permission comes with sub-limit of 49% for FIIs and 24% for NRIs)

2) State-run United Bank of India (UBI), which is going through serious financial mess on account of huge increase in non-performing assets (NPAs), is expected to be provided with how much additional funds by the union govt. to meet its capital requirements? – Rs. 1,000 crore (The bank will issue perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to the govt. to over the crisis created by its ballooning

NPAs. UBI’s CMD Archana Bhargava had quit the post last week citing health problems. The bank had been earlier stopped from issuing any loans above Rs. 10 crore by the RBI)

3) India’s first all-women bank – Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) during February 2014 tied up with which public-sector general insurance company for launching 3 health insurance products for women account holders of the bank? – New India Assurance (These policies, BMB Sakhee, BMB-Nirbhaya and BMB-Parivar Suraksha provide customised package of health insurance policies from New India Assurance. While Sakhee Policy aimed at rural women, offers covers up to Rs 50,000, the Nirbhaya schemes offers cover limit up to Rs 5 lakh. Parivar Suraksha offers family floater facilities)

4) During February 2014 who became the first Indian to be elected President of Administrative Tribunal of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)? – Lakshmi Swaminathan (Swaminathan is the seventh president of the Tribunal. She is the first Indian to become the president of the Tribunal. Of the previous six presidents, two had been from the US, two from Philippines, one from Sri Lanka and one from the UK. Swaminathan is a jurist in administrative law and was the vice chairman of the Principal Bench at Delhi of the Central Administrative Tribunal. Manila headquartered ADB consists of 64 member countries, including India)

5) India’s first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated on 27 February 2014 by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at – Chennai (India’s first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated at Thiyagaraya Nagar Head Post Office in Chennai. This initiative of opening Post Office Savings Bank ATM is part of the government’s Rs. 4,909 crore IT modernisation scheme for the Department of Posts specified in the interim budget for 2014-15)

6) Ennore port was on 26 February 2014 officially renamed as Kamarajar Port Ltd. The decision, which came a few days ago in the form of Union Cabinet approval, was formalised with Union Shipping Minister GK Vasan unveiling a plaque at a function organised by the port at Chennai on 26 February. 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 February 2014 which has been based on the index options prices of Nifty? – India VIX (India VIX would provide future contracts facility to investors and would help investors hedge near-term volatility risks in their equity 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 value would suggest that the market expects significant increase in volatility, while a low value indicates the reverse. India VIX and Nifty have a negative correlation)

8) Who was appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC Ltd.) on 26 February 2014? – Dinesh K. Sarraf (The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Sarraf, who at present is the Managing Director of ONGC’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL). Sarraf replaces Vasudeva who turned 60 on 25 February and retires on 28 February. The Union Govt. earlier rejected Oil Minister M. Veerappa Moily’s proposal to give Sudhir Vasudeva a post-retirement extension. ONGC Ltd. is India’s most profitable company)

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9) What is the name of the bitcoin exchange, which was once the largest bitcoin exchange in the world and which on 25 February 2014 came to news for virtually disappearing from the internet with many millions of dollars of customer deposits? – Mt. Gox (Mt. Gox’s website was down on 25 February and its founder was unaccounted-for during the day. MtGox is a Tokyo-based exchange which allowed users to 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) were missing 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 the exit 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 Finance Corporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The proposed CPSE ETF will serve as an additional mechanism for the government to monetise its shareholdings in those CPSEs that eventually form part of the ETF basket)

1) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) during February 2014 gave its approval for foreign equity participation up to 74% of the paid-up capital of which private bank based in Kerala? – Federal Bank (The 74% foreign equity permission comes with sub-limit of 49% for FIIs and 24% for NRIs)

2) State-run United Bank of India (UBI), which is going through serious financial mess on account of huge increase in non-performing assets (NPAs), is expected to be provided with how much additional funds by the union govt. to meet its capital requirements? – Rs. 1,000 crore (The bank will issue perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to the govt. to over the crisis created by its ballooning NPAs. UBI’s CMD Archana Bhargava had quit the post last week citing health problems. The bank had been earlier stopped from issuing any loans above Rs. 10 crore by the RBI)

3) India’s first all-women bank – Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) during February 2014 tied up with which public-sector general insurance company for launching 3 health insurance products for women account holders of the bank? – New India Assurance (These policies, BMB Sakhee, BMB-Nirbhaya and BMB-Parivar Suraksha provide customised package of health insurance policies from New India Assurance. While Sakhee Policy aimed at rural women, offers covers up to Rs 50,000, the Nirbhaya schemes offers cover limit up to Rs 5 lakh. Parivar Suraksha offers family floater facilities)

4) During February 2014 who became the first Indian to be elected President of Administrative Tribunal of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)? – Lakshmi Swaminathan (Swaminathan is the seventh president of the Tribunal. She is the first Indian to become the president of the Tribunal. Of the previous six presidents, two had been from the US, two from Philippines, one from Sri Lanka and one from the UK. Swaminathan is a jurist in administrative law and was the vice chairman of the Principal Bench at Delhi of the Central Administrative Tribunal. Manila headquartered ADB consists of 64 member countries, including India)

5) India’s first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated on 27 February 2014 by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at – Chennai (India’s first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated at

Thiyagaraya Nagar Head Post Office in Chennai. This initiative of opening Post Office Savings Bank ATM is part of the government’s Rs. 4,909 crore IT modernisation scheme for the Department of Posts specified in the interim budget for 2014-15)

6) Ennore port was on 26 February 2014 officially renamed as Kamarajar Port Ltd. The decision, which came a few days ago in the form of Union Cabinet approval, was formalised with Union Shipping Minister GK Vasan unveiling a plaque at a function organised by the port at Chennai on 26 February. 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 February 2014 which has been based on the index options prices of Nifty? – India VIX (India VIX would provide future contracts facility to investors and would help investors hedge near-term volatility risks in their equity 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 value would suggest that the market expects significant increase in volatility, while a low value indicates the reverse. India VIX and Nifty have a negative correlation)

8) Who was appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC Ltd.) on 26 February 2014? – Dinesh K. Sarraf (The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Sarraf, who at present is the Managing Director of ONGC’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL). Sarraf replaces Vasudeva who turned 60 on 25 February and retires on 28 February. The Union Govt. earlier rejected Oil Minister M. Veerappa Moily’s proposal to give Sudhir Vasudeva a post-retirement extension. ONGC Ltd. is India’s most profitable company)

9) What is the name of the bitcoin exchange, which was once the largest bitcoin exchange in the world and which on 25 February 2014 came to news for virtually disappearing from the internet with many millions of dollars of customer deposits? – Mt. Gox (Mt. Gox’s website was down on 25 February and its founder was unaccounted-for during the day. MtGox is a Tokyo-based exchange which allowed users to 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) were missing 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 the exit 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 Finance Corporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The proposed CPSE ETF will serve as an additional mechanism for the government to monetise its shareholdings in those CPSEs that eventually form part of the ETF basket)

1) Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented the Vote-on-Account on 17 February 2014, which would take care of union expenses until the government’s term ends in May 2014. What the expected fiscal 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 has come down mainly on account of expenditure compression and higher realisation from the 2G spectrum auction)

2) What is the expected agricultural growth rate for 2013-14, as announced in the Vote-on-Account on 17 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 given moratorium on interest? – 2009

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

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

6) Which two business segments were exempted from the service tax in the Vote-on-Account presented on 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 borrowings which was announced by the Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his vote-on-account on 17 February? – Public Debt Management Agency – PDMA (Chidambaram announced that the Centre is ready with the Public Debt Management Agency Bill and that the proposed agency will be established as a non-statutory body and is expected to begin work in the next fiscal. Former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had first announced setting up of PDMA in his budget speech of 2011-12. The PDMA is expected 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 the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) relating to capacity building in the banking sector. The committee has been tasked with the responsibility of identifying capacity building requirements keeping in view the role of financial sector and what it should deliver. Who is heading this 9-member committee? – G Gopalakrishna (G Gopalakrishna is an Executive Director in the RBI. The committee will examine the skills required at various levels/operations to deliver on the required role and also identify qualifications relevant to specific areas of operation in banks and non-banks. Further, it will evolve methodologies for prescribing certification for required qualifications)

9) What is the name of the chairperson and managing director of Kolkata-headquartered United Bank of India (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 the third quarter. United Bank’s gross non-performing assets jumped 194% to Rs. 8,545.50 crore

(includes fresh slippage of Rs. 3,172 crore in the October-December quarter) as at December-end 2013 against 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) for Indian 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 March 2013 for Indian Citizens living abroad across the globe)

11) Indian market regulator SEBI on 13 February 2014 cleared new corporate governance norms that require listed companies to justify CEO salaries, put in place whistle-blower policies and have orderly succession 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 board on 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 the investors to comply with Know Your Client (KYC) requirements across various segments of the capital markets)

1) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan announced on 12 February 2014 that in coming days Indian citizens without a bank account would be able to withdraw cash from an ATM (automated teller machine) with the help of mobile technology. Payment banks will play important role in facilitating this system under which a payment system will facilitate funds transfers from bank account holders to those without accounts through ATMs. Which committee had recently recommended establishment of payment banks? – Nachiket More Committee on Financial Inclusion (The interesting proposal essentially is that the sender can go to an ATM with a participating bank and ask the money to be withdrawn from his account. The intermediary then processes the payment and sends a code via mobile to the recipient. The recipient takes that code to the nearest ATM of that participating bank, punches in the code and withdraws the money)

2) Till February 2014, the Reserve Bank of India has issued the certificate of authorisation to how many non-bank entities for setting up and operating white label ATMs (WLAs) in India? – Four (The entities which got the permission are Tata Communications Payment Solutions; Prizm Payment Services, Mumbai; Muthoot Finance , Kochi and Vakrangee Limited, Mumbai. In June 2012, the RBI issued guidelines permitting non-bank entities to set up and operate WLAs in the country after seeking the RBI’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 for WLAs. WLAs serve customers from all banks and will be connected with the entire ATM network in the country)

3) Plastic notes in the denomination of Rs. 10 will be introduced on a trial basis in which five cities in the second half of 2014, as stated by the Union Government on 7 February 2014 in the Parliament? – Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar

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4) Indian public sector banks went on a two-day strike from 10 February 2014 after the conciliation effort made by the Central Chief Labour Commissioner to avert the all-India bank strike scheduled failed. Which bank union made a call for this strike? – United Forum of Bank Unions – UFBU (The talks 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 nothing new to offer)

5) What is the name of India’s first public sector unit (PSU), the revival plan for which was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 13 February 2014? – ITI Limited, which was formerly known as Indian Telephone Industries Ltd (The company was established in 1948 and was incorporated in 1950 under the then Mysore Companies Act, 1938 and later converted as the first PSU of the country to assist the Government in the sensitive and strategic telecommunication field. The company was referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) in 2004-05 and declared a sick company. BIFR had recommended a revival plan for ITI Ltd. The revival plan will be supported 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 Rs 10,141 crore (or $1.6 billion) proposal to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian unit. This is the single 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 8 April 2014. In its advisory it drew the attention of banks to a study by Microsoft in which it claimed that very large number of Indian public bank branches would become vulnerable following the U.S.-based firm’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. Windows XP – launched in October, 2001 – is three generations behind the latest operating system Windows 8, which was launched in October, 2012)

8) Who will head the 7th Central Pay Commission which will revise salaries of over 50 lakh central government 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 Vivek Rae (full time Member), NIPFP Director Rathin Roy (part-time Member) and OSD in Expenditure Department Meena Agarwal (Secretary). The Commission has been mandated to submit its report in two 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 the erstwhile Banking Services Recruitment Board (BSRB) to save banks from staff crunch and work overload. NOBW claimed that due to disbanding of BSRB recruitment process in the banking sector has almost come to a standstill and as a result banking transactions have suffered. When was BSRB disbanded? – in 2005 (This demand was made at NOBW’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations held at Nagpur on 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 the institutions)

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, who is now Deputy Director General of ADB’s South Asia Department in Manila)

1) India Post (Indian postal department) during January 2014 announced an ambitious plan to install as many as 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post offices across the country for savings account holders. This plan was rolled-out by installing three ATMs in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore on 5 February 2014 and ramping it up gradually. What is the tentative deadline given by India Post 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 savings account-holders who save with the postal department but India Post hopes that within six months of the launch, it will get the interoperability permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Postal savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half the savings in the largest lender SBI and more than double 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 28 January 2014 increased it by 0.25% under RBI’s third quarter monetary policy review? – 8% (This move 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 to 7% and the marginal standing facility rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity seems to be comfortable)

3) The RBI released the Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Report along with the third quarter monetary policy review on 28 January 2014. What is RBI’s broad expectation about economic growth rate (GDP Growth Rate) during 2013-13? – GDP growth rate will remain below 5% (The RBI said 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 GDP growth 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 the dynamism of enterprise to solve the problems of citizens at the bottom of the economic pyramid in India? – 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 will come from public sector banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, multilateral/bilateral development agencies, Indian & global corporates)

5) What was the GDP growth rate figure for Indian economy for 2012-13 declared by the Union Government on 31 January 2014? – 4.5% (This GDP growth rate is 0.5% lower as compared with the earlier 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 of Statistics and Programme Implementation)

6) The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on 30 January 2014 raised the subsidised LPG cylinder quota from 9 to 12 per year per household. It also decided to put on hold the direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG which linked payment of subsidy directly into the bank accounts of the consumers 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 to nine cylinders in a year and only 10% have to buy the additional requirement at the market price. After the 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 Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) on 29 January 2014 announced joining hands to set up world’s largest 4,000 MW ultra mega solar power project in Rajasthan. 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 at Sambhar in Rajasthan. It entails an investment of Rs. 7,500 crore in the first phase. The JV will have equity 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 crore of Rs. 3,000 crore allocated for the project, including the civil work for the second phase. Commercial operations of the 8.9-km first phase connecting Wadala-Chembur stations on the northeastern fringe of Mumbai 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 in operation in China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, Europe, and the Americas

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 is entitled to set up and run minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in next three years. White label ATMs are those which are not run by the Banks but by a non- banking entity in its own brand name (like Vakrangee ATM) after passing through all the stringent qualification and due-diligence process undertaken by RBI)

10) Tata Chemicals on 23 January 2014 celebrated its platinum jubilee (75th year) and on this occasion company’s Managing Director R. Mukundan rang the opening bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At which 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 Okha Salt Works at Mithapur near Okha. Mithapur, situated between Okha and Dwarka, is a small colony supported by Tata Chemicals Limited, which is one of the flagship companies of the Tata Group)

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1) 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 provide collateral-free loans for amounts up to Rs 1 crore. Which entity would cover the risk under this initiative? - Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises – CGTMSE (The CGTMSE 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- and small enterprises. For loans availed for smaller amounts such as Rs 20,000, the bank will completely waive off the requirement for collateral)

2) In a major overhaul of foreign investment regime, the government is considering splitting overseas inflows 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% of FPI, which may be raised up to the extent of FDI permitted under the automatic route. Constituting two categories for foreign investments is considered by which panel? – Mayaram Panel (The government had set up a four-member committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Mayaram to define FDI and FII 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 its recommendations 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 of the Indian economy to supply/external shocks and the relatively large weight of food in Consumer Price Index (CPI))

4) The Reserve Bank of India during January 2014 constituted an 8-member expert committee to review the 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 risk management)

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 dividend stands at Rs. 900 per share of Rs 10 each, for the fiscal ending March 2014. This is the second year in a row that the bank has declared such a high dividend. The bank’s board had approved a dividend of Rs 750 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 Urjit Patel. Sinha was in-charge of eight departments, including Departments of Banking Operations and Development, 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 to recommend 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 an executive order, as had been desired by the Cabinet, was not feasible given that under the Railway Act only the Railway Board can decide on the prices of rail services. For constitution of the RTA, an amendment to the Railway Act, 1989, is also necessary)

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 in terms 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 operational headquarters in London. Each partner’s shareholding is capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign 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’s growth 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 grow 10.4% in 2010 as it unveiled a massive $ 586 billion stimulus. This declining growth underlines the challenges 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 for the second consecutive year in 2013? – India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE) – NSE recorded almost 145 crore equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3% from 2012, making it the biggest among 51 global peers, according to data with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Rival exchange 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 Stock Exchange recorded 129 crore trades, climbing three places to become the second-largest bourse in the world. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from 2012.

1) According to announcement made by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014 the 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 of its 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 have all capabilities to remotely capture and initiate appropriate action in the event of any problems at these cash dispensers. They will be expected to ensure that the downtime of these ATMs in metro and urban areas is less than 3%, while it is less than 6% in rural areas. SBI had 32,777 ATMs as of 30 September 2013. 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 2014 decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 per cent for 2013-14, a move that 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’s recommendation 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 income of 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 conditions under the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, no entity or citizens of these 6 countries is allowed to set up any branch office or a liaison office or a project or any other such business activity without prior permission of the RBI)

5) The government Union on 10 January 2014 gave its approval to the plan to form an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) comprising scrips of 11 bluechip state-owned companies, which will be offered in the market 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, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange. The PSU ETF would comprise shares of various profitable state-owned companies. The composition of ETF and weightage 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 seizure operations during investigations, while necessary safeguards have also been put in place to protect rights of affected persons. This would add extra power to SEBI’s crackdown against fraudsters. What is the name of the ordinance promulgated by the Union government in September 2013, which had conferred explicit powers on SEBI Chairman to authorise investigating authority or any other officer of SEBI to conduct 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 finalised after taking into account suggestions from public and other stakeholders to draft regulations, which were issued 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 after receiving permission from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The branch will engage in foreign currency businesses that includes all business approved by the banking supervision and regulatory 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, two representative 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 fund house 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 27 January. Inflation indexed bonds (IIBs) are instruments where interest payment and principal are linked to whole sale price index (WPI) inflation and these bonds are currently available at an attractive yield of 3.6% above WPI. Government has been issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June, 2013 and the current outstanding 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 years during January 2014. Sinha will now head the regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last four chairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been extended. Who is the only SEBI chief to have held the 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 CB Bhave (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 Vigyan Bhawan, 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 this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi (non-resident citizen), returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever)

1) The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI’s) to promote financial inclusion headed by Nachiket Mor in its report, presented to the RBI on 7 January 2014, recommended universal electronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years. What is the deadline for opening these bank accounts as recommended by the committee? – 1 January 2016 (The committee has recommended 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 the age of 18. It also recommended that the RBI should issue a circular indicating that no bank can refuse to open 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 former Soviet 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 finance ministers of the 28-nation European Union. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a political entity and represents the interest of all of Europe whereas Eurozone is a currency block of 18 nations that have accepted Euro as a common currency. Not all countries of EU use Euro as currency (Britain still uses Pound as its currency))

3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 December 2013 dismissed rumours that it has stopped banks from accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014 and announced that banks will continue to accept currency notes with scribbling. However, it reiterated that writing or scribbling on banknotes works against its policy to keep currency notes clean and sought co-operation from public, institutions and 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 been noticed that at certain branches of banks, the practice of writing/scribbling on the body of the bank notes

continues to remain in vogue. Under the present system of mechanised processing of banknotes inscription 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 virtual currencies, including bitcoins, of financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks. Why was this warning given by the RBI for bitcoins type currency, which is digital or virtual currency 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 in India (Bitcoin is an alternative currency, which uses cryptography for security, making it difficult to counterfeit. Bitcoin issuance and transactions are carried out collectively by the network, with no central authority. The central bank said it was keeping watch at the developments relating to certain electronic records claimed to be decentralised digital currency such as bitcoins, litecoins, bbqcoins, dogecoins and their usage or trading in the country)

5) Union government during December 2013 announced decision to covert the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME) into the National SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) University. NIMSME is situated at – Hyderabad (This decision was announced at the golden 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 Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) by the Government? – Usha Sangwan (She became the first woman MD in corporation’s history since its establishment in 1956. With this appointment, LIC is set to function at its full 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 Reserve 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? – Because markets had expected another 25 bps hike in the short-term lending rate due to persistent high inflationary pressure (The RBI said it will take calibrated action in the future, based on inflationary trends 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 that of his private sector counterpart. LIC’s agents managed their outperformance last year too, when the life insurance 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 9.49 lakh agents working for them)

Study materials by “Letz Talk”

9) The much-anticipated inflation indexed bonds, linked to consumer prices were made available for sale 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 industrial activities. This move comes after a high-level working group recommended that all destructive industrial activities, that include mining and thermal power plants, should be banned in the region. Who headed this group? – K. Kasturirangan, Member (Science), Planning Commission (The group recognised about 37% of the Western Ghats, covering about 60,000 square km, to be ecologically sensitive)

Study materials by “Letz Talk”