The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 September, 2013 announced a 13-member committee to frame a clear and detailed vision for financial inclusion/deepening across the country. This committee named ‘The ‘Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households’ is being headed by – Nachiket Mor, member on the RBI’s
Central Board of Directors (The committee members are: Bindu Ananth (President, IFMR Trust); Prakash Bakshi (Chairman, Nabard); Bharat Doshi (Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services); A. P. Hota (Managing Director and CEO, National Payments Corporation of India); Sunil Kaushal (CEO, Standard Chartered Bank India); Roopa Kudva (MD and CEO, Crisil); Zia Mody (Managing Partner, AZB & Partners); S. S. Mundra (CMD, Bank of Baroda); Vikram Pandit (former CEO, Citigroup); Ramesh Ramanathan (Chairman, Janalakshmi Financial Services) and Shikha Sharma (MD & CEO, Axis Bank))
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2) In what seemed like an unexpected move Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) newly appointed Governor Raghuram Rajan in his maiden Monetary Policy Review on 20 September, 2013 raised the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF). He thus kept RBI’s focus on
controlling inflation, which it felt would be above the expected levels in the current fiscal. What is the new Repo Rate? – 7.5% (Repo Rate was increased by 25 basis points from its earlier level of 7.25%)
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3) What were the main highlights of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s first monetary policy review presented on 20 September, 2013 since taking office on 4 September?
Following are the main highlights of Raghuram Rajan’s first monetary policy review – Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) increased by 25 basis points
from 7.25% to 7.5% with immediate effect (This move clearly reiterated the fact that RBI is still keeping its focus on bringing down the inflation. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5%, and the bank rate stands reduced to 9.5% with immediate effect)
Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate reduced by 75 basis points from 10.25% to 9.5% with immediate effect
The minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) reduced from 99% of the requirement to 95% effective from the fortnight beginning 21 September, 2013 (This move was aimed at inducing liquidity into the system)
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) kept unchanged at 4.0% (CRR is the portion of deposits that banks are required to maintain with the RBI in cash)
(With these changes, the MSF rate and the bank rate are re-calibrated to 200 basis points above the repo rate)
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4) A high-level panel on 23 September, 2013 submitted to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram its report on the alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL). The panel in its report recommended two sets of measures to deal with the NSEL issue and also the problem of regulatory gaps in oversight of spot exchanges. Enforcement action has been recommended against NSEL and the persons behind the company. Who headed this panel on NSEL? – Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary
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5) Air India tied up with which public-sector bank to launch a co-branded credit card that provides numerous privileges to the holder? – SBI (This newly launched credit card has been named Air India SBI Credit Card and it allows a customer spending Rs 5 lakh in a year to earn up to three Delhi-Mumbai return tickets on Air India. The launch of this credit card marks the beginning of a new collaboration between the two major public sector entities (Air India and SBI). State Bank of India is also the leader of a consortium of banks that have helped Air India in its financial restructuring exercise. SBI Cards is a joint venture between SBI and GE Capital) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
6) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDA’s) insurance repository system was launched by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 16 September, 2013. This repository system, which is claimed by IRDA as the first-of-its-kind in the world is situated in –
Hyderabad (The objective of creating an insurance repository is to provide policyholders the facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form (like shares are kept in Demat account). Five companies have been given the status of insurance repositories and have been provided with a licence that will be valid till 31 July, 2014. Insurers can enter into agreements with one or more repositories)
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7) SEBI on 16 September, 2013 notified new norms for angel investors, who provide funding to companies at their initial stages. This has been done with an objective of giving encouragement to entrepreneurship in the country by financing small start-ups. What are the important points under this notification?
Angel investors have been allowed to be registered as Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which is a newly created class of pooled-in investment vehicles for real estate, private equity and hedge funds
Angel funds can make investments only in those companies which are incorporated in India
Angel funds needs to be invested in a firm for at least three years Angel funds can be availed for companies not older than 3 years
Angel funds are required to have a corpus of at least Rs 10 crore and minimum investment by an investor should be Rs 25 lakh
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8) How much advance tax for second quarter of present financial year was paid by country’s largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI), as announced by it on 15 September, 2013? – Rs. 1,120 crore (This was about 40% less than that paid during the corresponding period last year when it paid Rs. 1,820 crore. The advance tax pay-out decline from SBI comes amid a period of gloom on the economic front, with the quarterly GDP growth falling to a four-year low of 4.4 per cent for the April-June period)
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9) An advanced universal banking solution named Finacle 11E was launched on 18 September, 2013 by a leading IT company of India. This banking solution has been developed to enable banks of all sizes to rapidly modernize their operations. Which company launched this solution? – Infosys (Finacle is a range of CBS banking solutions developed by Infosys for Indian banks) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
10) The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) opened its tour programme in India at Delhi under the aegis of the Department of Electronics & Information Technology on 17 September, 2013 to promote the features of a new standard for application developers. Which new standard is this which is expected to meet the goal of Open Web Platform? – HTML 5 (HTML 5 is the next evolution of web development standards by which application developers create end-user experience. One of the most important benefits of HTML 5 is that it is capable of making the Web useful on mobile and wireless devices, which will be next paradigm shift for internet growth in India. HTML 5 is intended to subsume not only HTML 4, but also XHTML 1 and DOM Level 2 HTML. W3W also held its tours programmes to promote HTML 5 at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkota and Pune
State Bank of India (SBI) recently tightened its eligibility conditions for its four-wheeler loan scheme with a view to minimising possible defaults. From now on persons with an annual income of Rs. 6 lakh or more will get SBI’s car loans. What was SBI’s eligibility condition for availing car loan till now? – An annual income of Rs. 2.5 lakh or more (For SBI account holders, the limit has been raised to Rs 4.5 lakh per annum. The rationale for increase in the eligibility criteria is to revise the gross income limit upwards in view of moderation in the economy)
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2) The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), chief regulator of forwards and futures commodity markets in India, will, henceforth, be overseen by the Ministry of Finance. FMC was under which ministry/department till now? – Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Food (This decision was taken at the highest level, and notified in the wake of alleged scam in National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL). The decision has been approved by President Pranab Mukherjee)
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3) Which private sector bank during September, 2013 launched ‘Branch on Wheels’, an initiative to offer basic banking services in remote areas which have so far been devoid of banking
facilities? – ICICI Bank (‘Branch on Wheels’ is a mobile branch of the bank, which will offer basic banking products and services such as savings accounts, loans, cash deposit/withdrawal, account balance enquiries, statement printing and funds transfer/DD/PO collection, among others. It will also have an ATM. Bank’s first Branch on Wheels was launched in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and it will cover four unbanked villages)
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4) Newly appointed RBI Governor on 4 September, 2013 announced constitution of a committee to take a close look at rising NPAs and suggest steps to improve the recovery of bad debts. Who has been appointed as the head of this committee? – K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor of the RBI
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5) BRICS nations on 5 September, 2013 gave further impetus to the proposed formation of a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF) by announcing individual contributions to the fund. What is the agreed individual contribution of the 5 BRICS countries to this fund? – China $41 billion, Brazil, India and Russia – $18 billion each and South Africa – $5 billion (The fund would eventually allow the five nations to access the fund to deal with short-term volatility in their capital flows, which might negatively impact their currencies. The idea of such a fund found traction in the last BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, earlier this year)
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6) What were the main highlights of the Economic Outlook 2013-14 released by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C. Rangarajan on 13 September, 2013?
GDP growth for 2013-14 lowered to 5.3%, from 6.4% in April, 2013
Current Account Deficit (CAD) highlighted as main concern, estimated to come down to $70 billion or 3.8% of GDP
Agriculture growth pegged at 4.8% Industrial growth pegged at 2.7%
Services growth to decelerate to 6.6%, from 7.1 % in 2012-13 Trade deficit projected at $185 billion
Gold imports seen at $38 billion
Net capital inflows to come down to $61.4 billion from $89.4 billion <<<<<<<<<<<
7) President Pranab Mukherjee during September, 2013 gave his approval to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill (PFRDA), 2011. The bill seeks to establish, develop and regulate pension funds to protect the interests of subscribers to schemes of pension funds and assures minimum returns to subscribers. This bill seeks to grant statutory status to which entity to empower it to regulate National Pension Scheme (NPS)? – Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority – PFRDA (The bill would also provide subscribers a wide choice to invest their funds for assured returns, like opting for government bonds as well as in other funds depending on their capacity to take risk)
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8) Raghuram Govind Rajan took over as the 23th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 September, 2013. On this day itself he came out with a slew of measures, including more trade settlement in rupees to rescue the battered financial markets and hinted at a shift in focus from inflation control, pursued by his predecessor D. Subbarao, to boosting growth. He
announced setting up of an outside panel of experts to screen applications for new bank licenses. Who was appointed as the head of this expert panel? – Bimal Jalan, Former Governor of the RBI
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9) Which company came to news for raising a bond issue of $49 billion on 11 September, 2013, which is the largest corporate bond deal in the world till date? – Verizon (Verizon is an American telecommunications and broadband company. The sale dwarfs the previous record, Apple’s sale of $17 billion in bonds in April. Proceeds from the sale will help Verizon buy the rest of its U.S. wireless business from partner Vodafone. On September 2, 2013, it was announced that Verizon would buy the remaining stake that Vodafone owns in their join venture Verizon Wireless for $130 billion. This deal is the third largest in corporate history)
10) What is the name given to Google’s next version of Android-based operating system (Android 4.4) for smartphones and tabs? – KitKat (Android 4.4 KitKat was announced as the name for company’s upcoming new Android-based operating system for mobile devices. This name is in keeping with Google’s penchant for giving tasty names to its software for powering mobile devices. The list of Android software names over the years includes Cupcake, Donut, Froyo, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. KitKat is a chocolate-covered wafer created by British-based Rowntree’s, now produced worldwide by Nestle. Google claims that Android software powers more than a billion smartphones or tablets worldwide)
What instruction pertaining to home loans was issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 September, 2013 to banks? – The RBI asked banks to link the disbursal of home loans to stages of construction (This instruction was issued with an objective to protect the interests of buyers and contain the fallout of some innovative housing finance schemes. RBI in its instruction mentioned that upfront disbursal should not be made in cases of
incomplete/under-construction/green field housing projects. The notification follows the introduction by some banks of innovative housing loan schemes in association with developers/builders, where upfront disbursal of housing loans is made to builders without being linked to the various stages of construction)
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2) How much loan amount was written-off by the public sector banks of India during the
January-March quarter of 2012-13 as announced by the Union Govt. in Parliament on 30 August, 2013? – Rs. 14,549 crore (The public sector banks made recovery of bad assets to the tune of Rs 16,464 crore during this period. Banks resort to write off bad loans only after exhausting all other possible avenues for recovery or when the asset coverage is not enough)
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3) From 1 September, 2013 a new radiation norm put in place by Telecom Ministry came into effect for companies manufacturing or importing mobile phones for sale in India. According to this norm what is the maximum prescribed SAR (specific absorption rate) for mobile phones in India? – 1.6 watt over a gram of human tissue, if a consumer uses it for six minutes (With the new SAR norm, India would become one of few countries that are following the most stringent norm of 1.6 watt a kg average over six minutes period on 1 gram of human tissue. Old stock of handsets available in Indian market can be sold but no fresh stock of non-compliant mobile phones will be allowed to be sold from 1 September)
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4) What was the growth rate of GDP (gross domestic product) for Indian economy for the first quarter of the final year (April-June 2013)? – 4.4% (This growth rate of GDP was slowest since the 2008 global financial crisis. It is lower than the 5.4% growth logged in April-June last year and 4.8% in January-March this year. Main reason for slow growth rate has been attributed to poor performance registered by country’s manufacturing and mining sector. While manufacturing output fell 1.2 per cent, mining declined 2.8 per cent during this period)
5) What are the important features of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012 that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013?
The bill proposes that land cannot be acquired for any private projects unless they fall in the following categories: infrastructure projects, industrial corridors, mining, investment and manufacturing zones, sports, healthcare, transport projects, and space programme
The bill proposes that farmers and landowners be paid up to four times the market value for land acquired in rural areas, and two times the market value in urban areas
The consent of 80% of land owners is needed for acquiring land for private projects and of 70% landowners for public-private projects
The Bill only sets a bottom line for fair compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement in the case of land acquisition and State governments are free to further improve upon it
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6) In view of continuous decline in the value of Indian Rupee, what step was taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for helping three state-owned oil marketing companies (IOC, HPCL and BPCL) who require a large amount of foreign exchange for meeting their import bills? – A special window was opened for meeting their daily foreign exchange requirement (This special window will provide forex swap facility to these 3 companies which require $8-8.5 billion every month for the import of an average 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil. The RBI
decision is aimed at curbing volatility in the forex market. Under the swap facility the RBI will sell/buy USD-INR forex swaps for fixed tenor with the oil marketing companies through a designated bank)
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7) In an effort to boost forex inflows, the Finance Ministry has worked out a strategy for as many as 10 public sector entities to tap Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to raise at least Rs 15,000 crore in foreign currency. This will be part of a tax-free bond issue. Which 10 public sector entities are these? – NHB, IIFCL, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, HUDCO, Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, National Highway Authority of India, NTPC, NHPC and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (This is the first time that such funds have been allowed to be part of a tax-free bond issue. SWFs are normally state-owned, with funds collected from budget and trade surpluses. The money is normally invested in real and financial assets at home and abroad. Oil-rich West Asian nations own many of the world’s largest SWFs. A tax-free bond is an instrument where investors do not have to pay
tax on interest. Such an instrument is normally a long-term one, and the money raised is deployed in long-term infrastructure projects)
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8) Which mutual fund company recently launched an auto premium payment system in collaboration with Life Insurance Corporation to enable its mutual fund investors to pay their insurance premium? – LIC Nomura Mutual Fund (Under the scheme, mutual fund investors will have a facility of paying their premium on time without any hassles. Through the facility, the premium amount of the investor on due date will be remitted to LIC by LIC Nomura Mutual Fund, out of the investors fund. No additional charge will be levied for availing this facility) <<<<<<<<<<<
9) The Indian Rupee fell sharply on 28 August, 2013 to hit a record low of 68.80 to the dollar. This was its biggest single-day percentage fall since how many years? – 18 years (This was the largest single-day percentage fall of the Indian Rupee since October 1995. The partially
convertible rupee closed at 68.80 per dollar, compared to its close of 66.24 on 27 August. The unit also posted its biggest fall in absolute terms ever, dropping 256 basis points on the day) <<<<<<<<<<<
10) Leading mobile phone manufacturer Nokia Corporation of Finland on 3 September, 2013 announced signing an agreement to sell substantially all of its Devices & Services business, license and patents in an all-cash deal of € 5.44 billion. The company expects to gain € 3.2 billion from this deal. To which company is Nokia selling its business? – Microsoft Corporation (The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. After the deal closure Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop, will move to Microsoft Corp.) <<<<<<<<<<<
Which bank of Andhra Pradesh came into news during August, 2013 for having opened about 1.5 lakh no-frills accounts in eight districts on a single day as part of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union Govt.? – Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank – APGVB (The 638 branches of the bank together opened 72,122 accounts while the bank’s financial inclusion machinery under branch-less banking business correspondents model opened 75,320 no-frills accounts at 64 villages in Warangal district. These accounts, opened with zero balance and seeded with Aadhar Cards, will be uploaded on NPCI Mapper along with other banks to join Aadhar Payment Bridge to facilitate electronic fund transfer like subsidies, scholarships etc., from the government departments concerned)
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2) On 23 August 2013 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the auction of two 48-days
Government of India Cash Management Bills (CMBs). What is the primary benefit of issuingICMBs? – CMBs allow the RBI to meet the temporary cash flow mismatches of the
Government of India (CMBs are flexible instruments for the RBI as they are issued at times of requirement. They allow the RBI to have lower cash balances and issue fewer long-term notes) <<<<<<<<<<<
3) Who is heading the seven-member Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), which
was constituted by the Union Govt. on 26 August, 2013 to have a comprehensive review of existing tax laws and suggest a stable tax administration? – Parthasarathy Shome (Apart from Shome, the commission will have Y G Parande and Sunita Kaila as full-time members while M K Zutshi, S S N Moorthy, M R Diwakar and S Mahalingam will be part-time members. TARC’s tenure will be of 18-months. Setting-up of this commission was announced by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Union Budget 2013-14 with an objective of reviewing the application of tax policies and tax laws)<<<<<<<<<<<
4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 August, 2013 announced imposition of a total of Rs.
6.50 crore monetary penalty on six public sector banks for violation of rules relating to know your customer and anti-money laundering. Which 6 public sector banks are these? – Allahabad Bank (Rs. 50 lakh), Bank of Maharashtra (Rs. 50.1 lakh), Corporation Bank (Rs. 1.50 crore), Dena Bank (Rs. 2 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs. 1 crore) and Indian Bank (Rs. 1 crore) – This penalty was imposed after the RBI carried out a scrutiny of books of accounts, internal controls, compliance systems and processes at these banks<<<<<<<<<<<
5) Which private sector bank claimed to have opened its 500th branch during August, 2013? –
Yes Bank (Yes Bank, which is the fourth largest private sector bank of India, also claimed that it has achieved its presence in all 28 states and 7 union territories of the country)<<<<<<<<<<<
6) As per information furnished by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA),
what was the life insurance penetration rate in India in the year 2012? – 3.17% (The penetration of life insurance sector in India has increased from 2.15% in 2001 to 3.17% in 2012 which is above that of Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany but below France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Insurance coverage in a country is generally measured by insurance penetration, which is the ratio of premium underwritten in a given year to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP))<<<<<<<<<<<
7) Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL), which became the first Islamic financial
services company to be launched in India, started its operations in which Indian state duringAugust, 2013? – Kerala (The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to CFSL to launch banking operations based on the concept of Islamic banking in Kerala. CFSL, a Sharia-compliant non-banking financial company (NBFC), has been formed by a group of Gulf-based NRI businessmen led by P Muhamed Ali and the Kerala State Industrial Development
Corporation (KSIDC) has a 11% stake in it) <<<<<<<<<<<
8) Nishi Vasudeva’s name came to news during August, 2013 when she was selected by the
Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) to head a Navratna category PSU and thus is on the way to become the first-ever woman to head a Navratna PSU. She is expected to take over as the Chairman and Managing Director of which PSU in March, 2014? – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd – HPCL (PESB selected her name after interviewing seven other candidates for top post at HPCL. The PESB’s recommendation will now go to the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, which after getting the mandatory clearances, including those from Central Vigilance Commission and CBI will send it to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for necessary clearance and approval)<<<<<<<<<<<
9) According to the latest data released by the Planning Commission on 17 August, 2013 more
than 40 crore 29 lakh Aadhaar numbers have been issued till 31st July, 2013 in the country. Which state is leading in issuing Aadhaar numbers, as stated in this data? – Andhra Pradesh (With 65,941,390 Aadhaar numbers issued till 31st July Andhra Pradesh is the leading state as far as issue of Aadhaar numbers is concerned. It is followed by Maharashtra with 62,697,942 and Madhya Pradesh with 27,773,394 Aadhaar numbers. Only 1,848 Aadhaar numbers were issued in Arunachal Pradesh by 31st July. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has reiterated that the target of 60 crore Aadhaar enrolments will be achieved by 2014)<<<<<<<<<<<
10) Which state on 20 August, 2013 became the first to launch the food security scheme for its
citizens? – Delhi (UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the scheme in Delhi by giving away food security ration cards to beneficiaries along with a 5-kg packet of rice. Delhi was the first State to clear the scheme)<<<<<<<<<<<
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transferred its surplus profit to the government for the year ended June 2013, which is the highest amount to be transferred by the RBI to the government, except year 2007. How much amount was transferred as surplus profit to the govt.? – Rs. 33,010 crore (This is more than a 100% jump over Rs 16,010 crore that the RBI transferred in the previous year. In 2007, gave Rs 45,719 crore as surplus profit. However, out of this, Rs 34,308 crore was accounted by the money generated by its stake sale in State Bank of India. The RBI transferred Rs 15,009 crore in 2010-11, Rs 18,759 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 25,009 crore in 2008-09)
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2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14 August, 2013 cut down the amount of foreign
exchange an Indian may use to invest or spend abroad from the current annual limit of $2,00,000 to – $75,000 (This means Indian citizens would not be able to take out more than $75,000 in a year by way of travel or investment. In addition to this RBI imposed a restriction on Indians from making an investment in a property abroad. These measures were announced in a bid to check the drain on foreign exchange reserves in the country)
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3) State Bank of India (SBI) on 17 August, 2013 achieved another milestone by opening its
……….branch. – 15,000th (The 15,000th Branch of the SBI was inaugurated by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at Tamil Nadu’s Sooranam, a Christian dominated area, and the 15,001st branch of the bank at Kalayarkovil, a Hindu dominated area nearby)<<<<<<<<<<<<<
4) State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) net profits for the quarter ended 30 June, 2013 stood at Rs. 3,241
crore against Rs. 3,752 crore in the last year for the same quarter, thus recording a 14% dip. What was the main reason for this fall in profits as disclosed by the bank? – Huge increase in bad loans (SBI’s bad loans increased by Rs 9,702 crore to Rs 60,891 crore as of 30 June, 2013) <<<<<<<<<<<<<5) An inter-ministerial committee constituted to suggest steps to contain the rising current
account deficit (CAD) suggested higher taxes for non-essential imports with a view to curbing inward shipments and containing the current account deficit CAD. These suggestions form part of the recommendations made by the committee set up by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Who is the Chairman of this committee? – Rajat Bhargava, Joint Secretary (Budget Division) – This committee has suggested higher taxes on those non-essential items which do not add to inflationary pressures. The Committee has also suggested a list of non-essential items the import of which could be compressed, with a view to bridge the trade gap. Trade gap in the first quarter of the current financial year stood at over $ 50 billion)<<<<<<<<<<<<<
6) Indian Parliament on 8 August 2013 passed the Companies Bill, 2012, which replaced the
58-year old legislation with radical changes. What is the name of the old bill which was replaced by this legislation? – Companies Act, 1956 (The new Companies Bill was passed after a wait of almost two decades and it seeks more transparency in corporate functioning in India. The bill is also a lot less bulky than the existing 1956 Act, with 470 sections as against the current 658 sections)7) Union Govt. on 7 August 2013 allowed import of steel for major industrial projects without
quality certification. The objective behind this exemption is to give a push to the infrastructure sector of the country. The exemption will be available for projects in the field of infrastructure, petroleum, manufacturing products involving high end technologies, nuclear reactors, defence, chemical and petro-chemicals and fertiliser sectors. What is the prescribed investment limit for the projects to get this exemption? – Not less than Rs. 1,000 crore (This announcement was made in a notification made by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The easing import norms came amidst domestic steel manufacturers demanding government to hike duty on imports to prevent steel dumping in the country)<<<<<<<<<<<<<
8) The Finance Ministry on 14 August, 2013 announced that public sector insurance company
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) can increase its investments in companies up to 25% under special circumstances. What is the present investment limit of LIC in companies? – 20% (LIC’s investment norm at present is settled at 20% but in special circumstances it can now go up to 25%. LIC for long has been perceived as the last resort for the govt. to meet its disinvestment target, though the Centre denies it)<<<<<<<<<<<<<
9) What is the name of a proposed commission that will look into removing ambiguity and
establishing a stable and non-adversarial tax administration in the country and establishment of which was approved by the union govt. during August, 2013? – Tax Administration Reform Commission – TARC (Union Govt. has approved setting up of TARC on 13 August, 2013. TARC will be a seven member commission including a Chairman. The main objective of TARC will be to review the application of tax policies and tax laws in India in the context of best global practices and recommend measures to strengthen the capacity of the tax system in India)<<<<<<<<<<<<<
10) On 15 August 2013 the visa-on-arrival facility for tourists visiting India was extended to
four more cities. Which are these four cities which have been extended this facility? –Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (The visa-on-arrival facility was earlier available only for the four metro cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai). At present visitors from 11 countries (Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia) are eligible to get this facility. The visa-on-arrival scheme has contributed to an increase in the number of tourists from these countries and the government was in the final stages of consultations on allowing the facility to citizens of another 10 countries, including Germany, France and Russia)
Which body is the regulator of commodity derivatives markets in India, which would be given more teeth to ensure that National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) settles the Rs 5,600-crore dues to investors, as announced by the Union Govt. on 7 August 2013? – Forward Markets
Commission – FMC (NSEL is facing the problem of settlement after it suspended trade in one-day forward contracts on 31 July 2013 following the government direction. On 6 August 2013,
NSEL stopped trading in e-series contracts in gold in anticipation of the notification to this effect)
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2) Union Govt. on 2 August 2013 gave its approval for setting up of a fund to help six PSUs, to
make them compliant with the 10% minimum public holding norm of market regulator SEBI. What is the name assigned of this newly approved fund? – Special National Investment Fund (SNIF). Six sick PSUs which will be covered under this proposed fund are – HMT, ITI, Scooters India Limited, Andrew Yule, Fertilizer and Chemical Limited (Travancore) and Hindustan Photo Films Limited<<<<<<<<<<<
3) Union Govt. on 6 August 2013 disclosed that six Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)
have been closed in the country in the last 5 years. Which six CPSEs are these? – Bihar Drugs & Organic Chemicals Ltd. (in Bihar), Indian Oil Technologies Ltd. (in Delhi), Brushware Ltd. (in UP), Pyrites Phosphastes & Chemicals Ltd. (in Bihar), National Instruments Ltd. (in Bihar) and Bharat Yantra Nigam Ltd. (in UP))4) Union Govt. on 2 August 2013 unveiled the long awaited Unified License norms for the
telecom sector. What are the main features of this new norm? The new norm provides for delinking of spectrum from operational permits and allows companies to offer services using any technology. Telecom companies would be allowed to offer mobile and fixed-line services using any technology. They can also provide Internet TV services.
It allows companies to offer intra and inter-circle roaming, but bars operations from acquiring subscribers in areas where they don’t own a license
The licenses acquired under this new norm will be valid for 20 years, and will be renewable for another ten years
Telecom companies will have to pay a license fee of eight per cent of annual revenues from telecom services.
All telecom companies will have to migrate to the new licensing regime upon expiry of their current permits
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5) Union Govt. relaxed the norms for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail
on 1 August 2013 with a view to attract more investments and transparency in the sector. What are the major norms which were relaxed? – Multi-brand retailers like Walmart are now required to source 30% of their
products from the small and medium enterprises of India only at the time of starting the business
Now state governments will have the right to grant permission to open a multi-brand retail store in cities of their states (Earlier 53 urban centers with a minimum population of 1 million were made eligible for opening-up of multi-brand retail stores)
Now the norm of 50% investment in the back-end infrastructure for the retailers will be applicable, only during the first tranche of investments (within three years) of up to 100 million dollars
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6) Who will be the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as announced by the
Finance Ministry on 6 August 2013? – Raghuram Rajan, who is at present the Chief Economic Advisor to the Govt. of India (Rajan will succeed the current RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao whose 5-year term ends on 4 September 2013. He has formerly worked as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. Rajan has been a gold medalist at IIT-Delhi andIIM-Ahmedabad and he will be the 23rd Governor of India’s central bank) <<<<<<<<<<<
7) Who was appointed as the first woman Managing Director (MD) of State Bank of India (SBI)
on 3 August 2013? – Arundhati Bhattacharya (Prior to this she was the managing director of SBI Capital, the merchant banking arm of the bank)<<<<<<<<<<<
8) Who took over as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Central Bank of India
during August, 2013? – Rajeev Rishi (Rishi was Executive Director of Indian Bank till now and his tenure will be for 5 years)<<<<<<<<<<<
9) The first arrest for default in paying which tax was made during August, 2013 after union
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram finalized and approved applicable provisions of CrPC(criminal procedure code) to arrest such offenders? – Service Tax (A courier company owner at Kolkata was arrested for allegedly evading service tax of about Rs. 70 lakh in the first such case) <<<<<<<<<<<
10) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 August 2013 disclosed that it had imposed a penalty
of Rs. 5,62,555 on the State Bank of India (SBI) on 12 July 2013 for violation of currency chestnorms. Which currency chest of SBI was found deficient in following these norms? –
Secunderabad Branch of SBI, in Andhra Pradesh (The penalty was levied in connection with deficiencies and lapses in the operation and maintenance of the currency chest at the
Secunderabad branch of SBI)
All public sector banks have been asked to set up ATMs in all branches to enable customers in rural pockets to do banking round-the-clock. What is the deadline for setting-up branch-ATMs for these banks? – March 2014 (Finance Minister P. Chidambaram reiterated this while
inaugurating the 5,999th branch of Punjab National Bank in Tirupattur, Tamil Nadu on 28 July, 2013)
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2) Who was chosen as the head of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 22 July, 2013? – Abdul Rahim Rather, Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister (The post of Chairman of the Finance Ministry’s committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been lying vacant since 17 June 2013 when Bihar Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi resigned following the JD(U)—BJP split in the state. Rather, who is also a senior National Conference leader, was chosen to head the panel at a meeting of state Finance Ministers held at New Delhi)<<<<<<<<<<<
3) What was the GDP projection for 2013-14 as announced by the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on 30 July, 2013 while delivering the first quarter review of its Annual Policy for 2013-14? – 5.5%, which is lower than RBI’s previous projection of 5.7% (Weighed down by a weak rupee, the RBI chose to keep all key interest rates unchanged and asked the government to take urgent steps to rein in the high current account deficit. This was the last quarter review for RBI Governor D. Subbarao, who is slated to retire days before the next mid-quarter review on 18 September 2013. RBI’s second quarter policy review will be made on 29 October 2013) <<<<<<<<<<<4) The Securities Law Amendment Ordnance, 2013, which was promulgated by President
Pranab Mukherjee on 18 July, 2013, provides more powers to India’s market regulator SEBI to crackdown ponzi schemes running in the country. Under the promulgated ordnance, what is the prescribed corpus size of pooled public-funds, over which SEBI gets power to carry out its crackdown for non-compliance? – Rs. 100 crore or more (The ordnance provides SEBI the powers to regulate any pooling of funds under an investment contract involving a corpus of 100 crore rupees or more and attach assets in case of non-compliance. The ordinance waspromulgated by the President following the powers granted to him by Clause 1 of Article 123 of Constitution)
5) Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on 23 July, 2013 resigned from the
board of directors of the RBI in view of conflict of interest over the issue of fresh bank licenses, as one of the companies of his group has applied to RBI for banking license. Which company is this? – Aditya Birla Nuvo, which is one of the 26 companies who have applied for banking license<<<<<<<<<<<
6) Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma during July 2013 announced
major liberalization in the upper limits of foreign direct investment (FDI) in sectors such as defence, telecom, insurance, retail, etc. What were the major announcements made in FDI limits? New clause of raising FDI in Defence sector, under which FDI in state-of-the-art segment of defence manufacturing can be raised from 26% through approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). However, for the rest of the defence sector FDI upper-limit remains at 26%
In single-brand retail FDI upto 49% will be through automatic route, while
approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will be required for FDI above 49%
In multi-brand retail also FDI upto 49% made through direct route
49% FDI in insurance sector approved through automatic route (Present limit for FDI through automatic route was 26%)
FDI limit through automatic route in power exchange sector set at 49% 100% FDI in telecom sector cleared by the union govt.
The condition of divestment to Indian partner in tea sector cancelled and now stakes can be divested to third-parties also
FDI cap in asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) through automatic route set at 49% while FDI above it (till 100%) will be through FIPB approval
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7) Planning Commission on 23 July 2013 released a report on the trends in poverty in India.
The report dealt comprehensively on impact on poverty reduction due to measures taken by the governments, especially the present UPA Govt. What were the main highlights of this report? Average decline in the poverty ratio between 2005 and 2012 was 2.18% per year as compared to 0.74% per year during 1993-2005
The absolute number of people below the poverty line declined from 407.1 million in 2004-05 to 269.3 million by 2011-12
Poverty in the country stood at 21.9% in 2011-12 as compared to 37.2% in 2004-05 In 2011-12 poverty in rural areas stood at 25.7% while it was 13.7% in urban areas Highest poverty rate of 39.93% was recorded in Chhattisgarh (2011-12)
Lowest poverty rate of 5.09% was recorded in Goa (2011-12)
(This report drew its conclusions on the Suresh Tendulkar poverty line formula. Under this formula, the Planning Commission drew the national poverty line at Rs. 816 per capita per month in rural areas and Rs. 1,000 per capita per month in urban areas)
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8) What is the name given to 5-Kg LPG cylinder scheme, which was given approval by the
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 24 July, 2013? – Free Trade LPG Scheme (Under the Free Trade LPG Scheme, Company Owned Retail Outlets (COCO) of oil marketing companies will sell 5-kg LPG cylinders at Non-domestic (commercial) prices. Pilot project of this scheme will be launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. Theprospective customer at the time of first sale would only be required to give a copy of Voter I-Card, Driving license, Pan I-Card, Aadhaar I-Card, Bank Pass book, Employees ID, Passport, Student ID or any other such document that can act as a proof of identity. This scheme has been made especially for those citizens who are always on the move due to their professional
requirements) <<<<<<<<<<<
9) What is the name of the book written by Jean Dreze and Indian Nobel winning economist
Amratya Sen, which has created a lot of controversy of-late about what should be the ideal model of governance? – “An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions” (The book created controversy with economists like Jagdish Bhagwati expressing their displeasure about economic policies advocated by Amartya Sen in this book)<<<<<<<<<<<
10) What is the name given to a newly announced scheme under which a free mobile handset
will be provided to one member of every rural household who has completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA? – Bharat Mobile Scheme (Under this scheme the handset will be provided preferably to a woman member of family. A brief of this proposed scheme was made by theunion govt. on 30 July, 2013. The provided handset will be non-transferable as it will later also be used in customized transfer of benefits under the direct transfer scheme of the central govt.) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 July 2013 imposed fines totaling Rs. 49.5 crore on 22 public and private sector banks for violating KYC/anti-money laundering norms. How many banks were given cautionary letters following an expose made by an online portal? – Seven (These seven banks are Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and State Bank of Patiala. A penalty of Rs. 3 crore each was imposed on 7 banks which were – State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Federal Bank. The United Bank of India, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and Andhra Bank were slapped a penalty of Rs. 2.5 crore each. A penalty of Rs. 2 crore each was imposed on Yes Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Dhanlaxmi Bank. The other banks which were penalised by the RBI include Deutsche Bank, Development Credit Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Ratnakar Bank)
<<<<<<<<<<<<
2) Which PSU bank became the first to take unusual step of publishing photographs of loan
guarantors along with that of borrowers who have failed to repay their loans? – Allahabad Bank (Allahabad Bank on 9 July 2013 published photographs of three guarantors for a bank loan worth Rs. 314 crore which had not been repaid. PSU banks recently decided to apply pressure on loan guarantors along-side the defaulters. The move came on heels of 39 listed banks reporting a 36% rise in NPAs (non-performing assets) to Rs. 1,79,431 crore as on 31 March 2013)<<<<<<<<<<<<
3) Union Govt. on 9 July 2013 hiked the import duty on sugar to 15% in an effort to help the
sugar industry clear Rs. 9,000 crore cane arrears to farmers. What was the import duty on sugar before this move? – 10% (The duty of both raw and white (refined) sugar was raised to 15% as sugar imports had been putting pressure on domestic prices and have prevented millers from clearing cane arrears to farmers. The hike in duty was aimed at curbing import of sugar and improving the bearish sentiment in domestic market. This would, however, lead to rise in sugar prices across the country)<<<<<<<<<<<<
4) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 July 2013 allowed NBFCs (non-banking finance
companies) to access the external commercial borrowing (ECB) market. What was the category defined for such NBFCs by the RBI? – Asset Finance Companies or AFCs (This name was given as NBFCs involved in asset financing have been allowed to access the ECB market. The access is subject to certain conditions including availing of ECB under the automatic route with minimum average maturity of five years to finance import of infrastructure equipment for leasing to infrastructure projects)
5) Which country will become 18th member of the Eurozone from 1 January 2014? – Latvia
(Economy and finance ministers from the 28 European Union (EU) countries gave the final green light to Latvia on 9 July 2013 to join the eurozone on 1 January. Latvia emerged from a crisis in 2008-09 to become the fastest-growing economy of the EU, having posted GDP growth of more than five percent year-on-year in both 2011 and 2012. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a political entity and represents the interest of all of Europe whereas Eurozone is acurrency block of 17 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))
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6) In the biggest foreign investment pullout from India, world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal
on 17 July 2013 scrapped its $12 billion (Rs. 50,000 crore) steel plant proposed to be set up in an eastern state. Which state is this? – Odisha (ArcelorMittal blamed inordinate delays in acquiring land and securing iron ore linkages for scrapping this deal. This plant was proposed to be set up in Keonjhar district of the state)<<<<<<<<<<<<
7) The govt. on 17 July 2013 approved a proposal to amend SEBI Law for providing more
powers to crack down on ponzi schemes. What specific additional powers would be provided to SEBI after the amendments comes into effect? –a) Direct powers to carry out search and seizure operations and attachment of assets b) Power to seek information, such as telephone call data records, from any person or entities in respect of any securities transaction
(Ponzi schemes are schemes which offer very heavy or extraordinary returns to investors and are generally not very transparent about their business operations)
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8) What will be the name of India’s first all-women bank, announcement for which was done in
the Union Budget of 2013-14? – Bharatiya Mahila Bank – BMB (The present deadline for launch of this bank is 1 November 2013 and the bank is expected to have 39 branches across the country in its first year)<<<<<<<<<<<<
9) Market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on 16 July 2013 said
that PSUs (public sector undertakings) not fulfilling the minimum public holding, would face action. What are the salient features of minimum public holding norms of the SEBI? All listed PSUs are required to fulfill the minimum public shareholding norms, after which the Government will hold a maximum of 90% shares, while the remaining will be owned by the general public, banks, financial institutions or mutual funds. Due date for this norm to be complied with is 8 August 2013
All private sector listed companies were required to achieve at least 25% public shareholding by 3 June 2013 (SEBI had taken action against the promoters and directors of 105 non-compliant companies
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10) First major economic reform was announced in China on 19 July 2013 since Xi Jinping
became the President in March 2013. What is this major economic reform? – Decontrol of lending rates for banks with which banks in China will be able to set their own lending rates (This move was seen as a step to address the problem of economic slowdown and declining growth. Competitive bank lending rates is expected to result in lowering the cost of acquiring funds for business)How many applications were received by the Reserve Bank of India for new banking licenses in the private sector till 1 July 2013, which was the deadline for submission of applications? – 26 (The 26 applicants include players from the corporate sector, govt.-owned institutions, NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) and micro-finance institutions)
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2) Telecom Commission, an inter-ministerial body, on 2 July 2013 gave its approval for raising
foreign direct investments (FDI) limit in the telecom sector to 100%. What is the present FDI limit? – 74% (Present FDI limit is 74%, where 49% of investment in a telecom entity can be done through automatic route and FIPB approval is required for raising further stake. This approval of Telecom Commission however needs cabinet approval. This approval is expected to provide fresh funds to telecom operators to lower their financial burden. According to a recent presentation of industry body COAI, the debt of the telecom industry stood at Rs. 1,85,720 crore at the end of 2011-12)<<<<<<<<<<<
3) Which Indian corporate become the first to sell a long-tenure rupee debt instrument of 50-year
to raise money? – Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M recently raised Rs. 500 crore through sale of a 50-year unsecured bond sale programme, thus becoming the first Indian corporate to do so. This bond issue of M&M is indicative of the increasing confidence of investors in corporate India’s long term prospects. The 50-year bonds with bullet redemption will carry an interest rate of 9.55% per annum)<<<<<<<<<<<
4) The proposal of which private sector bank to raise Rs 2,650 crore through qualified
institutional placement (QIP) from overseas was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 27 June 2013? – YES Bank (YES Bank proposes to increase the foreign equity participation upto 60 per cent through a QIP of its equity shares to eligible non-resident investors. The proposal was cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in April, but since the investment was of more than Rs 1,200 crore, a CCEA nod was required which was given on 27 June)
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5) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh approved Oil Ministry’s proposal to price all domestically produced natural gas as per a formula suggested by a panel. This resulted in near doubling of natural gas prices to $8.4 from 1 April next year, a move which will cause power tariffs, urea costs and CNG prices to go up. This approval was based on suggestions of a panel headed by – Dr. C. Rangarajan, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisor (This pricing formula for natural gas would come into effect from 1 April 2014, just when Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)’s KG-D6 formula of $4.2/mmBtu runs out. The Rangarajan formula would be applicable for 5 years)<<<<<<<<<<<
6) Status of the public sector enterprise – Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited
(MRPL), was upgraded recently. What is its new status? – Schedule ‘A’ enterprise (It was earlier Schedule ‘B’ enterprise and its upgradation reflects its improved profitability and turnover. MRPL can now aspire for ‘Navratna’ status with this upgradation. MRPL is a unit of ONGC)<<<<<<<<<<<
7) SEBI on 25 June 2013 approved new set of rules, making it mandatory for the companies to
buyback at least 50% of their repurchase offers with the objective of safeguarding the interest of public shareholders. What was the existing limit of the mandatory buy-back? – 25% (SEBI also changed the period of buyback and from now buyback is to be completed in 6 months against existing norm of 12 months)<<<<<<<<<<<
8) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 21 June 2013 approved the proposal
to allow power producers to pass on higher cost of imported coal to consumers, which isexpected to result in an increase in power tariff for consumers by a minimum of 15 to 17 paise per unit. This pass through mechanism will be applicable for thermal power plants commissioned after which year? – 2009 (Capacity of power plants commissioned after 2009 is approximately 78,000 megawatts
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9) What was the average monthly per capita expenditure (MCPE) of the poorest of the poor in
the country, as stated in a report of 68th round of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released on 20 June 2013? – Rs. 521.44 in rural areas and Rs. 700.50 in urban areas (This report also stated that these poorest of the poor persons constitute roughly about 5% of the total population of the country. This effectively means that the poorest of the poor survive on just Rs. 17 per day in rural areas and Rs. 23 a day in urban areas. NSSO’s 68th round of survey is based on samples consisting of 7,496 villages in rural India and 5,263 urban blocks except some remote areas, during July 2011-June 2012)<<<<<<<<<<<
10) Which financial services company (among those also involved in gold business), became the
first company in the country to suspend gold sales across all its businesses? – Reliance Capital (According to a statement made by the company on 21 June 2013, the company suspended sale of gold coins and gold in all other available forms, including as an investment product across all its businesses and subsidiaries. Of late there have been growing concerns over huge gold imports hurting the country’s economic strength)India’s first ever white label ATM was started at Chandrapada, a rural village in Thane district near Mumbai on 27 June 2013. This ATM was started by Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd. (TCPSL), a subsidiary of Tata Communications. What is the brand name of this range of white ATMs? – Indicash (Last year, the Reserve Bank of India, had allowed corporates to set up white label ATMs to increase the penetration of ATMs in several areas of the country. These ATMs are to be operated by non-banking corporates and organisations and will provide ATM services to customers of all banks)
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2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during June 2013 extended the time to set up new banks in
India, under which the promoter group has to set up a non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) and the bank. However, the deadline for submission of application has beenunchanged and remains 1 July 2013. By how much time the above said extension has been provided? – Six months (Now promoters will get 18 months of time to set up NOFHC from the date of in-principle approval for bank from the RBI. Earlier 12 months were given by the RBI. With this extension the promoters will now get more time to operationalise the banking business) <<<<<<<<<<<
3) How many mini LIC offices were inaugurated by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 25
June 2013? – 300 (These offices would provide facilities for premium collection and other policy related services. These 300 mini offices were inaugurated through video-mode)4) India’s first SEBI-registered venture capital fund for Dalits was launched by Union Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram on 6 June 2013. What is the name of this fund? – DICCI SME Fund (This venture fund has been initiated by the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DICCI). It aims to raise Rs. 500 crore over 10 years and finance dalit entrepreneurs to set up businesses. The fund was launched with an initial contribution of Rs. 10 crore by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI))<<<<<<<<<<<
5) What was total inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) during 2012-13 as announced in the
pertaining data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)? – $22.42 billion (FDI inflow declined by 38% as compared to 2011-12, during which these inflows stood at $35.12 billion)<<<<<<<<<<<
6) The government on 20 June 2013 approved Planning Commission’s proposal to merge the
147 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and bring it down to 70 across various sectors for effective implementation and monitoring of the 12th Five Year Plan. During last month, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Sharad Pawar had approved merging of 147 CSS into 70schemes. The merger proposal is in line with recommendations of which committee? –
Chaturvedi Committee (For better utilisation of funds under CSS, the panel of ministers had approved transferring of funds from the central government to the state consolidated funds and not directly to the implementing agencies. The Chaturvedi Committee had suggested bringing down CSS to 59 from 147 to avoid overlap)
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7) The 39th Summit of G-8 (Group of Eight Developed Nations) was held on 17 and 18 June
2013 at – Northern Ireland (G8 includes 8 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the US, the UK and European Council. In a major development on the sidelines of this summit, the United States and Russia agreed to end violence in Syria despite having different stances to solve this problem)<<<<<<<<<<<
8) Who on 14 June 2013 was appointed as the new Chairman of Life Insurance of India (LIC)? –
SK Roy (Roy was appointed LIC’s Managing Director (MD) last month and he was also in the race for the post of chairman. He has now succeeded DK Mehrotra, whose term ended on 31 May 2013)<<<<<<<<<<<
9) A high-powered committee on “Rationalisation of Investment Routes and Monitoring of
Foreign Portfolio Investments”, recently suggested doing away with registration of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) with market regulator SEBI and reducing the know-your-customer(KYC) process for well regulated entities. Who is the chairman of this high-powered committee? – KM Chandrasekhar, former Cabinet Secretary (This committee was set up in December 2012. The committee in its set of recommendations also called for merging FIIs and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) into one class – Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) and has proposed to keep the aggregate investment limit for FPIs at 24% and 10% for NRIs)
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10) A Bangladeshi commission has proposed the Government takeover or split of the famous
Grameen Bank into how many parts, which attracted criticism from several quarters? – 19 Parts (Grameen Bank founded by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is to be broken up into 19 separate organisations to decentralise the bank’s operations and management as proposed by a Bangladeshi commission, which was formed to suggest steps to restructure the bank. Thecommission also suggested that Grameen’s legal status be amended with the government owning at least 51 per cent. Grameen Bank has been in dispute with the Bangladesh Govt. Founded as a statutory body under a law offering ownership to its client members, Grameen lent more than USD 11 billion to millions of people – mainly women – to help them gain financial
independence from poverty cycles)
What was the growth rate of GDP for Indian economy for 2012-13 as per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on 31 May 2013? – 5% (This is the lowest annual rate of growth in a decade. However, economy staged a feeble recovery in the fourth quarter (Jan-Mar) of 2012-13 during which the GDP growth stood at 4.8% as against 4.7% in the previous quarter (Oct-Dec 2012)
2) The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) has asked for complete overhaul of the current Indian financial sector regulatory architecture, if India wants to become $14 trillion economy by 2015. What are the main recommendations of FSLRC, which has submitted its report to the Finance Ministry in March 2013?
a) Creation of a unified financial agency that would subsume sectoral regulators like IRDA, PFRDA, etc
b) Limit the role of the RBI to monetary management
c) Introduction of Indian Financial Code (IFC) for replacing the current regulatory regime (IFC’s draft was also included in this report)
3) What was India’s fiscal deficit during 2012-13 as announced by the Controller General of
Accounts (CGA) on 31 May 2013? – 4.9% (This is lower than the targeted deficit of 5.2%. The Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs. 4,89,890 in 2012-13 as against the budgeted deficit of Rs. 5,20,925 crore. This is the first time in over two years that the Centre’s fiscal deficit was below 5% and was achieved through higher revenues and a compression in expenditure. Fiscal deficit in 2011-12 was a record 5.9%)4) State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) plans to open how many new branches in the current
fiscal, which is the golden jubilee year of the bank? – 100 (Jaipur based SBBJ is a subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI) and had 1,037 branches as on 31 March 2013)5) How many cooperative banks failed in 2012-13, resulting in credit insurance company
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) paying nearly Rs. 160 crore to depositors? – 13 (Among the 13 cooperative banks, which failed to repay deposits to customers, nine are from Maharashtra, two from Gujarat and one each from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. DICGC is a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India)6) Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) completed how many
years of its establishment on 24 May 2013? – 25 years (SEBI was formed on this day in 1988 by an order of Govt. of India. It was given statutory powers in 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992)7) How much were the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the State Bank of India (SBI) for
year ended 31 March 2013 as declared on 23 May 2013? – Rs. 51,189 crore (NPAs stood at Rs. 39,676 crore in the previous year. SBI’s gross NPA as a percentage of total loan rose to 4.75%, which is the highest among Indian banks. NPAs represent portion of bad loans)8) Infosys founder NR Narayan Murthy was reappointed as Chairman of the company, as
announced by the company on 1 June 2013. What is the name of Mr. Narayan Murthy’s son who was also included in the reconstituted board of Infosys and who would function as Executive Assistant to Narayan Murthy? – Rohan Murthy (With Narayan Murthy’s reappointment, the current chairman K.V. Kamath would step down from his position as Chairman of the Board and will take up the position of Lead Independent Director)
9) Banking operations of ICICI Bank was hit for a few hours on 1 June 2013 due to some
technical problems in ‘Finacle’, the platform on which ICICI Bank’s online operations are carried out. Which company is the developer of Finacle? – Infosys Limited10) Indian Air Force (IAF)’s first fighter air base in South India was inaugurated by Defence
Minister AK Antony on 27 May 2013. Where is this air base situated? – Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu (IAF’s state-of-the-art Su-30MKI combat aircraft will be stationed at this new air base. The establishment of the premier fighter base is important in the view of current geo-political scenario and threat perception in the peninsular region and in the Indian Ocean)SBI Chairman Pratip Choudhuri recently said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be made regulator of all home loans in the country. Who are regulators of home loan segment in India at present? – RBI is the regulator of home loans provided by all commercial banks while National Housing Bank (NHB) is the regulator of loans provided by housing finance companies like HDFC Limited, LIC Housing Finance Co. Ltd., etc.
