1) To promote women entrepreneurship, the countrys first womens 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 RBIs 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 Indias 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 banks 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 partners shareholding is capped at a
maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign debt, financial institutions, non-
financial corporations as well as structured products)

..

9) Chinas economy grew by 7.7% in 2013, which is far below the standards of
China worlds second-largest economy. The economic growth rate of 2013 is the
lowest since which year? 1999 (2013s 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 worlds largest bourse in
terms of equity trades for the second consecutive year in 2013?
Indias 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. Chinas 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 Centres 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 EPFOs 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 RBIs 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 SEBIs 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 Banks 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 (DAMIs scheme, DWS InflationIndexed 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 Sinhas 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). Sinhas 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 years
PBD? Engaging Diaspora: Connecting Across Generations (PBD is
celebrated on 9thJanuary 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 Indias freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever)

1) The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBIs) 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 18 th 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 EUs 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 corporations 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 (RBIs)
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 RBIs 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. LICs 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)

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)

1) National Stock Exchange (NSE) during December 2013 completed how many
years of its establishment? 20 years (NSE was founded in 1992 and started
trading operations in 1993. It was the first in India to start electronic trading and
was successful in bringing about a paradigm shift in the way trading and
settlements were done. NSE has a market capitalisation of more than US$989
billion and 1,635 companies listed as on July 2013 and is the largest stock
exchange in India)

2) Who was appointed as the new Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development (NABARD) during December 2013? Harsh Kumar
Bhanwala(Bhanwala succeeds Prakash Bakshi, who retired as NABARD Chairman
in September 2013. Before this appointment Bhanwala was an Executive Director
at India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a state-owned infrastructure
lender. His term will be for 5 years)

3) Who was appointed as the new Finance Secretary of India on 10 December,

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

.
4) Top 30 loan defaulters of public sector banks (PSBs) account for more than
one-third of total gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of state-run lenders. This
information was given in the Parliament on 10 December, 2013. According to this
information what is the ratio of top 30 NPAs as a percentage of gross NPAs, in
respect of public sector banks, as on September 2013? 35.5% (This figure
stands at 38.8% for all banks in India. The gross non-performing assets (GNPA)
amount of top 30 accounts of public sector banks (PSBs) stood at Rs. 72,174
crore, while for all banks it was Rs. 91,667 crore at the end of September 2013. In
case of nationalised banks, the top 30 defaulters contributed 43.8 per cent to the
GNPA with Rs. 55,663 crore. The GNPAs of the SBI Group, comprising SBI and its
five associates, were worth Rs. 71,620 crore at the end of first quarter of the
current fiscal)

5) Which private sector bank during December 2013 joined hands with the
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCIL) to introduce eKYC (electronic
Know Your Customer) norms in its branches? HDFC Bank (The eKYC procedure
will enable a consumer to walk in with an Aadhaar number and open an account
by getting his fingerprint scanned. HDFC Bank will install biometric readers for
scanning fingerprints at most of its branches in a few months. The banks systems
will pull all data stored online with the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIAI) including name, address, birth date and photograph)

6) The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), in its memorandum given during
December 2013 to the Finance Minister, has kept which demand prominently
which has huge support of bank employees all over the country? Working for
five-days in a week (Trade unions in the banking sector have raised this
demand as part of their bipartite wage negotiations with the Indian Banks
Association. With alternative channels such as ATMs, Internet and mobile banking
in place, the unions feel that the time is ripe for moving to a five-day week.
Unions argue that not only Central and State Government ministries/departments
but even the Reserve Bank of India follows the five-day work schedule. However,
another section of bankers were of the opinion that five-day week was not
advisable as it would come in the way of efforts towards financial inclusion)

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

8) More than a year after allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, the government on
17 December 2013 received the first application to open stores under this
category. Which company gave this application to set-up multi-brand retail stores
in India with an Indian group? Tesco Plc. (Tesco Plc. is a UK-based retailer and it
has sought approval to open retail stores in India with an investment of $110
million in joint venture with Tata Group. The joint-venture Trent Hypermarket, will
trade in products under 14 categories and plans to open three to five stores
every financial year. The government in September 2012 had allowed 51% FDI in
multi-brand retail with certain riders)

9) Which public sector bank is the only Indian bank to have a branch in Bangkok
(Thailand) and it during December 2013 received the Reserve Bank of India
(RBIs) approval for opening a second branch here? Indian Overseas Bank
(IOB) IOB will open the second branch before the end of March 2014. IOB had
few years back roped in Deloitte to devise a strategy for the banks overseas
expansion)

10) State-run Indian Oil Corp has emerged as the countrys biggest company in
terms of annual revenue, followed by Mukesh Ambani-led private sector giant
Reliance Industries at the second place, as per an annual list of Fortune 500
companies in India in Fortune magazines Indian edition released during
December 2013. Among the top ten companies in this list, the highest number of
companies is from which sector? Energy Sector (There are as many as seven
energy companies in the top 10 list. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) was the biggest with
annual revenue of Rs 4,75,867 crore, followed by Reliance Industries (RIL) with a
full-year revenue of Rs 4,09,883 crore. This is followed by Bharat Petroleum (Rs
2,44,822 crore) at the third place and Hindustan Petroleum (Rs 2,17,771 crore) at
fourth. Other entities in the list are State Bank of India (5 th rank), Tata Motors (6th),
ONGC (7th), Tata Steel (8th), Essar Oil (9th) and Coal India (10th))

1) The Standing Committee on Finance headed by Yashwant Sinha has recently

given what suggestion to the Union Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
on the issue of new bank licenses? It has suggested to desist from giving
new bank licences to industrial houses (Banking being a highly leveraged
business involving public money and public welfare, it will be more in the fitness
of things to keep industry and banking separate, the Standing Committee on
Finance has suggested. It urged to ensure that no recurrence of the pre-
nationalised situation happens, when the management of private banks deployed
their funds to extend undue favour to their own industrial owners without regard
to social priorities determined by Government)

2) According to the recently released list of biggest bank defaulters by the All
India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), as much as 25% of the total non-
performing assets (NPAs) in public sector banks (excluding SBI) are accounted by
50 corporates. Which is the corporate with largest outstanding in this list?
Kingfisher Airlines(Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines owes Rs. 2,673
crore as per the combined NPA list of PSU banks. It is followed by Winsome
Diamond (Rs. 2,660 crore) and Electrotherm India Limited (Rs. 2211 crore). The
total NPAs of public sector banks (excluding SBI) stood at Rs. 1,64,461 crore. Top
50 corporate defaulters have defaulted Rs. 40,528 crore of bank loans. According
to AIBEA, it has released the name of these defaulters as the RBI and the govt.
are not publishing them)

3) Which entity on 3 December, 2013 announced plans to set up a MFIs Credit

Information Bureau to enable Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to secure credit on
faster and better terms? Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd.
CIBIL (Under this initiative CIBIL is planning to rope in MFIs as members.
Currently, CIBIL is operating four bureaus consumer, retail, mortgage and fraud.
Prior to approving individual loans, public sector banks and financial institutions
seek CIBIL credit information reports and credit score of an applicant. An
individual is given points by the CIBIL TransUnion ranging from 300 to 900
(highest), based on his loan repayment pattern for the last few months. The
credit score is updated every month. Individuals with 800 points are the most
sought after by banks)

4) Which practice has been made compulsory from 1 December, 2013 with
regard to use of debit card at retail outlets? Mandatory punching of debit
card PIN number after swiping (This is intended to make bank debit card
transactions more secure. In June 2013, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had
extended the deadline for implementation of mandatory PIN punching at Point-of-
Sales (PoS) and merchant outlets till 30 November, 2013 following representation
of banks. According to the report of a RBI working group early cases of domestic
counterfeit and skimming are being observed as far as debit cards are
concerned. Card skimming is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic
strip of a credit/debit card)

5) Insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) recently decided to stop

selling 34 policies, including popular policies like Jeevan Anand, Jeevan Madhur
and Jeevan Saral during December 2013. What is the main reason for this
decision of LIC? To comply with new regulatory guidelines (These policies
are not in conformity with the provisions of new regulations on non-linked
insurance products, linked insurance products and health insurance products.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) had extended the
deadline for implementation of new individual product regulations for the life
insurance industry by three months to 31 December 2014. The new guidelines
are aimed at making insurance policies more customer-friendly)

6) Which major industrial group of the country on 27 November, 2013 withdrew

its application with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a banking licence? Tata
Sons, which is the holding company of the Tata Group (It thus became the
second industrial group after Videocon-promoted Value Industries to opt out of
the race for banking license that now has 25 entities in the fray. For Tata Sons,
the constraining factor was the RBI guideline for new bank licences that required
all financial services entities in a group to be necessarily owned by the non-
operating financial holding company (NOFHC). To comply, the Tatas would have
had to re-organise the existing financial services structure of the Group. The Tata
move comes just two months before the final licences for new banks are to be
issued by the RBI)

7) Six financial institutions Germanys Deutsche Bank, Frances Societe

Generale, Britains RBS and RP Martin and United States JP Morgan and
Citigroup, were imposed fines totalling 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by the
European Union on 4 December, 2013. What is the reason for imposition of this
hefty penalty? For manipulating interest-rate benchmarks (These banks
were involved in manipulating interest rate derivatives denominated in the euro
and the Japanese yen. There had been suspicions about rate-rigging during the
2008 financial crisis, but the scandal reached full force last year when Barclays
bank became the first to settle a fine for attempting to falsify the Libor
benchmark. Germanys Deutsche Bank faces the stiffest penalty with a total fine
of 725 million euros, followed by Frances Societe Generale with 446 million euros
and Britains RBS with 391 million euros)

8) What ease in norms for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) involved in

insurance joint-ventures was announced by the RBI on 28 November, 2013?
They have been allowed to hold more than 50% in such companies (As
per existing norms, an NBFC could not hold more than 50% of the paid-up capital
of an insurance joint-venture)

1) Following the attack on a woman at an ATM in Bangalore during November

2013, the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) urged the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to drop which plan associated with increasing the penetration of ATMs
in the country? White-label ATMs (Under the plan of White-label ATMs, it
would be the responsibility of the private agencies to locate, install, and maintain
these ATMs. White-label ATMs can be opened by even those entities which are
not in banking operations. BEFI is of the view that security is a major issue with
White-label ATMs. Indias first white-label ATM IndiCash was started during 2013
by Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd. (TCPSL), a subsidiary of Tata
Communications)

.

2) The first all-women Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) was launched by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on 19 November, 2013 with the inauguration of the
first branch of the bank. This first branch of BMB was inaugurated at Air India
building at Nariman Point in Mumbai (The bank is being started with seven
branches (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and
Lucknow) initially. The bank plans to reach a branch size of 25 in the next four
months and thereafter add about 75 banks every year. The capital base for this
bank is Rs. 1,000 crore)

3) What is a special fact associated with the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), which
was launched on 19 November, 2013 on the occasion of the 96th birthday of late
Indira Gandhi? BMB is the first bank started in the public sector space
by an Act of Parliament (Other banks in public sector were nationalised in two
tranches in 1969 and 1980)

4) What are the main points pertaining to non-performing assets (NPAs) of Indian
banking sector mentioned in the recently released RBI report Trends and
Progress of Banking Report 2012-13?

Gross NPAs as per cent of gross advances for scheduled

commercial banks stood at 3.6% as at March 2013 as against 3.1%
previous fiscal
Net NPAs as per cent of net advances for banks stood at 1.7% in
FY13 as against 1.3% previous year
As the end of March 2013, the gross NPAs of Indian banking
industry stood Rs. 1,94,000 crore. Public sector banks had highest
amount of bad loans at Rs. 1,65,000 crore followed by private sector
banks at Rs. 21,000 crore and foreign bank at Rs. 7,900 crore
The deterioration in asset quality was most perceptible for the
SBI group with its NPA ratio reaching a high of 5 per cent at end
March 2013
Deterioration in asset quality in 2012-13 was primarily on account
of the non-priority sector

.

5) Market regulator SEBI on 18 November, 2013 said that a single Self Regulatory
Organisation (SRO) would be put in place for the oversight of for all mutual fund
distributors. SRO is expected to be selected from among which three applicants?
Institute of Mutual Fund Intermediaries (IMFI), Organisation of
Financial Distributors (OFD) and Financial Planning Standards Board
India (FPSB) (The proposal to set up an SRO to regulate the mutual fund
distribution business was mooted in August 2012, while a detailed framework in
this regard was approved by the SEBI board in June 2013. The deadline for
submitting applications for SRO was 31 July, 2013. The decision to set up an SRO
followed concerns about mutual fund distributors not being regulated and
complaints against them for mis-selling products. The SRO will assist SEBI and
ensure a cordial relationship between mutual fund houses and distributors)

6) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 November 2013 directed public sector
banks (PSBs) to provide loans to women self-help groups (SHGs) at what rate of
interest to avail the benefit of interest rate subvention scheme under the
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana-Aajeevika (SGSY) scheme? 7% per
annum(As per this RBI notification, all women SHGs will be eligible for interest
subvention to avail the credit upto 3 lakh Rupees at 7% per annum. SGSY is an
initiative by the government to provide sustainable income to poor people living
in rural areas of the country)

7) The net profit of Indias largest commercial bank SBI stood at Rs 2,375 crore
during the second quarter of 2013-14 as against Rs 3,658 crore in the previous
year period. What was the main reason for this 35% slump in net profits? The
bank made higher provisions to hedge against rising bad loans during
the quarter(The bank set aside Rs 2,645 crore during the quarter as a cover
against potential bad loans. In the same period last year, the bank had set aside
Rs 1,837 crore. The amount of the banks non-performing loans rose by 30% to
Rs 64,206 crore (Rs 49,202 crore, a year ago))

.
8) On 18 November, 2013 which banks were designated by the RBI to collect
advance income tax payments? SBI, ICICI bank, HDFC Bank, PNB, Oriental
Bank of Commerce and Bank of Baroda

9) The Rapid Metro in Gurgaon, which will connect Delhi Metro commuters to six
key places within the city, was inaugurated on 14 November, 2013. This project
is a public-private partnership (PPP) project between which two entities? HUDA
(Haryana Urban Development Authority) and IL&FS Rail Ltd. (Rapid Metro
timings will be in sync with Delhi Metro, so that commuters wont have to wait for
the local loop train. While there are a total of six stations in the network, the one
at Shankar Chowk will become operational later as work is still not complete)

10) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 November 2013 widened the definition of
infrastructure lending sub category in a bid to swiftly expedite these projects.
Which sub-category was added to the infrastructure lending sub category by the
RBI to widen its definition? Hotels, with project cost of more than 200
crore rupees being built anywhere in India and of any star rating (The list
will also include convention centres with project cost of more than Rs. 300 crore.
Various sub-sectors under the categories such as Transport, Energy, Water &
Sanitation, Communication, Social and Commercial Infrastructure come under
infrastructure lending)

1) Who on 12 November, 2013 was appointed as the first Chairperson and

Managing Director of Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all-women bank of
India? Usha Anathasubramaniam (Usha assumed her charge on the same
day. Prior to her appointment she was the Executive Director with Punjab National
Bank (PNB))

2) What was the guideline issued by the RBI on 29 October, 2013 pertaining to
transaction-based SMSes by banks? The RBI asked banks to charge
customers for transaction SMS alerts on the basis of usage, instead of
imposing a fixed fee, to ensure equity and be reasonable (In its guideline
the RBI said that fees based on actual usage are necessary to ensure
reasonableness and equity in charges levied by banks. In March 2011, the RBI
had set guidelines for banks to send online alerts to customers for all types of
transactions, irrespective of the amount. However, the central bank had not
issued rules on charging customers for these alerts)

3) The RBI on 29 October, 2013 allowed the commercial banks to revise the
periodicity of interest payments. This guideline was announced under RBIs
Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14 by Governor Raghram Rajan.
The guideline will now enable savings bank account and term deposit holders to
earn interest at shorter intervals. What is present practice of interest payment
adopted by banks? At present banks pay interest on savings and term
deposits at quarterly or longer intervals (RBI had deregulated the savings
interest rates of banks in 2011)

4) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 29 October, 2013

hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points in the October monetary policy review. The
repo rate is now at 7.75%. What was the main reason for increasing the repo
rate? Increase in inflation during the past few months (Wholesale price
index (WPI) inflation touched 6.46% in September while consumer price index
inflation was at 9.84%. Both these measures have been way beyond the comfort
level of the RBI. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow short term funds
from RBI)

5) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on 29 October, 2013 cut the marginal standing
facility (MSF) rate by 25 bps to 8.75% in the October monetary policy review.
What was the significance of this move from the view of repo rate? The gap
between the repo rate and the MSF rate is now back to 100 bps, which
signals the return to normalcy in currency markets. The MSF is an
emergency window that banks borrow from when faced with a funds
crunch

6) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 6 November, 2013, permitted wholly-

owned subsidiary (WOS) of foreign banks to acquire domestic private sector
banks as well as set up branches anywhere in the country. It also allowed foreign
bank subsidiary to list on local stock exchanges. What is the maximum holding
above which foreign bank subsidiaries would not be able to hold in domestic
private sector banks? 74%(It is the sectoral cap for overall foreign investment
and would apply in this case too)

7) What was Indias unemployment rate during the five year period ending 2009-
10, data pertaining to which was released by the National Sample Survey
Organisation on 26 October, 2013? 2.8% (This displayed fall of 1% in
unemployment rate from 3.8% during previous 5-year period. The data pertaining
to unemployment rate was based on NSSOs 8th Quinquennial survey on
employment and unemployment conducted in the 66 th round of NSS during July
2009 to June 2010)

8) Which city witnessed maximum unemployment rate during the five year
period ending 2009-10, as stated in the latest NSSO report released on 26
October, 2013? Patna (Patna witnessed unemployment rate of 13.2% during
this period and it was followed by Kanpur which witnessed 7.7% unemployment)

9) Which city witnessed minimum unemployment rate during the five year period
ending 2009-10, as stated in the latest NSSO report released on 26 October,
2013? Bhopal (Bhopal witnessed an unemployment rate of just 0.1% during this
period. Gujarats Surat was in second place with unemployment rate of 0.6%)

10) Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) retained his title as
Indias wealthiest person for sixth year in a row. His networth stood at $21 billion.
NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal (USD 16 billion) also continues to hold the second
position in this list released by the Forbes magazine. Who pushed IT czar Azim
Premji of Wipro to fourth position to become third richest Indian? Dilip
Shanghvi (Sun Pharmas Shanghvi jumped to third place with about 50% surge
in his wealth to $13.9 billion while Azim Premjis wealth stood at $13.8 billion.
Other people on this list include Pallonji Mistry (5 th position with $12.5 billion),
Hinduja brothers (6th position with $9 billion), Shiv Nadar (7 th position with $8.6
billion), Adi Godrej (8th position with $8.3 billion), Kumar Mangalam Birla
(9th position with $7.6 billion) and Sunil Mittal (10thposition with ($6.6 billion)

1) Indian security market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
on 28 October, 2013 asked mutual funds to adopt different districts to increase
their penetration. SEBI gave reference of a CRISIL report on mutual funds, which
quotes data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) to disclose the fact
that Indian mutual fund market has been dominated by investors belonging to
large cities of the country. According to this report what percentage of the gross
mutual fund market has been captured by investors of Indias five largest cities?
74% (Another problem effecting Indian mutual fund market is the fact that
mutual funds lost 8% or nearly 35 lakh retail folios over past six months ended
September, 2013 according to the latest data released by AMFI. Therefore SEBI is
pushing to increase mutual fund penetration in small districts of the country for
which mutual funds can also adopt some districts)

2) What is the name of a panel constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
during October 2013, which would give its recommendations for implementing a
national Indian Bill Payment System so that households will be able to use bank
accounts to pay school fees, utilities, medical bills and make remittances
electronically? GIRO Advisory Group (GAG) GAG is headed by Prof. Umesh
Bellur, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The panel would submit
its report by the end of December, 2013

3) The Finance Ministry on 23 October, 2013 finalised the bank-wise capital

allocation, which is part of the capital infusion plan for 20 public sector banks
which altogether will get Rs 14,000 crore. How much capital will be infused into
the State Bank of India (SBI)? Rs. 2000 crore (SBI has got the largest share in
this capital infusion initiative. The capital infusion is done with the twin objective
of adequately meeting the credit requirement of the productive sectors of the
economy as well as to maintain regulatory capital adequacy ratios. Banks can
raise Rs 10,000 crore from markets against the Rs 14,000 crore infusion)

4) The Planning Commission during October 2013 decided that the Raghuram
Rajan committee report on the development index for states will not work for
distribution of all central funds. The commissions move was in response to
protests made by several states at the new ordering of backwardness that has
been drawn up by the committee headed by Rajan. The Planning Commission
instead set up for a new two-member plan panel for a fresh look at the issues
involved in transferring money to state governments from plan budget. Who are
the two members of this newly set up committee? Mihir Shah and Abhijit
Sen

5) Which four NBFC-Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) during October 2013 became

the first MFIs to be given the mfR1 grading by CRISIL, which is the highest
grading under its eight-point scale specially designed for evaluating the
operations of MFIs?-Bandhan Financial Services, Kolkata, Equitas
Microfinance, Chennai,Janalakshmi Financial Services and Ujjivan
Financial Services headquartered in Bangalore

6) The first meeting of the seven-member Tax Administration Reforms

Commission (TARC) led by Parthasarathi Shome was held on 21 October, 2013 at
Delhi. What is the tenure of TARC, which will act as an advisory body to the
Finance Ministry? 18 months (TARC is expected to submit its first report in six
months, suggesting measures to prevent economic offences among other things)

7) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 October, 2013 launched the new Real
Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system for large-value funds transfer. This new
RTGS system provides new functionalities like advance liquidity features, gridlock
resolution mechanism and hybrid settlement facility, facility to accept future
value-dated transactions and options to process multi-currency transactions. It
complies with which latest ISO standard system? ISO 20022 (The RTGS system
is used to settle interbank fund transfers by banks and their customers and is
critical in facilitating orderly settlement of payment obligations. With the
implementation of the new RTGS system, new regulations replaced the operating
guidelines and regulations of 2004)

8) During October, 2013 it was reported that the public sector banks, which were
required to install onsite ATMs at 34,668 branches by March 31, 2013 had set up
5,726 ATMs at the end of August 2013. Hence In the remaining days of the
financial year, the 26 public sector banks will together have to set up 28,942
ATMs, or an average of 137 every day to achieve the target of ATM at every
branch by 31 March, 2014. Under which drive the Finance Ministry had asked the
public-sector banks to have onsite ATMs or ATMs at branches by the end of March
2014? Financial Inclusion Drive (The government had directed public sector
banks to have ATMs at all their branches as part of its financial inclusion drive)

9) The Union Cabinet on 17 October, 2013 gave its approval for setting up six
additional benches of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal
(CESTAT), including three at the existing locations in New Delhi, Mumbai and
Chennai. In which three cities new bench of CESTAT would be established?
Chandigarh, Allahabad and Hyderabad (At present, CESTAT has three
benches each in Delhi and Mumbai and one bench each at Kolkata, Chennai,
Bangalore and Ahmedabad. CESTAT was set up in 1982 to provide an
independent and impartial forum to hear the appeal against orders and decisions
passed by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise under the Customs Act
1962, Central Excise Act 1944 and Gold (Control) Act, 1968)

10) Three American economists Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen (both with
the University of Chicago) and Robert Shiller (Yale University) won the 2013
Nobel Prize for Economics. This announcement was made by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences on 14 October, 2013. What was the area of research of
these three economists for which they were selected for this prestigious award?
For developing new methods to study trends in asset markets (Fama,
Hansen and Shiller had laid the foundation of the current understanding of asset
prices. The economics award is not a Nobel Prize in the same sense as the
medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace prizes, which were created by
Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in 1895. Swedens central bank added the
economics prize in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel)

1) Who is poised to become the first woman to head the US Federal Reserve,
which is the central bank of the United States? Janet Yellen (Yellen was
nominated to head US Federal Reserve by President Barack Obama on 9 October,
2013. Yellen has been the deputy Chairman of Federal Reserve since 2010. She
will succeed Ben S. Bernanke, whose term expires on 31 January, 2014)

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during October, 2013 constituted a committee
to examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers so as to boost
mobile banking in the country. Who will head this committee? B.
Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking
Technology (IDRBT) The committee will study challenges faced by banks in
mobile banking. It will consider the advantages/ challenges of having a single
application across all handsets in an SMS-encrypted environment. The committee
will also look at any other solution to expand the reach of mobile banking and
accordingly, draw a roadmap to implement those solutions)

3) The Union Government on 7 October, 2013 cleared the elevation of Arundhati

Bhattacharya as the new Chairperson of SBI. Consequently she became the first
woman to head SBI, which is Indias largest commercial bank of India.
Bhattacharya became the head of SBI 24th (She succeeded Pratip
Chaudhuri, who retired on 30 September, 2013. Her tenure will be of around two
and a half years)

4) Which corporate company on 14 October, 2013 became the first Indian

corporate to achieve sales of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore in a quarter?
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) RILs turnover or sales soared 14.2% to
Rs 1,06,523 crore during the second quarter (July-September) of 2013-14.
Companys net profit for the quarter stood at Rs. Rs 5,490 crore, up 1.5% from
Rs. 5,409 crore a year earlier)

5) Three American economists Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen (both with the
University of Chicago) and Robert Shiller (Yale University) won the 2013 Nobel
Prize for Economics. This announcement was made by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences on 14 October, 2013. What was the area of research of
these three economists for which they were selected for this prestigious award?
For developing new methods to study trends in asset markets (Fama,
Hansen and Shiller had laid the foundation of the current understanding of asset
prices. The economics award is not a Nobel Prize in the same sense as the
medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace prizes, which were created by
Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in 1895. Swedens central bank added the
economics prize in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel)

6) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 October, 2013 eased more money into
the system to help banks offer affordable lending options to retail customers. For
this, which two steps were taken by the RBI :

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) was brought down to 9% by

cutting it down by 50 basis points from 9.5% (MSF is the rate at
which banks borrow funds overnight from RBI against approved
government securities)
Banks were allowed to borrow money from RBI for one-week and
two-weeks (This new offer of extended period loans is also expected
to further ease liquidity in the system)

(These measures came in the wake of a gradual stability in the rupee and point
towards a seemingly combined effort by both the central bank and the
government to pep up demand during the festive season of 2013)

7) What is the name of a new class of investors, which was announced by Indian
capital market regulator SEBI during October, 2013 and which would encompass
all FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors), their sub-accounts and Qualified Foreign
Investors (QFIs)? Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPIs) With the announcement
of FPI, a new regime for overseas investments in Indian capital markets was
ushered. The KYC (Know Your Client) requirements and other registration
procedures would be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices. The
SEBI also decided to grant them a permanent registration, as against the current
practice of granting approvals for one year or five years to the overseas entities
seeking to invest in Indian markets. The SEBI board approved the new Sebi
(Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2013 to bring about these wide-ranging
changes)

8) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during September 2013 gave his approval for
setting up of a new Central Pay Commission which is expected to give its
recommendations in about two years. This will be Central Pay
Commission 7th (The recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission are
likely to be implemented with effect from 1 January, 2016. The recommendations
of the Sixth Central Pay Commission were implemented from 1 January, 2006.
The recommendations of this Pay Commission will benefit about 50 lakh central
government employees, including those in defence and railways, and about 30
lakh pensioners)

9) Which African country on 2 October, 2013 announced its decision to quit

Commonwealth? Gambia (Gambia is a Western African country and was a
member of the Commonwealth since 1965, when it gained independence from
Britain. The Gambian government did not give a reason for the decision to leave
the Commonwealth. However, it comes amid a greater emphasis by Britain on
human rights and increasing pressure to promote equality based on sexuality.
Commonwealth is a group of over 50 countries made up largely of former British
colonies. Gambia called Commonwealth a neo-colonial institution while
announcing its withdrawal from this group headed by British monarch Queen
Elizabeth)

10) The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 as announced on 12 October, 2013. This
award was given to the organization for its extensive efforts to rid the world of
chemical arsenals. The 189-member OPCW has its headquarters in The Hague,
the Netherlands (OPCW was founded in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons
Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons.
The OPCW has conducted more than 5,000 inspections in 86 countries. It says
100 percent of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been inventoried
and verified)

1) 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 RBIs 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))

2) In what seemed like an unexpected move Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs)

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 RBIs 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%)

3) What were the main highlights of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajans first
monetary policy review presented on 20 September, 2013 since taking office on
4 September?

Following are the main highlights of Raghuram Rajans 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)

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

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 Authoritys (IRDAs) 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)

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
Investments under angel investing restricted between Rs 50 lakh
and Rs 5 crore
 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

8) How much advance tax for second quarter of present financial year was paid
by countrys 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)

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)

1) 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 SBIs car loans.
What was SBIs 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)
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)

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. Banks first Branch on Wheels was launched in Kolhapur,
Maharashtra and it will cover four unbanked villages)

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

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)

6) What were the main highlights of the Economic Outlook 2013-14 released by
Prime Ministers 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)

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

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, Apples 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 Googles 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 companys upcoming new Android-based operating
system for mobile devices. This name is in keeping with Googles 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 Rowntrees, now produced worldwide by Nestle.
Google claims that Android software powers more than a billion smartphones or
tablets worldwide)
1) 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)

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)

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)

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 countrys
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

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)

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 worlds
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)

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.)

1) 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 banks 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)

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 issuing ICMBs? 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. TARCs 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 during August, 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 Vasudevas 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 PESBs 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)
1) 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)

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)

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 Nadus Sooranam, a Christian dominated area,
and the 15,001st branch of the bank at Kalayarkovil, a Hindu
dominated area nearby)

4) State Bank of Indias (SBIs) 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 (SBIs 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% (LICs 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)

1) 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)

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 dont 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

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

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 and IIM-Ahmedabad and he will be the
23rd Governor of Indias 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 chest norms. 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)

1) All public sectorbanks 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)

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 Ministrys 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 RBIs 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. RBIs 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 Indias 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 was promulgated 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

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)
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. The prospective customer at the
time of first sale would only be required to give a copy of Voter I-Card, Driving
license, Pan Card, Aadhaar 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 the union 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.)

1) 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 a currency 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))

6) In the biggest foreign investment pullout from India, worlds 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)

8) What will be the name of Indias 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

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)

1) 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)

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 Indias 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)

5) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved Oil Ministrys 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 Ministers 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 is expected 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

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. NSSOs 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 countrys economic strength)

Completed 28

1) Which is the largest commercial bank of India? State Bank of India (SBI)

2) What is the meaning of State Bank Group? State Bank of India and its 5
associate banks are called the State Bank Group

3) Which are the 5 associate banks of State bank of India (SBI)? 1) State Bank
of Bikaner and Jaipur 2) State Bank of Hyderabad 3) State Bank of
Mysore 4) State bank of Patiala and 5) State Bank of Travancore
4) Which two associates of SBI were merged with the SBI some time back?
1) State Bank of Indore and 2) State Bank of Saurashtra

5) Where is the headquarters of SBI located? Mumbai

6) Who is the present Chairman of SBI? Pratip Choudhuri

7) Who was appointed as head of SBIs associates and subsidiaries in 2012? S.

Vishwanathan (He is one of the Managing Directors (MD of SBI)

How many nationalized banks are there at present in India? 19 (1) Allahabad
bank 2) Andhra Bank 3) Bank of Baroda 4) Bank of India 5) Bank of Maharashtra
6) Canara Bank 7) Central Bank of India 8) Corporation Bank 9) Dena Corporate
10) Indian Bank 11) Indian Overseas Bank 12) Oriental Bank of Commerce 13)
Oriental Bank of Commerce 14) Punjab & Sind Bank15) Syndicate Bank 16) UCO
Bank 17) Union Bank of India 18) United Bank of India 19) Vijaya Bank

Which is the largest amongst 19 nationalized banks of India (according to

deposited money)? Punjab National Bank (PNB)

How many nationalized banks have their headquarters in Mumbai? Five - 1)

Bank of Baroda 2) Bank of India 3) Central Bank of India 4) Dena Bank and 5)
Union Bank of India

How many nationalized banks have their headquarters in Delhi / New Delhi?
Three - 1) Oriental Bank of Commerce 2) Punjab National Bank and 3) Punjab
and Sind Bank

How many nationalized banks have their headquarters in Bangalore? Two - 1)

Canara Bank and 2) Vijaya Bank

How many nationalized banks have their headquarters in Kolkata (erstwhile

Calcutta)? Three - 1) Allahabad Bank 2) UCO Bank and 3) United Bank of India

How many nationalized banks have their headquarters in Chennai (erstwhile

Madras)? Two - 1) Indian Bank and 2) Indian Overseas Bank

Which nationalized bank has its headquarters in Manipal in Karnataka?

Syndicate Bank

Which nationalized bank has its headquarters in Hyderabad? Andhra Bank

Which nationalized bank has its headquarters in Mangalore in Karnataka?
Corporation Bank

Which nationalized bank has its headquarters in Pune? Bank of Maharashtra

How many Indian private banks are operating as commercial banks in India at
present? 23

Which is the largest private bank of India? ICICI Bank

How many foreign private banks are operating in India at present? 37

How many regional rural banks (RRBs) are operating in India at present? 82

Which state has largest number of regional rural banks (RRBs)? Uttar Pradesh
(10)

Which six institutions are kept in the category of financial institutions despite the
word bank appearing in their name? 1) Export-Import Bank of India
(EXIM) 2) Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) 3) Industrial
Development bank of India (IDBI) 4) National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development (NABARD) 5) National Housing Bank (NHB) and 6)
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

Which private bank was promoted and established by Unit Trust of India (UTI), a
public-sector mutual-fund company? Axis Bank