Ba Part2 PDF

Banking & Financial Awareness 16
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2Baking & Finance
1) The performance ratings of banks

operating in India would be put on the
public domain from next year. Which
entity is rating bank services and would
share this information in public domain?
Banking Codes Standards Board of
India BCSBI (BCSBI was set up as an
independent and autonomous body in
2007 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
to ensure that the common consumer of
financial services from the banking
industry gets what he/she has been
promised. BCSBI is rating banks on
customer services on five parameters
information dissemination, transparency,
customer-centricity, grievance redressal
system and customer feedback. Of the 48
banks rated for customer service, only
five received high ratings; 25 were rated
above average; 17 average; and one
below average. The ratings have been
shared with the banks. The ratings were
given based on a survey conducted by
BCSBI across 69 cities, involving 3,000
branches and 6,000 customers)
2) State Bank of India (SBI) on 1 July

2014 launched six digital branches across
the nation to serve tech-savvy customers.
One of such branches in Delhi was
inaugurated on this day by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley. Other 5 such
branches are located in Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
What is the name given to this new range
of branches which will have full digital
banking
capabilities?
sbiINTOUCH (These
sbiINTOUCH
branches will include instant account
opening with personalised debit cards,
instant loan approvals for education, car
and home and remote expert advisors
available via video links. The new
branches will be located in malls and will
be primarily aimed at youth, who look for
digital banking)
3) Who was re-appointed as the Deputy

Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on 3 July 2014 by the Union Govt.?
Harun Rashid Khan (The appointment
has been made for two years with effect
from 4 July 2014 or until further orders,
whichever is earlier. Khan was appointed
deputy governor in July 2011 for a threeyear term, which was set to expire on 3
July. As deputy governor, Khan looks
after the foreign exchange department
and internal debt management, among
others. The other two RBI deputy
governors are Urjit Patel and the recently
appointed R. Gandhi. The government is
yet to appoint a deputy governor to
replace KC Chakrabarty, who retired on
25 April 2014)
4) Who headed the committee on

Tendulkar Committee methodology for
estimating poverty, the report of which
was submitted to Planning Commission
on 1 July 2014? C. Rangarajan (C.
Rangarajan, the former chief of Prime
Ministers Economic Advisory Council
(PMEAC), submitted the report to
planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh. The
Planning Commission in May 2012 had
constituted the expert group under the

then PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan to
review
the
Tendulkar
Committee
methodology for estimating poverty,
following an uproar over the number of
poor in the country. The Planning
Commissions estimates had drawn flak
in September, 2011 when in an affidavit
to the Supreme Court it was stated that
households with per capita consumption
of more than Rs. 32 in urban areas and
Rs. 26 in rural will not be treated as poor)
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3Baking & Finance
5) Which public sector financial entity

engaged in commercial and development
banking operations is celebrating its
50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee) during
July 2014? Industrial Development
Bank of India IDBI (IDBI was
established in 1964 under an Act of
Parliament as a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In
1976, the ownership of IDBI was
transferred to the Government of India
and it was made the principal financial
institution for coordinating the activities of
institutions
engaged
in
financing,
promoting and developing industry in
India. IDBI provided financial assistance,
both in rupee and foreign currencies, for
green-field projects as also for expansion,
modernisation
and
diversification
purposes. During September 2004 the
RBI incorporated IDBI as a scheduled
bank
under
the RBI
Act,
1934.
Consequently, IDBI, formally entered the
portals of banking business as IDBI Ltd.
from 1 October 2004. The commercial
banking arm, IDBI BANK, was merged
into IDBI in 2005)
6) During June 2014 it was reported in

some newspapers that the Finance
Ministry is considering doubling the
exemption limit for investments by
individuals in financial instruments to Rs 2
lakh in the forthcoming Annual Budget.
This is being sought so as to give a major
boost to household savings. What was

the savings rate of India during 2012-13,
a figure declining continuously since
2007-08? 30% of GDP (The savings
rate of the country stood at 38% of
countrys GDP during 2008. There have
been demands from bankers and insurers
to hike the tax exemption limit from Rs 1
lakh per annum to encourage household
savings. The Direct Taxes Code (DTC)
too had recommended that the combined
ceiling for investments and expenditures
be raised to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum)
7) Which body, that during June 2014

submitted its report to the Prime Minister,
has recommended that the Planning
Commission should be replaced by a
reforms and solution body as it exceeds
the scope of its authority by acting as a
control commission?
Independent
Evaluation Office IEO (The IEO, which
was set up by the government in
November 2010, from February this year
began independently assessing the
effectiveness of government programmes
and institutional policies. It submitted the
assessment
report
on
Planning
Commission to Prime Minister during
June 2014. IEO in its report stated that
since the Planning Commission has
defied attempts to reform it to bring it in
line with the needs of a modern economy
and the trend of empowering the States, it
is
proposed
that
the
Planning
Commission be replaced)
8) Which
PSU
general
insurance
company during June 2014 introduced
insurance on wheels concept for faster
renewal
of
policies?
National
Insurance Company Ltd. (Under the
scheme, a vehicle will be parked at
appropriate locations in a city. People can
renew their policies from there instead of
going to the company office. Currently,
the service has been introduced in 15odd cities of the country)
9) The delisting process of which pharma

major came under market regulator
SEBIs lens for violation of its regulations
on fraudulent and unfair trade practices
and SEBI issued an order on 24 June
2014? AstraZeneca (SEBI said that it
started investigating the matter after
coming across reports that the offer-forsale (OFS) done by Astra Zenecas
promoters in May 2013 was a deliberate
attempt to subsequently get the share
delisted at ease. On further examination,
SEBI found that Astra Zenecas two
earlier attempts at delisting (2004 and
2010) had been unsuccessful. In its order
SEBI directed that the promoters of
AstraZeneca shall finally purchase shares
from public shareholders in the delisting
offer only after seeking approval of the

BSE and the NSE)
10) Global e-commerce giant Amazon

during May 2014 tied up with N.R.
Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of IT
services firm Infosys by forming an ecommerce joint venture with his private
investment firm. What is the name of this
investment firm of Narayana Murthy?
Catamaran Ventures (Murthys private
investment firm Catamaran Ventures, a
Rs. 600-crore fund launched in 2010, has
formed a joint venture with Amazons
Asia unit to create a new entity. This new
entity will help small and medium
businesses in India. Catamaran Ventures
is based in Bangalore)
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4Baking & Finance
1) What is the definition of affordable

housing loans as announced by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 July
2014? Rs. 50 lakh in metros and Rs.
40 lakh in non-metros, given by
banks from the proceeds of longterm bonds (of minimum seven years
maturity)
Explanation : This announcement was
made by the RBI in a bid to boost the
housing
sector.
The
RBI
also
announced that the cost of a house
cannot exceed Rs. 65 lakh and Rs. 50
lakh in the metros and non-metros,
respectively, to qualify as affordable
houses. There are six metros in the
country: Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata,
Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Under
the current regulatory regime, loans
given by banks to individuals up to Rs.
25 lakh in metros and Rs. 15 lakh in
non-metros for purchase/construction
of a dwelling unit, per family, are
considered as affordable housing loans.
These loans fall under the priority sector
lending category for banks. The RBI
said that it will periodically review the
definition of affordable housing, on
account of inflation. This RBI move is
expected to make housing loans up to
Rs. 50 lakh cheaper.
2) The fiscal deficit target for year 2015

(2014-15) has been retained at the level
announced by former Finance Minister
P.Chidambaram in his interim budget.
What is this level? 4.1% of GDP (The
fiscal deficit which had touched a high of
5.7% in 2011-12, was brought down to
4.8% in 2012-13 and further to 4.5% in
2013-14)
3) In the Union Budget 2014-15, the

govt. announced setting up of a
commission to bring in reforms related
to spending for achieving maximum
output. What is the name given to this
commission?
Expenditure
Management Commission EMC
Explanation : The proposed EMC will
review the allocated and operational
efficiencies of government expenditure
to achieve maximum output and will give
its interim report within this financial
year.
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5Banking & Finance
4) The revival of the Kisan Vikas Patra

(KVP) was announced in the Union
Budget 2014-15 on 10 July 2014. The
KVP was discontinued from November
2011 on the recommendation of which
committees recommendations? The
Shyamala Gopinath Committee
Explanation : The Shyamala Gopinath
Committee, in its report submitted on 7
June 2011, had recommended that the
KVP be discontinued as it was prone to
misuse, being a bearer-line instrument.
It said the KVP was more popular than
the National Savings Certificate (NSC)
because of the ease of transfer and
liquidity.
5) What special feature has been

proposed for currency notes in the
Union Budget 2014-15 presented on 10
July 2014? These currency notes
will now also integrate Braillefeatures to benefit the visuallydisabled people
6) What is the proposed name of an

integrated Ganga Development Project
for which Rs. 2037 crore were allocated
in the Union Budget 2014-15?
Namami Ganga
7) What is the proposed name of a new

24X7 channel for northeast region that
was announced in the Union Budget
2014-15? Arun Prabha
8) Rs. 4200 crore were set for an

ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project on
river Ganga in the Union Budget of
2014-15. This project would be
established between which two places
on Ganga covering a distance of 1620
km? Allahabad (UP) and Haldia
(West Bengal)
9) What is the name given to a

dedicated TV channel for farmers that
was announced in the Union Budget for
2014-15 and Rs. 100 crore was set
aside for its establishment? Kisan
Television (Kisan TV)
10) What GDP growth rate range for

2014-15 was estimated in the Economic
Survey 2013-14, which was tabled on 9
July 2014 in the Lok Sabha? 5.4 to
5.9%
Explanation : GDP growth slowed to

below 5% for two consecutive years, i.e.
2012-13 and 2013-14. The Economic
Survey envisages a better performance
during 2014-15 on account of growth in
sectors like manufacturing and mining)
11) What was the fiscal deficit for 201314, as disclosed in the Economic Survey
2013-14? 4.5% of GDP
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6Banking & Finance
Explanation : Fiscal deficit is the

difference between the governments
expenditures and its revenues. An
important factor in the increase in the
Centres fiscal deficit after 2008-09 has
been the sharp increase in subsidies
from 1.42% of GDP in 2007-08 to 2.56%
of GDP in 2012-13. For 2013-14 the
subsidy bill is 2.26% of GDP.
12) The
panel
headed
by
C.
Rangarajan, former Chairman of
PMEAC (Prime Ministers Economic
Advisory Council), has dismissed the
Suresh Tendulkar Committee report on
estimating poverty. The report submitted
by Rangarajan to Planning Minister Rao
Inderjit Singh recently stated that the
number of poor in India was much
higher in 2011-12 at 29.5% of the
population. What was the poverty figure
stated for the same year in the Suresh
Tendulkar Committee report, which was
severely criticized for its findings?
21.9% (According to the Rangarajan
panel, poverty stood at 38.2% in 200910 and slid to 29.5% in 2011-12. This is
at variance with the Tendulkar
methodology under which poverty was
estimated at 29.8% in 2009-10 and
declined to 21.9% in 2011-12. This
finding of C. Rangarajan committee
means that 3 out of 10 persons in India
are poor. The Planning Commission in

May 2012 had constituted the expert
group under C. Rangarajan to review
the Tendulkar Committee methodology
for estimating poverty)
13) Which state has the highest number

of people below poverty line according
to the new definition of poverty that is
part of the new poverty estimates that
have been made by a panel led by C.
Rangarajan? Chhattisgarh
Explanation : According to these
estimates 47.9% of Chhattisgarhs
population is below poverty line.
Chhattisgarh thus tops the list of states
with the highest poverty count. On the
other had just 6.3% of Goas population
is below poverty line and it thus tops the
list of states with the lowest poverty
count. On a national level, the C.
Rangarajan committee report estimated
the number of poor at 45.46 crore at
2011-12 prices, which is much higher
than the 35.47 crore estimate by the
Suresh Tendulkar committee.
14) What is the operating ratio of Indian

Railways as announced in the Rail
Budget 2014-15? 94 paise (This
means 94 paise put of every Re 1 is
utilized. So the surplus for the railways
is just 6%)
15) In how many years Indian Railways

would be made paperless as proposed
in the Rail Budget 2014-15? 5
years (Facilities like Mobile alerts for
wake up calls, arrival alerts and digital
reservation charts at station have also
been proposed)

suggestions and comments on the draft
guidelines by 28 August 2014.
2) Which
public-sector
undertaking
(PSU) on 23 July 2014 became the
17thNavratna
status
company?
Container Corporation of India

Limited (CONCOR)
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7Banking & Finance
1) What is the minimum paid-up capital

limit recommended by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) for those entities
who wish to set up payments and small
banks, as announced in the draft rules
released by it on 17 July 2014? Rs.
100 crore
Explanation : According to the draft
guidelines, existing authorised non-bank
pre-paid instrument issuers (PPIs), nonbanking finance companies (NBFCs),
corporate
BCs
(business
correspondents),
mobile
telephone
companies, super market chains,
companies, real sector co-operatives
and public sector entities are eligible for
setting up a payments bank. The
guidelines allow even banks to take
equity position in a payments bank as
permitted under the Banking Regulation
Act, 1949. The promoters will have to
have an initial minimum capital of at
least 40%. It has prescribed a lock-in
period of five years for promoters
holding. The central bank has sought
Explanation : The Ministry of Heavy

Industries and Public Enterprises,
Department of Public Enterprises,
Government of India granted Navratna
status to CONCOR on 23 July 2014.
CONCOR is a PSU engaged in
providing
comprehensive
logistics
solutions. It has the largest network of
62
inland
container
depots
(ICDs)/container freight stations in India.
In addition to providing inland transport
by rail for containers, it has also
expanded to cover management of
ports, air cargo complexes and
establishing
cold-chain.
The
Government of India (GoI) holds 61.80%
stake in CONCOR (as per the
shareholding pattern as on 30 June
2014).
3) Which private sector bank has agreed

to buy a 15% stake in beleaguered Multi
Commodity Exchange of India Ltd
(MCX), announcement of which pushed
the stock value of MCX by more than
10% on 21 July 2014? Kotak
Mahindra Bank
Explanation : The commodity market

regulator, Forward Market Commission
(FMC), had ordered MCX to reduce its
promoter- Financial Technologies (FTs)
stake from 26 to 2% in December last
year after FT was found not fit and
proper to own stake in any exchange,
following the NSEL crisis. However,
since the promoter repeatedly missed
the deadline for reducing its stake, the
regulator said it would not allow the
exchange to issue any new contracts
beyond August, unless they did so. The
news of Kotak Mahindra Banks buyout
has thus come at the right time.
Prominent
investor
Rakesh
Jhunjhunwala had also acquired nearly
2% stake in MCX for about Rs. 66 crore
during July 2014.
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8Banking & Finance
4) The Bank Employees Federation of

India (BEFI) on 19 July 2014 released a
list of 1,129 wilful corporate loan
defaulters on the occasion of the Bank
Nationalisation Day. All the companies
mentioned in the list had defaulted loans
over Rs. 10 crore. What is the
approximate aggregate value of these
defaulters? Rs. 54,000 crore
Explanation : The purpose of releasing
the list by BEFI on the Bank
Nationalisation Day was to put pressure
on
the
defaulters
and
bank
managements. BEFI claimed that a
similar list released by unions about five
years ago helped some recovery. This
list claimed that during the year ended
2013-14,
provisioning
for
Non
Performing Assets (NPAs) accounted
for Rs. 63,591 crore out of a total
operating profit of Rs. 1,27,965 crore.
Lanco Mandakini Hydro Energy, Sujana
Group,
Kingfisher,
Progressive
Construction, Viceroy Hotels, Regency
Ceramics, Nav Bharat International, S

Kumars Nationwide Ltd and Deccan
Chronicle have been named in the list,
among others.
5) Who was during July 2014 chosen as

the head of the committee formed to
review the previous UPA governments
decision to raise the price of natural gas
that would have led to a cascading
effect on power tariff, urea costs and
retail price of piped cooking gas?
Suresh Prabhu
Explanation : Suresh Prabhu is a
former Union power minister. An
indicative terms of reference for the
committee includes revisiting the Natural
Gas Pricing Guidelines of 2014 (NGPG
2014) and the C. Rangarajan formula
and the possibility of applying the same
in its present form or with modifications.
6) Which company on 23 July 2014

became the first Indian company to
cross market capitalization value of Rs.
5 lakh crore? Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS)
Explanation : Market capitalization is
the value of a companys outstanding
shares and is used to determine a
companys
size.
TCSs
market
capitalization crossed 5 lakh crore mark
on account of appreciation in the price
of TCS scrip following good financial
results and record dividend declaration
by the company. State-held ONGCs
market cap of around Rs. 3.5 lakh crore
is way behind that of TCS. It is worth
mentioning that TCS market cap is
more than the combined market cap of
its nearest three rivals Infosys (Rs
1.90 lakh crore), Wipro (Rs 1.39 lakh
crore) and HCL Tech (Rs 1.07 lakh

crore).
7) The Union Govt. on 19 July 2014 set

up an expert committee to look into
concerns raised by cost accountants
over some provisions in the new Cost
Records and Audit Rules. Who is
heading this committee? R. S.
Sharma, ONGCs former Chairman and
Managing Director
Explanation : Following notification of
the Companies (Cost Records and
Audit) Rules 2014, the Council of the
Institute of Cost Accountants of India
(ICoAI) had expressed concerns over
certain provisions of the rules,
particularly coverage of sectors of
economy under the rules. The other
members of the committee will be R K
Jain, Additional Secretary in Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, former
ICWAI (Institute of Cost and Works
Accountants
of
India)
President
Chandra Wadhwa, and Aruna Sethi,
Adviser (Cost), Ministry of Corporate
Affairs.
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9Banking & Finance
8) Which country on 17 July 2014

became worlds first developed nation to
repeal carbon laws that put a price on
greenhouse-gas emissions? Australia
Explanation : Australian upper Senate
on 17 July voted 39-32 to scrap the
carbon tax that was introduced by
centre-left Labour government Prime
Minister Julia Gillard in July 2012 and
was introduced in November 2013. This
tax imposed A $25 (US$23.45) tax per
metric tonne of carbon dioxide on
countrys
worst
greenhouse
gas
polluters. The tax was devised to
penalize hundreds the countrys biggest
polluters. Australia is one of the largest

per capita greenhouse gas emitters due
to its reliance on coal-burning power
stations to power homes and industry.
The carbon tax and plans for an
eventual emissions market dominated
Australian politics for years, gaining
momentum in 2007, when former
Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
called climate change the greatest
moral challenge of our time and made
signature of the Kyoto climate protocol
one of his first political acts after taking
office.
9) Which country became the first in the

world to legalise child labour during July
2014? Bolivia
Explanation : While most of the world is
trying to diminish child labour, Bolivia
has become the first nation to legalise it
from age 10. The Congress of this Latin
American country had (during early July
2014) approved a legislation legalise
child labour from the age of ten. VicePresident Alvaro Garcia signed it into
law on 17 July 2014 in the absence of
President Evo Morales, who was
travelling. Under the legislation, 10-yearolds will be able to work as long as they
are under parental supervision and also
attend school. It sets 12 as the minimum
age for a child to work under contract.
They also would have to attend school.
The bills sponsors say lowering the
minimum work age from 14 simply
acknowledges a reality: Many poor
families in Bolivia have no other choice
than for their kids to work. The bill offers
working children safeguards.
10) Which Southeast Asian country on

20 July 2014 allowed 100% foreign
ownership in banks? The Philippines
Explanation : The order announced on
20 July allows foreign banks to own
100% stock of an existing domestic
bank or to open a fully owned subsidiary
incorporated under Philippines laws. It

replaces a cap of 60% on foreign
ownership and abolishes previous rules
that allowed just 10 foreign banks in the
country. The new law is in preparation
for the economic integration of members
of the 10-country Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015.

2) Public sector based Central Bank
during July 2014 announced its plans to
sell 4% of its stake to LIC for Rs. 581
crore. This stake sale is planned to meet
banks capital requirement of Rs. 2,000
crore this fiscal. With this proposed sale
Union Govt.s holding in Central Bank
would come down to 84%
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10Banking & Finance
1) The Union Govt. on 26 July 2014

launched a web portal for enabling
government-citizen
discussions
on
several issues. What is the name of this
portal which was inaugurated by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi? MyGov
Explanation : The main objective of
MyGov is to engage the youth of the
country in the nations development. It
presents an opportunity to citizens to
both discuss and do constructive work.
There
are
multiple
theme-based
discussions on MyGov where a range of
people would share their thoughts and
ideas. The portal is implemented and
managed by National Informatics Centre
(NIC) and the Department of Electronics
and Information Technology (DeitY).
Explanation : Presently the Union Govt.

holds 88% stake in Central Bank. Once
the bank gets funds from LIC, it will then
approach the government for around
Rs. 1,500 crore of additional capital. The
government
has earmarked only
Rs.11,200 crore for fund infusion into
public sector banks this current fiscal,
down from Rs.14,000 crore in the last
fiscal.
3) How many banks were fined by the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 July
2014 for violating central bank rules in
the case of Deccan Chronicle Holdings?
Twelve
Explanation : These 12 banks are
Andhra Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Axis Bank
(Rs 15 lakh), Canara Bank (Rs 10 lakh),
Corporation Bank (Rs 10 lakh), HDFC
Bank (Rs 5 lakh), ICICI Bank (Rs 40

lakh), IDBI Bank (Rs 15 lakh), IndusInd
Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Kotak Mahindra
Bank (Rs 10 lakh), Ratnakar Bank (Rs 5
lakh), State Bank of Hyderabad (Rs 10
lakh) and Yes Bank (Rs 10 lakh). The
RBI had carried out a scrutiny of the
loan and current accounts of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Ltd., in certain
branches of these banks in late 2013.
After this scrutiny it came to the
conclusion that some of the violations
were substantiated and warranted
imposition of monetary penalty.
4) The government of Portugal on 4

August 2014 announced how much
relief package for countrys largest listed
bank Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to
bill out the beleaguered bank? 4.9
billion euros ($6.58 billion)
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11Banking & Finance
Explanation : This relief package was

announced just months after Portugal
exited an international bailout and is
therefore expected to test the Euro
Zones resilience to another banking
crisis. The rescue of Banco Espirito
Santo would include split of the bank
into a good bank, renamed Novo
Banco, and a bad bank, which will
house BES exposures to the troubled
Espirito Santo business empire as well
as its subsidiary.
5) Which telecom company during July

2014 became the first in India to have a
combined subscriber base of over 300
million? Bharti Airtel
Explanation : Bharti Airtels subscriber
base across mobile, fixed line and DTH
services crossed 300 million recently.
Companys
latest
100
million
subscribers were added in less than 2
years. Bharti Airtel has been ranked as

the
fourth-largest
mobile
service
provider globally and second-largest
globally outside of China. It started its
operations in 1995 and had touched
100-million customer mark in 2009 and
the 200 million mark in 2012.
6) S.K. Jain, who was arrested by the

CBI on charges of allegedly accepting a
bribe of Rs 50 lakh to enhance the credit
limit of some companies, was the
Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)
of which public-sector bank?
Syndicate Bank
Explanation : He was arrested on 2
August 2014 by the CBI and was
suspended by the Union Govt. on 4
August 2014. Jain was appointed CMD
of state-owned Syndicate Bank in July
last year for a period of five years. He
was one of the youngest CMDs of a
public sector bank and was due to retire
in 2020.
7) What is the name of the mission

announced by the Union Govt. on 28
July 2014 envisioned to protect the
indigenous breeds of cows in the
country? Rashtriya Gokul Mission
Explanation : Rashtriya Gokul Mission
(RGM) was announced as part of BJPs
poll promise to protect the cow and its
progeny. To protect indigenous breeds,
such as Punganur, Vechur and Krishna
Valley, the Government plans to set up
Gokul Grams (cow sanctuaries), for
which public-private partnerships as well
as NGOs will be involved. The
Government has kept aside Rs. 500
crore for the mission out of the Rs.
1,200 crore allocated for cattle and dairy
development during the 12th Plan. Of this

Rs. 150 crore will be spent this fiscal.
8) Which Indian online retailer, during

July 2014 raised $1-billion (Rs 6,013
crore) of fresh funds in one of the
largest funding for any e-commerce
company globally? Flipkart
Explanation : Flipkart is the largest
online retailer of India with around 22
million registered users and five million
shipments in a month. This massive
funding was co-led by existing investors
Tiger Global Management and Naspers.
Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC,
along with existing investors Accel
Partners, DST Global, ICONIQ Capital,
Morgan
Stanley
Investment
Management
and
Sofina,
also
participated in the fund-raising. The
company will utilise the proceeds to
make long-term strategic investments in
India. It is estimated that the firm has, so
far, raised over $1.7 billion from
investors,
including
the
current
transaction.
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12Banking & Finance
9) Palghar became the 36th and the

newest district of Maharashtra on 1
August 2014. It was carved out from

which district, which was Indias most
populous district? Thane
Explanation : The proposal for a new,
smaller and manageable Palghar district
was hanging fire for over two decades.
The proposal was finally cleared by the
Maharashtra Cabinet on 13 June 2014.
With a population of over 12 million, till
31 July 2014, Thane held the distinction
of being the most populated district in
the country, spread across 9,600
sq.kms of hills, forests and coastal
areas.
10) Which
city
would
host
the
21st Commonwealth Games of 2018?
Gold Coast City (Australia)
Explanation : Gold Coast City is
situated in the Queensland province of
Australia. The city would host the
21st Commonwealth Games from 4 to 15
April 2018. The hosting rights to Gold
Coast City were awarded in November
2011. It thus would be the fifth hosting of
these games in Australia, with the
earlier stagings in 1938 (Sydney), 1962
(Perth), 1982 (Brisbane), and 2006
(Melbourne).

reconstruction companies (ARCs) to
increase their investments in security
receipts (SRs) with the objective of
strengthening the asset recovery sector.
What is the minimum prescribed
percentage of funds that ARCs would
now have to invest in SRs as directed in
this RBI guideline? 15%
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13Banking & Finance
1) The Reserve Bank of India on 14

August 2014 announced its decision to
reduce the number of mandated free
transactions for savings bank account
holders at other bank ATMs located in
six metro cities from five to three per
month. This reduction would come into
effect from which date? 1 November
2014
Explanation : The six metro cities
(Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata,
Bengaluru and Hyderabad) were chosen
first for reducing the number of
mandated free transactions as they are
well-served in terms of payment
infrastructure. This reduction in the
number of mandated free transactions
will, however, not apply to customers
having no-frills/small/Basic Savings
Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) type of
accounts as well as for transactions
done by savings bank account holders
at ATMs situated outside these six
metro cities. Banks are also free to offer
free transactions above this mandated
limit.
2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6

August 2014 issued guidelines for asset
Explanation : This minimum investment

requirement for ARCs was 5% at
present. Public sector banks sell their
bad loans or NPAs (non-performing
assets) to these ARCs. Sale of bad
loans to ARCs gained momentum in
2013-14 mainly because banks were
able to obtain better prices for these
sales. But this RBI directive is likely to
dissuade ARCs from offering a better
price, since they will now have to make
a higher upfront payment.
3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

presented its bi-monthly policy review
on 5 August 2014. It kept the policy repo
rate under the liquidity adjustment
facility (LAF) unchanged at 8.0%. It also
left the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of
scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0% of
net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).
However, which was the only major rate
to be changed in this policy review?
The Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
Explanation : The SLR of scheduled
commercial banks was reduced by 50
basis points from 22.5% to 22.0% of
their NDTL with effect from the fortnight
beginning 9 August 2014.
The major rates after this policy

review are as follows:
* Short-term lending
unchanged at 8%
(repo)
rate
* Cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged

at 4%
* SLR cut by 0.50% to 22% to unlock
banking funds
* Lowers banks SLR holdings in heldto-maturity category by 0.5% to 24%
Page
14Banking & Finance
4) Indian Parliament on 12 August 2014

passed the bill to empower SEBI to act
against ponzi operators and market
manipulators more effectively. What is
the name of this bill? The Securities
Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014
Explanation : The bill was passed by
the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2014 and
the Rajya Sabha passed it on 12 August
2014. It empowers SEBI to act against
ponzi
operators
and
market
manipulators more effectively through
search and seizure, attachment orders
and recovery proceedings and with
access to call data records. This marks
a dilution from the direct powers granted
to SEBI Chairman through as many as
three ordinances in the past one year to
authorise
search
and
seizure
operations. Under the act constituted
(with the passing of this bill), a special
SEBI court would be set up in Mumbai
to fast track prosecution proceedings
launched by SEBI, as also to clear
search and seizure operations proposed
by SEBI.
5) Indias capital market regulator SEBI
cleared final guidelines for creation and
listing of business trusts for key sectors
of real estate and infrastructure on 10

August 2014. These guidelines have
been cleared to help attract greater
foreign and domestic investments into
these sectors. What are the names of
business trusts associated with real
estate and infrastructure which would be
created and listed with these SEBI
guidelines? Real Estate Investment
Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure
Investment Trusts (InvITs)
Explanation : Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley had outlined the proposal for
establishment of Real Estate Investment
Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure
Investment Trusts (InvITs) in the Union
Budget 2014-15 presented on 10 July
2014. The new norms would enable
listing and trading of REITs and InvITs
as any other security on the stock
exchange platforms and would also help
create new platforms for raising of funds
by real estate and infrastructure
companies. Along with foreign investors,
domestic institutions like insurers,
pension funds and provident funds
would also be allowed to invest in these
trusts.
6) In order to solve the ongoing tussle

between India and the WTO (World
Trade Organisation), India during
August 2014 suggested fixing of the
base year for food subsidies on the
basis of average of last three years.
What is the year proposed by the WTO
to be taken as the base year? 1986-87
Explanation : India is of the view that
taking 1986-87 as a base year in 201415 is completely illogical and it has
hence suggested a more scientific
calculation for base year calculation.
Indian Government had vetoed the
adoption of a WTO treaty to simplify,
standardise and streamline the rules for

shipping goods across borders, having
previously agreed to its terms at a
ministerial
conference
in
Bali
(Indonesia) during December 2013.
India wanted more attention paid to its
concerns over WTO limits on stockpiling
of food which will ultimately hit its
subsidised food distribution programme,
the worlds largest, targeted at nearly
850 million people.
Page
15Banking & Finance
7) SEBI gave its approval to single

registration for stock brokers during
August 2014. What would be the main
benefit for brokers with this approval?
Now the brokers would not need to
obtain multiple certificates from SEBI
for operating in the different
segments
of
equity,
equity
derivatives, currency derivative and
debt
Explanation : Under the proposed
regime, initial certificate of registration
as stock broker/clearing member will be
granted by SEBI and subsequent
permissions
to
act
as
stock
brokers/clearing member of other stock
exchanges/clearing corporations will be
granted
by
respective
stock
exchange/clearing corporation after
following the prescribed procedure. The
latest SEBI move will also obviate the
need for separate certificate for each
category of operations trading
member,
trading-cum-self
clearing
member and professional clearing
member.
8) Petroleum Ministry during August

2014 accorded its in-principle approval
for stake-sale in ONGC which may fetch
the government about Rs. 18,000 crore
to meet disinvestment target for the

current fiscal. For this how much stakesale in the company is proposed? 5%
Explanation : As per the Budget 201415,
the
disinvestment
target
is Rs. 58,425 crore including receipts
from disinvestment of government stake
in the non-government companies. The
Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has
kickstarted the process of stake sale in
ONGC and has invited bids for
appointing merchant bankers to manage
the share sale.
9) Indian Railways during August 2014

launched a contact-less smart card
enabling passengers to pay for reserved
as well as unreserved travelling train
tickets as part of a pilot project. What is
the name of this smart card with lifetime
validity? Go-India
Explanation : The Go-India Card has
been launched to be used at nominated
UTS counters and Automatic Ticket
Vending Machines (ATVMs) and
nominated PRS counters for reserved
tickets. The card will enable passengers
to pay for tickets for long distance
reserved, unreserved and suburban
journeys. It is part of a pilot project to be
implemented on two sectors New
Delhi Howrah and New Delhi
Mumbai. On New Delhi Howrah sector
this card could be used at 6 railway
stations New Delhi, Kanpur,
Allahabad, Dhanbad, Asansol and
Howrah whereas on New Delhi
Mumbai sector the card could be used
at New Delhi, Kota, Vadodara, Ratlam,
Surat and Mumbai Central. The card
would be of pre-paid nature and can be
bought for Rs. 70 where passenger can
get a value of Rs. 20 balance. After that
the card can be recharged for Rs. 20 or
in multiples of Rs. 50 up to Rs. 5,000.

Maximum recharge value for Go-India
Card would be Rs. 10,000.
10) What is the name of the proposed

airline of Tata-SIA Airlines Limited
(TSAL), a joint-venture between Tata
Group and Singapore International
Airlines (SIA)? Vistara
Explanation : The much-anticipated

name was announced on 11 August
2014 by TSAL amid the release of the
aubergine and gold logo of Vistara.
Vistara is derived from the Sanskrit
word, which means limitless expanse
and draws inspiration from the brands
domain the limitless sky. It would be a
full service airline service and may take
to the skies in October 2014.
Page
16Banking & Finance
The 15-member committee comprises of

officials of the RBI, Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Central
Economic Intelligence Bureau and the
National Housing Bank (NHB).
1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on

18 August 2014 constituted a 15member inter-regulatory committee to
monitor the growing phenomenon of
shadow banking. Who has been
appointed as the Chairman of this
committee? P. Vijaya Bhaskar
(Executive Director, RBI)
2) What is the name of the new scheme

announced by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014 to
help the poor in opening bank accounts,
which will come with the facility of a
debit card and an accidental insurance
cover of Rs. 1 lakh? Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana
Explanation : Shadow banking refers to

banking-like activity by non-banking
finance companies (NBFCs) that remain
outside the regulatory net. They
generally operate as intermediaries
between investors and borrowers. The
role of this newly constituted committee
will be to find out the volume of money
in shadow banks, who the investors are
and direction of the money flow, etc.
Also real estate dealings will be looked
into very meticulously by the committee.
Explanation : The Union Cabinet has

already cleared the two-phase financial
inclusion scheme under which bank
accounts will be opened for 15 crore
poor persons with an overdraft facility of
Rs 5,000 and accidental insurance
cover of Rs. 1 lakh. The scheme, to be
pushed by the government in a mission
mode, seeks to provide two accounts to
7.5 crore identified households by
August 2018. The Prime Minister in his
Independence Day address observed
that people have mobile phones but not
bank accounts and he hoped that the

scheme will help in bringing the benefits
of formal banking system to them.

22 August 2014 released the charter of
customer rights, which seeks to provide
the right to be treated with courtesy to
both the customer and the financial
services provider. What are the
important clauses of this charter?
- The customer should not be unfairly
discriminated against on grounds
such as gender, age, religion, caste
and physical ability when offering
and delivering financial products by
the financial services provider
- The key risks associated with the
financial product as well as any
features
that
may
especially
disadvantage the customer should be
made known to him/her by the
financial services provider
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17Banking & Finance
- The financial services provider

should provide customers with
product terms and conditions that
are in simple language, easily
understandable, and with sufficient
information that the customer could
be reasonably expected to make an
appropriate choice of product
- The financial services provider may,
however,
have
certain
special
products which are specifically
designed for members of a target
market group or may use defensible,
commercially acceptable economic
rationale for discriminating between
customers

announced on 14 August 2014 that its
board has given approval to create an

additional post in the rank of Deputy
Governor. For this RBI has approached
the government for required legislative
changes. Which post is this? Chief
Operating Officer (COO)
Explanation : The RBI, the central bank
of India, is presently headed by a
Governor and assisted by four deputy
governors
looking
after
different
functions of the bank. It now wants to
create a post of COO and re-allocate
work among the five. The RBI has been
deliberating on a broad HR restructuring
exercise
to
align
organisational
resources and structures with the needs
of the domestic economy and changes
in the external environment.
5) Who took over as the fourth Deputy

Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) during July 2014? Subhash
Sheoratan Mundra or S.S. Mundra
Explanation : S.S. Mundra took the
charge as the Deputy Governor of the
RBI on 31 July 2014. Three other
deputy governors of the RBI are Urjit
Patel, HR Khan, and R. Gandhi. Before
taking this responsibility at RBI, Mundra
was the Chairman and Managing
Director (CMD) of the public-sector bank
Bank of Baroda (BOB). Mundra filled
the vacancy created by the retirement of
K.C. Chakrabarty in April 2014, two
months before his five-year tenure was
come to an end.
6) On 20 August 2014 the Finance

Ministry ordered a forensic audit to be
done at the branches of two banks in
view of the reports of misappropriation
of funds worth Rs. 436 crore. Which two
banks are involved in this matter?
Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of

Commerce (OBC)
Explanation : According to media
reports, a Mumbai-based branch
manager of Dena Bank mobilised fixed
deposits (FDs), using middlemen, to the
tune of Rs 256.5 crore from seven
corporates, while in the case of OBC,
misappropriation of funds to the tune of
Rs. 180 crore was reported. In the wake
of rising scams in public sector banks,
the Finance Ministry is looking at
various steps, including strengthening of
risk management, appointment of bank
chiefs for longer tenures, separation of
posts and better quality of nominee and
independent directors.
Page
18Banking & Finance
7) Which international finance entity

launched a $2.5-billion onshore Indian
rupee bond programme on 20 August
2014 so as to strengthen the capital
market and support infrastructure
development in India? International
Finance Corporation (IFC)
Explanation : IFC is a member of the
World Bank Group. It finances and
provides advice for private sector
ventures and projects in developing
countries in partnership with domestic
financial institutions and banks. Under
the rupee bond programme, IFC will use
a combination of rupee-denominated
bonds and swaps to raise local currency
financing of up to $2.5 billion
or Rs. 15,000 crore over the next five
years. Proceeds from the programme
will
be
used
for
infrastructure
investments in India.
8) What is the name of the ambitious egovernance project of the Union Govt.,
which was approved by the Union
Cabinet on 20 August 2014 and which

aims to ensure that government
services are available to citizens
electronically? Digital India Project
Explanation : The project, which has a
total overlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, aims to
ensure that government services are
available to citizens electronically and
help people gain benefits from the latest
information
and
communication
technology.
Digital India project
envisages bringing all the existing
initiatives such as the Ebiz project, Ekranti, virtual classroom, e-visas and the
National Optical Fibre Network project
under a single umbrella. Other
programmes include implementation of
e-office
to
make
Government
departments paperless, encouraging
domestic manufacturing of electronic
products and kick starting Research &
Development and entrepreneurship
development fund. The project was
unveiled in the Budget 2014-15 and is
being directly monitored by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
9) What is the name of the controversial

survey conducted by the Telangana
Government throughout the state on 19
August 2014 and due to which various
sections of the state were scared and
apprehensive? Samagra Kutumbh
Survey or Intensive Household
Survey
Explanation : The Intensive Household
Survey, completed in one day across
Telangana, was to identify genuine
beneficiaries of government welfare
measures. The surveyors sought to see
bank account details and the Aadhar
card. The government had declared
holidays under the Shops and
Establishment
Act.
Residents
of
Telangana,
especially
capital
Hyderabad, who originally came from
Andhra areas were scared with this
survey as they felt that the information
collected from them would be used
against them at a later stage. As various
sections of the state populace were
apprehensive about this survey, the
matter was taken to the Hyderabad High
Court about validity of the survey. The
High Court on 14 August 2014 permitted
the Telangana government to go ahead
with the survey on the assurance of the
states Advocate General that the
exercise was not mandatory and
denizens could choose not to answer
the queries of enumerators. The survey
was conducted across the ten districts in
the state with the help of four lakh
government employees and a huge
team of outsourced enumerators in the
state.
10) Indias capital market regulator SEBI

on 22 August 2014 ordered which NBFC
entity to refund the money raised from
some 58.5 million customers through
collective investment schemes (CIS)?
Pearls Agrotech Corp. Ltd
Explanation :
Delhi-based
Pearls
Agrotech operates from 15 regional
offices and had 3.35 million field
associates in 2011-12. SEBI found
Pearls
Agrotech
violating
CIS
regulations by mobilizing the money
without being registered with the
regulator. The company offered two
kinds of plans- a cash-down payment
plan and an instalment payment plan.
Under the former, it offered to allot land
to customers within 270 days of
payment and under the latter within 90
days.
Page
19Banking & Finance

function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New
Delhi. The scheme promoted mainly to
end financial untouchability in India saw
the opening of an estimated 1.5 crore
bank accounts across the country on
this single day. What are the main
benefits for families opening accounts
under PMJDY?
Explanation :
1) The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched
formally on 28 August 2014 by the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at
Following are the main benefits for

account holders of PMJDY
1. A RuPay debit card for every account
holder
2. Rs. 1 lakh accident insurance cover

3. Rs. 5,000 overdraft facility
4. An additional Rs. 30,000/- life insurance
cover for those opening bank accounts
before 26 January 2015
4) Which public sector bank on 5

September 2014 Pehla Kadam and
Pehli Udaan two new Savings Bank
products for children? State Bank of
India (SBI)
Explanation :
2) Which professional services firm was

hired by the Union Finance Ministry to
undertake a validation exercise of the
number of basic bank accounts opened
by the banks under the Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)? KPMG
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20Banking & Finance
Explanation :
KPMG would provide some comfort to
the Finance Ministry that the numbers
submitted by the banks pertaining to
PMJDY were accurate and reflected the
true picture. KPMGs confirmation of the
number of accounts opened will help the
Centre pitch for an entry into the
Guinness Book of World Records for the
maximum number of bank accounts
opened in a day. On 28 August 2014,
the launch date of the PMJDY, the
banking system had opened around 1.5
crore bank accounts. KPMG has already
commenced work for this purpose and
have approached banks to share
information on the number of accounts
opened under the PMJDY. Under the
PMJDY, the Government is looking to
open at least 7.5 crore basic bank
accounts for 7.5 crore unbanked
families in the country.
3) What is the slogan (punchline) of

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY) which was launched on 28
August 2014? Mera khaata Bhagya
vidhataa (which means My Bank
Account The Good Fortune
Creator)
Pehla Kadam is a Savings Bank

account for minor of any age operated
jointly with his/her parent/guardian,
while Pehli Udaan is a singly operated
Savings Bank Account for a minor aged
10 years and above and who can sign
uniformly. Specially branded passbook
and cheque book have been designed
for these products. All the account
holders will be given an exclusively
designed personalised photo ATM-cumDebit Card. Other features bundled
along with the two products include
Internet banking with limited transaction
facilities like bill payment, opening of
fixed deposits, recurring deposits, etc.
with
per
day
transaction
limit
of Rs. 5,000, and mobile banking with
limited transaction facilities like bill
payment, and top-ups with per day
transaction limit of Rs. 2,000.

during August 2014 notified that the twostep authentication for credit card
transactions including card not present
transactions is a must as mandated
under the rules. This announcement
was made by the RBI primarily to set
right which anomaly? To bring under
check the so-called customer-friendly
payment model followed by certain
service providers
Explanation :
The toughening RBI stance on two-step

authentication process is primarily
aimed to set right an unintended wrong
arising out of the so-called customerfriendly payment model followed by
certain service providers. By doing so,
they have managed to give the two-step
authentication requirement a slip.
According to the RBI, however, this is
resulting in foreign exchange outflow.
The non-adherence to the two-step
authentication process has also made
the field uneven for players especially in
fields such as taxi operation. Frequent
taxi users among credit card holders will
prefer a cab provider who accepts a
hassle-free payment process.
6) The much-awaited minimum monthly

pension of Rs. 1,000 and a higher wage
ceiling of Rs. 15,000 for social security
scheme run by retirement fund manager
Employees
Provident
Fund
Organisation (EPFO) came into effect
from 1 September 2014. This Rs. 1,000
pension scheme is being made
available under which scheme of
EPFO?
Employees
Pension
Scheme 1995 (EPS-95)
enhance the minimum wage ceiling for

becoming a subscriber of Employees
Provident
Fund
Organisation
to Rs. 15,000 per month is expected to
bring 50 lakh additional formal sector
workers under the ambit of the body.
7) To strengthen warehousing facilities

in the commodity futures market,
regulator Forward Markets Commission
(FMC) has come out with which
important proposal during August 2014?
Uniform
norms
should
be
established for the accreditation of
warehousing service providers
Explanation :
The draft rules, on which public
comments have been sought by 15
September 2014, come in the wake of
Rs 5,600 crore payment scam at the
National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) that
surfaced in July last year, exposing
loopholes in the system. The proposed
changes are being made because at
present no uniform norms are being
followed by national level commodity
exchanges
for
accreditation
of
warehousing service providers (WSPs).
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21Banking & Finance
Explanation :
The
government
has
notified
enhancement
of
wage
ceiling
to Rs. 15,000 per month, fixed minimum
monthly pension at Rs. 1,000 under
EPS-95 and enhanced the maximum
sum assured under the Employees
Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI)
Scheme
to Rs. three
lakh.
The
governments decision to fix pension
entitlement of Rs. 1,000 under the
Employees Pension Scheme 1995
(EPFS-95) will immediately benefit 28
lakh pensioners who get less than this
amount at present. The move to
8) What
is
the
most
important
recommendation
of
the
Kelkar
Committee on gas pricing, as disclosed
in the second report of the committee
presented during August 2014?
Domestic gas prices should be
linked to the market
Explanation :
The committee to recommend a new
gas-pricing formula was constituted in
2013 under former Finance Secretary
Vijay Kelkar. The suggestion of marketlinked pricing for domestic natural gas
came after a series of consultations by

the committee. The committee in its
recommendations said that natural
resources should be priced at the
highest price possible in the market,
based on market-determined pricing.
This will ensure energy security for the
country by encouraging domestic
exploration and production, efficient use
of the resource and reduction in the
import burden. The first report of this
committee was brought out in January
2014.
9) The Central Board of Direct Taxes

(CBDT) on 28 August 2014 constituted
a high-level committee to scrutinise all
income tax cases arising out of the
retrospective tax amendment. Which
govt. official heads this committee?
The Joint Secretary of the Foreign
Tax and Tax Research Unit -1 of
CBDT
Explanation :
The
announcement
about
this
mechanism was announced by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 201415 speech on 10 July 2014. According
to the terms of reference for the new

committee, it would decide on such
retrospective cases within of 60 days of
receiving them from the Assessing
Officer. Retrospective tax is the tax rate
levied by income tax department which
is perceived higher by the company
being assessed, charged higher due to
some unknown reasons.
10) Ratan Tata, Tata Sons Chairman

Emeritus, recently made personal
investments in which online marketplace
company? Snapdeal.com
Explanation :
Snapdeal is the second largest online
marketplace in India after Flipkart.com.
The company has raised about $400
million since its inception and has
invested about $100 million in logistics
and operations to expand its presence
in the $3 billion Indian e-Commerce
market. Snapdeal currently houses over
5 million products across 500 diverse
categories from over 50,000 sellers.
Snapdeal claims that it had seen 600%
growth year-on-year for the last two
years.
Page
22Banking & Finance

1) Which public-sector bank declared
Kingfisher Airlines, its promoter Vijay
Mallya and three directors as wilful
defaulters on 1 September 2014, with
which it became the first bank to make
such a declaration against Mallya?
United Bank of India (UBI)
Explanation : Kolkata-based United

Bank of India (UBI) is a part of the State
Bank of India-led consortium to have
financed Kingfisher and has an
exposure of around Rs. 400 crore to it.
A wilful defaulter tag means Mallya
cannot be on the board of any company
nor can he raise money from the public.
He can also be subjected to criminal
proceedings under Sections 403 and
425 of the IPC, dealing with
misappropriation and fraud.
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23Banking & Finance
2) The Law Ministry of India has opined

that the Government of India has all the
powers to print currency notes of Re. 1
denomination. Why the opinion of Law
Ministry on this issue was taken? The
RBI was of the view that with the
repeal of Section 2 of the Currency
Ordinance, the Government of India
is not empowered to issue note of
denominational value of one rupee
Explanation: Section 4 of the Coinage
Act of 2011 provides that the central
government may authorise minting of
coin of denomination not higher than Rs.
1,000. The definition of coin in the Act
makes it clear that Government of India
one rupee note is included in the
definition of coin. The Law Ministry in its
opinion stated that the Act, which
consolidates the laws relating to coinage
and the mints, does not bar the
Government of India from printing one
rupee notes. The printing of notes in the
denominations of Re. 1 and Rs. 2 has
been
discontinued
as
these
denominations have been coinised.
However, such notes issued earlier are
still in circulation.
3) NIFTY, the 50-scrip benchmark index

of the National Stock Exchange (NSE)
crossed which milestone mark for the
first time on 1 September 2014? 8,000
mark
Explanation : Nifty hit 8,000 level for
the first time while Sensex hit a new
high of 26,900 on 1 September mainly
due to positive GDP growth figures
released recently. The CSO had
estimated 5.7% GDP growth rate during
the first quarter of 2014-15, which is the
best quarter performance since March
2012.

cancelled licences of five non-banking
financial companies (NBFCs) on 2
September 2014. These NBFCs include
Unichem Finance & Enterprises Pvt.,
Shimansu Vyaparik Kendra Ltd., Shree
Bhagwati Marketing Private Ltd. and
Sureka Teknik Private Limited. All these
NBFCs are based in same city. Which
city is this? Kolkata
5) The Competition Commission of India

(CCI) during September 2014 initiated
an investigation against public sector
general insurers and their association.
The PSU insurance companies against
whom this investigation has been
initiated include New India Insurance,
Oriental
Insurance,
United
India
Insurance and National Insurance, as
well as their combine, the General
Insurers (Public Sector) Association of
India (GIPSA). What is the reason for
this investigation? Alleged anticompetitive practices relating to
third-party administrators (TPAs) in
health insurance committed by these
companies
Explanation : The charges against

these public general insurers are that
they are not allowing TPAs to function
independently and have created inhouse TPAs to settle any claims. It is
also alleged that GIPSA, an ad hoc and
unregistered body, was providing a
platform to the companies to share
sensitive information with each other.
This affects competition in the market
and also provides space to them for
exchanging information regarding claims
ratios, marketing efforts and terms and
condition of TPAs, among others.
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24Banking & Finance
6) The Union Government during

September 2014 asked Expenditure
Management Commission (EMC) to
suggest an effective strategy for
meeting reasonable proportion of
expenditure on services through user
charges. The newly set up EMC will
have to review the major areas of
Central Government expenditure and
suggest ways for creating fiscal space
required
to
meet
developmental
expenditure needs. Who is heading
EMC? Bimal Jalan (former RBI
Governor)
Explanation: Bimal Jalan, who has
been conferred with the status of a
Union Cabinet Minister, has been asked
to design a framework to improve the
operational efficiency of expenditures
through focus on utilisation, targets and
outcomes. Union govt. has asked the
EMC to review the fiscal responsibility
and budget management (FRBM) rules
to suggest improvements for enforcing
better fiscal discipline. The EMC, which
will be headquartered in New Delhi, will
have to submit an interim report before
Budget 2015-16.
7) India has been ranked third in a list of

countries most affected by online
banking malware during the April-June
quarter of 2014 as announced by
security solutions provider Trend Micro
on 6 September 2014. Which country
has been ranked first in this list?
Japan
Explanation: Japan topped the list with
the highest number of online banking
malware infections during the April-June
quarter of 2014. In May alone, it saw
13,000 malware infections. Japan was
followed by U.S. in this list which saw
about 5,000 malware infections during
the month, followed by India with 3,000
attacks. Growing Internet penetration
and rising popularity of online banking
have made India a favourite among
cybercriminals, who target online
financial transactions using malware.
These and many such incidents show
that cybercriminals will always adapt to
new trends and situations whether in the
use of new malware or targeted attacks
techniques to continue their attacks.
8) After being in business for seven

years, Future Generali Life Insurance
has reported its maiden quarterly profit
during the quarter ended 30 June 2014.
Future Generali Life Insurance is the
part of which group? Future Group
Explanation: Future
Generali
Life
Insurance is life insurance venture
between Kishore Biyanis Future Group
and Italian insurance company Generali.
9) Barring a few, most of the life

insurance companies have disclosed
lower persistency ratios for the first
quarter of the current fiscal ended 30
June 2014 as also for the full financial
year ended 31 March 2014. What is the

reason for lower persistency ratio? A
new standardised disclosure regime
put in place for insurance sector
Explanation: The persistency ratio
broadly measures the quantum of the
customer retention by the life insurance
companies, while determining the
percentage of policyholders paying
renewal premiums at the end of one
year, or more years depending on the
tenure of the policy. However,
persistency ratio has been one of the
most abused financial metric by many
insurers, who tend to disclose their best
possible persistency ratios without
following any standard formula or any
specific time period. The insurance
sector regulator IRDA earlier this year
made changes in norms for such
disclosures and put in place a standard
formula to be followed by all companies
in reporting their 13th month persistency
ratios. An analysis of the disclosures
made by various life insurers so far this
year shows that there has been a
marked decline in the high level of
persistency reported earlier by many
companies.
10) What is the name of a deadly

Trojan virus which hacks and steals
personal credit and debit card data and
is prowling in the Indian cyberspace as
announced on 3 September 2014 by
Indian cyber security watchdog CERTIn? Backoff
Explanation : Backoff is being seen
spreading through computer networks
which use Windows as their operating
systems. It targets Point of Sale (POS)
systems and propagates by scanning for
systems
with
remote
desktop
applications enabled. The virus is
capable of stealing customer payment
cards data like card holders name,
account number, expiration data, CVV
code among others from POS systems.
The virus is so notorious that it is able to
capture keystrokes and communicate
with the command and control server for
further hacking. CERT-In (Computer
Emergency Response Team India) is
the nodal agency to combat hacking,
phishing and to fortify security-related
defences of the Indian Internet domain.
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25Banking & Finance

1) Which bank claimed first spot in the
mobile banking segment in the country,
as reported in the latest data released
by the RBI on 15 September 2014?
State Bank of India (SBI)
Explanation: SBIs total number of
mobile banking users stood at 1.15
crore. ICICI Bank stood second with

19.5 lakh users and was followed by
Axis Bank (13.6 lakh), Yes Bank (4.3
lakh) and HDFC Bank (3.5 lakh). The
number of SBIs mobile banking users is
larger than the mobile banking customer
base of large banks in the West. Only a
couple of Chinese banks have more
mobile banking customers. SBIs
emergence as countrys largest mobile
banking operator came as a surprise as
traditionally new generation private
banks and foreign banks have been the
early adopters of alternative platforms
like mobile banking.
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26Banking & Finance
2) Despite numerous signs of recovery

being seen in Indian economy, banking
credit growth plunged to its lowest level
in last 5 years. What was the banking
credit growth rate as on 31 August
2014, which was the lowest in last 5
years? 10.9%
Explanation: The last time credit
growth had dipped to similar levels was
during November-December 2009, after
the 2008 financial crisis. Over the last
two years, the credit growth of banks
has slipped substantially. In 2012-13
and 2013-14, the credit growth slowed
down to 13-14%, after growing at 22%
annually since 2004-05. Banking credit
growth rate is one of the most powerful
indicators of the countrys economic
activity. It is a function of growth in the
gross domestic product (GDP). Over the
last ten years, credit growth has been
2.5 to 3 times the real GDP growth in
the economy. Thus, with the economic
growth hitting a low of 4.7% in 2013-14,
the loan growth also slowed down to
14%.
3) Pension regulator PFRDA during

September 2014 constituted an expert
committee to review the investment
guidelines for National Pension System
(NPS) schemes in private sector. Who
was appointed as the Chairman of this
committee? G N Bajpai, Former
Chairman of SEBI and former Chairman
of LIC
Explanation: This committee will look at
the investment guidelines in a
wholesale manner so as to enable flow
of pension monies in new instruments
such as long term infrastructure bonds
to be floated by banks, infrastructure
debt funds and Basel 3 compliant
bonds. The committee will among other
things also consider moving to dynamic
market-based allocation of funds/choice
of fund managers. The review of
investment guidelines will also help
revamp the role of pension fund
managers (PFMs) and could allow them
to
proactively
promote
pension
products. The members of the expert
committee include Deepak Satwalekar,
former CEO and Managing Director at
HDFC
Standard
Life
Insurance
Company, S B Mathur, former LIC
Chairman, C R Murlidharan, former
IRDA Member and Madhavi Das,
Executive Director, PFRDA.
4) Which private-sector bank announced

its unique Cardless Cash Withdrawal
service on 10 September 2014, which
allows its customers to transfer money
from their account to anyone in India
with a mobile number? ICICI
Explanation: Under the Cardless Cash
Withdrawal service, the recipient can
withdraw money round the clock without
using a debit card from over 10,000
ATMs of ICICI Bank across the country.
One can do this even without having a

bank account of any bank. However, the
sender needs to be an ICICI Bank
savings account holder. The facility can
be initiated by any ICICI Bank savings
account customer (sender) by logging
into internet banking of ICICI Bank
website.
5) Which public-sector bank during

September 2014 sought permission of
the RBI to launch contact-less debit
cards which would enable customers to
carry out some transactions without
entering the pin number? SBI
Page
27Banking & Finance
Explanation: Right now, for any card

which has to be used, a customer has to
put in the pin number. Many banks feel
that some exception has to be made as
for lower amount deals like buying a
Metro or bus ticket, where the customer
can simply show the card and get in.
Hence the SBI has requested the RBI to
come up with a limit below which the pin
will be waived. It has requested a limit of
Rs. 2,000 for the same. The bank is
currently doing a test-run of such
contact- less cards at the Chennai and
Mumbai metro stations.
6) State Bank of India (SBI) on 8

September 2014 launched its first multicurrency international debit card to allow
consumers to use a single card to pay in
multiple currencies. This card launched
in a tie-up with MasterCard would, at
present, enable customers to load how
many international currencies in this
card? Four
Explanation: These 4 currencies
include US dollar, euro, Great Britain
pound and Singapore dollar. More
currencies will be added going forward
as the card has the facility to be loaded

up to 12 currencies.
7) State Bank of India (SBI) has recently

planned an incentive plan for its
employees, which, if implemented,
would be the first of its kind in the public
sector banking space. What plan is this?
To roll out an employee stock
option scheme (ESOS) for employees
Explanation: The move to offer ESOS
is aimed at motivating employees to
perform better as also to attract and
retain talent. Competition to attract
experienced bankers has intensified
with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
granting in-principle approval in April to
IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services
to set up banks in the private sector.
Therefore, SBI is now considering an
ESOS, which will give an employee the
right to purchase or subscribe to the
securities offered by the bank at a future
date, and at a predetermined price.
8) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 9

September 2014 fixed the maximum
age for Managing Directors and Chief
Executive Officers in private sector
banks at 70. This age fixation has been
done primarily with regard to which act
to be complied by the companies?
The Companies Act, 2013
Explanation: The Companies Act, 2013
prescribes that no company shall
appoint or continue the employment of
any person as Managing Director,
Whole Time Director (WTD) or Manager
who is below the age of 21 years or has
attained the age of 70 years. Within the
overall limit of 70 years, individual
banks boards are free to prescribe a
lower retirement age for WTDs,
including MD & CEO, as an internal

policy.

during September 2014 closed down six
Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), the
conduct of whom was found suspicious.
What was the main charge against
these UCBs? Being indulged in
money laundering activities
Explanation: The report had emerged
that such entities were being used as
conduits for money laundering. The
matter of misuse of UCBs, over which
there is dual control by central and state
governments, was discussed during a
recent meeting of the Economic
Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by
Finance Minister. UCBs are inspected
annually or once in two years depending
on their ratings or classification. About
70% of these urban cooperative banks

are subjected to inspection every year.
RBI has aggressively pursued the issue.
10) The investments in the Indian capital

market through foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) broke all records during
2014. What is the aggregate investment
through the FII route till 15 September,
the data pertaining to which was
released by the SEBI on 16 September
2014? Rs. 1,97,715.9 crore
Explanation: Out of this Rs. 85,247
crore was invested through the equity
route while Rs. 1,12,469 was invested
through the debt route. It is worth
mentioning that this figure is far above
the next best year of FII investment
2010, in which total aggregate
investment stood at Rs. 1,79,674.6
crore for the full year.
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28Banking & Finance
1) What is the share split that was

agreed by the central board of the State
Bank of India (SBI) on 24 September
2014? 1:10
Explanation: A share split of 1:10
means one equity share of SBI will now
be split into 10 shares. This stands for
reducing the face value of equity shares
of the bank from Rs. 10 per share to Rs.
1 per share and to increase the number
of issued shares in proportion thereof.
The stock split is expected to increase
investor participation in the stock. Earlier
during
September
2014,
Punjab
National Bank and ICICI Bank had also
announced share split. Both the banks
have approved sub-division of one
equity share into five.
2) Which two Union Territories of the

Indian Union achieved a unique
milestone of 100% banking coverage as
revealed in a meeting of Finance
Ministry on 1 October 2014?
Puducherry and Chandigarh
Explanation: Puducherry
and
Chandigarh achieved this milestone by
providing all the households with atleast one account. This was revealed in
the meeting that the Finance Ministry
held with representatives of public and
private sector banks to review the
progress made in the implementation of
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY), the flagship financial inclusion
programme launched on 28 August
2014.
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29Banking & Finance
3) During September 2014 international

ratings agency Standard & Poors
(S&Ps) revised the rating outlooks on
11 Indian banks and financial institutions
to stable from negative. However, the
outlook was still kept negative for two
banks. Which two banks are these?
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and
Syndicate Bank
Explanation: The negative outlook for
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and
Syndicate Bank means a possible
weakening in these banks asset quality
and capitalisation. The 11 banks whose
rating outlooks were revised from
negative to stable are ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra
Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of India,
IDBI Bank Ltd, Indian Bank, Union Bank

of India, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra
Prime.
4) What is the new name of MCX Stock

Exchange (MCX-SX) that was approved
by capital market regulator Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
during
September
2014?
Metropolitan Stock Exchange of

India (mSXI)
Explanation: The board of MCX-SX
approved the proposal for rechristening
the exchange few months ago and
subsequently an application was
submitted to the SEBI. The name
change is a part of the turnaround
strategy to give the exchange a new
identity and disassociate itself from the
scam-tainted
promoter
Financial
Technologies.
5) According to a report released by

international ratings firm Moodys during
September 2014, how much fund would
be needed by the major public sector
banks of India for the full implementation
of Basel III norms by year 2019?
Between Rs 1,50,000 crore to Rs
2,20,000 crore ($26-$37 billion)
Explanation: The
rating
agency
estimated that public sector Indian
banks that it rates could need that
external capital, assuming a moderate
recovery in Indias GDP growth, and a
gradual decline in non-performing loans
from current levels. This report by
Moodys rated 11 PSU banks which
represent around 62% of net loans in
the Indian banking system. Basel III
raises the minimum required capital
levels for both total Tier 1 to 7.0% and
Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital to
5.5%, and banks will also need to meet

a Capital Conservation Buffer to pay
dividends. That will pressure the Indian
public sector banks, as low capital levels
remain a key credit weakness.

presented its 4th Bi-monthly Monetary
Policy review on 30 September 2014.
As was widely expected, RBI kept the
major rates unchanged as the central
bank kept its focus on tackling inflation.
What are the major rates and
projections coming out of this review?
- GDP growth rate projected at 5.5%
for current fiscal
- The high growth rate during Q1
(Apr-June
2014) may not be
sustained in Q2 and Q3
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based
inflation projected to remain at 8% by
Jan 2015 and 6% by Jan 2016
- Repo rate (short term lending rate)
unchanged at 8%
- Cash Reserve
unchanged at 4%
Ratio
(CRR)
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30Banking & Finance
- Statutory Liquidity Ratio (used for

unlocking banking funds) retained at
22%
- The liquidity rate under Export
Credit Refinance (ECR) reduced from
32% to 15% (w.e.f. 10 October 2014)
7) The new Monetary Policy Framework

Agreement, which aims to change the
monetary policy formulation and will also
focus on inflation targeting, is proposed
to be signed by which date as
announced by the Finance Ministry
recently? 1 February 2015
Explanation: The proposed framework

is based on a combination of
recommendations by FSLRC (Financial
Sector
Legislative
Reforms
Commission) and the Urjit Patel
Committee, along with inputs from the
Rajan Panel on Financial Sector
Reforms. The Finance Ministry is
presently seeking the comments of the
RBI on this framework. The proposal will
then be placed in the public domain
before finalising the agreement. The
endeavour is to sign the agreement by 1
February 2015, to show that one of the
key Budget announcements has been
implemented. The establishment of a
modern monetary policy framework was
announced in the Union Budget 2014-15
presented by Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley on 10 July 2014.
8) In a strongly-worded order, Indian

capital market regulator SEBI during
September 2014 barred as many as 13
entities from the securities market for
varying periods ranging from three to
five years. What was the charge on
these 13 entities? Manipulation of
global depository receipts (GDRs) by
these entities
Explanation: A detailed probe by SEBI
found that these entities actively traded
in the shares of GDR-issuer companies
and thereby facilitated the sub accounts
of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in
selling those shares in Indian markets.
The 13 entities are Basmati Securities,
Oudh Finance and Investment, Alka
India, SV Enterprise/Sarfaraz Khan
Pathan, Ashok Panchariya, Madanlal
Girdharilal Bugualiya, Indra Varun Trade
Impex, Delight Financial Advisors, Vinod
Amrutlaal Naai, Newgen International,
Excel Paints, Cherry Cosmetics and

Edelweiss Estate.
9) The Union Govt. during September

2014 constituted a committee to
recommend strategies on restructuring
the Railway Board. Who is heading this
committee? Bibek Debroy
Explanation: Bibek Debroy is the
leading economist and has been
associated with the Centre for Policy
Research (CPR). The committee
basically has to suggest ways to
restructure the board to ensure faster
decision-making. It also has to suggest
ways to ensure objectivity in decisionmaking.
Additionally,
it
has
to
recommend ways to raise finances.
Other members on the panel are
Gurcharan Das, Ravi Narain (former
CEO of National Stock Exchange), KM
Chandrashekhar
(former
Cabinet
Secretary),
Partha
Mukhopadhyay
(Centre for Policy Research) and
Rajendra Kashyap, former Finance
Commissioner of Railways.
10) Which act associated with setting up

of a tribunal was struck down by the
Supreme Court through its order
delivered on 25 September 2014?
National Tax Tribunal Act
Explanation: In its order delivered on
25 September 2014, a Constitutional
Bench of the Supreme Court said that
Parliament could not take away the
powers of the judiciary and rest them in
a tribunal which is not a court in its
characteristic. A tribunal was set up in
2005 under the National Tax Tribunal
Act. This tribunal was set up to decide
tax-related cases by taking away
jurisdiction of high courts in such
matters. However, the 2005 law was
stuck in litigation in high courts. All
cases were transferred to the Supreme
Court for a final decision. The Act
allowed the executive extensive control
with regard to appointments of members
and procedure of the tribunal. The
tribunal was envisaged to function like
National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the
taxation field.
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31Banking & Finance

13 October 2014 came out with an
additional criterion for classifying an
urban co-operative bank (UCB) as
financially sound and well managed
(FSWM). What is this additional
criterion? Implementation of Core
Banking Solution (CBS)
Explanation: Till now the UCBs were
classified as FSWM banks if they
fulfilled criteria such as capital to risk

weighted assets ratio of not less than
10%, gross non-performing assets
(NPAs) of less than 7% and net NPAs of
not more than 3%. The new criterion of
CBS implementation would henceforth
be
considered
for
processing
applications received from UCBs for
opening of on-site/off-site / mobile
ATMs, applications under Annual
Business Plans, extension of area of
operation, shifting of premises and all
other permissions from RBI. The other
criteria prescribed by the RBI for
classifying a UCB as financially sound
and well managed are: net profit for at
least three out of the preceding four
years, subject to it not having incurred a
net loss in the immediate preceding
year; no default in the maintenance of
cash reserve ratio / Statutory Liquidity
Ratio during the preceding financial
year; sound internal control system with
at least two professional directors on the
Board; and regulatory comfort.
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32Banking & Finance
2) Who won the Nobel Prize

Economics for 2014 as announced
the Royal Swedish Academy
Sciences on 13 October 2014?
French economist Jean Tirole
for
by
of
Explanation: Tirole was chosen for his

analysis of market power and regulation.
The Academy commended him for the
way he presented his theory clarifying
how to understand and regulate
industries with a few powerful firms. The
Nobel Prize for Economics is officially
called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred
Nobel and was not part of the original
group of awards set out in his will of
1895.
3) According to reports appearing in

media during October 2014, the Union
Govt. is on its way for a major overhaul
of the current monetary policy
framework. Under this the govt. will
specify specific inflation related targets
for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
instead of the RBI setting a target for
itself. This decision is a big departure
from the recommendations of a recent
expert committee of the RBI, which had
recommended that the monetary policy
decision-making should be vested with a
monetary policy committee, chaired by
the RBI Governor. Who headed this RBI
committee? Urjit R. Patel, Deputy
Governor of the RBI
Explanation: Union Government had
decided to set targets for the RBI as it
feels that it is best that inflation targets
are set by the governments elected by
the people instead of the bureaucrats. It
is worth mentioning that the Urjit Patel
Committee
(The
Committee
on
Strengthening
Monetary
Policy
Framework) in its recommendations had
also stated that the RBI should adopt
the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as
the measure of the nominal anchor for
monetary policy and set the target CPI
inflation level at 4 per cent (+/- 2%) to be
achieved through its monetary policy
tools.
4) Who was conferred with the Best

Central Bank Governor award for 2014
by Euromoney magazine on 10 October
2014? Raghuram Rajan, Governor of
Reserve Bank of India
Explanation: This prestigious award
was given to him for the tough monetary
measures adopted by him to battle the
storm ravaging the deficit-ridden Indian
economy in the recent market crisis. In
January 2003, the American Finance

Association had awarded Raghuram
Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize
for the best finance researcher under
the age of 40.
5) Who was appointed as the next Chief

Economic Adviser on 16 October 2014?
Arvind Subramanian
Explanation: Arvind Subramanian was
earlier a senior fellow at the
Washington-based Peterson Institute for
International
economics.
He
is
pronouncedly pro-market and has in the
past argued for quicker subsidy reforms,
fast introduction of GST, and faster
deficit reduction than the temporal target
set by the government. The post of
Chief Economic Adviser has been lying
vacant since Raghuram Rajan left the
Finance Ministry to join the Reserve
Bank of India as the Governor more
than a year ago.
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33Banking & Finance
6) Which prominent real estate company

was barred by Indian capital market
regulator SEBI from accessing capital
markets for three years on 13 October
2014? DLF Limited
Explanation: DLF Limited along with its
founder-chairman K.P. Singh and 5 top
executives were barred from accessing
Indias capital markets for three years.
This penalty was imposed due to some
non-disclosure violations related to
DLFs initial public offering (IPO) of
2007. SEBI had investigated whether
the company had disclosed in its IPO
documents the names of all of its
subsidiaries and the legal cases
pending against those companies.
7) What is the name of the new global

service launched by the World Bank on
9 October 2014 which aims at mobilising
the private sector to help tackle the
massive infrastructure deficit facing
developing
countries?
Global
Infrastructure Facility (GIF)
Explanation: GIF was launched by
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at
Washington D.C. This facility basically
aims to ensure that billions of dollars are
channelised to develop world-class
infrastructure in emerging markets like
India and developing economies.
Through GIF, the World Bank plans to
work with regional banks and financial
entities like Asian Development Bank
(ADB), the New Development Bank
(NDB) of BRICS countries and the
proposed
Asian
Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB).
8) According to media reports, the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
ordered its supervision team to monitor
trading in debt markets by companies.
This is the strongest expression of
concern shown by the RBI on this issue.
What is the primary reason for this move
of the RBI? Reports that many
companies are building large trading
positions in debt and currency
markets
Explanation: Trading in debt markets
by companies could pose risks to
financial market stability as it exposes
the companies to greater price volatility.
However, some companies indulge in
this trading as this can be a lucrative
extra source of profits for them.
Companies are legally allowed to invest
in markets in India, but it has seldom
raised RBIs concerns until recently,
when they have become much more

active players.
9) Indias wholesale price inflation for
September 2014 eased to 2.38% as
announced by the Union Govt. on 14
October 2014. This was the lowest WPIbased inflation since when? Since
October 2009
Explanation: The wholesale price index
(WPI)-based inflation for September
2014 was down to 2.38% mainly due to
lowered prices of food and fuel. In
August 2014, wholesale prices rose by
3.74%. The inflation based on consumer
price index (CPI) for September 2014
was 6.46%, which was the lowest since
the latest data series started in January
2012.
10) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16

October 2014 kicked-off an overhaul of
archaic labour rules in the country by
launching a series of ambitious steps.
What was the name of this programme
which integrates numerous labour
related reforms? Pandit Deendayal
Upadhyay
Shramev
Jayate
Karyakram
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34Banking & Finance
Explanation: Pandit
Deendayal
Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram
was launched to implement a series of

labour reforms. This includes measures
to end the so-called Inspector-Raj with
a system that is expected to sharply
curb the element of discretion with
labour inspectors and a single window
compliance process.
Important initiatives under Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate
Karyakram are
- Shram Suvidha Portal for singlewindow clearance of business
proposals. Shram Suvidha Portal
simplifies compliance of 16 labour
laws, through a single online form.
- Web-based labour inspection
system for random selection of units
for inspection
- Apprentice Protsahan Yojana and
the Effective Implementation of
revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima
Yojana (RSBY) for labour in the
unorganized sector
Universal account number for
Provident Fund with easy portability of
PF accounts
Appointment of National Brand
Ambassadors of Vocational Training to
instill pride and confidence in ITI
students

2) What is the name of the Chinabacked Asian infrastructure bank that
was launched on 24 October 2014 and
is seen as a challenge to the World
Bank (WB) and Asian Development
Bank (ADB)? Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB)
Page
35Banking & Finance

21 October 2014 asked the banks to
take a step against bank accounts of
customers who have not complied with
KYC requirements despite repeated
reminders. What step these banks have
been asked to take? Partially freeze
such accounts in a partial manner
Explanation: The RBI, while imposing
this partial freezing, advised the banks
to ensure that the option is exercised
after giving due notice of three months
initially to the customers and followed by
a reminder for further period of three
months. If the accounts are still KYC
non-compliant after six months of
imposing initial partial freezing, banks
may disallow all debits and credits
from/to the accounts, rendering them
inoperative. Further, it would always be
open to the bank to close the account of
such
customers.
Meanwhile,
the
account holders can revive accounts by
submitting the KYC documents as per
instructions in force.
Explanation: The AIIB was launched in

Beijing at a ceremony attended by
Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and
delegates from 21 countries including
India, Thailand and Malaysia. The MOU
for the proposed bank was signed on
this occasion. China is set to be its
largest shareholder with a stake of up to
50%. However, three major countries,
Australia, Indonesia and South Korea,
were absent from this launch ceremony.
AIIB, which is expected to start its
operation from 2015, is being seen as
the new rival to Western-dominated
multilateral lenders. The main objective
of AIIB will be to give project loans to
developing nations.
3) The Union Government sacked the

heads of six Public Sector Unit (PSU)
banks on 27 October 2014. This action
was taken after submission of a report
by a high-level committee in this issue
that stated about irregularities being
found in the selection process of the
Chairman and Managing Directors
(CMDs) of these banks. The CMDs who
were sacked were associated with
which six PSU banks? Bank of
Baroda,
Canara
Bank,
Indian
Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of
Commerce, United Bank and Vijaya

Bank
Explanation: The
probe
into
appointment of CMDs in PSU banks
was ordered following the arrest and
termination of Syndicate Bank CMD SK
Jain for alleged graft during September
2014. Following this the Finance
Ministry had set up a committee
comprising Expenditure Secretary, RBI
Governor
and
Secretary
School
Education to examine the selections to
six PSU banks. The government has
now scrapped the selection process
adopted during the UPA Govt. and
decided to fill vacancies of 8 posts of
CMDs and 14 posts of Executive
Directors through a fresh process
involving RBI Governor or his nominee.
Page
36Banking & Finance
4) Which country was rated as the most

bullish consumer market in the world in
the
Nielsen
Global
Consumer
Confidence Index for third quarter of
2014 that was released on 29 October
2014? India
Explanation: India was given 126
points, a drop of 2 points from previous
quarter, in this index that was conducted
between 13 August and 5 September
2014 and covered more than 30,000
consumers across 60 markets. The
overall Global Consumer Confidence
Index rose 1 point in the third quarter to
98. Australia saw the biggest increase in
confidence index from the previous
quarter, by 12 points, followed by
Slovenia with a 9 point increase and
Thailand with 8 points. In overall picture
India was followed closely by Indonesia
(125 points), the Philippines (115
points), Thailand (113 points), UAE
(112) and China (111).
5) The European Central Bank (ECB)

recently conducted a landmark health
check of the banks of the Euro zone to
ascertain real condition of the banking
industry. Which country performed worst
in this test with nine of its banks falling
short and two still needing to raise
funds? Italy
Explanation: Italian bank Monte dei
Paschi had the largest capital hole to fill
at 2.1 billion as revealed in this test.
The ECB found the biggest problems in
Italy, Cyprus and Greece but concluded
that banks capital holes had since
chiefly been plugged, leaving only a
modest 10 billion to be raised. The test
was designed to mark a clean start
before the ECB takes on supervision of
the banks from November 2014. The
exercise provided the clearest picture
yet of the health of the Euro Zones
banks more than 7 years after the
eruption of a financial crisis that almost
bankrupted a handful of countries and
threatened to fracture the Euro Zone.
6) The Union Finance Ministry on 30

October 2014 issued new austerity
measures in view of lower revenue
realization. These measures included
cut in non-plan expenditure and ban on
creation of new posts. How much
reduction in non-plan expenditure had
been proposed? 10%
Explanation: An office memorandum
issued by the Expenditure Department
of the Finance Ministry stated that for
the
year
2014-15,
every
Ministry/Department shall affect a
mandatory 10% cut in non-plan
expenditure which will exclude interest
payment, repayment of debt, defence
capital, salaries, pension and Finance

Commission grants to the States. The
Ministry also made it clear that
Government officials will not travel in
first class. These measures have been
announced after indirect tax collection
grew mere 5.8% during first six months
of the current fiscal against the
budgeted target of 25.8%.
7) Which bank won the IDRBT Banking

Technology Excellence award for 201314 in four out of total five categories in
the mid-sized lenders segment?
Federal Bank
Page
37Banking & Finance
Explanation: Kerala-based
Federal
Bank was adjudged as the best bank
for use of Technology for Financial
Inclusion, Social Media and Mobile
Banking,
Business
Intelligence
Initiatives and for Best IT Team,
becoming the bank to have won the
maximum number of awards for 201314. Karur Vysya Bank bagged the Best
Bank Award for Business Intelligence
Initiatives among small banks. The
awards were presented to the winners
at a function held in Hyderabad on 1
October 2014 by RBI Governor
Raghuram
Rajan
in
Hyderabad.
Instituted in 2001, the IDRBT Banking
Technology
Excellence
Awards
recognise and honour the best
innovative use of information technology
to enhance levels of customer service.
8) Aditya Birla Financial Services Group

recently signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with which
overseas entity to enter the health
insurance market of India? MMI
Holdings Ltd of South Africa
Explanation: The Aditya Birla Group

currently operates in the life insurance
segment through Birla Sun Life
Insurance (BSLI). BSLI is a joint venture
with the Canada-based Sun Life
Financial Inc. Aditya Birla Financial
Services Group and MMI Holdings will
enter into a formal joint venture in which
the foreign partner will hold 26% stake,
which is the maximum holding allowed
as per the existing foreign direct
investment norms in the sector.
9) Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba

Group Holding Ltd changed the name of
its Alipay financial services unit as
announced on 16 October 2014. What is
the new name of this financial services
unit? Ant Financial Services Group
Explanation : Alibaba, the worlds
largest e-commerce company, presently
processes roughly half of Chinas ecommerce transactions through this
financial unit. The company has been
aggressively offering new financial
services around Alipay, including a
money market fund for consumers, a
mobile payment app and even a new
private bank that was recently approved
by the Chinese government.
10) Who was selected as the new

Chairman of the Central Board of Excise
and Custom (CBEC)? Kaushal
Srivastava
Explanation: Kaushal Srivastava a
1978 batch Indian Revenue Service
(IRS) officer and senior-most in the
board after the present chairperson, is
at present Member (budget) with
additional charge of computerisation
and vigilance. He will replace JM Shanti
Sundharam, who is retiring on 31
Page
38Banking & Finance
October 2014. CBEC is the apex policy
making body of indirect taxes in India.
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Banking & Financial Awareness 16

2Baking & Finance

1) The performance ratings of banks

2) State Bank of India (SBI) on 1 July

3) Who was re-appointed as the Deputy

4) Who headed the committee on

constituted the expert group under the

3Baking & Finance

5) Which public sector financial entity

6) During June 2014 it was reported in

boost to household savings. What was

7) Which body, that during June 2014

9) The delisting process of which pharma

offer only after seeking approval of the

10) Global e-commerce giant Amazon

4Baking & Finance

Banking & Financial Awareness 17

1) What is the definition of affordable

2) The fiscal deficit target for year 2015

3) In the Union Budget 2014-15, the

5Banking & Finance

4) The revival of the Kisan Vikas Patra

5) What special feature has been

6) What is the proposed name of an

7) What is the proposed name of a new

8) Rs. 4200 crore were set for an

9) What is the name given to a

10) What GDP growth rate range for

Explanation : GDP growth slowed to

6Banking & Finance

Explanation : Fiscal deficit is the

are poor. The Planning Commission in

13) Which state has the highest number

14) What is the operating ratio of Indian

15) In how many years Indian Railways

Banking & Financial Awareness 18

Container Corporation of India

7Banking & Finance

1) What is the minimum paid-up capital

Explanation : The Ministry of Heavy

3) Which private sector bank has agreed

Explanation : The commodity market

8Banking & Finance

4) The Bank Employees Federation of

Ceramics, Nav Bharat International, S

5) Who was during July 2014 chosen as

6) Which company on 23 July 2014

crore) and HCL Tech (Rs 1.07 lakh

7) The Union Govt. on 19 July 2014 set

9Banking & Finance

8) Which country on 17 July 2014

polluters. Australia is one of the largest

9) Which country became the first in the

10) Which Southeast Asian country on

incorporated under Philippines laws. It

Banking & Financial Awareness 19

10Banking & Finance

1) The Union Govt. on 26 July 2014

Explanation : Presently the Union Govt.

3) How many banks were fined by the

Bank (Rs 5 lakh), ICICI Bank (Rs 40

4) The government of Portugal on 4