Important General Awarness 9

1. Who is the chief advisor to the Governer ?
a) Chief Justice of Indian Supreme Court
b) Chief Minishter
c) Speaker of Lok Sabha
d) President

2. Article 370 of the constitution of India provides for
a) temporary provisions for Jammu & Kashmir
b) special provisions in respect of Nagaland
c) provisions in respect of the financial emergency
d) Special provisions in the respect of Manipur

3. The United Kingdom is a classic example of
a) Arusticracy
b) Absolute monarchy
c) Constitutinal Monarchy
d) Democracy

4. Who is called father of History ?
a) Plutarch
b) Herodotus
c) Justin
d) Pliny

5. Gobar gas (biogas) mainly contains
a) methane and ethane
b) methane and butane
c) propane and butane
d) methane, ethane, propane and propylene

6. The full form of "AM" regarding radio braodcasting ?
a) Amplitude Movement
b) Anywhere Movement
c) Amplitude Modulation
d) None of above

7. Which Indian state is having border Nathu La , between India and China
a) Sikkim
b) Arunachal Pradesh
c) Himachal Pradesh
d) Jammu & Kashmir

8. 2010 FIFA Football worldcup was held in which nation ?
a) England
b) South Africa
c) Zimbawe
d) Brazil

9. The disease in which the sugar level of blood increases is known as
a) Diabetes mellitus
b) Diabetes insipidus
c) Diabetes imperfectus
d) Diabetes sugarensis

10. Prime Misnister of Great Britain is
a) Tonay Blair
b) Gordown Brown
c) Nicholos Sarkozy
d) David Cameroon

11. What is the principle ore of Aluminium ?
a) Dolomite
b) Copper
c) Lignite
d) Bauxite

12. The highest body which approves the Five Year Plan in India
a) Planning Commission
b) Lok sabha
c) Finance Ministry
b) Union Cabinet

13. Current Minimum Interest rate on Saving bank account is
a) 3.5%
b) 4%
c) 6%
d) 5.5%

14. The new hiked limit of PPF account is (in INR)
a) 70,000
b) 1,00,000
c) 1,80,000
d) 1,90,000

15. The new interest rate on PPF account is
a) 8%
b) 8%
c) 9%
d) 8.6%

_____________________
KEYS

1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (b) 5. (b) 6. (c) 7. (a) 8. (b) 9. (a) 10. (d) 11. (d) 12. (b) 13. (b) 14. (b) 15. (d)

Important General Awareness 8

• Nguyen Tan Dung : Vietnamese prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was elected for a second term.
• Hina Rabbani Khar : Mrs Hina Rabbani Khan became Pakistan's first woman foreign Minister on July 19, 2011. The 34 year old belongs to Pakistan's People's Party
• Nirupama Rao : India's Foreign Secretary Mrs. Nirupama Rao was appointed as India's ambassador to the United States on July 16, 2011.
• Sushil Kumar Modi : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi was elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers of GST ( Goods and Service Tax )on July 18, 2011.
• Pradeep Kumar : Defence Secretary Mr. Pradeep kumar was sowrn in as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of India on July 14, 2011. He is 1972 IAS batch officer of Haryana cadre replacing Mr. P J Thomas.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni : Has been declared man of the series in the home one day international series against England in which Indian Team beat England 5 games to Nil.
• Bangladesh's Highest honour for Indira Gandhi : Bangladesh's highest award- the Bangladesh Swadhinata Sammanona ( Bangladesh Freedom Honour )- conferred on the late Indira Gandhi for her outstanding contribution to the Bangladesh Liberation war.
• Magaysay Awards for 2011 : The Ramon magsasay Awards for 2011 were announced in Manila, the Philippines on July 27, 2011. Two Indians- Dr. Harish Hande and Ms. Nileema Mishra - were among the winners.
• Prahaar missile successfully test-fired : A new surface to surface missile named : Prahaar " was successfully test fired on July 21, 2011 for the first time from the integrated test Range at Chandipur, Orissa.
• New Defence Secretary : Mr. Sashikant Sharma, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar Cadre  was appointed as new defence secretary.
• Sanskrit Day : September 5
• World Tourism Day : September 27

Important General Awareness VII

1. Income tax in India was introduced by ?

a) William Jones b) James Wilson c) Lord Macaulay d) Sir Charles Wood

2. Which of the following country is not a member of SAARC ?

a)Nepal b)Pakistan c) India d) Myanmar

3. The Indian Rupee symbol was designed by ?

a) D Udai Kumar b) Udai Chopra c) Rakesh Mohan d) D raju Reddy

4. Which of the following bank is limited to the needs of agriculture and rural finance ?

a) RBI b) NHB c) SBI d) NABARD

5. The food for work programme was renamed as

a) RLEGP b) IRDP c) NREP d) NREGA

6. Which of the following is the credit rating agency in India ?

a) CRISIL b) FITCH c) CARE d) ICRA e) All of these

7. Infrastructure financing committee is which of these ?

a) T Vikas Mohan b) V Kurien c) Deepak Parikh d) K V Kamat

8. Present SLR rate is ?

a) 26% b) 24% c) 6% d) 7%

9. SFIO stands for ?

a) Serious Fraud Investing Office
b) Super Financial Investment Office
c) Serious Financial Investing Office
d) None

10. Chinese largest which recently set up its operation in India ?

a) China Commerical Bank
b) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
c) Shanghai commercial Bank
d) Honkong and Shanghai bank

11. Who among the following has been elected as first ever woman Prime Minister of Denmark ?

a) Jytte Anderson
b) Angella Merkel
c) Helle Thorning-Schmidt
d) KimY Clisters

12. Which is the biggest bank of France ?

a) BNP Pribas
b) HSBC bank
c) Barclays Bank
d) Rabobank

13. 44th Jnanpith Award has been awarded to which of the following ?

a) Akhlaq Shahryar b) Javed Hussian c) Anupam Kher d) Kirron Kher

14. First Ever formula one rance in India will be held where ?

a) Bangalore
c) Navi Mumbai
d) Noida
d) Chennai

15. Which of the following European Country has banned Muslims Friday prayers on streets ?

a) England
b) France
c) Poland
d) Germany

KEYS......

1.(a) 2. (d) 3. (a) 4 (d) 5. (c) 6. (e) 7. (c) 8. (a) 9. (a) 10. (b) 11. (c) 12. (a) 13. (a) 14. (d) 15. (b)

If your score is...

>12.... excellent
8-12...Needs further polishing
<8.. Need high improvement

General Awareness Important Questions III

 India International bank in Malaysia will be operational by October:India International Bank (Malaysia) - which is a three-way joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank – will entail a total investment of $100 million (approximately Rs 450 crore). Bank of Baroda, which holds the majority stake at 40 per cent, will invest about Rs 180 crore, while Indian Overseas Bank (35 per cent) and Andhra Bank (25 per cent) about Rs 157 crore and Rs 112 crore respectively in the joint venture, according to Mr M.D. Mallya, Chairman and Managing Director, BoB. The bank would be operational by October, he said, while talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a banking conclave organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. (BL dt 12.08.2011 p.6)

RBI survey pegs down GDP growth to 7.9%:
India’s GDP growth projection for the current financial year has been pegged down to 7.9 per cent from the earlier projection of 8.2 per cent, according a Reserve Bank of India Survey. In its First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2011-12 on July 26, the RBI had stuck to its baseline projection of real GDP growth for the current year at 8.0 per cent. The Survey of Professional Forecasters on Macroeconomic Indicators had revised the real GDP growth rate forecast downwards to 8.2 per cent in its May survey from 8.5 per cent in the earlier survey. The latest round of survey has revised projections for agriculture, industry and services growth to 3.5 per cent (3.1 per cent in the May survey), 7.4 per cent (8.2 per cent) and 9.0 per cent (9.6 per cent) respectively. (BL dt 13.08.2011 p.4)

India BBB rating stays, says S&P:
Standard and Poor’s has said there is no immediate threat to India’s sovereign debt rating of BBB, though loose fiscal policy and the government’s inability to carry forward economic reforms could have implications in the medium term.“We do not see an immediate impact on India’s sovereign rating (BBB-/Stable) resulting from the lowering of the US sovereign rating to AA+,” Standard & Poor’s sovereign analyst Mr Takahira Ogawa told PTI. S&P recently lowered the sovereign rating of the US to AA+ from AAA. The ratings are opinions that reflect the ability and willingness of the rated entity to meet financial obligations. The decision to lower the sovereign rating of the US had deleterious consequences for stock markets all over the world, including India. (DH dt. 16.08.2011 p. 14)

SBI net drops 46% in Q1 on higher bad loan provisioning:
Higher provisioning for NPAs and depreciation on investments dented State Bank of India’s net profits for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011 to Rs 1,584 crore, down 46 per cent decline over Rs 2,914 crore recorded in same period last year. The sharp fall was despite a 32-per cent increase in NII at Rs 9,700 crore (Rs 7,304 crore) and an 18 per cent increase in operating profit at Rs 7,242 crore (Rs 6,134 crore). However, the latest quarterly net profit was much higher than the Rs 20.88-crore recorded in the last quarter of fiscal 2010-11. (BL dt 14.08.2011 p.1)

SEBI wants powers to see phone call, e-mail records:
The SEBI has sought powers to seek e-mail and call records from telecom service providers. This move, the market regulator hopes, will help it prevent black money entering the market as also keep an eye on insider trading. The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Namo Narain Meena, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on August 12 (unstarred question no 2091) that SEBI also wants to be in the list of law enforcement/investigating agencies that includes the CBI and the IB. A formal request has been sent to the Department of Telecommunications. Though getting call records from the phone service providers may not be difficult, tracking e-mail records could be. Most e-mail service providers such as Google, Yahoo, Hotmail have their servers based outside India. Even security agencies have been trying to get access to these services in vain. (BL dt 16.08.2011 p.1)

Banking on performance:
The rules of the game are changing for public sector bank staff. A number of banks are rolling out performance-based incentives for their officers and clerical staff numbering about 10 lakh. This, feel experts, would to ‘better’ the performance of the PSBs. “We are in the process of formulating a scientific system to encourage performance by structured incentives which will be implemented soon,” Ms Archna Bhargava, Executive Director, Canara Bank, told Business Line. Banks can spend at least one per cent of their profits on performance incentives, she added. (BL dt 17.08.2011 p.1)

SBI hopes to see net profit grow to Rs 2,500 crore in Q2:
Having posted a decline in profit for two successive quarters, State Bank of India hopes to clock an increase in its bottomline to Rs 2,500 crore in the second quarter on account of lower provisioning against bad loans. “We expect to turn in another Rs 7,200 crore of operating profit. If you leave out the one-off provisions, which had happened due to raising of prudential norms and also the investment provision, we expect a normal provisioning of Rs 2,500-3,000 crore,” State Bank of India Chairman Mr Pratip Chaudhuri said. “So we would possibly look at a net profit of Rs 2,500 crore. This is broad indication, but we would get a number after we see August investments,” he said.
(ET dt. 17.08.2011 p. 11)

Banking doors set to open for India Inc:
Indian companies may have reasons to rejoice, as the RBI is likely to allow some of them an entry into the banking space. The entry will, of course, be subject to stiff riders. Real estate companies, however, may not be as lucky as they are among four sectors that will find the banking doors locked. According to a government official, the RBI is expected to come out with draft guidelines on allowing new private banks by next Monday, as the finance ministry and the central bank have resolved their differences on most of the contentious issues. The official said foreign direct investment (FDI) in new banks may be capped at 49% for now, as the RBI was not in favour of higher FDI. In a discussion paper released in August last year, the central bank had suggested capping FDI in new banks at 49% in the first 10 years, which could be subsequently raised to 74%. The ministry was open to a higher cap. The number of new licences to be issued has not been decided yet and the call will be taken by the RBI. The guidelines were more or less final, but the regulator would want to give a one-month window to all stakeholders to give their suggestions on the draft, said the official. (BS dt. 18.08.2011 p. 1)

Syndicate Bank likely to buy 26% in Aviva Life:
Aviva Life has emerged as the front-runner for tying up with Syndicate Bank for its proposed insurance joint venture. According to sources, the Manipal-headquartered lender is likely to pick up 26% stake. Mohit Burman, director of fast-moving consumer goods major, the Dabur Group, holds 74 per cent stake. The rest is held by UK’s Aviva. A Syndicate Bank official said the bidding process was still on and the bank was yet to decide on the insurance partner. “We have just finished receiving the financial bids and would shortlist three-four players on the basis of financial bids. Then, we would take the final call,” said a senior bank official. However, according to sources involved with the deal, Avia Life is better placed, as it is willing to offer significant equity. (BS dt. 18.08.2011 p. 6)

General Awareness Important Questions II

Here is the second set of Important GK (general awareness) questions related to banking industry for upcoming IBPS Bank commont written test 2011.

Subbarao to be RBI Governor for 2 more years:
The Government has given Dr D. Subbarao, two-year extension as the Governor of the RBI. He will hold office till 2013. “The Prime Minister has approved the extension of the term of Dr Subbarao as Governor of the RBI for a further period of two years with effect from September 5, 2011 up to September 4, 2013,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.This move is meant to give an impression of stability to the economy, sources told Business Line. Secondly, in the current global economic situation, bringing a new person at the helm would not be seen as a wise step, they said. (BL dt. 10.08.2011 p.1)

Foreign investors can invest in MFs:
In a further liberalisation of the portfolio investment route incorporating the industry’s suggestions for a more vibrant debt market for the infrastructure sector, the Centre on Tuesday permitted a new category of qualified foreign investors (QFIs) to invest up to $13 billion in equity and debt schemes of mutual funds (MFs). Announcing this, for which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued separate notifications to set the investment norms as market regulators, a Finance Ministry statement said: “It has been decided that the aggregate investments by qualified foreign investors (QFIs) in equity schemes of the mutual funds under direct and indirect routes shall be subject to a ceiling of $10 billion.’’ (The Hindu dt. 10.08.2011 p. 19)

Signs MoU with PSU insurers:
Vijaya Bank has signed an MoU with United Insurance Co. Ltd. Under MoU, it will distribute life insurance and general insurance products of United India Insurance Co Ltd. The bank will also distribute insurance products of LIC, the bank said in a statement. (BS dt. 09.08.2011 p. 5)

Plan FY 12: SBI to raise capital via rights issue:
State Bank of India plans no further consolidation of its associate banks with itself during the current fiscal, Chairman Mr Pratip Chaudhuri has said. This comes even as the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, recently indicated that the Government would not be averse to considering merger proposals involving State Bank of India and its associate banks in 2011-12. The State Bank of India management's "time and bandwidth" during this fiscal would be devoted to raising additional capital of Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue, besides addressing issues such as asset quality and international expansion, Mr Chaudhuri told reporters after a meeting of the bank's board. (BL dt. 07.08.2011 p. 1)

SBI to open 800 branches this fiscal:
State Bank of India plans to open 800 more branches in 2011-12 taking its total network to over 14,000 branches. "We are planning to open 700-800 branches in the current financial year against 650 set up during the last fiscal," the SBI Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Mr Diwakar Gupta, told PTI. New branches would be spread across all the 14 circles, he said. At the end March,2011, the total number of branches was 13,542 while the number of ATMs stood 20,084 across the country. Besides, the bank is also looking at expanding its overseas network. The bank would look at increasing its presence in the neighbouring countries in CIS(Common wealth of Independent States)countries. SBI has 156 offices across 32 countries, including US, UK, Singapore, Canada and the Mauritius. The focus of these offices is India related business and the international needs of the bank's foreign customers, in addition to conducting retail operations. Currently, the overseas business contributes about 16% to the bank's total business. The number of foreign offices increased from 142 as on March 31, 2010 to 156 as on March 31, 2011 spread across 32 countries. (BL dt 08.08.2011 p.7)

Banks can now issue prepaid instruments to listed cos:
In a bid to widen the scope of prepaid payment instruments, the Reserve Bank of India has permitted banks to issue such instruments to listed corporate entities for onward issuance to their employees. Currently, prepaid instruments are issued by banks to: government organisations for onward issuance to the beneficiaries of government sponsored schemes for loading of funds from such schemes; and financial institutions for loading of one-time/periodical payments by these entities to their customers. Banks also issue such instruments to beneficiaries under money transfer service scheme for loading of cross-border inward remittances received by them. Further, prepaid gift instruments are issued by banks, non-banking finance companies and other persons. (BL dt. 05.08.2011 p. 6)

SIDBI to widen refinance window:
Banks’ appetite for refinance from the Small Industries Development Bank of India is expected to increase to about Rs 30,000 crore in the current financial year against Rs 22,900 crore last year, according to a top official of the development financial institution. With deposit rates rising by almost 250 basis points (a basis point is equivalent to 0.01 percentage point) in the last one year or so, banks are finding refinance from SIDBI comparatively cheaper. Lucknow-headquartered SIDBI gives refinance against term loans granted by banks to industrial concerns for setting up industrial projects in the small-scale sector as also for their expansion/modernisation/diversification. (BL dt. 02.08.2011 p. 6)

RBI to issue new Rs 10 notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination bank notes with inset letter 'B' in both numbering panels in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005 bearing the signature of RBI Governor Dr D Subbaro. Except for the change in the inset letter, the design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005 issued earlier. All banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the bank in the past will continue to be legal tender, the press release said. (DH dt 02.08.2011 p.15)

New bank licences on the back burner:
Companies with ambition of setting up a bank will have to wait longer. The much-hyped grant of new bank licences has been put on the back burner, as the Government is not keen to go ahead. Sources familiar with the developments said the government had conveyed its view that the matter be set aside to Reserve Bank of India, the authority for issuing fresh licences. RBI had framed draft guidelines for new bank licences and submitted these to the Finance Ministry for its views. The ministry is yet to formally get back to RBI. “RBI and the government had reached a consensus on most of the important issues in the draft guidelines, including grant of licences to corporate houses. The government had also agreed to amend the RBI Act to vest more power with the regulator. Things have slackened after that,” said a source. (BS dt. 01.08.2011 p. 1)

Post offices to seek nod to convert into banks:
The humble post office is all set to undergo a radical change with a proposal to convert over 1.5 lakh post offices across the nation into full fledged banks on the anvil. Telecom Minister Mr Kapil Sibal wants to reach out to the masses in the rural areas with modern banking facilities through the post offices. “We want to commercialise the department. We will seek a licence from the RBI to convert all our post offices into banks,” Mr Sibal told PTI. The post offices currently offer financial services like savings bank, postal life insurance, pension payments and money transfer services. Its total corpus stood at Rs 5,82,832.90 crore as on March 31, 2011. (DNA dt. 01.08.2011 p. 11)

Punjab & Sind Bank seeks Rs 990 cr from Centre:
Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) has sought capital support of Rs 990 crore from the Central Government to fund business growth, a top official of the bank has said. “It will be pure equity. We have made a request to the Government for capital infusion through preferential allotment route. The capital infusion if done will be made at a premium and near market price,” Mr P. K. Anand, Executive Director, PSB, said. The last time Government infused capital in PSB was in 2005 and the amount pumped in was Rs 500 crore, officials said. Later on, the Government had converted equity capital of Rs 550 crore into preference shares as well as long-term debt. (BL dt. 31.07.2011 p. 18)

Canara Bank gets new executive director:
The Government of India has appointed Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, General Manager of Punjab National Bank, as the Executive Director of Canara Bank. He succeeds Mr Jagdish Pai K.L., who retired on June 30. According to a press release from Canara Bank, Mr Gupta assumed office on Thursday. He started his career as management trainee in Punjab National Bank in 1976. He also served as the Managing Director of PNB GILTs, a subsidiary of PNB. Before his elevation to the post of Executive Director of Canara Bank, Mr Gupta was in Chandigarh as Field General Manager for Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. (BL dt. 30.07.2011 p. 6)

PNB to accept 'cash' from door steps:
Punjab National Bank said it would start accepting cash up to the value of Rs.2 crore from the premises of its customers, facilitating high value cash collection at their door steps. "We will soon start our new initiative in Chandigarh, where we will be accepting high amount of cash from customers' premises," GM Rohtash Kumar said. The minimum amount of cash to be collected from customers' premises would be Rs 1 Lakh, with maximum ceiling of Rs 2 crore without any charge. A dedicated team of bank officials will be set up which will look after door step banking services. The bank would also allow making payments to customers as per their requirement but within ceiling of Rs 2 crore.
(DH dt 26.07.2011 p.15)

Canara Bank may hire 3,000 personnel this year:
Canara Bank is likely to fill-up 3000 vacancies in various categories during this year, according to its Executive Director, Ms Archana S Bhargava. Speaking to newspersons on Friday, Ms Bhargava said apart from clerks, probationary officers, and agricultural officers, specialist positions in areas such as information technology would also be filled-up. “We have significant retirements which are to be replaced and branch expansion programme during the current year,’’ she said. Over 250 branches were likely to be added before March 2012 to the present network of 3,350 branches, she added. As part of its focus on microfinance and Self Help Group (SHG) linkage, three new microfinance branches would be opened in Andhra Pradesh. (BL dt. 23.07.2011 p. 15)

Canara Bank to open branches in 7 nations:
Aiming to expand its overseas footprint, Canara Bank said on Thursday that it plans to open offices in seven countries, including Germany and US soon. The bank had already received the permission to open a branch in Germany, while in other countries including US, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Australia, the process of getting permission has started, the bank’s ED Smt. Archana S Bhargava told reporters. Currently, the Bank has overseas branches in the UK, Hong Kong and China. It also has a joint venture with SBI in Moscow. The Bank, which has around 3,300 branches at present in the country, is also planning to add another 300 by end of this fiscal, she said adding that most of the new branches will be opened in rural and semi urban areas. She also said that the Bank has its presence in 452 districts of the total 644 districts in the country. As corporate social responsibility, bank has opened four computer training centres to impart free computer training to poor unemployed youth. Earlier, bank’s first specialised Government Business branch was opened at National Archives of India (NAI) office premises on Thursday. (DH dt. 22.07.2011 p. 17)