SBI PO Exam
Special Current Affair Supplement
Latest Developments in Banking and Financial Sector Latest questions pertaining to Governance, Policies, Panels and Committees Miscellaneous Current Affairs (Very Important for upcoming competitive exams)

A publication of Nirdeshak.com

Latest Developments in Banking & Financial Sector

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

1) India implemented Basel III norms, which comprises of new global capital rules for banks, from which date? – 1 April 2013 (Under Basel III norms, Indian banks will have to hold core capital of at least seven percent of risk-weighted assets) 2) What is the name of the bill passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2012, which seeks to strengthen banking regulations in the country? – Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011 (This bill seeks to raise voting rights of investors in private sector banks to 26 per cent from present 10 per cent and also allows RBI to supersede boards of private sector banks to increase the cap on their voting rights to 10 per cent from 1 per cent 3) Financial sector regulators – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), on 8 March 2013 joined hands by signing an agreement under the auspices of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). What are the main objectives of this move? – These regulators would monitor financial conglomerates (FCs) of the country as well as approve a national strategy for financial education (The term FC stands for financial conglomerates and applies to financial groups like ICICI, SBI and HDFC, which are engaged in varied financial activities like banking, mutual funds, insurance and private equity) 4) The Union govt. on 25 March 2013 announced reduction in interest rates offered under several small savings schemes like PPF, NSC, post office savings, etc. This reduction in interest rates was announced following govt.’s decision last year to link the small savings returns with the market rate. This decision was taken into effect after govt. implemented recommendations of which committee some time ago? - Shyamala Gopinath Committee (This committee had suggested that returns should be in sync with market rates determined by the returns offered by other securities. Hence the govt. has to announce new interest rates at the beginning of the financial year, which was what exactly done on 25 March 2013. The change in interest rates would come into effect from 1 April 2013) Impact on major tools of Small Savings : PPF (Public Provident Fund) : Annual rate of interest reduced from 8.8% to 8.7% NSC (National Savings Certificate 5 yr) : Annual rate of interest reduced from 8.6% to 8.5% NSC (National Savings Certificate 10 yr) : Annual rate of interest reduced from 8.9% to 8.8% Senior Citizen’s Saving Scheme (SCSS) : Annual rate of interest reduced from 9.3% to 9.2% Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) of 5 years maturity : Annual rate of interest reduced from 8.5% to 8.4% Savings Deposit Scheme : Unchanged at 4% 5) A committee during January 2013 supported views of banks, in which they had rejected RBI proposal to start portability scheme for bank accounts in India. Who was the head of this committee? – Vijay Chugh (Chief GM of the RBI) – The committee led by him supported claim of bank authorities that this scheme is unfeasible as it would tantamount to huge upgrades in related software 6) What are the important guidelines issued by the RBI for opening new banks in India, as announced on 22 February 2013? – a) Private firms, public sector entities and NBFCs are eligible to set up a bank b) The initial minimum paid-up equity capital to be Rs. 500 crore c) Applicants should be financially sound with a 10-year track record d) Application for opening new bank should be via Non-Cooperative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) e) NOHFC to initially hold a minimum 40% stake in the bank for 5 years, which should be brought down to 15% over 12 years f) The new bank has to get listed within 3 years of the commencement of business g) Foreign shareholding in the new bank to be capped at 49% for the first 5 years h) At least 25% of branches of a new bank should be set up in unbanked rural areas

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

7) What is the name of India’s 6th commodity exchange which started its operations on 19 April 2013? – Universal Commodity Exchange or UCX (UCX is promoted by Commex Technology in joint venture with IDBI Bank, IFFCO, NABARD and REC. Other 5 existing commodity exchanges of India are NCDEX, MCX, ICEX, NMCE and ACE) 8) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 February 2013 issued final guidelines for issuing licenses for opening new banks. RBI has thus decided to remove all restrictions on eligibility of corporates and groups to apply for the banking license. When the RBI had last issued licenses for opening banks? – During 2003-04, when two banks – Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank were issued licenses 9) What is the meaning of acronym NOFHC, which came to highlight in the announcement of guidelines for banking license by the RBI? – Non-Operative Financial Holding Company 10) What is the name of a recently constituted committee to take decisions on investments, whose first meeting was held on 30 January 2013? – Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) 12) Which two public sector undertakings (PSUs) were granted the Maharatna status by union govt. on 1 February 2013? – BHEL and GAIL (This will provide these two PSUs greater financial and functional autonomy and ensure better valuation of their shares) 13) What is the new name of MetLife India Limited, after Punjab National Bank (PNB) signed an agreement to acquire 30 per cent stake in the company on 4 February 2013? – PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife Insurance was also launched officially by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 4 February 2013) 14) What is the name of a newly formed association, formed recently by 30-odd software companies of India, which is going to evolve as an alternative to NASSCOM? - Indian Software Product Industry Round Table or iSpirt (iSpirt has been formed by Indian software companies who believe that NASSCOM would not be able to provide more growth avenues to them in future.However, iSpirt members clearly stated that they see no conflict with NASSCOM) 15) Union govt. on 6 February 2013 constituted an advisory panel for the electricity sector with an objective to iron out the issues impacting the growth of the sector. Who is the head of this panel? – Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Power Minister (This panel also includes industry leaders like Cyrus P Mistry (Chairman, Tata Sons), Anil Ambani (Chairman ADAG), Pratip Chaudhuri (Chairman, SBI) and Chanda Kochhar (MD, ICICI Bank) and many senior govt. officials. The panel will delve into the problems plaguing the power sector, the most important being the raw material insecurity which threatens to upset the electricity production targets) 16) An RBI panel on 6 February 2013 proposed a slew of measures like mandatory quoting of PAN card numbers for high-value purchases, restriction on gold loans and check on NBFC branches dealing with gold loans. These proposals have been given in view of rising gold imports which has widened country’s current account deficit (CAD). Who is the head of this panel? – K.U.B. Rao, an RBI officer (Gold import is the second major contributor to the CAD after oil. Gold import in April-December stood at USD 38 billion. In 2011-12 fiscal it was USD 56 billion) 17) The Union Cabinet on 7 February 2013 approved enhancing the authorised capital of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Rs. _________ from Rs. 5,000 crore and expanding its scope of operations? – Rs, 20,000 crore

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

19) Which stock exchange became India’s newest stock exchange on 9 February 2013 after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated it? – MCX-SX (MCX-SX will formally launch its trading operations on 11 February 2013 as 9 and 10 February are trading holidays. This newest stock exchange of India will compete with two established stock exchanges of the country – NSE and BSE) 20) What was net profit of country’s largest Bank, SBI, for the third quarter of 2012-13 as announced on 14 February 2013? – Rs. 3,263 crore (for Oct-Dec 2012) Net profits of SBI increased by just 4.08%, which is the smallest increase in profit for last six quarters 21) Which Indian private sector bank launched iWish, an online recurring deposit product targeted primarily at young depositors, on 5 December 2012? - ICICI Bank (In this new deposit, unlike regular recurring deposits, investors will not be penalised for missing a monthly installment. However, they will have to make up for the missed payments in the subsequent months) 22) What was the name of a new index launched by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 14 December 2012, that was constituted by the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) listed on the BSE SME platform? – SME IPO Index (This index aims at tracking the current primary market conditions in the Indian capital market and measure the growth in investors’ wealth over a period) 23) The RBI on 15th December 2012 proposed tighter norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with regard to capital requirements, risk weights, provisioning norms and asset classification. The bank proposed has stake transfer of NBFCs for more than how much percent will now require RBI’s prior approval? – More than 25 per cent 24) Which life insurance company’s claim settlement ratio was the best among Indian life insurance company according to a report of IRDA released during December 2012? – Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), whose claim settlement was the highest at 97.42 per cent as against 89.34 per cent of India’s private life insurance companies and industry average of 96.26 per cent 25) The union cabinet on 10 January 2013 approved a capital infusion package that would help improve liquidity and maintain capital adequacy ratios of about 10 public sector banks. How much fund was released for this infusion? – Rs. 12,517 crore 26) The 17-member bank consortium which kick-started the process of recovery of loans from troubled Kingfisher Airlines, formed a sub-group of four banks to oversee the loan recovery. Which four banks constitute this newly formed sub-group? – State Bank of India (SBI), IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India (Kingfisher Airlines owe about Rs. 8,000 crore to these 17banks) 27) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently fixed upper limit on rate of interest that can be charged by micro finance institutions (MFIs) in the country. What is this upper limit of interest, above which MFIs cannot charges from individuals? – 26 % p.a. 28) India’s largest credit card issuer HDFC Bank during February 2013 started replacing some of its points of sale (PoS) machines at a few merchant establishments. This has been done in view of which problem the banking industry is facing, associated with credit cards? – Cases of ‘skimming’ have been witnessed in India of late, wherein the card data is copied illegally in an otherwise legitimate transaction, only to be used fraudulently later (HDFC Bank is one of the largest players in merchant acquisition space with close to 2.5 lakh machines and about 6.4 million credit cards) ? – 26 % p.a.

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

29) Market regulator SEBI on 19 March 2013 issued guidelines pertaining to product labelling with colour coding of mutual fund products, which will be effective from 1 July 2013. How many colours have been made available in this colour coding scheme? – Three colours – Blue, Yellow and Brown (A blue colour coded box would indicate low risk, yellow would signify a medium risk, while brown would represent schemes with high risk. As per the guidelines issued by the SEBI, product labels carrying details about the schemes would be disclosed on the front page of initial offerings’ application forms) 30) How much money was recently infused into the State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest bank, by the union govt. recently, as part of its plan of recapitalization of state-run banks? – Rs. 3004 crore (With this fresh infusion Union govt.’s holding in SBI has increased from 61.58% to 62.31%. It should be noted that Government plans to infuse around Rs 14,000 crore in state-run banks this fiscal to boost their core capital ratios as they prepare to comply with the Basel-III guidelines, which will start from 1 April 2013) 32) Reserve Bank of India on 19 March 2013 reduced the Repo Rate by 0.25%, after which expectations of lowering of lending rates by banks have arisen. What is the new Repo Rate after this reduction? – 7.5% (This reduction in Repo Rate was announced in RBI’s mid-quarter monetary policy review. The short term borrowing rate, popularly known as Reverse Repo Rate, was also reduced by 0.25%, which is now 6.5%. However, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remained unchanged at 4%. Repo Rate is the interest rate at which banks borrow short-term cash from the RBI whereas Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which banks provide short-term cash to the RBI) 33) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 4 April 2013 announced decontrol of country’s sugar sector after accepting the recommendations of a committee on sugar price decontrol. Who was the Chairman of this committee, which submitted its report on 27 March 2013 to the Union Govt.? - Dr C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister 34) Which major British bank started laying-off its employees in India during February 2013 as part of closure of its retail and commercial banking operations in the country? – RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS had sold its Asian assets to Australia and New Zealand Banking) Corp. recently to comply with its bailout norms) 35) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 March 2013 in a newly issued notification asked banks to issue new debit and credit cards only for domestic usage unless international use is specifically sought by the customer. This notification was issued in respect of which problem? – Misuse of these type of debit and credit cards (RBI directed banks that such cards enabling international usage will have to be essentially EMV Chip and Pin enabled by 30 June 2013. It also said that the banks should provide easier methods like SMSes for customers to block cards and get a confirmation to that effect after blocking the card) 36) Which three private sector banks were charged on 14 March 2013 by independent investigative journalist, Aniruddha Bahal of Cobrapost.com, of being allegedly involved in widespread money laundering activities? - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank (Cobrapost.com conducted numerous sting operations to vindicate its stand) 37) Who is the head of a newly constituted 4-member panel, which would give clear definitions to FDI and FII with an aim to remove ambiguity over the two types of foreign investments? – Arvind Mayaram (Secretary, Economic Affairs) 38) Premium for motor insurance was increased by an average of how much from 1 April 2013, as announced by the insurance regulator IRDA a few days ago? – 20% (However, these rates are way below the hike proposed in the exposure draft floated in February 2013) 39) Which private bank leads amongst all banks in India as far as number of customers using mobile banking facility is concerned according to data released by Indian govt.? – HDFC Bank (Around 1.72 crore customers of HDFC Bank use mobile banking facility) www.NIRDESHAK.com Latest Questions Pertaining To Governance, Policies, Panels & Committees

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

1) As per the recently released finance ministry data, the maximum number of financial inclusion accounts have been opened 1) As per the recently released finance ministry data, the maximum number of financial inclusion accounts have been opened in which state during year 2011-12? – Uttar Pradesh in which state during year 2011-12? – Uttar Pradesh 2) The motion (bill) to bring FDI into country's retail sector was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 December 2012 by – 253 votes in support of the motion and FDI into country's retail sector 2) The motion (bill) to bring 218 votes opposing the motion was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 December 2012 by – 253 votes 3) What of the margin of 218 votes opposing seeking Rajya Sabha’s approval for allowing 51% FDI in India’s retail sector? – 123 in supportwasthe motion andvictory for the motionthe motion – 109 4) Who heads the panel constituted the motion seeking Rajya Sabha’s approval for relating 51% FDI in Price retail (PPI) and 3) What was the margin of victory for by the Planning Commission to consider issues allowing to ProducersIndia’s Index sector? revision of –123 – 109 the Wholeasale Price Index (WPI)? - Saumitra Choudhury 5) Under whose chairmanship a committee was formed to review BSNL’s operations in 2009-10, which had recommended selection of the heads the panel constituted by the Planning Commission to consider issues relating to Producers Price Index (PPI) 4) Whobest professionals from the private sector at market rates, and appointment of an eminent person from the private sector as chairman? Sam Pitroda and revision–of the Wholeasale Price Index (WPI)? - Saumitra Choudhury 6) Which Indian stock exchange is going to join the list of exchanges such as Deutsche Borse AG, London Stock Exchange (LSE), NYSE Euronext and Singapore Exchange was formed to review BSNL’s operations in 2009-10, which had recommended 5) Under whose chairmanship a committee whose shares are traded on the stock exchanges? – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 7) What of the best professionals the the private sector at market rates, and appointment of an eminent person from up selection is the new name given to fromproposed National Investment Board (NIB) after the union cabinet cleared to setthe a new body sector as projects over Rs. 1,000 crore by setting timelines for concerned ministries? – Cabinet Committee on Investments privateto expeditechairman? – Sam Pitroda (CCI) 6) Which Indian stock exchange is going to join the list of exchanges such as Deutsche Borse AG, London Stock Exchange (LSE), NYSE Euronext and Singapore Exchange whose shares are traded on the stock exchanges? – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

7) What is the new name given to the proposed National Investment Board (NIB) after the union cabinet cleared to set up a new body to expedite projects over Rs. 1,000 crore by setting timelines for concerned ministries? – Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) 8) What is the name of Delhi Govt.’s ambitious direct subsidy transfer scheme launched on 15 December 2012, under which a cash subsidy of Rs. 600 would be directly transferred to beneficiary’s account, by which Delhi became the first state in the country to implement this scheme? – Annashree Yojana 9) Which state became the first state in the country where ration subsidy is directly transferred to beneficiaries’ account in which beneficiary is recognized through Aadhar Card? – Delhi 10) Which Indian companies claimed first, second and third spot amongst in the recently released Fortune 500 list of Indian companies based on revenue generated by companies? – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 11) It was reported in newspapers recently that the govt. is considering measures like offering gold-linked savings and gold-backed financial instruments to bring down the overall demand for gold. Due to which primary reason the need to reduce demand for gold is arising of-late? – Due to deteriorating current account deficit (CAD) mainly on account of high gold imports (Dec 2012) 12) What is the number of constitutional amendment passed by the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2012 which provides reservation in promotions for SC/ST govt. employees? – 117th Constitutional Amendment 13) Who was appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 3 January 2013 in place of Subir Gokarn, who retired on 31 December 2012? – Urjit Patel

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

14) The govt. announced constitution of 14th Finance Commission on 2 January 2013, which is to give its final report on 31 9) The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on 12 February 2013 came out with an investigative October 2014. Who was appointed as the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission? – Y.V. Reddy (former Governor of the report that cited multiple violations of the Supreme Court guidelines in organising jallikattu, the bull taming Reserve Bank of India) sport. Jallikattu has been in the eye of many controversies pertaining to wild nature of this game, in which cruelty is meted out against bulls and hundreds of people are injured every year. In which Indian state is 15) Implementation of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) was deferred for another two years according to an jallikattu organized? – In Tamil Nadu’s Madurai on the occasion of Pongal (Tamil new year) announcement made by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 14 January 2013. Now GAAR would be implemented 10) Ambitious plan of a state govt. to build an iconic skywalk on the line of Grand Canyon (USA) at the Maenam from which date? – 1 April 2016 Wildlife Sanctuary of the state was finally given a clearance in 2013. This sanctuary is situated in which state? – Sikkim (The clearance for this project was given by a standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife, 16) According to an income tax (IT) clarification made by the IT Department on 17 January 2013 software companies can which is chaired by Minister for Environment and Forest Jayanthi Natarajan. Sikkim Govt. plans to build a glass send software engineers to clients abroad and claim deemed export benefits. This tax sop for software companies is being skywalk and a ropeway at an estimated cost of Rs. 750 crore) provided on recommendations of which committee’s report? – N Rangachary Committee’s report on taxation of the information 11) Environment Ministry gave forest clearance to an 800 MW power project in Arunachal Pradesh during technology sector apparently after being caught in surprise by China’s announcement of building three new February 2013, hydroelectric projects on the Brahmaputra river. On which river this 800 MW project is proposed to be built? – 17) Economic Survey for 2012-13, which was released on 27 February 2913, a day before Union Budget 2013-14, was Tawang Chu River prepared under chairmanship of - Raghuram Rajan, Chief Economic Advisor (Economicharvested 22.4 tonnes of rice from 12) Which Indian state during February 2013 claimed it has successfully Survey is an annual review of the economy by the Ministryland without usepresents (genetically-modified) seedsshort-term prospects for the economy) a just one hectare of of Finance, which of GM policy initiatives of the govt. and and chemical fertilizers, which is world record? – Bihar 18) What is the projected growth forecastIndian state to produceeconomy in the Economic Survey 2012-13, two years in a 13) Which state became the first for 2013-14 for the Indian over 500 million kilogram of tea for which was released on 27 February 2013? – Between 6.1 than half of India’s total tea production during 2012 with total row? – Assam (Assam produced more and 6.7% production touching 588 million kilogram) 19) What was the projected inflation for 2013-14 in the Economic Survey 2012-13, which was released on 27 February 2013? – Between 6.2 and 6.6% 20) What the targeted fiscal deficit of govt. is as announced in the Economic Survey for 2012-13? – 4.8 per cent of the GDP 21) What was the savings rate in the country during 2011-12, as announced in the Economic Survey 2012-13? – 30.8 per cent(This rate was the lowest in last eight years, with the household financial savings declining by almost Rs. 90,000 crore as compared to 2010-11. Financial savings take the form of bank deposits, life insurance funds, pension and provident funds and shares and debentures) 22) The proposal of imposing 1% TDS on properties sold for over Rs 50 lakh as announced in the Union Budget of 2013-14 is to come into effect from which date? – 1 June 2013 23) Which company/corporation was chosen by pension fund regulator PFRDA as the default annuity service provider for subscriptions exiting from the New Pension System (NPS) and seeking withdrawal of accumulated pension wealth? – Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

29) Market regulator SEBI on 19 March 2013 issued guidelines pertaining to product labelling with colour coding of mutual fund products, which will be effective from 1 July 2013. How many colours have been made available in this colour coding scheme? – Three colours – Blue, Yellow and Brown (A blue colour coded box would indicate low risk, yellow would signify a medium risk, while brown would represent schemes with high risk. As per the guidelines issued by the SEBI, product labels carrying details about the schemes would be disclosed on the front page of initial offerings’ application forms) 30) How much money was recently infused into the State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest bank, by the union govt. recently, as part of its plan of recapitalization of state-run banks? – Rs. 3004 crore (With this fresh infusion Union govt.’s holding in SBI has increased from 61.58% to 62.31%. It should be noted that Government plans to infuse around Rs 14,000 crore in state-run banks this fiscal to boost their core capital ratios as they prepare to comply with the Basel-III guidelines, which will start from 1 April 2013) 32) Reserve Bank of India on 19 March 2013 reduced the Repo Rate by 0.25%, after which expectations of lowering of lending rates by banks have arisen. What is the new Repo Rate after this reduction? – 7.5% (This reduction in Repo Rate was announced in RBI’s mid-quarter monetary policy review. The short term borrowing rate, popularly known as Reverse Repo Rate, was also reduced by 0.25%, which is now 6.5%. However, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remained unchanged at 4%. Repo Rate is the interest rate at which banks borrow short-term cash from the RBI whereas Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which banks provide short-term cash to the RBI) 33) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 4 April 2013 announced decontrol of country’s sugar sector after accepting the recommendations of a committee on sugar price decontrol. Who was the Chairman of this committee, which submitted its report on 27 March 2013 to the Union Govt.? - Dr C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister 34) Which major British bank started laying-off its employees in India during February 2013 as part of closure of its retail and commercial banking operations in the country? – RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS had sold its Asian assets to Australia and New Zealand Banking) Corp. recently to comply with its bailout norms) 35) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 March 2013 in a newly issued notification asked banks to issue new debit and credit cards only for domestic usage unless international use is specifically sought by the customer. This notification was issued in respect of which problem? – Misuse of these type of debit and credit cards (RBI directed banks that such cards enabling international usage will have to be essentially EMV Chip and Pin enabled by 30 June 2013. It also said that the banks should provide easier methods like SMSes for customers to block cards and get a confirmation to that effect after blocking the card) 36) Which three private sector banks were charged on 14 March 2013 by independent investigative journalist, Aniruddha Bahal of Cobrapost.com, of being allegedly involved in widespread money laundering activities? - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank (Cobrapost.com conducted numerous sting operations to vindicate its stand) 37) Who is the head of a newly constituted 4-member panel, which would give clear definitions to FDI and FII with an aim to remove ambiguity over the two types of foreign investments? – Arvind Mayaram (Secretary, Economic Affairs) 38) Premium for motor insurance was increased by an average of how much from 1 April 2013, as announced by the insurance regulator IRDA a few days ago? – 20% (However, these rates are way below the hike proposed in the exposure draft floated in February 2013) 39) Which private bank leads amongst all banks in India as far as number of customers using mobile banking facility is concerned according to data released by Indian govt.? – HDFC Bank (Around 1.72 crore customers of HDFC Bank use mobile banking facility) www.NIRDESHAK.com Miscellaneous Current Affairs (Very Important for upcoming competitive exams)

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

1) Who was the Chairman of a three-member Commission, which was constituted for reviewing the laws in existence and the lapses of the police to suggest measures for ensuring safety of women in Delhi as well as across the nation? – Justice JS Verma, former Chief Justice of India (two other members of this commission were former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramaniam and Justice Lalitha Seth. This panel submitted its report to the union govt. in February 2013 and the new law on women’s safety was formulated keeping in view recommendations of this commission) 2) Which panel came out with an outlook on challenges and options in the implementation of the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) during December 2012, which is to guarantee food availability to all? – Ashok Gulati Panel (Ashok Gulati is the Head of the Commission of Agricultural Costs (CAC)) 3) Who in December 2012 was appointed as the first Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal - the apex body constituted under a 2010 Act for deciding cases pertaining to environmental protection and conservation of forests and natural resources? - Justice Swatanter Kumar, a Judge of the Supreme Court 4) Cyrus Mistry, who took charge of Chairman of the $ 100 billion Tata Group on 28 December 2012, is group’s ……..th Chairman? – 6 (Before him five chairmen of the group were – Jamshetji Nussarwanji Tata (1868-1904), Dorabji Tata (1904-1932), Nauroji Saklatawala (1932-1938), JRD Tata (1938-1993) and Ratan Naval Tata (1991 – 2012)) 5) Which state became the first state of India to enact a landmark legislation by unanimously passing the Food Security Act on 21 December 2012? – Chattisgarh (This Food Security Act (FSA) would provide food security to several deprived sections of society left out by existing welfare programmes. The law also takes a major step to empower women considering the eldest woman in a household as its head in matters relating to the ration card) 6) Union govt.’s ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) programme was rolled out in how many districts of the country on 1 January 2013? – 20 districts (Earlier the programme was to be initiated in 51 districts of the country but due to technical glitches and teething problems the programme was started in 20 districts. Govt. announced on 31 December 2012 that scheme would be extended to 11 more districts on 1 February 2013 and to another 12 districts on 1 March 2013) 7) Union govt.’s Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme was launched on 1 January 2013 in 20 districts of which states and union territories? – Scheme was launched in 6 states - Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab and 3 union territories – Puducherry, Chandigarh and Daman and Diu 8) 100th session (centenary) of Indian Science Congress Association was inaugurated by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 3 January 2013 at – Kolkata 9) 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was inaugurated on 8 January 2013 by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. 2013’s Pravasi Divas was held in which city? – Kochi (Kerala) 10) Passenger fares of Indian Railway were increased across all classes, as announced by the union Railway Minister P.K. Bansal on 9 January 2013. From which date this increase came into effect? – From the midnight of 21-22 January 2013 (This is the firs hike across all passenger classes in over a decade) 11) Who has been appointed as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission? – Justice DK Jain (He took his charge on 24 January 2013. The term of 20th Law Commission is for a period of 3 year and will expire in 2015)

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

12) During January 2013 the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs suggested the entitlement of 20) A “Holy Week” would be held to what percent from 24 March 2013, in which new Pope would be elected food under the National Food Security Act in Vatican Cityof Indian populace which will be known as inclusive category? – 67 by 117 (These beneficiaries would be identified Church. How many cardinals from India would take part in this rice percent cardinals of the Universal Catholic by the state government for the public distribution system of the subsidizedevent? – Five (5) and wheat. The remaining 33 per cent populace will be known as exclusive category who are tax-payers and have pucca houses 21) Nepal’s major political parties on 16 February 2013 agreed to form an election government which will hold of their own) new Constituent Assembly elections in the country. Who will lead this government? – Nepal’s Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi (A working group with members from the Nepali Congress, United Communist Party of Nepal 13) Who are the four personalities were awarded with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award, (Maoist), Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi announced on the occasion of country’s 64th Republic Day? – Prof. Yash Pal (noted physicist), Roddam Narasimha (space Morcha was formed to determine the modalities of the new government. Nepal’s Constituent Assembly had scientist), Raghunath Mohapatra (renowned sculptor) and S. Haider Raza (painter) lapsed eight months ago) 22) Which European country on 6 February 2013 came one step close to allowing same-sex marriages after a 14) Who was the Chief Guest for 64th Republic Day Parade held on 26 January 2013 at the Rajpath in New Delhi? – King parliamentary approval of a related bill? – Britain (British Parliament’s lower house, the House of Commons, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk (King of Bhutan) approved the bill despite opposition from ruling benches on this controversial bill) 23) Who was sworn in as the first women President of South Korea on 25 February 2013? - Park Geun-hye 15) Who won men’s singles title of Australian Open 2013? – Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who defeated Andy Murray of Britain (Daughter of former President Park Chung-hee she became 18th President of the country and replaced by Lee-Myung-Bak) the finals on 27 January 2013 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 24) Who won the Presidential elections in Cyprus, which were held on 24 February 2013?- Nicos Anastasiades 16) Who won women’s singles titlevotes for hisOpen 2013? – Victoria(DISY) and replaced Dimitris Christofias who (He received 57.5 per cent of Australian Democratic Party Azarenka of Belarus who defeated Li Na of China by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the finals on on January 2013 2013) relinquished his post 26 28 February 24) China has recently provided a loan of Rs. 136 billion to Pakistan for establishing two nuclear power plants, 17) Who is the to be commissioned by 2016. was set two plants are being established at which place? – At Chashma which are Chairman of the committee, which These up by the Planning Commission to recommend detailed methodology for identification of BPL families in urban India? – SR Hashim Nuclear Complex, Punjab Both of these plants will have capacity to produce 340 MW 18) What is the new name given to Indian Against Corruption (IAC), as announced by Anna Hazare on 30 January 2013? – Jantantra Morcha (This name was announced by Anna Hazare in Patna on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary) 19) Which team won the 51st Irani Trophy title for cricket on 10 February 2013? – Rest of India (Rest of India defeated 40 time Ranji champion Mumbai at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium by virtue of their lead in first innings. This was Rest of India team’s 26th Irani Trophy win. Irani Trophy is played between year’s Ranji title winner and Rest of India) 20) Which team won the first edition of Hockey India League (HIL)? – Ranchi Rhinos (who defeated Delhi Waveriders by 2-1 in the finals held at Ranchi on 10 February 2013) 21) World’s biggest airline was created on 14 February 2013 with the merger of two of the largest airlines of United States US Airways and American Airlines. This merger deal was worth $11 billion. What is the name of the newly created airline? – American Airlines (But this new airlines would be run by Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways. This merger would reduce the number of major airlines in the United States to four – the new American Airlines, United, Delta and South West) 22) What is the name of the Siberian town of Russia, which was hit by a huge meteor shower on early morning of 15 February 2013, which injured at least 750 people? – Chelyabinsk (This town was center of a meteor explosion, which exploded over 30-50 km above the earth’s surface. This explosion resulted in a huge meteor shower which shattered glass and damaged buildings in Chelyabinsk) 23) Who took over as the new Chairman of insurance regulator IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) on 21 February 2013? – TS Vijayan, former Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India (Vijayan’s tenure will be for a period of 5 years. He took place of Hari Narayan who retired on 20 February 2013 after being at the helm of the authority for about 5 years)

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

24) Which locality of Hyderabad was targeted in the two blasts that shook the city on 21 February 2013, in which 12 persons died and many were injured? – Dilsukhnagar (This locality technically comes under Rangareddy district but is part of Greater Hyderabad and is perceived as part of the city by the city populace) 25) What is the name of the world’s first smart phone operated nano satellite that was successfully launched into space along with 6 other satellites by ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle—C20 (PSLV-C20) on 25 February 2013? – SARAL (This satellite has been made in an Indo-French joint venture. Other satellites launched included a space telescope satellite and five other foreign satellites. This was ISRO’s 101st successful mission and was done from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (AP). With this successful mission ISRO has placed 35 satellites successfully in space since 1999, when it launched the first foreign satellite through its PSLV-C2 rocket) 26) What is the name of a new luxury passenger class announced in the Union Railway Budget of 2013-14, which is now the costliest class of Indian Railway? – Anubhuti class (Coaches of this class would be manufactured exclusively at the coach factory in Raebareli and will have LCD video screens, state-of-the-art illumination, automatic doors, spacious aisle, free toiletries and zero-discharge toilets. One coach of this class will be attached to every Shatabdi Express and a few short-distance Rajdhani Expresses as a pilot. If the response is encouraging, the railways may roll out entire trains of Anubhuti class. First Anubhuti class coaches were attached to Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express) 27) What was the name of a new train announced by Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, which would connect different places related to freedom movement of the country? – Azadi Express 28) Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pope of the Vatican on 13 March 2013. As the Pope, Bergoglio would be known by which papal name? – Francis (Jorge Bergoglio became the first Pope from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. At present he is the archbishop of Buenos Aires) 29) What was the name of a month-long exercise started by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 16 March 2013, which was the largest exercise of its kind in a decade? – “Live Wire” (This exercise started at Rajasthan’s Chandhana firing range, in which all 5 commands and 33 squadrons of the IAF are taking part) 30) Which film was adjudged the Best Feature Film in the 60th National Film Awards announced on 18 March 2013? – “Pan Singh Tomar”, a real-life story of athlete-turned-dacoit by Tigmanshu Dhulia 31) Which two actors were jointly awarded the 60th National Film Award for Best Actor, which was announced on 18 March 2013? – Irrfan Khan (for Hindi film “Pan Singh Tomar”) and Vikram Gokhale (for Marathi film “Anumati”) 32) Which team won the 22nd edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup, which concluded on 17 March 2013? – Australia, who defeated hosts Malaysia by 3-2 in the finals (This cup was held in Ipoh Malaysia from 9 March to 17 March 2013. Korea finished third in the tournament while India finished 5th) 33) Which are the three states where new High Courts were established on 23 March 2013, with which the number of high courts in India increased from 21 to 24? – Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura (Announcement about establishment of these three new high courts was made on 25 January 2013)

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SBI PO Exam - Special Current Affair Supplement

34) Debt-ridden Mediterranean island country Cyprus on 25 March 2013 secured the $13 billion (10 billion Euro) bailout-package 14) Establishment andtwo new ports has been announced system collapse and bankruptcy thatInwhich states these 14) Establishment of thus avoided the country from a banking in the Union Budget 2013-14. which states these offered by the Euro Zone of two new ports has been announced in the Union Budget 2013-14. Incould have new ports are tobe established? –West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh new ports entire be area. What are West Bengal and Andhra has to implement in return for this bailout-package, destabilized theare to euroestablished?–the important terms that CyprusPradesh 15) An Indianearlier unrelenting to undertake? 15) An Indian Institute of Agri-Biotechnology (IIAB) was announced in the Union Budget 2013-14. In which city which Cyprus was Institute of Agri-Biotechnology (IIAB) was announced in the Union Budget 2013-14. In which city this proposed institute will be established? – Ranchi (Jharkhand) this proposed institute will be established? – Ranchi (Jharkhand) 16) Finance drastically mentioned name of two countries in his budget unprofitable and uneconomical the only major 16) Finance Minister mentioned name of which has become oversized, announcement, which are A) Cyprus has to Minister shrink its banking sector,two countries in his budgetannouncement, which are the only major countries in the world toand cut-away wasteful expenditures India during the last year. Which are these two B) Itcountries its fiscal budget have grown at a faster rate than India during the last year. Which are these two has to cut in the world to have grown at a faster rate than countries? the process of privatization C) countries? – China and Indonesia of its state assets It has to start – China and Indonesia 17) Excisetodutyon sports utility vehicles (SUVs) was increasedcountry in the Union Budget 2013-14. What was 17) Excise implement comprehensive set of (SUVs) was increased to 30% D) Cyprus has duty on sports utility vehicles structural reforms in the to 30% in the Union Budget 2013-14. What was the present excise dutyon SUVs? markets the has been shut out of on SUVs? – 27% (Cypruspresent excise dutyinternational – 27% for almost two years. The bailout-package has been provided by a group of 17 18) Two changes were collectivelythe RajivEuro ZoneEquitySavings Scheme (RGESS) in the Union Budget 2013-14. 18) Two changes were made in the Rajiv Gandhi nations) European countries, who are made in called as Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) in the Union Budget 2013-14. What are these changes? –– a) Benefit for 3 years would now be available for investors in RGESS instead of the What are these changes? a) Benefit for 3 years would now be available for investors in RGESS instead of the present 1 Summit Limit for investing in this scheme has been raised from earlier Rs. summit, to first cycle of (i.e., 35)present 1 year b) was held between 26 andthisMarch 2013 at –beenraised from earlier Rs. 10 lakh the Rs. 12 lakh (i.e., 5th BRICS year b) Limit for investing in 27 scheme has Durban (South Africa) (With this 10 lakh to Rs. 12 lakh now an investor with annual income of Rs. 12 lakh can also take benefit of this scheme, which is for first time now an investor with annual income of Rs. 12 lakh can also take benefit of this scheme, which is for first time BRICS summits was completed and BRICS summits have now been held in every member nation. Five members of BRICS are investors in equity and mutual funds) investors in equity and mutual funds) Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS was earlier known as BRIC. First BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, 19) How much import duty has been imposed on imported luxury cars in the Union Budget 2013-14? – 100% 19) How much import duty has been imposed on imported luxury cars in the Union Budget 2013-14? – 100% Russia in 2009. Three later summits were held in Brasilia (Brazil 2010), Sanya (China 2011) and New Delhi (India 2013). BRIC (This duty was presently at 75%) (This duty was presently at 75%) was renamed as BRICS in 2010 after entry of South Africa) 20) Duty free limits on gold were increased in the Union Budget 2013-14. What are the new limits now? – 20) Duty free limits on gold were increased in the Union Budget 2013-14. What are the new limits now? – Women Travellers Rs. 1 lakh and men travellers Rs. 50 thousand (i.e., no import duty would be levied till these Women Travellers Rs. 1 lakh and men travellers Rs. 50 thousand (i.e., no import duty would be levied till these 36) Who took over the reins of NSE (National Stock Exchange), India’s largest stock exchange on 1 April 2013? – Chitra limits for respective traveller classes) limits for respective traveller classes) Ramakrishna (She took over the post of CEO from outgoing Ravi Narain) 37) The Jnanpith Award, which is India’s most prestigious literary award, is to be awarded to which literary personality for year 2012, as announced by the Jnanapith Award selection committee on 17 April 2013? – Ravuri Bharadhwaja, Telugu novelist, short-story writer and poet for his work Paakudu Raallu (Jnanpith Award was constituted in 1961 and was first awarded to Malayalam author G. Sankara Kurup in 1965. 2012’s award is 48th edition of this prestigious award)

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