GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs FOR SBI CLERKS EXAM

1. Gagan Narang became the first Indian to win a medal at the London Olympic Games on July 30, 2012 when he won a bronze medal in 10 metre air rifle shooting. Who won gold medal in this event?
1) Alin George Moldoveanu (Romania)
2) Niccolo Campriani (Italy)
3) Wang Tao (China)
4) Zhu Qinan (China)
5) None

2. Joyce Banda became the Presi-dent of which of the following African countries on April 7, 2012?
1) Zambia
2) Tanzania
3) Malawi
4) Mozambique
5) Liberia

3. Debabrata Sarkar assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of which of the following public sector banks on April 4, 2012?
1) UCO Bank
2) Andhra Bank
3) United Bank of India
4) Union Bank of India
5) None

4. Macky Sall assumed office as the President of which of the following African countries on April 2, 2012?
1) Senegal
2) Mali
3) Mauritania
4) Guinea
5) Guinea-Bissau

5. Prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won 43 seats in the by-elections for Myanmar parliament in April 2012. What is the name of her party?
1) National Unity Party (NUP)
2) Democracy and Peace Party (DPP)
3) Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)
4) National League for Democracy (NLD)
5) None

6. RBI signed a pact with which one of the following countries' central banks in April 2012 that will establish an arrangement for sharing of supervisory inform-ation and enhancing cooperation in the area of banking super-vision?
1) Pakistan
2) Qatar
3) UAE
4) Saudi Arabia
5) None of these

7. Which one of the following stat-ements about BRICS is not true?
1) The fourth BRICS Summit was organized in New Delhi on March 29, 2012.
2) The theme is "BRICS Partner-ship for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity".
3) The five countries considered the possibility of setting up a new development bank.
4) The leaders have advocated for reforms in World Bank, IMF and UN Security Council by increasing representation from developing countries.
5) The next BRICS summit will be held in China in 2013.

8. Gunter Grass, the German Nobel literature laureate, has accused which of the following countries as a threat to world peace in his poem 'What Must Be Said'?
1) Iran
2) Israel
3) Myanmar
4) North Korea
5) Syria

9. In April 2012, the United States announced a reward of $ 10 million on Hafeez Saeed, for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He is the founder of which of the following terrorist organizations?
1) Al Qaeda
2) Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
3) Lashkar-e-Taiba
4) Jaish-e-Mohammed
5) None

10. "My Unforgettable Memories" is a book written by which of the following political leaders?
1) Sharad Pawar
2) Mamata Banerjee
3) J.Jayalalitha
4)Naveen Patnaik
5) Narendra Modi

Panel set up to beef up rural credit co-ops

The Reserve Bank of India,  constituted a committee to suggest ways to strengthen the rural co-operative credit structure.

The panel, headed by Nabard Chairman Prakash Bakshi, will review the existing short-term co-operative credit structure (STCCS), focussing on structural constraints in the rural credit delivery system. It will also explore ways to strengthen the rural co-operative credit architecture. The seven-member panel will make an in-depth analysis of the STCCS, and examine various alternatives with a view to reducing the cost of credit, the RBI said in a release.

It will also look at the feasibility of setting up of a two-tier STCCS as against the existing three-tier structure.

The STCCS targets the credit requirement of the small and marginal farmers in the country.

“The panel will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting,” it said.

It will mainly assess the role played by State and district cooperative banks in fulfilling the requirement of agriculture credit.

NBFC-MFI norms modified

All registered non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) intending to convert themselves into non-banking financial company-micro finance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) must seek registration with immediate effect, and, in any case, not later than October 31, the Reserve Bank of India said in a notification.

The NBFCs have to maintain net-owned funds (NOF) at Rs..3 crore by March 31, 2013, and at Rs.5 crore by March 31, 2014, “failing which they must ensure that lending to the micro finance sector, that is, individuals, SHGs or JLGs, which qualify for loans from MFIs, would be restricted to 10 per cent of the total assets,” the RBI said in a notification. The RBI made some modifications in the directions issued on December 2, 2011, to NBFC-MFIs.

In order to provide encouragement to NBFCs operating in the north-eastern region, the minimum NOF is to be maintained at Rs.1 crore by March 31, 2012, and at Rs.2 crore by March 31, 2014.

SBI CLERKS EXAM GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. Saina Nehwal won the Indonesian Open Super Series Premier tournament in Jakarta in June 2012. This is her third Indonesian Open badminton title in four years. Which of the following players did she defeat in the final?
1) Shixian Wang
2) Sayaka Sato
3) Wang Yihan
4) Ji Hyun Sung
5) Li Xuerui

2. Alex Paul Menon was abducted on April 21, 2012 by the Maoists and was released after 13 days. He is the district collector of which of the following districts in Chhattisgarh?
1) Balod
2) Narayanpur
3) Bilaspur
4) Sukma
5) Dantewada

3. Panch Parameshwar Yojana was launched in which of the following states recently for overall development of villages?
1) Bihar
2) Andhra Pradesh
3) Jharkhand
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Himachal Pradesh

4. Which cricket team has won the Ranji Trophy for 2011-12?
1) Rajasthan
2) Tamil Nadu
3) Baroda
4) Mumbai
5) Karnataka

5. With which game is B.C.Roy Trophy associated?
1) Hockey
2) Football
3) Cricket
4) Tennis
5) Billiards

6. Who was elected as the Chairman of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) in June 2012?
1) J.P.Dua
2) Ajay Kumar
3) Alok Misra
4) M.Narendra
5) Pratip Chaudhary

7. Amalraj and Poulomi Ghatak are the national champions in men's and women's sections respecti-vely in which of the following sports?
1) Billiards
2) Table Tennis
3) Badminton
4) Lawn Tennis
5) Chess

8. Which of the following leaders was associated with the Velvet Revolution?
1) Lech Walesa
2) Nelson Mandela
3) Vaclav Havel
4) Joseph Stalin
5) Helmet Kohl

9. Ajit Singh, the Union Civil Aviation Minister, belongs to which of the following political parties?
1) Samajwadi Party
2) Bahujan Samaj Party
3) Trinamool Congress
4) Rashtriya Lok Dal
5) Biju Janata Dal

10. Who is the author of the book 'Non-Stop India'?
1) Mark Tully
2) Chetan Bhagat
3) Julian Barnes
4) Philip Roth
5) None of these

SBI ASSOCIATE BANKS CLERKS EXAM GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Who was sworn in as Hong Kong's new chief executive on July 1, 2012?
1) Leung Chun-Ying
2) Donald Tsang
3) Ronald Arculli
4) Chung Sze-Yuen
5) None of these

2. The Templeton Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension. Who won the 2012 Templeton Prize, the largest annual monetary award given to an individual?
1) Martin Rees
2) Michael Heller
3) The Dalai Lama
4) Charles Taylor
5) Francisco Jose Ayala

3. Gulab Kothari has won which of the following awards for the year 2011?
1) Saraswati Samman
2) Moorti Devi Award
3) Jnanpith Award
4) Vyas Samman
5) None of these

4. Ramadevarabetta in Ramana-garam district has been declared as a vulture sanctuary. In which state is this sanctuary located?
1) Kerala
2) Tamil Nadu
3) Karnataka
4) Maharashtra
5) None of these

5. "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness" is a book written by?
1) Barack Obama 2) Joe Biden
3) George Bush 4) Mitt Romney
5) Bobby Jindal

6. Who received the 2011 Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema given annually by the Govern-ment of India for lifetime contribution?
1) Tapan Sinha
2)Shyam Benegal
3) D.Ramanaidu
4) Mrinal Sen
5) Soumitra Chatterjee

7. Which of the following films was declared the Best Children Film at the 59th National Film Awards for the year 2011?
1) Stanley Ka Dabba
2) The Blue Umbrella
3) Keshu
4) Chillar Party
5) None of these

8. As per a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in March 2012, which country is the world's largest importer of arms?
1) India
2) South Korea
3) Pakistan
4) China
5) Singapore

9. Who was crowned as the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012 on March 30, 2012 in Mumbai?
1) Prachi Mishra
2) Ankita Shorey
3) Vanya Mishra
4) Rochelle Maria Rao
5) Hasleen Kaur

10. Which Indian has been chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2012, for economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in Tamil Nadu?
1) Dr.Shanta Sinha
 2) Kulandei Francis
3) Sandeep Pandey
4) Arvind Kejriwal
5) Neelima Misra

General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR)

The General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR)- proposed by the then Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the annual budget 2012-13- is anti-tax avoidance rule, drafted by the Union Government of India, which prevents tax evaders, from routing investments through tax havens like Mauritius, Luxemburg, Switzerland.
According to the draft, GAAR will come into effect from 1 April 2013. As per the guidelines, FII not opting for treaty benefits and ready to pay taxes will not come under GAAR, but those who do opt for dual taxation avoidance agreements will come under its purview.
The Union Government was forced to defer the rules until 1 April 2013, as foreign investors had expressed their reservation about the language used in the rules. Investors had maintained that the ambiguous language used in the draft of the GAAR could lead to the misuse of the rule.

 Tax Havens:

Tax havens are countries which have low tax regimes which provide individuals and business opportunities of tax avoidance or tax evasion. There are roughly 45 tax havens in the world today. In Indian context, Mauritius is considered to be the most significant tax havens or tax evading route.
In more precise words the Mauritius route can be described as a channel used by individuals and Multi National Companies to evade paying taxes in India. The tax evasion in India through this route is estimated to be in tune with 55 billion dollar, mostly attributed to the loopholes in a bilateral agreement on double taxation.

State Bank of Patiala launched Gold Loan (Swarn Shakti) for Farmers

State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) on 2 July 2012 launched gold loan (Swarn Shakti) for farmers against the security of gold ornaments to provide free loans to the farmers without taking loan on land. It would make farmers to meet their small and long term agricultural needs with crop production, investment and consumption.

The maximum amount of loan is 10 lakh rupees and 30 percent margin will be given by the farmers. The loan for crop production will be charged at 7 percent per year up to 3 lakh rupees. Further, 3 percent interest of financial support will be given to farmers who refund their loans in time. Therefore, the actual rate of interest charged will be 4 percent. The total period to refund the amount will be 36 months counting with harvesting season

United Bank to set up office in Myanmar

United Bank of India has received approval from Central Bank of Myanmar for setting up of a representative office in Yangon. It is the first Indian bank to have presence in the country, said a press statement issued by the bank.

The bank has already received RBI’s approval for opening its representative office in Myanmar, the bank’s Executive Director, Mr Deepak Narang, had said recently. “…Though we will not be able to carry out financial transactions through our representative office, we will get leads which can then be routed into our branches,” he said.

10 EU nations to push for transaction tax

Germany and nine other European Union nations will press ahead with plans to introduce a financial market transaction tax, following failed attempt for an agreement to levy it across the EU.

Finance ministers of the 27-nation EU, who met in Luxembourg on Friday, came to the conclusion that an agreement to impose the tax across the bloc will not be possible in the foreseeable future, German Finance Minister, Mr Wolfgang Schaeuble, told the media after the meeting.

Therefore, 10 nations who are willing to cooperate have decided to move forward by taking the necessary steps on the national level, and to ask the European Commission to draw up legislative proposals to introduce the tax.

Besides Germany, supporters of the tax are Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Slovania, Estonia, Greece, Slovakia and Spain. Under the EU rules, the proposed tax can be introduced if at least nine nations support it.

The European Commission estimates that by charging a tax between 0.01 per cent and 0.05 per cent on a broad range of finance market transactions, more than €30 billion could be raised annually.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts in the past to reach an agreement to introduce the tax in the EU as well as at the international level.

Its supporters argue that the tax is necessary to stem excessive speculations in the financial market, to reduce volatility and to involve financial institutions in sharing the costs of future financial bailouts.

The plan is vehemently opposed by Britain and Sweden, which fear that it might lead to an exodus of businesses and financial institutions from Europe and endanger growth.

Micro-finance in a remittance economy

Financial inclusion has become an emerging focus for policymakers around the world, and it is nowhere more relevant than in India. Analysts estimate that up to half the Indian households do not have a bank account. In fact, the Census 2011 found that more than 40 per cent of the population lives two km or more from the nearest bank branch or agent.

For India to facilitate more balanced economic development, universal access to basic financial services is essential.

There are no easy solutions. Strict regulation of banking and other financial services is vital to address money laundering, terrorist financing and fraud.

INDIA’S UNBANKED

India’s formal financial services sector is yet to meet the growing needs of a large part of the population. When it comes to domestic remittances, 57 per cent of migrant workers in India use hawala couriers and other informal channels to remit money, according to a recent study.

Analysts estimate that almost 40 per cent of the participants in India’s informal economy — which accounts for half the country’s gross domestic product — resort to chit funds, barter and moneylenders for financing.

It is logical that an informal sector thrives in the absence of convenient, reliable, speedy and regulated financial services. The risk of unabated informal and or illegal financial traction and its risk on national/consumer security and impact on a country’s monetary policy require no debate.

The need for increased access to formal financial services is an important and urgent policy objective not only for India but also for its main trading partners, including its key remittance sending countries.

The World Bank published a pivotal report in June 2010, Inclusive Finance, which provides a standard definition of financial inclusion. The bank said that affordability, availability and convenience, and quality are key features. It also subdivided financial inclusion into four product types: payments, savings, insurance and credit.

When Western Union commenced offering international money transfers in 1993, the company remitted money from 41 countries into India. Today, Western Union remits money from more than 190 countries and territories into India. This is a significant progression in facilitating financial inclusion.

Last month, Western Union announced the opening of its 100,000th agent location in India. Western Union’s agents and sub-agents include banks, post offices, grocery and convenience stores and many other types of businesses.

If India were to deliver payment, saving, insurance and credit products to half the population, it seems logical that — subject to careful screening of providers, efficient regulatory oversight and appropriate limits — the way forward is to take advantage of existing broad-based networks and new consumer technology to selectively open financial services to non-banks, while promoting cooperation among all sectors.

TECHNOLOGY POTENTIAL

Western Union’s experience gives clear evidence that non-bank financial institutions can foster increased demand for local banking and financial services. For example, Western Union’s insights reveal that in India, the banking access rate for receivers of cash remittances is more than double (51 per cent) that of sending overseas workers themselves (22 per cent).

Many recipients open bank accounts to receive these transfers and, by doing so, give themselves the opportunity to access the full range of banking services. Linking payments received to savings accounts is clearly a way to promote financial inclusion.

Could mobile phone wallets be linked to inward remittances? Could pre-paid cards provide a new financial mechanism for the unbanked? Could village corner stores expand to serve as the agent, not only of Western Union, but of a bank, providing basic, yet fundamental financial services? How does India facilitate greater usage of formal channels for domestic remittances?

Advances in technology have opened up new ways to deliver reliable, transparent, easily monitored and regulated financial services. Large commercial networks already exist that link every corner of India, including that of Western Union. The country is at the forefront of the IT revolution.

There is already a common will of government and businesses to achieve the objective of financial services for all. What is required next is a collaborative approach.

India’s regulators are already moving leaps and bounds in this direction. In a clear sign of its increasing influence on the global financial stage, India recently become the newest member of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest), the independent policy and research centre housed at the World Bank dedicated to improving financial access for the world’s poor. India is the first from emerging markets to join CGAP.

India’s membership is a commendable signal that the Government is committed to providing financial access to the more than 2.5 billion working-age adults under-served by mainstream financial services.