HDFC Bank & Indian Oil came Together to Provide Banking Services in Rural Areas

HDFC Bank on 4 October 2012 tied up with Indian Oil Corporation where rural Petrol Pump Outlets of Indian Oil will act as HDFC Bank Business Correspondent (BCs). It is unique and first kind of tie-up, where an oil distribution company is coming up with the bank to make available modern banking services to the people of remote areas. The Indian oil is going to make it possible through Kisan Seva Kendra which is an retail outlet model pioneered by Indian Oil to cater to the needs of customers in the rural segment.

HDFC Bank planned to cover 1000 Kisan Seva Kendras in a phased manner and each of these outlets will be able to serve around 1,500 customers. The Kisan Seva Kendra outlets will offer banking services such as preliminary processing of loan applications, disbursal and collection of small value deposits, sale of micro-insurance, mutual funds and other investment instruments. HDFC plan is to bring 10 million families into its banking Fold.

StanChart appoints former SBI chief Bhatt as board member

British banking major Standard Chartered Plc  appointed former SBI chairman O P Bhatt as board member. The appointment of 61-year old Bhatt, as an independent non-executive director, would be effective from January 1, 2013.

“Bhatt is a career banker with over 30 years banking experience and retired as Chairman of the State Bank Group in 2011,” StanChart said in a statement.

State Bank Group includes SBI, India’s largest commercial bank and five associate banks.

He is among the four new independent non-executive directors appointed by StanChart as part of efforts to enhance the experience, depth and diversity of its board.

The three other new directors are Lars Henrik Thunell, Margaret Ewing and Louis Chi-Yan Cheung. The appointments of Thunell and Ewing would be effective from November 1, 2012, that of Bhatt and Cheung would be from January 1, 2013. Bhatt had also headed the Indian Bank’s Association.

HDFC Bank joins hands with PUNGRAIN

HDFC Bank on September 29 joined hands with Punjab Grains Procurement Corporation Ltd (PUNGRAIN) to facilitate payment to its commission agents spread over 350 mandis in Punjab.

PUNGRAIN, in its initiative has decided to make payment to their commission agents through ‘RuPay Debit card’ and has developed the Kisan Arhtia (commission agents) information and Remittance Online Network (KAIRON) with the help of National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).

For this project, HDFC Bank will install its Point of Sales (POS) machines in over 350 mandis to facilitate the payment to commission agents dealing in agriculture products.

It said this initiative will facilitate faster payments to them and in turn will benefit farmers.

HDFC Bank, in order to facilitate a successful implementation of this project, organised a day’s training session for nodal officers along with food inspectors of PUNGRAIN.

Narayana Murthy to exit HSBC board

UK-based global banking giant HSBC Holdings Plc  said N.R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of IT giant Infosys and the only Indian on its board, would retire as its director at the end of 2012. Announcing the changes in its board and board committees, HSBC Holdings Plc said in a regulatory filing here that Renato Fassbind, former Chief Financial Officer of Credit Suisse Group, has been appointed a Director with effect from January 1, 2013. Besides, Fassbind would also become a member of the Group Audit Committee and the Group Remuneration Committee with effect from March 1, 2013. He will be an independent non-executive Director. Murthy will retire as a Director of HSBC Holdings plc on December 31 and will be succeeded as Chairman of the Corporate Sustainability Committee by Laura Cha.

While Cha is already a director, Murthy had joined the board in 2008. James Hughes-Hallett has also been appointed a member of the Corporate Sustainability Committee from January 1, 2013.

Fassbind was the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the executive board of Credit Suisse Group from June 2004 until September 2010. He is Vice-Chairman of Supervisory Board of Swiss Reinsurance Company, and a member of the Supervisory Board of the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority.

Government Notified FDI in Multi-Brand Retail Trading

 

Previously, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is prohibited in retail trading, except in single-brand product retail trading, in which FDI, up to 100%, is permitted, under the Government route, subject to specified conditions.

Now, The Government of India has reviewed the extant policy on FDI and decided to permit FDI, up to 51%, under the Government route, in Multi-Brand Retail Trading, subject to specified conditions. 

FDI is prohibited in:

(a) Lottery Business, including Government /private lottery, online lotteries, etc. (b) Gambling and Betting, including casinos etc. (c) Chit funds (d) Nidhi company (e) Trading in Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) (f) Real Estate Business or Construction of Farm Houses (g) Manufacturing of Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes (h) Activities / sectors not open to private sector investment e.g. Atomic Energy and Railway Transport (other than Mass Rapid Transport Systems). 

Foreign technology collaboration in any form, including licensing for franchise, trademark, brand name, management contract, is also prohibited for Lottery Business and Gambling and Betting activities.

FDI in multi brand retail trading, in all products, will be permitted, subject to some conditions, such as: 

• Fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh poultry, fishery and meat products, may be unbranded. 
• Minimum amount to be brought in, as FDI, by the foreign investor, would be US $ 100 million. 
• Retail sales outlets may be set up only in cities with a population of more than 10 lakh as per 2011 Census and may also cover an area of 10 kms around the municipal/urban agglomeration limits of such cities.
• Government will have the first right to procurement of agricultural products.

The above policy is an enabling policy only and the State GovernmentslUnion Territories would be free to take their own decisions in regard to implementation of the policy. Therefore, retail sales outlets may be set up in those StateslUnion Territories which have agreed, or agree in future, to allow FDI in MBRT under this policy.

GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs FOR BANK EXAMS

1. What is the revised growth rate target for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017)?
1) 9%
2) 8%
3) 8.2%
4) 8.5%
5) 9.5%

2. Which Indian author has been short listed for this year's Man Booker Prize for his novel 'Narcopolis', a dark tale about the opium and heroin dens of Mumbai?
1) Aravind Adiga
2) Jeet Thayil
3) Amitav Ghosh
4) Chetan Bhagat
5) Rahul Bhattacharya

3. John Baird visited India and held talks with S.M.Krishna in September 2012. Baird is the Foreign Minister of which of the following countries?
1) France
2) Argentina
3) Canada
4) U.K.
5) Australia

4. Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz was named the crown prince of which of the following countries on June 18, 2012?
1) Kuwait
2) Bahrain
3) Yemen
4) Oman
5) Saudi Arabia

5. Which of the following state-ments about G-20 is not true?
1) The G-20 includes 19 country members and the European Union.
2) G-20 was started in 2008 and accounts for 2/3rd of world's population and 80% of the world's GDP.
3) The seventh G-20 Summit was held at Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18-19, 2012.
4) The next G-20 Summit will be held in September 2013 in Saint Petersburg, South Africa.
5) At the Los Cabos Summit BRICS countries have pledged $75

6. Who took over as Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay from Ratan Kumar Sinha on June 19, 2012?
1) S.K.Jain
2) V.K.Saraswat
3) Srikumar Banerjee
4) Sekhar Basu
5) None of these

7. What is the new name of the former Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which has been procured by India?
1) INS Vikrant
2) INS Viraat
3) INS Vikramaditya
4) INS Chakra
5) INS Arihant

8. Which of the following Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will start Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Institute of Medical Science and Research?
1) IIT, Bombay
2) IIT, Madras
3) IIT, Hyderabad
4) IIT, Kanpur
5) IIT, Kharagpur

9. American President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Shimon Peres on June 13, 2012. Peres is the President of which of the following countries?
1) Poland
2) Belarus
3) Israel
4) Germany
5) Slovakia

10. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will launch how many reactors during the 12th Plan period (2012-2017)?
1) 12
2) 16
3) 10
4) 11
5) 13

HDFC Bank announced the Launch of Credit Card for Teachers

HDFC Bank on 5 September 2012 announced the launch of credit card for teachers, coinciding with the celebration of Teachers Day. The card offers special features like multiple reward points, weekend bonanza points, petrol surcharge waiver and 500 special gift reward points to be credited annually on the Teachers day.
With a combined market size of more than 450 million students and growth rates of 10-15 per cent expected over the next decade, education is one of the largest service sectors in India. In fact, it is the largest issuer of credit cards in the country with a customer base of 5.60 million as of 31 March, 2012.

Kaushik Basu new World Bank chief economist

The World Bank on 5 September, 2012 named as its chief economist, placing a candidate from an emerging market country in a key position at the global development lender.
Basu, who was most recently chief economic adviser to the government of India, is the World Bank's second chief economist from a developing country. He replaces Justin Lin, a citizen of China, whose term expired on June 1, 2012.
Basu, who holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, is on leave from his position as a professor of economics and international studies at Cornell University in New York. He previously founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics.
Emerging market countries have long pushed for more clout at the poverty-fighting World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.
Starting from October, Basu will serve under new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American and who took the helm of the World Bank two months ago.

List of World Bank Chief Economists
● Hollis B. Chenery — 1972–1982
● Anne Osborn Krueger — 1982–1986
● Stanley Fischer — 1988–1990
● Lawrence Summers — 1991–1993
● Michael Bruno — 1993–1996
● Joseph E. Stiglitz - 1997–2000
● Nicholas Stern - 2000–2003
● François Bourguignon — 2003–2007
● Justin Yifu Lin — June 2008– June 2012
● Martin Ravallion — June 2012- (Acting Chief Economist)

SBI ASSOCIATE BANK CLERKS EXAM MARKETING KNOWLEDGE MCQs

1. EMI can be marketing tool when
1) EMI is very low
2) EMI is very high
3) EMI is fluctuating
4) EMI is constant
5) EMI is ballooning

2. Advertisements are necessary for
1) only old products
2) launching new products
3) only costly products
4) only obsolete products
5) advertisements are wasteful expenses

3. Publicity is required for -
1) generating more number of leads
2) better training of sales persons
3) market survey
4) product designing
5) OTC Marketing

4. NAV is the price of
1) Entire fund value
2) one unit of a fund
3) surrender value
4) average value of shares
5) dividends paid in a year

5. A master policy in the case of Life insurance indicates
1) policy is sale
2) policy is in the name of servant
3) only one life is assured
4) there are several beneficiaries
5) life assured should be a male

6. Customer database is useful for -
1) advertisements
2) word-of-mouth publicity
3) CRM Functions
4) PR functions
5) sales persons training

7. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is -
1) A pre-sales activity
2) A tool for lead generation
3) an ongoing daily activity
4) the task of a DSA
5) back office duty

Jammu and Kashmir Bank was Awarded Best Banker Prize

Jammu and Kashmir Bank on 20 August 2012 won four national awards-The Sunday Standard FINWIZ-2012 Best Bankers’ Awards. The Bank was awarded Best Banker in Financial Inclusion and Customer Friendliness and declared runner up for Best Banker in Priority Sector Growth and Agricultural Credit.
The Sunday Standard is a part of the New Indian Express Group which is based in Chennai. It had engaged Indicus Analytics- India’s premier economic research agency- to conduct a survey and find out India’s best bankers.
The surveyors highlighted the J&K Bank’s contribution in facilitating the workings of the economy and contributing to its growth by promoting entrepreneurs and innovation.