Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi  approved the New Crop Insurance Scheme,‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ to boost the agricultural sector.
The theme of the Scheme is One Nation – One Scheme. In this, all shortcomings and weaknesses of all previous schemes were removed and incorporated with the best features of all schemes.
 Highlights of the scheme are:
• Farmers will pay a uniform premium of only 2 percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, farmers will pay a premium of only 5 percent. The balance premium, after farmers paying the premium at very low rate, will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
• There will not be any upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping limited the Government outgo on the premium subsidy. Now, this capping was removed and farmers will get full sum insured without any reduction against their claim.
• The usage of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.

List of Indian Banks & Private Banks and their Heads

Central Bank
RBI (Governor) – Raghuram Rajan 
RBI (Dy. Governor) – H. R. Khan, Urjit R. Patel, R. Gandhi & S.S. Mundra 

Nationalized Banks 
Allahabad Bank  (Chairman and MD) – Rakesh Sethi 
Andhra Bank (MD and CEO) – Suresh N. Patel 
Bank of Baroda (MD and CEO) – P.S. Jayakumar 
Bank of India (MD and CEO) – Melwyn Rego 
Bank of Maharashtra (Chairman and MD) – Sushil Muhnot 
Bhartiya Mahila Bank (Chairman and MD) – 
Canara Bank (MD and CEO) – Rakesh Sharma 
Central Bank of India (Chairman and MD) – Rajiv Rishi 
Corporation Bank (Chairman and MD) – S.R. Bansal 
Dena Bank (Chairman and MD) – Ashwani Kumar 
IDBI (MD and CEO) – K.P. Kharat 
Indian Bank (Chairman and MD) – M.K. Jain 
Indian Overseas Bank (MD and CEO) –  R. Koteeswaran 
Oriental Bank of Commerce (MD and CEO) –  Animesh Chauhan 
Punjab National Bank (MD and CEO) –   Usha Ananthasubramanian 
Punjab and Sind Bank (Chairman and MD) – J.B. Singh 
Syndicate Bank (MD and CEO) –  Arun Srivastava 
UCO Bank (Chairman and MD) –   Ravi Kishan Takkar 
Union Bank of India (Chairman and MD) – Aurn Tiwari 
United Bank of India (MD and CEO) –   P. Srinivas 
Vijaya Bank (MD and CEO) –  Kishore Kumar Sansi 

State Bank Group 
State Bank of India (Chairman) – Arundhati Bhattacharya 
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (MD) – Jyoti Ghosh 
State Bank of Hyderabad (MD) – Santanu Mukherjee 
State Bank of Mysore (MD) – Sharad Sharma 
State Bank of Patiala (MD) – S.A. Ramesh Rangan 
State Bank of Travancore (MD) – Jeevan Das Narayan 

Private Bank 
Axis Bank (MD and CEO) – Shikha Sharma 
Catholic Syrian Bank (MD and CEO) – Anand Krishnamurthy 
City Union Bank (MD and CEO) – N. Kamakodi 
Development Credit Bank (MD and CEO) – Murali M. Natrajan 
Dhanalakshmi Bank (MD and CEO) – P.G. Jayakumar 
Federal Bank (MD and CEO) – Shyam Shrinivasan 
HDFC Bank (MD) – Aditya Puri 
ICICI Bank (MD and CEO) – Chanda D. Kochhar 
Indusind Bank (MD) – Romesh Sobti 
J and K Bank (Chairman and CEO) Mushtaq Ahmad 
Karnataka Bank (MD and CEO) – P. Jayarama Bhat 
Karur Vyasa Bank (MD and CEO) – K. Venkataraman 
Kotak Mahindra Bank (MD) – Uday S. Kotak 
Lakshmi Vilas Bank (MD and CEO) – 
Nainital Bank (Chairman and CEO) – S.K. Gupta 
Ratnakar Bank (MD and CEO) – Vishwavir Ahuja 
South Indian Bank (MD and CEO) – V.G. Mathew 
Tamil Nad Mercantile Bank (MD and CEO) – K.B. Nagendra Murthy 
Yes Bank (MD and CEO) – Rana Kapoor

RuPAY CARD

❖ RuPay is a combination of two words – Rupee and Payment. RuPay Card is an Indian version
of credit/debit card. It is very similar to international cards such as Visa/Master.

❖ RuPay is the Indian domestic card payment network set up by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) at the behest of banks in India with the approval of Reserve Bank of India.

❖ It is created to fulfill the Reserve Bank of India's desire to have a domestic, open loop, and multilateral system of payments in India.

❖ RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions, and competes
with Master Card and Visa in India.

❖ NPCI maintains ties with Discover Financial to enable the card scheme to gain international acceptance.

❖ National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has a plan to provide a full range of card payment services including the RuPay ATM, RuPay Micro ATM, Debit, Prepaid and Credit
Cards which will be accepted in India and abroad, across various channels like POS, Internet, IVR and mobile etc.

❖ The initial focus of NPCI would be to approach those banks who have not been issuing any payment card at all more specifically – Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and urban co-operative banks.

❖ RuPay cards are accepted at all automated teller machines (ATMs) across India under National
Financial Switch, and under the NPCI's agreement with DFS. RuPay cards are accepted on the international Discover network.

❖ According to the data published by National Payments Corporation of India, there are around
145270 ATMs and more than 875000 Point of Sale (PoS) terminals in India under the RuPay platform.

❖ In addition to the ATMs and PoS terminals, RuPay cards are accepted online on 10,000 e-commerce websites with the same PIN which they use for ATM transactions.

❖ RuPay cards are accepted at all PoS terminals in India. To enable this, RuPay has certified 29
major banks in India to accept the RuPay card at their respective PoS terminals located at different merchant locations.

❖ NPCI has rolled out its chip card for high security transactions using EMV (Europay, Master-
Card and Visa) chip technology, which is a global standard for debit and credit cards. RuPay chip cards have an embedded microprocessor circuit containing information about the card holder and because transactions are PIN-based rather than signature- based.

❖ RuPay also provides a unified "Kisan Card", issued by banks across the country under Kisan Credit Card, enabling farmers to transact business on ATMs and PoS terminals.

BANKING AWARENESS STUDY MATERIAL

Payment Banks: Payments banks are expected to provide small savings accounts, payments/ remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low-income households, small businesses, other un-organised sector entities and other users, by enabling high volume-low value transactions in deposits and payments/ remittance services in a secured technology-driven environment. A
payment bank is covered under sections 5 (b) and 6 (1) (a) to (o) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

How payment banks are different from regular banks: 
These banks can only receive deposits and remittances but cannot carry out lending activities. Aiming at financial inclusion, these banks will provide banking services to migrant labourers, low income households, etc.
1. What is the maximum amount that can be saved under payment bank account?
A: The maximum deposit that a payment bank can accept from an individual customer is Rs 1 lakh.

2. Can a credit card be issued under this scheme?
A: NO

3. Can a payment bank can issue a debit and ATM cards for easy transactions?
A: YES

4. What is the amount of loan that can be sanctioned by a payment bank?
A: No Loan facility. The Reserve Bank has clearly stated that a payments bank cannot undertake any lending activity.

5. Is it safe to save money with a payment bank?
A: YES. Besides normal CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) to be maintained with the RBI, a payments bank will be required to invest 75% of its demand deposit balances in Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) eligible government securities and treasury bills. Further, a maximum of 25% will have to be held in current and fixed deposits with other scheduled commercial banks.

6. What is the capital required for opening payments pay?
A: Rs 100 crore

7. Who led the committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households formed in 2013?
A: Nachiket Mor

8. Who all got licences: Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce, Vodafone m-pesa, Tech Mahindra, Vijay S Sharma of Paytm, Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, NSDL, Fino PayTech, Cholamandalam Dist and Department of Posts.

9. When the operations are likely to start?
A: The companies selected will be given "in-principle" approval for 18 months, after which they will be given licences if they fulfil all conditions stipulated by the RBI.

Questionnaire on Union Budget 2015-16

1. In the Union Budget, rate of Service Tax was hiked from 12% to ____ - 14%
2. In the Union Budget 2015-16, Fiscal deficit seen at how much per cent of GDP in 2015/16? - 3.9 %
3. How much amount has been allocated to the Rural Infrastructure Development Bank in the Union Budget 2015-16? - Rs. 25,000 crore
4. According to the Union Budget, two new IIM will be opened in which of the following states? -Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh
5. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) registered with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) above _______ will be now considered as financial institutions? - Rs. 5,000 crore
6. How much amount has been allocated for Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Union Budget 2015-16? - 346.99 billion rupees
7. How much amount has been allocated to Defence sector in the Union Budget 2015-16? - Rs. 2,46,726 crore
8. According to the Union Budget, how much per cent of Revenue Deficit to be seen in 2015-16? - 2.8%
9. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, how much per cent, rate of corporate tax will be reduced over next four years? - 25%
10. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, now details of PAN has to mentioned compulsory for transactions for more than _____.- Rs. 1 lakh
11. In the Union Budget 2015-16, increase in the limit of health insurance premium from current Rs 15,000 to ____.Rs. 25,000
12. How much amount has been allocated for micro-irrigation watershed projects in the Union Budget 2015-16? - Rs. 5,300 Crore
13. How much amount has been allocated to Infrastructure sector in the Union Budget 2015-16? - Rs. 70,000 crore
14. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, Visa on arrival for how many countries? – 150
15. According to the Union Budget, Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in _____. AP
16. On which date Union Budget 2015-16 was presented in Parliament? - 28 February 2015
17. Name the Union Finance Minister who presented the Union Budget 2015-16 in Parliament? - Arun Jaitley
18. Personal Income Tax limit was not changed in Union Budget 2015-16. What is the present Personal I-T exemption limit? - Rs 2.5 lakh
19. Health Insurance Premium deduction hiked from Rs. 15,000 to?- Rs. 25,000 (for senior citizens to Rs. 30,000)
20. Transport allowance exemption hiked to Rs. 1,600, from ____ per month? - Rs.800
21. PAN card is must for all purchase above ______ rupees as proposed in Budget 2015-16? - Rs. 1 lakh
22. An additional _____% surcharge on people earning over Rs. 1 cr was put forth in the budget 2015-16? - 2%
23. What change was made in the Wealth tax? - Wealth tax abolished
24. DTC was dropped in the Budget 2015-16. Expand DTC? - Direct Taxes Code
25. Corporate tax to be reduced from 30% to ___ over next four years? - 25%
26. Mudra banks to be established with capital of Rs.___ crore?- 20000
27. Rs. ____ deduction for contribution to New Pension Scheme?- Rs. 50,000
28. GAAR implementation deferred by 2 years to? - April 2017
29. Service Tax rate hiked to ___% from 12.36%? - 14%
30. Tax free bonds were proposed in budget for? - Roads, railways, irrigation project

Headquarters of Nationalized Banks

 Allahabad Bank : Kolkata
 Bank of India : Mumbai
 Bank of Maharashtra : Pune
 Canara Bank:  Bangalore
 Central Bank of India : Mumbai
 Corporation Bank:  Mangalore
 Dena Bank : Mumbai
 Indian Bank : Chennai
 Indian Overseas Bank : Chennai
 Oriental Bank of Commerce : New Delhi
 Punjab National Bank : New Delhi
 Punjab & Sind Bank : New Delhi
 State Bank of India : Mumbai
 Syndicate Bank : Manipal
 UCO Bank : Kolkata
 Union Bank of India : Mumbai
 United Bank of India : Kolkata
 Vijaya Bank : Bangalore
 Andhra Bank : Hyderabad

TAGLINES OF DIFFERENT BANKS

1. Allahabad Bank A tradition of trust
2. Andhra bank For all your needs
3. Bank of Baroda India‘s international bank
4. Bank of India Relationships beyond banking
5. Bank of Maharashtra One family one bank
6. Canara Bank Together We Can
7. Central bank Central to you since 1911
8. Dena Bank Trusted Family Bank
9. Indian Bank Taking banking technology to the common man
10. Oriental bank of Commerce Where every individual is committed
11. Punjab National Bank The name you can bank on
12. State bank of India With you all the way
13. Syndicate bank Your faithful & friendly financial partner
14. Vijaya Bank A friend you can bank on

BANKS IN INDIA AS ON April 2015

1) There are a total of 27 PSBs in India [21 NationaliZed banks + 6 State bank group (SBI + 5 associates)]
2) At present there are 22 Private Banks functioning in India
3) At present there are 56 RRBs (Regional Rural Banks ) functioning in India.
4) At present there are 41 Foreign Banks functioning in India

Schemes/ Policy launched by Govt. of India

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) - Agriculture Irrigation Scheme.
Key points:
 Scheme aims at providing irrigation facilities to every village in the country by converging ongoing irrigation schemes implemented by various ministries.
 Budgetary allocation: 1,000 crore rupees for fiscal year 2015-16.
 Funding Pattern: Centre- States will be 75: 25 per cent. In case of north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: It is a small deposit scheme for the girl child.
Key points of the scheme –
 In one family, a maximum of two accounts can be opened for two girl children. The account can be transferred anywhere in India from one Post office/Bank to another.
 Age Limit: The upper age limit of the girl child for opening this account is 10 years. The govt. has given a relaxation of one year in the upper age limit for those opening accounts till December 1, 2015.
 Documents required - 1. Birth Certificate of the girl child. 2. Address proof. 3. Identity proof.
 Minimum & Maximum deposit: The minimum deposit under the scheme is Rs. 1000/-. The maximum deposit is Rs. 1.5 lakhs. There is no limit on the number of investments one can make in an account either in a month or in a year.
 Interest rate: The government will announce the interest rate of the scheme every year. However, the government of India has increased the rate of interest from 9.1% (2014-15) to 9.2% (2015-16) for this financial year.
 Maturity period: The maturity period of the scheme is 21 years from the date of account opening, though deposits need to be made only for the first 14 years.
 The minimum lock-in in period under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is 11 years.

 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY):
 The scheme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.
 The scheme will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). I
 It will cover 24 lakh persons and skill training would be based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards

Bhagyashree scheme: 
It is girl child scheme was launched in Maharashtra. Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
Key points of the scheme:
 The state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family.
 The scheme aims at providing one 1 lakh rupees on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
 The scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.

 Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA): 
Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam launched the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) in New Delhi. The abhiyan aims to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for Science and Mathematics in school children. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan is a concept developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. RAA is an effort to take forward the Prime Minister Narednra Modi’s vision of Digital India, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Teach in India’.

About Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: 
It is a low premium insurance scheme which will link with the Pradhan Mantri Jhan Dhan Yojna. Key points of the scheme:
 Eligibility: Minimum 18 years and maximum 50 years and have bank account are eligible for the scheme. If the account is opened before attaining the age of 50 years, the life cover would remain intact up to the age of 55 years, if premium is paid regularly.

•  Premium payable for this scheme is Rs.330 per year i.e. less than Rs.1 per day. 
•  Risk coverage of Rs.2 Lakh in case of death for any reason. 
•  The premium paid will be tax-free under section 80C and also the proceeds amount will get tax-exemption u/s 10(10D). 

About Atal Pension Yojana (APY): 
It is a scheme mainly for workers in unorganised sector. The scheme will be administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and replace the previous government's Swavalamban Yojana NPS Lite.
Key points of the scheme: 

•  The subscribers who will joined the scheme would receive the fixed pension of Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per month, Rs. 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month, Rs. 5000 per month, at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions. 
•  Age limit: minimum 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. 
•  A subscriber can contribute for minimum period of 20 years or more and pension payment will start at the age of 60 years. 
•  The government of India has decided to co-contribute 50% of the subscriber's contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-20, who join the NPS before 31st December, 2015 and who are not income tax payers.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana: 
It is an insurance scheme which covers death or disablement of the policyholder caused due to accident or accidental injuries.
Key points of the scheme:

•  Age limit: Minimum 18 yrs and maximum 70 years.
•  The scheme will be a one year cover, renewable from year to year and would be administered through the Public Sector General Insurance Companies in collaboration with Banks.
•  Risk coverage: The Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana will offer an accidental death and full disability cover of Rs. 2 Lakh and for partial disability cover of Rs. 1 Lakh.
•  Premium: Rs.12 per annum. The premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers' account.

Important Committees

1. Deepak Mohanty committee – to frame action plan on financial inclusion.
2. A P Shah committee – A high level committee on the controversial issue of payment of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) by foreign institutional investors.
3. Bhupendra Yadav committee – to head panel on the Goods and Services Tax, GST bill
4. SS Ahluwalia committee - on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
5. Vijay Kelkar committee: on Revisiting and Revitalizing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model of Infrastructure Development.
6. B N Navalawala committee: to head task force on inter-linking of rivers.
7. Ajay Shankar committee: to suggest simplified compliance for establishing new industries.
8. AK Bhargava committee: to look into the issues of "Net neutrality".
9. Dhirendra Swarup committee – to begin the preparatory work for Financial Redress Agency (FRA) that was recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC).