Spotting Error Rules

 

Essential Points

1. Articles Comprising the usages of A, An and The
2. Noun Kinds of Noun, Gender, Number, Person, Noun case etc.
3. Pronoun Cases, kinds of Pronoun, different forms and its appropriate rules likewise, Some, Who, What, Which, That, Whose, Any, Whom, Each, Other, One other etc.
4. Adjective Kinds of Adjective and its patterns, various usage like positive, Comparative, Superlative degrees etc.
5. Adverb Kinds of Adverb and its appropriate usages, comprising certain forms.
6. Tenses Grammatical rules of entire tenses (Present, Past, Future, Translation) and its appropriate application.
7. Preposition Various usages of Preposition In, On, Over, Into, Out, Behind, Among, Over, Off, At, Of, Across, Under etc.
8. Conjunction Its various usages basically, Neither ….. nor, Either …… or, Because, Not only ……. but also, Scarcely, Barely, Hardly, When, Although, But, And, No sooner ……. than, such ……. as, So …… that etc.
9. Subject-verb Agreement It is one of the crucial parts, which a candidate should keep focus upon and they should learn the correct grammatical co-ordination of subject and verb.

How to solve questions relating to Spotting Errors?

In the examination of Bank PO, the question paper of English usually, contains questions relating to Spotting Errors. Sentences are usually divided into four parts marked A, B,C, and D. ‘E’ refers to ‘No error’. The candidates are required to find out the part which has an error. The error may be relating to the usage of; Article, Preposition, Tense, Verb, Noun, Pronoun, Adverb, Adjective, Conjunction, Subject-verb agreement etc. Sometimes the error may also be that of English expressions or superfluous use of some words.

                                    You should have a good command over rules of grammar and their applicability. Learn the rules well and then try to attempt these questions. The more you practice the more confidence you get. Just cramming the rules will not solve your problem. Do solve the exercises, again and again, you will surely find improvement in your scoring.

Rules and Correct Use of Articles

Use of ‘A’/’An’

Article A or An is used before a singular noun. The choice between A or An is determined by the first sound of pronunciation (not by the letter of alphabet even it may be A, E, I, O, U) of the noun. If it is pronounced with a vowel sound, use An otherwise A.

Look at the following sentences
a) He is an honest man.
b) He is a European.
c) He is an MLA.
d) He is an SDO.

The following words and the use of ‘A’ or ‘An’ before them. Students generally make mistake using A or An before these words.
1. An hour
2. An hourly morning
3. An hour’s daybreak
4. An honor
5. An honorary post
6. An honorable person
7. An honest man
8. An heir
9. An honorarium
10. A house
11. A historical fair
12. A humble person
13. A husband
14. A heinous crime
15. A young man
16. A ewe
17. A university
18. A unity
19. A union
20. A eulogy
21. A one rupee note
22. A one eyed man
23. A uniform
24. A useful book
25. A useful feature
26. A unique decision
27. A united front
28. A unified plan
29. A year
30. A USA ally
31. An FO
32. A forest officer
33. An MP/ MLC
34. A member of society
35. An IAS/ IPS/ ILO
36. An SP/ SDO
37. An M.A./M.Sc
38. An RTS/ RTC
39. An RC worker
40. A UK ship/ European

‘The’- Definite Article

The definite Article ‘The’ is used in following cases

1. While speaking of a particular person or thing or one already referred to.

Example She found a purse. The purse contained a golden chain. The golden chain is very precious.

2. When a singular noun is meant to represent a whole category/ class :

Example The dog is a faithful animal.

3. ‘The’ is used before superlatives.

Example She is the most beautiful girl in our college.

4. ‘The’ is used with the names of renowned building , gulf, river, ocean, sea etc.

Example The TajMahal, The Persian Gulf, The Char Minar, The Pacific, The Ganges, The Red Sea, The Yamuna, The Thames.

5. ‘The’ is placed only before the plural names of islands and the mountain ranges, chains of mountains, plural names of countries.

Example The Netherlands, The Philippianes, The Bahamas, The Laccadive islands, The Himalayas, The Alps etc.

‘The’ is not used before the names of countries but if the name of the country contains words like; States, Kingdoms, Republic, we use ‘the’ before them. e.g. The USA, The USSR, The Republic of Ireland, The Dominican Republic.’

6. ‘The’ is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (Provided the adjective is not east-west etc)

Example The Arabian Gulf, The New Forest, The High Street

7. ‘The’ is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun.

Example The cape of Good Hope, The Boy of Biscay, The Gulf of Mexico

8. ‘The’ is used before the adjectives east/west etc. + noun in certain names.

Example The East/West End, The East/West Indies, The North/South Pole

9. ‘The’ is also used before the name of directions.

Example The East, The West, The North, The South

10. ‘The’ is used before then name of persons (Family) in plural.

Example The Raymonds, The Ambanis, The Birlas

11. Before the names of important and renowned books.

Examples
a) The Kuran b) The Ramayana c) The Mahabharata
But we say- Homer’s Iliad, Valmiki’s Ramayana, Jaidev’sGeetGovind.

12. Before such common nouns that are names of things unique of their kind.

Example The Sun, The Earth, The sky, The world, The sea, The environment

Examples
a) The sky is dark and the moon is shining.
b) The sea seems calm today.

                                       

i) In the following cases, we do not use ‘The’ before ‘Sea’
a) We go to sea as sailors.
b) He is at sea now-a-days. (on a voyage)
ii) We can use ‘the’ before ‘Space’ if it means place.

He tried to park his car there but the space was too small. But if it means area beyond the earth’s atmosphere, do not use ‘the’ before it.
Example There are lacs of stars in space.

13. Before terms referring Nationality or Community.

Example The Indian, The French, The American, The English

14. Before a proper noun, only when it is qualified by an adjective.

Example The great Caesar, The immortal Shakespeare, The brave Napolean.

15. With ordinals like.

Examples
a) He was the first man to stand up.
b) The sixth chapter of this book is very interesting.
First, second, third …….are called ordinals.
One, Two, Three ……..are called cardinals.

16. Before Musical instruments and name of Inventions.

Examples
a) He can play the flute/ the table/ the harmonium well.
b) Who invented the telephone?

17. Before an adjective, when the noun represents a class of persons.

Examples
a) The young will support the motion.
b) The poor can be trusted.

18. Before a common noun to give it the meaning of an abstract noun.

Examples
a) The moralist in Gandhi, revolted against the injustice.
b) The judge in her prevailed upon the wife and she sentenced her husband to prison.

19. ‘The’ is used before name of Newspaper, Community, Political Party, Historical event, Train, Ship, Aeroplane etc.

20. When two or more nouns refer to one person, put ‘the’ before the first noun only. If both the nouns refer two different persons or thing, ‘the’ is used before both of them.

Example
a) The producer and financier was present there.
(Producer and financier is one person)
b) The producer and the financier were present there.
(Producer and financier are two different persons)

21. ‘The’ is used as an adverb with a comparative.

Examples
a) The more she gets the more she demands.
b) The sooner you complete the better it is.

22. ‘The’ is used before comparative degree being used for selection or comparison.

Examples
a) He is the stronger of the two.
b) This is the better of the two novels.

23. When a person being referred by his designation, ‘the’ is used. The Chairman, The Director, The President, The Chancellor.

Example All financial decisions will be taken by the chairman.

24. When the thing referred is understood.

Examples
a) Kindly return the book. (That I gave you)
b) Can you turn off the light? (The light in the room.)

25. ‘The’ is used in some phrases also.

Examples
a) What is the matter?
b) Come to the point.
c) She came to the rescue.
d) Keep to the left.
e) The market is hot with the rumour.
f) He is in the wrong.

26. In phrases; Go to the cinema, Go to the theatre ‘the’ is used.

Examples
a) He went to the cinema yesterday.
b) She is going to the theatre.

27. Before the names of Committee, Club, Foundation and Trust.

Examples The Lions Club, The Rotary Club, The United Nation, The WHO, The Ford Foundation, The Rajiv Gandhi Trust etc.

28. Letters written to two or more unmarried sisters jointly may be addressed:

The Misses + Surname
The Misses Smith.

Zero Article Situation

Students should learn the following points carefully to avoid the wrong use of articles.
Articles the wrong use of articles.
Article is omitted in following cases

1. before a proper noun

Example Akbar was a great king.

When ‘Article’ is used before a proper noun, it becomes a common noun.
Examples
a) Mumbai is the Manchester Of India.
b) This man is a Second Sachin.

2. before a Common Noun, used in its widest sense.

Examples
a) Man is mortal.
b) What kind of bird it is?

3. before Plural Nouns referring a class in a general sense.

Examples
a) Bankers are generally honest.
b) Lawyers are generally intelligent.

4. before Abstract Nouns that express qualities, state, feeling, actions.

Examples
a) Honesty is the best policy.
b) Virtue is its own reward.

When abstract nouns, instead of referring qualities, express person or things possessing such qualities or express of definite objects. They are preceded by Article.

Examples
a) She possesses the cunningness of a fox. (Here cunningness refers the quality of a definite object that is ‘for’)
b) He is a justice of peace. (‘Justice’ stands for judge)

5. before Material Nouns

Examples
a) Iron is a hard metal.
b) Silver is a semi-precious metal.

When material noun expresses things instead of the matter of which they are made they are representing ‘common noun’, so they can be preceded by the Article.
Examples
a) He threw a stone on the cow.
b) She threw a stick at the pig.

6. before names of diseases like Fever, Cholera, Consumption etc.

(But if the names of diseases are plural in their form, the article is generally used as : the measles, the mumps.)

7. before name of regular meals.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Example He was invited to dinner.
(But if the meal becomes particular article is used)
Example The dinner hosted by the queen was superb.

8. before name of things single in kind; Hell, Heaven, God, Parliament, Paradise (But ‘The Pope’, ‘The Devil’ are exceptions)

Examples
a) He was condemned to hell.
b) The Pope delivered a religious speech.

9. before names of ‘Languages’ or ‘colors’

Examples
a) I do not know ‘Hindi’ but know ‘English’.
b) I like red and blue colours.

10. before certain titles and names indicating the relationship.

Emperor Ashoka, President Bush, DewanBahadur.
Examples
a) Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth’s son.
b) President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
c) Dr. Watson was ‘Sherlock Holmes’ friend.
d) He is Duke of York.
(But : the queen of England, the pope are exceptions)

11. before a noun following the expressions ‘kind of’

Examples
a) What kind of girl is she?
b) What kind of boy is he?

12. In certain phrases.

To take breath, to set sail, to leave school, to lay siege, to catch fire, at home, in hand, at school, by water, at sunset, on earth, by land, by train, by car, on demand, in debt, in jest etc.

13. before nouns, which are plural in their meanings, though singular in form.

Cattle, gentry, furniture, scenery, advice, information.

14. before names of public institutions (Church, School, University, Prison, Hospital, Court etc.) if they are used, for the purpose they exist rather than actual building.

Example He went to church. (It means he went to church for saying his prayer)

He went to church and from there he took a bus. [Means that he went to the place where building of the church is situated]

15. When two or more descriptive adjectives qualify the same. noun and adjectives are connected by ‘and’ the Article is used before the first adjectives only.

Example This is a Hindi and English Dictionary.
(Here dictionary is one)

16. If two nouns refer to the same person or thing, the article is used before the first noun only, but if they refer to different persons or things, the article must be used with each noun.

Examples
a) He is a better soldier than statesman.
b) He was a greater soldier than a stateman.

17. Article is omitted after the possessive case.

Example His brother’s car, Peter’s house.

18. Article is omitted with professions.

Examples
a) Engineering is a useful career
b) He’ll probably go into medicine.

19. Article is omitted with years.

Examples
a) 1947 was a wonderful year.
b) Do you remember 2000.

20. No article is used before names of games, sports.

Examples
a) I am playing cricket.
b) He is fond of playing tennis.

21. No article is used before a noun when it is modified by either possessive adjective or a demonstrative adjective.

Examples
a) Do you like my shirt? (Possessive adjective ‘my’)
b) I like this pen. (Demonstrative adjective ‘this’)

22. No article is used before a noun when it is preceded by a distributive adjective.

Examples
a) Every student got prize. (Distributive adjective ‘every’)
b) Each student was present in the hall. (Distributive adjective ‘each’)

23. No article is used before number + noun.

Examples
a) The train arrives at platform 7.
b) I want shoes in size 10.

24. Work (=place of work) is used without definite article ‘the’.

Examples
a) He is on his way to work.
b) She is at work.
c) They haven’t back from work yet.

25. Office (=place of work) needs ‘the’: He is at/ in the office. To be in office (without the) means to hold an official (usually political) position.

To be out of office= to be no longer in power.

26. Definite article ‘the’ is omitted when speaking of the subject’s or speaker’s own town.

Examples
a) We go to town sometimes to meet our mother.
b) We went to town last year and remained there for a week.

27. ‘Nature’ when means environment, do not use article before it.

Example If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it.

28. No article is used before names of ‘season’.

Examples
a) In Spring we like to clean the house.
b) She is planning to visit her parents in winter.

29. Definite article ‘the’ is not used before ‘Times of day’.

Examples
a) We travelled mostly by night.
b) We’ll be there around midnight.

                                  

30. Names without ‘the’

Names of many places especially names of important buildings and institutions consist of two words. First word is usually the name of a person or a palace, we do not use ‘the’ before such names usually.

Example Delhi Airport, Victoria Station, London Zoo, Jaisingh Palace, Indira Gandhi Airport, Edinburgh Castle, Jaipur Palace etc.

31. Usually no article is used with the name of Airlines, Companies.

British Airways, Sony, IBM, KODAK, Indian Airlines etc.

Error Spotting Rules for SBI PO

Posted By Unknown

Banking Awareness

ATM (Automatic Teller Machines):

Machines that dispense cash and give balance details and mini statements to the customers through Computer network

Bancassurance:

Distribution of insurance products and  policies of insurance companies by banks as agents through their branches.

Bouncing of a cheque:

When an account has insufficient funds, cheque is not payable and is thus returned by the bank with a reason  “funds insufficient”.

Bank Rate:

Rate of interest charged by the central bank to the commercial banks on the advances and the loans they extend.

Call Money:

Loan made for a very short period of only a few days.

Cheque:

Written by an individual to withdraw or transfer amount between two accounts of the same or different bank and the money is withdrawn from the account.

Core Banking Solutions (CBS):

All the branches of the bank are connected together so that the customer can access his/her funds or transactions from any branch.

CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio):

The amount of funds that a bank keeps with RBI. If the percentage of CRR increases then the amount with the bank comes down.

Current Account:

Account opened generally for business purposes with no restrictions on withdrawals and no interest paid

Debit Card:

Card issued by the bank so the customers can withdraw their money from their account electronically.

E-Banking:

Banking in which we can conduct financial transactions electronically. NEFT, RTGS, Online Banking etc come under this category.

Fiscal Deficit:

Amount of Funds borrowed by the government to meet the expenditures.

Inflation:

Increase in the quantity of money in circulation without any corresponding increase in goods thus leading to an abnormal rise in the price level

Liquidity:

Ability of converting an investment quickly into cash with no loss in value.

Market Capitalization:

The product of the share price and number of the company’s outstanding ordinary shares.

Mortgage:

Security which one offers for taking an advance or loan from someone.

Mutual Fund:

Investment scheme that pools money from various investors in order to purchase securities.

Monetary Policy:

Central Government policy with respect to the quantity of money in the economy, the rate of interest and the exchange rate

Non-performing Assets (NPAs):

NPA or non-performing loans are loans given by a bank on which repayments or interest payments are not being made on time

Permanent Account Number (PAN):

PAN is a number issued by the Income Tax Department to their tax payers.

Plastic Money:

Name given to Credit cards, Debit cards, and Other Such Cards issued by banks

Point of Sale (PoS):

PoS refers to a location at which a payment of a card transaction occurs.

Prime Lending Rate (PLR):

Rate of interest at which a bank gives loan to its most reliable customer (customer with ‘zero risk’ )

Pass Book:

Book given to customers, where all the bank transactions are recorded.

Repo Rate:

Commercial banks borrow funds by the RBI if there is any shortage in the form of rupees. If this rate increases it becomes expensive to borrow money from RBI and vice versa.

Reverse Repo Rate:

Exact opposite of repo rate. It is the rate at which RBI borrows money from banks when it feels there is too much money floating in the banking system

SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio):

Amount that a commercial bank should have before giving credits to its customers which should be either in the form of gold, money or bonds.

Teller:

Staff member of the bank who cashes cheques, accepts deposits and perform different banking services for the customers.

Virtual Banking:

Internet banking is sometimes known as virtual banking (as it has no bricks and boundaries )

White labeled ATM:

An ATM or cash machine that does not prominently display a bank’s name or logo. A fee will be charged for cash withdrawals in these ATMs and they don’t accept deposits

Wholesale Banking:

Banking that mainly focuses on the financial needs of the institutional clients and the industry.

Zero Coupon Bond:

Bond that is sold at good discount as it has no coupon.
Friends this is it regarding Weekly Banking Awareness capsule. We will update Weekly Banking Awareness Capsule like this every week.If you have any suggestion or query, kindly post it in the comments section.

The first among the banks:

• First Bank in India – Bank of Hindustan
• First Governor of RBI – Osborne Smith
• First Indian governor of RBI – C D Deshmuk
• First Bank to Introduce ATM in India – HSBC
• First Bank to introduce Saving Bank Account in India – Presidency bank in 1830
• First Bank to Introduce Cheque system in India – Bengal Bank 1784
• First Bank to introduce Internet Banking – ICICI BANK
• First Bank to introduce Mutual Fund – State Bank of India
• First Bank to introduce Credit Card in India – Central Bank of India
• First Foreign Bank in India – Comptoire d’Escompte de Paris of France in 1860
•  First Joint Stock Bank of India – Allahabad Bank
•  First Indian bank to open branch outside India in London in 1946 – Bank of India
• First Indian Bank started with Indian capital – Punjab National Bank
• First Regional Rural Bank name Prathama Grameen Bank was started by – Syndicate Bank
• First Universal Bank in India­ – ICICI Bank
• First bank in India listed in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – ICICI Bank
• First Bank in India to launch Talking ATMs for differently ­able person – Union Bank of India
• First Bank in India to launch its own Payment Aggregators – State Bank of India. (SBIePay)
• Country’s first all woman bank – Bhartiya Mahila Bank
• First India bank Got ISO – Canara Bank 

Banking Regulation Act,1949

• As per Section 5(b) Banking is defined.
• As per Section 8, Trading of goods by a Banking Company is restricted.
• As per Section 17 every banking company incorporated in India is required to transfer each year to Reserve Fund a sum equivalent to not less than 20% of profit before declaration of dividend
• As per Section 24, SLR is to be maintained.
• As per Section 45(Z) Nomination facility has been granted for bank deposits.
• As per Section 35A ,RBI has prohibited stapling of currency notes.

Reserve Bank of India Act,1934 Scheduled Bank-

• As per Section 2(e) a Scheduled Bank is one whose name is included in the Second Schedule to RBI Act, 1934.
• Section 17(4) enables RBI to grant loans and advances to Scheduled Banks
• Section 20 empowers RBI to act as Banker to the Govt.
• Section 22 gives right to issue Bank Notes.
• As per Section 29, Bank note shall be exempted from stamp duty under Indian Stamp Act.
• Section 31 prohibits issue of notes payable to bearer by any person in India other than RBI.
• As per Section 38 RBI is the sole authority to issue currency in the country except for one rupee note or coins( which is issued by Central Govt.)
• As per Section 42(1) all scheduled banks are required to maintain CRR in the form of cash.
• As per Section 45B RBI collects credit information from all banking companies and furnish consolidated credit information to any banking company.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act,1981

• As per Section 3 NABARD was established.
• As per Section 4, capital shall be Rs.100 crore which may be increased to Rs.5000 crore by Central Govt. in consultation with RBI.
• Provides refinance facilities for credit to agriculture, small and village and cottage industries and Co-operative Banks.

Banking Ombudsman Scheme,2006

• As per Section 4, RBI appoints one or more of its officers in the rank of Chief General Manager or General Manager to be known as Banking Ombudsman.
• If a complaint on deficiencies in banking services is not responded by the concerned Bank within one month or the reply has not satisfied the complainant, the Banking Ombudsman whose jurisdiction covers the Bank Branch may be approached.
• The complaint should be made before expiry of one year after the cause of action has arisen. Complaint can be filed simply by writing on a plain paper.
• Complaint can be filed by authorized representative (other than an advocate) of the complainant.
• No fees are charged for resolving a complaint.
• Complaint may be settled by agreement within a period of one month.
• In case it is not settled by agreement, Banking Ombudsman may pass an award by giving reasonable opportunity to both sides.
• The award is on compensation, not more than actual loss suffered on account of the act of omission or commission by the bank or Rs.10 lac whichever is lower.
• In case Award is not acceptable, the party not accepting the award may approach the appellate authority i.e. Deputy Governor of RBI within 30 days from the date of receipt of the award. The complainant has also the recourse before Court.

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002

• Records of cash transactions above Rs.10 lac or its equivalent in foreign currency have to be maintained. Records of series of cash transactions connected to each other of below Rs 10 lac or its equivalent in foreign currency within a month and the aggregate value of such transactions exceeds Rs.10 lac have to be maintained.
• Records of Cash transactions in forged or counterfeit currency notes or bank notes and where forgery of any valuable security has taken place have to be maintained.
• Records of Suspicious transactions in cash or otherwise have to be maintained. Records of transactions, both domestic and international, between the bank and the client need be preserved for at least 10 years from the date of cessation of transaction.
• Cash Transactions Report (CTR) for transactions of above Rs.10 lac in a month have to be submitted to Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) within 15 days of close of the month.
• Suspicious Transactions Report(STR) of a transaction ,in cash or non-cash, or a series of transactions integrally connected have to be reported within 7 days of arriving at the conclusion.

Indian Stamp Act,1989

• As per section 17 of Indian Stamp Act,1989 all instruments/documents chargeable with duty and executed by any person in India shall be stamped before or at the time of execution.
• The Stamp Act extends to whole of India except J&K. Stamp duty on Demand Promissory Note, Bill of Exchange payable otherwise than on demand, money receipts, proxies and transfer of shares comes under Central List.
• Powers to reduce or remit the duty on these instruments are vested with the Central Govt. For other instruments stamp duty rates are prescribed by the respective State Govts.
• In case of Usance Bills, arising out of bonafide commercial or trade transaction, of not more than 3months usance after date or sight drawn on or made by or in favour of a Commercial Bank/Co-operative Bank stamp duty is remitted.
• Documents under Central list are not admissible in evidence if unstamped or understamped and are nullified.

Stamps are of three types:

• Postage stamps- These are covered under India Post Office Act for postal charges.
• Judicial stamps- These are used in connection with filing suit, court fees and other judicial matters as per provisions of Court Fees Act.
• Non-judicial stamps- These are used as per provisions of Stamp Act for commercial transactions.

Non-judicial stamps are of three kinds:

• Adhesive stamps- Adhesive stamps are those which are affixed by adhesive. There are many varieties of adhesive stamps such as revenue stamp, foreign bill stamp, share transfer stamp, insurance stamp, notary stamp, attorney stamp, consular stamp. These stamps are used for transaction.
• Embossed or Impressed stamps- Impressed stamps are Hundi papers( on which Hundis are to be drawn) or Non-judicial stamp papers( on which stamps are already printed). These are mostly used for execution of agreement such as hypothecation, pledge & lien agreements, letter of continuity, letter of guarantees, mortgage deed etc.
• Special adhesive stamps- These stamps are substitutes for non-judicial stamp papers. It is convenient to use them in printed agreements. Special adhesive stamps are to be affixed and cancelled by proper officer notified under the stamp rules.

The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI)

In the event of default by a borrower, the bank have the powers to

1. Take possession, sell or lease the secured assets
2. Take over the management of the business of the borrower
3. Appoint a Manager( not below Scale-IV Officers)
4. Recover money from the debtor of the borrower Loans outstanding of Rs.1 lac & above are covered by the Act. Agri. Loans and where 80% recovery has been done are exempted.

• U/s. 13(2) of the Act, secured creditor has to serve 60 days’ notice before taking any of the measures under Section 13(4) of the Act.
• After service of notice if the borrower makes a representation or raises any objection, the secured creditor shall consider such representation or objection and if the same is acceptable or tenable, the reasons of non-acceptance have to be communicated within one week of receipt.

Central Registry under SARFAESI Act,2002 ( CERSAI)

• Central Registry of Securitization, Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India(CERSAI in short), a Government Company, licensed under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 has been incorporated CERSAI has become operational from 31.3.2011.

Section 20 of the SARFAESI Act,2002provides for setting up of a Central Registry for the purpose of registration of transactions of securitisation, asset reconstruction and security interest under the SARFAESI Act.
It contains the following Four Forms:

• FORM-I – To be used for filing Particulars of Creation or Modification of Security Interest in favour of Secured Creditors Fee:For a loan upto Rs.5 lac : Rs. 250/- for both creation and modification of security interest For a loan above Rs. 5.00 lakh: Rs. 500/- for creation and for any subsequent modification of security interest in favour of a secured creditor.
• FORM-II – To be used for filing Satisfaction of any existing Security Interest Fee – Rs. 250/-
• FORM-III – To be used for filing Particulars of Securitisation or Reconstruction of Financial Assets Fee – Rs. 1000/- FORM-IV – To be used for filing Particulars of Satisfaction of Securitisation or Reconstruction transactions Fee – Rs. 250/- The particulars of every transaction referred to above shall have to be filed with Central Registrar within a period of thirty days from the date of such transaction. In case of delay in filing, the Central Registrar may on an application being made stating the reasons for delay not exceeding thirty days, allow filing of particulars on payment of additional fees, as specified in the SARFAESI (Central Registry) Rules.-

 

Basal Committee:

• The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision provides a forum for regular cooperation on banking supervisory matters.
• Its objective is to enhance understanding of key supervisory issues and improve the quality of banking supervision worldwide.
• It seeks to do so by exchanging information on national supervisory issues, approaches and techniques, with a view to promoting common understanding.
• The Committee‟s Secretariat is located at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland.

NEED FOR BASEL NORMS

• The first accord by the name Basel Accord I was established in 1988 and was implemented by 1992.
• It was the very first attempt to introduce the concept of minimum standards of capital adequacy.
• Then the second accord by the name Basel Accord II was established in 1999 with a final directive in 2003 for implementation by 2006 as Basel II Norms.
• Unfortunately, India could not fully implement this but, is now gearing up under the guidance from the Reserve Bank of India to implement it from 1 April, 2009.
• Basel II Norms have been introduced to overcome the drawbacks of Basel I Accord.
• For Indian Banks, its the need of the hour to buckle-up and practice banking business at par with global standards and make the banking system in India more reliable, transparent and safe.
• These Norms are necessary since India is and will witness increased capital flows from foreign countries and there is increasing cross-border economic & financial transactions.

FEATURES OF BASEL II NORMS

• Basel II Norms are considered as the reformed & refined form of Basel I Accord. The Basel II Norms primarily stress on 3 factors, viz. Capital Adequacy, Supervisory Review and Market discipline.
• The Basel Committee calls these factors as the Three Pillars to manage risks.

Pillar I: Capital Adequacy Requirements

• Under the Basel II Norms, banks should maintain a minimum capital adequacy requirement of 8% of risk assets.
• For India, the Reserve Bank of India has mandated maintaining of 9% minimum capital
  adequacy requirement. This requirement is popularly called as Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) or Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR).

Pillar II: Supervisory Review

• Banks majorly encounter with 3 Risks, viz. Credit, Operational & Market Risks.
• Basel II Norms under this Pillar wants to ensure that not only banks have adequate capital to support all the risks, but also to encourage them to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing their risks.

The process has four key principles:

1. Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for monitoring their capital levels.
2. Supervisors should review and evaluate bank‟s internal capital adequacy assessment and
   strategies, as well as their ability to monitor and ensure their compliance with regulatory capital ratios.
3. Supervisors should expect banks to operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to require banks to hold capital in excess of the minimum.
4. Supervisors should seek to intervene at an early stage to prevent capital from falling below minimum level and should require rapid remedial action if capital is not mentioned or restored.

Pillar III: Market Discipline

• Market discipline imposes banks to conduct their banking business in a safe, sound and effective manner.
• Mandatory disclosure requirements on capital, risk exposure (semiannually or more
  frequently, if appropriate) are required to be made so that market participants can assess a bank‟s capital adequacy.
• Qualitative disclosures such as risk management objectives and policies, definitions etc. may be also published.

BASEL III

• The Reserve Bank released, guidelines outlining proposed implementation of Basel III capital regulation in India.
• These guidelines are in response to the comprehensive reform package entitled “Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems” of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued in December 2010.

The major highlights of the draft guidelines are:

Minimum Capital Requirements:

• Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital must be at least 5.5% of risk-weighted assets (RWAs).
• Tier 1 capital must be at least 7% of RWAs.
• Total capital must be at least 9% of RWAs.

Capital Conservation Buffer:

• The capital conservation buffer in the form of Common Equity of 2.5% of RWAs. A such minimum
• Capital Adequacy ratio for banks will be 11.5% after full application of the capital conservation buffer by 31 March 2018.
• Capital conservation buffer requirement is proposed to be implemented between March 31, 2014 and March 31, 2018.

Transitional Arrangements:

•  It is proposed that the implementation period of minimum capital requirements and deductions from Common Equity will begin from January 1, 2013 and be fully implemented as on March 31, 2018.
• The implementation schedule indicated above will be finalized taking into account the feedback received on these guidelines.
• Instruments which no longer qualify as regulatory capital instruments will be phased-out during the period beginning from January 1, 2013 to March 31, 2022.

Enhancing Risk Coverage

• For OTC derivatives, in addition to the capital charge for counterparty default risk under Current Exposure Method, banks will be required to compute an additional credit value adjustments (CVA) risk capital charge.

Leverage Ratio:

• The parallel run for the leverage ratio will be from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2018, during which banks would be expected to strive to operate at a minimum Tier 1 leverage ratio of 5%.
• The leverage ratio requirement will be finalized taking into account the final proposal of the Basel Committee.

Banking Awareness Capsule for SBI PO

Posted By Unknown

Syllogism

Preferable method to solve Reverse Syllogisms is Elimination method. In this method, we try to eliminate the options step by a step which cannot be answer. Steps should be taken in eliminating the options are given below.
First, always identify “Universal Negative” conclusion, then eliminate those options which do not have a single universal negative statement.   
Secondly, check “Particular Negative” conclusion, then eliminate those options which violates this condition.
Thirdly, check “Universal Positive” conclusion, then eliminate the option which also violate this condition.
In last, check “Particular positive” conclusion, then eliminate the option which also violate this condition.
In last the remaining option will be your answer.
Let's discuss it with examples. These examples are already discussed in Meritshine Video Session.
Example 1
Conclusion:(1) No toxic is injection. (2) Some injections are glucose.
Statements:
(A) All toxic are tablet. No tablet is glucose. Some glucose are medicine. All medicine are injection.
(B) Some toxic are tablet. All tablet are injection. Some injection are glucose. All glucose are medicine.
(C) All tablet are toxic. No injection is toxic. Some glucose are injection. All glucose are medicine.
(D) Some injection are toxic. All injection are tablet. Some toxic are glucose. All glucose are medicine.
(E) Some medicine are toxic. Some toxic are injection. Some injection are tablet. All tablet are glucose.
Solution:
In Reverse Syllogism, Conc.1is Universal negative or disjointed set. So first we will try to find out the option which has the statement following this conclusion.
We can see that, In option B, D and E, there is no negative statement. So these cannot be answer.
In option A and C, there is negative statement. In option C, you can see the statement 2 and statement 3 depict the given conclusion.So, C is the answer.
You can also check option A, but when you have got your answer, there is no use of wasting time.
Now, Question is why I checked first option C?
I checked both option A and C, but in C I found related information to Conclusion, So, I go in detail of it.
Example 2Conclusion:(1) No toxic is injection. (2) Some injection are not glucose.
Statements:(a) All toxic are syrup. Some syrup are glucose. Some glucose are medicine. All medicine are injection.
(b) Some toxic are syrup. All syrup are injection. Some injection are glucose. All glucose are medicine.
(c) All syrup are toxic. Some toxic are not injection. Some glucose are injection. All glucose are medicine.
(d) Some injection are not toxic. Some injection are not syrup. Some toxic are glucose. All glucose are medicine.
(e) No medicine is syrup. All toxic are medicine. All injection are syrup. No syrup is glucose.
Solution:
In this also conclusions are “No toxic is injection” and “Some injection are not glucose”.
First we will identify the option which has statements depicting “No toxic is injection”.
Except option E, all options do not have any “Universal negative” statement. So our answer will be E.
If you have gone through meritshine video and previous article, you basics have been clear, no need to check of the option E. Still for your convenience let’s check Option E.

We can see that All toxics are medicine, All injections are syrup and no medicine is syrup. So, no toxic is injection.
All injections are syrup and No syrup is glucose. So, no injection is glucose which infers that some injection is not glucose.
Example 3Conclusion:
(1) All toxic are injection.              (2) Some glucose are not medicine.
Statements:(A) All toxic are syrup. Some syrup are glucose. Some glucose are injection. All medicine are injection.
(B) All toxic are syrup. All syrup are glucose. Some toxic are not medicine. All glucose are injection.
(C) All syrup are toxic. Some toxic are injection. Some glucose are injection. All glucose are medicine.
(D) Some injection are not toxic. No injection are syrup. No toxic are glucose. All glucose are medicine.
(E) No toxic is syrup. All syrup are glucose. All toxic are medicine. All toxic are injection
Solution:In this there is no universal negative statement. Now, we will first focus on Particular Negative statement.
In option A and option C, there is no negative statement, so these options are eliminated.
In option D, last statement is “All glucose are medicine” given, so it will not be the answer.
Now let’s check option E and B.
In option E, last statement has already depicted the first conclusion, but there is no restriction on Glucose and medicine. So, this will also not be our answer.

We have already eliminated four options. So the remaining will be our answer i.e. B.
Now let’s check option B. But, in exams you don’t need to check when you have elimated four options.

We know “some toxic are not medicine” means atleast one element of toxic is not medicine.
In diagram B.1, all toxic are glucose so, so at least one  element of glucose will not be medicine.
Example 4Conclusion:(1) Some car are bus.    (2) No bus is plane.    (3) All plane are train
Statement:(A) Some car are not plane. All drum are train. Some bus are not plane. All planes are drums.
(B) Some bus are car. All bus are train. No plane is bus. All car are train.
(C) Some bus are car. Some car are plane. Some train are plane. No plane is bus.
(D) All bus are train. All plane are drum. Some bus are car. All drum are bus.
(E) All drum are train. No train is car. All bus are car. All plane are drum.
Solution:
In given conclusions, Conc.2 is universal negative type. So, we will first identify options which have this type of statement.
Option B, C and E are this type of statement, so options A and D are eliminated.
In option B and C, statement “No plane is bus” available. Let’s first see these both option.
In option B, there is no relation between plane and train. This option is also eliminated.
In option C, If we check Conc.3 “All plane are train” which is universal affirmative for it statements should be also universal affirmative. So, this option is also eliminated.
So, answer is E. Let’s check it also.

Reasoning

Posted By Unknown

Financial Awareness

1.RBI cancels registration of 22 NBFCs

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled registration of 22 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) including Amazon Capital and Mascot Commerce.

2. Swavalamban subscribers can switch to APY: PFRDA

• Subscribers of micro-pension scheme ‘Swavalamban’, which closes on March 31, can switch to the ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) and retain the government’s co-contribution.
• Under the scheme, the government contributes Rs 1,000 per year to each NPS account for the first four years.

3. Boost for e-commerce as Centre permits 100 per cent FDI in online market places

• The government permitted 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for retail trading, or B2C (business-to-consumer) transactions, in the marketplace model of e-commerce.

4. Gujarat to set up country's first organic farming university

• In 2016-17 state annual budget; state government has allocated a fund of 10 crore rupees towards the university.  It also took steps like setting up of a cell to implement its new organic farming policy. 

5. ADB, USAID to assist developing Solar parks in India

• The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Asian Development Banktoday signed a pact for providing Rs 5,681 crore (USD 848 million) to develop solar parks across India, as part of clean energy infrastructure in the country.

6. ONGC to invest $5 billion to develop KG basin deepwater block

• The ONGC board has approved a $ 5.076-billion field development plan for a portion of its deepwater oil and gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin on the east coast.

7. Indian-American appointed as President, CEO of Bank of the West

• Indian-American Nandita Bakshi has been appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of the West, a subsidiary unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

8. Jeff Bezos top Fortune’s Greatest Leaders List

9. India’s forex reserves reach all time high

• India’s forex reserves jumped by $2.5 billion to reach a record high at $355.9 billion for the week that ended on March 18, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday in its weekly statistical report.
• The previous high stood at $355.4 billion reported on June 27 of last year 

10. New BRICS-supported bank approves first loans

• A new multilateral lender set up by the BRICS nations has approved its first set of loans valued at 811 million US dollars for renewable energy projects in four of its member countries.
• According to a statement, the first group of projects approved by the bank’s board are in the area of green and renewable energy.

11. Centre to increase monthly minimum wages to 10,000 rupees for contract labourers

• Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has said that the government has decided to bring out an executive order to increase minimum wages to 10,000 rupees per month for contract labourers across the country.

12. Jharkhand Government launches Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for widows

• It was launched by Chief Minister Raghubar Das on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar.
• The scheme (Yojana) aims at building 11000 units (houses) for widows in 2016-17 financial year with the budgetary allocation of 80 crore rupees.
• Under it, beneficiaries would get an amount of 75000 rupees to build a house in hilly terrains districts and 70000 rupees in plains area.

13. India offers to invest $20 billion in oil and other projects in Iran

•  India has offered to invest up to $20 billion in oil, petrochemicals and fertiliser projects in joint ventures with Iran if Tehran provides land and cheap gas, even as there is no sign yet of an agreement on the long-pending rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by staterun ONGC Videsh.

 14. India to get $250m for renewables from New Development Bank

The New Development Bank, the latest multilateral funding institution in the financial world, has sanctioned a $250 million loan for India to fund its ambitious scheme on new and renewable energy.

15. RBI gave in-principle approval to Airtel payments bank

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted the first payments bank license to Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL) which is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.

• All companies, which received in-principle approval from RBI in August, will have to make their banks operational by March 2017.

16. India world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015: World Bank

• In its annual report Migration and Development Brief, World Bank said, India retained its top spot in 2015, attracting about 69 billion US dollars in remittances, down from 70 billion in 2014.

17. Interest rates for NSSF loan to Centre, states cut to 8.8%

• The government has slashed interest rates on loans from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) to 8.8 per cent from 9.5 per cent for FY17.
• All the funds collected from small savings such as National Small Savings Certificate,Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme (SCSS) is deposited in the NSSF.

18. Nauru becomes 189th member of IMF, World Bank

The Republic of Nauru, a tiny South Pacific island nation in Pacific Ocean became the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

19. Vijay Shekhar Sharma appointed chairman of IAMAI payments banks group

•  Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India, has appointed Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chairman of its the newly formed payments banks group.
• Vodafone India business head(M-Pesa)Suresh Sethi, will be the vice-chairman of the group.

20. India may expand by 7.7% in fiscal year 2017: Fitch

• Fitch Ratings expects India to be on the top of the global growth ladder and expanding by 7.7 per cent in the current fiscal.
• Growth is expected to gradually accelerate to 7.7 per cent in FY17 and 7.9 per cent in FY18,” Fitch Ratings said in its India-Global Economic Outlook (GEO) Forecast.

21. India to notch up to 7.5 pc growth in 2016–17: IMF

• MF in its latest, World Economic Outlook report said, India’s growth is projected to notch up to 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, overtaking China’s GDP by more than 1 per cent.

22. Postal department to launch payments bank by January 

• The Department of Post will launch its payments bank by January next year and top management of the new-age venture would be in-place by July.

23. India, Germany sign pact on Ganga Rejuvenation

• The project duration is three years from 2016 to 2018 and the German contribution in the project will be to the tune of 22.5 crore rupees. 

24. Central govt employees get 6 per cent DA hike from Jan 1

• Dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees has been hiked to 125 %of basic pay, up by 6 percentage points, with effect from January 1, 2016.
• The Centre revises DA twice a year on the basis of one year average of retail inflation for industrial workers as per a pre-determined formula.

25. Nita Ambani most powerful businesswoman in Asia: Forbes

• SBI Chairman and Managing Director Arundhati Bhattacharya has been rankedsecond.

26. RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5%; Keeps CRR unchanged

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut down key interest rates repo rate by 25 basispoints to 6.50 per cent from 6.75 per cent in its first bi-monthly monetary policyreview for the 2016-17 fiscal.

27. DCB Bank launches India’s first Aadhaar-based ATM

• DCB Bank has launched, India’s first of its kind Aadhaar-based Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) in Mumbai. It is a card less and PIN less ATM,customers can transact using hisbiometric details instead of the PIN.

28. Modi launches ‘Stand Up India’ scheme 

• The scheme is intended to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes,Schedule Tribes and women will involve loans ranging from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.

29. India ranks 6th in 2015 top-10 manufacturers list: UNIDO report

• India has been ranked sixth among the world’s Top-Ten largest manufacturing countries in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 2015 Yearbook report.

30. Germany’s Development Bank KfW to provide loan assistance to metro system for Nagpur

• Germany’s Development Bank KfW will provide loan assistance of three thousand and 750 crore rupees for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city being executed by Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

31. Geeta Reddy is new Chairperson of PAC 

• Congress senior MLA J Geeta Reddy has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Telangana.

  1. India's first small finance bank starts operation

•  Capital Small Finance Bank, India's first small finance bank starts operation on 24^th April 2016. It opened 10 new branches in Punjab.
• It is among the 10 entities that were given the in-principle approval by RBI to set up small finance banks.

Key points –

• Sarvjit Singh Samra is a Managing Director of Capital Small Finance Bank.
• The Jalandhar-headquartered bank had been operating as Capital Local Area Bank since January 2000
• It had been operating with 47 branches in five districts of Punjab.
• In the current financial year, the bank would consolidate its business in Punjab by adding 29 branches
• Out of this, 10 were opened on 24^th April 2016

Note:

• RBI on September 15, 2015 grants in-principle approval to 10 Small Banks’ applicants. 
• 8 out of 10 companies are Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) with established track records and significant presence among small borrowers.   

32.The selected Applicants are as follows:

(i) Au Financiers (India) Limited,
(ii) Capital Local Area Bank Limited,
(iii) Disha Microfin Private Limited,
(iv) Equitas Holdings P Limited,
(v) ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Limited,
(vi) Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited,
(vii) RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited,
(viii) Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited,
(ix) Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited and
(x) Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited.
Major Key points on Small Banks –

• The small bank shall be registered as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 2013.
• The minimum paid-up capital requirement for small banks is Rs. 100 crore.
• The in-principle approval granted by RBI will be valid for a period of 18 months.
• As per the guidelines, the promoters’ initial minimum contribution will be at least 40 % of the minimum capital, to be locked in for a period of 5 years.
• Small banks will offer both deposits as well as loan products.
• They cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.
• The maximum loan size and investment limit exposure to single/group borrowers/issuers would be restricted to 15 percent of total capital funds.
• Loans and advances of up to Rs 25 lakhs, primarily to micro enterprises, should constitute at least 50 percent of the loan portfolio.

33. India overtakes China as top FDI destination in 2015: FDI Intelligence Report

• India has replaced China as top destination for foreign direct investment by attracting $63 billion worth FDI projects in 2015, says a report.
• According to FDI Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd. - "India was the highest ranked country by capital investment in 2015, with $63 billion-worth of FDI projects.
• There was an 8 per cent increase in project numbers to 697. The boost in FDI has resulted in a whopping increase in job creation from nearly 1 lakh in 2013 to over 2 lakh jobs in 2015.
• These high-value projects were specifically announced across the coal, oil and natural gas and renewable energy sectors India has replaced China as the top destination for FDI by capital investment following of high-value project announcements.

Note:

• Greenfield FDI inflow in India and China was followed by Indonesia ($38.5 billion), Mexico ($24.3 billion) and Brazil ($17.3 billion).
• Top FDI State in India - Gujarat was on top which had attracted $12.4 billion. Maharashtra was second attracting $8.3 billion respectively in 2015.

34. PNB becomes top mobiliser under Gold Monetisation Scheme

•  State-owned Punjab National Bank today said it has become the top mobiliser under Gold Monetisation Scheme, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2015.
• The bank has mobilised substantial gold deposit under Short Gold Bank Term Deposit (STGBD) for three years from one of the leading trusts of India – Tirumula Tirupati Devasthanam, Tirpuati (TTD), PNB said in a statement.
• The bank has mobilised 1,311 kg of gold since the launch of the scheme in November. It would continue to work actively for mobilization of gold deposit under GMS, it added.

Note:

• Under the GMS, banks are authorised to collect gold for up to 15 years to auction them off or lend to jewellers from time to time.
• Depositors will earn up to 2.50 per cent interest per annum, a rate lower than bank deposits.

GMS operates under three categories,

• Short-term deposit (for one to three years with a rollout in multiples of one year),
• Medium term deposit (for five to seven years) and
• Long term deposit (for 12 to 15 years).

 35. Govt. lowers EPF rate to 8.7% from 8.8% for FY16

•  The finance ministry has announced an interest rate of 8.7% for the subscribers of employees’ provident fund (EPF) for 2015-16, 10 percentage points lower than the rate prescribed by the EPF Organisation’s Central Board of Trustees (CBT).
• The CBT, at its meeting held in February 2016, had proposed an interim rate of interest at 8.8% to be credited to the accounts of EPF subscribers for 2015-16. The ministry of finance has, however, ratified an interest rate to 8.7%.
• This is probably the first time that the finance ministry has not given concurrence to the rate of interest on EPF as decided by CBT, which is headed by the labour minister.

 36. Mahindra & Mahindra becomes first Indian company to join EP100 campaign

• Automobile giant Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian company to join a global energy campaign led by an international non-profit group that will work with the world's most influential businesses in setting commitments to double their energy productivity.
• By signing up to 'EP100' campaign led by 'The Climate Group', the world's largest manufacturer of tractors has committed to doubling their energy productivity by 2030, a core requirement for any business signing on to the campaign.

About EP100 energy productivity campaign -

• The campaign is a brainchild of the “Climate Group”, an international non-profit organization.
• It helps businesses, state, regional, finance and civil society leaders from all over the world to increase their energy productivity and thereby lessen their carbon footprints.

37. Goldman Sachs launches online-only bank for the masses

• Goldman Sachs has officially launched an online bank aimed at households and small businesses as it expands from its Wall Street base and aims for the masses.
• The online-only GS Bank permits consumers to open an account for as little as USD 1, a big shift for a financial powerhouse that has built itself around serving billionaires and giant companies undertaking mega-mergers.
• The move comes on the heels of Goldman’s acquisition of GE Capital’s online deposit platform, after which it assumed about USD 16 billion of deposits from some 145,000 customers.
• Goldman is offering savers a relatively robust interest rate of 1.05 per cent, much higher than the 0.01 per cent now available at JPMorgan Chase and other retail banks.
• Goldman Sachs is also offering a five-year certificate of deposit at 2.0 per cent, also much higher than the going rates at other large banks.

38. Govt. hikes minimum wage for contract workers to Rs 10,000

• The minimum wage for contract workers has been increased to Rs 10,000 per month, Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Monday.
• The minister of state for labour and employment informed Lok Sabha that the wage hike has been implemented based on a Supreme Court verdict.
• "Recently, we have increased minimum wage to Rs 10,000 at the national level taking into consideration the Consumer Price Index and Dearness Allowance. This was based on the verdict of the Supreme Court.

39. India, France launch $1 trillion potential solar programme for developing countries

• India and France have launched a programme with $1 trillion potential to help developing countries harness fully their solar resources for a clean energy future to meet the “biggest challenge humanity has ever faced”.
• Power Minister Piyush Goyal and French Environment Minister Segolene Royal announced the solar finance programme that aims to lower the cost of finance and facilitate the flow of more than $1 trillion investment to members of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• A second programme they launched at the ISA meeting held during the signing ceremonies for the Paris Climate Change Agreement here aims to make available solar technology for farmers.
• The meeting was attended by representatives of over 25 countries including the US, Brazil, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Note:

• The ISA, which was launched at the Paris Climate Change Summit last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, seeks to empower solar-rich countries located between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn, many of which have at least 300 days of sunshine, and share common challenges and opportunities.
• During Hollande’s visit to India in January, the two leaders laid the foundation stone for the ISA headquarters in Gurgaon.

40. India ratifies WTO agreement to boost global economic integration

• India has ratified the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which could further “its integration into the global economy” by boosting trade through efficient movement of goods.
• India’s Permanent Representative to the WTO, Anjali Prasad, formally presented the instrument of acceptance ratifying the agreement to WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo on Friday in Geneva.

Note:

• India is the 76th WTO member to accept the TFA, which will enter into force once two-thirds of WTO 162 members formally accepted the Agreement.
• The TFA was agreed upon at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in 2013.
• The agreement aims at - expediting the movement and clearance of goods, including goods in transit and establishing effective cooperation between customs and other authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
• The implementation of the TFA has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to $1 trillion per year, according to the WTO’s 2015 flagship World Trade Report.

41. RBL becomes first private sector bank to open dedicated branch for startups

• The RBL Bank (formerly Ratnakar Bank) became the first private sector bank in India to open dedicated branch for startups.
• The dedicated branch was inaugurated at Koramangala, Bengaluru by Nandan Nilekani, noted entrepreneur and former chairman of UIDAI.
• The first exclusive bank branch for start-ups will offer a bouquet of banking products to service the end-to-end needs of the emerging entrepreneurial eco-system.
• The branch will assist entrepreneurs in setting up new enterprises or companies.
• It will offer them host of banking products including, foreign exchange services, remittances and cash management. The Branch will also provide a range of value added services including legal and tax formalities, registration etc. through its affiliates and partners.

42. Government does u-turn on EPF, agrees to 8.8 percent interest rate

•  Bowing to persistent pressure from trade unions and political parties, the government on Friday increased the interest rate on employees provident fund (EPF) deposits to 8.8 percent from 8.70 percent announced earlier for 2015-16.

Note:
(i) The provident fund rate was 8.75 percent in 2014-15 and the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) had recommended to make it 8.8 percent for this fiscal. However, the finance ministry had rejected the recommendation and had approved only 8.70 percent interest, citing lower earnings.
(ii) Trade unions had threatened to intensify their agitation from September if the government did not comply with the demand of higher EPF interest rates.
(iii) As the government decided to agree to 8.8 percent interest rate, Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) president A.K. Padmanabhan said this is the third time the BJP-led central government is backtracking on its decision faced with strong opposition.

43. Maharashtra is the biggest contributor to income tax collections in India

•  Maharashtra is the biggest contributor to the Indian government's income tax collections. The state contributed Rs. 2,77,720.11 crore, or about 40 percent, of the total Rs. 6,95,788.85 crore in income tax collections, in financial year 2014-15. 
• For the first time, the country's income tax department has released the income tax data on 29th April 2016. 
• There are 10 categories of income tax assesses in India – individuals, corporates, trusts, local authorities, government, partnership firms, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), body of individuals, association of persons and artificial juridical person.

Note:
(i) The number of individual Indians paying income tax decreased by 3.70 lakh between financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14. In 2013-14 (assessment year 2014-15), 4.87 crore individuals paid taxes, down from 4.90 crore in the previous year.
(ii) In all, 7.14 lakh companies paid corporate tax in financial year 2013-14, marginally up from 7.03 lakh companies in the preceding year.
(iii) Overall, the number of income tax payees declined to 5.17 crore (provisional) in financial year 2013-14 (assessment year 2014-15) from 5.21 crore in the previous financial year.
(iv) According to the provisional direct tax collection data, the government collected Rs.7,42,295 crore in 2015-16.

 44. India to maintain 7.6% GDP growth in 2016: UNESCAP

• According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), India's economy is expected to grow by 7.6 per cent in 2016-17.
• Indian economy may expand by 7.8% in 2017-18.
• With rural demand continuing to be weak after two years of back-to-back droughts, urban demand is expected to do the heavy lifting.
• Urban consumption is expected to get a boost with the government accepting the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations

45. Ind-Ra lowers GDP growth forecast to 7.7% from 7.9%

• Ratings firm Ind-Ra today revised downwards to 7.7 per cent India’s GDP growth forecast for the current financial year, from 7.9 per cent earlier, due to weak industrial growth.
• “Despite favourable prospects for agriculture due to an above normal monsoon, industrial recovery is proving to be a drag on the FY17 growth prospect,” India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).
• The report expects inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which has been in the negative zone for 17 months, to turn positive in early 2016-17 and be beneficial for both government and corporates.

46. MGNREGA scheme: 3 N-E states on top, two at bottom

• Three northeastern states lead the table in providing rural jobs while another two are at the very bottom of the table, in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
• Tripura retained its top position for the seventh consecutive year in providing jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – a staggering 94.46 person days per household – in just ended fiscal 2015-16 against the national average of 48.51 days. (One hundred days makes for a perfect 10.)
• According to a performance report of the union rural development ministry, Mizoram and Sikkim were second and third by providing 68.55 and 66.97 days of jobs in the fiscal.
• In sharp contrast, two other northeastern states – Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur – were at the very bottom among India’s 29 states by providing only 27.47 and 15.65 days of jobs.
• “The recent UNDP Global Human Development Report refers to the MGNREGA as one of the milestones in social protection measures in the world, comparable cohort schemes – Rural Employment for Public Assets in Bangladesh, Jefes De Hogar in Argentina and the limited Karnali employment programme in Nepal,” the ministry’s report said.

47. Indian Railways to harness 1000 MW solar power by 2020

• Indian Railways proposes to harness 1000 Mega Watt (MW) solar and 150 MW wind energy by 2020.
• A total of about 50 MW renewable energy capacity has been installed till date, including approximately 11 MW solar power and 37 MW wind power.
• “In addition, installation of 6.5 MW is in progress and for about 50 MW solar capacities, request for qualification (RFQ) has been issued by zonal railways,” he added.
• For harnessing renewable energy sources for its requirements, Sinha said the mechanism put in place include signing of memorandum of understanding between Railways and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), finalisation of model bid documents for rooftop solar power plants with the financial support of MNRE.
• Based on these model bid documents, zonal railways have floated tender documents for installation of solar rooftop plants at railway premises.
• Such renewable energy plants are being put up in Railways in an economical manner to reduce the cost of energy with viable gap funding from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

48. India on 5th place in fake goods trade; China on top

• India is the fifth biggest exporter of fake goods globally, while China is on the top with a huge 63 per cent share in the estimated half-a-trillion dollar worldwide imports of counterfeit and pirated goods.
• China is followed by Turkey, Singapore, Thailand and India among the top-five countries from where most fake goods originate, as per a new study by the OECD (Organisation Economic Cooperation and Development) and the European Union's Intellectual Property Office.
• China-made products accounted for 63.2 per cent of total seizures of fake imported goods globally, while the second- ranked Turkey's share was just 3.3 per cent.
• The same for Singapore, Thailand and India stood at 1.9 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
• Among the countries hit hardest by the global trade in fake foods, the US comes on the top and is followed by Italy, France, Switzerland and Japan in the top-five.
• The report, which analysed nearly half a million customs seizures around the world over 2011-13, further said that its findings contradict the image that counterfeiters only hurt big companies and luxury goods manufacturers.
• Fake products crop up in everything from handbags and perfumes to machine parts and chemicals, while footwear is the most-copied item though trademarks are infringed even on strawberries and bananas.

49. Ujjivan to open 100 new branches to meet licence norms

•  Micro-lender Ujjivan Financial Services, which has launched a Rs 885-crore IPO, will open 100 odd bank branches to meet the regulatory norm for a small bank licence. The bank would be launched by April 2017.
• We need to have 25 per cent of bank branches in unbanked areas. Currently, we have none. Due to operational factors our existing branches are mostly next to PSU bank braches. We propose to set up about 100 new branches in unbanked locations," Ujjivan MD and CEO Samit Ghosh told.
•  "According to regulatory requirement, the foreign holding in the small bank has to be less than 49 per cent. IPO is the first step towards transformation to a small bank.
• Foreign shareholding has come down to 77 per cent following a pre-IPO placement. The IPO will help reduce further to 44-45 per cent,"
• Ujjivan has about 11.15 per cent marketshare of the NBFC-MFI business in the country with some 470 odd existing branches spread across 24 states.

50. NABARD partners with Germany for food security initiative

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has entered into collaboration with German Government for a special programme on ‘Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security‘.
• The programme is part of the German government’s recently introduced special initiative ‘One World, No Hunger’ initiative.
• As part of the collaboration NABARD is anchoring two programmes viz. Soil conservation and rehabilitation of degraded land programme in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• Innovation of watershed development and climate change adaptation programmes in five states Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
• Germany’s ‘One World, No Hunger’ addresses areas such as food and nutrition security, protection and sustainable use of natural resources in rural areas, promotion of innovation and promotion of responsible land use and access to land.
• India is the only country in Asia chosen for this initiative.

51. SIDBI signs MoU with Saarc Development Fund

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Saarc Development Fund (SDF) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for mutual cooperation and collaboration.
• The MoU was signed by SIDBI Deputy Managing Director A K Kapur and SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal.
• The MoU envisages SDF and SIDBI to work together in co-funding of projects in Indian MSMEs on risk sharing basis in identified sectors, development of suitable financial products for SME financing for MSMEs of other Saarc states.
• Technology transfer and making available software to MFIs regarding loan tracking systems in other SAARC states. Capacity development of SDF, SIDBI and SME funding institutions in SAARC countries.
• SIDBI is an independent financial institution aimed to aid the growth and development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).

52. India to clock 7.4 pct GDP growth this fiscal: Standard Chartered

• The Indian economy is expected to clock a GDP growth of 7.4 per cent this fiscal largely driven by the lagged impact of a good monsoon and increased consumer spending, supported by pay commission awards, a Standard Chartered report says.
• The expectations of a growth recovery are contingent on consumption revival, especially rural demand as investment-led recovery will likely be gradual amid rising external woes, the global financial services major said.
• According to the global brokerage firm, the recovery in rural consumption due to better monsoons is likely to support the consumption momentum generated by higher pay for public-sector employees.

 53. ICICI Bank signs MoU with New Development Bank

•  ICICI Bank became the first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.
• The MoU was signed by BDB’s first President and ICICI Bank veteran KV Kamath and ICICI Bank Chief Chanda Kochhar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Key Points

•  The MoU will help NDB in exploring rupee-denominated bonds in the domestic and international markets. It will make both the lenders collaborate to fund development projects in India.
• They will also leverage a mutually beneficial partnership in other areas such as treasury risk management, human resource development and account and cash management services.
• The MoU will help NDB to leverage the deep market access and insight of ICICI Bank in the India’s financial markets.

 About New Development Bank

•  NDB is a multilateral development bank promoted by BRICS nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• It is outcome of 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil.
• It is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
• It will have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. NDB began its operations in July 2015 with an initial capital of 100 billion dollars.
• The goal of the bank is to fund infrastructure projects in emerging economies for sustainable development. In the NDB, each participant country has been assigned one vote, and none of the countries have veto power.

54. KV Thomas renominated PAC chief

•  Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has re-nominated senior Congress leader KV Thomas as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a third term of one year.
• The senior leader, representing the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, was first nominated in August 2014 as Chairman of the PAC, one of the most important finance committees in the Parliament. He was re-nominated for another term last year.

About PAC - 

• The Committee on Public Accounts is constituted by Parliament each year for examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India, the annual Finance Accounts of Government of India.
• The PAC, constituted every year comprises 22 members — 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha.
• The Chairman is appointed by the Speaker from amongst its members of Lok Sabha.
• The Speaker, for the first time, appointed a member of the Opposition as the Chairman of the Committee for 1967-68.

55. IMF retains India growth forecast at 7.5% for 2016, 2017

•  In its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific, IMF has retained its growth forecast for India this year at 7.5 per cent.
• India remains on a strong recovery path, with GDP growth reaching 7.3 per cent in 2015, the Fund said adding that India's growth is projected to strengthen to 7.5 per cent in 2016 and 2017.
• According to IMF, growth in Asia and the Pacific is expected to remain strong at 5.3 per cent this year and next.
• However, China and Japan, the two largest economies in Asia, continue to face challenges.
• China's growth is forecast to moderate from 6.9 per cent in 2015 to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in 2017, while Japan's growth is expected to continue at 0.5 per cent in 2016, before dropping to -0.1 per cent in the next year.

56. SBI rolls out mVisa

•  State Bank of India (SBI) had announced the launch of mVisa, a mobile-based payment solution.

Key points -

• The service will enable SBI customers to make payments from their smart phones, by scanning the unique merchant QR (Quick Response) code image at merchant outlets, thereby eliminating the need to swipe the physical card at a point-of-sale (PoS) machine.
• SBI customers can download the latest version of SBI Anywhere application, from ‘Google Play Store’ and need to register for mVisa payments.

57. Bengaluru tops online learning in India: Coursera

•  According to online learning site Coursera, India is the third largest online learning market globally after the US and China.
• In India, hi-tech city Bengaluru tops with the maximum number of registered learners in the country.
• Out of Coursera's 18 million registered learners, 1.3 million are from India with top registered learners hailing from Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
• The most active online learners in India are entrepreneurial, young professionals in their 20s and 30s who are laser focused on gaining the technical skills that are sought after by India's top employers,".
• The analysis has revealed that 21 per cent of learners access their course material on their mobile phones and the proportion of male learners are 76 per cent while female learners comprise 24 per cent.

58. NASSCOM, Facebook ink MoU to engage with India's entrepreneurs

•  NASSCOM has signed an MoU with Facebook to build a product design initiative to engage the country's young entrepreneurs into becoming problem solvers and solution builders.

Key Points

• The initiative will engage the country’s young entrepreneurs into becoming problem solvers and solution builders.
• It will be country-wide initiative and shall offer focused programmes to build awareness in product design and mentorship.
• Under it, Nasscom Product Council through its flagship programme will support over 500 product start-ups on product design.
• This is for the second time that NASSCOM and Facebook have partnered to promote entrepreneurship and startup initiatives in India.
• Earlier in 2015, they have partnered for its initiative called Leaders Building for the Next Billion.

59. Government releases Rs 9,367 crore under MGNREGA to drought-hit states

•  The Centre has released Rs 9,367 crore to drought-hit states under MGNREGA in 2016-17.
• The government has also relaxed norms under MGNREGA to provide additional employment of 50 days per household over and above the 100 days in areas affected by natural calamities during 2015-16, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
• Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan are reeling under drought.

 60. Federal Bank ties up with Transfast Remittance

•  Federal Bank has entered into a tie up with Transfast Remittance LLC for facilitating online inward remittance to India in rupees for NRI customers in the US.
• Transfast is a leading omni-channel provider of cross-border payment solutions to consumers around the world.
• With this tie-up, the US-based NRI customers can transfer money instantly to their NRI account in India from their US bank account even by using debit/credit card.
• Customers can send money to India by creating an account on transfast.com/send-money-to-india or by downloading Transfast App in iOS/android mobiles.

 61. Lok Sabha passes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2016

•  The Lok Sabha had passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2016. The bill is being seen as a transformational legislation that will help in improving India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index.
• The Bill is based on the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015 chaired by Bhupender Yadav.

Highlights of the Bill
(i) Insolvency resolution: The Code creates time-bound processes for insolvency resolution of companies and individuals.  These processes will be completed within 180 days. If insolvency cannot be resolved, the assets of the borrowers may be sold to repay creditors.
(ii) Insolvency Professionals: The resolution processes will be conducted by licensed Insolvency Professionals (IPs). This IPs will be members of Insolvency Professional Agencies (IPAs). IPAs will also furnish performance bonds equal to the assets of a company under insolvency resolution.
(iii) Information Utilities: Information utilities (IUs) will be established to collect, collate and disseminate financial information to facilitate insolvency resolution..
62. India received $40.82 billion FDI till December in FY16

•  According to the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows stood at $40.82 billion till December in the fiscal 2015-16.
• For 2014-15, FDI inflows were $44.29 billion, up 23 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal.
• In 2013-14, FDI inflows were up 5 per cent at $36.05 billion. However, inflows dropped by 26 per cent in 2012-13 to $34.30 billion, after having grown by 34 per cent in 2011-12 to $46.56 billion.
• But in 2010-11, the FDI inflows were down 8 per cent to $34.85 billion.

Note:

• FDI data is compiled by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
• "Accordingly, different categories of institutional investors can now invest in private sector banks up to the sectoral limit of 74 per cent.

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