GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Though ULIPs (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) are considered to be a better investment vehicle it has failed to capture the imagination of the retail investors in India because of which of the following reasons?

A.Regulatory jurisdictional fight between SEBI and IRDA

B. They don’t offer better tax benefits

C.They offer lesser returns compared to traditional insurance policies

D.All of the above

E. None of these

2.The Chameli Devi Jain Award is given for an outstanding woman ____?

A. Scientist

B. Reporter

C.Player

D.Teacher

E. None of these

3. HDFC bank has been named among 50 most valuable banks in 2014. It has got 45th rank. Wells Fargo & Co. has got first rank in this list. This bank belongs to which country?

A. USA

B. UK

C. European Union

D. France

E. None of these

4.The difference between the outflow and inflow of foreign currency is known as 

A.Foreign Exchange Reserves

B.Current Account Deficit

C.Fiscal Deficit

D.Balance of Payments

E. None of these

5.A commercial bank will launch a medium term note (MTN) programme to 

A.Provide loans

B.Raise Funds

C.Sell Equity

D.Purchase shares

E. None of these

6.Which among the following banks has launched the ‘Tatkal’, scheme that enables the people to transfer money to their families in their native towns and villages without actually opening an account?

A.State Bank of India

B.Bank of India

C.Canara Bank

D.Union Bank of India

E. Bank of Baroda

7. Who heads the National Ministerial Committee under the Architecture for Cash Transfers?

A.Prime Minister of India

B.Finance Minister

C.Food and Consumer Affairs Minister

D.Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

E. None of these

8. Saumitra Chaudhuri committee has been appointed to recommend revisions to :

A.Wholesale Price Index

B.Consumer Price Index

C.Index of Industrial Production

D.Housing Develoment Index

E. None of above

9. Too much import of Gold by India adversely affects:

1. Trade Balance

2. Current Account Balance

3. Capital Account Balance

Choose the correct option from the codes given below:

A.1 & 2

B.2 & 3

C.1, 2 & 3

D.1 & 3

E. None of these

10.In which year, the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act was enacted in India?

A.1950

B.1952

C.1962

D. 1975

E. 1978

Answers
1. A, 2. B, 3. A, 4. B, 5. B, 6. B, 7. A, 8. C, 9. A, 10. B

Kinds of Banks in India

The Financial Requirements in a modern economy are of a diverse nature, distinctive variety and large magnitude. These banks satisfy the various needs of people from every walk of life. The important kinds of banks mentioned below.

1. Commercial Banks: 
Commercial banks are established with an objective to help businessmen. These banks collect money from general public and give short-term loans to businessmen by way of cash credits, overdrafts, etc. Commercial banks provide various services like collecting cheques, bill of exchange, remittance money from one place to another place.
★ In India, commercial banks are established under Companies Act, 1956. In 1969, 14 commercial banks were nationalized by Government of India, and the nationalization continued later also. The policies regarding deposits, loans, rate of interest, etc. of these banks are controlled by the Central Bank/ supervisor banks in that nation.

2. Saving Banks: 
Saving banks are established to create saving habit among the people. These banks are helpful for salaried people and low income groups. The deposits collected from customers are invested in bonds, securities, etc. At present most of the commercial banks carry the functions of savings banks. Now a days the development
banks also discharging the functions of savings banks.

3. Land Mortgage or Land Development Banks: 
Land Mortgage or Land Development banks are also known as Agricultural Banks because these are formed to finance agricultural sector. They also help in land development. In India, Government has come forward to assist these banks. The Government has guaranteed the debentures issued by such banks.
There is a great risk involved in the financing of agriculture and generally commercial banks do not take much interest in financing agricultural sector.

4. The indigenous banking system: 
It was carried by the indigenous bankers like Shroffs, Seths, Sahukars, Mahajans, Chettis etc though they did not evolve the sound banking system in India.

5. Central / Federal / National Bank: 
Every country of the world has a central bank. In India, Reserve Bank of India, in U.S.A, Federal Reserve and in U.K, Bank of England. These central banks are the bankers of the other banks. They provide
specialized functions i.e. issue of paper currency, working as bankers of government, supervising and controlling foreign exchange. A central bank is a non-profit making institution. It does not deal with the public but it deals with other banks. The principal responsibility of Central Bank is thorough control on currency of a country.

6. Exchange Banks: 
Hong Kong Bank, Bank of Tokyo, Bank of America are the examples of Foreign Banks working in India. These banks are mainly concerned with financing foreign trade.
★ Following are the various functions of Exchange Banks:
1. Remitting money from one country to another country
2. Discounting of foreign bills
3. Buying and Selling Gold and Silver, and
4. Helping Import and Export Trade

7. Consumer Banks: 
Consumers bank is a new addition to the existing type of banks. Such banks are usually found only in advanced countries like U.S.A. and Germany. The main objective of this bank is to give loans to consumers for purchase of the durables like Motor car, television set, washing machine, furniture, etc. The consumers
have to repay the loans in easy installments.

8. Industrial / Development Banks:
 Industrial/ Development banks collect cash by issuing shares & debentures and providing longterm loans to industries. In the recent period they are also accepting cash deposits and lending. Development banks are specialized financial institutions. They provide medium and long-term finance to promote and develop important sectors like agriculture, industry, import-export, housing and allied activities. They provide finance to both private and public sector. Development banks are multipurpose financial institutions. To promote
Industries after independence, the institutions/ and banks like Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) and Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) were established.
★ Development banking was started after the World War II. It provided finance to reconstruct the buildings and industries which were destroyed in the war.
★ In India, development banking was started immediately after Independence.

Model Questions:
1. The motto of commercial banks is ..........
1) helping the people
2) creating awareness among the people about banking
3) accept deposits only
4) to crush the interest of development banks
5) earning the profit

2. Which of the following function is not discharged by commercial bank?
1) issue negotiable instruments
2) provide the cash credit
3) doing the agriculture activity
4) provide the short term lending
5) None

3. Indian Commercial Banks are categorized into ..........
1) Public sector banks
2) Foreign banks
3) Private sector banks
4) All of the above
5) None

4. Largest commercial bank of the country is ..........
1) Bank of India
2) State Bank of India
3) Canara Bank
4) Union Bank of India
5) ICICI

5. Which department in India also authorized to run the savings bank, permitted by Government of India?
1) Shares and Securities department
2) Income tax department
3) Postal department
4) All of above
5) None

6. First Land Development Bank in India (LDB) was started at Jhang in ..........
1) 1920
2) 1940
3) 1945
4) 1975
5) None

7. List of Central banks given. Locate the wrong combination.
1) Russia - Central Bank of the Russian Federation - 1860
2) India - Reserve Bank of India - 1947
3) USA - Federal Bank - 1913
4) Switzerland - Central Bank of Swaziland- 1974
5) Pakistan - State Bank of Pakistan - 1948

8. Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa - Bank of Central African States (Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale, BEAC) was established in ..........
1) 1969
2) 1980
3) 1990
4) 2010
5) 1972

9. Bank of Central African States (BEAC) serves six Central African States. They are Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and ..........
1) South Africa
2) Gabon
3) Zimbabwe
4) Zambia
5) Kenya

10. Which of the following banks not categorized as development bank in India?
1) NABARD
2) SIDBI
3) Axis Bank
4) NHB
5) MUDRA Bank

11. Industrial Investment Bank of India (IIBI) was established in ..........
1) 1969
2) 1955
3) 2000
4) 1971
5) None

12. In order to rehabilitate the sick units in India, Industrial Reconstruction Corporation of India Ltd. (IRCI) set up in 1971. It was later reconstituted as Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India (IRBI) in ..........
1) 1981
2) 1989
3) 2010
4) 1985
5) 1982

13. To encourage the stream of Exports and Imports in India, the EXIM (Export - Import Bank of India) bank was established in 1982. Its present chairman is ..........
1) Raghuram Rajan
2) Ashok Chawla
3) U.K. Sinha
4) Arundhathi Bhattacharya
5) Yaduvendra Mathur

14.  On 8 April 2015, Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank which will provide credit of up to Rs 10 lakh to .......
1) Large scale industries
2) Solar Industrial Units
3) Software parks
4) Fashion industries entrepreneurs
5) Small entrepreneurs

Answers:
1-5, 2-3, 3-4, 4-2, 5-3, 6-1, 7-2, 8-5, 9-2, 10-3
11-4, 12-4, 13-5, 14-5

Changing Role of Banks in India

Banks in India today have become more customer - focused and service-oriented than they were before 1991. The banks in India now give a lot of importance to their rural customers.
★ The following points briefly highlight the changing role of banks in India
1. Better customer service
2. Mobile banking facility
3. Bank on wheels scheme
4. Portfolio management
5. Issue of electro-magnetic cards
6. Universal banking
7. Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
8. Internet Banking
9. Encouragement to bank amalgamation
10. Encouragement to personal loans
11. Marketing of mutual funds
12. Social banking, etc.
★ The above - mentioned points indicate the role of banks in India is changing. Now let's discuss how banking in India is getting much better day after day.
Better Customer Service:
Before 1991, the overall service of banks in India was very poor. There were very long queues to receive payment for cheques and to deposit Cash. The banks were restricted to provide the better customer service in those days. Banks in India have now become very customer and service focus. Their service has become quick, efficient and customer - friendly. This positive change is mostly due to rising competition from new private banks and initiation of Ombudsman Scheme by RBI.
Mobile Banking:
Under mobile banking service, customers can easily carry out major banking transactions by simply using their cell phones or mobiles. Using secret credentials and registered phone, customer can now comfortably and securely, find his bank balance, transfer money from his account to another, ask for a cheque book, stop payment of a cheque, etc.
★ Today, almost all banks in India provide a mobile-banking service.
Bank on Wheels:
The 'Bank on Wheels' scheme was first introduced in the North - East Region of India. Under this scheme, banking services are made accessible to people staying in the remote areas of India. This scheme is a generous attempt to serve banking needs of rural India.
★ Portfolio Management: In this portfolio management, banks do all the investments work of their clients.
★ Banks invest their clients' money in shares, debentures, fixed deposits, etc. They first enter a contract with their clients and charge them a fee for this service. Then they have the full power to invest or disinvest their clients' money. However, they have to give safety and profit to their clients. Issue of Electro - Magnetic Cards Banks in India have already started issuing Electro - Magnetic Cards to their customers. These cards help to carry out cash - less transactions, make an online purchase, avail ATM facility, book a railway ticket, do shopping online etc. Banks issue many types of electromagnetic cards like Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Charge Cards, Kisan Credit Cards etc.
Universal Banking:
In India, the concept of universal banking has gained recognition after year 2000. The customers can get all banking and non-banking services under one roof. Universal bank is like a super store. It offers a wide range of services, including banking and other financial services like insurance, merchant banking, etc.
Automated Teller Machine (ATM):
There are many advantages of ATM. As a result, many banks have opened up ATM centres to offer convenience to their customers. Now banks are operating ATM centres not only in their branches (on site ATM) but also at public places like airports, railway stations, hotels, bazaars (off site ATM). Some banks have joined together and agreed upon to set up common ATM centres all over India.
Internet Banking
Internet banking is also called as an E - banking or net banking. Customer can do banking transactions through the medium of the internet or world wide web (WWW). The customer need not visit the bank's branch. Through this facility, the customer can easily inquiry about bank balance, transfer funds, request for a cheque book, etc. Most large banks offer this service to their tech-savvy customers.
Encouragement to Bank Amalgamation:
Failure of banks is well-protected with the facility of amalgamation. So depositors need not worry about their deposits. When weaker banks are absorbed by stronger banks, it is called amalgamation of banks. Encouragement to Personal Loans:
Today, the purchasing power of Indian consumers has increased dramatically because banks give them easy personal loans. Generally, interest charged by the banks on such loans is very high. Interest is calculated on reducing balance. The documentation is less and processing is fast in these loans.
Marketing of Mutual Funds:
A mutual fund collects money from many investors and invests the money in shares, bonds, short-term money market instruments, gold assets; etc. Mutual funds earn income by interest and dividend or both from its investments. It pays a dividend to subscribers. These funds are not insured like other bank deposits. There are different types of funds such as open-ended funds, closed-ended funds, growth funds, balanced funds, income funds, etc.
Social Banking:
The government uses the banking system to alleviate poverty and unemployment. Many
social development programmes are initiated by the banks from time to time. The success of these programmes depends on financial support provided by the banks. Banks supply a lot of finance to farmers, artisans, scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) families, unemployed youth and people living below the poverty line (BPL) under social banking.

Model Questions

1. If the customer can do all transactions only in a branch and the branch has no online access, it is called .............
1) Online Banking
2) Internet Banking
3) Virtual Banking
4) Brick and Mortar Banking
5) None of these

2. As a part of financial inclusion, Bank on Wheels is a banking kiosk in a mobile van which goes to various rural villages as per the predetermined schedule to provide the banking services to the rural Indians. This Vehicle Tracking through GPRS. GPRS stands for .............
1) General Packet Radio Service
2) General Packet Running Service
3) Gross Packet Radio Service
4) Gain Packet Radio Service
5) General Packet Radio Store

3. A collection of investment tools such as stocks, shares, mutual funds, bonds, cash and so on depending on the investor's income, budget and convenient time frame. The art of selecting the right investment policy
for the individuals in terms of minimum risk and maximum return is called as .........
1) Portfolio management
2) Credit creation
3) Amortized management
4) Zero account
5) None of these

4. Which bank has launched the country's first contactless debit and credit cards on 7 January 2015?
1) HDFC
2) SBI
3) ICICI
4) Union Bank of India
5) Yes Bank

5. On 7 May 2015, RBI said with effect from September 1, 2015 all new cards issued - debit and credit, domestic and international - by banks shall be EMV chip and pin based cards. EMV stands for ................
1) Europay, Mastro and Visa.
2) Euro, Master Card and Visa.
3) Europay, Master Card and Visulas.
4) Entitlement of Master Card and Visa.
5) Europay, Master Card and Visa.

6. Which is the first bank to get ISO certificate?
1) Corporation Bank
2) UBI
3) Canara Bank
4) Syndicate Bank
5) ICICI

7. Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme introduced in .................. has emerged as an innovative credit delivery mechanism to meet the production credit requirements of the farmers in a timely and hassle - free manner.
1) 1998
2) 2000
3) 2001
4) 1991
5) 2004

8. To make KCC a Smart Card cum Debit Card, Government of India had constituted a Working Group under the Chairmanship of ..................
1) C. Ranga Rajan
2) Chanda Kocchar
3) Arundhathi Bhattacharya
4) D. Subba Rao
5) T.M. Bhasin

9. In 2014, Competition Commission of India probed the merger between regional rural banks sponsored by Punjab National Bank and ................
1) Andhra Bank
2) Union Bank of India
3) State Bank of India
4) Syndicate Bank
5) None of these

10. A personal loan is a kind of unsecured loan which can be used for any purpose that the borrower deems necessary. The loan backed only by promise to repay, and for this reason the personal loan also called...........
1) Signature loans
2) Secured loans
3) Priority sector loan
4) Transfer loan
5) None of these

11. AMFI is dedicated to developing the Indian Mutual Fund Industry on professional, healthy and ethical lines and to enhance and maintain standards in the industry. AMFI stands for ...............
1) Association of Mutual Funds in India
2) Authority of Mutual Funds in India
3) Amalgamation of Mutual Funds in India
4) Association of Mutual Finance in India
5) None of these

12. Providing Gas subsidy, government pensions, providing scholarships etc through banks called as ...............
1) Social Banking
2) Area Banking
3) Royal Banking
4) Visual Banking
5) None of these

13. Which bank bagged the Core Banking System Initiative Award for the year 2014 at the Asian Banking and Finance - Retail Banking Awards 2014?
1) SBI
2) ICICI Bank
3) Bharathiya Mahila Bank
4) Standard Bank
5) None of these

14. In the IBA Banking Technology Awards 2014, Best Financial Inclusion Initiative award among Public Sector bank conferred on ..............
1) SBI
2) Corporation Bank
3) Andhra Bank
4) Bank of Baroda
5) IOB

15. Which of the following banking does not come under Social Banking?
1) Crediting the LPG subsidy in the beneficiary bank account
2) Offering Jan Dhan Scheme accounts
3) Allowing students to credit their scholarships through No-frill accounts
4) Allowing the subsidy loan to disadvantage sections of the society
5) All of the above banking operations come under social banking

Answers:
1-4, 2-1, 3-1, 4-3, 5-5, 6-3, 7-1, 8-5, 9-4, 10-1, 11-1, 12-1, 13-3, 14-4, 15-3.

BANK EXAMS SPECIAL - GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Surender Singh took over as the new Director General of which of the following paramilitary forces on May 1, 2015?
1) CRPF
2) BSF
3) CISF
4) NSG
5) ITBP

2. Who was conferred the RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement for excellence in journalism on April 30, 2015?
1) Arnab Goswami
2) Prannoy Roy
3) Sreenivasan Jain
4) Shekhar Gupta
5) Krishna Prasad

3. ‘Varuna’ is a joint naval exercise between India and?
1) USA
2) Singapore
3) France
4) Japan
5) UK

4. Who was appointed the Chairperson of Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI) in April 2015?
1) Sai Paranjpye
2) Nafisa Ali
3) Ekta Kapoor
 4) Mukesh Khanna
5) Pankaj Dheer

5. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his Special Envoy for?
1) Yemen
2) Syria
3) Iraq
4) Afghanistan
5) Pakistan

6. Who was named the honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December 2014?
1) N. Ramachandran
2) N. Srinivasan
3) Suresh Kalmadi
4) Randhir Singh
5) None of these

7. Donald Tusk is the current President of the European Council. He is the former Prime Minister of?
1) Czech Republic
2) Slovakia
3) Poland
4) Portugal
5) Slovenia

8. The first Regional Rural Bank in India, the Prathama Grameen Bank, was started in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh in 1975. It was sponsored by?
1) Punjab National Bank
2) State Bank of India
 3) Indian Bank
4) Syndicate Bank
5) Dena Bank

9. What does the letter ‘S’ denote in the term IFSC?
1) Subscriber
2) State
3) Station
4) Source
5) System

10. Who is the present Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)?
1) O.P. Singh
2) A.P. Maheshwari
3) D.K. Pandey
4) R.K. Prachanda
5) Ramesh P. Singh

11. The National Disaster Response Force consists of ten battalions from?
1) CRPF
2) BSF
3) CISF
4) ITBP
5) All the above

12. Who is the present Chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI)?
1) Justice P.B. Sawant
2) Justice C.K. Prasad
3) Justice R.S. Sarkaria
4) Justice A.N. Sen
5) Justice Markandey Katju

13. TVS Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan has been conferred the title of honorary citizen of Busan, the second largest city in?
1) Japan
2) China
3) South Korea
4) Thailand
5) None of these

14. Who was appointed as the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in November 2014?
1) Manbir Singh
2) Amar Pratap Singh
3) D.K. Dewan
4) Deepak Gupta
5) Vinay Mittal

15. A.R. Antulay died in December 2014. He was the former Chief Minister of?
1) Karnataka
2) Goa
3) Odisha
4) Bihar
5) Maharashtra

16. The United Nations General Assembly declared which of the following days as the World Soil Day?
1) June 5
2) July 5
3) November 5
4) October 5
5) December 5

17. Jarbom Gamlin died on 2014 November 30. He was the former Chief Minister of?
1) Sikkim
2) Nagaland
3) Arunachal Pradesh
4) Tripura
5) Manipur

Answers
1) 3 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 1 6) 4 7) 3 8) 4 9) 5 10) 1
11) 5 12) 2 13) 3 14) 4 15) 5 16) 5 17) 3

Primary and Secondary Functions of Commercial Banks

A commercial bank is a type of bank that provides services such as accepting deposits, making business loans, and offering basic investment products. On day to day functioning it discharge many functions broadly classified as Primary and Secondary Functions mentioned below.
I. Primary Functions
1) Accepting Deposits
2) Advancing Loans
II. Secondary Functions
1) Overdraft Facility
2) Discounting Bills of Exchange
3) Agency Functions
4) General Utility Functions

Primary Functions
1. Accepting Deposits:
It is one of the most important function of commercial banks. The commercial banks accept the deposits at lower rates and provide the loans. They accept deposits in several forms according to requirements of different sections of the society.
 The main kinds of deposits are:
i) Current Account Deposits or Demand Deposits: 
These deposits refer to those deposits which are repayable by the banks on demand.
★ Such deposits are generally maintained by businessmen with the intention of making transactions with such deposits. The business men usually deposit from their excess cash balances and withdraw when they need.
★ They can be drawn upon by a cheque without any restriction.
★ Banks do not pay any interest on these accounts. Rather, banks impose service charges for running these accounts.
ii) Fixed Deposits or Time Deposits: 
Fixed deposits refer to those deposits, in which the amount is deposited with the bank for a fixed period of time.
★ Such deposits do not enjoy cheque-able facility.
★ These deposits carry a high rate of interest.
iii) Saving Deposits: 
These deposits combine features of both current account deposits and fixed deposits.
★ The depositors are given cheque facility to withdraw money from their account. But, some restrictions are imposed on number and amount of withdrawals, in order to discourage frequent use of saving deposits.
★ They carry a rate of interest which is less than interest rate on fixed deposits. It must be noted that Current Account deposits and saving deposits are chequable deposits, whereas, fixed deposit is a non-chequable deposit.
2. Advancing of Loans:
 The deposits received by banks are not allowed to remain idle. So, after keeping certain cash reserves, the balance is given to needy borrowers and interest is charged from them, which is the main source of income for these banks.
 Different types of loans and advances made by Commercial banks are:
i) Cash Credit: The Cash credit refers to a loan given to the borrower against his current assets like shares, stocks, bonds, etc. A credit limit is sanctioned and the amount is credited in his account. The borrower may withdraw any amount within his credit limit and interest is charged on the amount actually withdrawn.
ii) Demand Loans: Demand loans refer to those loans which can be recalled on demand by the bank at any time. The entire sum of demand loan is credited to the account and interest is payable on the entire sum.
iii) Short-term Loans: They are given as personal loans against some collateral security. The money is credited to the account of borrower and the borrower can withdraw money from his account and interest is payable on the entire sum of loan granted.

Secondary Functions
1. Overdraft Facility: 
It refers to a facility in which a customer is allowed to overdraw his current account up to an agreed limit. This facility is generally given to respectable and reliable customers for a short period. Customers have to pay interest to the bank on the amount overdrawn by them.
2. Discounting Bills of Exchange: 
It refers to a facility in which holder of a bill of exchange can get the bill discounted with bank before
the maturity. After deducting the commission, bank pays the balance to the holder. On maturity, bank gets its payment from the party which had accepted the bill.
3. Agency Functions: 
Commercial banks also perform certain agency functions for their customers. For these services, banks charge some commission from their clients.
 Some of the agency functions are:
i) Transfer of Funds: 
Banks provide the facility of economical and easy remittance of funds from place-to-place with the help of instruments like demand drafts, mail transfers, etc.
ii) Collection and Payment of Various Bill Payments: 
Commercial banks collect cheques, bills, interest, dividends, subscriptions, rents and other periodical receipts on behalf of their customers and also make payments of taxes, insurance premium, etc. on standing instructions of their clients.
iii) Purchase and Sale of Foreign Exchange:
Some commercial banks are authorized by the central bank to deal in foreign exchange. They buy and sell foreign exchange on behalf of their customers and help in promoting international trade.
iv) Purchase and Sale of Securities:
Commercial banks buy and sell stocks and shares of private companies as well as government securities on behalf of their customers.
v) Income Tax Consultancy:
They also give advice to their customers on matters relating to income tax and even prepare their income
tax returns.
vi) Trustee and Executor: 
Commercial banks preserve the wills of their customers as trustees and execute them after their death as executors.
4. General Utility Functions: 
Commercial banks render some general utility services like:
i) Locker Facility: 
Commercial banks provide facility of safety vaults or lockers to keep valuable articles of customers in safe custody.
ii) Traveller's Cheques: 
Commercial banks issue traveler's cheques to their customers to avoid risk of taking cash during their journey.
iii) Letter of Credit: 
Commercial banks issue letters of credit to their customers to certify their creditworthiness.
iv) Underwriting Securities: 
Commercial banks also undertake the task of underwriting securities. As public has full faith in the creditworthiness of banks, public do not hesitate in buying the securities underwritten by banks.
v) Collection of Statistics: 
Banks collect and publish statistics relating to trade, commerce and industry. Hence, they advice customers on financial matters. Commercial banks receive deposits from the public and use these deposits to give loans. However, loans offered are many times more than the deposits received by banks. This function of banks is known as 'Money Creation'.

General Awareness Practice Questions for all bank exams

1. Which of the following function is not relating to Commercial Bank?
1) Accepting Time Deposits
2) Providing Loans
3) Doing Agriculture Activity
4) Discounting Bills of Exchange
5) Provide online technology nowadays for speed transfer of money

2. Why banks pay no rate of interest or very less rate of interest on current accounts?
1) RBI orders bank not to pay rate of interest for current accounts.
2) Banks do not pay rate of interest as the current accounts not offered by Scheduled banks.
3) Banks cannot utilise these short-term deposits for lending purposes and must keep almost cent percent reserve against them.
4) To maintain the current account is more expensive, so they do not pay rate of interest.
5) None of above

3. Which of the following statement is wrong related to Overdraft?
1) Overdraft provide by commercial banks as form of Loans.
2) Banks collect rate of interest on Overdrafts.
3) Overdraft can be issued to non-customer also.
4) Some banks levy bank charges to process the overdraft loans.
5) None of above

4. Hundi is a ........... in an Indian language, governed by customs and local usage.
1) Cheque 
2) Demand Draft
3) Bill of Exchange
4) Promissory Note 
5) None

5. Which of the following is not agency function of Commercial banks?
1) Letters of Reference
2) Tax Consultancy
3) Accepting Deposits
4) Purchase and Sale of Foreign Exchange
5) Trustee and Executor

6. Which is the first commercial bank in India initiated to have Television Banking (TVB), avail the banking information on TV screens. This enable TV viewers to access information of Bank's services and products, from the convince of their homes?
1) SBI 
2) Corporation Bank
3) ICICI 
4) Canara Bank
5) Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank Limited

7. On 13 March 2015, the Union government declared that unused priority sector lending funds of commercial banks will be used to set up the Rs.20,000 crore corpus of the proposed .......
1) Bharathiya Mahila Bank 
2) AIIB
3) PLB
4) New Development Bank
5) MUDRA Bank

8. Which bank launched the mobile app 'Chillr', which allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in their phone book. The best part about using this money transfer mechanism is that, there is no need to add beneficiary details such as bank account number, IFSC codes etc
1) ICICI 
2) SBI 
3) HDFC
4) Citi Bank 
5) Yes Bank

9. Which commercial bank has launched a mobile application 'Pingpay' that enables customers to make payments to any contact across social media platforms in seconds?
1) Central bank of India 
2) Andhra Bank
3) Axis Bank 
4) ICICI
5) SBI

10. Government ordered commercial banks to step up lending to minorities on 12 March 2015. Accordingly, all scheduled commercial banks are required to specially monitor the credit flow to minorities in how many districts?
1) 140 
2) 121 
3) 90
4) 640 
5) 88

11. The statements related to corporate funding given. Locate the wrong statement.
1) RBI moves to restrict commercial banks exposure to corporate loans.
2) Banks would only be allowed to lend up to 25 percent of their core capital.
3) The earlier ceiling of up to 55 percent.
4) RBI proposes this new rule effective from 1 January 2019.
5) None

12. The rate at which RBI purchases or rediscounts bills of exchange of commercial banks is called ........
1) CRR 
2) Base Rate
3) SLR 
4) LAF
5) Bank Rate

13. In which year the Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. converted into a commercial bank - the first Indian company to do so?
1) 1996 
2) 1998 
3) 1994
4) 2003 
5) 2010

14. The power of the commercial banks to expand deposits through expanding their loans and advances is known as which among the following?
1) Capital Expansion 
2) Credit Expansion
3) Credit Control 
4) Credit suasion
5) Credit Creation

ANSWERS:
1-3, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 6-3, 7-5, 8-3, 9-3, 10-2
11-5, 12-5, 13-4, 14-5

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL BANK EXAMS 2015

1. Who is the Chairman of NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development)?
a) Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala
b) Mrs V.R.Iyer
c) HR Kamath
d) B Bhattacharya
e) R Rajendran

2. For recovery of NPA from the defaulted borrowers, SARFAESI Act 2002, is implemented. What does the letter ‘S’ stands for in SARFAESI
a) Social
b) Security
c) Seasonal
d) Stamp
e) Systematic

3. Bank holidays under Sec.25 of N.I. Act are declared by
a) RBI
b) State govt. for the respect state
c) Central govt.
d) LHO
e) Prime Minister

4. One rupee coin issued under _____ Act
a) Coinage Act 1906
b) RBI
c) BR
d) All the above
e) None of these

5. Clean Note policy has been introduced as per
a) Banking Regulation Act
b) RBI Act
c) SBI Act
d) PNB Act
e) None of these

6. Under prevention of Money laundering Act 2002, the financial transaction records have to be preserved for _____ years.
a) 5
b) 10
c) 20
d) 40
e) None of these

7. Under prevention of Money laundering Act 2002, banks have to report suspicious transaction to _____
a) RBI
b) CBI
c) FIU-IND
d) LHO
e) Central Govt.

8. RBI Has relaxed KYC norms for small account holders who do not intend to make deposits over Rs.50,000/- and total credits in the account in a year is limited to Rs. 1 lakh. Total withdrawls/ Transfer in a month does not exceed Rs. ____
a) 10,000
b) 20,000
c) 50,000
d) 60,000
e) None of these

9. When form15-H has been received, the bank shall forward the same to I.T. Department on or before ____ day of next month.
a) 3rd
b) 5th
c) 7th
d) 15th
e) 17th

10. In which of the following transaction PAN should be quoted?
a) A time deposit exceeding Rs.50,000
b) Payment in cash to purchase bank draft or banker’s cheque for an amount aggregating Rs.50,000 or more during any one day
c) Deposit cash aggregating Rs. 50,000 or more during any one day
d) All the above
e) None of these

11. Currency Notes are printed at:
a) Nasik
b) Dewas
c) Mysore
d) Salboni
e) All of these

12. If the customer does not cooperate for making their accounts KYC compliant, despite repeated communication/ contacts, their accounts should be _____.
a) Frozen
b) Closed
c) Close the account only after
compliance of KYC
d) a or c
e) a & b

13. As per KYC Norms / AML measures risk categorization of all customer accounts should be done and review of risk categorization should be cared out at ____ months intervals every year.
a) 3
b) 6
c) 9
d) 12
e) 15

14. SLR has to be maintained by banks under _______
a) Sec. 24 of BR Act
b) Sec. 24 of RBI Act
c) Sec. 42 of RBI Act
d) Sec. 42 of BR Act
e) None of these

15. Who is the Chairman of IRDA?
a) T.S.Vijayan
b) Dr. Rangarajan
c) M.V.Nair
d) J.S. Bhatnagar
e) HR Khan

16. Who is the authority for referring appeals against the award of banking ombudsman?
a) Deputy Governor, RBI
b) RBI Governor
c) CMD of concerned bank
d) Group of CMDs formed by RBI
e) None of the above

17. The sponsoring bank’s share in RBIs is:
a) 50%
b) 35%
c) 15%
d) 75%
e) None of these

18. Can a HUF join as a partner in a partnership firm?
a) Can be included
b) Can be included with company
c) Cannot join
d) Can join subject to the approval of CMD
e) None of the above

19. Bank’s Lien is:
a) General lien
b) Particular lien
c) Contingent lien
d) b & c
e) None of these

20. Within how many days the CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) has to provide information under RTI Act?
a) 30 days
b) 15 days
c) 45 days
d) 10 days
e) 60 hours

21. Which of the following is not a negotiable instrument as per N.I. Act?
a) Promissory note
b) Draft
c) TDR (Term Deposit Receipt)
d) Cheque
e) None of the above

22. Which of the following is not correct in respect of issue of CP:
a) It can now be issued as a standalone facility
b) Minimum issue is Rs. 5 lakh
c) CPs can be underwritten by a bank
d) Minimum Tangible net worth of the Corporate should be Rs. 4 crore
e) All the above

23. The maximum period for which a CD can be issued is _____
a) 1 month
b) 3 months
c) 180 days
d) 1 year
e) None of these

24. What is not true about CDs?
a) It is transferable from the data issues
b) It can be issued for a minimum period of 7 days
c) It is not all transferable
d) It can be issued in demat form only
e) None of these

25. Gilt edged securities refer to ___
a) Govt. securities
b) Shares of first class companies
c) Securities issued by first class companies
d) Duplicate securities
e) Securities issued by RBI Identified Companies

26. The standard rate at which the RBI is prepared to buy or rediscount export bills or other commercial
paper eligible for purchase from banks under the RBI Act is known as _____
a) Bank rate
b) Repo Rate
c) Card rate
d) PLR
e) Base Rate

27. The result of increase in SLR by RBI is
a) Decrease in lendable resources of banks
b) Increase in loadable resources of banks
c) There will not be any change in loan able resources of banks
d) Only b and c
e) None of these

28. Blue chip securities mean ____
a) Shares of progressive, well managed companies with excellent record of payment of dividends.
b) The shares which are in blue ink
c) Securities issued by Chip Manufacturing companies
d) Securities identified by the concerned state governments
e) None of the above

29. Cash kept in the currency chest is owned by
a) Currency Chest Branch Bank
b) Central Government
c) Reserve Bank of India
d) State Bank of India
e) None of the above

30. Bank can’t proceed against the borrower under SARFAESI Act where:
a) Security is agricultural land
b) Liability is less than Rs.1 lakh
c) Liability is less than 20% of the principal
d) Pledge of movables
e) All the above

31. The minimum capital required to start a new private sector bank is________
a) 100 crore
b) 200 crore
c) 300 crore
d) 400 crore
e) 500 crore

32. RBI injects liquidity through
a) Increase Bank Rate
b) Reduction of Repo Rate
c) Reduction of Reverse Repo
d) Increase CRR
e) Increase SLR

33. A customer requested to include his wife and daughter as nominees after one year of opening of
the account. Will it be accepted?
a) It can be accepted since the nominees are the family members of the depositor
b) Cannot be considered since the request is not received at the time of opening of account
c) Can be considered with 50% share each
d) Nomination should be made only in favor of single name. Hence can’t be considered
e) None of the above

34. What is the relationship between the Bank and Overdraft Customer where the account is showing
credit balance?
a) Creditor & Debtor
b) Principle & Agent
c) Trustee & Beneficiary
d) Debtor & Creditor
e) None of the above

35. What are the interest rates that are still regulated by RBI?
a) SB Deposits
b) Commercial Loans
c) DRI Loans
d) b & c
e) All

ANSWERS:
1) a; 2) b; 3) b; 4) a; 5) a; 6) b; 7) c; 8) a; 9) c; 10) d;
11) e; 12) b; 13) b; 14) a; 15) a; 16) a; 17) b; 18) c; 19) a; 20) a;
21) c; 22) c; 23) d; 24) e; 25) a; 26) a; 27) a; 28) a; 29) c; 30) e;
31) e; 32) b; 33) d; 34) d; 35) c.

Mission Indradhanush

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has launched Mission Indradhanush on 25th December 2014 with the aim of expanding immunization coverage to all children across India by year 2020. The Mission Indradhanush, depicting seven colours of the rainbow, targets to immunize all children against seven vaccine preventable diseases namely Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Childhood Tuberculosis, Polio, Hepatitis B and Measles. In addition to this, vaccines for JE (Japanese Encephalitis) and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type B) are also being provided in selected states.  Immunization is the key to protect children from life threatening conditions that are preventable. As per MOHFW, immunization coverage in India has increased from 61% to 65% only from 2009-2013. So, MOHFW has decided to intensify its efforts in immunization though this mission.      

 

Objectives of Mission Indradhanush

The government intends to cover 201 high focus districts in the first phase of year 2015.  These districts have nearly 50% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children. Out of these 201 districts, 82 districts lie in just four states of India namely, UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Nearly 25% of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children of India live in these 82 districts of 4 states. Furthermore, another 297 districts will be targeted in the second phase of year 2015.

 

Strategy of Mission Indradhanush
The government has planned to conduct four special vaccination campaigns between January and June 2015.  All vaccines are already available free of cost under universal immunisation programme in India. Under this mission, government plans to intensify its efforts and thus increase accessibility of these vaccines to all the children of India. 

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. Proportional Reserve System was replaced in 1956 by Minimum of Foreign Reserve System. It means....
1) RBI to hold assets minimum of Rs. 515 crores worth of foreign reserves in which Rs. 115 Cr. of gold and Rs. 400 Cr. of foreign securities must be maintained.
2) RBI to hold assets minimum of Rs. 515 crores worth of foreign reserves in which Rs. 115 Cr. of gold and Rs. 400 Cr. Dollars must be maintained.
3) RBI to hold assets minimum of Rs. 515 crores worth of foreign reserves in which Rs. 400 Cr. of gold and Rs. 115 Cr. of foreign securities must be maintained.
4) RBI to hold assets minimum of Rs. 515 crores worth of foreign reserves in which Rs. 200 Cr. of gold and Rs. 315 Cr. of foreign direct investments.
5) RBI to hold assets minimum of Rs. 515 crores worth of foreign reserves in any mode.

2. 1956 Minimum of Foreign Reserve System of RBI was diluted in 1957. It says .....
1) RBI should maintain Rs. 115 crore worth of Gold.
2) RBI should maintain Rs. 150 crore worth of Gold and Rs. 450 Cr. worth of Government bonds.
3) RBI should maintain Rs. 1000 Cr. worth of Gold or Rs. 1000 crore worth of Government securities.
4) RBI should maintain Rs. 100 Cr. worth of Gold or Rs. 1000 crore worth of foreign securities.
5) RBI need not maintain any worth of Gold or Government securities.

3. Currency paper is composed of ......
1) Flax seed pulp
2) Soya seed pulp
3) Cotton and cotton rag
4) Jute
5) None

4. Who determines the denominations of Paper currency?
1) RBI
2) Ministry of Commerce
3) Government of India
4) Deputy Governor
5) None of above

5. To cancel the disadvantages of Paper Currency Plastic currency mooted. Which is the first country to mint Plastic money?
1) India
2) New Zealand
3) China
4) Spain
5) Australia

6. India moots to mint ........ rupee plastic money first?
1) 5
2) 2
3) 100
4) 10
5) 500

7. In the five cities/ towns, the Rs. 10 plastic paper currency to be introduced for the valuation of up to Rs. 100 crores. They are Kochi, Mysore, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and....
1) New Delhi
2) Hyderabad
3) Visakhapatnam
4) Shimla
5) Pune

8.Virtual Currency is .....
1) coins
2) Bit coin
3) Rs. 1000 currency note
4) Rs. 1 coin
5) None

9. Bit coin invented by ........
1) John Shepherd - Barron
2) Satoshi Nakamoto
3) Tim Berners-Lee
4) Charles Babbage
5) None of above

10. Who has the sole right to mint coins in India?
1) RBI
2) MMTC
3) Government of India
4) SBI
5) Department of Post

11. Whose signature appears on coins?
1) President of India
2) RBI Governor
3) Finance Secretary
4) RBI Deputy Governor
5) Coins do not bear the signature

12. Whether all banks accept coins in India though mint by government of India?
1) accept by asking the customer give the undertaking
2) Never accept
3) Yes, accept
4) Accept, tell the customer that the bank return any time
5) Accept at the lower value

13. Which rupee coin has largest circulation in India?
1) 2
2) 5
3) 1
4) 10
5) None

14. Which committee suggested for the high denomination of Coins in Indian Circulation?
1) C. Rangarajan
2) Bimal Jalan
3) Tarapore
4) Chandulal
5) Malegam

15. Maximum punishment for melting or destruction of coins would be increased from 5 years to ..... years of imprisonment?
1) 4
2) 9
3) 7
4) 10
5) 16

16. Coins in India are presently being issued for the circulation in denominations of 50 paise, one rupee, two rupees, five rupees and ...
1) two hundred rupees
2) hundred rupees
3) ten rupees
4) twenty rupees
5) None

17. Familiar metal using to mint coins of India these days is.....
1) Stainless Steel
2) Gold
3) Silver
4) Copper
5) Brass

18. ......... become the 19th country to adopt Euro as a Single currency from 1 January 2015?
1) Croatia
2) Lithuania
3) Latvia
4) Mexico
5) South Sudan


ANSWERS:
1-1, 2-1, 3-3, 4-3, 5-5, 6-4, 7-4, 8-2, 9-2, 10-3
11-5, 12-3, 13-3, 14-3, 15-3, 16-3, 17-1, 18-2

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR BANK EXAMS

1. Which of the following is the boundary line between India and Pakistan?
1) McMahon Line
2) Durand Line
3) Hindenburg Line
4) Radcliffe Line
5) 17th Parallel

2. Riel is the currency of which of the following countries?
1) Malaysia
2) Thailand
3) Cambodia
4) Myanmar
5) Philippines

3. Which of the following is the process by which a company collects money from the public for the first time?
1) Follow on public offering
2) Secondary offering
3) Initial public offering
4) Bonus shares
5) None of these

4. Saurav Ghosal is associated with which of the following sports?
1) Squash
2) Wrestling
3) Boxing
4) Shot put
5) Discus throw

5. Zend Avesta is the sacred book of the?
1) Jains
2) Buddhists
3) Jews
4) Parsis
5) None of these

6. Palatana Power Plant is situated in which of the following States?
1) Jharkhand
2) Chhattisgarh
3) Tripura
4) West Bengal
5) Assam

7. Which bank has launched ‘Bank Aap Ki Muththi Mein’ a mobile banking initiative, in December 2014?
1) ICICI Bank
2) Yes Bank
3) Axis Bank
4) HDFC Bank
5) None of these

8. With effect from 2014 December29, the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) business hours on week days have been increased to?
1) 10 hours
2) 9 hours
3) 12 hours
4) 11 hours
5) 8 hours

9. Which private bank launched India’s first credit card with a transparent design in December 2014?
1) ICICI Bank
2) HDFC Bank
3) Axis Bank
4) Yes Bank
5) Karur Vysya Bank

10. A government constituted task force has suggested creation of a Postal Bank of India (PBI). The task force is headed by?
1) Ravindra Dholakia
2) G. N. Bajpai
3) T.V. Mohandas Pai
4) T.S.R. Subramanian
5) Rakesh Garg

11. India defeated which of the following teams in the final to win the men’s World Cup Kabaddi in December 2014?
1) Bangladesh
2) Pakistan
3) Sri Lanka
4) Nepal
5) China

12. Which country won the women’s World Cup Kabaddi in December 2014?
1) New Zealand
2) Pakistan
3) India
4) Japan
5) China

13. Which country won the fourth Cricket World Cup for the visually challenged in Cape Town, South Africa on December 7, 2014?
1) India
2) Pakistan
3) Sri Lanka
4) Australia
5) South Africa

14. Who became the oldest player to score a one day international cricket century in November 2014?
1) Ahmed Nadeem
2) Arshad Ali
3) Ali Asad
4) Mohammad Tauqir
5) Khurram Khan

15. The 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games mascot has been named?
1) Tom
2) Vinicius
3) Oba
4) Eba
5) Tiba

16. Which of the following is a public sector bank?
1) Axis Bank
2) South Indian Bank
3) Nainital Bank
4) Karnataka Bank
5) IDBI Bank

17. Human Rights Day is observed on?
1) December 5
2) December 20
3) December 7
4) December 10
5) December 24

18. Carolina Marin is a badminton champion from?
1) Denmark
2) Australia
3) Spain
4) Norway
5) Ireland

19. The abbreviation NTCA stands for?
1) National Thermal Control Authority
2) National Tiger Conservation Authority
3) National Terrorist Control Authority
4) National Transport Control Authority
5) None of these

ANSWERS:
1) 4 2) 3 3) 3 4) 1 5) 4 6) 3 7) 4 8) 3 9) 1 10) 4
11) 2 12) 3 13) 1 14) 5 15) 2 16) 5 17) 4 18) 3 19) 2

IBPS Recruitment of Officers In Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) General Knowledge Solved Paper, September 2012

1. Major producer of mulberry silk in India is– (A) Jammu and Kashmir (B) Jharkhand (C) Karnataka 
(D) Assam (E) Himachal Pradesh Ans : (C)

2. We come across the term 'PPP' in financial news nowadays. What does 'PPP' represent ? (A) Personal Percapita Power (B) Private Public Partnership 
(C) Percapita Potential for Purchases (D) Present Purchasing Power 
(E) Pure Purchase Parity Ans : (B)

3. Many times we read the term 'ECB' in newspapers. What is the full form of 'ECB' ? (A) Essential Commercial Banking (B) European Credit Borrowing 
(C) External Credit for Business (D) External Commercial Borrowing 
(E) None of these Ans : (D)

4. What is meant by financial inclusion? (A) Making available banking services at an affordable cost (B) Opening Savings Accounts in rural areas without any deposit 
(C) Opening any type of account without introduction (D) Distributing money through rural branches 
(E) Distributing wages through bank accounts Ans : (B)

5. Which one of these countries is the largest producer of milk products in the world? (A) USA (B) China (C) India 
(D) New Zealand (E) None of these Ans : (C)

6. Which of the following is the most important rabi crop of India ? (A) Rice (B) Millet (C) Sugarcane 
(D) Groundnut (E) Mustard Ans : (A)

7. Who is the regulatory authority for insurance business in India ? (A) RBI (B) IRDP (C) SEBI 
(D) NABARD (E) IRDA Ans : (E)

8. What is money laundering ? (A) Conversion of assets into cash (B) Conversion of illegally obtained money into accountable money 
(C) Conversion of assets into cash (D) Conversion of gold into cash 
(E) one of these Ans : (B)

9. Golden revolution refers to the development of which of the following agricultural products ? (A) Oilseeds (B) Pulses (C) Horticultural products 
(D) Cereals (E) Fodder Ans : (C)

10. Which programme was launched by Government of India to improve irrigation facilities in rural India ? (A) Annapurna Scheme (B) National Social Assistance Programme 
(C) Integrated Rural Development Programme (D) Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana 
(E) National Watershed Development Programme Ans : (E)

11. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is holding which of the followirig positions at present? (A) Chairman of Planning Commission (B) Governor of RBI 
(C) Secretary of UNO (D) Economic Adviser to Prime Minister 
(E) Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission Ans : (E)

12. Bird flu is a disease which affects and spreads through– (A) Cattle (B) Sheep (C) Prawn 
(D) Silkworm (E) Poultry Ans : (E)

13. Which country won the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament 2011 held in December 2011 ? (A) Argentina (B) USA (C) Australia 
(D) Jaipur (E) Spain Ans : (E)

14. Who among the following cricketers recently became the 10th Batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket? (A) Mahela Jayawardene (B) Vijay Zol (C) Yuvraj Singh 
(D) Younis Khan (E) Umar Akmal Ans : (A)

15. The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Summit took place in December 2011 in– (A) Tokyo (B) Moscow (C) New Delhi 
(D) Paris (E) Perth Ans : (B)

16. Who represented India in the 12th Consecutive Annual India-Russia Summit held in December 2011 ? (A) Smt. Pratibha Patil (B) Manmohan Singh (C) Smt. Sonia Gandhi 
(D) Sri S. M. Krishna (E) None of these Ans : (B)

17. Which of the following currencies is used in Britain ? (A) Pound (B) Dollar (C) Euro 
(D) France (E) Pesso Ans : (A)

18. Which of the following cups/ trophies is associated with the game of Football ? (A) Grand Prix (B) Rangaswami Cup (C) Wimbledon Trophy 
(D) FIFA Cup (E) Ranji Trophy Ans : (D)

19. The head office of the Bank of Maharashtra is located in which of the following cities ? (A) Kolkata (B) New Delhi (C) Pune 
(D) Ahmedabad (E) Mumbai Ans : (C)

20. Which country hosted the summit of SAARC nations in the year 2011 ? (A) India (B) Bangladesh (C) Nepal 
(D) Maldives (E) Pakistan Ans : (D)

21. Which of the following terms is not used in the field of Economics ? (A) Balance of Trade (B) Break Even Point (C) Plasma 
(D) Capital Account Convertibility (E) Fiscal Deficit Ans : (C)

22. "Carbon credit" is concerned with which one of these internationally sensitive issues ? (A) Deforestation (B) Contract farming (C) Rural infrastructure 
(D) Diamond trading (E) Protection of environment Ans : (E)

23. Which of the following terms is used in the game of cricket ? (A) Half Nelson (B) Love (C) Backhand Drive 
(D) Penalty Stroke (E) Clean Bowled Ans : (E)

24. India recently signed a Currency Swap Agreement with which of the following countries? (A) USA (B) Pakistan (C) Japan 
(D) Germany (E) Australia Ans : (C)

25. What is the full form of the term ASBA? (A) Allotment Supported by Blocked Amount (B) Application Supported by Bank Amount 
(C) Allotment Supported by Bank Account (D) Application Supported by Blocked Amount 
(E) Allotment and Social Banking Amount Ans : (D)

26. Dipika Pallikal who won an international tournament recently in Hong Kong is a– (A) Golf player (B) Badminton player (C) Squash player 
(D) Swimmer (E) Table Tennis player Ans : (C)

27. The term "Deficit Financing" means the Government borrows money from the– (A) IMF (B) Local bodies (C) RBI 
(D) Large corporates (E) Public at large Ans : (C)

28. Regional Rural Banks– (A) have limited area of operation and access to refinance from NABARD. (B) are required to lend only to weaker sections. 
(C) are mandated to do only narrow banking (D) can only extend agricultural loans. 
(E) have unrestricted area of operation. Ans : (A)

29. Ms Christine Lagarde is holding which of the following positions at present ? (A) Chief of Asian Development Bank (B) Chief of International Monetary Fund 
(C) Chancellor of Germany (D) Chief of Morgan Stanley 
(E) Chief of World Bank Ans : (B)

30. What is the present reverse repo rate ? (A) 7.5% (B) 8.5% (C) 8% 
(D) 6.5% (E) one of these Ans : (C)

31. General Assembly elections were held in which of the following North East state in January 2012 ? (A) Assam (B) Meghalaya (C) Arunachal Pradesh 
(D) Manipur (E) Tripura Ans : (D)

32. What is the full form of the term FDI– (A) Foreign Direct Investment (B) Foreign Diverse Investment 
(C) Fixed Deposit Investment (D) Floating Deposit Investment 
(E) Financial Derivatives in India Ans : (A)

33. The erstwhile UTI Bank is presently known as– (A) ING Vysya Bank (B) Yes Bank (C) Indus Ind Bank 
(D) Axis Bank (E) IDBI Ans : (D)

34. Which of the following telecom giants recently won its case against the Income Tax Department? (A) Bharti Airtel (B) Vodafone (C) Idea Cellular 
(D) Reliance Communications (E) Tata Telecom Ans : (B)

35. Which of the following countries recently attained the status of world's sixth largest economy ? (A) Russia (B) Japan (C) China 
(D) India (E) Brazil Ans : (E)

36. Which of the following countries decided to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol ? (A) Canada (B) Russia (C) India 
(D) USA (E) China Ans : (A)

37. Which of the following is not a Banking or Finance Company ? (A) Barclay (B) Lufthansa (C) BNP Paribas 
(D) American Express (E) HSBC Ans : (B)

38. India and Russia were having some differences over which of the following nuclear power plants? (A) Kaiga (B) Kudankulam (C) Rawatbhata 
(D) Narora (E) None of these Ans : (B)

39. Excise Duty is a tax levied on which of the following ? (A) Production of goods (B) Purchase of goods (C) Export of goods 
(D) Movement of goods beyond municipal limits (E) Sale of goods Ans : (A)

40. India and Pakistan started fresh talks on conventional CBM - was the news in all major newspapers. What does the letter 'M' denote in the term 'CBM' as used above ? (A) Money (B) Mechanism (C) Modalities 
(D) Measures (E) Memorial Ans : (E)

41. Which of the following is the unit of electrical current? (A) Bar (B) Calorie (C) Ampere 
(D) Decibel (E) Angstrom Ans : (C)

42. 'Global Meet on Emerging Economies' was organised in December 2011 in– (A) New Delhi (B) Dhaka (C) Islamabad 
(D) Kathmandu (E) Cape Town Ans : (A)

43. Which of the following awards is given to the coaches of sportspersons ? (A) Kalidas Samman (B) Dronacharya Award (C) Arjuna Award 
(D) Dada Saheb Phalke Award (E) Saraswati Samman Ans : (B)

44. Which of the following countries recently agreed to sell Uranium to India? (A) Australia (B) USA (C) Iran 
(D) Germany (E) Bangladesh Ans : (A)

45. Which of the following schemes launched by the Government of India is aimed at developing rural infrastructure? (A) MNREGA (B) ASHA (C) Bharat Nirman 
(D) Operation Flood (E) Operation Black board Ans : (C)

46. Who among the following is a famous sports person ? (A) Dhanush (B) Saina Nehwal (C) Charles Correa 
(D) Ajit Singh (E) Kim Jong-un Ans : (B)

47. Speed of a ship is expressed in– (A) Kilometre (B) Horse power (C) Ohm 
(D) Knot (E) Coulomb Ans : (D)

48. USA and some other European countries recently imposed fresh sanctions on which of the following countries as they are not in favour of its nuclear advancement? (A) Iraq (B) Pakistan (C) India 
(D) Iran (E) Kuwait Ans : (D)

49. Who among the following has written book 'Dr. Zhivago' ? (A) Pearl S. Buck (B) H. G. Wells (C) Saul Bellow 
(D) Emile Zola (E) Boris Pasternak Ans : (D)

50. Yoshihiko Noda who was on a visit to India recently is the present Prime Minister of– (A) Myanmar (B) South Korea (C) North Korea 
(D) Japan (E) None of these Ans : (D) 

IBPS Specialist Officers Examination (CWE) General Awareness Solved Paper, March 2012

1. Who among the following is one of the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize - 2011 ? 
(A) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (B) Jules A. Hoffmann (C) Brude A. Beutler 
(D) Adam G. Riess (E) Tomas Transtromer (Ans : A)

2. The Food Security Bill-2011 which is in the process of becoming an Act, divides the entire population of the country into two groups. Which of the following are these two groups ? 
(A) Below poverty line and above poverty line 
(B) General population and excluded population 
(C) Included households and excluded households 
(D) Covered under PDS and not covered under PDS 
(E) General households and priority households (Ans : E)

3. RBI has recently deregulated the rates of interest to be provided by various Banks to their depositors/ customers with effect from 25-10-2011 on their accounts. 
(A) Time deposit (B) Saving bank (C) Loan 
(D) Fixed deposit (E) Current (Ans : B)

4. Which of the following is the main advantage of "ASBA" with the applicants for share allotment ? 
(A) ASBA applicant has got secured allotment of shares 
(B) ASBA applicant has got certain preference in allotment of shares as compared to general applicants 
(C) ASBA applicant need not remit the fund for allotment of shares, he/she will do so after shares are allotted to him/her 
(D) ASBA applicants deposit/OD account is not debited, only the funds are blocked for the same and he/she continues to avail interest till the shares are allotted to him/her 
(E) None of these (Ans : D)

5. "Many people die in Deadly Games in Egypt" –was the news in almost all major newspapers in February 2012. 
Which of the following statements is the correct representation of 'Deadly Game' given in the headlines ? 
(A) A riot broke out during a Football Match in Egypt in which many people were killed 
(B) Police had to open fire on a mob including some genuine ticket holders, who were not allowed to enter the stadium even after the start of the match 
(C) Egypt is famous for its dangerous games of 'Bull fight' and 'Martial Game'. Many participants die every year in such games 
(D) Some terrorists opened fire during a football match. About 1,000 people were killed in the incident 
(E) The defeat in the game is considered equivalent to death (Ans : A)

6. Mullaperiyar Dam, which was recently in news, is located in which of the following States? 
(A) Maharashtra (B) Karnataka (C) Andhra Pradesh 
(D) Kerala (E) Tamil Nadu (Ans : D)

7. Like telephone/Mobile number portability, the Ministry of Finance/RBI is now also considering to provide bank account number portability to bank customers. Which of the following would it mean? 
(A) Any customer/account holder can withdraw cash from any other Bank through his/her own cheques drawn on other bank even without ATM 
(B) Any borrower can draw funds from his/her loan account' from any other bank also 
(C) The account number of any account holder will remain the same even if he/she is getting his/ her account transferred to another bank also 
(D) Bank customers would have the facility of mobile Banks to with- draw cash nearby his/her place 
(E) None of these (Ans : C)

8. The total number of Kissan Credit Card holder farmers in our country is– 
(A) 8 Crores (B) 10 Crores (C) 5 Crores 
(D) 7.5 Crores (E) 6 Crores (Ans : B)

9. NRE deposit is–
(A) Non Resident External deposit (B) Non Resident Extra deposit 
(C) Non Resident Exchange deposit (D) Non Refundable External deposit 
(E) Non Resident Extended deposit (Ans : A)

10. What is offshore banking ? 
(A) It is a bank located in the sea (i.e. island). 
(B) It is a bank located in SEZ. 
(C) It is a bank located in a neighbouring country. 
(D) It is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor. 
(E) Offshore banking is basically dealing in foreign exchange. (Ans : D)

11. Maoists in which of the following countries recently decided to accept Govt's offer of 'Golden Handshake' fund enter into 'civilian life' or mainstream of the society ? 
(A) Myanmar (B) India (C) China 
(D) Nepal (E) Bhutan (Ans : D)

12. Which of the following is correct? 
(A) Illiterates cannot open any account in a bank 
(B) Illiterate women cannot open any account in a bank 
(C) Illiterates can open savings bank accounts in a bank 
(D) Advance can be granted to a minor 
(E) Advance can be granted to a minor if he is of sound mind (Ans : C)

13. As per newspaper reports western countries are going to impose sanctions on which of the following OPEC countries as it is said that it is trying to make a nuclear bomb ? 
(A) Kuwait (B) Iraq (C) Iran 
(D) Saudi Arabia (E) Angola (Ans : C)

14. ''The Reliance Industries Ltd. has decided to return some 'KG' fields to the Government of India" -was the news in some major newspapers. What is the major production in KG fields owned by RIL ? 
(A) Crude oil (B) Gas (C) Coal 
(D) Iron ore (E) Gold ore and Diamonds (Ans : B)

15. Non-convertible debentures are– 
(A) Debt instruments which acquire equity status at the issuers' option. 
(B) Debt instruments which acquire equity status at the investors' option. 
(C) Debt instruments which acquire equity status with the permission of Registrar of Companies. 
(D) Debt instruments which acquire equity status on maturity. 
(E) Debt instruments which retain their debt character and cannot acquire equity status. (Ans : E)

16. India's Dipika Pallikal and Sarah Cardwell of Australia recently played an international match in Chennai. Both of them are– 
(A) Badminton players (B) Golf players (C) Chess players 
(D) Squash players (E) Table Tennis players (Ans : D)

17. "IRDA 'norms will boost online distribution" -was the news in some major newspapers. This means online distribution of which of the following will boost up ? 
(A) Bank products (B) Insurance policies/products 
(C) Licenses to open new banks/ branches of existing banks 
(D) Licenses to operate 2G / 3G spectrums 
(E) Permits for export of iron ore (Ans : B)

18. 'Lajja' is a book written by– 
(A) Salman Rushdie (B) Taslima Nasreen (C) Sunil Ganguli 
(D) Rabindranath Tagore (E) Bimal Mitra (Ans : B)

19. To prevent frauds in multiple mortgage cases, under SARFAESI Act, 2002 one special thing has been created and made operative from 01. 04. 2011. Which one is that from the following? 
(A) Special Registrar Office at Lucknow 
(B) Special Central Arbitration Bureau at Lucknow 
(C) Central SARFAESI Tribunals at Six Centres 
(D) Central Electronic Registry 
(E) State Electronic Registries (Ans : D)

20. SBI has merged which of the following two associate banks with itself? 
(A) State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala 
(B) State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Travancore 
(C) State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore 
(D) State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Hyderabad 
(E) State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Saurashtra (Ans : E)

21. Assembly elections took place in which one of the following States recently? (in January 2012) 
(A) Madhya Pradesh (B) Maharashtra (C) Kerala 
(D) Punjab (E) Tamil adu (Ans : D)

22. Which one of the following is not a salient feature of Debit Card? 
(A) No bad debts to banks and no suits for recovery 
(B) 0 interest earning for banks 
(C) Works like a normal withdrawal 
(D) Can be used at ATM and POS 
(E) 45 days credit is given to the card holder (Ans : E)

23. Banks issue a letter to beneficiary on behalf of its constituents like guarantee for making payment on their behalf on fulfillment of its terms and conditions. What is this arrangement known in banking context ? 
(A) Line of Credit (B) Loan to Client (C) Loan on Credit 
(D) Loan against Credit (E) Letter of Credit (Ans : E)

24. As per Financial Inclusion drive one of the following Banks introduced Tilly Cards with Biometric identification. Which of the following is that Bank? 
(A) Central Bank of India (B) Oriental Bank of Commerce (C) Indian Bank 
(D) State Bank of India (E) Bank of Maharashtra (Ans : D)

25. World leaders are to assemble in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). All nations are going to make some commitment towards the goal of the conference. As per the agenda circulated, what commitment do world leaders want from India in the Conference ? 
(A) India should agree to double its energy efficiency under a global understanding 
(B) India should suspend its nuclear pact with USA or at least should reduce it to 50% level of agreed capacity 
(C) Nuclear power plants are highly risky as seen in Japan recently. Hence, no new plant should be made 
(D) India has a vast resource of coal. It must share its coal resources with other countries to enable them to produce thermal power which they are not doing so far due to lack of coal mines there 
(E) None of these (Ans : C)

26. Who among the following is the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan given in 2012 ? 
(A) Late (Dr.) Bhupen Hazarika (B) Sri Vanraj Bhatia (C) Sri Javed Akhtar 
(D) Sri Amitabh Bachchan (E) Smt. Ambika Soni (Ans : A)

27. Under the liberialised scheme of interest subsidy, Govt. of India provides interest subsidy on housing loan at the rate of– 
(A) 0. 50% (B) 1. 00% (C) 2. 00% 
(D) 2. 00% + 1. 00% for prompt repayment (E) None of these (Ans : B)

28. When a Bank provides a loan for purchase of white goods, it is categorised as– 
(A) Consumption loan (B) White Goods loan (C) Consumer Durable loan 
(D) Working Capital (E) Bridge loan (Ans : D)

29. India has decided to acquire Rafale Fighter planes for its airforce wing. Which country is going to supply Rafale fighter planes ? 
(A) Italy (B) Britain (C) Canada 
(D) France (E) Germany(Ans : D)

30. Which of the following statements about contribution (approximately) of agriculture sector in GDP is correct? 
(A) Agriculture contributes 50% of total GDP 
(B) Agriculture does not contribute significantly to India's GDP as the share is less than 1 % 
(C) India's GDP does not take agricultural sector into account 
(D) Agricultural Sector is the part of Service Sector. Hence, it is not considered as an independent sector 
(E) Agricultural Sector contributes 20% in India's GDP (Ans : E)

31. Banks are considered as 'financial intermediaries'. Which of the following activity correctly and comprehensively explains this role of banks ? 
(A) Accepting deposits of money for the purpose of lending and investment 
(B) Granting loans to the weaker sections of the society 
(C) Accepting money for remittance and issuing bank drafts 
(D) Providing safe deposit services 
(E) Opening accounts and accepting deposits therein (Ans : A)

32. The rate below which banks cannot generally lend is called as– 
(A) Base rate (B) Floor rate (C) Repo rate 
(D) Call money rate (E) Ceiling rate (Ans : A)

33. As per the data released by the Union Health Ministry (of India) the infant mortality rate is lowest in– 
(A) Tamil Nadu (B) Maharashtra (C) Goa 
(D) Uttar Pradesh (E) Madhya Pradesh (Ans : C)

34. Dada Saheb Phalke Awards are given by the Ministry of– 
(A) Social Welfare (B) Corporate Affairs (C) Home Affairs 
(D) Human Resource Development (E) Information and Broadcasting (Ans : E)

35. Which of the following is not a type of Cheque ? 
(A) Crossed cheque (B) Blank cheque (C) Speed cheque 
(D) Bearer cheque (E) Order cheque (Ans : C)

36. Mr. John Key is the present–
(A) Prime Minister of Canada (B) Prime Minister of Australia 
(C) Prime Minister of New Zealand (D) President of Australia 
(E) President of Canada (Ans : C)

37. In relation to banking, what do you' understand by "Ever-Greening of Loan Account" ? 
(A) Full repayment of a loan account before maturity-Pre-payment 
(B) Full repayment of a loan account exactly at maturity 
(C) Fresh loan sanctioned during the tenure of account for enhancement of limits 
(D) Adjusting the NPA/Sticky account with fresh sanction of loans 
(E) Loans provided for new projects to new customers 
(Ans : D)

38. Which of the following is the name of an autonomous organisation for rural technology ? 
(A) CAPART (B) MGNREGA (C) PURA 
(D) IRDP (E) NGAPS (Ans : A)

39. With a view to facilitate payment of balance in deposit account of the person named by the depositor without any hassles in the event of death of the account holder, the following facility was introduced in bank accounts in our country. 
(A) Will (B) Registration (C) Nomination 
(D) Indemnity (E) Guarantee (Ans : C)

40. Which of the following countries is not a member of ASEAN ? 
(A) Thailand (B) Myanmar (C) Singapore 
(D) Vietnam (E) Brazil (Ans : E)

41. Which of the following is not a Negotiable Instrument? 
(A) Cheque (B) Fixed Deposit Receipt (C) Promissory Note 
(D) Bill of Exchange (E) All (A) to (D) above are negotiable instruments (Ans : B)

42. Which of the following Stock Exchanges in India recently launched "Carbon Index" so that investors can assess risk and opportunities associated with climate change? 
(A) Delhi Stock Exchange (B) National Stock Exchange 
(C) Bombay Stock Exchange (D) Kolkata Stock Exchange 
(E) Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (Ans : C)

43. Which of the following would be the venue of the World Athletic Championship 2013 ? 
(A) New Delhi (B) Tokyo (C) London 
(D) Paris (E) Moscow (Ans : E)

44. Who among the following represented India in 17th SAARC Summit held at Addu in Maldives in November 2011 ? 
(A) Smt. Sonia Gandhi (B) Dr. Manmohan Singh 
(C) Shri Pranab Mukherjee (D) Shri P. Chidambaram 
(E) Shri Rahul Gandhi (Ans : B)

45. What is the maximum balance amount that is eligible for earning interest in a normal savings bank account ? 
(A) Rs. 1 lac (B) Rs. 2 lacs (C) Rs. 3 lacs 
(D) Rs. 5 lacs (E) No limit (Ans : E)

46. When a customer opens a Deposit account with the Bank, which one of the following is the status of the Bank? 
(A) Debtor (B) Creditor (C) Trustee 
(D) Beneficiary (E) None of these (Ans : A)

47. Which of the following states decided to give Khatedhari Rights to about 30,000 farmers occupying the custodian lands ? 
(A) Gujarat (B) Rajasthan (C) Madhya Pradesh 
(D) Uttar Pradesh (E) Uttarakhand (Ans : B)

48. Which of the following functions is not being performed by the Reserve Bank of India ? 
(A) Regulation of Banks in India 
(B) Regulation of Foreign- Direct Investment in India 
(C) Foreign Currency Management in India 
(D) Control and Supervision of Money Supply 
(E) Currency Management in India (Ans : B)

49. A bank is called as 'Scheduled Bank' when– 
(A) its business has crossed Rs. 1,000 crore mark. 
(B) its branch network is over 100 
(C) it is included in the second Schedule of the RBI Act 
(D) when it complies with all the three above 
(E) None of these (Ans : C)

50. Australian Govt. recently decided to sell Uranium to India. Uranium is used mainly for– 
(A) manufacturing of chemical fertilizers. (B) manufacturing of Drugs/Pharma products. 
(C) nuclear power generation. (D) making arsenals. 
(E) making electronic chips. (Ans : C)