GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. In the fourth Bi-monthly monetary policy review, on 29 September 2015, RBI reduced the Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by ...........
1) 150 basis points
2) 100 basis points
3) 25 basis points
4) 50 basis points
5) 75 basis points

2. Present Repo Rate is ...........
1) 6.75%
2) 7.25%
3) 6.00%
4) 7.75%
5) 8.25%

3. Present Reverse Repo Rate is ...........
1) 5.75%
2) 8.75%
3) 9.75%
4) 10.25%
5) 8.25%

4. Present Bank Rate ...........
1) 7.75%
2) 7.50%
3) 6.75%
4) 5.25%
5) 8.25%

5. RBI's Marginal Standing Facility Rate ...........
1) 7.50%
2) 6.75%
3) 7.75%
4) 8.75%
5) 4.0%

6. RBI kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at ............ of Net Demand and Time Liability (NDTL) in its recent monetary policy review.
1) 24.5%
2) 5.75%
3) 4.0%
4) 4.5%
5) 3.5%

7. RBI declared to issue final guidelines on base rate computation by ...........
1) March 2016
2) September 2016
3) November 2015
4) January 2016
5) March 2020

8. RBI lowered its economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year from 7.6% to ........
1) 7.1%
2) 7.2%
3) 7.4%
4) 7.5%
5) 6.5%

9. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pegged the fiscal deficit target at ........... of the GDP for the current fiscal year.
1) 3.9%
2) 3.4%
3) 2.9%
4) 6.1%
5) 2.0%

10. Union Government said it has plan for setting up a non-statutory PDMA. PDMA stands for ...........
1) Public Debt Management Agency
2) Public Debit Management Agency
3) Private Debt Management Agency
4) Private Debt Monetary Agency
5) None

11. A non-statutory PDMA would be an interim arrangement before an independent agency is set up for managing the government borrowing programme. At present who is handling the government’s borrowing programme?
1) RBI
2) SBI
3) Asian Development Bank
4) National Development Council
5) NITI Aayog

12. Which bank announced the launch of 'Money2World', a fully online outward remittance service for resident Indians?
1) YES Bank
2) Axis Bank
3) ICICI Bank
4) SBI
5) Corporation Bank

13. National watershed management project 'Neeranchal' assisted by ...........
1) IMF
2) IDA
3) AIIB
4) World Bank
5) USAID

14. Which Scotland economist argued ''foreign aid did more harm than good'' conferred with the Nobel prize for Economics on 12 Oct 2015?
1) Meghnad J Desai
2) John Kay
3) Angus Deaton
4) Edward Miliband
5) Nicholas Herbert Stern

15. First Nobel prize in Economics awarded in ...........
1) 1969
2) 1901
3) 1954
4) 1989
5) 2001

16. First Nobel prize in Economics jointly conferred on the Dutch Economist Jan Tinbergen and the Norwegian Economist ...........
1) Ragnar Frisch
2) Trygve Haavelmo
3) Svein Gjedrem
4) Victor Norman
5) None of above

17. Which famous Indian Economist received Nobel prize in Economics 'for his contributions to welfare economics'?
1) Arvind Panagariya
2) Arvind Subramanian
3) Amartya Sen
4) R.C. Dutt
5) Suresh Tendulkar

18. Abel Prize described as Nobel in ...........
1) Mathematics
2) Peace
3) Literature
4) Economics
5) Physics

19. Abel Prize annually given by the Government of Norway. The first award given in ...........
1) 2003
2) 2009
3) 2008
4) 2007
5) 2006

20. The Abel Prize awardees receive ...........
1) 6 Million British Pounds
2) 6 Million USA Dollars
3) 6 Million Indian Rupees
4) 6 Million Euros
5) 6 Million Norwegian Kroner

21. Which Indian American received Abel prize in 2007?
1) Srinivasa Ramanujam
2) Professor Manjul Bhargava
3) S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan
4) Subhash Khot
5) C.R. Rao

22. For striking and seminal contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations
and its applications to geometric analysis, two mathematicians were awarded with Abel prize for 2015. One is John F. Nash, Jr. and another one is ...........
1) Louis Nirenberg
2) Yakov Grigorevich Sinai
3) John Milnor
4) John Griggs Thompson
5) Peter David Lax

23. Which state bagged the Skoch Order-of- Merit national award for implementation of six e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state recently?
1) Kerala
2) AP
3) Haryana
4) Maharashtra
5) Telangana

24. Who has been appointed as India's permanent representative in the UNO?
1) Jaishankar
2) Richard Rahul Verma
3) Syed Akbaruddin
4) Gautam Bambawale
5) Sushma Swaraj

25. Gautam Bambawale appointed as the new high commissioner to ...........
1) Nepal
2) Pakistan
3) USA
4) UK
5) Japan

26. Prof. Ramesh Chand appointed as the .........
1) Full-time member of NITI Aayog
2) Part-time member of NITI Aayog
3) Vice-chairman of NITI Aayog
4) Chairman of NITI Aayog
5) Ex-officio member of NITI Aayog

27. Prime Minister on 11 October 2015 laid the foundation stone of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Memorial in ...........
1) Mumbai
2) Delhi
3) Mau
4) Ratnagiri
5) London

28. Chaityabhoomi is the memorial of ...........
1) Mahatma Gandhi
2) Jawaharlal Nehru
3) B.R. Ambedkar
4) Lal Bahadur Sastri
5) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

29. Union Minister Social Justice & Empowerment released a commemorative postal stamp on father of Indian Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as part of ........... his birth anniversary celebration.
1) 125th
2) 150th
3) 175th
4) 100th
5) 50th

30. Who is the Union Minister Social Justice & Empowerment?
1) Ravi Shankar Prasad
2) Bandaru Dattatreya
3) Thaawar Chand Gehlot
4) Nitin Gadkari
5) Ram Vilas Paswan

31. Prime Minister of India proposed which day to be observed as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas)?
1) 26 November
2) 9 December
3) 26 January
4) 15 August
5) 2 October

32. New Prime Minister of Nepal ...........
1) Tshering Tobgay
2) Abdulla Yameen
3) Ameenah Gurib
4) Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
5) Thein Sein

33. India and Jordan signed six MoUs on the eve of Pranab Mukherjee visit on 11 October 2015. Jordan Capital Amman and its currency ...........
1) Rupee
2) Dollar
3) Peso
4) Dinar
5) Shilling

34. King of Jordan is Abdullah II and Prime Minister is ...........
1) Abdullah Ensour
2) Benjamin Netanyahu
3) David Cameron
4) Abdulla Abdulla
5) Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

35. International Girl Child day ...........
1) 24 Jan
2) 1 Jan
3) Second Sunday of February
4) 11 October
5) 1 June

36. 2015 International Girl Child day theme .......
1) Ending child marriage
2) The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030
3) The Power of Girl Child: Vision for 2050
4) Girl Child is the Future Mother
5) None of above

37. First BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration held at ...........
1) Sochi
2) Durban
3) Bengaluru
4) Rio
5) Beijing

38. Who represented India in the first BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration?
1) Rajnath Singh
2) Sushma Swaraj
3) Kiren Rijiju
4) Jaishankar
5 ) Narendra Modi

39. President Pranab Mukherjee held talks with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on 12 October 2015. How much fund offered by India to Palestine Budgetary Support?
1) $ 5 million
2) $ 10 million
3) $ 15 million
4) $ 20 million
5) $ 50 million

40. A bond issued by an Indian company expressed in foreign currency, and the principal and interest in respect of which is payable in foreign currency is called ...........
1) Foreign Currency Convertible Bond
2) Indian Currency Convertible Bond
3) Foreign Medium Term Note
4) Treasury Bill
5) Foreign Currency Debenture

41. Monetary difference between export and import trade flows of a country for a specific time period is ...........
1) Fiscal Deficit
2) Revenue Deficit
3) Balance of Trade
4) Monetary Policy Review
5) Cash Imbalance

42. Which committee was appointed by Union Government to revisit civil services examination pattern?
1) T Haque
2) Mihir Shah
3) B.S. Baswan
4) S.M. Khan
5) D. Swarup

43. Men's singles title of China Open won by Novak Djokovic of ...........
1) Sweden
2) Norway
3) Serbia
4) USA
5) China

44. Russian Grand Prix title of Formula One won by ...........
1) Sebastian Vettel
2) Jenson Button
3) Lewis Hamilton
4) Fernando Alonso
5) John Arthur

45. Women's Doubles title of China Open won by Sania Mirza of India and ...........
1) Casey Dellacqua, Australia
2) Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakistan
3) Martina Hingis, Switzerland
4) Elena Vesnina, Russia
5) Ekaterina Makarova, Russia

46. Union government on 7 October 2015 approved proposals to set up 3 AIIMS (All India Institutes of Medical Sciences) at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Mangalagiri (AP) and Kalyani in ...........
1) West Bengal
2) Bihar
3) Rajasthan
4) UP
5) MP

47. AIIMS will be established by central government under the scheme of PMSSY. PMSSY stands for ...........
1) Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
2) Pradhan Medium Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
3) Pradhan Mantri Suddhi Suraksha Yojana
4) Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Sastrachikitsa Yojana
5) None of above

48. A.R. Rahman appointed as the cultural ambassador of ............
1) Seychelles
2) Australia
3) USA
4) UK
5) Spain

49. Seychelles capital is Victoria and its currency is..
1) Euro
2) Peso
3) Dollar
4) Rupee
5) Pound

ANSWERS:
1-4, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-3, 6-3, 7-3, 8-3, 9-1, 10-1
11-1, 12-3, 13-4, 14-3, 15-1, 16-1, 17-3, 18-1, 19-1, 20-5
21-3, 22-1, 23-3, 24-3, 25-2, 26-1, 27-1, 28-3, 29-1, 30-3
31-1, 32-4, 33-4, 34-1, 35-4, 36-2, 37-1, 38-3, 39-1, 40-1
41-3, 42-3, 43-3, 44-3, 45-3, 46-1, 47-1, 48-1, 49-4

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. On 23 September 2015, RBI said it will shortly issue banknotes in Rs.50 denomination. It is as per .........
1) Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2010
2) Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2015
3) Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2008
4) Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2007
5) Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2005

2. New Rs.50 denomination note will have the numerals in both the number panels in .......
1) Ascending size from right to left while the first three alpha - numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.
2) Ascending size from left to right while the first five alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.
3) Descending size from left to right while the first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.
4) Ascending size from left to right while the first three alpha - numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.
5) None of above is the correct option

3. As declared by RBI on 23 September 2015, the New Rs.50 banknote will have ..........
1) inset letter 'R'
2) inset letter 'S'
3) inset letter 'X'
4) inset letter 'Z'
5) inset letter 'A'

4. Rs.50 bear the signature of .........
1) Finance Minister
2) Finance Secretary
3) Governor of RBI
4) Prime Minister of India
5) President of India

5. New Rs.50 bank note will have ......... printed on the reverse.
1) the year of RBI establishment 1935 on the reverse side
2) the year of RBI nationalization 1949 on the reverse side
3) the year of independence of India 1947 on front side
4) the year of printing 2015 on the reverse side
5) None of above is the correct option

6. Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation banknotes in the denominations of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 incorporating three new/ revised features as per its press release on 22 September 2015. Three new/ revised features are ...........
1) Descending size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark.
2) Descending size of alphabets in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark.
3) Ascending size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark.
4) Ascending size of alphabets in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark.
5) Zero size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark.

7. As stated on 22 September 2015, which features are introduced for the benefit of visually impaired persons in the denominations of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 that will be issued shortly?
1) Rs.500 denomination will have five angular bleed lines in three sets of 2-1-2 lines on the obverse in both, the upper left and the right hand edge of the banknote.
2) Rs.1000 banknotes will have six angular bleed lines in four sets of 1-2-2-1 lines on the obverse in both, the upper left and right hand edge of the banknotes.
3) Rs.500 denomination will have four angular bleed lines in three sets of 2-2 lines on the obverse in both, the upper left and the right hand edge of the banknote.
4) 2 and 3 options correct
5) 1 and 2 options correct

8. Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Museum unveiled a special display on Mysore Coins on August 20, 2015. Where is RBI Monetary Museum?
1) Pune
2) Kolkata
3) Mumbai
4) Chennai
5) Hyderabad

9. What reason told by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on 18 September 2015 for not issuing the high denomination currency above Rs.1000 bank note presently?
1) Cost of high denomination notes are more.
2) World Bank not accepting to mint higher denomination above Rs.1000.
3) Fear of counterfeiting.
4) Finance minister warned RBI not to mint higher denomination.
5) None of the above statement is correct statement.

10. RBI declared it has withdrawn the instructions on compensation to banks at ........... of the notional value of counterfeit notes detected.
1) 10 percent
2) 15 percent
3) 25 percent
4) 50 percent
5) 5 percent

11. The RBI doubles Limits of Cash Withdrawal at POS for Tier III to VI Centres on 27 August 2015. Locate the correct statement regarding this.
1) RBI doubled the limit for cash withdrawal at point-of-sale (POS) in Tier III to VI centres from Rs.1000/- to Rs.2000/- per day.
2) The cash withdrawal limit remains unchanged at Rs.1000/- per day at Tier I and II centres.
3) In 2009, RBI enabled cash withdrawal at Point-of-Sale (POS) for debit cards
4) In 2013 this facility was extended to prepaid cards issued by the banks.
5) All above statements are correct

12. Which bank accredited by the Green Climate Fund as an implementing entity for climate change-related projects in India?
1) SBH
2) Canara Bank
3) NABARD
4) SBI
5) YES Bank

13. RBI proposed to allow domestic companies to borrow money from PFs, SWF and Insurance Funds as part of the ECBs. SWF stands for ..........
1) Singapore Wealth Fund
2) Supreme Wealth Fund
3) Sovereign Wealth Fund
4) Strict Wrap Fund
5) Signature Wealth Fund

14. FMC merged with SEBI on 28 September 2015. FMC is the chief regulator of commodity futures markets in India. FMC stands for .........
1) Forward Markets Commission
2) Forward Markets Core
3) Front Markets Commission
4) Forward Mark Commission
5) None

15. Forward Markets Commission established in ........
1) 1953
2)1972
3)1992
4) 1935
5) 2001

16. The Forward Markets Commission chairman at the time of merger with SEBI is .......
1) U.K. Sinha
2) Ashishkumar Chauhan
3) Chitra Ramakrishna
4) Raghuram Rajan
5) Ramesh Abhishek

17. Qualcomm, an American global semiconductor company that designs and markets wireless telecommunications products and services announced to invest $ 150 million to provide local innovative start-ups to help country's Mobile and Internet of Everything (IOE) ecosystem in India. Present Executive Chairman of Qualcomm .......
1) Mark Zuckerberg
2) Paul E. Jacobs
3) Satya Nadella
4) Jack Dorsey
5) Marissa Mayer

18. SEBI on 22 September 2015 imposed a penalty of Rs.7269.5 crore, the biggest in its history on which company and its four directors for illegal and fraudulent mobilization of funds from the public?
1) New Delhi Television (NDTV)
2) Rajratan Investments
3) Brook Laboratories
4) Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL)
5) Reliance Industries

19. India on 2 October 2015 pledged to cut its carbon emission intensity by 33-35 percent and increase the share of renewable energy by a massive 40 percent in its total energy mix by ......
1) 2020
2) 2019
3) 2022
4) 2030
5) 2016

20. 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC), COP21 or CMP11 from 30 November to 11 December 2015 will be held at.....?
1) Geneva
2) Paris
3) New York
4) Washington D C
5) New Delhi

21. G-4 summit pressed for the UNO Security Council Reforms on 26 September 2015 held at New York. Which of the following nation is not one of the members of G-4 seeking the permanent membership in security council of UNO?
1) India
2) South Africa
3) Japan
4) Germany
5) Brazil

22. Joint Military Exercise between India and Sri Lanka MITRA SHAKTI 2015 held at .......
1) Mumbai
2) Visakaptanam
3) Kolkata
4) Mumbai
5) Pune

23. Which among the following indigenously developed second generation anti-tank guided missile, successfully test fired on 10 September 2015?
1) Bhishma
2) Aaksash
3) Amogha-I
4) Aditya
5) Nirbhay

24. INS Kochi, the second ship of the Kolkataclass (Project 15A) Guided Missile Destroyer on 30 September 2015 commissioned at ...........
1) Kochi
2) Kolkata
3) Pune
4) Mumbai
5) Balasore

25. The important days in the month of October given. Wrong combination is .......
1) World Vegetarian Day-1 October
2) International Non-violence Day-2 October
3) German Unity Day-3 October
4) World Animal Day-4 October
5) All of above are correct

26. International Day of Older Persons celebrates on ........
1) 1 Jan
2) 1 Apr
3) 1 Jul
4) 1 Oct
5) 1 Dec

27. The International Day of Older Persons 2015 theme is .......
1) You also become old so respect them.
2) Protect the old age people to allow them to survive.
3) Here are the guidelines for respect of old age person.
4) Your care sees your care in the future.
5) Sustainability and age inclusiveness in the urban environment.

28. List of abbreviations given. The wrong combination is .......
1) ANBC - Adjusted Net Bank Credit
2) BBPS - Bharat Bill PAN System
3) CVPS - Currency Verification and Processing System
4) DNSS - Deferred Net Settlement System
5) EMEs - Emerging Market Economies

29. World's 20 largest economies, including India, on 6 September 2015 launched W20, an engagement grouping of women leaders, to push for gender inclusive global economic growth at?
1) Canberra
2) New Delhi
3) Ankara
4) Tokyo
5) Hangseng

ANSWERS:
1-5, 2-4, 3-1K, 4-3, 5-4, 6-3, 7-5, 8-3, 9-3, 10-3
11-5, 12-3, 13-3, 14-1, 15-1, 16-5, 17-2, 18-4, 19-4, 20-2
21-2, 22-5, 23-3, 24-4, 25-5, 26-4, 27-5, 28-2, 29-3

Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP)

The Micro and Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme (MSECDP) is being implemented for holistic and integrated development of micro and small enterprises in clusters through Soft Interventions (such as capacity building, marketing development, export promotion, skill development, technology upgradation, organizing workshops, seminars, training, study visits, exposure visits, etc.), Hard Interventions (setting up of Common Facility Centers) and Infrastructure Development (create/upgrade infrastructural facilities in the new/existing industrial areas/clusters of MSEs). Assistance is provided for the following activities under the scheme- (i) Preparation of Diagnostic Study Report with Government of India (GoI) grant of maximum Rs 2.50 lakh (ii) Soft Interventions with GoI grant of 75 per cent of the sanctioned amount of the maximum project cost of Rs 25.00 lakh per cluster. For NE & Hill States, Clusters with more than 50 per cent (a) micro/ village (b) women owned (c) SC/ST units, the GoI grant will be 90 per cent. (iii) Detailed Project Report (DPR) with GoI grant of maximum Rs 5.00 lakh for preparation of a technical feasible and financially viable project report. (iv) Hard Interventions in the form of tangible assets like Common Facility Centre having machinery and equipment for critical processes, research and development, testing, etc. with GoI grant upto 70 per cent of the cost of project of maximum Rs 15.00 crore. For NE & Hill States, Clusters with more than 50 per cent (a) micro/ village (b) women owned (c) SC/ST units, the GoI grant will be 90 per cent. 7 (v) Infrastructure Development with GoI grant of upto 60 per cent of the cost of project of Rs 10.00 crore, excluding cost of land. GoI grant will be 80 per cent for projects in NE & Hill States, industrial areas/ estates with more than 50 per cent (a) micro (b) women owned (c) SC/ST units. (vi) The GoI assistance shall also be available to Associations of Women Entrepreneurs for establishing exhibition centres at central places for display and sale of products of women owned micro and small enterprises @ 40 per cent of the project cost. A total of 921 interventions in various clusters spread over 28 States and 1 UTs in the country have so far been taken under the programme for Diagnostic Study, Soft Interventions and Hard Interventions (CFCs). Further, 170 projects have been taken up for infrastructure development under the scheme.

Establishment of Science Cities

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Culture is enga ged in establishment of Science Centres throughout the country. NCSM is developing a Science City at Guwahati, Assam which will subsequently be handed over to the Govt. of Assam for future operation and maintenance. Proposals from various state governments have also been received for setting up of Science Cities. The Science Centres/Cities projects are taken up by NCSM in a phased manner depending upon the availability of resources, project handling capacity of NCSM and the existing level of science centre activities in that particular State.

The following proposals have also been received by NCSM for establishment of Science Cities:-
1) Science City, Sampla, Govt. of Haryana
2) Science City, Bengaluru, Govt. of Karnataka
3) Science City, Navi Mumbai, Govt. of Maharashtra
4) Science City, Hyderabad, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh (before bifurcation into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh).
5) Science City, Patna, Govt. of Bihar
6) Science City, Nagpur, Govt. of Maharashtra
7) Science City, Bhubaneswar, Govt. of Odishab
8) Science City, Kumhari, Govt. of Chhattisgarh Science Park is now an integral component of all Science Centres and Science Cities.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao

The Census(2011) data showed a significant declining trend in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR)
at an all time low of 918. The sharp decline pointed out by this data called for urgent action to save the girl child. Towards this end, the government announced Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme to address the issue of decline in CSR through a mass campaign across the country and focussed intervention and multi-sectoral action in 100 gender critical districts. 100 districts have been identified on the basis of low child sex ratio as per Census 2011 covering all states/UTs as a pilot project with at least one district in each state. The three criteria for selection of districts are a) districts below the national average(87 districts in 23 states); b) districts above national average but showing declining trend(8 districts in 8 states) and c) districts above national average and showing increasing trend(5 districts in 5 states) so selected, so that these CSR levels can be maintained and other districts can emulate and learn from their experiences.

A budgetary allocation of Rs 100 cr has been made under the budget announcement for the campaign and Rs 100 cr is to be mobilised from Plan outlay of the planned scheme 'Care and protection of girl child - a multi-sectoral action plan' for the 12th plan. Additional resources could be mobilised through corporate social responsibility at national and state levels. The estimated cost of the scheme is Rs 200 cr, out of which Rs 115 cr is proposed to be released during the current year i.e. 2014-15 (for six months); Rs 45 cr and Rs 40 cr will be released during 2015-16 and 2016-2017 respectively.

•  The overall goal of the scheme is to celebrate the girl child and enable her education. The objectives are to prevent gender biased sex selective elimination and ensure survival, protection and education of the girl child.
•  Eight monitorable targets for this programme have been identified, namely, improving the SRB in 100 gender critical districts by 10 points in a year;
•  Reducing gender differentials in under-five child mortality rate from 8 points in 2011 to 4 points in 2017;
•  Improving the nutrition status of girls by reducing number of underweight and anaemic girls under 5 years of age (from NFHS 3 levels);
•  Ensuring universalisation of ICDS, girls' attendance and equal care monitored using joint ICDS-NRHM Mother Child Protection Cards;
•  Increasing girls' enrollment in secondary education from 76 per cent in 2013-14 to 79 per cent by 2017;
•  Provision of girls' toilets in every school in 100 CSR districts by 2017;
•  Promoting a protective environment for Girl children through implementation of Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act 2012 and;
•  Training elected representatives/grassroots functionaries as community champions to mobilise the communities to improve CSR and promote girls' education. The strategies worked out to achieve these targets included-
•  Implementation of a sustained social mobilisation and communication campaign to create equal value for the girl child and promote her education;
•  Placing of the issue of decline in CSR/SRB in public discourse as part of good governance;
•  Focussing on gender critical districts and cities low on CSR for intensive and integrated action;
•  Mobilising and training panchayati raj institutions/urban local bodies/grassroots workers as catalysts for social change, in partnership with local community/women's/youth groups;
•  Ensuring that service delivery structures/schemes and programmes are sufficiently responsive to issues of gender and children's rights and lastly;
•  Enabling inter-sectoral and inter-institutional convergence at district/block/grassroots levels.

The two major components to achieve the targets of the programme are mass communication campaign on the programme through interlinked national, state and district level interventions with community level action in 100 districts, bringing together different stakeholders for accelerated impact. Multi-sectoral action, drawn up in consultation with MoHFW & MoHRD, would include measurable outcomes and indicators through concerned sectors, states and districts. The states/UTs would adapt a flexible framework for multisectoral action through the state task forces for developing, implementing and monitoring state/district plans of action to achieve their respective specific monitorable targets.

One of the prongs for the success of this programme was advocacy, community mobilisation and
awareness generation. The scheme proposal suggests that community mobilisation could be done through interactive initiatives like Nari ki Chaupal, Beti Janmahotsav, Mann ki Baat etc. A dedicated day could be scheduled every month for celebration of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. National Girl Child day could be celebrated on 24th January every year by all stakeholders including local opinion makers, PRI members, MLAs, MPs etc at district levels led by the district administration of the 100 gender critical districts. International Women's Day could be celebrated to send out a strong message highlighting the importance of gender equality and need of empowering women and girls. Further, celebration of this Day can be used to highlight the contribution of empowered mothers for the BBBP scheme. A pledge for protection, safety, value and education of the girl child may be adopted by the government of India and it may be taken on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.

PAHAL SCHEME

PAHAL stands for Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh which is a Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme, launched by the Centre on 1st January, 2015 with the aim to benefit the LPG consumers. Under this scheme, LPG cylinders will be sold to Cash Transfer Compliant (CTC) consumers at the market determined price, while the cash subsidy will be directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary by the following methods:
1. Primary: Consumers having Aadhar number have to get it linked with bank account so as to get the subsidy directly in their bank accounts.
2. Secondary: Consumers lacking Aadhar number will get subsidy in their account after submitting their relevant bank account details to the LPG distributor (A/C No., Name of A/C holder, IFSC code etc).
Consumers who are receiving subsidy directly in their bank accounts are called Cash Transfer Compliant (CTC) Consumers. For the non-CTC Consumers, however, a grace period of three months (with an additional parking period of three months) is allowed to become CTC consumer. But during this period, the non- CTC consumers will be given LPG cylinders at the market determined prices.
A one- time advance is provided to every CTC Consumer joining PAHAL. The advance is notified by the Government from time to time and remains fixed during that financial year. The advance will remain with the consumers till the time of termination of their connection.
The modified scheme had been re launched initially in 54 districts of the country in the first phase and in other parts of the country on 1st January 2015.

Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana

Centre has launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY) for the welfare of Tribals. The scheme been launched on pilot basis in one block each of the States of AP, MP, HP, Telangana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Under this scheme centre has provided Rs. 10 crore for each block for development of various facilities for the Tribals. These blocks have been selected on the recommendations of the concerned States and have very low literacy rate. The scheme mainly focuses on bridging infrastructural gaps and gaps in human development indices between Schedule tribes and other social groups. VKY also envisages to focus on convergence of different schemes of development of the centre and State Governments with an outcome oriented approach. Initially the blocks having at least 33 per cent tribal population in comparison to total population of the block are to be targeted.

National AYUSH Mission

The Government has launched the National AYUSH Mission with the objectives to promote AYUSH medical systems through cost effective AYUSH services, strengthening of educational systems, to facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy (ASU &H) drugs and sustainable availability of ASU & H raw-materials.
The Mission has been launched(NAM) with an aim to address the gaps in health services through supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing AYUSH health services/education in the country, particularly in vulnerable and far-flung areas. Under NAM special focus will be given for specific needs of such areas and for allocation of higher resources in their Annual Plans. The mission also has provision for 20 per cent of financial resources for flexible components to be proposed by the State/UT Governments.
This Mission will help in the improvement of AYUSH education through enhancement in the number of upgraded educational institutions ,in providing better access to AYUSH services through increase in number of AYUSH hospitals and dispensaries, availability of drugs and manpower , providing sustained availability of quality raw material for AYUSH systems of medicine, supporting cultivation of medicinal plants by adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) so as to provide sustained supply of quality raw-materials and support certification mechanism for quality standards, improving availability of quality of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy (ASU&H) drugs through increase in number of pharmacies, drug laboratories and improved enforcement mechanism of ASU&H drugs.
The Mission at National level will be governed by a National AYUSH Mission Directorate headed by secretary as Chairman and at State level Mission will be governed and executed by a State AYUSH Mission Society headed by chief Secretary acting as Chairperson.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. On 16 September 2015, RBI in-principle granted licenses to how many applicants among 72 applicants to set up small finances banks that are all mainly microfinance and small finance companies?
1) 27
2) 19
3) 14
4) 6
5) 10

2. Which among the following entities did not get license to start the small finance banks?
1) Au Financiers (India) Ltd - Jaipur
2) Capital Local Area Bank - Jalandhar
3) SKS Micro Finance
4) Disha Microfin Private Ltd - Ahmedabad
5) Equitas Holdings - Chennai

3. Which among the following entities did not get license to start the small finance banks?
1) ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Ltd - Chennai
2) Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited - Bengaluru
3) Suryoday Micro Finance Private Ltd - Navi Mumbai
4) Ujjivan Financial Services Private Ltd - Bengaluru
5) All of the above entities got permission to start small finance banks

4. Which of the following activities cannot be done by the new small finance banks as per RBI order?
1) Take small deposits and provide loans
2) Distribute mutual funds and other simple third-party financial products
3) Can be a business correspondent of any other bank
4) Distribute insurance products
5) All of the activities can be done by Small Finance Banks

5. Small Finance Banks must disburse ........ of their total adjusted net bank credit to priority sector.
1) 35%
2) 25%
3) 50%
4) 75%
5) 45%

6. The Small Finance Banks maximum loan size would be ......... of capital funds to single borrower and 15% to a group as per the present RBI rules.
1) 20%
2) 25%
3) 40%
4) 50%
5) 10%

7. Minimum 50% total loans of Small Finance Banks should be up to Rs. ........
1) 10 lakh
2) 75 lakh
3) 25 lakh
4) 5 lakh
5) 15 lakh

8. Which of the following activity the Small Finance Bank cannot do?
1) They can't lend to big corporate houses.
2) They can't lend to big groups.
3) Cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.
4) Other financial activities of the promoter must not mingle with the bank.
5) All of the above activities cannot be done by Small Finance Banks.

9. In the Small Finance Banks, promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital shall be at least .........
1) 10%
2) 20%
3) 25%
4) 40%
5) 74%

10. Small Finance Banks minimum paid-up capital would be .........
1) Rs.200 cr
2) Rs.50 cr
3) Rs.10 cr
4) Rs.100 cr
5) Rs.1000 cr

11. For the Small Finance Banks, capital adequacy ratio should be ......... of risk weighted
assets where as Tier-I should be 7.5% of the risk weighted assets.
1) 15%
2) 10%
3) 11.5%
4) 17%
5) 20%

12. Foreign shareholding capped at ......... of paid capital of the Small Finance Banks.
1) 74%
2) 25%
3) 40%
4) 49%
5) 29%

13. Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) in the Small Finance Banks must not be more than .........
1) 24%
2) 14%
3) 29%
4) 74%
5) 49%

14. Which of the following entity did not get license to start Small Finance Bank?
1) Dewan Housing
2) IIFL Holdings
3) SKS Microfinance
4) UAE Exchange
5) All of the above did not get license

15. Which bank is planning to launch 'green bonds' this year to enable fund raising for investments in projects with environmental benefits?
1) SBI
2) HDFC
3) HSBC India
4) YES Bank
5) Kotak Mahindra Bank

16. RBI launched a module for reporting Foreign FCTRS on eBiz portal of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on 24 Aug 2015. FCTRS stands for .........
1) Foreign Currency Truncation of Shares
2) Foreign Custodian Transfer of Shares
3) Foreign Currency Transfer of Shares
4) First Currency Transfer of Shares
5) None

17. Indian Railways developed a HVT toilet design that combines the advantages of Vacuum toilets and Bio-toilets. HVT stands for .........
1) Hit Travel Toilet
2) Hybrid Variety Toilet
3) High Vacuum Toilet
4) Hybrid Vacuum Toilet
5) Hybrid Value Toilet

18. International Toilet Day is on .........
1) 4 October
2) 5 December
3) 21 March
4) 19 November
5) 9 November

19. None of the above (NOTA) Option symbol in EVM is .........
1) a small ballot paper having BIG Words 'NO' on it
2) a small ballot paper having RED LIGHT mark
3) a small ballot paper with a green cross on it
4) a small ballot paper with a black cross on it
5) a small ballot paper with a Red cross on it

20. NOTA symbol for EVMs designed by Prof. Tarun Deep Girdher of NID of Ahmadabad. NID stands for .........
1) National Initiation of Design
2) National Institute of Disaster
3) Neonatal Institute of Design
4) National Institute of Design
5) None of above

21. On 1 September 2015, Union government announced to waive the controversial MAT on capital gains made by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) prior to April 1, 2015 on the recommendation of the Justice A.P.Sha Committee. MAT stands for .........
1) Minimum Annuity Tax
2) Maximum Alternate Tax
3) Minimum Asset Tax
4) Moderate Alternate Tax
5) Minimum alternate tax

22. India and which nation on 17 September 2015 jointly created a Joint Challenge Coin to symbolize their unique partnership in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy?
1) UK
2) China
3) Russia
4) USA
5) South Korea

23. Nepal's Constituent Assembly on 16 September 2015 approved the new Constitution. The Constituent Assembly headed by .........
1) Chiranjivi Nepal
2) Rambharan Yadav
3) Sushil Koirala
4) Subash Nembang
5) Parmanand Jha

24. Who is invited by UNO Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve in UN's High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST) for 3 years. He is also called Metro Man of India?
1) Suresh Prabhu
2) Manoj Sinha
3) E. Sreedharan
4) A.K. Mittal
5) Verghese Kurien

25. Which of the following cities named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO?
1) Oslo
2) Beijing
3) Conakry
4) Valetta
5) Paris

26. United Nations Champions of the Earth award conferred on which nation prime minister recently. It is the United Nations highest environmental honour recognizing visionary people and organisations all over the world?
1) Bangladesh
2) India
3) Australia
4) Russia
5) Switzerland

27. 2015 Nansen Refugee Award by UNHCR conferred on .........
1) Malala
2) Aqeela Asifi
3) Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
4) Mamnoon Hussain
5) Abdul Hamid

28. Nansen Refugee Award is named after Fridtjof Nansen, the first High Commissioner for Refugees for the League of Nations. The Award instituted in .........
1) 1947
2) 2001
3) 1931
4) 1954
5) 2004

29. Aqeela Asifi is .........
1) Afghanistan refugee in Pakistan
2) Pakistan refugee in Afghanistan
3) Syria refugee in Greece
4) Iraq refugee in Hungary
5) Sudan refugee in Albania

30. The Chairman of the 31 - member Parliamentary standing committee examining the Lokpal Bill is .........
1) P.C. Chako
2) Shunglu
3) S.S. Ahluwalia
4) L.K. Advani
5) Sudarsana Natchiappan

31. Who heads the expert group on land leasing constituted by NITI Aayog?
1) Arvind Panagariya
2) Bibek Debroy
3) T. Haque
4) H.R. Khan
5) Nitin Gadkari

32. India's richest person with a net worth of $ 18.9 billion as per Forbes magazine latest India richest list .........
1) Azim Premji
2) Hinduja brothers
3) Anil Ambani
4) Mukesh Ambani
5) Dilip Shanghvi

33. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 September 2015 launched the National Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) at .........
1) New Delhi
2) Panipat
3) Kolkata
4) Suratgarh
5) Varanasi

34. How much fund allocated to IPDS as per the statement given by Modi at Varanasi?
1) Rs.50,000 crore
2) Rs.30,000 crore
3) Rs.45,000 crore
4) Rs.1500 crore
5) Rs.100 crore

35. For the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations PMKKKY was launched. PMKKKY stands for .........
1) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana
2) Pradhan Mantri Koal Kshetra Kalyan Yojana
3) Pradhan Modi Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana
4) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Karao Yojana
5) Pradhan Mantri Khasi Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

ANSWERS:
1-5, 2-3, 3-5, 4-3, 5-4, 6-5, 7-3, 8-5, 9-4, 10-4
11-1, 12-1, 13-1, 14-5, 15-3, 16-3, 17-4, 18-4, 19-4, 20-4
21-5, 22-4, 23-4, 24-3, 25-3, 26-1, 27-2, 28-4, 29-1, 30-5
31-3, 32-4, 33-5, 34-3, 35-1