Tuesday, June 5, 2012

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Equity schemes managed strong NAV gains, which boost their assets'
was a news in some financial newspapers. What is the full form of the
term NAV as used in above head lines ?
(A) Nil Accounting Variation
(B) Net Accounting Venture
(C) Net Asset Value
(D) New Asset Venture
(D) None of these
Ans : (C)
2. As per reports published in various news papers, mutual fund
companies showed 94 per cent growth in their total profits during
2009-10. This means the profits earned by these companies were 94 per
cent—
(A) Of the total investments they made collectively during the year
(B) More than their profits during previous year
(C) Of the total capital of the company
(D) Less than the total expenditure of the companies
(D) None of these
Ans : (B)
3. As per the news published in various news papers Pakistan has
imposed 15 per cent regulatory duty on exports of cotton yarn. Why
countries are required to impose regulatory duties on exports of some
of their commodities while in the eyes of the layman more exports
means more foreign exchange and more revenue for the Govt. ?
1. It is done to control the exports of a commodity as it may be
needed more in local markets than in foreign countries.
2. It is done to control the general inflation in the country as the
inordinate exports of various commodities create imbalance and also
cost push inflation.
3. It is a good short time measure to collect more revenue from the
exports of the commodity which is in high demand in overseas markets.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
4. As per the reports published in some major news papers 'ADAG
companies' made good profits during the year. ADAG companies are
popularly known as—
(A) Companies owned by Tata Group
(B) Aditya Birla Companies
(C) Reliance companies
(D) Companies owned by Aptech
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)
5. ONGC – Mittal Energy finds hydrocarbons in two blocks OPL-279 & OPL
-285 in Nigerian sea was the news in some major news papers. what is
the full form of the term OPL as used in the above head line ?
(A) Oil Prospecting License
(B) Ownership and Partnership Lease
(C) Overseas Private Line
(D) ONGC Petroleum Ltd.
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
6. "Mutual Funds reported exceptional performance in 2009-10" was the
news in major financial news papers recently. What is a mutual fund ?
1. A type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many
investors and invest it in stocks, bonds or other money market
instruments.
2. It is a subsidiary of a bank or financial company created specially
to ralse money to be invested in a particular industry i.e. housing or
insurance etc. The money raised thus cannot be invested anywhere else.
3. When several banks and financial companies come together and create
a common pool of money to fund
mega infrastructural project like bridges, roads, power plants etc.
the common pool is known as Mutual Fund.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)
7. As we all know the Bank Rate at present is fixed at 6%. What does
it mean in context to the banking operations ?
(A) No bank will be able to give loan to any party on a rate lower
than the Bank Rate
(B) Bank should give loan to their priority sector customers/borrowers
at the rate of 6% only. They cannot charge less or more than this from
their priority sector clients
(C) Banks are required to invest 6% of their total capital on
financial inclusion and inclusive banking operations
(D) Banks will be required to give 6% of their total deposits to the
Govt. of India for meeting its Balance of Trade requirements
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
8. As per the reports in various news papers many private companies
are trying to obtain the licences to launch a banking company in
India. Which of the following organizations/agencies issue the licence
for the same ?
(A) Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
(B) Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF)
(C) Indian Bank Association
(D) Registrar of Companies
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)
9. We very frequently read about Europe's Sovereign—debt crisis these
day. Which of the following statement/s is/are true about the same ?
1. In early 2010 the Euro crisis developed in some countries like
Greece, Spain and Portugal.
2. This created a credit default swap between the countries of the
European Union.
3. SAARC countries have offered some assistance to some of severely
affected countries like Portugal, Spain & Greece.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 1 and 2
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
10. As we all know the RBI has raised the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by
25 bps. in April 2010. What action banks will have to take to
implement the same ?
1. They will have to deposit some more money with the RBI as a reserved money.
2. Banks will be required to give some more loan to projects of the
priority sector.
3. Banks will be required to give loan equivalent to the CRR to the
Govt. of India for its day to day expenditure as and when required.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Only 1 and 2
(E) All 1, 2 and 3
Ans : (A)
11. As per estimates given by the RBI the Economic Growth during the
year 2010-11 will be at which of the following levels ?
(A) 6•5%
(B) 7%
(C) 7•5%
(D) 8%
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)
12. Which of the following is/are correct about the RBI's credit
policy announced in April 2010 ?
1. Repo rate raised by 25 bps.
2. A new reporting platform was introduced for secondary market
transactions in Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and Commercial Papers
(CPs).
3. Core Investment Companies (CICs) having an asset size of Rs. 100
crore are required to register also with the RBI.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
13. As per the announcement made by the RBI some Stock Exchanges in
India are allowed to introduce Plain Vanilla Currency Options. The
term Plain Vanilla Currency Options is associated with which of the
following activities / operations ?
(A) Dollar – Rupee Exchange Rate
(B) Floating of Commercial Papers
(C) Launch of new mutual funds
(D) Deciding the opening price of a share on a particular business day
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
14. Which of the following is not a term related to banking/finance operations ?
(A) Provision Coverage Ratio
(B) Securitization
(C) Consolidation
(D) Commodification
(E) Derivatives
Ans : (C)
15. The process of "Artificial Application of Water to the soil
usually for assisting in growing crops", is technically known as—
(A) water harvesting
(B) irrigation
(C) water recharging
(D) percolation
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)
16. As per the news published in major news papers/journals henceforth
the Credit Card holders will be able to access their credit card
information though automated interactive voice response system over
the phone instead of speaking to the staff. This decision ofthe
banks/credit card companies will provide—
1. an additional hurdle to the customers as people feel comfortable in
talking to the staff instead of talking to a machine.
2. an additional security to the customers as this does not allow any
staff to handle any transaction directly.
3. some comfort to the banks as they will be able to reduce their
staff strength.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) Only 1 and 3
Ans : (B)
17. The 34th National Game which were postponed several times are
scheduled to be held in which of the following states ?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Kerala
(C) Tamil Nadu
(D) Uttar Pradesh
(E) Jharkhand
Ans : (E)
18. Waste Water generates which of the following gases which is more
powerful and dangerous than CO2 ?
(A) Nitrogen
(B) Sulphur di-oxide
(C) Hydrogen
(D) Methane
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)
19. Which of the following days was observed as World Water Day 2010 ?
(A) 20th June
(B) 22nd July
(C) 22nd March
(D) 20th May
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)
20. Late Vinda Karandikar who died a few months back was a famous—
(A) Author
(B) Cine-Actor
(C) Sportsman
(D) Classical Singer
(E) Social Worker
Ans : (A)
21. As per the reports published recently the Govt. of India has
decided to create a separate agency/body scrutinize all Foreign Direct
Investments (FDIs) officially. Up till now the security screening was
being done by the—
(A) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Govt. of India
(B) Reserve Bank of India
(C) Securities & Exchange Board of India
(D) Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India
(E) Ministry of Home Affairs Govt. of India
Ans : (E)
22. As per the news reports in various news papers the USA has
outlined some major policy goals to prevent the danger of nuclear
terrorism. Which of the following is/are included in those policy
goals ?
1. Convene a nuclear security summit within a year's time under the
leadership of the USA.
2. A new agreement/pact should be introduced in place of present
Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
3. Call for a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons at all
vulnerable sites all over the world.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 1 and 3
(D) Only 2 and 3
(E) All 1, 2 and 3
Ans : (E)
23. 'Indira Gandhi Canal' which is around 450 km long provide
irrigation facility mainly to which of the following states ?
(A) Punjab
(B) Haryana
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Gujarat
(E) Rajasthan
Ans : (E)
24. Former caption of the Indian Cricket team, Ajit Wadekar is
conferred which of the following awards for the year 2010 ?
(A) Bharat Ratna
(B) Khel Shri Award
(C) Dronacharya Award
(D) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)
25. Who amongst the following is the director of the popular Hindi
film "Oye Lucky ! Lucky Oye" ?
(A) Mani Ratnam
(B) David Dhavan
(C) Dibankar Banerjee
(D) R. Balakrishnan
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)
26. India recently signed an agreement to import Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG) from a country which is the largest LNG producer and supplier of
the world. Which is that country ?
(A) Kuwait
(B) Qatar
(C) Iran
(D) Saudi Arabia
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)
27. As a measure to help countries hit by global financial meltdown
the RBI has purchased notes worth US $ 10 billion in terms of Special
Drawing Rights from a World Organisation/agency. Which is this
agency/organization ?
(A) Federal Reserve of U.S.A.
(B) Asian Development Bank
(C) World Bank
(D) International Monetary Fund
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)
28. Which of the following is not a public sector undertaking under
the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India ?
(A) Mazagaon Dock Ltd.
(B) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd.
(C) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
(D) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
(E) Bharat Earth Movers Ltd.
Ans : (C)
29. Which of the following states won the senior National Women's
Football Tournament 2010 ?
(A) Manipur
(B) Assam
(C) Tamil Nadu
(D) Kerala
(E) Delhi
Ans : (A)
30. Which of the following is not a missile developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) ?
(A) Shaurya
(B) Pinaka
(C) Brahmos
(D) Agni
(E) Nag
Ans : (A)
31. Which of the following declarations/treaties was adopted by the
BRIC countries recently to promote Global Food Security ?
(A) Moscow Declaration
(B) Doha Treaty
(C) Delhi Declaration
(D) Kabul Treaty
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
32. Which of the following statements represent(s) the main
objective(s) of the revised National Health Policy–2002 of the Govt.
of India ?
1. Increase Public expenditure from 0•9 per cent to 2 per cent of the GDP.
2. Setting up of Medical Grants Commission for funding new Govt.
Medical & Dental colleges.
3. Mandatory two years rural posting before awarding the degree to
Medical Graduates.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Only 1 and 3
(E) All 1, 2 and 3
Ans : (E)
33. Which of the following metals is used for genration of nuclear
Energy by most of the Nuclear Power Plants ?
(A) Zinc
(B) Platinum
(C) Uranium
(D) Nickel
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)
34. Indus Water Treaty is a pact on sharing of river water between India and—
(A) Bangladesh
(B) Pakistan
(C) Nepal
(D) Afghanistan
(E) Myanmar
Ans : (B)
35. The Union Cabinet recently cleared Prohibition of unfair Practices
in Technical Medical Educational Institutes and Universities Bill
2010. As per the bill which of the following will now be treated as a
cognizable offence ?
(A) Accepting capitation fee from the students
(B) Running a private college
(C) Not allowing students to change their course in between
(D) Running a college without proper facilities
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)
36. Which of the following is/are considered a Renewable Source of Energy ?
1. Wind Energy
2. Solar Energy
3. Nuclear Energy
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Only 1 and 2
(E) All 1, 2 and 3
Ans : (D)
37. Which of the following countries is not amongst the top ten in
industrial production in the world during 2010 ?
(A) India
(B) Iran
(C) China
(D) France
(E) U.S.A.
Ans : (B)
38. Commonwealth Games 2010 are being organized in which of the
following countries ?
(A) Australia
(B) South Africa
(C) Canada
(D) New Zealand
(E) India
Ans : (E)
39. Which of the following is not a banking related term ?
(A) Radiation
(B) Outstanding amount
(C) Benchmark Prime Lending Rate
(D) Explicit Guarantee
(E) Creditor
Ans : (A)
40. Insurance service provided by various banks is commonly known as—
(A) Investment Banking
(B) Portfolio Management
(C) Merchant Banking
(D) Bancassurance
(E) Micro Finance
Ans : (D)
41. Who amongst the following has recently taken over as the Chairman
of the 19th Law Commission ?
(A) Mr. A. R. Lakshmanan
(B) Mr. P. V. Reddy
(C) Mr. Yashwant Sinha
(D) Mr. Ranjan Bharti Mittal
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)
42. Moortidevi Award is given for excellence in the field of—
(A) Classical dance
(B) Literature
(C) Classical music
(D) Cinematography
(E) Social service
Ans : (B)
43. Which of the following terms is used in the game of Cricket ?
(A) Love
(B) Tee
(C) Penalty stroke
(D) No Ball
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)
44. Which of the following awards is given by an agency of the United
Nations Organization ?
(A) Normon Borloug Award
(B) Kalinga Prize
(C) Ramon Magsaysay Award
(D) Pulitzer Prize
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)
45. Which of the following countries won the Hockey World Cup 2010 ?
(A) Spain
(B) England
(C) India
(D) Australia
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)
46. Who amongst the following is the author of the English novel
'solo', which was given Common Wealth Writers' Prize 2010 ?
(A) Aamer Hussain
(B) Jonathan Tel
(C) Rana Dasgupta
(D) John Torrence Tate
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)
47. Mr. Surjit Patar who was awarded Saraswati Samman recently is a
well known poet of—
(A) Hindi
(B) English
(C) Punjabi
(D) Urdu
(E) Bengali
Ans : (C)
48. Which of the following is the book written by Kiran Desai ?
(A) Higher than Everest
(B) A Passage to England
(C) Affluent Society
(D) All my Yester Years
(E) The Inheritance of Loss
Ans : (E)
49. Which of the following Trophies/cups is associated with the game of Hockey ?
(A) Durand Cup
(B) Santosh Trophy
(C) Rangaswami Cup
(D) Ranji Trophy
(E) K. D. Singh Babu Trophy
Ans : (C)
50. Sandra Bullock who was awarded Oscar recently is a famous—
(A) Actress
(B) Director
(C) Music Composer
(D) Screen play writer
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

Sachin Tendulkar sworn in as the Member of Rajya Sabha


Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar sworn in as the member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament on 4 June 2012. Sachin along with hindi film actress Rekha and business woman Anu Aga was nominated by the President of India as Rajya Sabha MP on 27 April 2012.
Since Parliament is not in session, Sachin was administered the oath in the chamber of the Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari. He took oath in Hindi.
Sachin, 39, is the first active cricketer who has been nominated to Rajya Sabha for 6-year term. The President of India under article 80 of the Indian constitution nominates 12 members belonging from the various fields like art, literature, business, sports to the 250-member Rajya Sabha.

Crisil lowers GDP growth to 6.5 %

Rating agency Crisil, on June 02 joined global banks to scale GDP (gross domestic product) growth for this fiscal down by 50 basis points to 6.5 per cent citing rising downside risks from muted investment demand, continuing policy logjam, and limited fiscal and monetary space to stimulate the economy, apart from continuing recession in the eurozone area.
The agency also attached a caveat that its new growth projection saying this is contingent on a normal monsoon forecast and no further worsening of the eurozone crisis.
Despite a massive drop in crude prices to the tune of nearly 18 per cent, and a massive drop in global commodity prices, the agency also upped its inflation guidance to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent. The agency also upped its fiscal deficit target to 5.8 per cent.
“We have lowered the GDP growth forecast for 2012-13 to 6.5 per cent from its March 2012 estimate of 7 per cent. The forecast has been scaled down in view of the rising downside risks from recession in the eurozone, muted domestic investment demand, policy logjam, and limited fiscal and monetary space to stimulate the economy,” Crisil Research sad in a note.
The agency further argued that “unlike the swift V-shaped recovery from 6.8 per cent growth in the worst phase of the global financial crisis in 2008-09, economic growth will remain flat in 2012-13, the level of 6.5 per cent achieved in 2011-12. This will make 2012-13 the second consecutive year of lowest growth in the past decade ” Crisil Managing Director and Chief Executive Roopa Kudva said.
“Sub-normal monsoons and a further worsening of the situation in the eurozone can create downside risks to our tepid growth forecast of 2012-13,” warned Kudva.
The Crisil growth downgrade is the first from a domestic agency after the 2011-12 growth numbers were announced last Thursday and comes a couple of days after all the global financial majors such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, StanChart, Citi, CLSA and HSBC lowered the growth prospects to 5.7-6.4 per cent for the current fiscal.
In their reports to clients worldwide, most of them blamed policy inaction by the government as the major road block to the economy, which had expanded by 8.4 per cent for two consecutive years in 2009-10 and 2010-11, before plunging to 6.5 per cent in 2011-12.
While Standard Chartered lowered its outlook to 6.2 per cent from 7.1 per cent, Morgan Stanley scaled down growth projection to as low a 5.7 per cent from 6.3 per cent for the current fiscal stating “a stagflation type environment is emerging.” In the stagflation situation, while inflation rises, there is stagnation or lowering of economic expansion. It said the banking system stress remained a concern.
However, Crisil said it saw industry growth improving to 5 per cent over a very weak base of 3.4 per cent growth last fiscal, while its revised downwards the services sector growth to 8.1 per cent, reflecting the sluggish growth prospects in IT/ITeS arising from the weak performance of the eurozone, and slower-than-earlier-expected growth in domestic services due to moderation in private consumption. Under the assumption of normal monsoons, agriculture is expected to grow at the trend rate of 3 per cent.
Raising its inflation guidance to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent, Crisil said, “although lower economic growth will reduce demand-side pressures on inflation and lower global crude and commodity prices will have a moderating impact, these are likely to be offset by other pressure points.”
“These include the weak rupee and continuing high levels of food inflation. Additionally, an upward revision in diesel, electricity, and minimum support prices of crops can heighten inflationary pressures depending on government decisions on these issues.”
Moving up the rupee outlook to 50 from the earlier forecast of 48-49 by March 2013, Crisil chief economist Dharmakirti Joshi, said, “if the European situation improves towards the beginning of 2013, portfolio inflows into the domestic market will increase due to improved risk appetite, and resultant improved dollar supply will create a push the rupee up.”
Mr. Joshi also hedged his hope on some easing in the current account deficit this fiscal due to softer commodity and crude prices, which will also support the rupee.
On the fiscal deficit, it said it would settle at 5.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 versus its earlier estimate of 5.5 per cent and the government's budget estimate of 5.1 per cent.
“With slower GDP growth, government revenue growth will be lower than previously anticipated, thereby pushing up the fiscal deficit. This will increase the government's borrowing requirement and push the yields higher than our earlier projection.”
“Accordingly, we expect the 10-year G-Sec yield around 8-8.2 per cent by March 2013 as against 7.5-7.8 per cent forecast earlier,” Mr. Joshi said.

New Zealand beat Argentina to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament

New Zealand beat Argentina 1-0 to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at Ipoh, Malaysia  on 3 June 2012. Andy Hayward scored the only goal for New Zeland in the summit clash, which prevented Argentina, the 2008 winner, to reclaim the trophy.
In a clash for the third spot and bronze medal, India defeated Great Britain 3-1. From Indian side Shivendra Singh,  Sandeep Singh and Tushar Khandekar scored goals at 42nd minute,  52nd minute and 69th minute respectively. Ashley Jackson struck the only goal for the Great Britain at 35th minute of the game. Earlier the Great Britain had outshined the Indian squad in their round robin league encounter.
In another clash for the fifth position the South Korean team defeated hosts Malaysia 3-2 to earn the fifth position. Pakistan for the first time in the history of the tournament ended with the 7th position, bottom most the in the table.

Awards


While the Fairplay Trophy was given to Great Britain, Sardar Singh of India was awarded with the trophy of the Best Player of Tournament. Kyle Pontifex of New Zealand was chosen the Best Goalkeeper for the tournament. Kyle Pontifex of New Zealand was awarded with the Man of the Final trophy. Ashley Jackson of Great Britain emerged the top scorer of the tournament

Final Table

1    New Zealand
2    Argentina   
3    India
4    Great Britain
5    South Korea
6    Malaysia
7    Pakistan

Friday, June 1, 2012

National Telecom Policy (NTP)-2012 was approved by union cabinet

The Union Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy -2012 (NTP - 2012) and also approved introduction of Unified Licence and authorised the Department of Telecommunications to finalise the new Unified Licensing regime with the approval of Minister of Communications & IT.
The salient features of the National Telecom Policy-2012 are as follows: 
The policy envisions providing secure, reliable, affordable and high quality converged telecommunication services anytime, anywhere for an accelerated inclusive socio-economic development. The main thrust of the Policy is on the multiplier effect and transformational impact of such services on the overall economy. 
The thrust areas of NTP - 2012 are

  • Increase rural teledensity from the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020
  • Repositioning of Mobile phone- as an instrument of empowerment
  • Broadband –“'Broadband For All” at a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps
  • Domestic Manufacturing- Making India a global hub
  • Convergence of Network, Services and Devices
  • Liberalisation of Spectrum- any Service in any Technology
  • Simplification of Licensing regime- Unified Licensing, delinking of Spectrum from License, Online real time submission and processing
  • Consumer Focus - Achieve One Nation - Full Mobile Number Portability and work towards One Nation - Free National Roaming
  • Resale of Services
  • Voice over Internet Protocol
  • Cloud Computing, Next Generation Network including IPV6

The policy seeks to provide a predictable and stable policy regime for a period of about ten years. Policy will be operationalised by bringing out detailed guidelines, as may be considered appropriate, from time to time. Implementation will enable smooth implementation of the policies for providing an efficient telecommunication infrastructure taking into account the primary objective of maximizing public good by empowering the people of India. The policy will further enable taking suitable facilitatory measures to encourage existing service providers to rapidly migrate to the new regime in a uniformly liberalised environment with a level playing field.

India’s Fiscal Deficit eased to 5.7 in the Fiscal Year 2011-12

According to the figures released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on 31 May 2012, India’s fiscal deficit eased to 5.7 per cent of GDP, lower than 5.9 per cent projected in the revised estimates in the Budget.
Fiscal deficit, the difference between the government's total receipts and expenditure, capped at 5.09 trillion rupees in 2011-12. While the tax revenue receipts curbed to 6.31 trillion rupees against the projected figure of 6.42 trillion rupees, government’s expenditure both non-plan expenditure and plan expenditure also went down at 8.84 trillion rupees and 4.13 trillion rupees respectively. The revenue deficit was at 4.3% of GDP.
The government is working hard to curtail the broadening fiscal deficit and aiming to bring it down to 5.1 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13. In order to meet its fiscal deficit target the finance ministry is eyeing to cut the subsidy bill to below 2 per cent of GDP in the fiscal year 2012-13and 1.75 per cent in the subsequent years. The slowing economy is making it difficult for the government to achieve its fiscal deficit target.
The gross domestic product (GDP) data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), had capped the GDP growth rate rate of India in 2011-12 at 6.5 per cent, as against the earlier estimate of 6.9 per cent.

India's Exports registered a Growth of 3.2 Per Cent in April 2012

According to data released by the Commerce Ministry in New Delhi on 1 June 2012 India's exports registered a growth of 3.2 per cent on year-on-year basis to 24.4 billion dollar in April 2012. Exports figure in April 2011 stood at 23.6 billion dollar. The slumping export figures are largely attributed to the slowing global demand of goods.
Imports during the same period witnessed a growth of 3.8 per cent to 37.9 billion dollar, creating a trade deficit of 13.4 billion dollar. In April 2012, the country's oil imports grew about 7 per cent to 13.9 billion dollar compared to the same period in 2011. Non-oil imports expanded 2 per cent on year-on-year basis to 24 billion dollar during April the first month of fiscal year 2012-13.
On an annual basis Indian exports expanded 21 per cent to 303.7 billion dollar in the fiscal year 2011-12. The imports during the same period grew 32.2 per cent to 488.6 billion dollar. The trade deficit for the full fiscal year was 184.9 billion dollar.
A higher trade deficit will have an adverse impact over already ailing Indian economy. The broadening trade deficit could worsen the current account balance of the country and further weaken the rupee.

Growth Rate of Eight Core Infrastructure Industries dipped to 2.2% in April 2012

As per the official data released on 31 May 2012, the growth rate of eight core infrastructure industries dipped to 2.2 per cent in April 2012 from 4.2 per cent in April 2011. The eight core sectors — crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel has a weight of 37.9 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The dip in the growth of the core sector industries was attributed to poor performance by sectors such as natural gas, crude oil and fertilizers.
The overall infrastructure sector growth for March 2012 was revised downwards to 2.2 per cent as compared to a healthier 6.5 per cent expansion witnessed in the same month last year. Also, the cumulative growth of infrastructure industries was found to have slipped to 4.4 per cent, which is significantly lower than the 6.6 per cent increase seen in 2010-11.
As per the data released by the CSO, natural gas and crude oil output during April 2012 fell by 11.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. Petroleum refinery products and fertiliser production also witnessed negative growth rates, contracting by 2.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent in April 2012. Slowdown in electricity generation was also witnessed in April. Electricity generation grew at a lower pace of 4.6 per cent during the month as compared to 6.4 per cent in April 2011.
However, three sectors- coal, steel and cement were noted to have fared better as compared to 2011. While coal production went up by 3.8 per cent in April 2012 as compared to an increase of 2.7 per cent witnessed in April 2011, the output of steel and cement grew by a healthy 5.8 per cent and 8.6 per cent during April 2012 as compared to negative growth rates of (-) 2.9 per cent and (-) 0.1 per cent witnessed by the two sectors in the corresponding period of 2011.