Delhi Government launched India’s first e-ration card Service

Delhi Government on 27 March 2015 launched India’s first e-ration card service. The service was launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.

In this service, E-ration card will be linked with Aadhaar cards and it would enable the beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) to get the cards online from the government’s web portal without hassles.

The new service is expected to curb corruption and increase transparency in the system.

The service would cut down the delays in preparation of ration card and would ensure the fast delivery to the beneficiaries.

As soon as an application for providing food security is approved by the Food Supply Officer concerned, a message will go to the cellphone number of the beneficiary informing him or her about approval of application and ration card.

ISRO won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 27 March 2015 won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014. The award was selected by the jury under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Besides Prime Minister, other members of the Jury that selected the ISRO for the award were Justice H L Dattu, Chief Justice of India; Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the single largest Opposition Party in the Lok Sabha; LK Advani, Member of Parliament and Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

The Indian space agency successfully launched Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and at a very cost effective price of 450 crore rupees.

The launch makes India the first Asian country to enter the Martian sphere of influence.

ISRO became the fourth space agency after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and European Space Agency to have undertaken a mission to Mars.

Besides launching various research and communication satellites, the space agency through its cutting-edge technologies contributes to the nation's development through satellite based education, health care and connectivity to community activities for sustainable economic development.

About the Award

The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in the year 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

It is given to individual or organisation for making social, economic and political transformation through non-violence means.

The award comprises an amount of one crore rupees and a citation.

Nobel Laureate John Nash won Abel Prize 2015 for work on partial differential equations

Nobel Laureate John F Nash Jr. won the Abel Prize 2015 for his work on partial differential equations. The prize was announced on 25 March 2015 by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters. They will receive the Abel Prize from His Majesty King Harald at a ceremony in Oslo on 19 May 2015.

He will share the Prize with Louis Nirenberg, Professor Emeritus at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. They both will share the prize money of 760000 US dollar.

Nash and Nirenberg won the prize for striking and seminal contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations and its applications to geometric analysis. Partial differential equations are important in both pure math and describing natural phenomena.

John Nash is a senior research mathematician at Princeton University. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 for his work in game theory as dramatized in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind in which he was portrayed by actor Russell Crowe.

About the Abel Prize

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize was named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.

The award was established in 2001 by the Government of Norway and complements the Holberg Prize in the humanities.

The Abel Prize has often been described as the mathematician's Nobel Prize, competing in that respect with the much older Fields Medal. It comes with a monetary award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (NOK).

In 2014, it was won by Yakov G Sinai, Professor at Princeton University and Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first Abel Prize was won by Jean-Pierre Serre, Professor at Collège de France, Paris in 2003.

62nd National Film Awards Winners 2015

The 62nd National Film Awards were announced in a press conference in New Delhi on 24 March, 2015 . The conference was addressed by Jury Chairpersons Shri Bharathiraja and Shri Kamal Swaroop.

 List of winners:

• Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English)
• Best Popular Film for Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Mary Kom
• Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Asha for Jaoar Majhe
• Special Jury Award: Khwada (Marathi)
• Best Direction: Srijit Mukherji for Chotushkone (Bengali)
• Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Queen
• Best Actor: Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
• Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa for Jigarthanda (Tamil)
• Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur for Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi)
• Best Child Actor: Kaakkaa Muttai(Tamil)
• Best Female Playback Singer: Uttara Unnikrishanan for Azhagu, Saivam (Tamil)
• Best Costume Designer: Haider (Hindi) Dolly Ahluwalia
• Best Make-up Artist: Nangaraju and Raju for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
• Best Cinematography: Chotushkone (Bengali)
• Best Editing: Vivek Harshan for Jigarthanda (Tamil)
• Best Production Design: Aparna Raina for Nachom - IA Kumpasar (Konkani)
• Best Screenplay Writer (Original): Srijit Mukherji for Chotushkone (Bengali)
• Best Screenplay Writer (Adapted): Joshy Mangalath for Ottal (Malayalam)
• Best Dialogues: Vishal Bhardwaj for Haider
• Best Lyrics: NA. Muthukumar for Azhagu, Saivam (Tamil)
• Best Music Direction Songs: Haider
• Best Music Direction Background Score: Nineteen Eighty Three (Malayalam)
• Best Audiography - Location Sound Recordist: Mahaveer Sabbanwal for Khwada (Marathi)
• Best Audiography - Sound Designer: Anish John for Asha Jaoar Majhe (Bengali)
• Best Audiography - Re-recordist of the final mixed track: Anirban Sengupta and Dipankar Chaki for Nirbashito (Bengali)
• Best Choreography: Sudesh Bismil, Haider
• Best Assamese Film: Othello
• Best Bengali Film: Nirbashito
• Best Hindi Film: Queen
• Best Rabha Film: Orong
• Best Haryanvi Film: Pagdi The Honour
• Best Punjabi Film: Punjab 1984
• Best Tamil Film: Kuttram Kadithal
• Best Telugu Film: Chandamama Kathalu
• Best Malayalam Film: Ain
• Best Marathi Film: Killa
• Best Odiya Film: Aadim Vichar
• Best Kannada Film: Harivu
• Best Konkani Film: Nachom - IA Kumpasar
• Special Mention: Killa (Marathi), Bhootnath Returns (Hindi), Ain (Malayalam), Nachom - IA Kumpasar (Konkani)
• Best Film on Environment Consevation/Preservation: Ottaal (Malayalam)
• Best Educational Film: Komal and Behind the Glass Wall
• Best Exploration/ Adventure Film: Life Force - India's Western Ghats
• Best Investigative Film: Phum Shang 
• Best Animation Film: Sound of Joy
• Best Short Fiction Film: Mitraa
• Best Film on Social Issues: Chotoder Chobi
• Best Children's Film: Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil) and Elizabeth Ekadashi (Marathi)
• Best Film Critic: Tanul Thakur
• Best Book on Cinema: Silent Cinema: (1895-1930) 

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. Banks obtain photograph at the time of opening of the account with a view to:
a) Avoid benami accounts
b) Verify the identity of the customer
c) Verify with police records
d) a & b
e) a to c

2. Banks are required to submit CTR (Cash Transaction Report) to ___ within ___ of succeeding month.
a) FIU, 30 days
b) FIU, 15 days
c) FIU, 7 days
d) RBI, 7 days
e) RBI, 15 days

3. Premium payable on deposit insurance on every Rs.100 per annum is
a) 10 paise
b) 5 paise
c) 25 paise
d) 50 paise
e) None

4. Which of the following can’t be a nominee?
a) Illiterate Person
b) Minor
c) NRI
d) HUF
e) None

5. In case of dishonor of cheques on financial grounds, the holder is required to issue notice to the drawer
within ___ days to claim remedy under section 138 of NI Act
a) 7 Days
b) 30 Days
c) One Year
d) Three Years
e) None

6. National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has set up payment network to enable the member
banks to issue Domestic Payment Cards with a brand ___
a) Visa Card
b) Master Card
c) Prepaid Card
d) RuPay
e) Travel Card

7. Permanent Account Number (PAN) is mandatory for
a) Bank transactions (cash) of Rs. 50000/- & above
b) Purchase and sale of shares/ debentures/bonds of Rs. 50000/- & above
c) Purchase and sale of immovable property where the value of the property is Rs. 5 lakh & above
d) a & c
e) All

8. High Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) indicates
a) Unable to meet the installment obligations
b) Able to meet payment of installments comfortably
c) Liquidity problem
d) a & c
e) None

9. Which of the following statement is not true with regard to Capital Gains Deposit Scheme?
a) Income Tax Assess who are eligible for exemption under section 54 of the IT Act are alone can open account with Banks
b) Accounts can be opened under Savings, Fixed and Term Deposits
c) Cheque book can be issued to eligible accounts.
d) No lien or deposit loan is allowed against such deposits
e) None

10. Which of the following statement is not correct with regard to Tax Saver Scheme of Banks?
a) Tax exemption is available for the deposit amount under section 80C of IT Act
b) Period of deposit is allowed up to 5 Years
c) TDS is applicable, if interest payment is above Rs.10000/- in a financial year
d) Maximum amount of deposit allowed is Rs. 5 lakhs
e) c & d

11. Financial statements includes
a) Balance Sheet
b) P & L
c) Cash & Funds Flow
d) a & b
e) a, b & c

12. Banks are permitted to take over borrowal accounts from other Banks & Financial institutions provided
a) Account should be Standard Asset with positive net worth
b) Copy of the borrowal account for preceding 12 months is to be obtained
c) P & C report is to be obtained from other bank before disbursement
d) Branch to take approval from next sanctioning authority
e) All of the above

13. RBI extending incentives to Banks for the following services
a) Adjudication of Mutilated Bank Notes
b) Exchange of Soiled Notes
c) Distribution of Coins over the counter
d) Establishment of Coin vending Machines
e) All of the above

14. Which agency is enabling the transfer of subsidies directly to beneficiary accounts through Aadhaar Enabled Payment Bridge (APB)?
a) RBI
b) SEBI
c) IDRBT
d) NPCI
e) SBI

15. Call Money Market interest are linked to
a) Bank Rate
b) Repo Rate
c) Reverse Repo Rate
d) Market forces
e) None

16. Transaction Password relates to
a) Core Banking
b) ATM operations
c) Internet Banking
d) Tele banking
e) None

17. Nomination in respect of the following is to be witnessed by two persons.
a) All deposit accounts
b) Deposit accounts where the
nominee is a minor
c) Physically challenged accounts
d) Thumb impression accounts (illiterate)
e) None

18. When the contents of the Negotiable Instrument are modified by the drawer, it is treated as
a) Forgery
b) Fraud
c) Material alteration
d) suppression of facts
e) None

19. Prepayment charges are exempted for
a) Housing Loans
b) Education Loans
c) Agr. Loans
d) Corporate Loans
e) a, b & c

20. IFSC code consists of ___ Digits.
a) 9
b) 10
c) 11
d) 15
e) None

21. One Bank account per family is mandatory to avail
a) Credit facility from bank
b) Direct Benefit Transfer benefit (subsidy)
c) Interest subvention – Housing Loan
d) either a or b
e) none

22. What is the time limit to furnish the requested information under Right to Information Act (RTI) and what is the penalty for noncompliance of the said norm?
a) 30 days & Rs. 100 per day
b) 60 days & Rs. 100 per day
c) 30 days & Rs. 250 per day maximum of Rs. 25000/-
d) 60 days & Rs. 250 per day
e) None

23. The documents to be insisted from a NRI for opening an account is
a) Copies of Passport and VISA
b) Local and Overseas addresses
c) Compliance of KYC norms
d) Latest Passport size photographs
e) All of the above

24. Minimum and Maximum period of Certificate of Deposits
a) 15 days & 1 year
b) 30 days & 1 year
c) 7 days & 1 year
d) 7 days & no limit
e) None

25. Loans not exempted from Base Rate Purview?
a) Consortium Advance
b) Loans against deposits
c) Export Credit
d) Loans to staff members
e) None

26. Visually challenged persons are allowed to avail the following banking facilities?
a) Cheque Book
b) Debit Card
c) ATM Card
d) Locker
e) All

27. Housing Loan up to ___ is treated as Priority Sector.
a) 10 lakh
b) 15 lakh
c) 25 lakh in Metro with population above 10 lakh to 15 lakh in other centers
d) 25 lakh at all places
e) None

28. Nominee can exercise his right
a) During the tenure of deposit
b) On maturity of deposit
c) Any time since he will be treated as joint depositor
d) He has no right on deposit since it is in the name of the depositor
e) On the death of the depositor

29. Balances under Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) earn interest @___
a) 3% p.a.
b) Applicable SB Interest Rate
c) 5% p.a.
d) No interest
e) None

30. Banks are allowed to accept deposits under Capital Gains Scheme in ___
a) Savings
b) Fixed
c) Current
d) a & b
e) Any scheme

31. During March 2015, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee had recommended introduction of PSLCs to enable banks "to meet their PSL requirements even while leveraging their comparative advantage in lending". What does the PSLC stands for?
a) Priority Sector Lending Certificates
b) Priority sector Loan Certificates
c) Primary and Secondary Sector Certificates
d) Public Sector Lending Certificates
e) None of the above

32. Zero Coupon Bonds refers to
a) Bond issued at face value
b) Bond issued with face value & interest
c) Bond issued at discount from its face value with interest
d) Bond issued at discount from its face value without interest
e) None

33. ATMs that are owned and managed by non-banking entities are called as ___
a) Onsite ATM
b) Offsite ATM
c) Third Party ATM
d) Red label ATM
e) White label ATM

34. For transfer of funds through NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) and minimum and maximum amount that can be transferred are
a) Rs.1,000 and maximum Rs. 5 lakhs.
b) Rs. 1000 and maximum no limit
c)Rs. 5,000 and maximum 1 lakh
d) No minimum & maximum amount
e) None

35. 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

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

37. The minimum capital required to start a new private sector bank is?
a) Rs. 100 crore
b) Rs.200 crore
c) Rs. 300 crore
d) Rs.400 crore
e) Rs. 500 crore

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

39. 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

40. 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

ANSWERS:
1) d; 2) b; 3) a; 4) d; 5) b; 6) d; 7) e; 8) b; 9) c; 10) d;
11) e; 12) e; 13) e; 14) d; 15) d; 16) c; 17) d; 18) c; 19) e; 20) c;
21) b; 22) a; 23) e; 24) c; 25) a; 26) b; 27) c; 28) e; 29) d; 30) d;
31) a; 32) d; 33) e; 34) c; 35) c; 36) b; 37) e; 38) b; 39) d; 40) d.

Establishment of PCPIRs

The Government of India has approved setting up four Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) in the States of Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam – Kakinada), Gujarat (Dahej), Odisha (Paradeep) and Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore – Nagapattinam) which are estimated to attract investments of around Rs.7.63 lakh crore and provide employment to around 33.96 lakh persons. These PCPIRs are at different stages of implementation. PCPIRs are the projects with long gestation period and may take around 15-20 years to achieve full potential. As on 31.01.2015, investment of approx. Rs. 1.60 lakh crore have been made and direct & indirect employment for approx 2.23 lakh persons has been generated. 

The PCPIR projects are already functional and realization of full potential is a gradual process. The Government has set up Steering Committees for monitoring the implementation of PCPIRs in various States. The PCPIRs have been promoted in domestic and international forum through exhibition, road shows and interaction with industry associations in order to attract investments.