SBI PROBATIONARY OFFICERS EXAM GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. The Housing Loans also come under Priority Sector Lending (PSL). Why the housing also include in the Priority sector lending?
1) it boosts cement industry
2) it boosts electronics and electrical industry.
3) it provides employment to unorganized labour.
4) it is one of the basic needs of human being.
5) All of the above are the reasons to include housing loan under PSL

2. The housing loans consist of....
1) for the construction of a house.
2) repair (maintenance) and / or renewal of a house.
3) clearance of slums and rehabilitation of disaster-stricken masses to temporary refuge shelters
4) 1 & 2 only
5) All of above

3. On 23 April 2015, RBI revamps priority sector lending norms in the case of home loans. As per these norms loans of up to Rs.28 lakh to individuals in metropolitan centres willqualify as Priority Sector Lending, provided the overall cost of the dwelling unit is....
1) Rs.50 lakh
2) Rs.30 lakh
3) Rs.55 lakh
4) Rs.45 lakh
5) Rs.35 lakh

4. Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) and insurance firms will deploy ...... of their corpus towards home loans of up to Rs.25 lakh for low-cost housing.
1) 7%
2) 10%
3) 18%
4) 20%
5) 15%

5. India's largest mortgage lender is ...
1) SBI
2) Axis Bank
3) Corporation Bank
4) HDFC
5) ICICI

6. On 1 June 2015, 'Her Ghar Her Car' scheme launched by which bank, having an objective of reaching out to women in the country and empowering them to take decisions that can change the course of their family and society at large?
1) RBI
2) SBH
3) NHB
4) IDBI
5) SBI

7. HUDCO (Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited) was established as a premier techno-financing company set up in 1970 by the Government of India to accelerate the pace of housing and urban development in the country. HUDCO has corporate office located at .....
1) Mumbai
2) Chennai
3) New Delhi
4) Calcutta
5) Hyderabad

8. Present Chairman of HUDCO is ....
1) Dr.M. Ravikanth
2) Mohammad Mustafa
3) M. S. Raghavan
4) Harsh Kumar Bhanwala
5) Kshatrapati Shivaji

9. EWS rural housing scheme for the land owning category Village abadi scheme including repairs offered by HUDCO. EWS stands for?
1) Educationally Weaker Sections
2) Economically Women Sections
3) Empowerment Weaker Sections
4) Entertainment Weaker Sections
5) Economically Weaker Sections

10. HUDCO has been striving to make 'Housing for All' a reality. It initiated RTO scheme to see that even a common man should have a house. What is the expansion of RTO?
1) Right To Own
2) Ring To Own
3) Rent To Own
4) Rough To Own
5) None of above

11. Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs is .......
1) M. Venkaiah Naidu
2) Thaawar Chand Gehlot
3) Jual Oram
4) Chaudhary Birender Singh
5) Narendra Singh Toma

12. Loan given for undertaking repairs, renovations and / or up gradation is called .....
1) Home Damage Loan
2) Home Improvement Loan
3) Home Custody Loan
4) Home Consumption Loan
5) All of above

13. Important statements of Bridge Loan in Home Loan given. Pick the wrong statement.
1) Bridge Loan also available in Home Loans.
2) It is designed for people who wish to sell the existing home and purchase another.
3) It helps finance the new home, until a buyer is found for the old home.
4) It is not available in Metro cities.
5) None

14. Balance Transfer Loan is the familiar term used in Bank Loans. How it helps the home loan buyer?
1) It transfer the loan of one person to another person by making personal contract.
2) This loan helps to clear an existing home loan by availing a new loan from another lender.
3) It helps the borrower to transfer his loan to his neighbours.
4) It transfers the loan from one bank to RBI. The customer pays rate of interest to RBI.
5) None

15. National Housing Bank (NHB) was set up on 9th July .......
1) 2005
2) 1994
3) 1991
4) 1988
5) 2000

16. For tracking prices of residential properties in India, who launched the index by name 'RESIDEX'?
1) NHB
2) NABARD
3) RBI
4) Syndicate Bank
5) None

17. On 2 March 2015, RBI included which filed loans as part of Priority Sector Lending?
1) sanitation
2) health care
3) drinking water
4) renewable energy
5) All of above

18. On 25 February 2015, RBI said ....... given to account holders under Jan Dhan Yozana come under Priority sector holding.
1) zero balance facility
2) free online facility
3) free passbook facility
4) free SMS facility
5) overdraft facility

19. RBI on 5 March 2015 eased the norms for home loans for up to ........ by allowing banks to include stamp duty and registration charges to the cost of a unit?
1) Rs.15 lakh
2) Rs.5 lakh
3) Rs.10 lakh
4) Rs.20 lakh
5) None

20. Full form of NECS ........
1) National Electronic Clearing Service
2) National Electrical Clearing Service
3) National Electronic Close Service
4) Ninth Electronic Clearing Service
5) None

21. AEBAS stands for..?
1) Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System
2) Attendance Enabled Biometric Apply System
3) Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Accuracy System
4) Aadhaar End Biometric Attendance System
5) None

22. Pick the wrong abbreviation used in Banking and Financial Sectors.
1) ADR - American Donation Receipts
2) CCIL - Clearing Corporation of India Ltd
3) CRISIL - Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd
4) CBLO - Collateralized Borrowing and Lending Obligation
5) CPI - Consumer Price Index

23. First state implemented ABPS [Aadhaar Based Payment System] in country on 30 May 2015?
1) Himachal Pradesh
2) Haryana
3) Jammu and Kashmir
4) Odisha
5) Bihar

24. On 28 May 2015, a Mega Food Park was inaugurated at Nalbari in .......
1) Meghalaya
2) Manipur
3) Arunachal Pradesh
4) AP
5) Assam

25. 4th North East Youth Festival has celebrated in ......
1) Manipur
2) Meghalaya
3) Arunachal Pradesh
4) Assam
5) Tripura

26. On 22 May 2015, which state issued an ordinance for formation of a Commission for Forward Communities?
1) AP
2) Telangana
3) MP
4) Delhi
5) Kerala

27. On 28 May 2015, who was appointed as DRDO chief?
1) Arup Raha
2) Ajith Doval
3) Dalbir Singh Suhag
4) R.K. Dhowan
5) S. Christopher

28. Who was appointed as the scientific advisor to defence minister on 28 May 2015?
1) Manohar Parikar
2) Rao Inderjit Singh
3) G. Sateesh Reddy
4) Ajith Doval
5) Pranab Mukharjee

29. 68th Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) at ..... between 18-27 May 2015.
1) Geneva
2) Rome
3) New York
4) Canberra
5) London

30. Which nation assumed the presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA)?
1) Canada
2) Thailand
3) India
4) China
5) South Africa

31. Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare is ........
1) Jagat Prakash Nadda
2) Harshavardhan
3) Maneka Gandhi
4) Rajnath Singh
5) Arun Jaitley

32. Who is the chief security advisor to PM?
1) S.Rama dorai
2) C.N.R.Rao
3) Ajith Doval
4) Aravind Subramaniam
5) None

33. Alok Kumar and Jitendra Kumar are appointed as the two advisors of ......
1) Niti Aayog
2) FM
3) Ministry of Defence
4) RBI
5) CBDT

34. On 1 June 2015, the Government has proposed to soon open 1000 more stores under the 'Jan Aushadhi Scheme'. The aim of the scheme is .......
1) to provide water to agriculture land
2) to provide skill training to rural youth
3) to provide pension to workers in unorganized sector
4) to provide life insurance to all at the nominal premium
5) to make available quality generic medicines at affordable prices through these special outlets

35. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the upgraded steel plant of IISCO (Indian Iron & Steel Company) that has the country’s largest blast furnace on 10 May 2015 at ........... in West Bengal?
1) Burnapur
2) Durgapur
3) Roorkela
4) Bhilai
5) Bokoro

36. National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a penalty of nearly Rs.140 crore on two builders constructing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on Bellandur wetlands. Where is the Bellandur wetlands?
1) Maharashtra
2) Kerala
3) Tripura
4) Karnataka
5) Tamil nadu

37. Lakes list given. Locate the wrong option.
1) Kolleru Lake - AP
2) Dal Lake - Haryana
3) Ulsoor or Halasuru - Karnataka
4) Ashtamudi Lake - Kerala
5) Sambhar Salt Lake - Rajasthan

38. In which Navy exercise, the two Indian naval ships, INS Satpura and INS Kamorta, have participated in the bilateral naval exercise with the Singapore Navy
1) GARUDA
2) INDRA
3) SURYA KIRAN
4) SIMBEX
5) MAITHRI

39. Union government on 15 May 2015 launched ....... . Award Scheme. The scheme is intended to encourage and incentivize Public Health Facilities (PHFs) in the country for maintaining the facilities clean and hygienic.
1) Kayakalp
2) Pravesthi
3) Shubratha
4) Manovikas
5) Parisuddh

40. On 31 May 2015, Deepika Kumari won bronze in Archery World Cup. The event held at Antalya in .......
1) USA
2) Saudi
3) India
4) Afghanistan
5) Turkey

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

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR SBI P.O. EXAM

1. World Environment Day (WED) was celebrated on June 5, 2015. The theme for this year’s WED is?
1) Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care
2) Small Islands and Climate Change
3) Think.Eat.Save
4) Many Species. One Planet. One Future
5) None of these

2. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate on June 2, 2015 by 25 basis points. What is the present
repo rate?
1) 6.25 per cent
2) 7.25 per cent
3) 8.25 per cent
4) 8.5 per cent
5) 6.5 per cent

3. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is the first woman President of?
1) Liberia
2) Benin
3) Mauritius
4) Gabon
5) Namibia

4. Who took over as Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on June 4, 2015?
1) Bikash Bhattacharya
2) Tessy Thomas
3) M.P. Kaushik
4) G. Satheesh Reddy
5) Venkatnarayana Raju

5. Who won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015?
1) Neel Mukherjee
2) Amitav Ghosh
3) Anita Desai
4) Kiran Desai
5) Jhumpa Lahiri

6. Which bank launched ‘Digital Village’ project while adopting an entire village, Akodara in Gujarat on January 2, 2015?
1) SBI
2) Axis Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) ICICI Bank
5) None of these

7. Edgar Lungu assumed office as the President of which of the following countries on January 25,
2015?
1) Somalia
2) Mali
3) Zambia
4) Sudan
5) South Sudan

8. Who took over as the Chairman of African Union in January 2015?
1) Robert Mugabe
2) Jacob Zuma
3) Goodluck Jonathan
4) Yoweri Museveni
5) None of these

9. Which of the following programmes made its way into the Guinness World Records in January
2015?
1) Swachh Bharat
2) Jan Dhan Yojana
3) Make in India
4) Digital India
5) None of these

10. A.B. de Villiers of South Africa smashed the fastest century in one day internationals against
which of the following countries in January 2015?
1) Sri Lanka
2) India
3) Bangladesh
4) Zimbabwe
5) West Indies

11. With regard to credit card or debit card, the abbreviation CVV stands for?
1) Card Virtual Valuation
2) Core Virtual Value
3) Card Vulnerability Value
4) Card Verification Value
5) None of these

12. Which of the following is India’s first credit information company?
1) CIBIL
2) CRISIL
3) ICRA
4) CARE
5) None of these

13. Which of the following countries is not a member of OPEC?
1) Algeria
2) Libya
3) Venezuela
4) Ecuador
5) Syria

14. Klaus Iohannis took over as the President of which of the following countries on December 21,
2014?
1) Switzerland
2) Germany
3) Romania
4) Albania
5) Serbia

15. Who is the first woman Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)?
1) Jyotsna Suri
2) M. Sathiyavathy
3) Anita Kapur
4) Nidhi Razdan
5) None of these

16. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned 28 MW Nyaborongo Hydro Electric
Project in?
1) Zimbabwe
2) Kenya
3) Ethiopia
4) Rwanda
5) South Africa

17. Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) is a self-regulatory organization for?
1) RRBs
2) Cooperative Banks
3) NBFCs
4) MFIs
5) Insurance companies

18. Identify the mismatched pair.
1) Hiroshima Day – August 6
2) Anti Tobacco day – May 31
3) Ozone day – September 16
4) Earth Day – March 21
5) AIDS Day – December 1

19. CP is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note. In the abbreviation
CP, ‘P’ stands for?
1) Promissory
2) Paper
3) Portfolio
4) Position
5) Payment

20. Who is the author of the book ‘Born Again on the Mountain’?
1) Raha Moharrak
2) Bachendri Pal
3) Arunima Sinha
4) Prmlata Agarwal
5) None of these

21. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is the first female President of?
1) Croatia
2) Latvia
3) Lithuania
4) Estonia
5) Bulgaria

22. Modibo Keita was appointed as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in January
2015?
1) Uganda
2) Mali
3) Togo
4) Nigeria
5) Ghana

23. Which country won the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia in January 2015?
1) USA
2) France
3) Poland
4) Great Britain
5) Australia

24. Who among the following won Padma Bhushan this year?
1) N. Gopalaswami
2) Subhash Kashyap
3) Harish Salve
4) Both 1 and 2
5) 1, 2 and 3

25. Mark Knowles was declared the 2014 International Player of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. He plays for?
1) Netherlands
2) Germany
3) Australia
4) Spain
5) UK

26. Who won the Ballon d’Or World Footballer of the Year in January 2015 for the second year in a row?
1) Lionel Messi
2) Neuer
3) James Rodriguez
4) Cristiano Ronaldo
5) Miroslav Klose

27. Who was chosen for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial award in January 2015?
1) G. Satheesh Reddy
2) Avinash Chander
3) M.Y.S. Prasad
4) K. Radhakrishnan
5) None of these

28. Who became the first woman to lead the Inter-Services Guard of Honor which was inspected by US President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 25, 2015?
1) Anjali Gupta
2) Pooja Thakur
3) Shalini
4) Deepika Misra
5) Karishma Sethi

29. Legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman passed away in January 2015. He was the creator of?
1) Uncle Anu
2) Chacha Chaudhari
3) Amul girl
4) Common Man
5) Mungeri Lal

30. B.G. Verghese died recently. He was a renowned?
1) Actor
2) Director
3) Scientist
4) Hockey player
5) Journalist

31. James Rodriguez won the FIFA goal of the year award in January 2015. He plays for?
1) Uruguay
2) Colombia
3) Argentina
4) Peru
5) Brazil

32. A.S. Kiran Kumar is the?
1) Director of CBI
2) Director General of DRDO
3) Director of IB
4) Chairman of ISRO
5) None of these

33. Who was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in January 2015?
1) Maithripala Sirisena
2) Mahinda Rajapakse
3) Ranil Wickramasinghe
4) Sarath Fonseka
5) None of these

34. Beji Caid Essebsi is the current President of?
1) Algeria
2) Tunisia
3) Nigeria
 4) Egypt
5) Morocco

35. Who won the Chennai Open men’s singles tennis title in Chennai in January 2015?
1) Aljaz Bedene
2) Jonathan Marray
3) Andy Murray
4) Leander Paes
5) Stanislas Wawrinka

36. Who among the following is not a Padma Vibhushan winner this year?
1) L.K. Advani
2) Dilip Kumar
3) M.R. Srinivasan
4) Veerendra Heggade
5) Rajat Sharma

37. With regard to WTO, what is the full form of TFA?
1) Trade Factoring Agreement
2) Trade Facilitation Agreement
3) Trade Fostering Agreement
4) Trade Featuring Agreement
5) None of these

38. Who won the London classic chess title in December 2014?
1) Michael Adams
2) Magnus Carlsen
3) Vladimir Kramnik
4) Viswanathan Anand
5) None of these

39. Olof Palme Human Rights Prize is given by which of the following countries?
1) Norway
2) Finland
3) Sweden
4) Iceland
5) Ireland

40. Shinzo Abe was reelected as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries in December 2014?
1) South Korea
2) North Korea
3) Philippines
4) Japan
5) Thailand

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

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