Current Affair - 19 October 2014

In an important decision the Union Government on 18 October 2014 completely de-regulated the prices of retail diesel. This resulted in reduction in price of diesel by Rs 3.37 per litre (including taxes) from midnight in Delhi. This was the first price cut in diesel in India since when

• 
  Since January 2009
  Public sector oil marketing companies had been making a profit of Rs. 3.56 a litre (over-recovery) on diesel between 2 October and 16 October 2014 according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. This was due to the falling price of crude oil internationally, which had brought down the Indian basket to $83.85 a barrel as on 15 October. From now on the prices of diesel would be linked to the market. Diesel deregulation will also bring the private oil marketing company retail network into system.

What is the new price of domestically produced natural gas fixed by the Union Government as announced on 18 October 2014?

• 
  $5.61 a unit
  This price is up from the current price of $4.2. The hike in price will be done prospectively and will be effective from 1 November 2014. C. Rangarajan panel on natural gas had recommended a price of $8.4 a unit. This recommendation was looked at again by a committee of secretaries. The Committee considered many hubs that weren’t taken by Rangarajan’s formula and ignored many hubs that were in the formula. The Cabinet approved the reworked formula keeping in consideration that there is sufficient incentive for drilling and exploration while not making it prohibitive for consumers. The hike will have implications on power producers, fertiliser industry and increase CNG prices for consumers. According to the power industry, every dollar increase in gas price will result in electricity costs going up by almost 45 paise a unit.

The Union Cabinet on 18 October 2014 approved a proposal to develop Chahbahar Port in Iran wherein an Indian joint venture company will undertake this project. A leasing agreement will be signed to operate the port for 10 years. Which two Indian companies would comprise this venture?

• 
  Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Kandla Port Trust (KPT)
  Chahbahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran’s south-eastern coast, is of strategic utility for India. It lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India’s western coast. India’s presence at the Chahbahar port would give it a sea-land access route into Afghanistan through Iran’s eastern borders. The Indian venture in this project can have a local Iranian partner and/or an Indian private sector partner to serve as the vehicle for India’s participation in the development of the port.

Which bank won the IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence award for 2013-14 in four out of total five categories in the mid-sized lenders segment?

• 
  Federal Bank
  Kerala-based Federal Bank was adjudged as the ‘best bank’ for use of Technology for Financial Inclusion, Social Media and Mobile Banking, Business Intelligence Initiatives and for Best IT Team, becoming the bank to have won the maximum number of awards for 2013-14. Karur Vysya Bank bagged the Best Bank Award for Business Intelligence Initiatives among small banks. The awards were presented to the winners at a function held in Hyderabad on 1 October 2014 by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in Hyderabad. Instituted in 2001, the IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence Awards recognise and honour the best innovative use of information technology to enhance levels of customer service.

Indian campaign in the Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament ended with P.Kashyap losing in the men’s singles semi-final on 18 October 2014. He lost to which player, who is ranked no.2 in the world?

• 
  Chen Long of China
  Chen Long defeated Kashyap by 21-16 and 21-15. A day earlier 28th seeded Kashyap had created a huge upset in the tournament by defeating World No.3 and local favourite Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark in the quarterfinals. With Kashyap’s loss, India’s campaign in the tournament also ended.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

• 1. From the given options 1 to 5, please find out the one which is not an objective of a central bank of a country?
  1) The central bank of a country aims at profit
  2) The central bank is given powers to control and regulate the working of the commercial banks
  3) Central bank generally is a organ of the government and run by government officials
  4) Central bank generally controls the credit
  5) Central bank is generally banker of the government
  
• 2. Channel financing means financing of:
  1) Laying of agricultural canals
  2) Dealers of identified large corporate financed by the bank
  3) NBFCs
  4) SHGs/NGOs
  5) All the above
• 3. NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is renamed after
  1) Jawaharlal Nehru
  2) Mahatma Gandhi
  3) Indira Gandhi
  4) Rajeev Gandhi
  5) Abdul Kalam
• 4. Syndication of advances is the recommendations of:
  1) Kanan Committee
  2) Shetty Committee
  3) Kalyan Sundram Committee
  4) Ghosh Committee
  5) Narasimhan Committee
• 5. As per the RBI's Clean Note Policy, writing on a Currency Note is ___
  1) an Offence
  2) a Crime
  3) a Punishable Offence
  4) the notes become non-legal tender
  5) None of these
• 6. SBI's new Training Initiative "Strategic Training Unit" is located at
  1) New Delhi
  2) Bangalore
  3) Hyderabad
  4) Mumbai
  5) Bangalore
• 7. Holidays are declared to the banks under
  1) RBI Act
  2) Banking Regulation Act
  3) Negotiable Instrument Act
  4) Indian Contracts Act
  5) All the above
• 8. The first development financial institution in India that has got merged with a bank is
  1) IDBI
  2) ICICI
  3) IDFC
  4) UTI
  5) SBI
• 9. Indian Banks Association (IBA) has a common net working system for sharing the ATM facilities in Mumbai, which is known as
  1) ATM Network
  2) Shared Payment Network System
  3) Cash Network
  4) All the above
  5) None of these
• 10. For which of the following currencies is the Indian rupee quoted against 100 units of the foreign currency?
  1) Deutsche Mark
  2) Pound
  3) Japanese Yen
  4) US Dollars
  5) None of these
• 11. In loan cases where repayment of the major or large part of a loan is stipulated in a single payment following payment of smaller instalment is referred as:
  1) Equated payment schedule
  2) Balloon payment schedule
  3) Bullet payment schedule.
  4) 2 & 3
  5) None of the above
• 13. Dividend yield refers to:
  1) The ratio of dividend receive in the previous year to the anticipated market price of a share
  2) The ratio of anticipated dividend to the current market price of a share
  3) The ratio of current dividend to the current market price of a share
  4) The total dividend that is declared every year by an organisation
  5) None of the above
• 14. Banking services delivered to a customer by means of a computer control system that does not directly involve usual banks branch is called:
  1) Universal Banking
  2) Virtual Banking
  3) Narrow Banking
  4) Brick and Mortar Banking
  5) None of the above
• 15.Green Shoe option refers to:
  1) Option to the issuer of any financial instrument to sell a certain portion of over subscription in the public issue.
  2) Option to the issuer of any financial Instrument to retain a certain portion of over subscription in the public issue.
  3) Option to the under writer of any financial instrument to retain a certain portion of over subscription in the public issue.
  4) All of the above
  5) None of these
• 16. Electronic Clearing Service in banks can be availed only by:
  1) Individuals
  2) Corporate
  3) Senior Citizens
  4) All of these
  5) None of these
• 17. The G20 Summit will be held in November 2014 in?
  1) Argentina
  2) Australia
  3) Turkey
  4) South Korea
  5) Saudi Arabia
• 18. The 2014 Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award was given to?
  1) MS Swaminathan
  2) Javed Akhtar
  3) Muzaffar Ali
  4) Gulzar
  5) None of these
• 19. "The Substance and the Shadow" is the biography of?
  1) Aamir Khan
  2) Amitabh Bachchan
  3) Dharmendra
  4) Dilip Kumar
  5) Shatrughan Sinha
• 20. Ranthambore National Park is situated in?
  1) Madhya Pradesh
  2) Odisha
  3) Karnataka
  4) Gujarat
  5) Rajasthan
• 21. The 7th BRICS Summit will be held in July 2014 in which of the following countries?
  1) Brazil
  2) Russia
  3) India
  4) China
  5) South Africa
• 22. Who among the following Indian sportspersons did not win a gold medal at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea?
  1) Seema Punia
  2) Mary Kom
  3) Vikas Gowda
  4) Yogeswar Dutt
  5) Saketh Myneni
• 23. Which Indian movie has been nominated as India's official entry to 2015 Oscars?
  1) Jaateeshwar
  2) Ship of Theseus
  3) Liar's Dice
  4) Queen
  5) None of these
• 24. Commodities markets are regulated by?
  1) IRDA
  2) TRAI
  3) SEBI
  4) FMC
  5) CII
• 25.With which sport is Jeetu Rai associated?
  1) Badminton
  2) Swimming
  3) Archery
  4) Squash
  5) Shooting
• 26. The Arjuna Awards selection committee for 2014 was chaired by?
  1) Sunil Gavaskar
  2) Ravi Shastri
  3) Kapil Dev
  4) Sourav Ganguly
  5) Anil Kumble
• 27. Who was named Man of the Tournament in the 2014 ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh?
  1) Kumar Sangakkara
  2) Rohit Sharma
  3) Virat Kohli
  4) Mahela Jayawardane
  5) Lasith Malinga
• 28. Who was re-elected as the Prime Minister of Hungary for the second consecutive term recently?
  1) Enrico Letta
  2) Viktor Orban
  3) Nick Clegg
  4) Matteo Renzi
  5) None of these
• 29. Who succeeded Sumit Bose as the Finance Secretary of India?
  1) Arvind Mayaram
  2) Shaktikantha Das
  3) A.K. Mathur
  4) R.K. Mathur
  5) None of these
• 30. The Reserve Bank of India extended deadline for banks to implement Basel III norms by a year to March 31?
  1) 2018
  2) 2019
  3) 2017
  4) 2016
  5) None of these
• 31.At present which of the following rates is 7%?
  1) Bank rate
  2) Repo rate
  3) Reverse repo rate
  4) Cash reserve ratio
  5) None of these
• 32. What is the amount of accidental insurance cover under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme?
  1) Rs 50,000
  2) Rs 1 lakh
  3) Rs 30,000
  4) Rs 1.5 lakh
  5) Rs 75,000
• 33. Which committee recommended the establishment of payments banks?
  1) Damodaran committee
  2) Aditya Puri committee
  3) R.S. Gujral committee
  4) Nachiket Mor committee
  5) None of these
• 34. As per the 2014-15 Union Budget what is the income tax exemption limit for senior citizens?
  1) Rs 3 lakh
  2) Rs 2.5 lakh
  3) Rs 2 lakh
  4) Rs 3.5 lakh
  5) Rs 4 lakh
• 35.Two new agricultural universities will be set up in Andhra Pradesh and?
  1) Rajasthan
  2) Telangana
  3) Odisha
  4) Haryana
  5) Uttar Pradesh
• 36. As per the latest Human Development Index what is India's rank?
  1) 136
  2) 137
  3) 135
  4) 134
  5) 143
• 37. Which is the first bank in India to launch EMI facility on debit cards?
  1) SBI
  2) Axis Bank
  3) Bank of India
  4) Bank of Baroda
  5) ICICI Bank
• 38. Who was appointed Interpol brand ambassador?
  1) Aamir Khan
  2) Amitabh Bachchan
  3) Hrithik Roshan
  4) Shah Rukh Khan
  5) Akshay Kumar
• 39. Mridula Sinha has been appointed as the new Governor of?
  1) Kerala
  2) Goa
  3) Uttar Pradesh
  4) Gujarat
  5) Manipur
• 40. Who is the Union Mines, Steel, Labor and Employment Minister?
  1) Ravi Shankar Prasad
  2) Ananth Kumar
  3) Narendra Singh Tomar
  4) Anant Geethe
  5) Ramvilas Paswan
• ANSWERS:
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  31) 3 32) 2 33) 4 34) 1 35) 1 36) 3 37) 5 38) 4 39) 2 40) 3