General Awareness for Bank PO's and Clerks: August 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Current Affairs 1 - 2009

· Gujarat government banned the book “Jinnah:India-Partition” written by Jaswant Singh.

· India's High Commissioner to Pakistan: Sharat Sabharwal.

· China has become the world's largest exporter surpassing Germany.

· The England and Wales Cricket Board scrapped the 50-over format from its domestic cricket calendar for the 2010 season, claiming that the ICC will review the future of ODIs after the 2011 World Cup.

· Government has approved a proposal to increase reservation for Women in panchayats from 33% to 50 %.

· The union Cabinet approved setting up of seven new Indian Institutes of Management in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan besides allocating Rs 1,057 crore (Rs 10.57 billion) for their establishment. Currently, there are seven IIMs in the country at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode and Shillong.

· Nepalese cabinet approves General Chhatra Man Gurung as new Army chief.

· Banker of the year 2009: Aditya Puri (MD & CEO of HDFC conducted by Business Standard.

· Wipro has won a $100 million worth outsourcing contract from Australia's beer and wine giant Foster's Group.

· The first Regional Rural Bank of the country was established on 2nd October, 1975: Prathama Bank.

· Wednesday, not Monday is worst day of the week, according to the research done by two American Mathematicians Christopher Danforth and Peter Dodds.

· The government decided to infuse Rs 5,000 crore equity into the cash-strapped airline over the next three years, subject to AI improving performance and cutting costs aggressively, to prevent it from shutting down.

· The Space Shuttle ‘Discovery’ launches on a mission to the International Space Station, marking the 25th anniversary of its first flight.

· South Korea launches Naro-1, its first carrier rocket, but fails to place the STSAT-2A satellite in the planned orbit.

· Ten months after it was launched, India's maiden moon mission the ambitious Chandrayaan-1 came to an abrupt end on Saturday (29-08-09) after ISRO lost communication with the spacecraft, cutting short the dream odyssey that was expected to last two years.

· U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving Kennedy brother, dies at age 77, after battling brain cancer.

· U.S. President Barack Obama nominates Ben Bernanke for his second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

· The United States budget deficit for 2009 will reach $1.6 trillion, the highest ever recorded.

· At the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Jamaica'sUsain Bolt sets new world records of 9.58 seconds for the 100 m sprint and 19.19 seconds for the 200 m sprint.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Navratnas Status - 2009

Navratnas was the title given to Public Sector Enterprises or PSE, identified by the Government of India. Navaratna status is conferred by Department of Public Enterprises.

In 1997, GOI declared Navaratna status to 9 PSEs, which means these are most prestigious PSEs. These are BHEL, BPCL, GAIL, HPCL, IOC, MTNL, NTPC, ONGC, and SAIL.

In 2006, GOI approved Navratnas status to 7 more PSEs. These are Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Grid, National Hydroelectric Corporation, BSNL, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. In 2007, GOI conferred Navaratna status to Nalco. In 2008, Coal India Limited gets Navaratna status.

The Total goes up to 18 PSEs, which have taken Navratna Status. The status will help the PSU to take several decisions without seeking government approval like setting investment limits and salary for employees. The Department of Public Enterprises confers this status to better performing central public sector enterprises. To be qualified as a Navratna, the company must obtain a score of 60 (of the total 100) based on six parameters. It includes net profit to net worth, total manpower cost to total cost of production or cost of service, profit before depreciation, interest, taxes to capital employed and to turnover, earning per share and inter sectoral performance. Additionally, a company must first be a mini ratna and must have four independent directors on its board before it can be made a Navratna.

List of 18 Navratnas status PSEs:

1. Bharat Electronics Limited

2. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited

3. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

4. Coal India Limited

5. GAIL (India) Limited

6. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

7. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

8. Indian Oil Corporation Limited

9. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

10. National Aluminium Company Limited

11. NMDC Limited

12. NTPC Limited

13. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited

14. Power Finance Corporation Limited

15. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited

16. Rural Electrification Corporation Limited

17. Shipping Corporation of India Limited

18. Steel Authority of India Limited.

List of Miniratna Category - I CPSEs

1. Airports Authority of India

2. Balmer Lawrie & Co. Limited

3. Bharat Dynamics Limited

4. BEML Limited

5. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

6. Bongaigaon Refineries & Petrochemicals Limited

7. Broadcast Engineering Consultants (I) Limited

8. Central Warehousing Corporation

9. Central Coalfields Limited

10. Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited

11. Cochin Shipyard Limited

12. Container Corporation of India Limited

13. Dredging Corporation of India Limited

14. Engineers India Limited

15. Ennore Ports Limited

16. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited

17. Goa Shipyard Limited

18. Hindustan Copper Limited

19. Hindustan Latex Limited

20. Hindustan Newsprint Limited

21. Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited

22. Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited

23. India Tourism Development Corporation Limited

24. Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited

25. IRCON International Limited

26. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited

27. Mazagaon Docks Limited

28. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited

29. Manganese Ore India Limited

30. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Limited

31. Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited

32. MMTC Limited

33. MSTC Limited

34. National Fertilizers Limited

35. Neyveli Lignite Corporation

36. NHPC Limited

37. Northern Coalfields Limited

38. Numaligarh Refinery Limited

39. Oil India Limited

40. Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited

41. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

42. RITES Limited

43. Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited

44. Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited

45. South Eastern Coalfields Limited

46. State Trading Corporation of India Limited

47. Telecommunications Consultants (India) Limited

48. Western Coalfields Limited

List of Miniratna Category-II CPSEs

49. Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited

50. Educational Consultants (I) Limited

51. Engineering Projects (I) Limited

52. Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited

53. HMT (International) Limited

54. HSCC (India) Limited

55. India Trade Promotion Organization

56. Indian Medicines Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited

57. M E C O N Limited

58. National Film Development Corporation Limited

59. P E C Limited

60. Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited

61. Water & Power Consultancy (India) Limited

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Swine Flu(H1N1)

What is Swine Flu?

H1N1 virus (earlier known as Swine Flu) was first detected in Mexico in April 2009. It used to be referred to as “Swine Flu” because the researchers found the presence of genes similar to that of Pigs (Swine) in North America.

India has too unfortunately fallen prey to the Influenza-A (H1N1) and is battling the virus all across the nation; below are the toll free numbers for help.

Toll Free Help lines for Swine Flu:

Toll Free Numbers:

All India Level Toll free number	1075(toll free) or 1800-11-4377
Puducherry	1070 and 1077
Andhra Pradesh	12506
NICD Call Center	011-23921401
SMS Facility	Type H1N1HYD & Send to 55352
Other Help Line Numbers: Delhi: Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Chennai: Communicable Diseases Hospital Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Kolkata: Infectious Diseases Hospital Hyderabad: AP Chest Diseases Hospital Mumbai: Kasturba Hospital Pune: Dr Naidu Infectious Disease Hospital Bangalore: Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases Website/source	-011-24525211, 23404328, 23365525 - 044-25912686 - 09442012555 -09433392182/ 09434009077 -040-23814939 -022-23083901, 23083902, 23083903, -09923130909 - 91-80-26632634 http://mohfw-h1n1.nic.in/

Look for these symptoms:

->FEVER and

· Cough

· Sore throat

· Runny or stuffy nose

Other symptoms may include:

· Chills

· Diarrhea

· Vomiting

Do’s & Don’ts:

IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE H1 N1 FLU:

· Stay at home or in your hotel room if traveling, except to seek medical care.

Do not travel or go to work or school.

· Avoid close contact with others for 7days after your symptoms begin or until

you have been symptom-free for 24hours, whichever is longer.

EVERYONE SHOULD:

· Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze

· Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand gel.

· Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

· Avoid contact with ill persons.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

August Current Affairs - 2009

· Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez has been named winner of the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas.

· The Gujarat government has approved 34 solar power projects at an investment of Rs.12,000 crore (Rs.120 billion/$2.4 billion) over the next few years, to rank it the top Indian state for this clean energy.

· After months of negotiations over valuation, Mumbai-based Wockhardt Hospitals Pvt. Ltd on Monday said it has agreed to sell 10 of its 17 hospitals to Fortis Healthcare Ltd for Rs909 crore.

· Madhya Pradesh is called the Heart of India.

· Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR asks banks to provide Rs 7000 crore farm loans by the end of this month taking the quantum of agriculture credit during the current Kharif to Rs14,100 crore.

· The World Bank is set to clear funding of $3.2billion (15,500 crore) for capital infusion in public sector banks (9,700 crore or $2 billion) and (IIFC) India Infrastructure Finance Company ($1.2 billion or 5,800 crore).

· Nokia to enter PC Market with first Net Book running Microsoft’s Windows Operating System.

· England regains Ashes Series at jubilant Oval.

· Roger Federer defeated Djokovokic of Serbia to win Cincinnati Masters.

· Delhi is the 1st city to get KG gas.

· According to a research by Swiss Banking major UBS, Delhi and Mumbai were at the bottom of the price range in the list of most expensive cities that surveyed 73 places worldwide. On the other hand Oslo(Norway), Zurich(Switzerland) and Copenhagen(Denmark) were ranked among the most expensive places with skyrocketing living costs in the world.

· Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sanctioned a financial assistance of Rs.20 crore to two Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s memorials in Gujarat.

· Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and India's former high commissioner to Britain, has been appointed as the new chancellor of the Queen's University Bellfast.

· The first batch of indigenously built T-90 tanks "Bhishma" was flagged off at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Avadi near here by Minister of State for Defence M. M. Pallam Raju . The HVF manufactured the Bhishma tanks in collaboration with Russia.

· Orissa MP Pradeep Majhi nominated to Central Employment Guarantee Council, which is one of the apex bodies in the country to look programmes on rural employment, development and their proper implementation.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Rajiv Gandhi Awards - 2009

These 12^th Rajiv Gandhi Awards have recognized and honored those who are working for causes that were specially close to Rajiv’s heart. Their Decision and Commitment which have contributed richly to betterment of our society and the progress and development of our nation ,is a fitting tribute and homage to Rajiv’s memory.

Categories Awardees

1. Industrialist::Vineet Jain

2. Educationist:: Dr.Narendra Jadhav.

3. Journalism:: Ramesh Chandra Agarwal

4. Best Actress:: Shahid Kapoor

5. Best Actor:: Katrina Kaif

6. Child Prodigy:: Avika Gor

7. Young Entrepreneur:: Rohit Kochhar

8. Super Achiever:: Madhavan Nair

9. Social:: Rajashree Birla

10. Woman Achiever:: Krushnaa Patil

11. Global Indian:: Sam Pitroda

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Pattern for Bank Po's

Normally Pattern for bank po's:

There will be two sections:

Objective Test:

1. Reasoning---------------75Q

2. Aptitude----------------50Q

3. General Awareness----50Q

4. English------------------50Q

Total of 225Q, 135minute (2hr 15min) will be given.

For clearing the objective test within time, you may need to attempt a min. no. of questions as shown below (suggested).

1. Reasoning--------------attempt 55-60Q within 50minutes.

2. Aptitude----------------attempt 30-35Q within 30minutes.

3. General Awareness---attempt 30-35Q within 30minutes.

4. English----------------- attempt 25-30Q within 25 minutes.

The cut-off for each section may be 40% or 45% or 50% to the number of questions based on the Category and the bank requirement. Normally for four sections, each question carries 1mark for correct answer and 0.25 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer. If you get more than 120 marks out of 175(A+B+C sections) you will be on safe side. English will be only for qualifying purpose and they do not consider for merit ranking.

Time factor will be very crucial for this section compared to descriptive. And don't make confirm that by clearing min. marks in each section will clear the written test, bcoz there will be lot of competition and also it is based on the number of seats available. So attempt maximum no. of questions in Reasoning & Aptitude questions if you find time as these are scoring sections.

Before two or three days of exam practice previous question papers (2 or 3) each and every section thoroughly, surely it will help you how much time do you take to complete the paper.

Descriptive test:

5 internal questions will be there each carrying 20 marks with a time of 60minutes.Total of 100marks.Qualifying mark will be 50.Questions based on Socio-economic development and Communication Skills. While writing descriptive plz make sure that your handwriting must be legible and the matter should be within the boundary relating to the question mentioned.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weightage for General Awareness Section in Central Bank of India:

5-7 bits from Union & Railway budget.
3-4 bits from Awards relating to National, International, Sports, Films.
3-4 bits from Sports including Cups/Trophy's related to Sports.
2-3 bits from Finance & Economic related terms.
2-3 bits from new Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors and their parties.
2-3 bits from Summits, places in news in national & International level.
2-3 bits from new Appointments (like chairman, CEO, MD, etc) in national & International.
1-2 bits from Authors & Books.
1-2 bits from Countries launching Satellites, Orbits, Missiles.
1-2 bits from MOU between countries & Companies in National & International level.
1-2 bit from deaths of famous persons.
1-2 bits from Committees, Schemes, etc launched by gov.
1 bit from Important Days.
1 bit from Acronyms.

So if we attempt around 32-38 bits with 90% accuracy we can clear this section. If you attend 26-30 bits please make sure that all are correct, otherwise it will difficult to clear this section.Dont attempt more than 40 bits if you are not sure.

For general awareness section refer the important labels: