Current Affairs March-III 2010

·        India already has 27 of its famous sites, including Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar, inscribed as World Heritage Sites. The Jantar Mantar complexes in Jaipur and Santiniketan in West Bengal have been recommended by India to be included in the World Heritage List.(Go for Part II & I).

·        The State Bank of India has received the permission from the Chinese government to lend in the local currency—Yuan. SBI is the first Indian bank to receive this permission from the Chinese authorities, who are traditionally conservative in allowing foreign banks to do business in the local currency.

·        Bhutan government will produce 10,000 MW of hydro-power for India by 2020 under a joint venture. India will provide Rs 35,000 crore for the venture.

·        India has the lowest percentage of female population in the Asia-Pacific region ranking lower than Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh despite having the highest sex ratio at birth compared to these countries, a new study shows. According to the report 'Power, Voice and Rights' by the UNDP, while India had 48.2 per cent female population at birth, Pakistan had 48.5, Bangladesh had 48.8 and Japan 51.1 per cent.

·        Three Indians--Congress President Sonia Gandhi, ICICI Bank Head Chanda Kochhar and PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi--have been named among Asia's eight top power women by American broadcaster CNN. The list is topped by China-based Nine Dragons Paper Holdings' Zhang Yin, followed by Nooyi at the second spot. Gandhi is ranked third, while Kochhar is at the fifth slot.

·        Shoma Chaudhury of Tehelka and Monalisa Changkija of Nagaland Page have been selected for the prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediapersons.

·        AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai was elected Chairperson of the Haj Committee of India. Kidwai would be the first woman Chairperson of the minority body.

·        Greece has been added to the US Visa Waiver Programme, allowing its citizens to travel to the United States for 90 days at a time without a visa.

·        Indian-American computer scientist Subhash Khot, well known for his 'Unique Games Conjecture' has been selected for a prestigious USD 500,000 national science award.

·        Jharkhand started a new Atal Jyoti Electrification Scheme in the 2010/11 budget to provide electricity for villages.

·        Actress Preity Zinta was appointed UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador and plans to combine Cricket and Bollywood to raise awareness about the deadly disease.

·        Mumbai has been named among the world's top ten billionaire cities as it is home to as many as 20 richest Indians, according to a list compiled by the Forbes magazine.

·        India opened its 23rd Cultural Relations centre in Dhaka naming it after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and acknowledging her contribution to Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War.

·        In an indication of sustained economic growth, the per capita income in the national capital(Delhi)  has increased to Rs 78,690 in the financial year 2007-08 as against the national figure of Rs 33,283. Delhi per capita income, which indicates an average earning of a person, is the third highest in the country with Chandigarh having per capita income of Rs 1,10676 topping the list and closely followed by Goa at Rs 1,05,582.

·        Pravinchandra V Gandhi, former Chairman of Dena Bank and a leading figure in the print media industry, passed away.

·        Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has been named as the most influential person in Indian sports in the annual Sports Illustrated Power list. The top 50 rates Tendulkar as the number one influencer in India, followed closely by IPL Chairman Lalit Modi at second spot and liquor baron Dr Vijay Mallya in third. Union Agriculture Minister and President elect, ICC Sharad Pawar, Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and BCCI president Shashank Manohar are fourth, fifth and sixth on the list respectively.

·        The Bombay Stock Exchange has emerged as one of the top ten bourses globally in terms of valuation of shares traded, with its market valuation nearly doubling to Rs 60,79,892 crore ($1.31 trillion) last year. Among the top ten bourses with the largest domestic equity market capitalizations at the end of 2009, the BSE is placed at the tenth spot, according to the WFE. The league is topped by the NYSE Euronext of the US with a market capitalisation of $11.84 trillion and the Tokyo Stock Exchange Group ($ 3.31 trillion) at the second place.

·        Delhi gets India’s first remote controlled street lights that can be switched on and off using an internet-enabled main server located in the heart of the city.

·        Pakistan cricket was thrown into turmoil with the country's Board putting an end to the international careers of former captains Mohd Yousuf and Younis Khan besides imposing a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik in the wake of the team's disastrous tour of Australia. As recommended by the committee headed by Wasim Bari, former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were handed one-year bans. The Akmal brothers Kamran and Umar and Afridi have been put on probation for six months besides being fined between Rs 2-3 million for indiscipline on the tour.

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2010

Pattern for the SBI PO exam which is going to held on 18-04-2010.

It consists of two phases:

Phase I: Written Examination consists of objective and descriptive test:

1)Objective Test:

Sr. No	Name of the Test	No. of Questions	Max. Marks
1.	Reasoning(High Level)	50	50
2.	Data Analysis & Interpretation	50	50
3.	GK/Marketing/Computer	50	50
4.	English	50	50

Note: Total of 200 questions are there in objective test with a composite time of 120 minutes. For every right answer you will get 1 mark and for every wrong answer you will lose 0.25 marks. All sections are taken for the merit ranking including English.

How many questions should I attempt in each section?

The below table shows you an example of how many questions should be attempted in order to clear the objective test.

Sr. No	Name of the Test	No. of Questions	Time
1.	Reasoning(High Level)	35	35
2.	Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	35
3.	GK/Marketing/Computer	40	20
4.	English	30	30

If you follow the above table you must maintain 100% accuracy. If you’re perfect with the third section then you can attempt 40 questions in 20 minutes, bcoz you don’t need to solve the questions.

2)Descriptive Test:

It would consist of four types of questions namely:

i)Comprehension(1Q)

ii)Letter Writing(1Q)

iii)Essay Writing(2Q)

iv)Precis Writing(1Q)

Total of 5 questions each carries 10marks and total of 50marks for descriptive. You will be given 60 minutes.

Note: You have to score a minimum of 40% in both the test (Objective (in each and every section) & Descriptive) for a general candidate. You have to pass both the tests to qualify for the GD/interview round. The Pattern is same for both PO and PO(Rural Business) and same as SBI Associates PO.

Phase II: GD and Interview.

After successfully qualified in the written exam you will have both GD and Interview. The Marks allocated for GD and Interview is 20 and 30 marks respectively, and for the PO (Rural) the marks are allocated as GD – 10marks, Experience – 10marks and for Interview – 30marks.  In this phase also you have to score a minimum of 40% marks for General candidates. Based on the marks of written examination and GD & Interview your selection is made.

Types of Banks in India - 2010

What is a Bank?

A Bank is a financial organization which accepts deposits that can be withdrawn on

demand and also lends money to individuals and business houses that need it.

Structure of banking sector in India:

 What is RBI?

The RBI is India's central bank. The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

RBI acts as a banker to the Government and Banks.

The Central Bank maintains record of Government revenue and expenditure under various heads. It maintains deposit accounts of all other banks and advances money to other banks, when needed.

Another important function of the Central Bank is the issuance of currency notes, regulating their circulation in the country by different methods.

What is Scheduled Bank?

All banks which are included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 are scheduled banks.

These banks comprise Scheduled Commercial Banks and Scheduled Cooperative Banks. The type of banks comes under these Scheduled Commercial Banks and Scheduled Cooperative Banks can be seen in the above figure.

All most all banks are Scheduled banks in India.

What are Commercial Banks?

Commercial banks may be defined as, any banking organization that deals with the deposits and loans of business organizations

Commercial banks issue bank checks and drafts, as well as accept money on term deposits.  Commercial banks also act as moneylenders, by way of installment loans and overdrafts.

Commercial banks also allow for a variety of deposit accounts, such as checking, savings, and time deposit. These institutions are run to make a profit and owned by a group of individuals.

Types of Loans offered by Commercial banks:

1)Secured Loan: A secured loan is one where the borrower provides a certain property or asset as collateral against the loan. The main condition of these loans is that if the loan remains unpaid, the bank has the right to use the property in any way they like to realize the outstanding amount.

2)Unsecured Loan: Unsecured loans have no collateral and therefore command higher interest rates. There are a variety of unsecured loans available today and these include credit cars, credit facilities such as a lines of credit, corporate bonds, and bank overdrafts.

3)Mortgage Loans: Mortgage loans that are provided by commercial banks are similar to secured loans but are used specifically to buy real estate property for commercial purposes. In most of these cases, the banks hold a lien on the title to the particular property purchased with the loan. If the borrower is unable to pay the loan back, the bank leverages this item against the loan to generate funds or recover the principal.

What are Public Sector Banks?

These are banks where majority stake is held by the Government of India.

Examples of public sector banks are: SBI, Bank of India, Canara Bank, etc.

What are Private Sector Banks?

These are banks majority of share capital of the bank is held by private individuals. These banks are registered as companies with limited liability.

Examples of private sector banks are: ICICI Bank, Axis bank, HDFC, etc.

What are Foreign Banks?

These banks are registered and have their headquarters in a foreign country but operate their branches in our country.

Examples of foreign banks in India are: HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, etc.

What are Regional Rural Banks?

Regional Rural Banks were established under the provisions of an Ordinance promulgated on the 26th September 1975 and the RRB Act, 1976 with an objective to ensure sufficient institutional credit for agriculture and other rural sectors. The area of operation of RRBs is limited to the area as notified by GoI covering one or more districts in the State.

RRBs are jointly owned by GoI, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks (27 scheduled commercial banks and one State Cooperative Bank); the issued capital of a RRB is shared by the owners in the proportion of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively.

Prathama bank is the first Regional Rural Bank in India located in the city Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.

What are Cooperative Banks?

A co-operative bank is a financial entity which belongs to its members, who are at the same time the owners and the customers of their bank. Co-operative banks are often created by persons belonging to the same local or professional community or sharing a common interest. Co-operative banks generally provide their members with a wide range of banking and financial services (loans, deposits, banking accounts, etc).

They provide limited banking products and are specialists in agriculture-related products.

Cooperative banks are the primary financiers of agricultural activities, some small-scale industries and self-employed workers.

Co-operative banks function on the basis of "no-profit no-loss".

Anyonya Co-operative Bank Limited (ACBL) is the first co-operative bank in India located in the city of Vadodara in Gujarat.

How Bank gets Money?

Banks make money by lending your money out at interest and by charging you for services provided. Banks keep on lending money.

The other big revenue items generated by banks are the fees they charge. Bank charge for every service, whether it is for an electronic transaction, or permitting a transfer through the Internet banking system.

When banks get profits they invest in other companies and in return they will get money.

SBI Clerical General Awreness 10 - 2009

                                                                        Source:Sakshi

SBI Clerical General Questions 8 - 2009

Source:Sakshi

Quiz on General Awareness 25

1. The Reserve Bank of India purchased 200 tonnes of gold worth _____ from IMF?

a)$3.5 billion   b)$5.7 billion   c)$6.8 billion   d)$7.5 billion   e)$9 billion

2. Rangarajan Committee has recommended __________ disinvestment in PSUs?

a)10%   b)26%   c)49%   d)51%  e)none

3. Which of the following associates of SBI, State bank of India acquired and merged in 2008?

a)State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur

b)State Bank of Saurashtra

c)State Bank of Travancore

d)State Bank of Hyderabad

e)State Bank of Indore

4. Who is the present Comptroller and Auditor General of India?

a)Vinod Rai   b)T.N. Chaturvedi   c)Gopal Subramanyam   d)V.N. Kaul   e)Harish Salve

5. Recently India has tightened up of enforcement visas rules to which of the following countries for unskilled and semi-skilled workers to work in India?

a)Bangladesh   b)Nepal   c)China   d)US   e)Malaysia

6. Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project links which of the following countries through sea?

a)Indian, Pakistan  b)India, Nepal   c)India, Myanmar   d)India, Srilanka   e)India, China

7. Which is the first and only hospital to receive Special Postage Stamp recognition from the government towards the Indian health-care?

a)Wockhdardt  Hospital

b)Apollo Hospital

c)NIMHANS

d)AIIMS

e)St George Hospital

8. Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is located in which of the following states?

a)Rajasthan   b)Uttarakhand   c)Gujarat   d)Uttar Pradesh   e)Assam

9. The government has approached the Finance Commission and the Planning Commission for arrangement of Rs 1.74 lakh crore as estimated for implementation of the ________________ ?

a)MGREGA

 b)Nuclear Power Plants through the India  

c)Right To Education Act 

d)All the Schemes launched for the Rural people

e)All the above

10. Who has become the first Indian to receive Yale University's top honour 'Legend in Leadership Award' ?

a)APJ Abdul Kalam   b)Ratan Tata   c)D.Subbarao   d)Nandan Nilakeni   e)O P Bhatt

11. Which of the following provides insurance cover for bank deposits?

a)RBI

b)IRDA

c)DICGCI

d)GIC

e)Finance Commission

12. Which of the following countries has the Worlds Largest Reserves of Gold?

a)US   b)China   c)China   d)Germany   e)IMF

13. The Term Fourth Estate Refers to the __________?

a)Executive   b)Legislature   c)Judiciary   d)Press   e)citizens

14. Budget is presented under which of the following the articles of the Constitution of India?

a)Article 103  b)Article 112   c)Article 110   d)Article 256   e)none of these

15. A/c to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Indian Power sector needs a total investment of __________ billion in the next eight years to achieve planned growth?

a)$150   b)$200   c)$250   d)$300   e)none

 16. Who wrote the novel ‘The Insider’?

a)I.K Gujaral   b)L.K Advani   c)V. P Singh  d)A B Vajpayee   e)P.V. Narasimha Rao

17. Inflations occurs when the ____________________________?

a)price of essential commodities outstrips income

b)money supply grows at a higher rate than the GDP in real terms

c)exchange rate of currency falls

d)fiscal deficit exceeds the balance of payment

e)both a & b

18. Ashes Series is the Test Match Series between which of the following teams/countries?

a)Australia & New Zealand  b)England & South Africa   c)New Zealand & England  d)Australia & England  e)India & England

19. Ben Bernake has been appointed for the second term as the Chairman of ________?

a)RBS   b)IMF   c)WTO   d)World Bank  e)Federal Reserve

20. Who won the Nehru cup title held in Delhi?

a)Malaysia   b)Syria   c)India   d)Pakistan   e)Sourh Korea