Banking Awareness PYQs

The Correct answer is 6.

In News Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has revoked the licence held by Brickwork Ratings and asked it to wind down its credit rating operations within six months.

Key PointsWhat are credit rating agencies?

• Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) are agencies that assess the creditworthiness of organisation, individual or entity and assign ratings to it.
• They take into consideration several factors like the financial statements, level and type of debt, lending and borrowing history, ability to repay the debt, and the past debts of the entity.
• The entities that are rated by credit rating agencies comprise companies, state governments, non-profit organisations, countries, securities, special purpose entities, and local governmental bodies.
• In India, CRAs are regulated by SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• Brickwork ratings- Brickwork is one of the SEBI-registered credit rating agencies in India.
• It is also a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accredited credit rating agency.

The Correct Answer is ​Shreshta.

 In News

• ​Government Launches Shreshta Scheme To Provide Quality Education To Scheduled Caste Students.

Key Points

• In a significant move aimed at advancing education and promoting the socio-economic progress of Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has introduced the 'Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas' (SHRESHTA).
• The initiative envisions the creation of a conducive environment for the socio-economic upliftment and comprehensive development of SC students.
• The scheme's implementation is structured in two distinct modes.
• First, there are the SHRESHTA schools, which comprise the best CBSE/State Board-affiliated private residential schools.
• Under this mode, a specified number of outstanding SC students in various States and Union Territories (UTs) will be selected annually through the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
• The students will then be admitted to the best private residential schools affiliated with CBSE/State Boards for their education from the 9^th to the 12^th standard.
• Selection of these schools is based on their exemplary performance, with schools boasting over a 75 per cent pass rate for classes 10 and 12 over the past three years being chosen by a selection committee for the admission of selected students.

The correct answer is South Africa.

Key Points

• The full form of  BRICS is Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
• Initially, in 2009 there were only four countries. (BRIC)
• South Africa joined in 2010.
• It is associated with five emerging economies of the world that have a significant influence on regional affairs.
• It was formed in 2009 and since then the governments of these 5 countries met annually at formal summits.
• So, From 2010 Countries involved chairs the BRICS summits according to sequence of B-R-I-C-S.
• As, in 2021 India chaired the 13^th BRICS Summit, next initial is C So, this year, in 2022 China Chaired the Summit. Next year South Africa will host this Summit.

The correct answer is 15 years.

Key Points

• Union Government on 25 September 2014 launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban and rural poor.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana has two components one for urban India and other for rural India.
• The Urban component will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation while rural component named as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
• Under the Yojana, the Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch skill development training centres on a large scale to address the problem of unemployment particularly in rural India.
• The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
• It aims to enable the rural poor to increase their household income by means of sustainable livelihood.
• The scheme started out with an agenda to cover 7 Crore rural poor households via Self Help Groups (SHGs).

The correct answer is 'October 11'.

Key Points

• International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day on October 11 declared by the United Nations.
• It is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl.
• October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child.
• The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender.
• This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage.
• The celebration of the day also "reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research."
• Various events to promote the Day of Girls are planned in several countries.

Some are sponsored by the United Nations, such as a concert in Mumbai, India.

Additional Information

• Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5 or Global Goal 5) concerns gender equality and is fifth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by United Nations in 2015.
• The targets and indicators for SDG 5 are extensive and provide equal opportunity for females (women and girls), and cover a broad crosscutting gender issues including ending all forms of discrimination as well as violence against all females.

The correct answer is 'Annie Ernaux'.

Key Points

• Eighty-Two-year-old French writer Annie Ernaux has been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for the year 2022.
• The author awarded for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory. Her literary work maintains close links with sociology.
• Annie Ernaux is a pioneer of autofiction, a style of writing that combines two mutually inconsistent narrative forms, namely autobiography and fiction.
• The events in her book, she says, belong to everyone, to history, to sociology. In her works, the past is a raw material of her writings, which is transformed by rooting it in the present.
• Ernaux says “necessity, not pleasure” takes her back to her past, which she dissects like a forensics expert examining a crime scene. Her magnum opus, Les années (The Years) has been written in the vein of a memoir and explodes with perspective and voice.
• The book has been written using “one” and “we” and occasionally “she” or “they”, but never “I” The Happening, recounting her experience as a university student in France in 1963, is an intense account of an illegal abortion.
• The novel was also adapted into an award winning French drama thriller film in 2021 by the same name.

Additional Information

• The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction".
• Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole.

The correct answer is Abhay Kumar Singh.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Abhay Kumar Singh as Joint Secretary of the newly formed Ministry of Cooperation.
• He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Bihar Cadre of 2004 batch.
• He has been appointed for a combined tenure of seven years upto 30 August 2022 from the date of assumption of the charge of the post.
• Other Appointments:
• Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla and Priya Ranjan have been appointed as Joint Secretaries in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Pramod Kumar Meherda has been appointed as Managing Director in National Food Security Mission (NFSM) under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Kavita Garg has been named as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of AYUSH.
• Kavita Singh was appointed as Joint Secretary in Cabinet Secretariat.
• Vibhu Nayar was named as Executive Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) under the Department of Commerce.

The correct answer is ​Rural Electrification Corporation Limited.

Key Points

• Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) has been accorded the status of a ‘Maharatna’ Central Public Sector Enterprise, thus giving REC greater operational and financial autonomy.
• An order to this effect was issued on 21^st September by the Department of Public Enterprises, under the Ministry of Finance.
• Incorporated in 1969, REC is an NBFC focusing on Power Sector Financing and Development across India.
• Shri Vivek Kumar Dewangan, CMD, REC said that REC achieved this feat owing to its adaptability, resilience, and consistent performance even during the global covid-19 pandemic.
• REC has played a key role in the success of the flagship schemes of the Government of India such as DDUGJY and SAUBHAGYA and has contributed towards achieving village and household electrification in the country.
• The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) is an Indian government scheme intending to provide an uninterrupted power supply to the rural parts of India.
• Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana is an Indian government project to provide electricity to non-electrified rural households.

Additional Information List of Maharatna Companies in India 2022

The correct answer is Vinod Rai.

Key Points

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Vinod Rai as the independent Chairman of the Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB).
• He is the former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Chief.
• The bank has also appointed Sandip Ghose, an RBI veteran, Basant Seth, the former Chairman and Managing Director of erstwhile Syndicate Bank, and Subhash Kutte, former chairman RBL Bank, to its board.

Additional Information

• Senior bureaucrat Vikram Dev Dutt has been appointed as the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Air India Ltd.
• Narendra Kumar Goenka has been appointed as the new chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC.
• Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Ittira Davis as managing director & chief executive officer of (MD & CEO) of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank for one tenure.
• To put restrictions on para-banks whenever vital financial metrics dip below the prescribed threshold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with effect from October 2022.
• RBI 25^th Governor: Shaktikanta Das (As of Jan 2022).
• RBI Headquarters: Mumbai;
• RBI Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
• Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been named as the next chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Urjit Patel has been appointed as Vice President of the multilateral funding institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

The correct answer is Tamil Nadu.

• Taiwan’s Pegatron Corporation and Tata Electronics will invest separately in Tamil Nadu to make mobile phones and parts.
• Tata Electronics will invest ₹5,763 crores for making mobile phone components and Pegatron will invest ₹1,100 crores to make mobile phones as part of its phase I investment.
• The other companies to invest in Tamil Nadu include Sun Edison and Ola Electric.
• Tamil Nadu:
• Chief Minister - Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
• Governor - Banwarilal Purohit.
• Lok Sabha seats - 39.
• Rajya Sabha seats - 18.

The correct answer is Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger.

Key Points

• Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger have jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• They have won it "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science".
• In 2021, the award was given to Giorgio Parisi, Klaus Hasselmann and Syukuro Manabe.

Additional Information

• Recent Awards and Honours:
• Likith YP has won bronze medal in the Skill of Prototype Modelling at the WorldSkills Competition 2022.
• Former India Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba was conferred Singapore’s prestigious military award, the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) or Meritorious Service Medal (Military).
• Bangladesh-born Fahmida Azim working for the Insider online magazine of US has been selected for the 2022 Pulitzer prize.
• Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced that Kannada film star Puneeth Rajkumar, who died 2021, will be conferred with the 'Karnataka Ratna' award posthumously, on November 1, 2022.
• Michelle Poonawalla received the Shromani Award at NRI World Summit 2022, United Kingdom in July 2022.
• India's Vijay Amritraj has been named the 2021 recipient of the Golden Achievement Award.

The correct answer is ‘20%’

Key Points

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened the rules for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) relating to their large exposures.
• RBI capped aggregate exposure of NBFCs which are in the upper layer toward one entity at 20% of the capital base.
• The limit can only be extended by another 5% with the board’s approval.
• For a particular borrower group, the cap is at 25%, with an additional 10% if exposure is towards infrastructure.
• The upper-layer NBFCs are typically the top 10 ones in terms of asset size.
• However, NBFCs that are into infrastructure finance can have exposure of 25 percent, with an option of an additional 5 percent of Tier I capital to a single counterparty.
• For a group of connected counterparties, infrastructure companies can have an exposure of 35 percent of Tier-I capital.
• In case of breach of the large exposure limits, the NBFCs have to report to the department of supervision of RBI.
• The RBI has also warned that any failure to comply with the exposure limit may lead to the imposition of penalties on the NBFCs.
• These norms will come into effect from October 1, 2022.

The correct answer is 2030.

Key Points

• Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched the National Logistics Policy in New Delhi on 17^th September. India had taken yet another important step towards becoming a developed nation with the National Logistics Policy.
• The policy aspires to reduce the cost of logistics in India to be comparable to global benchmarks by 2030, endeavor to be among the top 25 countries by 2030 in the Logistics Performance Index ranking, and create a data-driven decision support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem.
• The implementation of the National Logistics Policy would bring down logistics costs, give a boost to international trade, help in making India ‘atmanirbhar’ or self-reliant, usher in prosperity in the nation, and present new opportunities to our startups.
• The policy would be highly beneficial to the farmers of the country, helping them to take their produce to the markets at a faster pace and reduce wastage and delay.  This would bring down prices in the economy - said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry.
• The Policy will be implemented through a Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan (CLAP).

The interventions proposed under the CLAP are divided into eight key action areas:(i) Integrated Digital Logistics Systems (ii) Standardization of physical assets and benchmarking service quality standards (iii) Logistics Human Resources Development and Capacity Building (iv) State Engagement (v) EXIM (Export-Import) Logistics (vi) Service Improvement framework (vii) Sectoral Plan for Efficient Logistics (viii) Facilitation of Development of Logistics Parks.

The correct answer is Sweden.

Key Points

• The agreement will enable the two sides to explore smart aviation solutions and pave the way for bilateral exchanges of aviation knowledge and technology.
• It will allow Indian companies to accelerate growth while leveraging Swedish innovation and expertise.
• Under the aegis of the MoU, companies can collaborate in areas of mutual interest.

Additional Information

• Accordingly, AAI and LFV, both government agencies of India and Sweden respectively, will collaborate on the following areas:
• Air traffic management
• Air traffic control
• Remote airport management and traffic control
• Airspace design and planning
• Airport design and infrastructure
• Digitalized airport and aviation
• Capability and training
• Sustainable airports and aviation
• Processes for pilots
• Processes for scale-up
• A Joint Working Group shall be organized to prioritize interest areas and drive collaboration between the two countries.
• This MoU will play a crucial role in furthering government-to-government engagements between India and Sweden in the Aviation sector in addition to other existing engagements such as sustainability, healthcare, innovation, energy, and infrastructure etc.

The correct answer is ​Madhya Pradesh.

In News 

• In the category of best performing states in ‘Swachh Survekshan Awards 2022’, Madhya Pradesh has secured the first position, followed by Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
• Indore was adjudged India’s cleanest city for the sixth time in a row, while Surat and Navi Mumbai followed it on the next two spots.

Additional Information

• Telangana won the first prize under the large states category under the Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) 2022 which looks into the sanitation status of rural areas.
• Haryana was in the second position while Tamil Nadu was third.
• Among smaller states and Union territories, Andaman and Nicobar secured the first position followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Sikkim.
• In the category of cities having population fewer than one lakh, Maharashtra’s Panchgani was ranked number one, followed by Chhattisgarh’s Patan (NP) and Maharashtra’s Karhad.
• Haridwar was adjudged the cleanest Ganga town in the category of more than 1 lakh population, followed by Varanasi and Rishikesh.
• In to the survey, Maharashtra’s Deolali was adjudged the country’s cleanest Cantonment Board.

The correct answer is RBI.

Key Points

• Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to introduce a “Digital Rupee”, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23.
• RBI will introduce “Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)” to give a big boost to the digital economy.
• “Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system”.

Important Points

• A CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency.

Only its form is different.

• “Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)” and "Cryptocurrency" are not the same thing. The digital rupee will be the digital version of physical cash issued by the RBI and will, be sovereign-backed. On the other hand, cryptocurrencies are not backed by a government or central bank and are traded online. Any income from the transfer of any "Virtual Digital  Asset" will now be taxed under a 30% slab rate.
• The official bill to regulate the digital currency- “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021” was introduced in the Parliament during the winter session that starts on November 29, 2021.

Additional Information

• Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up** **75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks.

The correct answer is 2 and 3 only.

Key Points

• The Centre has launched "PM-CARES for Children" scheme, which will take care of their educational needs, including higher education.
• All children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid 19 will be supported under the ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• PM CARES will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age.
• For children under 10 years-
• The child will be given admission to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
• PM-CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniforms, textbooks, and notebooks.
• For children between 11-18 years-
• The child will be given admission to any Central Government residential school such as Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya, etc.
• PM CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniforms, textbooks, and notebooks.
• The child will be assisted in obtaining an education loan for Professional courses / Higher Education in India as per the existing Education Loan norms. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• All children will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

The correct answer is Goa.

Key Points

• As per the 2011 census,
• 833.5 million persons live in rural areas i.e: 2/3^rd of the total population while, 377.1 million persons live in urban areas.
• The urban population proportion is 31.2%.
• Among states, Goa is the most urbanised State with a 62.2% urban population
• Among all the States and Union territories, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Chandigarh are most urbanized with 97.5% and 97.25% urban population respectively, followed by Daman and Diu (75.2%) and Puducherry (68.3%).
• Among the North-Eastern States, Mizoram is most urbanised with 51.5% urban population.
• Among major states, Tamil Nadu continues to be the most urbanized state with 48.4% of the population living in urban areas.
• It is followed by Kerala (47.7%) and Maharashtra (45.2%).

The correct answer is ‘Bombay Stock Exchange’

Key Points

• Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has collaborated with the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture to promote and create awareness in the state on the benefits of listing on its SME platform.
• Through this partnership, BSE will provide intellectual and manpower support to enterprises registered with the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) to get listed on the BSE SME platform.
• Also, BSE SME will provide training and capacity-building programmes to MACCIA officials.
• The exchange will appoint a nodal person as single point contact in Maharashtra for providing an end-to-end solution with respect to registration or listing on its SME platform.
• Being the apex chamber and primary body of all associations, MACCIA represents the highest MSMEs in the state.
• This pact will help the micro, small and medium industries in the state to get registered in the capital market and raise capital from the public capital market.
• Recently, BSE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Federal Bank to promote the listing of SMEs and startups.
• As on 29^th June 2022, 375 companies have been listed on the BSE SME Platform and has raise a little over Rs 3,997 crore from the market

• The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act is regulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• The FCRA  was passed by the Parliament of India in 2010.
• The Act regulates the arrival and movement of foreign funds in India.
• Licensing and revocation of licenses to major NGOs, institutions and various authorities is also the function of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The act prevents the arrival of illegal foreign currency in India, Terror funding and other illegal financial transfers.
• The Ministry of Finance oversees and regulates the work related to finance.
• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs deals with the corporate company and other related matters.