Banking Awareness PYQs

The correct answer is Institutional.

Key Points

• Qualified institutional placement (QIP) is simply the means whereby a listed company can issue equity shares, fully and partly convertible debentures, or any securities other than warrants which are convertible to equity shares to a Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB).
• A qualified institutional placement (QIP) is, at its core, a way for listed companies to raise capital, without having to submit legal paperwork to market regulators. It is common in India and other southeast Asian countries. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) created the rule to avoid the dependence of companies on foreign capital resources.
• QIPs are helpful for a couple of reasons. Their use saves time as the issuance of QIPs and the access to capital is far quicker than through an FPO. The speed is because QIPs have far fewer legal rules and regulations to follow, making them much more cost-efficient. Further, there are fewer legal fees, and there is no cost of listing overseas.

The correct answer is Claire Polosak.

Key Points

• Australia's Claire Polosak became the first female match official in men's Test match.
• She took up the fourth umpire's role in the Sydney Test.
• She is 32-year-old from New South Wales.
• She earned the distinction of being the first woman on-field umpire in a men's ODI match during ICC's Division 2 league between Namibia and Oman played at the Windhoek in 2019.

Additional Information

• Kathy Cross: The first woman on the ICC Umpire’s Panel
• First stood in the 2000 Women’s World Cup.
• Sue Redfern: An English cricket umpire and former player.
• She played for the England women's team between 1995 and 1999, including at the 1997 World Cup.
• Jacqueline Williams: Become the first woman to officiate as the third umpire in an ICC men’s tournament in 2016.

The correct answer is Charles P. (Pete) Conrad

• Charles "Pete" Conrad, was the third man to walk on the moon.
• Conrad died after a motorcycle accident in Ojai, California, in 1999.

Key Points

• Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
• Neil Alden Armstrong was the first person to step on the lunar surface. He took the first step to the lunar surface on 20 July 1969.
• Buzz Aldrin became the second person to land on the moon.
• Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the lunar surface in an expedition called Apollo 11.

Additional Information 

• On 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the moon.
• Neil Armstrong was Commander of Apollo 11.
• The Mission was called Apollo 11.
• Yuri Gagarin was the first person to go to space in the world.
• Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space.

• Barack Obama has authored a book -‘Dreams From My Father’. This book is a diary of events which explores his early life.
• Mr Obama was 44^th President of the United States of America and 1^st Afro-American to be elected as President of the USA.
• His Presidential term was from the year 2009 to 2017. He represented the Democratic Party of the USA.
• Wife of Mr Barack Obama, Michelle Obama has authored the following books:

1. American Grown 2.Becoming

• Currently, Mr Joe Biden is serving as 46^th President of the USA. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The correct answer is option 2 i.e. Soma Mondal

• Soma Mondal has been selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) as the next chairman of public sector steel major Steel Authority of India Limited.
• She is currently Director (Commercial) of SAIL.
• Her appointment is subject to approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
• If the ACC gives its approval, she will make history with the rare distinction of being the first-ever woman chairperson of the country's largest steel company.
• SAIL's current chairman Anil Chaudhary took charge in September 2018 and is due to retire at the end of this year.

The correct answer is Mustard.

Important Points

• The agricultural crop year in India is from July to June.
• The Indian cropping season is classified into two main seasons-(i) Kharif and (ii) Rabi based on the monsoon.
• The kharif cropping season is from July – October during the south-west monsoon and the Rabi cropping season is from October-March (winter).
• The crops grown between March and June are summer crops.
• Pakistan and Bangladesh are two other countries that are using the term ‘kharif’ and ‘rabi’ to describe their cropping patterns.
• The terms ‘kharif’ and ‘rabi’ originate from the Arabic language where Kharif means autumn and Rabi means spring.

Key Points 

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the Government of India, has revised the limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the remaining part of the first half of FY21 (April 2020 to September 2020) to ₹2-lakh crore.
• On March 31, the WMA limit for the first half of FY21(April 2020 to September 2020) was upped to ₹1.20-lakh crore against ₹75,000 crore in the year-ago period.
• The hike in the limit comes in the wake of expectation that the Central government will step up expenditure on the social sector, including health and sanitation, following the outbreak of the pandemic.
• The central bank provides financial accommodation to the government to tide over temporary mismatches in the cash flow of its receipts and payments as WMA.
• This is intended to provide the government with a buffer for carrying on its vital activities and regular financial operations.
• The Way and Means Advances scheme was introduced in 1997.

The correct answer is Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Ltd. 

Key Points

• The government is set to hire Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Ltd. and SBI Capital Markets Ltd for the LIC's initial public offering (IPO).
• The advisers will help evaluate the capital structure of India’s biggest insurer as well as aid the company in reworking its financial statement.
• Moreover, the government will soon invite bid seeking firms to value LIC..
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Budget 2020-21 speech, had said that the government proposed to sell a part of its holding in LIC by way of IPO.

The correct answer is Housing.

• PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Light House projects (LHPs) under the Global Housing Technology Challenge across six states-
• Uttar Pradesh
• Tripura
• Jharkhand
• Tamil Nadu
• Gujarat
• Madhya Pradesh
• PM Modi announced the winners under Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators - India (ASHA-India) and gave away annual awards for excellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) Mission.
• He also released a certification course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing).

The correct answer is Madhya Pradesh.

• Satpura National Park is located in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh in India.
• Its name is derived from the Satpura range.
• Along with the adjoining Bori and Pachmarhi wildlife sanctuaries, it provides 1,427 km sq. of unique central Indian highland ecosystem.
• It was set up in 1981.

Important Points

• The Reserve Bank had announced the opening of the first cohort under Regulatory Sandbox with "Retail Payments" as its theme with two entities- eRupaya and PaySe.
• The Reserve Bank received applications from 32 entities of which six have been selected for the ‘Test Phase’.
• The two entities that have started testing are Natural Support Consultancy Services, Jaipur, and Nucleus Software Exports, New Delhi.
• A regulatory sandbox is a framework set up by a regulator that allows FinTech startups and other innovators to conduct live experiments in a controlled environment under a regulator's supervision.

Key Points

• Natural Support Consultancy Services
• The product ‘eRupaya’ is a set of Near-Field Communication (NFC) based Prepaid card and NFC enabled Point of Sale (PoS) device, to facilitate offline Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions and offline digital payments in remote locations.
• Nucleus Software Exports
• The offline digital cash product, 'PaySe', will help connect with rural areas for e-payments.
• The product proposes to help in the digitization of payments in rural areas, starting with Self Help Groups (SHG), through an offline payment solution and a digitized SHG-centered ecosystem.
• The RBI made a statement that mobile payments including feature phone-based payment services, offline payment solutions, and contactless payment would be considered under the sandbox structure.
• The idea behind RBI's statement is to spur innovation in the digital payments space and help in offering payment services to the unserved and underserved segment of the population.

The correct solution is Assam.

Key Points

• India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a USD 231 million loan to augment electricity generation capacity in the State of Assam through the construction of a 120 MegaWatts hydroelectric power plant that will enhance the availability of electricity for households.
• Focuses on: Enhancing the capacity and efficiency of the energy generation and distribution systems in Assam to improve electricity service to end-users.
• Signed Between: Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry Dr. C. S. Mohapatra and Officer-in-Charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission Mr. Hoe Yun Jeong.
• Purpose: The proposed hydroelectric project is a run-of-the-river project over the Kopili river, which will help increase electricity supplied from clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3,60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Additional Information

• Asian Development Bank: ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
• Established in 1966.
• It is owned by 68 members.
• Headquarter: Philippines.
• Current President: Masatsugu Asakawa.

The correct answer is ICICI Bank.

• ICICI Bank has announced the launch of ‘Home Utsav’.
• It is a virtual property exhibition that digitally showcases real estate projects by renowned developers from key cities across the country.
• It is available for everyone, including ICICI Bank’s customers and those who are not customers.
• It offers them enhanced convenience, as they can simply browse through these projects online.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board has finalised a Three Year Roadmap to improve supervision and regulation, among other functions of central bank.
• This medium term strategy is named as Utkarsh 2022.
• An internal committee to identify issues that needs to be addressed over next 3 years was formed, which was anchored by Viral Acharya, the outgoing Deputy Governor of RBI.

The correct answer is Equitas Small Finance Bank:

• Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched a three-in-one account which allows customers to invest in a wide variety of financial products.
• A 3-in-1 account (savings + trading + demat) is a convenient option that helps the customers to keep all their banking and financial investments under one umbrella entity.
• The bank will provide stockbroking and demat services through a referral arrangement with brokerage firms for trading and depository services.
• This product allows customers a secure seamless and convenient way to invest in their choice of investment instruments including equity, FDs, govt securities and mutual fund products.
• Equitas Small Finance Bank is the largest small finance bank in India in terms of the number of banking outlets and the second largest in terms of assets under management and total deposits.

The correct answer is 1,00,000 Cr.

• The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 8 approved allotment of funds worth Rs 1 lakh crore to support farmers and agriculture infrastructure.
• The fund was approved to provide a medium to long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
• Under the Scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to startups, Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs), self-help groups (SHGs), farmers etc.
• Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with the sanction of Rs 10,000 crore in the current year and Rs 30,000 crore each in the next three financial years.
• All loans under this financing facility will have interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum up to a limit of Rs 2 crore.
• This subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years.
• The agri infra fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform.
• The duration of the scheme will be for 10 years from the financial year 2020 to FY 2029.

The correct answer is option 4 i.e. Hamed Bakayoko.

• Ivory Coast's defence minister, Hamed Bakayoko, has been named the PM, after acting as interim PM since the sudden death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
• Considered a close associate of President Alassane Ouattara and a pillar of the regime, Bakayoko, has had the defence portfolio since 2017.
• He has also been mayor of Abobo, one of the West African country's most populous districts, since 2018.
• Ivory Coast:
• Capital - Yamoussoukro.
• Currency - West African CFA franc.
• President - Alassane Ouattara.
• National Sport - Football.

The correct answer is Om Puri.

• Late Indian actor Om Puri was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third edition of the India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB 2020).
• The award was received by his wife Nandita Puri.
• The three-day film festival, based in Boston USA., was held virtually from October 16 to 18.

The correct answer is Telangana.

• The Telangana state government in September 2014, announced to launch an Rs. 450-crore World Bank-funded rural inclusive project that will focus on improving livelihoods in rural areas called Telangana Rural Inclusive Growth Project (TRIGP).
• It is also called as  'Telangana Palle Pragathi Project'.
• It will be on the lines of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP).
• It will cover 150 mandals in the first phase and will be expanded later to other mandals.
• The project aims to increase incomes of 2.5 lakh farmers by 50% by improving farm productivity and providing access to the markets.

Why in news?

• Phase II of Palle Pragathi programme launched across the State in January 2020.

• PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Mangdechhu hydroelectric power plant in Bhutan, touted as a Bhutan-India friendship project, is a 720MW run-of-river power plant built on the Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag district of central Bhutan.
• It was developed by the Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project Authority (MHPA), which was jointly constituted by the Indian and the Bhutanese governments.
• It is  one of the major projects under Bhutan's initiative to generate 10,000 MW hydropower by 2020 with the Indian government's support.
• The Mangdechhu project is funded by India through a 70 per cent loan and a 30 per cent grant. It is estimated to generate 2,923 GWh of electricity.
• Thimphu is the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
• Bhutan Prime Minister - Lotay Tshering.
• The King of Bhutan - Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.