Banking Awareness PYQs

The correct answer is option 2, i.e. Hassan Diab.

• Lebanon President Micheal Naim Aoun announced the formation of new Government due to anti-government protests for the last several months.
• The new Government (govt) will be headed by Prime Minister (PM) Hassan Diab, a 60-year-old professor at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
• Formation of the new government was announced after Hezbollah party & its allies made a deal to tackle the country’s worst economic crisis in a decade.
• The country has been hit by protests since October 2019 against the ruling party.
• About Lebanon:
• Capital: Beirut.
• Currency: Lebanese Pound

The correct answer is Nigeria.

• In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94^th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores.
• With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
• The neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan ranked higher than India in this year’s hunger index.
• While Bangladesh ranked 75, Myanmar and Pakistan are in the 78^th and 88^th position

The correct answer is Habitat.

Key Points

• GRIHA is an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment.
• GRIHA is a Sanskrit word meaning – 'Abode'. Human Habitats (buildings) interact with the environment in various ways.
• GRIHA has been conceived by TERI and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
• GRIHA is a rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks. It evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’. The rating system, based on accepted energy and environmental principles, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international.

The correct answer is U.S.A.

Key Points

• The United States is the top oil-producing country in the world, with an average of 19.47 million barrels per day (b/d), which accounts for 19% of the world's production.
• The U.S. has held the top spot for the past six years.
• The U.S. overtook Russia in 2012 for the No. 2 spot and surpassed former leader Saudi Arabia in 2013 to become the world's top oil producer.
• Much of the increased U.S. production is attributable to fracking in the shale formations in Texas and North Dakota. The U.S. has been a net exporter of oil (i.e., exports exceed imports) since early 2011.

The correct answer is Edwin Lutyens. 

Key Points

• The Indian Parliament House was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912.
• Its construction was completed in 1927 and the opening ceremony was performed by the then Viceroy of India Lord Irwin.
• It is alternatively called ‘Sansad Bhawan’.

The correct answer is ​Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) .

Key Points

• Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is all set to revive iconic motorcycle brands of yesteryear — Jawa, Yezdi and BSA — through a separate company, Classic Legends Private Ltd.
• Anand Mahindra explains the idea behind bringing back Jawa to India. Spearheaded by Classic Legends founder Anupam Thareja, and a stake from Boman Irani of Rustomjee Group, whose family originally brought the brand to India, this undertaking is Mahindra group's latest foray into the two-wheeler business.

The correct is 6%.

• Cabinet approves scheme for increasing ethanol production in Dec 2020.
• The govt’s move will help bear the interest of loans taken for setting up ethanol distilleries for a period of 5 years
• The government would bear interest subvention for five years, including a one-year moratorium against the loan availed by project proponents from banks at 6% per annum or 50% of the rate of interest charged by banks whichever is lower.

• LIC operates and manages Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY).
• It is a Pension Scheme announced by the Government of India exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above which is available from 4^th May, 2017 to 31^st March, 2020.
• The scheme provides for an assured return of 8% percent per annum payable monthly (equivalent to 8.3% per annum) for 10 years.
• However, the subscriber can opt for monthly/quarterly/ half-yearly or yearly payment of the pension.
• Minimum Age: 60 years Maximum Age: No limit Policy
• Term: 10 years

The Correct Answer is Meghalaya.

Key Points

• Living root bridges are a form of tree shaping mostly found in the southern part of Meghalaya.
• Living root bridges (also known as Jing Kieng Jri) are the aerial bridges.
• They are built by weaving and manipulating the roots of the Indian rubber tree.
• The longest known example of a living root bridge is near the town of Pynursla, Meghalaya.

The correct answer is ​15.8%.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on January 11, 2021, released the 22^nd issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR).
• The capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) improved to 15.8 per cent in September 2020 from 14.7 per cent in March 2020.
• Their gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio declined to 7.5 per cent from 8.4 per cent.

Key Points

• In Jan 2021, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the ents Infrastructure Development Fund has been operationalized to create 30 lakh new touch points every year for digital payments in Tier-3 to Tier-6 centers.
• The fund is established to subsidize the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure in Tier-3 to Tier-6 centers and with special attention on the north-eastern states.
• It will be operational for a period of three years from January 01, 2021.
• The PIDF has been allocated a corpus of Rs 345 crore. (in which the Reserve Bank will contribute Rs 250 crore and the Rs 95 crore will be contributed by the major authorized card networks in the country).
• The target for the PIDF scheme is -
• To increase payments acceptance infrastructure by adding 30 lakh touch points every year – 10 lakh physical and 20 lakh digital payment acceptance devices.
• To increase the number of acceptance devices multi-fold in the country.
• To benefit the acquiring banks/non-banks and merchants by lowering overall acceptance infrastructure costs.

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Additional Information

• The Reserve Bank of India is India's central bank.
• Governor-Shaktikanta Das.
• It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• It was nationalized on 1 January 1949.

Option 3 is correct i.e. AutoPay

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched its one-stop fintech payment solution- UPI AutoPay in a virtual event of Global Fintech Fest.
• It is dedicated to recurring payments and can be used for multiple financial purposes such as utility payments, train tickets, etc.
• Customers can create e-mandate through their UPI ID or QR Scan for transactions up to Rs 2000.
• The National Payments Corporation of India is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
• It is headquartered in Mumbai.

The correct answer is ₹450 crore.

• SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd (SBI Card) has raised ₹450 crores by issuing bonds on a private placement basis.
• The tenure of the debt instruments is five years with the date of maturity as of December 22, 2025.
• The bonds bear a coupon rate of 6 percent per annum.
• The bonds will be listed on the Wholesale Debt Market Segment of BSE.

The correct answer is 5 km.

While targeting the delivery of financial services to so far inaccessible areas, the strategy makes the following goals:

• Accessibility in remote areas: The first objective is to provide accessibility to formal financial services to every village within a 5 km radius/hamlet of 500 households in hilly areas by March 2020.
• Less cash society: To create the necessary infrastructure in all Tier II to Tier VI centres to mover towards a less-cash society by March 2022.
• Every individual should use financial services through mobile devices: Encouraging financial service providers to provide virtual modes including mobile apps so that every adult can access financial service provider through a mobile device by March 2024.

The correct answer is 21.

• Kotipakoti’ is among the very big numbers that the ancient Indian mathematicians had visualised in the early texts.
• It is 21 ‘zeroes’ after ‘one’.
• In computer lingo, zettascale computing entails ‘kotipakoti’ computations that can give amazing insights by culling through gigantic volumes of data in real time.

The correct answer is IDBI Bank.

Key Points

• The insurance behemoth, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has completed the acquisition of 51 per cent controlling stake in IDBI Bank, marking the entry of more than 60 years old state-owned insurer into the banking space.
• In August 2018, the Union Cabinet has approved the acquisition of controlling stake by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as a promoter in the bank through a combination of preferential allotment and open offer of equity.

The correct answer is Agra.

Key Points

• The Keetham lake, also known as Sur Sarovar, in Agra of Uttar Pradesh has been added to the list of Ramsar sites.
• More than 106 species of migratory birds rest in Sur Sarovar lake. The water of the lake is obtained from Agra Canal.
• The canal originates from Okhla barrage on River Yamuna in Delhi.

The correct answer is Hyderabad.

• M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, visited DRDO’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad on 25 January 2021.
• He inaugurated the Integrated Weapon System Design Centre in the complex.
• The facility will enhance the capability in design and development of command and control systems for surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and ballistic missile defence (BMD) systems.

The correct answer is US and Russia.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility at Hyderabad, making India the third country after the US and Russia to have such a facility.
• The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is "pressure vacuum-driven enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 metre and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12 (Mach represents the multiplication factor to the speed of sound)", a Defence release said.

The correct answer is the Reserve Bank of India.

Key Points

• With the enactment of the RBI (Amendment) Act, 1977, the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) controls the functioning of NBFCs.
• NBFCs as a whole account for 11.2% of assets of the total financial system.
• It is a registered company under the Companies Act, 1956.
• Following are few important banks to remember :

1. SIDBI  ‘Small Industries Development Bank of India’, Its Headquartered in Lucknow.
2. EXIM ‘Export-Import Bank of India’, Its Headquartered in Mumbai.
3. NABARD ‘National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’, Its Headquartered in Mumbai.
4. NHB ‘National Housing Bank’, Its Headquartered in New Delhi.
5. IFCI ‘Industrial Finance Corporation of India’, Its Headquartered in New Delhi.
6. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), It is established in 1992, headquartered in Mumbai.