(GENERAL AWARENESS)

(For Trainee Officers Test 2014)

Prepared by- Sanjeev Mahajan, Manager (SBLC Jammu)
(Disclaimer clause-Utmost care has been taken to prepare this reading material. However,
candidates are advised to cross check the information provided here under, with other reliable
sources also. The information has been compiled from different Inter-Net sites and Books.)
RBI-The Preamble of the Reserve Bank of India describes the basic functions
of the Reserve Bank as: "...to regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of
reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to
operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage." The
Reserve Bank's affairs are governed by a central board of directors. The board is
appointed by the Government of India in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India
Act. Appointed/nominated for a period of four years.
o Constitution:
Official Directors-Full-time : Governor and not more than four
Deputy Governors
o Non-Official Directors
Nominated by Government: ten Directors from various fields and
two government Officials
Others: four Directors - one each from four local boards
o Subsidiaries-Fully owned: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee
Corporation of India(DICGC), Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran
Private Limited(BRBNMPL)
o Legal Framework :- Umbrella Acts-a) Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934:
governs the Reserve Bank functions
Banking Regulation Act, 1949: governs the financial sector
Acts governing specific functions
Public Debt Act, 1944/Government Securities Act (Proposed):
Governs government debt market
Securities Contract (Regulation) Act, 1956: Regulates government
securities market
Indian Coinage Act, 1906:Governs currency and coins
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973/Foreign Exchange
Management Act, 1999: Governs trade & foreign exchange market
"Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007: Provides for
regulation and supervision of payment systems in India"
Acts governing Banking Operations
Companies Act, 1956:Governs banks as companies
Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act,
1970/1980: Relates to nationalisation of banks
Bankers' Books Evidence Act
Banking Secrecy Act
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Acts governing Individual Institutions
State Bank of India Act, 1954
The Industrial Development Bank (Transfer of Undertaking and
Repeal) Act, 2003
The Industrial Finance Corporation (Transfer of Undertaking and
Repeal) Act, 1993
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act
National Housing Bank Act
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act
Present CRR-4%, SLR-23%, Repo-8%, Reverse Repo-7%, Bank Rate-9%,
MSF-9%
09/09/2013-Finance Ministry asked Banks to register FIR against willful
defaulters.
2013 Best bank award for use of technology-for financial inclusion was
bagged by the State Bank of India (SBI) followed by a special award under this
category that went to Union Bank of India. Karur Vysya Bank won the best bank
award for electronic payment systems among small banks.
29/01/2014-State Bank of India raised $1.2 billion through a share sale, falling
short of its $1.5 billion target.
03/03/2014-State Bank of India (SBI) announced 150 per cent or Rs 15 per share
interim dividend for 2013-14. The central board of the bank has declared an
interim dividend at the rate of Rs 15 per equity share of Rs 10 each.
05/03/2014-RBI extends date for exchanging pre-2005 banknotes to January 1,
2015
04/03/2014-The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), decided to allow foreign inward
remittances received under money transfer service scheme (MTSS) directly into
the bank account of the beneficiary through electronic modes such as national
electronic funds transfer (NEFT) and immediate payment service
(IMPS).However, the RBI said that the recipient bank would credit the amount
transferred by the partner bank only to KYC (know-your-customer) compliant
bank accounts
11/03/2014-IRDA asks SBI Life to refund Rs 275 crore (Rs.275,29,48,437). Over
7.5 lakh SBI-Group Borrowers to Benefit, biggest refund order in the history. The
beneficiaries of this order will be those who purchased Dhanraksha Plus LPPT
between 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.The policyholders will get 44% of the Rs
625 crore premium that they collectively paid for the cover.
13/03/2014-SBIePayState Bank of India has launched SBIePay, an online
aggregator service, to facilitate e-Commerce/ m-Commerce transactions
between merchants, customers and various financial institutions for all kinds of
payments.The service (domain name: https://sbiepay.com) will provide payment
facilities to a large number of customers for undertaking online transactions.
15000 Branch SBI-Sooranam
LIC increased its shareholding in SBI by 2.86% to 13.26% by acquiring 19.57
lacs share from open market.
One Man Company-Small Entrepreneurs can now set up one person company,
allowed first time in India, which allows a firm to be registered with just one share
holder and limited regulatory costs and other requirements.
FDI in Telecom sector increased from 74% to 100%, while in Insurance sector
from 26% to 49%.
Bitcoin-A virtual currency is a form of unregulated digital money, not issued or
guaranteed by a central Bank, which can act as a means of payment.
Malware-is harmful software that steals sensitive information from your computer
and gradually slows it down and can even send fake emails from your email id
without your knowledge.
Three companies coming with White labeled ATMs SREI INFRASTRUCTURE
FINANCE LTD.(SREI BRAND), MUTHOOT FINANCE, TATA
COMMUNICATIONS PAYMENT SOLUTIONS LTD( INDICASH).
M-pesa, MRupee, Oxigen e-paisa mobile Banking products of ICICI
ISIC Forex Card-Axis Bank-For students going aborad
Smart Draft-HDFC-Over draft against salary
100th Indian Science Congress- 3 to 7 January: 100th Indian Science
Conference was organized in Kolkata by the Indian Science Congress
Association.
2013-Important events
100
th
Indian Science Conference was organised in Kolkata 3to 7/01/2013
6 January: IndiaPakistan border incidents begin.
12 January:Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary was celebrated.
14 January: Kumbh Mela begins in Allahabad.
26 January: Republic Day of India, Republic Day Parade was held in New Delhi
with Bhutan's king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck as Chief Guest.
(26 Jan 2014 chief guest Japan Primeminister Shri Shinzo Abe)
31 January to 3 February: 7th India Stone Mart 2013, a trade fair to promote the
stone industry, was held in Jaipur.
12 February: Indian helicopter bribery scandal came to light.
15 February: 2012 DA14 asteroid passes by the Earth over eastern Indian
Ocean.
19 and 20 February: Nano India 2013, a science conference on nanotechnology,
was held in Thiruvananthapuram.
February 20, 2013- Air Asia Announced Joint Venture with Tata
8 March: Anti-Sri Lanka protests by Students Federation for Freedom of Tamil
Eelam in Tamil Nadu started.
10 March: Kumbh Mela ends. An estimated 120 million pilgrims attended the
festival.
19 March: Lok Sabha passes the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.
20 March: BrahMos missile was test fired at Vishakhaptnam.
21 March: Rajya Sabha passes the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.
27 March: Tamil Nadu Assembly Resolution on Sri Lanka for formation of Tamil
Eelam and demands to the Centre to stop treating Sri Lanka as friendly nation.
2 April: President President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013.
15 April: Daulat Beg Oldi conflict between Indian and Chinese army patrols
began.
10 May: Two Cabinet ministers, Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal, resign after
bribery allegations.
June 1, 2013Infosys Reappointed Narayan Murthy as Chairman
28/06/2013-The RBI announced the constitution of the committee on Financial
Benchmarks(Chairman Shri P.Vijaya Bhaskar, Executive Director) to study
various issues relating to financial benchmarks in India. Draft report placed on
RBI website on 3/01/2014
14 July: India shuts down its public telegram service.
15 August: 67th Independence Day of India
26 August: Lok Sabha passes the National Food Security Bill, 2013
28 August: The Indian rupee hits a 20 years record low of 68.8450 against the
US dollar
2 September: Rajya Sabha passes the National Food Security Bill, 2013
4 September: Raghuram Rajan took over as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve
Bank of India.
September 4, 2013Lok Sabha Passed PFRDA Bill A long-pending, key economic
reform legislation - the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill,
which opens the doors to 26 per cent foreign direct investment in pension funds
13 September: The sentences for convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang rape case was
announced.
30 September: Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav convicted in the
Fodder scam case.
12 October: Cyclone Phailin makes landfall in Odisha.
5 November: The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), was successfully launched into
Earth orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
19 November 2013: Bharatiya Mahila Bank, India's first all-women commercial
bank, starts its operations(First Chairman- Usha Anantha Subramanian
9 December: The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into effect after being approved by
Ministry of Women and Child Development.
11 December: Supreme Court of India reinstated same-sex relationships as an
offence under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
12 December: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was arrested in New York,
triggering a diplomatic row between India and the US. Devyani Khobragade,
India's deputy consul general in New York, is the daughter of a retired IAS officer
of Maharashtra cadre Uttam Khobragade. She was arrested by New York police
on visa fraud charges and released on a USD 250,000 bond after she pleaded
not guilty in a court. She has been accused of lying on the visa application for an
Indian national Sangeeta Richard, who worked at her home from November 2012
to June 2013 for less than four dollars an hour.
18 December: The The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013 was passed by the
Rajya Sabha.
Agni-II missile successfully tested in 2013
DadaSaheb Phalke Award 2013-Pran
Best Feature Film National Award 2013-Pan Singh Tomar
05/01/2014-GSAT-14 is the twenty third geostationary communication satellite of
India sent in space
29
th
State Telangana formed in January 2014 by dividing A.P, New Name of A.P
after separation of Telangana-Seemandhara
Summer: Droughts in Maharashtra suprasses the previous worst famine record
of 1972. The droughts were caused by low rainfall in June to October 2012.
20 January: A new airport terminal was inaugurated by the President Pranab
Mukherjee at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata
Mumbai Monorail has test journeys between Wadala and Chembur.
Largest Solar Power plant 130 MW-Welspun Solar MP project launched at
Bhagwanpur in Neemuch(M.P).
3 May: Indian cinema completes 100 years. The first Indian silent film Raja
Harishchandra was released in 1913
The 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup was the tenth Women's Cricket World
Cup, which was hosted by India for the third time. India previously hosted the
World Cup in 1978 and 1997. Australia won the tournament for the sixth time,
beating West Indies by 114 runs in the final.
The 2013 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, an
upcoming major multi-sport event, took place in Delhi, India in 2013. With this
edition of the Games, India became the second country to host the Games three
times (the previous editions being held in Kolkata in 1987 and Chennai in 1995),
after Bangladesh. It is also the first time that Delhi will host the Games(Next
scheduled in Kathmandu-2014
The 2013 World Kabaddi Cup held from December 1 to December 14, 2013 with
the Opening Ceremony on November 30, 2013 at Bathinda. The tournament
took place in Punjab, India. It is fourth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi
Cup.
A multi day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand in June
2013 caused devastating floods and landslides in the country's worst natural
disaster since the 2004 tsunami. From 14 to 17 June 2013, Uttarakhand and
adjoining areas received heavy rainfall, which was about 375 percent more than
the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon. This caused the melting of
Chorabari Glacier at the height of 3800 metres, and eruption of the Mandakini
River which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag
district, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal, and acute rainfall in
other nearby regions of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet.
Heavy rainfall for four consecutive days as well as melting snow aggravated the
floods.
Tarun J Tejpal who is an Indian journalist, publisher, novelist, philanthropist and
former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine. He stepped down as editor for six
months after a woman colleague accused him of sexual assault in November
2013. He has been accused of sexually assaulting a young journalist twice in a
hotel during the Think Fest in Goa.
The Supreme Court said gay sex between consenting adults is a criminal
offence, a major setback for the largely closeted homosexual community in India.
The court set aside the Delhi High Court's 2009 judgement that homosexuality
should not be treated as a criminal offence, which had been challenged by anti-
gay rights activists, social and religious organizations. A bench of Justices G S
Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya had reserved judgment on March 27 last year on
a bunch of petitions, many arguing in support and some against the HC verdict,
after hearing arguments on a day-to-day basis for over a month. The bench set
aside the Delhi High Courts verdict which had in 2009 decriminalised gay sex
among consenting adults in private.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), informally called Mangalyaan is a Mars orbiter
launched into Earth orbit on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research
Organisation. The mission is a "technology demonstrator" project aiming to
develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and
operations of an interplanetary mission. The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off
from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh near Chennai, using a
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC (2:38 PM IST)
on 5 November 2013. The launch window was approximately 20 days long and
started on 28 October 2013. The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth orbit,
where it made a series of seven altitude-raising orbital manoeuvres before trans-
Mars injection on 30 November 2013 (UTC).
Cyclone Phailin, being described as possibly the biggest cyclone in the Bay of
Benga ever to hit India, has triggered India's biggest evacuation programme in 23
years which caused substantial damage in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. It was
also the most intense cyclone that crossed Indian coast after the 1999 Odisha
cyclone. It is being compared to being as devastating as Hurricane Katrina The
system was first noted as a tropical depression on October 4, 2013 within the
Gulf of Thailand, to the west of Pnom Penh in Cambodia.
05/12/2013-Nelson Mandela dies
21/08/2013-Hundereds died in Syria in chemical weapon attack
28/02/2013-Benedict XVI resigns, paving the way for Pope Francis
12/02/2013-North Koria conducts 3
rd
controversial Nuclear Test
08/11/2013-Typhoon Haiyan devastates the Philippines leaving 6000 dead
21/09/2013-Kenya,Terror group strikes at Nairobi shopping mall
02/12/2013- China Moon Rover lands on Moon
Tokyo Japan wins to host 2020 Olympics
Microsoft buys Nokia mobile phone business at $7.2 billiion
03/07/2013-Egypt Army Ousts President Mursi.
Yahoo buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion
20/04/2013-Deadly earthquake hits China Sichuan.
08/04/2013-Margaret Thatcher Dies at 87.
Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6% of GDP in 2013-14 below target of 4.8%
Projected Fiscal deficit 2014-15 at 4.1%
Food grain production in 2012-13 was 255.36 million tones and the estimate for
the current year is 263 million tones
Agriculture exports in 2012-13 stood at $41 billion versus imports of $20 billion.
In 2013-14 exports expected to cross $45 billion
Allocation for defence has been enhanced by 10% from Rs.203672 cr in 2013-14
to Rs.224000 cr in 2014-15(Interim Budget)
Govt has provided Rs.555322 cr for plan expenditure and Rs.1207892 cr for
Non-Plan expenditure in 2014-15(Interim Budget)
UEBA-(Universal Electronic Bank Account)
RBI advised that a credit card account will be treated as non-performing asset if
the minimum amount due, as mentioned in the statement, is not paid fully within
90 days from the next statement date. The gap between two statement should
not be more than one month.
RBI has decided to prescribe a minimum CRAR for STCBS/CCBs of 9% to be
achieved in phased manner in 3 years. As on 31/03/2015-7%, 31/03/2017-9%
The Annual Banking Ombudsmen Conference was held at the RBI on
30/01/2014
Damodaran Committee on Customer service in Banks has made 232
recommendations in its report of these 155 recommendations stand
implemented.
RBI in Oct 2013 constituted a technical committee on Mobile Banking under the
chairmanship of Shri B.Sambamurthy, Director IDRBT to examine the
options/alternatives including the feasibility of using encrypted SMS based funds
transfer using an application that can run on any type of Handset.
Family Pensioner opts for existing joint account for credit of family pension,
Banks to not insist on opening of new account when the spouse is survivor and
having a joint account with the pensioner and in whose favour an authorization
for payment of family pension exists in PPO.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013-Franois Englert and Peter W. Higgs "for the
theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the
origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through
the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS
experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider"
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013-Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh
Warshel "for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical
systems"
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013-James E. Rothman, Randy
W. Schekman and Thomas C. Sdhof "for their discoveries of machinery
regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells"
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013-Alice Munro "master of the contemporary
short story"
The Nobel Peace Prize 2013-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons"
Childrens Noble Price-Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai nominated for
prize in Sweden for championing education rights in girls.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences-in Memory of Alfred
Nobel 2013 Eugene F. Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J. Shiller "for their
empirical analysis of asset prices
Gandhi Peace Prize for 2013-Chandi Prasad Bhatt the social activist
Vyas Samman 2013-Vishwanath Tripathi the eminent Hindi writer has been
selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year 2013.
International Gandhi Award 2013-VV Dongre and Guocheng Zhang
Protein Science Young Investigator Award for 2014-Madan Babu an Indian
born scientist for his contributions to the understanding of the principles of
regulation in biological systems.
Rotarys Highest Award-President Pranab Mukherjee got the Rotarys highest
award for his leadership in the countrys victory over polio.
Most Generous Philanthropist in 2013-Facebook founder and CEO Mark
Zuckerberg became the youngest and the most generous philanthropist of
Americal in 2013.
FaceBook buys WhatsApp- for $19 billion
John Thompson-appointed as the chairman of Microsoft, he succeeds Bill
Gates.
Satya Nadella-appointed as CEO of Microsoft
First Paper Less Library-Biblio Tech opened in USA State of Texas.
Marco Lambertini-appointed as director general of the World Wide Fund
International.
CBDT-New Chairman R.K.Tiwari
Chairman of 7
th
Pay commission-Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur
Belgium became second country- after Netherland to allow Mercy killing for
children.
Next Summer Olympic games 2016(5 to 21
st
August) to be held at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, Motto-Live your passion,(2012 held at London 27/07/2012 to
12/08/2012)
Winter Olympic games 2014 held at Sochi(Russia)-07/02/2014 to 23/02/2014
The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII Asiad, is the largest
sporting event in Asia governed by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It is
scheduled to take place in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 October
4, 2014, Motto-Diversity Shines Here
2010 Asian Games was held at Guangzhou, China between 1227 November
2015 ICC World cup to be held at Australia and Newzealand
The 2019 Cricket World Cup will be hosted by England and Wales
First President-Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) Term of Office: 26 January 1950
TO 13 May 1962
2
nd
President-Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975)
Dr. Zakir Husain (1897-1969)
A present group of nations known as G-8 started first as G-7, Which one was not
one of them?- Russia
Badminton is the national sport at-Malaysia
First Indian train started from Mumbai to Thane
BPO-Business Process Outsourcing
English Language have more than 450000 words
9000 languages and dialects are spoken by people all over the world
The first country to legalise medically assisted suicide is-Netherlands
The media campaign The World Is Waiting-British Airways
The monetary unit of Bangladesh is-Takka
First surface to surface missile in India-Prithvi
Noble Prize- Noble Prize are for Contributions to society
Bharat Ratna- It is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees
of national service
Pulitzer Prize- Pulitzer awards are for Literacy achievement
Padma Awards- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri
Padma awards are for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including
service rendered by Government servants
Gallantry Awards- Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Ashok Chakra, Shaurya Chakra
These awards are given for appreciating the brave and gallant
The Golden Peacock Awards- It is recognised worldwide as the hallmark of
corporate excellence. It builds the Brand Equity and inspires and aligns the entire
workforce
Manthan Award- It is an initiative in India to recognize the best practices in e-
Content and Creativity
Arjun Awards- Arjuna Award is given for Excellence in sports
FiFi Awards- The FiFi Awards honor the fragrance industry's creative
achievements
International Gandhi Peace Prize-This award is given to individuals and
institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political revolution
through non-violence and Gandhian philosophy. The award carries Rs. 10 million in
cash.
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award- Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award is for
Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management, 2013 Award
given to Dr Rajendra Achyut Badeve(Prof/HOD in Tata Medical Centre)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna- The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is Indias highest honour
given for achievement in sports, 2012-13 award given to Ronjan Sodhi in shooting.
GREEN STAR AWARDS- The Green Star Awards recognize those who have made
extraordinary efforts to respond to environmental disasters around the world

World Important days-
January 6-World Day - War Orphans
January 24-National Girl Child Day of India January
January 30-World Leprosy Eradication Day
February 4-World Cancer Day
February 6-International Day against Female Genital Mutilation
March 4-World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
March 8-International Womens' Day
March 15-World Consumer Rights Day
March 21-International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
March 22-World Water Day
April 7-World Health Day
April 22-Earth Day
May 01-May day - Labour Day
May-05-World Athletics Day
May-08-World Red Cross Day and Red Crescent Day
May-31-World Anti Tobacco Day
June 1-International Childrens Day
June 5-World Environment Day
June 12-World Day Against Child Labor
June 14-World Blood Donor Day
August 6-Anti Nuclear Day
August 6-Hiroshima Day
August 9-Nagasaki Day
August 12-International Youth Day
September 8-World Literacy Day
September 28-World Rabies Day
October 2-International Day of Non-Violence
October 4-World Animal Welfare Day
October 5-World and International Teachers Day
October 24-UN Day
November 14-World Diabetes Day
December 1-World AIDS Day
December 2-World Computer Literacy Day
December 3-International Day of People with Disability
December10-Human Rights day