Sushmita Sen honoured with the Mother Teresa International Award

Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen has been awarded the Mother Teresa International Award by the Harmony Foundation for her efforts towards achieving social justice on October 27, 2013. Sushmita is been associated with charitbale projects and NGOs. The Harmony Foundation also honoured former Outlaw motorcycle club member Sam Childers for his efforts towards rescuing children from a war-zone in Sudan.

The Harmony Foundation:

• The Harmony Foundation is a NGO and not for profit organization working to establish communal harmony between various communities, castes and work towards the benefit of all the communities without any discrimination as to religion, caste, creed, gender or region.
• It was founded in October 2005 by Dr. Abraham Mathai.
• The Harmony Foundation honours the people working towards the social justice with the Mother Teresa International Award.

Iceland tops in Global Gender Gap Report

A new report titled 'Global Gender Gap Report' released by the World Economic Forum indicated that the gap between men and women has narrowed slightly in the past year in most countries.
Iceland, Finland and Norway top the list of 136 nations, based on political participation, economic equality and rights like education and health. Iceland's position at the top of the WEF rankings was the fifth year in a row the country has been named the world's most equal.
Nicaragua in 10th place was the highest positioned country in North and South America. Cuba followed at 15th, with Ecuador in 25th place.
Among major world economies Germany ranked 14th (down one), the UK held its position at 18, with Canada at 20 and the United States 23rd.
The highest-ranked Asian nation was the Philippines (fifth), praised for its success in health, education and economic participation. On the other, Asia's major economies performed poorly, with China in 69th place and Japan 105th. India is at 101th position; however, the country was way ahead at the ninth position in 2013 in terms of women empowerment in politics.
In Africa, several countries -- Lesotho, South Africa, Burundi and Mozambique -- featured in the top 30 this year due to women’s participation in the workforce.
The Middle East and North Africa were the only regions not to improve in the past year. The United Arab Emirates in 109th place is the highest-ranked Arab country in the region, which achieved parity in education. Bahrain ranked 112th and Qatar at 115th, “still failing to adequately capitalize on the investments in education through greater economic and political contributions from women”.
The bottom of the list is occupied by Chad at 134th, Pakistan at 135th and Yemen 136th.
Iceland, Finland (second), Norway (third) and Sweden (fourth) had all closed over 80% of the gender gap, where 100% would represent full equality.
Top Ten Countries

	2013	2012
Iceland	1	1
Finland	2	2
Norway	3	3
Sweden	4	4
Philippines	5	8
Ireland	6	5
New Zealand	7	6
Denmark	8	7
Switzerland	9	10
Nicaragua	10	9

Food auditing firms to conduct quality checks on trains, Railways Ministry

Following constant passenger complaint about food served on trains, Railways has decided to deploy international food auditing firms who do quality checks at five star hotels to do its quality assessment. As a pilot project at present, a Swedish company is carrying out third-party audit of the food and hygiene on the premium trains on the Mumbai-Howrah route. It will present its report to the Railway Ministry on November 5. "There are renowned multinational auditing firms who do quality audits for five star hotels. Once the ministry gets the report for this, it will formalise this policy and call for tenders for all trains. The firms will not only check quality and quantity of food served but will also assess the condition in which the food is made and served, and the hygiene standards. After rolling out a new menu with reduced food items and at the same time jacking up their prices on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains on October 17, Railways quickly reverted to the old menu because passengers had been complaining of getting "too less for more money". The ministry also said the ticket prices increased due to the changed menu, however, will remain the same for now.

Protection to Western Ghats

The recommendations of the two reports on the Western Ghats, one by the Madhav Gadgil and the other by the K. Kasturiranga led the Environment Ministry to turn approximately 60,000 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and polluting industries over the entire range. All other projects would be allowed only with the prior consent of gram sabhas (village councils) in the zone.
The decision, once formally notified, would make the identified region of the Western Ghats complex the largest protected forests in India ranging over 1,500 km linear distance from the Tapti river in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Going with the recommendations of the high-level panel that was headed by Mr. Kasturirangan, the Ministry has decided to declare the ESA over 37% of the Western Ghats under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The Ministry has drafted the notification and it will be put out soon for comments. Natarajan has approved the use of three criteria that the panel had recommended — biodiversity richness, fragmentation of forests and human population density to demarcate these forest patches that would turn into a no-go zone for mining, thermal power plants and other dirty industries.
The type of industries banned would be those included in the ‘red list’ issued by the government under the Environment Protection Act. These are usually considered to be the most polluting of the lot. Going against the recommendation of the Environment Secretary, the Minister retained the criteria to leave areas with high-density of population out of this regulated zone’s ambit. The panel had recommended that the hill tracts with high population densities be kept out of the ESA ambit. It had advised against using the legal force that the ESA would provide to alter the economic practices in these areas, instead suggesting economic and other tools to incentivise more ecologically sustainable activities.
Within the ESA prior consent from the gram sabhas and strict adherence to the Forest Rights Act would be made mandatory for any of the projects that are not on the negative list. This too would be done after studying cumulative impacts of the projects in the region.
Townships and buildings over 20,000 square metres in the region too would not be allowed once the draft notification is published. But those already in the pipeline in different States would be allowed to go ahead. Applications for such townships would not be entertained in future.
The Ministry has decided to not go with the recommendations of the high-level panel in the case of windmills. Construction of windmills would be permitted in the ecologically sensitive area though environment regulations to review their impact may be brought in through other legal routes available to the government.
Hydro-electric projects would be permitted in the ESA but with a new set of strict regulations that the Kasturirangan-led panel has recommended, including those on maintaining ecological flows in the rivers.

NOBEL PRIZES 2013

Category	Name of the Person	Contribution
Physiology or Medicine	James Rothman	for their groundbreaking work on how the cell organises its transport system
	Randy Schekman
	Thomas Suedhof
Physics	Peter Higgs	for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles.
	Francois Englert
Chemistry	Michael Levitt	for the development of multi scale models for complex chemical systems
	Martin Karplus
	Arieh Warshel
Peace	The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)	for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons
Literature	Alice Munro	master of the contemporary short story
Economics	Eugene Fama	for their work on creating a deeper knowledge of how market prices move
	Lars Peter Hansen
	Robert Shiller

India ranks 63 in the Global Hunger Index

India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. According to the Index India is making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to languish far behind other emerging economies. The score for the country improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 this year. As has been the trend, within SAARC countries too, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index.

The report revealed that India is one of the three countries outside Sub-saharan Africa to fall in ‘alarming level’ category. The other two are Haiti and Timor-Leste.
The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI) has fallen by 34 per cent from the 1990 score, but South Asia has the highest regional score of 20.7, followed by Africa (south of the Sahara) while Burundi, Eritrea and Comoros have the highest levels of hunger, says the report.
Among the countries that achieved noteworthy progress in improving their GHI scores are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with decreases in their scores ranging between 15 and 23 points.

The index identified hunger levels and hot spots across 120 developing countries and countries in transition, and ranked countries on three equally weighted indicators - the proportion of undernourished people, the proportion of underweight children under five, and the mortality rate of children under five.

Report Highlights:
The 2013 Index indicates that global hunger is decreasing; the 2013 world GHI score has fallen by 34 percent from the 1990 GHI score. Yet world hunger still remains “serious,” with 19 countries suffering from levels of hunger that are either “alarming” or “extremely alarming.”
 South Asia has the highest regional GHI score, followed by Africa south of the Sahara while Burundi, Eritrea and Comoros have the highest levels of hunger.

India Performance:
• India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to suffering far behind other emerging economies.
 
• The score for India has improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 in 2013. Within SAARC countries also, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index.

• The level of hunger in India remained at ‘alarming levels’ and the report also noted that it is one of the three countries outside Sub-Saharan Africa to fall in this category. The other two are Haiti and Timor-Leste.

• India continued to record one of the highest prevalence of children under five who are underweight, at more than 40 per cent.

South Asia Region:

• South Asia continued to have the maximum number of hungry people in the world, followed by sub-Saharan Africa.
• Social inequality and the low nutritional, educational, and social status of women are major causes of child under-nutrition in the South Asian region.

Emerging economies Performance:
• Other emerging economies with high growth trajectories have done a much better job at pulling people out of hunger, when in comparison to India.
• China improved its ranking by 57.69 per cent between 1990-2012, while India showed a 34 per cent improvement in the same period.
• Brazil, in comparison, had a much better score to begin with and by 2012 entered the select block of nations doing the best to fight hunger.
• Countries that have achieved the highest progress on this front included Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Ghana, Thailand and Vietnam -all achieving more than 55 percent increase in their Global Hunger Index score.

About Global Hunger Index:
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by country and region. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger. By raising awareness and understanding of regional and country differences in hunger, the GHI aims to trigger actions to reduce hunger.

The theme of the 2013 GHI report is resilience in theory and in practice.

To reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines three equally weighted indicators in one index number:

1. Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient calorie intake);

2. Child underweight: the proportion of children younger than the age of five who are underweight (low weight for age reflecting wasting, stunted growth, or both), which is one indicator of child undernutrition; and

3. Child mortality: the mortality rate of children younger than the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate dietary intake and unhealthy environments).

The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI):

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. 

Welthungerhilfe:
Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest nongovernmental aid organisations in Germany. It provides fully integrated aid from one source, ranging from rapid emergency relief to reconstruction programmes, as well as long-term projects with local partner organisations following the principle of help toward self-help. Since its foundation in 1962, more than 6800 projects have been carried out in 70 countries with a total funding of 2.39 billion euros, striving for a world without hunger or poverty. 

Concern Worldwide:
Concern Worldwide is an international non-governmental humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. The mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives which last and spread without ongoing support from Concern. To achieve this mission Concern engages in long term development work, responds to emergency situations, and seeks to address the root causes of poverty through development education and advocacy work. Concern currently works in 27 of the world’s poorest countries.

Tribal Problems

The tribals are a special concern of the nation in view of their low technological development, general economic backwardness, and complex problems of socio-cultural adjustment to distinctive cultural identity. Development of tribals and tribal areas is a challenging task for the government, as they are spread over a wide spectrum of diversities of geographical location, socio-economic and politico-cultural conditions.

Despite its popular as well as academic usage, tribe is a contentious concept. In popular imagination, tribe is associated with “primitivism” and “backwardness,” clearly referring to non-Western or indigenous groups inhabiting the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America or to American Indian reservations.
Approximately 8.2 percent of the total Indian population has been designated as “Scheduled Tribes” (STs), according to the Indian census of 2001. The official Web site of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, states that “the Scheduled Tribes are the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within these tribes and tribal communities which have been declared as such by the President through a public notification.” The Indian government regards retention of “primitive” traits, geographical isolation, possessing distinct culture, shyness of contact with the community at large, and economic backwardness as the essential characteristics of Scheduled Tribes.
Many tribes have come to symbolize the most victimized segments of societies. It is a strange paradox that although they inhabit the most resource-rich regions of the world, many of them are in a state of impoverishment. They are the most severely affected victims of induced development, such as the establishment of mega-hydroelectric projects, conservation through parks, sanctuaries and bioreserves, mining and allied activities, urbanization and industrialization, ecotourism projects, and so on.
The tribal people are concentrated in four regions. They form a majority in the north-eastern states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Naga­land, Manipur, Mizoram, and Meghalaya. However, the majority of the tribals live in the belt of middle India from Gujarat to Bengal. In states like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Odisha the tribals account for more than 20 per cent of the population. In Jhakhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the percentage of tribals ranges between 4 to 15 per cent of the total population. However, in the entire middle Indian zone, the tribals are in a majority only in 13 districts. The third zone of tribal concentration is the ‘Himalayan region’ extending from Kashmir to Sikkim. In the far South, we have the fourth area of concentration, but the population is rather small. There are nearly 450 distinctive tribal groups in the country varying in size from around four millions to a bare two dozen. Their styles of living are largely determined by their means of subsistence which includes a wide spectrum of activities such as hunting and food gathering. Artisan groups are engaged in different types of arts and crafts and some are employed as industrial labour. Although the bulk of the tribals are reported to be Hindu in the census, substantial numbers have been converted to Christianity and some to Islam and Buddhism. Some others still follow their traditional faiths.
The history of the tribes has been a history of becoming peasants. It is the policy of the government to minimise the extent of shifting cultivation, promote terrace cultivation and apply the new agricultural strategy to the tribal region and to accelerate the flow of capital for agriculture there in. There has been a diffusion of improved agricultural technology by governmental agencies. Efforts are being made to develop innovative technologies which would yield results in drought-prone areas and highlands. At present much of the settled cultivation is at subsistence level and the majority of the tribal produce is not marketed. They sometimes make distress sales in order to buy some necessities.
In the central zone of tribal concentration agrarian issue stand at the centre of development. In the western zone we find land scarcity and land hunger. This is due to the expulsion of the tribes in those regions by the more vigorous Rajput, Maratha, and other Hindu peasantry. Other contributory factors to land hunger are low productivity  of land, the primitive mode of agriculture and the continued exploitation of tribals by others against whom protective legislation do not afford sufficient safeguards and the non-diversification for tribal economy.

Integration in which attempts will be made to bring the tribals in the mainstream of national life without destroying their distinctive identity. Indian culture is like a mosaic in which its separate elements add to its beauty. Anthropologists regard the integration of the tribes into the mainstream of Indian life as a natural and desirable goal. They only insist on care and caution on planning for the tribes and emphasize restraints in certain areas against innovations of doubtful value. The essential elements of anthropological thinking on the problem have been largely incorporated in national policies. They have emphasi­sed the importance of understanding tribal culture, identifying not only their different problems but the integrative forces in their life bringing out the vital linkages in their cultural fabric. They have pleaded for cautious formulation of development plans with a view to harmonise tribal needs with regional and national interests. They recommend a careful watch on the trends set in motion by these measures with a view to eliminating elements that destroy their social solidarity and kill their zest for living.
The Constitution of India provides specific measures for the protection and promotion of the social and economic interests of the Scheduled Tribes (STs). These include: reservation of seats in the legislature, educational institutions, services and posts, a tribal development program and provisions for autonomy.
The Constitution of India ensures the political representation of Scheduled Tribes in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of the Parliament and in the State Legislative Assemblies through reserved seats.
Reservation in Educational Institutions and Services: Article 15(4) of the Indian Constitution provides for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in educational institutions. In order to improve the social situation of the tribal people, the government has, in addition to quotas in education, also designed a reservation policy for employment in government services. Depending on the respective positions, posts reserved for members of "Scheduled Tribes" are either in proportion to the tribal population of the state in question, or – in most cases – comprise 7.5% of the total number of government jobs.
Geographical areas designated as Fifth and Sixth Scheduled areas by independent India are identical to those already delineated by the British as Scheduled Areas.
Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996: This act is aimed primarily at promoting village-level democracy through the Panchayat Raj institutions. It includes changes aimed at adapting the generally established system for use in the Scheduled Areas, which have a different socio-economic and politico-administrative setting.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes: Article 338 of the Constitution provides for the appointment of a Special Officer for Scheduled Tribes and Castes by the President, who is commissioned to investigate and report to the President on all matters relating to the constitutional safeguards on Scheduled Tribes and Castes. A National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was subsequently created to take over these responsibilities.
Promotion of the economic and educational interests of the Scheduled Tribes and their protection from social injustice and exploitation are enshrined as a national goal in article 46 of the Constitution. Realizing that earlier programs under the central government's Five-Year Plans had failed to address the development needs, marginalization and exploitation of tribal communities, the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) was devised as a new strategy in the Fifth Five-Year Plan in 1973. It is still the approach that guides development programs in tribal areas. Its main objectives are to eliminate exploitation, to speed up social and economic development, and to promote and improve the organisational capacity of tribal people.

India's Look East Policy

India's Look East Policy of 1991 was inclined towards improving and strengthening her relations with neighbouring South East Asian countries which had been neglected for a long time and explore the economic opportunities in the region by access to its growing markets where China had already penetrated. It was developed and enacted during the Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao and rigorously pursued by the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

The policy came specifically at the time of economic liberalization reforms and the post cold war phase of non-existent rival political alliances. It was the first time when India took recourse to improving her relations with the neighboring South East Asian countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and making a place in the emerging global economy by going beyond the confines of SAARC.

In her bid to improve the bilateral and multilateral relations with the South East Asian region, it was conducive and pertinent for India to forge strong ties and co-operation with the biggest association and Bloc of the South East Asian countries i.e. the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian countries) formed in 1967 for geopolitical and economic organization. Some of the major areas where India and ASEAN proposed and worked together have been Political and security Issues with forums such as India and ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF) Of 1996, Mekong Ganga Project(MGC) of 1997, Free Trade Agreement(FTA) of 2008 as the first multilateral Trade agreement by India for co-operation in Information Technology, ASEAN India business summits of 2002 and 2009 which addressed the six key areas of economic integration, people to people contacts, agriculture, human resource development, education, science and technology and information and communication technology, Bay of Bengal initiative for Multi Sectoral technical cooperation (BIMSTEC) of 2008 and East Asia Summit (EAS) of 2009.

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE MCQs

1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Who is the Director General of WTO?
a) Roberto Azevedo
b) Christine Legarde
c) Raghuram Rajan
d) Oliver Ralph Kahn
e) None of the above

2. RBI on October, 7th 2013, has reduced Marginal Standing Facility(MSF) rate from 9.5% to 9% to improve liquidity in the system. What is MSF?
a) MSF rate is the rate at which banks lodge funds overnight with RBI buying approved government securities.
b) MSF rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds overnight from other banks against approved government securities.
c) MSF rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds overnight from RBI against approved government securities.
d) MSF rate is the minimum rate at which banks lend to the borrowers.
e) None of the above

3. Between 2007-08 to 2012-13,the value of Card spending rose to Rs.1.97 Lakh Crores. A raise in Cards spending indicates?
a) Transformation to 'Cashless Economy'
b) Low inflation
c) Raising incomes
d) Falling prices
e) None of the above

4. What is NOT true with regard to 'Carbon Credit'?
a) It is a tradable certificate or permit.
b) It represents the right of an Industry to emit certain quantity of Carbon Dioxide.
c) Carbon Credits mechanism was formalized in Kyoto Protocol.
d) Carbon Credits are currently traded on 5 exchanges across the globe.
e) None of the above.

5. Arundhati Bhattacharya is in news recently. She is going to be?
a) 1st woman Deputy Governor of RBI
b) 1st woman Chair Person of SBI
c) 1st woman Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission
d) 1st woman Finance Secretary to Govt. of India
e) None of the above

6. National Spot Exchange (NSEL) is the news for defaulting payments to investors. Who is the founder promoter of FT?
a) Jignesh Shah
b) Harshad Mehta
c) Ketan Parekh
d) A K Telgi
e) None of the above

7. Find the 'odd man out' of the following?
a) Walmart
b) Tesco
c) Carrefour
d) Big Bazar
e) Ikea

8. One of the Primary functions of IMF is to provide short term capital assistance to member countries through SDR (Special Drawing Rights). What is NOT true about SDR?
a) Currency code of SDR is XDR
b) SDR is the Unit of Account of IMF
c) Asian Development Bank (ADB) also uses SDR as its Currency
d) SDR can be exchanged only for US Dollar, British Pound, Euro & Japanese Yen
e) None of the above

9. Main functions of Money?
a) Medium of Exchange
b) Unit of Account
c) Store of Value
d) Only 'a' and 'b' of the above
e) 'a', 'b' & 'c' of the above

10. M/s XYZ company has got an order to supply Machinery to M/s ABC Co of Nigeria. Who has to get a Letter of Credit issued from a Bank?
a) M/s ABC since they are the importers
b) M/s XYZ since they are the exporters
c) Both since they are the parties to the agreement
d) RBI since they regulate the Foreign Trade in India
e) None of the above

11. What is 'Packing Credit'?
a) Finance extended to Packing materials industry
b) Finance extended to an Importer to pack the goods imported
c) Finance extended to Warehouses for keeping the goods packages
d) Finance extended to an Exporter to meet the costs of buying and/ or making products to be exported
e) None of the above

12. What is NOT true with regard to Currency Chests in India?
a) They are managed by different banks on behalf of RBI
b) Deposits in Currency Chests are taken into account for calculation of CRR(Cash Reserve Ratio)
c) Standard Chartered Bank a Foreign Bank also maintains Currency Chest
d) Coins are also stored in Currency Chests
e) None of the above

13. Recently Parliament has pass-ed Companies Act 2013. What is NOT true with regard to some of the features of the Act?
a) An Individual can set up "One person Private Ltd Company"
b) An independent Director can hold 3 consecutive terms of 3 years
c) Listed Companies must have at least 1/3rd independent Directors
d) Prescribed Companies must have at least 1 woman Director on the Board
e) A Private Ltd Company can have a maximum of 200 members

14. What is 'Net Interest Margin' of a Bank?
a) Margin of Interest earned on Trading in Govt Securities
b) Difference between the Base Interest Rate and the Average Lending Rate
c) Difference between the interest income and the amount of interest paid out
d) Difference between Interest on Term Loans and Interest on Cash Credits
e) None of the above

15. What is the World's largest functioning Oil Refinery?
a) Reliance Refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat
b) IOC Refinery in Digboi, Assam
c) HPCL Mumbai Refinery
d) Paraguana Refinery, Venezuela
e) Exxon Mobil Refinery, Singapore

16. IIFCL (India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd) is wholly-owned Govt. of India Company. Who is selected to take over as the Chairman and Managing Director?
a) C B Bhave
b) S B Nayar
c) T S Vijayan
d) Yogesh Agarwal
e) None of the above

17. Till 30th June, 1955 State Bank of India(SBI) was known as?
a) State Bank of British India
b) Imperial Bank of India
c) India Central Bank
d) Central Bank of British India
e) None of the above

18. Where is the Asian Development Bank(ADB) located?
a) Mumbai, India
b) Hiroshima, Japan
c) Shanghai, China
d) Manila, Philippines
e) Jakarta, Indonesia

19. Structured Financial Messa-ging System (SFMS) is a secure messaging standard developed to serve as a platform for intra-bank and inter-bank applications in India. Which of the following have interface with SFMS?
a) RTGS(Real Time Gross Settlement)
b) Negotiated Dealing System (NDS)
c) Security Settlement System (SSS)
d) 'a' and 'c' of the above
e) 'a', 'b' & 'c' of the above

20. Which Country is the largest producer of Tea in the world?
a) India
b) Brazil
c) Peoples Republic of China
d) Srilanka
e) None of the above

21. Who is the CEO & MD of TCS(Tata Consultancy Servi-ces)?
a) Cyrus Mistry
b) S Ramdorai
c) N Chandrasekharan
d) Ratan Tata 
e) None of the above

22. Qualitative Credit Contro is one of the methods used by RBI to control credit. Which of the following is NOT a Qualitative Credit Control tool?
a) Moral Suasion
b) Marginal Requirement
c) Rationing of Credit
d) Bank Rate
e) 'a' & 'd' of the above

23. Who is the Chairperson of 14th Finance Commission?
a) Dr Yaga Venugopal Reddy
b) Dr Vijay L Kelkar
c) Dr C Rangarajan
d) Dr Duvvuri Subbarao
e) None of the above

24. The 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) is approved by Union Cabinet on 4th October, 2012. The aims of the plan are?
a) 8% average growth rate
b) Reduce Poverty by 10% during the Plan
c) Faster, Sustainable and More inclusive Growth
d) All the 3 above
e) None of the above

25. Which State is the largest producer of Cotton in India in the year 2012-13?
a) Gujarat
b) Maharashtra
c) Andhra Pradesh
d) Karnataka
e) Madhyapradesh

26. Who sets up the Bench Mark Interest Rate for Germany?
a) German Central Bank
b) Deutsche Bundes Bank
c) European Central Bank(ECB)
d) Deutsche Bank
e) None of the above

27. What is India's Apex Tax body?
a) CBDT
b) GAAR
c) IT Department
d) RBI
e) None of the above

28. FICCI is an Association of Business Organizations in India.  Who is the President of FICCI?
a) Shikha Sharma
b) Usha Thorat
c) Naina Lal Kidwai
d) Indra Nooyi
e) None of the above

29. Banks in India are governed by BR Act 1949.  What does  'BR' stands for?
a) Banks Registration
b) Banking Re-organization
c) Banking Regulation
d) Banking Rights
e) None of the above

30. In India, Scheduled Commercial Banks are those Banks included?
a) In the 2nd Schedule of RBI Act 1934
b) In the 2nd Schedule of BR Act 1949
c) In the 2nd Schedule of NI Act 1881
d) In the 2nd Schedule of Companies Act 1956
e) None of the above

31. Periodically Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  reviews a few SLR norms.  SLR stands for?
a)  Statutory Liquidity Ratio
b)  Statutory Liquidity Rate
c)  Statutory Liquidity Return
d)  Statutory Liquidity Repo
e)  None of the above

32. In the recent months, Indian Rupee depreciated heavily against US Dollar.  Rupee depreciation means?
a) Value of Rupee decreasing against a basket of currencies
b) Less number of Rupees per US Dollar
c) More number of Rupees per US Dollar
d) Less number of Dollars per Rupee
e) None of the above

33. In India, Commodities Market is regulated by?
a)  Forward Market Commission
b)  Forward Market Committee
c)  Forward Market Corporation
d)  Forward Market Council
e)  None of the above

34. Food Security Bill is recently passed by Parliament.  What does the Food Security Bill intend to achieve?
a) At least 3kg of food grains per person per month to be given to general category households, at prices not exceeding 50% of Minimum Support Price.
b) Up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of urban population are to be covered under Targeted Public Distribution System.
c) Children aged six months to 14 years would get take-home ration or hot cooked food.
d) The oldest adult woman in each house would be considered the head of that household when issuing the ration card.
e) All of the above

35. FIPB stands for?
a) Foreign Investment and Production Board
b) Foreign Investment and Promotion Board
c) Foreign Investment and Promotion Bureau
d) Foreign Investment and Protection Board
e) None of the above

36. In India, Capital Markets are regulated by?
a) Securities and Exchange Board of India
b) Reserve Bank of India
c) State Bank of India
d) International Monetary Fund
e) None of the above

37. RAND is the currency of ?
a)  Chinab)  Japan
c)  North Koread)  South Africa
e)  None of the above

38. Recently RBI took several steps to control Rupee depreciation.  Due to Rupee depreciation?
a)  Exports become costlier
b)  Imports become costlier
c)  Imports become cheaper
d)  Both (a) &(c)
e)  None of the above

39. India's GDP growth is slowing down.  GDP means?
a)  Gross Domestic Product
b)  Gross Domestic Poverty
c)  Gross Demand Production
d)  Gross Demand Product
e)  None of the above

40. Chakravarthy Rangarajan is?
a) Governor of Reserve Bank of India
b) Director of Securities and Exchange Board of India
c) Chairman of Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council
d) Chairman of State Bank of India
e)  None of the above

41. International Monetary Fund (IMF)  works to foster global monetary cooperation, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth.  Who is the current managing director of IMF?
a)  Kaushik Basu
b)  Dr.  Y V Reddy
c)  Jim Yong Kim
d)  Christine Lagarde
e)  None of the above

42. Air-Asia India is the new proposed Airline in India.  It tied up with the following Industrial group for its launch in India?
a)  TATAs
b)  Reliance group
c)  Aditya Birla group
d)  Infosys
e)  None of the above

43. Raghuram Rajan became the 23rd RBI Governor on 5th September 2013.  Whom did he succeed?
a)  Dr Y V Reddy
b)  D Subba Rao
c)  Bimal Jalan
d)  Dr Rangarajan
e)  None

44. IRDA headquarters located in which City?
a)  Mumbai
b)  Bangalore
c)  Hyderabad
d)  Chennai
e)  None of the above

45. Arundathi Battacharya was recently in the news.  She is?
a)  Managing Director of SBI
b)  Chairman of Punjab National Bank
c)  CEO of ICICI Bank
d)  CEO of Axis Bank
e)  None of the above

46. India's CAD was 4. 8% of GDP in 2012-13.  CAD means?
a)  Current Amount Deficit
b)  Current Account Deficit
c)  Current Asst Debt
d)  Common Account Deficit
e)  None of the above

47. Which of the following is NOT matched?
a)  C B Bhave - SEBI
b) Rangarajan - Planning Commission
c)  Raghuram Rajan - RBI
d)  T S Vijayan - IRDA
e)  Yogesh Agarwal - PFRDA

48. Who is the Chairman of the Planning Commission?
a)  P.  Chidambaram
b)  Monteksingh Ahluwalia
c)  Raghuram Rajan
d)  Manmohan Singh
e)  None of the above

49. As per findings of the recent Raghuram Rajan Committee report which State is the most developed?
a)  Kerala
b)  Goa
c)  Gujarat
d)  Tamilnadu
e)  None of the above

50. As per the insurance bill, 2013, Foreign Investors can hold up to?
a) 51% of the capital in an Indian insurance company
b) 39% of the capital in an Indian insurance company
c) 49% of the capital in an Indian insurance company
d) 29% of the capital in an Indian insurance company
e)  None of the above

51. Statutory liquidity ratio(SLR)  refers to the amount that the commercial banks require to maintain with RBI. 
What are the permitted SLR investments?
a)  Only Gold
b) Gold or Govt approved Securities
c)  Only Govt approved Securities
d)  Only Cash
e)  None of the above

52. Direct Taxes Code (DTC)  is intended to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament.  DTC seeks to replace?
a)  Indian Contract Act
b)  Indirect Tax Act
c)  Income-Tax Act
d)  Banking Regulation Act
e)  None of the above

53. In July 2013, RBI notified that Non-CTS Cheques are valid till the end of year 2013.  CTS means?
a)  Cheque Truncation System
b)  Cheque Transaction System
c)  Cheque Transmission Service
d)  Cheque Transport Service
e)  None of the above

54. In July 2013, SEBI Act was amended to curb Ponzi schemes.  Ponzi Scheme means?
a) Name of a Mutual Fund Scheme to earn higher returns
b) Collective investment Schemes floated by fly by night operators
c) Name of a Bank Deposit Product
d) Name of a Health Insurance scheme
e) None of the above

55. The minimum rate of Interest charged by a Bank from Customers on the loans is?
a)  Base Rate
b)  Bank Rate
c)  Prime Rate
d)  Prime Lending Rate
e)  None of the above

56. Which of the following is NOT true with regard to FCNR Accounts?
a) NRIs can open the Account
b) Can be opened in 'Permitted Currency' only
c) Minimum Term is 1 year
d) Maximum Term 5 years
e)  None of the above

57. REPO rate means?
a) Rate at which the RBI will borrow from the banks
b) Rate at which banks will borrow from other banks
c) Rate at which the RBI lends to banks
d) Rate at which banks lend to customers
e) None of the above

58. Fiscal Deficit Refers to?
a) The difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts (including borrowing)
b) The difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts (excluding borrowing)
c) The difference between the government's Tax collections and Salary payments
d) The difference between the government's Tax collections and government's Borrowings
e) None of the above

59. "DAX" is the stock market in?
a)  Germany
 b)  USA
c)  France
d)  Hongkong
e)  None of the above

60. After retirement, Ratan Tata was made the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons.  Who succeeded Ratan Tata as Chairman of Tata Sons?
a)  Cyrus Mistry
b)  Niira Radia
 c)  Mukesh Ambani
d)  Nandan Nilekani
e)  None of the above

61. Yellow Metal refers to?
a)  Copper
b)  Silver
c)  Platinum
d)  Gold
e)  None of the above

62. Who is the Chairman of the committee set up to scrutinize applications for new Bank licenses?
a)  Usha Thorat
b)  Bimal Jalan
c)  C B Bhave
d)  S Damodaran
e)  None of the above

63. Who is the World Bank President?
a)  Christine Legrade
b)  Jim Yong Kim
c)  Raghuram Rajan
d)  Monteksingh Ahluwalia
e)  None of the above

64. Ben Bernanke is the Chairman of Federal Reserve.  What is Federal Reserve?
a) Central Bank of UK
b) Financial wing of the World Bank
c) Central Bank of USA
d) European Union Central Bank
e) None of the above

ANSWERS:

1) A	2) C	3) A	4) E	5) B	6) A	7) D	8) E
9) E	10) A	11) D	12) E	13) B	14) C	15) A	16) B
17) B	18) D	19) E	20) C	21) C	22) C	23) A	24) D
25) A	26) C	27) A	28) C	29) C	30) A	31) A	32) C
33) A	34) E	35) B	36) A	37) D	38) B	39) A	40) C
41) D	42) A	43) B	44) C	45) A	46) B	47) B	48) D
49) B	50) C	51) B	52) C	53) A	54) B	55) A	56) E
57) C	58) B	59) A	60) A	61) D	62) B	63) B	64) C