Gyanm June 13

G GYANM JULY 2013
G General l Aware eness

Ye ear: 2013 Vol. 2 Iss sue 04
CON NTENTS S
SEC CTION A
CURRENT AFFAIRS A
From March h to May
NA ATI IONA AL NEW N WS

2-22 C CHINESE PM M VISITS INDIA
M MAY 2013 3
SEC CTION B
BULLET NEWS N From Dece ember to
Februa ary
24-33
Chinese Premie C er Li Keqiang g visited India a. He called d for in ncreased peop ple-to-people interaction be etween India and C China. Also, the e year 2014 has h been decla ared as the ye ear of e exchanges to boost b understanding and friendship betwee en the tw wo nations.
SEC CTION C
I IBPS PO MO ODEL TEST PAPE ER 37-59
I INDIA CHINA SIGN EIG GHT AGREEM MENTS
India and China a have signed eight agreements to enhan nce cooperation n in a range o of a areas including trade, culture and water reso ources. Importa ant issues agre eed are: Trade targe et set at USD 100 1 billion by 2015. 2 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrim ms to be provid ded wireless se ets & local SIM cards. China to share s regular information ab bout the three hydrological stations s on the e Brahmaput tra river. Prime Ministe er Manmohan Singh visited d Thailand for two days, du uring which he e e signed an extradition treaty that can pave ng back wante ed persons from m way for bringin there. The tw wo countries also firmed up p seven agreem ments, includin ng a pact to o effectively de eal with money laundering g, cooperation in space te echnology and d education. Prime P Minister of Thailand i is
SEC CTION D
Gk by ytes 63-87
P M VISITS THAILAND
FIGURES TO REMEM MBER

RE EPO RATE (0 03-05-2013) RE EVERSE REPO RA ATE MA ARGINAL STAND DING FA ACILITY RATE ST TATUTORY LIQUIDITY RA ATIO CA ASH RESERVE RA ATIO BA ANK RATE BA ASE RATE(s) (o of various banks) 7.25% 6.25% 8.25% 8 23% 4.00% 4 8.25% 8 9.70% 9 10.25 1 %
Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra S
P VISITS JAPAN PM J
INDIA AS RANK IN
Pr ress Freedom 2013 Ec conomic Freedom m 2012 Global Competitive eness Index Co orruption Percept tion Index Global Hunger Ind dex 2012 Fo ood Security Hu uman Developme ent Index 2013 Global Business Co onfidence Index IC CT Performance Index I In ndias Rank in IMF Co onsumer confidence 140th 119th 59th 94th 65th 66th 136th 2nd 69th 8th 4th
Indian prime minister visited Japan J on a thre ee day o official visit. Jap pan has agreed d to offer $ 1.0 billion s support for pro oviding bullet train technolo ogy to India. It was al lso agreed to expedite e civil nuclear n c cooperation and to extend 71 7 billion yen ($694 m million) in offic cial developme ent assistance for a s subway project in Mumbai.
P Prime Minister of o Japan is Shin inzo Abe
I INDIA ENTERS ARCTIC COUNCIL
India has been granted the status of observe er in the Arctic c Council as the e sixth member r. T other five members The m are - China, Italy, Japan, J South Korea and Singa apore. This will h help India in ex xploring the regions undiscov vered natural resources. r The e Arctic Counc cil h eight perm has manent member rs Canada, Denmark, D Finla and, Iceland, Russia, R Norway y, S Sweden and US SA.
U UIDAI LAUN NCHES THRE EE NEW SERV VICES
UIDAI has laun U nched three Aadhaar-enable A ed services e-KYC, OTP (one-time pin n) a authentication and Iris authe entication. The ese schemes are a part of Portable Digita al A Assets which would w act as a single gateway to many serv vices. The e-K KYC service will e enable individuals to authoris se service pro oviders to rece eive electronic copies of thei ir p proof of identity y and address.
GY YANMSGENERAL LAWARENESSJU ULY2013
SIBAL AND JOSHI GET ADDITIONAL CHARGE
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal has been given additional charge of law ministry whereas road and transport minister C.P. Joshi has been given additional charge of railways ministry, following the resignation of Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal
must be shifted to Madhya Pradesh (Kuno sanctuary) within six months to ensure that there should be a second home to save them from possible catastrophes like epidemic, large forest fire etc., which could result in their extinction.
PM VISITS GERMANY FOR IGC MEET
INDIA SLIPS IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
Consumer confidence in the country fell slightly in the first quarter of 2013 when India slipped (from 121 to 120) to second position, behind Indonesia (122) in Nielsen's global Consumer Confidence Index.
The second Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany were held in Berlin on April 18, chaired by PM Manmohan Singh, to further expand and intensify bilateral cooperation in a number of fields, including trade and infrastructure.
FM AND AAMIR FIGURE IN TIME TOP 100
INDIA HIGHLIGHTS NRHM
India showcased its achievements made under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in improving reproductive and child health, at a three-day Women Deliver Conference held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram and actor Aamir Khan have been named by Time magazine among the 100 most influential people (no specific rank) in the world in its annual list of global achievers that also includes teenaged Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and US President Barack Obama. AIRLINES SEATS AGREEMENT WITH UAE India and UAE have signed a bilateral agreement to increase four times the number of weekly airline seats available between India and Abu Dhabi, from roughly 13,300 at present to 50,000 over next three years. G I FOR LUCKNOW ZARDOZI The world famous intricate needle handicraft embroidery of Lucknow zardozi, has now become a brand as it has been accorded the Geographical Indication (GI) registration by Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry.
PM AND SONIA IN TOP 500
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are among 16 Indians who have found a place in the prestigious Foreign Policy magazines list of the 500 most powerful people on the planet. .
46th Annual Meet of Asian Development Bank held at Noida, U P. Mahasen- Cyclonic storm that caused widespread damage in parts of Sri Lanka and Bangla Desh. HAMID ANSARI: Vice President of India visited Uzbekistan on his 4 day official visit. HAMID KARZAI: President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan visited India.
9000 KMS OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has fixed an internal target of 9,000 kms of national highways and plans to award contracts for constructing at least 7,300 kilometres of national highways this financial year.
INDIA 4TH IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
APRIL 2013
COUNTRYS FIRST RFID TOLL PLAZA

The country's first interoperable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology based Electronic Tolling System has been started on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway at Charoti Toll Plaza, Dahanu in Thane District, Maharashtra. The system would allow vehicles fitted with electronic tags to pass uninterrupted through six toll plazas.
India ranked fourth on the MasterCard Consumer Confidence Index as a market whose consumer confidence is less affected by changes in its merchandise exports, while Japan and Hong Kong topped the list. "India is a less exportoriented economy and has a large domestic market implying that there are other important domestic determinants of consumer confidence, and as such consumer confidence is not easily eroded by a decline in exports," the report said.
WB AID FOR POVERTY REDUCTION

The World Bank has come out with a multi-billion (USD12-20 billion) four-year plan aimed at bringing down poverty levels in seven low-income Indian states, where majority of India's poor live, to just 5.5 per cent in 2030, against 29.8 per cent in 2010. The seven low-income states are Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
INDIA JOINS TRADEMARK TREATY
India has joined the Madrid Protocol which will enable domestic companies and entrepreneurs to obtain cost effective global trademark registration, wef July 8, 2013. Now Indian companies can register their trademarks in member countries of the Protocol through a single application. The Madrid System for the International
Registration of Marks offers trademark owners an effective way of protecting and managing their trademark portfolio internationally.
INDIA HAS LARGEST POOR POPULATION

According to a World Bank report on poverty, India accounts for one-third of the world poor, people living on less than USD 1.25 (about Rs 65) per day. The report said that 1.2 billion people are still living in extreme poverty in world.
S C FOR SHIFTING ASIATIC LIONS

The Supreme Court has ruled that some of the Asiatic lions currently found only in the famed Gir sanctuary of Gujarat,
GYANMSGENERALAWARENESSJULY2013
26 DISTRICS DECLARED NAXAL AFECTED

The Government has identified 26 districts in the country as highly Naxal-affected with 80 percent violence in the last three years being reported from there. The districts are spread over seven Maoist-hit states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
into slums, but only about 10.4 per cent households possess these. Also, 72.7 per cent slum households have telephone facility. These are some interesting findings of a report on Housing Stock, Amenities and Assets in Slums, released by the Census 2011. Percentage of slum households in urban areas has come down to 17.4% (2011) from 23.5% in 2001.
Vice President Hamid Ansari visits Tajikistan to further the country's trade and defence ties and other bilateral issues. India and Azerbaijan have signed a treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, to cooperate with each other in dealing with various crimes, including terrorism. India and Tanzania have signed a deal to explore mineral wealth in Tanzania. India and Malta have signed a new double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA). Ajay Devgan, Bangladeshi singer Runa Laila and Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy have been named as SAARC Goodwill Ambassadors for HIV/AIDS. 6th summit of IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) nations to be held in New Delhi in June, 2013. The International Conference on Travel Technology (ICTT) India will be held at Kovalam, Kerala, from 7th 9th June.
PRESIDENT CONFERRED DOCTORATE

President of India, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee has been conferred the prestigious degree honorary of Doctor of Civil Law by University of Mauritius at a ceremony at Port Louis, Mauritius.
MORSI VISITS INDIA

Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first democratically elected president visited India to forge closer cooperation in economic and other fields, particularly for India's contribution in the Suez Canal corridor project that is aimed to become a bridge connecting Africa with Asia. The said corridor project of 190 kms. aims to turn Suez Canal into a Global economic zone. According to Mr. Morsi the project once ready would make Egypt a hub for Indias exports to the West and boost Indian exports to $200 billion.
TIEA SIGNED WITH LIECHTENSTEIN

Amid government efforts to track black money stashed abroad, India today signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Liechtenstein, a tiny country adjoining Switzerland.
INDIA VOTES AGAINST SRI LANKA
MARCH 2013
India voted in favour of UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka for alleged violation of human rights during their three-decade-long Tamil separatist conflict that ended in May 2009 with the killing of rebel Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. The United States-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva was passed with the support of 25 member countries.
HIGH CHILD MORTALITY IN INDIA

Globally, an estimated 2,000 children under the age of five die every day from diarrhoeal diseases and of these some 1,800 deaths are linked to water, sanitation and hygiene, according to a report by The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Two countries India (24 per cent) and Nigeria (11 per cent) together account for more than a third of all under-five years deaths.
FSLRC SUGGESTS NEW SUPER REGULATOR
The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), headed by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, in its final report, has suggested formation of a super regulator, The Unified Financial Regulatory Agency (UFRA), which would subsume the functions of key agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and the Forward Markets Commission. Banking operations, monetary policy and payment system would continue to be regulated by the RBI.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has withdrawn changes suggested by it in civil services mains examination, dropping mandatory English language paper requirement. A stamp was released to commemorate the bicentenary celebrations of Army's 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee paid a three-day goodwill visit to Bangladesh. The 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting of 23 nations to be held on 17th April in New Delhi, which would assess the steps being undertaken by various countries to pursue green initiatives. Three-day SAARC journalists' convention was held at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. JIM YONG KIM: President of World Bank visits India. YUKIYA AMANO: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency visited India to visit Tarapur Atomic Power Station in Maharashtra. STEPHEN HARPER: Canadian Prime Minister visited India
MUMBAI SLIPS AS FINANCIAL CENTRE
Indias financial capital Mumbai slipped to 66th rank in the list of worlds leading financial centres, according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). Mumbai is the only Indian city on the list, which was topped by London. New York was ranked second in the list followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in the third and fourth place respectively.
T V FIRST CHOICE OF SLUM DWELLERS

Television seems to be the hottest durable for about 68 milion slum dwellers, with 70 per cent of such households owning one. Computers and laptops, too, have made inroads
NEWS FROM STATES

MAY 2013
ODISHA TO GIVE FARM LOANS @2%
The Odisha government has decided to sanction agriculture loans at the rate of only two per cent interest to the farmers, to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore for the kharif and rabi crops this year.
MARCH 2013
MP TOPS IN FOREST COVER
Madhya Pradesh has largest area under forest - 77,700 kms. The total forest cover in the country is now at 6,92,027 sq km. This accounts for 21.05 per cent of the total geographical area of India as per India State of Forest Report, 2011. Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya have got their own High Courts functioning, thereby bringing the total number of High Courts in country to 24. Arunachal Pradesh has become the first state to introduce e-GPF facilitating online access to 34,000 GPF accounts Karnataka Assembly election will be held in a single phase on 5th May
BEATING RETREAT AT HUSSAINIWALA

Government has decided to start the popular beating retreat ceremony, the formal flag lowering ceremony at the Hussainiwala border with Pakistan in Ferozepur, Punjab. At present such ceremony is performed only at Wagah border in Amritsar, Punjab. K SIDDARAMAIAH elected as new Chief Minister of Karnataka.
THREE CHIEF MINISTERS RE-ELECTED

9 9 9 MANIK SARKAR: NEIPHU RIO: MUKUL SANGMA: Chief Minister of Tripura Chief Minister of Nagaland Chief Minister of Meghalaya
APRIL 2013
GUJARAT TOPS IN ATTRACTING INVESTMENT
According to a report by Assocham, Gujarat has ranked on top for attracting investment across the country -- cornering about 14 per cent of total outstanding private sector investment worth over Rs 75 lakh crore as of December 2012. Of the total investments from private sources worth over Rs 75 lakh crore, the domestic private sector accounts for a majority share of about 58 per cent, it said.
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
170 CSS MERGED IN TO 70
DILDAAR DILLI
The national Capital can now boast of its own tagline Dildaar Dilli (Magnanimous Delhi). Coined by Delhiite Amit Anand, the tagline was selected after a committee went through over 12,000 entries in a competition organised by the Delhi Government and Delhi Tourism.
MAY 2013
A Group of Ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has approved merging of 147 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) into 70, across various sectors for efficient implementation and monitoring in the 12th Five Year Plan.
WHEAT @ Rs 1/KG IN M P
Madhya Pradesh govt has announced to provide wheat and salt at Rs 1 a kg and rice at Rs 2 a kg under the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Scheme, to below poverty line (BPL) and Antyodaya families. At present, Antyodaya families get 35 kg of food grains and BPL families get 20 kg of food grains a month at subsidised rates.
PORTAL FOR E-FILING OF RTI QUERIES
In a step towards enhancing transparency, the Centre has extended facility of e-filing of RTI applications to ministries of Home Affairs and Agriculture. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which acts as nodal ministry for implementation of Right to Information Act, has launched-www.rtionline.gov.in --to facilitate e-filing of applications and payment of fees.
M P TOPS IN GDP GROWTH

The provisional data released by the Central Statistical Organisation for 2012-13 for states shows that Madhya Pradesh has achieved highest growth of gross state domestic product at 10%, against 9.48% recorded by Bihar.
COMMITTEE FOR STATE BACKWARDNESS
Goa tourism has won the Pacific Travel Writers Association-PATWA- award for Best Beach Destination at the famous Travel and Trade show - ITB Berlin-2013. Tripura has ranked first in implementing the MNREGA Scheme in 2012-13 by providing average 86.27 days of work per rural household. Goa govt has launched the Krishi Card, a digital card which would be a gateway for farmers to avail benefits like subsidies and loans given by the state government.
The Centre has set up an expert committee headed by Raghuram G Rajan, Chief Economic Adviser to evolve a composite index to measure backwardness of the states in terms of factors like per capita income and other human development indicators and for evolving a Composite Development Index of States.
GoM FORMED FOR CBI AUTONOMY
In the wake of the Supreme Court's observations questioning the autonomy of CBI, the government has formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, to draft a law to insulate the investigating agency from external influence. The GoM will deliberate on ways to further strengthen CBI's autonomy and safeguard it from any kind of outside interferences.
NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY POLICY FORMED
The government has approved the National Cyber Security Policy that aims to create a secure computing environment in the country and build capacities to strengthen the current set up with focus on manpower training. It will initiate specific actions and programmes to enhance the security posture of countrys cyber space. Cyber security intelligence forms an integral component to be able to anticipate cyber attacks and quickly adopt counter measures.
interest rate on GPF has been brought down to 8.7 per cent for the year 2013-14, from 8.8 per cent last year.
NATIONAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN, 2012

The Union Cabinet has approved the National Policy for Children, 2012. It recognizes every person below the age of eighteen years as a child and a long term, sustainable, multisectoral, integrated and inclusive approach is necessary for the harmonious development and protection of children.
PURA FOR 4,000 SMALL TOWNS

Govt plans to bring 4,000 towns from country under the ambitious 'PURA' Amenities in Rural Areas) project amenities like roads, drinking water, street lighting etc. different parts of the (Provision of Urban for providing basic sewerage treatment,
Free internet facility using Wi-Fi has been provided in Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express train.
MARCH 2013
NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY BILL APPROVED
The Union Cabinet has cleared the National Food Security Bill that gives legal entitlement to 67 per cent population (including 75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban) for subsidised foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). A beneficiary will be entitled to 5 kg of rice, wheat or coarse cereals at Rs. 3, 2 and 1 a kg, respectively, per month. The beneficiaries will be identified by the States based on parameters prescribed by the Union government.
NATIONAL URBAN HEALTH MISSION
The Union Cabinet has approved the Rs. 22,507-crore National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), a sub-mission under the National Health Mission (NHM). It seeks to address healthcare challenges in towns and cities with focus on urban poor. The scheme will be implemented in 779 cities and towns, each with a population of more than 50,000, and cover over 7.75 crore people.
DBT FOR LPG SUBSIDY BY JUNE 1

Starting June 1 this year, cooking districts will get Rs 435 in their book an LPG cylinder as the ambitious direct benefit transfer subsidy.
VOLUNTARY SCHEME FOR SERVICE TAX

Aiming to "entice" a large number of assesses to return to the tax fold, the government has proposed a one-time scheme called 'Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme' for service tax defaulters. A defaulter may avail of the scheme on the condition that he files a truthful declaration of service tax dues since October 1, 2007 and makes the payment in one or two installments before the prescribed dates.
gas (LPG) consumers in 18 bank accounts when they government rolls out its programme to cut its fuel
The govt has decided to declare 2013 as Water Conservation Year to promote awareness for conservation of water. Income ceiling for the creamy layer of socially advanced persons under OBC quota has been increased from Rs. 4.5 lakh a year to Rs. 6 lakh.
ANTI RAPE BILL PASSED BY LOKSABHA
APRIL 2013
DCT TO COVER LPG BY JULY 1
The government is likely to bring a huge number of nearly 14 crore LPG consumers under the Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) scheme by July 1. The scheme aims at directly putting the subsidy component of the domestic cylinder into the bank account of the consumers to eliminate the leakages in the system and address the problem of diversion of domestic cylinders for commercial market.
The Lok Sabha has passed The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013, which provides for natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape and other stringent punishment for various offences like stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks. The Bill seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 3.
ANUBHUTI COACHES INTRODUCED

Chandigarh Shatabdi will be the first train to have Anubhuti coaches, the special AC luxury class coaches proposed in this years rail budget, providing higher travel comfort to passengers.
CHANGES IN CIVIL SERVICES PATTERN
GOVT DECONTROLS SUGAR

In a major decision, the Centre has unshackled the Rs. 80,000 crore sugar industry by abolishing the monthly release mechanism and abolishing the obligation on mills to supply levy sugar for subsidised distribution under the Public Distribution System, allowing market forces to come into play. The decision is in line with the suggestions of a panel
Ushering a major change in the country's premier civil services examination, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to give more weight to general studies and aptitude skills. Now there will be four papers of 250 marks each in general studies as against two papers of 300 marks each earlier. There will be, for the first time, a paper to test aspirants on "ethics, integrity and aptitude".
headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council.
INDIA POST LAUNCHES eIPO
GPF INTEREST RATE DOWN TO 8.7%

From April 1, Government employees and defence personnel will earn less from the General Provident Fund (GPF), as the
The Postal Department has launched Indian postal order in electronic format (eIPO). This will enable Indians living abroad to seek information from the Indian Government and other state governments under the Right to Information Act as now they can pay the fee for RTI in Indian currency.
SUBSIDY EXPENDITURE TO BE CUT DOWN
The government has decided that it will reduce outgo on subsides from 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2011-12 to 1.5 per cent by the end of 12th Plan (2012-17) to contain the expenditure within a "pre-determined level of affordability". The provision in 2012-13 was Rs.1,90,015 crore which was later revised to Rs 2,57,654 crore. Government has made a provision of Rs 2,31,084 crore on account of subsidy outgo in the Budget for 2013-14.
RBI PUTS GDP GROWTH AT 5.7%
Projecting a modest pick-up in economic activity in the coming months, Reserve Bank has pegged the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for the 2013-14 fiscal at 5.7 per cent, significantly lower than the Finance Ministry's forecast of 6.1 to 6.7 per cent. India's economy grew by 5 per cent in the last fiscal ( 2012-13), lowest in a decade, on account of poor performance of manufacturing, agriculture and services sector.
WAGES FOR MNREGA WORKERS HIKED

Wages for MNREGA workers have been revised wef April 1. States like Haryana may get highest wage at Rs 214 per day followed by Rs 210 and Rs 209 in Andaman Nicobar and Chandigarh respectively. Workers in states like Bihar, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh will get the minimum of Rs 135.
FM DIFFERS FROM RBI ON GROWTH RATE
According to finance ministry, India would grow at least 6% in the current financial year, primarily due to a pickup in investment and rising investor confidence. On the other
hand, RBI has projected the Indian economy to grow at 5.7%, which is lower than even some private forecasts.
IMPRISONMENT FOR TAX EVASION

Failure to pay excise duty and service tax could lead to arrest of defaulters, as per the provisions proposed in the Finance Bill 2013. Offences relating to excise and customs duty evasion of over Rs 50 lakh would be made cognisable and non-bailable. Similarly in case of service tax, the failure to deposit the tax amount exceeding Rs 50 lakh with the government would result in imprisonment up to seven years.
TRADE DEFICIT WIDENS TO $ 17.79 BN
Indias exports grew for the fourth consecutive month, reaching $24.16 billion, recording a growth of 1.6 per cent in April, but the surge in gold imports pushed up the trade deficit to $17.79 billion. Gold and silver imports during the month under review have increased by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion from $3.1 billion in April 2012, pushing total imports in April to $41.95 billion.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
MAY 2013
INDIA TO GROW AT 6.5%: MOODYs
Latest reports from the global rating agency- Moodys say that the Indian economy is expected to pick up and grow in the range of 5.5-6.5 per cent in 2013 even though government steps for new investments have been "relatively small in scope". Citing cautious private sector and relatively high inflation, the agency also said that the country is struggling to boost investment and economic growth.
CAD TARGETED AT 2.5% FOR 12TH PLAN
The government aims to bring down current account deficit (CAD) to about 2.5 per cent of the GDP by March 2017, by the end of 12th Plan (2012-17), from 4 per cent of GDP at present.
CAD represents the difference between inflows and outflows of foreign currency. It had touched a record high of 6.7 per cent in the December quarter of last fiscal year. The CAD in 2012-13 fiscal is likely to be around 5 per cent of the GDP.
IIP MOVES UP BY 2.5%
W B SCALES DOWN GROWTH TO 6.1%
The World Bank has scaled down its projection on Indias GDP (gross domestic product) growth to 6.1 per cent for 2013-14 from 7 per cent estimated six months ago. According to the latest India Development Update of the World Bank, the lowering in growth forecast has been largely on account of a decline in the agriculture sector, which is estimated to grow at 2 per cent during the current fiscal as compared to the earlier estimate of 2.7 per cent despite projection of a normal monsoon.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), India's industrial output as measured by the index of industrial production (IIP) grew by 2.5 percent in March, as against a contraction of 2.8 percent in the corresponding month of 2012. The monthly growth in IIP came on the back of healthy performance of manufacturing and electricity sectors. But the mining sector decelerated.
CORE INDUSTRIES GROW BY 2.9%

As per recent data, The Index of Eight Core Industries rose 2.9% in March, reversing the 2.4% contraction (negative growth) registered in February.
ADB PUTS INDIAS GROWTH AT 6%

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected Indias growth at six per cent this fiscal. The Indian economy could even return to 8-9 per cent growth levels if the country were to get its investment story right, feels the ADB. Forecast of six per cent is better than the Reserve Bank of Indias latest growth projection of 5.7 per cent for the current fiscal.
The eight core sector industries -- coal, natural gas, crude oil, fertilizers, cement, petroleum products, steel and electricity --- have a combined weight of 37.9% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), making the core index a lead indicator of industrial production.
INDIA TO GROW BY 6% - S&P
FX RESERVES SLIP TO $292 BN
Latest reports from global rating agency Standard & Poor's said that India is projected to grow by 6 per cent in the current fiscal. It, however, cautioned that a weaker global risk appetite and a poor monsoon would pull down growth to around 5 per cent in 2013-14 fiscal.
According to data released by the RBI, India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $291.97 billion as of May 17, from $293.69 billion in the previous week. Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in reserves by the RBI.
AP PRIL 2013
PMEAC PUTS S GDP GROW WTH AT 6.4% %
As s per the Economic Review for 2012-13 released by the Pr rime Minister r's Economic Advisory Council C (PMEAC C), im mprovement in performa ance of agriculture an nd m manufacturing s sectors is exp pected to push the econom mic gr rowth rate to 6.4 6 per cent in 2013-14 from 5 per cent in the pr revious fiscal.
GO OVT TO SET UP ETF FOR R CPSEs
M MAY 2013 3
IM MF LOWERS S GROWTH RATE R TO 5.7 7%

In n its latest Wo orld Economic Outlook repo ort, the IMF has pe egged India's growth g in calen ndar year 2013 3 at 5.7%, dow wn fro om 5.9% estim mated earlier. The report sa aid that althoug gh th he external de emand has imp proved and so ome pro grow wth m measures have been impleme ented yet struc ctural challenges ar re likely to low wer potential output o over th he medium ter rm an nd also keep in nflation elevated d.
The e Union Cabine et has approve ed the setting up of a Centra al Pub blic Sector En nterprises (CPS SEs) Exchange e Traded Fund d (ET TF) which is expected to o speed up disinvestmen nt pro ogramme, chec ck volatility in share price movement and d enc courage retail participation. The government is planning g to raise r Rs 40,000 0 crore through h disinvestmen nt in the curren nt fisc cal and has line ed up a host of o companies, including Indian n Oil, , Engineers India, Coal India a and Hindusta an Aeronautic cs for divesting mino ority stake.
INDIA INCLUS SIVE INNOV VATION FUN ND
As per the United Nations ns' Economic an nd Social Surv vey of Asia and d the Pacific 201 13, India is exp pected to recov ver elatively low 5 per cent gro owth in 2012 to from its re about 6.4 per p cent in 2013 3. Latest RBI data shows that t Indias foreign fo exchang nge reserves fe ell to $294.76 billion during the t week ende ded April 19 from m $295.25 billio ion in the previ ious week.
MAR RCH 2013

G GDP GROWTH SLIPS TO 4.5%
Ec conomy grew by b 4.5 per ce ent in the OctoberDe ecember perio od of the cu urrent financia al year as ag gainst6 per cent last ye ear, pulled dow wn by poor pe erformance of farm, m manufacturing a and mining se ectors. The economic gr rowth in the fir rst nine months s of this fiscal (April-Decembe ( er) st tood at 5 per cent, c lower tha an 6.6 per cent t in the year-ag go pe eriod. The econ nomy had grow wn by 5.5 per cent and 5.3 per p ce ent in the first quarter and th he second quar rter, respectively, of f 2012-13.
Gov vt plans to se et up a dedica ated Rs 5,000 0-crore fund to o boo ost scientific in nnovations that can improve the life of the e com mmon man. The fund wi ill be called India Inclusive e Inn novation Fund and governme ent will initially y contribute R Rs 100 0 crore to this fund. The re emaining amou unt to the fund d will l come from scheduled banks, insurance companies s, cor rporates and high networth individuals as well w as bilatera al and d multilateral in nstitutions. Th he proposal for this fund came e from m the National Innovation Co ouncil headed by b Sam Pitroda a.
LO OAN @7% TO O WOMEN SHGs S
Gov vt has decided to provide ban nk loans at an interest rate o of sev ven per cent to t over 25 lak kh women Self Help Groups (SH HGs) in order to t financially strengthen s them. This will be e par rt of the Nation nal Rural Livelih hoods Mission (NRLM), ( aiming g to eradicate e poverty in villages by b empowering g women.
NO O WEALTH TAX T ON FARM MLANDS
Gov vt has clarifie ed that wealt th tax wont be levied on n agr ricultural land even e if it is located in the vicinity v of urban n cen nters within municipal limits. It will be im mposed only on n urb ban lands, exc cluding the agricultural lands s registered as suc ch in state reco ords and used for f agricultural purposes.
IM MG TO TACKL LE PONZI SC CHEMES
FI ISCAL DEFIC CIT CUT DO OWN TO 4.8% %
Ex xpressing Ind dias commit tment to fiscal prudenc ce, Go overnment is committed c to co ontain deficit at a 5.3 per cent of GD DP in the curre ent year, and bring b it down to o 4.8 per cent(Rs 5. .42 trillion) in 201314. The T governme ent was virtua ally fo orced into a policy p of fiscal l prudence aft ter global cred dit ra ating agencies such as Moo odys and Sta andard & Poors th hreatened to downgrade d the e Indian economy beset wi ith widening fiscal deficit, growin ng trade defic cit and a fallin ng ru upee.
Am mid rising insta ances of peopl le being defra auded by ponz zi sch hemes, the go overnment has s set up an inter-ministeria al gro oup (IMG) to suggest ways to tackle fraudulent money y poo oling activities s and protect t the interest t of investors s. Rep presentatives from the Finance and Co orporate Affair rs Min nistries, RBI and SEBI will be members of th he IMG.
Po onzi schemes are activities involving colle ection of money ey from om a large num mber of public c investors with th a promise o of hug ge returns, which w are typic cally paid from m the deposit ts tak ken from new investors. in
D DISINVESTM MENT TARGE ET HIKED

Th he governmen nt has hiked its disinvestme ent target to Rs 54 4,000 crore for r the fiscal end ding March 31, 2014 a sha arp ris se from Rs 30 0,000 crore tha at was the tar rget for the ye ear 20 012-13. Govt targets to rais se Rs 40,000 cr rore by selling its sh hares in its com mpanies and ba alance Rs 14,000 by selling the m minority stake it t owns in some other compan nies.
TC CS ON CASH SALE OF GO OLD COINS

Gov vt has decided d to include sale s of gold co oins under the e ambit of tax colle ected at source e, at the rate of o one per cent t. rrently, sale in cash of bullion n (excluding co oin or any othe er Cur arti icle weighing 10 1 grams or les ss) in excess of f Rs 200,000 o or jew wellery in exce ess of Rs 500 0,000 only is subject to tax x coll lected at sourc ce.
N NATIONAL SK KILL DEVELOPMENT AG GENCY
In an effort to giv ve a single poi int focus s to skill developme ent initia ative, governm ment cleared a proposal to set up a National Sk kill Deve elopment Ag gency (NSD DA) subs suming other bodies engage ed in th his initiative. It I will be locate ed in the Ministry of o Finance. The e new skill bod dy will coordina ate an nd harmonise e the skill development d efforts of the go overnment and d the private se ector to achiev ve the targets of th he 12th Plan an nd beyond.
The govern nment has set t an export ta arget of $ 325 25 billion for 2013-14. 2 Asian Develo opment Bank to finance the construction o of the 417-km long l Indo-Mya anmar Road con onnecting Moore re in Myanmar with w Sutarkand di in Karimganj, j, Assam. An Inter-min nisterial Group, p, IMG, has ap pproved 10 pe er cent equity sale s in Coal Ind dia which is ex xpected to fetch ch over 17,000 crore c rupees to o the governme ent
NO OVARTIS LO OSES PATENT T BATTLE
APR RIL 2013 3
R TO ISSUE INFLATIO RBI ON BONDS
Th he Reserve Ba ank has anno ounced it will launch inflatio on indexed bonds (IIBs) every month, startin ng 4th June, to at ttract househol ld savings of up to Rs 15,000 0 crore this fisc cal so o as to discoura age investments in gold. The e first tranche of th he IIBs 2013-14 for Rs 1,000 0-2,000 crore will w be issued on o t 4th June. The maturity m period d of these bo onds will be 10 ye ears. The total issue size will l be Rs 12,000 0-15,000 crore in 20 013-14.
In a major blow w to Swiss pharma giant Novartis, the e Sup preme Court re ejected its plea a for a patent on cancer drug g Gliv vec, a verdict that t is expecte ed to pave the way for Indian n firm ms to provide affordable a drug gs to lakhs of cancer patient ts in the country. The court refused r to giv ve credence to o Nov vartis' claim th hat 'Imatinib Mesylate', M a sub bstance used in n the e cancer drug, is a new product and the outcome of an n inve ention.
MS SME TO LAU UNCH INNOV VATION FUN ND
II IBs ELIGIBL LE FOR SLR
RB BI has clarified d that the prop posed inflation indexed bond or IIBs will be trea ated like any ot ther governme ent bond and will w also be elig gible for maintaining m stat tutory liquidity ra atio or SLR by banks. The bonds will earn e interest in ac ccordance with h the wholesale price index or WPI, with a fo our month gap. Thus, the in ndex for the fir rst issue which is sc cheduled to be e launched on June 04 will be the Februa ary W WPI.
The e proposed R Rs 5,500-crore India Inclus sive Innovation on Fun nd aimed at generating g em mployment thro ough innovative e ent terprises, is ex xpected to sta art by June. The T Ministry o of Mic cro, Small and Medium Enter rprises (MSME) ) is working on n the e fund, which is guided by fo our objectives -- focus on the e poo or, combine social and commercial returns, drive e employment gene eration and hel lp establish a model m for wide er incl lusive innovatio on funding.
GU UJRAL COMM MITTEE FOR R MSME EXP PORTS
FO OODGRAIN TARGET SET AT 255.36 6MT
Co ountry's foodgr rain production n has been rev vised upwards by ov ver 5 million to onne to 255.36 6 million tonne in 2012-13 cro op ye ear. Despite up pward revision in the third estimate e release ed no ow, foodgrain production will w still be lower than the pr revious year's record 259.32 million tonne. . This is because of f drought in Ma aharashtra, Kar rnataka, Gujara at and Rajastha an on n account of po oor monsoon la ast year.
Wo orried over wide ening trade gap, the governm ment has set up p a committee c unde er the chairma anship of Finan nce Secretary R S Gujral to suggest me easures to boost MSME E exp ports. Micro, Sm mall and Medium M Ente erprises (MSME E) con ntribute about 40 per cent in n the country's s total exports s.
NE EW SUB LIM MITS FIXED FOR F FIIs

The e Finance Min nistry has created two new w sub-limits to o ena able foreign ins stitutional inves stors (FIIs) par rk their funds in n sho ort-term paper rs of Governm ment securities s (G-secs) and d cor rporate bonds. For G-secs, a sub-limit of $5.5 has been n car rved out of tota al limit of $25 billion, while the sub limit in n cor rporate bonds has been fixe ed at $3.5 bill lion out of the e ove erall limit of $5 51 billion.
M MANDATORY Y E-FILING OF O IT RETUR RNS
Th he Central Boa ard of Direct Ta axes (CBDT) has h made e-filin ng of f income tax returns r mandatory for individuals, includin ng sa alaried taxpaye ers, earning more m than Rs 5 lakh taxab ble income during the financial year y ended March M 31, 2013 3. Pr rior to this notification, e-filing was mandatory for f individuals havin ng a taxable inc come of more than t Rs 10 lakh h.
RA AILWAYS CR ROSS BILLIO ON TON CAR RGO MARK
SUBSIDIES TO T BE CUT DOWN D

Go ovt has decide ed to cut the e subsidies on phosphate an nd po otash-based fertilisers in the fiscal year 201 13-14 in an effo ort to o rein in its fisc cal deficit. It may m be mention ned that subsidy co onstitutes a major portion of f the Non Plan n expenditure of th he government. Heads of f Subsidy 201 12-13 Food Subs sidy Oil Subsidy Fertilisers Subsidy Rs. in n crores* 100,000 71,000 100,000
Ind dian Railways carried close to 1,009.6 million m tonne (1 billi ion tonne) in 2012-13. 2 With this, the Railw ways enteres the e sele ect group of countries c such as the US, Ch hina and Russia a tha at load a billion n tonne of carg go in a year. The T extra cargo o was s helped by coal, cement, foo odgrains and st teel.
AD DB SUPPORT T FOR ROAD D CONSTRUC CTIONS

A $252-millio on loan agr reement has been b signed with the Asian Development D Ban nk (ADB) for r continued imp provement of rural roads und der the rural connectivity inve estment pro ogramme in Ass sam, Chhattisg garh, Madhya Pradesh, Odi isha and Wes st Ben ngal.
*These figure es are tentative e
H HANDICRAFT T EXPORT PA ACT WITH CHINA C
Ex xport Promotio on Council for Handicrafts H (EP PCH) has inked da pa act with China a Council for the t Promotion of Internation nal Tr rade (CCPIT) to o explore possibilities of enha ancing exports of In ndian handicraf fts to China.
MA AYARAM CO OMMITTEE ON O FDI / FII
The e Government has constitute ed a four-mem mber committee e hea aded by Econo omic Affairs Se ecretary, Arvind Mayaram fo or giving clear defini itions to FDI an nd FII, with an n aim to remove e ambiguity over th he two types of f foreign investments.
S C FINES ST TERLITE IND DUSTRIES

Th he Supreme Court has asked a Sterlite e Industries, a su ubsidiary of UK K-based Vedanta Group, to pay p Rs 100 cro ore as s compensatio on for polluti ing environme ent through its co opper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu.
SE EBI CAUTION NS PUBLIC LTD L COMPA ANIES
The e Securities an nd Exchange Board B of India a has said tha at strict action would be taken against some 200 public limited d com mpanies that ar re not complyin ng with the norm that at leas st 25 per cent of the eir shares must t be held by the e public.
Germany ha as offered soft t loans of up to t 1 billion eur ros (USD 1.3 billion) b for buil ilding up of re enewable energ rgy projects in India. I Etihad Airw ways, national airlines a of UAE, E, has decided to invest $379 9 million (Rs 2,050 crore) to acquire a a 24 per p cent stake in i Jet Airways of o India. The Asian Development D Bank B sanctioned ed a loan of $30 300 million to Uttarakhand U for or developing power p generatio ion and transmi mission projects. .
NO ORMS ISSUE ED FOR NIM MZs
To promote manufacturing in the t country, th he Governmen nt has s issued norms s for setting up p of National Investment I and d Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) ) with a hos st of benefits s, incl luding exempti ion from capita al gains tax.
MAR RCH 2013

SIDBI TO SET T UP FACTO ORING FUND D
Sm mall Industries s Developmen nt Bank of Ind dia (SIDBI) has de ecided to se et up The Credit C Guaran ntee Fund for f Fa actoring(CGFF) ), to provide e credit guara antee to bank ks, fin nancial institutions and simila ar companies against a factorin ng to o the MSME sector. Facto oring is the payment p again nst
Und nder the Nation onal Manufactu uring Policy, th he Governmen nt has s proposed to o set up NIMZ Zs to enhance e the share o of ma anufacturing in n GDP to 25 per p cent within n a decade and nd cre eating 100 mil illion jobs. NIMZs N are con nceptualised a as inte tegrated indust trial townships of at least 50 0 sq km (5,000 00 hec ctares) with lat test infrastruct ture. At least t 30 per cent o of the e total land area ea would be dev voted to manuf ufacturing units. s.
CU URRENCY SW WAP SIGNED D WITH BHU UTAN

Ind dia and Bhutan n have signed a currency sw wap agreemen nt for up to $100 million to further economi ic co-operation n bet tween the two o countries. It t will enable Bhutan B to make e withdrawals of US U dollar, euro o or Indian rup pee in multiple e tran nches up to a maximum m of $1 100 million or its i equivalent. The e govt has so old its 5.82% % stake in ste eel-maker SAIL thro ough the offer for sale route, raising about Rs 1,500 crore e.
re eceivables and d bills for mana aging cash flow ws and deal with wi liq quidity problem ms.
SMALL SAVIN NGS INTERE EST RATES SLASHED S
Th he interest rates on Small Savings Sche emes and Pub blic Pr rovident Fund, PPF, will com me down by 0.10 percent fro om th he 1st April, 2013. However r, the rates on n savings depo osit sc chemes and on n fixed deposit t of up to one year have bee en ke ept unchanged d at 4 per cent and 8.2 per cent. The ne ew ra ates are as und der: PPF Month hly Income Scheme The Nationa al Savings Certificate 5 yr The National l Savings Certif ficate 10 yr Senior Cit tizens Savings Scheme S 8.7 8.4 8.5 8.8 9.2
JA APAN TO AID D INFRASTR RUCTURE IN INDIA
The revision in Th n interest rates s follows a de ecision taken by go overnment last st year to link the t small savin ings returns with wi th he market rate, e, in line with Shyamala S Gop pinath Committ tee re ecommendation ns.
Ind dia and Japan n have agreed d to promote their bilatera al stra ategic and global partnership p especially in n economic and d sec curity areas, wherein w Japan would w provide a $2.32 billion n aid for infrastructure building in India.
O PRODUC OIL CTION START TS AT BARM MER
AG GRICULTURE E DOWN TO 13.7% OF GDP G
Co ommercial pro oduction at Ais shwarya oil fie eld at Barmer in Ra ajasthan has begun. About 25 5 thousand bar rrel crude oil an nd 50 0 thousand lak kh cubic feet natural gas is expected to be re eleased per day y from these oil fields.
Acc cording to an official statem ment in the parliament, p the e sha are of agricultu ure and allied sectors s in India a's GDP is likely y to decline to 13.7 7 percent in 2012-13 2 from 14.1 1 percent in n 201 11-12, on acc count of high her growth in the non-farm m sec ctors.
K KELKAR TO HEAD H OIL AN ND GAS COM MMITTEE
Ec conomist Vijay Kelkar to hea ad the committee formed to pr repare a roadm map for enhanc cing domestic production of oil an nd gas so as to substantial lly reduce the nation's impo ort de ependency by 2030. India cu urrently import ts 80 per cent of its s oil needs and d about half of its natural gas requirement.
Taxpayers having ha an annu ual income of over Rs 5 lakh kh will be requi ired to file the eir returns in electronic form m from the yea ar 2013-14. Infosys has partnered p India a Post for deve eloping a service ce delivery platf tform that will l allow more than t 1.30 lakh kh rural post off ffices to offer on nline services.
10
BANKING & FINANCE

MAY 2013
RBI announced its Monetary and Credit Policy for the year 2013-14 on May 3, 2013. The highlights of the policy are as under: 9 Benchmark Repo rate reduced by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25%; Reverse Repo and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rates stand adjusted to 6.25% and 8.25%, respectively. Bank Rate also re-adjusts at 8.25%. 9 Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) maintained at 4.0% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) as liquidity conditions are expected to ease in Q1FY14. 9 SLR maintained at 23% of NDTL. 9 Baseline projection of GDP growth for 2013-14 pegged at 5.7% as compared to the Advance Estimate of 5.0% growth in 2012-13 by the Central Statistics Office. 9 Baseline projection for headline inflation related to the wholesale price index (WPI) estimated at 5.5% for FY2014 compared to 7.3% in 2012-13. 9 Indicative projections for growth of M3, deposits, and non-food credit for 2013-14 assessed at 13%, 14% and 15%, respectively.
FM FAVOURS BANK MERGERS
ANNUAL POLICY STATEMENT 2013-14
Finance Minister has advocated mergers in the banking industry so that India can have two-three global sized banks. According to him, India is in need for two or three world sized banks in an economy that is poised to become one among the five largest in the world. The bank mergers would lead to too-big-to-fail entities which would be beneficial for the country.
RBIs NO TO CHEQUE RETURN CHARGES
In order to ensure fair practices in banking services, the Reserve Bank has asked banks to levy cheque return charges only in such cases where the customer is at fault. In all other cases, cheques should be re-presented in the immediate next presentation clearing, not later than 24 hours, with due notification to the customers through SMS alert, email etc.
RBI SUGGESTS GIRO FOR PAYMENTS
An RBI panel headed by its Executive Director G Padmanabhan, has suggested India Bill Payment System (IBPS), a GIRO-based electronic bill payment system for payment of dues of essential services, insurance premia, utility payments, taxes, university fees, examination fees and school fees.
REPO RATE CUT DOWN TO 7.25
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Policy Statement issued on May 03, 2013, cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, for the third time since January as growth slows and inflation ebbs, but said there is little room to ease monetary policy further. The RBI trimmed the repo rate -- the rate at which the central bank lends short-term money to banks -- to 7.25 percent, its lowest since May 2011. REVISED POLICY RATES Repo rate 7.25% Reverse repo rate 6.25% Marginal standing facility 8.25% Bank rate 8.25%
Giro payment is a credit push transaction initiated by the payer and may involve the presence of three banks (collecting bank, payer bank and the payee bank). Bill paying customers can access any payment channel through banks or non-bank entity under the proposed Giro system.
RBI TIGHTENS GOLD LOANS

Amid a steep fall in gold prices recently and the resultant risks to the system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) further tightened screws on gold loans by banks, restricting them to finance import of the precious metal only for gold jewellery exporters. The RBI also restricted lending against gold coins up to 50 grams only. It has been decided to restrict gold import on consignment basis by banks only to meet the genuine needs of exporters of gold jewellery. This step has been taken to reduce demand for gold for domestic use.
PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING NORMS REVISED
LBS TO COVER METRO AREAS
RBI has raised some benchmarks in priority sector lending to enhance the coverage. Rs. in lacs Purpose of Loan Present New Limit Limit Micro and small enterprises 200 500 (MSEs) in the services sector indirect finance to 500 1000 agriculture Loan against pledge of 250 500 agricultural produce
Reserve Bank has asked banks to bring all districts in metropolitan areas under the lead bank scheme (LBS) fold. The move is aimed at increasing the scope of financial inclusion in urban areas on one hand and helping the government realise its efforts to plug the loopholes in subsidy deliveries by transferring all the benefits directly to the bank accounts of the target people. The LBS, launched
way back in 1969, is an integrated mechanism to extend banking services to the doorsteps of consumers, especially the poor.
EXPORT REALISATION PERIOD CUT DOWN
EVE ACCOUNT FROM DEUTSCHE BANK
Deutsche Bank India has launched a special account named 'Eve Account' targeted at urban women. It will offer benefits such as discounts on lockers, demat account and investment fees, preferential interest rates on home and personal loans and free international platinum and gold debit cards.
In a bid to attract more dollars into the country to reduce current account deficit (CAD), the Reserve Bank has cut down the realisation period of sale proceeds for exports, to nine months, from 12 months at present.
State Bank of India has entered into a tie up with Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA (BBVA) to develop business operations in Spain.
11
G. Padman nabhan comm mittee: The RBI R had set up p a technical co ommittee to su uggest ways to o help exporte ers access finan nce from banks s on easier term ms. The Reserv ve Bank of In ndia has decid ded to put in nto circulation Rs R 5 denomin nation coins to t commemora ate Silver Jubile ee of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine S Board.
NP PAs TO BE CUT DOWN TO T 1%
AP PRIL 2013
FI INANCIAL INCLUSION I PLAN FOR BANKS B
RB BI has asked d banks to finalise f their next three-ye ear Financial Inclusio on Plan for the e 2013-16 perio od. Broadly, the plan includes self-set targets s for opening rural brick an nd m mortar branches, employing Business Corr respondents an nd op pening basic accounts a to cater to the fina ancially exclude ed se egments.
Con ncerned over the t rising bad loans of the st tate-run banks s, the e Finance Ministry is working out a plan to reduce r their ne et non n-performing assets a (NPAs) to 1% of ne et advances by y March 31, 2013. State-run bank's gross NPAs s rose to 4.18% % D 2012 2 compared to o of advances by the end of December 22% a year ago. Net NPAs, which are arrived a at afte er 3.2 ded ducting the monies m set asid de to cover lo osses from the e gro oss amount, inc creased to 2.12 2% in Decembe er 2012.
INR PAYMENT T AGAINST INATIONAL I L CARDS
M MONEY SUPP PLY CROSSE ES 85 TRILLI ION

As s per latest RBI data, Money M supply y (M3) rose an a an nnualised 12.4 4 per cent in n the two we eeks to April 5, co ompared with 14.0 per cent a year earlier. It was 85.0 06 trillion rupees ($1.57 trillion) as of April 5, , compared wi ith 83 3.59 trillion ru upees on Marc ch 22, the ce entral bank da ata sh howed.
In order o to furthe er rationalise mo oney changing activities, a the e Reserve Bank has allo owed authoris sed money cha angers (AMCs s) to sell Ind dian rupees to foreign tou urists against international i deb bit cards. T This facility was w earlier limited only to o inte ernational cred dit cards. AMCs Cs are authorise ed by the RBI to
dea al in foreign ex xchange for spe pecified purpose es to widen the he acc cess of foreign exchange facil lities to residen nts and tourists s.
CIBs SEEK AC CCESS TO MOBILE M BILL LS
Th he Credit Info ormation Burea aus (CIBs) hav ve initiated tal lks with the telecom regulator TRAI for allowing teleco om co ompanies to lodge customer bill payment history h with the em as s an alternativ ve source of credit c history of o consumers to m move towards fu ull-file reporting g.
State Bank of India ente tered the inte ernational bond nd market to ra aise about $1 billion (Rs.5,4 430 crore) in a five-year doll lar-bond sale programme. p National Pay yments Corpo oration of Ind dia (NPCI) wi ill launch the international i ve version of RuPa Pay global debi bit card by July this t year.
Full-file reportin Fu ng is any inf formation that t captures yo our re epayment recor ord with any ent ntity and is give en to the burea au. Th repayments The s could be relat ted to utility bi ills, lease renta als, an nd telecom serv rvice.
KY YC NORMS RELAXED R FO OR SHGs
MAR RCH 2013 3
LA AUNDERING G CHARGE AGAINST A BA ANKS
Th he country's th hree largest priv vate banks - IC CICI bank, HDF FC Ba ank and Axis Bank, B were nam med by online portal Cobrapo ost fo or indulging in n money laundering. The sting operatio on co onducted by th he portal allege ed that some bank b officials ha ad of ffered to lau under unacco ounted money y by investin ng in insurance schemes. RBI ha as decided to o initiate actio on ag gainst these ba anks.
To ensure that members m of Self f-Help Groups (SHGs) are no ot kep pt out of the ambit of bankin ng services, the e Reserve Bank of India has said d that banks can c open savin ngs account fo or the e SHG even if know you ur customer verification is com mpleted for onl ly the office be earers of the SH HG. Thus, now w it is s not necessar ry to obtain KY YC proofs for all members o of the e SHG.
GO OVT BOOSTS S CAPITAL OF O SBI
E- AUCTIONS S TO RISE FO OR NPA CAS SES
With the Minist W try of Finance e making it mandatory m for all co ommercial ban nks to move from physical auctions to eau uction mode for f all NPA cases under the e Debt Recove ery Tr ribunal (DRT), a spurt is expe ected in e-auct tions in 2013-1 14. Al lso, the Minis stry of Finan nce wants that NPAs und der SA ARFAESI Act (The Securitiz zation and Re econstruction of Financial Assets s and Enforcem ment of Secur rities Act, 200 02) sh hould gradually y move to the e e-auction mo ode, but has not n m made it mandato ory.
Sta ate Bank of In ndia has receiv ved Rs 3,004 crore from the e Gov vernment by preferential p all lotment of 1.2 29 crore equity y sha ares at the issu ue price of Rs 2,312.78 2 per sh hare, as part o of the e recapitalisation plan of the State-run banks. Post tinfu usion, the shar reholding of the e Government in the bank has incr reased from 61 1.58 to 62.31 per p cent.
NE EW NORMS FOR F PRIORI ITY SECTOR R LENDING
The e Reserve Bank has advise ed the banks that items o of con ntingent liabilit ties or off-balance-sheet ite ems cannot be e clas ssified as part of their priority sector loans s (PSL). Items alre eady classified in this manne er will have to be declassified d with retrospective e effect.
IN NDIA TOPS IN INWARD D REMITTAN NCES
CT TS DEADLINE EXTENDED D TO 31 JUL LY
Ac ccording to a World Bank report, India a is the large est re ecipient of inw ward remittance es in the world d, receiving $6 69 billion in 2012, , followed by China ($60 billion) and the Ph hilippines ($24 billion).
RBI I has asked banks b to accep pt and clear al ll residual non nCTS S-2010 cheques till 31st July J this year. Earlier this dea adline was up to 31st March h, 2013. From m August 1, all ban nks will have to t conform to the new high h security CTS S201 10 standards.
12
A BRANCHES TO EXCH ALL HANGE NOTE ES
Th he Reserve Bank B of India has asked banks to make av vailable the fac cility of exchange of cut/mutilated banknote es, in addition to soiled notes an nd issue of go ood quality clea an ba anknotes/coins s, at all bank branches (includ ding those of coc op perative banks and regional rural banks), to t all customer rs, on n all working da ays.
SUCCESSFUL TE EST FIRE OF BrahMos B Ind dia successfully y test fired the t 290-km range r BrahMo os sup personic cruise e missile from m the Navy's latest guided d mis ssile frigate INS S Tarkash, off the t coast of Go oa.
BANKS IN EX XPANSION MODE M
Pu ublic sector banks have open ned a total of 11,887 branches in various regio ons, including rural and met tropolitan area as, an nd recruited over o 1.72 lak kh persons in the last three fin nancial years.
INS S Vagli, the decommiss sioned subma arine, will be e con nverted into Tamil T Nadu Maritime Heritage Museum in n Mamallapuram, Tamil T Nadu. Agni-II missile: : The nuclear r capable Inter rmediate Range e Ballistic Missile (IRBM) ( was successfully s tes st-fired with a strike range of mo ore than 2,000 0 km from the Wheeler W Island d, off Odisha coast. Pakistan succes ssfully test-fired the nuclea ar-capable Hatf fIV (Shaheen-1) ballistic missile with w a range of o 900 kms, tha at can n hit targets in India.
APR RIL 2013 3
3% FARM LO OAN SUBVEN NTION TO CO ONTINUE
To o encourage prompt repa ayment of ba ank loans, the go overnment has s decided to continue with h the addition nal th hree per cent interest sub bvention availa able for time ely re epayment of farm loans up to Rs. 3 lacks.
FA ARM LOAN TARGET T RAI ISED TO RS. 7 TRN

Go ovt proposes to t raise the ta arget for agric cultural credit in 20 013-14 to Rs 7 lakh crore fro om Rs 5,75,000 crore in 201 1213 3 to ensure eas sy availability of o farm credit.
MAR RCH 2013 3

LI IVE WIRE FROM INDIA AN AIR FORC CE
The e Indian Air Force F has been n conducting at a all its bases sinc ce mid-March, the first-ever massive exerci ise named Live e Wir re, to test the battle efficiency of its variou us systems in a wartime scenario. .
R BANS IN RBI NTERNATION NAL USAGE OF CARDS
In n a move to curtail rising cr redit card frauds, f the Re eserve Bank of o India has as sked banks to bar international usage of debit an nd credit ca ards unless cu ustomers specif fically ask for th his feature. Ban nks have also be een asked to enable blocking of cards s through an SMS S request. At t present, almo ost ev very credit and d debit card is ssued by a ba ank can be use ed ov verseas or in e-commerce transaction on ov verseas sites.
BR RAHMOS LAU UNCHED FR ROM SUBMAR RINE

Ind dia successfully y carried out the t maiden tes st firing of the e ove er 290 km-rang ge submarine-launched version of BrahMo os sup personic cruise missile in the Bay of Bengal l, becoming the he
firs st country in the he world to have ve this capability ty.
INS S KILTAN CO ORVETTE LAUN NCHED INS S Kiltan launch hed in Kolkata a, is the third anti-submarine e warfare (ASW) corvette, c aime ed at enhanci ing the Navy s und derwater warfa are capabilities s. Corvette is a small warship p des signed for conv voy escort duty y.
D ENC DEFE CE
M MAY 2013
PO OSEIDON-8-I I TO JOIN INDIAN NAVY Long g range maritim me snooping an nd anti-submarine warfare w aircra aft from m USA Poseid don-8-i will soo on be inducted for the t first time in India an navy. W With a maximu um spee ed of 907 kmph and an a oper rating range of over 1,20 00 na autical miles, th he Poseidon-8I Is will be able to detect threa ats and neutralize them if requ uired long before they com me an nywhere near Indian I shores.
SCIENC CE & TE ECHNO OLOGY Y

M MAY 2013 3
GR ROVER TO ST TUDY GREENLAND ICE
A new NASA la and rover GRO OVER has been n launched to study that ho ow fast is Gre eenlands ice sheet s melting in response r to climate change, and d how is it recovering? GRO OVER, which stands for bot th Greenland Rover and God ddard Remote ely Operated Veh hicle for Exp ploration and Res search, is an autonomous, , solar-operat ted robot tha at car rries ground-pe enetrating radar to examine e the layers o of Gre eenlands ice sh heet.
FI IRST SUPER RSONIC AIR RCRAFTS FOR NAVY
In ndia has comm missioned its first-ever squ uadron of nav val su upersonic fighters called Black Panther co onsisting of MiG29 9K jets, which h will eventually operate fro om the decks of so oon to come aircraft carrier INS Vikram maditya (Admir ral Go orshkov) as we ell as the indige enous aircraft carrier. c
NE EW VACCINE E FOR DIARRHOEA
Ind dian scientists s have unve eiled the fir rst completely y indigenous and affordable va accine-ROTAVA AC to preven nt sev vere rotavirus diarrhoea, which kills over 1 lakh children n und der five in India a, every year.
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M EVEREST LOSING ITS Mt S ICE CAP
Mount Everest is shedding it ts frozen cloak k as its glacie ers ave shrunk at an a alarming ra ate of 13 per cent over the la ast ha 50 0 years due to o global warmi ing, a new stu udy has warne ed. Re esearchers said d, Glaciers sma aller than one square s kilomet tre ar re disappearing g the fastest and have exp perienced 43 per p ce ent decrease in n surface area since s the 1960 0s. The snow-line also has shifted upward by 18 80 meters, rev vealing rocks an nd ebris that were e previously hid dden deep unde er the ice. de
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US S LAUNCHES S $100MN BRAIN PROG GRAMME
USA A has launched d an ambitious plan to map th he human brain n for the first time, in an attempt to seek vital clues for treating g dise eases such as s Parkinsons and a Alzheimer rs. The Brain n Init tiative (Brain Research thr rough Advanc cing Innovative e Neu urotechnologie es) will be lau unched with $100 $ million o of fed deral funding, and there are e hopes that it could create e tho ousands of jobs in spinoff scientific and d technologica al ent terprises.
BREAKTHROU UGH IN QUA ANTUM COM MPUTING
Sc cientists at Lin nkoping Univers sity, Sweden have h devised a m method for both h initializing and a reading nuclear spins at ro oom temperatu ure, which co ould help clea ar the way for ar rrival of quant tum computing which in th he future may y su upercede curre ent digital com mputing. Quant tum computers s ar re theoretically y so powerful potentially, millions m of times s m more powerful than todays mo ost powerful su upercomputers.
SC CIENTISTS DISCOVER D T THE DARK MATTER M
A powerful detec ctor called the Alpha Magneti ic Spectromete er (AM MS) placed on n the International Space Ship (ISS) fo or trac cking very high h energy particles ori iginating from m my ysterious source es, zipping thr rough space, appears to have e made the first dire ect detection of o dark matter.
A quantum computer c is controlled by y the laws of o qu uantum physics cs. They perfor rm many comp plex calculations ns at t the same tim ime and searc ch large amou unts of data at a sp peeds that far exceed e those available a today y. They promise e to o perform co omplicated cal alculations, or search large e am mounts of data a, at a speed that th exceeds by y far those tha at to odays fastest supercomputers s rs are capable of. o A quantum m co omputer can think th several th houghts simulta taneously, while e a traditional com mputer thinks one o thought at a time.
The he invisible dar rk matter, scie entists think, is an enigmati tic sub bstance that is s thought to make m up 84.5 per p cent of the he ma ass of the unive erse but hasnt t yet been direc ctly detected.
FA ARTHEST SUPERNOVA DISCOVERED D D
NAS SAs Hubble Space S Telescop pe has detecte ed the farthes st Typ pe Ia superno ova ever seen n which is believed to have e exp ploded more than 10 billio on years ago o. Supernova a UDS10Wil, belon ngs to a spe ecial class ca alled Type Ia a sup pernovae.
S FRESH FOR R 100 DAYS S SHIRT STAYS
Mac Bishop, an entrepreneur in America has s created a sh hirt hat can be wo orn for 100 da ays straight without needing a th wash or ironing. It has been cr reated out of wool w because it t is ery long lasting g, scent-absorb bing, tear resis stant and crinkl leve fre ee. The garm ment resists od dour so effectiv vely that it eve en sm mells fresh af fter being wo orn during rigorous exercise se essions.
A supernova is the explosiv ive death of a star, which ch unl leashes a burs st of light thro ough the cosmo mos. Supernova as bla aze so brightly that they can be seen at dist stances of up to 10 billion light yea ears.
Chinese scie entists have de eveloped the worlds w lightes st substance - carbon c aeroge el - that has a density of only ly 0.16 mg/cubi bic centimeter, one o sixth of the he density of air r.
CHOICES FOR R ENDOSUL LFAN SUGGESTED
MAR RCH 2013 3

HI IV / AIDS FU UNCTIONALLY CURED
In a break kthrough in the e treatment of o the Human n Immunodefi iciency Virus and the de eadly disease i it causes, Acq quired Immuno o Deficiency Syndrome e (HIV/AIDS), , a child treated d by doctors in Mississipp pi was said d to be e functionally cure ed after being g exposed to the virus during g birt th.
Th he Conference of Parties to the Stockholm m Convention on o Pe ersistent Organ nic Pollutants meet in Genev va has approve ed no on-chemical as s well as che emical substitu utes to pesticid de en ndosulfan. The conference e approved as s many as 10 00 ch hemical altern natives to en ndosulfan sub bject to certa ain re eservations. Th he approved chemical alte ernatives includ de pe esticides malat thion, aldicarb, carbofuran, cabaryl, fipron nil, m methyl parathion n, and pyrethrin, which are us sed in India.
SC CIENTISTS DEVELOP DIESEL D FROM M BACTERIA A
A team of scien ntists from the e University of Exeter, UK, has de eveloped a method m to pro oduce diesel on demand by pr rocessing the dreaded d E. coli bacteria. While e the technology st till faces many significant com mmercialisation n challenges, the diesel produced d by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to convention nal diesel fuel and a so does not n ne eed to be ble ended with pe etroleum produ ucts as is ofte en re equired by biod diesels derived from plant oils.
Und nder functional lly cured cond dition, a patien nt achieves and nd ma aintains long-term viral remission without wi lifelong ng trea eatment and standard s clinic cal tests fail to detect HIV IV rep plication in the blood.
NE EW GIANT GALAXY G DISC COVERED

Ast tronomers have e discovered a previously un nknown gigantic rad dio galaxy, usin ng initial images from a new, ongoing all-sky y rad dio survey. The new galaxy is a member r of a class o of objects called Gia ant Radio Galax xies (GRGs). GRGs G are a type e of radio r galaxy with extremely large physical size, s suggesting g tha at they are eith her very power rful or very old d, located some e 750 0 million light years y away from m Earth.
E. coli is short for f the medica al term Escheri ichia coli. It is sa co ommon type of f bacteria that can c get into fo ood, like beef and an ve egetables. Som ome strains of E.coli can lead d to serious foo ood po oisoning. It normally n lives inside i the inte estines, where e it he the body to helps t break down and digest the e food.
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W WORLDS LAR RGEST SOLA AR POWER PLANT P
Worlds largest concentrated solar W s power plant was opene ed in Madinat Zaye ed in United Arab A Emirates (UAE). Name ed Shams 1, it is s a $600-millio on project wh hich can provid de electricity to 20,000 homes.
Trade ministers from 15 main m WTO mem mber countries s, including Ind dia met in Par ris on May 30t th to push the e long-stalled Doha D Round of o talks for rea aching a globa al trade deal.
N NEW STAR SY YSTEM DISC COVERED

In n a first-of-its-kind discover ry in nearly a century, NAS SA sc cientists have found f the third-closest star sy ystem to the Su un located only 6.5 light-years s away. Discov vered by NASA As W Wide-field Infrar red Survey Exp plorer (WISE), the stars name ed W WISE J104915. .57-531906 are brown dw warfs, which are a st tars that are to oo small in mas ss to ever become hot enoug gh to o ignite hydrog gen fusion. Th he closest star r system consis sts
The 9th WTO O Ministerial Co onference is sch cheduled to take ke place from December 3-6 3 in Bali, Indonesia. I The he Conference is i the highest decision-makin ing body of the he 158-member r strong WTO (World (W Trade Organisation). O G-7 Finance ce Ministers summit s held at a London, May ay 11, 2013
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UN N PASSES AR RMS TRADE TREATY
The e UNO has pas ssed the unpre ecedented Arm ms Trade Treaty y (AT TT) to better regulate r the in nternational sa ale in weapons s. Its adoption implies a major st tep forward in controlling the e $70 0-billion flow of arms across a border rs, particularly y restricting its mov vement to and from areas wh here groups are e sus spected of violation of huma an rights. How wever, India did d not t cast its vote in n the matter.
of f: Alpha Centa auri, found to be a neighbou ur of the Sun in 18 839 at 4.4 light-years li awa way, and the fainter Proxim ma Ce Centauri, discove vered in 1917 at 4.2 light-year rs.
M MEGA TELESC COPE OPENS IN CHILE

Worlds largest telescope W t has opened o near th he desert town of Pe edro de Ataca ama, in Chile. . It is a telescope with 16 kilometers diameter, named ALMA A -- short for the Atacam ma La arge Millimeter- sub millimete er Array.
GL LOBAL TRAD DE TO GROW W BY 3.3%
I INTERN NATIO ONAL

M MAY 2013
N NEW OFFER FOR F SAUDI EXPATRIAT TES
Th he Saudi Arab bian government has anno ounced that the ex xpatriates, wh ho are affected by the e new Nitaq qat (n naturalisation) law to be enfo orced in the kingdom, k will get g an nother chance e. The exp patriates who o were stayin ng ille egally/overstay yed could return to homeland without facin ng pe enal action. Th he cut-off date for this is April 6, 2013. NITAQAT: In order to red duce the une employment ra ate
The e World Trade Organization (WTO) ( slashed its forecast fo or global trade grow wth in 2013 to 3.3 3 per cent fro om 4.5 per cen nt due e to rising prot tectionism amo ong the countr ries. The trade e gre ew only 2 per cent c in 2012. That T was the smallest s annua al rise e since records s began in 19 981 and the second s weakes st figu ure on record after a 2009, whe en trade shrank k.
IM MF RECOGNI IZES SOMAL LIA

The e International l Monetary Fun nd (IMF) has announced a tha at it will w recognise Somalia's S new government, after a 22-yea ar bre eak in relations, , towards enco ouraging rehabi ilitation there
am mong the Sau udi citizens, th he Saudi gover rnment issued d a ne ew system for the localization n of jobs in Sa audi Arabia und der th he name of Ni itaqat. The 'Ni Nitaqat' law mak akes it mandato ory fo or local compan anies to hire on ne Saudi natio onal for every 10 m migrant workers s.
In 1991, local warlords had d overthrown the long time me dict ctator Siad Barr re and then tur rned on one an nother, creating ng tota tal breakdown of o the law and d order system m in the country y. The he present go overnment of f President Hassan H Sheikh kh Mo ohamud, took office o in last September Se when en African Union on forc rces ousted Al-S Shabab, a milit tant group, from m the country.
CH HINAs GROW WTH SLIPS TO 7.7%

Exp port giant Chinas economic growth g slipped to 7.7 per cen nt in the t last quarte er of 2012-13, , against 7.9 per p cent in the e pre evious quarter, belying hopes of surge in growth due to o refo orms by new le eadership and excessive e liquid dity.
FR RANCE FACE ES RECESSI ION
Fr rance, Europe' 's second larg gest economy, entered in to re ecession after its economy shrank by 0.2% in the fir rst qu uarter of the e 2013 as th he economy showed reco ord un nemployment, low business and a consumer confidence. c
AN NCIENT POR RT DISCOVERED IN EGY YPT

Arc chaeologists ha ave discovered d what is belie eved to be the e world's oldest ha arbour in Egyp pt which dates back to 4,500 0 yea ars. The harb bour, discovere ed on the Red d Sea coast, a at Wa adi Al-Jarf area a, 180 km south of Sueze, is believed to o belong to the da ays of the Pha araoh Khufu (C Cheops) in the e Fou urth Dynasty.
R RANBAXY PA AYS $500 MN N FINE
Pleading guilty to "felony ch harges" relating to manufacture m and distribution of ce ertain adulterated drugs mad de at t two India units, the US U su ubsidiary of Ra anbaxy agreed to pa ay $500 million, the large est se ettlement with a generic medicine maker till date.
PR RIVATE NEW WSPAPERS IN N MYANMAR R

Afte er a gap of almost fifty years, y privately owned daily y new wspapers hit Myanmars M stree ets for the first t time, after the e dra aconian pre-publication censo orship was wit thdrawn by the e military rulers last t year.
Felony: a crime Fe e regarded in the t US and ma any other judic cial sy ystems as a mo ore serious one e than an ordin nary offence.
15
EA ARTHQUAKE E HITS IRAN N
A 7.8 magnitude e earthquake described as the e strongest to hit h Iran in 40 years s, killed at lea ast 34 people in Pakistan wi ith do ozens feared dead d in Iran and a tremors were w felt in Ind dia an nd the Gulf stat tes.
P SONS IN NEWS PERS N S

M MAY 2013 3
SR RIKANTH SRINIVASAN: wa as in news as s he is the firs st Sou uth Asian to be appointed to o the top Ame erican court. He e has s been appoin nted as a jud dge to DC Circuit Court o of App peals, the seco ond highest cou urt of USA. MA AHENDRA KAR RMA: Famous s as the Bastar r Tiger, he was in news n recently as he was kille ed in a naxalite e attack. He is credited with th he launch of f Salwa Judu um or Peace e Mov vement, in 20 005, a local movement m aim med at curbing g dow wn the activitie es of naxalites. SUDARSAN PAT TTNAIK: Inte ernationally ac cclaimed Indian n nd artist was in news as he won the Gran nd Prize at the e San pre estigious Cop penhagen In nternational Sa and sculpture e fest tival in Denmark for his sculp pture on environment. ASHVIN SIVAK KUMAR: 12-y year-old Indian n-origin boy, a clas ss VI student at a Singapor re school was in news as he e won the top spo ot at the 'RHB B-The Straits Times Nationa al Spe elling Champion nship.
3rd Ministe erial meet of f SAARC count ntries on Pover erty Alleviation held h at Kathma andu, Nepal. 10th Bien nnial Interna ational Telug gu Conferenc nce held at Kual ala Lumpur, Mal alaysia (12-14 April). A G-8 group p Foreign Mini isters meet he eld in London. 8th World d Chambers of Congress, the th years bigge est internationa al gathering of f chamber and business b leader ers, held at Doh ha, Qatar. H7N9 viru us: WHO has advised that this t deadly vir rus associated with the spre ead of bird flu, fl is far "mo ore lethal" as it t spreads easily y from birds to humans.
N NEW DEVELO OPMENT BAN NK FOR BRI ICS
MAR RCH 2013
In n a major ac chievement fo or India in its s campaign for f re eforming the international financial arch hitecture, BRIC CS na ations have decided to establish a new BRI ICS Developme ent Ba ank to finance e infrastructure e, somewhat like the Wor rld Ba ank. The details such as capitalization, loca ation and holdin ng pe ercentages are yet to be work ked out. Th hey also agree ed to create a 100 billion dollar Contingen ncy Re Reserve Arrang gement (almos st like IMF) to tackle any fin nancial crisis in n the member countries. c
APR RIL 2013 3

VID DYA BALAN: Bollywood ac ctress has been n nominated to o the e prestigious 66th 6 Cannes Film Festival's s nine-membe er jury y, headed by Hollywood H direc ctor Steven Spielberg. Lt Cdr ABHILAS SH TOMY: of Indian Navy became b the firs st Ind dian to circumn navigate the globe, solo and non-stop, in a sail l boat over a 150-day voy yage, covering g over 23,100 0 nau utical miles (42 2,781 kms)
BAILOUT PAC CKAGE FOR CYPRUS
Th he Cyprus Parli iament has reje ected the bank k levy plan which en nvisaged a tax x of 6.75 per cent c on bank deposits d betwee en 2 20,000 and 10 00,000 and 9.9 9 per cent tax above that level, to o raise around d $ 8 billion to t shore up countrys c sinkin ng fin nances. To stave off a bankruptcy b of its banks and a po ossible exit fro om the Euro currency, c the European Unio on an nd Internationa al Monetary Fu und have offer red a $13 billio on ba ailout package for Cyprus.
MAR RCH 2013 3

PR ROF U R RAO O: The form mer Chairman of ISRO and d Sec cretary, Department of Spac ce, was in ne ews as he was inducted into the e highly covete ed Satellite Ha all of Fame a at Wa ashington, USA. MU UKESH AMBANI: selected to t the Bank of America Globa al Adv visory Council. SAHIR LUDHIA ANVI: A com mmemorative postage stamp p was s released in the t honour of this famous poet p and lyricis st on his first birth anniversary. a MA ALALA YOUSA AFZAI: The e 15 year old Pakistani sch hoolgirl who wa as shot in the hea ad at point-bla ank range by Taliban for adv vocating girls edu ucation, has become a millionaire by sign ning a deal for aro ound $3 millio on to publish her r memoir in n the book title ed I am Malala a.
G GENERAL ELE ECTIONS IN N PAKISTAN
Pa akistan's next general g electio on, that will ma ark the first ev ver tra ansfer of powe er from an elec cted governme ent to another, in th he country's ch hequered demo ocratic history, , will be held on o 11 1th May. This is for the firs st time that Pakistan P Nation nal As ssembly has co ompleted its ful ll five years ter rm.
IN NDIAN GIRL L RECORDS HIGHEST IQ Q

Ne eha Ramu, dau ughter of an In ndian doctor co ouple, achieved da sc core of 162 on a Mensa IQ test the highe est score possib ble fo or her age. This T means tha at she is more e intelligent tha an ph hysicist Hawkin ng, Microsoft founder f Bill Gates and scient tist Einstein, who are all thought to o have an IQ of o 160.
CA ARLOS SLIM M IS RICHES ST IN WORL LD
As s per the Forb bes list of riche est persons, Mexican M busine ess ty ycoon Carlos Slim S is the we ealthiest in th he world with a ne etworth of $ 73 3 billion, follow wed by Bill Gat tes ($ 67 billion n). Th he richest India an, Mukesh Am mbani was rank ked 22nd.
The 24th h Arab League summit held in n Doha, Qatar
16
APPOINTMENTS
NIRBHAY SHARMA: Arunachal Pradesh. Lt Gen (retired),
XI JINPING: Communist Party of China's top leader has taken over as China's new president and head of the military, succeeding Hu Jintao. LI KEQIANG: Communist Party of China's second ranking leader, has been elected as Prime Minister by the Chinese Parliament known as National Peoples Congress, succeeding Wen Jiabao KHIL RAJ REGMI: Chief Justice of Nepal was sworn-in as countrys new Prime Minister to head an interim government that will hold elections in three months, ending a long political deadlock in the country. JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO: of Argentina, elected as first Pope from Latin American Pope of the 1.2 billion catholics Christians of the world. He will be named as Pope Francis I.
MAY 2013
Governor of
KUSHAL SINGH (Ms): Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). SHASHI KANT SHARMA: Comptroller and Auditor General of India K SIDDARAMAIAH: New Chief Minister of Karnataka NAWAZ SHARIF: Prime Minister of Pakistan, for the third time GIORGIO NAPOLITANO: Re-elected as President of Italy ROBERTO AZEVEDO: Director General of the World Trade Organization (from Brazil) WILLEM-ALEXANDER: Installed as the Netherlands first king in more than 120 years since 1890, after abdication by his mother, Queen Beatrix. NAJIB RAZAK: Re-elected as Prime Minister of Malaysia. DR. SHIRIN SHARMIN CHAUDHURY: First woman Speaker in Jatiya Shangshad (parliament) of Bangladesh
AWARDS & HONOURS
MAY 2013
OUTSTANDING PARLIAMENTARIAN AWARD BJP leader Arun Jaitley (2010), Congress MP Karan Singh (2011) and JD(U) MP Sharad Yadav (2012)
The awards were conferred the by the President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held in the Central Hall of Parliament, in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari.
ARCHANA BHARGAVA: Chairman and Managing Director of the United Bank of India ANIL GOSWAMI: ENRICO LETTA: HORACIO CARTES: ABDUL HAMID: NICOLAS MADURO: Union Home Secretary Prime Minister of Italy President of Paraguay President of Bangladesh President of Venezuela
APRIL 2013
MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE: Lydia Davis, American short story writer got the 60,000 award given in recognition of a writers overall contribution to fiction IN English only, across all nations. This prize is given once in two years to a living author for his or her continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage for a body of work published either originally in English or available in translation in English. WHITELY AWARD for Nature Conservation: (Also known as Green Oscar) Aparajita Datta for her efforts for conservation of Hornbill birds in Arunachal Pradesh. PULITZER PRIZE for fiction: Adam Johnson for his novel
The Orphan Masters Son.
Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde: sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court, raising the strength to 30, against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges including the CJI.
Palme dOr: Prize for best picture at Cannes film festival, won by Blue is the Warmest Colour by French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche
FIVE NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED S C Jamir Odisha Nikhil Kumar Kerala Ashwani Kumar Nagaland DY Patil Bihar Devanand Konwar Tripura
MARCH 2013
DADA SAHEB PHALKE AWARD-2012: Veteran Bollywood actor Pran Krishan Sikand. It is the highest official recognition from government for film personalities in India.
APRIL 2013
JNANPITH AWARD 2012: Ravuri Bharadwaja, eminent Telugu novelist, short story writer and poet. TEMPLETON PRIZE: Desmond Tutu, Veteran antiapartheid leader and former Cape Town Archbishop from South Africa, for his lifelong work to promote "love and forgiveness" around the world. The prize carries cash award
TAKEHIKO NAKAO: President, Asian Development Bank. He is from Japan. UHURU KENYATTA: President of Kenya
of USD 1.7 million.
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GLOBAL STUD DENT LEADE ERSHIP AWA ARD: Ashwa ani akhar from Hyd derabad. The award is give en at world lev vel Ja by y Graduate Bus siness Forum of o USA. BREAKTHROUG GH PRIZES in n Life Science es: Founded by b Ar rt Levinson, Se ergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Mark M Zuckerber rg an nd Priscilla Cha an, and Yuri Mi ilner to recognize excellence in re esearch aimed at curing intra actable diseases and extendin ng hu uman life. Eve ery year, 5 ann nual prizes of $3 $ million eac ch,
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Bri ing up the Bo odies by Hilary Mantel The e Casual Vaca ancy by J.K. Rowling R The e Sense of an n Ending by Ju ulian Barnes Behind the Beau utiful Forevers by Katherine e Boo The e Sins of the Father by Jeff frey Archer The e Tattooed Fa akir by Biman Nath
w be awarded. will d.
Be est Feature Film: Paan Singh S Tomar by Tigmansh hu Dh hulia Be est Popular Film providin ng wholesome e entertainmen nt: Vi Vicky Donor (Hindi) ( by Su ujit Sircar an nd Ustad Hot otel (M Malayalam) Be est Hindi Film m: Filmistan by y Nitin Kakkar, Be est Director: Shivaji Lotan Patil P for Dhag (Marathi) ( Be est Actor: Ir rrfan Khan, Pa aan Singh To omar and Vikra am Go okhale for Anu umati (Marathi) Be est Actress: Usha U Jadhav, Dhag D (Marathi)
60th NATIO ONAL FILM AWARDS DECLARED D
MAR RCH 2013
MAR RCH 2013 3

Cell Phone Nation by Robin Je effrey & Assa Doron D Leg gacy by Sudha a Menon Wh hat Young Ind dia Wants by Chetan Bhaga at Azi izs Notebook k by Chowra Makaremi Wa alking with Lions: L Tales from f a Diplom matic Past by y Nat twar Singh Wild by Cheryl St trayed Oath of the Vay yuputras by Amish A Tripathi. He is famous aut thor of best selling Shiva tr riology, the ot ther two book ks being The Immo ortals of Meluh ha and The Sec crets of Nagas.
FEMINA MIS SS INDIA 2013 2 AWAR RDS

Miss India: M Fi irst runner up p: Se econd runner r up: Nav vneet Kaur Dhillon Sob bhita Dhulipala Zoy ya Afroz
Ch hameli Devi Jain Award: : (for an outs standing woma an m media person): Alka Dhupkar, a journalist with Marathi TV T ne ews channel IB BN-Lokmat. National Biosc cience Award for 2012: S. . Venkata Moha an of f the Indian Ins stitute of Chem mical Technolog gy, Hyderabad. Sa araswati S Samman 2012: Malay yalam poete ess Su ugathakumari, for her poetry collection Man nalezhuthu Ta agore Award d for Cultur ral Harmony y: Sh hankar (late), the t eminent sit tarist. Pandit Ra avi
O OBITU UARY Y
M MAY 2013 3
RITUPARNO GHOSH: Hig ghly acclaimed d rom Bengal, wi inner of severa al film director fr national and international awards for his o direction and films, mostly in Bangla, also in Hindi and English, E includi ing 12 Nationa al Awards. Some e of his best films include Uni ishe April, Chok kher Bali, Rainc coat, Abohoma an. MA AHENDRA KAR RMA: A popula ar local leader in Chhattisgarh h stat te, credited with starting Sal lwa Judum - the anti naxalite e arm med movement t of local people e. ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER: Renowned Is slamic scholar r, pro ogressive think ker, author an nd Dawoodi Bohra B reformis st lead der from Mumb bai HILARY KOPR ROWSKI: A researcher fro om USA who o dev veloped the firs st successful or ral vaccine aga ainst polio.
R Rani Lakshmi ibai Award: awarded to o Nirbhaya, the De ec. 16 gang rape victim of Ne ew Delhi. Abel Prize in Mathematics: M Pierre Deligne e, Belgian m mathematician. The prize is gi iven by Govt of f Norway in the e m memory of their great mathem matician N. H. Abel. A It carries a ca ash prize of $1 million.
BOOK KS & AUTH A HORS

Th he Childhood d of Jesus by J.M. J Coetzee
M MAY 2013
Fa aith & Freedo om: Gandhi in n History by Mushirul M Hasan Th he Orphan Ma aster's Son by y Adam Johnso on Th he Girl With h No Name by b Marina Cha apman. It is an a incredible true st tory of a child raised by monk keys. Th he Path To Po ower by Margr ret Thatcher
APR RIL 2013 3

SH HAMSHAD BEG GUM: Legend dary playback singer famous for melodious songs like Kajra a mohabbat wa ala, Leke pehla la
peh hla pyar, Kahin inpe nigahen, kahinpe k nishaa ana, 'Mere Piya ya Gay ye Rangoon', 'Kabhi 'K Aar Kabh hi Paar', Chhod d babul ka ghar r, Saiy iyan dilme Aan na re and Teri mehfil me kis smat ajmaa ka ar hum m bhi dekheng ge..
18
J S VERMA: Former Chief Justice of India, who headed the government-appointed committee to frame a tough law to tackle crime against women in the wake of the December 16 Delhi gangrape incident. RAM PRASAD GOENKA: Renowned industrialist, Chairman emeritus of RPG Enterprises, best known for Ceat tyres. V.S. RAMADEVI: Himachal Pradesh Former Governor of Karnataka and
APRIL 2013
SAVAR, DHAKA: A small town on the outskirts of Dhaka was in news as a building collapse there claimed over 1100 lives and injured over 2000 persons. KEEZHANUR: A small hamlet on the Javadi hills in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu was in news as a centre for sharpening polished Neolithic (stone) tools made about 5,000 years ago has been found there. BOSTON: City in USA was in news as three people were killed and more than 180 others were injured there when two bombs, inside pressure cookers, went off in quick succession amidst thousands of people near the finish line of the popular Boston Marathon.
SHAKUNTALA DEVI: Wizard of Mathematics, the human computer, mental calculator, a Guinness World Record holder for her lightening-speed calculations. LALGUDI JAYARAMAN: Nadu Legendary violinist from Tamil
MARGARET THATCHER: Former British Prime Minister, a towering figure in post-war British and world politics, and the first woman to become British Prime Minister, famous as Iron Lady. ROBERT EDWARDS: British scientist, who was awarded a Nobel prize for his pioneering work in developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique, leading to the birth of the first test tube baby.
SPORTS WORLD
MAY 2013
RACE TO MT EVEREST COMPLETES 60 YEARS
On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay created the history when they became first person in the world to scale the highest peak on the earth, rising 8849 metres above sea level.
Arunima Sinha: A former national level volleyball player who had lost one of her legs after being thrown off a moving train, created history on May 21 by becoming the first Indian amputee to conquer Mount Everest. A team of seven students, aged 15-17 years, of Lawrence School, Sanawar, near Solan (HP) set a world record on May 21, of being the youngest team to conquer the Mount Everest. YUICHIRO MIURA: the 80 year old Japanese became the oldest person in the world to scale the highest peak of the world-Mount Everest. Mumbai Indians won the 6th Pepsi IPL trophy outplaying Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens, Kolkota. Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) soon after Mumbai Indians won their maiden IPL title defeating Chennai Super Kings. P.V. Sindhu won the Grand Prix Gold (Badminton) womens title at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, beating Juan Gu of Singapore. Indian boxers created history by winning a record haul of 10 medals, including four golds, in the International Boxing Cup held in Limassol, Cyprus. David Beckham: The iconic Football player from England announced his retirement from the game after having an illustrious career of about 20 years. Rafael Nadal of Spain won the Barcelona Cup, defeating Nicolas Almagro (Spain) at Barcelona,
HUGO CHAVEZ: Venezuela's President died at 58, after battling cancer for nearly two years. He was known for his open defiance of US policies. JAMES HERBERT: Veteran British horror writer, known for his best-selling spine- chilling books The Rats and The Fog. MOHD. ZILLUR RAHMAN: President of Bangladesh
MARCH 2013
PLACES IN NEWS
NICOBAR ISLANDS: The UNESCO has designated India's Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. The island chain is home to 1,800 animal species and some of the world's most endangered tribes
MAY 2013
JEERAM GHATI, DARBHA VALLEY: A hilly area in Chhattisgarh was in news as naxalites killed around 30 persons there in a bomb blast, including several local senior congress leaders. DAULAT BEG OLDI: Place in Ladakh on Chinese border was in news as the Chinese troops pitched their army tents in that area in clear cut violations of international norms. CHUTKHA: a small village in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh was in news as locals there are protesting against 1400 MW NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited)
19
Rafael Nadal: of Spain won the Madrid Open Cup Mens title, beating Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka at Madrid, Spain. Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win Madrid Open Cup womens title. Sir Alex Ferguson: renowned manager of Manchester United football club of UK was in news as he resigned from his post after serving for 26 years.
GRAEME SMITH: South Africas cricket team captain received the ICC Test Championship trophy with prize money of US$450,000 as the worlds number one test cricket team for the calendar year 2012-13.
SOME MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS

Event Deodhar Trophy (cricket) Vijay Hazare Trophy (Cricket) 67th Santosh Trophy (Football) Malaysian Grand Prix Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament Mexican Open (Tennis) ATP Dubai Open Tennis title Venue Guwahati, Assam Vishakha patnam Kochi Sepang, Malaysia Ipoh, Malaysia Acapulco, Mexico Dubai, UAE. Winner West Zone won Delhi Services Sebastian Vettel Australia Looser North Zone Assam Kerala Mark Webber Malaysia
APRIL 2013
RAHI SARNOBAT shot her way into history by becoming Indias first pistol shooter to win gold in a World Cup. The 22-year-old from Kolhapur (Maharashtra) won the 25m sports pistol event in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon (South Korea). RUPESH SHAH: Reigning world champion won the 12th Asian Billiards championship 2013, held at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
CHRIS GAYLE scored the highest ever -175 runs and
fastest ever century off 30 balls, in twenty20 history, blasting an incredible 175 off a mere 66 balls, including record 17 sixes and 13 fours. He was playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Manipur wins the overall team championship in the NorthEast Games held at Imphal, Manipur. The final rounds of the prestigious Thomas Cup (Mens) and Uber Cup (womens) Badminton Championship will be held in India, for the first time ever. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beats Spain's Rafael Nadal to win Monte Carlo Masters Tennis Championship in France.
Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic
David Ferrer Tomas Berdych
DAYS & DATES

JUNE World Environment Day Fathers Day World Refugee Day World Diabetes Day 05th June 18th June 20th June 27th June
MARCH 2013
Indian cricket team recorded their biggest ever series win in the 81-year history by having 4-0 clean sweep against Australia in Border Gavaskar Trophy. SHIKHAR DHAWAN scored unbeaten 185 in the third cricket Test against Australia at Mohali, scoring the fastest hundred (in85 balls) on debut in the 136 years of Test history. Dhawan also became the first Indian opener to score a century on debut. R. MURALI KUMAR of Indian Navy won the Mr. India title in the National senior bodybuilding championship held at Kochi, Kerala. HARMANPREET KAUR has been named captain of the Indian women's Cricket team for the limited-overs series against Bangladesh starting on 2nd April. TIGER WOODS reclaimed the world number one spot by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf championship held at Orlando, Florida (USA).
MAY International Labour Day 1st May World Press Freedom Day 3rd May World Red Cross Day 4th May Mother's Day 2nd May World Laughter Day 7th May National Technology Day 11th May* World Telecommunication Day 17th May Anti-Terrorism Day 21st May Commonwealth Day 24th May World Anti-Tobacco 31st May * On this day India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974 at Pokhran (Rajasthan) APRIL National Maritime Day World Health Day National Safe Motherhood Day World Heritage Day Indian Civil Service Day Panchayati Raj Diwas World Malaria Day World Intellectual Property Day
5th April 7th April 11th April 18th April 21st April 24th April 25th April 26 April
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ABBREVIATIONS
AYUSH AICTE ASEAN CAGR CCTNS CIRP CPSU DARE DDS DGCA DRDO EAS EPFO ETC FIEO FINO FMCG GSLV IAEA ICDS IDFC IIFCL IUCN MCOCA NADA NCDEX NCTC NELP NSSF NPCIL NSSF NSSO PSLV RFID RISAT SFIO TDSAT TRIPS UDRS UNHCR USB VLSI WADA WANA Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy All-India Council for Technical Education The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Compounded Annual Growth Rate Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Committee for Internet-Related Policies (at UNO). Central Public Sector Units Defence Avionics and Research Establishment Duty Drawback Scheme for exporters (in place of DEPB) Directorate General of Civil Aviation Defence Research and Development Org. East Asia Summit Employees' Provident Fund Organisation Electronic Toll Collection (at toll plaza) Federation of Indian Export Organisations Financial Inclusion & Network Organisation Fast Moving Consumer Goods Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle International Atomic Energy Agency Integrated Child Development Services Infrastructure Development Finance Company India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. International Union for Conservation of Nature Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act National Anti Doping Agency National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange National Counter-Terrorism Centre New Exploration Licensing Policy National Small Savings Fund Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited National Small Savings Fund National Sample Survey Organisation Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Radio Frequency Identification Radar Imaging Satellite Serious Fraud Investigation Office Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal. (Agreement on) Trade-Related Aspects of Umpire Decision Review System United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ultra Small Branch (of a Bank) Very Large Scale Integration (process of creating ICs e.g. micro processor) World Anti Doping Agency West Asia and North Africa (the countries here are facing civil war)
CURRENT
NOTES
WHY BANKS OBSERVE KYC NORMS
Money laundering by banks and insurance companies is more widespread than earlier thought, another expose by an online news website has revealed. This development is bound to force banks to undertake a fresh round of verification of the identity of almost all account holders, an exercise called 'Know your Customer'. ET explains what a KYC entails: WHAT IS KYC? Banks undertake this exercise to verify the identity of their customers. The KYC exercise aims to prevent banks from being used, intentionally or unintentionally by criminal elements, for money laundering. DOES KYC APPLY TO ALL CUSTOMERS? Yes. KYC is applicable to every individual who wants to have any business relationship with the bank. This means, any individual wanting to open an account (savings or current account and recurring or fixed deposit), get a bank draft, open a locker, receive any benefits on account of financial transactions, remittance or wire transfer, and apply for a loan. DOES IT HAVE ANY LEGAL BACKING? Yes. The KYC norm has been validated under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and Rule 7 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Rules, 2005. Any violation of these norms could attract severe penalty under the BR Act. WHAT IS NEEDED FOR A KYC CHECK? KYC has two components: identity and address. While PAN and voter card, driving licence and any other identity document that satisfies the banks requirements serve as proof of identity, a copy of passport, electricity or phone bill or bank account statement are accepted as proof of address. DO BANKS OPEN ACCOUNTS FOR THOSE WITHOUT AN ADDRESS PROOF? Yes. But such individuals have to submit an identity document along with a utility bill of the relative with whom the prospective customer is living and a declaration from the relative that the said person is a relative. CAN KYC NORMS BE RELAXED? To ensure financial inclusion, a low-income group customer without identity and address proofs can open a bank account with an introduction from another account holder who has fulfilled the bank's KYC procedure. However, the balance in all his accounts taken together is not expected to exceed 50,000 and the total credit in all the accounts taken together is not expected to exceed 1 lakh. The introducer's account
21
with the bank should be at le east six months s old and shou uld sh how satisfactor ry transactions. . IS S KYC COMPL LIANCE A ONE E-TIME EXER RCISE? No o. Banks can ask a customers to t re-submit fre esh identificatio on an nd address pro oof to update th heir records. They T can also ask a fo or additional documents if they have dou ubts about som me tra ansaction in or rder to prevent the account from being use ed fo or money laun ndering, terro orist or crim minal activities. HAVE BANKS BEEN PEN NALISED FOR R KYC NOR RM VI IOLATIONS? Ye es. The RBI ha as penalised HDFC Bank ICIC CI Bank Citibank an nd Standard Ch hartered Bank.
the e M Damodar ran committe ee recommenda ations. These e incl lude benchmarking of servic ce charges for r basic banking g ser rvices; zero lia ability for ATM M, point-of-sale e and Interne et ban nking transact tions; and do oing away with w differentia al inte erest rates for new and old cu ustomers.
Ch heque Return Charges

The e RBI has stated that bank ks cannot levy cheque return n cha arges when th he customers are not respo onsible for the e delay in return an nd re-presenta ation of cheque es (returned by y the e paying bank). . It has asked banks to do so o only when the e cus stomer is at fault and has s posted on its website an n illus strative list of circumstances where the cus stomer is not a at fau ult. The banks have been as sked to clear cheques c (where e rec course to payee e is not require ed) within 24 hours. They also o hav ve to indicate the timeline for realisation n of local and d out tstation chequ ues and cha arges for ch heque returns s.
Source: Eco onomic Times s 8th May, 201 13
F STEPS FIVE S TOWARD DS BETTER R BANKING G

While the Reser W rve Bank of In ndia has cut int terest rates by y a m meagre 25 basis s points in its annual a moneta ary policy revie ew, it has announce ced some mea asures, which, if implemente ed, ould translate e into a bet etter banking experience for f co cu ustomers. Her re's a look at a the most important one es.
Easier Online Bill Paymen nts
R Reducing Mis s-Selling
Th he RBI has asked bank man nagements to ensure e that the eir em mployees do not receive cash or non-cash incentiv ves fro om insurance companies, mutual m funds and a other thi ird pa arty product pr roviders. "In so ome cases, ban nks did not have a clear segrega ation of duties of marketing personnel fro om ot ther branch fu unctions, and bank employees were direct tly re eceiving incent tives from thir rd parties, suc ch as insurance co ompanies, mut tual funds and other entities, , for selling the eir pr roducts. Such practices may m lead to mis-selling an nd distortion of staf ff incentive str ructure," the ce entral bank said. A firewall between core bankin ng functions an nd product sellin ng is likely to reduc ce mis-selling of o products to bank b customers s.
The e central bank k has mooted d an electronic bill paymen nt sys stem for essen ntial services such as insura ance premium m, utility bill paymen nt, tax, univers sity fee, examination fee and d sch hool fee. This s model requ uires the set tting up of a cen ntralised infras structure, whic ch will bring all billers and d ban nks on a single e platform thro ough aggregato ors. It will allow w inte er-operability in i bill paymen nt and enable consumers to o make payments at a any collectio on point. At pr resent, there is no standardised system s of bill data d aggregatio on and paymen nt acr ross billers.
S Source: Econo omic Times 13 1 th May, 2013 13
N Charge fo No or Anywhere e Banking
Th he banking reg gulator has sta ated that banks s will not charg ge th heir customers s for transacti ions not done e at the 'hom me br ranch'. This is the branch wh here the accou unt holder ope ens his account and fulfils the know w your custom mer (KYC) norm ms. W With the introd duction of Co ore Banking Solutions S ( CBS S), In nternet banking g and ATMs, th he so-called 'ho ome branch' has h lost its relevance e. Therefore, the banking reg gulator views the levying of such charges as 'dis scrimination ag gainst the bank k's ow wn customer'. In future, you u will be able to bank witho out pa aying any charg ges at branche es other than th he home branc ch.
Transparent Pricing of Lo oans

Th he RBI has not ted the huge difference d in th he rates charge ed on n loans from different borrow wers despite the introduction of th he more transp parent base ra ate regime in July 2010. "The ve ery wide variation in interes st rates charge ed by banks on o re etail loans from m different borr rowers on the same s day cann not po ossibly be attrib buted to customers' risk prof files," it stated. It ha as asked the bank b managem ments to curtail such practic ces an nd frame policies so that the pricing of f retail loans is 'tr ransparent, rea alistic, and related to the ris sk perception of bo orrowers'. Gov vernor D Sub bbarao has as sked the India an Ba anks' Associatio on (IBA) to ch hart a course for f implementin ng
22

Gyanm June 13

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G GYANM JULY 2013

G General l Aware eness

NA ATI IONA AL NEW N WS

I INDIA CHINA SIGN EIG GHT AGREEM MENTS

FIGURES TO REMEM MBER

Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra S

P Prime Minister of o Japan is Shin inzo Abe

I INDIA ENTERS ARCTIC COUNCIL

U UIDAI LAUN NCHES THRE EE NEW SERV VICES

GY YANMSGENERAL LAWARENESSJU ULY2013

SIBAL AND JOSHI GET ADDITIONAL CHARGE

PM VISITS GERMANY FOR IGC MEET

INDIA SLIPS IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

FM AND AAMIR FIGURE IN TIME TOP 100

INDIA HIGHLIGHTS NRHM

PM AND SONIA IN TOP 500

9000 KMS OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

INDIA 4TH IN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

COUNTRYS FIRST RFID TOLL PLAZA

WB AID FOR POVERTY REDUCTION

INDIA JOINS TRADEMARK TREATY

INDIA HAS LARGEST POOR POPULATION

S C FOR SHIFTING ASIATIC LIONS

26 DISTRICS DECLARED NAXAL AFECTED

PRESIDENT CONFERRED DOCTORATE

MORSI VISITS INDIA

TIEA SIGNED WITH LIECHTENSTEIN

INDIA VOTES AGAINST SRI LANKA

HIGH CHILD MORTALITY IN INDIA

FSLRC SUGGESTS NEW SUPER REGULATOR

MUMBAI SLIPS AS FINANCIAL CENTRE

T V FIRST CHOICE OF SLUM DWELLERS

NEWS FROM STATES

BEATING RETREAT AT HUSSAINIWALA

THREE CHIEF MINISTERS RE-ELECTED

PORTAL FOR E-FILING OF RTI QUERIES

M P TOPS IN GDP GROWTH

COMMITTEE FOR STATE BACKWARDNESS

GoM FORMED FOR CBI AUTONOMY

NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY POLICY FORMED

NATIONAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN, 2012

PURA FOR 4,000 SMALL TOWNS

NATIONAL URBAN HEALTH MISSION

DBT FOR LPG SUBSIDY BY JUNE 1

VOLUNTARY SCHEME FOR SERVICE TAX

ANTI RAPE BILL PASSED BY LOKSABHA

ANUBHUTI COACHES INTRODUCED

CHANGES IN CIVIL SERVICES PATTERN

GOVT DECONTROLS SUGAR

headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council.

INDIA POST LAUNCHES eIPO

GPF INTEREST RATE DOWN TO 8.7%

SUBSIDY EXPENDITURE TO BE CUT DOWN

RBI PUTS GDP GROWTH AT 5.7%

WAGES FOR MNREGA WORKERS HIKED

FM DIFFERS FROM RBI ON GROWTH RATE

IMPRISONMENT FOR TAX EVASION

TRADE DEFICIT WIDENS TO $ 17.79 BN

CAD TARGETED AT 2.5% FOR 12TH PLAN

IIP MOVES UP BY 2.5%

W B SCALES DOWN GROWTH TO 6.1%

CORE INDUSTRIES GROW BY 2.9%

ADB PUTS INDIAS GROWTH AT 6%

INDIA TO GROW BY 6% - S&P