Banking and Financial Awareness 59

Article Updated on 13 Jun, 2014 | Banking Awareness | RSS Feed for this Article
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1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 June 2014 announced its
first bi-monthly monetary policy review after the new government
took charge at the Centre. RBI Governor kept the most important
repo rate unchanged at 8% and almost all other important rates
were also unchanged. Which is the only rate which was changed?
Statutory Liquidity Ratio SLR (The SLR of scheduled
commercial banks was reduced by 50 basis points from 23% to
22.5%. This reduction is expected to infuse liquidity in the
economy by unlocking around Rs. 40,000 crore of bank funds)
.
2) The RBI in its bi-monthly monetary policy announced on 3 June 2014 raised the eligibility limit for
foreign exchange remittances from $75,000 to $1,25,000 (It was earlier possible to remit up to
$2,00,000 under the liberalised remittance scheme. This was reduced to $75,000 last year, as a
prudential measure when the country was going through a sudden depreciation of its currency.
However, this limit was raised to $1,25,000, thus acknowledging the recent stability on the forex front.
This effectively meant that individuals would now be able to spend upto $1,25,000 abroad)
.
3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bi-monthly monetary policy announced on 3 June 2014
allowed both residents and non-residents (except citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh) to take out
Indian currency notes up to Rs 25,000 while leaving the country. What was the limit for this at
present? Rs.10,000 (Currently, only Indian residents were allowed to take notes up to Rs 10,000 out
of the country)
.
4) Which country would become the 19 member of Eurozone and the last Baltic nation to adopt the
euro on 1 January 2015 as announced by the European Commission on 4 June 2014?
Lithuania (European Commission announced that Lithuania has fulfilled all conditions to join the
Eurozone and it recommended that the country would become the currency blocs 19 member on 1
January 2015. Lithuania would be the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro, after Estonia did so in 2011
and Latvia followed suit at the beginning of 2014)
.
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5) Kotak Mahindra Bank shares slipped after the RBI asked it to reduce its promoters shareholding.
The bank is to reduce its promoters shareholding to what level by September 2014 as directed by the
RBI? 40% (Currently, the promoters shareholding in the bank is 43.58%. Hence, the banks
promoters are required to shed 3.58% of their share. In June 2012, the RBI had asked Kotak
Mahindra Bank to reduce the promoters holding to 20% by 2018 and 10% by 2020 from the then
45.21%. This move is to diversify the promoters shareholding and bring it in sync with the new
banking licence regulations and thereby improve corporate governance. Kotak Mahindra Bank is a
private-sector bank owned by Uday Kotak)
.
6) Indias market capitalization during June 2014 crossed which major milestone after around 4 years,
mainly on the back of a strong government at the Centre? 1.5 trillion dollar (The recent spurt in the
market has also propelled India to be the 10 biggest in terms of market cap, and the second biggest
in the BRIC group of countries, behind China which is at $3.23 trillion. In rupee terms, Indias market
cap is at an all-time high of Rs 89.8 lakh crore. At the current level, Indias market cap-to-GDP ratio is
about 0.79. However, this is much lower than the levels seen during the last bull market of 2007-08,
when the ratio was nearly 2)
.
7) Curtains may be down on the UP Stock Exchange (UPSE), Uttar Pradeshs only trading platform,
as the deadline issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) expired on 30 May
2014. The SEBI had fixed conditions for UPSE according to which the annual turnover of the
exchange would have to be around Rs. 1,000 crore and its net-worth should be at-least Rs. 100 crore.
In which city is the UPSE situated? Kanpur (Kanpur-based UPSE failed to meet any of the two
conditions prescribed by the SEBI)
.
8) What is the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modis mega-dream project of Indias only
International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) being conceptualised as a global financial and IT
services hub, which on 3 June 2014 announced having achieved financial closure for its Phase I
infrastructure development? Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) The GIFT City
is being designed to be at or above par with globally-benchmarked financial centres like those at
Shinjuku (Tokyo), Lujiazui (Shanghai), La Defense (Paris) and London Dockyards. A consortium of
banks agreed to provide a loan of Rs 1,157 crore for this project. The project, spread over 886 acres,
including a 261-acre SEZ on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, is expected to involve investments of Rs
78,000 crore when completed by 2026)
.
9) Al Hilal Bank, one of the fastest-growing banks in the UAE, has implemented Finacle e-Banking
solution. Finacle e-Banking solution is a leading banking solution of which Indian IT company?
Infosys (The Finacle e-Banking solution would enable Al Hilal to provide a range of Internet banking
services to its corporate customers with highest security. It would also allow the bank to roll out new
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functionalities on a regular basis and build upon the existing products to provide an enhanced banking
experience, all at reduced costs)
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10) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 June 2014 unveiled a new book titled Getting India Back on
Track: An Action Agenda For Reform. The book basically carries a series of papers on different
areas for presentation to the new government arguing out the case for the reforms that would be
necessary to get India back on track. Who are the editors of this book? Bibek Debroy, Ashley J.
Tellis and Reece Trevor (The book has been published by Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace. The foreword of the book has been written by Ratan N Tata and it contains insightful essays
by eminent academicians and public policy experts)