Banking Awareness :Short Bullet points (Part-13)

Hello friends ,These are some Important short bullet points asked in previous years bank exams. All the points are very Important. These may be very useful for your Quick revision. Best efforts have been made to keep the points error free. If found any,Kindly comment down below in the given fields. Happy Reading 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

1. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM):

• It was launched in 2010 by the Union Government
• Target was to setup 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022.
• Later in 2014, the target was enhanced up to 1, 00,000 MW.

 

 

2. Self-Help Group(SHG) is a small voluntary association of poor people, preferably from the same socio-economic background. They come together for the purpose of solving their common problems through self–help and mutual help.

e.g.- Handicrafts handlooms potters small street hawkers etc

 

 

3. WEF is an international institution founded by Klaus Schwab that works to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation. It was established in 1971. Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland.

 

 

4. Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS)

 

• The Reserve Bank of India has amended the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), 2015, whereby proprietorship and partnership firms can invest in gold deposits and the quantity of gold will be expressed up to three decimals of a gram.

 

• Principal and interest on Short Term Bank Deposit will be denominated in Gold

 

• Principal and interest for medium and long term deposit will be calculated in rupees with reference to the value of gold at the time of the deposit.

 

• For the medium-term deposit (5-7 years) customers can earn 2.25 per cent interest per annum.

 

• For long-term deposits (12-15 years) customers can earn 2.50 per cent interest per annum

 

• Withdrawals are allowed after a minimum lock-in period of three years for medium-term deposits and five years for long-term deposits

 

• RBI fixes public issue price of 2600 Rs per gram for sovereign gold bond scheme

 

• Government will pay banks a 5 per cent commission to unlock the country’s massive stash of gold under the new gold monetization scheme, including 1.5% handling charges for the first year ,says RBI

 

• The rate of Interest on the deposits will be decided by government and notified by RBI from time to time.

 

 

5. India’s first private sector bank to open a branch in the African continent (Sandston, Johannesburg) – ICICI

 

 

6. Stake of RBI in NHB is 1450 crore (increased by 1000 crore recently). NHB is a regulator for housing sector; It is headquartered in New Delhi. CEO of NHB is Shri Ram kalyanraman.

 

7. GIC Re is the 14th largest reinsurer globally and is presently the only reinsurance company in India.

 

 

8. National infrastructure investment Fund (NIIF) – It is to be financed with the government’s own contribution of 49% along with equity participation from both foreign and domestic strategic anchor partners, to fund infrastructure development in commercially viable projects. It would start with an initial corpus of Rs 40,000 crore.

 

 

 

9. Smart City – A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents.

 Many of these cities will include special investment regions or special economic zones with modified regulations and tax structures to make it attractive for foreign investment. This is essential because much of the funding for these projects will have to come from private developers and from abroad.

 What are the Challenges ahead?

The concept is not without challenges, especially in India. For instance, the success of such a city depends on residents, entrepreneurs and visitors becoming actively involved in energy saving and implementation of new technologies. There are many ways to make residential, commercial and public spaces sustainable by ways of technology, but a high percentage of the total energy use is still in the hands of end users and their behavior. Also, there is the time factor — such cities can potentially take anything between 20 and 30 years to build.

 

10. P- Notes – P Notes are issued by foreign portfolio investors registered by SEBI to other overseas investors who want to take a position in Indian Market without any direct registration for trading in Indian markets.

These Instruments are popular as they provide a low cost and easier route for investing in Indian market.

 

12. About NPS –

• NPS is a defined contribution pension system operated by GOI.
• Apart from offering a range of Investment option to employees, the scheme allows individuals to make decisions about where their pension fund is invested.
• It is regulated by PFRDA.
• It is open to all Indian citizens between 18 and 60 on a voluntary basis.
• The employee contribution is fixed at 10% per month.
• Minimum amount per contribution is 500 Rs.
• Minimum number of contribution is 1 per year.
• Minimum annual contribution is Rs. 6000 in each subscriber account.
• Central and state government employees along with Public sector employees mandatory contribute in NPS are restricted from availing any other form of pension scheme initiated by GOI.

 

 13. GVA – Gross Value added at Basic price

Gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy, in economics. In national accounts GVA is output minus intermediate consumption.

 

14. POEM – Place of effective Management

 

15. MGNREGA

MGNREGA was in news recently as the scheme completes its 10 Years on 2 February, 2016.

• MGNREGA – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee act
• MGNREGA is a flagship rural job guarantee scheme
• Till now 3.1 lakh crore have been spent on this scheme. Out of which 71% is paid on laborers for their wages.
• MGNREGA Act 2005 was passed on this day.
• The scheme aims at providing 100 days wage employment to every household to ensure livelihood security in rural areas.
• One third (33 per cent) proposed jobs in the scheme have been reserved for the women.
• Union Ministry of Rural Development is nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme.

 

16. What is Negative Interest Rate?

 

• It is a scenario where you have to pay the bank to keep money in your account.
• We know that all banks park their excess funds with the central bank from time to time. A negative interest means that banks will have to pay the central bank for holding these funds.
• Why it is Important?

 

Negative Interest rates are just an extreme form of the easy money policies used by the central banks to try and stimulate the economy. Usually, central banks boost the economy by cutting interest rates, pumping more money into the system or both. 

 

When a central bank infuses liquidity into the market, it buys assets — usually government bonds — and pays institutions it bought the assets from. The institutions selling those bonds thus have new money in their hands, which they boosts money supply.

 

Lower interest rates work by bringing down the cost of borrowing, encourage spending and hence kick start economic growth. The policy rate set by every central bank is a benchmark rate to which all borrowing costs are pegged. A sub-zero rate should reduce borrowing cost and spur demand for loans. Also negative rates essentially penalize banks for holding idle funds and force them to lend it out to retail and industrial borrowers.

 

17. Capital Account Convertibility – CAC

 

In simple terms ,Currency convertibility means currency of a country can be freely converted into Foreign Exchange at market determined exchange rate. It is a pre condition for Rapid growth of World Trade and smooth Capital Flows.

In an economy, the status of currency convertibility can be better understood by assessing policy framework related to the Capital account convertibility and current account convertibility.

 

18. What are open e-Wallets?

 

• E-Wallet is an online prepaid account where one can keep money, to be used when required . There are three kinds of e-Wallets – Closed, semi closed and Open.

 

• Open e-Wallet can be issued by banks only and can be used for purchase of Goods and services, just like a credit card, up to a prefunded amount.

 

• Open e-Wallets can also be used for cash withdrawals at ATMs or business correspondents.

 

• E-Wallet facility is  useful for those who don’t use Net Banking, don’t posses credit or don’t prefer making online card payments.

 

• The RBI monitors the ceilings on FII/NRI/PIO investments in Indian companies on a daily basis.

 

19. What is Currency Swap? – A swap is that involves the exchange of Principle and Interest in one currency for the same in other currency.

 

For example, suppose an Indian company needs to acquire US Dollars and a US-based company needs to acquire Indian Rupees. These two companies could arrange to swap currencies by establishing an interest rate, an agreed upon amount and a common maturity date for the exchange. 

 

Posted by - Nikhil Yadav