BANK EXAMS GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. 'Global Market' means market of?
1) USA
2) China
3) OPEC members
4) European Union Countries
5) All major countries and their alliances

2. Growth for 2011-12 has been -8.8% was the news in major news papers. This means which of the following grew at this rate during that period?
1) GDP
2) Money supply
3) Foreign Exchange Reserves
4) Inflation
5) Price Index

3. What is the full form of  LAF?
1) Liquid Advance & Finance
2) Liquidity Adjustment Facility
3) Legal Adjournment Facility
4) Local Advance Finance
5) Late Arrival of Finance

4. Headquarter of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in?
l) Geneva
2) Paris
3) London
4) Manila
5) Washington DC

5. As per newspaper reports ANZ was given licence to open branch in Mumbai. ANZ is a bank based in?
1) Australia
2) Argentina
3) Afghanistan
4) Angola
5) Austria

6. Whenever somebody needs foreign-currency against Indian Rupee, banks give equivalent amount of desired currency based on prevalent?
1) Bank Rate
2) Currency rate
3) policy rate
4) exchange rate
5) base rate

7. Banks recover term loan from the parties in EMIs. What the letter 'E' represents in the term?
1) Easy
2) Effective
3) Equated
4) Essential
5) Economical

8. Which of the following is NOT a scheduled Commercial Bank?
1) IDBI Bank
2) Axis Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) NABARD
5) Kotak Mahindra Bank

9. POSCO is a company which manufactures?
1) Cement
2) Penna products
3) Sugar
4) Textiles
5) Steel

10. The financial results of banks and other organizations normally are expressed in quarters. What does Q -1 means?
1) Results of January - March
2) Performance during April-June
3) Profits during July -September
4) The period when the profits were highest
5) None

11. Which of the following certainly is an effort in the direction of Financial Inclusion?
1) Internet Banking
2) Anywhere Banking
3) No-frills Accounts
4) Foreign Currency Accounts
5) All of these

12. Which of the following organizations has offered a credit of US $225 million to India to mitigate impact of cyclones?
1) IMF
2) World Bank
3) WTO
4 ) ADB
5) UNESCO

13. Who amongst the following Padma Bhushan Awardees is a famous banker?
1) Mr. Azim H. Premji
2) Mrs. Kapila Vatsyayam
3) Mrs. Chanda Kochhar
4) Mrs. Waheeda Rehman
5) Mr. Brajesh Mishra

14. Wages to workers of which of the following is now revised and are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?
1) MGNREGA
2) Anganwadi workers
3) Teachers involved in Operation Black Board
4) Health workers in Rural Areas
5) None of these

15. Which of the following Acts is specially launched to facilitate banks in recovery of bad loans?
1) RBI Act
2) Banking Regulation Act
3) Companies Act
4) Income Tax Act
5) SARFAESI Act

16. The financial assistance or loans of Rs.10,000/- by a bank very a small borrower will be called?
1) Business finance
2) Govt Finance
3) Micro finance
4) Small finance
5) KYC finance

17. What does letter 'P' denote in the term 'PAN' issued by the Income Tax Department?
1) Provisional
2) Private
3) Personal
4) Permanent
5) Postal

18. The Head Office of the Unique Identification Authority of India is located in ?
1) Bangalore
2) Mumbai
3) New Delhi
4) Chennai
5) Hyderabad

19. As decided by the Govt. of India, home States will now get more shares in Power Generation. This will be upto __
1) 25%
2) 30%
3) 40%
4) 50%
5) 65%

20. Who amongst the following can NOT work as a Business Corres-pondent, as given in the scheme launched by the banks?
1) Kirana Store
2) Post Office
3) Self Help Group
4) A Bank Officer
5) Cooperative Society

21. Some banks are financing big projects like construction of Roads/Bridges etc. Financing to such projects means banks are helping exactly in?
1) Infrastructure Development 2) Project Management
3) Developing Core Sector Industry
4) Financial Inclusion
5) All of these

22. As we know lot of new concepts are being used in the field of banking these days. Which of the following is NOT one such conc-ept/product directly associated with banks?
1) E-payment
2) SMS Alert
3) ATM Debit Card
4) Demat Account
5) Number Portability

23. Which of the following is NOT a Nationalized Bank ?
1) UBI
2) CBI
3) Yes Bank
4) Syndicate Bank
5) Indian Bank

24. As predicted by the World Bank, Indian economy will grow faster than which of the following countries in 2012?
1) China
2) USA
3) Japan
4) France
5) Germany

25. Who amongst the following cannot open an account in any bank in India?
1) One who is not earning regularly
2) A House wife
3) A student of l0th Standard
4) A farmer who owns a small piece of land
5) An individual who is well to do out his source of income is not known

26. Which of the following banks has taken over the Centurion Bank of Punjab ?
1) ICICI Bank
2) IDBI Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) AXIS Bank
5) None of these

27. Inflation has become a major area of concern in India these days. What measures do the Government of India/ RBI norm-ally take to control the same?
A) Fixation of Maximum Prices of the Commodities
B) System of Dual prices
C) Increase in Supply of food grains
D) Control on credit and liquidity in market
1) Only A
2) Only B
3) Only C
4) Only B, C and D
5) All of these

28. Which state government announ-ced that each village in the State with a population of 250 would be declared a "revenue village" for facilitating its development ?
1) West Bengal
2) Orissa
3) Rajasthan
4) Haryana
5) None

29. Who among the following is the author of the novel "Without Dreams"?
1) Shahbano Bilgrami
2) Saeed Mirza
3) Javed Akhtar
4) Shabana Azmi
5) None

30. The Government of India has set up Price Stabilisation Fund for four commodities. Which of the following is NOT covered by the scheme ?
1) Tobacco
2) Coffee
3) Rubber
4) Tea
5) Jute

31. The organizing committee of FIFA World Cup announced the name of the country selected to host the event to be organized in 2014. Who is the host chosen for the same ?
1) Russia
2) Venzeula
3) Bolivia
4) Peru
5) Brazil

32. Who among the following is the author of the book :'Half a life'?
1) Mark Tully
2) Deepak Chopra
3) Chetan Bhagat
4) Ved Mehta
5) V.S. Neipaul

33. In which one of the following states, village level marketing platform has been set up for the first time in the country?
1) Haryana
2) Maharashtra
3) Gujarath
4) Bihar
5) Kerala

34. With which one of the following sports, the name of Parupalli Kashyap is associated?
1) Chess
2) Tennis
3) Badminton
4) Athletics
5) None of these

35. While passing the Finance Bill the Finance Minister agreed to with draw the controversial 'misery tax' on healthcare from the tax proposals. What did this 'misery tax relate to?
1) Expenditure tax for luxury treatment
2) Service tax on air conditioned hospitals and diagnostics
3) Sales tax on expensive healthcare
4) GST on costly hospital and medical treatment
5) None

Answers:
1) 5 2) 1 3) 2 4) 5 5) 1 6)5 7) 3 8) 4 9) 5 10) 2 11) 3 12) 2 13) 3 14) 1 15) 5 16) 3 17) 4 18) 3 19) 4 20) 4 21) 1 22) 5 23) 3 24) 1 25) 3 26) 3 27) 5 28) 3 29) 3 30) 5 31) 5 32) 5 33) 3 34) 3 35) 2

BUSSINESS ECONOMY TERMS

Accounting period:

The period of time covered by business, financial and management accounts. Financial accounts are generally prepared once or twice in twelve calendar months, but the interval of management accounts must be much shorter in order to ensure adequate management control over the regular operations.

Annual Depreciation:

The reduction in book value of an asset at a certain percentage rate per annum.

Appreciation:

An increase in the value of an asset over its purchase price or book value.

Asset:

Any business resource both tangible and intangible acquired at monetary cost and which is expected to be of benefit to the business for a period of time, such as buildings, machinery, etc. Intangibles include goodwill etc. Any resource of a deceased or insolvent person from which claims may be met.

Bad Debt:

A debt which is irrecoverable and is therefore written off as a loss in the accounts of a company/bank etc.

Balance sheet:

Statement of the financial position of a company on a particular date, showing the nature and amount of a company's assets and liabilities on a particular date, usually the end of the accounting year. The assets include fixed assets, investment, current assets (which include Inventories, sundry debtors, cash and bank balances) and loans and advances. The liabilities include shareholders' fund (equity capital plus reserves). Loan funds (secured and unsecured loans) and current liabilities and provisions. The assets and liabilities must balance.

Blank cheque:

A cheque which has been signed and dated but in which the amount payable has not been filled in. This is left for the payee to insert.

Break Even Point:

That level of activity of a business at which neither profit nor loss is incurred, total costs equating with total revenue. Also called break-even performance.

Brokerage:

The payment charged by brokers for their services in arranging a contract. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the monetary value of the contract.

Bullion:

Gold and silver, usually in bar form, which is regarded as a commercial commodity at recognised degrees of purity.

Capital:

All resources which have been produced by mankind and which themselves are used in the process of production. Capital is thus different from land, since this is a natural rather than a man made resource. The total resources of a person or business. The sum of money subscribed by the members of a company, by partners or by an individual when starting a company.

Central Bank:

A bank, usually state owned whose operations are directed by the government as an instrument of financial policy. Typical functions of a central bank include acting as banker to the state and the commercial banks, controlling the note issue and managing the state's currency and credit policies. The German Bundesbank and the American Federal Reserve are the most autonomous of all central banks in the world. RBI will surely count amongst the least autonomous ones. Autonomy of the central bank reduces government extravagancea and minimises political interference.

Cheque:

A written order to banker authorising him to pay a specified sum of money to a person named in the order, to his order or to bearer from funds deposited with the banker.

Consumer Durables:

Solid items bought by the general public for use in the house. These may include washing machines, cookers and refrigerators, which are likely to be in use for several years.

Consumer Goods:

Commodities or services consumed directly to satisfy a want rather than one used to produce something else. For Example: Soft drinks etc. Capital goods (like machineries), on the other hand, are used to generate some other goods.

Credit Rating:

The amount which is credit agency states a borrower is capable of repaying. Credit Rating can be done for stocks, bonds or nations themselves. Some global credit rating agencies are Standard and Poor's (S & P), Moody's etc. CRISIL is the Indian agency rating bonds etc.

CRISIL or Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited:

Jointly sponsored by the UTI and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), CRISIL has been functioning since January 1988. It rates the safety and timely payment of interest on debt securities like debentures and fixed deposits of public and private sector companies. The rating, subjected to periodic review, is given in alphabetical symbols preceded by d for Debentures and F for Fixed Safety, an adequate safety, B inadequate safety, C high risk, D default.

Debentures:

An instrument of debt, called bond in the US. A debenture holder is a creditor to the company who loans funds for a period of 7-10 years against a fixed rate of interest. After the stipulated loan period the debentures are redeemed, i.e., the loan is paid back, sometimes with a very small premium. Debentures are generally secured against the company's assets. Convertible debentures can be either fully or partly converted into a certain number of shares, usually at a premium, after a stated period of time. Convertible debentures may carry a lower rate of interest than non convertible debentures investment; there is little risk but also little prospect of appreciation.

Debt-Equity Ratio:

Also called financial Leverage ratio in the US. There are three methods of calculating this ratio, the last being more common:
1. The total liabilities of a company divided by the shareholders' equity
2. The total long term debt divided by shareholders' equity
3. The total long term debt plus the par value of preference shares divided by the par value of equity shares. All the three ratios measure a company's solvency.

Depreciation:

1. The reduction in the value of an asset through wear and tear, obsolescence, etc. 2. An accounting device by means of which the value of an asset is converted into an expense for each of the accounting periods during which the asset is expected to contribute value.

Disinflation:

The process or policy of removing pressures on the economy which are forcing prices upwards and the real value of the monetary unit downwards. Pressure may be removed by curtailing expenditure through credit restrictions and a dear money policy, and by taxation.

Deficit:

An excess of liabilities over assets or of expenditure over revenue.

Disinvestment:

Especially in the Indian context, it refers to the process of offloading of shares in a firm by a party. The government of India has partially disinvested its holding in several Public Sector undertaking (PSUs) with the ultimate aim of privatising them to increase accountability and productivity.

Elasticity of Demand:

A measurement of economics of the degree of response of a change in one factor to a change in a related factor, expressed in a price demand, price supply or demand income relationships.

Floating Capital:

Funds available for carrying on a business, including funds employed in marketable investments.

Foreign Exchange:

The process of trading one currency for another. This takes place on the international exchange markets where trading sets the exchange rates of currencies. Foreign currency is required by individuals, business and governments to finance the purchase of goods and services and to make loans to other countries.

Free Market Economy:

An economic system where the government does not interfere in any way in business activity.

Golden Handshake:

Compensation paid to an executive of a company on his displacement and especially on his retirement.

Gross Domestic Product:

The value of goods and services produced in an economy. The value may be measured by aggregating market values of goods and services or by aggregating incomes from employment, profits, dividends, etc. (i.e., factor cost, which is equivalent to market values less purchase tax plus subsidies). It is equivalent to gross national product less the value of net property abroad.

Gross National Product:

The total monetary value of all the goods and services produced by a country in a year, expressed either at factor cost or at market prices.

Inflation:

The rate at which prices grow in an economy. Thus, reduced rate of inflation would mean that the rate at which prices will rise has slowed down, but not that the prices will fall.

Liquid Assets:

Assets that can be converted into cash comparatively quickly. They are widely regarded as comprising shares, short term bills of exchange, bank deposits and cash itself.

Lay off:

The temporary dismissal of a worker because there is no work to be done.

Merchandise:

Goods which are offered for sale.

National Income:

The sum of the value of goods and services available to an economy through its economic activity in a given time period. The income many be evaluated:
1. by adding the incomes generated by economic activity, e.g., wages, salaries, dividends, profits and net income from abroad;
2. by adding the prices of goods and services, less indirect taxes plus subsidies, together with government expenditure. Both methods produce similar total and the movement in the total is indicative of economic progress over time, once allowance is made for price inflation, population growth, etc. Growth of national income need not be synonymous with improvement in living standards

Real Interest Rate:

Current interest rate less the rate of inflation; of relevance in decision regarding long term fixed interest securities. Since most current interest is taxed, the post tax interest is likely to fall below double digit inflation rates, which means a steady erosion of capital.

Redemption:

Buying back a loan instrument by paying off the lender. In the case of debentures or preference shares redemption means paying back the investor, either in cash, or through equity shares.

Sensex:

it is the sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. It reflects the weighted average price of 30 most volatile A Group shares on the BSE. Widely criticised to be an unrepresentative but highly influential index.

Yield:

The actual rate of return received or obtainable from an investment, generally as the annual income calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of the investment. The rate of return for a capital investment project which equates the net capital expenditure with the discounted value of futures net cash inflows. The output of a process.

Bank of Baroda Clerk Exam Paper 2011

Socio-economic, Banking and Computer Awareness

1. Which of the following nations is considered the originator of the concept of Micro Finance?
(1) Bangladesh
(2) India
(3) South Africa
(4) Greece
(5)Brazil

2. Which of the following is represented by the letter ‘L' in the abbreviation CAMELS, the rating system used in financial world ?
(1) Loans
(2) Leadership
(3) Liabilities
(4) Liquidity
(5) None of these

3. Repo rate is decided by which of the following organizations?
(1) SEBI
(2) AMFI
(3) All Banks
(4) RBI
(5) IMF

4. Many a times we read a term ‘PPP' in financial dailies/magazines. What is the full form of the same as used in financial world?
(1) Purchasing Power Parity
(2) Per captia Potential Purchases
(3) Public Per captia Power
(4) Present Purchasing Power
(5) Popular Public Preferences

5. The rate of interest on Term Deposits in Banks is stipulated by which of the following?
(1) RBI
(2) Government of India
(3) Indian Banks Association
(4) Banking Codes and Standards Board of India
(5) Individual Banks themselves

6.  Which of the following is not a function of a commercial bank?
(1) Providing project finance
(2) Selling Mutual Funds
(3) Deciding policy rates like CRR, Repo Rates/SLR etc.
(4) Settlement of payments on behalf of the customers
(5) Providing services such as locker facilities, remittances etc.

7. Which of the following carries out ‘Open Market Operations'?
(1) Stock Exchanges in India
(2) Indian Banks' Association
(3) Securities and Exchange Board of India
(4) Planning Commission
(5) Reserve Bank of India

8. The famous name Vikram Pandit is associated with which of the following organizations/banks?
(1) Cairn Energy
(2) ICICI Bank
(3) Pepsi Co.
(4) Vodafone
(5) Citigroup

9. Which of the following is the main function of I.M.E.?
(1) Finance investment loans to developing countries
(2) Act as a private sector lending arm of the World Bank
(3) Help to solve balance of payment problems of member countries
(4) Arrange international deposits from banks
(5) None of these

10. Which of the following is not a mode of foreign capital inflow to India?
(1) FDI
(2) FII
(3) NRI Accounts
(4) No Frills Accounts
(5) All these are valid for foreign capital inflow

11. Five Year Plans in India are finally approved by which of the following bodies?
(1) National Development Council
(2) President on the advice of Prime Minister
(3)  Union Cabinet
(4) Planning Commission
(5) Finance Minister

12. Which of the following schemes is launched specifically for helping Senior Citizens to avail loan by mortgage of their residential property?
(1) English Mortgage Scheme
(2)  Senior Capital Loan Scheme
(3) Reverse Mortgage Loan Scheme
(4) DEMAT Account Scheme
(5) None of these

13. The most appropriate measure of a country's economic growth is___
(1) Net National Product
(2) Net domestic product
(3) Gross domestic product
(4) Per capita real income
(5) Total Foreign Investment in a year

14. In order to streamline the functioning of MFI sector the RBI had appointed a committee. The committee was headed by___
(1) Dr. Y.V.Redddy
 (2) Shri M.V.Nair
(3) Shri Y.H.Malegam
(4) Dr. D.Subbarao
(5) Smt. Usha Thorat

15. The census in India is done after a gap of every-
(1) 5 years   
(2) 10 Years
(3) 12 Years
(4) 15 Years
(5) None of these

16. Structure of Basel II is based on how many pillars?
(1) Two         
(2) Three
(3) Four       
(4) Five
(5) Six

17. Which of the following is/are the depositories in India handling dematerialized shares?
(A) National Payment Corporation of India
(B) Central Depository Service (CDSL)
(C) Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
(1) Both (A) & (B)
(2) Only (B)
(3) Only (A)
(4) Only(C)
(5) All (A),(B) & (C)

18. What does the term NSDL stand for?
(1) National Securities Development Limited
(2) National Securities Depository Limited
(3) National Safety Development Limited
(4) Natural Safety Development Limited
(5) National Social & Developmental Liabilities

19. Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) does not have which of the following functions?
(1) Equipment leasing
(2) Housing finance and investments in financial securities
(3) Hiring & Purchasing Assets.
(4) Demand Deposits
(5) None of these

20. Insurance business in India is regulated by___
(1) Life Insurance Corporation of India
(2) SEBI
(3) Reserve Bank of India
(4) Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA)
(5) AMFI

21. Basel III in banks is being planned to be implemented from which of the following years?
(1) 2012           
(2) 2013
(3) 2014           
(4) 2015
(5) 2019

22. Money Laundering refers to which of the following?
(1) Conversion of assets into cash
(2) Conversion of Money which is illegally obtained
(3) Conversion of cash into gold
(4) Conversion of gold into cash
(5) Conversion of shares into cash

23. As per the repots in various newspapers, RBI has asked banks to make a plan to provide banking service to all villages having a population of 2000. This directive issued by the RBI will fall in which of the following categories?
(1) Plan for Financial Inclusion
(2) Efforts to meet the targets of Priority Lending
(3) Extension of Relief Packages to the Farmers
(4) Extensions of Internal and Branchless Banking
(5) None of these

24. The price at which the Govt. Purchases food grain for maintaining the public distribution system is known as-
(1) Ceiling prices
(2) Procurement price
(3) Minimum Price
(4) Issue Price
(5) Distribution price

25. Which of these books is written by Kiran Desai?
(1) A Village By the Sea
(2) Darkness at Noon
(3) Lolita
(4) My Son's Father
(5) The Inheritance of Loss

Computer Awareness
26. The ___controls communications for the entire computer system.
(1) Arithmetic-logic unit
(2) Semiconductor
(3) Motherboard
(4) Coprocessor
(5) None of these

27. A ___is approximately 1 million bytes.
(1) Megabyte
(2) Kilobyte
(3) Gigabyte
(4) Terabyte
(5) None of these

28. Which of the following is formally defined as a criminal action perpetrated primarily through the use of a computer?
(1) Phishing
(2) Hacking
(3) Cybercrime
(4) Social networking
(5) None of these

29. Hardware used to translate words, sound images and actions that People understands into a form that the system unit can process is known as-
(1) Device drivers
(2) Device readers
(3) Input devices
(4) Output devices
(5) None of these

30. Being- means being familiar enough with computers in such a manner that you understand their capabilities and limitations.
(1) Computer literate
(2) Computer competent
(3) Computer savvy
(4) Technology literate
(5) None of these

31. The System component that controls and manipulates data in order to produce information is called the -
(1) Keyboard
(2) Microprocessor
(3) Monitor
(4) Mouse
(5) None of these

32. The container that houses most of the electronic components that make up a computer system is known as the -
(1) Arithmetic -logic unit
(2) Central processing unit
(3) RFID
(4) System catalog
(5) None of these

33. How a network is arranged and how it shares information and resources is called a network___
(1) Topology
(2) Strategy
(3) Protocol
(4) Architecture
(5) None of these

34. These chips are specifically designed to handle the processing requirements related to displaying and manipulating 3-D images.
(1) Graphics coprocessors
(2) Arithmetic - logic unit processors
(3) Control unit processors
(4) CISC chips
(5) None of these

35. Which type of software is used to make a slide show ?
(1) Spreadsheets software
(2) World processing software
(3) Presentation software
(4) System software
(5) None of these

36. RAM is referred to as- storage.
(1) Direct  
(2) Volatile
(3) Secondary
(4) Sequential
(5) None of these

37. The - tells the rest of the computer how to carry out a program's instruction.
(1) ALU
(2) Control unit
(3) System unit
(4) Motherboard
(5) None of these

38.  The combination of operating system and processor in a computer is referred to as computers'___
(1) Firmware
(2) Specification
(3) Minimum requirements
(4) Platinum
(5) None of these

39. The position of a disk that contains no stored data, but may contain latent data is called-
(1) RAM slack
(2) A cluster
(3) Swap space
(4) Unallocated space
(5) None of these

40. What is keyboard used for?
(1) Input text and numbers and send commands to the computer
(2) To create new keys to use with your computer
(3) To open the computer up
(4) To create pictures and images and send them to your computer
(5) None of these

41. The information processing cycle includes the following processes -
(1) Input, processing, output, storage
(2) Input, output, manipulation, arithmetic
(3) Data, processing, printing, editing
(4) Storage, display, data, information
(5) None of these

42. How tightly the bits can be packed next to one another on a disk is referred to as-
(1) Tracks                  
(2) Sectors
(3) Density                
(4) Configuration
(5) None of these

143. What are the speakers attached to your computer used for?
(1) Displaying images
(2) Sending messages
(3) Storing messages
(4) Handling sound and music
(5) Make system look technical

44. Tape is described as using this type of access-
(1) magneto-optical
(2) DVD
(3) Direct
(4) Disastrous
(5) None of these

45. Many experts are predicting that this revolution is expected to dramatically affect the way we communicate and use memory___
(1) Graphics
(2) Input
(3) Computer technology
(4) Industry
(5) Wireless

46. The acronym DBMS stands for what?
(1) Double-blind management setup
(2) Document binder management system
(3) Data binding and marketing structure
(4) Database methodology system
(5) None of these

47. The Name of the location of a particular piece of data is its___
(1) Address
(2) Memory name
(3) Storage site
(4) Data location
(5) None of these

48. The arithmetic/logic unit performs the following actions___
(1) Checks data for accuracy
(2) Does calculations using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
(3) Does logical comparisons, such as equal to, greater than, less than
(4) Does both calculations and logical comparisons
(5) None of these

49.The most powerful type of computer is___
(1) Mainframe computers
(2) Microcomputers
(3) Minicomputers
(4) Synocomputers
(5) Supercomputers

50. Letters, memos, term papers, reports and contracts are all examples of ___
(1)  Models
(2) Spreadsheets
(3) Documents
(4) menus
(5) None of these

ANSWERS:
 
    1) 1         2) 4       3) 4     4) 1      5) 5      6) 3     7) 3      8) 5       9) 3    10) 4
    11) 1    12) 3    13) 3    14) 3    15) 2    16) 2    17) 2    18) 2    19) 4    20) 4
    21) 5    22) 2     23) 1    24) 2    25) 5    26) 3    27) 1    28) 3    29) 3    30) 1
    31) 2    32) 5     33) 4    34) 1    35) 3    36) 2    37) 2    38) 5    39) 3    40) 1
    41) 1    42) 3    43) 4    44) 3    45) 5    46) 5    47) 4     48) 4    49) 5    50) 3

RBI in Annual Report for 2010-11

The Reserve Bank of India released its Annual Report for 2010-11 on 25 August 2011. The Report of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank includes (i) the assessment of the macroeconomic performance during 2010-11 and the prospects for 2011-12, and (ii) the working and operations of the Reserve Bank and its financial accounts.

Assessment for 2010-11

As part of the assessment for 2010-11 the RBI pointed out that challenges to the Indian economy emerged as investment activity slowed and fiscal consolidation was led by cyclical and one-off factors, the sustainability of the economy thus became uncertain, more so given the immense inflationary pressure. The report highlighted RBI’s measures adopted when faced with the growing challenges.

•    RBI opted for cumulative monetary tightening by raising operational policy rates by 475 bps since mid-March 2010. The policy was tightened aggressively as high inflation was believed to have brought down growth by itself. The threshold inflation was estimated in 4-6 per cent range for India. The inflation objective of monetary policy was kept lower than the threshold keeping in view the welfare costs for the poor and the open nature of the economy. Reserve Bank’s medium-term inflation objective was therefore fixed at 3 per cent. The central bank emphasised on containing perceptions of inflation in the range of 4.0-4.5 per cent
•    In the report the RBI pointed out that Fiscal deficit ratios in 2010-11 turned out to be better than envisaged in the Union budget. However the qualitative assessment of fiscal correction during 2010-11, was likely to raise concern. Capital outlay-GDP ratio fell. The RBI felt that since improved fiscal position had a large temporary component a more enduring fiscal consolidation strategy is needed.
•    The report pointed out that the improvement in the current account gap came about by cyclical upswing in global trade and turnaround in invisibles. The cyclical upswing as well as the turnaround resulted from pick-up in exports from November 2010 aided by diversification of trade in composition and direction. Trade policy in particular supported exports through schemes such as DEPB.
•    In India, it was observed, post-Lehman crisis, regulators took several measures for risk mitigation. However, the RBI cautioned that areas of concern still remained.
•    A series of stress tests conducted by the Reserve Bank revealed that banks remained resilient. RBI warned nevertheless that risks of asset quality deterioration in infrastructure sector needed to be averted by quickly resolving the pricing and input supply issues.
The gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks was noted to have increased marginally to 2.52 per cent by end-June 2011. The CRAR at 13.86 per cent at end-June 2011 was thus well above the minimum requirement.

Slum Population in the Country

The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the first five States having largest slum population in the country as per Census 2001, are as follows:-

Sl. No.	State/UTs	Slum Population in 2001
1.	Maharashtra	11975943
2.	Andhra Pradesh	6268945
3.	Uttar Pradesh	5756004
4.	West Bengal	4663806
5.	Tamil Nadu	4240931

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today she said, the five metros having largest slum population in the country as per Census 2001, are as follows:-

Sl. No.	Name of the Metro	Slum Population in 2001
1.	Greater Mumbai	6475440
2.	Delhi	1851231
3.	Kolkata	1485309
4.	Chennai	819873
5.	Nagpur	737219

She said, as the Census 2011 slum figures are not available, it is not possible to indicate the growth in the slum population.

The Minister said, the existing urban planning models and urban land policies are one of the key reasons for growth of slums. The other major reasons are :-

(i)          Increased urbanization leading to pressure on the available land and infrastructure, especially for the poor.

(ii)   Natural increase in the population of urban poor and migration from rural areas and small towns to larger cities.

(iii)  Sky-rocketing land prices due to increasing demand for land and constraints on supply of land.    

(iv)  Absence of programmes of affordable housing for the urban poor in most States.

(v)    Lack of availability of credit for low income housing.

(vi)   Increasing cost of construction.

Kumari Selja said, in pursuance of the Government’s vision of creating a Slum-free India, a new scheme ‘Rajiv Awas Yojana’ (RAY) has been launched on 02.06.2011 with a budget of Rs.5,000 crores. The Scheme is expected to initially cover about 250 cities, across the entire country by the end of 12th Plan (2017). The selection of the cities will be done in consultation with the Centre. Under the Scheme, Fifty percent (50 %) of the cost of provision of basic civic and social infrastructure and amenities and of housing, including rental housing,  and transit housing for in-situ redevelopment – in slums would be borne by the Centre, including operation & maintenance of assets created under this scheme. For the North Eastern and Special Category States the share of the Centre would be 90% including the cost of land acquisition, if required.

Labour Force in the Country

Reliable estimates of employment and unemployment are obtained through quinquennial labour force surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office.  Last   such survey was conducted during 2009-10.  As per most recent survey, details of estimated labour force on usual status basis for male and female residing in rural and urban areas in the country during 2009-10 are given below :

                                                   (in million)

Residence	Male	Female	Persons
Rural	233.48	107.13	340.61
Urban	107.42	26.95	134.37
Total	340.90	134.08	474.98

                9.50  million persons among the total estimated labour force of 474.98 million during 2009-10 were unemployed.

                 Latest data available in the quinquennial labour force survey conducted during 2004-05 by National Sample Survey Office revealed that percentage of working poor (those employed but unable to earn sufficient income from their work to rise above the official poverty line) was estimated at around 22 per cent in the country on usual status basis (based on mixed recall period) during 2004-05.

           Number of youth job seekers in the age group of 15-29, all of whom may not necessarily be unemployed, registered with employment exchanges in the country as on 31st December 2008 was 2.70 crore. Data relating to youth job seekers according to educational level are not maintained centrally.

                 Government of India is fully aware of the magnitude of unemployment problem prevailing in the country, particularly, among the youth and to tackle this problem, the Government has undertaken skill development in a big way. In order to achieve this objective, the coordinated Action Plan for Skill Development has set a target of 500 million skilled persons by the year 2022, and all concerned Ministries and Departments have been mandated to undertake skill development programmes accordingly. All the Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are being modernized. New Govt. and Private ITIs are set up to augment training capacity. A new scheme, titled Skill Development Initiative has been started to train one million persons in five years and then one million every year in short term modular employable skills. In addition, Government has also been implementing various employment generation programmes and some of the important ones are: Swarnajayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojna, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme.

National Level Social Security Fund for Unorganised Workers

The National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers has been constituted.

The fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, beedi workers etc.

The initial allocation of National Social Security Fund was Rs. 1,000/- crore in Budget 2010-11. In addition to this, in Budget Estimates for 2011-12, a provision of Rs. 500/- crore has been made for transfer to the National Social Security Fund. The number of workers to be covered under the scheme would depend on the target group to be covered and nature of social security schemes to be formulated.

Ministry of Finance is the custodian of the National Social Security Fund and the Ministry of Labour & Employment is the Nodal Ministry to administer the scheme.

This information was given by the Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha today in Reply to a written question whether Government has cleared to set up a National level Social Security Fund for unorganized workers; the salient features of the benefits covered under the proposed scheme; the value of proposed fund, names of the segments of unorganized workers and the form of social security to be provided under the fund; the number of workers to be benefited under the scheme; who will be the custodian of the fund/or any board or committee that has been constituted to administer the fund; and the time by when proposed fund is to be constituted.

Bonded Labour in the Country

The Bonded Labour System has been abolished by law throughout the country with effect from 25th October, 1975 under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance which was replaced by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. As and when existence of bonded labour is detected, such persons are identified for rehabilitation. According to the reports received from the State Governments, the total number of bonded labourers identified and released is 2,89,327 as on 31.3.2011.

The responsibility for rehabilitating the freed bonded labourers lies with the respective State Governments. In order to assist the State Governments in the task of rehabilitation of identified and released bonded labourers, a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour is in operation since May, 1978. Under the scheme, rehabilitation assistance @ Rs. 20,000/- per bonded labour is provided which is equally shared by the Central and State Government.

In collaboration with the ILO, the Central Government and State Government of Tamil Nadu have launched a pilot project in the State for the purpose of reducing vulnerability to bondage through promotion of decent work. Attempt is now being made to replicate this approach in some other states of the country.

As a result of concerted efforts made by the Government through various anti-poverty programmes, awareness, sensitization etc., the incidence of bonded labour has witnessed a down ward trend over the years.

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, provides for punishment for enforcement of bonded labour. The States/Union Territories are mandated to implement the provisions of the Act.

Separate data is maintained in respect of child bonded labourers identified and released.

This information was given by the Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha today in Reply to a written question whether Government is aware of several cases of bonded labour in the country; Government`s plan to make country a bonded labour free nation; the action taken against the perpetrators of this crime and whether there has also been cases where children have been engaged as bonded labour and their details.

Disparity in Demand and Supply for Housing Units for the Urban Poor

The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy (NUHHP) 2007 aims at promoting sustainable development of habitat in the country with a view to ensuring equitable supply of land shelter and services at affordable prices to all sections of the society. ‘Land’ and ‘Colonisation’ being State subjects, it is for the State Governments to pursue the initiatives under the NUHHP:2007.

                          In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today she said, a Technical Group constituted by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation to estimate housing shortage at the beginning of 11th Plan, has estimated housing shortage as on 2007 to be at 24.71 million dwelling units. It was also estimated that the Housing requirement during 11th Plan period (2007 - 2012) will be 26.53 million. It was estimated as below:

Housing Shortage as the beginning of 11th Five Year Plan	24.71 million
Addition to household	8.71 million
Addition to housing stock	7.27 million
Upgradation of Kacha houses	0.38 million
Total Housing Requirement during the 11th Plan period (2007-2012) (24.71 + 8.71 + 0.38 - 7.27 = 26.53)	26.53 million

She said, to meet this huge shortage it is estimated that an expenditure of Rs. 6,00,000 crores for both housing and basic infrastructure is required. However, the Central Government is supporting the construction of housing for poor sections of the society in urban areas through various programmatic interventions namely:

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), launched by the Government in the year 2005 supports provision of housing and basic services to urban poor in slums in 65 specified cities under the Sub Mission Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and in other cities and towns under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP). The schemes are demand driven and so far 16,12,503 Dwelling Units have been sanctioned for construction/upgradation in 936 cities/towns under BSUP & IHSDP components of JNNURM as on 12.07.2011.

The Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) provides for interest subsidy on housing loans to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Low Income Group (LIG) as part of credit-enablement measures and encourages those households to avail of loan facilities through Commercial Banks/Housing Finance Companies for the purposes of construction/acquisition of houses and avail 5% subsidy in interest payment for loans upto Rs. 1 lakh. Cumulatively, as on 03/08/2011, 7805 beneficiaries in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu   have been covered under the Scheme.

The scheme of Affordable Housing in Partnership seeks assembly of land for construction of affordable housing and provides Central Government assistance towards provision of internal and external infrastructure connectivity. The scheme which was launched in 2009 with an outlay of Rs. 5000 crores, seeks construction of 1 million houses for EWS/LIG/Middle Income Group (MIG) with at least 25% for EWS Category.

A new scheme ‘Rajiv Awas Yojana’ (RAY) has been launched on 02.06.2011. The Scheme will provide financial assistance to States that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers for provision of decent shelter and basic civic and social services for slum redevelopment, and for creation of affordable housing stock. Fifty percent (50 %) of the cost of provision of basic civic and social infrastructure and amenities and of housing, including rental housing,  and transit housing for in-situ redevelopment – in slums would be borne by the Centre, including operation & maintenance of assets created under this scheme. For the North Eastern and Special Category States the share of the Centre would be 90% including the cost of land acquision, if required.

The Minister said, given the magnitude of the housing shortage and budgetary constraints of both the Central and State Governments, it is amply clear that Public Sector efforts will not suffice in fulfilling the housing demand.  In view of this scenario, the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 focuses the spotlight on multiple stake-holders namely, the Private Sector, the Cooperative Sector, the Industrial Sector for labour housing and the Services/Institutional Sector for employee housing.  In this manner, the Policy seeks to promote various types of public-private partnerships for realizing the goal of “Affordable Housing for All”.

BANK EXAMS PRACTICE MCQs

GENERAL AWARENESS

 

1. The International World Wide Web Conference 2011 was held at
a) Italy
b) Manila
c) Geneva
d) Newyork
e) Hyderabad

2.Which of the following countries is NOT associated with the proposed TAPI gas pipeline?
a) India
b) Pakistan
c) Portugal
d) Afghanistan
e) Turkmenistan

3. Bhagyam oilfields are located in which of following states?
a) Rajasthan
b) Gujarat
c) Andhra Pradesh
d) Maharashtra
e) Karanatka

4. The Central Government has approved Rs 7000 crore Project to clean which of the following rivers?
a) Narmada
b) Ganga
c) Mahanadi
d) Kaveri
e) Godavari

5. Recently a controversy rages over new land acquisition policy in which of following states?
a) Maharashtra
b) Uttar Pradesh
c) Gujarat
d) Madhya Pradesh
e) West Begal

6.BP Plc, a well known company is engaged in which one of the following as its major operations?
a) Nuclear Power Generation
b) Oil and Gas Exploration c) Wind power generation
d) Steel production
e) Coal production

7. As per statement given by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in medias, the main cause of
increased inflation rate is the recent hike in prices of ______.
a) daily commodities
b) petroleum products--ans
c) infrastructure materials
d) imported goods
e) None of the above

8. The System Software is used to
a) diagonose and troubleshooting the attached device
b) create graphics images
c) draw the picture on paper
d) manage the available internal resources
e) None of these

9. One billionth of a second is
a) gigabyte
b) nanosecond
c) terabyte
d) megabyte
e) None of these

10. A technology used to create, store, exchange and utilize information in its various forms including business data, conversations, still images, motion pictures and multimedia presentations is called
a) website
b) information technology
c) internet chat
d) networking
e) None of these

11. A program which is used find spam data in the computer and capable to distroy is called
a) firewall
b) anti-spam program
c) adware remover
d) pop-up blocker
e) None of these

12. A chip placed on the electronic circuit board inside a system unit that hold temporarliy piece of information/data is called (containing the data being displayed on output device)
a) modem
b) scanner
c) memory
d) hard disk
e) None of these

13. A graphic or piece of text that links to another piece of information in a web page is
a) meta-tag
b) page connection
c) domain name
d) hyperlink
e) None of these

14. Which of the following computer programming languages is used to write applet programs which
can be integrate into a webpage?
a) Which of the following computer programming languages is used to write applet programs which
can be integrate into a webpage?
a) Java
b) PERL
c) C++
d) Pascal
e) FORTRAN
b) PERL
c) C++
d) Pascal
e) FORTRAN

15. Embedded operating systems are used in
a) desktop computers
b) mainframe computers
c) PDAs
d) network server computer
e) None of these

16. . A Web or part of a Web site, or part of an online service that provides a venue for communities of
users with a common interest to communicate in real time is called
a) user forum
b) blog
c) discussion forum
d) chat-group
e) None of these

17. The main electronic circuit board in the system unit is called
a) Circuit plate
b) Chassis
c) Motherboard
d) Processor
e) None of these

18. The System Unit consists of
a) all electronic components of the computer used to process data
b) all hardware and software
c) application programs
d) Mouse and keyboard
e) None of these

19. A portable computer called Laptop, having a weight about 1.4 to 4.5 kg is also known as
a) Desktop PC
b) Mainframe Computer
c) Personal Computer
d) Micro Computer
e) Notebook computer

20. if Reserve Bank of India hikes interest rates by 25 basis points in its monetary policy, then a commercial bank would like to increase it’s interest rates on loans by 25 basis points of
a) Prime Lending Rate
b) Repo rate
c) Base rate
d) Saving account interest rate
e) None of these

21. Which one of the following pairs of countries is associated with nuclear arms control treaty START?
a) US-China
b) China-Iran
c) US-Russia

d) US – Japan
e) None of these

22. The International World Wide Web Conference 2011 was held at …..
a) Italy
b) Manila
c) Geneva
d) Newyork
e) Hyderabad

23. Which of the following schemes is NOT launched by Ministry of Rural Development?
a) National Family Benefit Scheme
b) National Old Age Pension Scheme
c) Nationall Maternity Benefit Scheme
d) Mid Day Meal scheme
e) All the above are launched by Ministry of Rural Development

24. Who among the followings has been appointed as coach of Indian cricket team for next two years?
a) Gary Kirsten
b) John Buchanan
c) Andy Flower
d) Duncan Fletcher
e) None of the above

25. What does the letter ‘L’ stands for in the term LAF commonly used in financial/economic news?
a) Liquidity

b) Least
c) Liabilities
d) Longitudinal
e) Linear

26. FINO, a term used by media in financial newspapers and tv news channels is stands for
a) Financial Information Network & Operations
b) Financial Inclusion News & Operations
c) Financial Inclusion Network & Operations
d) Fast Information Network & Operations
e) None of the above

27. Why Kanishtha Dhankar recently was in news?
a) She is new Femina Miss India World 2011
b) She is new coach of Women’s Hockey team
c) She has won gold medal in Asian Games 2010
d) She has won Miss World 2011 crown
e) None of these

28. Goodluck Jonathan has been re-elected as President of _________.
a) Sudan
b) South Korea
c) Lebanon
d) Nigeria
e) Ghana

29. The Planning Commission has set GDP growth target for 12th Plan (2012-17) at _______.
a) 7.5 – 8.0 per cent
b) 8.0 – 8.5 per cent
c) 9 – 9.5 per cent
d) 9.5 – 10.0 per cent
e) None of the above

30. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, has been adopted by which of the following international agencies/organisation?
a) World Health Organisation (WHO)
b) International Maritime Organization
c) International Labour Organization
d) United Nations (UN)
e) International Atomic Energy Agency

31. The amount of liquid assets, such as cash, precious metals or other short-term securities, that a
financial institution or bank must maintain in its reserves is called
a) CRR
b) Bank Deposits
c) Fixed Assets
d) SLR
e) None of these

32. Before launching the new indices to measure food inflation, earlier it is measured on the basis of
a) Wholesale Price Index
b) Consumer Price Index
c) Nifty Index
c) BSE & NSE index
e) None of these

33. Which of the following space agencies has recently placed three satellites Resourcesat,
Youthsat, and X-SAT successfully in the Earth orbit?
a) NASA
b) ROSCOSMOS
c) CNSA
d) ISRO
e) None of these

34. K Balachander who recently won Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2010 is a famous
a) Cinematographer
b) Director
c) Musician
d) Dancer
e) Writer

35. Which of the following countries has joined the BRIC group of nations to change it’s name as
BRICS?
a) Sudan
b) Singapore
b) South Korea
d) Srilanka
e) South Africa

Committees On Taxation Reforms In India

1. Taxation Enquiry Committee:

i) It was established in 1953 chaired by Dr.John Mathal.

ii) To examine the incidents of Central, State and Local taxation on various classes of people.

iii) To examine the suitability of tax system to remove inequalities.

iv) To examine the effect of taxation on income and capital formation.

v) To explore fresh avenues of taxation

2. Indian Tax Reforms Committee:

i) Made in 1956

ii) Chaired by Prof.Kaldor

iii) Measures to widen the basis of Taxation on the following items.,

* Wealth Tax
* Capital Gains Tax
* Gift Tax
* Expenditure Tax
* Reforming
* Commercial Tax
* Tax Evasion

3. Boothalingam Committee:

i) main report was on " Rationalization and Simplification of Direct Taxation in India.

ii) Recommended 10% advalorem on all products.

iii) Simplification of Customs rates.

iv) Raising of exemption limit to the Income tax.

v) Abolition of Dividend Tax.

4. Direct Taxes Enquiry Committee:

i) Made in 1970 and Chaired by Mr.K.N.Wanchoo.

ii) Main concern of the committee was on Black Money.

iii) Extent of Black Money

iv) Causes of Tax Evasion

v) Measures to unearth Black Money

vi) Fighting Tax Evasion.

Exchange Control By Acts

FERA Act (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act):

The first controlling measure was FERA(Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) was made by Government of India in 1947 to control and manage the Foreign exchange capital formation in India. This even facilitates the foreign countries to invest in India.

1. It Prohibited all the transactions in foreign exchange and with non residents (even in rupees), except in cases for which relations were made.

2. Further guidelines issued by the Government ensured that branches and subsidiaries of foreign companies have minimum equity participation on 26%.

3. Regulating certain payments, dealings in foreign exchange and securities, transactions indirectly affecting foreign exchange and the import and export of currency, for the conservation of the foreign exchange resources of the country and the proper utilization thereof in the interests of the economic development of the country.

4. FERA Companies were released from the obligation of seeking permission from the RBI before raising working capital or accepting deposits. These companies could also use their trademarks in Inida and carryout any commercial activity.

5. Restrictions on assets held in India by Non-Resident Indian(NRIs) was removed.

FEMA Act (Foreign Exchange management Act):
FERA from its own existing form became, therefore, increasingly incompatible with the change in economic policy in the early 1990s. While the need for sustained development of foreign exchange was got aware very much, there was an outcry for a less aggressive and more matured leglaization, couched in milder language. Thus, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) came into being.

1. It replaced FERA in 2002.

2. The main reason was to relax control on foreign exchange is that India has made its currency, the Rupee, convertible on current account.

3. This was ti facilitate the external trade and payment and promote the gentle development of
the Foreign exchange market in India.

4. FEMA could be done only with persons authorized by RBI.

5. No person can acquire. hold , own, possess or transfer any foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property outside India, except in cases where the Act provides for this.

6. Current account transactions are freely allowed, however in the public interest, the Central government, in reasonable resistance on current account transactions.

7. Foreign Exchange can be drwan for all current account transactions, except those are prohibited while on the capital account forex outflow only for transactions that are permitted.

8. Regulations will be framed by the RBI laying down the restrictions, and so on, that will govern the 10 types of capital transactions. Namely.,

i) Transfer of foreign securities

ii) Securities in India

iii) Borrowings and lending in foreign exchange/rupees

iv) Deposits between residents and non-residents, export/import/holding of currency or currency notes

v) Acquisition or transfer of immovable properties in India or outside India and giving of guarantee es and securities in respect of debts or obligations, etc, in India or outside India in the case of a resident or non-resident

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana-New Dimensions

The ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’ for BPL families ( a unit of five)  in Unorganised Sector was launched on 1^st October, 2007 and became operational from April 1, 2008.   Under the scheme, smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/- per annum on a family floater basis is provided to a BPL family in the organized sector.  The premium is shared on 75:25 basis by Centre and State Government. In case of States of North-East region and Jammu & Kashmir, the premium is shared in the ratio of 90:10.  The scheme provides for portability of smart card by the splitting the card value for migrant workers.

Till July 31, 2011,  27 States/Union Territories have initiated the process to implement the scheme.  Out of these 27 States/ UTs, 25 States namely  Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,  Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana,  Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Tamilnadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Chandigarh Administration have started issuing smart cards. More than 2.4 crore smart cards have been issued as on July 31, 2011. Remaining States except, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan which have their own health insurance schemes, are in the process of implementation of the scheme. 

            RSBY has been extended to building and other construction workers registered under the Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 1996 and street vendors, beedi workers, MGNREGA beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year and Domestic Workers.  

The Outlay and target for the year 2011-12 for RSBY for BPL families  and other target groups are as under :-

S.No.	Name of the scheme	Outlay	Target fixed for 2011-12
1	RSBY for BPL families	Rs. 312.42 crore	2.4 crore
2.	Extension of RSBY to  Building and other construction workers	To be met from the cess collected by the Boards constituted under the Building and other construction wokers (RECS), Act, 1996	-
3.	Extension of RSBY Street vendors	Rs. 19.91 crore	4.21 lakh
4.	Extension of RSBY MGREGA workers	Rs. 350	56    lakh
5.	Extension of RSBY Beedi workers	Rs. 62.25 crore	10    lakh
6.	Extension of RSBY Domestic workers	Rs. 350 crore	4.75 lakh

Basic features of the Scheme

·         All the BPL families in the unorganized sector to be covered in five years under the scheme;

·         The Government contributes 75% of the annual premium.  State Governments to contribute 25%.  Administrative cost to be borne by the State Governments. In case of North-East region, the premium is shared in the ratio of 90:10;

·         Beneficiaries are issued Smart Cards;

·         Total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family per annum on a family floater basis;

·         Cashless transaction;

·         All pre-existing diseases to be covered;

·         Hospitalisation expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses including maternity benefit;

·         Transportation cost of Rs. 100/- per visit with an overall limit of Rs. 1,000/- per annum within the limit of Rs. 30000/- and

·         Projects are prepared by the State Governments and submitted for approval of the Inter-Ministerial Approval and Monitoring Committee constituted by the Central Government.

Unique Features Of The Scheme

·         The use of smart card, making the scheme truly cashless as also providing     interoperability to facilitate use by migrant labour;

·         Use of IT applications on such a large scale for the poorest of the poor;

·         Using both public and private service providers for delivering the insurance package;

·         Evolving a business model which could make the scheme sustainable in the   long  run;

·         Seeking contribution for the first time, by way of Registration fee, from the BPL beneficiary with a view to inculcating a sense of ownership in them and

·         No age limit has been prescribed. Hence, senior citizens are also covered.