BANK EXAMS GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs

1. Which British writer was awarded the 2011 Man Booker Prize for his book "The Sense of an Ending"?
1) Stephen Kelman
2) A.D.Miller
3) Carol Birch
4) Julian Barnes
5) Howard Jacobson

2. Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the first woman Prime Minister of which of the following European countries?
1) Denmark
2) Finland
3) Iceland
4) Norway
5) Sweden

3. The Rural Infrastructure Develo-pment Fund (RIDF) was set up by the Government in 1995-96 for financing rural infrastructure projects. Which of the following institutions/ agencies operates this fund?
1) RBI
2) NABARD
3) IFCI
4) SBI
5) IDBI Bank

4. What is the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in private sector banks?
1) 26%
2) 49%
3) 51%
4) 74%
5) 100%

5. The 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in September 2011. Who was crowned the Miss Universe 2011?
1) Leila Lopes (Angola)
2) Olesya Stefanko (Ukraine)
3) Priscila Machado (Brazil)
4) Shamcey Supsup (Philippines)
5) Vasuki Sunkavalli (India)

6. B.C.Khanduri of the Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as the Chief Minister of which of the following states in September 2011?
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) Karnataka
3) Haryana
4) Uttarakhand
5) Chhattisgarh

7. Who became the first cricketer to play in 100 Test wins on September 3, 2011?
1) Rahul Dravid
2) Sachin Tendulkar
3) Ricky Ponting
4) Shane Warne
5) Kumar Sangakkara

8. The India International Bank (Malaysia) is a trio joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and ________.
1) Bank of India
2) Indian Bank
3) Andhra Bank
4) Canara Bank
5) Vijaya Bank

9. Who is the author of the book "Walking with the Comrades"?
1) Jyothi Basu
2) Arundhati Roy
3) Kamala Das
4) Aravind Adiga
5) None of these

10. The board of which of the following banks has approved the merger of the financial services of Enam Securities Private Ltd. with itself in September 2011?
1) Axis Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) Yes Bank
5) None of these

11. Who replaced Shashank Mano-har as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in September 2011?
1) K.Srikkanth
2) N.Srinivasan
3) Rajiv Shukla
4) Sharad Pawar
5) Mohinder Amarnath

12. Which country tops the list of nations for having the maximum representation of women in Parliament?
1) India
2) Switzerland
3) Rwanda
4) Denmark
5) New Zealand

13. Which Indian software firm has become the official technology partner of the Amsterdam Marathon for a period of five years, from 2011 to 2015?
1) Infosys
2) Mahindra Satyam
3) Wipro
4) TCS
5) None of these

14. Which football player has won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2010-2011 season?
1) Kaka
2) Xavi Hernandez
3) Lionel Messi
4) Cristiano Ronaldo
5) None of these

15. Who topped the list of 100 most powerful women in the world for the year 2011 released by the Forbes magazine recently?
1) Angela Merkel
2) Hillary Clinton
3) Dilma Rousseff
4) Indra Nooyi
5) Sheryl Sandberg

16. Which film has won the Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration in the 58th National Film Awards?
1) Do Dooni Chaar
2) Dabangg
3) Moner Manush
4) Champions
5) Aadukalam

17. A working group constituted by the Reserve Bank of India has submitted its report on non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). Who headed this committee?
1) Y.V.Reddy
2) Bimal Jalan
3) Subir Gokarn
4) Usha Thorat
5) Shyamala Gopinath

18. Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated recently. He was the former President of which of the following countries?
1) Pakistan
2) Syria
3) Afghanistan
4) Libya
5) Iraq

19. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its "Trade and Development Report 2011". According to this report what is the projected economic growth rate for India in 2011?
1) 9%
2) 8.1%
3) 8.8%
4) 9.2%
5) None of these

20. Who became Japan's sixth Prime Minister in five years in September 2011?
1) Yukia Amano
2) Yukiya Hatoyama
3) Akihito
4) Yoshihiko Noda
5) None of these

21. India won the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament held in Ordos, China in September 2011.Which country did India defeat in the final?
1) Pakistan
2) Malaysia
3) Japan
4) South Korea
5) China

22. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his first US Open tennis championship and third Grand Slam tou-rnament of the year in September 2011. Whom did he defeat in the US Open men's final?
1) Roger Federer
2) Andy Roddick
3) Rafael Nadal
4) Andy Murray
5) Robin Soderling

23. Who has won the women's US Open tennis title in September 2011?
1) Samantha Stosur
2) Serena Williams
3) Kim Clijsters
4) Petra Kvitova
5) Venus Williams

24. Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011. Which of the following statements is/are true with regard to Steve Jobs?
1) Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple Inc.
2) iPod, iPhone and iPad are the renowned products of Apple.
3) Tim Cook is the present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple. He replaced Jobs in August 2011.
4) "Steve Jobs" is the authorized biography of the late Apple chief, written by Walter Isaacson.
5) All the above statements are correct.

25. The Chief Minister of which of the following states undertook a three-day 'Sadbhavana mission' fast in September 2011?
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) Karnataka
3) Uttarakhand
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Gujarat

26. Who was honoured with the first Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award in September 2011 for his/her outstanding contribution to Indian music?
1) Asha Bhonsle
2) Pandit Ravi Shankar
3) Lata Mangeshkar
4) Zakir Hussain
5) None of these

27. Chandrasekhar Kambar won the 46th Jnanpith Award for the year 2010. He is a renowned writer in which of the following languages?
1) Malayalam
2) Kannada
3) Hindi
4) Gujarati
5) Tamil

28. Agni II, a surface-to-surface missile, was successfully launched recently. What is its range?
1) 700 Km
2) 1000 Km
3) 2000 Km
4) 4000 Km
5) 5000 Km

29. The Bushehr plant is the first nuclear plant of which of the following countries?
1) Pakistan
2) Syria
3) Jordan
4) Iran
5) Iraq

30. The Union Cabinet has approved the Approach Paper for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17). According to this Paper what is the economic growth rate target during the 12th plan period?
1) 9%
2) 9.5%
3) 9.3%
4) 9.4%
5) 9.2%

31. India signed a treaty, which is aimed at solving a long-standing border dispute, with which of the following countries in September 2011?
1) Pakistan
2) Nepal
3) Bangladesh
4) Bhutan
5) China

32. Which country has launched Tiangong-1, its first space lab module?
1) South Korea
2) North Korea
3) China
4) Vietnam
5) Singapore

33. National Science Day is celebrated on which of the following days?
1) February 15
2) February 26
3) February 28
4) March 15
5) Match 26

34. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was re-elected the President of which of the following countries in October 2011?
1) Costa Rica
2) Brazil
3) Ireland
4) Argentina
5) Iceland

35. Which of the following rates has been increased by the Reserve Bank of India 13 times since March 2010?
1) CRR
2) SLR
3) Repo Rate
4) Bank Rate
5) Base Rate

Answers

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

India confronts US, EU at WTO over national solar power generation programme

India has stoutly defended its national solar power generation programme at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where the US and the EU raised objections to its requirement of mandatory use of locally-made equipment.

India refuted allegations at a recent meeting of the WTO's committee on trade related investment measures, or Trims, that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission violated global trade rules.

"The mandatory use of solar modules manufactured in India, in the project, and the 30% local sourcing requirement is to give a boost to the nascent domestic industry and make non-renewable energy more affordable in the long run," the official said.

Along with the EU, the US, which has also taken up the issue bilaterally with India, raised the issue at the WTO meeting on Trims saying the mission requirements prevent them from exporting their technology and equipment.

India has, however, maintained that it is within its rights to lay down such guidelines for its energy security, especially since other countries like Canada and Italy also encourage local procurement for solar projects.

Yet, India is firming up its defence in case the US or the EU decides to lodge a formal complaint against the solar mission.

Japan has recently lodged a formal complaint against Ontario, Canada, at the WTO for establishing a feed-in tariff program, in which electricity generated by using renewable energy is subsidised. The programme favours equipment made in Ontario. "Although, in Canada's case local purchase is linked to tariff concessions, the basic regulatory requirement is similar in both countries," a Delhi-based trade lawyer who did not wish to be named said.

"One could also argue that since NTPC, which is a public sector body, will purchase solar power generated by the projects, it could amount to government procurement which is not bound by WTO rules," the lawyer said. He added that the Trims rules prohibiting local sourcing can be interpreted variously.

The national solar mission was launched last year to promote use of solar energy as part of the government's initiative under the national action plan on climate change. While investors in the solar projects will get incentives, such as relief on import duty for capital goods and exemption from excise on inputs, the government has put in place clauses of compulsory domestic sourcing of inputs, which will differ in the three phases of the mission.

World Bank may fund Mumbai'sTrans Harbour Link project

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project that connects Sewri and Nhava port here is likely to get a boost as the World Bank has shown keen interest in funding the said project.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing the project, said that it was in talks with the World Bank for funding the project. “The World Bank has been funding our few projects.

Six-lane road bridge

“They have now shown interest in funding our ambitious MTHL project,” the MMRDA Commissioner, Mr Rahul Asthana, said here. The 22-km, around Rs 8,300 crore MTHL will be a six-lane road bridge with provisions for two lanes for a Metro line.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was handling the project initially, but it was later handed over to the MMRDA.

The World Bank had earlier tied up with the MMRDA to fund the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). “MMRDA is also in talks with the World Bank for its metro rail projects,” another official said.

The Authority is also in talks with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for providing soft loans for its other projects, including the metro rail project, the official said.

In August, the MMRDA had appointed a consortium of Arup Consulting Engineers and KPMG to conduct a techno-economic feasibility study of the MTHL. The consortium is expected to submit the report by October next year.

World population to hit 10 billion, but 15 billion possible: UN

The world's population of seven billion is set to rise to at least 10 billion by 2100, but could top 15 billion if birth rates are just slightly higher than expected, the United Nations said on October 26.

In a report ahead of ceremonies on October 31 to mark the seven billionth human alive today, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned demographic pressure posed mighty challenges for easing poverty and conserving the environment.

New estimates see a global human tally of 9.3 billion at 2050, an increase over earlier figures, and more than 10 billion by century's end, UNFPA said.

But, it added, "with only a small variation in fertility, particularly in the most populous countries, the total could be higher: 10.6 billion people could be living on Earth by 2050 and more than 15 billion in 2100."

The 126-page document, "The State of the World Population 2011", highlights a surge that began with the post-World War II baby boom -- a numbers "bulge" that shows up in following generations as they in turn grow up and have children.

In contrast, prosperity, better education and access to contraception have slashed the global fertility rate to the point that some rich countries have to address a looming population fall.

Over the past six decades, fertility has declined from a statistical average of 6.0 children per women to about 2.5 today, varying from 1.7 in the most advanced economies to 4.2 in the least developed nations.

Even so, 80 million people each year are added to the world's population. People under 25 comprise 43 percent of the total.

"Our record population can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity -- people are living longer, healthier lives," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA's executive director.

"How did we become so many How large a number can our Earth sustain" he asked.

"These are important questions, but perhaps not the right ones for our times. When we look only at the big number, we risk being overwhelmed and losing sight of new opportunities to make life better for everyone in the future."

The report highlighted these challenges:

Helping youth: Having large numbers of young adults offers many poor countries the hope of rising from poverty.

But, warns the UNFPA, "this opportunity of a 'demographic dividend' is a fleeting moment that must be claimed quickly or lost." Finding jobs for this swelling sea of youngsters is essential.

The report notably quotes from a report by the UN's International Labour Organisation ( ILO) which suggests the 23.4-percent youth unemployment in the Arab world was a major contributor to the uprisings there.

Green worries: The report cites environmental problems that are already pressing and set to intensify as demand grows for food, energy and homes.

Referring to a yardstick of sustainability used by the environmental thinktank Global Footprint Network, the report said it now takes the Earth 18 months to regenerate the natural resources that we use in a year.

"Climate change and rapid population growth are among the many factors contributing to the current drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, which has affected more than 12 million people," it says.

Future concerns focus especially on water stress. "Analysis suggests that the world will face a 40-percent global shortfall (in water) between forecast demand and available supply by 2030," says the report, citing Egypt -- hugely dependent on the Nile -- as a particular example.

City Futures: The balance between rural and urban populations "has tipped irreversibly" towards cities in today's world of seven billion. The biggest urban agglomeration, as defined by the UNFPA, is Tokyo, with 36.7 million people, followed by Delhi, with 22 million, Sao Paulo, 20 million and Mumbai, with 20 million.

As the world's population expands, better urban planning, with closer involvement of residents, will be essential. Adequate housing, sanitation and green spaces should be incorporated in the shaping of cities rather than ad-hoc growth that leads to shanty towns.

Immigration: In rich countries where populations are becoming top-heavy with the elderly, the task will be to meet growing demands for labour. Immigration, one of the options, needs to be orderly and managed so that migrants are better integrated and protected.

Family planning: Dozens of countries are lagging in achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goal of providing universal access to reproductive health, said the report.

"A stable population is a sine qua non for accelerated, planned economic growth and development," said Osotimehin.

India elected to serve on UN ECOSOC

India is among 21 countries which were October 25 elected to serve on the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principal organs of the UN and the main body tasked with furthering economic and social cooperation and development worldwide.

UN member states elected 18 countries to serve three-year terms starting next year and three other nations through by-elections held as some countries were stepping down from the 54-member Council before the formal end of their terms.

Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Nigeria and Libya were elected to the five African vacancies, while Indonesia, India and Japan won the three seats allotted to Asia-Pacific States. Belarus claimed the only Eastern European vacancy.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Brazil and Cuba were victorious, while Spain, France, Germany, Ireland and Turkey were successful in the Western European and other States category.

In the three by-elections, Switzerland replaced the outgoing Norway, the Netherlands succeeded Belgium, and Bulgaria took over from Hungary.

INDIA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011

The Human Development Index (HDI) in the country rose by 21 per cent, says a report while cautioning that health, nutrition and sanitation remained key challenges for India.
India Human Development Report, 2011, prepared by the government's Institute of Applied Manpower Research, placed Kerala on top of the index for achieving highest literacy rate, quality health services and consumption expenditure of people. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Goa were placed at second, third and fourth positions respectively. 
The report was released on October 21 by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the presence of Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. It said, as on today, two-thirds of the households in the country reside in pucca (cemented) houses and three-fourth of families have access to electricity for domestic use. According to the report, India's HDI has registered an impressive gains in the last decade as the index increased by 21 per cent to 0.467 in 2007-08, from 0.387 in 1999-2000.


However, it noted that Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Assam are those states which continue to lag behind in HDI and remain below the national average of 0.467. At the same time, the quantum of improvement in HDI in some of the poor states was higher than the national average, the report said, citing the cases of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Assam. The overall improvement in the index was largely attributed to the 28.5 per cent increase in education index across the country.

It ranges from 0.92 for Kerala to 0.41 in the case of Bihar. The improvement in the education index was the "greatest" in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to name a few, the report said. The analysis also indicates that improvement in the health index, as compared to education, has been lower. It ranges from 0.82 in Kerala to 0.41 in Assam. It observed that despite the Right to Education Act, school education faces challenges of quality and employability. The report also said that despite improvements, health, nutrition and sanitation challenges are most serious.

Stating that open defecation was posing a serious threat to health and nutritional status, the report said even though half of the population had access to sanitation in 2008-09, there was still wide inter-state variation. It said 75% households in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Uttarakhand do not have toilet facilities. The report revealed even in Nirmal Gram Puraskar winning villages, toilets are often being used for storing, bathing and washing purposes. On the issue of right to food and nutrition, the Human Index Report revealed that calorie consumption has been declining and the intake of calories by poor are way below the recommended norm.

The report said Gujarat fares the worst in terms of overall hunger and nutrition among the industrial high per capita income states. The report also noted that "India is the worst performer in terms of low birth weight, underweight and wasting among children in BRIC and SAARC countries”. Reacting to the findings, Ramesh said increased focus should be laid on health and nutrition during the 12th Plan period even as he lauded the growth in the education sector. "On nutrition, I am puzzled as to why high rate of malnutrition continue to persist even in pockets of high economic growth," he said referring to findings of Gujarat. The minister said total expenditure on sanitation has been only one-tenth of the resources allocated for the water sector.

Ramesh attributed the positive growth in education to Central "interventions" like Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan and RTE. The report said between 2002-03 and 2008-09, there has been an improvement in condition of people's housing with 66% population residing in pucca housing. In rural areas, share of household in pucca houses has increased from 36% to 55%. It said a greater proportion of Muslims than the SCs and STs live in pucca houses due to their urban concentration. The report revealed that three-fourths of all households had access to electricity, with 75% households having access to electricity for domestic use. Insofar as tele-density was concerned, the report said it increased at an "impressive pace" over time from 22% in 2008 to 66% till December 2010, largely led by growth in urban tele-density.

It said good governance and social mobilisation by state governments was reflected by the fact that SCs and OBCs in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were better off than even the upper castes in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh in terms of various health outcome indicators. The report also highlighted the fact that 60% of the poor were concentrated in states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It said though incidence of poverty declined over the years across states, the above said states performed much worse than others in terms of poverty reduction. Further, asset ownership both in urban and rural areas continued to be highly unequal and concentrated among top five per cent of households. 


The report, by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, an autonomous body under the Planning Commission, suggests a lowering of poverty rates, provided poverty is seen through national accounts or gross domestic product, rather than the consumption data, which is normally used to calculate poverty.

The report, released by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday, said India recorded 21 per cent growth in the human development indicators (HDI) of health, education and income. HDI is a composite index, comprising three indicators—consumption expenditure (a proxy for income), education and health. The report estimates HDI at the beginning of the decade and 2007-08, and the top five ranks during both the years are accounted for by Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Punjab. States that fared better on health and education were also the states with higher HDI, and thus, higher per capita income.

At the other end of the spectrum were northern and eastern states—Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam, which have an HDI below the national average. HDI ranged from 0.79 in Kerala to 0.39 in Chhattisgarh.
The report compares HDI growth to the global human development report rankings. It says over the eight-year period, HDI rose 21 per cent, compared with a rise of 18 per cent in India's HDI over 2000-2010, as reported by global HDR-2010. In comparison, China recorded a rise of only 17 per cent, the report said.

According to the report, the leap in development was mainly on account of the 28 per cent jump in education index alone, compared to a decade ago, when the first such report was released. It ranged from 0.92 in Kerala to 0.41 in Bihar. The rise has been the highest in educationally-backward states.
The improvement in the health index stands at a mere 13 per cent between 2000 and 2008. The states with the most serious health concerns—Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Assam—showed the most improvement.

The report also cites a fall in the overall fertility rate as the greatest achievement in health, while open defecation continued to be the biggest threat. Malnutrition, hunger and anaemia rates, besides infant mortality, remain grim, as reported in the National Family Health Survey.
The report also indicated economic prosperity was no guarantee of better social indicators. Gujarat, with a high per capita income, ranks below some poor states in terms of hunger, the report said. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also fare poorly in terms of hunger, Punjab fared the best. Gujarat had a hunger index of 24.70 per cent, just above Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

"This clearly suggests economic prosperity alone cannot reduce hunger. Hence, there is a need for specific target-oriented policies to improve the hunger and malnutrition situation," the report said.
In Gujarat, the percentage of severely underweight children was also higher than the national average. Only six other states, including Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, which have low per capita income than Gujarat, saw the percentage of severely underweight children more than that of Gujarat, the report showed.

Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011

Bowing to agrarian States like Punjab and Haryana, the Government has introduced in the Lok Sabha an amended version of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, deleting from it the previously proposed provision to impose a blanket-ban on the acquisition of multi-cropped, irrigated land.

The new Bill, which, as and when it is passed, will replace the 117-year old Act of 1894 and will allow acquisition of multi-cropped irrigated land as a “last resort”.

The Bill makes even the permission ‘as a last resort’ conditional by providing that an equivalent area of culturable wasteland would have to be developed if multi-crop land is acquired. In districts with net sown less than 50 per cent of the geographical area, not more than 10 per cent of the net sown area will be allowed to be acquired.

The Bill states that the law will apply when the government acquires land for its own use or with the ultimate aim of transferring it for use of private companies for stated public purpose or for immediate and declared use by private companies for public purpose.

The consent of 80 per cent project affected families would have to be obtained prior to acquisition and urgency clause has been limited to exigencies of national defence, security and rehabilitation following calamities.

The Bill also provides that any land, not used within 10 years for the purpose for which it was acquired, will be transferred to the States' land bank and upon every such transfer, 20 per cent of its appreciated value will be shared with the original land owner.

The Bill, for the first time, ensures a comprehensive compensation package for land owners and livelihood losers. It proposes that market value calculated for the land will be multiplied by a factor of two in the rural areas.

Solatium will also be increased up to 100 per cent of the total compensation. Where land is acquired for urbanisation, 20 per cent of developed land will be offered to the affected owners.

For SCs and STs affected by acquisition, protections have been given. The Bill envisages additional benefits of 2.5 acres of land to each affected SC/ST family; one-time financial assistance of Rs 50,000; 25 per cent additional rehabilitation/resettlement benefits for families settled outside the district.

Draft Mining Bill

In a landmark decision that will impact the entire mining and mineral-based industry in India, the government has announced an overhaul of the law governing the sector. The new framework will introduce a benefit-sharing regime while laying down the policy contours for leases given out by state governments. The changes are aimed at dealing with popular resistance to mining projects on the grounds of corruption and adverse social and environmental impact. The industry fears it will make mining unattractive in the country.

The government plans to repeal the existing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and instead place a new Bill in Parliament in the Winter session. To tackle illegal mining, the Bill proposes punitive action, as well as creation of special courts at the state level for speedier disposal of cases.

It will also make it compulsory for all non-coal mining companies to share an amount equal to their royalty payment to State governments for the benefit of project-affected people. In the case of coal companies, the amount will be equal to 26 per cent of their profit. This will directly impact purely mining companies like Coal India, Sesa Goa and NMDC, as well as companies like Tata Steel, SAIL, NTPC and RPower that have captive mines associated with their projects. Besides, it will increase the cost of companies into the businesses of cement, aluminium and other mineral-based produce.

The industry had opposed the benefit-sharing proposal, saying it would squeeze their margins. In the case of coal, the effective rate of taxation will rise to 61 per cent from 43 per cent at present. On iron ore, it will increase to 55 per cent from 43 per cent.

Industry also sees the proposal would create problems for existing mines where affected persons are not easily identifiable. Besides, the increased revenues collected with District Mineral Development Fund will be frittered away as the absorptive capacity does not exist.

Though mining activities are controlled by the States, the Centre’s overarching legislation, MMDR Act, set the rules of the game.

Apart from compensating the project-affected people through profit-sharing and royalty, the new Bill also obligates mining companies to pay a Central cess equivalent to 2.5 per cent of excise or customs duty. The activities of an independent National Mining Tribunal and National Mining Regulatory Authority at the Central level, and the expenditure involved in the capacity building of the Indian Bureau of Mines would be met from the cess levy. Besides, there will be a State cess of 10 per cent of total royalty.

The Bill also had punitive provisions to prevent illegal mining. The new Bill would introduce a better legislative environment for attracting investment and technology into the mining sector.

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Ranks

As per data compiled on participation of women in the Parliaments, by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a group of 154 national Parliaments across the world, India ranks 100th, with just 10.8 per cent women in the Parliament.  The highest representation of women is in Rwanda (56.3%), followed by Sweden (46.4%) and South Africa (44.5%). The lowest—nil—is in Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. In South Asia, Nepal is best placed at 17th rank, with 33.2% women in Parliament, beating Germany which stands at rank 18th. Also ahead of India are Singapore, Pakistan and China, at 44th, 49,th and 55th levels, respectively.

India’s first Bamboo Museum

India’s first “Bamboo Museum” is located at the Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT) in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. The museum happens to be the largest bamboo structure in India. It has been built by the Uttarakhand Bamboo Board at a cost of Rs 65 lakh.

First public-private participation in defence

In the first public-private participation in defence sector, Pipavav Defence anfd Offshore Engineering Company (earlier Pipavav Shipyard) has entered into a joint venture with Mazagon Dock to build warships for the Indian Navy.

Namma Metro rolls into Bangalore

The Metro rail rolled into the IT hub of Bangalore on October 20, promising the beginning of the end of the city’s traffic woes.

The three-coach service can carry 1,000 commuters and link the eastern suburb of Byappanahalli to M.G. Road, covering a distance of 6.7 km.

Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath inaugurated the service opens to public from 4 p.m. October 20. The Metro service will run between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, several State ministers, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, and a number of State Congress leaders were present at the inauguration at the decked up M.G. Road station.

Almost all of them, along with senior officials of the State government and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, special invitees and media personnel took the first ride in the “Namma Metro” (Our Metro) flagged off by Nath.

The Byappanahalli-M.G. Road link has six stations and travel time is around 14 minutes.

This is Reach 1 of the first phase of metro.

In another three years, the first phase is to have a 42.3-km network on the East-West (Byappanahalli-Mysore Road Terminal) and North-West (Hesarghatta Cross-Puttenahalli Cross) corridors with 41 stations. The phase-1 has an 8.88-km underground network.

The foundation for the Metro project was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006.

World Bank Report ranked India 132 on Business-friendly Reforms

A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank titled- Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World was released on 20 October 2011.

Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World assessed regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies and ranked the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency, and trading across borders.  Singapore topped the rankings on ease of doing business for the sixth straight year. Hong Kong SAR, China, held onto the second spot.

In the report, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation mentioned that between June 2010 and May 2011, there were 245 business regulatory reforms worldwide, which was 13 per cent more reforms than in the previous year.

China, India, and the Russian Federation were among the 30 economies that improved the most over time. Singapore led on the overall ease of doing business, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the U.S. and Denmark. The Republic of Korea was the new entrant to the top ten list that ranked countries according to their business environment.

India ranked low overall in the Doing Business assessment, with its rank improving marginally from 139 to 132 between the 2011 and 2012 reports. When India dismantled a strict licensing regime controlling business entry and production the benefits were greater in states that had more flexible labour regulations. The report noted that the progressive elimination of the licence raj led to a 6 per cent increase in new firm registrations in India, and resulted in highly productive firms entering the market larger increases in real output than less productive firms.

The report claimed that at a time when persistent unemployment and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments around the world continue sought ways to improve the regulatory climate for domestic business. Small and medium businesses that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines for job creation in many parts of the world.

The report noted that Indonesia's ranking on regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs dropped three levels from 123 to 126. In spite of the fall, Indonesia is still ranked better than India (132) and the Philippines (136th).

Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, China, provide the friendliest regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs. Indonesia is left far behind other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand (17), Malaysia (18) and Brunei Darussalam (86). Indonesia is even behind Vietnam (98) and Papua New Guinea (101).

Irrigation Potential Created and Utilised Under Minor Irrigation Scheme (Expenditure Incurred and Potential Created)

Period	Outlay/expenditure (Rs. in crore)	Potential created (million hectares)	Cumulative (million hectares)
Pre-Plan period	Not available	9.70	9.70
First Plan (1951-56)	376	2.50	12.20
Second Plan (1956-61)	380	2.13	14.33
Third Plan (1961-66)	576	2.24	16.57
Annual Plans (1966-69)	430	1.53	18.10
Fourth Plan (1969-74)	1,242	2.60	20.70
Fifth Plan (1974-78)	2,516	4.02	24.72
Annual Plans (1978-80)	2,079	1.89	26.61
Sixth Plan (1980-85)	7,369	1.09	27.70
Seventh Plan (1985-90)	11,107	2.22	29.92
Annual Plans (1990-92)	5,459	0.82	30.74
Eighth Plan (1992-97)	21,669	2.22	32.96
Ninth Plan (1997-2002)	42,968	4.10	37.06
Tenth Plan outlay (2002-2007)	71,213	6.50 (Target)*	43.56

SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Nano knowledge city has been established at which Indian city?

a. Ahmedabad

b. Tiruchi

c. Chandigarh

d. Lucknow

2. Which finance company will soon offer loans again gold ETF units?

a. Muthoot Finance

b. ICICI Loans

c. Bajaj Capital

d. Birla Global Finance  Limited

3. Infosys’ Executive Council will now have how many members?

a. 12

b.  13

c. 14

d. 15

4. Which company bought the .CO domain just before the completion of one year of its public

launch?

a. Yahoo

b. Hotmail

c. Google

d. Rediff

5. Who is the newly appointed CEO of Sun TV Network?

a. Rakesh Singh

b. K.Vijay Kumar

c. Dinesh Trivedi

d. Kishore Chandra Rao

6. Which of the following brands is NOT a part of Sony Corporation?

a. VIAO

b. Bravia

c. Xbox

d. Play stations

7. Which of the brands follow a ‘fast fashion’ trend?

a. Lee

b. Adidas

c. Levis

d. Zara

8. June 2011 infl ation closed at what rate?

a. 8.44%

b. 9.44%

c. 10.44%

d. 11.44%

9. French tyre maker Michilen is going to start its Indian operations from which city?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Mumbai

d. Kolkatta

10. Which country is set to roll out its first phase of National internet for home users in August with a speed of 8MB?

a. Iraq

b. Iran

c. Afganistan

d. Saudi Arabia

11. According to March 2010 estimation, how much land is under  organic certifi cation?

a. 4.4 million hectares

b. 4.6 million hectares

c. 6.4 million hectares

d. 6.6 million hectares

12. Where has Posco planned its latest project costing more than `50,000 Crores in India?

a. Rajasthan

b. West Bengal

c. Orissa

d. Gujarat

13. Who is the newly appointed CEO of Fortis Healthcare?

a. Bhavdeep Singh

b. Aditya Vij

c. Suneeta Reddy

d. Shivinder Singh

14. Which Indian city is hosting the 3 day International Leather Fair from 28th July 2011?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Mumbai

d. Kolkata

15. Which of these brands DO NOT belong to Hindustan Uni Lever?

a. Bru

b. Taj Mahal

c. Ashirwad

d. Annapurna

16. Who is the new RBI Deputy Governor?

a. Shyamala Gopinath

b. Y. Vnugopal Reddy

c. Harun Rashid Khan

d. D. Subbarao

17. What is the public offer made by Zyanga Inc.?

a. $2 billion

b. $1 billion

c. $1.5 billion

d. $3 billion

18. Which website is used most popularly in Brazil?

a. Facebook

b. LinkedIn

c. Orkut

d. MySpace

19. Keki Mistry is CEO of which bank?

a. HDFC

b. ICICI

c. Standard Chartered

d. Deutsche Bank

20. Which Indian City will be home for Nano Science and Technology?

a. Hyderabad

b. Bangalore

c. Ahmedabad

d. Bhubaneshwar

21. Which Indian state suffers most from lack of opportunity of Jobs?

a. Uttarakhand

b. Goa

c. Jammu and Kashmir

d. Chattisgarh

22. To which country does the new Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

belong?

a. India

b. United States of America

c. Brazil

d. China

23. Which Indian city will host the 11th conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2012?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Bangalore

d. Hyderabad

24. How many FDI proposals did Indian Govt approve in June 2011?

a. 16

b. 17

c. 18

d. 19

25. ‘Beta’ range of pens belong to which brand?

a. Parker

b. Emonte

c. Luxor

d. Pilot

26. Brands like Parachute, Saffola, Sweekar, Medikar, Top Ramen etc., are owned by which Indian

giant?

a. HUL

b. P&G

c. Marico Industries

d. Nestle

27. what is India’s position among  the top 20 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) recipients, according

to World investment report released by UNCTAD?

a. 12th

b. 14th

c. 16th

d. 18^th

28. General Motors launched the diesel version of which car?

a. Chevrolet Beat

b. Chevrolet Optra

c. Chevrolet Cruze

d. Spark

29. Which Public sector bank selected Metlife as its partner in the life insurance segment?

a. Syndicate Bank

b. Corporation Bank

c. United Bank of India

d. Punjab National Bank

30. Which telecom announced its decision to merge its divisions providing GSM and CDMA?

a. Tata

b. Bharti Airtel

c. Aircel

d. Vodafone

31. Maharashtra Electrosmelt is merging which PSU?

a. IOC

b. SAIL

c. BHEL

d. HPCL

32. What does ‘M’ in IMFA stand for?

a. Metal

b. Mineral

c. Micro

d. Money

33. Usha  Ananathsubramanian is the Executive Director of which Pubic sector bank?

a. Gramin Bank

b. Punjab National Bank

c. United Bank of India

d. Central Bank of India

34. Who amongst the following is the recipient of best CFO in public sector?

a. R.K. Aggarwal

b. P.K.Bajpai

c. A.K.Singhal

d. D.K. Sarraf

35. Which of the following Indian states will host the limestone mining operations of Lafarge India?

a. West Bengal

b. Chattisgarh

c. Meghalaya

d. Maharashtra

36. How many Indian companies featured in the list of 500 companies released by Fortune magazine in July 2011?

a. 6

b. 7

c. 8

d. 9

37. P.K. Bajpai is the Director of which Navratna company?

a. BHEL

b. SAIL

c. IOC

d. HAL

38. According to the report compiled by Swiss Re named World Insurance in 2010, India stands

at what position as an insurance market in the world?

a. 8th

b. 10th

c. 11th

d. 13^th

39. What does ‘F’ in IRFC stand for?

a. Force

b. Finance

c. Facilitating

d. None of the above

40. Jeevan Arogya, is a health insurance plan of which Indian insurance company?

a. LIC

b. HDFC

c. SBI Life insurance

d. IDBI Fortis life insurance

41. Who is India’s largest Liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) exporter?

a. GAIL

b. PFC

c. RasGas

d. Petronet

 

ANSWERS:

 

1. C. Chandigarh

2. A. Muthoot Finance

3. B. 13

4. C. Google

5. B. K. Vijay Kumar

6. C. Xbox

7. D. Zara

8. B. 9.44%

9. B.  Chennai

10. B. Iran

11. A. 4.4 million hectares

12. C. Orissa

13. B. Aditya Vij

14. A. New Delhi

15. C. Ashirwad

16. C. Harun Rashid Khan

17. B. $1 billion

18. C. Orkut

19. A. HDFC

20. B. Bangalore

21. C. Jammu & Kashmir

22. C. Brazil

23. D. Hyderabad

24. A. 16

25. A. Parker

26. C. Marico Industries

27. B. 14th

28. A. Chevrolet Beat

29. D. Punjab National Bank

30. A. Tata

31. C. BHEL

32. A. Metal

33. B. Punjab National Bank

34. D. D.K. Sarraf

35. C. Meghalaya

36. C.– 8

37. A. BHEL

38. C. 11th

39. C. Facilitating

40. A. LIC

41. D. Petronet

SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS MCQs

1.     According to the Economic survey 2010-11 what percentage growth was recorded by the manufacturing sector in 2010?
a.    9.1%
b.    8.6%
c.    7.3%
d.    8%
Answer: a
2.     As per the economic Survey of India 2010-11, the production of food grains is estimated at over 232 million tonnes with record production of which food crop?
a.    Rice
b.    Wheat
c.    Bajra
d.    Maize
Answer: b
3.    What is the percentage growth of GDP predicted by The Economic Survey for the financial year 2010-11?
a.    8.6%
b.    8.3%
c.    8.0%
d.    9.1%
Answer: a
4.      The Economic Survey estimated the Forex reserves of India at over 297 billion US dollars. The surge in Forex is attributed to growth in which of the following sector?
a.    Export sector
b.    Foreign Direct Investments
c.    Agricultural output
d.    Industrial output
Answer: a
5.        Gross Fiscal Deficit stands at 4.8% of GDP. What was the percentage of Gross Fiscal Deficit in 2010?
a.    6.3%
b.    5.8%
c.    5.0%
d.    7.1%
Answer: a
6.   Agriculture is expected to grow by what percentage in 2010-11 as per the Economic Survey?
a.    5.0%
b.    5.1%
c.    5.4%
d.    5.5%
Answer: c
7.      What percentage of GDP growth at market prices was estimated by the Economic Survey 2010-11?    a.    9.0%
b.    9.5%
c.    9.7%
d.    10.0%
Answer: c
8.        Exports surged by what percentage in the period between April to December 2010?
a.    25.0%
b.    29.5%
c.    18.1%
d.    33.0%
Answer: b
9.     Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to increase the Income Tax Exemption Limit for individual tax payers from 1 lakh 60 to _?
a.    1 lakh 80 thousand
b.    1 lakh 90 thousand
c.    2 lakh
d.    2 lakh 20 thousand
Answer: a
10. Which of the following was not proposed in the Union Budget 2011-12 presented by pranab Mukherjee?
1.    Special vehicles were proposed to be created in the form of Infrastructure Debt Funds to attract foreign funds.
2.    Rs. 300 crore expenditure was proposed to promote horticulture centres in rain fed areas for increasing crop productivity.
3.    For the manufacturing sector, the budget proposed reduction of basic customs duty on raw silk from 30 to 5 per cent.
4.    Concessional 10 per cent Excise Duty was also proposed for fuel cell or Hydrogen cell-technology-based vehicles.
a.    1 & 3
b.    Only 2
c.    Only 4
d.    3 & 4
Answer: b
11.     In the Budget it was proposed to provide sum of money for implementation of vegetable initiative to set in motion a virtuous cycle of higher production and incomes for the farmers. What was the proposed amount?
a.    Rs 500 crore
b.    Rs 300 crore
c.    Rs 10000 crore
d.    Rs 650 crore
Answer: b
12. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana was proposed to be being extended to the beneficiaries of which of the following Union Government schemes?
a.  Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries
b. Beneficiaries of Swavlamban pension scheme
c. Indira Gandhi National old Age Pension scheme beneficiaries
d.Beneficiaries of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
Answer: a
13. Acknowledging the need for development of J&K and North-east, Mamata Banerjee introduced in the Railway Budget 2011 a number measures for these two regions. In which of the following North-eastern cities did the budget propose to set up a diesel locomotive centre?
a.    Imphal
b.    Manipur
c.    Guwahati
d.    Tripura
Answer: b
14.    Read the two statements with regard to the passenger benefit plans proposed in the Railway Budget 2011.
1.The budget proposed extension of Train Management System to New Delhi, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow stations to provide information on running of trains.
2.Mamta Banerjee introduced a new concept of Smart Card – Go India for long distance travel by Indian railways.
Which of the two statements are true?
a.    Only 1
b.    Only 2
c.    Both 1 & 2
d.    None of the above
Answer: c
15. According to Railway Budget 2011, railway card passes would be extended to the parents of the unmarried posthumous winners of which of the following Awards?
1.    Param Vir Chakra
2.    Bharat Ratna
3.    Ashok Chakra gallantry award
4.    Padma Shri
a.    1 & 2
b.    2 & 3
c.    1, 2 & 3
d.    1 & 3
Answer: d
16. Which of the following schemes proposed in the Railway Budget 2011 is/are not meant for Railway Employees?
1.    Expansion of Liberalized Active Retirement Scheme for Guaranteed Employment
2.    Railway Vidyalaya Prabandhan Board
3.    Sukhi Griha Scheme
4.    Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana
a.    1 & 3
b.    3 & 4
c.    2 & 4
d.    1 & 4
Answer: b
17. The electrical energy requirement of railways is growing rapidly with the expansion of the rail infrastructure and traffic. Considering the rising demand the Ministry of Railways proposed to set up 700 MW power plant at Thakurli in Maharashtra. The power plant is proposed to be based on what form of energy?
a.    gas-based
b.    coal-based
c.    solar power
d.    nuclear energy based
Answer: a
18.     Ministry of Railways proposed to extend Anti Collision Device (ACD) to which of the following Railway zones in India?
1.    Eastern zone
2.    East Central
3.    North Eastern
4.    South Central
a.    1 & 4
b.    2 & 4
c.    1 & 2
d.    1 & 3
Answer: c
19.     With regard to the infrastructure development of Railways as proposed in Railway Budget 2011 which statement/statements is/are false?
1.    The budget proposed to lay 40 new lines, covering 1075 km.
2.    The Ministry has allocated Rs 5406 crore for doubling of 867 km of lines
3.    A greater thrust was given to the expansion of the rail network with a larger allocation of Rs 9583 cr for new lines.
4.    for gauge conversion over 1017 km. Rs 13820 crore was proposed
a.    Only 1
b.    1 & 2
c.    Only 4
d.    2 & 4
Answer: c
20.     Read the two statements mentioned with regard to the budgetary allocations for addressing environmental concerns.
1.    The budget proposed that the solar lantern used in far-flung villages will attract no duty from 10 per cent charged earlier.
2.    To provide green and clean transportation for the masses, National Mission for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles will be launched in the year 2011 in collaboration with all stakeholders.
Which of them is true?
a.    Only 1
b.    Only 2
c.    Both 1 & 2
d.    None of the above
Answer: b
21.     To enhance credit worthiness of economically weaker sections and LIG households, a Mortgage Risk Guarantee Fund was announced to be created under which of the following scheme or Yojana?
a. Rajiv Awas Yojana
b. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
c. Indira Awas Yojana
d. Mahatama Gandhi NREGA
Answer: a
22.    Read the following statements with regard to the allocation in the Educational sector as proposed by Union Budget 2011-12.
1. For Sarva Siksha Abhiyan the allocation was increased by 40 percent to 21000 crore rupees.
2. All institutions of higher learning will be connected through optical fibers by March 2012.
3. 500 crore rupees was proposed to be provided for national skill development fund.
4. For the needy scheduled castes ad scheduled tribe candidates studying in class-IX and Xth pre-matric scholarship scheme was proposed to be introduced.
Which of the above mentioned statements is not true?
a.    1
b.    2
c.    3 & 4
d.    4
Answer: b
23. The Basic Customs Duty exemption was proposed to be extended to which of the following sectors?
a. art and antiquities for exhibition or display in private art galleries
b. Cinematographic film, factory-built ambulances
c. syringes and needles
d. agricultural machinery
Answer: a
24.    What amount of money was allocated for Bharat Nirman?
a. 1000 crore
b.  58000 crore
c. 55438 crore
d.  14362 crore
Answer: b
25. Which of the following statement/statements is/are true with reference to the Railway Budget 2011?
1.    Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed Annual Plan for the year 2011-12 at Rs 57630 cr which is the highest ever plan investment by the railways in a single year.
2.    Under the proposed Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana the pending socially desirable lines would be completed and other similar new line projects would also be taken up.
3.    Mamata Banerjee declared 2010-11 as the Year of Green Energy.
4.    2 AC Double Decker Trains in the Jaipur-Delhi and Delhi-Ahmedabad routes were proposed.
Choose Answers:
a. 1,2 & 3
b. 1 & 4
c.  2 & 3
d. 1 & 2
Answer: d

Black money campaign and the Indian response

The fiscal year 2011-12 will go down in India's financial history as a year in which black money stashed in Swiss banks became a big enough issue to rouse the public conscience for demanding swift and stern action for retrieving the money lost in tax havens. Baba Ram Dev and Anna Hazare kindled the fire and the Supreme Court further stoked the fire by calling it “Plunder of the Nation”.

The Government was forced to come up with a response detailing the measures taken to fight the menace. It explained that India has joined the global crusade against black money and will create a legislative frame work for this purpose. Institutions have been set up to deal with illicit funds. A new manpower policy is being brought out. There will hereafter be constant training for skill development.

India has joined the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development in the hope that it will help India build the capacity to trace terror funds and to successfully investigate and prosecute money-laundering and terrorist-financing offences.

India insisted at the G-20 summit that countries should enter into Tax Information Exchange Agreements wherever required. Accordingly, India has so far completed negotiations of 22 new Tax Information Exchange Agreements with various tax havens. New Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements have been finalised for incorporation of Tax Exchange Information provisions. The revised agreement with Switzerland will allow India to obtain banking information from Switzerland in specific cases from April 1, 2011.

General Anti-Avoidance Rule has been incorporated in the Direct Taxes Code to deal with aggressive tax-planning devices meant to circumvent tax laws. Existing transfer pricing provisions have been remodelled on the basis of the law prevailing in developed countries and these changes will meet the challenges of a growing intangible economy and complex cost-sharing arrangements. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act was amended to expand the predicate offences substantially. This amendment will widen the scope of money-laundering investigations.

Will these agreements help?

Critics are not wanting in pointing out that too much reliance on Exchange Information Agreements will not be of much help. A former Joint Secretary to the Central Board of Direct Taxes points out inherent limitations of the system in place.

The Information Exchange Agreements do not provide for automatic or spontaneous exchange . None of our tax agreements will permit “fishing expedition”.

But then, as a first step, the Government is right in highlighting that the Income-Tax Department has collected 7,704 discrete items of information from treaty countries containing details of payments received by Indians in various countries, besides information on accounts in Liechtenstein's LGT Bank.

More than 175 requests have been made to our treaty partners in case of specific tax payers in the last financial year. Efforts to prevent new ways of transferring illicit funds outside the country through mis-invoicing resulted in detection of mis-pricing of Rs 33,784 crore in the last two years. It has been repeatedly pointed out that illicit funds are ploughed back into the Indian financial system as ‘hot-money' flows through available channels like participatory notes, which currently account for 16 per cent of the assets under the custody of the FIIs in India.

Such channels are said to be used to raise funds from our capital markets to finance terrorism and other criminal activities. A word from the Finance Minister that participatory notes will be banned will significantly arrest the flow of such illicit funds into our stock markets.

An Indian Amnesty?

Ever since the US and the UK announced their amnesty schemes, pressure has been mounting on India to come up with an amnesty scheme to bring back secret moneys in foreign accounts.

Industry captains like Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Y.C. Deveshwar and Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy have been urging the Government to devise an amnesty scheme mainly for funding investments into the infrastructure sector, which requires over $1 trillion over the next Plan period.

Malegam re-appointed on RBI board

The Government has appointed two more members — Mr Y.H. Malegam and Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda — on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. While Mr Malegam, who is also the Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards, has been re-appointed from October 7, Prof. Gowda, who is Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, IIM-Bangalore, has been appointed from October 17.

11th Plan infra investment target may fall short by 5%

The global downturn could lead to a shortfall of 5 per cent in investment targets for the infrastructure sector during the 11th Five-Year Plan, according to the Government. The Plan terminates on March 31, 2012.

The Government had initially targeted investments worth 9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in infrastructure during the 11Plan. In absolute terms, this translates into Rs 20,54,205 crore (at constant price of 2006-07).

According to the Planning Commission, storage, ports and Railways have done very badly in terms of meeting targets, while telecommunication, airports and gas pipeline managed to attract more than the target. A senior official said, “If you take out the gas pipeline from the 10 infrastructure areas then the actual picture will be very bad.” 

Storage was the worst performer in not achieving targets. One reason was the lack of clear policy for public private partnership (PPP) in this area, the official said. This, he said, had kept the private sector away from participating in capacity creation. Now, a policy is before the Empowered Group of Ministers, he added.

On the ports front, an assessment by the Planning Commission shows that very few PPP projects had been awarded by various Port Trusts in the first two years of the 11th Plan. The Ministry of Shipping has already revised the original target of capacity addition from 545 million tonnes to 393.27 million tonnes.

The challenge for the Railways was different, according to government sources. It didn't have adequate resources of its own to invest, nor was the private sector encouraged to invest. The private sector also faced problems related to land acquisition and rehabilitation.

Similarly, the road sector performance was also disappointing. The Planning Commission said the Centre's investment in the sector is expected to dip as fewer projects were awarded by the National Highway Authority of India during the first three years of the Plan than projected.

However, the lower-than-expected performance has not deterred the Planning Commission from proposing an ambitious investment target of $1,025 billion for infrastructure in the 12th Five-Year Plan. This again translates into 9 per cent of the GDP. The Commission has remarked that investment in infrastructure would have to be a key priority area in the 12th Plan in order to sustain and support the targeted growth in manufacturing, agriculture and services.

Power crisis may derail factory output further

The high-profile Ramakrishna Puram area of South Delhi that houses the office of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the apex planning body for the country's power sector, has been seeing an average of 3-4 hours of load shedding on a daily basis over the past few days.

“We too have not been spared. With the economy clocking at 8 per cent growth and coal production growing just 2 per cent annually, this was bound to happen sooner or later,” was the refrain from a senior official at CEA on the debilitating power crunch. While planning, he admitted, was partly at fault the real problem was in the implementation of the coal production strategy. Just a handful of unforeseen events — the Telangana stir that affect output from Singareni Collieries, flooding in eastern region coal fields and freak accidents at NTPC stations — managed to trigger a nationwide coal shortage that walloped consumers across the whole country in a jiffy.

Critical stocks

From the beginning of October, the number of key thermal power stations in the country facing dwindling coal stocks had been rising till about the middle of the month. Generally thermal stations are normally expected to hold coal stocks of between 15 and 30 days, depending on the location of the project.

The result was an alarming rise in power disruptions across the country, with key thermal stations left high and dry without adequate fuel to continue normal operations. While the Singareni strike has directly impacted southern States, there is no doubt that they have coped better in terms of maintaining grid discipline. Northern States, especially Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, have on the other hand resorted to massive overdrawing from the integrated NEW (north-east-west) grid, resulting in frequency plummeting way below the permissible lower limit of 49.5 hertz during most days in the end of September and early October.

In all, nearly 8,000 MW of thermal capacity is estimated to have been out due to the coal strike and the shortages at NTPC stations, while there has been a drop of another 100 million units in hydro generation due to the receding monsoon which aggravated the problems further .

Supplies

Under fire for faltering on supplies, coal companies have now been asked by the Coal Ministry to work overtime to ensure movement of fuel to key power stations. The Ministry has claimed that NTPC Ltd's key power stations — 705 MW Badarpur plant, 2,000 MW Rihand, 1,820 MW Dadri, 2,000 MW Singrauli and 1,050 MW Unchahaar stations — have been despatched more rakes of coal than they require for daily operations over the last three days, which could go into replenishing the critically low stocks at the stations.

Coal companies are managing to augment supplies mainly through the liquidation of stocks lying at pitheads at some of the eastern region coal fields. Generation at NTPC's 2,600 MW Ramagundam station, which has been a major casualty on account of the strike, has been rapidly improving now. NTPC is juggling around fuel from various sources to restore full-scale operations.

With Coal India Ltd planning to divert 4 million tonnes of coal from its e-auction quota to power utilities as a stop-gap measure to plug the shortfall, the situation could improve further in the coming days. The concerted efforts being made to bolster coal supplies to key thermal stations has already started showing results, with the latest CEA data for October 16 showing a reversal of the trend so far and a decline in the number of stations facing critical coal stocks. Shortages, though, are bound to stay as coal production has simply not been able to keep up with the demand from consumers.

Industry takes the hit

While consumers across the board were affected due to the crisis, the biggest hit has been on industrial consumers. Most States resorted to load-shedding of 8-14 hours for industrial consumers to tide over the supply shortages. Punjab asked the foundries to down shutters for at least three days a week while units from the sports goods hub of Jallandhar and cycle parts cluster of Ludhiana are facing increasing hours of outages. In Maharashtra, load-shedding was reported in the industrial belt of Thane and Nashik, while both in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal the industry faced an increase in outages as the utilities ran out of funds to buy power in the spot market. The industrial units is southern states were also hit in a big way.

Coming against the backdrop of slowing growth, the power crisis is very bad news and could derail factory output further. Analysts predict that the data for October could take a hit on account of the loss of production of units across the country. The April-August index of industrial production (IIP) data had come in at 5.6 per cent against 8.7 per cent a year ago.

Rwanda invites Indian investment in energy, infrastructure sectors

Rwanda has invited India to participate in the economic development of the East African nation through investment in the infrastructure, agriculture, energy, mining, IT and tourism sectors, among others.

“Rwanda invites India to participate in its economic development and to tap the huge potential available in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, etc,” the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Minister, Ms Agnes Kalibata, said at the 2nd Rwanda Investment Roadshow in India here today.

Ms Kalibata invited Indian investors to explore the opportunities in her country, which has a population of 10 million and boasts an increasing middle class.

“Rwanda, located at the crossroads of the commercial heartland of East and Central Africa, can provide India huge opportunities to invest in a market of nearly 200 million people (in East and Central Africa) and a combined GDP of over $100 billion,” she added.

The Rwanda Development Board Chief Operating Officer, Ms Claire Akamanzi, said the country is trying to attract foreign investment in infrastructure, especially roads, airports and real estate.

Rwanda’s farm sector, which accounts for 34 per cent of the country’s GDP and sustains 78 per cent of its population, is open to foreign participation in development of the tea, coffee, horticulture and irrigation sectors, Ms Akamanzi added.

Stressing on the largely untapped natural resources of the country, she said Rwanda plans to use them to extend power grid coverage to 67 per cent of the population by 2012 through a $311-million capital expenditure programme.

“We have around 50-55 billion cubic meters of methane gas deposits in the lake Kiev area, which can be harnessed to produce electricity and also have identified 333 potential sites for micro-hydro power projects,” Ms Akmanzi noted.

The tourism sector in Rwanda is booming, but still has significant opportunities for growth, she said, adding that there are also major investment opportunities available in the mining, information and communication and financial services space.

The Rwandan Agriculture Minister said Africa will experience rapid growth in the next two decades and it will be an honour to have India as a part of that experience.

Indian companies like mobile services major Airtel, tea producers Jayshree and Mcleod Russel have already invested in Rwanda.

Rwanda, also termed as the land of a thousand hills, has registered a GDP growth rate of 7.1 per cent since 2004 and has been dubbed the fastest reformer of business regulations globally by the World Bank.

P-E investments in clean tech projects on the rise

With Government policies and incentives in place for renewable energy, the number of private equity investments in the clean technologies sector is increasing.

According to data from Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private equity and merger and acquisitions , there were five deals in the clean technologies space in January-March 2011quarter; ten in the April-June 2011 quarter and 14 deals in the July-September 2011 quarter.

The amount invested in the July-September quarter was $359 million compared with $176 million in the immediate previous quarter.

Recently, Suryachakra Power Corporation entered into a joint venture with American Bio Sources Inc (ABS) and Environmental Energy Finance Corporation Inc. USA (EEFC). The investment will go into developing renewable energy power projects of 500 MW in India. Suryachakra Power Corporation entered the wind energy sector earlier this year.

The above investment deal follows a series of investments into the clean technologies space. Goldman Sachs invested $204 million in start-up renewable energy firm, ReNew Wind Power in September, according to Venture Intelligence. This was one of the biggest private equity deals in the clean technologies space in India. Prior to this, FE Clean Energy invested $40 million in NSL Renewable Power in July. IDFC Project Equity invested $112 million in Caparo Energy India in June. Baring India invested $90 million in Cethar Vessels in December 2010.

“Investing in the clean technologies space requires a great degree of specialisation. These investments have a long gestation period and a different returns profile,” said Mr Rahul Khanna, Managing Director, Canaan India. The firm has not invested in this space so far.

Investment Trends

Although the clean technologies space is still nascent, investors say that the sector looks attractive and could see a lot of growth.

“A lot of firms are investing in wind energy projects. It is difficult to get investment for solar projects as subsidies are uncertain,” said Mr Avinash Gupta, Leader, Financial Advisory, Deloitte in India.

There are a lot of things that investors must keep in mind while investing in a renewable energy project. “To ensure that the investment is not very risky there are a couple of things that investors should keep in mind. They should invest in a company which is backed with the right business model and investments should be with the right entrepreneurs. Another important aspect is that a portfolio approach or diversified investment approach should be adopted,” said Mr Raja Parthasarathy, Partner, IDFC Private Equity.

Exits in the clean technology sector are difficult; investors usually exit after 4–6 years, say private equity investors.

Platform Investment Stories

There has been a trend towards investing in a ‘platform manner' in this sector. Called ‘platform stories' in investor jargon, these are private equity investments in a staggered manner.

In the platform model, private equity investors commit large capital to a company to set up a particular project. Money is released by the investor to the company on achievement of pre-decided milestones. A particular amount is given to the company when it sets up its first 90 Watt project

“We have noticed an increasing number of private equity players commit large capital to a company engaged in renewable energy business. It is a time bound activity where parts of the money are provided by the investor as and when the first part of the goal is accomplished,” said Mr Gupta of Deloitte.

IDFC Private Equity has invested nearly Rs 440 crore in Green Infra Ltd, a renewable energy company using platform investment. “The advantage of investing using this model is that investment is at par (if it is a blank sheet company, that is, if it has no track record) and the returns are high,” said Mr Parthasarathy.