UBI P.O. General Awareness Exam Paper

1Q. Very often we see in the advertisements published by Financing Institutes/Agencies stating that their products are given high or average Ratings. These Rating Agencies classify bonds/investments in how many categories ?
1. Low Risk
2. Average Risk
3. High Risk
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (D)

2Q. As per the reports published in various newspapers/journals etc. the economic map of the world is being redesigned. What is/are the new emerging trends of this new economic map of the world ?
1. With India and Asia at the forefront the centre of economic gravity has shifted to East.
2. Emerging markets, with India among the leaders, are growing faster than old established markets.
3. Central banks of the countries have recognized that case-by-case liquidity solutions are not the answers and a market wide and globally synchronized approach is needed to solve the present crisis.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

3Q. As per the decision taken by the Govt. of India, the exporters of which of the following products to USA and European countries will get an incentive of 2% on their exports ?
1. Leather goods
2. Garments
3. Software
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 2 only
(E) All 1, 2 and 3
Answer : (D)

4Q. Which of the following is/are the key features of Indian Economy which were highlighted during the presentation of the Interim Budget 2009-10 ?
1. Despite global financial crisis the GDP growth rate in current financial year has been 7•1 per cent.
2. Indian economy was adjudged as second fastest growing economy in the world
3. A provision of Rs. 100 crores is made in the annual plan 2009-10 for setting up Unique Identification Authority of India.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (D)

5Q. Many a times we read a term in financial news papers ‘SEPA’. What is the full form of the term ?
(A) Single Exchange Processing Agency
(B) Single Euro Payments Area
(C) Single Electronic Processing Agency
(D) Super Electronic Purchase Agency
(E) None of these
Answer : (B)

6Q. As per the newly launched ‘Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme’ a monthly pension will be given to the widows. What will be the amount of the pension ?
(A) Rs. 200
(B) Rs. 400
(C) Rs. 600
(D) Rs. 800
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

7Q. As per the decision taken by the Govt. of India all the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) will be recapitalised over the next two years so that they can maintain a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of ……….
(A) 9%
(B) 12%
(C) 11%
(D) 22%
(E) None of these
Answer: (B)

8. As per the Industrial Development Report 2009 India’s rank in Industrial Development was 54 on the Development Index. Which of the following organizations/agencies compiles Industrial Development Index of the world ?
(A) International Labour Organisation
(B) United Nations’ Industrial Development Organisation
(C) World Bank
(D) World Trade Organisation
(E) The Economic and Social Council of UNO
Answer : (B)

9Q. As per the news published in major news papers/magazines the International Finance Corporation has offered a loan for providing clean drinking water to 30 lakhs people in rural India. What is the amount of the loan ?
(A) 5 million US $
(B) 10 million US $
(C) 15 million US $
(D) 20 million US $
(E) None of these
Answer : (C)

10Q. The merger of which of the following two Indian companies took place in recent past which is termed as “Largest ever merger in India’s Corporate History” ?
(A) Nuclear Power Corporation and National Thermal Power Corporation
(B) State Bank of India and its seven associate banks
(C) Hind Aluminium Company and Century Mills
(D) Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland
(E) Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum Ltd.
Answer : (E)

11Q. As per the agreements signed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCL) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) a joint Venture will be launched for setting up various Nuclear Power Plants in India. If this is materialized all these establishments will be required to function necessarily under the framework of which of the following existing acts ?
1. Industrial Disputes Act
2. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act
3. Atomic Energy Act
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (C)

12Q. As we all know more and more countries/organizations are now going for Non-Cash Transactions and accordingly Banks have launched many new products in the market for the same. Which of the following products is a non-cash transaction product ?
(A) Only ATM Card
(B) Only Credit Card
(C) Only Prepaid Card
(D) Only Debit Card
(E) All are non-cash transaction products
Answer : (E)

13Q. The Prime Minister of India while addressing a meeting of top industrialists of India in March 2009 advised the RBI to further cut interest rates. Which of the following is/are the reasons owing to which the Prime Minister who himself is an economist gave this advise to RBI ?
1. All major economies of the world are passing through a crisis situation. Prime Minister wants RBI to take preventive measures to save Indian economy.
2. In India ample liquidity is available in the market but there are no takers.
3. Inflation is at a comparatively low level at present in the country
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both 2 and 3 only
(D) Only 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

14Q. As per the reports published in the newspapers India has signed an agreement to supply its Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) to ……….
(A) Mauritius
(B) Bangladesh
(C) Nepal
(D) Zimbabwe
(E) Vietnam
Answer : (A)

15Q. Which of the following is/are TRUE about the present situation of Sugar Market in India which has undergone a dramatic change in last 12 months ?
1. From being a major exporter of sugar, India is desperately looking for imports today to meet its domestic needs.
2. Domestic prices have spurted by 60-70 per cent with no sign of respite.
3. The present situation is largely due to sharp contraction in cane acreage in the country.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (D)

16. As per the recent reports, the per capita Income of the country has gone up during 2008-09. What is the per capita income at present ?
About ……….
(A) Rs. 15,000
(B) Rs. 33,000
(C) Rs. 40,000
(D) Rs. 23,000
(E) Rs. 53,000
Answer : (C)

17Q. A major Financial Newspaper while writing about the present status of economy in India wrote “the outlook in the agricultural sector gives room for optimism”. What does it really mean ?
[Pick up most appropriate statement(s)]
1. Agricultural Sector which was not playing any significant role in Indian economy is now growing very fast and significantly.
2. Agricultural sector is not going to play any major role in economy as its progress is still very slow.
3. Govt. will not require to provide any boost up package to agricultural sector as it is likely to be satisfactory this year.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Either 1 or 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (C)

18Q. While addressing a conference of Bankers and top Industrialists, the Prime Minister made a statement that “Domestic Credit Flow for Productive Needs had to be maintained at a reasonable Cost”. What does it really mean ?
(Pick up the most appropriate statements).
1. Banks should further raise their deposit base and provide very low cost credit to Industry which is badly in need of the same.
2. Banks should neither reduce their lending rates further nor increase the rates on deposits as this may create a critical imbalance in the financial/money market of the country.
3. Banks should see that ample credit is provided to the industries at an affordable cost without diluting the credit norms.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 2 only
(E) None of these
Answer : (C)

19. A major financial newspaper recently published a report wherein it is said that “the Govt. was aware of the problems in certain sectors, particularly where Export Dependence was High.’ Keeping general trend of India’s present economic situation in mind how would you interpret the above statement ?
[Pick up the most appropriate statement(s)].
1. The industry which produces mainly for export purposes is not doing well at present and needs Govt. support.
2. The industry which imports raw material and exports processed goods is in very bad shape these days. Govt. wishes to help them so that they can come out of it.
3. Indian exports were never in comfortable situations and this year they are in their worst situation. Govt. knows it but cannot help.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 3 only
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

20Q. Who amongst the following is an Economist of international fame and was in news recently ?
(A) John Key
(B) Paul Krugman
(C) Nicolas Sarkozy
(D) Mohamed Elbaradei
(E) Mohamed Nasheed
Answer : (B)

21Q. Which of the following taxes is not levied by the Union Govt. ?
(A) Customs
(B) Corporate Tax
(C) Land Revenue
(D) Income Tax
(E) Surcharge on Income Tax
Answer : (C)

22Q. Service Tax was introduced in India for the first time in the year ……….
(A) 1990-91
(B) 1991-92
(C) 1994-95
(D) 1980-81
(E) 2000-01
Answer : (C)

23Q. Which of the following countries launched world’s first satellite for monitoring Greenhouse Gases ?
(A) USA
(B) Britain
(C) Japan
(D) China
(E) India
Answer : (C)

24Q. Which of the following countries launched its indigenous Satellite ‘Omid’ in February 2009 ?
(A) Spain
(B) Australia
(C) Turkey
(D) China
(E) Iran
Answer : (E)

25Q. The Govt. of India allowed the Income Tax Department to set up its centralized IT processing centre in ……….
(A) Bangalore
(B) Chennai
(C) Mumbai
(D) Kolkata
(E) Hyderabad
Answer : (A)

26Q. As per news reports MTNL recently launched it “3G Services” and became the first telecom operator to launch the same in India. What is the full form of ‘G’ in 3G ?
(A) Global
(B) Generation
(C) Growth
(D) Gravity
(E) None of these
Answer : (B)

27Q. India recently signed an agreement with which of the following countries so that it can import Uranium from it ?
(A) China
(B) Tunisia
(C) Brazil
(D) Taiwan
(E) None of these
Answer : (E)

28Q. The annual meeting of the world Economic Forum was organized in January–February 2009 in ……
(A) Davos
(B) Brasilia
(C) Washington DC
(D) London
(E) Tokyo
Answer : (A)

29Q. What is the minimum support price announced by the Govt. of India for Rabi crops of wheat ?
(A) Rs. 900 quintal
(B) Rs. 950 quintal
(C) Rs. 1,000 quintal
(D) Rs. 1,080 quintal
(E) Rs. 1,200 quintal
Answer : (D)

30Q. Which of the following is/are the highlights of the ‘project Snow Leopard’ launched in recent past ?
1. It is launched to safeguard and conserve India’s unique natural heritage and high altitude wild life.
2. The project is launched to make another hitech permanent Lab on South pole.
3. It is nothing but a project to protect snow leopards found in Himalayan region which is facing the fear of extinction.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 3 only
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

31Q. Which of the following has now became the Third Largest Economy of the World ?
(A) Brazil
(B) India
(C) China
(D) Japan
(E) Russia
Answer : (C)

32Q. Ms. Johanna Sigurdardottir has taken over as the first women Prime Minister of ……
(A) Brazil
(B) Iceland
(C) Peru
(D) New Zealand
(E) Tunisia
Answer : (B)

33. Govt. of India has decided to set up two more All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) like institutes in near future. These new institutions would be established in ……….
(A) West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh
(B) Haryana & Punjab
(C) Punjab & Tamil Nadu
(D) Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
(E) Gujarat and Maharashtra
Answer : (A)

34Q. Duleep Trophy is associated with the game of ……….
(A) Hockey
(B) Badminton
(C) Football
(D) Lawn Tennis
(E) Cricket
Answer : (E)

35Q. Who amongst the following is the winner of Saraswati Samman 2008 ?
(A) Gulzar
(B) Nida Fazli
(C) Srilal Shukla
(D) Govind Mishra
(E) Lakhmi Nandan Bora
Answer : (E)

36. Who amongst the following is the New Prime Minister of Israel after the general election held there in recent past ?
(A) Lieberman
(B) Tzipi Livini
(C) Shimon Peres
(D) Benjamin Netanyahu
(E) None of these
Answer : (D)
37Q. Who amongst the following is the highest Wicket taker in the history of cricket ?(Both ODI and Test Cricket)
(A) Wasim Akram
(B) Anil Kumble
(C) Stephan Fleming
(D) Shane Warne
(E) Muttiah Muralidharan
Answer : (E)

38Q. Which of the following commissions set up by the President of India decides the distribution of tax incomes between the Central and State Govts. ?
(A) Central Law Commission
(B) Pay Commission for Govt. Employees
(C) Administrative Reforms Commission
(D) Planning Commission
(E) Finance Commission
Answer : (E)

39Q. Who amongst the following became the first Indian to win ‘Golden Globe Award 2009’ ?
(A) Shivkumar Sharma
(B) Anu Malik
(C) Zakir Hussain
(D) A. R. Rahman
(E) None of these
Answer : (D)

40Q. Sania Mirza won the Mixed Doubles of which of the following tennis matches alongwith Mahesh Bhupati ?
(A) US Open 2009
(B) Australian Open 2009
(C) South Africa Tennis Open 2009
(D) ATP Challenger Tennis Championship 2009
(E) None of these
Answer : (B)

41Q. We very frequently read about the activities of the Foreign Exchange Market in newspapers/magazines. Which of the following is/are the major functions of the same ?
1. Transfer of purchasing power from domestic to foreign market.
2. Providing credit for financing foreign trade.
3. Power to purchase gold from foreign countries as most of the nations still work on Gold Standards.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 2 only
(E) Both 2 and 3 only
Answer : (D)

42Q. Who amongst the following players won the National Shooting Championship held in January 2009 ?
(A) Abhinav Bindra
(B) Omkar Singh
(C) Gurpreet Singh
(D) Anjali Bhagwat
(E) None of these
Answer : (E)

43Q. Who amontst the following is the author of the book “Termites in the Trading system” ?
(A) M. S. Swaminathan
(B) Jagdish Bhagwati
(C) Jaswant Singh
(D) M. Chelapati Rao
(E) None of these
Answer : (B)

44Q. The Govt. of India recently introduced Money Laundering Bill 2009. Under the bill which of the following agencies is empowered to search the premises after the offence is committed and a case is filed ?
(A) Income Tax Department
(B) Vigilance Department of the Reserve Bank of India
(C) Enforcement Directorate
(D) Central Bureau of Investigation
(E) None of these
Answer : (C)

45Q. Which of the following is/are the components of the Fiscal Deficit ?
1. Budgetary Deficit
2. Market Borrowings
3. Expenditure made from Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) All 1, 2 and 3
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

46. Which of the following is the Trophy/Cups associated with the game of Hockey ?
(A) Derby
(B) Agha Khan Cup
(C) Merdeka
(D) Vizzy Trophy
(E) Rovers Cup
Answer : (B)

47Q. Which of the following is not a Welfare scheme launched by the Govt. of India ?
(A) Village Grain Bank Scheme
(B) Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana
(C) Annapurna Scheme
(D) Midday Meal Scheme
(E) Bharat Nirman Yojana
Answer : (E)

48Q. Which of the following are the instruments of Credit Control in the hands of the RBI ?
1. Lowering or raising the discount and interest rates.
2. Raising the minimum support price of the major agro products.
3. Lowering or raising the minimum cash reserves maintained by the commercial banks.
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Only 3
(D) Both 1 and 3 only
(E) Both 2 and 3 only
Answer : (C)

49Q. Who amongst the following is the author of the Book “Dreams from My Father : A Story of Race and Inheritance” ?
(A) Barack Obama
(B) John Evans Aatta Mills
(C) Nelson Mandela
(D) Danny Boyle
(E) None of these
Answer : (A)

50Q. Which of the following programmes was launched to further improve the facilities of irrigation in rural India ?
(A) National Social Assistance programme
(B) Construction of Kiosks for poors
(C) Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
(D) Annapurna Scheme
(E) National Watershed Development Programme
Answer : (E)

BRIEF HISTORY OF BANKING IN INDIA

1. From the ancient times in India, an indigenous banking system has prevailed. The businessmen called Shroffs, Seths, Sahukars, Mahajans, Chettis etc. had been carrying on the business of banking since ancient times. These indigenous bankers included very small money lenders to shroffs with huge businesses, who carried on the large and specialized business even greater than the business of banks.
• The origin of western type commercial Banking in India dates back to the 18th century.
2. The story of banking starts from Bank of Hindusthan established in 1779 and it was first bank at Calcutta under European management.
• In 1786 General Bank of India was set up.
3. Since Calcutta was the most active trading port in India, mainly due to the trade of the British Empire, it became a banking center.
• Three Presidency banks were set up under charters from the British East India Company- Bank of Calcutta, Bank of Bombay and the Bank of Madras. These worked as quasi central banks in India for many years.
• The Bank of Calcutta established in 1806 immediately became Bank of Bengal.
• In 1921 these 3 banks merged with each other and Imperial Bank of India got birth. It is today’s State Bank of India.
• The name was changed after India’s Independence in 1955. So State bank of India is the oldest Bank of India.
4. In 1839, there was a fruitless effort by Indian merchants to establish a Bank called Union Bank. It failed within a decade.
5. Next came Allahabad Bank which was established in 1865 and working even today.
• The oldest Public Sector Bank in India having branches all over India and serving the customers for the last 145 years is Allahabad Bank. Allahabad bank is also known as one of India’s Oldest Joint Stock Bank.
6. The Oldest Joint Stock bank of India was Bank of Upper India established in 1863 and failed in 1913.
7. The first Bank of India with Limited Liability to be managed by Indian Board was Oudh Commercial Bank. It was established in 1881 at Faizabad. This bank failed in 1958.
8. The first bank purely managed by Indian was Punjab National Bank, established in Lahore in 1895. The Punjab national Bank has not only survived till date but also is one of the largest banks in India.
9. However, the first Indian commercial bank which was wholly owned and managed by Indians was Central Bank of India which was established in 1911.
• Central Bank of India was dreams come true of Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, founder of the Bank. 
• Sir Pherozesha Mehta was the first Chairman of this Bank. 
10. Many more Indian banks were established between 1906-1911. This was the era of the Swadeshi Movement in India. Some of the banks are Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Central Bank of India. 
• Bank of India was the first Indian bank to open a branch outside India in London in 1946 and the first to open a branch in continental Europe at Paris in 1974. 
• The Bank was founded in September 1906 as a private entity and was nationalized in July 1969. Since the logo of this Bank is a star, its head office in Mumbai is located in Star House, Bandra East, Mumbai. 
11. There was a district in Today’s Karnataka state called South Canara under the British empire. It was bifurcated in 1859 from Canara district , thus making Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district. It was the undivided Dakshina Kannada district. It was renamed as Dakshina Kannada in 1947. Four banks started operation during the period of Swadeshi Movement and so this was known as “Cradle of Indian Banking. 
• This was the first phase of Indian banking which was a very slow in development. This era saw many ups and downs in the banking scenario of the country. 
12. The Second Phase starts from 1935 when Reserve bank of India was established. 
• Between the period of 1911-1948, there were more than 1000 banks in India, almost all small banks. The Reserve Bank of India was constituted in 1934 as an apex Bank, however without major government ownership. Government of India came up with the Banking Companies Act 1949. This act was later changed to Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 1949. 
• The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act of 1965 gave extensive powers to the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank of India was made the Central Banking Authority. 
13. The banking sector reforms started immediately after the independence. These reforms were basically aimed at improving the confidence level of the public as most banks were not trusted by the majority of the people. Instead, the deposits with the Postal department were considered safe.
14. The first major step was Nationalization of the Imperial Bank of India in 1955 via State Bank of India Act. 
• State Bank of India was made to act as the principal agent of RBI and handle banking transactions of the Union and State Governments. 
15. In a major process of nationalization, 7 subsidiaries of the State Bank of India were nationalized by the Indira Gandhi regime. In 1969, 14 major private commercial banks were nationalized. These 14 banks Nationalized in 1969 are as follows: 
o Central Bank of India
o Bank of Maharastra
o Dena Bank
o Punjab National Bank
o Syndicate Bank
o Canara Bank
o Indian Bank
o Indian Overseas Bank
o Bank of Baroda
o Union Bank
o Allahabad Bank
o Union Bank of India
o UCO Bank
o Bank of India.
16. The above was followed by a second phase of nationalization in 1980, when Government of India acquired the ownership of 6 more banks, thus bringing the total number of Nationalised Banks to 20. The private banks at that time were allowed to function side by side with nationalized banks and the foreign banks were allowed to work under strict regulation. 
17. After the two major phases of nationalization in India, the 80% of the banking sector came under the public sector / government ownership. 
18. Please note the following sequence of events: 
 Creation of Reserve bank of India: 1935 
 Nationalization of Reserve Bank of India : 1949 (January ) 
 Enactment of Banking Regulation Act : 1949 (March) 
 Nationalization of State Bank of India : 1955 
 Nationalization of SBI Subsidiaries : 1959 
 Nationalization of 14 major Banks : 1969 
 Creation of Credit Guarantee Corporation: 1971 
 Creation of Regional Rural Banks : 1975 
 Nationalization of 7 more banks with deposits over Rs. 200 Crore: 1980 
19. The result was outstanding. The public deposits in these banks increased by 800% , as the government ownership gave the public faith and trust. 
20. The third phase of development of banking in India started in the early 1990s when India started its economic liberalization.

Government Schemes

Bharat NirmanBharat Nirman was launched on december 16 2005.This scheme aims at developing the rural infrastructure. The duration of implementing this scheme is 4 years.The major 6 sectors and their targets for the next 4 years:

Roads
To link all the villages of 1000 population with roads and also to link all the St and Hill villages upto 500 population with roads.
Irrigation
Create 1 crore hectare of irrigation potential. 6 million hectare from major and medium projects, 3 million hectare for ground water development and 1 million hectare for minor irrigation projects
Water Supply
Cover of 55,067 uncovered habitations. Provide additional coverage to 2.8 lakh habitations that have slipped back from full coverage. Provide potable water in 2,16,968 villages affected by poor water quality.

Housing
Provide 60 lakh houses at the rate of 15 lakh houses each year to be built by funds allocated to the homeless through Panchayats.
Electricity
Provide electricity to 1,25,000 villages by grid based supply or in remote and inaccessible areas through alternative technologies.
Telephone Connections
Provide telephone connection to 66,822 number of villages without a telephone and replace presently dysfunctional systems.


Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on 25th December, 2000 to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations. The Pradhan Mantri Gram PMGSY is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme. 50% of the Cess on High Speed Diesel (HSD) is earmarked for this Programme. to provide connectivity to unconnected rural Habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy.
In the first phase, habitations (hamlets) of population of 1000 (500 in the case of Hill States, tribal and Desert areas) and above will be covered. In the second phase habitations of population of 500(250 in the case of Hill States ,tribal and Desert areas ) will be covered.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
The 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' (Hindi: The 'Education for All' Movement, sometimes referred to as "each one teach one") is a flagship programme of the Government of India launched in 2001 for achievement of universalization of elementary education in a time bound manner, as mandated by the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children of ages 6-14 (estimated to be 205 million in number in 2001) a fundamental right. The programme aims to achieve the goal of universalization of elementary education of satisfactory quality by 2010.

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana was formally launched on October 1, 2007. The objective of RSBY is to protect below poverty line (BPL) households from major health shocks that involve hospitalization. Specifically, BPL families are entitled to more than 700 in-patient procedures with a cost of up to 30,000 rupees per annum for a nominal registration fee of 30 rupees. Pre-exisiting conditions are covered and there is no age limit. Coverage extends to the head of household, spouse and up to three dependent children or parents.Government contributes 75% of the annual estimated premium while state government contributes 25%.
National Rural Health Mission
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on 12th April 2005.. NRHM seeks to provide effective healthcare to rural and urban population throughout the state with special focus on the backward districts with weak human development and health indicators especially among the poor and marginalized groups like women and the vulnerable sections of the society.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
JNNURM was launched by the Govt. of India in December 2005 to encourage creation of financially sustainable inclusive cities. The objective of the Mission is to give focused attention to planned development of identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors to foster dispersed urbanization, ensure adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services, provide basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, ensure delivery of other existing universal services of the Government for education, health and social security and establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset-management.
The Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Program (IHSDP) under JNNURM are dealt by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
Aam Aadmi Bima YojanaThe Government on October 2, 2007 launched the ‘Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana’ (AABY) through Life Insurances Corporation to provide death and disability cover to rural landless households. Under the scheme, the head of the family or one earning member in the family will be insured. The benefits under the scheme include Rs.30,000 in case of natural death; Rs. 75,000 in case of death due to accident or total permanent disability due to accident. In case of partial disability due to accident, the insurance cover would be Rs. 37,500.

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched on 1st April, 1999 with a holistic view to cover all the aspects of self employment such as organization of the poor into self-help groups, training, credit, technology, infrastructure and marketing. This programme was started after restructuring the erstwhile Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and its allied programmes namely Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWACRA), Supply of Toolkits in Rural Areas (SITRA), Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY) and Million Wells Scheme (MWS).

Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarojgar Yojana
SGSY targets rural families below poverty line (BPL) with the basic objective to bring the assisted families above the poverty line. Within the target population, the programme in particular focuses on the vulnerable groups i.e. scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women and disabled with the inherent aim to mobilize them into establishing small rural enterprises based on their own potential.

Rural Infrastructure Development FundThe Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). The RIDF is the main instrument to channel bank funds for financing rural infrastructure, through State Governments. The corpus of RIDF was increased from Rs.5,500 crore in 2003-04 to Rs.14 thousand crore for the year 2008 .

Project Arrow.The Department of Posts has launched “Project Arrow” to revitalize its core operations and to provide new technology enabled services to both rural and urban Indians. So far this has been successfully implemented in 500 post offices in the country. This Project will receive full government support as it will enhance the services offered to India and will also lay the foundation for a vibrant delivery mechanism for many social sector schemes such as Pensions, and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran YojanaRajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) was launched in April-05 by merging all ongoing schemes.Under the programme 90% grant is provided by Govt. of India and 10% as loan by REC to the State Governments. REC is the nodal agency for the programme.
The RGGVY aims at:
· Electrifying all villages and habitations as per new definition
· Providing access to electricity to all rural households
· Providing electricity Connection to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families free of charge.

Budget Terminology

AD-VALOREM DUTIES: These are the duties determined as a certain percentage of the price of the product.
APPROPRIATION BILL: This Bill is like a green signal enabling the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund to pay off expenses. These are instruments that Parliament clears after the demand for grants has been voted by the Lok Sabha.
BUDGETARY DEFICIT: Such a situation arises when the expenses exceed the revenues. Here the entire budgetary exercise falls short of allocating enough funds to a certain area.
BUDGET ESTIMATES: These estimates contain an estimate of Fiscal Deficit and the Revenue Deficit for the year. The term is associated with the estimates of the Center's spending during the financial year and the income received as proceeds of tax revenues.
CAPITAL GOODS: Capital Goods are those goods that are used in the manufacturing of finished products.
CAPITAL BUDGET: The word, capital, is long-term in nature. Capital Budget keeps track of the government's capital receipts and payments. This accounts for market loans, borrowings from the Reserve Bank and other institutions through the sale of Treasury Bills, loans acquired from foreign governments and recoveries of loans granted by the Central government to state governments and Union Territories.
CAPITAL PAYMENTS: Expenses incurred on acquisition of assets are termed capital payments.
CENVAT: This is a replacement for the earlier MODVAT scheme and is meant for reducing the cascade effect of indirect taxes on finished products. The scheme is a more extensive one with most goods brought under its preview.
CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT: This deficit shows the difference between the nation's exports and imports.
CUSTOM DUTIES: These duties are levied on goods whenever they are either brought into the country or exported from the country. The importer or the exporter pays custom duties.
COUNTERVAILING DUTIES: This is levied on imports that may lead to price rise in the domestic market. It is imposed with the intention of discouraging unfair trading practices by other countries.
CONSOLIDATED FUND: This is one big reservoir where the government pools all its funds together. The fund includes all government revenues, loans raised and recoveries of loans granted.
CONTINGENCY FUND: It is more or less similar to that extra little bit of savings that all mothers set aside in case of an emergency. Likewise, the government has created this fund to help it tide over difficult situations. The fund is at the disposal of the President to meet unforeseen and urgent expenditure, pending approval from Parliament. The amount that is withdrawn from the fund is recouped.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE: Long-term in nature they are used for acquiring fixed assets such as land, building, machinery and equipment. Other items that also fall under this category include, loans and advances sanctioned by the Center to the State governments, union territories and public sector undertakings.
CAPITAL RECEIPT: Loans raised by the Center from the market, government borrowings from the RBI & other parties, sale of Treasury Bills and loans received from foreign governments all form a part of Capital Receipt. Other items that also fall under this category include recovery of loans granted by the Center to State governments & Union Territories and proceeds from the dilution of the government’s stake in Public Sector Undertakings.
CENTRAL PLAN: It refers to the government’s budgetary support to the Plan and, the internal and extra budgetary resources raised by the Public Sector Undertakings.
DIRECT TAXES: Taxes imposed directly on the customers such as the Income Tax and the Corporate Tax fall under this category.
DISINVESTMENT: The dilution of the government’s stake in Public Sector Undertakings is called as disinvestment.
DEMAND FOR GRANTS: It is a statement of estimate of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund. This requires the approval of the Lok Sabha.
EXCISE DUTIES: These duties refer to duties imposed on goods manufactured within the country.
FISCAL DEFICIT: It is the difference between the Revenue Receipts and Total Expenditure.
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: Total market value of the goods and services manufactured within the country in a financial year.
GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT: Total market value of the finished goods and services manufactured within the country in a given financial year, plus income earned by the local residents from investments made abroad, minus the income earned by foreigners in the domestic market.
INDIRECT TAXES: Taxes imposed on goods manufactured, imported or exported such as Excise Duties and Custom Duties.
MODVAT: It stands for Modified Value Added Tax and is a way of giving some relief to the final manufacturers of goods on Excise Duties borne by their suppliers.
MONETIZED DEFICIT: Measures the level of support the RBI provides to the Centre’s borrowing program.
PEAK RATE: It is the highest rate of Custom Duty applicable on an item.
PERFORMANCE BUDGET: It is a compilation of programs and activities of different ministries and departments.
PUBLIC ACCOUNT: It is an account where money received through transactions not relating to consolidated fund is kept.
PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of both Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure of the Center on the Central Plan, Central Assistance to States and Union Territories.
PRIMARY DEFICIT: Fiscal Deficit minus Interest payments.
REVENUE DEFICIT: It is the difference between Revenue Expenditure and Revenue Receipts.
REVENUE SURPLUS: Opposite of Revenue Deficit, it is the excess of Revenue Receipts over Revenue Expenditure.
REVISED ESTIMATES: Usually given in the following budget, it is the difference between the Budget Estimates and the actual figures.
REVENUE BUDGET: Consists of Revenue Receipts and Revenue Expenditure of the government.
REVENUE RECEIPT: Consists of duties imposed by the Centre, interest and dividend on investments made by the government.
REVENUE EXPENDITURE: Expenditure incurred for the normal functioning of the government departments and various other services such as interest charges on debt incurred by the government.
SUBSIDIES: Financial aid provided by the Center to individuals or a group of individuals to be competitive. The grant of subsidies is also aimed at improving their skills of those who benefit from the subsidies.
NON-PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of Revenue and Capital Expenditure on interest payments, Defense Expenditure, subsidies, postal deficit, police, pensions, economic services, loans to public sector enterprises and loans as well as grants to State governments, Union territories and foreign governments.
FINANCE BILL: Consists the government’s proposals for the imposition of new taxes, modification of the existing tax structure or continuance of the existing tax structure beyond the period approved by the Parliament.
VALUE ADDED TAX: It is based on the difference between the value of the output over the value of the inputs used.

India ranks 134 in human development index

India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the human development index (HDI), which assesses long-term progress in health, education and income indicators, said a UN report released on Wednesday. Although placed in the "medium" category, India's standing is way behind scores of  economically less developed countries, including war-torn Iraq as well as the Philippines.

India's ranking in 2010 was 119 out of 169 countries.
Sri Lanka has been ranked 97, China 101 and the Maldives 109. Bhutan, otherwise respected for its qulity of life, has been placed at 141, behind India.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are ranked 145 and 146 in the list of countries that is headed by Norway and in which the Democratic Republic of Congo is at the very bottom.
The other two countries in South Asia, Nepal and Afghanistan, occupy ranks 157 and 172.
According to the "UN Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Inequality", India's HDI is 0.5 compared to 0.3 in 2010.
"The HDI for 2011 would be the same if the 2010 methodology was adopted and the sample size was the same. As many as 18 new countries were included in the survey this time."
India's gender inequality index was 0.6, the highest in South Asia.
The UN report said that India had the world's largest number of multidimensionally poor, more than half of the population, at 612 million.
However, the report appreciated India's progress in improving forest cover and protecting biodiversity.
"India is one of the seven developing countries like Bhutan, China, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador and Vietnam which have recently transitioned from deforesting to reforesting," said the report.
India increased its reforestation rate from 0.2% a year between 1990 and 2000 to 0.5% percent a year between 2000 and 2010.

Things are not improving in India at all. In fact, things are going from bad to worse. India’s rank in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has fallen from 119 in 2010 to 134 this year.
India’s HDI value for 2011 is 0.547—in the medium human development category—positioning the country at 134 out of 187 countries and territories. Between 1980 and 2011, India’s HDI value increased from 0.344 to 0.547, an increase of 59.0 per cent or average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent.
The rank of India’s HDI for 2010 based on data available in 2011 and methods used in 2011 is 134 out of 187 countries. In the 2010 HDR, India was ranked 119 out of 169 countries. However, the report cautioned, it could be misleading to compare values and rankings with those of previously published reports, because the underlying data and methods have changed, as well as the number of countries included in the HDI.
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead the world in the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI), while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Burundi are at the bottom of the Human Development Report’s annual rankings of national achievement in health, education and income, released today by UNDP.
The United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden round out the top 10 countries in the 2011 HDI, but when the Index is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education and income, some of the wealthiest nations drop out of the HDI’s top 20: the United States falls from #4 to #23, the Republic of Korea from #15 to #32, and Israel from #17 to #25.
The 2011 Report—Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All—notes that income distribution has worsened in most of the world, with Latin America remaining the most unequal region in income terms, even though several countries including Brazil and Chile are narrowing internal income gaps. Yet in overall IHDI terms, including life expectancy
The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. As in the 2010 HDR a long and healthy life is measured by life expectancy, access to knowledge is measured by: i) mean years of adult education, which is the average number of years of education received in a life-time by people aged 25 years and older; and ii) expected years of schooling for children of school-entrance age, which is the total number of years of schooling a child of school-entrance age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrolment rates stay the same throughout the child’s life. Standard of living is measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita expressed in constant 2005 PPP$.
Between 1980 and 2011, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 10.1 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.5 years and expected years of schooling increased by 3.9 years. India’s GNI per capita increased by about 287.0 per cent between 1980 and 2011.
India’s 2011 HDI of 0.547 is below the average of 0.630 for countries in the medium human development group and below the average of 0.548 for countries in South Asia. From South Asia, countries which are close to India in 2011 HDI rank and population size are Bangladesh and Pakistan which have HDIs ranked 146 and 145 respectively.
India’s HDI for 2011 is 0.547. However, when the value is discounted for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.392, a loss of 28.3 per cent due to inequality in the distribution of the dimension indices. Bangladesh and Pakistan show losses due to inequality of 27.4 per cent and 31.4 per cent respectively. The average loss due to inequality for medium HDI countries is 23.7 per cent and for South Asia it is 28.4 per cent.
India has a Gender Inequality Index (GII) value of 0.617, ranking it 129 out of 146 countries in the 2011 index. In India, 10.7 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 26.6 per cent of adult women have reached a secondary or higher level of education compared to 50.4 per cent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 230 women die from pregnancy related causes; and the adolescent fertility rate is 86.3 births per 1000 live births. Female participation in the labour market is 32.8 per cent compared to 81.1 for men. In comparison, Bangladesh and Pakistan are ranked at 112 and 115 respectively on this index.
The most recent survey data that were publically available for India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) estimation are from 2005. In India, 53.7 per cent of the population suffer multiple deprivations while an additional 16.4 per cent are vulnerable to multiple deprivations. The breadth of deprivation (intensity) in India, which is the average percentage of deprivation experienced by people in multidimensional poverty, is 52.7 per cent. The MPI, which is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.283. Bangladesh and Pakistan have MPIs of 0.292 and 0.264 respectively.

UN agencies stress on importance of farm co-operatives

The role of agricultural co-operatives in poverty reduction and ensuring food security for millions around the world is one of the themes of the International Year of Co-operatives 2012.

Being part of a larger group, small farmers can negotiate better terms in contract farming and lower prices for agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and equipment. Also, they can secure land rights and better marketing opportunities, which they may not be able to do individually.

The importance of agricultural co-operatives has been stressed by three United Nations agencies, namely, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP).

It has been pointed out that co-operatives in general cover small-scale to multi-million business across the globe and operate in all sectors of the economy. They have an estimated 800 million members and provide 100 million jobs worldwide, with an aggregate turnover of $ 1.1 trillion that is comparable to the GDP of many large countries.

In Brazil, co-operatives accounted for 37.2 per cent of agricultural GDP and 5.4 per cent of overall GDP in 2009, and earned $ 3.6 billion from exports. In Mauritius, co-operatives are responsible for more than 60 per cent of the national production in the food crops sector.

Agriculture, including farming, forestry, fisheries and livestock, is the main source of employment and income in rural areas, where the majority of the world's poor and hungry people live. The agricultural co-operatives can support small farm producers and marginalised groups by creating sustainable rural employment. They will also provide men and women small-holders with services such as better training in natural resource management and access to information, technologies, innovations and extension services.

The UN agencies said in a joint statement that they will promote the growth of agricultural co-operatives through a slew of initiatives. For one, the co-operatives will be supported to form networks for pooling their assets and competencies to overcome market barriers and other constraints such as lack of access to natural resources.

The agencies will assist policy-makers in the design and implementation of policies, laws, regulations and projects and create enabling environment for the successful operation of the co-operatives. They will also help strengthen the dialogue and cooperation between governments, agricultural co-operatives, the international research communities and civil society representatives.

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).