GK-Capcule 2015 in English

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POWERCAPSULE FOR SBI ASSOCIATE ASSISTANT EXAM 2015

This document consists of all important news and events of last 6 months which can come in SBI Associate

Assistant Exam.

Current RBI Policy & Reserve Rates:

Repo Rate 7.75% (Changed) Reverse Repo 6.75% (Changed) CRR 4% (Unchanged) SLR 22% (Unchanged) MSF 8.75% (Changed) Bank Rate 8.75% (Changed)

Note: As on 30, Sept, 2014, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) in its fourth bimonthly monetary policy statement kept the key policy rate unchanged.

News related to RBI

1. RBI issued guidelines for setting up a trading platform for trade receivables and bills of exchanges of Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises - MSME. The Trade Receivables Discounting System - TReDS should have a minimum paid up equity capital of 25 crore rupees and non-promoters would not hold over 10 per cent of the equity capital of TReDS.

2. RBI relaxed norms for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and doubled the limit to one lakh rupees from 50000 rupees. Highlights of RBI norms on PPI i. The maximum validity of gift cards has been enhanced from one year to three years. Other provisions of PPI guidelines with respect to gift cards will continue. ii. RBI also allowed issue of multiple PPIs by banks from fully-KYC compliant bank accounts for dependent or family members. Only one card can be issued to one beneficiary. The central bank also permitted banks to issue rupee denominated PPIs for visiting foreign nationals and NRIs.

3. RBI keeps interest rate unchanged i. RBI in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy statement kept the policy rates unchanged. ii. The headline inflation has been receding steadily, and current readings are below the January 2015 target of 8 per cent as well as the January 2016 target of 6 per cent,'' the RBI said.

4. RBI eased gold imports and scrapped 20:80 schemes. The decision to withdraw the 20:80 schemes will cut smuggling of gold and raise legal shipments into India.

5. Government needs to infuse as much as Rs 2.4 lakh crore ($38.78 billion) into state-owned banks by end-March 2019 to meet different kinds of capital requirements including Basel III, provisioning for asset quality, and additional risks, said a central bank Deputy Governor SS Mundra.

6. RBI tightens norms for NBFCs: Tightening norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the Reserve Bank of India raised the capital adequacy requirement and the net owned fund limit, among others, with an objective to mitigate risks in the sector. Note: i. At present, the net owned fund (NOF) requirement is at Rs.25 lakh. In a phased manner, the NBFCs would be required to raise it to Rs.1 crore by March, 2016, and to further double it to Rs.2 crore by 2017. iii. Also, NBFCs primarily engaged in lending against gold jewellery, will have to maintain a minimum Tier I capital (or equity capital) of 12 per cent with effective from April 1 as against existing requirement of 10 per cent. iv. For deposit and non-deposit taking NBFCs, Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio or CRAR, which includes Tier I capital of 7.5 per cent, which have to be raise the Tier I capital to 8.5 per cent by end of March 2016 and 10 per cent by March, 31, 2017.

7. The Reserve Bank has signed a pact with Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation.

8. RBI Draft Guidelines for Licensing of New Banks in the Private Sector Key points: i. Minimum capital requirement will be Rs 500 crore. ii. Aggregate foreign shareholding in the new bank should not exceed 49 per cent for the first five years. iii. The new bank should open at least 25 per cent of its branches in unbanked rural centres.

9. Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC): A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 are financial institutions that provide banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank, i.e. one that does not hold abanking license.


Difference between banks & NBFCs: i. NBFC cannot accept demand deposits; ii. NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself; iii. deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks. Key Points i. Minimum capital requirement will be Rs 500 crore. ii. Aggregate foreign shareholding in the new bank should not exceed 49 per cent for the first five years. iii. The NBFCs are allowed to accept/renew public deposits for a minimum period of 12 months and maximum period of 60 months. They cannot accept deposits repayable on demand. iv. NBFCs cannot offer interest rates higher than the ceiling rate prescribed by RBI from time to time. The present ceiling is 12.5 per cent per annum. v. The deposits with NBFCs are not insured.

10. RBI Draft Guidelines for Licensing of Foreign Banks - Foreign banks that want to set up operations in India will have to do so through an independent subsidiary. This means they cannot operate as a branch of the parent bank. Key Points: i. The initial minimum capital for a WoS will be Rs. 500 crore. ii. RBI said that the WoS (wholly-owned subsidiary) will be required to meet Basel-III requirements (9 per cent Tier-I capital) right from Day One. For the first three years, the WoS will have to maintain Tier-I capital at 10 per cent. iii. The Priority Sector Lending (PSL) requirement will be 40 per cent for WoSs, such as domestic scheduled commercial banks iv. The new bank should open at least 25 per cent of its branches in unbanked rural centres.

11. Reserve Bank of India reduced free usage of other bank automated teller machines (ATMs) to 3 per month from 5: Frequent withdrawal of money from ATMs will become expensive from November, with the RBI imposing a limit of 3 transactions per month from ATMs of other banks and 5 from the same bank in six metropolitan cities. Note: A customer will be required to pay a fee of up to Rs 20 for using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) beyond the permitted numbers of transactions in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

12. RBI issued two new categories of banksSmall and Payments which can improve financial inclusion. Important Points: i. The idea of small and payments banks was first proposed by the Nachiket Mor committee on financial inclusion. ii. The minimum paid-up capital requirement of both small banks and payments banks is Rs. 100 crore. iii. The payments bank will have to invest in government securities with a maturity of up to one year. iv. Small banks will offer both deposits as well as loan products. ii. Payments banks will be used only for transaction and deposits purposes. Unlike small banks, payments banks cant lend money to people.

iii. Payments Banks cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake NBFC business. iv. Hence, payments banks will offer only a limited range of products such as acceptance of demand deposits and remittance of funds. v. Those eligible to set up a small bank include resident individuals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance, companies and societies, NBFCs, microfinance institutions and local area banks. v. Of the minimum capital, the guidelines said, the promoters' initial minimum contribution will be at least 40 per cent, to be locked in for a period of 5 years. vi. The Reserve Bank of India has issued final norms for payment banks and small finance banks that would allow mobile firms and supermarket chains, to enter the banking arena to cater to individuals and small businesses. vii. The move aims at deepening financial inclusion and boost saving habits. Shriram Capital, Janalakshmi Financial Services, Magma Fincorp and Muthoot Finance, among others, are expected to throw their hats into the ring to set up small banks. viii. The Department of Posts, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Tata Teleservices, Western Union and online digital payment players such as Paytm, Oxigen and MobiKwik have expressed interest in floating payment banks. Companies will have to apply by January 16, 2015, for licences in both categories.

Key activities i. The small bank will primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to un-served and under-served sections, including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.


ii. Small banks will be required to maintain a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 15 per cent of the loans on a continuous basis. iii. In the draft guidelines, the RBI had suggested that small banks would have a restricted area of operations (possibly contiguous districts in a homogenous States). However, in the final guidelines, these restrictions have been removed. The small bank will be required to extend 75 per cent of its credit to the priority sector Payment Banks: i. Payments banks can accept deposits current and savings bank from individuals, small businesses and other entities but cannot provide loans. However, they cannot accept non-resident Indian deposits. ii. The payment bank will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs1 lakh per individual customer. iii. While the bank can issue ATM/debit cards, it cannot issue credit cards.It can contract outside liabilities (deposits) but not exceeding 33.33 times (against 20 times in the draft guidelines) its net worth.

13. RBI issues guidelines for NBFCs on lending against shares. Note: According to the guidelines applicable to NBFCs with asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above, the NBFCs have to maintain a loan-to-value (of shares pledged) of 50 per cent and accept only Group 1 securities as collateral for loans of a value more than Rs. 5 lakh.

14. RBI notified the increase in deposit money under Public Provident Fund, PPF to 1.5 lakh rupees from 1 lakh rupees. 15. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued draft guidelines for implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS),

an 'anytime anywhere' bill payment system: Note: i. Bharat Bill Payment System is intended for the implementation of a unified bill payment system across the country. This integrated bill payment system will comprise of two entities: i. Entity operating at Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) will be setting up the standards related to payments, clearance and settlement process ii. Second entity would be Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs). It will be carrying out the operations in adherence to the standards fixed by BBPS. iii. Authorised entities such as agents, banks, service providers, payment gateways would be the participants at the Bharat Bill Payment System.

16. Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that plastic currency notes will be launched in 2015 after field trials.

17. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the guidelines to allow the minors of age above 10 years to independently open and operate savings bank accounts and use other facilities like ATM and cheque books. 20. RBI panel headed by ex-Chairman of Axis Bank, P. J. Nayak recommend for diluting govt stake in public sector banks to below 50 %. The government should cut its holding in public sector banks to under 50 per cent.

18. Reserve Bank of India granted banking licences to infrastructure financing firm IDFC and microfinance institution Bandhan

Note: The in-principle approval will be valid for a period of 18 months during which the applicants have to comply with the requirements under the guidelines and fulfil the other conditions as may be stipulated by the RBI. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh: CMD of Bandhan financial services Dr. Rajiv B. Lall: Chairman of IDFC Infrastructure Finance Company.

19. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the guidelines to allow the minors of age above 10 years to independently open and operate savings bank accounts and use other facilities like ATM and cheque books.

20. RBI extended the timeline for full implementation of Basel III norms 31 March 2019 instead of 31 March 2018. 21. The Reserve Bank of India has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Monetary Authority of Hong

Kong for exchange of supervisory information. 22. RBI permits NBFCs to work as Business Correspondents of banks: With a view to achieve financial inclusion, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed Non-Banking Finance Companies to operate as Business Correspondents (BCs) of banks,

permitting them to offer limited services. Banks will be allowed to work with non-deposit taking NBFCs as BCs. Note: The RBI took into account recommendations of Nachiket Mor Committee while reviewing the existing guidelines on the appointment of BCs

23. The Reserve Bank of India said banks should make all new ATMs installed from July 1, 2014 as talking ATMs with Braille keypads.

SBI in news - SBI to raise Rs.4,000 cr for BPCL's petrochemical plan

i. State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is planning to raise Rs.4,000crore for the expansion of its Kochi refinery and to fund its petrochemicals venture, said three banking sources aware of the development. ii. BPCL is planning to diversify into downstream petrochemicals with an investment of Rs.4,588crore by using propylene.

State Bank of India to launch Islamic equity fund i. State-owned bank will launch an Islamic equity fund next month aimed primarily at the country's 170 million


Muslims.SEBI recently allowed the government-owned State Bank of India BSE 0.41 % and three mutual funds to launch Sharia funds. Note:India is only the second country outside the Islamic world where a state-owned bank is offering a Sharia-compliant fund. The U.K. issued sovereign Islamic bonds in June.

SBI launches first homegrown economic indicator the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI Yearly Composite Index that will primarily track manufacturing activity and offer a forward-looking economic trends.

SBI Online were among the three most searched words on the internet search engine in 2014. SBI signed 500 million dollar Line of Credit with Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank). SBI, celebrated 150 years of its operations in Sri Lanka on 13/Sept/2014. SBI launches mPassBook facility on its smartphone application anywhere' mobile application, for its retail banking users. SBI lend $ 1 billion to Adani Group to build Australian coal mine which it aims to build by end-2017. Founder of Adani

Group Gautam Adani. SBI Cards ties up with Future Group company Fashion at Big Bazaar (FBB) to offer a co-branded CREDIT CARD,

Styleup.

Modern Banking Facts:

ICICI Bank was the first Indian Bank to provide internet banking facility.

ICICI Bank was the first Bank to provide Mobile ATM. Bank of Baroda has the maximum number of overseas branches. SBI (State Bank of India) has the total number of maximum branches

and holds 2nd position in the world. India's first "talking" Automated Teller Machine (ATM) launched by Union Bank of India (UBI) for visually impaired

was launched in Ahmedabad (Gujarat). RBI to issue Rs 10 plastic currency notes in 5 cities: Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubhaneswar and Shimla.

Note: First plastic notes issued by Australia in 1988. RuPay is an Indian domestic card scheme conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions, and competes with MasterCard and Visa in India.

India's first non-bank owned ATM (White Label ATMs) opens in Maharashtra: Tata Communications Payments Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Communications Ltd, opened first White Label ATM at Chandrapada in Thane district, in Maharashtra.

Banking topics in news NPAs (Non Pe rf ormi ng Asse ts): i. A mortgage in default would be considered non-performing, after a prolonged period of non-payment(90 days). ii. The lender will force the borrower to liquidate any assets that were pledged as part of the debt agreement. If no assets were pledged, the lenders might write-off the asset as a bad debt and then sell it at a discount to a collections agency. Debt recovery tribunal (DRT- A court for such cases) A person whose account is declared as NPA SARFAESI ACT - In 2002, Govt. gave banks a lifeline called as SARFAESI Act (Securitization and Reconstruction of

Financial Assets and Enforcement of security interest Act) i. With this Act bank has the power to take possession of the owners mortgaged property or can transfer this to some other ownership.

What bank will do with the acquired property? i. Bank can use this for their own purpose like , opening a new branch on it, installing of ATMs etc. ii. Bank can advertise in newspapers for the auction of the property acquired and could auction them on any pre decided day. iii.Bank can sell the property to ARC (Asset Reconstruction Company), these are registered companies under RBI, they buy such assets from banks and sell them at higher prices to gain profits.

Goods and Services Tax - i. It is an indirect tax that will lead to the abolition of all other taxes such as, central sales tax, state-level sales tax, excise duty, service tax, and value-added tax (VAT). Both the state and the central governments will impose GST on almost all goods and services produced in India or imported into the country. ii. Exports will not be subject to GST. Direct taxes, such as income tax, corporate tax and capital gains tax will not be affected.

It will simplify India's tax structure, broaden the tax base, and create a common market across states. This will lead to increased compliance and increase India's tax-to-gross domestic product ratio. iii. The highest rate of taxation under GST will be around 15 per cent in the first year, and eventually come down to 12 per cent in the second year. By comparison, the current rate of the various indirect taxes levied in India amounts to roughly 20 per cent. Goods deemed necessary or of basic importance will be taxed at a lower rate.


iv. The GST can be implemented only through a Constitutional Amendment Bill, which means it needs to be approved by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting in each House of Parliament. The GST must also be ratified by the legislatures of at least one-half of the states. v. States will get one-year time to implement the provisions of Goods and Services Tax (GST) after introduction of the new indirect tax regime from 1st April 2016.

Types of Bank Accounts in India (Deposit Accounts)

Traditionally banks in India have four types of deposit accounts, namely Saving Banking Accounts, Current Accounts, Recurring Deposits and, Fixed Deposits.

1. Saving Account - Saving accounts are opened to encourage the people to save money and collect their savings. The saving account holder is allowed to withdraw money from the account as and when required. The interest on Saving Bank Accounts was fixed by RBI and it was fixed at 4.00% on daily balance basis. RBI has deregulated Saving Fund account interest rates and now banks are free to decide the same within certain conditions imposed by RBI. Features of Saving Accounts 1. There is no restriction on the number and amount of deposits. However, in India, mandatory PAN (Permanent Account

Number) details are required to be furnished for doing cash transactions exceeding 50,000. 2. Withdrawals are allowed subject to certain restrictions. 3. A minimum amount has to be kept on saving account to keep it functioning.

2. Current Account - Current Accounts are basically meant for businessmen and are never used for the purpose of investment or savings. Features of Current Accounts (1) The main objective of Current Account holders in opening these account is to enable them (mostly businessmen) to conduct their business transactions smoothly. (2) There are no restrictions on the number of times deposit in cash / cheque can be made or the amount of such deposits; (3) Usually banks do not pay any interest on such current accounts. (4) The current accounts do not have any fixed maturity as these are on continuous basis accounts. (5) Cheque book facility is provided and the account holder can deposit all types of the cheques and drafts in their name or endorsed in their favour by third parties.

3. Recurring Desposit Account: Recurring Deposit is a special kind of Term Deposit offered by banks in India popularly known as RD accounts which help people with regular incomes to deposit a fixed amount every month into their Recurring Deposit account and earn interest at the rate applicable to Fixed Deposits. Features of RD Accounts 1. Recurring Deposit accounts are normally allowed for maturities ranging from 6 months to 120 months 2. These accounts can be opened in single or joint names. Nomination facility is also available. 3. Rate of Interest offered is similar to that in Fixed Deposits. 4. Interest is compounded on quarterly basis in recurring deposits.

4. Fixed Deposit Account (FD) - The account which is opened for a particular fixed period (time) by depositing particular amount (money) is known as Fixed (Term) Deposit Account. The term 'fixed deposit' means that the deposit is fixed and is repayable only after a specific period is over. Under fixed deposit account, money is deposited for a fixed period say six months, one year, five years or even ten years. The money deposited in this account can not be withdrawn before the expiry of period. Features of FD Accounts 1. The main purpose of fixed deposit account is to enable the individuals to earn a higher rate of interest on their surplus funds (extra money). 2. The amount can be deposited only once. For further such deposits, separate accounts need to be opened. 3. Fixed Deposit Account may be opened for a minimum period of 7 days and maximum period of 10 years. 4. The minimum amount required to open a Fixed Deposit is Rs.1000. 5. Withdrawals are not allowed. However, in case of emergency, banks allow to close the fixed account prior to maturity date. In such cases, the bank deducts 1% (deduction percentage many vary) from the interest payable as on that date.

About (BASIC SAVING BANK DEPOSIT ACCOUNT): Under the guidelines issued on August 10, 2012 by RBI: Any individual, including poor or those from weaker section of the society, can open zero balance account in any bank. BSBDA guidelines are applicable to "all scheduled commercial banks in India, including foreign banks having branches in India". ii. The aim of introducing 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account' is very much part of the efforts of RBI for furthering Financial Inclusion objectives.


Main Points of BSBDA-Small Accounts: i. In BSBDA, banks are required to provide free of charge minimum 4 withdrawals, through ATMs ii. Total credits in such accounts should not exceed 1 lakh rupees in a year. iii. Maximum balance in the account should not exceed 50,000 Rs at any time iv. The total of debits by way of cash withdrawals and transfers will not exceed 10,000 rupees in a month v. Foreign remittances cannot be credited to Small Accounts without completing normal KYC formalities v. Small accounts are valid for a period of 12 months initially which may be extended by another 12 months if the person provides proof of having applied for an Officially Valid Document.

ATMs: (Automated Teller Machine): The ATM debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards (that permit cash withdrawal)

issued by banks can be used at ATMs for various transactions. Use of ATMs of Other Banks:

i. 5 free transactions are permitted per month (inclusive of financial and/or non-financial) at other bank ATMs for Savings Bank Account holders. ii. For transaction beyond this minimum number of transactions, banks charge maximum of Rs 20/ - per transaction. iii. Reserve Bank of India reduced free usage of other bank automated teller machines (ATMs) to 3 per month from 5 from November, in six metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

WHITE Label ATMs: ATMs which are owned and operated by non-banking companies are called White Label ATMs.

Note: RBI authorised four entities to operate as WLAs namely Tata Communications Payment Solutions, Prizm Payment Services Pvt. Ltd, Muthoot Finance Limited and Vakrangee Ltd.

Personal Identification Number (PIN) : A Personal Identification Number is a secret numeric password shared between

user and a system that can be use to authenticate the user to the system. IFSC (Indian Financial System Code):

Indian Financial System Code is an alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the NEFT system. ii. This is an 11 digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, The 5th character is 0 (zero).and the last 6 characters representing the bank branch. iii. IFSC is used by the NEFT system to identify the originating / destination banks / branches and also to route the messages appropriately to the concerned banks / branches. For ex: SBIN0015986 : i. First 4 character SBIN refers to State Bank of India. ii. 0 is a control number. iii. last six characters (015986) represents the SBI branch Jail Road, Hari Nagar New Delhi.

MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition): MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. MICR Code is a 9 numeric digit code which uniquely identifies a bank branch participating in the ECS Credit scheme. MICR code consists of 9 digits e.g 400229128

i. First 3 digits represent the city (400) ii. Next 3 digits represent the bank (229) iii. Last 3 digits represent the branch (128) Note: The MICR Code allotted to a bank branch is printed on the MICR band of cheque leaves issued by bank branches.

Cheque Truncation:

i. Truncation is the process of stopping the flow of the physical cheque issued by a drawer at some point with the presenting bank en-route to the drawee bank branch. ii. In its place an electronic image of the cheque is transmitted to the drawee branch by the clearing house, along with relevant information like data on the MICR band, date of presentation, presenting bank, etc. iii. Cheque Truncation speeds up the process of collection of cheques resulting in better service to customers, reduces the scope for clearing-related frauds or loss of instruments in transit, lowers the cost of collection of cheques, and removes reconciliation-related and logistics-related problems, thus benefitting the system as a whole.

Bancassurance: The sale of insurance and other similar products through a bank. This can help the consumer in some

situations; for example, when a bank requires life insurance for those receiving a mortgage loan the consumer could purchase the insurance directly from the bank.

Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006:


i. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme enables an expeditious and inexpensive forum to bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks. ii. The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services. iii. All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme. Other Important Points:

The Banking Ombudsman does not charge any fee for filing and resolving customers complaints. The amount, if any, to be paid by the bank to the complainant by way of compensation for any loss suffered by the

complainant is limited to the amount arising directly out of the act or omission of the bank or Rs 10 lakhs, whichever is lower.

The Banking Ombudsman may award compensation not exceeding Rs 1 lakh to the complainant only in the case of complaints relating to credit card operations for mental agony and harassment.

If a complaint is not settled by an agreement within a period of one month, the Banking Ombudsman proceeds further to pass an award. Before passing an award, the Banking Ombudsman provides reasonable opportunity to the complainant and the bank, to present their case.

If one is not satisfied with the decision passed by the Banking Ombudsman, one can approach the appellate authority against the Banking Ombudsmens decision. Appellate Authority is vested with a Deputy Governor of the RBI.

If one is aggrieved by the decision, one may, within 30 days of the date of receipt of the award, appeal against the award before the appellate authority.

Deposit insurance and credit guarantee corporation (DICGC)

All commercial banks including branches of foreign banks functioning in India, local area banks and regional rural banks are insured by the DICGC. Note: Primary cooperative societies are not insured by the DICGC.

Maximum deposit amount insured by the DICGC - Each depositor in a bank is insured upto a maximum of Rs.1,00,000 (Rupees One Lakh).

Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited: is Indias first Credit Information Company (CIC) founded in August 2000. CIBIL collects and maintains records of an individuals payments pertaining to loans and credit cards. Headquarter Mumbai

Coins in India

Coins: The Government of India has the sole right to mint coins. Denominations: Coins in India are presently being issued in denominations of one rupee, two rupees, five rupees and ten rupees.

Currency in India Currency: Banknotes in India are currently being issued in the denomination of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs500, and Rs1000. These notes are called banknotes as they are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (Reserve Bank).

Bank Notes in India

Contemporary Currency notes have 15 languages on the panel which appear on the reverse of the note.

Soiled Notes: Soiled notes are those which have become dirty and slightly cut. Mutilated Notes: Notes which are in pieces and/or of which the essential portions are missing can also be exchanged. Imperfect banknotes: Imperfect banknote means any banknote, which is wholly or partially, obliterated, shrunk, washed,

altered or indecipherable but does not include a mutilated banknote. The deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, has been

extended by another six months till June, 30, 2015. i. The Reserve Bank of India has stated that the public can do so till June 30, 2015. Earlier in March 2014, it had set the last date for public to exchange these notes was January 1, 2015. ii. Post-2005 notes have added security features and help in curbing the menace of fake currency.

Security Features of Indian Banknotes Watermark Security Thread Latent Image Microlettering Intaglio Identification Mark Fluorescence Optically Variable Ink See through Register Legal provisions against counterfeiting


Important Banking Terminology:

1. Basis points: It is the increase in interest rates in percentage terms. For instance, if the interest rate increases by 50 basis points (bsp), then it means that interest rate has been increase by 0.50%. One percentage point is broken down into 100 basis points. Therefore, an increase from 2% to 3% is an increase of one percentage point or 100 basis points.

2. Bank Rate: Bank Rate is the rate at which central bank of the country (in India it is RBI) allows finance to commercial banks. Bank Rate is a tool, which central bank uses for short-term purposes. Any upward revision in Bank Rate by central bank is an indication that banks should also increase deposit rates as well as Base Rate / Benchmark Prime Lending Rate. Thus any revision in the Bank rate indicates that it is likely that interest rates on your deposits are likely to either go up or go down, and it can also indicate an increase or decrease in your EMI.

3. Liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) is a monetary policy tool which allows banks to borrow money through repurchase agreements. LAF is used to aid banks in adjusting the day to day mismatches in liquidity. LAF consists of repo and reverse repo operations.

4. Repo Rate: Whenever the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it form RBI. Repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks borrows rupees from RBI. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing form RBI becomes more expensive.

5. Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from commercial banks. Banks are always happy to lend money to RBI since their money is in the safe hands with a good interest. An increase in reverse repo rate can cause the banks to transfer more funds to RBI due to this attractive interest rates. One factor which encourages an organisation to enter into reverse repo is that it earns some extra income on its otherwise idle cash.

6. CRR (Cash Reverse Ratio): CRR is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBI increases CRR, the available amount with the banks comes down. RBI is using this method (increase of CRR), to drain out the excessive money from the banks.

7. SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio): SLR is the amount a commercial banks needs to maintain in the form of cash, or gold, or govt. approved securities (Bonds) before providing credit to its customers. SLR rate is determined and maintained by RBI in order to control the expansion of the bank credit. Need of SLR: With the SLR, the RBI can ensure the solvency of a commercial banks. It is also helpful to control the expansion of the Bank credits. By changing SLR rates, RBI can increase or decrease bank credit expansion. Also through SLR, RBI compels the commercial banks to invest in the government securities like govt. bonds. Main use of SLR: SLR is used to control inflation and propel growth. Through SLR rate the money supply in the system can be controlled effectively.

8. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF): MSF rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds overnight from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against approved government securities.

9. NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer): NEFT enables funds transfer from one bank to another but works a bit differently than RTGS. NEFT is slower than RTGS. The transfer is not direct and RBI acts as the service provider to transfer the money from one account to another. You can transfer any amount through NEFT, even a rupee.

Note: Rs 50,000 is a limit in a NEFT to NEPAL in a single day. 10. RTGS (Real time gross settlement ): RTGS system is funds transfer systems where transfer of money or securities takes

place from one bank to another on a "real time" and on "gross" basis. Settlement in "real time" means payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. Minimum & Maximum Limit of RTGS: 2 lakh and no upper limit.

11. Fiscal Deficit: A deficit in the government budget of a country and represents the excess of expenditure over income. So this is the amount of borrowed funds require by the government to meet its expenditures completely.

12. Direct Tax: A direct tax is that which is paid directly by someone to taxing authority. Income tax and property tax are an examples of direct tax. They are not shifted to somebody else.

13. Indirect Tax: This type of tax is not paid by someone to the authorities and it is actually passed on to the other in the form of increased cost. They are levied on goods and services produced or purchased. Excise Tax, Sales Tax, Vat, Entertainment tax are indirect taxes.

14. Foreign Exchange Market : Foreign exchange market is the place where the financial institutions of different countries come and exchange the currencies in a defined manner and set rates. In forex market the deals of currencies are done and in turn it defines the value of one currency in comparison to the other. A foreign investor (FII or FDI) is a major source of foreign currency in India.

15. NOSTRO Account: A Nostro account is maintained by an Indian Bank in the foreign countries. 16. VOSTRO Account: A Vostro account is maintained by a foreign bank in India with their corresponding bank. 17. SDR (Special Drawing Rights): SDR are new form of International reserve assets, created by the International Monetary

Fund in 1967. The value of SDR is based on the portfolio of widely used countries and they are maintained as accounting entries and not as hard currency or physical assets like Gold.


18. BOND: Publicly traded ling term debt securities issued by corporations and governments, whereby the issuer agrees to pay a fixed amount of interest over a specified period of time and to repay a fixed amount of principal maturity.

19. CRAR(Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio): Capital to risk weighted assets ratio is arrived at by dividing the capital of the bank with aggregated risk weighted assets for credit risk, market risk and operational risk.

20. Non Performing Assets (NPA): An asset (loan), including a leased asset, becomes non performing when it stops generatig income for the bank. Note: Once the borrower has failed to make interest or principle payments for 90 days the loan is considered to be a non-performing asset.

21. Inflation: inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy.

22. GDP - An estimated value of the total worth of a countrys production and services, within its boundary, by its nationals and foreigners, calculated over the course on one year. Note: GDP = consumption + investment + (government spending) + (exports imports). Total value of products & Services produced within the territorial boundary of a country.

23. GNP - An estimated value of the total worth of production and services, by citizens of a country, on its land or on foreign land, calculated over the course on one year. Note: GNP = GDP + NR (Net income inflow from assets abroad or Net Income Receipts) - NP (Net payment outflow to foreign assets). Total value of Goods and Services produced by all nationals of a country (whether within or outside the country).

Credit Rating Agency in India & World

Indian credit rating industry mainly comprises of CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, ONICRA, FITCH (India Ratings & Research) & SMERA. CRISIL - Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited, Headquarter Mumbai ICRA - Investment information and credit rating agency Headquarter - Gurgaon, India CARE - Credit Analysis and Research Headquarters Mumbai ONICRA - Headquarter - Gurgaon, India SMERA - Headquarters Mumbai Fitch (India Ratings & Research) - Headquarters Mumbai Note: CRISIL is the largest credit rating agency in India, with a market share of greater than 60%.

Leading Credit Rating Agency in World

1. Standard & Poor's (S&P) Headquarter New York, US 2. Moody's Headquarter - New York, US 3. Fitch - Headquarter - New York, US

Regulators in India:

Regulator Sectors Chairman Headquarter

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Financial system and monetary policy, Money Market Raghuram Rajan

Mumbai

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Security & Capital Market, stock broking & Merchant Banking, Nidhis, Chit Fund Companies

U.K. Sinha Mumbai

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)

Insurance industry T. S. Vijayan Hyderabad

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Telecommunication Industry Rahul Khullar New Delhi

Forward Markets Commission Commodity Market Ramesh Abhishek

Mumbai

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

Pension sector Hemant Contractor

New Delhi

Money Market in India


Money Market: Money Market is the part of financial market where instruments with high liquidity and very short-term maturities are traded. It's the place where large financial institutions, dealers and government participate and meet out their short-term cash needs. Due to highly liquid nature of securities and their short-term maturities, money market is treated as safe place.

Role of Reserve Bank of India:The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plays a key role of regulator and controller of

money market. The intervention of RBI is varied curbing crisis situations by reducing key policy rates or curbing inflationary situations by rising key policy rates such as Repo, Reverse Repo, CRR etc.

Short Term Deposit: In deposit terminology, the term Short Term Deposit refers to an amount of money placed in a

bank or financial institution for a term no longer than one year. A Short Term Deposit will usually earn a fixed rate of interest. Note: Short Term Deposits are also known as time or term deposits, with perhaps the most popular name being short term certificates of deposit or CDs.

Call Money: Call Money is the borrowing or lending of funds for 1day. Notice Money: Money borrowed or lend for period between 2 days and 14 days it is known as Notice Money Term Money: Term Money refers to borrowing/lending of funds for period exceeding 14 days

Money Market Instruments: Money Market Instruments provide the tools by which one can operate in the money

market. Money market instrument meets short term requirements of the borrowers and provides liquidity to the lenders. The most common money market instruments are Treasury Bills, Certificate of Deposits, Commercial Papers, Repurchase Agreements and Banker's Acceptance.

1. Treasury Bills (T-Bills): Treasury Bills are one of the safest money market instruments as they are issued by Central

Government. At present, the Government of India issues three types of treasury bills through auctions, namely, 91-day, 182-day and 364-day. There are no treasury bills issued by State Governments. Amount: Treasury bills are available for a minimum amount of Rs.25,000 and in multiples of Rs. 25,000. Treasury bills are issued at a discount and are redeemed at par

2. Commercial Paper (CP) - Commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of a promissory note. Who can issue CP - Corporates, primary dealers (PDs) and the All-India Financial Institutions (FIs) are eligible to issue CP. Minimum and maximum period of maturity for CP: CP can be issued for maturities between a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of issue. However, the maturity date of the CP should not go beyond the date up to which the credit rating of the issuer is valid. In what denominations a CP that can be issued: CP can be issued in denominations of Rs.5 lakh or multiples thereof. Who can invest in CP: Individuals, banking companies, other corporate bodies (registered or incorporated in India) and unincorporated bodies, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) etc. can invest in CPs.

3. Certificate of Deposit (CD) is a negotiable money market instrument and issued in dematerialised form or as a Usance Promissory Note against funds deposited at a bank or other eligible financial institution for a specified time period. Who can issue CD: CDs can be issued by (i) scheduled commercial banks {excluding Regional Rural Banks and Local Area Banks}; and (ii) select All-India Financial Institutions (FIs) that have been permitted by RBI to raise short-term resources within the umbrella limit fixed by RBI. Minimum and maximum period of maturity for CD: The maturity period of CDs issued by banks should not be less than 7 days and not more than one year, from the date of issue. Note: The FIs (Financial Institutions) can issue CDs for a period not less than 1 year and not exceeding 3 years from the date of issue. Minimum Size of Issue and Denominations: Minimum amount of a CD should be Rs.1 lakh, i.e., the minimum deposit that could be accepted from a single subscriber should not be less than Rs.1 lakh, and in multiples of Rs. 1 lakh thereafter.

4. Repurchase Agreements (Repo): Repurchase Agreements which are also called as Repo or Reverse Repo are short term loans that buyers and sellers agree upon for selling and repurchasing. Repo or Reverse Repo transactions can be done only between the parties approved by RBI and allowed only between RBI-approved securities such as state and central government securities, T-Bills, PSU bonds and corporate bonds. They are usually used for overnight borrowing.

5. Banker's Acceptance: Banker's Acceptance is like a short term investment plan created by non-financial firm, backed by a guarantee from the bank. It's like a bill of exchange stating a buyer's promise to pay to the seller a certain specified amount at a certain date. And, the bank guarantees that the buyer will pay the seller at a future date. Firm with strong credit rating can draw such bill. These securities come with the maturities between 30 and 180 days and the most common term for these instruments is 90 days.


Capital Market in India: Capital market deals with medium term and long term funds. It refers to all facilities and the institutional arrangements for borrowing and lending term funds (medium term and long term). The demand for long term funds comes from private business corporations, public corporations and the government. The supply of funds comes largely from individual and institutional investors, banks and special industrial financial institutions and Government.

Capital market is classified in two ways: 1. Gilt Edged Market refers to the market for government and semi-government securities, which carry fixed rates of interest. RBI plays an important role in this market. 2. Industrial Securities Market: It deals with equities and debentures in which shares and debentures of existing companies are traded and shares and debentures of new companies are bought and sold. 3. Development Financial Institutions (DFIs): Development financial institutions were set up to meet the medium and long- term requirements of industry, trade and agriculture. These are IFCI, ICICI, IDBI, SIDBI, IRBI, UTI, LIC, GIC etc. All These institutions have been called Public Sector Financial Institutions. 4. Financial intermediaries: Financial Intermediaries include merchant banks, Mutual Fund, Leasing companies etc. they help in mobilizing savings and supplying funds to capital market.

The Second way in which capital market is classified is as follows :- 1. Primary market: Primary market is the new issue market of shares, preference shares and debentures of non-government public limited companies and issue of public sector bonds. 2. Secondary market: This refers to old or already issued securities. It is composed of industrial security market or stock exchange market and gilt-edged market.

Banks and Their Tag Lines -

1. SBI - With you all the way, Pure Banking Nothing Else, The Nations banks on us 2. State Bank of Hyderabad You can always bank on us. 3. State Bank of Mysore - Working for a better tomorrow 4. State Bank of Patiala Blending Modernity with Tradition 5. State Bank of Travancore - A long Tradition of Trust 6. Allahabad Bank - A Tradition of Trust 7. Andhra Bank Where India Banks 8. Bank of Baroda - Indias International Bank 9. Bank of India - Relationship beyond banking 10. Bhartiya Mahila Bank Empowering Women 11. Bank of Maharashtra - One family one bank 12. Canara Bank Together We Can 13. Central Bank of India Central To you Since 1911 14. Corporation Bank A Premier Public Sector Bank 15. Dena Bank - Trusted Family Bank 16. ECGC Bank You focus on exports. We cover the risks 17. IDBI Bank Banking For All, Aao Sochein Bada 18. Indian Bank Your Tech- Friendly Bank 19. Indian Overseas Bank Good people to grow with 20. Punjab National Bank - The name you can bank upon 21. Punjab & Sind Bank Where service is a way of life 22. Oriental Bank of Commerce Where every individual is committed 23. UCO Bank Honours Your Trust 24. Union Bank of India Good People to Bank with 25. United Bank of India The Bank that begins with U 26. Vijaya Bank - A friend you can bank on 27. Axis Bank Badhti Ka naam Zindagi 28. ICICI Bank Hum Hai Na, Khyal Apka 29. HDFC Bank - We understand your world indeed 30. Yes Bank Experience our Expertise 31. HSBC - The worlds local bank

Headquarters of Nationalised & Public Sectors Bank in India 1. SBI Mumbai 2. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur Jaipur


3. State Bank of Travancore Thiruvananthapuram 4. State Bank of Mysore Bangalore 5. State Bank of Patiala Patiala 6. State Bank of Hyderabad Hyderabad 7. Union Bank of India Mumbai 8. Bank of India Mumbai 9. Central Bank of India Mumbai 10. Dena Bank Mumbai 11. IDBI Bank Mumbai 12. Allahabad Bank Kolkata 13. UCO Bank Kolkata 14. United Bank of India Kolkata 15. Punjab National Bank New Delhi 16. Oriental Bank of Commerce New Delhi 17. Punjab and Sind Bank New Delhi 18. Bhartiya Mahila Bank New Delhi 19. Canara Bank Bangalore 20. Vijaya Bank Bangalore 21. Indian Bank Chennai 22. Indian Overseas Bank Chennai 23. Bank of Baroda Vadodara 24. Syndicate Bank Manipal(Karnataka) 25. Corporation Bank Mangalore 26. Andhra Bank Hyderabad 27. Bank of Maharashtra Pune

Note: There are a total of 27 PSBs in India [21 Nationalised banks + 6 State bank group (SBI + 5 associates) ] ii. At present there are 23 Private Banks functioning in India iii. At present there are 56 RRBs (Regional Rural Banks ) functioning in India. iv. At present there are 41 Foreign Banks functioning in India

FDI Limits

List of Limits in Various Sectors (In %) 1. Defence 49 2. Pension 49 3. Insurance 49 4. Print Media 26 5. Civil Aviation 49 6. Public Sec. Banks 20 7. Private Sec. Banks 74 8. Multi Brand 51 9. Single Brand 100 10. Tourism 100

Indi as GDP F ore cast:

India's economic growth has declined to 5.3 per cent during July to September, from the previous quarter's 5.7 per cent. Fitch expects real GDP growth to pick up to 5.6 per cent in FY15 and 6.5 per cent in FY16 Domestic ratings agency India Ratings revised down its economic growth estimate for 2014-15 fiscal to 5.6 per cent. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD has projected 5.4 percent growth for the Indian

economy for 2014 -15 year. RBI pegged 2014-15 GDP growth at a central estimate of 5.5 % will improve to 6.3 per cent in 2015-16. World Bank estimates 5.6% growth for current fiscal i.e. 2014-15 and 6.4 per cent in 2015-16 and 7 per cent in 2016-17. IMF projected GDP growth for India in 2014-15 at - 5.6 % & 6.4 % in 2015 ADB pegs India GDP growth rate for 2014-15 at 5.5 % & 6.3 % in 2015 JP Morgan cut India 2014-15 growth forecast to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,(ESCAP) - Indian economy to grow at 5.5 percent in current

fiscal


Moody (Credit Rating Agency) projected India growth rate expected to accelerate to 5.2 % in 2014 and 6.5 % by end of 2015.

FICCIs Economic Outlook Survey estimated Indias GDP growth rate at 5.6 percent in 2014-15 According to a UN report Indian economy expected to grow by 5.5% in current fiscal. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Indian economy will grow at a rate of

5.6 per cent in 2014

India ranking in different Indexes: 1. Transparency International India (TII) Corruption Index India ranked 85th among 175(Denmark topped) 2. World Bank - Ease of Doing Business" report - India ranked 142 among the 189 countries (Singapore top) 3. Political empowerment sub index 15 (Iceland top the list, US ranked 20) 4. World Economic 5. Forum's 2014 Gender gap index 114 (Iceland top the list followed by Finland & Norway) 6. Global Hunger Index Report 2014: 55 (Mauritius top followed by Thailand and Albania) 7. Human Development Index 2014 135 (Norway top followed by Australia). 8. Global Environment Performance Index 2014 155 (Switzerland followed by Luxembourg, Australia) 9. Intellectual property (IP) environment 2014 25 (US ranked on the top followed by UK and France) 10. World Press Freedom Index 2014 - 140 in the list of 180 countries 11. World's best countries for doing business 2014 134 12. Global Peace Index 2014 143 (Iceland top the list while Syria the most violent place) 13. Global Innovation Index 2014 - 76 14. Global Competitiveness Index 2014 -71 (Switzerland is the most competitive economy, followed by Singapore). Index/Reports Issued by different organizations in World:

1. World Economic Outlook is published by: International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2. Global Hunger Index is issued by: International Food Policy Research Institute 3. Global Peace Index is issued by: Institute for Economics and Peace 4. Global Corruption Index is issued by: Transparency International 5. Global Competitiveness Index is issued by: World Economic Forum 6. Human Development Report is issued by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 7. Gender Inequality Index is issued by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

News Related to Banking & Finance

1. Anil Ambani led Reliance Group has sold its multiplex business to South India-based Carnival Group in the largest ever deal in this space.

2. Wholesale inflation hits zero, lowest in over 5 years.The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was at 1.77 per cent in October and 7.52 per cent in November 2013.

3. Indias Forex reserves down $1.64 billion.The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was lower by $21.6 million at $4.20 billion.Gold reserves for the week under review were down by $753.2 million at $18.98 billion.

4. ONGC declares interim dividend, notifies 3 discoveries in Krishan Godavari Basin and Mumbai offshore and it will pay its shareholders an interim dividend of 100 per cent.

5. Delhi HC banned Xiaomi to sell phones in India over patent issue with Ericcson. 6. Tata Power acquired 540 MW thermal power plant for 3000 crore rupees in Maharashtra.With this deal, Tata Power

aimed to increase its total capacity to 8885 MW. 7. India forex reserves up $ 1.432 billion to $ 316.311 billion 8. i. India's forex reserves surged by 1.432 billion US dollar to 316.311 billion dollar in the week ended 28th November.The

country's gold reserves remained unchanged at 19.738 billion dollar. The Special Drawing Rights increased by 6.4 million dollar to 4.229 billion dollar, while the country's reserve position with the IMF also rose by 2.5 million dollar to 1.521 billion dollar during the week.

9. Mandatory for PSUs from 1st April, 2015 to procure 20 percent of products manufactured by MSME: Govt. 10. Kotak Mahindra Bank launches savings bank account for customers of 55 years and above. According to the release,

customers will earn 6 per cent pa on savings balance of over Rs 1 lakh and 5 per cent on balances up to Rs 1 lakh.To earn higher return on their balances, they can sign up for the Kotak ActivMoney facility, which converts savings account balance above a certain amount into term deposits.

11. ICICI Bank ties up with price comparison app Zopper for offline and online. 12. ICICI Bank sells Russian subsidiary - ICICI Bank Eurasia to Sovcombank. 13. PSU bank ATMs will be able to print in Hindi soon. 14. Central Bank to raise Rs. 626.23 cr from preferential issue to LIC.The capital raising committee of the board approved


raising of additional equity capital by issuance of up to 8.28 crore shares at Rs. 75.55 a equity, Central Bank of India said in a statement.

15. Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday said it will continue giving free transactions to all saving bank account cardholders using PNB ATMs, irrespective of the number of transactions.

16. Canara Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with Micro Energy Credits Corporation to finance bank customers buying energy efficient green products such as cook stoves, solar home systems, biogas digestors and water purifiers.The partnership has identified Chitradurga district in Karnataka to promote such green products on a pilot basis.

17. Kotak Mahindra Bank is the first bank to fully own an insurance business i. Kotak Mahindra Bank BSE 0.07 % on Tuesday became the first bank to get the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) permission to set up a wholly-owned non-life insurance company. ii. The bank is already the promoter of a life insurance company in partnership with Old Mutual of South Africa. Note: i. RBI guidelines allow a bank to hold max 50 per cent in insurance joint venture. However, RBI allowed some exceptions, like SBI and ICICI Bank. In both these partnerships, the banks hold 74 per cent.ii. Kotak General Insurance will be the 29th non-life company in the country. The last non-life insurer to get permission from the regulator was Cigna TTK a health insurance company.ii. The last company to set up a full-fledged general insurance business was Liberty Videocon General Insurance.

18. China beats India in November FII inflows: HSBC i. According to the global financial services major, after two consecutive months of sell-offs, FIIs have warmed up to Asian equities and all markets have received positive flows in November as the region recorded net inflows of $5.3 billion, out of which India attracted $1.4 billion. ii. Among Asian economies, China regained the top position as the most loved market, pushing India down to second position in the region, while Thailand was placed at the third spot.

19. GMR Infrastructure has received the Securities and Exchange Board of India approval to raise up to Rs. 1,500 crore through rights issue. Note - In a rights issue, shares are issued to existing investors as per their holding at a pre-determined price and ratio.

20. E-retailing firm Snapdeal.com launched the online Agri store offering agricultural products to the farmers. The store was launched on the occasion of National Farmer's Day (24th December). i. The Agri Store aims to offer wide variety of farm items from seeds to fertilisers, farming tools and irrigation tools. This online store is also accessible through mobile phones, making it convenient for farmers to shop.A Hindi version of the store will also be launched soon to aid farmers in making an informed decision.

21. Government approved promulgation of an Ordinance to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. i. The Insurance Bill, which has been pending since 2008 in the Rajya Sabha, seeks to increase the composite foreign investment limit in insurance companies to 49 per cent from current level of 26 per cent. ii. The proposed hike in foreign investment limit to 49 per cent in the insurance sector has potential to attract up to USD 7- 8 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) from overseas investors, giving a major boost to the segment. iii. The 49 per cent cap would include both FDI and foreign portfolio investments.

22. Rajya Sabha refers two bills to Select Committees. The Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 were passed by Lok Sabha in the Winter session of Parliament. i.The Select Committee for Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 consists of 13 members. ii. The other bill sent to the Select Committee is the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014, which seeks to repeal 90 Amendment Acts which have become redundant.

23. Private sector lender Yes Bank has raised $200 million in an unsecured loan from Asian Development Bank for onlending to small farm households and rural womens self help groups (SHG).

24. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board(FIPB) clears HDFC Bank's proposal to raise Rs 10,000 crore . 25. SEBI bars 260 entities for suspected tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock trading platforms, the

Securities and Exchange Board of India barred 260 entities, including individuals and companies, from the securities markets.While 152 entities have been barred in one case relating to an entity, named First Financial Services Ltd, another 108 entities have faced the action in a case related to Radford Global Limited.

26. Flipkart files application with Singapore based companies regulator ACRA to become a public company after raising USD 700 million for long term strategic investments in India following which its number of investors exceeded 50.

27. Instagram worth $35 bn, surpasses Twitter. This beats Twitters market cap of $23 billion by a wide margin, wired.com reported.

28. Adani Group's Australian subsidiary has signed an MOU with a South Korean steel giant POSCO for the construction of a new strategic terminal at Abbot Point coal port to export high-quality coal globally at competitive rates.

29. Kotak Mahindra acquired ING Vysya Bank deal at around Rs 15,000 crore. i. Kotak Mahindra Bank announced it was acquiring Bengalaru-headquartered ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal. ING shareholders will get 725 Kotak Bank shares for every 1,000 shares they hold. Note: ING Vysyas CEO-designate Uday Sareen will be inducted into the top management of Kotak; that is, operating


management committee, reporting directly to Kotak Mahindra Bank Executive Vice-Chairman & Managing Director Uday Kotak. All ING branches and employees would become Kotak branches and employees. ii. After the merger, the ING group, with a 6.4 per cent stake, will become the second-largest shareholder in the bank. According to regulations, RBIs approval is required for an entity other than the promoter to have more than five per cent stake in a bank.

30. Tech Mahindra Ltd., Indias fifth largest software services exporter, acquired US-based Lightbridge Communications Corporation (LCC) for $240 million.

31. Mozilla Firefox replaces default Google search engine with Yahoo. Yahoo replace Googles search engine on Firefoxs Web browser in the U.S.

32. Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) relaunched; money to double in 100 months: The KVP, relaunched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will be available in the denomination of Rs 1,000; 5,000; 10,000 and 50,000. There will be no upper ceiling on investment. Earlier, it was launched by the Government on April 1, 1988. Key Points of KVP:

i. No PAN requirement for investment in Kisan Vikas Patra ii. There will also not be any upper limit on investment. iii. It will be available to the investors in the denomination of Rs. 1000, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 50,000, with no upper ceiling on investment. iv. The certificates can be issued in single or joint names and can be transferred from one person to any other person / persons, multiple times. v. The facility of transfer from one post office to another anywhere in India and of nomination will be available. vi. With a maturity period of 8 years 4 months (100 months), the collections under the scheme will be available with the Government for a fairly long period to be utilized in financing developmental plans of the Centre and State Governments and will also help in enhancing domestic household financial savings.

33. ADB (Asian Development Bank) approves $350 mn for upgradation of roads in Madhya Pradesh. 34. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, IREDA and US-Exim Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding,

MoU on cooperation on clean energy investment. Note: US Exim Bank will provide USD one billion for medium and long-term loans to finance US technologies, products and services utilized during commercial development activities within the clean energy sector by IREDA.

35. India to replace Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) with a new pact to protect investments: The government plans to replace bilateral investment protection treaties with a new pact Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) that seeks to plug loopholes and enhance legal protection of foreign investors in India as well as Indian investments abroad.

36. United Bank of India (UBI) decided to continue with five free ATM transactions per month (including non financial ones) at other bank ATMs for all savings account holders in both metros and non-metros. Note: As per the new guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks in six metros New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore are free to charge other bank customers beyond 3 ATM transactions per month. Banks have also been allowed to restrict free transactions to 5 for customers at its own ATM network.

37. Financial inclusion: Kerala became the first state in the country to have bank accounts for all families under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). Note: In addition, Goa, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Lakshadweep and three districts of Gujarat- Porbandar, Mehasana, Gandhi Nagar, have also covered all households under PMJDY with at least one bank account.

38. Axis Bank, Indias third largest private sector bank, has launched a smart self-service terminal that enables customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine.

39. Andhra Bank launches saving schemes for children, teenagers 'AB Little Stars' 40. HDFC became the first listed Indian company among the 30 SENSEX firms to have more than 75 percent shareholding by

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). 41. Private sector lender Axis Bank has signed a pact with NongHyup Bank (NH Bank) to enhance cooperation in treasury,

trade and other business between India and South Korea. 42. China UnionPay (CUP), the payments company which was created to rival Visa and MasterCard in the Middle Kingdom, is

setting up shop in India. Note: i. CUP cards are accepted in over 140 countries across the world and the payments giant is keen on enabling acceptance in India. ii. Through the Discover network, RuPay cards can be used in China and CUP cards can be used in India.

43. Trade deficit narrows to $13 bn in Oct: Due to decline in oil import, India's trade deficit for the month October has narrowed to 13 billion dollars as compare to the previous month of 14.25 billion dollars

44. Black money: I-T probe to be completed by March 2015 i. With the Centre submitting a list of 627 account holders in foreign banks to Supreme Court in the black money case, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the deadline for investigation under the Income Tax Act into these accounts is 31st March 2015.


45. The World Bank offer financial help to create new infrastructure for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs) and improve the condition of existing ones in Uttar Pradesh.

46. Collateral management firm Origo Commodities has tied up with NABARD to provide 'warehouse receipt financing' to farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

47. India set to become USD 2 trillion economy this year: IMF Note: India is on the edge to become a USD two trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross another milestone of USD three trillion after five years in 2019, according to IMF's latest world economic outlook. ii. The United States would remain the world's largest economy in 2019 with a size of USD 22.15 trillion, followed by China (USD 15.52 trillion) and Japan (USD 5.43 trillion).

48. Foreign direct investment in the services sector dipped by 9 per cent to USD 1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal. Note: The services sector contributes over 60 per cent to Indias GDP.

49. Karur Vysya Bank has bagged the Best Bank Award for Business Intelligence Initiatives among small banks.

50. Kerala-based Federal Bank was adjudged as the best bank for use of Technology for Financial Inclusion, Social Media and Mobile Banking, Business Intelligence Initiatives and for Best IT Team, becoming the bank to have won the maximum number of awards for 2013-14.

51. Corporation Bank launches e-Mandate service: To provide robust platform for large volume of repetitive payments, Corporation Bank has launched the e-Mandate (digital mandate) service. The e-Mandate service will be beneficial to the utility companies for monthly subscriptions/bill payments; insurance companies for premium payment by policy holders;

52. Kotak Mahindra Bank launched Facebook-based funds transfer platform KayPay Note: KayPay is a bank agnostic payment product for Facebook users to send money to each other. iii. KayPay is built on top of the mobile based Immediate Payment System (IMPS) that was launched by the National Payment Corporation of India. Users have to register their bank accounts once to start using the service.

53. Asia Index launches new indices announced the launch of two more indices for investors in Indian market. S&P BSE Sensex Futures Index and the S&P BSE CPSE Index

54. Retail inflation drops to 6.46 % in Sept this year 55. The Union Finance Ministry has allocated 520 crore rupees to NABARD to create warehousing infrastructure for

agricultural commodities in West Bengal. 56. Railways revenue earnings have gone up by over 12 per cent during first six months of this fiscal. 57. The upcoming Bandhan Bank has appointed FIS International, one of the largest banking and payments technology

solutions provider globally, to develop its core banking software solutions. 58. Govt. launch Jan Dhan scheme to promote financial inclusion: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Pradhan

Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' to help the poor open bank accounts. The slogan for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan mission is Me r a Kh ata Bh agy a Vidh aata. Benefits : i. Every individual who opens a bank account will become eligible to receive an accident insurance cover of up-to Rs. 1 Lakh. ii. HDFC Ergo General Insurance will provide the accident cover under the scheme. iii. An additional Rs. 30,000 life insurance cover will be provided for those opening bank accounts before January 26, 2015. iv. LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) will provide the life insurance cover of Rs 30,000 under the scheme v. Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts, Ru Pay Debit Card with and minimum monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 to business correspondents who will provide the last link between the account holders and the bank.

59. ICICI Bank offers Card less Cash Withdrawal at ATMs. Now, withdraw without a debit card at an ICICI Bank ATM, as the bank facilitates cardless cash withdrawal service with the help of a mobile number.

60. IndusInd Bank launched a new customer service called Video Branch to enable customers to do a video conference with the bank staff at convenience.

61. Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) retains interest rate on provident fund at 8.75 percent for the current fiscal.

62. Government notified minimum monthly pension of 1,000 rupees and a higher wage upper limit improvement to15,000 from 6,500 rupees for social security schemes run by retirement fund manager Employees Provident Fund Organisation.

63. Govt. to implement GST (Goods & Services Tax) new indirect tax regime from 1st April 2016. GST will replace VAT. 64. IndiGo has signed a $2.6 billion deal with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) for the lender to finance

more than 30 new aircraft 65. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $63.3-million loan for improving urban services and strengthening

municipal and project management capacity in North Karnataka towns. 66. Supreme Court quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks which were allotted to various companies since 1993

and in which it was claimed that around Rs 2 lakh crores were invested. Note: A bench, headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha, saved only four blocks--one belonging to NTPC and SAIL each and two allocated to Ultra Mega Power Projects--from being cancelled.


67. India to contribute USD 12 million to UN to tackle Ebola 68. Bangladesh to join BRICS Bank: Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world's

five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 69. ICICI Bank offers EMI on debit cards: ICICI Bank, the countrys largest private sector bank, has launched EMI (equated

monthly installments) facility on debit cards to enable its customers to convert their high value transactions into easy installments. Note: ICICI bank is the first in the country to introduce this facility,

70. Inflation at 5-month low of 5.19 per cent in July 71. The Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI has imposed a penalty of 13 crore rupees on Reliance Industries

Limited for alleged irregularities in issuance of warrants by the company to its promoters. 72. India Ratings & Research revised its FY15 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 5.7 per cent from its April

2014 forecast of 5.6 per cent. 73. World Bank to give $153 mn loan for Odisha project: India has inked a loan agreement with World Bank for assistance of

$153 million (about Rs 920 crore) for the Odisha Disaster Recovery Project. 74. Exim Bank has extended USD 46 million line of credit to Mauritius for financing goods and defence related vehicles

purchases. 75. World Bank has signed an agreement with the government to provide a loan assistance of USD 1,006.20 million for Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan III, which is the largest ongoing "Education for All" programme in the world. 76. FICCI and IDBI signed an MoU for easy access to organised finance facility at competitive interest rates for micro, small

and medium enterprise (MSME).

Important Committees in News:

1. Union Finance Ministry constituted High Level Committee to interact with trade and industry to give recommendations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars, on tax-related issues on a regular basis. The high level committee will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Ashok Lahiri.

2. TSR Subramaniam Committee: to review the processes, laws and Acts of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change

3. Pratyush Sinha committee: to assess compensation for coal blocks. 4. The former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh designated as the head of Future Earth Engagement Committee, a global

research platform panel on sustainable development. 5. T.K. Vishwanathan committee: to provide Bankruptcy code for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Note: The committee will prepare a report on corporate bankruptcy framework for SMEs by February 2015. 6. Justice Prabha Sridevan committee: to function as a think-tank to help draft a new National Intellectual Property Rights

Policy (National IPR Policy) 7. K.V. Kamath panel: to examine the financial architecture for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. 8. Gopalakrishna Committee: on Capacity Building in Banks and non-Banks 9. G N Bajpai Committee: to review the investment guidelines for national pension system (NPS) schemes in private sector. 10. Scientist Raghunath Anant Mashelkar panel: to recommend best technologies for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Swachh

Bharat" national sanitation campaign. Note: The terms of reference include achieving Prime Minister Modi's "Swachh Bharat" goals by 2019,

11. T S R Subramanian Committee: to review five key green laws concerning protection and conservation of environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.

12. H R Khan Committee: to examine the un-claimed amount in PPF, Post Office and Savings Schemes. 13. H Devaraj Committee: reported that most of the deemed universities are not fit for being a university. 14. Sivaramakrishnan Committee: to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh 15. Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to head the Expenditure Management Commission. The purpose of setting up the

commission is to cut-off the spending and review government expenditure to get maximum output. 16. Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee: recommended complete ban on dance bars in hotels and restaurants . 17. R. Ramanujam Committee - to review, identify and recommend amendment in obsolete laws to further smoothen and

simplify the governance. 18. R.K. Singh Committee: to review parliament security 19. Hari Gautam Committee: to review present status of University Grant Commission 20. G. Padmanabhan Committee: implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS) 21. Nachiket Mor committee: for small and payments bank 22. Nachiket Mor Committee: to permits NBFCs to work as Business Correspondents of banks. 23. Deepak Mohanty Committee: on Data and Information Management in the Reserve Bank of India 24. PJ Nayak: to review Governance of Boards of Banks in India.


25. Nachiket Mor - committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low-income households. 26. Parthasarathi Shome. for Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) 27. Arvind Mayaram Panel: report on the alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) 28. Arvind Mayaram Committee for giving clear definitions to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional

Investment (FII)

Important News (India & World):

1. US President Barack Obama to be the Chief Guest of Indias Republic Day 2015. Note: He will be the first US President to attend the Republic Day Parade of India. ii. Obama will be the first US President to travel to India twice. Earlier, he had visited India at the invitation of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010.

2. Rahman and Jal for Oscars:rehman his third Oscar nomination in the best original score category after making it to the list of 114 probables.while Hindi film Jal also features in the long list of best picture Oscar hopefuls.Jal features in the best picture list as an independent submission, while India will officially be represented at the Academy awards in the best foreign feature category by Liars Dice.

3. Central Sydney under Siege:Terrified hostages cowered inside a cafe in central Sydney with an Islamic flag displayed against a window at the Lindt chocolate caf.

4. Lima talks: New draft text introduced without consultation.190 countries gathered at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru to work on drafts for a global climate deal that is supposed to be adopted next year in Paris.Developing countries have been opposing the mitigation centric approach of the developed countries which are not ready to commit to financial targets or technology transfer.

5. Russian President Vladimir Putin, offered the Ruias-promoted Essar Group a $1-billion credit line and an $8-billion crude supply contract.The steel-to-oil Indian conglomerate signed two separate agreements with St Petersburg-based Vneshtorgbank (VTB) and Moscow-based Rosneft.

6. Bhutan became 181st member of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). A, agency of World Bank.MIGA is

the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group. Benefits of becoming a member

i. The move will allow the private sector and corporations of a country to explore external commercial borrowing (ECB).Once a member of MIGA, the private sector and corporations in the country will have the option of directly applying to MIGA for issuance of guarantee to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

7. Russia agrees with India to construct 12 nuclear reactors India over 20 years, under an agreement aimed at boosting nuclear energy cooperation signed by the two countries.

8. A US-based intelligence think tank has placed Pakistan eighth in the list of the most dangerous countries in the world

which is led by Iraq.Afghanistan, the only other South Asian country in the list, is placed fourth in the Country Threat Index.

9. BHEL commissioned 28 MW Nyaborongo Hydro Electric Project in Rwanda on turnkey basis. 10. Ministry of Railways inaugurated Wi-Fi broadband services at New Delhi railway station 11. Indias second most up and coming destination for expats after China : HSBC 12. Human Rights Day observed globally on 10 December- theme for the 2014 Human Rights Day is Human Rights 365. 13. US based Uber taxis banned in Delhi, company blacklisted. 14. Air India, NBCC National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited sign MoU for development of land parcels of Air

India at various locations on joint venture basis. 15. Private entity cannot hold more than 26% stake in public-private joint ventures for coal block allocations. However, if it

is more than one private sector entity, the structure should be such that its stake does not exceed 49 per cent.A total of 92 blocks are being offered under the first round.

16. India, Japan to cooperate in the fields of Cyber security and Green Information and Communication Technology, ICT. 17. India celebrates 43rd Navy Day; President, PM salute devotion of Navy personnel. 18. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's birthday on 25th December observed as national 'Good Governance Day'. 19. Egypt court declared Islamic State of Iraq and Syria a terrorist group. 20. The new natural gas price of USD 5.61, which is already among the lowest in Asia Pacific, is likely to drop to around USD 5

per unit in three years due to the variables included in the formula, Goldman Sachs has said. 21. Mumbai, Kolkata most vulnerable to loss of life, properties due to coastal flood: un 22. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 23. Country's biggest oil company Indian Oil Corporation is looking at setting up a greenfield refinery on the West coast as

part of its expansion plans.Indian Oil Corporation Chairman B Ashok said there is a need for green field refinery by 2021- 22. After setting up of Paradip Refinery in East coast, focus is now on setting up of a refinery in West coast region.

24. Dubai to invest $32-billion to build worlds largest airport.The Dubai International Airport is the worlds second


busiest airport after the London Heathrow. 25. Former Union Minister GK Vasan, who split from the Congress, has revived the Tamil Maanila Congress. 26. India and Nepal launched the first ever bus service between the two countries.To begin with daily buses will ply between

Delhi and Kathmandu. Later, there will be similar buses which will ply on two other routes - Delhi-Pokhara and Varanasi- Kathmandu.

27. Beijing banned smoking in all indoor public spaces like workplaces and public transport vehicles and it will be effective from 1 June 2015.

28. European Union lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a motion urging anti-trust regulators to break up Google. 29. India today signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with Mozambique for cooperation in the field of oil and gas.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.

30. Sanskrit to be 3rd language in Classes 6-8 in KV: Centre to SC 31. SAARC countries today signed a framework agreement on cooperation in power sector but failed to finalize the much-

awaited motor vehicle and railway pacts for greater people-to-people contact and movement of goods due to opposition from Pakistan. A time period of three months have been set for approval to the Motor Vehicle and Railway pacts.

32. Modi proposes SAARC business traveller card i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday proposed a Saarc business traveller card 3-5 years for making it easier for traders and merchants in the region to travel and access one anothers markets.

33. International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women observed across the world on 25 November 2014.i. The campaign called Orange Your Neighbourhood to raise awareness against Gender-Based Violence will be held from 25 November to 10 December 2014. ii. The campaign is part of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's campaign UNiTE to End violence against Women.

34. Three global organizations, the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), WASTE and the Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health (FINISH), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end open defecation in India. The agreement is for three years. They share the common goal of making sanitation accessible and affordable to all citizens.

35. An Indian Railways team is in China to chalk out plans for conducting feasibility study to build the 1,754 km-long Delhi- Chennai high-speed train corridor, world's second largest bullet train line.i.The proposed corridor could be the second largest in the world after China's 2,298 km-long Beijing-Guangzhou line which was launched last year. Running at a speed of 300 km per hour, it covers the distance in about eight hours. Note: India is currently considering two corridors for high speed trains. While Japan is conducting feasibility study for the Bullet train project in Mumbai-Ahemdabad corridor, China will do the same for the Delhi-Chennai route which expected to begin by early next year.

36. Nepal has given an Indian company permission to build a 900 megawatt hydropower plant. i. The two countries will sign an agreement for the $1.04 billion project, which provides Nepal with free electricity and India energy for its power- hungry economy. ii. The project, which will be built by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited, was originally cleared in 2008 but never implemented after Kathmandu lobbied for greater benefits.

37. Adani Group-owned Dhamra Port Company Limited (DCPL) would invest around Rs 7000 crore for expansion of cargo handling facility. i.Gujarat-based Adani group bought out L&T and Tata Steel's shares in the company in March 2014 at an enterprise value of Rs 5500 crore. ii . Following the acquisition, the second phase of development was to be initiated within 90 days and completion targeted in 30 months. iii. This continued expansion will allow Dhamra port to exceed 100 million tonnes of cargo capacity by the year 2020. Note: The port, situated between Haldia in West Bengal and Paradip in Odisha, was mostly handling cargo like coal and limestone.

38. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved re-promulgation of an Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs. i. The re-promulgation of the Ordinance will enable the Coal Ministry to go ahead with its decision to give a total 101 mines, including 65 through auction, in the first phase. ii. As many as 36 blocks will be directly allotted to state-owned companies. The government had increased the number of coal mines to be auctioned or allotted in the first tranch

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