BANK EXAM CAPSULE 2013 VOL:-1

1. In Annual Monetary Policy RBI reduced the indicative policy rate (repo rate) from 7.50 per cent to 7.25 per cent. However, it kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 per cent.
a. Bank Rate – 8.25 % (Reduced 25 basis point)

b. Cash Reserve Ratio – 4 % (Unchanged)

c. Statutory Liquidity Ratio – 23 % (Unchanged)

d. Repo Rate – 7.25 % (Reduced 25 basis point)

e. Reverse Repo Rate – 6.25 % (Reduced 25 basis point)

f. Marginal Standing Rate - 8.25 % (Reduced 25basis point)

2. RBI projected the GDP growth for 2013-14 at 5.7 per cent. However government estimated at 6.1 - 6.7 per cent.

3. As per RBI’s assessment, wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation is expected to be rangebound around 5.5 per cent during 2013-14.

4. Infosys on 1 June 2013 appointed N R Narayana Murthy as executive chairman of the Board. He

would serve as board chairman for 5 years. K V Kamath stepped down from his position as Chairman of the Board.

5. Avinash Chander, the principal architect of India’s long-range missile programmes on 31 May 2013

appointed Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief and scientific advisor to defence minister. Avinash Chander, will succeed V.K. Saraswat..

6. The Ministry of Women and Child Development appointed Kushal Singh as the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

7. The President of Indian Union, Pranab Mukherjee on 21 May 2013 appointed Shashi Kant Sharma as

the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. Shashi Kant Sharma will succeed Vinod Rai.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is appointed for a maximum term of six years or till he attends the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

8. Nirbhay Sharma on 16 May 2013 appointed as governor of Arunachal Pradesh as the term of present incumbent Gen (retd) J J Singh ended in January 2013.

9. Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Indian National Congress on 11 May 2013 was sworn in as the 22nd chief minister of the state of Karnataka. Siddaramaiah led the Congress in Karnataka which won 121 seats in the 225- member assembly for which election was held.

10. Roberto Azevedo from Brazil on 8 May 2013 was named as the head of the World Trade Organisation. He will take charge of his office from Pascal Lamy of France in the Geneva-based Body in September 2013. Azevedo is the first Latin American to be appointed as the head of the WTO.

11. Parliamentary Speaker Abdul Hamid was on 24 April 2013 sworn in as Bangladesh President to replace Zillur Rahman, who died in March 2013.

12. Takehiko Nakao was appointed as the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by the Board

of Governors. He succeeded Haruhiko Kuroda, who resigned from his office in March 2013 to take up an assignment as the Governor of the Bank of Japan.

13. Movie “Blue is the Warmest Colour” which is directed by French-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif

Kechiche won the top honour - the Palme d'Or - at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Mexico's Amat Escalante won the best director prize for his film Heli. Hollywood veteran actor Bruce Dern took the best actor prize for his performance in Nebraska. Argentine-born Frenchwoman Berenice Bejo was awarded the best actress prize for her role in The Past.

14. Professor Ramdarash Mishra and Dr Narendra Kohli were conferred with the Vyas Samman on 23

May 2013 for the year 2011 and 2012 respectively. Professor Ramdarash Mishra (89) was honoured with the award for his collection of poems Aam ke Patte. Dr Narendra Kohli (73) was honoured for his historical novel Na Bhooto Na Bhavishyati. Vyas Samman was instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation.

15. US singer-songwriter Carole King became the first woman to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

16. President of India, Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 47th Jnanpith Award for the year 2011 on Pratibha Ray. The award includes cash prize of 11 lakh Rupees, a citation as well as bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.

17. American writer Lydia Davis won 2013 Man Booker International Prize. Her works include The

End of the Story and Varieties of Disturbance. Well-known Kannada author UR Ananthamurthy was the only Indian to be shortlisted for the prestigious award.

18. The Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy won United Nation's Public Service Award for his

Mass Contact Programme on 22 May 2013. In the Mass Contact Programme, he engaged with masses of Kerala to address the grievances.

19. The Pakistani activist, Malala Yousafzai (15) was selected for UNA-USA's Global Leadership Award

called Champion for Global Change Award for 2013, in the month of May 2013.

20. Singer Hariharan was conferred with the Lata Mangeshkar Samman Alankaran in Indore on 20 May 2013.

21. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Asom Ratna Award for the year 2012 to Indira Goswami (posthumously) and theSrimanta Shankardeva Award for the year 2008 to Sharmila Tagore on 13 May 2013 .

22. Jenita Mary Nongkynrih, A young woman scientist from Meghalaya was selected for ISRO Young Scientist Award 2013 for her urban information system project in the North East.

23. Rajeev Shukla resigned as Chairman of IPL on 1 June 2013 in the wake of the raging spot-fixing scandal.

24. Rituparno Ghosh, the renowned Bengali film maker died on 30 May 2013 of cardiac arrest. Rituparno Ghosh is the winner of 12 national and some of the international awards.

25. Hindi story writer and playwright Surendra Tiwari died due to brain hemorrhage.

26. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 May 2013 was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time from Assam.

27. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 28 May 2013 expelled senior lawyer and MP Ram Jethmalani

from the primary membership of party for six years over breach of discipline.

28. Meira Kumar, the Speaker of Lok Sabha unveiled the statue of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Founder of Telgu Desam Party N T Rama Rao in the Parliament.

29. China successfully launched a communications satellite called Zhongxing-11 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Sichuan province.

30. India on 22 May 2013 successfully test fired the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Navy's latest guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the coast of Goa.

31. The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh on

23 May 2013 laid the foundation stone of the Indian National Defence University (INDU) at Binola, Gurgaon.

32. 91 people were killed because of huge tornado that went through Oklahoma City suburbs in US

on 20 May 2013. The worst affected area was Moore, situated towards the south of Oklahoma. The President of US, Barack Obama declared the Oklahoma tornado as the major disaster.

33. Sahara India Pariwar created a new Guinness World Record on 6 May 2013 when its 121653 staff and workers sang India’s national anthem Jana Gana Mana in union at Lucknow. The present world record is in the account of Pakistan where 42813 people sang national anthem in a group at one place.

34. A high-level delegation led by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, has met Saudi authorities to discuss ways of maximising the availability of alternative jobs to Indians hit by the Nitaqat scheme and to smoothen the exit of those who may have to leave the country.

35. Chinese troops have erected tents in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh raising the number of such structures in the area of incursion to five.

36. Any change in the venue of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM),

scheduled to be held in Colombo in November, has been ruled out despite objections from several member-countries who have protested against Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

37. Sarabjit Singh, Indian citizen in Pakistan jail was attacked by fellow inmates and died 6 days later at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

38. Finance Bill 2013-14, the railway budget, the Appropriation Bills and demands for grants to various ministries were approved by the Lok Sabha without discussion.

39. The Netherlands’ Willem-Alexander was sworn in as Europe’s youngest monarch after his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated.

40. The Peshawar High Court ordered a life ban on former military dictator Pervez Musharraf from contesting any election.

41. Bangladesh got its first woman Speaker with the election of Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in Parliament.

42. Supreme Court upheld the government’s proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multibrand

retail trade.

43. The World Bank awarded $2 million (Rs. 10.74 crores) to 20 organisations including ASHA, working in the sectors of financial inclusion, trafficking, health, education and livelihood.

44. The Union Cabinet approved the amendments to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, piloted by the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry.

45. The Cabinet approved the proposal to start afresh the bidding process to set up the electric locomotive factory at Madhepura and diesel locomotive factory at Marhoura in Chapra.

46. The Union Cabinet approved the Rs. 22,507-crore National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) that seeks to address healthcare challenges in towns and cities with focus on urban poor.

47. The Election Commission announced that elections would be conducted for two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam, including the one held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

48. Pakistani terror convict Sanaullah Haq died following multiple organ failure. He was critically injured in an attack on him by an Indian jail-mate at Kot-Bhalwal Central Jail in Jammu.

49. Total foodgrains output is now estimated at 255.36 million tonnes with wheat production pegged at 93.62 million tonnes and rice at 104.22 million tonnes for 2012-13.

50. India announced its participation in the Chabahar port project in Iran. The full development of the Chabahar port would lower landlocked Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistani ports for assured access to the sea.